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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

'Shadow Inventory' Continues Shrinking | Bay Area Real Estate ...

Foreclosures are slowly giving way to short sales.

The housing market?s??shadow inventory? continues to shrink in California and across?the country as the economy gradually improves and homeowners are increasingly given a chance to sell their properties by short sales.

The nation?s shadow inventory fell to 2.3 million units in October, down 12.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a recent report from the research firm CoreLogic. California placed second among the 50 states for the steepest decline in serious loan delinquencies from August to October, a 9.7-percent drop.

Shadow inventory refers to the number of distressed homes that are expected to reach the market soon but aren?t listed for sale yet in a multiple listing service. It includes?properties with seriously delinquent loans and?those?in foreclosure or held as real-estate owned (REO) by lenders.

CoreLogic said banks are increasingly turning to short sales to help homeowners avoid bankruptcy. In a short sale, the lender allows a home to sell for less than the outstanding debt on the property.

?We expect a gradual and progressive contraction in the shadow inventory in 2013 as investors continue to snap up foreclosed and REO properties and the broader recovery in housing market fundamentals takes hold,? CoreLogic President and?CEO Anand Nallathambi said in a statement.

Homes with seriously delinquent loans made up 1.04 million of October?s shadow inventory. The balance included 903,000 homes in some stage of the foreclosure process and 354,000 REO properties.

In a separate report, CoreLogic also reported that foreclosures dropped 23 percent in November, another indicator that the housing market continues to mend.

Nationally, there were 55,000 completed foreclosures in November, a 23 percent decrease from the year-earlier figure of 72,000. Month over month, completed foreclosures were down 6 percent from 59,000 in October.

CoreLogic said 1.2 million homes, or 3 percent of those with a mortgage, were in some stage of the foreclosure process in November. That?s down 18 percent from November 2011.

(Foreclosure photo courtesy of Jeffery Turner, via Flickr.)

Source: http://blog.pacunion.com/shadow-inventory-continues-shrinking/

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With BlackBerry 10, there?s no place for home

BlackBerry

Research In Motion (RIMM) has a steep hill to climb as it prepares to unveil its next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system later this month. Launching sleek new BlackBerry 10 handsets that prompt a healthy portion of its current user base to upgrade is of the utmost?importance, of course.?Just as important, however, is creating a user experience that showcases compelling differentiation and might draw users away from leading smartphone platforms.

[More from BGR: Apple?s next iPhone to reportedly feature larger screen and ?brand new exterior design?]

Early glimpses at BlackBerry 10 revealed software that attempts to take a fresh look at the smartphone experience in some ways, but after our first look, we wondered if RIM was going far enough with its new OS. Now that we?re just weeks away from the BlackBerry 10 launch event, RIM appears to have started slowly showing users that BlackBerry 10 will, in fact, provide a unique user experience.

[More from BGR: Smooth sailing is over for Apple]

To highlight one example, RIM?s?Donny Halliwell recently took to the company?s BlackBerry blog to discuss BlackBerry 10?s take on smartphone navigation. Unlike iOS and Android, RIM?s new platform does not support a home button, which on other platforms would bring the user back to the home screen from anywhere in the OS.

Why exclude the home button??Halliwell says that BlackBerry 10 is all about ?moving forward,? not backward.

?In much the same way you multitask with frames on your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet ? keeping one frame in front of you while other frames are minimized ? you can keep your most-used apps readily available,? Halliwel wrote while explaining RIM?s new ?Flow? interface. He says that like all BlackBerry device owners, he was a ?long-time user of the U-turn arrow? and upon first picking up a BlackBerry 10 developer device, he had concerns about navigating the device with no home button.

The Flow interface negates the need for a home button in many respects. Like webOS did before it, Flow presents users with a series of minimized windows representing each open application. The result is a UI that lets users easily jump between apps without the need to return to a home screen between steps. Combined with gesture support, RIM may have indeed simplified the smartphone user experience in several key ways.

?If you think about it, the real world pretty much works the same way,? Halliwell wrote.??Picture yourself preparing to take a walk: You put on your shoes and coat, grab your keys, and go out the door. The point is that you?re always moving forward in a general ritualistic ?flow? toward the goal of taking a walk. You don?t put on your shoes then take them off to put your socks on.?

RIM?s first two next-generation smartphones, the?BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry X10, are expected to be unveiled alongside the BlackBerry 10 OS on January 30th.

This article was originally published by BGR

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blackberry-10-no-place-home-153009847.html

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'Chainsaw 3-D' carves out No. 1 debut with $23M

This undated publicity film image from Lionsgate shows Alexandra Daddario, left, as Heather Miller in a scene from "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," releasing in theaters on Friday, January 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Justin Lubin)

This undated publicity film image from Lionsgate shows Dan Yeager starring as Leatherface in a scene from "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," releasing in theaters on Friday, January 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Justin Lubin)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to chase tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins out of the top spot at the box office.

Lionsgate's horror sequel "Texas Chainsaw 3-D" debuted at No. 1 with $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie picks up where 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" left off, with masked killer Leatherface on the loose again.

Quentin Tarantino's revenge saga "Django Unchained" held on at No. 2 for a second-straight weekend with $20.1 million. The Weinstein Co. release raised its domestic total to $106.4 million.

After three weekends at No. 1, part one of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy slipped to third with $17.5 million. That lifts the domestic haul to $263.8 million for "The Hobbit," the Warner Bros. blockbuster that also has topped $500 million overseas to raise its worldwide total to about $800 million.

Also passing the $100 million mark over the weekend was Universal's musical "Les Miserables," which finished at No. 4 with $16.1 million, pushing its domestic total to $103.6 million.

Like other horror franchises, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" has had several other remakes or sequels, but the idea always seems ripe for a new wave of fright-flick fans. Nearly two-thirds of the audience was under 25, too young ? or not even born ? when earlier "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movies came out.

"It's one of those that survives each generation. It's something that continues to come back and entertain its audience," said Richie Fay, head of distribution for Lionsgate.

"Texas Chainsaw" drew a hefty 84 percent of its business from 3-D screenings. Many movies now draw 50 percent or less of their revenue from 3-D screenings, but horror fans tend to prefer paying extra to see blood and guts fly with an added dimension.

In narrower release, Matt Damon's natural-gas fracking drama "Promised Land" had a slow start in its nationwide debut, coming in at No. 10 with $4.3 million after opening in limited release a week earlier.

Released by Focus Features, "Promised Land" stars Damon as a salesman pitching rural residents on fracking technology to drill for natural gas. The film widened to 1,676 theaters, averaging a slim $2,573 a cinema, compared with $8,666 in 2,654 theaters for "Texas Chainsaw."

Hollywood began the year where it left in 2012, when business surged during the holidays to carry the industry to a record $10.8 billion at the domestic box office.

Overall business this weekend came in at $149 million, up 7 percent from the same period last year, when "The Devil Inside" led with $33.7 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. But with strong business on New Year's Day last week, Hollywood already has raked in $254.2 million, 33 percent ahead of last year.

Box-office results ebb and flow quickly, so that lead could vanish almost overnight. But with a steady lineup of potential hits right through December, studios have a chance at another revenue record this year.

"The month that we had at the end of last year that led us to a record year continued right through New Year's and on now to the first official weekend of 2013," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We're looking for an even stronger year this year. That's in the realm of possibility. But we have 51 weekends to go."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," $23 million.

2. "Django Unchained," $20.1 million.

3. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $17.5 million.

4. "Les Miserables," $16.1 million ($14.5 million international).

5. "Parental Guidance," $10.1 million.

6. "Jack Reacher," $9.3 million ($22.3 million international).

7. "This Is 40," $8.6 million.

8. "Lincoln," $5.3 million.

9. "The Guilt Trip," $4.5 million.

10. "Promised Land," $4.3 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-06-Box%20Office/id-4d77e5ce9eb04d7386a57fd63ceb5ec3

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Monday, January 7, 2013

African Sweetheart: Relationships: Are You Ready For Marriage?

ARE YOU READY FOR MARRIAGE??

Lets Find out....

1) If you believe strongly that you must always have the last say in an argument, you?re not ready for marriage.

2) If you don?t like anyone invading your space, you?re not ready.

3) If you?re a lady, and you don?t cook or don?t like to, your marriage is not likely to be easy or funny.

4) If you always say things exactly how they come to your mind not caring who is hurt, you?re headed for a rocky and ultimately likely to crash marriage.

5) If you believe that you?re who you are and no one can change that, you?re not ready.

6) If you think about others only when you?ve fully sorted yourself out, you?re not ready.

7) If you are so good at holding a grudge and you?ll only let go when you feel like, stay unmarried.

8 If you?re a man and you?re not engaged in ventures or a process in time that can financially take care of your immediate family and beyond, you need to give yourself a few more years to be ready.

9) If you believe that women at best should be good in bed and kitchen affairs only, you?ll end up having a bitter and subdued wife; stay away.

10) If your mind can?t conceive the thought of having a more successful wife, even if it?s temporary, then you have a little growing up to do. Welcome to the real world, stuff happens.

11) If as a man, you?re easily swayed and pressurized to do things against your wish, you?re not ready for marriage.

12) If you have no confidence in your capability and your future, you have no business taking someone else with you.

13) If as a man, you don?t have a mentor or leader you follow, listen or defer to, you?re not going to be able to lead your family.

14) If you can?t have a wedding ceremony within a budget you can personally afford, give yourself more time. Who says you can?t have 20 guests or less at your wedding? Cut your coat according to your cloth and take responsibility. As a man, you can define how small or large you want your wedding ceremony to be and be able to handle it.

15) If you have an anger problem such that you can destroy things when you?re angry, get a therapist to help you through managing it. Otherwise, engage God?s help for the change you seek. With anger issues, you?re disaster waiting to explode.

So are you ready?

Marriage is not beans o!

Source: http://africansweetheart.blogspot.com/2013/01/relationships-are-you-ready-for-marriage.html

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SciArt at Scio13 - Call for Entries

By Glendon Mellow?| January 6, 2013 |??

Share Share ? Share Email ? Print Print

Art for the poster by L-R: Glendon Mellow, Perrin Ireland, Nathaniel Gold, Kalliopi Monoyios.

Last year we saw thundering success with the first?ScienceOnline Science-Art Show ? more than 50 artists submitted 100+ works included in the digital gallery.

That wasn?t the only success last year. For the first time, we saw an entire mob of artists at ScienceOnline itself ? there in person, sharing visual techniques for communicating science. And this year will be no different. So there?s been some changes to the show.

Rules

Open to ScienceOnline 2013 attendees only.
Photographers, cartoonists, fine artists, scientific illustrators, ,sculptors, dataviz junkies ? we?re looking for visual art & imagery. No videos or animations.
Images may be new or from your back catalogue. We?d prefer nothing that was included last year.
Up to 5 pieces may be submitted for possible inclusion in the final show.
Include the following information for each piece:
1. Your name
2. Name of the image
3. Twitter handle
4. Best URL (some people like their Etsy store, others prefer their blog or gallery, others like their bio. Up to you, but one URL please).
It?s helpful if the images are webready jpgs and a blog-friendly 600px wide or less. (Height doesn?t matter as much). I may resize files or canvas sizes as I see fit. You retain all of your copyright, though grant ScienceOnline and Symbiartic the right to post them online and at the conference with the purpose of promoting the show.
Please submit by January 21st 2013.

Email submissions to me at theflyingtrilobite (at) gmail (dot) com. Rather than emailing me questions, why not post them below? Then other people can see the answers too.

For people not in attendance, there are still other great ways to get involved with the larger Science-Artist community.

Science Artists Feed ? You can contact me about inclusion in the Science Artists Feed, which now carries 160+ artist?s blogs.
ScienceArt Community ? Join the exploding-with-newness G+ community moderated by the Symbiartic team. Discuss and show off your original work.

Bring the visual thunder!

About the Author: Glendon Mellow is a fine artist and illustrator inspired by evolutionary biology working in oil and digital media. You can see his portfolio at glendonmellow.com and work-in-progress at The Flying Trilobite blog. Follow him solo at @flyingtrilobite and with co-blogger Kalliopi Monoyios at @symbiartic. Follow on Twitter @symbiartic.

More??

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d31d15e59ab79090a9f3ad64ac972885

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Sunday, January 6, 2013

Astrophysicists find wide binary stars wreak havoc in planetary systems

Jan. 6, 2013 ? An international team of astrophysicists has shown that planetary systems with very distant binary stars are particularly susceptible to violent disruptions, more so than if they had stellar companions with tighter orbits around them.

Unlike the Sun, many stars are members of binary star systems -- where two stars orbit one another -- and these stars' planetary systems can be altered by the gravity of their companion stars. The orbits of very distant or wide stellar companions often become very eccentric -- ie. less circular -- over time, driving the once-distant star into a plunging orbit that passes very close to the planets once per orbital period. The gravity of this close-passing companion can then wreak havoc on planetary systems, triggering planetary scatterings and even ejections.

"The stellar orbits of wide binaries are very sensitive to disturbances from other passing stars as well as the tidal field of the Milky Way," said Nathan Kaib, lead author of a study published January 6 in Nature describing the findings. "This causes their stellar orbits to constantly change their eccentricity -- their degree of circularity. If a wide binary lasts long enough, it will eventually find itself with a very high orbital eccentricity at some point in its life."

When a wide binary orbit becomes very eccentric, the two stars will pass very close together once per orbit on one side of the orbital ellipse, while being very far apart on the other side of the ellipse. This can have dire consequences for planets in these systems since the gravity of a close-passing star can radically change planetary orbits around the other star, causing planets to scatter off of one another and sometimes get ejected to interstellar space.

Kaib, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University and a National Fellow in the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, conducted computer simulations of the process with Queen's University physics professor Martin Duncan and Sean N. Raymond, a researcher at the University of Bordeaux and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique in France. They added a a hypothetical wide binary companion to Earth's solar system which eventually triggered at least one of four giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) to be ejected in almost half of the simulations.

"This process takes hundreds of millions of years if not billions of years to occur in these binaries. Consequently, planets in these systems initially form and evolve as if they orbited an isolated star," said Kaib, who will present the findings this week at the 221st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Long Beach, California. "It is only much later that they begin to feel the effects of their companion star, which often times leads to disruption of the planetary system."

"We also found that there is substantial evidence that this process occurs regularly in known extrasolar planetary systems," said Duncan. "Planets are believed to form on circular orbits, and they are only thought to attain highly eccentric orbits through powerful and/or violent perturbations. When we looked at the orbital eccentricities of planets that are known to reside in wide binaries, we found that they are statistically more eccentric than planets around isolated stars like our Sun. "

The researchers believe this is a telltale signature of past planetary scattering events, and that those with eccentric orbits are often interpreted to be the survivors of system-wide instabilities.

"The eccentric planetary orbits seen in these systems are essentially scars from past disruptions caused by the companion star," said Raymond.

The researchers note that this observational signature could only be reproduced well when they assumed that the typical planetary system extends from its host star as much as 10 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Otherwise, the planetary system is too compact to be affected by even a stellar companion on a very eccentric orbit.

"Recently, planets orbiting at wide distances around their host stars have been directly imaged. Our work predicts that such planets are common but have so far gone largely undetected," says Duncan.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Toronto, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Nathan A. Kaib, Sean N. Raymond, Martin Duncan. Planetary system disruption by Galactic perturbations to wide binary stars. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature11780

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/_ff5o66xdj0/130106145751.htm

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BodyMedia CORE 2 armband and View patch health monitors hands-on

BodyMedia introduced its CORE 2 fitness tracker armband earlier today, but all we saw of it were a couple of rendered photos. Well, we just got to see some prototypes of the device, including the basic CORE 2 band, its metal bracelet and swappable plastic face plate accessories, and learned a bit more about the device.

As you can see in our gallery of photos, the new model is quite a bit smaller and thinner than BodyMedia's previous health trackers. For now, the basic CORE 2 model comes with an adjustable elastic band (available in multiple colors) and a sensor module packing an accelerometer and three heat and skin sensors. The band's lightweight and comfortable to wear (at least it was in our limited time with it), but given that it's meant to gather data 24 hours a day, it's not exactly the best look for a night out on the town. Good thing BodyMedia's making a shiny metal armband and swappable face plates (sold separately) to provide a more elegant look. It's a sturdy band, but we wonder how long folks will be comfortable wearing something so rigid on their upper arm.

In addition to the CORE 2, we also saw BodyMedia's new disposable sensor platform, the View Patch. It provides the same data as the armband, but it can be worn in the shower and it's only meant to be worn for seven days at a time. Alas, exact pricing and availability continue elude us, but we were told the band will cost around $150 this August, while the patch will run less than $50 a month later.

Gallery: BodyMedia CORE 2 armband and View patch hands-on