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Sunday, January 22, 2012

'The Big Bang Theory' 100th Episode: Penny And Leonard 2.0 Software Defined (VIDEO)

In a bold moment that probably surprised him more than the girls, Leonard abruptly walked over to Penny's open apartment door and asked her out on a date. It was the 100th episode of "The Big Bang Theory" (Thu., 8 p.m. EST on CBS), and that apparently meant it was time to re-explore the idea of putting the male and female lead together romantically.

Unfortunately, too much history took the date from awkward to downright unpleasant. Which made the subsequent phone call from Penny in the middle of the night even more unusual. Leonard was accused of thinking too much, so Penny advised him to not overthink this as she led him to their bedroom.

Since they weren't sure what all of this mean, a plan was hatched to explore a sort of new relationship, but in a beta format that only the two of them would know about it. Leonard dubbed it "Penny and Leonard 2.0," and said that to their friends they would just say they'd decided to stay as friends after that bad date.

But Leonard took the pretending too far, and upset Penny again. It's hard to pretend one thing and try to live something else. But then, because this is a show about big brains, viewers got a twist to keep them on their mental toes. It was a risky change of format for the traditional sitcom, but one the cast and creators thought worthy of tackling.

Everything they'd just seen was Leonard overthinking what would happen if he walked over to Penny's open apartment door and asked her out on a date.

He did it anyway, even though it seemed to go badly in every scenario he ran, and events started to play out in a very similar fashion, with a few key changes. Was this now reality, or was this just the beginning of Penny overthinking what would happen if she said yes to Leonoard asking her out on a date -- after a very severe overthink that saw her pregnant at their wedding.

"The Big Bang Theory" gets started on its next 100 episodes every Thursday night at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 16: "Alcatraz"

1? of ?20

"Alcatraz" (8 p.m. EST, Fox) two-hour series premiere Produced by J.J. Abrams, this moody mystery series combines procedural elements with a hint of supernatural suspense. Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Alcatraz historian Doctor Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia) team up with a secret agency that is dedicated to finding and catching inmates from the infamous prison who went missing 50 years ago and have begun reappearing today. "Alcatraz" (8 p.m. EST, Fox) two-hour series premiere

Produced by J.J. Abrams, this moody mystery series combines procedural elements with a hint of supernatural suspense. Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Alcatraz historian Doctor Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia) team up with a secret agency that is dedicated to finding and catching inmates from the infamous prison who went missing 50 years ago and have begun reappearing today.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

YouTube plots 'Your Film Festival' for users

[unable to retrieve full-text content]NEW YORK (AP) ? YouTube is launching a film festival that will play out online and ultimately send 10 finalists to the Venice Film Festival.

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-19-YouTube%20Film%20Festival/id-8ac4a7b1be184957b75d8e6c4aa1f5ed

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Friday, January 20, 2012

These are the states hemorrhaging red ink

Nevada is among the states most stung by the downturn. Between 2006 and 2010, home values plummeted a staggering 44.5 percent.

By Michael B. Sauter, Charles B. Stockdale and Ashley C. Allen, 24/7 Wall St.

Balancing the budget is not just a federal problem, but a state one as well. The Great Recession resulted in some of the worst state revenues and budget shortages of all time. According to a report on state budgets by the Center for Budget Policy Priorities, dozens of states faced shortfalls of hundreds of millions ? or even billions ? of dollars.

24/7 Wall St. examined the 10 states that had budget shortfalls of 27 percent or more of their general funds for fiscal year 2011 ? the states that were short the most money before they balanced their budgets. For the most part, the states with the worst budget gaps also had among the most anemic economies. Because of their budget shortfalls, all of them have been forced to make dramatic cuts to government services.

Every state but Vermont is required by its own law to balance the budget. In order to do so, state governments have to take extreme measures, instituting deep cuts that often hurt a diversity of residents. In the 2011 fiscal year, 29 states made cuts to services benefiting the disabled and elderly, 34 reduced funds for K-12 and early education, and all but six states reduced positions, benefits or wages of government employees.

24/7 Wall St.: The best- and worst-run states in America

The housing crisis was one of the primary causes for many of the largest budget deficits. The housing markets in states such as Nevada, Illinois and Arizona ? all of which are on the list ? have been hit particularly hard. Home values in Nevada declined the largest amount in the country between 2006 and 2010. Home values in Arizona decreased the fifth-largest amount over that same period. Sick housing markets weaken the economy and lower tax bases, which hurts state revenues and in turn helps create a budget gap.

Overall, weak state economies contributed to lower revenues and rising budget shortfalls. Not surprisingly, states with slower-growing economies tended to have a larger budget gaps. And although the GDP of every state in the nation grew between 2006 and 2010, seven of the 10 states on this list fell within the 15 states with the smallest increases.

While economic slowdowns and housing problems hit most of the states with the worst budget gaps, there were some exceptions. In four of the 10 states, home values actually rose between 2006 and 2010, the worst period of the recession. Similarly, other states with budget shortfalls weathered the recession relatively well and managed to maintain fairly healthy economies. In Washington state, for example, the median income rose 5.8 percent, the 16th-most in the country, while GDP increased 13.4 percent, the 12th most.

These are the states that cannot pay their bills.

24/7 Wall St.: Worst product flops of 2011

1. Nevada

?2011 budget shortfall as a percentage of general fund:?54.5
?2011 budget shortfall:?$1.8 billion
?2012 projected budget shortfall:?37.4 percent (the largest)
?GDP change (2006 - 2010):?+1.2 percent (smallest increase)
?Median home value change (2006 - 2010):?-44.5 percent (the largest decline)

No state has suffered during the recession more than Nevada. Between 2006 and 2010, home values plummeted a staggering 44.5 percent, the poverty rate increased 26 percent, median income dropped 3.8 percent and GDP increased only 1.2 percent. Each was the worst in the country for that category. Last year, Nevada?s budget gap was $1.8 billion, the equivalent of 54.5 percent of available funds. This was the third year in a row the state has had one of the worst shortfalls in the country, and that trend appears ready to continue through at least 2013. In order to balance its budget last year, Nevada was forced to raise taxes significantly, cut dental and vision services from Medicaid coverage for adults, reduce financial aid funding, and cut state employee salaries.

2. Illinois

?2011 budget shortfall as a percentage of general fund:?40.2
?2011 budget shortfall:?$13.5 billion
?2012 projected budget shortfall:?16.0 percent (11th largest)
?GDP change (2006 - 2010):?+8.2 percent (13th smallest increase)
?Median home value change (2006 - 2010):?-4.2 percent (11th largest decline)

Illinois has consistently had among the largest budget shortfalls in the country since 2009. It also was hit extremely hard by the recession. Between 2006 and 2010, home values decreased by 4.2 percent. GDP grew a relatively small 8.2 percent. Median household income increased less than 2 percent. The state made cuts in its budget for community mental health services for both children and adults, and it cut its school education funding by 4 percent, or $311 million. Governor Pat Quinn has announced also that he will lay off thousands of state employees.

24/7 Wall St.: The 10 most expensive weapons in the world

3. Arizona

?2011 budget shortfall as a percentage of general fund:?39.0
?2011 budget shortfall:?$3.3 billion
?2012 projected budget shortfall:?17.0 percent (10th largest)
?GDP change (2006 - 2010):?+2.7 percent (4th smallest increase)
?Median home value change (2006 - 2010):?-28.6 percent (4th largest decline)

Like its neighbor Nevada, Arizona was hit particularly hard by the subprime mortgage crisis. Between 2006 and 2010, median home values plunged 28.6 percent in the state, the fourth worst price drop in the country. GDP, poverty and income levels have either stagnated or become significantly worse during this period. Since 2009, the state has had among the worst budget gaps in the country, a combined total of $12.1 billion for the three years. To balance its budget, Arizona has made dramatic budget cuts, including revoking Medicaid eligibility of more than 1 million low-income residents and cutting preschool for more than 4,000 children.

Click here for more states that cannot pay their bills

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/11/10126535-nevada-illinois-among-states-that-cant-pay-their-bills

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India, China seek to avoid border flare-ups (Reuters)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) ? India and China have agreed to try to avoid flare-ups along their disputed 4,000-km border through the Himalayas, a positive development in often fractious relations between Asia's emerging giants.

The two countries, which fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962, have increased their military presence on each side of the border in recent years as their fast-growing economies permit more spending on defense of remote regions.

Under an agreement signed on Tuesday, high-level diplomats and military officials will aim at "timely communication" about border incidents and meet once or twice a year.

"Its main task is to deal with affairs concerning maintaining the peace and tranquility of the border area," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a briefing on Wednesday.

However, the two countries are still a long way from agreeing on their territory -- China says most of India's Arunachal Pradesh state is part of Tibet. For its part, India claims China's isolated Aksai Chin plateau near Kashmir as its own.

"Both sides reiterated that before the border issue is resolved, they will together strive to preserve the peace and tranquility of the border," Liu said.

Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary for India, said the pact was a sign the two sides wanted to better manage ties as they grow and compete for resources and allies in Asia and beyond.

"The two countries are emerging powers, whose respective strategic profiles are intersecting at multiple points," Saran wrote in a column in the Business Standard newspaper.

China's close relationship with India's main rival Pakistan, -- as well as other neighbors such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar Bangladesh and Nepal -- has given an urgency to New Delhi's strategy of forging ties with Washington, Japan and Australia, along with Southeast Asian nations.

"On the Chinese side there is concern that its more assertive posture of the past couple of years had triggered a rapid and continuing build up of countervailing coalitions in the strategic Indo-Pacific theatre," Saran said.

Swaran Singh, an expert on Indo-Chinese relations at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the pact gave momentum to future talks but its relevance would depend on the wider relationship.

"For 25 years, India and Pakistan have had a hot line and the generals are supposed to ask each other what they had for breakfast," Singh said. "But when the relationship is bad, nobody picks up the phone."

(Reporting By Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_nm/us_india_china

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Obama, Republicans tussle over oil pipeline

[unable to retrieve full-text content]WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress are back where they were before Christmas, locked in an election-season tussle over a proposed 1,700-mile (2,735-kilometer) oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-19-Oil%20Pipeline/id-53b602c2453d450999ed35565e9f3467

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Call of Duty ELITE app lets you keep tabs on your shooter experience with your phone (Appolicious)

The biggest video game franchise of all time already has a few apps in its Android arsenal, but as of this week, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 fans can analyze their games no matter where they are.

It all started with the creation of a new social networking and stats-tracking service known as Call of Duty ELITE. Publisher Activision, with the help of the developers behind the latest version of the millions-selling first-person shooter franchise, created the service to bring together the millions of players that make up the Call of Duty gaming community. ELITE keeps track of all kinds of information about players, showing them how they perform in the game with a wealth of information. The idea is that, by being able to analyze how you play down to the weapons you use and the areas in the game where you get beaten, you?ll be able to become a better player.

Elite also offers a number of social tools that allow players to interact with each other. The formation of groups around common interests is a big addition to Call of Duty, and the latest edition to the franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, supports things like ?clans,? or groups of players who form persistent teams to take on other clans, and other ways for players to meet and join games together. There?s also other premium content enjoyed by players willing to pay a yearly subscription.

As part of the outreach for ELITE come web and mobile apps to allow players the ability to access their Call of Duty information and interact with other players even when they?re not in the game. Activision dropped the Android version of the ELITE app this week (the version for Apple?s iOS platform came out about a week ago), allowing users to download the app to smartphones and tablets, showing them all the information they can get either online or in-game when using ELITE. That includes things like maps that show players where they do well and where they don?t during games, or the ability to analyze the weapons and attributes of opponents and copy them.

Apart from just looking at data remotely, ELITE allows you to actually make changes in the game while you?re away. If you have an epiphany while you should be working, but are instead thinking about which machine gun or grenades you?re ought to be using, you can use the app to change your character?s equipment, so next time you jump into the game, you?re ready to go.

Activision and Call of Duty aren?t the only games to extend to the app world for additional functionality. Several massively multiplayer games, such as World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic, use security apps to give players? accounts added protection. Other games give players a way of keeping in touch with their characters or the ability to buy and sell in-game items remotely.

There?s a lot of talk about the mobile gaming sphere, but many developers are finding ways to have apps augment the gaming experience. Activision?s Call of Duty ELITE app shows some forward motion in coming up with cool ways to have players keep in touch with games even when they?re not playing, and hopefully will inspire other developers to come up with interesting apps that open up the gameplay experience as well.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_androidapps_com_articles10805_call_of_duty_elite_app_lets_you_keep_tabs_on_your_shooter_experience_with_your_phone/44220062/SIG=146llj53i/*http%3A//www.androidapps.com/games/articles/10805-call-of-duty-elite-app-lets-you-keep-tabs-on-your-shooter-experience-with-your-phone

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Celebrity Birthdays of the Week: Jan. 17-23

From Zooey Deschanel to Jason Segel, see what the stars born between Jan. 17-23 can tell you about the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/celebrity-birthdays-week-january-17-23-2012/1-b-418624?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acelebrity-birthdays-week-january-17-23-2012-418624

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