Hotels In Downtown New Orleans - LG Device Can Definitely Compete With The Apple’s iPad In Memory, Speed & Storage

Source      - www.kpopstarz.com/
By            - Press Release
Category  - Hotels In Downtown New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Hotels In Downtown New Orleans

LG G Pad 8.3 VS iPad Mini goes head to head in this review and though the reigning champ of the smaller tablet market is the Apple device, LG G Pad 8.3 is a worthy competitor to the iPad Mini in terms of memory, speed and storage.

The News Tribe, said that Apple is already at the forefront of tablet dominance with their iPad 4 and the well-received mini size tablet, the iPad Mini. Despite no accolades from the launch of the iPhone 5S, Apple looks to take on the just arrived LG G2 that is greatly making waves amongst mobile device consumers. LG are ready for the all-out war with their recently announced 8.3in G Pad that speculations expect to be the fiercest contender to the Apple iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2.

Below are some of the head to head specs on both devices.

According to The News Tribe, Apple enlisted LG to manufacture their next generation iPad. Users can expect a very high resolution IGZO panel the likes of Sharp’s devices. G Pad on the other hand went with an 8.3in display dubbed WXUGA bearing a resolution of 1920 by 1200 with a night brightness of 350 and a color reproduction rate of 60%.

Speed is another factor that is important to end users states The News Tribe. Speculations lean on an A7 Quad core processor for the iPad Mini while the G Pad went for an almighty Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor that is sure to tilt some scales in its favor. It will also come with a 2GB RAM for seamless user experience on apps.

Without a doubt there is no need for a powerful processor if you have no OS that pulls its weight. Apple is introducing iOS7 with its iPad Mini according to rumors. G Pad on the other hand is confirmed to run on Android Jelly Bean 4.3 states The News Tribe.

Users can expect the iPad Mini in variations of 16/32 and 64 of internal storage with extra capabilities of 128 added memory. LG G Pad on the other hand comes with a fixed 64 GB memory reports The News Tribe.

Users can expect to see have the Apple iPad Mini 2 in their hands with Christmas around the corner while LG will allegedly roll out their Gpad 8.3 at 2013’s IFA to be held in Berlin. The Wi-Fi model should ship before September ends, with the LTE model coming right after reports The News Tribe.

Suites Near New Orleans Sports Venues - How Much Does a Glass Of Wine Contain? It May Depend On The Glass

Source      - http://www.latimes.com/
By            - Mary MacVean
Category   - Suites Near New Orleans Sports Venue
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Suites Near New Orleans Sports Venues

If you’ve ever wondered how you got tipsy when you only had a glass or two of wine, the answer could be in the sort of glass you used. Drinking from a wide glass is just one way that you might be getting more than you thought.

Unlike a bottle of beer, or a shot of spirits, a glass of wine is rarely an exact measure except in bars or restaurants. Researchers from Iowa State and Cornell universities found there were several conditions that could cause someone to pour with a heavy hand.

“People have trouble assessing volumes,” Laura Smarandescu, coauthor of the research study and an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State, said in a statement.

Participants in the study – 73 students and staffers who drank at least one glass of wine in a given week -- were asked to pour what they considered a normal glass of wine – the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says that’s 5 ounces.

If they were pouring into a wide glass, they poured about 12% more than if they poured into a narrow wine glass. The same was true when people held a glass, rather than pouring into a glass on the table. The researchers tried other conditions, too. People poured 9% more white wine into a glass than red – because of the contrast of color, they said. The food and other things on the table had less effect, the researchers wrote.

Such conditions make it easy to drink more than intended, said another coauthor, Douglas Walker, an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State. Their research was published this week in the journal Substance Use and Misuse.

If a person thinks about how much wine he drinks based on the number of glasses, that could be a problem, Walker said. “One person’s two is totally different than another person’s two.”

It’s important to become aware of portions – just as people have for food, says coauthor Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University. And the participants were asked about the conditions after the pouring; the researchers found they were generally accurate about which conditions had influenced them.

“Increasing awareness of pouring biases is a step toward limiting alcohol intake for improved health outcomes and preventing alcohol-related problems,” the authors wrote.

Suites In Downtown New Orleans - Control-Alt-Delete? Gates Says Command Was a Mistake

Source      - http://gma.yahoo.com/
By            - JOANNA STERN
Category  - Suites In Downtown New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Suites In Downtown New Orleans

It's a shortcut all Windows users know. A frozen program? Slow performance? The first move is, of course, holding down those three keys -- Control-Alt-Delete. It's a three-finger move to get to the task manager or get to a log-in screen, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates now admits the rather clunky command was a mistake.

When asked who came up with the shortcut during an interview at Harvard University this week, Gates said "it was a mistake."

"We could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn't want to give us our single button," Gates said. "We programmed at a low level. ... It was a mistake." The part in the interview was first spotted by Geekwire.

That IBM PC engineer was David Bradley. Bradley, who designed the computer in 1980, said in an older interview that "it was originally intended to be what we would now call an Easter Egg, just something we were just using in development -- it wouldn't be available elsewhere."

That certainly wasn't the case. Introduced in 1981, the command still lives on in Windows, including Microsoft's current Windows 8 operating system.

According to a 2010 article in the Indianapolis Star, the original idea was to create a way to restart the computer. He chose those keys because he didn't want people to mistakenly hit the keys and on that original IBM keyboard the Delete key was on the other side and, thus, required two hands.

Bradley said he didn't think it would become a "cultural icon," and then taking a shot at Gates and Windows' all-too-well-known issues, he said, "I might have invented it, but I think Bill made it famous."

Trip To New Orleans - Scientists Build First Nanotube Computer

Source     - http://online.wsj.com/
By            - ROBERT LEE HOTZ
Category  - Trip To New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Trip To New Orleans

In an advance toward a future of smaller, faster and more powerful electronics, researchers at Stanford University on Wednesday unveiled the first working computer built entirely from carbon nanotube transistors.

These seamless cylinders of ultrapure carbon are among many exotic materials researchers are investigating—including the quantum particles inside every atom and the DNA inside every cell—as electronics developers near the limits of conventional silicon transistors.

While primitive, the invention proves that transistors made with these unusual carbon fibers, among the strongest materials yet discovered, can be assembled into a general purpose computer. It can run a basic operating system, perform calculations and switch between different processes running at the same time, the scientists said.

"It really is a computer in every sense of the word," said Stanford University electrical engineer Max Shulaker, who led construction of the device. "This shows that you can build working, useful circuits out of carbon nanotubes and they can be manufactured reliably."

Their research was published Wednesday in Nature.

"They have tamed nanotubes," said carbon electronics expert Franz Kreupl at the Technical Institute of Munich in Germany, who wasn't involved in the project.

Mihail Roco, senior adviser for nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation, which helped fund the work, called the nanotube computer "an important scientific step." If perfected, he said, "this would allow a computer to work faster, and with smaller components and with about one-tenth the energy."

Researchers are tantalized by the digital potential of carbon nanotubes, which are exceptional at conducting electricity and heat, and at absorbing or emitting light. Long a laboratory curiosity, they are made from sheets of carbon just one atom thick and rolled into tubes about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair.

"Of all the candidates that have been considered as a successor to silicon, carbon nanotubes remain the most promising," said Supratik Guha, director of physical sciences at International Business Machines Corp.'s IBM -0.26% Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

The first nanotube transistor—a version of the digital on-and-off switch at the heart of almost every commercial electronics device—was invented in 1998. Until recently, though, researchers found it all but impossible to manufacture batches of the infinitesimally small tubes with the perfect alignment, regularity and purity required for a computer's complex integrated circuits. 

Nanotubes are grown, like crystals. They fall into place randomly, like a shower of pick-up sticks, which can cause cross-connections. About 30% develop unpredictable metallic impurities. Any imperfection can cause a short-circuit.

"People said you would never be able to manufacture this stuff," said Stanford electrical engineer Subhasish Mitra, who was part of the project. The researchers developed a special circuit design and a powerful debugging technique to overcome the impurities.

Driven by the commercial possibilities, researchers have been racing to harness the material's promising electrical properties.

Last year, IBM researchers showed off carbon nanotube transistors that run three times as fast as conventional silicon transistors, while using a third of the power. And last October, scientists at the IBM's Watson Research Center reported a way to create batches of 10,000 or more carbon nanotube transistors arrayed on a single computer wafer. They have yet to connect them into a working circuit.

Last week, at Cambridge University in the U.K., scientists said they had devised a simple way to grow the densest array of carbon nanotubes to date—about five times as compact as previous methods, while researchers at the University of Southern California recently found a way to custom-tailor their atomic structure.

At Stanford, the experimental nanotube computer contains 178 transistors formed from "several tens of thousands of carbon nanotubes," Dr. Shulaker said. A conventional silicon chip today can pack two billion transistors in an area the size of thumbnail. The Stanford system contains as many transistors as in the earliest transistor-based computers made in the 1950s. The researchers used a logic design on a par with computers made in the 1960s. 

The Stanford scientists assembled 985 of the nanotube computers—each with 178 carbon nanotube transistors—on a single chip wafer, using standard chip-fabrication techniques and design tools. 

"What we have demonstrated is a very simple computer," said Stanford engineering professor Philip Wong, who worked on the device. "There is a vast distance between what we accomplished and an eventual product."

Hotel Near Sports Venues - New App Pays You To Take Photos With Your Android Phone

Source        - http://news.yahoo.com/
By              - Jacob Siegal
Category    - Hotel Near Sports Venues
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Hotel Near Sports Venues

Foap, the royalty free stock photo market, has had an app available on iOS devices for a while, but on Wednesday, September 18th, the app finally made its way to Android. With Foap, you aren’t limited to purchasing stock photos, though — you can sell your own pictures as well. It’s as simple as logging in with your Facebook account or creating an account with your email address and then uploading your cell phone shots to the market. The photos are reviewed by the community, and if they are approved, they will officially go on sale. For each $10 unlimited license of the photo someone buys, you make $5. But that’s not the best part.

There’s even more money to be made with huge brands such as Sony, Puma and Axe offering hundreds or even thousands of dollars in photo missions, which task amateur photographers with taking very specific photos that the brands will then buy. Foap is currently running an Android welcome mission, asking new users to photograph people greeting one another. So hug a friend and download Foap for free on the Google Play store.

Family Friendly Attractions New Orleans - 'Afternoon Naps' Aid Children's Learning

Source      - http://www.bbc.co.uk/
By             - Press Release
Category   - Family Friendly Attractions New Orleans
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Family Friendly Attractions New Orleans

Getting young children to take an hour-long nap after lunch could help them with their learning by boosting brain power, a small study suggests. 

A nap appeared to help three-to-five-year-olds better remember pre-school lessons, US researchers said.

University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers studied 40 youngsters and report their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The benefit persisted in the afternoon after a nap and into the next day.

The study authors say their results suggest naps are critical for memory consolidation and early learning.

When the children were allowed a siesta after lunch they performed significantly better on a visual-spatial tasks in the afternoon and the next day than when they were denied a midday snooze. 

Following a nap, children recalled 10% more of the information they were being tested on than they did when they had been kept awake.

Close monitoring of 14 additional youngsters who came to the researchers' sleep lab revealed the processes at work in the brain during asleep. 

As the children napped, they experienced increased activity in brain regions linked with learning and integrating new information.

Lead investigator Rebecca Spencer said: "Essentially we are the first to report evidence that naps are important for preschool children.

"Our study shows that naps help the kids better remember what they are learning in preschool." 

She said while older children would naturally drop their daytime sleep, younger children should be encouraged to nap.

New Orleans Extended Stay Hotel - How Much Is Too Much Exercise When You're Pregnant?

Source      - http://edition.cnn.com/
By             - Jacque Wilson
Category   - New Orleans Extended Stay Hotel
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

New Orleans Extended Stay Hotel

The caption on Lea-Ann Ellison's photo says it all: "8 months pregnant with baby number 3."

"I have been CrossFitting for 2½ years," Ellison posted on CrossFit's Facebook page, "and ... strongly believe that pregnancy is not an illness, but a time to relish in your body's capabilities to kick ass."

The photo of the 35-year-old former bodybuilder from California prompted a slew of comments -- both positive and negative.

"This is shocking and not in a good way. Lifting heavy things during pregnancy is dangerous to you and your baby," Natalie Rose wrote.

"Why would you risk hurting your baby just to stay in shape?" Stephanie Herrera asked. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Others jumped in to defend the fit mom.

"I'm 6 months pregnant with triplets and am still Crossfitting as much as I can!" Carol Bolliger shared.

"Doctors say it is perfectly fine to stick to your exercise route while pregnant, in fact it is encouraged," Kristen Funk wrote.

Exercise is encouraged during pregnancy, says Dr. Siobhan Dolan, an ob-gyn and medical adviser for March of Dimes. Ellison's routine is an extreme example, but most moms can benefit from aerobic activity and strength training before and after childbirth, she says. 

"A woman's overall health, including obstetric and medical risks, should be evaluated before prescribing an exercise program," the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' guidelines say. "Generally, participation in a wide range of recreational activities appears to be safe during pregnancy; however, each sport should be reviewed individually for its potential risk."

In general doctors recommend 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week, Dolan says. What "moderate" means varies from person to person, and depends on how active someone was before becoming pregnant. Competitive athletes, the gynecologists' organization notes, may be able to perform at higher rates during pregnancy and return to vigorous activity sooner after giving birth.

It would be great if everyone got in shape and started exercising before becoming pregnant, Dolan says. "But in the real world, I get it, you're working, you're busy.

"Pregnancy is a great motivator," she says, but women who have never exercised before should be careful about starting a strenuous program right off the bat. Walking is a good way to start; you can begin slowly and then build up.

There are certain things pregnant women should avoid while exercising. Activities with a high risk of falling or abdominal injury, such as horseback riding or downhill skiing should be avoided, as should scuba diving.

Lying flat on your back or on your stomach can slow blood flow back to the heart, Dolan says, so pregnant women should also modify these exercise positions.

Modification can help you keep up with your normal workout routine. For instance, sit-ups can be done on the side instead of on the back. There's even a website dedicated to WODs -- or workouts of the day -- created specifically for CrossFit moms.

"CrossFit is a strength and intensity-based fitness program," a warning on the site says. "However, during pregnancy you want to concentrate on strength and keeping your body healthy, rather than the intensity."

Intensity is the bigger concern about what Ellison is doing, says Dr. Raul Artal, chairman of St. Louis University School of Medicine's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health as well as the lead author of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' guidelines for exercise and pregnancy. Lifting big weights -- in excess of 15 pounds -- could put both mom and baby at risk, he says.

When lifting weights, Artal explains, you divert blood flow from internal organs, including the uterus, to your muscles. That can prevent oxygen from getting to the baby. He compares it to stepping on the umbilical cord for 20 or 30 seconds, or however long you are exerting yourself.

Weightlifting can also put the mom at risk for premature labor, Artal says. Bearing down could potentially lead to uterine activity -- i.e. start contractions -- or rupture membranes in the gestational sac, which surrounds the embryo in early pregnancy.

"What's important to point out is that individuals may get away with this activity and nothing will happen," he says. "What's difficult for doctors to predict is which mother will have a problem."

While Artal says he would advise women not to engage in this type of activity any time during the pregnancy, "this is a very personal decision. A woman would have to decide if she's willing to take the risk."

Ellison has obviously made her choice. "Haters will hate and it's ok. My life is not their life thank goodness," she posted on Facebook.

Attractions In New Orleans - Scientists Estimate How Much Longer The Earth Can Support Life

Source      - http://www.forbes.com/
By             - Alex Knapp
Category   - Attractions In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Attractions In New Orleans

The end of the world is near! Well, relatively near, geologically speaking. Okay, even geologically speaking, it’s pretty far off.

But scientists at the University of East Anglia have made their best estimate for how much longer the Earth will be habitable for human life, barring nuclear war, rogue asteroids, or being destroyed to make room for a hyperspace bypass. Fortunately, you don’t need to put your affairs in order any time soon. The researchers estimate that the Earth will remain habitable for another 1.75 to 3.25 billion years.

Their research, which has been published in the journal Astrobiology, is part of the bigger project of looking for life outside of our own solar system. Over the past few years, astronomers have discovered a number of planets that exist within the habitable zones of their stars – meaning that their orbits place them not too far, but not too close, so that temperatures on the surface are just right for life to develop.

But with so many planets in potentially habitable zones, there has to be some priority in trying to determine which planets are most likely to contain life and are therefore more worth devoting additional resources to observing. That’s where this research comes in.

However, as the orbits of planets change over time, and as the nature of their stars change over time, no planet is likely to stay in a habitable zone forever. So in this paper, the astronomers did their best to estimate the “habitable zone lifetime” of a planet. Since life took hundreds of millions of years to evolve on Earth, the researchers reason that the best candidates for observation are those with the longest habitable zone lifetimes.

The researchers then studied 34 planets, including Earth, that are thought to exist within the habitable zones of their stars. They then used observations of their orbits and their stars’ to arrive at estimates of each planets habitable zone lifetime. There is an astounding range of possibilities – ranging “from significantly less than that of Earth to over five times Earth’s HZ lifetime,” they wrote.

Of course, this paper really represents a first step in determining how likely a planet is going to evolve life. The scientists themselves notes this in the paper, where they write “Interpreting the results that have been returned by this simple model should be done with caution. While we have sought to estimate a theoretically habitable zone lifetime, we do not claim that the time that a planet spends within the HZ is the only control over habitability.”

They also note that different planets will experience different factors, which will provide still further interesting effects on how life might evolve on them. “The actual HZ lifetime of any given planet is unlikely to be controlled solely by planetary surface temperatures, and individual worlds may experience a variety of divergent (bio)geochemical evolutionary histories, possibly resulting in markedly different planetary environments to that of Earth.”

First step it may be, it’s still a fascinating one. As the models for habitability get further defined, that may help astronomers find another planet with life that much sooner. Additionally, this research reminds us that though the end may be billions of years away, the ability of the Earth to remain home for human beings won’t last forever.

But if humans are still around when the Earth begins to move out of the habitable zone, we can always move next door.

“If we ever needed to move to another planet, Mars is probably our best bet,” lead researcher Andrew Rushby said in a statement. “It’s very close and will remain in the habitable zone until the end of the Sun’s lifetime – six billion years from now.”

Extended Stay In New Orleans - Apple's Big Change Means A Worthwhile Upgrade For You

Source        - http://abcnews.go.com/
By              - JOANNA STERN
Category    - Extended Stay In New Orleans
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Extended Stay In New Orleans

Ever since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, the phone has looked pretty much the same. 

Okay, the hardware has gotten sleeker, the phone has gotten faster, the screen has gotten slightly taller and the camera improvements are impressive. But the part of the phone you interact with every single day -- the touchscreen and the software on it -- has remained relatively unchanged. Parts like the yellow-hued Notes app, the gray and blue colored Calendar or the rounded icons all look as they did on that day in June 2007 when people first lined up for the iPhone. 

That changes today with the launch of iOS 7, Apple's latest software for its iPad and iPhone. Apple's chief of design Jony Ive has said "while iOS 7 is completely new" it is "instantly familiar." It is a serious change, but is it one you should make today? 

Everything In Its Right Place, Sort Of
You can think of iOS 7 like an episode of "Trading Spaces." Apple hasn't changed the actual house layout, it hasn't really torn down any staircases or built out a back porch, but it has replaced all the furniture, repainted the walls and redone the floors. 

Icons are new (though not always better), menus are translucent and with new shades of light blues and purples, the keyboard is cleaner and everything is generally tidier. The overall design does take some getting used to, especially the zooms and swooshes that appear when you transition between screens. There is also a Parallax effect, meaning when you move the phone, parts of the software move. It's a fun trick, but that's about it. 

 

iOS 7 like an episode of "Trading Spaces."

But despite those appearance changes, which I quickly adapted to, most things are still in the same place. Your apps are on the home screen, your apps go into folders on that home screen and you can swipe from the top of the screen down to see your notifications. Some things have been relocated. For instance, you can't swipe to the left anymore to get to Search, instead you swipe down from the middle of the home screen to get to the search field. It's been the most jarring change for me and not exactly a welcoming one; at times I mistakenly swipe down and get the notification tray. 

Yet, after a week of using the software, the general novelty and the newness wears off and it begins to feel like home. 

Much Needed Feature Additions

But it is the new features that really make it feel like a more functional home. 

The main addition and my favorite one is Control Center. Finally addressing all the times you've had to go digging through the settings menu to turn on Wi-Fi or lower the brightness, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen, no matter what app you are in, and get easy access to specific settings. There are shortcuts to the Wi-Fi, volume, brightness, Bluetooth, toggles and even a built-in flashlight and the calculator. 

I do wish there was the ability to customize what settings were visible and that you could actually join a Wi-Fi network from the panel, but if there is one reason to upgrade to iOS it is this feature. 

 

The multitasking features are also improved. Now when you double-tap on the home button you are presented with images of the open apps. Instead of having to close the apps by tapping a small red minus button you can swipe up to kill the app. It's similar to how apps work in Android, I just wish there was a "kill all" switch instead of having to swipe through each app.

Suites In New Orleans - Is The Smartphone Market Fragmented?

Source       -http://www.mycentraljersey.com/
By             - Andre Mouton
Category   - Suites In New Orleans
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Suites In New Orleans

The Galaxy S4 was announced in March, and there's a good chance you heard about it. Samsung's spring event, like Apple's fall one, has turned into something like the State of the Union address. One day a year, everyone tunes in -- even those who could normally care less -- to get informed about the seminal issues of our time.

What you may not realize is that there are actually five Galaxy S4s. There's the standard 5-inch version, and there's the 4.3-inch Mini. The Galaxy S4 Mega is a pocket-stretching 6.3-inch phablet, while the Zoom is a camera phone with a beer gut. Finally, there's the Active, a water-resistant S4 that goes mountain biking on the weekends.

Samsung's surprisingly complicated lineup reflects an increasingly complicated market. For years, the smartphone industry was a vanity race between rock-star handsets, namely Apple's iPhone and the Galaxy line. Today, however, even low-end devices offer handsome form factors, high-resolution screens, and advanced data connections. In many cases, consumers no longer need the latest and greatest, and they're settling for the cheapest. The industry is commoditizing, and this in turn is driving fragmentation. In order to stand out from the pack, and prop up falling margins, manufacturers are turning to niche markets, where competitors are fewer and innovation might still get noticed.

This trend has brought us camera-smartphone hybrids like the S4 Zoom and Nokia's Lumia 1020, loaded with high-resolution lenses and advanced photography features. Samsung's S4 Active and Sony's Xperia Z1 will both survive a dip in the pool, while the Casio G'zOne boasts a rugged exterior built for wilderness survival. Google's Moto X offers customizable backplates for those who simply need their smartphone to come in Spearmint, and the iPhone 5S sports fingerprint recognition for the privacy-minded individual. Some of these features may seem like gimmicks, unlikely to become industry standards; but with manufacturers focusing on their small game, we should probably expect to see more of this gimmickry.

If peripheral markets are one of the few big growth opportunities remaining, they're also somewhat friendlier to smaller brands and new entrants. To give one example, the demise of BlackBerry has left a gaping hole in the enterprise. Businesses have embraced the iPhone, and yet it's a virtual certainty that Apple, as a consumer-facing company, will never cater its hardware or software to the workplace. Android poses security problems for IT departments, and Windows Phone is mostly limited to lipstick-colored Nokia handsets. Bring-your-own-device is often touted as an advantage of the mobile era, but it could also reflect the lack of a better option for the office. Perhaps there's a window of opportunity here for some new competitor -- or even for BlackBerry, if it can get its act together -- that can provide business-friendly features like advanced security, an email-friendly keyboard, and close integration with company IT.

Video gaming represents another potentially lucrative market. Sony already sells a Playstation-branded mobile called the Xperia Play, and Microsoft is rumored to be working on closer integration of Windows Phone and the Xbox One. With the smartphone side of the equation standardized, consumers may begin to focus on the other things they can do with their handheld devices -- like play console games. Even a newcomer like Nintendo could potentially carve its way into the market; brand recognition and a back catalogue of titles would go a long way.

We're also seeing fragmentation in software, with mixed results. The Moto X offers advanced voice recognition and other perks not generally found on an Android handset, and for those who enjoy Google's services, it could be an attractive option. Until this year, Microsoft refused to release Office apps for IOS and Android, hoping to drive consumers to Windows Phone. The strategy didn't work -- or at least, it failed to move Windows Phone out of a (very) distant third place. Facebook Home promised an immersive social media experience to anyone who wanted it -- and few did.

Whether consumers embrace these niche products or not probably depends on what they're asked to sacrifice. Facebook Home was mostly an inconvenience for those who wanted to use their smartphones to make calls, shoot texts, or run apps; older generations of camera phones were awkward to hold or pocket. Compromises on form factor, usability, battery life, and price are a recipe for failure. First and foremost, a smartphone needs to be a smartphone.

It remains to be seen whether fragmentation succeeds in the marketplace. High-profile devices like the iPhone are still driving headlines, and stories about "the next big thing" continue to attract investors looking for an equally big return. One-size-fits-all makes for an exciting narrative, but the reality is that smartphones are deeply personal devices. They follow us everywhere, and have the potential to be useful in many different situations. Maybe we should expect some differences in personality.

Suites Near New Orleans Sports Venues - Android vs iPhone For Kids: How To Choose

Source      - http://www.usatoday.com/
By            - Suzanne Kantra
Category  - Suites Near New Orleans Sports Venues
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Suites Near New Orleans Sports Venues

Thinking about buying your child a smartphone? With the arrival of the lower-cost iPhone 5C ($79 at Walmart with a contract), it may seem the logical choice. The iPhone has a simple interface, parental controls, all sorts of apps and, now, cool bright colors. But is an iPhone better than your Android options? I've broken it down by parental pain points and made a pick for the best type of smartphone for kids.

PARENTAL CONTROLS

If you were to just consider the parental controls available through Apple's iOS versus Android, iOS would win hands down. You can easily shut off access to web browsing, the camera, video chat, installing apps, deleting apps and sharing location information, among other things. Plus, you can set content ratings for videos, music, books and apps, and even set a volume limit.

With iOS 7 (coming Wednesday for current devices) parents also get the ability to automatically block access to adult content on the Internet or limit browsing to a list of sites they've approved.

Android phones offer few parental controls baked-in. You can set content restrictions for entertainment and apps available through the Google Play store, and require a password before your child can make a purchase, but that's about it. The password requirement for purchases also doesn't hold true for free apps, so they could still download free games if you didn't want them to.

All Android devices have access to robust third-party parental-control apps, though, including Kid's Shell, Kido'z and NQ Family Guardian. They let you block, manage and monitor apps, including locking Google Play and in-app purchasing. They also provide content filtering for web browsing and the ability to set time limits on using the device. In short, everything you need to create boundaries you feel are appropriate for your child.

All the major carriers—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon—will let you set call and text restrictions by time of day. Sprint also lets you monitor and restrict who your child texts and see apps your child downloads. AT&T and Verizon let you set text and data usage limits, with Verizon letting you also set limits on calls and see which apps your child downloads. T-Mobile lets you put a cap on talk and text.

New cellphone carrier Zact provides the most robust controls. With Zact, parental controls can be set remotely via the Zact Control app (free for Android or iOS devices). You can set time-based restrictions for talk, text and individual apps and set when the device can have Internet access.

MALWARE

There are no anti-malware apps for iOS devices because of the way apps are restricted in Apple's operating system. These restrictions have also limited the frequency of malware on iOS devices. However, if your child jailbreaks the iPhone to load unauthorized apps, all bets are off. So it's worth loading an app like Lookout Mobile Security that will warn you if the device has been jailbroken.

Android devices receive the overwhelming share of malware attacks. However, if your child sticks to purchases from Google Play, Amazon App Store and other reputable marketplaces, the risk drops significantly. Plus, there are free anti-malware apps that protect Android devices, including Norton Mobile Security and Trend Micro Mobile Security.

LOST PHONE

Both iOS and Android devices have lost phone location and wiping options, so you'll be covered either way.

For Android devices, you can locate and ring the phone using Google's Android Device Manager web portal. For iOS devices, you need to turn on the Find my iPhone in settings before you can locate it using iCloud.

Once you have Find my iPhone turned on, you can also remotely wipe the phone if it falls into the wrong hands. And, with iOS 7, you'll also be able to create a custom message that tells people how to contact you should they find the device—even if you choose to wipe it.

For Android, you'll need to turn the remote wipe option on in the Google Settings app (a separate app from your device settings app) before you can remotely wipe it.

PRICE

You can get an iPhone 4S (starting Friday) or a number of Android phones for free from your carrier, if you sign a new contract. To get the best price on an Android phone, you'll want to check out the Android phone options on Amazon and Wirefly and compare them to your carrier.

When you look at what you're getting for your money, you'll find last year's flagship Android devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, at the free/penny price point in some places, while last year's iPhone 5 will cost $79.

Cellphone plan costs are also a factor. Looking at the major carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile), a plan for your child will start at $30 per month if you add a line or $50 if you get a standalone plan. Even the more budget-friendly services like Cricket Wireless, Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile will cost you at least $35 per month for service.

New cellphone carrier Zact is great for light smartphone users because you pay just for what you use—and you don't have to get data if your child will only be using WiFi networks. For instance, for about $19 per month, you can get 250 minutes of talk, 1000 texts and 250MB of data. Or, for the same $19, you could get 500 minutes of talk, 2500 texts and no data. You can make adjustments throughout the month and get reimbursed for what you don't use at the end of the month.

BEST SMARTPHONE FOR KIDS

My pick for the best smartphone for kids is a low-cost Android phone. There are great phones that cost nothing up front, like the Samsung Galaxy S III on Sprint.

The Galaxy S III may be a year old, but it is still a great phone. It has a beautiful 4.8-inch display, a battery that will easily take kids through a full day of use, an 8MP camera that performs well in low light and a 1.5GHz dual core processor, which easily handles all but the most processor-intense games. It was Samsung's flagship model until April this year and it's holding up well.

The other key factor is the price of monthly service set by the carrier. For Sprint & AT&T customers, adding a second line is the way to go. Verizon and T-Mobile customers may want to consider a plan on Zact. Zact has the Galaxy S III for $449 upfront or, you can save more with the $259 Samsung Galaxy Victory. Either way, you'll pay less over time, especially for lighter users.

Aquariums In New Orleans - How Software Can Help Solve The Office-Layout Puzzle

Source     - http://online.wsj.com/
By            - RACHEL FEINTZEIG
Category   - Aquariums In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Aquariums In New Orleans

Crafting a dynamic office layout that reflects a company's culture and image (think gleaming mahogany conference tables for a law firm, ping-pong tables for a quirky startup) can encourage collaboration, productivity and creativity, and lead to improved morale and reduced turnover. Doing it in as small a footprint as possible can save a company big bucks on rent.

But crafting the perfect office is tough work. Every time you rearrange people, you have to rearrange all the "stuff that goes along with them," says Katherine Jones, a lead analyst with research and consulting firm Bersin by Deloitte. That includes everything from copy rooms to coffee machines. Throw in additional challenges, such as remote workers who need a desk only once a week, and deciding where to carve out communal space and cluster desks quickly becomes a complex puzzle.

Luckily, as office technology has evolved, so has the technology to help set up offices. Software from companies such as OfficeSpace Software Inc., Qube Global Software Ltd. and Fox RPM Corp. has made it a whole lot easier to design office layouts and coordinate employee moves.

ExactTarget, a digital marketing company owned by Salesforce.com Inc. CRM -0.64% and based in Indianapolis, used to use Excel spreadsheets and white boards to map out moves—a manual, labor-intensive process, according to Tami Koch, its director of corporate and global facilities. Ms. Koch sought a software solution that was "intuitive" and "sustainable"—something the average worker at the company could tap into. 

She turned to OfficeSpace software, a highly visual, Web-based program that gives people across the company a bird's-eye view into the workplace. Employees can scout out emergency equipment or see how many seats are in a conference room. Facilities staff can point maintenance workers to the exact wall that needs to be painted. And Ms. Koch can coordinate moves—like one that shuffled 159 people from one building to another—by dragging and dropping workers from their old desks to new ones. That action triggers messages to the employees who are being moved, as well as their managers, and sends the necessary information to the facilities team. Since the company is expanding, it runs a space-usage report weekly to determine when it's time to push into a new floor or building. 

The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization with employees scattered across more than 40 countries, uses OfficeSpace to help deploy staffers to locations where crises have erupted. You can pluck a worker from a spot in the New York office and move him or her over to a desk in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, with a click of the mouse, says Adrian Grad, the organization's director of facilities and operations. It's easy to track and classify vacancies, she adds, enabling her to determine which seats are free for use by workers who may be in town for just a few days and which can house a long-term occupant. 

By getting a better handle on the organization's vacancies, Ms. Grad was able to squeeze more work groups into existing space. 

"Because of that, we were able to grow within our footprint and not take another floor in this building," she says, saving the organization money. 

Ms. Grad says she can also easily group employees together who are working on a major project, testing out various scenarios with department heads and then settling on the one that works best. She considers worker habits and needs as she lays out the space: Many employees sit at long benches to encourage collaboration; others, like employees who meet with donors, need private offices.

Hotel Reservations New Orleans - First Lady Tells America To 'Drink Up'

Source      - http://finance.yahoo.com/
By             - Darlene Superville
Category  - Hotel Reservations New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Hotel Reservations New Orleans

Michelle Obama says it's time for America to "drink up." 

The first lady who has pushed America to eat better and to exercise more on Thursday helped launch a national campaign to encourage everyone to drink more plain old-fashioned, calorie-free water. 

"If we were going to take just one step to make ourselves and our families healthier probably the single best thing we could do is to just drink more water," she said at the high school in Watertown, Wis., where the Partnership for a Healthier America kicked off the initiative with backing from the beverage industry, media, government and entertainers such as actress Eva Longoria. 

"We all have a choice about what to drink, and when we choose water, we are choosing to be our very best," she said. 

Every bodily system depends on water, which makes up about 60 percent of a person's body weight, according to the Mayo Clinic. Water also is a good option for people concerned about weight control, is largely inexpensive and is available practically everywhere. 

Yet despite trends showing a rise in water consumption and declines in the amount of soda people drink, Larry Soler, the partnership's president and chief executive, said the "drink up" water campaign is needed. Health advocates blame the corn syrups and other sugars in soda for obesity. One leading consumer advocacy group said the campaign should be about encouraging people to drink less soda. 

"That's exactly the type of impact we're glad to be seeing, and we want to accelerate that because we still have an enormous problem in this country with rates of obesity," Soler said. 

Sam Kass, executive director of "Let's Move," the anti-childhood-obesity initiative Mrs. Obama rolled out in 2010, cited federal statistics showing that about 40 percent of adults drink fewer than four cups of water daily and that one-fourth of kids below age 19 don't drink any plain water on any given day. 

There's not one official recommendation for how many cups to drink. But, in 2004, the Institute of Medicine said the average person gets enough water every day from a mix of beverages, including caffeinated ones, and the water that exists in fruits and other food. 

Soler emphasized that the campaign is not about pushing a particular type of water, or stressing water over other beverages, although Mrs. Obama in the past has counseled people to switch from sugary soda to water and has talked about seeing improvement in her daughters' health after making that change in their diets. The first lady also has been criticized by people who accuse her of being the nation's food police. 

"Every participating company has agreed to only encourage people to drink water, not focus on what people shouldn't drink, not even talk about why they may feel their type of water is better than another," Soler said. "It's just 'drink more water.'" 

The Center for Science in the Public Interest consumer advocacy group said a better campaign message is to drink less soda. 

"Soda and other sugar drinks are one of the biggest promoters of obesity and diabetes, and advocating drinking more actual water and less sugar water is one of the most important messages that 'Let's Move' could deliver," said Michael Jacobson, the center's executive director. 

The American Beverage Association, which represents the makers of soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, juices and juice drinks, and bottled water and water beverages, supports the campaign, as does the International Bottled Water Association, among others, Soler said. 

To coincide with the campaign's launch, the first lady promoted drinking more water in a series of videotaped messages that were being broadcast all day Thursday on various TV talk-shows, from morning to late night. 

The campaign's logo, a blue water drop with the words "drink up" in white, eventually will appear on packages of bottled water, individual bottles of water themselves and reusable bottles, Soler said, and on more than 10,000 outdoor public drinking fountains.

Suites In Downtown New Orleans - Male Sex Drive Depends On Both Estrogen And Testosterone

Source     - http://www.bloomberg.com/
By            - Shannon Pettypiece
Category  - Suites In Downtown New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Suites In Downtown New Orleans

Estrogen, the main sex hormone in women, plays a bigger role in male libido than previously thought, according to research that may guide development of sex-drive treatments. 

The study found that reducing estrogen in men undergoing treatment for low testosterone resulted in a drop in libido and an increase in body fat, even as testosterone levels improved. The research is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

The finding surprised researchers, who have believed the testosterone caused men to have stronger sex drives than women, said Joel Finkelstein, a study author and endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. While it’s known that the body converts some testosterone into estrogen and that the hormone declines in men with low testosterone, researchers didn’t fully understand estrogen’s role in male sexual desire. 

“What will surprise many people is that loss of sexual desire in men with low testosterone is due to lack of estrogen,” Finkelstein said. “People think estrogen in men makes them very effeminate; they think of it as a female hormone, they think it is testosterone that gives men their sexual desire.” 

While there have been clues that estrogen as well as testosterone influence male sex drive there have been few definitive studies until now, Finkelstein said.

Previous Findings

Researchers have found a drop in libido in mice by cutting their estrogen. There also have been anecdotal reports of men undergoing sex changes who see an increase in libido when they start estrogen therapy. In women, it may be the opposite, where testosterone plays a bigger role than estrogen in their sex drive. 

“Both sexes require the opposite gender hormone to have adequate libido,” he said. 

In the study, researchers looked at more than 300 men ages 20 to 50 that were given treatments to suppress production of all reproductive hormones. Half the men were then given a testosterone-boosting gel or a placebo. The other half received the testosterone gel along with a drug that lowered the production of estrogen. 

The researchers found that testosterone was the main hormone involved in lean body mass and muscle strength. Estrogen played a bigger role in fat accumulation. While low testosterone did cause a decline in sexual desire, those getting the estrogen-suppressing drug saw a greater drop-off.

Testosterone Treatments

The finding shouldn’t mean a change in treatment for men with low testosterone. Since the body is able to convert most commercially available testosterone replacement therapies to estrogen, raising testosterone will in turn boost estrogen levels as well. It should, however, discourage drugmakers from trying to develop new forms of testosterone replacements that aren’t able to be converted to estrogen, Finkelstein said. 

The U.S. market for testosterone replacement therapies, such as Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)’s Axiron and AbbVie Inc. (ABBV)’s Angrogel, is almost $2 billion with as many as 13.8 million men older than 45 in the U.S. having low levels of testosterone, according to a 2006 study in the International Journal of Clinical Practice. Lower-than-normal levels can lead to a loss of libido, a decrease in bone and muscle mass, and depression.

Despite, testosterone products being available for decades, Finkelstein said more research is needed into the health benefits and side effects of testosterone, especially in men over 50. 

“It is amazing what we don’t know,” said Finkelstein. “Even the most basic things we don’t understand about this drug that has been around for almost 80 years.”

Family Friendly Attractions New Orleans - New iPhones: C Doesn't Stand For 'Cheap', Actually

Source     - http://www.theregister.co.uk/
By            -  Neil McAllister
Category  - Family Friendly Attractions New Orleans
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Family Friendly Attractions New Orleans

You wanted new iPhones and you got them. But if anything, the most surprising thing about Apple's big Tuesday reveal was just how little it managed to keep secret from the tech media ahead of the event.

As predicted, Cupertino unveiled not one but two new iPhone models – a first – and just like everyone thought, they are named the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S.

The iPhone 5S is Apple's new flagship model. In fact, Apple marketing head Phil Schiller described it as "the most forward-thinking phone we've ever created." That might be a bit of an overstatement in our estimation, but it is a significant upgrade.

The iPhone 5C is less groundbreaking, in more than one sense. It replaces the iPhone 5 in Apple's handset roster and it cleaves pretty closely to that phone's feature set – except that it's made of plastic and it comes in multiple colors, which we also expected. On the downside, however, it's hardly the rock-bottom-priced, entry-level phone that many were predicting, which could hurt Apple's growth in the all-important developing markets. But let's dive into the specs first.

iPhone 5C: Plastic and proud

Like the original iPhone 5, the iPhone 5C is based on Apple's A6 SoC. It's not immediately clear whether the new model got a performance upgrade, though Schiller did say it features "console-level graphics" – whatever that means. Unlike the earlier model, so far it only comes in 16GB and 32GB models (no more 64GB).

Otherwise, it has a four-inch Retina display with 1136-by-640 resolution at 326ppi, with the same brightness and contrast as the iPhone 5. It has an 8MP iSight camera and a 1.2MP FaceTime camera featuring slight improvements to the old one. In short, most of its features seem nearly identical to the iPhone 5's.

The iPhone 5C does feature a slightly larger battery than the iPhone 5, but that only seems to have boosted the advertised standby time from 225 hours to 250 hours, and lengthened the amount of LTE browsing time slightly; other power consumption figures are unchanged.

The main thing that has changed is the iPhone 5C's new body, which Schiller described as "beautifully, unapologetically plastic." It's manufactured from a single piece of hardened polycarbonate and is available in five colors: white, pink, yellow, blue, and green.

Soft-touch silicone cases are also available in all of the same colors, plus black, allowing you to mix and match Apple's fruity flavors however you like.

Schiller stressed that despite the switch to plastic, Apple is still being environmentally conscious in its manufacturing. The iPhone 5C, he said, is "highly recyclable," featuring arsenic-free glass, a mercury-free display, and plastics that contain no brominated flame retardant (BFR) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

So what we have in the iPhone 5C, then, is essentially a plastic version of the iPhone 5 – and that's reflected in its cost. Pricing with a two-year contract will be $99 for a 16GB version and $199 for a 32GB version, which isn't a whole lot cheaper than some of the discounts big-box retailers have been offering on the original iPhone 5 lately.

Unlocked versions without a contract will be more expensive – $549 for 16GB and $649 for 32GB, according to Apple's website.

Those aren't really bad prices for a modern smartphone, but they aren't great prices for budget-conscious consumers, either. They aren't likely to lure many customers who otherwise have their eyes on cut-rate Android handsets or the low end of Nokia's Lumia line.

On the other hand, although Apple has halted sales of the old iPhone 5, it's keeping the 8GB iPhone 4S around and it will now be free with a two-year contract. So Cupertino is moving to embrace the low end, but cautiously, and the iPhone 5C may not be the game-changer we were thinking it could be.

Accommodation In New Orleans - PayPal Unveils New Gadget To Help Stores ID Shoppers

Source     - http://www.usatoday.com/
By            - Alistair Barr
Category   - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Accommodation In New Orleans

The holy grail of retail in the 21st century is to recognize shoppers as they walk into stores — like Amazon.com, the e-commerce giant, does when people visit its website.

David Marcus, president of PayPal, the online payment division of eBay, thinks he has the answer in Beacon, a new gadget the company unveiled on Monday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.

Beacon is a three-inch high stick that plugs into an electric wall socket and lets stores automatically identify and authenticate PayPal users as they walk in.

The gadget connects to stores' point-of-sale systems and shoppers' smartphones using a technology called Bluetooth Low Energy, letting consumers pay without launching an application or checking in — actions that are currently needed to pay with the PayPal app. Beacon also does not need GPS, or a cellular phone signal, to work.

This is the latest effort by PayPal to get consumers paying in physical stores with their phones rather than by swiping a credit or debit card. This has proved tough so far because swiping a card is so easy and quick.

"This is the one thing I'm most excited to launch since joining PayPal," said Marcus, who took over the online payment giant in the spring of 2012. "This is the first thing I think that is better than swiping a credit card."

PayPal is opening Beacon to third-party developers on Monday and hopes to encourage the creation of shopping apps that work with the new device in stores.

In the fourth quarter, PayPal plans to pilot the device with some large brands, followed by a "massive roll-out" in 2014, Marcus said.

Beacon will cost less than $100, although PayPal has not finalized the pricing, he noted.

PayPal designed the gadget itself. The project was code-named Blueberry, a reference to the new Bluetooth Low Energy technology and one of the engineers who led the project - Hasty Granberry, who joined PayPal through its 2011 acquisition of start-up Fig Card.