Thursday, May 30th, 2013 By George Leong, B.Comm. for Profit Confidential
Consumer spending on luxury goods continues to ramp up.
The easy monetary policy by the Federal Reserve has created a whole new generation of millionaires, or the ?new rich,? as the stock market propels to new records.
The spending on high-end goods in the retail sector was further confirmed on Tuesday after high-end jeweler Tiffany & Co. (NYSE/TIF) delivered an impressive quarter, driven by a rise in global spending. The fact that spending on luxury goods is on the rise globally is bullish.
Recall my recent Profit Confidential article in which I stated that the rich continue to spend (see ?Higher Taxes: Who Cares? Not the Rich?). The Shullman Luxury and Affluence Monthly Pulse, which is an excellent metric detailing the spending habits of consumers making over $250,000 annually, suggested that higher taxes will not impact the spending patterns of 61% of those earning over $500,000 annually. (Source: Frank, R., ?Wealthy Say Higher Taxes Don?t Hurt Spending,? CNBC, March 27, 2013.)
It appears Tiffany is proving the research correct.
In the first quarter, Tiffany reported a nine-percent rise in its worldwide sales to $895 million. If you looked at the sales numbers on a constant-exchange-rate basis, the increase was 13%. Interestingly, the sales increase was worldwide, which bodes well for Tiffany.
In the main Americas region, sales increased six percent to $408 million, representing 46% of total sales. I feel this allocation will shift, as Tiffany expands its presence in Asia, which currently accounts for about 41% of total sales.
The Asia-Pacific region including China but excluding Japan reported impressive sales growth of 15% year-over-year to $223 million. Tiffany?s key comparable store sales jumped nine percent.
The results from Japan were affected by the weak yen, which made the currency translation impact quite noticeable. Yet sales still managed to rise two percent to $145 million. On a constant-exchange basis, sales in Japan surged 20%, with comparable store sales up a whopping 21%. See what the easy monetary policy in Japan is doing?
Even the economically challenged eurozone region managed to pull off a six-percent increase in sales to $93.0 million, which is good, given the mess in this region.
With the report, Tiffany?s shares surged to a new 52-week high on Tuesday and have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 52 weeks.
Chart courtesy of?www.StockCharts.com
While Tiffany reported excellent results, my favorite luxury-brand stock continues to be apparel and accessories-maker Michael Kors Holdings Limited (NYSE/KORS).
In the handbag area, I continue to favor Coach, Inc. (NYSE/COH), which you can read more about in ?These Stocks Benefiting as Rich Spend Lavishly at High-End Retail.?
To officially begin CNU21, Salt Lake City?s Mayor, Ralph Becker, welcomed all of the Congress attendees. Most had travelled quite a long way, and he encouraged attendees to explore his fair city while here.
Richard Louv, author, was the most impassioned speaker. Best known for his book, ?Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder,? he described how we?ve disconnected family, nature, and community. Here?s some of my favorite quotes from his speech:
?What are we doing to our kids?? in reference to the average child?s sedentary lifestyle.
?Sitting is the new smoking,? in reference to their similar health effects.
?I believe cities can become engines of biodiversity.?
?Conservation is no longer enough. Now, we must create nature.?
Louv discussed how both children and adults have been ?programmed? to fear the unknown, and thus, nature. He said that through this fear, parents schedule their children?s time too much. He encouraged regular unstructured play outdoors for children, and outside exercise rather than indoor gym exercise for adults.
He told the audience that preschoolers are now the fastest growing market for antidepressants. One in five boys in the U.S. are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder.
Louv pushed that we?ve bought into the misconception that we can experience anything through a screen as a society.
He explained how ?Family Nature Clubs? through the Children and Nature Network have grown immensely. The simple task of these clubs is to meet up with other families at a park and allow children to play freely in greenspace. It could also be a hike or bike ride- so long as the families are outside together.
Did you have a sort of ?Huckleberry Finn? childhood? Do you want that for your children or something different?
Credits: Photo and references linked to sources. Photo taken by Aascot Holt.
Aascot Holt
Aascot Holt is an undergraduate at Eastern Washington University, pursuing a major in Urban and Regional Planning and a minor in Geography. She will graduate in the spring of 2013. She is from Stevenson, WA and currently lives in Spokane, WA in a brick 1936 kit house. She is most intrigued by small-city and small town planning, parks and recreation planning, long-range planning, and historic preservation. She hopes to continue her habit of being involved with many planning projects at a time, and fears being pigeonholed. Aascot maintains the ?Being A Planning Student? Tumblr as well as her planning-centric blog, The Comprehensive. She is currently writing Cheney, WA?s entirely new comprehensive parks, recreation, and trails plan, completely pro bono. More can be learned about her endeavors via LinkedIn.
In each issue of Distro, Editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.
There are times when you need to stay strong, ignore the criticism and do what you know is right. Then, there are some times when the masses are right and listening is the smart thing. With Windows 8, Microsoft made many radical changes, not the least of which being the deletion of the fabled Start button. This week we got our first taste of that operating system's first major update, Windows 8.1, and it includes a number of notable upgrades and improvements. Perhaps the most notable? The return of a Start button. Well, sort of.
It's now called a "Start Tip" as it isn't a proper button, but you can click on it and bring up the tiled Start Screen interface. So, the Start button is back, but not the Start menu. That's fine by me, as I don't think hidden, contextual elements make much sense in a keyboard-and-mouse environment. And the other tweaks are nice, including a far more comprehensive Settings section, a functional lock screen and, finally, the ability to adjust the size of applications that you've snapped to either side of your screen. Maybe in Windows 8.2 we'll get fully resizable windows!
If all you do is eat it, the food in your fridge and pantry isn't living up to its full potential. The latest research shows that everyday foods like vinegar and yogurt can be used as home remedies, for health and beauty challenges ranging from sunburns to a bout of the blues.
Health Uses for Everyday Foods
Use it to soothe a sunburn.
Soak a cotton ball in apple cider vinegar to treat fried skin, says Bonnie McMillen, a nurse at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
The Golden Rules of Sun Protection
Health Uses for Everyday Foods
Use it to boost your mood.
Aromatherapy research suggests that the scent of lemon oil can lift spirits. Add lemon zest to iced tea; inhale the aroma.
Health Uses for Everyday Foods
Use it to keep your skin looking fresh.
Use plain Greek yogurt as a mask: The live bacteria remove toxins, and the acidity balances the pH of skin, says Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD, author of Food as Medicine.
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Grand Theft Auto 3 for iOS just got a nice little update that brings proper widescreen support now for the iPhone 5, iCloud game saves and custom music playlists. For such a major title, it's a little disappointing it's taken so long for it to support the 4-inch display on the iPhone 5, but better late, than never.
iCloud game save support is a pretty big addition, and is a big deal if you want to seamlessly switch between playing on your iPhone and your iPad. We haven't tried it out yet, but if it works as well as we hope it does, GTA 3 is back on the playlist.
Speaking of playlists, the latest update now allows for custom music playlist creation for listening to while your driving around shooting things. Create a playlist in iTunes called "GTA3" and you'll be able to listen to your music as you roam around Liberty City. If you've already downloaded, be sure to tell us how the new features are working out for you. Does the iCloud syncing work as well as it should?
It's tough to find a wetsuit that fits you perfectly. Because of the rather intensive construction process brands typically only offer a handful of sizes, and more often than not you end up settling for the best fit available, but not a perfect fit. This little wetsuit company wants to change that.
Carapace Wetsuits, based out of Southern California, has figured out how to make custom-fitted wetsuits for people at normal wetsuit prices. It's kind of the holy grail of manufacturing. Here's how it works. On a website, you are guided with video to take 15 different measurements of your own body. Carapace takes those measurements, applies custom algorithms to them, then puts those numbers into a CAD file, and presto, each panel is the precision cut so when the whole suit comes together it fits all of your body's little freaky weirdnesses just perfectly.
Carapace sent me a prototype of their wetsuit to inspect, along with some samples of the neoprene it will be using. The materials are all premium quality, including some super soft/flexible Yamamoto neoprene. The suit is constructed like other high-end wetsuits. All seams are blind-stitched, glued, and taped, making an air-proof seal (I tested it by inflating an arm). It has blast-proof knees, sealed wrists/ankles, a magnetic zipper-stop (very cool), and a stash pocket for your keys.
But of course the banner feature here is that it's custom made for your body. With wetsuits, specifically, fit makes a huge difference. Wetsuits that are too loose allow water to flood in, which is obviously bad. Wetsuits that are too tight have a whole range of problems. If they're tight around the arms or shoulders, the suit acts like a Thera-Band, applying resistance to every stroke you take, which greatly adds to fatigue. The seams also wear out more easily when they're constantly pulled on like that, and when rubber is stretched it doesn't provide as much insulation. With a tailor-made wetsuit, though, you're never stuck awkwardly between sizes.
What's more, it's not hard to see how this style of manufacturing could be applied to other things we wear. Shoes would be the ultimate. Most people's feet are two different sizes (mine are almost a full size different), and so they simply buy shoes that are the right size for their bigger foot. Improper fitting footwear can open the door to a whole host of injuries. But what if you could just take some measurements of each of your feet at home, enter them online, and you'd have perfect-fitting shoes every time. It would totally eliminate the guesswork from online shopping.
This same concept could be adopted for helmets and pads, baseball mitts, gloves, even running shirts and pants. You could specify if you want them to be tighter in certain areas for compression, and looser in others for breathability. It might sound like overkill, but remember, the Carapace guys are managing to do it for the same price as a normal wetsuit. Cost being equal, wouldn't you rather wear something that fits you perfectly?
Carapace Wetsuits are in their final days of a Kickstarter campaign, and they are already right on the verge of making their goal. The suits are 3/2s (three millimeter in the thicker parts, 2 millimeter in the thinner parts), but you can get 4/3 if you pay $20 more, which is a steal. The EXO2 "Performance Suit" is currently going for $380, with materials comparable to Xcel Drylock suits. Their top of the line EXO1 is going for $480, which uses the Japanese Yamamoto neoprene (used in suits like Matuse and Isurus), which has an incredible weight-to-warmth ratio. Not cheap, to be sure, but comparable to what you'd pay for a big brand's high-end line. I inspected the materials for both, and they looked good. Assuming all goes well?this is Kickstarter, after all, so take your block of salt?the suits should ship in the fall, just in time for chilly waters. The only big ding against them is that they haven't cracked the algorithms for women's suits yet, but they said that's coming soon (women can try to use the system, but it's possible the hips won't scale correctly yet).
Wetsuits are obviously something of a niche market, but with surfing (and body boarding) becoming more popular every year, that niche is ever-expanding. We hope we'll see this style of manufacturing applied to other athletic gear in the near future. There's simply nothing quite like custom. [Carapace]
A police van believed to be transporting 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, a suspect in the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London, Thursday, May 30, 2013. Two men attacked and killed the off-duty soldier in broad daylight, in southeast London's Woolwich area on Wednesday, May 22. They were shot by police and arrested on suspicion of murder. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A police van believed to be transporting 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, a suspect in the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London, Thursday, May 30, 2013. Two men attacked and killed the off-duty soldier in broad daylight, in southeast London's Woolwich area on Wednesday, May 22. They were shot by police and arrested on suspicion of murder. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A police van believed to be transporting 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, a suspect in the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London, Thursday, May 30, 2013. Two men attacked and killed the off-duty soldier in broad daylight, in southeast London's Woolwich area on Wednesday, May 22. They were shot by police and arrested on suspicion of murder. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A police van believed to be transporting 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, a suspect in the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London, Thursday, May 30, 2013. Two men attacked and killed the off-duty soldier in broad daylight, in southeast London's Woolwich area on Wednesday, May 22. They were shot by police and arrested on suspicion of murder. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
A British police officer stands guard near some of the thousands of tributes left in honour of murdered 25-year-old British soldier Lee Rigby, near Woolwich Barracks in London, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. An autopsy shows that an off-duty soldier killed in a suspected Islamic extremist in London attack last week died from multiple cuts and stab wounds after he was hit by a car, police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
British police officers secure the back entrance of Westminster Magistrates Court in central London, as they wait for a police van carrying 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, a suspect in the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby, Thursday, May 30, 2013. Two men attacked and killed the off-duty soldier in broad daylight, in southeast London's Woolwich area, Wednesday, May 22. They were shot by police and arrested on suspicion of murder. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
LONDON (AP) ? A prime suspect in the slaying last week of a British soldier sat handcuffed in court Thursday, given permission not to stand up before a judge because of wounds suffered when he was gunned down by police.
Michael Adebowale, 22, confirmed his name, address and date of birth as the investigation into the shocking killing entered its courtroom phase.
He is one of two men suspected of attacking Lee Rigby near military barracks in southeast London. The other, 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo, remains hospitalized and has not been charged. He is likely to be charged once he has recovered sufficiently to be released from hospital.
The daylight attack on Rigby by two men wielding knives and meat cleavers has aggravated tensions in Britain, especially since Adebolajo ? carrying bloody weapons ? invited onlookers to film him after the killing as he ranted about the British government's presence in Muslim lands. There has been a surge in anti-Muslim protests and attacks on mosques since the killing, and far-right groups have mobilized.
Security was extremely tight for Adebowale's first court appearance. He is scheduled to be back in court Monday for another hearing and remains in custody.
Adebowale was charged late Wednesday night, two days after he was released from hospital. He was also charged with threatening people with a revolver, police said.
Autopsy results made public Wednesday indicated that Rigby, 25, was first struck by a car and then attacked. He died of multiple stab wounds, the report said.
Both prime suspects were shot by police who arrived on the scene roughly 14 minutes after the soldier's death. Video showed two suspects rushing a police car that arrived on the scene, then being shot by police and given first aid on the ground.
Britain's Home Office, charged with managing Britain's borders and internal security, confirmed Thursday that the Greenwich area, which includes the attack site in Woolwich, was deemed in a 2011 governmental review to be at a low risk of extremist activity and so did not receive anti-terror funding under a government program, called Prevent.
This designation was reversed a year later, meaning anti-terror projects there could again be funded, but no proposals for that area were approved in that time frame. Before 2011, the funding was used to bring young people into contact with Muslim soldiers and other veterans. Other funded programs encouraged sports, art and discussion programs.
The Prevent plan, part of a broader anti-terror strategy run by the Home Office, depends in part on the belief that "radicalization and recruitment can be identified and then provided with support" that keeps vulnerable individuals from embracing militant viewpoints, its website states.
The goal is to intervene and halt the radicalization process before a crime is committed.
Kenyan police have said they believed Adebolajo, a British citizen, had earlier associated with a radical Kenyan Muslim cleric who tried to help him join an al-Qaida-linked rebel group in neighboring Somalia.
Adebolajo was arrested with five other young men in November 2010 near the Kenya-Somalia border and eventually returned to Britain, police in Kenya said.
British officials said the two main suspects had been known to them for some time as part of previous investigations. The attack has raised questions about whether Britain's intelligence services could have done more to prevent Rigby's killing.
A massive asteroid nearly 2 miles wide will zip by Earth on Friday (May 31), in a cosmic event that has grabbed the attention of stargazers, scientists and even White House officials. The asteroid poses no threat of hitting Earth during the flyby, NASA officials assure.
The huge asteroid 1998 QE2 is the size of nine cruise ships, about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) across, NASA scientists say. While the asteroid makes its closest approach to Earth on Friday, traveling within 3.6 million miles (5.8 million km), you don't have to wait that long to see it. NASA chief Charles Bolden will host live telescope views of the asteroid today (May 30) at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1739 GMT) during a one-hour broadcast from the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.?
You can watch the asteroid webcast live on SPACE.com courtesy of NASA. Later tonight, NASA will host a webchat about the asteroid with the agency's meteor expert William Cooke at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. That discussion begins at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT) and can be accessed here:?http://www.nasa.gov/chat
Then on Friday (May 31), just hours before the asteroid flyby, the White House will host its own?asteroid-themed "We the Geeks" Google+ Hangout starting at 2 p.m. EDT.
The live video conference will bring together experts including Bill Nye the Science Guy, former astronaut Ed Lu, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, and Peter Diamandis, co-founder of asteroid mining company Planetary Resources. To watch these experts talk about the identification, resource potential and threat of asteroids, you can visit the White House's Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/+whitehouse/
In its closest approach for at least the next two centuries, 1988 QE2 will whiz by at a harmless distance millions of miles from Earth.
The space rock was first discovered on Aug. 19, 1998, by MIT's Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) Program near Socorro, N.M. The moniker 1988 QE2 was assigned by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., which names each newfound asteroid according to an established alphanumeric scheme that lays out when it was discovered.
Tempting as the connection may be, the space rock's name is not a nod to England's Queen Elizabeth II, or to the famous 12-deck ocean liner that was retired from service in 2008. But to give a sense of the asteroid's enormous scale, NASA officials pointed out that the QE2 asteroid is the size of nine QE2 cruise ships.
It's unlikely that an observer on the ground will be able to spot 1988 QE2 without the help of a telescope. Even from a location free of light pollution, the asteroid will be 100 times fainter than the dimmest star visible in the sky, according to the Slooh Space Telescope.
But there are several outlets where you can watch the flyby online.
Slooh, for one, will have a webcast of the approach starting at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Friday on its website Slooh.com. Starting at 4:00 p.m. EDT, astrophysicist Gianluca Masi will have a webcast from the Virtual Telescope in Italy: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/. Both webcasts are also available to watch live on SPACE.com here.
NASA keeps a close watch on asteroids that could pose a potential threat to the planet, and President Barack Obama's 2014 federal budget request sought to ramp up those efforts by including funds to kick-start a new mission to capture a small asteroid and park it near the moon.
Earthlings were reminded of the danger of space rocks this past Feb. 15. On that day, skywatchers were waiting for an asteroid about half the size of a football field (2012 DA14) to pass by the planet at a distance of just 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers). But hours before its closest approach, a different, 55-foot (17 m) object exploded without warning over Russia, damaging hundreds of buildings and injuring more than 1,000 people.
Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.?
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? A suspected U.S. drone strike killed the No. 2 commander of the Pakistani Taliban on Wednesday, Pakistani intelligence officials said, although the militant group denied he was dead.
If confirmed, the death of Waliur Rehman would be a strong blow to the militant group responsible for hundreds of bombings and shootings across Pakistan. The United States has a $5 million bounty out on Rehman, who Washington has accused of involvement in the 2009 suicide attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan that killed seven Americans working for the CIA.
Missiles fired by a U.S. drone slammed into a house early Wednesday in Miran Shah, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal region, killing five people including Rehman, Pakistani officials said.
Two officials said their informants in the field saw Rehman's body, while a third said intelligence authorities had intercepted communications between militants saying Rehman had been killed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban denied the reports.
"This appears to me to be false news. I don't have any such information," said Ahsanullah Ahsan.
White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to confirm if Rehman was dead. He said if the reports were true, Rehman's death would deprive the militant group of its chief military strategist involved in "horrific attacks" on a CIA base in Afghanistan and other attacks against Pakistani civilians and soldiers.
Most of North Waziristan is under militant control, and journalists cannot access the rugged region near the Afghan border, making independent confirmation difficult.
The missile attack was the first since Pakistan's May 11 elections in which the American drone program was a hotly debated topic.
It was also the first strike in Pakistan since President Barack Obama's speech last Thursday during which he discussed more restrictive rules he was implementing on drone use in places such as Pakistan and Yemen.
The tribal region in northwestern Pakistan is home to local and Afghan militant outfits, including al-Qaida-linked fighters. The U.S. has often criticized Pakistan, saying it does not vigorously target militants in these areas who then attack American troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials say their military is already overtaxed fighting militants in the tribal regions and in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, and that the casualties they've already incurred have not been properly recognized.
Washington's drone program remains deeply unpopular in Pakistan, even though the number of strikes has dropped significantly since the height of the program in 2010. The strikes usually target al-Qaida-linked insurgents or other militants who fight in Afghanistan, although some strikes have killed militants at war with the Pakistani government.
The Pakistani Taliban, officially called the Tehrik-e-Taliban, has been battling government forces for years in a bid to push them from the tribal regions, cut Pakistan's ties with the U.S. and eventually establish their brand of hardline Islam across Pakistan.
Rehman has been on the U.S. radar for years. In 2010, Washington offered $5 million for information leading to Rehman under their "Rewards for Justice" program.
While Rehman was mostly known for his activities in Pakistan, the U.S. said in its announcement that he also participated in cross-border attacks in Afghanistan against U.S. and NATO personnel.
The U.S. wanted Rehman in connection with his alleged involvement in an attack on a U.S. base in Khost, Afghanistan in 2009. The attack on Camp Chapman killed seven Americans working for the CIA, a Jordanian intelligence officer and wounded six other CIA personnel.
Pakistan's incoming prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has repeatedly said he is against the use of American drones on Pakistani soil, and Pakistani officials have demanded publicly that the program be stopped.
Sharif has said he would be open to negotiating with the Pakistani Taliban in order to end the fighting in the tribal agencies. Rehman's death could complicate that.
"He was a very cool-minded person, a very intelligent person and he was someone that the government could talk to," said Mansur Mahsud, director of administration and research at the Islamabad-based FATA Research Center.
Rehman was believed to be about 42 or 43 years old and was from South Waziristan, Mahsud said. He had already been fighting American troops in Afghanistan when the TTP was created in late 2007 and he turned his focus onto Pakistani targets.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the drone strike Wednesday but made no mention of Rehman in their brief statement.
"The Government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives, have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law," the ministry said.
Senior civilian and military officials are known to have supported some of the attacks in the past, but many say that is no longer the case.
Pakistan has been hit by 355 such attacks since 2004, according to the New America Foundation, a U.S.-based think tank. The figure does not include Wednesday's strike. Up to 3,336 people have died in the strikes, according to the think tank.
Obama's speech last Thursday was his most extensive comments to date about the secretive drone program, which has come under increased criticism for its lack of accountability.
The president cast drone strikes against Islamic militants as crucial to U.S. counterterrorism efforts but acknowledged that they are not a "cure-all." The president also said he is deeply troubled by civilians unintentionally killed in the strikes and announced more restrictive rules governing the attacks ? measures that his advisers said would effectively limit drone use in the future.
White House spokesman Carney said the new standards do not mean the administration would discuss details of every counterterrorism operation.
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Shahzad reported from Islamabad. Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana in Islamabad also contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Unemployment rates fell in almost all large U.S. cities in April, helped by stronger hiring. The gains show the job market is improving throughout the country.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that unemployment rates declined in 344 of the 372 largest metro areas. Rates rose in just 17 cities and were unchanged in 11.
The U.S. unemployment rate dropped in April to a four-year low of 7.5 percent, down from 7.6 percent in March. Employers have added an average of 208,000 jobs each month in the past six months. That's up from just 138,000 in the previous six.
The metro unemployment data aren't seasonally adjusted for trends like the hiring of summer employees in coastal cities. As a result, it can be more volatile than the national data.
For example, some of the biggest drops in April unemployment took place in coastal cities. The rate in Salinas, Calif., fell to 10 percent from 12.5 percent in March. In Ocean City, New Jersey, unemployment declined to 13.8 percent last month, from 17.1 percent in March. Both declines likely reflected a pickup in seasonal hiring.
Still, the broader trend across cities has improved in the past year. Overall, 48 cities had rates of less than 5 percent. That's up from 32 a year earlier. Only 26 cities had rates of 10 percent or higher, down from 41 in April 2012.
Midland, Texas, posted the nation's lowest rate, at 3 percent. It was followed by Iowa City, Iowa and Bismarck, N.D., both at 3.1 percent.
Yuma, Ariz. had the nation's highest rate, at 30.3 percent, followed by El Centro, Calif., with 24 percent. Both cities have long had the highest rates in the country. They are adjacent and have heavy populations of migrant farm workers.
Three months after a major database hack, Evernote has finally made good on its promise to implement two-factor authentication as an additional precautionary measure. Following the footsteps of othersecurity-consciouscompanies, the technique requires not just your username and password, but also a six-digit code provided either via text message or an app like Google Authenticator. Further, you can print out a list of backup codes in case you don't have your phone handy. Premium and Business users will be the first to get this functionality -- it'll be offered to all users once the system proves to be robust enough.
Other apps in the Evernote clan, including Skitch, Penultimate and Evernote Food will need to be updated and certain third-party apps might need to be given their own dedicated passwords as well. Aside from the double-step verification, Evernote has also introduced the ability to view your account's access history and a list of authorized applications; you can revoke any device from your account settings if necessary. All of these added layers of security are totally optional, of course, but you might want to set yourself a reminder to check them out.
How do you add a dramatic flair to your mundane video clips? You play it in slow motion, that's how. And now that YouTube has introduced a built-in slow-mo feature, you don't even need to capture footage using a high-speed camera. Just click Edit, navigate to Enhancements and hit the icon emblazoned with a turtle to make footage crawl at 12.5, 25 or 50 percent of its original pace. Note that resulting clips can last no longer than 10 minutes, and the feature might not be available in some countries outside the US just yet. Head past the break to compare two samples and see how the new feature can transform your YouTube vids, Dave Chappelle-style.
The computer lab at Aldama Elementary in Highland Park is packed with 33 aging and overloaded computers that keep crashing. Not only is the Highland Park school in need of new machines, its teachers also need help showing them how best to use? computers and technology to complement their classroom lessons. That?s why a group of Aladma parents and supporters are on a mission to upgrade the computer lab and raise $20,000 by August to to hire a computer-savvy, full-time instructor for the center.
?Despite the huge emphasis on technology, our public schools are seriously behind in infrastructure,? said Aldama parent Janelle McGlothlin. ?It?s 100% incumbent on the teacher to take their 25-30 students into the lab and create a lesson plan for them. If you?re not super computer savvy, that?s a really tough undertaking.?
In addition to getting more powerful computers donated from corporations, school supporters are also seeking? funds to hire a full-time teacher for the computer lab who will develop lesson plans tailored to different ages of students and also work with teachers to integrate technology more broadly into their classroom lessons. It?s part of an L.A. Unified program called ComputerWise Kids, which costs $43,000 a year to operate.
The Highland Park school has already committed $20,000 to the program, and parents and supporters are trying to raise the balance before August with a June 1 Bites for Bytes fundraiser featuring A Taste of Highland Park.
Student artwork in support of the computer lab
In addition to Bites for Bytes, the Aldama parents have also applied for corporate grants and have approached other donors, said McGlothlin. ?We could do fewer days for less money, but that would mean some kids would miss out.?
Kindergarten teacher Lacey Jung explains the importance of keeping the school computers and computer education up to date:
It is so important for all of our students to be equipped with strong computer experiences and literacy skills from a young age. The world is so technologically different than it was 20 years ago, ten years ago, five years ago, one year ago ? Our children will soon be entering higher educational experiences and work places dependent on technology that is not yet available to us.
It is so important for us as a school community to recognize the need for rigorous computer education and to begin to give our students the tools and critical thinking skills needed in order to be successful in grappling and mastering these future technologies. The introduction and strong emphasis on computer education and literacy for all of our students is our responsibility as a school. It is imperative in moving our children into the 21st century.
The Bites for Bytes fundraiser will be held on June 1. Click here for details.
In this image taken from video provided by NASA, the Soyuz TMA-09M carrying three new Expedition 36 crew members approaches the International Space Station Wednesday, May 29, 2013. The cramped capsule carrying NASA's Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and Italy's Luca Parmitano orbited the Earth four times before docking with the space station. (AP Photo/NASA-TV)
In this image taken from video provided by NASA, the Soyuz TMA-09M carrying three new Expedition 36 crew members approaches the International Space Station Wednesday, May 29, 2013. The cramped capsule carrying NASA's Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and Italy's Luca Parmitano orbited the Earth four times before docking with the space station. (AP Photo/NASA-TV)
The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-09M space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
In a photo provided by NASA Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency, top, Flight Engineers Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, center, and Karen Nyberg of NASA, wave as they board the Soyuz rocket ahead of their launch to the International Space Station, early Wednesday, May 29, 2013, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Yurchikhin, Nyberg, and, Parmitano, will remain aboard the station until mid-November. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)
In this image taken from video provided by NASA, the Soyuz TMA-09M carrying three new Expedition 36 crew members, top, approaches the International Space Station Wednesday, May 29, 2013. The cramped capsule carrying NASA's Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and Italy's Luca Parmitano orbited the Earth four times before docking with the space station. (AP Photo/NASA-TV)
Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, top, and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, bottom, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station (ISS), gesture prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. (AP Photo/ Kiril Kudryavtsev, Pool)
MOSCOW (AP) ? A Soyuz capsule carrying an American, Russian and Italian successfully docked Wednesday with the International Space Station, where the new crew will spend six months conducting a variety of experiments.
The docking took place at 8:10 a.m. (0210 GMT, 10:10 p.m. EDT) less than six hours after the Russian spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which Russia leases in Kazakhstan.
Live footage provided by NASA TV showed it soaring into the clear night sky. About four minutes later, the announcer said the Soyuz was traveling at 4,700 miles per hour (about 7,500 kilometers per hour).
The cramped capsule carrying NASA's Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and Italy's Luca Parmitano orbited the Earth four times before docking with the space station.
After docking, two hours passed before pressure equalized between the capsule and the station, allowing safe entry.
The three new arrivals were greeted by NASA's Chris Cassidy and Russians Alexander Misurkin and the station's commander Pavel Vinogradov, who have been aboard the space station since late March.
"It was a pretty cool ride," Nyberg said upon arrival.
Cassidy had shaved his head clean to match Parmitano's look and got a thumbs-up from the Italian.
Yurchikhin, 54, is a veteran of three previous spaceflights, while the 36-year-old Parmitano, a former test pilot, is making his first trip into space. Nyberg, 43, spent two weeks in space in 2008 as part of a U.S. space shuttle crew.
Shortly after their arrival, the incoming team spoke via video link with their relatives and officials back in Baikonur. Parmitano's mother wept throughout the chat with her son.
Four spacewalks are planned during the expedition, including what NASA said would be the first by an Italian.
The International Space Station is the biggest orbiting outpost ever built and can sometimes be seen from Earth with the naked eye. It consists of more than a dozen modules built by the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency.
DENVER (AP) ? Colorado's laws on insanity pleas and the death penalty are constitutional, a judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting a key argument by lawyers for the defendant in the deadly movie theater shootings.
Attorneys for James Holmes contended the laws could work in combination to potentially cripple the insanity defense if the case ever gets to a jury. They hoped to have at least part of the laws declared unconstitutional before Holmes formally enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Defense attorneys could ask the state Supreme Court to overturn Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr.'s ruling, but they will likely consult with attorneys who specialize in appeals before deciding, said Karen Steinhauser, a former prosecutor now in private practice.
Holmes is accused of opening fire on a packed movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora in July, killing 12 people and injuring 70. He faces multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Holmes' lawyers say he wants to plead insanity, which is widely seen as his best chance of avoiding execution. But the attorneys have delayed the plea for weeks, saying his rights could be jeopardized.
The laws state that if Holmes does not cooperate with doctors conducting a mandatory mental evaluation, he would lose the right to call expert witnesses to testify about his sanity during the penalty phase of his trial.
At a hearing last week, defense lawyer Kristen Nelson argued that would violate the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
"You cannot place this kind of restriction on a defendant's ability to present mitigating evidence," she said.
Holmes' attorneys also contended the law doesn't define cooperation, and they need to know the legal meaning in order to advise Holmes whether or not to agree to a polygraph examination or a "narcoanalytic interview" in which he could be administered a so-called truth serum.
Prosecutors argued the Constitution and court precedents give the state the right to regulate what mitigating evidence can be introduced in the penalty phase of a trial.
They also said the word "cooperate" is unambiguous.
Holmes needs court permission to change his plea because a judge entered a standard not guilty plea on his behalf in March. Samour is likely to approve the change, but Holmes would first have to agree to the conditions, including the requirement that he cooperate during the mental evaluation.
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Follow Dan Elliott at http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP
Consumer spending on luxury goods continues to ramp up.
