James' passion, great range remembered (AP)

NEW YORK ? On her last album "The Dreamer," released just three months before her death, Etta James sings a mix of covers, from the R&B classic "Misty Blue" to the Ray Charles song "In the Evening." But perhaps the most curious tune included on the disc may be the Guns N' Roses staple "Welcome to the Jungle."

That a 73-year-old icon of R&B would tackle the frenetic rock song ? albeit in a pace more fitting her blues roots ? might seem odd. But the song may be the best representation of James as both a singer and a person ? rambunctious in spirit, with the ability to sing whatever was thrown at her, whether it was jazz, blues, pining R&B or a song from one of the rowdiest bands in rock.

"She was able to dig so deep in kind of such a raw and unguarded place when she sang, and that's the power of gospel and blues and rhythm and blues. She brought that to all those beautiful standards and rocks songs that she did. All the number of vast albums she recorded, she covered such a wide variety of material that brought such unique phrasing and emotional depth," said Bonnie Raitt, a close friend, in an interview on Friday afternoon after James' death.

"I think that's what appealed to people, aside from the fact that her personality on and off the stage was so huge and irrepressible. She was ribald and raunchy and dignified, classy and strong and vulnerable all at the same time, which is what us as women really relate to."

James, whose signature song was the sweeping, jazz-tinged torch song "At Last," died in Los Angeles from complications of leukemia. Her death came after she struggled with dementia and other health problems, health issues that kept her from performing for the last two or so years of her life.

It was a life full of struggles. Her mother was immersed in a criminal life and left her to be raised by friends, she never knew her true father (though she believed it was billiards great Minnesota Fats), and she had her own troubles, which included a decades-long addiction to drugs, turbulent relationships, brushes with the law, and other tribulations.

One might think all of those problems would have weighted down James' spirit, and her voice, layering it with sadness, or despair. While she certainly could channel depression, anger, and sorrow in song, her voice was defined by its fiery passion: Far from beaten down, James embodied the fight of a woman who managed to claw her way back from the brink, again and again.

It's an attitude that influenced her look as well. Despite the conservative era, she dyed her hair platinum blonde, sending out the signal that she was far from demure, and owning a brassy, sassy attitude. She relished her role as saucy singer, a persona that she celebrated in her private life as well.

"In terms of 1950s rhythm and blues stars, she had kind of a gutsy attitude and she went out there and did what she did, and she was kind of bold ... and it had a huge influence," she said. "I think her gutsiness and her lack of fear and just her courage (made her special). ... I believe that made her important and memorable."

Beyonce, who played James in the movie "Cadillac Records" about Chess Records, also spoke about her influence on other singers.

"I feel like Etta James, first of all, was the first black woman I saw with platinum, blonde hair. She wore her leopard and she wore her sexy silhouette and she didn't care. She was strong and confident and always Etta James," said Beyonce in a 2008 interview.

James could often be irascible. Ritz remembers when he was working with her on the autobiography, touring with her around the country, one time he approached her with his tape recorder and she barked: "If see that tape recorder again I'm going to cram it up your (expletive)."

But at other times, she'd be effusive and warm and anxious to talk.

"Once she did talk, she was always candid and unguarded. She was a free spirit," Ritz said.

While Ritz put her in the category of other greats like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, she never enjoyed their mainstream success. Though "At Last" has become an enduring classic, there were times when James had to scrounge for work, and while she won Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she did not have the riches, the multitude of platinum records or the hits that some of her peers enjoyed.

"She at least enjoyed a great resurgence like John Lee Hooker did and B.B. King, (and) has had some great decades of appreciation from new generations around the world," said Raitt. "There's no one like her. No one will ever replace Etta."

And Ritz said the lack of commercial success does nothing to diminish her greatness, or her legacy.

"Marvin certain knew it and Ray knew it ... the people who know that she was in that category," he said. "Whatever the marketplace did or didn't do or whether her lack of career management didn't do, it has nothing to do with her talent."

And on Friday, the Queen of Soul was among those who paid tribute to James greatness, calling her "one of the great soul singers of our generation. An American original!

"I loved `Pushover,' `At Last' and almost any and everything she recorded! When Etta SUNG, you heard it!"

___

AP Entertainment Writer Chris Talbott and AP Writer Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.

___

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_en_mu/us_etta_james_appreciation

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Josh Neer chokes out Duane Ludwig at UFC on FX 1

Josh Neer is 2-0 in his fourth stint with the UFC as he choked Duane Ludwig unconscious in the first round of their bout at UFC on FX 1 at Nashville on Friday.

After the two clinched for the beginning of the first round, Duane Ludwig came in with several strikes that wobbled Neer, but then Neer answered back with jabs of his own. This patter continued to repeat until Ludwig tried for a takedown. Neer put in a deep guillotine. Ludwig raised his hand to tap, but was out before he even had the chance to tap. The bout was stopped at 3:04 of the first round.

Neer is 33-10 after this win. He has been in and out of the UFC, but has two straight stoppage wins since rejoining the promotion in October. Ludwig has been on a two-fight win streak, and now is 21-12.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/josh-neer-chokes-duane-ludwig-ufc-fx-1-031929463.html

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IKEA flatpacks its way through downturn

ZAVENTEM, Belgium (AP) ? It takes Mikael Ohlsson five minutes ? and the help of one other person ? to assemble IKEA's Ektorp sofa.

After 33 years at the Swedish home-ware chain, the 54-year-old chief executive is an expert at configuring IKEA's famous flat-pack furniture.

But Ohlsson is not bragging about the fact that he can beat the assembly time the company itself advertises by some 10 minutes. What makes him proud is that the Ektorp can be flat-packed at all.

Seated on a "Blekinge white" example of the Ektorp in a cozily furnished exhibition room at an IKEA store in Zaventem, Belgium, Ohlsson recounts how, until recently, the popular couch also came packed in one of the company's biggest cardboard boxes ? a pain for customers to squeeze into their cars or carry up narrow staircases.

But then in 2010, IKEA's product designers came up with a way of breaking the Ektorp into different pieces. The results was a package half its former size, which the company claims took some 7,477 trucks off the roads and cut its yearly CO2 emissions by 4,700 tons. Savings in production and transport costs knocked euro100 ($128) off the price IKEA charges its customers, Ohlsson pointed out.

It's innovations like these, the CEO says, that make IKEA so successful even in the uncertain economic times that some of its biggest markets are facing.

On Friday, IKEA reported a 10.3 percent jump in net profit to euro2.97 billion ($3.81 billion) for the year ended Aug. 31, even though it cut prices by 2.6 percent. Revenue rose 6.9 percent to euro25.17 billion in the same period and Ohlsson says the sales pace has been accelerating since then ? even as stock markets around the world have taken a dive amid the worsening financial crisis in Europe.

"We are becoming a more natural choice when people are looking after their spending or are concerned about the future," says Ohlsson, his black trousers, black sweater and half-rimmed glasses all possessing the understatement of a Billy bookcase.

"A lot of people see that home is a very important place, maybe the most important place in their lives."

While sales have fallen in some Southern European countries like Greece, Ohlsson says IKEA has gained market share in all of them.

Over the past decade, the company expanded into big emerging markets like Russia and China, although 79 percent of its sales are still generated in Europe. In the next two or three years, IKEA wants to open stores in Serbia and Croatia and it has recently bought land in South Korea.

But the biggest opportunity may lie in India, a fast-growing country of around 1.2 billion people, that Ohlsson says IKEA has been eyeing "patiently but also impatiently" for years.

"The impatience is that of course there are a lot of people that are moving into the city, have better incomes and want to furnish their homes and that's why there is space for us," says Ohlsson. "And patient because we wanted FDI (foreign direct investment) legislation to change."

That change happened last week, when the Indian Commerce Ministry announced it would allow foreign companies that sell products under a single-brand name, such as IKEA, to own 100 percent of their stores there.

Ohlsson and his chief financial officer, Soeren Hansen, say the company is still studying the fine print, to make sure, for instance, that requirements to source a certain percentage of products locally won't interrupt its cherished value chain, where it controls design, production, storage and retail.

In contrast to other companies, which are under pressure to quickly produce new value for shareholders, IKEA can move more slowly. The retailer is not traded on the stock market, but is owned by a foundation controlled by the family of its octogenarian founder Ingvar Kamprad.

That structure not only protects IKEA from being split up or taken over, but, says Ohlsson, allows him to make investments in new markets or store upgrades that may not pay off for several years.

Throughout the conversation, the CEO stresses IKEA's eco-friendly policies and humble origins in a poor area of Sweden. In the Zaventem store on the outskirts of Brussels, solar panels on the roof provide up to 20 percent of the energy. The company owns several wind parks and one of its Berlin stores uses local wastewater to control internal temperatures.

IKEA has come a long way from its start in the Smaland region in Southern Sweden. Today it employs 131,000 people in 41 countries and its 287 stores drew in 655 million customers last year.

Ohlsson says he believes the urge to upgrade and become more comfortable does not seem to recede during an economic downturn. Asked whether IKEA's business was "recession-proof," Ohlsson laughs somewhat embarrassed.

"I wouldn't say it like that and it would not be humble to say it," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-20-EU-Earns-IKEA/id-1d8edddf32c74325a32e66d696ea446e

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sandbarmark: @jatorres But using Twitter as some kind of scoreboard? Come on.

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Source: http://twitter.com/sandbarmark/statuses/156164046251491328

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Study: Parasitic fly could explain bee die-off

In this photo provided by San Francisco State University, the larvae of an Apocephalus borealis fly emerges from the dead body of a host honey bee. The A. borealis fly is suspected of contributing to the decrease in the honey bee population. Researchers say the fly deposits its eggs in the abdomen of honey bees and as the larvae grow within the body of the bee, the bee begins to lose control of its ability to think and walk, flying blindly toward light. It eventually dies and the fly larvae emerge. (AP Photo/John Hafernik, San Francisco State University)

In this photo provided by San Francisco State University, the larvae of an Apocephalus borealis fly emerges from the dead body of a host honey bee. The A. borealis fly is suspected of contributing to the decrease in the honey bee population. Researchers say the fly deposits its eggs in the abdomen of honey bees and as the larvae grow within the body of the bee, the bee begins to lose control of its ability to think and walk, flying blindly toward light. It eventually dies and the fly larvae emerge. (AP Photo/John Hafernik, San Francisco State University)

In this photo provided by San Francisco State University, an Apocephalus borealis fly implants its eggs into the abdomen of a honey bee. The A. borealis fly is suspected of contributing to the decrease in the honey bee population. Researchers say the fly deposits its eggs in the abdomen of honey bees and as the larvae grow within the body of the bee, the bee begins to lose control of its ability to think and walk, flying blindly toward light. It eventually dies and the fly larvae emerge. (AP Photo/Christopher Quock, San Francisco State University)

This photo provided by San Francisco State University shows the Apocephalus borealis fly. This fly is suspected of contributing to the decrease in the honey bee population. Researchers say the fly deposits its eggs in the abdomen of honey bees and as the larvae grow within the body of the bee, the bee begins to lose control of its ability to think and walk, flying blindly toward light. It eventually dies and the fly larvae emerge. (AP Photo/Jessica Van Den Berg, San Francisco State University)

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) ? Northern California scientists say they have found a possible explanation for a honey bee die-off that has decimated hives around the world: A parasitic fly that hijacks the bees' bodies and causes them to abandon hives.

Scientists say the fly deposits its eggs into the bee's abdomen, causing the infected bee to exhibit zombie-like behavior by walking around in circles with no apparent sense of direction. The bee leaves the hive at night and dies shortly thereafter.

The symptoms mirror colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony suddenly disappear.

The disease is of great concern, because bees pollinate about a third of the United States' food supply. Its presence is especially alarming in California, the nation's top producer of fruits and vegetables, where bees play an essential role in the $2 billion almond industry and other crops.

The latest study, published Tuesday in the science journal PLoS ONE, points to the parasitic fly as the new threat to honey bees. It's another step in ongoing research to find the cause of the disease.

Researchers haven't been able to pin down an exact cause of colony collapse or find a way to prevent it. Research so far points to a combination of factors including pesticide contamination, a lack of blooms ? and hence nutrition ? and mites, fungi, viruses and parasites.

Interaction among the parasite and multiple pathogens could be one possible factor in colony collapse, according to the latest study by researchers at San Francisco State University. It says the phorid fly, or apocephalus borealis, was found in bees from three-quarters of the 31 hives surveyed in the San Francisco Bay area.

The combination of a parasite, pathogens and other stressors could cause die-off, lead investigator John Hafernik said. The parasitic fly serves as a reservoir that harbors pathogens ? honey bees from parasite-infected hives tested positive for deformed wing virus and other pathogens, the study found.

"We don't fully understand the web of interactions," Hafernik said. "The parasite could be another stressor, enough to push the bee over tipping point. Or it could play a primary role in causing the disease."

Hafernik stumbled onto the parasitic fly by accident. Three years ago, the biology professor looked for something to feed a praying mantis. He found some bees outside his classroom, placed them in a vial and forgot about them. When he looked at the vial a week later, he found dead bees surrounded by small fly pupae. A parasitic fly was feeding on the bees and had killed them, he said.

The fly is a known parasite in bumble bees. Scientists used DNA barcoding to confirm the parasite in the honey bees and bumble bees was the same species.

The fly might have recently expanded its host presence from bumble bees to honey bees, Hafernik said, making it an emerging threat to agricultural pollinators. The fact that honey bees live in large colonies placed in close proximity to one another and beekeepers frequently move the hives throughout the country could lead to an explosion of the fly population, he said.

The fly, which is found all over North America, could also become a threat to native bees.

Hafernik plans to expand his research to other parts of the country and to study the parasite's impact on agriculture in California's Central Valley.

Since it was recognized in 2006, colony collapse has destroyed colonies at a rate of about 30 percent per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before that, losses were about 15 percent per year from a variety of pests and diseases.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-01-04-US-Bee-Parasites/id-9ef319a731134634a16b442336d56723

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Apple mac wont connect to ethernet internet

hi i have just purchased two imac 27" with mac osx lion at work, and i havent had much experience with macs as i have always preferred windows or linux.

the problem i am having is that neither of the macs will connect via ethernet cable on the network where everyone connects with windows pcs fine.

i have tried to input a static ip address for the macs but it keeps coming up as ip address conflict (another device has the same address), i know that it isnt a conflict as i have set up all ip addresses for the network and scanned for ips before setting and know which ones are free.
i have also then tried to use dhcp on the wired side for the network and then tried dhcp for the macs, then i get the 169 (apipa address). very frustrating.

i then managed to get them connected to one (out of 4)wireless access point via dhcp but this also is very hit and miss, it will be one connected and the other not being able to or both not atall. we have 4 access points operating on a large site which it finds but wont connect to. (all other windows devices are fine)
static addresses wont work either as it comes up with ip address conflict.

they both work fine when i connect to a mobile phone using mobile hotspot etc.

i have also been onto my ISP and they dont have a clue, I have been onto apple they want to charge me to troubleshoot it.

i have also tried removing the locations and adding them and its still the same its doing my head in abit now as i think i have tried everything i can, i dont really want to get charged by apple for this as you think they should connect out of the box for the huge pricetage you think it would.

had anyone else had any problems with macs connecting to works networks etc or could anyone please help as i dont know much with macs.

i just dont understand why it works sometimes on wireless only on one specific access point and not atall on ethernet.

: other info on network

router - draytek ethernet router

access points onsite
- belkin (works on this one)
- 3 x edimax

all windows pcs used ethernet and wireless are fine
network printers are fine.

tried to plug machines into different ports connected to different switches etc, tried different cables.

sorry for the essay but can anyone please help it would be greatly appreciated. thanks

Source: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=223875&goto=newpost

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PFT: Giants 'a Super Bowl team,' Kiwanuka says

AP

There?s a strange dynamic unfolding right now in Oakland, which probably shouldn?t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has followed the NFL for the last decade.? And there?s a theory making the rounds in league circles that the arrival of Reggie McKenzie as the team?s next General Manager could lead to the departure of coach Hue Jackson.

Even though both men are represented by Kennard McGuire, there are indications that Jackson wasn?t fully on board with the decision to hire McKenzie.? Jackson, whom we believe reports directly to owner Mark Davis, has been publicly candid (perhaps too candid) in recent days regarding his desire for more control.? It?s our understanding that, behind the scenes, Jackson has been even more candid, and that the arrival of McKenzie could ? not will but could ? result in Jackson being one and done in Oakland.

Would it be shocking?? Yes.? But not much more shocking than last year?s decision to part ways with Tom Cable after a far less expected 8-8 season.

Every G.M. wants to hire his own coach.? Even if the G.M. says as he walks through the door that he?s fine with the head coach who is in place, every G.M. wants to hire his own coach.? With Jackson seeming in recent days like a bit of a loose cannon when it comes to the management of the team, McKenzie could have some real misgivings about moving forward with Jackson.

The fact that McGuire represents both men will influence the situation, but that will go only so far.? At some point, McKenzie will have to make what he believes to be the right decision/recommendation for the franchise, even if it means potentially alienating his own agent by firing one of his agent?s other clients.

At this point, we?re not reporting that Jackson is on his way out or predicting that he?s not long for the job.? What we do know is that folks inside the league are keeping an eye on Oakland, because there?s a sense that McKenzie and Jackson possibly won?t be able to coexist.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/06/kiwanuka-giants-are-definitely-a-super-bowl-team/related/

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