'Twilight': Are There More Vampires In Stephenie Meyer's Future?

'Things change so much from week to week,' the author tells MTV News of returning to the vampire franchise in the future.
By Fallon Prinzivalli, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Stephenie Meyer
Photo: MTV News

The final installment of Stephenie Meyer's vampire saga, "Breaking Dawn - Part 2," hits theaters this fall, showing newlywed Bella Cullen in all her red-eyed, ice-cold-skin glory. It's been a long journey since "Twilight" released in 2008 and many fans are sad to say goodbye to their beloved franchise. But when the credits roll on November 16, it may not be the end of Edward and Bella's story.

When MTV News flew out to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit Meyer on the set of "The Host," the author revealed she has a few more story lines in mind for the couple.

"Things change so much from week to week, let alone year to year. I mean, there are other stories, obviously," she said. "I have a really hard time putting down characters and so I know what would happen. It's just a matter of, 'Are we tired of vampires?' I kind of feel like maybe we are as a general group."

Us, tired of vampires? Never! But Meyer did admit — even if we're still up for more bloodsucking tales — she's a little worn out on the creatures.

"It might take some time to want to go back there. And of course, for me it's easier 'cause I know exactly what happens so there's not as much suspense and stress for myself."

Fans of the "Twilight" series may recall Meyer's venture back to Forks when she wrote the first novel from Edward Cullen's perspective, "Midnight Sun." The story was leaked online, causing the writer to put its release on hold. For those of us who are itching to get our hands on a copy, we may have to wait a few years.

"You know, I'm trying to stay away from the vampire stuff because I do think if I can focus on other things, I'll recharge a little bit there. I haven't really looked at anything vampirish for a little while," she said. "Someday, like on my deathbed or whatever, if I never get around to writing it, I'll tell everyone what happens. I'll just narrate for a little bit."

"Breaking Dawn - Part 1" is up for two MTV Movie Awards this year under the categories Best Kiss and Movie of the Year. Voting is still open, so make your voice heard! Then, this Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET you can catch the results on MTV, along with appearances by your favorite castmembers — including Kristen Stewart.

Head over to MovieAwards.MTV.com to vote for your favorite flicks now! The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live this Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET.

Related Videos

• MTV Rough Cut: 'The Host'

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Bio-chemical circuits may make you a man of a machine

You'd be more than forgiven for not knowing who Klas Tybrandt is. The doctoral student at Linköping University is hardly a household name, but his latest creation may garner him some serious attention. The Swedish scientist has combined special transistors he developed into an integrated circuit capable of transmitting positive and negative ions as well as biomolecules. The advantage here is that, instead of simply controlling electronics, the circuits carry chemicals which can have a variety of functions, such as acetylcholine which the human body uses to transmit signals between cells. Implantable circuits that traffic in neurotransmitters instead of electrical voltages could be a key step in taking making our cyborg dreams a reality. We're already counting down the days till we're more machine than man.

Bio-chemical circuits may make you a man of a machine originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Internet Marketing Center - Bargain Network Online Blog

Starting your own home business is a wonderful way to make money. Being your own boss, answering to yourself and only yourself and making all the money you could ever need. However this also means it is easy to fail. Without a boss breathing down your neck and co-workers depending on you, it is exceptionally easy to slack off and not do your work properly.

This is why a good internet marketing center is essential to your success. You have to keep yourself motivated and come up with a good system that will allow you to focus on your work and be diligent about it. When dealing with the internet, a lot of people go in with unrealistic expectations.

They expect to make thousands of dollars overnight with virtually no effort. This will not happen. This hype is a major pitfall that gets a lot of people who try to work online. What people seem to forget is that just because it is the internet does not mean it is not a real business. It is. It requires just as much devotion as any other business.

If you can not provide the necessary time and effort into building up and expanding your business, then you will fail. However if you are able to grow your business and make it into an internet marketing center from which you can generate all the income you could ever want, then you will succeed.

Another trap that gets a lot of people is their own lack of focus. If you just poke at your website occasionally and do not do any real work, then it will obviously not grow. And yet so many people do this because they lack the necessary focus to just sit down and get to work.

A good way to overcome this is to set yourself specific work hours. For example, working from one to four every day. By giving yourself set hours for when you work, you can plan your day around that and will not have to worry about distractions while trying to work.

If you are working a full time job or have a family to attend to, this can be difficult. Remember that you do not have to work at it for hours on end. While it will grow faster the more you work at it, as long as you are consistent it will still grow. So if you do not have that much spare time, as long as you use that spare time you can still make your business a success.

Working on the internet is great, but it requires a lot of dedication and self discipline, far more than working at a conventional job. As you have nobody to rely on but yourself. However if you are able to overcome these obstacles and force yourself to focus and work at your business, you can grow it into a large internet marketing center.

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Sister says she reported brother in Patz killing (Providence Journal)

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Misconception: divorce harms children | Pittsburgh Family Law ...

In divorce cases in Pennsylvania and anywhere else in the country, matters are often made more complicated when the best interests of a child or multiple children must be considered. Parents may have to set aside any tensions they feel toward one another, and work together to settle issues in a manner that will most benefit their children.

In some cases, parents may think that staying together instead of obtaining a divorce is the best option for children. The disagreements and differences often do not cease and ultimately could cause more tension in a marriage that already isn't working. This tension and strain is often felt by the children.

Though there may be a stigma that divorce harms children, in many cases it can be seen that children benefit from divorce. Especially should their parents truly not get along with one another anymore, and spend their time acting negatively toward each other. Some parents may not be aware that their tension and unhappiness can often translate into tension and unhappiness in their children. After a divorce much of this tension can dissolve and everyone from parents to children may get along better.

Additionally, parents who are happy with the custody arrangement negotiated with their attorney may allow children to see both parents still as positive influences in their lives. Parents may interact more positively with each other, as well as fulfill complete "parent" roles from nurturing children to taking care of the home. Divorce is a big change and may come with a difficult adjustment period for children who are accustomed to their parents being one unit. However, in many cases it can be much more beneficial for children to have parents who are happy and positive in their relationships.

Source: Huffington Post, "Divorce And Kids: 5 Ways Divorce Benefits Kids," Shoshana Bennett, May 18, 2012

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AP Photos: Americans honor troops for Memorial Day

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DIY Interior Design Guidelines | Home Improvement Contractors ...

Whether you?re hiring a professional or doing it yourself, these quick interior design tips will be useful. Perhaps you just want to give a room a new look or maybe you prefer to completely change the style of your home. These tips will help the process run smoothly regardless of how big your small your interior design project is.

Why you should plan ahead

Before you spend any money, plan and plan again. You can make cut-outs of furniture, draw the room to scale, and arrange and rearrange until you?ve come up with a look that you want. Find examples of the style you like in magazines so you have a guideline, and shop around before you buy any furniture, window treatments or accessories.

Keep it simple

Regardless of your personal taste, it is much easier to jazz up a simple look than to tone down one that has gone too far. You?ll end up with a room you can?t stand if your over accessorize or over-design. To create a room you?ll enjoy, a simple design can be added over time.

Get your budget right

To get an idea or the budget your plan will require, start shopping around once you have a plan ready. To invest in good quality accessories and furnishings that?s sure to last, split your plan into affordable steps even though some items have cheaper alternatives. If your budget just won?t stretch far enough, you may want to scale your plan down and for example live with the furniture you already have but re-cover or paint it instead of replacing it.

No more clutter

The reasons behind some redecorating projects is that there are areas in the home that needs more space. The first step is to clear out the clutter and store things you don?t use. You?ll have a better idea or the storage space you need in the room and how much space there really is once you?re done.

While hiring a professional interior designer does add to your bottom line, they have the experience and expertise to put your personal preferences into a design that will not only look fabulous but be practical and functional as well. There are many books and software problems that provide guidelines for the DIY interior designer too. Your personal preference will play a huge part in your choices because it?s home after all.

Review our in-depth log cabin decorating reports and learn how to pick decorations that are ideal for you.

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Monterey Bankruptcy Attorney Services Legitimize a Fresh Start ...

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Yemen army tightens grip on militant-held town

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Celebrity chef Ramsay injured in charity soccer match

Twitter is kind of going nuts over Gordon Ramsay right now ? I guess when you?re a TV personality who?s famous for profane kitchen rants, you don?t get a whole lot of sympathy when you?re injured in a soccer match. Ramsay was participating in the Soccer Aid celebrities-vs.-pros match at Old Trafford when he was crushed by Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham.

Even after the tackle Sheringham was oblivious to Ramsay?s injury ? patting him on the back as the chef lay in agony on the grass.

World-famous TV chef Ramsay, who once had a trial with Rangers, had to be given oxygen on the pitch before he was taken off by medics after Sheringham tackled him from behind at the match, held at Old Trafford to raise funds for Unicef.

Following the tackle, Ramsay was taken to hospital for further treatment but was released later in the evening.

Ramsay fans wasted no time updating his Wikipedia page.

Closer view here.

Will Ferrell, Edward Norton, Woody Harrelson, Mike Myers and James McEvoy were also among those who participated on the celebrities and ex-professionals team, who played against the all-England team.

Getty Images.

Getty Images.

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Egg Farmers Welcome New Animal Welfare Legislation

News

CALIFORNIA, US - The Association of California Egg Farmers announced its support for the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein.

Among the bill's provisions, it would establish a national housing standard for egg laying hens. It proposes similar requirements to a bill introduced earlier in the year in the House of Representatives, HR 3798, and it is jointly supported by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the United Egg Producers (UEP).

"We thank Senator Feinstein for her leadership and we are pleased to support this bill. Most importantly, we welcome the recognition by the Senator and the HSUS that California's use of the enriched colony system is indeed a safe and superior hen habitat," said Arnie Riebli, a Sonoma County egg farmer and president of the Association of California Egg Farmers. He added, "We need this legislation so our state's egg farmers can effectively compete while providing California consumers with a local, wholesome and affordable supply of eggs."

The Egg Products Inspection Act would recognize the enriched colony system as the new national housing standard for laying hens instead of conventional cages. The enriched colony system enables hens to sit, stand, stretch and turn around in a clean, safe enclosure that protects hens from outside predators. The Association of California Egg Farmers has worked to strongly advocate the enriched colony system since the passage of Proposition 2 in 2008.

The colony system house provides 116 square inches of space compared to 67 square inches of space in a conventional cage. According to recently released data on hen performance in colonies versus conventional cages, eggs laid per hen in a colony house were 421 versus 399 eggs per hen in a conventional cage. In addition, mortality rates were lower in the colony housing system than a cage system.

"Passing the Egg Products Inspection Act would be a historic improvement for hundreds of millions of animals per year," stated Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States in a statement announcing the agreement. "It is always our greatest hope to find common ground and to forge solutions, even with traditional adversaries. We hope Congress seizes the opportunity to embrace this legislative collaboration and mutual understanding. We extend our thanks to the producers within the industry for agreeing to make the needed investments to upgrade their housing and improve animal welfare in a meaningful way."

ThePoultrySite News Desk

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Your Real Age ? 8 Tips to Help Caregivers Find Their Inner Child

I recently celebrated my birthday and it got me to thinking about our ?real age.?? Whenever I meet a friend for coffee the conversation now turns to our latest health issue (we are at that age) ? hurt knees from running, migraines from changing hormones, sun spots on our face, wrinkles on our foreheads, and intestinal rumblings from last night?s Mexican food.? And, when the bill comes, we all hold the check back about 12 inches so we can read it (always forgetting the reading glasses which are now common among my friends).? However, we marvel at how we don?t see ourselves as our real age ? and as friends we even comfort each other that we certainly don?t look our real age either.

As we grow older and start to care for aging parents, what is our risk as caregivers for being ?older? than our real age because we often neglect our own health and wellness needs?

Real Age Calculator

If you want to take the scary leap with me (make sure you put your knee brace on first) ? there is an online calculator developed by the now well-known authors of You ? The Owner?s Manual ?books, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen.? It is called the Real Age Test and it takes about 15 minutes to complete the online questionnaire.? Be prepared ? it will ask you about your cholesterol levels, blood pressure reading, eating habits, fitness routine, sleep patterns, etc.

What you get is an estimated ?age? based on your health and wellness answers as well as tips on how to improve your age score (meaning scoring younger than you really are) in the various areas.

Advice to Caregivers ? Don?t Act Your Age

What struck me as I took the test was that so much of what is truly good for our bodies, our minds and our souls are things most of us did when we were kids.? When I recently interviewed Joan Lunden, who cares for her 93-year-old mother, she told me that she tries to find her ?inner child? when I asked her how she finds her ?Me Time.?

While all childhoods are not alike, here are my 8 Tips to Caregivers on how to tap into the kid you once were and embrace that youthful, carefree time once again that will improve your health and wellness:

1. Naptime:? Health experts say we should get 7-8 hours per night. A study showed that sleeping too little or at odd hours can increase your risk for diabetes and obesity because lack of sleep messes up your insulin levels and slows your metabolism. ?In one study, getting only 5.5 hours of sleep a night translated into 12 extra pounds a year.? Remember taking naps as a kid and going to bed at 9pm?? Try to plan your naps and bedtime as if you were nine-years-old again.

2. Bath time:? Remember how we used to hate taking baths as a kid?? Well, as a stressed out adult caregiver, baths are a luxurious dream for which you typically don?t have time.? Baths ? especially those taken with Epsom salts and fragrant oil like lavender ? help reduce stress, improve circulation and aid relaxation.? A study done in Japan showed that the stress relief from baths helps you fight colds through vascular and lymph system stimulation which encourages bacteria-destroying properties in the immune system.?? Take 10 minutes for a bath at least three times a week and don?t forget the rubber ducky.

3.?Playtime:? It sounds silly but playtime can actually help caregivers avoid the burn-out they so often face.? While escaping to summer camp may not be feasible, riding your bike, finding a local summer fair to ride the carousel or roller coaster, or jumping into your backyard or local community pool (doing your best cannonball!) can give you the mental health break you need.? Find a few minutes every day or at least once a week to ?play.?

4. Outdoor Fun and Sun: ?10 minutes of sunshine a day is enough to boost your natural levels of Vitamin D (which promotes calcium absorption needed for strong bones) that have been proven to aid prevention of health risks such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer, allergies and osteoporosis.? In addition, sunshine boosts your mental health ? brain functionality and optimism all improve with increased levels of Vitamin D.? In fact, one study in the Journal of Finance found that stocks traded on sunny days were more profitable than those on cloudy days.

5. Seashells by the seashore:? One of my favorite childhood memories is collecting seashells along the beach with my mom and brother.? We would walk for what seemed like miles to find special colors and shapes.? Since heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, walking 30 minutes every day gives you the cardiovascular exercise you need to keep your heart healthy according to the American Heart Association.? If you don?t live near the beach, find a hiking trail or just take a brisk stroll through the neighborhood.

6. Daydream: ??Remember lying on your back and looking up into the clouds deciding which shapes you could find?? A lion, a car, or even hearts?? If you can find a patch of ground ? whether it is your backyard or your neighborhood park, take a few minutes each week to just lie on your back and watch the clouds scroll by (or forget the clouds and just lie on your back in your living room ? no TV, no music, no external disturbances allowed).? It is a variation of meditation that ensures you have the mental stamina to keep going as a caregiver.

7. Laugh:? Charlie Chaplin said, ?A day without laughter is a day wasted.?? Being a caregiver is nothing to laugh about ? it can take a toll on you that is physical, emotional and financial.? But finding the funny bone in caregiving can get you through the day.?? My mom told me that when she was caring for my grandma after a stroke, they both slipped as she was transferring her from wheelchair to bed.? Rather than be sad or upset, they both sat on the floor laughing at the absurdity of the situation. One study showed that laughing is a mini workout ? it burns calories, increases your heart rate and sends more oxygen to your tissues. Maybe laughter is the best medicine.

8. Hold hands:? Remember the first time you held hands with someone you liked?? Your heart beat faster, your oxytocin levels (?cuddling hormone?) surged and a warm feeling of happiness came over your whole body. ?The National Alliance for Caregiving found that most caregivers feel all alone and 10 percent of caregivers who reported a decline in their health had turned to alcohol or prescription drugs to cope with their stress. ?Hand-holding can be the prescription caregivers need.? A University of Virginia study showed that wives who held the hands of their spouse or a friend reduced their stress levels.? Reach out physically to a friend or family member or virtually such as through the help of the online site Lotsa Helping Hands that can connect your volunteer community to get you the break to do all the things above.

Becoming a caregiver is a huge responsibility but taking the time to embrace your inner child will help you find the balance you need between caring for yourself and caring for your loved one.

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Movie Review: 'Men in Black 3' Mojo Saves Galaxy Again - Snellville ...

It's been a decade since "Men in Black" last defended the galaxy from bad guys. The world has certainly moved on, but the MIB team has not because it's business as usual in "Men in Black 3."

Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) continue their exploits, this time with Smith going back in time, to 1969, where he teams up with a younger agent K, played by Josh Brolin, to save the future version of his partner and, of course, the world.

The rest of the film is really all about saving Agent K, saving the world from evil aliens and learning a little bit about the back story of each of our favorite G-Men. It ends with plenty of alien interventions and a nice salute to the fan base who has had an ongoing affection for the MIB universe.

The movie script was not completely done when they started production, shedding light on what many have said is a less than perfect movie. MIB3 is a ?redundant extension of a series that ran out of gas a decade ago, and it doesn?t need a neuralyzer to be forgettable.

The Flick-O-Meter gives "Men in Black 3" a three out of five. It's not as good as "Men In Black" (the original) but superior in almost every way to MIB2. Few things in life are worth waiting a decade for, and this isn?t one of them. But after witnessing so many big-screen sci-fi comebacks go so hideously wrong in recent years, "Men In Black 3" emerges as something of a triumph, of sorts.

Get social, head to my Facebook page, TheBrettside, and click Like.

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Friday random ten: What I am is what I am (Offthekuff)

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Child addicts at heart of Indonesia anti-smoking suit

KARAWANG GIRANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - Anti-tobacco advocates in Indonesia plan to file a class action lawsuit this month using cases of child addicts in the hope of forcing tougher regulations on a society where one in three people smokes.

It is a rare attempt of its kind to constrain a tobacco industry which looks to the world's fourth most populous country and its growing appetite for cigarettes to replace dwindling sales elsewhere.

The suit against tobacco companies and the Indonesian government argues that feeble regulation has left children dangerously exposed to the risks of smoking.

"There are ... kids who have fallen victim to the impact of cigarette companies and smoking. They are addicted. In the context of people's rights, the society has been disadvantaged by the tobacco industry," head of the National Commission for Child Protection, Arist Merdeka Sirait, said.

Indonesia is something of a paradise for both smokers and tobacco companies, with the world's fifth largest population of smokers. It is a widely tolerated habit and one which even in this relatively poor archipelago most can afford to feed.

And it is getting more popular as the economy grows. In 1995, one in four Indonesians smoked. Fifteen years later it had risen to one in three.

That in turn has tempted international tobacco firms to join the hugely profitable home-grown ones such as Gudang Garam, P T Djarum and Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna, which is now part of Philip Morris International.

The government even gives tax incentives for the manufacture of hand-rolled cigarettes because it provides such a major source of employment in east Java where the local firms congregate.

Sampoerna said it had only seen reports of the planned lawsuit and could not comment. Other producers also had no immediate comment.

A spokesman for the Federation of Indonesian Cigarette Manufacturers said he had heard of the suit but declined comment because it was not aimed at the federation.

"If a child is smoking is that the problem of the advertisement or the parents?" spokesman Hasan Aoni said.

ADDICTION TRANCE

Ilham Hadi has become something of a poster child for the anti-smoking campaign.

He began smoking aged four when his mother Nenah said she gave him 3,000 rupiah ($0.32) to buy snacks at school. He bought a cigarette instead.

The addiction has since blackened his teeth, damaged his skin and, his friends say, made the now nine-year old a useless soccer player and slow, wheezy runner.

"He sometimes bangs on the window at 4 a.m. in the morning to buy a cigarette," said Iin Indriyani, who runs a tiny store from the front room of her home around 100 yards (meters) up a winding path from the two-room house where Hadi's family lives.

"Whenever he wants a cigarette he looks like he is in a trance," she told Reuters, saying that he sometimes hit her and her daughters to demand cigarettes.

Hadi smokes two packs a day, adding to the financial stress on his parents given that his father earns only $5-6 per day as a laborer and part-time motor bike taxi driver.

"If there is no money left at home, nothing to sell anymore, he would go to the grocery shop, get money by helping park cars and come back home with cigarettes, sometimes a pack, sometimes two and expensive brands too," said his father Umar.

His habit has also brought the family unwanted celebrity as media crews troop to their house on a hillside beside a rice paddy in the village of Karawang Girang around 40 miles south of the capital.

The child protection commission paid for Hadi to be treated in March and he quit, but last week he ran away from home - not for the first time - in search of cigarettes and has not been seen since.

His case has triggered a debate among the village's 344 residents about smoking and an attempt by the head of the village to make Karawang Girang a smoke-free zone, said Husein, a local government health worker.

But the chances of it leading to a broad national conversation about the dangers of cigarettes, seen by many as a sign of sophistication, seem slim.

The vast majority of Indonesian smokers puff cigarettes laced with cloves, called kretek, a word based on the crackling sound made by the burning, heavily scented spice.

So pervasive is the habit that tobacco products are the number two item in household expenditure after rice, according to the statistics bureau.

Health worker Husein blames advertising. Billboards in the main street near the village feature cigarette advertisements and local entertainment events are often sponsored by tobacco firms.

It is a scene replicated across Indonesia's vast network of islands.

The annual cost of smoking-related diseases is estimated as high as 11 trillion rupiah, said analyst Abdillah Ahsan of the University of Indonesia's Demography Institute.

By contrast, cigarette firms are expected to produce 268.4 billion cigarettes in 2012 and contribute $8.45 billion in tax r e venue, according to the finance ministry.

It is enough to make national and regional authorities reluctant to tighten regulations and risk losing funds.

"Every time you want to make a regulation, it is very difficult because on every level of the bureaucracy they have been bought by the cigarette industry," said Tutus Abaci, a member of Indonesia's National Commission on Tobacco Control.

($1 = 9242.0000 Indonesian rupiah)

(Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

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App lets anyone track Twitter to play the stock market

Niall Firth, technology editor

(Image: Alex Segre/Rex Features)

There are lots of ways to decide whether or not it's worth investing in a company. You can look at the figures, sure, or you can look at its forecasts for the coming year. Or you could just see what Twitter has to say.

That was the idea behind the launch last year of a hedge fund that used Twitter sentiment alone to guide its choices. Now the firm behind it has announced that it is launching an app and website that will let any investor do the same thing. If they dare.

Derwent Absolute Return Fund, set up by Derwent Capital Markets, was closed earlier this year, after a fairly respectable performance of around 2 per cent growth in 2011 - a particularly bad year for hedge funds. It worked by mining tweets for information that gave a clue as to how the public was feeling. The idea was based on a research paper published in 2010 which showed that tracking the emotions expressed in millions of tweets closely matched - and even predicted - the performance of the Dow Jones index.

The new platform, due to launch over the summer, will use the same software to give would-be investors a "sentiment rating" in real time on any stock or currency - and then let them trade instantly.

"It means that people will be able to monitor global stock sentiment for the first time and use the information to influence their own personal investment decisions," says Derwent Capital founder Paul Hawtin. "I guess in the same way that GPS was developed by the military and then years later we all had TomToms in our cars."

Access will be free, but would-be investors will have to open a dealing account with the firm before they can use it. That ?100 burning a hole in your pocket? Why not see what Twitter thinks you should do with it?

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Dreams of Growth and Expansion

Small business owners often dream of expansion, growth and enhanced profitability; those strategic moves and timely tweaks that catapult their operation to the next level of success. I say dream because it?s the official 2nd step in the popular business transformation model called Appreciative Inquiry (AI), introduced by management theorist, David L. Cooperrider, back in the early ?80s.

In this dream step, (there are fours steps: Discover, Dream, Design, Destiny) owners and other team members close their eyes, and based on the current organizational assets and individual competencies, dream of an ideal ?future state? where the company?s best practices are employed and most ambitious goals are realized.

When it comes to expansion, owners invariably find themselves dreaming of an accelerated state of operations which includes extensive research, game-changing product innovation, new hiring, training and daily decision making. And oh yes? travel. If you?re venturing into the apparel market, you?ll have to visit China and Vietnam where the major garment factories are located. If you decide to produce toilets, sinks and showers, you?ll have to go to Japan. The textile factories are in Buenos Aires. And for coffee distribution, you?ll have to press elbows with Starbucks in Guatemala.

All markets are global. So you?ll have to leave the comfort of your CEO control booth to travel afar. You?ll have to lead the charge into new markets, crafting new strategies, fomenting new relationships, and adjusting your already overcrowded schedule to a new, more demanding timeline. At this point in the AI process, reality sets in. Your glorious dream quickly transforms into a nightmare.

You?re dreaming about growth because all small businesses face the same universal growth imperative: either, grow or wither and die on the vine. But in this new world order of growth and expansion, you can no longer devote the majority of your time to managing day-to-day operations. Think of it this way. You?re giving birth to a new thing, a critically important thing that will impact your company?s future survival. While you?re in labor, someone else will have to take the helm.

In our technologically advanced society, inundated by talking smart phones, wifi-enabled tablets, encrypted teleconferencing and 24/7 cloud access, it?s easy to delude oneself into thinking we are always in touch, always in control. This is a false assumption, especially when it comes to running the day-to-day operations of a small business organization during its three to five year infancy. The team?s motivation, interaction, competitiveness, goodwill and spirit of reciprocation are tied directly to the owner/CEO?s philosophy and conduct. During these fragile years of struggle and uncertainty, rules and procedures remain in a state of flux. Many decisions are being made for the first time. Too many mistakes and everybody goes home.

Be your organization?s visionary

More importantly, the owner/CEO is most often the true (Michael Dell /Steve Jobs) visionary within the organization, the person that reassures everyone the impossible is possible, and that dreams do come true. That?s what visionaries do. They take an unfamiliar, untested concept and transform it into something believable, attainable, and beneficial to the participants. In a way, they are legendary conmen, peddling the truth instead of a lie. They believe, then make it possible for others to believe; enduring skepticism, criticism and even sabotage along the way.

Visionaries are charismatic, persuasive, confident and high risk takers. They demonstrate tremendous self-control during times of crisis. But of all the characteristics that set them apart, the most compelling one is social intelligence. Visionaries have an uncanny ability to gage the shifting emotions, priorities and anxieties of their internal and external audiences, and then, respond accordingly.

Visionaries use the power of empathy (toward the priorities of others) to make things personal. Many times Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, had to beg people to take a vacation because their ?personal buy-in? to assignments and sense of being appreciated was so strong, it superseded their desire to take time off. Google has the same problem. If there is one common thread you should recognize among successful visionaries, it is their ability to not only create innovative, game-changing products and services, but also build a burning passion among stakeholders who associate themselves with the cause.

But back to you?

You?re dreaming of expansion, and rightfully so. But if you?re the company?s visionary, how can you afford to turn over the reins of power to your second-in-charge VP. He?s good at what he does. But he?s a manager in the traditional sense, cut from a conservative, no nonsense cloth. He?s not a visionary like you. What will happen to the company while you?re in Japan giving birth to this new thing?

The answer is simple. What eventually happens depends on you.

First, you must embrace your earlier assumption that he is not a visionary. He doesn?t have to be. In fact, when you examine the strategic impact that role playing has on successful team building, it may be a good thing he?s not. In most instances, two visionaries just won?t fit into one small business box.

Respect your Drone/Enforcer

In the book, What?s Wrong With Your Small Business Team [Executive Hardback], I refer to your second-in-charge VP as the? Drone/Enforcer. If you?re a Star Trek fan and followed the series featuring Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager, you?ll remember her first officer, Commander Chakotay. Chakotay represents the ideal depiction of what a drone/enforcer should be. He?s a designated, trustworthy, hand-picked team leader that thoroughly understands the stated and unstated mission of the organization, and functions as a trumpeter of the core message, a process-server of the detailed execution of policies derived from the core message, and a transparent firewall between the owner?s visionary leadership activities and responsibilities for the daily operation.

Though fiercely loyal, he is, by no means, a yes-man. He?s not afraid to question, challenge, correct and even express disappointment in the small business owner?s decision-making. But because of his respect and loyalty, these critical exchanges almost always occur behind the scenes. During the civil rights movement, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy was Martin Luther King, Jr.?s drone. Vice President Dick Cheney was the Bush Administration?s drone. And before he left Microsoft, Bill Gates relied on Steve Ballmer as his drone.

As a small business owner with years of team building ahead of you, there is a sophisticated premise in play here you should understand. Drones are not concerned with visionary breakthroughs or saving polar bears at the North Pole. Drones are interested in three things: knowledge, efficiency and control. Chances are, your detail-oriented, ever-vigilant second-in-charge VP knows more about your day-to-day operations than you. He knows which trucks are most dependable and which leaks in the warehouse roof need to be fixed first. He knows that invoice #2355RT has not been paid because he?s trying to teach vendor #277 a lesson about over billing.

This superior knowledge serves as a balancing mechanism that defuses potential ego clashes when you?re standing at the podium, smiling, waving, and having your photo taken as you receives the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The drone/enforcer is content, knowing true power lies in superior knowledge rather than the pomp and circumstance of bright lights and formal ceremonies.

With this critical understanding of team dynamics and the importance of role playing within your organization, you can, indeed, go off to India and China and Japan to give birth to this new thing, free from worry your operation will fall apart. Your drone will take care of your operation. What you need to do is concentrate on taking care of your people.

If you have ten to twenty team members working for your organization, call three a day? that includes warehouse workers and janitors too. Find out what they?re doing. Get them excited about what you?re doing. Use that wifi, encrypted, 24/7 technology to stay in touch. When you fly back on weekends, bring some tea cups from China, or whiskey glass from Russia, depending on the alcoholic tendencies of your group. Do what visionaries do. Do it without the slightest expectation your drone will do it for you. Make it personal. Show empathy for the priories of your team members. And then watch your business grow.

Dreaming businessman image courtesy of Shutterstock

Tagged as: AI, expansion, growth

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The secret to good tomato chemistry

Public release date: 24-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elisabeth (Lisa) Lyons
elyons@cell.com
617-386-2121
Cell Press

There is nothing better than a ripe, red, homegrown tomato, and now researchers reporting online on May 24 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have figured out just what it is that makes some of them so awfully good (and your average supermarket tomato so bland).

"We now know exactly what we need to do to fix the broken tomato," said Harry Klee of the University of Florida.

Tomato flavor depends on sugars, acids, and a host of less well-defined aroma volatiles (so named for the ease with which they vaporize, sending scent molecules into the air). Klee's team set out to define the chemicals that are most important to our fondness for one particular tomato or another.

First, they assembled chemical profiles of 278 tomato samples representing152 heirloom varieties, most of which were bred before the ubiquitous commercial tomatoes of today even existed. That effort turned up an unexpectedly large chemical diversity within the heirloom tomatoeswith variation in some volatile contents of as much as 3,000-fold across cultivars.

That diversity presented the researchers with an opportunity to really explore what makes consumers favor one tomato over another. They did a series of taste tests with a consumer panel using a subset of those heirlooms that represented the most chemical diversity. Panelists rated their overall liking of each variety as well as the overall tomato flavor intensity, sweetness, and sourness. Panelists also rated supermarket tomatoes in the same way.

A sophisticated statistical analysis of the chemistry and taste test results showed that flavor intensity traces to 12 different compounds and sweetness to another 12, including 8 that were also important for overall flavor.

The researchers also found that some flavor volatiles influence the perception of sweetness through our sense of smell. "In other words," Klee says, "there are volatile chemicals unrelated to sugars that make things taste sweeter." That raises the tantalizing possibility that this feature might be played up in tomatoes and other foods to make us experience no-calorie sweetness through our noses instead of our tongues.

The analysis also showed that some of the volatiles most abundantly present in tomatoes offer little in terms of our enjoyment of them in comparison to other and much more rare ingredients.

"This is the first step to restoring good flavor in commercial tomatoes," Klee says, and that could go a long way.

"Consumers care deeply about tomatoes," he says. "Their lack of flavor is a major focus of consumer dissatisfaction with modern agriculture. One could do worse than to be known as the person who helped fix flavor."

###

Tieman et al.: "The Chemical Interactions Underlying Tomato Flavor Preferences."

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 24-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elisabeth (Lisa) Lyons
elyons@cell.com
617-386-2121
Cell Press

There is nothing better than a ripe, red, homegrown tomato, and now researchers reporting online on May 24 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have figured out just what it is that makes some of them so awfully good (and your average supermarket tomato so bland).

"We now know exactly what we need to do to fix the broken tomato," said Harry Klee of the University of Florida.

Tomato flavor depends on sugars, acids, and a host of less well-defined aroma volatiles (so named for the ease with which they vaporize, sending scent molecules into the air). Klee's team set out to define the chemicals that are most important to our fondness for one particular tomato or another.

First, they assembled chemical profiles of 278 tomato samples representing152 heirloom varieties, most of which were bred before the ubiquitous commercial tomatoes of today even existed. That effort turned up an unexpectedly large chemical diversity within the heirloom tomatoeswith variation in some volatile contents of as much as 3,000-fold across cultivars.

That diversity presented the researchers with an opportunity to really explore what makes consumers favor one tomato over another. They did a series of taste tests with a consumer panel using a subset of those heirlooms that represented the most chemical diversity. Panelists rated their overall liking of each variety as well as the overall tomato flavor intensity, sweetness, and sourness. Panelists also rated supermarket tomatoes in the same way.

A sophisticated statistical analysis of the chemistry and taste test results showed that flavor intensity traces to 12 different compounds and sweetness to another 12, including 8 that were also important for overall flavor.

The researchers also found that some flavor volatiles influence the perception of sweetness through our sense of smell. "In other words," Klee says, "there are volatile chemicals unrelated to sugars that make things taste sweeter." That raises the tantalizing possibility that this feature might be played up in tomatoes and other foods to make us experience no-calorie sweetness through our noses instead of our tongues.

The analysis also showed that some of the volatiles most abundantly present in tomatoes offer little in terms of our enjoyment of them in comparison to other and much more rare ingredients.

"This is the first step to restoring good flavor in commercial tomatoes," Klee says, and that could go a long way.

"Consumers care deeply about tomatoes," he says. "Their lack of flavor is a major focus of consumer dissatisfaction with modern agriculture. One could do worse than to be known as the person who helped fix flavor."

###

Tieman et al.: "The Chemical Interactions Underlying Tomato Flavor Preferences."

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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