Trap Oil agrees North Sea equity exchange with Caithness Oil

SmallCapNewsNorth Sea E&P company Trapoil (LON:TRAP) has agreed an equity exchange deal with Caithness Oil connected to the Knockinnon and Forse prospects.

The two sides have signed a legally binding agreement that will see Trapoil gain a 35 percent interest in Knockinnon increasing its total working interest to 70 percent. In return, it will transfer its 35 percent equity interest in the Forse prospect to Caithness, which will accept sole responsibility for the firm commitment to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to drill a well by 21 December 2013.

At Knockinnon, Caithness will retain a 30 percent interest and each company will pay its participating interest share of all agreed future expenditure. The Knockinnon prospect, discovered in 2000, has estimated most likely recoverable resources of over 6mmbls of oil (Trapoil management?s estimate) and represents a near term development opportunity.

Trapoil will assume operatorship of Knockinnon and will consequently have greater control over the timing of any work programme. There are currently no work commitments to DECC on Knockinnon.

At Forse, Trapoil will be granted the right to acquire a 20 percent working interest for a nominal consideration within three months of the completion of the first well on the prospect. In the event that Caithness does not spud the Forse well by 21 December 2013, Trapoil will be paid US$7 million by Caithness or alternatively will be issued with a 12 month loan note of US$7m secured against all the assets of Caithness.

Any future cash flow from Knockinnon or Forse will not be encumbered by any cost recoveries which have previously arisen or may arise from the existing farm-in arrangements between Caithness and Trapoil.

The outstanding FIA work obligations in respect of Lybster (Licence P.1270, Block 11/24-3v2), will be fulfilled by Caithness in due course with Caithness remaining as operator and Trapoil retaining its existing 35 percent carried interest.

Mark Groves Gidney, the chief executive of Trapoil, said: ?We are pleased to have reached agreement with Caithness on these proposed revised arrangements which provide greater clarity to our ongoing drilling campaign. Upon completion, we will have majority control and operatorship of Knockinnon, which we see as an attractive near term development opportunity.

?Furthermore, Caithness will assume sole responsibility for the costs and liability to DECC associated with the commitment well on Forse, whilst we will retain the flexibility to secure a 20 percent working interest in Forse should the first well prove to be successful.?

Source: http://www.smallcapnews.co.uk/2012/11/trap-oil-agrees-north-sea-equity-exchange-with-caithness-oil/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trap-oil-agrees-north-sea-equity-exchange-with-caithness-oil

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'Intelligence' body set to fight illicit trade in treasures

Courtesy International Council of Museums

The images above show kinds of antiquities deemed at risk of being illicitly trafficked, but the objects themselves have not been stolen. From left: A wooden ceremonial stool from the Ta?no culture of the Caribbean in the 11th to 15th centuries; a terracotta Nok head from Nigeria; a Paracas mantle or cloak from Peru in about 200 B.C.; a shabti or funerary figurine from Egypt in the 13th century B.C.

By Ian Johnston, NBC News

LONDON -- Ancient statues from Nigeria and Cambodia, colorful cloaks from Peru, ceremonial furniture from Haiti before Columbus and clay tablets inscribed with writing thousands of years old: The illegal trade in looted cultural artifacts is vast, poorly policed and highly profitable.

But NBC News has learned that a new international body to gather "intelligence" about the illicit sale of some of the world's most beautiful and historic objects is set to be established.

Groups like the Taliban and al-Qaida are thought to raise funds in this way with?suggestions that smuggling art and antiquities is the world's third most common form of trafficking after drugs and weapons, worth $6 billion or more a year.?

But global policing body Interpol's response to these often-made claims is that they simply do not know.

The new body, to be called the International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods, would?try to improve cooperation between Interpol and law enforcement agencies, world cultural body UNESCO, research institutions and other groups, and establish the "best practice" to fight this form of crime.

It would also create a database of publicly available information, and seek to improve monitoring and research.

The France-based International Council of Museums is behind the new body, but is waiting for formal approval of funding from the European Commission.

'Invaluable scientific proof'
An ICOM official, who asked not to be named in line with the organization's policy, said that stealing culturally or historically important objects was "much worse" than ordinary theft.

"The loss is not only felt by one person, but by a whole society. The loss will also be experienced by several generations of people who feel deprived of a part of their history and cultural past," the official told NBC News. "For experts and scholars, it also marks the disappearance of invaluable scientific proof of parts of the world's history."

"ICOM felt it needed a lot more reliable information and recent analyses of trends, what one would call the need for 'intelligence' when fighting organized criminal activity," the official added.

'Emergency red list' targets Syria's looted treasures

Noah Charney,?founding director of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, told NBC News that art and antiquities crime was an "inherently international type of crime," and it needed a better global response.

Police across the world generally performed "very poorly" and it was an area that "tends to be underfunded," Charney said, partly because some authorities view it as something from the film "The Thomas Crown Affair" rather than a serious problem.

Charney said that law enforcement agencies' recovery rates of stolen artifacts generally ranged from as low as 1.5 percent to 10 percent for Italy's Carabinieri, who he said were "by far the best" agency in the world at dealing with art crime.

He estimated that about 75 percent of art crime involved antiquities. Valuable paintings tended to be sold by criminals for 10 percent of their auction value, he said, but antiquities could be sold openly for the full price with a forged provenance to get around global laws.

"Most of the objects are coming directly from the earth or the sea, so they'll never appear on a stolen art register," he said. "You'll never know what was in a tomb opened by tomb raiders."

ICOM produces a number of "red lists" detailing the kinds of artifacts that tend to be stolen in different parts of the world, partly to help law enforcement agencies catch smugglers.

Here are 10 examples -- with photographs of similar works that have not been stolen and are mainly held by museums:

Ancient Nigerian statues looted
Terracotta Nok statues, which date back to the 9th century BC in Nigeria, are "plentifully available on the art market," according to ICOM.

National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.

A terracotta Nok head from Nigeria. Nok art like this piece, which is not stolen but is illustrative of the kind of artifacts which can be, dates back to the 9th century B.C.

The problem is many are unidentified and some are likely to have been ultimately obtained illegally.

"Demand from the European and American art markets, combined with speculation, leads today to looting of archaeological sites, causing irrevocable destruction and final loss of information,"?according to ICOM's website.

The first head was rediscovered at the village of Nok in 1928 by chance and since then statues with similar characteristics have been found at 20 different sites on Nigeria's Bauchi plateau.

"These are heads of whole figurines, mainly human effigies, but occasionally representations of animals (in most cases snakes)," ICOM says. "The size may vary, some heads being life-size, whereas other full-length figurines are only a dozen centimeters high (4.7 inches)."

Cloaks of many colors from Peru
The richly decorated cloaks of the Paracas culture and its Nasca successor, which existed from about 400 BC to 700 AD on the southern coast of modern-day Peru, are another target for thieves.

The cotton mantles, which tend to be found preserved within funeral bundles, feature intense colors and are embroidered with motifs such as stylized jaguars, fish, fruit and flowers.

"However, the most important motif is the profile of a human figure whose head faces the viewer, with a mask and a hairpiece with some type of animal element (usually a feline with snake appendages), weapons and a human head fastened by the hair,"?according to ICOM's website.

The cloak pictured, seen in a photograph taken by the Museo Nacional de Arqueolog?a, Antropolog?a e Historia del Peru, is about 8.7 feet by 5.1 feet and dates from about 200 BC during the early Nasca period.

Museo Nacional de Arqueolog?a, Antropolog?a e Historia del Per?, Peru

This Paracas mantle or cloak, dating from about 200 B.C., is about 8-and-a-half feet long. Others like this one, which is not stolen, are deemed at risk of being looted and sold illegally.

Poverty-stricken Haiti losing 'rich' heritage
The "exceptionally rich" cultural heritage of Haiti is "severely affected by illicit traffic" that is fueled by "international demand" and "extreme poverty,"?ICOM said.

Mariano Hernandez/Fundaci?n Garc?a Ar?valo

A ceremonial "duho" or stool from the Taino culture of the Caribbean, dating from 800 to 1500 A.D. This has not been stolen, but there is general concern about the trade in looted art from poverty-stricken Haiti.

"The earthquake of January 12, 2010, has rendered the situation particularly dire, leaving Haitian heritage sites unprotected and vulnerable to looting, theft, and destruction," its website adds.

Pre-Columbian artifacts that are deemed by ICOM to be at risk of theft include items such as stone axes, pestles and sculpted heads, ceramic bowls and plates, shell ornaments and furniture such as the ceremonial stool or "duho" pictured, which dates from 800 to 1500 AD. Like the other objects pictured, this illustrative example was not stolen.

"It should be noted that this type of object is common to all countries of Ta?no origin, such as the Dominican Republic. The main characteristics of the duho, namely a carved wooden seat with a high back, can also be found in Africa," according to a statement emailed to NBC News by the ICOM official.

The Ta?no people lived in several Caribbean islands and greeted Christopher Columbus when he arrived in the Americas in 1492. Millions are thought to have died because of European diseases to which they had no immunity, clashes with the Europeans and other causes associated with colonization.

Artifacts from after the arrival of Columbus such as Voodoo sculptures and jewelry; cannons, pistols and slave chains form the 18th century; and fine art paintings and sculpture from the 18th to 20th centuries are also included on the red list for Haiti.

China Cultural Heritage Information and Consultation Center, China.

A handwritten letter from a literatus dating from China's Ming Dynasty. Old letters and other handwriting from China, such as this unstolen example, are considered to be art.

Letters from the Ming Dynasty
Old letters and government and other documents from China "have always been considered as works of art, and as such are highly coveted," the ICOM statement said.?They are "very fragile and vulnerable to destruction."

The letters date from as long ago as the Zhou Dynasty in 1046 BC, through the Han and Ming dynasties, to 1949, when the Communist Party took power in China.

The documents can be handwritten, carved or printed on a variety of materials such as bamboo, silk, paper and wood.

The letter pictured is described as a "handwritten letter from a literatus" from the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368 to 1644.

Museo del Oro, Banco de la Rep?blica de Colombia/Clark M. Rodr?guez.

A mummy dating from 600 to 1600 A.D. from Colombia. Antiquities thieves loot human remains like this one, which has not been stolen, the world over.

Dead bodies and skulls
Preserved dead bodies, human skulls and other body parts retain a certain fascination for some criminals and collectors with little regard for the scruples of their suppliers.

The mummy pictured was made by the Muisca people of Colombia and dates from 600 to 1600 AD,?according to the ICOM website.

"Human remains per se are also a type of object very much coveted by those interested in Egyptian antiquities, but also in Haitian Voodoo-related objects that are partly made of human remains (skulls)," the ICOM statement said.

On Nov. 6, Bolivia returned a mummy that was at least 700 years old to Peru. It was seized from antiques traffickers two years ago as a Bolivian citizen tried to ship it to an address in Compiegne, France, in a cardboard box, The Associated Press reported.

Currencies that hold their value
Coins "of all origins are highly sought after," the ICOM statement said, due to the "profitable market" and the ease with which they can be hidden and moved about.

Kabul National Museum & French National Library, Afghanistan

An Indo-Scythian silver coin from the reign of Azes I, 57 to 20 B.C. Ancient coins like this one, which is not stolen, are generally are at risk of being illicitly traded partly because they are small and easily hidden.

Silver?Indo-Scythian coins from the reign of Azes I?(57 to 20 BC),?Indo-Greek coins from the reign of Menander I?(165 to 130 BC),?gold coins from the Fatimid era in Egypt?in AD 1012 and?silver, gilded bronze and paper currency from China?are all listed on ICOM's website as examples of the kind of artifacts that are stolen and smuggled.

The statement pointed to the seizure of 18,000 coins, along with bronze eagles, pieces of jewelry and other objects -- originating from Bulgaria and dating back to the time of Ancient Greece and Rome -- that were illegally imported into Canada in 2007. They were returned to Bulgaria in June last year.

Iraq's ancient texts lost
Ancient clay tablets with cuneiform writing are among the various cultural artifacts that have been looted from Iraq following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

? British Museum, United Kingdom.

A clay proto-cuneiform tablet with early pictographic writing from the end of the 4th millennium B.C. Tablets like this one, which is not stolen, should be treated with caution if offered for sale.

According to ICOM's website, any object with cuneiform or "wedge-shaped" writing on it should be treated as suspicious.

Many of the objects were looted from the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, which houses artifacts dating back to 8,000 BC.

The clay tablets are usually between about 2 and 12 inches long, and can be rectangular, pillow-shaped, square or sometimes round.

"They are usually sun-dried and must be handled with extreme care. If not stored under controlled humidity, they may disintegrate," ICOM says.

"Written clay or stone tablets such as this ? tablet frequently resurface during seizures or illegal sales," the ICOM statement said. "As an example, in 2007 a 4,000 year-old Iraqi cuneiform tablet was identified by a German archaeologist on eBay's Swiss website, as they are featured in the Emergency Red List of Iraqi Antiquities at Risk."

"The appropriate Swiss authorities were informed and the site stopped the sale minutes before it concluded. Police confiscated the tablet at a storage facility in Zurich," it added.

National Museum of Cambodia, Cambodia

This female divinity carved in sandstone from Cambodia stands just over four feet. Art like this piece, which is not stolen, has been looted for decades.

Such tablets are also "subject to forgeries," the statement said, adding that this was a "a real problem for collectors and museums as the fakes now produced are of very high quality and can easily fool experts, unless scientific testing is done."

Cambodia's treasures looted for years
Statues similar to the 4-foot stone goddess pictured, bronzes, religious documents, ceramics, and a whole range of other artifacts have been looted in Cambodia for decades.

ICOM's Red List for Cambodia said that a "new tide of destruction" began in recent years as thieves targeted prehistoric cemetery sites.

"Cambodia's cultural resources are very important to its people. Their pride in their heritage is symbolized by the choice of depicting the ancient temple of Angkor Wat on the nation's flag," it noted.

Statues from the world-renowned Angkor site are particularly sought after and so have been forged as well as stolen for years.

Other objects on the red list include buffalo-head rings and ceremonial drums from 5th century BC to 5th century AD, ritual objects such as bells, conches and incense burners from the Angkor period from the 9th to 13th centuries AD and items such as decorated iron swords, gongs and cymbals dating from the 14th to 20th centuries.

Centuries-old gold jewelry melted down
Gold jewelry such as this centuries-old Jaguar-head necklace from Iximch? in Guatemala has long been prized by looters.

Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Direcci?n del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, Museo Nacional de Arqueolog?a y Etn

A Jaguar head necklace from Iximch?, Guatemala, dating from 900 to 1524 A.D. Art as beautiful as this unstolen piece can sometimes be looted simply to be melted down.

But sometimes their historic significance -- the necklace pictured dates from between 900 and 1524 AD -- means little to the thieves.

"In some cases, it is not the object itself that is of value to the thief but the material it is made out of. In these cases the piece will be melted or cut into pieces so as to recover as much gold (or silver, precious stones, etc) as possible," the ICOM statement said.

In addition to the necklace, ICOM's website lists an array of treasures from Central America from museums to illustrate the kinds of artifacts are traded illegally.

Egyptian Museum, Egypt / Ahmed Amin

An unstolen limestone shabti or funerary figurine from Egypt, dating from 1279 to 1213 B.C.

These include colorful bowls decorated with paintings of humans, animals, plants and ancient writing; drinking vessels in the shape of people and animals; stamps used to print designs; and musical instruments such as flutes, drums, rattles and whistles.

Ancient statue in a shoebox
Funerary figures from ancient Egypt known as shabti are "in high demand from collectors" and because they are relatively small "can be easily hidden and transported," the ICOM statement said.

In 2011, U.S. Homeland Security officers seized a shabti that was being smuggled inside a shoebox. Other illegal shipments containing the statuettes have been discovered over the past year,?leading to their inclusion on the Emergency Red List of Egyptian Cultural Objects at Risk.

Shabtis can be made from?wood, Egyptian faience, a type of ceramic, pottery and stone such as limestone.

The statues, which date from 5,200 BC to 332 BC, were of?men and women.

The shabti pictured, seen in a photograph taken by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, was found in the tomb of Sennedjem, who lived more than 3,000 years ago, at the cemetery of?Deir el-Medina at Thebes.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/14/14944606-new-intelligence-body-set-to-fight-illicit-trade-in-worlds-priceless-treasures?lite

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Theater rewards moviegoers for not texting

FeaturePics stock

A movie-theater chain now has offers mobile phone app that rewards people for not texting in movies.

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, NBC News

Moviegoers know all too well that manners in the theater have gone out the window. People bring in fast food. They put their feet up on the seats. They yell out warnings and jokes to the characters on screen. And in recent years, phone-addicted fans can't even seem to close out of Facebook or Gmail long enough to actually watch the movie they paid for.

Now a major movie-theater chain has decided to offer a little incentive for those who find their phones as fascinating as the feature film. Cinemark has announced a new program, CineMode, that will launch from inside Cinemark's cell phone app.

Once the app is started, the phone's screen dimmed and owners are asked to set their phones to vibrate. When the movie ends and the phone exits CineMore, a digital coupon for a discount on a future movie is sent to the app.

"For a while, our customers have asked us to design an alternative and creative solution that addresses texting and cell phone issues in our auditoriums," Cinemark vice-president James Meredith said in a press release. "Now, through the Cinemark app, CineMode targets these courtesy issues through the very same devices that are causing the problems."

Theater texting has become a major issue in moviedom, as a new generation raised on mobile devices matures. Deadline.com reports that executives at theater chain Regal Entertainment have actually considered allowing texting during films, while other companies and fans hotly disagree.

??Over my dead body will I introduce texting into the movie theater,? Deadline quotes Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League as saying at the CinemaCon convention earlier this year. ?I love the idea of playing around with a new concept. But that is the scourge of our industry. ? It?s our job to understand that this is a sacred space and we have to teach manners.??

Should texting in movies ever be allowed? Vote in our poll, and tell us on Facebook.

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/15/15169643-theater-chain-will-reward-moviegoers-for-not-texting-during-film?lite

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Television: Chronicle of a death foretold? Study of Canadian families and television in the digital age

ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2012) ? Not only is TV not endangered, but it also has a unifying social impact on the nuclear family across the country. This is the main conclusion of a cross-Canada study -- Are the Kids All Right? -- on the television viewing habits of families with at least one child aged between 9 and 12 years. The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by Andr? H. Caron, professor of communications at the Universit? de Montr?al and Director of the Centre for Youth and Media Studies (CYMS).

"Young Canadians today live in a different world than that experienced by previous generations. In this context, many well-placed observers have predicted the impending death of television," says Dr. Caron. "We wanted to test the veracity of this statement, so we set out to meet 80 different families (over 200 participants) to determine the current place of the small screen that has shaped so many childhoods since its creation."

Presentation of the study

The study was conducted over three years in two phases. In the first phase, more than 500 Canadian children's television programs were analyzed. The results, published in 2010, showed the decisive quality of Canadian productions. On the other hand, it also revealed significant gaps in the availability and diversity of programs geared specifically to children aged between 9 and 12 years.

The second phase of the study consisted of a thorough examination of the appropriation of media by families and children: in addition to the role, perception, and influence of TV, the study examined how children make use of new screen-based media such as computers, video game consoles, and smartphones. Based on this approach, the researchers interviewed Canadian families in their everyday environment (their homes) in five Canadian cities: St. John's, Montr?al, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. The researchers also used the method of focus groups, composed respectively of children, fathers, mothers, and young adolescents in each city.

Results: highlights

"In the evening, when we're all sitting together, it's family TV time"

The results of the study show that, as in the past, television remains the media platform best suited to shared family experiences in the five regions visited. Families continue to attribute value and importance to TV. The results also suggest that second screens (tablets, smartphones, etc.) are still not widely used by this group and are not a threat to television: when present, they complement it. Thus, children and parents interviewed across the country consider television as far from being endangered since, because of its dimensions, it is the only screen in the house that allows family members to gather together and watch their favourite shows.

The study also highlighted regional differences in content and practices surrounding television use. For example, the greatest number of hours spent watching TV was in St. John's, Newfoundland, while that city also had the best balance of time spent on outdoor activities. In Calgary, parents' approaches were by far the most traditional, with greater involvement in decisions regarding program choice and number of viewing hours. In Quebec, there was a desire of parents for more programming for 9-12 year olds, preferably from Quebec.

Canadian content: are children loyal?

The findings also show that parents question the lack of content offered to their children. "Indeed, from pre-school to around 7-8 years, children are relatively loyal to Canadian programming since producers here offer a variety of programs known for their quality. After that, there is a sort of vacuum, and Canadian content for this group becomes more and more rare," laments Caron. Thus, their loyalty to Canadian television fades with time. "However, the 9-12 year old period is a good time to revive children's interest in Canadian television programming because they still want to spend time with their families and cherish these moments of closeness watching TV together. For Canadian producers, it's about long-term loyalty to TV 'made in Canada,'" concludes the researcher.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit? de Montr?al.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/gyY99PjcC44/121114113322.htm

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Captive animals show signs of boredom, study finds

ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2012) ? Wondering if your caged hamster gets bored? It's highly likely if the critter has nothing to do all day.

Those are the findings of University of Guelph researchers in the first research study to empirically demonstrate boredom in confined animals. The study appears today in PLOS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science.

The study's authors hope the results encourage the development of better housing systems for captive animals.

"Ideas about how to assess animal boredom scientifically have been raised before, but this is really the first time that anyone's done it," said Rebecca Meagher, a U of G postdoctoral researcher and the study's lead author.

It's well-established that living in unchanging, inescapable environments induces boredom in humans, including prisoners who report that they are highly motivated to seek stimulation.

"But we cannot rely on verbal self-reports from non-humans, so motivation to obtain general stimulation must form the basis of any objective measure of boredom in animals," said Prof. Georgia Mason, who holds the Canada Research Chair in animal welfare in Guelph's Department of Animal and Poultry Science.

The researchers presented captive mink with stimuli ranging from appealing treats to neutral objects to undesirable things, such as leather gloves used to catch the animals.

Half of the animals in the study lived in small, bare cages. The other half lived in large "enriched" cages that were enhanced with water for wading, passageways for running, objects to chew and towers to climb.

The researchers found that animals in confined, empty spaces avidly seek stimulation, which is consistent with boredom. Those mink approached stimuli -- even normally frightening objects -- three times more quickly and investigated them for longer. These animals also ate more treats, even when given as much food as mink in enriched environments.

When they were not being tested, mink in empty cages spent much of their waking time lying down and idle. Among them, those that spent the most time awake but motionless showed the keenest interest in stimuli.

"We don't know whether mink or other animals truly feel bored in the same way that humans do," Meagher said. "We can't measure that type of subjective experience. But we can see that, when they have little to do, then just like many bored humans, they may look listless, and, if given the chance, eagerly seek any form of stimulation."

Guelph neuroscientist and psychology professor Mark Fenske, an expert in human cognition and emotion and recent co-author of a comprehensive review of boredom research, said the study is an important addition to the literature.

"Surprisingly little is known about boredom, even though it is associated with significant adverse consequences for health and well-being," he said.

"Being able to now study boredom in non-human animals is an important step in our efforts to understand its causes and effects and find ways to alleviate boredom-related problems across species."

Meagher and Mason hope the findings will prompt further research, including looking at whether intelligent animals such as primates and parrots are particularly prone to boredom in captivity, and why under-stimulation causes problems.

The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Guelph's Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, where Mason is an associated faculty member.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Rebecca K. Meagher, Georgia J. Mason. Environmental Enrichment Reduces Signs of Boredom in Caged Mink. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (11): e49180 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049180

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/K6nm0tCdxFA/121114172820.htm

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Original Source: Watch NBA Live Streaming TV on IPad, IPhone, Tablets and Android Mobile

Source: http://www.earticles.com/watch-nba-live-streaming-tv-on-ipad-iphone-tablets-and-android-mobile

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Small Business Center San Francisco And Small Business Consulting

Transitioning from a home-based business to a small business can be challenging. Most likely, you have built a good clientele, started out in your home office, held your overhead very low and invested every thing back into your business while sustaining your ?day job?. Even so, you have determined to take the plunge and grow to a new location, probably a virtual office space in San Francisco or other kind of place inside the bay area. Up to this point, you have most likely done every thing on your own and may not be aware of just how much support is accessible to you when you take your business big.

Here are a few tricks to get you on the proper track for growth:

? Consulting a Office Space For Rent In San Francisco must be one of one?s first actions toward expansion.
? Find out from the California Business Investment Service what financial rewards are offered from regional governments
? Research on the CalGOLD data base, what regional govt health, building, and business permits you will need to have for your non-home-based business. Some municipalities permit home business to be conducted without specified permits, but once you open up a company location you?ll be required to acquire permits.
? If you plan on hiring staff, you?ll be required to possess an employer account with the California Employment Development Department for tax and payroll functions.
? Determine if you need to sign-up with the Franchise Tax Board or State Board of Equalization. Depending on what type of business you are engaged in and/or if you are planning on conducting business on an interstate level will be the identifying factors.
? If your commodity demands significant amounts of any kind of items, be it office supplies or raw materials, research local wholesalers which may supply rewards to domestically owned small organizations.
? If you have not already joined a small business organization, do this. Networking with companies like Small Business California and California Small Business Association generally is a very effective approach to develop your business.
? Consider becoming a member of the local Chamber of Commerce. For small business this can be an invaluable resource. It?s grass-roots stuff. Local people with local connections aiding one another succeed in business.

Regardless of how big or modest your desires are, getting in contact with a local Office Space For Rent In San Francisco will allow you to realize those desires by giving you the small business direction that you simply cant do on your own.

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Source: http://www.greatermichiganrealty.com/blog/2012/11/12/small-business-center-san-francisco-and-small-business-consulting/

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Texans back on top of AP Pro32 NFL power rankings

Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) makes a touchdown catch with Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs (55) defending in the first half an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) makes a touchdown catch with Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs (55) defending in the first half an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub (8) passes against the Chicago Bears during the second half an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Houston's win over Chicago coupled with Atlanta's first loss of the season sends the Texans back on top of the AP Pro32 NFL power rankings.

Houston receives all 12 first-place votes and 384 points from The Associated Press' panel of media members who regularly cover the league. The Texans improved to 8-1 with their 13-6 win over the Bears on Sunday night.

The Falcons are the NFL's only other 8-1 team after their 31-27 loss to New Orleans, and are second with 362 points. Chicago remains third with 341 points, followed by San Francisco with 339 points, and Denver with 334 points.

The Texans were first in the power rankings for three weeks earlier in the season.

Jacksonville is No. 32 and last.

____

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-11-13-FBN-AP-Pro32-Rankings/id-073bfc1c888445e297a2212a939f3088

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Hi all we are Greg and Haley from Qld. We have been doing renovations of our own for quite a few years. I?m a licenced tradesman have done hundreds renovations for clients over the years. Property Options on Youtube Video.

I guess you could say property is in my blood. After talking to many clients while completing their renovations we decided to follow their footsteps and do some renovations ourselves ? not that it?s always smooth sailing.?I was looking for something different outside the box about property, when I was told about Mark Rolton and Options?- so I decided to check him out.

Step 1: Getting Started

It started with a mid-week 1 hour preview night, I signed up that night for the 3 day live weekend option course.?I attended the three day bootcamp and I left thinking about doing our next renovation under an Option using Mark?s valuable information and radical ideas.

Step 2: Find the Deal

We heard about this deal through a friend of ours, so we approached the owners with an option to renovate their property. The great part of an option meant that this time it was going to be very different for us and without the financial exposure that a normal renovation puts you under.

Step 3: Choosing the Right Strategy ? Short Option

We knew from the start this deal was going to be a?short option, combined with a huge effort (blood sweat and tears) but giving a?very good return.

The optioned property comprised of?negotiating with a married couple who had split up, she was very keen for us to get her out of a huge financial hole while living in the family home and was?worried about the bank to foreclosing on them. The husband had moved out and stuck his head in the ground and didn?t want to take any responsibility for his actions. I guess you could say he was an uncooperative seller, as Mark says you are going to meet people like this when you are in the trenches doing deals.

We had two hurdles prior to commencing. Firstly the ex-husband signed off on the HOA and joint venture agreement and we paid 2 months of bank payments in arrears to be in good standing with the bank (Don?t need a foreclosure half way through a project.) We also put a caveate of $70,000 over the property, just in case if after the renovation she fell in love with it she must pay us 30 days after completion.?She could not sign it fast enough?and informed the ex-hubby to do the same.

So now we could finally start-all the work done was cosmetic improvements with no structural alterations. The house was an old 2 story weatherboard 3 bedroom -1 bathroom with potential to build in more living space downstairs. Mark talks about finding the Ultimate Buyer when you are putting a deal together. We knew who our Ultimate Buyer was going to be so we renovated the property to suit their needs and we did not alter the game plan.

We renovated the bathroom and toilet upstairs, painted walls, BUT the real money was in building a separate liveable space downstairs. We built in walls to create a new bedroom, lounge, kitchenette and a new bathroom.?All these things are part of your feasibility when you are doing the numbers prior to starting.

Our aim from the beginning was to?create a dual living house?that worked for either a large family or a small family that wants their parents to live with them and that?s exactly who bought it ? A married couple with 2 small children and mum.

Step 4: Know the Numbers

After we worked out the option price we knew we would come out with some good returns?after taking into consideration the numbers on materials, legal fees, real estate fees, council fees,etc.

We knew the property prices in the area quite well, so we knew there was a good upside to the deal even on a bad day it still showed a good return ? as?Mark says know your numbers or walk away!

  1. Sale price $421,000
  2. Option $330,000
  3. Costs $20,913
  4. Profit $70,087

This deal was not for the faint hearted, we were prepared to put in the work for as long as it took to finish the renovation and claim the prize and that work for me was some very long days. But?the prize was $70,000 for 7 weeks work.

Everyone was happy because the?wife got $30,000 for allowing us to finish the renovation and we solved her problem by selling the house for her.

A big thank you to Mark and the Massland team for your help and advice ? it?s been fantastic!

Source: http://www.websitepromotion.net.au/house-and-land/property-options-made-70000-in-7-weeks-optioning-and-renovating

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