Saturday, June 30, 2012

Russia, US key to last-ditch Syria talks in Geneva

GENEVA (AP) ? Russia's determination to preserve its last remaining ally in the Middle East collided head-on with U.S. and other Western powers' desire to replace Syrian President Bashar Assad with a democracy at a pivotal U.N.-brokered conference on Saturday.

Efforts at bridging the Russia-U.S. divide hold the key to international envoy Kofi Annan's plan for easing power from Assad's grip through a political solution that ends 16 months of violence in a country verging on a full-blown civil war, in one of the world's most unstable regions.

Without agreement among the major powers on how to form a transitional government for the country, Assad's regime ? Iran's closest ally ? would be emboldened to try to remain in power indefinitely, and that would also complicate the U.S. aim of halting Iran's nuclear goals.

At talks Friday night, top U.S. and Russian diplomats remained deadlocked over the negotiating text to agree on guidelines and principles for "a Syria-led transition." Annan, a former U.N. chief whose efforts to end the Syrian crisis have thus far fallen short, arrived Saturday morning without speaking to reporters.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, arriving at Saturday's conference, urged Russia and China, which is following the Russian lead, to join Western nations in speaking with one voice on Syria, though he acknowledged that will be a stiff challenge.

"We haven't reached agreement in advance with Russia and China ? that remains very difficult. I don't know if it will be possible to do so. In the interest of saving thousands of lives of our international responsibilities, we will try to do so," Hague told reporters. "It's been always been our view, of course, that a stable future for Syria, a real political process, means Assad leaving power."

Hopes have centered on persuading Russia ? Syria's most important ally, protector and arms supplier ? to agree to a plan that would end the four-decade rule of the Assad family dynasty. But the Russians want Syria alone to be the master of its fate, at a time when Assad's regime and the opposition are increasingly bitterly polarized.

"Ultimately, we want to stop the bloodshed in Syria. If that comes through political dialogue, we are willing to do that," said Khalid Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian National Council, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups based in Istanbul, Turkey. "We are not willing to negotiate (with) Mr. Assad and those who have murdered Syrians. We are not going to negotiate unless they leave Syria."

The negotiating text for the multinational conference calls for establishing a transitional government of national unity, with full executive powers, that could include members of Assad's government and the opposition and other groups. It would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections.

But the text that would serve as the framework for Annan's peace efforts also would "exclude from government those whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation."

Foreign ministers from all five of the permanent, veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council ? Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S. ? have converged at the U.N.'s European headquarters in the sprawling Palais des Nations overlooking Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc. Russia and China have twice used their council veto to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions.

For his "Action Group on Syria," U.N.-Arab League envoy Annan also invited Turkey, U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and the European Union, along with Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar as heads of three groups within the League of Arab States.

Major regional players Iran and Saudi Arabia were not invited. The Russians objected to the Saudis, who support the Syrian opposition. The U.S. objected to Iran, which supports Assad's regime.

Much of the work remains to be hammered out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who met for an hour in St. Petersburg Friday, and then had dinner before Clinton left Russia. Lavrov predicted the meeting had a "good chance" of finding a way forward, despite the grim conditions on the ground.

Russia insists that outsiders cannot order a political solution for Syria, while the U.S. is adamant that Assad should not be allowed to remain in power at the top of the transitional government. They also disagree over what steps could be taken next at the Security Council, such as calling for an arms embargo, after Saturday's meeting.

But Clinton said Thursday in Riga, Latvia, that all participants in the Geneva meeting, including Russia, were on board with the transition plan. She told reporters that the invitations made clear that representatives "were coming on the basis of (Annan's) transition plan."

The uprising in Syria since March of last year has killed some 14,000 people. On Friday, Syrian troops shelled a suburb of Damascus, killing an estimated 125 civilians and 60 soldiers.

International tensions also heightened last week after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, leading to Turkey setting up anti-aircraft guns on its border with its neighbor.

The United Nations says violence in the country has worsened since a cease-fire deal in April, and the bloodshed appears to be taking on dangerous sectarian overtones, with growing numbers of Syrians targeted on account of their religion. The increasing militarization of both sides in the conflict has Syria heading toward civil war.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-us-key-last-ditch-syria-talks-geneva-054436115.html

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Egypt's new leader vows support for Palestinians

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-leader-vows-support-palestinians-131144854.html

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How to bend it like Beckham: Physics students calculate perfect soccer ball kicking formula

ScienceDaily (June 29, 2012) ? Now that David Beckham won't be appearing at the London 2012 Olympics, other members of Team GB wanting to brush up on their free-kicks can rest easy.

University of Leicester physics students have published a paper which sets out the optimum way of kicking a football (soccer ball) in order to make it bend into the goal.

The ex-England captain's curling free-kicks became legendary, and even inspired the title of the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham.

Now, four master's students at the University of Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy believe they have discovered a formula to explain how the football curves when a player puts spin on it.

Jasmine Sandhu, Amy Edgington, Matthew Grant and Naomi Rowe-Gurney found a relationship between the amount a football bends in the air, the speed it is travelling and the angular velocity -- or "spin" -- applied to the ball.

When a football spins in the air, it is subjected to a force called the Magnus force -- which causes it to curl sideways from the direction it was originally kicked.

The group found that the distance a ball bends (D) as a result of this force is related to the ball's radius (R), the density of air (?), the ball's angular velocity (?), it's velocity through the air (v), it's mass (m) and the distance travelled by the ball in the direction it was kicked (x).

For instance, if a player standing 15 metres away from the byline kicked an average football so that it was travelling at a velocity of 35 metres per second and had an angular velocity of 10 revolutions per second, the ball would bend around 5 metres towards the goal.

As a result, the player would probably need to bring a tape measure -- as well as a measure of their own abilities -- if they wanted to put the theory into practice during a game!

Jasmine Sandhu, 22, who studies Physics with Space Science and Technology, said: "Whilst researching new ideas for a paper I read about how physics influences various aspects of football, from the clothing they wear to the effects of playing at high altitude.

"The article discussed how a new design of ball, used in the 2010 World Cup, has three dimensional moulding of the panels in order to produce a more rounded ball, thus affecting the spin that can be imparted.

"This prompted us to examine how footballers use spin on the ball, and the factors which influence how much the path of the ball would bend.

"These findings made me more aware of how I can use spin to bend the ball in a game of football. In addition, this research is also relevant to other sports, such as tennis, which shows that physics definitely gives you the edge!"

The paper was published in this year's University of Leicester Journal of Special Physics Topics, which features original short papers written by students in the final year of their four-year Master of Physics degree.

Link to article. https://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/view/458/256

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120629120328.htm

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Yodo1 Raises $2 Million in Funding to Accelerate Distribution of Western iOS/Android Games to China's Massive Smartphone Market

BEIJING -- (Marketwire) -- 06/28/12 -- Yodo1, the only full-service publishing platform that helps Western game developers monetize the China smartphone market, today announces $2 million in seed funding from Chang You Fund to accelerate the distribution of Western iOS and Android mobile games in China. Yodo1 is also announcing its latest AAA game developer partnership with Robot Entertainment. Yodo1 is bringing its hit game "Hero Academy" to Chinese consumers, managing the entire market entry process, from localization and cultural adaptation of the game, to handling local licensing requirements, creating additional monetization mechanics, and zealously protecting the game's IP in the country's massive but often chaotic mobile marketplace.

According to a recent reports by Niko Partners and Analysis International, China's gaming market of paying players is 180 million and the mobile gamers population is expected to grow 31.8% to 215 million by the end of 2012, and according to mobile analytics firm Flurry, China now leads the world in new iOS/Android phone activations. Currently, about 75% of Chinese smartphone users download games. However, it's a difficult market to break into due to market fragmentation, cultural barriers, copycat competition, and other challenges. Yodo1 knows how to navigate all barriers to entry, and its $2 million in funding will give the company even greater firepower to help its Western partners dominate in the Chinese market.

Yodo1 Features:

  • Cultural adaptation and local distribution services
  • Integration with local monetization and payment gateways, ad networks, data/analytics and more
  • China iOS and Android app store distribution, which also replaces any pirated and copy cat versions of partners' games with the legitimate version
  • Consumer reach through YoPing, Yodo1's games review and recommendations website
  • API platform to massively accelerate game integration into China's leading social networks, payment gateways, mobile ad networks and analytics engines
  • Proven track record for IP Protection and Asia market entry for over 60 Western companies

To launch Hero Academy to the Chinese market, Yodo1 introduced an entirely new cast to the turn-based, medieval-themed strategy game. Now along with the game's Western-style fantasy characters, Chinese players can select a team featuring Shaolin monks, flying swordsmen, and other heroes more familiar to the local audience. Furthermore, Chinese gamers will be able to invite their friends on Sina Weibo and other leading Chinese social networks to play the China edition of Hero Academy.

The company was founded in late 2011 by a team of experienced entrepreneurs with over 20 years experience in digital media. Gamers at the core, its founders have helped over 60 western companies translate successful businesses in Western countries into successful businesses in Asia. With Yodo1, Chinese gamers can now enjoy the best Western game titles in a way that optimized to their play style and cultural preferences. Andy Lee, formerly managing director for Asia at top San Francisco-based social game developer Kabam, recently joined Yodo1 as an advisor, and will assist the company in bringing great Western games to China.

Quotes:

"Western smartphone games have huge potential in China, but most Western developers don't know how to monetize this market," said Henry Fong, CEO of Yodo1. "For example, Chinese gamers can spend a lot of money on virtual items and showcase these items to other players; that's very different from the Western market where gamers may not want others to know they are spending to get an in-game advantage. Thriving in China's mobile games industry requires local knowledge and experience, and a deep understanding of the Chinese culture and consumer behavior. We think Yodo1 is unique because we don't just promote and publish, but also have a full studio of experienced mobile developers, creative artists and game designers that can quickly adapt Western games to the way that Chinese gamers prefer to play -- and more importantly, prefer to pay."

"Hero Academy gets more downloads in China than in any country except the US, even before Yodo1 helped localize it," said Patrick Hudson, CEO of Robot Entertainment. "By adapting the game for Chinese players, we can deliver Hero Academy to a much larger audience in China. We chose Yodo1 for this work because they have a deep understanding of the Chinese gaming culture, are very trustworthy with our game design and IP, and have a full appreciation for what makes Hero Academy unique and fun."

"China just became the biggest market for smartphone activations for both Android and iOS," said Zhi Tan, Managing Partner of Chang You Fund and former CEO of FocusMedia, China's largest outdoor advertising company. "The number of smartphone handset deployments is set to double in China this year, there is no other industry where the biggest market in the world is experiencing such rapid growth. Chinese mobile gamers demand great gaming experiences, so if the best from the West can successfully deploy in China, I am certain they will find great ROI. Yodo1 is the perfect partner to do just that."

To learn more about Yodo1 and how to mobilize your games for China, please visit www.yodo1.com.

About Yodo1
Yodo1 is the only trusted market entry specialist and full-service publishing platform helping Western game developers successfully gain traction in the China mobile games market. Staffed by a team of experienced mobile developers and Chinese market specialists, Yodo1 helps game developers quickly adapt, publish and monetize their games in China via the Yodo1 API platform that simplifies game localization, payment, ad network integration and promotions. Yodo1 has helped leading Western game developers successfully enter and grow in China, including Robot Entertainment. Founded in 2011, Yodo1 is based in Beijing. For more information, please visit www.yodo1.com.

About Robot Entertainment
Based in Plano, Texas, Robot Entertainment is a world-class independent game development studio founded by veterans of Ensemble Studios, the creators of the Age of Empires series and Halo Wars. With a team that has proven experience and expertise in creating games that appeal to massive audiences, Robot Entertainment is focused on developing titles that set new standards for their respective genres as well as groundbreaking original intellectual properties. The studio most recently launched the critically acclaimed Hero Academy for iOS and the 2011 AIAS Strategy Game of the Year, Orcs Must Die! Robot can be found online at http://www.RobotEntertainment.com

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Source: http://lasvegas.ulitzer.com/node/2305237

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Friday, June 29, 2012

Film academy makes hairstyling eligible for Oscar

FILE - In this March 5, 2010 file photo, an Oscar statue stands on the red carpet outside the 82nd Academy Awards in Los Angeles, Calif. The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved rules for the 85th Academy Awards, on Thursday, June 28, 2012, with the most significant changes affecting the Music, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Visual Effects categories. The 85th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, file)

FILE - In this March 5, 2010 file photo, an Oscar statue stands on the red carpet outside the 82nd Academy Awards in Los Angeles, Calif. The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved rules for the 85th Academy Awards, on Thursday, June 28, 2012, with the most significant changes affecting the Music, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Visual Effects categories. The 85th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Hollywood hairstylists are now officially eligible for the industry's most coveted hardware: the Oscar.

The film academy said Thursday that the Academy Award for makeup will now be known as the makeup and hairstyling award.

Other new rules for the 85th annual Academy Awards clarify technical requirements for awards in the foreign language and visual effects categories. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Board of Governors also voted to allow additional songwriters to be considered in the original song category.

Oscar rules are reviewed annually.

The 85th Academy Awards will be presented February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre and broadcast live around the world.

___

Online:

www.oscars.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-06-28-Oscars-New%20Rules/id-049e0419d1524f33bc45da5a5f1afc0f

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Ballot.com Sale Shows Politics Online Is Big ... - My Best Web Hosting

Miami, FL (PRWEB) May 21, 2012

With only 6 months to go before the 2012 presidential election, candidates, organizations and investors hoping to capture the publics attention are buying up political-flavored domain names while established media companies are enjoying increased advertising revenue to their political websites. The upcoming sale of Ballot.com is catching a lot of attention due to these and additional factors.

Political candidates also are now raising literally tens of millions of dollars using the Internet alone. In addition, sales of websites, domains and related businesses have generated millions of dollars as investors snap up inventory.

According to the Berkeley Daily Planet, $8 billion dollars will likely be spent on the 2012 Election Cycle. That compares with $3 billion in the 2010 election a record for a mid-term election and $5.3 billion in 2008.

Politics online is becoming very big business.

According to recent reports, Republican candidates like Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul have spent a significant amount money on domain names and online media buys in the last few months, as has President Barack Obamas re-election campaign. Some have even raised millions of dollars on the web from their avid supporters in a single days time. The Internet is now booming when it comes to the business of Politics.

Just in time for the 2012 campaign season, Ballot.com is up for sale at Flippa.com ? the worlds #1 marketplace for buying and selling web sites.

?Premium single-word domain names have always been big business, and Flippa?s seeing more and more of these very large sales. We?re honored to be hosting the auction for Ballot.com, which is obviously a top drawer piece of online real estate. It could be a great buy for investors or for entrepreneurs with a smart plan,? said Flippa CEO Dave Slutzkin.

Industry monitor DNJournal.com qualifies one-word dot-com domain names as the oceanfront real estate of the Internet, being quite valuable and rare.

Single-word domain names are a hot commodity and investment opportunity for businesses, entrepreneurs and celebrities, with many of them snapped up in the 1990s. Recently, Social.com was sold for over $2.5 million. One Canadian band is hoping to strike it rich by selling their domain, TeaParty.com, with some estimates of its value running as high as $1 million.

With such a descriptive name, Ballot.com would be ideal for an investor, major media company, political candidate, or even a market research company. With the word ballot trending in Googles search statistics, this domain name also has large advertising potential.

Major Political Publishing Powerhouse HuffingtonPost.com proved its worth when it recently sold to AOL for $300 million US Dollars.

According to the domains current owner, ?Ballot.com provides boundless opportunities for state, local, national governments or candidates, market research companies, and investors who love premium virtual real estate.

The auction for Ballot.com is live now and open for bidding. It is 14 days long and set to end soon, on May 31st, 2012. Go here for more details now: Ballot.com Exclusive Online Auction

Tags: Rick Perry, the Berkeley Daily Planet, Mitt Romney, Republican candidates, 2012 Election Cycle, President Barack Obamas, political candidate

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Remarks Towards a Theory of Writing ? Larval Subjects .

I?ll have to be brief as I?m heading out the door soon for Liverpool, but since my good friend Jerry the Anthropologist and I are hashing my machine talk out in comments with respect to my previous post on machine-oriented ontology, I thought it might be timely to say a word or two about my theory of writing.? The poet Artaud famously said that the most difficult thing of all is to engender thought within thought.? Thought is not something that comes immediately and automatically to us.? Rather, it is the result of an encounter and it requires a genesis.? This, I guess, is the theory behind my own practice of writing and my unfortunate word choices (?object?, ?machine?, ?existential ecology?, etc.).? I have an imp of perversity in me.? I intentionally choose words that I know will provoke.? That provocation is not just a provocation towards whatever readers I might happen to have, but towards myself as well.? How can I manage to think?? How can I engender thought in myself?? It doesn?t come naturally or automatically.

My theory of writing and thinking here is based on a hybrid of Deleuze?s theory of the encounter and Lacan?s theory of the analytic act.? Lacanian psychoanalysis perpetually struggles with the sedimentations of the analysand?s discourse or what Bruce Fink calls ?ego discourse?.? The analysand thinks that he knows what he?s saying, that he knows what his intentions are, but there?s another discourse, the discourse of the Other or the unconscious, lurking behind this belief in the transparency of his ego-discourse and speech.? Lacanians don?t really interpret.? We never say ?x means y? or ?this is what your forgetting of the umbrella really meant.?? It is always the analysand, not the analyst, that gives meaning.? Rather, Lacanians instead interrupt.? When they speak, they do so in a way that attends not to the conscious intentions of the analysand?s discourse, but to the polysemy, the homonyms, the equivocations, the gaps, the contradictions, etc., within that discourse.? Their?acts, not interpretations, both suggest that some other desire might be speaking here, one contrary to your ego discourse, and open the possibility of that other discourse speaking rather than being smothered in narcissistic self-image and the purported transparency of communicative ego discourse.? The aim is to upset the unity of discourse so that desire might shine through and began to articulate itself.

read on!

In the third chapter of Difference and Repetition, Deleuze argues that we never think voluntarily or at will, but we only think under the force of what he calls a sentiendum or encounter that forces us to think.? He says that the encounter can be a demon, a temple, Socrates, and to this we could add it could result from witnessing Koshimi primates washing potatoes in the ocean before eating them, or the astounding visual capacities of mantis shrimps.? An encounter forces thought, upsetting the habits and sedimentations that populate our mind, allowing something new to emerge.

I suspect that something like this is at work in my practice of writing.? I am striving to startle and interrupt myself so that I might manage to think.? I?m trying to stutter.? Harman says writing should not be clear, so much as vivid.? Perhaps vivid writing means writing that startles and that therefore manages to engender thought.? ?Wait, what, did he just say that everything is an object, even persons and animals, and that objects are so withdrawn that they never touch?? But I thought objects and objectification are supposed to be bad??? ?Wait, wait, wait, did I just entertain the possibility that everything is a machine, that even flowers, stars, and classrooms are machines, that there is a pan-mechanism, and that rigid machines or automobiles are only a very small subset of machines?? Aren?t machines supposed to be evil??? The point of language such as this is not that it is right? it could be entirely wrong ?but that it interrupts, startles, and causes us to stutter.

Interrupting and startling aren?t to be valued for their own sake as absolutes.? If there?s a value to interruption, being startled, and stuttering, if there?s a value to vividness, then this is because it engenders thought within thought and opens the possibility of critique.? In Against Method, Feyerabend talks about how it is indispensable for thought to create an alternative universe with crazy and mad laws so as to see this universe.? We?re unable to see anything if we don?t do such a thing because our world is so saturated with habit and the obvious that it?s invisible to us.? The responsible theorist is a theorist that forges concepts that are dramatic and that crackle, causing us to stutter.? In doing this, we become capable of no longer seeing the obvious as obvious, we become capable of seeing the familiar as contingent and historical, we become capable of critiquing assumptions at the heart of our discipline and institutions.? The parallel world brings the lived world into relief, while also disclosing it as contingent or capable of being otherwise.? This is the real transcendental epoche, a mad pataphysics, that is also the condition for a revolutionary practice.? To see the world as a moth so that the obviousness of what we are might begin to stutter and be called into question, that?s what?s important.? It?s important to engender thought within thought, and that requires the production of stuttering.? And since institutions and disciplines think no less than people, it is equally important to make institutions and disciplines stutter.? ?For the time being I shall be an object, a zombie, precisely so that I might see what it meant to be human and a subject!?

Words like ?object? and ?machine? are meant to prickle like gadflies, causing habit to stumble and, with any luck, engendering critical consciousness in practice.? Of course they?re chosen because they?re misleading.? Yet the strange thing is that such misleading concepts allow truth to show itself, precisely by bringing forth what was before unseen while being right there.

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

The reason why a Pay day loan Broker Often is the Better ...

Payday Mortgage Brokers, or firms of any kind of type for any matter, are sometimes given an important rough price through merit in their occupation ? was once the essential purpose from a payday improvement broker could be to refer new customers on towards a fully proven, regulated as well as qualified cash advance lender. They being used as an easy way to supplementation a short-flow with cash before your following payday. In this era, most family members are struggling to maintain with the many financial calls for of owning a household whereas maintaining a life style for relatives. The pay day broker is certainly tasked mainly with finding the applicant concise of being qualified for mortgage finance and can easily often call for sending that borrower?s software to multiple cash advance loan lenders.

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Savannah Guthrie Officially Tapped to Replace Ann Curry

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Senators press US on Myanmar petroleum investment

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

How Business Analytics Consulting Can Benefit Your Business ...

There are all sorts of businesses out there and each one is of the belief that there is something that sets them apart. It?s true that being unique can give you the leverage you need to stand out from the rest but the truth is all businesses are guided by a certain set of rules on how to make companies thrive. Businesses need to take a good look at themselves then and assess their structure to determine if they are on the right path or not. And if not, make the necessary changes to bring about desired results. This is what?business analytics?is all about.

Understanding the means of analysis

Business analytics?or?business consulting?is the practice of employing methodical means to explore an organization?s data, emphasizing on statistical analysis for a data-driven way of decision making.?Business analytics?is utilized in order to gain insights on what factors affect decisions and how these can be automated and optimized for use alongside business processes. Companies that use data-driven decision-making processes treat data as corporate asset and take advantage of it to gain a competitive edge. In order for business analysis to be successful, data quality is important, as well as skilled analysts with an understanding of technologies, the nature of the business, and the commitment of the organization so that analysis can be streamlined to suit data-driven decision making goals.


Examples of business analysis

In order to further understand the role of analytics in business, examples may be in order. Some of the examples of the uses of analytics in business include: data mining (the exploration of data to zero in on new relationships and patterns), statistical and quantitative analysis (the explanation as to why certain results occurred), multivariate testing (the experimentation to dissect previous decisions), and predictive modeling and analytics (the forecasting of future results). Once the goals of?business analytics?have been determined, the selection of a methodology for an analysis and the acquisition of data to support analysis then ensue. The acquisition of data usually involves extraction from various business systems, cleansing, and then integration into just one repository, like a data mart or data warehouse. Analysis is also usually compared against smaller data sets and the tools used for analyzing data will range depending on the data that needs to be analyzed. When relationships and patterns in data are seen, analysts may ask new questions to further probe the data, changing the process until business goals are met. Predictive models are deployed for scoring data records and then using these scores for optimized real-time decision making within business processes and applications. Analytics may also support more tactical decision making methods as a response to emergencies and in a lot of cases to automate decision making to support real-time actions.


Is?business analytics?for you?

It is for everyone. While different processes may be employed since different data need to be analyzed, all companies will benefit from undergoing certain levels of business analysis for their improvement. Fortunately, more and more consulting services are becoming available these days, making it more convenient to call in the experts and have them help you create the best company there is.

Julian Hartley is an expert in Business Analytics and Business Intelligence for DinaliC.com.

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Home Staging and Redesign, Newnan, GA: Are You Attracting ...

Flippers are real estate investors that search the market for low priced properties that need small inexpensive repairs. They make the repairs at a low cost, put the property back on the market and sell it, often for a good profit.

If your house needs repairs, it may be putting buyers off and attracting flippers. Buyers approach a property and see needed small repairs and they automatically start thinking, "Hmmm, I wonder what else is wrong with this house" and that is not the seed that you want to plant in a buyers mind. Small repairs says "differed maintenance" to a buyer.

Are you attracting flippers by not making the necessary repairs BEFORE listing your property? If your house needs work, selling to flippers can be a viable option to get your house sold, but you are not going to get the price you want. They want to purchase at a price below market value.

Studies show that we have more 1st time home buyers under the age of thirty than ever before and they are willing to pay MORE for a MOVE-IN READY house. If there is a similar house to yours down the street that doesn't have a "honey do" list that comes with the selling price, that is most likely the house that the buyer will choose.

Go ahead and make these repairs before you put your house on the market. If you can find a buyer that is willing to buy, the offer that they are going to make will be much less than what it would have cost you to make the changes in the first place.

There is always a "New Listing" buzz whenever a new property goes on the market and that usually is the best time for your house to be shown and go under contract. Why risk losing a buyer by having them see your property before it's ready to be sold? Go ahead and make the house appeal, not to flippers that will make low ball offers, but make it appeal to the first time home buyer.

Take it from Whoa to Wow! Make it 1st time friendly.

For more information about making your house 1st time friendly, contact Nan Johnston at Southern Staging & Redesign.
nan@southern-staging.com

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Dunbar v. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ... - Recreation Law

Dunbar v. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Corporation, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 25807

Camie R. Dunbar and Douglas Dunbar, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Corporation, a Wyoming Corporation, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-8057

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 25807

December 14, 2004, Filed

Prior History: [*1] Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. (D.C. No. 02-CV-123D).

Disposition: Reversed.

Counsel: Robert E. Schroth Sr. (Robert E. Schroth Jr. and W. Keith Goody, with him on the briefs), Jackson, Wyoming, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Mikel L. Moore (James K. Lubing, Jackson, Wyoming, with him on the brief), Christensen, Moore, Cockrell, Cummings & Axelberg, P.C., Kalispell, Montana, for Defendant-Appellee.

JUDGES: Before SEYMOUR, HENRY, and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.

OPINION BY: LUCERO

OPINION: LUCERO, Circuit Judge.

While skiing at the Jackson Hole Mountain Ski Resort, Camie Dunbar fell approximately twelve feet into a snowboard half-pipe, suffering severe injuries for which she alleges negligence on the part of Jackson Hole. At the time of her accident, Dunbar was attempting to exit a specially designated ski and snowboard terrain park. Finding that Jackson Hole did not owe Dunbar a duty of care for risks inherent to her chosen recreational activity under the Wyoming Recreational Safety Act, the district court granted summary judgment for the resort. Dunbar now appeals, arguing that the risks inherent to alpine skiing do not include the risk of falling into the side of a snowboard [*2] half-pipe when following a Jackson Hole employee?s instructions on how to exit the terrain park. We exercise jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. ? 1291 and REVERSE.

I

In March 2001, Camie Dunbar suffered the stated injuries when she skied off a snow ledge in a specially designed ?terrain park? at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A 33-year-old self-described intermediate skier from South Florida, Dunbar skied into the terrain park area with other members of her group who were part of a promotional ski trip sponsored by her employer Clear Channel Communications.

Containing various man made features such as a table top jump and a snowboard half-pipe, the Jackson Hole terrain park is designed for advanced skiers and snowboarders who choose to recreate in a very challenging risk-filled environment. The terrain park is separated by a fence and a boundary rope from an intermediate ski run. To enter the terrain park, skiers must pass through a gate marked with a warning sign, alerting them that they are entering an advanced ski area where ?serious injuries, death, and equipment damage can occur.? At the time of the accident, the terrain [*3] park had been relocated to its position in an intermediate ski run, and did not appear on the Resort?s trail maps.

On the last day of her trip, Dunbar, along with Dave Dresher and Mike Jennings, went up the mountain intending to ?investigate? the terrain park. In proceeding down an intermediate ski run, they skied through an initial gate providing a warning sign that they were entering a double black diamond ?terrain feature trail.? After stopping adjacent to a red tram car which served as the office for the ?pipe and park? crew who were responsible for maintenance of the terrain park, Dunbar observed other skiers and snowboarders maneuver various features in the terrain park.

Based on their observations, Dunbar and her companions decided that they did not want to try any of the features. In her deposition, Dunbar attested to thinking ?this is my last day [and] I want to go home in one piece.? She stated that she did not know that there was a snowboard half-pipe in the terrain park, and believed instead that the area included only the jumps she observed from the red gondola. There is no suggestion by either party that Dunbar intended to jump any of the terrain jumps or intended [*4] to try her hand at stunts as a skier in a snowboard half-pipe. Having decided that she did not want to ski any of the double-black diamond features, she asked a Jackson Hole employee how to exit that area ?if you don?t want to take this terrain park.? She was told either to take off her skis and hike back to the gate through which she had entered or to proceed in the direction of a ?catwalk? to which the employee pointed.

Unbeknownst to Dunbar, the ?catwalk? led to a side entrance to the snowboard half-pipe.

Ms. Dunbar along with her companions skied along the ?catwalk.? Although it is a matter of some dispute between the parties, in order to proceed down the catwalk, skiers had to pass warning signs indicating that they were approaching a snowboard half-pipe area. Both Dunbar and her companions claim not to have noticed the signs. Dunbar and Jennings went along the catwalk, up an incline, across a flat deck, and fell approximately twelve feet into the half-pipe.

Jennings managed to maneuver his snowboard in such a way as to avoid injury.

Dunbar was not so fortunate. As a consequence of her fall into the half-pipe, she suffered severe injuries to her pelvis and thigh requiring surgery [*5] and intensive physical therapy. Dunbar testified that she will neither be able to return to her pre-injury range of motion, nor will she be capable of having a natural childbirth as a result of the injury to her hip.

Asserting that Jackson Hole?s negligence caused her injuries, Dunbar filed suit in district court. Jackson Hole filed a motion for summary judgment and a motion to strike portions of Dunbar?s affidavits as attempts to create sham factual issues in order to survive summary judgment. The district court granted both motions for Jackson Hole on the basis that portions of Dunbar?s affidavit were inconsistent with her deposition testimony. Dunbar now appeals.

II

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same legal standards as the district court pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). Chickasaw Nation v. United States, 208 F.3d 871, 875 (10th Cir. 2000). Summary judgment is appropriate ?if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled [*6] to judgment as a matter of law.? Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We must look carefully to determine if existing factual disputes are material, because ?only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment.? Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 91 L. Ed. 2d 202, 106 S. Ct. 2505 (1986). A court may not grant summary judgment when ?a material fact is ?genuine,? that is, if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.? Id. When the moving party has informed the district court of the basis for its motion, however, a nonmoving party may not stand merely on its pleadings, but must set forth ?specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.? Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 91 L. Ed. 2d 265, 106 S. Ct. 2548 (1986) (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)). In our application of this standard, we view the evidence and draw reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Simms v. Oklahoma ex rel. Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Servs., 165 F.3d 1321, 1326 (10th Cir. 1999). [*7] Furthermore, as a federal court sitting in diversity, we must ascertain the applicable Wyoming law as announced by the Wyoming Supreme Court so that the substantive law applied in federal court does not differ from what would apply in state court. Wood v. Eli Lilly & Co., 38 F.3d 510, 512 (10th Cir. 1994).

A

To protect providers of recreational sports and activities from liability for alpine skiing, equine activities, and other outdoor pursuits in the state, the Wyoming legislature limited their duty of care by enacting the Wyoming Recreation Safety Act. Wyo. Stat. Ann. ? 1-1-121 et. seq.; see Sapone v. Grand Targhee, Inc., 308 F.3d 1096, 1101 (10th Cir. 2002). As a matter of common law, in order to prevail in a negligence action, a plaintiff would first have to demonstrate that the defendant owed her a duty to act with reasonable care. See, e.g., Erpelding v. Lisek, 2003 WY 80, 71 P.3d 754, 757 (Wyo. 2003). The Safety Act is designed to limit the duty a provider of recreational sports and activities owes to participants.

Under the Safety Act, a provider of a recreational opportunity has no duty [*8] to protect participants from ?inherent risks? of the particular sport or recreational opportunity. Wyo. Stat. Ann. ? 1-1-123. In relevant part, the act provides:

(a) Any person who takes part in any sport or recreational opportunity assumes the inherent risks in that sport or recreational opportunity, whether those risks are known or unknown, and is legally responsible for any and all damage, injury or death to himself or other persons or property that results from the inherent risks in that sport or recreational opportunity.

(b) A provider of any sport or recreational opportunity is not required to eliminate, alter or control the inherent risks within the particular sport or recreational opportunity.

? 1-1-123. Wyoming defines inherent risks as ?those dangers or conditions which are characteristic of, intrinsic to, or an integral part of any sport or recreational opportunity.? Wyo. Stat. Ann. ? 1-1-122(a)(i). Wyoming further defines ?Sport or recreational opportunity? as meaning ?commonly understood sporting activities,? which include ?alpine skiing.? ? 1-1-122(a)(iii). Thus, for example, a provider of an [*9] alpine skiing opportunity will not be liable for a duty of care with regard to dangers that are ?characteristic of? or ?intrinsic to? or ?an integral part? of the sport of alpine skiing. However, the act does provide for a cause of action based on the negligence of the recreational opportunity provider when the injury is not the result of an inherent risk of the sport or recreational opportunity: ?Actions based upon negligence of the provider wherein the damage, injury or death is not the result of an inherent risk of the sport or recreational opportunity shall be preserved.

. . .? ? 1-1-123(c). Thus, whether a recreation provider owes its patrons a duty of care depends entirely on whether the specific risks can be characterized as inherent to the sport or activity.

What is inherent to a sport or activity, however, is far from self-evident. In Sapone, we defined ?inherent? under the Wyoming Safety Act as either ??those risks which are essential characteristics of a sport and those which participants desire to confront,? or they are undesirable risks which are simply a collateral part of the recreation activity.? Sapone, 308 F.3d at 1103 (citation omitted). We [*10] have further defined a risk that is not inherent as ?a risk that was atypical, uncharacteristic, [and] not intrinsic to the recreational activity. . . .? Id. at 1104. Although equine activities are among those the Wyoming legislature clearly meant to protect, and although horseback riding indubitably involves inherent risks, we have concluded, following the Wyoming Supreme Court, that not all risks of horseback riding are inherent risks. Cooperman v. David, 214 F.3d 1162, 1167 (10th Cir. 2000); Halpern v. Wheeldon, 890 P.2d 562, 566 (Wyo. 1995). Some risks may occur from the choices a recreation provider makes on behalf of the participant and from the conditions in which the recreational opportunity is provided. Thus, atypical or uncharacteristic risks can arise even in those specific sports the Wyoming legislature clearly intended to exempt from liability for inherent risks.

Following the Wyoming Supreme Court in Halpern, we have held that ?where genuine issues of material fact exist, the determination of whether something is or is not an inherent risk is a factual question that must be sent to the jury for determination.? [*11] Sapone, 308 F.3d at 1102.

As a preliminary matter, what sport or activity characterizes Camie Dunbar?s behavior is a matter of considerable dispute. Most generally, she was engaged in alpine skiing ? a sport clearly covered by the Safety Act. If we were to analyze the risk at this level of generality, then it would certainly appear that falling twelve feet into a trench in the middle of an intermediate ski-run would decidedly not constitute an inherent risk of alpine skiing. Such a level of generality, however, is not appropriate. To determine what risk is inherent to Dunbar?s activity, we must go beyond a broad characterization and inquire into the specific circumstances of both her actions and those of the recreation provider.

When the Cooperman court examined the risks of horseback riding in the context of the specific facts of that case, for example, it employed a different analytical framework than if it had merely asked the abstract question whether falling off a horse is an inherent risk of horseback riding. Cooperman, 214 F.3d at 1167. Because a determination of what risks are inherent to a sport or activity may change by descriptive [*12] differences, we have stated that ?when attempting to determine whether a risk is inherent to a sport, we can not look at the risk in a vacuum, apart from the factual setting to which the [participant] was exposed.? Cooperman, 214 F.3d at 1167. Instead, we must analyze the risk ?at the greatest level of specificity permitted by the factual record.? Id. As an example of this principle, we have explained:

If the only fact presented to the court is that the horse bucked while the rider was properly sitting on the horse, we would frame the duty question as whether a bucking horse is an inherent risk of horseback riding. However, if the facts established that the owner of the horse lit firecrackers next to the horse and the horse bucked, we would ask whether a horse bucking when firecrackers are lit next to the horse is an inherent risk of horseback riding. Id.

For instance, in Cooperman, we determined that the risk of a slipping saddle, in light of the lack of scientific precision in hand cinching, is inherent to horseback riding. Id. at 1168. However, in Sapone, we concluded that a child sustaining injuries when falling [*13] from the saddle during a trail-riding lesson was not an inherent risk when there was evidence that the horse was too large, that the instructions were inadequate, that no headgear was provided, and that the route was too dangerous. Sapone, 308 F.3d at 1104. Similarly, in Madsen v. Wyoming River Trips, Inc., 31 F. Supp. 2d 1321, 1329 (D. Wyo. 1999), the district court determined that the risks inherent to white-water rafting did not include risks of injury resulting from the recreation provider?s overcrowding the boat. See also Carden v. Kelly, 175 F. Supp. 2d. 1318, 1329 (2001) (finding a genuine issue of material fact whether, given the actions and inactions of the recreation provider, a horse?s stumbling and falling was an inherent risk of horseback riding).

In the present case, the district court?s order hinged on a determination of where Ms. Dunbar was located when she made her choice to proceed down the catwalk. Thus, not simply a question of alpine skiing, but of alpine skiing in a designated terrain park became the significant ?factual setting? the district court used to examine the inherent risks to which Dunbar was exposed. [*14]

In its order granting Jackson Hole?s motion for summary judgment, the district court stressed, and Jackson Hole urges on appeal, the need to focus on the choices that Dunbar made when entering the terrain park. Reasoning that an inherent risk analysis could not properly be conducted without considering Dunbar?s choices, the district court focused on the facts of Dunbar?s conduct as the recreational participant. Central to the district court?s determination of inherent risk was the simple fact of Dunbar?s choice to enter the terrain park.

The court found that ?a terrain feature such as a half-pipe located within a fenced terrain park is an inherent risk to a skier that voluntarily and knowingly enters that park.? Dunbar v. Jackson Hole, No. 02-CV-123-D, slip op. at 14-15 (D. Wyo. June 16, 2003). Furthermore, the court concludes that having entered the terrain park, Dunbar ?decided to enter the [metaphorical] ?rodeo? and thus assumed the risk associated with that activity.? Id. at 15. We disagree.

First, we note that the plain language of the Safety Act focuses on ?any person who takes part in any sport or recreational opportunity,? Wyo. Stat. Ann. ? 1-1-123 [*15] , and does not mention the location of the sport or activity.

We fail to see how simply being present in the terrain park redefines the sport or activity in which Dunbar is engaged, especially absent further choices to take part in any of the terrain park features. No doubt location may have a bearing on how to characterize a participant?s activity, but it is not automatically determinative as the district court suggests. n1 Indeed, from the record, it is not clear whether the double black diamond designation applied to the area of the intermediate ski run from the putative entrance to the terrain park to the red tram car and from the tram car to the catwalk. There seems to be no dispute that in the areas Dunbar traversed a skier would not confront any unusual risks or features that differed from those elsewhere on the intermediate ski run (at least until the point where Dunbar fell into the half-pipe). Thus it would seem to be an open question whether the warning signs and double black designation properly applied to the area that Dunbar actually traversed or if they were limited to the physical space containing the dangerous terrain features. If the double black diamond designation [*16] applies only to the specific terrain features and if the warnings apply only to those skiers and snowboarders who attempt to maneuver over and among the trail features down the fall line of the mountain, then it may be difficult to conclude that Dunbar assumed a double black diamond risk simply by skiing across the fall line on an intermediate slope to the tram car and then proceeding, as directed, by way of the catwalk. Proper resolution of these factual questions concerning the impact of Dunbar?s specific location on Jackson Hole?s duty, however, are for a jury, not for the court, to decide.

- ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? Footnotes ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - -

n1 As to the issue of whether or not Dunbar had actually entered the park, we note that the district court is itself not descriptively clear, stating at one point that ?she had misgivings about entering and asked a JHMR employee how to get out of the terrain park.? Dunbar, slip op. at 13. Of course, if she had not ?entered? she could not ask how to ?get out.? We conclude from this only that mere presence in the terrain park may be too fine a reed to hang a determination that Dunbar was engaged in a categorically different recreational activity which contained greater inherent risks than does ordinary alpine skiing.

- ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? End Footnotes- ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? - ? [*17]

Second, we conclude that there is a difference between the consequences of conduct chosen by Dunbar, and risks that are inherent to that choice. It does not necessarily follow, as the district court finds, that having entered the terrain park, Dunbar also chose to confront all the features and conditions present within it. Although the district court emphasized the choices and conduct of the plaintiff in determining what risks she assumed, the court makes no distinction between the risks that are inherent to her actual choices ? to ski into the terrain park area, but not to ?take? any of the features ? and risks that are inherent to choices one would make when actually intending to ski over the specific features.

Indeed, a reasonable person who entered the general area of the terrain park would stop first to view the features and decide whether or not to attempt to maneuver over or through any of them. In fact, Jackson Hole?s warning signs, the presence of which figure prominently in this dispute, direct skiers and snowboarders to ?please observe terrain features, their risks, and their degree of difficulty before using.? That is precisely what Ms. Dunbar did. She chose to enter [*18] the area of the terrain park ? if not the terrain park itself ? but specifically chose not to ?use? or ?take? any of the terrain park features after doing exactly what Jackson Hole?s signs advised her to do: ?observe . . . before using.? Presumably, Jackson Hole does not wish to claim that it operates like the Hotel California ? where you can check in any time you like but you can never leave. Accordingly, it was error for the district court to conclude that having followed Jackson Hole?s instructions, having assessed the risks and decided not to use the terrain features, that there is no material issue of fact concerning whether a skier could leave without accruing those very risks. Having ?entered? the terrain park, Dunbar did not ?use? the terrain park as a terrain park?viz., she did not attempt to jump the table top jump nor did she attempt to do stunts in the snowboard half-pipe. She attempted to exit the terrain park without ?taking? any of the features, and followed instructions from a Jackson Hole employee on how to exit the park. Given the specific factual setting of this case, what risks are associated with Dunbar?s actual choices and what duty Jackson Hole owed her are [*19] properly questions for the jury.

Accordingly, we conclude that the district court erred when it found that the risk of falling twelve feet into a snowboard half-pipe was an inherent risk of Dunbar?s alpine skiing when she had stopped and observed double diamond terrain features and had chosen not to ?take? those features. When, as is here, genuine issues of material fact exist, it is properly a question for the jury to determine whether dangers that are ?characteristic of? or ?intrinsic to? or ?an integral part? of the sport of alpine skiing evaluated under the specific factual circumstances of this case include those encountered by Dunbar in skiing from the main intermediate run to the tram car and from the tram car along the catwalk. Sapone, 308 F.3d at 1102 (?whether something is or is not an inherent risk is a factual question that must be sent to the jury for determination?); see also, Dillworth v. Gambardella, 970 F.2d 1113, 1123 (2d Cir. 1992) (holding under a Vermont statute similar to Wyoming?s, that determination of inherent danger ?is a question of fact properly submitted to the jury?).

B

As we have observed, inquiry into what [*20] dangers constitute an inherent risk under the Safety Act is inextricably intertwined with an inquiry into what duty the recreation provider owes to the participant, and whether that question is properly one for the judge or jury. If Dunbar?s accident was not the product of an inherent risk of her recreational activity, then a question remains for the fact finder concerning what duty was owed her and whether Jackson Hole fulfilled that duty. We conclude that the district court improperly analyzed the issue of Jackson Hole?s duty.

When the issue of duty involves questions of fact, as is the case with ?inherent risks,? the Wyoming Supreme Court has held that the question of a defendant?s duty should be resolved by a jury. Halpern, 890 P.2d at 565. However, in certain instances where no material questions of fact exist ? e.g., if the risk is clearly one inherent to the sport ? the district court may decide as a matter of law that a provider does not owe a duty to the participant under the Safety Act. Halpern, 890 P.2d at 566 (noting that ?in appropriate cases where no genuine issues of material fact exist, the district court may decide as a matter of [*21] law that the provider does not owe a duty to the participant.?). Such was not the case here.

How the district court framed the statement of Jackson Hole?s duty is crucial to a proper disposition of this case. It has become something of a standard analysis in this line of cases for a district court to frame the question of duty, in addition to the question of inherent risk, in the form of a fact-specific inquiry. Indeed, as the district court noted in another Safety Act case, ?the Court cannot stress how important it is to frame the duty question correctly. If the duty question is framed incorrectly, the legislature?s intent to allow a cause of action for negligence will be lost.? Madsen, 31 F. Supp. 2d. at 1329.

In the present case, the district court framed the question of duty as follows:

Whether Camie Dunbar?s injuries occurred as a result of the inherent risk of alpine skiing when this thirty-three year-old experienced skier knowingly entered a specially designated terrain park, skied past five warning signs, made the choice not to exit by way of the gate she entered understanding that she would encounter expert and double expert terrain features, [*22] skied up the visible half-pipe wall, and across a fourteen-foot platform.

Dunbar, slip op. at 14. We have already concluded that Dunbar?s mere presence in the entrance area of the terrain park does not give rise as a matter of law to a heightened risk above what is normal to alpine skiing. We now conclude that the question of Jackson Hole?s duty was improperly framed because it employs facts in dispute, and does not view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.

Specifically, the district court?s finding that Dunbar chose not to exit the terrain park area via the gate by which she entered understanding that she would encounter expert and double expert terrain features is itself a fact open to dispute. Whether or not her choice was made with that understanding is a disputed fact, and read in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the district court improperly incorporated a disputed fact in a light favoring the defendant. Second, the district court frames the duty question by stating that Dunbar ?skied up the visible half-pipe wall.? Id. Whether or not what she skied up was in fact visibly a half-pipe wall is itself a disputed fact, and inclusion [*23] of this fact in a light most favorable to the defendant was improper.

Finally, the district court states that Dunbar ?skied past five warning signs,? which although perhaps true (though contested), shades the ?duty question? in a way that ignores the factual issues of the content and import of each of those signs in the context of the Jackson Hole employee?s instructions on how to exit the park. Given the fact that we have previously held that the question of a provider?s duty is partially determined by a fact-specific framing of inherent risk, we conclude that the district court erred in making factual findings that are properly findings for a jury. See Sapone, 308 F.3d at 1102.

Finally, we note that whatever risks Dunbar assumed herself, it seems clear that she did not also assume the risk of needing to interpret the delphic statements of Jackson Hole?s employees. Both Jackson Hole and the district court focus on the issue of choices that Dunbar made, ignoring the choice that Jackson Hole made for her in directing her to exit the terrain park area by either hiking out the main entrance or skiing along the catwalk. We have made clear that a duty of care may arise [*24] from choices made for the participant by the recreation provider. Sapone, 308 F.3d at 1104; see also, Madsen, 31 F. Supp. 2d at 1328-29; Carden, 175 F. Supp. 2d. at 1328-29. Absent from the district court?s order is any recognition that once Dunbar asked a Jackson Hole employee how to exit the terrain park area without ?taking? any of the features, Jackson Hole owed a duty to provide her with appropriate instructions, which might have included a specific warning to beware of the drop into the half-pipe at the end of the catwalk. Whether or not they fulfilled that duty is a question for the jury. Accordingly, the district court erred when it framed the question of Jackson Hole?s duty by incorporating facts in dispute and when it failed to submit the question of duty to the fact finder pursuant to Wyoming Supreme Court precedent.

On appeal, Dunbar also raises as error the district court?s granting Jackson Hole?s motion to strike portions of her affidavit as creating sham factual issues to survive summary judgment. Those supposed sham facts dealt with Dunbar ?s understanding of whether she had entered the actual terrain park (the [*25] area including the jumps) when located at the tram car. Because we conclude that summary judgment was inappropriate, the issue of Dunbar?s affidavit is now moot.

III

For the reasons set forth above, we REVERSE the district court and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Climate change and the South Asian summer monsoon

Climate change and the South Asian summer monsoon [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 24-Jun-2012
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Contact: Gisela Speidel
gspeidel@hawaii.edu
808-956-9252
University of Hawaii ? SOEST

The vagaries of South Asian summer monsoon rainfall impact the lives of more than one billion people. A review in Nature Climate Change (June 24 online issue) of over 100 recent research articles concludes that with continuing rise in CO2 and global warming, the region can expect generally more rainfall, due to the expected increase in atmospheric moisture, as well as more variability in rainfall.

In spite of the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration of about 70 parts per million by volume and in global temperatures of about 0.50C over the last 6 decades, the All India Rainfall index does not yet show the expected increase in rainfall. The reviewers Andrew Turner from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and H. Annamalai from the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa give several reasons for why the region's observed rainfall has not yet increased, among them are inconsistent rainfall observations, decadal variability of the monsoon, the effects of aerosols resulting from industrialization, and land-use changes.

Regional projections for devastating droughts and floods--which are most meaningful for residents living in South Asia-- are still beyond the reach of current climate models, according to the reviewers' detailed analyses of the present state of research. The authors conclude that in order to make regional projections that can help in disaster mitigation and in adapting to climate change, the following is needed: establishing more consistent rainfall datasets by expanding observations to include, for example, agricultural yield; a better grasp of the complicated thermodynamics over the monsoon region and of the interactions among monsoon rainfall, land-use, aerosols, CO2, and other conditions; and an evaluation in coupled circulation models (which allow feedbacks among variables) of those processes that have been shown in simpler models to affect the monsoon and rainfall.

###



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Climate change and the South Asian summer monsoon [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 24-Jun-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Gisela Speidel
gspeidel@hawaii.edu
808-956-9252
University of Hawaii ? SOEST

The vagaries of South Asian summer monsoon rainfall impact the lives of more than one billion people. A review in Nature Climate Change (June 24 online issue) of over 100 recent research articles concludes that with continuing rise in CO2 and global warming, the region can expect generally more rainfall, due to the expected increase in atmospheric moisture, as well as more variability in rainfall.

In spite of the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration of about 70 parts per million by volume and in global temperatures of about 0.50C over the last 6 decades, the All India Rainfall index does not yet show the expected increase in rainfall. The reviewers Andrew Turner from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and H. Annamalai from the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa give several reasons for why the region's observed rainfall has not yet increased, among them are inconsistent rainfall observations, decadal variability of the monsoon, the effects of aerosols resulting from industrialization, and land-use changes.

Regional projections for devastating droughts and floods--which are most meaningful for residents living in South Asia-- are still beyond the reach of current climate models, according to the reviewers' detailed analyses of the present state of research. The authors conclude that in order to make regional projections that can help in disaster mitigation and in adapting to climate change, the following is needed: establishing more consistent rainfall datasets by expanding observations to include, for example, agricultural yield; a better grasp of the complicated thermodynamics over the monsoon region and of the interactions among monsoon rainfall, land-use, aerosols, CO2, and other conditions; and an evaluation in coupled circulation models (which allow feedbacks among variables) of those processes that have been shown in simpler models to affect the monsoon and rainfall.

###



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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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