Here are a few different ways you can conquer the problem:

A Rubber Glove Will Give You Extra Gripping Power

1. Take a butter knife and give the lid a few good wacks along the top edge (turning the jar incrementally while you hit it), this should help break the seal and make the lid come off easily. Use the smooth edge of the knife (or the handle) against the lid and you’ll need to whack it (not light taps), but not so hard you shatter the glass. This is the method my grandmother taught me as I was growing up and it’s my “go-to” fix when problems arise, I’d say it has a 99% success rate.
2. Put on rubber or latex gloves so you can grip really well when twisting.
3. Lightly moisten a dishcloth or towel and use that to grab hold of the lid and twist, this also gives you more gripping power.
4. Try breaking the seal by running the jar under hot water for up to a minute (tilt jar down so the water can reach the underside of the lid). Giving the lid a few wacks with a butter knife while doing this can also help speed up the process. You can also put the jar upside down in a bowl of hot water (just an inch or so deep to cover the lid edge) and leaving for up to a minute before trying again.
5. Rubber bands will do the trick too! You’ll need a wide one to place around the lid edge then grab hold of it to squeeze and twist. Not working? Try another wide rubber band, this time placing around the glass jar so you have two firm places for gripping.
6. Keep a square of rubberized non-slip drawer and shelf liner in with your kitchen gadgets, this can also be used to give you more gripping power (drape over jar before twisting off lid).
7. Try breaking the seal by giving the bottom of the jar a good wack with the heel of your open hand. You may need to do this a couple times. You could also wack the bottom on the countertop (cover with a towel first to prevent damaging the surface), do so with enough force to break the seal without shattering the glass.

If the jar has been opened previously and the air-tight seal isn’t the problem, it’s likely stuck because syrup or sauce has crusted underneath the lid and around the glass rim. To fix this, a hot water soak should do the trick (as mentioned above) since it will help soften the crusted goo. You may also need something for extra grip when twisting (such as a rubber glove, elastic band, etc.). To prevent this problem in the future, wipe rim with a clean damp cloth before sealing.

If you only need intermittent access to the net and emails, then even the older GPRS / EDGE connection will suffice as it is considerably cheaper. So how do we decide whether to shift to 3G or not. Some points to ponder over:

1. Email – If you need only basic email access, then the older GPRS / EDGE service or blackberry service is sufficient. 3G is only recommended if you want to send and receive huge attachments
2. Browsing and Video calling – If you browse sporadically on the go, then chose an older connection but if you want fast speed access then 3G is the way to go. 3G has the additional benefit of video calling.
3. Connectivity – 3G services and connectivity is inconsistent and you may be better off with a GPRS / EDGE connection as the speeds may be the same while roaming. Pre-paid 3G cards can be bought if required for heavy usage for specific purpose while keeping the old connection as the main one.  If you use the Phone as a modem, then a 3G one is always better as the speeds are a lot better.
4. Battery Usage – The other main area of concern with 3G is the heavy battery drainage that all 3G phones suffer from. You may need to keep a spare battery as it may drain out in 4 to 5 hours. GPRS mobiles are way ahead and may carry on for two days or even more.

Now that you have decided that you need that 3G connection badly and have gone ahead and got one, you should keep some key points in consideration to keep a check on the monthly data bills.

1. If you are not using 3G, then it is best to turn it off and the phone will switch to 2G and email will be still there. You will save on the battery and when 3G is required, you can switch it back on.
2. When you visit a website, go to the mobile version as it is light on data usage vis-a-vis the desktop version. Use Opera as the browser as it compresses the web pages and you save money on the data charges.
3. A number of apps are available that let you track data usage and you should have one on your phone.

PC Tips

In the same way that we have friendly bacteria in our intestines, the tsetse fly harbours bacteria in its midgut, muscle and salivary glands.

Experts in Belgium have genetically modified these “good bugs” so they attack the culprit parasite carried by the fly.

But work is needed to hone the process.

The latest findings are published in the open access journal Microbial Cell Factories.

The disease

Sleeping sickness, or human African trypanosomiasis, is a potentially fatal disease that plagues many regions of Africa.

Although the number of people being infected with the disease has been going down thanks to better diagnosis and treatment, there were still more than 7,000 new cases recorded in 2010.

The parasite causing sleeping sickness is transmitted to humans through the bite of the infected tsetse fly.

This causes fever, headaches, aching joints and itching. Then follows the second stage of disease as the parasites cross the blood-brain barrier to infect the central nervous system.

The person then becomes confused, poorly co-ordinated and experiences the sleep disturbances which give the disease its name.

Without treatment, sleeping sickness is fatal.

But current therapies often have unpleasant side-effects.

Alternatives

The drug most commonly used to treat the condition is a derivative of arsenic developed more than 50 years ago. And the treatment can be excruciatingly painful and potentially fatal. Often described by patients as “fire in the veins,” between 5% and 20% of those treated die of complications from the injected drug.

And so scientists are seeking alternatives.

The Belgium team at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp have focused on finding a way to destroy the sleeping sickness parasite – trypanosome – that the tsetse fly carries.

They found bacteria called Sodalis glossinidius, which naturally live in the fly and can be used to mount an attack from the inside.

Altering the genes of the bacteria led it to release fragments of antibodies known as nanobodies against the parasite.

With more work, the researchers hope to be able to produce targeted nanobodies which could kill or block the development of trypanosome.

Dr David Horn of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said: “This is a neat and promising concept. The goal now will be to develop a deliverable toxin, not necessarily a nanobody, which exhibits anti-trypanosomal activity in the fly.”

Gavin Hewitt: “EU officials are playing it tough… For the moment this second bailout is on hold”

The head of the eurozone countries has downgraded a eurozone finance ministers meeting on Wednesday, saying Greece has not yet given the necessary assurances about its austerity plan.

Ministers, who had demanded Greece find an extra 325m euros of savings, had been set to meet in Brussels.

But Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said the talks would be replaced by a conference call.

He said technical work with Greece was still needed “in a number of areas”.

Finance ministers had not received assurances from leaders of Greek political parties on a programme of proposed cuts, Mr Juncker was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

He said that “against this background, I have decided to convene ministers to a conference call tomorrow in order to discuss the outstanding issues”.

As well as 17 ministers from nations that use the euro, the president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi and the Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, had also been due to attend the meeting.

Mark Lowen, the BBC’s Athens correspondent, says the Greek Prime Minister’s office confirmed that the face-to-face meeting had been called off.

‘Harsh’

The latest 130bn-euro bailout ($169.5bn, £108.7bn) was agreed in principle by EU leaders in October, conditional on Greece adopting further measures to cut its deficit and restructure its economy.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Matthew Price BBC News, Brussels

It’s now a question of who will blink first.

Greece – which has to receive this second multi-billion Euro bailout if it’s not to default and, it’s assumed, therefore leave the euro.

Or the EU – which is demanding that Greece comply with every aspect of the bailout agreement before the money is handed over – but which is also publicly desperate to avoid the chaos it’s believed would follow a Greek exit from the single currency.

Bearing in mind the difficulties of selling more austerity to a nation already on its knees, it is by no means certain that the bailout will be granted.

If it is not, Greece will not be able to meet its debt repayments, and the economic uncertainty for the eurozone, Europe and indeed the world will intensify.

On Sunday, Greek MPs approved extra cutbacks, but parties had to expel more than 40 deputies for failing to back the bill.

Thousands protested in Athens, where there were widespread clashes and buildings were set on fire. Violent protests were reported in cities across the country.

“As time has gone on more and more people believe that austerity measures can’t be met because the economy is doing too badly and that they are far too harsh especially for the working and middle classes in the private sector.” said Nick Malkoutzis, Deputy Editor, of Kathimerini English Edition.

“The feeling is they are being made to pay for failure to reform the public sector.” he said.

There is pressure on Greece to make progress, as the country will not be able to pay debts due on 20 March unless it can qualify for more bailout funds by satisfying its European partners.

By that date Greece needs to repay 14.5bn euros to lenders.

When and if eurozone ministers are convinced Greece is making progress on cuts, and if the German parliament agrees to the bailout (as it must under national law), then any new bailout could be signed off in early March.

But there have been warnings that politicians in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, may be losing patience.

Thousands protested against the latest round of Greek austerity measures

“Given the increasing hard line we have seen out of German policymakers over the past few days, you would wonder if Germany is trying to push Greece out [of the euro],” Michael Hewison of CMC Markets told the BBC.

Meanwhile, an official report on Tuesday showed that the decline of the Greek economy accelerated in the final three months of 2011.

The estimate showed that, compared with a year earlier, Greek GDP contracted by 7% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

That is an acceleration from the 5% contraction in the third quarter.

The report also shows that the Greek economy shrank 6% last year, an increase on earlier estimates and the fifth year of recession.

The deal would extend the tax cut until the end of 2012, adding $100bn (£65bn) to the US deficit.

Agreement came after Republicans dropped calls for spending cuts to offset the expense, and Democrats put aside requests for other tax breaks.

The payroll tax sparked an impasse in Congress at the end of 2011.

In reaching the deal, the joint House-Senate panel has also agreed to extend unemployment benefits.

Extending the cut, originally passed in 2010, was part of a wide-ranging jobs plan launched by President Barack Obama in September 2011.

Mr Obama held a news conference on Tuesday to urge Congress to pass an agreement.

‘Off the table’

Republicans in the House of Representatives were put on the defensive as 2011 drew to a close after negotiations broke down on how to pay for the cut.

Despite opposing tax rises in general, the Republican desire to ensure any renewal of the tax break was fully funded and did not add to the deficit saw the White House cast them as opponents of a middle-class tax cut.

After a climbdown by Speaker John Boehner, Republicans eventually agreed to a two-month extension while the House and Senate panel brokered a year-long deal.

By dropping the requirement of offsetting spending cuts, Republicans moved away from making the cut an election-year issue.

“The mood is to get it off the table,” Florida House Republican Dennis Ross told the Associated Press. “We’ve got to move on to another issue.”

The tax break is estimated to a household making $50,000 about $20 per week.

The U.S. labor market teed off the new year with a nice surprise as the country’s unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent in January, but experts believe that the jobs growth was insufficient to cure the lingeringly sick labor market in the short run.

UNEMPLOYMENT THREE-YEAR LOW

Payroll growth last month was matched with a decrease of the unemployment rate for the fifth consecutive month, adding to a recent string of positive economic data pointing to a stronger economic recovery.

 

Customers rent cars at the Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C., Feb. 3, 2012. The U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 8.3 percent last month from 8.5 percent in December 2011, evidence of an improving job market, the Labor Department reported on Friday. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

The U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 8.3 percent last month from 8.5 percent in December 2011, a near three-year low since February 2009, as total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, beating economists’ expectations of about 150, 000, the Labor Department reported on Friday. 

Private-sector employment grew by 257,000 last month, but governments at all levels continued to trim 14,000 jobs against the backdrop of slashing government outlays.

“The latest payroll survey offers further evidence of a strengthening labor market,” said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, adding that after showing little change over the first half of last year the jobless rate has now fallen 0.8 percentage point since last August.

WIDESPREAD JOB GROWTH

Across-the-board jobs growth in professional and business, leisure and hospitality, health care sectors, as well as upward revisions of earlier data contributed to the decline of the unemployment rate.

The number of newly created jobs for November 2011 was upwardly revised from 100,000 to 157,000, and that for December 2011 was revised from 200,000 to 203,000.

The latest job figures gave a boost to U.S. President Barack Obama who has geared up his reelection bid.

“The unemployment rate came down because more people found work. And altogether, we’ve added 3.7 million new jobs over the last 23 months,” Obama said Friday in a speech after the release of the report when visiting a fire station in Virginia, urging Congress to take more steps to bolster the economic recovery and create jobs.

With the nation’s shaky property market reversing the freefall decline trend starting the end of last year, employment in construction increased by 21,000 in January, following a gain of 31,000 in the previous month.

NEW NORMAL

The other part of the job market story was that the nation’s stubbornly high unemployment rate has hovered above 8 percent for three years and the share of long-term unemployed showed no noticeable decline over the past years, evidence of the structural problems in the labor market.

“There’s welcome news in this latest jobs report as more Americans found work last month, but the fact is our unemployment rate is still far too high,” U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, the top GOP congressman, said in a statement, adding that American people have seen the same story now for 36 straight months.

Some economists cautioned that there was still a long way from robust U.S. economic and labor market revival, as the faltering real estate market, sluggish wage growth pace and eurozone debt crisis spillovers were dimming the recovery outlook.

The U.S. economy might continue with the sub-par economic growth below its potential for several years, Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the think tank Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua.

“The U.S. labor market started 2012 with fewer jobs than it had 11 years ago in January 2001 — a testament to both the enormity of the current labor market crisis as well as the very weak job growth of the 2000-07 business cycle,” contended Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute.

The share of the long-term unemployed workers who have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks rose to 42.9 percent in January from 42.5 percent a month earlier, and not far away from the peak of 45.5 percent in March 2011. Even at January’s jobs growth rate, it would still take until 2019 to get the country back to full employment, Shierholz noted.

The worry is that the poor performing decades characterized by high unemployment and low growth will become the new normal of the 21 century, with disastrous consequences for future American generations, John Taylor, a renowned professor at Stanford University, cautioned in his new book “First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America’s Prosperity”.

source form: vietnamnet

 

Pedestrians walk in front of the headquarters of European Commission in heavy snow in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Feb. 3, 2012. Temperatures plunged to new lows in Belgium where it has been nearly a week-long cold, slippery conditions and blowing snow led to serious traffic jams on Friday. Weather forecasts warned that the big freeze would tighten its grip at the weekend. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

According to local daily Le Soir, the snow has caused traffic jam on some 1,100 km of roads in central Belgium, where the snowfalls were the heaviest since Friday afternoon. 

In the capital Brussels, the ring road is completely paralyzed, with some parts closed. It takes two hours more than usual to leave the city.

Buses in Brussels are not allowed in the city center to avoid the jams. Trams and metros are still working as usual. No flights were reportedly delayed or canceld due to the snow in the Brussels International Airport.

Elsewhere in the country, most of the highways are jammed and several accidents have been reported. Some sections of the roads have been shut to circulation. In total 2,500 cars are blocked on the roads of Belgium, according to Le Soir.

 

Photo taken on Feb. 3, 2012 shows traffic jam on a main road in heavy snow in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Feb. 3, 2012. Temperatures plunged to new lows in Belgium where it has been nearly a week-long cold, slippery conditions and blowing snow led to serious traffic jams on Friday. Weather forecasts warned that the big freeze would tighten its grip at the weekend. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

A number of Thalys high speed trains running between Brussels and Paris also are blocked next to Antwerp. 

Earlier forecasts estimated that one to eight centimeters of snow would fall over the night across the country. Temperatures had dropped to minus 10 degrees centigrade in the central part of belgium, with the eastern town of Elsenborn registering minus 17 degrees.

The Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute said that temperatures were indeed very low, but were still considered “normal” for the season. It added the weather next week will be sunny and dry, with temperatures staying below zero.

A weeklong cold snap has gripped Europe, claiming hundreds of lives across the continent. In Ukraine alone, the cold snap has killed at least 101 people as of Friday. Deaths were also reported in Serbia, Greece and Italy, etc.

No death case related to the cold snap has so far been reported in Belgium, but the Samu Social, a Brussels-based Social Humanitarian emergency service, has opened more shelters for the homeless across the country.

source form: vietnamnet

Teen boys with superpowers helped lift the movie box office to unexpected heights over Super Bowl weekend as thriller “Chronicle” edged “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe’s haunted house movie “The Woman in Black.”

“Chronicle” brought in an estimated $22.0 million from U.S. and Canadian theaters, studio estimates released on Sunday showed. The movie with largely unknown actors finished just ahead of Radcliffe’s “Woman in Black,” which took in an estimated $21.0 million.

Both performances surpassed projections from studio executives, who had expected weaker sales against competition from Sunday’s Super Bowl football championship. The tallies include actual ticket receipts for Friday and Saturday plus estimates for Sunday at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters.

“Chronicle” added $13 million from 33 international markets, for a global weekend total of $35 million.

The appearance of young moviegoers, who had shunned some recent films targeted to them, boosted the top two films.

“The teen audience seems to be coming back to movies again. There was serious worry they were fading,” said John Davis, who produced “Chronicle.”

The movie tells the story of three teenage boys who develop superpowers and find they have a dark side. People under age 25 made up 61 percent of the movie’s audience, distributor 20th Century Fox said. Fifty-five percent were males.

The studio produced “Chronicle” for about $12 million and had forecast debut weekend sales below $10 million.

Young moviegoers also propelled “Woman in Black” well past studio expectations of around $10 million. Fifty-seven percent of filmgoers were under age 25, and 59 percent were females.

The movie was Radcliffe’s first since the blockbuster “Harry Potter” franchise ended last summer. The film attracted Radcliffe’s young female fans plus “an audience that likes to be scared but not grossed out,” said Steven Friedlander, executive vice president of theatrical distribution for CBS Films, the unit of CBS Corp that released the movie.

“Woman in Black” scored as the biggest debut weekend ever for CBS Films, which has struggled with its five earlier movies. The studio’s biggest previous opening was a $12.2 million debut for “The Back-up Plan.”

With “Woman in Black,” the studio acquired domestic distribution rights for $3 million and spent about $15 million on marketing.

Elsewhere this weekend, Liam Neeson thriller “The Grey,” dropped to third place with $9.5 million. The movie ranked No. 1 last weekend and has brought in $34.8 million domestically after two weekends in theaters.

Super Bowl alternatives 

Total ticket sales outpaced the same weekend last year by nearly 37 percent despite competition from the Super Bowl, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com. Sales for all films reached $119 million.

“Big Miracle,” a drama based on the true story of a whale rescue, aimed to offer a non-football alternative to young women and girls. The movie finished the weekend in fourth place with $8.5 million domestically, in line with studio forecasts.

The movie starring Drew Barrymore and “The Office” actor John Krasinski cost less than $40 million to produce.

In fifth place, vampire and werewolf sequel “Underworld: Awakening” starring Kate Beckinsale took in $5.6 million at domestic theaters. To date, the movie’s worldwide sales stand at $108.3 million.

News Corp unit 20th Century Fox distributed “Chronicle.” “Big Miracle” was released by Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast Corp. Open Road Films, a joint venture between theater owners Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc, distributed “The Grey.” The film studio of Sony Corp released “Underworld: Awakening.”

source form: tuoitrenews

Lanta-Viet, a local branch of the bankrupted tour operator Lanta-Tur Voyach, is back in operation to finish all proceedings related Russian tourists and pay off debts to their partners in Mui Ne, according to Nguyen Van Khoa, chairman at the Tourism Association in the coastal province of Binh Thuan.

Last Sunday, the debts to some resorts have been paid off, while others are working with Lanta-Viet on collating documents for payment.

According to Khoa, the operator is VND10 billion (US$480,000) in debt to their 17 partner hotels and resorts in Mui Ne.

A Lanta-Viet representative pledged to liquidate all debts within a few days.

Up to February 5, around 70 Russian tourists had left Phan Thiet city in Binh Thuan province to fly home.

The last Lanta-Viet tourists are scheduled to leave Vietnam on February 8.

Lanta-Tur Voyach is one of the leading Russian tour operators, working with more than 6000 agencies in Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, and the Baltic region. Due to financial problems, the Russian-based headquarters halted operations on January 27, causing thousands of their customers to be stranded in India, Thailand and Vietnam.

source form: tuoitrenews