Windows 8 productivity apps get much-needed facelift

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 2 hrs.

Microsoft has announced updates to its Mail, Calendar, and People apps in Windows 8, making them somewhat more viable tools for power users. The updates go live on Tuesday.

Mail received the most improvements: Users can now select to view only unread messages, flag emails as important, or manage them in folders ? all critical features for email clients that seemed a rather glaring omission from the original application.

Likewise, the ability to search through mail archived on the mail server, also added this week, is a core feature that heavy emailers resort to constantly.

Composing messages has also been improved slightly, making the addition of links and bulleted lists easier.

The Calendar app has had its color scheme replaced with a less intense one; Calendar items will now only have a bar of color on the side indicating their type, rather than being entirely that color. It will now also provide others' schedules when inviting them to a meeting, streamlining that process.

Lastly, the People app should be a bit easier to navigate now, using app commands available by swiping down from the top of the screen. Users can also now filter the "What's new" tab by social network, and post directly to Facebook.

The updates will be live Tuesday, at which point they will appear in the updates section of the Windows Store.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/29fa2fa0/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cwindows0E80Eproductivity0Eapps0Eget0Emuch0Eneeded0Efacelift0E1B90A60A483/story01.htm

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Achieve Your Goals In No Time With These Great Self Improvement ...

Self improvement techniques, such as being positive, can be a great way to improve yourself and indeed your life. Today?s blog post outlines some simple yet effective tips for you, so that you can start working on your character, body and mind, with the ultimate goal of improving your entire lifestyle.

Strive to be the best at everything you put your mind to. Follow your passion to the greatest possible aspirations. You may never find yourself the absolute top dog in any one field, but you can still strive to be inspiring to those around you. Look for different ways to improve the quality of your work, and ultimately your career and your self-esteem will surely benefit.

The condition in which you keep your body can significantly impact your mental state. You should eat healthy and exercise on a daily basis. Remember, a healthy mind and a healthy body go hand in hand.

Use order and organization to effectively check your progress. Try a system that allows you to break each goal down into very small components. You will have an easier time achieving each individual component than you would achieving the goal as a whole. Write down your progress in a planner, or journal about your goals.

Being selfless is a big step in self improvement. Being able to sacrifice for others, and feeling joy in their happiness, develops your character. When you can balance sacrificing for others with meeting your own needs, you will gain the emotional versatility required to become a better person. As the character Socrates stated, in the movie The Peaceful Warrior, ??there?s no greater purpose than service to others?.

Hopefully, today?s blog post gave you a chance to think about how you can improve various aspects of your personality, character and mental outlook, in order to acquire a better lifestyle. Apply these self improvement tips and adapt them to your unique situation to live a happier life.
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Source: http://glennshimabukuro.com/achieve-your-goals-in-no-time-with-these-great-self-improvement-tips/

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Big moment nears for gay marriage

Same-sex marriage proponent Kat McGuckin of Oaklyn, New Jersey, holds a gay marriage pride flag while standing??

The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in two cases that have the potential to transform American society and the status of gays and lesbians in it.

In oral arguments on Tuesday morning the 9 justices will consider whether California?s voter approved ban on gay marriage, Proposition 8, unfairly discriminates against gay people. On Wednesday, they?ll consider whether the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act barring the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex marriages, even in states that allow them, constitutes federal overreach.

Both cases could change the everyday lives of gay people and transform the larger, decades old gay rights movement, which has pursued both a court-based and political strategy to gain more legal protections for gay people. But the California Prop 8 case in particular, called Perry v. Hollingsworth, is considered by both pro and anti-gay marriage camps to be the most important, and potentially sweeping, of the two.

In Perry, there's a possibility that the court could declare that gays and lesbians have a fundamental right to marriage just as heterosexual couples do. Such a decision would send a message from the court that both same sex and heterosexual relationships must be treated equally in the eyes of the law.

?There aren?t many Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to be as transformative,? said Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law.

If the court finds a right to marriage for gay people, Chermerinsky said, ?it will matter enormously in the lives of millions of gays and lesbians in terms of their ability to marry and it also would be a very profound statement of the court that gays and lesbians are subject to equal protection under the law.?

John Eastman, a law professor at Chapman University and the chairman for the anti-gay marriage group the National Organization for Marriage, also sees the potential for big, but negative, changes should the court decide to invalidate Prop 8. He says a Supreme Court decision in favor of gay marriage will "forever sever the ties between marriage and children" and discourage heterosexual couples from marrying.

?It's hard to imagine a more compelling interest than the survival of the species," Eastman said of why the government should be able to limit marriage to opposite sex couples. "We would survive in a way, but without the institution of marriage...you commodify children when you take away the intimate family structure.?

Just 40 years ago, the Supreme Court tersely refused to hear a case brought by a gay couple who wanted to get married in Minnesota, writing that that their claim raised no significant legal issue. At the time, legal opinions often treated homosexuality as criminal, sexually deviant behavior rather than involuntary sexual orientation.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the current court's conservative-leaning swing vote, departed from that tone when he wrote the 2002 Lawrence v. Texas opinion striking down state sodomy laws. Gay people have a right to privacy in their own homes to practice whatever consensual sexual behavior they wish, Kennedy wrote, in a decision that substantially expanded gay rights in the U.S.

Advocates hope that decision may mean Kennedy will side with them on marriage this time around.

No one knows how broadly the justices will rule, but the fact that they voted to take both the DOMA and Prop 8 cases at once signals that at least some of the justices may want to settle the question once and for all, by either affirming gay couples? right to wed or shutting down entirely their constitutional claim to marriage.

California voters passed Prop 8 in 2008, after thousands of same-sex couples had already tied the knot under a state Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage. If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Prop 8, it will be a victory for the traditional marriage movement and will further cement the dozens of state voter-approved gay marriage bans that have passed in the last decade.

Many courtwatchers believe Kennedy and the four liberal justices will band together to take an incremental step that affirms gay marriage only in California or just a handful of states without going so far as to strike down the laws in 41 states that ban same-sex marriage. Such a sweeping move could spark a backlash, and seems unlikely since the justices have several other options open to them.

More modest legal options include striking down Prop 8 on narrow grounds that only affect California or striking down Prop 8 in a way that only affects the eight states, including California, that allow civil unions but not gay marriage. That "eight state" argument is advanced by the Obama administration, which argued in its brief to the Supreme Court that a state has no legitimate interest in offering gay couples all the benefits of marriage in a civil union but withholding the title of marriage.

The justices could also rule that the supporters of Prop 8 don?t have the legal right, or standing, to appeal the lower courts? decision striking down Prop 8, which would make gay marriage legal in California by default. (The defenders of Prop 8 must prove to the justices that they will suffer a direct injury if the gay marriage ban is struck down in order to have standing to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.)

Loyola Law Professor Doug NeJaime said he thinks a limited ruling from the court is most likely.

?Things are accelerating so quickly that it seems like it?s an opportune moment for the court to just be nudging that movement forward rather than making a really decisive move,? NeJaime said, pointing to public opinion polls that show a majority of Americans now support gay marriage. ?Instead they would just be allowing that momentum to continue.?

The strength of the message sent by the court on gay rights also depends on the language of the opinion. Theoretically, the justices could strike down Prop 8 without even mentioning gays and lesbians? rights as a class or substantially addressing their claims that they are being unfairly excluded from the institution of marriage.

If the justices decide the supporters of Prop 8 don?t have the legal standing to appeal the lower courts? decision striking down the ban, they could avoid the controversial issue of same-sex marriage altogether in their opinion.

But even that sort of decision would have a big impact, as gay couples in California?the most populous state in the country?would be allowed to wed. The court would have also decided its first gay marriage case in a way that affirmed gay rights, however narrowly, which would encourage gay rights advocates to continue trying to pass gay marriage on the local level.

?In the specific it would allow them to get married,? Chemerinsky said of a decision that struck down Prop. 8. ?In the more abstract it would say no longer are they regarded by the law as a deviant. They?re regarded as equal human beings under the law. ?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/supreme-court-gay-marriage-cases-could-set-stage-084728709--politics.html

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Danae Ringelmann, Co-Founder, Indigogo & Top 50 Influential ...

Danae Ringelmann co-founded Indiegogo to democratize fundraising. Passionate about helping artists and entrepreneurs embrace crowdfunding, Danae speaks often at conferences. Recent speaking engagements include SXSW, MAD Hong Kong, TED, Big Omaha. Fast Company Magazine recently named Danae one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Technology.

Prior to Indiegogo, Danae was a Securities Analyst at Cowen & Co. where she covered entertainment companies including Pixar, Lionsgate, Disney, and Electronic Arts.? Danae also focused on cable network, NFL, newspaper and hedge fund clientele while at JPMorgan's Investment Bank and Private Bank.? In the wake of 9/11, Danae co-produced a concert reading of Incident at Vichy, an Arthur Miller play addressing the politically charged topic of racial profiling.

We spoke to Danae about the benefits of democratising investment; about moving from Wall St. into entrepreneurialism; and how a one-night theatre production led her to change the world of finance.

TNW: How did you come up with the idea for Indiegogo and then arrive at the decision to turn your idea into a reality?

DR: Back in 2006, before the word ?crowdfunding? existed, I joined forces with my co-founders out of a mutual frustration for how unfair and inefficient fundraising was for an independent business, artist or charity project.

A daughter of two small business owners, I had witnessed my parents self-finance -- or ?bootstrap? as entrepreneurs like to say -- their brick and mortar business for over 30 years. ?

Despite steady growth, more than 50 loyal employees, and a reputation of integrity throughout the SF Bay Area where I grew up, not once could my parents get a business loan to make the much-needed investments to grow the business beyond single digit margins. Why? ?Instead of spending their free time at the country clubs and business networking events to develop strategic relationships with ?money-people,? they came to my sister?s, brother?s and my basketball games, piano recitals and school plays.They never missed a family dinner. ?As self-employed parents, it was a trade-off they made; a trade-off I believe they shouldn?t have had to,?had access to capital been based on objective performance earned through growth and customer and employee satisfaction and not subjective relationships earned through ?face time? and special favors.?

Determined to change this inequity, I went to work in finance on Wall Street after college. ?While running financial models and crunching numbers by day, I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer my ?finance skills? to help independent film and theater producers get their projects off the group, by night. ?For months, I worked on a co-production of a one-night theater event. The goal was to ignite an audience through the reading of a play so as to entice the three investors in attendance to write a check and finance a full Off-Broadway season production. ?The night went perfect, but it wasn?t until the investors closed by saying: ?Congratulations. ?Amazing job. ?We?re not investing,? did I face the same unfair subjectivity that my parents had dealt with for 30 years. ?Performance didn?t matter. ?Their relationships did; and I wasn?t on that list. ?However, the silver lining of that moment was when I realized the root problem and thus opportunity rested in the fact that the people who wanted the play to come to life the most ? the producers, actors and audience ? didn?t have the mechanism to make it happen. ?So in 2006, I set out to change that.

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I quit Wall Street. ?While I had entered the world of finance to change finance, it took leaving and starting a company to actually change it, for good.

I went to business school at UC Berkeley to launch a company that would democratize finance. ?It was there that I met Eric Schell ? a technologist ? who himself had faced fundraising challenges for a Chicago-based self-financed theater company on which he sat on the Board. ?Excited to fix finance, he brought in his good friend Slava Rubin ? a technology strategist ? who had concurrently met intense frustration in his own personal attempts to raise money for cancer research, as his father had died of cancer when he was a young boy. ?When we all met, sparks flew ? literally. ?With their technology backgrounds, they convinced me the only way to democratize finance would be to use the one meritocratic tool out there ? the Internet. ?So within a few weeks, the three of us co-founded Indiegogo. In January 2008, we launched Indiegogo with a perks-based model that we had developed on a white board in my kitchen one late night. ?This model was an experiment, yet it has since become a pillar-model of the crowdfunding industry. ?

Our mission was (and still is) to empower people across the world to fund what matters to them. ?Since our launch, we haven?t looked back.

TNW: What did you find most difficult, and most enjoyable, about the leap from corporate career to entrepreneurship?

DR: What I found most enjoyable in starting a company was the freedom to think, experiment and work outside the box in a passionate pursuit to solve not just a problem, but an injustice that had seeped into the nook and crannies of every industry and every country on this planet - the inequality of finance. So when I quit, my world expanded over night. ?I went from chasing news as a financial analyst to making news as a financial disruptor. ?Neither one is better or worse, but for me, I learned that I have to be part of a solution to find meaning in my work, and thus happiness.?

Growing up and tackling the big question:"What does one want to do when they grow up," my mother always said, "pay attention to your nature, D. ?If you fight it, you'll be unhappy. If you fuel it, you'll thrive."?An early cue of what my nature was came to me in college, where I rowed. All rowers were either a Port or Starbird - your position determined by what side of the boat your oar extended. ?As most highly competitive teams do, they make jokes out of everything related to the sport. One perennial joke involved: Ports as the "Problem" and Starbirds as the "Solution." In hindsight the joke, didn't make much sense. ?It's hardly funny. ?Perhaps the nonsensical comic relief was our version of stress relief. Anyhow, I was a Port, and despite the meaninglessness of this joke, I found myself yearning to be a Starbird. Why? ?I wanted to be a part of the solution.

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It's no wonder I found comfort in the arduous road of entrepreneurship and pain in the cushiony path of Wall Street.

Our lives are full of small nuggets or signs of our own nature. ?It's up to us to pay attention when they appear and follow them. ?It doesn't mean life will be easy. ?The most difficult part of entrepreneurship- in fact - was also the most enjoyable - complete freedom. ?I had spent years practicing the adherence to structure -school homework, sports schedules, finance deliverables. However, one of the best lessons my co-founder Slava Rubin taught me early on was to "not wait for perfect". There is no ?perfect? in entrepreneurship. ?There's just trying, failing, learning and trying again until it starts to work. ?It's an important lesson I wish every young girl could learn as early as possible, since our traditional education systems don't necessarily reinforce that. ?So if you're reading this article and have a young daughter, I encourage you to go home tonight and challenge them to try something they've never tried before, and then reward them when they fail. ?They might just find a little nugget of their nature in doing so. ?And you'll change them for life.?

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TNW: What are the benefits of democratising investment?

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DR: The biggest benefit of crowdfunding for the world is equal opportunity. When the world has the power to fund what matters to them, we have a world where ideas exist because the world wants them to exist. It sounds revolutionary, but it's actually pretty simple. ?Before Indiegogo and the crowdfunding industry we pioneered emerged, thousands if not millions of ideas went unborn every year due to lack of efficient access to capital.

In crowdfunding, you're successful in raising money if you have a brilliant idea, and enough customers, supporters and fans who agree and are willing to vote with their wallet.

Thus, success is not in the hands of one arbitrary decision-maker who may or may not share your non-financial goals. This is the root of the inefficiency and thus unfairness that has plagued finance since money was introduced into society.

For people who want to raise money for a business, social project or creative idea via crowdfunding, an additional benefit is market validation. ?In addition to the money itself, campaign owners garner the social and financial proof they need to know they're working on an idea that the world actually wants. ?If they raise no money, they learn the world actually doesn't want it; so a "failed funding" campaign is actually a success, as it saves the individual from wasting their time and personal funds on an idea that was never going to see the light of day.

The market validation continues to benefit the campaign owner as a successful crowdfunding campaign often attracts traditional financiers (investors, foundations, distributors) for amplification capital. ?After dozens of venture investor rejections due to ?high market risk,? a successful $25,000 crowdfunding campaign for this mobile accessory device finally proved enough market demand for the venture investors to move forward with an angel investment. ?Similarly comic blogger Matthew Inman?s $1.4 million people-powered crowdfunding campaign to build a Tesla Museum earned the New York State Government?s confidence in the project?s public interest and thus $850,000 in matching government funds to further the endeavor. ?Traditional financiers across all industries ? entrepreneurial, creative, government and non-profit/cause ? are benefitting from crowdfunding?s incubatory nature. ?It?s simply lowering the risk of potential investments by proving market demand.

As such, we?re creating a true incubation platform for the world. By offering a mechanism where businesses, social projects, and creative ideas in need of funding, rise to the top algorithmically and automatically rather than subjectively and manually, crowdfunding is quickly proving itself to not only be a new and robust alternative form of funding, but also an efficient market validation and ?de-risking? mechanism that traditional financiers will soon, not be able to live without.?

TNW: How does Indiegogo differentiate itself from other crowdfunding sites?

Our philosophy, mission and model are what make Indiegogo completely unique. In our mission to democratize finance and empower the world to fund what matters to them - whether that's a book, a trip across the world or a new local bakery - we don't believe it's our right to decide who has the right to raise money and who doesn't. Therefore, our equal opportunity model

1) is inclusive

2) is meritocratic

3) is global

4) rooted in customer happiness and

5) offers multiple funding frameworks. No other platform compares.

Inclusive: We don't have an arbitrary application process. ?No one gets rejected. ?There's no waiting. ?We don't weigh in on how "good" or "worthy" of an idea you have. ?If you have an idea that you believe is worth funding, you have every right to try on Indiegogo. You can create a campaign and start raising money immediately. ?Everyone has an equal opportunity for success on Indiegogo.?

Meritocratic: Just as we don't pick and choose subjectively who can use Indiegogo to raise money; we also don't subjectively pick and choose who we promote. Campaigns are promoted algorithmically and automatically, and thus objectively. ?We've developed the gogofactor - an algorithm that measures the activity of a campaign and the responsiveness of the community - the two factors that should matter in success. ?Every campaign has a gogofactor. The higher the gogofactor, the higher their placement, discoverability and promotion on Indiegogo. Once again, success is in the hands of the campaign owner and their community, no one else... not even Indiegogo.

Global: To empower the world, Indiegogo needs to work across the world, which is why we've been global since Day 1 in 2008. ?All you need is a bank account to start raising money, and a credit card, paypal or ability to do a bank transfer to fund. ?Indiegogo has campaigns in every country of the world, and we can be viewed in three languages: English, German and French. ?We offer fundraising in four currencies (USD, UK Sterling, CAD and Euro) and offer local payment options across US, Canada and Europe. ?More are coming soon.

Customer Happiness: Yes, the rumors are true. ?Indiegogo has a "Customer Happiness" team. ?Our team is composed of eager coaches to support any campaign throughout its life. ?If you submit a question, you get an answer in 24 hours, no matter where you are in the world. ?We also have a Data Science team that mines our site for data insights that reveal success factors. ?For example, campaigns that have a video in their pitch raise on average 114% more than campaigns that don't. ?We publish all these insights and give them away to our customers for free to help optimize their success.

Fixed & Flexible Funding: Finally, many campaign owners choose Indiegogo because we offer two funding options: ?Fixed Funding? where money can only be collected if the entire goal is met and ?Flexible Funding,? which allows people to keep the money that they raise, even if they don?t reach their funding target. Most other crowdfunding platforms only support ?Fixed Funding.? ?We offer both, as every campaign is a little different. ? Often people choose Flexible Funding, so they can put the funds raised to work even they don't reach their goal, while others choose Fixed Funding when they can't move forward on a project unless a minimum amount of funds is achieved.

TNW: Are there certain types of startup close to your heart which you especially like to see receive funding from Indiegogo?

DR: What a tough question! ?This is akin to asking parents who their favorite child is! ?Well, I don't have a particular category as I'm a human being like most funders on Indiegogo,?the ideas and projects we love are diverse. ?No one wakes up in the morning with the goal to only buy music, only go to coffee shops or only plant community gardens.?People are beautiful and complicated, l as our interests range. ?

So if I had to pick a favorite, I would say it's all campaigns whose leaders are using Indiegogo to really go after their dreams - whatever that may be. ?

Whenever I meet a customer who?s really go for it in life, I?m inspired and can?t help wanting to support them. ?Drive is infectious. One customer I met recently has been working on a renewable energy solution that uses the recurring flow tides as way to create energy from ships lifting up and down. 20 ships connected to this technology could power half the energy requirements of San Francisco - my home town. The reason I love this campaign - Nautical Torque - so much, though, is the fact that this technology was something this young man had worked on with his father for many years. ?Unfortunately, his father recently passed away, so he's using Indiegogo to continue the work of his father?s and make sure he shepherds his father's vision into reality, while saving the planet at the same time.

TNW: Do you know roughly what percentage of businesses who successfully raise funding on Indiegogo are female founded?

DR:

One of the Indiegogo stats I'm most proud of is the fact that 42% of campaigns that reach their funding target on Indiegogo are run by women.

Let?s put this into perspective: although 41% of small businesses in the U.S. are owned by women, female-owned businesses only make up about 3% of the companies that receive venture funding, meaning that women are approximately 5 times more successful when crowdfunding on Indiegogo than when raising capital through traditional means.This is a great example of how Indiegogo is democratizing finance and making sure that women are on a completely level playing field with men. ?

TNW: What are your top tips for entrepreneurs looking to raise funds with Indiegogo?

DR: "Don't wait for perfect" as I mentioned above is a big tip I hope every entrepreneur embraces. ?You can't solve problems in your head. ?You have to get out into the world, test problems, try solutions, fail and do it all over again until you get it right.

Many people mistake entrepreneurs as people with brilliant ideas. They're not. Ideas are a dime a dozen.?What makes someone an entrepreneur is their relentless execution. ?

So my next tip is: "Action Speaks Louder than Words."?Unfortunately the world still has biases. ?When a man and a woman are given the same task, folks aren't surprised by the man's performance, but they are by the women's. Science and research prove this. (Watch "Leveling the Playing Field" talk by Professor Shelley Correll on LeanIn.org.) ?So remove the guesswork, and prove performance with action and traction, not promise. ?When decisions are made objectively, women benefit as much as men. When bias drives decision-making, women lose out. So ask potential investors, partners, and others who are considering working with you to lay out their objective criteria for selection; then show the data that maps to that criteria.?

TNW: What would you say to potential first-time investors who are considering looking for businesses to invest in on Indiegogo?

DR: Currently, investment on Indiegogo is illegal due to Securities regulations written over 80 years ago, but financial contributions in exchange for perks is legal, and substantiates the crowdfunding model Indiegogo pioneered. Ironically, due to the success small businesses have had with crowdfunding on Indiegogo and some great work by several individuals passionate about legalizing equity crowdfunding, President Obama's administration took notice and helped get the JOBS Act passed last year. Regulations are being finalized this year, and hopefully equity crowdfunding - which enables people to invest in projects on platforms like Indiegogo - will be legal soon. That said, for contributors interested in funding campaigns on Indiegogo, I recommend asking yourself, what do you care about and who do you care about. ?Crowdfunding is inherently social. People fund people, not just ideas. Indiegogo will send you emails on what your friends have funded, as well as others in our newsletters. If a campaign catches your interest, but you don?t know the campaign owner, reach out to them and engage in dialogue.

Start small, and see how it goes. ?Before you know it, you?ll realize your future reality is in your control. There?s little that?s more empowering than that.

TNW: Can you give us a couple of examples of female founded businesses who raised funding via Indiegogo and are now achieving great success?

DR: One of the most creative campaigns I?ve seen on Indiegogo recently was a campaign that raised ?109,510 to open a Cat Caf? in London. This is a place that people can come to relax with a hot cup of tea, read a good book and play with cats all at the same time. For some people - i.e. people who don't like cats - this campaign didn't appeal to them one bit. But for cat lovers in London who aren't allowed to have their own cat in their apartment - this was brilliant. The beauty crowdfunding on Indiegogo, is that every niche community has the right to exist and fund what matters to them. And since Indiegogo doesn't judge, we were able to empower the cat-loving community of London to start this Cat Cafe. Now that the project has been funded, the caf? can finally get off the ground and will become a reality for its funders.

Another female-founded business that caught my eye was raising funds on Indiegogo to manufacture LuminAID, an inflatable, solar light, with the mission to make lighting accessible and affordable for everyone. After raising 5 times their funding goal of $10,000, the project has finally launched and the founders? dream to bring lighting to the world is fully underway.

Lastly, I love The Muse campaign. ?The Muse is a headband that reads your brain activity. ?Whether you have a meditation practice or you're a neuroscientist doing research, The Muse is an incredible tool to help you. The fun fact about this campaign is that the campaign owner learned she had a customer segment she never imagined. ?After her campaign that raised $287,472 to fund her initial production run, she learned that parents of children with cerebral palsy were huge funders. With that information, she's now equipped to launch The Muse in a far more effective and relevant way.

TNW: Is there anything we haven?t asked you, but you would like to share with our community?

DR: It's been an honor to have started a company that allowed me to marry my passion with my work, and work with over 55 other amazing team members doing the exact same. The saying: "you don't work a day in your life if you do what you love" is really true. I have had hard days, long days, and emotional days, but I wouldn't trade any of them for a lifetime of meaningless days. My wish for everyone reading this article is to find what you love and go do it.

Chances are you'll be starting an Indiegogo campaign soon to go fund it. Good news, if others love it, they'll fund you too. So the time is now. Go fund what matters to you.

Source: http://www.thenextwomen.com/2013/03/25/danae-ringelmann-co-founder-indigogo-top-50-influential-woman-tech

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President Obama Criticized for Designating New National Monuments

President Obama today unilaterally designated five new national monuments, sparking criticism from at least one Republican who is questioning the timing and cost of the decision.

Obama used his executive authority under the Antiquities Act to create Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico; First State National Monument in Delaware; Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument in Maryland; Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio; and San Juan Islands National Monument in Washington state.

"These sites honor the pioneering heroes, spectacular landscapes and rich history that have shaped our extraordinary country," Obama said in a written statement. "By designating these national monuments today, we will ensure they will continue to inspire and be enjoyed by generations of Americans to come."

In a statement released Friday, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., criticized Obama for "unilaterally ordering the National Park Service to spend scarce dollars" while the nation faces harsh budget cuts as a result of the sequester.

"The Obama administration not only sees the sequester as an opportunity to make automatic spending reductions as painful as possible on the American people, it's also a good time for the president to dictate under a century-old law that the government spend money it doesn't have on property it doesn't even own," he said in the statement, which was recirculated today by House Speaker John Boehner's office.

"Over one hundred years ago the Antiquities Act was passed to allow a president to act when there was an emergency need to prevent destruction of a precious place - yet President Obama is acting on simple whim as no imminent threat of destruction or harm is posed at any of these five locations," Hastings added.

In response, the White House said the designations will have a positive, stimulative impact on the local economies and are an important way to commemorate the country's history.

"It's my understanding ? that a lot of the land for these new national monuments was either land that was already owned by the federal government or it was donated," Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. "And in terms of the immediate costs, in terms of the management of the land, I think they're pretty minimal in the early stages."

According to a 2006 National Parks and Conservation Association study circulated by the White House, each federal dollar invested in national parks generates at least four dollars of economic value to the public.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/president-obama-criticized-designating-national-monuments-200021993--abc-news-politics.html

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Scant progress on jobs for disabled Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Whether it means opening school track meets to deaf children or developing a new lunch menu with safe alternatives for students with food allergies, recent Obama administration decisions could significantly affect Americans with disabilities. But there's been little progress in one of the most stubborn challenges: employing the disabled.

According to government labor data, of the 29 million working-age Americans with a disability ? those who are 16 years and older ? 5.2 million are employed. That's 18 percent of the disabled population and is down from 20 percent four years ago. The employment rate for people without a disability was 63 percent in February.

The job numbers for the disabled haven't budged much since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which gave millions of disabled people civil rights protections and guaranteed equal opportunity in employment, public accommodations, transportation, government services and more.

The National Council on Disability's Jeff Rosen said longstanding prejudicial attitudes need to be addressed to boost jobs.

"Employers are still catching on to the fact that the needs of most workers with disabilities aren't special, but employees with disabilities often bring specialized skills to the workplace," Rosen said. "Perhaps no one knows how to adapt, think critically or find solutions better than someone who has to do so daily in order to navigate a world that wasn't built with them in mind."

Rosen, who is deaf, was named in January as chairman of the council, an independent federal agency that advises the president, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy.

The Obama administration recently has acted to expand the rights of Americans with disabilities in other areas.

The Education Department's civil rights division released new guidelines that direct schools to provide students with disabilities equal access to extracurricular sports teams. If schools can't, they should create similar athletic programs for disabled children, the department said.

Also, the Justice Department said in a settlement with a Massachusetts college, Lesley University, that severe food allergies can be considered a disability under the law. That potentially could lead to new menus and accommodations at schools, restaurants and other places to address the needs of people with food allergies.

One silver lining in the lagging employment for the disabled has been federal hiring.

The latest data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management shows nearly 15 percent of new federal hires between 2010 and 2011 were people with disabilities ? almost 19,000 people. That's up from the previous year when about 10 percent of new hires were people with disabilities.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2010 aimed at improving the federal ranks of people with disabilities. The goal was to add 100,000 disabled people to federal payrolls in five years; that would be within reach if the 2010-2011 hiring numbers were to stick or improve.

Federal agencies are trying to achieve the numbers through better recruitment, especially at colleges and universities. And last month, OPM issued rules to limit the paperwork that potential hires with disabilities would need to provide. They essentially "self-identify" as disabled by qualifying for a special hiring category known as "Schedule A" that allows disabled people to apply for a job through a noncompetitive hiring process, meaning they could be hired without competing with the general public.

The administration also is considering new rules that would leverage the power of federal spending to encourage companies to hire more disabled workers. The Labor Department is weighing a rule that would require companies with federal contracts to set a goal of having at least 7 percent of their workforce be disabled. Federal contractors employ nearly one-quarter of the nation's workforce.

Since the rule was proposed more than a year ago, business groups have complained that it would be too burdensome and lead to conflicts with federal laws that discourage companies from asking job applicants to identify themselves as disabled.

"We have had a long history of supporting the disabled community," said Randel Johnson, vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for labor issues. "But this proposal goes too far, woefully underestimates cost of compliance, and is completely unworkable as structured in the proposal."

Jennifer Lortie, 29, of Griswold, Conn., considers herself one of the lucky employed Americans with a disability.

Lortie was born with cerebral palsy and has limited use of her arms and legs. She graduated college during the recession and it was no easy task finding a job.

She spent more than a year scouring newspapers, job search websites and sending out dozens of resumes. She worried her wheelchair might be a strike against her until she landed a position in 2009 as an assistive technology specialist with the Connecticut Tech Act Project. The federally-funded program aims to increase independence for people with disabilities by educating them on new and best-fit technologies for work, school and community living.

"I think helping people kind of makes me think maybe there's a reason that I am in a wheelchair," Lortie said in an interview. "There has to be some reason to all this, so it gives me a sense of purpose as far as 'OK, I'm in a wheelchair but I can help other people' instead of just sitting home feeling sorry for myself."

Lortie spends four hours each day commuting to work and then back to the home she shares with her parents. They drive her to the bus stop and then she takes two buses to get to work ? two hours each morning and two hours at the end of the day to get home. And she doesn't mind a bit. "I like to help people," she said.

Jill Houghton works with companies to expand employment for people with disabilities. Among the big barriers, she said, are concerns about cost. Companies worry about whether they'll have to make special accommodations or additional training and they want to know how much it's going to cost.

"The reality is that businesses have found that when they create inclusive workplaces, where people with disabilities are working side by side with people without disabilities ... the bottom line is that it doesn't increase costs," said Houghton, who heads the US Business Leadership Network, a trade association that represents about 5,000 businesses.

She said she has noticed a significant increase in calls and requests recently to the group from the business community about hiring people with disabilities.

Companies want to be inclusive of people with disabilities, Houghton said. "Businesses are learning that it just makes good business sense."

___

Associated Press writer Sam Hananel contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scant-progress-jobs-disabled-americans-070741632.html

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Israeli military responds to fire from Syria

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's military says its forces responded to fire from Syria, shooting toward a target across the border.

The military says its soldiers were on routine patrol in the Golan Heights Sunday when they were fired upon. The military did not say what ammunition was fired on either side.

A military spokesman says the soldiers responded with "accurate fire toward the Syrian post from which they were fired upon." He could not say whether regular Syrian forces or rebels fired. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Syrian rebels have been moving on and capturing Syrian territory at the foot of the Golan over the past week. Israel captured the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-24-ML-Israel-Syria/id-47703a72b4f24f67bda77fbe4eed98db

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