Ryan, Abraham lead Falcons to 41-14 rout of Jags (AP)

ATLANTA ? Ho hum, another winning season for the Atlanta Falcons.

That's not such a big deal anymore.

This team has much higher goals.

Putting together their most complete effort of the season, the Falcons clinched a fourth straight winning record with a 41-14 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night. Matt Ryan had another big game, throwing three touchdown passes in less than three quarters of work, and John Abraham terrorized rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert with 3 1/2 sacks.

Atlanta (9-5) strengthened its hold on an NFC wild card, shrugging off the immediate accomplishment of another above-.500 finish.

"Our expectations are much higher than winning seasons," coach Mike Smith said. "I'm glad we've been able to accomplish that as an organization and a football team. But believe me, it's not one of those expectations we really want to talk about. If we're where we think we are as an organization and a football team, that's expected each and every year."

It wasn't so long ago that nine wins was a big deal. The Falcons went through the first 42 years of their existence without so much as back-to-back winning seasons. All that changed when Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff took over in 2008.

Since then, Atlanta has been to the playoff two times and is closing in on a third appearance.

"I can't speak to the people who came before, but I know since Thomas and I had the opportunity to be here, we've just kind of put our heads down and gone to work," Smith said. "When you do that, good things usually happen. We are not finished, believe me. Our expectations and internal goals are much higher than having a winning football season."

This one was over by halftime. Atlanta led 27-0 when the teams trotted to the locker room, Gabbert and the shellshocked Jaguars (4-10) saddled with a net passing total of minus-1 yard.

Atlanta stretched out its lead to 41-0 before Jacksonville scored on a blocked punt. Going back to the previous week, when the Falcons overcame a 16-point halftime deficit at Carolina, they ripped off 65 points in a row over five quarters.

Now that's more like it from a team that was projected as a Super Bowl contender but had not quite lived up to expectations.

"I feel like we've hit our stride," said Roddy White, who had 10 catches for 135 yards and became just the eighth receiver in NFL history with 80 receptions and 1,000 yards in five straight seasons.

Gabbert had one of his worst games in a miserable rookie season, coughing up the ball twice on hits by Abraham. Both fumbles led to Atlanta scores, with defensive tackle Corey Peters scooping up the second one and trotting to the end zone early in the third quarter for a touchdown that ended any thought of the Jaguars getting back in the game.

"It wasn't just me," said Abraham, who came into the game with only five sacks on the season. "The whole team was able to get to the quarterback."

Ryan was 19 of 26 for 224 yards and three touchdowns, with a season-high rating of 137.3. White caught two of the scoring passes, Julio Jones the other.

Gabbert was 12 of 22 for 141 yards, also throwing an interception during a truly awful night full of bad decisions when he wasn't running for his life. He was sacked five times and got most of his yards on a meaningless final drive, which resulted in the only offensive touchdown of the night: a 16-yard pass to Chastin West with 59 seconds remaining.

"It wasn't our best night," Gabbert said. "We've just got to learn from it, take the positives out of it and just get better."

The injury-riddled Jaguars, playing out the season with an interim coach and a new owner, were coming off their best performance, having scored 41 straight points in a 41-14 victory over Tampa Bay. But, playing for the third time in 11 days, they couldn't build any momentum for a strong finish.

Shahid Khan must have been wondering why he paid an estimated $760 million to buy the team from original Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, a deal that was unanimously approved by NFL owners a day earlier.

"You've just got to keep fighting," Gabbert said. "Things didn't go our way early, but what can you do? It's football."

On the first snap of the game, Michael Turner burst off left guard for 15 yards, and the Falcons were off and running. Ryan capped the opening drive by stepping up to avoid the pressure, flipping a short pass to Jones, then watching the rookie turn on an impressive burst of speed for a 29-yard touchdown.

Gabbert got an idea of what he'd be up against on his first snap: Abraham shrugged off a blocker and threw the quarterback for a 10-yard loss. The rookie finally completed a pass on the final play of the opening quarter, but Sean Weatherspoon sniffed out the screen and slammed Marcedes Lewis for a 4-yard loss.

Matt Bryant kicked a 33-yard field goal that made it 10-0, then another brutal mistake by the Jaguars early in the second quarter helped turn this one into a rout. Jarrett Dillard let a punt slip right through his hands, and Weatherspoon fell on it at the Jacksonville 5. The next play, Turner rumbled into the end zone standing to make it 17-0.

The Falcons weren't done, not by a long shot. Ryan finished off a nine-play, 72-yard by hooking up with White in the back on the end zone on a 6-yard touchdown, a pass that Tony Gonzalez was nearly in position to catch as well.

Now down 24-0, the Jaguars couldn't even get off the field without turning it over again. Abraham popped the ball loose from Gabbert, and after a wild scramble Curtis Lofton finally fell on it at the Jacksonville 19. That set up Bryant's second field goal, a 31-yarder on the final play of the half.

"I've just got to get rid of the ball," Gabbert said. "I can't take those sacks and those fumbles. That's completely on me."

NOTES: Jacksonville had negative net yards passing most of the game and finished with just 91, actually lowering what was already the NFL's worst passing average. ... Jones finished with five catches for 85 yards. ... Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew, the NFL's leading rusher, had 112 yards on 17 carries.

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_jaguars_falcons

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Judge: Public can't see Idaho prison settlement (AP)

BOISE, Idaho ? A federal judge has refused to unseal a settlement agreement between an Idaho inmate and a private prison company involving allegations of rampant violence at a lockup near Boise known as "Gladiator School."

The Associated Press had asked the court to unseal the settlement between Marlin Riggs and Corrections Corp. of America.

However, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge said Wednesday the interests of Riggs and the company in keeping the settlement confidential outweighed the interest the public has in learning its terms.

The AP's West regional editor, Traci Carl, said the news organization's attorneys were reviewing the ruling and considering the legal options.

"The AP is disappointed with the ruling and believes the public has a right to know the terms of the settlement," Carl said.

Neither Riggs' attorney James Huegli nor CCA's attorney Kirtlan Naylor immediately returned messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Riggs initially asked for $55 million in damages, saying the Idaho Correctional Center was nicknamed "Gladiator School" and that guards knew Riggs was about to be attacked but failed to protect him.

The AP contended the lawsuit raised profound and far-reaching issues of public interest. In his written ruling, Lodge acknowledged that the operation of a prison raises issues of public concern, but he said he feared releasing the document would place Riggs at risk for intimidation or assault in prison. He also said future litigants would be discouraged from participating in judicially supervised settlement conferences if they believed the outcome could be made public.

The judge also noted that a settlement agreement in a "companion lawsuit" between other inmates at the prison and CCA was released to the public. In that case, the inmates were alleging the same types of civil rights violations that Riggs claimed, but they didn't ask the court for any monetary damages. Instead, the inmates wanted changes to the way the prison is run ? and in the settlement agreement, CCA agreed to make those changes, though the company did not acknowledge any guilt or liability. Both CCA and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, which was representing the inmates, agreed to make that settlement public.

"The present case now involves only a single prisoner seeking monetary damages for an assault," Lodge wrote. "The public's interest in knowing the precise terms of his agreement with CCA is outweighed by the parties' interest in confidentiality as a means of minimizing the serious risks that the Court has found to exist."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_re_us/us_gladiator_school_unseal_motion

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Macronix serial flash adopted for Freescale automotive MCU

Press release; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES?[Friday 16 December 2011]

Macronix International has announced a collaboration with Freescale Semiconductor, and its Qorivva MPC5645S MCU, which provides a cost-effective and powerful platform for high-resolution color graphics and analog functions for the automotive dashboard displays market.

Using 256Mb (3.3V) serial flash memory from Macronix that can extend the density up to 32Gb with extended command set of 32-bit addressing technology and individual block protection, Freescale's new MPC5645S MCU generates high-resolution color, TFT dual displays and video input capabilities for more advanced automotive applications, Macronix said.

Macronix noted that in order to keep up with higher expectation from automotive dashboard and instrument cluster design market, its multiple I/O flash memory, MX25L25635E, is now able to achieve higher read speed which can surpass standard parallel flash memories during continuous data output mode.

Furthermore, for next-generation instrument cluster IC, Macronix provides Freescale with another innovative technology, Double Transfer Rate (DTR), which doubles the data out-put by triggering the signals on both the rising and falling edge of the clock to facilitate high speed Execution in Place (XIP) function.

"The Macronix 256-Mbit Serial Flash is the first memory chip tested with Freescale's MPC5645S MCU, enabling automotive manufactures to enjoy the cost-performance advantages of Freescale's simple design with less pin memory solution," said Winston Chen, associate VP of Microelectronics & Memory Solution Group at Macronix.

Categories: Bits + chips IC design Memory

Tags: automotive flash Freescale Macronix MCU NOR flash

Companies: Macronix International Company

Source: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20111216PR203.html

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Video: Bittman?s sensational holiday appetizers

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45667530#45667530

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Putin's challenger vows to pardon Khodorkovsky (AP)

MOSCOW ? The Russian billionaire who plans to challenge Vladimir Putin in Russia's presidential election said Thursday that his first move if elected will be to pardon jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Mikhail Prokhorov said he would also allow free registration of opposition parties and restore popular elections of provincial governors if he wins March's vote. Putin has marginalized opposition forces, tightened election rules and abolished direct elections of governors.

The 46-year-old Prokhorov, estimated to be worth $18 billion, made his fortune in metals, banking and media. He also owns 80 percent in the New Jersey Nets. Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, has been in jail since 2003 on tax evasion and fraud charges seen as a punishment for defying Putin's power.

Khodorkovsky's lawyers have lost numerous appeals to clear him of the charges.

Prokhorov's surprise announcement this week that he would seek the presidency came in the wake of nationwide protests over alleged fraud in national parliament elections. The protests, which included a throng of tens of thousands in Moscow, were an unprecedented public display of widespread discontent with the man who has dominated Russian politics for a dozen years as president and later as prime minister.

Putin stepped down as president in 2008 because of term limits, but seeks to return to the Kremlin in the March 4 election.

Speaking at a meeting with supporters at a meeting to nominate him for the race, Prokhorov hailed last weekend's protest in Moscow against vote fraud, which attracted tens of thousands in the largest show of discontent in 20 years.

"I deeply understand the demands and the strivings of the people who took to the streets," Prokhorov told reporters, adding that he may join a follow-up protest later this month.

Prokhorov said that "expert opinion" has prompted him to believe that the Dec. 4 parliamentary election was unfair and rigged. But he argued for a legal response to the fraud allegations.

The tycoon avoided criticizing Putin directly, but said he wasn't afraid to challenge his power: "Putin is a serious rival, but I'm not afraid of competition."

Prokhorov, noted for his playboy lifestyle, also humorously noted that he might need to settle down and find a potential first lady.

"I'm ready even for this ? if that's necessary for my country and for winning the presidential election."

Prokhorov's presidential bid follows his botched performance before the parliamentary election when he formed a liberal political party with the Kremlin's tacit support but abandoned it under what he called Kremlin pressure.

Some observers alleged that Prokhorov may have made amends with the Kremlin and might be running for president to accommodate voters unhappy with the authorities to steal the thunder from the opposition.

Prokhorov said in his blog Wednesday that he would play his own game.

"Naturally, my candidacy is good for the Kremlin. Naturally, they want to play democracy and show that people have 'some kind of a choice'," he wrote.

"But we must absolutely use the authorities, too, if we don't want to just make some noise and disappear, but to change our lives for the better."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_prokhorov

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Ben Flajnik Dishes on His Date with Jennifer Love Hewitt

Shortly after the world watched Ashley Hebert stomp on his heart, Ben Flajnik was spotted having a drink with admitted Bachelorette fan Jennifer Love Hewitt. At the time, Flajnik denied that he was dating anybody, tweeting that he was "far too busy" with his winery. But now that he's the new Bachelor, (premiering Monday, Jan. 2, at 8 p.m. on ABC) Flajnik is spilling some details about his get-together with Hewitt.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/bachelor-ben-flajnik-dishes-date-jennifer-love-hewitt/1-a-411175?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Abachelor-ben-flajnik-dishes-date-jennifer-love-hewitt-411175

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A Weekly Roundup of Small-Business News - NYTimes.com

Dashboard

A weekly roundup of small-business developments.

What?s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.

The Big Story: Consumer Confidence

Consumer confidence surges in November. Cyber Monday sales were up 33 percent over 2010, and up 29.3 percent over Black Friday. Retail e-mail volume also hit a record on Cyber Monday. President Obama supports a very successful Small Business Saturday. Black Friday increased car sales to their best rate since ?cash for clunkers.? Consumer debt fell in the third quarter. But Nathan A. Martin doesn?t believe that retail sales rose as much as reported: ?sales are measured in dollars, not units, thus the outrageous production of money creates inflation ? inflation does not equal growth in sales, it equals growth in money production!?

The Data: Job Numbers Improve

Unemployment falls to 8.6 percent. Non-farm private business sector employment increased by 206,000 from October to November. Small businesses created 55,000 jobs in November. The Restaurant Performance Index stayed unchanged in October. New home sales increased in October but home prices weakened. More than 10 million properties now have negative equity. American Airlines files for Chapter 11, and Caitlin Kenney explains why airlines keep going bankrupt ? but no one can explain why we have to turn off our devices upon takeoff and landing. Fun fact of the week: engineered avian flu could kill half the world?s humans.

The Economy: Central Banks Get Involved

Shares jump as central banks try to ease Europe?s financial woes. Here are five things to know about the deal. But Nigam Arora says the intervention raises questions: ?The only explanation for the massive action is that central banks were concerned about a pending failure that is not publicly known.? Peter Boockvar says another round of quantitative easing is ?all but guaranteed.? Meanwhile, our money supply goes through the roof. Extensions of unemployment benefits and the payroll tax reduction are likely. And this guy wins cubicle of the year.

The Economy 2: Are Small Businesses Surging? Or Dwindling?

Entrepreneur reveals its 10 leading business sectors for 2012 amid ?the strongest entrepreneurial surge in 15 years.? Meanwhile, small businesses dwindle in 97 of 100 markets, but Madeline Schnapp says pockets of strength remain. Marijuana.com sells for $4.2 million. A Web site lists 10 huge engineering projects that could help turn our economic and environmental crises around. The Economist says that shale gas has turned the American energy market on its head, and the United States becomes a net energy exporter for the first time since World War II. Salon explains why this small bookstore matters.

Finance: Wait! Barney, Come Back!

Trendcentral discusses trends in banking that will affect small businesses. Wall Street executives are bracing for the possibility that Maxine Waters will take over for Barney Frank as the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. The Empire State Building plans an initial public offering. A Wall Street executive says the financial services industry faces ?a paradigm shift.? Booz Allen Hamilton lists 10 cybersecurity trends for financial services in 2012. NASA selects 300 small-business research and technology projects. American Express and some online merchants are giving away $20 million.

Marketing: It?s All About Mobile

Jonathan Farrington offers advice on generating referrals. Heinz Marketing suggests 10 best practices for cold calling, including: ?get comfortable with rejection and have a short memory.? Online ad spending is up 22 percent over last year. Ad-ology 2012 says mobile is the next advertising frontier, and more than 20 percent of small-business owners say they plan to commit more resources to mobile marketing in 2012. A Tech Trends columnist reviews two services that convert regular Web sites into mobile sites. WordPress introduces an alternative to Google AdSense. Lucy Waweru gives advice for getting the best rank in Google places. Matt Zoller Seitz explains why he hates ?I Hate My Teenage Daughter.?

Managing: Do Not Micromanage

Dave Thomas discusses what makes a good manager: ?You hired your respective manager/s for a reason, let them do their job.? Carol Tice shares a small-business owner?s guide to year-end sales success with advice like ?get smart about pricing.? David R. Butcher believes that starting a ?lean initiative? from the position that it?s all about cost reduction is often a recipe for failure. Consultants explain the image theory of decision-making. The Dumb Little Man names 27 productivity killers. Terry Starbucker suggests 10 essential steps to leadership excellence, including: ?Your first three to six months on the job should be more listening than talking. Period.?

Ideas: Dunder Mifflin Makes a Comeback

Chris Burch, founder of J. Christopher Capital, explains how anyone can turn an idea into a business. Now you can buy Dunder Mifflin paper. The Outsourcing Institute plans a Dec. 12 webinar on optimizing your outsourcing relationships. Fred Wilson explains why he hates reception desk nondisclosure agreements: ?They don?t offer you a call to your lawyer to find out what the hell you are signing. It is just sign this or don?t come into our offices.? A man is shot by his own dog.

Start-Up: Bypassing Unemployment

A 27-year-old builds one of the fastest growing apps without spending a dime on marketing. Participants at a Washington Start-Up Weekend develop start-up plans. Millennial entrepreneurs bypass the unemployment line by starting their own companies. Chapman University introduces an eVillage facility with dedicated resources for entrepreneurs and start-up companies. Monica Mehta says that before you start your business you should organize your own finances.

Red Tape: Is the I.R.S. Looking for You?

The United States ranks 69 of 183 nations in tax compliance. Paul Krugman suggests a few things we could tax. Cigar lovers and the industry unite to against the Food and Drug Administration?s regulatory agenda. Health care?s auto-enrollment for smaller companies faces an indefinite delay. Here?s a house made entirely of plastic bottles. One hundred and fifty Web sites are seized in a counterfeit crackdown. The Internal Revenue Service can?t find 100,000 taxpayers who are owed refunds. Bow Wow owes a little money to the I.R.S.

Around the Country: Brooklyn Gets Its Groove Back

Texas manufacturing output declines as Startup Texas rises. Nebraska is seeing more cash for start-ups. North Carolina?s Small Business Taxpayer Recovery Program claims to have helped more than 1,000 small businesses get back on their feet. Kay S. Hymowitz explains how Brooklyn got its groove back. Small businesses in Tennessee are increasing revenue with their smartphones. Cleveland finishes a six-month experiment with food trucks and puts them on the menu for good. A New York City small-business owner helps combat modern-day slavery. This hotel may have the pinkest Christmas tree ever. More people are leaving California than are moving in.

Around the World: Need Credit? Try Cuba!

China?s factory output shrinks for the first time in three years. Zhixing Xiao says that the country has a small-town problem: ?Law is unevenly applied, while schools and medical services don?t stack up the way they do in Bentonville or Blagnac.? An Australian guy explains why a movie about American baseball is important for business owners. Cuba decides to start a small-business loan program. A British man finds a live frog in his chicken sandwich.

Technology: A Taste of Tech

The jetman flies alongside fighter jets. Salesforce.com introduces a new social search product. Google offers a history of search. LifeHacker explains how to build a smartphone projector for a dollar ? and how to get more pages out of your printer when the toner is low. A Harvard professor says the personal computer is dead. Microsoft claims 90 percent of Office 365 subscribers are small businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Ramon Ray introduces his Taste of Tech? video series. David F. Carr reports that Google?s powerful, free video-chat service may be a business meeting alternative to GoToMeeting or Skype. Om Malik reflects on 10 years of tech blogging. This year, Americans viewed 42.6 billion videos, an all-time high (here?s one of a very excited cat).

The Week?s Bests

Ways to improve your e-mail marketing. John Jantsch offers five suggestions, including ?Serve snacks?: ?Currently, my newsletter format is designed to offer several compelling article abstracts grouped into a set of topics that I believe my readers expect from me. ? When I switched to this snack-sized, scanable format, I immediately noted that my response and engagement increased dramatically.?

Analysis of the financial crisis. Matt Yglesias says: ?Having ensured the basic stability of the banking system, monetary policy makers in America proceeded to forget all about their go-getter attitude and ability to reach deep into the practical and legal toolkit in order to get what they want. ? If in a time of crisis, the right thing to do is to get ?crazy,? then there?s plenty more crazy stuff the Fed could be doing to boost overall spending in the American economy. Or if the right thing to do is to stay orthodox and ignore the human consequences, then there was no reason not to stay orthodox three years ago and refuse to lend at anything other than a penalty rate.?

Reason to sell to your existing customers. Karl Stark and Bill Stewart say, ?The problem is that as the management team?s growth expectations increase, it gets increasingly harder to acquire more customers. ? To solve this growth dilemma, (we) need to ask three key questions: What revenue growth will we achieve if we keep our existing customers for just one additional month, on average? What will it cost us to do this by, say, improving customer service or adding customer benefits? How does this growth compare, both in magnitude and cost, to acquiring new customers?

This Week?s Question: Are you making enough of an effort to sell to your existing customers?

Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.

Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/this-week-in-small-business-are-consumers-and-jobs-back/

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