Sunday, June 10, 2012

Surprising health clues in the way you walk

Free iPad apps: Top hits and hidden gems

Good-natured reaction to ceremony flub

So you can't afford that $98K Porsche...

Challenge yourself with a new workout

Find your dinner ingredients — for free

Big homes make a surprise comeback

Car shopping? Here are best financing deals

Terror group's bounties on U.S. officials

Why Ochocinco couldn't cut it with Pats

Cities expected to bounce back in 2011

Employment is forecasted to grow about 3% in these hard-hit metropolitan areas this year.

America's Comeback Cities for 2011

Hundreds of cities across the country were hammered by the recession, many experiencing double-digit declines in employment, throwing thousands of their residents out of work.
For some particularly hard-hit metro areas, 2011 will bring a dramatic turnaround -- new investment by businesses, growth in the number of jobs and a reblooming of hope.
Recovering all the ground they lost will take years and many of the cities are still suffering with unemployment that exceeds the national average. But these cities are enjoying a surprising and welcome upward bounce.

Orlando, FL. is poised for recovery this year.
Photo: Thinkstock

Orlando, Fla.
Population: 2,082,421
Current unemployment rate: 10.8%
Forecast job growth for 2011: 2.9%
Hard-hit during the recession, tourism is improving in central Florida, with more jobs at hotels and restaurants. Health care is growing, too. And a plan is under way to create a life science cluster of medical care and research, focusing on the needs of children and on veterans. After declining by almost 10% in the recession, employment in this tourist mecca will increase by 3% this year.

An auto assembly plant in Chattanooga, TN
Photo: VW of America

Chattanooga, Tenn.
Population: 524,303
Current unemployment rate: 8.8%
Forecast job growth for 2011: 3.4%
The renaissance of carmaking in the U.S. will also brighten the picture on Tennessee’s eastern half. Employment in Chattanooga fell by just over 10% from its peak in 2008. But it will bounce up strongly this year. A large new Volkswagen assembly plant will employ up to 3,000, with auto parts and components makers also opening shop. Plus Amazon.com is considering Chattanooga for the location of two large warehouses that would employ a few thousand.

A Nissan auto plant in Nashville, TN
Photo: Nissan

Nashville, Tenn.
Population: 1,582,264
Current unemployment rate: 8.8%
Forecast job growth for 2011: 2.8%
Home to music stars and professional athletes, the Nashville metro area will see the accounting and financial services industries add jobs this year, as well as an increase in employment at the U.S. corporate headquarters of Japanese carmaker Nissan. After plunging 7.3% during the recession, employment will climb this year by nearly 3%.

One year later, disturbing images from the aftermath are a grim testament to the Gulf's tragedy.

Handout file photo shows fire boat response crews ...

FILE - In this April 21, 2010 file aerial photo ...

Tina Fey shows off her baby bump

The "30 Rock" actress who is five months pregnant with her second child steps out on the town.

Top Shots of the Week

Miss any of the hot celebrity moments from last week? Check out omg!'s Top Shots!

A $10 million California estate comes with an unusual feature to lure buyers.

Homes With The Most Outrageous Amenities

Batman would be proud of this Laguna Beach, Calif. estate's hydraulic car lift.
Photo: Realtor.com

Whether a home is newly purchased or long inhabited, an updated kitchen, a new deck or even a coat of fresh paint can make it feel spiffier. When it comes to luxury real estate, however, some homeowners take upgrades to an extreme, spending big bucks on outrageous amenities.
We pulled together a list of upscale abodes for sale or just sold that have been equipped with fantastic, unusual--and in some cases downright wacky--amenities. These are not your typical luxe enhancements like home theaters, wine cellars and game rooms, although most of our estates have those features too. Our friends at Trulia.com, Realtor.com, Sotheby's International Realty and Coldwell Banker Previews International helped us uncover these unique listings.
In Pictures: Homes With The Most Outrageous Amenities In Pictures: Outrageous Amenities

The $10 million cliffside dwelling at Point Place in Laguna Beach, Calif., would make Bruce Wayne proud. The driveway has a secret, subterranean entrance below the house's steep perch, inside the cliff itself. Once a car passes through the hidden garage door, a commercial-grade hydraulic lift transports it up and into the house.

This Westlake Village, Calif. home has its own aesthetician's room for facials and waxings.
Photo: Realtor.com

Even among snazzy home swimming holes, Las Vegas' $10 million Wood Creek Court residence stands out. It has a full-on water park with sandy beach island, a sunken swim-up bar--even a lazy river. The owners of the $7.4 million French Bastide in Greenwich, Conn., converted an English phone booth into a poolside outdoor shower. Recently Sotheby's International Realty sold a Beverly Hills home, complete with a giant bird-shaped swimming pool, for $4.2 million. As if a winged body of water wasn't enough of a talking point at house parties, the owners also dug out an underwater observation room.

This Oak Brook, Ill. home sports a tree-laden atrium and flowing koi-filled stream.
Photo: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Other homes have indoor water works. The $3.4 million Midwest Club estate in Oak Brook, Ill., is on the market for $3.4 million, thanks in part to waterfront views and seven bedroom suites with private living areas and a foliage-lined indoor koi stream. The koi stream warps around a little island holding a ficus tree, while the stream's banks nourish dozens of plants. If you want to access the far side of the room, a stone-tiled bridge will take you there.

The pool shower in this Greenwich, Ct. estate
is in the converted phone booth.
Photo: Sotheby’s International Realty

High-end homes with outrageous and wacky amenities lure many a gawker, but attracting real buyers can be tricky. Luxury homes with unusual amenities speak to a small niche and can sit on the market for longer periods of time, waiting for the right buyer to come along.
"The quirkier they [extreme amenities] are, the more they complicate the prospects of reselling the property," says Tara-Nicholle Nelson, consumer educator at Trulia.com, a San Francisco-based real estate listing site. However, she also notes, "Some of the extreme high-end home features actually create a clear way for sellers to differentiate their otherwise already highly attractive home from the other uber-opulent homes on the market."
Hall Willkie is president of Brown Harris Stevens, a New York-based real estate firm that represents a $35 million Manhattan townhouse boasting a two-story indoor wall of water. Willkie says both the pool of potential buyers and the selection of homes with opulent amenities are small.
The homes "are the opposite of cookie cutters, so when

The odds of a tax audit go up if you fail to take these steps when filing your return.

10 Ways to Avoid a Tax Audit

provided by

Worried about extra scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service?
While you can never completely "audit-proof" your business's income tax return, you can take actions that will greatly reduce your chances of being flagged.
Here are 10 ways to avoid a tax audit:
1. Choose your tax return preparer with care. Today, according to the recent National Taxpayer Advocate report, 60% of individuals and even a greater percentage of businesses use paid preparers to do their income tax returns. Yet, preparers now face more intense IRS review. If the IRS believes a preparer is claiming unwarranted deductions or taking other fraudulent steps on clients' returns, then the preparer's clients are at risk for audit.
The IRS has eight tips for choosing a tax preparer. Key among them is to check the preparer's history to see if there has been any disciplinary action. For example, if you use an enrolled agent, check with the IRS' office of Professional Responsibility at opr@irs.gov (include the preparer's name and address).
2. Report all of your income. The IRS uses information returns, such as W-2s and 1099s, to cross-check income reporting. Under its document-matching program, the IRS' computers compare information on the forms with the income reported by taxpayers on their returns. If the information doesn't match, this leads to an automatic audit. But don't panic; it's merely a correspondence asking about the discrepancy. It can be easily cleared up by submitting an explanation by mail if you think you are correct, or paying the tax owed if the omission was your oversight and the IRS is correct.
Sole proprietors, freelancers and independent contractors who use the cash method of accounting may be vulnerable to year-end payment problems. For instance, a sole proprietor that performed work for a client may have received a payment in early January -- but the client might have mailed (and recorded) the payment in December. The client will include the payment on Form 1099-MISC for 2010, but it isn't taxable until 2011. What to do: Include the payment as it is reported on the 2010 return, but then subtract the payment and attach an explanation with the return. Then include the payment on the 2011 return, even though no 1099 will be issued for this year.

The Oscar-winning actor is slapped with multiple charges, including disturbing the peace.

Actor Nicolas Cage arrested in New Orleans (AP)

This booking photo released by Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office shows actor Nicolas Cage Saturday, April 16, 2011 in New Orleans. Authorities say Cage has been arrested in New Orleans on charges of domestic abuse battery and disturbing the peace. (AP Photo/Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office)

NEW ORLEANS - Actor Nicolas Cage was arrested after he got drunk in the city's French Quarter and argued in the street with his wife over whether a house they were in front of was theirs, police said Saturday.
The couple was in front of a home that Cage insisted they were renting, police said. When she said it wasn't theirs, Cage grabbed her arm, according to a police news release.
Cage started hitting vehicles and tried to get into a taxi, police said. An officer saw that Cage was drunk and told him to get out of the cab. Cage then started yelling at the officer.
The actor has been booked on charges of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness. He was released on $11,000 bond Saturday.
Representatives for Cage could not immediately be reached Saturday.
Cage has been a frequent visitor to New Orleans, where he has owned property and shot movies. He has also had financial troubles, despite being one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood.

Amateur video appears to catch Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Queen Elizabeth cutting loose.

We'll be the first to admit that the oh-so-serious nature of the royal wedding can be a bit much. Credit T-Mobile for finding a fun way to poke fun at the hype.
The impending nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton get spoofed in this two-minute ad featuring look-alikes for Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth, Camilla, and, of course, the happy couple.
[ Related: 10 biggest wedding bloopers ]
The buzzy clip looks a lot like an amateur video of the royal wedding. You know the drill. A regal church. Very serious guests sitting patiently. But then the wedding party starts strutting down the aisle in a most un-royal fashion, and the music starts to get funky.
Bridesmaids shake their groove thangs. Prince Charles gets jiggy with it, the Queen busts a move or two, and then Prince Harry (not really, but it looks like him) absolutely OWNS it on the aisle. Finally, Kate and William raise the roof, and all is well in the world.
[ Related: Jerry Seinfeld slams royal wedding ]
The clip has to be seen to be appreciated. So, without further pomp and circumstance, here's a look at the royal wedding we'd all love to see. It's just a few minutes long and sure to be a lot more entertaining than the real thing.
Follow Shine on Facebook for the latest royal wedding updates and enter to win a vacation for two.

News Source: Yahoo

HBO series stars' surprising past roles

"Lord of the Rings" and "300" fans will recognize some familiar faces in the new epic "Game of Thrones."

Next Photo

Sci-fi and fantasy enthusiasts have been looking forward to the television adaptation of George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" since it was announced. And now it seems as if the producers had the fans in the back of

Portland's Timber Joey fires up the crowd and annoys opponents by using a gigantic power tool

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The Timbers’ mascot and his giant chainsaw are not messing around

The Portland Timbers' soaking wet first home match in MLS against the Chicago Fire showed off their fantastic stadium and fantastic crowd -- the Timbers Army, who belted out the national anthem all on their own. But perhaps the most unique feature of one of the league's new teams is their mascot. Yes, the Timbers' mascot is an actual lumberjack with an actual chainsaw and he actually uses it during matches. His name is Timber Joey and after every Timbers goal he slices a piece off his huge log slab on the side of the pitch. The slices are passed through the stands and presented to the goal scorer after the match.
Before Timber Joey, there was Timber Jim, who began sawing wood for the club back in the 1970s in its NASL days. And now, the intimidating sounds of Joey's chainsaw add to the already impressive roar of Timbers fans and it's enough to make an opposing team think they're about to be chopped up by Leatherface.
When he's not carrying a massive chainsaw, Timber Joey plays rugby and he competed as a professional bare-back bronco rider. Seriously. He also might be Chuck Norris' life coach.

Satellite images provide a stunning view of a place on Earth named for its deep, dark topography.

Satellite Photographs 'Black Hole' on Earth

A Korean satellite has caught an eye-catching view of an island in Mexico known for a deep, rocky hole and waters so dark that they earned it the name Holbox, a name that means "black hole."
The photo was taken by the Korea Multi-purpose Satellite 2, or Kompsat-2, and shows Holbox Island and its Yalahau lagoon at the northeast corner of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. [Photo of Earth's "black hole"]
Holbox Island is a 26-mile-long (42-kilometers) strip of land separated from the mainland by the lagoon.
"The freshwater lagoon has a deep rocky hole that surrounds the island, making the water appear black," officials with the European Space Agency, which is a partner in the Kompsat-2 mission, explained in a statement. "It is thought that Holbox, which in Mayan translates as 'black hole,' was named after the dark lagoon water."

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