Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Stocks gain on budget deal optimism

Stocks climbed Tuesday?on renewed hope for a budget deal that will stop the US from going over the fiscal cliff.?Stocks slumped after the presidential election on concern that a divided government would struggle to reach an agreement.

By Steve Rothwell,?AP Business Writer / December 18, 2012

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday. As stocks rise on hints of a budget deal, some investors say stocks are pricing in too much optimism.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

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Stocks climbed on Wall Street Tuesday, pushing the Standard and Poor's 500 to its highest level in two months, on optimism that lawmakers are closing in on a budget deal that will stop the U.S. from going over the "fiscal cliff" at the beginning of next year.

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The Dow Jones industrial average rose 115.57 points to 13,350.96, its biggest one-day gain in almost a month. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 16.43 points to 1,446.79, its highest close since Oct. 18. The Nasdaq composite rose 43.93 points to 3,054.53.

House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he remains hopeful that a fiscal cliff compromise can be reached, but says President Barack Obama has yet to offer a balanced deficit-cutting plan. Boehner said Obama's latest offer for $1.3 trillion in tax increases over the next decade with $850 billion in spending cuts is not enough. The White House says that President Obama has moved halfway to meet Boehner on a budget deal.

"People are cheering the prospect for some compromise in Washington right now," said Joe Costigan, director of equity research at Bryn Mawr Trust Co. "At the moment there is some pretty good news and the market is reacting favorably to it, but the deal isn't done yet."?

Dr. David Keck, the director of the University of Nebraska's Raikes school, aims...

UNL's Raikes School looks toward "design thinking" in its third iteration

www.siliconprairienews.com

Last year, the director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management told us that, over the past decade, the focus of many Raikes students has shifted from landing a job with a West Coast tech giant to staying in the Midwest and working for loca...

Source: http://www.facebook.com/SiliconPrairieNews/posts/442718272461089

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Glossybox, The Samwer Brothers? Birchbox Effort, Opens Its Lid: $72M In Funding And 2M Boxes Shipped

glossyboxRocket Internet is sometimes known for being reticent on how its vast e-commerce portfolio is progressing, but that appears to be slowly changing. Today the company put out its first numbers for Glossybox, its beauty box effort that looks a lot like Birchbox.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gYNVO9D9eSE/

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Monday, December 17, 2012

FarmVille's game players bring clean water to the real world

Items purchased on Zynga's popular Facebook games FarmVille and Mafia Wars raise money for Water.org, which provides safe water and sanitation for people in the real world.

By Lindsay Hebert,?Dowser.org / December 17, 2012

Last year FarmVille players could receive a an item for their online game world with a contribution of $5 or more to the World Food Programme in a promotion sponsored by Pizza Hut. This month players can make donations to the charity Water.org when they buy certain items to use in their online game.

PRNewsFoto/Pizza Hut

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Tilling virtual crops from their urban apartments and assembling criminal empires from the comfort of suburban homes, online gamers seem to live in worlds far removed from reality.

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Dowser.org reports on the practical and human elements of social innovation, highlighting creative approaches to social change to help people understand how to build better communities and a better world.

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Zynga Inc., the provider of some of Facebook?s most popular games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars, projects a different picture. This month, the company has partnered with Water.org to raise money for a resource precious to both FarmVille 2 farmers and actual communities all over the world ? water.

During the month long campaign, three branded items ? sprinklers, water pumps, and jerry cans ? are available for purchase within FarmVille 2. Zynga will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Water.org.

Founded by Gary White and the actor Matt Damon, Water.org provides safe water and sanitation to communities in need. Funds support well-building, and toilet and microfinance initiatives.

This collaboration marks a growing trend in gaming for social impact. Nonprofits welcome the opportunity to raise awareness for their causes within vast player networks. FarmVille 2 has more than 56 million monthly active users, many who play the game several times per day.

?We try to catch them in the place where they?re enjoying themselves,? said Mike McCamon, chief community officer of Water.org. ?It?s an interesting place to introduce them to the problem.?

Ken Weber, executive director of Zynga.org, believes that the immersive environments of social games attract passionate players who invest their time for months and even years.

?These games are contextual for them,? he said. ?Water is important in farming and in the world ? it is a naturally occurring relationship. We are connecting something in people?s lives. We are interested in creating a dynamic that makes it work.?

That donors are having fun, increasing the production of their online farms while supporting development in communities worldwide, creates a parallel less prominent in other campaigns such as Facebook Gifts. Released earlier this year, that Facebook feature allows users to donate to one of 11 charities (Water.org included) on behalf of their friends. Although this brings publicity to both the cause and the Facebook user, it doesn?t help the virtual grass grow.

Developers linking virtual challenges to real world results capitalize on gaming?s allure. Game designer Jane McGonigal created SuperBetter while she was bedridden after a concussion. The game allows players to become superheroes fighting their own health battles by accomplishing tasks in their everyday lives. Bad habits are more exciting to break when reframed as ?bad guys? in the virtual environment.

But gamer goodwill for the physical world should not be discounted. More than just a fundraiser, the Water.org campaign aims to educate users about the world water crisis. By clicking on the Water.org items for sale, players are presented with information about the organization and given the option to visit the nonprofit?s website.

Many players are willing to step out of the game world to learn about the real one. According to McCamon, several of Water.org?s highest web traffic days have been due in large part to visitors redirected from FarmVille 2.

Weber echoes this sentiment about the interests of Zynga?s users. He says that Zynga.org, the company?s philanthropic division, was developed in 2009 in response to employee and player demand for a connection to real world issues. One of the first campaigns raised over $1 million for Haiti earthquake relief in 2010.

This success led Zynga to focus on everyday philanthropic causes beyond unpredictable natural disasters. To date, Zynga has raised more than $13 million for nonprofits such as Save the Children, Habitat for Humanity, and World Food Programme.

So there you have it, virtual farmers, mobsters, and superheroes: Keep gaming, and recruit your friends.

? This article first appeared on Dowser.org.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/iJMaC0MXOGk/FarmVille-s-game-players-bring-clean-water-to-the-real-world

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