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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Robin Gibb's 5 essential songs

By Tony Sclafani, msnbc.com contributor

Robin Gibb, who died Sunday,?was never the center of attention in the Bee Gees; the group was, after all, originally formed as a teenage act to showcase the songs and singing of his older brother, Barry. Yet when Robin did take the spotlight, the results were often deeply moving, giving the band some of their biggest early hits and most enduring songs. Here are his five most compelling vocals.

Any list of the top Robin Gibb performances has to start with? ?I Started a Joke,? which was also mainly written by Robin. The song climbed to No. 6 in America in 1968 and features Robin?s vibrato-laden voice at its most effective, driving home the song?s angsty lyrics, which some thought had quasi-religious overtones. Despite the Barry-centric focus of the group, it was a Robin song that gave the band its biggest American hit in the 1960s.

Robin also took most of the lead vocal on another 1968 Top?10 hit with an unconventional lyric, ?I Gotta Get a Message to You,? a song sung from the point of view of someone facing imminent execution. Sure, it might seem a bit overly dramatic now, but remember how compelling it was the first time you heard it?

As the Bee Gees entered the 1970s, their music moved in a more adult contemporary direction. Robin left the group for a while, but returned to take lead on several key album tracks, such as ?Sincere Relation? and ?Remembering.? But his shining moment in this era was the opening verse of ?How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?? It?s not a stretch to say that the way he intoned the song?s wistful opening couplet was a large part of what made the tune the band?s first?No. 1?U.S. hit.

During the Bee Gees? disco period ? from 1975 to 1979 ? Barry?s falsetto almost totally dominated the group?s records. But go to their ?Children of the World? album and you?ll find a Robin-tastic surprise: he takes the lead vocal on the R&B ballad ?Love Me,? which became better known when it scored Yvonne Elliman her first major U.S. hit. (Elliman later hit much bigger with another Bee Gees-penned song, ?If I Can't Have You.?)

Jacques Collet / AFP - Getty Images

The final essential Robin Gibb vocal isn?t even a Bee Gees song. It?s his 1984 Top 40 solo hit ?Boys Do Fall in Love.? The danceable, new wavish number showed that his voice, perhaps more than any of his brothers, had a modern edge that suited itself perfectly to the MTV era.

Which was your favorite Robin Gibb song? Take our poll, and tell us on Facebook.

What was your favorite Robin Gibb song?

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Home Improvement Projects Budgets, High Level and Detailed | The ...

by homezada on May 18, 2012

Creating budgets is a must for your home improvement projects.? It will help everyone involved in your project in understanding where the finances are for your project.? It provides a compass on when and how to proceed with various aspects of your project.

A high level budget is important relative to your overall current financial situation.? Developing a list of all your desired home improvement projects and providing a quick estimate for each one helps you assess these against other spending like vacations, entertainment, education, etc.

It is also important to develop budgets for each major item within a project.? The main reason to do this is to make sure you are not forgetting any key items in your project.? People often go ?over budget? on their projects because they forget about key items they needed to complete the project.

The second reason for budgets for each item is your original high level budget is either too high or too low.? Most people never get it right the first time, and you need to do basic research all the items required on your project and get some pricing feedback on how much to budget for each item.

This detailed level of budgeting allows you to check your original high level estimate and adjust accordingly, which helps you make the overall decision on whether to move forward with the project or not.

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Zuckerberg Gets His Own Bizarre Animated News Video On IPO Day

If only Facebook IPO day were a little less of a snoozefest than it is now. If only it had Zuckerberg impaling investors while riding a bull rampaging through a city. Or an elevator to space. Or Zuckerberg bouncing Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar off a giant scale. But sadly, our surrealist dreams will never be realized. We will just have to settle for the ho-hum performance of Facebook's shares so far. In the meantime, you can watch this re-enactment from NMA TV or Next Media Animation, that Taiwanese animation subsidiary that riffs off current events with 3D animated videos that look like what the lovechild of Salvador Dali and Reddit would make. Oh, and did we mention that their parent company invests in tech startups too?

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Team aims at human-powered helicopter record

2 hrs.

Devin Coldewey

In a compelling combination of the ancient and the modern, a team is hoping to create a milestone human-powered helicopter ? and funding the effort on Kickstarter. Atlas is the name of the proposed craft, and with it the team hopes to claim a decades-old $250,000 prize.

In 1980, the American Helicopter Society named a $250,000 prize after Igor?Sikorsky, a pioneering aviator and inventor. The challenge: create a human-powered helicopter that can hover 10 feet in the air for one minute. Sounds simple enough, but the engineering challenge is substantial: despite several real efforts over the last 30 years, no one has claimed the prize.

One team at the University of Maryland managed to stay aloft for 11.4 seconds, and a Russian craft did 19 seconds in 1994, but Aero Velo is planning on using advanced materials and know-how to go all the way. They've already set a few records, one for human-powered, flapping-wing flight (the Snowbird ornithopter) and one for human-powered ground speed (72.6MPH in the Vortex streamlined recumbent bicycle).

This project would be the most ambitious, though they aren't departing from the quad-rotor design found on the previous record-setting craft. By using carbon fiber for the structure and advanced aerodynamic modeling, they think their high-powered?human engine (Todd Reichert, competitive cyclist and speed racer) should be able to actually make this thing happen.

The total budget of the project is $170,000, of which they hope $30,000 will come from Kickstarter pledges, and they plan to be flying by August.?It's ambitious, interesting and could be a part of aviation history. Check out their plans at Kickstarter or follow the project at their website.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

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INTERNATIONAL COUNSELORS ADD TO THE FUN ...

LINCOLNVILLE, MAINE- Multiple international staff members will be returning this summer to lead educational programming at Tanglewood 4-H Camp and Learning Center. Counselors from Russia, Columbia, Finland and the UK will work with our American staff members to educate campers at Tanglewood?s residential camp about sustainable living through fun and creative activities. With new games, cultural traditions, dances and recipes of favorite foods campers and staff make discoveries on how big the world is and how small it can be.

Tanglewood offers weekly residential programs throughout the summer starting on June 27th with a three day Mini-Camp for campers looking for a shorter camp experience. Mini-campers enjoy two nights of exciting traditional Tanglewood programming including creative arts, hiking, swimming and group games. A highlight for many of the mini campers is the campfire that brings all campers together for an unforgettable evening program with music, skits and fun.

Children interested in a full week of activities at Tanglewood can enjoy any of the residential programs that begin the first week of July. Campers have the opportunity to choose how they spend their time at Tanglewood, ranging from the food they eat to the activities that fill their days. Afternoon ?electives? provide residential campers the opportunity to participate in educational and recreation activities, including court and field sports, swim instruction, creative art projects, cultural activities, woodworking, music, cooking, and water games.

The diverse background of Tanglewood staff brings a variety to the programming offered during daytime and evening activities. International and American staff working at Tanglewood this summer bring a unique opportunity for campers to learn how different cultures can work together to create experiences that build memories lasting a lifetime. Check out our Facebook page to see bios of many of our 2012 staff! Tanglewood began its summer camp programs in 1982 and is celebrating being thirty with special events all summer. Camp registration is open and spaces are filling, so sign up today!

Tanglewood and Blueberry Cove 4-H Camps strive to create, live, and teach a model of sustainability and balance that includes the physical, social, emotional and spiritual aspects of life. This goal embraces our core values and defines who we are. Summer day camps, discovery trips, teen leadership programs and school programs are offered at sites in Lincolnville and Tenants Harbor. For a complete list of programs and more detailed information, visit our website at www.umaine.edu/tanglewood/.

For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine?s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon hands-on at CTIA 2012 (update: video)

This handset didn't surprise anyone when it was officially announced at CTIA Wireless 2012, but we're still happy to spend time with the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon Wireless regardless. After catching enough glimpses of the smartphone over the past few months, we already had a good idea of what to expect: Big Red's latest LTE device will have Ice Cream Sandwich dressed in Sense 4, a 4-inch Super LCD qHD panel, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 (Krait), 1,700mAh user-removable battery, microSD support and an 8MP BSI f/2.2 camera with a 28mm lens.

If you're familiar with either the OG HTC Droid Incredible or its sequel, you'll instantly recognize the trusty hump on the back of the third iteration -- Verizon and HTC haven't strayed too far from the design formula here. Aside from the Sense 4 firmware hiding inside the phone, the Incredible 4G LTE has little in common with its cousins, the One X and One S. Frankly, we're still left pondering if the carrier will come out with a version of its own, since we've seen the other three national powers get a high-profile device from the Taiwanese manufacturer.

We had a very similar feeling when holding the new Incredible, one easily related to how we felt with its predecessors. It's quite light, and it actually feels thinner than it really is. All in all, the phone is very comfortable to hold, and from our few minutes of using it, it seemed to be rather smooth. Naturally, as we expected, Verizon reps warned us that it's running on preliminary firmware at the moment, so we don't take a lot of stock in its performance, good or bad. All in all, it's exactly how we thought it would be -- a refreshed version of the Incredible 2, with a much better processor and a few other notable bumps in specs. Head below to check out a few images of Verizon's newest darling.

Update: Our hands-on video is now live after the break.

Gallery: HTC Incredible 4G LTE hands-on

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Continue reading HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon hands-on at CTIA 2012 (update: video)

HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE for Verizon hands-on at CTIA 2012 (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP intros three Compaq desktops, two displays for the business set

In addition to all the laptops and printers HP announced today, it also has a few goodies for the cube monkeys out there. The company just outed a trio of three business-grade desktops, along with two monitors. First up, there's the Compaq Elite 8300, which is aimed squarely at large businesses with IT-friendly tools like TPM, Intel's vPro technology and remote management via LANdesk. The Compaq Pro 4300, meanwhile, targets small businesses with its compact form factor and features like HP's Chassis Security Kit. The mid-size Compaq Pro 6300 aims to please both groups, with TPM protection, HP's BIOS solutions and the same 15-month life cycle program offered on the higher-end Elite 8300. Regardless of the model, you're looking at Ivy Bridge CPUs coupled with Intel's most up-to-date integrated graphics. Expect the 6300 and 8300 to land on June 4th, priced starting at $579 and $679, respectively. You'll have to wait a bit longer for the 4300, though: it'll arrive in Asia on the 22nd, and make its way to the US sometime this fall.

As for those monitors, HP's introducing one of the nondescript variety, and another with a touchscreen. Starting with the former, the Compaq L2206tm has a 21.5-inch (1920 x 1080) display with a VGA port, two USB 2.0 sockets and DVI output with HDCP support. Meanwhile, the finger-friendly Compaq LA2405x has a 24-inch, 1080p screen, along with VGA, DVI and DisplayPort output -- not to mention, a pair of USB 2.0 ports. Either way, they both have a 72 percent color gamut, 250-nit brightness level and viewing angles rated for 170 degrees across and 160 degrees vertical. The multitouch LA2405x is available today for $269, while the L2206tm is coming June 4th for $279. All those details and more in the press release after the break.

Gallery: HP Compaq Elite 8300