4 Surprising Foods That Build Bones Naturally - Back Pain

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Build bone density naturally by adding four foods to your diet

By Vivian Goldschmidt, MA

If you have osteoporosis, your doctor has most likely prescribed you a drug such as Fosamax, its generic counterpart alendronate, or others from their vast ? and still growing ? drug menu. And chances are, you?re worried about the drug?s side effects and overwhelmed by all the confusing information that?s out there about osteoporosis.

I know exactly how you feel, because I was diagnosed with osteoporosis back in 2004. As I was leaving my doctor?s office, in shock from the bad news, I still vividly remember his voice as he handed me a Fosamax prescription and recommended that I ?drink lots of milk.?

But I soon realized that the best thing I could do for my bones was to ignore his advice. You see, after my diagnosis, I started my own research to discover the truth about osteoporosis, to get to the bottom of its cause and to find a 100% natural treatment.

I discovered that osteoporosis is not a disease and that no miracle pill can help successfully reverse it for the long-term without dangerous side effects. As it turned out, I never took even one Fosamax pill and completely stopped drinking milk.

I also discovered that everyday foods actually help build bones and that their action on bone health can be scientifically demonstrated.

Believe me, your doctor probably doesn?t even know about these great foods and chances are you already have most of them in your kitchen; if not, you can get them at your local supermarket.

Let?s forget about toxic synthetic drugs, and let?s explore the foods that supercharge your bone health.

Eat One a Day to Keep Osteoporosis Away

French researchers have discovered that the flavonoid phloridzin found exclusively in apples, and especially in the peel, can protect you from osteoporosis by improving inflammation markers and increasing bone density.¹

Apples are a good source of polyphenols, which have been shown to increase the production of osteoblasts, cells in charge of bone deposition. In fact, apples are one of the most potent fruit sources of polyphenols.²

A medium apple is also an excellent source of vitamin C, essential for the production of collagen, which maintains bones and cartilage, fiber, plus a wide variety of bone-building polyphenols (besides phloridzin), trace minerals and flavonoids.

Fiber moves toxins through the intestinal tract and helps prevent them from being circulated to the liver. Ensuring liver health is a good way to ensure bone health, as poor liver function has been connected to osteoporosis.³

What makes apples such a powerful bone-building fruit is the unique combination of antioxidants along with valuable density enhancing minerals. One example is boron, a little-known mineral found in apples. Boron supports the function of important bone-healthy nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and vitamin D.

Listen to Your Grandma: Eat This!

When it comes to prunes, chances are grandma was thinking of your digestive health and not your bones. But recently prunes have been in the news thanks to a Florida State University study that touts prunes as ?the most effective fruit in both preventing and reversing bone loss.?⁴ This is further evidence of the bone-building effect of polyphenol plant pigments that have been shown to increase the production of osteoblasts.

Thanks to the concentration of polyphenols found in prunes, studies have shown them to be more effective at increasing bone density when tested against figs, dates, strawberries and raisins. The same polyphenols, however, are present in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe, cherries, pears, broccoli and cabbage.

Interestingly, plums ? and by extension prunes ? are one of the few fruits that contain small amounts of oxalates, a substance that can bind to calcium, thus making it less bioavailable. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, kiwifruit, concord (purple) grapes, figs and tangerines also contain oxalates in small quantities, but small enough to ignore as it relates to calcium absorption.

You?ll Shed Tears (of Joy) for Them

Swiss researchers conducted an experiment at the University of Basel and found that the onion peptide GPCS (?-glutamyl-propenyl-cysteine sulfoxide) reduced bone breakdown in rats.⁵

Amazingly, when isolated bone cells from rats were exposed to parathyroid hormone in order to stimulate bone loss, GPCS-treated cells retained significantly more bone minerals ? including calcium ? in comparison to cells that were not exposed to GPCS.

Yet another study has shown that eating the humble onion on a daily basis does more than just increase bone density; the results have revealed that postmenopausal women were able to lower their hip fracture risk when eating an onion a day.⁶

Additionally, the high sulfur content of onions has a direct effect on the formation of connective tissue such as tendon and cartilage. Sulfur is present in all long chain polysaccharides called glycosaminoglycans (GAGS), with the exception of hyaluronic acid. GAGs make up cartilage, tendons and synovial fluid. Tendons are especially important to maintaining strong bones since they attach muscles to bones, so the muscles? contractions can be transferred across the joints and pull on the bones.

Besides being a good source of the potent anti-inflammatory quercetin, onions contain other bone-smart nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, potassium, phosphorus and copper, all of which play an important role in bone health.

Your Brightly Colored Bone-Building Ally

Did you ever stop to think what makes tomatoes turn red? It?s the powerful bone-building antioxidant lycopene, also present in watermelon, pink grapefruit, apricot, papaya and other fruits.

What makes tomatoes so special is that they?re in season year-round, so it?s an easy and delicious way to benefit from lycopene?s powerful bone health properties.

Antioxidants protect cells from the damaging effects of free-radicals, and studies have shown that lycopene in particular protects and stimulates osteoblasts.⁷

Another study has shown that those who consumed tomato juice or who took lycopene supplements ? both providing 30 mg of lycopene ? showed markedly reduced urinary levels of a bone breakdown protein called NTx.⁸

Bear in mind that the bioavailability or absorption of lycopene is greatest when tomatoes are cooked with olive oil, since the lycopene in the raw tomato is converted into trans-lycopene, which is more readily absorbed.⁹

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This article first appeared in the September 2012 issue of Get Healthy & Fit^?, the premier natural health and fitness monthly publication from the Healthy Back Institute^?.

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The Natural Treatment that Reverses Osteoporosis in One Year or Less

As you can see, it?s really easy ? and delicious ? to improve your bone health without taking toxic drugs.

For more information on the breakthrough natural treatment that Vivian Goldschmidt and now thousands of others have used to reverse osteoporosis, ask for your FREE osteoporosis handbook.

About Vivian Goldschmidt

Vivian Goldschmidt, MA, a graduate of New York University with a Masters of Arts degree in Nutritional Sciences and a background in Biochemistry, has helped thousands of sufferers with osteoporosis and osteopenia to naturally increase their bone density without drugs, just like she did. Her online natural osteoporosis community reaches over 1.5 million people a year. Visit saveourbones.com to learn more.

References

1. Puel C, Quintin A, Mathey J, Obled C, Davicco MJ, Lebecque P, Kati-Coulibaly S, Horcajada MN, Coxam V. Prevention of bone loss by phloridzin, an apple polyphenol, in ovariectomized rats under inflammation conditions. Calcif Tissue Int. 2005 Nov;77(5):311-8. Epub 2005 Nov 16. 2005. PMID:16307390
2. Newnham RE. ?Essentiality of boron for healthy bones and joints.? Environ Health Perspective, Supplement 7. Nov. 1994.
3. Wariaghli G, Mounach A, Achemlal L, Benbaghdadi I, Aouragh A, Bezza A, El Maghraoui A. ?Osteoporosis in chronic liver disease: a case-control study.? Rheumatology International, Vol. 30, No. 7. May 2010.
4. Shirin Hooshmand, Bahram H. Arjmandi. ?Viewpoint: Dried plum, an emerging functional food that may effectively improve bone health.? Ageing Research Reviews 8; 122-127. 2009.
5. Wetli HA, Brenneisen R, Tschudi I, et al. ?A-glutamyl peptide isolated from onion (Allium cepa L) by bioassay-guided fractionation inhibits resorption activity of osteoclasts?. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. March 2005.
6. Matheson EM, Mainous AG 3rd and Carnemolla MA. The association between onion consumption and bone density in perimenopausal and postmenopausal non-Hispanic white women 50 years and older. Menopause. Jul-Aug;16(4):756-9. 2009.
7. Kim L, Rao AV, ?Lycopene II ? Effect on osteoblasts: the carotenoid lycopene stimulates cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity of SaOS-2 cells.? J Med Food. Summer; 6(2):79-86. 2003.
8. Mackinnon ES. Supplementation with the antioxidant lycopene significantly decreases oxidative stress parameters and the bone resorption marker N-telopeptide of type I collagen in postmenopausal women. Osteoporosis International. 2010.
9. Fielding JM et al., Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition. ?Increases in plasma lycopene concentration after consumption of tomatoes cooked with olive oil.?? 14(2):131-6.? January 2005.

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Source: http://www.losethebackpain.com/blog/2012/12/31/foods-that-build-bones/

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Major Setback in Last-Ditch 'Fiscal Cliff' Talks

Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid on Sunday rejected the latest offer from Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, stalling tense last minute negotiations and pushing the country that much closer to the fiscal cliff as the senators seemed unable to find a bipartisan deal before automatic tax cuts and spending hikes kick in for the new year.

A senior Democratic aide tells me that, although talks continue, the McConnell offer was "a major setback."

"We are hugely disappointed," the aide aid tells ABC News.

The McConnell offer, according to the aide, included:

- An extension of the Bush era tax cuts for taxpayers who earn "well above" the $250,000 income level that Democrats proposed - An extension of the current estate tax - A reduction in cost of living increases for Social Security recipients (" chained CPI"), which is a major sticking point for some Democrats - No increase in the debt ceiling, which would set up another tough fiscal debate early in the new year

For Democrats, the Social Security provision, which was offered by President Obama as part of a grand bargain that would have included $1.4 trillion in tax cuts and increase in the debt ceiling, is a non-starter and was never going to be part of this stop-gap deal.

"We are now further apart than we were 24 hours ago," the aide says.

The "major setback" of talks was evident on the floor of the Senate this afternoon.

"I'm concerned about the lack of urgency here, I think we all know we are running out of time," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY., said, "I want everyone to know I am willing to get this done, but I need a dance partner."

McConnell said he submitted the Republican's latest offer to Majority Leader Reid at 7:10 p.m. last night and was willing to work through the night.

But Democrats have not made a counter-offer and Reid rejected McConnell's proposal.

"At this stage we're not able to make a counteroffer," Reid said noting that he's had numerous conversations with President Obama yet the two parties are still far apart on some big issues, "I don't have a counter-offer to make. Perhaps as the day wears on I will be able to."

McConnell said that he believes there is no major issue that is the sticking point but rather, "the sticking point appears to be a willingness, an interest, or frankly the courage to close the deal."

McConnell placed a call to Vice President Biden to see if he could "jump start the negotiations on his side."

"The other side is intentionally demanding concessions they know we are not willing to make," said Reid.

The two sides will meet separately at 3 p.m. and afterwards Reid said he hopes there is an announcement to make on a way forward.

Repeating remarks he made Friday after a meeting with congressional leaders, President Obama said on Meet the Press that should negotiations fail he has asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to introduce a stripped- down proposal to Congress for a straight up-or-down vote - if it isn't blocked.

"If all else fails, if Republicans do in fact decide to block so that taxes on the middle class do in fact go up on January 1, then we'll come back with a new Congress on January 4, and the first bill that will be introduced on the floor will be to cut taxes on middle-class families," he said of the worst case scenario. "I don't think the average person is going to say, 'Gosh, you know, that's a really partisan agenda.'"

ABC's Sunlen Miller contributed to this report.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/major-setback-last-ditch-fiscal-cliff-talks-194636091--abc-news-politics.html

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Italy's Rita Levi-Montalcini dies

30 December 2012 Last updated at 13:51 ET

The Italian Nobel prize-winning neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini has died at the age of 103.

Miss Levi-Montalcini lived through anti-semitic discrimination under fascism to become one of Italy's top scientists and most respected figures.

She won acclaim for her work on cells, which furthered understanding of a range of conditions, including cancer.

In 1986 she shared the Nobel prize for medicine with biochemist Stanley Cohen for research carried out in the US.

Her niece, Piera Levi-Montalcini, told La Stampa newspaper that she had died peacefully "as if sleeping" after lunch.

Her aunt had continued to carry out several hours of research every day until her death, she said.

Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in 1909 to a wealthy Jewish family in the northern city of Turin, where she studied medicine.

But after she graduated in 1936 the fascist government banned Jews from academic and professional careers, and Miss Levi-Montalcini set up a makeshift laboratory in her bedroom, experimenting on chicken embryos.

"She worked in primitive conditions," Italian astrophysicist Margherita Hack told Italian TV. "She is really someone to be admired."

'Charismatic and tenacious'

Miss Levi-Montalcini's family lived underground in Florence after the Germans invaded Italy in 1943. She later worked as doctor for the allied forces that liberated the city, treating refugees.

Continue reading the main story

At 100, I have a mind that is superior - thanks to experience - than when I was 20?

End Quote Rita Levi-Montalcini, interviewed in 2009

From 1947 she was based for more than 20 years in the US, at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. There she discovered nerve growth factor, which regulates the growth of cells.

She later worked at the National Council of Scientific Research in Rome.

Her research was recognised to have advanced the understanding of conditions including tumours, malformations and senile dementia.

In 2001 she was nominated to the Italian upper house of parliament as a senator for life, an honour bestowed on some of Italy's most distinguished public figures.

She was an ambassador for the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, and founded the Levi-Montalcini Foundation, which carries out charity work in Africa.

Miss Levi-Montalcini never married, saying her life had been "enriched by excellent human relations, work and interests".

In a 2009 interview she said: "At 100, I have a mind that is superior - thanks to experience - than when I was 20."

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti praised Miss Levi-Montalcini's "charismatic and tenacious" character and her lifelong battle to "defend the battles in which she believed".

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20871120#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Michael Medved: Liberals Stink, Government Sucks, Yay War (Little green footballs)

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Stuck For New Year?s Eve In London? YPlan Takes Last-Minute Booking Mobile

With over 5 million Twitter followers, UK actor/author Stephen Fry is the closest thing we get to an ?Ashton Kutcher?, given that he has a big following and occasionally takes an interest in tech startups (sometimes a financial interest). But his choices are hit and miss. One was a startup which allowed you to put virtual post-it notes on websites? But his picks have improved and recently Yplan, a VC-backed startup with real execution credentials, benefitted from his largesse. Like HotelTonight, YPlan [iTunes link] is a way to book events (like plays, shows and concerts) via iOS mobile with literally a couple of clicks. And it?s going to come in handy for New Year?s Eve and other holiday events in the UK capital.

Founded by Viktoras Jucikas and Rytis Vitkauskas, YPlan provides handpicked London highlights and an ability to then book them, drawing on a team with experience at Time Out, toptable, Songkick and lastminute.com.

The smartphone app has already garnered $1.7 million (?1.06 million) from Wellington Partners and Octopus Investments and is very much part of this new wave of ?effortless transactions? on mobile. Taxi apps like Uber and Hailo in London are educating user to the idea of a simple app, with credit card details plugged in, that can literally make your life easier.

In the U.S., there is WillCall, currently only available in SF. It?s a talented, small team and does web/mobile and general ticketing, but tends to focus on gigs and theatre rather than YPlan?s full range of events. There is also ScoreBIG, but it focuses only on sports.

Of course, YPlan?s ?competitors? are myriad. Time Out, for one. But the latter is an editorial business, not transactional, and mobile and bookings are an after-thought. Ticketmaster stops selling tickets online 24-48hrs before a show starts, so it?s not set up for the last-minute ticket market which is pretty big in a city like London. It?s also not really a mobile business. And whereas Groupon is focused on 50%+ discounts, their mobile offering has been stillborn.

YPlan?s other backers include Lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman, Sherry Coutu (advisory board member at LinkedIn), Songkick?s Peter Read and Andy Philips of booking.com, Tom Hulme (IDEO), Gi Fernando (Techlightenment) and Robert Linney (Chemical Brothers) and Baltcap, a VC fund directed at the Baltic region.

http://www.techcrunch.com

Source: http://buzz.jvproductlaunch.com/blog/2012/12/29/stuck-for-new-years-eve-in-london-yplan-takes-last-minute-booking-mobile/

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Army Of Monkeys With Junkies On Their Backs

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Beyond Outrage'

Boehner isn't worried about a challenge to his leadership; no challenger has emerged. The real issue is neither he nor anyone else is in charge of the GOP. Romney's loss, along with the erosion of their majority in the House and Democratic gains in the Senate, has left a vacuum at the top. House Republicans don't run nationally. They run only in their own districts -- which, because of gerrymandering, are growing even more purely Republican. Their major concern is being reelected in 2014, and their biggest potential obstacle in their way is a primary challenge from the right. The combination of a weakened national party and more intense competition in primaries is making the Republican Party relatively impervious to national opinion.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/army-of-monkeys-with-junk_n_2377515.html

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Toyota acceleration settlement gets preliminary OK

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A U.S. judge gave preliminary approval Friday to a $1 billion-plus settlement with Toyota Motor Corp. in cases involving problems of sudden, unintended acceleration by its vehicles, a plaintiffs' attorney said.

Attorney Steve Berman said in a statement he was pleased District Judge James V. Selna gave swift initial approval.

Toyota has said the deal, announced Wednesday, will resolve hundreds of lawsuits from motorists who said the value of their Toyota vehicles plummeted after recalls stemming from claims that the Japanese automaker's cars and trucks accelerated unintentionally.

The preliminary approval means current and former Toyota owners included in the settlement will receive information through notices expected to be mailed in early March. Information about the settlement will also be published in newspapers around the country.

Selna plans to hold a fairness hearing June 13 to consider granting final approval.

Numerous cases filed since 2009 were consolidated in Selna's court and divided into two categories: economic loss and wrongful death. Claims by people who seek compensation for injury and death due to sudden acceleration are not part of the settlement; the first trial involving those suits is scheduled for February.

Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles worldwide due to acceleration problems in several models and brake defects with the Prius hybrid.

Toyota, which has blamed driver error, faulty floor mats and stuck accelerator pedals for the problems, plans to take a one-time, $1.1 billion pre-tax charge against earnings to cover the estimated costs of the settlement. Berman has said the total value of the deal is between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion.

Toyota plans to offer cash payments from a pool of about $250 million to eligible customers who sold vehicles or turned in leased vehicles between September 2009 and December 2010. The company also will provide supplemental warranty coverage for certain vehicle components and retrofit about 3.2 million vehicles with a brake override system designed to ensure a car will stop when the brakes are applied, even if the accelerator pedal is depressed.

The settlement would also establish additional driver education programs and fund new research into advanced safety technologies.

___

Online:

Settlement website: http://www.ToyotaELsettlement.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-28-Toyota%20Lawsuits/id-a092f97b696e416d8560d1541c34f0f6

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GOP Governors Deny The Poor Health Care In Opposing Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion

After she collapsed last year and landed in in a local emergency room, doctors diagnosed her with congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and hypothyroid. They ordered her not to work. She arranged a Social Security disability benefit, and she enrolled in Medicaid, the government-furnished insurance program for the poor. She used her Medicaid card to secure needed prescription medications. Her ailments stabilized.

But this year, the state determined that the $819 a month she draws in disability payments exceed the allowable limit. By the federal government?s reckoning, her $9,800 annual income made her officially poor. But under the standards set by Louisiana, she was too well off to receive Medicaid.

This is how Johnson, 57, finds herself back amid the roughly 49 million Americans who lack health insurance. This is why she must again reach into her pocket to secure her prescription drugs, a supply that runs about $200 a month. That sum is beyond her, so she has gone more than four months without taking her pills on a regular basis. Once again, her feet are swelling and her chest is filling with fluid. Once again, she is confronted with the realization that a lifetime of labor does not entitle her to see a doctor any more than it enables her to gain crucial medications.

Source: http://azspot.net/post/39119723981

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Body ID'd as missing girl, 10, who died by stabbing

Las Vegas Police Department

An undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows Jade Morris, 10.

By Ken Ritter, The Associated Press

Authorities on Friday identified a body found in an undeveloped housing tract in North Las Vegas as Jade Morris, 10, who was last seen?Dec. 21 with a suspect in a casino slashing case. The girl, whose body was discovered on Thursday, died of multiple stab wounds, officials from the Clark County coroner's office said.

Jade's family say they last saw her?about 5 p.m. on Dec. 21 with Brenda Stokes, who had picked her up to go Christmas shopping. Family members say the girl had a close relationship with Stokes, who used to date her father.

Stokes, 50, was arrested later that night after prosecutors say she slashed a co-worker at the Bellagio casino with razor blades. Stokes appeared in court in that case Friday, when a judge raised her bail to $600,000.

Las Vegas police homicide Capt. Chris Jones said earlier on Friday that Stokes,?who also uses the name Brenda Wilson, had not cooperated in the investigation of the girl's whereabouts.?

A passer-by called 911 about noon Thursday, and North Las Vegas police found a girl's body in brush near palm trees in a small traffic circle, about?10 miles from the downtown Las Vegas outlet mall where Stokes was to have taken the girl shopping.?

Stokes picked up the girl at about 5 p.m. and two hours later returned to another friend the red 2007 Saab sedan that she borrowed for the shopping trip, Jones said.?

Later, Stokes got a ride with a friend to the Bellagio resort on the Las Vegas Strip, where she was arrested after authorities say she attacked a female co-worker, Joyce Rhone, with a razor in each hand as Rhone dealt blackjack about 9:30 p.m.?

Rhone, 44, was hospitalized with deep cuts on her face, including one from her ear to the edge of her mouth. A police arrest report said Rhone also had several smaller cuts around her right eye.

Clark County Detention Center

Brenda Stokes, 50, is shown in a booking photo.

Records show that Stokes was being held at the Clark County jail on charges of felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could get her decades in prison. No charges stemming from Jade's death have been filed.

The arrest report says casino video shows Stokes attacking Rhone before a casino patron and security officers intervene. Officer Marcus Martin said the video is evidence that may be shown by prosecutors in court but will not be made public by police.?

Police said Stokes later told investigators that she attacked Rhone over harassing phone calls and an unspecified betrayal that ended their seven-year friendship.?

Stokes also told police she visited her doctor last week, seeking to be admitted to a hospital "due to feeling like she wanted to hurt someone."?

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? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/28/16214478-las-vegas-police-say-body-is-that-of-missing-girl-10-who-died-of-stab-wounds?lite

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SMECO Outage Communications System ? Phase 1 Complete ...

We are pleased to announce that as of November 5, the first phase of SMECO?s Outage Communications System is live. This phase is an outage map built on iFactor?s Storm Center product, and will be followed by implementation of additional iFactor products, with integrated data management provided by iFactor?s EnergySuite platform.

The map is available at http://stormcenter.smeco.coop/.

SMECO?s outage map has options for viewing power outages by location or by county, as well as summary tables of outages by county or ZIP code. The map also includes a weather layer by Weatherbug?that displays weather radar information. The weather layer is an optional Storm Center feature that can help utility customers understand the connection between storms and outage patterns.

According to Joe Trentacosta, SMECO?s Senior Vice President and CIO:

Our co-op had a need for a mechanism to communicate comprehensive and timely information about the status of outages to our customer-members. While our initial goal was to simply replace our legacy outage map, iFactor Consulting delivered a state-of-the-art and highly configurable OCS. iFactor?s solution effectively positions us to provide outage updates to our customers using methods they increasingly prefer, such as text messaging and smart phone apps.

SMECO?s Outage Communications System (OCS) will provide a central hub for conveying information from SMECO?s OMS to their customers via websites, mobile websites, 2-way SMS, and mobile apps. The iFactor products that will be used to create SMECO?s Outage Communications System include Storm Center, Notifi, and Mobile Apps, with integrated data management provided by iFactor?s EnergySuite platform. The complete OCS will provide SMECO?s customers with both proactive and on-demand outage information ? such as outage alerts, storm warnings, outage locations, the reason for outage, the number of customers affected by outage, and estimated restoration time ? on a wide variety of communication channels.

Source: http://www.ifactorconsulting.com/smeco-outage-communications-system-phase-1-complete/

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Apple CEO's pay takes big hit vs. record 2011 package

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook's 2012 compensation package of $4.17 million (2.58 million pounds) is a huge cut on paper for the top executive of the most valuable U.S. corporation, after a 2011 package fattened by more than $376 million (233 million pounds) in long-term stock awards.

Cook received the largest single pay package awarded to a company CEO in about a decade when he replaced Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) co-founder Steve Jobs in August last year, shortly before the Silicon Valley legend's death in October 2011.

The maker of the iPhone and iPad made the 2012 compensation disclosures in a regulatory filing on Thursday. Cook, 52, has been with Apple since 1998.

Virtually all of Cook's $376 million stock bonus in 2011 was in awards that vest in two chunks - one in 2016 and the other in 2021. This structure was intended to keep Jobs' longtime lieutenant at the helm for many years, as the value of the stock will depend on how well the company is doing in 2016 and 2021.

Cook, who is credited with masterminding a sprawling but efficient Asian supply chain, has generally received high marks for his first year for shepherding several successful gadget launches, including the iPhone 5.

But he was forced to make a public apology in September after the company launched a mapping service application riddled with glaring geographical errors. The Maps app fiasco contributed to the departure of fellow Apple veteran and software chief Scott Forstall.

In addition, some analysts questioned whether Cook, whose only major new product since taking the helm was a smaller version of the iPad that Jobs propelled into the mainstream in 2010, has the vision to produce the next big product category and sustain historically stellar growth for Apple as global mobile competition intensifies.

"The jury is still out in terms of the job he is doing," said fund manager Tim Ghriskey, whose Solaris Group counts Apple stock as the biggest holding among the approximately $2 billion it manages.

But he added that the company's long-term prospects look strong, particularly if it rolls out oft-rumoured television products in the next few years.

As of Thursday's close, Apple shares were almost 37 percent higher than when Cook became CEO 16 months ago. However, since a record-high close of $702.10 on September 19, the stock has fallen almost 27 percent.

Ghriskey said Wall Street remained nervous about the growing popularity of Google Inc (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) 's Android phone software, used by global smartphone leader Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and potential margin pressure from that intensifying competition.

In terms of base salary, Cook actually received a 50 percent increase to $1.4 million for 2012, and the same 200 percent non-equity bonus other top Apple executives like CFO Peter Oppenheimer earned, Apple said in the Thursday filing ahead of a February 27 shareholders' meeting.

Cook's 2012 package includes a nonequity bonus of $2.8 million.

Despite the increase, Apple said Cook's target annual cash compensation is "significantly below the median annual cash compensation level for CEOs at peer companies." It also said that Cook will not receive any stock awards for 2012.

Cook's latest compensation package also pales in comparison to his package in 2010, when he was chief operating officer. That package was 14 times higher.

A company spokesman would not comment beyond the filing.

Jobs famously received $1 a year in salary in the three years before he stepped down, though in 2000 he too received a stock option that analysts say was valued at almost $600 million at the time.

Looking beyond Apple, Yahoo Inc (NasdaqGS: YHOO - news) 's CEO, Marissa Mayer, a former Google Inc high-flyer hired this year to try to turn around the struggling Internet icon, won a pay package worth more than $70 million. Despite her lack of a track record as CEO and Yahoo's tiny size in comparison, her basic pay is comparable to Cook's, with about $1 million in annual salary and up to $2 million in an annual bonus.

Oracle Corp's Larry Ellison, one of the most highly paid U.S. chief executives - and also the world's sixth-richest man, according to Forbes - received total compensation for the year ended May 31, 2012, of $96.2 million - almost all of it in stock options. That compared with $77.6 million in 2011.

According to a study of the Fortune 500 conducted by Forbes this year, CEOs were paid a base salary of $1.1 million in 2011 on average, with the mean annual bonus at $2.4 million and average total compensation - including stock awards - at around $17 million.

Apple shares closed up 0.4 percent at $515.06 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew and Liana Baker in New York, Jim Finkle and Tim McLaughlin in Boston and Edwin Chan in San Francisco; editing by Kenneth Barry and Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apple-ceo-2012-pay-drop-151057112.html

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Serve With Pleasure Serve With Pleasure - ArticlesWide.com

[unable to retrieve full-text content]... are not the only applications commercial refrigeration companies offer. Commercial refrigeration manufacturers offer different products to suit any user's needs.... ... HOME :: Shopping and Product Reviews :: Electronics ...

Source: http://www.articleswide.com/article/12171-Serve_With_Pleasure_Serve_With_Pleasure.html

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Three Afghans dead in new blast at U.S. base in Afghan east

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in the eastern town of Khost, saying they had sent a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives to the base.

"The target was those who serve Americans at that base," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Afghanistan's NATO-led force said the bomber did not get into the base nor breach its perimeter. Police said the three dead were Afghans who were outside the base, which is beside a military airport.

The al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, widely regarded as the most dangerous U.S. foe in Afghanistan, is active in Khost province, which is on the Pakistani border.

After more than a decade of war, Taliban insurgents are still able to strike strategic military targets, and launch high-profile attacks in the capital, Kabul, and elsewhere.

Three years ago, an al Qaeda-linked Jordanian double-agent killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer in a suicide bombing at the same base in Khost, known as Forward Operating Base Chapman.

It was the second deadliest attack in CIA history.

Afghan police official General Abdul Qasim Baqizoy, the Khost police chief, said no CIA agents were hurt on Wednesday.

Afghan authorities are scrambling to improve security across the country before the U.S. combat mission ends in 2014.

Besides pressure from the Taliban, U.S.-led NATO forces also face a rising number of so-called insider attacks, in which Afghan forces turn their weapons on Western troops they are supposed to be working with.

On Monday, an Afghan policewoman killed a U.S. police adviser at the Kabul police headquarters, raising troubling questions about the direction of the war.

It appeared to be the first time that a woman member of Afghanistan's security forces carried out such an attack.

On Tuesday, Afghan officials said the woman has an Iranian passport and moved to Afghanistan 10 years ago. There was no suggestion that Iran was involved in the attack on the American.

Officials suspect she may have been recruited by al Qaeda or the Taliban, and had intended to also kill Afghan police officials.

(Reporting by Elyas Wahdat; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-afghan-city-khost-taliban-target-u-043617090.html

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Getting into Shapes: From Hyperbolic Geometry to Cube Complexes

A proof announced in March resolved the last of 23 questions about 3D shapes posed in 1982 by mathematician William Thurston, marking the end of an era in the study of "three-manifolds"

By Erica Klarreich and Simons Science News

Figure 3. When viewed through the lens of hyperbolic geometry, all the fish are the same size. The curves that run along the fishes? spines are hyperbolic straight lines, or "geodesics." Image: Illustration: Douglas Dunham, University of Minnesota Duluth

From Simons Science News (find original story here).

Thirty years ago, the mathematician William Thurston articulated a grand vision: a taxonomy of all possible finite three-dimensional shapes.

Thurston, a Fields medalist who spent much of his career at Princeton and Cornell, had an uncanny ability to imagine the unimaginable: not just the shapes that live inside our ordinary three-dimensional space, but also the far vaster menagerie of shapes that involve such complicated twists and turns that they can only fit into higher-dimensional spaces. Where other mathematicians saw inchoate masses, Thurston saw structure: symmetries, surfaces, relationships between different shapes.

?Many people have an impression, based on years of schooling, that mathematics is an austere and formal subject concerned with complicated and ultimately confusing rules,? he wrote in 2009. ?Good mathematics is quite opposite to this. Mathematics is an art of human understanding. ? Mathematics sings when we feel it in our whole brain.?

At the core of Thurston?s vision was a marriage between two seemingly disparate ways of studying three-dimensional shapes: geometry, the familiar realm of angles, lengths, areas and volumes, and topology, which studies all the properties of a shape that don?t depend on precise geometric measurements ? the properties that remain unchanged if the shape gets stretched and distorted like Silly Putty.

To a topologist, the surface of a frying pan is equivalent to that of a table, a pencil or a soccer ball; the surface of a coffee mug is equivalent to a doughnut surface, or torus. From a topologist?s point of view, the multiplicity of two-dimensional shapes ? that is, surfaces ? essentially boils down to a simple list of categories: sphere-like surfaces, toroidal surfaces, and surfaces like the torus but with more than one hole. (Most of us think of spheres and tori as three-dimensional, but because mathematicians think of them as hollow surfaces, they consider them two-dimensional objects, measured in terms of surface area, not volume.)

Thurston?s key insight was that it is in the union of geometry and topology that three-dimensional shapes, or ?three-manifolds,? can be understood. Just as the topological category of ?two-manifolds? containing the surfaces of a frying pan and a pencil also contains a perfect sphere, Thurston conjectured that many categories of three-manifolds contain one exemplar, a three-manifold whose geometry is so perfect, so uniform, so beautiful that, as Walter Neumann of Columbia University is fond of saying, it ?rings like a bell.? What?s more, Thurston conjectured, shapes that don?t have such an exemplar can be carved up into chunks that do.

In a 1982 paper, Thurston set forth this ?geometrization conjecture? as part of a group of 23 questions about three-manifolds that offered mathematicians a road map toward a thorough understanding of three-dimensional shapes. (His list had 24 questions, but one of them, still unresolved, is more of an intriguing side alley than a main thoroughfare.)

?Thurston had this enormous talent for asking the right questions,? said Vladimir Markovic, a mathematician at the California Institute of Technology. ?Anyone can ask questions, but it?s rare for a question to lead to insight and beauty, the way Thurston?s questions always seemed to do.?

These questions inspired a new generation of mathematicians, dozens of whom chose to pursue their graduate studies under Thurston?s guidance. Thurston?s mathematical ?children? manifest his style, wrote Richard Brown of Johns Hopkins University. ?They seem to see mathematics the way a child views a carnival: full of wonder and joy, fascinated with each new discovery, and simply happy to be a part of the whole scene.?

In the decades after Thurston?s seminal paper appeared, mathematicians followed his road map, motivated less by possible applications than by a realization that three-manifolds occupy a sweet spot in the study of shapes. Two-dimensional shapes are a bit humdrum, easy to visualize and categorize. Four-, five- and higher-dimensional shapes are essentially untamable: the range of possibilities is so enormous that mathematicians have limited their ambitions to understanding specialized subclasses of them. For three-dimensional shapes, by contrast, the structures are mysterious and mind-boggling, but ultimately knowable.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=901500740cab35b7cd6bea14064c850d

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Green Blog: Every Bird Counts, but Some Make the Heart Beat Faster

Binoculars at the ready, a small group of birders fanned out through the field, searching for a brown-and-gray bird that was stubbornly refusing to show itself.

We were looking for a clay-colored sparrow, a rare visitor to the East Coast that had been spotted in this field at the Marshlands Conservancy in Rye, N.Y., over the last week. But while a few sweeps of the field turned up a variety of birds ? including seven other species of sparrows ? the clay-colored sparrow remained out of sight.

As participants in the National Audubon Society?s annual Christmas Bird Count, we were eager to add this unusual species (check out the video above, posted at YouTube by a professional photographer), to the local tally. But we couldn?t spend all day looking for it. We had to cover the area thoroughly and keep count of every individual bird we saw. In the Christmas Bird Count, every bird counts, no matter how rare or common.

The annual count was begun in 1900 by the ornithologist Frank Chapman as a conservation-minded alternative to the Side Hunt, a Christmas tradition in which revelers competed to see who could shoot more birds and other animals. Now in its 113th year, the count is described by the Audubon Society as the longest-running citizen science project in the world.

Last year, more than 63,000 volunteers participated across North and South America, with more than 2,000 local counts, each covering a circular territory 15 miles in diameter. The vast trove of data ?helps scientists track continent-wide trends in bird populations; the Audubon Society lists more than 200 published studies that rely on information from the count.

My search for the rare sparrow was a part of the Bronx-Westchester Count, which covers an area centered on New Rochelle, N.Y.. Originating ?in 1924, this local count had a cumulative checklist of 224 species last year. The clay-colored sparrow was not one of them, and ?we were disappointed to think we wouldn?t be able to add it to the total.

But there were plenty of other birds around. We spotted a pileated woodpecker, a striking crow-size bird with a scarlet crest; a northern gannet, a long-winged bird of the open ocean that catches fish with a spectacular dive from the sky; a group of buffleheads, diminutive black-and-white ducks that seemed undaunted by the cold, swimming underwater to look for food and then surfacing a short distance away; a handful of red-breasted nuthatches, a northern bird that forages while clambering head-first down tree trunks and whose call sounds like a toy horn; and even an orange-crowned warbler, a tiny gray-and-yellow species that is also uncommon in the East.

And in the cause of science, we dutifully tallied the totals for dozens or hundreds of chickadees, herring gulls, Canada geese, starlings and other abundant locals.

And that was before lunch. After a break to eat and compare notes, the sparrow search recommenced, without great hope. But then, along a path bordering the field, I suddenly saw a blur of motion near the ground.

Got it! A few cellphone calls later, the other birders converged on the spot, and we all got a good look before the sparrow, which admittedly would not merit a second look from most non-birders, flew off down the field. Then, even with our main target spotted, we kept looking and counting. Every bird counts, after all.

In all, this year?s Bronx-Westchester Christmas Bird Count tallied 126 species, tying the highest total for this count circle. Three species were added for the first time, bringing the historical total ?to 227.

And of course, one of them was the clay-colored sparrow, recorded in two spots ? one in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, and ?my? bird at Marshlands.

Do you have a bird-count tale to share?

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/every-bird-counts-but-some-make-the-heart-beat-faster/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Christmas Miracle: Rihanna & Chris Brown Reunited Yet Again!

Christmas Miracle: Rihanna & Chris Brown Reunited Yet Again!

Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship is definitely complicated but it appears their romance is back on! The “Diamonds” singer, 24, flew from her little vacation in her native Barbados to spend Christmas Day with Chris Brown, 23, in Los Angeles! RiRi and Chris Brown were spotted looking very cozy at the Staples Center as they ...

Christmas Miracle: Rihanna & Chris Brown Reunited Yet Again! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/12/christmas-miracle-rihanna-chris-brown-reunited-yet-again/

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Jen Bokoff: Philanthropic Bartenders Making Waves in Communities

"No matter what your career is, there's a way that everyone can incorporate giving into the fabric of their daily life." -- Hilary Krishnan, 27

When Brian Floyd decided to donate his tips from a shift of bartending at The Vanderbilt in Brooklyn, N.Y. to tsunami relief in early 2011, he had no idea what this selfless act would inspire. Less than two years later, 25-40 bartenders across 3 cities donate tips monthly through The Barman's Fund and then use the collective earnings to give back to their communities. Together, they have raised and distributed more than $119,000 through this unconventionally impactful charitable fund.

The Barman's Fund is currently applying for 501c3 status, but their self-made rules for giving will not change. They -- the bartenders who have donated a shift -- together seek out local organizations that have an immediate, apparent need, and then they fill that need as soon as money is raised. Politics are out, as are charities that deal with non-people causes like pets or the environment. Having some infrastructure, generally evidenced by 501c3 status, is a must, and if at all possible, they try to not to give money; instead, the bartenders used raised funds to purchase what an organization needs.

Sammi Francis, 25, who heads the Charlotte, NC chapter of the Fund shared that her favorite gift was a carload of living items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, socks, underwear, etc.) worth more than $1,000 that she delivered to a local men's shelter. "The feeling I get from dropping off the donations is better than any amount of money you could give me," she shared, "and it's because you can actually see how appreciative the people getting the gift are, how much it means to them."

The premise of The Barman's Fund is that everyone can make a positive difference in their communities, from the participating bartenders to the customers in their bars. Most of the bartenders are millennials, as are most of the bar patrons. It's therefore not surprising that bartenders join because they hear about it through their friends, and that many of the ideas for donations come from conversations about what people do or needs they hear of. In Sammi's case, she was inspired to start the Charlotte chapter after visiting New Orleans and accompanying her brother's girlfriend Holly, the NOLA chapter leader, in shopping for and then delivering goods to a women's shelter. She was hooked, even after learning that the 'grantmaking and giving' component is like holding a part time job.

Gifts including a new stove for Grow Dat Youth Farm's teaching kitchen, new cribs for the CHIPS Maternity Shelter in Brooklyn, and back-to-school supplies for kids in shelters through the Coalition for the Homeless were all sourced from opportunities that the involved bartenders noticed in their communities. Sometimes, too, the gifts are sourced from formal or informal letters of inquiry, like the Bed, Bath & Beyond gift cards to teens aging out of foster care that were purchased two days after Floyd received a compelling letter of need from another bartender's wife, who works with this population. The Barman's Fund mobilizes the personal networks and skills of the people involved not just in their giving but also in developing their brand; the website, graphic design, publicity, and even sometimes the beer are donated by people who believe in the mission of giving back.

A common reason that people in general don't donate is that they don't know where the money goes or if it will make a difference. But, "with trust in the bartenders' judgment and energy as a guiding factor," Hilary Krishnan explains, "people get excited that they can do something without spending an evening volunteering in a soup kitchen, so they donate a lot more." When they ask where the money is going or how the donation the last month was received (and ask they do!), bartenders like Hilary, Sammi, and Floyd are able to share anecdotes that make the donors feel more connected. People feel involved and come back to give in future shifts. The bartenders, too, become consistently involved and stalwart supporters. Michael Sternfeld, 28, was onboard from the second ever Barman's Fund shift, and shared his amazement at how nearly every shift in Brooklyn has other involved bartenders from neighboring bars in attendance; even though they're already giving back, they want to give back more. Michael has honed his awareness of groups in need through The Barman's Fund: "Teens in foster care, for instance, is a demographic that I've spent very little time talking about. But, what a gift to help create a network of support; I see now how valuable that was."

As Sammi put it, the concept of The Barman's Fund is "mind-blowingly simple." It is absolutely simpler than the process of reading proposals, having meetings and site visits, approvals in formal board meetings, and requesting reports, as many philanthropic entities do. But this divergence from traditional giving is working and has greater potential to spread its philanthropy both directly and indirectly. Bartenders who move, including Floyd, who is headed to Austin in 2013, plan to grow the Fund in their new cities. As capacity grows with the addition of more cities and bartenders, they can take on larger projects, like the recent gift of a $15,000 colposcope for the free clinic at the Mt Sinai Adolescent Health Center. They will also hopefully be able to secure some sponsorship to plan events. They are also spreading a culture of giving just by advertising Barman's Fund shifts and letting people know that they can be involved in giving just by grabbing a beer.

We don't typically think of bartenders as the face of philanthropy, but The Barman's Fund is a cause I'll drink to for sure. You should too.

?

Follow Jen Bokoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jenbo1

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jen-bokoff/philanthropic-bartenders_b_2355601.html

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Top 10 Membership Site Themes and Templates in WordPress

In the previous articles I talk about how to create membership sites and how it can help us to launch product or build an online community. I did a comparison between two membership plugin and software almost Wishlist Member plugin and aMember. After that I have been expressed more about Wishlist member plugin because it easily integrates with WordPress to create membership sites.

This article I just want to talk about Best membership site templates and top product launch theme ?themes that are the most easiest and simplest to use when we creating a membership site. Here I listed top 10 membership site themes for building large online community in a particular niche.

Apart from SEO options one best membership site theme should have the templates like Landing/squeeze pages, Sales pages, Product launch pages, Autoresponder confirmation/thank you pages and Blog Templates. Check out the list below.

1. OptimizePress WordPress Theme

OptimizePress and it various templates makes the thing easy.? We often hear promises like ?no skills in templates design required? to design membership site?which is a bit of a lie, but this time it?s true!.? Even though if we have knowledge about landing page template designs, OptimizePress helps to setup different landing page templates.

OptimizePress have 19 Squeeze page templates, 29 different sales letter templates, Membership site modules templates also it has the product launch funnel templates setup to launch a product. The theme support provides video support for making different templates with OptimizePress theme.

OptimizePress Membership site Theme

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2. Profits Theme

Profits theme and its templates are specially designed for internet marketers and product owner for their product promotions. So a single theme that can do all of the template designs needed for membership site and product launches in just minutes.

Another plus point of Profits Theme is that we only need a single license to install the theme on unlimited domains that we own. In general, Profits Theme covers every aspect of building an internet marketing website, Membership website and sales funnel. Some of the pages that it can create are: Landing/squeeze pages, Sales pages, Product launch pages, One-Time-Offer pages, Legal pages, Autoresponder confirmation/thank you pages, Multi-level membership site and Blog Templates.

Profits Theme for Membership site

.Download?Profits Theme Now

Profits Theme also has features that usually require separate plugins to get these functions Opt-in form (pop-up and on-page form), Basic ads management and Link cloaking.

3. Premise Theme from StudioPress

StudioPress Themes and Theme Packages are always a great choice when we want to create membership site and product launch setup. ?This premise theme Powered by their Genesis framework, this theme comes with much number of templates and page layout styles that needed for membership sites. ?The customer support and forums are fantastic.

We can also customize the landing pages if required, but many people consider that a good feature. Premise also has the membership protection functionality with the theme itself no need to have separate content protection plugin for setting up membership site. ?If we are considering adding paid membership areas, just a few clicks away.

Premise WordPress Membership Theme

.Download?Premise Theme Now

4. Convergence WordPress Theme

Convergence is a nicely put together WordPress theme with the intent and focus on creating a community site. It is one of the best community site theme from themeforest. ?This theme includes many popular features seen in today?s industry leading community sites in the membership site creation.

Convergence WordPress membership site theme has the special features like, Feedburner Integration, 2 Column Tabless (CSS Layout), Sidebar Widget Ready, Related Posts, Author Highlight, Flickr Showcase and Social Linking (Digg, StumbleUpon, etc.)

Convergence Membership site Theme

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5. AgencyPress from Premiumpress

AgencyPress? is an Online Community WordPress Theme to Start our own online community or agency website to build solid community in a particular niche. AgencyPress is transforms WordPress into an online community website where users can signup and connect with other via our website.

As the website admin we can setup free and paid membership packages, customize registration and profile files and develop our very own niche market online community website. It is one of the best membership site theme in WordPress. This theme is ideal for creating SEO-friendly membership websites.

AgencyPress Community site Theme

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6. Vantage Business directory Theme

Vantage is the most popular business directory theme for WordPress from appthemes. Appthemes offers five different types of themes for five different purposes. All the themes are flooded with unique features and functionalists which are easy to use.

The Appthemes works on WordPress platform which is completely customizable according to business specifications.. Moreover, full customer support will be provided which is open 24/7. The theme designs are professional and of the highest quality. Vantage is simple and pain-free WordPress directory theme. Within minutes of downloading Vantage, you can create the killer directory site.

Vantage Business directory Theme

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?7. FacePress Community WordPress Theme

FacePress represents a community-builder theme with multiple skins and layouts suitable for different needs like Community builder, Portfolios, Image gallery, Content-sharing with front-end uploading, Classic blog and Combination of all content types.

Built-in login and registration forms used our users to login or register without seeing the default WordPress form. Users can also register or login to our site using their Facebook accounts.

FacePress Community theme

.Download Community Theme Now

This theme includes two custom widgets, a very extensive theme options panel where we can customize our theme without touching any code, several screencasts to help us set up our membership site quickly and easily.

8. Score WordPress Theme from Themeforest

Score is a WordPress theme that is ideal for reviewing any kind of content. We can build the community website with score theme with highlighted video on the home page.

Some of the key features of score theme listed as advanced review options (uses GD Star Rating plugin), Allow editors to review content , Ability to sort posts by date, title, score ,Extensive admin panel , 2 theme skins (Blue and Black), Front-end login, register and profile pages, YouTube, Vimeo and self-hosted audio/video (FLV/MP4/M4V/MP3/HTML5) support , Unlimited Sidebars ?and Detailed documentation for theme installation and setup.

Score Community Review Theme

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9. Bounce Theme for Community sites

Bounce is a WordPress theme from ThemeForest that?s designed for businesses purpose websites. It is also a responsive theme, so it is suitable for businesses that need a mobile presence. We can purchase this product with or without the BuddyPress/bbPress integration.

Bounce comes with a solid range of features that make it suitable for professional sites. There is a free JW player included with the theme. The theme is very easy to customize, having seven different skins, plenty of options for fonts and an administration panel that allows you to change all of these elements without dealing with any of the source code.

Bounce Community site theme

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10.Product launch WordPress theme

Why do we need a specially build product launch template? Product launch is an extremely effective internet marketing method. Generally, the?goal of product launch is to build up excitement in our niche so when your product is finally available, everyone rushes to place their order. This tactic is used widely nowadays among the internet marketers.

Product Launch Template with All the options we need to setup product launches. It has a remarkable admin panel that helps to manage all the necessary tasks comfortably.

Another advantage of this solution is that it comes with 10 pre-made squeeze page templates which can be customize easily. We can find many unique looking video squeeze pages, too. This is particularly useful to spend our time creating new one.

Product Launch WordPress Theme

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Product launch WordPress theme comes up with Split Testing, Built-in Exit Pop Up, Special Affiliate Landing Page Technology and etc. This is one of the top product launch theme in WordPress.

Conclusion

These 10 best product launch templates are the base for the membership sites creation and it is very easy and simple to use. We can have a membership site setup in few minutes if we have any one of the below themes for membership site creation.

Remember any best WordPress membership site theme or product launch template should have squeeze page or landing page template, sales letter template, auto responder integration pages, membership modules page templates and ordinary blog templates. Share your experience in comments section.

Tagged as: Agencypress community Theme, best membership site theme, Bounce Community Theme, Community Innovation Theme, Internet Marketing theme, OptimizePress WordPress Theme, Premise Membership Theme, Product Launch WP Theme, Profits theme, Top membership site theme, top product launch theme

Source: http://www.wpcells.com/top-10-membership-site-themes-templates-wordpress/

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