Cricket-Australia 440-8 v Sri Lanka (156) - close

Australia were 440 for eight wickets at the close of the second day of the second test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Scores: Sri Lanka 156 (K. Sangakkara 58; M. Johnson 4-63) v Australia 440-8 (D. Warner 62, S. Watson 83, M. Clarke 106, M. Johnson 73 not out; D. Prasad 3-102)

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PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (Reuters) - A powerful batting display and disciplined bowling helped South Africa to a 33-run victory over New Zealand in the third and deciding T20 International at St.George's Park on Wednesday.
Opener Henry Davids top scored with 68 from 51 balls as the Proteas posted a formidable 179-6 after winning the toss and batting first.
Left arm spinner Aaron Phangiso and seamer Ryan McLaren then collected identical figures of 3-25 as the Black Caps subsided to a disappointing 146-9 in reply.
The home side were briefly in trouble at 26-2 until Davids was joined by Justin Ontong who belted 48 from 30 balls with three sixes and four during a third-wicket stand of 89 which laid the platform for a dynamic end to the innings.
David Miller struck four boundaries in 28 from 15 balls and Farhaan Behardien finished with an unbeaten 22 from just 11 deliveries.
Martin Guptill (24) and captain Brendon McCullum (25) briefly threatened to make a game of it but the run rate proved unmanageable and wickets fell steadily with the result in little doubt from the 10th over when the Black Caps slumped to 60-4.
The tourists now play a three-day match against provincial side Boland in Paarl from December 28 in preparation for the first of two test matches starting in Cape Town on January 2.

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CORRECTED-Cricket-Australia captain Clarke caps banner year in style

MELBOURNE, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Michael Clarke's inspired century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday ticked off another milestone for Australia's high-flying captain, but was also a stunning riposte to critics who had suggested he should never have been selected.
Having sustained a hamstring injury in the first test in Hobart, Clarke was given until the last minute to prove his fitness and only announced himself ready to take on Sri Lanka on the morning of the second test.
Meanwhile, young seamer Mitchell Starc, 100 percent fit and champing at the bit, was rested despite a five-wicket haul that helped drive the hosts to victory in Hobart.
Pundits and former players cried double-standards. Clarke, a selector himself, simply put his head down to score 106 and surpass Ricky Ponting as his country's most prolific test run-scorer in a calendar year.
The four-hour innings of 14 boundaries, while not without chances, broke the hearts of Sri Lanka and helped drive Australia to a mammoth first innings lead of 284.
"In regards to beating Ricky, in my eyes he was certainly the greatest batsman I was lucky enough to play with so to beat any record that Ricky holds is very special that's for sure," the 31-year-old Clarke told reporters after notching his fifth ton for the year.
"Numbers have never really bothered me too much. It's nice to be making runs and leading by example as one of the leaders in the team and the captain of the team, I think it's really important that the captain is doing that.
"But to me it's about winning games. If I am helping this team have success then I feel like that's part of my job  As long as we keep winning that's my priority."
Clarke's 22nd test century made him fourth on the all-time list with 1,595 runs for the year but he is unlikely to get another chance to reel in Mohammad Yousuf (1,788), Viv Richards (1,710) or Graeme Smith (1,656) this year.
POOR SHOT
Australia may not need a second innings to wrap up the test and the take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, so Clarke was disappointed not to have made more runs after being dismissed slashing an edge to the slips.
That also broke his perfect record in 2012 of going on to make double-tons after passing 100.
"I thought it was a poor shot, especially at that time, we'd just seen off the second new ball so it was probably the best time to bat and again it shows for the next couple of guys that we lost three wickets quite quickly together," added Clarke, who became the first man to hit four double-centuries in a calendar year in 2012.
"I guess with regards to my form it's about - enjoy this time and make the most of it because there'll come a time where you nick the first few and get a couple of ducks."
Clarke, backed up admirably by the evergreen Mike Hussey in recent tests, brought Shane Watson into his orbit on day two, with the bulky all-rounder composing 83 in a welcome return to form.
The pair put on a record fourth-wicket partnership of 194 against their opponents at the MCG but Watson was left to rue another missed opportunity to post a century.
Watson has only converted two of his 19 half-centuries into tons, his last a 126 against India in Mohali more than two years ago.
The statistics have dogged Watson, who has been dismissed in the 90s four times and was out caught with an ill-timed hook shot, but Clarke dismissed queries about his vice captain's mental fortitude.
"As his captain I'm not disappointed with his shot selection because he pulls and hooks as good as anybody in our team," he said. "Nine times out of ten that will generally go for four or six. Unfortunately, today it went straight to the fielder.
"If he continues to play the way he did today and show that patience and discipline, I have no doubt he'll score plenty of hundreds for Australia.

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Britain suspends exploratory drilling of Antarctic lake

An ambitious British plan to search for minute forms of life in an ancient lake beneath Antarctica's ice has been suspended because of technical problems, the scientist leading the project said on Thursday.
In a move that clears the way for U.S. and Russian teams to take the lead, Professor Martin Siegert said technical problems and a lack of fuel had forced the closure on Christmas Day of the 7-million-pound ($11 million) project, which was looking for life forms and climate change clues in the lake-bed sediment.
"This is of course, hugely frustrating for us, but we have learned a lot this year," said Siegert of the University of Bristol, principal investigator for the mission, which was headed by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
"By the end, the equipment was working well, and much of it has now been fully field-tested," he said on the BAS website.
Experts from Britain's Lake Ellsworth mission had expected to find minute forms of life in the lake three km (two miles) under Antarctica's ice, the most remote and extreme environment known on Earth.
They had also hoped that by dating bits of seashell found in the water they would have been able to ascertain when the ice sheet last broke up and to better understand the risks of it happening again.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Scientists from the United States and Russia are hot on Britain's heels when it comes to drilling through Antarctic ice to lakes that have been hidden for thousands of years.
The U.S. team is aiming to start drilling in Lake Whillans, one of 360 known sub-glacial lakes in Antarctica, in January or February 2013.
Russia was the first to pierce 3,769 meters (12,365 ft) of solid ice to reach Lake Vostok early in 2012. But some scientists believe their samples may have been contaminated by drilling fluids.
The British scientists decided to abandon the mission after trying for 20 hours to connect two holes in the ice that were needed for the hot-water drill to work, said a BAS spokeswoman.
Without a connection between the two holes, the hot water would seep into the porous surface layers of ice and be lost, reducing the pressure and rendering the drill ineffective.
The team tried to melt and dig more snow to compensate for the water loss, but without success.
As a result of the extra time taken to fix the problem, fuel stocks had been depleted to such a level as to make the operation unviable.
Asked how long the delay might be before the project could be resumed, Siegert told the BBC: "It will take a season or two to get all our equipment out of Antarctica and back to the UK, so at a minimum we're looking at three to four, maybe five years I would have thought."
However, he said he felt this year's mission had not been a complete loss.
The BAS spokeswoman said: "It's very possible that either the U.S. or Russia may take the lead but I think the one thing we've learned here is that anything can go wrong."
"We've never depicted this as a race. All sub-glacial lakes would give different information," she said.

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Experts call off search for life in Antarctic lake

 British scientists have called off the hunt for exotic life in an ice-bound Antarctic lake after their mission was hit by a technical hitch.
Researchers with the British Antarctic Survey had hoped to drill into Lake Ellsworth, which they believe has been frozen over for hundreds of thousands of years, in the hope of finding microbial life forms that might provide new insight into the evolution of life on Earth. They also hoped the lake floor's sediments might yield a new record of the Earth's climate.
But the project had to be called off following difficulties with drilling. A statement posted to the survey's website on Thursday said the operation had been canceled, and it was not clear if or when the scientists would try again.

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L-com: New D-Subminiature Gender Changers Have Hardware Removed for Panel Mounting

L-com now offers a gender changer D-Sub adapter that comes without the mating hardware. In most panel-mount applications, the mating hardware included with the gender changers is removed and thrown out. This new series includes four popular D-Sub sizes and saves installers precious time.

North Andover, MA (PRWEB) December 27, 2012
L-com, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of wired and wireless connectivity products, has launched a line of D-Subminiature female to female gender changers that have the normal mating hardware removed so it does not get in the way of panel mounting. The new items come in DB9, DB15, and DB25 sizes, as well as an HD15, commonly used in SVGA video applications.
Ordinary D-Sub gender changers come with mating hardware that is too short for panel mounting, requiring the installer to remove the old hardware before adding the new, as you can see in the "How To Panel Mount D-Subminiature Adapters" video on L-com’s website. For larger installations, this extra step can add up to a lot of time. By offering these adapters without the hardware, L-com saves installers time and money.
"A number of our customers had mentioned that they never use the mating hardware that comes with our slimline D-Sub gender changers," said Steve Smith, Product Manager. "We realized that offering these items without the hardware was a benefit for them."
The new gender changers are scheduled to be in stock before 2013 and available for same-day shipment. A 3D CAD model and 2D engineering drawing with mounting dimensions is available for free download from L-com's website.

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Hair Restoration Company Now Offers Regrowth Solution for Men by Provillus

Hair restoration formula is now offered to men to help with hair regrowth at Provillus.com. This new product is launched for the first time online and is a topical formula to help regrow lost hair in balding men.

Hartford, Connecticut (PRWEB) December 27, 2012
A new hair regrowth product is now available exclusively for men. The Provillus company has launched its new topical formula to help men regrow lost hair. This FDA registered company offers one of the only solutions to help men treat hair loss apart from undergoing hair follicle surgery. This medically tested formula is designed for male adults with thinning or already balding hair.
Restoration of the hair line is typically performed through surgical procedures. Men that have lost a substantial amount of hair could require more than one procedure to receive pleasing results. The new formula that is released is designed to provide an alternative to surgical procedures and reduce the cost of hair regrowth solutions.
One of the benefits of this new formula is the frequency of use. While some formulas available require multiple daily treatments, the topical solution inside of the Provillus brand requires one to two sprays directly on the scalp each day. This allows fast absorption into the hair follicles to help stop hair from falling out and stimulate new growth.
Men that have tried more than one alternative to combat daily loss of remaining hair could benefit from exploring the benefits of this new topical solution. The new launch of this product now provides men with a 90-day usage guarantee.
This new 3-month period of time is designed to allow men that sample the product to receive the regrowth benefits that are offered in this topical formula.
About Provillus Hair Restoration
The Provillus Hair Restoration company was founded in 2002 and now offers solutions for men and women that are fighting hair loss. This FDA registered company is also a member of the Natural Products Association to help ensure that health and wellness products that are offered provide the holistic ingredients that men and women demand. The Provillus Hair Restoration company now offers its products for sale online to provide solutions to those that experience thinning or balding of the hair line. Through research and development, new solutions are tested and updated to ensure the most effective ingredients are used by this company.

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$100,000 raised in 24 hours after Sandy destroys Ali Forney Center

Cincinnati , Ohio (PRWEB) December 27, 2012
Rescue organizations are often the ones who respond to natural disasters. But what happens when the rescue organization is the one that's hit? The Ali Forney Center location in Manhattan provided shelter, counseling, medical attention and food to New York City's homeless LGBT youth until Hurricane Sandy hit. Alex Roque is their Director of Development. “We lost our clinic, vaccines medicines and food supplies. We served 10,000 meals a year out of our kitchen there. Our Clothing Closet was also destroyed by flooding. We lost our entire space.”
Executive Director Carl Siciliano announced the news through a post on Facebook and immediately there was an outpouring of support. Through DonorDrive Social Fundraising Software, the Ali Forney Center raised $100,000 in the first 24 hours. To date, they've raised $450,000. Alex was able to monitor donations closely as they came in. “It was pretty amazing. People really cared and they created urgency around our need.”
In those first 24 hours, social media played a big part in raising donations. “We were tweeted and retweeted significantly and celebrities picked up on it. Facebook was huge.” Alex watched social media to see which was generating the most donations. “The number one source of revenue was Facebook and through DonorDrive, we were able to see what was trending and where the traffic was coming from, which is a beautiful thing to watch. It told us Facebook was trending, so we did more on Facebook. Facebook themselves actually called us and said 'We heard what happened and we want to help' and that made it even more of great response.”
Google obviously played an important role in finding where to donate online. “I don't know how DonorDrive does it, but whenever you google us, our fundraising pages come up on top. That was really important after Sandy. If you googled 'Sandy' and 'Ali Forney', in spite of all the media coverage, our donation page was right there. Our previous fundraising software couldn't do that.”
Two months later, those donations are being put to use. “I'm happy to report we opened up in our new space on December 19th. It will still be several months before we're up and running at 100%, but we're open and providing services.”
Alex chose DonorDrive as the Ali Forney Center's fundraising software a year earlier based on ease of use and social integration, which proved to be a big asset after Sandy. “The generosity of people and of the community that cares, especially in a situation like this, was punctuated by DonorDrive. DonorDrive allowed that generosity and that care to be shown in a very clear way. It really made it easy to see that love.”
The Ali Forney Center is the nation's largest homeless Gay-Lesbian-Bi-Transgender youth shelter with 10 sites in the New York City area. For 10 years their mission has been rescuing GLBT teens who have often been abused and are living on the street. Learn more at AliForneyCenter.org
DonorDrive® is truly effective software dedicated to event-based social fundraising for medium and large non-profits. Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, Doctors Without Borders, Autism Speaks Canada and Team ASPCA are a few of the causes that use DonorDrive Social Fundraising software for their runs, walks, rides and virtual campaigns to engage constituents and maximize donations. Every year, people are raising millions for great causes through DonorDrive. Learn more at DonorDrive.com

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Dr. Sherri Wilcox Pens Inspiring New Book, “Gift of Freewill®”

“Humanity has fallen into a canyon far away from God, and many of us don’t know why we are here or what we are supposed to be doing,” Dr. Sherri Wilcox explains. “It’s important to recognize that in order to find happiness, man must learn how to avoid being an instrument of his own destruction.” With this in mind, she aims to help others find their way back to the light in her new book, “Gift of Freewill®”(published by iUniverse).
“Gift of Freewill®” gives readers an alternative way to look at their life circumstances and provides them with a means to elevate themselves above where they currently are.
“I know in my heart that all of my brethren are seeking these answers and these feelings, the feelings of connecting, belonging, and understanding. These answers are within this book, and I am very grateful for being able to share this information with all of you.”

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Cheap Concert Tickets has 2013 One Direction Tickets Available for 1D Fans Who Missed Seeing This Popular Band Perform Live During 2012

Cheap Concert Tickets announces that discounted One Direction tickets are still available for all their 2013 tour dates. This popular secondary ticket exchange is offering the special customer appreciation code Save for special savings.

New York, NY (PRWEB) December 27, 2012
Cheap Concert Tickets reports that One Direction's popularity around the World continues in an upward spiral. One Direction is a British/Irish boy band that indeed is a perfect Cinderella story. They have received unparalleled interest in less than a year and their popularity shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. 1D, as their fans fondly call them, is perhaps the most watched and admired boys band in the past decade. These handsome guys were the warm up band for the Big Time Rush tour during early 2012 and is was very obvious that the young audience were just as fond of them as they were of Big Time Rush. Many popular bands get their start by being warm up bands for more established acts and this is how Lady Gaga got noticed a few years ago. One Direction is often referred to as 1D and their millions of followers are known as "Directioners."
The members of One Direction are Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. These five chaps all applied as solo candidates in 2010 for X-Factor but unfortunately none of them qualified as solo artists. Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, felt that they were so talented that they should join forces and form a boy band. Nicole surely had no idea that her idea would turn out being a "golden" one. They had five weeks to solidify as a group which would enable them to compete in the "Group" section of the competition. They teamed up in Manchester with the help of Style's stepfather and this offered the group valuable time to get acquainted and have some practice time. One Direction took 3rd place in X-Factor in the Group category and also signed onto Simon Cowell's record label.
Their first album "Up All Night" came out in November 2011 and it was a huge success in the UK. It debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. which made 1D the first UK group to debut at number one on the U.S. charts. The BRIT Award for Best British Single was awarded to their song "What Makes You Beautiful." Music historians have called One Direction the "British Invasion" of this century. They have also appeared as special guests on many radio stations around North America which has added to the One Direction frenzy. Recently 1D was on Saturday Night Live which gave parents a good opportunity to see why their daughters were so enthralled with these "cute" guys from across the pond.
Cheap Concert Tickets has a substantial inventory One Direction tickets and cheap tickets for all upcoming sports, concert and theatre events worldwide. This well known online ticket exchange has added an exclusive coupon code Save for added savings.
One Direction June 2013 Tour Dates:
Thursday, June 13, 2013 Ft. Lauderdale, FL, BB&T Center

Friday, June 14, 2013 Miami, FL, American Airlines Arena

Sunday, June 16, 2013 Louisville, KY, KFC Yum! Center

Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Columbus, OH, Nationwide Arena

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 Nashville, TN, Bridgestone Arena

Friday, June 21, 2013 Atlanta, GA, Philips Arena

Saturday, June 22, 2013 Raleigh NC, PNC Arena

Sunday, June 23, 2013 Washington, DC, Verizon Center

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center       

Wednesday, June 26, 2013 Boston, MA, Comcast Center

Friday, June 28, 2013 Wantagh, NY, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
One Direction July 2013 Tour Dates:
Tuesday, July 2, 2013 East Rutherford, NJ, Izod Center

Thursday, July 4, 2013 Montreal, Quebec, Bell Centre

Friday, July 5, 2013 Hershey, PA, Hersheypark Stadium

Saturday, July 6, 2013 Hershey, PA, Hersheypark Stadium

Monday, July 8, 2013 Pittsburgh, PA, Consol Energy Center

Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Toronto, ON, Air Canada Centre

Wednesday, July 10, 2013 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

Friday, July 12, 2013 Detroit, MI, Palace of Auburn Hills

Saturday, July 13, 2013 Chicago, Il, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

Sunday, July 14, 2013 Chicago, IL, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

Thursday, July 18, 2013 Minneapolis, MN, Target Center

Friday, July 19, 2013 Kansas City, MO, Missouri Sprint Center

Sunday, July 21, 2013 Houston, TX, Toyota Center

Monday, July 22, 2013 Dallas, TX, American Airlines Center

Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Denver, CO, Pepsi Center

Thursday, July 25, 2013 Salt Lake City, UT, Maverick Center

Saturday, July 27, 2013 Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena

Sunday, July 28, 2013 Seattle, WA, Key Arena

Tuesday, July 30, 2013 San Jose, CA, HP Pavilion

Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Oakland, CA, Oracle Arena
One Direction August 2013 Tour Dates:
Friday, August 2, 2013 Las Vegas, NV, Mandalay Bay Events Center

Saturday, August 3, 2013 Las Vegas, NV, Mandalay Bay Events Center

Sunday, August 4, 2013 Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista CA

Tuesday, August 6, 2013 San Diego, CA, Cricket Wireless Arena

Wednesday, August 7, 2013 Los Angeles, CA, Staples Center

Thursday, August 8, 2013 Los Angeles CA, Staples Center

Friday, August 9, 2013 Los Angeles CA, Staples Center

Saturday, August 10, 2013 Los Angeles CA, Staples Center
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