ESA gets big budget, prepares Mars mission

After no less than 48 hours of negotiating in Naples, Italy, the 20 European nations that support the European Space Agency (ESA) have finally agreed on a budget for the agency and a set of priorities which, while not delightful, doesn?t disappoint, despite the tight economic situation Europe is in at the moment.

ESA?s activities, much like NASA?s, are quite diverse ? from monitoring meteorology to communications, space exploration and running the International Space Station. However, the objectives for the near future are drawn out quite firmly: space exploration is the priority. While a mission to the Moon hasn?t been approved, governments have agreed on a mission to Mars, in collaboration with Russia: the much-troubled ExoMars mission will take place in 2016, if everything goes according to plan.

?It?s a pity that we?ve lost the partnership with NASA but it?s good that we?ve now got the Russians coming in instead, so we?re optimistic that this is now on track,? British Science Minister David Willetts said.

The big fund raise was offered by the UK, who, for the first time, said it will be contributing to the budget. However, the UK is interested in satellite development and meteorology.

?We are backing sectors where Britain has got great strengths, for example the next generation of telecomms satellites,? he said. ?We think that satellite broadband, satellite TV, satellite communications will be very important to the future?, Willets added.

Source: http://www.zmescience.com/space/esa-mars-mission-budget-22112012/

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Taylor Swift Admits Her Issues With Love! | PerezHilton.com

Someone's having a growth spurt!!

Look, we love Swifty as much as we love intensely decorated cupcakes, but it's a well-known fact that the gurl just loves to love.

And sometimes she can love a little too hard for her own good.

But hey! She's recognizing that fatal relationship flaw now! Like, recognizing it in detail!!

When asked about her relationship patterns, Taylor Swift admits she loves without thinking things through, saying:

"I don't think there's an option for me to fall in love slowly, or at medium speed. I either do or I don't. I don't think it through, really, which is a good and a bad thing. You don't look before you leap, which is like, 'Yay, this is awesome! Let's not think twice!' And then you're like, 'We used to be flying. Now we're falling. What's happening?'"

We've all been there, gurl. LOL!

But now, since she has had so many boyfriends, she's questioning which ones were real loves and which were simply infatuation:

"I tend to think things are love and then look back and reevaluate. I know how many people I've said 'I love you to' to. I could probably count it up, but I don't feel like it. Part of me feels like you can't say you were truly in love if it didn't last. If I end up getting married and having kids, that's when I'll know it's real ? because it lasted."

Whoa!!! Hold up there? why are we talking about marriage so fast??

Please, Tay? elaborate:

"People think I want to get married really young ? I don't know why. I'm a romantic person, but that doesn't mean I want to miss out on being in my young 20s."

Phew! She's smarter than some may think!

And hey, it's a good thing she's realizing all of this now. Some people still have these complexes when they're in their forties!

So maybe now the One Direction fans can relax about her puppy love with Harry Styles. We know it's gonna be hard no matter what, Directioners? but at least you know marriage isn't on the horizon! Ha!

Speaking of Harry? Taylor did confess what she likes in a man. And we think all of Harry's fans will agree he fits the bill on this one:

"There's a really interesting charisma involved. They usually have a lot to say, and even if they don't, they know how to look at you to say it all. I think every girl's dream is to find a bad boy at the right time, when he wants to not be bad anymore."

Truth!

Oh Taylor? we hope everything with HAYLOR goes lovingly well for you.

We know you need a good one. But if this one ends in heartbreak? just focus on the INCREDIBLE career you have and real love will come when you least expect it!

[Image via Cousart-Rayne/JFXimages/WENN.]

Tags: fans, harry styles, issues, love, marriage, one direction, problems, relationship, taylor swift

Source: http://perezhilton.com/2012-11-23-taylor-swift-admits-problems-in-love-life-relationships

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Kudelski Group: Product Launch - InvestEgate

Press Release

Kudelski Group launches Kudelski Security

Cheseaux, Switzerland, November 21st, 2012 -The Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S), the world's leading independent provider of media content protection and value-added service technology, announces today the launch of Kudelski Security, its new Cyber Security division.

"Having dealt with security for a few decades and having fought piracy on behalf of our customers for the last 20 years, we have developed an unmatched talent pool with a unique skillset that we want to leverage by offering a new protection paradigm to anyone exposed on the internet," said Andr? Kudelski, CEO of the Kudelski Group. "In an increasingly connected world, companies, families, individuals are all targeted by the new cyber threats and action is needed now," he added.

Going beyond a pure technology security offering

"The purpose of Kudelski Security is to deliver tailored cyber security solutions and services to enterprises, financial institutions, government administrations and our media customers. Initial focus will be Europe, before expanding the offering worldwide, such as for our existing media customers," said Christophe Nicolas, SVP & Head of Kudelski Security.

The Kudelski Security offering consists of a set of services initially focusing on assisting companies to assess risk and vulnerabilities in order to ensure privacy and confidentiality of their data and analytics as they move their business processes and applications in a cloud dependent ecosystem. The offer will include monitoring the evolution of the threats and keeping consumer data secured, while access to data becomes more dynamic and mobile, through new consumer devices like smartphones and tablets.

Kudelski Security goes beyond a pure technology security offering by combining technological know-how and legal expertise, compliance, field investigation & crisis communication into a new type of global Cyber Alert Response Squad.

Kudelski Security's global reach and multi-disciplinary incident response is reinforced by strategic international partnerships.

The Kudelski Security core team is now counting 80 dedicated security experts with field-proven electronic defense and response capabilities and we plan to expand this team progressively. The Kudelski Security team has access to 1000+ security experts in other Kudelski Group divisions.

About Kudelski Security

Kudelski Security, a division of the Kudelski Group, is an innovative independent Swiss provider of tailored cyber security solutions and services to enterprises, financial institutions, government administrations and the media industry. Its team of cyber security professionals boasts extensive expertise in the delivery of end-to-end digital security solutions built upon real-life experiences in advanced threat detection, security assessments, asset and reputation protection, as well as piracy risk mitigation. Kudelski Security's global reach and multi-disciplinary incident response is reinforced by strategic international partnerships. Kudelski Security is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information visit: www.kudelskisecurity.com

About the Kudelski Group

The Kudelski Group (SIX: KUD.S) is a world leader in digital security and convergent media solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive content. Its technologies are used in a wide range of services and applications requiring access control and rights management to secure the revenue of content owners and service providers for digital television and interactive applications across broadcast, broadband and mobile delivery networks. The Kudelski Group is also a world technology leader in the area of access control and management of people or vehicles to sites and events. The Kudelski Group is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information, please visit www.nagra.com.

Links

Kudelski Security photos: http://www.rezo.ch/selection/kudelskisecurity/

Brochure: http://www.nagra.com/cms/Investors-doc-center.html

Contacts

Phil Mundwiller

Kudelski Group

Vice President

Head of Corporate Communications

+41 21 732 01 81

phil.mundwiller@nagra.com

Santino Rumasuglia

Kudelski Group

Vice President

Head of Investor Relations

+41 21 732 01 24

santino.rumasuglia@nagra.com

Source: http://www.investegate.co.uk/article.aspx?id=20121121060000T4521

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The Five Biggest Mistakes Made When Buying Travel Insurance

St. Petersburg, FL (PRWEB) November 20, 2012

Because the language is legal in nature, deciphering the definitions and exclusions of travel insurance policies can be difficult. Squaremouth, Americas fastest-growing travel insurance comparison site, regularly receives policy questions because of this. The following list provides the most common mistakes made when purchasing travel insurance in order to help travelers get their next purchases right.

Dont Make These Mistakes:

1. Misunderstanding pre-existing condition exclusions

Pre-existing medical conditions include any illnesses that develop or change during a policys look-back period, which is the 60-180 day window prior to purchase. Travelers usually only think about the health of those listed on a policy and dont consider the pre-existing conditions of family members who arent traveling. However, many providers will also examine non-traveling family members for these conditions.

This can be an issue if cancellation is caused by a non-traveling family member with a pre-existing condition, says Chris Harvey, Squaremouths CEO. Consider a traveler who has to cancel a trip because his father is hospitalized due to a pre-existing condition. If the travelers insurance policy takes pre-existing conditions of non-traveling family members into account, but does not include pre-ex coverage, associated losses cannot be claimed. Because of this, it is crucial to make sure policies either include pre-existing condition coverage or do not consider the health of non-traveling family members if this is a cancellation concern.

2. Purchasing unnecessary cancel for any reason coverage

Travelers often purchase cancel for any reason when they just need trip cancellation benefits. Cancel for any reason allows travelers to cancel trips, up to two days before scheduled departure, without providing a reason. The benefit generally increases a policys premium by about 50%, and will not reimburse 100% of trip costs; depending on the policy, this benefit may allow travelers to recover 60-90% of costs.

Because of these stipulations, Squaremouth advises travelers to make sure the coverage they need isnt already included in their policys trip cancellation benefits. Trip cancellation reimburses up to 100% of trip costs if a trip is cancelled for a covered reason. Depending on the policy, covered reasons may include: death, injury or sickness of travelers, travel companions, or family members, terrorism, financial default, common carrier strikes, or poor weather conditions.

3. Purchasing too late

One of the most common mistakes made by travelers is purchasing travel insurance policies too late. Although insurance can be purchased up until the day before scheduled departure, many benefits are time-sensitive. Pre-existing conditions and cancel for any reason benefits are not available if a policy is not purchased within the required timeframe. Similarly, cancellation and interruption benefits for weather, financial default, and common carrier strikes are only valid if a policy is purchased while such events remain unforeseen. Purchasing a policy early gives travelers the opportunity to maximize these benefits.

4. Misunderstanding baggage and personal items loss maximums

Baggage and personal items loss benefits will reimburse travelers for the loss or theft of items during their trip. Like the benefit schedules of some emergency medical coverage, the maximums of baggage and personal items loss may also have limitations.

Usually, baggage and personal items loss benefits have an overall maximum, and smaller, per item and specific item maximums. Specific items often include valuables like jewelry, furs or electronics. When traveling with valuables that exceed a policys baggage and personal items loss maximums, Squaremouth recommends that travelers schedule these items with homeowners or renters insurance policies to make sure their belongings are adequately insured.

5. Not examining benefit schedules for emergency medical coverage

Some travel insurance policies have specific benefit schedules for emergency medical coverage. This means that a policy may have a $ 50,000 maximum, but within that, there are smaller maximums for specific procedures or treatments. These may include caps on dental treatments, daily hospital expenses, surgeries, x-rays, and ambulance services.

If there are restrictions to emergency medical maximums, they will be fully detailed in a policys certificate. Travelers should review certificates for any restrictions to ensure they are comfortable with the medical coverage offered.

Travel insurance can be a great way to protect travel dollars against the unforeseen, but is important to understand policy definitions and restrictions. These five most common mistakes with insurance purchases can be avoided by reviewing policy certificates and speaking with insurance experts prior to purchase. Doing so will ensure that travelers receive the coverage they need.

Squaremouth has knowledgeable, licensed representatives who are delighted to assist with questions. They can be reached at 1-800-240-0369, Monday-Friday, from 9am-9pm EST.

About Squaremouth

Squaremouth is Americas fastest-growing travel insurance comparison site, providing the tools to instantly quote, compare and buy policies from every major provider. The company is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL, with offices in Fort Wayne, IN. For more information on Squaremouth or its extensive network of partner sites worldwide, visit http://www.squaremouth.com.

About our Zero Complaint Guarantee

The cornerstone of Squaremouths commitment to customers is the guarantee to remove any provider with a customer complaint that cannot be resolved to Squaremouths satisfaction. Squaremouth offers the broadest selection of insurance, with an emphasis on quality, follow-up care, and independent evaluations from insurance industry watchdog, AM Best.

Squaremouth offers products from the following travel insurance providers:

Air Ambulance Card, AMEX Assurance Company, Azimuth Risk Solutions, LLC, CSA Travel Protection, Global Alert Administrators, HCC Medical Insurance Services, HTH Worldwide, IMG, iTravelInsured, John Hancock Insurance Agency, Inc., MedjetAssist, MH Ross Travel Insurance Services, Seven Corners Inc, Travel Guard, Travel Insurance Services, Travel Insured International, Travelex Insurance Services, TravelSafe, Trawick International, USA-ASSIST Worldwide Protection, and VacationGuard.

AVAILABLE TOPIC EXPERTS:

Chris Harvey

charvey(at)squaremouth(dot)com

Toll-free (800) 240-0369 x 6103

Direct (727) 490-5802

Chrisharvey.com

Jenna Gravino

jgravino(at)squaremouth(dot)com

Direct (727) 502-6849

Source: http://www.thewesterntrib.com/health-insurance-providers/the-five-biggest-mistakes-made-when-buying-travel-insurance.html

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Project Change Management: What is the Importance of Change ...

Change management is one of the most important disciplines of Information Technology Infrastructure management. The Wikipedia defines change management as "The objective of Change Management in this context is to ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes to controlled IT infrastructure, in order to minimise the number and impact of any related incidents upon service."

Change management was always an integral part of business management, but with emergence of Information technology it gathered seriousness. Information Technology Infrastructure management is one broad term which encompasses all the elements necessary to ensure smooth functioning of business processes which may be threatened due to technological problems or other incidents. It's the "change is rule" attitude (as coined by some experts) that forced these businessmen to change their attitude towards change management. Good change management techniques always help the businessmen to adapt and adopt new ways of doing business. Change management is not merely implementation of new techniques to cope up with a change within the organisation; rather it is a discipline of Information technology infrastructure managementwhere changes are managed with a more systematic, reliable, rigorous and disciplined approach. Changes are brought into system when the integrity of business organisation is challenged due to some incidents or customer requests or technological updates.

Process of change management unfolds through following steps

1. Identifying the need for change in organisation.
2. Designing need specific changes to curb with the requirement of the organisation.
3. Making others understand why change is necessary for the proper functioning of the organisation.
4. Altering the organisational process like processes, technology and performance meters to incorporate the changes.
5. Managing the production and changes to ensure that customer and the stakeholder continues to be bonded with each other over the long run.

According to Wikipedia Change management involves management of process related to Hardware, communications equipment and software, system software, and all documentation and procedures associated with the running, support and maintenance of live systems.

Project management is another aspect of change management, which needs to incorporate its values for proper functioning. There are some touch points between project management and change management. Project management is all about handling change with elance. It is defined as the discipline of planning, organising and managing resources in order to ensure the successful completion of projects. Aim of any project management endeavour is to attain the successful results despite of constraints like space, time, changes, quality, time and budget. Every project is developed around some permutation and combination methodology. Changes are made to the existing methodology in order to avoid potential failures. Identifying, managing and controlling changes become important for the smooth functioning of the Project. According to some experts "project is change and change is project". So it becomes difficult to differentiate or draw a line between the inter reliability of project management and change management.

Source: http://koftikafe.blogspot.com/2012/11/what-is-importance-of-change-management.html

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U.S. releases new health insurance reform rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. administration on Tuesday proposed new health insurance rules aimed at ending discrimination against the sick and guaranteeing minimum benefits for millions of Americans who are expected to obtain coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law.

The rules, unveiled by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, provide states and insurers with details about how the Obama administration intends to achieve its long-stated goals of guaranteeing access to those with preexisting conditions and making affordable coverage available to families through new online health insurance exchanges.

The administration also proposed rules laying out new consumer protections for wellness and other preventive healthcare coverage. The public has 30-60 days to comment on the proposals before the government finalizes them.

The proposed measures were likely to come under fire from healthcare reform opponents including a growing number of Republican governors who have rejected the provisions calling on states to operate their own healthcare exchanges beginning January 1, 2014.

States have until December 14, under a newly extended deadline, to tell the Department of Health and Human Services whether they intend to pursue their own healthcare exchanges, which are designed to offer consumers private insurance at subsidized rates beginning in October with open enrollment.

About 17 states have told the administration they plan to move ahead on exchanges, while at least eight Republican governors in recent days have rejected the plan outright or opted to cooperate with Washington in setting up a hybrid federal partnership exchange.

Still more states, which delayed implementation in hopes that Republican Mitt Romney would win the presidential election earlier this month and repeal the law, are only now deciding what to do and had called on the administration for more time and information.

Meanwhile, the administration is moving ahead to complete rule making to ensure timely implementation.

"The information we're putting out today will answer many of the states' remaining questions, as will additional guidance to be issued in the days and weeks ahead," Sebelius said in a conference call with reporters.

"I'm confident states will have what they need to move forward with creating these critical new health insurance markets," she said.

Sebelius said she would "sit down" with governors to discuss their concerns in the coming weeks, but provided no details.

State-level opposition and lethargy have raised concerns about whether the administration can establish functioning exchanges in states that need them. But administration officials insisted on Tuesday that the system will be up and running in all 50 states and the District of Columbia when the healthcare law comes fully into force in 2014.

"FOOD FIGHT"

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the most sweeping healthcare legislation since the 1960s, would extend coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people with about half that number obtaining insurance through the healthcare exchanges. The remainder would receive benefits from an expanded Medicaid program for low-income people.

To address regional inequities in the healthcare system, the law requires insurers to provide benefits across 10 categories in the individual and small-group markets, whether or not the plans are part of an exchange.

The categories are: ambulatory patient services; emergency services; hospitalization; maternity and newborn care; mental health and substance use disorder services; prescription drugs; rehabilitative and habilitative services; laboratory services; preventive and wellness care and chronic disease management; and pediatric services.

The proposed benefits rule largely codifies the contents of an administration bulletin last December that allowed each state to select a private or public insurance plan already operating in its market as a benchmark for benefits.

Dr. Arthur Kellermann of RAND Health, a think tank, said the approach leaves in place state variations in insurance quality the law was meant to eliminate. But he said the proposed rule still represented a significant improvement.

"It is a major step forward for consumers in trying to bring consistency to the insurance market in terms of covered services and the value of policies," Kellermann said.

The only major benefits change from last December, according to officials, is a richer prescription drug benefit. Instead of requiring insurers to offer one drug per class, the rule calls for either one drug or the same number as the benchmark plan, whichever is greater.

However, critics said the new rules lack important details and definitions about relatively new coverage for the disabled, the mentally ill and substance dependent, which are subject to a mandate that eliminates lifetime spending limits in health insurance plans.

"They're going out of their way to avoid doing what the law envisioned, which is spelling out the details, because it's such an ugly interest-group food fight," said Edmund Haislmaier of the conservative think thank, Heritage Foundation.

Health insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition, or from charging higher premiums because of current or past health problems, gender or occupation. The rules also would ensure access to catastrophic coverage plans for young adults and others who could not afford coverage otherwise.

The administration also proposed rules for expanding employment-based wellness programs to help control healthcare spending and to protect individuals from unfair underwriting practices that could otherwise reduce benefits based on their health status.

Gary Cohen, an administration official helping to oversee implementation, said the wellness rules seek to protect consumers from practices that could be used to reduce benefits based on a participant's health status.

(Editing by David Gregorio and Carol Bishopric)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-releases-healthcare-reform-rules-insurance-coverage-172918517.html

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