London haunts welcome Sherlock Holmes buffs

Sherlock Holmes fans can prove their passion with a stay at the Langham, which is offering a 595-pound-a-night package that includes accommodation in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Suite, breakfast for two and two tickets to a Sherlock Holmes walking tour.

By Jane Levere, msnbc.com contributor

Sherlock Holmes buffs have many things to look forward to this holiday season: the return of the famous detective to movie theaters and the chance to follow in his footsteps and those of his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in the United Kingdom.?

In honor of the December 16 release of Guy Ritchie?s ?Sherlock Holmes:? A Game of Shadows? ? featuring the stars of Ritchie?s previous Holmes film, Robert Downey, Jr. as the detective and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson ? several hotels in London have created Holmes-related promotions.

The Langham, London ??a landmark hotel at the top of Regent Street often visited by Conan Doyle ??is offering several Holmes-related packages. The more deluxe of the two, priced at 595 pounds per night, includes one night in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Suite; breakfast for two; two tickets to a Sherlock Holmes walking tour, with a guide from London Walks, the walking tour company; and the book, ?The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,? one of whose short stories mentions the Langham. The package is also being offered for 265 pounds per night with accommodations in a standard double room; both packages are available through March 31.

Meanwhile, through January 31, the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes, a boutique hotel near Holmes? residence on Baker Street, is offering a ?Sherlock Scones?? afternoon tea, including two scones decorated with a profile of the detective, tea or coffee, priced at 6.95 pounds. Guests also receive a quiz with Holmes-related questions and can borrow a magnifying glass to help find answers.

Also in London, every Friday afternoon London Walks offers a ?In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes? tour, which visits Charing Cross, the Strand and Covent Garden, sights once favored by the detective. Another must-see: The Sherlock Holmes Museum, at 221b Baker Street, whose study overlooking Baker Street is maintained as it was in Victorian times.

Dartmoor, a region of wild, open country in southwest England, is home to many sights that inspired Conan Doyle and his Holmes tales, like the tors, or rocky hills, of Believer and Vixen, and the Foxtor mires, or bogs.

A special, permanent exhibit at the Surgeons? Hall Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, where Conan Doyle was born in 1859 and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, is devoted to the author and Joseph Bell, Doyle?s professor of clinical surgery. Bell taught Conan Doyle the importance of detailed personal observation of medical patients, a skill famously attributed to Holmes. The exhibit contains letters, anatomical specimens, artwork and other objects that trace the family and professional backgrounds of Conan Doyle and Bell.

Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Noomi Rapace star as Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and Sim fight to stop Professor Moriarty's dangerous plans. Opens Dec. 16.

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Source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9446815-london-haunts-roll-out-welcome-mat-for-sherlock-holmes-buffs

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Retail sales growth weak in November (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Retail sales grew less than forecast in November, tempering some of the expectations for a strong holiday season that had been raised by signs of bumper Thanksgiving weekend sales.

Total retail sales increased 0.2 percent after rising by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in October, as less spending on food and beverages weighed against stronger auto sales, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

"It's fairly disappointing given that all the evidence was pointing to fairly strong gains during the month," said Millan Mulraine a macro strategist at TD Securities in New York.

Shoppers swarmed in to stores over the Thanksgiving weekend, traditionally retail's biggest sales period. Positive sales reports over that weekend led some analysts to predict a strong overall season.

However, many economists have warned the shopping frenzy may not carry through the holidays due to the nation's still high unemployment rate of 8.6 percent.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose sharply in the third quarter but November's retail sales growth was the weakest in any month since June. Americans have scaled back on saving this year, freeing up money for spending, but economists say that trend was not sustainable.

"November's modest rise could therefore be the start of a period in which households start to spend more within their means," said Paul Dales, an economist with Capital Economics in London.

Still, some of the weakness in retail sales was likely due to heavy discounting, Mulraine said.

One retailer that felt the pinch from heavy discounts was Best Buy Co's (BBY.N), the world's largest electronics chain. The firm on Tuesday reported a fall in third-quarter profits. Its shares dropped more than 10 percent.

Despite Best Buy's results, U.S. stock indexes rose about 1 percent and government debt prices pared losses after the economic data was published. The dollar weakened against the euro and the yen.

Federal Reserve policymakers gathered on Tuesday for a meeting that was expected to feature extensive discussion of new transparency steps but not yield any major policy shifts.

A recent string of improved economic data in the United States have eased fears of recession, buying the central bank time to gauge the impact of Europe's debt crisis on the U.S. economy.

Small businesses in the United States grew more confident in the economy's future in November, for a third straight month of improvement, bolstered by a more optimistic outlook for sales and hiring, according to a separate report released on Tuesday.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its Small Business Optimism Index rose 1.8 points to 92.0.

Also pointing to economic growth, U.S. business inventories rose in October by the most in five months. That reinforced the view that fourth-quarter economic growth could get a boost as companies restock their shelves.

Within the retail sales report, receipts for motor vehicles and parts fueled the overall increase, rising 0.5 percent.

Excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.2 percent after advancing 0.6 percent in October.

But sales at food and beverage stores fell 0.2 percent in November. Also holding back the overall gain in sales, receipts at gasoline stations dropped 0.1 percent last month after slipping 0.4 percent in October.

Core retail sales, which exclude autos, gasoline and building materials, rose 0.3 percent in November after advancing 0.7 percent the prior month.

Core sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of the government's gross domestic product report.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111213/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_retail

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Poland's Villas, Las Vegas star in 1960s, dies (AP)

WARSAW, Poland ? She was a coloratura soprano who spurned opera for popular music, a Polish singer who became a caberet star in Las Vegas, an artist trapped for years behind the Iron Curtain when she flew home to tend to her dying mother.

Singer Violetta Villas, 73, died late Monday at her home in Lewin Klodzki, a village in southern Poland, local police spokesman Pawel Petrykowski told The Associated Press. Prosecutors have ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death, he said Tuesday.

Villas was born Czeslawa Cieslak in 1938 to a Polish coal miner's family in Belgium.

A unique talent with a trademark cascade of curly blond hair, Villas had a voice that spanned four octaves. Rather then pursue an operatic career, she preferred popular music, a genre that brought her wide popularity in Poland ? where the family returned in 1948 after the World War II ? and abroad.

She once said her career was launched in 1960 by the head of state Polish Radio, composer Wladyslaw Szpilman ? whose own story of survival during the Holocaust was the theme of director Roman Polanski's 2003 Oscar-winning movie "The Pianist."

From 1966 to 1969, Villas sang at the Casino de Paris at the fame Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, performing with luminaries like Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Paul Anka and Eartha Kitt. She also recorded songs for Capitol Records.

Villas also appeared in movies, including the 1969 "Paint your Wagon" with Lee Marvin and "Heaven with a Gun" with Glenn Ford.

In 1970, she returned to Poland to tend to her ailing mother, but later the communist authorities refused to approve her passport. She was not able to return to the U.S. until 1987, when she had a tour, starting at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Villas was also known as a colorful personality who refused to bend to the requirements of a career. Since the late 1980s, she has given only occasional performances and sometimes failed to turn up for studio recordings.

In recent years she lived alone and ran a shelter for animals, but the shelter had to be closed due to overcrowding and insufficient care.

Villas was married twice: in 1954 in Poland to Piotr Gospodarek, and in 1988 in Chicago to Ted Kowalczyk, a businessman of Polish descent. Both marriages ended in divorce.

She is survived by her only son, Krzysztof. No funeral arrangements were immediately known.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_en_ot/eu_poland_obit_villas

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PFT: Hester says signing McNabb 'a waste of time'

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Former Raiders and Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden has been the subject of plenty of articles.? Most recently, he served as the subject of a comprehensive profile in The New Yorker.

It?s a lengthy article, and I actually read the whole thing.? Which means it?s good; otherwise, the adult ADD would have kicked in within the first few paragraphs.

Still, something was missing.

The article points out that Gruden routinely is ?criticized for overpraising players? publicly, but also points out that, in private settings, Gruden displays far less charity.

Writes Kelefa Sanneh of Gruden:? ?He is forever judging players who don?t or can?t excel ? ?slapdicks,? he calls them, or, more familiarly, ?slappies.?? A defensive lineman gets shoved back on his heels and collapses, too calmly, onto the turf.? ?He just looks like he?s enjoying this, getting blocked,? Gruden says.? Three receivers run malformed routes, and they all end up in the same throwing lane. ?That?s horrific,? Gruden says.? An offensive tackle dives halfheartedly at the feet of a defender, who leaps over him and knocks down the quarterback. ?I can?t take it,? Gruden says.?

So why the disconnect between the public and private persona?? ?His enthusiasm isn?t meant to fool the fans,? Sanneh writes, ?it?s meant to motivate and inspire them, as if they were players.?

Even if that isn?t a large chunk of baloney (and it probably is), the article overlooks the most prevalent theory regarding Gruden?s homage to Harvey Dent.? Many believe that Gruden fully intends to coach again, and that his ?everyone is the greatest? routine is aimed at ensuring that no bridges are burned, so that he?ll have maximum options ? and leverage ? when he decides to return.

It?s clear he?ll return.? ?I miss it a ton,? Gruden told Sanneh.? ?In some ways, I can?t believe I?m not a coach.?

And I can?t believe that a lengthy profile of Gruden was written without pointing out the possibility that his lack of authenticity in the broadcast booth flows from that desire to return to the sidelines under the best possible conditions.

Gruden was at it again on Monday night, chiding on-air partner Ron Jaworski for being ?the most negative guy I?ve ever met? after Jaws expressed an opinion that the Chargers won?t turn around their current 4-7 record.? Gruden then proceeded to apply his lips to the buttocks of Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, rattling off Rivers? record in the months of December and January and eventually encouraging him to tune out ?negative people? like Jaworski.

It makes sense.? With the Chargers reportedly poised to fire Norv Turner, there?s a chance that Gruden will be Rivers? next head coach.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/05/devin-hester-signing-donovan-mcnabb-would-be-a-waste-of-time/related/

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Judges: WikiLeaks' Assange can appeal against extradition

By msnbc.com wire services

Updated at 5:45 a.m. ET: Judges decide WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal??to the U.K.'s Supreme Court against lower court rulings that he should be extradited to Sweden over allegations of rape and molestation, The Associated Press reports.

Published at 4:20 a.m. ET: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to ask British judges Monday to let him continue his legal battle to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations.

Assange will ask high court judges to let him take his case to Britain's Supreme Court. If they refuse the request, he could be extradited to Stockholm within 10 days.

---

The 40-year-old Australian behind the anti-secrecy website has spent almost a year on bail in Britain fighting extradition for questioning over claims of rape and molestation made by two Swedish women. Assange, who has been living in Britain since his arrest here in December last year, denies wrongdoing.

Two courts have ruled against him so far.

For his case to be considered by Britain's Supreme Court, Assange's lawyers must persuade two High Court judges that it raises a question of "general public importance."

Assange spent nine days in London's Wandsworth prison after his arrest last year. He was freed a week before Christmas on bail and has since been living at the country house of a wealthy supporter in eastern England.

His arrest came shortly after WikiLeaks published thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables that included unflattering views of world leaders and candid assessments of security threats.

Assange says the allegations are politically motivated.

The application to take the case to?the Supreme Court rests on two legal questions: Is the warrant for Assange's arrest valid, and can he be considered an "accused" person as required under extradition laws when no decision has been taken over whether he will be prosecuted.

If his appeal fails, Assange could still take his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, further prolonging his stay in Britain.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/05/9218123-wikileaks-assange-in-vital-extradition-court-fight

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Just Show Me: How to set the default web browser in Windows 7 (Yahoo! News)

Is Syria in a civil war?

On Thursday, Navi Pillay, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, said that the nation's political unrest has indeed approached the level of a civil war. Pillay said her assessment stems in part from recognition that elements of the opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime are increasingly calling for armed resistance. She added that UN estimates of the conflict's death toll--4,000 killed in the past nine months--are likely understated.

"I have said that as soon as there were more and more defectors threatening to take up arms--I said this in August before the Security Council --there was going to be a civil war," Pillay told a news conference in Geneva Thursday, according to a Reuters report. "At the moment, that's how I am characterizing this."

However, it appears that Pillay's is not yet the official UN line. Shortly after she delivered her remarks, her spokesman walked back the characterization, asserting that Syria is, rather, on the "cusp" of civil war, and "heading" in that direction.

"It is definitely heading that way, with more and more reports of armed resistance to the government forces," Pillay's spokesman Rupert Colville told Reuters. "It is on the cusp, but in these circumstances it is hard to say definitively at what point it becomes civil war."

So what prompted the walk-back? And what determines whether the Syrian bloodshed constitutes a civil war?

State Department urges Syria opposition to remain peaceful

The State Department has likewise shied away from Pillay's characterization, noting that the United States has called on both the Syrian regime and the pro-democracy protesters alike to refrain from violence.

"Obviously, we have been very clear in saying that we believe that . . . the opposition needs to remain peaceful," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told journalists at the press conference Thursday.Read More ?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111202/tc_yblog_technews/just-show-me-how-to-set-the-default-web-browser-in-windows-7

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Verizon purportedly readying new LTE tablets, Xyboard gets namedropped

Are there two Droid tablets on Verizon's horizon? It certainly seems like it, now that CNET has outed the Motorola Mobility Droid Xyboard. According to the news outlet, Verizon is gearing up to release two different versions of the 4G LTE-equipped tablet -- an eight-inch model and a ten-incher, both slated for launch later this month. Motorola declined to provide details on the devices, and Verizon stopped short of spilling the beans on pricing and availability, though it did provide the following statement: "As we've previously mentioned, we're planning to bring several new LTE devices to market including two tablets. We haven't made any official announcements in the U.S. but we look forward to sharing more details soon."

CNET, meanwhile, apparently managed to get its hands on the two slates (pictured above), reporting that both carry a 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and a five-megapixel camera, along with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing shooter. They're also coated in Corning Gorilla Glass and CNET, in the absence of quantitative specs, reports that both are "thinner than a AAA battery and lighter than a paperback book." The stylus-equipped ten-inch version is reportedly geared toward the enterprise market, whereas its little brother is described as more media-friendly, presumably with the consumer market in mind. That's about all we know at this point, though be sure to check out CNET's coverage below for more images and insight.

Verizon purportedly readying new LTE tablets, Xyboard gets namedropped originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/02/verizon-purportedly-readying-new-lte-tablets-xyboard-gets-named/

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