1. iPhone Birthday
, QR Code: Hot Trends
, QR Code: Hot Trends2. Minnesota
braces for shutdown as budget talks stop
braces for shutdown as budget talks stop
4. New Species 
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iPhone Birthday, QR Code: Hot Trends
Popular searches on the Internet Thursday include "iPhone birthday," one day after Apple's(AAPL_) iPhone turned four years old.
The original iPhone first went on sale on June 29, 2007, for $500, introducing the world to a large touchscreen smartphone. Today's current version is the iPhone 4, with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 rumored to be on the way. The thickness of the iPhone 4 has been reduced from the original, with an updated camera and faster processor.
Another popular topic on the Web Thursday is "QR code" -- otherwise known as Quick Response code.
These codes are matrix barcodes that are readable by camera phones and include encoded information such as text, URLs or other data. The use of QR codes is growing rapidly, with small businesses and major brands using them as marketing tools. Even companies like Microsoft(MSFT_) are attempting to get a piece of the action, launching its Tag codes as an alternative to QR codes.
"Google Wave" is another hot trend, after Google's(GOOG_) introduction of the +1 button.
Google's +1 button, which users can click to recommend content they like to their friends, is prompting speculation around the Internet about whether it will suffer the same fate as Google's failed Wave. Google Wave attempted to help users communicate and collaborate on the Web, but is no longer being developed as a standalone product.
The chatter on Main Street (a.k.a. Google, Yahoo! and other search sites) is always of interest to investors on Wall Street. Thus, each day, TheStreet compiles the stories that are trending on the Web, and highlights the news that could make stocks move.
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Minnesota braces for shutdown as budget talks stop
A wide-ranging state government shutdown bore down on Minnesota on Thursday, threatening to shutter state parks on the brink of a holiday weekend and furlough thousands of workers if a budget deal wasn't struck by midnight.
Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, and top Republicans broke off budget talks late Thursday morning after slightly more than an hour, with no word on when they might resume. Six previous straight days of negotiations, following a six-month impasse over how to solve a $5 billion deficit, have failed to produce a breakthrough.
Both Dayton and top lawmakers remain in the Capitol building.
Earlier, Republican Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch declined to comment to reporters on her way into the meeting. "Sorry, guys," she said as she walked past a crowd of reporters and photographers.
Some citizens rushed to get driver's and fishing licenses before the shutdown, and state parks were preparing to tell campers to leave as early as Thursday afternoon. The shutdown also would idle non-emergency road construction, shut the state zoo and Capitol, and stop child-care assistance for the poor. More than 40 state boards and agencies would go dark.
The shutdown wouldn't halt critical services, including the State Patrol, prisons and disaster response.
In Afton State Park, east of St. Paul, Karen Weis and her children and relatives were starting to pack up their camp in case they needed to leave. Weis, a nurse from Austin, said they hadn't known about the possible shutdown when they scheduled the trip in March.
Weis was disappointed, but seemed resigned.
"If we have to leave early, we have to leave early," she said. "It's such a glorious place to be."
Republicans have been pressing Dayton to call a special session so they can pass a "lights on" budget bill to keep government operating past 12:01 a.m. Friday, when a shutdown would start, but the governor has resisted that approach.
"This is going to be a tough shutdown, and people will notice," David Lillehaug, Dayton's attorney in the case, said Wednesday. "Anyone who says that government doesn't do anything and doesn't do it well, upon reading this order ... they're going to realize they're very, very wrong."
Dayton and top Republicans stopped talking publicly about their negotiations days ago, saying they didn't want to jeopardize any progress. After breaking for the last time Wednesday night, Geoff Michel, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said the two sides were "very close" but provided no further details.
The budget dispute started in January, when Dayton became the state's first Democratic governor in 20 years and Republicans took over the Legislature for the first time in 38 years.
Republicans swept to power campaigning against tax and spending increases, while Dayton won on a message of raising taxes on the highest earners. A five-month legislative session and intermittent negotiations since adjournment last month have produced no visible progress.
With the politicians mostly silent, the most significant development Wednesday came from Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin. She weighed arguments from several parties on which services should be maintained in a shutdown, and ultimately sided mostly with Dayton's minimalist list.
Gearin found that some programs, such as horse racing and child care aid programs not directly tied into the federal welfare system, were important but did not rise to the level of critical services.
The judge said state payments to cities, counties and schools would continue, as would enough money to keep Dayton's office and the Legislature running with at least skeletal crews. She ordered that the state keep welfare, food stamp and Medicaid health care programs operating.
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Jake Gyllenhaal In 'Man Vs. Wild' Trailer: Joins Bear Grylls In Iceland
Jake Gyllenhaal has a fear of heights.
So perhaps climbing an icy mountain in Iceland wasn't the best idea. Climbing an icy mountain in front of a camera? Definitely not the best idea.
Gyllenhaal guests in the season premiere of "Man vs. Wild," taking to the harsh, rocky outskirts of Iceland alongside insane adventurer host, Bear Grylls. In this first clip, the "Source Code" star reveals his fear of heights -- and the unfortunate, nerve-induced positioning of his manhood.
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New Species Puts Newport Aquarium in Rare Company
Newport Aquarium announced today the addition of 11 new Macaroni penguins to its recently opened Penguin Palooza exhibit. The new species is the fifth penguin species on display in the exhibit, making Newport Aquarium’s gallery the second most diverse collection of cold-weather penguins in the country.
The Macaroni penguins join the King, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Rockhopper penguins in Penguin Palooza. Only Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston, Texas can claim more penguin diversity in a single exhibit with six species. Newport Aquarium ties Sea World San Diego with its five species.
Opened in March, Penguin Palooza – sponsored by Kroger – features new species, a new habitat for the birds and new interactive opportunities for guests. Visitors can sit right next to the 8,000-gallon tank in the new seating area and come face-to-face with the penguins as they swim and play. There’s an activity area to learn more about penguin habitats and conservation, and guests can take their picture next to life-size penguin sculptures. Penguin Palooza also features the Aquarium’s newest live show with a presenter who will entertain guests with penguin facts and interact with several animated penguin characters on a new high definition video board, all made exclusively for the new Penguin Palooza Exhibit.
The Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus) is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it bears a distinctive yellow crest just above its eyes and prominent bill. Adults weigh about 12 lbs. and are about 28 inches tall. The male and female are similar in appearance although the male is slightly larger with a relatively larger bill. Like all penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine lifestyle.
With about 18 million individuals, the Macaroni penguin is the most numerous penguin species. However, widespread decline in populations have been recorded since the mid 1970s. These factors result in their conservation status being reclassified as vulnerable.
The new birds at the Aquarium range from 2 to 18 years old. There are 7 males and 4 females.
“Our guests are going to love the new birds,” Urban said. “They have that distinctive cresting and color and are the third biggest penguin we have in the new display. They really fill out the space and make it even more active and therefore more fun.”
Seven total Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) institutions display Macaroni penguins. The first Macaroni penguins in the United States were brought to the National Zoo in 1947.
In the wild, Mac penguins would eat squid and krill. At the Aquarium, they’ll enjoy a steady diet of capelin, herring, mackerel, silversides, smelt, squid and krill.
The Penguin Palooza Exhibit is a cold-weather habitat, kept at 34-degrees and on the lighting cycle of the Antarctic Peninsula and the sub-Antarctic islands, where these animals are found naturally.
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Miracles of the day
Financial Miracle
"It was the beggining of the year 2011 when i trusted God for the school fee for one of the orphans who was admitted to school and she had no school fees . I trusted God for the money and god opened a door for the fee of the first term. My heart was glade and the girl went to school . I am trusting God for the rest of the balance for the nest period of time. May the name of the lord be glorified."
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Saved from car wreckage
"On 3rd of August 2010, I received a call that my three male children, one a first class Engineering graduate and two Engineering undergraduates were involved in a ghastly accident. On that faithful day, the three of them drove out in their mothers car wihtout prior notice to other parents outside our state of resident. They apparently wanted to drop one of them in the school after a weekend visit home. Just some few kilometres to the state capital where they were going,the car summersaulted and went rolling into a deep pitch while negotiating a sharp bend trying to avoid an oncoming vehicle. Miraculosly, inspite of the wreckage of the car, they all came out unhurt not even a single scratch on their bodies. However, a good samaritan whom God sent to the site of the accident quickly rescued them and took them to the hospital, pay the medical bill even before we arrive. Seeing the extent of wreckage of the car, passersbye never believed that anybody could be saved in the car.It was the most wonderful miracle in our life as we would have lost three vibrant children at the same time. The Lord is good. Praise God."
Endometriosis Miracle Disappearance
"I have for 46 years cumulatively been a Hindu, non believer,atheist and agnostic. I had endometriosis for the past maybe 7-8 years. I have one child and could not conceive any others. After numerous miscarriages, I gave up on having more children. I was diagnosed with this disease and lived through it for years and a couple of operations to remove this disease from my organs. Sometimes the pain was worse than childbirth I was saved in Oct 2009. I had no idea what Christianity was about, and for 7 months, studied the bible and did Alpha and some other cleansing streams courses. Still sick with this disease and having another operation to remove tumours the size of a cricket ball from my womb and stretched ovaries. They normally grew back after 4 months or so. I only realised in Sept 2010, that Jesus has given us authority to heal by His powers. I also committed my life to His Kingdom and spreading the Gospel. I stopped telling God how big this disease was, and commiting this to Him, starting telling this horrible disease how big my God was. I, together with some wonderful saints prayed over my body and asked it to go away as it did not belong there. I took a pelvic scan 2 days later, All the radiologist could find was a shadow where the disease was previouslyI am free from any endometriosis PRAISE GOD, for fulfilling His promises, as he healed back then and He heals now and will continue to do so in future. I share this testimony because I want to glorify His name. I am Gods child and so are you, He says ask and you shall receive, He is a faithful God. I have been studying the Bible for a year and now starting my ministry incorporating women and evangelism. AMEN"
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