theosophist insurer: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

'Stormin' Norman,' Desert Storm commander, to be laid to rest at ...

Philip Kamrass / AP

Max Karmazyn, right, sitting next to his grandmother Brenda Schwarzkopf, left, salutes during the burial of his late grandfather, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, at the United States Military Academy on Feb. 28, in West Point, N.Y.

By Matthew DeLuca and Betsy Cline, NBC News

Norman Schwarzkopf, the general who commanded the 30-country coalition that drove Saddam Hussein?s forces out of Kuwait, was remembered both as a larger than life military figure and trusted adviser during his burial ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Thursday.

A 1956 graduate of the military academy, ?Stormin? Norman? was remembered by family, friends, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Vice President Dick Cheney at a memorial service in the West Point chapel. The Desert Storm commander with a tough-as-tacks reputation died on Dec. 27 in Tampa, Fla., of complications from pneumonia. He was 78.

Powell, who delivered the general?s eulogy, called Schwarzkopf an "indispensable advisor" to Cheney and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the lead-up to and during the invasion of Kuwait.

"When anyone thinks of Desert Storm, they think of Stormin' Norman, The Bear; ... he was a larger than life figure," Powell said.

Schwarzkopf served two tours in Vietnam, staying on after a conflict that left many former brothers-in-arms disillusioned with the military.

He was appointed commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa in 1988. In 1990, he took command of the U.S.-led forces that drove back Hussein?s forces in Operation Desert Storm.

It was the first war televised in real time, and Schwarzkopf, a bulldog clad in desert camouflage, used his TV appearances to send a message to his adversary.

?With those cameras grinding away, I knew I wasn?t talking just to friendly audiences, but that Saddam and his bully boys were watching me on CNN in their headquarters,? Schwarzkopf wrote in his 1992 autobiography.

For the most part, Schwarzkopf receded from public life after Desert Storm, apart from a brief term as a military analyst for NBC. He lived out his retirement in Tampa, emerging to campaign for the re-election of President George W. Bush in 2004.

Despite the urgings of some of his supporters, Schwarzkopf never ran for public office. During the service his daughter, Cynthia, mused that her father was "too honest" to be a politician. She then apologized to Cheney, saying she wrote that before she knew he was attending.

Schwarzkopf ?stood tall for the country and Army he loved,? President Obama said in a statement on the general?s passing in December.

The general was buried near his father in the West Point cemetery. Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf was a 1917 graduate of the military academy who went on to help found the New Jersey State Police.

?I just would be very happy if the history books said that I was a soldier who served his country with honor and loved his troops and loved his family,? Schwarzkopf once said. ?That?s enough for me.?

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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WHO: Slight cancer risk after Japan nuke accident

FILE - In this April 16, 2011 file photo, Wakana Nemoto, 3, standing next to her mother Naoko, receives a radiation exposure screening outside an evacuation center in Fukushima, northeastern Japan. People exposed to the highest doses of radiation during the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011 may have a slightly higher risk of cancer that is so small it probably won?t even be detectable, according to a new report from the World Health Organization released on Thursday Feb. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

FILE - In this April 7, 2011 file photo, Japanese police, wearing suits to protect them from radiation, search for victims inside the deserted evacuation zone, established for the 20 kilometer radius around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors, in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. People exposed to the highest doses of radiation during the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011 may have a slightly higher risk of cancer that is so small it probably won?t even be detectable, according to a new report from the World Health Organization released on Thursday Feb. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

LONDON (AP) ? Two years after Japan's nuclear plant disaster, an international team of experts said Thursday that residents of areas hit by the highest doses of radiation face an increased cancer risk so small it probably won't be detectable.

In fact, experts calculated that increase at about 1 extra percentage point added to a Japanese infant's lifetime cancer risk.

"The additional risk is quite small and will probably be hidden by the noise of other (cancer) risks like people's lifestyle choices and statistical fluctuations," said Richard Wakeford of the University of Manchester, one of the authors of the report. "It's more important not to start smoking than having been in Fukushima."

The report was issued by the World Health Organization, which asked scientists to study the health effects of the disaster in Fukushima, a rural farming region.

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami knocked out the Fukushima plant's power and cooling systems, causing meltdowns in three reactors and spewing radiation into the surrounding air, soil and water. The most exposed populations were directly under the plumes of radiation in the most affected communities in Fukushima, which is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

In the report, the highest increases in risk are for people exposed as babies to radiation in the most heavily affected areas. Normally in Japan, the lifetime risk of developing cancer of an organ is about 41 percent for men and 29 percent for women. The new report said that for infants in the most heavily exposed areas, the radiation from Fukushima would add about 1 percentage point to those numbers.

Experts had been particularly worried about a spike in thyroid cancer, since radioactive iodine released in nuclear accidents is absorbed by the thyroid, especially in children. After the Chernobyl disaster, about 6,000 children exposed to radiation later developed thyroid cancer because many drank contaminated milk after the accident.

In Japan, dairy radiation levels were closely monitored, but children are not big milk drinkers there.

The WHO report estimated that women exposed as infants to the most radiation after the Fukushima accident would have a 70 percent higher chance of getting thyroid cancer in their lifetimes. But thyroid cancer is extremely rare and one of the most treatable cancers when caught early. A woman's normal lifetime risk of developing it is about 0.75 percent. That number would rise by 0.5 under the calculated increase for women who got the highest radiation doses as infants.

Wakeford said the increase may be so small it will probably not be observable.

For people beyond the most directly affected areas of Fukushima, Wakeford said the projected cancer risk from the radiation dropped dramatically. "The risks to everyone else were just infinitesimal."

David Brenner of Columbia University in New York, an expert on radiation-induced cancers, said that although the risk to individuals is tiny outside the most contaminated areas, some cancers might still result, at least in theory. But they'd be too rare to be detectable in overall cancer rates, he said.

Brenner said the numerical risk estimates in the WHO report were not surprising. He also said they should be considered imprecise because of the difficulty in determining risk from low doses of radiation. He was not connected with the WHO report.

Some experts said it was surprising that any increase in cancer was even predicted.

"On the basis of the radiation doses people have received, there is no reason to think there would be an increase in cancer in the next 50 years," said Wade Allison, an emeritus professor of physics at Oxford University, who also had no role in developing the new report. "The very small increase in cancers means that it's even less than the risk of crossing the road," he said.

WHO acknowledged in its report that it relied on some assumptions that may have resulted in an overestimate of the radiation dose in the general population.

Gerry Thomas, a professor of molecular pathology at Imperial College London, accused the United Nations health agency of hyping the cancer risk.

"It's understandable that WHO wants to err on the side of caution, but telling the Japanese about a barely significant personal risk may not be helpful," she said.

Thomas said the WHO report used inflated estimates of radiation doses and didn't properly take into account Japan's quick evacuation of people from Fukushima.

"This will fuel fears in Japan that could be more dangerous than the physical effects of radiation," she said, noting that people living under stress have higher rates of heart problems, suicide and mental illness.

In Japan, Norio Kanno, the chief of Iitate village, in one of the regions hardest hit by the disaster, harshly criticized the WHO report on Japanese public television channel NHK, describing it as "totally hypothetical."

Many people who remain in Fukushima still fear long-term health risks from the radiation, and some refuse to let their children play outside or eat locally grown food.

Some restrictions have been lifted on a 12-mile (20-kilometer) zone around the nuclear plant. But large sections of land in the area remain off-limits. Many residents aren't expected to be able to return to their homes for years.

Kanno accused the report's authors of exaggerating the cancer risk and stoking fear among residents.

"I'm enraged," he said.

___

Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and AP Science Writer Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.

Online:

WHO report: http://bit.ly/YDCXcb

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-28-Japan%20Radiation/id-c8227432714643a7974ef7a3da4289e1

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Job search question - Graphic Design Forum

When I was looking for work I sent out over 50 CVs in the post. I looked up all the companies in my area and hand wrote all the envelopes and signed all the cover letters.

I got about 20 calls to come in for interviews, and I was still getting calls to come in for an interview months later, and one was so far as a year.

Send your CV and cover letter.

If they want to meet you then bring your packet.

I'm more inclined to send a cv by post than email - as emails can easily be forgotten, go straight to spam folders, deleted and/or just not get through.

I've always had a lot of success in posting in a CV rather than emailing it.

Source: http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84161

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dancing through life: Removing the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health

A big component of this blog series and my show has been about working to eradicate the stigma around mental health. Even though 1 in 5 of us will have direct experience with mental illness in our lifetime, there is still a lot of negativity out that that just needs to go. On February 12, I saw more people discussing mental illness candidly than I ever had before and rather than save it for one day when donations are being made and a hashtag is created, the discussion needs to be ongoing. I'm really proud that the Life is Sweet series has opened up a dialogue and I truly want that to continue.? I used to think that Twitter was silly, but it has connected me to some incredible people, like Joseph, who I wouldn't have met otherwise. He has been an awesome supporter of this project and I am so happy he got on board to write.?
For years (more years than any of us have been alive) there has been a stigma around mental illness that has prevented us from speaking openly about it. As a sad consequence, there has been an extreme lack of resources for those of us who need help, or perhaps even sadder those resources may exist but an awareness of where or how to find them does not.

We see extreme cases of what happen when help isn't readily available in such tragedies as the recent Newtown shooting, or virtually a host of other heart-wrenching examples. One thing I have learned in life, though, is that nothing is just good or bad... it's both. Every shadow has it's sunshine. All of the darkness that we see such as the many sad stories of untreated mental illness resulting in tragedy all carry a ray of sunshine. It's apparent to all that because of the recent Newtown tragedy that we are starting to speak more openly about mental illness. (Take, for example, the articles of "I am Adam Lanza's..." mother, psychiatrist, doctor that sprung up so quickly after the shootings in Connecticut.) We are making great strides in removing the stigma that holds so many of us back from finding the help we need.?

I am excited about any and all of these developments that shine light on these important issues, including the recent #BellLetsTalk initiative. But there is also much more that I believe needs to be done. And, I don't believe the solution is going to be found in talking about mental illness more. It's a good start, but there is a deeper stigma that needs to be removed. What we really need to do is remove the stigma around mental health.

It may sound too simple, but mental health is more important than mental illness. None of us fall into a box of mentally ill or mentally healthy. It's not an either/or proposition. Instead of looking at this issue of "check this box for mentally ill, or the other for mentally healthy" we would benefit far more by looking at our mental & emotional well being as a spectrum.?

We do this with health & fitness. Or, at the very least, we are starting to do so a lot more. We no longer just count on our doctor to tell us if we are "healthy" or "unhealthy." Most people realize that they could be healthier than they currently are, or they see that they are now in a better state of health than they were last year. We all acknowledge that eating more vegetables, and less donuts, will be good our bodies. As will trading in that diet coke for water, the deep fried French fries for a salad, or choosing to walk or bike to work instead of driving our car. Should we not begin to acknowledge the same for our mental wellness? Some things will strengthen it, others will weaken it.?

Now this isn't a discussion about whether doing or not doing something causes mental illness. If you think about physical wellness, nobody is so naive to say that having that one slice of sugar-frosted cake instead of some organic kale chips causes diabetes... BUT we are aware enough to know that it has an effect. We know that one is better for our health than the other. We are also aware that those who regularly opt for the kale chips instead of the cake are far healthier physically. In many ways it's the same for mental health. Mental illness is a complex issue, far beyond my full comprehension. What I do know, however, is that if we shift our thinking away from either/or this "caused it" or didn't to what supports or what doesn't, then we will see much more individual - and collective - progress.?

Sadly, we have stigmatized mental health in such a way that many positive things we can do for ourselves are stigmatized as well. Far too often I see the perception that those who work with a therapist, counselor or a coach are broken. Or the sentiment that support groups & group counseling are for the weak. "People only see therapists when they are broken enough to need help to even function in life" is a paradigm that seems to pervade much of the population, and it is holding us back. Big time.

Let's switch back to the physical health analogy for a second. People who work with personal trainers are rarely viewed as the lowest on the spectrum of physically fitness. In fact, it's quite the opposite. All the elite athletes work with trainers, or even a team of trainers, and get the best results. When an everyday person hires a personal trainer, they begin to get better results and see a much faster transformation. We often regard them as committed to their goals, motivated and see them as high performers. We admire them for their examples, and often aspire to the same.?

Why is it not the same for mental health??

It should be, and it can be. We can make that shift happen.?

Improving our own mental wellness

Shifting from a "broken VS healthy" mindset to that a spectrum, allows us to enjoy a much higher quality of life. I'm reminded of a powerful formula that I remember learning as an athlete in high school.?

Performance = potential - resistance.?

This formula applies to athletics, physics, my career in marketing, and probably in many others. It also applies to mental health.?

In simple terms, our happiness in the present moment (potential) is equal to the hope we have in our future (potential), less the degree to which we let the past hold us back (resistance).

Happiness, being the aim & end of our existence, can be increased by improving the view we have of our future, and by eliminating the resistance created by a past we can't let go of. We can improve our view of the future through the standard path of personal development. Eliminating the resistance of the past is the realm of addressing childhood trauma, learning to embrace our shadows, forgiving others - and ourselves - of less than picture perfect memories.

Improving our collective mental wellness

We need to remove the judgment of others that becomes implicit with the paradigm of mentally ill or not. Instead of this us VS them mindset, a paradigm of a wellness spectrum becomes more of a "we" issue. We're all in this together, and our communities, and planet, all get better as any individual gets better.

This simplest way to do this is to ask the question "How are you?" and actually mean it. In North America, we use the phrase "how are you?" as a greeting, without expecting a real answer. This is obvious by the way we ask it while still walking past each other. How many times have we automatically answered "I'm good. You?" and just kept walking? Even when we are feeling depressed, neurotic, overwhelmed, etc, we often just say "Good, you?" because we know the asker doesn't really want to know. I knew a man who would get an honest answer out of anyone he asked, though, because of the simple reason that he'd stop, hold your hand and look you in the eyes as he asked, and then waited for a response. If you'd answer "good, you?" he'd say "How are you really?" and always provoke a thoughtful response.

Also, let's embrace the positive change of others. I recall the story of a woman who is a Well known speaker on the topic of self-acceptance. An overweight woman herself, she spoke of the power that comes from rejecting society's skewed notion of runway model beauty and learning to love ourselves exactly as we are. Her message was liberating others, especially those who didn't fit the mold of tall, skinny, magazine-cover "beautiful." When, however, she decided to start losing weight (after hearing her doctor report that recent test results showed that her health was in jeopardy) her followers began to criticize her for "selling out" and being inauthentic in her message. What she was really doing, was taking another step forward to improve her quality of life. Eliminating her earlier resistance of feeling inadequate for not being skinny was a powerful step in increasing her happiness and emotional well being. Improving her potential by becoming healthier was another powerful step. We often quote that "misery loves company" but we need to remember to celebrate when people make positive changes, even if those changes may leave us behind temporarily. Instead of holding ourselves and each other back, we need to exhibit attitudes of encouragement and shift to a mindset of "growth loves company" and help each other along on our journey.

So, tell me... How are you today, really?

Joseph Ranseth is an author, speaker and marketer who refuses to write a bio. He's one of my favourite people and I am grateful to call him a friend. Follow him on the Twitter and he'll tell you about having the #BestDayEver, well, every day. He runs a purpose-driven marketing company with an official launch just around the corner.?

Source: http://www.dancingthroughlifeblog.com/2013/02/removing-stigma-surrounding-mental.html

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Fidgeting clownfish benefit anemones

28 February 2013 Last updated at 01:38 By Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature

Clownfish boost oxygen flow around their anemone hosts at night, scientists have found.

The relationship between the reef animals is well known, with the fish hiding in the anemone's stinging tentacles to avoid predators.

But US researchers have discovered the anemones also benefit from the night-time presence of the fidgety fish.

As clownfish move around, they boost water flow over the anemone and increase its oxygen consumption.

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

At night there is less oxygen available on the reef because photosynthesis ceases once the sun goes down. But night is also when the main predators of clownfish hunt.

"While many reef organisms can pick up and move to other areas with more oxygen, clownfish stick by their anemones; retreat is not an option," explained Dr Joseph Szczebak from Auburn University, Alabama, US who led the study.

To understand more about the nocturnal relationship of the clownfish and anemone, Dr Szczebak and colleagues travelled to the Marine Science Station in Aqaba, Jordan.

Diving in the nearby Red Sea, the scientists were able to record how oxygen levels changed when the fish were in the anemones and when they were separated.

They found that both the fish and anemones consumed 1.4 times more oxygen when they were together than when apart.

The fish also moved around more when within their anemone hosts than when on their own.

"When clownfish rest in the tentacles of their anemone host, they engage in certain behaviours more often than when they are alone," said Dr Szczebak. "These behaviours appear to enhance water motion through anemone tentacles."

"Anemone oxygen consumption increases with water flow, suggesting that any flow-related side effects of clownfish behaviour will indeed increase anemone breathing rates."

Based on observations, they defined three particular behaviours: fanning, wedging and switching, which Dr Szczebak compared to tossing and turning in bed.

"During fanning, clownfish were motionless among the tentacles, aside from rhythmically flapping their pectoral fins," he said.

"During wedging, the clownfish forcefully wiggle deeper into the anemone's bed of tentacles, causing a flutter of tentacular activity.

"Lastly, during switching, clownfish rapidly changed their orientation within the anemone."

These observations contrast with previous theories that clownfish are passive at night in order to evade predators. Instead, the fish studied were active for more than 80% of the night.

"By constantly moving about their anemone and waving its tentacles like flags, it would seem these clowns are drawing more attention to themselves as a potential snack," Dr Szczebak said.

"However, regardless of this apparent risk, they wave on."

He suggested that the health of their hosts could be the motivation for this energy-consuming behaviour.

"Yes, the level of activity that these fish engage in is sure to increase their oxygen demand; however, consider the alternative: if their anemone was to deflate or die due to a lack of oxygen, where would that leave the clown?"

The researchers are continuing to investigate the relationship to understand if the "aeration" is the only intention of the fish.

"This research joins a growing body of knowledge that is using the ecological and physiological connections of coral reef relationships to show just how highly evolved and interdependent coral reef systems are," Dr Szczebak told BBC Nature.

Join BBC Nature on Facebook and Twitter @BBCNature.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21601006

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Rock Hall of Fame to open Rolling Stones exhibit

AAA??Feb. 27, 2013?5:36 AM ET
Rock Hall of Fame to open Rolling Stones exhibit
AP

EMBARGO UNTIL 5 AM FEB. 27, 2013 - FILE - This April 8, 1964 file photo shows The Rolling Stones during a rehearsal at an unknown location. The British band members, from left, are, Brian Jones, guitar; Bill Wyman, bass; Charlie Watts, drums; Mick Jagger, vocals; and Keith Richards, guitar. The Cleveland-based The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum will open ?Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction,? an exclusive exhibit celebrating the archetypal rock band, on May 24, 2013. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this April 22, 1965 file photo, British rock and roll group, The Rolling Stones, arrive at Montreal Airport. They are Mick Jagger, top left, Charlie Watts, top right, Keith Richards, middle left, Brian Jones, middle right, and Bill Wyman. The Cleveland-based The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum will open ?Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction,? an exclusive exhibit celebrating the archetypal rock band, on May 24, 2013. (AP Photo, File)

This Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 photo shows part of the original collage art for the Rolling Stones album "Their Satanic Majesties Request" in the Rock Hall vault in Cleveland. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is readying a new exhibit on the Rolling Stones. The Cleveland-based museum will open ?Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction,? an exclusive exhibit celebrating the archetypal rock band, on May 24, 2013. (AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, Scott Shaw) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES

In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 photo, Matt Seaman, collections assistant, handles the Rolling Stones album "Their Satanic Majesties Request" with the original collage art in the foreground, in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum vault in Cleveland. The Rock Hall is readying a new exhibit on the Rolling Stones. The Cleveland-based museum will open ?Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction,? an exclusive exhibit celebrating the archetypal rock band, on May 24, 2013. (AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, Scott Shaw) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES

CLEVELAND (AP) ? The story of The Rolling Stones is so huge it takes 2? floors of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to tell.

The Cleveland-based museum will open "Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction," an exclusive exhibit celebrating the archetypal rock band, on May 24.

The exhibit will be open until March 2014 and will include personal and collected items that have never before been seen by the public along with film, text and interactive components and periodic lectures on the band's 50-year career. The entire exhibit will take up more than two floors of the museum.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and The Stones recently held a series of concerts to celebrate their 50th year together and there have been rumors of more activity.

___

Online:

http://rockhall.org

http://rollingstones.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-27-Music-Rolling%20Stones/id-a93c2dbc4d674ee8a9989619ce02a256

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Friday, February 1, 2013

BlackBerry launches long-awaited comeback campaign

NEW YORK (AP) ? A new generation of more versatile BlackBerry smartphones is finally about to hit the market after excruciating delays allowed mobile devices made by Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in a market that is redefining society.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. formally unveiled its long-awaited line-up of revamped smartphones and software Wednesday at simultaneous events held in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Delhi.

In a move underscoring the stakes riding on its make-or-break product line-up, the Canadian company used the occasion to announce it is changing its name to BlackBerry ? a pioneering brand that has lost its cachet since Apple's 2007 release of the iPhone reset expectations for what a smartphone should do.

The first devices in the new crop of BlackBerrys will be called the Q10, which will feature a physical keyboard like previous versions of the phone, and the Z10 will have only touch-screen keyboard, like Apple Inc.'s trend-setting iPhone and other handsets running on Google Inc.'s Android software, including Samsung's popular Galaxy. They will run on a redesigned operating system called BlackBerry 10, which the company began working on after buying QNX Software Systems in 2010.

The new software and BlackBerrys were supposed to be released a year ago, only to be delayed while Apple and Android device makers won more zealous converts to their products. In the meantime, Microsoft Corp. also rolled out a new Windows operating system for smartphones, confronting RIM with another technology powerhouse to battle.

The delays in developing the new BlackBerrys helped wipe out $70 billion in shareholder wealth and 5,000 jobs.

"It is the most challenging year of my career," said RIM CEO Thorsten Heins, whose anniversary leading the company occurred last week. "It is also the most exhilarating and exciting one."

The wait for U.S. smartphone users interested in buying the new BlackBerry line still isn't over. The Z10 won't be released in the U.S. until March and the Q10 might not arrive in the country until April, Heins said, to give wireless carriers more time to test the product. All the major U.S. carriers plan to sell the new BlackBerrys. The estimated U.S. prices for the phones weren't announced, though.

The Z10, which BlackBerry will call the "Zed-10" outside the U.S., will go on sale Thursday in United Kingdom Thursday. The same model will be released in Canada on Feb. 5 and will cost about $150 there with a three-year wireless contract.

Despite their limited availability until March, the new BlackBerrys will be hailed in a commercial Sunday during CBS's telecast of the Super Bowl. RIM hasn't disclosed how much that will cost, but some 30-second spots during the game have been sold for as much as $4 million.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gills said the new phones' tardy arrival to the U.S. threatens to cause even more BlackBerry users to defect to the iPhone or an Android device. By the time, the Z10 goes on sale in the U.S. Gillis suspects many geeks will be waiting to see what Google plans to unveil in Mid-May at an annual conference that usually includes new gadgets.

Wednesday's event didn't go over well on Wall Street. RIM's stock shed 93 cents, or nearly 6 percent, to $14.73 in afternoon trading. The shares have still more than doubled from their nine-year low of $6.22 reached in September, but are still nearly 90 percent below their peak of $147 reached in 2008 when the iPhone was still a novelty trying to break into the mainstream.

Repeated delays and years of blundering have turned the once-iconic BlackBerry into an also ran as the iPhone and Android devices raced ahead with crowd-pleasing innovations. That has led some analysts to question whether the company that helped create the smartphone market will survive, especially as its losses have mounted in the past year.

Yet there was renewed optimism heading into Wednesday's event. Previews of the BlackBerry 10 software have gotten favorable reviews on blogs. Financial analysts are starting to see some room for a comeback. RIM redesigned the system to embrace the multimedia, apps and touch-screen experience prevalent today. The Q10 is meant to cater to people who still prefer a typing on a physical keyboard instead of a display screen.

Besides promising a better typing experience, the new BlackBerrys are supposed to run faster, pull up multiple applications simultaneously and enable users to separate their professional and personal lives with a feature called "Balance."

"Gone are the days of going back and forth and in and out between applications," said Andrew MacLeod, RIM's managing director for Canada. "It's cumbersome, it's inefficient and it's slow."

Doubts remain about the ability of BlackBerry 10 to rescue RIM.

"We'll see if they can reclaim their glory. My sense is that it will be a phone that everyone says good things about but not as many people buy," Gillis said. He thinks the company will need to sell at least 5 million BlackBerrys each quarter to remain viable.

Ovum analyst Adam Leach thinks the new system will appeal to existing BlackBerry users, but that won't be enough to undercut the popularity of the iPhone and Android devices. He predicted that BlackBerry "will struggle to appeal to a wider audience, and in the long-term will become a niche player in the smartphone market."

Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said RIM will need a persuasive marketing campaign to lure back former BlackBerry fans who have switched to iPhones or Android devices. "They need to convince consumers that their approach to mobile computing matches how a subset of people feel about themselves," Greengart said.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek called the redesigned BlackBerry a "great device" that could lead to a revival that many market observers didn't think was possible at RIM's low point last year.

"Six months ago we talked to developers and carriers, and everybody was just basically saying 'We're just waiting for this to go bust,'" Misek said. "It was bad."

The BlackBerry has been the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and crossed over to consumers. But when the iPhone came out, it proved phones can do much more than email and phone calls. Suddenly, the BlackBerry looked ancient. In the U.S., according to research firm IDC, shipments of BlackBerry phones plummeted from 46 percent of the market in 2008 to 2 percent in 2012.

Regardless of BlackBerry 10's advances, though, the new system will face a key shortcoming: It won't have as many apps written by outside companies and individuals as the iPhone and Android. RIM has said it plans to launch BlackBerry 10 with more than 70,000 apps, including those developed for RIM's PlayBook tablet, first released in 2011. Even so, that's just a tenth of what the iPhone and Android offer. Popular services such as Instagram and Netflix won't have apps on BlackBerry 10.

___

AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this story. Rob Gillies reported from Toronto.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blackberry-launches-long-awaited-comeback-campaign-192455811--finance.html

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