The Truth About phonak hearing aids

With modern technology progressing at a rapid pace, one is able to find the best hearing aids. One also has the option of wireless hearing aids which is more convenient to use than conventional ones. Hearing aids have come as a big boon for people with hearing problems. An electroacoustic device that is worn in or behind the ear, a hearing aid is specially designed to amplify and modulate sound so that the wearer is able to hear well if he/she has a hearing problem. There are several types of hearing aids that are available, each one different from the other.

In the United States, it has been estimated that over 28 million Americans suffer from some degree of hearing impairment. Therefore, it is important to understand the history of an individual suffering from hearing impairment and careful physical examination are important steps that need to be taken as part of diagnosis and treatment.

If you face difficulty hearing or suffer from any ear problem, it is advised to consult an otolaryngologist or ENT specialist at the earliest.

This way, you may be able to prevent damaging your ears completely. An otolaryngologist will also be able to tell you what the best hearing aid would be for you. Hearing loss or deafness can occur at any age and is usually caused by excessive noise exposure, inherited disorders and presbycusis, which can be defined as age-related hearing loss. It is important to use the best hearing aid that you can find if you suffer from deafness even if it means spending a little extra money.

However, before you decide on purchasing Phonak hearing aids, you may consult your doctor or hearing aid store representative to find out which aid is best suited for your type of hearing loss. After you?ve decided on any one hearing aid, you will need to adjust the Phonak to your specific requirements. You could also get a Phonak hearing aid remote control to change the program mode or volume level of the Phonak hearing aid. You can browse through Phonak hearing aids and learn more about their specifications and purposes.

Presently, some of the best hearing aids available would be from Phonak. Phonak is a European-made hearing aid which is popular for its behind-the-ear style.

katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida egoraptor gisele bundchen turbotax

College student pleads guilty to online Obama threat

MIAMI?? A 20-year-old college student who told investigators he was merely trying to get a reaction from President Barack Obama's supporters pleaded guilty Wednesday to posting threatening messages against the president on Facebook.

Joaquin Amador Serrapio Jr. could get up to five years in federal prison for pleading guilty to a single count of threatening to kill or harm the president, but likely will get less time, said his attorney Alan Ross. Sentencing is set for Aug. 22 before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke.

There's no evidence that Serrapio intended to carry out any threat against the president and Obama was never in any danger, investigators said.

"He wanted to get a reaction from political supporters of President Obama," Ross said.

Serrapio is a music business major at Miami-Dade College who also fronts for a rock group called the "J. Valor Band." Using the "Jay Valor" page on Facebook, prosecutors said Serrapio posted two threatening messages around the time Obama visited South Florida in February to deliver a speech at the University of Miami and attend two fundraisers.

In the first post on Feb. 21, Serrapio said: "Who wants to help me assassinate Obummer while hes at UM this week?"

Related: Students arrested, expelled for making violent Twitter threats

Then on Feb. 23, the day of Obama's visit, the Secret Service said Serappio posted a second threat.

"If anyones going to UM to see Obama today, get ur phones out and record. Cause at any moment im gonna put a bullet through his head and u don't wanna miss that! Youtube!" the message said.

Someone who saw the posts contacted the Coral Gables Police Department and the Secret Service dispatched two agents to Serrapio's home, where Serrapio and his mother agreed to allow a search. There they found an iPad with one of the Facebook postings on it and a cell phone with a text message from one of Serrapio's friends who had seen the messages.

"LOL you can get in trouble for sayin' that," the text said.

Serrapio replied that he was "challenging" the Secret Service and also issued threats against any agents who came looking for him.

"I wanna kill at least two of them when they get here," Serrapio said in that text.

Investigators said the only weapons Serrapio possessed were two pellet guns. He was originally charged with threatening the agents as well, but prosecutor Seth Schlessinger said that charge will be dropped.

Serrapio said during the hearing he had just completed his second year of college. He declined through Ross to comment outside court.

Related: Students arrested, expelled for making violent Twitter threats

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

jose canseco zimmerman derek fisher lyrid meteor shower hippocrates andrew breitbart red wings

Medvedev cozies up to U.S. cowboys - in Russia

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

alabama football coachella 2012 line up lsu crimson tide crimson tide dixville notch 2013 ford fusion

Dell XPS 8500

I've never really liked the term prosumer, but the Dell XPS 8500 ($2,049.99 direct) practically screams it. Positioned between Dell's Inspiron value desktops and Alienware gaming rigs, the XPS 8500 targets digital content creators, game players, and power users who'd probably never buy a Digital Storm, Velocity Micro, or other boutique brand, but who crave more performance than generic retail PCs provide.

The XPS 8500 gets that performance from one of Intel's new "Ivy Bridge" quad-core processors?the 3.4GHz Core i7-3770?and AMD's speedy Radeon HD 7870 graphics card, along with a 256GB Samsung mSATA solid-state drive plus 3TB Seagate 7,200 rpm hard drive. It also fixes a couple of omissions that affected its Dell XPS 8300 (X8300-7008NBK) ($999.99 list, 3.5 stars) predecessor (hello, USB 3.0 and Blu-ray burner!). The result is a well-built if conservatively built desktop; it's fast, but not as fast as less-famous-name systems that cost the same or a little more with overclocked processors or dual graphics cards or both, such as our midrange gaming Editors' Choice Cyberpower Zeus Thunder 3000SE ($2,299 direct, 4 stars).

Design and Features
Dell was so proud of upgrading the XPS's front-mounted USB ports from USB 2.0 to 3.0 that it removed the sliding door that covered them, the better to show them off. The two ports now appear in the midst of the mid-tower's chrome-accented glossy black front panel, below the optical drive bays and the four-slot memory-card reader. A recessed tray on the system's top serves to hold flash drives, cameras, or other knickknacks; it offers two USB 2.0 ports, one powered to recharge handheld devices, along with microphone and headphone jacks.

Connections at the rear include two more USB 3.0 and four more USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, six audio jacks, and an SPDIF audio output. The eSATA port found on the XPS 8300 has gone away. The AMD graphics card provides DVI, HDMI, and two Mini DisplayPort connectors.

Removing one thumbscrew lets you pop off one of the matte black side panels and access the tidy interior. Aside from accommodation for one additional hard drive and a secondary optical drive (there are two SATA ports free on the motherboard), there's not a lot of room for expansion: Each of the four memory slots holds a 4GB DIMM for a total 16GB of DDR3-1600 (Dell says 32GB systems will be available later this year). The double-wide Radeon HD 7870 card leaves just two PCIe x1 slots free. Fortunately, you don't need to add a PCIe card or USB adapter to go wireless, since a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Mini PCIe card is standard. The XPS 8500 has a 460-watt power supply, which Dell says is enough for a 225-watt graphics card. Despite its array of cooling fans, the system is pleasantly quiet.

Dell preloads the 256GB (177GB free) SSD boot drive with Windows 7 Home Premium, a trial of McAfee SecurityCenter, 2GB of DataSafe cloud storage for one year, and a handful of utilities. The speedy drive boots the system in 34 seconds, too fast for the circling "Starting Windows" lights to finish forming the Windows logo. The 3TB data drive has 2.72TB of free space. We weren't wild about Dell's newest wireless keyboard, which has a good typing feel but a laptop-style layout, with small Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys located above the numeric keypad instead of full-sized ones between the keypad and primary keys.

Dell backs the XPS 8500 with a one-year limited parts and labor warranty including accidental damage coverage and on-site service. At presstime, the $1,999.99-plus-wireless-keyboard Radeon 7870/3TB/Blu-ray configuration sent to PCMag for testing was hidden on Dell's site (link here) in favor of two models with slightly tamer Radeon 7770 cards, 2TB hard drives, and DVD burners?a $1,799.99 rig with the 256GB SSD and a $1,299.99 configuration with 12GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD using Intel Smart Response Technology for OS and application caching.

Performance
Generally speaking, the XPS 8500 easily outstrips other consumer PCs like the HP Pavilion HPE Phoenix h9z and stays within sight of more exotic gaming systems like the Cyberpower 3000SE. Its PCMark 7 score of 5,458 landed between the Zeus Thunder (5,283) and Digital Storm ODE Level 3 (5,825), while obliterating the 3,148 of its predecessor, the XPS 8300 (X8300-7008NBK). The XPS 8500 sped through our Handbrake video encoding test in 1 minute 4 seconds, which only the most impatient user would find slow compared to the Cyberpower or Digital Storm (0:55 and 0:56, respectively).

The XPS 8500 easily passed the three-figure frames-per-second threshold at medium settings (1,280 by 720 resolution) in the DirectX10 test Crysis (114 fps) and the DirectX 11 test Lost Planet 2 (125 fps), roughly doubling the frame rates of the HP Phoenix h9z. At high-quality settings at 1,920 by 1,080 resolution, it passed the playable (30 fps) threshold with 40 and 48 fps, respectively, but fell well short of the Cyberpower 3000SE (84 and 125) and Digital Storm ODE (71 and 121).

The Dell XPS 8500 is a winning choice in the off-the-shelf, non-overclocked, single-graphics-card market segment?which sounds like faint praise, but is a segment that accounts for a ton of sales to satisfied consumers (or prosumers, if you will). In terms of our Editors' Choice categories, our test unit is too costly to unseat our entry-level gaming pick, the Alienware X51 ($999.99 direct, 4 stars), and lacks the graphics chops to topple our midrange gaming pick, the Cyberpower Zeus Thunder 3000SE. But when it comes to a price/performance sweet spot, we'd like to skip the costly 256GB SSD, take the $1,299.99 version with the 2TB hard drive plus 32GB SSD, and see how it stacks up against our media hub Editors' Choice HP Pavilion Elite h8-1050 ($1,299.99 direct, 4 stars). Are you listening, Dell?

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE:
Compare the Dell XPS 8500 with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
??? Asus ET2700INKS-B062C
??? Dell XPS 8500
??? Acer Aspire AX1930-UR10P
??? Velocity Micro Raptor Z90 (i7-3770K)
??? Asus Essentio CM6870
?? more

jo paterno dead south carolina tuskegee airmen mike james red tails red tails heidi klum

'Grandpa' fights for Bulgarian zoo's survival

"Come babe, come to grandpa. Don't be afraid," Behcet Ali coos as he handfeeds two eight-month-old lion cubs at his tiny zoo in the sleepy northeastern Bulgarian town of Razgrad.

At 82, Bai (Granddad) Behcet, as he is known locally, is Bulgaria's oldest zookeeper, famous for raising over 15 lion cubs during his 33 years of work and the only one to be in full contact with the predators.

Bai Behcet's unwavering devotion to saving the little 52-year-old zoo, spread over only 2,000 square metres (about 21,000 square feet), earned him the title of honorary citizen of Razgrad in 2007.

His prime concern now are the two cubs -- one male and the other female -- of six-year-old lioness Raya, who already weigh over 50 kilos (110 pounds).

"I haven't named them yet. I call them 'babies' and they understand," the zookeeper says, patting them on their backs and rubbing them behind the ears under the attentive look of their mother in the adjoining enclosure.

"To become friends with animals, as with people, you need to have a knack, to show them that you love them."

"And if people sometimes do not respond in kind when you do them good, an animal always understands and returns kindness," Bai Behcet explains.

The cubs love an iron ball he brought for them to play, tackling it with their oversized paws.

But it is quickly forgotten when he lets Raya back into the enclosure and the cubs rub against her sides, purring.

The father killed Raya's first litter but she is a very caring mother, Bai Behcet says.

"She is jealous that I love them so much but sees that I do not harm them and would not hurt me," he says, while ordering to the trio to stand still for a photo shoot.

Bai Behcet, who used to work at the local veterinary clinic before coming to the zoo in 1979, has been clawed by lions as well as bears, which he also used to raise here, but says he has never feared his charges.

And he won't even think of retiring despite several entreaties by his family.

"It never crossed my mind to give up as that would be the end of it."

"The animals give me joy, I am happy that I can bring them up, raise them. What more can you want?"

Besides the three lions, Bai Behcet tends to over a dozen other animals all by himself, including lamas, goats, mouflons or a subspecies group of wild sheep, a pony, pigeons, pheasants, racoons and guinea pigs.

But lack of space -- which the environment ministry has found a serious problem in all 11 zoos in Bulgaria -- forced the zookeeper to send his bear away to another establishment.

Municipality funds in this small town, about 350 kilometres (217 miles) from the capital Sofia and dominated by ethnic Turks, are also scarce and the zoo does not make visitors pay for admission either.

Still, Bai Behcet's fridge is full of meat and three small mountains of stale bread can be seen piled up in a shed -- all donations from local companies.

"All this I get myself by going around town, asking, convincing... without having to pay out money."

"Everyone wonders how I manage... But there's a saying that if you do it yourself, it will be done better," he says.

Through the years he tried to recruit several workers as well as his son-in-law but Bai Behcet says learning such an uncommon trade has proven difficult.

His 24-year-old grandson helps when he needs to be away on errands.

"People are used to having working hours. I don't. And my wife knows that when I am here I decide when I'll be going home. She is cross but that's the way I am -- uncontrollable," he says impishly, winking behind his thick spectacles.

Skinny but energetic, he carries around buckets of chicken feet to feed the lions and still rides the short distance home every day on his motorbike, despite an accident that left him limping.

"He's legendary for never giving up. This is the old generation but few people like him are left nowadays," Mihail Baltadzhiev, who oversees the town's animal facilities, including the zoo, told AFP.

"Everyone here knows and respects Bai Behcet," 54-year-old Sultana Mehmet added as her grandsons Iray, 6, and Berg, 7, roared at the animals through the fence.

"How else would the kids be able to see a lion?"

lana peters lana peters jennifer nettles jennifer nettles giants vs saints suh suh

How consumer-electronics makers are faring

A look at how selected makers of phones and other consumer-electronic gadgets are faring:

April 19: Microsoft Corp. says it shipped 1.4 million Xbox 360 consoles during the first three months of the year, about half of the 2.7 million shipped a year earlier.

Nokia Corp. says sales of smartphones dropped to 12 million in the first quarter, from 24 million a year earlier, while volume sales of cellphones fell to 83 million from 108 million a year earlier.

April 24: Apple Inc. says it sold 35 million iPhones in the quarter, almost twice as many as it sold a year ago and above analyst expectations. IPad sales came in below analyst expectations, at 11.8 million units. But that was still two and a half times as many as it sold in the same quarter a year ago. Mac sales were also slightly below expectations, at 4 million. That was 7 percent more than a year ago. Apple sold 7.7 million iPods, down 15 percent from a year earlier.

AT&T Inc. says it activated 4.3 million iPhones in the first quarter. That was down from 7.6 million in the fourth quarter, when AT&T began selling the iPhone 4S. However, the number was still up from the 3.6 million iPhones AT&T sold in the same quarter a year ago.

HTC Corp. reports a drop in first-quarter earnings and revenue as it faces competition from Apple and Samsung, but it expects revenue to rise in the current quarter with its "HTC One" series phone that offers users a better camera and music experience in addition to a sleek design. HTC says its biggest challenges had been the iPhone 4S's launch late last year. It expects to win back some of the U.S. market and expand its markets in Europe and Asia. HTC doesn't disclose the number of devices it sold, citing competitive reasons.

April 25: TomTom says it sold 1.4 million personal-navigation devices in North America, down from 2.1 million a year ago. In Europe, it sold 2 million, down from 2.4 million. TomTom says overall market share was relatively flat at 46 percent in Europe and 24 percent in North America.

April 26: Nintendo Co. says it sold 9.8 million Wii machines over the fiscal year that just ended, fewer than the 15 million it had sold the previous fiscal year, and below its initial hopes of selling 13 million machines. It remained optimistic for the fiscal year through March 2013, and forecast sales of 10.5 million Wii machines. The Wii U, which will have a touch-screen controller, comes out this year.

April 27: Samsung Electronics Co., maker of the Galaxy line of phones and tablet computers, doesn't disclose the number of smartphones it sells. It reports significant sales growth of high-end smartphones in developing markets including China, a key battlefield for mobile phone makers. It got more than 70 percent of its operating profit from mobile businesses in the first quarter.

May 2: Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. says it shipped 8.9 million mobile devices in the first quarter, including 5.1 million smartphones. A year ago, it shipped 9.3 million mobile devices, including 4.1 million smartphones

May 3: Garmin Ltd. says it sold 2.7 million units in the first quarter, up 7 percent from a year earlier. It also says it has sold more than 100 million devices since its founding in 1989, after hitting 1 million in 1997 and 25 million in 2007.

May 10: Sony Corp. says it sold 1.9 million PlayStation 3 units, down slightly from 2.1 million a year earlier. Sales of the PlayStation Portable declined to 900,000, from 1.7 million a year earlier.

Coming up:

Wednesday: Hewlett-Packard Co., Lenovo Group Ltd.

June 28: Research in Motion Ltd.

oscars nba all star game 2012 academy awards 2012 nominations academy awards independent spirit awards 2012 jan brewer independent spirit awards

Organizers: Don't mess with the Olympic brand

In this Friday, April 27, 2012 photo people walk past the Cafe Lympic in Stratford, east London. One day, the small espresso shop near the site of the London Games was the "Olympic" cafe. The next day, it was the "Lympic." So where did the "O" go? The manager won't say. But it's more than likely the small business became another casualty in the battle against guerrilla marketers _ advertisers who try to associate their products with an event without paying to be sponsors. Protecting the Olympic brand is always a big job, and never more so than this year. Olympic organizers say the increasing sophistication of guerrilla marketers and the rise of social media are putting the five rings under assault in ways barely envisioned a decade ago. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

In this Friday, April 27, 2012 photo people walk past the Cafe Lympic in Stratford, east London. One day, the small espresso shop near the site of the London Games was the "Olympic" cafe. The next day, it was the "Lympic." So where did the "O" go? The manager won't say. But it's more than likely the small business became another casualty in the battle against guerrilla marketers _ advertisers who try to associate their products with an event without paying to be sponsors. Protecting the Olympic brand is always a big job, and never more so than this year. Olympic organizers say the increasing sophistication of guerrilla marketers and the rise of social media are putting the five rings under assault in ways barely envisioned a decade ago. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

In this Friday, April 27, 2012 photo a man walks walk past the Cafe Lympic in Stratford, east London. One day, the small espresso shop near the site of the London Games was the "Olympic" cafe. The next day, it was the "Lympic." So where did the "O" go? The manager won't say. But it's more than likely the small business became another casualty in the battle against guerrilla marketers _ advertisers who try to associate their products with an event without paying to be sponsors. Protecting the Olympic brand is always a big job, and never more so than this year. Olympic organizers say the increasing sophistication of guerrilla marketers and the rise of social media are putting the five rings under assault in ways barely envisioned a decade ago. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

In this Friday, April 27, 2012 photo the facade of the Cafe Lympic is seen in Stratford, east London. One day, the small espresso shop near the site of the London Games was the "Olympic" cafe. The next day, it was the "Lympic." So where did the "O" go? The manager won't say. But it's more than likely the small business became another casualty in the battle against guerrilla marketers _ advertisers who try to associate their products with an event without paying to be sponsors. Protecting the Olympic brand is always a big job, and never more so than this year. Olympic organizers say the increasing sophistication of guerrilla marketers and the rise of social media are putting the five rings under assault in ways barely envisioned a decade ago. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

LONDON (AP) ? One day, the small espresso shop near the site of the London Games was the "Olympic" cafe. The next day, it was the "Lympic."

So where did the "O'' go?

The manager won't say. But it's more than likely the small business became another casualty in the battle against guerrilla marketers ? advertisers who try to associate their products with a prestigious event without paying to be sponsors.

Protecting the Olympic brand is always a big job, and never more so than this year. Olympic organizers say the increasing sophistication of guerrilla marketers and the rise of social media are putting the five rings under assault in ways barely envisioned a decade ago.

That means action against anyone who infringes the Olympic brand or sponsors' deals ? no matter how small.

"There's no question that the rings are instantly recognizable ? it's what makes it attractive," said Stephen Greyser, an emeritus professor at Harvard Business School.

He compared the efforts by non-sponsors to athletes trying to find loopholes in the rules against performance-enhancing drugs.

"It becomes an industry," he said.

The International Olympic Committee and London organizers raised more than $2.4 billion from the sale of marketing rights in the four years through the 2008 games in Beijing, providing more than 44 percent of their funding during the period.

The rings are among the world's most recognized symbols. Companies like McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Samsung, which pay as much as $100 million each to be official sponsors during each Olympic cycle, expect organizers to protect their rights.

They expect organizers to protect their rights. If others can use the rings and the name "Olympic," why should the big companies pay so much money?

"Without our sponsors, the games simply wouldn't happen," London organizers said in a statement. "They provide funding, products, services and expertise to help us stage the games and with that have purchased exclusivity in their sector."

British lawmakers did their part, passing a law ? described as draconian by critics ? that gives organizers the power to bar companies from using Olympic trademarks and even certain combinations of words ? such as "London 2012" ? that may infringe on the rights of sponsors.

"Where there are serious or deliberate attempts to ambush the Games ... we will take swift and firm action," London organizers added.

But if the crackdown on guerrilla marketers goes too far, it could anger those attending the games or going about their business in London. Organizers will find it hard to tell people they can't wear their Nike T-shirt into Olympic Stadium because adidas is the sportswear partner.

"It's fine to clamp down on the threat, but where it impacts the individual, it's going to be very difficult for (London organizers) to get it right," said Hugh Tebay, a partner at Sipara, a British law firm that specializes in trademark and branding. "If public reaction is too strong, they'll have to backtrack."

Such worries played out during another big international event, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Bavaria brewing company outfitted some 30 Dutch women in mini-dresses in its eye-popping trademark orange for the Netherlands' opening game against Denmark. When the ringleaders were caught and authorities in Johannesburg threatened jail, Bavaria agreed to refrain from future marketing ambushes until 2022.

Four years earlier at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the brewery gave fans orange lederhosen. Guards confiscated the Alpine-inspired pants, forcing hundreds of fans to watch a match in their underwear.

Then there are the infamous cases, such as in 1992, when non-sponsor Nike held news conferences with members of the U.S. basketball team. Michael Jordan, who had an endorsement deal with Nike, accepted his gold medal while covering up the logo of the team's official sponsor, Reebok.

Some companies are already flying close to the sun in London.

The British company Virgin, whose interests include airlines, broadband service and holiday travel, has an ad featuring Jamaican gold medal winner Usain Bolt sporting a silver goatee identical to that of company founder Richard Branson. The campaign pushes Virgin's "super fast" broadband service, skirting the rights of BT, the games' official broadband provider.

Why do otherwise upstanding companies press to see just how far they can push the rules? It's because marketers lie awake at night hoping to link their brand to athletes overcoming all odds to win before a global audience.

The Summer Olympics are valuable because they occur so infrequently ? once every four years ? and the competition includes virtually every country on the planet. Although soccer's World Cup is similar in terms of national fervor, it goes on for longer, diluting its appeal, and it is less popular in that market of markets, the United States, Greyser said.

Unlike a typical sporting even that attracts mostly men, the Olympics draws in both men and women.

And then there's social media. While Olympic officials previously only had to worry about ads and billboards, now they must also police Facebook, Twitter and blogs. And not just by companies, but by fans and athletes.

Athletes have all sorts of personal endorsement deals, creating more headaches for Olympics organizers. During the games, athletes will be barred from tweeting about sponsors. If they prefer Pepsi to Coke, they had better not say so, at least not in their Twitter feed, according to IOC rules.

It's not clear what would really happen if an athlete as famous as Bolt were to violate those rules. Organizers say they will take a pragmatic approach and that most cases will be dealt with "in an amicable way."

Still, it's a little sad to go by 61 West Ham Lane and see the maroon sign with the "O'' rubbed out.

"We really did put the pressure on," said regulator Steve Miller, who heads a body to standardize local regulations. The group has since stepped away from the branding business.

Cafe workers say the "O'' vanished after they became tired of talking to reporters. But even Miller confessed to being somewhat startled, having wandered by one day to see it missing.

"I thought it had fallen off," he said.

Associated Press

mr rogers jamie lee curtis spring equinox audacious pollen count mexico city first day of spring