Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 ($599.99 direct with 14-42mm kit lens) is the smallest camera in the Panasonic Micro Four Thirds family, taking many of its design cues from point-and-shoot models. The 12-megapixel camera doesn't do as well in low light as some other interchangeable lens cameras, like our Editors' Choice Sony Alpha NEX-C3 ($649.95, 4.5 stars), and its kit lens is a little larger than the one bundled with the Olympus PEN E-PM1 ($499.99, 4 stars). The camera is easy enough for anyone to use, but offers the image quality and manual controls to satisfy enthusiastic shutterbugs?in a very compact package.

Design and Features
Available in black, red, silver, or brown, the GF3 measures ?2.6 by 4.2 by 1.3 inches and weighs 7.9 ounces without a lens. Despite having a larger image sensor, the camera itself is only slightly larger than the 2.4-by-4.2-by-1.2 inch, 8.3-ounce Nikon J1 ($649.95, 3.5 stars). The GF3's 14-42mm (28-84mm, 35mm equivalent) is a bit larger than that of the J1, and is actually about the same size of that of the Sony NEX-C3?a camera with a much larger image sensor. Olympus also includes a 14-42mm lens with its Micro Four Thirds cameras, but that lens features a collapsing design that helps to cut down on its size. Panasonic recently unveiled its own collapsing Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ($399.95), which is available separately or bundled with the GF3 for $749.99. If zoom isn't a necessity, you can opt for the Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 ASPH lens ($399.95). The pancake prime is quite light and small, although its fixed focal length design means that it won't zoom. The GF3 is also available in a kit with that lens for $699.99.

Wrapped in a metal exterior, the camera feels quite solid in your hands. The pop-up flash, which is hidden in the top of the camera, can be revealed via a release switch. There is no hot shoe or accessory port, so you won't be able to add an external flash, electronic viewfinder, or other accessory as you could with its predecessor, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 ($699.95, ?4 stars). A 3-inch, 460k-dot, touch-screen LCD dominates the rear of the camera. The display is bright and crisp, but it doesn't tilt like the one found on the Olympus PEN E-PL3 ($649.99, 3.5 stars), so you'll have to contend with glare on very bright days. The Sony NEX-C3 also has a tilting display, but its resolution is 920k dots, twice that of the GF3. To its right are a thumb grip, four-way command dial, an image playback button, and the Q.Menu/Function button. You'll find the On/Off switch, a dedicated movie record button, the shutter release, and a button to toggle iAuto mode on the top of the camera. You can use these controls to adjust camera functions, or interact directly via its touch screen. This approach is not dissimilar to that taken by Sony with its Alpha NEX-5N ($699.95, 4.5 stars)?that camera also uses a touch interface to supplement physical controls.

The menu system has the look and feel of that of other Panasonic cameras. Numerous indicators overlay the edges of the display, without obscuring too much of the frame. The Q.Menu button brings up an overlay display that allows you to adjust some of the more common camera functions. You can customize what items are included and the order in which they appear to best suit your shooting style. The camera's full menu, which allows you to adjust every conceivable camera setting, is broken up into six sections, one of which is a virtual mode dial. You'll have to go through this interface to change from Program to Aperture Priority or another shooting mode. Changing the shooting mode can also be accomplished by tapping the indicator of the current mode on the top-left corner of the LCD. You can also tap the screen to spot focus, meter, and fire the shutter.

Performance and Conclusions
The GF3 is a rather speedy camera. It can start up and take a shot in 1.1 seconds and its shutter lag is about 0.2 second. It offers a few different continuous shooting modes, the fastest of which can capture about 22 images with 0.26 second between shots before the buffer starts to fill and the camera slow down. A medium speed burst mode allows you to shoot continuously with a 0.35-second display between shots. These numbers are almost identical to those of the Olympus E-PM1, although that camera's buffer fills after 12 shots. It does compare very favorably to the smallest interchangeable lens camera on the market, the Pentax Q ($799.95, 3 stars). That camera requires a full 3.8 seconds to start up and shoot, records a 0.4-second shutter lag, and can only buffer five shots in high-speed burst mode.

I used Imatest to test the sharpness and noise in images captured by the camera. I tested the 14-42mm lens at three focal lengths at both maximum aperture and at a more modest aperture to test its performance. At its widest focal length and aperture, 14mm f/3.5, the lens recorded 1,668 lines per picture height of sharpness. This falls short of the 1,800-line mark that denotes a sharp image, but stopping the lens down to f/5.6 increased its score to 1,885 lines. The corresponding 14-42mm lens that is included with the Olympus E-PM1 is much sharper at 14mm f/3.5?it records 2,186 lines.

At 25mm the lens sharpens up a bit, scoring 1,736 lines at f/4.6 and 1,935 lines at f/5.6. At the maximum zoom setting, 42mm, the lens softened a bit, which is typical for a zoom lens. At 42mm f/5.6 it recorded 1,685 lines, improving to 1,943 lines when stopped down to f/8. The E-PM1 lens also softened as it zoomed, dipping to 1,738 lines at 28mm and 1,508 lines at 42mm.

In terms of image noise, the camera was rather disappointing. If an image is made up of more than 1.5 percent noise it looks overly grainy. The GF3 was only able to stay under this threshold through ISO 400, just crossing it at ISO 800. This is a fine number if you are a lens with an aperture of f/2 or faster, but will make it hard to grab a crisp shot in lower light using the included kit lens. It lets in considerably less light, especially at the longer end of its zoom range. The Olympus PEN E-PM1 is clean through ISO 800, barely crossing the 1.5 percent mark at ISO 1600. Our Editors' Choice, the Sony Alpha NEX-C3, offers the best high-ISO performance in a compact camera?it keeps noise under 1.5 percent through ISO 6400.

Video is recorded in 1080i60 or 720p60 format using AVCHD compression. This requires you to connect the camera to your computer to download the footage, and convert it using the included software or software of your choice before you can share it on the web. ?Video quality is excellent?fine details are evident in the footage, and colors are very nice. The camera has a mini HDMI port so you can connect it to an HDTV to watch your footage on a large screen, and a proprietary USB port for computer interface. The memory card slot supports SD, SDHC and SDXC cards.

The Panasonic GF3 is a nice take on the Micro Four Thirds concept?a compact camera system built around a large sensor and interchangeable lenses. Its touch screen may appeal to some users, and it performs admirably in terms of speed and responsiveness. It's brought down by poor image quality in lower light and a kit lens that isn't as sharp as that of the competition. If you're willing to forgo touch input, the Olympus PEN E-PM1 has a sharper, more compact lens and better low light capability?for $100 less. You can also move up to our Editors' Choice Sony Alpha NEX-C3, a camera with a comparably sized kit lens, larger image sensor, and a higher-resolution tilting LCD for only $50 more. If your heart is set on touch, the NEX-5N gives you everything that the C3 does, but adds the touch-screen and 1080p video recording for $700. This is not to say that the GF3 is a bad camera?it is one that is quite capable, well designed, and offers a nice photographic experience?just that there are other options available that may make more sense when you weigh the cost and features.

More Digital Camera reviews:
??? Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/6pMWoXO0T_k/0,2817,2396596,00.asp

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Sarkozy calls for treaty to save euro (AP)

BRUSSELS ? Germany and France will push for a broad treaty "refounding and rethinking the organization of Europe," French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday. He said that without some new "convergence" among European countries, the continent's crushing debt could destroy the euro.

Sarkozy made the statements in the southern French port city of Toulon as he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepare to meet in Paris on Monday to try to lift Europe out of the debt crisis ahead of a major EU summit next week. Earlier Thursday, the head of the European Central Bank hinted that the ECB now may be willing to take bolder actions to address the crisis that has rocked the continent.

"There can be no common currency without economic convergence, without which the euro will be too strong for some, too weak for others, and the eurozone will break up," the French president said before several thousand sympathizers of his conservative party.

On Friday, Merkel will address Germany's parliament about Europe's financial crisis and the EU summit on Dec. 9, which is expected to focus on how to make the eurozone more unified.

Merkel has acknowledged the need for treaty changes that impose stricter financial controls on eurozone countries to prevent them from taking on too much debt.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters in Berlin on Thursday there is now "a crisis of confidence" in the eurozone and that tough and credible new rules are needed to regain market confidence. Germany has said EU treaty amendments are required to do that.

Sarkozy spoke a day after the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve and the central banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland moved together to make it easier for commercial banks to borrow American dollars. It was a move intended to calm financial markets, which had grown increasingly worried about European debt.

Seventeen countries share the euro, and those countries plus 10 more make up the European Union. All 27 would have to approve a change in the Maastricht Treaty, which created the euro in 1999. Sarkozy said the treaty "has revealed itself to be imperfect."

A disorderly breakup of the euro would devastate the world economy, analysts predict. It could cause banks to grow fearful and stop lending money to each other, which could trigger a replay of the stock market crash during the last world financial crisis, in 2008.

In addition, reduced economic output in Europe would hammer the economies of the U.S. and China, both of which depend heavily on Europeans to buy the things they make and export.

More than ever before, the ECB seems willing to consider bolder action to address the continent's financial crisis.

A month ago, at his first news conference as ECB President, Mario Draghi said it was "pointless" for European governments to expect the bank to rescue them through massive bond purchases. That had been the same stance as his predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet. But on Thursday, Draghi hinted that such expectations might not be futile after all.

Draghi opened the door to further ECB intervention ever so slightly in a speech to the European Parliament. He said the bank is prepared to play a bigger, yet limited role in the resolution of Europe's debt crisis ? but only after the eurozone countries tether their economies more tightly.

Speculation is mounting that EU leaders will align their spending policies more closely to bring government debt levels under control in the future. This must happen, Draghi said Thursday, before the ECB or other institutions could take more aggressive steps to help prevent the continent's current debt overload from ripping apart the euro and the global financial system.

"Other elements might follow, but the sequencing matters," he said. "And it is first and foremost important to get a commonly shared fiscal compact right."

Draghi gave the speech after delivering the bank's 2010 annual report to the European Parliament, a body of elected representatives to which the ECB is accountable.

Analysts' decoding Draghi's message ? which was delivered in typically vague central bank speak ? sensed an opening they hadn't heard before.

"Draghi seems to suggest that if a fiscal compact does get approval and looks credible, then the ECB can shift gears and become more interventionist," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.

Laura Veldkamp, an economics professor at New York University, said: "I would say this is a big change. Traditionally, the ECB has seen its only objective as maintaining a stable, low rate of inflation. The very idea that he's (considering) doing something to stabilize bond markets ... is a big change."

Still, Draghi's comments were laced with enough caveats to temper the euphoria that swept across financial markets Wednesday, when the ECB, the Federal Reserve and four other central banks took decisive action to make it cheaper for commercial banks to borrow dollars.

The ECB cannot lend directly to governments, including by buying their national bonds. It can, however, buy national bonds on the secondary market, lowering borrowing costs for governments. The ECB has committed just over euro200 billion ($268 billion) to such purchases, but it has resisted going further because it believes that would take the pressure off politicians to cut spending.

Draghi said such interventions "can only be limited" and said it is up to governments to first put their finances in order to convince bond markets that they are creditworthy borrowers.

"Governments must ? individually and collectively ? restore their credibility vis-a-vis financial markets," said Draghi, who only replaced Jean-Claude Trichet as ECB head a month ago.

Three relatively-small countries ? Greece, Ireland and Portugal ? had to be bailed out because of unsustainable debt levels, and Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, is facing intense strains as its borrowing costs surge. The big worry in the markets now is that Italy, with its debt mountain of euro1.9 trillion ($2.55 trillion) is just too big to bail out under current rules.

Analysts say the eurozone has little choice but to back proposals for much closer coordination of their spending and budget policies.

Since the euro was established in 1999, the rules governing the eurozone have been fairly lax. A commitment for countries to keep their budget deficits in check was violated on numerous occasions, including by Germany, Europe's biggest economy.

Draghi said the joint intervention by the six major central banks was only a temporary measure. Still, the move was wildly cheered in the markets on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising nearly 500 points.

On Thursday, the Stoxx 50 index of leading European shares closed 0.5 percent lower though there were encouraging signals in the bond markets, where the borrowing rates of France, Italy and Spain all fell amid hopes of an imminent resolution.

France and Spain survived a test of investor sentiment Thursday, selling all the bonds they offered at rates lower than feared.

Still, the eurozone economy shows all the signs of returning to recession.

___

Pylas contributed from London. AP Business Writer Greg Keller contributed from Paris and correspondent Juergen Baetz from Berlin.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Sims 3 and Sims 3 Pets : An Island Life

I will admit it, I love The Sims.? I?m not a computer game person, in fact, I?m not really into games at all but I have one game I will play and that?s The Sims.? When it first came out, I was in college and since Facebook wasn?t created yet, I needed a way to put off doing my school work.? The solution?? The game The Sims loaded on my school computer.

I got so hooked on the game that I would actually give it to my sister just to keep myself from playing it when I had a big paper due.? The problem with that was that my sister also became hooked, thus giving her a good way to put off her High School homework.? Since then, we?ve both been closet fans of The Sims {except for that one October when we came out of the closet for one night and actually went as Sims for Halloween? yes, really} and we still hold a special place in our hearts for the game.

If you haven?t played it before, it?s basically a game that allows you to create people ? Sims ? and then build them a house before you let them loose into the Sim world.? Whether you create a world of chaos or order, the real fun is when you perform social experiments with all your Sims and see how they react and interact in certain situations.? For instance, if you remove the door to their house.? Or you create Sims that are attracted to each other who live next door? and are both married.

Even as much as I love The Sims, once I had children back in 2008, I kind of abandoned the game as I really couldn?t afford to lose hours out of my day playing.? While I have had a half hour of Sims here and there, I really haven?t played much since I became a mom.? Or, at least I didn?t.? Now I have The Sims 3 to distract me, and it?s the best reason ever to waste a naptime.

It might just be the fact that I haven?t played the game in a while and my life has had a huge hole ever since I stopped playing, but Sims 3 is like 100x more fun than the original game used to be.? You can customize your Sim more than ever before, you can control personalities better, and you can really direct Simville as I always wished you could.? And, the add-ons!? Even better than before, you seriously can get anything for your Sim that you can buy at the store, create, or dream up in your wildest imagination. ?When you add in their expansion packs, the fun is almost too much to handle.

My favorite expansion pack is the Sims 3 Pets which allows you to actually customize the pets your Sims adopt.? Now you can create pets that truly are members of the household, they look just how you like, have the personality you choose, learn tricks, and even are able to leave the house ? a feature I love!? From horses to kittens to tigers, you can now have the pet you always wanted? and you can make your Sim clean up after it.

Sims 3 and Sims 3 Pets are available for PC and Mac and are a great holiday gift for the gamers and non-gamers on your list!

Purchase your copy of Sims 3 and Sims 3 Pets at Amazon.com.

This post was written for Electronic Arts who provided the complimentary copies in exchange for my honest review.

About the Author: Leanne: Rave and Review is a mother/father review team that is always on the go with children, whether that is around town, jet setting, or exploring the great outdoors. Equally at home in the big city or enjoying all that the Northwest has to offer, you will find them all around town and on Rave and Review daily.

<img src="http://islandlife808.com/wp-content/themes/lifestyle_30/images/leanne.png">

Source: http://islandlife808.com/shopping/sims-3-and-sims-3-pets/

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Sony Bravia TVs updated with Twitter, YouTube HD and more

Just when it seemed all the wonders of the internet were destined to only work on the second screen, Sony's firmware update for its 2011 Bravia TVs is making us rethink things. For starters, you can now enjoy those HD YouTube videos in HD and even keep up with your friend's photos, videos and shared links on Facebook. Also, now they're compatible with a new lite version of the Remote Keyboard app -- a feature previously exclusive to Vaio PCs and Xperia smartphones. Finally, you can now get live Twitter updates along the bottom of your screen and even use a Shazam like feature called Track ID to determine the names of songs, or their artists, that are played during your shows or commercials. The free update is available now for those with compatible sets, those with older Bravia TVs, though. Not so much.

Continue reading Sony Bravia TVs updated with Twitter, YouTube HD and more

Sony Bravia TVs updated with Twitter, YouTube HD and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/tfjimzboYW0/

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Strange new 'species' of ultra-red galaxy discovered

Thursday, December 1, 2011

In the distant reaches of the universe, almost 13 billion light-years from Earth, a strange species of galaxy lay hidden. Cloaked in dust and dimmed by the intervening distance, even the Hubble Space Telescope couldn't spy it. It took the revealing power of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to uncover not one, but four remarkably red galaxies. And while astronomers can describe the members of this new "species," they can't explain what makes them so ruddy.

"We've had to go to extremes to get the models to match our observations," said Jiasheng Huang of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). Huang is lead author on the paper announcing the find, which was published online by the Astrophysical Journal.

Spitzer succeeded where Hubble failed because Spitzer is sensitive to infrared light - light so red that it lies beyond the visible part of the spectrum. The newfound galaxies are more than 60 times brighter in the infrared than they are at the reddest colors Hubble can detect.

Galaxies can be very red for several reasons. They might be very dusty. They might contain many old, red stars. Or they might be very distant, in which case the expansion of the universe stretches their light to longer wavelengths and hence redder colors (a process known as redshifting). All three reasons seem to apply to the newfound galaxies.

All four galaxies are grouped near each other and appear to be physically associated, rather than being a chance line-up. Due to their great distance, we see them as they were only a billion years after the Big Bang - an era when the first galaxies formed.

"Hubble has shown us some of the first protogalaxies that formed, but nothing that looks like this. In a sense, these galaxies might be a 'missing link' in galactic evolution" said co-author Giovanni Fazio of the CfA.

Next, researchers hope to measure an accurate redshift for the galaxies, which will require more powerful instruments like the Large Millimeter Telescope or Atacama Large Millimeter Array. They also plan to search for more examples of this new "species" of extremely red galaxies.

"There's evidence for others in other regions of the sky. We'll analyze more Spitzer and Hubble observations to track them down," said Fazio.

###

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu

Thanks to Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115651/Strange_new__species__of_ultra_red_galaxy_discovered

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Ruling party to lead Guyana's first minority gov't (AP)

GEORGETOWN, Guyana ? Guyana's ruling party will head a minority government that will not control the South American country's parliament, election officials announced Thursday after three days of counting paper ballots.

Chief Elections Officer Gocool Boodhoo announced that the East Indian-dominated People's Progressive Party led by 61-year-old economist Donald Ramotar won the most seats in Monday's elections but fell short of an absolute majority.

The result is likely to mean turbulent political times for Guyana since opposition parties could control the 65-seat parliament if they are able to work together.

Ramotar's party won 32 seats, four less than it had in the last parliament. The opposition Partnership For National Unity has 26 seats, a gain of four, and the Alliance For Change holds seven, a gain of two.

It is the first minority government since Guyana achieved self-governance from Britain in 1953 and independence in 1966.

Analysts said that will require political compromises in a country largely divided along ethnic lines, between people of Indian and African descent.

The hung parliament "is the best thing to have happened to us as a nation as there are now checks to one race group dominating all the others," said Guyanese political analyst Christopher Ram. "It forces us to share power or could force good governance."

During the campaign, the Partnership For National Unity coalition, led by retired army commander David Granger, accused the previous government of racial discrimination, allying with drug traffickers and turning a blind eye to corruption.

After the results were announced Thursday, about 200 of the coalition's supporters marched from its headquarters toward the legislature chanting, "We want Granger." Another group of opposition demonstrators blew horns as police in riot gear looked on.

Opposition parties have alleged voting irregularities in various districts.

After the results were announced, Granger and Rupert Roopnarine, the Partnership For National Unity's candidate for prime minister, attended a meeting with officials of the People's Progressive Party and the Alliance for Change.

Roopnarine would only say that the various leaders agreed to meet soon with a "fixed agenda, perhaps next week."

Ramotar will be sworn in as president Saturday, replacing Bharrat Jagdeo, who served the two-term maximum set by Guyana's constitution.

Ramotar has pledged to continue Jagdeo's policies by safeguarding vital mining and agricultural sectors and improving education in Guyana, a nation of roughly 780,000 people on South America's northern shoulder bordered by the Caribbean, Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname. Its economy depends on the export of commodities such as gold, bauxite, sugar, rice, shrimp and timber.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_guyana_elections

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6 songs that made a city stand out

By Chris Rodell, msnbc.com contributor

If your city were a song, you?d want it to be upbeat, symbolic, historical, enjoy a catchy melody and, yeah, sure, have it be one of Elton John?s hits.

Philadelphia hit the jackpot in 1975 when, as a favor to a friend, the popular singer-songwriter and his lyricist wrote ?Philadelphia Freedom,? a song that 36 years later remains a musical love letter to the City of Brotherly Love.

TOM MIHALEK/AFP/Getty Images

Visitors tour the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, a city linked to the 1975 hit song, "Philadelphia Freedom."

?The reason it will always work so well for Philadelphia is because people hear it and they think it?s about Philadelphia?s role in so many historic struggles for freedom,? said Cara Schneider, a spokesperson for visitphilly.com. In fact, the song was written for tennis star Billie Jean King, co-founder and owner of the Philadelphia Freedoms, a tennis team that continues to play today. The song?s enduring popularity makes it as much a part of Philadelphia as Ben Franklin and Rocky Balboa.

Other cities have gotten similarly lucky. Here are a few more memorable melodies:

• ?Cleveland Rocks,? Ian Hunter, 1979: ?They said Cleveland was uncool and L.A. and New York City were cool,? Hunter once told reporters. ?I didn?t see it that way. Cleveland had a lot of heart.? Hunter, an Englishman, helped change the perception. So did Drew Carey, the star of the Cleveland-based ?Drew Carey Show,? which set the show?s opening credits to Hunter?s song. The show's cast lip synched the lyrics as they danced across parts of the city. It also doesn?t hurt that Cleveland has been home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1986.

• ?Viva Las Vegas,? Elvis Presley, 1964: ?This song will always be the best song about Las Vegas because it touches all the reasons why people love coming to Las Vegas,? says Dr. Michael Green, professor of history at the College of Southern Nevada. ?Viva Las Vegas? is the title song from the movie of the same name, the one that features the sizzling on- (and off-) screen chemistry between Presley and co-star Ann-Margret. Peaking at a lackluster -- for Presley -- no. 29 on the charts, the song and the city have become inseparable. The song has been covered numerous times, including by Ann-Margret in the 2000 film ?The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.?

• ?I Left My Heart in San Francisco,? Tony Bennett, 1962: As much a vivid cityscape as a song, Bennett said the tune ?helped make me a world citizen.? With its wistful vignettes about little cable cars climbing halfway to the stars and foggy air chilling the city by the bay, it?s a melodic parade of postcards, a song about not being there that somehow makes everyone feel like we?ve never left.

• ?Do You Know The Way to San Jose,? Dionne Warwick, 1968: Rand McNally couldn?t have done a better job of putting a single city on the map. It?s the song that helped launch a million Nor-Cal-bound conventioneers. ?It?s amazing how a song can still resonate from all those years ago,? says Meghan Horrigan, spokesperson for local visitor?s bureau, Team San Jose. ?It has a way of making what is the 10th largest city in America seem like a friendly small town where everyone feels like they belong.?

• ?New York, New York,? Frank Sinatra, 1979: This indelible song about one distinctive East Coast city has the audacious feel of a pop culture anthem. Originally written for Liza Minnelli in the 1977 Martin Scorsese film of the same name, it was left to Sinatra to give it its signature swagger. As brash and robust as the city it describes, the song conveys all the excitement and electricity Manhattan means to the world.

More stories you might like:

Chris Rodell is a Latrobe, Pa., contributor who blogs at www.EightDaysToAmish.com.

Source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/30/9122355-do-you-know-the-way-to-san-jose

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