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InformationWeek is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC
This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them.Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Colorado Healthcare Providers Launch Information Exchange "They've standardized the content so we can exchange and have interoperability with health records," explains the CIO of Children's Hospital.
Text Mining: The Intersection of Content & BI Companies used to employ armies of people to read through documents such as customer satisfaction surveys, but it took longer, cost a lot more money and yielded far less detailed, reliable and consistent information than you can now quickly uncover using text mining applications.
Employees Willing To Steal Data; Companies On The Alert Separate studies offer a scary glimpse into the minds of employees, management
The CrunchPad That Never Was In 2008, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington had a lovely vision for a $200 portable tablet device that would provide wireless web browsing. Sixteen months later, the collaborators on the CrunchPad are going through a messy divorce and it's not likely to see the light of day. Looking at the project's evolution, though, I can't say I'm surprised.
Open Source Firm Launches Cloud Middleware Platform WSO2 is moving from supplying light weight SOA services to the enterprise to providing middleware as a service for cloud operations.
Sun Upgrades VirtualBox Virtualization Software The new version allows users to move running virtual machines between systems without interruption.
Barnes & Noble Struggles To Fill Nook Demand Barnes & Noble hopes to deliver the e-book reader in time for Christmas to everyone who ordered before Nov. 20. But they're not making any promises.
Online Shopping Gains Following Black Friday Online spending increased significantly year-over-year to date, with Amazon the most popular cyber-storefront.
rPath Upgrades Linux App Deployment Platform The development tool expands the capabilities of its Linux application deployment platform to provide dashboard visualization of the deployment stack.
Survey: Android Developers Unhappy Some Android developers are frustrated with low application download volumes, poor marketplace design, and problems with Google Checkout.
Senate Healthcare Reform Bill's IT Provisions Make Sense As the Senate begins debating its healthcare reform bill, there's several health IT related provisions that aren't likely to stir a lot of emotion on the Senate floor, but deserve some attention.
Large Hadron Collider Breaks Energy Record The physics community is excited to see CERN's particle accelerator up and running again.
AT&T, LG Intro 1 GHz Smartphone The eXpo is the first major U.S. smartphone to feature a 1-GHz processor, an integrated mobile projector, and a fingerprint sensor.
Dell Dabbles With Chrome OS Owners of Dell Mini 10v netbooks can now try a version of Google's Chrome OS for themselves.
Nokia Slows Maemo Investment To Just One Device? Today, citing people familiar with Nokia's 2010 product roadmap, Reuters is reporting that Nokia will release just one new device in 2010 running its Linux-based Maemo platform. That's a bad idea, Nokia.
Gartner Sees Stabilization In Server Market Server shipments and revenue increased significantly in the third quarter from the previous quarter.
RIM Updates BlackBerry Server, Media Software The BlackBerry maker added multiple features to its BlackBerry Enterprise Server and Media Sync software.
OrderMotion Offers PivotLink BI To Online Retailers In integrating PivotLink with its OMX product, OrderMotion adds a number of BI capabilities for its customers, including the ability to monitor sales trends for demand forecasting and to measure the lifetime value of customers.
Amazon Boasts Record Kindle Sales The e-reader is the best-selling product across all categories on Amazon.
The Myth of 360 Degree Views We've all encountered the promise of 360-degree customer views, marketing-speak that asserts that BI solution X, CRM solution Y, or Sales Force Automation solution Z considers customer information from all angles. Yet I've never seen the "360-degree" claim fulfilled. Here's my take on 360-degree views and how they can finally becoming reality...
Lenovo Buys Back Mobile Unit The company will spend about $200 million to get its mobile phone unit back in order to focus on mobile Internet devices.
Feds Providing $80 Million For Health IT Training The government funding helps set up 6-month health IT workforce training programs at community colleges nationwide.
Is Wave A 'Concept Car' For Google? I'm wondering if Google Wave is like a concept car for Google. We'll never see it in production--but all of its features and capabilities will emerge in other products released by Google and other companies. Google Wave solves some very real business problems. But I think even Google will have trouble getting companies to adopt it.
Microsoft Seeks Patent For Cloud Data Migration On the cusp of launching its Azure cloud computing service, Microsoft is also making a savvy bid to lock up a patent for one of the main worries--vendor lock-in--of cloud users. (The other big concern is security.) The folks from Redmond have filed a patent application for migrating data to a new cloud, which is what you'd have to do when leave your first vendor.
LG Intros eXpo WinMo Smartphone With Pico Projector Today LG and AT&T introduced a new Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone, the eXpo. The device's defining feature is a removable Texas Instruments DLP pico projector, which can be used to share movies...er...PowerPoint Presentations when on the road.
Ericsson To Buy Nortel GSM Unit For $70 Million Nortel's European and Taiwanese GSM and GSM-R operations will go to Kapsch CarrierCom.
Android And Chrome OS: Google Vs. Google? Would Google's Chrome OS spell more competition for Android than anything else? That's one of the possibilities looming for Google's browser-centric Linux distro, as on each closer inspection it looks that much less like a Windows killer.
Government CIOs Must Focus On Results, Not Data Centers Data center proliferation entails unacceptable cost and risk, says the former CIO of the U.S. Postal Service. With cloud computing as an option, it's time to pursue a more sustainable strategy.
10 ECM Basics and Gotchas to Avoid Explore the crucial components of enterprise content management and the 10 pitfalls that undo efforts to capture, manage, store, preserve, secure and share information.
Sprint Targets Cyber Monday Instead Of Black Friday Just before the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless all announced sales for Black Friday and over the weekend. Conspicuously absent was any sort of sales event promoted by Sprint. Turns out Sprint was saving its deals for Cyber Monday instead of Black Friday.
Joost Assets Acquired By Adconion It announced that "certain assets" of Joost will be acquired, but Adconion did not disclose terms of the deal.
Infineon, Nokia Collaborating On LTE Chips The companies are working to ensure that Infineon's processors work with Nokia's 4G modems.
Saving 70% Per Month In The Cloud I need to add an FTP server to my environment, and as I sit here and struggle with how I'm going to do that and stay under my annual budget, it occurs to me that the cloud isn't a bad option anymore. The savings are pretty compelling, in fact; read on for a quick and dirty cost analysis.
Google Branded Phone Rumored in 2010 Ever since Google's Android phone has been known about, there has been speculation that Google would make a "Google Phone" to sell. Google has steadfastly maintained they don't want anything to do with hardware though. They are satisfied with making the platform and working with hardware makers to bring Android to the consumers. That may change.
Murdoch And Microsoft Redefine Search A report in the Financial Times says that Microsoft has approached News Corp to obtain exclusive indexing rights for their sites such as Fox News. In return for some payment from Microsoft, News Corp would change its sites to block Google's indexing (and presumably others as well), leaving Bing as the primary way to find content on their sites.
Top Resources To Save Big On Cyber Monday I am ashamed to admit it but I am a deal hunter. I'd like to share my top resources so you can save actual money on Cyber Monday.
Give Thanks For Low Tech As families and friends gathered across our great country yesterday, we were celebrating the merits of low tech. I think it should teach us something about how we conceive, build, and deliver any tech.
China Not So Worried About Math, Computer Skills President Obama's making a new push to encourage and improve math and science education, in order to keep up in the global economy. In China, meanwhile, math and computer skills rank low as a requirement for driving innovation, a surprising Newsweek survey finds.
Elastra Cloud Server Preps Apps For Azure, Amazon Startup Elastra configures applications for deployment to a private cloud, Amazon EC2, or Microsoft Azure.
Down To Business: How Indian CIOs Stack Up IBM thinks they're more progressive than CIOs elsewhere in the world, given their emphasis on innovation, customers, and other strategic matters.
Apple Accepts PhoneGap For iPhone Development Cross-platform mobile development is getting easier, thanks to frameworks that leverage Web technology.
Apple Seeks Permanent Halt To Psystar Mac Clones The requested injunction would prohibit Psystar from selling Mac knock offs, which a federal court has already ruled violate Apple's copyright.
AOL Has A New Logo! AOL is offering up a tantalizing taste of its post-Time Warner business strategy: a new brand identity, which it plans to formally introduce when it lists on the NYSE on December 10.
AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon All Offering Black Friday Sales At least three of the four major network operators in the U.S. have announced sales on devices for the Black Friday shopping bonanza. Here's a round-up of what AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are offering. My favorite deal is the buy-one-get-one BlackBerry offer that Verizon has scheduled for Friday, November 27.
Sprint Gets Nod To Buy iPCS Federal and state approval of the $831 million deal removes all but one hurdle toward finalizing the acquisition.
Best Buy Rolls Out $99 Android Sale The holiday shopping season has fully arrived, and stores across the country will be opening early and offering bargains. If you're brave enough to hit the big box retail stores this weekend, Best Buy is offering five different Android handsets for $99 each.
FCC Chair Wants More Broadband A 10% increase in broadband availability means a 1.2 to 1.5 point increase in GDP, Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski says.
Be Transparent To The (Open) Core "Transparency" is a vital term in open source: how easy is it to find out about some aspect of an open source project or product? Matthew Aslett of the 451 CAOS Theory blog went to find out how a number of vendors of open core products stacked up in this regard.
Gartner: Data Center Problems Ahead Energy, staffing, and hardware costs lead the list of worsening challenges facing data center managers, research firm says.


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Dry application at it's best!
A patented performance feature enabling the Applicator of the printed decal to apply much faster and to limit the risks of wrinkles and entrapped air bubbles generally associated with the application of large format decals.
BF series therefore save time by increasing productivity during the application job. The micro-structured repositionable adhesive system allows the installer to remove and re-apply the decals during the job. It is possible to press out small entrapped air bubbles with ease!
As a result : A great looking job!

subset: commoncrawl


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December 20, 2012
In celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Glenn ES took on the color pink.
The campus has three breast cancer survivors on campus, so in celebration of those individuals and in recognition of the month, the campus held a "Pink Out Day." Every staff member who made a donation to the breast cancer research fund was asked to wear pink to show their support. Through their "Pretty in Pink" promotion, the staff was able to raise $140 for breast cancer research.


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Pollution before the automobile
On one of the internet forums I read, someone suggested that we should all go back to horses and buggies like the Mennonites and Amish. She wasn't entirely serious but she wasn't entirely joking, either. The manure and the flies would be terrible problems, I reminded her.
How bad could it be? In cities, manure problems were horrendous, according to one source.
Of the three million horses in American cities at the beginning of the twentiety century, New York had some 150,000, the healthier ones each producing between twenty and twenty-five pounds of manure a day. These dumplings were numerous on every street, attracting swarms of flies and radiating a powerful stench. The ambiance was further debased by the presence on almost every block of stables filled with urine-saturated hay.Bettmann also notes that the "15,000 horses of Rochester, NY, produced enough manure in 1900 to cover an acre of ground with a layer 175 feet high." A few pages later, when he writes about Pittsburgh, he mentions the "steamy cesspools around the hitching posts where flies plagued man and beast and a vile odor abounded."
During dry spells, the pounding traffic refined the manure to a dust, which blew "from the pavement as a sharp piercing powder, to cover our clothes, ruin our furniture and blow up into our nostrils."
Source: The Good Old Days -- They were Terrible! by Otto L. Bettmann. Published by Random House, New York, 1974.
No, I don't want to revert to the horse and buggy. I think I'll just practice conservative driving techniques.


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Only hotels in 21207 zip code are listed below. Search for cheap and discount hotel rates in Gwynn Oak, MD for your upcoming leisure or conference / group travel. We list the best 21207 hotels and motels so you can review the Gwynn Oak hotel list below to find the perfect lodging. Hotels in Baltimore county and area code 410 are also listed.
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Mission Overview
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Phoenix Lander Amid Disappearing Spring Ice
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, its backshell and its heatshield are visible within this enhanced-color image of the Phoenix landing site taken on Jan. 6, 2010 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
With early spring at the Phoenix landing site comes progressive sublimation of carbon-dioxide frost that has blanketed the lander and surrounding terrain throughout the winter. During the long polar-winter night, atmospheric carbon dioxide freezes onto the surface, building up a layer of frost roughly 30 centimeters (about one foot) thick. In the spring this frost returns to atmosphere gas (sublimates) over the course of several months. This image, part of a seasonal frost monitoring sequence, shows some areas of bare ground are beginning to be exposed. However, extensive frost patches remain in the topographic lows, such as the troughs of the local polygonally patterned surface.
In HiRISE images acquired during the last Martian summer, the solar arrays on the lander were clearly discernable from their distinctive bluish color. For example, see the subimage at
from June 16, 2008.
The springtime image here has green boxes around the backshell (top), heat shield, and lander (bottom). The solar arrays are not discernable in this new image, probably because the patchy frost effectively camouflages them. Even when the frost has completely sublimated, dust deposited during the winter may obscure them. The parachute attached to the backshell is also not apparent in this image, and we'll see if it reappears in later images. Also gone are the dark halos around the lander, backshell, and heat shield, again due to seasonal frost, dust or both. This and future images will help calibrate expectations for finding the Mars Polar Lander hardware, which encountered Mars in 1999.
This image covers a swath of ground about 300 meters (about 1,000 feet) wide, at 68.2 degrees north latitude, 234.3 degrees east longitude. It is one product from HiRISE observation ESP_016160_2485. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/phoenix-spring.php .
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
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› NASA Mars Exploration site
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› JPL's Rover News and Image
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text: Chances are you know one of the more than 10 million Americans living with bipolar disorder. Mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks are impacted by this brain disorder. Learn to recognize the signs; as well as when and how to help, tonight on Speak Your Mind with Dr. Carolyn Phelps. Air date: 1/31/12


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(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) This is a beautiful photo, and once again I have no idea who the bride and groom are. As for clues regarding the photo's origin, my guess is that it was taken around 1920. The wedding was probably performed at St. Mary's Church (Our Lady of Czestochowa) in Worcester, MA. The bride and the groom were probably members of Worcester's Polish community.
If you have or had family in the Polish community in Worcester, MA at the early part of the twentieth century please take a look. Check out my other mystery wedding photos as well. I'd love to put a name to a face. I'd especially love to find a relative of one of these happy couples, someone who doesn't have a photo of their ancestor's wedding, and send them a copy.
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Privacy Policy
Last Updated: August 22, 2016
This CoolSavings® Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") applies to information collected through the CoolSavings® Offerings including the CoolSavings® website located at www.coolsavings.com ("Site") which is owned and operated by Q Interactive, LLC ("CoolSavings®", "we", "our" or "us"). This Privacy Policy covers our treatment of personal information and other information that we collect when a user: accesses: (a) the Site; (b) the Site's viewable text, graphics and other material (collectively, "Content"); (c) a variety of printable, web-based coupons ("Printable Coupons") and online coupon codes ("Coupon Codes"), as made available on the Site by CoolSavings'® third party coupon product/service providers ("Coupon Providers"); (d) a variety of local deals, promotional offers and discounts ("Promotional Offers", and together with the Printable Coupons and Coupon Codes, the "Coupons"), on the Site and provided by CoolSavings'® third party offer providers ("Offer Providers," and together with the Third Party Coupon Providers, the "Merchants"); (e) the sample program ("Sample Program") that will enable users to register to receive free samples and other discounted merchandise (collectively, the "Samples"); and/or (f) certain promotions, contests and/or sweepstakes we offer on the Site from time to time (collectively, "Sweepstakes," and together with the Site, Content, Vouchers, Sample Program and Samples the "CoolSavings® Offerings").
Capitalized terms not defined herein have the same meanings as in the CoolSavings® Terms and Conditions (the "Terms and Conditions"). IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY IN THEIR ENTIRETY, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR OTHERWISE USE THE SITE OR THE COOLSAVINGS® OFFERINGS.
We also describe additional rights that California users have under the California "Shine the Light" law.
Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy, we provide this Privacy Policy explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this Privacy Policy easy to find, we make it available on the homepage of the Site, and where personally identifiable information may be collected.
We collect certain personally identifiable information from users, as applicable, when a user registers to access one or more CoolSavings® Offerings. Depending on which of the CoolSavings® Offerings you are attempting to access, the information that you must supply on the registration form ("Form") may include some or all of the following: (a) full name; (b) full mailing address; (c) telephone number; (d) e-mail address; (e) your password; and (f) any other information requested on the Form. Where a user accesses certain of the CoolSavings® Offerings using their Facebook® account, we may collect some or all of the following (depending on the user's Facebook® account settings and the discretion of Facebook®): (i) the user's e-mail address; (ii) the information listed in the "About Me" section of the user's Facebook® account; (iii) the "interests" associated with the user's Facebook® account; (iv) the user's Facebook® account ID and the "likes" associated with the user's Facebook® account; and (v) any other information collected via the Facebook® account interface, depending on the user's Facebook® account settings. We may also collect certain portions of your personal information when you otherwise agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, but do not complete the applicable registration process in full.
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Here are some other ways we may collect information:
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We may provide your personal information to specific companies who have their products and services featured on the Site and/or otherwise by and through the CoolSavings® Offerings. For example, we may provide your personal information to an advertiser, Merchant or other Third-Party Provider if you have taken an action to register for, or request more information from, that Advertiser/Third-Party Provider, or requested a Coupon from that Merchant, as applicable.
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We endeavor to safeguard and protect our users' personal information. When users make personal information available to us, their personal information is protected both online and offline (to the extent that we maintain any personal information offline). Where our registration/application process prompts users to enter sensitive information, if any (such as credit card information, bank account information, Social Security Number, etc.), and when we store and transmit such sensitive information, that information is encrypted and is protected with encryption software that complies with the encryption requirements established by the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), such as advanced TLS (Transport Layer Security).
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Please be advised, however, that while we take every reasonable precaution available to protect your personal information, no storage facility, technology, software, security protocol or data transmission over the Internet or via wireless networks can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Computer hackers that circumvent our security measures may gain access to certain portions of your personal information, and technological bugs, errors and glitches may cause inadvertent disclosures of your personal information. You should know that that any attempt to breach the security of the network, our servers, databases or other hardware or software may constitute a crime punishable by law. For the reasons mentioned above, we cannot warrant that your personal information will be absolutely secure. Any transmission of data at or through the Site, other CoolSavings® Offerings, or otherwise via the Internet or wireless network, is done at your own risk.
In compliance with applicable federal and state laws, we will notify any applicable regulatory agencies and you (via email) if we learn of an information security breach with respect to your personal information. Please be advised that notice may be delayed in order to address the needs of law enforcement, determine the scope of network damage, and to engage in remedial measures.
If your personally identifiable information changes, you may submit changes through the My Preferences section of the website. If you request deletion of your personal information, please note that your personal information will be suppressed from further use as described in this Privacy Policy. However, we will retain and use your personal information as necessary in order to comply with our corporate policies including legal obligations, dispute resolution and enforcement of our agreements. To submit such a request concerning the personal information we previously collected, contact us here. We will respond to your request within thirty (30) days.
We ask individual users to identify themselves and the information requested to be accessed, corrected or removed before processing such requests, and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we may decline to process requests that are unreasonably repetitive or systematic, require disproportionate technical effort, jeopardize the privacy of others or would be extremely impractical (for instance, requests concerning information residing on backup tapes).
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Please be further advised that, after you delete your personal information, residual copies may take a period of time before they are deleted from our active servers and may remain in our backup systems.
Protecting the privacy of children is especially important. For this reason, we never knowingly collect information from anyone under the age of 13. If we obtain actual knowledge that such information has been collected, that information will be immediately suppressed from our database.
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text:
Facebook to Pay $19 Billion for WhatsApp
Facebook's $19 billion purchase of the WhatsApp mobile messaging service ranks as the largest-ever purchase of a company backed by venture capital. WSJ's Reed Albergotti reports. (Photo: AP)
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... the increase ... is acquiring mobile messaging service WhatsApp for an eighteen ... billion dollars ... I've read Albergotti The Wall Street Journal ... The partial catch partial Stock Deal ... is a move by Facebook to ... both acquire more and younger users ... and international users WhatsApp is a very popular replacement for SMS messaging overseas ... last year Facebook offered three billion dollars the cash offer ... for Snapchat and other mobile messaging service that was also popular with younger users that was considered an enormous offer at that time in twenty twelve ... Facebook paid a billion dollars in cash and stock for Instagram which ... at that time that was considered an offer so ... which has seen the amount of money companies are willing to pay ... to acquire these mobile apps ... going up and up ... WhatsApp is really unlike any other messaging service in terms of how quickly it's grown over the past nine months what's that's more than doubled its users to four hundred and fifty million ... that's about two thirds the growth rate that Facebook itself ... but it's not just the number of users that WhatsApp as it's the number of people who use it everyday ... seventy percent of those four hundred and fifty million users ... log in everyday Facebook on the other hand ... has sixty one percent of its users like ... everyday ... you talking about a wildly popular app that Facebook clearly wanted to get its hands on and with a clearly ... an enormous price and time will tell whether Facebook overpaid for WhatsApp what to see how the business of mobile messaging rose in the next few years ... depending on what happens ... Facebook the book really smart ... or rather foolish for paying so much money ...


text:
Malm Shaggy 190x280cm Aqua Blue
Ships From: Melbourne, within 2 days
Make 4 payments of $57.49 over 8 weeks and get it now!
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The Malm collection brings you soft, plush shaggy floor rugs at an affordable price.
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- Long shaggy pile (2.5cm) is luxurious and feels great under your toes! It is warm, plush and soft and is perfect for lounging around on the rug
- The Malm range is 100% polyester, is fully overlocked and has a durable backing and is suitale for both for light and heavy traffic areas
- Vibrant Solid Colours - the Malm range is available in 11 solid colours. Choose from aqua blue, black, chocolate brown, dusty blue, green, latte, orange, pink, purple, beige and red and you are sure to find one to suit your decor.
- The Malm range comes in 5 sizes that can cover a small study to a massive rumpus room!
- 60 x 60cm circle
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[Editor's note: A prior version of this story contained an incorrect Tuesday close for the Dow industrials, and also gave an incorrect reporting day for Citigroup Inc.]
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record level on Wednesday for the 15th time this year, as better-than-expected corporate earnings and deal talk lifted broader markets.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which said that economic conditions and labor markets showed improvement across the country into early July, gave stocks a late lift.
The S&P 500 SPX, +0.85% closed 8.29 points, or 0.4%, higher at 1,981.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.77% added 77.52 points, or 0.5%, to 17,138.20.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +1.08% gained 9.58 points, or 0.2%, to 4,425.97.
But while S&P component Time Warner Inc. surged on news that it had rejected a bid from 21st Century Fox Inc., biotech and Internet stocks sold off for the second day, after a report from the Federal Reserve on Tuesday raised concerns about their valuations. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF IBB, +1.98% fell 1.6%, while the Global X Social Media Index ETF SOCL, +0.54% gave up 0.4%.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen concluded her two-day appearance testifying on Capitol Hill. In her comments, she stressed a softer line on stock valuations, saying the Fed doesn't have a target for equity values. The central bank instead looks to see if valuations are outside historical norms.
"In that sense, I am not seeing alarming warning signals," she said Wednesday. Read the recap of Yellen's testimony on this live blog.
Also read: Jim Cramer is wrong — the Fed should talk valuations
But most of investors' attention was on earnings and M&A news.
Time Warner Inc. US:TWX shares jumped 17% as the media company confirmed it had rejected an $80 billion offer from 21st Century Fox FOXA, +1.48%
"The news about Time Warner's rejection of a takeover bid by 21st Century Fox signals that corporations are healthy and see value in assets that the public markets do not see. And if companies deliver on 5% earnings growth estimate, then current multiples and prices on the S&P 500 are justified," said Joe Peta, managing director at Novus, a financial technology company.
Also read: Fox's bid for Time Warner may be a buy signal for Viacom
Intel Corp. INTC, +2.07% jumped 9.3% after the technology maker reported market-pleasing results late Tuesday, while disappointment over Yahoo Inc.'s US:YHOO results left those shares down 5.1%.
HCA Holdings Inc. HCA, +2.00% leapt 10% as the hospital operator raised its earnings guidance for the second quarter and full year. For more on today's movers, read our Mover and Shakers column.
Online-auction provider eBay Inc. EBAY, +0.05% reports after the close of markets on Wednesday.
European stocks, commodities rise
Across other markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed at a one-week high. China's economic growth rate hit 7.5% in the April-June quarter. While that topped expectations, it still triggered discussion about whether the government will offer up more stimulus.
European stocks SXXP, +0.54% were boosted by that Chinese data. Crude oil futures CLQ24, -49.67% bounced back from two-month lows, adding to gains after a government supply report showed a larger-than-expected drop in inventories. Gold futures US:GCQ4 inched fractionally higher after a three-day skid, yet stayed below $1,300 an ounce. The dollar DXY, +0.01% pushed higher.
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
There's a big hole in the bull case for stocks
9 reasons Apple's stock price will keep rising
Delamaide on where the right and left agree on Obama
Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.


text:
|Technical Brief: Microsoft DirectX 10: The next generation graphics API
Microsoft's release of DirectX 10 represents the most significant step forward in 3D graphics API since the birth of programmable shaders. Completely built from the ground up, DirectX 10 features a highly optimized runtime, powerful geometry shaders, texture arrays and numerous other features that unlock a whole new world of graphical effects. The GeForce 8 Series GPUs are the world's first DirectX 10 compatible GPUs and this paper describes DirectX 10 features and how the Ge Force 8 Series architecture brings them to life. (800K PDF)
Technical Brief: NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series GPU Architecture Overview
NVIDIA's powerful GeForce 8 Series GPUs are the industry's first fully unified architecture-based DirectX 10 compatible GPUs that delivers incredible 3D graphics performance and image quality. Gamers will experience amazing Extreme High Definition (XHD) game performance with quality settings turned to maximum, especially with NVIDIA SLI® configurations using high-end nForce 600i SLI motherboards. This paper describes key GeForce 8 Series GPU features and internal architecture. (3.6MB PDF)
Technical Brief: Lumenex Engine: The new standard in GPU image quality
The Lumenex engine is implemented in the new GeForce 8 Series GPUs and it was designed with one goal in mind: to provide the highest image quality with the lowest performance impact. New antialiasing, anistropic filtering, and high dynamic range (HDR) rendering technologies are discussed in detail. (580K PDF)


text:
New Mexico Tech Employee Dies in Roll-Over Car Accident, April 21, 2006
SOCORRO, N.M., April 21, 2006 – Clay Patrick Castleton, a department head at one of New Mexico Tech's research divisions, died Thursday evening, April 20, of injuries sustained in a single-car rollover accident which occurred on State Highway 9, north of Playas, N.M., where the research university's Playas Training Center is located.
A memorial service has been set for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25, in Macey Center.
The fatal accident occurred while Castleton was returning to the university's Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) in Socorro, where he was in charge of the research division's Information and Technology Operations Branch.
Castleton also was a New Mexico Tech alumnus, having graduated from the state-supported research university in May 2000 with a bachelor of science degree in computer science, before he began working at EMRTC.
"From what his friends and colleagues at EMRTC have expressed on hearing of this tragic event, I can say that Mr. Castleton was an exemplary and influential director and researcher who definitely made a lasting impression on all his co-workers," said New Mexico Tech President Daniel H. López.
"The entire campus community shares in the loss of this exceptional young man, and we extend our thoughts and prayers to his family during this profound personal tragedy," López added.


text:
Bay Area Kundalini Yoga is sponsored by active members of the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association (IKYTA) in the Bay Area. Here you'll find information about Kundalini Yoga, local class listings, teacher training, yoga workshops and special events throughout the area. You'll also find videos and links for related resources, products and information.
3HO is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the teachings of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan Ph.D, Master of Kundalini Yoga to help people live Healthy, Happy, Holy lives.
Happiness is your birthright. Live it!
Local Aquarian Sadhanas


text:
Ash mopstick 1.8m
54mm round mopstick. Especially suitable for people who struggle to grip such as children or elderly. could be used with fusion 54mm end caps.Flat area 22mm wide. END CAPS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS RAIL. please see all 54mm designs.54mm with 22mm flat area for bracket fixing. This is a special order or bespoke item. please refer to our terms and conditions of sale.


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Our trainer just clued us into this organization; it's a group that facilitates agility "at a distance"-- you submit your dog's run via youtube.
http://www.dogtrainingraleighnc.net/Vir ... _home.html
Now, I don't want to shield Robin from the world forever, or use this as an excuse to get lazy with the reactivity/fear training we're doing. But she is very scared of the agility equipment. It's something that I'd need to work on separately when she's comfortable. To get her to a solid point on these sorts of things AND help her get more comfortable in a group setting separately before putting it all together would be nice... And while I know we could work on it without titling, having something to work toward would be motivation for ME to keep it up.


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WASHINGTON - SeaWorld lawyers headed to court Tuesday morning in Washington D.C. for a landmark hearing that could determine whether the company's animal trainers will be allowed to have close physical contact with the marine park's famous killer whales.
[AUDIO: SeaWorld of Florida, LLC vs Thomas Perez]
Washington D.C. attorney Eugene Scalia represented SeaWorld, urging a panel of appeals court judges to overturn a citation that was issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau. OSHA believes the best way for SeaWorld to protect its employees is to keep them behind barriers or a safe distance away from its killer whales.
Months after the killer whale Tilikum drowned SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau in February 2010, OSHA cited the company for endangering the safety of its killer whale trainers. In June 2012, an administrative law judge upheld the citation and ordered SeaWorld to pay a $7,000 fine. The judge also sided with OSHA's recommendation that SeaWorld keep its trainers behind barriers or a safe distance away when working with killer whales. SeaWorld has appealed that ruling.
During Tuesday morning's oral arguments, Scalia, the son of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, argued that OSHA is abusing its authority by demanding SeaWorld keep trainers a distance away while working with killer whales. As a former Solicitor of the Department of Labor, Eugene Scalia was once OSHA's top lawyer.
Scalia argued that OSHA's attempt to alter their business's mission would be similar to the agency mandating speed limits on NASCAR races or requiring the NFL to ban tackling and blocking.
Although SeaWorld voluntarily barred trainers from swimming with killer whales after Brancheau's death, the company insists that keeping trainers behind barriers or a distance away is not feasible. Scalia says such measures would jeopardize the quality of animal care and increase the danger to employees since the whales would not be as well trained.
Attorney Amy Tryon is representing the Department of Labor in the SeaWorld case. OSHA argued that SeaWorld has already made safety improvements after Brancheau's death that have not harmed the company's business model.
In written briefs filed ahead of Tuesday's hearing, attorneys for both sides focused on the "General Duty Clause" of the Occupational Safety Health Act, which requires employers to provide a place of employment "free from recognized hazards" that are likely to cause death of physical harm.
[VIEW: SeaWorld brief | Secretary of Labor brief | SeaWorld rebuttal brief]
OSHA lawyers said SeaWorld violated the General Duty Clause by exposing trainers to the recognized hazards of working in close contact with killer whales. OSHA cites SeaWorld's own internal reports documenting around 100 incidents of killer whale aggression, including "biting, hitting, lunging toward, pulling on, pinning, dragging, and aggressively swimming over SeaWorld trainers." The agency believes those incident reports establish a pattern of unpredictable and dangerous working conditions.
OSHA argues SeaWorld's attempts to reduce the risk have failed, leading to multiple injuries and the deaths of two trainers (Besides Brancheau, OSHA includes the death of Alexis Martinez, a trainer employed by a marine park in Spain who was killed by a SeaWorld-owned orca two months earlier).
SeaWorld acknowledges in written legal briefs that there is a risk working with killer whales, but the company believes it has adequately minimized that risk through a comprehensive animal training program and other safety protocols. SeaWorld's attorney argues that the OSH Act does not require an employer to provide a risk-free workplace, but rather reduce significant risks. As for those incident reports detailing aggressive whale behavior, SeaWorld asserts the documents "do not show recognition of ongoing hazards. Instead they show resolution of potential problems."
SeaWorld says having close contact with killer whales is integral to their business of attracting, inspiring and educating audiences, while also being necessary to provide the whales with proper veterinary care.
Oral arguments weren't at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where SeaWorld's appeal was filed. Instead, for the first time ever, the chief judge decided to move the proceedings to an auditorium at Georgetown University Law Center so students can witness the debate.
If SeaWorld loses their appeal, the company's final recourse would be to petition the U.S. Supreme Court. In their written briefs, SeaWorld argues that OSHA's general duty clause is unconstitutionally vague and violates employers' due process rights by not providing notice of prohibited working conditions. OSHA contends that SeaWorld's prior knowledge of killer whale aggression towards employees causing injury and death is adequate warning.
Attorneys for SeaWorld and OSHA were given 15 minutes each to present their oral arguments before a three-judge panel Tuesday morning. It is unknown when the judges will issue their ruling on SeaWorld's appeal.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text: Laura Stroup, assistant professor of environmental studies, Richard Kujawa, professor of geography, and Jeffrey Ayres, professor of political science and dean of the College, recently published the article " Envisioning a Green Energy Future in Canada and the United States: Constructing a Sustainable Future in the Context of New Regionalisms?" in American Review of Canadian Studies, Volume 45, Issue 3, 2015: Special Issue: The "Nature" of Canadian Studies in the United States. (posted January 2016) Laura Stroup, assistant professor of environmental studies; Jeff Ayres, professor of political science and dean of the College; and Richard Kujawa, professor of geography, Economics Department chair and human geography minor coordinator, have had the following paper accepted for publication: "Envisioning a Green Energy Future in Canada and the United States" in a Special Issue of American Review of Canadian Studies on the Place of Nature in Canadian Studies in the U.S. The paper is slated for volume 45.3 (Fall 2015). (posted April 2015) Laura Stroup, assistant professor of environmental studies, brought 15 students, mostly environmental studies majors, from her class ES 201 (Environmental Problems) to the Vermont Statehouse for the first ever Climate Lobbying Day on February 26. They were hosted by a Vermont Law School Student, Alex Gilbert, who works in an organization known as Ideas for Policy. The theme of the climate Lobbying Day was Thermal Efficiency. The students learned about the environmental bill passage process in the State Legislature, obtained career information from Alex and other Ideas for Policy members, and talked state legislators about climate change and related concerns in Vermont.


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Chuck seems to be having some problems understanding several things that are easily understandable. So, being a helpful guy, I'll take a few minutes to explain things to them.
Chuck: Hugh Howey has a petition out for… well, I don't know exactly what it's for, except I think it's like, an anti-boycott for Amazon? A love-fest for Amazon? I'm not sure.
Joe: It's a counter to the negative press the media is giving Amazon for its negotiations with Hachette. Big name authors are using the media to spread misinformation about the situation, and whine in public about how unfair Amazon is being.
The letter explains, in detail, what the negotiation is really about, and how Amazon isn't the bad guy in this situation. Amazon has given readers and writers more choice and opportunity than ever before, all while keeping prices low and offering much better royalties.
That isn't a love-fest. It's the truth.
Chuck: "Below, you will see the names of writers who thank you for your support. This is only a bare fraction of the people you have touched. Happy Independence Day.
Signed, your authors."
At this point, I'm left to wonder if Independence Day is the new April Fool's.
Joe: Ha ha! You conflated two holidays to be funny! Outrageous!
I'm left to wonder if you actually read the letter, because the 4000 people who have signed it, and left thousands of testimonials, seemed to understand it just fine.
Chuck: I don't know exactly why Mega-Company Amazon needs a… petition of support? I like Amazon well enough, and as my publisher they've been aces. I don't boycott them — but I also try to diversify my buying habits in the same way I try to diversify my reading and writing and publishing habits. But I also recognize that Amazon has received a lot of criticism for the way it does business (as have many big publishers, to be clear), and further, puts out an e-book environment where you do not really own your e-books.
Joe: That last sentence was lazy and I don't know who it is directed toward. Authors? You keep your rights when you publish on KDP, so you do own them. If you're referring to readers owning ebooks, that's the nature of digital downloads. You don't own your iTunes purchases either. Every software download includes a license agreement. What's your point? You're bringing this up why exactly? Non-sequitor divergences make it tough to tease out your intent.
Chuck: I've also read some contracts from Amazon that are bad or worse than some of the contracts you get from big publishers.
Joe: The Amazon legal department on their publishing side is indeed becoming onerous to deal with. But I've yet to see an Amazon contract as bad or worse as any of the big publishers, and I'm pretty sure I've seen more of both than you have.
But please, share these contract terms with us. Back up your claim with some data.
Chuck: This isn't meant to suggest that Amazon is an Evil Monster (I note the laziness of that too-easy thinking here, in an earlier post one month ago today). It's just meant to suggest –
Well, we don't need a fucking petition to support them.
Joe: Our fucking petition negated much of the potential negative effect that Preston's carefully orchestrated press release would have otherwise had. Several media outlets have picked ours up, giving balanced time to an issue that has been extremely one-sided.
Chuck: They're not an underdog.
They're not your savior.
Joe: No, Chuck, they aren't. But they are the company that innovated the online bookstore everyone wants to shop at by keeping prices low and offering great customer service. They invented the Kindle. With KDP, they've allowed thousands of authors to make money they otherwise wouldn't have been able to. And they've given authors a choice, when before it was sign with a NY Publishing Cartel or don't get read.
That's information readers and writers need to hear, when the Internet and airwaves are full of Colbert, Patterson, Turow, Preston, et al spouting nonsense about Amazon bullying authors.
Chuck: This petition reads like they're beatific saints descending from crepuscular rays to upend cornucopias of food atop the heads of the homeless. If I didn't know who wrote it, I'd legit think it was straight-up satire.
Joe: Ok, I get it. You're being satirical right now.
I think. Perhaps you just aren't good enough a writer to get your point across.
Chuck: I respect Hugh's interest in supporting the environment that clearly supports him. But this is deeply, weirdly, head-scratchingly absurd. This is, what, a boycott against the boycott? A love letter to a company? I don't even know. At this point I'm having trouble reading it as anything other than a missive from Bizarro-World.
Joe: Preston's silly letter (the one you should be fisking) called for people to email Jeff Bezos and tell him to stop harming authors and customers. Our letter goes into detail explaining that Amazon isn't harming authors or customers.
I can explain it a few more times if it still hasn't sunk in. And I have a feeling I'll have to.
Chuck: Some quick thoughts on bits from the petition:
"Petition by: Your Writers."
No. I don't support petitions like this. You shouldn't support a petition like this even as a self-published author. I will scream this in your ear as long as I can: diversify diversify diversify. Amazon is not your mother. It's not your god. It's a company. Does good things. Does bad things. *shakes head so hard blood comes out of ears*
Joe: Can you shake your head a bit harder? The image of you bleeding aurally amuses me.
Diversification has absolutely nothing to do with the Amazon vs. Hachette debate. Writing for multiple publishers or etailers still makes you an Amazon writer if you publish on Amazon.
If this is how you fisk, I truly look forward to you fisking me. Please.
Chuck: "To Thank Our Readers"
Thanking readers is nowhere to be found in this petition.
Joe: How can you reply to a letter you obviously didn't read?
To wit: "Dear Readers,
Much is being said these days about changes in the book world, but not nearly enough is being said about the most important people in our industry.
You. The readers. Without you there wouldn't be a book industry.
We owe you so much, and we are forever in your debt. Thank you for reading late into the night. Thank you for reading to your children. Thank you for missing that subway stop, for your word of mouth, your reviews, and your fan emails.
Thank you for seeking our books in so many ways—through brick and mortar stores, online, and in libraries.
Thank you for enjoying these stories in all their forms—as digital books, paper books, and audiobooks. "
That's how the letter starts. Perhaps you missed it due to the dizziness brought on by your ear-related hypovolemic shock.
Chuck: It is a petition thanking Amazon.
Not even individual people at Amazon.
Just… Amazon. Like, the entity.
Joe: Can you point out where we thank Amazon? Hint: We don't. At all.
But don't let the facts get in the way of your delusions.
Chuck: "By what is being reported in the media, it may seem like Amazon is restricting what readers can access. It may seem that they are marginalizing authors."
They are. This is literally true. You might believe that this is a good move in the long run — and you could make an argument that supports Amazon in this, just as you could make one in reverse. But this is literally actually true, not like, spin by the Giant Publishing Machine.
Joe: Good job supporting that statement with logic and facts. Because, in fact, our letter (the one you're blogging about but apparently didn't read) explains why Amazon is not restricting what readers can access, nor is it marginalizing authors.
On Amazon, readers can access of all Hachette's books currently available. Indies don't have pre-order buttons. That's a perk Amazon removed from Hachette because Amazon may not be offering Hachette books in the future if negotiations fail. Amazon should allow pre-orders it can't fulfill? How is that customer-centric?
And certainly you're aware, Chuck, since you seem to be so well-informed, Amazon also offered to monetarily compensate Hachette authors. Hachette demurred. Who is the one marginalizing authors?
Perhaps the publisher who can't come to terms with the largest bookstore on the planet?
But I can see how all of that logic and data withers in the face of your unsubstantiated opinion that "This is literally true".
It is literally not true. I just showed you why. You should try it when fisking. That's sorta the whole point of fisking.
Chuck: "All the complaints about Amazon should be directed at Hachette."
All of them? Including complaints about warehouse conditions? Hey, last week they fucked up an order of Transformers and sent it to — well, honestly, I dunno, but now I know who to send my complaints to. HEY HACHETTE: AMAZON'S PRIME SHIPPING DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK LIKE THEY SAY IT DOES. ASSHOLES.
Joe: Ha! Ha! You took a line meant to be read in context, and then misrepresented it to try to be funny!
Perhaps you should try harder. On both the fisking, and the funny.
In a letter about an Amazon/Hachette dispute, the complaints about Amazon should be directed at Hachette. We could have been clearer on that, but I'm not sure it would have helped you understand any better.
Chuck: More seriously, some arguments have noted that Hachette has maybe earned this spanking from Amazon. Certainly some publishers have helped feed the beast that is Amazon and have done poorly by their authors. I agree with that. This is not really the way to achieve parity and to improve things, by my mileage.
Joe: So bringing attention to unfair business practices like shitty royalties and Hachette wanting to raise ebook prices in order to inform readers and writers when previously they've only been hearing the misinformation the media is regurgitating—that's not the way to achieve parity and improve things?
What, praytell, does your mileage show you is the path to improvement? Maybe you should have blogged about that. Or blogged about something you actually know. Or not blogged at all.
Chuck: "High e-book prices are not good for readers, and they aren't good for writers."
I agree. But isn't this how the market works? They charge too much and… people don't buy it, so they're forced to be competitive? Hasn't that already happened? Perhaps I'm being naive here.
Joe: Naïve. Or purposely obtuse.
You know the price fixing, colluding Big Five paid millions in damages, right? Restitution to readers who paid too much. Apparently, some people do pay too much.
You know the price fixing was to stifle competition, so all the major houses could keep prices high, right? That's not how the market works, which is why the DOJ stepped in.
Chuck: "Amazon pays writers nearly six times what publishers pay us."
Yes, and I am all for publishers paying authors more. But it's also worth considering that Amazon is literally not your publisher. (I mean, they're mine, but as Skyscape.) Amazon does very little for you except act as a receptacle for your book. Which might be genius. Which might be dogshit. They literally don't care. It's a socket and into it you can shove diamonds, candy, cat feces, bezoars, babies, whatever.
Joe: Can you post a pic of yourself shoving cat feces into a socket? Bonus points if your ears are bleeding in the same pic.
No, Amazon is not your publisher, because the writer keeps their rights. If Hachette offered me a contract where they would distribute my paper books and I kept the rights, I'd still be with them.
Chuck: The reason they don't take a lot of that coin is because… they don't do anything for you. Like edit. Market. Distribute physical copies. So on, so forth. Some authors want that, some don't.
Joe: Agreed, KDP does nothing for authors. I mean, other than giving us the ability to sell our work to millions of Kindle and Kindle app owners on one the most popular online store in history.
Oh, and the ability to advertise, like the beta program I'm in.
Oh, and they distribute my physical copies through Createspace.
But you're right. They don't edit. Editing is easily worth the 52.5% royalties that publishers take. Forever. So good point, Chuck.
Chuck: The trick isn't going ALL-IN with Amazon, the trick is demanding better from all publishers, all companies.
Joe: Like you've done in this blog post, where you demanded…
Well, you pretty much didn't demand anything from publishers or companies. You just said we shouldn't go all-in with Amazon. Which isn't something we put in the letter, so I have no idea why you're bringing it up. But at least you're finally trying to say something, I suppose.
Chuck: The trick is to support authors, not corporations. People over corporate entities. (This feels particularly tone deaf considering the CORPORATIONS HAVE OPINIONS shift with Hobby Lobby. Petitions in sympathy of companies is cuckoo banana sundae.)
Joe: And you're supporting authors in the blog post by…
As for the point of our petition, it spoke for itself, and I've also explained it to you here. But let's do it one more time! Bigshot authors and the media are painting Amazon as the bad guy. Our letter showed Amazon isn't the bad guy. If that's a cuckoo banana sundae (ha! The chuckles never stop with you!) then sign me up for one with extra chocolate syrup.
Chuck: "Hachette is looking out for their own interests, not the interests of writers or readers."
And Amazon is not Mother Theresa tending to lepers.
Like, I can't –
I don't even?
What is happening?
Joe: Okay. I'll explain it again. You really seem confused as to our intent, but I'm a patient guy.
Hachette is whining in public, looking for sympathy. The media is reporting this. Many authors are pointing fingers at Amazon, saying they are bad.
This is all incorrect. That doesn't make Amazon Mother Theresa. But it makes them the one to back in this dispute. Right now, Amazon does a lot for readers and writers. I know you didn't bother to read our letter, but I urge you to take two hours (it'll take that long) to read the thousands of testimonials from people who signed the letter.
Amazon has improved the lives of lots of people, readers and writers. The media is making them look like bullies. We're showing Amazon isn't bullying anyone. And at this moment in time, Amazon's interests do indeed coincide with the interests of readers and writers. Hachette's do not. They want to raise prices, and their negotiating tactics are hurting their own authors.
Chuck: Listen.
Here's how you thank Amazon:
Buy shit from them.
Here's how you thank authors:
Buy their books.
Here's how you don't thank Amazon:
Buy elsewhere.
Here's how authors thank readers:
Just, like, thank them. Thank them in person. Over email. Over the social media frequency. Offer deals when you can. Help get your books in their hands. Be awesome to them. Don't write weird petitions to them that aren't really to them at all.
Joe: Thanks for your advice, Chuck. It might be easy for you to thank both of your readers in person (zing! Look at me, I'm funny too!) but Hugh and I wrote this letter to explain to readers the Amazon/Hachette situation while simultaneously thanking them for their support. We also wrote it to inform writers who don't understand what the squabble is about. If you like, I can send a tattoo artist over to your house to ink this backwards on your face. Then maybe you'll be able to understand it, too.
Chuck: You don't aim your high-five for readers at Amazon.
Joe: I'd suggest you don't fisk a letter you haven't read, and don't opine when you're ill-informed. It makes it ridiculously easy to refute you, and then you look silly.
Somehow I doubt you'll take my well-meaning advice.
Chuck: Vote with your dollar. But please, seriously, don't sign any weird petitions like this.
Joe: Well, you have 57 comments on your blog. We have 4000.
I think more people are listening to us.
Chuck: Howey's deservedly a bookworld superstar, so I suspect he'll get all the signatures he needs — though for what effect, I have no idea, as this petition feels like a hollow stroke-job that accomplishes absolutely nothing except blowing a blush of hot, fragrant breath toward Amazon and away from authors and readers. This feels like shilling — uncomfortable, in-the-bag, straight-up-shilling.
Joe: And your blog feels like lackluster masturbation where your love for your own voice has overpowered any common sense and ability to debate coherently, and says absolutely nothing worthwhile in a meandering, unimpressive way.
But we're each entitled to our opinions.
Chuck: My message to Hugh would be: I prefer it when you advocate for authors, not for companies. Hugh has been increasingly "all-in" with Amazon — and this is counter to how many authors have been successful with author-publishing. It doesn't feel instructive. It feels deliberately cozy with the other side of Big Publishing. (And anybody who thinks Amazon isn't just its own version of Big Publishing has lost their mind.)
Joe: "But it's also worth considering that Amazon is literally not your publisher. Amazon does very little for you except act as a receptacle for your book." – Chuck Wendig, a few paragraphs earlier
So which is it, Chuck? Is Amazon not a publisher, or is it its own version of Big Publishing?
Also, allow me to explain once again what our letter was about, because it isn't Hugh advocating for Amazon. It's Hugh and I explaining what's happening with Amazon/Hachette.
Amazon is being hated on in the media. If they were worthy of that hate, I'd blog about it. (When I blog I actually make points—you should try it). In this case, Amazon isn't worthy of the hate, but many people don't know that. Now they do (well, many of them do, while you don't. But maybe I'll explain it one more time before I'm done fisking you.)
Chuck: Like I said before: I'm happy with my experiences with Amazon. I agree they have changed the face of publishing, in many ways for the awesome, in some ways for the whoa what the fuck. They have been a wonderful publisher for my work. But — c'mon. C'mon.
Okay, this petition really is satire, right?
Yes? Maybe?
Joe: Yes, Chuck. It was all satire. You finally figured it out.
Oh… shit. I think my ears are bleeding.
Chuck: [note: it's been made clear this isn't Howey's petition so much as one he co-authored and is presently championing -- but it is reportedly the work of several self-published authors. I respectfully suggest that as a group they might want to get an editor, as this thing reads like it's about 3000 words too long.]
Joe: Our letter was 2400 words and said something.
Your blog was 1500 words and said exactly jack shit.
But it amused me, and will no doubt amuse my readers. And I have more than two. J


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The very active Greater Omaha Genealogical Society members have web pages that are helpful. These continue to grow, so check them often. The original settlement in Nebraska territory was in the east, along the Missouri River. Therefore, it is a good idea to look for pre-statehood settlers and even those who settled later, in the eastern counties of the state.
Their web site of Omaha Obits is updated several times a month. They provide an index to obituaries and death notices found in Omaha newspapers. For some who did not live too far from Omaha, the announcement of their death still appeared in the Omaha newspaper. The society has also added deaths of Civil War veterans from a larger area. Once you locate obituaries in the index, you can either use the microfilm at the Omaha Public Library, 215 S. 15th Street in Omaha, or order copies. Check out their How to Obtain Obit Copies.
They also supply the researcher with Omaha Area Marriages and Anniversaries. You will find the index and how to obtain copies to be very helpful. There are 132,889 marriage entries. Next, check out Omaha Births from Douglas County, Nebraska records and early Omaha newspapers. There are 7,742 entries to date.
Not only do they have web pages for Omaha vitals, but also for other areas in the state. There is one for Thurston County Marriages. This is north of Omaha and to date has 1,906 listings, including Native American names. Members of the society have also created Hall County Marriages. This county is located west of Omaha, along I-80 and the Platte River, a natural migration corridor for pioneers. To date there are 1,863 listings.
Now they have created a new web site, Sarpy County Marriages. Locate that county on your map and you will that it is south of Omaha proper. In the early days, many people who were not Sarpy County resident got married there. Some came from Omaha, Lincoln and even from Iowa. This is a brand new web page that will continue to grow as members locate the marriages.
Too bad more societies in the state aren't posting vitals like these. They would be so helpful!


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Formation and Education for the Life of the Church
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Stephen has been a Benedictine Oblate of Saint Meinrad Archabbey
since 2011. The origin of his vocation goes back a decade earlier
to retreats at The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani - a Trappist
monastery in Kentucky.His Oblate apostolate is rooted in prayer,
catechesis, apologetics and ecumenical dialog. He is an avid reader
of Christian-Catholic history, spiritual classics, theology and
Do you have a reflection on Christian faith or spirituality you would like to share? Click here to learn how to become a contributor to Echoes from the Bell Tower.
Echoes from the Bell Tower is a blog
devoted to observations on Christian faith, spirituality and
everyday events, by authors with a connection to the Benedictine
values found at Saint Meinrad Archabbey and its Seminary and School
of Theology. Contributors include students, permanent deacons,
Benedictine oblates and Saint Meinrad monks. Their stories,
thoughts and ideas highlight the mission and vision that ring out
from the bell towers on this Hill in southern Indiana.
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Hubble Zooms in on Double Nucleus in Andromeda Galaxy
A new Hubble Space Telescope image centers on the 100-million-solar-mass black hole at the hub of the neighboring spiral galaxy M31, or the Andromeda galaxy, one of the few galaxies outside the Milky Way visible to the naked eye and the only other giant galaxy in the Local Group.
This is the sharpest visible-light image ever made of the nucleus of an external galaxy.
The event horizon, the closest region around the black hole where light can still escape, is too small to be seen, but it lies near the middle of a compact cluster of blue stars at the center of the image. The compact cluster of blue stars is surrounded by the larger "double nucleus" of M31, discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1992. The double nucleus is actually an elliptical ring of old reddish stars in orbit around the black hole but more distant than the blue stars. When the stars are at the farthest point in their orbit they move slower and give the illusion of a second nucleus.
The blue stars surrounding the black hole are no more than 200 million years old, and therefore must have formed near the black hole in an abrupt burst of star formation. Massive blue stars are so short-lived that they would not have enough time to migrate to the black hole if they were formed elsewhere.
Astronomers are trying to understand how apparently young stars were formed so deep inside the black hole's gravitational grip and how they survive in an extreme environment.
The fact that young stars are also closely bound to the central black hole in our Milky Way galaxy suggests this may be a common phenomenon in spiral galaxies.
Tod R. Lauer of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., assembled this image of the nuclear region by taking several blue and ultraviolet light exposures of the nucleus with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys high-resolution channel during September 2005 and February 2006, each time slightly moving the telescope to change how the camera sampled the region. By combining these pictures, he was able to construct an ultra-sharp view of the galaxy's core.
Lauer is presenting these Hubble observations today at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas.
The image of the Andromeda galaxy was taken on Jan. 13, 2001, with the WIYN/KPNO 0.9-meter Mosaic I by T. Rector and B. Wolpa of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz.
For more information, contact:
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Tod R. Lauer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. 5
Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, and T. Lauer (National Optical Astronomy Observatory);
WIYN/KPNO Image: T. Rector and B. Wolpa (NOAO/AURA/NSF)


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By that I mean more months of record home sales.
I know some people might quibble with my choice of the term "record," and they would probably be right, strictly speaking.
April was not the best performance for the Sarasota housing market. You would have to go back eight years for that. But you would be going back to a time of near-unfettered buying -- and pricing.
I would argue that April's performance has to be taken in that context. There's the world before the Great Recession and there's the world after.
I think few of even the most optimistic observers during the depths of the recession would have conceived of the sales numbers Realtors posted in Southwest Florida last month: 1,920 homes and condominiums changing hands in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. That was a 9.5 percent gain from March and a 14.2 percent increase from April 2012.
It was only the 10th time in the Sarasota Association of Realtors' 90-year history that sales were above 1,000.
At the same time, there were double-digit gains in prices.
If all that sounds to you an awful lot like the boom, you're not alone.
All the other SAR records occurred in 2004 and 2005.
Realtors contend that this latest spike is the result of pent-up demand. Recession-weary sellers are finally cashing out of their mistakes and moving on -- literally.
There is no doubt that buyers are shaking off their moribund approach to real estate and jumping in with gusto.
But worrisome to some are the biggest players in this market: so-called "smart money" hedge funds and financial companies betting on Florida real estate as rentals, something short of a long-term play.
Some contend that these investors -- including New York's Blackstone Group, the world's largest real estate private equity firm -- are overpaying for their Southwest Florida holdings. Some critics contend that will come back to haunt them, or whoever ends up eventually taking ownership of these properties in the next generation of sales.
"We have never seen hedge funds and large companies dominating the real estate market like this before," Jack McCabe, a real estate consultant in Deerfield Beach who correctly predicted the bust, lamented in our April report on regional home sales. "These companies are involved in 70 percent or more of recent sales -- many of them at artificially inflated prices.
"There's no other reason we have seen these kinds of double-digit price gains," McCabe said. "Regular buyers are just getting knocked out of the box."
I'll reserve judgment on whether McCabe's vision for the future is as prophetic as his previous call on Florida real estate, but it would be foolish for anyone to discount the possibility.
The counter to his argument is that the unbridled greed -- or perhaps I should say the ability to fully realize that unbridled greed -- is largely absent from this market.
I'm talking about those readily available adjustable-rate mortgages and the questionable lending tactics employed by banks and other institutions -- many of which no longer exist in their original form -- that so inflated the housing bubble with people who, frankly, had no business buying a home.
Even people with stellar credit scores are finding it difficult to participate in this market, much less people bringing nothing to the table beyond a pulse and the ability to sign loan documents that say they make three times what they really do.
Those bullish on the continued prospects for this market point to the enormous competition still underway for properties in a region with extremely tight inventory.
In this snapshot of time, it's hard to imagine a repeat of the last downturn.
But the same could be said of those frothy years of 2005 and 2006.
As with all things, only time will tell.
The tide will have to go out again before we see who is wearing their bathing suits.
How safe is your safe deposit
Safe deposit boxes in a bank vault might seem to be the epitome of protection for jewelry, heirlooms, documents and other valuables.
Think you know the ins and outs of that security? You might not.
With hurricane season rapidly approaching, it's a good time to revisit the topic.
Check out reporter John Hielscher's cover story on page 6 in Business Weekly today.
Matthew Sauer is the Herald-Tribune's assistant managing editor for news and business. He can be reached at 361-4870 or at matthew.sauer @heraldtribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewESauer.
Taking stock of real estate