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Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC)
Q1 2009 Earnings Call
May 7, 2009 8:30 am ET
Gregg Swearingen - IR
Mike Koehler - CEO
Steve Scheppmann - CFO
Darryl McDonald - CMO
Katie Huberty - Morgan Stanley
Brian Denyeau - Oppenheimer
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
Anthony Kure - KeyBanc
Greg Holter - Great Lakes Review
Doug Reid - Thomas Weisel Partners
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Teradata Q1 2009 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Please note that this conference is being recorded.
I will now turn the call over to Mr. Gregg Swearingen. Mr. Swearingen, you may begin.
Gregg Swearingen
Good morning and thanks for joining us for our 2009 first quarter Earnings Call. Mike Koehler, Teradata's CEO, will lead our discussion, highlighting Teradata's first quarter results. After Mike's remarks, Steve Scheppmann, Teradata's Chief Financial Officer, will provide more details relating to our Q1 performance. Darryl McDonald, Teradata's Chief Marketing Officer, who is also responsible for strategy and business development is in the room as well.
Our discussion today includes forecasts and other information that are considered forward-looking statements. While these statements reflect our current outlook, they are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially. These risk factors are described in Teradata's 10-K and other filings with the SEC.
On today's call, we will also be discussing certain non-GAAP financial information, such as free cash flow and revenue comparisons in constant currency. A reconciliation of our non-GAAP results to our reported GAAP results, and other information concerning these measures, is included in our earnings release and on the Investor page of Teradata's website, which can be found at www.teradata.com.
A replay of this conference call will also be available later today on our website. Teradata assumes no obligation to update or revise the information included in this conference call, whether as a result of new information or future results.
I will now turn the call over to Mike.
Mike Koehler
Thanks, Gregg, and good morning, everyone. Teradata got off to a good start in 2009, with constant currency revenues up 5% and earnings per share growth of 13% in the first quarter.
Operationally, we executed well. Both gross margins and operating margins improved meaningfully over the prior year.
SG&A expense was down 5% and overall expenses were down, while absorbing key ongoing investments we are making to build for our future R&D, adding new sales territories and strategic partnerships.
Looking at our performance by region on a constant currency basis, EMEA grew 12% over prior year, APJ grew 9% and the Americas was up 1% over prior year, which was a solid performance given that the Americas was coming off of a strong Q 4 where revenues grew 14%.
Overall, we saw good user base activity in the first quarter. Customers continue to value and invest in Teradata to help operate their businesses more efficiently, reduce costs, find new sources of revenue, and enhance their customer relationships.
Upgrades included Delta, Continental, Air Canada, and Qantas, as the airline industry looks to improve fuel management, revenue yield management, and to personalize customer communication and marketing.
Retailers, such as Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, upgraded its Teradata environment to enable marketing activities for over 14 million households in France, and to achieve a 360-degree real-time view of its customers across multiple customer contact channels.
JD Williams in the UK, who is now doing customer analytics across all channels, including the web, to market the customers in near real-time. Trunk call activity included China Mobile, Vodafone Australia, Q-Star, the UK's leading telco, and Bouygues Telecom in France which is reducing costs while consolidating numerous data marks into its Teradata active enterprise data warehouse.
Upgrades at financial services institutions included UniCredit Group in Italy, Caixa Galicia in Spain, and Huishang Bank in China, which is integrating customer financial data and operations data, in addition to providing timely and accurate reporting for compliance.
Also, the US Government Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expanded its data warehouse in Q1. Some new accounts that we can name included The Limited Stores, which was one of our 2550 appliance new account wins in the quarter; Banque Accord in France, which was one with our partner, SAS and Informatica, and included extensive benchmarks against numerous competitors; and the state of Maryland, which chose Teradata in partnership with Accenture to recover unpaid tax revenue.
Our tax solution has already helped five states in the US collect over $1 billion in additional revenues. While Q1 was a good start for 2009, we still have work to do. We have set our sights on reducing SG&A expense and aggressively managing all of our costs to deliver the best results possible during this difficult economic environment.
But, in parallel, we are investing and working to expand our market position, technology leadership, and strategic partnerships to position us to be stronger longer term. First, we are adding more sales territories to extend our market reach. We added 40 sales territories in 2008 and we will end 2009 with 60, which puts us on plan to add 90 new territories by the end of 2010.
As previously communicated when we announced this initiative last year, we do not expect meaningful revenues from these new sales territories until 2010. Second, we continue to enhance and expand our purpose-built platform family. The technology investments we make here are core to our business and have allowed Teradata increase our data warehouse leadership position as well as extend our market reach by offering data warehouses with multiple uses, functionality, and price points.
The adoption rate of our 2550 and 1550 data warehouse appliances continues to ramp, with 15 systems being sold in the first quarter. Our total funnel for the two appliances is also up significantly from Q4 as well. 12, 2550 data warehouse appliances were sold in Q1 and we experienced strong win rates as well, winning nine of 10 decisions where we competed head-to-head with appliance competitors. The opportunity we have is to increase the number of deals in which we are competing.
One 2550 customer win Rail Inc. has massive amounts of data that is generated and must be exchanged between railroad companies in order to help the North American rail system to work more effectively. Rail Inc. is the intermediary that provides these services and is creating an information portal to provide business intelligence for its members. Teradata's 2550 scalability allows Rail Inc. to implement applications with a good initial ROI and then grow it as needed to accommodate future requirements.
Another new customer win, a retailer whose name we cannot share, is a good example of how our platform strategy plays out. Competing against another appliance vendor, we proposed both our 2550 data warehouse appliance and our 5550 active enterprise data warehouse platform. Having both solutions allowed our team to focus on customer requirements both short-term and also longer term and then objectively educate the customer on the options.
In this case, the customer selected the 5550 due to the additional functionality business benefits and higher ROI provided in an enterprise data warehouse environment for both, the initial project as well as the longer term opportunities and requirements, versus the lower cost appliances from both Teradata and our competitor.
The opposite holds true as well. There are cases where companies evaluated both an appliance and enterprise data warehouse solution and the ROI made sense to implement the 2550 appliance. And third, we have been investing to increase and deepen our strategic partnerships. This in turn helps us to increase the number of solutions for our customers and also helps expand our market reach. These strategic partnerships require investments in R&D, as well as the normal go to market and program investments.
We announced our strategic partnership with SAS a year and a half ago and we are starting to see the benefits of integrating the strengths of both companies. We have developed joint horizontal offers for in-database processing, scoring accelerator, and optimization services. As well as financial industry offers for any money laundering and credit risk. These solutions are being used to help with customer churn, claims processing, product forecasting, risk and fraud detection. Customers such as O2, (inaudible) and others are seeing where model deployments that used to take weeks can now be done in days. Processing and scoring that took days can now be done in hours driving new value faster while reducing cost.
We have a joint road map that we will continue to bring additional solutions to market for the years to come. In last week, we announced an expanded strategic partnership with SAP whereby customers will be able to run SAP NetWeaver BW on Teradata. This will provide SAP BW, business objects and Teradata solution that will consolidate enterprise data and analytical needs into a single enterprise data warehouse. Today SAP runs primarily on Oracle and IBM databases. Customers who have an SAP BW implementation and have Teradata enterprise data warehouse implementation in effect have two data warehouses.
These customers need to replicate and move data between SAP and Teradata. Customers will now benefit by having one data warehouse instead of two and the associated cost reduction, speed and simplicity that comes with it as a result. General availability is planned for Q 1 2010 and we are excited about the opportunity it brings for customers, SAP and for Teradata.
We also have been investing and growing our professional services business as a fourth initiative. Our PS revenue grew double digits the past several years, leading up to the economic downturn. Our focus has now shifted to cost containment, but we are still seeing some of the benefits from these past investments.
In Q1, professional services revenues were up 7% in constant currency and gross margins were up as well. In addition to investing in tools and education, we open four offshore consulting centers to augment our onshore consultants. This has reduced our costs and blended rates to enable us to compete for more business, as well as operate more efficiently overall and improve margins.
Our managed services business, for example, is leveraging offshore resources to provide new and more cost-effective offers to customers, such as remote DBA and operations support. Although small in size, it has been growing at a rate of 15% to 20% the past two years.
Professional services is strategic to growing our data warehouse business. It helps increase our market coverage and presence with customers, helps stimulate demand, and is also a key differentiator for Teradata versus our data warehouse competitors. We will continue to prioritize our professional services focus on managing costs during this economic downturn, but we believe we have positioned ourselves better to deal with the downturn and perform better longer-term as a result of these past investments.
Turning to our view for 2009, we are off to a good start. However, the continued uncertain economic environment and the lack of visibility that we have for the second half of the year and, in particular, our product revenue makes giving guidance extremely difficult.
However, I would like to provide some context as to what we are seeing in Q 2. We have a very challenging quarter in terms of top-line revenue versus prior year. We are currently facing a 7% currency headwind, and we are going against very strong prior year performances in EMEA and APJ.
EMEA had its largest quarter ever in Q2 last year, when it grew 33% and APJ had its third-largest quarter ever in Q2 2008. In the Americas, the total funnel is up and the overall activity is good, but due to the current economic environment, the number of mature opportunities is still not where we need it to be.
SG&A expense will be down from Q2 prior year, but it will be up sequentially from Q1 due to the normal seasonality of the business. The key major variable in the quarter will be our product revenue volume and its deal mix.
In summary, 2009 will be a challenging year in terms of the economy and we are riveted on reducing costs and keeping SG&A flat to down versus 2008. However, we feel very confident about the future for Teradata. We will continue to invest prudently in R&D, sales coverage and partners, and position the company for revenue growth longer-term and increase shareholder value.
With that, I'll turn the call over to Steve Scheppmann who will provide more details on Q1 and also the overall business. Steve?
Steve Scheppmann
Thanks for joining us this morning. Thank you for your continued interest in Teradata. We are committed to actively working with our customers to re-architect their information, to allow them to aggressively pursue opportunities in the areas of cost reduction, risk management, asset management, and revenue generation.
We had another good quarter, and we were encouraged by the resiliency of our business model given the tough macroeconomic conditions. Our flexibility created by our strong capital structure and our free cash flow model allows us to pursue our four key strategic initiatives that Mike referred to earlier, even in this economy.
Now for a closer look at our financial results for the quarter. Teradata's Q1 2009 revenue of $367 million was up 5% in constant currency from the first quarter of 2008, but down 2% as shown in US dollars. By region, revenue in Americas was down 2% as shown in US dollars. EMEA was down 6%, while APJ was up 5%.
Our constant currency revenue increase was driven by good performance in EMEA region and the APJ region where revenues were up 12% and 9% respectively.
From a revenue segmentation perspective, product revenue of $157 million was down 5% from first quarter of 2008. In constant currency, product revenue was up 2% from the first quarter of 2008.
Services revenue in the quarter was basically unchanged from the $210 million generated in last year's first quarter. In constant currency, services revenue increased 7% from the first quarter of 2008.
Maintenance revenue was $104 million, which includes maintenance on software and hardware solutions. This was a 1% increase from the first quarter of 2008. Currency headwind had a meaningful negative impact on our year-over-year maintenance revenue comparison. On the constant currency basis, maintenance revenue increased 6%.
Professional and installation-related services, which is the other component of our services business, is shown in US dollar is relatively unchanged from the prior year, is increased 7% in constant currency.
We drove solid gross margin improvement in each region, despite a challenging business environment. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2009 was 54.5%, compared to 51.7% in the first quarter of 2008, due to good performance in both product and service margins, which more than offset currency headwind on our margins.
Our product gross margin improved 200 basis points to 65.6% in the first quarter, primarily due to fewer floor sweeps in Q1 2009 in the Americas and the higher-yielding product or hardware mix.
Services gross margin improved 380 basis points to 46.2%. Driving our improvement in services margin was better utilization of our internal services resources, lower third-party service costs, lower travel expenses, and continued leveraging of offshore capabilities. We generated margin improvement in both maintenance and professional services.
Moving to a geographical view; Americas revenue of $205 million was shown as down 2% for the quarter, but was up 1% from Q1 2008 on a constant currency basis. We continue to see solid pipeline of deal activity, but closure rates continue to be difficult to predict as customers are proceeding through 2009 very cautiously and decisions are being protracted, as we have referenced in previous quarters.
For the quarter, gross margin in the Americas region was up 280 basis points to 57.1% due to improved service margins for both professional services and maintenance services.
In EMEA, we reported a revenue decline of 6% to $97 million in the quarter, but revenue was up 12% in constant currency. Gross margin in the EMEA region was 54.6%, up 410 basis point improvement from the 50.5% in the first quarter of 2008. The increase in gross margin was driven equally by higher product and service margins.
In our Asia Pacific/Japan region, we reported 5% revenue growth in the quarter. In constant currency, revenue in APJ was up 9%. Gross margin in APJ was 46.2%, a 100 basis point improvement from 45.2% in Q1 2008. This improvement was due to higher professional services margins.
Turning to our expense structure; our Q1 2009 SG&A expenses was better by 5%, driven by our continued focus on expense management and the benefit from a stronger dollar. I want to highlight that we achieved this while executing our strategic initiatives to increase our market coverage through additional sales territories and partners.
Specific actions included salary-related costs, restricted hiring and travel, and cost management initiatives that were specific to Q1 2009, including canceling non-customer-related programs. We continue to execute on our operational plan to increase our efficiency and drive more variability into our organizational expense structure.
From a trending perspective you should not expect the same level of improvement in SG&A over the next three quarters. Given the current FX environment and our cost management actions we continue to expect that our SG&A will be at or below our 2008 levels. While absorbing our strategic initiative as it relates to sales territory expansion and partners.
As we discussed during our last quarterly conference call, R&D expenses in Q1 increased versus the prior year. In Q1 '09 R&D was $30 million, $5million higher than the prior year, as we capitalized $5 million less, in Q1 '09 than we did in Q1 '08. This is all related to FAS 86 as we have discussed at length during the last several conference calls. R&D expense will return to the levels that approaches but may not quite reach the 2007 level when R&D was $126 million. As a reminder, R&D expenses in 2008 were primarily lower due to the timing of the capitalization of software development costs per the requirement of FAS 86 and a lower variable compensation expense.
The resulting impact in the quarter on Teradata's operating margin was 16.3%, a good improvement from 14.1% in Q1 2008. As a reminder Q1 is typically our smallest quarter of the year and yield the lowest margins due to seasonably lower revenues. Below the operating income line, other income in the quarter was down $3 million from Q1 '08 due to lower interest income as a result of lower interest rate environment. This is despite having $232 million more cash in short-term investments than a year ago.
For Q1 2009, our effective tax rate was approximately 25%, the same as in the first quarter of 2008. For the full year, we continue to expect our annual effective income tax rate for 2009 to approximate 26% to 27%. Our tax rate reflects our intention to permanently reinvest foreign earnings outside the United States. We can however repatriate the cash if needed but that would generate additional income tax expense and a corresponding current payable. Stock-based compensation expense included in our Q1 2009 results was approximately $5 million, or $3 million net of tax or approximately $0.02 per share, same as in Q1 last year.
We expect our full year 2009 stock-based compensation expense to be similar to the 2008 amount, which was $20 million before tax. During the first quarter we repurchased 1.3 million shares of our stock for approximately $20 million. Since the initial share repurchase authorizations were approved a little over a year ago we have repurchased 9.8 million shares of our stock or approximately 5% of our weighted average shares outstanding for approximately $196 million.
We announced earlier today that our Board has approved an additional $300 million of share repurchase authorization. As such, we have $365 million remaining on our board open market authorization for share repurchases. As we have said before, we expect that the rate of our buyback will continue to fluctuate each quarter taking in account among other things our working capital needs, our stock price, alternative uses of cash, and economic and market conditions.
Turning to the cash flow statement, in the first quarter we generated cash from operating activities of $165 million, up 15% from $143 million in the first quarter of 2008. After using $20 million for capital expenditures, the same as last year, we generated $145 million of free cash flow, which favorably compares to the $123 million of free cash flow in Q1 of 2008. Teradata defines free cash flow as cash flow from operating activities less capital expenditure for property and equipment and additions to capitalized software. One of the real strengths of this business model is cash flow generation. In Q1 we grew cash from operations 15% and free cash flow 18% on a 2% revenue decline.
Turning to the balance sheet, as of March 31st, 2009, we had $571 million of cash in short-term investments. $129million increase from $442 million at the end of 2008, even after using $20 million for share repurchases during the quarter. With respect to accounts receivable, sales outstanding was 75 days as of March 31, 2009 compared to 93 days as of December 31st, 2008 and 89 days as of March 31, 2008. Deferred revenue at the end of the quarter was $321 million compared to $300 million at the end of Q1 2008.
As we did last quarter, in an effort to provide further transparency around currency movement and the potential impact on our revenue we provided additional detail on our website, regarding how currencies moved in 2008 and how this movement is expected to impact our year-over-year revenue comparisons in 2009. Assuming the spot rates at April 28, 2009, we expect currency to create a 5% headwind for us for the full year 2009 and a seven point headwind in Q2, the same as we saw in Q1 2009. As we said last quarter, roughly 40% of the currency movement flows through our operating statement and affecting our operating margin and income. Our goal is to adjust our pricing models to the currency movements in the short-term in order to reduce the flow through impact to approximately 30%.
To summarize, although we had good results in Q1, visibility continues to be limited not only for the full year but also for the second quarter. Therefore, until we can gain better visibility on how our customers are reacting to the economic environment, it is difficult to provide specific revenue or EPS guidance. Even our customers tell us they still do not have firm CapEx budgets for the year. That said, we were please with Q1 performance and that provides a solid start to the year. We reiterate currency based on the current spot markets is creating a headwind for us on both the top line and the margins as we discussed earlier, while creating a lesser positive impact on our operating expenses.
Currency is expected to create the same headwind in Q2 as it created in Q1. Given the current markets, R&D expense hitting the P&L is expected to be higher as we continue to invest in our core R&D. In 2009 R&D expenses are expected to revert back towards a normalized level. In 2007 R&D expense was a $126 million. Expense management successfully offset the incremental selling expense related to the strategic decision we have made to increase the investment in our sales territories.
As demonstrated in Q1, SG&A is expected to be flat to down from 2008 even after absorbing the incremental sales territory costs. By this time you probably heard every phrase from companies and from prognosticators to describe the current economic situation so I won't pile on here. With your understanding of the economic environment, I remain encouraged that the present market conditions create and nurture an environment that will continue to drive companies to pursue better business intelligence from non-traditional sources.
This need for increased intelligence including enhanced visibility and transparency across the enterprise will create tremendous pressure on the existing transaction processing base data warehouse environments and the status quo of IT infrastructures will be perceived to be not good enough.
Generally companies need a change agent, a crisis, or a burning platform to drive transformational change, in the current economic climate in some cases may be that change agent. As a result, companies become more open and motivated to leverage enterprise analytics and Teradata is the most robust platform to integrate disparate sources of information into a cohesive platform. To enable companies to extract the most value from their proprietary data and to aggressively compete, grow, and manage costs and risk in this market.
The points I would like for you to remember include that Teradata is well positioned in this market driven by its technology leadership position, its strong customer base and relationships, strong recurring revenue model from existing customer base and our annuity businesses; strong capital position, $571 million of cash, no debt, and a strong free cash flow model; our new expanded product family and our geographical model.
Most importantly, our team is passionately focused on driving value and competitive advantage for our customers in the most efficient manner.
With that, operator, we are ready to take some questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
(Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from Katie Huberty from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Katie Huberty - Morgan Stanley
Thanks. Good morning. So, obviously a phenomenal March quarter after a strong December. So, I guess, the question is, whether you think you have stolen revenue in earnings from later this year, or if, these fundamentals are just a clear sign that data warehousing is facing different spending patterns than the rest of technology this year?
Mike Koehler
Katie, this is Mike Koehler. We had the normal deferrals and spillovers from Q4 to Q1, Q1 to Q 2, so I don't think there's anything indicative there as far as any movement of revenues, okay?
The challenge that we've got is the lack of visibility going forward. Clearly, we have some pretty strong activity going, in particular, in Europe and other places of the world, not as strong. So, at this juncture, it's a little too early to tell and like the visibility isn't there as far as getting a picture for where this thing is headed.
Katie Huberty - Morgan Stanley
Can you expand on some of the qualitative commentary around the pipeline of deals and maybe the number of conversations you're having with new customers today versus where you were at exiting the fourth quarter, understanding that some of those are 12-plus month lead times?
Mike Koehler
I would say activity is very similar to what we saw coming out of the fourth quarter. So if you go back to what we said back in February, and what we were seeing in terms of activity around the world, it's very similar. EMEA continues to have extremely strong activity. They have a good pipeline.
The challenge we have in EMEA like we had in the first quarter is about a 17% currency headwind and the thing that is a little bit different about Q2, well, actually, it's significantly different in Q2, as EMEA had biggest quarter ever last year in the second quarter and they grew revenues 33%. That said, the EMEA activity in the pipeline is very good, new customers as well as everything across the board.
In Asia Pacific/Japan, once again the activity in the pipeline is good outside of Japan. What we saw coming out of the fourth quarter was softness in Japan, outside of Japan. The overall activity in pipeline remains strong.
The Americas coming out of the fourth quarter, what we said was the number of mature opportunities in the pipeline was lagging. It was down sequentially from the fourth quart as you'd expect with the big fourth quarter that we had in the Americas. Going into the second quarter, once again the amount of mature deals in the Americas are still lagging where we need them to be.
That said, the overall metrics in the Americas, the new funnel activity, is up. The amount of dollars in the funnel related to new accounts is up in the Americas funnel, but the economic conditions continue to delay and push out the maturity of some of these deals and the closures.
Katie Huberty - Morgan Stanley
Okay. Then just lastly, I understand the run rate may change if the economy worsens from here, but given what you know today, how quickly do you expect to put the additional $300 million of share buybacks to work?
Steve Scheppmann
This is Steve. As we said before, we'll still be prudently active in the market. I used all the qualifiers, working capital needs, other alternative uses, etcetera. So we will still be prudently active. Given the lack of visibility into 2009, I want to make sure we still maintain a balanced capital structure. So, this additional authorization gives us more flexibility and we'll operate with that flexibility on a prudent basis through 2009 and 2010.
Our next question comes from Brian Denyeau from Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.
Brian Denyeau - Oppenheimer
We could drill into the services margin for a second. You did a good job of laying out what you have done there to improve the cost. How sustainable is that and have you sort of reset the bar on what services margin can be going forward?
Mike Koehler
Brian, as I look at services margin, I mean, this is a very good indicator of the result of the lumpiness of the Teradata model. We had a very good yield on our revenue in Q1, if you look at that yield compare to Q1 last year. Again, the Teradata model, depending upon the deal mix, depending upon the quality of the deals can generate some of the lumpiness in that margin yield.
At this point in time, that's how I would classify it. It's something that we will experience time to time, something that we are going to have to, that we recognized as being challenging in some other times. So, I won't read anything into the trend on the PS margin at this point in time other than the mix of some of the deals coming through. But, it is something that we are constantly focused on.
Brian Denyeau - Oppenheimer
Okay, that's helpful. For a second on EMEA, very good growth there, and certainly you guys are outperformed relatively to your peers in that market. Can you help me understand what's going on in terms of how you are getting now a demand generated, but getting the deals actually done?
Mike Koehler
We are getting good growth in the emerging markets. We have been adding resources there as well. We've had good results across the boards and across all the geographies. We are very strong in telcos there, which in this environment is a decent industry relative to some of the other ones. We've also had very good success in financial services as companies looked to get more visibility and granularity into their information systems.
So, it's been growth that's occurring on a geographic basis within Europe and growth that's been occurring across a couple industry segments, key industry, large industry segments in Europe. It's benefitted us very well.
Brian Denyeau - Oppenheimer
Lastly, can you just talk about what you're seeing in the retail vertical so far this year and your expectations going through the rest of the year? Thanks.
Mike Koehler
Good question. The two industry segments that saw the biggest growth for us in the first quarter, and once again a first quarter isn't a trend but you cobble it together with what we saw last year, financial services was up quite a bit in the first quarter.
The other industry segment that was up was retail by quite a bit. Once again that quarter doesn't make a trend. However, retail, the largest geography for our retail business is in the US. In 2008, retail, we saw some pretty significant declines in revenue.
Typically, the retailers what we have seen over the past history and some downturns seem to get out ahead of this cost and savings in an advance of an economic downturn. We got pretty hit hard in the retail in the US. So, this year, I am a little optimistic that on the retail side that we may bounce back a bit and we had a good first quarter in the retail industry.
Next question comes from the Nabil Elsheshai from Pacific Crest Securities.
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
So I guess to continue with the vertical stuff, any commentary on telco in the quarter and what you're seeing going forward there?
Mike Koehler
Once again, in a quarter, I don't think it sets a trend Nabil but you asked a question. The answer is, financial services and retail were up quite a bit. Communications overall globally was down, and manufacturing we had a pretty good drop off in the first quarter. Those are the four major industry segments for the Teradata business. Of the four, I would say the one we see the most softness in overall around the world would be in the manufacturing industry segment, outside of the high-tech sector, those other manufacturing industry segments.
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
Could you give me the percent of revenue that came from the installed base?
Steve Scheppmann
Nabil, we are typically, historically we said the 85% to 90%. We didn't see anything outside in Q1 that would indicate that not to hold true.
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
Because I think you gave us a 90% on the Q4 call. On the SAP relationship, could you give a little bit more detail on, when that will be supported? If there's any joint go to market plans there? What kind of time frame that would take place?
Darryl McDonald
Sure, Nabil. This is Darryl McDonald. With the announcement with SAP, we currently are working with customers to design the integrated solution that we are going to be going to market with. as you know. The announcement was primarily that SAP BW will run on Teradata. So we have a large number of joint customers today that have both business warehousing and Teradata. So we are working with them now on plans to try to migrate and integrate those. We are looking for the timeframe, is early beta customers in Q4 of 2009 and then GCA in Q1 of 2010. We are currently doing the port and working with customers on activities to try to get to that solution.
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
They are working with you to identify potential joint customers and go to market together?
Darryl McDonald
Correct. SAP is working with us. We are identifying joint customers together and the opportunity is that it's going to be a sale with model between Teradata and SAP. So we are both going to be working with customers, hand-in-hand, who will sell their software or migrating their software onto the Teradata platform which will support the selling and the work around that. It's also our intent to work with the major systems integrators to do this work as well. So we think there will be great opportunity in us ramping up and training the systems integrators in the ability to help with these migrations as well.
Next question comes from Anthony Kure from KeyBanc.
Anthony Kure - KeyBanc
Just a quick question on the tone of conversations and if that change with your financial customers we have heard from other folks saying that there could be a 20 basis points special assessment from FDIC and that was impacting some of their capital decision making. I am just wondering if you have seen any conversations or have heard any change in tone based on that dynamic.
Mike Koehler
This is Mike Koehler. No, none that we are aware of, that I'm aware of.
Anthony Kure - KeyBanc
On the Oracle's acquisition of Sun, how do you feel that's impacted the marketplace both with those two companies or with Oracle specifically and then how Oracle's relationship with HP on their competitive product, wondering how that dynamic has played out as far as your conversations with customers and the competitive landscape.
Mike Koehler
As far as the overall impact on the market, overall I won't comment on that. As far as it relates to data warehousing and Teradata, at the end of the day, Oracle is a database that we compete with and they have added a hardware component to it to try to address a piece of the problem in conjunction with HP. What they do with exit data that relates to Sun we don't know but at the end of the day it's a database and there's a hardware component to it whether it's Sun or whether it's HP whereas on the other hand Teradata is all software.
Anthony Kure - KeyBanc
Have you encountered the exit data solutions anymore in pilots or in customer sites any more than last quarter?
Mike Koehler
We haven't seen too much of exit data to date. There is one customer where we did get heavily engaged and there were benchmarks done. We performed exceptionally well versus exit data, and that's about the extent of it. So there's been maybe three or four accounts where we are engaged with exit data and only one to a detail, what I call a detailed degree. That said Oracle's got a huge market presence. They've got a lot of relationships and everything else and we are very respectful, of them as a competitor. From a technology perspective, we feel very confident about Teradata.
Darryl McDonald
This is Darryl. I just want to add one other comment again to your point about the Sun-Oracle. I think to Mike's point there's probably more impact to other quality key competitors in the marketplace than there is to us because from our perspective we have been competing with Oracle and Sun for quite some time. We still feel very comfortable in our ability to compete and win against those two products in the marketplace.
Anthony Kure - KeyBanc
Just given the results of the first quarter I know you talked about visibility being clouded and you gave a little color on the second quarter but I just wondered if there's any possible way you can maybe provide some sort of full year parameters for EPS expectations.
Steve Scheppmann
Anthony, as I've said, the current market conditions and the visibility in the second half particularly as it relates to our product revenue makes extremely difficult to provide specific guidance around 2009 revenue and EPS. On top of the traditional Teradata lumpiness that we have all come to love and hate, it makes it difficult. If I really look at our internal sites and I say, okay focusing on flat revenue and constant currency, with our sites on flat revenue in constant currency and that's adjusting for 5% FX headwind. That would translate into an EPS of approximately $1.10 to $1.20. you know, given those metrics. Again with the visibility being tough, to give specific guidance at this time would be extremely difficult.
Next question comes from Greg Holter from Great Lakes Review.
Greg Holter - Great Lakes Review
I wondered if you could comment and I know you have made some commentaries earlier about the DSOs but just wondered if you could comment about your accounts receivable quality overall on [agents] and so forth.
Mike Koehler
The accounts receivable quality on [aging], we continue to see improvement on the DSO. Our accounts receivable base is a global 3,000. and one comment that I can make on there is that we have not seen anything significant increase in any of the write-offs on it. We believe we have taken an adequate reserve position at this point in time given the macro economic conditions and we haven't seen any significant deterioration out of the unusual or out of the normal on that receivable base. We have seen improvement in the DSO through March 31st, 2009.
Greg Holter - Great Lakes Review
Is your allowance still around $11 million?
Mike Koehler
Yes the allowance is still around about the $10 million range where we are at 12/31/08. I should say the reserve.
Greg Holter - Great Lakes Review
What would you anticipate your capital spending all in to be for 2009?
Steve Scheppmann
Capital spending, again we traditionally have said $75 million to $85 million including capitalized software. I would anticipate that to be very similar.
Greg Holter - Great Lakes Review
Looking at the competitive environment, any significant changes there that you can comment on, or would like to comment on?
Darryl McDonald
This is Darryl McDonald. Not really. I think the competitors that we have been competing with for the last six to 12 months remain the same. I think we feel very confident now that we have our platform family, that we have both the platforms and the price performance to compete at all levels from the entry level to appliances to the enterprise data warehouse. So, I'd say, at this point in time, we are just in a great position to compete and nothing has really changed on that landscape for us.
Greg Holter - Great Lakes Review
Okay. I missed early in the call, Michael, where I think you indicated how many new systems were sold, was that 12?
Darryl McDonald
It was a total of 15. There were 12 2550s and three 1550s in Q1.
Greg Holter - Great Lakes Review
And one last one. I noticed that the company has had more releases in the past with Winn-Dixie and Juroku Bank and BVBA in publics and so forth. Are these new, are they expansions? How should we are looking on the outside gauge these announcements?
Darryl McDonald
We typically denote in the press releases if it's a new customer or system expansion. So what you're seeing in each quarter is a combination of both. So, typically around some of the big events like we just had our Teradata EMEA Universe, there might be a larger number that gets produced as a part for that event.
But it really just coincides with the selling and then getting alignment with the customer to do press release. Sometimes, they are in the quarter. Sometimes, they lag the quarter, really just depends upon their willingness to let us promote that.
You have a follow-up question from Nabil Elsheshai. Please go ahead.
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
Just real quick. On the sales of the 2550s, could you comment a little bit about the type of customer in terms of installed base and how that broke down versus new customers and installed base customers?
Mike Koehler
In the first quarter, Nabil, three 2550s went to new customers and nine went into our user base.
Nabil Elsheshai - Pacific Crest Securities
Okay, great. Thank you.
Our next question comes from Doug Reid from Thomas Weisel Partners. Please go ahead.
Doug Reid - Thomas Weisel Partners
Thanks for taking my question. Congratulations on the strong results. Really question is on the 2550. Hoping to understand how margins on that compare to your other products in your mix and whether or not those margins held constant during the quarter?
Mike Koehler
The margins across the platform family are pretty consistent from high-end to low-end to 1550 to 2550.
Doug Reid - Thomas Weisel Partners
Okay, great. Actually my other question was just answered. Thank you.
Mike Koehler
Okay, thank you. I think that's it. Well, we have time for one more question.
Gregg Swearingen
Operator, any more questions left
I am showing that we have no further questions.
Mike Koehler
I want to thank everyone for joining us this morning. We are pretty pleased about the first quarter. We are very encouraged. One quarter doesn't necessarily make a year. We have a lot of work to do, but nevertheless we are off to a good start in Q 1, from which to build on for 2009, and more importantly, to also keep investing in our future. So thank you everyone.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes the Teradata Q1 2009 earnings call. Thank you for participating. You may all disconnect.
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text:
The Defensive End is truly a remarkable athlete.
A DE usually lies somewhere between a defensive tackle and a linebacker in terms of size, strength and speed.
Like a DT, DE's are expected to occupy blockers to give their defensive teammates behind them a chance to tackle the ball carrier. They also have to be strong enough to hold their ground against OL and get off blocks to tackle the ball carrier as they try to run by.
Some DE's drop back in coverage once in a while, roaming like a LB. There are so many similarities in the skill sets between LB and DE that many 4-3 DE become 3-4 OLB, and vice-versa.
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There are sack artists, and then there are masters of the sack-fumble.
Here are the Top 5 guys that let us marvel at one of the most exciting plays in Football.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Katherine of Alexandria
Release Date: January 1st, 2014
R|1 hr. 46 min.
Plot Summary
Emperor Maxentius of Rome becomes obsessed with young Katherine, slays her family and takes her captive. Constantine, Katherine's childhood friend and an officer in the Roman army, learns of her whereabouts and sets out to rescue her.
Cast: Nicole Keniheart, Peter O'Toole, Joss Ackland, Steven Berkoff, Edward Fox, Jack Goddard, Jean Marlow, Dudley Sutton
Director: Michael Redwood
Genres: Historical drama


text: Travellers are welcomed at the hotel, which has a total of 7 rooms. The establishment features various services and facilities, including a restaurant and a bar, for a comfortable and relaxing stay. Wireless internet access is available to guests in the public areas. Each of the rooms is appointed with a bathroom. Other features include internet access, a TV and WiFi. Slippers are laid out in each of the rooms. The bathrooms have a shower, a bathtub and a hot tub. Bathrobes are also available. The accommodation offers non-smoking rooms. The hotel offers massage treatments (for a fee) to travellers. Entertainment facilities include a casino. Copyright GIATA 2004 - 2016.


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realmagick.com The shrine of knowledge.
Carnegie Hall Architecture
A selection of articles related to carnegie hall architecture.
Original articles from our library related to the Carnegie Hall Architecture. See Table of Contents for further available material (downloadable resources) on Carnegie Hall Architecture.
- King James Bible: John, Chapter 18
- Chapter 18 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 18:2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted...
New Testament >> John
- Ancient Egyptian Wisdom
- FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD "Hail to thee, great lord of justice. I have come to you, my lord, that thou may bring me so that I may see your beauty, for I know thou and I know your name, and I know the names of the fourty-two Gods of those who are with...
Religions >> Egyptian
- Subliminal Persuasion: References
- (1957). " Persuaders' Get Deeply 'Hidden' Tool: Subliminal Projection " Advertising Age , Vol 37, page 127, September 16, 1957. Benes, Kathryn M.., Gutkin, Terry B., Decker, T. Newell, (1990) "The effects of mellow and frenetic music on...
Parapsychology >> Subliminal Persuasion
- Laguz/Laukaz
- This rune, the fifth rune of the third aett and twenty-first of the Elder Futhark, has two names. Kenaz/Kaunaz is the other rune with two names. Laguz is the best-known name of today's rune. It means "lake." Laukaz is the alternative name and means "leek," a...
Divination >> Rune Stones
- Hel, Hela
- Norse Goddess of Death, Ruler of the underworld. Teutonic Goddess of the kingdom of the dead, not considered as a place of punishment. Daughter of Loki and Angurboda, and sister of the Midgard serpent of the ocean encircling the Earth, and of the devouring...
Deities & Heros >> Nordic & Germanic
- Art during the Age of Faith
- The Age of Faith is the one thousand medieval years from 400 A.D. to 1400 A.D. It must be noted though that faith was not a uniquely medieval phenomenon as medieval pursuits were not purely geared towards faith only.
Saga of Times Past >> History & Anthropology
Carnegie Hall Architecture is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors' articles, see section below for printable documents, Carnegie Hall Architecture books and related discussion.
Suggested News Resources
- Entertainer/Artist Hall of Fame Honors Marlena Shaw, Hugh Taylor, and Johnny
- The UNLV College of Fine Arts presents the 13th Annual Nevada Entertainer/Artist Hall of Fame honoring celebrated vocalist and musician Marlena Shaw; acclaimed architect Hugh Taylor (posthumously); and magician and entertainer Johnny Thompson.
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- Mayflower 'Slow Street' Design Wins Future Project Urban Design Award
- FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Community Design Center's project Slow Street: A New Town Center for Mayflower has won the 2015 World Architecture News' Future Project Urban Design Award. This project, which combined the ...
- Preview: Exposed DC @ Carnegie Library
- The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. couldn't be a more perfect partner for putting on an exhibit about what it's like to live in the nation's capital today, and getting to celebrate it somewhere special: the Carnegie Library.
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text: TOP NEWS IN FITNESS [SPEED READ] 10/31/12 Brett-Willey (0) THIS WEEK IN FITNESS We did all of the digging for the latest fitness news so you don't have to. October 31, 2012 [IN THIS ISSUE] STUDY: BOOST YOUR BRAIN WITH EXERCISE - 5 TIPS FOR A HEALTHY HALLOWEEN - GYMS BECOME OASES DURING HURRICANE - YMCA OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE SETS RECORDS IN PINK RIBBON RUN - BIGGEST LOSER STUDY - HOW IMPORTANT IS THE CORE? - NEWS: Exercise and Weight Loss Give Brain a Boost, Study Finds – US News 5 Tips for a Healthy Halloween - TIME Gyms Become Oases for New Yorkers Without Power – Bloomberg Businessweek A Little Exercise May Help Kids With ADHD Focus – Reuters "Biggest Loser" Study Finds Modest Diet and Exercise Can Sustain Weight Loss – National Institute of Health Cybex Applauds YMCA of Middle Tennessee for Record-Setting Effort in the Fight Against Breast Cancer – Yahoo! News Are We Mystified by the Core? – Cybex Research Institute If you have interesting fitness news that you'd like us to include in next week's edition, send us a facebook message or a tweet @cybex. Stay Healthy and Have a Great Workout,Cybex Editorial Team


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You are on the corporate website of the Japanese company Seido Co., Ltd. This multilingual site is intended for the presentation of the company to customers worldwide as well as our suppliers, manufacturers and craftsmen currently working or wishing to work with Seido. This site is not a retail site, it is however possible to contact us for information requests or orders via the contact form, in English, French, German, or Japanese.
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text:
The complete MXA test is coming, here's a taste
Photos of Dungey, test bikes and crashes
Honda could build this CR250, but they won't
Aside from the sampling of aftermarket goodies, the Service Honda has the fit and finish of an OEM bike. It utilizes almost all
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The stylish Denmark beech chair derives inspiration from mid-century design, featuring a woven seat, a sculpturally curved back and tapered legs.
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With Sky High Tink, girls can make Tinker Bell fly. Sky High Tink is a simple handheld device with a quick-pull string. It comes with a 4.5-inch Tinker Bell doll and a flower base launcher. Place Tinker Bell in the flower base. Pull the dragonfly string and watch Tinker Bell fly up to 10 feet in the air. The faster you pull the string, the higher Tink flies.
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MUSKEGON, MI – A car dealership has entered the Muskegon market, and the owners should be familiar to car buyers.
Shoreline Motors, which will be located at 2221 Henry St. in Muskegon, is the creation of Bryan Betten and Chris Baker of Betten Chevrolet Cadillac GMC and Chris Collins of Tradewind Car Co.
Shoreline Motors will specialize in the sale of reconditioned pre-owned cars. It will hold an inventory of 50 to 75 cars on site as well as offering additional vehicles through its partner dealership network.
According to a press release, Betten, Baker and Collins are focused on providing a "one-of-a-kind" buying and service experience for its customers. They pointed out they are hopeful that the business will bring new life to the north end of Henry Street.
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For more information about this new Muskegon business, visit www.shorelinecars.com or call 231-755-2116.


text:
Orbitz travel site suffers e-mail address theft
Online travel company Orbitz has claimed someone has breached its site and stolen its customers' e-mail addresses.
This Article Covers
Risk management
Online travel company Orbitz has claimed someone has breached its site and stolen its customers' e-mail addresses.
Orbitz said a small number of customers told the company they received spam or junk e-mail from an unknown party that apparently used unauthorised or illegal means to obtain e-mail addresses used with Orbitz.
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A collection of our most popular articles for IT leaders from the first few months of 2016, including: - Corporate giants recruit digitally-minded outsiders to drive transformation - Analytics platforms to drive strategy in 2016 - Next generation: The changing role of IT leaders.
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You also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
Orbitz has notified law enforcement agencies about the apparent security breach and has assembled an experienced security team to investigate the reports.
"Protecting customer information is of the utmost importance to Orbitz, which employs best practices in privacy and security and is certified by Truste and VeriSign," a statement said.
According to its privacy policy, Orbitz does not disclose customers' personal information to third parties unless its customers authorise the company to do so.
Linda Rosencrance writes for Computerworld
Enjoy the benefits of CW+ membership, learn more and join.
Reinventing Bahrain's Kanoo Group through digital technology
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Security Think Tank: Five tips for creating a patch management strategy
Security Think Tank: Security patching an essential element of outsourcing contracts
Security Think Tank: Allocate maintenance processes to each piece of key software
Security Think Tank: Using vulnerability management to support the patching process
Lancaster and Newcastle researchers tackle Met Police email challenge
InfoSec Europe 2012: A look at IT security skills in the current climate
Tim Wilson, deputy head of ICT at NHS City & Hackney, on ISO 27000 compliance
Input from the business vital to risk management in infosec, says CISO for Steria UK


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Shares of Revlon Inc. slumped nearly 17 per-cent, and hit a new 52-week low, following its disclosure Thursday of a 72.3 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits, but the cosmetics firm, boosted by a one-time gain from the sale of an asset, managed to finish the year in the black.
This story first appeared in the February 13, 2009 issue of WWD. Subscribe Today.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, Revlon's profit was $11.3 million, or 22 cents a diluted share, versus $40.8 million, or 80 cents, in the year-ago period. Per share amounts have been adjusted to reflect the firm's 1-for-10 reverse stock split of Class A and Class B common stock in September 2008. Operating income fell to $44 million from $79.3 million, with the decline driven by increased advertising costs to support new product launches.
Sales for the quarter fell 10.5 percent to $334.2 million from $373.3 million. In the U.S., sales fell 7.5 percent to $199.6 million from $215.8 million. Gross margin declined 40 basis points to 62.2 percent of sales from 62.6 percent in the year-ago quarter.
International sales declined 14.5 percent to $134.6 million from $157.5 million, which the company said was "entirely due to unfavorable foreign currency fluctuations." Excluding the currency impact, sales outside the U.S. were essentially flat, inching up 0.2 percent as higher sales for Revlon and Almay color cosmetics were offset by declines in hair care and fragrance.
Shares of Revlon finished the New York Stock Exchange session at $3.75, off 76 cents, or 16.9 percent. Before the close, they set a new 52-week low of $3.70. Their 52-week high, set two weeks after the reverse split on Sept. 30, was $14.85.
For the year, profit was $57.6 million, or $1.13 a diluted share, against a loss of $16.1 million, or 32 cents, in 2007. Results in 2008 includes a $45.2 million gain on the sale of discontinued operations. Sales were down 1.5 percent to $1.35 billion from $1.37 billion.
"Overall during the year, we improved our operating margins, generated positive free cash flow and net income from continuing operations and improved our capital structure by reducing debt by $110 million," said David Kennedy, president and chief executive officer, during a conference call to Wall Street analysts.
He also noted growth in the Revlon brand in the face segment was driven by three product launches in 2008: Revlon ColorStay Mineral Foundation, Revlon Custom Creations Foundation and Revlon Beyond Natural Makeup.
Alan Ennis, chief financial officer, noted that "increased net sales of Revlon brand color cosmetics were offset by declines in net sales of Almay."
Kennedy told WWD that "Almay, overall, is a healthy brand," and will have product launches in the face and eye segments during 2009.
"If we cut through all of the things that cloud the results, mass market color is still growing," said Connie Maneaty, analyst at BMO Capital Markets. "Sales at mass are better than at department stores or even at direct [to consumer]. Revlon gained market share in categories where they put advertising money, such as face, which rose nicely. The brand is holding its own and gaining where they have a story to tell and tell the story. As for Almay, it is a profitable brand."
The company had an $168.6 million borrowing capacity at the end of last year, comprising $126.8 million available under its revolving multicurrency facility and $41.8 million of cash and cash equivalents. Revlon does not have any debt maturing in 2009.
Ennis did note on the call that cash contributions to the pension and post-retirement plans in the new year will be $25 million to $30 million, compared with $12.8 million in 2008, with the impact due in part to the declines last year in the financial markets in the U.S. and around the world.


text:
Sara Shala - Catalina Film Festival Friday Night Gala at Avalon Theater - Avalon, California, United States - Friday 25th September 2015 (1 Picture)
Sara Shala
Photo credit: Nicky Nelson
View All: Catalina Film Festival Friday Night Gala
On the eve of series three making its debut on Netflix, its creator Charlie Brooker confirmed that Foster was lined up to direct an episode for next...
Almost pathologically buoyant, this brightly colourful animated comedy is so cheeky that it's impossible to dislike.
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista return.
A report in Variety suggests that Firth could play the role of William Weatherall Wilkins in 'Mary Poppins Returns'.


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Lyrics Depot is your source of lyrics to Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad by Wanda Jackson. Please check back for more Wanda Jackson lyrics.
Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad Lyrics
Artist: Wanda Jackson
Album: Country
I've never seen the inside of a barroom or listen to a jukebox all night long
But I see these are the things that bring you pleasure
So I'm gonna make some changes in our home
I've heard it said if you can't beat 'em join 'em
So if that's the way you've wanted me to be
I'll change if it takes that to make you happy
From now on you're gonna see a different me
Because your good girl's a gonna go bad
I'm gonna be the swingin'est swinger you've ever had
If you like 'em painted up hollered up then you oughta be glad
Cause your good girl's a gonna go bad
I've even learn to like the taste of whiskey in fact you'll hardly recognize your wife
I'll buy some brand new clothes and dress up fancy
For my journey to the wilder side of life
Because your good girl's a gonna go bad...
Yes your good girl's a gonna go bad
Wanda Jackson Lyrics
Wanda Jackson Country Lyrics
More Wanda Jackson Music Lyrics:
Wanda Jackson - Dirt Behind My Years Lyrics
Wanda Jackson - I Need You Now Lyrics
Wanda Jackson - Long Tall Sally Lyrics
Wanda Jackson - One Minute Past Eternity Lyrics
Wanda Jackson - Reckless Love Affair Lyrics
Wanda Jackson - This Gun Don't Care Lyrics
Wanda Jackson - Those Were The Days Lyrics
Wanda Jackson - Today I Started Loving You Again Lyrics


text:
Jericho Forum: Security heads need cloud security
Independent security expert group Jericho Forum has published a paper that outlines the areas businesses need to consider when evaluating a cloud computing environment. ...
This Article Covers
Risk management
Independent security expert group Jericho Forum has published a paper that outlines the areas businesses need to consider when evaluating a cloud computing environment.
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As reported recently in Computer Weekly, the cloud has massive implications for how users evaluate risk, secure data and decide on what business continuity set up to establish. The path to success is to build security in from the beginning.
According to the Jericho Forum, cloud computing opens a potential Pandora's Box of security nightmares, not least of which is loss of data confidentiality and integrity.
Adrian Seccombe, CISO and senior enterprise information architect at Eli Lilly and Jericho Forum board member, said, "A carefully analysed and chosen approach to implementing cloud computing can bring those security issues back under control. It is essential to get the foundations right and for each business to develop a cloud model that enables consumerisation, drives down cost and reduces risk."
The group's cloud cube computing model is designed to help businesses evaluate the risk and opportunity associated with moving in to the cloud.
John Meakin, Jericho Forum board member and director of digital security and CISO for BP, said, "This practical blueprint is geared to showing each organisation how to architect for safe business collaboration in a way that fits its individual needs. Developing a set of best practice principles addressing secure collaboration in the cloud is the obvious - and indeed important - next goal for us."
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Simple OS install question
Frank Sikuluzu
Ranch Hand
Posts: 116
Hardy Chou
Posts: 27
posted 11 years ago
start afresh. don't install anything on top of anything.
Originally posted by Frank Sikuluzu:
Can I do the following ---
1) install XP pro on top of XP home ?
2) install windows 2000 on top of XP home ?
3) install WIndows 2000 Pro on top of XP pro ?
4) install Xp pro on top of windows 2000 pro ?
thanks !


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The flexible hand-woven stainless steel wire rope netting mesh material is used high quality stainless steel wire cable, the stainless steel wire rope grade includes type 304, type 316. The structures of the stainless steel wire cable have 7 x 7 and 7 x 19. The standard stainless steel wire cable diameter includes 1/8″, 3/32″, 1/16″, and 3/64″, the standard mesh opening size includes 4/5″ x 4/5″, 1″ x 1″, 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″, 2″ x 2″, 3″ x 3″ and 4″ x 4″.
The flexible stainless steel cable mesh (Hand woven stainless steel netting) is rhombus mesh, has excellent flexible performance, virtually indestructible, most impacting-resistant and breaking resistant force, most resisting rain, snow, hurricane.
As the material is virtually indestructible stainless steel, then it can be safely contain any species on land, in the air indoors or out. And the weave opening, we can infinitely customizable to meet your exhibits exact specifications. No matter how large, how small, or how cunning you specimens are, we assure their complete security.
We invite you to consider our hand-woven stainless steel netting as a material to be incorporated in you design scheme.


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Acorn Squash And Apples
Total Time
Prep 10 mins
Cook 1 hr
Tender acorn with a apple pie like filling.
Ingredients Nutrition
- 2 acorn squash, halved
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tart apples, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
- Sprinkle squash with salt.
- In skillet, saute apples and raisins in butter.
- Add sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, cook for 5 minutes.
- Spoon into squash halves.
- Place in baking dish.
- Bake at 350* for about 1 hour, until tender.
Most Helpful
This acorn squash dish is easy and tasty! I forgot to get the squash in the oven before cooking everything else, so I used my handy microwave to get this done quickly. I just poked some holes in the squash with a fork and microwaved it for 5 minutes. Then the squash was tender enough to easily cut in half and scrape out the seeds. After adding the apple filling, I just cooked for about 10 minutes.
I am not sure of the name of this squash but it was wonderful with this recipe. I didn't saute the apples etc ahead of time but mixed all the stuffing ingredients together, filled the cavity, put the hat on and baked it at 375F for almost 2 hours - perfect! Thanks MizzNezz for a super recipe. 16 Oct 08 I make this recipe often - this time I left out the raisins Mmmm
This recipe is awesome. I followed the direction but subbed low fat margarine for the butter and allspice for the nutmeg (my son doesn't like nutmeg). Will definetly make again


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Not My Type IV is the most recent episode in the series of independent (and all too rarely produced!) animations by the Lycette Bros.
Not My Type is created with various typographic faces, symbols and characters. The components are duplicated, distorted and moved to create a simple, stylized production that avoids the use of language and dialogue.
Not My Type is made with Macromedia Flash and is primarily designed for online distribution. The series has been produced in earnest since 2000, but it began its life in the early 90's as an illustration, which became an animation in Macromedia Director and then remained untouched and largely undistributed until resurrected due to the proliferation of the web and Macromedia Flash.
As I mentioned, new episodes of Not My Type come about intermittently. This is due to the fact that they are funded purely by Lycette Bros. and the demand of 'real work' often takes precedence. It can also be attributed to the way the inspiration for an episode comes about and the creative process that follows. The following tutorial describes that creative process and hopefully some practicalities that I employ along the way.
A new Not My Type might start when I have a particular idea for a plot. The plot is often driven by a character - and I don't mean the typographic kind!
Over time, I have got to know my characters, I harbour particular hopes for them and expect them to grow and develop in certain directions - of course I am happy to see that change over time.
One common way to define a character is to write a character profile, that lists their motivations, strengths and weaknesses. Below is the character profile I created for Robert, one of the characters in Not My Type that I am yet to include:
NAME: Robert
OCCUPATION: IT support
LIKES: Coke, DOS, spreadsheets, helping people, rock musicals, practical jokes, electronic gadgets, basketball
DISLIKES: Hot drinks, "Creatives", Macs, bicycle couriers, morning meetings
DESCRIPTION: Robert enjoys going to work and making life in the office run smoothly. He doesn't like taking instruction but he goes beyond the call to help or inform others. Robert is the last to leave the office and enjoys the 'after hours' as he can smoke indoors. Robert wears a wacky tie occasionally and black slip on shoes religiously. Roberts' female colleagues rarely refer to him directly. Men usually ask Robert questions and they often begin with, 'On a need to know basis...' Nobody knows Robert outside of the office and his personal life remains a mystery.
I have heard it said many times, that a character with clear goals and motivations is the easiest to write for. And when two or more characters with clear but opposing motivations get together, the story writes itself. If this were the case, I would happily skip to Step 4.
In instances where the story doesn't write itself, the method I employ is to go in search for a concept.
A Not My Type might manifest from a feeling, frustration or observation. The common aspect of the four episodes to date is that of personal and working relationships, how we use and relate to technology and generally living in a communication age.
I'm surely not alone when I say this is something I relate to, and observe daily. As such, I am never short of inspiration.
Here are some of the ideas and thought processes that directly informed Not My Type IV.
Stress, office work, screens, sterile, uniform, phones, warnings,
Over informed, information overload, Multiple communication mediums, connection, Relying on technology/comforted by technology, Being let down by technology, Speed, 'wanted it yesterday', delivery, immediacy, Sacrificing quality for speed, Laziness, task disproportionate to tool, Personal space, public/private space
When starting a new project, I find that the breadth of possibility can hamper creativity. When Lycette Bros begin a new project, we often place limitations or guidelines upon it - unless there is a client to do that for us!
Self-defined guidelines of the Not My Type series are the use of; typographic characters, minimal dialog, limited colour, limited file size and humour.
We have found that these types of guidelines immediately reduce the realm of possibility, and allow us to be more creative within its bounds.
Once I have identified things that might provide the inspiration for a plot, I would contemplate narrative scenarios that explore the ideas, and objects in the environment that may be able to act as vehicles for the ideas.
When I read the list of ideas as outlined above, I can write down things that could happen or details that I would like to include.
Character is swamped by Spam mail.
Character goes crazy listening to mobile ring tones.
Office water cooler
Desk toys
Slow food
Road rage
These words and sentences could obviously lead to a narrative sequence of events, but sometimes can't be expanded beyond a glimpse or portion of a plot.
If more work is required to uncover narrative potential, I believe the best way is to extract as much raw information from my mind as possible with the hope to refine out the quality data later. As I would be noting many ideas, words and sketches, the outcome would be a multitude of jumbled terms, scrawls, arrows and amendments as illustrated in Figure 1.
Here is a neat representation of how I might expand on one of the ideas identified in the previous step.
Message bank, automated phone service, redirection,
hold, 'on hold' music
Talk, SMS, messages, ring tones, icons, games, portable, connected, contactable, become dependent upon, addiction, chat, requiring continual attention (battery, SMS), public talking or beeping
Email: text, emoticons, internal mail, attachment, 'you've got mail', junk mail, virus
Other: copy, load, upload, progress bar, hour glass/stopwatch, fax, print, web log, website
When I have a wide selection of ideas, possible plots and objects laden with narrative potential, it is difficult to not come up with a story line.
Of course I will spend conscious energy generating possible storylines, but a number of times, they have presented themselves to me in my sleep! I wake in the night with a clear idea of the plot, and have to write it down immediately so as to not forget it by morning.
I don't think this phenomenon is a particularly great mystery, as beforehand I had been thinking a lot about the story, and had lots of images, ideas, vignettes, story components or scenes in my head, but no particular way to tie them together.
Whether or not it comes as a late night epiphany, this paragraph provides an invaluable narrative thread. See Figure 2.
John at work, gets stressed
Gets so stressed he escapes
John gets relief from outside
Outside gets stressful - escapes
John returns to his known world
More than likely this sketch of a plot will change and certain narrative items or ideas will flesh it out and grow to become more important.
At this point, I might just clarify that I call the main character, John. For a long time I gave him a name other than my own, but John suits him better and I think he represents a fair bit of my personality.
When broadly happy with the direction of the plot, I like to define, refine and build upon it.
As such, the line, 'John at work, gets stressed' might become,
John is busy, he has lots of work to do, and as he sits down to do it, is informed of other tasks that require his attention. He is emailed, telephoned and SMS'ed. He is under pressure to deliver quickly but manages to get on top of it, and is relieved. All of a sudden things start to go wrong and he finds himself under more pressure and unable to cope.
This could be considered the beginning of a script. For the purpose of Not My Type, I have never written an actual script. I understand that a script should be presented within a particular layout with details such as; a scene number, whether an interior or exterior scene, the time of day, the action defined in words and the spoken lines of each character. I think the formal script format is necessary when the animation is dialogue driven or written for multiple characters, and it's particularly valuable when recording or coaching actors.
As Not My Type has no actual dialogue and has to be communicated primarily via images and sound, I have never written a Not My Type script as such. Once I have defined the events and as much detail as I possible in words, I then translate it into visuals.
Not My Type has an obvious style, and one that I have become confident making. But when I am writing a script I am also visualising scenes, camera angles, perspectives and compositions. If I need to represent a new item or character, I will sketch them on paper, as if made up of typographic components and then make them out of fonts in Macromedia Flash. If satisfied with the way they look and 'perform', I will be able to continue with confidence, but occasionally I have avoided events, character angles or items because I couldn't represent them satisfactorily.
If I were writing a script for an altogether new animation, I would try to define the style of characters and their environment before the storyboarding begins. I would aim to know a characters visual strengths, how much or little they can move, any limitations to their ability to express feelings or ideas with their bodies, faces or indeed personalities.
Figures 3 to 5 are the working images from Not My Type III & IV and Robert (as described in the character profile in Step 1).
To me, the storyboard is a hand drawn representation of what will appear on screen. As such, it is something that I spend a long time working and reworking. It is much easier to change a scene or angle at this stage than during the production phase. The storyboard obviously defines the action that occurs in a scene, but it also defines the screen composition for each frame, the character and camera movement, the cuts and the edits.
I find that the storyboarding process is one of the most important and enjoyable parts of the animation process. If I could hand it over to someone to then do the animating - I would!
I have a simple template document that I photocopy for the purpose of storyboarding a Not My Type animation. It is merely an A4 page with a sequence of 6 to 8 rectangles that represent the screen area and enough space around them to add descriptions of detail and sound effects. It is sometimes necessary to include dialog, so a number of lines to accommodate the words can be added below each rectangle. An additional line can be added for written descriptions of sounds effects. See Figures 6 and 7.
As one gets more experienced at creating storyboards. You can include additional information beyond what is represented on screen and what is said and heard. The storyboard can illustrate the way the camera (or viewpoint) moves, how it tracks and zooms. Adding directional hints to the borders of the frame, or showing where the viewpoint exists within the frame achieves this, as illustrated in Figures 8 to 11.
I am of the belief that the illustration and written components of storyboards are best done by hand. That way, early drafts can be quickly produced, easily changed, edited, or indeed, easily scrapped. I find that the early storyboards become scribbled with amendments, instructional arrows, ideas, thoughts and notes, as illustrated Figure 12.
For practical purposes I choose to redo sections of the storyboard rather than work with it in a messy state. When you have been emersed in the detail of scenes and events and possibly twists of plot, it is a particularly easy time to forget key decisions or get confused with previous incarnations of the plot, so any lack of clarity in the storyboard is best avoided. Sensible inclusions to a storyboard are page numbers (or number each frame) and the date of the draft.
Step 7. AUDIENCE TESTING
When the storyboard can be 'read' by other parties, it is time to put it through its first audience test. Hopefully the storyboard doesn't need any spoken hints or clarification for the test subject, if it does, it either isn't working or the understanding is to be carried by another means, such as audio or pace. If particular ideas are integral to the plot, such as, 'the character must appear stressed' or 'the character must appear pleased', then often I ask the test subject if those ideas are clear.
Sometimes it's difficult to extract criticism from certain individuals, while others are happy to identify problems and others are happy (and hopefully capable) to provide solutions. Obviously if more than one individual identifies the same problem or misconception, then the animation is likely in need of change.
Based on the feedback I receive, I make changes to the storyline, characters or event detail. The degree to which the animator responds to the audience test is up to the individual, and one has to assess the validity of some comments or place them in order of priority. I am pleased to say that usually problems occur when an aspect of the plot has not been clear enough, or I had made an incorrect assumption of the audience knowledge or understanding of a situation. More often than not, these misconceptions can be amended with some editing or insertion of extra detail.
When the changes have been made to the storyboard, I will test it again, and show the subjects that initiated the change. I would like to think that within a couple more iterations of the storyboard all will be well and you can move on to the actual animating.
The fact remains that throughout the animation phase, aspects of the plot will continue to change. I treat the storyboard like a road map, it provides a destination and a route, if along the way I explore some back roads or am forced to make some detours, I am comforted that I have the map to refer to if I get lost or need to retrace my steps.
In an effort to illustrate the changes that occur between Storyboarding and animating, I have included a comparative version of Not My Type IV. It illustrates that while there were some significant additions to the animation that weren't storyboarded, there are also some scenes and layouts that remain closely related to the hand drawn version.
ABOVE: Not My Type IV Animation/Storyboard (2.1 MB)
You may need the latest Flash plug-in
I hope the above tutorial doesn't sound like a concept cookbook. I realise I have titled the stages Step 1 & 2 and so forth, but there are obviously as many ways to create an animation as there are animators. I don't expect that everyone, or indeed anyone, will succeed in animation by following the steps outlined in my approach, but I do hope the steps provide a useful guide or starting point in devising your own process.


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With crude oil production increasing across North America and differentials going both wide and volatile, these are pretty interesting times to own pipeline, storage, and terminal facilities. As one of the best in the business, Plains All American (NYSE:PAA) continues to reap the benefits of the network it already has, while also putting even more money into its expansion plans.
Little To Fault In Q1
Plains All American has a pretty good reputation for sustained growth, and this publicly-traded MLP delivered again this quarter. Revenue rose 20%, with 47% growth in the Facilities segment boosted by acquisitions. Transport saw 15% top-line growth, while Supply saw 19% revenue growth.
EBITDA (or in this case, adjusted EBITDA) is the more relevant metric when assessing PAA's business, and this metric grew 35% this quarter (just shy of management's reported adjusted growth rate). Transport's 21% growth was helped by both higher tariffs and higher tariff volume (up about 5%). Facilities grew 15% as volume increased 18% and offset a 3% decline in per-barrel profits - a slightly disappointing performance overall . Last and by no means least, Supply surprised with 68% EBTIDA growth, fueled by per-barrel profit growth of 61% (on those aforementioned differentials).
Good Times For The Sector
It's true that a rising tide lifts all boats, and Plains All American is certainly benefiting from a supportive operating environment. To that end, while Enterprise Products Partners' (NYSE:EPD) reported growth in Q1 was not quite as strong (EBITDA up 20%), it is a much bigger company and still surpassed estimates. By comparison, the smaller Magellan Midstream (NYSE:MMP) saw slower adjusted EBTIDA growth (up 9%) that just met consensus expectations.
With oil production on the way up in North America, there's no reason to expect any quick reversal in these trends. Oil production in the lower 48 states has been steadily increasing for roughly seven years now, and there's still reason to expect increased throughput from areas like Eagle Ford, Permian, and Bakken.
Looking To Go From Strength To Strength
Plains All American is already well removed from its starting point as a company built around supplying the landlocked Midwest with crude oil to supply its refineries. Management has used judicious M&A and growth capex to build its national footprint and add assets - including last year's $1.7 billion purchase of BP's (NYSE:BP) Canadian NGL business.
Along with first quarter earnings, management has bumped up its expected growth capex expenditures to close to $1 billion. While some investors may worry that the company is stretching its balance sheet too far, the reality is that PAA's balance sheet is pretty healthy, growth capital is pretty cheap right now, and if they don't expand their terminals, gathering systems and so on, rivals like Enterprise and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE:KMP) will. The Bakken in particular would seem to be ripe for more expansion in gathering assets, as producers are having to resort to expensive rail transit to get their oil to market.
The Bottom Line
There's a lot to like about Plains All American, particularly from the perspective of balanced growth and the ability to exploit geographical price differentials. What I don't like is the very high general partner (GP) burden at this company. Although it has not prevented this company from posting good NAV growth for a number of years, nor a healthy dividend today, it is a factor that serves to increase its overall cost of capital.
I like PAA's geographically well-placed assets and the midstream crude business in general. That said, even above-average distributable cash flow growth projections don't result in a fair value that makes these units look cheap. I won't quarrel with investors who believe that buying a quality company like Plains All American at fair value will work out over the long term, but there are other names like Enterprise Products and Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE:EEP) that at least deserve some consideration as well.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.


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Dr. Bruce Fremming specializes in orthodontics, general dentistry in Clovis, California.
Dr. Bruce Fremming has been compared 6 times. Details of Dr. Fremming's experience as an DDS are available on your free dentist report.
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Bruce J Fremming
280 Shaw Ave
Suite E
Clovis, CA 93612
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Dr. Bruce Fremming has been identified as specializing in Orthodontics and General Dentistry.
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