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Associate Deputy Attorney General United States Department of Justice September 26, 2006
Insider Trading: Another Front in the Battle Against Corporate Fraud Good morning Chairman Specter, Ranking Member Leahy, and members of the Committee. Thank you for inviting the Department of Justice to testify today concerning its efforts to prosecute insider trading. At the outset, let me assure you and the other members of the Committee that the Department and the Corporate Fraud Task Force are committed to maintaining fairness and integrity in the marketplace by ensuring that individual investors are able to invest their hard-earned dollars without fear of being taken advantage of by those - whether they be corporate officers, members of the financial services industry or others - who improperly use inside information to enrich themselves at the expense of others. The Nature of Insider Trading The consequences of insider trading are profoundly harmful. Insider trading is a variation of corporate fraud that smacks of the secret backroom exchanges between insiders every small investor fears when he buys stock. Conceptually "insider trading" is relatively straightforward to explain, particularly when compared to other forms of corporate fraud involving complex transactions and complicated accounting schemes. By virtue of their positions within a corporation, corporate executives, managers, and employees obtain non-public "inside" information, such as information on a company's financial performance or its acquisition of another company, that will have a material effect on share prices. Similarly, persons outside the corporation, such as the corporation's clients or those, like attorneys or accountants, who provide services to the corporation, may also become aware of such non-public information. This non-public information empowers the "holder" to get a jump on the market by buying or selling stock or options in advance of the public announcement of the information. By doing so, the "insider trader" either successfully avoids investment losses or reaps unfair investment gains - while the general investing public is unable to similarly protect or enrich itself because it does not have access to the same information. The end result is that the raw material - information - on which participants in the market for the affected security base their decisions is not generally and uniformly available to all, straining the confidence of the investing public and leaving investors at the mercy of insiders with an unfair advantage. More technically, the crime of insider trading is defined as the following: Insider trading is the willful and fraudulent buying or selling of a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, while in possession of material, non-public information about a security. It is also unlawful to pass material non-public information to any person who may be expected to trade on the basis of that information. That practice is known as "tipping." Insider trading violations may include "tipping" information, securities trading by the person "tipped" and securities trading by those who misappropriate such information. Most criminal insider trading cases are prosecuted as securities fraud under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Criminal charges are filed alleging violations of the antifraud provisions of that Act, Title 15, United States Code , Section 78j(b), as well as Section 78ff and 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5. If fraud, including insider trading, is involved in a tender offer, charges may be filed under Title 15, United States Code, Section 78n(e). The punishment for willful violations of these provisions is a fine up to $5 million and imprisonment up to 20 years. Cases alleging criminal insider trading also may involve conduct in violation of the mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, or perjury statutes. The current criminal statutes used to prosecute insider trading case have proven effective to address insider trading. In addition to prosecutions brought by the Department, these abuses are addressed by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") through civil actions to obtain injunctive relief, disgorgement of "ill gotten gains," assessment of stiff administrative penalties and fines and other equitable relief. In each case of established wrongdoing, a determination is made whether to pursue criminal charges, administrative remedies, civil remedies, or some combination thereof. The Challenges of Insider Trading Prosecutions While the elements of criminal insider trading may be straightforward, successful investigation and prosecution of the crime presents significant challenges. For example, prosecutors charging a defendant with an insider trading violation must demonstrate that the defendant's conduct was a willful - as opposed to knowing - violation of the law, meaning that it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was aware, at the time of the insider trade, that he or she was doing something in violation of the law. In addition, prosecutors must also prove that the inside information at issue in the case was both "material," meaning likely to be of interest to the reasonable investor, and "non-public," and that the defendant used the same information in making his or her trading decision. Prosecutors must also prove that the insider has a fiduciary relationship with the corporation from which the inside information comes. In cases involving corporate officers, directors or employees, this requirement is easily met, but in cases involving outsiders, and in particular those who receive tips from corporate insiders or agents, it can pose a significant burden. Given these requirements, uncovering evidence of criminal insider trading activity requires more than just market surveillance and the discovery of spikes in trading. Anomalies such as these may be indicative of a problem, but they are simply the first step in an investigative inquiry. For example, there may be legitimate reasons for a spike in trading activity, such as expiration dates for option awards or other mechanics associated with the company's compensation program. Moreover, a spike in trading activity does not disclose to investors what information, if any, the individual involved in the trade used in making his or her trading decision, a key element in proving the crime of insider trading. Similarly, an assessment of the materiality of the inside information at issue is frequently not possible until the information itself is publicly disclosed. Only then can investigators determine if the information was something that would be of significance to a reasonable investor or if it had an impact on the company's stock price. Additionally, the identity of the traders and their "tippers" must be discovered, their possession of "insider information" must be documented, the relationship between all the subjects and targets must be understood, and the existence of any fiduciary relationships must be established. As the degrees of separation from the original source grow, proving the elements of a criminal prosecution becomes more difficult. Insider trading cases are rarely proved with a "smoking gun." These cases almost universally turn on circumstantial evidence and insider traders frequently proffer a number of alternative explanations for their conduct. Furthermore, while it may be easier to tie the trading activity of known corporate executives to insider trading in their companies, the cases we have investigated and prosecuted demonstrate that insider trading can also be conducted by individuals with no readily apparent tie to the affected company or security - an outside accountant or an employee of a printing plant just as easily can be the recipient of "inside information" or can disclose inside information. Our investigations must be conducted in a thorough and methodical manner to insure the evidence presented at trial is sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime has been committed by the defendant. The prosecutive decision whether to file criminal charges is made by the United States Attorney or by Department prosecutors, based on an assessment of the evidence, the factual background of the particular case, and the applicable statutory provisions. These cases are difficult and risky, and the investigations are often protracted and complex. How Are Insider Trading Cases Investigated? Investigating and prosecuting insider trading is a collaborative effort. A majority of our insider trading cases emerge from our government enforcement partners or self-regulatory bodies, such as the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), the National Association of Securities Dealers ("NASD"), or the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). In a typical case, the SEC begins an inquiry or formal investigation into activity that may indicate the presence of illegal insider trading. This investigation may be generated by suspicious securities trading activity immediately before announcement of a significant corporate event, which is detected by the SEC, CFTC, NASD or the NYSE. Such entities have sophisticated computer programs designed to track and match unusual trading patterns with merger announcements and have specialized expertise in detecting these anomalies. But that is only the beginning of the process. After detecting an unusual pattern of trading activity, the SEC then may contact the United States Attorney's Office in its region, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") or other law enforcement agencies, to inform these agencies of the results of its preliminary inquiry. The law enforcement agencies typically will then request access to the SEC investigative materials. Should the preliminary inquiry indicate there may have been trading by insiders, the FBI, or another law enforcement agency, will often initiate a criminal investigation, in coordination with a United States Attorney's Office, while remaining in contact with the SEC, which will continue with its own investigation. The prosecutors and the SEC maintain parallel and independent investigations, with the SEC pursuing its statutory responsibilities by ascertaining whether there has been a violation of the federal securities laws that warrants civil or administrative action to stop the illegal insider trading through injunctive or other relief, while the Department of Justice conducts its own criminal investigation. In this respect, I note that the Department respectfully disagrees with a recent district court decision in the District of Oregon, United States v. Stringer, in which the district court found that the criminal prosecutors were effectively using SEC attorneys as their agents to investigate the criminal case. That case is on appeal. The Department does not use the SEC to investigate its criminal cases. Rather, it properly coordinates with that agency to obtain documents and testimony properly obtained in the civil case for use in its criminal investigation. This coordination, which Congress has long authorized and encouraged, prevents a needless duplication of effort by the company under investigation and preserves scarce government resources. The Department and the SEC make completely independent charging decisions based on very different standards of proof and enforcement priorities. The Department's Successful Track Record Despite the significant hurdles to the successful criminal prosecution of insider trading cases, the Department has been very successful in prosecuting those who seek to exploit their access to information at the expense of the market. Our cases involve all types of defendants, from corporate officers, directors and employees who traded the company's securities after learning of significant confidential corporate developments, to friends, family members, and other "tippees" who traded the securities after receiving inside information. While these cases are significant and troubling in their own right, perhaps the most egregious category of insider trading defendants consists of those who work in the financial services industry, including employees of law, banking, brokerage and printing firms who were given access to inside information to provide services to the corporation whose securities they traded and who - particularly in the case of brokers - sacrificed their duties to their clients to enrich themselves. IMCLONE Several of the cases we have prosecuted illustrate the wide range of insider trading activity. For example, Samuel Waksal was the former Chief Executive Officer of ImClone Systems, a medical research company which developed Erbitux, a well publicized cancer drug. In December 2001, Waksal learned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would not approve the license to distribute Erbitux. Before this information became public, Waksal contacted his stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, and liquidated $10 million of family holdings in ImClone. After the FDA's decision was released, ImClone's stock price dropped significantly. Following his indictment, Waksal pleaded guilty to two counts of securities fraud for the insider trading scheme as well as charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, obstruction of justice and perjury. He was sentenced to seven years and three months and fined $3 million on June 10, 2003. Bacanovic also was the stockbroker for Martha Stewart. In an interview with the FBI, Stewart lied about her sale of ImClone by claiming that she had a preexisting agreement with Bacanovic to sell the stock when it dropped below a specific price. Bacanovic provided a similar false explanation in an interview with investigators from the SEC. Stewart was convicted on four counts of obstructing justice for lying about her sale of ImClone stock. Bacanovic was convicted on four counts of conspiracy and false statements. Each received a sentence of five months in custody and five months home detention. PAJCIN/PLOTKIN A case prosecuted recently in the Southern District of New York involved both insider trading associated with merger and acquisition activity and persons employed in the financial services industry. Earlier this year, Eugene Plotkin, an associate at Goldman Sachs, and Stanislav Shpigelman, an investment banking analyst at Merrill Lynch, were charged with participating in a $6.7 million insider trading scheme by obtaining confidential information relating to numerous pending mergers and acquisitions handled by Merrill Lynch. The confidential information was used by the defendants and others to purchase securities based on knowledge of the deals prior to the public announcement of the transactions and then sell the securities immediately after the public announcements. On July 14, 2006, Shpigelman pleaded guilty to the insider trading scheme and he is awaiting sentencing. Jason Smith, a grand juror on a federal grand jury in New Jersey who provided information to the group about the grand jury's investigation of accounting fraud at Bristol-Myers, also pleaded guilty to securities fraud, conspiracy and contempt on August 10, 2006, and he is awaiting sentencing. In addition, according to the charges, Daniel Pajcin and Plotkin were at the center of schemes to trade on inside information not only from Shpigelman, but from pre-publication issues of Business Week. Pajcin allegedly directed defendant Renteria to get a job at the Business Week printing plant and Renteria then began giving Pajcin information about stocks from upcoming issues of Business Week prior to publication and dissemination to the public. Pajcin conducted stock trades on that information before the issues were distributed. Between May and August 2005, Pajcin directed trades from his aunt's account in Croatia, making millions in profit. Plotkin, along with Juan Renteria and another employee of the printing plant, Nickolaus Shuster, were also charged in a separate scheme to gain advance information of favorable reviews of numerous stocks in the "Inside Wall Street" column of Business Week by bribing employees of that magazine and then trading in approximately 20 stocks one day before those stocks were reviewed in the magazine. Plotkin, Renteria and Shuster are scheduled to proceed to trial in April 2007.1 Pajcin pleaded guilty and is cooperating. MIN T. MA Insider trading activity connected with mergers and acquisitions has not been limited solely to corporate insiders and financial analysts. For example, in the Northern District of California, an individual, Min T. Ma, was prosecuted for using his position as an employee of a company providing desktop publishing services to Merrill Lynch to profit illegally from insider trading. The case began when the FBI's San Francisco Division received a referral from the SEC and the NASD about suspicious purchases of a company's stock prior to the public announcement that the company had agreed to a merger. During the investigation, law enforcement officers learned that Ma had obtained material, non-public information related to potential mergers as a result of his position as an employee of a company that provided desktop publishing services to the Palo Alto and Menlo Park offices of Merrill Lynch. Ma used that material non-public information to buy stock in two companies. Following the public announcement of mergers involving these companies, Ma sold the stock for net profit of $197,258.62. In 2005, Ma pleaded guilty in the Northern District of California to two counts of insider trading. The district court sentenced Ma to 18 months' imprisonment and ordered him to pay restitution in the full amount of his improper gain. 1 The defendants are presumed innocent of these allegations, unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. 2 These statistics are provided in the aggregate. The Department recognizes that the 1996-2000 data reflects a five year period, while the 2001-2006 reflects a six year period. However, five year statistics were not available at the time of this submission. ROGER D. BLACKWELL The Department has also prosecuted cases involving corporate directors, the individuals who participate in a company's most significant and sensitive decisions. One of these cases involved Roger D. Blackwell, a member of the Board of Directors for Worthington Foods. Blackwell provided a tip to friends and associates about the Kellogg Company's pending purchase of Worthington. The subjects traded a total of 81,074 shares of Worthington stock and realized net profits of $882,065. The FBI's Cincinnati Division and its Columbus Resident Agency opened this investigation based on a criminal referral from the SEC. The investigation determined that Blackwell, while a member of Worthington's Board of Directors, obtained material, non-public information regarding Kellogg's intentions to purchase Worthington. After the acquisition became public knowledge, Worthington's share price rose 61% in value. Blackwell used this information to tip friends and associates so they could purchase Worthington stock prior to its increase in value. In addition to his position on Worthington's Board of Directors, Blackwell is a well known Marketing Professor at Ohio State University. In the ensuing prosecution, a jury in the Southern District of Ohio convicted Blackwell and two other executives of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, false statements, and obstruction regarding their involvement in an insider trading case. Blackwell was sentenced to 72 months' imprisonment and fined one million dollars. SCHOFIELD On June 7, 2006, Brady M. Schofield, the owner and president of several companies in the food distribution business, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to signing false audit confirmation letters and insider trading. The insider trading arose when an employee at U.S. Foodservice, Inc., a company that Schofield was doing business with, told Schofield that Royal Ahold, a Dutch food conglomerate, intended to acquire the company. Knowing this, Schofield purchased U.S. Foodservice stock and sold it after the merger announcement, making $287,288.00 in illegal profits. This insider trading prosecution was also brought in conjunction with an accounting fraud to falsify earnings. Insider Trading Statistics The Department of Justice has maintained a consistent focus on insider trading criminal cases in partnership with the SEC, NASD, the FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Statistics for the past six years available from the FBI illustrate this commitment. In FY01, the FBI statistics report 53 pending cases, 16 indictments and 14 convictions. In FY06 there were 56 pending cases, 24 indictments and 15 convictions. During this six year period, the number of pending cases, indictments, and convictions has remained relatively constant. Table 1: FBI Insider Trading Statistics: FY01 through FY06 (to date) Pending Cases Indictments Convictions FY01 53 16 14 FY02 52 16 12 FY03 51 14 15 FY04 53 21 13 FY05 67 19 19 FY06 56 24 15 The case load of the Postal Inspection Service similarly demonstrates law enforcement's commitment to combating insider trading activity. For the period from 2001-2006, the Postal Inspection Service reports that the number of its cases nearly tripled, the number of indictments doubled, and total restitution soared from $25,000 to $70,402,388 in comparison to the previous five years. As stated, many of these cases were jointly investigated with the FBI. Table 2: USPIS I Insider Trading Statistics (Comparing 1996-2000 with 2001-2006) 1996 - 2000 2001 - 20062Cases 9 24 (9 joint with FBI) Arrests 15 26 (18 joint with FBI) Indictments 12 23 (18 joint with FBI) Convictions 14 8 (4 joint with FBI) Declinations 1 2 (2 joint with FBI) Restitution $25,000 $70,402,388 ($1,110,877 joint with FBI) But these statistics tell only part of the story. Many of the most sophisticated corporate and securities frauds, involving elaborate misrepresentations or accounting schemes, also involve insider trading activity. Defendants such as corporate officers or directors engage in such elaborate schemes with the aim of not only improving the appearance of the corporation to their outside investors - and thereby artificially enhancing the stock price - but also enriching themselves at investors' expense by selling shares at these inflated prices. The Enron investigation provided an example of such activity. Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was convicted not only of misrepresentations involving the company's performance, but also of profiting from those misrepresentations by selling some of his Enron stock when the price was artificially high - based in no small measure on the lies he and his co-defendant Kenneth Lay told over and over during their stewardship of the company. Similarly, defendants Paula Rieker, an officer in Enron's investor relations unit, and David Delainey, CEO of Enron's retail energy division, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges for their part in the same effort to falsely portray Enron as a thriving business. Other executives, such as Ken Rice, CEO of Enron's Broadband Services division, pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges rather than insider trading yet admitted that their lies and misrepresentations were aimed at unjustly enriching themselves at investors' expense, the hallmark of insider trading, and agreed to disgorge the windfall profits they reaped from the sale of their own Enron stock and options while the company's securities traded at artificially high prices. This is an example of how statistics focused on insider trading alone risk underreporting the extent of the Department's efforts to address this crime. Corporate Fraud Task Force No matter what form corporate fraud takes, the American investing public demands that it be eradicated. Our efforts against insider trading do not stand alone, but are an integral component of our overall corporate fraud initiative. Our experience has been that insider trading is not conducted in a vacuum, but often in concert with other manifestations of fraud. Whether the fraud involves insider trading, backdating of stock options, concealment of corporate losses through false financial reports, or the deliberate manipulation of fictitious business transactions, these abuses tilt the fair and even investment playing field in favor of those perpetrating the fraud, potentially placing the financial well-being of the investing public in serious jeopardy. These fraudulent activities are often conducted in concert as part of an overall scheme to pillage the corporate entity. Repeated reports of multiple incarnations of fraud by corporate directors, managers and other insiders erode investor confidence and undermine the foundations of our capital markets. We are mindful that investors have suffered catastrophic losses as a consequence of successful schemes, whether hatched in a corporate boardroom or executed by a rogue executive trading on inside information. You all are aware that a hallmark of the Department's commitment to prosecuting corporate and white collar crime is the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force, established just over four years ago. The Task Force's mandate is to clean up corruption in the boardroom; restore investor confidence in the fair operation of our markets; and send a strong message that corporate wrongdoing will not be tolerated. Since its formation, the Department has worked hard, together with its partners, to move aggressively against corporate fraud and other related white collar criminal activity. That partnership is expansive. The Task Force, chaired by the Deputy Attorney General, includes members from the United States Attorney community, the heads of the Department's Criminal and Tax Divisions, and a broad range of law enforcement and regulatory agencies, including the FBI, the Postal Inspection Service, the SEC, the CFTC, and the Internal Revenue Service. The Task Force meets periodically in Washington, D.C., to map out strategy and identify best practices. At the working level, the agencies interact daily on individual matters. The Task Force has been a resounding success and remains an essential part of the Department's priority in fulfilling its ongoing mission. The Task Force's record is impressive. From its inception in 2002 through this past December, the Task Force has obtained over 1,000 corporate fraud convictions, and has convicted 92 corporate presidents, 82 Chief Executive Officers, 40 Chief Financial Officers, 14 Chief Operating Officers, 98 Vice Presidents, and 17 corporate counsel or attorneys. The Enron Task Force alone has charged 34 individuals and obtained 25 convictions to date, which include the convictions of former Enron CEO Jeffrey K. Skilling and former Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Lay. During roughly the same period, FBI records show that more than 74 defendants were convicted of insider trading-related charges, including Enron's Jeff Skilling, Paula Rieker, and David Delaney. Our successes are directly attributable to effective interagency coordination, which ensures focus and maximizes the combined efforts of the Department and other key law enforcement agencies. We all rely on these same techniques, resources and coordination in the fight against insider trading. Conclusion In closing, let me again thank the Committee for its continuing interest in our corporate fraud enforcement efforts, and its specific interest today in prosecuting insider trading. The story of the Department of Justice's efforts to prosecute corporate corruption has been one of success - our cases have been significant and we are committed to building on the advances we have made in developing more effective techniques to investigate and prosecute complex white collar fraud cases. We continue to leverage the impact of our resources by working closely with our law enforcement and regulatory partners. We also strive to maximize the effectiveness of these available resources by ensuring that our casework is accomplished in keeping with the real-time enforcement mandate of the Corporate Fraud Task Force. We remain committed to combating all threats to the integrity of our capital markets and to the welfare of the investing public. I look forward to your questions.


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He is certified in Allergy / Immunology.
A hospital affiliation covers any doctor who has an affiliation, association or admitting privilege with a hospital. A doctor's particular affiliation to a specific hospital can translate to the overall quality of that provider.
Dr. LaHood is affiliated with 1 hospital:
Dr. LaHood attended medical school at University of Tichreen Faculty of Medicine and graduated in 1983 having 31 years experience.
Get more education details on your free report
While there is no proven correlation between the quality of one's educational institution and the quality of one's professional competence, it is often an indicator. Medical schools have various levels of selectivity (some are harder to get into than others), and both the quality of their clinical training and level of research are measured. Additional medical training in both residency and fellowships and the facilities they are conducted at also provide a history of the doctors' level of training and experience.
Patients may also know Dr. Nabeeh LaHood MD as:
Are you Dr. Nabeeh LaHood?
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Red Hat JBoss Middleware
Accelerate Automate Integrate Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite Red Hat JBoss Developer Studio Portfolio Edition Web Framework Kit Application Platform Web Server Data Grid Portal Fuse Red Hat JBoss A-MQ BRMS Red Hat JBoss Fuse Service Works JBoss Operations Network JBoss Community or JBoss enterprise Red Hat JBoss Data Virtualization -
Migration Center
Solaris to Red Hat Enterprise Linux Migration overview Migrate from your UNIX platform How to migrate to Red Hat Enterprise Linux Upgrade to the latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux release JBoss Enterprise Middleware Benefits of migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux Migration services Start a conversation with Red Hat -
Courses and training paths
Popular and new courses Red Hat JBoss Administration curriculum Core System Administration curriculum Red Hat JBoss Middleware Development curriculum Advanced System Administration curriculum Linux Development curriculum Cloud Computing, Virtualization, and Storage curriculum
Fass.se Migrates to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
United States, September 5, 2007Swedish pharmaceutical association experiences cost savings and increased performance for medicines portal
Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that FASS.se, the main medicines portal run by the Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry, LIF, has migrated its servers from Sun Solaris to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. With Red Hat solutions, FASS.se is experiencing approximately 40 percent cost savings and has seen its new operational environment double functions on all levels.
FASS.se has approximately four million visitors per month, 60 percent of which are healthcare organizations and pharmacies. The company's medicines portal provides the opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry to contribute high-quality, current information about all medicines. In addition, FASS.se is available on several different servers within healthcare organizations to which information from FASS.se is exported.
Our main reason for migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux was our recognition of a need for making FASS.se's operations more efficient,
said Per Manell, Chief Technology Officer at LIF. During our evaluations, Red Hat Enterprise Linux became the obvious alternative because of the cost savings and increased performance delivered by the solution. It was ultimately an easy decision to select Red Hat solutions and migrate all of our servers to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
We are excited that FASS.se has selected Red Hat solutions for its distinguished medicines portal,
said Magnus Svensson, Nordic manager at Red Hat. With pharmaceuticals and healthcare, it is especially important to ensure that the operation is faultless and safe.
LIF, the pharmaceutical industry association responsible for FASS.se's medicines portal, is a branch organization for pharmaceutical research companies that operate in Sweden. About 60 pharmaceutical companies, representing close to 90 percent of the total pharmaceutical sales in Sweden, are members of the association today. With all versions of FASS now gathered under a web address and based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, members of LIF are able to update their critical pharmaceutical texts daily.
For more information about Red Hat, visit http://www.redhat.com. For more news, more often, visit www.press.redhat.com.
About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat, the world's leading open source solutions provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with over 50 satellite offices spanning the globe. CIOs have ranked Red Hat first for value in Enterprise Software for three consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value study. Red Hat provides high-quality, low-cost technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with applications, management and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to the integration of acquisitions; the ability of the Company to effectively compete; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, the Company's growth and international operations; adverse results in litigation; the dependence on key personnel as well as other factors contained in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the captions Risk Factors
and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.
LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT and JBOSS are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the US and other countries.


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Hereditary CNS demyelinating disease
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hereditary CNS demyelinating disease | |
Classification and external resources | |
MeSH | D020279 |
A Hereditary CNS demyelinating disease is a demyelinating central nervous system disease that is primarily due to an inherited genetic condition. (This is in contrast to autoimmune demyelinating conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, or conditions such as central pontine myelinolysis that are associated with acute acquired insult.)
Examples include:[1]
- Alexander disease
- Canavan disease
- Krabbe disease
- leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter
- megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts
- metachromatic leukodystrophy
- X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy
- ^ "Hereditary Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases - Genetics Home Reference". Retrieved 2009-03-11.[dead link]
This article about a disease, disorder, or medical condition is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |


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Web 2.0 and "peak waste"
Tim O'Reilly writes a thoughtful commentary on the evaporation of false wealth in the technology industry, wealth spawned and eventually spurned by an overindulgent consumer culture. Quoting his son-in-law, Tim writes that perhaps we've reached the "pinnacle of waste in our consumer culture," and can now move on to "[w]ork[ing] on stuff that matters."
I agree, but I'm slightly surprised to see Tim writing off the wasteful technology industry, an industry that he has in part encouraged over the past few years with a heavy emphasis on Web 2.0 and all the superficial "value" that it has created. I'm not suggesting that Tim has explicitly encouraged such waste, but rather that his ideas have sparked an avalanche of rubbish business models and technology and, most importantly, have done little to actually foster the individual's role in creating value.
Tim's emphasis has been on the social web, encouraging lightweight business models and technologies that facilitate content creation and harness others' work but do little to emphasize quality content creation (and may actually do the inverse). I don't fault Tim for not coming up with the answer to the Web's failure to invest in quality, but I'm struck by the discordance between his posts on waste and comments like this. For example, speaking of Chinese factories, Tim writes:
I've often wondered: "What do they think of us, so rich that we can afford to spend money on so much that is useless!" And now we find that perhaps our wealth too was rooted in illusion.) And even when it comes to consumer electronics, we've built a throwaway culture rooted in waste.
But doesn't this also largely describe the rise of the "amateur class" that Nick Carr derides and Tim implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) celebrates? A Web so chock-full of silly, superficial speech that quality content can't rub two dimes together?
Indeed, I would think that if Tim is concerned with discovering value in our post-peak waste world, he'd be investing more time in figuring out how exceptional content will get financed in the Web 2.0 world, rather than in the technologies that make it easy to borrow content but impractical to fund the development thereof.
I'm not suggesting that Tim doesn't "get it." Indeed, perhaps I'm mostly criticizing a world that gets his vision wrong.
But I do believe there's a disconnect between the hype around Web 2.0 and the reality of getting paid. It was horribly telling that one darling of the Web 2.0 crowd - Digg - was recently exposed as gigantic revenue hole: money goes in, but little comes out. The service that elevates raises the least-common denominator of content, and thereby helps to suck money out of quality content creation, can't make money itself.
In other words, Web 2.0 popularity doesn't necessarily mean very much in the real world that requires payment for value.
A favorite passage from T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" comes to mind:… Read more


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Component Coexistence in System Center 2012 SP1
Updated: November 20, 2013
Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1
Some of the System Center 2012 SP1 components will not function properly if other components have been installed on the same computer. None of the following four components can exist on the same computer with each other:
DPM Management Server
Operations Manager Management Server
Service Manager Management Server
Service Manager Data Warehouse Management Server
Any of the remaining System Center 2012 components, App Controller, Orchestrator, and VMM can coexist with each other and with the four components in the previous list. Therefore, four computers is the minimum number of computers that you will need to deploy all of the System Center 2012 SP1 components.


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Featured by Apple as "App of the Week" in Canada, Germany, Australia, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong and several other
Featured by Apple as "New and Noteworthy" and "What's Hot" in US, UK and several other countries.
#1 Photography App in US, UK and several other countries.
"My favorite app this month is WordFoto." - Robin Rhys, AppAdvice Daily
"WordFoto offers a great way of adding a message within photos, producing some intriguing results." - Jennifer Allen, 148Apps
"If you're looking for a funky and fun new app to add to your iPhone photography arsenal, then this is it." - Christine Chan, AppAdvice
WordFoto - Pictures Worth a Thousand Words
You've probably heard the tired cliche about a picture being worth a thousand words. We've taken this phrase quite literally and created WordFoto, an app that turns photos and words into amazing typographic works of art.
Feature Highlights:
• Fast fully automated space finding, word filling algorithm.
• Manage and create your own word sets.
Eight unique Preset Styles.
• User definable Custom Styles with parameters for brightness, contrast, fonts, etc.
• Import images from photo album or camera.
• Crop editor.
• Inspect detail in zoomable preview.
Manual fine tune parameters.
• Resulting word images are full resolution.
• Save, email or share on
• Save original and cropped original.
Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3rd generation, iPod Touch 4th generation, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later. No native iPad support.
Minor bugfixes.
Added eight new fonts.
Follow us on twitter for updates on WordFoto: @bitCycle ( http://www.twitter.com/bitCycle )
Become a WordFoto fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WordFoto


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Comment: Re:umm no (Score 1) 267
You are more free to do anything that poses no threat, real or imagined, to your masters and your masters' masters.
In other words, the cattle is better cared for.
You are more free to do anything that poses no threat, real or imagined, to your masters and your masters' masters.
In other words, the cattle is better cared for.
I also discovered that both dodo and booby (the bird) are probably portuguese words.
Ah, the Booby, my second favourite bird, right after the Parus major.
Visipics is showing it's age.
The UI is very limiting (although the algorithm is still the best of all the alternatives I tried)
I wish the author would open-source it.
I routinely time-travel at a speed of 3600 sec/hour.
Fast enough for you?
Anything travelling through the intertubes can be copied by the NSA.
...that the federal government has. And it's not the muslim jihadists they're worried about. It's us.
-1 delusional.
The federal government does not fear "you".
"You" have neither the will nor the means to effectively oppose them.
Hell, "you" can't even inconvenience them.
"You" are not even a blip on their radar.
"You" are nothing but a resource to be exploited.
The only thing Showden accomplished is reassuring the powers that be that they can get away with anything and don't even have to hide their misdeeds anymore.
Banana constitutional monarchy.
Going at this rate, do you have any countries left on your list?
Ratchet it up.
Out them, shun them, ostracize them, publicly insult them, treat them like scum.
Everybody who's even suspected of being a TLA employee or contractor should get nothing but a cold shoulder and a middle finger.
Immunovative as well.
Dissent will not be tolerated!
-voting is compulsory. You break the law if you refuse to vote. Of course, since anyone who votes, no matter how they vote, gives active support to the current system, every citizen of this sick nation is FORCED to actively support the current system- BY LAW.
You are not prevented from casting an invalid vote.
This includes legal, religious and medical information, which was shared about this Canadian women.
How does the Australian spy agency share medical data on a Canadian woman?
tl;dr version: Your laws matter only as far as you can enforce them, and since the entire fight was about ability to do so...
Please mod parent up.
Mater artium necessitas. [Necessity is the mother of invention].


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Kristen Suzanne is an accomplished Raw food chef and former competitive bodybuilder. Through radio, television, books, classes, and her blog and email newsletter, Chef Kristen Suzanne helps people live life to the fullest with the healthiest cuisine in the world. Kristen is based in Scottsdale, AZ, and offers the following services:
Author of Raw food recipe and lifestyle books
Media spokesperson and Raw food advocate
Public and private demonstrations and lectures
I try to only let organic products touch my skin. The problem is, a lot of organic skin care, body care, and cosmetics can be a pain in the butt to work with. I've tried a ton of different organic manufacturers, and here are some of my favorites.
Dr. Alkaitis - Skin Food Dr. Alkaitis has become my ultimate favorite for skin care. There is no doubt that a healthy, raw, organic, plant-based diet will help give your skin the glow, but we also have to consider what we put on our skin. As a general rule, if I can't eat it, I probably don't want it touching my skin.
Enter: Dr. Alkaitis products. Holy moly! These are amazing. I started using them after coming off a little hormone-induced breakout and I saw extreme improvement within a couple of days. I actually couldn't believe my eyes. I'm going to be hard pressed to use any other company. (But, you know me, I'm a girly-girl and I love trying new products.) Almost all of the doctor's products are vegan, and my favorites are the cleanser, toner, soothing gel, treatment oil, and eye cream (all described below).
I've also used the organic day cream and night cream sparingly but tend to just stick with the aforementioned products on a regular basis. The Travel Kit is a great sampler for giving the entire product line a try without committing to a major purchase.
All of Dr. Alkaitis' products are made with organically grown or wild-crafted plants (or unpolluted sea life), and their herbal extracts are made in-house! The base is organic aloe, making the products very concentrated, so a little goes a long way (my "7-day" Travel Kit lasted almost two weeks). All the products are raw, living, not heated above body temperature. And, to preserve freshness, they make small batches at a time and products are only two-weeks old when they get shipped to you (for US shipments). Rockin' huh? I wish everything was made this way!
The Cleanser: Organic Purifying Facial Cleanser Great for removing makeup, dirt and oil. I especially love using this line of products with my Clarisonic Mia (see info below). One bottle of cleanser lasts about 2 months.
The Toner: Organic Herbal TonerThis is great because it doesn't dry out my skin yet it's powerful enough to do the job of balancing my skin and acting as an anti-inflammatory. I was never much of a toner-using girl until I tried Dr. Alkaitis Organic Herbal Toner. Now it's one of my favorite products.
Organic Soothing GelWhoo I can't sing the praises high enough for this. I think it was instrumental in helping calm skin irritations (PMS skin issues anyone?!). It works great under makeup, too.
Organic Nourishing Treatment OilMade for your face, scalp, and body, the smell of this exotic oil is sultry and hypnotic. I keep a bottle in the shower to use after I'm done. It helps keep my skin soft and supple. Another way to enhance this product is to dry brush your skin before getting into the shower. This makes a great gift, too.
Organic Eye Cr�meFor when you first wake up and need to face the world. From the Web site: "Luxuriously textured and gentle, Organic Eye Cr�me rejuvenates and refreshes tired eyes while reducing puffiness, dark circles and fine lines."
Clarisonic Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System OMG!... this thing is amazing.
My mom bought me the Clarisonic Mia, a sonic skin cleansing system. I�ve always known from beauty experts that it�s important to exfoliate your skin on a regular basis for truly trouble free skin. I used to use a fibrous exfoliating hemp washcloth but sometimes it was too rough and aggravated my skin more than anything else. The Clarisonic Mia, on the other hand, exfoliates unbelievably effectively and gently. But, it�s not just great at exfoliating. There are two other great benefits: It gets my skin super clean � like never before. After the first use I couldn�t believe how extra amazing my skin felt. The other unique result from using this is that it helps my Dr. Alkaitis Skin Food products absorb more efficiently.
According to Clarisonic, the following are benefits that can be expected: - Leaves skin feeling and looking healthier and smoother - Removes 6 times more makeup than manual cleansing - Cleanses so well that products absorb better - Pores appear smaller - Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles - Reduces oily areas, dry skin patches and blemishes - Gentle for use twice daily for different skin types But, you don�t have to take my word for it� check out the reviews! There are tons of raving fans out there using this system. (Note: I don�t use the cleansing products that came with it; I use Dr. Alkaitis' products described above.)
I don�t have the Clarisonic Pro, which has some other perks like the ability to use it on the body, but I�m interested in getting one. Check out the amazing reviews about the Clarisonic Pro.
Morrocco Method - My Choice for Hair Care (Note: This is for uncolored hair only.) This has become my favorite line for hair care. The awesome thing about Morrocco's products is that they're organic, vegan, gluten-free, and even RAW! They are pure, baby!
Prior to finding Morrocco Method, I was using Terressentials' mud to wash my hair. That was an interesting and neat experience, but after a while, I started getting flakes. EEK! I tried using an apple cider vinegar/water rinse and coconut oil, but without success. Some days my hair was soft and clean feeling, other days it wasn't. So I decided to look for another line that was as natural as I could get. I even thought I would be foced to compromise a bit with the ingredients (and not be such a purist), so I looked at Aubrey Organics, Suki, and some others. But, every time I read the labels, I couldn't help but feel disheartened when comparing their chemicals to the purity of Terressentials' mud. I mean, come on(!), I work so hard to keep my body clean internally and externally that I just didn't want to compromise.
Morrocco Method to the Rescue! After much searching, I discovered Morrocco Method products. I was immediately intrigued because the website boasts about the products being not only organic, but Raw, vegan, and gluten-free... for shampoo! I mean, who DOES that? Morrocco Method does! My pulse quickened as I scrutinzed the entire website. But before committing, I hunted down some reviews. Most people loved the line. The occasional less enthusiastic reviews weren't great about the shampoos' results; it was complaints about their smell, lack of lather, or price. The different products smell very earthy and I actually really like it. As for the lack of lather... well, you're looking at a gal who had done the haircare equivalent of Survivor Borneo, shampooing her with mud for months! (Mud doesn't lather.) So suffice it to say, I'm used to using all natural products like this. And BTW, Morrocco Method actually does lather up a little.
The Results So... what happened to my scalp problems? The flakes disappeared immediately. Ever since I started using Morrocco Method, my hair has been so freakin' soft, shiny, and silky. It's extra gorgeous! My husband is amazed and loves touching my hair, always telling me how "soft and luscious" it is!
The Routine... Hang With Me Here... You don't just buy one shampoo from Morrocco. It's a complete regimen. In fact, I love it... you actually rotate through a five shampoos (1 week each) to achieve optimal results: - Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo - Earth Essence Shampoo - Heavenly Chi Shampoo - Pine Shale Shampoo - Sea Essence Shampoo
(I also like the Chi Instant Hair Conditioner, the elixirs, their Diamond Crystal Mist and Sapphire Volumizer Mist, which gives you tons of body and it was a life-saver during my temporary post-partem shedding. I also tried Morrocco Method's Blood of the Dragon Styling Gel, but I confess I like the name more than the actual product... but it's not bad). I'm also not crazy about the Agave Styling Mist because of the sprayer - it comes out in more of a stream instead of a spray.)
But back to the regimen... the system isn't cheap, due to the need to rotate through five shampoos. But my results have been so profound... WITH NO CHEMICALS... it's just so healthy for my hair and health that I can no longer imagine using anything less. I cringe at the thought of the toxic chemical soup that most people are massaging into their scalp every day... it's crazy when you stop to think about it.
It also helps with the cost that I stretch it out. Since I don't wash my hair daily (more like 2-3 times a week), I don't use much of the product so it lasts awhile. I, do, however recommend getting a couple of the Chi Conditioners because obviously you'll run out of that quicker than going through 4-5 bottles of shampoo.
So here are two plans for you to choose between:
Plan A: Five Full-Size Shampoos
Shampoo Plan A: Buy one bottle of each (the family size) of the five shampoos listed above and stick with it. This costs more up front but these will last a long time and you'll save money in the long run. This is the best option if you're committed to using the most healthy haircare products possible and eliminating all synthetic chemicals from your shampoo.
Plan B: Trial-Travel Set
Shampoo Plan B: Experiment by buying one or two Trial-Travel Sets (which has 2oz trial size bottles) and trying the system out before committing to a big purchase. This is the best option for people who are only mildly interested in eliminating synthetic chemicals from their hair care. This will cost you less money up front, but you'll run out of product sooner. But before you run out, you'll have been able to try all five shampoos and see if you like them. At least, you'll know if you like using them (the smell, consistency, etc.)... if you get only one set, you may not complete the detox process and see the full results before you run out however. That's why I suggest buying two Trial-Travel Sets, as you'll then be sure to have enough time to see if the product gives you results you like, but you'll have spent less than if you had purchased a full family-size of each of the five shampoos.
My Preferred Conditioner
A Conditioner You'll definitely want to use a conditioner every time wash your hair with these shampoos. My personal preference is the Chi Instant Hair Conditioner, but Morrocco Method does offer others.
The Bottom Line I'm thrilled to have finally found Morroccom Method. I've also had people write to me after trying these products praising them. I love knowing that only the purest of products are touching my scalp. I love the smells of the shampoos, too - they're sexy, sultry, and earthy. For more information, check out their Web site and read these really powerful testimonials. And if you have questions, the company is great about helping you out!


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This was my first performance at open mic… first of many I hope!
Tags: new music matthew banfield live acoustic indie rock pop alternative duet abbie friss
This is my most recent piece of musical work uploaded to SoundCloud… feedback is much appreciated!
Tags: new music acoustic demo keep you safely warm matthew banfield
Other places to find me: Twitter: @banfieldmatthew Facebook (Music): http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Banfield-Music/240046132732902 SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/matthewbanfield
On average, 24 horses die each week at race tracks in the U.S. Many horses that break down run...
(by Eddie X 525)
(by Naveed Mughal)
(by chapterthree)
(by d3sign)


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about the blogger
Sean Axmaker is MSN's DVD columnist and the editor of Parallax View. He writes for Turner Classic Movies Online and his work has appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Seattle Weekly, The Stranger, Senses of Cinema, Asian Cult Cinema, Psychotronic Video and "The Scarecrow Video Guide."
movie news
- 'Fast & Furious 7' resumes production this month
- Spike Lee to attend Roger Ebert film festival
- Tarantino vs. Gawker: Blog seeks dismissal, says link was not copyright infringement
- MTV Movie Awards blasted for sexist exclusion of Katniss Everdeen
- Cate Blanchett was right: Women making little-to-no progress in landing major movie roles


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Search results for : | rafa yushi |
Liverpool FC Supporters Forum - The 13th Man
The 13th Man: Liverpool FC Fans Forum. Discussion primarily about LFC, but also all things non-LFC and beyond are up for debate!
liverpool, anfield, forum, kenny, dalglish, king, rafa, rafael, benitez, european, league, title, stevie, steven, gerrard, carra, carragher, jamie, reinaRescue Aid For Animals
RAFA A Forum For Rescues and Volunteers to Help All Animals in Need
adoptions, animal, pets, shelter, rescue, cats, volunteer, transport, homecheck, fundraising, saving, animals, rehome, advice, abandoned, birds, rabbits, chickens, horses, pigs, kittens, snake, ponyFree forum : AnfieldPride
Free forum : A Liverpool football club discussion forum
free, anfieldpride, steven, gerrard, liverpool, football, google, yahoo!, bing, dmoz, club, discussion, soccer.goals, video.skill, highlights, fernando, torres, rafa, benitez, cavalier, johnson, aquilaniThe Rafateers
A forum for the fans of Rafael Nadal
rafael, nadal, forum, rafateers, chat
Topics linked your research : | rafa yushi |
Rafa's website
The all-things-Rafa Benitez Thread
Struggling. The unluckiest man in football with injuries and crap boards- or did he have a couple of years in The S*n and has been living off that reputation ever since?
Brilliant stuff by the lads from IrishKop, and well in Rafa
You all will know the 5 Legends / Commy Banner that the lads of IrishKop had made up: Well they got a canvas painting of it done and one of the lads called over to Rafa's house with it shortly after he left LFC. Unfortunately Rafa was out of town
Banner for Rafa tonight
in Inter's end 'Grazi Rafa, A gentleman, Justice for the 96'. Their ultras have given 10 invites to some of our lads and approved the banner.


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Are you getting ready to prepare and file your tax return? Don't make these mistakes! Errors on your tax return can delay the processing of your return, in addition to, the tax refund you're counting on. Fortunately, many of the most common mistakes are simple, human errors that have little to do with the complicated […]
You are here: Home / Archives for Social Security Cards
Don't Make These Mistakes on Your Tax Return
Filed Under: Tax Resources Tagged With: IRS, Social Security Cards, Social Security Numbers, Tax Preparation Software, Tax Return


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Like a good little entrepreneur, I've spent the last few weeks planning my entire 2014.
I got out my big calendar, sticky notes, colored pens and every ounce of courage I could muster and set a date for every product launch, free training webinar, business trip, mastermind call and important deadline.
That was relatively easy (especially with some music, scented candles and a glass of wine). Then, it came time to create my content calendar.
Now, if you are a client, I would tell you that a content calendar is vital to your online success.
You have to know what you are going to talk about and when, how you are going to promote your products, build your tribe, offer free content, connect with influencers, attract new prospects, grow your list, yada…
Having a well planned content calendar keeps you from staring at a blank screen for hours and prevents the sort of frustration that requires alcohol and/or chocolate to cure.
If consistency is key and content is king, then having a calendar of what you are going to blog about, post about, pin about and tweet about is the door.
So, here I am to admit that I created my content calendar. Filled it with all sorts of great topics on marketing, social media, copywriting, SEO, branding, messaging and that sort of stuff. It was ambitious, but doable. Professional, but personable.
It was impressive. And it gave me the icks.
My intention is to present thoughtful, helpful, educational, informational and maybe even entertaining articles that people will love to read and want to comment on.
Problem is, there are a ton of other people better at these topics than me.
For marketing, there's Seth Godin, Derek Halpern, Lewis Howes, Brendon Burchard, Bryan Franklin, and Marie Forleo, just to name a few.
For messaging (with their truly authentic voice) there's Nisha Moodley, Sarah Jenks, Lisa Fabrega, Danielle LaPorte, Gabrielle Bernstein, Jen Blackstock, Sara Mazenko, Terri Cole, Vasavi Kumar and too many more to list.
For social media, I'd go with Amy Porterfield, Kate Buck Jr, Mari Smith and the dozen or so great blogs that are dedicated to the latest and greatest tips and strategies for making social media work for your business.
So, what in the world do I have to offer? How can I compete? And how in the world can I be expansive, playful, connected, ease and creative (my core desire feelings for 2014) if I am consistently writing blog posts?
See why I freaked out?
Here's what I came up with (my commitment to you):
- I will share great articles from the amazing people (and others) listed above so you can learn from the very best.
- I will write articles that mean something to me and, hopefully, you. They could be business-related posts or personal posts or thought-provoking posts or anything else I think you might like posts.
- I will post said articles as often as possible. That could be every day. Or every week. Or even once a month. I don't know yet. I'm still trying to figure that one out.
- I will let you know how this experiment goes. Is it really about consistency or is producing great content that people really want to read enough to create a buzz?
Who knows.
But what I know is that at least this plan doesn't suck the life out of me and makes my calendar a whole lot more fun to look at.
* * *
photo credit: H is for Home via photopin cc
I have this innate need to hide- always have. So the idea of posting a video of me wildly dancing on my Facebook page seems impossible. And it is.
But that's exactly what one of the ladies that I love to follow did. I shouldn't be surprised. She is constantly updating her profile pic and forever posting super close up pictures of herself.
In some cases I am jealous. She is beautiful and clearly very comfortable with herself and her body. I, on the other hand, haven't managed to get a new headshot in years and still use a selfie from the inside of my car as my professional image (I know, it's all sorts of wrong).
But I couldn't help wonder if she was being her authentic self, or crying out for attention and stroking her ego with all of the comments she knew she would get from her friends.
So the question becomes, how do you know if someone is being authentic or if they are being egotistical?
For me, it's their ick factor. I just couldn't watch the video she made. It seemed too forced, too personal and private, and too inappropriate to share with the entire Facebook community.
It makes me not want to work with her because now I wonder if she cares about my success or more about showing herself off and promoting how wonderful she is.
Maybe it's my ego shining through right now, but that's how I feel. And, as we all know, it's how we feel that determines what we buy.
* * *
photo credit: Camil Tulcan via photopin cc
I've been thinking a lot about how to be more authentic in my own life and in my own business. It seems so silly. How do you become more authentic? You just be the real you. Ah, if only it were that easy.
In an effort to talk my talk and walk my walk, I feel the need to open up and share what I have been going through over the past few months. But I have hesitated because I don't want anyone to think less of me.
I mean, marketing is based on the Know, Like and Trust factor, right?
So, would you be less likely to trust me with your own business if you knew how I have struggled to find my own voice, fell completely out of love with my business, spent days on end looking for "real" jobs because I just don't want to do this anymore?
How about if you knew that I still do marketing tasks that I hate, even while preaching that marketing should feel good and be fun?
It is super scary to be so open and vulnerable while being the person you are supposed to come to for strength, confidence, clarity and consistency.
I'm drawn to inspirational leaders and life coaches who are super raw and very real in their communications and ways of being. They share their struggles, secrets, limiting beliefs, challenges, and shadows as a way to connect with their audience, offer proof that there is a way through the darkness and lead others to a better life.
And that works, for them.
But can that same approach work for a marketing coach or consultant? Can being open and honest with my own struggles make it easier for clients to believe that I can help them grow their own business? Or will I seem incompetent, incapable, unstable, weak, insecure and/or flaky?
Is being vulnerable an authentic marketing strategy or a dangerous position that turns prospects off?
It's important to note that you should never show your mess while you are in your mess. For your own safety and sanity, really.
But if being honest about how you are feeling and what you went through, and sharing how you made it out of the dark, can benefit others, shouldn't you tell everyone?
You know those people that are always happy? I mean, annoyingly positive and sweet that you get a toothache after reading their email. Yeah, those people that never, ever have a bad day.
Yeah, I don't trust those people. I don't believe them. And frankly, I don't like them. They seem fake to me (and you know how much I love authenticity).
I like emotions. I like messy. I like pain because I love pleasure. I handle hate because I love love. I accept being different because I crave authenticity.
And I embrace vulnerability because I desire freedom.
In business and in life.


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If you are new to domains and looking to buy, sell and learn about domains then you have come to the right place. DNForum is the largest domain name community on the internet and continues to grow every day. There are over 105,000 domainers on DNForum doing everything from buying domains, selling domains, learning about domains and discussing domains. Take a minute and Register.
Register Today on DNForum IT'S FREE!Last edited by olivess; 08-24-2009 at 09:45 PM.
Domaincollect.com - Best Collection of Domain Properties
lets resolve this issue
Last edited by olivess; 08-24-2009 at 09:45 PM.
Domaincollect.com - Best Collection of Domain Properties
Will be reporting the conduct to DNF moderators. Binding contract has been broken by the seller
i feel bad for both the parties even rmnarmenta has been waiting for this auction !
i agree my mistake i did post sold but retracted immediately noticing that was on effect i think within few secs ...easily other bidder could have placed his next bid to continue the auction as time wa there
there was 1 min left before...rmnarmenta last bid as per antisniping rule .......
ok i think my bad luck continues...if this has to go again to unresloved sale
or else we can make $65 as the last bid and we can end the auction 5 mins from the next bid.... i can just think of this solution
Last edited by olivess; 08-24-2009 at 10:00 PM.
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I have already marked the thread to be reviewed by the moderators. There is only 1 fair way to resolve this dispute, and that is to have a moderator make a decision.
Basically 2 regulations have been broken here:
1. Olivess declared the auction closed with 1 minute left according to the anti-sniping rule (which is a breach of the anti-sniping regulation)
2. Declaring the auction closed is binding. Editing the post to remove the evidence that the domain had been declared sold (which the mods can still view what was there before the post was edited), it a breach of contract.
Each of those regulations create an unjust result to each bidder, and obviously it is in your best interest to accept a higher bid.
A third party moderator decision is the only fair solution to this problem. Either the domain is sold to me for $60, or to rmnarmenta for $65.We must await moderator decision to conclude this deal in a fair way
it was just an accident it dint notice the antisnipin rule was in effect ....and i agree that...fine let the moderator decide and solve :(( - not again on unresolved sale :(((
Last edited by olivess; 08-24-2009 at 10:18 PM.
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Whatever the moderator decides is a fair, unbias decision. Due to the fact that 2 regulations were broken, with each regulation giving an unjust result to each bidder, the moderator decision will be a fair ruling.
I trust everyone is in agreement with this? Disputes are best solved by a third party who have nothing to gain or lose from the decision.
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In future, if you use the anti-sniping rule on your auctions, it would be a good idea to wait even 10 minutes after the last bid is placed before marking the thread as sold. That way, if there is another bid, you can view if the bid is more or less than 5 minutes after the previous bid. Here is an example:
Bid placed at 10pm. You wait until 10:10pm to mark the auction as closed. This way if another bid is placed at say 10:06pm, you will know that the 10pm bid is the winner. If a bid is placed at 10:04, you will know the auction is still continuing.
That will help you alot to avoid any disputes
Also, if you do make an error like this, do not edit the post removing the original text. That makes things look suspicious. Instead, create a new post or edit the post adding the new info below the info you already posted. Just a few tips might help you in future auctions
Last edited by DaveC1983; 08-24-2009 at 10:26 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Thanks will follow that next time ..i edited it in few secs relasing my mistake...anyways. it was an accident....my badluck .no issues ready to face atlast thats life
Last edited by olivess; 08-24-2009 at 10:31 PM.
Domaincollect.com - Best Collection of Domain Properties
A mistake is understandable, we are all human Just remember in future not to remove the posts like you did here. It makes it look like you are trying to cover up the mistake. lol.
Mistakes happen, and thats part of life. That is why I think the moderator decision will be a justified, unbias result to the auction.
If you are so willing to agree that it was a "mistake" for Olivess to post an auction being won prior to the expiration as CLEARLY marked at the beginning of the thread.
How could you possible still claim to have won?
By recognizing the fact that it was a mistake, you also recognize that you did not win.
I recommend to you that in the future, instead of quibbling over someones mistake, you should have gone on with the auction and completed it as such.
Now, I, having the only legitimate final bid, and being the clear winner of the auction, have to sit through this petty BS.
If I was in your shoes (and I was in a similar situation only a short time ago), I would recognize in fact the real winner of the auction and act accordingly.
It was stated in this thread that the auction should have continued, and you refused. You are the one who insisted on claiming the win, even though you knew it was a mistake.
Anyway, I hope you both learn something from this incident.
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Olivess whats with you and resolving forum sales .
Almost all your sales end up there get it together olivess.
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as per the rule rmnarmenta is the winner it will be fair if i honour the domain...to
him as no one gona sove this iam coming forward to solve this issue
i agree my mistake i did post sold but retracted immediately noticing that was on effect i think within few secs ...easily other bidder could have placed his next bid to continue the auction as time wa there
there was 1 min left before...rmnarmenta last bid as per antisniping rule .......
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Long Island Memories
REGULAR MEETING of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES of the FREEPORT MEMORIAL LIBRARY Held January 11. 196? Present!Mr. Randall Mr. Billmeyer Dr. Fishel and Wilfred L. Morin, Library Director Each member of the Board haying been furnished with a copy of the minutes of the previous meeting, the reading of said minutes was waived, and they were approved as prepared. The Secretary reported receipts of $72,362.49 for the month of December, 1966. The Trustees approved vouchers totaling $19,546.94 of which payroll amounted to $13,230.40, petty cash ' The Secretary reported Receipts and Disbursements for the month of December, 1966, as follows:


text:
Last week, in this space, I used the great Baseball Savant Pitch F/X tool to gain insight into (if not answer) a simple yet important question: Why does A.J. Griffin allow such an extraordinarily high proportion of fly balls? Seeing as Griffin's tendency in this direction is a limitation on his effectiveness (if a non-drastic one, given the spacious confines of his home park, his outfield defense, and his other skills), breaking down what exactly was going on with it on a Pitch F/X level was somewhat illuminating.
This week, then, I'm going to do something similar: apply the Pitch F/X data from Baseball Savant to break down another significant weakness in another good A's pitcher.
Ryan Cook is good. He has a 2.38 ERA, and FIP says that's unlucky, pegging him at 2.27 (xFIP, ever the sourpuss, says he's at 3.78, but it was 1.39 too high last year, so what does it know, right?). He's struck out three times as many batters as he's walked, has a league-average groundball rate, and hasn't allowed a homer all season. On a stuff level, he looks the part, with the traditional late-game relief arsenal of a mid-90s fastball and mid-80s power slider.
But Ryan Cook has a problem. This year, lefthanded batters have hit .279/.380/.343 off him. His fellow righties, by contrast, are essentially hitting like pitchers against him, with a paltry .165/.200/.225 line.
Some of it might be weird BABIP luck, but there's no doubt Cook is far less effective to lefties than righties. In his career, he has a K/BB of 3.79 against righties--more than double his 1.86 to lefties. He makes up for this a bit by getting more grounders against southpaws--51.4% to 41.2%--but his weakness against lefties separates him from being a truly dominant relief pitcher.
So, what's causing this discrepancy? And what, if anything, might we be able to recommend Cook do to help minimize his platoon split?
First, let's look at his pitch selection against lefties and righties (NOTE: All data presented in this piece is 2013 data, not 2011-12). Cook throws four pitches: a four-seam fastball (92-98 mph), a two-seam fastball (92-98), a slider (79-87), and a changeup (85-88).
Pitch | % Used vs. RHBs | % Used vs. LHBs |
Four-seam fastball | 49.9% | 40.7% |
Two-seam fastball | 12.3% | 35.6% |
Slider | 37.6% | 16.3% |
Changeup | 0.2% | 7.5% |
There are some obvious differences here. Cook is mostly a four-seam/slider pitcher to righthanders, occasionally mixing in a two-seamer, whereas he's mostly a four-seam/two-seam pitcher to lefties, only occasionally going offspeed to either the slider or the changeup.
There's a lot we can take away from that. Here, I want to quote an excerpt from the "Splits" entry in the awesome FanGraphs Library:
There has been lots of work done over the last couple years to determine if certain pitches are more effective against same-hand or opposite-hand batters. The general rule of thumb is that pitches that move horizontally (e.g. sliders) work best against same-handed hitters, while pitches that move vertically (e.g. curves, changeups) are most effective against opposite-handed hitters.
Four-seam fastballs: Small platoon split
Two-seam fastballs: Large platoon
Cutter: None
Sinkers: Medium platoon
Sliders: Large platoon
Changeups: Small reverse-platoon
Curveballs: Small reverse-platoon
In other words, pitchers should try and attack same-handed hitters with stuff like sliders, sinkers, and two-seam fastballs, while they should use changeups, curveballs, and cutters against opposite-handed batters. These are sweeping generalizations, though, and the optimal breakdown may vary depending on a pitcher's movement and pitch repertoire.
We need to keep that last sentence squarely in mind, but setting that aside for a second, Cook's usage patterns to lefties don't make a ton of sense at first glance. Okay, he breaks out the changeup, which is clearly his least-trusted pitch, only to lefties and not to righties, which makes sense given the reverse-platoon tendencies of changeups, and he uses the slider a lot less to lefties as well, which also follows from the general consensus about pitch type splits. But he de-emphasizes the four-seam fastball for the two-seam fastball against lefthanders, which seems to be a very strange decision in this context. That emphasis on the two-seamer helps explain the increase in ground balls Cook gets against lefthanders, but it may also be a major part of his (relative) ineffectiveness to them. We'll test this out in a bit.
The other point I want to emphasize is that we can already see why Cook doesn't strike out as many lefties as righties--he doesn't throw them as many offspeed pitches. Against righthanders, he's at 37.8% usage of offspeed offerings (almost exclusively sliders), whereas he's at just 23.8% against southpaws. Offspeed pitches almost invariably generate more empty swings than heaters, so reducing them is likely to lead to a reduction in strikeouts.
Next, let's take a look at locations.
Location | % Usage vs. RHBs | % Usage vs. LHBs |
In Zone--Up and In | 7.7% | 1.4% |
In Zone--Up | 4.8% | 2.4% |
In Zone--Up and Away | 2.8% | 5.4% |
In Zone--Middle In | 7.4% | 4.7% |
In Zone--Middle | 4.6% | 3.4% |
In Zone--Middle Away | 7.4% | 5.8% |
In Zone--Down and In | 4.3% | 2.0% |
In Zone--Down | 6.8% | 2.7% |
In Zone--Down and Away | 5.1% | 6.8% |
Out of Zone--Up and In | 18.5% | 3.1% |
Out of Zone--Up and Away | 2.3% | 26.1% |
Out of Zone--Down and In | 9.4% | 11.5% |
Out of Zone--Down and Away | 18.8% | 24.7% |
Okay, that's dizzying and scattered. Let's try something a little more useful:
Height | % Usage vs. RHBs | % Usage vs. LHBs |
Upper Third of Zone | 15.4% | 9.2% |
Middle Third of Zone | 19.4% | 13.9% |
Lower Third of Zone | 16.2% | 11.5% |
Out of Zone--Upper Half | 20.8% | 29.1% |
Out of Zone--Lower Half | 28.2% | 36.3% |
Well, one thing jumps out here: Cook is out of the zone a lot more to lefthanders (65.4% of the time) than he is to righthanders (49%). Other than that, the actual height patterns seem fairly similar--he's in the middle of the zone the most, the upper third the least, and his out-of-zone pitches tend to be below the waist more than above it.
What about inside/outside?
Location | % Usage vs. RHBs | % Usage vs. LHBs |
Inner Third of Zone | 19.4% | 8.1% |
Middle Third of Zone | 16.2% | 8.5% |
Outer Third of Zone | 15.4% | 18.0% |
Out of Zone--Inner Half | 27.9% | 14.6% |
Out of Zone--Outer Half | 21.1% | 50.8% |
Cook has no fear challenging righthanded batters on the inner half, but like most pitchers, he doesn't venture inside much to lefties. He isn't in the middle of the plate much, either, which is good, but now we've seen he's predictable in two fashions: he throws lefties a lot of fastballs, and they're usually away. That means lefties can basically wait him out--he's out of the zone to them almost twice as often as he's in it--taking pitches unless, on the off chance, he happens to miss his spot.
Here's a look at his overall outcomes against lefties and righties. They shouldn't surprise you:
Result | % vs. RHBs | % vs. LHBs |
Ball | 30.5% | 41.4% |
Called Strike | 16.8% | 14.2% |
Swinging Strike | 12.0% | 8.5% |
Foul | 21.1% | 19.7% |
Hit By Pitch | 0.6% | 0.0% |
Groundball | 7.1% | 7.8% |
Line Drive | 3.1% | 3.1% |
Flyball | 8.8% | 5.8% |
So overall, we've established that Cook is an intimidating, dynamic two-pitch flamethrower against righties and a fairly meek one-note nibbler against southpaws. When you consider Cook's role, that does make sense to a degree--often, he may be pitching around a lefty to face a righty, just trying to avoid a game-blowing mistake. While his strategy to lefthanders seems almost mind-numbingly tentative when juxtaposed with his ruthless approach to righties, it does generally limit damage--lefties are slugging just .343 off Cook this year. After all, if he's throwing sinking stuff on or off the outer half, there just aren't going to be a whole lot of extra-base hit opportunities for the batter. Sure, if a manager sends three lefties up in a row, Cook might allow two walks and a sinlge on a bad day, but then the question is why Cook was left in to face three straight lefties in a high-leverage situation in the first place, not why he failed against them.
Against lefties, Cook throws balls 10.9% more--frankly, I'm surprised it's only 10.9%, given that he throws pitches outside of the strike zone 16.4% more often to them. In exchange, he gives up 3.5% swinging strikes, 2.6% called strikes, 1.4% fouls, and 3% fly balls (he also adds 0.7% grounders and subtracts 0.6% HBPs).
So that's his strategy, and I suppose it can be excused, though it can't really be embraced. But that leaves a question: Is Cook's approach born out of necessity or timidity? If he challenged lefties more, would he get hit hard, or is he just afraid to try?
We can get at this by examining his results on pitches inside the strike zone to both lefties and righties.
Result | % vs. RHBs | % vs. LHBs |
Ball | 3.4% | 5.9% |
Called Strike | 27.4% | 20.6% |
Swinging Strike | 11.7% | 6.9% |
Foul | 31.3% | 37.3% |
Hit By Pitch | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Groundball | 10.1% | 10.8% |
Line Drive | 5.0% | 4.9% |
Flyball | 11.2% | 13.7% |
It does seem that Cook's effectiveness in the zone is significantly reduced against lefthanders. Called strikes and swinging strikes are the best results a pitcher can get, and Cook's getting them 39.1% of the time against righties on pitches in the zone, compared to just 27.5% against lefties. Notice that the groundball-to-flyball rate, which was better against lefties overall, is actually worse here, as well.
Speaking of "good strikes," as I call them (called and swinging strikes), one other thing I want to look at is Cook's pitch types to lefthanders and how they break down in terms of generating good strikes. Is his use of the two-seamer, for example, troubling?
Pitch | GoodStrike% vs. RHBs | GoodStrike% vs. LHBs |
Four-seam | 25.7% | 16.5% |
Two-seam | 30.2% | 20.0% |
Slider | 32.6% | 37.5% |
Changeup | n/a | 30.3% |
Interesting. The two-seamer grades out slightly better than the four-seamer against both lefties and righties; perhaps Cook should turn it loose a bit more against his own kind, actually. Both fastballs grade out quite poorly against lefthanders, but the offspeed pitches actually show some real promise--on the whole, they're about twice as effective at generating non-contact strikes against southpaws as Cook's fastballs are. Some of that is due to the element of surprise, and some of it is due to Cook throwing so many of those pitches out of the strike zone (nine of the ten good strikes on the changeup were swinging, not looking), but I don't think it's absurd to wonder what would happen if Cook operated on 30% four-seamers, 30% two-seamers, 20% sliders, and 20% changeups (or some such combination) to southpaws. The offspeed offerings seem vicious enough to put some unease in lefthanded batters, something Cook's current approach seems largely unable to instill.
Ultimately, I think this analysis does provide some reasons to justify Cook's current approach to lefthanded batters and the results that approach generates, but it also offers other possibilities for him to consider that may (or may not) yield improved results against opposite-side hitters. Certainly, any strides he could make in this area would help him take a step forward into the game's elite relief pitchers and remove the one remaining chink in his armor.