text:
A host-based system for sharing personal information of a network user with the resources accessed by that network user. The host-based system generally involves either or both of two data stores, referred to as passport and wallet. Passport and wallet are host-based collections of routinely requested personal information and can be maintained independently or collectively. A user with a populated passport or wallet can pass selected information to web sites, automatically or with very little effort, to enable an enhanced browsing experience or to assist in the completion of an online transaction.
1. A computer-implemented method for sharing a user's personal information with a merchant server so as to facilitate an e-commerce transaction in a networked computing environment, the method comprising:
collecting personal information from a user of a computer network;
storing the user's personal information in a server;
associating, at the server, a session identifier with the user's personal information;
receiving, at the server, a request from a merchant server for at least a portion of the user's personal information, wherein the request includes a session identifier;
determining, at the server, that the received session identifier corresponds to the session identifier associated with the user's personal information; and
sending, from the server, at least a portion of the user's personal information to the merchant server when the received session identifier corresponds to the session identifier associated with the personal information.
2. The method of
receiving, at the server, information that authenticates the user;
generating, at the server, the session identifier in response to the server receiving the information that authenticates the user; and
associating, at the server, the generated session identifier with the user's personal information.
3. The method of
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
receiving, at the server, a digital certificate from the merchant server; and
verifying the identity of the merchant server using the digital certificate.
9. The method of
10. A device for sharing a user's personal information with a merchant server so as to facilitate an e-commerce transaction in a networked computing environment, the device comprising:
means for collecting personal information from a user of a computer network;
means for storing the user's personal information in a server;
means for associating, at the server, a session identifier with the user's personal information;
means for receiving, at the server, a request from a merchant server for at least a portion of the user's personal information, wherein the request includes a session identifier;
means for determining, at the server, that the received session identifier corresponds to the session identifier associated with the user's personal information; and
means for sending, from the server, at least a portion of the user's personal information to the merchant server when the received session identifier corresponds to the session identifier associated with the personal information.
11. The device of
means for receiving, at the server, information that authenticates the user;
means for generating, at the server, the session identifier in response to the server receiving the information that authenticates the user; and means for associating, at the server, the generated session identifier with the user's personal information.
12. The device of
13. The device of
14. The device of
15. The device of
16. The device of
17. The device of
means for receiving, at the server, a digital certificate from the merchant server; and
means for verifying the identity of the merchant server using the digital certificate.
18. The device of
This application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/160,874, filed Oct. 22, 1999, and entitled "Sharing A User's Personal Information," which application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The computer system 100 illustrated in
As shown in
In practice, a server system 200 typically is not a single monolithic entity, but is a network of interconnected server computers, possibly physically dispersed from each other, each dedicated to its own set of duties and/or to a particular geographic region. In such a case, the individual servers are connected by a network of communication links in known fashion.
A "browser" is an example of client software that enables users to access and view electronic content stored either locally or remotely, such as in a network environment (local area network (LAN), intranet, and wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet). A browser is typically used for displaying documents described in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and stored on servers connected to a network, e.g., the Internet. Technically, a web browser is a client program that uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to make requests of web servers throughout the Internet on behalf of the browser user. A web server contains, in addition to the HTML and other files it can serve, an HTTP server daemon, which is a program designed to wait for HTTP requests and handle those requests when received.
Web pages can typically be transported using HTTP as defined in Internet standard RFC 2068. HTTP is a set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web (WWW). Relative to the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols which are the basis for information exchange on the Internet, HTTP is an application layer protocol. When a user of a web browser sends a HTTP request by typing in an URL or clicking on a hypertext link, the browser builds a HTTP request and sends it to the address indicated by the URL. The HTTP server daemon in the destination server machine receives the request and, after any necessary processing, the requested file is returned. The response is sent to the browser where it can be displayed to the user. The HTTP protocol response includes various codes detailing the result of the request. For example, return code 404 indicates that the information requested was not found. For transactions requiring security, the HTTP connection can be secured with encryption. This variant is known as Secure HTTP (HTTPS) or Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
HTTPS is a web protocol developed by Netscape Communications, Inc. (Netscape) of Mountain View, Calif. and is implemented in several browsers. The HTTPS protocol encrypts and decrypts user page requests as well as the pages that are returned by the web server. HTTPS uses Netscape's SSL as a sublayer under its regular HTTP application layer. HTTPS uses port 443 instead of HTTP port 80 in its interactions with the lower layer, TCP/IP. SSL uses a key size of a predetermined number of bits (typically between 40 and 128) for the RC4 stream encryption algorithm, which is considered a minimal degree of encryption for commercial exchange.
When visiting an electronic commerce merchant, a user typically is presented with a web page order form URL that starts with "https://", indicating the use of the HTTPS protocol. When sending the response, the browser will use the HTTPS layer for encryption. The acknowledgement received from the server also will travel in encrypted form using HTTPS, and will be decrypted by the browser's HTTPS layer.
HTTPS and SSL support the use of X.509 digital certificates form the server so that, if necessary, a user can authenticate (i.e., confirm the identity of) the sender. SSL is an open, nonproprietary protocol that Netscape has proposed as a standard to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). HTTPS is not to be confused with SHTTP, a security-enhanced version of HTTP developed and proposed as a standard by EIT.
A digital certificate is an electronic token that establishes the credentials of a party doing business or other transactions on the web. Certificates can be issued by a certification authority (CA). Typically, certificates can contain a party's names, a serial number, expiration dates, a copy of the certificate holder's public key (used for encrypting and decrypting messages and digital signatures), and the digital signature of the certificate-issuing authority so that a recipient can verify that the certificate is real. Some digital certificates conform to a standard, X.509. Digital certificates can be kept in registries so authenticated users can look up other user's public keys.
HTTP also includes a mechanism referred to as a "cookie," which is used to maintain client side persistent data. A cookie is a token, for example, a special text file, that a web site stores on a user's hard disk so that the web site can remember something about the user at a later time. Typically, a cookie records a user's preferences when using a particular site. Under HTTP, each request for a web page is independent of all previous requests. For this reason, a web page server has no memory of what pages it has sent to a user previously or anything about that user's previous visits. The cookie mechanism can allow the server to store its own file on the user's own computer. The file can be typically stored in a subdirectory of the directory used to install the browser software. The cookie subdirectory can contain cookie files for each web site visited by the user that uses cookies. Cookies are commonly used to keep track of which banner ads a user already has encountered. This tracking can assist web sites in rotating the banner ads presented and thereby minimize repetition to the user based on a user's browser type or other information provided to the web site. In order for cookies to be used for tracking, web users must agree to let cookies be saved on their computers by configuring their browsers to accept cookies.
Consumers can buy and sell products and services shown on web pages via electronic commerce ("e-commerce") transactions. To enable these transactions, a consumer and merchant exchange personal and financial information concerning the online transaction, such as their credit card, billing address, and shipping address. Conventional payment systems associated with many Internet commerce sites therefore require customers to type their credit card and mailing information into a HTML form.
Navigating and completing such forms involves a great deal of repetition and associated inconvenience to users when providing name, shipping address, billing address, and credit card data to merchants. Completing electronic forms often is a tedious and error-prone process. Furthermore, using these payment systems, customers visiting several online stores may need to re-enter their payment/address information at each online store at which they make a purchase. For many stores, shoppers additionally may need to re-enter payment information at each subsequent visit.
To facilitate the process of completing forms, "form fillers" have been developed. These applications can automate the filling of forms encountered when visiting web sites. The form filler can recognize forms in the HTML and can record the data entered in the fields when the user fills out the form for the first time. Then, when similar fields show up in subsequent forms, the form filler can use the recorded data to automatically fill out these fields. An example of such a form filler is built into Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.
A similar, but more sophisticated, approach to facilitating online transactions is the digital wallet. A digital wallet is a software application that allows the user to input shipping and billing data once and reuse this information at many different web sites to complete a purchase. Digital wallets that complete merchant forms or directly transfer data to merchants have been successfully built into browsers in several ways, including as helper applications to browsers, stand-alone applications, and browser plug-ins.
Once the digital wallet is set up, the user can store, manipulate, and pay for Internet purchases with various types of payment instruments, e.g., credit cards or electronic cash.
Client-based personal electronic wallets have been developed to relieve this burden. Client-based wallets store e-commerce information for a particular user at the machine operated by that user. When that machine interfaces with a merchant website through the Internet, e-commerce information stored in the local wallet may be transferred to the merchant. However, because client-based wallets reside on the user machine, these wallets are subject to the limitations of the machine upon which they reside. For instance, security attacks on the user machine may be used to target the wallets residing thereon. In addition, limitations on portability for the machine result in limitations for the wallet.
One or more of the following advantages may be provided. The techniques and methods described here may enable the user to drastically reduce the amount of work required to fill out forms on web pages. This may be accomplished in one or more of the following ways. First, multiple pages of content may be completed without requiring the user to view each page. Presenting only those fields and forms that are not automatically completed minimizes the work for users. Users can be selectively queried for any merchant-specific missing fields, thus optimizing the form filling process. Users need not inspect each form and approve its contents. Further, merchants using the techniques and methods described here may be able to provide information that is tailored and customized for the user, thus increasing the usefulness of the merchant's content to the user.
Other advantages for the user include ease of use since no additional software is required. Further, as the user is not tied to a single computer, the user's information can be accessed from any computer capable of accessing the merchant's site, regardless of location. In addition, the security of the user improves because risks associated with data sniffing on the user's local area network and accessing storage devices attached to the user's computer can be reduced.
The merchant can access specific information about a customer's preferences and history and use that information to customize the content presented. Merchants can track completed purchases in order to better handle service and information requests. Because merchants can access the information using a protocol, merchants can easily modify forms without causing problems with many different types of software. Merchants can obtain demographic data for future targeted advertising. An intimate relationship between the merchant, the user, and the online service can be fostered.
These techniques and methods can be generalized and applied to a variety of user preference data, e.g., travel preferences, in addition to shipping, billing, and demographic data. These techniques can be implemented as a system, method, software, or some combination thereof.
Details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings may indicate like elements.
Quick checkout (QC) is a host-based system for sharing personal information of a network user with the resources accessed by that network user. QC generally involves either or both of two data stores, referred to as passport and wallet. Passport and wallet can be host-based collections of routinely requested personal billing, shipping and demographics information (hereinafter, "personal information"). Passport and wallet can be maintained independently or collectively. A user with a populated passport or wallet can choose to pass selected information to web sites, automatically or with very little effort, to enable an enhanced browsing experience or to assist in the completion of an online transaction.
For instance, when merchants offer QC as a payment option and the user elects to invoke QC, the merchant passes the order information to a pre-determined SSL-enabled QC form that is displayed to the consumer. Payment information and shipping address can be sent from the QC database to the QC form, and the form is confirmed, rejected or modified by the user. In this manner, the user does not need to redundantly enter payment information for each transaction or each merchant. Rather, the user can rely on the wallet for this information, with the user confirming the accuracy of the information. As will be explained in greater detail below, when the wallet includes several options for payment, shipping, etc., the consumer can establish default information, and has the ability to select desired information from among that stored.
This host-based system facilitates an integration with other merchant services as well as the surrounding wallet/passport provider environment. Because the wallet and passport are host-based, the wallet and passport can be portable, updateable, secure, and simple to setup and use.
QC can be used to share many different pieces of a user's personal information, before and during an e-commerce transaction. For instance, using QC, selected user information can be shared with a merchant servers upon a user's access to a web site or later, when performing an e-commerce transaction. More specifically, upon access to a merchant's web site, the merchant can personalize the content and services provided to the user. QC can share a variety of personal information, such as travel preferences, demographic information, food choices, and medical information. Thereafter, upon checkout, personal information of a more specific nature, generally concerning e-commerce information, can be shared. For instance, commercial information such as user name, address, and credit card information can be shared, when appropriate, to further e-commerce transactions. Each user's information can be stored in a "profile" that can be updated. This information can be stored in a proprietary or commercially available relational or object database management system (DBMS), such as provided by Oracle, Inc. or Informix, Inc.
HTTPS is generally used as a transport for requests and responses. However, other protocols could be used as transport mechanisms. Input parameters in requests and return values can be URL-encoded so that nonstandard characters can be properly transmitted over the Internet. Furthermore, return codes from the requests can be used to verify their success.
Although the framework does not require a fixed sequence of requests from network hosts, communications between the user, the merchant, and the framework typically follow a particular pattern, illustrated in
In step 720 b, preferences information about the user can be returned by the preferences server 703 to the merchant server 702. In step 720 c, the information can be formatted into a web page requesting confirmation of the information from the user at client computer 701. At this stage, only a portion of any previously entered credit card information is returned for security purposes, the returned information providing enough information for the user to confirm and/or edit the user information at this stage.
Referring to
Finally, the results of this transaction are sent to preferences server 703 for customer service, record keeping, and order tracking purposes. These results can be stored in the database for use in future transactions. The merchant can check the HTTP return status code from the preferences server 703 and take appropriate action, if a failure occurs.
The flowchart of
Referring to
Next, the user can be shown the authentication page from website, e.g., the AOL site (step 802). This page is shown in FIG. 10. If the user has an AOL account (803 a), the user enters his screen name 1001 and password 1002, and then clicks on the "OK" button 1003. If the user does not have an AOL account (803 a), the user can register (803) by clicking on the "Signup Now!" button 1004. An exemplary form for the registration step 803 is shown in
Once the user has either successfully authenticated or registered, the user is shown a web page to review the order information.
If the user chooses to edit transaction information, the user is shown a set of edit screens (step 805). The first such screen is shown in FIG. 13 and the user can, for instance, edit credit cards 1301, edit shipping addresses 1302, change security information 1303, delete AOL Quick Checkout settings 1304, and request customer service 1305. Once the user makes a selection, the appropriate screen is displayed.
If the user chooses to edit credit cards, a screen, as shown in
If the user chooses to edit addresses, the process is similar to that for editing credit cards, as shown in
If the user chooses to delete AOL Quick Checkout settings, the screen shown in
If the user requests customer service, the screen shown in
If the user in step 804 of
If the user in step 804 of
In some implementations, a proxy server is used with the host-to-host architecture. The proxy an act as an intermediary for traffic between host service computers and the Internet. The proxy can perform load balancing by switching connections to the least utilized hardware for performance. The proxy also contains a list of hosts that can be redirected to internal AOL sites. The internal sites provide AOL users with a more consistent look and feel. The internal sites can also be more tightly integrated with the AOL system because they are under AOL control.
In another implementation, as a user selects items to purchase from a particular merchant, the merchant collects and stores information about the purchase order, designated with an order identifier that is used to unify the order information. The order information typically is presented to the consumer (user) in a shopping cart upon request or at checkout. Using this order information, the consumer can confirm the contents of the shopping cart by invocation of QC or otherwise, as the order identifier can tie a subsequent QC information to the order information stored by the merchant.
Then, when the consumer launches QC, for example, by clicking on an icon at the merchant website, the merchant authenticates the consumer as a QC user. To do so, the merchant directs users to the AQC aolqc_auth url for authentication. If the GET to this url returns successfully, the user can be "logged in" as an AQC member. For example, the GET returns with a session identifier (aolqc_session_id) which serves as a key to the consumer account. Thereafter, the session id is passed with each backend call made by the merchant e.g., to retrieve billing information for the customer or to enable editing by the customer. Once the consumer is authenticated once by a merchant, the consumer will not be redirected back to the authentication page until the consumer has logged off of the AOL service.
If authenticated, payment and shipping information is collected from QC. Preferably, the merchant makes a host-to-host call to fetch a "pretty print" user-displayable version of the user's default billing and shipping information from the QC, which does not include all of the information. The merchant then automatically produces a form that includes an order id, which is posted to https://payment.aol.com/placeorder. For instance, a standard form can include the parameters listed in Appendix A (see parameters spanning pp 5-6 of AOL QC Merchant Connectivity Specification filed with provisional application No. 60/160,874 filed Oct. 22, 1999, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety). Using the order_allow_multi_shipto field of the placeholder form, a merchant can enable designation of different shipping destinations for different aspects of the order, e.g., per unit or per item. Similarly, other fields can be duplicated to provide flexibility, as needed.
In response to the placeorder form, available QC information can be returned from the wallet and posted at the merchant. Default QC information can be automatically selected to eliminate the need for additional user interaction, unless editing is necessary. Alternatively, the consumer can select among available QC information, e.g., credit card, shipping address information. In either case, a subset of the sensitive QC information from the wallet can be provided to the merchant in response to the placeorder request. This subset can include enough for the consumer to confirm/select, but intentionally omits some information to avoid possible security problems, such as trojan horses. The selected subset of QC information can be posted by the QC host to the merchant site at the https://payment.aol.com/order target_url page for future use in creating a confirmation page combining order and QC information. Fields from an exemplary form are listed on pgs. 6-7 of AOL QC Merchant Connectivity Specification, which was filed with provisional application No. 60/160,874 filed Oct. 22, 1999, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety). If the merchant can allow multiple shipping destinations for aspects of a single order, and the consumer can designate multiple destinations in the information provided by the merchant to the host, multiple posts can be made by the host to the https://payment.aol.com/order_target_url page. Each post can have the same order id, number but different information where appropriate to accomplish the consumer order.
After the consumer is redirected to the merchant site, the merchant can provide an order confirmation page displaying the order and payment data. Specifically, the merchant can generate a form that displays the selected QC info and that queries the consumer to confirm the purchase. The confirmation page posts to a designated location known to wallet host, e.g., https://payment.aol.com/confirmorder. Fields from an exemplary form are listed in Appendix C (see list of parameters listed on p8 of AOL QC Merchant Connectivity Specification). If the merchant allows multiple shipping destinations for aspects of a single order, the consumer can designate multiple destinations in the information provided by the merchant to the host, and multiple posts can be made by the host to the https://payment.aol.com/order_target_url page with the same order id number. The merchant can generate a confirmation page for each part of the order. Generally, information is filtered before being returned to the merchant for confirmation (to prevent the merchant from obtaining enough financial information to complete the transaction until after the complete transaction is confirmed by consumer). The merchant can then display a screen requesting confirmation of the transaction with limited information being shown about the credit card.
After the order has been confirmed, three processes are performed:
Using this system and the ability to store and share personal information, enhanced functionality such as parental controls, AOL rewards, gift reminders, purchase history, and keyword billing can be provided.
Furthermore, integration with a service provider enabling several screen-names for a single account can allow the user to designate separate wallets/passports for different members on an account, each drawing on some common and some independent information. For instance, several family members having different screen-names can each maintain independent wallets with separate e-commerce information, while being provided access to a shared wallet having shared e-commerce information. In this manner, selected credit cards or e-commerce information can be made accessible to some or all screen-names without sharing all credit cards or other e-commerce information. Furthermore, when combined with the passport functionality, this model can allow information to be maintained and communicated for each independent screen-name.
The techniques, methods, and systems described here can find applicability in any computing or processing environment in which electronic content can be viewed, accessed, or otherwise manipulated. For instance, the concept of sharing e-commerce transaction information between hosts in a networked computing environment can be applied whenever those preferences are useful to a third party, such as an e-commerce merchant. One such environment can involve a computer system, e.g., a Microsoft Windows-based PC or Apple Macintosh, connected to the Internet.
Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations thereof. A system or other apparatus that uses one or more of the techniques and methods described here can be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured causes a computer system to operate on input and/or generate output in a specific and predefined manner. Such a computer system can include one or more programmable processors that receive data and instructions from, and transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, and suitable input and output devices.
Each computer program can be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the language can be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors.
Generally, a processor can receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer instructions and data can include forms of non-volatile memory, including semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM disks.
Any of the foregoing can be supplemented by, or implemented in, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits).
A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, advantageous results still could be achieved if steps of the disclosed techniques were performed in a different order and/or if components in the disclosed systems were combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components.
Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.
Patent Citations
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Below is the poem entitled New Year which was written by poet
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Julie Kuhns
Another one past, question mark to go
Frustration's set in, time moving slow
He says the answers come in time
And so I pass away, riddled in rhyme
Reaching out for dead ones to see
I'll ask again, in dreams come to me
If you do not, I won't last very long
And loved ones will think of me wrong
This fixation has turned me crazy
And reality has become a little hazy
I should resolve to make it end
I never even knew, my friend
And so, I rely on unreliable chatter
That I may understand what was your matter
So another one past, question mark to go
I think I'll stop counting, time moving slow
You're gone from us now, no sense in caring
Busy yourself in circles, no time for sparing
Another will come and eventually go
I'll still be sitting here, time moving slow
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Hold down Control (PC) or Command (Mac) key + mouseclick to select more than one option
|Avg. Dinner Entrée
|Greater than $25
|$18.01 - $25
|$12.01 - $18
|$7.01 - $12
|Less than $7
Posted by Greenpoint Gal on 03/27/2014
Fortune Cookie is the best Chinese in Greenpoint. I have mine delivered and never mess up my order, ever. Food is good.
Posted by Reartran Braussels on 04/20/2012
good reviews. good meals. this is to say this place is still straight-forward and steady and worth your appetite. i wish everyone involved all manner of prosperity and i bet a good many others do the same too.
Posted by Anonymous on 01/05/2012
The decor is no frills but the food is yummy! This is the place to go for great, fresh chinese food!
Posted by Sir Burpsalot on 10/17/2011
cheap and—gasp!—more than decent take-out "chinese" food. inside, of course, there're illuminated signs featuring pictures of food they sell and i don't know why anybody would opt for dine-in unless they were, for instance, a postal worker on lunch break, but the place is clean and busy and as friendly as one has any right to expect from a short-order cook staff. yep. they deserve your appetite.
Posted by Onray on 12/02/2010
I was shocked that a "cheapie chinese" joint could not match the cuisine of the finest restaurants in mainland China. That said, you kind of have to know what to order here. I recommend the Bean Curd Homestyle and the Shrimp with Broccoli. It's not haute cuisine, but a great value.
Posted by Ryan on 03/05/2010
Chinese, especially delivery, in terrible in Williamsburg. I wouldn't say this is on the level for mainland China but at least the food comes fresh, the fried rice is not leftover dirty white rice mixed with the kitchen sink and the Sweet and Sour chicken is crispy and good to go. The mushu was also great, delivery is fast. Definitely recommended.
Posted by gmoney on 12/28/2009
They have the best chinese food in Williamsburg. Comes piping hot and everything tastes really fresh. I never feel bloated and gross after the meal. Just satisfied!


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Members of the Gibson Brothers bluegrass band perform May 17 at the Strand Theatre in Old Forge. From left are Clayton Campbell, Eric Gibson, Leigh Gibson, Mike Barber and guest mandolin player Jesse Cobb.
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.. Did I say Co-Op ?
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QUOTE (Rickrolled @ Jan 10 2011, 04:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Love how the resident tough guy is happy to talk trash on an internet forum but back pedals as soon as he is called out. Typical coward. No doubt he'll respond to this with excessive bravado in order to restore his rightful place as a fully fledged internet badass.
I like to make werewolf...
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Last week's dinner at the Test Kitchen was a chance for me to introduce my latest Raw Food 3.0, inspired by molecular gastronomy without the chemicals, vegan and raw. My 6 courses were presented to a main stream foodie audience in a fine dining atmosphere. And it RAWked!
Truffle Flan
Smoked Anaheim Chili
Lapsang Souschong Wild Mushroom
Molten Cookie Dough
Pumpkin Gelee
It was so much fun to get to feed everyone my new style of Gastrawnomique cuisine in such a beautiful setting with amazing staff. It was a packed house both nights. Celebrities who came to dine included Frances Fisher, John Salley, Jarad Butler, and Diane Warren.
In the kitchen were some of the most amazing chefs assisting me and making sure my dinners were successful both nights including Bravo Top Chef Alex Reznik and Next Food Network Stars Doreen Fang and DAS. I'll post up more behind the scenes and kitchen photos next….
Generous sponsors included Excalibur Dehydrators, Earth Circle Organic, Big Tree Farms, Sunfood, Gold Mine Natural Foods, and Sambazon.
These photos were all taken by Maria Loewenstein, except for the Lapsang Souschong Wild Mushroom which was taken by Rogelio Marhx.
Today was Day 3 of food prep at the Test Kitchen. My GastRAWnomique molecular gastronomy inspired dinner is just days away. Chris Ochs and Josh from SunFood personally delivered a ton of superfoods. Diane Paylor and I were elbow deep in cacao. And Top Chef Alex Reznik was cold smoking my cashews for me.
To cold smoke, Alex uses a smoking gun packed with chips to push smoke into a sealed container of raw cashews. The cashews absorb the aroma of the smoke, but stay raw. Pretty cool. No pun intended.
Restaurant Mo-Chica's Ricardo Zarate and I making Cheddar Kale Chips.
Richi helping me set up 8 Excalibur Dehydrators. These are my favorite dehydrators, and they come with Paraflexx reusable non-stick sheets. Thanks for sending them over to me Excalibur! So much love from the community, sponsors have been super generous and include: Excalibur, Sambazon, Earth Circle Organics, Sunfood, Gold Mine Natural Food, Frontier Natural Products Co-Op, Big Tree Farms.
Chef Seth Greenburg at the Huntley Hotel Penthouse Restaurant invited me into his kitchen where he shared with me some of his favorite molecular gastronomy techniques.
Chef Seth and I compressed melons and cucumbers, and put chemicals into water and fruit puree to create popular spheres or 'caviar'. We even made 'noodles'. See what could be done using chemicals got my creative juices flowing thinking about ways to create similar effects without chemicals, and instead 100% natural and raw.
Test Kitchen brings together the best Chefs in LA, and has become much like a think tank where Chefs share their creativity, ideas, and time. Great energy in this space! Chef Christian Page, a locavore sourcing his ingredients locally and seasonally, is to the left of the photo, and is about to open Daily Dose Restaurant in downtown LA in mid Dec.
A super easy salad to make, this is my go to when traveling. Made by massaging avocado into torn leaves of kale and then adding a squeeze of lemon to soften the leaves, and then tossing in sprouts.
Full of vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, and antioxidants to combat travel stress (including time zone changes, sitting on airplanes, and living in hotel rooms) while boosting my immune system. I carried this yummy creation onto my last flight from NJ to LA, and took it with me to Las Vegas for my raw food debut at ACAM's medical conference at the Paris Hotel last week, where they served up 5 of my raw food vegan recipes to over 500 doctors!
Kale, Avocado, Sprouts
Into large mixing bowl, place kale and massage with avocado. Squeeze lemon juice, and massage. Add sprouts and salt, if using. Massage and toss to mix well.
Will keep for several hours at room temperature. Store in fridge for a day or 2.
Top Chef Alex Reznik (from Bravo's popular cooking show) invited me, a raw vegan chef, into the Top Chef kitchen to assist with a celebrity chef dinner made along side Top Chef Betty Fraser and Top Chef CJ Jacobson. This event was at the Test Kitchen here in Los Angeles, where I'll be hosting a Raw Vegan Fine Dining experience on November 17 + 18, 2010 called Ani Phyo's Gastrawnomique. I'll be presenting molecular gastronomy inspired techniques, without the chemicals. All natural, of course! Please rsvp asap if you can join us for this ground breaking event.
Top Chef Betty Fraser was on Bravo's hit show season 2. She has a cute restaurant in Hollywood called Grub.
Top Chef CJ Jacobson was on season 3, and Top Chef Alex Reznik season 7. TV may make these chefs seem mean, but they're all super cool in real life. TV=drama.
Michelin-starred Chef Ricardo Zarate had to show me how to deep fry super thinly sliced leeks so they stay green in color. The night before, Chef Alex put me on deep fryer duty (me, a raw chef…it was my first time using a deep fryer!). I found out later the oil was too hot, so my leeks turned brown. But Chef Alex didn't say anything about my burnt leeks garnishing his dishes because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. What a sweetheart!
Chef Alex and I plating the dish he called Cow. It was made up of beef, bone marrow, liver, and tongue.
You can see the burnt leeks…oops! This dish was inspired by Chef Alex's Russian heritage. At least he was using every part of the cow. Definitely tested my boundaries, but I grew tons….and Kanga my dog loved the way I smelled when I got home.
There was even a bit of vegan raw on the plate….me laying down a strand of cucumber with beautiful beet puree.
A few days prior to the Top Chef Test Kitchen event at Test Kitchen LA, I got to meet celebrity Top Chef Marcel Vigneron, who was on season 2 showing off his molecular gastronomy skills. What a cutie pie.
Test Kitchen is chock full of celebrity chefs. Here I am with Chef Walter Manzke.
I'm stoked for my raw vegan dinner on November 17 + 18th, 2010. So far, Top Chef Alex Reznik and Next Food Network Star Doreen Fang have confirmed they'll be assisting me in my un-cook kitchen creating vegan raw foods for their first time. This will be a star studded event with a Green Carpet on the first night, and we're going to have so much fun! Hope you'll join us for 6-courses of raw food presented in a brand new way ($55 fixe prix). Make sure to rsvp for Ani Phyo's Gastrawnomique soon because it's filling up fast, and space is limited.
I was invited to the VitaMix headquarters in Cleveland, OH to shoot a 60-minute DVD that will be included in their latest VitaMix Turbo Blend Variable Speed blender. This was a huge honor for me, as you all know how much I love my VitaMix. My family had an early model in our kitchen from the 70s, so I've used the VitaMix my entire life.
The production was shot in a big stadium kitchen where the production crew and VitaMix employees including chefs, food scientists, marketing, and product development filled the stands. I think we shot about 14 or 16 segments in just 2 days! The owner of VitaMix is vegan, so all the recipes are free of dairy and animal products.
Bob Stefanov, the director, was a joy to work with. We had loads of fun and made sure to laugh a lot.
The wonderful team at VitaMix. I am so eager to watch the videos, haven't seen them yet, and friends were telling me they watched it at the VitaMix booth at Expo West last weekend up on a big screen TV. We're planning a big launch at Expo West, so make sure to look for me at the VitaMix booth in March in Anaheim, CA.
The new TurboBlend Variable Speed will be available at natural food stores including Whole Foods Markets. So excited to help launch this new product with VitaMix!!
It was Kanga's 8th 'birthday' and also our anniversary on Labor Day. Each year, I make my darling pooch a heart shaped cake (you may have seen the photo from last year's birthday on page 301 of Ani's Raw Food Essentials). This year, the cake was made with sunflower seeds and a few Medjool dates. Kanga was so eager to eat it, she got green birthday candle wax on the tip of her nose….so cute!
In a blink of an eye, the cake was gone! And, I wonder if you can guess who's in the background with her 'magic' tatoos….hint….London and the UK.
For our birthday ladies' luncheon, I made Jicama Rice, Mexican style by processing Jicama, then adding chopped red bell peppers, onion, corn kernels, cilantro, and a pinch of sea salt. Recipe below…. It was a lunch of British guests, one of whom is a celiac. That means she needs to avoid wheat gluten. I love that about the raw food diet, it's free of wheat, gluten, refined sugar, dairy, and guilt!
I had made myself a beet, parsley, lemon, and cucumber juice earlier that morning, then mixed in the beet pulp with a sunflower pate. I used this pate to stuff poblano peppers, then dehydrated them for a few hours to soften. For a sauce, I blended a simple tahini with lemon juice, salt, splash of water.
This was the dessert my lovely friend Kate Magic made us for dessert! It was made with figs, cacao, coconut, and lucuma…and it was incredible! But this was one course poor Kanga didn't get to try (dogs and cacao don't mix well…chocolate).
Jicama Mexican Rice
Place jicama in food processor, process into small bits. Be careful not to over process. Scoop into mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, toss to mix well.
Kanga's Birthday Cake
Place sunflower seeds in food processor. Process into small pieces. Add pitted dates, and process. Sunflower will stick together and bind into a cake 'dough'. Form dough into heart, and serve.
Note: Sweets should be served in moderation to dogs, as to humans as well.
If serving to humans or to mix up variations to this recipe, try adding in sea salt, vanilla, cacao / carob, and or goji berries.
I was invited to Rockefeller Center for a guest appearance on LX New York with hosts Janice Huff and Jane Hanson. I talk about 4 key ingredients in the raw food diet, and made 3 recipes using 'secret' ingredients: Marinara Pasta, Strawberry Tartlets, and Chocolate Pudding "slash" Frosting.
(this video's audio is totally out of synch, and I'm trying to get my hands on a better copy of the segment, which I'll upload later)
I was a guest on San Diego Living with host Erin Mikael's Green Scene segments on June 24, 2010, and then again on June 27th. We make Cashew Kream with Fresh Red White and Blue Berry Parfaits and Fruit Tartlets.
I gave my digestion a break today by skipping solid food and drank Energy Soup (inspired by Ann Wigmore) all day. So, I decided to feed my hair instead with an Indian Head Massage.
Our climate's dry here in Los Angeles (a dessert), and the sun's been bright this summer, reeking havoc on my locks. My hair felt dry and my ends brittle. So, I took my bottle of organic, extra-virgin, cold pressed olive oil into the bathroom, and poured a heaping tablespoon into the palm of my hand. I massaged the oil into my scalp and hair, and worked it through to the ends. Note to self: next time, pour the oil directly onto scalp…I have a lot of hair.
Our skin is our largest organ, and you know I like to avoid putting things on my skin that I can't drink since it absorbs into my blood stream. Well, did you know our scalp is one of the most absorbent areas of our skin? Mine drank up more than a 1/4 cup of olive oil, and was happy for the increased blood flow and circulation from the massage.
I first discovered this massage, also known as Indian Head Massage, at a spa in Portland, OR. It alleviates stress and tension, increases blood flow and circulation, and promotes hair growth. Supposedly, this treatment done in the evening before bed helps alleviate sleeping issues, so I'm hoping it will cure the insomnia I've been suffering from all week long.
Choose almond, coconut, sesame, and/or olive oil since they moisturize, condition our hair, stimulate hair growth, and have a neutral scent. After your massage, wash your hair, and dry. I always choose to air dry.
Try this trick:
My NYC tour kicked off last Monday at Rockefeller Center on the set of LX New York at NBC studios. I chat about the benefits of a raw food diet with hosts Janice Huff and Jane Hanson. You can watch my segment here, though it's stretched out horizontally and the audio is out of synch. (As soon as I get my own copy of the segment, I'll repost)
Tuesday evening, I had a food demo, talk, and book signing at Bonobo's Restaurant. The room was packed with folks eager to learn more about raw food nutrition and recipes. I demonstrated how fast and easy it is to make my Simple Rosemary Oregano Noodle Salad with zucchini, tomato, avocado, and herbs.
Pictured above is Rose Voisk of the World Olympians Association. She was a gymnast in the 1948 London Olympics. She looks great, is vibrant, and strong. A testament for eating well.
Wednesday evening, I was hosted by the lovely Hyacinth Mills of New Life Journeys and her Montclair Raw Food Meetup Group. I demoed my Super Cacao-Coconut Energizer smoothie recipe from page 39 of Ani's Raw Food Essentials. Hyacinth's group is full of vibrant folks excited about raw foods. Her husband and 2 boys are handsome as can be, and Hyacinth has a natural glow of beauty. A great spokes model family.
I had randomly bumped into Hyacinth at Port Authority late on Monday night, 2 evenings before our event, as we were both catching our buses back to NJ that night. What's the chances of that? It's magic!
Thursday night I was at Organic Avenue for a workshop hosted by Mia Santos Andres. Above are my lovely assistants Sara, Sam, and Lee who helped to prep my recipes and samples, and then helped me set up before my workshop. They all had that glow of inner health and beauty. What angels!
In my workshop, I demoed my Tomato and Tarragon Bisque, page 137, Pad Thai Kelp Noodles, page 227, and Strawberry Kream Pie, page 266 from Ani's Raw Food Essentials. It was another packed house with great audience participation, questions, and book signing.
Thanks Mia for a great event, and for my goodie bag full of green juice in the cute Organic Avenue bottle, and BlackBird Truffles, handmade by raw model Anthony Andersen. Yum!
Mia is so pretty, I look shiny. Ha haaaa. I can't wait to get back to NYC before another 6 years passes….
Ani Launches New VitaMix TurboBlend VS
I was invited to the VitaMix headquarters to shoot a 60-minute DVD they'll include in...
Ani's Raw Food Essentials
My new book, Ani's Raw Food Essentials, will be available everywhere May 3rd! I was...
Ani's Recipes in the 2009 Food & Wine Cookbook
Two of my recipes are included in the 2009 Food & Wine Cookbook: my Zucchini Noodles with...
ani's books
©2007-2010 ani phyo. all rights reserved.


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You can tell its a slow day when this thread keeps popping up.
You can tell its a slow day when this thread keeps popping up.
Get your acts together, folks. I've had to edit and delete far too much over the past couple of days. I'm handing out infraction points and the suspensions will be forthcoming if it continues.
"Sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze." - Marcus Luttrell, 'Service - A Navy SEAL at War'
I'm seriously considering automatic suspensions for further violations of this site policy. It's not new and we grow weary of dealing with the same - avoidable - issues over and over.
So no, it hasn't been slow at all, to be honest. Quite busy, in fact...
DISCLAIMER: I hereby reserve the right to discuss any game on the Alabama schedule I wish, at any time during the season, as I am not a part of the Crimson Tide football program. I am simply a fan who has no impact outside of the money I provide the athletic department via ticket and memorabilia purchases and the energy I can provide when I attend the games. ©2009-2015, crimsonaudio
I've already handed out one suspension today. This coming week will only be more busy as we get closer to the LSU game and I'm now going on a zero tolerance policy.
If you like posting on this site, nothing stronger than a "hell" or a "damn" is going to be tolerated. Using acronyms and symbols will be treated the same as if you pulled out an f-bomb.
I've had it.
"Sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze." - Marcus Luttrell, 'Service - A Navy SEAL at War'
I will promise to try and not use the word Aubarn or Awebarn in my future posts to limit my vulgar language when posting but it will be hard not to use those two words. If there is a 12 step program out there let me know.
On another note I agree fully no profanity on this board is good.
Why did Tennessee choose orange as their team color? You can wear it to the game on Saturday, hunting on Sunday, and picking up trash along the highways the rest of the week.
The avatar is my former assistant who I think of as my adopted daugther. She is smart, funny, likeable and a Acct & Finance grad of Fullerton and given the right guidance would light the world on fire. Just don't tell her I said that.
We're having more language issues recently.
I'm sticking this to remind you that profanity, even implied, acronyms, special characters, etc. is NOT allowed on this message board. Anything beyond a hell or a damn isn't going to be tolerated, even in game threads when you're irritated, mad, buzzed, drunk or whatever excuse you may want to use.
"Sometimes the juice is worth the squeeze." - Marcus Luttrell, 'Service - A Navy SEAL at War'
I'm rather new here and just noticed this thread. I want to thank you for having a zero tolerence policy on profanity on here. I do swear in my private life (see me in the first half in 2009 and second half last year).
However, I agree a public message board should have higher standards. I hate boards who claim to ban profanity but allow masked words, symbols and let them be filtered out with asterisks. Then if you complain you are called a prude and told to leave if you don't like it.
Members do seem to enage in a lot of smack towrds the East Alabama Land Grant Institute, but at least we keep it clean.
I agree with the person who said most sports boards are like a locker room. I'm glad this place is family friendly and everybody doesn't have a sig of a half naked woman. Nothing against half naked women, but they don't belong on here.
I just want to thank our gracious admins/mods for enforcing the site rules fairly.
^^^^^^^^^^not sucking up or trying to curry favor^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm just generally appreciative of the jobs you guys (and Cat and SD) do.
"This is not the end. This is the beginning." - Nick Saban, at the 2009 NC celebration at B-D.
not that I really care but why allow "hell" and "damn" and not the others? they're all curse words so just restrict all of them
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. - Ellen Parr"
'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' - Steve Jobs
I would rather live my life as if there is a god and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is. Albert Camus
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis
Well, can say $%&*#? Just kidding. I love the "no profanity" policy on this site.
Let those who don't want none have memories of not getting any. Let that not be their punishment, but their reward. Brother Dave Gardner


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Danelectro's modern-vintage take on the mini amp.
From Danelectro, comes the Hodad II DH-2 mini amp. This sweet mini amp packs some serious punch, in a compact but powerful amplifier design. With a battery, you can take it on the road or plug in wherever and whenever inspiration strikes. It's housed in a cool aqua/cream mini cabinet, and featuring all the vintage looks you've become accustomed to from a leader in modern retro design and sound.
The Danelectro amp offers 1.5W with a power adaptor, and 1W with a battery. It features two ceramic 2" round speakers running in parallel, for surprising punch and definition, for such a compact amplifier. The controls are Tone, Gain, and Off-On / Volume. Weighing in at 1 lb., this portable amplifier can be taken anywhere. At home, on the road, or wherever you feel inspired, the Danelectro Hodad II mini amp is an outstanding amplifier with excellent sound for its small size.


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This post is part of a series of weekly posts which reflect on life's journey, old memories and family stories (see below for more info).
Once your children start school, there is a regular (and not universally welcome) stream of hand-made gifts which makes an exodus from the classroom to your home, via the omnipresent book bag.
This is a tradition which has endured for generations, and parents all over the world have been constantly battling with the dilemma of whether to keep it on the ever-impassable fridge door, or to head for the shredder. Maybe I can help.
If my mother had reached for the waste paper basket 40 years ago when I brought this home… just one in a long line of creations, no doubt…then I wouldn't be sharing it with you as a tiny piece of my personal history at this moment.
If I had kissed my now-taller-and-hairier-than-me-teenage-son on the head in 2004 and politely scrunched the offering below into a giant football, I would not be able to place it carefully above the fireplace every Christmas Eve, as is current tradition.
"Christmas Time
Christmas tree
Beautiful angel
Snowfalkes faulng
Lots of presents
These are tokens of warm family festivities past, symbolic of the growth that we have experienced, the many Christmases which have passed between us, and a little beacon of hope that the coming season will provide us with even more of the same.
Are you keeping the Christmas treasure which your children are making for you with love in their little hands? Maybe you still bring out one of your own childhood creations each Christmas? What are your views on the 'bin it or save it' dilemma? I must confess that, even if it's destined for the rubbish eventually, everything in our house gets scanned and preserved in some virtual form, at the very least.
It is the imperfection in the stitches which make me love this stocking so much. It is the wonky writing and creative spelling in my 4 year old son's poem which renders it so endearing. These things were created with care, indicative of their growing motor skills, and now a sign of their incredible progress.
If it touches your heart, don't bin it.
If you enjoyed this post, please share it using the buttons below!
More about the Life's a Journey weekly memories series.


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We want you to be happy with your decision, so look for an email soon to Customize Your Experience!
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Crystal Trophy
By TNelson
from Westlake, TX
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Comments about Baudville Crystal Great Job Trophy:
I head up a "Motivation Committee" and we decided that we wanted to have an award from our team where the nominations come from our peers not the Management Team. We call ours the Kudos award!
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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Posted: December 31, 2013
When Seattle-based artist King Dude recently stopped by the Gretsch Artist Showroom, he put a solo spin on two of his haunting tracks.
The multi-faceted artist's dark-themed folk is highlighted in these performances of "Watching Over You" and "Lord I'm Coming Home."
Watch King Dude in action below and visit his official Facebook page for more information.
Tags: Gretsch Artist Showroom, King Dude, Live Performance, Lord I'm Coming Home, Watching Over You
Posted In: Artists Blogs | Leave a comment
Posted: December 30, 2013
Jack White's Third Man Records recently released the new Bumble Buzz fuzz pedal, and he rounded up a group of musicians at Readymade Records in Nashville for a demo video.
In the clip below, the pedal is put to the test by White, Gretsch-toting guitarist Olivia Jean and violinist Fats Kaplan.
Visit Third Man Records' official website for more information.
Tags: Bumble Buzz Pedal, Jack White, Olivia Jean, Third Man Records
Posted In: Product Plugs | Leave a comment
Posted: December 23, 2013
Reverend Horton Heat has a new album coming out on Jan. 21 that is appropriately titled Rev, and Guitar World recently offered fans a behind-the-scened look at what's to come.
The music mag went into the studio with bassist Jimbo Wallace and Jim "The Rev" Heath, and the duo discussed the recording process and their new single, "Let Me Teach You How to Eat."
Check out the action below and visit Reverend Horton Heat's official website for more information.
Tags: Behind the Scenes, Gretsch Guitars, Guitar World, Jim Heath, Let Me Teach You How to Eat, Reverend Horton Heat, Victory Records
Posted In: Artists Blogs | Leave a comment
Posted: December 17, 2013
To celebrate the release of their new rockumentary Fading West, Switchfoot was recently the featured guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Fading West offers a behind-the-scenes look at the band as they travel to disparate surfing destinations. The film is also accompanied by an original album of new tracks, including "Who We Are" which saw its way to Leno.
Watch Switchfoot in action after the jump and visit their official website to pick up special Fading West packages. (more…)
Tags: Fading West, Live Performance, Switchfoot, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Who We Are
Posted In: Artists Blogs | Leave a comment
Posted: December 11, 2013
In a recent product demo, GAK Music in the U.K. called the Gretsch G9200 Boxcar Round-Neck Resonator a "miracle of volume."
"With its mahogany 'long-body' design and comfortable soft-'V' neck, this faithful reissue of the 1930s classic sounds and plays like a million bucks," they noted.
Check out the demo of the Roots Collection instrument below.
Tags: Boxcar, Demo, GAK Music, Gretsch G9200 Roundneck Resonator, Resonator, Roots Collection
Posted In: Home Page, Product Updates & Reviews | Leave a comment
Keep in touch with the latest Gretsch news, pictures and videos.
New From The Gretsch Blog.
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Hate that dorky ad that pops up every other minute! But the boy on the beach is a studmuffin!


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Is Carpenter Ant Damage Covered By Homeowners Insurance?
- 37387 POINTSDavid G. Pipes, CLU®, RICP®PROowner/agent, Rooney Pipes Insurance Agency for the Horace Mann Insurance Companies, Fresno, CaliforniaA standard homeowner's policy contains exclusions. One of the "normal" exclusions is for damage to the building and/or the contents caused by birds, vermin, rodents, insects or domestic animals. Carpenter ants are insects. However, the policy will often pay for collapse of a building or a part of a building caused by hidden insect or vermin damage. This isn't talking about settling, or cracking.Answered on March 6, 2014+0
- 37387 POINTSGinger E. YoungPresident, Insurance Agent, Child Of God Insurance Services Inc., 5020 Clark Road, Ste 251, Sarasota, FL 34233In the event that the carpenter ant was the culprit that caused water damage to occur (by means of damaging dishwasher water lines, sprinklers, etc.), not otherwise excluded, coverage would be provided for the damage caused as a result of the water. However, not to repair the appliance or system.Answered on March 7, 2014
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More than 100 fast-food workers and their supporters marched through the Delmar Loop Thursday, May 9, 2013 to demand higher pay for low-wage workers. The group "STL Can't Survive on $7.35" (i.e. minimum wage) wants employees in the fast-food industry to earn a living wage of $15 an hour and be free to organize as a union without retaliation from their employers. The group orchestrated other pickets this week outside area McDonald's, Wendy's, Hardee's and Jimmy John's restaurants. Photos by Krystyna Ninh.
See also:
St. Louis Fast-Food Workers Protest for Better Pay, Right to Organize
Published on May 10, 2013


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Notification Process
A public forum takes place once a month and people in affected communities are invited to attend to hear detailed information about the undergrounding work that will soon be taking place in their community, on their street and at their house or business. It also provides attendees the opportunity to ask process and procedure-related questions about the work that will be done.
All property owners receive notices prior to the start of construction. Property owners will receive an additional notice prior to any work occurring on private property.
Approximately 6 months prior to the start of construction, property owners will receive a request to enter into a written agreement allowing SDG&E onto their private property in order to perform the trenching and other related work that will prepare their property to receive underground utility service. This agreement is referred to as a Permit To Enter (PDF).
Approximately 3 weeks prior to the start of construction, a door hanger (PDF) from SDG&E will be placed on the doors of all residents. The door hanger will contain a name and phone number in order to contact the electrical contractor directly. A second door hanger is placed approximately 2 weeks prior to any work on individual private properties. This door hanger provides a contact name and phone number for the trenching contractor who will be working on the property.


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Comparing units outstanding versus one week ago at the coverage universe of ETFs at ETF Channel, the biggest inflow was seen in the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP), which added 2,950,000 units, or a 26.6% increase week over week. Among the largest underlying components of XOP, in morning trading today Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) is trading flat, and Halcon Resources (HK) is higher by about 8.1%.
And on a percentage change basis, the ETF with the biggest increase in inflows was the PowerShares Fundamental Pure Large Value Portfolio (PXLV), which added 150,000 units, for a 30.0% increase in outstanding units.


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Serious Grape: Grenache Rosé
Just because it's summer doesn't mean our obsession with Grenache has to end. We've told you about our favorite grenache-based wines under $25, those under $10, and now it's time for the Grenache rosés. Winemakers all over the world include Grenache in delicious dry and tangy rosé blends. Don't be put off by the pinkness: these are serious wines, full of flavor and regional character. More


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The Rosen Library will be closed Thursday, November 25th through Sunday, November 28th in observance of Thanksgiving. Regular hours resume on Monday, November 29th. Enjoy the break!
For more information, visit the Rosen Library Hours page or Ask a Rosen Librarian.
Rosen Library Homepage | Ask a Rosen Librarian | Rosen Library Hours


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Steve Boehme
Cold, windy days remind us how useful windbreak trees are. Effective windbreak plantings save energy dollars, paying for themselves many times over the years. They also make our lives easier and our homes more comfortable.
Traditional windbreaks are single rows of trees, closely spaced along property lines. Over the years research has shown that row planting can be ineffective, or even increase wind turbulence in the areas you are attempting to shelter. If you decide to plant a windbreak, take some time to plan it for maximum benefit.
An important formula to remember is that the distance between the windbreak and the area getting the most protection should be from two to three times the mature height for the windbreak. For example, Norway Spruce typically grow 50 feet tall, so they should ideally be 100 to 150 feet away from the sheltered area. If they are closer there can be unintended effects such as deep snowdrifts. Greater distances reduce the amount of protection.
An ideal windbreak has several "layers" of protection. Dense evergreens that are winter-hardy make the best perimeter, with a row of sturdy shade trees downwind. The shelter these big plants provide is an ideal place for cold-sensitive fruit trees and flowering shrubs. Trees planted in groups protect each other from buffeting windstorms.
The fastest-growing species are not always the best selections long term. For example, white pines can quickly furnish windbreak and privacy, but they are vulnerable to wind and ice breakage and deer browsing so they may not work out long term. Hybrid poplars are often sold as windbreaks, however they are short-lived, messy and have invasive roots.
A better choice for windbreaks is Norway spruce or Colorado blue spruce. These trees make a dense screen planting that gives privacy as well as wind protection. To get a faster result, two rows of trees can be staggered so that the gaps close in quickly, and dense shrubs such as viburnum planted inside the windbreak will offer quick screening. Understory plants located between rows of larger trees provide additional windbreak as well as shelter for wildlife such as birds.
Good windbreak plants are hardy, low-maintenance plants that will survive drought and poor soil, since windbreaks are on the perimeter of your property where maintenance is difficult. Often overlooked for windbreak plantings are rugged trees like hawthorn, serviceberry, amur maple and sweet gum. We like pyracantha because the berries attract many kinds of birds. Most viburnum varieties make excellent windbreak and privacy hedges, and some keep their leaves all winter.
Steve Boehme is the owner of GoodSeed Nursery & Landscape, located on Old State Route 32 three miles west of Peebles. More information is available online at www.goodseedfarm.com or call (937) 587-7021.


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1939 Pontiac Silver Streak 2 door sedan. All Pontiac running gear. 350/350 TH transmission. 2 barrel carburetor. Professionally sub-framed. Cruise control, A/C 134A, power steering, power... More
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Presious Passion Seeks McKnight Repeat
Grade I winner Presious Passionhas not been in the best of form lately, but the 5-year-old gelding will try to get back to his winning ways in an event he scored in last year, the $150,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap (gr. IIT). The 1 1/2-mile turf event is one of four graded stakes on Calder Race Course's $500,000 Grand Slam program Dec. 13 in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Among the rivals Presious Passion will face are a pair of European-breds, Hawthorne Derby (gr. IIIT) winner Strait of Mewsinaand multiple graded stakes winner Always First; as well as IEAH Stables' Gran Estreno, an Argentine-bred who set a new course record in optional claiming company last out at Meadowlands.
The McKnight Handicap is the last of four graded stakes and will go to post as race 10 on the Grand Slam program. Post time is scheduled for 4:27. p.m. EDT.
Owned by Patricia Generazio and trained by Mary Hartmann, Presious Passion has been well-beaten in four starts since taking the United Nations Stakes (gr. IT) at Monmouth Park July 5. The son of Royal Anthem won the McKnight by 1 1/4 lengths in 2007 at odds of 67-1. Elvis Trujillo, aboard for the upset, will get the call once again.
Richard Ravin's Strait of Mewsina earned his first graded stakes when taking the Hawthorne Derby by a neck Oct. 11. The Irish-bred Spartacus colt rallied from well off the pace in the 1 1/8-mile contest to get up at odds of 19-1 under E.T. Baird. It was also his first victory in eight tries this season. Baird gets the return call on the Larry Rivelli trainee.
Merriefield Farm's Always First will make his Florida debut for Tom Voss, and enters off a fourth-place finish in the Red Smith Handicap (gr. IIT) Nov. 11 at Aqueduct. Prior to that, the English-bred 7-year-old gelding won the 12-furlong Sycamore Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland Oct. 18. Rene Douglas, aboard for the Sycamore score, gets the mount.
Gran Estreno notched his first North American victory Oct. 14 when he won in optional claiming company at Meadowlands. The 5-year-old Lucky Roberto horse covered 1 3/8 miles on the grass in 2:20.53 to set a new mark. The Rick Dutrow trainee was third in his only other American start this year. In 2006, Gran Estreno won the Jockey Club Stakes (Arg-I) for the biggest win of his career. Jose Lezcano will ride him for the first time.
Familiar Foes Do Battle Again
The top four finishers in last month's restricted Carl G. Rose Handicap at Calder will meet again in the $100,000 Fred W. Hooper Handicap (gr. III). The nine-furlong dirt event for 3-year-olds and up will go to post just before the McKnight Handicap.
Rolbea Thoroughbred Racing's Finallymadeit went wire-to-wire in the 1 1/8-mile Carl Rose Nov. 8 at Calder, romping to a 6 1/4-length victory to score his fourth win in 14 tries this season–all of them coming in Florida. Among those the 4-year-old Concerto colt defeated are current entrants, Dream Maestro, Actin Good, and It's a Bird, who finished second, third, and fourth, respectively.
Finallymadeit, who is trained by Javier Negrete and will be ridden by Eduardo Nunez, finished second in last year's seven-furlong Kenny Noe Jr. Handicap (gr. III), which is also part of the Grand Slam program.
Prior to finishing off the board in the Carl Rose, Edmund Gunn's It's a Bird earned his first graded stakes win by defeating Gottcha Gold by a head in the 1 1/6-mile Spend a Buck Handicap (gr. III) Oct. 18 at Calder. Trained by Marty Wolfson, It's a Bird, who is cross-entered in the McKnight and Kenny Noe, has won three times at Calder this season, all of them at a mile or more, and has six career scores at the Florida racetrack. Regular rider Jermaine Bridgmohan will be in the irons.
Centaur Farms' Gottcha Goldcould go off as the favorite despite narrowly dropping the Spend a Buck. The Eddie Plesa Jr. trainee won the Skip Away Handicap (gr. III) by 3 1/2 lengths earlier this season at Gulfstream and has been runner-up in three graded stakes in 2008, including the Pimlico Special Handicap (gr. I) which he lost to Student Council by a neck. C.C. Lopez rides for Plesa, the leading trainee at the current Calder meet.
Gottcha Gold will likley try the Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream Jan. 24 in his career finale before going off to stud.
Also entered for the Fred Hooper are former classic contenders Hey Byrn and Imawildandcrazyguy. Bea Oxenberg's 3-year-old Hey Byrn won the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) this season before finishing seventh in the Preakness (gr. I). Also trained by Plesa, Hey Byrn has run off the board in his last two starts.
In 2007, Imawildandcrazyguy was fourth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and sixth in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I). Since those efforts, the Wild Event gelding has won twice in 16 starts, including the Sumter Stakes May 4 at Calder, where he defeated Finallymadeit by a half-length.
$100,000 Fred W. Hooper Handicap (gr. III), Race 9, 3:58. p.m.) 3 & Up, 1 1/8 Miles (Dirt)
$150,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap (gr. IIT, Race 10, 4:27 p.m), 3 & Up, 1 1/2 Miles (Turf)
Copyright © 2015 The Blood-Horse, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Jewish Recipe--Pink Rice
I got a good recipe for Black Eyed Peas and Tomatoes. They mentioned a Jewish Pink Rice. I would love that recipe!
Iraqi pink rice is very much a staple food at the Jewish Iraqi table. It is served with almost every main course, and makes a tasty addition to your meal. This recipe serves 3-4 people as a side dish.http://www.sooogood.org/iraqi_food_re...
Here's a recipe for what I think is the same thing "Rice with Tomatoes" ("Plow Ahmar"), from a book called Mama Nazima's Jewish-Iraqi Cuisine:
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups uncooked long grain rice
1 4 oz can tomato sauce (doesn't specify further)
4 large tomatoes, minced
1/4 cupe chopped fresh cilantro
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Place a pot over high heat, heat the veg. oil, then add the chopped onion. The add the rice and stir for about two minutes. Add all the other ingredients and 3.5 cups of water. After it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low. Simmer, covered, until rice gets tender - about 1/2 hour. The intro to the recipe refers to the bottom getting "crisp and golden" - the "ehkaka".
Wolfe - do you think this is a variation of your recipe?
Oh - serves eight.


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Star Wars: The Knights Of The Old Republic has finally been made available for download purchase on Valve's online store, Steam
Obsidian's classic Star Wars RPG, The Knights Of The Old Republic 2 can now be downloaded from Steam for a paltry £6.99. Any gamers who ever played this stunning 2005 release will know that, at this price, the game's an absolute steal.
Accoring to gaming website Eurogamer.net, the game also comes patched with the The Sith Lords Restored Content Mod, which has the full endorsement of The Knights Of The Old Republic 2 lead designer, Chris Avellone. The mode gets rid of a number of bugs that were present in the shipped product and also reinstates some content that didn't ship due to the game's rushed development cycle.
The game is one of the most revered RPGs of its era, and was praised for both its depth of content and its deliberately murky moral choice mechanics. It was the sequel to the equally brilliant Star Wars: The Knights Of The Old Republic, which was developed by BioWare. The first game, incidentally is available on Steam for the same price as KOTOR 2. So, if you've nothing to do this bank holiday weekend, hours upon hours of RPG magic can be yours for roughly the same price as a pizza and a six-pack of beers.
Source: Eurogamer


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blayne barber
blayne barber
Results: 1 - 8 of 8
News & Tours
Missing Links: Rory McIlroy a marked man, and 'hurrah...for the doughty members' of Royal and Ancient Golf Club
Stories of interest you might have missed... Is stopping Rory McIlroy the key to the U.S. hopes in the Ryder Cup? Some think so, including, possibly, U.S. captain Tom Watson. "Rory McIlroy knows he will...
Saturday, 9/20/2014 at 10:04AM
- keywords:
- Bernhard Langer,
- Blayne Barber,
- Colin Montgomerie,
- Ian Poulter,
- John Strege
News & Tours
6 guys you should know about who earned their PGA Tour cards in the Web.com Tour finale
There wasn't a lot of smiling going on Sunday at the inaugural WinCo Foods Portland Open, the final regular-season Web.com Tour event. At least not until the very end of final round at Pumpkin Ridge's...
Monday, 8/25/2014 at 12:54PM
- keywords:
- Blayne Barber,
- Carlos Ortiz,
- Jason Gore,
- Justin Thomas,
- Kyle Reifers
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How Blayne Barber's 2012 Q school experience helped him negotiate 2013
By Tim Rosaforte From the Dec. 9 edition of Golf World Monday: Blayne Barber and wife Morgan celebrated in Toomer's Corner the night Auburn beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Saturday night, when the...
Tuesday, 12/10/2013 at 9:44AM
- keywords:
- auburn,
- blayne barber,
- golf,
- golf world monday,
- q school
News & Tours
Barber, Williams, Yun back on US Palmer Cup squad
The Americans have won the last two Palmer Cup, bringing the overall record in the 15-year competition to 8-6-1. Here are the eight players that captain Josh Gregory will hope can make it three straight...
Wednesday, 4/25/2012 at 9:45AM
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The Syllabus: Texas' stampede vs. Oregon's quack attack
THE FAB FIVEMy look at the top five teams in the country right now Men 1. Texas (Last week: 2) If you weren't impressed with the Longhorns victory at the Jerry Pate, than maybe the...
Thursday, 10/13/2011 at 10:04AM
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- Blayne Barber,
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News & Tours
Hossler's solid summer continues at U.S. Amateur
Updated: 7:13 pm CDTERIN, Wis.—Beau Hossler hasn't become a household name just yet this summer—he is still only 16 years old—but it's not from a lack of trying. It began when the Mission Viejo, Calif.,...
Tuesday, 8/23/2011 at 6:25PM
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Men's Top 50 college players to watch
Golf World's annual preseason preview of the top 50 college players to watch is below. The Top 10 golfers are ranked in order with the other 40 listed alphabetically....
Friday, 9/3/2010 at 9:00AM
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- Bud Cauley,
- David Chung,
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Chambers Bay set to host U.S. Amateur
In any ordinary year, the U.S. Amateur is already among the most difficult tournaments to predict a winner. Try identifying one golfer from the 312-player field you know with all certainty won't have a rough...
Sunday, 8/22/2010 at 8:00AM
- keywords:
- Andrew Putnam,
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- Chambers Bay,
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Results: 1 - 8 of 8


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Paradice: The Original Dice Love Game
Average customer review: Average customer review 8 out of 10 (8 reviews) Add your review
Sorry! This product has been discontinued.
Please scroll down to see alternative products.
Product Description
If you love having sex all over the house then this sexy dice game is perfect for you. Paradice: The Original Love Game lets you get lucky every time. Roll the first dice to determine your location, and the other to decide on the sex position.
You'll be treated to sex all over the house, in places and positions you never expected with this fantastic two-dice game - you'll get lucky every time!
Possible combinations include:
Dining Room: 69 Position
Shower: Blow job
Sexy Gifts and Games Buyer's Guides
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Customer Reviews
Paradice: The Original Dice Love Game 8 out of 10 (8 reviews) Write your own reviewOrder by:
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Great fun
Reviewed: 28 January 2015 by Georgie87, a Straight Engaged Male
This is ideal for a fun night in! Simply roll the dice and away you go!
Me and my partner tried this after a few drinks and the fun we had was immense!
It's definitely a game to make your night alone very interesting. Simply close the blinds, lock the doors and away you go!
- Pros
- Fun in every room!
- Cons
- Nothing.
- Bottom line
- Good value for fun!
- Was this review helpful to you? Yes
Pair of dice, Paradice
Reviewed: 25 January 2015 by HoneyDove, a Bisexual Engaged Female
My partner and I were initially planning to buy this later on as a part of a 3 for £10 deal, but when we realised that this was going to be discontinued, we decided to add them to our order, so that we wouldn't miss out on them.
I love the pun in the name of the dice and they come in such nice, elegant packaging. They're easy to get out and can be simply stored in one of Lovehoney's little bags.
The dice are nicely sized - not too big, not too small (like the Erotic Glow-In-The-Dark dice), and are smooth in texture. The purple colour is nice and muted, and contrasts well with the instructions.
The instructions are quite clear - one dice has a selection of rooms listed (all rooms that will typically be part of almost all houses) and the other dice has images representing positions.
The positions are a nice balance of 3 oral positions and 3 penetrative positions, all of which are achievable for any gender combination with only the minimal obvious adjustments. The pictures are done with a male and female character, but that can be viewed simply as giver and taker for same sex couples.
The positions are all also easily done for most couples and don't require too much flexibility or strength on the part of either partner, so you don't have to worry about being unable to use the dice fully.
If you live in a context where sex on the kitchen table isn't an option, I suggest just deciding which rooms represent what or using the position dice in combination with another set of dice or on its own to spice things up in terms of positions during your private time.
Finally, I really don't see why these are being discontinued, but seeing as that's how things are, get them while you can. They are worth it for the fun ideas!
- Pros
- Beautiful and encourage variety.
- Cons
- Nothing!
- Bottom line
- Get them before they're gone!
- Was this review helpful to you? Yes
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Challenge accepted
Reviewed: 07 September 2014 by Sunshine,Lollipops, a Straight Married Female
My husband and I love browsing the Lovehoney website together, and when he said he'd like to try some dice, I was more than happy to oblige, secretly buying him these as a present.
Our sex life is far from dull, but we love trying new things, and it was fun to relinquish ourselves to the fate of the dice. We took it in turns to throw, waiting excitedly to learn our quest… 69 in the shower? Challenge accepted!
Indeed some of the combinations are a challenge, given that you may need the body of a contortionist to try them if space is limited. We had a blast having a go though. Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, many people may not have the rooms printed on the dice. Luckily, the only place we're lacking is a closet, but far from being annoyed about this, it actually added an extra dimension to our fun for now the 'closet' option has become - the wildcard!
In our game, if we're fortunate enough to roll 'closet', we get to choose to perform whatever the other dice dictates in a location of our choice. BJ while you're bound to the banisters? Let's go! You're only limited by your imagination.
The one bone of contention in our play is the interpretation of some of the pictures. In my opinion, one looks like it could either be woman on top or couple standing up, and another either woman on top or woman lying on the edge of something while man is standing. We leave it to the choice of whoever rolled the dice. It's always fun, whatever we decide.
We love these cute cubes, and would highly recommend them to other couples who are up for some fun doing whatever the dice decide. Just come up with an alternative to any rooms you may not have, and let the games commence.
- Pros
- Relinquishing ourselves to the fate of the dice.
- Cons
- Nothing!
- Bottom line
- Would highly recommend them to other couples who are up for some fun.
- Was this review helpful to you? Yes
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The Ups and Sobering Downs of World's Biggest IPO
Investors will be watching very closely as China announces the final details of the world's biggest stock offering on Wednesday, June 9th. The historic offering will launch shares of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., the last of China's four giant banks to go public. The initial public offering is expected to raise nearly $30 billion in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Western investors can easily buy shares on the Hong Kong exchange.
The bank says it will allocate more than half of its offering, or 30 billion shares, on Hong Kong Exchange and 45 percent of the offering, or 25 billion shares, on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Shares should be priced at approximately fifty cents each. (The world's largest previous IPO was the $22 billion launch of its state-owned peer, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. in 2006.)
What's attractive about Agricultural Bank of China? Lots and lots of customers. Agricultural Bank had an army of 320 million customers in China at the end of 2009. It blankets the nation's rural regions with more than 23,000 outlets, according to the bank's prospectus.
The bank boosted its profitability by more than 25 percent to $9.5 billion last year. It forecasts net income will rise to at least $12.13 billion in 2010.
Agricultural Bank's net income rose by an impressive 38.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period a year ago. The bank has a capital adequacy ratio of 10.07 percent and its non-performing loan ratio stands at 2.91 percent.
Like all of China's major banks, Bank of Agriculture received a major injection of capital and relief from many of its non-performing loans as it prepared to go public. Bank of Agriculture was in the worst condition of any major Chinese bank because it had acted as an arm of the government, making mandated loans to support poor rural areas.
Although the bank now appears to be relatively healthy, there are good reasons to be wary of this IPO. All of China's banks are expected to experience an increase in non-performing loans as Beijing clamps down on the runaway real estate market. The big three national banks of China have been forced to raise their reserve ratios three times this year and are going to market with bond offerings to raise capital. It is not a promising environment for the IPO of a bank with a troubled history.
The bank says it aims to maintain a minimum capital adequacy ratio of 11.5 percent over the next two years. According to its prospectus, Agricultural Bank had $606 billion worth of outstanding loans at the end of 2009.
What quality will the bank's new loans be? It's important to note that despite the size of the IPO, the state will still hold approximately 85 percent of Agricultural Bank's shares. That means the government maintains a controlling interest.
Agricultural Bank's IPO was delayed due to disagreements in Beijing about the mandate that the bank would operate under. Some officials thought the lender should be a purely commercial entity, but others argued that it should remain a policy-driven lending arm of the government.
The bureaucrats won that argument. As a condition of the bank's bailout, the government insisted that the Agricultural Bank should continue to support farmers, agricultural businesses and rural infrastructure. This is the least profitable and highest risk part of China's banking business.
China's rural areas are increasing in prosperity and the bank can reach a customer base of almost 700 million people. Agricultural Bank's long term outlook may be positive. But it seems wise to wait out the IPO and see how the bank performs over the long run under its government mandate.