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Former professional boxer Jocko King was a mediocre lightweight who turned big-time South Philadelphia drug dealer and then took a dive on his partners and pals after he was arrested.
Squealing's been the recommended thing to do for some time now - especially for someone like King, who was facing a mandatory life sentence. Informants tend to get big breaks at sentencing.
King, 28, who boasted of using drug profits to support 17 children he says he fathered by a variety of women, got a break yesterday, but far less of a


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Case Study
Teamcenter facilitates excellence in the fast-moving consumer goods market
PZ Cussons
PZ Cussons' use of Teamcenter results in innovative new products being brought to market faster and globally; revenue is up
Excellent execution, anywhere in the world
PZ Cussons Plc develops leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands in selected mature and emerging markets that have potential for future growth. The company's well-known brands include Imperial Leather, Carex, The Original Source, Charles Worthington, Morning Fresh and Radiant. PZ Cussons' distribution networks in Africa, Asia and Europe enable the company to deliver these brands quickly and efficiently to local consumers.
According to Nina Dar, founder and managing director of Cheeky Monkey Business Solutions, a change management consultancy that designs and implements transformational programs, companies like PZ Cussons that want to continue to be successful in this kind of highly competitive business need to find new ways to link processes and tools creatively around innovation, brand development and product delivery.
Dar explains this requirement: "PZ Cussons works across geographic locations all the time, taking great pride in its ability to respond quickly and appropriately to consumer needs. A product might be developed in one place, part of the formulation might be made in another, the artwork elsewhere and then the product itself might be manufactured somewhere else entirely, after which the supply chain takes over."
Given this kind of business environment, PZ Cussons' vision is to make all product recipes and all of its new products readily available to any and all of its worldwide business units. However, to do this, the company needed the right business systems to make this possible. That is why PZ Cussons adopted product lifecycle management (PLM) technology, specifically Siemens PLM Software's Teamcenter® software.
A single "version of truth"
PZ Cussons already had a technical specification system in place to manage its product recipes. However, while that system was important, it was somewhat overloaded and could not be extended for use across all of the company's business units. PZ Cussons' IT director at that time, David Jones, envisioned a global PLM solution that would provide a single version of truth, while also being able to model and simulate new product development (NPD) on a virtual project basis.
Ultimately, the PLM solution was expected to facilitate product specifications, as well as drive the company's NPD processes. The goal was to enable all product developers to work in the same way and use similar languages and similar templates so that virtual project teams in different locations could collaborate without having to jet round the world. However, it was also understood that PLM was not going to be a "one size fits all" solution, since different country operations often work at different levels and in different ways.
Three PLM providers were asked to respond to PZ Cussons' technology request, including Siemens PLM Software. The company's evaluation process was professional and thorough. All three responders were invited into PZ Cussons to see how the organization worked. PZ Cussons established internal teams to evaluate each tender and visit various reference sites. Teamcenter emerged from the selection process as the clear winner.
The role of Cheeky Monkey
Since Jones saw this as a business project rather than an IT project, he wanted the PLM solution to be strongly driven by PZ Cussons' business needs and its deployment organized by someone who was conscious of the cultural and behavioral issues associated with market change. As a result, Cheeky Monkey was selected with these goals in mind.
Cheeky Monkey has a proven track record of thinking creatively about business programs and taking into account the impact of these programs on people and their emotional connections. Cheeky Monkey also had demonstrated its understanding of how these programs need to deliver a variety of benefits, ranging from facilitating strategic objectives to improving vendor relationships, supply chain interaction, manufacturing, outsourcing, and mergers and acquisitions results.
According to Dar, "We already had a trusted and proven working relationship with PZ Cussons. We had been delivering all of their change-related projects and new product development projects and had worked on integrating these programs within their different business units." Just as importantly, "The whole team at PZ Cussons was really excited – they were going to take on an innovative and leading-edge project and it was a natural step for them to ask us to manage it."
Implementing PLM's product-specification capabilities
PZ Cussons' PLM software options were evaluated and tested in 2005 with design and configuration of the product-specification side of the solution completed in 2006. Dar explains, "Up to then, the main user base of Teamcenter had been in automotive and aerospace. But at PZ Cussons, we were talking about very short runs, lots of projects and very short time scales – days or even less." In 2007, the Cheeky Monkey team trained 10 PZ Cussons users to go back to their respective countries as project champions. After that, the company went through the data migration process, which is a big issue in the consumer products industry – where the pace and number of components can change very rapidly. The first specifications went live in the United Kingdom at the end of 2007.
Implementing PLM's NPD capabilities
"We implemented the product specifications side of the PLM solution first, because that was already highly structured, but the NPD side was quite different," says Dar. "The FMCG industry is creatively led by people who do not automatically take to structure in any shape or form and will fight that. We needed to get everyone to use a more organized and standard way of delivering NPD before we could implement it in Teamcenter. As a result, we had to rethink the NPD side and design the NPD processes."
She continues, "Our next step was to run joint applications development workshops, so we created internal design teams with representatives from all over PZ Cussons' global operations. We established NPD processes and designed workshops and training material. In fact, we designed the whole program as a precursor to implementing the software. The first NPD capabilities went live at the start of 2009."
PLM's initial benefits
Dar explains the program's initial successes: "Siemens PLM Software's team really helped to resolve our initial concerns through their ability, knowledge and experience. We established a really good relationship with them, which played a key role in facilitating a successful implementation. However, it was vital that this relationship, especially between the pre-sales and post-sales teams, be maintained throughout the life of the project.
"It is important not to shy away from the fact that the Teamcenter project is an enabling project that will deliver returns elsewhere. With this kind of implementation, the biggest challenge is to get people to adopt it. You can tell them they have to use it, but getting them to actually use it in their daily work is a completely different issue.
"There are some areas where you can really make big advances using PLM, but you need to understand that you have to do it right. For overall success, your business functions need to come together through the IT director, marketing director, sales director and supply chain director. And you have to remember that there is a real human side to the PLM implementation, especially in this very people-oriented industry."
PLM as an enabler for open innovation
The NPD landscape is changing almost daily as the principles of open innovation become increasingly established and attention is focused on the need to bridge the divide between the way creative minds work and the way the technologists work. Dar explains, "Ideas can now originate from social networking anywhere and everywhere and you need to think about what it means for your business before your competitors do. So you have to consider if this is an idea you want to use and keep for yourselves, or whether it is something you can sell or use for a joint venture.
"You then model this inside the virtual project, where you try to understand what it all means before you make a final decision. Then, you model the execution, since there can be many external factors at work that could influence the launch date, price, margins and so on. The post-launch evaluation then runs straight back into your open innovation process."
PZ Cussons' PLM vision is now a reality
Summing up, Dar says, "At PZ Cussons, the need to be dynamic is so important. Margins are very small and you can make a huge difference by just changing an ingredient at the last minute – or shaving a bit of plastic off a bottle. PLM is ideal for this. It's a lot more agile than the more dated stage and gate NPD process; it allows you to model the whole new product before committing real money.
"The huge advantage of Teamcenter is that it provides a single version of the truth. The last product specifications went live at the end of 2009 and the last NPDs will go live by the end of 2010, so yes, it's now up and running – and it works."
So how does PZ Cussons see it? According to John J Pantelireis, group supply chain director, "This has been a significant investment for PZ Cussons. Thanks to the efforts of our people in operations everywhere, a great project team, the super users and our project managers from Cheeky Monkey, we have a system we can trust, a standard version of the truth we can believe, transparency and a lot faster NPD implementation. As a result, many of our UK brands are now appearing elsewhere – much more quickly, earning more revenue and earning it faster."

subset: commoncrawl


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Linda J. McCauley of will celebrate her 70th birthday today.
She was born March 10, 1942, in Buckhannon.
Mrs. McCauley has five children, James F. Lane and his wife, Andrea, Glen Brake and his wife, Donna, George McCauley and his wife, Brenda, and Eugene McCauley and his wife, Georgia. She also has six grandchildren, Amanda and Kristen McCauley, Matthew Hollen and C.J. Travis and Dustin Lane; and three great-grandchildren.
Article Photos
Linda McCauley
Birthday wishes may be sent to: 101 John St., Elkins, WV 26241.


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How will Iowa handle fed. government's default?
Even if the government defaults, Gov. Terry Branstad said he does not think Iowa's state agencies will run out of money.
He said he also has a plan in place to keep the Gold Star Military Museum at Camp Dodge open, which is supposed to close its doors Monday because some employees there rely on federal funding.
Branstad said all he can do at this point is to monitor the situation and make adjustments as he sees fit.
"When stupid things like closing the World War II Memorial or the Gold Star Museum, I think we have to try to do things to try to prevent that from happening. It seems the federal government is just trying to make things worse and more inconvenient," said Branstad.
Branstad said he needs to wait until the Oct. 17, when the U.S will hit the debt ceiling and then reevaluate the situation to determine what to do next.
Copyright 2013 by KCCI All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Type: Faculty
PhD, University of Edinburgh
Postdoctoral, North Carolina State University
Contact Info
Office: 314 Ricks Hall, 919-515-1942
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Website: Visit our Lab Home Page
Research Areas: Computation / Bioinformatics | Population / Quantitative
Theoretical and Statistical Quantitative Genetics
My research is on theoretical and statistical quantitative genetics. This includes research to develop theoretical models and statistical methods to map QTLs and to estimate basic genetic parameters of quantitative trait variation, such as number, genomic positions, effects, interaction, and pleiotropy of genes responsible for the variation. Currently, this research is concentrated on developing statistical methods for analyzing genetic architecture of quantitative traits as a whole using multiple interval mapping approach. Research topics include efficient and robust model selection, analysis of epistasis, multiple trait analysis, QTL by environment interaction analysis, mixed and mixture models, general plant breeding population QTL analysis, full-sib family analysis, gene expression QTL analysis, linkage disequilibrium mapping.
I also develop QTL Cartographer for QTL mapping data analysis. The long-term goal of the research is to develop quantitative genetic theories and statistical methods for characterizing and analyzing variation of quantitative traits and to learn genetic and evolutionary bases of the variation within and between natural and experimental populations.
Aylor DL, and Zeng Z-B. (2008). From classic genetics to quantitative genetics to systems biology: the role of epistasis. PLoS Genetics. 4(3).
Garcia AAF, Wang S, Melchinger AE, and Zeng Z-B. (2007). QTL mapping and the genetic basis of heterosis in maize and rice. Genetics. 180:1707–1724.
Kim Y, Feng S, and Zeng Z-B. (2007). Measuring and partitioning the high order linkage disequilibrium by multiple order Markov chains. Genetic Epidemiology. 32: 301–312.
Lai C-Q, Leips J, Zou W, Roberts JM, Wollenberg KR, Parnell LD, Zeng Z-B, Ordovas JM, and Mackay TFC. (2007). Speed-mapping quantitative trait loci using microarrays. Nature Methods. 4(10): 839–841.
Melchinger AE, Utz HF, Piepho HP, Zeng Z-B, and Schon CC. (2007). Quantitative genetic theory to elucidate the role of epistatsis in the manifestation of heterosis. Genetics. 177: 1815–1825.


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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli tanks and armored vehicles, backed by helicopters, pressed into the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, firing at houses and prompting hospitals to go on alert for casualties, residents and Palestinian security officials said.
Between 15 and 30 Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers moved from areas near the Erez crossing with Israel toward Beit Lahiya and the Jebalya refugee camp north of Gaza City, security officials said.
The armor stayed about a half-mile from the camp, firing shells and machine guns at houses. Two helicopters flew overhead, the officials said, as troops stormed several Palestinian homes. It was not clear if any arrests were made.
Two buses accompanied the tanks, indicating the army intended to round up suspected militants, residents said.
The army said it was checking the report.
While hospitals were on alert, there were no immediate reports of injuries.
"They are firing their machine guns and many of the bullets have hit my house," Jawad Abu Samra, a 42-year-old teacher, said by telephone. He said he had taken shelter under his bed.
"My wife has taken my three children down to my brother's house," he said. "We are scared."
Announcements broadcast over loudspeakers at mosques in the Jebalya camp and closer to Gaza City urged residents to resist the incursion. It was not clear if residents were heeding the call.
In March, 13 Palestinians were killed when more than 20 Israeli tanks and troops, backed by helicopter gunships, stormed the Jebalya camp in a major offensive launched after mortar shells were fired at a Jewish settlement in Gaza.
Jebalya is a hotbed of Hamas militants as well as other militias which have carried out attacks on Israelis during the past 22 months of fighting.
The incursion followed three Israeli missile strikes on Monday at a suspected weapons factory in Gaza City. Four people were slightly injured.
That strike, from helicopter gunships, was the first on Gaza since an Israeli F-16 dropped a one-ton bomb on a Gaza City apartment block, killing the Hamas military and 14 other people, nine of them children.
© 2016. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


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To the Editor.
—In the article by Dr Gerber and colleagues1 reporting an office-based multicenter investigation of the optical immunoassay (OIA) test for group A β-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngitis, the authors concluded that "with adequately trained personnel, negative OIA test results may not always need to be routinely confirmed with blood agar plate (BAP) cultures." We believe the authors' conclusions are based less on the quality of the testing personnel or the performance specifications of the OIA and more on the quality of the BAP culture procedure used in the study.Presumptive differentiation of GABHS and non—group A streptococci may be accomplished by the bacitracin test, in which a zone of inhibition is noted on a pure subculture of β-hemolytic colonies. Bacitracin disks placed on primary cultures on nonselective media, as was done in this study, may detect as little as 54% of group A streptococci.2 We compared
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EUCLID - An early wake-up call for the Warren G. Harding Raiders basketball team Saturday didn't bother the players.
They might have been tired on the bus ride home, but they were full of energy in turning back the Euclid Panthers, 65-55, in a Lake Erie League game.
The contest was originally scheduled for Friday night but was postponed to a 12:30 varsity start Saturday because of the snow that covered northeast Ohio. A small crowd made its way to the gymnasium for the unusual starting time.
Article Photos
Tribune Chronicle / Dave Dermer
Warren G. Harding's Quenten Jackson, left, and Euclid's Chuck Bradford go for the ball before it goes out of bounds Saturday at Euclid High School.
"The kids took care of the situation," Harding coach Steve Arnold said. "I told them that every time you step on the court, you have to compete and win basketball games. That's what they did."
The teams could meet for a third time this season. If Euclid defeats Lincoln West Tuesday in a first-round Division I sectional game, it would face Harding Saturday at 1 p.m. in a sectional final at Solon.
The Panthers stayed within striking distance throughout the game, but they weren't able to regain the lead after falling behind, 21-20, on a fielder by Shaheed Davis in the second quarter. The Raiders led 17-15 after one quarter and 31-28 at halftime. Harding took a 49-41 lead into the final period.
"We have to get used to this," Harding senior Tre Brown said of the early starting time. "We're going to have an early game in the tournament, so we wanted to prepare for it."
The Raiders had balanced scoring. Brown and Rashid Gaston shared scoring honors with 19 points each. Davis came off the bench to score 10 points.
Gaston had an eight-point first quarter. Davis scored eight in the second period, and Gaston registered nine points in the third quarter.
No coach will complain about that type of balance.
"That's why this program is built on the team concept and not just the individual," Arnold said. "There were two, three or four guys that hurt them. If you count on one person, you can take that guy out of the game. That's why we've always preached the team concept here."
The Raiders finished the regular season with a 16-4 record and the second seed in the district tournament behind Garfield Heights. There was a rough stretch a few weeks ago when they lost three of four games, but they finished the season strong.
"It's a pretty good record, provided the schedule that we play," Arnold said. "I'm proud of this basketball team. Now we have to get focused and try to make this tournament run."
Before the start of the season Arnold wasn't shy in saying that a goal is to qualify for the state tournament. Before that happens, the Raiders will first have to take care of business at the district.
"You want to put yourself in a position where you're playing for a district championship," Arnold said. "As we talked about at the beginning of the season, our expectations haven't changed."
The Panthers were led in scoring by Martel Mellon, who finished with 21 points. Ron Whalen had 14 points, and Arthur Cook added 12 points.
That wasn't enough firepower to deal with the Raiders, who were determined to end the regular season on a good note.
"We knew we had to play together because coach Arnold wanted this win badly to make a statement going into the tournament that we're coming to play," Brown said.


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The coordinates are already available on the Panoramio Page:
FINALLY! I've been looking for this everwhere. I have a question. Is this a real photograph or a composite?
I've seen it before and I would have thought that the atmosphere would preclude the possibility of seeing all the way to the Berg from Durbs even on a clear day, especially in winter when this is obviously set. If you created this image, I'd be very interested in your response.
Nice one!
How easy is it to get down to take photos of these falls?
Iassume this was shot around lunchtime?
Splendid capture!
He was actually riding to Grahamstown with Ndongeni kaXoki.
Dancing on the rooftops? This picture gives me a feeling of vertigo, being so close to the edge. Nice picture!
It looks muddy. Could be a recent rain, but I wonder if the drainage system is functioning as intended.
Same station - I don't know about the actual train, but I doubt it...
The top floor of the oval building in the foreground is toast as well.


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THE capital costs of photovoltaic plants have fallen more than 40% in the past two years because of the growth of the industry, says the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association.
The lower capital costs put photovoltaic on an equal footing with other solar technologies, the association said yesterday.
Photovoltaic technology is traditionally more expensive compared to other solar technologies, and involves the conversion of solar radiation into direct-current electricity using semiconductors.
The National Energy Regulator of SA' s October 2009 renewable energy feed-in tariff guideline put photovoltaic at R3,94/kWh and concentrated solar at R3,14/kWh.
"Since 2008, when the (feed-in) tariffs were calculated, the size of the installed (photovoltaic) market has more than doubled, resulting in the capital cost of (photovoltaic) power plants dropping by over 40%," photovoltaic association found er member Ryan Hammond said yesterday.
"The current cost-effectiveness of photovoltaic is equivalent to any other solar technology and it remains the most versatile renewable technology choice, capable of being easily applied in installations from 10W to over 100MW and more," he said.
Mr Hammond, who is also MD of photovoltaic panel manufacturer SolaireDirect Southern Africa, said the association would communicate "clear and accurate" facts about the photovoltaic industry.
"There is a lot of misinformation about the industry. Photovoltaic technology's costs (are) one of the facts we are going to address.
"We cannot decide the (energy) future on outdated figures. That is not the right way to go about it. No one needs the R3,94/kWh. Projects can still be viable at 40% less than that," Mr Hammond said.
In Europe, the renewable energy feed-in tariff for photovoltaic is about R2/kWh, he said. "We need to sit down with the Department of Energy and look at the real numbers. We would love to see the R3,94/ kWh revisited. There is no gain for SA in using outdated numbers. Government must recognise that (photovoltaic) costs have fallen," he said.
The body would represent the industry "before political institutions , informing our members on the latest legislative developments, anticipating legislation and the potential impact . on the sector" .
The regulator's spokesman, Charles Hlebela, said the renewable energy feed-in tariffs are reviewed annually. Changes apply only to new entrants. "The changes will not apply to companies that have signed power purchase agreements," he said.


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Lot # 704 (of 1525) < Previous Lot | Next Lot >
1910 Baseball A Fan For A Fan Collection of Three
Starting Bid - $500.00, Sold For - $3,480.00
Three different of the five fans comprising the extremely rare and popular "A Fan For A Fan" series: Christy Mathewson, Hal Chase, and Larry Doyle (missing only Ty Cobb and recently discovered Frank Baker for completion of the set). Each fan features a beautiful full color portrait of the player set against a baseball design with the heading "A Fan For A Fan" above the portrait. The striking design and colorful graphics of this set make it one of the most attractive and ideal for display of all early baseball issues. The Doyle fan has had some professional restoration, giving it a Near Mint appearance. The Mathewson fan has some minor surface abrasions not affecting the portrait, and is otherwise in Very Good to Excellent condition. The Chase fan has two small tears at the top (apparently resulting from a puncture caused by the top of the wooden handle; very little paper loss) and a single pinhole at 4:00 near the right edge; in Vg condition overall but still displays beautifully. Total 3 fans. Diameter: each 7.5 inches. Handle length: each 5.25 inches. Reserve $500. Estimate $1,000/$2,000. SOLD FOR $3,480.00
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The governor of Oklahoma is urging the state's residents to pray for rain. Gov. Mary Fallin says the drought has contributed to more than 140 wildfires in Oklahoma this year.
"I encourage Oklahomans of all faiths to join me this Sunday and offering their prayers for rain," Fallin said in a news release last week, adding that the power of prayer is a wonderful thing.
State Sen. Rick Brinkely unabashedly voiced his support for Fallin.
"I think if people are making a joke out of this request by the governor, they really don't understand the implications of what it is she is asking for," Brinkley told Oklahoma's Fox23.
"This isn't like we would like to have a nice spring shower," he continued. "We would like to stop a drought."
"We would like to save the lives of fire fighters who are putting their lives on the line every day fighting these grass fires," he said. "And the fact that our farmers are facing devastation, this isn't a flippant little request -- there is a lot at stake here."
Gov. Rick Perry Asks Texans to Pray for Rain
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Long-lived Birds: 7 Easy Dos and Don'ts for Planning for the Future
Some species of birds may outlive their owners by decades. Have you made preparations for your bird's care if something happens to you?
Bird Therapy Birds: "Emotional Support Animal" Or Merely a Pet?
Despite changes, therapy birds still have some protections under federal law.
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FRANKIE, MY DEAR, THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN: Looks as if Frankie Goes to Hollywood may not be leaving town. Seems the group's record company, ZTT of London, can't get a 32-page color publication about the five-member rock troupe from Liverpool distributed. Sixty thousand copies of the publication, entitled Suddenly There Came a Bang, by Paul Morley, are sitting in a warehouse outside London. The distributor, MM & DS, Ltd. of London, impounded the magazines, objecting to the band's use of obscene words in interviews. Says a perturbed spokesperson for ZTT: "The distributor is playing God and that can be very expensive."
PIERCING RUMOR: Letters have been pouring into NBC Studios from young women in the Philippines who are distraught over the suicide of their heartthrob, Remington Steele star Pierce Brosnan, following the divorce from his wife, actress Cassandra Harris. Brosnan, who is still married and still alive, has no idea how such a bizarre rumor got started. Regardless, he's rehearsing a new line: "Ang mga beli-balita tungkol sa aking pagkamatoy ay lubhang napalabis," which is the Filipino version of Mark Twain's famous cablegram to the AP concerning his erroneous obit, "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
NOT LIKE A ROLLING STONE: Is Sting, who was in Dune and is in the upcoming Plenty with Meryl Streep, thinking of quitting the Police? Perhaps. He told London's Daily Mirror: "With acting I can grow old gracefully. I don't want to become like Mick Jagger—a middle-aged man trying to jump around and scream onstage like a teenager. That's undignified—and dignity is very important to me."
WE GOTTA GO NOW: Frivolity has raised its whimsical head in Whatcom County, Wash., where the local council, perhaps flushed with spring fever, has passed and sent to the state legislature a resolution recommending that Louie Louie, the '60s bar-band chestnut, be proclaimed Washington's official state song, in honor of two Pacific Northwest groups, the Wailers, who first recorded the song, and the Kingsmen, who made it famous. Not surprisingly the proposal has met with some protests, notably from Helen Davis, 79, composer of the current state song, Washington, My Home, which boasts of "verdant forest green/ caressed by silvery stream." Whatcom councilman Craig Cole, however, is quick to point out the tune's advantages, "Since Louie Louie only has three chords, any band can play it," he figures. "And since the words are unintelligible, anyone can sing along." (Actually, the Kingsmen mumbled the lyrics, giving rise to the still unresolved controversy that they're obscene.) Although Louie Louie's chances of adoption are far from robust, its proponents are zealous: The song's composer, Richard Berry, has written a Washington verse; the city of Bellingham held a pro-Louie Louie rally and the state senate has even proclaimed April 12 Louie Louie Day. "I can just envision it," says Cole, who is clearly a man with a dream. "A band greets an official visitor as he steps off an airplane. The band welcomes him with the National Anthem—followed immediately by Louie Louie."
OBJECTION IN PRINCE-IPLE: Mimi Kuzyk, who plays detective Patsy Mayo on Hill Street Blues, decided to check out Prince in concert and was aghast at what she saw. "It was interesting, but he borders on the obscene," she says. "He plays with himself. I don't like that. He has such an incredible following among kids. I have to wonder what is going through their heads when they see him behave that way. I wouldn't take my 18-year-old sister to see him."
updated 04/08/1985 AT 01:00 AM EST
•originally published 04/08/1985 AT 01:00 AM EST


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[QUOTE=gregpoole;932603]My latest batch of bacon I smoked with apple and it was just freaking fabulous. I never use the pink salt to cure just good old sea salt, maple syrup and red pepper chilli flakes.[/QUOTE]
Nice one. That's what I like to hear. What cut do you use? Are you using a dry(-ish, I know it has the maple in it) rub, or a wet brine? Also, have you tried willow to smoke it, and how's the colour without the saltpetre?
Cheers bud


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Men at Work
When a group's first LP sells more than four million copies and is the No. 1 album of the year, it sets standards that are hard to live up to. Perhaps Colin Hay is singing about just that problem in Cargo's hit single, Overkill ("I can't get to sleep/ I think about the implications/ Of diving in too deep/ And possibly the complications"). For Men at Work, though, Cargo has few complications, and the implications are mostly thumbs up. The goods on Cargo are mostly fabricated from the same sort of tongue-in-cheek paranoia first evident on Business, though some of these songs move closer to raving lunacy. If an alarmist attitude pervades much of the LP, it also has sizzling moments with It's a Mistake, High Wire and No Restrictions, where Greg Ham's flute solo lifts the group's spirit. Too bad Ham didn't let loose more often on Cargo, since his laconic sax and flute arrangements contribute to the unsatisfying moodiness of the album. But that's a quibble; on the whole the LP is a fine achievement.
Picks and Pans Review: Cargo
updated 05/23/1983 AT 01:00 AM EDT
•originally published 05/23/1983 AT 01:00 AM EDT


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International Tiger Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Global Tiger Day, often called International Tiger Day, is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation, held annually on 29 July.[1] It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit.[2] The goal of the day is to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues.[3]
- ^ Watts, Jonathan (24 November 2010). "World's first tiger summit ends with £330m pledged amid lingering doubts". The ..Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ^ "Vietnam observes International Tiger Day". Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ^ "International Tiger Conservation Forum". Tiger Conservation Forum. Retrieved 1 September 2011.


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In retrospect, Peter Laviolette was nothing more than a prisoner of the moment, an overexuberant coach making a proclamation that would never stand the test of time.
He had watched Claude Giroux skate a shift for the ages at the start of Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Giroux had delivered a crushing body check to Sidney Crosby before scoring the first goal in a series-clinching victory for the Flyers, and Laviolette used the postgame news conference to call Giroux "the best player in the world."


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ECRI Index – Weekly Leading Index (WLI) and Year-Over-Year Change (thru Week Ending March 8, 2013)
ECRI Index (also known as the ECRI Weekly Leading Index) is published weekly. It is designed to predict the direction of economic growth in the next 6-9 months. On this page, I'm continuing a feature called "Easy Trends" – a place where I'll analyze the recent trend for an indicator and discuss whether it is currently going up, down or neither. You can read the basics of my methodology on the FAQ page.
NOTE: You may be reading an outdated analysis. Please visit my latest ECRI Index trend analysis.
Quick 'n Easy
The ECRI Weekly Leading Index is a weekly indicator that is designed to tell us how the economy will look 2-3 quarters (6-9 months) down the road. We will use two ways of examining the index: 1) the weekly level of the index and 2) a smoothed version of how much the index has changed over the last year.
The Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) does something very similar to the Leading Economic Index from The Conference Board, but they are not at all transparent about how they do their calculations. We can only wait to see what they publish as their index level and see where it leaves us. But many people believe this is a good leading indicator for the economy.
Specifically, we will focus on two components of the indicator:
- Weekly Leading Index (WLI) 4-Week Moving Average – This is average of the four most recent values of the index released each week. I prefer to look at this "smoothed" rate because the individual weekly readings have too many ups and downs for which to discover any meaningful trends.
- Weekly Leading Index Year-Over-Year Change in 4-Week Moving Average – Rather than using the ECRI's complicated calculation for an annualized growth rate, which ECRI admits doesn't do a great job of adjusting for seasonal patterns, it is easier to compare the level of the index to its level one year prior. To smooth things out, we will do this using a four-week moving average. So, it will be like asking, "What's the difference between the average of the 1st four weeks of the index in 2012 versus the 1st four weeks of 2011?"
Here is a graph of the ECRI Index (WLI) for the past year from ECRI:
ECRI Index Trends and Projections
Below, I will discuss whether the ECRI Index is currently in a trend, when the last confirmed trend was and what that says about projecting the next data point to be released.
ECRI Index Trend Analysis
Quick 'n Easy
The ECRI Weekly Leading Index (WLI) 4-wk moving average is in a confirmed downward trend, but that may be coming to an end as the latest two figures were too high to include in it. The year-over-year change in the 4-wk moving average is in a confirmed downward trend since Feb 1. The bottom line: the ECRI is suggesting the outlook for the upcoming 6-9 months isn't too bad, but the direction of the change in that outlook is somewhat negative.
Here is a chart of the recent trends in both the 4-week moving average of the index and the year-over-year change of the 4-week moving average:
|ECRI Index 4-Week Moving Average
|ECRI Index Year-Over-Year Change of 4-wk Moving Average
|Current Trend
|Feb 8 – Feb 22, 2013 – During that time, there was a confirmed downward trend, with the 4-wk moving average of the WLI falling by 0.32 points per week. The latest two readings were too high to include in that falling trend, which is good news.
|Feb 1 – Mar 8, 2013 – During that time, there was a confirmed downward trend, with the Yr-over-Yr Change in 4-wk moving average of the WLI falling by 0.34 percent per week.
|Last Confirmed Trend
|Nov 23, 2012 – Feb 8, 2013 – During that time, the 4-wk moving average of the WLI was rising by 0.44 points per week.
|Jan 18 – Feb 1, 2013 – During that time, the WLI Yr-over-Yr Change in 4-wk Mov Avg was rising by 0.06 percent each week.
|Projected Next Data Point (assumes recent trend extends perfectly, excluding any off trend data points)
|Week ending Mar 15, 2013: 4-wk moving avg of WLI to be 128.50 (down 0.80 from latest)
|Week ending Mar 15, 2013: Yr-over-Yr Change in 4-wk moving avg of WLI to be positive (+) 3.88 percent (down 0.32 percent from latest)
Easy Take
This week, the ECRI Weekly Leading Index is headed in a mostly negative direction using both methods I analyze. The 4-week moving average of the ECRI Index is in a confirmed downward trend, but the good news is that the latest two readings were too high for that trend – maybe signaling an end to that trend with next week's report? Meanwhile, the year-over-year change of the 4-week moving average is in a confirmed downward trend.
The consensus view of these two analyses suggests that the outlook for the next 6-9 months is not bad, while the direction of the change in outlook is somewhat negative.
The ECRI has gone on record as saying that a recession has already begun. They predicted that one would have started by mid-2012, so this is consistent with their earlier stance. However, that notion flies in the face of numerous other indexes and recession prediction models.


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Topic: College and Career Readiness
College and Career Readiness
Today's workplace requires most Americans to have some form of education beyond high school. Yet more than half of high school students are not graduating well-prepared to be successful in credit-bearing, entry-level courses in colleges or technical schools.
Solving this problem is complex and requires navigating many educational issues on a statewide level. SREB is tackling the challenge head-on, with work to help states in a number of areas.
SREB's Agenda for College and Career Readiness
Based on years of experience with member states, SREB has developed and refined a model college- and career-readiness agenda that defines the key steps each state should take to improve students' readiness statewide. SREB recommends that state policy should address each of these elements.
Adopt statewide college-readiness standards, that K-12 and postsecondary institutions agree on, for literacy and mathematics skills.
Assess high school juniors on their progress toward achieving the readiness standards.
Offer transitional readiness courses and require juniors assessed as underprepared to take the classes in 11th or 12th grade.
Apply the standards in postsecondary institutions, in deciding whether students are placed in credit-bearing courses or need additional learning support after they are admitted.
Hold schools accountable for increasing postsecondary readiness as an important criterion in school accountability systems.


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Business briefs from across the nation and around the world
Judge approves $1B penalty against company in oil spill
NEW ORLEANS -- A federal judge on Tuesday approved Transocean Ltd.'s agreement with the Justice Department to pay $1 billion in civil penalties for its role in the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said in his ruling that he found "no just reason for delay" in approving the civil settlement.
Last week, a different judge approved Transocean's criminal settlement with the federal government. The Swiss-based company pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and will pay an additional $400 million in criminal penalties.
Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which exploded and sank over BP's Macondo well in April 2010. The accident killed 11 rig workers and spawned the nation's worst offshore oil spill.
FNB to push farther into Cleveland with acquisition
HERMITAGE -- FNB Corp., the Pittsburgh region's third-largest bank, agreed to acquire Park View Federal Savings Bank for $106.4 million in stock, which pushes FNB further into the Cleveland market.
FNB, which is based in Mercer County, would add 16 branches and $782 million in assets to its current 285 branches and $12 billion in assets. About 95 of those First National Bank branches are in the seven-county Pittsburgh area.
The all-stock deal, which has been approved by both banks' boards, is expected to be completed in the third quarter. Based in Solon, Ohio, Park View ranks in the Cleveland market's top 15 banks in terms of deposits.
Novartis chairman gives up $78 million payout
BERLIN -- Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG has agreed with its outgoing chairman to scrap plans for a farewell non-compete deal that could have netted him as much as $78 million.
Daniel Vasella, 60, who is retiring later this month, announced Tuesday that he and the company had agreed to forgo a "non-compete" pay-out that many people found "unreasonably high."
News of the deal, under which Vasella would have earned up to 12 million francs a year for six years -- almost the equivalent of his current basic salary -- for not advising Novartis' competitors over the coming years, emerged last week.
Lawmakers take steps to crack down on pollution
BRUSSELS -- European lawmakers are proposing to tighten the bloc's cap-and-trade system to make carbon dioxide pollution more expensive.
The European Parliament's environment committee voted in favor of a change Tuesday that would allow the EU Commission, the bloc's executive arm, to tighten the supply of pollution rights.
-- from wire reports


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Purchased from Signor Tombola in 1884 for £1 7s 6d
Donatello (1386-1466)
Bronze partly gilt
Part of the High Altar of the Basilica di Sant'Antonio, Padua, Italy
On 23 June, 1447, Donatello contracted for four reliefs depicting Miracles performed by St Anthony of Padua. At this stage three of the reliefs, including the Miracle of the Ass of Rimini, had already been cast. In this legend, St Anthony proves the real presence of the Eucharist to a heretic who has refused to believe in it unless the ass should leave its stable and kneel before the Eucharist. The ass is shown here kneeling, adoring the Sacrament, disregarding the food that is offered to it.On 13 April 1446, a donation of 15,000 lire was accepted from a Paduan citizen, Francesco da Tergola, for the construction of the high altar of the Santo. The first payment to Donatello for the new altar occurs in February 1447. Although the altar was temporarily erected for the feast of St Anthony (June 13) 1448, and most of the major figures were cast by 1450, the project was still unfinished when Donatello left Padua in 1454. The altar originally stood at the end of the choir, close to the ambulatory, but was dismembered in 1579, when officials of the Arca decided to replace it with a larger structure, designed by Girolamo Campagna and Cesare Fianco. Although most of Donatello's sculptures were incorporated into the new altar by 1582, it was not until 1895 that all the surviving components were united in the present fanciful reconstruction by Camillo Boito. The original form of the altar remains controversial, due to the loss of almost all the original architectural elements, except for a pair of volutes (item 8 below).
The surviving components of the original altar are:
Preserved on the altar in the Basilica di Sant'Antonio:
1. Seven bronze figures in the round, comprising, the Virgin and Child enthroned, St Francis (V&A cast no. 1899-56), St Anthony of Padua, St Louis of Toulouse, St Daniel, St Justina, St Prosdocimus.
2. Four bronze reliefs depicting miracles performed by St Anthony of Padua (V&A cast nos. 1884-325 to 328).
3. Four bronze reliefs containing Symbols of the Evangelists.
4. Twelve bronze reliefs of angels (V&A cast nos. 1870-18 and 18 A to K).
5. A bronze relief of the Dead Christ Lamented by Two Angels (V&A cast no. 1884-329).
6. A limestone relief depicting the Entombment.
7. A bronze relief of the Dead Christ with seven angels, by an unidentified Venetian sculptor (V&A cast no 1884-330).
In the Museo Antoniano, Padua:
8. A pair of volutes, thought to have come from the canopy which once surmounted the altar.
In the Museo Salvatore, Romano, Florence:
9. Marble reliefs depicting the half-length figures of St Prosdocimus and another saint, possibly two of the four half-length saints seen by Marcantonio Michiel on the back of the altar, in the early 16th century.


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Historical Manuscripts Collection List »
JOHN E. BAKER. Papers; 1910-1925. .25 cu. ft.
John E. Baker was a lawyer who came to Alaska in 1897. In that year he became an employee of the Alaska Commercial Company (later the Northern Commercial Company) and served the company for many years in several towns throughout Alaska including Forty-Mile Station, Eagle, Fairbanks, Tanana, the Hotsprings Post, McGrath (where he built the station), and finally Takotna, where he homesteaded. In 1922, he tried unsuccessfully to get his name on the ballot as Takotna's independent candidate for Territorial Legislature.
The collection consists of six series--letters to John E. Baker from various relations, friends, and business associates; legal papers; certificates; clippings; and photographs of family members, friends, buildings, and other subjects.
The collection was given to Olga Doheny in 1947. It was part of the original deposit of the Strandberg, Erickson, and Doheny Family materials in 1981, and was established as a separate collection in 1983.
A. Correspondence
1. Jennie H. Ballin (Fairbanks, AK) to J. E. Baker (n.p.); n.d. Post card with picture of George H. Thomas Memorial Library, Fairbanks, AK; wishes merry Christmas and says she hopes to see him before another year goes by.
2. Alyce Drive(?), c/o A. C. Company (n.p.) to J. E. Baker (Kuskokwim, AK); September 15, 1910. Post card with photograph of people in auto.
3. Detroit Boat Company (Detroit, MI) to J. E. Baker (Washburn, AK); February 11, 1911. Letter concerning their line of canoes.
4. Mrs. J. S. Churchill (Marcola, OR) to J. E. Baker (Ophir, AK); June 21, 1913. Envelope only.
5. Mabe [Hughes] (n.p.) to J. E. Baker (Ophir, AK); August 8, 1914. Post card with photograph of Nye Beach, Newport, Oregon.
6. Local Enrolling Agent, Public Service Reserve (Fairbanks, AK) to J. E. Baker (Ophir, AK); January 22, 1919. Letter concerning enrollment in the Public Service Reserve.
7. H. S. Reis, the Searchlight (Washington, DC) to J. E. Baker (Ophir, AK); June 18, 1920. Letter acknowledging receipt of funds for membership in the National Voters' League and subscription to The Searchlight.
8. Sue S. White, Tennessee Chairman (n.p.) to Miss Paul (n.p.); June 30, 1920. Letter regarding women's suffrage situation in Tennessee.
9. Genevieve Koepp (Eugene, OR) to J. E. Baker (Ophir, AK); July 1, 1920. Letter from niece describing life at home. With envelope.
10. Alice Paul, National Chairman, National Women's Party (Washington, DC) to "Dear Suffragist" (n.p.); July 3, 1920. Letter asking for support of women's suffrage campaign.
11. Mabe [Maebelle Hughes] (n.p.) to J. E. Baker (McGrath, AK); September 6, 1920. Post card with photograph of Salmon River at Tauney's Mountain Home.
12. Secretary, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC) to J. E. Baker (McGrath, AK); April 13, 1921. Letter acknowledging receipt of funds for membership and subscription.
13. Basil Manly, Director, Peoples' Legislative Service (Washington, DC) to J. E. Baker (Ophir, AK); May 25, 1921. Letter inviting membership in Peoples' Legislative Service Organization.
14. Mabe [Maebelle Hughes] (Salem, OR) to J. E. Baker (Takotna, AK); December 9, 1921. Christmas card with envelope.
15. Dan Sutherland, Delegate from Alaska, U.S. House of Representatives (Washington, DC) to J. E. Baker (Takotna, AK); May 25, 1922. Letter regarding the construction of wagon roads by Alaskan Engineering Commission with attached letter to Albert B. Hall, Secretary of the Interior, on the same subject.
16. A. V. Thorn (n.p.) to J. E. Baker (Takotna, AK); June 15, 1922. Note attached to biographical sketch of J. E. Baker to be submitted for Baker's candidacy for Territorial Legislature.
17. Robert W. Taylor, Clerk of the District Court (Fairbanks, AK) to A. V. Thorn (McGrath, AK); August 29, 1922. Letter concerning a petition to place J. E. Baker on the ballot for the Territorial Legislature.
18. W. F. Green (McGrath, AK) to R. W. Taylor, Clerk of the District Court (Fairbanks, AK); October 1, 1922. Telegram regarding independent candidate fees for John E. Baker.
19. Dan Sr. [Marsters] (n.p.) to Mrs. Mabel Hughes (Salem, OR); October 10, 1922. Post card announcing the birth of a son - Dan Jr. - including a clipping from the newspaper. Post card is a photograph of General Hospital, Eugene, OR.
20. Robert W. Taylor, Clerk of the District Court (Fairbanks, AK) to J. E. Baker (McGrath, AK); October 26, 1922. Letter regarding Baker's candidacy for Territorial Legislature.
21. R. W. Taylor (Fairbanks, AK) to W. F. Green (McGrath, AK); November 1, 1922. Letter stating he did not receive J. E. Baker's independent candidate fees.
22. W. F. Green (McGrath, AK) to J. E. Baker (n.p.); November 12, 1922. Letter transmitting refund for independent candidate fees and explaining situation.
23. Dan Sutherland, Delegate from Alaska, U. S. House of Representatives (Washington, DC) to J. E. Baker (Takotna, AK); March 13, 1923. Letter stating that he is sending seeds left over from Alaska's allotment; discussing experimental stations in Alaska, and farming.
24. Mabe [Maebelle Hughes] (Oregon) to J. E. Baker (McGrath, AK); July 6, 1923. Post card with photograph of Jump Off Joe, Summer, 1913, Newport, Oregon.
25. [Sister] Nan (Frederic, Wisconsin) to J. E. Baker (McGrath, AK); December 18, 1923. Christmas card with wishes for happy birthday.
26. Mrs. Leila B. Marsters (Eugene, OR) and Mrs. Maebelle B. Hughes (Salem, OR) to Takotna Igloo No. 14, Pioneers of Alaska (n.p.); February 16, 1925. Letter thanking them for their friendship to their father, J. E. Baker, and explains about their relationship with Baker.
27. Mrs. Leila B. Marsters (Eugene, OR) and Mrs. Maebelle B. Hughes (Salem, OR) to G. Murdock (Seattle, WA); February 16, 1925. Thanks him for his friendship to their father, J. E. Baker, and encloses a letter of authority for disposition of his ashes (not included).
28. Ben Twitchell (Takotna, AK) to Olga Doheny (n.p.); April 15, 1957. Letter explaining the discovery of J. E. Baker's papers and why he is sending them to her.
B. Legal Papers
1. Handwritten agreement for boarding and care of dogs, signed by Lee W. Atwater and J. E. Baker; May 26, 1910.
2. Power of Attorney - J. E. Baker for A. H. Fischer (Fairbanks, AK); August 30, 1910.
3. Power of Attorney - J. E. Baker for C. F. Rhind (Fairbanks, AK); August 30, 1910.
4. Power of Attorney - J. E. Baker for M. M. Smith, E. C. Clausen, A. R. Utberg, A. Landaas - to stake, locate, and record lode claims, placer mining ground, town lots, water rights, etc.; September 15, 1910.
C. Certificates
1. Certificate of Membership - National Geographic Society; September 30, 1920.
D. Financial Papers
1. Check #632, Office Clerk District Court, 4th Division, Fairbanks, Alaska, in the amount of $1 payable to J. E. Baker; March 27, 1912.
2. Receipt for fees for petition for election; April 22, 1922.
3. Check for $1 and letter of explanation from Spiegel, Mayo Stern Company (Chicago, IL) to Mrs. E. Baker (Takotna, AK); April 22, 1923.
4. J. H. McLean General Merchandise (Takotna, AK) receipts for merchandise - groceries, clothing, and personal items; February 28 to June 22, 1924.
E. Clippings
1. Article on "John Baker's" death in boating accident (Note: it is believed that this John Baker is not J. E. Baker according to his daughters' letter, J. E. Baker died of some illness in Alaska. Other information indicates that J. E. Baker died at the Pioneer Home in Sitka, AK); n.d.
F. Photographs
1. Alaska
a. Two men in front of mountain with embossed seal of Pioneers of Alaska., Takotna Igloo No. 14.
b. River with embossed seal of Pioneers of Alaska, Takotna Igloo No. 14.
c. J. E. Baker Homestead, Takotna, AK (copy 1).
d. J. E. Baker Homestead, Takotna, AK (copy 2).
e. J. E. Baker Homestead, Takotna, AK (copy 3).
f. J. E. Baker Homestead, Takotna, AK (copy 4).
2. Hughes Family (Maebelle Baker Hughes, daughter)
a. Portrait of Maebelle (in tan folder).
b. Maebelle and son, John, with friends on asylum grounds, July, 1921.
c. Maebelle, John, and friend in river.
d. Frank [Hughes] at Niagra.
e. John Hughes, 2 years and 4 months (ca. April, 1916).
f. Frank and Maebelle - outing on the Mohawk.
g. John E. Jr. on his bike.
h. John E. Jr. fishing.
i. Maebelle, John, and friend in stream.
j. John E. Jr. and friend on asylum grounds, July 1921.
k. John Hughes, 9 months old (ca. September, 1914).
l. Maebelle and John.
m. Maebelle and John.
n. Portrait of Maebelle (in brown folder).
3. Sister, Annie
a. Portrait of Annie in chair.
b. Annie and three women in front of fallen tree.
c. Annie and "Char Boy" in front of cook house,
d. Annie, Will, Lola, the dishwasher, and the Char Boy by the wood pile behind the cook house.
e. Annie and the cook house crew.
f. Annie's niece, Lola, and friend.
g. Annie's niece, Lola, and friends.
h. Lola and friends with horse and dog.
i. Camp where Annie works.
j. Derailed train.
4. Niece,
a. Belle and Lottie.
b. Belle and Lottie.
c. Belle's house in Marcola.
5. Other Family
a. Portrait of 4 generations: Mother; Sister, Nan; Niece, Mary Kinsey; Niece's daughters, Alice and Elinor Kinsey.
b. Cleo and Ellsworth (addressed to Grandma Baker) - two very young children.
c. Niece, Edith Miller,
d. Sister, Dora, with two other women and baby.
6. Unidentified
a. "Jessie's daughter and husband" in horse-drawn carriage.
b. Young boy and woman on a bridge.
c. Four women and two men in auto (Alyce in front seat).
7. Unidentified
a. House in winter.
b. House in fall.


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AppGrab: Fight the Power (Consumption)!
- Nov 28, 2006 8:26 PM EST
- [num] Comments
A new website called LocalCooling.com claims to "fight global warming from your desktop" by optimizing your PCs power setttings to conserve electricity. I just downloaded the free little widget, and as far as I can tell, it basically lets you customize your power-saver settings, letting you choose how long your PC should wait before shutting off the monitor, spinning down the disks, and/or shutting off entirely. Sure, you could do all that yourself without the utility, but it reports back on how much energy you've saved with it, and reports the stats in trees, gallons of oil, or kilowatt hours saved.
Of course, it's not super effective if you do what I just did and customize it to shut down the PC only after 8 idle hours "just in case."
- Categories:
- Free Downloads


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The report provides analysis of Africa's largest market where the government has established a number investment promotion initiatives whereby it will provide funding support to investors that address certain types of investments, most notably those aimed at providing broadband access to specific stakeholder groups or communities. Analysis includes private equity and banking sectors and Investment funds active in infrastructure and related ICT investing as well as existing telecom players, new entrants and upcoming government and private projects
Nigeria is one of Africa's largest markets, with a population exceeding 150 million people. It has enjoyed a GDP growth rate averaging more than 6% per year over the past eight years. The market is fully liberalized, with competition allowed in virtually all segments. And there is a unified licensing regime in place, which allows operators to offer converged services. The total number of fixed lines (including fixed wireless access) was as paltry 1.4 million at the end of 2009. The failed sale of Nitel, the state-owned fixed line operator, resulted in the operator experiencing numerous problems, including loss of 90% of its subscribers. The Nigerian government is once again looking for a private sector partner to take control of the troubled Nitel. And while, overall, fixed wireless access has grown, there is a great deal of volatility amongst the fourteen licensed operators.
There are more than 70 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria and it has the largest mobile subscriber base in Africa. Five GSM operators are active in the Nigerian mobile market and four CDMA network operators. The Mobile penetration rate at the end of 2009 was 48%. With the mobile subscriber penetration potential being more than 100%, there is ample room for growth in the market. National backbone coverage is limited and, in keeping with the government's Vision 2020 initiative, there are plans underway to extend the backbone, which will provide additional opportunities for investors. The imminent lighting up of the MainOne and Glo-1 undersea cables connecting to the country is also likely to yield a wide range of growth opportunities in making international bandwidth more readily available. The number of fixed line/fixed wireless access subscribers in Nigeria is expected to increase to a modest 2.9 million by 2014, indicating that the access mode of preference will continue to be by mobile phone. The number of mobile subscribers is expected to grow at 10% per year over the period, reaching almost 114 million by 2014, and representing net additions of almost 42 million subscribers. Mobile teledensity will approach 66% over this period. The number of internet users is set to increase to 36 million.
The Nigerian government has established a number investment promotion initiatives whereby it will provide funding support to investors that address certain types of investments, most notably those aimed at providing broadband access to specific stakeholder groups or communities. The government is also actively promoting electronics manufacturing in Nigeria on the basis that Nigerian ICT markets are big enough to support local manufacture. Nigeria thus offers a wide range of investment opportunities in a rapidly growing market. Whilst this market is currently somewhat exposed to the price for oil and exchange rate fluctuations, the diversification efforts of the Nigerian government are certain to reduce this dependence – leading to enhanced opportunities. The risks are higher than in more established markets but so are the potential returns in what is likely to be a very lucrative telecoms market for many years to come. SHOW LESS READ MORE >
- Objectives Of The Study
- Research Methodology
- A Note On Forecasts
- Currency
- Acknowledgements
Rationale For Selecting Nigeria
Overview Of The Nigerian Economy
- Oil Dependence
- Regionalism
- Corruption
- Vision 2020
- Prospects For The Nigerian Economy
Ict'S In Nigeria
- The Fixed Line Market
- Undersea Cable
- The Mobile Market
- Internet
- Challenges In Nigerian Ict Markets
Key Players
- Nitel
- Mtn Nigeria
- Globacom Nigeria
- Zain (Formerly Celtel)
- Emts
- Mainone Cable Company (Nigeria) Ltd
- Visafone Communications Ltd
- Starcomms Nigeria Plc
- G-Cell Wireless Ltd (Gicell Or G-Cell)
- Helios Towers
- Nigcomsat
- Ipnx
Regulatory Context And Prognosis
- Overview Of Ict Legislation
- Licensing Framework
Investment Environment
- Foreign Investment
- Banking Sector
- Private Equity
Investment Prospects
- Historical Investment In The Ict Sector
- Market Growth Prospects And Forecast
- The Fixed Line/ Fixed Wireless Access Market
- Mobile Market Forecast
- Internet Market Forecast
- Government Investment Promotion Initiatives
- Investment Opportunities In The Fixed Line Network And Backbone
- Investment Opportunities In Mobile Networks
- Other Investment Opportunities
- Investment In Nigeria In Perspective
Appendix 1: Key Contacts
Nigeria: Real Annual Gdp Growth Rate
Teledensity In Africa (Nigeria)
Nigeria: Fixed Lines In Services (2000 – 2009)
Nigeria: Mobile Subscribers (2000 – 2009)
Nigeria: Internet Users (2000 – 2009)
Nigeria: Cumulative Private Sector Investment (2000 – 2008)
Nigeria: Fixed Line Forecast (2000 – 2014)
Nigeria: Mobile Subscriber Forecast (2000 – 2014)
Nigeria: Internet Usage Forecast (2000 – 2014)
Nigeria: Internet Subscriber Forecast (2000 – 2014)
Nigeria: Key Statistics
Ict Usage In Nigeria (2008 And 2009 Estimates)
Nigeria: Mobile Market Share By Service Provider (September 2009)
Nigeria: Mobile Market Growth By Service Provider (Q1 To Q3 2009)
Mtn Nigeria Financial Data
Zain Nigeria Financial Data
Starcomms Financial Data
Registered Financial Institutions In Nigeria
Investment Companies And Funds Active In Nigeria And Sub-Saharan Africa


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• A healthy young man developed acute anterior myelitis resembling the "polio syndrome." He had visited an area (the Gulf of Suez) in which West Nile fever is endemic prior to his illness. The course of his febrile illness, the spinal fluid findings, and complement fixation antibody titers established the diagnosis of West Nile fever. Meningoencephalitis is a serious, and previously the only known, complication of this usually benign febrile illness. This is the first report, to our knowledge, of another neurological complication, namely acute anterior myelitis.
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I'm relieved. With the push of a button the pressure is on, but it's not on me. It's in the pot.
A newbie to pressure cooking, I joined an InstaPot group on Facebook and I follow the advice of the Veggie Queen.
My initial interest in electric pressure cookers was sparked by the Happy Herbivore, Lindsay Nixon. This link to the Happy Herbivore site will take you to a post written by Jill Nussinow, the Veggie Queen.
Jill wears her crown well. Her warm, prompt, and knowledgable response to my email inquiries prompted me to purchase one of her cookbooks. I haven't been disappointed. The New Fast Food, (though not written specifically for electric pressure cookers) is my go-to resource. I love her active participation in the InstaPot Facebook group too.
The Beet Salad (pictured above) is Jill's recipe. You can find it here.
This Summer Minestrone recipe came from The New Fast Food cookbook.
I followed Jill's recipe in The New Fast Food for steel-cut oats too.
Dr. McDougall's website has valuable information (much of it free) for anyone seeking excellent health. The Mexican Rice recipe isn't written for a pressure cooker but I used mine to cook the rice. Download the free 10-day Meal Plan Recipes. You'll find the recipe here.
Baked potatoes, ears of corn, kale, beans and almond-milk yogurt . . . I've only begun.
What will you cook first with your Instant Pot?


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just like it says go there and your next anime convention should be in there "note: this conventions is a world wide convention your gonna have to look for the next one"


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Learning from My Mother's Voice: Family Legend and the Chinese American Experienceby Jean Lau Chin
"As the reader takes Jean Lau Chin's guided tours through myth and cultural history, it is clear that these stories are more than entertainment: They represent cultural messages about living as a woman. The juxtaposition of Chinese and Western myths with their similarities and differences, followed by the author's incisive analysis of contemporary stories depicting Asian women in print and on the screen, provide culturally driven connections to perceptions and behaviors of Chinese women both individually and in relation to the world. Through these stories, a rich tapestry of information about Chinese women and Chinese American women emerges. The stereotypical Chinese woman fails to appear as the various lenses of ethnicity, gender, location, and epoch make explicit the diversity that exists within any ethnic group and liberate us by providing an informed array of images and possibilities." From Book
Select your format based upon: 1) how you want to read your book, and 2) compatibility with your reading tool. To learn more about using Bookshare with your device, visit the Help Center.
Here is an overview of the specialized formats that Bookshare offers its members with links that go to the Help Center for more information.
- Bookshare Web Reader - a customized reading tool for Bookshare members offering all the features of DAISY with a single click of the "Read Now" link.
- DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) - a digital book file format. DAISY books from Bookshare are DAISY 3.0 text files that work with just about every type of access technology that reads text. Books that contain images will have the download option of 'DAISY Text with Images'.
- BRF (Braille Refreshable Format) - digital Braille for use with refreshable Braille devices and Braille embossers.
- MP3 (Mpeg audio layer 3) - Provides audio only with no text. These books are created with a text-to-speech engine and spoken by Kendra, a high quality synthetic voice from Ivona. Any device that supports MP3 playback is compatible.
- DAISY Audio - Similar to the Daisy 3.0 option above; however, this option uses MP3 files created with our text-to-speech engine that utilizes Ivonas Kendra voice. This format will work with Daisy Audio compatible players such as Victor Reader Stream and Read2Go.


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7 Strategies to Grow Ecommerce Revenue
As an ecommerce business owner, I focused on growing revenue. With increasing competition in most markets, ecommerce merchants need to continually grow revenue to add stability to their businesses and to cover rising operating costs.
Recall from my previous articles — such as "Who Needs an Ecommerce Strategy, Anyway?" — a "strategy" is an idea. A "tactic" is a plan or action to support your idea. Here are seven revenue-growth strategies to consider.
- Acquiring new customers.
- Targeting new markets.
- Sell more to existing customers.
- Increase your average order size.
- Expand your product lines.
- Increase prices.
- Cross-channel marketing.
Some of these strategies are quick and inexpensive to implement — remarketing to your existing customer base, for example. Others are more expensive and time consuming. When evaluating strategies, remember the big picture. Though more expensive and time consuming, investing in a new store serving a new market may double your business, versus the incremental bump you may receive from another idea.
Acquiring New Customers
Every ecommerce business presumably seeks new customers. But, are you really focused in that effort? Here are some ideas.
- Referral sales. Set up a referral program to leverage your existing customers. Give them an incentive to refer your to their friends through social media, email or other venues.
- Increase advertising. Pay-per-click ads, remarketing ads, content ads, print ads targeting new customers, keywords, or products.
- Social media buzz Run a sweepstakes or contest in Facebook to get new email subscribers, blog a lot, Tweet about your specials and new products, expand your followers and fans.
- New positioning. Create a new marketing campaign with a fresh look and feel that will appeal to a different market segment, refresh your website with a more modern look, get some media exposure and create buzz about something you do differently than your competition.
If you want to increase your sales by 20 percent, you need to acquire 20 percent more customers. It's possible that your new customers will not buy quite as much initially as your current ones, so factor that into your plans.
Targeting New Markets
By "new markets," I'm referring to entirely new consumers that don't know your store exists.
In some cases new markets may be reached through a new store. In other cases, such as targeting an overseas market, it may require translating your website into the local language.
- Overseas markets. Consider localizing your website for various languages and target those countries through ads, social media and other marketing efforts. In the case of English-speaking countries, it may be as simple as creating new landing pages to reassure customers that you are committed to serving their country and understand shipping, customs processes, and local habits.
- Niche market. You can expand your offerings in a niche market and open a new store to just service it. We did that in my previous ecommerce business by opening a store that focused on jewelry, instead of beads and pendants.
- Broader market. If you have a niche store, consider expanding your offerings to a broader market.
- Wholesale or retail? There are many stores that start out either wholesale or retail and find that by simply modifying their pricing strategies they are able to serve the other market. Be clear about the differences — there are many. But it is a viable alternative for many ecommerce businesses.
- Mobile. More and more people shop on their smartphones. You will lose sales if you do not serve this market.
- Sell in a new channel. Expand your product offerings to marketplaces like Amazon, Buy.com, Overstock.com, Sears.com, or eBay. In many cases, these are different consumers than your existing ones. When we added an Amazon store in 2010, for example, we found a great new market for products we had previously sold mostly wholesale. It turned out to be a high-volume and high-margin marketplace for some very obscure gemstone pendants that were not selling well in our original target market.
The advantage to targeting new markets as a strategy is the impact can be huge versus incremental. The disadvantages are that the investment can be substantial and the risk higher.
Sell More to Existing Customers
I like this strategy for most businesses. Merchants sometimes get lost in trying to get new customers and forget about the thousands of customers who buy from them already. There are many ways to get more revenue from your existing customers. Most of them require little investment.
- More remarketing. Email newsletters are a tremendous way to do remarketing. You can email promotions for abandoned shopping carts, send transactional email promotions with all orders and shipping confirmations. You can target promotions to the most likely buyers for the products you sell.
- Aggressive promotions. Target your email subscribers, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers with aggressive promotions on a limited number of items. Offer them deals only on the products you know they like and try to up-sell and cross sell other products with higher margins. People like a deal. We found that customers will also spend money on other impulse buys at the same time.
- Loyalty programs. This is a no brainer to me. Offer your most loyal customers an enticement. It can be as simple as free or same day shipping. In our case, we offered customers who spent over a certain threshold an additional annual discount. That kept them loyal to us and decreased the likelihood they would shop around for a better price.
- Daily deals. Offer a daily deal to keep people looking at your store and keep your brand front and center. It will increase the likelihood of purchasing from your store, even if they don't respond to the deal of the day
Increase Average Order Size
Many companies overlook this strategy. Here are a few specific ideas.
- More aggressive up-sells. Make sure your website is displaying up-sell items on the product detail pages and within your shopping cart. We found that by presenting customers with 3 or 5 similar choices, they almost always chose a product in the mid-to-higher range. If you don't present those choices, you may sell the least expensive or have them leave your site if they think you only offer a more expensive alternative.
- Cross-product selling. Present relevant related products on your product detail pages and within your shopping cart. Some carts are highly automated to present items that are frequently sold together. But we found that by adding specific complementary items ourselves, we increased selling them together.
- Volume promotions. If your shopping cart will support it, offer a volume discount. If your average order size is $50, offer a 10 percent discount at $75 and a 15 percent discount at $150. Have a pop-up to remind customers they are only a certain dollar amount away from a discount, and present some items in that price range for them to choose from.
Increasing the average order size as a strategy can be elusive in the long run, as your order size probably fluctuates seasonally and over time. But, if you choose it as a strategy and execute a plan to make it successful, you will likely find success.
Expand Products
Of all the strategies listed here, this may be the most effective. It also may carry a hefty price tag if you need to make a substantial investment in inventory and manpower to get the products in your store and promoted to your customer base.
It is straightforward: Know your customers and add the products they are likely to buy. Troll your competitors and figure out what's selling well. Talk to your suppliers and see what other stores are selling. Ask your customers what they want.
- Add new product lines. In this case, I'm talking about products that are loosely related to your current product lines. You may get the benefit of additional sales to existing customers and you may also be able to target customers who were not likely to visit your stores before you sold them.
- Expand selection of existing lines. In our ecommerce sites, we added "known" sellers first, whenever possible. Over time, we would add other colors, styles, sizes, and so forth. This is a very low risk investment and a logical way to grow your store over time.
Adding a new product line may require learning about a new market and developing a different way of merchandising it. It may also require more resources to display online or fulfill the orders. Make sure you consider the impact on the rest of your business before you proceed.
Increase Prices
Here's an old concept that still works. Increase your prices by a very small percentage. You don't have to do it on everything. It does not have to be a huge amount. If you increase your prices across the board by 5 percent, your revenues go up by 5 percent. The risk of losing sales exists, but it's pretty small. A 15 percent increase will be noticed, but not 1 to 5 percent, typically.
- Mark up prices across the board. Try a small increase and see if anyone notices.
- Mark up prices for select items, You may have certain items that do not have much price elasticity. Increasing the price on those items would raise a stir with your customers. In that case, leave those prices intact and only raise the prices on more niche or less popular items.
- Charge for shipping. In this era of free shipping, this is a different approach. But, give it a try. Charge for shipping on smaller orders. Charge a small handling fee on all orders. Shipping costs go up every year — usually two or three times per year. Why pay that on an ongoing basis? It's reducing your profits. If you ship 500 small orders per month and recover $3.00 per order, that's $1,500 in revenue.
Cross-channel Marketing
For those of you with both a physical and online presence, coordinate those efforts. Here are some cross-channel marketing ideas that many larger retailers use.
- Sell online, pick up in stores. If you have an online store, allow your customers to pick the order up in the physical store. This allows them to have something now, not pay for shipping, and it gets them into your store where they may actually buy something else.
- Buy in store, offer free shipping. If a customer is in your physical store and wants to buy something but you do not have in stock, order it for them online and have it shipped to them at no cost. This is a particular pet peeve for me. Retailers simply don't carry the selections they used to and inevitably I find myself frustrated that they never seem to have what's in their catalog in their store. Do the right thing and order it for them and ship it to them.
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Comments ( 7 )
Handling charges? Customers aren't stupid (though some businesses are), and your competition is but a click away. The average customer (who buys) will visit your site seven times before purchasing, and this is because they're visiting your competitors as well. And yes, customers notice when you nickel-and-dime them with small price increases, and this drives them elsewhere.
If I'm a customer and I see a widget on your site for $9.99 and I see it on your competitor's site for $9.49, guess where I'm going to be making the purchase. Customers are presently in a state of revolt, and are demanding more for less.
Free shipping on orders over $99 has become standard in ecommerce, and when a customer is required to pay for shipping, this amount is figured into the price comparison process.
You have to drive your traffic up, and you need to include cross-selling. Up-selling is bad, because once a customer chooses a product you don't want to belittle your customer's choice. "Perhaps you'd like a cover for your amplifier?" A good example of cross-selling. "This amplifier is better than the one you chose." That is the message that you don't want to be sending. Your shopping cart has category listings, and this is how you up-sell. You do it before the customer has made the choice. Present your customer with options, but never belittle the customer's choice.
During these terrible economic times, businesses are going to have to face the fact that deflation is as inevitable as aging. Everyone takes a bite in times like this, and businesses must be prepared to accept the fact that their bottom-lines will be negatively affected by the need to reduce prices. Reduces prices or die. It's your choice.
Great article. I've been meaning to offer a wholesale program on my website but I don't want to reinvent the wheel doing this. Is there a good reference online for figuring out how to set up discounts as an online retailer?
Good article! we are planning how to expend our online stores these days and we decided to go with several strategies you referred to. i would have had:
1.working on increasing conversion rate: usually as you already paid / gained the current traffic you have working on increasing conversion rate would be of the highest ROI. adding more payment options, more currencies customers can pay with, more secure seals, testing different add to cart buttons etc..
2. increasing profit margin on your products: getting better deals from your suppliers, changing them, importing directly and so on can highly increase your revenue
Good article! we are planning how to expend our online stores these days and we decided to go with several strategies you referred to. i would have had:
1. Working on increasing conversion rate: usually as you already paid / gained the current traffic you have working on increasing conversion rate would be of the highest ROI. adding more payment options, more currencies customers can pay with, more secure seals, testing different add to cart buttons etc..
2. Increasing profit margin on your products: getting better deals from your suppliers, changing them, importing directly and so on can highly increase your revenue
Great read!
I will refer to the #6 rule: Increase prices.
Well, in a nutshell having the magic price is the key to winning over your price sensitive customers.
Since price matters, then being competitive is a key asset.
Selling at a price which is too HIGH or too LOW may lead to an immediate plummeting in sales.
Hence, you should consider using some competitive pricing solutions, i.e. (WisePricer.com) to stay a head of your competition.
Good luck!
Very good article and relevant for any serious online merchant!
regarding #3. Sell more to existing customers.
I would like to recommend MailBeez (www.mailbeez.com), which is a highly specialized addon for zencart, cre loaded, loaded commerce, oscommerce, xt commerce and other oscommerce forks.
MailBeez allows to target the existing customer base with targeted life cycle emails.
The basic framework is free and can be enhanced with free and premium modules. That allows to test everything and enhance the system based on requirements and budget.
Also a customer referral module "ReferralHoney" is available which makes any existing customer to a marketeer by running coupon campaigns which can be share through facebook, twitter, google+ and other channels.
The official integration with MailChimp allows to boost delivery rates and more.
Customers do look at prices, but they also look at reliability, transparency and good reviews. I would rather spend a bit more at a company which has better reviews, than save a couple of bucks with a retailer who has a poor rating.


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Stop! Thief!
Jared Guest of Hackettstown caught this groundhog in the act of scaling the fence in Adriane Fowler's garden. You would think that a sturdy wire fence would prevent break-ins, but obviously this groundhog has skills worthy of a prison inmate bent on escape or a rock climber ready to assault a vertical cliff. What's next? Groundhogs in hang gliders?
The traditional fix for fence-climbing critters involves leaving a loose flap of wire fence flopping outward above support posts. When the Edmund Hillarys of the groundhog set attempt to reach the summit, the loose fencing fails to support their weight, spilling them on the ground.
Groundhogs are more adept at climbing than you might think and don't actually need the ladder-like footholds provided by wire mesh. I have spotted groundhogs 20 feet up in my mulberry tree, grinning at me from a high limb like the Cheshire Cat. I have to believe they were after fresh mulberry leaves since at the time there was plenty of ripe fruit on the ground. I know that because the robins, crows, deer and foxes all dropped by to chow down.
What we think of as a garden the critters see as a handy convenience store. Kind of makes you sympathize with Farmer Brown and Elmer Fudd, doesn't it?


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What: Shares of Investment Technology Group (NYSE: ITG ) , a global independent research and execution broker, jumped as much as 10% after reporting its first-quarter results.
So what: For the quarter, Investment Technology Group reported a 3% decrease in revenue to $132.1 million, and an adjusted profit of $0.24 per share, which is up from the $0.14 in EPS reported during the same period last year. ITG attributed its strong results to strength in its European business and its first sequential increase in U.S. revenue capture since the first quarter of 2011. By comparison, the Street had only been expecting ITG to report a profit of $0.17 per share on $131.2 million in revenue.
Now what: From a positive perspective, ITG is doing a really good job of controlling its expenses and improving its operating efficiencies worldwide. However, ITG is also contending with weak trading volumes in many of its markets, which tends to put the company in the back seat rather than the driver's seat when it comes to boosting its bottom line. With that in mind, even at a reasonable 14 times forward earnings, I'd rather stay firmly on the sidelines.
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Many routes will bring you into the river corridor. New York Scenic Route 97 runs parallel to the river and connects Port Jervis, NY and Hancock, NY at each end of Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.
From Albany, NY, take I-87S (New York Thruway, toll) to Kingston, NY (Exit 19), then US 209S to NY 17W to Monticello; then NY 17B to NY 52W, then NY 97N to Narrowsburg or NY 97S to Lackawaxen and points south.
From Binghamton, NY, take NY 17E to Hancock, NY (Exit 87) then NY 97S.
From Monticello, NY, routes NY 17B and NY 42 lead into the Upper Delaware Valley.
From Scranton, PA, take I-81 to US 6E (Exit 187) through Carbondale and Honesdale, to PA 652E to Narrowsburg and NY 97.
From Philadelphia and Allentown, PA, proceed north on I-476 (PA Turnpike, Northeast Extension) to Wyoming Valley (exit 115). Take I-81 north to US 6E (Exit 187) through Carbondale and Honesdale, to PA 652E to Narrowsburg and NY 97.
From Stroudsburg and Milford, PA, take US 209N to US 6W, then PA 434N to Shohola, PA, or 434N/590W to Lackawaxen, PA or from Milford, take US 209N/6E to Port Jervis, then NY 97N.
From Northwestern New Jersey, NJ 23N leads to Port Jervis, NY, then take US 6W to NY 97N.
Contact your livery or lodging provider for specific directions to their site.