text:
Decker & Co., a broker dedicated to the southeast Asia/frontier space, launched this week.
New products introduced over the last week include a suite of large-cap equity funds from Nuveen and four new corporate term bond ETFs from BlackRock.
Meanwhile, Vanguard added new interactive graphics to help retirement plan participants.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Decker & Co Launches; Dedicated to Southeast Asia/Frontier Space
Decker & Co, the first U.S.-based broker to be fully dedicated to the southeast Asia/frontier space, announced recently that it is fully licensed and operational. The firm's clearing partner is Broadcort, a division of Merrill Lynch. The new firm will offer U.S. funds access to local research and listed corporates through its partnership approach. In doing so, it will fully promote its partners' brands regionally to help them build their own brand equity. It plans to bring handpicked corporates to the U.S. and will frequently visit Asia for that purpose. The firm will also arrange investor trips to Asia at least quarterly.
Mark Decker has more than 20 years' experience in the region, including positions in Hong Kong with Bear Stearns/Lehman Brothers and CLSA in the '90s. He was also director of equities at SCB Securities in Thailand, and was responsible for the opening of the west coast office of Kim Eng Securities in 2009. The firm's team has relationships with funds focused on investing in southeast Asia. Its network includes broker partners in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan and Cambodia.
2) Nuveen Asset Management Launches New Equity Strategies
Nuveen Investments has announced the availability of a new suite of large-cap equity mutual funds managed by Bob Doll, Nuveen's asset management chief equity strategist and senior portfolio manager.
The series includes six newly created funds and three funds having recently transitioned to Doll. They are: traditional, Nuveen Large Cap Value Fund (NNGAX); Nuveen Large Cap Core Fund (NLACX); Nuveen Large Cap Growth Fund (NLAGX); specialty, Nuveen Core Dividend Fund (NCDAX); Nuveen Concentrated Core Fund (NCADX); Nuveen Growth Fund (NSAGX); and alternative, Nuveen Large Cap Core Plus Fund (NLAPX); Nuveen Equity/Long Short Fund (NELAX); and Nuveen Equity Market Neutral Fund (NMAEX).
3) BlackRock Expands iSharesBonds Suite of Defined Maturity ETFs
BlackRock announced recently that its iShares ETFs business has expanded its suite of iShares bonds with four new corporate term ETFs. These new products offer investors access to a diversified pool of investment-grade corporate credit securities with a defined maturity date, daily liquidity and price transparency. If iSharesBonds are held until maturity, investors can expect a yield that is similar to the yield to maturity of the underlying bonds held in the ETF. The four new iSharesBonds are as follows: iSharesBond 2016 Corporate Term ETF (IBDA); iSharesBond 2018 Corporate Term ETF (IBDB); iSharesBond 2020 Corporate Term ETF (IBDC); and iSharesBond 2023 Corporate Term ETF (IBDD)
4) Vanguard Offers New Tools for Retirement Plan Participants
Vanguard is offering new interactive graphics to help 401(k) retirement plan participants make key decisions about their retirement assets. Two examples of this new technology are the "Boost Your Savings" dial and its retirement analysis alerts. Both tools are delivered to participants based on their savings rate, investment mix, other retirement readiness indicators, and plan features. They are prominently displayed on the vanguard.com secure home page of targeted participants.
The savings booster is a spedometer-like gauge that displays a participant's current savings rate and recommends a range of increases. Users can turn the dial to the number they want and in one click, submit a request to change their regular contribution amount. In a test of the dial, Vanguard recommended a 1%, 2% or 3% increase. Participants who used the dial between its rollout in December 2012 and May 2013 increased their savings rate by an average of 2%.
Retirement analysis alerts are delivered in the form of a stoplight to encourage participants to use either of two investment advice services if offered within their plan. One is the personal online advisor (POA), which provides a personalized forecast and fund recommendations from Financial Engines. The other is the Vanguard managed account program (VMAP), powered by Financial Engines, which creates, implements and monitors a custom plan for a fee. For the year to date through May, nearly a quarter of the participants who received these alerts clicked on them. Of those who responded, 12% adopted POA and 6% chose to enroll in VMAP.
Read the July 5 Portfolio Products Roundup.


text:
"Giselle" is everyone's favorite story ballet, at least everyone over the age of 12, and there's good reason for that. More than the popular "The Nutcracker" or even the revered "Swan Lake," the piece shows off the superpowers certain woman attain when they put on pointe shoes.
The character of "Giselle" is ballet's Wonder Woman, the waif transformed into lifesaving hero. She's innocent and frail to a fault, until she's pushed. Then she becomes the defender of the endangered, the nemesis of all evildoers.
To dance the role well, indulging its over-the-top drama, owning the movement, is to hold sovereignty on stage and over the audience, and Colorado Ballet's own, long-time heroine, Maria Mosina, did that with muscle as the company opened a two-week run of the piece Friday night.
Mosina moves with a confident gentleness throughout the ballet, from the flat-footed arabesques to the precarious leg lifts. She has a particularly effective way of communicating with her shoulders and, on her toes, she is relentless. One assumes Mosina could hike up and down one of those daunting 14ers without ever letting her heels touch the ground.
Such dedication is necessary for this ballet, which could only hold up in 2013 if the dancers really sold it. The story is all fairy tale, with the dashing Count Albrecht pretending to be a commoner and winning Giselle's love over her ernest suitor Hilarion. Turns out, he's already engaged to one of his own kind, plunging Giselle into madness and death.
The second act is what makes the piece. Enter the Willis, the spirits of women done wrong who attempt to make Albrecht dance to his own death. Giselle's forgiveness, and fancy footwork, saves his skin. It's a story about class divisions really, though there's no actual moral to it.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Browsing Working papers by Author "Wolfenzon, Daniel"
Now showing items 1-5 of 5
Bennedsen, Morten; Wolfenzon, Daniel (København, 1999)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7622
Files in this item: 1wpec1099.pdf (1.114Mb)
Bennedsen, Morten; Fosgerau, Mogens; Wolfenzon, Daniel (København, 2000)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7614
Files in this item: 1wpec162000.pdf (431.6Kb)
Pérez-González, Francisco; Wolfenzon, Daniel; Bennedsen, Morten (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Abstract. Estimating the value of top managerial talent is a central topic of research that has attracted widespread attention from academics and practitioners. Yet, testing for the importance of chief executive officers (CEOs) on firm outcomes is challenging. In this paper we test for the impact of CEOs on performance by assessing the effect of (1) CEO deaths and (2) the death of CEOs immediate family members (spouse, parents, children, etc), which arguably affects CEOs focus. Using a unique dataset from Denmark, we find that CEO (but not board members ) own and family deaths are strongly correlated with declines in firm operating profitability, investment and sales growth. Our CEO shock-outcome analysis allows us to identify the shocks that are the most (least) meaningful for CEOs: the death of children and spouses (mothers-in-law). We show that individual CEO, firm and industry characteristics seem to affect the impact of these shocks. In particular, CEO effects are larger (lower) for longer-tenured (older) CEOs and for those managers with large investment fixed effects. CEO shocks are relevant across the size distribution of firms but are concentrated on those firms that invested heavily in the past. Lastly, we find that CEO shocks tend to be larger in rapid growth, high investment and R&D intensive industries. Overall, our findings demonstrate managers are a key determinant of firm performance. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7523
Files in this item: 1wp13-2007.pdf (1.169Mb)
Bennedsen, Morten; Wolfenzon, Daniel (København, 2000)[More information][Less information]
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7551
Files in this item: 1wpec152000.pdf (545.3Kb)
The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and PerformanceBennedsen, Morten; Nielsen, Kasper; Pérez-González, Francisco; Wolfenzon, Daniel (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper uses a unique dataset from Denmark to investigate (1) the role of family characteristics in corporate decision making, and (2) the consequences of these decisions on firm performance. We focus on the decision to appoint either a family or an external chief executive officer (CEO). We show that a departing CEO's family characteristics have a strong predictive power in explaining CEO succession decisions: family CEOs are more frequently selected the larger the size of the family, the higher the ratio of male children and when the departing CEOs had only had one spouse. We then analyze the impact of family successions on performance. We overcome endogeneity and omitted variables problems of previous papers in the literature by using the gender of a departing CEO's first-born child as an instrumental variable (IV) for family successions. This is a plausible IV as male first-child family firms are more likely to pass on control to a family CEO than female first-child firms, but the gender of the first child is unlikely to affect firms' performance. We find that family successions have a dramatic negative causal impact on firm performance: profitability on assets falls by at least 6 percentage points around CEO transitions. These estimates are significantly larger than those obtained using ordinary least squares. Finally, our findings demonstrate that professional nonfamily CEOs provide extremely valuable services to the organizations they work for. JEL classification: G32, G34, M13 Keywords: family firms, successions, CEO turnover, governance URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7594
Files in this item: 1wp21-2005.pdf (249.7Kb)
Now showing items 1-5 of 5


text:
You are here
SBA Loans Help Whittier Business
Country Fresh Market, located in Historical Uptown Whittier, is a true success story. The specialty retailing food store is the brain child of Pete and Devon Jimenez and was started with proceeds from an SBA Pre-Qualification Loan, funded by Bank of America. A subsequent SBA guaranteed credit line was provided by B of A to help with working capital and operational needs.
Whittians flock to Country Fresh to avail themselves of the freshest vegetables, expertly butchered meat, bountiful grocery items, and many Hispanic Specialty items. Denizens from the surrounding municipalities rave incessantly about the homemade salsa, guacamole and heavenly carne asada; thus, the store has become a one stop gormandized excursion. Its regulars find the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 7 days a week very convenient and feel welcomed by the family-owned atmosphere and friendly customer service.
The market captures the essence of Trader Joe's but with a Latin Touch. Its Hispanic delicacies are constantly in demand by Angelinos who have moved out of state or to Canada. Ever the entrepreneurs, Pete and Devon have capitalized on this demand. They continue to satisfy it via their highly active web site countryfreshmarket.com coupled with an efficient shipping department that uses multiple methods to guaranty over night freshness upon delivery.
Country Fresh has earned a significant amount of prestige for the enterprising couple. It has been profiled on TV several times, with the most notable coverage occurring on the Food
Network Show called Food Finds. The market was touted as one of the up and coming enterprises, and accordingly was named the Best Small Business in Whittier. In addition, the
physical plant received an award for being the Best Historical Renovation in Whittier. Kudos are also in order for the 15 jobs that were created by these two risk takers who were not afraid to assume debt to achieve their aspirations. Country Fresh Market is located at 7601 Greenleaf Ave, Whittier, CA 90602, (562) 696-1921.
Los Angeles District Director Alberto Alvarado reiterates a theme common to many small businesses in his tri-county service area. "The Jimenez family epitomizes the true meaning of the word entrepreneur", cites Mr. Alvarado. "They willingly assumed the risk of debt to leverage their assets, and consequently are entitled to enjoy the fruit of their labor". The director further added, "We must additionally recognize the fact that Whittier also benefited from their ingenuity by virtue of the new jobs that Country Fresh created in the community."
For additional information on SBA Loan Programs and Services call the Los Angeles District Office at (818) 552-3201 or visit the SBA's user friendly web site at www.sba.gov.


text:
Considering what you have written in Getting_Started/Build should we simply delete the existing content of Getting_Started/Build/Distributions/Linux_From_Scratch and replace it with your message on Getting_Started/Build ?
No, I think that this current information is obsolete and most of it is redundant.
IIUC, it is now your intent to add information about the dependencies needed for KDE which makes this further unnecessary for those that are just building from scratch.
In general, I would recommend the BLFS book to anyone that is building from source, so I think that the link is now in the proper place. That is unless you intend to duplicate that material in that much detail. Have you read it?
I can replace the obsolete notes for the old versions with some notes on building the more obscure dependencies and possibly other relevant information for building from source that isn't currently covered by the BLFS book.
No, you misunderstand me. I'm proposing to delete all the obsolete material and replace it with your recommendation of the BLFS book.
It is OK to delete the obsolete material. I think that it is all covered in the BLFS book for version 4.10.x. There are some more obscure dependencies that are not covered which I could add some notes on those that I have knowledge on from personal experience.
Putting the recommendation on the BLFS book there to replace it would be redundant because people installing 'Linux from Scratch' would have already been to the website and already be familiar with the book.
There are also people that are not using the LFS distro that just want to build KDE from source (for various reasons). What I want to do is to suggest to them is that a source of instructions on how to do this is to be found in the BLFS book. That is, unless there is an equally detailed tutorial on how to build (the release version of) KDE from source on KDE Techbase. My tutorial, which appears to have been deleted, was not nearly as detailed or as complete (but at the time it was written, the subject was not covered by BLFS).


text:
By Adam Schreck, The Associated Press January 1, 2013
BAGHDAD - A top anti-American Shiite cleric lent support Tuesday to Sunni protesters who have been rallying against Iraq's Shiite-dominated central government, increasing pressure on the leadership in Baghdad.
Hard-line religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr told reporters in the Shiite holy city of Najaf that the demonstrators have the right to protest as long as they are peaceful. He stopped short of calling for a wider uprising like those that have rippled across the region over the past two years, but warned of further unrest if demands on the street are not met.
"Beware of the Arab Spring in Iraq," the firebrand cleric said in a warning to the power-sharing government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite.
Thousands of protesters have been holding rallies in the western desert province of Anbar and other Sunni strongholds for more than a week.
The demonstrations follow the arrest of bodyguards assigned to the Sunni finance minister, Rafia al-Issawi, though they tap into deeper Sunni grievances of perceived discrimination by al-Maliki's government. The protesters' demands include guarantees of better government services and release of prisoners in Iraqi jails.
Al-Sadr has a complex relationship with Baghdad and with Iraqi blocs outside his conservative Shiite power base.
He grudgingly backed longtime rival al-Maliki following elections in 2010, then last year joined Iraq's minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds in calling for al-Maliki to resign. Al-Sadr's loyalists hold 40 seats in parliament and retain control of several government ministries.
He said Tuesday that al-Maliki "bears full responsibility" for the discontent among Iraqis calling for change.
Still, the cleric's backing is not unequivocal. He expressed hope that protesters would not advocate a return to dictatorship or pursue a sectarian agenda.
Iraq's majority Shiites, including al-Sadr and al-Maliki, rose to political prominence following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
"As long as the demonstrations are peaceful and don't seek to dismantle Iraq ... we are with the protests, and parliament should be with them, not against them," he said. "The demands of demonstrators are legitimate and popular, so they should be met."
The staying power and level of anger among the Anbar protesters in particular appears to have caught Iraqi leaders off guard.
At least two people were wounded on Sunday when bodyguards and security forces protecting a senior Sunni politician opened fire to disperse protesters, marking the first casualties since the demonstrations began. The politician, Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, blamed the incident on "rogue elements" within the crowd.
The unrest comes as Iraq struggles to maintain its security and stability a year after the last U.S. combat troops left.
British monitoring group Iraq Body Count said in its annual report Tuesday that it recorded 4,471 civilian deaths from violence in Iraq during 2012, up from 4,136 in 2011. The non-governmental organization has consistently attempted to record Iraqi civilian casualties since the invasion in March 2003.
A wave of attacks that primarily targeted Iraqi Shiites and the ethnically disputed city of Kirkuk killed at least 26 people on Monday.


text:
Brand - Model
Car Wrapping | The Best Alternative For Car Painting The danger of getting the car's paint scratched by even the most ordinary of contacts is always looming over our heads. Many car owners are left in a dilemma when it comes to changing the appearance of their cars. Changing the colour or outer appearance can do wonders and make the car feel like a brand new vehicle. But repainting is quite expensive, especially if it is being done on an old car. This is where the concept of car wrap comes in. Learn more about car wrapping.
Car Coating | Teflon Vs Ceramic | Explained Your car is a reflection of you. And we know, you love your car more than anything else. A single scratch, a minor scuff, comes to you like a heartbreak. So, what can you do about it? How can you protect your car? This is where car coating comes in. Car coatings come in two major types: Teflon car coating and Ceramic car coating. Learn everything about Ceramic and Teflon coating for your car.
Paint Protection Film (PPF) | All You Need To Know Even a minor scratch on your brand new car can leave you in tears, won't it? Your car's paint needs to be protected in order to make it look all shiny and brand new every time, all the time. We all know the traffic conditions on Indian roads and how many narrow escapes we face on a daily basis. Everyone can't be lucky every time to have an edging escape from the scratches. Now is the time to take action. Learn more about car paint protection film or PPF.
Car Paint | Automotive Paints And Coatings | An Insight When was the last time, you had a thought about your car paint? Everyone wants a shiny-new looking car, but don't know what factors to consider when it comes to automotive paint. Automotive paint, unlike any other generic paint, is meant to be on the car's body for its lifetime…well almost. Automotive paint is a very different kind of paint which is made as a compound mixture of certain products where a particular product plays its own respective role.
Top 10 Car Maintenance Mistakes It's really easy to take your car for granted until it works properly. Even small negligence can burn a hole in your pocket The smaller defects or problems grow and become bigger and therefore cost you a lot of time and money to get sorted. If you pay attention to your car and maintain it at the initial stages of any problem then your car will yield


text:
Volunteer teaching is perhaps the most popular and varied of all volunteer projects abroad. From helping with ESL conversation classes and running math and science courses to teaching computer skills and other adult education courses, volunteer teaching abroad is far broader than just teaching English to children.
So whether you're a freshly minted TEFL graduate, a mid-career professional with an in demand skill, or a retiree with years of teaching experience, finding a volunteer teaching program abroad could be just the way to interact and experience a new culture while helping to improve education.
Teaching English
Of all the subjects you can volunteer to teach abroad, teaching English is one of the most common. There are opportunities to teach English abroad on almost every continent and for every level or class size.
For most programs and projects, a teaching background is not necessary, but having some experience or a TEFL certificate does help. The most important skills to have are English fluency, patience, and attention to detail.
You can choose to work with children or adults. Depending on what program you work with, you may be asked, or encouraged to bring your own supplies. If you have no experience or qualifications for teaching, look for programs that set you up as an assistant or conversation partner -- rather than independently leading a class yourself.
Sports Education
As a sports or physical education volunteer, you have the opportunity to learn about another culture, not only by living in new country, but also experience the joy of sports with the local people.
Most volunteers in this field will be working with children at a school to organizing sporting events or teach new sports. Playing soccer is popular around the world, and some programs will have you volunteer to organize matches.
Other programs will want you to teach new sports to the students you'll be working with. Make sure to check out various programs to see if they want you to teach a new sport, teach other subjects as well, including science, math, or English, or whether they require teaching certification, as some programs will.
Music Education
Music education volunteers can help their students express themselves in new and powerful ways. Music education volunteers will be expected to have knowledge of different instruments and some programs will be looking for knowledge of music theory.
Most programs will have you teaching music to children, but there are opportunities to teach adults in the community. You will also have the chance to learn about local music of whatever country you choose to volunteer in. Like sports programs, some schools will want you to teach other subjects as well.
Computer Literacy
If you're lucky enough to read this, you're most likely lucky enough to have basic computer literacy skills and access to a computer. Not everyone in the world can say the same. Basic computing knowledge is becoming increasingly important as more and more careers rely on computers to get things done.
As an education volunteer working with computer literacy, you can teach children and adults basic computer skills like how to turn on a computer, use software like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, as well as teach them how to use the internet for communication and research. Many of these programs are in Africa although there are some in places like Cambodia as well.
Other Subjects
For more qualified and experienced volunteers, you could potentially volunteer teaching other subjects, such as math, science, or arts. If you have experience working with students with special needs, your skill set is highly sought after in developing countries.
Asian countries are some of the most popular destinations for those looking to teach English abroad. From Nepal, to China, Thailand, to Turkey, there are plenty of opportunities here to teach English. While teaching English is popular here, you can find opportunities to teach other topics as well, including sports, music, and HIV/AIDS awareness. The Asian continent offers many different cultures, climates, and classrooms to immerse yourself in.
South America
In the last five years South American countries have been the most popular destinations for those looking to volunteer abroad. Countries in South America also provide many opportunities to teach English to both children and adults. Sports education can also be a popular option with programs in places like Costa Rica. For many countries in South America, knowledge of Spanish will be helpful, or in some cases required, so make sure to brush up on your language skills. Opportunities for HIV/AIDS and music education are present here as well.
The whole African continent provides plenty of opportunities for those looking to volunteer with education. You can volunteer as an English teacher, teach new sports to children in Kenya, teach computer literacy in Ghana, or volunteer as an after school tutor to teach many different subjects in Malawi. HIV/AIDS awareness education is also a popular option in some African countries. Again, these programs are not in a typical classroom setting. They are generally awareness programs and seminars for adolescents and adults.
Many of the opportunities to teach abroad are in Eastern Europe although there certainly are some programs in Western Europe as well. Eastern Europe usually has more English Education opportunities than Western Europe. There are also programs what will allow you to teach in orphanages. In this case you will help the children with their day-to-day life as well as teach them various subjects. There are also standard classroom volunteer opportunities.
Volunteer teaching, particularly as a conversation partner or au pair, may also be the only option for Americans looking to teach abroad in Europe.
Below are some organizations that work with bettering education abroad, and are great resources for furthering your search for the perfect volunteer teaching opportunity abroad:
- UNICEF: UNICEF does way more than the little Halloween bank you may or may not have toted around as a child. UNICEF is the UN's initiative to help children around the world. As of 2010, it was estimated that there were about 60.7 million children who were not in school. UNICEF is currently working to make sure every child has at least a primary education.
- UNDP: Another part of the United Nations, the UN Development Programme, is currently working towards their Millennium Development Goals, the second of which is Universal Primary Education by 2015. Volunteers abroad can help the world achieve this goal by volunteering, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is estimated that more than half of the world's children not receiving primary education live.
- World Education: World Education works to improve the lives of the world's poor. Working in over 60 countries, World Education has projects and initiatives from Basic Education to Girls' and Women's Education, to HIV/AIDS, to Literacy and Health.
Contributed by Kylie Genter
If you plan to teach abroad and want to bring donations for your school or host organization, get in touch with them before leaving and ask if they have any special requests. The needs of the school may surprise you.
For example, crayons and stickers may be nice, but a few packs of good quality pens might be what the students really need to simply take notes and complete lessons. Others, however, would really benefit from a classroom set of children's books.
Regardless, it's always a good idea to bring a few nicer outfits with you if you'll be working in a school -- no, we don't mean a suit and tie, but a nice, casual top and a pair of slacks would be perfectly fine.


text:
The QSight? 210 MD Screening system is designed for routine high throughput quantitation. With easy to use instrument control software, the ability to automatically download sample and control information, a mass spectrometer designed to reduce maintenance and repair, and data analysis software designed to make it quick and easy to review results, the QSight 210 MD Screening system makes it easy to run thousands of samples per day.
1 产品与服务


text:
This is the first post in a series looking at how small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) can find and engage with customers more effectively via social media, by using BlackBerry® smartphones and BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets. We'll give you ideas and look at tools and services to help harness the opportunities of effective social media use – even when you're nowhere near a PC.
Why is social media important for SMBs?
Having a mobile phone is no longer just for making calls. Smartphones have brought about the ability to connect to the Internet from pretty much anywhere on the planet. This improved connectivity has driven a significant increase in social media use. An InSites Consulting study revealed that 56% of connected smartphone users log on to social networks daily and that 49% of Europeans follow a brand on social media. With more people online and engaging in social networks than ever before, this provides a great opportunity for businesses. With the 'work anywhere', flexible nature of small and growing businesses, a smartphone gives them a perfect opportunity to tap into and contribute to the conversations taking place online – and to engage as a means of raising awareness of their brand and developing potential new business opportunities.
Mobile social networking allows for instant engagement from anywhere as Erik Vermeulen, Keynote Speaker at the BlackBerry® Innovation Forum 2011 in South Africa, stated:
"7/10 SMBs already believe that Social Media is allowing them to get closer to their customers."
Additionally, a 2011 Loudhouse study for Research In Motion® (RIM®) on European SMBs showed that growth and expansion remain priorities even in challenging times, with 69% of those surveyed looking to win new customers and partners. Nearly half of those surveyed also believed that a mobile phone was the most important sales tool an SMB had.
So what do these survey results mean for small and growing businesses?
Simply put, for SMBs to effectively position themselves in the wider market, they need to use mobile social networking to engage with customers and potential prospects at anytime, anywhere. Rather than being tied to a PC in an office, using a device like a BlackBerry smartphone allows an employee to stay mobile but remain connected to people and opportunities.
For businesses, engagement on social media is more than posting links to your website or blog. Effective engagement is about building a conversation with others, sharing insights and knowledge, and responding to questions someone might ask. People are increasingly using social media to discuss their experiences with brands, and so you might get vital feedback on your business or useful insights on the competition by 'listening' to these social conversations. You might even become aware of an issue or problem with your product or service, for example, so you can then put in place measures to avoid a potential crisis.
With so many different social networks and different streams of conversations happening all the time, how can you possibly keep track? Simple – the Social Feeds app on a BlackBerry smartphone conveniently brings content across various networks such as Twitter®, Facebook®, RSS feeds, and podcasts into one place. The Social Feeds app allows you to quickly see what's going on without having to open several different apps on your BlackBerry smartphone. You can even perform Facebook or Twitter actions directly from the app.
Engagement is a key to SMB social media success, and we will be providing information on more handy tools, hints and tips over the coming weeks as the series continues.
Does your business use social networks to engage with customers? Which ones have been the most successful for you? Share your stories in the comments below.


text:
Closing remarks at Fundamental Rights Platform meeting 26 April, 2013 by FRA Director.
Dear participants,
After two very interesting and intensive days, it remains for me to do a wrap-up of our time together.
I have asked yesterday at the beginning of our meeting: what can we learn from each other, and what can we learn together? Of course I don't know about you, but for me it has been two extremely enriching and dynamic days. We got many ideas and concrete tangible proposals that we can immediately start to work on when we get back to our offices on Monday.
Our discussions highlighted that there is quite a need for continuous discussion and debate on anti-discrimination and hate crime between civil society, with Member States, and with EU institutions. FRA sees its role in facilitating such an exchange.
Indeed, discrimination and even violence are a reality for many people in the EU. There is hard evidence and facts – not only from FRA research - that in Europe in the 21st century, there is - and not in just one or two Member States but everywhere. There is discrimination, there is harassment, and there is violence EXPERIENCED (not made up) by Jews, Roma, LGBT people, people with disabilities. And there are also still serious and disturbing patterns of violence against women.
So how can we tackle this? Where do we start?
1) As police officer Harald Kröger so rightly said today: crimes that are not reported to the police remain invisible to the authorities. And therefore it is important to make problems visible, and understand what is going on.
We got a lot of input from our discussion on how this can be done. To give just some examples:
As Lisbeth Garly Andersen said: this is about the police truly believing that they can contribute to the agenda, and to take ownership.
And above all - we must give victims a voice, we must hear directly from the victims. We need first hand information – because we know that the vast majority of victims, both of hate crime and of non-discrimination – do not report what has happened to them. Either because they don't trust the police, or because they are embarrassed of what happened to them; or – in the particular case of undocumented migrants – out of fear of being deported, or for many other reasons. And victims often do not even report to NGOs.
And this is why the FRA does exactly that – speaking with victims; on a large scale, through our surveys and other research. We also ask who are the perpetrators? What we hear from victims is that perpetrators are not only the extremists – but perpetrators are often teenagers, people from the neighbourhood, and this is very important to note, especially because very often, hate crime is only officially recorded as such when it is committed by extremists, but we need to get the full picture. These are key conceptual issues that we need to address.
Of course, awareness raising is important in this, but it is not enough.
2) We also need targeted policies and legislation
As it was pointed out today from the plenary, legislation has several functions: It is important for pursuing crime or discrimination effectively, and it also sends a strong signal and a continuous reminder that hate crime – or non-discrimination - is unacceptable. In this context I was pleased to see so many participants from the European Parliament at our meeting, and I look forward to continuing the debate.
FRA is tasked to look at the situation of fundamental rights in areas covered by EU competence - independently whether an issue is already covered by legislation, or not. We are not an academic institution, so we don't stop by merely collecting the data. We then analyse them and then move on to next important step, which is to assist decision-makers in EU institutions and Member States in the area of fundamental rights.
We inform and contextualise the debate on the way how, and in how far, people are protected against discrimination on all the different grounds, on an equal basis. With which instrument this is done in the end, is left to the decision makers, and it is up to the EU legislator to phrase legislation in a way that it meets its aim and delivers on the ground without creating any adverse effects.
Deaglán O'Briain, from the Irish Presidency of the Council, gave an overall view on where the negotiations stand with regard to the horizontal directive. He agreed that this is a complex legislative endeavour, but reassured participants that care is being taken in the exact wording of the Directive to ensure there are no unintended consequences. Juan Gonzalez-Mellizo from the European Commission underlined that the Commission still hopes for the horizontal directive to be adopted. He invited civil society organisations to seek contact with the Commission and give input about their needs and concerns regarding non-discrimination issues. And I would strongly encourage you to do that, your input is needed in the institutions. Raül Romeva from the European Parliament underlined that anti-discrimination is at the core of EU principles. For him, the horizontal directive is an important tool to advance the principle of equality in the EU.
Speaking of the principle of equality, human dignity and profound respect are the starting point for fundamental rights. This is reflected in the very first article of the Charter. Everyone has the right to be themselves – so as to avoid, as we heard in today's discussion on hate crime, that "people hide their identities and change their behaviour because of fear of hate crimes."
So being serious about human dignity, we cannot accept that 40-50% of the Jews in 3 Member States, that we interviewed, are seriously considering emigrating. We cannot accept that 25% of LGBT people interviewed say they experienced violence in the past years. And that 65% of LGBT people interviewed do not dare to hold hands in public – imagine yourself, how would you feel if you would not be able to hold the hand of the one person you love most? Or, as Judith Sunderland from Human Rights Watch put it: "It is an outrage that people are targeted with violence for what they look like, who they love, or who they pray to."
3) Finally,we need to ensure that rights in books become rights in practice.
We all know about this hurdle of implementation. And yes, civil society has an important role to play, throughout the entire process.
Yesterday we also heard of two important channels for you for this work: MEP Göncz drew attention to the opportunities for civil society under the new European Rights and Citizenship Programme. And Luis Quesada from the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe encouraged you strongly to use the instrument of collective complaints via his committee, to bring the realities from the ground to the system. I was also pleased to have the EEA Norway grants and the European Foundation Centre here with us throughout these days. And this is something we should expand on – I am seriously worried about the funding situation of civil society. We should not forget that civil society is a core pillar in any democratic society. This role needs to be strengthened in particular in difficult times.
And I agree with Joanna Perry that civil society energy has led to new legislation and better support for victims, and I would like to congratulate you for all the good work you are doing. But at the same time, I would like to second what my colleague Jo Goodey said today, namely, that while civil society is of course indispensable, we must insist that States must also do their duties.
So the question is: How do we move from a human rights "landscape" to a human rights "architecture", with links between what different actors are doing and with increased knowledge and understanding of each other?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to close the loop now: yesterday at the beginning of the meeting, both our Chairperson Maija Sakslin and I underlined the important role that you have for the agency, in giving your unfiltered, first-hand input about the realities on the ground – and this is as true today as it was yesterday.
So it remains for me to thank you all for your contributions. I am very much looking forward to our continued cooperation.
Have a safe journey home!


text:
So, I got the notice over on the main site about how the new tagging system will work. While I think the whole thing is a good idea, I do have a suggestion related to that second change, the one about users putting tags on others' work: why not just run the new tags by the poster of the submission? This way, the moderators and admins wouldn't have to worry about users having problems with new tags, and each user could decide for themselves whether or not they want to keep the newly suggested tags.
All the same, it is a good update; glad the site is being kept fresh!


text:
Which Hemorrhoid Remedy Works?
There are many hemorrhoid pills, tablets and creams on the market ranging from ineffective potions to genuine clinically proven treatments that work. So how do you know which one to choose? Well you can buy and try all of them or you can take a short cut and see how other users rated these products. Read the details below and choose the one you think it's best for you.
The Best Hemorrhoid Treatments
Go Back To Top
We strive to provide the best information about products that may help relieve the symptoms of hemorrhoids.
If you have an idea, suggestion or would like to include your favorite
hemerrhoid cure in our database, please send your email to
Copyright (c) 2020 by
- All Rights Reserved |
Policy & Disclaimer
Most Effective Hemorrhoid Treatments


text:
All News Releases By Date
Camano Island (WA) Chlorine Release Safely Resolved
Release Date: 01/16/2014
Contact Information: Mark MacIntyre, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-7302, firstname.lastname@example.com
(Seattle – January 15, 2014) During the early hours of January 15, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at the request of state and local authorities, responded to a reported chlorine gas release at a private residence on Camano Island WA, a rural area 60 miles north of Seattle.
According to Camano Island Fire & Rescue (CIFR), who were first on the scene, a local resident was scrapping an old pressurized steel tank, which he believed was empty. Unfortunately it still contained a substantial amount of chlorine gas, some of which was released when he pierced the tank's inoperable valve. CIFR was notified at 7:30pm (1/14) and responded immediately. Initial responders from Snohomish County Haz-Mat were able to install a temporary cap on the tank and stop the Chlorine release by 12:30 pm.
Initially, 25-30 neighbors were sheltered in place and were later evacuated to a nearby Fire Station when conditions permitted. After several residents reported experiencing symptoms of chemical exposure and respiratory distress, they were quickly transported to Skagit Valley Hospital for examination and treatment. All were released shortly thereafter.
EPA's On-Scene Coordinator, Michael Sibley, accompanied by technical contractors, arrived on site at 1:30am (1/15) and joined the Incident Command (Camano Island Fire & Rescue, North County Regional Fire Authority, Snohomish County Haz-Mat and the Washington Department of Ecology). EPA's first task was to immediately begin air monitoring for worker safety at the response site. Monitoring continued overnight, also taking place in some homes nearest to the cylinder.
Most of the evacuated residents were able to return home by 3:30 am, but six homes (inside a 100 ft. perimeter around the leaking tank) were still not safe for occupation by late Wednesday afternoon. At 6:15 pm, an EPA ordered specially-trained tank recovery team arrived on site to isolate, overpack and transport the cylinder for safe disposal.
That process was completed and the site deemed safe for entry at 10:00 pm. Authorities at the scene expect that the remaining evacuated residents will be able to safely return home by 10:30 pm.
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.


text: ====================================================================== Secunia Research 11/06/2010 - Creative Software - - AutoUpdate Engine 2 ActiveX Control Buffer Overflow - ====================================================================== Table of Contents Affected Software....................................................1 Severity.............................................................2 Vendor's Description of Software.....................................3 Description of Vulnerability.........................................4 Solution.............................................................5 Time Table...........................................................6 Credits..............................................................7 References...........................................................8 About Secunia........................................................9 Verification........................................................10 ====================================================================== 1) Affected Software * Creative Software AutoUpdate Engine ActiveX Control 184.108.40.206 as bundled with Creative Software AutoUpdate 1.40.01. NOTE: Other versions may also be affected. ====================================================================== 2) Severity Rating: Highly critical Impact: System compromise Where: Remote ====================================================================== 3) Vendor's Description of Software "Creative Software Autoupdate detects Creative products and software installed on your PC and determines whether your PC contains the latest versions of Creative software and drivers.". Product Link: http://www.creative.com/support/downloads/su.asp ====================================================================== 4) Description of Vulnerability Secunia Research has discovered a vulnerability in Creative Software AutoUpdate Engine 2 ActiveX control, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system. The vulnerability is caused by a boundary error in a callback function used when handling the "BrowseFolder()" method. This can be exploited to cause a stack-based buffer overflow via an overly long string argument. Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code. ====================================================================== 5) Solution Set the kill-bit for the affected ActiveX control. The vulnerability is reportedly fixed in an upcoming version 2.0.13. ====================================================================== 6) Time Table 26/03/2010 - Vendor contacted to obtain security contact details. 29/03/2010 - Vendor response with details on security contact. 29/03/2010 - Vulnerability report sent to security contact (along with references to SA30403 and SA26800). 07/04/2010 - Vendor response (requesting additional details). 07/04/2010 - Additional details provided. 08/04/2010 - Vendor response (fix expected within 2-3 days). 16/04/2010 - Status update requested. 16/04/2010 - Vendor response (build ready and now preparing deployment strategy). 24/05/2010 - Status update requested. 31/05/2010 - Status update requested (2nd attempt). 01/06/2010 - Vendor response (still verifying deployment method). 04/06/2010 - Vendor response (fixes are deployed early next week). 04/06/2010 - Vendor informed that the Secunia advisory is scheduled for Wednesday 9th June 2010. Asked the vendor for version information on fixes. 09/06/2010 - Vendor response (information on fixed versions). Noticed that the vulnerable versions are still available. 10/06/2010 - Vulnerable versions still available instead of the fixed versions. Vendor informed that the advisory will go out on Friday 11th June 2010. 11/06/2010 - Public disclosure. ====================================================================== 7) Credits Discovered by Carsten Eiram, Secunia Research. ====================================================================== 8) References The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned CVE-2010-0990 for the vulnerability. ====================================================================== 9) About Secunia Secunia offers vulnerability management solutions to corporate customers with verified and reliable vulnerability intelligence relevant to their specific system configuration: https://www.flexera.com/advisories/business_solutions/ Secunia also provides a publicly accessible and comprehensive advisory database as a service to the security community and private individuals, who are interested in or concerned about IT-security.advisories/ Secunia believes that it is important to support the community and to do active vulnerability research in order to aid improving the security and reliability of software in general: https://www.flexera.com/about-us/secunia-research/advisories/ Secunia regularly hires new skilled team members. Check the URL below to see currently vacant positions: https://www.flexera.com/corporate/jobs/ Secunia offers a FREE mailing list called Secunia Security Advisories: https://www.flexera.com/advisories/mailing_lists/ ====================================================================== 10) Verification Please verify this advisory by visiting the Secunia website: https://www.flexera.com/about-us/secunia-research/advisories/sr-2010-52.html Complete list of vulnerability reports published by Secunia Research: https://www.flexera.com/about-us/secunia-research/advisories/ ======================================================================


text:
GENEVA — Israel on Tuesday became the first country to withhold cooperation from a UN review of human rights practices, shunning efforts by the United States and others to encourage it to participate.
Representatives from Israel did not appear at a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday when it was due to present a report as part of what is known as the Universal Periodic Review process, in which all 193 member states had previously participated.
Israel's mission to the United Nations in Geneva informally notified the council this month that it wanted to delay its participation but did not follow up with a formal request for postponement, creating uncertainty about its intentions. That led to intense behind-the-scenes discussions to persuade Israel to reconsider its position.
''We have encouraged the Israelis to come to the council and to tell their story and to present their own narrative of their own human rights situation,'' the US ambassador to the council, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, said last week. ''The United States is absolutely, fully behind the Universal Periodic Review, and we do not want to see the mechanism in any way harmed.''
The underlying concern expressed by many council members in Tuesday's session is that Israel's decision to stay away from the review has broken established practice of cooperation observed by all countries, opening the door to noncooperation by others. The greater concern, some members said, is that if Israel persists in this action it would jeopardize a collaborative peer review process widely valued for shedding light on the human rights practices of even the most closed and repressive governments.
"If the Israeli government is not careful, it will ruin an important global human rights process for everybody,'' Peter Splinter, a Geneva representative of Amnesty International, said in a blog post.
The council decided Tuesday that its president, Remigiusz Henczel of Poland, should try to persuade Israel to resume cooperation and report on the result of his efforts in March, with an eye on rescheduling Israel's review by November. That careful wording leaves to a future discussion about the action the council will take if Israel still declines to cooperate.
Israel's no-show reflects longstanding frustration with the council's perceived anti-Israel bias, diplomats say. More than half the resolutions passed by the council since it started in 2006 have focused on the treatment of Palestinians in Israel — occupied or Israeli-controlled areas. Israel also is the only country that is a standing item on the council's agenda.
Despite these tensions, Israel, until last year, had preferred to work with the council and in December 2008 participated in a review of its human rights. In May, however, Israel informed the council it had decided to disengage from what it called ''a political tool and convenient platform, cynically used to advance certain political aims, to bash and demonize Israel.''
Diplomats hope the formation of a new government now under way in Israel presents an opportunity for it to re-engage with the review process.


text:
Boy Meets World Rings: Corey and Topanga's Wedding Rings Revealed for Girl Meets World (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Boy Meets World spin off "Girl Meets World" is currently gaining exposure with increasing reports from the set, with the pilot episode currently being filmed. In the latest news, Corey and Topanga's wedding rings have been posted on social media networking site Twitter this week.
Danielle Fishel, who plays Topanga, posted a photo of the Boy Meets World stars' new wedding rings on Twitter, writing: "Cory and Topanga… together again."
Ben Savage, who played Cory Matthews, and Danielle will be reprising their roles as Corey and Topanga for a new spin off show called "Girl Meets World," which will feature the couple married and happily together. The new show will focus on the couple's daughter and the struggles and challenges she goes through growing up and learning about the world.
Their daughter on the new show will be played by Rowan Blanchard.
Many of the original cast members have rejoined for the spin off show, and there is a certain amount of euphoria around the cast members, who seem to be bursting with excitement at working together again.
Fishel isn't the only person posting up photos onto the Internet excitedly for fans; Ben Savage has also been posting numerous photos to his Instagram account for his followers.
For the new cast of the spin off, joining Rowan Blanchard's Riley character will be Sabrina Carpenter who plays Riley's best friend, Teo Halm who will play Corey and Topanga's other child - a son, and the familiar face of Mr Feeney will be returned to complete the show's cast line up.
The pilot episode of the new series recently started filming, according to reports. Although Disney has not yet fully signed up the show - waiting for the pilot to be completed - it is thought more of a formality given the excitement among fans for the new show. Once Disney does give the formal sign off then the full series will begin being created and the show will likely hit TV screens before the end of the year.
Here is a video report with Rowan Blanchard who will play the new main character for Girl Meets World:


text:
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake came under fire on two fronts Monday as the City Council sliced $6 million from her proposed budget and the city comptroller renewed allegations that the mayor's staff improperly purchased more than $650,000 in phone equipment.
Council members, following a plan devised by Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, cut $6.1 million from the mayor's $2.3 billion operating budget — and asked Rawlings-Blake to divert the savings to prevent recreation centers from closing and to boost after-school and summer jobs programs.
Under the city charter, the council can cut spending, but the mayor does not have to honor the request that she redirect the eliminated funds for specific purposes.
"We are doing the only thing we have the authority to do," said Councilwoman Helen Holton, the budget committee chair.
It is rare for the council to alter the mayor's spending plan, and Rawlings-Blake later issued a statement condemning the cuts. She argued, for instance, that the $863,000 cut to the police department's $39.6 million administrative budget would result in the layoff of eight people and prevent the hiring of two others.
"I am very disappointed and very much disagree," the mayor said, though she did not say what she would do with the money saved by the council's action.
As the mayor's office grappled with the council's budget insurrection, Comptroller Joan Pratt leveled a fresh volley of accusations regarding the administration's purchase of Internet-based telephone equipment. She says the deal circumvented city competitive bidding rules.
Ryan O'Doherty, a spokesman for the mayor, denied any wrongdoing and said the purchases were made to improve the city's phone system. He also said that the new system cost far less than Pratt's figures suggest.
At the City Council's morning voting session on the budget, one of Rawlings-Blake's stalwarts on the council — Vice President Edward Reisinger — missed the votes, tipping the balance to those who supported Young's plan. Councilman William "Pete" Welch arrived late, but once he did, he voted with Young. Rawlings-Blake had previously described the plan as "unadvisable, unworkable and irresponsible."
The council voted to reduce funds for police protection of elected officials and for operation of the finance and law departments, CitiStat and the inspector general's office, among other trims. Young's office said the savings could lead to $1.1 million in additional funds for rec centers, $1.6 million for youth summer jobs and $1.7 million for after-school programs.
Young, who with Rawlings-Blake, then council president, spearheaded a similar effort in 2009 to cut Mayor Sheila Dixon's budget, said he was attempting to bring the budget into line with city residents' priorities.
"At least I did my job," Young said.
The council also approved about $1 million in cuts suggested by Councilman James Kraft to long vacant positions.
While the vote count varied on the amendments making up Young's plan, five council members opposed all or most of the council president's proposal: Robert Curran, William H. Cole IV, Sharon Green Middleton, Rochelle "Rikki" Spector, and Brandon Scott.
Mary Pat Clarke, who voted for most of Young's cuts, called redirecting funds to keep rec centers open a "very wise move." Community activists hailed the action.
"The kids need to stay busy," said Catherine Williams of Forest Park, who attended the hearing to lobby on behalf of rec centers. "When you're idle, it causes problems. Idle hands are the devil's workshop."
Pratt called a news conference Monday afternoon to elaborate on accusations she first made last week. She has accused the Mayor's Office of Information Technology of avoiding competitive bidding by tacking on the purchase of "voice over Internet protocol" or VOIP phones to a computer equipment contract with Rockville-based technology company Digicon.
"The city and the Mayor's Offfice of Information Technology have circumvented the city's purchasing process," Pratt said Monday.
O'Doherty, Rawlings-Blake's spokesman, pushed his way through the crowd of reporters to hear Pratt's comments and later disputed her remarks.
"If there was any truth to these allegations, I would not be standing here answering your questions," he said.
At issue is the purchase of hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment to enable the change from traditional telephone lines to those which transmit calls via the Internet.
The mayor's office says her information technology staff is better equipped than the comptroller's office to purchase and install such technology.
"This comes back to who do you want managing the city's phone system," O'Doherty said.
The comptroller's office has supervised the city's phone service since 1949. The office issued a request for proposals for an Internet-based phone service in March 2011. It was prepared last week to seek approval of a $7 million contract with IBM for the phones and supporting equipment when Rawlings-Blake asked to defer the city spending board's vote on the contract.
The mayor's office said then that it had purchased 80 phones for $20,000 as a pilot program to determine if the phones would be compatible with the city's system.
But documents provided Monday by Pratt show that the information technology office spent another $441,000 last June on infrastructure to install the Internet phone system. She identified another $218,000 in spending she says is related to the new system.
Pratt said that the purchase showed that the system would be much larger than a pilot. The mayor's staffers, she said, were attempting to set up an Internet-based phone system "piecemeal" and without regard to the city's purchasing regulations.
Pratt said she learned of the purchase only about a month ago, after receiving a tip. She said Rawlings-Blake had been slated to meet with her about the phones Monday, but aides to the mayor later canceled the meeting.
O'Doherty said City Solicitor George Nilson was working on a letter that would show that the purchase was appropriate.


text:
Despite a 3 per cent dip in global mobile phone sales to 428 million units in the third quarter, smartphone sales jumped a full 47 per cent, according to data released by research firm Gartner.
Smartphones continued to fuel sales of mobile phones worldwide with sales rising to 169.2 million units in the third quarter, Gartner said, adding that the smartphone market is dominated by Samsung and Apple.
The quarter also saw Samsung becoming the largest mobile handset market with 22.9 per cent of the overall market share, selling 98 million units, up from 18.7 per cent a year ago, it said.
This has had the Finnish major Nokia slipping to No 2 slot with only 19.2 per cent global share, down from 23.9 per cent a year ago, Gartner said. The iconic Apple is at a distant third place with 5.5 per cent, up from 3.9 per cent a year ago, it added.
"Both vendors together controlled 46.5 per cent of smartphone market leaving a handful of vendors fighting over a distant third spot," it said.
The quarter saw Samsung further widening the gap with Apple in the smartphone market, selling 55 million units, driven by its Galaxy series across different price points.
Overall, Samsung's mobile phones sales accelerated, totalling almost 98 million units in Q3, up 18.6 per cent year-on-year.
"After two consecutive quarters of decline in mobile phone sales, demand has improved in both developed and emerging markets as sales increased sequentially," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
He added that the growth was driven by the world's largest market China where sales growth was driven by smartphones, but demand of feature phones remained weak, while mature markets finally saw replacement sales picking up with the launch of new devices in the quarter.
Nokia slipped from the No 3 slot in the second quarter to a distant No 7 in smartphones in Q3, while RIM moved to the No 3 spot followed by HTC at No 4.
"Both HTC and RIM have seen their sales declining in the past few quarters, and the challenges might prevent them from holding on to their current rankings in coming quarters," Gupta added.


text:
STN on the Web
The Power of STN with the Convenience of the Web
Release History
STN International is the online scientific and technical information service dedicated to meeting the information needs of scientists, engineers, and information professionals throughout the world. STN provides a complete collection of in-depth databases in science and technology to give you quick, direct links to the literature, patents, and chemical catalogs.
STN is operated by Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society, in North America; FIZ Karlsruhe (FIZ-K), in Europe; and Japan Association for International Chemical Information (JAICI), in Japan.
STN databases cover a wide range of scientific and technical topics including:
- agriculture
- health and safety
- biology
- materials science
- biotechnology
- mathematics
- business
- medicine
- chemistry
- patents
- energy
- petroleum
- engineering
- pharmacology
- food and feed
- physics
- geology
- toxicology
- government regulations
STN on the Web offers web-browser access to the complete content and functionality of STN for information professionals and advanced end-users. (For other access routes to STN, seeSTN Links .) Using your web browser you have convenient access to an unparalleled collection of essential science and technology databases on STN.
STN on the Web combines the STN command functionality with web-browser technology. The complete set of STN commands, as well as graphic chemical structure searching is available. Also available are browser features such as hyperlinks, images integrated in text, and context-sensitive help. STN on the Web also offers seamless access to electronic and paper full-text resources, as well as the wealth of STN´s user documentation just a click away.
STN on the Web main features at a glance:
For a detailed description of STN on the Web features, click here.For a summary of STN on the Web enhancements, click here.
Technical requirements for using STN on the Web:
Access to STN on the Web
To obtain an STN account, fax or mail a completed STN Account Set Up and Agreement Form. For more information and to download the STN Account Set Up and Agreement Form, clickhere.


text:
A group of Israeli soldiers danced up a storm of criticism after they were filmed boogying alongside Palestinians while on patrol in the West Bank.
The soldiers were making the rounds in the city of Hebron when they entered a dance hall and joined dozens of Palestinian men dancing to the hit "Gangnam Style."
The Israeli military said Thursday it considers the incident "serious," adding "the soldiers exposed themselves to unnecessary danger and were disciplined accordingly," without elaborating.
Footage aired on Israeli Channel 2 TV shows the solders in uniform, flak jackets and carrying guns. One was shown hoisted on the shoulders of Palestinian dancers. Other soldiers joined hands and grooved with the partygoers. The channel said the incident occurred Monday.
Hebron has been a flashpoint of violence between Jews and Palestinians for decades.


text:
"It's Elementary" is a monthly column every first Wednesday that asks comedians to share funny memories from their elementary school years, or "periods" (get it?? Like moments in time, but also like in school!) from those formative years that have informed their personal and comedic identities. Or, they'll just submit some random anecdotes. Whatever they want, really.
by Dave Metter
I have long been fascinated by what has influenced and inspired other comedy writers, especially during their youths when their comedic senses were still so nascent and less judgmental. This month features writer/director/performer/tech man/backslash abuser Paul Triggiani.
Dave has kindly asked me to write about my time in elementary school for this installment of "It's Elementary." So, yes, I'd love to tell you about one of the darkest, most repulsive periods of my life that isn't right now.
1st Period: The Move
When I was in third grade, my parents moved my brother and I from a private, progressive school that we had been in since kindergarten to a public school. It was the hardest, least pleasant time in my life. I've never spent any significant time in prison, but it was probably a lot like that (adjusted for scale of life experience and emotional preparedness).
2nd Period: From Apple Orchard-come-Commune School
The school we had up and to that point spent our entire lives at was an apple orchard-come-commune. The inhabitants of that commune didn't want to go out and find square jobs so they just said, "Fuck it, let's be a school." I remember once asking a teacher how the Native Americans came to be in North America, and she just stared into the ceiling and said, "Nobody knows." It was a really nurturing place to grow and find your emotional center, but by the time we transferred to public school in third grade, I didn't know how to read or tie my own shoes.
3rd Period: To Public School
The next year, I transferred to public school and was immediately met with a series of sobering truths—1) the rest of the world had a shared popular culture, it extended beyond 1974, and everyone knew about it but me 2) this was not a warm and inviting place where my ideas and opinions would be welcomed by everyone; to the contrary, every word I said and every thought I decided to share would be judged and used against me by some juvenile scumbag and 3) the other students were sometimes just as bad. It was an emotionally rocky time for me, and I spent a lot of time rolling around on the ground with a jacket over my head. Not sure why.
4th Period: Kids Corner
I can't remember much about grade school that was positive, except for Kids Corner. If you're from the area, it's possible that you're familiar with the long-running children's call-in show hosted by Kathy O'Connell and produced by Robert Drake. If you listen to the show today, you'll hear a lot of music specifically geared toward children, but in the late eighties and early nineties, it was a very different show. From what I could tell, they had maybe ten records that they cycled through—two Dr. Demento collections, a bunch of "Weird Al" Yankovic, They Might Be Giants' Flood and The Dead Milkmen's Beelzebubba. So this is how I managed to be exposed to almost nothing but novelty music for the better part of a decade.
5th Period: A Weirdo Unchained
But there was also an underlying message to Kids Corner, and one that I didn't fully recognize until I was in my late teens. It came through the music they played, but also through the guests that they chose to feature—artists, musicians, nerds of every variety. The novelty music that I was exposed to through the show helped to shape my interest in comedy and show me where my sensibilities were, but the part of Kids Corner that had the biggest impact was that they managed to say "It's okay to be a little weird. There are weird people everywhere, and they're doing great" at a time when I needed it most.
Dave Metter is a comedy writer, and member of sketch comedy collective Iron Potato. See Dave's show "Your News, Philadelphia!" at the Shubin Theater today, June 5th, in the finals of PHIT's Variety Sweeps Week. Follow Dave on Twitter @DaveMetter.


text:
From the series: MATLAB and Simulink PASS Competitions Hub
Jose Avendano, MathWorks
The MATLAB and Simulink Primary and Secondary School Competitions Hub video series provides examples and demonstrations on how to use MathWorks products for popular student competitions and challenges. Here you can find resources on how to program common hardware platforms used in classrooms and get help understanding concepts in technical topics such as robotics and math modeling.
For more information, you can access the following resources:
Stateflow Quick Start for Student Competition Teams Learn basic Stateflow terminology and functionality, as well as the workflow to design and simulate a simple state diagram.
Simulink Quick Start for Student Competition Teams Learn how to create a model of an algebraic equation in Simulink.
Programming the VEX ARM-Cortex Using Simulink Discover the benefits to using Simulink and the VEX Cortex Microcontroller library.
Installing Hardware Support Packages for MATLAB and Simulink Use Add-On Explorer in MATLAB to install a hardware support package.
Robot Navigation Using VEX Encoders and Simulink Perform pre-defined path navigation tasks like dead reckoning with your robot by using the integrated motor encoder block in the ARM Cortex-based VEX Support Package.
Obstacle Detection for VEX Robots Using Simulink Perform obstacle detection tasks with your robot using the ultrasonic sensor block in the ARM Cortex-based VEX Support Package.
Debugging of VEX Simulink Models Using External Mode Learn to use Simulink external mode with VEX Cortex Microcontroller to acquire and log sensor data over a serial USB connection.
Learn to Program LEGO Robots Using Simulink Learn how to program LEGO robots using Simulink to complete tasks such as dead reckoning, line following, obstacle avoidance, and path navigation.
MATLAB and Simulink for Primary and Secondary School Competitions Get started using MathWorks products for student competitions with resources for primary and secondary school students and educators.
Simulating Mobile Robotics Using Virtual Worlds Get started with using Simulink to program mobile robots by taking advantage of pre-built virtual environments to develop and test robot algorithms.
BEST Simulink Design Award Winners 2017 Learn how top student teams used Simulink to gain competitive advantages when programming robots for the 2017 season of the BEST Robotics competition.
Getting Started with Simulink and VEX EDR V5 Get started using Simulink to program the VEX EDR V5 Robot brain and learn how to program arcade and tank robot controls.
Programming VEX EDR V5 Smart Motors Using Simulink Learn about the different programming approaches available for VEX V5 Smart motors through a series of Simulink demonstrations.
Switching Between Driver and Autonomous Control of VEX Robots Program Autonomous and Driver Control modes that are triggered by either the VEX Robotics Competition Switch or Gamepad using MATLAB and Simulink.
Using Infrared Sensors for Robot Navigation Learn how to program robots that use infrared sensors to navigate environments by detecting obstacles, following lines and deriving distance traveled.
Choose a web site to get translated content where available and see local events and offers. Based on your location, we recommend that you select: .Select web site
You can also select a web site from the following list:
Select the China site (in Chinese or English) for best site performance. Other MathWorks country sites are not optimized for visits from your location.
This website uses cookies to improve your user experience, personalize content and ads, and analyze website traffic. By continuing to use this website, you consent to our use of cookies. Please see our Privacy Policy to learn more about cookies and how to change your settings.


text:
I would like to post a few pictures ( from my iPad) but I have only been able to post pictures as attachments, and they show as little pictures in the post. Can someone help me with how I can post 4 large pictures in a post?
I would like to post a few pictures ( from my iPad) but I have only been able to post pictures as attachments, and they show as little pictures in the post. Can someone help me with how I can post 4 large pictures in a post?
I upload all my pictures to photobucket, then from there I can copy the "image" link and post that in the thread. They show up as full size pictures.
Thanks. What do you mean by image link? Can this be done from Flickr or anywhere else?
God bless! Brent
Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage.
-- William Shakespeare
What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other travel. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature.
-- Pierre Elliott Trudeau
I did know about the small pics getting bigger once clicked on, but I just wanted them big from the start....
I don't have photobucket but was hoping Flickr had a similar option.
Thanks !!
Another option is to post them as attachments, preview the message, then open them in a new tab or window (not sure about the iPad OS; Mac systems are somewhat opaque to me as I'm not a Mac user). Take the URL from the picture tab, then enter it into [ IMG ] [ /IMG ] tags without the spaces (or use the little image button above the message screen; that's the one that looks like a pair of mountains with a moon above them). This'll bring 'em up as a big image like so:
Hope it helps!
"Just prepare what you can and enjoy the rest."
You can also upload the picture to the HammockForums gallery, then copy the BB Image Code from the text box on the image page into your message.
Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them. ~Judge Joseph Story
- My site: http://www.tothewoods.net/
- Designer, Jeff's Gear Hammock / Pack Cover by JRB
I say....I say.
Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven


text:
What People Are Saying
Whether it is a simple press release or strategic planning around a volatile issue Erin Peacock is one of those rare individuals that has the passion, professionalism, knowledge and contacts that consistently delivers results. She is effective, creative and always looking out for her client's best interests – I can't imagine not having her as part of our team. ~ John Sackrison, Executive Director, Orange County Automobile Dealers Association
STACKED Restaurants Says…
Through Erin's hard work and connections in the media, our new restaurant concept, STACKED: Food Well Built, has received a tremendous amount of local and national publicity, including USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, Fox News, and virtually every TV station in Southern California, totaling more than 500 stories to date. I could not recommend her more highly.
—Paul Motenko, Co-Founder, STACKED Restaurants LLC


text:
October 10th @ The Angels
I cannot help but wonder if things might have been different if the Yankees had the home field in this ALDS. And, I wonder if Joe and Stein are wondering that now too?
5-3. Soooooooo close. Worse than close considering that the Yankees had so many chances in this game. Hey, at least they went down fighting (even the Big Unit) – with the possible exception of A-Rod.
Hey, it's Game 5 of a best-of-five, the 9th inning, and you bring the tying run to the plate with no outs – that's being in it, to me. Of course, then that potential tying run hits into a DP and kills the chance for a comeback – that was clearly possible, as the singles by the next two batters showed. (Was there any doubt that A-Rod would K, or worse, in that 9th inning – based on his ALDS performance this year, to date?)
Again, man, just two lousy runs short. What a tough loss. Basically, the loss tonight was because:
1. After the Yankees catch a break with the Angels Ace, Colon, pulling a David Wells of 2003, they do next to nothing against a 22-year-old rookie with an ERA of 4.65. They allowed this kid to bend but not break for the span of the 2nd inning through the 6th inning. In fact, the Yankees, if they were to win this game (and the series) should have pounded this kid out of the game by the 4th inning – at the worst. This is unacceptable.
2. So much for the Mussina plan. Maybe he should have stayed with the team this week? Actually, the 3rd inning mess didn't bother me that much – the Angels were Wee Willie Keelering Moose to death that inning. What can you do? But, the 2nd inning – that was vintage Princess and the Pea Mussina. He sat for a long time in the top of the 2nd. And, I'm sure he allowed that to throw him off for the bottom of the 2nd. Again, for a game like this, allowing your guard to drop after a long half-inning is unacceptable.
3. The Yankees bats lost this game in the 5th and 7th innings. In the 5th, New York had runners on 1st and 2nd, with no outs and their 4-5-6 hitters coming up! What happened? No runs. Unacceptable – yet again. Further, in the 7th, New York had a runner on 2nd with one out and their clean-up hitter (Sheffield) and 5th batter (Matsui) due up. What happened? Two straight pop-ups and the end of the inning.
4. Defense. Like just about every game this series, the Angels turn hits into outs while the Yankees turn outs into base runners. That Crosby-Sheffield crash reminded me of Blair-Reggie collision back on May 12,1978 (when A.O. went inside the park). Sad part is, even without the crash, I don't think Sheffield makes the grab there.
I noticed something tonight. Anytime that a ball his hit to Giambi, and he has to throw it, I scream out "Oh, no!" as an unconscious reflex (because I know what is going to happen). And, anytime a ball is hit to Erstad on the Angels, I scream "Oh, no!" because he's making a play to get an out. That's the difference in these teams. (And, is it just me, or, does Erstad remind you of Trot Nixon enough to make you want to hate him?)
Anyway, instead of spending Tuesday AM thinking about the match-up of the Yankees with the White Sox, now, I'll spend a portion of the day thinking about why this Yankees team needs to be broken up and rebuilt – because it is obvious that this Yankees team, circa 2002-2005, is not built to win in the post-season.
And, maybe a clue to what the problem is can be found when we're watching El Duque, Pettitte, Contreras and Clemens battle in the World Series?
Then again, maybe the Angels will win it all? I picked them to win last year and was shocked when Boston knocked them out. And, every team, since 2001, who has beaten the Yankees in the post-season has gone on to take the ring.
Actually, the Angels are going to be around for a while. They have at least 20 hotshot prospects in the minors – really, that many. The Yankees better start thinking up ways to beat them, if they want to get back into the World Series.
OK, in the end, think of it this way – it's not a tsunami, hurricane, or earthquake. There are people in the world now dealing with that stuff. How can anyone allow a baseball team to get them down for too long when there are other things out there that could happen – and that are potential life-and-death matters?
This is just a fun pastime. Hang in there. Soon enough, there will more Yankees events to get our minds off the ALDS of 2005 and allow it to become a fun pastime again.


text:
Great Group !
Fund: Siemens Venture Capital
Posted by Anonymous on 2009-01-09
I have interacted with the Boston office (Anupendra Sharma, Andrew Jay & Ed Chan) and each interaction has been very positive. The guys are very professional and responsive. They have an above ordinary knowledge of the Life Sciences Industry as a whole.
They understood our technology and business model right off the bat. Fielded good questions, rendered honest feedback and good criticism. ..did not waste our time. Unfortunately our technology fell under a sector which is outside of Seimens' strike zone. Refreshingly enough, they followed up with us on more than one occasion and offered cogent insights. I don't know of many VCs that would take time out of their schedules to advise a company that they would not invest in or in one that fell beyond their sector..
They also seem to have good grasp over early stage issues and founder challenges...(an indication of how they would be as an investor and/or Board member). All in all, great group (at least the ones that I met).PRIVATE: Members Only (59 Characters)


text:
This week's Agent Spotlight features Lauren MacLeod of The Strothman Agency, LLC.
Status: Open to submissions.
About: "Lauren MacLeod joined the Strothman Agency after graduating cum laude from Emerson College with a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing.
"Lauren's primary interests are young adult fiction and nonfiction, middle grade novels, as well as highly polished literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. Some of her favorite (non-client) YA authors are Meg Rosoff, Maureen Johnson and John Green." (Link)
About the Agency:
"The Strothman Agency, LLC is a literary agency dedicated to promoting authors of significant books through the entire publishing cycle. Our offices are located in historic Quincy Market in Boston, Massachusetts.
"Our extensive inside experience and knowledge of both the editorial and business aspects of publishing—how editors and publishers make decisions, the economics of publishing, the importance of focused and strategic marketing and publicity, the nuances of contracts—as well as our many contacts among independent booksellers give us the ability to provide effective support to our clients." (Link)
Web Presence:
What She's Looking For:
Middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction. (Link)
From the website (as of 5/2012):
"Looking for: Young adult & middle grade. Especially: YA thrillers or mysteries, contemporary YA or MG, YA or MG romance or chick lit, YA horror. She is currently especially drawn to YA & MG projects with humorous situations, funny characters, a lovely romance or a great voice.
"Flooded with: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Tragedy Memoirs." (Link)
From an Interview (12/2010):
"I'm really hungry for well-written contemporary YA without any fantasy or paranormal elements. I've seen a lot of manuscripts in the last year or two about teenagers who can read minds, open magic portals, or talk to ghosts. I think those stories are fascinating, but I'm increasingly interested in reading manuscripts with situations and characters that readers can relate to." (Link)
From an Interview (06/2010):
"I'm always hungry for books that make me laugh and increasingly I'm looking for contemporary YA, especially romance." (Link)
From an Interview (07/2010):
"I think what all editors and agents are really looking for-and I suspect this is as true today as it will be five years from now-are fresh, original voices.
In addition to a great voice, I'm always looking for funny books in any of the YA or MG sub-genres. Funny is very hard to pull off, but it is a real sweet spot for me. I'd also love to see more YA or MG horror in my slush pile." (Link)
What She Isn't Looking For:
"Lauren is not accepting queries for picture books or chapter books or early readers at this time. She does not represent adult romance or chick lit." (Link)
"I'm probably not the best for high fantasy." (Link)
"A great story with dynamic writing will always be relevant. Write good books, don't worry about trends." (Link)
Editorial Agent?
"The Strothman Agency works closely with our clients to get a project ready for submission and we are always looking to help them build careers--not just sell one book. As an agent I'm always looking to fall in love with a manuscript--I'm really invested in the books and the authors I take on." (Link)
"I still do editing, but I have to really, really, really love the book before I'll take it on. On the fence now equals no, more than before." (Link)
The agency has a "Catalog of Published Works" on the website. Ms. MacLeod's clients include:
Hélène Boudreau, Monica Bustamante Wagner, The Barbara Cooney Estate, Sashi Kaufman, Robert Lettrick, Jodi Meadows, Kathryn Miles, Philip Shabecoff and Alice Shabecoff, Bria Quinlan, Christopher White, among others.
As of 5/2012, Ms. MacLeod is listed on Publisher's Marketplace as having made 2 deals in the last 12 months and 10 overall. Recent deals include 1 young adult and 1 international rights.
NOTE: PM is usually not a complete representation of sales.
Query Methods:
E-mail: Yes (only).
Snail-Mail: No.
Online-Form: No.
Submission Guidelines (always verify):
Send a query letter outlining your qualifications and experience, a synopsis, the genre and word count of your manuscript, and the first ten pages in the body of an e-mail. No attachments. You should receive an auto-response upon receipt.
Please see the Strothman Agency website for complete, up-to-date submission guidelines.
Query Tips/Peeves:
"My biggest query pet peeve is when people try to query via a phone call, but a close second would be authors who pitch more than one project at a time. I find being presented with ten different ideas all at once very overwhelming." (Link)
"Not following guidelines. There is so much information out there and so many agents writing really fantastically helpful blogs that there is no excuse for not doing your research before querying." (Link)
Response Times:
"…every submission is read and considered. Due to the volume of submissions we receive, please allow three to four weeks for a response. If we have not replied to your query within six weeks, we do not feel that it is right for us." (Link)
Stats on the web show Ms. MacLeod often responds to queries within days to a couple weeks and requested material within six weeks.
What's the Buzz?
Lauren has an active presence on Twitter and the agency blog and is popular with aspiring authors. Her clients are very loyal and happy in her hands. Her sales seem modest but balanced with her selective client list. Writers of realistic MG/YA fiction should definitely take note!
Worth Your Time:
Agent Chat transcript with Lauren MacLeod at WriteOn (05/2011).
Agent Advice Interview with Lauren MacLeod at Guide to Literary Agents (12/2010).
Interview with an Agent: Lauren MacLeod at Mother. Write. (Repeat.) (06/2010).
Lit Agent Lauren MacLeod Has "Sweet Spot" for Funny Books, interview at GalleyCat (01/2010).
Around the Web:
See her bio on the agency website for conferences she'll be attending.
See the agency's FAQ for general agent info and tips.
Ms. Macleod is active on both the agency blog and Twitter.
The Strothman Agency on P&E ($, Recommended).
The Strothman Agency thread at AbsoluteWrite.
Successful Queries: Agent Lauren MacLeod and "Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings" at Guide to Literary Agents (12/2010).
Client Jodi Meadow's agent story and book sale story at her blog (2010).
"Straight Talk on Tough Times for Writers" at Mitali's Fire Escape featuring comments by Lauren Macleod, Colleen Lindsay, and Elana Roth (10/2009).
Lauren MacLeod was a Secret Agent for Miss Snark's First Victim's blog; follow the link and then locate the entries for that month (July 2009) to see her comments on each entry as well as her chosen winners.
"An Agent Talks Trends in MG/YA Publishing" featuring Lauren Macleod; what she's seeing a lot of and what editors are asking for (06/2009)
A relay of some #askagent tweets by Lauren Macleod on Words of Inspiration and Romance (06/2009).
QueryDay Q&A summary featuring many comments by Lauren Macleod on Writing For Kids While Raising Them (04/2009).
Notes from QueryFail at Writing For Kids While Raising Them. Check out the reasons Ms. Macleod and other agents might reject you (03/2009).
Please see The Strothman Agency website for contact and query information.
Profile Details:
Last updated: 5/1/12.
Agent Contacted For Review? Yes.
Last Reviewed By Agent? 5/1/12.
Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at agentspotlight(at)gmail(dot)com
Note: These agent profiles presently focus on agents who accept children's and/or teen fiction. They are not interviews. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found herein is subject to change.