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The keen gardeners of Tura Beach have responded to our call for photos of their favourite patches and have sent in a beautiful selection showing their handiwork. But it's not too late for you to send your photos in too.
Do you love your Tura Beach garden and can't wait to get out and plant something? Do you have a corner or a special patch that just makes your heart swell with pride when you look at it, well now's the time to share a photo with our readers of that blossoming patch and bag a wonderful prize.
Brent and Sue Whiter, of Plants Plus, Tura Beach will be judging the garden photos and have $250 worth of prizes to give away for the best snaps of Tura Beach gardens.
Simply send in your photos to email@example.com or bring them to the office at 1-3, Monaro Street, Merimbula. Please supply your name, address (not for publication) and your phone number.
As part of our Totally Tura feature on October 16, the News Weekly will be printing some of the best photos and letting you know who won.


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I'm going down to South Park and have my self a time!
Death and sadness everywhere; loneliness and degradation.
I'm going down to South Park, going to take my woes with meeee…
Nightmares every night; posers spouting "Let's go shopping!"
Heading out to South Park, 'cause I can not unwind!
I like spiders, loss, and rain! I'm only happy when I'm in pain!
So go on down to South Park… TO DIE~ (to die to die).

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Rangers-Athletics Runs
Rangers second. Beltre grounded out, shortstop Lowrie to first baseman Barton. N.Cruz struck out. Moreland homered to right on a 2-2 count. Soto struck out.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Rangers 1, Athletics 0.
Athletics second. Moss struck out. Donaldson singled to center. Barton grounded into fielder's choice, third baseman Beltre to second baseman Kinsler, Donaldson out. D.Norris walked on four pitches, Barton to second. Sogard singled to center, Barton scored, D.Norris to second. Jaso singled to center, D.Norris scored, Sogard to third. S.Smith grounded out, second baseman Kinsler to first baseman Moreland.
2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Athletics 2, Rangers 1.
Athletics third. Lowrie struck out. Cespedes homered to center on a 0-1 count. Moss homered to center on a 2-2 count. Donaldson grounded out, shortstop Andrus to first baseman Moreland. Barton grounded out, second baseman Kinsler to first baseman Moreland.
2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Athletics 4, Rangers 1.
Athletics sixth. Barton was hit by a pitch. . J.Ortiz pitching. D.Norris doubled to center, Barton scored. Sogard popped out to shortstop Andrus. Jaso struck out. S.Smith flied out to left fielder Dav.Murphy.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Athletics 5, Rangers 1.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press
This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index
- Sources: Rangers to sign Choo for $130M
- O's not signing Balfour, cite physical results
- Alleged kidnapping of Rangers' Martin detailed
- Youkilis will play 'one more year' -- in Japan
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Good for: Surfing, Fishing, Water Sports
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Holiday Shopping Event: 'Tis The Season In The Citi
Join Citibabes for a unique holiday shopping event at their space downtown–complete with snacks, seasonal cheer, and more!
Head over to Citibabes in SoHo on December 14, from 10am to 4pm for a fun-filled day of holiday shopping on their 4th floor (featuring over 75 unique vendors), and light snacks, beverages, arts & crafts, and more on their 3rd floor, at their complimentary 'Tis The Season In The Citi event! Citibabes hopes to have 200-300 people in attendance--plus, you can bring… [more]


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- 68,000 more file for unemployment — in one week
- Michigan bans in-state insurers from covering abortion
- Nancy Pelosi tells Democrats to pass budget: 'Embrace the suck'
- Key Obamacare official: Last two months much harder than anyone hoped
- Sen. Mike Lee: We must stop 'the prez' from acting like the queen
- George Bush consoles Alabama kicker Cade Foster: You will be stronger
- Megachurch pastor with ties to Obama commits suicide
- WaPo to readers: Send us your 'gun violence' stories for Sandy Hook anniversary
- U.S. threatens Ukraine with sanctions over dispatch of riot police
- Canada doing away with door-to-door mail delivery by 2018
Junk laws can't cut the spam
Unsolicited commercial junk email, or "spam," is a huge problem. Especially the porn; I have to shoo my children out of the room when I check my e-mail. But junk legislation offered up to presumably solve the problem can make things worse.
Touted at an unsolicited press conference last week, Sen. Charles Schumer, New York Democrat, proposed legislation that would impose subject-line labeling requirements for commercial e-mail (it would have to say "ADV"); forbid concealing one's identity; mandate an "unsubscribe" mechanism; ban the use of software capable of collecting e-mails from the Internet; set up stiff non-compliance fines; and establish an expensive (and likely hackable and thus worse-than-useless) Do-Not-Spam list at the Federal Trade Commission. Of course, politicians exempt themselves as possible offenders under anti-spam legislation, remaining free to send us junk campaign material.
The downside to an Internet in which you can contact whomever you want, is that anyone can contact you. Spammers pay no postage or long-distance charges. The solution is to shift those costs back to the spammer; the question is whether to do that is legislatively or technologically.
Plainly, peddling fraudulent merchandise or impersonating somebody else (such as a person or organization like AOL) in the e-mail's header information should be punished, as should breaking an agreement made with an Internet service provider (ISP) that prohibits bulk mailing.
But in the debate over the outpouring of spam, it's important to avoid unintentionally stifling beneficial e-commerce. Regulating communications isn't something to be done lightly. If a law merely sends the most egregious spammers offshore to continue hammering us, that may simply create legal and regulatory hassles for small businesses trying to make a go of legitimate e-commerce, or for mainstream companies that are not spammers. Commercial e-mail, even if unsolicited, may be welcome if the sender is a business selling legal and legitimate products in a non-abusive manner.
As the market works to shift costs of commercial e-mail back to the sender, we must be on guard against legislative confusion in approaches like Mr. Schumer's: How might the definition of spam expand beyond unsolicited and commercial e-mail?
What about unsolicited political or nonprofit bulk e-mailings, press releases, resume blasts and charitable solicitations? What about newsletters that contain embedded ads? Or what about one's personal e-mail signature line with a link back to one's employer? That's a subtle solicitation, whether we admit it or not. At the very least, unwise legislation would create serious headaches for noncommercial e-mailers like nonprofit groups. Would pop-up ads become suspect in the aftermath of spam legislation? They're not e-mail, but they are unsolicited and commercial.
Finally, legal bans on false e-mail return addresses, as well as bans on software capable of hiding such information, have worrisome implications for free speech and anonymity for individuals, and will be ignored by spammers anyway. Well-meaning individuals can use "spamware" to create the contemporary version of the anonymous flyers that have played such an important role in our history. Individuals should retain the ability to safeguard their anonymity even in (or perhaps especially in) a mass communications tool like e-mail. In an era in which so many people are concerned about online privacy, a law that impedes a technology that can protect such privacy would be curious indeed.
Smarter approaches to the spam epidemic include better e-mail filtering, such as setting the owner's screen to delete bulk mail and to receive only from recognized and approved e-mail addresses. That's particularly appropriate for children's e-mail accounts. Emerging "handshake" or "challenge and response" systems capable of totally blocking spam show promise: Because the most offensive spam is sent by automatic bulk-mailing programs that are not capable of receiving a reply, spam no longer appears in the in-box.
Identifiers or "seals"' for trusted commercial e-mail could be another means of helping ISPs block unwanted e-mail. A new consortium including America Online, Microsoft and Yahoo, to establish "certified" e-mail would bolster this approach.
Given the perfectly understandable desire to stop unsolicited e-mail, it is all too easy for Congress to undermine legitimate commerce, communications and free speech. And crippling Internet commerce would be especially pointless if spam continued pouring in from overseas. A better target is unsolicited press conferences, like the one at which Mr. Schumer dropped his bill. $25,000 fine, at least. Send payment to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. is director of technology studies at the Cato Institute.
KIBBE: Another Republican budget surrender
By Matt Kibbe
The short-term deal will assure long-term overspending
- NAPOLITANO: A conspiracy so vast
- Biden guarantees victory on immigration reform
- All-out war breaks out in GOP over budget pact
- Obama takes 'selfie' at Mandela's funeral service
- MALCOLM/REIMER: Over-criminalization undermines respect for legal system
- MILLER: Dick Heller challenges D.C.s gun registration, files for summary judgment in Heller II
- KIBBE: Another Republican budget surrender
- Teen thugs in D.C. run wild -- even while wearing GPS ankle bracelets
- Inside the Ring: China targets Global Hawk drone
- Creator of 'Selfies at Funerals' blog retires after Obama flub: 'Our work here is done'
Independent voices from the The Washington Times Communities
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text:
- March 9, 2011
- 7:49 a.m.
- Suggest removal
- Reply to this post
burntorange68goat writes:
1) The City of Knoxville Employee's Pension is a contributory Plan. Meaning that the employees are required to contribute 6% of their Pre-Tax earnings to the pension and the City puts in another 6%.
2) The reason this plan is in trouble, is that for the last decade, the managers of the plan have used an assumed growth rate of 8% per year on the fund, and there is not a pension fund anywhere in the Country that has averaged an 8% growth rate over the last decade. And of coarse the major loss from 2008 didn't help.
3) The claim that in 2011, the fund will only need a $9,000,000 dollar contribution from the City is false. The current growth projections for the City Pension are still based on a 8% growth rate. That means that when and if, the City ever corrects this to a more realistic 3-4% growth rate, that the actual amount needed for the Pension this year will be closer to $18,000,000 to $20,000,000.
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a morning-after condition caused by heavy drinking marked by uncontrollable, urgent, extremely watery fecal discharge that it is essentially fluid upon exiting your body. occurs primarily after drinking dark liquors such as whiskey or inordinate amounts of beer.
Megan couldn't help herself at the open bar, she drank way too much whiskey. This morning she is paying for it with a bad case of pee butt.


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Formalism, Reality, and Perception
posted by Gerard Magliocca
I want to compare two men and their reputations. One man wrote "All men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence. That ideal was hollow for many Americans for a long time (slaves, Native Americans, women, etc.). Nonetheless, he is widely admired and people accept that what he said was an aspiration that the nation is always striving to make real. The other man wrote the Equal Protection Clause into the Constitution. That ideal was also hollow for many Americans for a long time (African Americans, Native Americans, women, etc.) He is not widely admired or known, though, and the period of history that he was a part of it is considered a failure. Most people do not consider Reconstruction aspirational–they focus on its shortcomings.
Why is that? Perhaps it's because Jefferson did a lot more in his life than John Bingham, and so we cut Jefferson more slack. Maybe it's because Reconstruction made law (whereas the Declaration did not), and thus we have higher or more concrete expectations for the Fourteenth Amendment. I'm not sure, but it is an interesting question. The Founders generally get a pass on their mistakes, but the Reconstruction Republicans do not.
August 20, 2013 at 11:38 am Posted in: Constitutional Law, Uncategorized Print This Post
3 Responses
Mls - August 20, 2013
Obviously Jefferson had a better publicist.
AGR - August 21, 2013
TJ has not been cut that much slack. Bingham should be much, much better known than he is. But his career was much less varied, and he was never president.
anon - August 21, 2013
There's no mystery. Sectional reconciliation meant re-writing history to trivialize slavery, celebrate treason, and denigrate integration and civil rights. That damage is only partly undone.


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Kelly vs. Miguel vs. Seabass is starting in 25 minutes. Round 4 (non-elimination), Heat 3 at the... fb.me/Ue2fNVaQ
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SANDY -- Police have arrested a man accused of beating his 85-year-old grandmother-in-law to death with a golf club.
Police say officers responded to a Sandy home Thursday night after a woman reported her husband was having a psychotic episode and beating a female in the house with a golf club.
Sgt. Jon Arnold says in a statement police found the body of 85-year-old Arla "Caroline" Christensen and arrested her grandson-in-law, 41-year-old Kevin Cuillard.
Arnold says Cuillard was arrested without incident and booked into Salt Lake County Jail on a homicide charge.
He says Christensen had lived in Mount Pleasant but recently moved into Cuillard's home due to some health issues.


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San Francisco Restaurants
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Zuni Café
Zuni Café Review
After one bite of chef Judy Rodgers' succulent brick-oven-roasted whole chicken with Tuscan bread salad, you'll understand why she's a national star (and why it's the most-well-known chicken dish in town). Food is served here on two floors; the rabbit warren of rooms on the second level includes a balcony overlooking the main dining room. Mingle among a disparate mix that reflects the makeup of the city—casual and dressy, young and old, hip and staid—at the long copper bar where trays of briny, fresh oysters on the half shell are dispensed along with cocktails and wine. The southern French–Italian menu changes daily, though the signature chicken, prepared for two, is a fixture (and, alas, its cost reflects its popularity). Rotating dishes are simple but made with excellent ingredients, like house-cured anchovies with Parmigiano-Reggiano, deep-fried squid and lemons, ricotta gnocchi with seasonal vegetables, and brick-oven squab with polenta. Nearly as famous as the chicken is the chocolatey flourless gâteau Victoire, served here since the '80s. The most cheerful spot to sit is at the tip of the "pyramid window" near the bar, easier to score if you plan a late lunch—the restaurant serves straight through.
- Address: 1658 Market St., Hayes Valley, San Francisco, CA 94102 | Map It
- Phone: 415/552–2522
- Website: www.zunicafe.com
- Location: Hayes Valley
Contact Information
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Residents of the Midwest cleared away wreckage Saturday following a wave of storms that splintered homes and knocked out power to thousands.
Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed Friday in Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri and 150,000 Missouri utility customers lost power.
About 6,900 of Citizens Electric Cooperative's 27,000 members were still without power Saturday. While all members in Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties were expected to have power restored by the end of Saturday, the company said it could be four days before restoration is complete in Cape Girardeau and Perry counties. Crews from Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri are helping the cooperative restore power.
About 13,000 Black River Electric Cooperative members were without power Saturday night, according to the company's website. About 100 extra linemen and 150 tree trimmers from other Missouri cooperatives are helping in restoration efforts. Repairs are expected to last through this week.
In the Farmington area, about 6,550 AmerenUE customers were without power Saturday night.
More than 56,000 Ameren customers in Southern Illinois, including nearly 3,000 in Union County, still had no electricity Saturday, the company said. Ameren said it hopes to have the lights back on for everyone by midnight Tuesday.
Ron Pate, Ameren Illinois Utilities vice president of regional operations, described the storm as an "inland hurricane" that brought down hundreds of utility poles, slammed trees into transmission lines and destroyed equipment in Carbondale, Marion and other surrounding areas in Illinois.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Saturday declared Franklin, Jackson and Williamson counties disaster areas.
The Southeast Missouri chapter of the American Red Cross has opened a shelter at Perryville United Methodist Church, 314 W. North St. Executive director Cheryl Klueppel said eight people had sought refuge at the shelter Saturday night.
Those seeking relief assistance or other information may contact the Red Cross at 335-9471.
Jim Bollinger, emergency management director for Bollinger County, said most roads had reopened and that the emergency command center at Meadow Heights School in Patton was shut down shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday.
Bollinger said crews worked until 10 p.m. Friday and most of Saturday to clear roads and help residents.
"Neighbor has been helping neighbor," Bollinger said. "It's phenomenal what they've done for one another."
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear declared an emergency in central and southeastern sections of his state Saturday, and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin made the same declaration for six counties in that state.
Trees were down and windows were broken on the campus of Southern Illinois University's Carbondale campus, but the school said weekend commencement ceremonies would go on scheduled. Friday's graduation ceremonies were canceled.
The National Weather Service said it received multiple reports of tornadoes from one end of Missouri to the other, mostly south of Interstate 44.
The weather service confirmed that at least two tornadoes touched down Friday morning in southwest Missouri's Greene County. The county's Office of Emergency Management counted three homes and one business destroyed with 298 homes, 29 businesses and 13 schools damaged.
In Southern Illinois, the storm system peeled siding and roofs off homes and other buildings, blowing out car windows and tearing up trailer parks. Wind gusted to 100 mph in the Carbondale area and sustained wind was measured up to 90 mph.
On Saturday, a line of thunderstorms stretched from Arkansas and northern Mississippi across Tennessee and Kentucky.
Some homes were evacuated early Saturday in southern West Virginia because of flooding caused by more than 2 inches of rain, said state Homeland Security Operations Director Paul Howard. High water also closed several main roads. No injuries were reported. Appalachian Power reported nearly 10,000 customers without service.
Staff writer Brian Blackwell contributed to this report.


text:
"We want to simplify things for the user. Loop is a secure, mobile wallet solution accepted nearly everywhere on day one."
We aren't talking about the company's upcoming announcement of a $10 million Series A, an oversubscribed round with participation from a number of undisclosed angel investors. And unlike everybody else in the city, we are also not talking about Seattle's unseasonably frosty December (then again, LoopPay is a Boston-based startup...no weather sympathy there.)
But I continue to call out Discover's design work (previous posts). Partly because I have an account there and see it often and partly because it's instructive to see how a large full-service bank handles design tradeoffs.
Yesterday's email from DIscover, reminding me that my monthly statement was ready, shows how the card giant marries good design with useful information.
Most statement alerts are simple one liners asking the user to do all the work: login, find the right tab, click on the correct button, and so on. Discover, on the other hand, positions key summary information right within the body of the email (see screenshot below):
The company includes a button to view the statement at the top, but somewhat buries the payment link near the bottom.
Analysis: This is one of the better (maybe best) statement-available message I get from the major brands (note 2). But it could still be improved:
1. For example, a recent crowd favorites was from Poland's mBank which demoed alongside Accenture at FinovateFall in September (demo video).
2. We dug deep into this area a few years ago in our reports (subscription):
- Email Banking: Revitalizing the Channel (August 2010)
- Alerts & Streaming (July 2010)
- Paperless Billing & Banking (Nov. 2010)
With just 68 days to go until our fourth annual FinovateEurope, it's finally time to reveal the presenter lineup for the event.
On February 11 & 12, these companies will take the stage to demo their newest fintech innovations to a projected crowd of over 900 financial executives, venture capitalists, press, industry analysts and entrepreneurs.
With the explosion in European fintech activity in the last year, the application process to select the innovations for the conference was incredibly competitive. While that makes for hard choices for our selection committee, it also lays the foundation for another amazing FinovateEurope filled with cutting-edge fintech innovation.
Without further ado, here are the companies that will be demoing their latest and greatest in London next February:
We will be also be announcing over a dozen stealth companies closer to the event.
If you're interested in witnessing the future of European fintech debut in London next February, please get your ticket today to guarantee your ability to attend as we're headed towards a sellout crowd. Plus if you register before December 21st, you'll save £100 via the early-bird discount!
We'll see you in London in February (or Silicon Valley in April)!
FinovateEurope 2014 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Be Group, Financial Technology Partners, and Life.SREDA.
FinovateEurope 2014 is partners with: Aite Group, BankersHub, Celent, The Financial Services Club, FSIC, Hotwire PR & Visible Banking.
One: Coin is an overnight YouTube sensation
Who would have guessed a $50 payment gadget could be a viral hit? In the week since it was announced, the 105-second demo video (made Sandwich Video) has racked up more than 6 million views, 26,000 likes, and almost 9,000 comments. The company said it's original $50,000 crowdfunding goal was hit in 47 minutes, they have not said how many have been sold since. According to a button on its site, the pre-order period will last 30 days.
Many of speculated about why this happened, but the most concise summary is on Quora written by Brian Roemmele. He lists five reasons:
1. The product solves a real problem, too many cards in the wallet
2. Coin implies there is a limited supply
3. It was selling at for a limited time at 50% off
4. It appealed to early adopters with a blend of "old" meets "new"
5. $5 referral credit (against the $50 cost) with a built-in sharing button at the end of the purchase process.
Two: The latest fintech prize winners
Fintech startups have been taking home awards at various fall tech events this fall. Here are six winners in from the past 10 days:
1. FinovateAsia Best of Show winners from Singapore (post):
2. Innotribe Disrupt winner at NextBank LatinAmerica (Bogota, Columbia)
3. Get In the Ring winner at this Dutch startup competition (Rotterdam)
Three: Finovera launches "PFM for your bills"
Finovera (FinovateSpring 13), officially launched its billing/PFM portal and landed a favorable TechCrunch post. The service competes in the PFM space, but is more focused on the billing and payments side (along with Manilla and doxo). Unlike analyzing/charting spending, the process of organizing, paying, and archiving bills is a near-universal need. So, it's an area that retail banks should pay close attention to (note 1).
Four: Virtual currencies gain more real-world backing
U.S. regulators didn't exactly endorse Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, but they didn't condemn it either (Financial Times article). That was enough to send prices through the roof, touching $900 by some reports, a nice 50x gain since Jan 1. Most assets that appreciate so rapidly fall back to earth, but no one knows for sure if Bitcoin isn't than 1-in-a-million item that defies common sense.
But this is not JUST a Bitcoin story, it's about the "Internet of money." And it could be the biggest financial innovation since the credit card. However, it's still boggles my mind that regulators who are having a hard time letting normal people invest in privately held companies, are not clamping down on unregulated virtual currency trading. This story is far from finished.
Table: USD value of a Bitcoin at Mt. Gox (last 6 months)
1. For a deeper dive, see our report on paperless billing and banking (Nov. 2010, subscription).
2. All Finovate alum videos are available free of charge at our Finovate.com website.
1. Sharing rent and utilities among roommates
2. Splitting the bar/dinner tab among friends
Those are the significant financial problems faced by 24-year old founders living in the Bay Area or Brooklyn. But for the rest of the world, those are relatively small or non-existent issues. What we need are financial collaboration tools for adults.
But I'm happy to report there is finally an app for that. And it's from a fintech company known for providing the PFM plumbing, not the fixtures, Yodlee. The company's Tandem app made its debut in September at FinovateFall earning a Best of Show award. Tandem repeated with another Best of Show at its international debut last week at FinovateAsia (upper right).
Tandem uses a four-layer "financial circles" approach inspired by Circles in Google Plus (see inset left):
1. You
2. Inner circle: Used to transact
with family members
3. Friends: Used to share expenses
with groups of friends
4. Advisors: Used to collaborate
with professional advisors
The app allows the various circles to jointly manage financial issues, such as siblings chipping in to manage and elderly parent's expenses. The brilliant thing Yodllee did, which is often overlooked, is to focus on the communications about group finances. Compared to the relatively simple transaction, communicating is often far more time consuming, prone to error, not to mention creating ill will.
In its demo (right), Yodlee showed how siblings could communicate within Tandem about a suspicious charge on their mom's account. Each person in this financial circle are depicted with thumbnails at the top. Each can communicate with the others using the text-message like interface (lower half of the screen).
Bottom line: There is still hard work required to make Tandem a reality. Yodlee is in discussions with a number of potential clients, but doesn't expect it to be live much before mid-2014.
Even so, Tandem is the type of tangible improvement that PFM has long promised (note 1). I'd love to move beyond text messaging, and use Tandem to better sync financially with my son when he heads off to college next fall.
But don't take my word for it, here's a final thought from USAA's acclaimed innovator, Neff Hudson (Tweeted during FinovateFall, 10 Sep 2013)
FinovateFall 2013 Demo
Check out Yodlee CEO Anil Agora and VP Katy Gibson show it off at FinovateFall (note, this is not an embed, click on the picture and you'll go to the webpage where you can play it):
Post-show interview of Anil Agora, by Finovate's David Penn:
For some, PFM innovations are like hearing that the Dallas Cowboys have a new coach or the New York Yankees have a new pitcher. At the end of the day, they are still the Cowboys and the Yankees and you either love them or you don't.
But you could almost hear the collective "yes!" when the Yodlee team presented the "shared finances" feature of their PFM app, TANDEM. Who knew the ability to manage finances for elderly parents or high school age children without having to talk with your ex-husband (or ex-wife, I assume) would be so popular?
Congratulations to Yodlee for helping make PFM new again. Here are a few thoughts on TANDEM from Yodlee President and CEO Anil Arora.
Q. Why did Yodlee win Best of Show?
Anil: We think Yodlee won Best of Show at FinovateFall with our Tandem app for two simple reasons: 1.) It's truly unique, and 2.) Everyone in the audience could relate to it personally.
With nearly 70 presenters, it's challenging to create something that is dramatically different. We saw a void (and opportunity) in the market to go beyond traditional money management conversations around budgeting and spending to create real dialogue and action around relationships. One of our favorite tweets recognized that "life is messy." We are all complicated and social beings. So Tandem was designed to both embrace that and to help create some order and peace of mind around how we manage finances within the context of personal relationships (children, spouses, aging parents, teams, friends, roommates, etc.).
Our goal was to tell the Tandem story through real-world use-cases that everyone can understand. We used scenarios such as having a child in college who needs money for school purchases, communicating with siblings to help an aging parent manage bills and protect against fraud, and business partners working through the process of getting a business loan with their bank. These are just a few of hundreds of scenarios that we all face every day where our new Yodlee Tandem mobile app could play a valued and proactive role in both the communication around finances and actual money movement. It's safe, easy, and relevant to every day life.
Innovation is key to Yodlee's DNA. We are passionate about creating a platform and an ecosystem that solves real problems, breaks down technical barriers, and moves industries forward. We hope our new Tandem app does all that!
Q. What would you like to add to what we've learned from your demo?
Anil: Telling a complete story in seven minutes is really tough. For example, we showed only a few use-cases for Tandem out of the hundreds that exist. When you're excited and passionate about how an app can change lives, it's hard to choose just two or three instances to show the crowd. We also would have loved to add more about the ease and power of how someone can actually set up a financial circle. It's very easy and it's very powerful.
The financial circles concept of communication within pre-determined social circles is really unique, and the ability to control the account-sharing access is paramount. This clearly distinguishes Tandem from other apps and services. We haven't seen anything else in the market where you can securely interact with others around specific accounts and transactions with distinct parameters around what is shared and accessed, from specific (tagged) transactions to full account access with a trusted advisor. Tandem enables full control while empowering users to have a real dialogue around important financial matters in real-time.
Q. What can we look forward to over the next three to six months?
Anil: Since Finovate, we have received tremendous interest in the Tandem app. We're really excited about seeing Yodlee Tandem live and in action providing value to millions of people around the world. We're already getting substantial consumer feedback on both the concept and the user experience and that will increase exponentially when the app goes live.
We will provide Tandem to existing and new customers within both our financial institution business and also within our API business to consumer services companies, large and small. We believe this is a very useful and valuable app that will engage people in all-new ways around managing financial relationships and having productive conversations about a very sensitive topic: money.
1. We've tackled PFM numerous times over the years in our Online Banking Report. Most recently here (subscription).
My favorite headline:
Master card? 'Coin' combines, debit, credit and others into one
-- by Devin Coldewey, NBC News
It's currently the fourth highest ranked article on Techmeme and it's the number 1 trending startup on Crunchbase today, beating Snapchat, which just turned down $3 billion from Facebook (bubble maybe?).
Anyway, for anyone who's missed it, Coin is planning to release a programmable mag strip card along the same lines as Dynamics. Coin says its plastic card will hold up to eight distinct card details at a time, all accessible via a button and miniature LED screen on the card. The card syncs with your smartphone so you can swap out the eight cards anytime, for an unlimited number stored in the phone. It even beeps at you if you walk away from the Coin card.
Coin announced a pre-order today. At 2:15 PM PST, the company said it had reached it's pre-order goal in 40 minutes, selling more than 1,000 at its website today (cost = $50 + $5 shipping). That in itself is a sign of the times. An unknown startup (albeit with YC alum cred) crowdfunding on its own site and raiding $50k in less than an hour (see note 1).
For those concerned about the card's potential use by credit card thieves, Coin requires the mag strip to be read via a Square-like dongle AND a photo of the front/back of the card which must match the mag stripe info AND your Coin profile.
The 2-minute video showing how Coin works has already been viewed more than 250,000 times. That has to be a single-day fintech record.
Bottom line: Some day, plastic cards will be relegated to the Smithsonian and the auction pages of eBay, but that day is many, many years in the future (see note 2). So the multi-card "plastic 2.0" concept from Dynamics, GoNowCard, Escardgot, Protean and others, could be a viable transitional technology.
At $50 a pop (scheduled to double next summer to $100), Coin will clearly occupy a relatively small niche. However, if the price comes down to something closer to a burger and beer in NYC/SF ($15 to $20) or better, the startup uses a monthly freemium subscription model, it could take off.
1. I snagged one of them, so check back next summer for a report.
2. For more info, see our recent Online Banking Report: Digital & Mobile Wallets(published Feb 2013, subscription).
One of my pet peeves is mobile banking login. Entering an 8-character alpha-numeric password is clumsy and security overkill for 99% of mobile sessions. Four-digit passcodes used at Simple, Mint and others is a good compromise, but then you have yet another password to remember.
I've been especially envious of the no-login, read-only services from Southern Bancorp, Commonwealth Bank (Australia), Bank of the West, Westpac (NZ), City Bank of Texas, Barclaycard and others.
While none of my financial providers has done away with the password entirely, Capital One just rolled out something pretty close, a password substitute that uses a pre-set gesture on the touchscreen to log in (see screenshots below).
I updated my Capital One app (v4.3) over the weekend and am happy to report that it worked as promised. It takes less than a second, and due to its uniqueness, it's incredibly easy to remember (that probably changes if everyone started using various gesture systems). It's currently available only on the iPhone, but it's going Android in 2014.
Bottom line: While I think the bank needs to expand its explanation of the new feature (see note 2), it's a fantastic development for the mobile experience. And we hope it spurs more innovation on the login front. As a result, SureSwipe is receiving our OBR Best of the Web award, the third for Capital One (archives; note 3).
How it works
1. At login, users are asked if they want to start using SureSwipe. If so, they press the "Create Your Pattern" button.
2. Users create their login pattern by running their finger between the nine dots. A minimum of four must be used and a few simple patterns are not allowed.
3. The gesture is verified by repeating it, then confirmed by the bank.
4. Users have the option of turning it off or resetting the pattern. To change the gesture, users must enter their existing alpha-numeric password.
5. At login, users are presented with this screen.
Note: There is an option for alpha-numeric login (bottom left) and pattern help (bottom left).
1. Capital One SureSwipe landing page (at top of post)
2. I'm a little surprised the bank didn't address security concerns on its landing page or within its app. There is no "learn more" when the option is first presented to users. I was super excited to see it, but I'm not sure normal users will be so understanding. I think many will have questions about how secure a pattern is compared to a normal password.
3. This is the third OBR Best of the Web for Capital One, all since 2010, when the card issuer began to really push digital distribution. Since 1997, our Online Banking Report industry newsletter has been periodically giving OBR Best of the Web awards to companies that pioneer new online- or mobile-banking features. It is not an endorsement of the company or product, just recognition for what we believe is an important industry development. In total, 90 companies have won the award. Recent winners are profiled in the Netbanker archives.
FinovateAsia 2013 is next week and it is going to be our best and biggest conference in the region to date!
If you're interested in seeing how leading companies in this fast-growing area of the world are innovating on banking, investing, payments and much more, please get your ticket here before it is too late.
If you do join us in Singapore on November 14th, you'll see more than three dozen new innovations from our impressive lineup of presenting companies. (Check out the FinovateAsia sneak peaks #1, #2, #3 and #4 for more details.)
And, in addition to witnessing almost 40 cutting-edge fintech innovations debut in a single day, you'll also get to connect with hundreds of the senior execs, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs that are creating the future of fintech. Here is just a small sample of the organizations that have signed up to attend already:
Tickets are available online through next week. Please register soon as space is limited.
We'll (hopefully) see you in Singapore in next week (or London in February)!
FinovateAsia 2013 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Citi Ventures, Financial Technology Partners, Life.SREDA, Standard Chartered Bank, and Visa.
FinovateAsia 2013 is partners with: Aite, The Asian Banker, BankersHub, BeSuccess, Celent, The Emerging Finance, Finance on Windows, FSClub, SME Finance Forum, Timetric and Visible Banking.
But even the Fed (Chicago) complimented Bitcoin in a letter published today, saying:
"<Bitcoin> represents a remarkable conceptual and
technical achievement, which may well be used by existing financial institutions
(which could issue their own bitcoins) or even by governments themselves."
While remaining skeptical, I am at least coming to understand why it's needed. And startups are beginning to show up with businesses built on top of the currency, which helps explain just how important it could be.
Case in point: BTCJam, a global P2P lending outfit, with founders in Brazil and San Francisco, lends in Bitcoins. With participants in 85 countries, this is the first P2P lending platform that successfully crossed national borders.
The startup has already done 2,700 loans worth more than $1 million since its launch a year ago. In comparison, Prosper originated about 6,000 loans worth $28 million during its first year. Prosper's loan size in year 1 was more than 10x that of BTCjam (Prosper average = $4,800 in 2006).
The company is currently in the process of raising about $1+ mil via Angel List.
How it works
Like most P2P lending platforms, borrowing requests are vetted by the platform. Once approved, they are displaying to the network so that prospective lenders can fund the request. Generally, lenders spread their risks by only backing a portion of each loan.
Since BTCjam is global, it cannot rely solely on traditional credit scores. Instead, it validates the borrower in a number of ways across various social and payment networks along with traditional credit checks, address verifications and income verification. The results are displayed within the loan listing (see screenshots below).
Borrowers that have passed more verification steps and/or with more "social proof" (e.g., eBay seller ratings, PayPal verified status, Facebook friends, etc.) are more likely to be funded and at a lower interest rate.
BTCJam has made 2,700 loans, of which 1,700 have been repaid, with 1,000 active. The company does not say how many have defaulted. Most of the borrowing is for small amounts over short time periods. The average loan amount is $400 to $600 with annual interest rate of about 45%. But most loans are very short duration with an average term of 35 days. The platform takes a 4% advance fee for loans less than 10 BTC (about $2,000) and 1% of higher amounts.
Many borrowers appear to be testing the waters and/or building their reputations through short loans quickly repaid at nominal rates. In addition, there are a number of borrowers using the platform to make Bitcoin currency bets.
Borrowers can choose to repay their debt in straight Bitcoins, but that entails a great deal of currency risk. To avoid that, borrowers can peg their loan to USD, GBP or other currencies. That way, fluctuating Bitcoin values are less of a concern if the funds are converted to local currency. Alternatively, borrowers can essentially short Bitcoins by keeping the funds in BTC and hoping the value against the USD drops.
The company has had loan participants from 85 countries.
Borrower listings at BTCjam (6 Nov 2013)
Note the borrower ratings/verification in far-right column
Borrower listing at BTCjam (6 Nov 2013)
1. We have published three reports in P2P lending (OBR 127 in 2006; 148/149 in 2007; and SR-5 in 2009). Our latest P2P lending market forecast is contained in the current Online Banking Report here (Jan 2013, subscription). We also covered equity and debt crowdfunding a few months ago (see Online Banking Report on Crowdfunding, subscription).
2. We are just finishing a report on Virtual Currencies. We'll announce it here by the end of the month.
<drum roll> Here are the four most surprising fintech developments of the past week (in no particular order):
One: Stealthy mobile payment startup Clinkle hires long-time CFO of Netflix, Barry McCarthy, as its COO
McCarthy was CFO from 1999 to 2010, taking Netflix public in 2003, then overseeing its finances as a public company for seven years. It's pretty unusual for a big-name public company exec to take on an exec role at a startup, especially one in mobile payments. And one that hasn't even officially launched yet to boot. McCarthy is on the board of three startups: Chegg, Eventbrite and Wealthfront, a startup in the investment space.
>> LinkedIn profile of McCarthy
>> A nice overview of the news at TechCrunch
>> An interview with McCarthy at AllThings D
Two: New mobile PFM, Level Money, beats Square Cash to #1 in iOS app store (finance)
As soon as Square launched its P2P payments app, Square Cash, it quickly rocketed to number two in the Finance section of the iPhone app store (see Chart 1 below) and number 55 across all free apps in all categories. But it never got higher, and a week later it's hanging in at number 11.
The reason it missed the top slot? Another newcomer, Level Money, a great-looking new PFM, was being featured by Apple in the App Store and maintained the top ranking during that period (see Chart 2). During its time as a promoted app, Level Money maintained a top-20 ranking among all 500,000+ free apps (see Chart 3).
>> Netbanker post on Square Cash
>> Distimo app rankings for Square Cash (see following chart)
Chart 1: Square Cash app ranking in Free Finance in Apple App Store
Chart 2: Level Money app ranking in Free Finance in Apple App Store
Chart 3: Level Money ranking among all free apps in the Apple App Store
Three: Amex customers have put $1 billion into its Bluebird prepaid card
At this year's SourceMedia Payments Forum, American Express revealed key metrics about its highly touted Bluebird prepaid program sold in Walmart stores:
Thanks to the attendees who tweeted the metrics @leimer (Bradly Leimer) and @JimMarous among others.
Four: Four fintech startups snapped up last week
Compared to other tech sectors, fintech has experienced less M&A activity in the past few years. Everything moves a little slower in a highly regulated, fraud-magnet segment. Buying fintech is not like bolting on a photosharing app. That said, it was a busy past 10 days on the M&A front:
Photo credit: Fab Festival
I'm glad I stayed until the end of Money2020. Some time after 5pm on day four (9 Oct 2013) of the biggest financial tradeshow since BAI Retail Delivery in Nov 2000 (see note 1), Josh Reich introduced two members of team Simple, Tom Wanielista and Collin Ruffenach. The duo proceeded to send each other the first Bluetooth-enabled payment I've ever seen. It looked a lot like a Bump payment, recently relaunched by Capital One 360, but without the awkward phone gyrations.
The feature is called MoneyDrop, built by Wanielista and Ruffenach, and allows Simple users within a few feet of each other to transfer money with a few finger swipes in the Simple mobile app. It's easy to use, since other Simple users automatically pop up on the MoneyDrop screen when they are in range (see screenshot below).
The startup didn't say when the service will be available to Simple's 65,000 customers, but TechCrunch reports it will hit iOS first (iPhone 4S or above required) with Android in the pipeline.
Bottom line: MoneyDrop is similar to the Palm Pilot "beaming" service PayPal began in 1999, but then quickly abandoned for email p2p model (see note 1). The ubiquity of smartphones makes it much more interesting today. Still, the requirement that both users have a Simple account, and newer smartphones, limits its uptake for now (note 2).
While I didn't know it at the time of the Money2020 session, Square was about to introduce a drop-dead simple P2P payment system (see Friday's post). That's a free and easy way for Simple customers to move money as well. It took just 3.5 hours in my test for money to move from my Chase debit card to my Simple account. Not as cool as instant MoneyDropping, but it works with any Visa/MasterCard debit.
Despite all that, I think it's a great move by Simple. MoneyDrop provides a tangible leg up on other mobile banking apps, a moderate viral boost, and great publicity.
Simple MoneyDrop P2P payment service (8 Oct 2013)
1. Retail Delivery topped out around 10,000 attendees (includes exhibitor staff) in 1999/2000. After just two years, Money2020 is at more than 40% of that.
2. A TechCrunch commenter noted that MoneyDrop also sounds like what stealthy Clinkle is planning to unleash on the world. Quite a coup if Simple beat them to market.
3. For more info on peer-to-peer payments (P2P), see our Online Banking Report issue devoted to the topic (Dec 2009, subscription).
But Square did it this week. The company took P2P payments -- which PayPal commercialized in 1999 (see last screenshot below) and CashEdge/Fiserv bankified in 2009/2010, and which Google simplified in May -- and distilled the payment scheme to its essence. Just email money directly (via debit card) from any client, web, mobile, tablet or any other email-enabled device (or from the Square mobile app). No third-party accounts needed, no login, no challenge questions, no selecting your payment method, no navigating various fee structures. Just send payment like you would any other email by adding a cc to Square.
And amazingly, neither the sender nor recipient need be preregistered with Square. All it takes to send or receive small amounts ($250/week) is a U.S. based MasterCard or Visa debit card number, expiration date and ZIP code (see third screenshot; note 3). And once you've entered that the first time, you can literally send a P2P payment in two or three seconds (assuming you were already in your email client).
It's hard to imagine P2P payments being any simpler. And Square is doing it all for free.
The biggest hurdle, as Walt Mossberg pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, is trust. The system is so easy to use, that it almost doesn't seem possible. The other limitation is that users can register only one debit card per email address. There is no way currently to substitute a different card.
Since this is Square (fintech's Apple), the design is gorgeous and the user experience is outstanding (Jim Marous breaks it down here). But the pundits are scratching their heads a bit about why the company launched a service with negative margins (note 4) that isn't solving any major consumer headache and is disconnected with its consumer wallet and Square Register-acquiring business.
I think they are doing it to get millions of debit cards registered with their service. Then when new customers show up at a Square merchant, the company will try to switch what would have been a credit card transactions over to debit. This could potentially save gazillions in interchange, especially when debit price controls are expected to lower the interchange into sub 10-cent-per-transaction territory.
But how they accomplish this integration is still a mystery. The company is so far silent on the end-game for Square Cash.
Financial institution opportunities
Since Square is paying interchange to debit card issuers, financial institutions should be neutral about this service (note 3). Sure it takes P2P payments out of your control, but if your debit card is linked to the service, it increases usage. For those with a fee-based P2P offering such as POPmoney, Square Cash is a competitor, but with its transaction limits and other consumer uncertainties, it's not on equal footing and initially shouldn't be a huge threat.
In fact, banks and credit unions might consider integrating Square Cash directly into online/mobile banking. A script could write the payment email and send it directly from online/mobile banking. The primary drawback would be the confusing email confirmations from Square and the initial debit card signup on the Square page (screenshot #3), so it would take some customer education. But once customers got through that, it could be a minor profit center (see caveat, note 4).
The simplest P2P payment process in the world
Three steps:
1. Choose email address from contacts (or type in)
2. CC email@example.com
3. Type amount in subject line
Note: A message in the body is optional. It can just as easily be left blank.
Square customer announcement (2 PM, 17 Oct 2013)
Note: In this email to an existing Square Wallet customer, the company pushes users to download its new standalone Square Cash app
Signup/application process (webpage)
PayPal "beam money" interface at its 1999 launch (15 Nov 1999)
1. Since 1997, our Online Banking Report has periodically given OBR Best of the Web awards to companies that pioneer new online- or mobile-banking features. It is not an endorsement of the company or product, just recognition for what we believe is an important industry development. In total, 90 companies have won the award. This is the first for Square. Recent winners are profiled in the Netbanker archives.
2. In a Quora post, Brian Roemmele estimates Square pays between $0.10 to $0.25 per transaction to MasterCard or Visa and Chase, its acquiring bank (and Square investor).
3. Recipients can also deposit directly into a bank account if they don't have a debit card.
4. It should be a net positive to the bottom line, unless there are unintended consequences, such as customer support or increased fraud.
5. For more info on peer-to-peer payments (P2P), see our Online Banking Report issue devoted to the topic (Dec 2009, subscription).
The report highlights the important funding, milestones, metrics and product launches during the past three months. In addition, there is a section on new banking business models for the next 10 years and beyond.
The Finovate Quarterly is complimentary for our Online Banking Report subscribers and is automatically delivered to them via mail. Anyone else can purchase here.
About the report
Finovate Quarterly (link)
Highlights of Q3 2013, including a look at the best new products from FinovateFallAuthor: Julie Schicktanz & David Penn, Finovate Group Research Analysts
Editor: Jim Bruene, Finovate Group FounderPublished: 14 October 2013
Length: 76 pages; 16,000 words
Cost: No extra charge to OBR subscribers, US$195 for others here
The printed version will be mailed to subscribers this week.
]]>While the number of U.S. banks working with tech startups is very small, their numbers seem to be growing. Just this week I learned of two:
In addition, the 800-lb guerilla is driving deposits to smaller financial institutions. BancVue, just announced that its clients have refunded $10 million in ATM fees through various rewards checking programs including Kasasa.
Banks working with startups potentially benefit in a number of ways:
Finally, it can be an interesting project to work on, benefitting all involved.
Bottom line: Does working with a startup have a positive ROI? Not necessarily. There are many pitfalls, not the least of which is making sure that everything satisfies compliance and regulatory watchdogs. But that just means you'll have less competition and can negotiate better terms.
Social Money's new CorePro API
The Des Moines, Iowa-based company has been a leader in the online savings space, launching SmartyPig back in 2008. In total, about $5 billion in transactions have been processed. That has helped add deposits to its partner banks, primarily Compass BBVA, the 15th largest U.S. bank.
Social Money is now offering its powerful savings platform to developers and non-bank financial companies as a Savings API. Features include:
Its simple pricing is fully disclosed on the website:
The startup has had interest from other non-bank financial companies such as prepaid card issuers. It's also getting good feedback from mid-size ecommerce companies looking to offer customers an easy way to save money to make a later purchase (think Christmas Club).
The system is currently in final beta testing and is expected to go live in Q1 2014.
Picture credit: Savings page at Lincoln Savings.
1. Watch Social Money demo GoalSaver at FinovateSpring 2012
2. For more insights into how to leverage your online/mobile channel to boost deposits, see our Online Banking Report (Nov 2008, subscription)
With FinovateAsia 2013 fast approaching in only six weeks, it is incredibly exciting to see how the event is shaping up.
We've just announced our awesome lineup of innovative companies that will be demonstrating the best new ideas in Asian fintech. Their innovations leverage major trends including everything from big data to biometrics, gamification to visual analytics and much more.
In addition, the audience is growing on a daily basis with leading bank execs, major investors, expert industry analysts and cutting-edge fintech entrepreneurs. From the beginning Finovate events have attracted the most innovative minds in fintech, and this FinovateAsia promises to continue that trend.
Don't believe me? Here is just a small sample of the organizations that have signed up to attend already.
If you're interested in coming to watch the future of Asian fintech unfold live on stage, tickets are now on sale at the discounted early-bird ticket price through this Friday, October 4th.
Please get your ticket ASAP to lock in the discount and your spot as space is limited!
We'll see you in Singapore in November!
FinovateAsia 2013 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Citi Ventures, Financial Technology Partners, Life.SREDA, Standard Chartered Bank, and Visa
FinovateAsia 2013 is partners with: Aite, The Asian Banker, BankersHub, BeSuccess, Celent, The Emerging Finance, Finance on Windows, FSClub, SME Finance Forum, Timetric and Visible Banking.


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Join us for an A's game!
Join Social Media Club San Francisco and the Oakland A's on Tuesday, July 26th for a pre-game Tweetup and tickets to the game. Your special Plaza Infield ticket (behind home plate) includes early access to the Eastside Club where appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. At 5:30 p.m. the Eastside Club will be visited by A's players for a Q&A session hosted by in-game personality Kara. We'll ask you to Tweet your questions using hashtags #Athletics #Tweetup before and during the event. Space is limited, so reserve your ticket today.
Summer of Fun: 2011 Edition
Our local Chapter is taking an 'educational program' break this Summer to give us the ability to expand our leadership team and build out a solid program for the coming months. We will have more details coming soon on upcoming activities, and will look for social ways we can continue to bring the community together in the interim.
Thank you for your understanding.
Social Media Club San Francisco Census 2011 Report
We wanted to share some exciting results from our 2011 census involving Social Media Club San Francisco, where innovators from California meet for monthly events to share, engage and collaborate with the community on the issues of social media and technology. Our Facebook page has grown to 888 members and our Twitter feed, to 1133 members. For more information, please visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed and join us for an upcoming event!
Social Media Use in the Entertainment and Music Industries
SMC SFO June Event: Social Media in the Entertainment and Music Industries
Our next event takes place on June 21st where we'll be talking about the use of social media in the music and entertainment world. While this sector was lagging behind for many years, many in it have caught up and we want to see what the corporate world can learn from the innovative programs they've developed. There are great lessons to be learned
Our Speakers include:
- Chris Saad of Echo's StreamServer (they've worked with Lady Gaga and others)
- Rachel Masters, co-founder of Red Magnet Media (worked with Duran Duran, Linkin Park and other)
- Jennifer Neeley, Host, The A-List Podcast (moderator)


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nxpprog allows programming NXP ARM processors in ISP mode via a serial port. It should be possible to use the code as a library for integration in other programs.
The Open On-Chip Debugger (OpenOCD) package provides programming and debugging of embedded systems, with support for numerous JTAG interfaces, target chips and boards, and types of flash.
A workout and diet manager.
PDNS is an advanced high performance authoritative nameserver


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CPS Extended Service Plan (more info)
Please roll over the image to see detail. Hint: click on the image to see larger image.
600W Class D Mono-Block Marine Subwoofer Amplifier
Full Range 600W Class D 6-Channel Marine Amplifier
6-1/2" Round Large Frame Install Bay Speaker Baffles
Interconnects Y-Connector (1 Male to 2 Female)
2 Channel 1.6 ft Interconnects


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while fireworks etc. play a role in this article, it seems irresponsible by suggesting that bomb during the new year will go unnoticed. The present future tense of the title is also upsetting considering the implications. imho the message of this article is actually rather simple, a bomb went off in shanghai. why the fuzz to suggest when is the best time to do so.
I didn't know that a guy blew himself up in my city until a week after the incident. The guy sitting across from me right now hadn't heard about it at all. So I guess the answer is yes… eventually…
To Anonymous, If you find the source for the title you'll understand the allusion a bit better.
It is indeed irresponsible to suggest a "best" time to set off a bomb in China. Sure, if someone really wants to do so, they don't need WSJ's advice, but the manipulation of words is just disgusting.
For those that are complaining of the title to this post, you may not realise that it is referring to the famous Zen (Chan) Buddhist ko'an: "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?"
I don't think the author was offering advice on how to plan a bombing!
It is not a Zen question. It is George Berkeley's to-be-is-to-be-perceived riddle.
Why is that not long after this article was posted there are now signs from the local police stations on multiple bus stops through out Chengdu with this mans picture all over? If this bombing happened in Jan, what in the world took so long for those signs to go up?
The Communist Party's new reform blueprint has unleashed a sense of optimism, but at least one high-profile government adviser is worried that the road ahead is still strewn with major roadblocks.
The Chinese criminal process has long retained the imprint of the Maoist era. Now, two important documents issued at the highest levels of the Chinese government signal an attempt at reform by directing police, prosecutors and the courts to adhere to requirements of procedural justice when administering the criminal process.
China's establishment of a new air-defense identification zone covering disputed territory in the East China Sea looks like the work of a muscular new leadership bent on flexing its strength in the region. Beijing's reaction–or lack thereof—to the zone's first test suggests a much more complicated picture.
China's announcement of a new Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea appears targeted a stoking tensions with Japan and could undermine its long-term interests in the region, writes CRT military analyst Andrew Erickson.
While it's only possible to gauge the transformation of rhetoric into action after the fact, legal reforms proposed in China's new reform blueprint are an encouraging sign, writes veteran China law scholar Stanley Lubman.
China Real Time Report is a vital resource for an expanding global community trying to keep up with a country changing minute by minute. The site offers quick insight and sharp analysis from the wide network of Dow Jones reporters across Greater China, including Dow Jones Newswires' specialists and The Wall Street Journal's award-winning team. It also draws on the insights of commentators close to the hot topic of the day in law, policy, economics and culture. Its editors can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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A very interesting topic! And to make things even more complicated, there are the diets espoused by people like Sally Fallon, who advocate lots of animal fats--lard, butter, organ meats, etc. I will say, though, sometimes science, especially nutrition science, seems almost like religion. It's more about what you believe than what the "facts" are!
You can absolutely do without the buttermilk powder. I liked the extra tang it gave the dressing, and it also helped thicken it a bit. However, if you wanted to use buttermilk for part of the yogurt, you could do that. You could also substitute dry milk powder for the buttermilk powder (it wouldn't alter the flavor--just the texture).
If you're interested in finding buttermilk powder, Bob's Red Mill sells it ( http://www.bobsredmill.com/sweet-cream-buttermilk.html ).
So glad you liked it, vintagejenta! I heartily agree. Just this afternoon, I cooked up a pot of white limas, and they have the most wonderful, slightly sweet flavor. We're going to sauté them tonight with some fried sage, tomato, and pasta for a rudimentary pasta e fagioli.
Just before adding the okra to the oil. Sorry!
I just bought some French sorrel at the market yesterday and hadn't decided what to do with it yet. Thanks for the ideas!
@Virginia Bruce--Ditto. I find leftovers to be endlessly versatile, and they can really increase the complexity of flavors in whatever you use them in. If worst comes to worst and you're so hungry you can't think straight, serve leftovers over rice with some furikake and half an avocado. It feels downright luxurious.
@Fasenfest--come on along! We've got plenty of poke "sallet" to spare, and ramps are in season. I just picked a sackful of wild garlic the other day for wild garlic and chickweed pesto. This is definitely my favorite season in Appalachia.
How to cook venisonGive this meat the respect it deservesEight tips for making venison delicious. |
The Culinate InterviewYotam OttolenghiThe exuberant Israeli chef | FeaturesPopped grainsTry quinoa, amaranth, millet, and sorghum |
Adam's RibA world in a bowl of soupVelvety, earthy, and confident | ReviewsWhat would Julia do?How to live like Julia Child |


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UPDATE 1-EU watchdog to test viability of insurance capital rule
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* Industry has nine weeks to test Solvency II options
* Test may lead to re-drafting of some risk-capital rules
* Rules mustn't hinder long-term investment-industry
By Jonathan Gould
FRANKFURT, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The European Union's insurance watchdog has launched a new study of proposed capital and risk management rules which insurers fear will make some of their staple products unviable.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) on Monday set a nine-week deadline for insurance companies to test what impact changes to the so-called Solvency II rules would have on their operations.
Insurers expect the study to show that a major rewrite of rules applying to life insurance will be needed, adding to repeated delays in the introduction of the new regime.
EIOPA expects Solvency II will come into force no earlier than Jan. 1, 2016 but Germany's insurance watchdog has already said that a 2017 start may be more realistic.
"If these seemingly technical details of the new regime are not correct, the impact on the European insurance industry, its clients and the economy would be severe," said Olav Jones, deputy director general of Insurance Europe.
Some life insurance companies have said that Solvency II would make their products unworkable because they would be forced to hold so much more capital in exchange for selling products guaranteeing returns to customers.
With traditional guaranteed life insurance products, the insurance company bears the risk of covering the future guarantee, as opposed to index-linked life insurance, where the consumer bears all the investment risk.
The former type of products are particularly popular in Germany, France and Spain.
"Solvency II must not create unnecessary barriers to insurers providing guarantees for customers and investing long-term, not least because the insurance industry is by far the largest institutional investor in Europe, with over 7.7 trillion euros in assets," Jones added.
European life insurance premiums totalled 633 billion euros ($853 billion) in 2011, according to industry trade body Insurance Europe.
Auditing firm KPMG said the long-term guarantee test and the analysis of its results meant a key European Parliament vote would probably take place after the parliament's summer recess, months later than expected.
"The time required for EIOPA to produce its report, expected in the second half of June, could itself result in further delays to the Solvency II timeline," KPMG said in a statement.
In the meantime, EIOPA hopes to bring forward parts of the rules where there is widespread agreement.
The Chairman of EIOPA said in a statement on Monday that the study would provide a "reliable basis for an informed political decision" on what requirements for long-term guarantees will be included in Solvency II.
"It is essential for policyholder protection and financial stability that Solvency II appropriately reflects the long-term financial position and risk exposure of insurance and reinsurance undertakings carrying out insurance business of a long-term nature," Gabriel Bernardino said in the statement.
Insurers are not required to participate in the assessment but EIOPA said it hoped as many as possible would take part.
Big insurers like Allianz, Axa and Generali are expected to be well-prepared for Solvency II, but many smaller insurers feel the rules are too complex or should not apply to them to the same extent.
Industry representatives on Monday complained the long-term assessment would sap resources just as companies were preparing their year-end accounts.
Insurers have until March 31 to carry out the assessment, with national supervisors reviewing the data in April and May before handing them over to EIOPA and the European Commission for analysis and a final report in the second half of June.
- Pope attacks mega-salaries and wealth gap in peace message
- Atheists face death in 13 countries, global discrimination: study
- South Africa admits mistake over 'schizophrenic' Mandela signer |
- Thai military heads agree to meet protest leader at weekend |
- Missouri executes man for killing good Samaritan motorist in 1994