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The Self-Publishing Dilemma
In the past months, I've been seriously considering taking a bold and different approach to how I get published. Not necessarily bold and different for a lot of people, as you'll see if you keep reading this, but bold and different for me. I have a friend named Stephanie Thornton - a hugely talented writer of romantic and erotic fantasy and science fiction, a woman who has been courted by agents and editors for years and yet has not been published to the extent she deserves. I remember sitting down with her early last year and saying,"You know, I have the infrastructure in place to publish you. You might not have the backing of a large and well known publishing house, but you'd be out there. You could make it work." And Stephanie agreed: we'd see how things developed with her work, with my work, and with the publishing industry as a whole, and then we'd either make a go of it or not.
That was last year, and we haven't taken the plunge yet. THEN, last week I saw this article by literary agent Richard Curtis, and I was immediately discouraged. It was as if Curtis had been reading my mind for the last year, and taken an active interest in dissuading me from taking a chance at both publishing myself AND publishing some of my associates who deserve to be published and haven't been. In particular, what he said about Cory Doctorow and Seth Godin hit home. How WOULD I juggle the intricacies of publishing, editing, uploading content, marketing, and sales - for myself as well as for others - and still have time to write every day?
If you look down at the comments, though, author J. A. Konrath - one of the people Curtis cited in his article - wrote a response. And if you click the link in Konrath's response, it'll take you to THIS article .
Wow. It's almost the opposite of Curtis's conclusions regarding authors as publishers, and the numbers Konrath cites for all those self-published writers is staggering. Sure, I haven't heard of two thirds of them, and neither have you. But they're reaching 5 figures in sales volume a month - that means that SOMEBODY'S heard of them.
So, after reading Konrath's response and stewing over Curtis's original post, I've come to some conclusions, and that's what I want to share with you today.
1) Did you know that Kindle sales exceeded expectations last year, and that over 10 million of the devices are now out there in the hands of consumers, just WAITING to download books that you and I and Konrath and Stephanie have written? Now, sales of hardcover books also rose last year, according to this article , and ebooks still only constitute a portion of the overall market. But Kindle sales and downloads outpaced traditional books nonetheless, and the gap is widening.
2) The difference for me, however, isn't in sales. It's in accessibility to my potential audience. In his article, Curtis stated that "Talent and hard work will out, but they must be leavened over time." This is the same line I've heard for years - if you're good, and you're tenacious, then eventually you will get an agent and the publishing credit that you deserve. This is simply not true. RIGHT NOW, without even thinking about it, I could name over 20 people that I've encountered over the last 15 years who are mega-talented, mega-dedicated to their craft, and as hard-working as they come, who have not for whatever reason found success in the publishing world.
Let's face it, agents and editors are people, not gods. They have individual tastes that influence what they pick, and they need to make money off of their choices. And they make mistakes. The trouble is, they don't suffer from their mistakes as much as the people they pass over do, because they're on the inside looking out, while the people they turn down are on the outside, looking in.
With the advent of ebooks, writers have a growing opportunity to bypass the watchdogs of the publishing industry and take their product - because that's what writing is, a product - directly to their audience. Oh, and I know there's a bunch of terrible, terrible writers out there, and that their work will be available for Kindle and Nook and iPad downloads, too. But as I stated here in a previous post , the cream WILL rise. I just don't think it's accurate to say that the cream will rise with the traditional publishing model - because from what I've seen, there's some cream that hasn't even been given a chance.
3) Something that troubled me on my second and third read of Curtis's article is the tone of condescension I detect. Sure, I'm probably overly sensitive to it given my position, but let's take a few of Curtis's statements and look at them, shall we? About Konrath, he says "He packages his own works but unlike Godin he's smart enough to be disinclined to publish the work of others." If I were Seth Godin, I'd be a little put off by this. Wouldn't you? And as you may recall, I was considering not just publishing my own work via ebooks - I was considering publishing Stephanie's, too. Am I "not smart?" If you know me, either personally or via this site and my social media outlets, you know this isn't true. And yet. And yet.
He says "If your name is not familiar to the reading public, however, emulating [Konrath] will flop. You will become a publisher, yes: a vanity publisher." Vanity publishing is one of those phrases traditional publishers like to flout around, and 10 years ago, it meant something. Now though, with egress to solid self-publishing tools that are beginning to prove superior to traditional models, it means nothing. Those authors Konrath listed self-published. Out of vanity? Perhaps. But with 10,000 or more in sales EACH in just December alone, it hardly seems that vain to me.
4) I was at a writing workshop last summer, and in a Q&A, one agent more or less toed the same line that Curtis does. She adamantly opposed self-publishing, again stating that whole thing about how if you're good enough, you'll eventually find representation. She also railed against investing in social media - Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogging - although in the next breath she admitted that she was relatively unfamiliar with how all those things worked. So… why do agents and publishers so ardently oppose self-publishing and self-marketing? Curtis implies that we shouldn't engage in it because we won't be good at it. That might be absolutely valid in a number of instances; we writers are by and large artists, not business people. Some of us are even horrible editors.
But I think there's something else at work. I don't know for certain what it is - I can only guess. Is it fear of perceived competition? Is it clinging to an increasingly antiquated model because of an unwillingness to learn new paradigms? Is it a final ploy to hold onto something that might be slipping out of their hands? Is it uncertainty about the future of the publishing industry? Is it uncertainty about ALL OF THIS?
5) Finally, given what I know about ME, I've decided to go ahead with my plan. Let me lay portions of it out for you in brief: I have several books already written that just need a good editor. Therefore I don't lack product to "sell." I know a few good editors who'll work with me. I know several graphic artists who will as well. I also have friends who are good with computer databases and the like, who can help me with uploads, downloads, and programming. I myself have an extensive background in marketing and PR, and I'm good with social media. I know a few things about sales - online, in stores, and at conventions. I have loose capital that will pay for stuff. I have excellent credit. I'm already incorporated and I have a good accountant.
So why not give it shot? If I wait too long, out of fear of failure, out of concern that the things Curtis suggested might come true, then I believe it highly likely that the ebook boat will pass me by. The old model of doing things certainly hasn't worked for me, so why not try out the new model? Even if I DON'T sell 5 digits worth of books - even if I sell only 1000, then that's a 1000 more than I would have sold doing it the way Richard Curtis wants me to.
Final Word: Aspen Summer Words
OK. I know I've occupied a few posts here with my trip to Aspen last week. I promise - just in case you're getting a little weary of it - that this will be the last one. But you have to understand: while the trip last week probably didn't change my life in any significant way (at least not yet!), it reaffirmed for me that I've been leading my life the way I ought to. And given the doubts that sometimes creep in when you're a surface narcissist with actual "closeted" insecurities, as I am…. Well, affirmation will keep me going for another couple of years. For now, I have a renewed enthusiasm for myself and my work.
Elizabeth McCracken, my white hot teacher for my white hot class, reminded me of something that I sometimes forget. It's both egotistical (what artist does not have a formidable ego, no matter how much he or she tries to hide it?) and self-deprecating - it reflects the attitude all true artists should have. "We are all genuises with a lot to learn," she said.
And it's true. If you don't think I am BOTH things, then you can kiss my ass.
Anyway - last post about Aspen. And I've already said a decent portion of what I mean to say in this post, about how Aspen Summer Words stoked a fire that has always burned inside me but is always in danger of dying out. Here, though, are a couple of other things that it taught (or re-taught) me.
1) That I am NOT past my prime. My friend Todd Wiley once asked me when I'd give up writing, when I'd decide that maybe I wasn't going to go any further, when I'd admit that I'd hit the ceiling. I told him then that I'd never give up, that I'd always try to push things a little further. And I still believe that's true. But sometimes, when I see a new gray hair or a wrinkle, or I count another birthday - either of my own, of my parents, or of my kids - I think, well, Will - you went another span of time and you didn't make any forward motion. I'll think maybe I've lost a little of my edge.
With limited exceptions (Emily Curtin-Philips, who is a mere 25 and Brittney Weber, who just passed 30), the people in my class were all roughly my age. And ALL OF US were still struggling with many of the same issues, the same limitations, the same barriers. As I got to know those people, got familiar with their genuises and their - for want of a better word - PROWESS, I realized that we are all capable, talented writers, that it is only luck and circumstance that hold many of us back, that with enough time (and we have time) and perseverance, we will always be able to move forward. We may never have a best-seller or win a national award. But we will not fail. We still have bright futures ahead of us.
2) That those ensconced in the old school system of publishing STILL resist the potentially new paradigms that threaten their way of doing things. Many of them still haven't figured out what to do with the Internet, with social media, with the blogosphere, with new technology like Kindles and iPads. And so they actively discourage using these things to publish, promote, and sell literature. Now, this is NOT to say that ALL of them resist such innovations and discourage their use - far be it for me to make such a broad generalization. But either they were over-represented at Aspen Summer Words or an uncomfortable amount of them do. I'd actually be curious to know which agents and editors are actively trying to figure out a use for the new communications technologies as well as ways to apply them to their business models.
Still, for those who do resist, who can blame them? These things are becoming larger and larger threats to their well-being. They are the gate-keepers of what gets published - and though their system is flawed, subjective, and subject to manipulation and mistakes - it is a system that has more or less worked for many years. For them and for publishing.
That the gates might be rushed, the walls they've maintained might be pulled down: it's scary. And who knows? Maybe they have a point. Because it's possible that without them, we might have mob rule, and we all know that mob rule doesn't work.
Still, I don't think it'll be mob rule. It'll just be different. And they'll have to adapt - we all will.
I am willing to; many of them are not.
Are you?
For the time being, as things either transform or they don't, I'm prepared to work in both paradigms - I will try to get published over and over again "on paper", and I'll continue to work on this site and my social media outlets. Because of Aspen Summer Words, I've been refueled. Invigorated.
Watch me. I can do this for as long as it takes.
Jason Snape's Nonsense
I liked him in the first 10 seconds I was in the room with him, even though I had no idea why. And over the course of the evening, as he and I and a few friends played games together, I began to understand why Jason Snape would quickly become a good friend - one I would only engage on occasion, but one who would be true and be real.
I'll get this out of the way RIGHT NOW, and not make mention of it again. I think he'd appreciate that: Jason Snape is in no way related to Severus.
A couple of years back, Jason designed the cover of the magazine I TRIED to establish (he didn't do the art itself, but everything else is his, and in retrospect, he probably could have done a fine job on the art, too). He's also on tap to help me create graphics and artwork for a couple of game ideas that I have in mind. So I suppose I'll be engaging Jason a lot in the future, and I'm excited by that. Writing is a lonely vocation sometimes, and the idea of collaborating with someone makes me feel all tingly - and all the moreso because it's Jason.
When the prospect of our future collaboration (along with our other friend, Michael Collins, whom I'd be remiss if I failed to mention) came to the fore again a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me that I could and SHOULD give voice via my web site to Jason. He is an artist as I am, and since I occasionally use this great forum I have to showcase people whose talent I admire and respect, I decided to dedicate a post to him. As you will see from Jason's words below, he and I see eye to eye in this respect: we are all "in this together".
So here's Jason Snape, artist, cartoonist, graphic designer, writer, and friend….
Let's start with one of Jason's one off cartoons!
C'mon! It's fucking funnier than Ziggy!
Anyway. Jason was born in a small, rural town, not far from where Lily Evans, Harry Potter's mother, also grew up. His parents were a Muggle named Tobias and a woman descended from wizards named Eileen. At an early age, Jason showed an affinity for potions and the Dark Arts. All of that changed, however, after having what he calls "violent disagreements" with physics and calculus. Somehow, in the ensuing years, he wandered into design, and left the wizarding world behind.
With his eventual MFA in graphic design, he came to Atlanta for a job at an architecture firm. Since then, he's worked with a software company, a number of small design boutiques, and a few big dot com entities. He's taught at a university, does freelance work, and sometimes builds houses if times get tight.
If you replaced a few words in the above paragraph, you might be describing me. Hmm.
Another thing we have in common is our attitude toward the state of the arts in the United States today. We were talking one day, and he mentioned that he thought Frank Zappa would never get signed as a musician, were he trying to make it in today's music industry. I asked him to elaborate, and here is what he said. I'll give it to you word for word, and ask you to imagine me standing beside Jason, nodding in agreement with everything he says:
"I never considered myself an artist until a few years ago; I've always been more comfortable calling myself a designer. An Artist is someone who sculpts, or paints astonishing canvases, or creates music. There are amazing Artists at KSU [where he taught], and it saddens me, because I don't know what they do (and they usually don't either) with their Painting degree. Do they become Painters of Light©? Work for Disney? Why can't they just create? Artists in the old world seemed to have stipends from their families to go out and create, or explore without need for income. This seems extravagant and, in this country, frivolous and wasteful somehow, because we put value on industry, labor, profits, and constant improvement. We don't see value in culture. Do we have culture? Maybe it is consuming. I have a sense (probably romantic and naïve) that Europe and the rest of the world value art and their culture, and cultivate it. When I talk with people about art in our country, in our world, I bring up my theory of Frank Zappa. I do not know a lot about Zappa; I do not have all of his music. But like Monty Python, it's hard to believe that someone like him could get a music contract today, for the same reason I am doubtful about my book publishing aspirations – unless it's a guaranteed profit, they don't have an interest or the time for you. Too risky. The encouraging thing is that, as creative people, there are new avenues to explore. Frank would be all over the Internet, I'm sure. That would be his way of creating and getting his music out there. But would it pay? The internet is awash with blooming and previously-unpublished creative endeavors (and everything else). So the interesting question comes down to, do you want to create and get your art out in public? There are countless ways to do that. Do you want to make your living through your art? If so, it is a more difficult path. Here is one example of why: Story magazine was created by Whit Burnett in 1931, and published such young unknowns as J.D. Salinger, Truman Capote, John Cheever, Joseph Heller, and Norman Mailer. In an excellent book about writing, Burnett describes how these authors' initial works were promising but unrefined, and that through the act of publishing, editing, and evolving, they became some of our most important writers WHILE BEING PAID FOR THEIR WORK. Story invested in them and helped them grow. Salinger did not hit the ground with The Catcher in the Rye, and yet that appears to be what the "artistic" industries expect of musicians, writers, and maybe artists too. Where is there room for experiments, innovation, the chance to fail and make improvements learned from the failure? In politics and corporate America, the failures appear to have enormous, real consequences that hurt people and affect the way we live, yet the ramifications seem slight in comparison. Art is about creativity, and creativity is how we discover new things, find new solutions and break away from old, obsolete parameters. It is supposedly still one very distinctive way that America remains far ahead of China, if that is a motivating factor. So how do we best foster creativity? Math time tests. Art class once every 9 days in elementary school. CRCT bubbles."
And… with that stuck in your craw, I'm gonna sign off on this post. Read that again, if it pleases you. Read it out loud. You see why I admire Jason? It's not just that he's an artist, as I am, as you might be. It's that he thinks deeply and with feeling. He takes time to play (his cartoons indicate that), but - like a child in his formative years - his play has substance and meaning. It's a process by which he grows and learns.
Sometimes I feel like I've personally lost that ability. Then I spend a little time with Jason, and I can feel it coming back just a little bit.
For more examples of Jason's art and design work, visit his site: www.jasonsnape.com. BTW, the title of this post, in case you're wondering, comes from the name he's given a portion of his site: Snape's Ridiculorum - Finely Crafted Illustrations, Stories, and Nonsense.
Blog Sale! Some Assembly Required Magazine
I've been reticent about writing this particular post for some time. Two reasons why:
1) I don't want to use this forum to sell stuff to people. I'm not Billy Mays shouting at you about Oxyclean or cool screwdrivers. I may promote my friends' and colleagues' work, and the whole idea of this blog is to increase my exposure, but I don't like the idea of selling actual products.
Still, people sell products online everyday, so I guess I need to get over that. I promise you, though, that I won't do this sort of shameless hard sell often – I don't even foresee having another "product" available for a long time. It's just this one thing.
2) The bigger reason for my hesitation, though, is that every time I start to write this, or even think about it, it just gets soooo long. I needed to sit down and narrow it down to its most salient points, despite the fact that this thing means so much to me, and needs – I feel – a lot of explanation.
But I think I've got it now.
THIS POST is my attempt to sell you an issue of a literary magazine that I published and contributed to 3 years ago. The following is a description of the magazine – called Some Assembly Required – and what I intended it to do, presented in as few words as possible.
What it is. SAR is a magazine published 3 years ago with contributions and help – a little time, money, heart, and soul – from several of my friends, including the contributing writers, the cover artist, the masthead designer, and my technical support. Definitely a labor of love.
What it was meant to be. There's a brief essay at the front of the book that describes my intent in greater detail (I may publish that essay in a future post), but here's the gist: SAR was my attempt to open a niche in the community of literary magazines and crack that shell by publishing a magazine that, rather than publishing individuals the way most magazines do, would publish entire literary groups – MFA classes, critique groups, etc. They could contribute as a whole and I would dedicate each issue to their group.
Seemed like a pretty good idea at the time.
What it turned out to be. I'm not the most successful writer in the world, but I don't have a lot of things that I'd count as outright failures. This, however, would be one.
This magazine never saw a second issue. Ironically, the magazine sold enough issues to mostly pay for itself, so I was encouraged in that regard, and would have happily gone through the whole process – the investment of time and money – to publish a subsequent issue. But you can't publish a magazine without content and you can't have content without contributors, and simply put – I got no submissions.
I believe that the reasons for not receiving submissions are twofold.
First, I guess I miscalculated how hard it might be to get a group to come to a consensus on something like this, especially with no one to guide them through the process the way I did the group that I DID publish. (BTW, if there's anyone out there who was part of group that saw this opportunity and ended up passing on it, I'd love for you to e-mail me and tell me why you didn't submit. I'd appreciate the feedback. All I got back then was silence.)
Another reason is that I didn't anticipate potential resistance from the literary community (at least as it was 3 years ago when social media wasn't making the inroads it is today). Suffice it to say that I found the literary magazine community resistant to change, ambivalent to newcomers who didn't jump through the same hoops as they did, and outright hostile to anyone who might encroach on their (diminishing) audience. I might be wrong on this point – it is just my perception – but I don't think so.
What this magazine could be to you. I think everybody out there would get a kick out of at least one of the 7 stories contained in it. The variety of content is high, mostly because of the diversity among the members of the group I published – the variety in tastes, styles, and world outlooks translated into a lot of different stories and voices. Some will no doubt appeal to you, and some won't.
Also, the artwork is sublime, the magazine is well put together, and regardless of the success or failure of it, I still think the premise - the idea behind it - is pretty fucking cool.
So, all that said at last, I'd like to sell you a copy of the magazine.
Here's how we'll go about it: you set the price you want to pay, and I'll send you an issue. You have to pay the minimum shipping, which is $1.65, but beyond that, I don't care. You pay a penny + shipping, you get an issue. You pay full cover ($14.95) + shipping, you get an issue. You pay anything in between (or above, heh heh), you get an issue.
Just send the amount you're willing to spend to my Paypal account at email@example.com or in the mail to:
P.O. Box 904
Fort Gaines, GA 39851
and I'll send you an issue.
Hell, it worked for Radiohead. It probably won't work as well as for me, but even if it works a little, I can start moving this project over from the failure category to the success category.
In return, you'll get a pretty decent magazine that'll entertain you, even if just a little. You get to see a little bit more of what I'm all about. And who knows? The magazine might be an inspiration to a writer or literary magazine that YOU know, to show them what is possible.
Novel Podcast: A War Between States, Part 18
It's been since before the holidays that I posted a podcast of the novel I'm podcasting. But don't worry - I haven't forgotten it, just neglected it! Still, here's a new installation, which will be followed later this week by another installation. In this one, we return to Nate Wells, now after the closing of his magazine. Here Nate meets a mysterious stranger, and hopefully you'll soon be wondering the same thing Nate is….
A War Between States Part 18:
Chapter 10, Part One: Campaign: Nate
August 20, 2003
Deanna was the last one to leave. She walked across the tiled floors of the office with a cardboard box cradled in her arms. From its top protruded the peak of the goofy alarm clock/art piece she'd bought at the Lakewood Antique show — the goofy alarm clock/art piece her girlfriend wouldn't let her keep in their apartment. It looked like a flamingo, with long yellow legs holding up a blue cuckoo clock house from which the flamingo's elongated pink neck thrust, and from which an orange pendulum hung like a silly neck tie.
The peak of the blue house caught Nate's eye as Deanna bustled by. She'd already said good-bye, so she didn't say anything else to him as she left, only stared straight ahead, jaw clenched and blue eyes shiny with tears. Nate didn't blame her — they'd both nearly burst into crying when they'd met in his office three hours ago to exchange future contact information and say farewell. Deanna wanted to hang around and help Nate finalize his plans for the business, but the bankruptcy lawyers and accountants insisted that they needed no help.
Nate watched her open the front door with extended fingers, watched her thrust her foot in to open it further, and watched her bump through the opening with her hips. Sunshine outlined her briefly and then she was gone. The door closed behind her.
Nate sat at a desk in the rear of the main office and gazed out across the room. He realized that, without its tell-tale decorations and desktop knick-knacks, he couldn't remember whose desk this had been. All of the desks were void of computers. Nate had already purged their memories, downloaded all the stored articles and copies of the Scribe to CD. He'd already sold them all to subsidize the final paychecks for his former employees — a move the bankruptcy lawyers had balked at when they found out he'd done it. Still, Nate stood by his decision.
"They stuck with me through it all," he told the stern-faced lawyers — one bald, droopy-cheeked man, the other a younger, swarthy-looking man who blatantly ignored Brylcreem's insistence that 'a little dab'll do ya.' "I can't give them a decent severance package. The least I can do is give them the money I owe them for putting out our last issue."
The computers were gone, and with Deanna's departure, all the decorations — the posters, the toys, the shelves of books — were gone as well. Nate's own Lego robot and his North By Northwest poster were in the back of his Blazer, which was itself newly restored and still not paid for.
And so the white-washed walls appeared starkly white-washed, except for the tiny tack holes which the building management's work crew would start to spackle that week. The tiled floor seemed so much brighter now under the flourescents, even with the office furniture still intact. There was a slight echo throughout the few rooms.
"It looks so empty," he said out loud to test the echo again, and wondered how empty it would look when the office furniture rental guys came and took all the desks and filing cabinets away.
He sighed and stood, went to his office for one last look — one final check to make sure that he'd gotten everything.
He stared at the empty, dusty corners of his tiny office and sighed again. For six years, ever since he'd started the Scribe, he'd happily come to this office and did what he was most passionate about: he'd bathed in information, in facts and conjectures, in opinions and statistics.
In words.
Every day, immersed in words.
"All struck a finishing blow by one ignorant man's whimsy," he said to the dust.
The dust gave no reply.
So Nate spun on his loafered heel and headed the way Deanna had gone — out the front door. He switched off the flourescents, stood in the dark a moment, then opened the front door and stepped into the morning sunlight.
Outside, the street was mostly empty. Deanna's Civic was gone, and someone in a pickup truck was pulling into her spot in front of the building. A man in Bermuda shorts and a polo shirt was walking toward him on the sidewalk. A line of people in vehicles waited to use the automated teller at the bank across the street. The air around all of them was hot and oppressive — the sun too bright, the Atlanta smog noticeably thick. The atmosphere reminded him of Marionville.
Then he heard a bird chirp in the maple tree to his left and he smiled. It was so hot in Marionville during August, even the birds didn't chirp.
"Well, hell," he said, "at least I'm not there."
"Not where?" a voice asked in reply, and Nate started.
He whipped his head around to see that the man who'd been approaching on the sidewalk was standing beside him, smiling, a pencil-thin mustache perched under his small, sharp nose.
"Oh, nowhere," he said to the man and smiled automatically — a friendly I-don't-know-you-but-how-are-you-have-a-nice-day smile.
The man smiled back. He was a good head shorter than Nate and he beamed up at him with genuine — could it have been? — affection. Nate was tall, but the man was diminutive, only coming up to the bottom of Nate's chest.
"Marionville," the man said through his smile. His uneven but ultra white teeth flashed in the sun.
Nate turned to face the man full on. He gaped down, even as the man gazed up. The man rocked back on his penny loafers and chuckled softly.
"How did you know that?" Nate asked.
The man licked his thin, pale lips. "You're Nathan Wells, the editor and publisher of the Atlanta Scribe. I recognize you from your headshot in the paper."
Nate nodded, a little flattered but unsurprised. He wasn't famous really, but people recognized him now and then. That still didn't explain how the man knew he was thinking about Marionville just then.
"I remember a little editorial you wrote about how you grew up," the small, smiling man continued. "First in Marionville, Georgia, then in Opelika, Alabama. Although the piece was a bit nostalgic, you didn't paint the prettiest picture of Marionville. So, I figured if you were glad you weren't somewhere, there was a fair chance that there was Marionville."
Nate frowned and furrowed his eyebrows at the man. "Good guess," he said.
Now the man laughed out loud. "Actually, it was an educated guess, and I should hope it was good — making good, educated guesses is what I do for a living." The man shuffled back a step so that he could offer his hand to Nate and perform a little bow. "My name is Raymond Bernhardt. And now you're wondering why I'm educated — even in the slightest — about Nathan Wells and his recently, dearly departed Atlanta Scribe."
The Cast
- Nate Wells - Jay Elgin
- Raymond Bernhardt - Jeff Jarvis
- Narrator - Will Kenyon
Almost Finished With…
At this point, I consider myself a qualified success.
I make money by writing. I write every day. I've published short stories, poems, articles, and complete fodder in a number of national and international magazines. I maintain this blog, which is growing slightly in popularity every week. Toot, toot, toot my own horn.
I've never published a novel, which would probably be the largest achievement I could hope to muster at this point in my career. And it's not that I haven't WRITTEN any novels - I have, as you'll soon learn - I just haven't PUBLISHED one. And who knows IF I'll publish one. All I know is that either later this week or early next, I will finish another one, and I think this one is the most publishable one I've written yet.
I finished my "first" novel in 2000. Some of you have read it. It was called The King of Karma, and it had a great premise and some moments of potential genius that I intend to recycle (Cat's on fire…, the shit dream.) but I've looked at it with the jaded eyes of ten additional years of experience and I don't think it's ready for the world. It MIGHT be salvageable, but that would take a lot of work - work I'm not willing to give it right now. And frankly, I'm kind of sick of it. I edited the shit out of it for years and I don't want to edit it anymore.
I chalk it up now to experience: writing Karma taught me how to write a novel, how to carry a narrative over 70,000 words, over 30 chapters, over 400 pages.
My "second" novel, The Survivor of San Guillermo (Get it? Saint William?) has just gotten out of hand. At first it was a shortish book - 55,000 words tops. But it's a time travel novel, and different aspects of my version of time travel - the what ifs and why nots - planted seeds that made the novel start growing. At this point it's 60,000 words + and has spilled into another book. I think it MIGHT become a trilogy or more - and I just don't want it to dominate my life at this point. Publishing a trilogy is attractive, though, and the novel's pretty good, so I won't abandon it. But for now, there's other fish to fry.
For instance, my "third" novel, the first quarter of which many of you have already read or listened to: A War Between States. This novel isn't even finished - it's a little over half done - but since I'm podcasting it, I feel compelled to finish it in the future. It looms large on the horizon. (BTW, expect a new podcast next week, after I get my buddy Jeff over to read the part of the leprechaun.)
Yes. I said leprechaun.
Anyway, all of this is just lead-in to what the main point of this post is: that I'm one chapter, two or three sittings, a handful of days away from finishing my ultimate achievement. My "fourth" novel idea, my third completed novel. And like I implied earlier - I am waaaaay enthusiastic at the prospects of this book.
On the phone with my friend Stephanie, and to my wife and mother, I have confessed something that I am certain was true: if I didn't finish this book, tentatively titled Hood, I don't think I would have ever attempted a novel again. This one has been a hard road, one I started in 2004, and unless I succeeded on finding the end of that road, I don't think I'd have had the wherewithal to start the trek another time. But HEY!!! One more chapter and it's done!
Already, I've started thinking about the query letter for the book - that's how confident I am about finishing it (blogging about it this morning instead of working on it might also be an indication of my hubris). You should know that query letters are fucking hard to write - they have to be perfect, and it's soooo hard to be perfect. But I'm actually looking forward to writing this one, because I know EXACTLY what I'm gonna say.
And now you're wondering what this book's about. Or at least I hope you are.
MAYBE I'll publish the query letter here once I finish it. We'll see. For now, here's a quick soundbite:
The novel tentatively titled Hood tells the story of a group of graffiti artists in south Atlanta, one of whom discovers that his murals, drawings, and tags are coming to life - and that he's part of a small group of people in the world who have similar abilities and who can travel "between worlds."
Enough. I'm done. It's 9 in the morning and I have to take my son to school. When I get back, I'll put pen to paper and get a little closer to finishing….
The Publishing Industry is Dead! Long Live the Publishing Industry!
"If any industry deserves to go under, it's the publishing industry."
- Andrew Sullivan, award-winning blogger and journalist
THAT, ladies in gentlemen, is the kind of incendiary, I-may-not-have-all-the-facts-straight-but-what-the-fuck-here-goes shit that I WISH I had the balls to write.
Alas, though, Andrew Sullivan has won an award for his blogging, and I have not. He, and not I, can get away with saying stuff like that (OK, not quite – he's been called to the carpet a couple of times for it).
What he said, though – what a LOT of people have been saying – and some of the things I've personally been feeling lately about the publishing industry prompted me to try and write about it all. So I started doing research about the shortcomings in said industry, especially against the backdrop of our growing recession. And you know what I found out?
I found out that there are a lot of conflicting views regarding publishing. Some – many of them disgruntled writers and the like – think that publishing is doomed should it continue on its current track. Others – mostly industry insiders – think it's doing just fine, even if traditional bookstores are closing and the acceptance of innovations like E-books and Print-On-Demand has been slow in catching on.
I read so much conflicting information that I almost – ALMOST – gave up on this post. Fuck it – I still have Netflix DVDs to watch, and there's beer in the fridge.
But then I thought, hang on a sec, Will: the original impetus behind wanting to write this post was to take a look at how the "little man" i.e. YOU, fits in to the changing world of publishing.
So how do I fit in? How does any of us? And if for some Godforsaken reason Stephen King or Dan Brown are reading this blog post, then you gotta know that I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the grad student with the next Grapes of Wrath already written who isn't going to get it published because no one in Hollywood can figure out how to make a movie out of his book. I'm talking about the unpublished or little-published writers out there.
It would be easy for us to sit back and lament about how hard things are, how unfortunate we are to be the ones trying to disseminate our writing into the world in an era when everyone's looking to score the next Harry Potter or DaVinci Code , an era when 95% of books actually LOSE money. That, BTW, is one of the few factoids I found several people agreeing on – although it scares the shit out of me to believe it, it DOES help make my point.
It would be easy to lament because the old school model of publishing, at least to the common writer, is a lot like playing the lottery.
It would be easy except for one thing – the thing you're looking at right now, the thing which has changed all the rules for just about every artistic medium imaginable, the thing which I believe scares the EVERLOVING shit out of the people who are or formerly were in control of those mediums:
The Internet.
Years ago, I resisted the idea of publishing online. I felt, and rightly so I think, that because of the ease and immediacy of online publishing, there was a lack of legitimacy – a problem a lot of people expressed. With no safeguard to keep shitty writers from pitching their wares, how were we to know what's good and what's utter garbage? I felt that by publishing the old-fashioned way, I added legitimacy to my work.
But you know what? The safeguards have failed us. There's a lot of utter garbage hitting the shelves anyway, for a variety of reasons: 1) we as Americans haven't stopped reading, but we've become less discriminating readers 2) with the right marketing, certain writers could poop on a piece of paper and sell a million copies and 3) there's always the possibility of said garbage getting optioned for a screenplay, so it gets by.
Also, I realized that there IS a form of legitimization to writing online. If you're good, people will return to you time and again. If you suck, they won't. Simple as that.
On the Internet, it is almost invariably true that the cream rises and the shit sinks, which is not the case with traditional publishing. It took a while, in fact, but even the antiquated publishing industry is catching on to the concept: I hear more and more stories of authors making it big (or at least somewhat big) by starting out online and gaining momentum. They market themselves well, and/or they write well, and what they're doing grows and grows until somebody with some bucks takes notice and BAM!!!
So now I still feel uneasy about the state of publishing, and I think that anyone would be a fool to deny that it is indeed in a state of flux, mostly brought on by errors in judgment and the advent of the Internet.
But I'm also excited and encouraged. I read these success stories more and more, and I believe I'm seeing one take place before my very eyes (see my previous post). That excitement is a significant reason behind me "jumpstarting" this web site after letting it lie dormant for over a year.
Now, if you've read this far, enjoyed yourself, and maybe gained some insight, look out: you're legitimizing me.
And I thank you for it.


text:
Shot two was… unremarkable. Other than the fact I got into a bit of a war with my needles, but in the end, I won out. Sadly, they won quite a few battles. Almost jabbed myself in the face… which is funny only because it didn't actually happen.
Came down sick over the weekend, wanted to do another voice recording but I'm not entirely sure how useful that would be considering my throat is very sore, swollen, and hoarse because of those two. Not the best way to gage changes. Though a few of my friends got really excited for me, until I explained that it was almost guaranteed not the T yet.
No stat changes. No alterations in body configurations, though no reason why they should already. No mood swings either. About the only effect I've noticed so far is increased sex drive. And from what I've heard, it's only the beginning, and it will get worse before it gets better…
There is one surprising upside to the increased sex drive. Now, for some background, I have never been able to be successful at masturbation. This has often made my (already) large sex drive rather frustrating, but no matter how frustrated, how desperate, no matter how horny, I could never masturbate. I've tried sex toys. Yes, even the famous hitachi cannot get me off when I'm alone. Because for me, I always needed another person there. Needed it not just to be me, but for someone to be there, someone who I was ok with being there, and not just me in my mind. Because, unsurprisingly, I'm yet another queer with some really fucked up history that was out of my control. So that made what happened incredibly surprising. I masturbated successfully. Just me, no one in the room. No, it wasnt very good, but hey, at least it was an orgasm. The first, and hopefully not last.
I feel accomplished.
Why I like the prefix "trans"
Trans. Technically speaking, it is a prefix. But even left alone, attached to no "real" word, I actually prefer that over other terms. Trans sometimes means "across," which could imply a binary, ie- transatlantic. But the prefix "trans" usually does not imply a binary opposition. It often means "beyond," like it does in astronomy ie- translunar. Only on occasions, and linguistically they are rare, does trans ever imply a binary opposition.
I don't see there being two genders. If there aren't even two sexes, how the hell can there only be two genders? My first year of college a hallmate asked me, the resident queer, "How many genders are there?" I laughed. "Two, three, four… NINE?" I told him he was starting to get there.
No, I don't actually think people are some beautiful, unique, snowflakes. People are a lot of things, and sadly beautiful is not often among the adjectives that are actually accurate to describe them. We've all got a lot of ugliness inside, jealousy, hubris, hatred, fear… But we're not all fucked up in the same way. How many kinds of nice are there? Thus, how many kinds of women? To quote the Vagina Monologues (as much as I abhor Ensler…) "Old women, young women, married women, single women…" And yet each category has subcategories, and so on. There aren't two genders. There are far too many ways to be the "socially accepted" two categories of genders, let alone all the other options.
Eventually I need to decide how public I want this blog. Eventually I need to decide if the people in my life who I've written about on here are allowed to see it. I need to ask them if they're ok with the things I've written about them. If they are, maybe I'll put this out there a bit more. Aw hell, who am I kidding. I'd love to put this out there more.
Skittish with Clothing
I've thrown in warnings in early entries about sexually explicit content, but figure its worth repeating. Namely, there is some.
So, I've decided I'm an idiot. A very intelligent idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. I can fool around with S again, and despite having done this a good deal, despite the fact we might be accidently starting to date, we never actually did much with pain. The reason this makes me an idiot is because she has told me stories of her being covered in bruises, the fun kind. And i'm the masochist who has had to ask friends to stop biting my arms because they don't want me to jump them. Or at least… I don't think they do.
We watch a movie with my housemates, and S doesnt behave. (Not that I really mind, so long as it doesnt make my housemates uncomfortable… ) So after the movie its really no surprise that we disappear into my room. Despite that my room is actually the hottest in the house, and despite the fact i'm fooling around with an incredibly attractive girl that i like, my shirt stays on. I kept thinking, in college with me drunk it came off so many times. Yet, it took so much before i could do it with her. It took overhearting, and the realization that she might well be the single best person i've hooked up with about me being trans. She quietly puts my shirt back down when it rides up, she didnt touch my chest until i essentially put her hands there, though ironically i did that by accident.
I asked, finally, if she minded. Odds are, she was laughing at me in her head. I sat up, pulled my shirt, and undershirt, off. And froze.
She sat up behind me, and kissed my shoulders. If i had have ever told her my turn ons, that would be on the list. If i had ever told her of the ways to help me when i flip out, that would be on there too. Her hands grazed my skin, and she said nothing…
I'm someone who revels in words, for all that i tend to think without language. I like it when my partners talk to me, it could be dirty, but it actually doesnt have to be. S sat forward, kissed my shoulders and her fingers grazed my skin with no words, and in that moment i was content with silence.
Later i had her on her stomach, tracing where i had scratched her a bit earlier. I mention the marks, tracing each red, raised set with my fingers… when she asked me to give her more. Clawing at her back, she wimpered contentedly and a seed forms in my mind. I tell her i need to grow out my nails. I don't remember how, but i realize she wants me to bite. I love biting. I love the feel of skin and muscle between my teeth, the ache of my jaw, the marks left behind. Mark not in the "you're mine" sense but in the, i did that to your skin, i have the power to do that and remind you of it later as you feel the bruises. I love being bitten, but i really love biting.
So i bite her. Over and over again, though not as hard as she could handle, definately hard enough. Her shoulders, her chest, her stomach, her hips… i just kept biting.
I pause and look at her, and tell her we are both giant idiots. She doesn't understand why, but she doesnt need to. After all, it took us this long to bite, to scratch, to actually let go enough to begin explore one another.
My First Shot
Lay it all out, everything you need.
- Two alcohol wipes
- One drawing needle
- One sub-q needle
- One syringe
- One bottle of testosterone
Wash hands. Wipe bottle with the first wipe. Attach drawing needle to syringe, but don't touch the top part because it is sterilized. Draw the syringe back to get enough air, put the needle in the bottle and hold upside down. Make sure the needle stays in the liquid. Push air back into the bottle. Draw out testosterone. Take out of bottle. Remove drawing needle, put on sub-q needle. Wipe injection site, push needle into body all the way. Push down on syringe, hard. Pull out. Dispose in proper containers.
My first shot.
Which is what happened. After a full day of nerves, dealing with very expensive parking, with a surprisingly cheap and tasty sushi lunch mixed in. I swear the sushi made the day not completely horrbile as I could destress over food, because food is wonderful like that.
I'll start uploading voice recordings later, after I have more than one, because wordpress costs money to post voice recordings. This way I won't have to pay until I have more than one.
Some day, when we grow up…
This entry is about gender.
A startling admission for trans person about to start testosterone is that I am not a guy. I am not a man, do not want to be a man, have never wanted to be a man, and it took me a very long time to come to terms with my trans identity because of that. Nor do I usually think of myself as a guy, in its gendered context. I am fine saying "hey guys" in a gender neutral way, or having that said to me, but I am not usually a guy. I am occasionally a boy though, and often a boi. On rare occasions I am a girl, sometimes even a grrl. All these terms have different meanings for me.
Lets just start with the basic binary: man/woman. (Or man/womyn. Or wimmin. I'm going to use women for my own personal typing ease.) When I look out at the world I do not see a world with men and women, though admittedly that is how many people identify. A group of cisgendered "men" I actually see as boys or guys (in its gendered context.) A group of cisgendered "women" I see as girls. This view has gotten me into trouble with more than one feminist, who very strongly identifies as a woman and NOT as a girl. Women, the word, means a group of strong, passionate, intelligent, amazing people usually of the women/womyn/girl/etc. identity set. Yet, I really never think of people that way. Girl is similar, but a bit more friendly. The basic binary for me is girl/boy. Woman/man is formal, kind of like the french "vous." It can be singular, but it is usually plural, and is a formal mode of speech not meant to be used among familiars. Thus, any person I am friends with, dating, etc. is a boy, girl, boi, tranny, or person (or any other number of things,) but pretty much never a woman or a man.
As I previously said, I am sometimes a girl. Mostly this happens during sex. I am always hyper aware of my body when I start even making out with a person, as it shifts into fooling around and sex, my body becomes even more of a conscious problem. When I'm with someone I really trust, this sometimes fades away. But I have an undoubtably feminine form. Which a Boy has commented on before, after having me happily pinned ot the floor. I want these damn hips gone, but all I can get is weight shift. I want my damn breasts gone, but that has to wait until I have the money. In the meanwhile, despite my surprisingly curvy form (surprisingly, because my chest is a 34d, I am not a big person, but my hips and chest are very much there) I do not always feel like a girl during sex. Usually I just feel like xMech, myself. occasionally, as in often but definitely less than half the time, I feel like a boy. Sometimes a dom Boy, sometimes a sub boy, but undoubtably I am a boy.
What might be strange to those of you who know other trans folk, is that sometimes I most definitely feel like a girl. Usually a dyke, and it took me a while, but I revel in that feeling. I really love playing with gender. Dyke-ing out is so much fun, sexually or just dressing up and going out. Gender is not an either/or; for me, it is additive. Dyking out can be boi me, cross-dressing, androgynous me adding gender to the mix, or even me in a moment of pretty clear cut girl-ness. Maybe its not the traditional reactions of someone who is transitioning, going through testosterone therapy, but it is what it is.
"If I show up in a pink frilly dress,
Those kids won't love me any more or less.
Hey are you a boy or a… Aw, nevermind.
Can I have a push on the swing?
And someday, when we grow up,
It's all gonna be that simple." -Andrea Gibson
Once I figure out how, I am going to load a voice recording on here, to start that part of the record.
Thoughts of the moment
I'm not computer illiterate, but I have yet to figure out how to do a voice recording, but I will before my first shot. Need something to commemorate this pre-change… Or at least get me to be able to see the differences.
I am starting to get nervous about going on T. I'm looking forward to most of it, minus the higher risk for cardiovascular disease and potential male-patterned balding… but part of me fears that it will change the way people, especially C, feel about me. She claims it won't, which never actually made me feel any better. She says she'll have to adjust but that her feelings won't change, and I still worry. Despite all the history there, and now total support, part of me still remembers when she would completely shut down on me at the mere mention of a binder. Yet, when S says "this is going to be fun once your voice starts changing" suddenly I am confident that not only can I go on T, not only should I go on T, but that someone besides me could be excited about it.
Excited, and interested beyond just as a friend…
Now though, I keep thinking about the differences this could mean in my power relations with others. What does it mean when I refuse to change who I am to become more of a "man" once I'm actually passing? As in, what does it mean that I am not going to force myself to drink whiskey or beer, act like an ass, or take space from others around me? What does it mean that I'm going on T, but enjoy clawing someone's back past bleeding… and that someone is a girl?
So things to think, places to go.
Until next time, I can bench 50lbs, I am about 5'8, and somewhere around 145, 150 lbs. My arms are fuzzy, but its blond. Got a few dark freckles scatter across my arms, probably cuz I'm so pale from working inside these days. My wrists are small, as is my neck. I'm still fitting into small-sized shirts. I'm all arms and legs though. So maybe soon I can start looking at shirts with a neck size larger than 14 1/2.
Time to sleep though, long day tomorrow.
Another Beginning
In two weeks, I will begin HRT, or hormone replacement therapy. I will inject testosterone into my thigh, which I have to be careful about mentioning to my friends with fears of needles. Oddly enough, they don't seem particularly happy with me when I mention 'shooting up' T. Oh yeah, maybe some introductions are in order…
In fairness, I'm not big on introductions. But I am determined to have a transition blog, so here it is. Guess that means I should talk a bit about me before transition.
I am a giant radical queer kinky tranny, whose real passions are things like friends and theater. I went to a small liberal arts college in New England, and am currently employed at a job that is not exactly what I want to be doing with my life. On the other hand, I do have a part-time job in theater, and that is much more to my liking. My political interests are varied, and neither left nor right winged, but not even within the realms of standard public discourse. Yeah, can you tell I'm no good at this part?
Yet, this blog is anonymous. I do this to protect the other people in my life, as I am generally quite open about anything that will appear in here, I do want there to be record. But, this will end up going beyond a record of my transition… and into issues that can be incredibly personal about the other people in my life who are dealing with my transition. It isn't just something that affects me, but everyone in my life. I plan on covering that to the best of my ability.
In two weeks, I am starting T. Hopefully in the next few years I will also manage to get better at this blogging thing.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This is the first stable release of the Couchbase PHP SDK.
New Features and Behaviour Changes in 1.0.0
Implemented PCBC-38 (Change connect() signature to take a URL).
Fixed tests, various segfaults and memory leaks.
Fixed naming of constants and features.
Renamed version() method and function to Couchbase::getVersion and couchbase_get_version() respectively.
Fixed PCBC-37 (Segfault when invalid hostname is provided).
Update compatibility with more recent libcouchbase releases.
Allow creation of non-existent keys with arithmetic calls.


text:
About Amy
Articles & Blog
NYRB Blog
Contact Amy
About the Author
Knight has written over 25 scholarly articles and has contributed numerous pieces on Russian politics and history to the
New York Review of Books
and the Times Literary Supplement. Her articles have also been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post and The Wilson Quarterly.
Published Books
Amy Knight's books include
How the Cold War Began: the Igor Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies, Who Killed Kirov? The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery, Spies Without Cloaks: The KGB's Successors, Beria: Stalin's First Lieutenant,
The KGB: Police and Politics in the Soviet Union.
"Amy Knight is one of the most meticulous and ground-breaking scholars of Soviet history."
Simon Sebag Montefiore
"Her account is the most impressive and thorough we have."
New York Times Book Review.
Perils of Putin
Historian and author Amy Knight and University of Toronto political scientist Lucan Way discuss the political dynamics and machinations leading up to this pivotal election, and what it says about the future of Russian democracy.


text: 2010/6/9 தங்கமணி அருண் <thangam.arunx at gmail.com>: >> >> A group of chip makers including IBM, Samsung Electronics and Texas >> Instruments unveiled Linaro, a new software engineering foundation >> dedicated to improving Linux distributions, including Android, MeeGo >> and Ubuntu, used in consumer devices. >> </quote> >> >> > Gud news. But all these Linux Distro's are going to run on low powered > devices(ARM or Atom processors) This is the trend and those interested in software application development should be considering this in their long term strategy (both skill set as well as business). iPhone/Android applications by independent developers come to mind. -- Arun Khan


text:
Tags: buying a home
Would you buy your own house?
A sound way of determining if your house is market-ready is to ask yourself: would you buy your own home?
That's according to Richard Gray, CEO of Harcourts Real Estate South Africa, who says it's a question that calls for an honest answer, best arrived at by an objective analysis of its best and worst features.
"And if you find it difficult to be objective, get input from someone else who will be honest," he adds, "since an honest answer will help you arrive at a realistic selling date as well as an achievable selling price."
Sellers generally don't see their homes with the same eyes of prospective buyers, he continues. "Broken windows, peeling paintwork, missing roof tiles, sagging gates and mould in the shower – these tend to go unnoticed by owners after a while. Yet, they are detractors that will stand out a mile to buyers,…
Is a townhouse the right home for you?
If you're looking for a home with fewer maintenance requirements, or perhaps a house in the suburbs isn't in your budget, then a sectional title townhouse may be just the answer.
"But there are a few pros and cons you should really think about before you commit to a purchase," says Richard Gray CEO of real estate group Harcourts Africa.
On the positive side, choosing a townhouse may give you the opportunity to live in a more upmarket area than you could afford if you were to buy an ordinary house.
"In addition, the levy payable in sectional title complexes often covers the upkeep of communal amenities such as a swimming pool, braai areas, tennis courts, clubhouse, gym and laundry as well as the security provisions, and having the use of such facilities without having to worry about their maintenance or repair suits many people very well."
What is…
Choose a home ahead of a car
The two major purchases most often considered by young people when they first acquire financial independence are a new car and a home – but for many it comes down to a choice between the two, because they can't afford both at once.
"And we strongly believe they should opt for the property – as should more established families who perhaps already own a car and a home, but because of budgetary constraints have to choose either a bigger car or a better home," says Richard Gray, CEO of Harcourts Africa.
Reacting to the news that new car sales have shot up by more than 30% over the past year, he says: "This is seen as being a good sign for the economy, but I'm concerned that it may not be so great in terms of the financial future of many consumers.
"The fact is that homes appreciate over…
Good neighbours = higher home values
All over the world, people are seeking out neighbourhoods that offer them the possibility of a quieter life, a safer environment in which to bring up their children and a chance to be more "connected" with their community.
"And the effect this has on home values," says Harcourts Africa CEO Richard Gray, "is very evident from the premiums that homebuyers are prepared to pay to live in golf estates and other gated developments, not just in SA but in many other countries.
"But this doesn't mean that traditional suburbs and towns cannot be just as attractive – if their residents are prepared to co-operate in the same way as people do in sectional title complexes and estates."
Many benefits can flow from something as simple as a friendly greeting when out walking the dog or when new neighbours move in, he says, including things like shared school trips…
Things you must know about Sectional Title
When you buy into a sectional title (ST) scheme, it is important to realise that you are not only buying a home, but also buying into the culture, economic status and rules of the complex.
"Many buyers only start looking at the management and conduct rules of a complex after they have bought a home there and moved in," says Harcourts Africa CEO Richard Gray, "and then find to their dismay that there are quite a few items that they don't like at all."
The standard management and conduct rules, he explains, are set down in annexures to the Sectional Titles Act. They specify the procedures for the running and administration of ST schemes, and set out guidelines for the conduct of owners as well as their guests and tenants.
"However, amendments can be made to these rules in individual schemes, and it is here that uninformed buyers may run…
Don't lose sight of security
Crime is decreasing in SA and, thanks to a R2bn allocation in the latest national Budget, police numbers are to be increased by a further 12 000 – but that does not mean that homeowners can afford to get lax about security.
"The latest available crime statistics, which show a significant drop in violent crimes, are very encouraging," says Harcourts Africa CEO Richard Gray, "as is the fact that the government is putting really significant resources into safety and security.
"However, we don't believe this means that the private security companies are going to go out of business any time soon – or that security considerations should now take a back seat when people are house hunting or trying to sell their property."
For example, he says, those who are considering buying a home in a security complex or estate should not just assume it will be crime-free because…
Be precise and speed up your property hunt
Buyers who are fortunate enough to find a home that meets their needs early on in their search should consider themselves lucky and have no hesitation in making an offer.
So says Harcourts CEO Richard Gray, who notes: "Sometimes people make the mistake of not buying a home that is right for them because they have only viewed a few properties and they are worried that they might miss out on a better property or a similar one at a better price.
"The truth is, though, that there is no set period in which prospective buyers should expect to find the 'right' property – and no set number of homes they should view before deciding to buy. Some will be lucky and find exactly what they want in a week or two, while others can take months."
However, he says, while hunting for a new home is generally exciting and…
Toll roads will cause major shifts in property market
Toll roads are the big issue for many consumers at the moment – especially in Gauteng – and they are set to have a major impact on home buying and renting patterns.
So says Harcourts Africa CEO Richard Gray, who notes: "Hundreds of thousands of people travel between Johannesburg and Pretoria every day, many of them living in one city and working in the other, and it is estimated that such commutes will add at least R1000 a month per vehicle to the monthly household budget.
"And the situation will no doubt be much the same for those commuting between the East Rand and West Rand, or between the southern suburbs of Johannesburg and Sandton or Midrand."
Even those using buses and taxis will be affected because fares will rise to cover the new tolls, he says, "and if you add these new costs to already rising fuel prices,…
Get serious about saving for a deposit
If you've already taken the big decision to stop renting and buy a home of your own this year, the next thing you'll need to work on is saving a deposit.
This is of course not easy, says Harcourts Africa CEO Richard Gray, but there are several ways to speed things up – starting with a detailed, written household budget.
"You first need to make sure that you are in a positive cash flow position, with more money coming in than going out, and it really helps to write down absolutely everything you spend for a month or two. You will then be able to see exactly where you are spending more than you should – or if you are shortchanging yourself with regard to necessary items like food and transport.
Next, he says, you should focus on getting rid of debt such as credit card or store card…
DIY sellers lose out on many potential buyers
Up to 50% of the potential homebuyers in any area come from outside that area, whether it's from across town, from another city or from overseas, and they are unlikely to be exposed to the local marketing efforts of sellers who decide to "go it alone".
So says Harcourts Africa CEO Richard Gray, who notes that this is one of the strongest reasons for those who are trying to sell their homes to work with an agent from a large real estate group that can also provide national and international exposure for their properties.
"In tough times," he says, "property sellers will of course consider everything they might be able to do to improve the chances of achieving a sale, and quite a number will think of going the DIY or for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) route, believing that if they save the sales commission and drop the price accordingly, their properties…


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Jonathan Streeter
Prosecutor in Insider Crackdown Leaving U.S. Attorney's Office
The prosecutor, Christopher L. Garcia, will join Weil, Gotshal & Manges, one of the country's largest corporate law firms, as a partner in its white-collar defense and investigations group.
Lead Rajaratnam Prosecutor to Join Dechert
The prosecutor, Jonathan Streeter, will be joining a white-collar defense group currently involved in some of the highest-profile securities cases.
Galleon Chief's Lawyers Seek to Delay Prison Term
Lawyers for Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group's chief, are heading to court in a last-ditch attempt to delay his incarceration, in what will most likely amount to a dress rehearsal for his forthcoming appeal.
U.S. Is Seeking Maximum Prison Term in Galleon Case
Prosecutors recommended that Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager convicted of running a huge insider trading scheme, be sentenced to as many as 24 and a half years in prison.
Galleon Chief's Lawyer Presses His Argument for Acquittal
John Dowd, a lawyer for Raj Rajaratnam, ended by saying that all the information on which his client traded was "available to the whole world." The prosecution's rebuttal will continue on Monday.
Galleon Chief Is Silent as Defense Rests Its Case
The defense has argued that the information that Raj Rajaratnam is accused of obtaining illegally was already out in the marketplace and therefore hardly a secret.
Defense in Insider Trial Seeks to Present Galleon as Disciplined
To drive home the point that research was taken seriously at the Galleon Group, the defense inundated the jurors with articles, analyst reports and other publicly available research items.
Taped Calls About Akamai Earnings Guidance Heard at Galleon Trial
The jury listened to wiretapped conversations between Raj Rajaratnam, the manager of the Galleon Group, and Danielle Chiesi, a hedge fund executive.
Morgan Stanley Takes Backseat to Rival at Galleon Trial
At the trial of Raj Rajaratnam, a witness from Morgan Stanley finds himself in the shadow of Lloyd C. Blankfein, the Goldman Sachs chief executive.
It's Greed vs. a Picture of Solid Research in Galleon Trial
In the opening statements for Raj Rajaratnam's insider trading trial, the lawyers previewed the evidence they planned to present.


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African Fashion 101
Global style and beauty! -
Girls Night Out
Makeup 101
Makeup tips & tricks -
Urban Fashion 101
Trends & Lifestyle -
Shoegasm 101
Breathtaking footwear -
Nailz 101
Creative nail art -
Tips&Tricks -
Beauty & Health tips -
About life... -
Weight, diet & more! -
All about urban and African fashion! -
All about urban and African fashion! -
All about urban and African fashion! -
All about urban and African fashion! -
All about urban and African fashion! -
All about urban and African fashion!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Nollywood Movie: A Private Storm
Its Nollywood time! That means that we will rate a Nollywood Movie here on Elegancy101! This time we are going for a much more serious movie that is based on a true story. Its called "a private storm" a film written and produced by multiple-award winning Vivian Ejike. Check the Synopsis after the jump:
From the outside looking in Alex played by Ramsey Noah and Gina played by Omotola Jalade Ekeinde appear to have a great relationship. Both are successful within their own rights and living a great lifestyle, however beneath the charade lies insecurity, bullying and physical abuse. Alex is constantly berating his wife and accusing her of cheating on him despite no evidence to support his claims. One night on an evening out her dumps her on a dark and lonely road in one of his aggressive rages. She is honestly scared for her life when a lone car pulls up by her side. It turns out to be Alex who then orders her into the car. It is all part of his controlling mind games, but how far will he go and how far will she be pushed by him?
The shame of the situation and the way Alex was held in high esteem by Gina's friends and family meant that she was unable to divulge her secret shame to them. It is only when she has reached breaking point that she shares the secret with Uju. We see the cycle of violence and making it up that traps so many women. When Alex is nice he can be super nice but then the downside is that his ugly is just as potent.
We also see the history behind Alex's violence and how his past has affected his present state.
We must say that this is one of the few good naija movies out there. The storyline was definitely engaging. The cast was excellent and we would recommend it. It has a serious topic storyline but the integration of the John Dumelo and Ufuoma storyline wasn't as seamless as it should have been and although it was good it did not elevate to that level of greatness.
What we did like was that the movie painted a realistic portrait of domestic abuse. The abuser is not always evil which makes it difficult to leave, and the abused is dependent on the abuser in some way (emotionally, financially etc). The movie did a good job of highlighting this.
Watch the trailer:
Nollywood Movie
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33 Comments New Comment
well i hope they are in love, get married, and live happily ever after! move on with their lives! just don't do a reality show please
Wish him and his girl the best. I dont believe a word Sarah Palin says and o think Bristol follows her lead.


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1 medium yellow onion, sliced
Olive oil
1 grilled chicken breast, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 lb ball fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
1 ball pizza dough (approximately 22 oz or enough for a large pizza)
Flour for rolling out dough
Tomatoes, to garnish
Preheat oven to 425°F. Heat a heavy-bottom pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned. Add a tablespoon of water to the hot pan and scrape off any brown bits. Remove from heat.
Using flour as needed, roll out half of pizza dough until thin (thin enough so the dough isn't in danger of tearing). Place dough on pan or stone. Spoon 1/2 cup tomato sauce and 1/4 cup BBQ sauce onto dough. Add 1/2 pound sliced mozzarella and half of the chopped chicken. Repeat with remaining dough for second pizza.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until dough is crisp and cheese is melted. Add caramelized onions to cooked pizzas, and drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup BBQ sauce.
• If using a pizza stone, put it in the oven as it's preheating.
• Add thin sliced tomatoes for garnish.
More 6 Ingredient Recipes on The Kitchn:
• Artichoke, Kale & Ricotta Pie
• Oregon Summer Panino
Related: Use This Vegetable To Make Pizza In 15 Minutes Flat
(Images: Stephanie Barlow)


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Monday, November 23, 2009
20 comments:
SWATCHES!! LOL, so now you have only 50 more to go! (I assume this is the haul you just got). These are going to be so pretty on you. Soft shimmer bronzes and browns, I think, are the prettiest on golden skin tones. FOTDS PLEASE!! BTW, I tried your carne asada, it's really good. I force fed it down my boyfriends throat and he liked it too. And he's so particular about his diet.
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Statistics and Genomics Seminar
Spring 2003
Detecting DNA regulatory motifs by incorporating positional trends in
information content
Katherina Kechris
Department of Statistics, UC Berkeley
Model-based motif discovery methods, such as MEME and Gibbs Motif Sampler, are important tools for screening DNA regulatory regions to predict binding sites of transcription factors. Although these methods are very successful, they can be too general, having been developed for both DNA and protein sequences. They can be distracted by noisy signals in the data that are not characteristic of true transcription factor binding sites. We propose a simple extension to the underlying model of these methods to improve the prediction of real sites. Our method is based on the observation that examples of real sites show positional trends in the information content (or base conservation). We assign prior distributions to the frequency parameters of the model, penalizing deviations from a specified level of conservation type. Examples with both simulated and real data show that these changes improve the algorithm's ability to discover motifs with information content patterns typical of real binding sites.
Functional Genomics and Pesticide Exposure in Children and Pregnant Woman
Professor Nina T. Holland
Division of Environmental
Health Sciences, UC Berkeley
Studies of the effects of widespread pesticide exposures on children's health have been limited but have suggested an association with birth defects, childhood cancer and neurodevelopmental problems. Susceptible subpopulations may differ in their genetic makeup and/or in expression of genes encoding key metabolic enzymes. For example, the human enzyme paraoxonase (PON1) detoxifies various organophosphate (OP) pesticides with different efficiencies and rates, depending on PON1 status, i.e. the polymorphism at position 192 and the level of PON1 enzyme activities. We measured PON1 status in mothers and their newborns from a longitudinal cohort of Latinos residing in an agricultural community in the Salinas Valley, California (www.chamacos.org). PON1 status plots for mothers and children from CHAMACOS separate them into three groups: PON1Q/Q192, PON1Q/R192 and PON1R/R192. Because of the low levels of enzyme activity, approximately half of cord blood samples were also genotyped by PCR analysis. Gene frequencies were 0.5 for both Q and R variants. The level of PON1 activity was the lowest in newborns with QQ genotype making them particularly vulnerable to OP exposure. The correlations of cord PON1 phenotype on newborns birth weight and body length were significant (p = 0.05). PON1 activities for pregnant women were significantly higher than in the newborns for all genotypes. In summary, functional genomics can help to determine if there are subpopulations that are more susceptible to OP poisoning, and, thus, will help to inform future policy decisions regarding allowable pesticide exposure to children and pregnant women.
Joint work with Clement Furlong2, Rebecca Richter2, Maria Bastaki1, Erin Weltzien1, Asa Bradman1, Rachel Jampsa2, Kelly Birch3, Brenda Eskenazi1.
1 Children's Environmental Health Center, University of California,
Berkeley; CA 94720-7360, USA;
2 Children's Environmental Health Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA;
3 Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA 94609, USA.
Supported by: NIEHS and EPA.
Binding site detection by
incorporating structural information
Model selection for regression on censored outcomes
Sunduz Keles
Division of Biostatistics, UC Berkeley
In the first half of the talk, I will talk about a new binding site detection method that incorporates structural transcription factor information and in the second half, I will present an asymptotically optimal model selection method for regression on censored outcomes.
Rapid developments in the sequencing technology in combination with microarray technology enable scientists to study gene expression and gene regulation at a genomic level. The identification of transcription factor binding sites using statistical modeling is an important component of such large scale studies. Among the methods developed for this purpose are the ones that utilize finite multinomial mixture models with specific implementations as MEME and Gibbs Motif Sampler. Although there are continuing attempts to enhance these models, there has been little or no effort to incorporate transcription factor specific information into these models. In this talk, I will present an extension of such mixture models that takes into account the characteristics of the true DNA binding sites. In particular, the parameter space of binding sites (which are represented as position weight matrices) are constrainted. These constraints could be as simple as specific base conservation at a specific locations or more global constraints on the information profile. I will present simulation studies and data analysis that illustrate the utility of such a model in identifying real binding sites.
In the second half, I will talk about model selection for regression problems with right censored outcome especially focusing on survival outcomes. Model selection is an incredibly important component of high dimensional statistical modeling. The recent utilization of microarray technology in cancer research is generating data sets with patient survival information and gene expression for thousands of genes and hence increasing attention to this statistical topic. Often these data sets are subject to right censoring elevating the challenge in selecting a good predictive model. In this talk, I will present a new cross-validation based model selection method for selecting among a set of given predictors of the right censored survival outcome. The central idea of the method lies in treating the risk of a given predictor as a full data parameter and estimating it based on the observed data. We have shown that under appropriate conditions, the proposed method performs as well the oracle procedure in model selection, namely the method is asymptotically equivalent to selecting the best predictor using the true data generating distribution of the full data. I will also illustrate this result with simulations in the context of histogram regression with right censored data.
Finding haplotype block
boundaries using the minimum description length (MDL) principle
Dr. Eric C. Anderson
Department of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley
In the last two years, a series of studies have documented linkage disequilibrium (LD) extending across long distances in the human genome. This long-range LD is not confined to occasional, distantly-separated marker pairs in LD; rather, these studies report a block-like LD structure. Concomitant with the blocks of LD, these studies also find low haplotype diversity within blocks, with as few as 4 to 6 haplotypes within a block accounting for upwards of 90% of all observed haplotypes.
The existence of haplotype block structure has serious implications for association studies. Accordingly, the last year has seen several proposals for finding haplotype blocks using SNP data from sampled chromosomes. Using Rissanen's two-stage minimum description length criterion, we have developed a new method for detecting haplotype blocks that simultaneously uses information about linkage disequilibrium decay between blocks, and the diversity of haplotypes within the blocks. We define a family of descriptive probability models indexed by the number and position of haplotype block boundaries and present a dynamic programming algorithm for finding the set of block boundaries that minimizes the two-stage description length. This method performs favorably on data simulated under a coalescent model with recombinational hotspots, as well as on previously published data.
Joint work with John Novembre, Department of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley
Methods for Identifying Transcription Factor Binding Sites
Dr. Haiyan Huang
Biostatistical Science, Harvard School of Public
Department of Statistics, Harvard University
The completion of the genomes of model organisms represents just the beginning of a long march toward in-depth understanding of biological systems. One challenge in post-genomic research is the detection of functional patterns from full-length genomic sequences. This talk focuses on statistical methods in finding patterns with functional or structural importance in biological sequences, in particular the identification of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). Some of the underlying mathematical theories will be discussed as well.
TFBSs are often short and degenerate in sequence. Therefore they are often described by position- specific score matrices (PSSMs), which are used to score candidate TFBSs for their similarities to known binding sites. The similarity scores generated by PSSMs are essential to the computational prediction of single TFBSs or regulatory modules. We develop the Local Markov Method (LMM), which provides local p-values as a more reliable and rigorous alternative. Applying LMM to large-scale known human binding site sequences in situ, we show that compared to current popular methods, LMM can reduce false positive errors by more than 50% without compromising sensitivity.
Sequence Pattern Discovery under a Stochastic Dictionary Framework
Mayetri Gupta
Department of Statistics,
Harvard University
Accurate identification of transcription factor binding sites (motifs), short conserved patterns of 6-20 nucleotides, in DNA sequences is the first step in acquiring a detailed understanding of gene regulation. Motif discovery is complicated by the fact that patterns are of unknown length, may have insertions or deletions, the total number of patterns that are present is unknown and varies widely, and the sequences contain noise in the form of low-complexity repeats that have no biological significance. We develop a novel framework for sequence pattern identification, extending the idea of a dictionary model (Bussemaker et al., 2000). In our initial model, patterns and single letters are assumed to be independently generated from an unknown dictionary of stochastic words and concatenated to form the sequence. Data augmentation algorithms are developed that iteratively update the pattern composition and locate pattern sites on the sequences. The methodology is extended to find patterns of unknown widths, and patterns with insertions and deletions. In eukaryotic genomes, motif detection is a more challenging problem as the patterns tend to be shorter, less well-conserved, and occur in multi-pattern clusters (regulatory modules). We extend the stochastic dictionary model to a module framework under which an evolutionary Monte Carlo-based state-space model selection algorithm is constructed. This enables us to identify an optimal set of patterns and obtain improved parameter estimates. The performance of these new methods will be demonstrated by both simulation studies and applications to bacterial and human genomes.
Folding of Random Sequences with Application to RNA-gene Finding
Professor Niels Richard Hansen
Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark
Currently visiting Department of Statistics, Stanford University.
Small functional RNA-molecules have recently been found in great numbers. A class of them called microRNA's is believed to regulate the expression of protein coding genes, and in a pre-functioning state they have a typical fold-back structure. It is of great interest to be able to search entire genomes by computational methods to identify potential microRNA's, and one could look for small segments of the genome with a fold-back structure comparable to the known microRNA's.
In the talk, I will show some theoretical work on the formation of certain fold-back structures in random (iid. and Markov) sequences, and for the size and structure of typical micro-RNA's, the results suggest that the fold-back structure alone does not significantly distinguish small microRNA from random fold structures. To improve results, construction of a better scoring system for the structure and the use of evolutionary conservation will be discussed.
Alternative splicing and gene regulation
Professor Steven E. Brenner
Department of
Plant and Microbial Biology, UC Berkeley
Alternative splicing produces multiple mRNAs from a single gene, while nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is an endogenous surveillance system that causes degradation of mRNAs with premature termination codons. We recently discovered that one-third of reliable human alternative mRNA isoforms are candidate targets of NMD. We similarly found that NMD may have profound unrecognized roles in human disease. Consequently, the coupling of alternative splicing and nonsense-mediated mRNA decay governs the expression of numerous proteins. It is shown that this functional coupling can yield regulated unproductive splicing and translation (RUST). We reason that the contribution of alternative splicing to proteome diversity may be balanced by an as-yet unappreciated regulatory role in gene expression.
This talk will review the biological mechanisms of alternative splicing and nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, and the computational methods used to infer their action. I will describe our computational and experimental studies of natural human genes targeted for NMD. The talk will conclude with hypotheses regarding the coupling of alternative splicing and NMD for RUST.
Multiple testing procedures for gene expression data
Katherine Pollard
Division of Biostatistics, UC Berkeley
Gene expression studies produce data with which inferences can be made for thousands of genes simultaneously. Standard practice in multiple testing with gene expression data is to use t-statistics as test statistics and to control the error rate under the permutation distribution. In this talk, I will revisit the rationale behind such choices and suggest situations in which alternatives are more sensible. I suggest an optimal null distribution for testing hypotheses about gene-specific parameters which is a Kullback-Leibler projection parameter of the true data generating distribution on the submodel defined by the overall null hypothesis. I then propose to estimate this null distribution with maximum likelihood estimation. In many cases, one can control error rates (at least asymptotically) by resampling from this estimated null distribution. I contrast the optimal null distribution with the null distribution estimated by permutation methods and illustrate that the two are very different in the two sample problem whenever sample sizes are not equal. With real and simulated gene expression data, we have evaluated the finite sample performance of different choices of test statistics, estimated null distributions and multiplicity adjustments. I report results which indicate that parametric bootstrap methods perform best when the model for the data is known. But since this is rarely true in practice, non-parametric bootstrap methods are recommended. I also demonstrate that the standardized t-statistic's null distribution is harder to estimate than that of the difference in means.
Unified Cross-validation Methodology for Estimator Selection and Applications to Genomics
Professor Sandrine Dudoit
Division of Biostatistics, UC Berkeley
We describe a unified cross-validation methodology for selection among estimators. This general framework covers in particular a number of selection problems which have traditionally been treated separately in the statistical literature: predictor selection based on censored outcomes, predictor selection based on multivariate outcomes, density estimator selection, survival function estimator selection, and counterfactual predictor selection in causal inference. Finite sample and asymptotic optimality results are derived for the cross-validation selector for general data generating distributions, loss functions, and estimators. The asymptotic optimality result states that the cross-validation selector performs asymptotically as well as an optimal benchmark selector based on the true unknown data generating distribution. A broad definition of cross-validation is used in order to cover leave-one-out cross-validation, V-fold cross-validation, and Monte Carlo cross-validation. We will discuss applications of this general methodology to estimator selection problems in genomic data analysis, including the prediction of biological and clinical outcomes using microarray gene expression measures and the identification of regulatory motifs in DNA sequences.
Joint work with Mark van der Laan and Sunduz Keles.
Technical reports
#124, 125, 126, and 130
Division of Biostatistics, UC Berkeley
Multiple Output Analysis
Professor Leo Breiman
Department of Statistics, UC Berkeley
The norm for prediction algorithms is univariate prediction--that is, predicting a single output (dependent) variable. Predicting and understanding multiple outputs is more difficult because of the dependence between the outputs. It is exactly this dependence that must be exploited to make the predictions and understanding of the mechanism more accurate. This has applications to curve analysis, repeated measures analysis, etc. I report on recent work resulting in an algorithm RF/mo for analyzing multiple outputs.
To pool or not to pool: an experience with GeneChips
Professor Terence P. Speed
Department of Statistics, UC Berkeley
A question many people ask is whether pooling mRNA from different samples and then running technical replicates of the pool can lead to savings in chips, with no downside. This talk presents the design and analysis of an experiment seeking an answer to this question. Unfortunately, the design was not as rigorous as it should have been, and so anomalies arose which compromise the study's conclusions. However, it does seem possible to say that there are risks with pooling, and that the likely advantages may not be great enough to warrant the risk.
Gene Mapping and Model Selection
Professor David O. Siegmund
Department of Statistics, Stanford University
The goal of gene mapping is to identify genes associated with specific traits, e.g., human diseases, quantitative traits in animal models of human diseases, quantitative traits in agriculturally important species, etc. An initial step often involves testing of markers throughout a genome for linkage to genes contributing to the trait. This involves selection of a model for the trait as a function of genotype and environment. The model may involve multiple, possibly interacting genes.
To map quantitative traits in experimental genetics, Broman and Speed (2002, JRSSB) have suggested use of the Bayes Information Criterion (BIC) for model selection. An issue they must face is that the conditions imposed by Schwarz (1968, Ann. Math. Statist.) to justify the BIC are not met in gene mapping problems, so the BIC penalty of (k/2)log n for choosing a model with k parameters (when the sample size is n) may not be appropriate. In this talk I will re-interpret the BIC argument in terms of p-values and the logic of Bahadur efficiency. I will then show by hypothetical numerical examples from the literature how this interpretation would function in selecting models for gene mapping.
Least Angle Regression, Forward Stagewise and the Lasso
Professor Trevor Hastie
Department of Statistics, Stanford University
Least Angle Regression (LARS) is a new model selection algorithm. It is a useful and less greedy version of traditional forward selection methods. Three main properties of LARS are derived.
There are strong connections between the epsilon forward stagewise regression and the boosting technique popular in machine learning. These connections offer new explanations for the success of boosting.
Joint work with Brad Efron, Trevor Hastie, Iain Johnstone, and Rob Tibshirani.


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Jasmine Salon Coupons and Deals
Your feet and hands need as much attention as you would give a small child or a penguin you are somehow forced to take care of. Pamper yourself with this Groupon. Choose from Two Options $19 for one classic manicure and pedicure (a $40 value) $39 for two classic manicures and pedicures (an $80 value) Classic mani-pedis include basic nail and cuticle care and a hand and foot massage.
The Fine Print
Limit 1 voucher per person; may purchase up to 3 additional vouchers as gifts.All services must be used in a single visit and by same customer.Appointments required.New customers only.24-hour cancellation policy.
Your fingers and toes help you perform hundreds of tasks every day; it's time to repay the favor. Show your cuticles some love with a full-service treatment that have them glistening with joy. With every Classic Pedicure and Manicure you'll get a cut, file, trim, clean, and massage. Every nail will be expertly shaped and buffed for that nail showroom shine. The instant you walk into Jasmine Salon you'll be impressed by the clean, chic space designed by owner, Tina Le. With over 20 years of experience in the salon industry, Tina ensures that every customer receives the care and attention they deserve. Sit back, relax, and let your stress melt away with every stroke of that nail filer.
The Fine Print
Limit 1 per customer, up to 1 additional as a gift • Appointments required and subject to availability • Merchant cancellation/re-scheduling policy of 24 hours applies; voucher subject to forfeiture • Option C: additional fees apply for hair longer than shoulder-length • All services must be redeemed during a single visit by same customer • New customers only
Jasmine Salon is owned by an industry veteran with more than 20 years of professional experience, and staffed with talented stylists who specialize in providing each client with uniquely customized service: • $20 ($40 value) for a manicure and pedicure • $40 ($80 value) for cluster eyelash extensions • $99 ($250 value) for a Brazilian blowout "Very friendly, clean. Not close to where I live, but would return. Maybe bring beau for a haircut. My nails and toes look great. Oh, and great massage on feet and legs." - LivingSocial Member With the manicure and pedicure, you're in for a luxurious treatment that includes cutting down nails, filing, trimming, cleaning of cuticles, a massage, and the polish of your choice. Eyelash extensions will add some drama to your face with individual extensions applied to each eyelash. The Brazilian blowout will leave your hair shiny, smooth, and easy to manage for up to 12 weeks. Jasmine Salon's Website | Facebook
[u'Jasmine Salon is your destination for outstanding hair and beauty treatments. Let their talented team give you picture-perfect nails and straight, manageable hair with this deal.', u"Jasmine Salon's Website", u'reconstitute']
The Fine Print
Limit 2 offers per person. Appointment required. Upgrades available for additional fee; must pay full difference for upgraded service.
Fabulous feet might not seem like a necessity, but you should never underestimate the power of pretty toes. Feel confident and beautiful—whether you're sporting flip flops or work boots—with a one-hour deluxe pedicure at San Jose's Jasmine Salon. Their expert technicians will start with a hot stone massage to melt away muscle aches. Next comes an exfoliating scrub, where they'll slough away scaly skin and deliver silky smooth results. Once you're significantly soothed, a hydrating mask will saturate your surface with moisture, and they'll trim, file, and perfectly polish your digits. Walk out on a cloud of comfort, knowing that no matter what else you do today, you'll face it with terrific tootsies.


text: Adapation Writing weekBy Adam Dachis PO Edit1170L What Is Plagiarism, and Is It Always Bad? It's easy to become attached to your words, claiming ownership to their arrangement on the page and to the phrases you create. But how much do you really own what you write? How much have you, technically, plagiarized? Read… 11/10/10 10:30am 11/10/10 10:30amForget About Perfect Grammar and Just Write Well