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Due to a chronic lack of resources, Project Trogolodyte is being ramped down as an independent project. Some of the activities will continue at www.zygomatica.com.
Due to a chronic lack of resources, Project Trogolodyte is being ramped down as an independent project. Some of the activities will continue at www.zygomatica.com.
"Things will not get any better. The big international trade treaties (TRIPS, TPP, and so on) receive quite a bit of publicity and are, relatively speaking, actually fairly transparent. Bilateral treaties are obscure and opaque. When there is a huge wealth asymmetry between the countries (Switzerland and Uruguay in this case), the treaties may be fair — or not."
There is now enough new information to revisit the Plumpy'Nut/Nutriset case (earlier posts: Summary; Background; Details; Nutriset's actions; worse-case scenarios).
The Plumpy'Nut case is a useful test case to use because of its simplicity: it is a single patent owned by a single company, covering a single product (though very broadly). There are two key problems. Problem one refers to the details of how Nutriset was able to get the patent granted so easily; problem two refers to how the treaty-shopping system is weighted against poor countries.
Problem 1: Ease of getting an African patent
African patents tend to be granted based on international searches without much national-level analysis. We earlier saw that this is the case for South Africa (see African patent system 3); there is no reason to assume that the situation is any different for poorer African countries. If a patent is shown to be valid in an international search, it will be granted in Africa.
We also saw that obtaining patents for large swathes of Africa is relatively simple via the ARIPO and OAPI systems (African patent system 1). Just filling in two forms can basically get patents granted in 34 African countries.
A search for Nutriset at the WIPO indeed shows that the ARIPO patent has been granted under the PCT. Although technically each country can decide whether to grant a national patent, in practice this would not seem to be practiced.
The PCT search document (see pdf: 0900636180141db4) shows why the patent has been granted — it is indeed novel. There are at least two earlier products that contain (milk) protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, just as Plumpy'Nut does. However the earlier prior art products are water-insoluble when packaged, but can be easily dispersed in water once opened. Plumpy'Nut can be consumed as is.
The aim of Plumpy'Nut was to produce a product that can be consumed without water. This is a huge advantage in a situation where clean water is not easily available.
If one ignores ethical issues, the case is completely clearcut: Plumpy'Nut is an innovative and useful product, and undoubtedly satistifes the novelty and inventiveness steps needed in general for patents. The ARIPO will in effect have had little or no choice, according to its own rules. There have been no legal grounds to reject the patent.
Problem 2: Picking & choosing a trade agreement
The complexity of international IPR is noted by a Dec 21 posting of the EFF, related to trade agreements that include IPR. "Local trade agreements are interconnected among hub-and-spoke systems, creating networks that transmit IP provisions across agreements, and eventually from one domestic IP regime to another. It's a harmful network effect."
There is a very good ongoing non-IPR-related case that shows just how treaty-shopping can work: tobacco company Philip Morris vs the nation of Uruguay. Uruguay's GDP is les than 50 billion USD, while the market cap of Phillip Morris is ~100 billion USD and annual revenues are ~60 billion USD. The company is literally larger than the country.
Uruguay has instigated very strong anti-tobacco laws. According to Fox News Nov 23, 2012, "The country requires 80 percent of every cigarette package to show graphic images of smoking consequences, from diseased lungs and rotten gums to a cartoon image of a mother blowing smoke at her baby's face."
This caused Philip Morris to sue the country in a World Bank tribunal for breaking a trade agreement with Switzerland (where Philip Morris is based). The Philip Morris response (quoted in the same article): "The Uruguayan government has done something which no other government has done, [it] doesn't seem to make any sense to us from a public-health perspective and has clearly damaged our investment there…. We are challenging regulations which are not fairly applied to all companies, add further fuel to Uruguay's huge black market in cigarettes and have not even been shown to reduce smoking prevalence."
For more details from various perspectives, see TechDirt; Guardian; UPI; TobaccoTactics. (Note that it's proven to be almost impossible to find sources that would be favorable to Philip Morris. We may be getting only one side of the story here).
The case is currently still unresolved, but it is highly indicative of what treaty shopping can lead to. When companies are larger than countries, treaties can lead to strange results.
What is the end result
Things will not get any better. The big international trade treaties (TRIPS, TPP, and so on) receive quite a bit of publicity and are, relatively speaking, actually fairly transparent. Bilateral treaties are obscure and opaque. When there is a huge wealth asymmetry between the countries (Switzerland and Uruguay in this case), the treaties may be fair — or not.
Loose patent processes at the African end allow large areas of Africa to be covered with minimal work; treaty shopping allows multinationals a simple way to find good ways to tap into those processes. The combination does not sound good.
This is part 2 of the SriNet project. See Srinet 1 for background and details. The project was unsuccessful, but we feel that the spirit of Open Science calls for publishing of failures. It allows others to avoid making the same mistakes; also, failure does not necessarily mean that the idea was bad. If one has dropped the project for good, and someone else can find something useful in the wreckage, why not publish?
We hope to make this attitude more popular, and are practicing it ourselves. Perhaps this will inspire others to publish similar failures (maybe even here on the Troglodyte site).
This part summarizes the cost and business case estimates made for the SriNet project. The analysis suggests that an extremely low cost might be possible, making the solution suitable for use even in developing countries like Sri Lanka. However, we could not find a way to motivate anyone to fund the R&D part. Thus, we are not pursuing this further for the time being.
[By Niko Porjo and Jakke Mäkelä]
Business case: both hardware cost and data transmission costs are kept so low that building and maintaining network is realistic to perform as a public service. Data transfer can be made over mobile phone network (SMS, GPRS, 3G…) or landline if available. Multiple operators are made to compete to keep data costs down. Hazard indication to end users will need to be wireless to achieve real-time warning.
An exact business case is difficult to determine, as it is for any lightning warning system.
Situation in Sri Lanka: Tens of deaths reported annually, real number of deaths and injuries unknown. Commercial detection systems too expensive to maintain.
Absolute worst-case scenario: If SMS sent less than once per min, reliability of network becomes poor. Thus cannot transfer much less than this. During storms, whole network would need to be transmitting 60*60=3600 SMS/hour. In Finland, cost of SMS on one operator is ~5 cent, so cost would be 180 EUR/hr for whole network. Assuming 6 hours/ day of storms in active seasons, would mean 30 kEUR/month, which is of course completely unacceptable. But in practice, there are fixed-cost deals available from operators. Multiple operators are absolutely needed in order to maximize price competition and minimize risk of monopoly pricing. But there are SMS-based systems in existence which are affordable (for example Nokia Life Tools http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Life_Tools) which means that costs could be kept reasonable if there is political push.
Transfer rate over GPRS, if available, is even in extreme case ~160 B/min or 1kB/hour per station. For total network, transfer is ~60 kB/hour. Per month, amounts to ~100 MB. On one Finnish operator, GPRS cost can be ~1.5 EUR/MB, so cost would be <200 EUR/month. Clearly GPRS would be the preferable channel where available.
Sensors need to be stockpiled to allow them to be replaced quickly if needed, so at least 100 need to be built. Smaller calibration networks can also be developed in parallel and run in a suitable country.
Main components are radio receiver, GPS clock, GSM/GPRS, processing unit. Battery may be most expensive individual component. ideally will run on AC power, but need to have backup battery/UPS capable of multi-hour operation in case of power failure. Unit cost of 400EUR should definitely be reachable (cost of full network 40kEUR), though profit margin to manufacturer is then low. This part may need to be subsidized.
Setting up of network is low-cost since all sensors are autonomous and operate by wireless network. Slow deployment is possible.
Central unit can be a tabletop PC. Redundancy and power supply needs will increase cost significantly, but main algorithm is simple.
Operating costs can be minimal if GPRS can be used.
Cost of transmitting hazard information to users via Cell Broadcast is largest open question.
Funding and implementation
No funding was found in 2011 or 2012.
The organization Geoscientists Without Borders has been funding projects which are similar to the proposal, http://www.seg.org/web/foundation/programs/geoscientists-without-borders
The target of the pilot is to improve local R&D competence in Sri Lanka, but kicking off the project could require an investment that is difficult to find locally. National foreign aid organizations (Finland or Sweden) might be approached for projects of this type, especially if some of the testing can be done in Europe (enhancing local knowledge also).
Similar projects
Blitztortung, Ortega 2007, …Lots of small semi-official warning systems are known to exist, but limited info in public domain. Data transfer is almost always by fixed-line Internet, which can be unreliable especially in developing countries. Mobile wireless networks have better reliability (though not perfect).
Mäkelä, J. "Electromagnetic signatures of lightning near the HF frequency band", Finnish Meteorology Institute Contributions 80, 2009. https://oa.doria.fi/handle/10024/50383
Ortéga, P., Magnetic direction finder network for a local warning device, Journal of Lightning Research, Vol 2, 18-27, 2007.
Porjo, N., J. Mäkelä, Simulation of a narrow band HF lightning location system, International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP 2010), Cagliari, Italy, 2010
Our team is used to failure. We have looked rather heavily into some humanitarian technologies, and have not succeeded in making a living from them. It is a normal to hide such failures, but we feel that the spirit of Open Science calls for the opposite. Publishing one's failures allows others to avoid making the same mistakes; also, failure does not necessarily mean that the idea was bad. If one has dropped the project for good, and someone else can find something useful in the wreckage, why not publish?
We hope to make this attitude more popular, and are practicing it ourselves. Perhaps this will inspire others to publish similar failures (maybe even here on the Troglodyte site). Publishing can also act as a form of "antipatenting"; when the ideas are published openly, it is more difficult for others to raise the costs by patenting the ideas.
[By Niko Porjo and Jakke Mäkelä]
We were earlier involved in one big catastrophe communications project (see The SMOS project). That project was possibly doomed from the start, but we published everything we learned. We are now adding another project to the list: SriNet. The concept (first proposed in in 2011) is an ultra-low-cost lightning detection system, usable in developing countries. We chose Sri Lanka as a possible place to test the system due to practical reasons and existing collaborations.
The concept is based on ideas and technologies that we were familiar with from our work; in fact, we have published the key ideas in peer-reviewed journals. We looked seriously into making this a commercial project, but have come to the conclusion that we would just starve.
The document below is mostly in the form we left it in 2011. We have done some fiddling, added information on AS3935 etc. It is in draft form, as we do not feel like wasting our time on prettifying it after making a no-go decision. Technically oriented people will understand what we are saying. For readability, we have split the document into two parts; the technical document here, and a commercial document to be published later.
The various entities mentioned here (University of Uppsala, University of Colombo, and Finnish Meteorological Institute) were approached unofficially, but have not formally commented on the idea.
Since 2011 mobile devices with all sorts of apps and versatile wireless data transfer capabilities have become even more ubiquitous and cheaper. This might change the technical approach a little, for example using a stock Android phone with a Rasberry pi attached to a GPS clock source and a small custom board for the AS3935 would likely be fairly cheap and easy to source. In addition or in place of the SMS approach a freely available app might be the way to go.
Niko Porjo, Jakke Mäkelä
First proposed July 2011 (revised January 2013)
A loose consortium between for example the University of Colombo, University of Uppsala, Finnish Meteorological Institute, and the proposers could contain all the competence that is needed to implement the project. As of 2012, a new lightning detection chip AS3935 is available from Austriamicrosystems which could form the detector part in the first generation. Thus, the hardware design would be particularly simple now (http://www.ams.com/eng/Lightning-Sensor/AS3935)
Possible participants (proposal)
Create an ultra-low-cost lightning detection and warning system for developing countries.
Pilot project could be run e.g. in Sri Lanka.Technology tests need to be done in a country with accurate lightning location reference data (USA or Europe)
Technology exists (and multiple technologies possible), missing is a low-cost system to bring the data together and disseminate it to end users. Specifically, low-cost real-time systems are missing.
Focus is on extreme simplicity, capability to withstand power cuts, quick response times.
Modular and technology-agnostic (no technology lock-in). Only requirement is that each station be able to provide a distance estimate when a flash is detected.
Open-source project, with possibility to incorporate better techniques as technology improves.
Simplest detectors can be built based on public-domain information. Local Sri Lankan R&D can be used to design and build the sensors.
In the somewhat harsh conditions, it is realistic to assume that some of the measuring sensors will be malfunctioning or offline at any given time. Network algorithm must be made flexible to account for this.
Proposal for demonstrator
Build network that covers the western coastal region of Sri Lanka.
Build detection network on principles described in Porjo & Mäkelä 2010. As of 2013, the AS3935 chip from Austriamicrosystems (about 4 USD) is available as a front-end. This information is in the public domain. Simple detectors are also well-known and in the public domain. Some original design work may be needed, but could be done at University of Colombo (academic work).
Sensors by default transmit flash information via mobile phone link (SMS or GPRS). Landlines (Internet access) can be used if available, but they can be expected to be more vulnerable to errors than wireless especially when storms are nearby.
Flash-by-flash locations are not attempted, only storm risk zones (Mäkelä 2009). Intra-cloud flashes are difficult to range in any case, and from the viewpoint of security, the most important parameter are the boundaries of the active storm cells.
Central computer identifies storm risk areas. Sri Lankan Met Institute? Must plan system with high redundancy from the very beginning (at least two computers running separately) because probability of failure is highest exactly when the storms are strongest. The duplicate(s) can also be used to beta test networks whenever stations change.
Mobile base stations within the risk areas send warning SMS to participating cell phones. GSM standard allows this since a cell broadcast recommendation exists . But this is potentially difficult issue as requires operator cooperation, as well existence of the GSM network which may be unreliable. Negotiation with operators is needed, and in particular operator lock-in must be avoided (in which an operator can define his own price at will). Note that in principle it is NOT necessary to alert 100% of the people in the area, as it can be expected that people will alert each other. However, 100% should be a target.
Since ranging accuracy drops radically after 20 km, stations cannot be separated by much more than this. For redundancy reasons, stations every 10 km might be better. In case of Sri Lanka, region of main interest is the coastal strip, thus the network could consist of approx three rows of sensors separated by ~20 km, sensors every 10 km or so. To protect 200 km strip of coast, need minimum 3×20=60 sensors.
Data transfer needs
Data transfer needs to be divided among multiple operators to avoid collapse if one operator's SMS center crashes. Ideally each sensor would have at least two SIM's (dual-SIM technology already exists) in case one crashes.
Data transfer from sensors is to be by SMS or GPRS. Since locations of stations is known, only need per flash time (to 1-sec GPS accuracy) and intensity (8 bits would be sufficient if calibration is OK). Since we want to allow possibility of direction-finding at least in the future, 8 bits allows 1.4% angular resolution. Time can highly compressed if for example nearest hour is assumed to be known, in which case 12 bits is enough to code nearest second. Some kind of reliability value of a few bits would also be useful. → Each flash could be coded in 32 bits.
SMS spec has 1120 bits per message (160 7-bit characters as in SMS, equivalent to 140 8-bit characters as in Twitter). Thus up to 35 flashes could be coded in a single SMS. Since flash rates are essentially never 30 flashes/minute (in extreme cases ground flashes up to 4-6 flashes/min, cloud flashes theoretically 10 times higher). Sending SMS once per minute would be sufficient even in case of an extreme storm.
[Business aspects: separate posting to be published later]
Mäkelä, J. "Electromagnetic signatures of lightning near the HF frequency band", Finnish Meteorology Institute Contributions 80, 2009. https://oa.doria.fi/handle/10024/50383
Ortéga, P., Magnetic direction finder network for a local warning device, Journal of Lightning Research, Vol 2, 18-27, 2007.
Porjo, N., J. Mäkelä, Simulation of a narrow band HF lightning location system, International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP 2010), Cagliari, Italy, 2010
I have been looking at the African patent system in general (see African patent system), and the South African system in particular (see South Africa, Part 1). In the previous posting, I came to the tentative conclusions that, based on statistics alone, South Africa might be in a reasonably good place when it comes to IPR. However, it is necessary to go into more detail.
Can the WIPO page give any additional information?
The WIPO statistics page for South Africa has very limited information, but some intuition is possible. The main fields of technology are listed. The four largest groups are civil engineering, materials/metallurgy, chemical engineering, and basic materials chemistry, accounting for over 25% of patents filed in 1996-2010. The categories of handling and "other special machines" account for a further 10%.
Since mining is a crucial part of South Africa's economy (6% of GDP but 60% of exports), it is a fair bet that most of the IPR in those categories is related to mining in some way or another.
The only additional piece of useful information in the WIPO statistics is the top ten list of largest domestic PCT (international) applicants in 2012. These are essentially the companies that are aiming to grow internationally. The ten companies filed a total of 75 patents. There is quite a bit of diversity in them
The largest individual patent filer (13) was the South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI). Two companies related to mining (Element 6 and Detnet) filed a total of 16 applications. Discovery Holdings, with 6 patents, has filed a portfolio of business software patents in the USA. Sasol Technology (5 applications) is in the petrochemical industry. Most of the other large filers are universities.
Although this is nothing more than an impressionistic view, it does suggest that South Africa is not being dominated by foreign interests to the same extent that other African countries might be.
What does the CIPRO look like in reality?
Intellectual property in South Africa is handled by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPRO, Web page). The CIPRO page on patents does not on the face of it contain anything that would differ significantly from the European system. However, reading in depth, the reality does not look quite so good. Although the CIPRO is a serious and professional organization, there are severe limitations to what it can do.
The CIPRO Registration page contains more information on the process. In this particular case, the Wikipedia page on the South African patent system seems to summarize the process quite well:
"The responsibility for ensuring that the application is valid resides with the applicant. South Africa is a non-examining country. This means that CIPRO does not investigate the novelty or inventive merit of the invention – only the form or documentation is verified and not the substance of the product or process. For peace of mind, the inventor can make use of the services of a qualified patent attorney to investigate the existence of previous patent specifications that relate to the relevant invention. This procedure, although expensive, may negate possible future litigation procedures and unnecessary financial expenses. It is crucial that an international patent search should be conducted, especially if an inventor wants to commercialise a product or process in foreign countries. The same applies for a patentee, who wants to commercialise an invention and who does not want to infringe someone else's patent. A search should then be conducted at the South African Patent Office. No online search facilities exist for South African Patents and all searches are carried out by hand at the Patent Office through a card based system, however, electronic patent searches may be performed on a contract basis on proprietary systems such as the Electronic Patent Journal (EPJ)."
In effect this means that any patent will be granted in South Africa if it is applied for. There are some specific rules for inventiveness, but those do not significantly differ from other countries' rules. Since no prior art search is made, in practice the patent is granted as long as it is formally correct. Everything is done on paper (there is no electronic system).
One can only assume that the actual validity of the patent will then only be contestable in court. The risks of this system should be obvious. In the worst case, any foreign company can file whatever they want, and it will be granted. If there is a conflict with a smaller local company, the foreigners can bring in their lawyers.
Is the reality this bad? That starts to veer into journalism, and I do not know if I have resources to find out. Speaking from general life experience though: it's likely to be ugly.
"So far Plumpy'Nut is just about the only major case of humanitarian IPR abuse that we have run across. Is it because nothing big has happened, or because no one has noticed? There might well be room for an "investigative journalism" project in this area."
Troglodyte has now been operating as a separate site for some months, but groundwork has been done for many months more (even years). Based on that experience, here's how I currently see the IPR world. Others in the team may or may not agree (we exercise full autonomy).
Antipatents. It may be realistic to accept that antipatents are a unique concept, but the patent troll insanity in the USA has in no longer under control. According to a Reuters interview with Colleen Chien, trolls are now filing the majority (61%) of lawsuits in the US, and the number is growing (though a followup analysis in growthology.org suggests that the explosion is partly due to rule changes). The growth is huge, and patent applications are becoming more and more ridiculous (see The Halliburton Insanity). We haven't completely closed the antipatent possibility yet, but the Appendix describes alternatives that might work better.
The United States of America. To be nasty: The US patent system is a toxic waste problem, and it will severely hinder Americans. But that is not our problem. There are strong attempts to harmonize patent systems around the world (TRIPS, ACTA, WIPO); while these are not "evil" as such, they should be monitored very closely. The rest of the world should focus on avoiding leakage of the US toxic waste.
Using patent texts as information sources. We looked at Google's patent portfolio on driverless cars. The focus was on looking at the text parts rather than the claims, to get an idea of where Google might be seeing the future.
The expectation was low, since the technical parts of patents are nowadays almost completely divorced from the claims (which are what is used in court). Patents up to the 1990's tend to contain significant amounts of information about what was actually invented, whereas patents from 2000 onwards are mostly gibberish. Nevertheless, the results were promising. It is possible to get some inkling of what Google is thinking, more than from the scientific or PR-type material they are publishing. This may well be worth be doing, at least in clearly defined areas.
Developing countries and IPR. The role of IPR in developing countries is hotly contested, but not really very widely known outside small circles. There are aspects of developing-country IPR which are so well known and covered that there is little or nothing we can add. For example, the pharmaceutical battles over generic HIV/AIDS medicines seem to be ending up in favor of those developing countries which are strong enough to stand up against the West. (There are many examples to quite, but for example Médecins Sans Frontières has an anti-patent program Barriers to Access which is aimed at getting lower-cost HIV drugs to people in developing countries). However, some very specific focus areas might be interesting.
Low-tech environmental IPR. There is also a slowly growing controversy over cleantech related to climate change (see GreenPatentBlog). We expect this controversy to become mainstream quite quickly in the same way as pharmaceuticals have, since so much money is at stake also in the West. However, at the low end we have seen remarkably little understanding or analysis of IPR issues. We have looked at biochar (Part 1, Part 2), and determined that even though there is moderate patenting activity going on in the area, it does not seem worrisome.
Humanitarian IPR. What we do not expect to see in the mainstream are IPR issues related to the poorest of the poor (see Africa, Humanitarian page). The Plumpy'Nut case (which we analyzed in depth here), in which a patent has been used to complicate famine relief, is an extreme case and did receive publicity.
However, so far Plumpy'Nut is just about the only major case of humanitarian IPR abuse that we have run across. Is it because nothing big has happened, or because no one has noticed? There might well be room for an "investigative journalism" project in this area. Not journalism in the traditional sense, as that is a professional activity requiring a professional budget. But a group of technical experts trawling through material on the Internet can dig up a surprising amount of information.
Catastrophe IPR. As a legacy from an older (now defunct) project called the SMOS project, we maintain an interest in the way IPR could be used to help/hinder actions in catastrophes. This overlaps largely with the Humanitarian part, but acute needs (such as communications) could be separated from more long-term needs. Ideas like the Humanitarian Patent Pool could work better if focused on very specific technologies and usages.
The project may need some fresh blood. The work has been collaborative and thus not impossible for any individual member, but nevertheless the project is large and ambitious.
In particular, if we do make a clear decision to focus on developing countries, we will need to find collaborators who have hands-on experience in those areas.
There are existing projects which have a much narrower scope but a much higher probability of achieving something within their scope. If anyone is interested in trying to work within the US system, these are the places where they should donate their efforts. New crowd-sourced projects seem to be cropping up regularly also.
Open Invention Network (http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/). "An intellectual property company that was formed to promote the Linux system by using patents to create a collaborative ecosystem." The OIN seems to be developing nicely, and has several subprojects, including Linux Defenders and Defensive publications. The OIN at the moment focuses on (open-source) software only, and is closely tied in with the proprietary prior art database of IP.com (http://priorartdatabase.com/). However, they could relatively easily expand the work to hardware if they so choose.
Ask Patents (http://patents.stackexchange.com/) is a collaboration between Stack Exchange, the USPTO, and Google Patent Search. The "primary purpose is to help individuals: 1. Solicit help finding prior art that might apply to a patent or application. 2. Get answers to hard questions about specific patent. 3. Ask questions about the US patent system or process." A Stack Exchange type of interface is not necessarily going to provide any long-term solutions, but it is an excellent tool for solving individual problems as they arise.
Project IV thicket was a valiant effort to try to identify the various shell companies of Intellectual Ventures; it has tried to get funding via indiegogo, but did not succeed at least on the first try (http://www.indiegogo.com/iv-thicket). Crowd-sourcing possibilities almost guarantee that projects of this type will be attempted in the future.
We have started a new category, Catastrophe IPR. We believe that IPR related to catastrophes is in a separate class of its own, even though closely related to Humanitarian IPR. There is so far one major entry in the category: Project SMOS. The project material was originally hosted on http://www.zygomatica.com/smos/
The SMOS project was an off-time activity in 2011-2012 which involved Timo Tokkonen, Jakke Mäkelä, Niko Porjo, and Kalle Pietilä. We proposed a solution for catastrophe communications in which cellular base stations would be miniaturized enough to be airdropped into disaster zones. We felt that this might be possible if all functionality except SMS was stripped from the base stations (hence SMOS, SMS Our Souls).
In a commercial sense, the project failed; in a learning sense, it was a success. We have released all the material under a CC-BY license, to benefit anyone who might be able to take ideas from the project forward. See the Project SMOS page for a more in-depth introduction to the project.
April 25, 2012. Saving lives or making money. A broad outline of how the project started, progressed, and what was learned about humanitarianism and startups. "A bad analogy could be borrowed where a man is on a burning platform and is given a lollipop to aid his situation before jumping. This results in a sea filled with startups holding their lollipops."
April 25, 2012. The SMOS project. A concise summary of the project. "We are releasing the relevant material under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY), which means that others may use the findings freely (including commercial use)."
May 2, 2012. The Kiss of Death of IPR. What happens when humanitarian crisis communications collide with patents. Nasty things happen. "It would take a major player 15 minutes to dig up enough patents from its patent thicket to make our life impossible. Whether those patents are relevant is completely irrelevant. The threat is enough."
May 4, 2012. The Kiss of Death of IPR–another view. A response to the above. "Do we need a common database of free ideas that are exempt from official patents that may be used for humanitarian purposes and collectively against patent trolls?"
May 8, 2012. "Humanitarian Patent Pool". Some numbers and practical estimates on whether a database like the above could be formed realistically. More work needed.


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When stars lost their virginity
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Celebs' 'Twitpics'
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subset: commoncrawl


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Krueger as CEA Chief May Improve Data Collection
There are lots of reasons lots of economists like Alan Krueger, President Barack Obama's pick to head the White House's Council of Economic Advisers. But here's another selling point for the economy wonks: Krueger might improve the data collection.
At heart, Krueger's peers see him as an empiricist who values data-driven analysis and doesn't shy away from creating systems to find the data he needs. Krueger was the founding director of Princeton University's Survey Research Center and has spent time looking at measures of happiness and using time-use surveys to evaluate how unemployed Americans spend their days.
"When he asserts something, it's not his opinion, it's the result of the most careful and rigorous statistical work out there," said Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and a former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.
Some hope that commitment to collecting better data will come into play if Krueger gains Senate confirmation and joins CEA.
"One of the really nice things about having Alan there is it will hopefully improve our infrastructure," for measurement, said Lawrence Katz, a Harvard University economist.


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Daath has just added a show at the White Rabbit in San Antonio with Silent Civilian for TONIGHT, December 17!!! Show starts at 7pm, is all ages and costs $10.
This is a special last minute show, so make sure you San Antonians put in some extra effort to get downright crazy at the White Rabbit at 7pm TONIGHT.
We've got many great photos taken from Daath's rececnt promo shoot for their upcoming album, The Hinderers. You can see them all on their PHOTO page


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Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this episode of the Bears Cast, Kyle, Pat and Chris recap a close victory over the Panthers. What could the Bears have done differently early in the game to prevent such a slow offensive start? Could Tim Jennings win defensive player of the year? Later in the show, the guys get over themselves and give you some picks for Monday Night Football.
Follow on Twitter @Bears_Cast


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You won't be able to dismiss this by usual means (escape or click button), but you can close it programatically based on user choices or actions.
"I ordered these on begonia paper with yellow lettering. I had a special request with one of the words , and Wedding Paper Divas were happy to speak with me about it several times and print per my request. These announcements are very pretty, and the paper quality is much better than I expected!"
"This card was easy to put together on the website. The only thing I suggest is that they display the desired custom color on the template. Its hard to tell if the font size and color will work on the custom card color if you can't see it first. Other than that... This card is BEAUTIFUL!!! The quality of the standard paper is very nice. The pictures are clear and sharp. The fonts and colors are many. I used it as a wedding reception invitation. I chose the option on the back for 'text/caption' and it worked great! Their customer service when I had a slight issue was quick and resolved fairly. Comments I'm hearing: "Beautiful invitation", "very nicely done", "lovely". And everyone asks where I got them. I will use Wedding Paper Divas for all the parties and showers I have scheduled to coordinate."
"This was the perfect announcement I was looking for! Simple with space for pictures to share with our family and friends who were not at the wedding. I had a completely different experience from the other review for this product. My photos printed beautifully on good quality paper! The colors look exactly the same as the pictures I used - not dull. Everything was reviewed and shipped within 48 hours, I was able to track the shipment, and it arrived 3 days ahead of the delivery date quoted when I submitted the order."
"Simply perfect! This announcement is versatile and leaves no room for confusion.-Clear , easy to read and to the point. I love it!"
"Liked this card, good quality paper, envelope glue didnt stick too well, lost one announcement during the mailing. Was really pleased with how easy it was to order, and how quickly item came. I would order from this company again."


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Product details
ELpF from Elliot Scientific offers versatile portable vibration isolation Sep 18, 2009
Company details
Elliot Scientific Ltd.
3 Allied Business Centre
Coldharbour Lane
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1582 766300
Fax: +44 (0)1582 766340
Elliot Scientific now offer an exciting new benchtop portable vibration isolation system to labs in the UK & Eire that can be easily moved with a floating load without harm to itself.
The Ergonomic Low-Profile-Format (ELpF) platform is an economical alternative to heavy static tables. It offers vibration isolation of sensitive devices such as atomic force microscopes, balances, profilometers and other T&M equipment. It is ideal for use in labs and Class 100 cleanrooms.
With a footprint of 0.2 sq.m, the 75mm high 18kg platform is easily portable by its ergonomic handles. A choice of two models can support loads of 45 or 136 kg on self-levelling platforms with active-air systems. Isolation efficiencies of 95% vertical and 92% horizontal at 10Hz are typical.
The top, which can be ordered with or without mounting holes, can be aluminium plate, ferromagnetic stainless steel, plastic or anti-static laminate. Other tabletop sizes can be built to customer specifications.
More products from this company
- Diode lasers for the more demanding application Dec 3, 2013
- 508 PV™ adds UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometry and imaging to legacy microscopes Oct 4, 2013
- HOLOEYE Spatial Light Modulator Range Revamped – New models introduced Jun 10, 2013
- Ultrafine Adjuster Screw Sets by Kozak Micro available from Elliot Scientific Jun 10, 2013
- Photodigm High Power Single Spatial & Longitudinal Mode Monolithic Laser Diodes Jun 10, 2013
- IPG Photonics revise Fibre Laser and Amplifier ranges Jan 30, 2013
- Ultra-high resolution Raman microspectroscopy from CRAIC Jan 30, 2013
- Lake Shore CRX-VF Cryogenic Probe Station Upgraded Jan 30, 2013
- Nanopositioning Focusing Elements from Mad City Labs Jan 30, 2013
- Honeywell Sperian Laser Barrier System for Optical Tables Jan 30, 2013


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Rose-Hulman will proudly welcome the graduating Class of 2016 on Saturday, May 28 in the Fieldhouse of the Sports and Recreation Center. What an exciting time for graduates, as well as family and friends! We've provided information for each type of audience below.
Students participating in commencement are expected to wear proper academic attire. You may order caps, gowns, diploma frames, announcements and other graduation merchandise during the Graduation Fair in April. If you miss the fair, you may order items through the bookstore. Please specify your height, weight and level of degree (MS or BS) when you place your order.
Please note the commencement schedule of events:
You will get your seating lineup and instructions during rehearsal. Bring your cap and gown for the senior class picture. The Senior Send-Off, sponsored by the Office of Alumni Affairs, will immediately follow rehearsal.
The Senior Celebration Reception is for both graduates and their parents and is hosted by the Office of Alumni Affairs. Registration for this event will open in April and graduates will receive registration information once it is available.
The following traffic/parking changes will take place Saturday, May 28 for Commencement.
8:00 a.m. No parking will be allowed in the fire lane adjacent to BSB Hall from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Students who live in BSB Hall should plan accordingly as no loading of vehicles can be allowed adjacent to the building. This does not prevent individuals from loading their vehicles while parked in the large lots. We must keep this area completely clear of vehicles in preparation for the commencement procession lineup.
10:00 a.m. The main entrance, the roadway leading to Hatfield Hall, and the roadway directly south of Olin Hall will completely close to ALL traffic. We close the south portion of campus to ensure the safety of all campus community members involved in the procession. You can still enter and exit the campus by using the Circle K gas station entrance, the Moench/Myers parking lot, and the roadway north of Crapo/Logan.
10:30 a.m. At, or slightly before, all campus roadways will be closed to traffic until the commencement procession enters the SRC. The only exception will be the Circle K entrance and the Moench/Myers parking lot.
11:00 a.m. Approximately…. All campus roadways will open and traffic flow will return to normal.
PARKING: The Sports and Recreation Center west parking lot will be the designated handicap parking area. Approximately 90 spaces will be reserved for this purpose. As noted above, be aware that all roadways will close at 10:30 a.m. and at that point the handicap reserve area will no longer be available.
Please be our guest at the Senior Celebration Reception the day before commencement. Then let commencement, well, commence! Here are some helpful tips for your celebration.


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Welcome to the Quilting Board!
This section is for pictures of quilts, patterns, sewing rooms or anything else related to quilting.
Members' photos of their quilting spaces. Share your ideas or ask advice about making the most of your space, work surfaces, and storage units.
Come into my sewing/quilting...
Today, 03:35 PM


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Interested in free Spanish or English online training?
As per my last but one post, I've been quiet on these pages for a reason: I'm currently working on a language-learning project, the draft page of which can be found over at www.speak-ok.com. I've finally got fibre broadband installed – after a fifteen-month wait which involved several disappointing, not to say irritating, delays as local gasworks (so people have whispered) kept on slicing up newly-laid fibre.
I'm now looking for false beginners, pre-intermediate students and upwards who are interested in improving their ability to speak. I'm currently using Skype in Premium mode and testing a far more complex system, Adobe Connect. If any of you have had experiences in either of these two systems of video-conferencing – or, indeed, know any other systems you might want to point me in the direction of – please do get in touch.
So if you're interested in a couple of classes – or know someone who might be and who might, at the same time, be good at providing technical feedback on systems such as these – please do point them in the direction of my contact page.
<ducks as flood of emails hits the virtual mat>
<or not, as the case may be …>


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Liberty Media Spinning Off Starz to Go After Satellites
John Malone and Liberty Media are mobilizing cash for the takeover attempt of the rest of Sirius XM Radio.
The media giant is spinning out its Starz premium-cable channel as way to bring in cash for its satellite radio hopes.
Liberty's CEO Greg Maffei says the move will "permit us to better pursue our strategic objectives, including creating two currencies that could be used for acquisitions; and create significant liquidity at Liberty Media, which preserves all our options with respect to SiriusXM and Live Nation."
The mechanism will be a dividend of shares of the new company paid to holders of Liberty. Starz will hold $1.5 billion in debt and an undetermined amount of cash, as well as the assets of the cable network.
It is the latest move by Liberty, controlled by the billionaire Malone, who has a history of maneuvering around his media assets and has been public in his quest to land the rest of Sirius he doesn't control.
From Dow Jones colleagues William Launder and Saabira Chaudhuri:
In the past few months, Sirius and Liberty have battled publicly over which company should control the satellite radio company.
Liberty gave Sirius a lifeline in early 2009 with several hundred million dollars in loans; in exchange, Liberty got preferred shares equivalent to a 40% stake in the company. Liberty has since increased the stake to more than 46% and asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to exercise effective control. Sirius has opposed the FCC application, arguing Liberty hasn't taken concrete steps to get control.
The split will also set up Liberty to further pursue its ownership in concert-promotion giant Live Nation Entertainment Inc., in which it currently owns a 26% stake.
Not that more cash will necessarily make Malone's quest any easier. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin has been steadfast in his rejection of Malone's approaches.


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Galapagos IslandsMalc
30/03/2002, Wreck Bay
Towed S/V Meriva for 25 hours as they had engine problems.
They lacked the wind to sail, also there was a very strong current that wasn,t helping their cause.
We arrived into a very crowed anchorage of Wreck Bay, got Meriva anchored, then looked after ourselves.
| | More


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- Differential Diagnosis
- Diseases
- Drugs
- More
- Try building your search one term at a time, and be as specific as you can! Search term example: "chronic cough".
- Do not enter multiple findings such as "anemia, chronic cough, weight loss, vomiting" all at the same time.
- After selecting your term from the search results a list of possible diagnoses will be generated. If the list is too long, you will be able to narrow it down by entering additional terms.
- Do not enter values such as "heart rhythm 110" or "sodium 125", instead use "tachycardia" or "hyponatremia".
Sign-in (or register) to check out the new features we've just launched!
Differential Diagnosis For Xanthalasma
Available only to registered users.
- Suggest
- 5 possible diagnoses found
- Allergic, Collagen, Auto-Immune Disorders
- Cirrhosis, Primary Biliary
- Metabolic, Storage Disorders
- Diabetes mellitus
- Hypercholesterolemia
- Hypertriglyceridemia
- Arteriosclerotic, Vascular, Venous Disorders
- Arteriosclerosis/Atherosclerosis
- Definition
- Be the first to add a definition for Xanthalasma
- External Links Related to Xanthalasma
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- Medscape (eMedicine)
- Harrison's Online (accessmedicine)
- NEJM (The New England Journal of Medicine)


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Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.
Hirst earns prestigious stats award
April 29, 2008
St. Olaf student Brianna Hirst '08 is one of two students in the nation to receive this year's prestigious Gertrude M. Cox Award from the American Statistical Association .
|Last fall St. Olaf student Brianna Hirst '08 had the unique experience of traveling to Switzerland to help present the results of a research project on foodborne disease to a World Health Organization research group.
"Gertrude Cox is a role model for any woman in science," says Hirst. "She was active in promoting scientific education and in establishing statistical programs for all people." Although participation by women in the sciences has increased since Cox's time, explains Hirst, men still dominate the statistics field.
In the fall Hirst plans to enter a Ph.D. program in statistics at the University of California-Berkeley (where Cox also studied for a time). Four out of the 15 accepted applicants in Hirst's program are women.


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Hi all,
I'm a 30 somethin' male riding in sunny San Diego who just found out how awesome road cycling really is. Still coming to grips with the joys of riding by the seaside after committing to a new road bike just recently. The sound of the breeze and the sights of the ocean without the engine noise is just about the best means of recharging!
These days I spend most of my time tinkering around with the bike trying to figure out how everything fits and works. Hope it will help getting to know my machine better.
Looking forward to meeting as many folks as possible in these forums.


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: [Discussion]
Thoughts on a Community Project?
View Single Post
January 17th, 2013 (4:19 PM).
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Join Date: Apr 2012
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Nature: Lax
Posts: 308
It really sounds like a fun little thing we can get into. And because of the amount of people this board REALLY has and the creativity of some who never got into game developing, we can really steamroll through this kind of project!
If your planning to attempt this, I suggest you begin as soon as possible. Every time a new Pokemon game comes out, this place gets kinda deserted...
I'll support this
View Public Profile
Send a private message to Sunfished
Find all posts by Sunfished
Find threads started by Sunfished


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Hi Rambles of a SAHM readers! It's Laura from Food Snob St. Louis again. I hope everyone had a great holiday season.
We are officially back on track with Tasty Tuesdays posts, and I'm thrilled to share this pancake recipe with you guys! I made these Lemon Curd and Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes for brunch on New Year's Day, but they would be great on any morning or even for dinner sometime.
Even if you don't normally like lemon dishes, you should give these lemon curd cornmeal pancakes a try. The Meyer Lemons give a subtle, sweet lemon flavor that isn't overpowering. Corn meal adds a rustic quality with a little bit thicker consistency.
Head on over to Food Snob St. Louis to get the full recipe!


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Dr. Richard Ellenbogen discusses a surgery to help children suffering from a rare brain condition called MoyaMoya.
For more information, visit: http://www.seattlechildrens.org/clinics-programs/neurosurgery/
Heroes Big and Small: Antonia's Brain Surgery
Watch this nine-minute video about Antonia's brain surgery performed by Dr. Jeffrey G. Ojemann at Children's.
Find out by selecting your child's symptom or health condition in the list below:


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Hi all, I was just wondering if there is any sites out there besides photobucket.com where I can upload my screenshots to and make links for a.net? I tried to upload to photobucket but it takes forever and its incomplete.
Please check your spelling (press "Check Spelling" above)
©Copyright 2016 Demand Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved


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Whether you are interested in our programs for mental or physical well being, ShoDan Karate offers a number of programs that will fit your developmental needs and your busy schedule as well.
NO cartwheels or vertical kicks over your head here! Just 100% REAL Okinawan Karate. We all know that real Karate teaches self-defense, but were you aware that it is also a lifelong learning opportunity that offers the additional benefits of improving your overall health, offering insight into Okinawan culture and history, providing a safe environment to make lifelong friends, and even more that we haven't mentioned. You can even put your accomplishments in Karate on your resume to give yourself an extra edge in a competitive job market. Try it out for FREE! You WILL NOT be disappointed.
ShoDan Karate can offer you everything you have wanted for your child, and MORE! For our low and ALL INCLUSIVE price of just $30 per week we will work with your child to improve their grades, physical fitness, respect, discipline, confidence and more, all while providing them with first class training in traditional Okinawa Karate.Our highly trained staff and small class sizes set us apart from the competition. With classes limited to just 8 students, we can give your child more of the 1 on 1 attention that they deserve. Don't let your child be just another number, come to ShoDan Karate and let us show you the ShoDan Difference!
ShoDan Karate promotes an atmosphere of friendship and learning with an emphasis on TRADITIONAL Karate. Most tournaments that martial arts students can participate in are for Hollywood style "flash" karate that looks fancy but is, from a practical standpoint, useless. We DO NOT teach this at ShoDan Karate and so there is only one tournament that our youth students participate in, the Annual St. Patrick's Day Classic in South Kingstown RI. This is an invitational tournament where many of the dojo owners know each other and the competitors must perform traditional karate. Sportsmanship and friendship are a must and every competitor can leave with the feeling that it was a good experience.
We don't believe that the spirit of Karate should be left to classes and training only. With that in mind ShoDan Karate offers a number of special events throughout the year to promote friendship, cooperation and learning between all of our youth, adults, and family members. We host, annually, a summer picnic, a Halloween party and sleepover, and a laser tag trip. There are also special trainings with other Beikoku Shido-kan Association dojo's, many of which include training with Sensei Sekichi Iha, our Grand Master.


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Last edited by firestrike; 08-07-2012 at 17:05.
This is honestly the best case of bullying I've seen in some time. Remember that Iran offered a deal to stop its nuclear development entirely, in exchange for France and Germany converting its uranium for fuel rods first, and cooperation and security in the region secondarily.
This cooperation and security would mean the US has no chance of taking Iranian oil, instead they would be forced to play nice.
The US of course, rejected it. Europe would have went with it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...ica-investmentOn Wednesday, in a veiled criticism of China's role in Africa, Clinton told a university audience in Senegal that African leaders should embrace democracy and partnerships with responsible foreign powers as a means of improving their living standards and addressing the root causes of extremism on the continent.
Though she did not mention China by name, it's clear that Africans are being asked to ponder their relationship with China.
"Whether Clinton was ignorant of the facts on the ground or chose to disregard them, her implication that China has been extracting Africa's wealth for itself is utterly wide of the truth," Xinhua said.
But to be fair to her, since Hillary Clinton urged Africans to embrace partnership with a responsible foreign power and one that does not exploit countries, she obviously did NOT refer to the US as the ideal partner....US and "responsible in world policy", the ultimate oxymoron!!!
"Let us control the money of a nation, and we care not who makes its laws" Mayer Amschel "Rothschild"
America doesn't want Iran to have a Nuke because we can't invade them when they finally start producing them.
Pretty simple.
Iran would use a nuclear bomb on Israel so it would necessarily spread a nuclear fallout to the local Palestinians and on its allies Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon and on Gaza?
Who suggests this, John Confused McCain or Homer Simpson pointing fingers on an upside world globe?
"Let us control the money of a nation, and we care not who makes its laws" Mayer Amschel "Rothschild"
What lobbies facilitate France/England and then Russia and USA entering war?
True "death for oil".
China is not that active because its depend of foreign trade and it is not on same level as USA and Russia but without doubt its an aggressive and arrogant militaristic country and it use military power whenever it can.
This is the biggest problem with fanatics who rule Iran. They are "above" logic. One thing is Russian communist who did not rush to die gloriously and other with crazy mullah
Middle East wise,it will lead into a huge Nuclear arms race where most neighboring countries will also want Nuclear Weapons, and from there I really don't wanna think whats going to happen.
In other news. Here are some quotes from the love culture of Zionism.
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
"[The Palestinians] are beasts walking on two legs."
Theodore Herzl, founder of the World Zionist Organization, speaking of the Arabs of Palestine, "Complete Diaries," June 12, 1895 entry.
"Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment... Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly."Moshe Dayan, address to the Technion, Haifa, reported in Haaretz, April 4, 1969:
"We walked outside, Ben-Gurion accompanying us. Allon repeated his question, 'What is to be done with the Palestinian population?' Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture which said 'Drive them out!'"Rabbi and author Yitzhak Ginsburg
"The killing by a Jew of a non-Jew, i.e. a Palestinian, is considered essentially a good deed, and Jews should therefore have no compunction about it."Menahim Begin, speech to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, 'Begin and the "Beasts"', New Statesman, 25 June 1982:
"We must do everything to ensure they [the Palestinian refugees] never do return."David Goldman wrote:
"We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel... Force is all they do or ever will understand. We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours."
Last edited by Bissen; 08-08-2012 at 15:21.
I think the current tactic of pushing for war, arms buildup around Iran, bases around Iran, sanctions, pushing for control in neighbouring countries will be the trigger to push their backs against the wall.
But, the US and friends already know that.


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Live Interview With Rob Hampton Today at NoonBrett Singer
Final reminder of the day – listen to Babble Talk Radio today at 12pm EST / 9am PST.
That's probably in a couple of minutes. Or even… RIGHT NOW!
My guest this week is Rob Hampton of Heartwood Guitar Instruction, the man who taught Wesley, aka The Five Year Old Who Sings Folsom Prison Blues.
I'll ask Rob about Wesley, whether or not his parents had a problem with their little boy singing "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die", and what he thinks is the best way to get kids interested in playing music.
I'll also take a moment to answer the question, "What would happen if Bruce Springsteen sang about parenting?" What am I talking about? Tune in to find out.
All this and more today, Friday August 7, at 12pm EST / 9am PST. To listen, visit the show page at BlogTalkRadio.com.


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SR&ED Consulting
Seeking someone to help you with the SR&ED program? Don't know where to start, who to call, or what company can provide the right service, support and expertise at the right price?
Let us help you find the right fit! We provide referrals to the top professional services organizations in Canada.
- Website:
- http://www.sredconsulting.ca
- Categories:
- SR&ED Consultants


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At a time when many insurance companies are looking to diversify and enter new markets to stimulate growth, Hartford Financial Services (NYSE:HIG) is looking to go in the other direction. Although exiting life insurance, retirement and annuities should both improve and stabilize returns over the long term, but it's likely going to take many years for the benefits to show up. While Hartford's current valuation seems to understate the core value in the business, investors could be looking at dead (or at least very sleepy) money for a while.
Investopedia Broker Guides: Enhance your trading with the tools from today's top online brokers.
Recent Results a Mixed Bag
Hartford's first quarter results highlight some of the challenges in the business right now. Reported per-share operating earnings up were up 11%, but deferred acquisition cost (DAC) benefits helped.
Commercial P&C net written premiums were a little soft (up 3%), despite good pricing in "small commercial" and worker's comp. Group benefits were a drag, though, as premiums declined 7% and earnings dropped on higher losses. Consumer NWP was soft as the company walked away from some business. Life and retirement results looked solid, but those are the businesses that Hartford is looking to sell.
SEE: The Most Important Metrics For Earnings Season
Can Hartford Get Good Value in Its Conversion to P&C?
In deciding to get out of the life, retirement and annuity businesses, Hartford is going to be moving to something closer to a pure P&C insurance company. That's not a bad idea in and of itself - companies like Hartford and AXA (OTC:AXAHY) have seen a lot of unexpected volatility from annuity businesses and life insurance is increasingly a commoditized business with unimpressive return potential.
It'll be interesting to see if Hartford can get good value for these units. MetLife (NYSE:MET), Prudential (NYSE:PRU) and Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) would all be logical interested parties, but the relatively low valuation on those stocks increases the cost of capital for any prospective deal, and MetLife may have regulatory issues in launching a deal of that size (likely on the order of $2 billion).
It's also worth noting that the sale would not immediately improve results. Because of the company's need to deleverage the business and hedge the annuity run-off, returns on equity could easily stay in the high single digits for a while.
SEE: How Return On Equity Can Help You Find Profitable Stocks
A Change in Business Needs to Lead to a Change in Outlook
I also suspect that Hartford needs to change some of its operating philosophies with this restructuring effort. Hartford has built a good distribution system over the years, but I think the company sometimes puts a premium on market share. Hartford has been pretty aggressive in keeping its group benefits share, and that is likely part of the reason for the weaker results seen recently. Since disciplined underwriting is key to success in P&C, the company has to be more willing to walk away from business in the future if the pricing isn't right.
SEE: Great Expectations: Forecasting Sales Growth
The Bottom Line
There seems to be quite a bit of skepticism on this name right now, and that may be reasonable given the uncertainties over the timing of the restructuring efforts and the limited options for positive capital deployment. Said differently, Hartford is more likely to be playing defense than offense for the next couple of years and that leads to a less impressive book value growth outlook.
Still, if the company can deliver high single-digit returns on equity, then the shares are too cheap today. Investors are going to have to be patient to realize that value, though, and investors may have more compelling options for their money in the near term.
At the time of writing, Stephen D. Simpson did not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.


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אנחנו בפייסבוק
Eight civilians killed by rocket barrages Thursday afternoon in Akko, Ma'alot -Tarshiha
Hagai Einav
Published: 08.04.06, 00:34 / Israel News
Hagai Einav
Hardest day yet: The Zarivi family, from Akko, spent the past week staying in Hadera. A day after returning home, the father – Shimon, 44 – and daughter – Mazal (Mazi), 15, were killed. They went outside following the first barrage of rockets and were killed by the second barrage. West of Akko, three residents of Ma'alot Tarshiha - Muhammad Faour, 17, Sinati Sinati, 21, and Amir Naeem, 18 – tried to flee from a barrage of rockets, and failed.
Amir Naeem lived with his parents in a Bedouin neighborhood of Tarshiha. He leaves behind parents, eight brothers and six sisters. A family member described him as "an ambitious boy, with many friends. He took advantage of the summer to have fun, but the recent days had been hard."
"The limited number of shelters in Tarshiha makes it difficult to cope with the situation. Before, we didn't really pay attention to the sirens, but after the barrages of the past couple of days, everyone quickly looks for shelters and checks to make sure that their family members are ok. In the case of Amir and his friends, it didn't help. Their fate to die was sent from above," he added.
Head of the Ma'alot-Tarshiha municipality, Micah Maiki, stated that the three friends will have a joint funeral, the families having agreed to this. The funeral will be coordinated with police and military forces, out of fear of additional rocket fire on the area. "They were good friends in life and they will be together also in death," Maiki said.
Ahiya Raved contributed to the report


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Bankruptcy Law
Bankruptcy Law Questions? Ask a Bankruptcy Lawyer Now.
Hi JACustomer,
There are 2 types of business Bankruptcy - reorganization and liquidation. If you want to continue running the business, you would want to file the reorganization. With a reorganization, your creditors have to agree to a accept less than what is owed, and this amount is paid to them over a period of time (usually less than one year).
With a reorganization, you would be able to keep your company name and assets.
I think this is what you wanted to know. If not, please let me know.Thank you!
With a re-organization, you would make a proposal of an amount that you are willing and able to pay your creditors. The creditors - not the Bankruptcy court - are the ones who have to accept the proposed amount.
Whether and how much they will accept will very much depend on the total market value of the S-Corp's assets, because this is the amount they can get if there is no agreement.
DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.
The responses above are from individual Experts, not JustAnswer. The site and services are provided "as is". To view the verified credential of an Expert, click on the "Verified" symbol in the Expert's profile. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service (last updated February 8, 2012).


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I know there are some other questions about the same topic on the forum, but I have some other questions I coulnd't find on other posts.
In the future (and I hope it is soon), when I have some better mapping skills, I'll want to start taking some of the requests on the Mapmaking Request forum, specially aiming Paid request - again, considering I'll have enough skill for this mission -, and by what I have read on most requests people usually ask for a size so that they can print it on a A3 paper, or even on a Poster, and thats where I need some help of you.
When making maps for printing purposes it is needed 300 dpi or more right? What about the pixel size? What would be the better size(px)?
Also, lets say I draw a map by hand on a A4 paper, when I "photoscan" it my camera takes the picture with 72 dpi, editing the number by PS, from 72 to 300 dpi, brings any issues to the image(except for the size grow)? I mean, does the image loses any quality?
Also, a scanned A4 paper draw would look pixelated if printed on a A3 paper?
That is it for now. I'm sorry for the great amount of questions, and if any question got a little confused,


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Great pictures and an awesome story. Thanks for sharing
Cool story, great friends. Congrats on a great hunt you'll all remember for the rest of your lives. I have a my first Goat hunt this September and I'm super pumped. I hope I have a great story to tell this fall!
Great pictures and an awesome story. Thanks for sharing
Ryan is a lucky man to have a friends like yourself! Nice story, thanks for posting it.
I hope to have a similiar story to tell if I ever draw a goat tag. Thanks for sharing. Beautiful animals aren't they.
Great story and thanks for sharing!


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Terrorism ResourcesIn addition to resources on terrorism, this page also links to information on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as resources on the September 11th attacks.
US Information | International Information | Nongovernmental Sources |September 11th | Iraq | Afghanistan | Resources in the Catalog
U.S. Information
- Citizen Corps
Information about Citizen Corps and its programs to "engage Americans in specific homeland security efforts in communities throughout the country." Citizens Corps is part of USA Freedom Corps.
- Country Reports on Terrorism (formally Patterns of Global Terrorism)
These reports examine terrorism in countries and regions across the world. These reports, required by Congress, are released annually.
- CDI: Terrorism Project
The Center for Defense Information (CDI), an independent think tank in Washington, DC, provides reports to multiple categories of information, including Eye on Iraq, Terrorist Networks, and Responding to Terrorism, homeland security, weapons, policy, legislation, and more. Each report is written by a CDI staff member. There are links (many with annotations) to additional resources.
- Department of Homeland Security
This department is charged with "coordinating national strategy to strengthen protections against terrorist threats or attacks in the United States." This site includes information about the four divisions (Border and Transportation Security, Infrastructure Protection, Emergency Preparedness, and Response and Bioterrorism Countermeasures) as well as speeches, white papers, and related support materials.
- FBI Counterterrorism Page
- General Accountability Office (GAO) reports on Terrorism
Provides an extensive collection of its reports on terrorism.
International Information
- European Union and Counterterrorism |
This web site examines the actions taken by the EU against terrorism in the current year. It also contains links to a number of other counterterrorism resources from the EU.
- Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (FIRST)
An integrated database containing information on armed conflicts and peace keeping, arms production and trade, military expenditure, armed forces and weapons.
- ICT - Countering Terrorisms Global Reach
This site provides news and information on terrorist attacks, terrorist organizations, state-sponsored terrorism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and other topics.
- Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center
TPDRC archives and distributes data collected by government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and researchers about the nature of intra- (domestic) and international terrorism incidents, organizations, perpetrators, and victims; governmental and nongovernmental responses to terror, including primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions; and citizen's attitudes towards terrorism, terror incidents, and the response to terror.
- UN Action to Counter Terrorism
This site provides news, resolutions and reports from the General Assembly, Security Council, and subsidiary bodies of the Economic and Social Council, international conventions, and other information.
- UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations
While the UN is not directing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, they do conduct a number of peacekeeping missions worldwide and this sites links to current and past missions.
- Rand Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents
Terrorism is defined by the nature of the act, not by the identity of the perpetrators or the nature of the cause; key elements include:
- Violence or the threat of violence
- Calculated to create fear and alarm
- Intended to coerce certain actions
- Motive must include a political objective
- Generally directed against civilian targets
- Can be a group or an individual
Nongovernmental Sources
- Terrorism Law and Policy
This site from the JURIST Legal Foundation Network at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law provides news, background information about terrorism and terrorists, US policy, agencies and initiative involved in counterterrorism, anti-terrorism laws, links to academic and private think tanks that study terrorism, commentary by the academic community, and bibliographies on terrorism law and policy.
US Information | International Information | Nongovernmental Sources | September 11th | Iraq | Afghanistan | Resources in the Catalog
September 11, 2001
- America's
War Against Terrorism
An extensive page from the University of Michigan with separate sections on the September 11 attack, previous attacks, information on other countries, and background research.
- CQ Press: Recent Terrorism Events: Background and Context
This site provides background information from CQ Weekly and CQ Researcher. It also includes encyclopedia articles from publications such as the Encyclopedia of Religion and Politics. For a more in-depth, up-to-date resource list, check out the CQ Press Electronic Library CU, which contains the full-text of both CQ Weekly and CQ Researcher.
- Digital National Security Archive: Terrorism and U.S. Policy, 1968-2002 CU
This database has gathered declassified material from the U.S. government and written essays on the relationship between international terrorism and U.S. Policy.
- Legislation Related to
the Attack of September 11, 2001
This page developed by the Library of Congress, this site begun in September 2001 as a way of keeping the public readily apprised of legislation related to the terrorist attack on 9/11.
- National Commission on Terrorist
Attacks Upon the United States (9-11 Commission)
This group is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Staff statements presented during the Commission's public hearings are available in pdf format from this web site.
- Post-September-11
Environment: Access to Government Information
A list of materials removed from agency web sites from OMB Watch.
- September 11 Digital Archive
This is a joint effort by the Library of Congress, CUNY and George Mason University to collect, preserve, and present the history of the September 11. This site collects first-hand accounts of the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath, emails and digital images growing out of these events, organizes and annotates the most important web-based resources on the subject, and develop materials to contextualize and teach about the events.
- USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001)
This law, enacted on October 29, 2001, was to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes.
- The USA Patriot Act: A Legal Analysis
A Congressional Research Service report to analyze the USA Patriot Act of 2001.
- Operation Iraqi Freedom
The official site of the force in Iraq.
- Casualty Reports
Reports for both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
- DefenseLINK News
This site provides open, public access to frequently updated news from a variety of sources.
- Government
Views of Iraq
This guide connects to government Web sites about the conflict with Iraq. Resources (reports, maps, speeches, Geneva conventions, etc.) from the United Nations, United States government, and United Kingdom government are included.
- Iraq - A Country Study
A description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of the country. An on-line version of the book previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress.
- Iraq Resource
Center, Council on Foreign Relations
This site presents links to reports, articles, government policy statements, and other resources on the war in Iraq, weapons inspection, and related topics.
- Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)
This group was created by Congress to be the successor to the Coalition Provisional Authority Inspector General (CPA-IG). SIGUR oversees the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) and "all obligations, expenditures, and revenues associated with reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in Iraq." SIGUR has archived of all of its Quarterly and Semiannual Reports to Congress, Audit Reports, Congressional Testimonies, and Lessons Learned Reports.
- War in Iraq : News, Analysis
and Internet Resources
This Carnegie Endowment for International Peace web page offers resources (reports, articles, op-eds, maps, etc.) and links to resources on War in Iraq. Resources are listed in these categories: Origins of Regime Change, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Political Reconstruction, Inspections/United Nations, Bush Administration, Congress, Additional Resources, Links.
- al-Jazeera, English
Language Web Site
This Arabic news network based in Qatar presents English language news coverage of the war in Iraq and other issues from the Middle East.
- The War on Iraq: Legal
This was put together by Human and Constitutional Rights, this site provides links to documents and web sites on legal aspect of the war on Iraq.
- War
with Iraq: Costs, Consequences, and Alternatives
This page from the Committee on International Security Studies of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, this December 2002 report examines the political, military, and economic consequences to the United States of war with Iraq.
- Afghanistan
Country Study updated through 2006. "The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world and examines the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors."
- Afghanistan
Country Study and Government Information
This site provides a .pdf version of the 1989 country study on Afghanistan and links to related government information.
- Background Note: Afghanistan
- National
Security September 11 Sourcebooks
This site provides an archive of declassified FBI and CIA reports, Department of Defense Directives, Executive Orders, reports from the Congressional Research Service and the General Accounting Office, and other materials related to terrorism, intelligence, and US policy. Volume II examines the experiences of the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the history of US policy towards Afghanistan.
- Five-Year Afghanistan Report
This is analysis by the military of the action in the past five years in Afghanistan.
Resources in the Catalog
- The Library Catalog, Chinook
There are numerous secondary, federal, and international sources of information on agriculture available in the collection.
Try these searches to see some of the resources in Chinook , the library catalog:
Electronic Resources Print and Electronic Resources terror* and statistics terror* and statistics Iraq* and United States and relations Iraq* and United States and relations terror* and histor* terror* and histor*
(government publications only)
(government publications only)
The * replaces up to five characters in a word.
Related Resources


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Find the best...
Great Ocean Road accommodation
This list shows Fossick users' favourite places to stay in Great Ocean Road. There are 190 places to stay in Great Ocean Road, so to get more meaningful results, use the filters to narrow the list. If you have a car, you might like to search Victoria to see a wider range of options.
Been here recently? Write your review of the best Great Ocean Road accommodation.
Cumberland Lorne
Wedding anniversary stay
excellent relaxing stay. fun for kids too with beach not far away.
Otway Estate Cottages
All pleasure, no pain
The Otway Estate Winery and Brewery was a beautiful relaxing place to spend a weekend. Surrounded by bushl...
Great family park, kids loved it as did we
We went down with 5 other families. The Amenities were close and clean although bathrooms could have done w...
Torquay Tropicana Motel
close to the beach but not much else on offer
overall impression was the surfing was great, but when your not surfing theres not much else to do but wact...
from $220 AUD
from $100 AUD
from $100 AUD


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I hope this is the right forum for this. I had once heard a gate agent that certain flights have higher priority for landings/arrival. Specifically, he mentioned this for SFO duing reduced ops, in which case International flights get first priority, followed by trans-continental, medium-range, and short distances, respectively. Is this vaguely true? Does this extend to different types of aircraft (ie 747/777, 757, 737, turbos)?
Please check your spelling (press "Check Spelling" above)
©Copyright 2016 Demand Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved


text:
At Bethel Church, Fairfax County, Va., on Nov. 10, 1929 The Sixtieth Anniversary of His Entry Into The Ministry.
Sixty years ago today, according to the Sundays of the month, I made my first effort to preach. I felt then, as I feel today, to fully adopt the language of Paul, who said, "Necessity is laid upon me, and woe is me if I preach not the gospel." I took as a text, that day, the latter clause of the twenty-first verse of the second chapter of Galatians: "For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." And I recall some of the points I made that day. In my stammering way, I tried to show that we, as a Gentile people, were never under the Ceremonial Law, or law of carnal offerings. This law embraced the Jewish nation, or the literal seed of Abraham only, and that God never required of the Gentiles to offer lambs, or pigeons, or turtle doves, to appease the wrath of His law, for the Gentiles were considered "without law," and yet were a law unto themselves; therefore, they were not under the law of carnal offerings. Neither were the Gentiles under the civil law for the government of National Israel. They were not considered amenable to that law, but they were under the Decalogue, or law of the Ten Commandments, which embraces every nation on earth, and demand that all should "Love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their mind, and their neighbor as themselves." All of us know this to be an impossibility, for no one can love the Lord with all his mind, soul, and strength, and have any mind to love anything else. No wonder that even Moses should quake at the reception of such a law, and no wonder that the people should request that these words be not spoken to them any more, for they could not comply with the requirement, and they knew that if heaven was conditioned on that, there could be no salvation, for any of Adam's fallen race.But blessed be the name of God, He has produced one that is "mighty and able to save" poor lost sinners by assuming their responsibilities under the law, fulfilling its requirements, and dying the ignominious death of the cross. In this way God's law can say "Deliver him from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom."
These were my sentiments then, and sixty years have elapsed, and I rejoice to say I stand on these sentiments now. And in conclusion (while I know my language is inadequate to express what I feel) may I tell you of the gratitude in my heart for your kindness shown me on this the Sixtieth Anniversary of my entry into the ministry. I want also to express, as best I can, my thanks to these ministers for their presence on this occasion, and for every good word and action toward me. Such tokens of love cause me to feel very unworthy. I want you to know that you lie near my heart, and while life lasts, I shall continue to try to pray for you, and the precious cause in which you are so faithfully engaged. Trials and afflictions await you, but God will deliver you out of them all.
Now a few words about Bethel. You have ever been true and faithful to me, and the name Bethel, always sounds good to me. I remember when Jacob started out from Bersheba toward Haran, he journeyed until the sun had set, then he placed some rocks for his pillow and sweetly slept. He had sweet dreams, and the next morning he said, "The Lord was in the place, and I knew it not." He also said, "It is none other than the house of God," and he called the name of the place Bethel. It was truly a dear spot to him, and I often recall the words of the poet in my own case, when he said:
"There is a spot to me more dear than native vail or mountain,A spot for which affection's tear springs grateful from its fountain.It's not where kindred spirits dwell, though that on earth is heaven;But where I first my Saviour found and felt my sins forgiven."
My membership, and that of my family, is here at Bethel, making it a sweet, dear home for me, and I hope the brethren and sisters will bear my weaknesses for the time I have yet to live on this earth, and let me enjoy their sweet fellowship.
Remarks:—Both days of this meeting the weather was delightful, and a large crowd was in attendance, especially on Sunday. The following ministers were present one or both days:—Elders T. W. and Jas. E. Alderton, C. W. Miller, J. T. Power, A. J. Garland, B. H. Seekford and R. H. Pittman, and all took some part in the services commemorating Brother Dalton's sixty years of service. Bethel Church presented her aged pastor with sixty dollars in gold, and other churches also made contributions. The occasion was one of pleasure to those favored to attend, and many and sincere were the good wishes expressed for Brother Dalton, our able and loyal yoke-fellow in the ministry.
The Primitive or Old School Baptists cling to the doctrines and practices held by Baptist Churches throughout America at the close of the Revolutionary War. This site is dedicated to providing access to our rich heritage, with both historic and contemporary writings.


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April 30, 2013
RUSTON - Freshman Alexandra Starkovawas named to the WAC All-Tournament Team for singles after leading Louisiana Tech to the conference semifinals last week at the Gates Tennis Center in Denver, Colo.
The native of Madrid, Spain was dominant at the No. 2 position, delivering straight set victories versus Texas State in the quarterfinals and No. 66 nationally-ranked San Jose State in the semis.
Starkova overpowered the Bobcats' Melissa Hadad 6-1, 6-3 as the Lady Techsters advanced to the next round with a 4-0 shutout.
She continued her winning fashion the following day with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 defeat of the Spartans' Sabastiani Leon Chao. Earlier this season, Starkova lost in a three-set marathon to Leon Chao.
The victory tied the team match up at two all, but SJSU was able to pull out a 4-2 win en route to being the 2013 WAC Tournament Champions.
Starkova finished the season on a seven-match winning streak to improve her overall record to 13-2.
For complete coverage of LA Tech Tennis, please follow @LATechTEN on Twitter or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at www.LATechSports.com.
The complete All-Tournament selections are listed below.
Klaudia Boczova, San Jose State
Erica Medlin, San Jose State
Victoria Lozano, Idaho
Caroline Schnell, Denver
Alexandra Starkova, Louisiana Tech
Chau Truong, San Jose State
Sophia Bergner/Steffi Rath, Denver
Sabastiani Leon Chao/Erica Medlin, San Jose State
Klaudia Boczova/Jessica Willett, San Jose State


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Outsourcing services firm iGate today reported a 9 per cent fall in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014 due to currency fluctuations, visa fee and also as it rationalises its client structure.
The New Jersey-headquartered firm's net profit stood at USD 31.6 million for the January-March quarter of 2014 fiscal against USD 34.8 million in the year-ago period. iGate follows January-December as fiscal year.
iGate, however, posted a 10 per cent growth in income at USD 302.2 million in the reported period, against USD 274.9 million in the January-March 2013 quarter helped by growth in North America and Europe.
North America accounts for 77 per cent of the revenues followed by Europe at 16.5 per cent and the remaining from rest of the world.
Margins of the NASDAQ-listed firm may face under pressure in the April-June quarter this fiscal as it plans to complete the rationalisation of its strategic client base, continue its hiring activities and also due to the scheduled wage hikes.
Upbeat on the growth in Europe, iGate President and CEO Ashok Vemuri said: "Europe is seeing a good traction in the traditional IT spending space as well as in retail, automobile and Hi-Tech among others. However, Western Europe still seems to be not out of the woods."
When asked about the firm's plans for Europe, Vemuri told PTI: "Going ahead the firm is concentrating on the UK, Nordic countries and Germany. We may even go for a small acquisition in these geographies, especially Germany.
"Our consideration for acquisition is either to acquire some capability for example in digital, analytics or mobility space and the other is the European aspect where we need to build a certain capability in some geography."
Earlier speaking to reporters in a conference call, Vemuri said iGate will give wage hike to its employees in the April-June quarter -- 8-10 per cent in India and 2-4 per cent at other places -- which will have an impact on the firm's margins.
Besides, the firm is in the process of weaning away from non-strategic clients. During the first quarter iGate closed down 16 such accounts.
"We have completed about 80 per cent of tail programme management and the rest will be achieved as we go forward," Vemuri said.
The company added nine new customers during the first quarter, which included seven from North America and two in Europe.
Segment-wise, two deals came from the BFSI segment, retail & CPG,


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This is an ADD-ON Headphone to be used with your existing Sennheiser RS 110 or RS 120 System
The HDR 120 is an ADD-ON Headphone to use with the Sennheiser RS 120 Wireless headphone and transmitter. You can use just about as many HDR 120's as you wish, and they will operate off the transmitter that comes with the RS 120. The lightweight HDR 120 lets you enjoy freedom of movement without cumbersome cables. Uses 2 "AAA" Batteries with up to a 25 hour run-time.
Manufacturers Warranty: 2 Years
May We Also Suggest
Sennheiser ADD-ON HDR 120 900 Mhz Wireless RF Headphone to use with RS 120 System
Copyright 2008-2016 4HomeSpeakers.com. All rights reserved.


text:
All hotels in Denison, Iowa, United States of America
1 room, 2 adults
502 Boyer Valley Rd, Denison, IA, 51442, United States of America, 855-239-9482
Travelodge Denison, Denison
Lowest price$58
Best Price Guarantee
We do not have Hotels.com photos for this hotel.
The hotel will be renovating from 2 November 2011 until further notice. The following areas are affected:
During renovations, the hotel will make every effort to minimize noise and disturbance.
- Dining venue
- Fitness facilities
- Select guestrooms
During renovations, the hotel will make every effort to minimize noise and disturbance.
No-frills hotel in Denison
- Free continental breakfast and free parking
Main amenities
- 40 guestrooms
- Coffee/tea in the lobby
- Air conditioning
- Daily housekeeping
- Meeting rooms
What's around
- Washington Park (1.6 mi / 2.5 km)
- Yellow Smoke Park (4.2 mi / 6.8 km)
- Dow House Historic Site (9.6 mi / 15.5 km)
See all 20 Hotels.com reviews
Room is not nice
Poor vibe
Bad amenities
TripAdvisor Traveller Rating: 2.5
From 62 reviews
Also popular with travelers from the USA
Travelodge Denison, Denison
Hotel Info: 866-539-8117from $58
- Suite, 1 King Bed, Non Smoking
- Standard Room, 2 Queen Beds, Smoking
- Standard Room, 2 Queen Beds, Accessible
- Room, 2 Queen Beds, Non Smoking
- Room, 2 Queen Beds, Accessible, Non Smoking
- Room, 1 Queen Bed, Smoking
- Standard Room, 2 Queen Beds
- Room, 2 Queen Beds, Smoking
- Standard Room, 1 Queen Bed, Smoking
- Room, 1 King Bed, Non Smoking
- Standard Room, 1 Queen Bed
- Room, 1 Queen Bed, Non Smoking
At a glance
Key facts
Hotel size
- This hotel has 40 rooms
- Check-in time starts at 2 PM
- Check-out time is 11 AM
Required at check in
- Credit card or cash deposit required
- Government-issued photo ID required
- Minimum check-in age is 21
Travelling with others
- Pets allowed
- Free self parking
In the hotel
Food and drink
- Free continental breakfast daily
- Coffee/tea in the lobby
Working away
- Meeting rooms
- Conference space size (feet) - 200
- Conference space size (meters) - 19
- One meeting room
In the room
Home comforts
- Air conditioning
- Iron/ironing board (on request)
Freshen up
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer
Be entertained
- Premium TV channels
Stay connected
- Free local calls
Food and drink
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Daily housekeeping
Nearby hotels
Travelodge Denison, Denison's small print
Optional extras
Safes in guestrooms can be used for USD 1.50 per night
We have included all charges provided to us by this hotel. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.
Is the description of this hotel not correct? Tell us


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Thanks to virtuosos like Araabmuzik, the MPC is finally, after years of ambiguous legitimacy, considered an instrument . Previous arguments against the idea were largely rooted in the perception that sampling is not music-making, and therefore samplers can't be instruments. The thinking goes—how can you compare chopping up other people's music with understanding a musical tradition like, say, jazz?
Well, the snobs will eat their words when they meet David "Fingers" Haynes. An accomplished jazz drummer, Haynes is best known for setting aside the kit to tackle the deep technicality of jazz drumming with a button-laden drum machine—no foot pedals, no sticks, just a man and his namesake hand-toes.
Haynes has collaborated with the likes of Chaka Khan, Prince and Mary J. Blige, placing him squarely in a category that MPC-heads care very little about, and yet they could learn so much from him. In the same way that ?uestlove channels his jazz and soul roots into hip hop, an MPC user could take away plenty from Haynes' application of hi hat ostinato patterns and jazz drum fills.
Haynes began with a nondescript, beat-up looking mystery machine, graduating to his current weapons of choice, a Korg NanoPad and Native Instruments' monstrous Maschine. He most recently appeared at NAMM's 2012 convention accompanying jazz bassist Nathan East, seen below.
David "Fingers" Haynes rocking the Maschine


text:
A client receives phishing e-mails with link manipulation: the displayed text for a link (the text between the anchor "a" tags) shows a random safe URL, while the actual URL in the HTML source links to the phishers' site. For example:
<a href={Phishing URL}> {Variable Safe URL} </a>
{Phishing URL} remains the same between all the e-mails; nothing else seems consistent enough to filter by.
In Microsoft Outlook 2010, I attempted to create a rule to automatically delete messages containing {Phishing URL}, above, in the body text.
However, Microsoft Outlook 2010 fails to identify and delete the e-mail when I run tests, which leads me to believe it only matches the visible text.
How do I create a Microsoft Outlook 2010 rule which matches {Phishing URL} in the e-mail's HTML source?