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2013 and earlier Lexus RX 350 / RX 450h Lease Questions
edited January 2014 in Lexus
Hi everyone. Please use the following discussion to post any questions that you have about leasing a Lexus RX 330. Thanks.
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tiger93 Posts: 57Hey Car_man -
Can you look up the current MF and Residual on a 2005 RX 330 with Premium Plus package? Three year lease with both 15k mile and 20k mile is what I'm considering. Also, are these figures different for the 2006 model?
mib90024 Posts: 8Please like to find out for Sept, Oct andNov., what will be the base rate & MF for the 2005 & 2006 RX330 be? Which is the better deal for leasing 2005 or 2006?Of course including 15Kmi/yr and 20Kmi/yr
Pls advise.0
Hi tiger93. Unlike in August, Lexus is not currently providing any sort of lease money factor support on the 2005 RX 330 this month. As a result, if you were to lease one through Lexus Financial Services, you would have to use its standard lease program. I have not seen its new standard lease money factors yet, but I suspect that its buy rate for a standard lease is probably around .00245 give or take .00010 this month. As far as residuals go, if you were to lease a 2005 Lexus RX 330 4WD without the entertainment or navigation systems through LFS right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its residual value should be 54%. If you need to drive more than 15,000 miles per year, you will have to purchase additional miles on a per-mile basis. It is less expensive to do so at lease signing than it is to wait until lease-end and have to pay an excess mileage penalty. Again there is no lease support on the 2006 version of this truck, but its residual value for an otherwise identical lease is higher at 57%.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Hello mib90024. You can find out what these trucks' lease programs are like right now by reading my previous post. That lease program is currently only scheduled to run through September 30th. It is difficult to say what Lexus October and November lease programs will be like for the RX 330 at this point. As far as which one is a better deal to lease right now, the '05 or '06 model, this depends upon the selling price that you are able to negotiate. All things being equal, namely selling price, a 2006 RX 330 would be less expensive to lease than an '05 model right now because they have the same money factors and the '06 model has higher residual values. If dealers are anxious to clear out their leftover inventory, they may be willing to discount the '05 version enough to make up for the difference in residuals though.
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plym_rock Posts: 13Dear Car_man,
I am interested in leasing a 2006 Lexus RX 400h with heated seats from a local NJ dealer. The dealer is charging $1700.00 above invoice. The lease that fits me the best is 36 months and 15K/year.
I want just pay fees plus the first month's payment. I would like the 6% sale tax in the lease payments.
The dealer claims that Lexus has the best program. The residual, as of August, is 62% and the money factor is not discounted currently (I don't know what it is).
I would like to spend close to $600/month.
Please let me know what the present dealer offer is per month and how we can get to $600.
Here are the details for the Lexus 400H:
MSRP $49,725 including the $650.00 destination charge
Selling price $46,040=$1,700 above invoice
Please let me know what the payment should be for a lease with the new program for September.
Also do you have the new rates for September for the AWD RX 330?
Hi plym_rock. The dealer that you spoke with was telling you the truth. Lexus is not currently providing any sort of lease money factor support on the 2006 RX400h. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2006 Lexus RX 400h without the entertainment system with an MSRP of $49,725 and a selling price of $46,040 through Lexus Financial Services right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $604 with the payment of a security deposit and LFS' $600 acquisition fee.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
azhoopsfan Posts: 1Hello,
I'm a first time lessee and have been offerred by the Lexus dealership a lease on the 2006 Rx 330 (w/ leather and moonroof) for $553/month and $3000 down. The MSRP is $41110 and the negotiated price is $37575. Their using a money factor of .00285 and a .58 residual (~$23800). 36 months. Any thoughts if this is a good deal or if I should keep negotiating? Also its 12k per year which should be enough for me.0
Hi Car_man,
I am currently leasing a 2002 RX 300, whose lease is up in April (39 month lease). I am currently paying $514 with taxes in CA. I put nothing down, get 12k miles per year, I believe the sticker was discounted down to aroun $36k. The car as of right now is in great condition and only has 20k miles on it. I dont have the paperwork with me, so I don't remember the risdual or the money factor at the time of the lease.
The dealership just contacted me about discussing a future lease. Can I use the fact that the current car has low miles and is in great condition as a bargaining chip to flip the lease as to secure the same lease rate (if not lower) on a new 05/06 RX330?
I think my buyout on the car is like $26k (should I be considering this, because I might be able to sell it myself for more?). I feel like they are getting a car that is worth far more than that and I would like some incentives based on that fact.0
HI azhoopsfan. Since you are new to the world of leasing, you definitely should check out the following informative articles that are available here at Edmunds.com prior to visiting any dealers: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment.
You are already off to a good start because you were able to get the dealer that you are working with all of the important information about this deal. The selling price that you were quoted for this truck looks reasonable to me. The money factor that is being used to calculate its lease payment is a little high though. Even though Lexus is not currently providing any sort of lease support on the RX 330, your money factor should be around .00235 to .00245 if your credit is in good shape. Another problem I have with this deal is the large down payment that you are making. I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, your insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and your down payment essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your lease-end purchase option price for your RX 330 would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $3,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.
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Hi highfidelity. It is usually fairly expensive for consumers to get out of their leases well before their scheduled termination dates. The only way to do so is to just pay your remaining payments or to purchase your leased vehicle and sell it on your own or trade it in on another one. The fact that your truck is in good condition and has low miles normally would not do much for you with a lease, but if your truck is in good enough condition that it is worth more on the open market than it would cost to purchase it from the bank that you are leasing it through then you would be able to get out of your current lease early at no cost to you and might even be able to make a buck or two off of your truck. In order to determine whether you should purchase your vehicle, you need to compare its purchase price to its value on the open market at this time. You can find out approximately what your vehicle is worth by looking up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the Used Vehicle Pricing section of this site. You also may want to stop by the following discussion: "Real-World Trade-In Values". One of our most knowledgeable community members, Terry, frequents that discussion and he is often kind enough to give community members who give him an accurate description of their vehicles with his opinion on their value.
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Car_man thanks for the response. Would you be able to tell me the money factor and residual for a 2006 RX 330 AWD (sticker $43,200.00) for a 24 and 36 month lease. I'm looking to do 12k miles per year. Thanks!0
slonyara Posts: 1currently - $499 per months, 36 months, $0 down, 12K miles, NYC, RX300 2003 ( Desember 2002), AWD, premium plus package, no navigation...
Got price for 2005 RX2005, 1 month ago for $41.500. everything inside ...
Also get offer for $545 per months , 32 months on RX400h , $0 down , 10K miles...
Somehow, car_men's prices is not compliting with my dealership prices.... :confuse:0
tenchu81 Posts: 3just finish dealing with Ray Catena in NJ. I think I got a pretty good deal!
2006 RX330 AWD Flint Mica Prem +, with additional options... 18" wheels, 6-cd, cargo mats, wheel locks, towing prep, heated seat with rain sensor wipers, and bluetooth hands-free for my cell phone (they were able to install the kit without the navigation for $419 <<--- might have been able to get a little less than that)
$1,000 + invoice ($38,440) = $39,440 + $419 = $39,859 (sale price)
I am leasing the car for $550/mo tax included for 30 mo, 12k/yr
Anyone else got a better deal??0
immeant Posts: 1The money factor my local lexus dealer quoted me today was .00345 (too high for me) for tier one credit and a residual of .56 on a 2006 RX330--all they explained set by LFS. The MSRP was $41143 with a price of $38650 on a 36mo lease with 15000 miles. No way would they even discuss the invoice. Has the money factor changed that much in a few days? Are you talking LFS financing at .00245? This is Dallas area.0
You're welcome highfidelity. Here is the info that you are looking for. According to the latest information that I have see, if you were to lease a 2006 Lexus RX 330 AWD without the navigation or entertainment systems through Lexus Financial Services right now for 24 months with 12,000 miles per year, its buy rate lease money factor and residual value should be .00235 and 65%, respectively assuming that you qualify for its top credit tier and pay a security deposit. The numbers for an otherwise identical 36 month lease should currently be .00235 and 59%.
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Thanks for taking the time to share the details of your lease with us, tenchu81.
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Hello immeant. A money factor of .00345 is waaaaay too high for a lease of any Lexus through Lexus Financial Services right now. Its Tier 1+ buy rate lease money factor for consumers who pay a security deposit is currently only .00235. To qualify for Tier 1+, you have to have a credit score of 730 or above. Its plain Tier 1 factor is only slightly higher than this, probably around .00245 with the payment of a security deposit. It appears to me as though the dealer that you are working with is trying to mark up your truck's base money factor to add additional back-end profit to your deal. this sort of practice is perfectly legal, but can usually be avoided by confronting the dealer that you are working with with the buy rate for a lease of the model that you want or by shopping around.
I can calculate a lease payment on the truck that you are interested in for you so that you will have an idea of how much is should cost to lease using the base lease program. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2006 Lexus RX 330 without the navigation or entertainment systems with an MSRP of $41,143 and a selling price of $38,650 through Lexus Financial Services right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $569. I used a money factor of .00235 and a residual value of 57% to arrive at this payment.
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cindola1 Posts: 14Hi Carman,
I am currently leasing a 2004 RX330 started Dec 2003 ends Dec 2006. I'm thinking about purchasing it early then maybe selling. I can't seem to find out what my lease factor is and if the deal was good or not, so I know for my next lease. No navigation, my purchase price was $35,834 including $600 acquisition fee. I live in Southern CA sales tax is 8.25%, I put $2,000 down, 36 month lease 15k miles a year, payments $513.48 per month. My Residual Value at end of lease is $21,705, my current payoff price is $26,766. I guess I have a couple of questions.
Does it seem like I got a good deal?
Can you figure out what my lease or money factor is?
Is it a better deal to purchase it out now than at the end?
Any answers and input greatly appreciated.
mkupneski Posts: 29Carman,
Do you know if the lease deals for November on the RX330 from Lexus are better/worse/same as October's? Also, can you give me your best guess of what a good 3 yr & 12Kmi/yr lease would run for a "base" AWD vehicle with an MSRP of 42048?
Hi cindola1. It is difficult for me to say how good a deal that you got on your truck because you leased it so long ago and I don't know what its full MSRP is. If I knew its MSRP, I could at least see how much of a discount you were given on it. Still, I don't know what the market was like for it back when you leased or what its lease program was like.
I am sorry to say that it is usually fairly expensive to get out of leases well before their scheduled end dates. In order to do so, you need to purchase the vehicle that you are currently leasing from the bank that you are leasing it through. It often turns out that it costs more to do so than your vehicle is worth on the open market. Furthermore, many banks expect consumers who end their leases early to still make all, or at least the depreciation portion of their remaining lease payments. As you can see, this can get very expensive.
You can determine approximately how much it will cost you to purchase your truck before the scheduled end of your lease by comparing its purchase price to its value on the open market at this time. You should place a call to the bank that you are leasing your vehicle through to find out its exact price. Once you know exactly how much money it is going to cost you to buy your leased vehicle you need to compare it to its current value on the open market. You can find out approximately what your vehicle is worth by looking up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the Used Vehicle Pricing section of this site. You also may want to stop by the following discussion: "Real-World Trade-In Values". One of our most knowledgeable community members, Terry, frequents that discussion and he is often kind enough to give community members who give him an accurate description of their vehicles with his opinion on their value. Don't forget to check to see if you are still on the hook for your remaining lease payments. The difference between your leased vehicle's current value and how much it will cost you to buy it plus any remaining lease payments that you are obligated to pay will equal the cost of getting out of your lease right now. You may find that you are better off waiting until you are closer to the scheduled end of your lease to buy your truck.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Hey mkupneski. Lexus' October lease program was actually scheduled to run through November 11th. You never mentioned the selling price of the truck that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing the price of the truck that you want to lease you don't know how good a price you are getting it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling price of a vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the RX that you are interested in for you if you let me know what its selling price is. You may be able to get a good idea of how much you should pay for it right now by visiting the following discussion: "Lexus RX 330: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".
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Anyone has ever dealt with or leased RX330 financed thru Hann Auto? Does anyone have their Residuals and Money Factors for 2006 RX330 model? I've heard from a dealer in NJ that they are pretty aggressive on 2005 RX330's and have an odd 30 month program with 10K miles. Also what are the Bank Fees for LFS and Hann? Thanks.0
I just returned from a westchester dealer with an offer of a lease financed by Hann.it is a special program offerred till nov.9th.....it is for 32 months, money factor of .00250, 10,000 miles....a down payment required of $2900 w a residual value of $30,100 and a monthly chge of $498. the figure is based on a price of $41,000 for a 2006 rx300 w premium pkg...........0
Is the price of $41,000 negotiated price or is it MSRP? Is $498 per month including tax or plus tax? Also the residual look a bit too high that is good, the money factor is higher than LFS - this is not so good. Judging by the previous posts this deal doesn't sound too hot. End date of Nov, 9th is a bit strange as well, these lease programs usually run on a calendar month basis, even though I've read that LFS has it's October program till November, 11th.0
$41,000 is the negotiated price for an all wheel rx300 and premium plus pkg; it does not include the tax ( $2900 at signing) the money factor is the lowest rate going ( .0025)this is for 32 months w 10,000 miles, got another quote for 3 yrs, 12,000miles w money factor of .oo255 and monthly payments of $579.07.0
nc_driver1 Posts: 56Hi Car_man. You offer expert, inside information extremely valuable for people like me.
I am interested in leasing a Lexus RX 330 FWD w/Premium Package. The price I am willing to pay is $33,816.00. ($32,100.00 invoice + $1,716.00 package; these are Consumer Report prices). The term is 36 months @ 15000 miles per year.
I would appreciate if you could let me know the if the price I am willing to pay is reasonable/fair. Also, what would be my monthly payment? What values did you factor in to compute the monthly payment?
I am unaware of this November Lease Deals. Is it available in South East?
Please feel free to make any suggestion.
Thank you very much.0
mutt32 Posts: 2Hello Car_man,
I am interested in a 2006 premium plus with nav. MSRP 45,708. I am planning a 39 month lease, with 12k miles/yr.
Please give me an opinion of the following parameters:
1) Sale price $41,800
2) Money factor 0.0026
3) Residual = 57%
4) Acquisition Fee = $650
5) Security Deposit = $0 - assumes excellent credit
This gives me a monthly payment of $598.53
Another questions; Maryland has a 5% sales tax. Should I pay this amount $2090(5% of sale price and acq. fee) up front at signing or can I pay this with the monthly payment.
Michael from MD0
seekingdeal1 Posts: 2Hey Car_man
Just came from a Dealership with this deal. Please be brutally honest about your thoughts on the deal. It is for a 2006 RX330 w/Premium Package.
Sell Price $40000
Residual value $24500
Term 36 Months
Down Payment: 2500
Trade in: 1997 Maxima 3000
Money factor was quoted as being .0012
Monthly payment came out to be $468 per month.
What am I missing here?
My thoughts are:
1) money factor was wrong
2) down payment? they are going to make their profit off of my trade in. plus a down payment?
Let me know your thoughts?
Thanks nc_driver1. It would be a big help if you would let me know what this truck's full MSRP (including the destination charge) is. This number will enable me to see how much of a discount you are being given. It will also enable me to estimate what this truck's lease payment should be for you. For additional feedback on how much you should pay for one right now, make sure to stop by the following discussion: "Lexus RX 330: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".
For now, I can tell you that Lexus is not currently providing any sort of lease support on the RX 330. As a result, if you were to lease one through Lexus Financial Services right now you will have to use its standard lease money factor. The last time that I saw its standard factor it was .00235 for consumers who pay a security deposit and qualify for its Tier 1+ credit tier. Lexus Financial Services current 3 year, 15,000 miles per residual value for the 2006 RX 330 2WD without navigation or the rear entertainment system is 56%. You may want to consider waiting a little while to lease this car. Every year Lexus usually runs its "December to Remember" sales event and provides lease support on most models. Lexus is scheduled to introduce a new lease program on November 23rd. There is a good chance that its money factor for this truck will be much more attractive then.
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Hello Michael. The selling price that you were quoted for this truck looks reasonable to me. It doesn't appear to me as though your lease is being run through Lexus Financial Services. Your dealer may be using the Hahn lease that other community members mentioned a few posts ago. The money factor that is being used on your deal is higher than the one being offered by LFS, but the residual value is better as well. I suspect that this program will result in a better lease payment than Lexus' program will. As far as sales tax goes, you should be able to roll it into your truck's capitalized cost and pay it as part of your lease payment if you want to.
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This discussion has been closed.


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I came in Monday, and discovered that I couldn't log on to a couple of the systems here. Went to our sysadmin, tried it from her machine, and it worked fine. NOW what? Could I be mistyping my password -- again and again and again ?
Finally got fed up and typed my password into a text editor, and discovered a missing character. It turned out that the "4/$" and "5/%" keys on my LP weren't working, unless I really mashed down on particular parts of the label.
Ran diagnostics, and got 34 bad (high) sensors. AUGH!
Examined the surface closely, and discovered some sort of deposit on that part of the keyboard. Scrubbed at it, it came off, and now everything is fine.
What was it? I don't know -- I don't normally bring messy stuff near my keyboard, and I keep my hands clean. Ectoplasm?
I know one day my keyboard will fail. I just hope it lasts long enough for a replacement to become available.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ginger Valdez: Glamour and Grit, Advocacy and Outreach
Ginger Valdez shows up for a Positively Aware photo shoot in a suit.
"They think we're all prostitutes with our cleavage showing. I'm going to show something different," she says. And she does, her manners as elegant as her style.
Ginger is a drag performer -- her words -- and a costumer, but she's also an advocate for transgender people, including those who, like herself, are living with HIV.
"I grew up poor, in a casero -- a housing project in Puerto Rico -- more than 50 years ago," she recounts. At the age of seven, she was raped by a 14-year-old boy. "A lot of people believe that gave me the tendency to like boys, but that's not true. I liked boys before then."
At age 13, she began to dress in drag -- her words. Her father was away a lot and she only worried about hiding her feminine appearance from her mom. At the age of 14, while her father was away working at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, she fell asleep in her room still wearing make-up and women's clothing, with a male friend her own age crashed out in the living room. "No one was naked, but my mom got mad and threw me out."
Ginger says that unlike most transgender women she has met, it was her father who always accepted and supported her, but not her mother. "My mother didn't want to deal with it," she says. When her father returned, she was gone.
She went to live with a friend her age who had already begun to live as a transgender girl, invited by the friend's mother to stay in a spare room until something better came along.
A placement glitch kept her from entering high school and she later earned the equivalent of a G.E.D. in Puerto Rico. Instead of school, she began performing in drag shows. The choreographer for the traveling show of famed Puerto Rican entertainer Johnny Rodriguez was going to throw out the fancy sequined and feathered costumes worn in the show when a friend suggested he keep the dresses and start operating drag performances.
They needed a dancer, and Ginger had studied tap, jazz, and salsa dancing. Because she was a minor, they needed permission from her parents, and her father wrote a letter giving his permission for her to work in the show. "That's how I became Ginger Valdez," she says. But, she says, she never denies that she is José Cruz -- "I'm very proud of being José Cruz."
At that time, being a drag queen was illegal. Johnny Rodriguez managed to get a government license for the show at his theater, El Cotorrito ("the little parrot"), she says, because he provided free graphic design work for the party in power. But with all the glamour that came with her career also came the violence of gay bashers, and she says she "went to hell and back" in her experiences.
The show travelled to New York City and Chicago as well as the Dominican Republic, appearing only in theater lounges, not nightclubs. When she was 21 and performing in New York, she met a man and decided to stay with him. She spent more than a decade in New York City. She was already taking hormones to become more feminine.
"He was 42 and very handsome. He had been in relationships with drag queens before. He was responsible and didn't smoke or drink. A friend of mine told me I should stay with him, that he worked and could take care of me," said Ginger.
And he did take care of her. Ginger was happy to stay in New York because she felt she had "nothing to return to in Puerto Rico. My mother didn't want to have anything to do with me."
She stayed with him several years. Later she met another man, a younger one. She dated him for a few months when someone told her he was HIV-positive. "I went to go get tested and sure enough, I was HIV-positive, and my life changed, not for worst, but for better. I began to take care of myself. I learned everything I could about HIV and medicine, and this was in the '80s when there weren't any medicines for HIV." She has been positive for 22 years.
She came to Chicago in 1992 for a couple of months when Miss Kitty, who ran Latino drag shows, invited her. The two had met at El Cotorrito. Ginger ended up staying in Chicago, but performance work here paid much less than it did in New York. "I did the wrong thing and started boosting in the stores." She ended up serving a short prison sentence for shoplifting.
Afterwards, in addition to her performance work, she was hired by the HIV service agency Minority Outreach Intervention Project (MOIP). She reached out to the transgender community with a program called TransAction, including a weekly support group she held in her home. She says 24 transgender women attended each week. When the agency closed, she went to work with another HIV organization, Vida Sida, for three years. In 2000, she received an award for transgender leadership from ALMA, the Association of Latino Men in Action, an educational, social, advocacy, and support group for gay, bisexual, and questioning men. She is still a "den mother" of sorts, providing support to other transgender women, including sterile syringes for their hormone injections.
Ginger says Chicago is the most segregated city she has ever seen, with even different Latino groups being hostile to each other, and in the gay community, hostility between gay men and the transgender population. "The gay community never understands the transgender community. It's due to one [person, or negative stereotype] that the others are judged."
She says that, "If I had the chance to go back and start over, I would not be transgender. A gay man can get a job. They do not allow you to get a job if you're transgender. It's like, 'To be transgender, you made a mistake and we're going to punish you.' There's a lot of discrimination. It's very obvious. They want a sister or a Caucasian. There's discrimination even in the Latino community. With all my knowledge, I cannot get a job because of my appearance. And in Chicago, being Latino and being transgender are two strikes against me."
But, she says, she's also gay. She doesn't understand how people can feel trapped in the wrong body. "How can you tell you feel like a woman if you're not a woman? That's impossible." Yet, she says that "I always felt feminine. I didn't like men's things. I liked women's things; I always liked cooking and sewing."
She has three friends who underwent surgery to become women, but now feel uncomfortable in their former gay bar hangouts. "They get treated worse," she said. "It's horrible. They get taunted for being women and asked why they don't leave.
"No matter what, you're a man. Even if you have the surgery, you're still MTF (male-to-female) and they still consider you a man. Somewhere in a corner of the computer, they still put that you were a man," she says. "I'm not trying to burst your bubble, but see the truth."
What she sees in the transgender community are people who were runaways because they were rejected by their family, and so they were unable to finish their education and became "hustlers" -- sex workers or drug dealers.
"The transgender community is the most misunderstood population in this [gay] community. And if they have HIV, they can't even go get services because of the way that they're treated." She believes that community organizations need to learn how to work with transgender people. "They can get hormones at Howard Brown [Health Center, serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community], but they need places where they can get help. Hormones are good, but they need housing, they need medicine. And not everyone who's HIV-positive can take hormones."
For herself, she says, "My life is very peaceful because I'm very secure in who I am."
For her baby sister's wedding, she cut her hair and put on a man's suit. She did not know the family her sister was marrying into and wanted to be "respectful." Her sister said, "What are you doing? Are you crazy!" She said she was expecting her wedding dress to be outdone by the dress her older "brother" wore. Although her sister was mad about her clothing choice, Ginger wouldn't budge, although true to her nature, she was still feminine. "People thought I was a lesbian," she said. "I did it out of respect, and still somebody tried to get grosero (rude) with me. My sister, who's a cop and tough, threw him out. I didn't even look at him."
Ginger says that, "el hábito no hace el monje." The habit does not make the monk. It does not matter what you wear, you will be who you are.


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FlexJobs, a job service specializing in remote and flexible job opportunities, has announced its second annual list of the Top 100 Companies to Watch for Remote Jobs. Companies such as Amazon, Kaplan, ADP and Salesforce made the list, which features a variety of career fields and industries.
Overall, telecommuting has increased 80 percent nationally since 2005 – with more than 34 million workers in the U.S. already telecommuting at least occasionally. Once considered an employee perk, work-from-home jobs are now recognized for bringing bottom-line benefits to companies.
"The positive impact remote work options can have on a company's bottom line and culture is increasingly being acknowledged by smart employers. The organizations on this list are among those leading the charge to show that remote work options are a part of successful 21st century workplaces," says Sara Sutton Fell, founder and CEO of FlexJobs. "The Top 100 Companies to Watch for Remote Jobs in 2015 is also is intended to guide job-seekers in their quest to find legitimate work with trusted companies that have a successful track record recruiting and hiring telecommuters."
This slideshow features the top 15 tech companies IT pros looking for remote jobs may want to consider.
Related Topics : A Big Market for Big Data Jobs, Midmarket CIO, IT Management Automation, SharePoint, Technology Markets
The gig economy is clearly disrupting the tech industry, both in positive and negative ways. ... More >>
Is fake news a security issue? Some say yes, as it can be used as a social engineering tool to spread disinformation and conceivably to get unsuspecting users to click on malicious links. ... More >>
Executives at several top tech firms outline the skills they need now and in the near future, including IaaS and IoT security expertise. Other skills listed may surprise you. ... More >>


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The rough estimate -- very rough -- is that there were maybe one thousand gazillion pictures taken of Kate and William (mostly Kate) in 2011.
So, there's a lot to choose from in trying to select the best of the royal pix for 2011, especially when we want to include royal happenings from some non-UK settings. In a royal year that is quite unlike any in the past decade, what we have below are some of the photos that brought a smile or two.
Sure, they kiss, but it's the other faces in this picture that make it interesting. On the left is 3-year-old Grace Van Cutsem, a grumpy-looking sort who was not taking in the pomp and ceremony with much glee. In fact, she spent much of the time on the balcony covering her ears to block out the crowd noise. Another bridesmaid, Margarita Armstrong-Jones, appeared much more encouraging of the bride and groom's affection for each other. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
It was well after the wedding that the humour of this picture emerged. Proud father Prince Charles was more than happy to have the newlyweds drive away from Buckingham Palace in his much prized 1969 Aston Martin Volante. It made for quite as whimsical exit, except that it was later revealed that William had forgotten to off the handbrake. Both Charles and the car managed to survive the senior moment (Pierre-Philippe Marcou, Getty Images)
At the time this was taken, who would have thunk that the young lady on the right would be garnering almost as many headlines through 2011 as the bride herself. Pippa Middleton's iconic appearance in her Alexander McQueen bridesmaid gown caused more than a mild sensation and "Her Royal Hotness" was born. ((AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
There's something deliciously curious about this picture. It's a rigid Prince William, standing at almost mock attention in front of his grandmother and monarch, Queen Elizabeth, with a slight grin. The occasion was a visit by the Queen and Prince Philip to the RAF base in Anglesey, Wales, on April 1. Slightly awkward given the company, but in the end, it was a grandson proudly showing his grandma around the place he worked. (REUTERS/Christopher Furlong)
The Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge stand out from the crowd on a hot afternoon in Ottawa as they arrive to take part in the Canada Day festivities. Her maple-leaf inspired fascinator, together with a maple leaf brooch borrowed from the Queen, gave Kate a distinctly Canadian look, even if the hat and Reiss dress hailed from Britain. (CP, Sean Kilpatrick)
The image of untouchable royals melts away in this photo of Kate hugging 6-year-old Diamond Marshall on the windy tarmac of the Calgary airport. Diamond was a cancer-striken girl who wanted to meet her princess. She got her wish, and, as the year wound to a close, got another wish when she underwent successful surgery to remove tumours in her lungs, the result of battling undifferentiated sarcoma. (CP/Nathan Dentte)
The good guys always wear the white hats, right? The royals look oddly out of place, yet oddly right at home as they watch the Calgary Stampede in the waning hours of their Canadian tour. There's been no word on when the couple might don their stetsons again. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
This is supposed to be a big deal ... the obligatory photo-op between the royal party and the U.S. president. All is perfect until the gusts arrive. Suddenty it was hold onto your hat and your dress, lest your dignity ends up blowing in the wind. In the presence of a Guard of Honour in London, Barack Obama manages to stand his ground on May 24 while all those around him seem to be shifting their tactics to deal with the wind. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
Just when you've got everything perfect for a royal arrival, there's always one guy in uniform who decides he can't take the heat. In this case, the member of Spain's honour guard passed out in front of the country's Princess Letizia, left, at the Pardo Palace outside Madrid on March 30. They managed to get the soldier out of the way before the arrival of Prince Charles for a visit. (Reuters/Andrea Comas)
Prince William talks to one of the group members of Maison Dauphine, a shelter offering support services for street kids in Quebec City. Despite a distinct difference in styles, the duke and the young man seemed to connect. "Of course he's royalty, always surrounded by people... But he seems close to people," said one person from Maison Dauphine. "He seemed like a normal guy." High praise, indeed. (CP/Sean Kilpatrick)
Spain's Duchess of Alba Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva dances the flamenco beside her husband Alfonso Diez outside Las Duenas Palace after their wedding in Seville on Oct. 5, 2011. One of Europe's wealthiest aristocrats and socialites, the 85-year-old Duchess -- with more titles than Queen Elizabeth -- wedded a civil servant 24 years her junior. The May-December romance won out over opposition from the duchess's children. They backed off once they added guarantees that the multi-billion-dollar holdings that would come through inheritance did not slip through their fingers. Money problems settled, the Duchess was not shy to show off her dancing skills in front of the crowds that gathered to wish her well. (Reuters/Javier Diaz)
Bhutan is just a speck on the globe, a tiny Himalayan nation stuck between China and India, and for centuries virtually cut off from the world by the mountains. Well, there's a new generation in charge. Mindful of tradition, the country is still embracing change and there may have been no stronger symbol of that than Jetsun Pema, a 21-year-old student who suddenly became Queen of the country. Fresh from the high of the royal wedding, the spotlight seemed to roll naturally to Pema and King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck on May 20 as they exchanged vows. Above, the royals show their manners as they greet the media during a visit to Tokyo in November. Can't remember the British royals doing anything similar for media. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
If this was a final farewell to Australia, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip made it a memorable one. The 85-year-old monarch and 90-year-old Prince Philip were at their royal best for the nine-day tour Down Under. There will be no foreign tour in 2012, sparking speculation that the Queen will be leaving any future royal tours to the younger generation of royals. (AP Photo/Paul Kane)
Queen Elizabeth eyes a pint of Guinness with a 'should-I-or-shouldn't-I' expression while touring the brewery storehouse in Dublin on May 18. In the end, she politely refused a sip. The host didn't seem to to be offended, which is a good thing since many Irish people have long been offended by the mere presence of the Queen. This tour to Ireland, the first by a British monarch since the country's independence, was judged a "game-changer" by British Prime Minister David Cameron. (Reuters/Tony Maxwell)
Prince Albert II of Monaco kisses Princess Charlene of Monaco during their wedding in the Main Courtyard of the Prince's Palace on July 2. In subsequent days, people would return again and again to the wedding pictures, looking for evidence that -- as reports suggested -- the bride was desperately unhappy as she took her vows. In the months since, though, the couple has behaved like model royals. (Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images)
All the cheering that Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie could muster wasnt' enough to help his grandmother's horse, Carlton House, win the famed Epsom Derby on June 4. The Queen has had only a handful of horses good enough to challenge for Derby crown in her almost 60 years on the throne, so hopes were high as the horse entered as the favourite. It wound up third and the Queen's drought for one of horse racing's most prized titles continued. (Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett)
"You dust your shoulders off twice," was the instruction by Vanessa Boateng, centre, as she coaxed a dance move from Prince Williamn during a reception at Centrepoint's Camberwell Foyer on Dec. 21. The Duke of Cambridge obliged, resulting in an image that caused a few chuckles both inside and outside royal circles. Kate seemed to enjoy seeing her husband loosen up a bit. The couple were visiting Centrepoint, a UK charity that provides housing and support to improve the lives of young homeless people. (Ben Stansall/Getty Images)
We leave you with an image of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge taking a canoe ride at Blachford Lake in the Northwest Territories on July 5. Water, woods, lake, canoe ... there's isn't much that doesn't say 'Canada' in this photo. (CP/Nathan Denette)


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I enjoy shooting photos of football. There�s an excitement along the edge of the football field when you�re walking up and down along the line, hearing the coaches yelling into the field (you really don�t want to know what kinds of things they are yelling, sometimes) and hearing some of the conversations flying back and forth between players who are watching the action.
I enjoy shooting photos of football. There�s an excitement along the edge of the football field when you�re walking up and down along the line, hearing the coaches yelling into the field (you really don�t want to know what kinds of things they are yelling, sometimes) and hearing some of the conversations flying back and forth between players who are watching the action.
And I understand what�s happening on the field. Mostly.
I also enjoy shooting basketball. There�s a lot of action and drama going on around by the hoops. It�s great watching those young men and ladies shoot down the court, smacking that ball against the boards in an angry dribble while evading all comers. And I was born in Indiana. Doesn�t that mean I have to love basketball?
But I�ll tell what: I don�t understand the game.
I mean, what is going on out there?
Now, I realize there are certain givens in the game:
* The point is to throw the ball through the basket as many times as you can.
* If you are a male with a shoe size under 16XXX, you probably didn�t make the team.
* Ain�t nobody going to win �Dancing With the Stars� wearing a uniform like that.
* Somebody out there really likes ear-splitting buzzers.
Everything else is a confusing blur.
To my uneducated mind, basketball is something like Ping-Pong on testosterone with a lot more players: Guy A grabs the ball and runs up the court, throwing at the basket.
Guy B grabs the ball and runs down the other side of the court, throwing at the basket.
Repeat for about two hours.
I know there is a lot of strategy going on. I just don�t understand it.
It�s like NASCAR. I know there�s a lot going on but, for all the world, I watch a NASCAR race and feel for all the world like I�m witnessing high-speed golf.
It took me days to figure out why some baskets get two points and others get three. I understand the part about foul shots (if that�s what they�re called), where you stand in that circle while an Honor Guard stands to either side of you. You bounce the ball three times � not four, not two, but three � and make your shot. If you make it, you get a point. Sometimes you get to throw twice. I suppose it could be because whatever foul brought it on was especially heinous; it could be that the referee just likes your smile.
I do not understand what the fouls are about. I am watching what seems a perfectly civilized game when suddenly a referee blows a whistle (he doesn�t throw a yellow hanky. Why doesn�t he throw a yellow hanky?) and everyone lines up for the Honor Guard Foul Shots.
Did somebody get elbowed? Pushed out of bounds? Trash talked? Or what?
I have always enjoyed the crunching sounds that come out of football and I think they could add to the visceral charm of basketball if they would give those guys standing on the line dull-edged swords. Then they could fight for the ball after the foul shot�s done.
Then there�s the thing where the game seems to be going fine and a whistle is blown, possibly because the referee happened to have the whistle in his mouth when he sneezed. Then a player stands on the side and throws the ball to someone. I stand there wondering, why did they just break up the game to do that?
And the guy always throws it to someone on his own team. Always. I can see the strategic advantage in this, but doesn�t anyone fear a kind of School Elitism is at work?
They sometimes mock me at the office for the inefficient photo captions I provide with my basketball shots (�Jamie Cherry runs down the court planning to do something with that round, brown ball�). But it�s hard to write what you don�t know.
I have to admit that I enjoy a violent edge in sports. I�m a guy, after all. I believe �Pride and Prejudice� would be greatly improved if Mr. Darcy would settle the whole issue with Mr. Wickham by pulling out a couple of Berettas.
What is more satisfying than the crunching sounds and the grunts as two lines of young men crash into each other, as seven men pile onto one little guy and a head goes rolling, lazily, from under the pile?
But I am striving to learn a deeper appreciation of basketball. I�ve already nailed some of the most important facts.
�For instance, that Michael Jordan is really fond of Hanes underwear and Hitleresque mustaches.


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I would like some feedback on what the average editor's pay is. Thanks Sherri
Well, I am one that edits about 500-600 lines an hour on ES, except for today! I put in about 10 hours an only achieved a total of 1800 lines. I had the worst day editing/transcribing VR in 5 years.
So, for all those who were feeling down on themselves or inadequate for not achieving that high line count on ES - for once I know the feeling. I had the worst of the worst dictators today that need 100% editing on every report, and we are talking 15 minute dictations here, all day long............I now feel your pain....!!!
Just thought I'd share~~ even the supposed fast money-making VR editors have terrible days in the MT industry! You are not alone. I think I have finally walked in someone elses shoes today!
On the bright side of things, there is always tomorrow!
Have a great night/day everyone :-)
They are just playing with words. Lies by omission. Don't buy it. The e-mail made it sound as though not everyone was getting a 30% paycut. That is true, not every employee was cut 30%. What the e-mail does NOT say is that some editors got more than a 30% paycut, and now the MTs are getting less of a paycut of 10% or 15% or whatever. They can call it what they want, but less pay is less pay.
This was once a good company that with a little tweaking would have been a fine company. Instead, things have gone downhill at a rapid pace. Instead of an American company with an Indian presence, this is an Indian company with an American presence. Also the person running things in the US seems a little unsteady, not sure exactly what the problem is, maybe too much responsibility, and when things are shaky at the top stuff tends to run downhill and you have a disorganized mess on your hands. Company does not seem to be professionally run. Next thing you know they'll be losing customers.
How many reports (acute care) or minutes should you be able to complete each day?
With respect to (office notes and clinic work), how many notes or minutes should you be able to complete each day?
Thank you for your time.
Is there a little emoticon for putting a finger down one's throat and retching?
Any Medware editors who left after the new pay structure, where did you go? Did you find another QA/editing position or did you go back to transcription?
I am not a bit surprised at your comment. There really is nobody at OSi that you can go to for answers. Management is clueless and lacks experience, the coordinators and editors lack experience. Very sad little company!! LOL
Anyone have information on this position for this company? Thanks
I sure wish you were my QA person. Where I work I never get feedback. Blanks in reports are filled (if possible), and I then look at these reports and take notes. Never a suggestion, never a tip, never advice. Feedback equals filling in blanks and that is it! Since graduating from one of the top 3 last year, I have been working for the same company. I believe there are a number of companies that give very little to no feedback. I feel that I am missing out on something when I read about how you give feedback and when others report about the fantastic feedback, advice, mentoring they have received after finishing school. There are not many companies that are willing to hire newbies, and this includes newbies coming from the top 3 schools. So if you end up in a position where you receive no feedback, advice, guidance from the experienced MTs, then what do you do?
I would really like to know how these MTs you have mentioned can keep their jobs when qualified people like myself who have a 99.7% to 100% accuracy rate cannot get their foot in the door despite having achieved a high grade in school. Most companies will not even talk to a newbie even when they apply with companies they find on the list supplied by their school.
Some of the QA people where I work have changed what I had transcribed because that is the way they were told to handle it even though the company supposedly adheres to the BOS, and I had done it the way the BOS said to. Even when company guidelines were issued, which adhere to the BOS, I find the QA people doing it their way, or in other words not adhering to the guidelines. One QA person says expand all dictated abbreviations so you get more lines, and now some other QA person says do not expand!
There are a number of things that need to be improved in the MT world. I think consistency in QA and in reference materials would be good. I also believe that a newbie should start out at a low cpl and be able to work their way up to an acceptable cpl provided they get mentoring, support and guidance. If they are on their own, like I have been, I think they should be making as much as those you QA that supposedly have 15 to 20 years of experience. I think that having acclaimed schools is not enough. There needs to be more done for the newbies to ensure that they receive further guidance, support, mentoring, and feedback on the job. Also, if the MTSO owners, account managers, supervisors, or whichever title they might hold would match their MTs better with the accounts/doctors, then I also believe each MT could achieve more than they are now.
The way many things are handled now it does not appear as if the best will survive. It appears as if the toughest will survive.
I just took a job with SoftScript as an editor. They require a little less than 1800 lines edited daily. Wondering from the experienced editors who work there how hard is it to obtain this line count and what is the true work atmosphere there? I know there are a lot of negative remarks about this company, but I would like to know from someone who currently works there now please. Any info would be appreciated.
MedWare changed the pay structure for editors about a month ago. We knew the new structure with the per hourly rate (single digit) plus incentive (under 2 cents per line) was insulting low. Then a message went out this morning from the Director of Transcription with the Editor payroll summation attached, and we find out that they changed our pay to exactly what they are paying the offshore editors.
I am sure this is great pay for the offshore editors, but really leaves a bad taste in my mouth knowing that I am paid the same wage when I have to review their work 100%. Of course, they are probably making more with the incentive then I am because I have to take the time to clean up their shabby work and make the chart ready for the client.
How do you like editing at Transcend? Are you making enough $ to make it worth your while? Are the drafts good enough?
Thanks in advance!


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At Penthouse.com you know what you are going to get- ultra-high "magazine" quality girls doing explicit things. When I saw the tour I recognized lots of famous girls but in the members area I realized they have tons of other hot new girls I had never even heard of or seen anywhere else on the net.
They also have a ton of old Penthouse stuff that goes back to the 1970's.
In the members area, they have navigation of 'Penthouse Pets', 'Videos', 'Galleries', 'Live chat', 'Reading', 'World of Penthouse' and 'Store.' They also have a calendar of their updates where it shows thumbnails of all their updates (7 days a week, nice!)
Penthouse Pets has a directory of Pets by year and by name going back to the 1970's.
Videos has about 100 full length movies where you can jump directly to the scene you want to watch. It also has behinds the scenes videos from Penthouse photoshoots and a bunch of hardcore feeds and a video on demand theatre. 'Live chat' has bi-monthly live video chat sessions with select Penthouse Pets and models and 'Reading' has dirty stories from Penthouse Forum.
Members of Penthouse also get access to PenthouseLetters.com, Variations.com and PenthouseForum.com most of which are erotic reading sites.
Overall, I would say if you are a babe/pornstar fan this is a great site to check out as it certainly has a lot of exclusive material and the navigation and design is top notch.


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Suppose you're standing on the main floor of the Cook Convention Center and you realize you had another question for someone at Company X's booth near the entrance to this year's Mid-South Farm and Gin Show.
Did Company X have that new widget you've wanted to see or was that Company Y? In the past, you probably would have had to walk back through the cavernous Cook Convention Center to the Gin Show entrance to see someone at Company X or find someone at Company Y.
Welcome to the new Mid-South Farm and Gin Show Mobile App. The app, which is being provided for the first time by Farm Press Publications and Penton Media Inc., will allow you to use your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Blackberry, Android or other web-enabled phone to receive up-to-the-minute news alerts and breaking information from the Gin Show.
The App for Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, which runs Feb. 25 and 26 in Memphis, will also help you:
- Navigate the Gin Show using an interactive show floor plan.
- Download exhibitor information.
- Organize your schedule.
- Stay in the know with show alerts and event schedules.
- Read the latest information from the many MSFGS educational seminars.
- Follow and join in on the Gin Show twitter feed at #GinShow2011.
"The new MSF&G Mobile App was developed by Penton Custom Media and has been used at some of the largest trade shows in the nation," said Greg Frey, vice president at Penton Media and publisher of Farm Press. "We believe this new technology will greatly enhance participants experience at this year's Farm and Gin Show."
Farm Press, a member of the Agricultural Group at Penton Media, publishes Delta Farm Press, Southeast Farm Press, Southwest Farm Press and Western Farm Press. Delta Farm Press is a cosponsor of the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show and publishes the Farm Show Magazine.
"Tablet and mobile devices, as well as smart phones are commonplace and are driving development of applications for those devices," says Tim Price, manager of 59th annual show that is sponsored by the Southern Cotton Ginners Association.
"Ours is quickly becoming an application-driven world. Programmers are rushing to develop applications to make our business and personal lives flow more smoothly. You can find an application for almost anything, from Facebook and Twitter to yoga poses and an app to track your receipts and expenditures.
"The Gin Show Mobile App is a way for exhibitors and attendees to get the most out of the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show. All of the information about the South's premier indoor farm show venue will be in the hands of many of the most respected and progressive growers in the Mid-south. The Gin Show Mobile App will provide multiple link opportunities for visitors to connect with a company before, during and after the show."
The mobile application will include daily alerts and breaking news; interactive floor maps; mapping to booths; activities scheduled; download capability (brochures, catalogs, etc); and social media interaction. The application will be available on all mobile platforms.
"We are keenly aware that farmers' use of mobile technology is increasing and becoming an important part of how they do business," Price says. "We are pleased to be able to give farmers and others attending the show a tool to enhance their experience at the show and better connect with vendors who provide the products and services they need."
To download the MSF&G Show Mobile App:
For iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad Users: From your mobile device, visit the app store and search for Mid-South Farm & Gin Show, or MSFGS 2011 and click on the "free" button to take you to the install screen.
For all other phone types, including Blackberry, Google Android and all other web-enabled phones: Point your mobile device's browser to http://m.core-apps.com/msfg2011/. From there you will be directed to the proper app download for your specific device.


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Discover a collection of high quality language schools around the world. Enjoy effective courses, expert counselling and superb rates, guaranteed.
Eurocentres teaches languages where they are actually spoken and offers language courses in locations on six continents. More than 13,000 students a year from all over the world make the language courses an intercultural adventure.
Eurocentres Language Learning – Our Mission Statement
The Eurocentres Mission is to prepare students to study, work, and live successfully in a foreign language and culture.We match our students with one of many excellent courses, where they can learn a new language and immerse themselves in a new culture at the same time. We help our students overcome cultural differences and language barriers, and we guarantee a memorable trip with achievements they can take away and keep for a lifetime.


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Jeremy Samuel necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 40 diseños de 15 diseñadores freelance.
If you want to lose weight naturally and easily, without changing your lifestyle or doing strenuous exercise, then Switch41 is for you. An all natural food, you simply take a scoop of Switch41 in the morning and allow the Chia Seeds and Spirulina to balance your digestive system and turn off your "fat switch" (an enzyme called gpr41) so that you only absorb what your body needs and shed excess body fat effortlessly.
The new web site is being built, so we need the designs completed bu Jan 2, 2011.
Anyone who wants to lose weight. In particular, people who have tried several diets and who's weight has yo-yoed up and down. Also, people who are "too busy to diet and exercise" yet need to shed a few extra kilos.
The key audience is women (even though the design has be still be appealing to men, women will be the main buyers). In particular, the sweet spot will be educated (degree or above), married, 1 or more kids, age 35-55.
(Note, there is a key sub-audience of body builders and other athletes, so the design can't be too feminine, it just has to be relatable/appealing to women.)
We need the following, delivered in editable format (psd) as well as in high resolution jpg:
- A new logo
- A style guide (colours and rations for graphical elements, fonts for on-line and print - this is obviously a text document)
- A business card design
- The cover of a book (the boo is half an a4 page
- The cover of a CD box and the CD label
The look we are aiming for needs to be appealing to women and men, especially in the 30-50 age range. We want a natural, earthy and yet clean feel. Green tones would be good.
Perhaps (this is optional) a plant, maybe fern leaf, motif may work, but this is not compulsory.
The key is to create a brand image and story that is inviting and has lots of credibility and is consistent across the various items and the web site.
The attached files are merely an indication of the current designs (which can be completely replaced... just for information).
- switch logo old is the initial logo that was created just in text
- switch logo idea is a very simple idea to incorporate the 41 into Switch41... again, just a guide, don't use it as a literal requirement
- photo 1 is the cover of the CD as it stands
- photo 2 is the current CD label
Initial submissions of just the logo design/colours will be considered - if one of these is chose then the remaining items can be created.


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Jason & Aaron share some of the mistakes they made in there journey, from making wrong hires and not listening to feedback when they really should of. This book shows you how to surpass plateaus and get off of the up-and-down revenue rollercoaster by answering three questions about growing revenue to tens times its size.
Why are you struggling to grow your business when everyone else seems to be crushing their goals? If you needed to triple revenue within the next three years, would you know exactly how to do it? Doubling the size of your business, tripling it, even growing ten times larger isn't about magic. It's not about privileges, luck, or working harder. There's a template that the world's fastest growing companies follow to achieve and sustain much, much faster growth.
From Impossible to Inevitable details the hypergrowth playbook of companies like the record-breaking Zenefits (which skyrocketed from $1 million to $100 million in two years), Salesforce.com (the fastest growing multibillion dollar software company), and EchoSign—
aka Adobe Document Services—(which catapulted from $0 to $144 million in seven years).
Whether you have a $1 billion or a $100,000 business, you can use the same insights as these notable companies to learn what it really takes to break your own revenue records. For instance, one of the authors shows how he grew his income from $67,000 to $720,000 in four years while maintaining a 20-30 hour work week and welcoming a new child—nine times.
This book shows you how to surpass plateaus and get off of the up-and-down revenue rollercoaster by answering three questions about growing revenue to tens times its size:
We rated the 90 experience:
Getting started is super easy. Just fill out simple quote request form and one of our video consultants will get back to you, fast.Create Video
15 Sale Street, Auckland Central, Auckland, 1010
149 New Montgomery St San Francisco, CA 94105


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On Friday, August 31, 2012, approximately 250 enthusiastic people crowded the streets of Barre to greet actor John Alexander (Teddy R.) as Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose campaign reigned again 100 years later. One woman exclaimed from the crowd, "Teddy Roosevelt for President!"
The crowd cheered throughout the speech, marveling at how timely some of the issues were for 2012. Since so many participants asked that "Teddy's" speech be published on our website, we are making it available here.
Many thanks for making this event happen: Bill Avery, Bellavance Trucking, Ben & Jerry's, Bob's Camera, City of Barre, Lost Nation Theater, Times Argus and the Vermont Community Foundation.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bob's Camera of Barre
My Friends, it is a very great pleasure to be here in Barre in Vermont this evening. I was driven here by the intrepid motorist from Burlington, Horatio Nelson Jackson who, just nine years ago, drove from San Francisco to New York and became the first ever to transverse this great nation in an automobile!
Friends, I have come here to Barre, the great Granite City of the Green Mountains to make my appeal for the Progressive Party. We proceed upon the assumption that the American people are fit to rule themselves and that only by them thus ruling themselves would it be possible to get real social and economic justice in this country. Now, if any man thinks that a boss can rule him better than he can rule himself, then he doesn't belong with us.
The principles which I champion I have not come to as a result of mere study in a library. I have come to them because I have lived and toiled with men and women, because I have worked with my chums, because I know how they live and how they feel.
Some have called me a socialist. What I can say is this: in our platform we have grappled with certain of the evils with which the Socialists have striven to grasp. The difference is that we are grappling with those evils in a practical way that will cure them and Socialists are chasing will-o-the-wisps. That is the difference. That is the first difference between us and them.
And, also tomorrow, you will read in the papers that some say that I am a Socialist or I am an Anarchist. Now, Friends, listen to me tonight. I am preaching neither anarchism nor socialism. I am preaching and trying to practice the policy of a square deal to every man and woman in this republic.
I recently received a letter signed by various socialists in this city who said, among other things, that the Progressive Party has taken some planks from the socialist platform. I want to say that if anything is right, I am for it and don't care who backs it up.
I am opposed to some of the socialists, those who preach hatred - but there are many who see existing evils and who are trying to find a solution for them. The trouble is that they are trying to take about 200 steps at once. I am in favor of taking two or three now, and then, perhaps, we will take two or three more when we can meet our needs.
We do not promise you the millennium. We do say that if you choose to put into power the old parties you will make no progress at all toward any solution.
Here in Vermont I feel that we have a peculiar right to appeal on behalf of the Progressive Party. You men and women of Vermont represent the very type of American citizen in whom we must trust when we strive to make this Government really a Government by the people themselves in the interest of all the people and not any one class of people.
From the days of Ethan Allen to the present the people of Vermont have sustained the same character for rugged independence and for the possession of a strong individual initiative combined with the ability to cooperate one with another.
The National Progressive platform, like your own Progressive platform here in Vermont, represents radically a new departure when compared with any of the political platforms of the last 40 years. But these principles are not new. They are fundamentally the principles of Lincoln, the principles of Washington.
What is new is that we Progressives are trying in good faith to apply these principles to the actual and vital needs of the present day instead of confining ourselves to praising our forefathers for having applied them to the needs of their day.
The old parties have confined themselves to thrashing over again the old straw. There is not one particle of hope for social or economic reform contained in the triumph of either of their policies.
Each is boss-ridden and privilege controlled. Each proposes sham remedies and tries to distract attention of the people from their real needs by the empty sound and fury with which they quarrel over false issues, and they serve no other purpose than that of screens, each for its own sinister alliance of crooked politicians and crooked financiers who rule and pillage with impunity.
We shall win this fight. And my plea to you is that Vermont, the Green Mountain State, which has always stood aright in every great movement of the past, shall take the lead in standing right in this great moment.
I make an especial appeal to the farmers of Vermont. Our platform alone of the three platforms shows an intelligent purpose to deal fundamentally with the causes that are at work to harm American agriculture and to diminish the full value of life in the open country.
Another plank of the Progressive platform which goes close to my heart is the one that deals with social and industrial justice. We pledge ourselves to legislation looking to the prevention of industrial accidents and occupational diseases. We intend to deal with the problems of involuntary unemployment and of overwork. We intend to secure compensation for men or women who are killed or crippled in industry; to prohibit sweatshops, to secure a minimum wage standard for working women, and a living wage in industrial occupations. We pledge ourselves to secure one day's rest in seven for all wageworkers, and an eight hour day in continuous twenty-four hour industries, the prohibition of night work and the establishment of the eight-hour day for women. We pledge ourselves to the abolition of the convict labor contract system, and the application of prisoners' earning to the support of their dependent families. We recognize in all matters such as these, women are as vitally concerned as men. We recognize that there should be equality of rights between men and women, and we are therefore for equal suffrage for men and women.
I will say that there are unmarried men and unmarried women who perform service of the utmost consequence to the whole people and it is equally foolish and wicked for a man to slur the unmarried woman when he would not dream of slurring the unmarried man.
I grew to believe in Woman Suffrage not because of associating with women whose chief interest was in woman suffrage, but because of finding that the women from whom I received the most aid in endeavoring to grapple with the social and industrial problems of the day were themselves believers in suffrage. For a long time I have been interested in such questions as the betterment of tenement house conditions, the abolition of sweat shop factories, the betterment of conditions of work and life of working girls in industry, the establishment of children's courts, playgrounds, and putting a stop to the employment of children in factories and other like matters.
Friends, our opponents have said that I go about the country preaching discontent and class warfare. I have never in my life preached hatred of any class except the class of crooks, and I have never preached discontent with anything except that which was wrong. I am bound to strive with all the strength there is in me to try to make conditions better, juster, and fairer and do what I can toward helping up men and women whom I see struggle painfully along because the road is needlessly hard for them. That we can make conditions of life such that it can be easier for the next man and the next woman to live their lives under proper conditions; to earn their daily bread in such a manner that they shall bring up their children to be fit for citizenship in this great republic of ours
I feel that we have the right to ask you in Vermont to be with us in this fight. Every crook and every boss, including the bosses in your own state, is against us. Let us stand for the people, not a part of the people but for all the people. I ask you to come with us. Young and old, veterans of the Civil War who fought for Abraham Lincoln and people's rights, we ask you to face the future and stand with us because we are standing for you and bringing near the day of social and industrial justice.
I thank you.


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Noonsolar.com is also your number one authority when it comes to general information about solar panels. Whether you want to know how they work, how to take care of them, or where to buy them, Noonsolar offers you all that and more.


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Adult Education
People learn continuously throughout their lives in formal or non-formal, or informal settings; at home, in the workplace, in the community or in learning centres and institutions. No matter when – or at what level you finished your initial education, you have learned something new since. Learning can take place on a daily basis in many settings.
Lifelong learning is a basic requirement for personal development and economic success, for individuals and society as a whole. People who take the opportunity to continually learn and develop their skills and capacities:
Demands on individuals' knowledge and skills are continually increasing. Globalisation, the technical revolution and the aging of society are the main challenges in our times. Ireland's ambition must be to become a leading economy in the knowledge based society. To achieve this, traditional methods of training and ways of working are being revolutionised. Today everybody has to constantly update qualifications to further develop skills on the personal level to be successful in the labour market.
AONTAS is the national adult learning organisation, and provides extensive information on learning opportunities for adults in Ireland. You can browse an online version of their current Information Booklet here
The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) is appointed by the Minister of Education and Science. Learners should always research what qualification they will receive upon completion of their chosen course. The two main awarding bodies in Ireland are;
The Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC)- is the qualifications awarding body for third-level education and training institutions outside the University sector other than the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).
The Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) is the national awarding body for all further education and training / PLC courses in Ireland.
The National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) is a ten level system that incorporates awards made for all kinds of learning, large and small, whether it is gained in schools, the workplace, the community, training centre's, colleges or universities. For each level of the NFQ, standards of knowledge, skill and competence have been set out, defining the outcomes to be achieved by a learner seeking to gain a qualification.
For a more complete list of Awarding Bodies click here
Forms of adult education available.
Post Leaving Certificate Courses
Education and Training Boards (ETBs), through Colleges of Further Education throughout Ireland, provide Post Leaving Certificate courses in a wide range of disciplines and subjects. These courses are offered to school leavers and adults who wish to return to education.
PLC courses are designed to prepare students for work by giving them specific skills and training and also act as a stepping-stone to other third level qualifications at ITs, universities or other colleges.
The entry requirements for a mature student entering a further education course usually include either the standard Leaving Certificate or an equivalent qualification or experiential learning. Post Leaving Certificates (PLCs) are overseen by the FETAC awards scheme, and are free - they are funded by the Department of Education and Skills.
To read more about Post Leaving Certificate courses click here
Lifelong learning
There are thousands of courses run all over Ireland to suit the requirements of people of all ages. These courses range from one day hobby courses to those more aimed at providing essential continuous professional development for people in the workplace.
These courses can run as day courses or evening classes. Some are upskilling courses for general personal development, others provide essential workplace skills training.
More and more adults now chose to return to Third level courses and complete a Certificate or Degree program. Special facilities are available for Mature students (aged 23 or more) entering undergraduate courses in Universities, Institutes of Technology and Private colleges. Most colleges reserve places especially for mature students on a number of their courses. Special access courses are also available to help mature students prepare for life in third level colleges.
Distance Education is learning which is not linked to a physical location at fixed times throughout the academic year. It is fast becoming a new trend in education circles. The main advantage of this type of learning is that it can be combined with domestic and work commitments.
To read more about the various forms of Lifelong Learning courses click here
Literacy and Community Education
A significant proportion of the Irish population has low levels of literacy. The ETB Adult Literacy Scheme, which is operated across Ireland, allows people with reading and writing difficulties to gain access to literacy education.
People who attend the Adult Literacy Scheme come from all walks of life and have different reasons for wanting to improve their reading, writing, spelling and maths, whether it be self-improvement, job advancement or just to helping their children with their homework.
Community Education is Adult Education located in the community. It adopts a person centred approach as opposed to traditional education where all power and knowledge is centred around the teacher. It takes into account the life experiences of the participants as a starting point. Throughout the country, there a wide range of community groups offering courses at various levels to various groups. Some Community Education courses are accredited by various institutions, such as UCD, NUIM and Waterford Institute of Technology. Not all community groups are affiliated with the ETBs, so keep an eye on local newspapers, newsletter and community notice boards.
To read more about Literacy and Community education click here


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Curiosity Rover Heads for Mars main content.
by AMNH on
The biggest and most technically advanced rover to date is scheduled to land on Mars this Sunday, August 5, at approximately 10:30 pm PDT. The Astro Bulletin below, from the Museum's Science Bulletins program, follows Curiosity as it leaves the launching pad on Cape Canaveral and begins its journey to the red planet. Equipped with more gear than the two previous rovers combined, Curiosity is designed to collect and process samples and then distribute them to testing chambers inside scientific instruments carried onboard. Test results and images of Mars's surface will be transmitted to NASA through radio relays via Mars orbiters.
To see a model of the Curiosity rover, visit Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration before it closes on August 12.


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America's cutest federal charge gets feted at the National Zoo.
What do you get the panda cub who has almost everything? The National Zoo gave its cub a traditional Chinese celebration and, more importantly, a cake.
In conjunction with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, the Smithsonian's National Zoo feted its prized cub Bao Bao Saturday morning with a modified Zhuazhou . In the traditional Zhuazhou, objects are placed in front of the child and whichever object the child chooses will determine the child's future skills and life path.
In Bao Bao's case, zoo staff placed three posters in her enclosure with images of peaches (a Chinese symbol of longevity), bamboo (health) and pomegranates (fertility) painted on them respectively.
Bao Bao chose the peaches poster first. Zoo officials said in a press release that this means she will live "a long life as an ambassador for panda conservation," as per tradition.
Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai watched near the bamboo poster.
Bao Bao ended her Zhuazhou by playing by the pomegranate poster.
After the ceremony, Bao Bao was given a panda-friendly cake made by the zoo's nutrition department featuring her favorite flavors.
The tiers are made of frozen diluted apple juice and were dyed varying shades of pink using beet juice; frozen between the tiers were apple and pear slices, some of the pandas' favorite foods. The cake was decorated with flower appliques carved from carrots and sweet potatoes. In lieu of icing on the cake, a large number "1" carved from frozen diluted apple juice sat atop it.
Bao Bao's cake was decorated with a large number 1.
Bao Bao has been one of the zoo's most popular attractions since her 2013 birth. Earlier in the month, Bao Bao won the Smithsonian Summer Showdown , an online poll of the featured items in the museums' collections. Bao Bao beat iconic paintings of George Washington, the original Star Spangled Banner and the original recording of "This Land is Your Land" to be called "most iconic in the Smithsonian."
Similarly, thousands voted in an online poll to name Bao Bao last year . Her name means "precious" or "treasure."
Zoo director Dennis Kelly was happy with the public turnout at the cub's birthday.
"This has been such a fast year," Kelly said in a press release . "I remember feeling like an anxious father-to-be while waiting see if Mei Xiang was pregnant. Today, we are celebrating one of our biggest conservation successes. It's been amazing for us, our members and all of Washington, D.C., to watch Bao Bao thrive and grow. She is so much more than just a beautiful 44-pound cub. She represents decades of collaboration between American and Chinese scientists."
Smithsonian also announced that Bao Bao's first birthday coincided with the premiere webisode of the Smithsonian Channel's Wild Inside . The webisode recounts Bao Bao's birth, first year and her role as a panda ambassador for conservation.


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for owners of Android gadget would have become a habit to search for android applications, android games, and android widgets. either it is free or paid, and usually you are download it from google play store.
when you are browsing with your Android phones it is easy, you don't need to confuse when you want to download the three types of application above, but how can if you want to download the apps on Play Store when you are using a PC or computer? What steps should you do to get the APK from the Android Market to PC?
and now i will give the answer how to download apk from google play store
and this tutorial that i share is the way that i often use to download apk from paly store if i was online using my pc or laptop. maybe this tutorial rather different from another tutorial but i have proved it, and this is works, are you curious? now lets go ahead to the tutorial.
PC / laptop or computer are connected to the internet.
you must have Real Apk Leacher. Download Tool Apk Leacher
you must have java runtime environtment 1.5.0. download here
Do you have prepare all the requirements? if you have benn do that, lets go to the next step
Tutorial How To Download Apk From Google Play To PC
- After you successfully download Tool Real APK Leecher above, please extract it and go inside you'll find one. Exe file named Real APK Leecher, please run the file (make sure you have download the Java Runtime Environment / JRE 1.5.0 if you have not already download that, it will automatically download the JRE 1.5.0 first).
- To use this tool, you need enter your market account and Device ID.
For the first time Real APK Leecher option will display three lines that you have to fill, that is email, password and device ID , To get your Device ID, just simply open dial pad, press *#*#8255#*#*. If it opens "GTalk Service Monitor", find lines that begin with JID and Device ID. Your gmail account is JID, and your device id is a string that after android- prefix Please see the two pictures below:
- If the option that you must fill had been completed, then the next will open interface Real APK Leecher, the next step please find the application / game / theme that you want on column Android "Android market by search" you can choose vendor name, package name or custom, after you enter the application you seacrh then it will display the applications that you typed before, wait a moment so that will appear suite of applications you are looking for earlier. The way to download : click the application you want to download (click the row so that the color become blue) right click (there are three options download this app, download the app icon and the view on google play.
if those tutorial didn't work for you go to this tutorial, but this step is rather complex then above, paste this url to your browser http://adf.ly/EOJEC.
I have tried it and it is works great!
Thus tutorial how to easily download APK Google Play to PC that I often use, but please keep in mind Real APK Leecher that download this app command will only be active if the application is really free, to download paid APK from Google's Play for PC you must visit the play store directly. see you in next tutorial for android.
Rating: 4.5/5 based on 972 reviews
Android developers, i prefer samsung device than any other vendors. add me Unknown on google plus to get more android news and tutorial update
Thanks for visiting tutorial for android blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment
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20 komentar:
- bye for now..:) said...
works good.. thanks i had real issues with Cyanogen 9 and Play store.. thanks a lot :P
- August 7, 2012 at 10:38 AM
- AndroidRomania24 said...
it says check your internet connection...and i am on internet ,wtf?
- September 3, 2012 at 7:55 PM
- Davis Becklin said...
i'm sorry
it is work for me, and the people that above your comment.
- September 3, 2012 at 10:02 PM
- Rowen Gonzales said...
very good awesome thanks
- October 6, 2012 at 3:37 PM
- ENGRpk said...
Great tutorial, takes only 5 minutes to implement.. Thank you so much..
- October 8, 2012 at 3:29 PM
- Pawan Kumhaulia said...
you are cool. you are alike a good teacher,its realy works dude so thanks alot............
- October 10, 2012 at 3:49 PM
- Unknown said...
Perfect!!! It works on WIN 7 Home Premium 64 bits. Thank You Very Much..!
- October 17, 2012 at 7:39 AM
- anhadh said...
thanks dude.. its working in window xp.........
- November 7, 2012 at 5:15 PM
It works fine under Mageia Linux 2 with OpenJDK 1.7, just enter:
java -jar APKDownloader.jar
I advise you to use a temporary password.
- November 11, 2012 at 6:34 PM
- Christopher said...
for the guy who said ti still says connect to internet, you entered your device ID wrong. Edit>Settings, try again.
- November 20, 2012 at 8:13 AM
- Rohit said...
Perfectly Working. Better than other ways. Cool.
- November 20, 2012 at 4:32 PM
- davis becklin said...
thanks :)
- November 20, 2012 at 5:38 PM
wow dude its working thanks a lot
- November 23, 2012 at 3:33 AM
- Varun said...
Had trouble downloading since I had 2 Step verification turned on for my google account, once I disabled it, it worked like a charm. Thanks!
- December 3, 2012 at 1:48 AM
- Axel Vasquez said...
Varun, i've got 2 step verification and I create a password for specific application, the URL is https://accounts.google.com/IssuedAuthSubTokens#accesscodes
Regards, Axel
- December 10, 2012 at 11:41 AM
- Emmanuelson Sackey said...
This is awesome
Thanks a lot
My google play always crashes. This is my savior
Thanks so much
Love ya lots
- December 17, 2012 at 10:20 PM
i tried to enter the device id again as u told o the other but its still comin please check ur internet conection. anyone help me!!!
- December 19, 2012 at 11:20 AM
- Unknown said...
Thanks!!!!! works with easw
- December 25, 2012 at 4:51 PM
- Macoy Lopez said...
works great kudos sir!
- January 4, 2013 at 8:31 PM
- William Tanate said...
tanks men
- January 30, 2013 at 3:10 PM


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Classic, modern style. Smooth, refined form. Oh, and possibly the most obnoxious feature set possible in an alarm clock (aside from a clock that actually flees away from you): You must complete a jigsaw puzzle to deactivate the alarm. No cord to cut, since it's battery operated, and "recommended for ages 3 or over"—really, anyone old enough to wield a hammer.
Catalog Page [LatestBuyAU via RedFerret]


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The third installment of Serena Williams collaboration with OPI launched this month to coincide with Wimbledon. Unfortunately she didn't go all the way at the tournament this year but this part of her Glam Slam collection is definitely a hit with me. Serena experimented with different glitter shades and created these shades to wear alone for a pop of color or to layer with the glitter in the bunch; Servin' Up Sparkle. The other two shades are Your Royal Shine-ness, a metallic silver shade and Grape…Set…Match, a metallic purple.
I only applied two coats on each "nail" here and you can see Your Royal Shine-ness and Grape… Set…. Match do not need anymore coats but Servin' Up Sparkle could stand for another coat or two but even at two coats is still sparkling and gorgeous. The glitter lover in me loves this shade long time, very safe to say that this shade along with Spark de Triomphe are my favorites from all of Glam Slam shades.
There's one more release in the Glam Slam collection. The fourth and final installment of the collection will launch in August to go along with the US Open. I cannot wait to see what's next! What do you think of the Glam Slam releases?


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Whistler real estate agent Ann Chaisson sold a house in Creekside earlier this year for the bargain-basement price of $2.1 million.
Considering the owner, an American, had at first listed it for $3 million, you might think he was unhappy at the final price. But Chaisson said her client was very pleased, because it turns out he'd bought the house years ago at the peak of the U.S. exchange rate.
"He bought it for 55 cent dollars, so even after dropping the price by one third he still had a 20 per cent return on his money," Chaisson said Wednesday.
That kind of sale is taking place with increasing frequency in Whistler's largely recreational-based property market. It may explain in part why the mountain resort town has experienced a 3.8 per cent drop in total property assessments. On Wednesday, the B.C. Assessment Authority identified Whistler as one of four communities in the Vancouver-Sea-to-Sky region — along with Bowen Island, Sunshine Coast and Pemberton — that have experienced declines in overall assessments.
Chaisson, who works for RE/MAX Sea to Sky Real Estate, said after years of sustained increases in property values people might think a decline in assessments is a big deal. But her buyers are more concerned about property taxes than assessments, which don't necessarily reflect true market value.
"The people I deal with want to know what their taxes will be. They're going to be $5,000-$7,000-ish, and that's not for the big guys, that's for the average home. That's more important to me than the assessed value," Chaisson said.
Peter King has a similar view from a different perch. He and his wife Toni Leverett have owned their Bowen Island home for more than a decade. The modest home on one acre is assessed at about $628,000. Overall, assessments on Bowen declined by 6.9 per cent, the largest drop in the Metro Vancouver area.
But that figure means little to people who have no intention of selling in the short term.
"At this point I don't worry about the assessed value because there is nothing I can do about it," said King, who operates the public bus system on the island. "I'm more concerned about my taxes. Maybe in seven or eight years when we want to move it will be important, but even then it is all relevant. Assessments don't really matter unless you do something about selling."
King says prices on Bowen Island have declined in part because people forget that island living comes with aggravations such as waiting for ferries.
"We have people who move in here thinking its great and then sell six months later because they can't stand the ferry lineup," he said. "It used to be that our lower property taxes offset the fact we live on an island, but now our taxes are higher and we still have to deal with the ferry."
Chaisson said Bowen Island is difficult to buy into, so there are fewer sales. She's also not surprised assessments in the largely retirement communities of Sechelt and Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast have also declined by two to three per cent.
"Prices rose too fast there, and I think there's been a levelling off," she said.
Chaisson said the economic crash of 2008 has altered who buys in Whistler. Where once 45 per cent or more of all properties were bought by Americans, B.C. residents now account for 80 per cent of all sales. Six in 10 buyers come from Metro Vancouver, and many of those are getting good deals from American owners who can afford to sell for less because they bought when the U.S. dollar was much higher.
"Whistler is a recreational purchase. It is not the same as buying a home. We have a lot of properties that are owned by people in the U.S., as well as people in B.C. and the rest of the world. What we've seen over the last 12 months is a good negotiation by buyers to actually get properties at a price they are comfortable with."
Blog: www.vancouversun.com/jefflee
The map below shows the overall change in property assessment values in each city over the past year. The darker the colour, the more that city's overall assessment increased. Click on a city for more details.
Click on the map below to explore the priciest homes in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. The map shows the 100 most valuable residential properties according to BC Assessment in each of the Lower Mainland's four sub-regions: Vancouver-North Shore-Sea to Sky, North Fraser, South Fraser and Fraser Valley. Red dots are homes work more than $10 million, yellow dots those worth $4m-$10m, green dots those worth $2m-$4m and blue dots those worth less than $2m. Google Street View images are approximate and may not show the exact property in question.


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There's been a lot of talk about Facebook's valuation, but the real question behind that valuation, is how Facebook makes money and what its prospects are in the future.
First: The value of Facebook's reach shouldn't be underestimated. Facebook had 901 million monthly active users at the end of the first quarter — and it turns those users into dollars, primarily by showing them ads.
It had 526 million daily active users at the end of the first quarter, 41 percent more than the prior year. Users generated an average of 3.2 billion likes and comments per day in the first quarter, and there are more than 125 billion friend connections.
One key number: mobile is a huge driver of growth — the company now has about 500 million monthly average users. That's a potential source of revenue growth, but also a challenge.
The company only recently started running ads on its mobile platform, but it doesn't put as many ads on the mobile experience as it does on its website. Since mobile usage is growing faster than its overall usage, that means Facebook's ad revenue can't really grow as fast as its usage.
Nuts and bolts: Facebook generated $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011, up 88 percent from the prior year. While that growth is still impressive, it's worth noting that revenue growth is slowing — revenue grew 154 percent between 2009 and 2010. Growth continued to slow in the first quarter of this year — revenue increased just 45 percent from the year-earlier quarter.
And the company's earnings are bearing the weight of the costs of growing — marketing, administrative costs, research and development (R&D), etc. Net income grew 65 percent from 2010 to 2011, to $1 billion. But in the first quarter of this year those costs weighed on the company's balance sheet, pushing net income down 12 percent from the year ago quarter to $205 million.
How does Facebook make that money? The vast majority comes from advertising — responsible for 82 percent of revenue in the first quarter of 2012. The company appeals to advertisers with its reach, but even more important, the fact that it can target ads with "relevance," based on all the personal information users decide to share. Perhaps more interesting, Facebook can target ads with 'social context' — which means highlighting users' friends connections with a brand or business. And people are much more likely to respond favorably to a message if they know a friend has endorsed the brand or just "checked in" at a store.
What's the future of Facebook's ad business? It all depends on how well those ads work for marketers. But Facebook says that its potential share of the nearly $600 billion global advertising market is huge, because it doesn't just compete with other online display ads, but also can compete with traditional offline advertising. The big question here, is how well its mobile ads work, and whether they annoy users accustomed to an ad-free mobile experience.
The rest of Facebook's revenue comes from payments — Facebook takes a cut when users buy virtual goods on games — like a cow purchased for Zynga's Farmville. Users put in their credit card information to purchase those goods, and Facebook takes a 30 percent cut of Zynga's revenue, and a roughly similar cut from other companies.
How big a business is this? The worldwide revenue from sales of virtual goods is expected to hit $15 billion in 2014, and Facebook aims to get a growing percentage of that market. Right now Facebook only takes a cut of payments for games. But the company says it "may seek to extend payments to other types of apps in the future."
I'd expect retailers and entertainment companies to start offering more on the Facebook platform — movies, live concerts, and clothing — and for Facebook to start taking a cut. It won't be able to take the same 30 percent it gets from Zynga , but if say, J. Crew, starts offering shopping without leaving Facebook, if the social network takes even 5 percent, that could be meaningful to its bottom line.
-By CNBC's Julia Boorstin