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Figured this would be the best place to post this question....
Does anyone know if there is a new Back Orifice port in use these days?? Reason I ask is that I was running a honeypot that was showing an open port 31337, just to see if I'd get any BO traffic. I never did receive any traffic to 31337 specifically, but I did get 31117 on the same machine. Or is 31117 the default port these days and I was just not aware??
Any thoughts?

subset: commoncrawl


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Hard-hit communities benefit from research on long-term health recovery
More than $8 million in grants will support research to aid the long-term recovery in areas hard hit by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The grants represent the first time the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has funded research needed by local communities to support long-term recovery efforts.
HHS' office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response will administer the grant through the Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Rebuilding Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2013.
"We hope the grants provide a catalyst for the scientific community to put more emphasis on the study of recovery from disasters; much more research is needed to support decision-making in the long-term recovery process and ultimately to improve resilience," said Dr. Nicole Lurie, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response. "We anticipate that the findings not only will help community leaders make evidence-based decisions about recovery plans and policies in affected areas, but also that the knowledge gained can improve resilience across the entire country."
Over the next two years, research will focus on physical and behavioral health aspects of recovery, including community resilience, risk communication and the use of social media, health system response and health care access, evacuation and policy decision-making, and mental health.
The grants require researchers to share their findings with each other and the impacted communities. This approach will bring together networks of community members and organizations needed to foster a strong recovery and to improve resilience as impacted communities continue to move forward rebuilding.
Nine grant recipients will receive a total of approximately $5 million, and $3.6 million will be available to support additional research requirements and resources. Academic institutions and organizations receiving grants are:
•American College of Emergency Physicians (Irving, Texas) - approximately $444,000 to study how health care systems were impacted negatively before, during and after Hurricane Sandy, and to develop comprehensive recommendations on how to strengthen health care systems going forward to treat patients effectively during disaster events.
•Columbia University (New York City) - approximately $596,000 to assess how community-level factors such as economic development, communication and social connections influence mental and behavioral health recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and a second grant of approximately $276,000 to assess the resilience of residents of high-rise public housing in responding to Sandy's impact.
•New York University School of Medicine (New York City) - approximately $752,000 to assess the resilience and response of a complex regional health care system impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the evaluation of patient care during and after the disaster.
•RAND Corp. (Santa Monica, Calif.) - approximately $657,000 to explore how partnerships between local health departments and community-based organizations contribute to the public health system's ability to respond to and recover from emergencies and contribute to resilience.
•Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (Stratford, N.J.) - approximately $681,000 to examine how social networks within neighborhoods play a critical role in determining resilience of older Americans exposed to disasters.
•University of Delaware (Newark) - approximately $574,000 to identify critical factors that influence community resilience, and use these factors to create a computer program that supports community resilience in New York City after Hurricane Sandy.
•University of Maryland (Baltimore) - approximately $417,000 to determine how social connections in a community of Maryland watermen influence their individual behavior and how the behavior impacts disaster recovery after Hurricane Sandy.
•University of Pittsburgh - approximately $576,000 to study ways to minimize disruptions of access to primary health care services during recovery from major disasters, especially for at-risk populations.
The grants are being coordinated with others administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and are part of a broader effort by HHS to support public health system recovery from Hurricane Sandy.
Any suspected fraudulent activity pertaining to Hurricane Sandy grants or relief efforts should be reported to the toll-free NCDF hotline at 866-720-5721 or to the HHS office of inspector general through the "Report Fraud" form at www.oig.hhs.gov.
HHS is the principal federal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. ASPR leads HHS in preparing the nation to respond to and recover from adverse health effects of emergencies, supporting communities' ability to withstand adversity, strengthening health and response systems, and enhancing national health security.
To learn more about health recovery from Hurricane Sandy, visit www.hhs.gov/sandy. More information about ASPR and preparedness, response and recovery from the health impacts of disasters is available at the HHS public health and medical emergency website, www.phe.gov.


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T.I. On Last Call With Carson! (Says He Spoke To Chris Brown & Was Just Worried)
T.I on Last Call With Carson
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eGiving Anytime, Anywhere. Install the Faith Direct App!Install
Are you a church staff member?Learn More
Donating to your church has never been so easy.
Creating a Faith Direct account is simple. You can enroll online or by mail, so you can give to your church in a way that works best for you.
Give to any collection offered by your church; choose your credit/debit card or a bank account for payment. Schedule monthly recurring gifts or make a one-time gift at any time.
Our user-friendly online system lets you manage all aspects of your account so you are always in control of your donations.
because you'll be able to support your church every week. Whether you're out of town, unable to attend church due to weather, illness or a family emergency, your gifts will always be received.
that is available to respond to your needs by email, phone and online chat. Our dedicated customer service team is here to make your eGiving experience as simple as possible.
of knowing that your information is protected, every transaction is secure and that your donations are automatically transferred to your church. Learn More
to be used during the collection in lieu of envelopes or checks. Personalized cards are mailed to your home.
emailed each month with a summary of your upcoming donations. Faith Direct will also contact you by email and mail if there's a problem processing your donation.
of having an annual statement that details your generosity, and simplifies your taxes.
are abundant with Faith Direct's multi-platform donation system. You can use Faith Direct for anything from offertory to church event registration on your home computer, tablet or mobile phone!
that you are helping your church be more efficient, and have a steady, predictable cash flow to support the works that are important to you, throughout the year.
structure ensures that your costs aren't increasing with the growth of your program. Churches should not be penalized by percentage-based fee structures as their programs grow!
that a weather event, holiday weekend or bad flu season can no longer significantly impact your donations. Your church can focus on mission instead money.
that is available to respond to your needs by email, phone and online chat. Our dedicated customer service team is here to make your eGiving experience as simple as possible.
driven by a customized communications program managed by the Faith Direct team. Our multi-platform approach encourages eGiving as the preferred means for church financial support.
is our top concern. It is the highest priority in our operations and a constant consideration when handling all aspects of your account. We're PCI Level 1 Compliant and complete an annual SOC 2 audit. Learn More
available through our church administrator website gives you real-time access to your eGiving program. Access donation histories, run projected income reports and download files to import donations into your church management software.
help your church more completely meet the needs of your members by offering online registrations to dinners, classes, retreats and more. Our powerful event registration platform can be customized to meet your specific needs.
you can trust. As a leader in church eGiving for more than 10 years, Faith Direct has processed over $500MM in donations for more than 600 churches nationwide.
Have questions? We have answers!
This secure program works directly with your bank, credit, or debit card in the same way as other electronic funds transfer payments you may already conduct (such as utility bills or your mortgage payment). All transactions are processed electronically, debiting your bank account or charging your credit\debit card automatically for the amounts you designate.
No! We process only the amount you designate for your church, and only you can change the amount of money that may be processed on a monthly basis. We send an email each month with the details of your upcoming donations so there will be no surprises!
When you enroll in the Faith Direct program you can choose to have your monthly donations processed on the 4th, 15th, or both 4th and 15th. Your donations will be processed in one transaction for the total offertory, campaign and/or second collection donation amounts you have designated. Your church will receive your donations within five business days.
Yes, you can make changes to your account anytime by accessing your account online, by contacting our customer service team at 866.507.8757, by sending us an email or even by chatting with a customer service representative online. There is no minimum donation amount, or financial penalty if you cancel.
Faith Direct provides offertory cards to be used during the collection as a visible sign of your electronic donations. These cards are personalized with your name, church id number and church. These cards indicate your name and the name of your church. You will receive a packet of cards approximately two weeks after we receive your enrollment, and again each year on the anniversary of your enrollment. If you run out of offertory cards, you can request more at any time or print them here.
Set up payments to your church.
Don't know your Church Code? Look it up.
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Thursday, April 26, 2012
Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!!!
Ok! It's traced and tinted.... basted and ready to stitch!!!! "Spellbound" is going to be SO MUCH FUN!!
I'm going to try to complete it before Monday..........let's see if I can!!!! Could be a pipe dream, huh?
Janice has started sewing the blocks together, so we'll be ready to put it together as soon as I finish the embroidery. I'm planning on releasing this in a few weeks with the rest of the new patterns..... WHEW!! It's going to be a race to the finish!
I feel like I should say "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" !!! LOL!!!!
5 comments:
- Jeannine520 said...
It looks great, I can't wait to see it finished!!! :-)
- Thursday, April 26, 2012
- Monica said...
I'm really looking forward to seeing all your new patterns at Market...especially your guy quilt!
- Thursday, April 26, 2012
- Mama Pea said...
That looks VERY cool! You are killing me with these sneak peeks!
- Thursday, April 26, 2012
- scarlette said...
It looks like such fun. looking forward to the embroidery also.
- Thursday, April 26, 2012
- mary c said...
i love seeing these prior to stitching, it is easy to see how you colored them and your shading and all! LOVE! cant wait to get it (cuz i only have about 5 others of yours drawn and colored~!!!-theres no time to stitch!)
- Friday, April 27, 2012
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Bill Teuber prickles a bit at the notion that the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley legislation has forced major reforms within EMC Corp. "I think about internal controls all the time; I didn't need the law to get me to think about them," says the CFO of the $5.4 billion information-storage giant. For the past decade, Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based EMC has carefully tracked its financial results with monthly closes and updated forecasts, says Teuber. In the same spirit, his regional controllers have been attesting to their compliance with EMC's procedures since mid-2001 — before Enron imploded. Teuber has also been thinking about financial transparency since being promoted to CFO in 1998, breaking down revenue streams by product classes rather than broad categories, and disclosing the quarterly earnings impact of stock options as early as July 2002.
Yet by the end of the year, EMC will have spent more than $1 million and thousands of man-hours complying with two of the main statutes in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 — Section 404, related to internal controls; and Section 302, mandating CEO and CFO certifications of quarterly financial statements. Teuber won't even speculate on the price tag for full compliance, except to say "it's not insignificant." Moreover, he doesn't expect that burden to lift, thanks to ongoing testing and disclosure requirements. "Even maintenance mode will require a sizable effort," he says.
Like Teuber, CFOs across America say they are spending more time and money trying to shoehorn existing practices into legally acceptable formats. Forty-eight percent of companies will spend at least $500,000 on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, according to finance executives who participated in a recent CFO magazine survey. Unlike Teuber, however — who sees the increased internal-controls documentation as "a chance to get best-of-breed solutions in our sales offices across 50-plus countries" — other CFOs (nearly 40 percent) see the increased burden as having "very little" or "no effect" on their current processes. Moreover, only 30 percent believe the benefits outweigh the costs.
In fact, many CFOs, such as Borland Software Corp.'s Ken Hahn, who expects to spend $3 million on compliance — including having some 25 percent of Borland's employees sign papers "saying they're not doing anything wrong" — see Sarbanes-Oxley as nothing more than "an efficiency tax." Stephen P. Bishop, CFO of Berkshire Hathawayowned NetJets Inc., speaks for many when he says the "documenting and papering" of internal controls for Section 404 compliance will result in little "value-add." And E. Follin Smith, CFO of $4.7 billion Constellation Energy Group, goes so far as to say the law could eventually make the "fear of personal liability so great that managers are afraid to take risks on innovation."
Indeed, many finance executives believe that in seeking to curb the freewheeling ways of the likes of Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom, Congress has committed some excesses of its own. Part of the problem, of course, was the haste with which the law was written. "If Congress had given the [Securities and Exchange Commission] more time to promulgate the regulations and the SEC had given companies more time to comply, costs would have been lower," says Goodwin Procter LLP partner Steve Poss. Instead, by rapidly legislating a whole set of processes, the law has become a windfall for auditors and lawyers and a time drain on overburdened finance departments. Moreover, the liability implications have "put people so on edge that they're looking over their shoulders all the time to see whether they're perceived as doing the right thing, not whether they are doing the right thing," says LCC International senior vice president and CFO Graham Perkins. "I don't think the legislators really understood all of the adverse consequences."
Perception Versus Reality
It's hard to know exactly what Congress expected, since it did not assess any costs when it passed the law. That's not unusual, since "there's no formal process for Congress to calculate benefits or costs of legislation," says Thomas McCool, head of financial markets and community investment at the General Accounting Office. "Sometimes they try to get indications from various parties, but when it's something prospective like this, [costs] would be very hard to tell."
The SEC, though, is required to estimate the burdens associated with its information requests under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and so has offered some guesses at future costs in piecemeal fashion. Such guesstimates have been chronically low. For one thing, they are typically limited to disclosure activities, and don't attempt to quantify costs like software purchases, audit-fee increases, or management and staffing requirements. The agency also tends to lowball the number and costs of hours of external help involved. "Most professionals look at these estimates and laugh," says Poss.
Reg FD compliance, for example, was projected to add a maximum $49.5 million to total annual disclosure costs when the rule was passed in August 2000, but actually cost somewhere between $250 million and $450 million, according to a Securities Industry Association (SIA) study in May 2001. That divergence was in large part based on the SEC's assumption that hourly legal fees were $85 to $175, compared with the $450 to $550 the SIA reported.
The same mistakes plague Sarbanes-Oxley, says Poss. The agency's new assumption is that outside legal fees will run $300 per hour, a figure with which most CFO respondents concur. Poss argues that fees will run higher. "These are not quick consultations, and they're usually with senior partners," whose rates run from $400 to $700 per hour in most big cities, he says.
No doubt, the SEC's biggest miscalculation was its original estimate that Section 404 compliance would require an additional five hours' worth of work per annual and quarterly filing. The figures were too low "by at least a factor of 100" if not more, wrote Cary Klafter, director of corporate affairs for Intel's legal department, in a November letter to the SEC. "We can only hope that the Commission's burden estimates are not used for any substantive governmental purpose, since they are completely incorrect."
While the SEC typically receives few comments on such estimates, this one raised the ire of so many companies that the agency was forced to recalculate — ending up instead with an average 383-hour workload per company, for a total annual price tag of $91,000, not including additional auditors' fees. "We recognize the magnitude of the cost burdens and we are making several accommodations to address commenters' concerns and to ease compliance," the agency said in its final rules on Section 404, released June 5.
Those accommodations included changing the requirement to test internal controls from a quarterly to an annual activity (unless they are materially changed) and extending the compliance deadline from September 30, 2003, to fiscal years ending on or after June 15, 2004, for accelerated filers; all others will have a compliance deadline of April 15, 2005. The delay "was an effort to help reduce the burden in general, and help make sure it was done right," says SEC commissioner Cynthia A. Glassman. "We did not want a system where [companies] were going to have to redo things."
Just doing it the first time, however, will not be a picnic. While the year extension has prevented a lot of what SPSS CFO Edward Hamburg calls "unnecessary thrashing and spending," the rules make little accommodation for companies of different sizes and growth stages. And even the revised cost estimates are considered "low" or "very low" by more than 80 percent of survey respondents. That irks those who believe the SEC should be held to the same standard as the firms it regulates. "In Corporate America, if you make a bad prediction of what cost of sales or revenues are going to be in a future period, you're likely to get grilled by the SEC about why you thought it was reasonable," says Poss. "It would be interesting to see the same standard applied to regulators."
The Usual Beneficiaries
The yearlong respite reduces the need for outside help, and hence the cost. However, it won't change the fact that two constituencies — auditors and lawyers — stand to reap great gains as firms plow ahead. And given the uncertainty over what will get a pass from the SEC, the final tab is a moving target.
EMC has hired Deloitte & Touche to help sift its balance sheet and income statement into 30 processes (like sales and stock-option granting) and 250 subprocesses (like order taking, shipping, and billing), document them, test them, and package them into a central database for future audit purposes. But EMC's external auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, is also "part and parcel of the process," according to Teuber, giving informal approval to the firm's compliance strategy and fielding audit-committee questions on how well EMC is doing on compliance compared with other firms. (Companies can't use their external auditors to help them prepare the controls, but can consult with them on compliance strategies.)
Teuber says it's helpful to have two of the Big Four audit firms on the project. "It's all virgin territory," he says, "so you wouldn't want to do this in a vacuum." But those firms will be the ones collecting the bulk of EMC's $1 million compliance payments for 2003, excluding the final attestation fee.
Many of the Section 404 projects, such as documentation, are one-time efforts. But Sarbanes-Oxley is also guaranteeing audit firms a future income stream by requiring them to attest to the soundness of management assessment of internal controls once a year starting with 10-Ks filed on or after June 15, 2004. The final annual tab for that exercise is uncertain. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has yet to issue standards regarding how many controls must be tested, in what manner, and according to what criteria, so audit firms appear to be taking their time estimating the fees for attesting to internal controls. But so far, according to a Financial Executives International survey, CFOs expect to see audit fees increase 35 percent on average, and up to 100 percent at some companies.
What exactly audit firms will do to justify such increases is also cause for consternation. At Digene Corp., a Gaithersburg, Maryland, biotech firm, for example, president and CFO Charles M. Fleischman has watched his audit bill with Ernst & Young and other compliance-related fees increase by 72 percent for 2003. He is currently negotiating fees for 2004, which could jump by another 70 percent. And while he insists he has a good relationship with his auditor, Fleischman just wants "to understand what the scope of the work is — and how that matches up against the bill." So, before he authorizes payment for 2004, he is working with his audit committee and E&Y to determine exactly "what they are doing and where they are going to draw the line between assuring quality in financial reporting and just adding costs."
Legal costs are also on the rise, although CFOs say they are not generally as onerous as audit fees. Magma Design Automation Inc. CFO Greg Walker expects to spend an incremental $200,000 to $300,000 for legal work in the next 12 to 18 months, including efforts to monitor compliance, set up a whistle-blower program, and train employees. That's on top of an additional $750,000 in audit and consulting fees. On average, legal fees nearly doubled, to $404,000, between 2002 and 2003, according to an April survey by law firm Foley & Lardner.
Ranking low on the list of costs is software. Forty percent of finance executives say compliance will not affect their IT budgets, while another 25 percent say it will involve minimal IT costs, according to a CFO IT survey. "Tools are often bundled with consulting fees; I don't think [software is] an integral part of the solution," says Kim Roll-Wallace, vice president of consulting for The Johnsson Group Inc. EMC, in fact, uses Excel. "We've found it works quite well in this regard," says chief accounting officer Mark Link, largely because "everyone already knows how to use it."
Multiple Price Tags
Then there are the indirect costs. The requirement to disclose off-balance-sheet structures more clearly has encouraged some companies to bring these structures on the balance sheet and others to collapse them entirely. Financial experts have become hot properties now that companies are required to disclose if they have one on their board. Restrictions on nonaudit work that a company's auditor can perform has left CFOs scrambling for new tax consultants. Meanwhile, the whistle-blower provision has sparked untold numbers of costly internal investigations.
Of course, there's also an opportunity cost associated with compliance activities. In fact, 33 percent of respondents say they've delayed or canceled projects as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley. Internal staff development is the most common casualty. Moreover, executives say the focus on compliance has also left them frazzled, with less time to mull strategic decisions, as compliance efforts absorb more than 10 percent of a CFO's time in roughly 4 out of 10 companies.
One example of the strain: LCC's Perkins says he has made more lengthy and complicated trips, partly to spearhead compliance efforts across operations at more than 10 locations in six countries. "Instead of being a business partner and doing all the positive things you'd like to do, you're doing the negative things, like triple-checking a filing," says Perkins. In fact, he says he might have thought twice about taking his job at the $100 million wireless-services firm last January if he had known how much compliance-related work it would involve. "I did not anticipate when I joined this company that I would become a surrogate for the SEC," he says.
And this is just the beginning. About 35 percent of survey respondents expect annual compliance efforts to absorb at least $500,000 of their revenues and more than 10 percent of their time going forward, thanks in large part to Section 404's mandate for ongoing controls testing and auditor attestation. That's not counting, of course, the price of changing auditors every five years, as Sarbanes-Oxley mandates.
No one should look for additional relief from the SEC. Glassman says she believes changes could be a possibility "if we start hearing that companies are spending a lot of money to comply but there are no apparent benefits, or if we hear there are more efficient ways to accomplish the same objectives." However, there are no formal efforts under way within the government to test cost assumptions, and she says such a study would be hard to design. "It's a very difficult equation. The costs are explicit. There's also some distraction from running the business. But the benefits are very intangible."
No Guarantees
Indeed, survey respondents are about evenly split on whether going through the compliance process has yielded internal benefits, such as more-efficient processes or more respect for the finance department. "It's a constant struggle to try to get benefit out of 404 work," says consultant Roll-Wallace. "In any given company, about 50 percent is work that puts in best practices and the other 50 percent is a dog-and-pony show, putting everything into a neat package for the auditors."
There may be some external benefits, however, says Magma's Walker. The legislation has sped up his time frame for reporting improvements at the $75 million company, he says, but to good effect. "I probably do better deals with customers — the earlier you can detect issues, the better you can structure a contract," he says. And there may be spillover effects, says Borland's Hahn, who is hoping to leverage his new director of financial governance as a "process-improvement specialist."
As for the SEC's larger goal of improving investor confidence, though, there's little agreement on how that will be achieved. On one hand, "you're more confident that senior people are taking extra care to derive the best possible information," says Robert D. Spremulli, a TIAA-CREF senior analyst. But it's hard to see the direct effects of those sentiments, given the multivariate nature of the market. Indeed, major indices showed varying degrees of improvement on Sarbanes-Oxley's one-year anniversary, with the Nasdaq composite index closing up 30 percent from its year-earlier level, but the New York Stock Exchange, the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by only 8, 8, and 6 percent, respectively.
And many still question whether Sarbanes-Oxley is an effective inoculation against future financial frauds. "Just having a good control environment doesn't guarantee that people will act ethically," says Deloitte & Touche enterprisewide risk-service partner Stephen Curry. Enron's trading operations, he points out, were cited as a model for enterprisewide risk management in former Andersen partner James DeLoach's 2000 book on the topic. Those close to the company agree. "What allowed Enron to melt down was its culture, and I don't think Sarbanes-Oxley would have changed that," says Sterling Chemical Inc. controller John Beaver, whose Houston office is across the street from Enron's headquarters.
Even companies touched by scandal are skeptical of Sarbanes-Oxley's healing powers — at any price. Tyco, for example, is spending north of $5 million to comply with the act and generally clean up its image by developing new editions of its controllership guide and ethics manual. Still, "that's not to say that we can document routines and controls and be assured that nothing improper will happen," says corporate-governance head Eric Pillmore. "What we hope is that by doing this, we detect problems earlier."
Across the Board
With the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 raising expectations and liabilities for directors, it's no surprise that board-related costs are rising for most public companies — albeit slowly. To date, only about 14 percent of companies have seen those costs jump by more than 50 percent, according to the CFO survey, while 17 percent have not seen any hikes yet.
Those numbers are likely to increase as more companies confront higher directors' and officers' insurance premiums. Many are also in the process of adding new directors to comply with independence requirements and sweetening the pots for current ones. At its annual meeting in August, for example, Computer Associates International Inc. was seeking shareholder approval to boost the value of its annual directors' compensation from about $95,000 last year to $150,000 this year, and reversing its longtime policy of stock-only payments to allow directors to take up to half of that fee in cash.
"Board members, audit-committee members in particular, have been given a whole host of new duties," says CA corporate-governance head and corporate secretary Robert Lamm. (Audit committees, for example, must now oversee the auditors, preapprove any nonaudit services they provide, and decide how to classify nonaudit services in annual filings.) The fee increases "represent the time involved in additional documentation, for better or worse, and the checking of additional boxes."
A Silver Lining for Some
At this point, many companies are still performing low-tech risk-mapping processes to gauge the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley. But the technology sector has high hopes that soon that will give way to a need for new tools. In fact, First Albany technology strategy analyst Gerard Hallaren expects spending on compliance-related technology to grow by $8 billion to $12 billion in the next year. "We've seen a modest push from Sarbanes-Oxley so far, but I think the real spending will kick in at the end of this year," he says.
Content and document management tools, along with analytics, are likely to be among the first beneficiaries of the law, predicts Hallaren, since "auditors are going to have a hard time auditing lots of individual spreadsheets" in the Excel formats that many companies now use. Data-storage companies are likely to be next in line, as analytical and data-management systems become more voluminous.
EMC Corp., which recently debuted the "compliance edition" of its Centera product, is one of the companies waiting for the windfall. The product codes information with a unique identifier, and can automatically delete documents at the end of their required retention period. "It's more accidental offense than planned," says CFO Bill Teuber, "but any number of regulations out there…require more information to be stored, and clearly our products help in that regard."
Tough Act to Follow
In August, CFO Magazine E-mailed a questionnaire on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance to senior financial executives drawn randomly from our circulation list. We received 220 responses; 139 from executives at publicly traded companies. The results below represent a combination of both public and private company responses. Note: Numbers may not add up to 100%, due to rounding.
Not Adding Up
How realistic are the following cost assumptions made by the SEC? Note: Numbers may not add up to 100%, due to rounding.


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Magic Lamp. Flying Carpet. Palace Life. Racer
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The Racer features Bamboo Performance Technology making it moisture wicking with anti-odor properties, plus super comfortable and light weight. 160gsm Performance Jersey; Fitted; 26" body length on size M; Flat Athletic Seam; Scoop Neck with basic racer back; (55% Organic Cotton/40% Viscose from Bamboo/5% Elastane)


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Cougar pitching silences HU bats in double defeat
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 9:05 AM
The Huntington University baseball team was held to just one run in each game as it lost a doubleheader to visiting Mount Vernon Nazarene University, 5-1, and 9-1, on Tuesday, April 9.
The double defeat dropped the Foresters to 7-17 on the season, 7-7 in Crossroads League play.
The Foresters took their only lead of the day when they scored a run in the first inning of the first game, but after that it was all MVNU. The Cougars took the lead with a pair of runs in the third inning, tacked on two more in the fourth and scored an insurance tally in the fifth.
Adam Christner, who had two hits for HU, doubled to start the HU half of the first inning and stole third base before coming home on a Blake Ayers groundout.
Derek McKinney took the first game loss for HU, allowing four earned runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings.
Marc Bowers also had two hits for HU.
The Cougars got a home run from Sean Fleming.
Ben Hoar went the distance for MVNU, with three strikeouts and two walks.
The Cougars went right to work in the second game, scoring two runs in the first inning and putting up a big six-spot in the second before HU tallied its lone run of the contest.
Kenny McCambridge dominated the HU batters throughout the game, picking up six strikeouts against no walks while allowing seven hits and the lone run.
Bowers added two more hits in the nightcap for HU, and Ayers also had two hits.
The Cougars made quick work of HU starter Cory Walters, scoring eight runs, seven earned, on eight hits in 1.2 innings of work.


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Welcome to the ITRPV!
Thank you for visiting the official ITRPV website. This page is the communication platform for all related work and activities to create a common Roadmap for crystalline silicon photovotlaics.
We believe that future needs should drive today's development and strategies of both, the PV cell- and module manufacturers as well as suppliers of equipment, materials and services. The International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV) is created and regularly updated by the globally leading manufacturers of crystalline silicon (c-Si) products (wafer, cell, module). The objective of the ITPRV is to ensure constant cost reduction and efficiency increase through technology advancements in the performance of c-Si products.
Benefits generated through the ITRPV:
- Common path towards a sustainable PV market
- A guideline for the entire crystalline silicon PV supply chain
- Basis for cooperation among the supply chain
- Guideline for material + equipment suppliers
- Targets for R&D institutes
- Source for PV standardization
If you are interested in participation please contact us.
We would like to thank all our authors and supporters.


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|"Are you a wizard or not?"
The title of this article is conjectural. Although it is based on canonical information, the actual name is a conjecture and may be supplanted at any time by additional information released from canonical sources. If this occurs, please move this page to the appropriate title.
A waitress at an all-night café on Tottenham Court Road in London served two cappuccinos to Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley on the evening of 1 August, 1997. Harry Potter was also with them, but under his Invisibility Cloak. The waitress chewed gum as she worked and shot Ron a nasty look after overhearing him remark that her coffee was "revolting". She was then affronted when two more customers rudely waved her away when she shuffled over to take their order.
These customers were, in fact, the Death Eaters Thorfinn Rowle, and Antonin Dolohov; they had tracked Harry, Ron, and Hermione down using the Taboo curse. A skirmish broke out in the café, and a Stunning Spell Harry was aiming at Dolohov struck the waitress, making her collapse near the door as she was attempting to flee in terror. Afterwards, Hermione wiped her memory of the event, and the Stunning Spell was released once the trio Disapparated.[1]
Behind the scenes
- In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the waitress is portrayed by British actress Eva Alexander.[2]
- In the film, Harry Potter does not use his Invisibility Cloak and as such the waitress also serves Harry a cappuccino. When the trio is attacked by Rowle and Dolohov, the waitress is not present and does not notice anything amiss as she is listening to music on a headset in the back room. When she comes out, she is shocked by the devastation, and is told by Hermione to "leave." A Memory Charm is not used on her.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 9 (A Place to Hide)
- ↑ Eva Alexander at the Internet Movie Database


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While many smaller carriers did not survive the Great Recession, more did. And those carriers are now in position to take advantage of the ever-tightening capacity crunch that, by all accounts, will continue for the foreseeable future. If only they had the resources.
One of the changes that occurred due to the recession was a tightening of the credit markets – particularly a crackdown by banks on who can borrow money and the hoops they must jump through to get approved for loans. This has hurt all small businesses in the U.S., not just trucking companies, that need access to capital for a variety of reasons – to grow their business, to pay employees during difficult times, to replace equipment, etc. And now that line of credit has dried up.
But all is not lost and there is plenty of help out there, if you just know where to look. Here in Connecticut, there is a small construction firm, 2 Cuzn's Associates, that found just the help it needed and is now thriving because of it.
The company took advantage of a lending program offered through the Connecticut Economic Development Fund (CEDF), an organization that specializes in lending to "riskier" customers, the exact type of business that many banks will not touch these days. CEDF also provides counseling, business training, seminars, and more in ensuring that its clients not just survive, but thrive.
"We have to provide them with a very difference experience," says Donna Wertenbach, president & CEO of CEDF. "We might stretch payments out to get the payments into an affordable level. Whereas a bank might only go five years, we can do 10."
For Sonja Johnson, owner of 2 Cuzn's, CEDF was just what the struggling firm needed.
"We found out about them through [a local business group]. I was working on my business plan with them and they told me about CEDF," Johnson says. "I have taken advantage of some their trainings and classes, like Quickbooks. I think by working with CEDF, we'll be able to thrive."
Johnson, who launched her business in 2006, said she's used the loan money to purchase equipment and hire new employees. "I just needed the resources to move the business forward," she says. "I didn't have the money or capital to do it on my own."
CEDF is not unique in what it does – many states have similar organizations, and according to Tim Brady, an expert in trucking matters providing speaking and business coaching, training and educational presentations, it is a growing trend as state legislatures look to provide avenues for small business.
"There is a big push across many state legislatures [to develop programs]," Brady told me.
Brady, it should be noted, also writes the monthly Small Business Review column for Fleet Owner and is the Business Editor of Fleet Owner sister publication American Trucker.
"One of the things a lot of these non-profits do…is they are going to look at your business plan, [analyze] your business plan, and see [if there is a program that can help]," Brady adds.
So, what if you need help and a bank is unable or unwilling to work with you? There are several options available, but you need to be proactive. First, Brady advises checking with your banker. While the bank may not be able to assist you, it may be able to recommend options.
In the case of the CEDF, the majority of its clients come through bank referrals.
Second, Brady suggests checking with your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The SBDC is administered through the Small Business Administration. To find out more about the SBDC and find your local office, go to http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-development-centers-sbdcs.
Also, check with your local Chamber of Commerce or county, city or town economic development offices as they all may be able to provide leads for you.
"It goes with the old adage, if you don't ask, you won't receive," Brady says. "The one thing an entrepreneur trucker needs to be is assertive."
"What we do is, you come to us and tell us your story; tell us what you need, and we'll work with you," CEDF's Wertenbach adds. "Don't count yourself out; call and ask, because the world has changed. There is probably a lot more opportunity out there than you think."
Perhaps the best advice of all.
If anyone has specific organizations or groups that you've used over the years and would like to pass that information along to others, please leave the name, state, and website if possible, in the comments, and I'll post the information below this blog entry.


text:
The overall purpose of this program is to aid the traveling public by providing them with information of essential services available for their use along designated state highways. Our purpose is accomplished by allowing various businesses in the areas of food, gasoline, lodging and camping to have signs placed for the type of service they offer to the traveling public through approved specific signing. This site is easily used. If you have an interest in getting involved with this program, please read and follow these simple guidelines:
Download the Logo Brochure (PDF, 205kb)Download the Specific Services Signing (Logo) Application (PDF, 15kb)
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by email at email@example.com or by phone 410-787-5806.
707 North Calvert Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202-3601
Main Business Line – 410-545-0300
Safety Campaigns – 1-800-323-6742
For emergencies, call MDOT SHA's Statewide Operations Center at 410-582-5650.
Privacy Policy
About SHA
Frequently Asked Questions
Press Releases
Public Information Act


text:
Mayor's Office
Mayor Chris Beutler today voted at MLB.com for Lincoln native Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals to make this year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Voting ends today at 3 p.m. CDT, and the Mayor urged Lincoln baseball fans to cast their votes for Gordon by the deadline.
Gordon is one of the major league baseball players who played at Lincoln's historic Sherman Field. The Lincoln Parks Foundation is spearheading a $2.2 million fund-raising campaign for renovations at the field. Gordon and Lincoln native Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees are Honorary Co-Chairs of the Sherman Field Forever Campaign. More information is available at www.ShermanField.org.
Mayor Beutler's favorite baseball team is the St. Louis Cardinals in part because of his allegiance to his all-time favorite player Stan Musial.


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|"Owen O'Malley (JIRA)" <j...@apache.org>
|[jira] Commented: (HADOOP-1915) adding counters methods using String (as opposed to Enum)
|Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:08:24 GMT
[ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-1915?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12584279#action_12584279 ] Owen O'Malley commented on HADOOP-1915: --------------------------------------- Tom, it looks like your code won't work with counters that don't have their property file on the JobTracker. Is my reading correct? That should work, otherwise users won't be able to make nice counters in their applications. > adding counters methods using String (as opposed to Enum) > --------------------------------------------------------- > > Key: HADOOP-1915 > URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HADOOP-1915 > Project: Hadoop Core > Issue Type: New Feature > Environment: all > Reporter: Alejandro Abdelnur > Assignee: Tom White > Priority: Minor > Fix For: 0.17.0 > > Attachments: hadoop-1915-v2.patch, hadoop-1915-v3.patch, hadoop-1915.patch > > > Currently to use the counters from within Map/Reduce code Enums have to be used, the Enum class defines the group and the Enum itself the counter. Internally they are converted to Strings (the class name and the enum toString) and you can retrieve them as strings from the client API. > Using dynamic counters (driven by configuration of the map/reduce) is not easy with the counters Enum based API. For example, currently I have an Enum class with 50 enums and we have to map the cardinality to the counter name on the client. This is cumbersome. > This could be easily improve by adding a String based counter method increment(String group, String counter, long count) to allow use of the counters without Enums. > Internally this method already exists, so the changes are minimal. -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. - You can reply to this email to add a comment to the issue online.
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Designers and bloggers always try to search some new stuff on internet which help them to decorate their web pages and blogs in attractive and innovative ways.
To save their time and energy we collected a few Social Media Icons Set Free Download and the most interesting part is that these all are free for use but here is just a recommendation that before using these social media icons read out the designer's personal license agreement and specifications by clicking on the following integrated links.
The following socialize bookmarks packages include icons for several social networking platforms as youtube, facebook, myspace, flickr, stumbleupon, technorati, twitter, feedburner, wordress, digg, mix, windows live, ning, delicious, blogger, reddit, orkut, google, furl, yahoo, aol, mail, tumbler, yahoo buzz, google buzz, rss, linkind, aim, bebo, ebay, hi5, last.fm, and many many more.
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Socialize Media Icons
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These are 26 social media icons.
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This set includes different social icons.
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AJI 3D Set #2
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Grass Textured Social Icon
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3D Social Media Icons
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Extreme Grunge Garments Icons
These are 9 social bookmarks icons of .PNG format.


text:
Two bedroom, two bathroom condo in the Coronado Villas community that blends luxury and convenience.
Hello, I am Jason Belcher. I am a Real Estate Broker, REALTOR®, property manager, landlord, and real estate investor. I have been in real estate in one aspect or another since 1995.
My goal is to provide timely, thorough, and candid information to my clients so they may successfully navigate all aspects of the real estate transaction.
My real estate experience includes:
* Licensed Real Estate Broker, State of California
* Company Founder, Golden Realty & Investments, Inc.
* Member of the Board of REALTORS®, Santa Clara County
* Real estate investor/owner in properties throughout the U.S.
* Sold and shown properties throughout the entire Bay Area, from Oakland to San Francisco to San Jose
* Recognized as the #7 producer (out of 400) at my previous agency
General professional and life accomplishments include:
* Master's degree in Communication from Stanford University
* Winning the President's Award while a manager for General Electric
* Serving as a Navy Public Affairs Officer at the Pentagon
I look forward to serving my clients and working with you.
Best Regards,
Jason Belcher


text:
The London 2012 Olympics are a fading memory, but Campaign's A Listers just want to keep basking in the warm glow of its legacy and squeeze every last drop of feel-good factor out of it.
What happened to good old adland cynicism? Well, the Union Jack has enveloped it – at least, for the time being. But it must be said that the industry was by no means alone in believing that London's transport system would cave in under the strain, ticket distribution was a disaster-in-waiting and, as for stewarding… well, that was going to make us a laughing stock from Kinshasa to Kowloon.
One glorious sporting summer later and jaundiced views have been swept aside. Seb Coe, the man who called it right – "He didn't blink," Havas Worldwide London's Russ Lidstone observes – has deification virtually assured. Or maybe he would settle for a nice big marcoms job instead.
"He can join our project management team any day," OgilvyOne's Sam Williams-Thomas says. Better get the CV in before they change their minds, your Lordship.
"He didn't just deliver an amazing and winning pitch for the Olympics, but over-delivered on the pitch promises," ZenithOptimdia's Steve King concludes.
And Boris Johnson has turned into a national treasure and – dare we add – a prime minister-in-waiting. Indeed, in the eyes of a significant number of the industry's movers and shakers, he is right up there with the parachuting Queen. "We could all learn to take ourselves a bit less seriously and still get the job done," The Red Brick Road's Jason Lawes suggests.
OMD UK's Toby Roberts sums up the industry's collective emotions when he names "anyone connected with the Olympics or Paralympics" as his people of the year. "Magic," he comments. "Especially as it felt like so many people really wanted to believe that it was going to be a disaster before it happened. Then, quietly, everything started coming together and it just felt good to be here and to be British."
Post-Olympic patriotism – as well as a "we really showed 'em" attitude – are the recurring themes of this year's A List, even if heads are warning hearts that it can't last. The Advertising Association's Tim Lefroy loves the "post-Olympic halo" but suspects it is "fading fast".
Just now, though, OgilvyOne's Jo Coombs loves "being British", while MPG Media Contacts' Marc Mendoza and McCann Worldgroup's Chris Macdonald laud the pride the Games sparked. "Britain regained its cool in 2012," Mendoza says. "It never really lost it, but now lots more foreigners wish they were Brits than a few years ago."
At Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R, Alison Hoad thinks the Olympics really brought the Brits out of themselves. "The British do, after all, have a sense of national pride and can cry in public and speak to strangers," she observes. "So I'm not such a misfit after all."
What A Listers are really enjoying, however, is the way the Olympics have impacted on London, the place where most of them work. Dare's Lee Leggett and Saatchi & Saatchi's Kate Stanners confess that they have fallen in love with the capital all over again.
Meanwhile, Steve Davies, the boss of the Advertising Producers Association, and Clearcast's Chris Mundy reckon the Games have put a renewed spring in the city's step. "London looks and feels more vibrant than ever," Mundy exclaims.
Paul Kitcatt, the Kitcatt Nohr Digitas creative chief, feels much the same."The city found a new sense of itself this summer," he contends. "It was wonderful and long may it continue."
That, of course, all depends on how long it will be – if ever – before London's toilers revert to type. Maybe not long, if curmudgeonly Williams-Thomas isn't alone in his delight that the extinguishing of the Olympic flame means "not having to talk to families on the Tube commute to Canary Wharf."
For others, though, the Olympic spirit still burns brightly. ISBA's Debbie Morrison claims she's back in the swim again largely because of the Olympics, while OMG UK's Sam Phillips confesses to have developed an Olympics fixation that even The Sound Of Music's most ardent fans would find hard to match, having become a permanent fixture at every day of the Olympics and Paralympics.
"That's 22 Olympic sports, 15 Paralympic sports, two Paralympic ceremonies and thousands of memories," she boasts. And a severely damaged bank balance too, no doubt.
Among advertising's male members, the Olympics seems to have got the sap rising – among other things. Agency Insight's Andrew Melsom suggests BoJo may have set the tone by describing how the beach volleyballers "glistened like otters". Phew! Pass the cold towels.
The summer heat seems to have got to Leo Burnett's Giles Hedger, whose favourite app is "the one where you press that big gold button in the middle of the screen and the Team GB synchronised swimming girls appear at your side like dolphin nymphs bearing flutes of chilled Krug on a hot day when a big meeting has just been cancelled". Sorry Giles, we seem to be having problems downloading this one.
What really seems to have caught the industry's attention, though, is how the Olympics turned out to be as much a creative event as sporting one. "I love the confidence and creativity we showed the world," Leo Burnett's Tony Malcolm declares.
Richard Madden, the Kitcatt Nohr Digitas strategy chief, marvels at how the Olympic opening ceremony managed to "revive the mood of the whole country for less than the cost of a decent chocolate bar launch". And Coe gets BETC London's Matthew Charlton's man-of-the-year award by a country mile "for proving that £10 billion on global marketing of Great Britain works".
Danny Boyle, the ceremony's ringmaster, produced an extraordinary pageant that reminded everybody – according to LBi's Luke Taylor – that the Brits are "a tad bonkers". Adland judged the event almost exclusively in creative terms. The verdict: an unalloyed Boyle triumph. As Atomic's Richard Hall points out: "He nailed it."
According to Madden, Boyle achieved it by having a clear insight into Britain, "surely one of the most complex brands in the world".
In fact, A Listers are unstinting in their praise of Boyle for showing great courage and – according to RKCR/Y&R's Mike Boles – he got it right "when it could have gone embarrassingly wrong". Thinkbox's Lindsey Clay is equal in her admiration for Boyle "because he had immense creative ambition and it totally paid off".
"Loved it when Tim Berners-Lee turned up to point out that, on top of all the Shakespeare and Elgar cultural stuff, we also invented the internet," WCRS's Matt Edwards says. "Take that, world!"
At DLKW Lowe, Charlie Snow describes Boyle as having painted a picture of Britain that "embraced the HappySad of life and at last allowed us all to feel unashamedly proud to be British".
Carat's Gavin Miller suggests the event was a transformational moment in the way Britain is perceived across the world. Boyle, he believes, "achieved global reappraisal of 'Britain', made UK naysayers Olympic fan-boys and launched the greatest show on earth with a playlist including the Fuck Buttons and Bonkers".
Meanwhile, senior creatives queue to shower their praise. VCCP's Jim Thornton calls the opening ceremony "the single greatest feat of creativity under the most daunting and intimidating circumstances I've ever witnessed". Fabula's Luke Williamson says Boyle took a tough client's toughest brief "and knocked it out of the park".
SapientNitro's Malcolm Poynton goes even further, acclaiming Boyle for having "achieved in one night what our entire industry strives to do collectively in a year!"
No surprise, then, that the effects of the Olympics and Paralympics have cascaded down to impact significantly on the A Listers' choice of their men and women of the year and the advertising that those events have inspired.
Bradley Wiggins – succinctly summed up as a "Mod on a push bike" by Rattling Stick's Andy McLeod – gets lots of A List nominations for man of the year. "Hard, humble and very,very cool," Bartle Bogle Hegarty's Ben Fennell says of the man who, as Weapon 7's Adam Graham points out, galvanised a nation. Oh, yes, he endeared himself even more when, as RKCR/Y&R's Jerry Hollens recalls, he did the "drawing the raffle gag" on the podium at the Tour de France.
No surprises about who is in the chasing pack. One, of course, is Jessica Ennis. "She faced an unimaginable weight of expectation and managed to combine superhuman sporting skill with being a nice person," Steve Henry says. Another is Mo Farah, who, according to Carat's Matthew Hook, "redefined what it means to be British in a way I feel proud of".
The Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds – "Tiny but mighty and scarily mature for one so young," McCann Worldgroup's Nikki Crumpton comments – is also in the frame. So too is the wheelchair athlete David Weir, who, according to MBA's Stephen Maher, forced everybody to take a reality check. "He single-handedly removed everyone's reason to complain ever again about such trivialities as the weather or the hangover."
A Listers are also warming to Andy Murray, the Olympic gold medallist and US Open winner who's a bit less surly than Kevin the teenager these days. "He dug deep," Clear Channel's William Eccleshare says. "And I was there."
Meanwhile, there's an honorary gold medal for Clare Balding, the undisputed star broadcaster for the Olympic month. "Human, insightful, funny and intelligent," according to the Radio Advertising Bureau's Linda Smith, while M&C Saatchi's Lisa Thomas praises her for "reflecting the emotions of the nation".
But who in the world beyond sport is attracting adlanders' admiration? Anybody who was out on the streets during the Arab Spring, according to Tim Delaney. Global Radio's Mike Gordon cites the International Monetary Fund's chief Christine Lagarde – "bright, intelligent and sorting out a hell of a mess".
The quiet dignity of Burma's opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi (above) also wins much respect and admiration. Lewis Silkin's Brinsley Dresden cites her "years of personal sacrifice", while Profero's Wayne Arnold calls her "truly extraordinary and inspirational. One of the world's great communicators."
And when it comes to selflessness, a lot of A Listers bow to Britain's most famous pensioner in her Diamond Jubilee year. "What an actress!" Chime's Sue Farr remarks, presumably recalling the Queen's Olympic arrival alongside Daniel Craig's James Bond. "Pure class," Martin Semmens at Elvis remarks, while Agency Assessments International's David Wethey praises her "dignity, energy and selfless service". But maybe Proximity's Caitlin Ryan sums up adland's feelings best, praising the monarch "for taking a risk with her brand that paid off".
Closer to home, two of the industry's high-achieving women win high compliments. One is Rosie Arnold, the D&AD's first female president. "She has helped put D&AD back on the map," Sir John Hegarty remarks.
The other is Nicola Mendelsohn, who has made the enhancement of the industry's skills base her priority during her IPA presidency. "Always so engaging and interesting," Initiative's Alex Altman observes. "And never without a smile."
Naturally, Ogilvy & Mather's Rory Sutherland zigs while others zag. "Everyone will put Steve Jobs here," he says when asked to nominate his person of the year. Well, no Rory, actually they haven't. Apart from SapientNitro's Nigel Vaz, that is.
And Sutherland's choice? None other than Rupert Murdoch, somebody a bit short of compliments at present.
Not that Sutherland is handing out many. "Like Kennedy/Nixon, everyone idolises one and despises the other, but I'd rate their achievements about equal," he writes. "But at least Rupe is nice to his kids."
As for the ads that got A Listers energised this year , we'll quickly eliminate Andrew Melsom's contender: "Coffin. Unwanted Christmas present. £100 ONO." And we'll move swiftly on from Kate Middleton's holiday snaps, the choice of Neil Ross at WCRS because "I've never wanted to buy French Closer before".
Others, such as The Observatory's Stuart Pocock and Walker Media's Phil Georgiadis, saw nothing to float their boats, while Gerry Moira at Havas Worldwide London declares: "I thought our Olympic efforts were particularly disappointing. It should have been our Super Bowl but it wasn't."
MEC UK's Steve Hatch was downcast at seeing so few ads to make him laugh, and it's true many of the most memorable commercials of the year were of the "pass the Kleenex" variety. The big exception was the Canal+ spot featuring a bearskin rug that becomes a film director – and that was French.
"My wife laughed so hard the water came out of her nose," Creature of London's Ed Warren says. "She's never done that for any of my ads."
Others featured in the A List unashamedly plucked the heartstrings, among them the John Lewis Christmas spot and – from the US – Clint Eastwood's "It's half-time in America" Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler featuring the country's auto industry rising phoenix-like from the economic ashes of Detroit. "It hits America in the heart," The Red Brick Road's David Hackworthy says.
You can take your pick of the other contenders high on emotion. There's the VW Polo "dad" spot that made MediaCom's Sue Unerman cry. Not easy to do with a tough "seen-it-all-before" media girl, we imagine.
And there's those "proud sponsor of mums" Olympic build-up spots from – of all people – Procter & Gamble, erstwhile masters of the product demo. These apparently reduced Carat's Matthew Hook to blubbering, even if the AA's Lefroy took a more dry-eyed approach. His verdict: "From idea to whole company philosophy. Transformational."
And the winners? Well all, in their different ways, take courageous approaches and have reaped the rewards for it in what is pretty much a dead-heat.
First off the ground is British Airways, which won much praise for urging customers not to fly but stay at home and support the Olympics athletes. "So brave to run an ad telling people not to fly when that's your business," MPG's Paul Frampton remarks. "Brilliantly executed across all channels and platforms too."
Next comes "meet the superhumans", the Channel 4 spot for which the A Listers almost run out of superlatives for the way in which it shattered previous perceptions of disabled people. "It made me burst into tears at my desk," a red-eyed Ben Middleton at Creature of London confesses. "A brilliant example of how advertising can reframe and reposition," The Red Brick Road's David Miller says. "It gave me proper goosebumps," M&C Saatchi's Camilla Harrison adds.
But perhaps Saatchi & Saatchi's Richard Huntington encapsulates the feelings best. "It primed the nation for the greatest sequel in our history and created the soundtrack of the Paralympics."
Running it close is The Guardian's "three little pigs", Bartle Bogle Hegarty's brilliant evocation of journalism in the information-everywhere age, even if it led some to ask what took the paper so long to follow up on its iconic "points of view" spot. "Utter genius and perfectly captures what open journalism is all about," Isobar's Penny Herriman says.
Certainly, David Pemsel, Guardian News & Media's chief commercial officer, has no doubts about what the film has achieved. "It was fantastically brave but, more importantly, it propelled The Guardian brand into the digital space where it rightly belongs," he declares.
Whether all this is the precursor to a more upbeat and confident marcoms industry remains to be seen. A Listers' natural instinct is to put the best possible gloss on events, although the words "challenging", "exhausting", "relentless" and "rollercoaster " appear regularly when asked to describe their year. However, we're at a loss to understand what O&M's Will Awdry means by "chewy".
Perhaps CheethamBell JWT's David Bell and Rapier's Jonathan Stead are the most candid, respectively describing their years as "the hardest I've known it" and "about as tough as it gets". For CMW's Liz Wilson, it's been like doing the Gay Gordons in high heels: "Lots of racing up and down and spinning around."
Much sympathy, though, to Moira. "I've been literally working my arse off this year and am wearing a prosthetic arse which is several sizes too big," he moans.
And doesn't your heart go out to Paul Hayes, the managing director at News International's NI Commercial, when asked what it's been like so far. "You're kidding, right?"
No surprise, then, that many A Listers shrug their shoulders when asked what the biggest change in adland will be in five years' time. "I couldn't predict this last time you asked the question and I'm afraid I'm no closer to the answer now," Engine's Debbie Klein confesses. "I haven't got a clue and neither does anybody else," Leo Burnett's Justin Tindall agrees.
Of those willing to take a punt, Steve Booth paints a truly apocalyptic picture, predicting "the rise of the machines. Think Terminator".
Steve Outhwaite at Creature of London has no less of a horrifying vision. "Publicis will sell to WPP, which will sell to Omnicom, which will buy the House of Lords and the Mexican restaurant chain Chiquitos." Sorrell salsa anybody?
"Everything will be digital, more agencies will be run from Asia," Group M's Dominic Proctor predicts. Anything else equally revolutionary? "Andrew Robertson will buy a belt."
And what of the film-maker Tony Kaye and his company, Above The Sea? "Above The Sea will take over and bring flaming pies and flowers and automatic automatism realisation to motion picture and sound storytelling." Try as we might, Tony, we can't get our heads around this. We think we'll stick with Sutherland's view. "Frankly, I'm getting too old for all this bloody change."
And what preoccupies A Listers besides work and worry? The latest apps, for one thing. Hailo, which lets you call a cab from your phone rather than stand on the street, is proving a big hit "because it makes me less likely to be Addison Lee's best customer", OgilvyOne's Annette King says. We also like the sound of CRAPP. "It tells you where the nearest loo is," Leo Burnett's Justin Tindall claims. Legs crossed you didn't make this up, Justin.
TV remains a stress buster. A Listers welcomed the return of Malcolm Tucker, a blasphemer of Olympic standard, to The Thick Of It, and Larry Hagman to Dallas. "He's still got it", David Bainbridge of Elvis remarks. Homeland and Downton Abbey have been big hits, although 101's Steve Waring still asks: "Is Mr Bates innocent?" Do you know something we don't, Steve?
Then there's the high body count of Scandinavian police dramas. ZenithOptimedia's Mark Howley admits to an obsession with The Killing's sweater girl Sarah Lund, while BBH's Jon Peppiatt admits that Scandinavian DVD sets are his constant train companions. However, it prompts Marcus Rich, The Mail On Sunday's managing director, to ask: "Is everyone a killer in Scandinavia?"
But football gives A List fans no relaxation. Stoke City supporter Jim Thornton can't understand manager Tony Pulis' refusal to buy a proper full-back. "It defies all logic and sense." PHD's David Wilding wants to know the whereabouts of the Wolves back four every Saturday. "They must be somewhere surely." We share your pain, chaps. It keeps us awake at night too.
The last words go to Rufus Olins. Well, actually, to Harold Macmillan. Asked to say what will be his downfall, the Newsworks chief executive chose to recycle the words of the former prime minister when explaining what was most likely to blow governments off course. "Events, dear boy, events," he replied. And so says all of adland.


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discernment - I am blessed.
As for health, I am still paying off medical bills from last fall and I am on medicine for life. (The doctors still want to do one more surgery, but I am saying no right now.) I just don't let the medical stuff get me down. I know I have days where I can't do anything and days that I get very little done. I looked at my very expensive, two week hospital stay as a weight loss camp.
As for income, my income varies and I make do with what I have. I do my best (and believe me it's a struggle sometimes) to have a written budget and stick to it. My budget is based on the minimum I need for bills. I went all winter without heat to be able to make payments on the medical bills. Last summer, I went all summer (even though temps were more than 100 degrees to be able to make payments on the medical bills.) One of the things that helps make things work is I am now debt free except for medical.
My motto of pay myself first - I do that. And sometimes it means working out a payment plan for a bill. And sometimes it means cutting back somewhere else in my budget to have the cash for a bill.
Don't let the bills get you down. Don't let your health get you down. Don't let the paycheck (or lack of one) get you down. The posting here about the plan keeps me feeling good about what I CAN do. And the focus is definitely on the "CAN DO" positives instead of the negatives.
Think positive.
IOBA -- you continue to be a great and positive inspiration to me!
Two points:
- DGF actually suggested the same thing your DH did about shaving the back of the neck. She has been an artiste and it extends my haircut for about a week or two. So good for him on the suggestion.
- Collecting rainwater brought back a dear memory for me. We used to do that back in my old home in Puerto Rico. Our utilities over there aren't as stable as they are here in the mainland. Without rhyme or reason, you could go a whole day without power or water, and sometimes both. So we always had containers of rainwater just in case the water went out and we needed to flush a toilet or two. You never realize how much water it takes to flush a toilet until you don't have any.
I love reading your updates, IOBA. Sorry I keep interjecting lol
Follow my financial journey: http://www.frugalrican.com
I read this whole thread and it has inspired me to do my best in my retirement and saving plans. How much a pay check are you spending to purchase a new CD? So if you purchase a new CD, do you also add to the current ones that you have? I am sorry I did not catch this information through out of thread. I am sure you posted it but I already have ADHD I tried my best.
Week six – wow – it just amazes me the changes we have made. I think the biggest one, that has had the MOST impact, was having a positive perspective of how much money we can save. I mentally use to be disappointed that we were only saving about $300 a month. For some people, that is a huge stretch. And for us, I felt we were really going without.
But since I turned that around, started to include the employer TSP (a version of the 401k program) contribution, started to count interest being earned, and actually took a hard look at the interest rates being offered by various banks for different products – my positive outlook sees a growing savings pile that was beyond what I thought was even possible!
We are more disciplined now than ever before. I do stick to my guns about things more too. In March and April, I stuck to my guns about the laundry. There were only so many quarters to be had. Period. That was the $10 I had budgeted for the month to do laundry. We use to hang up laundry before when we did laundry at home, no reason why we can't do it now. So what if we leave the laundry mat with wet clothes?
FrugalRican - I am going to Puerto Rico later this year! I am so excited about it. Everyone keeps saying it is so expensive to go. You can imagine I have already looked at where to get groceries and how to smuggle some cooking device with me in.
The hotel I am in right now does not have a microwave in the room. I am using the one at the breakfast bar. The front desk clerk was so surprised that I was actually heating up food that I had clearly brought from home, that she asked me if I wanted to make sandwiches or have something else to go with my rice & broth. (Thank you very nice front desk lady!)
See - good things can happen with a " just gotta do it mentality"!
ihatemyscore - thank you for the questions!
1. Each paycheck, I purchase a $100 CD at Navy. If I have a little extra, even if it's pennies, I add it to the CD.
2. When I go to the bank with loose change (left over from cash purchases) I add that to a CD. Navy and USAA allow you to add to existing CD's. Navy will let you add however much you want to add. I do that. And yes, I have been known to add as little as one penny to a CD.
3. With the first paycheck of the month, after I have bought the CD, I do an "even out" payment for each CD. Since the CD's have just earned interest, it's super easy to know how much interest it earned, and I add whatever is needed (under a dollar) to the CD to bring it up to the nearest whole dollar. (ie: CD is at 100.00, it earns 3 cents in interest, so I add 97 cents to bring the total to $101. Make sense?
4. Each paycheck, I put $50 into Ally bank.
5. About hte first of the month, I purchase a CD at Ally of $100.
So big picture, I purchase about $300 worth of CD's a month, and then do "even out" payments with Navy.
If I come into a little extra money, I put it into a CD.
With my savings plan, I have been building up some CD's a bit faster than just the even out payment. My goal is to get each one at Navy to $200. Once I achieve that, I will set a new goal.
I also ask, monthly, if there is a CD special. If there is, I find a way to get that CD.
Next question?
How much profit do you plan on generating from your plan? I am just about to join the Army and I want to do this after bootcamp.
@IOBA wrote:
I went to the bank today to get cash. Their computer system was down and she said I could not have any cash because the check I was depositing was no good (because she couldn't verify it) and she didn't know if I have enough money on my account. (eye roll – for real?) Then she told me to go use my ATM card to get cash from the cash machine and it MIGHT work. Um, if the computer system is down, how will their ATM be able to check my bank balance? It's on the same network! I looked at her and said I don't have an ATM card. She was shocked!! Lol – well, I really don't have one. Makes it easy to get cash or to spend.
- On the same note (this is important cuz we are going to visit friends, go to a graduation, and then TDY, so we will be on the road for the next week and half, thus the cash) – I asked DH how we are going to eat on the road all day with only $10. I wish you guys could have seen his face. It was precious. I am sure all those cups of coffee flashed before his eyes…so did his large Angus value meal…and chocolate chip cookies. He sighed. He looked at the pile of things I had pulled out of the cabinets and said, "I guess I can eat that. " Lol – is there something wrong with candied ginger, pumpkin seeds, and rice crackers?? I think not! So he actually, kinda got into planning out some of his meals for the week. FrugalRican – be proud of me now – I reminded him he could have a free breakfast at the hotel and make his lunch with the breakfast fixings. J That means planning dinner with ten bucks – totally doable. And he suggested we bring the crockpot. I could have wept. I am usually the food planner and packer and cooker.
Actually wanted to chime in about the ATM.
It actually isn't on the same network. You could lose the system internally at the bank, but the ATM is its own independent teller and its own independent system.
You just might not be able to see a balance on the transaction that reflects the actual balance at the time of the withdrawal. I've seen it happen a ton of times where tellers couldn't access their in-house system for these purposes, but the ATM worked just fine. It's a sucky setup though.
And looks like he is starting to fall into line with the planning.
I had a had time convincing DGF of this at first, but then she realized that taking some of the english muffins and wrapping it up with some of the other stuff from the breakfast, actually worked out quite okay. It's there and if it doesn't get consumed, it usually gets thrown out, so it's to your advantage!
Follow my financial journey: http://www.frugalrican.com
ihatemyscore - I don't have a "number" in mind for "profit". The overall goal is to save money and to put it in the best interest rate.
I do love seeing the amount of interest I earn increase each month!
Congratulations on going into the military! (We are Army too!)
My suggestions for you would be
* Pay into the GI Bill - it will pay off in spades! (It's like a hundred a month.)
* Put money into your TSP. At least 5% of your gross income!! Uncle Sam matches it.
* Put $100 a month into a CD. I use Navy - you can do their easy start CD that earns 2.96%, 3% APY. Just set up direct deposit, start with as little as $50, max 3k.
I know, that is almost all of your paycheck in the beginning, but it will give you a great return!
PM me with any specific questions. I'd love to help you figure out a plan to work with your new income.


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Mar 15,2009
Horoscopes by Holiday: Week of March 15
by Holiday Mathis
We are rounding the bend to the last few days of the astrological year. Friday the 20th brings the spring equinox and the solar return to the No. One son of the zodiac, Aries. Aries energy is zesty and full of promise. The day and night hours equal each other, nature boasts its new vitality, and if we give in to the spirit of spring we are likewise refreshed. Let tired old ideas go so that you can be mentally lithe as the birds.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Usually you work hard to stay positive. You strive to see things from the best angle, and when you can't, you ask for help from optimistic people. Give yourself a break this week. You are, after all, a human being with a wide array of emotions. Just see things as you see them, without judging yourself.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The destiny you want for yourself seems a little far-fetched, which is why it's good to keep it quiet. If you tell people and they don't agree you can make it, you'll be infected by their doubt. On the other hand, your private belief will make the impossible possible. You'll have to stretch to meet this fate, but meet it you will.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). It may seem as though fun and laughter are luxuries this week. Luckily, you don't have to pursue happiness in order to find it. In fact, following your bliss might be the last thing on your mind these days. You're doing what you have to do because you know it's right. Happiness just happens to be one of the byproducts.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Though everyone has to find their individual path sooner or later, this is no time to strike out and wander on your own. Right now it would be a waste of time, as there are stellar opportunities at stake. Work from a guide. Cull your inspiration from those who have already been to the promised land and back.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It's simple to achieve lightheartedness. All that is required is that you stick with your own mission and let others deal with theirs. You can still offer to help, but when you do, you may realize that some people don't want help, only attention and permission to complain. Saturday brings a joyful, wondrous occurrence.
THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS: You really are finding it easier to be you, to like you and to enjoy the quirks of your own personality. Perhaps this is made easier because someone near you finds you entirely adorable. In April, make a decision about what to discard to get ready for a big addition to your life. Your career path weaves and winds in June, and you'll meet interesting and inspiring characters along the way. You earn double in July. You will be finished with a pesky problem for good in August — what a relief!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Your personal rhythms change. Maybe you used to be a night person and suddenly you feel most productive in the morning. Or maybe the places that used to energize you seem stale and an entirely different environment gets you snapping along at an invigorating pace. Move with what feels natural.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Making improvements is practically effortless this week because you want what also happens to be the best for you. Even though technically there might be more work involved, it just feels fun to you. You could even acquire a taste for leafy green vegetables or literature that will last your whole life.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You're in top form. That said, all you can do is all you can do. When it works, great! If not, shrug it off. This is no time to start taking things personally. Assume that any opportunity you are not able to take advantage of wasn't meant for you. Keep reiterating that you are always in the perfect place at the right time.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). When you do what makes you feel comfortable, you make the world an easier place to inhabit for others, too. You create an environment around you that people can relate to and feel good in. You'll have guests and shouldn't be surprised if they never want to leave. Though inconvenient, this is a huge compliment.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You've been supportive of others — now turn those powerful thoughts toward your own endeavors. A reality check on Friday is liberating. You will find out the actual risk involved in an action so there will be no need for stress, worry or speculation. On Saturday, you will make your decision and then stand strong behind it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You know what's real when you see it. You're not afraid of frank truths and can quickly accept circumstances for what they are. However, your imagination is supercharged this week, too. Keep looking deeper into situations until you find the meaning, romance, poetry and harmony that you seek.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Oddly enough, people who are on top of the world and experiencing high-flying success may not be half as happy as those who are struggling. Much is going well for you now, but not all of it — and that's OK. Things don't have to be in perfect order for you to experience great joy. You'll laugh through the weekend.
Holiday Mathis is the author of "Rock Your Stars."


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No one in their right mind would characterise the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen) as an easy race but its stretches of cobbles aren't as long or brutal on equipment as those of Paris-Roubaix and the course doesn't get quite as muddy.
As such, most riders' bikes were essentially the same as those they run for standard road events but with some common tweaks and equipment choices, all aimed at the same goals: cushioning and durability over 262.3km of pounding, plus stability and traction on the uneven ground.
Some riders who normally run carbon handlebars made the switch to more damage-tolerant aluminium for their run at De Ronde but unlike at Paris-Roubaix, it was more of an even distribution between the two, with some riders even running integrated one-piece carbon bar and stem combos.
More unusual additions such as top-mounted brake levers were rare, but double-wrapped bar tape was common, with some riders also opting for extra padding underneath.
Tyres measured 24mm or more in width nearly across the board to provide a little extra float on the pave with the lion's share of them being produced by Vittoria, Hutchinson or Continental – Team Sky were one major exception with their boutique FMB treads.
Wet conditions at the start prompted most of the riders to request lower inflation pressures – about 90psi or so – though things quickly dried out so those numbers may have come up as the riders headed to the start line from the team buses.
Not surprisingly, hand-built wheels with box-section aluminium tubular rims (mostly from Ambrosio) were the most common configuration out there but carbon was still very popular, with the entire Rabobank, Saxo Bank and Cervelo TestTeam squads running composite rims exclusively.
Other high-profile riders such as Lance Armstrong (Team Radioshack) and George Hincapie (BMC) opted for them as well. And yes, one rider from Omega Pharma-Lotto was using Mavic's R-SYS Premium.
With but a few exceptions, the bulk of riders were on their usual road framesets. Saxo Bank's Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL3s appeared to be fully standard issue as did Cervelo TestTeam's S3 aero machines. Omega Pharma-Lotto's fleet comprised a mix of carbon and alloy chassis and we saw but one proper 'cross bike in the mix under one of the BBox Bouygues Telecom riders.
Omega Pharma-Lotto bikes comprised a mix of carbon and aluminium plus one specially painted rig for team leader Philippe Gilbert
A bit more variation was found in forks, though, with Team Radioshack running slightly longer crown-to-axle heights on their Madone forks (presumably with tips spliced in from another fork model) and some HTC-Columbia guys trading in their Scott Addict forks for ones from the company's softer-riding CR1 model.
Take a good look at these machines from Ronde van Vlaanderen now as things often change dramatically for this coming weekend's Paris-Roubaix. But then again, the weather forecast is calling for relatively warm and dry conditions all week so we'll have to wait and see what actually shows up on the start line.
Double-wrapped and heavily padded bars were a common sight at Ronde van Vlaanderen


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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Our first "green" Eat'n Park now open in Fox Chapel!
We are celebrating the opening of a brand new Eat'n Park location at the Waterworks Mall in Fox Chapel. In building this Eat'n Park, we've incorporated a few guest favorites that are popular at other Eat'n Park locations, including a takeout pickup window and outdoor seating. However, what really makes this location special is that it's the first LEED-built restaurant in the City of Pittsburgh.
Designed to reduce energy consumption and overall impact on the environment, LEED-certified buildings like this one often have unique (and sometimes not-so-obvious) features that contribute to the structure's energy efficiency.
The Waterworks Eat'n Park is no exception. It's packed, inside and out, with features that reduce our environmental impact. Some, like the 40-foot wind turbine that will generate some of the restaurant's power, will be obvious as soon as you pull into the parking lot. Others, like our induction stovetops, won't be visible to most visitors.
So, we thought we'd share a little sneak peek with you here. Just scroll down to see pictures of some of the outdoor features.
For a look inside the restaurant, click here to watch WPXI's video tour.
On the right, you can see our pick-up window, which makes Eat'n Park takeout oh so fast and easy. On the left, there's an outdoor dining area where guests can take advantage of the warm summer weather.
This is one of our new "green" features. We've installed drought tolerant landscaping that requires very little watering. However, during really dry spells, we'll use water from rain barrels like this one, which collect rainwater from the roof for later use.
We are encouraging guests to help reduce carbon emissions by offering reserved parking spots for hybrid cars and for guests that carpooled. We've also provided bicycle racks out front. Besides being good for the environment, riding your bike allows you to work off a few extra calories. Cookie Fudge Fantasy, anyone? Share
Posted by Eat'n Park at 10:22 AM
Labels: Sustainability
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About the blog
Throughout this blog, we hope to share a bit of our culture with you through stories, recipes, and other information that we think you'll enjoy. More importantly, we hope you'll share with us – we want to answer those questions you've always had about Eat'n Park (how did we come up with that name, anyway?) and we want to hear your ideas, feedback, and hopefully, a few compliments too!
So, please feel free to comment on postings that pique your curiosity. We'll do our best to respond to questions within 72 hours. Please keep in mind that we are a family restaurant; comments containing offensive language will not be posted.
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Join me every week for Win-It Wednesday, with 24-hour giveaways just for you!
Are you and the kids excited about the release of the Lorax next Friday?! From the creators of Despicable Me and the imagination of Dr. Seuss comes the 3D-CG feature Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, an adaptation of the classic tale of a forest creature who shares the enduring power of hope. The animated adventure follows the journey of a 12-year-old as he searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.
Danny DeVito lends his vocal talents to the iconic title character of the Lorax, while Ed Helms voices the enigmatic Once-ler. Also bringing their talents to the film are global superstars Zac Efron as Ted, the idealistic youth who searches for the Lorax, and Taylor Swift as Audrey, the girl of Ted's dreams. Rob Riggle plays financial king O'Hare, and beloved actress Betty White portrays Ted's wise Grammy Norma.
Today, THREE (3) lucky Deal Seeking Mom readers will win a Lorax Movie Prize Pack that includes:
- $50 Fandango Gift Card
- T-shirt
- Tote Bag
- Seedling
- Truffula Tree Pencils
- Lorax Mustache
- Lorax Activity Card
To enter, tell me your all-time favorite Dr. Suess story.
Every reader has four methods available to enter this contest. Choose one each of any combination of method one, two, three, or four for up to a total of 4 entries!!!
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(3) Lorax Movie Prize Packs as described above.
This giveaway ends at 8:00 am on Thursday, February 23, 2012 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older. I'll use And the Winner Is to select the winning comment. Winner will be notified by email and listed on my Giveaway Winners page. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize. Good luck!
While you're in a contest entering mood, don't forget to check out the Giveaway Gathering for a variety of contests being hosted on Deal Seeking Mom readers' blogs!


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Moderate alcohol consumption increases the risk of atrial fibrillation in older people with heart disease or advanced diabetes, says a study by McMaster researchers.
"Moderate alcohol intake, with or without episodic binge drinking, is associated with an increased incidence of atrial fibrillation in older and high risk cardiovascular disease or diabetes patients," said Dr. Koon Teo, an author of the study and a professor of medicine at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. "Among moderate drinkers, the effect of binge drinking on atrial fibrillation risk is similar to that of habitual heavy drinking."
The study was published October 1 by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heartbeat, is a concern because it increases the risk of stroke.
The findings come from a large study involving more than 30,000 individuals 55 years or older from 40 countries who had a history of cardiovascular disease or advanced diabetes with organ damage. Data came from the clinical trials which followed participants for four and half years.
Moderate alcohol consumption was measured as one to 14 drinks a week for women and one to 21 drinks a week for men. Binge drinking was classified as five or more drinks a day.
The incidence rate of atrial fibrillation rose to 6.3% of the low intake group, 7.8% in the moderate and 8.3% in the high intake groups. The increase in atrial fibrillation cases linked to higher alcohol consumption was found in each age group.
The report said that since moderate drinking is common for more than a third of the population, these findings suggest the effect of increased alcohol consumption, even in moderate amounts, on atrial fibrillation risk in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease may be considerable.
Limited data from other studies indicates that binge drinking in healthy people may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, although moderate drinking in healthy individuals does not appear to be linked to increased risk.
"Recommendations made about the protective effects of moderate alcohol intake in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease may need to be tempered with these findings," the report said.