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Customer Reviews
All reviews are from people who have redeemed deals with this merchant.
What You'll Get
Choose Between Two Options
$99 for basic real estate on-demand course ($279.95 value)
- 60-hour state-required Principles and Practices Course for Pennsylvania
$129 for premium real estate on-demand course ($344.95 value)
- 60-hour state-required Principles and Practices Course for Pennsylvania
- Real-estate math-tutors course
- Exam-prep
McKissock is provider #92183
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Apr 29, 2015. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person, may buy 1 additional as a gift. Limit 1 per visit. Must activate by expiration date on Groupon. Valid only for option purchased. No cash value. Not valid with other offers. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About McKissock
Since 1990, McKissock has been teaching students to navigate fields ranging from real estate to architecture through classes conveniently located in virtual classrooms accessible right from your own home. Courses unfold on an online interface with intuitive navigation tools and an array of special features, such as student chat. Classes award credit hours to students with the full approval of all regulatory agencies, opening up new career opportunities in industries such as home inspection or land surveying. McKissock's ever-growing course catalog helps novices leap into a promising new job through licensing, continuing education and professional development.


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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Oklahoma Christian University's Eagles on Wall Street class left for New York City on March 14.
During the university's spring break, 15 students and two professors will experience the Big Apple as part of OC's Topics in Finance course.
Students attend the Global Asset Management Education Forum, interact with Wall Street leaders and learn best practices in investment management. The event is one of the largest student investment conferences in the world with more than 1,000 students, 118 colleges and 110 speakers from 82 organizations.
"This trip is a great way to learn about the world's leading financial markets first-hand," said Associate Professor of Business Jody Jones. "Students will also get to experience the culture of New York City."
During the week, students will visit the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the Bloomberg offices, the World Trade Center, the Museum of Finance, the New York Federal Reserve and the Broadway debut of "Aladdin."
While OC students have attended the GAME Forum the last eight years, this is the first time a group has attended for class credit. The class includes a diverse mix of students with 13 business majors, two engineering majors, one math major and an international student from Burundi in Africa.
During the class, students also participate in the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute's Research Challenge and manage a student portfolio of investments. The class also discusses how a finance professional needs to be guided by his or her faith.
Last year, students were invited to help ring the bell at the NASDAQ closing ceremony. Next year, an additional business class at OC, International Finance, will travel to Washington, D.C., for a similar experience.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Jennifer Bryan joined Jones on the trip. Just last year, the two launched OC's first actuarial science program, which is available for students majoring in finance or math.
"New York City is the heart of the financial industry and the largest city in the country," Bryan said. "I can't think of a better way for OC students to learn advanced finance topics."
Recognized as one of the best universities in the western United States by U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review, Oklahoma Christian offers undergraduate programs in more than 60 fields of study, an undergraduate Honors Program, and graduate programs in accountancy, business administration, engineering, Christian ministry, divinity and theological studies.
The last nine years have featured the nine largest enrollments in OC history, including a record 2,424 students this year.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Pumpkin Fried Rice
- Green Peas Noodles (Homemade)
- Baked Rice
- Matcha Steamed Cake
* * * * *
Pumpkin Fried Rice (南瓜炒饭)
2 cups Cooked Rice
150g Pumpkin, peeled and diced
50g Okra, sliced thinly
50g Fresh Shiitake Mushroom, diced
1 Large Egg
1 tbsp Cooking Oil
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil (optional)
Pepper to taste (optional)
Salt to taste
- Heat oil in non-stick pan, add in diced pumpkin and cook until pumpkin is translucent.
- Add in egg, stir to break the egg and cook until the egg is set.
- Add in okra and mushroom, stir fry for about 1 minute.
- Add in rice, mix well with all ingredients.
- Add in oyster sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Stir fry for about 2 minutes (longer if using rice from the fridge).
- Scoop out a serving for the little one, and then add salt to taste to the remaining. Mix well and remove from heat.


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FleaMod Admin 7 years ago
Dear Fleaflicker Users,
Many of you most likely experienced more site and iPhone outages on Sunday, 9/19 -- for the Week 2 games (with the exception of the Sunday Night Football, Eagles-Falcons game). It is completely unacceptable on our end, but we're doing everything in our power to correct this and are confident it will be fixed this week and even better moving forward.
Here is an update on where we stand, what we're doing to correct the issues, and our plans for the future:
First off, our support staff (Ori and I) and full team of system engineers -- we have system engineers and a team who works on our hosting and servers 24/7 – are working around the clock to get all of the site issues fixed.
The issue from this Sunday, on 9/19, was not related to last week's outage. Despite significant upgrades and extensive testing after Week 1, a different component broke down and slowed the site significantly. All stats are updated correctly now and it was stabilized on Sunday evening.
We sincerely apologize for any of the trouble your league may have had. This week, we will be putting even more resources into fixing this new problem (that was of a different nature than the Week 1 problem). This should all be fixed for the Week 3 slate; Fleaflicker will begin to operate the same way that it always had on game days in past years – live scoring, quick browsing and a wonderful gaming experience. The last two weeks are not indicative of our site and service whatsoever.
What you have experienced are early-season glitches and tough for us to test and replicate until that traffic surge comes. Now that we have been able to get to the crux of the problem with the two surges from Weeks 1 and 2 -- and know what causes the issues on game day -- our team of system engineers can better enhance the site by beefing up the particular infrastructure and parts even more -- giving the site exactly what it needs; our goal is to fix these plaguing issues so they never happen again. We will be doing more extensive testing this week and putting even more resources into the site.
Once again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and are doing our absolute best – and working around the clock -- so this does not happen ever again. They are early-season glitches, but we're confident we will fix them in time to give you guys the best fantasy sports experience for the rest of the year and way beyond. If you stick with our product and have faith, you will not be disappointed. Our whole support team and large staff of system engineers are very committed to making things work and a fast and timely manner.
Please let me know if there's anything else we can do for you. You can contact us here, by e-mail (email@example.com) or on Twitter () or Facebook ().
Veritas 7 years ago
While I share some of your frusterations and have been guilty of posting said gripes on the forums over the past few years, I will say what I always end up telling myself. If you don't like it, shut up and pay $80 for a really good fantasy football site. People seem to forget (myself included) that fleaflicker is probably the best FREE fantasy sports site. Are there things we've begged Ori and fleaflicker for years to add? Yes? Is there things we hate about the site (message board**cough**)? Absolutely. But in the end, a bunch of people passionate about fantasy football got together and made this FREE service, and to be honest. It's pretty amazing. It seems to me that if people can't understand that 'sh*t' happens, errors are made, and Mr. Murphy is always around the corner, then that's a personal issue of just not liking it when the world doesn't revolve the way you want it to. To fleafounder, Ori, and the rest of the team on this site, in a time when people rarely hold themselves accountable for their own actions, kudos. The fact that you guys ponied up and took the blame is a reflection of your integrity. And that's probably the most impressive thing I've seen on this site. So thanks for the heads up.
WalkofDeath 7 years ago
Whether I get blocked or not I need to say... I got involved with fantasy football for the enjoyment, not the frustration.
When a player is designated as being a last minute (Brondon Lloyd) inactive and a person can't count on having access to the site to replace said inactive player, it takes away the enjoyment and competitiveness of managing teams at this site.
In past years, I had 11-13 teams that I managed on a yearly basis. Of those 11-13 teams, 4 of them were on this site and I not once experienced the issues that I have experienced this year here at this site.
Now life has gotten in the way of my Fantasy Football so this year I had to downgrade the number of teams managed to 5 so I defaulted out of 3 of my leagues here and kept only my Dynasty team here...
In closing, with all the technical issues I have experienced here this year, I may soon be defaulting out my one and only league here because like I said... dealing with these technical issues takes the fun and enjoyment out of managing a team here and brings with it frustration in life that a person does not need.
FleaMod Admin 7 years ago
If you want Lloyd swapped out of the lineup for Week 2, send me your league and I'll contact the commish for you. Also, send an email to our team and we'll take care of it to get you the correct points. Thanks and sorry about that mishap.
Signguy 7 years ago
They send this cheesy message & if you criticize them they block you from responding.... And refuse to send you messages. I use to look forward to football season thanks to fleaflicker I'm ready fir the playoffs. The only thing worse them your service is your customer service... Please copy and repost this because like a 5 year old they will erase & block me from responding.
fleafounder Admin 7 years ago
We definitely don't block anybody's posts. If you check our FB page it has lots of negative comments. We haven't censored a single one.
Facebook has built-in spam detection that blocks a lot of posts.
Feel free to speak your mind here I promise you won't be censored.
davidlallyjrs 7 years ago
My money says we will get some message following next week's collapse also
Signguy 7 years ago
They won't they'll just block us all from complaining & hide under there rock knowing they have us by the balls till next year.
WalkofDeath 7 years ago
I feel your fustration, but regarding your comment....
"they have us by the balls till next year"... unlike some of the other sites, you are provided with the option of deleting your team(s) at anytime here at this site.
[Deleted User] 7 years ago
well said and thanks!!
bigpeeler 7 years ago
No problems whatsoever. Still the best site out there. The problems that I've had with Yahoo and ESPN could fill volumes. Your little bugaboo pales by comparison, believe me. Keep up the good work.
WalkofDeath 7 years ago
Of course you can't "no have problems whatsoever" with the site if you can't access it "at all". Did you try to access this site during primetime yesterday? The last time I had site access problems at Yahoo or ESPN was when I was using dial-up which was eons ago. I never had access problems here at this site the last 2 years and now, with a changing of guard, there is no "Sunday Access" when "fantasy fanatics" need it most.
bigpeeler 7 years ago
Actually, when fantasy fanatics "need it most" is during their live on-line drafts which is when both Yahoo ans ESPN failed me. Their apparently overloaded servers wouldn't allow me (and others) access to the Flash/Java (whatever) draft screen. It would pop up but not open fully...until after the draft had finished and I had been autodrafted for. It wasn't my computer. It wasn't my Internet provider. It was them and it was never addressed by either site's administrators. Given those facts,I stand by my statement that FleaFlicker has my appreciation and patience.
WalkofDeath 7 years ago
Never had problems accessing drafts or drafting at either site... even in the early days of dial-up.


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Crested Butte Real Estate Market Leaders
Crested Butte Sotheby's International Realty and its brokers are of the belief that to market a distinctive home, condo, ranch or commercial investment requires uncommon knowledge and resources. Crested Butte Sotheby's International Realty and its brokers provide outstanding service to all clients and customers seeking to buy and sell real estate in the Crested Butte and Gunnison areas. Crested Butte Sotheby's International Realty and its brokers provide superior knowledge of the area including Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte, Crested Butte South and the rest of the Gunnison Valley. Whether you are searching the area for a ski condo, vacation home, place to build your own home, working ranch or commercial investment, or would like to know more about the Crested Butte area you can trust that the Crested Butte Sotheby's International Realty Team will guide you through every aspect of your real estate purchase or sale. Our Crested Butte Real Estate brokers keep you up to date with all of the latest real estate market news and local Crested Butte information. Make sure to check us out on all of our social media platforms to stay on top of the Crested Butte real estate market.


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NL Capsules
ATLANTA (AP) — Julio Teheran pitched six strong innings, Andrelton Simmons homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0 on Friday night.
The Braves, who have won three of four and lead second-place Washington by 5½ games in the NL East, retired former All-Star third baseman Chipper Jones' number before the game.
Teheran (6-4) allowed four hits, one walk and struck out 10.
The NL West-leading Diamondbacks have lost three of four. They were shut out for the first time since losing 5-0 at San Francisco on Sept. 26, a span of 85 games.
Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel earned his 23rd save in 26 chances. After Aaron Hill grounded out, Kimbrel walked Paul Goldschmidt and then Miguel Montero grounded into a double play.
Arizona's Randall Delgado (0-2) gave up eight hits, two runs and three walks in six innings.
MIAMI (AP) — Will Venable drove in three runs and saved one with a diving catch in right field to help San Diego beat Ricky Nolasco and Miami.
Logan Forsythe hit a two-run homer for the Padres and had three of their 15 hits. Edinson Volquez (6-6) gave up two runs in six innings for the Padres, who have outscored Miami 20-3 this season while winning all four games.
Nolasco (4-8), the subject of trade speculation, allowed six runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings to match or surpass his worst effort of the season in all three categories.
The Marlins' loss snapped a three-game winning streak that matched their longest this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — Ian Desmond doubled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning and Washington rallied late after a dominant Matt Harvey departed.
Harvey struck out 11 and left with the Mets leading 4-1 after seven innings.
Ryan Zimmerman lined a three-run double with two outs in the eighth that made it 4-all. The Mets used four relievers in the inning, and still couldn't protect the lead.
Jayson Werth, who had struck out in all three at-bats against Harvey, hustled for a leadoff double in the ninth against closer Bobby Parnell (5-4). Desmond doubled down the right-field line and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kurt Suzuki.
Tyler Clippard (6-1) won in relief and Drew Storen got his second save.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gerrit Cole overcame a rocky start to become the first Pirates pitcher to win his first four career starts in more than a century and Starling Marte missed getting cycle a few feet short of a home run in a win over Milwaukee.
Cole (4-0) gave up three runs in the first inning but no more as he made it through six innings, allowing eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Nick Maddox started 4-0 in his first four starts in 1907.
Johnny Hellweg (0-1) failed to get out of the second inning in his major league debut, giving up seven runs — five earned — in 1 2-3 innings.
Marte had a double and triple among his three hits, and just missed a homer in the eighth when he flied out to deep center field.
DENVER (AP) — Michael Cuddyer homered to extend his hitting streak to 25 games, Jhoulys Chacin pitched eight scoreless innings and Colorado beat slumping San Francisco.
Wilin Rosario also went deep and Jordan Pacheco had three hits for the Rockies, who moved within three games of Arizona in the NL West.
Chacin (7-3) earned his fourth straight win with another standout performance.
Buster Posey homered among his three hits for the Giants, who have lost five straight and seven of their last eight.
Giants starter Barry Zito (4-6) allowed four runs and 10 hits while striking out three in 5 1-3 innings.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Delmon Young had a career-high six RBIs, helping John Lannan breeze to his first victory with Philadelphia, and the Phillies got homers from Michael Young and John Mayberry while snapping Los Angeles' season-best, six-game winning streak.
Phillies All-Star first baseman Ryan Howard, batting .268 overall and .173 against left-handers, was given the day off by manager Charlie Manuel. Despite Howard's absence from the lineup, the Phillies ended up with a season-high 21 hits, including four by Michael Young.
Dodgers starter Chris Capuano (2-5) surrendered seven runs and 10 hits over 3 2-3 innings in his third start off the DL.
Lannan (1-2) gave up five hits over seven innings in his sixth start with the Phillies and third since coming off the disabled list.


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May 26, 1925 - July 25, 2013
Gardiner, NY
Phyllis A. Lenz of Gardiner, a former employee of Sterling Forest and a longtime resident of the area, died on July 25, 2013 in Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown. She was 88.
The daughter of the late John and Lily Finnerty Weaver, she was born on May 26, 1925 in West Milford, NJ. She was the widow of Raymond Lenz.
Survivors include her children: Karen Brennan Klepeis and her husband, Conrad of Haskell, NJ, Heather Lenz Petrollese and her husband, Steven of Gardiner, and Scott W. Lenz and his fiance, Lisa Montaperto of Wurtsboro; her sister, Ruth Gola and her husband, Edward of Lancaster, PA. She is also survived by five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation hours will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 27th at the Strong Basile Funeral Home, 4 Oak St., Greenwood Lake, NY. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 29th at Holy Rosary Church in Greenwood Lake, NY. Burial will be held at the convenience of the family.
Arrangements by Strong Basile Funeral Home 477-8240 or www.ocfuneralhomes.com.


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There's a lot of excitement around Android's latest version called Jelly Bean. Bundled with Nexus 7 tablet computer, this update brings along many new exciting features to Android phones. Competing head-on with Apple's upcoming iOS 6, this shiny new Android version is making waves across the mobile community. However, while Apple's iOS and the Droid are at loggerheads, attacking each other with patent claims and what not, Microsoft's dream OS, that is Windows Phone 8 is slowly catching up with them. Though not even half as popular as iOS, or even Android for that matter, Windows Phone 8 does offer some promising features. Moreover, its gorgeous UI and simplicity makes it a great alternative to Android and iOS. That said, is it good enough to take on Android? Will Windows Phone 8 be Microsoft's secret weapon against Android Jelly Bean? Let's compare them head-to-head and find out for ourselves.
Popularity, Hype, and Expectations
Android takes up a significant amount of the smartphone market as compared to Windows. Though Microsoft is slowly growing, its growth is nothing compared to the success Android enjoys. Therefore, it goes without saying that Jelly Bean is already considered as one of the most popular Android versions around. Windows Phone 8 on the other hand, doesn't get that much attention. However, Windows fans, which we're sure there are millions of them, might flock to this new attraction as it's based on the same technology as Windows 8. Also, Windows Phone 8 sales might not actually pick up until Windows 8 OS comes along. If, somehow, Microsoft comes up with a strategy to market their smartphones to Windows 8 owners, we might see some real competition. Other than that, despite being so good, Windows Phone 8's success is quite unlikely given Android's current dominance.
For Android users, the Google Play Store offers a great variety of apps. From popular magazines to thumb-tapping games, there's barely anything that Droid users can't get from there. However, that doesn't mean that Windows Phone Marketplace is far behind. Growing slowly and steadily, Microsoft's stock of mobile apps seems to be catching up with Google. In June 2012, Windows Phone Marketplace reached a whopping 100,000 apps, a growth that is even faster than what we saw on Android. The Play Store, however, sails smoothly with 600,000 apps in its repertoire.
If you're an Android or an iOS user switching to Windows Phone, you won't have much trouble finding your favorite apps. Most of the popular applications like WhatsApp, Yelp, Kindle, Skype, Flixter, Vogue etc. are already there in Windows Marketplace. If, however, you were looking for obscure games, or even big apps like Instagram and Flipboard, you'd be disappointed.
Summing up, despite the lack of many apps in the Windows Marketplace, it does offer a great selection of software, which might not be a big hurdle for anyone switching from iOS or Android to Windows Phone 8. Moreover, the Android Play Store has repeatedly become a victim of malware and viruses, a problem that the Windows Store doesn't suffer from. Having said that, the Android Play Store is still the leader in this department.
If you're an Android or an iOS user switching to Windows Phone, you won't have much trouble finding your favorite apps. Most of the popular applications like WhatsApp, Yelp, Kindle, Skype, Flixter, Vogue etc. are already there in Windows Marketplace. If, however, you were looking for obscure games, or even big apps like Instagram and Flipboard, you'd be disappointed.
Summing up, despite the lack of many apps in the Windows Marketplace, it does offer a great selection of software, which might not be a big hurdle for anyone switching from iOS or Android to Windows Phone 8. Moreover, the Android Play Store has repeatedly become a victim of malware and viruses, a problem that the Windows Store doesn't suffer from. Having said that, the Android Play Store is still the leader in this department.
The Windows Phone 8 comes with an interesting set of features. Here's a list of them compared head-to-head with Jelly Bean:
UI, Ease of Use
Though Android's new Jelly Bean UI promises a buttery smooth experience, Microsoft's constantly updating tiled UI manages to impress even those who hate Redmond. The most catchy thing about Windows Phone 8 is that it improves upon the Windows Phone 7 UI and allows users to customize their tiles according to their needs. So, if you are into messages, you can expand the messaging tile to make sure you are constantly updated about incoming messages. Also, you can have custom tiles for people who are close to you making the whole experience amazingly personal.
Android's Jelly Bean on the other hand promises a buttery smooth navigation along with a UI that is quite familiar to Droiders. Also, there are the new resizable widgets that make the interface even more customizable.
Overall, it's not that Android has an ugly interface or something; it's just that it is not as intuitive and simple as Windows Phone 8. For sheer simplicity and ease of use, Windows Phone 8 wins this round.
Maps and Navigation
Both Android and Windows Phone 8 comes with some great navigation capabilities. Both support offline caching and either of them can get you out of a bad traffic jam. That said, Google Maps integration with the rest of Google's services is something that Nokia Maps can never be able to outmatch. Despite Google Maps for Android winning the round, I'd say it's still a close competition between the two.
Compatibility and Availability
Windows Phone 8 is a completely new technology and it won't run on existing Windows 7 smartphones. So, if you're using a Windows 7 phone, you won't get updated to Windows Phone 8. Instead, you'll get the Windows 7.8 update that will bring some of the essential features of the new version whilst holding back features, which your phone doesn't support. According to Microsoft developers, with the 7.8 version update, your smartphone will look and feel like a Windows 8 Phone but it won't have all the advanced features like NFC that your phone doesn't support yet.
Jelly Bean on the other hand is available to only a few users. If you're a Galaxy Nexus or a Nexus S user, you're lucky; otherwise you'd have to wait a while. Similar to what we see in the Windows Phone OS roll out, Nexus S users won't get all the Jelly Bean features. In fact, when my Nexus S got updated to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), the Face Unlock feature was not included as my phone was too slow to run it. Overall, with the select number of users being able to see the update, this makes Windows Phone 8 the winner in this department.
Microsoft has always been the first choice of enterprise customers. And, Windows Phone 8 makes sure that its IT-savvy crowd doesn't switch to Android or iOS. With features like BitLocker Drive Encryption, secure boot, and IT management, Windows Phone 8 scores in a department where it has always dominated. Moreover, there's also the Company Hub feature that allows companies to have independent app distribution.
Though games like Temple Run and ShadowGun have won over many Android fanboys and fangirls, it's not as good a platform as iOS is for gaming. Windows Phone 8 however goes one step ahead and promises an even bigger gaming experience for its users. Windows Phone 8 will support gaming middleware like Havok Vision Engine, Autodesk Scaleform, Audiokinetic Wwise, and Firelight FMOD, and also native DirectX-based game development. Thanks to this, developers can port PC games directly to Windows Phone 8 without hassles. Also, Xbox being an established gaming platform will make Windows Phones even more popular among gamers.
Though both Android and Windows Phone 8 are yet to catch up in this department, we'd still give one point to Windows Phone 8 simply because it looks really promising as a gaming platform.
Overall, both Windows Phone 8 and Jelly Bean are solid mobile operating systems. They are powerful, fast and catching up really quick with iOS. That said, when compared head-to-head, there are many departments in which Jelly Bean simply steals the show. Also, Android's ever-surging popularity makes it a complete winner in this one-sided battle. But it would be too early to dismiss Windows Phone 8; it's simplicity, power, and compatibility with other Microsoft products might make it a dark horse in the battle for mobile supremacy.
Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.


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Value Line is regarded as the best independent research available. More than just recommendations, Value Line provides the rationale behind its picks for greater understanding.
Among the many features found in each week's edition of Value Line's Selection & Opinion service is a list of the seven best and worst performing industries over the past six weeks. These rankings can be found on the inside back cover of Selection & Opinion. The roughly 1,700 stocks in the Value Line universe are currently divided among about 100 industries. Notably, for the purposes of calculating these results, the performance of each stock is equally weighted to the others in its industry (i.e., irrespective of market capitalization).
The latest six-week period covered in our latest Industry Price Performance rankings was a decent stretch for the equity markets. The bull market has wobbled a bit in March, as investor unease has risen in the face of unsettling developments in Ukraine and concerns about the prospect of higher interest rates in the U.S. Still, the major market benchmarks managed to show modest gains for the six-week period end March 25th. The S&P 500 Index was up 2.5% over this stretch, while the gains on the more volatile NASDAQ Composite were a modest 1%.
In this environment, an industry needed to climb nearly 9% over the past six weeks to qualify for a spot in our top seven. The Power Industry rose 15.4% to take home the top spot, while a 13.7% advance by Newspapers was good for second place. Other groups helping to lead the market higher included Air Transport (up 11.3%), Railroad (10.9%), Semiconductor (9.2%), Semiconductor Capital Equipment (8.6%), and Retail Store (8.5%). In looking for investment ideas among these seven industries, we are taking a closer look at Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS). Along with Integrated Device (IDTI), Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC), SunEdison Inc. (SUNE), and TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT), this stock has been on a tear so far in 2014, helping to lift the Semiconductor group to its lofty standing in our industry ranks.
Skyworks Solutions offers high-performance analog semiconductors for a wide variety of applications, including automotive, broadband, wireless networking, and smartphones & tablets. The company was founded in 1962, but only adopted the Skyworks name in 2002 following a business combination. Skyworks, which is based in Woburn, Massachusetts, has engineering manufacturing, and sales operations in Asia, Europe, and North America. It generated 93% of its 2013 revenues in Asia, including 55% in China, though this mix is not necessarily indicative of the geographic end markets that drive demand for the company's products.
The company has compiled a strong operating record so far this decade. Annual revenues have more than doubled since 2009 (about 22% per annum), and will likely advance another 12%, to $2 billion, in fiscal 2014. (Year ends September 26th.) Increasing adoption of smartphones (versus traditional cellphones), rising demand for tablet computers, and an expanding product portfolio have helped to power this growth. Meanwhile, the top-line gains have flowed through nicely to the bottom line, which rose more than 38% in fiscal 2013, to $2.00 a share, and should climb another 13% this year.
Investors should note, though, that Skyworks' fortunes are closely tied to those of a couple of key customers. Specifically, Apple and Samsung, together, accounted for just over half of 2013 revenues, meaning setbacks at these two leaders in consumer electronics would likely reverberate through their supplier's operating results.
Meanwhile, finances are in good shape. Indeed, the balance sheet carries no debt, while the cash coffers have swelled to nearly $650 million, up from $306 million since the start of fiscal 2013. Too, operating cash flow usually exceeds capital spending by a comfortable margin. The company has typically utilized some of its cash for acquisitions that help to bolster the product portfolio and accelerate the push into new markets. However, 2013 was a quiet year on this front. Instead, the company stepped up its stock buybacks, leading to a 3% decline in the share base.
Overall, we think SWKS stock is a good selection for investors seeking exposure to the semiconductor industry. These shares clearly have momentum on their side, rising roughly 70% in the past year, and our Timeliness Ranking System pegs them to outperform the broader market in the six to 12 months ahead. Too, this equity trades at a reasonable valuation that leaves room for healthy price appreciation potential to 2017-2019, by which time we project annual earnings will have surpassed $3.00 a share. Notably, the stock's current P/E is just a shade below 19 (based on estimated 12-month earnings through the 2014 September quarter). This is nearly identical to the broader market, but a discount to the typical chip stock, which now trades closer to 23- to 24-times earnings.
That said, these shares might cause some unease for more conservative investors, particularly those with an income orientation. The stock has an Average (3) rank for Safety, but its Price Stability score of 25 (on a scale from 5 to 100) suggests it will be more volatile than the typical equity. Too, the company currently doesn't pay a dividend, as management appears to prefer keeping its powder dry for acquisitions or share repurchases. Our projections don't anticipate that it will initiate a cash payout in the upcoming 3 to 5 years, though we wouldn't rule out this possibility. Skyworks is one of the largest semiconductor developers (by market capitalization) that doesn't pay a dividend, and it will likely continue to generate healthy amount of free cash flow as we move into the second half of the decade.
At the time of this article's writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.


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Email: email@example.com
There has been a recent resurgence of interest in MathML, the rather granular XML language developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) HTML Math Working Group during the period 1996-2000, due to the availability of MathML-capable builds of the browser Mozilla, the open-source development version of the popular browser NetScape.
Compound fractions:
|{{a}/{b}}/{{c}/{d}} = {a d}/{b c} .
The formula for solving the quadratic equation a x^{2} + b x + c = 0 (in a field of characteristic ≠ 2):
|x = {-{b} ± SQRT{b^{2} - 4 a c}}/{2 a} .
Mixed function application and multiplication:
|{sin{ax}}{cos{bx}} .
Newton's binomial series:
|(1 + t)^{r} = SUM_{k = 0}^{INFTY}[ {r(r - 1)(r - 2)…(r - k + 1)}/{k!} t^{k} ] .
A differential equation:
|D^{2} y - 3 x (D y)^{2} = x cos x .
Stokes's Theorem in space:
|INT[INT_{S}[ (curl F · N) d sigma]] = INT_{partial S}[ (F · T) d s ] .
The continued fraction for the golden mean:
The representation
|Gal(\={Q} / Q)
of a centrally important object that one might choose to declare as the symbol "galQ". In this instance, however the expression is formed using the following three declared symbols:1
|Gal(\={Q} / Q)
There is a serious issue surrounding how one might migrate from traditional TeX-like mathematical markup, which uses reasonably succinct mathematical notation based on the long tradition of Western mathematical notation, to an authoring markup that is fully adequate for translation to MathML. For example, how can we automatically translate, with full confidence, the XML versions of the above mathematical examples into MathML? Or, if we cannot, what additional information needs to be added?
One possibility is offered by my draft on mathematical notation at the URL
|https://www.albany.edu/~hammond/gellmu/notation .
It attempts to explain what additional information is needed in this document to eliminate the need for guessing by an automated rendering system at work on these examples, as marked up in the XML version of this document. Note that no guessing is needed to render this document in either HTML, with mathematics set crudely but reasonably, nor to render it in LaTeX. (Perhaps one may not fully appreciate this latter point without examining the XML version of this document.)
For the purpose of assistance in automated rendering to MathML as well as for the purpose of supplying semantic information for computer algebra systems, GELLMU provides a metacommand mathsym2 for the formal declaration of mathematical symbols with the usage:
|\mathsym{symbol-name}{symbol-rendering}[symbol-meta-info] .
Here symbol-name is an alphanumeric string (case-sensitive) beginning with a letter. The second argument is the presentation rendering of the symbol in GELLMU markup. It is like the definition of a newcommand except that it may not involve arguments.3 The optional third argument symbol-meta-info is an alpha-numeric string that might also include possibly a few other string characters such as '/', '-', ',', '.', '*', etc. Its exact structure depends on the production system. For example, it might consist of (name, value) pairs for conveying meta-information about the symbol.
The syntactic translator replaces each invocation of a given mathsym with the specified rendering and writes for each mathsym definition a corresponding element in the SGML output whose content consists solely of the declared symbol name if there is no meta information but otherwise consists of the symbol name followed by a blank space and then whatever string of meta information is provided in the optional argument. Additionally, each invocation is wrapped in a rendering-inert Sym element whose key attribute reveals the name given to the symbol at the point of declaration (and by which the symbol is invoked). This makes it possible for a downstream authoring platform processor that has remembered the list of declared symbol names to match each invocation of a declared symbol with its associated meta information, if any, provided by the author in the symbol declaration.
A related feature in the didactic GELLMU document type is the mlg tag for marking mathematical logical groups. This is somewhat akin to the lgg tag for TeX-like logical groups, traditionally created in TeX markup with braces that are not attached to a command.4 As with lgg there is no obvious evidence of an mlg tag in a typeset rendering, but the presence of such a tag is intended as a signal to downstream mathematical parsers that the contents of the tag be given grouping priority as, say, with visible parentheses. Furthermore, the mtype and mml attributes of the mlg tag may be used to pass semantic information about the tag's contents to a processor.
The reader is invited to do one or more of the following:
point out inadequacies in my draft on notation.
improve my draft on notation.
provide code to format the above examples in MathML.


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RIAA: The Copyright Reform We Need Is To Make Everyone Else Copyright Cops
from the they-just-don't-get-it dept
But, that's not how the RIAA functions.
Rather than having a useful employee, like a VP of new business models, the RIAA has a VP of anti-piracy (I actually believe they have a few), and one of them, Brad Buckles, wrote the latest misleading screed against the safe harbors. The short version is basically: everyone else needs to prop up our business models by randomly taking down content that might, possibly be infringing. Of course, this makes no logical sense, no matter how much the RIAA wants to play pretend. Already, we see stories practically every day about how the copyright holders themselves -- including the RIAA -- send bogus DMCA takedowns all the time. And those are the guys who are supposed to know what's infringing.
And yet they magically expect some third party, who has no idea if the content was put up in an authorized manner or not to make that determination for them? Really? Do they not realize (or not care) what a massive chilling effect that would have on innovation? If service providers are required to proactively guess at what is infringing and what's not -- and face liability for guessing wrong -- then the obvious is going to happen: a lot less innovation in any service that includes user generated content. The risk of liability would be way too high. That may not matter to the RIAA, who has never been a fan of the internet, but it sure as hell matters to the public, who has received tremendous value from the internet. I'd also imagine it matters quite a bit to tons of musicians who are not a part of the RIAA machine, who now use the internet to have a better career than they ever had under the old system.
So, here's a suggestion for the RIAA, while they're laying off a bunch of staffers (despite giving boss Cary Sherman a hefty raise to $1.5 million per year). Maybe layoff the "anti-piracy" team -- since clearly that's not working for you -- and hire a "new business model" or "innovation" team, and give them a shot to help your members.


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Tony Stewart vs. Matt Kenseth Ticket Special for AdvoCare 500
Following Saturday night's Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth crash and Stewart's subsequent helmet toss at Kenseth's car, Atlanta Motor Speedway has created a promotion giving fans the opportunity to take advantage of a special post-incident ticket price while choosing side in who was at fault in the tangle.
Through Sunday night's AdvoCare 500, Stewart fans purchasing three Lower Champions Grandstand tickets will receive their fourth ticket for only $14 while Kenseth followers can receive their fourth ticket for only $17, representing savings of $85 and $82, respectively. The ticket prices reflect the car numbers for both drivers involved in the much talked-about crash while racing for the lead in Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol.
The special pricing is for start/finish line area seats in rows 1-23 of the Champions Grandstand. Tickets may be purchased online at www.atlantamotorspeedway.com, through the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (877) 9-AMS-TIX, at Ticketmaster outlets or in-person at the AMS ticket office or ticket windows this weekend.
"This is a fun tongue-in-cheek way of rewarding fans planning to attend this Sunday's AdvoCare 500," said AMS President and General Manager Ed Clark. "I expect Sunday night's event to continue the on-track intensity we have seen the past several weeks as drivers fight to make their way into the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. The conflicts that will come as a result aren't over."
For information on the Stewart/Kenseth special offer and all of this weekend's activities, visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.


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MapMyPage is an awesome utility that enables bloggers and web site owners to attract and engage their visitors by adding maps, photos, weather, and more to the locations mentioned in their web pages. What's even better is that to do this you only have to add a tiny piece of code to the html of a page.
If you add that tiny piece of code to the code of a web page every time a location is mentioned on that page a small globe will appear next to the location. When visitors click on that globe a Google Map of the location will appear hovering above the page.
Google Maps Mania originally reviewed MapMyPage back in September but since then they have added a number of new features. One of the new features is the integration of the Google Earth Browser plug-in. So now it is possible for your readers to also click through on a location mentioned on your page and view the 3D buildings and terrain that come with Google Earth.
MapMyView have also added Street View, Traffic, Terrain, Local Search, Panoramio photos, and Wikipedia articles to the maps.


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You are here: Root > Software > Development > Implementations
Commercial Common Lisp implementation by Corman Technologies. Freely usable (except for the IDE) under certain conditions.
eMail: email@example.com
Web site: http://www.cormanlisp.com/
Version: 3.0
Maturity: Stable
Mailing list:
Source code repository:
OS compatibility: Windows
Implementations | Windows family | Commercial
Using ASDF with Corman Common Lisp | Luke Crook
You must be logged to add a note
You must be logged to add a comment


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This was absolutely perfect with me. Love this luxury coffee table! It is so cute, the luxury coffee table is easy to use. I've received several compliments. Perfect luxury coffee table!
1. Make sure to always select "Ship to: USA", because international shipping is much more expensive.
2. Prealert your packages. For packages under $100 save $3 of AeroProtect.
3. Use our online calculator to get an estimate of the import costs for the product you're interested in, and make sure it's more convenient to buy it online.
4. If you have a Basic account and you receive at least 2 packages per month, switch to a Gold, Platinum or Diamond account and save up to 25% in freight.
5. Ask your provider to send your order in as few shipments as possible.
6. Sign-up with your favorite online stores and receive their notifications when they have sales and special offers.
7. Take advantage of US holidays; it's when they offer the best sales.
Bought it as a New Year treat for myself. The luxury coffee table arrived as picture and is perfect! It matches everything. I bought an extra for a friend's birthday gift, and I will be buying two more as gifts. Love love love!
Recently purchased 2 luxury coffee table. One for my friend and one for me. My friend says this luxury coffee table is soo amazing. This luxury coffee table is sooo versatile. Easy to clean and the reversible is a major bonus. Bought both in black. We both love our luxury coffee table. I can see why it has so many great reviews. Love it!!
I really enjoy using this . I have this luxury coffee table in another color, and ordered it now for my friend. it was a great buy since the moment I saw it! I ordered online & am so pleased with it!
$439.99 $516.53 $659.99 $1149.99 $779.99 $1779.99


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Todd Asa North, 39, of Havelock, died April 14, 2013.
Todd Asa North, 39, of Havelock, died April 14, 2013.
Todd served our country in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was a loving man, a patriot and a leader. He loved his family and friends and he was strong willed. After graduating in 1991 from Del Oro High School of Loomis, Calif., Todd went directly to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. He proudly served his country for 12 years until he was forced to retire for medical reasons. Todd was a leader who treated everyone with respect and kindness. He was a protector and a hero to his country and to his hometown, where those who knew him affectionately referred to Todd as "The Mayor of Havelock" or simply "North." On April 14, Todd unselfishly gave his life to protect his friends and strangers where he willingly and knowingly acted as a human shield to prevent bullets from hitting others. His mother remembers Todd telling her a few weeks ago, "I always try to do the right thing, Mama, but sometimes it just doesn�t always work out so well for me."
Todd is survived by his wife, Alyssa North; his son, Asa Cain North, both of Havelock; his daughter, Anna Lee Payne North of Iowa; children Molly and Charlie Millea; parents, Randy North, and Judy and Bruce Payne of Loomis, Calif; brothers, Eric North and Russell North of California, and Alex Liverano of New Bern; and sisters Dawn Currie and Nicohl Bogan of California.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27, 2013, at Cotten Funeral Home Chapel. The family will receive friends following the service.
Memorial donations may be made to the Asa North Fund, c/o 1908 D South Glenburnie Road, New Bern, NC 28562.
Additionally, the Todd Asa North scholarship fund has been set up for wrestlers of Del Oro High School who exhibit the honor and character of Todd. Memorial donations may be made c/o Del Oro High School: Attn: Terry Barker, 3301 Taylor Road, Loomis, CA 95650.
Online condolences may be made to the North family at www.cottenfuneralhome.com.
Paid obituary


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Officially, the AT&T HTC One X bootloader can't be unlocked due to certain restrictions, but that has not stopped the development community from devising a solution of their own. XDA member grankin01 has released a simple solution which allows the bootloader on the AT&T HTC One X to be unlocked by spoofing one of the phone's internal identification codes which makes the phone and HTC's bootloader unlock tool think that it is a Rogers HTC One XL.
The twelve step process is fairly simple, but you will need a hex editor, a little ADB knowledge and a rooted HTC One X. After the code changes are made on the AT&T HTC One X, you will then be able to use HTC's bootloader unlock tool found on htcdev.com.
Now that the bootloader on the AT&T One X can be unlocked, it's only a matter of time before the HTC One X development community releases countless tweaks and custom ROMs for the phone. Do any of you plan to unlock the bootloader on the AT&T HTC One X and make some tweaks to your phone or will you stick to the stock HTC Sense 4.0 experience for a little longer?


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Operating in economically difficult times has meant adjusting expectations and methods for local nonprofit organizations.
Operating in economically difficult times has meant adjusting expectations and methods for local nonprofit organizations.
Since the economy slowed in 2008, nonprofits have had to cut staff, combine jobs and come up with new ways to raise money. Some groups have merged to continue to provide quality services to the community.
"We have absolutely seen the difference since 2008, and everyone has been affected by the economy," said Tracy Williams, president and chief executive officer of LOEL Center and Gardens, which provides services to seniors in Lodi. "We have changed how we do things, and you are always looking for new ways to improve."
According to a number of nonprofit officials, the main issue their organizations are facing is a decline in donations due to the economy.
People still want to give but can't afford it, said Andy Prokop, president and CEO of the United Way of San Joaquin County.
"Many people who used to say yes to our nonprofits had to say they couldn't," Prokop said. "People who were great supporters started saying that right now we can't but we hope to get back to you in the future. And they mean what they say; it's just very tough to get back to that point."
LOEL Center holds several events such as crab feeds, which are a traditional fundraiser for many nonprofits. But Williams said trying to draw major sponsors to these fundraisers has become very difficult.
"That's where we're hurting. We used to see major sponsorship of major events," he said. "We used to have 10, 12, 15 sponsors from some events, but now we have zero at most events. So we're trying to make our money off ticket sales, raffles, auctions, things like that."
While some organizations dealt with tightening budgets and more efficient ways to allocate funds, some merged to try to make one stronger group.
The Stockton Women's Center and Youth and Family Services formally merged July 1, a process that took eight months. Joelle Gomez, the executive director of Women's Center/Youth and Family Services, said the nonprofit now boasts a staff of 76 and a yearly budget of nearly $4 million with eight locations in San Joaquin County.
"It was a tremendous opportunity and unique in our case," Gomez said. "We recognized our two agencies had very complementary services, not necessarily duplication. We basically married two strong nonprofits. We knew we could be a lot stronger organization and do more outreach for our community, which is hurting so much."
With sponsorships down and government grants harder to obtain, organizations are trying to find new, inventive ways to draw and allocate funds. Prokop said when it gets tough to get big donations, think small.
"What we did to make up for that was go to a different strategy," Prokop said.
"We talked to people about giving a little, and to feel great about it. People who donate a dollar are very important to us. We found a whole bunch of people who could donate that $1 or $5 and still stay involved. And we make sure they realize how much we appreciate whatever they can do."
Losing staff is another concern, but Prokop has only had to lay off one person since 2008. Williams said the LOEL Center, which serves lunch to 50-80 seniors daily for free or for a maximum donation of $2, hasn't had to resort to layoffs. Aside from Williams, the center has eight employees, two of whom are full time.
The one thing that hasn't seemed to change is many people will help in some way if they can.
"Thankfully, we have great community support," Williams said. "So we may not have sponsorships we've had in the past, but in turn we have a larger number of people attending our events and helping, and that helps to offset that non-sponsorship."
Contact reporter Scott Linesburgh at (209) 546-8281 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/sportsblog.


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Find Hotels in Cabilao Island
Cabilao Island Hotel Deals from ZUJI
Looking for cheap accommodation in Cabilao Island, Philippines? ZUJI helps you compare hotels in destinations all over the world for any time of year, whether youre booking early to secure a great rate or trying to snap up a cheap last minute room. Compare TripAdvisor reviews, browse our comprehensive range of Cabilao Island hotels and make your travel booking with ZUJI today!


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Out of the Darkness Community Walk.
Participants head toward the Covered Bridge during the 2013 Out of the Darkness Community Walk near the Iron Bridge in Allentown's Lehigh Parkway on Sunday. The walks take place in hundreds of communities across the country, with proceeds benefiting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The funds are used raise for AFSP's research and education programs to prevent suicide and increase national awareness about depression and suicide.
Harry Fisher / THE MORNING CALL
Copyright © 2018, The Morning Call


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Months after Superstorm Sandy wreaked historic destruction on the Jersey Shore, Kevin, Norm and Richard find three homeowners determined, despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges, to stay and rebuild: stronger, smarter and up out of harm's way. In Bay Head, Point Pleasant, Manasquan and communities like them along this hard-hit barrier island community, there's nowhere to go but up.
There are no upcoming air times for this episode.
Funding for This Old House is provided in part by:


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Lianne Hunter
Hometown: Norwalk, Conn.
Major: Relational Communication
WCSU Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Relational Communication
Internships: BillBoard Bands in Norwalk, Conn.
Activities: Student representative to the faculty, off-campus pottery club
Honors and Awards: Dean's List, fall 2007; Honor Roll, fall 2006, spring 2007
Lianne Hunter didn't take the typical graduate-from-high-school, attend-a-four-year-college route to arrive at WestConn. "I started out at Norwalk Community College after taking a year off after high school," she explains. "I was at Norwalk Community College for two years."
"I decided to come to WestConn because I knew most of my credits would transfer and I wanted to major in the relational communication program. I have always been interested in communication and feel that it is a relevant major that offers a great deal of possibilities for career choices. I also really like to interact with people and wanted to make sure that I could transfer that interest into a career."
Now, poised to graduate and enter the workforce, Hunter pauses to acknowledge Chairman of the Communication Department Dr. Bill Petkanas for his influence and assistance. "Dr. Petkanas, who is also my adviser, has been a great help and support to me and has always helped me stay on track and answered all my questions," she says.
Asked what she will remember most about her WestConn experience, Hunter says, "All my experiences here at WestConn are memorable because I found the faculty to be very helpful and the students in my classes all very friendly. I actually enjoyed all my classes!."
After graduation, Hunter plans to work "with grad school a possibility for the future."
Hunter's advice to new students entering WCSU is: "Put a great deal of thought and consideration into your major -- make sure you are interested in the classes you are going to have to take as well as the career that the major will prepare you for."


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October 23, 2012
In Praise of Competitive Advantage: Advice for Firm Leaders in a Revolutionary Time
In Praise of Competitive Advantage: Advice for Firm Leaders in a Revolutionary Time
It's never been easy to lead a law firm of any size. But if you're a firm leader these days—be it chair, managing partner, practice or industry group leader, client team leader or otherwise—the pressure's really on. Your people expect you to point the way to smoother waters ahead. Yet where do you find safe water when revolution is in the air?
Tasked with this tough mission, chances are you don't find the hecklers in the bleachers helpful—meaning those who rail that firms of every size and stripe are unresponsive to clients' needs. Frustrated by the legal industry's fabled resistance to change, these seeming Jeremiahs are energized by the confluence of economic trauma, increasing buyer power, and changing labor supplies and commitment levels. They urge sweeping changes to old models and functions to align legal services better with market demands. Here are some questions and concepts for you to consider in determining how to respond.
Are Law Firms That Resistant to Change?
There's plenty of evidence that law firms are initially very resistant to doing things differently. Some of us remember when it was revolutionary to hire word processors; use fax, voice mail and e-mail; give Internet access to lawyers and employees; use document automation software to draft contracts and briefs; train partners in client relationship skills; and assess clients' satisfaction with our services. Today, these once-unthinkables are so widely implemented no one considers them anything other than the norm.
And that's the flip side of law firms' resistance to innovation: obsession with conformity. After a few firms have innovated somewhere, somehow (and you can always depend on those few to do so), fast-followers jump on the bandwagon, soon followed by those afraid to be left behind. Before long, almost everyone's doing the last new thing. So when everybody changes, which competitors benefit?
Of course, all industries experience broad change, even the legal industry. And, while perhaps it's my Pollyanna attitude, I see much evidence that law firms are changing rapidly in response to the revolution of today. They are analyzing and improving work processes, staffing matters with lawyers and others who work in a variety of full-time, part-time, in-sourced and outsourced arrangements, and pricing services in so many ways that the term "alternative" won't apply much longer.
But when all competitors change in the same ways, none of those changes offers any competitor an advantage. Everyone has simply converted from old ways of doing things to the same new ways of doing things. Where's the competitive advantage in that?
If keeping up with the Joneses doesn't lead a firm to long-term competitive success, how can it find the smoother waters it longs for? It's all about sustaining a competitive advantage.
What's a Sustainable Competitive Advantage?
Law firms that thrive for a long time do so because they have found, leveraged and sustained a competitive advantage that makes them more attractive to some buyers. In fact, this is the most basic definition of strategy. That's right, it's time to talk strategy. Again. Still.
Without a competitive advantage, a firm cannot be unique in any way and, therefore, cannot be more desirable to at least some buyers. This has always been true, and after this and all future revolutions have ended it will still be true. Put another way, without one or more competitive advantages, a law firm will become a powerless vendor whose structures, functions and very existence are defined and permitted by the availability and demands of clients and suppliers.
So what offers your firm a sustainable competitive advantage? It's something your competitors cannot copy, your clients won't outgrow, substitutes can't supplant, and society doesn't make obsolete that continues to make your services more attractive to at least some buyers. It could stem from your lawyers, practices, size, locations, culture, working style or connections. It could be your firm's distinctive business savvy or professional development and knowledge management leadership. It might have something to do with what you offer or don't offer, or what you insist on doing or refuse to do.
As a result, some buyers will find your services safest, cheapest, fastest, closest, most convenient, most predictable, most reliable, producing the best results or making your lawyers easiest to work with (or most inspiring or fun or reassuring) or some hard-to-replicate combination of these or other benefits.
How Will You Stay on Top as Market Conditions Change?
Competitive intelligence is vital in today's marketplace. And like it or not, a firm's leader carries the heaviest burden of developing and using that intelligence. If your firm has a CI unit, congratulations—you can put those resources to work for you. (To learn how to do it, see the author's article "How to Create and Use Competitive Intelligence: 45 Tips for Law Firms" in the March 2008 Law Practice.) But with or without these resources, you must still shoulder the burden of knowing more than anyone else at your firm about your clients, competitors and competitive environment. Because you are your firm's leader, you must also be your firm's chief intelligence officer.
This means you must build and maintain a strong network of people who share insights with you that otherwise would be hard to find. You must get the best briefings you can afford or wrangle—about the legal industry, client industries, and the economies and cultures in which your firm operates—and you must read constantly. You must listen more than you pontificate, especially to those who don't agree with you. You must ask more questions than you hope to find answers for. The best leaders keep long lists, if only in their heads, of what they didn't know they didn't know that they just found out about.
You must also be aware of how your own blind spots can lead your firm into dangerous places. Blind spots commonly come in the form of unchallenged assumptions, firm myths and firm taboos, and no one in a law firm is more predisposed to blind spots than its leaders. (See Benjamin Gilad's Business Blindspots: Replacing Myths, Beliefs, and Assumptions with Market Realities, Infonortics, 1996.)
When market conditions are changing quickly, all the strengths that powered your firm's past successes have the potential to keep you from seeing and taking advantage of new opportunities and threats. It's even possible that what helped your firm succeed before may drag it down in the future. Plus, your own psychological makeup, habits and styles can also present blind spots. When times are good, some (perhaps even most) law firm leaders feel compelled to do only what they see others doing. And in times of stress, doing something differently than other firms can feel especially risky. Other leaders feel psychologically driven to take immediate action, any action, to reduce the stress they feel in the face of uncertainty and to demonstrate their decisiveness.
To help avert the pitfalls, make a list of your own and your firm's core values, best practices, cultural sacred cows, founders' maxims, ways your firm is "special," hard-to-discuss topics and secrets. By keeping front and center this list of "things I hold most dear," you may keep them from blinkering your ability to see all available options and evaluate them accurately.
Is Someone Else Having Your Bright New Idea?
If you're not the kind of person to play follow the leader, then bully for you. However, when planning where to make your investments for future success, it's best not to fall in love with the first bright idea that occurs to you. It may also be occurring to your arch competitor. Likewise, your first bright idea probably won't be as good as one that occurs to you later.
Another mistake some leaders make is assuming their shiny new plans will be pitted against their competitors' old strategies, models and tactics. But why would your competitors continue to practice law as they did two or three years ago? If you're savvy enough to respond to today's changing market conditions, surely many of those who would like to eat your lunch are just as savvy.
Once you've settled on a strategy, invite those who think it's brilliant and, more importantly, those who don't to red-team it in a war-gaming session to learn these things: What could go wrong? How will your clients respond? What unintended consequences could ensue? How will your competitors likely respond? How will your suppliers likely respond? Who else might have had the same bright idea, and what might that mean for the success of your own strategy?
If you can think your way through questions like these, you might ultimately land your firm at the safe end of the revolution.
About the Author
Ann Lee Gibson, PhD , is principal of Ann Lee Gibson Consulting. She consults with law firms on competitive intelligence and business development initiatives. She is a Legal Marketing Association Hall of Famer and a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management.


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Storage In Your Bathtub?
When square footage is low, maximizing space becomes essential. Bathrooms come in all shapes and sizes, but rarely do they come with "enough" storage. Shelving on the walls, built-in cabinetry, and dressers turned sinks adorn bathrooms to solve the storage issue, but what about the tub? Here are 5 bathtubs that can help you store the goods, without losing out on your space.
We hope these unique tub storage ideas will help inspire you to use all of the space around, over, and next to the tub!
- Tub Drawer Levers : Perfect for oval-shaped tubs, this add-on titled "The Stowaway" stores your shampoo, conditioner, and other bathtub necessities in pull-down storage drawers with basket racks. You can purchase side and end panels separately from GW International, based in the UK for 123 and 73 pounds respectively.
- Egg Tub + Bookcase : A funky and playful tub by Rexa Designs features a front modern shelf for extra storage. If you are a bathroom reader, this is a nice little add-on, although towels, shampoo and bubbles may be nice too. This egg tub comes in a variety of colors.
- Tub & Tray : This sleek, European tub designed by Jamie Hayon for the AQHayon collection features curved legs, and a dark exterior, taking the "sterile" feeling out of the bathroom. Although it isn't as storage-filled as the other tubs, this one features a nice tray to store and display your tub essentials, including a sweet spot for a flower vase.
- Rectangle Tub and Shelves : Paper book enthusiasts, meet your tub. Biblio was designed by Antonio Lupi. Featuring either rustic or sleek shelving built into a rectangle, this tub features plenty of storage. This pretty little number rings in at $17,300.
- Tub + Pull Out Drawers: Designed by Vanico Maronyx, this maple wood siding is a customizable add-on to your existing tub. Made to fit various wall and tub shapes, this addition can add additional drawers and baskets as hidden bathtub storage with a nice wood exterior.
Any other great bathtub-specific storage ideas out there?
(Images: As linked)


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Can we customize the colors in the widget which looks alike with other gadgets result and can we customize the gadgets which show a zero when it has no value?
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Murder Rock (DE - DVD R2)
What a feeling, has me reeling. Gabe goes out slash-dancing with Lucio Fulci...
This review is sponsored by
The brutal worlds of murder and dance school competitions are thrown together in yet another lurid Lucio Fulci Giallo. When an insane hatpin murderer (yes, you read that correctly) terrorizes a prestigious New York dance school, mercilessly poking nubile young women deep into their competitive little hearts. Is it one of the students, jealous of competitive placement? Is it the voyeuristic headmaster, who watches the students through his many lurid security cameras? Perhaps it's even a jealous boyfriend?
The best thing about Murder Rock (AKA Dancing Death) is its preposterous set up. If anyone out there ever pondered what trash-master Fulci could accomplish by mixing Flashdance and Argento's Tenebre, while recycling the plot of his earlier Giallo masterpiece, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, then they should look no further. It's actually even sillier than it sounds.
Though Fulci always prided himself in finding no inspiration in Argento's work, it's pretty hard to deny the bamboozlement here, from similarly arbitrary camera movement, to fluorescent lighting, and an indelibly eighties look. Even Italian boy-toy actor Christian Borromeo makes an appearance as a similarly whiny young lad. In a way this wholesale pilfering actual lends itself to some impressive visuals, some of which take Argento's neo-noir vision to some pretty outstanding limits.
The most interesting of these is that all the murder sequences taking place at the school are accompanied by lights that throb on and off (due to the school's alarm warning system), allowing characters to move between shots without being seen. The following police photography scenes are accompanied by elaborate crime scene photography lights that achieve the opposite effect when flashed.
And then there are the dance sequences, which though entirely asinine in nature, are surprisingly well choreographed and photographed. The music and costumes accompanying them are pretty inexcusable, but I have to give Fulci some credit for not being a total hack. A money grabber willing to jump on any bandwagon that happens to be passing by, yes, but a hack, no. There's one solo dance in particular that is so like the most famous sequence from Flashdance, including water splashing and a lone spotlight, that I'm sure Paramount might have considered legal action, had they actually seen the film that is.
The only disappointment to be had is that though full of raunchy exploitation glory, Murder Rock has none of the signature Fulci gore of the era. The killer's use of a hatpin to the heart ensures as much onscreen breast time as possibly, with only the smallest driblet of blood. One might assume that Fucli was making some kind of specific statement against his own brand of violence, or at least his critic's accusations of gore being the only trick in his arsenal. Unfortunately, there isn't enough suspense to garner any real interest, and in the end the film is a little dull.
Murder Rock is not what you'd call an "A-picture", and time hasn't been all that kind to it. It's presented in its original aspect ratio of about 1.77:1, and is anamorphically enhanced. Unfortunately, the anamorphic enhancement ends up slightly trimming the top and bottom of the picture when displayed on a widescreen television, which is really only obvious during the opening credits, which get a little hacked. The picture quality is about average for a low-budget release.
Black levels aren't quite what I'd call "black", and detail level drops pretty sharply during darker sequences. The brighter scenes fare better, and reproduce the gaudy lighting and oh-so-eighties design as accurately as one could want. The biggest drawback of the transfer is the digital blocking/pixelization, which occasional causes discolored edges. All things considered, however, I'd say this was exactly the transfer I expected, and I don't think anyone going out of their way to purchase this disc will be disappointed.
If you love unknown, and painfully derivative early eighties dance music, you will be in post-disco heaven with this DVD. The "songs" and Keith Emerson's uber-kooky electronic score sound decent in all of the stereo tracks made available on the disc. I chose to watch the film in English, figuring that all the tracks were somewhat dubbed, like almost every Fulci title of the era, Murder Rock was a multi-national production. Dialogue was understandable for the most part, but at times became so quite that I had to crank up the volume, which was, of course, overwhelmingly loud the second the music kicked back in.
My problems with the dialogue would've been fine, had I spoke German. The DVD has forced German subtitles when viewed in any other language. This was annoying, and in the end the only of the disc's flaws that I find impossible to overlook.
Now, the real extra here is the box itself, a wonderful piece of early eighties VHS throwback. Seriously, this white plastic, oversized clamshell is a work of art. Hilarious. The digital special features are pretty slim, including the German trailer, a "bonus" scene, a photo gallery, and a soundtrack selection. The soundtrack selection is, again, only for the most nostalgic, but is one of those fun fan features I wish more discs of this sort would come with. The photo gallery and trailer kind of speak for themselves, and the "bonus" scene is really a very short deleted sequence that puts a slightly larger amount of emphasis on a particular red haring.
Murder Rock will not be mistaken any time soon for a good film. It represents the first stumble in what ended up being a devastating career quality nose dive for Fulci, an artist who's work, while an acquired taste, had something special behind it. Despite this, the film is still a fun film. The mixing of methods is actually more effective than I'd originally assumed it'd be, and Fulci proves himself to be proficient in the filming of choreography, as well as brutal murder. Really meant for fans, but earns a couple curious yuks, and this time actress Olga Karlatos gets to keep both of her eyes.
You can purchase this title from Xploitedcinema.com.
Review by Gabriel Powers
Worst Nightmare Senior Member Join Date: July 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 6,716
Great second screen shot!
tis a shame they have stuff-all extras
tis a shame they have stuff-all extras
Gabe Powers Editor Join Date: September 2004 Location: United States Posts: 4,721
It took me a few tries to make sure there wasn't anything 'objectionable' in that screen cap. I wanted it to be sleazy, but not too sleazy.
For persons aged 16 years and over
Disc Details
Release Date: 2nd September 2005
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Single side, dual layer
RCE: No
Video: PAL
Aspect: 1.77:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Yes
Audio: English, Italian, and German Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: German (forced)
Extras: German trailer, Bonus Scene, Photo Gallery, Soundtrack Selections
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Olga Karlatos, Ray Lovelock
Genre: Musical and Thriller
Length: 89 minutes
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In his first 100 days in office, President Obama has demonstrated a clear departure from his predecessor. From relaxing marijuana enforcement laws to releasing torture memos, the new administration has moved rapidly to revoke and alter policies that marked the legacy of the Bush team.
Obama "is pleased with his actions thus far, understanding that the American people are certainly not going to grade his administration or our efforts... just by the actions of the first 95 days," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Even before he entered the White House, the 44th president advised his transition team to draft an executive order to close down the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay. The latest in the series of moves has been the release of the so-called "torture memos" detailing the authorization and legalization of harsh interrogation techniques by Bush-era officials. The Obama team has also taken a visibly different approach to energy and environmental policy.
The swift-moving president says he is trying to fulfill his campaign promises and supporters applaud his efforts. Critics say he could be putting too much on his already-full plate.
Here is a list of the Bush administration policies and laws that Obama has reversed so far:
From Drugs to Gay Rights to Health Policy
Shifting Away From Calif. Pot Busts
Signaling a drastic shift in the Bush administration's policies on drugs, Obama's appointed Attorney General, Eric Holder, said federal agents will relax their enforcement of marijuana laws and go after only those distributors who violate both state and federal law. California is one of 13 states that have either legalized or decriminalized the use of medical marijuana and permits its sale for medical purposes. However, it still violates federal law and under the previous administration, authorities targeted medical marijuana sellers under federal laws even if they complied with state laws.
As a presidential candidate, Obama vowed to bring change in policies related to medical marijuana use. Advocacy groups applauded the change but raised their concerns about more than two dozen California cases that are hanging in a limbo in federal court. The move comes at a time when the Obama administration is taking a tougher stance on the problem of drug and weapons trade along the U.S.-Mexico border. Other states that permit marijuana for medical purposes are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Endorsing Gay Rights
On March 18, the Obama administration formally endorsed a United Nations statement urging world leaders to decriminalize homosexuality, a declaration that less than three months ago Bush refused to sign.
"The United States supports the U.N. Statement on 'Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity,' and is pleased to join the other 66 U.N. member states who have declared their support of this Statement that condemns human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity wherever they occur," the State Department said in a statement. "We join with the other supporters of this Statement and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora."
In December 2008, 66 of the U.N.'s 192 member countries signed the declaration, with the United States being the only Western nation not to do so, a move that drew fierce criticism from gay rights and civil liberties groups.
The Bush administration defended the move by claiming the declaration needed further review. The Obama administration has a different legal interpretation. The State Department said that the endorsement "commits us to no legal obligations."
More changes to Bush's rules on homosexuality are likely to come in the next four years. Obama promised in his campaign to overturn the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that stemmed from the 1993 law that forbade homosexuals from serving in the U.S. military.
Stem Cell Research
In his latest rollback of Bush administration policies, President Obama signed an executive order Monday lifting the 7½-year ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and a memorandum covering all scientific research. In a less-than-subtle criticism of Bush's ban, Obama said, "In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values. In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent," the president added before signing the order.
Obama said throughout his presidential campaign that he would overturn the ban if elected. President Bush banned federal funding for such research in August 2001, citing "moral concerns raised by the new frontier of human embryonic stem cell research. Even the most noble ends don't justify the means." Nearly six in ten Americans support loosening restrictions on federal funding of stem cell research. Proponents of stem cell research say Obama's order is a promising sign that progress can be made after a more-than-eight-year stalemate, while others say it is only a tiny step. Anti-abortion groups say the research is unethical and unreliable.
Global Gag Rule
The debate on whether U.S. government should fund international family planning groups that provide abortions or related services has been brewing for decades. The "Mexico City Policy" that was signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1984 was overturned by Bill Clinton in 1993 and restored by Bush in 2001. So, it was only a matter of time before the next Democratic president also rescinded his predecessor's rule.
Obama overturned the policy on Jan. 23, just days after he took the oath of office. "For the past eight years, [the restrictions] have undermined efforts to promote safe and effective voluntary family planning in developing countries," Obama said in a statement. Some international family planning groups hailed the decision, saying that Bush's ban discriminated against the world's poor by denying U.S. aid to groups that may be involved in abortion, but also work on other aspects of reproductive health care and HIV/AIDS. Obama's move was also met by criticism by Republicans and anti-abortion groups.
Provider Conscience Rule
Breaking with Bush on health care, Obama wants to give more power back to the patients on whether health care providers should provide controversial services. The administration revoked the Bush-era "Provider Conscience" rule that created more regulations to prevent those who refuse to hire doctors and nurses opposed to abortion rights from receiving federal funds. The move was applauded by abortion rights advocacy groups, who say the limits restricted patients' rights.


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Crystal clear: Veteran comedy star discusses 'Parental Guidance' and his Sandy-ravaged hometown
He's too young to have been part of Old Hollywood, but if there's anyone Old Hollywood in Hollywood, it's Billy Crystal. His nine times hosting the Academy Awards is second only to an actual member of Old Hollywood, the late Bob Hope, and like old greats in the vein of Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne, he's playing his persona no matter the role. That's served him and audiences well through such movies as the action comedy Running Scared (1986), the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989), the male-bonding comedy City Slickers (1991) and the odd-couple comedy Analyze This (1999).
That movie, released days before he turned 51, was Crystal's last live-action hit. While he appeared in a supporting role in the critically underwhelming America's Sweethearts (2001), which he wrote and produced; starred in the unsuccessful Analyze That (2002); and appears in the ensemble of the as-yet-unreleased independent film Small Apartments, he's become best known in recent years for a voiceover role he'll soon reprise: mini-monster Mike in the 2001 Pixar hit Monsters, Inc. (returning on Dec. 19 in 3D) and the 2002 spinoff short "Mike's New Car." He and co-star John Goodman return in Monsters University, set for release on June 21.
Crystal, 64, has otherwise been preoccupied with a Tony Award-winning one-man Broadway show, 700 Sundays, and the best-selling autobiography that came from it, as well as a smattering of TV and other projects. He received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007. And years earlier, in 1991, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame —as any Old Hollywood star would.
In a one-on-one interview this month in Manhattan, Crystal spoke about his upcoming films but also, more poignantly, about his Hurricane Sandy-battered hometown of Long Beach, Long Island, whose residents he recently treated to a free preview of Parental Guidance, his new Christmas Day comedy co-starring Bette Midler.
Film Journal International: Your older brother Joel and his wife still live in Long Beach. How did they weather the storm?
Billy Crystal: They had a lot of damage to their house. My nephew, Jess, just got back into part of his house. Jess' daughter, my [grand]niece, who's a teacher, her house may be livable, but she can't go into it yet—we're not sure. They just got the water out—it kept coming back in because the ground was so saturated. It's where I grew up—I think everything got creamed. Listen, this is what the Earth is becoming, and we'd better be ready for it rather than take things for granted.
FJI: A lot of people thought it was going to be like Hurricane Irene last year, which didn't do severe damage.
BC: I think a lot of people expected that was what was going to happen this time, too, and didn't heed the warning that this is a different kind of storm. This thing was 1,000 miles long and wasn't going to go anywhere [away from its eventual path] because of this cold front it hit. These are hard lessons about what we've done to the Earth—this is payback. I mean, it's pretty hard to deny that the Earth is getting warmer and that there are ramifications.
I remember the Republican convention, where Romney mocked Obama by saying, "He wants to control the tides and I want to help your family." Everybody laughed. As soon as the tides came up… I'm not a frequent tweeter, but the first thing I tweeted was, "Remember when Romney said Obama wants to control the tides? This is what he was talking about." The whole East Coast was ravaged by it and will continue to be unless we create safeguards.
FJI: These kinds of concerns about the future of the planet become particularly acute when you're a grandparent, as you are.
BC: Yeah, it'll be four times soon—[younger daughter] Lindsay's pregnant again and she's due in March, right around my birthday. [Elder daughter] Jenny has two girls, nine and six, and Lindsay's little guy is just three. And who knows what we're going to have next—they don't like to know ahead of time.
FJI: Your movies have tended to reflect your own stage of life, and now you're playing a grandparent in Parental Guidance [with Crystal and Midler as old-fashioned grandparents spending a few days watching grandchildren raised with modern methods. Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott play their daughter and son-in-law].
BC: I play a baseball announcer who gets fired in the opening because he's too old-school in his approach—he's like a Bob Uecker. He just talks a lot and tells funny stories. He's very good at it, but he's been in the minors for 35 years and now he's just turned 60 and can't believe this just happened: He's got no job, he lives in Fresno and he has a strained relationship with his daughter because [he and his wife] haven't seen her in a long time. We're the "other grandparents" [who don't spend as much time with the grandkids as the paternal grandparents]. But she calls and says, "Can you come and watch the kids for five days? My husband has a big opportunity." So Bette, of course, says yes before I can say no and I go reluctantly because I'm in a bad mood and then find my way with these kids.
It's very real. The original writers are [a married couple and] young parents, Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse, and they did a great job. Then, when we got closer, I brought in [Lowell] Ganz and [Babaloo] Mandel [his frequent collaborators], who wrote Parenthood and City Slickers and Splash. And they're grandparents now, so they had their stories and I had my stories and it all became a wonderful preproduction rewrite with them because everything was real.
FJI: Tell me about Monsters University.
BC: It's amazing—I saw the first half of it [last month] and I think it's spectacular. John Goodman's great and we worked together [doing the audio recording], which is rare for Pixar. Usually you're working different days. But when we did the first movie, I said, "I can't do this without him. I did the first day alone and I was so uncomfortable. So I called John Lasseter and said, "We've got to get John in here. Stuff will happen—he's a great improviser." And he said, "You're absolutely right." So John came in for the next session and it happened. The reason the characters work so well together is that John and I were in the room together.
In this movie we're 18 and 17 years old. I have a retainer. We meet in college and we don't like each other very much. We're forced to be in the same fraternity together with all the nerd monsters and it goes on from there. It shows how we became who we are and it's really beautiful.
FJI: That must take you back to your college days. You started at Marshall University [in Huntington, West Virginia, where he went for a year on a baseball scholarship before the college's program ended].
BC: Yeah, Marshall. I remember that after the tragedy [the 1970 plane crash that took the lives of 37 college football players, five coaches and others], I was searching the list of the victims to see if there was anybody I remembered. The guy I remembered most was spared—Mickey Jackson [an assistant coach who was in Ohio scouting a game on the day of the crash]. I think he's a coach now. [Jackson, now president of the Marshall University Alumni Association, had become a backfield coach under Woody Hayes at Ohio State University.] I only went the one year, but I flew in and out of that airport so many times and I was terrified every time I went in because it's on a cliff.
FJI: Then after Nassau Community College, you studied film at New York University.
BC: I graduated from NYU in 1970.
FJI: And you studied under Martin Scorsese?
BC: Yeah, he was my graduate-student film professor at NYU in my senior year. He was brilliant, scary, but with a love of movies that inspired anyone who was in those classes. There was Oliver Stone, Christopher Guest—we had good group.
FJI: I've recently spoken with your fellow Long Islander Alec Baldwin, who's also helping his old home after Sandy. Is there any kind of "Long Island Aid" thing happening?
BC: We should. I thought about calling Jerry [Seinfeld]…
FJI: Tony Danza was raised in Malverne [on Long Island].
BC: Tony's from Malverne? I didn't know that—why didn't I know that? I'm going to be in the concert for Sandy relief at Madison Square Garden on December 12, and that's going to raise a lot of money. So I'll be in that with The Who and Springsteen and Paul McCartney, Roger Waters and Bon Jovi and Billy Joel—another Long Island guy. There will be things that keep happening as long as needs keep arising. It's going to be years.