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Featured Story
High-Frequency Trading: Game the System and Get Rich in Just 8 Simple Steps
I don't know about you, but I'm ordering Michael Lewis' new book "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt" - and I'm ordering it today.
Of course, Michael Lewis is the author of two of the biggest-selling books ever written about Wall Street: "Liar's Poker" (1990), an autobiographical portrait of excessively greedy bond traders during the 1980s, and "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine" (2010), which chronicles the housing bubble that led to the Great Recession in 2007.
To continue reading, please click here...
high-frequency trading market impact
What High-Frequency Traders Actually Do
High-frequency trading is fundamentally based on how market participants (for this discussion I'm talking about stock markets) place their orders to buy and sell shares and how HFT players act on those orders.
For every stock that's traded there is always (or at least it used to be "always") a "bid" and an "ask" price. Sometimes you'll hear the term "offer" or "offered" price, those terms are interchangeable with the term "ask" or "asking price."To continue reading, please click here...
Unless We Act, High-Frequency Trading Will Crash the Markets
High-frequency trading isn't illegal. But the way it is practiced today, it should be.
That's because high-frequency trading, or HFT, doesn't add to market liquidity, stability or efficiency -- but it could cause a catastrophic market crash.
Here's what's wrong with allowing high-frequency trading, what HFT practitioners say they're doing that's good for the market (which is rubbish), what could happen based on what has already happened, and what to do to fix this black hole.
The problem is HFT is based on a lie.
High-frequency traders send out tens of millions, if not billions, of orders to exchanges that are never meant to be executed. They are fake orders designed to dump manipulative information onto the nation's exchanges.
And while other market participants are not actually forced to adjust their bids and offers or engage in any of these trades, allowing access to the exchanges to manipulate anybody in any way is something that ought to be outlawed.
Exploiting an Unfair AdvantageIn the HFT world it's all about speed. Without it, HFT wouldn't be possible.
There's nothing wrong with employing external innovations that speed up computers or the time it takes for information to get from one server to another. But HFT takes it to an entirely different level.
As I write this, chains of fixed microwave towers are being erected to send market data and orders between New York and Chicago because electromagnetic radiation travels only 2/3 as fast in glass fibers as it does through the air. The towers were designed and are being built by a pair of HFT entrepreneurs who already have HFT customers lined up.
And as soon as this winter passes, Hibernia Atlantic's Project Express will be dropping a more direct new generation transmission cable across the Atlantic so data and trade executions can travel faster between New York and London.
The new cable will reduce the 30 milliseconds travel time it takes now by only a few milliseconds, but space has already been leased to the only takers, the HFT crowd.
It may be unfair that some players are able to pay for a speed advantage by employing new technologies, but it's certainly not illegal.
What should be illegal, and is an abomination, is that the SEC allows exchanges to serve high frequency traders by leasing them co-location space next to the exchange's servers.
Not everyone can afford that access. But because it can be bought, HFT players have a significant speed advantage over everybody else who expects the SEC and the nation's regulated exchanges to guarantee equal access to get data and place trades.
Trust Me, It's Not About LiquidityThe HFT crowd argues that they act as market-makers and add liquidity wherever they practice their trades and both markets and investors are better served by their activity.
That's absolute nonsense.
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The Truth About High Frequency Trading and The Coming Market Crash
According to high-frequency traders and their backers, the super-fast, computer-driven stock trading desks that employ HFT are a benefit to investors and exchanges here in the U.S. and wherever they ply their trades.
But that's not true.
In fact, if you know exactly what high-frequency traders actually do and how they do it, you'll know what the SEC hasn't figured out, namely what caused the May 2010 Flash Crash.
You'll also realize that it's only a matter of time before these market manipulators cause a real catastrophic market crash.
Today I'll talk about what HFT players do and how they do it. And tomorrow I'll tell you how HFT could destroy our markets and economy.
What High-Frequency Traders Actually DoHigh-frequency trading is fundamentally based on how market participants (for this discussion I'm talking about stock markets) place their orders to buy and sell shares and how HFT players act on those orders.
For every stock that's traded there is always (or at least it used to be "always") a "bid" and an "ask" price. Sometimes you'll hear the term "offer" or "offered" price, those terms are interchangeable with the term "ask" or "asking price."
The bid price is the price which someone is "bidding," or willing to pay to own shares. The ask price is the price which someone is willing to sell shares, or is "offering" or "asking" to sell at.
Bids and offers each come with the quantity of shares that the buyer or seller want to trade. There are millions of bids and offers made all day long, every trading day.
In fact, for every stock there are many bids and offers at several different prices.
The best bid, the highest price someone is willing to pay and how many shares they are willing to buy, and the best offered price, the lowest price at which someone is willing to sell their shares, constitutes a stock's current "quote."
In the U.S. we call that quote the NBBO, or national best bid and offer. But there are almost always other bids at lower prices and other offers at higher prices for all stocks.
High frequency traders employ pattern recognition algorithms that look deeply at bids and offers on stocks to determine if the movement on the bid quotes or offered quotes implies a directional tendency.
Computer-driven algorithms are "reading" the quotes, the intentions of buyers and sellers as they put down their orders in real-time, to make a trade that the HFT player expects to profit from if the directional bias their computers pick up is correct.
To continue reading, please click here... Read More...
High-Frequency Trading is a Scam That is Crippling the Markets
Let me make this perfectly simple...
High-frequency trading is a scam. It should be outlawed.
Regulators, namely the pimps and panderers at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the exchanges, all of them, are in on the game.
The game, known as HFT, isn't arbitrage, isn't fair, isn't consistent with the keeping of "fair and orderly markets," and so should be illegal.
In case you don't know, here are the rules of the game...
- Pay the exchanges to "co-locate" your servers next to their servers, at the locations where they house them (and rent space to you for that explicit purpose).
- Get access to quote information (what stocks are being "bid" for at what price and for how many shares, and what is the "ask" price and number of shares that sellers are trying to unload), and be able to place your own bid and ask quotes as fast as technologically possible.
- Get yourself a bunch of money to trade with. You'll need millions, so maybe form a partnership to raise money or partner with some banks that don't already have their own HFT desks, you know, the ones that want to hide what they do.
- Get yourself a few nuclear physicists, rocket scientists, and computer wizards to write algorithms that can read quotes on both sides of every stock to determine patterns, the depth of markets, and how many shares you can buy or sell and then sell or buy in a matter of less than one-hundredth or one-thousandth of a second.


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September 17, 2014
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'Crossover Houston': intentional evangelism
In 1989, Southern Baptists from across the country converged on Las Vegas the weekend before the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, undertaking the first pre-SBC door-to-door witnessing campaign, which reached an estimated 100,000 of the city's 160,000 households. Groups met at various churches, such as Paradise Valley Baptist Church shown here, for orientation before venturing throughout the city. File photo by Stanley Leary.
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HOUSTON (BP) -- When Southern Baptists at every level cooperate to reach people for Christ, it's always effective, said Darrell Robinson, a former pastor and longtime evangelist from Texas.
Continuing the tradition of reaching out to the host city of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, the pre-convention "Crossover Houston" effort is offering opportunities for intentionally sharing the Gospel through block parties and door-to-door evangelism.
"The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is working with the North American Mission Board to provide a more traditional Crossover experience," said Nathan Lorick, the SBTC's evangelism director. "This includes working with seminary students Monday through Friday, June 3-7, on going door-to-door with the Gospel. On Saturday (June 8), churches will be hosting block parties across Houston."
Also, NAMB is working with Union Baptist Association in Houston to help kick off "Loving Houston," a three-year program featuring projects such as home renovation, clean-up, demolition, outreach and prayerwalking.
Crossover has been a staple of SBC evangelism efforts in host cities since its inauguration at the 1989 Las Vegas convention. An evangelistic thrust had been on Robinson's heart when he was pastor at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Ala., and a member of the SBC Executive Committee.
"... [F]or many years I had the conviction that when we do the SBC in a major city, we should also plan to try to do a major evangelistic effort in the city," Robinson said. "I suggested that we work with local churches in the area and messengers should come in early to do evangelistic projects, including door-to-door witnessing representing the local church in the area, block parties, evangelistic harvest meetings led by evangelists, etc."
The Las Vegas event, originally called "Saturation Evangelism Project," had a great impact, Robinson said. "It got the attention of all of Las Vegas. The people were responsive. It was a huge success. My recall is that around 1,800 professed faith in Christ. Churches were impacted. Ultimately, new churches were started."
The success of the Las Vegas outreach led the SBC to decide to sponsor evangelism events every year during the SBC annual meeting in the host city.
"Morris Chapman at the Executive Committee suggested the name Crossover, which we all liked," Robinson recounted, noting that the name alludes to SBC messengers crossing over a city to proclaim the hope found in the cross of Christ.
In the same way, "our desire for Crossover is to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ," Lorick said. "We are excited to see the churches do block parties in their communities while at the same time being intentional about sharing the Gospel."
First Baptist Church in Pearland is one of the churches planning a block party as part of Crossover Houston.
"We have concluded that one large block party could effectively reach several thousand over a three-hour time," pastor Sonny Foraker said.
The block party is set to include bounce houses, rock climbing, water slides for older kids, interactive games, a petting zoo and pony rides, as well as hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones. In addition, the church band will perform from a bandstand.
"The Crossover event will allow many people to participate in a fun day when many residents' normal busy schedules would not otherwise allow them to hear or see that the Gospel can impact their lives," Foraker said.
Lorick said intentional witnessing at all the Crossover Houston events would benefit the sponsoring churches, those hearing the Gospel and those sharing it.
"Our desire is to see people be excited about sharing their faith daily in their communities," Lorick said. "By doing door-to-door evangelism as well as block parties, we are giving people the training, experience and opportunities to develop a burden and passion to see people come to faith in Jesus. We believe that these opportunities will help spur people on to be passionate about sharing their faith daily in their respective contexts."
Bethel Baptist Church is another church planning a Crossover Houston block party and hoping to influence its community for Christ.
"Our church is located in the inner city of Houston with a predominately Hispanic community. Gangs, drugs, poverty and teen pregnancy are big issues," pastor Jamie Garcia said. "This block party will give our church the opportunity to display our 'Love God, Love People' motto."
Crossover Houston, Lorick said, "is going to be a great time in which people from all over the SBC join together to knock on doors and host block parties. The SBTC is excited to be leading out in the strategy of sharing the Gospel with residents of Houston through these avenues of intentional evangelism. We pray that God blesses these efforts and many people will come to faith in Jesus on June 8 through Crossover Houston."
There are multiple opportunities for those attending the SBC to be a part of Crossover Houston. To see a list of churches hosting block parties, visit
or email email@example.com. Information also is available by calling the SBTC evangelism office toll-free at 1-877-953-7282. For an earlier Baptist Press story about this year's Crossover, click
. NAMB provides partial funding for Crossover events and partners with local associations, state conventions, churches and any SBC entities wanting to be part of sharing Christ in the city hosting each year's SBC annual meeting.
Stephanie Heading is a correspondent for the Southern Baptist TEXAN. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (
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Neighbors Vote No on Heathers
Did CB3 have a brain tumor for breakfast? Heathers, a popular bar on 13th Street near Avenue A, may be shutting its doors for good. The bar's long term disputes with its neighbors have come to a head, and the residents are not backing down. With the bar's future in the hands of the Community Board 3, Heathers' future is not looking bright.
Heathers has been denied a renewed liquor license and effectively forced out of the neighborhood. At the Community Board hearing on Monday, the bar's neighbors loudly vetoed its application for renewal. Neighbors of Heathers added noise, smoking and public urination to their list of complaints.
Heather Millstone, the bar's owner, reminded the community of her participation in the 2009 rape case in which two NYPD officers were accused of rape based on evidence provided by the Heathers security camera. She also stated that her bar is a "safe place" for gays, lesbians and transsexuals in her defense.
The community was not convinced and voted "no" on her bid to renew the bar's liquor license. Their main complaints were the noise levels outside their apartments late at night. "It's anarchy, and for that reason their liquor license should be taken away," said one resident. Others complained about the drunken behavior that they find unacceptable. Some complain about bar patrons urinating on their buildings while another resident has caught people "trespassing on [his] property and smoking pot."
Why is Heathers being targeted on a bl0ck well known for its nightlife? Residents say it is the worst of them all. Referring to the group of bars on Avenue A one resident said, "Our biggest problem is Heathers."
Despite Millstone's attempts to shine a spotlight on the good Heathers has done for the community, residents are not extending a neighborly hand. Community Board 3 makes its official vote on Sept. 27 and based on the atmosphere at the Community Board hearing, Heathers is on its way out.
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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) — Mosquitoes can turn out to be desensitized to the insect repellent DEET, in accordance to a new review.
Even though most bugs are strongly deterred by DEET, the researchers had earlier found that some mosquitoes and flies carry a genetic change in the odor receptors on their antennae that enables them to overlook the odor.
In their new study on a distinct sort of mosquito, the researchers discovered that a quick-time period modify instead than a genetic adaptation helps make them immune to the repellent's scent for at least a couple of hours following exposure.
The findings ended up printed Feb. 20 in the journal PLoS One.
"Our examine displays that the outcomes of this exposure last up to three hours. We will be doing more investigation to establish how lengthy the effect lasts," James Logan, of the London College of Cleanliness & Tropical Drugs, stated in a journal information launch.
The examine involved Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit dengue fever and bite in the daytime. The researchers found that even quick publicity to DEET was sufficient to desensitize the mosquitoes to the repellent's odor.
Up to three several hours following getting exposed to DEET, the mosquitoes have been not deterred by the solution and have been even now captivated to warmth and human skin.
"We feel that the mosquitoes are habituating to the repellent, related to a phenomenon witnessed with the human perception of scent. Nevertheless, the human olfactory program is very different from a mosquito's, so the system involved in this scenario is very likely to be extremely different," Logan explained. "This will not imply that we should cease employing repellents — on the opposite, DEET is a quite great repellent and is nevertheless recommended for use in high-threat locations. However, we are maintaining a shut eye on how mosquitoes can defeat the repellent and methods in which we can fight this."
– Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Resource: PLoS 1, news launch, Feb. twenty, 2013


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Games are nothing new. Competition and the need for rewards and recognition are innate in humans. Mobile technologies and apps such as Foursquare, Yelp, Wii and Kinect have all tapped this need and made gaming relevant across demographics.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy in the US's northeast, Repair the Rockaways, a Zynga-produced game raised money for recovery efforts. More recently, the beta version of Google Glass demonstrated the potential to gamify nearly any task in real-time. Games can even be used to help tackle abstract, future-facing challenges like resource scarcity and talent recruitment, as Siemens pioneered with Plantville.
Games spur action and participation. Gamification can include using badges to show merit (you'll remember those from your scouting days), creating leaderboards, and using those impulses of competition to encourage desired behavior.
Games can also test understanding, gain constituent feedback and help guide decision-making. In the business world, gaming has become a common way for organizations to reach customers. According to Mashable, more than 70% of Fortune 200 companies use games for customer retention and marketing.
Companies are increasingly using games to motivate their workforces. Brands like Walmart have used gamification to improve customer service through employee engagement, a strategy presented at The Conference Board's Extending Your Brand to Employees conference in May.
Interbrand was also there, presenting alongside BNY Mellon on the importance of influencing employee behavior to drive desired business outcomes. Customer relationships are the core product in the B2B space, and gaming is a great tool for driving employee engagement.
For gaming to be a powerful tool, however, it has to be underpinned by a solid strategy — one that is set to move the needle and prompt workforce action. To derive value from gaming, company leaders should ask themselves: What are my objectives and desired behaviors? What kind of games will work in my organization's culture? What incentives will prove effective at driving change?
BNY Mellon conducted a robust exercise to identify the key behaviors in employees that would unlock the business strategy, as well as structured a system of cues and rewards to incentivize employees. This case serves as a great example of how a company can get employees, dispersed across the world, to collaborate on developing the right behaviors to drive the business forward. In the coming years, B2B brands will have to increasingly employ these strategies in creating sustainable momentum across their organizations.
Amanda Munilla is a Senior Consultant in Interbrand New York's Strategy Department.
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Marlee Signs teaches you sign language in your spare time
Marlee Signs is a sign language learning app for the iPhone that introduces you to the basics of American Sign Language (ASL). It is a joint project between MEDL Mobile and well-known deaf actress Marlee Matlin, who provides the sign language lessons for the app. Rather than just static...
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Another Horror Remake!? This One Looks Awesome
Friday, August 19th, 2011
I know I know, we're all getting sick of these rehashed horror movies. However this one looks sorta amazing. It's titled The Woman In Black and is adapted from a 1983 supernatural book written by Susan Hill. This sparked a low budget TV movie in 1989. This new film will bring the story mainstream and […]


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When to refinance your mortgage
Taking advantage of record low mortgage rates isn't the only reason for refinancing your home loan.
This post comes from Rob Berger at partner blog The Dough Roller.
Editor's note: This post is part of a five-part series on The Dough Roller about refinancing your mortgage.
My wife and I just closed on the refinancing of our mortgage. We purchased our home in 2004 and obtained a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.625%. We have refinanced the loan to another 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.875% (today's mortgage rates are incredible).
I thought I'd use this opportunity to cover a number of topics when it comes to mortgages, starting with one we hear a lot: When should I refinance my mortgage?
While there are a lot of difficult decisions to make when it comes to money, refinancing your mortgage doesn't have to be one of them. In fact, deciding whether you should refinance your home loan is generally a very simple analysis. Let's look at the five primary reasons to refinance a mortgage.
Refinancing to lower your interest rate
Lowering the interest rate on a mortgage is the primary reason most homeowners refinance their home loan. Back in the day, the rule of thumb was to refi a mortgage when the rate had gone down by at least 1 percentage point. Today, a rule of thumb is not enough to make a decision.
Instead, divide the cost of refinancing by the monthly interest you'll save with the lower rate (adjusted for lost tax deductions). The result will tell you how many months it will take you to break even. (Should you refinance? Try this MSN Money calculator.)
In our case, the new home loan will cost us about $5,000 and save us $600 a month in interest. Because our home mortgage interest deduction will be lower, we lowered the $600 savings down to $400 to evaluate the refinancing. Dividing $5,000 by $400 means it will take us about 12 months to break even. Because we have no plans to move in the foreseeable future, refinancing our mortgage was an easy choice. Post continues below.
Refinancing after your credit score improves
In same cases, a refi may be justified if your credit scores have improved since you purchased the home. You may be able to purchase a home with a credit score as low as 620, but the interest rate you get won't be the lowest available. If you've improved your credit score significantly, you may qualify for a better rate that makes refinancing your mortgage a smart move.
Refinancing an ARM into a fixed-rate loan
Even if rates haven't gone down, moving from an adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate mortgage is often worth the cost of refinancing. In fact, in some cases homeowners will pay a slightly higher interest rate with the fixed-rate loan. In exchange, however, you get the peace of mind that your rate won't go up during the life of the loan.
With an ARM, rates can go up significantly, depending on the terms of the loan and prevailing interest rates. And given the historically low rates we see today, chances are that the rates on ARMs will increase significantly over the coming years.
Refinancing from an ARM to a fixed-rate loan is the approach I've taken on investment properties I own along with a business partner. When we purchase the homes, we almost always get five-year ARMs from a portfolio lender (one who doesn't sell the mortgage). We get the ARMs because the lender allows us to finance 100% of the improved value of the property. But we always refinance to a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage before the five years expire.
Refinancing to lower monthly payments
In some cases lowering your monthly payments is the goal of a refi. For example, even with the same rate, refinancing a 30-year mortgage that has 22 years remaining back out to another 30-year mortgage will lower your monthly mortgage payments.
There is a big downside to this approach. First, you extend the time it takes to pay off the mortgage. And second, you substantially increase the amount of interest you'll pay. In some situations, however, lowering the monthly payment is a necessity.
Refinancing to get cash out
Finally, some homeowners refinance their mortgage in order to pull additional cash out. Called a cash-out refinance, this approach has several shortcomings. First, in today's mortgage market, it can be extremely difficult to qualify for a cash-out refi, particularly given the low real-estate values. Second, the interest rates on a cash-out refi will be higher than if you took no cash out.
As a result, it can be an expense way to get at cash. Note that you can typically include closing costs in the refinance amount without being deemed to have taken cash out.
So why do most people refinance a mortgage? Freddie Mac answers this question to some degree in two quarterly refinance activity reports. Here are some data from those reports covering the fourth quarter of 2010:
- 95% of refinance loans were fixed-rate.
- 32% of borrowers who paid off a 30-year fixed-rate loan chose a 15- or 20-year loan.
- 70% of borrowers who refinanced a 20-year loan chose a 15-year loan.
- 46% of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage lowered their principal balance by paying in additional money at closing.
- 16% of homeowners increased their loan balance (cash out) by at least 5%.
- The median interest rate reduction was about 1.25 percentage points, or a savings of 22% in interest costs.
More on The Dough Roller and MSN Money:
- 11 smart money moves to supercharge your finances
- Blue American Express cards: A cornucopia of credit card rewards
- OptionsXpress review
- Calculator:How much house can you afford?
- Pay off your mortgage in 2012?
- Where home prices are plunging
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Ride the flare in solar stocks
JA Solar and Yingli's plunge -- and subsequent surge -- should make every trader take notice.
By Jim Woods
I've been called a stock nerd before, and that's a moniker I wear with pride. However, I've also been called a science nerd, and while studying physics at UCLA, I nearly went the astronomy route (although admittedly I couldn't handle the über-difficult math). So, whenever I get a chance to write about stocks in a science-related sector, I jump on the chance.
Such is the case today with stocks in the solar space, which have recently seen a big dive, followed by a huge spike higher. In fact, the technical picture of some of the companies in the sector reminds me of what astronomers at NASA recently caught on film -- a giant solar flare that exploded on Oct. 14.
In early November, we saw a technical implosion in several stocks in the sector, including the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that represent a basket of the biggest players in the solar game. That implosion was followed by a big spike higher for many solar stocks midway through the month.
So, why the recent flux, and what should investors make of these latest solar flares?
Let's take a closer look at a few charts to see just what the action looks like, as that will give us a better picture of how much upside there is in what certainly looks like a tradable bounce. And because technicals only tell part of the tale, let's look at the fundamental drivers influencing the sector.
On Wednesday, two sector stalwarts -- JA Solar (JASO) and Yingli Green Energy (YGE) -- reported third-quarter losses. And though both still are deeply in the red, the losses were better than Wall Street analysts were anticipating. That sent both JASO and YGE shares up big, and in just the past five trading sessions JASO has vaulted nearly 18% while YGE has spiked an incredible 36%.
Gains like these due to an earnings beat can certainly be described as solar flare-esque, but it wasn't simply the lower-than-expected losses that sent the stocks higher. The real catalyst for the flare-up in the shares -- along with most of the stocks in the sector -- was that both companies said they expected to see a rise in demand for their products from China.
JA Solar said shipments within its own country more than doubled sequentially, fueled by strong orders from utility companies. Yingli said it saw an increase in Chinese sales in Q3, and that it expects strong China sales in Q4. The company also plans to expand into the growing Southeast Asian solar market next year.
The two charts here of JASO and YGE show the rebound in the both stocks off of their recent 52-week lows:
In the case of JASO, shares are fighting their way back to the 50-day moving average (blue line). For YGE, the shares already have breached the 50-day. If the buying momentum for both of these stocks can continue on the prospects of stronger China sales, then both could see a move back above their respective 200-day moving averages (red line).
For traders looking to buy the bounce here, getting in now and riding JASO shares up to the 200-day MA would give you another 55.5% upside. In YGE, buying now and holding the shares to the current 200-day MA would provide you with a gain of nearly 53%.
This kind of upside potential is similar for other beaten-down stocks in the space, including First Solar (FSLR), MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR), SunPower (SPWR) and Trina Solar (TSL).
In terms of the ETF play for investors who don't want to take company-specific risk, the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) has a very similar chart pattern to JASO and YGE.
Entering into this fund at current levels -- and tapping into a trend that could send the shares back above the 200-day average -- would net you a gain of more than 36%.
In my book, that's a solar profit flare that investors simply cannot ignore.
As of this writing, Jim Woods did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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J&M Air Conditioning & Heating has changed their name to Aire Serv of the Coastal Bend!
FREON may have changed his colors, but we guarantee it's the same "do it right the first time" attitude and professional technicians with more of what our customers want and deserve!
Searching for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) company in the Portland, Aransas Pass, N Padre Island, Port Aransas, Refugio and Rockport area? For expert heating and air conditioning repairs, maintenance and installations, Aire Serv of the Coastal Bend is the trusted source for all your HVAC needs.
Aire Serv of the Coastal Bend promises to do the job right the first time. We tell you the price upfront before we start, no hidden fees guaranteed.
Aire Serv of the Coastal Bend is a proud member of:
* Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce
* Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce
* Better Business Bureau - Accredited
* Rotary International of Rockport
* Rockport Downtown Heritage District
* Rockport Aquarium on the Harbor
* South Rockport Neighborhood Association
We are also proud supporters of: Leadership Aransas County, Leadership Aransas Pass, Relay for Life, Aransas County EMS and the Humane Society
$500 Off a High Efficiency Replacement System
Make Aire Serv "Your Comfort Company" and our world class technicians will solve your heating and air conditioning concerns today. Call Aire Serv at (361) 727-0086 or schedule an appointment online.
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The event was put on by the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, held at the American Bank Center in
Corpus Christi, TX on June 21, 2012. Event sponsors were AEP Texas, ReMax Associates and the American Bank Center, there were numerous Corporate, Silver and Community partners as well. Our Chamber of Commerce, Rockport-Fulton, nominated us.
We service the following areas
License #TACLB27037E
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Word Families
This is a game I thought up. The firs person posts a word that is at least three letters long. The next person takes the letters of that word and makes a family, the first two letters as the parents, the third letter as the eldest child and so on, you pick the children's genders. Then they post a new world.
First poster: The word is Born
Second Poster: Bailey and Oliver have two kids, Ryan and Nicole.
The next word is Fan
For the families you can just post the first names or you can add middle and last names, ages, personalities, looks etc. Be as detailed or not detailed as you want. Have fun!
The first word is fire.


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Nothing to complaint with this Calvin Klein Women's Side Ruffle Luxe Dress FINAL SALE. My wife satisfied with this good quality with brand name and especially with the good price ever. She like it so much. Thanks a lot to overstock.com. TN.
The dress arrived exactly as pictured on the website. I ordered the dress size I normally wear, and the fit is perfect. I am thrilled with the beautiful elegance of this dress.
This is a beautiful dress, high quality, slimming! Wish I could get it in every color.
Perfect summer dress for a professional but with a little extra flair. Great price for a quality CK product.
Items must be returned in new or unused condition and contain all original materials included with the shipment. More details
FINAL SALE EXCLUSION: Items marked as FINAL SALE are not returnable unless the problem you experience is the result of our error.
Our standard shipping method is ground shipping. We also offer expedited shipping for most items. Your final shipping cost and estimated delivery timeframe will be available at checkout.
Standard shipping details
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* For your safety, some orders go through our loss prevention department. If we select your order for this process, we will immediately notify you that there may be up to a 3-day delay on your order.
** Most Oversize orders are delivered within 1-4 weeks. Some orders may take 6 weeks to be delivered.


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This 1974 Lamborghini Espada Series III is an excellent original car. Ready for an easy cosmetic recommissioning. White with brown interior. For only $89,500... More
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Spectacular Aventador LP700-4 with just 262 miles. Highly equipped from the factory with optional Carbon Fiber Engine Bonnet, T-shape Carbon Fiber Engine Cover, Lamborghini... More
*-- SALE PENDING --*... More
**$998.00 Mo WAC Please Call For Terms 305-949-4100** Comprehensive Extended Warranty AvailableCoupe 6 Speed Manual Transmission, Finished Rosso Vik(Red) With White Leather Interior... More
One of only 37 black Superleggera's ever built. Pristine condition with racing exhaust. Optional carbon fiber brakes, back-up camera and supperleggera rims. Vehicle recently... More
Description Marino Performance is very excited to announce that we have just acquired this 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder finished in... More
--Anthracite Grey Metallic with Black leather interior and Black carpeting, 23,000 original miles, Documented History. Widely regarded as the most outrageous car ever built, the... More
SF Sports Cars offers a 2004 Lamborghini Murcielago in stunning Pearl Yellow with yellow/black interior. This pristine Giallo Orion 6 speed manual Murcielago is... More
The Classic Car Gallery is proud to offer this Stunning 2006 LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO SPYDER. This car has tasteful modifications from SUPERCAR SPECIALISTS out of... More
2014 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster FOR SALE!!! Exterior Color: Blanco Isis (White) Interior: Nero Ade Standard Equipment : 6.5 Liter V12 Longitudinal mid-rear mounted engine Electronic Injection System Permanent 4 WD with... More
The Lamborghini Reventón is a mid-engine sports car that debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was the most expensive Lamborghini road car... More
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1968 Lamborghini Islero s/n 6198 Yellow with Tan Interior By the late 1960s, Lamborghini's 400GT 2+2 was looking a bit old fashioned, especially compared to the stunning... More


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Governors get asked all the time for pardons, but very few jailbirds actually attain a successful result. When it happens, it's definitely an act to be thankful for.
Wednesday, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is scheduled to take pen to paper and officially spare one such featherbrain, named Clyde, before he gets the death sentence.
Convicted for the crime of being Juicy and Delicious in the First Degree, Clyde was sentenced to deep fry, his repayment to society to be served concurrently with mashed potatoes, creamed corn and cranberry sauce.
The gloomy fate neared until the turkey received the same pardon some of his ancestors (also suspiciously named Clyde) have received every year since 1948.
Clyde will be transported to the Governor's Mansion in Montgomery Wednesday where he'll learn of his pardon.
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Going Graphic
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
"Get out of the way of the illustrator."
That was my mantra in recasting my first Gothic fantasy as a graphic novel.
Tantalize: Kieren's Story, illustrated by Ming Doyle (2011) is a graphic format adaptation of Tantalize (2007), both originally published by Candlewick Press.
The prose novel is told from the first-person point of view of a character named Quincie P. Morris. She's the many times great niece of Bram Stoker's character of the same name (Quincey) from his classic, Dracula (1897).
In Tantalize, Quincie is trying to save her family's struggling Italian restaurant by reinventing it with a vampire theme. It's a great idea until the chef is murdered, and it's unclear whether the murderer was a real vampire or Quincie's werewolf best pal.
The story is set in a multi-creature-verse, populated by vampires, angels, a myriad of shape-shifters (including the under-appreciated werearmadillo), ghosts and more, which seemed to lend themselves to terrific visual opportunities.
My first decision was to retell the story from a different character's first-person point of view, that of Kieren Morales, Quincie's dearest friend. The earliest drafts of the prose novel had been told from his perspective, and this approach provided me with a chance to offer both new scenes and a new interpretation of the story in the whole.
Then it came time to re-imagine the story and translate it into a script for illustrator Ming Doyle. Here's a look at the same scene in prose, script, and graphic format. Even allowing for the point of view shift, the difference in text length is apparent.
Prose novel: 381 words
Script: 203 words
Dialogue: 132
Edited dialogue: 120
The setting, character actions, and much of the emotion was translated from text to art. The dialogue largely remains, but is also condensed for space and impact.
With the point of view shift, we also get Kieren's reaction to his growling. He's as taken aback by it as Quincie is.
Other scenes—especially in moments of high action—are shown almost purely through the illustrations. What drew me first to Ming's art was her ability to show emotion through facial expression, and though I love both prose and graphic format novels, I must say it's pleasantly odd to be happy that you don't miss your own writing.
From Tantalize (Candlewick 2007, 2008)
"Now." In the shadows, Kieren's eyes reflected like mirrors. "Listen, I think it's Ruby. I think she's the vampire. I think she killed Vaggio, or at least, she was in on it. Quince, I think she's using the restaurant as a beacon to her kind, a hunting ground. I'm… I'm not quite sure what. Maybe Vaggio saw something. Maybe…"
Giddy mood fading, I couldn't believe he'd used the phrase "beacon to her kind."
Kieren, not being a mind reader, kept talking. "She's been seeing your uncle since about the time the whole vampire remodel came up. She's never at your house. She's hardly ever let me within a hundred feet of her, up or downwind. Coincidence?"
I thought back to what Uncle D had said about Ruby wanting to turn vampire for real but then remembered. The night of Vaggio's murder, she'd been swimming au naturel with Uncle D at Hippie Hollow. "Ruby has an alibi. She—"
Kieren growled at me, and I shrank back. He'd never growled at me before.
One moment he was haunting the shadows, I realized, the next he was in my face.
Detective Sanchez had said the killer had been someone, a shifter that Vaggio had probably known. Kieren had known Vaggio. Kieren was half Wolf. Kieren had discovered Vaggio's body. Kieren had been covered in blood. Kieren also had been acting weird, really weird, and I wasn't an idiot. I knew the wereworld wasn't all puppy-dog eyes and man's best friend. I couldn't stay in denial forever. Even the police suspected him.
I inched backward till my hand hit the brass doorknob.
"Maybe I was wrong about Ruby," he admitted, "but my instincts are screaming. Something about you seems wrong, smells wrong."
And now I was insulted, too.
"Quince, you're… When's the last time you showed at school? Did you know that five students are missing? Eight or nine people in the neighborhood?"
I'd heard the wait staff talking, but they'd always hushed when I walked into a room. I hadn't realized how high the number had climbed. "The cops—"
"Don't understand what they're up against."
"They know Vaggio's murderer is out there."
"Out there," he repeated. "Do you realize he could be in here, in this very building at this very moment."
From the Tantalize: Kieren's Story manuscript
Kieren comes closer to Quincie—not touching but within arm's reach. Kieren is intent, focused. Quincie isn't taking him that seriously.
Now. Listen, I think Ruby may be the vampire. I think she killed Vaggio, or at least she was in on it. She's been seeing your uncle since the vampire remodel came up.
Ruby has an alibi. She was skinny dipping with Uncle D at Hippie Hollow.
Kieren is frustrated. He growls at Quincie.
Quincie is scared, horrified, disbelieving.
Kieren is surprised at himself, uneasy about the Wolf rising within.
I've never growled at her before. I've never growled at anyone.
Kieren continues approach, trying to appear calmer, trying to soothe.
KIEREN (first two lines edited out)
Maybe I was wrong about Ruby. But something seems wrong. Smells wrong. Quince, you're… When's the last time you showed up a school? Did you know that five students are missing? Eight or nine people in the neighborhood?
Quincie is uncomfortable around his intensity. She backs toward the door.
The cops—
Don't understand what they're up against.
They know Vaggio's murderer is out there.
Out there. Do you realize he could be here, in this very building at this very moment?
A full-page spread from Tantalize: Kieren's Story
Click on the thumbnail to view this full-page spread from the graphic novel. When you're finished viewing, click on the image to return to this page.
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Security Snafu Prompts Service Change At Wall Street Heliport
U.S. Helicopter has had to suspend its scheduled service from New York's Downtown/Wall Street heliport to Newark and JFK airports after the heliport's new operator, FirstFlight, failed to develop a TSA-approved security plan. U.S. Helicopter serves the airports with Sikorsky S-76Bs. As part of the service, passengers and luggage are security screened at the heliport and then may proceed directly to their airline gates without having to be re-screened at the airports. U.S. Helicopter has moved its departures to New York's 34th Street heliport. A spokesman for U.S. Helicopter told AIN that a new security plan was approved December 11 and that company flights would likely resume shortly after the New Year.
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TheAutoLog Forum
Get to know TheAutoLog Forum Moderators :)
Welcome to TheAutoLog Forums! Feel free to introduce yourself, ask questions and talk about all things automotive. If you have any forum related questions, please ask one of our great moderators to the right. Personal attacks, name calling, and "flaming" of other members will not be tolerated. You will simply be banned from the entire site. Have fun and enjoy!


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Welcome to One of Those Times in a Life where I share the songs and stories of a life and career around the campfire. Each campfire has a video or Song from the Campfire, an audio Campfire Chronicle or story told in the oral tradition, and a written journal entry from the Campfire Log. Together forty-nine campfires illuminate the adventure of a lifetime. Thank you for being part of the journey.
To celebrate the Journey I'd like to offer this free download of 'One of Those Times in a Life' (right-click and 'save as' to download), a very special single commemorating the adventure of a lifetime. You'll only find this single here, at MarkPearsonMusic.com. Enjoy!


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September Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®
PMI® decreases 2.4 percentage points to 56.6 percent.
August Non-Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®
NMI® increases 0.9 percentage point to 59.6 percent
Supplier Risk Index
Through ISM Services' partnership with the Ethisphere Institute, Supplier Risk Index helps you identify potential supply disruptions — including disasters, and ethics, compliance and sustainability issues — to keep your business running and protect your brand.
September Inside Supply Management ®
From demographic shifts to technology changes, be aware of the forces that are slowly altering the global business landscape in which your supply chain operates.
Building the Brand of Procurement and Supply
Join expert presenters as they review the future of procurement and discuss the path to becoming an essential part of the enterprise performance conversation. The webinar follows the publication of the inaugural ROSMAsm Performance Check Report "Building the Brand of Procurement and Supply."
Countdown to ISM2015
Register now for ISM2015 Annual Conference. Take advantage of $300 in savings, plus receive a chance to win tickets to the "Big Game".
CPSM® Certification - Don't Miss Your Opportunity to Take the Bridge Exam
Leverage your C.P.M. with this certification to take your career to the next level. Register for the CPSM Bridge exam by December 31, 2014.


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About the
By Board resolution, the Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC) is
the semi-autonomous committee of The Chicago Bar Association that
conducts evaluations of candidates for judicial offices and sitting
judges seeking retention within Cook County. As a service to the public,
the CBA reports the findings of the JEC for all elections. The
evaluations are designed to inform the public and the courts of the
qualifications, independence and integrity of judicial candidates. The
CBA believes that the quality of the administration of justice in our
courts is determined in large part by the quality of our judges. If you
have any questions, please call or email Therese Kurth at
312-554-2043. Members of the press, please contact Linda Heacox, CBA Public
Relations Director, at 312-554-2012.
To access JEC forms and
resources, use the navigation menu to the left.


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Changes to police training are on the way in New Mexico. The New Mexico State Police Chief says the Department of Public Safety will soon release new state police training material.But, critics say these give officers more leeway to use deadly force. Chief Pete Kassetas spoke with the Associated Press about the changes. Drafts of the new material are expected to be released next week but, a small portion will be redacted dealing with sensitive tactical training that could put officers in danger if it is made public. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has filed an open records request to examine proposed changes to the law enforcement academy curriculum. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported last month the academy director said he'd rather burn the training materials than release them. The draft of the new curriculum still needs approval from the law enforcement academy board.
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Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music
Our coral caves, the sea nymphs invitation /
Our cot in Tennessee /
Our country /
Our country firmly stands /
Our country girls /
Our country's defenders /
Our country's defenders; Military march /
Our country's flag /
Our country's loyal brave [and] Miss not a single one /
Our country; A National hymn /
Our country; A national hymn /
Our country; National hymn /
Our darling Freddie /
Our darling bangs her hair /
Our darling gone but not forgotten /
Our darling is an angel now /
Our darling sleeps /
Our darling's gone /
Our darling's journey-finished /
Our darling, fast asleep /
Our darling; Polka mazurka /
Our darlings last good night /
Our days of love, ballad /
Our dead not lost /
Our dear old family bible /
Our dear one has gone /
Our dream by the river /
Our easy style /
Our educated feet /
Our fallen heroes; Memorial march /
Our father waits over the way /
Our father's at the helm, sacred song /
Our favorite galop /
Our favorite polka mazurka, op. 34 /
Our favorite polka quadrille /
Our favorite polka redowa /
Our favorite waltzes /
Our favorite! /
Our fireside at home /
Our first march /
Our first mazurka /
Our first polka /
Our first rondo /
Our first schottische /
Our first waltz /
Our first; Galop /
Our flag /
Our flag is there /
Our flag is there, with brilliant variations, op. 840 /
Our flag quickstep /
Our flower in heaven /
Our foes /
Our folks schottische /
Our friends waltzes /
"Our friends" galop /
Our friendship's smile, ballad /
Our front stoop /
Our gallant firemen /
Our girls /
Our girls (Six Songs) /
Our girls waltzes /
"Our girls" schottische /
"Our girls" waltz /
Our girls, ballad /
Our girls; Schottische /
Our glad voices /
Our glorious standard /
Our glorious union, for ever!; The dying child's request; Kate was once a little girl; The country lassie and her mother / Wm. H. Oakley -- Come o'er the brook / Ford and Calcott -- Chant, Where shall the soul find rest? / J. M. B.
Our good and glorious Blaine /
Our good old friends /
Our good old home /
Our governor's polka /
Our guiding star /
Our happy days of childhood /
Our happy home; March /
Our happy trysting place /
Our hearts are brave /
Our hearts beat high, whig song /
Our hearts desire; Gavotte /
Our heroes brave and true /
Our high-toned colored crooks /
Our home beyond the stars /
Our home by the river of life /
Our home is on the mountain's brow.
Our home is on the sea, boy /
Our home o'er the tide /
Our home over there /
Our home's on the dancing wave /
Our honored dead /
Our hope /
Our hope shall never fail /
Our house was haunted /
Our hut on the old plantation /
Our lady guests /
Our land is one of glory - Nicht gross sind unsre lande /
Our little Daisy /
Our little Jennie /
Our little baby boy /
Our little boy that died /
Our little darling /


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Posts tagged with 'nokia'
Why Didn't Nokia Sell Out To Microsoft?
Considering that Nokia has basically handed over its future to Microsoft, why didn't they actually sell themselves? Instead, they have become a "puppet state" as MG Siegler calls it.
The rumors of Microsoft wanting to acquire Nokia has been going on for a long while, and the recent crash of the stock in the market suggests that analysts and investors see this capitulation as a negative for Nokia. Would the stock have fallen in a buyout? I don't think so. So, at least in the short term, Elop's plan is a disaster for Nokia shareholders, and a free gift to Microsoft.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop rallies troops in brutally honest 'burning platform' memo? (update: it's real!) -- Engadget →
Looks like Elop is betting the ranch on… something.
He says Nokia has to join a successful ecosystem or build one. I have no confidence that Nokia can rally an ecosystem around Nokia products and standards, like Symbian. Here's what I wrote in October 2009:
Stowe Boyd, Nokia Is Lost
I recall when I last spent serious time with the Nokia folks was in Barcelona, at the World Mobile Congress in early 2008. [Disclosure: As part of the Nokia Bloggers program, they subsidized my travel there, along with a handful of others.] There was a press conference with the CEO presenting (his name escapes me), and he was visibly upset by the press questions about the iPhone touch interface and how it was going to revolutionize cell phones.
His response was oddly passive. They had things in the works, he suggested. They had a long range development plan, and touch was only one element of the innovations to come, he said. Blah blah bla, woof woof, he seemed to say.
That was 18 months ago, and the phones coming out these days look like they were designed in the late 90s.
I admit that I miss my 5 megapixel camera in my old Nokia, but I sure don't miss the horrible software, the weirdo navigation, and trying to figure out where files were stored on the device. I will never go back to that sort of old school, DOS-feel Nokia hell again. And I am sure that is going to be true of nearly everyone who has experienced iPhone.
I am not saying there is no room for experimentation, or alternatives to iPhone. Android, for example, may yield some very fruitful results. But Nokia and Symbian just isn't innovative. It's like GM in a world with Mini Cooper, Toyata Prius and Smartcar.
Given his past, Elop is likely to jump to a Microsoft partnership, which is like two drowning people holding on to each other.
There is huge room in the Android space, but Elop seems averse to getting into Googleland:
In about two years, Android created a platform that attracts application developers, service providers and hardware manufacturers. Android came in at the high-end, they are now winning the mid-range, and quickly they are going downstream to phones under €100. Google has become a gravitational force, drawing much of the industry's innovation to its core.
And that's where Nokia should be, finding and building in Android niches. I think there is an Android niche to replace Blackberry, for example.
But I bet he'll aim toward his comfort zone: Microsoft.
Nokia's Dilemma
Buried in a long, long piece about Stephen Elop's challenges at Nokia, is the following characterization of the balancing act that might undo his efforts:
Georgina Prodhan and Tarmo Virki, Welcome to Nokia, Mr. Elop
Nokia has an enormous number of older, more basic phones in circulation, and it likes to make new features back-compatible for the mass market, taking up valuable research and development time and money.
That presents a dilemma: on the one hand, Nokia needs to focus its efforts more closely on the top end of the market, the high-spending North Americans and the Europeans who have traded their Nokias for iPhones and BlackBerrys; on the other, it is enormously proud of its size and the trust it commands among the 1.2 billion people who use Nokia phones and the more than one million people a day who buy a Nokia — more than its three nearest rivals combined.
Any move to slash the portfolio or take resources away from the bottom end of the market would cut at the heart of what many Nokians believe in and work for. That means that even as he goes after Apple and Google, Elop will have to celebrate and build on the company's successes elsewhere.
"Nokia needs to Americanize while simultaneously protecting its assets in the rest of the world. An injection of Silicon Valley attitude will play well in the United States, but the company must take care not to unsettle staff in Europe and elsewhere," says Neil Mawston, analyst at research firm Strategy Analytics.
There's the nub. Nokia has built its mission around delivering billions of low-cost 'dumb' phones to the world market, largely missing the surge in smartphones in the US and elsewhere. These are high cost, full featured micro computers, and Nokia doesn't have a place at that table.
But this is the future. The world's masses of, say, five years from now will be using phones that resemble today's top-of-the-line smartphones, not today's bottom-of-the-barrel dumbphones. They will have web browsers, GPS, touch screens, streaming video, cameras, and book software: tomorrow's phones they won't be used principally for telephone calls.
Unless Nokia wants to wink out of existence, Elop is going to have to make a sudden right turn, and a lot of Nokia's management team — and the corporate DNA — will have to be jettisoned.
Kevin O'Brien, Nokia's New Chief Faces Culture of Complacency
A few years before Apple introduced the iPhone, research engineers at Nokia prepared a prototype of an Internet-ready, touch-screen handset with a large display, which they thought could give the company a powerful advantage in the fast-growing smartphone market.
The prototype was demonstrated to business customers at Nokia's headquarters in Finland as an example of what was in the company's pipeline, according to a former employee who made the 2004 presentation in Espoo.
But management worried that the product could be a costly flop, said the former employee, Ari Hakkarainen, a manager responsible for marketing on the development team for the Nokia Series 60, then the company's premium line of smartphones. Nokia did not pursue development, he said.
His [Elop's] biggest obstacle, according to Mr. Hakkarainen, as well as two other former employees and industry analysts, may well be Nokia's stifling bureaucratic culture. In interviews, Mr. Hakkarainen and the other former employees depicted an organization so swollen by its early success that it grew complacent, slow and removed from consumer desires. As a result, they said, Nokia lost the lead in several crucial areas by failing to fast-track its designs for touch screens, software applications and 3-D interfaces.
In 2004, one said, the company rejected an early design for a Nokia online applications store — an innovation that Apple, Nokia and other handset makers adopted three years later. Nokia also did not improve its Symbian operating system, needed to support a more sophisticated smartphone. And though it introduced the industry's first touch-screen devices in 2003 — the 6108 and 3108 phones, which worked with a stylus — it did not perfect the technology to fingertip precision before Apple did.
Nokia still lacks a convincing response to the iPhone. Last week it announced that software errors would delay shipments of its long-awaited N8 touch-screen phone.
It doesn't matter if the company was once worth $250B, and sells 1 million crappy phones a day. There must be five companies in China doing that right now. Maybe ten. It is unclear if Elop's Nokia can turn on a dime and challenge Apple, Google, Microsoft and RIM. My advice for Elop would be to acquire RIM, and leverage its brand in the professional world, while expanding its cachet as a texter's device. But I bet he's going to get sucked into a Nokia design-from-the-bottom-up approach, though.
It doesn't matter if the company was once worth $250B, and sells 1 million crappy phones a day. There must be five companies in China doing that right now. Maybe ten.
It is unclear if Elop's Nokia can turn on a dime and challenge Apple, Google, Microsoft and RIM.
My advice for Elop would be to acquire RIM, and leverage its brand in the professional world, while expanding its cachet as a texter's device. But I bet he's going to get sucked into a Nokia design-from-the-bottom-up approach, though.
Dopplr Disappeared Into The Black Hole That Is Nokia: Never To Return?
Perhaps it's just coincidence that this Jemima Kiss piece about Dopplr was published on the same day that Stephen Elop assumes his new role of Nokia CEO. But the disastrous course of events at Dopplr since they were acquired by the telecom giant does not inspire confidence that the firm is a hotbed of innovation:
Jemima Kiss, The slow death of Dopplr
Founded in Finland early in 2007, Dopplr was the great white, beautiful hope of the UK startup scene; a well-respected design and development team, and a service that imaginatively and stylishly captured the zeitgeist of business, travel and location services.
It published annual travel summaries for users and included their carbon output. It boosted the profile of money-spinning conferences. And – of most interest to potential investors – it attracted a wealthy, technophile and evangelical base of "upscale" business users. Backers included Esther Dyson, Tyler Brule, Joshua Schachter, Lars Hinrichs and Reid Hoffman. So what could go wrong?
In a word: Nokia.
The Finnish mobile manufacturer, which sells more phones than any other company, paid a rumoured $20m (give or take a few million) for the service almost exactly a year ago, with a deal that closed on 28 September, 2009.
Since then, Dopplr has fallen completely out of the web's view. Its blog has not been updated since two days after the acquisition. While Dopplr was too young to have grown a large user base, the Nokia acquisition could, with some imagination, have given it scale. Instead, comScore shows its monthly unique user numbers falling from 39,000 in September 2009 to 29,000 in July this year.
While the Guardian has been told that Dopplr's back-end system is still being maintained, its front-of-house appears woefully neglected, with no sign of the much-admired annual travel reports. Even if this was purely a talent acquisition, with the company bought for its staff, why allow the site to wither on the vine?
Dopplr's design chief Matt Jones had already left, joining Schulze & Webb (reincarnated as Berg) but still tied to Dopplr one day a month as a design advisor. Jones already had close to ties with Nokia as a former director of UX design there. Not only that, chief executive Marko Ahtisaari became senior vice president for design at Nokia, chief tech officer Matt Biddulph and developer Tom Insam both moved to Nokia's base in Berlin as strategist and developer respectively and are still there, working out lock-in periods.
At the time of the acquisition, people only saw possibility. "I'm guardedly optimistic that Nokia is smart enough to know not screw up a truly elegant service," wrote Dopplr user Chad in response to the news. Duncan Semple added: "I just hope the service won't get neglected or changed too much to fit with Nokia's other services." Trickles of comments this year have variously asked if anyone is still listening — and, echoing in an empty blog, talked of transferring to rival service TripIt.
Despite numerous requests over a number of weeks for comment about its plans for Dopplr, Nokia has not responded.
I think Dopplr had done a bunch of things right, but had made some serious gaffes as well, both in design and business orientation.
Talking to Marco Artisaari a few years ago, long before the Nokia acquisition, I wondered why the company wasn't getting into managing travel related information — like hotel reservations and airplane travel, frequent flyer accounts, and the like — which TripIt has done so well, now. But he wanted to remain focused on the social interaction side of things.
But, as I pointed out, Dopplr wouldn't let me even stipulate the time that I was planning to arrive in, say, Paris on 23 September, or what airline I was on. So that means I couldn't use the service to alert a friend who was planning to pick me up at the airport.
And worse: what's the most obvious social activity when visiting a place where you know you have friends? Setting up a get-together. Dopplr provided next to no good ways to do the obvious: inviting friends to get together, pick a place, set a time, etc.
Instead, Dopplr just dropped innovating. Yes, they added partnerships with various travel services — like Mr & Mrs Smith and Tablet Hotels — but they dropped the ball on the social context surrounding the app.
So, Artisaari sold the company to Nokia, where he had worked before, and he took the job of SVP of Design. I am sure he's doing good things, like the X3 phone:
But Dopplr has fallen into the strange gravity well of Nokia, like Plazes, Cellity, Plum and other acquisitions.
We'll have to see if Artisaari and Elop can change things within the behemoth to really innovate in software, like these many companies had been doing before their acquisitions.
Elop Joins Nokia as CEO: Which Way Will He Lead It?
So, Nokia finally boosts Kallasvuo and hires its first non-Finnish CEO, Microsoft's Stephen Elop, which is perhaps a turning point for both companies.
Elop led the Microsoft Business Division which reported $18.6B in sales and $11.8B in operating income. He is just the most recent of senior executives fleeing the sinking Microsoft.
And at Nokia, is he going to try to displace the faltering RIM as the purveyor of choice to business smart phones? Microsoft tried that market, and hasn't gotten far, but obviously, there are a lot of business people out there across the world with Nokia products ringing in their pockets right now.
Elop does not seem to be the guy to go after Apple or Google for the emerging consumer smartphone market, however. Even the recent acquisition of Dopplr's Marco Artisaari as SVP of Design does not lead to a team that can really compete on innovation with Apple and Google.
Dan Frommer sums this up a bit aggressively, stating that Elop is not the right guy for the world confronting Nokia. But then again, who would be?
Nokia Makes The Same Mistake Again: Hires A Manager, Not A Product Visionary
The standard criticism we hear about Nokia is that it's a company overrun with managers, where decisions are always made based on business sense and never made based on product vision.
And it seems like Nokia's board just hired another CEO who is a seasoned manager, but not a consumer product visionary. So unless Stephen Elop, Nokia's new boss, has hidden talents, he may represent more of the same for Nokia — which would be a disaster.
Nokia needs someone who can leapfrog Apple's iPhone and Google's Android the way they leapfrogged Nokia. Is Elop that guy?
I am not sure that this is the only path for Nokia.
There are still a lot of green fields out there for low-cost phones, as well as a serious competitor for RIM. And Apple and Google's battlefield for the expensive smartphone market might be a bad place to be, for the next few years.
I wonder if Elop will drop Symbian and try to head out for a new take on a Nokia operating platform? Will he lead a huge reduction in Nokia management ranks? Will he create a new design team, and make sure it's not based in Finland? Let's see.
But I thought Elop's comments about Finland and Canada, his native country, having the Arctic in common were odd. Did he intend that as some sort of cultural sop to Finnish pride?
- WOW: Nokia Steals Microsoft Office Boss Stephen Elop As New CEO (MSFT, NOK, AAPL, RIMM) (businessinsider.com)
- Let's Hope Stephen Elop Is Smart Enough To Switch Nokia To Android (NOK, GOOG, MSFT) (businessinsider.com)
- Nokia names Microsoft's Stephen Elop as its new CEO (venturebeat.com)
- How Microsoft's Elop Could Turn Nokia Around (blogs.forbes.com)
Nokia bets on new smartphones for recovery - Reuters →
Will this week's keynote by Nokia's Kallasvuo demonstrate that Nokia can turn around their dismal performance in smartphones and their truly excreble UX? Is Symbian 3 going to be cool, or more crap?
Rescuing Nokia? A former exec has a radical plan →
Sounds like Juhani Risku has a screenplay for a plot to take over Nokia, perhaps where he was supposed to play the 'co-pilot' that would save the day, and push out all the executives who wouldn't listen. No doubt Nokia needs to be shaken up, though.
Nokia Is Lost
A recent NY Times piece about Nokia underscores how lost the company seems to be:
[Nokia Struggles to Regain Market Share in U.S. by Kevin O'Brien]
Nokia, the Finnish company that is the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, is an undisputed powerhouse in Europe, Asia and Latin America, with market shares regularly topping 30 percent.
Nokia's new products include the Nokia Booklet 3G, a mini laptop, and, clockwise from center, the Nokia Twist, Nokia Surge, Nokia E71X and Nokia 5130 Xpress Music.
But in the United States, Nokia's signal has faded. As recently as March 2002, it led the American market with a 35 percent share. By last year, though, it slipped to 10 percent and by June of this year — the most recent figure available — Nokia's share was only 7 percent.
Now the company is struggling to make amends in America, and its comeback effort has started to make some headway. And yet, going into the crucial Christmas shopping season in the United States, Nokia does not have a strong offering for the American smartphone market, the only part of the mobile industry that is growing. Three years after Apple introduced the iPhone, Nokia still has no alternative.
I recall when I last spent serious time with the Nokia folks was in Barcelona, at the World Mobile Congress in early 2008. [Disclosure: As part of the Nokia Bloggers program, they subsidized my travel there, along with a handful of others.] There was a press conference with the CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo presenting, and he was visibly upset by the press questions about the iPhone touch interface and how it was going to revolutionize cell phones.
His response was oddly passive. They had things in the works, he suggested. They had a long range development plan, and touch was only one element of the innovations to come, he said. Blah blah bla, woof woof, he seemed to say.
That was 18 months ago, and the phones coming out these days look like they were designed in the late 90s.
I admit that I miss my 5 megapixel camera in my old Nokia, but I sure don't miss the horrible software, the weirdo navigation, and trying to figure out where files were stored on the device. I will never go back to that sort of old school, DOS-feel Nokia hell again. And I am sure that is going to be true of nearly everyone who has experienced iPhone.
I am not saying there is no room for experimentation, or alternatives to iPhone. Android, for example, may yield some very fruitful results. But Nokia and Symbian just isn't innovative. It's like GM in a world with Mini Cooper, Toyata Prius and Smartcar.
Last.fm Partners With Sony: Should Have Been Apple
Recent announcement of Last.fm partnering with Sony:
[from Last.fm Partners With Sony: WebProNews]
Online social music network, Last.fm has partnered with Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
As part of the partnership Sony BMG will offer its catalogue of recordings to the 20 million users of Last.fm's radio streaming service. Users will be able to find new artists from the Sony catalogue using Last.fm's recommendation system.
I had suggested in past posts, prior to CBS' purchase of Last.fm, that Apple should acquire the product and build into a socialized version of iTunes (which is still desperately needed, btw).
Looks like Last.fm is destined for a strange collection of deals, rather than a strategic role in a contender to the iTunes/iPod/iPhone triumvirate. Although I am not sure who can mount a credible attack on that. Even Microsoft hasn't got a chance. Nokia?
Well, its moot, since Last.fm is part of CBS. It has to make it or break it based on its own merits, and maybe some better economics for users acquiring music, not on some integration with other major software partners.
David Hornik on iPhone Leads To New Laptops
I haven't sat still long enough to queue up for an iPhone (maybe next week), but David Hornik (the wisest of VCs), has been fooling with one for a bit. His prediction:
[from I Want Everything to be Like the iPhone]
[…] if I were a betting man, I would bet that the next two significant product releases that Apple comes out with are 1) a touch screen iPod with the same gesture controls as the iPhone, and 2) a touch screen laptop that allows the same sort of browsing, etc. And I will be one of the first to buy the laptop. The iPhone experience is so good. And will absolutely translate to a bigger screen.
I am so spoiled with the Nokia n95 camera that I think I will have to drag the n95 around with me once I have an iPhone, because the feedback on the iPhone camera is bad. But I crave the rest of the experience, particularly a better integrated experience with music on the phone. I have tried the n95's music capabilities — which are impressive, especially the stereo speakers — but the problems with copy-protection on iTunes music are so pervasive that iPhone (or iPod) looks like the only solution.


text:
Texas singer/songwriter Charlie Robison was born in Houston and raised on his family's ranch in the town of Bandera; absorbing the music he heard on the local honky tonk scene, he and brother Bruce -- later an acclaimed performer in his own right -- were also brought up on artists ranging from Black Sabbath to Gram Parsons to Bruce Springsteen. After discovering the thriving music scene in nearby Austin at age 15, Robison began writing his own material, drawing equal influence from rock and country; stints in the bands Chaparral and Two Hoots & a Holler followed, and he also joined the Millionaire Playboys, an all-star Austin ensemble. After contributing to albums from Alejandro Escovedo and Kelly Willis, Robison made his solo debut in 1995 with Bandera; Life of the Party followed three years later. Teaming up with his younger brother, Bruce, and fellow Texan Jack Ingram, in 2000 the trio released the appropriately named Unleashed Live. A second studio effort, Step Right Up, was issued in spring 2001. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
Tour Dates
Oct 2 ThursdayAmarillo, TX, US Guitars and Cadillacs
Oct 3 FridayOdessa, TX, US Graham Central Station
Oct 4 SaturdayDallas, TX, US Lake Highlands Oktoberfest
Oct 9 ThursdayBossier City, LA, US Horseshoe Rooftop
Oct 16 ThursdayHouston, TX, US Houston Stampede
Oct 17 FridayLiberty, TX, US Trinity Valley Exposition
Oct 23 ThursdayFort Worth, TX, US Capital Bar
Oct 24 FridayLubbock, TX, US Office Grill and Sports Bar
Oct 25 SaturdayBen Wheeler, TX, US Forge Pavillion
Nov 7 FridayTerrell, TX, US Silver Saloon
Nov 8 SaturdayGoliad, TX, US Schroeder Hall
Nov 15 SaturdayHelotes, TX, US John T. Floore Country Store
Nov 28 FridayHouston, TX, US Firehouse Saloon


text:
I Took My Wife's Last Name
"That's correct."
"Usually it's the other way around."
"Usually it is."
He consulted the form on his screen and said slowly, as much to himself as to anyone, "Yes ... you can do that."
Of all the independences one sacrifices at the altar, a name might seem like a small one. Women have been leaving theirs there for centuries.
But I agonized over my decision to take my wife's last name when we married two years ago. I told my family what I was considering; my mother laughed doubtfully. "We'll have to have a family discussion about that," she said.
She's a strong woman who would never call herself a feminist. I think she finds the word angry, abrasive. She wanted my marriage to be as happy and life-giving as hers. She willingly took my father's surname, Thiessen, on their wedding day. But giving up mine, she feared, would herald an unbalanced union. And how would she explain it to people? It just wasn't done. She cried when I told her I'd made up my mind.
"I don't believe you did it," a relative said to me recently, "and I don't even want to know why." We left it at that.
People often ask me why I did it, with curious or wary glances. It's a good question with many answers.
I did it because I love Mona -- because I wanted her to know that I didn't expect her to become anyone other than herself. It mattered to me that we shared a name, so I reasoned I should be the one to offer mine up. And a combination name like Neufeld-Thiessen would only solve the dilemma temporarily. Eventually a child of ours would bring this unwieldy last name to his or her own marriage -- most likely to another hyphenee.
Mona told me afterward my choice made her feel loved.
When the topic came up before our wedding, Mona said she would find it hard to relinquish her name. She also told me in her gentle, gracious way how she came to accept herself as a woman, first as a Canadian girl growing up in Sudan and later as an adult woman living in Canada, a country to which she belonged but had never called "home."
When Sudanese acquaintances congratulated her father on his three sons, he told them his daughter was as valuable to him as any of her younger brothers.
When Canadians told her God was male, she prayed to Our Mother in heaven.
These were novel notions for me before meeting Mona. I never suspected that as a man I had been given an extra portion of power in the global allotment.
I did it because any form of power comes with duties. I'm obliged to take responsibility for my power, to learn its effects -- even unintentional ones -- to see what it does to others when I'm not watching, to use it in the best way possible. Sometimes to relinquish it.
So far the name change hasn't cost me more than a few hours of paperwork, some explanations to public officials and a few strained conversations with brittle relatives who think I've joined a matrilineal cult. I still feel like myself. My identity remains intact. Marriage will demand larger sacrifices than this, I expect.
I wear my new name as proudly as I wear the tiny woman with braided hair I carved from a piece of antler and hung around my neck as a wedding ring. Mona wears a miniature man. Both come from the same bone. I can't remember which I carved first, but I think the woman is the more beautiful of the two. Mona might disagree.
Perhaps I'm not noble, just a contrarian. Either way, I need a good title for my maiden name: "former name" is boring; "ex-name" sounds like a cast-off lover; "birth name" implies I was adopted; "unmarried name" evokes a monastic twin who hasn't called since moving to Tibet.
I'd prefer to keep in touch with my inner Thiessen. We lived together for 26 years and parted on good terms. If he's still nursing wounds, I think I've given him a fair chance to speak up. Maybe he'll surface with a midlife identity crisis when I'm 40.
Thiessen is a name I'm glad to have worn. If, after years of putting up with the newfangled Neufeld in their midst, my long-suffering family chips "Thiessen" into my tombstone I promise not to raise a fuss.
For now, I'm content that Mona feels loved, because whether or not anyone else understands, my new name is a declaration of love. And it's a choice I made because I'd rather learn to give my power away than wield it, oblivious, until it's too late.
Read more hot stories Moms Are Talking About.
Wow! The amount of misogynist hate-mail here! The worst thing a man can be is like a woman! Ironically, a result I suppose of years of feminists saying how much better everything is for men and everything feminine too inferior for women.
Actually my first response is 'Who cares, John Lennon did it years ago'. Why change names on either side? The children have to take somebody's name but it's women that give birth, not men.
It's not the name that matters, it's the recognising feminine as equal to masculine and the man taking his lead from the woman's example instead of, like feminists, women slavishly copying everything masculine without questioning its value.
For all the men who are giving the author grief, it is my sincere hope that you never find someone who you love enough to marry. The idea of you procreating and passing on your cave-man ideals is the stuff that gives single women everywhere nightmares.
I think the male version of maiden name would be bachelor name. A maiden is an unmarried woman, and a bachelor is an unmarried man, am I right?
I look up to anyone who would do a thing like this, and I've been planning on doing the same for some time now. And Tess, don't worry. Those cave-men ALWAYS have the most relationship trouble. I have a feeling this name scuffle might be one of the hardest things in Josiah's new marriage, because he's taken one gigantic leap toward making a true connection with his wife.
You sir are the biggest wimp in the world. If it was a big deal about the name why didn't u just both keep your own last name. If i were your father i would never speak to you again,
Jack White ( of the White Stripes, the famous musician who is in several bands, has collaborated with numerous artists, wrote the theme for Quantum of Solace, among other things)
took his wife, Meg White's, last name when they married, and then kept it after they separated.
So it's not as uncommon as you Neanderthals would like to believe.
What the hell are all you MANLY MEN doing on momlogic.com? That's what I'd like to know.
She may "feel loved" over it, but not as loved as she feels when a real man takes her under your nose every night.
You're a wuss.
First of all, let me just say that the vast majority of these comments are truly disgusting and juvenile. It's really sad that people like this exist in today's world and I truly hope they grow up before procreating (judging by the first grade grammar most used I'm sure they'll have to look that word up) and passing down these antiquated and, quite frankly, stupid beliefs about masculinity to future generations.
Second of all, good for you. Ignore the insecure idiots who posted, I wish you a long and happy life with your wife.
Good Afternoon!!! www.momlogic.com is one of the most excellent resourceful websites of its kind. I take advantage of reading it every day. All the best.
What he is not saying is that Mona(his wife) forced him to do it and he is a whipped henpecked man. I just wish he would have been honest with the article and admit that his wife forced him to do it instead of trying to say it is a testament of love which is silly to believe.
I just want to say I am just new to blogging and honestly loved you're page. Very likely I'm likely to bookmark your website . You surely have very good well written articles. Appreciate it for sharing with us your website page.
I'd be inclined to be of the same mind with you on this. Which is not something I typically do! I really like reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
I'd be inclined to comply with you here. Which is not something I typically do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write on my site something like that. Can I take a part of your post to my website?
Hello there, - came upon your web site inadvertently whilst looking round the net this evening, and delighted that I did! I like the structure and colours, but I need to say that I'm having difficulty when it loads. I'm making use of Flock 2 web browser for mac, and the menu bit would not align well. i am sure I have applied exactly the same design on a customer's website, but the menu seems okay on mine. I suspect the problem is with my browser & just maybe it's the perfect time to change for a better one!
If a man takes his wife's name, he gives up his masculine leadership.
I_took_my_wifes_last_name.. Amazing :)


text:
Aw! I'm really sorry!!
Haha and thanks! I love them obviously, since I'm a bit of a gifwhore! haha
That's really annoying!!
Here I'm gonna post the one from my personal blog next. It's the same but maybe it'll work better?? idk.
did you try to copy and paste the code into "Use custom HTML" in "Theme" in "Customize appearance"??
Just checking cause I did it for a friend of mine the other day.
I've had others ask me that and I couldn't actually find where I got it. I think they may have shut down…
but I will put the HTML in my next post for you!


text:
Clark Howard Show 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM
On Air Now.
On Air Now.
This weekend marks the 25th renewal of Kalamazoo's oldest running fitness event, the Kalamazoo Klassic, featuring a Kid's Klassic, P...Read More »
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text:
Super Street Fighter IV: T-Hawk Highlight
Submitted by Abel Smith on Wed, 05/22/2013 - 22:14.
Are you intersted in playing games with multiple players?If so, come and be quick to http://www.porncc.org
Submitted by leokamern on Thu, 04/11/2013 - 07:44.
Street fighter one of my best action video games of childhood. Winning the game with computer and multi player option was made it interesting to play. Now after watching this video it revoked all my childhood days.
Submitted by JustFab327 on Wed, 04/03/2013 - 18:48.
I sometimes use this character. I like their powers actually. - Trident University


text:
Elise Ryan
Lace V Back Maxi Dress
Shipping 3-6 working daysOver 850 brandsScandinavia's No 1 Fashion Site
Maxi dress by ELISE RYAN. Fitted style with a slit in the front. Fitted waist and lace at the top and in the back. Zip at the back and thin lining. Hand washing is recommended.
Made of 100% Polyester.
Model is 174 cm tall and is wearing a size EU 34.
Item no.: 555288-0286
Colour: Navy
Size reviewsSmall in size
Complete the look
More about the brandElise Ryan clothing focuses on everyday chic and party dresses, trousers and tops for ladies with an emphasis on detail and quality. All at reasonable prices. Elise Ryan works with her design team to offer us the very latest on trend fashion with emphasis on detail and producing quality garments at reasonable prices. Elise Ryan is the brand that delivers celebrity and catwalk trends to you first. Find your Elise Ryan number here at Nelly.com. Read more
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Enjoy Free Ground Shipping with
a minimum recurring order of $40 or more.
Click here for more information on recurring orders.
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This tasty trio of Warm Winter Cocoas is sure to keep you and your loved ones toasty this holiday season. Gift Set Includes:
Vanilla Powder (KSA Dairy Certified)
Hazelnut Powder
Dutch Chocolate Powder (KSA Dairy Certified)
Mini Whisk
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Love this item.
By DollGomes
from hawaii
About Me Frequent Diner, Health Conscious, Simple Tastes
Best Uses
Comments about The Coffee Bean Warm Winter Cocoa Trio Gift Set:
Fastest shipping ever. Great powders hazelnut is best. Coffee bean needs to sale hazelnut by itself!!! Great product.
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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Great trio of flavors to sample. Loved the whisk too!
love it, would buy it year round
By Bon
from Harrison, Tn
About Me Foodie, Frequent Diner, Simple Tastes
I love it overall. I wish it were available year round. I also wished the hazelnut was available by itself, year round. excellent taste
I love using these for hot chocolates, iced beverages or even as an ice cream topping.