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Airports operator BAA has decided to sell Stansted Airport, ending its long-running legal battle.
It has been fighting a 2009 Competition Commission ruling that it must sell Stansted because of the lack of competition between London airports.
BAA was told to sell off Stansted and Gatwick, but by then it had already started the process of finding a buyer for Gatwick.
Swiss private bank Julius Baer (BAER.VX) is to buy Bank of America's (BAC.N) Merrill Lynch private bank outside the United States, paying 860 million Swiss francs (563 million pounds) to boost its assets under management by 40 percent and backing the deal with plans to raise 1.19 billion francs in new capital.
Starbucks, the giant coffee seller, just invested $25 million in Square, the San Francisco-based payments startup.
Starbucks is taking a small piece of that round. Square authorized $200 million in new shares at a valuation of $3.2 billion. The company didn't say who—if anyone—is buying the rest of the new shares, but the New York Times reported that Rizvi Traverse Management, an investor in Playboy and Twitter, was leading the round.
Reality documentary following an experiment by minicab firm Addison Lee to help its employees manage their work/life balance by putting their babies right next to their desk
A BBC investigation suggests companies are wasting large sums of money on adverts to gain "likes" from Facebook members who have no real interest in their products.
It also appears many account holders who click on the links have lied about their personal details.
A security expert has said some of the profiles appeared to be "fakes" run by computer programs to spread spam.
Facebook said it had "not seen evidence of a significant problem".
"Likes" are highly valued by many leading brands' marketing departments.
Once a user has clicked on a link the company it belongs to can then post content on their news feed, send them messages and alert their friends to the connection.
Facebook makes money by charging companies a fee to show adverts designed to attract new "likes".
Some companies have attracted millions of "likes".
But the BBC has been contacted by one marketing consultant who has warned clients to be wary of their value, and carried out an experiment that backed up his concerns.
The vast majority of Facebook's revenues come from advertising and its performance will be scrutinised when it releases its financial results on 26 July - the first such report since its flotation.
Puppet masters
Earlier this year Facebook revealed that about 5-6% of its 901 million users might be fake - representing up to 54 million profiles.
Graham Cluley of the security firm Sophos said this was a major problem.
"Spammers and malware authors can mass-produce false Facebook profiles to help them spread dangerous links and spam, and trick people into befriending them," he said.
"We know some of these accounts are run by computer software with one person puppeteering thousands of profiles from a single desk handing out commands such as: 'like' as many pages as you can to create a large community.
"I'm sure Facebook is trying to shut these down but it can be difficult to distinguish fake accounts from real ones."
A spokesman for the social network said: "We don't see evidence of a 'wave of likes' coming from fake users or 'obsessive clickers'."
But Mr Cluley said it was in the firm's interest to downplay the problem.
"They're making money every time a business's advert leads to a phoney Facebook fan," he said.
[ continue ]
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) board members are dissatisfied with Chief Executive OfficerRobert McDonald's performance and are discussing a possible leadership change, according to people familiar with the situation.
Some P&G directors are talking about contacting former executives to potentially take the top job, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the matter is private. James McNerney, who is chairman of the board's compensation and leadership development committee, has told other members of the board he is unhappy with McDonald's performance, especially after the company cut forecasts three times this year, another person said.
The board's discussions in part come as activist investor William Ackman takes a stake in P&G. Ackman plans to press for management changes and is seeking more investors to join his push, the people said.
The moves increase pressure on McDonald, 59, who has been CEO for about three years and came under fire from analysts earlier this year when P&G lost market share to competitors. The stock had fallen 8 percent this year through July 11, giving the Cincinnati-based company a market value of about $168 billion. The stock rose 3.8 percent in regular trading yesterday, its largest gain in more than two years, and gained 0.2 percent to the equivalent of $63.84 at 10:13 a.m. in Frankfurt today.
Former Executives
"This is a really good company with some serious problems," said Ali Dibadj, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. He has recommended P&G consider a breakup if earnings don't improve this year. "A lot of those problems have been driven by management."
Directors don't see a clear internal candidate to replace McDonald, one person said. A.G. Lafley preceded McDonald as CEO, while other former executives include Paul Polman, the CEO of Unilever, who ran P&G's European business until 2006.
Paul Fox, a spokesman for P&G, declined to comment. McNerney, who is also the CEO of Boeing Co. (BA), wasn't available for comment through his spokesman.
P&G, the maker of Tide laundry detergent and Duracell batteries, most recently cut its profit forecast last month, citing currency fluctuations and rising commodity costs, even as competitors reaffirmed their projections. In February, McDonald announced a $10 billion cost-reduction plan that included 5,700 job cuts.
In a post on its blog, LinkedIn has announced that it will stop sharing a stream of Tweets on user profiles, in order to comply with stricter rules that Twitter is enforcingwith regards to its API.
Essentially, the changes mean that you'll no longer be getting a straight-up stream of your Twitter posts in your LinkedIn profile. Twitter's Michael Sippey says that these changes "highlight the increasing importance of us providing the core Twitter consumption experience through a consistent set of products and tools."
He refers to the fact that Twitter's Developer Rules of the Road say that developers should not "build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience." That, apparently, includes this new enforcement that affects LinkedIn.
Dmitry Grishin, the chief executive of Russian e-mail and social networking giant Mail.ru, has an elaborate wedding fantasy. He sees robotic drones flying around the guests and snapping their every move from every angle. "People today have very standard pictures," Grishin says. "If you have drones, you can attach a camera and make very nice and different movies and pictures." Add some bartender robots, and you get quicker refills, too.
On Friday, Grishin, 33, declared his intentions to fund a robotics revolution. He's going to set up an investment company—Grishin Robotics—in New York, backed by $25 million of his dollars, that will look out for startups doing promising robotics work. Grishin intends to focus on consumer, as opposed to industrial robotic, applications. "I think it's very important to bring robotics to the mass market," Grishin says. "Huge innovation will only come when people see the results in their everyday lives."
In the mid-1990s, Grishin studied robotics while at university in Russia. He found that a lot of the technology was expensive, which limited it to industrial settings where large companies could afford to make the necessary investments. These days, cheap but powerful cameras, sensors, and other electronics are being used to form the basis of robotics projects. Grishin hopes to find 10 to 20 companies per year doing interesting work and to give them about $500,000 each.
The Mail.ru Group, a Russian investment company co-founded by Grishin, has stakes in Web giants Facebook (FB), Zynga (ZNGA), and Groupon (GRPN), among others. It's also behind the Mail.ru service, which is Russia's largest e-mail provider and a purveyor of social networking, instant messaging, and gaming sites.
Grishin wants to transfer his experience driving fast-paced consumer Web services to the robotics realm. "I believe in the Internet culture where you aim for big audiences and innovate quickly," he says. "Robotics innovation should not happen at big corporations but instead in small startups with 20 to 30 engineers."
Grishin Robotics will be located in New York, as it's close to the thriving robotics scenes in Boston and Pittsburgh and not too, too far from Silicon Valley. "There's also good work being done in South Korea, Germany, France, and Japan," Grishin says. "You need a true international city, and New York is a great example of that."
Source: Bloomberg
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. jumped into the slumping private-jet market again with a record order valued at $9.6 billion, betting on a rebound later this decade with a third plane purchase in less than two years.
Buying as many as 425 jets from Bombardier Inc. and Textron Inc. (TXT)'s Cessna will bolster Berkshire's NetJets in "a long-term bet on the global economy," Chief Executive Officer Jordan Hansell told Betty Liu in an interview today on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop."
Deliveries will start as soon as two years from now as NetJets refreshes and looks to expand a fleet of more than 700 planes. The Columbus, Ohio-based company probably won favorable terms as planemakers work to rebuild order backlogs, said Michel Merluzeau, an aviation consultant for G2 Solutions inSeattle.
Gijs van Wulfen has developed a structured innovation approach connecting creativity and business reality in five steps: 1. Full Steam Ahead, 2. Observe and Learn, 3. Raise Ideas, 4. Test Ideas, 5. Homecoming. Here he summarizes the benefits of his method in a 66-point innovation checklist.
The fuzzy front end is the nickname for the start of innovation or innovation phase. Why? Because getting innovative ideas is a vague process. [ continue ]
Coach travelers on Singapore-based carrier Scoot, the budget unit of Singapore Airlines (SINGY) that launched service on June 4, can while away the hours with a $17 rented iPad (AAPL) chock-full of movies, music, games, and TV shows. Last fall, Jetstar, the budget offshoot ofQantas Airways (QUBSF), also started offering iPads for $10-$15 on flights over two hours. While the tablets are undeniably popular, their inclusion in inflight entertainment (IFE) offerings has more to do with their weight.
The bottom line: To save fuel, some airlines are using lightweight tablet computers to replace inflight entertainment systems that can weigh a ton.
[ full article ]
Remaining in the single currency is no longer a rational choice for many countries – but will its creators listen?
Remaining in the single currency is no longer a rational choice for many countries – but will its creators listen?
[ Full article - Telegraph ]
American banks consider technology investment a top spending priority for the year ahead, with platform simplification the most important IT-related project, according to a KPMG survey.
American banks consider technology investment a top spending priority for the year ahead, with platform simplification the most important IT-related project, according to a KPMG survey.
The poll of over 100 senior executives reveals that, in the face of regulatory reforms and a lacklustre economy, banks are focused on re-examining business models and initiatives that increase operational efficiency and reduce costs.This means a focus on technology: asked to identify the three areas where their bank would most increase spending over the next year,
Among those respondents who have significant cash on their balance sheets, the most likely time frame for investment was this year (39%) or next year (40%), while 21% said 2014 or later.Platform simplification - IT infrastructure, applications - is the most important IT-related project in the next year for 58%, with mobile payments cited by 39%, using data more effectively for regulatory requirements by 38%, and creating an integrated view of customer accounts by 37%.
Asked to identify the channels commanding the most capital investment from their bank, 38% of respondents cite m-banking and payment platforms for mobile devices, compared to just 24% for purchasing more branches and 23% for online banking.Judd Caplain, national account leader, banking and capital markets practice, KPMG, says: "The shift away from investing in the traditional branch customer channel to the channels utilising mobile technology is noticeable, and we expect this trend to continue at an accelerating pace." More generally, 69% of respondents identify regulatory and legislative pressures as the most significant barrier to growth over the next year. To help counter this, most are looking at which types of customers to focus their growth strategy on, with mass-affluent, young professionals and the unbanked the top targets.Meanwhile, although 32% still consider national banks the biggest threats to their organisation, 28% cite new market entrants such as PayPal and retail outlets like Walmart.
Source: Finextra
France's new Socialist government moved Wednesday to lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 years old for certain workers, bucking a global trend in a gesture to unions that critics say is a costly mistake.
Governments from North America to Europe have been pushing retirement ages higher and higher in recent decades, as people live longer and spend more years on state-sponsored pension check.
Raising France's legal retirement age was one of conservative former President Nicolas Sarkozy's key reforms, aimed at reducing heavy government debts as Europe sunk into a continent-wide financial crisis. The reform met huge, nationwide protests — yet many economists said it didn't push the retirement age high enough. [ continue ]
Mobile communications company Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) Thursday said Telefonica U.K. and Vodafone U.K. have entered into a partnership agreement for the creation of one national grid running each operator's independent spectrum.
Source: (JPM) DowJones
Pressure has increased on the Bank of England to announce more stimulus today to boost the UK economy, after a key survey pointed to a weakening construction sector. The Markit/Cips survey of purchasing managers for May showed the slowest growth in the building industry for three months and a pronounced downturn in confidence.
The PMI index fell from 55.8 in April to 54.4 last month, with any figure over 50 signalling expansion, while the index of positive sentiment fell to its lowest level since last October.
About a third of respondents thought their output would increase over the next 12 months, while a fifth expected a contraction. The resulting balance signalled that the degree of positive sentiment about future business was at its lowest level in six months. [ continue ]
Germany and European Union officials are urgently exploring ways to rescue Spain's debt-stricken banks although Madrid has not yet requested assistance and is resisting being placed under international supervision, European sources said on Wednesday.
Spain, the euro zone's fourth biggest economy, said on Tuesday it was effectively losing access to credit markets due to prohibitive borrowingcosts and appealed to European partners to help revive its banks.
The European Central Bank dashed investors' hopes of an easing of monetary policy or another flood of cheap liquidity for banks despite saying that the euro zone money market has again become "dysfunctional". The ECB left interest rates on hold at 1 percent at its monthly meeting.
The move raised pressure on EU political leaders to outline a solution to the bloc's festering debt crisis at a summit later this month, which is being watched closely in the United States and other global powers anxious about a sluggish world economy.
Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said after talks at the European Commission on Wednesday there were no immediate plans to apply for a bailout. Spain would await the results of an IMF report and an independent audit of the banking sector, both due this month, before taking decisions on how to recapitalise the banks, he said.[ continue ]
The eurozone sovereign debt emergency showed no signs of abating yesterday as the Spanish government desperately haggled over the terms of its expected bailout and the European Central Bank refused to ease monetary policy for the currency bloc, despite signs of stricken European economies sinking still deeper into recession.
Madrid's Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, insisted once again he was not making any plans to follow Greece, Portugal and Ireland in requesting a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. But, behind the scenes, Spanish ministers accept that an external rescue of the country's beleaguered banking sector is now necessary. Spain is trying to persuade its European partners to allow the European bailout fund to inject capital directly into its banks, rather than diverting the money through the state. Madrid fears that a full-blown national bailout would be accompanied by an onerous EU/IMF inspection system. [ continue ]
A new type of flexible ultra-thin glass has been unveiled by the firm that developed Gorilla Glass, currently used to make screens of many mobile devices.
Dubbed Willow Glass, the product can be "wrapped" around a device, said the New York-based developer Corning.
The glass was showcased at the Society for Information Display's Display Week, an industry trade show in Boston.
Besides smartphones, it could also be used for displays that are not flat, the company said.
But until such "conformable" screens appear on the market, the glass could be used for mobile devices that are constantly becoming slimmer.
"Displays become more pervasive each day and manufacturers strive to make both portable devices and larger displays thinner," said Dipak Chowdhury, Willow Glass programme director at Corning.
The prototype demonstrated in Boston was as thin as a sheet of paper, and the company said that it can be made to be just 0.05mm thick - thinner than the current 0.2mm or 0.5mm displays.
The firm has already started supplying customers developing new display and touch technology with samples of the product.
Part of the reason enterprise software is so crushingly unsexy has to do with its very name. There's something about those two words that just seems to automatically induce a metallic vomit. But a lot it comes down to design. Enterprise software is ugly to think about because, by and large, it's ugly to look at. Only now are we beginning to see that change, with the likes ofSiasto leading the charge.
Today, the Y Combinator grad released a new "Discussions" feature that gives the word "enterprise" a much prettier face. In Discussions, you can drag and drop images from the Web into chat rooms set up around particular topics. These pictures then become central to the communication, rather than being something you tack on to a written message.
Siasto is one of the few enterprise-oriented companies that gets design right. The service launched in April and distinguished itself from its competitors – Basecamp andYammer, for example – by organizing navigation around tiles instead of tabs. Siasto is integrated with Google Apps and Dropbox, so for many people sign-up is super easy and it's dead easy to use. [ continue ]
American International Group Inc. (AIG) Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche saidEurope's debt crisis shows governments worldwide must accept that people will have to work more years as life expectancies increase.
"Retirement ages will have to move to 70, 80 years old," Benmosche, who turned 68 last week, said during a weekend interview at his seaside villa in Dubrovnik, Croatia. "That would make pensions, medical services more affordable. They will keep people working longer and will take that burden off of the youth."
The crisis, now in its third year, threatens to destroy Europe's 17-nation currency union as Greece contemplates exiting the euro and Spain sees its bond yields rise and banking industry falter. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hardened her opposition to joint debt sharing in the euro region as U.S. President Barack Obama singled out Europe's leaders for not doing enough to arrest the crisis. [ continue ]
Errol Damelin reportedly leading 'a beauty parade' of banks to help prepare flotation, which could value business at £1bn
The boss of Wonga could be in line for a £100m windfall if he successfully floats the payday lender on the US stockmarket.
Errol Damelin, who founded the short-term loans firm just four years ago, is thought to have retained an interest in 17m shares, or about 10% of the parent company.
Wonga is understood to be considering floating the business or flogging off a significant stake. Damelin is holding a "beauty parade" of banks to help it prepare for a flotation, which could value the business at more than £1bn. [ continue ]
When corporate executives are asked why they don't spend more of their record profits by investing in their businesses and hiring workers, they offer this mantra: uncertainty, brought on by President Barack Obama.
Verizon Communications Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg led the charge in 2010. "By reaching into virtually every sector of economic life," he said, "government is injecting uncertainty into the marketplace and making it harder to raise capital and create new businesses." More recently, John Chambers, the Cisco Systems Inc. CEO, said sales were down partly because of corporate customers' worries about government policy. "Business doesn't like uncertainty," he told Bloomberg TV on May 10.
Is the uncertainty plaint really just an excuse for inaction — and cover for lobbyists looking to build support for less regulation? Or is there substance to the anxiety? If so, what can be done about it?
Google's concept of Chromebooks was ahead of its time when its browser-only, stripped-down laptops appeared a year ago – even though we all seem to spend most of our computing lives online and inside a web browser. A second attempt out this week tries to get closer to answering the needs we have today.
[ Continue FT.com ]
… Long-standing issues that's wrong with the on-boarding (broken) hiring process:
1. (Removal of 'human' interaction process, replaced with automated tools that don't work)2. (Hiring Manager should be involved in Hiring process & conduct Interview) 3. (Software replace recruiters)4. (Software keyword match screening)5. (Applicants rarely talk to anyone, even by email, during the hiring process)
… Long-standing issues that's wrong with the on-boarding (broken) hiring process:
1. (Removal of 'human' interaction process, replaced with automated tools that don't work)2. (Hiring Manager should be involved in Hiring process & conduct Interview) 3. (Software replace recruiters)4. (Software keyword match screening)5. (Applicants rarely talk to anyone, even by email, during the hiring process)
Software Raises Bar for Hiring
In an essay in WSJ last fall, Peter Cappelli, a professor of management and human resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, challenged the oft-heard complaint from employers that they can't find good workers with the right skills. "The real culprits are the employers themselves," he asserted.
"It is part of a long-term trend," he adds in an interview, "and the recession caused employers to be able to be pickier, to get even more specific in the skills they think they can find outside the company and to cut back on training."
Not surprisingly, his essay drew a lot of response. What did surprise Mr. Cappelli—as he describes in a book, "Why Good People Can't Get Jobs," to be published in June—was the frequency of complaints about the hiring process itself, particularly the now-ubiquitous use of software to screen applicants.
A Philadelphia-area human-resources executive told Mr. Cappelli that he applied anonymously for a job in his own company as an experiment. He didn't make it through the screening process.
Therein lies a problem.
The job market is more than a professional concern for Mr. Cappelli. His son, now 25 years old, graduated in 2010 with a degree in classics from St. John's College and couldn't find a job. Told that health care was hiring, he enrolled at New Orleans's Delgado Community College and got a certificate in phlebotomy, learning how to draw patients' blood. However, he discovered that work experience was essential to land a job. Also, many potential employers were consolidating two medical-related occupations into one, so a phlebotomy certificate alone wasn't enough. He is still looking.
For the entire U.S. economy, a lot rides on correctly diagnosing today's job market. If the chief problem is one of too many workers and not enough jobs, then today's unemployment is treatable and there's a case for more fiscal and monetary policy to stimulate demand, or at least for deferring fiscal austerity. But if the problem is chiefly a mismatch between skills employers need and those the jobless have, then more fiscal and monetary medicine won't do much good. That kind of unemployment is treatable only in the long run—with better education and training.
Mr. Cappelli leans toward the first view but argues that there's more to this. "For every story about an employer who can't find qualified applicants, there's a counterbalancing tale about an employer with ridiculous hiring requirements," he says. In many companies, software has replaced recruiters, he writes, so "applicants rarely talk to anyone, even by email, during the hiring process."
As in other parts of the economy, software has its benefits. It makes applying for a job easier. One doesn't have to trudge down to the HR office to fill out forms. It has broadened the pool of applicants from which employers can choose. It saves money.
But at a time of widespread unemployment, the volume of applications is swamping HR departments, many of which have been downsized to cut costs. That has led employers to further automate hiring—and to become incredibly specific about experience and skills they seek. Screening software weeds out anyone whose application lacks particular key words.
With so much talent looking for work, why not get what you really need? Here's why: Managers pile up so many requirements that they make it nearly impossible to find anyone who fits.
Neal Grunstra, president of Mindbank Consulting Group, a temporary-staffing company, calls this "looking for a unicorn." Mr. Cappelli's favorite email came from a company that drew 25,000 applicants for a standard engineering position only to have the HR department say not one was qualified. One job seeker said "he had been told he was perfect for a given position—except for the fact that his previous job title didn't match that of the vacancy," a title unique to the prospective employer.
As anyone who has applied for a job lately knows, the trick is parroting all the words in the job description but not just copying and pasting the text, which leads the software to discard the application. It's a whole new skill: Clearing the software hurdle is as important as being able to do the job.
Much of what is broken in the U.S. job market will take a lot of work and time to fix. The current approach to training needs repair, for instance.
But some fixes are easier. Employers could, as Mr. Cappelli puts it, "back off the strict requirement that applicants need to have previously done precisely the tasks needed for the vacant job" and "see if they could do the same with some training or ramp-up time." And employers could insist that vendors redo the software so it isn't so picky and flags for personal consideration—rather than discards—an applicant who doesn't quite fit the specifics but might be able to do the job.
Tell me what it is that makes Silicon Valley so special. Why should startups move there? Why, in this age of always-on Internet, does it still matter to be there? To get all metaphorical, what isSilicon Valley? [ Continue ]
Some of the first London Underground stations to receive free wi-fi over the summer have been named.
Transport for London said { King's Cross, Leicester Square, Liverpool Street, Oxford Circus, Stratford ) would be among about 80 stations to enjoy wi-fi.
It will be available at ticket offices, escalators and platforms by the end of July, ready for the Olympics, it said.
Virgin Media will run the service which will become a pay-as-you-go offering after the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
'Deep-level' claim
Non-paying users will be limited to a site showing online travel information.
London Underground's strategy director Gareth Powell said: "The first stations include some of our busiest and most well-known destinations and we're on track for a successful launch this summer, all delivered at no additional cost to fare-payers or taxpayers."
Wi-fi is already available on many of the UK's overground trains. GNER was the first operator to offer the service on the East Coast Main Line in 2004.
However, Transport for London said this would be the UK's first "deep-level" network to provide wireless internet to the public.
Glasgow's Subway has had mobile phone and wi-fi services available on its 15 platforms since 2008, but the service is not as far underground as London's.
Source: BBC
In the last couple of days, I've come across many websites informing me of the opt-in/opt-out Cookie notification, but none of them have been as informative as Evidon 'Cookie Consent Tool' on Thomson Reuters
At the inflection point that usually arrives with a new year, I would recommend encouraging a situation most knowledge workers and their leaders fear like the plague: failure. I recently heard a saying that sums up a driving principle for the New Year nicely: "Reward success, celebrate failure, and punish inaction." Let's consider this in more detail.
A failure-free climate is an innovation-free zone You've likely heard all the bromides about the difficulties of achieving innovation, one of my favorites being Thomas Edison's quip that "We now know a thousand ways not to build a light bulb." We instinctively know that failure is a necessary ingredient for success and innovation, whether it's inventing the light bulb or learning how to ride a bike, yet many corporate cultures spend their time punishing failure so ruthlessly that risk taking and innovation are quickly strangled as well. Culturally, the smallest error by a minor celebrity or previously unknown business is cannon fodder for traditional and social media the moment the error is made, reinforcing the notion that failure is something to be avoided at all costs.
Cultivating a team or business where failure is not only tolerated, but actively celebrated as a step in the road to success, doesn't happen by accident. Consider your last failed initiative. Did those involved run for the hills, and a formerly high-flying effort become "the incident of which we shall not speak"? While no one expects pay raises, high fives, and a "failure party," when leadership considers failure a critical element of success failed initiatives are regarded as learning experiences, and useful elements are harvested so that the next effort already has a few arrows in its quiver before even starting.
[ continue ] Souce: ZDnet Asia
More French people live in London than in Bordeaux, Nantes or Strasbourg and it is now thought to be France's sixth biggest city in terms of population. What is attracting a new generation of young French professionals to the city?
Facebook noted as worst-performing IPO in the past decade:
Facebook Inc (-24.21%) stock loss since IPOZuckerberg (-$4.7 billion ) loss
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook (FB) Inc.'s co- founder and chief executive officer, is no longer one of the world's 40 richest people.
The 28-year-old's fortune fell to $14.7 billion yesterday from $16.2 billion on May 25, as shares of the world's largest social-networking company dropped 9.6 percent to $28.84. That extended the stock's losses to 24 percent from the worst- performing large initial public offering in the past decade.
"It seems to be a clear reflection that there was just too much stock issued, that the valuation was aggressive and that a lot of people who lined up to buy it really had no intention of holding it," Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of BMO Harris Private Bank in Chicago, said yesterday in a telephone interview. The bank oversees about $60 billion of assets.
Facebook shares closed at $38.23 on May 18, the first day they began trading, giving Zuckerberg a net worth of $19.4 billion. The Menlo Park, California-based company ended the day with a price-earnings ratio of 83.1, making it more expensive than 99 percent of Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) stocks. The company went public as the equity index was heading for its biggest monthly decline since September.
Facebook options trading began yesterday, with volume for puts exceeding calls by 1.2 to 1, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More than 200,000 puts were traded, giving the holder the right to sell the shares at a specified price. June $30 puts were the most active contracts, with volume at 23,835. They were followed by June $34 calls and June $32 calls, which carry the right to buy the shares.
Zuckerberg is now $800 million behind Luis Carlos Sarmiento, who ranks 40th with a fortune of $15.5 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world's wealthiest people.
So why not use your hands to work through a complicated problem or stir innovation. T.J. McCue shows you LEGO's initiative to get businesses working with blocks in the boardroom to find creative solutions …
We humans like to use our hands to express ourselves and find solutions. In fact, there are many cultures that are known for the way they can communicate with gestures.
We humans like to use our hands to express ourselves and find solutions. In fact, there are many cultures that are known for the way they can communicate with gestures.
LEGO gets that. You might think they're just for kids, but if you set out a few blocks at your next meeting I guarantee they will be touched and assembled. TheLEGO SERIOUS PLAY (LSP) initiative was started in 2004 and continues today as a way to use play with purpose, as shown by several case studies. There are 377 members in the Serious Play professional community made up of facilitators who can help you organize a better meeting or work session.
Turning Toys into Tools
According to Kamal Hassan, CEO of the Innovation 360 Institute, this LEGO methodology can facilitate many areas of innovation, including culture creation and strategy design, scenario planning, idea generation, innovative problem solving, commercialization strategy and team building. And Innovation's ranks of satisfied customers include banks, government agencies and startups.
"When combined with a comprehensive framework for innovation, LSP can open the doors to innovative new products, services and business models," Hassan writes in InnovationExcellence.com.
A Startup's Story
In fact, one of best posts I read about using LEGO to encourage more innovative thinking came from Scurri, a parcel delivery service in Ireland that combined the concepts described in Eric Ries' book Lean Startup, along with LEGO Serious Play. The author, Rory O'Connor, explains the main points of why and how they used it in his post The LEGO Lean Startup. He had his team use the bricks to build a three-dimensional representation of the company's business model, to make sure all employees were on the same page in understanding how different parts of the company fit together and what their priorities should be. Using LEGOs also helped employees who don't normally speak up in groups become more active, feel included and support the output of the meeting.
Source: American Express
A senior official for the Bank said the measures would "again play [their] part in mitigating the impact" of Greece or other countries leaving the single currency.
The comments come after the head of the IMF suggested last week that British interest rates may have to be cut to zero if the economic situation deteriorates.
The Bank has already completed a quantitative easing programme, effectively printing more money worth £325billion and this may be extended again.
James Daunt, the managing director of the UK's largest book chain, said that just one in ten books sold today is an e-book. However this is likely to rise to a quarter in just two years' time, he said.
Mr Daunt's prediction came as Waterstones announced a tie-up with online retailer Amazon to sell its Kindle e-reading devices in its shops. From the autumn, shoppers will also be able to buy e-books via their Kindles in Waterstones branches.
Mr Daunt said that Waterstones signed the deal with Amazon in order to "meet the reading needs" of its customers.
Barclays Plc (BARC), the U.K.'s second- largest bank by assets, will sell its entire $6.1 billion stake in BlackRock Inc. (BLK) before the latest round of Basel rules stops it from counting the holding as capital.
Barclays Plc (BARC), the U.K.'s second- largest bank by assets, will sell its entire $6.1 billion stake in BlackRock Inc. (BLK) before the latest round of Basel rules stops it from counting the holding as capital.
BlackRock, the fund manager started by former mortgage-bond trader Laurence Fink, will buy back as much as $1 billion of shares from Barclays as part of the transaction, the London- based bank said in a statement today. The British bank took the 19.6 percent holding when it sold Barclays Global Investors to BlackRock in December 2009 for about $15.2 billion
[ Full Article ]
Female bosses are less likely to make jokes in the boardrood because they are met with an awkward silence for eight out of every ten attempts at humour, a study has revealed.
Female bosses are less likely to make jokes in the boardrood because they are met with an awkward silence for eight out of every ten attempts at humour, a study has revealed.
Research has shown women are more likely to use self-deprecation as humour, with their attempts at cracking jokes views as "contrived, defensive or just mean".
The study, by linguistics expert Judith Baxter, showed more than 80 per cent of quips made by senior female figures were met with silence, with 70 per cent portraying themselves in a modestly negative light.
In comparison, 90 per cent of jokes made by men were found to achieve a positive response, with an immediate outburst of laughter or approval.
As a result, it was found, men are more than three times more likely to make jokes while leading a meeting than their female counterparts.
Dr Baxter, from Aston University, Birmingham, spent 18 months studying the speech pattern of employees at seven large companies, including two in the FTSE 100.
Of the 600,0000 words used across 14 meetings, half of which were led by women and half by men, she found women used a distinct type of humour differently to men.
She said: "One type of humour women leaders do use more than men is self-deprecating humour.
"Women would rather laugh at themselves on the whole than laugh at others because it is the safe option.
"When they do, their humour can appear arch, contrived, defensive or occasionally, just mean.
"My research has shown that male managers use humour to demonstrate and display their leadership of a team.
"Their male subordinates will also use 'display' humour to impress a male boss, because it shows they are on the same wavelength. It is part of leadership 'tribe' behaviour which women find hard to join."
Dr Baxter advised senior women to consider practising a "light, teasing banter" with colleagues to use at appropriate moments.
Source: Telegraph | Aston University, Birmingham (Study)
Tina Gaudoin on Style: How to Perfect the Tanned, Sockless, White Shirt, Cashmere Sweater Look of This Billionaire Subclass …
For starters, the Über-Euro male (UE) would never been seen carrying a man bag. He's a car keys, wallet and Marlboro Light carrier. Here's the subtext: "I drive an Audi/Aston/BMW/vintage Merc; my wallet (ancient Gucci, or more recent Bottega Veneta or Valextra) is full of platinum credit cards that, given my credit rating, I could never max out; and yes, I smoke, particularly in places I'm not meant to, during dinner, after a squash match and long before I remove my jacket or anything else on intimate or formal occasions."
[ Full Article ] / [ Slideshow ]
Men of Generation X (my generation) are all but elbowing women out of the kitchen these days. We don't own the stove outright—yet—but we're well on our way. Consider a new report from the University of Michigan, which has been tracking 3,000 Gen Xers for 25 years as part of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth. It finds that, while young married women report cooking 51 meals a month, their husbands are catching up: They cook, on average, a whopping 34 monthly meals. That works out to roughly eight meals a week cooked by men, who are also doing nearly equal levels of grocery shopping—not to mention getting hooked on food TV, food magazines and food blogs.
[ Continue ]
Hewlett-Packard's chief executive, Meg Whitman, plans to cut 30,000 or more jobs next week, according to officials familiar with the plan. Her goal, they said Thursday, is to spend the money she saves on increasing the efficiency of the company's sales force and on creating new products.
[ Full article NY Times]
Stocial is today launching as a dashboard for stock news and a private social network dedicated to helping students learn the ins and outs of investing.
Stocial's homepage is divided into three main sections: "Watchlist," which displays information on user-selected stocks; "Market Pulse," which surfaces stock-related news as it is pulled from various news outlets and Twitter; and a feature- and information-rich column that adds a social element to the whole thing.
With industry leaders such as Bloomberg providing access to the same financial information, and smaller rivals such as StockTwits offering similar social features, Stocial is banking on its student-facing features to differentiate itself.
Guardian Newspaper …
President Obama has said JP Morgan Chase $2bn (£1.2bn) trading loss demonstrates the need for tighter financial services regulation, amid reports that Ina Drew, the bank's departing chief investment officer, is walking away with a $32m payout.
Obama said the losses at JP Morgan were so big that the US government might have had to step in if the trading blunders had happened at a smaller institution, where they could have prompted a bank run. News of the losses wiped more than $19bn off JP Morgan's market value in just two days, renewing concerns about whether Wall Street's giants really are "too big to fail".
"This is the best, or one of the best managed banks. You could have a bank that isn't as strong, isn't as profitable making those same bets and we might have had to step in. That's exactly why Wall Street reform's so important," Obama said in an interview that will be broadcast on US TV later on Tuesday. "Jamie Dimon, the head of it, is one of the smartest bankers we got and they still lost $2 billion and counting, precisely because they were making bets in these derivative markets." Obama said the crisis at JP Morgan clearly showed "why Wall Street reform is so important".
[ Full article ]
In an effort to diversify its cloud offerings, NaviSite - a Time Warner Cable cloud computing and managed hosting company - announced plans to offer storage service for customers in what one analyst says could the beginning of service providers looking to offer big data analysis from the cloud. [ Continue ]
Gartner analyst Thomas J. Bittman cuts through the hype to determine the five key trends that are influencing private cloud computing. 1. Cloud Deployments2. Cloud Hybrid3. Cloud Management Platform 4. Managed Services5. Value (Business Requirements)
[ Slideshow ]
French President-elect Francois Hollande is to start work on forming a new government, after declaring to his supporters that his victory gave hope there would be an end to austerity.
Mr Hollande has vowed to rework a deal on government debt in eurozone member countries to focus on promoting growth. [ Continue ]
In a speech to the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, Wheatley says that the watchdog wrote to banks in January to "encourage a more proactive approach" to its conduct regime that covers 'core' payment activities.Wheatley argues that some are "still not fully engaged" and seems to be just tackling what is pointed out to them, "rather than simply getting on with meeting all of our requirements and delivering what is fair for consumers".He singles out the requirement to ensure payments reach the payee's account by the end of the following business day, which some banks simply failed to tackle early enough to ensure compliance. "I cannot understand why something as straightforward and helpful to the customer as this, is so hard to do."Another issue concerning the FSA is the difficulty customers have cancelling recurring payments. The watchdog is now looking at how firms deal with this and "will publicise our findings and our expectations in the summer and take any appropriate action with specific firms".Wheatley warned the banks that getting these basics right will be increasingly important for them, with his own organisation - and its imminent replacement, the Financial Conduct Authority - "getting more serious" and the EU taking a more active interest in the retail sector. In addition, new players are beginning to enter the market, poised to take advantage of customer disillusionment."Banks also need to recognise their customers' increased expectations in a world where people can now, via faster payments, make payments 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Old systems, and the reluctance of some banks to change ways of doing things, are becoming increasingly unacceptable to consumers and to us. If banks do not provide what consumers want, the new entrants might," warns the FSA man.
[ Video ] … New York City has a new tallest building - One World Trade Centre is now 1,271ft (387m) tall - just taller than the top of the Empire State building.
Interesting insight …
When two very different industries like traditional broadcast television and digital collide, it's difficult to ignore the implications on both sides.
While analysts predict that 60% of households will be watching internet TV by 2014 and many companies are trying to capitalise on shifting viewing habits, the connected TV market is still in a nascent stage
1. Convergence
This emerging, hybrid ecosystem is primarily based on the convergence of online and broadcast entertainment on a television screen.
This convergence is generically termed 'connected TV' and most often refers to a wide range of connected devices that provide an internet connection and deliver web content to TV sets, such as set-top boxes, games consoles, media streaming boxes and Blu-ray players.
According to Informa, there will be more than 1.8bn devices with inbuilt internet connectivity in use in over 570m homes by end-2016
While providing access to online content on television sets is not an entirely new concept, alternative content delivery systems, second screen apps and social network interactions make it one of the major developments that will shape the future of television this decade.
2. Choice3. Companion4. Cord cutting5. Competition and Cooperation
Chirpify is announcing that it's scored $1.3 million in funding from an impressive array of investors, including Voyager Capital, HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes, TiE Oregon Angels, BuddyTV CEO Andy Liu, investor Geoff Entress and former Facebook exec Rudy Gadre.
The company is also launching its Twitter Commerce for Digital Content platform, that allows artists and musicians to sell digital content directly through Twitter.


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Monday March 31,2014...a date that will live in infamy (apparently). The much anticipated, cussed, and delayed opening date of the High Roller observation / Ferris wheel in Las Vegas will happen tomorrow according to several Vegas insider sources within the past 48 hours (Vital Vegas, Vegas Chatter, and the Las Vegas Advisor).
Caesars Entertainment obtained an official operating permit late last week for one of the most anticipated Las Vegas attractions in recent history. We have posted several erroneous debut dates for this thing during the last 3 months...it appears tomorrow may actually be the big deal day.
Caesars Entertainment employees have been taking rides on the wheel all weekend long, and it's been reported that several fortuitous street patrons have been and will be offered rides on the High Roller for free through Sunday night. That'll cause a street jam, eventually.
The 550-ft tall High Roller is marketed as the world's tallest observation wheel and features 28 pod cabins that hold up to 40 passengers each. Costs for the ride will vary between $25 and $35 depending on time of day when ridden. Each ride will involve one full revolution of the massive wheel and will last about 30 minutes. Rides will apparently be offered up until 2 A.M. daily. Check out our previously published articles linked below for more details about this newest Las Vegas attraction that is the focal point of the Caesars Entertainment LINQ project located mid-Strip.
Cheers...finally...maybe...seven- come- eleven

subset: commoncrawl


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Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz 24-7 Video Episode 3 Complete.
I like how when you point at Mayweather you set it up as "asshole" lol
I don't even watch boxing but the 24/7 stuff sure is entertaining.
ortiz underdog?..cool..time bro ..gonewheater cool also ..I have a felling the great manny pacquiao fight with gonewheather , will never happen after the 17 of september..
Entertaining? you mean Epic. Good post.
Im not a Mayweather fan but he looks more sharp and speedy on the bag work. Speed kills so if i were betting i'd put my money on him
How can anyone not want Mayweather to win he's like the homie everyone wants to kick with this dudes relentless, and the best ever!
Mayweather always comes to win. He's the best today pound 4 pound whether you want to admit it or not. Manny Pacquiao turned down $30 million not to fight Mayweather all because didn't want to take an olympic style test which dosen't effect a fighter at all, because Manny is taking Steroids or at best HGH Floyd's nvr lost and Manny has lost a lot we know Manny is in desperate need of Steroids. Youtube Teddy Atlas on the subject he'll even back what I'm saying.
Mouthweather fame and success is going to his head. He is making mistakes that will cost him this next fight. Also Mexican boxers evolved with MMA training and are now more improved athletes. So Mouthweather is in for the surprise of his life!! WAR Victor!!!
Bernardo what the hell are you talking about.
I hope Mayweather gets beat but realistically he has all the skills to beat Ortiz rather easy and outpoint him.
Who do I hate more hmm,..Gayweather or Chael Sonnen…wow, tough pic…
F*** Mayweather..f***** pretty boy BIITCH!! Pacquiao is the best boxer alive.
i hate mayweather but i pray he wins cause if this ortiz guy wins there will be another 200,000 illegals rolling across the border to the land of opportunity
also how many times has floyd done that skype s*** with ttroops in Iraq? im guessing this was the first time, gotta get that on camera
If you think Victor Ortiz even has a shot in this fight, you're a moron. Sure, the 24-7 makes it look like an even fight… but if you know anything at all about fighting you will see that this is going to be a total embarrassment. The fights already over ladies and gentlemen. Ortiz has absolutely zero for an upper-hand, and I'm not saying this because I'm a huge Mayweather fan… this is an obvious mismatch and its sad boxing fans have to try to get hyped for all this garbage before seeing the fight that everyone wants. Don't waste your money on the PPV. You will be pissed you did.
Ray J killed that in home concert. Money Mayweather's gonna destroy Ortiz. If Dana would pay his fighters the right amount I'm sure Mayweather would dominate MMA as well. All he needs is takedown defense and the rest is merely him TKOing heads.
Mayweather would get slammed on his head and submitted easily in MMA!!
One leg kick by Jose Aldo to Mayweathers chicken legs and it'll break like a f**!
What's up with Floyd's rib (near the end of the video)? He had some compression wrap on it earlier in the show. Watch out for the body shots on Floyd's left side…


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The American-made edition of the ever-popular New Balance 1300 returns for Spring 2013. Combining baby blue suede with navy blue mesh for the upper, the latest iteration of the classic runner features a grey rubber outsole while the lining, laces, and midsole, act as contrasting white accents. The New Balance M1300GGB Made In USA will be released in April through select New Balance shops, including Feature.
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09.10.2014| By Allison Wolcott|
5 Things To Know About QLX-D Digital WirelessRead More
The Shure wireless catalog is growing, which is great news because it means more options. By the same token, if you're shopping for a wireless system, it can be a challenge to figure out how much system you need, and which features are the most important. So, the more choices you have, the more confusing things can get. QLX-D™ Digital Wireless, our newest digital wireless system, is now available, so I sat down with Mu Yang from the product development team to get a sense of who it is (and isn't) for, and how it …
Broadcast and Video
09.09.2014| By Shure Notes|
Recording Sound Elements for VideoRead More
Most videographers and budding filmmakers agree: it's just as important to capture and manipulate audio as it is video in production and postproduction. Audiences, according to the experts, are more irritated by poor sound than poor cinematography. Think about it: we've all seen badly lit shots that we might have handled differently. But bad sound is almost impossible to ignore. For sound advice, we turned to Dean Miles, who has been a professional location audio operator for television and film. His specialty: field recording (in places like the wilds of Central America). In this post, …
09.05.2014| By Cheryl Jennison DaProza|
September Webinar: How to Specify a Discussion / Conference SystemRead More
We all know that the more mics you squeeze into a room, the greater your chances are of hearing the screeching whine of a feedback loop. So what do you do when you have an event where every attendee must have a mic? How in the world are you going to set up a room where there is no logical place to put a loudspeaker without it being in direct line with the business end of at least one of those microphones? Well, there are some places and spaces where the conventional sound system just won't do, …
The latest from Shure Americas
08.06.2014| By Cheryl Jennison DaProza|
August Webinar – QLX-D Digital Wireless: An Overview
We're always cooking up something new over here at Shure, and you could say our latest wireless offering, QLX-D™ Digital Wireless, is fresh out of the oven. Now shipping, this powerful little system has a lot of features similar to its big brother, ULX-D®. Join us on Monday, August 25, …
07.31.2014| By Cheryl Jennison DaProza|
GRAMMY Camp LA: 'Be Persistent and Be Prepared'
Our friend, Meghan Brown, wrote this guest blog for Featured News… GRAMMY Camp! Have you heard of it? It's an awesome summer camp program that brings high school students together for a 10 day total music immersion. Last week, I was lucky enough to join ultra-talented campers at GRAMMY Camp …
More From News
InfoComm 2014 Wrap-up07.30.2014| By Cheryl Jennison DaProza|
Shure Notes®
Expert guidance on getting the most from your gear
09.02.2014| Shure Notes®|
Intellasound's Point-to-Point Wireless at Madison's Rhythm and Booms
If there's one town that knows how to have fun, it's Madison, Wisconsin. A thriving music city in a state that has spawned the likes of Les Paul, Al Jarreau, Jerry Harrison, Bobby Hatfield, Steve Miller, Robin Zander, Clyde Stubblefield, Ben Sidran and let's not forget Liberace, it's the home …
08.25.2014| Shure Notes®|
Building Bridges: IT and Audio
When Mix and other leading audio publications start devoting ink to digital audio networking for live sound and broadcasting applications, there's more than a revolution in the making. The future has arrived. In 2013, Shure joined over 140 professional audio manufacturers to support the Dante™ multichannel audio networking protocol. And …
More From Shure Notes®
Top 8 Microphone Myths Exposed07.08.2014| Shure Notes®|
Tips For Mixing in Multiple Locations06.16.2014| Shure Notes®|
Mic Check
Shure Artist Relations narrations from the road
09.09.2014| By Nelson Arreguin|
Gracias por venir, Cerati… (Thanks for coming, Cerati…)
Poder decir adiós es crecer… (The ability to say good-bye is to grow…) – Gustavo Cerati Revered throughout Latin America, he was simply known as Cerati. He collapsed at a concert in Caracas, Venezuela, 4 years ago and lapsed into a coma, never regaining consciousness. He died last Thursday, September …
09.02.2014| By Brooke Giddens|
The Complete Record.
The Complete Record. The record that you can start on Track 1 and listen all the way through. The album that is flawless from front to back. This is not something that you come across very often. I come across an album that I love front to back once every …
More From Mic Check
The Who: An exciting visit!08.28.2014| By Ryan Smith|
Getting Weird In Portland for MusicFestNW08.22.2014| By Nelson Arreguin|
End the Summer With Shure!08.18.2014| By Brooke Giddens|
Wireless Workbench: Now is the time!08.14.2014| By Ryan Smith|


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You've seen them on TV, now you can have them at your house for cheap! It's the amazing Super Hook. It's the hook that can hang just about anything in seconds.
You don't need a hammer, just push the hook through the drywall and hang your picture. The hook makes a very small hole so you can move it if you make a mistake.
You can get 30 hooks today only (4/1) from 13Deals.com, just pay only $7 with free shipping.
WHBQ-TV | Fox 13 485 S. Highland St.Memphis, TN 38111Main Station: (901) 320-1313Newsroom: (901) 320-1340


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Trustees of Shri Siddhivinayak Trust indicate their readiness to offer gold to Govt
September 9, 2013
Temple trustees, who offer temple wealth for covering up sins committed by rulers misappropriating trillions of rupees in scams, are anti-Hindus !
Ban on carrying metallic things in Siddhivinayak Temple
March 23, 2011
Mumbai: Ban has been imposed on carrying a steel container with 'prasad' for offering to the Lord in the Government managed Siddhivinayak Temple.
Personal shopping by officials of Sree Siddhivinayak Mandir Trust in the name of Trust
June 16, 2010
Mumbai: Few officials of the Siddhivinayak trust have misused the facility on 'non-payment of octroi' by purchasing their personal requirements in the name of the Trust to avoid octroi.
Intelligence satisfied with security wall of Siddhivinayak?: HC
October 5, 2007
Mumbai (Maharashtra): The management of Siddhivinayak temple constructed security wall on the advice of Intelligence Department considering the likely danger to the temple. But is the Dept. happy with the wall constructed by the Trustees?, the High Court has asked the Govt.
Govt. lift ban on garlands and coconuts in Siddhivinayak temple
June 29, 2007
Mumbai: State Govt. bends down in front of devotee and at last decided to lift ban on garlands and coconuts in Siddhivinayak temple.
Coconuts, garlands banned in Siddhivinayak temple
June 18, 2007
The Israelis have apparently told Indian authorities that terrorists may use garlands and coconuts in their attacks on Hindu shrines.
Terrorist threat: Siddhivinayak temple under Police patrol!
April 15, 2007
Shri. R. R. Patil, the State Home Minister informed through a written answer in the Assembly session that tight security has been provided around the Siddhivinayak temple at Prabhadevi in Mumbai.
Siddhivinayak Trustee intimidates HJS activist!
January 31, 2007
Members of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) were holding peaceful demonstrations against the Government's proposed Act to take over management of temples and religious institutions. At that time Shri. Subhash Mayekar, President of the Sree Siddhivinayak Trust intimidated the demonstrators.
Cost of construction of the illegal wall should be recovered from the Trustees of Siddhivinayak Trust HJS
October 17, 2006
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has demanded that the money spent by the Trust from the funds received from devotees for construction of the illegal wall, should be recovered from the Trustees' pockets. Recently Mumbai High Court has ordered demolition of the wall constructed for security reasons around the Sree Siddhivinayak temple, as the construction is illegal
Agitation should be started against the malpractices in Sree Siddhivinayak Trust
September 28, 2006
Social worker Shri. Kewal Semalani's advise to HJS's delegation.
Newly elected CEO of Sri Siddhivinayak Trust assures of considering HJS suggestions
September 4, 2006
Shri. Hanumantrao Jagatap, the newly elected Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sri Siddhivinayak Temple Trust assured delegation of Hindu Jana- jagruti Samiti (HJS) that suggestions made by HJS would be given due consideration and the defects in the administrative procedures, if brought to the notice of the Trust, would also be rectified
Sri Siddhivinayak devotees supporting HJS stand against trust management
August 22, 2006
Demonstrations by HJS : A so-called sectarian objects to HJS board
August 6, 2006
Daily Sanatan Prabhat
Share Bazar and Siddhivinayak temple are on the hit-list of Taiba
July 27, 2006
Source: Daily Sanatan Prabhat
Devotees outraged by the breach of faith by Shree Siddhivinayak temple trustees
June 30, 2006
28th Jan. 2006
The Editor,


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|Physicians who treat this condition:
Find out more about the ARVD/C Program at the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute.
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia / cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) is a rare familial disorder that is an important cause of ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death in young apparently healthy individuals. The clinical hallmark of the disease are ventricular arrhythmias, arising predominantly form the right ventricle. The pathological hallmark of the disease is fibrofatty replacement of right ventricular myocardium. Recent research efforts have revealed that ARVD/C is caused by mutations in genes which encode desmosomal proteins. These proteins are involved with cell to cell adhesion. This important observation helps explain why ARVD/C is more common in athletes, and the delayed onset of the disease. ARVD/C generally presents clinically after puberty and before the age of 50 years. Diagnosis of ARVD/C is challenging and requires that a number of cardiac tests be performed. Once diagnosed, placement of an implantable defibrillator is recommended for many patients for prevention of sudden death. Antiarrhythmic drug therapy and catheter ablation also play important roles in treatment. Genetic testing is playing an increasingly important role in evaluating patients with suspected ARVD/C and guiding therapy.
The Johns Hopkins ARVD/C program was established in the late 1990's with a goal of furthering research in this rare disease, improving patient care, and increasing the awareness of ARVD. Patients referred to the Johns Hopkins ARVD/C program are evaluated and cared for by a team of highly experienced cardiologists and genetic counselors to guide their care. Johns Hopkins offers comprehensive diagnostic evaluation and care of patients with ARVD/C and their family members.


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Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James & The Shondells
Originally recorded in 1969. Recently synched on a perfect making-money montage sequence in the latest ep of 'Breaking Bad'.
Can't help but wonder if Thomas Golubic (music supervisor) had been holding on to this song, just waiting for the right moment, or did he recently stumble across this in a goldmine?
But according to Golubic, this is how it went down - "'Crystal Blue Persuasion' was picked by showrunner Vince Gilligan and writer Moira Walley Beckett and the sequence was directed by Michelle MacLaren and edited by Kelley Dixon with that song always in mind. We've had it on ice for a couple seasons now, and finally found a home for it"
I'm sure not a coincidence, when this song was released, people linked it with 'crystal meth'. And according to James, the words/title came from the Bible.


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all my ostriches : http://society6.com/s-schukina/If-you...
drawing-sketch"Cute Ostrich" (Struthio camelus) by Svetlana Ledneva-Schukina.
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Oodles of Kiwi Indie-Pop/Rock Rarities from New Zealand's Flying Nun Records via Gerard Cosloy on FaceBook.
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The third and fourth dignities in the Sacred Path series, Outrageous and Inscrutable, emphasize fruition and refer to the extraordinary skill of a practiced warrior. No longer afraid of making mistakes, the unconventional and visionary perspective of the outrageous warrior combines with the skill of spontaneous inscrutability to create benefit for others on a large scale.
Prerequisite: Meek and Perky
Generosity Policy applies: The Birmingham Shambhala Center does not wish restricted finances ever to interfere with one's ability to receive the teachings. If you need to arrange a payment plan or negotiate a reduced tuition, please make arrangements prior to the program by contacting Mary Whetsell at firstname.lastname@example.com or 205-595-8568.
On the other hand ,if you have the means to help offset the cost of another's fee, we encourage you to consider donating a higher tuition than is stated.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The last bit of drama (involving Tough Chickletz) has me confused.
The Blizz GM took an item from another player and gave it to the ticketer, who claimed their loot had been ninja'd? Since when? I thought the person who received the item was the only one that could get it sent off to someone else.
MazokuRanma said...
I have to assume that by GM they mean Guildmaster.
Blizzard doesn't get involved in ninja disputes. The only way to get an item transferred to another person is for the person who wrongly received it to put a ticket in. No one else can put a ticket in for that item.
The original post they linked to claims he submitted a ticket and the GM believed him. I'm inclined to believe they are referring to GameMaster (because who uses the term "submit a ticket" when referring to a GuildMaster?), but I was also under the impression that only the recipient of the item could submit a ticket.
"The Tough Chickletz A-hole opens a GM ticket saying he "won" the roll and I gave it to the wrong guy. The GM believes him and takes it from the tank, who did his job and didn't get stuck in the corner and die, and gives it to the fail-pug dps."
If they did mean Guildmaster, we're looking at three separate guilds: Ninja's guild, Master Looter's guild, and Tank's guild. Ninja's guild would have no power in the matter. I doubt Master Looter's guild would be able to convince Tank to give up the item, or even care about persuading tank. Tank's guild might care, but seeing as they weren't in the run or Master Looting, they really had nothing to do with it.
It also sounds like the item was unwillingly taken from the Tank, which points to Ninja submitting a ticket, But this doesn't make sense, because what reliable GameMaster gets involved in a ninja dispute and just takes the item from the recipient?
I don't think that Integrity's complain is based upon this Lynce guy getting the gear. Instead, it looks to me like they were angry about Vampiress whispering them.
The main component that's missing are comments from the tank — who apparently was from another guild — as well as that tank's name. Whoever that was doesn't seem to be complaining, and I'm guessing that the G(ame)M(aster) spoke with that person before redistributing the loot. No complaint from tank=No issue. Personally, I don't think the situation makes Integrity or TC look like a guild I'd be interested in. I can understand why the WoW forum thread was deleted.
Lesson: Avoid Pug'ing or, if you must, PuG more recent instances with people you know and have grown to respect after taking them along through older instances. You'd think most people would already know that.
The complaint is about Vampressive being an A-Hole. Vampressive is the Guild Master for Tough Chickletz. The only reason Integrity's Guild Master found out about the "ninja", was from the tank that lost the loot because of a Game Master ticket. So here is the order of events:
1. Lynces (Tough Chickletz member) rolls highest, but is DPS.
2. Loot is Master Looted by Integrity's Guild Master to the Tank that rolled the highest because it is tank gear.
3. Vampressive then makes a comment to Integrity's Guild Master that Lynces got the item through a GM ticket.
Even if what Vampressive says didn't happen, it doesn't change the fact that he is a d-bag.


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
fyve & Boomstick said...
the lexicon of power thing seems a little backward to me. Before dual specs, you could have feasibly kept a stack of each glyph you needed to change in your bags, and changed them at will and that would have been very handy, but no you had to go to the lexicon of power. Now they introduce dual specs, so more than likely you'd set your glyphs as you wanted them while at the trainer... in a city, and not touch them again untill you respec one of your two, so they change it so you can do it anywhere? is the demand for changing glyphs aftert dual specs on the PTR really that high?
Seems to me like this is done just to save me that 1min ride from the trainer to the lexicon of power that first time. pointless change.


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I was very disappointed. The personal is not really friendly, almost strangely unfriendly for spanish people. Breakfast for 5 star hotel very poor. And, please, don't eat from room service or bar menu (is the same). Whatever you take is almost awful. (we had soup, pasta and pizza). Was not eatable. And they are in serious need of at least... More
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Iran Agrees to More Nuclear Talks
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, courtesy of Christian Science Monitor
Iran has agreed to participate in additional nuclear talks this May with the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany. Although the specifics of the agreement are unknown, Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, told the New York Times that Iran seems "serious about negotiations".
Despite this step forward, Iran's agreement to participate in talks, will not change the status quo. An American official explains that even though Iran is cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency, current sanctions will not be removed, and President Obama has warned that "the window for diplomacy is closing". Many are concerned that further diplomatic talks are only stagnating the problem and pushing a resolution further down the road, giving Iran additional time to develop its nuclear capacity.


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Academic Planning
"Academic planning" and "scheduling classes" are two different, but related, functions. Real academic planning should take place away from the hustle and bustle of scheduling your upcoming semester's courses. You should see your Faculty Advisor or an Academic Advisor at a time when you can carefully review your academic and career goals. Don't rush through this process -- after all, a good academic plan is expected to last through your entire Chesapeake College academic career, unless your situation or circumstances change.
There are many advantages to developing a long-term Academic Plan. A long-term Academic Plan can:
- Save you time. Some required courses are offered infrequently. By developing a long-term Academic Plan, you can make sure you're ready to take these courses when they are offered.
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At Wye Mills, advising is done at the Dorchester building on a drop-in basis, Monday through Thursday from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Fridays, by appointment, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. For a Friday appointment, call 410-822-5400, ext. 2250 (Wye Mills) or 2620 (Cambridge).
For Cambridge students, drop in at the Cambridge Center, 416-418 Race Street, same hours as Wye Mills.
Questions? Call
Maureen Conlon, Counselor/Director of Advising, 410-827-5856, or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Jud Riggins, Academic/Career Advisor, 410-822-5400, ext. 2239, or firstname.lastname@example.com
Related Services:
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Guido Deluca, Director of Career Services


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35 Comments »
- tato010000 said:
hope this anime turn out good been waiting to watch it
- DramaLlama said:
I wouldn't "hope" for it.
- mecoke0 said:
it's ecchi anime modafuka ..fukin love dat type of anime >:D
- the pokemologist said:
I love the novel for this so I just cant wait
- Velthari said:
looks like black rock shooter but about dating
- Anon said:
Seems like a rip-off from "The world only god knows" by the description of it.. only with more action.. and by action i mean ghost fighting.
- Rokkx said:
- Julie said:
Won't watch it… But WILL get the opening!
- puddingboss said:
woooo hope hope hope
- molly said:
its not a rip off its own series well cause its from a light novel then manga
- molly said:
not rip off
- Vel said:
This needs to be subbed quick. I want to see how good it is.
- 名無しな極抜きさん said:
Amazing! ^^
- Saeko Himiko said:
subs why must you take so long
- derp said:
- Avrai said:
lol, he wasnt as surprised as he should be, boring… i hope they'll show more next week
- Vel said:
Damn SD, this needs to be HD. There's too many squares all over my screen,they need to upload a HD video soon.
- TaskForce141 said:
Not again… these types of animes just keep coming out every season or 2…
Well back to re-watching the whole dragon ball z series o_o, currently at episode 30 hehe, where Freeza will soon appear.
- TaskForce141 said:
forgot to add *nothing original*
- TaskForce141 said:
Oh and let met tell you whats going to happen.
Hes going to build up a harem with a few girls, that girl that he met that creates those huge explosions is going to be part of his harem,
there's going to be 1 girl that is always going to be like, making sure he doesn't do any ecchi things, even though this is a ecchi anime.
And at the end, guess what ? NO HES NOT GOING TO END UP WITH ANY GIRL.
Typical Harem anime right here.
Only reasons why animes previous animes like SAO and BTOOOM! get so much views is because there original and there's actual stories to them.
Getting tired of these types of animes, which technically come out every season. (Only reason I keep watching them is because I already watched all the good animes, or still am.)
- hmmmmm said:
The sad part is this could have been an interesting story had it not been the typical harem setup. The ending when she said what happened about her parents for instance and that look she gave. Now that is a story that could get knee deep in hate and scorn. Still, I doubt it would play out like that considering the quick based harem story type….meh.
- Nyanko said:
Another one of these huh…… Pass…
- Kinaro said:
I dunno about you guys but I would be pretty pissed off if the sister I knew my entire life was a lie >,>
- DramaLlama said:
I'm surprised by this show.
The mood, presentation and the orchestral scores are top notch.
The characters are interesting, tolerable and balanced in terms of sex and age.
The main character is strong and assertive.
It's more than enough for me to watch.
Yes! I had very low expectations for this…
It's not great! But give it a shot!
- MergingWhispeR said:
Cant wait for the next episode!! Ecchi anime FINALLY !
- Demelicos said:
Watched most of it (18:53), lost interest in the story line, would have stayed till the end, but the subtitles got on my nerves.
- Elsa said:
What the hell was this?!
….thoroughly disappointed
- nico said:
Keep your depressing comments to yourself
- King Max said:
Still no HD, yet I dcided to watch it…already lost interest after th "Wake up" scene…
You belive SAO has original story?
M-m…at least check .HACK//, thus making SAO not a rip-off, but a rather typical show yet again…
- Buzenbazen said:
Both SAO and Btoom!! had unoriginal stories really, btoom was enjoyable though SAO was overrated anime for the mindless folks who likes bleach naruto one piece etc. Story wasn't exactly it's strong side and romance that develops in 3 episodes loolol
- bakonz said:
hahah love these kind of animes good to kick back and lol ima love this one xD
- Poppy said:
- $u$pect said:
whoever did the subtitles needs to just stop seriously
- Alphaji said:
At 11:18, what is that background song? Its sooo beautiful :3
- dothatotoro said:
why did i think the guy in the beginning with the suitcase had huge legs
Leave your response!
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Leveraging Windows Error Reporting (WER) to use Microsoft's existing infrastructure for providing end users with patches and workarounds, a critical aspect of the application life-cycle management.
Latest Debugging Articles
Better Visual C++ Debugging
Effective use of the Visual C++ debugger is one of the easiest ways to increase developer productivity. Program database (PDB) files are one of the key elements in effectively debugging an application, and it is easy to set up Visual Studio to use debug symbols for binary files produced by other developers, including those at Microsoft.
Windows Mobile Development with MFC
Drill deeper into Mobile Development in C++ and go through the development and debugging of a Windows Mobile 6 application with a focus on MFC.
[Debugging] - Symbols
Learn how to set up and use the Microsoft Symbol Server to help you debug applications under Windows.
Tracing memory leaks with ATL
Tracing memory leaks with ATL
Latest Developer VideosMore...
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MFC Integration with the Windows Transactional File System (TxF)
The Transactional File System (TxF), which allows access to an NTFS file system to be conducted in a transacted manner through extensions to the Windows SDK API. MFC 10, has been extended to support TxF and related technologies. This support allows existing MFC applications to be easily extended to support kernel transactions.
When to Use Static and Non-Static
When is it appropriate to use a static construct? Learn about it here.
Debugging in Visual Studio
Discover the world of debugging and debugging tools.
Working with State Machines in the .NET Framework
Arun Karthick introduces you to the state machine model and shows you how to create a simple working state machine sample using the .NET framework in the C# language.


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InstructionsHold down the kiss button to make the couple kiss but try not to get the couple caught by Lisa's father.
StatisticsThis game was played 13 times!
anime, boyfriend, dating, dream-maidens, dress, flash games, game, Games, games online, girl games, girlfriend, girls, girls games, kiss, kiss games, kissing game, kissing games, manga, online games., relationships, Strategy, teens


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SINGLE FAMILY HOME: 4 bed, 2 full bath. Centrally located Boise home. No HOA! Generous side yard for RV/Boat Parking. Lots of potential inMore info
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okay as a break today I am doing this.
I owe spelling bees (not really though. I remember the highlight of my spelling career was out-spelling [yes, out-spelling] the smartest girl in class [not me, oh you] on the word multiplication. boom. But let's be honest here, I am not a terrible speller, I am a terrible typer , those two things are different. See I grew up with pencils and paper [those giant pencils] and learned to spell. Also I really like playing on my computer/robot spelling game, which you think would defeat my original point of typing; however, those keyboards are like computer keyboards and when you are like seven you aren't trying to gain a skill [other than learning how to spell]. I never took typing in high school because that was for losers [and i'm a winner, but in a very loose sense of the word (re: I work in a restaurant)] and when I did get typing points they were incorrect [double space after the period — come on!]. Where was I? Oh, I think I can spell, but I definitely can not type [or text] to any great ability and my apathy to change mistakes outweighs any motivation i might have to also become a better typer [texter — you get the general meaning of what i mean].)
I think i might do okay on this? Although they only have British/American versions and that fucking sucks.


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The CFO Centre is the Canadian division of the UK's market leading and fastest growing provider of part-time Chief Financial Officers for mid-tier businesses.
The CFO Centre is committed to helping Canadian businesses maximize profits, realize their goals, work through complex financial situations and offer support for, or even take away completely, the running of everyday financial management.
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text: The novelty of the Karma-centric premise might be starting to thin, but Earl's ( Jason Lee) ongoing quest to right his life's wrongs still side-steps 'tricky second season' syndrome with Emmy-winning ease. And that's due in no small part to Jamie Pressley's sexy, hilarious, Britney-worshipping smart-dumb blonde, Joy. Standout episodes include Larceny Of A Kitty Cat (where Randy woos a feline-fancier), gut-rupturing two-parter South Of The Border and season finale The Trial. Meanwhile, commentaries by an excited cast rack up several bonus belly laughs. Unafraid to play the celebrity-cameo card (Christian Slater, Burt Reynolds and John Leguizamo) and even lob in a spot of Claymation (Randy's hallucinations in Robbed A Stoner Blind), Earl's one of the smoothest-running vehicles in the sitcom trailer-park.


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There will be many newly created jobs in Montana as a direct result from this year's economic development summit in Butte.
Monday Max Baucus announced that H.C.S.C and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana are planning to open a new call center in Great Falls, which is expected to employ up to 150.
On Tuesday there were announcements of even more new jobs.
Senator Baucus and Boeing C.E.O, Jim McNerney, announced they will be adding 20 to 25 jobs as the Boeing manufacturing site in Helena will see a major expansion.
The announcements didn't stop there as RightNow Software announced the launch of "Code Montana".
"Any high school student in the state could sign up on this web address and access an online self-paced curriculum to introduce them to software development for 90 days," said RightNow Software's, Greg Gianforte.
"Code Montana" is a program that will teach high school students computer programming skills with the hope to interest students in obtaining a computer science degree, and one day fill high paying programming jobs.
Following the announcement of Code Montana, HP C.E.O. Meg Whitman announced a partnership with Montana's colleges and universities to create opportunities for entrepreneurship training.
"In Montana we would be working with interested leaders and faculty to integrate H.P. Life into community colleges, tribal colleges, and universities across your great state," said Whitman. "With U.S. Colleges counting in the thousands, there is profound potential to make a positive difference in job creation, and grow healthy local economies."
Other speakers today included ConocoPhillips C.E.O Ryan Lance.
Lance who graduated from Montana Tech says his company will continue to add new jobs, and Montana Tech students are on the top of the list to fill those positions.


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The Chronicles of a Tech-Free Weekend
Sometimes I feel TOO connected. Text. Tweet. Email. Ring. Like. Repeat. It all gets to be a lot over time. So when a writer I really admire announced he would be taking a break from constant internet connectivity, I took note, and decided to follow his tech-free footsteps.
Author Neil Gaiman recently announced he would be taking a social media sabbatical in order to focus on writing his next book. As a fan, I have mixed feelings, but I empathize with his desire to regain a writer's focus, and was curious about following suit. I've begun to feel the constant state of being online everywhere diminishes personal connections when everything is already chronicled online. To challenge myself, I took a weekend free of any device connected to the internet. The results were hilarious:
Saturday Morning:
7 AM: Wake up and instinctively reach over for my iPhone. It's on airplane mode so there are no texts, no emails, no tweets.
8 AM: Head out for a workout. My jog is torture without a podcast or music. Luckily, the weather is beautiful, but this may have been a terrible idea. After 30 minutes, I can't take it anymore.
8:30 AM: Decide to head to the gym where the TVs will be able to entertain me.
10 AM: With no laptop in hand, I decide to start cleaning my office. Filing, shredding, recycling.
Noon: Regretting taking on a cleaning project. But quickly realizing I need to digitize more receipts. Make a quick PB&J and get back to it. I miss my Lose It! app. Without chronicling my calories, I start to feel paranoid.
2 PM: Decide to go shopping for shoes for a friend's upcoming wedding. Without the ability to price compare on my phone, I get very suspicious of every salesperson.
7 PM: Meet some friends for dinner. Everyone admits they want to try a tech-free weekend too, but it feels almost impossible. If they only knew...
11 PM: Go to bed with no idea where my iPhone is. Slightly panicked, but manage to fall asleep anyway.
Sunday Morning:
8:30 AM: Sleep in because my iPhone is basically missing.
9 AM: Chomping on cereal and reading from a real physical newspaper. It's truly a weird sensation. I forgot how newspaper smelled.
10 AM: Head out for a quick jaunt in my kayak. It's only been out three times this summer, which is terrible. Without so many distractions, time feels a lot more freed up. Think about taking an Instagram picture and realize it isn't necessary.
1PM: Start chopping up veggies for lunch. Chatting with my boyfriend about how out of the loop I feel. He flaunts his smart phone, but I', no longer compelled to grab for it. Perhaps this is progress?
3 PM: Sit down with a printed, hard cover book. Since switching to my Kindle Paperwhite, I've avoided old fashioned books because they aren't nearly as mobile. With no where to go and no Kindle in sight, I finally focus completely on my book.
5 PM: Think about making some dinner reservations, but realize with no iPhone, no phone book, and no reservations app - I'm unable to do that.
9 PM: Sunday nights are usually a "binge" period for me. I'll start replying to work emails I was avoiding over the last 24 hours and scroll through Facebook. Instead, I start making food for the week so I don't have to eat out so much.
All in all, it was a crazy weekend. I honestly missed my phone, Kindle, and laptop by the time I touched them again. However, I also feel more recharged than ever. Somehow, I know an unplugged weekend is in my future again real soon.
(Photo Credits: Chris Perez/Shalyn's "Paint it Gold" Workspace; Elizabeth Giorgi)
4 Comments
We've all gotta try this, excellent idea!
Although didn't you cheat a bit with the TV in the gym? :)
My phone died a few weeks ago and I was in complete panic mode until the following evening when my husband bought us new. I felt rather sad that I'm so addicted.
I only use my phone for phone calls, texts, and I swear 90% that I use my phone, the only thing I'm doing is checking the time. I used to never carry it with me, but my car isn't very reliable nowadays. My bf and his phone-completely different story.
I try to do this every couple of months and find it very useful. It forces me to engage with other people and the rest of the world.
I do need to keep my phone on as it's my Entryphone and I do use my Kindle as I've very few real books.