text:
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Backhoe Services in Laurel Canyon
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We provide a personalized approach to each project, working closely with clients to understand their vision and design a custom solution.
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We focus on building lasting relationships with clients through open communication, transparency, and trust.
We are passionate and dedicated to making clients' dreams a reality, approaching each project with enthusiasm and creativity.
The first step is to receive an estimate from the client or customer. We should review the estimate to ensure that we understand the scope of work, budget, timeline, and any special requirements.
Based on the estimate, we should prepare a detailed proposal that outlines the scope of work, timeline, budget, and any other important details. The proposal should also include a breakdown of costs and a description of the services that we will provide.
Once the proposal has been accepted, we and the client should sign a contract. The contract should include the details of the project, the scope of work, timeline, budget, payment terms, and any other important details. This step is important to ensure that both parties are clear on the terms of the project.
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I had a wonderful experience working with Ben, Tom, and team on a recent bathroom remodel, and was really pleased with the quality of work. They were incredibly responsive, professional, and communicative, and offered design guidance and rationale for any decisions that needed to be made along the way. And I'm really happy with my new bathroom!
Sunny S. from Hollywood Hills, CA
I contacted Bela Development to get a quote, and from the first site visit through completion of the project, Bela Development were a pleasure to deal with and the work exceeded my expectations. I had tried for months to get a "handy man" over to fix it, but they would either fail to return my calls or they would not show up for a scheduled appointment. I highly recommend Bela Development.
Devon D. from Los Angeles, CA
I'm so happy with the work quality and professionalism of Ben and Ron with Bela. After contacting Bela over the weekend, they were here on Monday to provide an estimate, got to work two days later, and the work was completed by Friday! Not only that, the project managers came by multiple times to make sure I was happy with the work.
- Bryan E. from Venice, CA
Great experience with Bela Development. Ben was very professional and courteous. We met with Ben and explained that we needed shower doors and installation. He described a few different solutions and styles and we decided on frameless shower doors with barn style hardware. The work was done on time and the result was excellent.
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Easy to work with, patient, knowledgeable and great with communication. He (Yossi) kept us updated every step of the way and always made himself available to address our questions or concerns. He went above and beyond to make sure we were happy with the end result and helped us stay within budget while still accommodating our vision.
- Harika K. from Venice, CA
Beautiful work, the workers wore masks and put down plastic on my floors where they walked on. I did make some changes in the middle of the project and they did it with no problems. I absolutely love my bathroom and highly recommend them! They're not cheap but also not the most expensive. I'm really glad I went with them!!!
- Beverly R. from Venice, CA
We talked to several different contractors, looking for someone who took the time to listen to our needs, had a good communication style, strong attention to detail, and a reasonable price. Bela Development topped the list in all three. We're really happy with our new bathroom and would recommend Bela to anyone looking for a contractor!
- Robb K. from Culver City, CA
We met with a lot of different contractors to discuss our garage-to-office conversion but ultimately chose Bela Development. From start to finish, they were very responsive and handled any speed bump exactly the way you'd want to. The crew worked fast, effectively and respectfully. We will call again, as soon as it is time for our next project.
- Grete H. from Santa Monica
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Red Sox - 100 100 100 - 3 11 1Lester (7-2-1-5-10, 106) bested Price (7-10-3-0-8, 106) and Victor Martinez hit two solo home runs.
Rays - 000 100 000 - 1 3 0
Lester -- who tied a career-high with the five walks -- worked out of several jams, getting double plays to end the first and third innings. He threw two consecutive wild pitches to put the tying run on third with one out in the fourth, but retired the next two hitters. Lester caught Sean Rodriguez trying to steal third to end the fifth and he got a boost in the sixth, when Darnell McDonell gunned down B.J Upton at the plate.
While Lester had only two 1-2-3 innings, Price had none. Martinez hit taters to left in the first and seventh innings, both times hammering a high fastball that was left right over the plate. In the fourth, David Ortiz doubled and scored on Jed Lowrie's two-out flair into center.
Jonathan Papelbon schooled Evan Longoria to begin the bottom of the ninth. Bot started him off with a slider for a called strike, had him swing over a nasty splitter in the dirt, then fanned him on a high fastball. Papelbon walked Willy Aybar and, after striking out Ben Zobrist, he walked pinch-hitter Dan Johnson. John Jaso, another pinch-hitter, battled a little bit, but finally struck out looking on a 2-2 pitch, ending the game.
The Yankees lost to the White Sox 9-4, so Boston moved to 4.5 GB New York and Tampa Bay in both the East and the WC. The Red Sox have not been this close to first place since July 7.Jon Lester / David Price
AL East:Scutaro, SS
McDonald, CF
Martinez, C
Beltre, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowell, 1B
Drew, RF
Lowrie, 2B
Hall, LF
Rays 78 49 .614 --- 637 439 +198
Yankees 78 49 .614 --- 679 515 +164
Red Sox 73 55 .570 5.5 650 584 + 66
Blue Jays 66 61 .520 12.0 592 556 + 36
Orioles 45 83 .352 33.5 473 665 -192
Boston is 5.5 GB in the Wild Card race. ... By Monday morning, the Red Sox could be as close as 2.5 games behind the Rays -- with 31 games to play -- or as far back as 8.5 GB.Adrian Beltre: "We're trying to catch these guys but it's tough because they're not budging."
The Red Sox are 4-8 against the Rays this season. Tampa Bay has not lost a series at Tropicana Field in two months (though they did split a four-game set in that streak). The two teams meet at Fenway for three games on September 6-7-8.
This weekend:
Saturday, 7 PM: Clay Buchholz / Matt GarzaThe Yankees are in Chicago, playing the White Sox, who are 9.5 GB in the WC.
Sunday, 8 PM: John Lackey / James Shields
Also: Season-ending surgery remains a possibility for Dustin Pedroia. ... Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Eric Patterson joined Pawtucket yesterday for rehab games. ... Hideki Okajima, who has allowed five runs and six hits in 2.1 innings (three appearances) for the PawSox, will be with the Red Sox in Tampa, but it's unclear when or if he will be activated.August 27:
1912 - In response to demands for an alternative way to rate pitchers besides wins and losses, the National League will officially keep ERAs for the first time. The American League will do so the following year.
1951 - Philadelphia catcher and 8th place hitter Del Wilber hits three solo homers as the Phillies beat the Reds 3-0.
1977 - Rangers Bump Wills and Toby Harrah hit back-to-back inside-the-park homers on consecutive pitches from New York's Ken Clay as Texas wins 8-2 at Yankee Stadium.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mayor Michael Bloomberg has pledged $350 million to Johns Hopkins University, mainly to expand its interdisciplinary research on an array of issues including global health and urban revitalization as his lifetime giving to his alma mater eclipses $1 billion.
The university announced the commitment late Saturday saying it believes Bloomberg, who amassed his fortune creating the global financial services firm Bloomberg LP, is now the first person to give more than $1 billion to a single American university.
The $350 million commitment is the largest ever to the Baltimore-based university, Johns Hopkins said in a statement.
Most of the latest gift, $250 million, will be part of a larger effort to raise $1 billion to foster cross-disciplinary work at Johns Hopkins, the statement said. Funds initially will be used toward appointment of faculty for interdisciplinary work on an array of issues that also will include individualized health care delivery, sustainability of water resources and the science of learning.
The remaining $100 million is to be devoted to need-based financial aid for undergraduate students, awarding 2,600 Bloomberg scholarships in the next 10 years, it said.
It added that the latest gift brings Bloomberg's giving to the institution just more than $1.11 billion in the 49 years since he graduated — including his first gift of $5 in 1965 only a year after he received his bachelor's degree in engineering from Johns Hopkins.
"Johns Hopkins University has been an important part of my life since I first set foot on campus more than five decades ago," Bloomberg said in the statement issued by the university. "Each dollar I have given has been well-spent improving the institution and, just as importantly, making its education available to students who might otherwise not be able to afford it."
Bloomberg added that he hoped the giving would make a difference in people's lives. "I know of no other institution that can make a bigger difference in lives around the world through its groundbreaking research — especially in the field of public health," he added.
University president Ronald J. Daniels praised Bloomberg for being a "visionary philanthropist" for social good on the order of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and the school's founder, Johns Hopkins. Daniels said the chief impact of Bloomberg's gift would be to strengthen the university's multi-disciplinary approach to resolving major societal problems.
"This latest initiative allows us to greatly accelerate our investment in talented people and bring them together in a highly creative and dynamic atmosphere," Daniels added. "It illustrates Mike's passion for fixing big problems quickly and efficiently."
Money from the gift is expected to endow 50 distinguished professors to be recruited worldwide with expertise spanning traditional academic disciplines. The school said the work of those recruited would bridge disciplines and schools such as medicine, the humanities, public health and education, social science and engineering.
The New York mayor has remained closely involved with the university where he graduated in 1964, including stints on its board of trustees from 1996 to 2002 and as chairman of Johns Hopkins Initiative fundraising campaign.
The university said Bloomberg made his first $1 million commitment to the university in 1984, 20 years after his graduation. Later gifts included $120 million toward the construction of a children's section at The John Hopkins Hospital in honor of his late mother. All told, the university said, Bloomberg's philanthropy has benefited Johns Hopkins in many ways including improvements to facilities, research and the quality of its student body.
The latest gift touched off praise and excited reactions online and on the university website following the announcement.


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Great Ocean Road Australia is a 'Web Magazine' website that is dedicated to all things related to the Great Ocean Road region of southern Victoria. We are passionate about Australia's best driving experience, its stunning scenery, its dramatic cliffs, its beautiful beaches and the unforgetable experiences that are waiting for all who visit. Our aim is to discuss the Great Ocean Road, its history, its environment and its spectacular destinations. We hope that this website will inspire all who visit, just as much as the Great Ocean Road has inspired us.
Travel and tourism website design by Jimmyweb
Sydney website design by Jimmyweb
Blue Mountains website design by iVent


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Red Sox - 300 000 001 - 4 7 1The Red Sox deserved to lose this one. They left 13 men on base, including 11 in the last four innings. They left the bases loaded in the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings, and stranded two on the 8th.
Giants - 031 000 01x - 5 12 1
Kevin Youkilis belted a three-run dong in the first, but the Giants quickly came back, and took the lead. Boston was down to its last out in the top of the ninth when Youkilis tripled to right-center. Victor Martinez singled him home and the Red Sox were within one. Adrian Beltre singled to left and Bill Hall walked. Bases loaded again -- but Darnell McDonald, who whiffed with the sacks full in the sixth, grounded to shortstop.
Dustin Pedroia fouled a ball off the inside of his left foot in the third inning. He ended up walking, but had to leave the game. X-rays were taken and the Red Sox said they are reviewing them and FY may have some more tests tomorrow. That is not encouraging news.
The Yankees beat the Dodgers 2-1, so the Red Sox and Rays (who were no-hit by Edwin Jackson of the Diamondbacks 1-0) are 3 GB.Tim Wakefield / Jonathan Sanchez
After using six relief pitchers last night, the Red Sox have called up left-hander Fabio Castro and optioned Josh Reddick back to Pawtucket.
Diamondbacks/Rays, 7 PMJune 25:
Yankees/Dodgers, 10 PM
1915 - Babe Ruth becomes the second player to hit a ball into the right-field seats at Fenway Park.
1967 - Heavyweight boxer Joe Frazier wants to teach baseball players how to fight. "All they do is hurt themselves instead of the other guy. ... [They] should know about combinations as well as double plays."
1976 - Rangers shortstop Toby Harrah becomes the only shortstop in MLB history to play an entire doubleheader without having a fielding chance. (Game 1 and Game 2)
1988 - The Angels begin their game against the Brewers with only two outfielders, as CF Devon White is in the clubhouse when the game starts. He misses only one pitch, however.
1989 - The Mets do not record any assists in a 5-1 win over the Phillies (13 strikeouts, 12 fly outs and two ground balls to first). It is the second such game in MLB history (Yankees, July 4, 1945).
1995 - Colorado's Andres Galarraga becomes the fourth player in history to hit home runs in three consecutive innings (6th, 7th, 8th).


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Clayton Kershaw (0-3, 5.18) vs. Jason Bergmann (1-7, 4.21).
COMMENTS: You heard it here first: Clayton Kershaw is getting his first major league win today. The highly anticipated arm has seen his ups and downs this season, starting with a May call-up, a promising debut, and then a series of short stints and an overall 0-2 record that got Kershaw demoted again. His second promotion this season at Coors Field had the predictable outcome of walking into a buzzsaw, as Kershaw was shelled for 10 hits and five earned runs over three-plus innings. But today, Kershaw will climb the mountain. The Dodgers' bats are rolling, sparked by the addition of Casey Blake (2-for-3 last night with a double and a run scored), and an outstanding eight-inning one-hit outing by Derek Lowe kept the bullpen relatively rested. And for Pete's sake, it's the Nationals. Let's take the sweep here in LA, and hope that the Giants show up for a change and help us claw back into first.


text:
Everyone knows what an Oreo cookie is supposed to be like. It's round, black and white, and intensely sweet. Has been for 100 years. But sometimes, in order to succeed in the world, even the most iconic product has to adapt.
In China, that meant totally reconsidering what gives an Oreo its Oreoness.
At first, though, Kraft Foods thought that the Chinese would love the Oreo. Who doesn't? The company launched the product there in 1996 as a clone of the American version.
Lorna Davis, who is in charge of the global biscuit division at Kraft, says the Oreo did OK. But it wasn't a hit. It was almost pulled out of China.
But before the cookie was declared a failure, Kraft thought that maybe a little research was in order. And so a decade after it was introduced, Kraft finally asked the right question of Chinese consumers. A question unthinkable in the United States:
What's the problem with an Oreo cookie?
The answer was surprising. Chinese consumers liked the contrast between the bitter cookie and the sugary cream, but, "they said it was a little bit too sweet and a little bit too bitter," Davis explained.
It turns out that if you didn't grow up with Oreos and develop an emotional attachment to the cookie, it can be a weird-tasting little thing. And this started a whole process in the Chinese division of Kraft of rethinking what the essence of an Oreo really is.
Kraft changed the recipe and made the cookie more chocolatey. The cream less cloying.
"So they said this is a better balance," Davis said.
And it started to sell. But once the Kraft team began to tinker with the classic features of an Oreo, why not go all the way?
They started to ask other provocative questions.
Why does an Oreo have to be black and white? Davis sent us an Oreo with green tea filling. Another had a bright orange center divided between mango and orange flavor.
And why should an Oreo be round? They developed Oreos shaped like straws. In China, you can buy a long rectangular Oreo wafer, the length of your index finger.
Impossible to twist apart, but Davis points out that it makes it easier to dunk in milk.
It almost became a philosophical question.
If an Oreo isn't round and black and white and crazy sweet, is it still an Oreo? What is the essence of Oreoness?
What the Chinese team at Kraft figured out is that an Oreo is an experience. You pry it apart, scrape out the filling with your teeth and plop it into a glass of milk. Their shorthand for the concept: "Twist, Lick, Dunk." All the wild new shapes and flavors of Oreo wouldn't work in China, unless they could somehow share that same experience.
"In the early days people said there's no way that Chinese would twist, lick, and dunk because that's a strangely American habit," says Davis.
But luckily for the Oreo team, the Chinese consumer was just starting to respond to emotional advertising. Oreo launched a series of TV ads where cute children demonstrate to their parents and other adults how to eat an Oreo cookie in the American style.
Davis says they saw sales of Oreos double in China, then double again, and again. Its now the best-selling cookie in China. But more important, Davis says they learned a lesson about global business.
"Any foreign company that comes to China and says, 'There's 1 1/2 billion people here, goody goody, and I only need 1 percent of that' ... [is] going to get into trouble. You have to understand how the consumer operates at a really detailed level."
Sometimes the results surprise you. That rectangular wafer Oreo is no longer just in China. You can buy it in Canada and Australia. By the time the Oreo finishes its world travels and come back home, Americans might not recognize it.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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His Ups and Downs
It's hard to stay up. Every time he's gone up, he's always come back down. It was thought that that was only because he was young. And now, with children and a devoted wife, he was supposed to be able to hold it together. So far, sure, but just barely.
There were signs before Christmas but during the holidays, he injured his back on a ski trip. This was not widely disclosed and kept out of the press. Painkillers were prescribed. The big movie was pushed back. Cocktails were consumed in combination at events. No one remembers he actually went to rehab several years ago. Still, so far, he's functioning. And things are great with his wife. She really tries to take care of him but she's not always with him. When he's out on his own, it gets messy. There have been times lately where he's been so drunk, he's the dude passed out on the couch when everyone else has gone home. Either that or he's the dude who's all over the tall, attractive model type at the Oscar party that his wife decided to skip. Oh yeah, that happened. It keeps happening. They were talking nose to nose. He gave her the full charm. A "later on" was definitely implied, while everyone around him just shrugged. Because it's not the first time and it's not the last time and it's the secret they're all expected to keep. Not because he doesn't love the mother of his children, because he does, he really, really does. But between the pills and the alcohol, he's losing control of that side of himself that's been held in check for too long.
Top suspect: Ben Affleck
Update: Lainey has revealed this to be about Ben Affleck.


text:
Helios - is a micro kernel operating system for embedded and multiprocessor systems. The operating system is modular in design and can scale from an embedded runtime executive up to a fully distributed operating system. It has adopted many internationally recognised standards: POSIX, BSD, X, TCP/IP and Windows. Existing programs can thus be ported to Helios and remain easy to maintain.
Copyright 1994-2018 Unix Guru Universe


text:
Newsletter Cartoons, cartoons for newsletters by Randy Glasbergen.
The next time you create a newsletter for your company or organization, please consider using cartoons instead of clipart. Cartoons are an affordable way to add some fun to your newsletters and bring more attention to your important news and messages. When a cartoon from your newsletter shows up on a cubicle wall or refrigerator door, it will remind readers of your previous issue and make them look forward to the next edition of your newsletter.
My newsletter cartoons are available at budget-friendly rates for any type of newsletter, large or small. My online cartoon catalog has thousands of topical cartoons to choose from and a huge searchable database of cartoons you can purchase for your next newsletter.
For more information or a budget-friendly rate quote, please e-mail email@example.com
(Click any image to enlarge gallery)
All cartoons on this page are copyrighted. Unauthorized use for any purpose is unlawful and prohibited.
My newsletter cartoons are available for your company newsletter, customer newsletter, office newsletter, health newsletter, product newsletter, sales newsletter. Cartoons for in-house newsletter, financial newsletter, medical newsletter, club newsletter, school newsletter, PTA newsletter, teacher's association newsletter, union newsletter, alumni newsletter. Cartoons for MLM newsletter, cartoons for vegetarian newsletter, coffee shop newsletter, neighborhood newsletter, collector's newsletter, publishing newsletter, breeder's newsletter, catalog newsletter, e-mail newsletter, music newsletter, health club newsletter, community newsletter, e-newsletter, cartoons for fraternity newsletter, college newsletter, hospital newsletter, team newsletter, school newsletter, preschool newsletter, church newsletter, real estate newsletter. Cartoons for investing newsletter, animal shelter newsletter, family newsletter, cartoons for nonprofit newsletter, e-mail newsletter, monthly newsletter, quarterly newsletter, print newsletter, blog newsletter or any type of newsletter you publish. Cartoon captions are also available as funny business quotes.
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Newsletter Cartoons, Cartoons for Newsletters by Randy Glasbergen. E-mail: email@example.com


text:
Please note the disclaimer at the end. We expect an accuracy for the prediction of +-1 day from the dates shown in the charts.
In the following diagram we can see Taiwan Stress Calendar for the period of July 2019.
For this period we can observe that there is a Higher* probability to have an event >4R if the stresses coincide on faults. For example in Taiwan on 3rd, 8th, 16th, 24th and 29th July 2019 are possible and you can see their relative significance from the calendar below:
(Note the scales are not Richeter nor logarithmic they are dates of increased probability).
The probability scales are as follows:
*SMALL (<40%), MEDIUM (40-60%), and HIGH (>60%)
You can read about our methodology here.
Our new ANDROID APP is now on Google Play
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text:
And now for some more bombshell news about the Facebook IPO...
Earlier, we reported that the analysts at Facebook's IPO underwriters had cut their estimates for the company in the middle of the IPO roadshow, a highly unusual and negative event.
What we didn't know was why.
Now we know.
The analysts cut their estimates because a Facebook executive who knew the business was weak told them to.
Put differently, the company basically pre-announced that its second quarter would fall short of analysts' estimates. But it only told the underwriter analysts about this.
The information about the estimate cut was then verbally conveyed to sophisticated institutional investors who were considering buying Facebook stock, but not to smaller investors.
The estimate cut appears to have influenced the investment decisions of at least some institutional investors, dampening their appetite for Facebook stock, and crucially, affecting the price at which they were willing to buy Facebook stock.
As I described earlier, at best, this "selective disclosure" of the estimate cut is grossly unfair to investors who bought Facebook stock on the IPO (or at any time since) and didn't know about it.
At worst, it's a violation of securities laws.
This latest chapter in the Facebook IPO story began this morning, when Reuters' Alistair Barr reported that the research analysts at the company's lead underwriters—Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan—had cut their earnings estimates for Facebook during the company's IPO roadshow. This was highly unusual, if not unprecedented (I've been in and around the tech IPO business for almost 20 years, and I've never heard of it happening.)
Analysts cutting estimates is generally regarded as significant negative news for stocks. This is especially the case when the analysts who cut their estimates are very close to a company—and, therefore, are thought to have particularly good information.
(In the old days, before the implementation of Regulation Fair Disclosure, companies used to manage the market's expectations by telling trusted analysts to change their estimates. Reg FD banned that practice.)
The fact that some potential Facebook investors were told of the analysts' estimate cuts and others were not would seem to be a major "selective dissemination" issue.
It is inconceivable that a reasonable investor would consider the sudden reduction of the underwriter analysts' estimates to be immaterial to an investment decision.
The SEC and FINRA appear to have acknowledged this, and they may now investigate what happened.
More broadly, everyone is still trying to understand what happened with the pricing of the IPO, which was hyped up to be the offering of the century. We now have some more information on that.
Given the PR and legal disaster that the Facebook IPO is rapidly becoming, most official communications channels have gone silent. Facebook declined to comment. Morgan Stanley did not return a call and email seeking comment.
We have spoken to several sources familiar with aspects of the transaction. We do not have complete details yet, but a general picture of what happened is starting to take shape. For now, please regard most of the information below as scuttlebutt, as it has not yet been confirmed.
The story we are hearing is this...
WATCH: How Low Will FB Stock Go? |
In early May, as Facebook prepared to kick off its IPO roadshow, the research analysts at the company's lead underwriters developed financial forecasts to facilitate the marketing and pricing of the IPO.
Such estimates are usually developed through close collaboration between the underwriters' research analysts and company management. These estimates are viewed by sophisticated investors as having been "blessed" by the company: They are perceived as revenue and earnings targets that the company has reviewed and is confident it will hit. Sophisticated investors use these estimates when they are developing "bids" for the stock, as a tool with which to help determine the price they are willing to pay.
Importantly, these estimates are not published anywhere.
Rather, in conjunction with industry convention (see below*), these estimates are conveyed verbally to institutional investors who are considering investing in the IPO.
(This is an absurd and unfair practice. The estimates themselves are material information--the consensus of smart, well-trained analysts who have worked with the company's management to develop realistic forecasts. Most investors don't even know that these estimates exist, let alone that they're whispered verbally to only a handful of big investors. All potential investors should have easy access to these estimates, as well as to any logic underlying them. The SEC needs to change the rules here.)
The same development and dissemination of estimates also happened with Facebook.
As the Facebook roadshow began, institutional investors who were considering investing in the stock were verbally given the underwriters' initial estimates for the company. And, initially, there was a lot of institutional enthusiasm for the stock.
Several days later, however, on May 9th, Facebook filed an amended IPO prospectus with the SEC.
This prospectus contained new disclosure language that had not previously appeared in Facebook's SEC filings. The language was on page 57 of the prospectus, in a section discussing the company's recent financial and user trends:
Based upon our experience in the second quarter of 2012 to date, the trend we saw in the first quarter of DAUs increasing more rapidly than the increase in number of ads delivered has continued. We believe this trend is driven in part by increased usage of Facebook on mobile devices where we have only recently begun showing an immaterial number of sponsored stories in News Feed, and in part due to certain pages having fewer ads per page as a result of product decisions.
The appearance of this language unnerved some sophisticated investors and analysts, who took it as a sign that Facebook's business might have deteriorated. The language was vague, however, and it did not make clear that Facebook's second quarter was weaker than expected. (To infer that message from the language, you had to know that Facebook's first quarter had been weak--and that the cause had been the divergence between user growth and revenue growth.)
Soon after Facebook amended its prospectus, all three analysts at the company's lead underwriters—Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs—cut their estimates for Facebook's Q2 and the full year.
These estimate cuts were conveyed verbally to sophisticated institutional investors.
And, not surprisingly, these investors viewed the estimate cuts as a startling and negative development.
One important question, of course, was why all three underwriter analysts cut their estimates.
Had they all read the new sentence in the prospectus above and realized that the second quarter was weak? Or had they been tipped off?
It seemed inconceivable that all three analysts could have read the language above and concluded independently that Facebook's Q2 was weak and therefore decided to take the highly unusual step of cutting estimates in the middle of a company's IPO roadshow.
More likely, it seemed, someone had directed the analysts to cut their estimates—most likely someone with inside knowledge of how Facebook's Q2 was progressing.
And we have now heard from one source that that is what happened.
One of the underwriter's analysts has said he was told by a Facebook financial executive to cut his estimates.
According to another source with insight into the Facebook IPO process, until the underwriters' analysts cut their estimates, demand for Facebook's stock among sophisticated institutional investors was high. Once these investors heard about the estimate cut, however, they became more cautious about the IPO.
(Again, an estimate cut like this during a roadshow would be hard to interpret as anything but negative. One institutional investor I spoke to said he has looked at more than 1,200 IPOs over the course of his career, and he has never heard of this before. This is especially true because the underwriter estimates aren't really "estimates"--they're more like company guidance.)
The estimate cut, moreover, was followed by three additional pieces of information that were interpreted negatively by some institutional investors:
1) The price range for the deal was increased, which made the deal even less attractive in light of the estimate cut,
2) The size of the deal was increased, which meant that more stock would be sold, and
3) Many smart institutional Facebook shareholders like Goldman Sachs decided to sell more stock on the deal—the "smart money," in other words, was cashing out.
Meanwhile, during private roadshow meetings, Facebook executives were reportedly "signalling" to some sophisticated investors that Facebook's advertising revenue would not grow as rapidly as some potential investors had hoped. Facebook's advertising business is driven primarily by company-to-company sales efforts, not by the self-serve ads that drive Google's business. Facebook executives reportedly made clear to sophisticated investors that this would limit the rate at which Facebook's ad business could grow.
By the second week of the roadshow, after the estimate cut and price increase, some institutional investors became more cautious about the IPO. According to one investor who looked at the deal, institutions "got the willies" and started to talk about paring back their stock orders.
Meanwhile, out in the real world, demand for Facebook stock was hitting a fever pitch. One senior stockbroker at a major brokerage firm reported that he "had never seen such demand" for an IPO.
These individual investors, needless to say, were not likely aware that the research analysts at the company's lead underwriters had cut their estimates for the company. They were also, presumably, unaware that Facebook's Q2 was weaker than expected.
At the end of last week, the time came to decide on the IPO price for Facebook's stock.
This process was handled by Facebook's lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, and Facebook executives.
According to one source (unconfirmed--this really is just scuttlebutt), based on the book of orders submitted by both institutional and retail investors, Morgan Stanley found that there were two distinct price levels at which investors were interested in buying stock.
Institutional investors, having digested the news of the underwriter estimate cut, were comfortable buying Facebook stock at $32 a share.
Retail investors, meanwhile, who were presumably unaware of the estimate cut, were comfortable buying Facebook at $40 a share.
Knowing that a big percentage of the IPO stock could be sold to retail investors instead of institutional investors, Facebook and Morgan Stanley decided to price the IPO at $38.
(UPDATE: Another source, closer to the situation, tells us that this scuttlebutt is wrong. Morgan Stanley was overwhelmed with demand, the source says. There was more institutional interest at lower prices--i.e., institutions were willing to buy more stock at lower prices--but there was plenty of institutional interest up to $40 and beyond.)
Although the precise allocations could not be learned, a source says that Morgan Stanley allocated a far larger percentage of the Facebook deal to individual investors than is normally the case in an IPO like this.
On Friday, May 18th, Facebook's stock opened at $42. It spent most of the day above $40, giving short-term traders a chance to flip for a quick gain, and then sank quickly. With heavy support from Morgan Stanley, the stock closed on Friday at just above the IPO price.
Given the amount of stock that had been sold, Morgan Stanley could not support Facebook's stock price indefinitely without exposing itself to huge losses. In two trading days this week, as the IPO hype wore off and news of the analyst-estimate cut spread, Facebook's stock plummeted.
The stock closed today at just over $31 a share, about the price that institutional investors were reportedly comfortable paying for it.
The SEC and FINRA have already said they may look into the Facebook IPO process. The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth has also just announced that has subpoenaed Morgan Stanley over the issue.
So, at some point soon, we will likely get the full story.
In the meantime, it's hard to conclude anything other than this:
In one of the biggest IPOs in history, in which a huge amount of stock was sold to small investors, privileged Wall Street insiders once again got top-notch information...and individuals got the shaft.
UPDATE: Reuters' reporters Poornima Gupta and Alexei Oreskovic have uncovered the before-and-after Facebook estimates that were verbally conveyed to big investors (below). As you can see, both sets of numbers are carefully coordinated across the firms. There is no way that the estimates would be this close without explicit direction from Facebook. There is also no way that an investor could get this information from Facebook's IPO prospectus. These disclosure rules need to be changed...
Here are the detailed figures from the four banks, according to one of the investors who received the new numbers.
Lowered full year revenue estimate for 2012
Morgan Stanley -- $4.854 bln (new)from $5.036 bln (old)
Bank of America -- $4.815 bln (new) from $5.040 bln (old)
JPMorgan -- $4.839 bln (new) from $5.044 bln (old)
Goldman Sachs -- $4.852 bln (new) from $5.169 bln (old)
Lowered estimates for second-quarter 2012
Morgan Stanley -- $1.111 bln (new) from $1.175 bln (old)
Bank of America -- $1.100 bln (new) from $1.166 bln (old)
JPMorgan -- $1.096 bln (new) from $1.182 bln (old)
Goldman Sachs -- $1.125 bln (new) from $ 1.207 bln (old)
Lowered 2013 Earnings per share estimate
Morgan Stanley -- 83 cents (new) from 88 cents
Bank of America -- 64 cents (new) from 66 cents
JPMorgan -- 66 cents (new) from 70 cents
Goldman Sachs -- 63 cents (new) from 68 cents
SEE ALSO: BOMBSHELL: Facebook Bankers Secretly Cut Estimates In Middle Of IPO Roadshow
* Several readers have asked why underwriters are allowed to verbally disseminate analyst estimates to big clients. This is an excellent question. The short answer is that they shouldn't be allowed to: It's very unfair to anyone who doesn't happen to be a big client.
The reason this rule developed, ironically, was to protect small investors from sleazy brokerage firms that might hire analysts to publish puffed-up estimates only to sell a deal. Big investors, the thinking went, were grown-up enough to be able to evaluate the estimates for themselves, whereas smaller investors weren't.
The Law of Unintended Consequences then led to the current situation, which is worse: Institutions get highly material estimates shaped by the company. Small investors don't.


text:
New York State is working harder than ever to make it easier to do business. The New York State Contract System (NYSCS), a new easy to use web based portal, is the gateway to online Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) certification and provides streamlined access to contracting opportunities. For the State's agencies and authorities, NYSCS provides a comprehensive online system to track and report on procurement contracts and expenditures with MWBE firms.
Main Modules & Features
Specific features of the New York State Contract System include modules for MWBE Certification, Utilization Reporting, Goal Plan Management, Contract Compliance, Outreach and Bid & Grant Opportunities.
The benefits of NYSCS include:
NYSCS Participation
Agencies and authorities subject to 15-A are expected to use the NYSCS system. The primary users of the system will be MWBE liaisons, procurement officers and others as determined by agencies and authorities.
User Accounts
To request an account in the system email your ESD Analyst with the following information:
The user will receive an email with a temporary password once the request is processed.
Utilization Reporting & Goal Plans
Beginning in Quarter 3 FY12-13, utilization reporting and goal plan submission will be done through the NYSCS.
The prior MWBE Utilization Database is no longer available. The options for reporting utilization numbers through NYSCS are:
Contract Compliance
ESD is encouraging all agencies and authorities who can use the Contract Compliance module to do so. The Contract Compliance module increases transparency by allowing prime contractors to report payments to their MWBE subcontractors online and have those payments confirmed by the subcontractors directly. Benefits of Contract Compliance module:
For more information on Contract Compliance contact your ESD Analyst.
If you were unable to attend the training sessions held in December 2012, video links of the trainings are posted here. More trainings and webinars will be scheduled throughout the year.
User Guides
The user guides provide detailed instructions and can be found on the system. To access the most current user guides log in to your account and on the left hand side under Help & Support click on the user manual link.
The user manuals can also be downloaded here:
Other Guides
If you have any questions customer support for the NYS Contract System is readily available from the Help Desk, by emailing email@example.com or calling 212-803-2414.


text:
No audio when the computer is connected to a TV with an HDMI connection.
Some TVs are not recognized by the computer as a HDMI device, but instead, are recognized as a DVI device. Since DVI connections do not support audio, the computer is unable to transfer audio to the TV with a HDMI connection. The computer will still support audio output through other audio connections.
To output audio to the TV, connect the composite audio output on the computer to the composite audio input on the TV. On a notebook computer, connect the headphones jack to the composite audio input on the TV. Be sure to use the audio input on the TV that is adjacent to the HDMI connection.
NOTE: For more information about audio outputs that are available on the computer, consult the Users Guide.


text:
Monday Night Football Recap — Seahawks Hold Off Rams, 14-9
Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to Golden Tate, and the Seahawks' defense made a last-minute goal-line stand as Seattle beat the Rams, 14-9, in St. Louis on Monday.
Quarterback Kellen Clemens led the Rams (3-5) to a first-and-goal with 46 seconds to play, but St. Louis was unable to score a go-ahead touchdown in four chances at the end zone.
Wilson finished with 139 passing yards and the two scores to Tate, the second of which covered 80 yards and gave Seattle (7-1) a 14-6 lead with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter.
Clemens completed 15 of 31 pass attempts for 158 yards and two interceptions while starting in place of injured Rams' QB Sam Bradford. Running back Zac Stacy carried 26 times for 134 yards for St. Louis.


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Although it is not often that someone needs to use our troubleshooting guide for their problem, there are certain situations in which you might. Here is the troubleshooting manual.
Step 1 Make sure you have an active, reliable internet connection. This can lead to unexpected errors, such as timeouts.
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Step 4: If you are still having trouble accessing the site, clear your cookies and cache. You can find our guide on how to clear your cache and cookies for the most popular browsers here.
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Step 6: If you do not use VPN, and you have a strong connection, your password may be lost. Follow these password recovery instructions given in this post above.
Step 7: If you still have issues and can not access your account, please contact us. We will be glad to assist you as soon as possible.


text:
Saudi Minister visits NATO HQ
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia H.E. Dr. Nizar Madani visited NATO today and met with the Secretary General, H.E. Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Discussions centred on the political dialogue and practical cooperation activities, which exist in the context of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). "Saudi Arabia is a key player in the region and NATO would welcome the opportunity to engage the Kingdom's governement as a partner in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, ICI ", said the Secretary General. "ICI and the other partnership with countries in the region the Mediterranean Dialogue, are complementary and yet distinct NATO partnership frameworks". The predominantly bilateral nature of the ICI allows NATO to tailor cooperation to the specific security needs of its partners and to hold regular political consultations with them. For NATO, the security of its partners in the Gulf is a key strategic interest to the Alliance.
Secretary General Rasmussen started by extending NATO's condolences to the Minister of State for the recent death of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud : "Prince Nayef was a strong statesman who served his country with dedication and commitment, working to keep the Kingdom's national security for many years. Prince Nayef will be remembered around the world for his steadfast contribution to international peace and security, particularly in the fight against terrorism", he said.
During his visit, Dr. Madani also had meetings with the Deputy Secretary General, NATO Permanent Representatives and Alliance officials, who provided him with an overview of NATO's outreach and cooperation programmes with partner countried in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf region.
This latest visit follows the one by His Royal Highness Prince Turki Mohammed Saud Al-Kabeer, vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, in April 2009.


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Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Toilet Fixing 101
And here's a much, much better video. It's the first installment of an interview I did with Susan and Janice from 5 Minutes For Mom. I actually have make-up on in this one!
30 comments:
Okay, I am hysterical. I have found myself in that exact same spot too many times. And I've done almost exactly what you did. Thanks for the laugh.
- August 7, 2008 at 12:35 AM
Oh my goodness that toilet video was HILARIOUS!! Probably even funnier to me because I have a 2 year old that has flooded the bathroom (in our BRAND NEW house, which somehow makes it even worse) several times. She really thinks it is fun to flush a whole roll of toilet paper, or a dirty pull-up. When I discovered 2 inches of water on the floor of the bathroom I screamed so loud my husband thought someone had severed a limb! Thanks for the laugh! I hope you don't have to go thru those steps again for a long time!
- August 7, 2008 at 1:16 AM
I loved your DIY (Do it Yourself) video! As a mom to 3 boys and a grandmother to 4 grandkids (2 of each), I feel your pain! What is the attraction to toilet paper! Is it because it just sits there minding it's own business just waiting to clean yours or what? EVERY time my oldest grandson comes over he leaves such a huge deposit that it almost always stops up the toilet because he must use at least 3/4 of the roll to wipe his butt! You would think at almost 13 he would know how to do this job by now. I think it is bred into every child (at least the boy version) to make as big a mess in the toilet as possible, then just flush and run. (before they can actually "see" it flood).But then they have bragging rights about it - oh please don't get me started on this subject. This could actually be a topic for you for a whole week, with what must go on with your poor toydey!
Also loved the 5min video, you blew them away!
Diane Haynes - August 7, 2008 at 1:18 AM
- All moments remembered said...
You are still a nut!!! I have been so busy lately I have missed coming here! I hope life is going fantastic for you!! So have you found time to scrapbook yet? LMBO!! Okay so maybe not. Good to see you are still making the world laugh!
Enjoy the rest of the summer,
Stacey - August 7, 2008 at 1:20 AM
lol, i love the toilet de-clogging video!!! i'm sure it will soon hit the millions on you tube!!!
franzi - August 7, 2008 at 5:23 AM
It says the video is no longer available..??
- August 7, 2008 at 6:21 AM
- Andi said...
That was hilarious!!!! But you forgot the most important thing: anything that can get stuck in a toilet, can get unstuck using a plunger, a good swift, strong up and down motion, until the offending object gets loosened up and then it flushes normally or shows itself so you can grab it. Trust me, I live in an old house, clay tile pipes running outside and no clean out trap outside our house. Oh and the huge 100 yr old trees that have roots growing into those same pipes. I have to plunge the toilet at least once a week. My 6 year old taught herself to do it after watching me do it so many times and she loves to do it, because she is so proud of herself when her plunging actually clears the clog. I have to get her plunging the toilet on video. It could be a response to your video.
You are too much of a nut!
AKB - August 7, 2008 at 6:39 AM
- Robin said...
You're a nut! But I loved the video!! Did your hubby reach his hand in there and retrieve the clogger? He's a brave man!!
- August 7, 2008 at 8:07 AM
- Robin said...
Also...good job on the interview. = )
- August 7, 2008 at 8:11 AM
- MaBunny said...
Nice interview! I like reading your blog day to day. I may not always comment, but love the material.
Keep it up! - August 7, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Dawn, I work in an office where we share a washroom with other offices. Your plight is not uncommon here and our rolls of TP are three times the size! Thanks for the video and laughs.
Karen - August 7, 2008 at 9:23 AM
- Michelle said...
Great tutorial, Dawn! Totally cracked me up. And so accurate, too.... I'm actually trying to teach my wee ones that they may have only two squares for poops and one square for pee so that when they take 15, they aren't taking 60.
(And a side note on the video - is it supposed to be a nearly black and say the video is no longer available?)
And I loved the fact that the video with 5 Minutes for Mom talked about how clean the humor on your blog is... potty incidents notwithstanding, right? - August 7, 2008 at 9:47 AM
- Debbie @ Three Weddings said...
Wow, it must be nice to have a hubby that can do that. Mine looks at the toilet like it was an alien. I'm the one that knows how to pull the little lever up inside the tank and gets to shove their hand in there to unplug it. Thank goodness for plastic gloves!
- August 7, 2008 at 9:59 AM
- Rick said...
I enjoyed both videos. Makeup or not, you look great. (That's to make up for the comment I put on 5 Minute Mom.)
I'll bet you curse like a sailor when the camera is not on.
I do have one question. Did the child actually, umm.... "use" that roll, and THEN throw it in, or did she just toss the thing in for her entertainment pleasure? - August 7, 2008 at 10:00 AM
- BandK said...
Hoo boy . . . been there, done that! Like the time my son when he was two tried to flush his Hot Wheels car down the toilet. LOL Too funny.
Btw, who won the bluetooth hands free device on your other blog??? - August 7, 2008 at 10:27 AM
- Amy said...
One of my kids flushed a tippy cup many years ago. We tried plunging the toilet, using a snake and finally took the toilet off and while looking down the hole trying to find out WHY the snake wouldn't move- saw the tippy cup in the bottom of the toilet. It was stuck in the hole where the toilet attaches to the floor. It obviously went down much easier than it came out because I had to break the thing into pieces to get it out of there.
Kids..... - August 7, 2008 at 11:42 AM
- Shanana73 said...
That was cute. You are too funny!!!
- August 7, 2008 at 1:15 PM
MY solution? It's worked for my first three kids (the 4th might enjoy it.) THEY have to dig out the goop and poop, all the while I'm reminding them not to drop their poop on themselves. It's especially effective if some of the urine water splashes on their favorite shirt.
Problem solved. None of them have every done it again. - August 7, 2008 at 1:40 PM
When my kids were about 3 & 5 my husband walked into the downstairs bathroom and at the top of his lungs yelled, "OH. MY. GO . . !!! You two get in here right now." I knew that I needed to stay put upstairs.
He then "informed" them that if they ever, ever needed that much toilet paper to wipe their butts they either neededed to "get a washrag or take a shower." I was laughing so hard (silently, of course). I was just glad HE was the one to discover the mess. - August 7, 2008 at 1:45 PM
- Unknown said...
Dawn, seriously. Those girls from the 5 minutes for Mom blog...could they have asked you worse questions! Gosh, they were annoying! You looked fabulous though! I tried to go get a "Dawn" cut last night at the salon! Yours came out cuter...
- August 7, 2008 at 2:12 PM
- Lindsay said...
I have to admit I've been reading your blog for quite some time now and the thoughts of "my kid would NEVER do HALF the stuff her kids do" actually crossed my mind. Now that my son has gotten older and mobile - he's a disaster and I have a feeling I'll be posting things to make people wonder if I even WATCH my own kids. It truely is amazing to see the difference b/w boys and girls and how much more trouble boys are...and you don't even have to TEACH them to cause trouble, that's what's troubling. Ufda. Thanks for making me feel "normal."
- August 7, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Hi Dawn,
I have a couple of things to say. First, the interview was very good. But since it is a 5 minute mom thing, you ended up 3-1/2 minutes short. It should have been longer.
The TOI-DIY was fantastic. A real hoot. Your tips gave me an idea. How about only leaving 6 squares near the toilet? Keep the roll out of Clay reach, if that is possible.
And finally, around our house we had a little saying that I would like to share with your faithful readers:
"If it's yellow, let it mellow.
If it's brown, flush it down."
Yep, I'm a guy! How did you know? - August 7, 2008 at 6:44 PM
- TheHMC said...
I love your vid. You MUST do more Vlogs for us. I was cracking up at the "freak out" part. Actually, the part about the clean towels had me rolling too(it's always the clean towels that have to be used to clean up the floods in the house).
I'm seriously considering padlocking the bathroom door like those parents did on Wife Swap(I swear, that was the ONLY episode I watched. Okay..maybe I watched a few.) and making their kids check a key in and out in order to use the head. Can we tell that I've had one bathroom incident too many to save my sanity?
(still waiting on your interview to load) - August 7, 2008 at 8:21 PM
- Sunny said...
Thank you, that was very funny.
Sometimes we would find large wads of toilet paper in the wastebasket too, and when I ask who did it, everyone says they did not do it.Don't you hate that? - August 7, 2008 at 8:57 PM
- LaLa said...
OMG -- I could have used this video YESTERDAY! When my soon to be 5yr old did that exact thing, the ONLY difference was that the water was all the way to the top of the bowl and it was still brown (I wish that meant it was murky) lol
By the way, why do they feel the need to flush it 4 times in order for them to finally say "Mom, the water is going too high" ARGH -- KIDLETS!
Flushing the toilet when its at the brim in order to put the plunger in causing it to overflow AGAIN, isn't helping.
LOL -- great videos Dawn! - August 7, 2008 at 9:42 PM
- TiddliwinkDesigns said...
you're generous. I let my 4 kids use 2 for pee and 4 for poop. If they can't get it done in 4 they can flush and get a second round of tp. :)
- August 7, 2008 at 10:33 PM
- MaNiC MoMMy™ said...
Dawn! LOVE YOUR VIDEO!!!! CRACKED UP OVER IT!
I think you need to start a weekly installment of Dawn's DIY tips on your blog! Fabulous!
And your hair looks really great pulled back like that--I like it like that!
11 more days till school starts for moi; how about you!?!?!
Did you hear that??!?!? I think it's BRIO CALLING! - August 8, 2008 at 1:32 AM
Got so much from your 'Self help video.'
I'm sending it to TLC, perhaps there's a show just waiting for you!! - August 8, 2008 at 10:31 AM
I love this. My first time over. What a great blog.
- August 8, 2008 at 8:54 PM
Haha....love the instructional video.
- August 9, 2008 at 12:01 PM


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There's a new option to search for real estate: click on "show search options" and select "real estate" from the drop-down. The search results
Many real estate sites use Google Maps API and the first Google Maps mashup was HousingMaps, a site that displays Craigslist housing listings on a map. Last month, Trulia was one of the first sites that integrated Google Street View "to add efficiency to the real estate search experience and help home buyers discover more information about particular neighborhoods".
(The post was updated to reflect that the data is obtained from Google Base.)


text:
ZARGE Halskette 925/- Sterlingsilber, 18k Vergoldung
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- Description
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Jewelry care
general care tips
To avoid damage to jewelry, jewelry should be removed before washing hands, swimming, showering, etc., and before applying cosmetic products. Avoid contact with cleaning products. All this could damage the jewelry, reduce the life of the coating and cause discoloration.
Gemstones are natural products in which color differences and inclusions are characteristic.
The regular warranty applies only in the event of a technical defect and not in the event of improper handling and wear of the jewelry.
Pearl jewelry
Cosmetics, perfumes, hair sprays attack pearls or deposit on their surface. Pearl jewelry should therefore be put on only after makeup and hairstyling. The heat of hairdryers and hand dryers also damages pearls. Please do not wear pearls when working around the house. After wearing the jewelry clean with a soft, damp cloth from traces of cosmetics and sweat.
Return deadline
If you are not satisfied with an item, you can easily return it to us within 14 days.
Can I track my shipment?
You can also check the current status of your order at any time on our website in the section "My account" - "My orders". However, if you have chosen to purchase without registration, i.e. without creating a customer account, this option is not available to you.
.I have problems with the return - who can I contact?
In order to process your problem as quickly as possible, simply send us a message to firstname.lastname@example.com with your request and your order number. We will answer you as soon as possible. Promise! For telephone support, contact our service hotline 0732/772895-0.
Will I get a confirmation so I know if my order was successful?
Shortly after your purchase, you will automatically receive your order confirmation from us, which also includes your order number.
Can I order without a credit card?
Xenox also accepts payments through Klarna, PayPal, Mollie and Apple Pay. Please note that Klarna, Mollie, Apple Pay and PayPal are independent billing companies. We have no control if your payment is declined. If you have any further questions about your invoice purchase, please contact Klarna, Mollie, Apple Pay or PayPal customer service directly here.
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In order to process your problem as quickly as possible, simply send us a message to email@example.com with your request and your order number. We will answer you as soon as possible. Promise! For telephone support, contact our service hotline 0732/772895-0.
Which cancellation conditions do I have to consider?
You can return any item to us within 14 days. Each package that is sent with standard shipping, a free return label is enclosed. For returns that were sent by express shipping, you will receive the required return label on our homepage under "Returns". After entering your data in the form, you will receive the return label from us by e-mail.
Excepted from the return are items that were engraved. These can neither be exchanged nor returned.
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Ted Lilly (11-14, 4.12) vs. Joe Saunders (12-12, 3.58).
Dear Dodgers Fan,
The best part of every road trip is the moment I sink into my seat on the team plane and say to myself, "I need a drink." I know what's waiting for us at AT&T Park: a bunch of angry fans who saw the defending World Series champs fail even to make the playoffs.
I look up at that sea of orange-and-black — at the Chardonnay-swilling dot-com babies, the smelly hippies, the people who aren't embarrassed to wear a panda hat in public. And I think, it could be worse. We could be the Dodgers.
Then I remember we increased our payroll by $22 million this year — on the likes of Miguel Tejada, Aubrey Huff, Cody Ross, Mark DeRosa and Jeff Keppinger. And what did it buy us? Five or six more wins than the Dodgers, and a ticket to watch the playoffs from our living rooms. Just like the Dodgers.
On behalf of everyone at the Giants, I'm sorry.
Beat L.A., or Be L.A.?
Bruce Bochy
San Francisco Giants Manager


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Security researchers have discovered a botnet that is stealing millions of dollars per month from advertisers. The botnet does so by simulating click-throughs on display ads hosted on at least 202 websites. Revealed and dubbed "Chameleon" by the Web analytics firm spider.io because of its ability to fool advertisers' behavior-tracking algorithms, the botnet is the first found to use display advertisements to generate fraudulent income for its masters.
While in many respects the botnet simulates human activity on webpages to fool countermeasures to clickfraud, it generates random mouse clicks and mouse pointer traces across pages. This makes it relatively easy for bot-infected systems to be identified over time. The bot is also unstable because of the heavy load it puts on the infected machine, and its frequent crashes can also be used as a signature to identify infected systems.


text: /* * Copyright (c) 2012 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. * * @APPLE_LICENSE_HEADER_START@ * * This file contains Original Code and/or Modifications of Original Code * as defined in and that are subject to the Apple Public Source License * Version 2.0 (the 'License'). You may not use this file except in * compliance with the License. Please obtain a copy of the License at * http://www.opensource.apple.com/apsl/ and read it before using this * file. * * The Original Code and all software distributed under the License are * distributed on an 'AS IS' basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND APPLE HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, * INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUIET ENJOYMENT OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. * Please see the License for the specific language governing rights and * limitations under the License. * * @APPLE_LICENSE_HEADER_END@ */ /* CFSocket.h Copyright (c) 1999-2012, Apple Inc. All rights reserved. */ #if !defined(__COREFOUNDATION_CFSOCKET__) #define __COREFOUNDATION_CFSOCKET__ 1 #include <CoreFoundation/CFRunLoop.h> #include <CoreFoundation/CFData.h> CF_EXTERN_C_BEGIN typedef struct __CFSocket * CFSocketRef; /* A CFSocket contains a native socket within a structure that can be used to read from the socket in the background and make the data thus read available using a runloop source. The callback used for this may be of three types, as specified by the callBackTypes argument when creating the CFSocket. If kCFSocketReadCallBack is used, then data will not be automatically read, but the callback will be called when data is available to be read, or a new child socket is waiting to be accepted. If kCFSocketAcceptCallBack is used, then new child sockets will be accepted and passed to the callback, with the data argument being a pointer to a CFSocketNativeHandle. This is usable only with connection rendezvous sockets. If kCFSocketDataCallBack is used, then data will be read in chunks in the background and passed to the callback, with the data argument being a CFDataRef. These three types are mutually exclusive, but any one of them may have kCFSocketConnectCallBack added to it, if the socket will be used to connect in the background. Connect in the background occurs if CFSocketConnectToAddress is called with a negative timeout value, in which case the call returns immediately, and a kCFSocketConnectCallBack is generated when the connect finishes. In this case the data argument is either NULL, or a pointer to an SInt32 error code if the connect failed. kCFSocketConnectCallBack will never be sent more than once for a given socket. The callback types may also have kCFSocketWriteCallBack added to them, if large amounts of data are to be sent rapidly over the socket and notification is desired when there is space in the kernel buffers so that the socket is writable again. With a connection-oriented socket, if the connection is broken from the other end, then one final kCFSocketReadCallBack or kCFSocketDataCallBack will occur. In the case of kCFSocketReadCallBack, the underlying socket will have 0 bytes available to read. In the case of kCFSocketDataCallBack, the data argument will be a CFDataRef of length 0. There are socket flags that may be set to control whether callbacks of a given type are automatically reenabled after they are triggered, and whether the underlying native socket will be closed when the CFSocket is invalidated. By default read, accept, and data callbacks are automatically reenabled; write callbacks are not, and connect callbacks may not be, since they are sent once only. Be careful about automatically reenabling read and write callbacks, since this implies that the callbacks will be sent repeatedly if the socket remains readable or writable respectively. Be sure to set these flags only for callbacks that your CFSocket actually possesses; the result of setting them for other callback types is undefined. Individual callbacks may also be enabled and disabled manually, whether they are automatically reenabled or not. If they are not automatically reenabled, then they will need to be manually reenabled when the callback is ready to be received again (and not sooner). Even if they are automatically reenabled, there may be occasions when it will be useful to be able to manually disable them temporarily and then reenable them. Be sure to enable and disable only callbacks that your CFSocket actually possesses; the result of enabling and disabling other callback types is undefined. By default the underlying native socket will be closed when the CFSocket is invalidated, but it will not be if kCFSocketCloseOnInvalidate is turned off. This can be useful in order to destroy a CFSocket but continue to use the underlying native socket. The CFSocket must still be invalidated when it will no longer be used. Do not in either case close the underlying native socket without invalidating the CFSocket. Addresses are stored as CFDatas containing a struct sockaddr appropriate for the protocol family; make sure that all fields are filled in properly when passing in an address. */ /* Values for CFSocketError */ typedef CF_ENUM(CFIndex, CFSocketError) { kCFSocketSuccess = 0, kCFSocketError = -1L, kCFSocketTimeout = -2L }; typedef struct { SInt32 protocolFamily; SInt32 socketType; SInt32 protocol; CFDataRef address; } CFSocketSignature; /* Values for CFSocketCallBackType */ typedef CF_OPTIONS(CFOptionFlags, CFSocketCallBackType) { kCFSocketNoCallBack = 0, kCFSocketReadCallBack = 1, kCFSocketAcceptCallBack = 2, kCFSocketDataCallBack = 3, kCFSocketConnectCallBack = 4, kCFSocketWriteCallBack = 8 }; /* Socket flags */ enum { kCFSocketAutomaticallyReenableReadCallBack = 1, kCFSocketAutomaticallyReenableAcceptCallBack = 2, kCFSocketAutomaticallyReenableDataCallBack = 3, kCFSocketAutomaticallyReenableWriteCallBack = 8, kCFSocketLeaveErrors CF_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_5, 2_0) = 64, kCFSocketCloseOnInvalidate = 128 }; typedef void (*CFSocketCallBack)(CFSocketRef s, CFSocketCallBackType type, CFDataRef address, const void *data, void *info); /* If the callback wishes to keep hold of address or data after the point that it returns, then it must copy them. */ typedef struct { CFIndex version; void * info; const void *(*retain)(const void *info); void (*release)(const void *info); CFStringRef (*copyDescription)(const void *info); } CFSocketContext; #if TARGET_OS_WIN32 typedef uintptr_t CFSocketNativeHandle; #else typedef int CFSocketNativeHandle; #endif CF_EXPORT CFTypeID CFSocketGetTypeID(void); CF_EXPORT CFSocketRef CFSocketCreate(CFAllocatorRef allocator, SInt32 protocolFamily, SInt32 socketType, SInt32 protocol, CFOptionFlags callBackTypes, CFSocketCallBack callout, const CFSocketContext *context); CF_EXPORT CFSocketRef CFSocketCreateWithNative(CFAllocatorRef allocator, CFSocketNativeHandle sock, CFOptionFlags callBackTypes, CFSocketCallBack callout, const CFSocketContext *context); CF_EXPORT CFSocketRef CFSocketCreateWithSocketSignature(CFAllocatorRef allocator, const CFSocketSignature *signature, CFOptionFlags callBackTypes, CFSocketCallBack callout, const CFSocketContext *context); /* CFSocketCreateWithSocketSignature() creates a socket of the requested type and binds its address (using CFSocketSetAddress()) to the requested address. If this fails, it returns NULL. */ CF_EXPORT CFSocketRef CFSocketCreateConnectedToSocketSignature(CFAllocatorRef allocator, const CFSocketSignature *signature, CFOptionFlags callBackTypes, CFSocketCallBack callout, const CFSocketContext *context, CFTimeInterval timeout); /* CFSocketCreateConnectedToSocketSignature() creates a socket suitable for connecting to the requested type and address, and connects it (using CFSocketConnectToAddress()). If this fails, it returns NULL. */ CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketSetAddress(CFSocketRef s, CFDataRef address); CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketConnectToAddress(CFSocketRef s, CFDataRef address, CFTimeInterval timeout); CF_EXPORT void CFSocketInvalidate(CFSocketRef s); CF_EXPORT Boolean CFSocketIsValid(CFSocketRef s); CF_EXPORT CFDataRef CFSocketCopyAddress(CFSocketRef s); CF_EXPORT CFDataRef CFSocketCopyPeerAddress(CFSocketRef s); CF_EXPORT void CFSocketGetContext(CFSocketRef s, CFSocketContext *context); CF_EXPORT CFSocketNativeHandle CFSocketGetNative(CFSocketRef s); CF_EXPORT CFRunLoopSourceRef CFSocketCreateRunLoopSource(CFAllocatorRef allocator, CFSocketRef s, CFIndex order); CF_EXPORT CFOptionFlags CFSocketGetSocketFlags(CFSocketRef s); CF_EXPORT void CFSocketSetSocketFlags(CFSocketRef s, CFOptionFlags flags); CF_EXPORT void CFSocketDisableCallBacks(CFSocketRef s, CFOptionFlags callBackTypes); CF_EXPORT void CFSocketEnableCallBacks(CFSocketRef s, CFOptionFlags callBackTypes); /* For convenience, a function is provided to send data using the socket with a timeout. The timeout will be used only if the specified value is positive. The address should be left NULL if the socket is already connected. */ CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketSendData(CFSocketRef s, CFDataRef address, CFDataRef data, CFTimeInterval timeout); /* Generic name registry functionality (CFSocketRegisterValue, CFSocketCopyRegisteredValue) allows the registration of any property list type. Functions specific to CFSockets (CFSocketRegisterSocketData, CFSocketCopyRegisteredSocketData) register a CFData containing the components of a socket signature (protocol family, socket type, protocol, and address). In each function the nameServerSignature may be NULL, or any component of it may be 0, to use default values (TCP, INADDR_LOOPBACK, port as set). Name registration servers might not allow registration with other than TCP and INADDR_LOOPBACK. The actual address of the server responding to a query may be obtained by using the nameServerAddress argument. This address, the address returned by CFSocketCopyRegisteredSocketSignature, and the value returned by CFSocketCopyRegisteredValue must (if non-null) be released by the caller. CFSocketUnregister removes any registration associated with the specified name. */ CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketRegisterValue(const CFSocketSignature *nameServerSignature, CFTimeInterval timeout, CFStringRef name, CFPropertyListRef value); CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketCopyRegisteredValue(const CFSocketSignature *nameServerSignature, CFTimeInterval timeout, CFStringRef name, CFPropertyListRef *value, CFDataRef *nameServerAddress); CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketRegisterSocketSignature(const CFSocketSignature *nameServerSignature, CFTimeInterval timeout, CFStringRef name, const CFSocketSignature *signature); CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketCopyRegisteredSocketSignature(const CFSocketSignature *nameServerSignature, CFTimeInterval timeout, CFStringRef name, CFSocketSignature *signature, CFDataRef *nameServerAddress); CF_EXPORT CFSocketError CFSocketUnregister(const CFSocketSignature *nameServerSignature, CFTimeInterval timeout, CFStringRef name); CF_EXPORT void CFSocketSetDefaultNameRegistryPortNumber(UInt16 port); CF_EXPORT UInt16 CFSocketGetDefaultNameRegistryPortNumber(void); /* Constants used in name registry server communications */ CF_EXPORT const CFStringRef kCFSocketCommandKey; CF_EXPORT const CFStringRef kCFSocketNameKey; CF_EXPORT const CFStringRef kCFSocketValueKey; CF_EXPORT const CFStringRef kCFSocketResultKey; CF_EXPORT const CFStringRef kCFSocketErrorKey; CF_EXPORT const CFStringRef kCFSocketRegisterCommand; CF_EXPORT const CFStringRef kCFSocketRetrieveCommand; CF_EXTERN_C_END #endif /* ! __COREFOUNDATION_CFSOCKET__ */


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One of the things that I am hoping to do more of this year, is not only start helping more individuals in person, but also raid the homes of those that are already blessed with that organizing gene {and share those spaces with you!} Every single time you accomplish any organizing project, big or small, is something to be excited about and proud of. And because I blog about home, DIY and organization for a living, I get to read and be apart of a lot of amazing success stories and do happy dances with you, whether virtually or in person.
I can't express the giddiness I had when Jillian invited me into her home and snap pictures of all of her incredible accomplishments. It was so much fun spending the morning with her, chatting about her beautiful house and seeing the transformations that have taken space. She let me snoop in all of her drawers and cabinets and closets, which is oddly thrilling.
Jillian wrote:
Hi Jen!
Anyone who knows me would know I've always been interested in design and decorating. We moved into our home four years ago and it's been so exciting working on each room individually and also consider house the whole how flows together.
My friends and family would be surprised, however, to know I never really considered the hidden spaces and how they functioned. In the past they would probably be shocked to open a drawer and see the mess and disorganization! Not anymore! I discovered your blog last fall and learned that not only do we live in the same town, but our boys are in the same class at school!
I was so inspired by your posts that last September I decided to begin a total house purge and added organizing to my list of hobbies. I started with one drawer, then a cupboard, then a closet, etc... I just kept going!
My absolutely favorite organizing makeover is our bathroom closet. It only had a few deep shelves so we couldn't even reach all the way into the back. I gutted it, painted, and installed narrow white shelving which almost makes it a bit of a walk-in closet now. The baskets from IKEA were a perfect fit and I reused our plastic storage. After some fun labels, it was completely pretty, functional and organized! I finished it in early December and it looks exactly the same today!
Other areas that are really working for our home are:
- The new office space including our household binder
- The kid's school binder and school drawer
- The baskets in the laundry room for sorting clothes
Jillian and her hubby have really been working on making some lovely transformations to their home over the last couple of years! Would you believe that what once was this...
Is now this?
Which also opens up into their super cozy living room!
One of the things I adored about the living room is that Jillian smartly tucked their gaming system {along with accessories} into a pretty basket to avoid having it set out and create eye clutter:
And because storage space is at a premium, she condensed down all of those bulky DVD cases into a nice binder system!
One of my favorite spots is their art display! It's such a fun and happy moment in their home and it was simply created with curtain rods and drapery rings!
Jillian tucks her home office in an armoire...
As she mentioned in her note, it wasn't always so tidy - here are a couple of before and afters:
She now uses the file drawers to hold all of her kid's important "keepsake" papers from school, similar to my system, all pre-labeled by year.
They also made some updates to brighten up the kitchen!
I love the use of wall space!
A couple of cabinet before and afters?
Her baking cabinet now has everything organized by type in baskets and labeled see through canisters for powdered goods!
Under the sink also received some love by covering some containers with pretty paper to hold bags and corralling like items:
At their peninsula, she created a "school" drawer, which has a binder with all of the kid's current school newsletters, reading logs, etc... along with items to work on their homework and their daily vitamins:
I really love the use of baskets, labels and twine!
They also make sure to stay on the same page by having a framed family calendar in a central location!
Her pantry area is nice and organized as well! It was a closet gut job that has made her life easier in the end!
Command hooks keep those longer cleaning tools nice and accessible:
Speaking of closet transformations, Jillian mentioned her favorite was her bathroom closet update, and I couldn't agree with her more! It's incredibly functional now and doesn't look an ounce like it did in it's previous life....
She removed the shelves, gave it a fresh coat of paint and added in new shelves that were so deep so she could better utilize the entire space:
Seriously, aren't those baskets and labels so sweet?
She even added some decorative knobs to hang her necklaces:
And even the floor of the closet got some love!
Who am I kidding! The whole bathroom received a lot of love! It's so pretty!
And now!
The last stop on the tour is the laundry room, which is equally as fantastic as the rest of their home. I just love it!
And now!
I just love that they pulled cabinet doors off to create a sorting station!
Jillian really has done such a lovely job brightening up her spaces with warm paint choices, updating the functionality of cabinets and closets by changing shelving systems, using wall space for storage and adding labels and systems that her whole family can manage.
A giant THANK YOU to Jillian for letting me walk through her home and chat about her space. I left there feeling inspired to go home and look for something to organize myself! We are just one giant ring of inspiration and ideas which is what makes it so fun and rewarding!
Can you just feel a weight lifted from their day to day life, by looking at her before and after photos? What's your favorite transformation? That bathroom cabinet is an organized dream... I could kiss it!


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Now streaming on:
Three young men spent 18 years in prison, one under a death sentence, for a horrifying triple murder they clearly did not commit. The apparent killer is still walking the streets of West Memphis, Ark. The documentary "West of Memphis" is the fourth film about one of the most heinous cases of wrongful conviction in American judicial history.
Do we need a fourth film? Yes, I think we do. If you only see one of them, this is the one to choose, because it has the benefit of hindsight. Here is the bottom line: In 1993, the bodies of three young boys were found bound, mutilated and drowned in a drainage canal in the Robin Hood Hills neighborhood of West Memphis. A month later, three local teenagers were linked to the crime after one of them confessed; the prosecution claimed it was a satanic cult murder.
This charge was seized upon by local residents, and some of the evidence seemed to fit. Also, the suspects were described as "weird" heavy metal fans who often wore black. The community seemed convinced of their guilt.
Amy Berg's "West of Memphis" opens with a great deal of footage that is shockingly detailed and grisly, with gruesome descriptions. It's so graphic it's hard to watch. These accounts of the murders were connected by the prosecution to the defendants, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., 17; Jason Baldwin, 16, and Damien Echols, 18, regarded as the group's leader. After Misskelley described the killings in a long, rambling confession that took up a full day, Echols was the only one charged with first-degree murder.
Misskelley is characterized in the film as "borderline mentally retarded," with an IQ around 70. Baldwin comes across as quiet and shy, a "nice boy." Echols seems the most intelligent and charismatic. The three kids liked to hang out together, often playing video games in malls.
Once they had the confession, authorities were convinced they had the killers. "West of Memphis" uses extracts from the tape-recorded police interrogation that imply that most of the details in the confession were suggested to the youth, that key terms were introduced for him to agree with, and that after hours and hours, he was going along with everything. This despite confusion about what time the alleged events took place between noon and 8 p.m., and photographs and evidence providing all three defendants with alibis — crucially Echols, who was participating in a wrestling match some miles away.
There is a conclusion here, asking to be drawn. The reality of satanic-cult rituals are part of the narrative in many churches in that area, and the public and perhaps the jury were predisposed to believe them. Yet in three earlier documentaries, "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills," "Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" and "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, the case against the accused was systematically demolished.
Prosecutors brought a new suspect onstage. John Mark Byers, the adoptive father of one of the victims, said and did strange things on camera, and supplied the filmmakers with a knife that that tests matched to wounds on the victims' bodies. It was easy to conclude he was the real killer, but in this film, Terry Hobbs, stepfather of another victim, is linked by DNA to a human hair found tightly tied up within a shoelace knot that was used to bind a victim. And the makers of "West Memphis Three" get a call on their "tip line" from a witness who said he overheard conversations linking Hobbs to the killings.
Most of the observers now believe Hobbs is the likely killer. Decide for yourself. He will never be charged, because the state of Arkansas, in a bombshell plea bargain, offered the three prisoners a deal where they would walk free if they went through the formality of pleading guilty, shielding the state from the possibility of later lawsuits. The film argues that the state considered it more important to protect itself than the rights of the defendants.
The West Memphis Three became the kind of case that got people stirred up. Stars like Eddie Vedder, the Dixie Chicks and Johnny Depp raised funds and drew attention. Eventually enough people got involved that five of the principals in "West of Memphis" are now walking free, and quite possibly only four should be.
150 minutes


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J.Crew online is having 25% off everything with code STAYWARM, good until Wednesday, 11/9. Currently, there is also a generous 8% cash back if you go through ebates (referral). For petite women, I recommend checking out their coats and blazers that come in a vast selection of materials and colors (beautiful, vibrant colors!). A while back, I ordered two blazers to try on in petite sizing. Descriptions below are from jcrew.com:
Schoolboy Blazer – "One of our all-time favorites updated for fall in classic wool flannel. Featuring a posh, slightly shrunken fit and finished with details like a lapel buttonhole, a ticket pocket, a secret interior pocket…and crested gold buttons for a touch of legacy luxe."
Hacking Jacket – "Inspired by traditional British riding jackets, our newest wear-with-all third piece features a longer, leaner silhouette with a nipped-in waist for a flattering effect."
True to the descriptions above, the Hacking riding jacket (in gray) has a longer and leaner silhouette, with a more defined waist. This is especially evident in the back view. In comparison, the Schoolboy blazer (in camel) was about one inch wider and two inches longer. What a dilemma…I liked the shorter length of the Schoolboy, but the slimmer fit of the Hacking!
For reference, I am about 5 feet tall and 93 lbs. Both jackets fit me well in the shoulders and sleeves, but on someone with longer limbs the sleeves will be too short. Too-short sleeves seem to be a common problem amongst J.Crew's petite sizing. You can call customer service or do online live chat to get the exact measurements of any item in a particular size.
In summary, for someone my height I preferred the Schoolboy blazer for the shorter length. However, be warned that this blazer has a boxier, more casual silhouette and is thinner than the Hacking. If I had some extra height, I would prefer the sleek, fitted hacking jacket. I returned both because neither was perfect for me.


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The number of federal background checks for firearm sales declined last month following a surge in gun sales toward the end of the year that's left many retailers out of stock as Washington considered new gun control measures.
An Associated Press analysis of new FBI data published early Tuesday shows the National Instant Criminal Background Check system processed more than 2.78 million checks in December. That was a 12-month peak following an upward trend through last fall. The number fell to 2.48 million in January, still greater than any other month last year.
Firearms sales exploded around the country in the wake of the deadly December shooting spree in Newton, Conn., that left 27 dead, mostly children. The rush to buy guns has left many retailers out of stock.
"You can't do a background check if a guy doesn't have a gun to buy," said Mike Fotia, manager at Duke's Sport Shop in New Castle, Pa. "There's nothing to buy."
Fotia said manufacturers and wholesalers can't fill orders right now because demand is so high.
The number of background checks does not represent the number of firearms purchased, but gun manufacturers use these statistics to measure the health of the gun industry in the U.S.
The 10 percent drop between December and January comes amid a fierce national debate on gun control after the horrific school shooting in Newtown. The number of background checks dropped 26 percent during the same time period a year earlier. Sales typically decrease in January after the holiday shopping rush is over.
Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi saw the largest declines in background checks from December to January, by about one-third.
From: huffingtonpost.com


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I personally would rank this Florida as the best team of the post-'85 era and certainly as the best starting five of all time. (It's hard to argue they aren't, given they are the first complete starting five to win two straight titles.) I'll be interested to see how fans, bloggers, media and "experts" come down on this topic, both now and as history allows for more perspective.
(That post below's third comment down ended up as my additional commentary on what I see as the main argument over the best team of the "modern" (post-'85) era of college hoops: '91-92 Duke vs. '06-07
But the larger point is probably worth making, and the Orlando Sentinel's Mike Bianchi beat me to it: You won't see this again in college hoops -- three NBA Lottery-bound stars all putting off the pros to stick around to repeat as champs. You can dislike the team for a lot of reasons, but at least appreciate that kind of novelty.
Tournament M.O.P.: Corey Brewer was the most outstanding player on the winning team, but it's hard to disagree that Greg Oden wasn't the most outstanding overall. His last college game was his best college game in his biggest college game. (Does beating back the most talented college center of the last 20 years having his best game ever improve the Gators' "all-time-best" argument?)
NBA Draft Futures: Oden locked himself in at No. 1. Horford is locked in the Top 5. I think Joakim slipped a little (3-10). Corey Brewer improved his stock (from 15-22 to 10-16). Taurean Green would go undrafted; if he came out Mike Conley would be a mid-first-round pick. And I think that Gators 6th man Chris Richard could be a surprise first-round pick.
Tournament Challenge: The post below also includes the final results of the Daily Quickie Readers group, including this year's champ (C. Mills) and an 18th-place performance (out of 1,200!) by my 10-month-old. Congrats to everyone who placed higher than the National Bracket of 83.3 percentile (ironically, the same percentile I ended up in).
2007 Name of the Year Bracket: Vanilla Dong wins.
MLB Opening Day: Here's what I want to know – who had Gil Meche outdueling Curt Schilling and the Royals beating the living snot out of the Red Sox? For one day: "Gil Meche, Best Free Agent Signing Ever."
Again, put your NCAA Tournament comments in the post below. In THIS post, let's revive the old Morning Quickie tradition of MLB "Studs" and "Duds." Can't wait for your nominations. (Let me throw a few out there: Adam Dunn, Ben Sheets, King Felix.)
College Hoops Coaching Carousel: Dana Altman to
OK, so what happens to Billy Donovan NOW? I think he'll politely listen to Kentucky's offer, then let Florida not only match it financially, but exceed it, making him the highest-paid coach in college basketball. (Of course, it's not like he doesn't deserve to be.)
Women's Tournament: What's the chance that
NBA: Dwyane Wade practices pain-free. Your best-bet is to join me on the "Heat Repeat" bandwagon now, before it gets too crowded in mid-May.
OK, so men's college hoops season is over. I'm happy with how college hoops' "post-Oden Era" worked out -- the regular season was filled with parity, freshmen DID turn out to be pretty good for the game and the tournament, while lacking sustained drama or Cinderellas, ended with the rare combination of dominance AND novelty. But it's time to move on.
Baseball has started. Around the corner is the NFL Draft and the NBA Playoffs, with perhaps a little spring college football for good measure. Welcome to the spring.