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I kind of hate run-of-the-mill microwave popcorn. It uses a lot of packaging materials, it's loaded with disgusting waxy grease, and it costs about ten times what plain old kernel popcorn does. And despite all of the artificial flavors ConAgra and the other industrial food megacorps load into them, they still taste like shit.
The Catamount popcorn popper, though, is just as easy to use as one of those pre-packed popcorn envelopes, with the advantages of lower cost and increased deliciousness: Just pour in half a cup of popcorn kernels, put the top on, and put it into the microwave for about 4 minutes on high. You don't need any oil to pop the corn, though you can put some in if you want.
The handle on the side of the popper doesn't heat up in the microwave, so when your popcorn is done, it's simple to just take the lid off and pour it out into a bowl. And it's really easy to clean. Most of the time, it will only take a good hot water rinse to clean it up, but if you ever have to scrub it, the wide mouth is easy to reach into with a sponge.
The thing is, I have the same complaint about this popper as I do about hot air poppers. The popcorn is a little dry and kind of flavorless since it isn't popped using oil, as it would be in a traditional popping kettle or a saucepan on the stove. But, just like with air poppers, it's trivially easy to just top the snack with melted butter and tasty salt before eating. So I guess that, even though I still prefer making popcorn in a pan on the stove, the Catamount popper is worthy.
Catamount Glass Co. Inc. doesn't have a directly-named corporate website. However, they seem to be the operators of vermontgift.com, a website where a huge variety of made-in-Vermont Catamount Glass cookware can be found and ordered.

subset: commoncrawl


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Pricing Information
Reasons why you may consider a manifold replacement
In your vehicle's exhaust system, the manifold collects harmful emissions produced by the engine during the combustion process.
The exhaust manifold is the first compartment to receive these gases from the engine's cylinders.
The manifold contains an oxygen sensor that tells the engine control computer to increase or decrease the amount of oxygen in the fuel and air mixture assembled during the combustion process.
After the leftover gases are collected in the manifold, the manifold funnels these gases into the rest of the exhaust system.
Over time, this process of heating and cooling can eventually take its toll on the manifold.
A manifold replacement may be necessary if corrosion or other damage is found by a member of our service staff.
Be wary of ticking sounds coming from underneath your vehicle. This could be a sign that your manifold is loose and bumping against other components in the exhaust system.
Engine hesitation and hard acceleration are signs of problems with your manifold. Increased noise and sputtering indicate manifold damage.
Also, a leak in your manifold will result in poor engine power and performance.
Consider scheduling an inspection of your manifold at the first sign of trouble. If leaks or damage are detected during a service, your manifold will be replaced.
Routine inspections of your vehicle's exhaust system can prevent your manifold from failing and potentially allowing harmful fumes to reach you and your passengers.


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by Walter E. Williams
Recently by Walter E. Williams: What You Can't Say
The Washington Post (10/25/2012), in giving President Barack Obama an endorsement for another four years, wrote, "Much of the 2012 presidential campaign has dwelt on the past, but the key questions are who could better lead the country during the next four years – and, most urgently, who is likelier to put the government on a more sound financial footing." The suggestion appears to be that a president is not to be held accountable to his promises and past record and that his past record is no indication of his future behavior. Possibly, the Washington Post people believe that a black president shouldn't be held accountable to his record and campaign promises. Let's look at it.
What about Obama's pledge to cut the deficit in half during his first term in office? Instead, we saw the first trillion-dollar deficit ever, under any president of the United States. Plus, it has been followed by trillion-dollar deficits in every year of his administration. What about Obama's pledge of transparency, in which his legislative proposals would be placed on the Internet days before Congress voted on them so that Americans could inspect them? Obama's major legislative proposal, Obamacare, was enacted in such secrecy and with such speed that even members of Congress did not have time to read it. Remember that it was Rep. Nancy Pelosi who told us, "But we have to pass the (health care) bill so that you can find out what is in it." What about Obama's stimulus packages and promises to get unemployment under control? The Current Employment Statistics program shows that in 2008, the total number of U.S. jobs was more than 138 million, compared with 133.5 million today. As Stanford University economics professor Edward Lazear summed it up, "there hasn't been one day during the entire Obama presidency when as many Americans were working as on the day President Bush left office."
While Obama's national job approval rating is a little less than 50 percent, among blacks his job approval is a whopping 88 percent. I'd like to ask people who approve of Obama's performance, "What has President Obama done during the past four years that you'd like to see more of in the next four years?"
Black support of politicians who have done little or nothing for their ordinary constituents is by no means unusual. Blacks are chief executives of major cities, such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, Memphis, Atlanta, Baltimore, New Orleans, Oakland, Newark, Cleveland and Cincinnati. In most of these cities, the chief of police, the superintendent of schools and other high executives are black. But in these cities, black people, like no other sector of our population, suffer from the highest rates of homicides, assaults, robberies and shootings. Black high-school dropout rates in these cities are the highest in the nation. Even if a black youngster manages to graduate from high school, his reading, writing and computational proficiency is likely to be equivalent to that of a white seventh- or eighth-grader. That's even with school budgets per student being among the highest in the nation.
Last year, in reference to President Obama's failed employment policies and high unemployment among blacks, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, "If Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House." That's a vision that seems to explain black tolerance for failed politicians – namely, if it's a black politician whose policies are ineffectual and possibly harmful to the masses of the black community, it's tolerable, but it's entirely unacceptable if the politician is white.
Black people would not accept excuses upon excuses and vote to re-elect decade after decade any white politician, especially a Republican politician, to office who had the failed records of our big-city mayors. What that suggests about black people is not very flattering.
Walter E. Williams is the John M. Olin distinguished professor of economics at George Mason University, and a nationally syndicated columnist. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page.


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Working in Camera Raw
- Why use Camera Raw?
- Opening photos into Camera Raw
- The Camera Raw tools A
- Cropping and straightening photos
- Choosing default workflow options
- Using the Camera Raw tabs
- Using the Basic tab
- Using the Tone Curve tab
- Using the Detail tab
- Using the HSL/Grayscale tab
- Using the Adjustment Brush tool
- Using the Split Toning tab
- Using the Lens Corrections tab
- Using the Effects tab
- Using the Graduated Filter tool
- Using the Radial Filter tool
- Using the Spot Removal tool
- Saving and applying Camera Raw settings
- Synchronizing Camera Raw settings
- Converting, opening, and saving Camera Raw files
Using the powerful and wide-ranging controls in the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in, you can apply corrections to your photos before opening them into Photoshop. In this comprehensive chapter, you'll learn about the Camera Raw tools and tabs; choose workflow options for Camera Raw; apply cropping and straightening; and correct photos for defects, such as poor contrast, under-or overexposure, color casts, blurriness, geometric distortion, and noise. You will also learn how to enhance your photos with special effects, such as a vignette, grain texture, or tint; retouch blemishes; access Camera Raw controls from Photoshop; save and synchronize Camera Raw settings among related photos; then finally, open your corrected photos into Photoshop.
Note: The Camera Raw plug-in, which we refer to simply as "Camera Raw," is included with Photoshop. Some users also refer to the plug-in as "ACR," short for Adobe Camera Raw.
Why use Camera Raw?
Amateur-level digital cameras store images in the JPEG or TIFF format, whereas advanced amateur and pro models offer the option to save images as raw data files, which offers substantial advantages. Cameras apply internal processing to photos that are captured as JPEG or TIFF, such as sharpening, automatic color adjustments, and a white balance setting. With raw files, you get only the original raw information that the lens captured onto the camera's digital sensor, leaving you with full control over subsequent image processing and correction.
These are some basic facts about Camera Raw:
- Camera Raw can process raw, TIFF, and JPEG photos from most digital camera models.
- Camera Raw offers powerful controls for correcting problems in your photos, such as over- and underexposure and color casts, and for applying enhancements, such as a vignette or a grain texture.
- Camera Raw saves edits to TIFF and JPEG files in the file itself, whereas edits to raw files are saved as instructions (in a separate "sidecar" file or in the Camera Raw database). When you open a photo from Camera Raw into Photoshop, the instructions are applied to a copy of the file, and the original raw file is preserved.
- To any image layer in Photoshop, you can apply some Camera Raw features via the Filter > Camera Raw Filter command.
More reasons to use Camera Raw
In case you're not fully sold on the benefits of correcting your digital photos in Camera Raw before opening them into Photoshop, consider these points:
Ability to preview raw files: The only way to preview a raw photo is in Camera Raw (or other software that converts raw files). Note: The photo that you view on the LCD screen of your digital camera is merely a JPEG preview of the raw capture, not the "actual" raw capture.
Great correction features: Camera Raw offers many unique adjustment controls that you simply won't find in Photoshop.
Less destructive edits: When applying corrections to a photo, the goal is to preserve as much of the image quality as possible. Adjustments that you make to a photo in Camera Raw (and that are applied automatically when the photo is opened in Photoshop) cause less data loss than similar adjustment commands in Photoshop.
Preserves 16 bits per channel: To preserve more of the original pixel data in a raw photo, Camera Raw keeps the bit depth as 16 bits per channel. This helps offset the data loss from subsequent image edits in Photoshop, and results in a better-quality photo.
Tonal redistribution: The sensor in a digital camera captures and records the existing range of tonal values in a scene as is, in a linear fashion, without skewing the data toward a particular tonal range.A That sounds fine on paper, but the reality is that the human eye is more sensitive to lower light levels than to higher light levels. In other words, we're more likely to notice if shadow areas lack detail and less likely to notice extra details in highlight areas. The result is that digital photos typically contain more data than necessary for the highlight values in a scene and insufficient data for the lower midtone and shadow values. In a Camera Raw conversion, data is shifted more into the midtone and shadow ranges of your photo. This not only helps compensate for the peculiarities of human vision, but also helps prepare your photos for subsequent image edits in Photoshop.B If you apply tonal adjustments in Photoshop to a photo that contains insufficient shadow data, the result is posterization and a noticeable loss of detail; if you apply the same edits to a good-quality photo that has been converted in Camera Raw, the destructive edits will be far less noticeable.
Superior noise reduction and sharpening: Not to knock Photoshop, but the noise reduction and sharpening features in Camera Raw cause less data loss than similar features in Photoshop.
Learning the Camera Raw features will give you a head start: The tonal and color controls in Camera Raw are similar to many of the adjustment controls in Photoshop (e.g., Levels, Curves, and Hue/Saturation) that are discussed in later chapters. As you proceed through the lessons in this book, you will apply and build on the skills you have mastered in this chapter.
Raw, JPEG, or TIFF?
Unfortunately, Camera Raw can't correct deficiencies in digital JPEG and TIFF photos as fully as it can in raw photos, for several reasons. First, cameras reduce digital JPEG and TIFF photos to a bit depth of 8 bits per channel, and in so doing discard some of the captured pixels. Cameras save raw photos at a bit depth of 16 bits per channel, and preserve all the captured pixels.
Second, cameras apply color and tonal corrections to JPEGs and TIFFs (called "in-camera" processing). Camera Raw must reinterpret this processed data, with less successful results than when it has access to the raw, unprocessed data.
All of the above notwithstanding, if your camera doesn't shoot raw photos or you acquire JPEG or TIFF photos from other sources, you can still use practically all of the outstanding correction and adjustment features in Camera Raw to process them.
Note: In this chapter, we focus only on processing raw and JPEG files in Camera Raw — not TIFF files. The JPEG format is mentioned only when a particular feature treats a JPEG differently than a raw file.
- Factoid: Each digital camera manufacturer creates its own version of a raw file and attaches a different extension to the names of its raw files, such as .nef for Nikon and .crw or .cr2 for Canon.


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BGI and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Launch the 1,000 Rare Diseases Project to Advance Gene Discovery
PHILADELPHIA and SHENZHEN, China, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) today announced that they have jointly initiated the 1,000 Rare Diseases Project with the aim of accelerating the discovery of genetic variants underlying rare diseases.
The project will employ integrative genomic approaches and innovative analysis pipelines, laying a solid genetic foundation for future clinical diagnosis and treatment. The project primarily focuses on sequencing 1,000 rare diseases, including ones that affect both children and adults. Under the collaboration agreement, BGI and CHOP will use next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies to analyze well characterized DNA samples from patients and families with single-gene inheritance patterns.
Rare diseases usually refer to either life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases – most of which are inherited – that individually affect a small percentage of the population, but in total, have a large impact, affecting approximately 1 in every 12 newborn children. It is estimated that there are between 7,000 and 8,000 known rare diseases in the world. However, patients with rare diseases are currently a significantly underserved population, with insufficient social and medical support, because the small numbers of patients for any given disease makes it challenging to recoup the medical investments in research and development of therapies.
NGS technologies have revolutionized life sciences, allowing researchers to efficiently identify the genetic variants underlying rare diseases through whole-exome or whole-genome sequencing. "Experimental results show that the genome-wide sequencing approaches we are currently pursuing are more cost-effective and efficient than previous linkage-mapping and candidate gene methods. This is partly due to the fact that genome-wide sequencing approaches make it possible to pinpoint the cause of many rare diseases using much smaller numbers of samples," said Xun Xu, Deputy Director of BGI.
"The BGI/CHOP collaboration is an ideal partnership," said Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP and co-Director of BGI@CHOP Joint Genome Center. "It brings together the unique strengths of two world-class institutions, combining BGI's robust capabilities and expertise in NGS and bioinformatics analysis with CHOP's extensive biobanking and clinical and translational expertise. This will undoubtedly facilitate rapid and accurate diagnosis of rare diseases and lead to new therapeutic interventions," said Hakonarson.
"We welcome this opportunity to work with one of the largest and most prestigious children's hospitals in the world," said Professor Jian Wang, President of BGI, "We would like to enhance rare diseases research through collaborative projects with researchers worldwide to help conquer rare diseases and improve the health and quality of life of those living with a rare condition."
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
About BGI
BGI was founded in Beijing, China on September 9th, 1999 with the mission of being a premier scientific partner to the global research community. The goal of BGI is to make leading-edge genomic science highly accessible through its investment in infrastructure that leverages the best available technology, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI, and its affiliates, BGI Americas, based in Cambridge, MA and BGI Europe, based in Copenhagen. Denmark, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications.
BGI has established a proven track record of excellence, delivering results with high efficiency and accuracy for innovative, high-profile research which has generated over 170 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. These accomplishments include sequencing one percent of the human genome for the International Human Genome Project, contributing 10 percent to the International Human HapMap Project, carrying out research to combat SARS and deadly E. coli in Germany, playing a key role in the Sino-British Chicken Genome Project, and completing the sequence of the rice genome, the silkworm genome, the first Asian diploid genome, the potato genome, and, most recently, 1000 genomes and human gut metagenome. For more information about BGI, please visit www.genomics.cn.
Media Contacts:
John Ascenzi
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
[email protected]
Bicheng Yang
Public Communication Officer
[email protected]
Joyce Peng, Ph.D.
Marketing Director
BGI Americas Corporation
[email protected]
SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia


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3 Comments
Won't happen but I understand where he's coming from. Sterling has not been a positive for the league. But if MLB can survive Nazi admirer Marge Schott it can survive Sterling.
Lenny Wilkens: Sterling should sell the Clippers . . . to Chris Hansen.
the housing discrimination by sterling passed muster but forbidding his gf from bringing blacks to bball games or posting instagram photos of herself with blacks is OUTRAGEOUS. bomani jones of espn nails it: http://deadspin.com/in-10-minutes-espns-bomani-jones-lays-waste-to-the-ste-1569195989


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Hot Tub Prices
Please complete and submit the form and we will send you appropriate pricing as well as information about current special offers and discounts.
We also have a hot tub price guide further down this page, and general information about hot tub prices and ongoing costs.
Be sure to let us know what you are interested in!
*Don't worry, we wont share your contact info or send you unwanted emails – only the info you ask for!
Price Summary
Here at Arctic Spas we offer premium quality hot tubs, which inevitably tend to cost more, but quality comes with a price and in terms of maintenance, support, quality, durability and comfort we are unbeatable.
Here is a price range summary to guide you toward a hot tub or spa that will suit your budget.
Trade-in & refurbished models of all makes. Most Arctic Spas dealerships have a stock of reconditioned used hot tubs that fall into this price range.
If you get lucky you might even find an older model used Arctic Spa in this range.
Low Cost
Many of the models in the smaller Arctic Spas range also have retail prices in this category.
They have fewer options but often these options can be added on site when you know for sure that you want it. Most of the time, the cost to retrofit an option on site is not much more than buying it factory-installed.
This is the price category where you will find most of the Arctic Spas brand hot tubs.
This is the exclusive territory of the Arctic Spas brand as well as the Arctic swim spas.
Hot Tub Purchase Price vs. Ongoing Cost
Wondering what your hot tub will actually cost to run rather than how much it will cost to purchase? That's a very important factor when deciding which hot tub to buy and something that often gets overlooked. Cheaper hot tubs often cost much more to run.
Arctic Spas are now available with a built in power consumption meter. You can monitor the actual electrical costs of your spa and also alter the run times of the spa in order to operate during low cost time periods. Arctic Spas are already the most energy efficient hot tub available, and now you can save even more money by altering the spa's daily run times.
The amount you save buying a cheap hot tub can easily be spent in one year on inefficient heating and maintenance costs. Be careful, extremely low prices that seem too good to be true usually are.


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1. Are all the goods available?
Yes, we have more than 1,000,000 items in stock, and all the products that can be added to the shopping cart are available. We will contact you as soon as possible in case of any shortage due to special reasons.Welcome to place order online: www.Fsvibes.com
2. What packing?
All our products are packed in nice PE self sealing bags, waterproof and moisture-proof.
3. Do you provide nice gift packaging?
Yes, we can provide nice gift carton package, it only need an extra $3 / 1 pic.
4. What size?
Our sizes are all international sizes, and the detailed size chart of each country will be attached to the detail page of each product – Size Chart.
5. Must to register as a member?
No, you can place an order without registration. Of course, registered members can enjoy more benefits.
6. Is there any discount for members?
Yes, new register will get extra 20% off when check out using the code: OY20. More member preferential policies will be coming soon.
7. Can the goods be delivered to our country?
Here are the main countries we can reach:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan,Bahrain, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Andorra, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia (Sorry, if your country is not listed above, we will unable to deliver to).
8. How to pay?
We currently accept the following payments:
• PayPal
• Visa
• Mastercard
We will also accepting much more Payments in the near future.
9. How to transport?
We currently offer the following shipments:
• E-packet (Economical express)
• DHL (Commercial express)
• FedEx-IP (Commercial express)
10. Do you provide free shipping?
Yes, you can enjoy free shipping if order over $39.
11. How soon will send out the order?
Usually within 1-2 working days after payment.
12. How long can I get my parcel?
Economic express usually takes about 7-10 days; Commercial express usually takes about 3-5 days.
13. Can we choose a faster way of transportation?
Yes, you just need to select the fast shipments such as DHL / FedEx before you check out the order, and pay for the extra cost.
14. Can I return the defective products?
Yes, if it's a defective product, You can contact us within 30 days after receiving the goods and provide photo.Then we will refund or reissue according to the situation.
15. Can I get a refund if I don't receive the goods?
Yes, please contact us in time and provide the order number. We will follow up the transportation status of the package for you. If it was confirmed be lost, we will refund it immediately or reissue; Please wait patiently if the transportation is delayed due to bad weather or the situation of warehouse explosion on Black Friday and Christmas.
16. Can I return it if I don't like it?
Yes, we support no reason to return and exchange goods, but the freight for return should be borne by you.Moreover, due to the high cost of international transportation, we usually do not recommend returning goods It can be sent to your relatives or friends. If you still insist on returning the goods, please contact us in time, and provide the return mode and tracking number. We will refund you within 24 hours after receive the return package.
17. Will be any Tax?
No, usually we will send the goods as free gift or at a low price. Generally, there will be no tax. You can place an order at ease.


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In the last 12 months, tens of thousands of new authors and publishers have joined the Smashwords community. I welcome you.
A brief introduction to Smashwords is in order.
I founded Smashwords in 2008 to change the way books are published, marketed and sold. I realized that the traditional publishing industry was broken. Publishers were unable, unwilling and disinterested to take a chance on every writer.
Today, Smashwords has grown to become the world's largest distributor of ebooks from self-published authors and small independent presses.
The idea behind Smashwords was simple: I wanted to create a free ebook self-publishing platform that would allow me to take a risk on every writer. I wanted to give every writer the freedom to publish, and every reader the freedom to read what they wanted.
Back in 2007, we designed our logo with this revolutionary ideal in mind. The up-thrusting fist holding the book represented our desire to transfer the power of publishing to writers and readers. Today, we still refer to it as our "Power to the people" logo.
The revolution is now in full swing. Indie authors know ebook self-publishing is the future of publishing. Ebook retailers know this as well. Traditional publishers, however, have been slow to grasp the transformative impact the self-publishing revolution is having on the industry.
We're entering a golden age of publishing. The ebook self-publishing revolution will lead to a more great books being published than ever before. More books will touch the souls of more readers, because indie ebooks make books accessible, affordable and discoverable to more people. These books, in all their diverse and controversial glory, are cultural treasures.
Our authors know that every writer – every one of us – is special, and those who doubt this truth will become the dinosaurs of tomorrow. You can't truly honor the culture of books without honoring the writers who create them. You can't truly honor the value of books if you measure their value by perceived commercial merit alone. You either value the human potential of all writers, or none at all.
Every day, I'm thankful that so many writers, readers and retailers have supported the cause of self-published ebooks. Every day, I'm tickled pink that so many authors, publishers and retailers have partnered with Smashwords, because without your trust and support, we wouldn't be here.
Unlike self-publishing services that earn their income by selling over-priced services to authors, Smashwords doesn't sell services. The money flows to the author. We earn our commission only if we help sell books. We think our approach aligns our interests with the interests of our authors and publishers.
Since most books don't sell well, and we rely entirely on commissions, it's incredibly difficult to build a profitable business doing what we do. We figured out how to do it.
Smashwords highlights for 2012
2012 was another incredible year for the Smashwords authors, publishers, literary agents, retailers, libraries, and customers we serve.
Here are some of our key milestones for 2012:
- Catalog growth: We're ending the year with more 190,500 books at Smashwords. 98,000 new titles were added to the Smashwords catalog this year. This is up from 92,500 at the end of 2011, and up from 28,800 at the end of 2010, 6,000 in 2009, and 140 our first year in 2008.
- More authors/publishers/literary agents choosing Smashwords: Smashwords today supports 58,000 authors and small publishers around the world, up from 34,000 at the end of 2011, 12,100 in 2010, 2,400 in 2009, and 90 in 2008.
- Profitability: Smashwords has been profitable for 27 straight months, and our profitability is growing as our business grows. We've done this without bringing in outside venture capital, which means we're free to pursue our unconventional business model without the interference of outside investors. Profitability is important, because it means we're here for the long haul. It means we have the resources to reinvest in our business for the benefit of the authors, publishers, retailers, libraries, and readers we serve. Nowhere is this investment more apparent than in our staffing numbers (next item).
- Employee Count: We're ending 2012 with 19 employees, up from 13 in 2011, and 3 in 2010. This year we continued to invest heavily in customer service and software development.
- Faster-Faster-Faster: Thanks to investments in technology and staffing, we're providing faster conversions, faster Premium Catalog approvals, faster response times to support inquiries, faster distributions to Apple, Kobo and Barnes & Noble, and faster sales reporting. We will improve further on all counts in 2013.
- Libraries: We signed new distribution deals with library aggregators such as Baker & Taylor Axis360, 3M Cloud Library and one other major aggregator not yet announced. We added support for custom library pricing, and we introduced Library Direct to support libraries that operate their own ebook checkout systems under the Douglas County Model.
- Ebook Distribution Systems: We began a complete re-architecture of our ebook distribution systems to enable faster, more accurate ebook distributions and metadata updates.
- Smashwords Profiled in Forbes Magazine: This was a big deal for us. For the first time ever, we revealed to the world our revenues (Forbes requires that startups they profile reveal numbers). Later in the year, we received coverage in the New York Times and Time Magazine. The indie ebook revolution is starting to go mainstream, though I think we're all still flying below the radar. That'll change in 2013.
- Improved categorization: We completed adding support for thousands of BISAC categories to help our author's books land on the correct virtual shelf.
- Merchandising collaboration with retail partners: We ramped up our merchandising collaboration with retailers, especially Apple, which has been incredibly proactive and creative in working with us to create new opportunities to connect Smashwords books with millions of their customers (See Apple's Breakout Books promo). We continued to build tools to help our retailers identify books worthy of promotional love, because these tools help Smashwords authors sell more books and help retailers satisfy more of their customers, which is their primary objective.
- Retailers earning millions of dollars from the sale of Smashwords books: Our retail partners have made incredible investments to help list, maintain, promote, merchandise, and sell our books to their customers. I'm pleased to say their investments are paying off. We want our retail partners to do well with our books, because the value they provide to our authors and publishers far exceeds the sales commission they earn.
- We released the Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success: In March, I released this free ebook, which identifies the 28 best practices of the most commercially successful Smashwords authors. It's the lastest in a series of free ebooks I've written that promote professional publishing best practices. Along with The Smashwords Style Guide (how to publish an ebook) and the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to promote any book and build author platform), my three books combined have now been downloaded over 250,000 times. Thousands of our authors and publishers have since put these practices to work.
- Amazon: Our relationship with Amazon has been frustrating. Even though Smashwords authors have the freedom to bypass Smashwords and work directly with many of our retail partners, about 80% of our authors choose to distribute through Smashwords. They appreciate the time-saving convenience and simplicity of centrally managing their books and metadata from the Smashwords Dashboard. Unlike every other major retailer, Amazon has not yet provided us the ability to do large, automated distributions and metadata updates. As a result, our authors who would prefer to reach Amazon through Smashwords are forced to upload direct to Amazon. Although I remain hopeful Amazon will one day see fit to treat us as a partner rather than a competitor to be crushed, killed and destroyed, I'm not holding my breath. We've built a healthy, profitable and fast-growing business without their help, and we've done this despite their attempts to harm us and our retail partners. Unlike traditional publishers which would probably go bankrupt if they stopped distributing to Amazon, we face no such noose. In the meantime, we focus our energy on helping our true retail partners succeed in the marketplace.
- We protected your right to publish legal content: When PayPal tried to ban certain categories of "objectional" books, we pushed back, and led a broad coalition of authors and pro-books advocates to overturn PayPal's proposed policies. PayPal and the credit card companies decided to do the right thing. It was a victory for all authors, and demonstrated the growing power of the indie author movement, especially when we stick together and work toward a common cause. At Smashwords, we're always advocating for the rights of our authors. Much of this advocacy happens quietly behind the scenes, outside the glare of press releases and media spotlight. We're all in this together.
- Smashwords Direct: Today, we released Smashwords Direct, a new publishing option at Smashwords that allows authors and publishers to upload professionally designed .epub files for distribution through the Smashwords network. The service complements our Meatgrinder conversion engine by enabling us to support ebooks with more complex formatting requirements.
Industry Highlights:
When we started Smashwords five years ago, self publishing was viewed as the option of last resort, and 99.95 of writers aspired to publish through traditional publishers. The stigma of self publishing that was so prevalent five years ago has given way to new credibility, as Smashwords authors top all the bestseller lists and set the example for the next generation of writers.
At the same time, we're seeing a growing stigma develop around traditional publishers, which continue to underserve authors and readers. Just as traditional publishers were slow to embrace ebooks before they began their breakout in 2009, publishers have also been slow to recognize the transformative impact self-publishing will have on the business of books. Self-published ebooks still account for the minority of ebook sales, but just as ebooks will one-day eclipse print books, so too will self-publishing eclipse traditional publishing.
In 2012, some Big 6 publishers bumbled their way into the self-publishing business, starting with Pearson/Penguin's acquisition in July of the granddaddy of vanity presses, Author Solutions (ASI). In November, oblivious to all the screaming indie authors who called foul about the business practices of ASI, Simon & Schuster introduced its own self-publishing imprint called Archway Publishing, powered by none other than ASI, and proudly offered publishing packages ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. Twenty-five thousand dollars? How do they sleep at night? By adopting the worst practices of the worst vanity presses, publishers telegraphed to the writer community what they really think about authors: Only a few of you are worth the investment of our time, talent and resources, and the rest of you are worth only the money in your wallet.
It was a cynical move. A move that will damage the already diminishing credibility of large, traditional publishers, even those which haven't made such a bone-headed move.
In my 2011 Smashwords Year-in-Review post last year, I wrote:
"I think few people in the traditional publishing industry comprehend how this indie author revolution will transform their business in the next few years. Their world is about to be turned upside down."They still don't get it. From the perspective of indie authors, it's starting to not matter. Publishers risk irrelevanance if they don't adopt more progressive business policies soon.
The writing is on the wall. Traditional publishers are earning well-deserved ridicule and stigma at the very time indie authors are shedding their stigma by blazing a better path forward. What I tell you here isn't pie-in-sky theory or empty pontification. The numbers tell the story.
In 2010, it was virtually unheard-of for an indie ebook author to hit the bestseller lists at retailers, let alone the NY Times bestseller list. In 2011, indies began to hit the bestseller lists on a more regular basis, but it was still rare. In 2012, indie ebooks were frequently listed among the top 10 bestsellers at major retailers, and multiple indie authors landed books in the bestseller lists maintained by The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and others. For example, the week of August 4, 2012, four Smashwords authors hit the NY Times fiction ebooks list in the same week. Next year we'll see more, and within a couple years indies will dominate all the bestseller lists and it'll be seen as business as usual.
Some industry watchers might label my prediction delusional. Indie authors know it's real because some of them are experiencing it today, and they're sharing their results with their fellow indies.
At Smashwords, where we distribute books to most major retailers, we see the sales numbers. We see how our books are starting to earn more dollars than many traditionally published books. This growth is not because Smashwords is wonderful, it's because all writers are wonderful. You can't love books without loving the writers who write them.
What's driving the rise of indie ebooks? There are multiple factors, chief among them include:
- Indie authors are learning to become professional publishers – Indies are pioneering the publishing best practices of tomorrow, as I note in the Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success. They're becoming more sophisticated publishers, and they're starting to publish better books, priced more competitively, written more responsively to reader tastes, and more broadly distributed.
- It's a game of numbers – Although only a small fraction of indie ebooks grace the bestseller lists, the publishing output of indie authors is unprecedented. Authors are now releasing over 9,000 books per month on the Smashwords platform. Thanks to such democratized publishing and distribution, the business of publishing has become available and accessible to all writers, for FREE. Writers who were previously shut out of publishing – simply because the conventional publishing business was broken and unable to take a risk on every author – are now publishing for free at Smashwords and elsewhere. Writers who previously gave up on writing are now writing again, because every writer can now confidently begin a book and know that it will be published, one way or another.
In my 2013 book publishing predictions post, I talked about how future bestsellers are like baby black swans. They're extremely rare, and hidden and indistinguishable amid flocks of baby black geese. Publishers devote enormous energy trying to cull the flock and eliminate the geese, yet at the same time they're also indiscriminately culling black swans. Self-publishing changes this. Self-publishing gives all writers – the geese and rare swans alike – the freedom to publish direct to their readers, today, and be judged. Readers are the only ones capable of reliably identifying the black swans. This shouldn't be a surprise. Readers have always created bestsellers through their impassioned word-of-mouth.
When we analyze the future of publishing, where authors become more professional, and all books are given a chance in the marketplace, the law of numbers would indicate that it becomes a reasonable and inevitable conclusion that self-publishing will hatch more black swan bestsellers of the future than traditional publishing. The vaunted editorial gatekeeping function of publishers, long mistakenly believed to be a public service, has become a public disservice. At the end of the day the smart folks in publishing can only guess at what readers want to read. Publishers have long been in the business of throwing spaghetti against the wall, and then retroactively taking credit for the few books that become bestsellers. Now writers can throw their own spaghetti, and when it's cooked just right, the author can take the deserved credit. - Retailers welcome indie ebooks – Retailers have been true enablers in the ebook revolution. Ever since 2009, every major retailer has welcomed self-published ebooks. These retailers have collectively invested hundreds of millions of dollars to bring readers to their stores, and these readers are purchasing these books. Retailers and authors alike are earning millions of dollars for their efforts, which makes it a win-win for retailer and author.
- Ebook Self publishing is simply a superior method of publishing – Ebooks cost less to produce, package and distribute than print books. There's no inventory, and therefore no returns of unsold inventory. With a traditional publisher, it often takes 12 months or more before the book is released. With indie ebooks, the book is published instantly to a worldwide market. The indie author enjoys greater creative freedom, a closer relationship with their readers, the ability to earn 85-100% net as opposed to the paltry 25% of net paid by publishers, and the ability to price lower - which has the virtuous effect of driving greater sales volume, faster platform-building and greater author profits. Unlike the static print books of yesteryear, ebooks are living creatures. Indie authors can leverage Viral Catalysts (see my Secrets ebook for more on these) to make their books more available, more discoverable and more enjoyable. Unlike print books, most of which quickly go out of print, Indie ebooks need never go out of print. Ebooks are immortal.
- Reading is moving to screens – Ebooks as a percentage of the overall trade book market will reach about 30% in 2012, up from 19% in 2011, 8% in 2010, 3% in 2009, and 1% in 2008. Within two years, ebooks will account for over 50% of book sales. As noted in my 2013 predictions, I predict that the number of books read on screens will exceed the number read on paper in 2013. If authors want to reach readers, indie ebooks are the fastest, most efficient method of doing so.
- The global opportunity – The ebook retailers expanded their global footprint in 2012, and will expand further in 2013. This means an author in Columbia can upload their book to Smashwords today and see that book available for sale in the Apple iBookstore in their home country in a matter of days. And because that book is written in Spanish, it's also available in the world's largest Spanish-speaking markets across North, Central and South America (and Spain too!). Authors can publish locally and reach readers globally. This kind of global publishing and distribution simply wasn't feasible under the old print model.
- Stigmas of traditional publishers increasing as self-publishing gains street cred – Many Smashwords authors now publish direct to their readers and don't even bother to shop their books to agents and publishers. At multiple writers' conferences this year, I lost track of the number of times authors approached me and said words to the effect of, "I've been waiting for years to get picked up by a publisher. I'm done waiting. I'm going to self-publish and get out there now."
What's Coming to Smashwords in 2013?
At Smashwords we consider our business in constant beta. Every day we're tweaking our business processes and technology to make everything we do faster, more reliable, more scalable, more efficient and more competitive.
In 2013 we will continue to invest in people and technology to better serve our authors, publishers, retailers, and libraries.
Here's a brief sampling of what you can expect from Smashwords in 2013:
- Discovery – We'll improve our metadata to make our books more discoverable by readers. One such example is series. Currently, we don't offer an elegant method of identifying books in a series. You'll see this in 2013.
- Retailer Merchandising – We'll continue building tools, processes and relationships that give Smashwords-distributed books increased visibility to the merchandising managers at the major ebook retailers. By serving our retailers, and helping them identify Smashwords books that are worthy of extra in-store promotion, many of our authors will enjoy merchandising advantages not available to other authors.
- More Distribution – We'll continue to create new distribution opportunities for our authors and publishers. We believe the more high-quality retailers promoting our books to readers, the better.
- Faster Distribution – In 2011, we shipped books to our retailers once per week. In 2012 we began shipping multiple times daily to Apple, once-daily to Kobo, and twice-weekly to Barnes & Noble. In 2013 we will continue to work with our retail partners to allow faster shipments and faster metadata updates. This will give authors greater control over their distribution.
- Faster Reporting – We provided faster sales reporting in 2012, compared to the previous year, but we still have much improvement to make, both in speed and schedule consistency. We will continue to make incremental progress here in 2013.
- Faster Premium Catalog Approvals – Six months ago Premium Catalog approvals took up to 13 days from the date of upload. Today approval times range from 1-5 days. We will continue to add staff and technology to improve the speed of reviews so your books can reach retailers faster.
- Improvements to Smashwords Store – When people tell us the design of the Smashwords store is so circa 2000, we take it as a compliment because we think they're being generous by at least a decade. The Smashwords web site user interface is outdated. We've neglected the design and customer experience of the Smashwords store, in favor of investing our limited resources on the distribution side of our business where we generate over 90% of our revenue.
2013 is the year we will give the Smashwords store a facelift, not because we have designs on becoming a large ebook retailer (well, actually, we already are, even though that's not our focus), but because we think an updated site will help us attract more books and more customers that we can feed to our retail partners. In 2013, expect to see us start adding links to some of our retail partners, so the millions of visitors to the Smashwords site can enjoy greater freedom to purchase our books and support our authors at their favorite ebook retailers. Although an individual ebook sale at Smashwords earns the author a higher royalty than a book sold at our retail partners, a book sold at our retailers brings a multiplier advantage, because it drives their "also bought" algorithms. Put most simply, our retailer partners with their broader customer reach have the ability to turn each sale into more sales than we can at the Smashwords site. - Improvements to Smashwords Direct – As I write this, Smashwords Direct has been operational for about one day. We'll make multiple iterative improvements to Smashwords Direct in 2013 because we want to make it as easy as possible for Smashwords to become the ebook distributor of choice for as many authors and publishers around the world as possible.
- Expansion of "Mark's List" – A couple of years ago, we created a simple auto-responder email (email to email@example.com) that contains a list of recommended, low-cost ebook formatters and cover designers. When you hire off of this list, all your money goes straight to the service provider performing the work. We don't receive a commission, advertising fee or kickback of any sort. This means you gain access to valuable services at the lowest possible cost. Most of the providers are fellow Smashwords authors. We'll expand the list in 2013 to contain more service categories. The application process will be announced at Smashwords Site Updates as we open up the list to more providers. There may be some surprises, but I'll save that for another time.
My thanks to you
I want to express my sincere appreciation to every Smashwords author, publisher, reader, retailer, literary agent, service provider partner, and angel who has supported Smashwords over the last few years. I want to especially thank authors who continued distributing their books through Smashwords despite the inevitable growing pains experienced by both Smashwords and our retailers. Those of you who left and are considering returning, I thank you too. Your support of Smashwords – especially your decision to distribute through Smashwords – is what fuels our ability to serve the greater community of all writers around the world.
Although I'm excited by what we've accomplished thanks to your talent and support, I'm even more excited by the future that lies ahead of us. I still believe we've only scratched the surface of what's possible. I believe that within five years, the majority of bestselling ebooks will be published by self-published authors, and I want those authors to be Smashwords authors. Help me realize this, because working together we can create a better future for writers, readers, retailers, libraries, and all those who contribute to the culture of books.
Happy New Year and safe holidays. Peace to all.


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If nothing else, the late Gerald Ford holds the title of the most athletic U.S. president. In an exclusive analysis, Ford leads the first-ever (and possibly last-ever)...
All-Time U.S. President Athleticism Power Rankings!
Ford was, by far, our most athletic (and athletically accomplished) President: He was a three-year center for
Now, say what you will that Ford might have taken one too many shots to the helmet, but he reigns supreme among Presidential athleticism. (You'll find the final Presidential Power Rankings at the end of the rundown.)
Here's a chronological rundown of the athletic bonafides of the U.S. Presidents of the 20th Century, with an emphasis on actual lifetime athletic accomplishment (and, in the absence of that, significant off-field links to sports as a proxy for participation).
George W. Bush: Well, he OWNED a sports team (Texas Rangers), but the closest he got to participating in sports was as a cheerleader.
Bill Clinton: Huge sports FAN (particularly
George H. W. Bush: Played first base for Yale baseball, which puts him near the top of a thin field. Certainly qualifies him for Top 5.
Ronald Reagan: Sports claim to fame is that he was a Cubs play-by-play broadcaster, but more concerned with acting than athletics. Famously played George "The Gipper" Gipp in the movie, "Knute Rockne, All American."
Jimmy Carter: Star local basketball and football player in high school, but his most notorious sports claim to fame is that he was in office when the
Gerald Ford: See above. The best athlete of any President in our nation's history. And, when we inevitably do the "20th Century World Leader Battle Royale of Athleticism," I'm quite sure Ford would finish in the Final Four, if not win outright.
Richard Nixon: Despite leaving the office in disgrace, he truly embodied the idea of "First Fan," even going so far as to design and call a Super Bowl play for George Allen's Redskins. Played college football for
Lyndon Johnson: Let's just say that he would have won any locker-room, uh, contests. (Jeff Reed? Ha! Small-time, by comparison. Literally.) LBJ enjoyed hunting, fishing and riding.
John Kennedy: Provided one of his most iconic President-and-sports images, playing touch football with his family on the Vineyard. Balky back, though, and general health problems. In the Clinton mold of "Big fan, not much of an actual player."
Dwight D. Eisenhower: Played football for West Point
Harry Truman: Not much there.
Franklin Roosevelt: Do you have to ask?
Herbert Hoover: Was the student manager of the football and baseball teams as a college student at Stanford (he was part of the first Big Game versus
Calvin Coolidge: Doesn't seem to be much there for "Silent Cal."
Warren Harding: At this point in US history, most people who were young adults in Harding's era (1880s) didn't spend much time playing sports. But he did supposedly play a lot of poker.
Woodrow Wilson: Enjoyed bicycling and became an avid golfer while in office (as many future presidents would).
William Taft: Wasn't he kind of a fattie? He was, however, the first President to throw out a baseball at a game.
Theodore Roosevelt: What a bad-ass. He was the runner-up boxing champion as a college student at Harvard. He was a legendary big-game hunter. If he was alive today, he'd probably be a NASCAR champ. That was one tough SOB.
(I'm making the presumption that Presidents before the 20th Century weren't as exposed to sport as young men as the ones who followed them. Feel free to correct me in the comments.)
The first (and final) 20th Century Presidential Athleticism Power Rankings:
1. Gerald Ford
2. Theodore Roosevelt
3. Dwight D. Eisenhower
4. George H.W. Bush
5. Herbert Hoover
6. George W. Bush
7. Richard Nixon
8. Jimmy Carter
9. John Kennedy
10. Bill Clinton
11. Ronald Reagan
12. Woodrow Wilson
13. Lyndon Johnson
14. William Taft
15. Harry Truman
16. Warren Harding
17. Calvin Coolidge
18. Franklin Roosevelt
Other stories worth tracking today:
Bowls Tonight: Florida State vs. UCLA. Unless this is called the "Bobby Bowden Is Finally Retiring, Presented By AARP" Bowl, I really don't care. I picked FSU, like a moron. I'm rooting for UCLA, if only because they pulled off the biggest stunner win of the season, beating USC.
NBA: AI has a season-high 13 assists (plus 28 points) in a Nuggets win over
More NBA: Hot Trade Action! Is Ron-Ron Artest going to the Clippers for permanent trade-rumor fixture Corey Maggette? (My favorite Maggette detail: In the '99 NCAA title game, he was the only Duke player doing any damage -- or capable of doing any damage -- against UConn. Yet Coach K didn't like Maggette's early aggressiveness and benched him, likely costing Duke the title and affirming for me that Coach K can't... well... coach.)
NFL: Is it "win or else?" for Jim Mora Jr.? I'll contend that he's going to be axed regardless. Next time, Mr. Blank, bring in a coach who will build an offense around Michael Vick, not in spite of him.
Meanwhile, Michael Strahan is out for the rest of the year. Like that matters in the big picture for the Giants? And Bill Cowher will announce his plans next week. My bet is on retirement, temporarily. TV cred in '07 and a big raise with another team in '08 is his future.
Best NFL Rumor That Will Never Come True: Charlie Weis to coach the Giants? In a Big Blue wet dream, but that's as close as it's going to get. However, should Weis actually consider it? I say yes: The last two years at ND have proven that this is as good as it's going to get for him: A BCS-qualifying 9 or 10 wins a season, but getting beat by any/every top-tier team they play, with little or no chance at a national title unless they remove any/every top-tier team from their schedule. Meanwhile, doesn't he feel like he has something to prove at the NFL level?
MLB: Will Zito go to the Yankees or Mets? It all hinges on the Yankees trading Randy Johnson.
Gone Bowlin': Central Michigan gets its first-ever D1 bowl win (


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