business: April 2009

Call Center Space Availabilities
Looking for ready-made call center space in the U.S. or abroad? It might be your lucky day. The Site Selection Group (www.siteselectiongroup.com) keeps track of vacated/available/ready for sub-lease contact center space and is reporting the following to be available: Addison,...

Looking for ready-made call center space in the U.S. or abroad? It might be your lucky day. The Site Selection Group (www.siteselectiongroup.com) keeps track of vacated/available/ready for sub-lease contact center space and is reporting the following to be available:

Addison, Texas: 137,992 sq. ft.
Workstations: 600 expandable to 1,000

Austin, TX: 92, 633 sq. ft.
Workstations: 605

Salina, KS: 44,876 sq. ft.
Workstations: 250 expandable

Clarksville, TN: 52,000 sq. ft.
Workstations: Estimated 500

Tucson, AZ: 27, 255 sq. ft.
Workstations: 200 to 250

Hawkesbury, Ontario: 41,019 sq. ft.
Workstations: 420

Manila, Philippines: 366 workstations

For more info, contact The Site Selection Group directly at 214-271-0580.

The ATA Position On Do-Not-Call
You may have read that his week, Congress addressed two bills, H.R. 2601 and H. R. 3541, which will affect the future of the federal Do-No-Call Registry.� Currently, there are approximately 150 million people who have listed their phone numbers... You may have read that his week, Congress addressed two bills, H.R. 2601 and H. R. 3541, which will affect the future of the federal Do-No-Call Registry.� Currently, there are approximately 150 million people who have listed their phone numbers on the DNC Registry, and there has been a large political effort to ensure that consumer’s information will not be purged from this list.

The American Teleservices Association (ATA) came out this week in support of making the list, which was supposed to have been purged and "rebuilt" after five years to ensure list accuracy, permanent.

ATA CEO Tim Searcy said, "We are in support of a permanent Registry, but would like the assurance that it is being appropriately updated.� We would encourage the FTC or Congress to require phone companies to provide a record of all disconnected numbers so they can be removed from the DNC – making the list more accurate.”� Searcy continued, “Until that happens, we support the extension of the current list.”

TES

Call Center Jobs: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
So what happens when a political party promises the creation of call center jobs, then loses control of the government? The incoming government says, "Nah, nah, we didn't promise them. The previous guys did. Sorry!" Something like this happened in... So what happens when a political party promises the creation of call center jobs, then loses control of the government? The incoming government says, "Nah, nah, we didn't promise them. The previous guys did. Sorry!"

Something like this happened in Australia. I guess that's the price you pay for assuming "government" is all one entity...like "The Borg" from Star Trek.

Resistance IS futile.

TES

First-Call Resolution Podcast
First-call resolution, as a call center principle, gets a lot of attention, and for very good reason. While 10 different call centers may not agree on their management, hiring, training and technology approaches, all 10 will probably agree that first-call... First-call resolution, as a call center principle, gets a lot of attention, and for very good reason. While 10 different call centers may not agree on their management, hiring, training and technology approaches, all 10 will probably agree that first-call resolution is far and away the most important metric to master. Why? It's a realistic way to achieve increased customer satisfaction at lower operating costs. It cuts out "waste" and gets customer issues resolved quickly. It also improves employee job satisfaction and lowers turnover, for it reduces agent frustration.

It is, however, a complex, multifaceted topic. I recently had a chance to speak with Rob McDougall, president of call center solutions provider Upstream Works (www.upstreamworks.com). Our conversation about implementing first-call resolution in the contact center is available here as a podcast

Happy listening!

TES

Marketing Salaries Guide
Crandall Associates, a company that does executive recruitment for the direct marketing and telesales industries, has released its "2008 National Salary Guide, Direct and Interactive Marketing." The guide keeps tracks of salaries (high and low ranges, sub-divided by years of... Crandall Associates, a company that does executive recruitment for the direct marketing and telesales industries, has released its "2008 National Salary Guide, Direct and Interactive Marketing."

The guide keeps tracks of salaries (high and low ranges, sub-divided by years of experience) nationwide for job titles such as:

Internet Marketing Manager
Market Research Director
Media Planner/Analyst
VP of Marketing
Customer Service Managers and Directors

The full report can be ordered online at www.crandallassociates.com.

TES

Feeling The Love From Offshore Outsourcing
Here's a piece on TMCnet today that takes a look at the pitfalls, both obvious and hidden, of offshore outsourcing and how to overcome them. First, it's important to identify the problems. My favorite snipped from this article was that... Here's a piece on TMCnet today that takes a look at the pitfalls, both obvious and hidden, of offshore outsourcing and how to overcome them. First, it's important to identify the problems.

My favorite snipped from this article was that one company discovered that an agent at one of its foreign call centers was ending customer calls with, "I love you." He thought it was a great way to show customers he cared. Sometimes...agents can care a little TOO MUCH.

The best way to make offshore outsourcing work for you is to get a better handle on training. Studies show that even if a foreign call center agent has a heavy accent, if he or she handles the call the way a North American customer expects (use the right words, strike the right tone and effect good results), accents are immediately forgiven.

And your customer will know you love them without you have to tell them, which...let's face it...is a tad creepy.

TES

Video Gaming Widows
Have you ever been thrown over on a Saturday night by The Horde? The New York Times had an amusing...but true-to-life...piece recently about how video gaming, particularly online role playing gaming, affects romantic relationships. Did you know they make children's... Have you ever been thrown over on a Saturday night by The Horde?

The New York Times had an amusing...but true-to-life...piece recently about how video gaming, particularly online role playing gaming, affects romantic relationships.

Did you know they make children's clothing...even baby clothes... with World Of Warcraft themes?

Do I sound like I speak from experience?

TES

Another Upside To Virtual Call Centers
As if we needed any more evidence that home-based agents and virtual call centers were the way to go, here's yet another: plan a physical, brick and mortar call center, and the neighbors start complaining that it will cause too... As if we needed any more evidence that home-based agents and virtual call centers were the way to go, here's yet another: plan a physical, brick and mortar call center, and the neighbors start complaining that it will cause too much of an increase in traffic and parking congestion, not to mention scare the birds away.

TES

Canadian Call Center Woes
Here's an article from the Edmonton Journal about the closure of a Toronto Dominion Bank call center in the city, for a net loss of about 140 jobs. Though this is a Canadian company shutting down a Canadian call center,... Here's an article from the Edmonton Journal about the closure of a Toronto Dominion Bank call center in the city, for a net loss of about 140 jobs.

Though this is a Canadian company shutting down a Canadian call center, there have been other Canadian call center closures that can be laid at the foot of the weak U.S. dollar.

Outsourcing to Canada (an important destination in the so-called "near-shore" outsourcing model) is no longer saving U.S. companies money due to the unfavorable exchange rates for the U.S. dollar.

A recent Datamonitor report covered on TMCnet by associate editor Patrick Barnard revealed that companies are truly starting to pack up Canadian operations. The most notable U.S. outsourcer to do so thus far is Cincinnati-based Convergys Corporation.

The Datamonitor report also cites a waning of interest in Canada in relation to the increasing interest in having Spanish-speaking agents on staff for the growing consumer base of American Hispanics. (Canada does not offer a labor force with a high percentage of Spanish-speakers.)

TES

Health Alert: Raw alfalfa sprouts may pose salmonella risk
Government health officials are telling the public to avoid eating raw alfalfa sprouts, as they could be contaminated with a strain of salmonella Milwaukee, Wisconsin (CaymanMama.com) -- As if the widespread salmonella scare wasn't bad enough before with the peanut butter scandals, now government health officials are telling the public to ...

Pakistan news of April 28, 2009 - Security forces troops deployed in parts of tribal areas
Pakistan news of April 28, 2009 Is Sufi Mohammed in hiding or is he? Security forces troops deployed in parts of tribal areas Pakistan offer 10 million pound sterling bribe by UK Pakistan Australia 3rd ODI - Pakistan looses the match by 27 runs Selling pressure forces KSE-100 index to fall by 275.93 points Is Sufi ...

Pakistan news of April 27, 2009 - Pakistan security forces anti-Taliban operation relaunch
Pakistan new of April 27, 2009 Pakistan security forces relaunch military operation against Taliban Brown arrival today covered with dust of arrests of Pakistani students in UK Imran slashes Sufi Mohammed on calling Pakistan constitution un-Islamic Taliban continue to infiltrate Buner despite Sufi Mohammed’s claim that they will continue withdraw Buner ...

EPA report: Topical flea, tick medications injures 44,000 pets
Pet owners beware: a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency has bad news and it could pose a threat to many more pets in the future Hartford, Connecticut (CaymanMama.com) -- Pet owners beware: a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency has bad news and it could pose a threat ...

Abundance
Are you living a life of ABUNDANCE ? This Friday 3/13/09 I will be co-hosting a free event at my office: Here is their blurb: People who are serious about getting out of the rat race and have a desire to model a system the rich have used for years should come and learn! This game is very similar [...]

Are you living a life of ABUNDANCE ?

This Friday 3/13/09 I will be co-hosting a free event at my office:

Here is their blurb:

People who are serious about getting out of the rat race and have a desire to model a system the rich have used for years should come and learn!

This game is very similar to Cash Flow 101- it’s got a spiritual and more philosophical twist to it. It takes in the laws of the universe, like the law of attraction and applies to our financial picture.

If you believe in paying it forward and investing in the best piece of real estate (the 6 inches between your ears), then this event is for you!

Also, a special guest speaker, the creator of the game, the genius himself, Brandon Boardwater will be here to present his game & give us the opportunity to own our very own game as well.

You can get more information and sign up here < http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=56037049579&ref=mf >

Posted in Cash Flow, Cash Flow Club, Danville, East Bay area, Rich Dad/Poor Dad Tagged: Abundance

Letter to AT&T Broadband
Remember the days before you had high speed Internet?

Sifting through some files on my PC, I found this letter that I wrote to my AT&T Broadband expressing the need for high-speed Internet service. The file is dated June 27, 2002. The note makes me remember the defeating sadness of 56k modem Internet life. Despite having to endure a painful Comcast outage or two, having a high speed connection these last several years has made my life much more productive and fun. I think it is beneficial for us who are fortunate enough to have a high speed connection to take a moment and remember from whence our slow past.

AT&T Broadband
P.O. Box 2127
Norcross, GA 30091

AT&T Broadband:

I am a current AT&T Broadband customer and operate a home-based business from my condominium complex. I am in need of a high-speed connection but have been unable to find out when the service will be available in my area. Over the course of about 5 years, I have been given various projections of when service will be available, but none have proved to be accurate. Can you advise me on when and if service will ever be available in my area?

Thanks for your time,

Emory Rowland

E2.0 Stagnation
We seem to have done a good job about defining the enterprise knowledge management problem and how Enterprise 2.0 wants to fix it. Knowledge is locked in people’s PCs, file shares, is hard to find and is underutilized. Not only that, corporations fail to efficiently tap into their human resources and facilitate [...]

We seem to have done a good job about defining the enterprise knowledge management problem and how Enterprise 2.0 wants to fix it. Knowledge is locked in people’s PCs, file shares, is hard to find and is underutilized. Not only that, corporations fail to efficiently tap into their human resources and facilitate the creation of weak ties between employees. I think everybody gets it now.

So why is Andrew McAfee still talking about why email sucks? Haven’t we heard this story time and time again? Why don’t we talk more about how Enterprise 2.0 has helped companies, about how it’s had the dramatic impact that we predicted two years ago? Maybe it’s because it’s not happening, or maybe it’s because the doers are quietly doing and have no time to blog about it.

With that, I’m super stoked about TechCrunch’s new enterprise software-focused blog, TechCrunchIT. TechCrunch has been the defacto leader in all things Web 2.0. Maybe they’ll bring some fresh thinking to the Enterprise 2.0 space.

SEO Bailout Proposed
What industry needs a bailout more than this one?

SEO Bailout

The Problem

SEO industry professionals have lost the will to link to each other. They are hoarding valuable PageRank capital. Unless action is taken to free up links, firms are expected to report losses in search engine rankings.

The Solution

Congress must act to pass SEO bailout legislation with these components:

700 link rescue plan for failed search engine strategies
Fresh infusion of links from .gov domains
Buyout of defunct Web directories

This SEO bailout must go into effect immediately. Otherwise, search engine marketing firms could risk going belly up. Once the bill has passed, the president must appoint a SEO Czar.

Arguments Against

How will Americans react to the idea of creating a link pool to help an industry that engaged in risky linking practices? Is the U.S. government manufacturing of PageRank essentially the same as printing currency?

What you can do to Help

Help secure the future of search engine marketing by writing your congressman and demanding that the SEO bailout legislation be passed without delay.

The Enterprise 2.0 Market
(interesting now that I’m in the US I’m still posting at 5pm Aussie time) I’d like to direct your attention to a post by Jevon MacDonald called Enterprise 2.0: Where the f$#@ is my market? where he asks: Is there such thing as an Enterprise 2.0 market? If so, can you sell in to it? If not: [...]

(interesting now that I’m in the US I’m still posting at 5pm Aussie time)

I’d like to direct your attention to a post by Jevon MacDonald called Enterprise 2.0: Where the f$#@ is my market? where he asks:

Is there such thing as an Enterprise 2.0 market? If so, can you sell in to it? If not: are there startups trying to sell to customers who don’t exist?

and answers by stating:

There is no Enterprise 2.0 market. Enterprise 2.0 budgets do not exist, except where some early adoptors create them, and there is no Enterprise 2.0 sales cycle. There are very few incentive available to experts right now and the discontinuity that has arisen in the concept is a symptom of that.

Jevon goes on to argue that an Enterprise 2.0 Software Market is validated only when there is a problem that software can solve on its own. Otherwise “The people who are making the most money off this term right now are consultants who are helping their clients navigate some of the fluff from the substance”.

I agree with this. As a consultant I’ve always considered Enterprise 2.0 to be more about shifting corporate culture than introducing new technology (although I write a lot about technology in this blog). I remember a quote from Paula Thornton where she wrote “..how many psychologists do you have on your team” as “we’re building products that should be influenced by the laws of human nature” instead of advances in technology.

When implementing Enterprise 2.0 we need to include strategies to change old school mindsets and get people to ask “why shouldn’t I share this information” instead of “why should I share this information”, for example.

Jevon does go on to say that Enterprise 2.0 software can be successful when focusing on industry verticals where, after a series of successful implementations there, a broader, more horizontal market might appear. Check out his post here.

Buying a new home? Want to save money ?
If you are planning to use this Buyer’s market to buy a NEW home, I know a great way you can save some money. Most new home developers will pay a referral fee (commission) to your Realtor if the Realtor is with you on your first visit to the models. You will need to do a [...]

If you are planning to use this Buyer’s market to buy a NEW home, I know a great way you can save some money.

Most new home developers will pay a referral fee (commission) to your Realtor if the Realtor is with you on your first visit to the models. You will need to do a simple sign-in and look at the models together.
If you buy one of those new homes the Realtor will get a referral fee and it costs you nothing!

But wait, why should you care?

Here’s why…
I am a full-service, professional Realtor. I do not sell homes at cut-rate commissions. I usually charge 6% (1/2 of that will go to the agent representing the Buyer).
If my Client helps me to earn a commission from the new home developer then I can charge less to sell their current home. I can also better coordinate the timing of the 2 transactions.

It’s a Win-Win-Win.

My Clients sells for a lower fee, and is able to buy the new home quickly.

I get a good overall amount of compensation.

The developer sells a home in a Buyer’s market.

Here’s another reason. When you are looking to buy a home, whouldn’t you want to be shown all of the options you have? If a Realtor works with you for months they might be reluctant to have you consider new construction if they will not get a commission. You also will benefit from the Realtor’s experience, knowledge of the area, and understanding of your needs.

If you are planning to look at new construction models, call your Realtor first.

The Realtor MUST be with you on your first visit.

If you don’t already have a trusted Realtor, please give me a call.

I would like a chance to earn your business.

Eric Haggin

925 336-6462

Eric@EastBayPlus.com

Serving the San Francisco East Bay Area…Plus

Posted in Alameda, Concord, Contra Costa, Danville, East Bay area, Livermore, Real Estate agent, Real estate investing, San Ramon Tagged: east dublin, new construction, new homes, toll brothers

Free money. . .
Well. . . Almost Our home values have come down to below 2004 levels in many areas. That’s just the way it is. Here’s the good news. . . For the cost of a couple of stamps you can potentially save thousands of dollars every year on your property taxes. Proposition 8 (previous election) requires the county [...]

Well. . . Almost
Our home values have come down to below 2004 levels in many areas. That’s just the way it is.

Here’s the good news. . .
For the cost of a couple of stamps you can potentially save thousands of dollars every year on your property taxes. Proposition 8 (previous election) requires the county tax assessor to recalculate your home’s tax assessment based on current market prices.

If your current assessed value is significantly more than the current market value this will save you some money.

I will do the necessary paperwork and market analysis needed for you to get this done.
Here is what I need:
• Your name
• Address of the home
• Your phone number

This is a free service I offer to any homeowner in Alameda, Contra Costa, or San Joaquin counties.

Email me now to start saving on your property taxes.

Eric Haggin - Realtor
925 336-6462

Eric@EastBayPlus.com

Keller Williams Realty
760 Camino Ramon, #200
Danville, CA 94526

Posted in Alameda, Contra Costa, Dublin, East Bay area, Foreclosures, NOD NOT REO, Price change, Real Estate agent, Real estate investing, San Ramon Tagged: Prop 8, Propert taxes

What About Cheap California Auto Insurance
What About Cheap California Auto Insurance? How often do you climb into your vehicle each week? Thirty? Forty? Maybe you drive to work, run errands and still find time to transport your son or daughter to basketball and ballet. So, what does that make it? Fifty times? Sixty, maybe? With gas prices rising to all-time highs [...]

Car Shipping Transport your Next Car Purchase for Less
Car Shipping: Transport your Next Car Purchase for Less Muscle cars are part of the great American image. Each year, thousands of mechanics rebuild these vehicles. Once complete, they compete for prizes in car shows and in car clubs. What most people may not realize, however, is that these beautiful pieces of art come from a [...]

How to Locate Agents Selling Cheap California Auto Insurance
How to Locate Agents Selling Cheap California Auto Insurance Finding a company in California that offers affordable or cheap auto insurancet can be difficult. Nonetheless, auto insurance is required by law in the vast majority of states including California. It is essential that an individual be knowledgeable concerning various available insurance options in order to make [...]

The Functionality and Compatibility of Ford parking sensor
The Functionality and Compatibility of Ford parking sensor Every car owner has the challenging means of parking his or her vehicle. Parallel parking is one of these means. In some garage cases, because of the presence of narrow space, car owner would even have troubles in backing in and out of the space. Not every driver [...]

Commercial Application of Hidden Tank Rainwater Collection Systems
Commercial Application of Hidden Tank Rainwater Collection Systems The conservation of water in Australia is not limited to homeowners. Though controlling water use in the house is an important focus, it is also only part of the picture. Commercial operations also use plenty of water, and there are many opportunities for reducing treated water usage through [...]

Creating Extra Living Space with Orangeries
Creating Extra Living Space with Orangeries Adding an outdoor living room to a home is a great way to better enjoy the outdoors and to expand the living space of the home. Not only does an outdoor living room make the home more enjoyable for the homeowner, it also increases the resale value of the home. [...]

Couple under invesgtigation after baby dies after home birth
The custody of the couple's other child has meanwhile been withdrawn

Partido Popular treasurer banked 330,000 Euro in 500 Euro notes
It's the latest allegation to be revealed from the Gürtel corruption case

Barça held at home by Chelsea
It was a hard-fought first leg in the first Champions League Semi Final

Spanish royals to head Madrid 2016 delegation
Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía will be in Copenhagen on 2nd October when Madrid makes its final presentation in the bid

Periana man charged with theatening to kill the Mayor who refused him 10 Euro
He is also charged with stealing Town Hall property and faces six years in prison

Online legal documents
Nolo Press has great step-by-step online system for creating common legal documents for investors such as LLCs and wills. Click here or the banner and then the “Nolo Now” button on the top of that screen. There are always some advantages to using a local attorney, but sometimes a more generic document is just fine [...]

Nolo Press has great step-by-step online system for creating common legal documents for investors such as LLCs and wills.

Click here or the banner and then the “Nolo Now” button on the top of that screen.

There are always some advantages to using a local attorney, but sometimes a more generic document is just fine and will save some money.

I have read various Nolo press books and really like their clean, direct style of explaining legal issues. Click the link above and then search for any legal-related subject.
They also have free content such as podcasts about foreclosures and other subjects.

It’s worth a look.

Eric Haggin

Posted in East Bay area, foreclosure, Foreclosures, LLCs, NOD NOT REO, real estate, Real estate investing Tagged: Entity Creation, Legal, Nolo Press, Wills

Busy week
It’s been a very busy week for me. I am working with buyers in Vallejo, San Pablo, Berkeley, Concord, San Leandro, and Alamo. I haven’t seen this much buyer activity for at least 3 years. We are reaching a price point in many areas where it’s cheaper to own than to rent. We haven’t been there for 5 [...]

It’s been a very busy week for me.

I am working with buyers in Vallejo, San Pablo, Berkeley, Concord, San Leandro, and Alamo.

I haven’t seen this much buyer activity for at least 3 years.

We are reaching a price point in many areas where it’s cheaper to own than to rent. We haven’t been there for 5 years.

Certainely nobody knows when real estate in the East Bay will start to appreciate again. My current buyers are all long-term thinkers and are buying properties which make sense today, even if they do not go up in value.

Posted in Alameda, Berkeley, Concord, Contra Costa, East Bay area, NOD NOT REO, Real estate investing, Real estate market stats, San Leandro, San Ramon, Vallejo

My kids
This is Kyle Haggin and Christine Haggin Christine is playing the piano. Am I a “Rich Dad” or what? Eric Haggin Posted in Dublin, East Bay area, Non-business, Rich Dad/Poor Dad Tagged: Christine Haggin, Christmas 2008, Kyle Haggin, Rich Dad

This is Kyle Haggin and Christine Haggin
Christine is playing the piano.

Am I a “Rich Dad” or what?

Eric Haggin

Posted in Dublin, East Bay area, Non-business, Rich Dad/Poor Dad Tagged: Christine Haggin, Christmas 2008, Kyle Haggin, Rich Dad

Do you have an Investor’s Realtor?
Most of my Clients are standard buyers and sellers of homes for their families. I help families in all parts of the San Francisco East Bay Area. I enjoy this work, and I’m good at it. But, My greatest passion is when I can serve Clients as an Investor’s Realtor. I use my personal experience as a real estate [...]

Most of my Clients are standard buyers and sellers of homes for their families. I help families in all parts of the San Francisco East Bay Area.
I enjoy this work, and I’m good at it.

But,
My greatest passion is when I can serve Clients as an Investor’s Realtor. I use my personal experience as a real estate investor, financial analysis, and my enthusiasm to help Clients create true wealth.

To see if your Realtor is qualified to be your Investor’s Realtor ask her these questions:

What investment real estate do you own?
How did you choose those deals?
How well have you done in the past 3 years?
How’s the market?

Here are my answers to those questions:

What investment real estate do you own?
- 1-Duplex
- 24,000 sq ft Office building
- 10,000 sq ft Industrial Warehouse
- 8,000 sq ft Retail/Special use
- 3,000 sq ft Retail
How did you choose those deals?
- I spent a lot of time learning the micro-markets
- APODs for each possible deal (annual property operating data spreadsheet)
- Working with my network of local professionals
How well have you done in the past 3 years?
- All of my properties have increased in market value
- I have a significant positive cash-flow
How’s the market?
- It depends… do you raise cactus or sell umbrella’s?
- to properly answer this question let’s talk about your needs and goals

If you need an Investor’s Realtor, give me a call.

Eric Haggin

925 336-6462

Investor@EastBayPlus.com

Wonderfully non-remarkable new President
It was a special feeling today with the innaugeration of President Obama. One of the wonderful things is that to my kids, it’s not particularly remarkable. They will grow into adults with the new,expanded possibilities being a self-evident part of their own experience. When divisive things become non-remarkable they lose their destructive power. WE THE PEOPLE deserve to be [...]

It was a special feeling today with the innaugeration of President Obama.

One of the wonderful things is that to my kids, it’s not particularly remarkable. They will grow into adults with the new,expanded possibilities being a self-evident part of their own experience.

When divisive things become non-remarkable they lose their destructive power.

WE THE PEOPLE deserve to be proud today.

Posted in real estate Tagged: Barak Obama, Obama

Forest fire is burning in the East Bay, And it’s not all bad…
I have seen a lot of pain in the professional part of my life this year. We all have been hit by the scary financial mess and real estate bust. Many of my Realtor colleagues are out of the business, many of my friends and family are facing uncertain financial futures. I wish I could do more to [...]

I have seen a lot of pain in the professional part of my life this year.
We all have been hit by the scary financial mess and real estate bust.
Many of my Realtor colleagues are out of the business, many of my friends and family are facing uncertain financial futures.
I wish I could do more to help. It’s a bit like firefighters who are able to protect a few homes, but can only watch the forest burn until Mother Nature steps in.
This fire is still burning.
The bright spot is that opportunities have opened up for many buyers who felt they had been passed by. My Niece in Seattle,my Nephew in LA, and my Cousin in Napa are all in their 20s and are able to buy a first home. I am working with various Clients to help them buy their first rental house. Rational real estate buying is possible again in the East Bay for the first time in 10 years.
It’s like the trees that need fire to open their cones to seed the new forest.
Rational investing means that the deal makes financial sense the day you buy it, and into the foreseeable future. For most simple rentals a rough test is the 1% rule [ if rents equal 1% of the purchase price it might be a good deal ]. For example, if you buy a 3/2 rental for $190,000 and can rent it for about $1,900/month it’s probably a very good deal. I now see a few these deals here in the East Bay (still takes a lot of effort to find them).

Are you ready to take action?
If you are, call me.
If not, what can I do to help you get ready?

Eric Haggin
Keller Williams Realty
925 336-6462
Eric@EastBayPlus.com

Posted in 1031 exchange, Alameda, Cash Flow, Concord, Contra Costa, Dublin, East Bay area, foreclosure, Foreclosures, Fremont, Keller Williams, Livermore, NOD NOT REO, Pleasanton, real estate, Real estate income, Real estate investing, San Ramon Tagged: rational investing, Rental homes

Knox Co. Health Dept. statement on swine flu

Knox Co. Health Dept. Director Mark Jones: "There is no reason for alarm at this time." The Health Dept. recommends prevention and treatment similar to other types of flu, but the situation is fluid and could change. Read the full advisory after the jump...

continued...

Knox County Health Department, 4/27/2009
Swine Flu Prevention and Treatment the Same as for Seasonal Version

Tennessee public health officials are clear on their objectives: Limit and slow the spread of swine flu and minimize the impact on health. Even though Tennessee has had no confirmed cases of swine flu, health departments across the state are taking precautions to safeguard the public. Forty cases of a new strain of influenza have been reported now in five states. The sickness has been mild in all cases with only one person hospitalized and everyone has fully recovered.

“People are concerned, but there is no reason for alarm at this time, “said Mark Jones, Knox County Health Department director. “Right now, it is being treated much like the regular seasonal flu that we experience every year, because of the lack of complications in cases seen so far.”

Prevention precautions are the same as for seasonal flu: stay at home if you have a fever with cough and/or sore throat; always cover your cough to protect others; and be diligent in washing your hands and keeping your hands away from your nose, eyes and mouth to protect yourself.

Treatment recommendations also are the same. Persons with uncomplicated illness should stay home for seven days until fully recovered. Those with high risk for complications should visit their doctor at early onset when antiviral medications such as Tamiflu or Relenza can be given to lessen the severity and duration of the illness. If symptoms worsen, the patient should call their clinician or go to an emergency room. Anyone with flu-like symptoms who has traveled to Mexico in the last seven days should contact their physician.

Public health professionals stress that the situation is fluid and could change as more swine flu cases are reported. As a precautionary measure, Knox County Health Department is prepared to step up its response to protect public health, should the need arise. For questions regarding swine flu, a dedicated communications phone line has been established at 215-5093.

KnoxViews

Through the Magic of the 21st Century 'Silk Road'

Some time ago You Tube invited musicians from all over the world to virtually audition for their You Tube Symphony Orchestra. The prize, a chance to perform in Carnegie Hall.

On April 16, it all came together under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

Here is Act One (1 hour)

And Act Two (1 1/2 hours)

If you have a broadband connection, select the 'HQ' and 'full-screen' options.

You owe it to yourself to watch at least the first five minutes of Act Two.

KnoxViews

Farragut approves of Convenience Voting

Apparently, most Farragut voters don't share #9's opinion of convenience voting.

In cooperation with Greg Mackay, Knox County administrator of elections, researchers from UT's Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Department of Political Science surveyed 670 of the 2,311 voters who cast ballots at the Farragut Town Hall between March 18 and April 7.

....

Overall, 99.7 percent rated their voting experience as “good” or “excellent” with 94.3 percent rating their experience as “excellent.”

....

The methodology for the survey followed a random selection protocol in which election workers distributed questionnaires to a random sample of Farragut voters. The results enable the researchers to say with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

And I'll go ahead and beat #9 to his response: Greg Mackay and the Baker Center were involved, so the results are suspect.

KnoxViews

A Question Regarding Contradictions and Civil Rights

The same people who say we can't take away their assault rifles were the same people who supported surrendering our civil rights to protect us from "terrists."

How do you reconcile that? If the guns are there to protect your freedom, and you voluntarily sign over your freedoms,... er, what purpose do the guns serve anymore?

Something to cling to and feel better?

If you're a brave American and willing to not just attend a teabagging ceremony, but to *actually* fight and sacrifice for this country, wouldn't you rather live with the risk (like the Israelis have done for 50 years), than destroy America's moral standing just to FEEL safer?

I'd like one of the pro-torture / pro-Bushies explain this contradiction.

KnoxViews

Mullet

The best float I saw in last night's Dogwood Arts parade was done by Laurel High School, a Sunsphere with a mullet. Like the painting of Grateful Dead Bears and the Sunsphere on a van, this would make a great pic. If anyone has some they should post.

KnoxViews

Citizen Action Mini-Manual, Part 1: Health Care

If you are not getting useful information out of the talking heads on the television and would like to learn more about (or possibly help) the Congressional progress on health care, energy or education, start here

KnoxViews

Commission, JJ, and vehicles

We are getting reports that County Commissioner Mark Harmon and Sheriff JJ Jones are going at it re. county vehicles. Mayor Ragsdale has apparently entered the fray. Stay tuned.

KnoxViews

Friday Bird Blogging

Tufted titmouse leaps into flight

KnoxViews

Knox County budget, 2010

I'm surprised nothing's been posted yet. Anyway, KNS story here:

Ragsdale proposes using $20M in savings to balance budget

and Snark here:
Ragsdale Unveils 'All Old Taxes' Budget

KnoxViews

Redistricting in Knox County

Knox County is currently undergoing redistricting because of the provisions of the passage of Charter Amendment 3 (unless the pending court action makes it moot). Even if Charter Amendment 3 is struck down, Knox County will undergo the exercise again after the 2010 census is released.

It is bound to be controversial because some people are going to be moved around in order to make the numbers work. All the districts have to be equal and they have to touch each other. There is also the added component of minority representation to take into account.

The task force appointed to plan the redistricting has not released any recommendations yet. However, looking at the map brings the realization that it is unlikely that the 5th District, which currently has 3 commissioners, won't avoid being broken up, and there is no avoiding the fact that some other folks (perhaps many folks) will be changing districts.

Discuss away. This is a continuation of a thread on convenience voting that moved into a redistricting discussion.

KnoxViews

Tri-State business group endorses Delaware River Channel Deepening Project
Group Cites Project’s Job Creation and Economic Development Power The PENJERDEL Council, a leading business advocacy group for the tri-state region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, recently came out strongly in support of the Delaware River Channel Deepening Project, citing the project’s impact on job creation and overall economic development for the region. The Council’s “Resolution in Support of the Delaware River Main Channel Deepening Project” was unanimously adopted by the PENJERDEL Council Board of Directors at its March 12, 2009 meeting. PENJERDEL made the initial regional announcement on the resolution, and PRPA is now following up with its own announcement to the port industry and other constituents in the business community.

DB Schenker moves to green mega hub in Melbourne; Green Star terminal for wide range of services; Modern multi-purpose facility
DB Schenker is building a green mega hub in Melbourne. According to plan, Schenker Australia Pty Ltd will expand its forwarding and logistics operations with a new facility located directly at Melbourne's international airport in July. The hub comprises of 11,000 square meters warehouse area for a wide range of logistics services and 2,500 square meters office space for 230 employees. The new building will bring teams together that currently work in four different locations.

APM Terminals earns top honors in 2008 PMA Safety Awards; Three West Coast facilities recognized in annual Pacific Maritime Association Safety Awards.
APM Terminals Americas recently earned several awards for its achievements in workplace safety from the Pacific Maritime Association. APM Terminals Pier 400 (Los Angeles), APM Terminals Oakland and APM Terminals Tacoma were each recognized in their respective PMA regions during the association’s 60th Annual Safety Awards.

Costs of producing documents under a subpoena
Until recently, the law has been silent on who should bear the cost of photocopying and collating documents that a person is obliged by law to produce under a subpoena.

WWPC Germany and Canada combine forces
LS Cargo Logistics GmbH, Ratingen/ Germany and Albacor Shipping, Inc., Canada, both members of the World Wide Project Consortium (WWPC), arranged the road transport of nine convection banks each about 12 meters long, 7.40 meters wide and up to five meters high, weighing each up to 120,000 kgs, from Houston, TX to Alberta, Canada.

Port of Long Beach Commission votes to postpone cargo fee
Acting to keep the Port of Long Beach competitive in the current economic downturn, the Board of Harbor Commissioners voted to postpone collection of an Infrastructure Cargo Fee, approved incentives to boost intermodal cargo, modified the Clean Truck Fee to encourage privately financed replacement trucks, and appointed a new managing director for trade relations.

Connor joins Port of New Orleans staff as Manager of Northeast Sales
Bill Connor, a shipping industry veteran with 30 years of experience, recently joined the Port of New Orleans staff as Manager of Northeast Sales. In addition to handling customer service requests for shippers based in the Northeast Region, the Northeast office helps the Port maintain relations with shipping lines that call New Orleans and have US operations offices in the New York area.

how to speed up leopard boot up time
after many months of use any normal computer would tend to bog down and become very sluggish. not macs right? wrong! well my leopard install is now sitting on a 500gb hd and i tell you it is slooooow!! so in search of solutions on speeding up my macbook (and also the annoying 2 minute boot [...]

after many months of use any normal computer would tend to bog down and become very sluggish. not macs right? wrong! well my leopard install is now sitting on a 500gb hd and i tell you it is slooooow!!

so in search of solutions on speeding up my macbook (and also the annoying 2 minute boot up time), i found this link: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5859407&tstart=0

in a nutshell:

1. in home directory/library/cache… put this folder in trash and then reboot and then empty the trash

2. reset the pram, begin to restart and when the screen goes black just before is restart, press apple/option/p/r all together, wait for the machine to bong twice and let go.

this helped the startup time and the generally speed of the system. in my case it cut down boot up time by about 30 seconds. not too bad.

but i also want to speed up the overall performance of my mac. so i did two additional steps:

1. in system preferences, go to accounts and find the login items tab. delete anything you don’t need.

2. defrag your harddisk. yes macs don’t need to be defragged yadi yadi yada but in reality files bigger than 20mb aren’t automatically “managed” so they can fragment and bog up your system. i use idefrag for this but you can find whatever works for you.

3. clean up your desktop. the more icons you have the heavier your system will be. also on the desktop hit command+j and turn off show icon preview.

that’s it. hopefully by the time you finish all these your mac can fly again.

if you got more tips post them in the comments!

why i don’t go to church
these people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” Matt. 15:8-9 not that i’m better than anybody, but they all seem to think they’re better than me. my church is under [...]

these people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” Matt. 15:8-9

not that i’m better than anybody, but they all seem to think they’re better than me.

my church is under a rock homeh.. cuz if God said He’s there, He’s there all right!

Free ultrasonic cleaner with Tuttnauer EZ autoclave
Now through June 30, buy any Tuttnauer “EZ” autoclave and receive a free 1-gallon Clean and Simple Ultrasonic Cleaning System, plus a box of 64 Clean and Simple enzyme tablets.

Now through June 30, buy any Tuttnauer “EZ” autoclave and receive a free 1-gallon Clean and Simple Ultrasonic Cleaning System, plus a box of 64 Clean and Simple enzyme tablets.

Welcome to the Business ideas blog!
window.document.getElementById('post-1').parentNode.className += ' adhesive_post';So you finally decided to get involved in your own business. First off congratulations! Second the question which will always come up will be what type of business are you planning on getting involved in? This is a little more complicated and the business ideas you start with will often times dictate your [...]

So you finally decided to get involved in your own business. First off congratulations!

Second the question which will always come up will be what type of business are you planning on getting involved in? This is a little more complicated and the business ideas you start with will often times dictate your success so this becomes a critical decision.

Don’t leave the success of your business to your brainstorming efforts! Checkout http://www.ideacenter.com/ and get a free trail of the Ultimate Innovation Software which will change the way you think about starting your business today!

brainstorming, business ideas, marketing strategy

Discount + free shipping on UMF power tables
Now through June 30, you’ll receive an additional 5% off UMF power tables, plus free dock to dock shipping.

Now through June 30, you’ll receive an additional 5% off UMF power tables, plus free dock to dock shipping.

Rebates on Welch Allyn ECGs
Now through June 30, buy a Welch Allyn CP 100 ECG and get a $100 rebate. Buy a CP 200 model and get a $150 rebate, or upgrade the CP 200 to include the optional spirometry feature and get a $200 rebate.

Now through June 30, buy a Welch Allyn CP 100 ECG and get a $100 rebate. Buy a CP 200 model and get a $150 rebate, or upgrade the CP 200 to include the optional spirometry feature and get a $200 rebate.

Swine Flu Scares Many
According to Liz Szabo of USA Today, the Swine Flu is a “common respiratory disease in pigs that doesn’t usually spread to people. When pigs catch this flu, many get quite sick, and 1% to 4% die. In the past, people have sometimes caught swine flu if they worked directly with pigs.” Over the past week, [...]

According to Liz Szabo of USA Today, the Swine Flu is a “common respiratory disease in pigs that doesn’t usually spread to people. When pigs catch this flu, many get quite sick, and 1% to 4% die. In the past, people have sometimes caught swine flu if they worked directly with pigs.”

Over the past week, the confirmed number of offical swine flu cases has risen to 40 in the United States, People all over the world are scrambling to contain the virus, which has killed 149 people in Mexico, where the virus has spread most rapidly.

So what can you do to prevent from getting the Swine Flu?

As always, you should frequently wash your hands.
Also, if you are in a crowded place, it would be safe to wear a mask. According to the Center for Disease Control, “N95 respirator masks filter out 95% of particles to prevent the wearer from breathing them in.”
As with any flu virus, it is also wise to avoid close contact with sick people. The flu is primarily spread through sneezes and coughs.
If you do get sick, be sure to stay home and sneeze or cough into your elbow and away from others.

You can not get the Swine Flu through pork. Swine Flu Symptoms are very similar to that of the normal flu, and include:

Cough
Congestion
Fever
Sore Throat
Lack of Appetite
Headaches
Nausea
Body aches and pains, particularly in joints
Weakness, fatigue and low levels of energy.

You should see a doctor right away if you experience any of these symptoms.

Creativity
With efforts to help homeowners and credit card holders in jeopardy, Democrats call on President Obama to put pressure on lenders. You’ve learned how to creativity , but you know you can be better. Now is the time to find out how you can improve. Visiting our website for extensive information on how to make [...]

With efforts to help homeowners and credit card holders in jeopardy, Democrats call on President Obama to put pressure on lenders.

Lockheed Martin accepted plans to phase out the jet after a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but some lawmakers may push for more planes to avoid job losses.

You’ve learned how to creativity , but you know you can be better. Now is the time to find out how you can improve. Visiting our website for extensive information on how to make marketing plan and strategic planning improve your creativity . You will also find countless new and innovative techniques and approaches.

When you first begin to creativity , it is necessary to do your homework and learn all of the creativity and how to write a business plan that is involved. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend time searching for this information, because we’ve already done all of that for you and compiled it in our website. Everything you need to know is right here.

USDA Elk Meat, Buffalo Meat, Bison Meat products
Low Priced USDA Elk Meat, Elk Steaks, Buffalo Meat. Buffalo Steaks and Bison Steaks, Bison Meat or Venison Steaks and jerky for sale at low ranch prices at the ELKUSA Online elk meat - buffalo meat retail Store.

Veteren Bollywood Legend Firoz Khan Dies of Cancer
Firoz Khan the legendary Bollywood actor, producer and Director passed away on Sunday night� in his Bangalore farmhouse . he was� 70 year old, The actor was suffering from cancer over a year ago. Firoz ...

Firoz Khan the legendary Bollywood actor, producer and Director passed away on Sunday night� in his Bangalore farmhouse . he was� 70 year old, The actor was suffering from cancer over a year ago.

Firoz Khan will be buried at the Johnson Market burial ground at 5.30 p.m. Monday, his younger brother Sanjay Khan said.

Feroz Khan who last acted in comedy� bollywood film "Welcome" in 2007� was born in Bangalore on Sept 25, 1939

The filmmaker was� leading a simple life in Bangalore, had been battling cancer for the past one year and was under treatment in a hospital in� bombay. Family sources said his death was not ‘unexpected’ and his health had been deteriorating .

Family sources said actor Hrithik Roshan, who is married to Sanjay Khan’s daughter Suzanne, and his filmmaker father Rakesh Roshan were expected to arrive here to pay their last respects to Firoz Khan.

Firoz khan had acted in famous films like "Arzoo", "Aurat" and "Safar" as acted well in his own directorial ventures "Qurbani" and "Dharmatma". He won a Filmfare award for best supporting role in "Aadmi Aur Insaan" in 1970 and was honored with the lifetime achievement award in 2000.

Tags: fardeen khan, feroz khan, feroz khan dead, feroz khan dies, firoz khan, firoz khan died, laila khan, sanjay khan

Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL T20 Live Streaming, IPL T20 Live Score, 15th Match
Watch Online Live IPL T20 The 15th match of the IPL 2009 is between Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Cape Town, April 26, 2009 Start time 16.45pm (14.45GMT) Rajasthan Royals are one point ahead ...

Watch Online Live IPL T20 The 15th match of the IPL 2009 is between Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Cape Town, April 26, 2009 Start time 16.45pm (14.45GMT)

Rajasthan Royals are one point ahead of Kings XI Punjab - by virtue of a rain hit washout against Mumbai Indians - but both teams scored their first victories in only their third games of the season.

Rajasthan have also been struggling to cope with the absence of their best performers from last season - Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir - and Graeme Smith’s form has been poor so far

Three free options to enjoy watching Cricket online.

� Stream # 1 - Click here to view�

� Stream # 2 - Click here to view

� Stream # 3 - Click here to view

�� Live Cricket Scores

Donations to Keep Live Streaming Coming

�

Team news

Both teams will most likely not make any� changes to the teams� that secured maiden victories in their previous games.

Punjab: 1 Ravi Bopara, 2 Karan Goel, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Irfan Pathan, 7 Wilkin Mota, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 VRV Singh, 10 Ranadeb Bose, 11 Yusuf Abdulla.

Rajasthan: 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Paul Valthaty, 3 Rob Quiney, 4 Yusuf Pathan, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 7 Abhishek Raut, 8 Shane Warne (capt), 9 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 10 Munaf Patel, 11 Kamran Khan.

Head-to-head record

Watson powered Rajasthan to a six-wicket victory against Punjab in Jaipur in the first clash between the teams in 2008.

WATCH KATRINA KAIF HOT WALLPAPERS GALLERY

WATCH JIAH KHAN WALLPAPER GALLERY

Tags: Bangalore Royal Challengers, cape town weather, Chennai SuperKings, cricinfo, cricket ipl, cricket ipl 2009, cricket ipl score, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, indian premier league, Indian Premier league 2009, ipl, ipl 2009, ipl 2009 live, ipl 2009 live match, ipl 2009 live scores, ipl 2009 opening ceremony, ipl 2009 schedule, ipl 2009 timetable, ipl 2009 watch online, ipl cheerleaders pics, ipl chennai super kings, ipl cricket score, ipl cricket score card, ipl fixture, ipl indian premier league, ipl live match, ipl live matches, ipl live online, ipl live score, ipl live score card, ipl live streaming, ipl match, ipl match schedule, ipl match schedule 2009, ipl mumbai indians, ipl opening ceremony, ipl opening ceremony 2009, ipl schedule, ipl score, ipl scorecard, ipl south africa, ipl t20, ipl t20 cricket, ipl teams, ipl website, ipl2, ipl20, ipl20twenty, iplt20, iplt20 2009, iplt20 live, iplt20 schedule, iplt20cricket, ipltwenty20, Kolkata Knight Riders, kolkata knight riders ipl, live channels, live cricket, live cricket match, live cricket score, live cricket video, live ipl cricket match, livecricketscore, mandira bedi hot, Mumbai Indians, mumbai indians vs chennai super kings, mumbai vs chennai, preeti zinta, Rajasthan Royals, scorecard, sony max online, t20 champions league, watch ipl match live

JNTU Kakinada,Career Point ,Ankur Gupta AIEEE
The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) was held across India on 26th April 2009.. At least 10 lakh students are said to have� appeared in AIEEE-2009 Exams. The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) ...

The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) was held across India on 26th April 2009.. At least 10 lakh students are said to have� appeared in AIEEE-2009 Exams.

The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) is an examination organized by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in India. This test is for admission to various under-graduate engineering and architecture courses in institutes accepting the AIEEE score, including 20 NITs.

In 2007, around 8,50,000 students wrote the AIEEExams and in 2008 around 9,50,000� This is one of the largest such admission exams in the world

�

Narayana AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Career Launcher AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Analysis + Solutions

Career Point� AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Paper with answers Answer Key

T.I.M.E AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Complete Solutions Answer Key Analysis

Prerna Classes AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Physics Maths Chemistry

Check out various Details by clicking the below links

Status of AIEEE Application

Verification of AIEEE 2009 information

Roll No. & Exam Centre Details of AIEEE 2009

Provisional Admit Card Information of AIEEE 2009

�

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IPL T20 Live Streaming Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils , IPL Cricket Score, 14th Match
Watch Online Live IPL T20 The 12th match of the IPL 2009 is between Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi DareDevils� at Port Elizabeth on Apr 26, 2009 (12:30 local, 10:30 GMT) 4-00 pm India Time. Delhi ...

Watch Online Live IPL T20 The 12th match of the IPL 2009 is between Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi DareDevils� at Port Elizabeth on Apr 26, 2009 (12:30 local, 10:30 GMT) 4-00 pm India Time.

Delhi haven’t played speedster Glenn McGrath in their playing� XI as yet, This match they may unleash the pigeon

Since their 1st ipl 2009 match victory against Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore have suffered three consecutive defeats and languish in the bottom half of the points table

��

�� Live Cricket Scores

Live Cricket Streaming

Points Table

Donations to Keep Live Streaming Coming

Delhi: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 Dirk Nannes/Farveez Maharoof/Glenn McGrath, 9 Aavishkar Salvi, 10 Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Bangalore: 1 Robin Uthappa (wk), 2 Jesse Ryder, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Kevin Pietersen (capt), 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Ross Taylor/Cameron White/Mark Boucher, 7 Virat Kohli, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 R Vinay Kumar, 10 Pankaj Singh, 11 Anil Kumble.

Head-to-head record

Delhi Daredevils won both their matches against Bangalore in� 2008 .

WATCH KATRINA KAIF HOT WALLPAPERS GALLERY

WATCH JIAH KHAN WALLPAPER GALLERY

AIEEE 2009 Solutions , AIEEE 2009 Answer Key, AIEEE 2009 Cut Off
The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) was held across India on 26th April 2009.. At least 10 lakh students are said to have� appeared in AIEEE-2009 Exams. The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) ...

The All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) was held across India on 26th April 2009.. At least 10 lakh students are said to have� appeared in AIEEE-2009 Exams.

In 2007, around 8,50,000 students wrote the AIEEExams and in 2008 around 9,50,000� This is one of the largest such admission exams in the world

Narayana AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Career Launcher AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Analysis + Solutions

Career Point� AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Paper with answers Answer Key

T.I.M.E AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Complete Solutions Answer Key Analysis

Prerna Classes AIEEE 2009 Solutions

Physics Maths Chemistry

Check out various Details by clicking the below links

Status of AIEEE Application

Verification of AIEEE 2009 information

Roll No. & Exam Centre Details of AIEEE 2009

Provisional Admit Card Information of AIEEE 2009

�

Career Launcher, Career Point
Career Launcher India Limited (CL) is an education service provider in Asia with presence in over 130 locations across India, Middle East and the United States. Career Launcher provides test-prep education to enable school ...

Career Launcher India Limited (CL)is an education service provider in Asia with presence in over 130 locations across India, Middle East and the United States.

Career Launcher provides test-prep education to enable school and college students gain admission to professional courses. It is also actively involved in the field of mainstream education, mainly through its growing network of play schools and secondary schools

MBA News and Events at www.careerlauncher.com

Exam Notifications: ICET MAT (May 2009) TANCET

Institute Notifications: IWSB Great Lakes SOIL JVWU more

B-School Listing New! Forms that are available at CL centres. CAT’08 Corner

Analyses: MCET 2009� MAT February 2009 MFC-09 Answer Key
MFC-09 Analysis FMS Analysis NMAT Analysis SNAP Analysis SNAP Answer Key
JMET-08 Answer Key JMET Analysis more

Final Selections: IIM-A IIM-B IIM-C (PGDM) IIM-C (PGDCM) IIM-K IIM-I IIM-L IIM-S
XLRI FMS IIFT more

Tags: aieee 2009 cut off, aieee 2009 solution, aieee 2009 solutions, aieee2009 key, brilliant tutorials, career point, career point kota, career point solutions, fiitjee, narayana, time4education

IPL T20 Live Streaming Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers , IPL Cricket Score, 15th Match
Watch Online Live IPL T20 The 15th match of the IPL 2009 is between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers; at Port Elizabeth April 27, 2009 Start time 12.30pm (10.30GMT) 4-00 pm India Time. Three wins ...

Watch Online Live IPL T20 The 15th match of the IPL 2009 is between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers; at Port Elizabeth April 27, 2009 Start time 12.30pm (10.30GMT) 4-00 pm India Time.

Three wins out of three have made Deccan Chargers, the table toppers, the surprise package of the tournament

Since their 1st ipl 2009 match victory against Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore have suffered three consecutive defeats and languish in the bottom half of the points table

�� Live Cricket Scores

Live Cricket Streaming

Points Table

Donations to Keep Live Streaming Coming

Team news

Chennai: (probable) 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Albie Morkel, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 S Badrinath, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 L Balaji, 10 Manpreet Gony, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Deccan: (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt/wk), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Dwayne Smith, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Venugopal Rao, 7 Ravi Teja, 8 Harmeet Singh, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 RP Singh, 11 Fidel Edwards.

Head-to-head record

Adam Gilchrist’s half-century powered Deccan to a comprehensive seven-wicket win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium last year but Chennai had their revenge at Hyderabad winning by the same margin. Chennai’s victory was significant because it had earned them a semi-final spot.

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Breaking World Financial News and Special Report, “Update.”: Captain Democracy says, “The weather patterns witnessed these passed seven days (7) in California maybe the precursor of an active Earthquake Season, by the summer of 2009 and 2010 A.D..”: “We should be prepared for YHWH (Natures Gods Wrath).: ” I have forewarned civilizations globally in the recent passed about the human condition that creates environmental pollution,” says Captain Democracy: “Saltwater transformed to hydrogen fuel (Solar Electrolysis) would be in balance and in harmony with Natures God (YHWH),” says Captain Democracy.: “The financial markets globally will be on a Rollercoaster Ride 2009 and 2010 A.D.,” says Captain Democracy.: {Reporting:North Beach, San Francisco World Financial News and Special Report, “Update.”:} Robert E. McCullough B.A., Arch.

So you finally decided to get involved in your own business. First off congratulations!

brainstorming, business ideas, marketing strategy

Is iPhoneTV Coming to Your Living Room?
For the past few days, the technology blogosphere has been buzzing about the upcoming Hulu iPhone app. About the same time, there is a widespread rumor proclaiming full HD output and iTunes streaming from next generation iPhone and iPod touch. It is not difficult to put two and two together, and see the enormous market disruption potential in an iPhone centric living room entertainment solution.If indeed the new iPhone and iPod touch can support full HD and iTunes streaming, many...

For the past few days, the technology blogosphere has been buzzing about the upcoming Hulu iPhone app. About the same time, there is a widespread rumor proclaiming full HD output and iTunes streaming from next generation iPhone and iPod touch. It is not difficult to put two and two together, and see the enormous market disruption potential in an iPhone centric living room entertainment solution.

If indeed the new iPhone and iPod touch can support full HD and iTunes streaming, many users may be tempted to purchase Apple's video output cable to watch content on their HDTV. Some may also want to watch Hulu, TV.com, Joost, and other video serving apps this way as well. For Apple, iPhone and iPod touch would suddenly transform into a killer media center with a formidable install base. For the consumers, the relatively open platform would ensure that they have access to diverse content from various sources. For content providers, this model affords them a direct channel to media consumers, bypassing carriers, cable operators, and other traditional channels (even iTunes Store).

The last point can be a big boost to organizations, big and small, who don't have direct tie to those media titans. For instance, Big Ten Network could release an app that relays their NCAA games live or on-demand, without involving in protracted negotiations with cable companies. Another example would be performance arts institutions, such as Lincoln Center and Village Vanguard, creating their own apps to broadcast live or recorded performances, rehearsals, and interviews--a new and conceivably substantial revenue stream.

Assuming iPhone/iPod touch is taking over the living room, what would be the raison d'être for AppleTV? The product seems to be a halfhearted effort from Apple, shackled not by technical but copyright and other business considerations. No wonder Gizmodo gleeful declared AppleTV "obsolute" after the iPhone HD rumor surfaced. Let's not write its obituary just yet.

I believe most users would not want to permanently connect their phone to a TV or a dock. If Apple can support video streaming from iPhone/iPod touch to AppleTV, the latter will effectively become a wireless video breakout box for the former. Imagine browsing Hulu videos using iPhone on your comfortable couch, selecting one with a touch of your finger, and then enjoying the video on your big screen TV. Consumers and content providers alike should be thrilled to see a solution like this. Netflix and other video-on-demand services would certainly be interested as well. But would Apple allow it?

Hopefully the Cupertino company will see that by opening up AppleTV platform they may sell more iPhones and many more AppleTVs. This would translate to more iTunes Store users too. Now, if someone can convince them to also release an API for AppleTV...

Fang-Yu Lin

Social Integration Into Purchasing Process
Editor's Note: Be sure to check out Anthony Viviano's post "The Neuro Science Behind What Makes Us Want" for more information on the principle of social validation. I need validation! Do these make my butt look big? Do you like this color? As we all know, many purchases, from cars and homes to clothing and paint color, are collaborative shopping experiences. So If Facebook can comfortably integrated chat in page, why not on an ecommerce page too? More digital...

Editor's Note: Be sure to check out Anthony Viviano's post "The Neuro Science Behind What Makes Us Want" for more information on the principle of social validation.

I need validation! Do these make my butt look big? Do you like this color?

As we all know, many purchases, from cars and homes to clothing and paint color, are collaborative shopping experiences. So If Facebook can comfortably integrated chat in page, why not on an ecommerce page too?

More digital experiences are offering users the ability to elicit someone's opinion at the point of purchase decision. Vans just launched a site that enables users to build custom shoes and invite friends to design with you via AIM and Email and it's catching on. This offers obvious value to both the consumer and brand.

As an avid ecommerce consumer I rely on the wisdom and reviews of crowds in many of my online purchases, but I can think of many times In the past in which I would have liked to have quickly reached out to someone I actually know for advice and opinions before hitting the purchase button. But what do you think? What types of experiences would you or your friends and family find this type of integration useful for?

Sound off! Check out the Vans link and Ad Age article.

Brian Hull

Public Relations
Why should you have to worry about public relations when you can get all the resources you need at our website? We can offer you a complete package of information and tools to help you avoid public relations . We have a wealth of information that would otherwise take weeks to research. [...]

Why should you have to worry about public relations when you can get all the resources you need at our website? We can offer you a complete package of information and tools to help you avoid public relations . We have a wealth of information that would otherwise take weeks to research. We’ve done the hard part. Now all you have to do is click here and arm yourself with how to write a business plan and presentation software.

The World Wide Web can be a busy and crowded place when you are looking for good information on public relations . We have created a great shortcut. Just click here and instantly find a world of accurate and thorough information about public relations , including script writing, marketing tools, and many other topics.

After a deepening slide in advertising revenue, the newspaper publisher and TV station owner said it plans to freeze its pension plan as of the end of May.

Safety scares prompted California?s so-called leafy greens industry to pay for inspections that the F.D.A. rarely does.

5 Lessons From Regular Architects That Everyone Should Embrace
Dan Klyn, a speaker at the IUE2009 conference, is an information architect by trade, and has sought out to create a book via collaboration around the lessons that IAs and XAs have yet to steal from "regular-old architects". regular-old-architects seem to do a better job than information architects in the schematics-and-models phase of a project. their trade is an ancient one, and i suspect they've learned some things about the creation and use of abstract representations of design intent...

Dan Klyn, a speaker at the IUE2009 conference, is an information architect by trade, and has sought out to create a book via collaboration around the lessons that IAs and XAs have yet to steal from "regular-old architects".

regular-old-architects seem to do a better job than information architects in the schematics-and-models phase of a project. their trade is an ancient one, and i suspect they've learned some things about the creation and use of abstract representations of design intent to secure client buy-in and sign-off.

His goal is to help those in the design and marketing profession avoid those dreaded client words: Now that I see it! It's this type of miscommunication and misunderstandings that leads to last minute changes and bad decisions, because the client didn't really understand until it was too late.

What can we learn from architects:
1. Start with the joints (points of stress)
2. Progressive disclosure: a logical, smooth storyline
3. Detail generates character
4. Embrace collaborative authorship
5. Get physical, get emotional

Sure, these are good lessons for information architects, experience architects, user experience designers, etc. But I would argue that there is a wider moral to be learned from each one of these points. We should all be testing out friction points in projects and presentations, spending our energy wisely on the pieces that create character, give our clients a reason to care... These five lessons from real architects teach us how to tell better stories and thus how to create better work.

1. Start with the joints (points of stress)
Often we focus so hard on the puzzle pieces, that we forget to see if they really fit together. The night before a client presentation, the team members come together to realize that one of them has a square peg and the other has a round hole.

This applies to design... when one team mate is working on the shopping cart functionality of an ecommerce site, while the other is working on promotion or search. The lines where they overlap is what leads a user from place to place, but it's often a forgotten experience, and thus you create some weak joints and your website breaks.

But it also applies to strategy and research. We have researched how new moms socialize online, and we know what new moms look for in a new vehicle, but have we thought about where and how moms look for information about vehicles online? A + B does not always equal C. The joints are what get us the really good insights. The transitions are what tell the real story.

2. Progressive disclosure: a logical, smooth storyline
The next concept comes from the website, Boxes and Arrows, and it is around progressive disclosure. This is the idea that each view of a building like the Taj Mahal tells you something interesting and tells you exactly what you need to know without overwhelming you with detail. It's a logical flow as you approach it from the silhouette to the detailed intricate tiles.

Progressive disclosure is an enticing striptease of information. It's building a story arc. If you put a persona up on a screen with everything you need to know about a person... if you put the home page design up first... all the sudden it becomes too much information with no story. It's easy to derail a meeting with nitpicks about the details. And the information that is relevant is lost in the noise. Tell us what we need to know, when we need to know it.

3. Detail generates character
But before I make detail sound evil, it's too the contrary, Dan made it clear that detail is what generates character, it is what makes components seem real. It's more about focusing on what details are important to the overall story. It's not about building out one module across 50 wireframes that all look the same. It's about filling in the details where it matters, and leaving the rest fuzzy... up to imagination.

"Too much detail can not be given to produce a distinct Character in every building, not only in great features, but in minor details..." John Soane

To me, this means knowing not to make your whole presentation, your whole pitch to a client eye-poppingly gorgeous and perfect. It will never be. It's knowing which ideas can be expressed through a single sentence on the screen or a personal story you tell... and which ideas need to be taken all the way into a functioning prototype for someone to understand the real character of the campaign or a web experience.

4. Embrace collaborative authorship
We all like things better if we've been involved in creating them. So for that reason alone, collaborative authorship is a smart strategy. When everything is new, there is a lot to pick over, change, and dissect. When you've been involved with the journey, you understand how things evolved and that there actually is a strategy behind them (yeah!).

The other reason to embrace collaborative authorship is that "threeminds" is better than one, especially when one of those minds is the actual client. Differing viewpoints is the special sauce that makes for exceptional experiences.

5. Get physical, get emotional
We are human, we have five senses. We like things to touch and feel and play with. Never underestimate the power of a paper prototype or real persona artifact that you can pick up and examine.

There is so much lost by getting trapped in the world of the screen, resigning to PDF wireframes or powerpoint pitches. We lose the pleasure of the tactile experience. It becomes flat, it becomes unnatural, and very easy to misunderstand how it will really work.

Marta Strickland

Business Consulting
Ever wondered how to business consulting . We offer practical advice on inspiration software and inspiration software to help you find reliable leads on business consulting , fast and cheap. Before you begin, you should no the facts, and where else is better to get the information you need than from a website [...]

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The idea of business consulting is becoming more attractive and viable for many people today, and it may be a good option for you, too. Find business consulting resources, a great collection of insightful articles, and helpful suggestions. You might try executive coaching, or even decide that marketing consulting is best for you.

You’ve learned how to business consulting , but you know you can be better. Now is the time to find out how you can improve. Visiting our website for extensive information on how to make marketing ideas and critical thinking improve your business consulting . You will also find countless new and innovative techniques and approaches.

Nell Minow lists the best movies she has seen about leadership and management and explains why she likes them.

President Obama is hinting at an audacious ambition as he waits for that inevitable if distant day that the recession will end.

Will You Ever Eat at Domino's Again?
A few days ago two Domino's employees took it upon themselves to document a pretty distasteful (literally) joke -- or so they're calling it now. If you haven't seen the video that many sites grabbed before YouTube pulled it down, you might want to pass.One employee plays the old prank of putting something that doesn't belong into an order he's making while the other employee captures it on video. To make it worse, they act like this isn't the first...

A few days ago two Domino's employees took it upon themselves to document a pretty distasteful (literally) joke -- or so they're calling it now. If you haven't seen the video that many sites grabbed before YouTube pulled it down, you might want to pass.

One employee plays the old prank of putting something that doesn't belong into an order he's making while the other employee captures it on video. To make it worse, they act like this isn't the first time they've done this. Just check out their other videos. Not good for Domino's or the fast food world in general.

But the crowdsourced sleuthing came to the rescue. The Consumerist stepped in, helped locate the store and the employees, then alerted the manager and Domino's headquarters. Dominos responded quickly by firing the employees. That's what we'd expect, but that doesn't help skeptics like me who wonder if there are copycats out there messing with orders right now. (And I'm sure there are.)

So could Domino's have avoided this mess to begin with? What should they do now to make sure it doesn't happen again? A few Organic employees weighed in:

"Honestly, any attempt like that just looks like duct tape. The real source of the problem is disengaged employees. It reminds me of that great training game where you managed a Kinkos full of unsatisfied and unhappy employees.

The real solution here is training and programs that incentivise and motivate employees. If that happened at a Starbucks, the problem would have been rectified before it ever got that bad."
-Chad Stoller, Executive Director, Emerging Platforms

"...Disengaged employees, or just bad hires? It's naïve to think this kind of crap doesn't go on everywhere. I worked in a restaurant during college, and well, it's a wonder we don't all get sick more often. The best way to deal with this proactively is to hire folks with the right attitude, first and foremost. Although it's interesting, that girl who made the video was perky and happy as hell and probably interviewed well, same as the booger guy. But they were both missing a chip or two, clearly. Certainly, good training programs and involved management make a huge difference, but in certain industries, maybe what a company like that needs to do is institute some kind of prescreening psych test."
-Tracy Coté, Executive Director, Human Resources

No matter what, Domino's will definitely take a hit. I'm sure there are many people who side with these comments:

"Wow. This really gives me pause. Guess I will be eating at home tonight and far into the future."
-Jeff Bossardet, Associate Creative Director

"I just threw up in my mouth a little. You hear things like this and I think a lot of times, you brush them off. No more, I say!"
-Tara Williams, Copywriter

Do you think Domino's did all that they could? What should/could they do now to increase customer trust? And the big question, will you ever eat at Domino's again?

Thanks to Chad Stoller and Jay Bain for the links.

Sarah Jo Sautter

absinthe jewelry at etsy
cuffs anyone? earrings perhaps? if drinking the green fairy isn’t enough, now you can wear it too. check out this cool absinthe-themed set of cufflinks, earrings, brooches, necklaces and rings available on ETSY.

cuffs anyone? earrings perhaps? if drinking the green fairy isn’t enough, now you can wear it too. check out this cool absinthe-themed set of cufflinks, earrings, brooches, necklaces and rings available on ETSY.

bee keeper marteani - COMIDA honors earth day
this week, COMIDA will unveil the BEEKEEPER MARTEANI in honor of earth day. made with organic honey syrup, and chamomile tea-infused organic vodka, this is a leoan libation. yes, the sunny chamomile flower belongs to leo, the sign that loves to be loved. leo should indeed be honored with such a prestigious launch date [...]

this week, COMIDA will unveil the BEEKEEPER MARTEANI in honor of earth day. made with organic honey syrup, and chamomile tea-infused organic vodka, this is a leoan libation. yes, the sunny chamomile flower belongs to leo, the sign that loves to be loved. leo should indeed be honored with such a prestigious launch date for she wants nothing more than to be recognized for her outstanding efforts… think madonna, think obama. i have quite a few leo friends and they are all excellent, kind, and conscientious workers. similar to the honey bee, they quietly toil. but unlike the honey bee, they won’t be content to drone on without some pats on the head or a bowl of creamy honey. so give the good little leos in your life some acknowledgment… those kind words will recharge them in the most literal sense. we love ya leo! and we love the honey bee too…

albert einstein said that without bees, mankind will have four years to live. this is because they cross pollinate our food supply and without them to do it for us, we will do it ourselves at a woefully sad pace. a.k.a. we’ll starve to death. he wasn’t a dummy, mr. einstein, so he might be onto something with his dire prediction. bee die off is a collassal problem at present, due to colony collapse disorder. we believe this illness is a form of mass bee suicide caused by A) pesticide and herbicide B) genetically modified organism crops C) cell phone signals bouncing of satellites; electro magnetic radiation D) over work (we don’t even let bees hibernate anymore but wake them up in the dead of winter and ship them out to california to pollinate almonds). you think you need a vacation? i would wanna kill myself too if i were a bee!

i hope i’ve established that colony collapse disorder is a real phenonmon, and one what we all need to concern ourselves with remedying. COMIDA is doing a little something to help… every time you order a BEE KEEPER MARTEANI at COMIDA (82nd st & columbus ave, nyc… near the children’s museum of new york and the american museum of natural history) they will donate $1 to PlanBeeCentral.com. wait, it gets better! COMIDA uses 100% organic honey to create this philanthropic cocktail and that stuff is not cheap. i do believe organic honey is one of the most expensive organic products you can possibly buy. think about it… the farmer must section off vast acreage of pesticide, herbicide and GMO-free crops. you can imagine how many flowers it takes to make just one drop of honey. but the lucky bees that get to make it… i am sure those are some of the happiest and thankful bees on the planet! i bet they get up every morning and can’t wait to get to work!

so happy earth day everyone, and please stop in at COMIDA to taste my (and leo’s) latest tipple, the BEE KEEPER MARTEANI.

BEE KEEPER MARTEANI:
(martini glass, up)

2 oz chamomile infused organic vodka
1 ½ oz chamomile organic honey tea syrup
½ oz lime
comb honey (carefully cut one square out and rest on side of glass for garnish)

***to infuse chamomile organic vodka, steep 10 tea bags in 750 ml bottle for one week.
***to make organic honey syrup, combine 1 cup organic honey with 3 cups hot water.

intoxicated zodiac hearts india
Anindita Mitra writes for the THE TELEGRAPH in calcutta, india. she’s a sagittarius… the sign of both mental and physical travel, and she virtually travelled across the globe to research her cocktail blogosphere piece. well written and interesting, the article mentions yours truly along with the other KAISER, ms thing the LIQUID MUSE, none other [...]

Anindita Mitra writes for the THE TELEGRAPH in calcutta, india. she’s a sagittarius… the sign of both mental and physical travel, and she virtually travelled across the globe to research her cocktail blogosphere piece. well written and interesting, the article mentions yours truly along with the other KAISER, ms thing the LIQUID MUSE, none other than JAMIE BOUDREAU, my ACHING HEAD, the one and only CAMPER ENGLISH, mixology monday founder PAUL CLARKE and COCKTAILIANS. cheers to us all, and thanks anindita! check the article out here…thanks for the pic alcademics…

Public Domain: Source of Online Income
Have you ever used the public domain to make money online? I’ve never tried it before but I know that many are earning lots from this source of income. For the uninitiated, public domain is when a product such as a book, music, photos, software and other media’s copyright expires. These products then can be [...]

LinkBee Lets You Make Money from Your Short (You Know)
I’m back! (sort of..) Regular posting of jobs for those who’d like to work from home will resume soon… In the meantime, here’s one new way to make money from links. *LinkBee is this new link-shortening service that lets you earn from those short links! How? Sign up for a LinkBee account and then create short [...]

Work from Home Job Openings: General Transcriptionist - Customer Support
General Transcriptionists Transcription Editors or Proof Readers ($0.10 to $0.15 per recorded minute of audio) Online Customer Support ($2 to $2.25 per hour) SEO Pro Work from Home Online English Teacher for New Sky Online English School Virtual Assistants, Journalists, Webmasters for Great North Star International

Home Based Jobs: Call Center Agent - Data Encoder
Experienced Virtual Assistant for The SYNERGY Events Part-Time Data Encoder SEO - Link Builder for New Horizon Business Services Homebased Outbound Call Center Agent

Work at Home Jobs Telemarketer - Transcriptionist - Virtual Assistant
Outbound CSR and Telemarketer for Great North Star International Website Categorizer Technician for eSoft, Inc. Home Based Medical Transcriptionist for CPM Inc. Virtual Assistant Freelance Transcribers ($20 per audio hour)

Home Based Jobs: Virtual Assistant - Social Bookmarking Job
Virtual Assistants Social Bookmarking Job Web Page Development and Promotion (Php10k-30k per month) Web Designer

Virtual Assistant Job Leads and Hints on Applying for Jobs Posted Here
If you’d like to know more about these job openings or any job posts you find here, click the links. Virtual Paralegal for Jones and Associates Virtual Data Input Assistant for Jones and Associates Virtual Assistant for a Cool Guy � Please DO NOT ask me to email you the details about any of these job openings. Follow the [...]

Co-Working: Home Office Sickness Solution?
Laura Spencer has re-focused the spotlight to co-working with her Is Co-Working the Next Stage of Telecommuting. Co-working is one working trend that allows telecommuters or home based workers to temporarily work with others ala old office setting. Co-working is known to solve one of the most popular setbacks of working from home - isolation. Due to [...]

Happy Administrative Assistant Day!
To both offline and online admin assistants, popularly known as virtual assistants (Yay! Me!) - Happy Administrative Assistant Day! However, I can’t celebrate it fully because I’m not being a good virtual assistant these past few days and even weeks - thanks to my really bad online tools, (Can I call them online tools, when Internet [...]

Little India, affordable and fine dining

Store Little India (Toorak) 308 Toorak Rd South Yarra, VIC 3141 Tel: (03) 9827 9455 Website: http://www.littleindia.com.au First of all, my apologies for not keeping this blog up to date. I have plenty of material to write, but just have not had time to scratch myself since the birth of the new year. That sounds so long ago. I will [...]

Oh my god, I got an Optus Bill for $49 for my mobile phone.

Ok, I wrote a post on October 6, 2008 about suspending my optus mobile phone plan as it was not on a contract. Guess what I received today? A bill for $49 for my optus mobile. LOL - this is just a joke. However, I shall never give up. I will call them up tomorrow [...]

“Scamming Optus” legally.

Ok, it’s not really a scam but an opportunity to get something you like from Optus. This is regarding the AlwaysWin promotion that they have been running for a while for prepaid mobiles. Recently they have been awarding bonus prizes. So you will get 2 texts which have unique codes. The first unique code is the [...]

Regulatory Impact Assessor - KTP Associate
Business School and Law Department - Durham University / Date of entry: 24/04/09

Jobs.ac.uk currently has 75 jobs in this category
Only the 20 most recent will be listed. Please see the Jobs.ac.uk web site for the latest job advertisements

Dean
Glamorgan Business School / University of Glamorgan / Date of entry: 22/04/09

Assistant Director/Head of Student Support
Student and Learning Services - Sheffield Hallam University / Date of entry: 22/04/09

Dean of the School of Health Studies
University of Bradford / Date of entry: 22/04/09

Regional Manager
Undergraduate Business and Management Programme / Open University Business School - Open University / Date of entry: 21/04/09

Academic Registrar
Registrars Department - Durham University / Date of entry: 21/04/09

Service Manager - Print and Copying Services
Estate Services - University of Leeds / Date of entry: 22/04/09

Head of International Operations
College of North West London / Date of entry: 24/04/09

Director
Department of Health Safety and Wellbeing / University of Glasgow / Date of entry: 23/04/09

Protecting SA’s consumers
Once enacted, the Consumer Protection Act will apply to the promotion, offer and supply of most good and services to consumers.

Merger thresholds ‘may be problematic’
Increases to the thresholds for notifying the Competition Commission of mergers may be problematic, competition analysts say.

Road Accident Fund Amendments: Constitutional Challenge of the Act
Various applicants are seeking to set aside a number of the new regulations, on the basis that they are either inconsistent with the Constitution or not authorised by the Act, the Road Accident Fund, 1996 (“the RAF Act”).

Piracy hits home
The international crime of piracy is now affecting local business.

Retirement reform process stalls
As few South Africans can afford to retire, a reform process is required.

Travel different
Ever watched the reality TV show The Amazing Race and said "I could do that"? Now there's a way to find out, without having to fight for a place in the actual show.Competitours is an adventure vacation service that, copying from the idea of the TV show, sends teams of travelers on an eight, ten or 14-day tour of Western and Central Europe, trying to accomplish and videotape challenges supplied by the company. The video clips are uploaded at...

Ever watched the reality TV show The Amazing Race and said "I could do that"? Now there's a way to find out, without having to fight for a place in the actual show.

Competitours is an adventure vacation service that, copying from the idea of the TV show, sends teams of travelers on an eight, ten or 14-day tour of Western and Central Europe, trying to accomplish and videotape challenges supplied by the company. The video clips are uploaded at the end of each day and judged by Competitours staff in Cleveland. After the competition is finished, the videos become publicly viewable online.

Unlike the TV show, which is a lot about speed and strength, featuring some rather extreme stunts, Competitours lets the travelers choose about five of 10 different challenges each day, and claims to be a slowed down version of The Amazing Race. According to the company's founder, Steve Belkin, every trip will be different. The travelers are first sent to one European city without knowing the complete itinerary, and then, after the day's challenges, they learn where they are headed the next day. The cost of joining the race ranges from $1995 to $2950, but the prizes include free flights, hotel nights, and cash up to $6500.

It would be neat to see this concept make more use of digital media. The videos are one thing, but what about mobile, Twitter and other feeds? Some racers seem to have already started their own blogs. Maybe next the company can tweak the concept of the challenges a little bit and turn it more into a spectator sport that others can follow online as it happens.

Karri Ojanen

Will Customers Listen If Restaurants Yelp?
We told you about how one restaurant used customer feedback on Yelp to better their product and service. Well, now Yelp is making it official. They're allowing restaurants to respond directly to customer comments. Previously, Yelp had limited small businesses' voice on the site to paid advertisements. But in the past year, Yelp has been taking steps to foster their relationships with these local businesses starting with allowing them to update their own business profile and contact reviewers privately. This is great news for smaller local restaurants like Zumba just outside of Detroit, whom I first wrote about emailing customers to encourage them to write Yelp reviews. They then followed up by letting customers know that they indeed acted upon those requests. Yelp doesn't screen comments, but users can flag inappropriate ones. Until now, this has been cumbersome for businesses who simply want to publicly rectify their name. Other reviewer sites like TripAdvisor have been allowing businesses to post responses for some time, though Yelp still remains a favorite among locals. Yelp has been accused of bias towards some restaurants in certain communities. So is this Yelp's way of rectifying itself?

image credit: tanakawho

We told you about how one restaurant used customer feedback on Yelp to better their product and service. Well, now Yelp is making it official. They're allowing restaurants to respond directly to customer comments.

Previously, Yelp had limited small businesses' voice on the site to paid advertisements. But in the past year, Yelp has been taking steps to foster their relationships with these local businesses starting with allowing them to update their own business profile and contact reviewers privately.

This is great news for smaller local restaurants like Zumba just outside of Detroit, whom I first wrote about emailing customers to encourage them to write Yelp reviews. They then followed up by letting customers know that they indeed acted upon those requests.

Yelp doesn't screen comments, but users can flag inappropriate ones. Until now, this has been cumbersome for businesses who simply want to publicly rectify their name. Other reviewer sites like TripAdvisor have been allowing businesses to post responses for some time, though Yelp still remains a favorite among locals. Yelp has been accused of bias towards some restaurants in certain communities. So is this Yelp's way of rectifying itself?

Yelp has created a Business Owner's Guide to help restaurants like Zumba (and other businesses) that want to address their customer's comments.

As a marketer, this is could really help dispel myths and maintain branding. However from a consumer perspective, I'm a little skeptical. If I could be sure every restaurant would take action like Zumba, I'd trust the business responses I read. But honestly, I'm more likely to believe people who are more like me.

And according to research, I'm not the only one. Just look at these statistics:

- Online users value consumer reviews, 53%, over expert reviews, 40%, and traditional advertising, 11%. (JupiterResearch / Bazaar Voice Survey, Online Consumer Opinions/Use of User Generated Content, January 2008)

- Online social network users were three times more likely to trust their peers' opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. ("Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape," JupiterResearch, March 2007)

- "Person like themselves" still most trusted source for information about a company and, therefore, products. (Edelman Trust Barometer, November 2007)

So if all the evidence says consumers won't listen to businesses' posts, will Yelp's new policies really work?

Sarah Jo Sautter

Jan Taks moet splinter uit oog haal in die maer jaar
Maar ek kry nog daagliks te make met mense wat nog glad nie belasting betaal het nie.

Nuwe wet kan vir vervaardigingsbedryf groot kopseer veroorsaak
Groot ontwrigtings wag op all rolspelers in die vervaardigingsbedryf - van die produsent tot die eindverkoper - wat met die broek op die kniee gevang word wanneer die Wet op Verbruikersbeskerming eersdaags in werking tree.

Notable Thoughts…
New Zealand is notably weak this morning as EUR/NZD and AUD/NZD are at the top of the % gainers list intraday. NZD/JPY and NZD/USD are towards the bottom of the pack. On another note: A Swing Trade set up looks to be forming on the AUD/JPY pair. The pair has had a notable run upward [...]

New Zealand is notably weak this morning as EUR/NZD and AUD/NZD are at the top of the % gainers list intraday. NZD/JPY and NZD/USD are towards the bottom of the pack.

On another note: A Swing Trade set up looks to be forming on the AUD/JPY pair. The pair has had a notable run upward and a recent pull back. The stochastics are now looking to turn in the AUD/JPY’s favor. This would be a “long” (buy) trade on AUD/JPY that would likely last for days. The pair has the potential to reach 74 over the coming days to week or so.

Keep in mind that on a macro level…Australia has one of the highest interest rates and highest CPI (inflation) numbers of any industrialized nation. It’s also one of the only industrialized nation to have a positive GDP growth this year. So while most currencies have been hurt badly by the U.S. and global slowdown, AUD came through it the best economically.

Therefore, buy signals on an Aussie pair should be taken more seriously when you see them, even if you are an intraday trader or swing trader. Over time, you want to be “with” the fundamental “bent” of a country and not against it.

Sean Hyman

www.forextradingblog.com

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A Test Drive of the Demo Forex Trading Station
Get your Free, Real Time Forex Demo Trading Station here: http://www.fxedu.com/practice-forex-account Listen in as I show you how simple it is to place currency trades. Sean Hyman none

Get your Free, Real Time Forex Demo Trading Station here: http://www.fxedu.com/practice-forex-account

Listen in as I show you how simple it is to place currency trades.

Sean Hyman

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More Intraday Trading Thoughts
Remember, the short term trader needs “movement” in a pair, and they need it essentially NOW and not later, during a short term trade. Therefore, position yourself in the best “time slots” in forex trading for the greatest chance for these “momentum type” moves. That would be between the hours of 3am EST and 12 Noon [...]

Remember, the short term trader needs “movement” in a pair, and they need it essentially NOW and not later, during a short term trade.

Therefore, position yourself in the best “time slots” in forex trading for the greatest chance for these “momentum type” moves. That would be between the hours of 3am EST and 12 Noon EST roughly.

With that said, you would ideally want trades put into motion well before the 12 noon mark, so that there’s still enough potential hours of momentum left for the trade. This doesn’t mean that momentum CAN’T continue after these times or outside of these hours. That would be incorrect.

However, if you’re looking at the probabilities over time…you’re best trading short term in the European and early U.S. session.

Sean Hyman

Follow us at the following links:

http://www.mywealth.com

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The meaning of Nokia’s poor results
As a mobile phone user I’m sure I’m a bit of an oddball. I regularly carry two devices – an iPhone and a Nokia N95 – and have a small collection of handsets that I’ve used at one point or another over the years. I carry the iPhone because it’s hands down the best mobile [...]

Intraday update: AUD/JPY + 4.23% intraday!(280 pips)
AUD/JPY c9ntinues to charge higher. This morning when I alerted you to it, it was up 194 pips on the day. Now it’s up about 280 pips on the day! So that’s about another 90 pips per lot traded! It pays to watch where the intraday momentum is headed and who’s leading the pack, when you [...]

AUD/JPY c9ntinues to charge higher. This morning when I alerted you to it, it was up 194 pips on the day. Now it’s up about 280 pips on the day! So that’s about another 90 pips per lot traded!

It pays to watch where the intraday momentum is headed and who’s leading the pack, when you are an intraday trader.

The yen continues to weaken across the board. Upon looking to their daily charts, it appears that there could be more room to go in the upcoming days to weeks overall. So the bias should be to the upside and in looking for buy signals rather than shorting opportunities since that’s the way the overall momentum is positioned.

Also, watch USD/JPY to see if it can make it back up above its 200 SMA (simple moving average) on its daily chart. If so, this could be great for the intraday trader and swing trader. Be patient and wait to see. Click on the chart to enlarge it.

Sean Hyman

http://www.mywealth.com

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The Japanese yen takes it on the chin again!
Today, the top 4 percentage gainers on the day are NZD/JPY, AUD/JPY, GBP/JPY and CAD/JPY. The theme: Yen selling. NZD/JPY is up 2.87% on the day. Wow! The biggest loser on the day…the euro: EUR/NZD, EUR/AUD, EUR/GBP, EUR/TRY, EUR/CAD, etc. are some of the biggest momentum losers on the day. The dollar also continues to be sold off. So [...]

Today, the top 4 percentage gainers on the day are NZD/JPY, AUD/JPY, GBP/JPY and CAD/JPY. The theme: Yen selling.

NZD/JPY is up 2.87% on the day. Wow!

The biggest loser on the day…the euro: EUR/NZD, EUR/AUD, EUR/GBP, EUR/TRY, EUR/CAD, etc. are some of the biggest momentum losers on the day.

The dollar also continues to be sold off.

So intra-day traders….go where the momentum is.

Sean Hyman

Follow us at the following links:

http://www.mywealth.com

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AUD/JPY is down over 5% on the day!
AUD/JPY is down 5% today alone! Wow, what a correction….NZD/JPY down over 4%…AUD/USD down over 3.6% on the day now! So the downside momentum on the day is about double the percentage gainers on the day today. The strength of the yen today is amazing….when these yen crosses went up recently, they did so fearlessly. [...]

AUD/JPY is down 5% today alone! Wow, what a correction….NZD/JPY down over 4%…AUD/USD down over 3.6% on the day now! So the downside momentum on the day is about double the percentage gainers on the day today. The strength of the yen today is amazing….when these yen crosses went up recently, they did so fearlessly. However, the corrections have been rather swift. So the use of stops are very, very important here.

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Intraday momentum
Today the New Zealand dollar is weak…pushing AUD/NZD up over 2% intraday…and EUR/NZD is up 1%. Also, the exotic currencies are weak vs. the dollar today too…so the intraday theme so far is to be “risk adverse” being that these exotics are climbing (at least for today). NZD/USD and NZD/JPY are down the most today [...]

Today the New Zealand dollar is weak…pushing AUD/NZD up over 2% intraday…and EUR/NZD is up 1%. Also, the exotic currencies are weak vs. the dollar today too…so the intraday theme so far is to be “risk adverse” being that these exotics are climbing (at least for today). NZD/USD and NZD/JPY are down the most today so far…both down well over 2%. So NZD weakness is the theme so far too.

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Old Computers on Earth Day
Happy Earth Day everyone! Today’s topic is what the heck do you do with all of that old PC equipment you’ve got laying around the house and aren’t using anymore? I’ve got old hard drives, 4-5 old CRT’s, a couple of towers and a boat load of cords, chargers and other devices just sitting around [...]

Happy Earth Day everyone! Today’s topic is what the heck do you do with all of that old PC equipment you’ve got laying around the house and aren’t using anymore? I’ve got old hard drives, 4-5 old CRT’s, a couple of towers and a boat load of cords, chargers and other devices just sitting around and taking up space. I know I don’t want to just toss it out, but what do you do with it?

EPA website header graphic

A quick search and poll of twitter gave me some ideas on what could be done. First I found the eCycling website setup by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It’s got information about what to do with your e-waste and the different options that are available for you to take advantage.

This site offers:

Basic Information about reducing and recycling electronics
Where You Live provides information about regional and State eCycling programs
Where Can I Donate or Recycle My Old Computer and Other Electronics? lists organizations and retailers with donation and recycling programs
Statistics on the Management of Used and End-of-Life Electronics
Regulations/Standards for handling electronic equipment
Frequent Questions and answers about electronic waste
Resources publications and links that offer additional information on the management of electronics

A friend on twitter also let me know that you can take some old equipment to Best Buy and they will help you recycle it. Some items require you to pay a small fee, but Best Buy will give you a gift card for the equivalent fee for you to spend at a later time.

Pretty cool. So, what are you getting rid of today or this weekend? What ideas do you have for using old equipment for something useful?

Taiwan Memory Company
Taiwan Memory Company (TMC) is Taiwan’s response to the economic setback affecting memory chip companies in Taiwan. It plans to consolidate operations on all its memory makers to industrialize and help each other out to survive the current crisis. Talks were going fine until Micron Technology, Nanya Technology, and Inotera memories backed out of the deal [...]

Taiwan Memory Company (TMC) is Taiwan’s response to the economic setback affecting memory chip companies in Taiwan. It plans to consolidate operations on all its memory makers to industrialize and help each other out to survive the current crisis.

Talks were going fine until Micron Technology, Nanya Technology, and Inotera memories backed out of the deal because of Intellectual Property issues. Micron says they are far more advanced than other participating companies like Elpidia. In an overall viewpoint, these smaller companies might benefit from leaked patents and the bigger companies wouldn’t get much from joining TMC.

Micron, Nanya and Inotera assured TMC that they would strengthen their partnership to ensure growth in their industry and stopped the skidding status of DRMs.

Zombie Macs and Unicorns
We all know that Apple and Macs are the uber-secure computing environment of choice for anyone that’s interested in computing securely? PC’s on the other hand are like pre-schoolers in a daycare full of sick kids. They’re going to catch whatever virus and bug floating around the room before you can even realize you’re all [...]

We all know that Apple and Macs are the uber-secure computing environment of choice for anyone that’s interested in computing securely? PC’s on the other hand are like pre-schoolers in a daycare full of sick kids. They’re going to catch whatever virus and bug floating around the room before you can even realize you’re all out of graham crackers and Kool-aid. I mean finding a non-perfect Mac is like seeing a unicorn in your backyard isn’t it? That is the case right?

Edited screen shot of PC vs. Mac commercial

Perhaps not so much anymore. Viruses may have a notch on their Apple belt now that researchers with Symantec have discovered what could be the first Mac and OSX based zombie machines executing denial-of-service attacks on a network.

They describe this as the “first real attempt to create a Mac botnet” and notes that the zombie Macs are already being used for nefarious purposes.

The researchers pointed to this blog entry that describes a a PHP script, running as root, launching attacks against an unknown Web site.

I’m not a Mac hater, I just hate the blind zeal that most Mac supporters have for their systems and machines and the thought that they’re absolutely impervious to any malicious activity or problems with crashing. I do enjoy seeing news about a chink in Mac’s armor, shiny and white as it is.

Temporarily Change Cellphone Ringers
I’ve discovered yet another feature that doesn’t exist (that I’m aware of) on my cellphone or anyone elses. Normally when I’m onsite with a client I’ll turn my cellphone ringer to completely silent. I don’t want it on vibrate either, that’s just annoying. I usually have the phone sitting right in front of me and [...]

I’ve discovered yet another feature that doesn’t exist (that I’m aware of) on my cellphone or anyone elses. Normally when I’m onsite with a client I’ll turn my cellphone ringer to completely silent. I don’t want it on vibrate either, that’s just annoying. I usually have the phone sitting right in front of me and notice it when the screen lights up, I then pick-up the phone and answer it.

Sprint website: PPC-6700 cellphone

What I’d like to be able to do is to have a secondary ringer that I can specify in certain situations. I know I can set specific ringers for different people in my address book. The problem is I want to change ALL the ringers for a specific amount of time.

Does your cellphone allow you to do this? Does someone that uses the PPC-6700 like I have know a way to accomplish this request? Let me know.

Landing page personalizat
Am inceput la sfarsitul lui 2008 dezvoltarea unui sistem care sa permita personalizarea integrala a landing page-urilor, sistem legate de orice campanie de email marketing. Luna trecuta a intrat in teste, iar saptamana trecuta primul client s-a bucurat de folosirea lui. Nu este un moft mai ales ca permite afisarea de landing page-uri customizate, bazate pe [...]

Text or Morse - Who’s Faster?
I came across a post from a friend of mine where he was talking about the speed at which some teens are able to construct text messages typing with just their thumbs. He was even more impressed because she was texting this fast on an iPhone. I’ve played around a bit with my friend’s iPhone [...]

I came across a post from a friend of mine where he was talking about the speed at which some teens are able to construct text messages typing with just their thumbs. He was even more impressed because she was texting this fast on an iPhone. I’ve played around a bit with my friend’s iPhone and I can tell you, I can’t type nearly as quickly on the iPhone as I can on my good ‘ol PPC-6700 from Sprint.

Image Source: www.sxc.hu

In the post he shares a link to a clip from The Tonight Show where a morse coder and a texter went head-to-head to see who was the faster communicator.

I was also reminded this morning of another problem I have issues with that have come from both texting and instant messaging. The significant reduction in spelling accuracy and abbreviations. On the one hand, I can see the argument from people that state this is just a natural evolution of language and how it’s used in our society. I still think there’s something to be said for accurate and clear writing and communication.

2GB Video Cards
I said, 2GB video cards! Did I just say 2GB?!? The world’s most powerful single GPU video cards has arrived courtesy of Sparkle. Sparkle boasts of GeForce GTX 285, which is currently the only single-GPU graphics card powered by 2GB GDDR3 memory. GTX 285 runs at a frequency of 648MHz which delivers 30% faster performance than [...]

I said, 2GB video cards! Did I just say 2GB?!? The world’s most powerful single GPU video cards has arrived courtesy of Sparkle. Sparkle boasts of GeForce GTX 285, which is currently the only single-GPU graphics card powered by 2GB GDDR3 memory.

GTX 285 runs at a frequency of 648MHz which delivers 30% faster performance than competing with the leading single GPU graphic card in the market.

The company is expected to announce pricing soon.

Submerge Your CPU in Oil
Whoever said MACs were cool? I know who, the uninformed ones. Introducing Hardcore Computer’s Reactor. A computer only seen in movies that puts the CPU, GPUs, SSDs, a proprietary motherboard, and a power supply in non-conductive oil. The Reactor is made of fabricated heavy-duty aluminum that add to its nuclear looking 2030 movie atmosphere. This state of [...]

Whoever said MACs were cool? I know who, the uninformed ones. Introducing Hardcore Computer’s Reactor. A computer only seen in movies that puts the CPU, GPUs, SSDs, a proprietary motherboard, and a power supply in non-conductive oil.

The Reactor is made of fabricated heavy-duty aluminum that add to its nuclear looking 2030 movie atmosphere.

This state of the art case is the first box in the world that is EAX5-capable X-Fi chip and can also claim to be the first box to use three Samsung 256GB SSD drives for a solid 768GB of storage. The graphics is powered by three Nvidia’s GTX 280 cards sitting on an nForce 790i SLI board with Intel 3.2GHz Core 2 Extreme Edition at 4GHz.

The folks who created this machine are hard at work as there are problems when pushing the processing past it’s limit. Hopefully, in reactor 2.0, everything is smoothened out.

Goodbye Conroe & Wolfdale
Intel has officially announced the end of the road for Conroe 65 nm & Wolfdale 45 nm, both are Xeon based processors in preparation for their Nehalem based chips. The Xeon based processors in the chopping block are as follows: Xeon 3085, 3075, 3065, X3350, and X3320. The final shipment for both Conroe and Wolfdale is on [...]

Intel has officially announced the end of the road for Conroe 65 nm & Wolfdale 45 nm, both are Xeon based processors in preparation for their Nehalem based chips.

The Xeon based processors in the chopping block are as follows: Xeon 3085, 3075, 3065, X3350, and X3320.

The final shipment for both Conroe and Wolfdale is on January 2010, while final orders would be accepted until October 9, 2009.

Image from Google images.

Long Term Breakout Trades up 500-1,000 pips within weeks!
Update on the long term breakout trades Back on March 19th, I tipped you off to the USD/ZAR breakout out to the downside. Today it sits about 1,000 pips below the breakout point. This trade still may have much more to go. You should have done very well on that trade. Here’s the link to the original [...]

Update on the long term breakout trades

Back on March 19^th, I tipped you off to the USD/ZAR breakout out to the downside. Today it sits about 1,000 pips below the breakout point. This trade still may have much more to go.

You should have done very well on that trade. Here’s the link to the original story below.

http://www.forextradingblog.com/what-is-going-on-in-the-market/exotic-currency-breakout-usdzar-south-african-rand/

The next long term breakouts were on these yen crosses: EUR/JPY, NZD/JPY. Both of these are up about 500-600 pips since the article on March 11^th. See the original article here.

http://www.forextradingblog.com/what-is-going-on-in-the-market/two-long-term-potential-breakouts-about-to-happen/

Sean Hyman

Follow us at the following links:

http://www.mywealth.com

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Snap shot of how currencies have responded to the recession in 2008/2009.
You know you can’t crush currencies as an asset class like you can stocks or commodities, etc. But there are some that took a beating in the global recession and some that got a second wind at the same time. For the past year, you can see from the chart below that the Japanese yen reigned [...]

You know you can’t crush currencies as an asset class like you can stocks or commodities, etc. But there are some that took a beating in the global recession and some that got a second wind at the same time. For the past year, you can see from the chart below that the Japanese yen reigned supreme with a whopping 42.9% unleveraged gain! The Swiss franc and also the U.S. dollar made tremendous headway too…all of them making over 13% on the year (unlevered).

On the other hand, the high yielders like the Kiwi dollar (NZD), Aussie (AUD) and British pound (GBP) got killed…all down 11 – 16+% on an unleveraged basis. As risk aversion set in, money fled the things that had worked for many years, back to back…and instead ran to the beaten down “low yielding” currencies. So how are things looking for 2009? Is that same “theme” continuing on as the recession lingers on, or are things changing? Well let’s take a look at the snapshot below to see how things are shaping up in 2009 so far.

This year, the Aussie dollar has been on a tear …up 7.69% so far (in just over 3 months)! It has been the notable leader, even almost doubling the return of the Kiwi dollar at 4.03% so far this year. Who are the big losers? The yen wins the “losers race” by falling 8.9% and the Swiss franc follows it by falling 5.54%What in the world has changed? Why the sudden changes within the past few months that are “turning the tide”? There has been an overall return to “risk seeking” vs. the former “risk aversion” in the markets. Why? Aren’t things still bad out there in the global economy? Sure they are. But the worst is finally behind us. I believe we’ve hit the trough of the recession. We’re still in one, but we’re on the “back side” of it rather than still coming into the worst part of it. Other big institutional players are thinking the same thing. This is why they are betting on a recovery and positioning themselves for it by the turn around in their positions.

The Fear Gauges are dropping Like a Rock!

You see, all of the “fear gauges” have calmed significantly (VIX, TED spreads, LIBOR rate, etc.). The stock markets of the world have stabilized for now. Most importantly, there has been a pick up in commodities. Last year, they literally fell off a cliff. This year, not only have they stopped the bleeding from the downtrend but some have even started new uptrends. This is causing some of the main “commodity currencies” to lead the way like AUD and NZD. Since the “fear” that propelled the yen, dollar and Swiss franc higher is dissipating, there’s no need to stay there anymore. This is why these are becoming some of the bigger losers lately.

The Leaders of the Pack!

This really gives pairs like AUD/USD, AUD/CHF, NZD/USD and AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY great prospects for this year as commodities revive as trillions of dollars are printed and they chase after a finite amount of goods. Canada is a “commodity currency” too but it has lagged the commodity currency pack because it is so directly impacted by the U.S. slow down more so than Australia or New Zealand.

So it won’t pick up as much steam until the U.S. economy gets to rolling a bit better. Once it does, it will play a bit of “catch up” with the other commodity currencies. So commodity currencies will be the “first leaders” of the recovery. The European currencies will fall into 2nd place as they take a back seat to the raging commodity currencies but still hold more appeal than U.S. dollar that’s getting “out-printed” more than any currency in the world…or the “lowly” low yielding currencies (JPY and CHF).

Therefore JPY, CHF and USD will bring up the rear, as they will be the “most shunned” in the recovery. The U.S. will lose its luster because when times are good, foreign currencies prosper more than it because they appreciate and earn more interest. The yen and Swiss franc earn next to nothing as far as interest and have a history of pretty much staying that way ( in relation to many other currencies of the world). Therefore, if good times will be ahead and the worst is behind, there’s no incentive to buy more of these two currencies.

Now I realize that some currencies like the British pound are also “low yielding” right now, but it has a history of being a “high yielder”. So once good times return and stay that way for a while, the U.K. will start raising rates once again. Also, the pound has gotten so beaten down so quickly, that it may have “overshot” what it really should be valued at. So if good times are ahead, and I believe they are… you will eventually see the pound recover. However, the ones to focus on for now are the commodity currencies. They are your strongest leaders so far in 2009.

The Smart Money buys before the Recovery is Obvious!

Keep in mind that institutions don’t wait to buy until the data starts to show that the economies are recovering. They preemptively “buy ahead” a few months or so while the discounted pricing is still there. The “fear” has overly discounted these currencies and so if you buy in those times, you come out smelling like a rose later on. Many investors won’t buy these currencies until they see “proof” that the economy is turning. The problem with that is that most of the data lags anywhere from a month to a quarter. So you’re seeing it all in hind sight. However, if you watch commodities like copper, the CRB index, gold, silver, lumber, oil, etc. you will see the “pick up” in the economy much sooner than if you just wait for the government reports to come out (which are soooo delayed). So the trick is to wait long enough to where the worst is over but not so long to where the recession is for sure obviously over either. If you buy in that time, you come out ahead. If you buy later on, you will certainly do okay, but not get well above average returns like these big institutional players will do. Click on the charts to enlarge them.

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Investors Prop Up Oil:
Despite a steady drumbeat of poor financial news, investors continued to prop up oil prices Thursday, betting the global economy would turn around this year.Benchmark crude for May delivery rose 82 cents to $50.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent prices gained $1.21 at $53.00 a barrel on the ICE [...]

Despite a steady drumbeat of poor financial news, investors continued to prop up oil prices Thursday, betting the global economy would turn around this year.Benchmark crude for May delivery rose 82 cents to $50.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent prices gained $1.21 at $53.00 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.”The only thing keeping oil from going on a death march is optimism from financial companies, banks, hedge funds,” said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. “Sure, this is a shaky period. But if you invest in crude oil futures, when the economy finally makes its move, you’ll be the beneficiary,” Kloza said. “That’s what they’re thinking.” It may anger some to know that oil prices, and therefore the cost of gasoline, heating oil and millions of petroleum-based products, could be lower if not for investors who have no intention of using the crude stocks they buy. But Kloza said investor money also helps drive new oil production and drilling operations.

Analyst and trader Stephen Schork said the United States Oil Fund, which at times controls enough oil contracts to supply the world with crude for a day, has pumped a lot of money into crude. Aggressive buying by this and other so-called exchange-traded funds have effectively pushed prices higher, he said, and that forces everyone to re-evaluate how they’re trading.

“You could sell in this market, like I try to do,” Schork said. “Or you buy into it like everyone else, just put the blinders on and you say, ‘You know what, crude was $150 a barrel last year. It’s only going to go higher.’”

Oil prices have hovered around $50 this month even though a variety of reports show the world is losing its appetite for petroleum. In the U.S., storage facilities for crude oil have been swelling since the end of February. They haven’t held this much oil in almost 19 years.

Stores of natural gas also are rising. The Energy Information Administration said Thursday that U.S. natural gas inventories rose by 21 billion cubic feet for the week ended April 10. The 1.695 trillion cubic feet in storage was 23 percent above the five-year average.

Demand for oil is so low that the total amount of petroleum products supplied to the market last week plunged to levels not seen since right after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Schork said.

Elsewhere, earnings reports and government data gave a mixed look at the health of the U.S. economy. Upbeat earnings reports from banks like JPMorgan Chase suggested some businesses might be stabilizing.

But the government said Thursday that housing construction in March dropped to the second lowest level on record. The Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by 10.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 510,000 units.

And while new jobless claims fell more than expected, the Labor Department said the number of Americans continuing to receive unemployment insurance benefits rose above 6 million for the first time.

Still, investors seem to have looked past the dismal news.

“Demand hasn’t come back yet, but the market is expecting it to turn around in the second half and grow next year,” said Clarence Chu, a trader with market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.

Despite the effect of speculators, a barrel of oil costs less than half of what it fetched a year ago. And manufacturers continue to buy futures contracts with the expectation that they’re not going to fall any further, said Paul Smith, chief risk officer for the Mobius Risk Group.

The Houston-based energy management consulting firm works with paper manufacturers, chemical companies and other groups that have large petroleum needs.

“I wouldn’t bank on another collapse, I think we’ve seen it,” Smith said. “We’re saying be prepared for stability this year and price spikes in 2010 and 2011.”

At the pump, gas prices ticked up less than a penny to a national average of $2.052 a gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are 14.2 cents a gallon higher than last month but $1.347 a gallon cheaper than a year ago.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for May delivery rose by 2.42 cents to $1.4710 a gallon and heating oil gained 2.56 cents to $1.4266 a gallon. Natural gas for May delivery slipped 9.4 cents to $3.599 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Climate Change Goal:
Cambridge Econometrics predicted carbon dioxide emissions will fall by around three per cent a year in 2009 and 2010 as a result of less economic activity and more use of gas instead of coal to produce electricity. However the continued reliance on coal and gas-fired power stations will mean emissions fall more slowly over the [...]

Cambridge Econometrics predicted carbon dioxide emissions will fall by around three per cent a year in 2009 and 2010 as a result of less economic activity and more use of gas instead of coal to produce electricity. However the continued reliance on coal and gas-fired power stations will mean emissions fall more slowly over the long term. In addition the twice-yearly UK Energy and the Environment report found the Government will not meet its targets to increase electricity from renewables. The “ambitious” EU goal for the UK to produce 15 per cent of all energy from sources such as wind power and biomass by 2020 is set to be missed by a “wide margin”, the analysts said. A separate report from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), based on 500 international studies, said Britain lagged behind other countries in the use of cleaner modes of travel. It added that there was short-term potential in improvements to bus, cycling and walking infrastructure, car sharing or school travel plans. But the report stressed that the biggest long-term impact would come through altering travel patterns so that fewer trips relied on the car.

The reports come as the Chancellor Alistair Darling lays out the first three five-year “carbon budgets” for reducing emissions and the target for cuts by 2020 alongside the Budget on Wednesday. The targets are expected to follow the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change but fall well below the 42 per cent target recommended by environmentalists. Friends of the Earth wants at least £30 billion to be invested each year to deliver a low carbon recovery. The group is calling for a green investment bank and Treasury- backed green bonds as well as investment in green energy schemes and preventing energy waste.

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GSK Buys Stiefel in $3.6 Billion Deal
Stiefel manufactures anti-itching creams, acne treatments and other skin care products.

GE Profit Down 35%
But earnings in its largest business, infrastructure, rose 2.7% to $18.67 billion

Chrysler Resumes Talks With Canadian Union
Ottawa and Washington demand labor concessions as part of a reorganization of Chrysler, in order for it to qualify for a bailout and to return to profitability.

Sony Ericsson to Cut 2,000 Jobs After Losses
Company is selling more low-end phones where prices are lower and the competition is tougher

Midsized Manufacturers Product Pipeline Primed
While preparing for a tough year, manufacturers will be introducing plenty of new products.

Desert Camping in Dubai
Photo from Time Out Dubai. Quick - what do you think of when you hear about Dubai? Ridiculously large sky scrapers? Luxury shopping and resorts? Oil? Better add camping to the list because according to Time Out Dubai there are some amazing opportunities for desert camping just outside the city. Desert camping outside Dubai sounds pretty awesome [...] Related posts:

dubai-camping

Photo from Time Out Dubai.

Quick - what do you think of when you hear about Dubai? Ridiculously large sky scrapers? Luxury shopping and resorts? Oil? Better add camping to the list because according to Time Out Dubai there are some amazing opportunities for desert camping just outside the city.

Desert camping outside Dubai sounds pretty awesome to me: spots where there is no light or noise pollution and no tire tracks (probably because they were erased by the wind the night before). There is plenty to see as well: sand monitor lizards, sand cats, and desert gazelle (if you’re lucky). Driving and hiking are some of the more popular pastimes for desert campers.

However, this warning from the article makes me think desert camping in the UAE may not be for everyone:

You should never journey into the desert without another vehicle – or another two if you’re going into Liwa. You must also be a competent desert driver and equipped with GPS. Be sure to check all fluid levels, tyres and the weather forecast before setting out.

It’s not really clear why you need multiple vehicles - breakdowns? hijackers? Clearly the tip on checking fluid levels and weather conditions is a good one for any type of desert camping or hiking excursion.

Finally, I want to share a camping tip this article reminded me of about staking a tent in the sand. While I was in the Air Force we often set up large canvas tents (called GP Mediums) in the sandy soil in Colorado and Florida and my NCOs taught me this trick: instead of pushing tent stakes straight into the sand, angle the stakes AWAY from the tent at a 45 degree angle. Of course this seems counterintuitive but it turns out the friction (or suction as some claimed) is what keeps your stakes secure from lateral movements caused by wind. A vertical tent stake will quickly be rocked back and forth until the hole is enlarged and releases your tent stake.

Now you’re ready to pitch your tent in the desert outside Dubai!

ATV riders damage hiking and biking trails
A popular hiking and mountain biking trail in Oregon was damaged by ATV riders last month and the Forest Service is asking the public to help find the culprits. Four-wheel ATVs were ridden on the singletrack trail near Sisters causing severe damage and leaving muddy ruts about a mile into the woods. ATVs are allowed [...] Related posts:

A popular hiking and mountain biking trail in Oregon was damaged by ATV riders last month and the Forest Service is asking the public to help find the culprits. Four-wheel ATVs were ridden on the singletrack trail near Sisters causing severe damage and leaving muddy ruts about a mile into the woods. ATVs are allowed to ride on roads in National Forest areas but are prohibited from driving off road - the fine for doing so is up to $5,000 and six months in jail.

Often hikers and mountain bikers disagree about trail use but both groups can surely agree that ATVs do not belong on narrow hiking trails. If you see off-road vehicles damaging a hiking trail this summer be sure to report the culprits to the Forest Service - save the trails for everyone!

Mee Shivajirao Bhosale Boltoy Movie Review
Me Shivaji Rao Bhosale Boltoy (It’s me, Shivaji Rao Bhosale speaking) is a blockbuster! Released early this month, this Marathi film, directed by Mahesh Manjrekar of Astitva fame, is running to packed houses. I liked it. It’s entertaining. It has a message. Rather, many messages. And it’s not a hate movie, far from it. It’s a movie [...]

Me Shivaji Rao Bhosale Boltoy (It’s me, Shivaji Rao Bhosale speaking) is a blockbuster! Released early this month, this Marathi film, directed by Mahesh Manjrekar of Astitva fame, is running to packed houses.

I liked it. It’s entertaining. It has a message. Rather, many messages. And it’s not a hate movie, far from it. It’s a movie that handles the subject of “outsiders” in Maharashtra in the most sensitive way possible and entertains you in the bargain.

The story is about an ordinary, laid back middle class middle aged Maharashtrian man by the name of Dinkar Bhosale (Sachin Khedekar). Everywhere he goes he finds that “outsiders” are prospering. Whether it’s the man from the south who is running a successful restaurant the man from the north who is a builder, they have all the money and all the status and the power. Maharashtrians are nowhere. And as for Bhosle, he is just a clerk in a bank. His son Rahul (Abhijeet Kelkar) cannot get admission in engineering college because he lacks the lakhs for the capitation fee, and his daughter Shashikala (Priya Bapat) cannot get a film role because she is not “north Indian” enough. Bhosle’s daily life consists of receiving taunts and insults not just at work (his character reminded me of Jim Carrey’s from The Mask) and from waiters and vegetable vendors but also from his own wife Sumitra (Suchira Bandekar). This is driving him over the edge and has started to make him hate his Maharashtrian “Ghati” identity. Dinkar Bhosle is angry, very angry, and blames the “outsiders” who have settled in Maharashtra. They, Bhosle feels, are responsible for his own sorry state.

But enter Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, (Mahesh Manjrekar) the brave king who successfully fought off foreign invaders in his lifetime (1664 – 1680) and Bhosale’s life transforms! No one can see Shivaji, except Bhosale. The same kind technique that one saw in Munnabhai Lage Raho, where Mahatma Gandhi comes to the aid of Munna. However Me Shivaji Rao Bhosale is a serious movie, not a comedy like MLR, although it does have its funny moments. Shivaji can be taken to represent Bhosale’s conscience, his inner strength, his pride in himself. Shivaji wakes Dinkar Bhosle out of his lethargy and tells him to take responsibility for his life.

Shivaji reminds Bhosale of the great legacy of Maharashtra, of the great leaders past and tells him that if Maharashtrians are being sidelined then it is because they deserve it. The Marathi manoos has become lazy and defeatist. Instead of blaming others he needs to wake up, show some courage, take some risks, get off his ass. Quite different from the MNS ideology which wants to hand over jobs to Maharashtrians on a platter!

Shivaji tells Dinkar Bhosale that he needs to fix things himself just once, but throughout the movie Dinkar Bhosale does things himself to improve his lot (with Shivaji simply guiding him). The rest of the message is delivered through the action.

Also, this movie refers to anybody who has been born and brought up in Maharashtra and speaks Marathi as a Maharashtrian, whether he is from UP or Tamil Nadu, whether he is Muslim or Hindu.

Besides the outsider issue, the movie tackles the dangerous virus that has gripped Maharashtra - the corruption in government departments and in politics. Maharashtrians fill these office and it is the Maharashtrians who are shown to have become corrupt. Bhosle, with Shivaji guiding him, tries to waken their pride in themselves, their dignity and self-respect.

Yes, the movie is jingoistic, and moralises a little too much. And the messages are hammered in till you can take it no more! But well, I think this is one movie that is needed. The spectre of Shivaji works.

The movie is entertaining in typical Bollywood ishtyle, with larger than life heroes and villains, the stereotyping of women, the inevitable bloody fight scene tagged in at the end, song and dance, and some emotional verbiage. Overall though the movie is a feel-good movie, and not just for Maharashtrians. It doesn’t denigrate any community. If anything it makes fun of the typical middle class Marathi manoos, a man who is afraid to speak his language, ashamed of his surname, afraid to speak up, and afraid to take any risks to better himself. He is simply a stubborn man not willing to look beyond his nose and is therefore unable to compete and succeed.

This movie is a must-see not just for every Maharashtrian but also for anyone living in Maharashtra. It’s not a piece of cinematic art, but it’s good fun! A social film packed in commercial wrapping paper.

(Photo credits: msrb2.com)

Related Reading: Other Movie Reviews

Posted in Bollywood, Entertainment, India, Movies, Mumbai, Politics Tagged: maharashtra

Barack Obama’s personality characteristics through hand analysis
Barack Obama’s hand was one of the most difficult hands I have analysed. Using unclear photographs was just one reason. Axinia had sent me a clear photograph of Obama’s hand but unfortunately it was of his right hand and therefore I could not base my reading on it. In the type of palmistry I do [...]

Obama waving Barack Obama’s hand was one of the most difficult hands I have analysed. Using unclear photographs was just one reason. Axinia had sent me a clear photograph of Obama’s hand but unfortunately it was of his right hand and therefore I could not base my reading on it. In the type of palmistry I do the right hand tells us what the person is like only if he is right handed. As Obama is left handed, I needed to read his left hand. The other, less used hand, denotes genetic characteristics, many of which maybe latent and undeveloped.

To make it more complicated Obama uses a bit of his right hand too, so at any given point I was checking both hands during the reading. If there isn’t much of a difference between the hands then it’s easier, but in Obama’s case his right and left hands are a bit different. As there is no way of speaking to Obama to find out how much of his right hand he actually uses I have used my judgment in the final analysis. He does write with his left hand so I have depended on the left hand more than the right.

And like I have said in my two earlier palmistry posts, please don’t take this reading seriously if you don’t believe in palmistry. There is no way I can confirm whether my reading is right or wrong. Reading a hand without the lines is difficult as it can give only an overview, but the overview is more important as it is the framework of the personality. It is not possible to read lines unless one reads the shape of the hand and fingers first as the interpretation of the lines depends on the kind of hand. And even in the reading of the shape of the hand, no one sign has much signficance.

Here is my reading:

Barack Obama is a thinker, and only some sort of mental occupation would have been suitable to him. He is analytical and thoughtful, and has a curious inquiring mind. He has excellent reasoning powers. But although he is cerebral in many ways, making a good living is important to him. He pays attention to practical matters and money making, although the aim of his life is not to make money or become rich.

He is a sensitive man, but more sensitive when his pride his hurt, as in when someone implies that he cannot do something. He has a broad and liberal outlook on life and is generous and compassionate, a man who seeks freedom not just for himself but also for others.

He is energetic, bright and helpful. He is open, can be very frank and is a friendly guy.

He is careful about the future, and likes to plan for it.

He is independent in both thought and action but not overly so. He gets original ideas but often modifies existing ones in a creative ways.

He likes to pay minimum attention to physical needs like eating and drinking. He will never let his life be adversely affected by his physical needs.

He has leadership qualities and it is leadership with a purpose. He is determined but he has a weakness as he can be a little indecisive. His other weakness as a leader is that his will power is just about average and later on in my analysis I have explained this in more detail.

He is not exceptionally adroit or diplomatic but he can handle people as he is a shrewd man. But however shrewd he may be, there is something about him which makes him simple at heart. This may sound contradictory, but Barack Obama is a very complex man.

He is not stubborn.

It is likely that he is good at sports, better than average.

He is an agreeable person, easy to get along with, if a little cold.

He has good taste.

He is controlled, and of a calm disposition.

He has good powers of expression and good writing skills. And yes he is a magnetic speaker. I guess people will say I already knew it and so let me tell you where I saw this in his hand. His little finger, although low-set is long and moreover the first phalange of his little finger is long as compared to the other two phalanges. In an intellectual and thoughtful hand, as his is, this shows excellent powers of expression. But this is not all. His speaking ability transcends this, and there is something almost magical in his speech, something that makes it original and vigorous and dramatic. This ability of his is shown in the length of his ring finger, plus the length of the first phalange and it’s slightly spatulate tip. The tip is only very slightly spatulate and is not spatulate in his other less used hand, and this means that that this quality has been developed over the years. If this tip had been more spatulate I would have said that Obama would have made a great entertainer/actor. But well, he stops short of being that. But yes, he can act, no doubt about that.

So you might be wondering, is Obama hiding something behind that calm smiling exterior and those seductive words?
Well, yes and no. He is definitely a very smart man with a great personality, although I would not call him brilliant. From what I see of his hand, his Saturn finger, a finger which is the finger of wisdom and balance is short as compared to his other fingers. It is not so short as to make him lack focus or sense of purpose, but it is not long enough to give that strong driving force that a man needs to achieve his plans and ideas. He lacks sustainability in my opinion. The reason for this is a combination of his average will power, slight indecisiveness, lack of a formidable driving force in his personality, a certain coldness of temperament, and also a certain weakness to resist adversity which could become evident in a crises situations. He was born very strong, with a strong ability not to become discouraged, to carry on against all odds, but this trait seems to have weakened.

There is another thing. Although he may appear proud, it is usually just a show. I am talking of the kind of pride which prevents one from doing something wrong. People often avoid doing something wrong because they are afraid of being found out, and well Obama is in that category. He will never take any risk to hurt his public image but he could do something against his own conscience if he is sure that no one will find out. But what wrong thing could be tempted to do?
He is very honest, and as I said earlier, money does not attract him. He will never steal, not that American presidents do that! He is also not a sensual person, so he will not get embroiled in murky affairs. He will also not do anything that will hurt human beings, because there is no doubt that he is a good man who wants justice for all. And this is just my guess…it is possible that if he does do something that he thinks is wrong, he will do it because he thinks it will be for a good end.

He has the necessary sexual passion, but is not the loving husband that some women desire. At times he can be distant with loved ones but at the same time extremely devoted to them.

(Photo credits: cleveland.com)

Posted in India, Palmistry, Politics, Successful People, United States, World Tagged: Barack Obama

Why we blame victims
After the recent case of rape in Mumbai, where an American girl of Indian origin was sexually assaulted by a group of male friends with whom she was out partying, I wondered how many people would think that the girl was to blame for the rape. She went partying with guys and she drank and [...]

After the recent case of rape in Mumbai, where an American girl of Indian origin was sexually assaulted by a group of male friends with whom she was out partying, I wondered how many people would think that the girl was to blame for the rape. She went partying with guys and she drank and apparently spent the night with them in the same apartment. She has clearly said that she passed out and had no recollection of what happened but I wonder how many people believe her.

There is some complex psychology which explains, at least partly, why some perfectly decent people seem to be unsympathetic to rape victims. Studies conducted in western countries have revealed that in the case of rape a person’s reaction depends two aspects. One, the Situational aspect and the other the Personal.

The first one (Situational) means that those who feel that they or their loved ones will never be in similar situation as the victim tend to attribute more blame to the victim, and this means those who don’t party or go out with the opposite sex and those who don’t drink. But those who feel that they could perhaps someday be in the same situation as the victim, and this means that those who do date boys and perhaps have a drink or two, will tend to blame external and societal factors.

This works the other way too, when it comes to the perpetrator. Those who feel they can never be in the same situation as the perpetrator (in this case partying with an attractive girl and drinking along) are likely to attribute more blame to the perpetrator and feel sympathy for the victim. On the other hand, those who feel that they could perhaps be in the same situation as the perpetrator will tend to find excuses for the rapist…and any claim by the victim that she was tricked into drinking would be met with skepticism.

It is some sort of self-defence mechanism at work, the strong need to protect oneself from blame in case one is ever in such a situation.

The second aspect is the personal one. Those who share some broad characteristics like sex and age with the victim tend to attribute less blame to the victim and more to the perpetrator. And those who share some broad characteristics like sex and age with the perpetrator, tend to attribute less blame to the perpetrator and more to the victim. Another aspect comes into play here, and this could be very important. Those who have rape-tolerant attitudes (some women have these too) will tend to blame the victim more and the perpetrator less. An example of a rape tolerant person is someone who might feel that a woman who dresses scantily is asking to be raped.

The more the commonality with the perpetrator and the more heinous the crime, the stronger is the inclination to blame the the victim. This might seem odd, because after all a heinous crime should automatically make people sympathise with the victim whatever the circumstances. But no, it doesn’t always work that way. A heinous crime is what shocks people more, and makes their self defense mechanism go into overdrive.

I think this same underlying psychology would work in other kinds of cases too. For example when Ramalinga Raju, the man who brought Satyam to its knees was caught, I’m sure that many an industrialist, even if he was personally shocked at what Raju had done, felt some amount of sympathy for him, in his heart of hearts at least! In the Nithari murder case where little children were raped and eaten, there were those who felt sympathy for the owner of the house Moninder Singh Pandher (I read some blog posts by people who felt he was innocent!) but did not feel any for his servant/cook Surendra Koli despite sufficient evidence to prove that Pandher was protecting Koli and proof that he had bribed the police.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on Psychology or on Crime. I have gleaned these basic theories from an article I read (which has been linked to) on date rape and what I have done is extrapolate). I write as a layman.

(Photo is by me and copyrighted. It is for representational purposes only.)

Read all posts on Crime on this blog.

Posted in Crime, India, News, Research, Society Tagged: molestation, Psychology

Perhaps an important moment
We could spend time trying to figure out what goes on in the mind of a fellow who gives videos of himself as gifts to world personages, but that’s too much for us to psychoanalyze (presumably the video at least works this time around). More interesting is what the Community Organizer in Chief seems [...]

We could spend time trying to figure out what goes on in the mind of a fellow who gives videos of himself as gifts to world personages, but that’s too much for us to psychoanalyze (presumably the video at least works this time around). More interesting is what the Community Organizer in Chief seems to be planning for the heretics on his own side. Karl Rove:

Americans United is going after Democrats who are skeptical of Mr. Obama’s plans to double the national debt in five years and nearly triple it in 10. The White House is taking aim at lawmakers in 12 states, including Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. MoveOn.Org is running ads aimed at 10 moderate Senate and House Democrats. And robocalls are urging voters in key districts to pressure their congressman to get in line.

Maybe the pressure will work, and the President will be able to deftly execute a compelling move to the Left. But maybe not. Froma Harrop: “‘Robert Borosage, of the Campaign for America’s Future, responded that the groups assume “that if you hear from constituents, you’ll get with the program.’ This is a curious strategy: The semi-conservative parts of the country that elect Blue Dogs are not thickly settled with liberals. Forty-nine House Democrats come from districts that backed John McCain in 2008.”

The Obama administration, and the Left generally, seem to be hungry for a fundamental realignment in US politics. Perhaps they will get one, but — given the logical consequences of some of their policies — it is not a foregone conclusion that it will be the realignment they have in mind. We’ll all just have to wait and see.

April Toast
It might seem obvious that we know our dreams from our waking life. If someone asks you how you can be sure, really sure, that you do not every morning fall asleep from the reality of flying through clouds and speaking with animals and cascading through time, to the dream life of going to school and doing the dishes and always seeing the same people again and again, you don't really have to argue with them. Or so it might seem.

Lately my dreams have been several measures more banal than my real life. Some cases in point:

When I do laundry in real life, I put the stuff into the machine and walk away. In my laundry dreams I can believe for days until I see my laundry pile has remained unwashed, I put the stuff into the machine and then I just sit there, watching it tumble, tumble.
I went through a tax audit in a recent dream. The auditor went line by line through the actual financial statements of my company, and I had to bring up some transaction details on the computer and print them out. I could smell the printer ozone.
After going out dancing with my friend until three in the morning, we went back to her place and collapsed asleep. In my dream, she woke me up in the middle of the night, saying we needed to have a "conversation". The dream version of my friend said that if we were going to be friends, then I would have to do a better job of communicating what I was thinking and how I was feeling. But I just kept mumbling back, the words would not come out. She got more and more irritated.

Anyway, as I told my twitter earlier, for NaPoWriMo I am going to write thirty poems about my hatred of toast. It is a topic I care about a great deal, and here are the first two first drafts:

Breakfast Activism

You claim I bring this on myself
Look at the menu, you say,
If you hate toast so much, you are free not to eat it.

You remind me to exercise that mythic power
a customer is said to enjoy,
to let my wallet speak and order, perhaps, the granola

I don't want, because it is the only item served
without toast. Well, I think you're a smug asshole
and I hate being expected

to live out through breakfast activism.
Last time I asked a waiter to hold the toast
he brought it anyway: it was whole wheat

and sagged with butter into the inner edges
of its triangles.
What kind of freedom is that?

The Manufacture of Croutons

Cubes of styrofoam, doused in butter
made paradoxically dry
sprayed twice with wood glue
and rolled like dice
that always come up short
through powder,
a Ramen flavor pack stolen
from the lunch
some unsuspecting consumer is left with;
her plain, starchy regrets.

RIP Becky
She was one of my mom's friends; I saw her every time I went to North Carolina. She and her seeing eye dog came to Halifax, once. The customs dogs smelled the treats Rebecca had packed.

Rebecca and her dog were passengers in a car crash last night. The dog suffered spinal injuries and was put down. Rebecca suffered massive head injuries and was declared dead today.

She and my mom worked in the same office and went to the same church. She wrote a story for my mom's collection of soliloquies by anthropomorphic objects and creatures in the church.

I never know what to say. I don't think I know what a prayer is. Am I supposed to know how to say something that will pour this all out of me, let me fill with peace? Am I supposed to expect that some formula will do this for me? We are alive and then we are dead. This is all we have.

This is very sad and I feel terrible for my mom.

Coming soon to a neighborhood near you
The other day we saw Miss and Mrs outlawed in Europe. Now they’re using spy planes and thermal imaging to spy inside people’s homes. It’s supposed to save maybe £380 a year. Daily Mail: snooping on the public has reached new heights with local authorities putting spy planes in the air to snoop [...]

The other day we saw Miss and Mrs outlawed in Europe. Now they’re using spy planes and thermal imaging to spy inside people’s homes. It’s supposed to save maybe £380 a year. Daily Mail:

snooping on the public has reached new heights with local authorities putting spy planes in the air to snoop on homeowners who are wasting too much energy. Thermal imaging cameras are being used to create colour-coded maps which will enable council officers to identify offenders and pay them a visit to educate them about the harm to the environment and measures they can take…

More than half the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions come from the domestic sector, which includes property and transport. Almost 60 per cent of a household’s heat is lost through uninsulated walls, lofts and windows, costing the average home £380 a year.

(If they really want to solve the problem, why aren’t they spying on the cows in the UK’s barns?) What else will government be using such means to snoop about and then show up at your house to give you uninvited lectures for your own good?

On the more conservative side, the Labour Party is being chided for a “pathological inability to accept fiscal responsibility,” Obama administration spending is described as the “road to hell,” and Obama’s ratings are down 14%. But the side of ever more intrusive government still seems to be winning by quite a lot, does it not?

Debate raging on pub anti-violence measures...
Sydney people are watching the 'social media' campaign by pubs to overturn restrictions on the 48 'most violent' hotels in the inner city. It's been called a fightback against tough new drinking laws and is heavily backed by the local branch of the Australian Hotels Association. For once the media are not taking the message at face value but looking at who's organising and funding the campaign. There are even signs the government may hold firm and back their very young police force. Cool tools being used are a website DontPunishUs.com.au and a blog (where most comments seem to support the restrictions) plus a Facebook group. It's actually not a popular uprising by young people. More likely a small army of cool young (paid) PR kids who hit the bars on Friday night and ask, with a winning smile, if anyone would like their photo taken holding a funny protest sign. Go back 10 years and these were the same dudes who gave away 'sample' cigarettes after advertising was banned. How differently this is being handled by the new AHA leadership compared to previous supremo John Thorpe, who delivered them the goldmine they're fighting to preserve.

Sydney people are watching the 'social media' campaign by pubs to overturn restrictions on the 48 'most violent' hotels in the inner city.

It's been called a fightback against tough new drinking laws and is heavily backed by the local branch of the Australian Hotels Association. For once the media are not taking the message at face value but looking at who's organising and funding the campaign. There are even signs the government may hold firm and back their very young police force.

Cool tools being used are a website DontPunishUs.com.au and a blog (where most comments seem to support the restrictions) plus a Facebook group.

It's actually not a popular uprising by young people. More likely a small army of cool young (paid) PR kids who hit the bars on Friday night and ask, with a winning smile, if anyone would like their photo taken holding a funny protest sign. Go back 10 years and these were the same dudes who gave away 'sample' cigarettes after advertising was banned. How differently this is being handled by the new AHA leadership compared to previous supremo John Thorpe, who delivered them the goldmine they're fighting to preserve.

New ways to build a music audience...or customer base
Just enjoyed a great concert with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. A few words in the printed programme leapt off the page....not Mozart and Bartok, but 'blog', 'download' and web addresses. The orchestra promotes its cool/contemporary image, and their website is right up to date: a blog with recent reviews and comments, online feedback, biographies and photos of all the players and a Facebook page. You can download a pdf of the programme notes before the concert, watch video documentaries or buy a gift certificate - tons of content to build enthusiasm and interest. By comparison, the mainstream Sydney Symphony website is safe and restrained, with just the 'need to know' facts. Like the tight and inhibited websites of most restaurants, cafes and hotels... Just enjoyed a great concert with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. A few words in the printed programme leapt off the page....not Mozart and Bartok, but 'blog', 'download' and web addresses.

The orchestra promotes its cool/contemporary image, and their website is right up to date: a blog with recent reviews and comments, online feedback, biographies and photos of all the players and a Facebook page. You can download a pdf of the programme notes before the concert, watch video documentaries or buy a gift certificate - tons of content to build enthusiasm and interest.

By comparison, the mainstream Sydney Symphony website is safe and restrained, with just the 'need to know' facts. Like the tight and inhibited websites of most restaurants, cafes and hotels...

Mental Health Break
He's your new waiter or function sales guy...'stop having boring tuna, stop having a boring life!' Hat tip: Marketing Headhunter

He's your new waiter or function sales guy...'stop having boring tuna, stop having a boring life!'

Hat tip: Marketing Headhunter

Mental Health Break - Slug & Lettuce Bruschetta
The video title does need some work (their choice), but the crew at The Slug and Lettuce have assembled a nice collection of YouTube videos. But don't stop now gents - this sort of effort needs regular new contributions so it doesn't just look like a 'marketing exercise'...

The video title does need some work (their choice), but the crew at The Slug and Lettuce have assembled a nice collection of YouTube videos. But don't stop now gents - this sort of effort needs regular new contributions so it doesn't just look like a 'marketing exercise'...

How could we use 'beta testing' with menus?
Jeff Jarvis in his new book What Would Google Do? promotes the importance of releasing a product in an 'almost finished' or beta stage [see the short video below]. Google are masters of the process, with many of their popular products still technically 'under development'. They actively and enthusiastically seek comments and suggestions for how to make it just right, rather than deciding in advance that they know best - take it or leave it. The term 'beta' also blunts the picky critics. Menu development is usually hard work; balancing price, ingredients, texture, flavour, seasons, market segment, competition, available skills and equipment...on and on it goes, with hopefully customers somewhere in the mix! What if the menu was released as 'almost done' with a Beta stamp, and an invitation for guests to 'help us get it just right'! No need to incorporate all the suggestions (Google certainly don't), but there will be excellent ideas that weren't thought of or forgotten. All it needs is an easy feedback process (SMS will do), a word processing and a printer. Hey, we have all that, and now we also have real customer engagement! Please watch the video and give me your thoughts...

Jeff Jarvis in his new book What Would Google Do? promotes the importance of releasing a product in an 'almost finished' or beta stage [see the short video below].

Google are masters of the process, with many of their popular products still technically 'under development'. They actively and enthusiastically seek comments and suggestions for how to make it just right, rather than deciding in advance that they know best - take it or leave it. The term 'beta' also blunts the picky critics.

Menu development is usually hard work; balancing price, ingredients, texture, flavour, seasons, market segment, competition, available skills and equipment...on and on it goes, with hopefully customers somewhere in the mix! What if the menu was released as 'almost done' with a Beta stamp, and an invitation for guests to 'help us get it just right'!

No need to incorporate all the suggestions (Google certainly don't), but there will be excellent ideas that weren't thought of or forgotten. All it needs is an easy feedback process (SMS will do), a word processing and a printer. Hey, we have all that, and now we also have real customer engagement! Please watch the video and give me your thoughts...

That isn't bad -- as long as the experimenting doesn't violate any organizational standards in a way that causes something to break. We want to allow for the flexibility to try new things, but we still have to make sure that we do it in a secure environment where we can look back -- next month or in five years -- and know what we did. Just some fairly simply documentation helps here -- and someone to oversee the experiments in new technology (not to prevent them), so there's some sense of what's going on.

I'm not at all surprised, but I want to generalize this idea. In fact, just last week at IBM's IMPACT meeting (it's gathering of more than 6,000 SOA customers in Las Vegas), I had a discussion in one of the sessions I chaired about how common it was for lots of something new to be used in an organization with no formal knowledge of its existence. We've seen that with LANs, PCs and servers (back in the early client-server days).

Some of the best new ideas happen from unexpected directions.

I read a great post on Jonathan Schwartz's blog today (http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/). Jonathan is, of course, the CEO of Sun Microsystems and his blog is often the cause of much amusement and some enlightment.

In this case, he was reporting that one of his good customers was not planning (on the C-level) to use MSQL (Sun's new Open Source Software acquisition)because they feared it would be too unruly. A member of his entourage, however, reported to the customer that more than a thousand copies of MYSQL had been downloaded by the customer's developers and it turns out that it's a very popular development tool at that customers (and, I would guess, elsewhere).

UMF 5015 podiatry chair added
The UMF 5015 podiatry chair features a 3-position memory function foot control. The adjustable leg section accommodates taller patients and can support up to 375 pounds. Patients who are obese, elderly or have special needs will appreciate the UMF 5016 bariatric / low access podiatry chair. It holds up to 600 pounds and lowers to just [...]

The UMF 5015 podiatry chair features a 3-position memory function foot control. The adjustable leg section accommodates taller patients and can support up to 375 pounds.

Patients who are obese, elderly or have special needs will appreciate the UMF 5016 bariatric / low access podiatry chair. It holds up to 600 pounds and lowers to just 19 inches in the upright position.

Summit doppler promos
Now through June 30, buy an L250 series or higher Summit doppler and receive a $75 trade-in credit for your old doppler. Or, buy 5 of the L150, L250 or L350 series and get 1 free!

Now through June 30, buy an L250 series or higher Summit doppler and receive a $75 trade-in credit for your old doppler. Or, buy 5 of the L150, L250 or L350 series and get 1 free!

AOL, primul ISP care ofera posibilitatea de rulare a fisierelor video in email
AOL a anuntat astazi impreuna cu Goodmail Systems si tehnologia dezvoltata de ei sub numele de CertifiedVideo. Acesta permita fisierelor video sa ruleze chiar din body-ul emailului, fara sa mai fie nevoie ca fisierul video din capania trimisa sa fie deschis pe o alta pagina web, si fara alte click-uri suplimentare. Din informatiile mele cei [...]

What Kind of Person Are You?
"They" say that you can tell what type of personality you have by the way you write. To that I offer a sarcastic, "No Kidding?" Yesterday a buddy sent me a link to Typealyzer. What is it you ask? Well, it's a neat little tool that analyzes your writing style and builds a personality profile based on how you write. All you have to do is enter your blog address and Typealyzer will do the...

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It's Happening - Just Like I Said I Would
Wednesday, May 16, 2007, I wrote about how people are turning to online sources for their news. In that article I asked the question, "What do you think is going to happen when a news paper has to make a decision about spending $600,000 to fix a 40 year old press? How far would that same $600,000 go for web development and web marketing?" We now have an answer. Well, at least we have an answer...

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Sorry, I Couldn't Help Myself - Obama Supporters
Her name is Peggy Joseph Just in case you missed it: "It was the most memorable time of my life. It was a touching moment. Because, I, I never thought this day would ever happen. I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car, I won't have to worry about paying my mortgage, you know, if I help him, he's gonna help me." Normally I try and keep politics out of the mix here on The Big Bald...

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Hiatus
We apologize for the interruption in our normal blogging frequency. We will resume course shortly. At this time we would like to remind you to return you chair backs and your seat trays to their upright position. Thank you for flying with The Big Bald Blog. Love, Big Pops

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Check Your Headlines Twice.
When you are designing something or writing copy, you might want to have someone else take a peek. After you have stared at something for so long you tend to miss the obvious. Seems like a typical governmental move. And what exactly did you think you were going to find? Good luck with that one. They may be searching for a while. Stop drinking poison will you! Let me know if you have seen...

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Some Internet Triva For Ya
In 2008 there were 28 million new domain names registered. At the end of 2008 there were a total of 177 million Top Level Domains in existenceIn order the 5 largest domain extensions were .com, .cn, .de, .net and .org2008 represented a 16% growth in new domains. The largest ever. 177 Million didn't seem like a lot to me, given the number of people on the planet. I guess I assumed...

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The Advertising of Yesterday Part XXI
When Ted goes hunting NOW, he has all kinds of political pressure and government regulation to deal with. And running into Sears to pick up a shotgun and a box of shells isn't quite that simple anymore. I have a collection of antique shotgun shell boxes that I have picked up over the years. Some of my favorites are from Montgomery Wards, Holiday Gas Stations, Sears and other similar retail...

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"What I Found In My Email" Mondays. Vol.2 - Issue 28
Welcome to another, and long over due, edition of "What I found in my email Monday's." I know what your thinking - it's Tuesday. I know, I know but I really meant to post this yesterday. I once heard a gender based driving assessment from an insurance agent. He said there are distinct differences in the types of claims between men and women. It seems that when men get into a wreck, they...

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A Look Back At Some REALLY Old Ads.
For some time now I have been doing a series called "The Advertising of Yesterday." Most of the ads I feature come from a stash of magazines I have from the 60's and 70's. Most of the time it is quite interesting how our views, values and attitudes have changed over the last 3 or 4 decades. The other day a friend emailed me about a post on Purple Slinky that featured some REALLY old ads that...

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The Digital Revolution
Yes, there were a couple of snags with the big switchover but I think we are going to make it through just fine.

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VIDEO: Hyundai pays tribute to 45 years of the Mustang

Filed under: Videos, Ford, Hyundai, Humor

Click above to view the video after the jump

Ford's been building up to April 17, 2009 for several months now. In these dark days for the auto industry, there isn't a lot worth celebrating so it's understandable that the 45th anniversary of the introduction of the Mustang is drawing some attention. Over the past 45 years, numerous contenders have rolled up to the lights for a chance to try and snatch the crown from the original pony-car, but only the Mustang has remained standing throughout. The latest intender to the throne comes from Hyundai in the form of the Genesis Coupe. As with so many species in the animal kingdom, the battle for the alpha position is preceded by an elaborate dance. Check out the Genesis coupe's birthday tribute the current leader after the jump.

Continue reading VIDEO: Hyundai pays tribute to 45 years of the Mustang

VIDEO: Hyundai pays tribute to 45 years of the Mustang originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Videos, Ford, Hyundai, Humor

Click above to view the video after the jump

Ford’s been building up to April 17, 2009 for several months now. In these dark days for the auto industry, there isn’t a lot worth celebrating so it’s understandable that the 45th anniversary of the introduction of the Mustang is drawing some attention. Over the past 45 years, numerous contenders have rolled up to the lights for a chance to try and snatch the crown from the original pony-car, but only the Mustang has remained standing throughout. The latest intender to the throne comes from Hyundai in the form of the Genesis Coupe. As with so many species in the animal kingdom, the battle for the alpha position is preceded by an elaborate dance. Check out the Genesis coupe’s birthday tribute the current leader after the jump.

Continue reading VIDEO: Hyundai pays tribute to 45 years of the Mustang

VIDEO: Hyundai pays tribute to 45 years of the Mustang originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ukranian class warfare apparently leads to toasted Chevrolet Corvette

Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Etc., Chevrolet

Torched Corvette in the Ukraine - Click above for a gallery of images

Judging by these photographs, someone in the Ukraine didn't like this Extra-Crispy Chevrolet Corvette. And although the melted plastic lump is being been blamed on "class warfare," it could have been an insurance scam, a tryst gone bad, or some hardcore Grand Theft Auto: Streets of Kiev payback - who knows.

The precedents point to any number of reasons, like the Viper that was flamb�ed perhaps because of The Mark, or the 14 foreign cars that were torched in Moscow for no reason that anyone could guess. But the result here is still a shame: a charbroiled C6. Tip your hat to a fallen comrade, and check out the gallery of photos below.

Gallery: Torched Ukraine Vette

[Source: English Russia]

Ukranian class warfare apparently leads to toasted Chevrolet Corvette originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Etc., Chevrolet

Torched Corvette in the Ukraine - Click above for a gallery of images

Judging by these photographs, someone in the Ukraine didn’t like this Extra-Crispy Chevrolet Corvette. And although the melted plastic lump is being been blamed on “class warfare,” it could have been an insurance scam, a tryst gone bad, or some hardcore Grand Theft Auto: Streets of Kiev payback - who knows.

The precedents point to any number of reasons, like the Viper that was flamb�ed perhaps because of The Mark, or the 14 foreign cars that were torched in Moscow for no reason that anyone could guess. But the result here is still a shame: a charbroiled C6. Tip your hat to a fallen comrade, and check out the gallery of photos below.

Gallery: Torched Ukraine Vette

[Source: English Russia]

Ukranian class warfare apparently leads to toasted Chevrolet Corvette originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full story

Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy

Filed under: Autoline on Autoblog

They're After Your Freedom

You've undoubtedly read the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's report and seen the videos it released when the organization pitted sub-compacts against mid-size sedans (if not, one is posted below the fold). They really went after the safety of small cars, trying to scare consumers away from buying them.

The IIHS filmed head-on collisions between a Honda Fit and Accord, between a Toyota Camry and a Yaris, and between a Mercedes C-class and a Smart. Each vehicle was traveling at 40 mph, which is the equivalent of smashing into a parked car at 80 mph, and the results were predictable. The videos made the national news, especially the one of the Smart Fortwo bouncing and spinning backwards.

The IIHS has an ulterior motive in conducting these crashes. It's all part of its campaign to limit how much horsepower cars can have, and to lower the national highway speed limit to 55 mph.

____________________________________________________________________________________

John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit" and daily web video "Autoline Daily". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Continue reading Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy

Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Autoline on Autoblog

They’re After Your Freedom

You’ve undoubtedly read the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s report and seen the videos it released when the organization pitted sub-compacts against mid-size sedans (if not, one is posted below the fold). They really went after the safety of small cars, trying to scare consumers away from buying them.

The IIHS filmed head-on collisions between a Honda Fit and Accord, between a Toyota Camry and a Yaris, and between a Mercedes C-class and a Smart. Each vehicle was traveling at 40 mph, which is the equivalent of smashing into a parked car at 80 mph, and the results were predictable. The videos made the national news, especially the one of the Smart Fortwo bouncing and spinning backwards.

The IIHS has an ulterior motive in conducting these crashes. It’s all part of its campaign to limit how much horsepower cars can have, and to lower the national highway speed limit to 55 mph.

____________________________________________________________________________________

John McElroy is host of the TV program “Autoline Detroit” and daily web video “Autoline Daily”. Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Continue reading Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy

Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW introducing upgraded maintenance coverage… for a price

Filed under: Maintenance, BMW

These days, all new BMW models sold in the United States are delivered with "BMW Ultimate Service." The package includes the BMW Maintenance Program, Roadside Assistance, and the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. In a nutshell, it means that fuel and tires are the only service costs owners of new BMW models pay for during the first 4 years/50,000 miles of ownership. In the past, BMW has allowed owners of certain models to "upgrade" and extend the term of the program, but not all vehicles were eligible.

As of today, the German automaker has announced that a "Maintenance Program Upgrade" will be offered for all BMW models (except the ALPINA B7). The program generously covers factory scheduled services and most wear items for up to 6 years/100,000 miles. However, it doesn't come cheap. The announced MSRP of the extension ranges from $1,395 to $2,995, depending on the model.

"BMW's Maintenance Program keeps vehicles well cared-for and more valuable in the pre-owned marketplace," says Alan Harris, Vice President of Aftersales for BMW of North America. "Our decision to make the six-year Maintenance Program Upgrade available to purchase for all BMW models makes it possible for more vehicles to remain under the care of an authorized BMW Center for a longer period of time." Reading between the lines, this an excellent way to guarantee consumers comply with the factory maintenance - keeping BMW's warranty repair costs low, and resale values high. Full press release after the jump.

[Source: BMW, Image: Michael Harley]

Continue reading BMW introducing upgraded maintenance coverage... for a price

BMW introducing upgraded maintenance coverage... for a price originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Maintenance, BMW

These days, all new BMW models sold in the United States are delivered with “BMW Ultimate Service.” The package includes the BMW Maintenance Program, Roadside Assistance, and the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. In a nutshell, it means that fuel and tires are the only service costs owners of new BMW models pay for during the first 4 years/50,000 miles of ownership. In the past, BMW has allowed owners of certain models to “upgrade” and extend the term of the program, but not all vehicles were eligible.

As of today, the German automaker has announced that a “Maintenance Program Upgrade” will be offered for all BMW models (except the ALPINA B7). The program generously covers factory scheduled services and most wear items for up to 6 years/100,000 miles. However, it doesn’t come cheap. The announced MSRP of the extension ranges from $1,395 to $2,995, depending on the model.

“BMW’s Maintenance Program keeps vehicles well cared-for and more valuable in the pre-owned marketplace,” says Alan Harris, Vice President of Aftersales for BMW of North America. “Our decision to make the six-year Maintenance Program Upgrade available to purchase for all BMW models makes it possible for more vehicles to remain under the care of an authorized BMW Center for a longer period of time.” Reading between the lines, this an excellent way to guarantee consumers comply with the factory maintenance - keeping BMW’s warranty repair costs low, and resale values high. Full press release after the jump.

[Source: BMW, Image: Michael Harley]

Continue reading BMW introducing upgraded maintenance coverage… for a price

BMW introducing upgraded maintenance coverage… for a price originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shanghai Preview: New Roewe MG6 is… nice

Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, China, Roewe, Shanghai Motor Show

This is the Roewe MG6, and it's a good looking car. As the sporty version of the 550 (another good looking car), the MG6 gets a tauter nose with new lights, a slightly more upswept swage line, and a fastback rear end.

The Roewe 550 signified a break from the heavily Rover-based design still found models like the Roewe 750, undoubtedly due to the international design team based in China and the UK. The MG6 continues the trend of independent design, not relying on being merely a tweaked copy of its sibling, or any other car for that matter. It will be debuting at the Shanghai Motor Show, and to you, Roewe, we say keep up the good work.

[Source: Auto Sina (translated) via The Tycho]

Shanghai Preview: New Roewe MG6 is... nice originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read�|�Permalink�|�Email this�|�Comments

Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, China, Roewe, Shanghai Motor Show

This is the Roewe MG6, and it’s a good looking car. As the sporty version of the 550 (another good looking car), the MG6 gets a tauter nose with new lights, a slightly more upswept swage line, and a fastback rear end.

The Roewe 550 signified a break from the heavily Rover-based design still found models like the Roewe 750, undoubtedly due to the international design team based in China and the UK. The MG6 continues the trend of independent design, not relying on being merely a tweaked copy of its sibling, or any other car for that matter. It will be debuting at the Shanghai Motor Show, and to you, Roewe, we say keep up the good work.

[Source: Auto Sina (translated) via The Tycho]

Shanghai Preview: New Roewe MG6 is… nice originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read�|�Permalink�|�Email this�|�Comments

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Linux Hunters
Nadie puede negar que con su campaña Laptop Hunters, Microsoft por fin parece haberle dado de patadas a Apple donde más le duele: el precio. Es que en tiempos de crisis no es fácil comercializar productos considerados elitistas. De hecho, Apple interrumpió el espectacular 33% de crecimiento anual que promediaba en EEUU para crecer sólo 8.3% [...]

Nadie puede negar que con su campaña Laptop Hunters, Microsoft por fin parece haberle dado de patadas a Apple donde más le duele: el precio.

Es que en tiempos de crisis no es fácil comercializar productos considerados elitistas. De hecho, Apple interrumpió el espectacular 33% de crecimiento anual que promediaba en EEUU para crecer sólo 8.3% durante el último trimestre, reduciendo a 7.4% su participación en el mercado gringo.

La ironía es que claro, 2 pueden jugar al mismo juego. En un estudio publicado ayer por IDC, un 72% de las corporaciones estarían evaluando o decidiendo cambiar a Linux en sus servidores, mientras 68% planea usarlo en el escritorio.

¿La razón? Reducir costos, por supuesto.

Según el estudio -patrocinado por Novell, por cierto- la principal motivación para migrar a Linux es reducir los costos de soporte (los mismos que según Microsoft te obligan a vender un pulmón), mientras las principales aprensiones son la falta de soporte para aplicaciones y de interoperatividad con Windows.

Un dato interesante es que el primer auge de Linux en las empresas fue entre 2001-2002… precisamente durante la última crisis económica.

El estudio también descubrió que:

» 67% de los encuestados afirmó que la interoperatividad entre Windows y Linux era uno de los factores más importantes para elegir sistema operativo (oh qué curioso, tratándose de Novell).

» Casi el 50% planea adoptar Linux para estaciones de trabajo, funciones de oficina y educación.

» La mitad considera que la virtualización está acelerando la adopción de Linux: 88% piensa evaluarlo de esta manera.

“Las recesiones económicas tienden a acelerar las tecnologías emergentes, impulsar la adopción de soluciones efectivas y castigar a las que no son competitivas en costos”, dijo Al Gillen, Vicepresidente de Programas de IDC.

No se lo mandó a decir con nadie, ¿eh? Congratulations Steve: it’s a Linux!

(Pueden descargar el estudio completo en el sitio web de Novell).

Request for Proposal for an Economic Impact Study on Cambria County

Danville condo near San Ramon Valley High
52 Danville Oak Pl.—Westside Danville This is a beautiful, large condo walking distance to San Ramon Valley High School. MAP of 52 Danville Oak Pl, Danville More photos MLS Listing 3 bed, 2.5 bath home. Over 1600 sq ft. Garage plus an assigned parking spot. Nice patio. Near Iron Horse trail and downtown Danville. Great value at $525,000 ! Please call or email [...]

52 Danville Oak Pl.—Westside Danville

This is a beautiful, large condo walking distance to San Ramon Valley High School.

MAP of 52 Danville Oak Pl, Danville

More photos

MLS Listing

3 bed, 2.5 bath home.
Over 1600 sq ft.
Garage plus an assigned parking spot.
Nice patio.
Near Iron Horse trail and downtown Danville.

Great value at $525,000 !

Please call or email for a private showing anytime.

Eric Haggin

925 336-6462

52DanvilleOak@EastBayPlus.com

Posted in Danville, East Bay area, Keller Williams, New Listing, real estate, Real estate investing, San Ramon Tagged: 52 Danville Oak, Danville Oaks, Iron Horse Trail, San Ramon Valley High

Rental Houses in the East Bay Area- time to buy ?
I am a Realtor, but I am also an active real estate Investor. I owned rental homes in California from 1990 to 2005. When I sold my last California rental I was getting $1,800/month for a 3 bed basic home in Concord. I sold that house for $480,000. It’s now worth about $220,00 and could go down a [...]

I am a Realtor, but I am also an active real estate Investor.

I owned rental homes in California from 1990 to 2005. When I sold my last California rental I was getting $1,800/month for a 3 bed basic home in Concord.

I sold that house for $480,000. It’s now worth about $220,00 and could go down a bit more.

My reason for selling was that my equity of about $350,000 was only earning me about $1,000 after expenses. I took that money to Tulsa, Oklahoma and got 3 times the net return. Return on equity is what matters. Do you know your rental property’s return on equity?

But, as prices here have dropped I am starting show Clients rentals that have decent returns. It’s now possible for Clients to buy rental homes for $200,000 that gross about $1,800/month. Not bad. (this is as-of 12/2008)

It may be time for me to do a 1031 exchange or just take some equity from my Oklahoma properties to buy in the Bay Area.

You need some money to start, sorry but that’s the way it is again. If you have access to about $50,000 and have good credit you may be able to profit from owning long-term, rational rental properties.

Give me a call to talk it over.

Eric Haggin

925 336-6462

Posted in 1031 exchange, Alameda, Cash Flow, Concord, Contra Costa, Dublin, East Bay area, Foreclosures, Fremont, Keller Williams, Livermore, real estate, Real estate income, Real estate investing, San Ramon

100 fastest-growing tech companies
Our annual rankings show another banner year for the businesses leading the tech revival. Here's who is out in front and how they got there.

101 Dumbest Moments in Business
See the video, test your Dumbest knowledge, and let us know what you think was the year's most boneheaded moves.

Watch The New Disruptors video series

free REO property alerts
Investors, I can set-up automatic email alerts for new REO (bank owned) properties in the area you are interested in. I need to know: Where ( city, zip code, neighborhood,etc.) Your price range any other special criteria (bedrooms/sq ft/pool/yard) Send you name and email address to: REOalert@EastBayPlus.com or call me: Eric Haggin 925 336-6462 Posted in Cash Flow, Cash Flow Club, Concord, Contra Costa, Dublin, East [...]

Investors,

I can set-up automatic email alerts for new REO (bank owned) properties in the area you are interested in.

I need to know:

Where ( city, zip code, neighborhood,etc.)
Your price range
any other special criteria (bedrooms/sq ft/pool/yard)

Send you name and email address to:

REOalert@EastBayPlus.com

or call me:

Eric Haggin

925 336-6462

Posted in Cash Flow, Cash Flow Club, Concord, Contra Costa, Dublin, East Bay area, foreclosure, Foreclosures, NOD NOT REO, Real estate investing, San Ramon, short sales Tagged: Bank Owned, reo