waterford impassivity: November 2012

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Nintendo Wii U unboxing pictures | Digital Trends

Earlier this week Nintendo began the first shipments for its eagerly anticipated new gaming console, the Wii U. Check out some images of what to expect when you get your new console home.

The Wii U is here! Sort of. Nintendo has begun shipments of its new gaming console, a device that is certainly going to be one of the hot items this holiday season. Media outlets around the world have begun to receive their units to test the device, and stores are likely filling their backrooms at this time as well.

We?ll have a full review on the hardware itself next week, along with several of the launch title games, but we wanted to give you a look at what Wii U buyers can expect when they get their new console home and unbox it for the first time.

The Wii U will be available as two bundles: Basic and Deluxe. Basic will set you back $299.99, and the Premium/Deluxe hits $349.99. The Basic model comes with 8GB of storage, while the Deluxe (seen here) comes with all the same cables, as well as 32GB of storage, the Nintendo Land game, a Nintendo Network Premium Subscription, and stands for both the Wii U and GamePad. In all other regards, the systems are identical, just with a different color scheme.

Nintendo also sent along the Wii U Pro Controller, which comes in two colors, black and white.

Check back with us next week for a detailed review of the hardware, as well as plenty of launch coverage for the Wii U.

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/the-wii-u-has-arrived/

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wvt-communications-group-reports-third-quarter-2012 ... - VoIP Wire

Unified Communications Revenues Increased 38%; Conference Call Scheduled for November 12

WARWICK, NY?(Marketwire ? Nov 9, 2012) ? Warwick Valley Telephone Company (NYSE MKT: WVT) (referred to as WVT Communications Group or the Company), the parent company of leading cloud communications pioneers, today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2012. Financial results and recent corporate development highlights include:

Cloud or unified communications?(?UC?) revenues net of eliminations were $ 3.6 million in third?quarter 2012, an increase of 38% from $ 2.6 million compared to the same?period last year and 11% from the second quarter 2012, while revenue from?our Telephone segment declined 19% to $ 3.4 million
Total third quarter?revenues increased 3% over the same period last year
At over 51% of third?quarter consolidated revenues, UC is now the Company?s largest segment
Gross profit was $ 3.6?million in third quarter 2012, an increase of 29% from $ 2.8 million in?third quarter 2011 and up by 3.5% from $ 3.5 million in the second quarter?2012
Gross profit as a?percentage of revenues increased to 51.4% in third quarter 2012, from 41.1%?in third quarter 2011 and 50.1% in second quarter 2012
The Company received $ 3.25 million in cash?distributions from Orange County-Poughkeepsie Limited Partnership (?O-P?)?investment, which were recorded as other income in the third quarter of?2012
?During the third quarter?2012, we recorded a net loss of $ (922,000), or $ (0.16) per common share, a?lost reduction of nearly 50% from the same period last year. The Company declared?quarterly cash dividend of $ 0.27 per common share for the third quarter of?2012
Transition and rebranding as?leading cloud-based UC provider bolstered by new listing on NYSE MKT with?ticker symbol WVT which became effective on November 6, 2012, and a successful?start to transforming of the parent company into an unregulated holding?company on November 1, 2012.
Cloud-based UC Solutions?Headlines:
- Grand opening of first Innovation Center for potential customers to experience Alteva unified communications solutions, located in new UC headquarters in Philadelphia
- Alteva received 2012 Cloud Computing Excellence Award with Hosted VoIP Communications honored for innovation
- Alteva received 2012 Internet Telephony Excellence Award
- Alteva Hosted UC Services named Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award by TMC
- Ranked #9 in North America Hosted IP Telephony/UC Services Market by Frost & Sullivan*
- Provisioning of new customers for UC services continues at record levels

Third Quarter 2012 Results

Revenues for the three-month period ended September 30, 2012 increased 3% to $ 7.1 million, compared to $ 6.8 million for the same period in 2011.

In the first quarter of 2012, the Company realigned its segment reporting and management structure as a result of the Alteva acquisition in 2011. The Company?s segments are strategic business units that offer different products and services and are now managed as Unified Communications (?UC?) or Cloud Communications services, and Telephone. Revenues discussed in this press release for periods prior to the first quarter of 2012 have been presented on the basis of the new segment reporting.

Revenues from UC services, net of eliminations, were $ 3.6 million in the third quarter of 2012, an increase of 38% from $ 2.6 million in the prior year period. As a percentage of consolidated revenue, the UC segment contributed over 51% of revenues in the third quarter of 2012 as compared with 38% in the same period of the prior year and 47% in the second quarter of 2012. The increase in UC revenues of nearly $ 1 million was primarily attributable to the full quarter impact of the Company?s acquisition of Alteva on August 5, 2011, and organic unified communications services revenue growth.

Telephone services revenues net of eliminations were $ 3.4 million in the third quarter of 2012, a decrease from $ 4.2 million in the corresponding 2011 period. The Telephone segment contributed 49% of revenues in the third quarter as compared with 62% in the third quarter of 2011 and 53% in the second quarter of 2012. The decrease was primarily due to lower Universal Service Fund revenues and the termination of the Nation Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (?NRTC?) contract as of August 15, 2011. The termination of the NRTC contract changed our DIRECTV services revenue from monthly recurring to one based on sales commissions and reimbursements for installation costs and losses due to wireless substitution and competition for other triple play service providers offset by an increase in access lines rates.

Gross profit increased by 29% to $ 3.6 million in the third quarter of 2012 from $ 2.8 million in the same period of 2011. Gross profit as a percentage of revenues increased to 51.4% in the third quarter 2012 from 41.1% in the 2011 period and 50.1% in the second quarter of 2012. The improvement in gross profit in dollars as well as on a margin basis primarily reflects (i) the substantial increase in revenues contributed by the UC segment in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year, (ii) and our ability to leverage our infrastructure.

Selling, general and administrative (?SG&A?) expenses in the third quarter of 2012 increased to $ 6.2 million from $ 4.9 million in the corresponding period of 2011. The 27% increase in SG&A expenses reflects the additional operating expenses for Alteva as well as the current and ongoing requirements to support the Company?s Cloud Communications growth strategies. Included in SG&A for the three months ended September 30, 2012 was $ 550,000 of nonrecurring charges. These charges were primarily professional fees and other costs related to the acquisition of Alteva and the corporate restructuring.

Total other income for the three-month period ended September 30, 2012 was $ 2.7 million as compared to $ 1.3 million for the same period in 2011. This increase is primarily due to O-P distributions of $ 3.25 million in the third quarter of 2012 as compared with $ 1.3 million in the prior year period which was recorded based on the amount in excess of the Company?s share of the O-P earnings for that period as opposed to being applied to the investment account.

For the three-month period ended September 30, 2012, the Company had a net loss of $ (922,000), or $ (0.16) per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $ (1.7) million, or $ (0.31) per basic and diluted share, for the three-month period ended September 30, 2011.

Dividends

The Board of Directors of WVT Communications Group declared a regular quarterly dividend of $ 0.27 per share on the Company?s common shares. The dividend was paid on September 28, 2012 to shareholders of record as of September 18, 2012. In addition, the Board of Directors declared the regular quarterly dividend of $ 1.25 per share on the outstanding 5,000 shares of the Company?s 5% Preferred Shares that was paid on September 28, 2012 to shareholders of record as of September 18, 2012. Dividends distributed by the Company are paid using the cash distributions from the O-P.

Management Comments

?WVT Communications Group has made impressive progress toward our goal of transitioning into a highly prominent, fast growing cloud-based Unified Communications platform provider,? said Duane W. Albro, the Company?s Chief Executive Officer. ?UC revenues contributed more than half of our quarterly consolidated revenues for the first time in the Company?s history. We are further pleased that our UC platform is well positioned for continued growth in revenue and gross margins. These are some of the business characteristics we sought as we embarked on our transformation.

?In related and supportive initiatives, WVT Communications Group became a holding company on November 1, 2012, and moved its ILEC operations to a wholly-owned subsidiary which is now subject to regulations by telecommunications governing bodies. This is being accompanied by a complete rebranding of the Company that focuses on our cloud UC platform, including the transfer of our common stock to the NYSE MKT on November 6, 2012, with WVT as our new ticker symbol that will reflect, upon shareholder approval, an official name change to WVT Communications Group.

?Our transition has further taken hold with numerous industry accolades. We have won several awards for technology innovation within the Cloud Communications industry and our executives are in high demand for speaking and conference appearances across the country. Industry analysts are taking note of us and business customers are lining up for our services. The numbers of customers in provisioning for our UC services remains at a record high level. While our UC solutions are ideal for most business customers, our efforts to target the middle market segment are showing signs of success. Given our market position and the significant leverage in our operating model, we look forward to capitalizing on the demand for our UC services.?

Conference Call

The Company will conduct a conference call to discuss third quarter results on Monday, November 12, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. eastern. Investors and other interested parties can listen to the call by dialing the participant numbers of 877-317-6789 (toll free) or 412-317-6789, no access code required, approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the conference call. The conference call will also be webcast live on the WVT Communications Group website at www.wvtcg.com.

A replay of this conference call will also be available by dialing 877-344-7529 (toll free) or 412-317-0088, access code: 10016612, beginning 11:00 a.m. eastern on November 12 through December 3, and via the investor relations section of the Company?s website.

About WVT Communications Group
WVT Communications Group is a world technology leader in providing cloud-based Unified Communications (UC) solutions for small, medium and enterprise businesses. Founded in 1902, the Company has continued to adapt and remain on the forefront of technology, chiseling its position among the most stable and respected communications vendors around the globe. Moving forward, it is forging the new model that communications providers, large and small, are striving to emulate. WVT Communications Group is merging new innovations, such as those from Alteva and USA Datanet, with proven technology from industry leaders like Microsoft, Cisco, BroadSoft, Panasonic, and Polycom to build the ideal hosting architecture for communications.

Through its USA Datanet (a Hosted VoIP and carrier services provider), Alteva (the nation?s ninth largest UC provider), and Warwick Valley Telephone (a highly respected traditional telecom provider turned premier regional broadband company) businesses, WVT Communications Group is enabling businesses of any size to communicate more efficiently with hassle-free communications tools. By overlaying a UC division on its stabile, regional broadband company, WVT Communications Group has positioned itself in front of its peer group of companies and created an evolutionary change in its strategy. With this, the company may offer its residential customers a similar suite of UC applications and services for use in a home environment that its business customers can enjoy. Visit www.wvtcg.com or call 855-U-GO-CLOUD for more information.

All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
*Frost & Sullivan Analysis, March 2012

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains ?forward-looking statements? within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements, without limitation, regarding expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. WVT Communications Group intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause WVT Communications Group?s actual results, performance or achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in the geographic regions in which WVT Communications Group operates; industry capacity; demographic changes; technological changes and changes in consumer demand; the successful integration of WVT Communication Group?s acquired businesses; existing governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental regulations; legislative proposals relating to the businesses in which WVT Communication Group operates; reduction in cash distributions from the Orange County-Poughkeepsie Limited Partnership; competition; or the loss of any significant ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. Given these uncertainties, current and prospective investors should be cautioned in their reliance on such forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, WVT Communications Group disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the results of any revision to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events or developments. A more comprehensive discussion of risks, uncertainties and forward-looking statements may be seen in WVT Communications Group?s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

WARWICK VALLEY TELEPHONE COMPANY

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)

($ in thousands except share and per share amounts)

Three Months Ended September 30,

Nine Months Ended September 30,

2012

2011

2012

2011

Operating revenues

Unified Communications

3,621

2,628

10,147

5,269

Telephone

3,429

4,201

10,870

13,549

Total operating revenues

7,050

6,829

21,017

18,818

Operating expenses

Cost of services and products (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense)

3,428

4,024

10,410

10,215

Selling, general and administrative expenses

6,230

4,883

17,241

12,471

Depreciation and amortization

1,411

1,365

3,986

4,103

Total operating expenses

11,069

10,272

31,637

26,789

Operating loss

(4,019

)

(3,443

)

(10,620

)

(7,971

)

Other income (expense)

Interest income (expense), net

(123

)

(55

)

(292

)

Income from equity method investment

3,250

1,328

7,771

6,744

Other income (expense), net

(468

)

(337

)

Total other income (expense)

2,659

1,304

7,142

6,794

Loss before income taxes

(1,360

)

(2,139

)

(3,478

)

(1,177

)

Income taxes benefit

(438

)

(450

)

(1,094

)

(120

)

Net loss

(922

)

(1,689

)

(2,384

)

(1,057

)

Preferred dividends

Loss applicable to common stock

(928

)

(1,695

)

(2,403

)

(1,076

)

Basic loss per share

(0.16

)

(0.31

)

(0.42

)

(0.20

)

Basic loss per puttable common share

(0.16

)

(0.31

)

(0.42

)

(0.20

)

Diluted loss per share

(0.16

)

(0.31

)

(0.42

)

(0.20

)

Diluted loss per puttable common share

(0.16

)

(0.31

)

(0.42

)

(0.20

)

Weighted average shares of common stock used to calculate loss per share

Basic

5,744,020

5,424,927

5,732,231

5,408,603

Diluted

5,744,020

5,424,927

5,732,231

5,408,603

Dividends declared per common share

0.27

0.26

0.81

0.78

?									?
?									?
WARWICK VALLEY TELEPHONE COMPANY									?
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS									?
($ in thousands except share and per share amounts)									?
?									?
?		?	September 30,		?	?	December 31,		?
?		?	2012		?	?	2011		?
Assets		?	(Unaudited)		?	?	?		?
Current assets		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Cash and cash equivalents	?	$	2,559	?	?	$	4,575	?
?	Short term investments	?	?	-	?	?	?	259	?
?	Accounts receivable ? net of allowance for uncollectibles ? $ 744 and $ 759 in 2012 and 2011, respectively	?	?	3,549	?	?	?	2,717	?
?	Other accounts receivable	?	?	240	?	?	?	174	?
?	Materials and supplies	?	?	763	?	?	?	832	?
?	Prepaid expenses	?	?	1,255	?	?	?	731	?
?	Prepaid income taxes	?	?	2,206	?	?	?	2,715	?
?	Deferred Income taxes	?	?	405	?	?	?	405	?
Total current assets		?	?	10,977	?	?	?	12,408	?
?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Property, plant and equipment, net	?	?	25,864	?	?	?	25,425	?
?	Intangible assets, net	?	?	8,287	?	?	?	8,605	?
?	Investments	?	?	-	?	?	?	1,979	?
?	Goodwill	?	?	9,121	?	?	?	9,121	?
?	Other assets	?	?	416	?	?	?	378	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Total assets	?	$	54,665	?	?	$	57,916	?
Liabilities and Shareholders? Equity		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Current liabilities		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Short-term borrowings	?	$	12,095	?	?	$	5,600	?
?	Current maturities of long-term debt	?	?	-	?	?	?	1,139	?
?	Accounts payable	?	?	1,292	?	?	?	1,715	?
?	Amounts due in connection with business acquisition	?	?	488	?	?	?	2,377	?
?	Derivative liability in connection with business acquisition	?	?	-	?	?	?	131	?
?	Advance billing and payments	?	?	389	?	?	?	390	?
?	Accrued taxes	?	?	684	?	?	?	521	?
?	Pension and postretirement benefit obligations	?	?	622	?	?	?	622	?
?	Other accrued expenses	?	?	3,907	?	?	?	3,398	?
Total current liabilities		?	?	19,477	?	?	?	15,893	?
?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Amounts due in connection with business acquisition	?	?	-	?	?	?	472	?
?	Deferred income taxes	?	?	1,575	?	?	?	1,358	?
?	Pension and postretirement benefit obligations	?	?	9,463	?	?	?	9,915	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Total liabilities	?	?	30,515	?	?	?	27,638	?
?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Commitments and contingencies		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Puttable common stock, $ .01 par value, 25,148 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2012 and 272,479 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2011		?	?	369	?	?	?	4,125	?
Shareholders? equity		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Preferred shares ? $ 100 par value; authorized and issued shares of 5,000; $ 0.01 par value; authorized and unissued shares of 10,000,000	?	?	500	?	?	?	500	?
?	Common stock ? $ 0.01 par value; authorized shares of 10,000,000 Issued 6,556,081 and 6,217,839 shares at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively	?	?	66	?	?	?	62	?
?	Treasury stock ? at cost, 788,825 and 735,391 shares of common stock at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively	?	?	(7,049	)	?	?	(6,262	)
?	Additional paid in capital	?	?	11,310	?	?	?	6,191	?
?	Accumulated other comprehensive loss	?	?	(4,590	)	?	?	(4,979	)
?	Retained earnings	?	?	23,544	?	?	?	30,641	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Total shareholders? equity	?	?	23,781	?	?	?	26,153	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	Total liabilities and shareholders? equity	?	$	54,665	?	?	$	57,916	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Source: http://www.voipwire.co.uk/wvt-communications-group-reports-third-quarter-2012-financial-results/

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Saturday, November 10, 2012

You Can Thank A Whey Refinery For That Protein Smoothie

Tim Opper, of Cabot Cheese, inspects equipment that separates whey protein from sugar in the company's whey processing plant.

Dan Charles/NPR i

If you've ever checked the ingredient list on a PowerBar or a high-protein smoothie, you probably have stumbled across these words: "Whey protein concentrate." You'll find it in a growing number of prepared foods.

This mysterious ingredient is derived from one of the oldest of human foods ? milk. But capturing it requires huge factories that look more like oil refineries than farms.

In fact, the refinery comparison is apt. Increasingly, milk isn't something you just drink anymore ? we're drinking less plain old milk these days. Instead, milk's become a raw material, sort of like crude oil, that's broken down into separate, more valuable products.

In one of the first steps of cheese-making, curds move through this tunnel on a slow-moving belt, separating them from the liquid whey.

Dan Charles/NPR i

I got a firsthand look at this new age of "milk refining" at the Cabot cheddar cheese factory in Middlebury, Vt.

This factory swallows a river of milk every day ? 1.6 million pounds of it. And in the first step of cheese-making, enzymes separate that milk into solid curds and liquid whey. For every pound of curds, there are 9 pounds of whey. The whey drains through a massive, slow-moving belt that works like a sieve, and it's pumped away.

Years ago, the whey would have been treated as waste and trucked away to farmers who spread it on their fields or fed it to their pigs.

Today, though, it's pumped to another side of this factory, which actually seems a lot bigger and more high-tech than the cheese-making side. This is the whey processing plant.

Tim Opper, Cabot's director of process technology, shows off rooms filled with shiny pipes that funnel the whey through a series of filters.

The pores in these filters are so tiny and precise that they can trap big molecules, like the long chains of amino acids that we call proteins, while allowing water and sugar molecules, which are smaller, to flow right through.

It's all dedicated to dividing this river of whey into increasingly narrow, purified streams of sugar or concentrated protein.

There are even ways to fish out one specific protein, if it's valuable enough. There's a room at this factory devoted to extracting a protein called lactoferrin, which is a protein that helps the body use iron and also fight infection.

Lactoferrin is common in human breast milk, but there's not much in cow's milk. From the 1.6 million pounds of milk that go through this factory every day, the equipment in this room captures just 120 pounds of lactoferrin. "We're just stripping out the single molecule, collecting it, processing it, and drying it into a powder," Opper says.

Wooden containers hold 640-pound blocks of cheddar cheese.

Dan Charles/NPR i

In bulk form, lactoferrin powder is worth about $225 a pound. When it's packaged as a nutritional supplement and sold in the form of pills, some consumers are paying $50 for just an ounce of it.

Opper says that these sugar and protein products are a nice boost to Cabot's bottom line, but traditional cheese remains the company's most profitable product.

The picture is different, though, at some of the country's very biggest cheese factories, which are five or six times bigger than Cabot's plant in Middlebury.

The bigger the cheese factory, the bigger the stream of whey, and the more cost-effective it is to run that whey through a refinery.

Eric Bastian has lived through this transformation. He grew up hauling 10-pound cans of milk to a little cheese factory in Aurora, Utah. He now works for Glanbia, which runs some of the biggest cheese factories in the country.

Glanbia's biggest plants, in the new megadairy states of New Mexico and Idaho, can each process 10 million pounds of milk a day. Bastian is director of research for the subsidiary Glanbia Nutritionals, which handles the whey processing.

"Depending on the markets, in any given year, the whey may be more valuable than the cheese," Bastian says.

The growing value of whey is due to improvements in filtering technology, developed at big companies like Glanbia as well as academic centers such as the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin. As increasingly specialized whey products become available, demand for them has also expanded.

The sugar ? the lactose ? may end up in chocolate or baked goods. But most of it gets shipped to Asia, where it's often used in infant formula.

But the big surge in demand is for the concentrated protein. It started with athletes. "The bodybuilders got into this in a big way. They found that in terms of bulking up, putting muscle on their bodies, whey protein was the best protein that they could find," Bastian says.

More recently, it's spread into products for ordinary consumers. There's been a boom in high-protein drinks, thicker and more protein-rich versions of yogurt, and energy bars. "It started with PowerBar, but now you have a whole slew of protein bars," says Bastian. "Luna, Balance, the list goes on and on of different protein bar manufacturers out there that are putting proteins into bars, and these dairy proteins are a significant portion of that."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/11/08/164687100/you-can-thank-a-whey-refinery-for-that-protein-smoothie?ft=1&f=1007

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Izturis agrees to $10M contract with Blue Jays

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:36 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2012

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) - Infielder Maicer Izturis became the first major league free agent this offseason to join a new team, agreeing Thursday to a $10 million, three-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Toronto said the deal was for $3 million annually. The team has a $3 million option for 2016 with a $1 million buyout.

The 32-year-old hit .256 with 17 steals in 19 tries, two homers and 20 RBIs this year for the Los Angeles Angels. After reaching the big leagues with the Montreal Expos in 2004, Izturis spent eight years with the Angels. He has a .273 career average with 81 steals.

"He's someone that's going to come in and compete for the job at second base," said Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos at the GM meetings in California. "He's not guaranteed the job, but the fact that he can play all over the infield, he's just a valuable guy to have. He can do a lot of little things. He's a winning player. He can draw a walk. He can put the ball in play - a pretty good contact rate. He can run a little bit and steal some bags. He plays very good defensively, as well, and is a good teammate, good in the clubhouse."

Toronto also purchased right-hander Jeremy Jeffress from Kansas City. He was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in 13 relief appearances for the Royals this year. The Royals traded left-hander Tommy Hottovy to Texas for a player to be named and cash. He had no record and a 2.89 ERA in nine relief appearances.

More newsScott Cunningham / Getty Images

It's major decision time

??Their financial coffers are full, their successes in the near-past, and their futures uncertain. Welcome to the off-seasons of the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox ? major-market franchises facing major decisions.

Leon Halip / Getty Images

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49754501/ns/sports-baseball/

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Skype Launches 'In the Workspace' Business ... - Marketing Pilgrim

Skype is a great tool for anyone who runs a virtual business. It?s one of the best ways to hold conference calls for free, run training sessions (you can show your desktop to the other person on the line) and it beats repeated back and forth emails when you need to hash out a project.

Given that, it?s not surprising the Skype wants to beef up their business presence but I?m not sure what to make of this new feature.

They call it Skype in the Workspace (SITW). Get it? WorkSPACE instead of WorkPLACE because it?s about working in cyberspace. . .

The site is a combination of LinkedIn and Craigslist. Anyone who signs up (it?s free) can ?Create an Opportunity? to share with others. In non-Skype speak, it means you can advertise your services but the twist is that each offer comes with a 15 minute consultation.

That?s what it looks like to me, but honestly, the site is kind of light on instructions. Here?s how Skype explains it:

SITW will provide a central hub for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses to connect with experts, coaches and consultants who can help them develop their businesses. Users join the community using their existing Skype accounts, then through a series of promotional tools can create public ?offers? or ?opportunities? inviting community members to live sessions on Skype to demonstrate services or products to a wider audience. Users can also book appointments with potential customers or suppliers and keep track of them with a meeting notification service. When an opportunity is over, users can instantly give testimonials on the product or service offered.

When you click through, you get a page with more detail, some more detailed than others. From there you can favorite the person for later or click Connect. Connect then leads you to a screen where you fill out a Connection Request which Skype forwards to the offer-ee. Then, presumably, they schedule a time to talk with me over Skype.

While I like the concept, the mechanics are clunky. The blocks, which just flow down the screen like a Tumblr page, are nothing more than classified ads and some people barely put any effort into the pitch.

Some of the ?opportunities? are grouped into like categories thusly:

There is a search engine but it only works on the most basic level.

What really bothers me is the phraseology. To me, ?Create an Opportunity? implies a job opening or worker needed. I need to hire a web designer so I create an opportunity. But on Workspace it means the opposite. Then there?s the clunky standard phrasing at the top of each block ?So and So wants to meet about.? It cries out for punctuation, or at the very least, a single concept after.

?George wants to meet about Do you need help getting more followers on Facebook? I?ll show you how? doesn?t make sense.

More than anything, what?s the likelihood that anyone will use this tool to locate a freelancer, consultant or agency?

Skype, you?re on the right track but right now I?m more bewildered than impressed.

What do you think of Skype in the Workspace?

Comments

comments

Source: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2012/11/skype-launches-in-the-workspace-business-network-center.html

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Saina Nehwal releases her autobiography to reveal secrets of her ...

Saina Nehwal releases her autobiography to reveal secrets of her success ? Badminton feature

Saina Nehwal, the badminton queen in India, released her autobiography in which she revealed her inner thoughts and commitment for badminton that helped to rise to the current stature that no other Indian shuttler of any category has achieved so far.

The unmatched in India Saina, who is currently World Number Three in Women?s Singles category, has been putting in her best efforts to live up to the huge expectations of her home fans and earned glory at London Olympics 2012 by winning the bronze medal.

Saina is the only shuttler in India who has won many Super Series titles and has become one of the major threats for the domination of Chinese shuttlers. She has achieved the highest level of skill set and is now a full groomed player in all aspects of the game.

The Indian mega star expressed that badminton is the most important thing in her life and she remained in a constant struggle to establish her name among the top shuttlers in Women?s Singles category. She kept on setting new goals after achieving previous ones and still is looking forward to serve her country with dedication and commitment.

The lofty Saina emerged as the winner in Denmark Open Premier Super Series 2012 after beating some of the best shuttlers of the world including World Number One Wang Yihan of China. It was a surprising performance by the Indian who stayed away from the arena for a while but remained focused in training sessions and earned impressive results in Denmark.

In the following event, the impressive Saina again proved her worth in French Open Super Series and reached into the final when she remained unlucky and lost to Japan?s Minatsu Mitani in an unexpected fashion. However, she climbed one step above in world ranking after the tournament.

While talking about her upcoming plans, she is looking forward on the upcoming events and also wants to stay injury free for the next edition of Olympic Games which will be held in 2016 in Brazil. She has an urge to live up to the expectations in the next edition of Olympics and is determined to go to further heights and win a gold medal.

She said, ?Right now, I am not thinking too far about the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil. Let me see how things shape up over the next three years. All I look for is to stay injury-free to realise the other goal now -win an Olympic gold.?

While talking about her autobiography, Saina said that she intended to make it a constant source of inspiration for younger players in India who need to work hard to become top shuttlers in the world.

She added, ?This is a very special day in my life for I never expected to pen my autobiography at the age of 22. And, the reason why I did now was I thought it would inspire many youngsters take up sports and dream big like me.?

The Indian shuttler paid her special thanks to her father and coach, Pullela Gopichand, who encouraged her and assisted her in every possible way to become one of the finest shuttlers in the world of badminton. She mentioned her passion to earn glory by reaching at the top of the world and she obtained that prestigious by winning a medal in Olympic Games.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Saina-Nehwal-releases-her-autobiography-to-reveal-secrets-of-her-success-Badminton-feature-a199968

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Tickets Selling Fast to Tauranga's Premier Business Networking ...

Tickets Selling Fast to Tauranga's Premier Business Networking Dinner ? Kitchen Hell

The Rotary Club of Tauranga Sunrise is urging people to get in quick if they wish to attend next month?s Kitchen Hell fundraiser, as nearly all of the 140 tickets have been snapped up with only 25 remaining.

President of Tauranga Sunrise Rotary, Warren Banks, says Kitchen Hell is an opportunity for people to dine with the movers and shakers of the Tauranga business community and to make a huge difference to two local charities.? All proceeds are?going to disaster relief organisation ShelterBox and anti-poverty charity Cambodia Charitable Trust.

?Kitchen Hell is one the best business networking events in Tauranga, because you rotate tables at each course allowing diners to interact with three different groups of people while feasting on culinary delights,? says Banks.

The event is to be held on Saturday 17th November 2012 and will see 14 chefs each prepare three-course meals for their allocated tables of ten. The menu will be kept under wraps until the night of the event. Each dish can be rated, with feedback provided to the chefs at the end of the evening.

Among the chefs showing off their culinary skills at Kitchen Hell are Steffi Mueller, a German chef who authored the cookbook ?Keep It Simple? and Stephen Wilson, who honed his skills working in top kitchens in Paris.? Mueller is also donating to both charities $5 from each book sold on her website (www.motivation4u.co.nz, code KH2012) from now until the end of November.?

Chef Peter Blakeway, who is a regular feature on TVOne Breakfast?s cooking segments and set to release his own cookbook, is also donating his time and expertise to assist with raising funds for the worthy causes.
One of the two charities to benefit from the proceeds raised at the event is ShelterBox, a non-profit organisation that delivers emergency shelter and supplies kits to people affected by disasters worldwide.

Funds will also be donated to the Cambodia Charitable Trust. This charity works to assist Cambodian women and children escape the trap of extreme poverty and slavery by providing housing, healthcare and education.

Banks says the organisation is proud to be hosting the annual event, which started in 2010.
?Last year we raised over $5,700, sponsoring three ShelterBoxes and donating $2,800 to the Cambodia Charitable Trust,? says Banks.

Kitchen Hell is being held at Tauranga Girls? College, 22nd Avenue, Tauranga. Tickets to the event are $60 per person. There will be a cash bar and eftpos available, as well as raffle prizes and games throughout the evening. To purchase tickets email Bronwyn Smith ? bronwynsmith@trustpower.co.nz or ring her on 029 293 5443.

Tauranga Sunrise Rotary wishes to thank the following sponsors of Kitchen Hell; the Aussie Butcher Gate Pa, The Fresh Market Gate Pa, New World Gate Pa, Matisse, Hillsdene Wines, Blow Hairdressers, Bays Print, The Salon, Travelcom, Blomquist Bakery, Karmic Cup Cakes and Cakes, Perfectly Polished Nails @ Salon One the Cove, Comvita, A List Beauty and motivation4u limited.

Source: http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=99680

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Robert Pattinson's First 'Twilight' Memory? A Butt Injury!

'I was at my peak, my physical prime, and then ... ass done. The ass is out!' he laughs to MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Robert Pattinson
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1697055/robert-pattinson-twilight-first-day-butt-injury.jhtml

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

Suicide attack on base in Pakistan's biggest city kills one

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-attack-pakistans-biggest-city-kills-one-050359534.htmljeremy lin espn sassafras mardi gras 2012 the secret world of arrietty cee lo allen iverson jr smith

Betaworks Launches Tapestry, A Way To Author Beautiful Smartphone Essays

About half a year ago, futurist, novelist and former media manager at Twitter Robin Sloan meditated on what the future of storytelling might look like on smartphones. The product of that was 'Fish,' an essay about the difference between liking and loving something on the Internet. It was a beautiful, simple story that you could tap through with elegantly laid out type. Unlike web pages, which are littered with links that let you choose your own adventure, there was only one way to go in 'Fish' -- forward. It constrained choice, and forced you to pay attention and look closely at the essay's titular object, a fish.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fcUUI6Wqcyg/

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Actress Krysten Ritter loves being 'The B' on TV

American actress and former model Krysten Ritter poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012 in New York. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Talking to Krysten Ritter, you quickly realize she's happy, bubbly and fun. So how did such a nice girl get cast as anything but on ABC's "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23"?

"Maybe that's why they picked me to do it," Ritter said in a recent interview. She cites one of her favorite quotes by Bette Davis: "Why am I so good at playing bitches? I think it's because I'm not a bitch. Maybe that's why Joan Crawford always plays ladies."

On "Don't Trust the B----," now in its second season (Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. EST), Ritter plays Chloe, a con artist who spends her time scheming to make an easy buck. She shares a Manhattan apartment with a Midwesterner named June. At first Chloe just wants to scam June out of her money but ends up softening to her.

"I think I bring lightness to (the role). I'm girly and I like to have a good time and joke around and I think that helps the character not just be evil. I think there's two different ways you can play this character. You could just be an evil, mean person or you could make it fun," the 30-year-old actress said.

On the show, Chloe's best friend is a fictionalized version of actor James Van Der Beek, played by Van Der Beek.

"I love him. I've loved getting to know him. We talk all the time. We spend every minute together when we're on set. Even when we're in our trailers. We talk on the phone. He's become like a great man in my life," she said.

Ritter appeared on "Gilmore Girls" and "Veronica Mars," but is probably best known for her short-lived role as Aaron Paul's girlfriend on AMC's "Breaking Bad" who dies of a drug overdose.

"I did 'Breaking Bad' thinking, 'No one will see this. I'll just do it because it's awesome.' And it's turned out to be like the biggest credit I have in my career."

"Don't Trust the B----" was introduced earlier this year as a midseason show.

"I did a 'Gossip Girl' spinoff which was supposed to be this huge thing and it was not good and didn't work and it didn't get picked up. So I stopped thinking about results and I did the pilot for this and I loved it and I had a great time but ... I had no expectations."

Until a few weeks ago, she didn't own a TV set.

"I didn't even know how this DVR thing worked. ... It's crazy. I work in television and I haven't seen any of it."

___

Online:

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/dont-trust-the-b-in-apt-23

___

Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-11-06-US-People-Krysten-Ritter/id-c8fd2c046df64d7aa6f499d868f6035b

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The Reference Frame: Cosmic GDP drops 97% since peak star

Staunch Chicken Littles such as Alexander A? love to talk about "peak oil", a hypothetical moment (and, in their opinion, a predictable and important moment) at which the global oil production reaches its global maximum.

But Phys.ORG has discussed an even more far-reaching peak of something, namely "peak star". The popular article is based on this paper:

A large H$\alpha$ survey at $z=2.23,\, 1.47,\, 0.84\, \&\, 0.40$: the $11\,{\rm Gyr}$ evolution of star-forming galaxies from HiZELS (arXiv, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

If we denote the number of produced stars per year as the "cosmic GDP", the years at which the cosmic GDP were maximized belongs to the distant memories. Since that time, the star production slowed down considerably. In fact, the "cosmic GDP" has decreased by a whopping 97% since that moment!

You would surely think that the Universe must be a horrible place to live if the "cosmic GDP" is just 3% of the value in those "good old times". Well, you would surely be wrong. Most of us didn't even know that the star production is so slow relatively to the maximum.

The peak was reached about 3 billion years after the Big Bang and I assure you, the world is a much better place today. During the "peak star", there wasn't even any Sun and the Earth ? a planet that biased environmentalists consider more important than billions of other planets in the Universe ;-) ? didn't exist, either.

I find it rather likely that 3 billion years after the Big Bang, our visible Universe contained no intelligent life but I am sure that many folks who think that "intelligent life is an inevitable omnipresent trash that immediately erupts almost everywhere" will disagree. We don't really know the answer.

It's also being estimated that despite the infinite length of the future life of our Universe that will increasingly approach the empty de Sitter space (its form of energy, the cosmological constant, already makes up over 70% of the energy density in the Universe, so we're already "pretty close" to the empty de Sitter Universe of the asymptotic future), the total number of stars in the cosmic history book will only increase by 5% since this moment. (Well, more precisely, we are talking about the total mass of the stars rather than the number.)

So if you measure the total "amount of fun in the life" as the integral of the product of the number of stars and (i.e. over) time, $\int \dd t\,N_{\rm stars}$, then about 95% of the fun in the Universe has already taken place and almost nothing is awaiting us! We could also commit collective suicide and we could at most lose 5% of the fun events in our history.

The only problem with this pessimistic, nihilist conclusion is that we know very well that the "total amount of fun happening annually in the Universe" is proportional neither to the number of stars nor to their total mass. As I have mentioned, most of us believe that the life in the Universe is much more fun today than it was during the "peak star" 11 billion years ago.

The star production was needed for our Solar System to be born but many other events were needed for us to be here and to have some fun, too. The latter events depend on the existence of the stars and they're inevitably delayed by a certain period of time. And the things that decide about the GDP or the fun in life today ? when the existence of the Solar System may be taken for granted ? may proceed at a much faster rate so that those 7.5 billion years of the Sun's remaining life may be enough for a lot of fun ? fun that is "almost" infinitely larger than what we have already seen (think about the speculations about the "technological singularity" which may be inaccurate but they're right about the point that the progress or GDP may continue to grow).

This objection is uncontroversial and kind of amusing in the case of "peak star". However, my point is clearly more far-reaching ideologically. My point is that the "amount of fun happening on the Earth every year" is clearly not proportional to the crude oil production, either. It isn't proportional to the electricity that is consumed, it isn't proportional to the number of SUVs or solar panels or soybeans that are sold, it is proportional to nothing particular that may be associated with the life in a given era.

The fun in the life is a totally independent quantity which depends on many things and the relationship of the fun in the life to other quantities is indirect, indeterministic, and it is constantly changing. Moreover, the relevant quantities today, such as the economists' GDP, are changing (and mostly increasing) by several percent per year while the 97% drop in 11 billion years corresponds to a modest 0.00000003% decrease per year which is negligible.

We have mentioned some of the reasons why "peak oil", much like "peak star" ? even if we could determine or predict when it exactly occurs, which we can't ? has no implications for the things we really care about in the world.

And that's the memo.

Source: http://motls.blogspot.com/2012/11/cosmic-gdp-drops-97-since-peak-star.html

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