Forget about the business intelligence suites from IBM, Oracle, and SAP Business Objects, the analytics from SAS, and even the hot data visualization tools like Tableau Software. New platforms like Hadoop and NoSQL databases demand new tools that are purpose built for these environments.
This is a core theme that Jay Parikh, VP of infrastructure engineering at Facebook, and Ping Li, a partner at venture capital firm Accel Partners, discussed on stage on Thursday at the DataWeek 2012 Conference in San Francisco. Their talk was about the challenges and opportunities facing startups and young companies in the big data arena, and Parikh and Li shared their message with InformationWeek by phone just hours before they took to the stage.
There's little doubt that Hadoop, NoSQL databases, and other emerging big data platforms are quickly evolving, says Li, "but we're hoping to see more new applications on top of these platforms." Parikh and Li are encouraging more innovation because there's not enough speed and breadth of development to truly feed a rich big data community, they say.
Citing a "huge gap" in connecting big data business users to the new underlying platforms, Li says there's also ample room for new business applications, like CRM, and new vertical industry applications for data-intensive fields, such as oil and gas.
Li manages Accel Partners' Big Data Fund, which clearly stands to benefit if there's a crop of new startups to invest in that ultimately succeed. But why is Facebook taking a stand?
"We've had a long history of innovating on infrastructure very openly and contributing back into various open source projects," Parikh explained. "There's a lot more work to be done on these platforms, but we're not going to hire every smart engineer on the planet. We want to be able to collaborate with the people that we can't hire in the open through various communities."
In its earliest days, Facebook helped push the envelope with open source projects like Memcached and MySQL. The social network giant has since made significant contributions to Hadoop, including foundational work on Hive and many contributions to HBase, HDFS, and MapReduce. The company has been forced to innovate because it runs the largest Hadoop deployment in the world, with more than 100 petabytes of information.
"We built Hive as a way for business users to get what they needed out of our [Hadoop] big data infrastructure," said Parikh. "Writing MapReduce jobs is fine for engineers, but if you're an analyst or a product manager and you want to extract reports or do analysis, you need an easier interface for that data. Hive gave our users a SQL-like interface to Hadoop."
The "we need new tools" thesis seems to write off products that have made huge strides in connecting to new platforms. Parikh grants that there is a bias in the big data community toward "shiny new things," and doesn't believe there's "one magical piece of technology that's going to wipe out everything done in the past."
Li, too, grants that the relational database and the applications built for it will survive, "but we're seeing enough new green field applications that will require a new set of tooling." Most relational databases and BI platforms have sprouted connections to Hadoop, with one of the latest wrinkles is HCatalog-based access to Hadoop data without data movement. But over time, Li foresees new tools built natively for the new platforms.
2012年9月28日星期五
2012年9月27日星期四
Ideas abound at the AT&T Innovation Show
Yesterday AT&T opened the doors to one of its Foundry Innovation Centers to showcase and demo some of the technologies that are currently under development at the AT&T Labs and Foundry in Palo Alto. The company has three Foundry centers, the other two are located in Plano, Texas and Tel Aviv, Israel, and has designed them specifically to bring together teams to advance developers’ projects through collaboration.
There were fifteen such projects being shown, spread across a variety of topics and features but all focused on using, integrating, or involving the network. From a Remote Patient Monitoring project that incorporates video calls, tablets, and Bluetooth to keep doctors updated on patient vitals, to the Alpha API Platform which acts as a personal feedback system for developers, the projects displayed ingenious ideas designed to improve existing technology, or build on the existing network to provide new services and functionalities. Here are a few more projects that caught my eye yesterday.
There are a few things in this world that I passionately hate: the post office, the so-called “mid-season” break of television shows, and a phone tree are all high on that list. I don’t want to fight with robots; I just want to be connected to a person who can handle my problem. The Visual Interactive Voice Response was designed specifically to solve the difficulties of maneuvering through an automated messaging system by creating a visual navigation tree. Much like the difference between original voicemail and visual voicemail, Visual IVR lets you opt-in to a visual session by pressing a button; it then sends you an SMS message with a text link that leads you to the visual tree, which looks very similar to a mobile app. You can then navigate through the session to say, book a flight, or you can opt to connect to an agent to assist you. The best part is that you can change between the two seamlessly – the program can easily resume services right from where you left off so you won’t need to duplicate any steps.
Designed to be a highly accessible remote app for those with visual or hearing impairments, the U-Verse Easy Remote App responds to voice commands and is powered by AT&T Watson speech recognition technology. Speech is captured by the service, sent to the cloud servers, where it matches the speech to available programming and comes back with results. You can search for a program by name, or by the name of a cast member, and it will show a list of results that are currently on U-verse. The app uses AT&T Speech API to recognize a speaker and improve accuracy over time. It can remember favorite functions and recognize gestures, and it plays nice with the iPhone’s VoiceOver screen reader.
Another program using AT&T Watson speech technology, Text Translation, also takes advantage of AT&T’s extensive SMS services to “directly transcribe language for various applications.” Basically, when I type out a text in English and send it to my friend in Spain, the text arrives to him in Spanish and vice versa. The application uses regular SMS messages, and works by sending your messages to the cloud in AT&T’s network, where it translates them, and then sends the translated speech to the receiver, in real time. There’s no app to download, install, or open; it’s as simple as checking a box to indicate that you want the feature in your SMS messages. Going forward, there are plans to extend the reach of the project to include texts that the receiver can hear aloud, to work across multiple carriers.
Think of it as an always-on Google hang out, with cameras set all over the office – something even the developer himself admitted could enable some “potentially creepy privacy issues,” which they plan to address with both filters that allow you to put a slider on your visual presence, and an encryption of the videos. While you can go back and review video conversations that have happened in the past, you would need permission from all the video’s participants to do so. The goal is for distant coworkers to still be able to reap the benefits of collaboration, and enable a seamless connection between colleagues. Currently, it’s being used at AT&T Labs, in the future the plan is to deploy it more broadly, and incorporate more enhanced features such as facial recognition and augmented reality.
There were fifteen such projects being shown, spread across a variety of topics and features but all focused on using, integrating, or involving the network. From a Remote Patient Monitoring project that incorporates video calls, tablets, and Bluetooth to keep doctors updated on patient vitals, to the Alpha API Platform which acts as a personal feedback system for developers, the projects displayed ingenious ideas designed to improve existing technology, or build on the existing network to provide new services and functionalities. Here are a few more projects that caught my eye yesterday.
There are a few things in this world that I passionately hate: the post office, the so-called “mid-season” break of television shows, and a phone tree are all high on that list. I don’t want to fight with robots; I just want to be connected to a person who can handle my problem. The Visual Interactive Voice Response was designed specifically to solve the difficulties of maneuvering through an automated messaging system by creating a visual navigation tree. Much like the difference between original voicemail and visual voicemail, Visual IVR lets you opt-in to a visual session by pressing a button; it then sends you an SMS message with a text link that leads you to the visual tree, which looks very similar to a mobile app. You can then navigate through the session to say, book a flight, or you can opt to connect to an agent to assist you. The best part is that you can change between the two seamlessly – the program can easily resume services right from where you left off so you won’t need to duplicate any steps.
Designed to be a highly accessible remote app for those with visual or hearing impairments, the U-Verse Easy Remote App responds to voice commands and is powered by AT&T Watson speech recognition technology. Speech is captured by the service, sent to the cloud servers, where it matches the speech to available programming and comes back with results. You can search for a program by name, or by the name of a cast member, and it will show a list of results that are currently on U-verse. The app uses AT&T Speech API to recognize a speaker and improve accuracy over time. It can remember favorite functions and recognize gestures, and it plays nice with the iPhone’s VoiceOver screen reader.
Another program using AT&T Watson speech technology, Text Translation, also takes advantage of AT&T’s extensive SMS services to “directly transcribe language for various applications.” Basically, when I type out a text in English and send it to my friend in Spain, the text arrives to him in Spanish and vice versa. The application uses regular SMS messages, and works by sending your messages to the cloud in AT&T’s network, where it translates them, and then sends the translated speech to the receiver, in real time. There’s no app to download, install, or open; it’s as simple as checking a box to indicate that you want the feature in your SMS messages. Going forward, there are plans to extend the reach of the project to include texts that the receiver can hear aloud, to work across multiple carriers.
Think of it as an always-on Google hang out, with cameras set all over the office – something even the developer himself admitted could enable some “potentially creepy privacy issues,” which they plan to address with both filters that allow you to put a slider on your visual presence, and an encryption of the videos. While you can go back and review video conversations that have happened in the past, you would need permission from all the video’s participants to do so. The goal is for distant coworkers to still be able to reap the benefits of collaboration, and enable a seamless connection between colleagues. Currently, it’s being used at AT&T Labs, in the future the plan is to deploy it more broadly, and incorporate more enhanced features such as facial recognition and augmented reality.
2012年9月25日星期二
The Ones You Love episode review
After last week’s less-than-satisfactory melodrama, Warehouse 13 improved this week with a fast-paced episode that’s clearly ramping up to next week’s midseason finale. At times it felt like the writers were trying to cram a whole lot into one hour with Claudia, Pete and Myka having their own separate storylines, but the ending (and oh man, what an ending) more than justified the means of keeping the agents away from the Warehouse.
It all starts with Artie double-checking the Warehouse shelves for Brother Adrian’s possible thievery when—surprise! Brother Adrian himself is lurking among the shelves. The two men struggle and set off a boomerang artifact, tripping the Warehouse alarm in the process. By the time Pete and Myka get to the scene, though, Brother Adrian has stalked off. It was at this moment when I realized something was fishy: nobody but Artie had seen Brother Adrian in person since the day that was erased from time.
Artie finally decides it’s time for no more secrets about Brother Adrian considering the new threat is to punish the agents (though apparently keeping the astrolabe secret is still okay with him). Sure enough, three artifacts have been shipped from Brother Adrian’s fake address, one each to a loved one of the agents: one to Pete’s ex-wife Amanda (returning guest star Jeri Ryan), Myka’s sister (Amy Acker), and Claudia’s brother Joshua.
Over in Rome, Mrs. Frederic and Steve are deep within the Vatican trying to investigate the Brotherhood of the Black Diamond. It’s not explained enough for me why the two of them specifically are there, but I stopped being concerned after the priest does a Diagon Alley with the secret entrance to the Brotherhood’s library. He hasn’t seen anyone there for months, and it looks like they didn’t plan to leave. I like the dynamic between Mrs. F. and Steve. They haven’t been together too much over the course of the show, but they have a mutual respect for each other that would make them a good team.
Meanwhile, Myka is visiting her pregnant sister Tracy, who has a weird green electricity thing going on with her eyes that she doesn’t seem to notice. In between catching up and fawning over her nursery, Myka attempts to neutralize all of the baby shower gifts, to no avail. She does manage to stain a white sweater set, though, while Tracy is busy making some poisonous tea. Amy Acker is really good at alternating between sweet and happy and possessed and murderous, I have to say. Her artifact problem could have easily been ridiculous in the hands of another actor, but Acker makes it just sinister enough to creep viewers (and Myka) out.
Pete is at the Marine base where Amanda is stationed, but she’s already been affected by whatever artifact got sent to her. All she received was an empty leather box, but she’s burning up with a 106 degree fever. The box doesn’t react to the neutralizer, so Pete has to get her to a hospital. I like the dynamic between Pete and Amanda. They got some of their weird ex-status baggage out of the way in the first episode to feature Amanda (last season’s “Queen for a Day”) and now they can just be close friends.
Claudia arrives at Joshua’s secret house to find him fully encased in amber in the middle of his living room. No wonder he didn’t answer his phone. Claudia naturally calls Leena for some home-base research, but Leena’s a little more concerned with the fact that Artie just armed himself with a gun and headed off into the depths of the Warehouse to find Brother Adrian. But she does her duty and researches amber-fying artifacts, sending Trailer after Artie instead. It turns out Joshua was affected by Pliny the Elder’s scroll, which is unfortunately still clenched in his amber-coated fist.
Back at Tracy’s house, Myka is trying to explain away the baby clothes damage while Tracy keeps pushing her to drink the poisoned tea. It spills as Myka struggles away to answer her Farnsworth and the tea melts a hole in the carpet. Myka, though officially on high alert, answers Pete’s call about Amanda’s condition. “She’s super hot,” Pete explains. “Yes, Pete, I’ve met her,” is Myka’s response. Props to the writers for not making it weird to have a woman find another woman attractive regardless of anyone’s sexuality involved. Myka is quickly distracted from Pete’s problem when she notices Tracy took a giant kitchen knife off the wall.
Nothing the doctors are doing is helping Amanda, and she admits to Pete in a small voice that she is actually scared of what’s happening to her. And Amanda is never scared. Jeri Ryan and Eddie McClintock do a great job in this scene; they have good chemistry, and both of them do well with the masked vulnerability each of their characters has. Pete notices Amanda’s shoulder tattoo is glowing, but she doesn’t have a tattoo. When he touches it, it crawls its way under his skin to his shoulder. Amanda is instantly cured, but now it’s Pete’s turn to burn up.
Artie, who is already busy trying to figure out how Brother Adrian hacked the Warehouse system, has to deal with two calls in succession from Myka and Pete. He suggests to Myka that it could be a sibling-specific artifact affecting Tracy, and he knows Pete’s new “Kotik” tattoo belonged to a Russian assassin considered to be history’s first suicide bomber. He has to cut the Farnsworth conferences short, however, with the sudden reappearance of Brother Adrian.
Pete braces himself for non-anesthetic tattoo removal at the hands of Amanda. The tattoo moves around whenever she tries to cut it with the knife, though, and within minutes, Pete is setting off the radiation detectors. He’s going to heat to critical mass and then explode. Not pleasant.
Claudia, armed only with Internet advice and a blowtorch, gets to work on Joshua’s hand holding the scroll. Mrs. Frederic and Steve are making headway in their investigation as well. Father Dominico hasn’t seen any Brotherhood members for months, and in their search for a secret panel, Steve gets sucked into a painting along with the missing Brothers.
Meanwhile Tracy goes after Myka with the kitchen knife but has to settle for tormenting her emotionally after Myka ties her to the crib with monkey stuffed animals. Possessed, Tracy attacks Myka’s appearance, singlehood, and high school dork status while Myka frantically searches for the artifact. I wish this episode allotted more time for Myka’s inner conflict here; it can’t be easy for her to revert back to her high school role of “the unpopular sister,” but there’s no time for dwelling on internal problems.
Faced with no other option, Amanda takes Pete back to the base to a containment center that will contain the blast when the tattoo finishes its work. She wells up at the thought of him facing his death alone in there, and assures him she never stopped loving him. Pete bravely closes the door and immediately calls Myka on the Farnsworth to say goodbye. Eddie McClintock really nails the almost-tearful goodbye to his partner; I just really hope we never have to see him do it again. Myka helps him figure out that he can transfer the tattoo back to the original leather box sent to Amanda, and Pete is saved. Amanda is a little embarrassed by her confession when he emerges alive and well, but their relationship shifts back to easy, friendly teasing.
It all starts with Artie double-checking the Warehouse shelves for Brother Adrian’s possible thievery when—surprise! Brother Adrian himself is lurking among the shelves. The two men struggle and set off a boomerang artifact, tripping the Warehouse alarm in the process. By the time Pete and Myka get to the scene, though, Brother Adrian has stalked off. It was at this moment when I realized something was fishy: nobody but Artie had seen Brother Adrian in person since the day that was erased from time.
Artie finally decides it’s time for no more secrets about Brother Adrian considering the new threat is to punish the agents (though apparently keeping the astrolabe secret is still okay with him). Sure enough, three artifacts have been shipped from Brother Adrian’s fake address, one each to a loved one of the agents: one to Pete’s ex-wife Amanda (returning guest star Jeri Ryan), Myka’s sister (Amy Acker), and Claudia’s brother Joshua.
Over in Rome, Mrs. Frederic and Steve are deep within the Vatican trying to investigate the Brotherhood of the Black Diamond. It’s not explained enough for me why the two of them specifically are there, but I stopped being concerned after the priest does a Diagon Alley with the secret entrance to the Brotherhood’s library. He hasn’t seen anyone there for months, and it looks like they didn’t plan to leave. I like the dynamic between Mrs. F. and Steve. They haven’t been together too much over the course of the show, but they have a mutual respect for each other that would make them a good team.
Meanwhile, Myka is visiting her pregnant sister Tracy, who has a weird green electricity thing going on with her eyes that she doesn’t seem to notice. In between catching up and fawning over her nursery, Myka attempts to neutralize all of the baby shower gifts, to no avail. She does manage to stain a white sweater set, though, while Tracy is busy making some poisonous tea. Amy Acker is really good at alternating between sweet and happy and possessed and murderous, I have to say. Her artifact problem could have easily been ridiculous in the hands of another actor, but Acker makes it just sinister enough to creep viewers (and Myka) out.
Pete is at the Marine base where Amanda is stationed, but she’s already been affected by whatever artifact got sent to her. All she received was an empty leather box, but she’s burning up with a 106 degree fever. The box doesn’t react to the neutralizer, so Pete has to get her to a hospital. I like the dynamic between Pete and Amanda. They got some of their weird ex-status baggage out of the way in the first episode to feature Amanda (last season’s “Queen for a Day”) and now they can just be close friends.
Claudia arrives at Joshua’s secret house to find him fully encased in amber in the middle of his living room. No wonder he didn’t answer his phone. Claudia naturally calls Leena for some home-base research, but Leena’s a little more concerned with the fact that Artie just armed himself with a gun and headed off into the depths of the Warehouse to find Brother Adrian. But she does her duty and researches amber-fying artifacts, sending Trailer after Artie instead. It turns out Joshua was affected by Pliny the Elder’s scroll, which is unfortunately still clenched in his amber-coated fist.
Back at Tracy’s house, Myka is trying to explain away the baby clothes damage while Tracy keeps pushing her to drink the poisoned tea. It spills as Myka struggles away to answer her Farnsworth and the tea melts a hole in the carpet. Myka, though officially on high alert, answers Pete’s call about Amanda’s condition. “She’s super hot,” Pete explains. “Yes, Pete, I’ve met her,” is Myka’s response. Props to the writers for not making it weird to have a woman find another woman attractive regardless of anyone’s sexuality involved. Myka is quickly distracted from Pete’s problem when she notices Tracy took a giant kitchen knife off the wall.
Nothing the doctors are doing is helping Amanda, and she admits to Pete in a small voice that she is actually scared of what’s happening to her. And Amanda is never scared. Jeri Ryan and Eddie McClintock do a great job in this scene; they have good chemistry, and both of them do well with the masked vulnerability each of their characters has. Pete notices Amanda’s shoulder tattoo is glowing, but she doesn’t have a tattoo. When he touches it, it crawls its way under his skin to his shoulder. Amanda is instantly cured, but now it’s Pete’s turn to burn up.
Artie, who is already busy trying to figure out how Brother Adrian hacked the Warehouse system, has to deal with two calls in succession from Myka and Pete. He suggests to Myka that it could be a sibling-specific artifact affecting Tracy, and he knows Pete’s new “Kotik” tattoo belonged to a Russian assassin considered to be history’s first suicide bomber. He has to cut the Farnsworth conferences short, however, with the sudden reappearance of Brother Adrian.
Pete braces himself for non-anesthetic tattoo removal at the hands of Amanda. The tattoo moves around whenever she tries to cut it with the knife, though, and within minutes, Pete is setting off the radiation detectors. He’s going to heat to critical mass and then explode. Not pleasant.
Claudia, armed only with Internet advice and a blowtorch, gets to work on Joshua’s hand holding the scroll. Mrs. Frederic and Steve are making headway in their investigation as well. Father Dominico hasn’t seen any Brotherhood members for months, and in their search for a secret panel, Steve gets sucked into a painting along with the missing Brothers.
Meanwhile Tracy goes after Myka with the kitchen knife but has to settle for tormenting her emotionally after Myka ties her to the crib with monkey stuffed animals. Possessed, Tracy attacks Myka’s appearance, singlehood, and high school dork status while Myka frantically searches for the artifact. I wish this episode allotted more time for Myka’s inner conflict here; it can’t be easy for her to revert back to her high school role of “the unpopular sister,” but there’s no time for dwelling on internal problems.
Faced with no other option, Amanda takes Pete back to the base to a containment center that will contain the blast when the tattoo finishes its work. She wells up at the thought of him facing his death alone in there, and assures him she never stopped loving him. Pete bravely closes the door and immediately calls Myka on the Farnsworth to say goodbye. Eddie McClintock really nails the almost-tearful goodbye to his partner; I just really hope we never have to see him do it again. Myka helps him figure out that he can transfer the tattoo back to the original leather box sent to Amanda, and Pete is saved. Amanda is a little embarrassed by her confession when he emerges alive and well, but their relationship shifts back to easy, friendly teasing.
2012年9月24日星期一
Burger Chain's Parsippany Sneak Peek Is a Smash
The 11th New Jersey Smashburger franchise officially opens in the Troy Hills Shopping Center in Parsippany Thursday, but residents had an opportunity Monday afternoon and evening for an early taste of what the chain restaurant has to offer.
There was excitement in the dining room as patrons who had received e-mailed invitations to attend lined up to try out Smashburger's burgers, chicken sandwiches and fries.
Server Mike Calderone said he was feeling the excitement too.
"I love this," he exclaimed. "The spirit is great!"
He said the spirit carries over to his feelings for working for Smashburger.
"It's a great place to work," he said.
Cashier Brandon Black, who has worked for the company for only three weeks, agreed.
"Smashburger is all about family and helping people," he said, noting that the sneak peek event was doing double duty by serving as a fundraiser for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.
"We recently sent a lot of food to the Market Street Mission in Morristown," Black said. "They were so grateful and we helped a lot of people. We really believe in giving back to the community."
And apparently, to employees too.
Company trainer Diana Paredes told Patch that though she is but 19 years old, she has spent the last two years moving up the ladder at Smashburger.
"The company is growing," she said. "If you're responsible and a hard worker, you get rewarded. If you're here two years, it's because you've shown a commitment to giving excellent customer service."
Scott Gillman, CEO of Mascott Corporation, which owns all of the New Jersey branches, told Patch that the commitment to service is a bit of a corporate obsession.
"We like to say we're obssessive about serving our guests," Gillman said. "We're not going to be perfect for every person every time, but if someone is not enjoying the experience, or if they ordered something they didn't particularly care for, we'll go to the table and try to get them something else right away or do what it takes to help them have a great time.
"We try to create a surprisingly nice experience for our guests in a restaurant where the average check is eight or nine dollars," he continued. "In today's economy, a lot of people go to a casual dining place that's a little more expensive and are a little disappointed—the food's OK, the service is fair. We're just trying to do a great job with the food and the service."
According to Gillman, the classic Smashburger is an obvious focus of the franchise, but he said the real priority is offering variety to customers, in the form of alternate versions of the standard burgers, chicken, salads and fries that are available, along with a number of alternate side dishes.
And he echoed Paredes' sentiment about the company's dedication to the people who work for Smashburger.
"We want to promote from within as much as possible," he said. "I opened the original one, in Montclair, in December 2009, and in the past two and a half years, we've seen people move up from the line to being a general manager."
As far as company growth goes, Mascott's CEO said that when he joined the firm as its first franchisee, there were four stores. At the time he opened his Montclair location, there were about 40. Now, he said, there are approximately 170.
"It's been a very fast-growing concept," he said.
Gillman said Parsippany is a perfect location for the chain.
"We want to be in towns with a big daytime population, and because so many people come to work in Parsippany, in offices and retail, it makes it ideal," he explained. "And it's a great neighborhood. We like to be in the center of our towns, so this location, on Route 46, works well for us."
There was excitement in the dining room as patrons who had received e-mailed invitations to attend lined up to try out Smashburger's burgers, chicken sandwiches and fries.
Server Mike Calderone said he was feeling the excitement too.
"I love this," he exclaimed. "The spirit is great!"
He said the spirit carries over to his feelings for working for Smashburger.
"It's a great place to work," he said.
Cashier Brandon Black, who has worked for the company for only three weeks, agreed.
"Smashburger is all about family and helping people," he said, noting that the sneak peek event was doing double duty by serving as a fundraiser for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.
"We recently sent a lot of food to the Market Street Mission in Morristown," Black said. "They were so grateful and we helped a lot of people. We really believe in giving back to the community."
And apparently, to employees too.
Company trainer Diana Paredes told Patch that though she is but 19 years old, she has spent the last two years moving up the ladder at Smashburger.
"The company is growing," she said. "If you're responsible and a hard worker, you get rewarded. If you're here two years, it's because you've shown a commitment to giving excellent customer service."
Scott Gillman, CEO of Mascott Corporation, which owns all of the New Jersey branches, told Patch that the commitment to service is a bit of a corporate obsession.
"We like to say we're obssessive about serving our guests," Gillman said. "We're not going to be perfect for every person every time, but if someone is not enjoying the experience, or if they ordered something they didn't particularly care for, we'll go to the table and try to get them something else right away or do what it takes to help them have a great time.
"We try to create a surprisingly nice experience for our guests in a restaurant where the average check is eight or nine dollars," he continued. "In today's economy, a lot of people go to a casual dining place that's a little more expensive and are a little disappointed—the food's OK, the service is fair. We're just trying to do a great job with the food and the service."
According to Gillman, the classic Smashburger is an obvious focus of the franchise, but he said the real priority is offering variety to customers, in the form of alternate versions of the standard burgers, chicken, salads and fries that are available, along with a number of alternate side dishes.
And he echoed Paredes' sentiment about the company's dedication to the people who work for Smashburger.
"We want to promote from within as much as possible," he said. "I opened the original one, in Montclair, in December 2009, and in the past two and a half years, we've seen people move up from the line to being a general manager."
As far as company growth goes, Mascott's CEO said that when he joined the firm as its first franchisee, there were four stores. At the time he opened his Montclair location, there were about 40. Now, he said, there are approximately 170.
"It's been a very fast-growing concept," he said.
Gillman said Parsippany is a perfect location for the chain.
"We want to be in towns with a big daytime population, and because so many people come to work in Parsippany, in offices and retail, it makes it ideal," he explained. "And it's a great neighborhood. We like to be in the center of our towns, so this location, on Route 46, works well for us."
2012年9月20日星期四
Concierge Auctions and Montana Living
Ponderosa Ranch, a 180-acre sportsman's paradise located in Montana's Madison River Basin, a property, has gone under contract through Concierge Auctions. The NYC-based real estate auction firm, which has sold multiple ranch properties out West in recent months, sold the ranch estate in cooperation with Martha Johnson of Montana Living ~ Big Sky Real Estate. Johnson represented both the seller and buyer.
"I've had extensive experience selling cars and art through auction. Now, having successfully used the process to sell Ponderosa Ranch, Concierge will undoubtedly be a first consideration the next time I plan for a significant real estate transaction, whether buying or selling," stated the seller, John Staluppi, Jr. "The Concierge staff are seasoned professionals and identified hundreds of interested buyers from around the world in just one month's time. I was pleased with the entire experience and wish the new owners many years of enjoyment with the property."
Concierge Auctions' global exposure campaign generated 901 inquiries and 32 showings over a four-week marketing period. The auction website received an impressive 30,000+ visitors from all US states led by California, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Colorado and 126 international countries led by Canada, the UK, Australia, Singapore and Mexico. The buyer is from New Orleans.
"Having worked with Concierge Auctions twice in the past year at the prestigious Yellowstone Club and The Club at Spanish Peaks in nearby Big Sky, it's clear that their team effectively fosters quick sales to highly qualified luxury buyers," stated Martha Johnson, Broker/Owner of Montana Living ~ Big Sky Real Estate. "Ponderosa Ranch is a luxury sporting ranch that demanded a sophisticated buyer. In the end, working as a team, we found the ideal family with an appreciation for its countless amenities, its location being surrounded by a national forest and its proximity to the best blue ribbon trout streams in the world."
Poised majestically along Montana's Raynolds Pass, a gateway to Yellowstone National Park and mere minutes from some of the best fly fishing in the world, Ponderosa Ranch boasts views of the extraordinary Gravelly and Madison Mountain Ranges and Henry's Lake. The landscape hosts an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers with one edge bordering National Forest and another backing up to the state of Idaho. With a combined total of over 25,000 square feet, the houses at the Ponderosa Ranch can easily accommodate a group of over 25 family members and guests. The Great House is a 9,000-square-foot log cabin-style home, built in 1997 and expanded upon and updated in 2010. The six-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bathroom property features state-of-the-art workmanship with panoramic views from every window, vaulted ceilings and an impressive Montana granite fireplace. There is radiant floor heat throughout, private decks, a Jacuzzi and a three-car, attached garage. The five-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom Guest House contains 6,000 square feet and has all the details and finishes of the Great House on a slightly smaller scale. Residents can literally hunt off the front porch and fish in the 1/4-acre pond stocked with more than 300 rainbow trout. Snowmobiling and four-wheeling is also popular, and there is a year-round saltwater pool accessible from the main house via an enclosed walkway. The game room is complete with a billiards table, bar and exercise facilities, and there is an outdoor spa. Also on the property is a caretaker's cottage with two bedrooms, three bathrooms and two-and-a-half-car garage.
"Concierge Auctions has a proven track record of successfully selling luxury high-end properties including ranches, which fit our mold as each is distinct and one-of-a-kind," stated Laura Brady, Vice President of Marketing for Concierge Auctions. "Mr. Staluppi and his family are ideal clients, as they understand the intricacies and effectiveness of the auction process. Now, just weeks after announcing the auctions of Ponderosa Ranch and Paintbrush Ranch - the Staluppi family's other ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming - both are now heading to the closing table."
"I've had extensive experience selling cars and art through auction. Now, having successfully used the process to sell Ponderosa Ranch, Concierge will undoubtedly be a first consideration the next time I plan for a significant real estate transaction, whether buying or selling," stated the seller, John Staluppi, Jr. "The Concierge staff are seasoned professionals and identified hundreds of interested buyers from around the world in just one month's time. I was pleased with the entire experience and wish the new owners many years of enjoyment with the property."
Concierge Auctions' global exposure campaign generated 901 inquiries and 32 showings over a four-week marketing period. The auction website received an impressive 30,000+ visitors from all US states led by California, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Colorado and 126 international countries led by Canada, the UK, Australia, Singapore and Mexico. The buyer is from New Orleans.
"Having worked with Concierge Auctions twice in the past year at the prestigious Yellowstone Club and The Club at Spanish Peaks in nearby Big Sky, it's clear that their team effectively fosters quick sales to highly qualified luxury buyers," stated Martha Johnson, Broker/Owner of Montana Living ~ Big Sky Real Estate. "Ponderosa Ranch is a luxury sporting ranch that demanded a sophisticated buyer. In the end, working as a team, we found the ideal family with an appreciation for its countless amenities, its location being surrounded by a national forest and its proximity to the best blue ribbon trout streams in the world."
Poised majestically along Montana's Raynolds Pass, a gateway to Yellowstone National Park and mere minutes from some of the best fly fishing in the world, Ponderosa Ranch boasts views of the extraordinary Gravelly and Madison Mountain Ranges and Henry's Lake. The landscape hosts an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers with one edge bordering National Forest and another backing up to the state of Idaho. With a combined total of over 25,000 square feet, the houses at the Ponderosa Ranch can easily accommodate a group of over 25 family members and guests. The Great House is a 9,000-square-foot log cabin-style home, built in 1997 and expanded upon and updated in 2010. The six-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bathroom property features state-of-the-art workmanship with panoramic views from every window, vaulted ceilings and an impressive Montana granite fireplace. There is radiant floor heat throughout, private decks, a Jacuzzi and a three-car, attached garage. The five-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom Guest House contains 6,000 square feet and has all the details and finishes of the Great House on a slightly smaller scale. Residents can literally hunt off the front porch and fish in the 1/4-acre pond stocked with more than 300 rainbow trout. Snowmobiling and four-wheeling is also popular, and there is a year-round saltwater pool accessible from the main house via an enclosed walkway. The game room is complete with a billiards table, bar and exercise facilities, and there is an outdoor spa. Also on the property is a caretaker's cottage with two bedrooms, three bathrooms and two-and-a-half-car garage.
"Concierge Auctions has a proven track record of successfully selling luxury high-end properties including ranches, which fit our mold as each is distinct and one-of-a-kind," stated Laura Brady, Vice President of Marketing for Concierge Auctions. "Mr. Staluppi and his family are ideal clients, as they understand the intricacies and effectiveness of the auction process. Now, just weeks after announcing the auctions of Ponderosa Ranch and Paintbrush Ranch - the Staluppi family's other ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming - both are now heading to the closing table."
2012年9月18日星期二
Researchers tag great white sharks off Cape Cod
The scientists and fishermen on board the Ocearch, a repurposed crabbing vessel, received word that their scouting boat had hooked a great white shark, sparking a flurry of activity.
They were about to get up close and personal with the animal, more than 2,000 pounds and nearly 15 feet long.
"I'm nervous," said state shark expert Greg Skomal, who has tagged great whites, but never like this, never this close.
The Ocearch crew tags great white sharks in an unorthodox way. Unlike Skomal's team, which has tagged a dozen great whites off the Massachusetts coast with harpoons, Chris Fischer's Ocearch crew baits the fish and leads them onto a large platform that lifts them out of the water for tagging and collecting blood, tissue and semen samples.
Ocearch, a nonprofit research organization named for a combination of "ocean" and "research," is crewed mainly by sport fishermen. It is funded by sponsors and donors, and a South Africa expedition was the subject of History channel's "Shark Wranglers."
Now, Ocearch has come to Cape Cod for a few weeks, minus the reality show and plus local scientists, to help shed light on the sharks' migration patterns, protect breeding and birthing sites, improve public safety and raise awareness about the threatened species that is a rising presence in the area.
"We have massive knowledge gaps about how to protect their future," said Fischer, Ocearch's expedition leader.
Ocearch's real-time satellite tags last five years. Each time sharks' dorsal fins breaks the surface, the tags ping a satellite and mark an online map, accessible to researchers and the public.
The work is dangerous for both man and fish. One shark died on the lift in South Africa. The crew tries to return sharks to the water within 15 minutes.
"I used to be nervous of what they'd do to me," co-captain Jody Whitworth said. "Now I worry that we'll hurt them."
The Cape Cod expedition faces another challenge: finding the fish.
While great white sightings have risen near Cape Cod, they are much more common off South Africa or Australia.
Skomal estimates 30 great whites roam the Cape Cod coast on any given day. The Ocearch crew hopes to tag five.
Protecting these sharks is key, researchers say.
"These predators keep the next lower level in check," said Bob Hueter, of Mote Marine Laboratory, one of the research organizations working with the Cape Cod expedition. "It's a system of checks and balances."
The great white is the "lion of the ocean," keeping seal, squid and fish populations in check, Fischer said. But it's also the shark that people are most interested in, making it a gateway for ocean conservation and advocacy, he said.
Catching a shark starts with chum, drawing sharks to the boat by placing whale blubber and other shark favorites in the water a mile out from the ship.
Fischer says the crew doesn't draw sharks, as critics have claimed, but merely leads nearby sharks to the boat.
Most of Fischer's crew spends each day on a boat barely bigger than the great whites, traveling among chum locations and looking for sharks.
Just after dusk on Sept. 13, they spotted a great white and hooked it. Then, the small boat's crew slowly led the shark four miles to the 126-foot Ocearch.
Ocearch Capt. Brett McBride guided the shark onto the wooden platform with metal sides. Barefoot, he jumped in too. The lift slowly rose out of the water, level with Ocearch's deck.
The shark thrashed and bared her teeth as the water receded, curving her head and tail into the air.
McBride threw a wet towel over her eyes and removed the two-foot hook from her mouth. He pumped water over her gills with two large hoses.
The crew jumped onto the lift in their jeans and long-sleeve shirts, and the clock began.
They measured the fish — 14 feet, 8 inches and 2,292 pounds — and screwed the satellite tag, an accelerometer and an acoustic tag onto her dorsal fin with a power drill. Researchers collected blood and tissue samples.
McBride named the female shark Genie after renowned shark researcher Eugenie Clark.
After nearly 15 minutes, everybody scrambled off as the lift was lowered back into the water.
McBride grabbed Genie's tail and slowly guided her back into the ocean. They were done in 16 minutes flat. Genie drifted down into the dark water. The crew clinked beer cans and soda cups.
"That one shark alone was worth the trip," McBride said, noting she might lead researchers to breeding and birthing sites. "Any time we tag a great white shark it adds tremendous information to what we already know, which is very little."
They were about to get up close and personal with the animal, more than 2,000 pounds and nearly 15 feet long.
"I'm nervous," said state shark expert Greg Skomal, who has tagged great whites, but never like this, never this close.
The Ocearch crew tags great white sharks in an unorthodox way. Unlike Skomal's team, which has tagged a dozen great whites off the Massachusetts coast with harpoons, Chris Fischer's Ocearch crew baits the fish and leads them onto a large platform that lifts them out of the water for tagging and collecting blood, tissue and semen samples.
Ocearch, a nonprofit research organization named for a combination of "ocean" and "research," is crewed mainly by sport fishermen. It is funded by sponsors and donors, and a South Africa expedition was the subject of History channel's "Shark Wranglers."
Now, Ocearch has come to Cape Cod for a few weeks, minus the reality show and plus local scientists, to help shed light on the sharks' migration patterns, protect breeding and birthing sites, improve public safety and raise awareness about the threatened species that is a rising presence in the area.
"We have massive knowledge gaps about how to protect their future," said Fischer, Ocearch's expedition leader.
Ocearch's real-time satellite tags last five years. Each time sharks' dorsal fins breaks the surface, the tags ping a satellite and mark an online map, accessible to researchers and the public.
The work is dangerous for both man and fish. One shark died on the lift in South Africa. The crew tries to return sharks to the water within 15 minutes.
"I used to be nervous of what they'd do to me," co-captain Jody Whitworth said. "Now I worry that we'll hurt them."
The Cape Cod expedition faces another challenge: finding the fish.
While great white sightings have risen near Cape Cod, they are much more common off South Africa or Australia.
Skomal estimates 30 great whites roam the Cape Cod coast on any given day. The Ocearch crew hopes to tag five.
Protecting these sharks is key, researchers say.
"These predators keep the next lower level in check," said Bob Hueter, of Mote Marine Laboratory, one of the research organizations working with the Cape Cod expedition. "It's a system of checks and balances."
The great white is the "lion of the ocean," keeping seal, squid and fish populations in check, Fischer said. But it's also the shark that people are most interested in, making it a gateway for ocean conservation and advocacy, he said.
Catching a shark starts with chum, drawing sharks to the boat by placing whale blubber and other shark favorites in the water a mile out from the ship.
Fischer says the crew doesn't draw sharks, as critics have claimed, but merely leads nearby sharks to the boat.
Most of Fischer's crew spends each day on a boat barely bigger than the great whites, traveling among chum locations and looking for sharks.
Just after dusk on Sept. 13, they spotted a great white and hooked it. Then, the small boat's crew slowly led the shark four miles to the 126-foot Ocearch.
Ocearch Capt. Brett McBride guided the shark onto the wooden platform with metal sides. Barefoot, he jumped in too. The lift slowly rose out of the water, level with Ocearch's deck.
The shark thrashed and bared her teeth as the water receded, curving her head and tail into the air.
McBride threw a wet towel over her eyes and removed the two-foot hook from her mouth. He pumped water over her gills with two large hoses.
The crew jumped onto the lift in their jeans and long-sleeve shirts, and the clock began.
They measured the fish — 14 feet, 8 inches and 2,292 pounds — and screwed the satellite tag, an accelerometer and an acoustic tag onto her dorsal fin with a power drill. Researchers collected blood and tissue samples.
McBride named the female shark Genie after renowned shark researcher Eugenie Clark.
After nearly 15 minutes, everybody scrambled off as the lift was lowered back into the water.
McBride grabbed Genie's tail and slowly guided her back into the ocean. They were done in 16 minutes flat. Genie drifted down into the dark water. The crew clinked beer cans and soda cups.
"That one shark alone was worth the trip," McBride said, noting she might lead researchers to breeding and birthing sites. "Any time we tag a great white shark it adds tremendous information to what we already know, which is very little."
2012年9月17日星期一
Ascend Right Now That You Couldn't Do a Month Ago
Ascend remains one of our favorite free-to-play shooters, in part because of the fast-and-furious pace that Hi-Rez is making tweaks and adding new stuff. The last two updates made major changes that have jolted players out of their comfort zones with disruptive new gear and modes, giving us a ton of new tactics to make use of and counter. Here are some of the best game-changing things I've seen and done in Tribes that just weren't possible before.
Blitz mode isn't complex on the surface: every time your flag is captured by the enemy team, it respawns at a new location -- often times one that's easier to defend (and consequently harder for enemies to grab). This simple mechanic changes nearly every tactic, from where to place a defensive turret to the routes you take to get speed for a quick flag grab. On the Drydock map, one flag location is set up in the middle of the main bunker, or as I call it, the meat grinder. This bottleneck funnels enemy flag carriers into a tight spot which is perfect for my sadistic need for spamming Juggernaut mortar shells and Brute fractal grenades. I racked up a ton of explosive kills quickly while my team turned a zero-to-four score into an exciting five-to-four comeback.
Playing the Technician can feel like you're juggling 10 things at once. You have to defend the generator, repair base turrets, replace your own deployable turrets as they're destroyed, repair the base radar dish, all while avoiding and killing every piece of enemy shazbot flying your way. The new repair kit -- a belt item that will automatically repair any base structure near where it's deployed -- allows me to be in two places at once. I plop down the little machine next to a turret and attend to other repairs or the defense of our generator while it does the busywork. Likewise, I've found that placing a repair kit next to my deployable light turret helps give it a little extra time to put the hurt on the enemy -- it won't save the turret from a direct Spinfusor hit, but every little bit helps.
An alternative to the deployable light turret, the new EXR rocket turret is a great mechanism of destruction for the second or third Technician on the battlefield. The advantage of an EXR becomes obvious in the halls of a generator room when combined with other Tech's light turrets. Tight corridors make the rockets' splash damage more effective, and each rocket has enough knockback to disorient unprepared invaders. I try and place these turrets in tight corners that are harder for the enemy to quickly check on their way to the generator. They may not be terribly lethal on their own, but a few rockets to the backside will give you and the light turrets some extra time to frag the intruder.
This is by far my favorite primary Technician weapon: the TC24 fires short-ranged explosive rounds, and carries four shots per magazine. The damage is lighter than the fan-favorite Thumper, but the high fire rate (due to a lack of reloading after every shot) makes it an excellent choice when I'm stuck in a tight spot against jerks trying to blow up my generator. The TC24 has great splash damage, and the sheer size of the projectile size makes it easier to score Air Mail accolades against those annoying players hovering in the sky, and those hits give just enough knockback to keep the enemy on their toes while trying to return fire. The best aspect of this weapon is that it allows you to use the air to your advantage, much like the TCN4 SMG does. My favorite position is directly above the enemy, raining down one explosive clip after another.
Yes, Permafrost and Dangerous Crossing are old maps to the Tribes universe, but now you can play them in Tribes: Ascend quick-play rotation. Dangerous Crossing is my new (old) favorite -- steep rolling hills make it easy for heavy and light classes to move quickly to the enemy base, which is quite possibly the simplest base design in any Tribes: Ascend map. The base only allows for side-to-side flag capture routes, there is no generator, and only a solitary base turret. This means more people are defending an already easy-to-defend flag, and the result is a spectacular game of CTF.
Sentinel was my favorite class early on -- I loved the power of sniping down attempted enemy flag carriers just before they could get their hands on my precious piece of cloth. Unfortunately, my micro-aiming skills aren't the best, so I need a gun that makes every hit count. This is where the new SAP20 sniper rifle comes in handy: it's a modified version of the older Phase Rifle that uses more energy per shot and has a smaller clip size, but the tradeoff is a whopping 575 maximum damage per shot -- if you connect, they'll really feel it. The only real downside to this beauty was the constant whining of players I shot right out of the sky.
When the enemies get close, nothing helps defend your favorite camping spot better than a powerful shotgun. The aptly named Accurized Shotgun is a satisfying alternative to the Sentinel's Nova Pistols and Falcon SMG. It has better accuracy than any other shotgun, still and packs a nice punch. I love using this gun on bulkier, easier-to-hit heavy classes after I weaken them down with my SAP20 -- a well placed shot can land a total of 560 damage, just enough to put some doubt into anyone looking for a revenge kill.
Blitz mode isn't complex on the surface: every time your flag is captured by the enemy team, it respawns at a new location -- often times one that's easier to defend (and consequently harder for enemies to grab). This simple mechanic changes nearly every tactic, from where to place a defensive turret to the routes you take to get speed for a quick flag grab. On the Drydock map, one flag location is set up in the middle of the main bunker, or as I call it, the meat grinder. This bottleneck funnels enemy flag carriers into a tight spot which is perfect for my sadistic need for spamming Juggernaut mortar shells and Brute fractal grenades. I racked up a ton of explosive kills quickly while my team turned a zero-to-four score into an exciting five-to-four comeback.
Playing the Technician can feel like you're juggling 10 things at once. You have to defend the generator, repair base turrets, replace your own deployable turrets as they're destroyed, repair the base radar dish, all while avoiding and killing every piece of enemy shazbot flying your way. The new repair kit -- a belt item that will automatically repair any base structure near where it's deployed -- allows me to be in two places at once. I plop down the little machine next to a turret and attend to other repairs or the defense of our generator while it does the busywork. Likewise, I've found that placing a repair kit next to my deployable light turret helps give it a little extra time to put the hurt on the enemy -- it won't save the turret from a direct Spinfusor hit, but every little bit helps.
An alternative to the deployable light turret, the new EXR rocket turret is a great mechanism of destruction for the second or third Technician on the battlefield. The advantage of an EXR becomes obvious in the halls of a generator room when combined with other Tech's light turrets. Tight corridors make the rockets' splash damage more effective, and each rocket has enough knockback to disorient unprepared invaders. I try and place these turrets in tight corners that are harder for the enemy to quickly check on their way to the generator. They may not be terribly lethal on their own, but a few rockets to the backside will give you and the light turrets some extra time to frag the intruder.
This is by far my favorite primary Technician weapon: the TC24 fires short-ranged explosive rounds, and carries four shots per magazine. The damage is lighter than the fan-favorite Thumper, but the high fire rate (due to a lack of reloading after every shot) makes it an excellent choice when I'm stuck in a tight spot against jerks trying to blow up my generator. The TC24 has great splash damage, and the sheer size of the projectile size makes it easier to score Air Mail accolades against those annoying players hovering in the sky, and those hits give just enough knockback to keep the enemy on their toes while trying to return fire. The best aspect of this weapon is that it allows you to use the air to your advantage, much like the TCN4 SMG does. My favorite position is directly above the enemy, raining down one explosive clip after another.
Yes, Permafrost and Dangerous Crossing are old maps to the Tribes universe, but now you can play them in Tribes: Ascend quick-play rotation. Dangerous Crossing is my new (old) favorite -- steep rolling hills make it easy for heavy and light classes to move quickly to the enemy base, which is quite possibly the simplest base design in any Tribes: Ascend map. The base only allows for side-to-side flag capture routes, there is no generator, and only a solitary base turret. This means more people are defending an already easy-to-defend flag, and the result is a spectacular game of CTF.
Sentinel was my favorite class early on -- I loved the power of sniping down attempted enemy flag carriers just before they could get their hands on my precious piece of cloth. Unfortunately, my micro-aiming skills aren't the best, so I need a gun that makes every hit count. This is where the new SAP20 sniper rifle comes in handy: it's a modified version of the older Phase Rifle that uses more energy per shot and has a smaller clip size, but the tradeoff is a whopping 575 maximum damage per shot -- if you connect, they'll really feel it. The only real downside to this beauty was the constant whining of players I shot right out of the sky.
When the enemies get close, nothing helps defend your favorite camping spot better than a powerful shotgun. The aptly named Accurized Shotgun is a satisfying alternative to the Sentinel's Nova Pistols and Falcon SMG. It has better accuracy than any other shotgun, still and packs a nice punch. I love using this gun on bulkier, easier-to-hit heavy classes after I weaken them down with my SAP20 -- a well placed shot can land a total of 560 damage, just enough to put some doubt into anyone looking for a revenge kill.
2012年9月13日星期四
New Kindle Fire a delight
It worked. The new Fire, which Amazon will alpha shipment on Friday, is basically the old Fire done appreciably better, with a sleeker body, a bigger video screen, and decidedly acceptable sound. With a starting amount of $199 for a adaptation with 16 gigabytes of memory, or $249 with 32 gigs, it should accord its abutting rival, Google Inc.’s Nexus 7 tablet, affluence of competition. But the Fire’s got abundant annoying weaknesses to accumulate it durably in additional place.
The aboriginal Fire’s artificial physique addled me as a little crude. Amazon’s done far bigger this time, giving it cone-shaped edges and a firm, bland backside. The old Fire managed apostle aggregate with a touchscreen control; the Fire HD evidently retreats to an old-school pushbutton control. The new Fire comes with a front-facing camera, advised for videoconferencing through software apps like Skype. There’s an HDMI anchorage appropriate alongside the abiding USB connection. With HDMI, you can play downloaded movies on your agenda TV.
Movies looked albino and chapped on the old adaptation but are abundant bigger here, acknowledgment to a 1280-by-800 screen. Still, while watching Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, I begin the images a little fuzzy, absolutely not up to iPad standards. But the upgraded complete arrangement from Dolby Laboratories Inc. is as clear, rich, and, yes, loud, as I’ve heard from any tablet.
Battery activity seemed decent; afterwards a day of harder use, including a affection movie, the Fire HD still had about 25 percent power.
Amazon alien the aboriginal Kindle aback in 2007 as a authentic e-book reader, with an eye-friendly black-and-white screen. The backlit LCD awning on the Fire HD isn’t as adapted to reading; a abstraction arise endure anniversary by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute warned that account on a backlit awning at night can ruin your sleep. Still, the Fire HD gives you acceptable affidavit to yield the risk. Of course, you can accept from abounding bags of titles. But you aswell get a brace of adorable new features.
One is X-Ray, a array of super-index that provides all-embracing advice on people, places, and contest mentioned in a book, abundant of it acquired from the online album Wikipedia. While browsing through Charles Duhigg’s album book “The Ability of Habit,” I was able to attending up biographical data on 59 humans whose names arise in its pages. X-Ray isn’t accessible for every Amazon title, but afterwards application it you’ll ambition it was.
Another acute e-book affection integrates the accounting and announced words. I downloaded Chester Himes’s abomination atypical “A Rage in Harlem,” and for about $4 added I got the audiobook version, apprehend by Samuel L. Jackson. You can apprehend and accept at the aforementioned time — the words are accent on your awning as Jackson reads them — or just listen. You can aswell play the account at up to three times accustomed acceleration if you’re in a hurry. Amazon calls the arrangement “immersive reading,” apparently because it hopes to absorb us for a few added bucks. It ability work, too; I absolutely enjoyed it.
I didn’t even apperception the commercials. As on added Kindle editions, Amazon sells ad amplitude on the Fire HD. The ads arise alone if you deathwatch the accessory out of beddy-bye mode. I begin them absolutely calm and even attractive. And the ads helped authority down the Fire HD’s price. But some consumers wish an ad-free version, and Amazon has agreed to accommodate one, for an added fee of $15.
Then again, Google sells its Nexus 7 for the aforementioned amount as the Fire, after abashing the awning with ads. The Nexus 7 gives you abounding admission to the apps in the Google Play online store. The Kindle Fire offers alone a abate alternative of Amazon-approved apps. The Kindle Fire doesn’t even appear with an AC adapter for recharging. You can either bung it into your computer or buy an adapter for an added $10.
The aboriginal Fire’s artificial physique addled me as a little crude. Amazon’s done far bigger this time, giving it cone-shaped edges and a firm, bland backside. The old Fire managed apostle aggregate with a touchscreen control; the Fire HD evidently retreats to an old-school pushbutton control. The new Fire comes with a front-facing camera, advised for videoconferencing through software apps like Skype. There’s an HDMI anchorage appropriate alongside the abiding USB connection. With HDMI, you can play downloaded movies on your agenda TV.
Movies looked albino and chapped on the old adaptation but are abundant bigger here, acknowledgment to a 1280-by-800 screen. Still, while watching Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, I begin the images a little fuzzy, absolutely not up to iPad standards. But the upgraded complete arrangement from Dolby Laboratories Inc. is as clear, rich, and, yes, loud, as I’ve heard from any tablet.
Battery activity seemed decent; afterwards a day of harder use, including a affection movie, the Fire HD still had about 25 percent power.
Amazon alien the aboriginal Kindle aback in 2007 as a authentic e-book reader, with an eye-friendly black-and-white screen. The backlit LCD awning on the Fire HD isn’t as adapted to reading; a abstraction arise endure anniversary by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute warned that account on a backlit awning at night can ruin your sleep. Still, the Fire HD gives you acceptable affidavit to yield the risk. Of course, you can accept from abounding bags of titles. But you aswell get a brace of adorable new features.
One is X-Ray, a array of super-index that provides all-embracing advice on people, places, and contest mentioned in a book, abundant of it acquired from the online album Wikipedia. While browsing through Charles Duhigg’s album book “The Ability of Habit,” I was able to attending up biographical data on 59 humans whose names arise in its pages. X-Ray isn’t accessible for every Amazon title, but afterwards application it you’ll ambition it was.
Another acute e-book affection integrates the accounting and announced words. I downloaded Chester Himes’s abomination atypical “A Rage in Harlem,” and for about $4 added I got the audiobook version, apprehend by Samuel L. Jackson. You can apprehend and accept at the aforementioned time — the words are accent on your awning as Jackson reads them — or just listen. You can aswell play the account at up to three times accustomed acceleration if you’re in a hurry. Amazon calls the arrangement “immersive reading,” apparently because it hopes to absorb us for a few added bucks. It ability work, too; I absolutely enjoyed it.
I didn’t even apperception the commercials. As on added Kindle editions, Amazon sells ad amplitude on the Fire HD. The ads arise alone if you deathwatch the accessory out of beddy-bye mode. I begin them absolutely calm and even attractive. And the ads helped authority down the Fire HD’s price. But some consumers wish an ad-free version, and Amazon has agreed to accommodate one, for an added fee of $15.
Then again, Google sells its Nexus 7 for the aforementioned amount as the Fire, after abashing the awning with ads. The Nexus 7 gives you abounding admission to the apps in the Google Play online store. The Kindle Fire offers alone a abate alternative of Amazon-approved apps. The Kindle Fire doesn’t even appear with an AC adapter for recharging. You can either bung it into your computer or buy an adapter for an added $10.
2012年9月11日星期二
‘Planet of Snail’ offers sweet but flat portrait of two lives
The Korean documentary “Planet of Snail” is spare and unemphatic — too much so — with an abiding sweetness of spirit. It affords a window into the marriage of Young-chan, a writer who’s deaf and blind, and his wife, Soon-ho. He lost his sight and hearing after he had learned to speak, so he has the ability to talk to her. She talks to him, too, but does her actual communicating to him by pressing her fingers into his hands to sign her words, in a tactile version of Braille. It is largely through touch that Young-chan experiences the world, which makes him akin to a snail, hence the film’s title.
As much as Young-chan and Soon-ho love each other, the camera loves them even more. He’s lanky and slightly stooped. Because of a spinal condition, she’s extremely short. Next to each other, they look like a stork and a penguin. The incongruity is touching rather than comic. And as the documentary shows the extent of the bond between them, the incongruity simply becomes another element in that bond.
The film presents the couple in various settings: their apartment; visiting a friend in the hospital; walking along the beach; snow tubing; at a rehearsal, then a performance, of a play he’s written; swimming. In a memorable scene, Young-chan embraces a small tree. The tenderness he displays as he hugs the trunk and caresses the bark is a marvel. The scene also gives him a chance to show off his sense of humor. “I’m dating now,” he says to Soon-ho, as he holds the tree.
Some reviewers have found “Planet of Snail” to be intensely moving, even transcendent. Certainly, it has elements that are intensely moving, even transcendent. How can a viewer not respond when Young-chan says, “All deaf-blind people have the heart of an astronaut”? Both stylistically and emotionally the filmmaker, Yi Seungjun, shows laudable restraint. There’s no sense whatsoever of intimacy exploited. But that same restraint has a flattening and distancing effect. “Planet of Snail” doesn’t so much unfold as present itself for random inspection. Sometimes a seeming artlessness can be the highest form of art. Sometimes, as here, it’s the absence of artfulness.
With free health and food subsidies for Venezuela's poor, which make up the vast bulk of the population, it is inevitable the majority will vote for the popular socialist party led by Hugo Chavez. Even the United Nations data shows that poverty has been greatly alleviated under the government of Hugo Chavez.
Capriles is playing to the poor by claiming, in spite of his foreign backing and clear background and allegiances with the rich and their foreign paymasters, that he is even "further left" than Chavez and would do even more for the poor. He also claims that Venezuela should use its oil only for its own population and not for the mutually beneficial support of and solidarity with others.
Most of Latin America (South America) now is under popular socialist governments, thanks to the efforts of Hugo Chavez to shore up support for those candidates, as well as financing a powerful independent news media network, Telesur, which broadcasts in Spanish and has done more to ensure that the neo-colonial, imperialist plans of the U.S. regime fail in the region.
Around 200 or more international observers will monitor October 7 voting. Expect confirmation of another exemplary democratic process. It puts America's to shame and then some. US federal and many regional ones lack legitimacy. Big money controls them. Ordinary people have no say.
Venezuelans get the real thing. They're not about to accept pre-Chavez harshness. They want no part of corporatism at their expense.
The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign published a report saying a leaked internal right wing document revealed plans to roll back public services if elected.
It calls for reducing state funding. Health care, education, food subsidies, housing assistance, communal council projects, and other programs Venezuelans rely on will be affected.
The document titled "First Ideas for Economic Actions of the National Unity Government" calls for "concrete steps to decrease, in the medium and long term, the heavy load of goods and services" by slashing overall social spending.
As much as Young-chan and Soon-ho love each other, the camera loves them even more. He’s lanky and slightly stooped. Because of a spinal condition, she’s extremely short. Next to each other, they look like a stork and a penguin. The incongruity is touching rather than comic. And as the documentary shows the extent of the bond between them, the incongruity simply becomes another element in that bond.
The film presents the couple in various settings: their apartment; visiting a friend in the hospital; walking along the beach; snow tubing; at a rehearsal, then a performance, of a play he’s written; swimming. In a memorable scene, Young-chan embraces a small tree. The tenderness he displays as he hugs the trunk and caresses the bark is a marvel. The scene also gives him a chance to show off his sense of humor. “I’m dating now,” he says to Soon-ho, as he holds the tree.
Some reviewers have found “Planet of Snail” to be intensely moving, even transcendent. Certainly, it has elements that are intensely moving, even transcendent. How can a viewer not respond when Young-chan says, “All deaf-blind people have the heart of an astronaut”? Both stylistically and emotionally the filmmaker, Yi Seungjun, shows laudable restraint. There’s no sense whatsoever of intimacy exploited. But that same restraint has a flattening and distancing effect. “Planet of Snail” doesn’t so much unfold as present itself for random inspection. Sometimes a seeming artlessness can be the highest form of art. Sometimes, as here, it’s the absence of artfulness.
With free health and food subsidies for Venezuela's poor, which make up the vast bulk of the population, it is inevitable the majority will vote for the popular socialist party led by Hugo Chavez. Even the United Nations data shows that poverty has been greatly alleviated under the government of Hugo Chavez.
Capriles is playing to the poor by claiming, in spite of his foreign backing and clear background and allegiances with the rich and their foreign paymasters, that he is even "further left" than Chavez and would do even more for the poor. He also claims that Venezuela should use its oil only for its own population and not for the mutually beneficial support of and solidarity with others.
Most of Latin America (South America) now is under popular socialist governments, thanks to the efforts of Hugo Chavez to shore up support for those candidates, as well as financing a powerful independent news media network, Telesur, which broadcasts in Spanish and has done more to ensure that the neo-colonial, imperialist plans of the U.S. regime fail in the region.
Around 200 or more international observers will monitor October 7 voting. Expect confirmation of another exemplary democratic process. It puts America's to shame and then some. US federal and many regional ones lack legitimacy. Big money controls them. Ordinary people have no say.
Venezuelans get the real thing. They're not about to accept pre-Chavez harshness. They want no part of corporatism at their expense.
The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign published a report saying a leaked internal right wing document revealed plans to roll back public services if elected.
It calls for reducing state funding. Health care, education, food subsidies, housing assistance, communal council projects, and other programs Venezuelans rely on will be affected.
The document titled "First Ideas for Economic Actions of the National Unity Government" calls for "concrete steps to decrease, in the medium and long term, the heavy load of goods and services" by slashing overall social spending.
2012年9月10日星期一
The Afghan Bondman Abortion
In a commemoration Monday at Bagram airbase arctic of Kabul, the U.S. formally transferred ascendancy of its bigger bastille to the Afghans—a footfall adjoin handing over the advance in the war advanced of a 2014 deadline. Yet the anniversary were overshadowed by a altercation that highlights the risks of America's hasty drawdown.
The Obama Administration agreed in March to abalienate ascendancy of the U.S.-built Parwan Apprehension Facility and its detainees at the affirmation of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The accord helped Mr. Karzai politically, but now the Afghans are crumbling to account the acceding in means that attempt the aegis of U.S. soldiers.
General John Allen, the U.S. administrator in Afghanistan, skipped Monday's commemoration and the Pentagon has hit the brakes on implementing the deal. The U.S. won't alteration 34 of the a lot of alarming Taliban fighters out of the added than 3,000 at Bagram.
The Pentagon doesn't accept it can assurance the Karzai government to apprehend prisoners accepted as "enduring aegis threats," abounding of whom accept American claret on their hands. Taliban fighters accept a addiction of artifice from Afghan prisons or bribery their way out of the courts. While Afghanistan has afresh anesthetized laws to acquiesce for broad apprehension afterwards charge—a accepted convenance for a country at war—Afghan admiral accept afresh apparent abhorrence to apparatus it. Mr. Karzai doesn't wish to accept to his humans that his country is waging an centralized war.
Another affair is the cachet of new detainees captured afterwards the official alteration of ascendancy to Kabul authorities. Afghan admiral wish the U.S. to duke over anyone captured by American troops aural 72 hours. It's a antic accepted in a war zone.
A bigger action would let the U.S. accumulate detainees for 40-60 canicule to acquiesce for analysis and questioning. Afghans are aswell afraid their beforehand acceding to accord the U.S. able admission to catechize any bondman captivated by the Afghans. The aggressive needs to be able to abolish and catechism the adversary from the battlefield and catechism detainees afresh afterwards if new intelligence produces new leads.
All of this calls to apperception endure year's Daqduq abortion in Iraq. As U.S. troops withdrew from Baghdad, the Pentagon handed a chief Hezbollah agitator who accepted to the annihilation and ache of American soldiers to the Iraqis as allotment of an acceding on detainees. It should've taken Ali Musa Daqduq out of Iraq and put him afore a U.S. aggressive court. An Iraqi cloister in May ordered him freed, awaiting appeal, and he's adequate to go chargeless to ambition Americans again.
The Afghan adventure shows how U.S. advantage is crumbling as the Obama Administration active for the exits. We've accurate a U.S. attendance there accomplished 2014 to anticipate the acknowledgment of an al Qaeda sanctuary, but the American accessible won't abutment that deployment if the Afghans acquiesce the absolution of killers who will acknowledgment to the war.
The altercation aswell calls into catechism the boldness of the Obama Administration to ensure the best accessible U.S. position as the American attendance declines. The White House seems so hell-bent on trumpeting abandonment that it isn't accomplishing abundant to assure the Americans who will remain. That's a adequate way to argue Americans to leave in toto.
Russia, China and Iran would, in theory, wish him to run for office, arguing that the action charcoal burst and that if 5 action candidates run for appointment adjoin him, for example, he could still win, accustomed that they would bisect the action vote, admitting all pro-regime voters would vote for him.
The Americans, breaking their silence, came out endure Sunday to abate the new Russian angle at the UN, which calls for an end to abandon and a “political transition” (i.e. aboriginal elections, power-sharing and a bit-by-bit alteration of power). The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has alleged the new angle pointless, “without teeth.” She was speaking at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the Russian city-limits of Vladivostok, afterwards affair her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and President Vladimir Putin. “We don’t see eye-to-eye” she said.
While the two Superpowers abide to try acclimation their vision, hundreds die in Syria every day and the absolute afterlife assessment hovers about 30,000.
Moscow now will either accept to accomplish the alteration appear — somehow, someway — or run the top accident of getting larboard out of the approaching of Syria, always after, if the Americans are aback in command next January. If aboriginal elections don’t pass, again Moscow needs to anticipate harder of artistic solutions that are adequate to US, Iran, Saudi Arabia and aloft all, the humans of Syria, who are paying the amount for all of this all-embracing madness. Neither the all-embracing association nor the humans of Syria will acquiesce Putin the aboriginal approaching access in Syria if “change” does not appear actual soon.
The Obama Administration agreed in March to abalienate ascendancy of the U.S.-built Parwan Apprehension Facility and its detainees at the affirmation of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The accord helped Mr. Karzai politically, but now the Afghans are crumbling to account the acceding in means that attempt the aegis of U.S. soldiers.
General John Allen, the U.S. administrator in Afghanistan, skipped Monday's commemoration and the Pentagon has hit the brakes on implementing the deal. The U.S. won't alteration 34 of the a lot of alarming Taliban fighters out of the added than 3,000 at Bagram.
The Pentagon doesn't accept it can assurance the Karzai government to apprehend prisoners accepted as "enduring aegis threats," abounding of whom accept American claret on their hands. Taliban fighters accept a addiction of artifice from Afghan prisons or bribery their way out of the courts. While Afghanistan has afresh anesthetized laws to acquiesce for broad apprehension afterwards charge—a accepted convenance for a country at war—Afghan admiral accept afresh apparent abhorrence to apparatus it. Mr. Karzai doesn't wish to accept to his humans that his country is waging an centralized war.
Another affair is the cachet of new detainees captured afterwards the official alteration of ascendancy to Kabul authorities. Afghan admiral wish the U.S. to duke over anyone captured by American troops aural 72 hours. It's a antic accepted in a war zone.
A bigger action would let the U.S. accumulate detainees for 40-60 canicule to acquiesce for analysis and questioning. Afghans are aswell afraid their beforehand acceding to accord the U.S. able admission to catechize any bondman captivated by the Afghans. The aggressive needs to be able to abolish and catechism the adversary from the battlefield and catechism detainees afresh afterwards if new intelligence produces new leads.
All of this calls to apperception endure year's Daqduq abortion in Iraq. As U.S. troops withdrew from Baghdad, the Pentagon handed a chief Hezbollah agitator who accepted to the annihilation and ache of American soldiers to the Iraqis as allotment of an acceding on detainees. It should've taken Ali Musa Daqduq out of Iraq and put him afore a U.S. aggressive court. An Iraqi cloister in May ordered him freed, awaiting appeal, and he's adequate to go chargeless to ambition Americans again.
The Afghan adventure shows how U.S. advantage is crumbling as the Obama Administration active for the exits. We've accurate a U.S. attendance there accomplished 2014 to anticipate the acknowledgment of an al Qaeda sanctuary, but the American accessible won't abutment that deployment if the Afghans acquiesce the absolution of killers who will acknowledgment to the war.
The altercation aswell calls into catechism the boldness of the Obama Administration to ensure the best accessible U.S. position as the American attendance declines. The White House seems so hell-bent on trumpeting abandonment that it isn't accomplishing abundant to assure the Americans who will remain. That's a adequate way to argue Americans to leave in toto.
Russia, China and Iran would, in theory, wish him to run for office, arguing that the action charcoal burst and that if 5 action candidates run for appointment adjoin him, for example, he could still win, accustomed that they would bisect the action vote, admitting all pro-regime voters would vote for him.
The Americans, breaking their silence, came out endure Sunday to abate the new Russian angle at the UN, which calls for an end to abandon and a “political transition” (i.e. aboriginal elections, power-sharing and a bit-by-bit alteration of power). The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has alleged the new angle pointless, “without teeth.” She was speaking at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the Russian city-limits of Vladivostok, afterwards affair her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and President Vladimir Putin. “We don’t see eye-to-eye” she said.
While the two Superpowers abide to try acclimation their vision, hundreds die in Syria every day and the absolute afterlife assessment hovers about 30,000.
Moscow now will either accept to accomplish the alteration appear — somehow, someway — or run the top accident of getting larboard out of the approaching of Syria, always after, if the Americans are aback in command next January. If aboriginal elections don’t pass, again Moscow needs to anticipate harder of artistic solutions that are adequate to US, Iran, Saudi Arabia and aloft all, the humans of Syria, who are paying the amount for all of this all-embracing madness. Neither the all-embracing association nor the humans of Syria will acquiesce Putin the aboriginal approaching access in Syria if “change” does not appear actual soon.
2012年9月6日星期四
Kloppers bent in crosshairs
WHETHER it is fair or not the absoluteness is that the managers of Australia's above miners charge to absolve their jobs.
There is no agnosticism that they accept no ascendancy over falling adamant ore and atramentous prices, which are the aftereffect of alien factors.
So it comes down to their abode to accord with the arduous ambiance and their acknowledgment strategies.
Should they accept advancing the abatement in bolt prices and are their antithesis bedding in adjustment to acclimate the storm?
Andrew Forrest, whose Fortescue Metals has the a lot of alarming antithesis sheet, has amnesty because he is the above shareholder.
It has been BHP Billiton bang-up Marius Kloppers whose administration has been the accountable of belief as his investment roadshow has trundled through Britain and Australia.
The a lot of contempo activate is the slump in the amount of adamant ore over the accomplished brace of months and its decidedly aciculate abatement over contempo weeks.
He has already copped criticism for the accretion of $20 billion of oil/shale gas assets in the US, which afterwards alone a year accept been accounting down.
Kloppers sees the advance into oil and gas that these assets accept delivered as a cardinal beat for him and the company, and takes the appearance this has put him in adequate account with the investment community.
In approach the absorber that activity assets accommodate the aggregation is a plus, but the amount paid and the authentic assets in catechism accept angry a analytical bazaar eye on BHP.
Previously he has had to abrasion accusation for the abortion to assassinate a alliance with Rio, and to get his easily on Canadian potash assets, both of which in my appearance were strategically alive moves.
The potash amount has remained abiding in the 18 months aback BHP attempted this acquisition.
Kloppers now faces his bigger claiming - to argue investors that BHP was able for an adamant ore amount that is beneath $US90 a tonne and that the accumulation can acclimate this bearings bigger than its peers.
BHP's aboriginal band of advance is to outline how boxy the bazaar is, but aswell to advance to investors that the aggregation provided them with abounding warning.
In particular, BHP now consistently refers to the two cogent addresses - one accustomed by administrator Jac Nasser to a business cafeteria in Sydney and one by Kloppers to an broker appointment in May.
More detail was independent in Kloppers' abode but it was overshadowed by Nasser's ad-lib acknowledgment during a columnist appointment in which he accepted that the $80 billion basic investment that BHP had connected announced of would be scaled back.
On the added ancillary of the world, Kloppers was cogent investors that the 15 per cent advance in Chinese animate burning over the 10 years to 2010 would abatement aback in allotment and in complete terms. And by 2025 it will alpha to shrink.
The catechism is whether these warnings were delivered with adequate accent to complete the admonishing bells. There is aswell a catechism over whether the timing will ultimately be accurate.
BHP has a point that the bazaar abandoned the signals and connected its adulation activity with adamant ore.
But annihilation in the Kloppers speech, or in a bulletin from any added producer, would accept led the bazaar to accept the adamant ore amount would be area it is today.
Indeed no producers, including BHP, are even now suggesting that the adamant ore amount will break this low over the average term.
Everyone holds the appearance that already the locally produced Chinese stockpiles are depleted the excess will abandon and rational appraisement will resume at about above $US100 a tonne.
But no one is too agog to adumbrate if that ability be. And a lot can change amid now and if this appraisement acclimation takes place.
In the aboriginal case, there will be basic and labour curtailment - which agency that those companies that accept the antithesis bedding to accompany projects in developed countries with beneath absolute accident will be able to do so after the amount aggrandizement that has bedeviled them over the accomplished few years. But even if companies wish to aces up projects that accept been put on ice, it will yield years to get them up and active again.
For example, even if the adamant ore amount rebounds to adequate levels, it would be a few years afore BHP Billiton could restart its alien Port Hedland harbour expansion.
In the abbreviate to average term, companies like BHP are added acceptable to sit on their hands, even if they accept the antithesis area to invest. If assets are to be maintained, chargeless banknote breeze this year at atomic will be curtailed.
There is no agnosticism that they accept no ascendancy over falling adamant ore and atramentous prices, which are the aftereffect of alien factors.
So it comes down to their abode to accord with the arduous ambiance and their acknowledgment strategies.
Should they accept advancing the abatement in bolt prices and are their antithesis bedding in adjustment to acclimate the storm?
Andrew Forrest, whose Fortescue Metals has the a lot of alarming antithesis sheet, has amnesty because he is the above shareholder.
It has been BHP Billiton bang-up Marius Kloppers whose administration has been the accountable of belief as his investment roadshow has trundled through Britain and Australia.
The a lot of contempo activate is the slump in the amount of adamant ore over the accomplished brace of months and its decidedly aciculate abatement over contempo weeks.
He has already copped criticism for the accretion of $20 billion of oil/shale gas assets in the US, which afterwards alone a year accept been accounting down.
Kloppers sees the advance into oil and gas that these assets accept delivered as a cardinal beat for him and the company, and takes the appearance this has put him in adequate account with the investment community.
In approach the absorber that activity assets accommodate the aggregation is a plus, but the amount paid and the authentic assets in catechism accept angry a analytical bazaar eye on BHP.
Previously he has had to abrasion accusation for the abortion to assassinate a alliance with Rio, and to get his easily on Canadian potash assets, both of which in my appearance were strategically alive moves.
The potash amount has remained abiding in the 18 months aback BHP attempted this acquisition.
Kloppers now faces his bigger claiming - to argue investors that BHP was able for an adamant ore amount that is beneath $US90 a tonne and that the accumulation can acclimate this bearings bigger than its peers.
BHP's aboriginal band of advance is to outline how boxy the bazaar is, but aswell to advance to investors that the aggregation provided them with abounding warning.
In particular, BHP now consistently refers to the two cogent addresses - one accustomed by administrator Jac Nasser to a business cafeteria in Sydney and one by Kloppers to an broker appointment in May.
More detail was independent in Kloppers' abode but it was overshadowed by Nasser's ad-lib acknowledgment during a columnist appointment in which he accepted that the $80 billion basic investment that BHP had connected announced of would be scaled back.
On the added ancillary of the world, Kloppers was cogent investors that the 15 per cent advance in Chinese animate burning over the 10 years to 2010 would abatement aback in allotment and in complete terms. And by 2025 it will alpha to shrink.
The catechism is whether these warnings were delivered with adequate accent to complete the admonishing bells. There is aswell a catechism over whether the timing will ultimately be accurate.
BHP has a point that the bazaar abandoned the signals and connected its adulation activity with adamant ore.
But annihilation in the Kloppers speech, or in a bulletin from any added producer, would accept led the bazaar to accept the adamant ore amount would be area it is today.
Indeed no producers, including BHP, are even now suggesting that the adamant ore amount will break this low over the average term.
Everyone holds the appearance that already the locally produced Chinese stockpiles are depleted the excess will abandon and rational appraisement will resume at about above $US100 a tonne.
But no one is too agog to adumbrate if that ability be. And a lot can change amid now and if this appraisement acclimation takes place.
In the aboriginal case, there will be basic and labour curtailment - which agency that those companies that accept the antithesis bedding to accompany projects in developed countries with beneath absolute accident will be able to do so after the amount aggrandizement that has bedeviled them over the accomplished few years. But even if companies wish to aces up projects that accept been put on ice, it will yield years to get them up and active again.
For example, even if the adamant ore amount rebounds to adequate levels, it would be a few years afore BHP Billiton could restart its alien Port Hedland harbour expansion.
In the abbreviate to average term, companies like BHP are added acceptable to sit on their hands, even if they accept the antithesis area to invest. If assets are to be maintained, chargeless banknote breeze this year at atomic will be curtailed.
2012年9月4日星期二
Greece sees its borrowing costs dip
Greece's concise borrowing costs eased hardly in a treasury bill bargain Tuesday, but the debt-wracked country still had to allurement investors with a 4.54 per cent acknowledgment for cardboard crumbling in six months' time.
The debt administration bureau said the bargain aloft 1.14 billion. The antecedent auction of six-month treasury bills brought in 812.5 actor alms a 4.68 per cent absorption rate.
By comparison, investors are able to acquire a slight accident to get their easily on German six-month bills, which are apparent as a safe anchorage during afflicted times.
Since 2010, Greece has been clumsy to accounts its government absurdity through the accepted aisle of affairs bonds, which were demoted to non-investment brand afterwards it emerged that the country's arrears was abundant college than ahead admitted.
Instead, Athens relies on all-embracing accomplishment loans, accepted on action it accouterments acrid acerbity measures to acclimatized the arrears and ameliorate an abridgement already in its fifth year of recession.
But bailout payments were delayed by political alternation and backward reforms, banishment the country to await anytime added on treasury-bill sales — initially advised to acquiesce it some anatomy of bazaar access.
Last month, Greece awash 5 billion account of three-month debt to pay off a crumbling band captivated by the European Central Bank. The treasury bills are mostly bought by cash-needy calm banks that use them as accessory to tap emergency European funds.
To authorize for the next, 31 billion accomplishment accommodation installment, the conservative-led administering affiliation accept to plan out a new 11.5 billion acerbity amalgamation for 2013-14 that has to be accustomed by bailout creditors afterwards this month.
The anticipation of new affliction afterwards two-and-a-half years of assets cuts and tax hikes has angered unions — including police, board and university teaching agents — who are planning a alternation of protests or strikes in the next few days.
On Tuesday, about 200 pensioners from a Communist-backed abutment pushed their way into the Health Ministry during an Athens assemblage adjoin healthcare cuts. The beef concluded peacefully.
Private doctors and pharmacists this anniversary banned to accumulate extending acclaim to Greece's better state-run healthcare provider, EOPYY, acquainted the government has not paid them for months.
It seems that gun ascendancy should be a no-brainer. Our city-limits and added communities beyond this country accept afresh apparent the adverse after-effects of the abusage of accoutrements by accustomed citizens, including by adolescent teens.
When I was a growing up in Baltimore humans acquainted safe. We went out abandoned at night; I generally went to the library abandoned afterwards aphotic at age 10. We never heard about shootings. They seemed to be alone in cowboy movies.
The availability of accoutrements to any two-legged animal who could allocution afflicted all that. It's accurate that animal beings can get actual angry, conceivably even affronted abundant to kill. But if accoutrements weren't so readily accessible that acrimony ability be bidding in beneath baleful ways.
I agnosticism that the Founding Fathers meant for anyone to accurately backpack a gun. Didn't they allege about a militia? That chat in itself implies control.
The debt administration bureau said the bargain aloft 1.14 billion. The antecedent auction of six-month treasury bills brought in 812.5 actor alms a 4.68 per cent absorption rate.
By comparison, investors are able to acquire a slight accident to get their easily on German six-month bills, which are apparent as a safe anchorage during afflicted times.
Since 2010, Greece has been clumsy to accounts its government absurdity through the accepted aisle of affairs bonds, which were demoted to non-investment brand afterwards it emerged that the country's arrears was abundant college than ahead admitted.
Instead, Athens relies on all-embracing accomplishment loans, accepted on action it accouterments acrid acerbity measures to acclimatized the arrears and ameliorate an abridgement already in its fifth year of recession.
But bailout payments were delayed by political alternation and backward reforms, banishment the country to await anytime added on treasury-bill sales — initially advised to acquiesce it some anatomy of bazaar access.
Last month, Greece awash 5 billion account of three-month debt to pay off a crumbling band captivated by the European Central Bank. The treasury bills are mostly bought by cash-needy calm banks that use them as accessory to tap emergency European funds.
To authorize for the next, 31 billion accomplishment accommodation installment, the conservative-led administering affiliation accept to plan out a new 11.5 billion acerbity amalgamation for 2013-14 that has to be accustomed by bailout creditors afterwards this month.
The anticipation of new affliction afterwards two-and-a-half years of assets cuts and tax hikes has angered unions — including police, board and university teaching agents — who are planning a alternation of protests or strikes in the next few days.
On Tuesday, about 200 pensioners from a Communist-backed abutment pushed their way into the Health Ministry during an Athens assemblage adjoin healthcare cuts. The beef concluded peacefully.
Private doctors and pharmacists this anniversary banned to accumulate extending acclaim to Greece's better state-run healthcare provider, EOPYY, acquainted the government has not paid them for months.
It seems that gun ascendancy should be a no-brainer. Our city-limits and added communities beyond this country accept afresh apparent the adverse after-effects of the abusage of accoutrements by accustomed citizens, including by adolescent teens.
When I was a growing up in Baltimore humans acquainted safe. We went out abandoned at night; I generally went to the library abandoned afterwards aphotic at age 10. We never heard about shootings. They seemed to be alone in cowboy movies.
The availability of accoutrements to any two-legged animal who could allocution afflicted all that. It's accurate that animal beings can get actual angry, conceivably even affronted abundant to kill. But if accoutrements weren't so readily accessible that acrimony ability be bidding in beneath baleful ways.
I agnosticism that the Founding Fathers meant for anyone to accurately backpack a gun. Didn't they allege about a militia? That chat in itself implies control.
2012年9月3日星期一
Gliding Over All
In novel writing, there's something called the "temporary triumph." In screenwriting, Syd Field calls it, for lack of a better word I guess, the "midpoint." Whatever you name it, it happens in the middle of Act II in a three act structure, essentially the middle of the book or movie, the tip top of the mountain on the story map. Things are going super great and well for our main character. And then the denouement happens and everything turns to shit.
Last night's episode marked the official midpoint of the final season of Breaking Bad, the time when we know this is as good as it's going to get for Walter White before things turn to shit. Fittingly, the episode ended with the literal shit that could bring down Heisenberg once and for all.
All told, for an episode of Breaking Bad, "Gliding Over All" was surprisingly positive and serene. I mean, sure, there was that little montage with all of Mike's guys in prison getting hit with shivs made out of toothbrushes and getting doused with flammable...something... Did they sneak gasoline into the building under the guise of bottled water? If not, how do prisoners have such ready access to gallons of liquid that light up like the sun with one match? It doesn't really matter, of course. I'm just wondering, logistically. It's good information to have.
But other than that, we had Walt in a tender-ish moment with both Skyler and Jesse. Skyler had a moment of levity with both Marie and Holly. I would've included Junior in that, but he's back to being "Flynn" and acting like a petulant teenager again. We had a really stellar montage set to "Crystal Blue Persuasion" in which we were treated to several days (spread out over several months) in the life of the smooth-running Heisenberg meth operation.
But there were cracks. There were little moments where you just knew all was not about to be well. At the end of every day in the montage, there was a shot of Walt looking more tired and more haggard. There was the shot of Walt in the shower that also made sure to show us that he's using Gale's Leaves of Grass book as toilet reading material. As you do. After not coffee with Lydia, there was the shot -- zoinks! -- of the back of Walt's head as he slid on his glasses that made sure to focus squarely on the area directly behind Walt's right ear. As someone who has been on the alert for this kind of brain tumor theory affirmation since the first episode of the season, this was like Christmas morning for me. Obviously I was right and I would have confirmation by the end of the episode.
Well, not quite. But we did have pretty clear confirmation that the cancer is back. Walt has his family back and he has a storage unit full of cash money and his cancer is back. He has all of these things, plus Hank is clogging up his toilet with his monster DEA dookies and he's actually reading Walt's bathroom books. And now, because of Walt Whitman and Gale and and the initials WW and the fact that Skyler's cooking goes through you like a freight train, Hank suspects things. Terrible things.
I loved the fly showing up in Heisenberg and Associates offices. That bug shows up whenever shit's about to get real. Prediction: The entire series ends with Walt either in jail or a hospital bed watching a fly flit around the room.
The ricin cigarette popped up again. Walt brought it to coffee with Lydia...just in case. And then he put it back in the wall. Methinks this is certainly not the last time this little prop will pop up. Baseless prediction: Hank starts investigating Walt. Finds out about Skyler's involvement. Offers her a deal for cooperation. He tells her she won't serve time and she can be safe with her children while Walt is locked up forever. That bargain is appealing to Skyler. But maybe not. Maybe she's feeling better about Walt or pitying him about his cancer and she's not going to turn him in. Either way, Walt finds out and hands her the ricin cigarette.
Last night's episode marked the official midpoint of the final season of Breaking Bad, the time when we know this is as good as it's going to get for Walter White before things turn to shit. Fittingly, the episode ended with the literal shit that could bring down Heisenberg once and for all.
All told, for an episode of Breaking Bad, "Gliding Over All" was surprisingly positive and serene. I mean, sure, there was that little montage with all of Mike's guys in prison getting hit with shivs made out of toothbrushes and getting doused with flammable...something... Did they sneak gasoline into the building under the guise of bottled water? If not, how do prisoners have such ready access to gallons of liquid that light up like the sun with one match? It doesn't really matter, of course. I'm just wondering, logistically. It's good information to have.
But other than that, we had Walt in a tender-ish moment with both Skyler and Jesse. Skyler had a moment of levity with both Marie and Holly. I would've included Junior in that, but he's back to being "Flynn" and acting like a petulant teenager again. We had a really stellar montage set to "Crystal Blue Persuasion" in which we were treated to several days (spread out over several months) in the life of the smooth-running Heisenberg meth operation.
But there were cracks. There were little moments where you just knew all was not about to be well. At the end of every day in the montage, there was a shot of Walt looking more tired and more haggard. There was the shot of Walt in the shower that also made sure to show us that he's using Gale's Leaves of Grass book as toilet reading material. As you do. After not coffee with Lydia, there was the shot -- zoinks! -- of the back of Walt's head as he slid on his glasses that made sure to focus squarely on the area directly behind Walt's right ear. As someone who has been on the alert for this kind of brain tumor theory affirmation since the first episode of the season, this was like Christmas morning for me. Obviously I was right and I would have confirmation by the end of the episode.
Well, not quite. But we did have pretty clear confirmation that the cancer is back. Walt has his family back and he has a storage unit full of cash money and his cancer is back. He has all of these things, plus Hank is clogging up his toilet with his monster DEA dookies and he's actually reading Walt's bathroom books. And now, because of Walt Whitman and Gale and and the initials WW and the fact that Skyler's cooking goes through you like a freight train, Hank suspects things. Terrible things.
I loved the fly showing up in Heisenberg and Associates offices. That bug shows up whenever shit's about to get real. Prediction: The entire series ends with Walt either in jail or a hospital bed watching a fly flit around the room.
The ricin cigarette popped up again. Walt brought it to coffee with Lydia...just in case. And then he put it back in the wall. Methinks this is certainly not the last time this little prop will pop up. Baseless prediction: Hank starts investigating Walt. Finds out about Skyler's involvement. Offers her a deal for cooperation. He tells her she won't serve time and she can be safe with her children while Walt is locked up forever. That bargain is appealing to Skyler. But maybe not. Maybe she's feeling better about Walt or pitying him about his cancer and she's not going to turn him in. Either way, Walt finds out and hands her the ricin cigarette.
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