2013年2月19日 星期二

The Startup Turning Device Cases

The Santa Clara-based startup has been trying to build out its own niche in the $1 billion+ smart device case market* by offering something different from the usual combination of device protection with a little bit of personal flair. In addition to the above features, its cases are also stamped with a scannable QR code, which can link to either your business contact information, your social profiles, or the contact and reward information you would want someone to see if your device is lost. You can toggle through which of these settings is active using either Findables’ native mobile app or its website.

The company first soft-launched its products five months ago, with more of a focus on the “lost and found” feature, but user feedback had the team rethink things a bit. Apple already offers the “Find my iPhone” app, users said, plus there are other companies that doing things involving stickers or tags, for example. Says Findables co-founder Andre Liao, the space was already pretty competitive.

So with the new line of cases,We provides high risk merchant account for businesses in high-volume industries. the emphasis will be more on the social features, something which speaks to the team’s original inspiration for Findables, anyway. “[We wanted] a case that had some personality. What I mean by that is allowing the user to customize and personalize the case.” says Liao.Our precision manufactured lasers and laser marker systems deliver the highest possible laser marking performance. “Then we started thinking about the benefits – wouldn’t it be great if you had a case that could help you share information?”

Via the Findables site or app, users can customize their profiles with any info they choose by uploading pictures, writing a short bio, and adding links to social networking services like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, for example. Plus, they can add personal links – like the link to their sales deck on Dropbox, their personal website, or anything else.

Upon sign-up,Search our Eyeglasses frame catalog for designer frames including from China. the code on the case is registered to the user, and from then on it will show whichever profile (business, personal, or “lost”), you have enabled.

The codes on the device cases are just standard QR codes, which can be read using any third-party scanning application. If using the Findables-branded iOS or forthcoming Android app, however,Buy Sports glasses and prescription goggles with a custom Glasses prescription. you can download the digital business card directly into the phone’s address book. For those using third-party barcode-scanning apps, the vCard has to be emailed first. The native apps also track the history of scans, and support favoriting.

At present, the company offers cases for the iPhone 4 and 4S, iPhone 5, Samsung’s Galaxy SIII, the new iPad, and the iPad mini. A protective case for the iPhone 5, designed to compete with Spec’s CandyShell product, is also on its way. Existing cases are produced at low-cost in China using polycarbonate (hard plastic) to which a soft touch finish is then applied. They retail for $29.95-$49.95 and Findables has sold over 20,000 to date.

Findables, co-founded by Derick Yee and now a team of eight, has raised angel funding in the “hundreds of thousands,The most important qualities to look for in a pair of new Cycling sunglasses are the clarity of vision.” and was intending to raise a round a few months back. But, says Liao, “we ended up focusing our attention on getting purchase orders. We’re expecting the revenue that we’ll be generating will to be able to sustain and grow the company…We’re about to turn a corner. We’re about to be profitable,” he claims.

Of course, that’s all a big bet on the QR code’s traction and growth. And since barcode-scanning isn’t a feature native to smartphones, users still have to be savvy enough to have a reader app installed. Relying on savvy users means this is still a risky bet. But in the meantime, the cases look nice and definitely make for a nice conversation starter, at least.

Microsoft can perhaps be forgiven for its wariness entering the market with the latest, more powerful version of its Surface tablet, after the first incarnation—the Surface with Windows RT—launched to lukewarm consumer acceptance. But whereas the former machine was hobbled by a new, limited Windows-hybrid interface married to a paltry selection of apps, the Surface Pro boasted the eye-opening potential of bringing together tablet functionality and high-end computing. That’s why I was eager, and fortunately, I finally ended up with my own Surface Pro a few days ago (in fact, I’m writing this column on the fabled Touch Cover). I’m here to tell you that it is one giddy-making device—at least, for the right person.

I’ve been playing with Surface Pro for a couple days, and I’ve come away with some strong initial impressions. Most of these impressions are positive, but a few are undeniably negative; let’s call those last items frustrations, or areas to improve, because in most of those cases, they are certainly areas that the existing Surface Pro can improve on in its lifetime. I’ll start with my top 5 features and wrap up with my bottom 3.

"Smart Justice" Reform Proposal Unveiled

Lowering the chances of former inmates going back to prison is the goal of a new proposal filed in the Florida Legislature. State lawmakers are partnering with business backed group, Florida Smart Justice Alliance, to rehabilitate nonviolent inmates to reduce the number of crimes.

When an inmate gets released from prison, the general assumption is they normally get $50 and a bus ticket and are thrown out into society. But, under a new proposal, lawmakers are aiming to change that for eligible non-violent offenders serving the last few years of their sentence.

Essentially it would allow released inmates to have an official ID card with the state, making it a bit easier for them to find a job.

But, Republican Senator Thad Altman says that’s only after they complete treatment at a re-entry facility created by the Florida Department of Corrections.

“We have a separate facility designed specifically for re-entry back into society where these inmates after being released from hardened prisons where many times they come out a more hardened criminal than when they went in, are going to be going to a different facility, a facility specifically designed to support them and help them re-enter society,” said Altman.

And, that’s what “Smart Justice” is about, helping to reduce the recidivism rate, which is just keeping ex-inmates from committing more crimes. Altman, the bill’s Senator sponsor,Polypropylene and polythene can be used in a process called plastic injection mould. has been working on the “Smart Justice” proposal with Republican Representative Dennis Baxley, the bill’s House sponsor.Browse our huge selection of Safety goggles from the best brands.

“There’s a nexus of opportunity here, whether you’re trying to save the state a billion dollars in Corrections cost, whether you’re trying to prevent victims of crime from reoccurring, or you see that somebody in this system needs some drug treatment or some attachment to some career paths for them to be a success when they come out that gate,” said Baxley.Our precision manufactured lasers and laser marker systems deliver the highest possible laser marking performance.

A number of business leaders brainstormed ideas of ways to find cost-effective ways to improve public safety, like this one. They call themselves Florida Smart Justice Alliance.

The group’s President and CEO Barney Bishop says while he acknowledges recidivism rates are dropping, Bishop says there’s still more work to do in rehabilitating these inmates—pointing to the Florida Department of Corrections’ own data:

“Two out of five new inmates are reoffenders. Merely locking them up again and again, is neither smart nor the best of our tax dollars. Yet, of the 33,000 inmates released every year from state prison, only 23-percent receive any kind of treatment. That’s fewer than one out of four,” said Bishop.

Bishop and the two bill sponsors made their remarks at a press conference Tuesday to announce the bill. They were also joined by Democratic Representative Darryl Rouson, who also showed his support for the proposal. The bill is still in the drafting process and does not yet have a bill number.

The Lions have now won just one of their last ten matches in the Championship and have dropped to 14th in the table, having been on the cusp of the play-offs at the turn of the year.

Lee Tomlin put the visitors ahead after just seven minutes and although James Henry restored parity, Tommy Rowe put Posh ahead before the break and Tomlin made it 3-1 shortly after.Willkommen im virtuellen Zuhause der Lercher Werkzeugbau GmbH.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing put the result beyond doubt with a fine solo effort before Shane Lowry was shown a second yellow card and Boyd tapped in a late fifth.

Winger Boyd had the first effort on target of the match but his cross-shot never looked like troubling David Forde at his near post.

But the deadlock was broken in the seventh minute when Boyd was given time and space to pick out the onrushing Tomlin, who smashed the ball into the top corner of the net.

A minute later and Peterborough could have doubled their lead when left-back Rowe swept in a cross which Dwight Gayle mis-hit just wide.

The Lions' first real chance came in the eleventh minute when Bobby Olejnik's poor goal-kick fell to Liam Trotter, who played the ball to Henry but the winger's cross narrowly evaded Rob Hulse.

Trotter was involved again three minutes later when he picked the ball up on the edge of the box and shifted the ball out of his feet before seeing his placed shot kept out by Olejnik.

But there was nothing Olejnik could do to prevent Henry from drawing Millwall level with a superb lob with the outside of his foot after Hulse's clever dummy in the 13th minute.

Within moments of the restart, Henry bamboozled Mendez-Laing before crossing for Afobe, whose left-footed shot flew straight into Olejnik's arms.

Henry almost turned provider when his chipped cross was knocked back across goal by Afobe to Trotter, but his goal-bound effort was charged down by Gabriel Zakuani.Bay monitoring and parking guidance system come together in seamless integration offering more benefits.

Trotter then found space on the edge of the area before attempting to place his shot when he perhaps should have gone for power.

Teen clerk's heroics put felon in prison

Thanks to a courageous teenager’s willingness to fight back and a dropped check card, a habitual violent criminal is just beginning to serve a long prison sentence for a Carver County convenience store robbery.

Demetrius Derden, 28, of Blaine, was sentenced in federal court in St. Paul to 14 years and two months in prison for the armed robbery in December 2011 of the Mayer Oil Company station on Ash Avenue.

Court documents reveal that Derden had all he could bargain for when he confronted the clerk over a forgotten safe combination, at one point forcing the teen to his knees and putting to the high school senior’s head the barrel of a weapon that turned out to be a BB gun.

“You’d better remember [the combination],” Derden demanded. “Your life depends on it.Bay monitoring and parking guidance system come together in seamless integration offering more benefits.”

The clerk begged for his life and then heard the gun click but not fire. It was then that the teen challenged the robber, tearing off his mask and suffering a bitten finger in the confrontation.

Derden grabbed the money and took off and left behind an empty bottle of rum — as well as a check card with his name on it. Authorities needed just hours to arrest Derden at his home.

“The clerk ... believed he was about to be shot dead,Our precision manufactured lasers and laser marker systems deliver the highest possible laser marking performance.” the Carver County attorney’s office said in a statement Tuesday announcing the sentencing. “The clerk then stood and began the fight of his life.”

While authorities have not said how much money Derden came away with, his sentence includes making restitution of more than $9,000. The clerk’s identity has also not been disclosed.

Derden, wearing a mask, entered the store and pointed the gun at the clerk standing behind the cash register. The teen followed orders and put all the money, more than $2,000, from the register into a plastic bag.

The clerk was then ordered to a backroom and told to empty the store’s two safes. The teen told Derden he didn’t know the combination to the second safe. That’s when Derden had the teen kneeling and pleading for mercy.

Upon hearing the gun’s click, the clerk “seized this as an opportunity” to try and stand up, prosecutors wrote in one court filing. Derden pushed him back down and struck him on the head with the gun.

They began fighting, with Derden hitting the teen again with the gun and biting the clerk’s finger.

The teen wrestled the gun from Derden, and pulled off his mask and jacket before being pushed to the floor. Derden grabbed the bag of money and fled.

Police, armed with Derden’s check card,Willkommen im virtuellen Zuhause der Lercher Werkzeugbau GmbH. arrested him several hours later.

The clerk was treated at a hospital for injuries to his scalp, face, finger and elsewhere. “To this day, [the teen] has several permanent scars on his head and face,” the prosecution wrote.

In arguing for nearly 16 years in prison, prosecutors called Derden “a dangerous repeat offender who had committed crime after crime for the past 10 years, regardless of whether he was on probation, supervised release or had just been released from prison.”

Marci D. Gill, 35,Polypropylene and polythene can be used in a process called plastic injection mould. of the 16300 block of S. Lawndale Avenue, Markham, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, four counts of possession of a controlled substance,Browse our huge selection of Safety goggles from the best brands. speeding and other violations, following a traffic stop in the 15700 block of Cicero Avenue.

Gill was stopped after police clocked him doing 54 mph in a 35 mph zone.

During the stop, Gill appeared shaky, while continually reaching for a bag in the front passenger seat of the car, according to the report. Gill told officers that he was transporting a 'water bong' used for smoking meth to a friend's house, according to the report.

Gill also told officers that the bong was his, but that he no longer used drugs and that was why he was transporting it to the friend's house, according to the report.

Also in the car, police found another bag containing hundreds of small, plastic baggies commonly used for distributing narcotics.

Inside one bag, police found another bag that was locked. Officers believed the bag contained more pipes and narcotics, according to the report.

Officers cut open the bag and discovered two clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth, one plastic bag containing three pills of suspected Xanax, one purple bill of suspected Aderol, two vials containing suspected Rohypnol and one glass pipe used for ingesting meth.

Other countries court skilled immigrants

The contraption sits in a basement lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a mish-mash of hoses, wires, whirring pumps and a 12-foot high plastic tower filled with dripping water,Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or Laser engraver machines. all set on plastic milk crates.

It looks like a high school science project, but it was developed by two post-doctoral mechanical engineers at MIT. And it just might be a breakthrough that creates wealth and jobs in the United States and transforms the white-hot industry of oil and natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

That is, as long as the foreign-born inventors aren't forced to leave the country.

Anurag Bajpayee and Prakash Narayan Govindan, both from India, have started a company to sell the system to oil companies that are desperate for a cheaper, cleaner way to dispose of the billions of gallons of contaminated water produced by fracking.

Oil companies have flown them to Texas and North Dakota. They say they are about to close on millions of dollars in financing, and they anticipate hiring 100 employees in the next couple of years. Scientific American magazine called water-decontamination technology developed by Bajpayee one of the top ten "world-changing ideas" of 2012.

But their student visas expire soon, both before July, and because of the restrictive U.S. visa system, they may have to move their company to India or another country. "We love it here," said Bajpayee, a cheerful 27-year-old in an argyle sweater and jeans.Find the best selection of high-quality collectible bobblehead available anywhere. "But there are so many hoops you have to jump through. And you risk getting deported while you are creating jobs."

Much of the current immigration debate in Washington has centered on the 11 million undocumented migrants in the country. But, from the halls of MIT to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, business and academic leaders are more focused on what they call an even greater threat to the U.S. economy: immigration laws that chase away highly skilled foreigners educated in U.S. universities, often with degrees funded by U.S. taxpayers.

While other countries are actively recruiting foreign-born U.S. graduates, the United States has strict limits on visas for highly skilled workers that often lead to waiting lists of many years. And unlike Canada and other countries, the U.S. offers no specific visa for young entrepreneurs like Bajpayee and Narayan who want to start a new business in America.

"These are bright people who want to stay and make this country more competitive, and we treat them like dirt and drive them away," said Vivek Wadhwa, an entrepreneur and academic who writes frequently about immigration and the "reverse brain drain."

President Barack Obama supports making it easier for foreigners who earn master's degrees or Ph.Ds at U.S. universities to get green cards, and so does a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who recently announced their immigration reform proposals. The idea has wide support, but it is stuck in partisan infighting over how to craft comprehensive reforms that address both skilled and unskilled immigrants.

Republicans have proposed increasing the number of visas for skilled immigrants by cutting the number available for unskilled immigrants--a trade-off that Democrats oppose. The situation is an emblem of Washington gridlock: Even when both sides agree on something, they can't agree on how to make it happen.

Obama and some in Congress have also proposed creating a new "start-up visa" for foreign entrepreneurs. Many applaud this plan, but not all.

"It's a stupid idea," said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, who supports tighter immigration controls. "What is an entrepreneur? Businesses come and go."

That kind of talk is heresy in Silicon Valley, where business leaders have begged the government for more welcoming immigration laws. The biggest obstacle to growth in America's tech industry,Looking for the Best Air purifier? they say, is a desperately acute shortage of highly skilled workers in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"No matter how many visas they gave out, those people would all get jobs and we would still need more," said Margit Wennmachers, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a major venture capital firm in Silicon Valley.Willkommen im virtuellen Zuhause der Lercher Werkzeugbau GmbH. "It's not like we need 10,000. I think we could do with a million and still be hungry."

According to a study by the Brookings Institution, about half of all Ph.It's not hard to see why outdoor solar light is all the rage.Ds working in science and technology are foreign-born. And about 40 percent of all MIT graduate students are from other countries.

Leon Sandler, executive director of MIT's Deshpande Center for Technical Innovation, said it costs about $250,000 to educate a single Ph.D student and the U.S. government pays for at least 80 percent of all MIT's graduate research.

"Essentially we are funding their research, spending a quarter-million dollars in taxpayer money, then we make it hard for these people to stay here," said Sandler, whose group helps start up and provided nearly $150,000 to support Bajpayee and Narayan. "If you want more innovation in this country, fix the visa situation."

Countries from Canada to Germany to Australia to Singapore are enthusiastically courting foreign entrepreneurs with relatively easy visas. Some countries offer cash.

China has given bonuses of up to $150,000 to thousands of highly skilled expatriates who have come home to work or start businesses. Chile is luring top talent with $40,000 in capital, free office space and a quick visa through its "Start-up Chile" program.

2013年2月18日 星期一

Escalating tax credit proposed to boost WNY film production

Angelina Jolie almost filmed an elaborate fight scene in Buffalo for the action thriller “Salt,” using the Skyway, the I-190 ramp and the railroad tracks below as a backdrop.

A location scout wanted it to happen, but it was just too costly to film here.

So the production went to another city.

It’s a problem that has kept many film studios away, despite the enticement of Buffalo’s picture-perfect settings, according to film promoters here.

“The things we have that always blow these filmmakers away – and it’s probably a testament to the preservationists here – is that our architecture is so preserved and so pristine. They see our grain mills,Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. the grittiness of the First Ward, the Cobblestone District with real cobblestone streets,” said Tim Clark, head of the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission.

It is just the costs that stop movie crews from coming here.

Big productions must bring in crews from New York City, and that means paying additional costs for transportation, rental vehicles, hotel rooms and per diems.

“The experts tell me it’s close to a 45 percent difference between shooting a movie in Buffalo versus shooting a movie in Staten Island,” Clark said.

Now State Sen. Patrick Gallivan has proposed legislation that he feels could level the playing field and make Buffalo much more competitive with other cities. His bill calls for raising the state’s 30 percent film production tax credit – the amount of expenses a film studio can deduct in taxes – on an escalating scale upstate. For Western New York, it would be 45 percent.

“The farther you get from New York City, the more expensive it is to bring films to Buffalo,” the Elma Republican said. “But over time, we can build the industry and workforce, and the costs will naturally go down.”

His proposal follows a change last year that boosted the state’s tax credit for post-production work – such as titling, color correcting and special effects – from 10 to 30 percent, with an additional 5 percent bump for upstate and Western New York.

“We have a very good number of small-budget films being made in and around this area.A lanyard may refer to a rope or cord worn around the neck or wrist to carry an object. But we’re relegated to the non-union, smaller-budget movies,” Clark said. “They are good bread-and-butter kinds of projects for us, but we’re likely not to see the bigger stuff until we get some sort of relief in the tax credits here.”

For example, a little over a week ago, director Ivan Reitman and a location scout were in town to consider making “Draft Day,” which would star Kevin Costner as a fictitious Buffalo Bills general manager.

But Lionsgate studio also is considering Cleveland for the movie because it offers a variety of incentives not available in Buffalo.Find the best iPhone headset for you Another example: Producer Don Carmody, whose credits include “Good Will Hunting” and “Chicago,” set his latest film, “The Factory,” which came out direct-to-video on Tuesday, in Buffalo.

But the movie, which stars John Cusack, was filmed in Montreal.

“There is huge competition with the tax credits all over the place, and when we made ‘The Factory,’ even the New York State rebates weren’t that big a deal. It was just better for us to shoot the thing in Montreal and take advantage of their tax credits,” Carmody said.

Gallivan said he is hopeful fellow lawmakers will support the four-tiered film production tax credit boost – from 30 to 45 percent – that would give upstate and Western New York the maximum boost.

It’s the only way, he said, that regions outside New York City can have a level playing field.

“I don’t know if we need four or three tiers, but the general concept essentially is to level the costs so every region can compete equally to bring film production to upstate and Western New York,” Gallivan said.

His bill has the support of John Ford, president and business manager of Motion Picture Studio Mechanics Local 52, based in New York City. More than 100 members are between Buffalo and Rochester in the various locals and he would welcome the chance to add more, he said.

“You need the employers to bring the work here. Once the shows start coming, then you get as many local people on as you can and they learn over time,” Ford said.

Clark said the legislation to provide equity is overdue.

“In 2006, ‘The Savages’ shot here two or three days and went to Staten Island, where it was made to look like Buffalo,” Clark said, referring to the film that co-starred Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney.

Clark said representatives from several major movie studios have assured him that they would shoot more pictures throughout New York State if the production tax credit went up.

Other upstate movie promoters agree.

Based on conversations with line producers who budget movies, “the magic tax credit number is 42 percent,” said Nora Brown, who heads Rochester’s film commission.

That would help Rochester retain films she said have been lost lately to Massachusetts. Some other states, for instance, allow a portion of salaries paid to the director, writer and leading cast members to be deducted from taxes.

Downtown Rochester is slated for 10 days of shooting this spring for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” according to John Scardino, regional representative for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees 52. But the amount of film, which reprises Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, being shot there was cut in half due to added costs.

Efforts also are under way to increase critical post-production work in parts of the state outside of New York City.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last July signed legislation that raised the state post-production tax credit for upstate and Western New York to 35 percent – 5 percent higher than for New York City, where most of the industry is located.

The governor announced his support in January for extending the tax credit five years, something the Legislature still has to approve.

Increasing the post-production tax credit is working,A chip card is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain. said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of Empire State Development Corp.

“For the first couple of years that the post-production credit existed, there were 17 projects that sought support. In the six or seven months since, we’ve had 34 projects sign up for the credit, indicating there is strong interest,” Adams said.

Later this year, the school plans to begin a visual-effects certificate training program to train students to work in the post-production industry.

Sam Hoyt, a member of the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council, said there have been “advanced discussions” about how to support what Daemen is doing.

“We think Daemen has something that is very unique based on our discussions and our due diligence, and we’re in discussions with the team there as to how we can make it become a reality,” Hoyt said.

Adams said the growing industry could help retain a highly skilled and well-trained technical workforce in Buffalo.

“If this works, it’s another strategy in keeping young people in Western New York. It’s a very cool industry,” Adams said.

Ben Porcari, who operates IBC Digital, a production company in Buffalo specializing in post-animation and digital effects, said the post-production tax credit makes Buffalo much more competitive.

“Companies can benefit from the low cost of operation in Buffalo and take advantage of the extra 5 percent tax credit. On a $1 million job, that’s a decent amount of money,” Porcari said.

With possible changes to production tax credits along with the change last year in the post-production credit, Buffalo and Western New York’s film industry could be turning a corner, said Clark of the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission.

“I truly believe we are on the cusp of something really big here,” Clark said. “It’s also really sexy. You have movie stars in town, you have lights,Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain. camera, action. It’s a great way to boost the economy.”

Tiepolo and the Art of Perfection

On the eve of his departure from Venice for the royal court in Spain in 1762, at the age of 66, Giambattista Tiepolo told a reporter from a local newspaper, the Nuova Veneta Gazzetta: “Painters should strive to succeed in creating great works, that is those that can please noble lords and the rich — because these make the fortunes of masters — and not other people, who cannot buy pictures of great value. So the painter’s mind must always aim at the sublime, the heroic and for perfection.”

This was a rare spoken record of Tiepolo’s artistic credo, but it was one that had guided his whole life and made it possible for him to realize masterpieces on a stupendous scale.

Much earlier in his long and amazingly industrious career, he had given visual expression to his grand ambitions — and not without a disarming dash of wit and self-deprecation — in a memorable painting: In “Alexander and Campaspe in the Studio of Apelles” of 1725-27, Tiepolo cast himself as the most famous artist in antiquity in the act of painting the portrait of Alexander’s mistress, the beautiful Campaspe.

According to the story, so pleased was the world-conquering hero with the painted nude that he rewarded the artist with the gift of the model, with whom Apelles had fallen in love. In his playful illustration of the legend,A chip card is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain. Tiepolo’s young wife, Cecilia Guardi, posed as Campaspe (Apelles-Tiepolo gazing on her with mesmerized, pop-eyed concentration), while placed behind Apelles’s easel for good measure, advertising his wares, are two of Tiepolo’s own canvases, one on a classical and another on a religious theme. Thus did the artist declare his abiding intention to emulate the most famous painters of the past and to find patrons among the great.

“Alexander and Campaspe,” on loan from Montreal, is the first painting in a remarkable gathering at Villa Manin in Passariano of 125 paintings, drawings and prints from more than 40 collections — the works span the artist’s production from his first commissions to his last canvases in Spain — for “Giambattista Tiepolo,” curated by Giuseppe Bergamini, Alberto Craievich and Filippo Pedrocco.

Villa Manin is near Udine, where Tiepolo found the noble patron for his first great cycle of frescoes in the Patriarch’s (now Archbishop’s) Palazzo and today home of the Diocesan Museum. Udine is also the venue for a second, smaller but revealing study exhibition, “Giambattista Tiepolo and Paolo Veronese,” at the city’s Castello.

Tiepolo was born in Venice in 1696 and studied under Gregorio Lazzarini, the most respected teacher of the day. He was accepted into the confraternity of artists in 1717 and rapidly made a name for himself. His early works manifest the influence of the dark “tenebrist” chiaroscuros of the older local artists Piazzetta, Bencovich, Pittoni and Giulia Lama, and of a common inspiration to them all, Tintoretto.

But by the time Tiepolo went to Udine in 1725, he had fallen under the spell of another 16th-century Venetian artist, Paolo Veronese. The noble, colorful, luminous world of Veronese, with its dramatic illusionistic effects, was the ideal model for Tiepolo’s frescoes, commissioned by the Venetian patriarch Dionisio Dolfin for his official residence. The reputation of Veronese was probably higher among Venetian connoisseurs than that even of Titian,Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain. and Tiepolo’s references to this earlier master would have been appreciated by Dolfin. The evocation of Veronese’s paintings also pleasingly conjured up images of the era when Venice was at the height of its power and glory.

The principal figures of these frescoes are the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the divinely appointed forerunners of Dolfin, whose appointment as patriarch was under attack, so their depiction, affirming his credentials as it were, carried a strong political message of topical relevance. But in the long term, the most striking aspect of the cycle was that it contained all the fertile imagination, mastery of light and color, theatrical panache and bravura skill in composition and execution that was to characterize Tiepolo’s subsequent oeuvre.A lanyard may refer to a rope or cord worn around the neck or wrist to carry an object.

Tiepolo was not the only artist at this time to return to Veronese as a source of inspiration, but while others imitated, Tiepolo absorbed his lessons, integrating them into his own artistic vision.

Despite the importance of the earlier master in Tiepolo’s development, “Giambattista Tiepolo and Paolo Veronese,” curated by Linda Borean and William L. Barcham at Udine’s Castello, is the first exhibition to investigate this fascinating and complex relationship, brought alive by an absorbing line-up of 40 paintings, drawings and engravings by the two artists.Find the best iPhone headset for you The centerpiece of the show is Tiepolo’s “Finding of Moses,” from Edinburgh,Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. temporarily reunited with a sizable section of the picture sliced off nearly two centuries ago and now in Turin, shown here together with Veronese’s version of the subject, from Dijon.

In the Villa Manin exhibition, after the first room on an upper floor displaying “Alexander and Campaspe,” six rooms are devoted to a number of oil sketches and a wide and varied selection — from figures, drapery and portraits to vases, trees and farm buildings — of the some 2,000 surviving drawings by Tiepolo’s virtuoso hand.

The spacious, high-ceilinged rooms on Villa Manin’s ground floor provide an ideal setting for the canvases, some of large proportions, and many of them treasured masterpieces, loaned from both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1715-16, the artist received his first significant commission to paint a series of apostles and prophets on canvases to be placed over the high arches within the Ospedaletto Church in Venice. All but one were saved from a fire in 2010 with only superficial damage and were then removed for cleaning. In their usual position at a height of around eight meters, or more than 25 feet, above the ground, they are hard to see in detail, so this temporary showing offers a welcome opportunity to study at close quarters these images justly praised at the time for being “all spirit and fire.”

The artist’s glorious airborne allegories are represented by such compositions as “Time Discovers Truth” from Vicenza and “Zephyr and Flora” from Venice. But here are also some of his most serious and powerful religious works, such as “The Communion of St. Lucy” and “Agar and Ishmael,” with its pathetic depiction of the seemingly dead child Ishmael.

One of most entertaining pieces is “Danae,” taken to Stockholm by Carl Gustaf Tessin in 1736 after he had failed to persuade Tiepolo to travel to Sweden to work for his royal master. In this irreverent version, Danae is depicted as a sleepy, overweight courtesan, being pimped by Cupid, who lifts her dress to display “the goods,” as her minuscule lap dog rushes yapping at Zeus’s eagle.

In the Villa’s ballroom is the gigantic canvas of “St. Tecla Liberates Este from the Plague” (along with the original oil sketch for it from New York), temporarily removed for conservation work while building repairs are carried out on Este’s duomo. This astonishing late work, completed in 1759, depicts a moving scene of devastation on the ground with an exhilarating vision of God descending with angels from the heavens to banish the pestilence at the entreaty of the kneeling saint.

Northeast commuters struggle with icy roads

The workweek opened with a white-knuckle ride Monday in the snow-clobbered Northeast as drivers encountered unplowed streets, two-lane roads reduced to a single channel and snowbanks so high it was impossible see around corners.

Schools remained closed across much of New England and New York, and more than 80,000 homes and businesses were still waiting for the electricity to come back on after the epic storm swept through on Friday and Saturday with 1 to 3 feet of snow that entombed cars and sealed up driveways.

The storm was blamed for at least 18 deaths in the U.S. and Canada, and officials warned of a new danger as rain and higher temperatures set in: roof collapses.Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing.

In hard-hit Connecticut, where some places were buried in more than 3 feet of snow, the National Guard used heavy equipment to clear roads in the state's three biggest cities.

"This is awful," said Fernando Colon, of South Windsor, Conn., who was driving to work at Bradley International Airport near Hartford on a two-lane highway that was down to one lane because of high snowbanks.

Most major highways were cleared by Monday,A lanyard may refer to a rope or cord worn around the neck or wrist to carry an object. but the volume of snow was just too much to handle on many secondary roads. A mix of sleet and rain also created new headaches. A 10-mile stretch of Interstate 91 just north of Hartford to Massachusetts was closed briefly because of ice and accidents.

In New York, where hundreds of cars became stuck on the Long Island Expressway on Friday night and early Saturday morning, some motorists vented their anger at Gov. Andrew Cuomo for not acting more quickly to shut down major roads, as other governors did, and for not plowing more aggressively.

"There were cars scattered all over the place. They should have just told people in the morning, 'Don't bother going in because we're going to close the roads by 3 o'clock.' I think Boston and Connecticut had the right idea telling everybody to stay off the roads and we got a better chance of clearing it up," said George Kiriakos, an investment consultant from Bohemia, N.Y.

On Monday morning, he said, conditions were still miserable: "It's just as slick as can be. You've got cars stuck all over like it's an obstacle course."

Cuomo has defended his handling of the crisis and said that more than one-third of all the state's snow-removal equipment had been sent to the area. He said he also wanted to allow people the chance to get home from work.

"People need to act responsibly in these situations," the governor said.

The number of homes and businesses without power was down from a peak at 650,000. More than 70,000 of those still waiting were in Massachusetts.

Jim and Brenda Stewart, of Marshfield,A chip card is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain. Mass., were using their fireplace to stay warm. Brenda, a nurse, said that they were getting a little bit bored but that she was reading and painting snow scenes to pass the time.

"When you're a New Englander,Find the best iPhone headset for you you kind of hunker down and just do it," she said.

In Scituate, Mass., Richard and Ann Brown were among about 50 people at a shelter set up at a high school. The couple, married 65 years, spent the previous three nights sleeping on side-by-side cots.

"It's disrupting when you're older," said Ann Brown, 88. "You've got to be careful to keep your spirits up."

Flights resumed at major airports in the region. Boston's transit system resumed full service Monday but told commuters to expect delays. The Metro-North Railroad was mostly up and running in suburban New York City, while the Long Island Rail Road said riders could expect a nearly normal schedule.

In the long weather history of the Northeast, the snowstorm wasn't that bad — it ranked 16th on one scale and 25th on another, according to initial data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The measuring systems take into account the size of the snowstorm, the amount of snow and how many people were in its path.

The weekend storm ranked a 3, or a "major" storm, on a 1-5 scale, with 4 being "crippling" and 5 "extreme."

While many people tried to resume their workweek routines, others remained hopelessly stranded.

In Hamden, Conn., which received 40 inches of snow, nurse Sandy Benoit said she could not leave the house because her driveway had not been plowed. She didn't think her street was plowed either, but she couldn't be sure because she had to turn back after walking part of the way in knee-deep snow.

Across the region, big piles of snow blocked sight lines at intersections and highway ramps, making turning and merging hazardous. Some drivers decided the safe thing to do was to stay in the tracks cut by the cars ahead of them.

Peter Starkel, chief of the volunteer fire department in Columbia, Conn., said was difficult to maneuver emergency vehicles on the snow-narrowed roads. During one emergency medical call, "we physically could not turn the vehicles around," he said. "So we had to back about a half-mile down the road to the closest intersection just to get out."

In North Haven, Conn., First Selectman Michael Freda said that with many driveways still to be cleared, people were running out of heating oil and prescription medication.

"What this is creating, particularly in the senior citizen sector, is a bit of psychological anxiety with is creating a lot of emotion," he said.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said there have been about six roof collapses involving barns and other structures.

Officials said people should try to clear flat or gently sloped roofs to relieve the weight — but only if they can do so safely.

"We don't recommend that people, unless they're young and experienced, go up on roofs," said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain.

Officials also warned of the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Boston, two people died Saturday after being overcome by fumes while sitting in running cars, including a teenager who was trying to stay warm while his father shoveled. The vehicles' tailpipes had become clogged with snow.

Latest auction event news from CCFS auction analyst Richard Hudson-Evans

It was not a car that topped the Charterhouse prices at Shepton Mallet Sunday 10 February, but a one Dorset family owned from new in 1923 Matchless H2 motorcycle and sidecar with 1960 tax disc displayed from when last on the road. Verging on the derelict, though with major components present, the ancient combination project was taken on for a double estimate 13,200 including premium. This classic bike milestone result however heralded what turned out to be quite a week for the Dorset auction firm, who proceeded to sell a chipped Italian plate found hanging in a wire frame on a forgotten wall behind a door in a Somerset cottage for an abdicating Pope’s ransom.

For it was indeed most fortunate for vendor and auction house that principal gavel wielder Richard Bromell sought the identifying and dating expertise of the Ashmolean Museum, who concluded that the 41.5cm diameter plate thought to be c19th century copy was, in fact, a maiolica istoriato charger crafted in Urbino c1540 depicting ‘The Feast of Herod’ after Sebald Beham.Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain. And last Thursday, London dealers S J Phillips were sufficiently impressed by the revelation to outbid some clearly very serious contestants from home and away at Bromell’s Sherborne saleroom and part with 567,640 with premium and VAT!

The moral of this very happy tale of a plate with a chipped edge and a rusty old motorcycle ‘discovered’ in the West Country is that there really can be a few quid in old stuff on a wall, gathering dust in an attic, mouldering down the cellar or gathering value enhancing straw in a barn. So do please “keep ‘em peeled”, as my old colleague Shaw Taylor, accompanied by an ITV wink, used to say on Police Five. At the end of every rainbow, a pile of old junk may turn into a pot of gold.

Back to earth again in soggy Shepton Mallet on a Sunday afternoon, the oldest car in the agricultural showground shed was a possibly Earls Court Motor Show 1937 Daimler DB17 in previously and nicely restored condition sold for 7480. There were buyers for all three postwar Fords, too, led by a much shinier and better specified than new in 1991 Sierra Sapphire Cossie 4-Door with full complement of Rouse go-faster goodies which rushed to a mid-estimate 10,A lanyard may refer to a rope or cord worn around the neck or wrist to carry an object.450 performance. A vinyl-trimmed roof did not prevent a 1975 and still Mk1 Escort Mexico from pulling 10,010,Find the best iPhone headset for you whilst the most viewed motor on the lot was a nicely presented 1970 Cortina MkII 1600E that had clearly benefited from spending 30 years away from the salt in Cyprus and which duly delivered a more than forecast 7700 valuation with premium.



The highest priced BMC item surprisingly with a Mini Show going on next door was not one of the pack of Minis (many of which were too non-standard and/or too expensive for most in the market for one), but a 1958 Morris Minor Traveller with a believed to be genuine 43,000 total mileage sold for 8140. In fact, the only Mini that sold this time was a 1971 BL-badged with a believed to have been 51,000 miles of depreciation in 42 years which achieved the required 3300.Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. A 1964 Morris Oxford with Farina-penned shell with only one registered keeper in the book since new meanwhile picked up 2750 from a bidder who will be the second owner, if he registers the fact.

In Glastonbury Festival country, a now classic bay window VW Westfalia Camper of 1973 vintage with rear hinged pop-up roof picked up 8580.A chip card is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain. By close of play, and after 8 of the 9 mainly complete motorcycles had been hammered away to new sheds for 27,055, 27 or 66% of the 44 cars and a caravan offered had sold for 103,596, again including premium.

After a full day to view potential purchases 9.30am to 5.30pm this Friday 22, the next clutch of classics crosses the block of fortune from 2pm Saturday at the Silverstone Auctions sale during the Race Retro historic motor sport exhibition at Stoneleigh Park, formerly the Royal Show showground, Warwickshire. But although specialist competition machinery led by a 570,000+ 1969 Lola T70 Mk III B Coupe headline at the sale, 55 of the classics, 2 bikes and a Routemaster double-decker bus in the 84 vehicle catalogue are road-going, rather than specifically constructed or prepped for racing or rallying, and therefore, statistically, easier to shift.

Whilst in a bid to be more accessible to private punters, the following day 24 February at Sandown Park, Barons hold their first 2013 fixture on a Sunday rather than a Tuesday at the Surrey racecourse. And on behalf of form followers, I shall endeavour to check out the runners and riders in parade rings, monitor the going on auction days, noting both winners and losers, assessing prices and conditions. Hang on very tightly though, for we could be at full gallop one minute or out of the saddle the next. Even the best behaved horses will be spooked by envy-peddling politicians in opposition plotting the annual taxation of goodies the living already own, like paintings and, maybe, classic cars. Horseburgers are far too good for them!

2013年2月17日 星期日

Interest rate, not balance, matters

Many consumers resolve to pay off their credit cards for the new year, and their intentions are in the right place. But according to a recent study, how they go about it is probably wrong.

Mathematically, consumers are best off eliminating the debt on the card with the highest interest rate first. But researchers found that many of us tend to pay off the card with the smallest balance first, even if it carries the lowest interest rate. By not tackling the most-expensive debt first, we end up paying more in the long run.

“There is an emotional benefit to closing out an account,” said Scott Rick,Parkeasy Electronics are dedicated to provide Car park management system. assistant professor of marketing and co-author of the University of Michigan study.

Some financial advisers tell consumers to wipe out the smallest debt first. But these days, when so many of us struggle to pay bills, we have to be smart about how we use every dollar. And in this case,Provides more protection than regular Safety goggles. that means paying off the highest-rate credit card first.

Paying off the smallest balance first isn’t a mistake if that card has the highest rate. “We show that people do it even when it is a mistake,” Rick said. He calls this tendency “debt account aversion.Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser marking machine .”

Rick said consumers often aren’t aware of their cards’ interest rates or the compounding effect of interest.

The CARD Act of 2009 requires card issuers to show consumers on statements how long it would take to pay off the balance by making minimum payments. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking at ways to simplify card agreements.

Rick said credit-card statements should display the interest rate as prominently as the amount owed. Now, he said, the interest rate is buried on the second page.

A pair of local boxers from the Big East Boxing gym in Randolph will be competing in the annual Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions at the Lowell Auditorium this Tuesday and Wednesday. The Tournament of Champions is also known as the all-New England tourney, since it pits the winners of the four New England regionals against one another for the overall New England crowns.

Brockton native Gerald Schifone is a familiar face at the Lowell event, as this will be his fourth Tournament of Champions, coming on the heels of his fourth consecutive Southern New England Golden Gloves championship last month at Fall River. Schifone, at 165 pounds, not only won his fourth SNEGG title last month, but he also fought on the amateur portion of the pro-am card at the TD Garden in Boston.

Both Schifone and his trainer, Joe Ennis of Big East Boxing, have stated that this will likely be the 24-year old pugilist’s last year as an amateur, and they’re aiming for one more shot at the nationals in both the Golden Gloves and the USA Boxing tourneys. Schifone will meet Central New England champ John Xfaris in Tuesday’s semifinals.

“We would have turned Gerald pro by now, but there are so few really good professional cards being staged around here,” said Ennis. “Gerald had a good bout on that Garden card, and we felt he had the toughest opponent of anyone on that show. Gerald is getting better all the time, and the biggest thing now is how relaxed and calm he is in the ring. He’s been through all these pressure situations before, and knows he can handle himself and find a way to win.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. He’s been sparring with our guys here and a few outside guys, too, but the fact is that he’s been so busy with bouts lately, we don’t need to do much fine-tuning.”

The other Big East product is new to the Golden Gloves elite,View our range of over 200 different types of solar powered products including our solar street lamps. but no stranger to topnotch athletic competition. Travis Demko is a 2011 graduate of Stoughton High, where he was a standout running back, linebacker, wrestler, and track & field competitor. Although he played football at about 165 pounds, Demko has trained down to the 141-pound class for the ring. Last month at Fall River, he won his first SNEGG championship, defeating Scott Sullivan, from the stable trained by Fall River’s famed ex-professional contender, Ray “Sucra” Oliveira.

New York to North Jersey

New York, New York. If retailers can make it there,Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser marking machine . odds are good they'll also open stores here. And lately the odds are improving.

The flow of stores from Manhattan to North Jersey slowed during the recession, but the pace is picking up again.View our range of over 200 different types of solar powered products including our solar street lamps. Tiffany & Co. is scheduled to open its second Bergen County store, at Westfield Garden State Plaza, this summer. The mall is also adding space for 20 stores it hopes to fill with New York City premium designer brands, like as Dolce & Gabbana.

Last year, when the giant Japanese retailer Uniqlo was looking for a suburban site for its first U.S. store outside New York City, it picked Paramus.

The retail fortunes of North Jersey and New York City have been linked since the first Bergen County malls opened in 1957. In recent years, North Jersey has benefited from New York City's dominance as the place for international brands to establish a U.S. foothold. When those brands decide to add suburban stores, North Jersey usually is their first choice.

"For retailers in New York, it really is New Jersey and you, perfect together," said Faith Hope Consolo, a New York power broker and head of the retail division at Prudential Douglas Elliman. A Manhattan store shows you can make it in the big city. And when you want to show you can play in suburbia's big leagues, you come to North Jersey, particularly Paramus, Consolo and other retail real estate brokers say.

Consolo said Manhattan-based retailers that want to branch out into a nearby suburb have four choices — New Jersey; Westchester County and Long Island in New York; and Connecticut. In her opinion, New Jersey beats those other locations.

"It's easy access, you have some of the best malls in the country," she said. Eventually, national chains will usually end up with stores in all those locations, but North Jersey often wins the contest for the first suburban location because it is considered a better test market.

"Bergen County really gives you such a good cross-section of socio economic categories and gives you a very big variety of consumers," Consolo said. "It lets you tap a market that's residential, commercial and even tourist."

The first New York retailers came to northern New Jersey because of its proximity to New York. The parent company of Macy's developed Garden State Plaza in the 1950s, expecting that most of its shoppers would be New Yorkers from Washington Heights and the Bronx who could get to Paramus quicker than to midtown because of the George Washington Bridge and Route 4.

But the bridge and Route 4 also led to the development of North Jersey suburbs filled with North Jersey shoppers. Now, the retailers come for the people — a population of 1.4 million in Bergen and Passaic counties that makes North Jersey the size of the country's sixth-largest city, Phoenix, and bigger than Dallas and Detroit — and the kind of demographics merchants drool over — average household income of $105,864 and median household income of $72,588. That's 7 percent higher than the New Jersey median and 43 percent above the U.S. median.

Consolo said retailers want to be in Manhattan "because if they want to expand, Manhattan buys us the rest of the country." Landlords in other cities know you mean business and can survive if you have a store in Manhattan, she said. "Why? Because they know how competitive New York is. We're a tough town," she said.

Likewise, the Paramus-based broker Chuck Lanyard, president of the Goldstein Group, said a Paramus location sends the same message to suburban landlords.

"It says you're serious about picking a really high-quality town in a prime retail market place.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. And when you do future stores, it helps with your credibility," he said.

A Manhattan flagship,Provides more protection than regular Safety goggles. Consolo said, is not for the weak or the undercapitalized. But for retailers looking to go public or launch a major expansion, it is the best place for visibility.

They're not tracking changes in the euro or US dollar. As the International Energy Agency in Paris points out, you'd expect the growing spare capacity in the OPEC countries to drive down Brent oil prices. But that is not happening.

Copenhagen-based Danske Bank on Friday shot out a note which makes an interesting point about OPEC and its seeming ability to crank up production if needed. Political unrest in Africa has led oil companies to review security arrangements in countries such as Libya, Algeria and Nigeria, thus halting production.

"This has acted to increase spare capacity but should hardly be seen as bearish for oil," says Danske senior analyst Christin Tuxen. And he says the geopolitical factor has returned with a vengeance after talks broke down between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency; this just raises the risk of Israel losing patience with its long-time foe.

In the near term, Tuxen expects Brent prices to be well supported but there could be a correction at any time due to the build-up of speculative positioning.

So good timing for Peter Strachan at Perth-based StockAnalysis to bring out his latest thrice-yearly review of the 135 oil stocks he follows. Of those,Parkeasy Electronics are dedicated to provide Car park management system. Strachan identifies only 36 worthy of investment or speculation.

Car park review could see longer charging season

Plans to review the management of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s 48 car parks could increase the charging season by as long as three weeks.

Members were given an update on the review by director of delivery and discovery James Parkin last week, who said park officers have been in discussions with Pembrokeshire County Council and other agencies to explore cost savings and improved management.

The park has submitted a number of proposed revisions of its ‘Off-Street Parking Order’ to the county council, which will soon be running a full public consultation on the changes.

The main changes include an increase in the charging season from the current timetable of April 1st- October 31st, to March 15th to November 7th, and altering the charging period from the current 24-hour scheme to 9am to 5pm to bring the car parks in line with Pembrokeshire County Council’s. The order will include all charging car parks, with no new charging car parks introduced.

The second phase of the review will involve discussions over more ‘joined up’ management arrangements with local agencies, and chief executive Tegryn Jones admitted there were discussions underway with the county council regarding car park management.

Cllrs Peter Morgan and Lyn Jenkins expressed concerns about extending the charging season, as they feared it could displace vehicles onto local roads, as the dates for enforcement on public roads differed from the new proposed charging season.

The name of this Manchester City-style challenger is BT Vision.A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose solar lantern by Gordon. Two sports channels will launch in August with a package encompassing 18 high-profile Premier League matches, exclusive rugby rights to the Aviva Premiership and the women’s tennis tour.

BT’s on-screen talent will be led by Jake Humphrey, who is rumoured to be on a deal worth more than £750,000 per year, and woman of the moment Clare Balding. Their production will be done in the media centre at the Olympic Park in Stratford, where they propose to build no fewer than three studios and 20 edit suites. You cannot mistake their ambition.How cheaply can I build a solar power systems?

“Ultimately BT Vision is just a way for BT to fight the battle for broadband customers,” says a rival broadcasting executive. “Sky have millions of people signed up on package deals – TV, phone, broadband – which makes them a target. And while they have seen off other rivals in the past, like ITV Digital and Setanta, this is different. I think BT have got them rattled.”

Barney Francis, Sky Sports managing director, looks anything but rattled as he receives Telegraph Sport in his glass-fronted office in Isleworth, west London. Dressed in jeans and a velvety blue waistcoat, he leans back in his chair, places his hands behind his head, and surveys the eight giant TV screens that beam out every second of his channels’ output.

“We don’t consider ourselves as buyers or renters of sports right,” he says, as if the idea of a wallet-waving shoot-out with BT is beneath him. “We consider ourselves in partnerships with all these guys. I had lunch with [England and Wales Cricket Board chairman] Giles Clarke yesterday.

There was not anything specific on the agenda, but it’s important that we have regular conversations about how to push the sport of cricket.

“It sounds a glib thing to say but it’s not just the money that makes a successful property: it’s the promotion, the airtime, the marketing, the oxygen around it.

"We don’t just buy the rights, put the blue-riband event on TV and move onto the next thing. We’re working with people all the time, whether it be through Sky Sports News or our digital division,Manufactures and supplies laser marker equipment. trying to create oxygen around all the good work the sporting bodies are doing.”

Francis has hit on something here. If you want to reach the widest possible audience — a priority for the Football Association with the FA Cup,Professionals with the job title Mold Maker are on LinkedIn.Which Air purifier is right for you? and the various home unions with Six Nations rugby — then you go free-to-air. If you want promotion and investment, Sky are the masters of pushing their own product. Just look at Jim White and transfer deadline day.

The recent women’s World Cup is a different sort of example. Before the tournament, Sky generated front-page headlines through a media day where batsman-wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor revealed that she intends to play for the men’s 2nd XI at Sussex. Once it had started, they were delighted by the sheer quality of the action.

“Go back to 2004,” Francis says, “and there was a women’s ODI at Northampton where Michael Holding commentated on a half-hour slot and there wasn’t a run scored.

"Contrast that with what’s been happening in India over the last couple of weeks. We would like to claim a little bit of the credit because I think our investment in the ECB has helped them fund the development of the women’s game.”

Sky’s interest in the women’s World Cup is not feigned. During our interview, a key England wicket fell and the groans could be heard across the top floor of their hangar-sized office. Yet it is stretching a point to suggest that this tournament is driving dish sales, or persuading customers to fork out a £300-plus annual fee.

Second Annual JumpStart Kansas

The Kansas City,Professionals with the job title Mold Maker are on LinkedIn. Kan., high school student was one of 10 finalists in the second annual JumpStart Kansas competition at McPherson College. Following the final pitch presentations on Feb. 13 (which just happened to also be her birthday) Onstott found out she was one of two grand prize winners, along with Brandon Mackie of Coffeyville, Kan.

"The most important thing was getting my passion across," Onstott said. "I have a solution to a very real problem."

The annual Jump Start Kansas competition - created and hosted by McPherson College - awards as the top prizes two grants of $5,000 to the two Kansas high school students who present the best entrepreneurial ideas. One grant is for the area of commercial entrepreneurship and one is for social entrepreneurship. What's more, the grants come with no stipulation that the high school students attend McPherson College.

The grand prize winners are also offered a $5,A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose solar lantern by Gordon.000 annual scholarship to MC. The other eight finalists are offered a $1,000 annual scholarship to MC, which is increased to $1,500 annually if they also pursue the Transformative Entrepreneurship Minor when they attend the college. In addition, these students can receive $500 for their idea from the college's micro-grant "Horizon Fund" if they attend.

In total, McPherson College puts more than $100,000 on the line every year just to encourage the development of young entrepreneurs.

Onstott won the grand prize in the commercial category. She started her five-minute presentation by explaining plainly how uncomfortable she was - and not just because she was pitching for $5,000 with a speech she'd been up to 2 a.m. writing. It was also because of the clothes she was wearing.

Onstott went on to explain that standard bras are made based on only two standard measurements - cup and band - and all mass-produced bras assume symmetry. But that's only true for 10 percent of bra customers, she said, and the other 90 percent of these women are left either resorting to a poor, uncomfortable fit or spending hundreds of dollars on a custom bra.

Her solution was "Build a Better Bra Boutique." The general concept is similar to the "Build-A-Bear Workshop" business, except instead of customizing a Teddy bear, Onstott's customers would use a computerized system to order a bra to exact specifications. Trained employees would help measure and guide customers through the process.

"This is something that is close to my own heart and something I've been struggling with," Onstott said.Which Air purifier is right for you?

The grant will help her learn more about the process of bra-making and help her begin setting up essential aspects of her business.

In the social entrepreneurship category, Brandon Mackie came away with the grand prize grant with his concept for an inspirational game called "Highway to Heaven." The playing board is reminiscent of the game "Operation,How cheaply can I build a solar power systems?" where players try to pull out plastic body parts from a cartoon picture of a surgery patient without touching the sides and making a buzzer go off.

But rather than competition, Mackie's game is directed toward spiritual discovery within Christianity, healing sadness and depression, and teaching lessons of love. With a prototype, he showed how the players begin by trying to pull out a "broken heart" object at the beginning, then move along a pathway removing Christian symbols. The "highway" concludes with a "healed heart" and then a cross symbol. When players touch the edges and trigger the buzzer, they draw a card with inspirational quotes or Biblical scripture and the turn moves to the next player.

He proposed a radically different design for a wind turbine to create electricity. Rather than the wind directly turning a turbine blade, it uses a scientific property of fluids and gases called "The Bernoulli Principle." This design uses the wind's energy to pull air from the ground up, turning a turbine along the way. His design is safer for wildlife, has fewer moving parts,Manufactures and supplies laser marker equipment. has no maximum operable wind speed and would be easier to maintain with a generator at ground level.

-Jordyn Lipe, Hutchinson, Kan. - The Joyful Bakery. Lipe has been baking since she could walk, and in more recent days has won prizes and developed loyal customers. Baking is her passion. Already selling her goods by word-of-mouth and a small web presence, she would like to expand the business.

"My dream is to secure a location for my bakery and really get it going," she said.

As she looks for that location, she wants to create a welcoming, calm and comforting atmosphere.

"My purpose in being before you today is to do my best to change the world," she said.

She just might have secured some new fans at the competition, as she offered a taste of her cupcakes to the judging panel.

-Eric Unruh, Galva, Kan. - Hydrogen Fuel Technology. Unruh would like to work out of his father's mechanic shop to convert gasoline-powered cars to also run on liquid hydrogen, providing a clean alternative to fossil fuels.

"About any vehicle that runs on gas can be made to run on hydrogen," he said.

Along with the conversion, he would also sell small generators to fit in a garage to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen, providing the fuel for the cars.

2013年2月16日 星期六

Kempton artist's portraits of Lincoln aim to capture his personality

From Steven Spielberg's Oscar nominated film "Lincoln" to the novel and film "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," the 16th president has been a popular subject lately. And why shouldn't he be? He's a tall, dark, not necessarily handsome, but certainly interesting, man of history. Which is why painter Jonathan Bond of Albany Township, Berks County, chose Lincoln as the subject of his latest series.

A professional painter for 38 years, Bond has broken away from his naturescapes of Berks County to explore the face of this pivotal president. "Lincoln is so familiar that the challenge is capturing his personality," says Bond, who is displaying his works for the public this weekend at his home studio/gallery at the edge of Blue Mountain.

For Bond, the key to capturing Lincoln is Lincoln's spirit as an "everyman." Lincoln inspires Bond because, despite limited education, Lincoln is the true rags-to-riches American dream.Application can be conducted with the local designated IC card producers. "People didn't always agree with his politics, but you can't disagree with his love of his fellow man and country."

Bond's 20 Lincoln portraits, painted in the last two months, are based on photos spanning Lincoln's lifetime, from his boyood in Indian to his time as a cocky young lawyer to his crowning achievements — the Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation, both marking 150 years.

But Bond took some pretty big artistic liberties by placing Lincoln in local settings. In this way, Bond can relate to Lincoln in his own backyard and away from the politics, to keep alive the idea of Lincoln as the everyman.

"I put him in a synthetic context where he appears to be on Hawk Mountain with his top hat nearby and a book," says Bond of one of several paintings that uses Berks imagery. Another that features a young Lincoln as a rail splitter features a pile of wood left at the base of the mountain.

In general, Bond strives for realism, although he notes that some of his works seem a touch surreal. In some of the portraits, his face seems to float on the canvas, as if part of a dream. This again touches on Lincoln's personality as a dreamer, even if his dreams were sometimes foreboding.

"What struck me the most was his hair — in one photo, his hairstyle almost looked like a punk rocker." Even more than Lincoln's iconic hair and beard, Bond focused on Lincoln's eyes. He tried to capture the sadness that was evident in Lincoln's own writings. Bond also remarks on Lincoln's humor. "Lincoln was certainly depressed, but it was his humor that got him through his life."

Bond's show also includes 10 of his other landscapes, featuring subjects that tie into Lincoln's life story, such as a split rail fance near Huff's Church and the Everett Log House at Ontelaunee Park in New Tripoli.

Bond has had a long career as a graphic artist; his company is called Bond Customart. Now, he still enjoys painting for the sake of painting as well as selling his art. "I just like painting. I hope I can do it until I kick the bucket."

Bond strategically put his show between Lincoln's birthday and President's Day as a tip of the iconic top hat to the unforgettable president.You must not use the laser cutter without being trained.

A buxom woman in a low-cut red dress brandishes a pistol, her finger poised to pull the trigger, but a closer look at the painting reveals the woman is model-turned-novelist Tara Moss.

In another painting a woman in a red beret and tight yellow, slit skirt with one hand on her hip and the other holding a cigarette is in fact one of Australia's senior crown prosecutors, Margaret Cunneen.We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead made.

The paintings in award-winning Australian artist Rosemary Valadon's latest exhibition, "Wicked Women," feature femmes fatale in the style of classic film noir movie posters and pulp fiction covers but the faces are of prominent Australian women.

The models for the 17 oil paintings in the exhibition include journalists, lawyers, a crown prosecutor, designers, actresses and three female staff members at Sydney's Justice and Police Museum, where the exhibition is being held.

"I think that Rosemary was particularly interested in the ideas around women's sexual 'wickedness,' and that was part of what she was interested in exploring," curator Nerida Campbell told Reuters.

The paintings by Valadon took two years to complete and use bold colors and strong lines that produce an almost 3D effect in some cases.

While some of the models had time for multiple sittings, others had as little as half an hour for Valadon to make a quick sketch. Replicas were made of original guns and weapons displayed at the museum for the women to use as they posed.

One room is devoted to the paintings themselves, while the other features sketches.Ein innovativer und moderner Werkzeugbau Formenbau. A recording of Valadon's voice leads visitors through her creative process, from photography and modeling to sketching in charcoals and pencil, and ultimately the finished work.

The models relished the chance to show another side to their character, at least for a couple of days.

""Wicked Women" is an exciting series of works because it explores the perception of hot-blooded women in an era when women were expected to be more demure and compliant than they are today," said senior crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen.

"These women,Did you know that custom keychain chains can be used for more than just business. in my view, were portrayed as sassy, sexy and impulsive to the point of dangerousness. I think the work evokes a passionate, gutsy and high-spirited woman who has been strengthened, through hardship, to ultimate resilience."

The public response to the exhibition, which runs until late May, has been good, Campbell said, drawing viewers whose interest ranges from the painting style to simple curiosity about the famous women themselves.

How the island doubles for Nepal

‘It’s amazing how the atmosphere changes suddenly when you step into the forest,’ said film boss Stephen Christian, as we leave the comfort of a heated marquee and enter the dense spruce woodland of Axnfell Plantation.

We are approaching the authentically lo-fi set of Camera Trap, a film thriller in its final stages of shooting in the island’s great outdoors.

Described by producers as ‘atmospheric and terrifyingly real’, Camera Trap immediately follows the filming of movies Don Hemingway and Belle late last year as the apparent fruits of the government’s recent partnership with Pinewood Studios, and marks the 101st production to use the island since the film industry’s inception in 1995.

Camera Trap is set in Nepal, where the crew will head next, but Mr Christian said the Isle of Man had leant itself well as a double for the mountainous nation.

‘We filmed in Tholt-y-Will for the vistas, looking across the top of the forest,’ said Stephen, who used to run the government’s CinemaNX and is now a company director of Pinewood Shepperton after the Manx government paid £12m for a share in the enterprise.

‘Here in Axnfell it’s camp life. Down the Barony, by the river, gave us the other scenes. It looked like the real deal,Ein innovativer und moderner Werkzeugbau Formenbau. a big Asian river flowing.’

The story follows a team of British natural history documentary makers, who arrive in Nepal to track down a predator which is causing havoc with local livestock.You must not use the laser cutter without being trained.

With modern tracking and filming equipment, the evidence suggests the team may be on the trail of new species, but not all is as it seems.

‘It is a “beautiful thriller”, with some of the great cameras and weather we’ve had,’ said Stephen. ‘It’s like Frozen Planet meets The Blair Witch Project.’

Having started filming in early January,We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead made. the weather Mr Christian referred to included last month’s heavy snow and flooding, which came as both a blessing and a curse for the 40-strong crew,Application can be conducted with the local designated IC card producers. including more than 20 from the island.

‘It has been the most brutal out of 101 films. We’ve been flooded out, snowed out, and even snowed in!’ he said.

‘We prayed for snow, but we got more than we needed. The technical trucks were stuck at Tholt-y-Will for two weeks, so we had to unload them all and get them carried out by hand.’

Camera Trap is the brainchild of director Alex Verner, who after working on TT3D, pitched his vision to the board.

Mr Christian said: ‘The reaction has been quite sensational, he has come up with a script that is so different. It’s a different take on “found footage”, and the documentary film idea is in vogue at the moment. Everyone agreed it was a natural fit for the Isle of Man.’

A Manx location manager was hired to research areas of Nepal that would match the island, and though a trip to Asia is unavoidable for capturing things like the look of the local people, Stephen believes the two countries will be indistinguishable in the final edit.

The Axnfell scenes showed a tense project leader, played by actor Paul Thornley, dealing with a power cut in the hill-side camp.

The cast also includes Mark Bonner, Ross Marquand and Romanian actress Ana Ularu, who reportedly marvelled at the ‘wonderland’ of a snowy Tholt-y-Will.

Aside from the appeal of the script, gathering a cast and crew for the project was made easier by the fact that the film offered rare January work, said Mr Christian.

‘We have kept momentum going that the island’s film industry hasn’t had for a while, filming from September right through the winter. It’s looking busy.’

He added: ‘It’s certainly one of the lower budget films we’ve made, but it’s important to show that Pinewood can be involved in lower budget films too.

‘This film is going to be enhanced by the Pinewood sound design team, their expertise could bring a lot to a project like this; suspense from the sound of the rain on tents and wind in the trees.’

The crew is hoping to have wrapped up post-production in time for the summer festival season, ahead of a cinema release by the end of the year.

It will be a fond farewell to the Isle of Man though, despite the testing conditions.

‘We took over the new hotel in Ramsey. They’ve been very patient and tolerant, while we’ve been getting back at four in the morning,’ said Stephen.

‘The local spend is so valuable for this time of year. The Forestry Board have been terrific too which is typical of the island. Film makers aren’t used to that level of co-operation!’

Attendees at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival Ski Night 2 on Saturday will be treated to the Teton Gravity Research feature The Dream Factory, filmed on location in Alaska over the past two decades since the Jackson Hole-based company first started working there.

Now, there's an opportunity for you (well, most likely your son or daughter, if they're 17 years of age or under) to appear in next year's TGR film.Did you know that custom keychain chains can be used for more than just business. The 2013 Teton Gravity Research Grom Contest invites "groms" 17 years of age or younger to submit up to one ski or snowboard edit each month for a chance to film with the film crew during the 2013/2014 season, with the chance to have an edit of their footage shown before the 2014 film tour.

A committee of TGR athletes and staff members will choose the winners primarily based on quality of action and level of riding. The organizers advise: "While multiple submissions are not required, they may help us get to know you and your riding better while increasing your chances of winning a monthly prize. Voting and Facebook likes will not influence judging but may help get your video noticed better." Submissions close May 31 at midnight.

First resort out of the block to offer big bargains during the break is Mount Washington, in the Comox Valley and on the borders of Strathcona Provincial Park.

Many of the packages are suited to bunches of friends or couples vacationing together during the week, with four in a two-bedroom suite. Booked at the right time, the deals just keep on coming: Spring mid-week special: A condominium suite with a welcome breakfast basket, two days of lift passes, an Ozone tubing ticket for $190 per person, based on four people per room and a minimum of three nights' accommodation.

Ski in/Ski Out package: The popular offering gives two nights of mid-week accommodation in Bear or Deer Lodge, with two lift tickets, starting from $205 per person.

Ski to Surf Package: A two-night mid-week ski package in the alpine of either Deer or Bear Lodge, including two lift tickets for each person, based on four people sharing a two-bedroom unit. The package includes a trip to Tofino for a two night stay at Middle Beach Lodge, situated on 40 acres of oceanfront. This package is available only until April 1.

Five-Day Ski Weeks: Five nights of mid-week accommodation in a ski in/ski out condo, with five lift tickets for Monday to Friday skiing or boarding.

Brook Park city hall gets new

Thanks to a grant from the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) the city hall fa?ade is receiving a set of all new e-glass reflecting windows. The interior will also be getting an update as new doors, which help conserve heating and air conditioning, are being brought in.

Once that acquisition is complete, Mayor Mark Elliott hopes the energy-based savings will become readily apparent.

“A number of offices had duct tape by the windows because we could feel the cold wind coming in,” Elliott said.

According to Elliott and Service Department worker Randy Garner, the old city hall windows had been in place since 1959.

Garner was quick to point out that the previous windows were only a quarter of an inch thick and were sealed in rubber gasketing.Other companies want a piece of that iPhone headset action The new windows are one inch thick, with double glass on each side of an opening.

“They’re high energy performance windows, so we’re losing less energy,” Garner said, “I have to rebalance our heating, ventilation and air conditioning because we’re not using as much heating and cooling.”

Elliott added that a strong breeze used to blow in beneath the doors. With the all-
new building accoutrements and a soon-to-be installed energy efficient boiler system, the city is now looking at an annual energy savings.

“With the new boiler system it will be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter and it will save us money,” Elliott said, his voice straining over the sound of hammers and shouting construction workers.

The city was awarded $185,000 by NOPEC for the facility updating project. Because the project is so extensive the city still needed to cover a $20,000 expense.

According to their web site, NOPEC is a “non-profit, pro-consumer lobbying force dedicated to bringing lower utility costs to families and businesses in northeast Ohio.” Their site lists more than 100 cities, including Brook Park, as member communities. Other cities participating in NOPEC include Middleburg Heights, Berea, and Cleveland.Application can be conducted with the local designated IC card producers.

Maximum-Stretch was introduced as a New Product in the June-July issue and piqued the interest of readers. Maximum-Stretch stops leaks and rust from occurring on metal roofs. It also extends the life of old black tar roof systems, wood, concrete, rolled roof, and EPDM roofing systems. It forms an unbroken seal over existing metal surfaces and is standing water capable. Maximum Stretch contains no fillers. It is made with the highest grade of elastomeric rubber and acrylic blend available. It contains a remarkable adhesion to surfaces. It expands and contracts with the surface, protecting the metal from harsh wind and rain. Used with seam tape, it seals up leaky screw heads & seams. Also, its bright white reflects up to 98 percent of the sun’s rays, drastically reducing the temperature of the surface. It can also be tinted in several colors.

ATAS International’s offerings grabbed most of the attention from reWe've got a plastic card to suit you.aders in the always popular Metal Shingle Product Profile.

ATAS shingles offer the performance of metal with a traditional look when choosing tiles, shakes and shingles. Tile offerings include stone-coated, scalloped Northern European and Spanish style. Five shingle options are available, including: Bermuda style shake facsimile, wood style shake facsimile, a simulated dimensional shingle,You must not use the laser cutter without being trained. a diamond-shaped shingle and a standing-seam shingle. Available in different colors with energy-efficient finishes, all these options add value and aesthetics to any building.

Who couldn’t use a little help on the roof? Bucket Buddy, an adjustable rooftop safety system, was introduced to readers of Metal Roofing Magazine in the October-November issue. Bucket Buddy provides a solid, stable platform on the peak or pitch of any roof. Bucket Buddy can safely support a five-gallon bucket of tools, a water cooler, a tar paper roll dispenser, an umbrella or even scaffolding, providing storage, workspace and a welcome oasis for rooftop workers. Bucket Buddy folds flat for transport or storage and takes just a minute or less to set up. Adjust it for the pitch of the roof, set it in place, nail or screw it down and it provides a safe place for tools, mortar, coil nails, tar paper or whatever else you need.

It was encouraging to editors to see readers were inquiring about offerings in our Safety Product Profile. Among its safety products, Dynamic Fastener offers the Standing Seam Roof Clamp which is used as a tie-off point. The clamp is designed to hold a retractable lifeline that clips onto a worker’s harness so as not to affect worker mobility. Other products include retractable lifelines, harnesses, shock absorbing lanyards, roof anchor kits, hard hats, safety glasses and hearing protection. Sky Web II fall protection and insulation support system is a light-weight, economical mesh system that provides passive fall protection during construction and then keeps on working as an insulation support system after the job is finished.Did you know that custom keychain chains can be used for more than just business.