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Thursday, February 21, 2013

'Super-pod' of 100,000 dolphins spotted off California (APFN)

'Super-pod' of 100,000 dolphins spotted off California coast (Video)

Jaymi Heimbuch
Science / Natural Sciences
February 19, 2013

Wow. It's not often one gets to witness a pod of dolphins numbering in the thousands! This "super-pod" of dolphins was spotted off the coast of California. According to the Telegraph, "Captain Joe Dutra of Hornblower Cruises told local media that the boat tour followed the pod for more than an hour."

And according to NBC Bay Area, "[Dutra] said the pod was more than 7 miles long and 5 miles wide. Guests aboard the boat started screaming and pointing when they first saw the school of adult and juvenile common dolphins. Dutra estimated there were about 100,000 dolphins swimming in the area."

It is an event that happened once last January off of Dana Point, California, as well as once around the same time and place the year before, which means it could be a migratory pattern, with many pods of dolphins coming together based on an abundance of food.

Source: http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?disc=149495;article=144189

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Adding Strategic Internet Marketing to an Equity Crowdfunding ...

Editor's Note: The following comes to us from Thomas Vass, owner and manager of The Private Capital Market, a subscription-based crowdfunding website. Vass writes in to explain how the internet is changing communication and marketing, and looks at two ways for entrepreneurs and CEOs to market their equity crowdfunding raise. The first half of the article, in which Vass explains the web is changing marketing, is here, and the conclusion is below.

The SEO Affiliate Marketing Strategy For An Equity Crowdfunding Project

Affiliates are similar to members of a supply chain, or like intermediate producers in an industrial cluster, in the sense that their potential relationship is based on some common financial or economic interest. In many cases, the affiliates do not know of the potential relationship, or affiliation, and the goal of the marketing strategy is to ?reveal? the relationship by using code words or code language to alert the internet user.

The use of the term ?affiliates? in this economic relationship application is different than the commonly accepted usage by marketing professionals who use the term ?affiliate marketing.? In their usage, affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's own marketing efforts.

An affiliate crowdfunding marketing strategy is part of a Search Engine Optmization (SEO) marketing plan where a set of search phrases or keywords are targeted to specific web pages so that when a user searches for one of those phrases, that website will rank on the top of the search results page.

The CEO of the company uses the search phrases, or keywords, to help the user find the company website, and the company website is designed to invite the user to learn more, generally tucked away under the ?About Us? navigation button on the company website.

The internet behavior of affiliates can be modeled as having an individual welfare function, or utility function, that the user is trying to optimize by searching for information to make better decisions. The keywords used in the SEO strategy alerts the user to a possible new relationship. The marketing appeal is based upon the value of the information, not necessarily on the cost or price of the company?s product.

The user may not even want to buy the product, but wants to see if a potential relationship may exist to do business in the future.

The measurement of success of the SEO strategy for a crowdfunding project is based on the number of keywords that drive search traffic to the company website and the number of URL links on the internet that people click to visit the site.

The CEO is aware that a potential affiliate has two primary financial reasons to be interested in the company. Either the affiliate is interested in working with the company to get a product to the market, or the affiliate has some financial interest in getting a capital market deal done.

The SEO affiliate strategy involves a combination of traditional public relations and marketing, and the newer advertising techniques related to gaining a higher ranking for the company website on search engines like Google.

The diagram below describes how a marketing strategy to reach these two types of affiliate markets would work.

After the potential affiliate has landed on the company Investor Relations page, the page content must be optimized so that the user can determine the validity of the information, and verify that the company has potential as an affiliate. In other words, the user begins their investigation of the company by imagining how a relationship with the company ?fits? into the individual welfare function of the user.

Affinity Social Media Marketing For A Crowdfunding Project

Unlike the individual welfare function that describes behavior of an affiliate, the affinity internet user behavior is based upon a social welfare function. ?Affinity? means that the potential information exchange based relationship is based on common interests that are not obvious to the user.

The affinity user is searching on the internet to find resources that promotes the user?s image of the good society. Some internet resources that the affinity user finds ?fit? into the social welfare function, as if the improvement in social welfare is independent of the improvement of the user?s individual welfare function.

Because the two types of welfare functions are independent, in the mind of the user, the SEO marketing techniques used to attract affiliates would not necessarily be effective in attracting affinity users. This independence is also one reason why charity giving websites, like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, are successful. The contribution given on the charity websites are given to promote general social welfare, with no expectation of individual welfare improvement of the giver.

The CEO in a crowdfunding project would use social media to reveal the hidden common interests between the affinity users and the company. The affinity user is searching the internet for relationships with like-minded users, and would not generally be aware that the company represented a potential resource that could contribute to the user?s conception of the good society.

By helping the affinity user imagine the relationship with the company, the CEO can lead the user to follow the inward link to land on the company website. Once the user is on the website, the user can begin to investigate how the relationship ?fits? into the user?s social welfare function.

The CEO?s Management Oversight of the Strategic Internet Marketing Plan

The immediate goal of the internet marketing plan is to drive internet users, who may become potential investors, to click on links from the third party websites including blogs, press releases, social media sites and other internet locations, which bring them to the company website landing page.

Both SEO tools and SMM techniques must be combined with traditional public relations tools to help users find the company on the internet.

The CEO must manage six essential tasks, all at the same time.

Push marketing of invitation emails to pre-selected affiliates whose contact information was derived from company rolodex files and traditional sources. The push marketing email campaign would invite the recipient to ?learn more? about the company, and would not necessarily push the idea of an investment. The main idea is to alert the recipient to a new opportunity of having a relationship with the company.
The creation and management of the company investor relations webpage, that acts as the landing page for inward coming links that users are following from external websites. When the potential investor first lands on the page, the mental image of how the company could fit into the welfare functions must be immediate.
Pull marketing tools, like internet press release distribution, news story distribution, and company announcements, which pull the user to the company landing page.
Pull marketing tools, like ads on angel investor or venture capital matching websites, or other media sites where investors go to obtain information.
Pull marketing tools, like events on business calendar websites to attract both affiliates and affinity users who may have an interest in registering to attend the event, and follow the link back to the company website.
Integration and coordination of the company landing page with the company due diligence portal, where the CEO manages the flow of communications with potential investors as they conduct their self-guided due diligence of the investment opportunity. The CEO must make it easy for a potential investor to follow the links from the company landing page to the company due diligence platform.

?

Understanding the Uncertain Survival Of the Crowdfunding Innovation

Placed in the context of evolutionary economics, crowdfunding can be seen as one way that a radical technological innovation has disrupted traditional ways of raising private capital. Crowdfunding falls under the jurisdiction of the 1933 Securities Act, which contained an exemption for companies raising non-public securities from the rules of registering public securities of an offering with the SEC..

The 1933 Act was modified and amended by rules adopted in 1958, whose most well known provision is Regulation D, Rule 506, that involves how to offer private securities to sophisticated investors, commonly called ?angel investors.?

The Reg. D, Rule 506 amendments were further refined by the provisions of the 2012 JOBS Act, commonly called the Crowdfunding Act, which modified how the internet could be used to solicit investors to begin their investigation of a private offering.

Under the older model of private offerings, broker intermediaries intervened in the market relationships between companies that needed capital, and the sources of capital. Their intervention was sanctioned under the provisions of the 1934 Securities Market Act, that described how brokers were paid.
The broker?s intervention, in other words, is based upon their financial interest in being paid, and the new way of raising capital threatens that financial interest.

Seen in the evolutionary context, the broker?s intervention in the relationships between the company and the potential investors under the old rules tends to disrupt the free flow of information and creation of knowledge that precedes the creation of new markets. In other words, seen from an evolutionary perspective, their intervention tends to create an asymmetry of information that has the appearance of a monopoly in private capital markets.

That older model of raising private capital tended to create dependency relationships, where the company CEO was dependent on the broker for information and capital. The newer internet model tends to create an independency of the company in issuing its securities directly to investors, without the assistance of the broker intermediary.

As would be expected from an evolutionary interpretation, the forces of the status quo are attempting to hang on to their unfair information advantage over the company in order to hang on to their unwarranted financial interests in acting as intermediaries in a private offering.

This is one explanation why so many of the new crowdfunding websites are built on the old model of price-based relationships, not on the newer affinity and affiliate relationships. Under the older model, the broker intermediaries continue to enjoy an unequal exchange of power that results in a form of monopoly profits, for them.

This evolutionary explanation, as applied to the politics of Washington, is also one reason why the SEC has delayed implementing the necessary crowdfunding rules that would allow the general public purpose to be served by internet equity crowdfunding.

At this stage of evolution, the future survival of crowdfunding, as a technological innovation, is uncertain, even as the marketing strategies available on the internet for successful crowdfunding projects become more sophisticated.

The first part of this article is here.

Vass manages a crowdfunding website called The Private Capital Market, where private technology companies can raise private equity. He is the author of books on the theory of technology evolution and the holder of a patent on how to combine technology stocks with bonds to match an investor's investment risk profile. His analysis of internet marketing strategies to promote a crowdfunding project is based upon his experience, research and partnership with www.seo4anyone.com, a leading internet marketing company that will assist his client companies in promoting their offerings to attract investors for their private offering.

Source: http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/adding-strategic-internet-marketing-to-an-equity-crowdfunding-project-part-2/23991

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Flyers use late goal to slip past Penguins 6-5

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Jakub Voracek (93) celebrates with center Claude Giroux (28) after scoring the winning goal late in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. The Flyers won 6-5. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) looks for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (30) and defenseman Nicklas Grossmann (8) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) battles for control of the puck with Philadelphia Flyers center Danny Briere (48) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Mike Knuble (9) cannot get a wraparound shot past Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun (92) and defenseman Matt Niskanen (2) in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds (17) celebrates with defenseman Luke Schenn (22) and center Danny Briere (48) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers picked up right where the two rivals left off in the playoffs last season.

Jakub Voracek scored the go-ahead goal with 1:31 remaining in the third period to cap his first career NHL hat trick, leading the Flyers to a wild 6-5 victory over the Penguins on Wednesday.

"It was a great game for the players, the fans, for everybody," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "It was good playoff-type hockey."

It was the kind of wide-open, back-and-forth, playoff-type hockey the two teams displayed during their Eastern Conference quarterfinal round series last season. The Penguins and Flyers combined for 45 goals through the first four games of the series, a best-of-seven set Philadelphia won in six games.

Pittsburgh took a two-goal lead Wednesday before Philadelphia scored the next four goals.

The Flyers had leads of 4-2 and 5-3 in the third period, only to watch as the Penguins rallied, tying the game with 2:03 remaining.

Voracek's third goal came 33 seconds after Pittsburgh's Brandon Sutter tied the game on a wraparound.

Voracek, who had a career-best four points Monday against the New York Islanders, threw a shot from behind the goal line, which bounced off Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun and into the net.

"I didn't want to turn it over or do something stupid, so I just tried to throw it to the net," Voracek said.

Voracek's first goal of the game came on the power play, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead with 9.9 seconds left in the second period. His second, the 200th point of his NHL career, put Philadelphia ahead by two goals 18 seconds into the third period.

Wayne Simmonds had two goals and an assist and Nicklas Grossman also scored for the Flyers.

Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov made 27 saves for his eighth victory.

Evgeni Malkin and James Neal scored power-play goals, while Sutter, Tyler Kennedy and Matt Niskanen also scored for the Penguins, who had a three-game win streak end.

Penguins defenseman Paul Martin also had three assists.

Captain Sidney Crosby, with 25 points, is tied with Buffalo's Thomas Vanek for NHL scoring lead after getting an assist.

Vokoun, making his first start since a home loss against New Jersey, stopped 26 shots.

"It's unfortunate," Crosby said. "We had a good start and didn't find a way to hold the lead."

The Flyers capped a season-long six-game road trip with two victories. Philadelphia, which routed the New York Islanders 7-0 Monday, struggled early on the road trip, dropping three of its first four games before recovering with two wins.

"Anytime you finish a road trip with two big wins it's huge," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who had two assists. "It was good to get a couple wins in a row again."

The Flyers, despite playing 12 of their first 18 games on the road, appear right at home in Pittsburgh, where they won for the eighth time in 10 games. Philadelphia is also 6-1 at Consol Energy Center since it opened in 2010.

Philadelphia appeared to put the game away after Simmonds' second goal of the game, which hit off Niskanen's stick and went into the net, to make it 5-3 at 7:36 of the third.

But the Penguins rallied thanks in part to back-to-back 5-on-3 power plays. Neal's power-play goal at 12:46 made it 5-4 and the Penguins appeared to initially tie it with 5:39 left, but a would-be power-play goal from Chris Kunitz was kicked past Bryzgalov.

Sutter got it done, tying the game with 2:03 remaining.

"We stuck with things and earned the breaks we got, and we were able to tie the game," Crosby said. "We had the right mentality, sometimes it's a little too late."

Niskanen gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 5:07 of the first, the 14th time in 17 games Pittsburgh scored the opening goal.

Defenseman Kris Letang's shot deflected off a Philadelphia skate to Niskanen, who ripped a hard shot past Bryzgalov.

Laviolette called a timeout after the goal in an attempt to spark his sluggish team, which had just two shots on goal to that point, but it worked in the Penguins' favor.

Flyers forward Harry Zolnierczyk was whistled for boarding 13 seconds later, putting Pittsburgh's No. 2-ranked power play on the ice.

Malkin nearly converted seven seconds into the advantage, as Bryzgalov gloved a shot against the post, but the play was ruled inconclusive after an extra look by officials.

No matter.

Malkin scored later on the power play at 7:15 of the first, slamming Martin's rebound off the end boards inside the post. It was the ninth straight game the Penguins scored a power-play goal.

The Flyers settled down, scoring twice in the span of a minute to tie the game.

Grossman got the first one, firing a loose puck across the line after a wild net-mouth scramble that had four Penguins piled in the crease, desperately trying to prevent a goal.

Letang tried his best to keep the puck out of the net, stopping the initial shot at the goal line, but it eventually popped out to Grossman, who scored the Flyers' opening goal 11:49 of the first.

Simmonds scored a minute later, taking a Danny Briere pass and powering his way to the top of the crease where he slid a shot past Vokoun.

Then things got heated between the cross-state rivals and the penalty box quickly filled with three players apiece less than a minute after the tying goal.

Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland went off for roughing, Flyers forward Brayden Schenn for cross-checking, and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were also issued while Tanner Glass and Simmonds had a fight.

"I think we got too emotional in the game, too involved with the extra curriculars," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

The teams played a clean second period, combining for just three penalties, but the last one, an elbowing call against the Penguins' Craig Adams, resulted in Voracek's go-ahead goal with 9.9 seconds left in the period.

Voracek scored his second of the game 18 seconds into the third period, taking advantage of a miscommunication between Vokoun and Martin behind the net. Braydon Coburn's shot after the turnover bounced to Voracek, who made it a two-goal game.

Kennedy cut the deficit to one goal at 5:29, putting the rebound from Martin's point shot behind Bryzgalov before Simmonds' scored his second of the game at 7:36.

"Obviously we started off pretty rocky, and kind of finished pretty rocky, but I think in between we played a pretty solid game," Simmonds said.

NOTES: Flyers forward Matt Read left the game with an upper-body injury. ... The rivals meet again March 7 in Philadelphia. ... Both teams play next at home against Florida. The Flyers host the Panthers Thursday, while the Pittsburgh welcomes Florida the following night.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-21-Flyers-Penguins/id-1cf54f6234b94a5995cb7dac478594da

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Midwest bracing for massive winter storm

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Hundreds of snow plows and salt spreaders took to the highways of the nation's heartland Wednesday, preparing for a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow in some regions and bring dangerous freezing rain and sleet to others.

Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois. By midday Wednesday, heavy snow was already falling in Colorado and western Kansas.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said parts of Colorado, Kansas and northern Missouri could get 10 to 12 inches of snow. Further south, freezing rain and sleet could make driving treacherous.

Officials feared the winter storm would be the worst in the Midwest since the Groundhog Day blizzard in 2011. A two-day storm that began Feb. 1, 2011, was blamed in about two dozen deaths and left hundreds of thousands without power, some for several days. At its peak, the storm created white-out conditions so intense that Interstate 70 was shut down across the entire state of Missouri.

"We're not going to see that type of storm, but it's certainly the most impactful in the last two winters," said Gosselin, who works in suburban St. Louis.

Tim Chojnacki, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said graders, snow blowers and salt-spreading trucks were at the ready. The salt trucks planned to be out before the wintry mix arrived in the Show-Me State in hopes that the precipitation would largely melt upon impact.

Gosselin said areas like St. Louis, southern Missouri and parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas may get little to no snow, but the sleet and freezing rain could present more of a challenge. Ice accumulations could reach a half-inch in some places.

"Sleet is no fun to drive on," Gosselin said. "Especially if you get a couple of inches, which could happen. It doesn't melt, and it's very heavy to move. It's difficult to shovel, you can't really plow it and the chemicals don't work as well."

Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Mindy Crane said hundreds of plows were being deployed for what is expected to be one of the most significant snow storms of the season. Several schools called off classes Wednesday as snow began to accumulate.

Just the threat of snow was having a big impact in Nebraska. The state legislature postponed Thursday afternoon committee hearings so lawmakers could go home before the storm arrived. Plans called for the full legislature to convene at 9 a.m. Thursday and adjourn at 11 a.m.

Meanwhile, University of Nebraska officials moved a Big 10 men's basketball game against Iowa from Thursday to Saturday.

Also in Lincoln, Nebraska's capital city put out a call for more "snow angels" ? a program that puts volunteers in touch with those unable to remove snow from their sidewalks and driveways. Lincoln was expecting 8 inches of snow by Thursday and city ordinances require people to clear their sidewalks.

Gosselin said precipitation is generally expected to drop off as the storm makes its way east. Chicago and parts of Indiana, he said, could get about 2 inches of snow and some sleet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/midwest-braces-potentially-dangerous-storm-171517759.html

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FedEx to incur up to $650 million charge from voluntary buyout

(Reuters) - FedEx Corp said it will incur a cash charge of $550 million to $650 million over the next two quarters as several of its U.S. employees accept a voluntary buyout offer.

The world's second-largest package delivery company had offered a voluntary buyout program for its U.S.-based employees as part of its plan to save costs at its underperforming express air freight and services divisions, and improve profit by $1.7 billion over the next four years.

The company had said it expects thousand of U.S. employees to accept the buyout program that expires in May.

Though the company provided an estimate of costs to be incurred from the buyout, the actual costs will depend on employee acceptance rates, FedEx said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. (http://link.reuters.com/byb26t)

It did not reveal how many employees accepted its offer.

Costs of the voluntary buyout program were not included in the third-quarter and full-year earnings forecast, FedEx said.

FedEx said a limited number of officers and managing directors have also accepted voluntary buyouts.

All eligible and accepting employees will vacate their positions by the end of fiscal year 2014, the company said.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fedex-incur-650-million-charge-voluntary-buyout-231953496--sector.html

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Review Designer NFL Oakland Raiders folio hard case for ipad 2/ipad 3 /ipad 4 with water-resistant cover

Product features:

Use our iPad 2 and iPad 3 Folio Case to be as unique as you are and protect your iPad 2,3.
Water-resistant fabric wrapped hardcover exterior with elastic strap closure.
Suede interior with document pocket and elastic device corners straps.
Rubberized edges create folded viewing stand.
Size 9.87? x 8?.

Seller warranty description:
Shipping takes 9-12 days. Please consider it before purchasing.Most unopened items in new condition returned within 30 days will receive a refund or exchange. Items that are opened or damaged or do not have a packing slip or receipt may be denied a refund or exchange.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IpadAppsAndNews/~3/s2RTuTp45H4/review-designer-nfl-oakland-raiders-folio-hard-case-for-ipad-2ipad-3-ipad-4-with-water-resistant-cover.html

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Opera confirms downsizing of developer team as it readies for newly adopted WebKit era

Opera's been making quite a few notable changes lately, and now we're finding out it won't be without any repercussions to some of its staff. Earlier today, Opera CEO Lars Boilsen's confirmed to our friends over at TechCrunch that the browser's developer team is indeed downsizing, confirming previous reports about the company having to make changes as part of its recently announced WebKit adoption. Just how many Core positions will be lost in the process is still unclear, however, with Mr. Boilsen only going as far as telling TechCrunch the number of developers working on the overall project is now at "around 600." What's more, Opera's CEO says it's all part of a belief that "WebKit's good enough, to switch, and by doing that we free up a lot of resources," adding that Opera "will still have a Core team but it will be less people going forward."

Filed under: Internet, Software