[D]evolution of library and information services

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Managing the evolution of library and information services

Pre-order your copy today and save $200...

Library and information services have gone through a rapid period of transformation. Technology advances have radically altered both people’s understanding of what constitutes information as well as how it is accessed and used. This has created a gulf between the old library set-up and practices, and how end users now expect to interact with the information available to them.

Not only do librarians and information professionals need to rapidly revise their roles in this new technologically-enabled landscape, but they also need to collaborate with other business support functions like never before. This will enable them to deliver not only the value expected of them on an internal level, but also to the business’s external clients.

Against this more challenging background, however, library and information services are also faced the increasing prospect of budgetary and staff cuts. Never before has the role of the librarian been so questioned or undervalued. However, it is perhaps today – through the innovative and collaborative use of technology, as well as a more strategic business outlook – that library and information services can really make a crucial difference to how businesses operate.

In this new Ark Group report, Managing the evolution of library and information services, will explore this changing landscape and what it means for library and information service professionals. This report will cover topics including:

- How is information defined in the modern business age?
- How has technology impacted the way people interact with and use information?
- What impact has this had on the traditional idea of library and information services?
- How successfully have libraries so far evolved to meet the new expectations of information end users?
- What is the changing role of the librarian today?
- How can librarians become more efficient and valued despite budgetary cuts?
- Collaboration: the way forward for library and information services?
- Where next for library and information services?

Managing the evolution of library and information services includes expert contributions from a wide variety of businesses and professionals operating in this field, including:

- Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
- Dechert LLP
- BP America
- Dickstein Shapiro LLP
- Adobe Systems
- Proskauer Rose LLP
- McDonalds
- Duane Morris LLP
- Dorsey & Whitney LLP
- Xerox
- Weaton Franciscan Healthcare

For librarians and information professionals that are ahead of their game, the new landscape offers a wealth of opportunities for development and success. This in-depth report will provide not only the insights necessary to evolve in changing times, but will also allow you to learn from your peers who are tackling and overcoming the same challenges you face on a day-to-day level.

Managing the evolution of library and information services will be available at the end April; however you can preorder your copy today.

To take advantage of an exclusive $200 pre-publication discount, making your copy only $345 – simply place your order before April 15th.

To order your copy/copies, simply contact Michelle Elam at melam@ark-group.com or +1 309 681 0960 with your details and place your order quoting the code MP-LIB1

Institutional holdings

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MFFAIS - Mutual Fund Facts About Individual Stocks

It started with simple curiosity ... Are top mutual funds taking similar positions on a specific stock?
Why can't we find more then the top 10 holders?
What is the current value of a mutual funds reported holdings?
Which mutual funds has the best Performance base on reported holdings?
What is the most dumped stock by mutual funds?
What is the most added stock by mutual funds?
How can we compare mutual fund holdings, seeing overlaps and direction?


We've discovered ... We can determine exactly Who bought or sold What
We can compare to previous filings, to see activity type, amount and results.
All the "major" financial web portals obtain their limited information from the same source.
Everyone lists the top 10 stock holders, because they public companies are required to.
With only 2 exceptions, no one even tries to list beyond the top 10 and "total cash" inflows/outflow
All other "counts" are 13F's - which is limited to large orginizations/institutions with investment discretion over 100 million or more 13F securites.
There is a "list of 13F securities" - which all have CUSIPs (U.S. listed and doesn't include all public companies).
The 13F forms are easily computer processed with the ability to match exactly which stock is being referenced thanks to CUSIPs.
Did we mentioned it is only 13F securities by large institutions and "totaled". It does not break down to individual funds, or even "smaller" funds.
Mutual Funds who reported their holdings in quarterly and semi-annual basis don't use CUSIPs, the use whatever name and format they want - making it alot of work to process the holdings!
Mutual Funds merge,close and change names very often!
By correlating this information, we can try to determine similar actions or patterns.


Which funds are buying/selling/holding similar stocks?
We answer that question!



We invite you to join us ... Although the information is not in "real time", it is"objective".
What is meant by "objective"? Simply, no opinions, just the facts.
Money talks, by seeing where fund managers are putting their money (or taking money away) gives individual investors another unique prospective.
Unlike analysts, market gurus, friends, etc.. Fund managers results are verifiable and obtainable.

Fair Use Project

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Go to story to follow good embedded links.

Harry Potter Opens Today!

No, it's not another Harry Potter movie that opens today. Rather, it's the first day of trial in a copryight infringement suit brought by "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling and her publisher, Warner Bros. against RDR Books, publisher of Steve Vander Ark's 400 page reference book, the Harry Potter Lexicon, based on the online version. Rowling and Warner claim that the Lexicon is a derivative work that infringes Rowling's copyright and interferes with Rowling's plans to write her own Harry Potter encyclopedia.


Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project is defending RDR books, along with outside counsel, New York attorney, David Hammer. In a press release issued on the lawsuit, Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project (and also counsel in the case) stated:


The right to create literary reference guides like the Lexicon has remained nearly unquestioned for hundreds of years. The Lexicon is a valuable resource that helps people better understand and enjoy the Harry Potter books. It's exactly what copyright law should encourage, not suppress.

Dan Slater at WSJ Law Blog is observing the trial; his dispatch from this morning's trial proceedings is posted at the WSJ Law Blog. According to Slater, Dale Cendali, who represents Rowling and Warner, emphasized during her opening that the Lexicon "takes too much and does too little." Cendali's point is that the Lexicon merely copies Rowling's work without any original, value-added content that might qualify as new art. In response, Anthony Falzone asserted in his opening statement that the "the public will lose out if publication of the Lexicon is enjoined."


If you're interested in further analysis of some of the issues in the case, check out this lengthy post by copyright guru William Patry and this post by Mike Madison of Madisonian.net.

Sphere: Related Content
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on April 14, 2008 at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog

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Friday, April 11, 2008
TiVo (TIVO) Rallies on Federal Appeals Decision
4/11/2008 3:15 PM
Keywords: TIVO

Shares of TV time-shifting guru TiVo (TIVO: sentiment, chart, options) are up more than 1.5% in late trading after the company said that a recent federal appeal against Echostar Holding (DISH) reaffirms the strength of the company's "Time Warp" patent. The ruling denied Echostar's appeal of a lower court's judgment of about $74 million in damages awarded to Tivo.

Technically, the shares are up more than 5% on a year-to-date basis, largely due to the court ruling. However, TIVO hasn't managed to parlay this recent strength into a convincing move above long-term resistance at the 9 level. In fact, the equity has not closed a week above this region since April 2004.

On the sentiment front, investors are trying to call a top to the stock's run higher. TIVO's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.48 ranks above 82% of all those taken during the past year, while more than 20% of its float is sold short. Meanwhile, Zacks.com reports that 7 of the 13 analysts following TIVO rate the shares a "hold" or worse. If the equity can break out above resistance at the 9 level, it could prompt a sharp unwinding of this heavy-handed bearish sentiment, thus sending the stock sharply higher.



-Posted by Joseph Hargett (jhargett@sir-inc.com)

20 minutes a day to Nirvanic health

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Br J Sports Med. Published Online First: 10 April 2008. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2008.046243
Copyright © 2008 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
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Paper

Dose response relationship between physical activity and mental health: The Scottish Health Survey
Mark Hamer 1*, Emmanual Stamatakis 1 and Andrew Steptoe 1

1 University College London, United Kingdom



* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: m.hamer@ucl.ac.uk.

Accepted 15 February 2008


Abstract


Objectives: Regular physical activity is thought to be associated with better mental health, although there is lack of consensus regarding the optimal amount and type of activity to achieve these benefits. We examined the association between mental health and physical activity behaviours among a representative sample of men and women from the Scottish Health Surveys. Methods: Self reported physical activity was measured and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was administered in order to obtain information on current mental health. Participants were 19 842 men and women. We calculated risk estimates per category of physical activity sessions per week using logistic regression models. Results: Psychological distress (based on a score of 4 or more on the GHQ-12) was evident in 3200 participants. Any form of daily physical activity was associated with a lower risk of psychological distress after adjustment for age, gender, social economic group, marital status, body mass index, long standing illness, smoking, and survey year (OR = 0.59, 95% CI, 0.52-0.66, P < 0.001). A dose-response relationship was apparent, with moderate reductions in psychological distress with less frequent activity (OR = 0.67, 0.61-0.75). Different types of activities including domestic (housework and gardening), walking, and sports were all independently associated with lower odds of psychological distress, although the strongest effects were observed for sports (OR=0.67, 0.54-0.82). Conclusion: Mental health benefits were observed at a minimal level of at least 20 minutes per week of any physical activity, although a dose-response pattern was demonstrated with greater risk reduction for activity at a higher volume and/or intensity.

Suicide and the internet

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BMJ 2008;336:800-802 (12 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39525.442674.AD

Feature
Public Health

Lucy Biddle, research fellow1, Jenny Donovan, professor of social medicine1, Keith Hawton, professor of psychiatry2, Navneet Kapur, reader in psychiatry3, David Gunnell, professor of epidemiology1

1 Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PR, 2 Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, 3 Centre for Suicide Prevention, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL

Correspondence to: D Gunnell d.j.gunnell@bristol.ac.uk

Recent reports of suicide by young people have highlighted the possible influence of internet sites. Lucy Biddle and colleagues investigate what a web search is likely to find

Media reporting of suicide and its fictional portrayal on television are known to influence suicidal behaviour, particularly the choice of method used.1 2 3 Indeed, epidemics of suicides using particular methods have occurred after media portrayal of their use.3 4 5 As some methods of suicide are more likely to cause death than others,6 such influences may affect the outcome of suicide attempts and national suicide rates.7

The influence of the internet on suicidal behaviour is less well understood, although it is an increasingly popular source of information, especially for people confronting embarrassing issues such as mental illness, and concerns have been raised about the existence of sites that promote suicide.8 9 Some people report being encouraged to use suicide as a problem solving strategy by suicide web forums8 and cases of cybersuicide—attempted or completed suicide influenced by the internet—have been published in the popular and academic press.9 10 11 12 Suicide sites are also claimed to have facilitated suicide pacts among strangers who have met and then planned their suicide through the internet.11

Despite recent controversy, no one knows how easy it is to find sites relating to suicide on the internet and what sort of information they contain. Recent studies of internet search behaviour suggest that most people use search engines, that queries are broad—mostly composed of a few words and rarely including Boolean operators . . .

PDF version

Worth Testing this system

Will advise and post findings

CyberSkeptics vol. 13, issue 3, March 2008

www.pressdisplay.com

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org

www.disabilityinfo.gov

www.vodpod.com

opencrs.com

soople.com

quintura.com

Worth seeing...

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The Rolling Stones perform "Jumping Jack Flash" in the Martin Scorsese movie, "Shine A Light" live from the Beacon Theater in New York City in the fall of 2006.

Saw it yesterday at the IMAX theater. Definately the best concert firm ever.

Thank you, Marty

Kids are Quick

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America .

MARIA: Here it is.

TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?

CLASS: Maria.

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TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?

JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.

__________________________________________


TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'

GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'

TEACHER: No, that's wrong

GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

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TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?

DONALD: H I J K L M N O.

TEACHER: What are you talking about?

DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.

__________________________________

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.

WINNIE: Me!

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TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?

GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.

_______________________________________


TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.'

MILLIE: I is...

TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'

MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'

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TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?

LOUIS: Because George still had the ax in his hand.

_____________________________________


TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?


SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

______________________________


TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?

CLYDE : No, it's the same dog.

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TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?

HAROLD: A teacher

Bedoins

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A New Workforce is Brewing
By Daniel Casciato

February 26, 2008


Who needs an office when you've got a cafe? A new wave of employees and entrepreneurs are using Wi-Fi to re-invent what it means to go to work.


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Since 1989, Andy Abramson has been working on the road. He was one of the first virtual account managers in the ad world after his agency equipped him with a fax machine and credit card to work from a small desk in his bedroom.

Today, Abramson still works virtually, relying mainly on Wi-Fi networks in cafés, hotel lobbies, airline clubs, and even wine bars, to run his marketing communications agency, Comunicano, "based" in Del Mar, Calif.

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Taking it to the Streets: Run Your Business from the Road
By Daniel Casciato




By relying on Wi-Fi connectivity at RV campgrounds and other hotspots around the country, one entrepreneurial couple from Maine has taken their Internet-based business on the road so they can enjoy everything America has to offer.



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With Wi-Fi hotpots proliferating in cities and towns everywhere, a new class of workers has emerged. Today, more people are running their professional lives from cafes and hotspots as neo-bedouins—named after Arab nomads who wander the desert. Unlike many of their itinerant counterparts, Richard and Angela Hoy of Bangor, Maine, exemplify how a bedouin lifestyle truly should be lived—on the road.

In March 2004, Hoy and his wife were searching for the most economical way for their family of six to visit relatives in Wisconsin and Texas.

"Flying is cumbersome, not to mention expensive, with that many people," said Hoy who discussed several options with his wife, including buying an RV. "Buying an RV made the most sense because at least we'd actually have some equity in something rather than just paying it out to an airline."

The Hoys planned to buy an RV to travel the country when they retired anyway.

"We were itching to get on the road and were about 20 years from retirement," said Hoy. "Everyone we ever talked to about full-time RVing told us that they regret not doing it sooner. You wouldn't believe how many times we heard, 'My wife/husband and I were planning to travel around the country in our RV, but then he or she died.' Or, 'he/she got sick before we could see everything.' We decided that life is too short."

Because their print-on-demand publishing company, Booklocker.com, is Internet-based, the Hoys could hit the road and bring the business along for the ride.

"It didn't really matter where we were," said Hoy. "Our business is entirely online. As long as we have a connection, we could run the business. Even when we were exclusively flying or driving in our van, we always had our computers, cell phones, and assorted business-related gadgets. We've automated many of our business processes, and since it is Web-based, we just need to monitor everything and respond to customer e-mails."

In 1999, Hoy's wife launched a Web site for freelance writers, WritersWeekly.com, after both of their previous jobs with Internet start-ups went belly-up during the dot-com bust in the late 1990s.

"Soon after, we decided to branch out into publishing," said Hoy. "We started publishing e-books and Angie put some of her e-books on a site called Booklocker.com, one of the few places selling e-books at the time. It did really well. Eventually, the owner wanted out of the business and agreed to sell the site to us."

After a year of selling e-books, the Hoys expanded into print-on-demand publishing, manufacturing books at the time a customer orders it. Currently, 1,500 authors use Booklocker.com.

"We provide a turnkey system for people who want to self publish to get a book into the marketplace. We take the manuscript and turn it into a finished book or product," said Hoy.

"But instead of doing what other print-on-demand publishers were doing—publishing any manuscript—we try to find books that are fairly marketable to maintain some quality control with our material."

Knowing that this business model would continue to prosper on the road, the only hurdle remaining for the Hoys was how to educate their children (four at the time, now five). Three of the children were school-aged at the time.

"We obviously couldn't take them out of public school for extended periods," said Hoy. "We started researching options on how to homeschool when we came across Oak Meadow, an accredited institution based in Vermont with an online-based curriculum. It was perfect for us and has worked out well."

With everything finally . . .

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Save the Planet, Work Remotely
By Naomi Graychase

March 18, 2008


Aruba and Avaya team up to provide secure enterprise-quality voice and data applications to remote workers--and reduce greenhouse gases while they're at it.



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Aruba Networks announced today that it has teamed up with Avaya to provide a “green” voice and data access solution for teleworkers. In a press release, Aruba said it was motivated by “the need to reduce CO2 emissions,” as well as market trends that “favor mobile workforces.”

According to Aruba, a telecommuter traveling 45 miles—roughly the distance between San Jos

How to burn movies to DVD, VCD, SVCD?

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Quick TasksConvert DVD to Apple iPod Convert DVD to Sony PSP Convert DVD to Archos Convert DVD to Mobile Copy DVD-9 to DVD-5 Mix Audio Remove Commercials Grab Audio CD Convert into Audio

http://keepvid.com/

Self-Adhesive Gift Wrap

[Monday, 24 Mar 2008]


Hallmark Introduces Self-Adhesive Gift Wrap [Source: Hallmark]


Hallmark is announcing a new innovation - Adhesive Gift Wrap. The product is coated on one side with a low-tack adhesive invented by Hallmark, which sticks firmly to packages, creating a wrapped gift that practically eliminates the need for tape. It is being sold exclusively at Hallmark Gold Crown® stores. According to the company, Adhesive Gift Wrap is the result of requests from consumers who want the act of gift wrapping to be more convenient for their busy lifestyles.

Fair Use Survey

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Are you wondering what other law firms are doing to enforce copyright and fair use? Is your policy similar to that at other firms? Who is responsible for drafting and implementing copyright policies at law firms throughout the U.S.?

If you are interested in answers to these questions, plan on attending "Evolving Fair Use in the Private Law Firm" at the AALL Meeting in Portland, a program jointly sponsored by PLL-SIS and the AALL Copyright Committee

Click Here to take survey

INFOMERCIAL SCAMS.COM - DIRECT BUY COMPLAINTS

INFOMERCIAL SCAMS.COM - DIRECT BUY COMPLAINTS

Direct Buy Complaints
Total Complaints: 478
Report This Product
Read Defenses



3/9/2008 - Suzie writes:
Well, I'm not too sure that the word 'SCAM' fits this company, but I do know that I felt increasingly uneasy while sitting in their showroom. I am a smart buyer and was prepared ~ I was aware of the 45-minute presentation, expected the high-pressure salesperson's delivery, knew about the membership fees (albeit not at $6000 for the first two years PLU. . ."

scam expose site!

Dechert Gives 13 Associates Layoff Notices

Firm offers attorneys the chance to transfer to other practice groups

Gina Passarella
The Legal Intelligencer
March 3, 2008
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Dechert was the first Philadelphia firm to feel the pinch, originally giving the 13 associates until the close of business Tuesday to leave. No one was asked to leave Friday, the source said.

The firm has not disclosed the market breakdown in terms of which offices were affected by the announced layoffs or how many, if any, were laid off in Philadelphia, but only said that it was "U.S.-wide."

There were no layoffs prior to Friday's announcement, but some attorneys were shifted into other practice areas, the firm source said. The announced layoffs comprise less than 10 percent of the 167 attorneys listed in Dechert's finance and real estate practice, which includes mortgage finance, structured finance and securitization, investment, and mergers and acquisitions.

The attorneys who were originally asked to leave were offered three months severance, six months of paid medical benefits and transition placement support, the source said.

The possible departures come amid a record financial year for the firm with $836 million in gross revenue and more than $2.3 million in profits per equity partner.

Some in the industry pointed out that the 13 potential layoffs are relatively small in comparison with the size of the firm and said this doesn't speak to any broader problems at the firm.

Legal blog "Above the Law" has reported extensively on associate and staff layoffs across the country. The reports included associate layoffs at Thacher Proffitt, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and Clifford Chance, mainly in the structured finance, real estate and capital markets practices of those firms. Friday, "Above the Law" reported on rumors of low morale at Dechert, questioning whether layoffs were imminent....

HUMOR FOR LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS):

* I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

* Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

* Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

* The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

* The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.

* To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

* When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

* The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was described as "a small medium at large."

* A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

* A thief fell in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

* Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.

* We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.

* When the smog lifts in Los Angeles , U.C.L.A.

* The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.

* The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

* The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

* If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

* A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

* A backward poet writes inverse.

* If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

* With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

* When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

* A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

* You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

* He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

* A calendar's days are numbered.

* A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

* A plateau is a high form of flattery.

* Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

* If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.

* When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Seamen's lien

Claims for wages by seamen occupy a preferential place in the echelon of maritime liens, and indeed, a bedrock of maritime law is that seamen's wages are sacred liens, so that as long as a plank of the ship remains, the sailor is entitled, against all other persons, to the proceeds as a security for his wages.
Admiral Cruise Services, Inc. v. M/V ST. TROPEZ, 2007 WL 4324817 (2007)

Famous Left Handed People

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Left-Handed U.S. Presidents

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) 20th
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) 31st
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) 33rd
Gerald Ford 38th
Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004 ) 40th
George H.W. Bush 41st
Bill Clinton 42nd

Hmmm...

Write him

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Survey work product...

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Click Here to take survey

Technical Stock-Picking

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Technical Stock-Picking: Make Your Move With the 'MACD'
Stockpickr Staff
02/15/08 - 05:36 PM EST
This technical analysis-based assignment was written by Stockpickr member Ira Krakow.

One of the most common problems that a stock technician faces is that not all buy or sell signals are genuine. A signal, such as a bullish candle on a one-minute candle chart, a stock price crossing its 20-day moving average, or the price touching the upper Bollinger Band, may be only a temporary blip. The very next minute, the price might reverse sharply. Placing a buy order relying on one indicator over a short time frame -- a "false positive" -- could result in a big loss. Enter the "MACD."

A Look at Capital One's Chart

Technicians use the MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence) either to confirm the potential buy or sell decision (a "convergence") or to detect a false positive (a "divergence").

Here's a daily candle chart for Capital One Financial COF . . .

Can a Drug That Helps Hearts Be Harmful to the Brain?

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HEALTH JOURNAL
By MELINDA BECK
February 12, 2008; Page D1
(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

Cognitive side effects like memory loss and fuzzy thinking aren't listed on the patient information sheet for Lipitor, the popular cholesterol-lowering drug. But some doctors are voicing concerns that in a small portion of patients, statins like Lipitor may be helping hearts but hurting minds.

SIDE EFFECTS OF STATINS


• Like every medication, statins also have side effects such as muscle aches and memory loss that can be difficult to measure. What's your experience been with statins? Join a discussion1.

• Health Mailbox:2 Melinda Beck reviews the procedure recommended to care for someone who is unconscious.

"This drug makes women stupid," Orli Etingin, vice chairman of medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, declared at a recent luncheon discussion sponsored by Project A.L.S. to raise awareness of gender issues and the brain. Dr. Etingin, who is also founder and director of the Iris Cantor Women's Health Center in New York, told of a typical patient in her 40s, unable to concentrate or recall words. Tests found nothing amiss, but when the woman stopped taking Lipitor, the symptoms vanished. When she resumed taking Lipitor, they returned.

"I've seen this in maybe two dozen patients," Dr. Etingin said later, adding that they did better on other statins. "This is just observational, of course. We really need more studies, particularly on cognitive effects and women."

Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor is the world's best-selling medicine, with revenues of $12.6 billion in 2007. The company says that its safety and efficacy have been demonstrated in more than 400 clinical trials and 145 million patient years of experience, and that the extensive data "do not establish a causal link between Lipitor and memory loss." Pfizer also says it draws conclusions about adverse events from a variety of sources "as opposed to anecdotal inferences by individual providers with a limited data pool."

World-wide, some 25 million people take statins, including Zocor, Mevacor, Crestor, Pravachol and Vytorin. As a group, they are widely credited with reducing heart attacks and strokes in people at high risk, though the benefits are less clear in people who are not at high risk, particularly women and the elderly. Some 15% of patients complain of side effects; muscle aches and liver toxicity are the most recognized to date. But anecdotes linking statins to memory problems have been rampant for years.

On balance, most cardiologists see . . .

Government Medical Plan

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Don't treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors

By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 27/01/2008

Have your say Read comments


Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.

Have your say: Should lifestyle play a role in deciding who gets NHS treatment?

Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.


£1.7 billion is spent treating diseases caused by smoking, such as lung cancer and emphysema


Fertility treatment and "social" abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state.

The findings of a survey conducted by Doctor magazine sparked a fierce row last night, with the British Medical Association and campaign groups describing the recommendations from family and hospital doctors as "out­rageous" and "disgraceful".

About one in 10 hospitals already deny some surgery to obese patients and smokers, with restrictions most common in hospitals battling debt.

Managers defend the policies ...

Prude

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Prude: How the Sex-Obsessed Culture Damages Girls (and America, Too!)
by Carol Platt Liebau
Nonfiction

“Once upon a time,” writes Carol Platt Liebau in her new pro-virtue manifesto Prude, “‘slut’ was one of the greatest insults. But now, being a prude is deemed to be even worse.” Everywhere in America, from the Hooters on the corner to the movies in our theaters to the songs on the radio to the pornography that “pops up, unbidden, on the Internet,” none of us can escape the “implicit message that being sexy at all times is a female imperative.”

In Prude, Liebau argues convincingly that this message is corrosive and gross, not least because it pressures girls to become sexually active at ever-younger ages. In her view, “girls between twelve and seventeen are, quite simply, too young to be engaging in sexual activity,” and “even those who are ready physically aren’t equipped for the intense feelings that accompany sexual relationships, or the psychological and emotional aftermath,” especially if pregnancy, abortion, or STDs ensue. While some readers may disagree with Liebau’s ideas about the ideal age of consent, teens will certainly benefit from her persuasive arguments about why it’s better to wait.

Given Prude’s usefulness, it’s unfortunate that Liebau tends to ignore realities that clash with the tenants of her argument. To give just one example, she uses a minor 2005 young-adult novel, Rainbow Party, and the Gossip Girl book series to illustrate youth culture’s moral bankruptcy, conveniently ignoring the other bestsellers among teen readers. They are the Harry Potter series, the Pretties/Uglies/Specials series, and Twilight series, all of which are serious and thoughtful rather than sensational or overtly sexual. Similar distortions elsewhere suggest that while Liebau cares deeply about America and its girls, she has an agenda to push. In her perfect world, sex would not occur between unmarried men and women or, presumably, between members of the same sex. In other words, in the name of chastity, Liebau may be after some cherished liberties.


more info

Cold?

Let's go for a ride, Barbie Girl

Barrister's Clerk Profile

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Introduction

This Section of the site details information that you might find useful if you are looking to secure employment or require further details regarding working as an Barristers Clerk. This page details the following Information:-



Finding Suitable Work as an Barristers Clerk

Working Duties Expected

Hours and Environment

Working Skills Required

Training Requirements

Salary Expectations

Trade Information

Other useful Barristers Clerk Work Information
Finding Suitable Work

This website features a volume of Job vacancies advertised on behalf of a number of different employers and specialist recruiters that post vacancies ...

UK Job Interview Advice

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When You Are Preparing For The Interview:

Great news, give yourself a pat on the back and well done you’ve got an interview for a new job. You have obviously impressed your future potential employer with your CV and your application form to be offered an interview in the first place. You have probably beaten many other applicants but something in your application has made you stand out from the other candidates.

An employer isn’t looking to employ any old person to fill their job hence they have already sifted through all of the applications and compiled a ...

My Way - TV

My Way - TV

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My Way - Video

My Way - Video

mini skirts are back

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leading market indicator or lagging indicator

Privacy on parade

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Judges are creating new privacy case law with each new ruling. And with the lack of parliamentary legislation


You have 24 hours to stop the nationwide publication of your personal sex diary, which has been stolen to order by your cleaner for a national newspaper.

Chances are that you will have a better chance these days of keeping your privates private than you might have had a few years ago.

As 5 Raymond Buildings barrister Iain Christie remarks: "Broadly speaking we're seeing judgments and remedies in favour of individuals that assert certain privacy rights that you wouldn't have seen before."

This is largely as a result of the Human Rights Act (HRA), which in 2000 introduced a right to respect for someone's private and family life.

The tension is between Article 8, which asserts privacy, and Article 10, which asserts freedom of expression. Article 8 says: "Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence."

"It's the first time in English law that we've had such a positive right stated in those terms," says Christie. "Since then courts have been trying to balance privacy with the right to freedom of expression, which always exists in media cases.

"The law's being developed by the judges on a case-by-case basis." And among those judges, one stands out as the most influential man in this sensitive field: Mr Justice Eady.

The High Court
Almost all media ...

Material witless

The exponential rise in popularity of user-generated websites MySpace and YouTube has brought to the fore the fact that the copyright laws governing these media are a grey area. By Graham Simkin and Kevin Smith

[from The Lawyer]
On 17 November 2006 Universal began an action for copyright infringement in the US District Court of Los Angeles against the popular networking website MySpace. The claim follows a breakdown in negotiations between the two companies for a content licensing deal. Universal had threatened similar action against YouTube, another highly successful networking site specialising primarily in videos, but ultimately settled for a reported seven-figure equity share as part of Google's $1.65bn (£841.02m) acquisition of the site.

But as the popularity and membership of each site has skyrocketed, so too has the amount of copyrighted content being circulated. This has raised important questions about the rights of copyright owners in relation to the distribution of their content on these sites. Also, because of the rapid growth in popularity of both MySpace and YouTube with consumers (MySpace now claims a membership of more than 50 million), each site is now able to attract significant advertising revenue and they have become a major distribution channel for music and video. Unsurprisingly, they have become the target of large-scale claims.

User-generated and peer-to-peer sites
Both MySpace and YouTube began as user-generated (UG) sites, as opposed to peer-to-peer (P2P) sites. Traditionally, P2P sites have focused on distributing existing third-party material as opposed to new, original material created by site members

...

De Niro, Minogue pose for Camera

Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:56pm EST
30 Nov 2007

COLOGNE, Germany (Hollywood Reporter) - Robert de Niro and Aussie pop star Kylie Minogue will receive Germany's top show-biz honor, the Golden Camera, at this year's ceremony in Berlin, organizers announced Wednesday.

De Niro will receive a lifetime achievement award, while Minogue will be honored as best international music act.

Much like a local version of the Golden Globes, Germany's Golden Cameras award excellence in film, television and music. The Golden Camera gala is the top show-biz event on the German calendar.

Previous international Golden Camera winners include George Clooney, Nicolas Cage, Cate Blanchett, Steven Spielberg and Bruce Willis.

Now in their 43rd year, the Golden Camera awards are presented by German publishing giant Axel Springer and Horzu, the country's leading TV listings magazine.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter




© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

Course: 23 Things On a Stick

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Welcome to 23 Things On a Stick

Have you ever thought, ”Gosh, I wish I had time to learn more about Flickr, wikis, or (enter your Web 2.0 tool here)?” Well, this is your chance to take the time to focus on your personal and professional development around Web 2.0 tools. It’s fun to explore these tools and figure out ways to use them in the library, with your personal Web sites, or in other ways.

23 Things On a Stick is the Minnesota twist on the Library Learning 2.0 program developed by Helene Blowers at the Public Library of Charlotte

Library of Congress, Flickr launch public photo project by ZDNet's Richard Koman -- The Library of Congress is launching a Flickr experiment and is encouraging people to tag images. Library communications director Matt Raymond blogs about the project: If all goes according to plan, the project will help address at least two major challenges: how to ensure better and better access to our collections, and how to ensure that [...]

Anecdotes are usually highly misleading or wrong.

Stella Awards. An egregious example of this is a list of six crazy “real lawsuits” circulating around the Internet since May 2001, all of which are entirely made up. According to Snopes.com, a website that debunks urban legends, “All of the entries in the list are fabrications – a search for news stories about each of these cases failed to turn up anything, as did a search for each law case.” 3 In 2003, Washington Post media columnist Howard Kurtz reported on confronting U.S. News & World Report owner Mort Zuckerman about referencing these fictitious cases. “Great stuff,” said Kurtz after describing two of the crazy lawsuits cited by Zuckerman. “Unfortunately for Zuckerman, totally bogus. Two Web sites -- StellaAwards.com and Snopes.com -- say the cases … are fabricated, and no public records could be found for them. Zuckerman has plenty of company. A number of newspapers and columnists have touted the phantom cases since they surfaced in 2001 in a Canadian newspaper.”4 . . . .

Gigolos speak out in conservative India

Beeb

Male sex workers or gigolos comprise a shadowy group of people in India. The BBC's Soutik Biswas meets a group of gigolos in the eastern city of Calcutta.

What is common between a draughtsman, an accounting clerk, a shop assistant and a school dropout?

Nothing much apart from the fact that the four men come from middle-class families in India and - barring the drop out - quit humdrum jobs to start selling sex to women in the crowded eastern city of Calcutta.

Dibakar, Samrat, Pallab and Goutam have also come together to bond in a group called Anandam that includes gays, lesbians, transgender groups and bisexuals to push HIV prevention programmes.

They are also stepping out of their shadowy world to talk about their lives and problems in a society where very little is known about them, talking about sex remains a taboo, and homosexuality and soliciting sex is outlawed.

High risk

Most female sex workers in India walk the streets or work out of thriving, grubby red light districts. Male sex workers usually cruise downtown streets in main cities, work in shady massage parlours and trawl internet chatrooms for clients.

There are several thousand of them in the big cities and their numbers are growing as the mobile phone and the internet have made business easier for them. . . .

The National Maritime Museum

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... collections contain more than 100,000 sea charts and maps dating from the medieval period to the present day. They document the results of exploration and discovery and show how techniques of navigation and surveying developed. Many were owned by naval officers and politicians and were used to plan and record the events which have become maritime history. The collections are not exclusively British and although they concentrate on charting the seas and coastlines, land maps are also included. Together they illustrate the work of the leading hydrographers and cartographers throughout the history of charting and mapmaking.

Charts represent the world's water-covered regions as aids to navigation. They are generally drawn on Gerard Mercator's projection (first introduced in 1569), which transforms the curved surface of the earth on to a flat plane.

The earliest portulan charts were prepared on vellum (sheep or goatskin). These concentrated on the Mediterranean. Later Italian, Spanish and Portuguese charts included new information resulting from the voyages of exploration of the late-15th and early-16th centuries.

Printed charts replaced portulan charts in the 17th century. The Dutch dominated the hydrography market and published many fine sea atlases. France and Britain next became major forces in chartmaking. Both established naval hydrographic offices, France in 1720 and Britain in 1795.

The British contribution to hydrography was highlighted by the voyages of discovery made by Captain James Cook between 1768 and 1780. Britain led the charting industry during the 19th century.

Researchers are welcome to study items but an appointment must be made in advance. Please contact the E-library for further information. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8312 6516

Appointed Forever

Audio, Video, Multimedia

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Multimedia Search Engines and Subject Directories (for audio and video): You can use Google or Yahoo to search for terms such as webcast, netcast, audio archive, audiocast, coursecast, cybercast, podcast, Internet broadcast, lecture series, archived audio, archived video, archived lectures, web media, multimedia, audio, audio archive, video archive, on demand, streaming, swarmcasting, realaudio, mp3, sdp, etc. For example, to locate university webcasts use this Google search query: inurl:webcast inurl:.edu. Specialized sites include: AlltheWeb: Audio, AlltheWeb: Video, Alta Vista Video Search, Audiofind: Multimedia Search Engine, Blinkx, CNET Music Center, FindSounds, Lycos Music Downloads, Lycos Multimedia, Open Video Project, Radio Scout, a public radio broadcast search, SingingFish, Songtext, and SpeechBot (11/4/05: no longer available), and University Channel.
See Also: Locating Lyrics, Sheet Music, Librettos & Scores | Movies | Music

ABC Musical Notation Language - "Language designed to notate tunes in an ASCII format. It was designed primarily for folk and traditional tunes of Western European origin." Developed and maintained by Chris Walshaw. (Many . . .

Sony

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In Blu-ray Coup, Sony Has Opening But Hurdles, Too

Woman Suing Fido Over Identity Theft

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Article published on Dec 28, 2007
By Hannah Glover

A Washington State woman is suing Fidelity for not stopping her husband from stealing her identity and bilking her and their children out of nearly $350,000....

Dogs and Cats

Excerpts from a Dog's Daily Diary:

8:00am: Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30am: A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40am: Walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30am: Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00pm: Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00pm: Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00pm: Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00pm: Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00pm: Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00pm: Wow! Watched TV with my master! My favorite thing!
11:00pm: Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary:

Day 683 of my captivity: My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape . . . In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit a hairball on the floor.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.

The audacity! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released --and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded! The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. The captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe....... for now...

School 1967 vs. School 2007

Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.

1967 - Vice principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his own shotgun to show Jack.

2007 - School goes into lockdown, the FBI is called, Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors are called in to assist traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.

1967 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.

! 2007 - Police are called, SWAT team arrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. They are charged with assault and both are expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.

1967 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given a good paddling. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.

2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra state funding because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1967 - Billy is more caref! ul next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.

2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some Aspirin to school .

1967 - Mark shares Aspirin with the school principal out on the smoking dock.

2007 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from School for drug violations. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1967 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.

2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by local human rights group. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that making English a requirement for graduation is racist. US Civil Liberties Association files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover Independence Day firecrackers, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up an anthill.

1967 - Ants die.

2007 - Ho! meland Security and the FBI are called and Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls during recess and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.

1967 - Johnny soon feels better and goe s back to playing.

2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in federal prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

Google Subpoena Quashed, Blogger Remains Anonymous

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by Wendy Davis, Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007 7:45 AM ET

IN A CASE CLOSELY WATCHED by the blogosphere, a judge in New Jersey has ruled that the township of Manalapan isn't entitled to learn the identity of the anonymous blogger "daTruthSquad."

Judge Terence Flynn in Monmouth County late last week issued a two-page order quashing the town's subpoena against Blogspot owner Google in the case.
"We're grateful that Judge Flynn upheld the First Amendment rights of our client and recognized that anonymous speakers should not be intimidated into silence through the discovery process," Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Matt Zimmerman, who represents daTruthSquad, said in a statement.

The subpoena in the Manalapan matter was issued in the course of a malpractice lawsuit against former city attorney Stuart Moskowitz stemming from the township's 2005 purchase of contaminated land.

DaTruthSquad had written posts criticizing the township, prompting officials to speculate in court that daTruthSquad was Moskowitz's pseudonym. Moskowitz denied that allegation in court. The township then subpoenaed Google, demanding that the company disclose all information connected with daTruthSquad's blog, including drafts of posts, emails and other contact information.

The digital civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation got involved in the matter, arguing that the identity of the blogger was irrelevant to the malpractice case. "The townships seeks to improperly interfere with the First Amendment rights of a pseudonymous critic for reasons separate from any legitimate need for discovery," the group argued in its motion advocating that the court let daTruthSquad remain anonymous.

The case isn't the only time a court has ruled that bloggers are entitled to the same legal protections as writers whose criticism appears in more traditional media. Last year, an appellate court in California rejected an attempt by Apple Computer to learn the identity of sources who leaked information to bloggers. The appeals court in that state ruled that its shield law, protecting the identity of confidential sources, applied to material published by bloggers as well as the mainstream media.