Tuesday, March 29, 2011

San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson isn't likely to be ready to play by opening day for the World Series champions.

Surface Encounters

URGENT: Plutonium detected in soil at Fukushima nuke plant: TEPCO ...

Plutonium has been detected in soil at five locations at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday. The operator of the nuclear complex said that the plutonium is believed to have been ...

Surface Encounters

REPORT: News Corp. In Talks To Hand Over Control Of MySpace To ...

News Corp. is in preliminary talks to give control of Myspace to Vevo.com, the site partly owned by top record companies, including Universal Music and Sony Music, according to a Bloomberg report. News Corp. has been looking to unload ...

Surface Encounters

Titles from major book publisher Random House will now appear in Apple’s iBooks store. The news was one of many talking points covered earlier today at Apple’s media event. Random House had previously been the only major publisher not represented in Apple’s popular iOS book store, as it was not willing to grant Apple the 30% cut taken on titles sold through iBooks. The addition of Random House is a major coup for Apple as it looks to compete with the likes of Amazon’s Kindle bookstore and other popular offerings. Hit the break for Apple’s full press release.

Random House, Inc. Makes Entire US Catalog of 17,000 ebooks Available on Apple’s iBookstore

iBookstore Now Features More than 2,500 Publishers, Including All Six Major Trade Publishers

SAN FRANCISCO—March 2, 2011—Apple® today announced that Random House, Inc., the largest trade book publisher in the US, has made its full catalog of 17,000 ebooks available on Apple’s iBookstore℠, including bestsellers by Stieg Larsson, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, Laura Hillenbrand, Cormac McCarthy, Lee Child and many more of the world’s preeminent authors. Starting today, customers can pre-order upcoming releases from Random House including Lisa Gardner’s “Love You More,” Suze Orman’s “The Money Class” and Jean Auel’s “The Land of Painted Caves.” With the addition of Random House, the iBookstore now offers ebooks from all six major trade publishers and thousands of independent publishers.

“We are delighted that Apple’s iBookstore now will be carrying Random House’s US ebooks for the first time,” said Markus Dohle, Random House’s Chairman and CEO. “And we look forward to bringing our 17,000 ebooks to Apple customers.”

“We’re thrilled to offer Random House on the iBookstore,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “iBookstore customers have already downloaded more than 100 million books in less than one year, and we think they’ll love being able to choose from Random House’s incredible selection of titles to enjoy on their iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.”

iBookstore customers can choose from a wide selection of illustrated and video-enhanced books that look incredible on iPad™, including Jay-Z’s memoir “Decoded” and Bing West’s “The Wrong War”; bestselling children’s series such as Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones; and cookbooks by Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, and the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Random House, Inc. comprises more than 80 adult and children’s US publishing imprints including Alfred A. Knopf, Doubleday, Crown, Pantheon Books, Vintage, Ballantine and Bantam.

The iBookstore, included in Apple’s free iBooks® app, is the best way to browse, buy and read books on your iPad, iPhone® and iPod touch®. iBookstore offers ebooks from more than 2,500 publishers in more than 20 categories, including Mysteries & Thrillers, Biographies & Memoirs, Cookbooks, Children’s & Teen, Humor, Romance, Business and Travel.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Tags: announcement, Apple, books, e-books, e-reader, ebooks, eReader, Event, iBooks, Random House

Dirty Percent

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

It’s not hard to make the case that Apple’s new in-app subscription system offers numerous benefits to users, developers, and publishers. But whatever those benefits, they stem from the mere existence of these new subscription APIs. What’s controversial is the size of Apple’s cut: 30 percent.

No one is arguing that Apple shouldn’t get some cut of in-app purchases that go through iTunes. And, if Apple were taking a substantially smaller cut, there would be substantially fewer people objecting to Apple’s rules (that subscription-based publishing apps must use the system; that they can’t link to their external sign-up web page from within the app; and that they must offer in-app subscribers the same prices available outside the app).

The reasonable arguments against Apple’s policies seem to be:

Apple should be taking less, perhaps far less, than 30 percent.

Apple should not require subscription-based apps to use the in-app subscription APIs. If it’s a good deal for publishers, they’ll choose to use the system on their own.

Apple should not require price-matching from subscription offers outside the app. Publishers should be allowed to charge iOS users more money to cover Apple’s cut.

Apple should consider business models that simply can’t afford a 70/30 revenue split.

Let’s consider these in reverse order.

Apple Should Consider Business Models That Can’t Afford a 70/30 Revenue Split

Apple doesn’t give a damn about companies with business models that can’t afford a 70/30 split. Apple’s running a competitive business; competition is cold and hard. And who exactly can’t afford a 70/30 split? Middlemen. It’s not that Apple is opposed to middlemen — it’s that Apple wants to be the middleman. It’s difficult to expect them to be sympathetic to the plights of other middlemen.

Some of these apps and services that are left out might be ones that iOS users enjoy, though. This is the leading argument for how this new policy will in fact hurt users, and, as a result, Apple itself: it’ll drive good apps off the platform. Frequently mentioned examples: Netflix and Kindle. For all we know, though, Netflix may well be fine with this policy. Apple would only get a 30 percent cut of new subscriptions that go through the Netflix iOS app, and that might be a bounty Netflix can live with in exchange for more subscribers. Keep in mind, too, that Netflix and Apple seemingly get along well enough that Netflix is built into the Apple TV system software.

Kindle, and e-book platforms in general, are a different case. For one thing, Kindle doesn’t use subscriptions. Kindle offers purchases. Presumably, given Apple’s rejection of Sony’s e-book platform app last month, Apple is going to insist on the same rules for in-app purchases through apps like Kindle as they do for in-app subscriptions. If so, something’s got to give. The “agency model” through which e-books are sold requires the bookseller to give the publisher 70 percent of the sale price. So if the publisher gets 70 and Apple gets 30, that leaves a big fat nothing for Amazon, or Barnes & Noble, or Kobo, or anyone else selling books through native iOS apps — other than iBooks, of course.

But leaving aside the revenue split, there are technical limitations as well. The existing in-app purchasing system in iOS has a technical limit of 3,500 catalog items. I.e. any single app can offer no more than 3,500 items for in-app purchase. Amazon has hundreds of thousands of Kindle titles.

Something’s got to give here. I don’t know what, but there must be more news on this front coming soon. I don’t believe Apple wants to chase competing e-book platforms off the App Store.

Apple Should Not Require Price Matching

Why not allow developers and publishers to set their own prices for in-app subscriptions? One reason: Apple wants its customers to get the best price — and, to know that they’re getting the best price whenever they buy a subscription through an app. It’s a confidence in the brand thing: with Apple’s rules, users know they’re getting the best price, they know they’ll be able to unsubscribe easily, and they know their privacy is protected.

Credit card companies insist on similar rules: retailers pay a processing fee for every credit card transaction, but the credit card companies insist that these fees not be passed on to the customer. Customers pay the same price as they would if they used cash — which encourages them to use their credit card liberally. (Going further, many charge cards offer cash back on each purchase — they can do this because the cash-back percentage refunded to the customer is less than the transaction processing fee paid by the retailer.)

So the same-price rule is good for the user, and good for Apple. But Matt Drance argues that Apple could dissipate much of this subscription controversy by waiving this rule:

The requirement that IAP content be offered “at the same price
or less than it is offered outside the app,” combined with the
70/30 split, means developers must make less money off of iOS by
definition. They can’t price their IAP content higher to offset
the commission, nor can they price their own retail content lower.

If I am interpreting this correctly, I can’t bring myself to see
it as reasonable. […] I think a great deal of this drama could
go away if Apple dropped section 11.13 while keeping section
11.14: Your prices on your store are your business; just don’t
be a jerk and advertise the difference all over ours.

And I agree with him. Yes, the same-price rule is good for users and for Apple, but waiving this rule wouldn’t be particularly bad for users or for Apple, either — and it would give publishers some freedom to experiment.

I suspect one reason Apple won’t budge is that their competitors — like Amazon — insist on best-price matching.

Apple Should Not Require Apps to Offer In-App Subscriptions

I’m sympathetic to this argument, too. “If you don’t like our terms, don’t use our subscription system.” But it has occurred to me that this entire in-app subscription debate mirrors the debate surrounding the App Store itself back in 2008 — that 30 percent was too large a cut for Apple to take, that it shouldn’t be mandatory, etc. The same way many developers wanted (and still want) a way to sell native iOS apps on their own, outside the App Store, many publishers now want a way to sell subscriptions on their own, outside the App Store.

The fact is, the App Store is an all-or-nothing affair. You play by Apple’s rules or you stick to web apps through Mobile Safari. This alternative is no different for periodical publishers than it was (and remains) for app developers in general. A lot of these demands boil down to a desire for more autonomy for native iOS app developers. Apple has never shown any interest in that.

There’s one striking difference between the subscription controversy today and the App Store controversy in 2008: with subscriptions, Apple is taking away the ability to do something that they previously allowed. There was never a supported way to install native apps for iOS before the App Store. Subscriptions sold outside the App Store, on the other hand, were allowed until last month.

Apple Should Be Taking Less, Possibly Far Less, Than 30 Percent

Another difference between the App Store itself and in-app subscriptions is that with apps, Apple hosts and serves the downloads. Apple covers the bandwidth, even for gargantuan gigabyte-or-larger 99-cent games. The OS handles installation.

With in-app subscriptions (and purchases), however, the app developer is responsible for hosting the content, and for writing the code to download, store, and manage it. So — one reasonable argument goes — given that Apple is doing less for subscription content than it does for apps (or for music and movies purchased through iTunes), Apple should take less of the money.

Taken further, the argument boils down to this: that for in-app subscriptions and purchases, Apple is serving only as a payment processer — and thus, a reasonable fee for transactions would be in the small single digits — 3, 4, maybe 5 percent, say. More or less something along the lines of what PayPal charges.

Apple, I think it’s clear, doesn’t see it this way. Apple sees the entire App Store, along with all native iOS apps, as an upscale, premium software store: owned, controlled, and managed like a physical shopping mall. Brick and mortar retailers don’t settle for a single-digit cut of retail prices; neither does the App Store.

Seth Godin argues that Apple’s 30 percent cut is too big to allow publishers to profit:

Except Apple has announced that they want to tax each subscription
made via the iPad at 30%. Yes, it’s a tax, because what it does is
dramatically decrease the incremental revenue from each
subscriber. An intelligent publisher only has two choices: raise
the price (punishing the reader and further cutting down
readership) or make it free and hope for mass (see my point above
about the infinite newsstand). When you make it free, it’s all
about the ads, and if you don’t reach tens or hundreds of
thousands of subscribers, you’ll fail.

Godin’s logic strikes me as questionable. For one thing, he freely switches between a newsstand metaphor (arguing, perhaps accurately, that the App Store is too large for publishers to gain attention from potential readers in the first place — you won’t read what you never notice) and the economics of subscriptions. But subscribers are the opposite of newsstand readers. Newsstand readers are buying a single copy, often on impulse. Subscribers are readers who are already hooked, and who know what they want. Put another way, the size of Apple’s cut of subscription revenue — whether it were higher or lower — has no bearing on the “attention at the newsstand” problem.

Second, the problem facing traditional publishers today is that circulation is falling. Newsstand sales and subscriptions are falling, under pressure from free-of-charge websites and other forms of digital content. The idea with Apple’s 70-30 revenue split is that developers and publishers can make it up in volume — that people aren’t just somewhat more willing to pay for content through iTunes than other online content stores, they are far more willing. The idea is that Apple has cracked a nut no one else1 has — they’ve created an ecosystem where hundreds of millions of people are willing to pay for digital content. Thus, potentially, publishers won’t just make more money keeping only 70 percent of subscription fees generated through iOS apps than they are now with 96 percent (or whatever they’re left with after payment processing fees) of subscription fees they’re selling on their own — they stand to make a lot more money.

I’m not guaranteeing or even predicting that it’s going to work out that way. I’m just saying that’s Apple’s proposition.

Godin’s assumption is that iOS in-app subscriptions won’t significantly increase the number of subscribers. If he’s right about that, then he’s right that Apple’s 30 percent cut will prove too expensive for publishers. But Apple’s bet is that in-app subscriptions can dramatically increase the number of subscribers. Consider the app landscape. Apple’s 30 percent cut didn’t drive the price of paid apps up — the nature of the App Store drove prices down. It’s a volume game.

The App Store itself proves that Apple might be right. Like with app sales, in-app subscriptions won’t work for every publication. But it could work for many. It really is possible to make it up in volume.

And if a 70-30 split for in-app subscription revenue doesn’t work, the price will come down. That’s how capitalism works. You choose a price and see how it goes. I’ll admit — when the App Store launched in 2008, I thought Apple’s 70-30 split was skewed too heavily in Apple’s favor. Not that it was wrong in any moral sense, but that it was wrong in a purely economic sense: that it might be more than developers would be willing to bear. Apple, clearly, has a better sense about what prices the market will bear than I (and, likely, you) do.

Competition vs. Anti-Competition

One last argument I’ve seen regarding these in-app subscription rules is that it’s further evidence of anti-competitive behavior from Apple. That makes sense only if you consider iOS to be the entire field of play. Apple, though, is competing at a higher level. They’re competing between platforms: iOS vs. Kindle/Amazon vs. Android/Google vs. Microsoft, and in some ways, vs. the free web. Why should publishers make an app rather than just a mobile web site? For happier customers and more money.

Sony has a platform for e-books. Amazon has a platform for e-books. Barnes & Noble has a platform for e-books. Apple has a platform for e-books. But Apple is the only one which allows its competitors to have apps on its devices. And Apple is the anti-competitive one? I’m no lawyer, but if the iTunes Music store hasn’t yet been deemed a monopoly with Apple selling 70+ percent of digital music players, then I doubt the App Store will be deemed a monopoly for a market where Apple has never been — and, according to market share trends, may never be — the top-selling smartphone maker, let alone own a majority of the market, let alone own more than a single-digit sliver of the phone market as a whole. As for ruthless profiteering, consider that Amazon, with their e-book publishing, originally took the fat end of a 70-30 revenue split with authors.

One question I’ve been asked by several DF readers who object to Apple’s new in-app subscription and purchasing policies goes like this: What if Microsoft did this with Windows, and, say, tried to require Apple to pay them 30 percent for every purchase made through iTunes on Windows? To that, I say: good luck with that. Microsoft couldn’t make such a change by fiat. The whole premise of Windows (and other personal computer systems) is that it is open to third-party software. Apple couldn’t just flip a switch and make Mac OS X a controlled app console system like iOS — they had to introduce the Mac App Store as an alternative to traditional software installation. If Microsoft introduced something similar to the Mac App Store for Windows, Apple would simply eschew it. If Microsoft were to mandate an iOS App Store-like total control policy for all Windows software, they’d have a revolt in their user base that would make Vista look like a success.

iOS isn’t and never was an open computer system. It’s a closed, controlled console system — more akin to Playstation or Wii or Xbox than to Mac OS X or Windows. It is, in Apple’s view, a privilege to have a native iOS app.

This is what galls some: Apple is doing this because they can, and no other company is in a position to do it. This is not a fear that in-app subscriptions will fail because Apple’s 30 percent slice is too high, but rather that in-app subscriptions will succeed despite Apple’s (in their minds) egregious profiteering. I.e. that charging what the market will bear is somehow unscrupulous. To the charge that Apple Inc. is a for-profit corporation run by staunch capitalists, I say, “Duh”.

If it works, Apple’s 30-percent take of in-app subscriptions will prove as objectionable in the long run as the App Store itself: not very.

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What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.

THE QUAKE IN JAPAN, A GOOFBALL IN VENEZUELA Japanese earthquake damage is estimated at $310 billion and could be the costliest natural disaster ever. Japanese exports suffer. Kate Rogers of Fox revisits how to protect your business from catastrophe. “Small-business owners can determine if they should be seeking disaster coverage by weighing their investment in the business itself, among other factors. If the business is the sole form of income, the risk is much greater than if it is a hobby or part-time project.” Elsewhere around the world, the war industry gets a boost in Libya. And Hugo Chávez of Venezuela says capitalism may have destroyed life on Mars.

REAL ESTATE FALLS, JOBS RISE Mark Thoma says commodity prices are increasing because of world demand. A small-business owner in Georgia is trying not to pass on the cost of high gas prices. Detroit’s population declines 25 percent. Existing-home sales fall to the lowest on record. Meredith Whitney, an investment adviser, says, “Unless the government comes out with a 50-year mortgage, this market is in trouble longer term.” Gallup’s job-creation index is the highest since September 2008. Durable goods orders fall.

ANNE HATHAWAY AND WARREN BUFFETT The Fed earns $79 billion and predicts that the recovery is taking hold. Nonetheless, one of its officials warns that the United States is approaching insolvency. Meanwhile, Warren E. Buffett predicts growth but some think his company’s stock is buoyed by Anne Hathaway. Household balances sheets continue to improve. Scott Grannis says “the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey came in very strong. It hasn’t been this strong since the economic boom times of the early 1980s. It’s very difficult to ignore the mounting evidence of a strong economic recovery.” Architect billings increased slightly in February.

DEFICIT THRILLS The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is thrilled to see 64 senators calling for comprehensive deficit reduction. But Stan Collender, a budget expert, isn’t thrilled at all: “Does a letter that is so vanilla that it could have been written at any time over the past 40 years really indicate any movement on the current budget debate?” James Pethokoukis of Reuters says he thinks President Obama’s budget is wildly dangerous.

A NEW DEFINITION OF SMALL BUSINESS Timothy F. Geithner says that American small businesses need greater access to capital to spur innovation. The Small Business Administration, facing even more cuts, is for the first time in more than 25 years proposing to change the way it defines small businesses. JPMorgan Chase says it will cease its debit card rewards program because of new legislation that would restrict fees. Missouri gets $27 million in incentives for small-business growth. The Small Business Savings Account Act makes its way through Congress.

TAKING CREDIT The health care legislation celebrates its first anniversary and Ezra Klein defends it by saying, “Is it a perfect piece of legislation? Not even close. Will everything work as expected? Almost certainly not. But for all its flaws, it’s a good law. And it’s worth trying.” Many small businesses are still not taking advantage of the health care tax credit.

TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES A Google project manager pitches cloud computing: “Web-based software is much less costly for buyers than traditional software, and programmers can be so much more innovative, that it’s worthwhile for an entrepreneur to say, O.K., let’s start from scratch.” Paul Mah, an information technology expert, gives us eight reasons to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9. Firefox 4 is released. Microsoft jumps to second in video search and introduces a new PC tool for small business. Netflix suffers an outage. BlackBerry’s tablet is scheduled to arrive in April. AT&T buys T-Mobile but not for the reason you think. And boy. has computer technology come a long way in 10 years.

THE GROWING APPS MARKET Information Week reports that 38 percent of small- and medium-size businesses depend on mobile apps. Amazon introduces an Android app store, and Apple is not pleased. Minda Zetlin of Inc. asks if you should make a tablet app for your business: “The answer is likely a yes if one, your product or service is one where having tablet access could benefit customers; and two, your customers are the type who use tablets.” Just in time: a flood of royal wedding apps.

SPEAKING OF THE BIG WEDDING General Electric releases a much-needed William and Kate refrigerator. Jack Daniels introduces a new product — perhaps to help us forget the royal wedding. Danny Wong gives us three winning ideas to consider. A dating site features a new single man every day. Score plans an e-business learning Web site for small business. Small Business Television is rebranding itself and has introduced a new Web site. Small Business Opportunities magazine is doing the same. A small business introduces its first electric car. Sales of e-books have doubled. The group buying industry is projected to grow to $2.7 billion this year.

TWITTER’S TAX BREAKS Casey Hibbard explains how one company used social media to make $300,000 in a weekend. Robert Scoble discovers the future of work: “Just when we thought we figured out the new ’social enterprise’ market along comes Convofy.” Twitter shows San Francisco’s businesses how to save a bundle on taxes. A one-legged wrestler shows us how to become a national champ.

IT’S GOOD TO BE GREEN A woman in Canada gets a standing ovation for being green. The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce holds its green marketing event on Wednesday. The Clinton Global Initiative holds its university conference this week with a focus on entrepreneurship and a live webcast.

ADVICE FOR SXSW: HAND OUT PILLOWS The Global Entrepreneurship Congress meets in Shanghai this week. April 2 is International Pillow Fight Day. The South By Southwest conference: as seen from a bunch of social media video bloggers — which is yet another reason I won’t attend next year. American Airlines offers a big promo for California business travelers. John Jantsch wants to know the worst business advice you ever received. A third-base coach gives life advice.

SEARCHING FOR HELP WITH SEARCH An American Express survey finds that more than half of small-business owners say they need help with search-engine marketing. A video about why it’s not important to go viral goes viral. Dharmesh Shah shares a few low-cost advertising ideas for start-ups and cautions readers to “think of advertising not as a long-term traffic strategy but as a testing tool to improve your Web site and find out more about your ideal visitor.” An advertising blog discusses how to develop a relationship with the media. Lucy Thornton comes up with a few good marketing themes for April.

A 100-MILLION-MEMBER NETWORK LinkedIn officially reaches 100 million members. Seems like a good time to read the co-founder’s 10 rules for entrepreneurial success.

TRIED TALKING? Whitson Gordon of Lifehacker gives us his top 10 tricks for working while on the go. Example: “Whether it’s that old, dead iPod or the smartphone you’re already carrying with you, you probably have gigs of unused storage lying around waiting to be filled with portable apps, files and other digital travel necessities.” Melanie Brooks of Workawesome.com explains why she uses a leather day planner instead of a smartphone. Greg Schinkel warns against hiding behind our keyboards: “Before you hit ‘reply to all’ and send back a zinger to someone who maligned you, stop and go talk to the person.”

THIS WEEK’S AWARDS

BEST WAY TO GET YOUR CUSTOMERS TO LOVE YOU Ben Yoskovitz talks about the benefits of delighting your customers: “The rewards are immense. Loyal, rabid fans tweet shamelessly about how incredible you are, how valuable your Web application is and how successful your start-up will be.”

BEST WAY TO MARKET WITHOUT A BUDGET Shisha Dublin-Green explains how to market without a marketing budget: “Form an alliance: if you have a hair salon that’s mostly frequented by women with young children and elderly women, you can offer a service whereby you arrange to do their grocery shopping whilst they’re in the salon. You may decide to form an alliance with a local reputable grocer or delivery service to provide this for your customers. This could also be a way to reach out to new customers via your local grocer.”

BEST ADVICE FOR BOOTSTRAPPERS The Smart Bear says that the things money cannot buy are still the most valuable things: “Show proof of your ability to master the things money cannot buy — your ability to learn, change and improve.”

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: How do you bring in customers without spending a lot? We do free webinars every month.

Gene Marks owns the Marks Group PC, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.

It looks like women have caught up with men in numbers in the workplace. For the first time in history, women in the USA now outnumber men in the workforce, and there are now more women in supervisory positions than there are males. The question is whether they will handle the downside of working any better than men.

According to an article by Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, Ph.D., titled The 21st Century Workplace -- Are Women the New Men?, the economic downturn has hit men harder. They held nearly 80 percent of jobs that have been lost during what is now being called the "mancession." Will women now inherit the stress, pressure, exhaustion, burn out and heart attacks commonly associated with male leaders in business?

Some predict that this new female-dominated workplace will mean a softening of the corporate culture, with more benevolent leaders. Others foresee just the opposite. Ella says many women don't want to be seen as "soft" -- and others simply aren't. No one would call Carly Fiorina, the head of Hewlett Packard from 1999 to 2005, a wilting lily. According to her memoir, Tough Choices, she was sometimes referred to as Chainsaw Carly.

All of this is especially relevant on the entrepreneurial side, since statistics show that women are starting businesses at more than twice the rate of their male counterparts. Some would argue that the growing success rate of women entrepreneurs shows that they are resourceful, and better able to succeed, despite the odds.

While I'm sure we will continue to see progress on the female side, I predict that they will struggle with the same major challenges faced today by men. These include:

Funding your dream. Raising money is hard, whether you are counting on friends, investors, or banks. I rarely see women at angel investment groups, either asking for money, or offering to fund new ventures. Men seem more focused on this one.

Need for increased confidence and mindset skills. Many women and men are paralyzed by perfection, plagued by pessimism, and the need to satisfy others, rather than themselves. We need more women leaders.

Motivation to succeed. Every entrepreneur needs to love what they do, and believe so strongly in their product or service that they can weather the tough times. On this one, it's easy to spot the ones with passion, from either gender.

Manage time and priorities. Women, often more than men, try to do too much. It's hard to balance the continual demands of the business, personal relationships, and home life. Every entrepreneur needs to prioritize the important tasks ahead of urgent tasks.

Never stop learning. After you start your business, the learning really begins. True entrepreneurs look at failures as their best learning experiences. Networking, and using your network is the next most important element of learning.

I don't see any challenges which are so gender specific that they can't be overcome by any entrepreneur. Yet I don't think women should be convinced that the battle for equality is almost over. There is still the question of why there are so few women in high places, and why the average income for women in business is about 68% of men's income.

What I am hoping is that women will not just be the new men, and suffer from the same maladies and limitations. I'll be looking for women to create the "new business culture" that every worker wants -- better role definitions, more effective and productive leadership, and better work-life balance. That would make women entrepreneurs the new women, rather than the new men!

Surface Encounters

4000 bodies still remain unidentified following quake | Kyodo News

The identities of around 4000 bodies collected following the March 11 mega earthquake and ensuing tsunami still remain unconfirmed in severely-damaged Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, a local police tally showed Tuesday. ...

Surface Encounters

Surface Encounters

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Small Business News: Social Media Brand

What is your social media brand? Do you have one? Sure, many small business owners and entrepreneurs are coming around to the enormous importance of social.

Surface Encounters

Monday, March 28, 2011

Making Money on Ebay

Travis Salisbury was an Industrial Designer who worked for various government agencies before his retirement in 1977. In the late 1950's, Salisbury received an honorary degree in Design from the Montana Institute, and later took a job as director of design for the Montana State Legislature. This was an honorary position i.e. he didn't get paid. His main goal as a designer was to "help people get along and have fun while doing it." He organized a huge number of "supper days" events where opposing politicians would cook each others favorite meal and then eat them together. This helped Montana greatly. In 1961 he designed Chair #406 (named after Helena's area code). This chair looked completely normal except for one small feature -- a V-shape under one of the legs.

The reason for this "V" was to allow a game to be played with multiple chairs. People would play by hitting a ball through the "V" with some sort of mallet. Salisbury wanted people to be able to blow off steam in-between sessions. The "V" was large enough to let a croquet ball pass. All of the #406 chairs have since been sold off or scrapped -- people got too caught up in the game and it became a distraction.

After multiple years of writing proposals to the U.S. mint, Salisbury finally hit the big time in 1965 with his Average Citizen Quarter Program (or ACQP). The idea was simple: put an average citizen on a quarter. For a year, applications were scoured over until Randy Young, a steelworker from Pittsburgh, was selected. The coins were minted in 1967. Less than two months after the coins were minted, Randy Young was arrested for armed robbery -- the coins became known as "Jailbird Quarters." The Mint immediately stopped production of the coins, and the ones that existed were given an acid treatment to hide their features and to shame both Salisbury and Young.

After the public disgrace of the Jailbird Quarters, Salisbury moved to New Jersey and began to write textbooks for elementary school students. The only one of his books that made it very far was Learn to Control Your Machine. The art on the cover was a drawing that Salisbury's uncle drew of Travis at age ten.

The text of the book was simply "Learn to control your machine" over and over again, much like in the movie The Shining. At least five times per page there was a spelling error, 500 errors in the book. Students were graded on the amount of errors that they could find. Salisbury made sure that there were at least 100 variations of the book so that the students couldn't cheat. Some students were actually helped by the book, others were scarred for much of their lives.

After finally making money with his book, Salisbury went back out west to Montana, and got his honorary Design Director position back. This was 1973. After noticing that many of the politicians were making embarrassing and even incriminating doodles in their notebooks, Salisbury made them a custom notebook that would solve the problem. They would have the usual-sized ruled paper, but there would be a bigger column left near the binding when they tore off pages. This notebook had an area for doodles and a doodle book that the politicians could keep for later once all of the pages had been ripped off. A doodle book from the Montana State Legislature recently sold on eBay for $1000.

Salisbury worked four more years in Montana and retired in 1977. Some say that he was a pioneer and others say that he severely hurt the chances of other designers with dreams of working in government. Salisbury still lives in Montana where he's working on a new book about how the Jailbird Quarter fiasco was planned called Randy Young is Innocent.

Design Fancy is a series of short stories about fictional designers who make fictional things. The stories (and the objects) are by Matt Brown. Special thanks to Greg Burkett.

This is actually a good piece, but a wee bit preachy. But still good.

Anyone complaining about eBay and PayPal fees, please just be quiet. If you are running a home business where you sell things that don't take up too much space or is a hassle, then the fees are trivial compared to the profit in many cases. You think that when you pay $10 for something at a store, 100% of that $10 go to the owner? After rent, salary and even credit card fees real world business often deal with HIGHER fees than someone dealing with PayPal.

But I do agree 100% with his buy something and sell it just to even break even to experiment. That is the BEST way to learn how to sell something and is very little risk.

I got into eBay selling the usual way by selling off things I knew were valuable and could turn a profit. After a while I started to sell off stuff I had but didn't want anymore on eBay; I consider it an endless yard sale. Many times I made back my initial investment or lost money, but after 10+ years of doing this on eBay I started to understand what sold and what I was good at selling.

Then I started to sell Mac upgrades for folks who were tweaking their machines back in the early 2000. For those who don't know, Apple placed an "Apple tax" on many off-the-shelf PC components that either just had an Apple sticker or need a ROM flashing. So I would buy boxes of components, flash them or simply write an eBay explanation as to the item being tested on a Mac and soon enough I was making $20 to $80 profit for a good year or so until Apple basically obsolete the G4 machines. In the case of items that simply cost more as Apple branded I wrote a description that explains what the item was, how it was tested and how my feedback and tech expertise assures that the item will work. Anyone had the choice of buying the pure PC component, but they bought from me for a modest markup to save the hassle. I even had a few people give me PayPal "tips" for advice I provided. It was then I realized I set up a small tech store with loss leaders and consulting! I could not quit my day job on that money, but it helped me through some rough times.

Now I mainly sell old collectible toys from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. I got into it when I started to sell off some of my old childhood toys, realized there was a profit in my childhood investment so I translated my passion and knowledge into buying collectible toys in bulk in the U.S. and Japan, cleaning up and assessing them and then selling them on eBay. Buy a huge lot of toys from a seller who doesn't want to deal with the headache, break it up, ID the parts and assess it, and then I am selling items that cost me about $2 a piece for around $10 a piece. Again, not enough to live on, but a very nice source of extra income.

Also, if you sell online, be prepared to ship. Some sellers never think of packing until after the sale. BAD MOVE! You might end up paying more in packing materials or delaying shipment while you hunt for boxes and screw up your sales transaction. I only sell items online I am 100% positive I can ship. And with that in mind, I have moved over to buying small collectible items in bulk I know I can stick in a padded envelope and ship. The weight assures first class shipping which is less than Priority Mail, but gets there as quickly in many cases. And the light weight makes it easier to carry.

Also, if you know you will ship items—like books and CDs—in bulk, buy a box of mailers from an online seller. It will end up costing you 25 cents per envelope which you might penny-pinch over, but it is a lot less than buying individual envelopes from the Post Office or drug store. And you have them on hand so it saves time.

I would also recommend investing in a small scale and even a nice label printer. The scale will help you give your customers a better estimate of cost and the printed labels will assure that the address is clear/legible on the package so it goes through the system correctly. Labels can be bought in bulk for thermal printers for tons less than local stores, and are just as good.

Oh, as far as shipping goes, my eBay shipping & handling rates are incredibly reasonable and always less than others but guess what? Buyers ALWAYS complain or have second thoughts on shipping & handling charges. ALWAYS! I charged someone $2 for shipping and they complained that shipping was $1.95. Don't worry about shipping other than the tips I give above, because ultimately nobody wants to pay for shipping and everyone complains. You'll never make them happy so don't sweat it.

Also Craigslist... Oy vey... I mainly sell items on there that weight too much or are too bulky to ship. And it works well somewhat. But folks on Craigslist want bargains and are lazy when picking up. Not worth the effort.

Phew! I just wrote that.

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Iranian Video Says Mahdi is 'Near' - World - CBN News - Christian ...

New evidence has emerged that the Iranian government sees the current unrest in the Middle East as a signal that the Mahdi--or Islamic messiah--is about to appear.

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News FAIL - Epic Fail Funny Videos and Funny Pictures

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SEO Services Vancouver For any Better Marketing Solution

When you begin your own website there are many ways you'll have to market it and one of the best ways is by using SEO services Vancouver if you happen to maintain that area. The SEO or search engine optimization services will be the top method of getting good traffic to your website and therefore making more sales.

Now, you should know that you won't use SEO service if you're not an internet business - however, if you do not have an online presence if you are an offline business, then you will not make it very far.

It is a popular proven fact that if you are going to really make it in the offline world you need to have an online presence. This really is something which all people are learning hard way. Something that you ought to also know is the fact that it is not as easy as just setting up the website and leaving it to do its things.

You can do this in all sorts of ways, but these companies usually take advantage of multiple techniques to create the perfect marketing technique online. It is possible to employ them to write articles for you personally, post on forums and blogs, create meta tags and meta descriptions, clean up the code, add alt tags to the images plus much more.

It is very important that you simply do this because otherwise the company you have worked so hard for could wind up losing all the money. When you have a website that you want to create, then you'll also use the services of an SEO company, which stands for seo company. What the corporation does is actually go ahead and take best parts of your website, check the code, create keywords and write various articles and documents to ensure your site is placed close to the top of the list for that major search engines.

As a result the Search engine optimization company can not only improve your traffic, but additionally ensure that your website is fully optimized for the search engine spiders that will be brought to it. These spiders are utilized to analyze your site and put it in certain positions determined on certain keywords.

If you wish to use the SEO services Vancouver then all you have to complete is discover the top companies. It is through these that the SEO gets done effectively and efficiently. With so many SEO companies to select from you need to be sure that the one you're going for is reliable. You should be able to ask for a breakdown of what you need, and the company should also be able to let you know know long they've been operating for. This can narrow down their email list to reveal the top ones.

Search engine optimization Offered by Different Vancouver Web Companies

The Vancouver SEO company services are very beneficial for business growth because they provide quality services. If you are planning to produce a website for the internet business, then you've come to right article as I will be explaining below how SEO Vancouver company services can increase your website ranking making it popular.

Before that, you should know what Seo is. It's not that complicated and I'm sure you're going to get a grasp from it reading my article. The primary goal of SEO is to have increased traffic to your website and target audience. It is a good decision to choose a Vancouver SEO company that are experts in this sort of work, so that your website can be indexed by search engines.

There is no point in you using a website with no website ranking at all while you won't get any business and profits to outlive. It is a very tough atmosphere out there because there are so many internet business people just like you, who desire their share of pie. You have to be familiar with the truth that nearly 85% of internet traffic can be got from web sites.

When a user types inside a keyword or keywords for what he/she really wants to know in various sites, these use crawlers to obtain websites with the relevant content and index them based on algorithms. It's not necessary to worry about the algorithms which these sites use as that is not important.

To appear in the first page of the google listing, you will have to hire professionals and pros who can perform the needful to keep your website one of the good books during these websites. These professionals can optimize your website content to ensure that your website gets more traffic.

When the traffic gets high, it is a sign that you are obtaining a service which will enable you to get more revenues. SEO Vancouver company do the next to make your site appear within the first page of search results.

Use keywords which are popularly used on search engines like google on your website content.
Have a website design for the website which is simple because top sites are allergic to flash and weird designs.
Submit your website to directories.
Submit your site to directory websites.
Postings on blogs and forums with back links to your websites. This is regarded as a very effective way to get more traffic aimed at your website as numerous internet users use blogs and forums.

SEO Vancouver company also perform site diagnostics which is a significant part in online optimization as research and analysis on finding keywords may be the method to start a SEO campaign. So, make sure you select the right SEO Vancouver service company.

Are you searching for more info regarding SEO Vancouver? Visit http://www.seo4vancouver.com/seo-services.asp today!

What to Expect When Hiring a Roofers

When it comes time to repair or even replace your homes roof, it's really a challenging task to locate someone who is actually competent for the job. There are lots of roofers available, but the types who'll perform a great job for a reasonable cost are not frequently simple to find. If you are in the market for a contractor, use the ideas beneath for meeting with and hiring the right one.

Interview and Discussion

The majority of roofing contractors provide totally free consultations. This is especially essential, because it provides them an opportunity to assess exactly what your homes roof requirements, and it provides you with an opportunity to evaluate them. As with all companies, trust your instincts concerning the individuals a person allow up on your roof. No issue how good the contractor's reputation or even recommendation, he or she ought to begin by showing a person with a business card. If a service provider occurs searching and talking within an unprofessional manner, most likely the job he's going to do will also be less than professional. This is not to express that you should expect contractors to arrive within fits. They will be hiking in your roof, therefore most will be dressed in denim jeans and function boots or even athletic shoes. If the contractor appears to be interested in talking on their mobile phone during your roof than he is within analyzing your roof's needs, that may be another indication that he's not really the main one for the job. For your lawful safety, be certain that the contractor offers sufficient legal responsibility insurance.

Roofing Evaluation

Expect the service provider will be going up on your roofing. In fact, any contractor who not need to go up on your roof to judge the issue should be immediately discounted. Those who are serious about their function may possibly make a drawing of the roof's surface as well as mark trouble spots on it as they go through their evaluation, or they will take pictures or video of the surface while they are available online for. This is a very essential step, because it enables you to observe just what the problems are and know how they will be set.

Estimation

The next phase will be the written estimate. The contractor will require away his calculator and come track of an itemized estimate. Some contractors will go out to their vehicle or truck and write up the actual suggestion, while some will crisis the amounts for the job prior to you. Once you are given the suggestion, make sure that you comprehend which items is going to be used, how long the job will require and if you will find any additional or even hidden expenses that may arise during the restore of the roof. The service provider should be able to solution many of these questions effortlessly as well as forewarn you associated with a additional expenses that might be incurred if the roof's integrity end up being broken inside.

Once you have received several created estimations from roofers, assess what each company or service provider would like to provide for that price. Do not always discount the highest bid, because sometimes the highest bid will actually be the service provider who the job correctly. Additionally, be wary associated with bids that are not nearly as expensive others. They might be using substandard products or perhaps be unethical concerning the chance of hidden costs. Most importantly, believe in instincts as well as go with the actual contractor who enables you to feel most comfortable regarding handing over your hard earned money.

Seven Uyghurs Sentenced to Death

2011-03-23

Critics of the sentences say China has politicized the robberies as acts of terrorism.

AFP

A Uyghur man walks past armed Chinese security forces in Urumqi, July 17, 2009.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have ordered the executions of seven ethnic minority Uyghur men convicted of "violent" crimes, official media said on Wednesday.

The death sentences were handed down by the Supreme People's Court in recent days, according to state media in the regional capital, Urumqi.

The men were accused in connection with three separate attacks late last year in the Silk Road city of Kashgar, according to the news website Urumqi Online.

According to another website, the Xinjiang-based Tianshan news site, Aimaiti Tuheti, Yiming Dawuti, and unnamed "others" killed a security guard at a pedestrian mall as part of a failed Aug. 7 robbery attempt.

In a separate incident on Oct. 12, it said, Nuermaimaiti Aobulikasimu and 11 others broke into a house, bound and killed the couple living in it, and took their possessions.

It said the group also broke into the homes of two brothers, robbed them, and killed six people in a Nov. 11 attack in Kashgar.

The report gave no information about the victims or the schedule for the executions.

Three of the men were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, a sentence that is normally commuted to life imprisonment in China's judicial system.

They were convicted of deliberate homicide and armed robbery by the Kashgar Intermediate People's Court in the first instance.

'Strike hard' campaign

A Han Chinese resident of Urumqi surnamed Yang said a reference to "terrorism" in official news reports on the case showed that it was being politicized by the authorities, who have launched a series of "strike hard" campaigns in Xinjiang following deadly ethnic violence in July 2009.

"There is an implied political meaning; that they were somehow engaged in separatist activities or ethnic divisions," said Yang.

Exile Uyghur groups said the trials had been conducted behind closed doors, with scant opportunity for public scrutiny.

"The entire process against these men, from the trial through to the judgment, was opaque," said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress.

"There was also very little reasonable evidence to convict them on a legal basis, because all the evidence came from one side of the case," he said.

"We strongly condemn the Chinese government for continuing to pursue their policies of ethnic division," said Raxit.

"We are also strongly opposed to the death penalty in this case."

Earlier cases

Last month, the Supreme Court sentenced four Uyghurs to death for alleged involvement in an Aug. 19 bomb attack in Xinjiang’s western Aksu city.

The World Uyghur Congress pointed to concerns over lack of transparency in those cases too.

The Aksu blast left eight people dead, including two of the bombers, and 15 wounded after a man riding a three-wheeled vehicle threw explosives at a group of uniformed patrolmen. Four Uyghurs were arrested shortly after the attack.

State media characterized the cases as acts of terrorism and unrelated to longstanding ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and Han Chinese in the region.

Exiled Uyghur dissident Rebiya Kadeer has warned that attacks like those in Aksu will continue to occur until Beijing addresses the underlying source of tension in the region.

Millions of Uyghurs—a distinct, Turkic minority who are predominantly Muslim—populate Central Asia and Xinjiang.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Those frustrations erupted in July 2009 in deadly riots that left nearly 200 people dead, by the Chinese government's tally.

At least 26 people, mostly Uyghurs, were sentenced to death in the aftermath of the riots, many of whom have been executed, according to state media.

China is believed to execute more people each year than the rest of the world’s countries combined, although the government does not publish official figures.

Rights groups say Beijing may execute as many as several thousand prisoners annually.

Chinese authorities blame Uyghur separatists for a series of deadly attacks in recent years and accuse one group in particular of maintaining ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

New training scheme

China on Wednesday also announced a training scheme which places ethnic minority graduates from Xinjiang in work elsewhere in China.

Governments of the destination cities will spend 450 million yuan (U.S.$ 69 million) for the program, while Xinjiang will spend 400 million yuan (U.S.$ 61 million), the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The program targets some 60,000 jobless college graduates in Xinjiang, around 80 percent of whom are from ethnic minorities, and 60 percent of whom are women.

However, some commentators see the move as an attempt to assimilate non-Han Chinese into mainstream Chinese culture.

"From the point of view of ethnic minorities, the graduate work scheme is really taking the cream of youth from the minorities and using them to 'further cultural development,'" wrote one ethnic minority user on a popular microblogging service.

"In fact, the culture that is being advanced is Han culture, and this group of young people will have been totally brainwashed," the microblog update said.

An Urumqi resident surnamed Li agreed.

"They have run senior high school schemes like this before during the past few years," he said.

"Whether it's high-schoolers or graduate training programs, these are measures that are aimed at thought control and brainwashing, and the 'Partification' of their education," he said.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Wikileaks and the Uyghurs

through henry on December Twenty, This year
Henryk Szadziewski, Manager, Uyghur Human Rights Project

Whether it had been actually in doubt, information obtained by the whistleblower web site, Wikileaks, offers confirmed Chinese language government fears over its ongoing control of the region it calls Xinjiang, also is referred to as East Turkestan. The leaked out wires through Ough.Utes. diplomats demonstrate the actual extent that Chinese authorities make an effort to convince governments worldwide to consider it's stance upon issues impacting Uyghurs. The cables also show the actual U . s . States' concerns as well as views regarding the on going repressive steps in the area.

The majority of lighting associated with Chinese government stress would be the cables directed to Chinese language anger, or even the specter of Chinese ire, within the release of Uyghur detainees within Guantánamo to 3rd nations. The Dec 29, 2008 cable television applies exactly how Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi met with the Ough.S. Ambassador in order to China to voice Beijing's strong opposition of release to any nation apart from China, which when the Ough.S. do indeed accede to this request it would "avoid harm to bilateral relationships and to co-operation ‘in essential areas'". Furthermore, the Feb '09 cable television explains how the Chinese language Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded the possible release of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees because "an unfriendly behave towards us" and a "slap in the face". That the Ough.Utes. federal government was firm in not really liberating the detainees in order to The far east demonstrates the extent from the politicized nature of the Chinese language judicial program. Legitimate issues more than terrorism tend to be understandable, however in the actual U.Utes. government's observe the detainees might probably encounter torture as well as delivery when they returned in order to The far east

Chinese language government stress regarding the Uyghur Guantánamo detainees wasn't only put on the U.S. federal government, but also in order to New Zealand along with a number of European government authorities which were thinking about resettlement. Albania, Indonesia as well as Finland, as well as Eu fellow member states all appear to have borne the impact of Chinese language federal government unhappiness. Regarding Germany, that was at first prepared to consider two Uyghurs on solely humanitarian grounds, Uyghur Guantánamo cases had been less preferable to other detainees due to the negative effects accepting Uyghurs would have on relations along with China. A May Eight, 2009 cable television applies how "German Ambassador Michael Schaefer documented which Germany experienced informed The far east from the U.Utes. ask for to simply accept some Uighur detainees kept from Guantánamo and had already been subsequently cautioned through China of ‘a large load upon bilateral relations' in the event that Germany had been to simply accept any kind of detainees".

The diplomatic wires additionally talk about the unrest in Urumchi, the actual local funds, in This summer 2009. A July Thirteen, 2009 cable television talking about bulk occurrences in China says:

"Ethnic riots such as those who work in Xinjiang This summer 5-7 as well as in Tibet in 03 associated with 2008 vary markedly within origin and character through bulk occurrences, XXXXXXXXXXXX stressed in order to PolOff [Political Officer] upon XXXXXXXXXXXX. Each existing serious trouble for the actual Celebration, XXXXXXXXXXXX said, however the Party management wouldn't wait to open fireplace upon Uighurs or even Tibetans when they deemed this essential to restore order. Bulk incidents pose a different kind of risk, he said, since the leadership is actually ‘afraid' to fire upon Han rioters for anxiety about sparking huge open public outrage that will change against the Party."

This is a relaxing opinion, especially when one considers the evidence offered by 50 percent reviews released this season through the Uyghur Human Privileges Project (UHRP) and Amnesty International which fine detail eyewitness company accounts of the utilization of deadly reside fireplace towards Uyghur protestors within July '09. Additionally, the actual observation that fireplace wouldn't be deployed towards Han Chinese protestors offers resonances for the different strategy taken through Chinese security causes within Urumchi to Han Chinese direct orders within Sept 2009. During those protests, then Party Assistant, Wang Lequan, tackled demonstrators, who experienced required he inform them about federal government responses in order to protection concerns. A similar ask for to meet with the Celebration Secretary by Uyghur protesters in July was not fulfilled.

The actual wider consequences from the unrest also noticed a short dialogue on the effect it might possess on Iran-China relations, and on relationships with Australia after Globe Uyghur Our elected representatives Leader, Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, spoke in the Nationwide Push Club within Canberra within August '09. In the latter case, the Chinese government "privately warn[ed] a major Australian bank which sponsors the National Push Club to make use of it's impact to block a Kadeer talk there".

The actual United States' concerns about the situation in the Uyghur area are available through within the wires. In a discussion on plan direction in Tibet, U.S. officials clarify that it'll be impossible for Chinese language leaders to adopt the much softer collection "if they look like they are doing this under worldwide pressure". The cable dated April Sixteen, 2008, one month following the episode of unrest within Tibetan areas, additionally relayed the actual declaration "that household balance continues to be leadership's top priority above all else, which means there'll ‘almost surely' end up being no rest of the present difficult line on Tibet or in places such as Xinjiang." The information included in the cable also storage sheds light on the extreme sensitivity that the Chinese federal government sights territorial integrity, and the feasible drip more than of unrest through Tibet.

The chance of methods to tensions within Tibet as well as Xinjiang as a result of civil culture are discussed in a February Twenty-four, 2008 cable television. Whilst suggesting which China's economic achievement increases it's resistance to democratic reform, the actual cable also discusses how Chinese frontrunners see the effectiveness associated with "a restricted growth associated with civil culture, such as improvements in the guideline of law along with a stronger role with regard to approved beliefs, NGOs, non profit organizations and other stars within areas which bring about sociable balance and don't challenge Communist Celebration rule." This is a significant alternation in thinking, that has seen U.Utes. authorities market the notion which Chinese financial improvement, as well as financial relations along with The far east will bring about a steadily democratic society; however, much more belief appears to be put into a grassroots movement compared to one that starts in the top levels of the Chinese language government. Nonetheless, the actual cable concludes that "[i]n areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang, driving a car associated with separatism leads to tight restrictions about the growth of municipal culture." This approach is viewed as counter-productive through the recognized, who suggests that the actual Ough.Utes. government "should continue to express...serious issues over Beijing's individual privileges record as well as attract China's growing consciousness that greater respect with regard to human privileges, religious freedom and also the rule of regulation assists to advertise the improvement and sociable balance which China seeks as well as to enhance China's international picture." This type of technique might consider substantial diplomatic skills considering "China's paranoid fear that the Usa privately promotes routine alter as well as ‘separatists' within Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang".

The cables provide insight into the every day company of diplomacy that is hardly ever owned by everyone, which is fascinating to note the quantity of work done nowadays upon Uyghur problems. The importance of the actual role of the us as a keep track of of Uyghur individual rights problems in private discussions is made clear, as well as contrasts with its sensible open public stance. The staff from the Uyghur Individual Rights Project is actually well aware of the pressure china government puts upon Uyghur activists; still, the facts associated with Chinese government pressure on its counterparts is actually illustrative of the diploma that Chinese language officials attempt to control contrary stories. With increased facts in the future from Wikileaks, issues more than Uyghurs may not get the head lines, but the wires possess shed brand new light about the paperwork of human privileges conditions within the Uyghur region.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wikileaks and the Uyghur

through henry upon December Twenty, This year
Henryk Szadziewski, Manager, Uyghur Human Rights Project

Whether it were ever uncertain, info obtained through the whistleblower web site, Wikileaks, has verified Chinese language government worries over it's ongoing charge of the location it calls Xinjiang, which is also referred to as Eastern Turkestan. The leaked wires through Ough.S. diplomats demonstrate the actual extent to which Chinese language authorities attempt to convince governments globally to adopt its position on issues affecting Uyghurs. The wires additionally show the U . s . States' concerns as well as sights regarding the on going repressive measures in the area.

The majority of illuminating associated with Chinese federal government stress would be the cables directed to Chinese frustration, or even the specter associated with Chinese ire, within the discharge of Uyghur detainees within Guantánamo to third countries. The Dec 29, 08 cable applies how Chinese language Assistant International Minister Liu Jieyi met with the U.S. Ambassador in order to The far east in order to tone of voice Beijing's strong opposition associated with launch to any kind of country other than China, and that when the Ough.S. do certainly accede to this request it would "avoid injury to bilateral relationships and also to co-operation ‘in essential areas'". In addition, the February '09 cable television describes how the Chinese language Ambassador in order to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded the possible discharge of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees because "an unfriendly act towards us" and a "slap in the face". The Ough.S. federal government was firm within not really liberating the actual detainees to China demonstrates the actual extent of the politicized nature of the Chinese judicial program. Legitimate issues more than terrorism are easy to understand, however in the actual Ough.S. government's view the detainees might most likely encounter torture as well as delivery when they returned to China

Chinese language federal government stress in regard to the actual Uyghur Guantánamo detainees wasn't just put on the actual U.S. government, but additionally to Brand new Zealand and a handful of Western governments that were considering resettlement. Albania, Germany as well as Finland, as well as Eu fellow member states just about all appear to have paid for the actual impact of Chinese government disappointment. In the case of Indonesia, which was initially prepared to think about two Uyghurs upon purely relief reasons, Uyghur Guantánamo instances were less better than other detainees due to the unwanted effects accepting Uyghurs would have on relationships with The far east. A May 8, '09 cable applies exactly how "German Ambassador Michael Schaefer documented which Germany experienced informed China from the U.S. request to accept some Uighur detainees kept from Guantánamo coupled with already been subsequently warned by The far east associated with ‘a large burden on bilateral relations' in the event that Germany were to accept any kind of detainees".

The diplomatic cables also discuss the unrest in Urumchi, the regional funds, in July 2009. The July 13, 2009 cable television talking about bulk incidents within The far east states:

"Ethnic riots such as those in Xinjiang July 5-7 as well as in Tibet in 03 associated with 2008 differ markedly within source as well as nature from bulk incidents, XXXXXXXXXXXX stressed to PolOff [Political Officer] upon XXXXXXXXXXXX. Both present severe problems for the Party, XXXXXXXXXXXX stated, but the Party leadership wouldn't wait to spread out fire on Uighurs or Tibetans if they deemed it necessary to recover order. Mass occurrences present another kind of threat, he explained, as the leadership is ‘afraid' to fire on Han rioters for anxiety about causing huge open public outrage that will turn against the Celebration."

This can be a relaxing opinion, particularly when one views the evidence offered in two reports launched this season by the Uyghur Individual Privileges Task (UHRP) and Amnesty International that detail eyewitness company accounts of the utilization of lethal reside fire against Uyghur protestors in This summer 2009. Additionally, the actual declaration which fireplace wouldn't be used against Han Chinese language protestors has resonances for the different strategy used through Chinese language protection forces within Urumchi to Han Chinese protests in September 2009. During individuals protests, then Party Secretary, Wang Lequan, tackled protesters, who had required he inform them about federal government responses to security concerns. An identical ask for to meet with the Celebration Secretary through Uyghur protesters in July wasn't fulfilled.

The broader repercussions from the unrest additionally noticed a short dialogue about the effect it might possess on Iran-China relations, as well as on relations along with Sydney after Globe Uyghur Congress President, Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, talked at the National Press Membership in Canberra in August 2009. In the latter situation, the Chinese government "privately warn[ed] a major Aussie bank which sponsors the National Push Membership to use its impact to bar the Kadeer talk there".

The actual United States' concerns about the situation in the Uyghur region also come through within the wires. In a dialogue upon plan direction in Tibet, Ough.Utes. officials explain that it'll be not possible for Chinese language frontrunners to adopt a much softer collection "if they look like doing so under international pressure". The cable dated 04 16, 08, 30 days after the episode associated with unrest in Tibetan regions, additionally relayed the declaration "that household stability continues to be leadership's top priority above all else, which means there'll ‘almost surely' be absolutely no relaxation of the current hard collection upon Tibet or in places such as Xinjiang." The info contained in the cable television additionally storage sheds light on the extreme level of sensitivity that the Chinese government sights territorial ethics, and also the possible drip over associated with unrest through Tibet.

The chance associated with methods to stress in Tibet as well as Xinjiang arising from municipal society are discussed inside a Feb Twenty-four, 2008 cable. Whilst recommending that China's financial success will increase it's potential to deal with democratic change, the cable additionally discusses exactly how Chinese language leaders see the effectiveness of "a restricted expansion associated with municipal culture, including improvements in the guideline associated with law along with a more powerful part with regard to authorized religions, NGOs, charities and other actors in places that bring about social balance and do not challenge Communist Celebration guideline." This can be a notable change in considering, that has observed U.Utes. authorities promote the notion which Chinese financial development, as well as financial relations along with China will bring in regards to a steadily democratic society; however, much more belief seems to be placed in the grassroots movement compared to one which starts from the top quantity of a Chinese language federal government. Nevertheless, the cable television proves that "[i]n areas for example Tibet as well as Xinjiang, driving a car associated with separatism results in tight limitations on the development of civil culture." This approach is viewed as counter-productive through the recognized, who suggests that the Ough.Utes. government "should still express...serious concerns over Beijing's human rights report and appeal to China's developing consciousness that greater respect for individual privileges, religious freedom and also the guideline associated with law assists to promote the development and social balance that The far east looks for as well as to improve China's international image." This type of technique would consider considerable diplomatic skills considering "China's weird concern the Usa secretly encourages regime alter as well as ‘separatists' within Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang".

The actual cables provide insight into the every day business of diplomacy that is rarely owned by everyone, which is fascinating to notice the amount of work carried out behind closed doors on Uyghur problems. The importance of the role of the United States like a monitor of Uyghur human privileges problems within personal conversations is created clear, and contrasts with its tactful public stance. The staff from the Uyghur Human Privileges Project is actually well aware of the pressure the Chinese government puts on Uyghur activists; nevertheless, the facts associated with Chinese language government stress upon it's counterparts is actually illustrative of the degree that Chinese language officials make an effort to suppress contradictory narratives. With more revelations in the future through Wikileaks, concerns more than Uyghurs might not grab the head lines, but the cables have get rid of brand new gentle on the paperwork associated with human rights problems in the Uyghur area.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Search Engine Optimisation And Article promotion Will Place Yourself Page 1

Seo and article marketing are a couple of the strongest strategies which you can use promoting your internet site and get the revenue and success that you desire for your web business. Both of these everything has been around to get a really while already but they still remain to be really effective. In reality, these have helped lots of people free themselves in the traditional methods for money-generating options of society.

In this article, I will be showing the ways on how it is possible to properly execute search engine optimization and article marketing for the betterment of the business enterprise web site. Furthermore, I will even be discussing the different points you need to look out for if you are using these two online marketing strategies to promote your website and get customers. Despite the fact that article marketing and Search engine optimization have been around for a long time already, you need to know that the trends and choices concerning how they are done are continually changing, which is why you need to keep yourself up to date with these items through the help of Search engine optimisation forum sites so that you can quickly adjust and learn to make your strategies more efficient.

In the past submitting articles to different websites was once so simple the effects that they produce for web sites really was powerful. However, stuff has changed a whole lot today. Currently submitting the identical article to various websites is no longer a good suggestion because engines like google have now changed to some huge extent in how they rank pages. They will no longer rank contents that are identical like they utilized to in the past. This is one of the best samples of changes that occur in online marketing trends. This change has given birth to wide plethora of methods that internet marketers are using today. Nearly all of web marketers now produce articles and distribute them in really popular article directories and await site visitors to make their pages. Perhaps that most reliable Search engine marketing strategy that you can use. Aside from being effective, this provides favorable benefits regularly. The only problem with this strategy is that the caliber of traffic that you'll get using this won't be that good if you do not do proper keyphrase research beforehand and use in-links. You need for carrying on these two things before you submit your posts so that you won't wind up losing large amounts of targeted visitors. Which means that you have to practice good amounts of diligence if you would like your advertising initiatives to function.

In addition to articles, you can also use operating a blog, that is another really powerful type of internet marketing strategy today because it is highly favored by the major search engines. On this technique, you can choose to create a single web log that specifically targets your best market or else you can contribute to other blogs which can be labeled as experts within your niche.

Learn effective Vancouver search engine optimization techniques on the Vancouver SEO website.

Roofing Contractors Vancouver WA

There are numerous things to think about when looking for any roofing contractor. Price, experience, along with referrals are a few of the things you will probably be concerned about. Keep reading for even other great ideas.

Finding a Roofing Contractors

Before hunting for a roofing contractor, be sure to have a common idea of the task that you need to did. By no means is it necessary to be an authority. If you have any Roof Document, read it extensively to find the details about your present roof. Unless you have a Top Certificate, refer to documents closed during shutting to locate your Roof Inspection linen. These files should provide everything you need to be familiar with your roof. Prior to contacting a roofing contractor, you need to have a list of needs and specs to help you make a decision exactly who would work for your roofer project. Be sure you write down every potential roof covering contractor's answers along with check these against the other person. If you'll find any discrepancies, be sure to take note this along with take this into consideration when generating a final choice. There are no uncomplicated ways to select a roofing contractor, however , if you take pay attention to to the data provided, your odds of a successful covering project are generally greatly increased.

One of the best ways of finding a roofing contractor is by person to person. Try asking a friend or relative who has had roofer work completed, and was satisfied with the work. Get the name of the business and their own contact info. If you have not sure of mouth referrals, attempt first hunting in the telephone book and online. A large ad or elegant website is just not necessarily indication of the quality of work, but tend to be a very good tool for measuring how long and devotion they have put in their respected profession. Furthermore, try obtaining current worksites and appear at the covering work that is done maybe in the process of getting finished. Should you be visually pleased, ask the house manager for the name in the roofing contractor along with their make contact with information.

Preliminary research

When looking for any roofing contractors, it's imperative to very first do the background research. While looking in the phone book or on the web is a suitable destination to find a company, finding pertinent information on most of these businesses will be found in several other areas. First, check with areas like the Better Business Bureau, city, state, and region public records, as well as local accreditation agencies. Ask your roofer if they are an associate of any roofer associations. These kinds of precautions will mitigate the risks. Additionally ask them what forms of roofing they specialize in. Furthermore ask your roofing contractor with regards to any extended warranties they offer on the installed roofs. Find out what safety measures they choose to use avoid damage done to other areas of the home by simply workers. Things such as gutters, siding, and fireplaces are close in proximity and therefore susceptible to accidental damages.

Make sure all of this info is included in your written contract. Determine whether you need a roofer permit and/or agreement from your house owners association beforehand. These agencies will let you know that's responsible for obtaining these enables and authorizations. If it is the obligation of the roofing contractor, also have it included in your contract. If it's your responsibility, get mentioned permits as well as permissions collated while using estimated covering project and possess it obviously posted or perhaps readily available.

Licensing and Referrals

Roofing Companies are not needed to be licensed in all states. Contact local licensing companies that control general development contractors for any list of demands. Once you have obtained the requirements, make a list of in depth questions to ask your potential roofer. This simple list should right away help you to get rid of the competent from the not qualified roofing building contractors. Qualified contractors should be able to quickly answer questions as well as tell you that they must do more research ahead of giving a definitive reply.

Even if a new roofing contractor features all necessary licensing, you ought to ask to determine pictures of completed roofer jobs along with speak to fulfilled clients. Have a very list of inquiries handy to ask recent customers, such as the dynamics of the work, timeliness, and total satisfaction. Ensure these are recent clients along with cross guide if possible. When it comes to commercial roofer, make sure that the particular roofing contractor is bonded. Checking out these personal references is another extra measure of security to narrow down the list involving potential roofing contractors.

Seo Through Article Writing

Article writing could be an extremely powerful form of Search engine optimization to your company website. Quality written articles have the ability to transform your websites SERP and add quality to your company website. Writing informative keyword rich articles is important in gaining new backlinks to your business website. Articles can and may be written on topics that are unique to your business or industry. The articles can discuss numerous issues and ideas within your industry. Articles that supply the reader using a resource are invariably just about the most popular and quite a few likely kinds of articles that may lead to backlinks to your site.

Focus your posts on your potential readers or customers. Seo articles should address real questions which are asked by current or previous customers. Each article you are writing for you company ought to include detailed analysis and Search engine optimization keywords which can help associate your site using the content within the site. Focus your posts on around 3 keywords and don't stray from their website. Consistency is vital when writing Search engine optimization articles. If you are writing about Vancouver Seo make certain your carry on and reveal information highly relevant to the keyword.

Give every one of your Search engine optimization Articles an engaging Title that may encourage people to learn and bookmark your posts. Ideally, the articles you are writing will end up as links using their company websites which are similar to yours. This one thing may help raise the power of each link and can assist your SERP. Ensure that you end each article with a keyword anchored link (see Easy Small enterprise Search engine optimization). This link will help to raise your rankings in Google along with other major search engines like google for the keyword connected to the link. Submit the articles to your submitted article directory and Voila! Before long, your internet site could possibly be about the first page of Google.

Many thanks for reading. Can't wait to visit your Search engine optimization articles!

Vancouver Seo Agency Aims For Google Places With Complete Good results

When individuals type in searching term hunting for a business inside their local area, they will find that Google places and Google maps is showing listings of local businesses. It is very eminent to allow them to be optimized and for auction on this first page when they desire to generate business. Vancouver SEO companies must be educated in this field for their clients.

There will be a large amount of new Vancouver SEO companies setting up, simply because the importance is there. Finding a search engine firm which includes the client's interest at heart may be tedious. What number of keywords would they optimize for? What are the keywords and also the corresponding amount of searches? Do they understand how to optimize for Google places? Etc. Search engine optimisation may be the business of landing at the pinnacle and Maxim Edge you can get there.

"My wife and that i started our Vancouver SEO company by accident. We now have learned through the school of hard knocks and trial and error how to use the web to advertise any business. We began with the website, then the competition, and then of course building quality back-links to push a web site up inside rankings. It's not pushing some control and watching what goes on type of business. It requires a lot of effort, a lot of research and plenty of commitment. We work tirelessly for our clients so we are very pleased with a high retention rate." Randy Neale says.

For extra info on Michael, a Vancouver SEO company, please visit their site today at seo4vancouver.com

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Little about the Uyghur People

In the middle of the desert landscapes of Taklamakan, in the north-west part of China, the land of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is the least populated land while it covers near to a sixth with the nation's area. Getting resisted while in centuries the chinese control, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or Old Turkestan, fell within the Chinese Han domination in 1949. From then, its population is mainly Uyghur People and Turkish - speaking System.

Islamic above all, the Uyghurs have a deep religious identity which, in specific, allowed them to preserve a strong big difference in opposition to the Chinese enemy. Really, the Uyghur Kingdom of Mongolia knew a amazing civilization, until its absorption by the Mongolian Empire in the XIIIth century.

While in their historical past, the Uyghurs successively taken on Shamanism, Manicheism, Buddhism and the Nestorianism before finally moving to Islam when the Arab conquerors beat the Chinese in year 751 BC., as a result starting the way to the Islamization of the complete Central Asia.

Under the effect of the religions which they taken on, Uyghur People taken successively, and at times in a competing way, a large number of written forms (turco-runic, brahmi, tokharien, soghdien) before developing their own unique graphic system.

The coming of Islam was a great modification because it was supported by the assimilation of the Uyghur land in the immense Turco-Mongolian and Islamic Empire. Thus, the descendants of Genghis Khan progressively replaced their writing by a Arabo-Persan alphabet, still used currently.

If their writing, their own language and their religion mark a real big difference with the tradition of Chinese Han, the Uyghurs also differ from their aspect, so characteristic of Central Asia's people. A shiny skin, eyes representing a whole pallet of colors, from black to deep blue, features pointing out to the Mongolian, Turkish or Uzbek roots of these men and these women.

For a few years, China has included the proper identity of these remote people, although they represent only eight million people - a trifle for this large area. Therefore, Uyghur people are now part of the 56 ethnic minority groups having been well-known in an official way by the People's Republic of China.

This statute will allow them a few rights in a land exactly where their big difference is very often repressed. Thus, Uyghur families escape the "single child policy" and their language is recognized as the second official language in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The integration of the Uyghurs and their culture in the People's Republic of China, however, seems quite illusory. The presence of natural sources in Xinjiang, and its distance with nations acknowledged as sensitive, strongly motivated the government to accelerate the sinicization of this area. Million of Han thus came to settle in this new Chinese eldorado, monopolizing the greater responsibility jobs.

In reaction to this true will to assimilate the Uyghur people into the Chinese culture, an independent party like East Turkistan Islamic Movement(ETIM) was born in the early 1990.

Saying more freedom, but primarily the recognition of their true identity, this movement was seriously repressed by the power authorities in place Xinjiang.

The events of September 11, 2001, were the perfect occasion for the Chinese government to justify true reprisals: they declared the "Uyghur freedom fighters" as dangerous terrorists linked to Al Quaida because of their Muslim origins and their proximity with Pakistan and Afghanistan... However, the terrible repression which followed did not calm down the anger. The Uyghurs population continues today to proudly keep their identity and their tradition , though they become a minority on their own territory.

To get more detailed information about the Uyghurs, you can visit a Uyghur website called Uyghur News at http://www.uyghurnews.com

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dirty Percent

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Apple Should Consider Business Models That Can’t Afford a 70/30 Revenue Split

Apple Should Not Require Price Matching

Apple Should Not Require Apps to Offer In-App Subscriptions

Apple Should Be Taking Less, Possibly Far Less, Than 30 Percent

Competition vs. Anti-Competition

Monday, March 28, 2011

Interview and Discussion

Roofing Evaluation

Estimation

'Strike hard' campaign

Earlier cases

New training scheme

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

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