CANOGA PARK
MALE caregiver Needed for Companionship in assisted living facility
MWF to start
Minimum 2 YEARS EXPERIENCE

GOOD COMPANY SENIOR CARE
Job Fair Open Application Day
Tuesday, 4/5/11
10:30a - 2p

You must bring the following documents and information:

Valid California Driver’s License
California DMV Driving Record
Proof of Auto Insurance
Social Security Card
Current TB Test
Three (3) Professional References
Certification/License of CNA, CHHA or LVN

Must be fluent in speaking, reading and writing English

GOOD COMPANY SENIOR CARE
5820 Wilshire Blvd. Ste. 300
Los Angeles, CA 90036
www.goodcoseniorcare.com
(323) 932-8700

• Location: CANOGA PARK
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Lonely Planet's Tom Hall on Asia's best budget airlines, how to save and see the northern lights in Sweden, where to enjoy a local vibe in San Fran and Paris at Christmas

I am embarking on a round the world(ish) trip on 4 January. I have got my ticket already but have to organise a flight from Bangkok to Delhi for 24 April. I'm hoping you can help by suggesting some budget airlines that fly this route. Furthermore, if I book it earlier will it be any cheaper or is time irrelevant to the price of a flight?
Ashley-May Cashwell

Air Asia is launching this route from 10 December, and is offering one-way fares for £49 including taxes, operated by Thai Air Asia. At a rate of just over 2p a mile I wouldn't hesitate too much before booking this fare even if it is non-refundable. Air Asia is the best known of the Asian budget carriers, but Jetstar Asia (the Singapore-based offshoot of Qantas-owned Jetstar), Tiger Airways and Bangkok Airways (both operating from Bangkok) offer useful connections around the region. In India, budget carriers are increasingly reaching out to neighbouring countries, with the excellently-monickered SpiceJet flying from Delhi to Colombo and Kathmandu. Other options on the subcontinent for cheap flights include Air India Express, IndiGo and Deccan Airlines.

I'm thinking of making a northern lights trip for my birthday with a group of friends. It will need to be on a tightish budget, and I'd prefer to avoid an organised tour. I also want to make sure that if it's not possible to see the lights, that the trip itself would be exciting anyway. I don't really have a preference as to which country to visit, but was mainly thinking Sweden or Iceland. I've had a bit of a look round, but mostly found packages...
Bex Singleton

Aside from the excellent suggestions in this week's Guardian Insiders' Guide to the northern lights I have two Swedish suggestions.  The first and most economical option is to take advantage of SAS's new weekly direct three-hour flight (£175 return including taxes) from Heathrow to Lulea, in northern Sweden. The town is an excellent base for winter activities including husky sledding as well as being a lively base for exploring the surrounding area. Specific northern lights spotting trips aren't available, but simply by getting out and about you stand an excellent chance of seeing the lights. The Vandrarhem Kronan Hostel (vandrarhemmetkronan.se) set in woodland a couple of miles from the city centre has single rooms from £22 and its darker location makes it a smart and good-value option. There are also hotels to aim for in the city centre. Unless you go for a week, however, you'll need to add in the best part of a day to fly back via Stockholm.

Abisko Mountain Station (abisko.nu; singles from £62; cheaper hostel accommodation also available) offers basic but comfortable beds in the national park of the same name. Abisko has a reputation for clearer skies than other northern regions. It is surrounded by mountains and has less cloud cover. This beautiful, remote setting is perfect for aurora spotting as well as Nordic skiing, ice climbing and snowshoeing, all of which you can arrange when you get there. The Aurora Sky Station (auroraskystation.se), a viewing station reached by a chairlift, can be visited nightly giving you the best possible chance of seeing the lights. It costs £62 to go up for one evening or you can get access included in an accommodation package. Discounts on the above are available for YHA (Hostelling International) members (yha.org.uk). Visit Sweden (visitsweden.com) has more information on all of this.

Taxi transfers can be arranged from Kiruna Airport for £140 per car – more reasonable if there are a few of you sharing, or there are train and bus options. Return flights from the UK to Kiruna go via Stockholm – charter flights are only available as part of a package – and start at £283.60 including taxes.

If you have more time you could also look into taking the night train (sj.se), which runs directly from Stockholm to the station at Abisko with no need for transfers. This would also give the possibility of cutting down on flight costs by taking a cheaper flight.

Me and my boyfriend are off to San Francisco for five days in early November for a wedding on the Friday and Saturday. We've both been before so have done all the touristy stuff and would love recommendations on good bars, restaurants and boutiques to check out. We want to hang out with locals rather than tourists if at all possible.
Claire Barry

Lonely Planet's American base is in Oakland, a short hop across the bay from San Francisco so I asked for a few suggestions from them. It's not hard to leave tourists behind in San Francisco – just steer clear of cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz and big-name chain restaurants.

If you haven't been for a couple of years you may have missed the reopening of the California Academy of Sciences (calacademy.org) a gorgeous museum with a full aquarium, a multi-storied rainforest – complete with wildlife - a state of the art planetarium, a living roof that is home to native plants and a cafe that only serves organic, local and sustainable food items. The new building was designed by Renzo Piano. It gets lots of families and school groups, but is adults only on Thursday nights.

A great street to shop and eat is Hayes Street in between Franklin and Laguna Streets, west of the Tenderloin. Arlequin (arlequincafe.com) and Bar Jules (barjules.com) are recommended for eating and drinking. If you don't get round to a reservation, an early-evening mooch around should take you past somewhere you fancy.

For dessert you can really go to town. SF is crazy for artisanal ice-cream right now with some marvellously odd flavours to try. Humphry Slocombe (humphryslocombe.com) located in the Mission is one place to head for, though you'll find other examples on your travels. Join the queue and pick up a few tips on flavours.

For a late drink aim for Bourbon & Branch (bourbonandbranch.com) on Jones Street close to Union Square. It's decor and speakeasy-style secrecy harks back to the Prohibition days and you need to call ahead for a password if you want to sit in the main bar area.

I am going to Paris in the week before Christmas. Is there anything in particular you would recommend to get into the festive spirit?
Eva Johnson

There are traditional Christmas markets all over the city, from the huge one lining the Champs-Elysées – itself festooned with an impressive lights display - to smaller ones at Place Saint-Sulpice and Place des Abbesses in Montmartre, and though these can feel a little cheesy they're pleasant places for a festive stroll.

You should aim for the Hotel de Ville in the evening – the winter ice rink there is no secret but remains one of the most beautiful locations in the city with a lovely atmosphere. Skating is free if you have your own blades or it costs €5 to hire a pair.

The window displays of stores throughout town are striking, but those of the huge department stores on Boulevard Haussmann are especially impressive. Smaller boutiques in the Marais and the streets between Place St Germain de-Pres and the Seine offer lower-key opportunities to pick up last-minute presents.

 

pop into the academy of arts for bank of hawaii's family sunday and an afternoon of southeast asian art discoveries and performances.

• when: sun, sep 19th - 11a to 5p
• where: 900 south beretania street
• tix: free but donations welcome

next week, art&flea returns to fresh café with a roster of vintage and handmade goods from emerging local designers.

p.s. wear your best retro outfit and step inside firebird photography's vintage photobooth!

• when: thu, sep 23rd - 5p to 11p
• where: fresh café, 831 queen street, kaka'ako
• tix: $1

fashionista's market closet swap is less than a month away! if your wardrobe is nearing hoarders-like status, consider this a sign and start purging to make room for new style goodness. swap spots are limited to 250 lovelies and include a champagne brunch plus prizes, raffles and other diversions to entertain you in between fittings.

p.s. a portion of ticket sales and remaining clothing will be donated to the leeward domestic abuse shelter.

• when: sat, oct 9th - 9:30a to 2p
• where: luana hills country club, kailua
• tix: $30 (available by phone or at the fm boutique in chinatown)

on the big island, ginger & koi is saying goodbye to summer with a swimwear trunk show including local looks from beauty & the beach, boom boom bikini, posh pua, and many more.

• when: sat, sep 18th & sun, sep 19th - 10a to 6p
• where: king kamehameha mall, 75-5626 kuakini hwy, kailua-kona

online, the sig zane anniversary sale is around the corner which means you score 30% off select styles arriving in the clearance section through the end of the month.

• fyi: while supplies last

and, scoop up a malama card from kamehameha schools to save at over 100 island merchants including guava shop, shasa emporium, hank's haute dogs and soha living.

• fyi: print a card online or download iphone app

happy weekend!

We need a really outgoing and friendly person to help with our lunch rush a few days a week at Freshii. This would be an ideal job for a student in the loop who has a few hours free between am and pm classes. Shifts would start around 11 am and run until about 2 pm. Monday thru Thursday for sure. Maybe Friday. Weekends off.

If you are comfortable talking to anyone, love to smile, and are fun to be around, this is the job for you. We offer employees a 50% discount on all food and drink. We also offer a fun working environment, with great co-workers, and good music. Best of all, you get to work for a company that values fresh, healthy food, an environmentally responsible approach to business, and most of all, it's people! If you've never heard of Freshii, check us out online at www.freshii.com. If you like what you see, please come apply in person at our 200 W. Monroe location. Please do not apply if you are not available to work the schedule as listed above. No other shifts are available at this time and we are looking for one person who can work Monday-Thursday from 11a-2p every week. Thanks for reading!

The Hospitality King is now putting together a New Crew!

We have several openings in each of our daily work shifts:

3:30a to 12p; 5:30a to 2p; 11:30a to 8p
1:30p to 10p and other hours as well.

We need new crews with food/hospitality knowledge and/or experience to process our client information

And to update our exstensive computer records. Office software experience is helpful, but

We will provide training for the right people for this job.


We are looking for both hardworking men and women alike for this job.

We need help now. Apply today - Start working today - Get your first paycheck next week!

Please vistit our website to apply: http://hospitalityking.info

The good start seen by the market in September may be starting to fizzle out, with banks and miners leading the market lower so far.

Dealers said that concerns about the strength of European banking balance sheets were starting to re-emerge, partly fuelled by a report in the Wall Street Journal suggesting the recent stress tests underestimated holdings of potentially risky government debt.

Barclays - which confirmed it is appointing Bob Diamond as its new chief executive - is down 10.15p at 312.7p, while Lloyds Banking Group is 1.63p lower at 71.25p and Royal Bank of Scotland is off 0.94p at 46.01p.

Miners have been hit by news that Australian prime minister Julia Gillard has received enough backing to form a government following the recent election. Gillard is keen on imposing a new 30% tax on mining profits, which has knocked back the sector. Xstrata is down 32p at £10.57 while BHP Billiton is down 23p at £18.97 and Rio Tinto has fallen 70p to £34.40. A fall in metal prices has not helped matters.

Elsewhere Cable & Wirless Worldwide dipped 2p to 70.75p as the recent takeover froth faded a little, but Tullow Oil was still in demand on talk of possible bid interest, perhaps from China. Its shares have added 25p to £12.07.

So overall, with Asian markets down nearly 1% overnight, the FTSE 100 has fallen 48.15 points to 5391.04. Joel Kruger, currency strategist at Daily FX, said:

Renewed concerns in the European banking sector on potential exposures to sovereign debt, continued bids for traditionally safe-haven currencies like the Swiss Franc and Yen, and a more balanced and less hawkish central bank statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia, are all seen contributing to this latest wave of risk related selling, and could open the door for a decline in the FTSE back below 5400 and towards 5200 over the coming days. There is no data scheduled for release in the UK on Tuesday, so broader global macro themes and developments are sure to play a key role in determining market direction.

http://jrealty.org/site.join/OA_start.htm

Office Assistant Position NO PHONE CALLS.  Please do not call, for any reason.  Hello and Welcome!  QDC, INC (DBA JRealty), headquartered in Manhattan Beach, officing in Gardena, is a rapidly expanding sales, leasing, and property management company.  We currently lease or manage + 100 units, throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties, for individuals and institutions.  We are seeking an Office Assistant (OA)  Primary Tasks will include: ·         Answering phone calls ·         Pre-screening Potential Tenants (PTs), managing PT showings and data ·         Managing maintenance work.  Communicating and coordinating maintenance issues with the Landlord (LL), Tenant (T) and Vendor (V) ·         Administer advertising requirements for vacant properties.  Creating vacant listings on many website.   Other Tasks will include: ·         Driving to various locations to do various tasks including picking up mail, making keys, buying lockboxes, taking pictures, delivering documents, posting yard signs etc. ·         Help take out trash, help wash dishes, vacuum carpet etc  The ideal OA must: ·         present a warm demeanor ·         make all stakeholders feel that all interactions are extremely positive ·         be fanatical about customer service ·         be able to accept instruction and immediate feedback ·         organize and multi-task in a somewhat chaotic environment  Pay and Job Benefits:  ·         Training pay starts at $8.00/hr.  Initial hours will start M-F, 4 hours per day.  Hours will be from 10a- 2p, 11a -3p, or 12p to 4p. ·         First promotion review will be conducted at the end of the 60 days and the pay raise target is $0.50/hr, as based on manager’s discretion.  Additional promotion reviews will be conducted in accordance with promotion schedule, which includes bonus and profit sharing incentives as well as career advancement. ·         Miles get paid at rate of $0.30 per mile.  ·         After end of Training period, and at manager’s discretion and direction, OA can work from home ·         Work in a comfortable, warm and supportive environment  Requirements: ·         Auto Insurance-- You must maintain $300,000/ $100,000 in auto insurance coverage for liability/ property damage, respectively ·         Inventory items o    A computer with an internet connection (when working from home) o    A cell phone o    A reliable car o    A GPS  A real estate license is a plus, bilingual (Spanish) is a plus, but neither are required. We are getting numerous applications. Please understand that if we do not reply back it is because either the position has been filled or we felt we wouldn't be a good fit for each other. Please, NO PHONE CALLS. Thanks again for your interest. Please access the application by CLICK HEREhttp://jrealty.org/site.join/OA_start.htm.

Associated British Foods stood out as a bright spot in a market weighed down by economic woes.

The Sunblest and Silver Spoon company's shares climbed 35p to £10.51, initially on speculation of a possible demerger of its successful retail business Primark. But traders soon dismissed the idea, saying ABF's management had always been firmly opposed to such a move. A more likely explanation for the share price rise was a positive note from analysts at Jefferies International, who recommended clients to buy the shares and set a £11.40 price target. ABF has been a weak performer in recent weeks on concerns that the rising cost of commodities and production could hit Primark's clothing margins, while poor wheat harvests might push the price of bread higher, but Jefferies said the shares offered excellent value.

Overall, though, investors shied away from risk and sought safe havens as concerns about a global downturn continued to outweigh speculative takeover tales. Martin Weale, the newest member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, got things off to a bad start by telling the Times it would be foolish to rule out a double dip recession. Poor UK mortgage lending figures were followed by much worse than expected US new home sales, which seemed to confirm fears of a US slowdown.

So with Wall Street down around 70 points by the time London closed, the FTSE 100 finished 78.89 points lower at 5155.95. But bonds were in favour, with 10 year UK gilt yields falling to a record low of just below 2.88%. The yen was also wanted, hitting a 15 year high against the dollar despite talk of possible government intervention to stem the strength of the Japanese currency.

Amid the fears of declining demand, miners were inevitably among the leading fallers. Vedanta Resources lost 155p to £18.82, not helped by news that the Indian government had rejected its plans for a bauxite mine, on environmental grounds. BHP Billiton lost 27p to £18.03 despite an expected 50% rise in half year profits to be announced tomorrow, putting pressure on any rivals to its near $40bn bid for Potash Corporation. Rio Tinto - another company tipped as a possible bidder for Potash - fell 141.5p to 3161.5p.

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation continued its decline after a controversial deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo, off another 18.5p to 830.5p. Antofagasta lost 15p to £10.12 after it cut its full year production target from 543,000 tonnes to 530,000 tonnes following delays in expanding its Los Pelambres mine after February's earthquake.

A warning from Irish building materials group CRH, down 16% to €11.71, that its profits would fall 10% this year because of the weak US economy hit the whole sector. Wolseley, which has around 40% of its business in the US, fell 67p to £12.39. The company also announced the sale of its tool hire division Brandon Hire to Rutland Partners for £43m. Oriel Securities analyst Paul Checketts said:

Brandon Hire had become superfluous to chief executive Ian Meakins. It has been suggested other sections of Wolseley's UK business are up for sale, including Build Center and Encon. We don't believe Wolseley is rushing to exit these quite so soon. There remains plenty Wolseley can do on its own to improve its fortunes but we have concerns on the outlook for some of its largest end markets.

Defensive stocks were back in favour, with Morrisons up 2p at 289.2p and British American Tobacco 24p better at 2201.5p. Marks & Spencer added 1.4p to 338p after an upbeat note from UBS. Analyst Andrew Hughes raised his first half profit estimate by £10m following recent data from Kantar showing an 8.3% rise in the retailer's food and drink sales in July. He said M&S; should also benefit from an extension of terms to certain suppliers from 30 to 60 days:

The move could produce a one-off working capital inflow of £85m. Although the P&L; impact is limited, it could fund a modest acceleration of 20-20 capex plans should that form part of the new chief executive's November strategic review.

Elsewhere Punch Taverns, the debt laden pubs group, jumped more than 9% after it said it was benefiting from its refurbishment programme and the warm summer weather. There was also some talk that Mitchells & Butlers might be interested in its managed estate.

Punch said it expected full year results to be slightly ahead of its previous predictions. Punch said its leased and tenanted division had seen lower failure rates, although profits were still under pressure from lower drinks margins. But the managed division had seen like for like sales up 2.6% in the final quarter with margins continuing to improve. It had been testing new concepts and invested in 200 managed pubs during the year. It cut debt by £684m during the year, helped by £300m from the sale of unwanted pubs. But borrowings still stand at a hefty £3.1bn. Ahead of an analyst visit to its managed pubs tomorrow the shares closed 7.2p higher at 85.4p. Some believe M&B; - which has a warchest of some £500m after recent disposals - might have Punch's managed division in its sights.

Lower down the market Leed Petroleum was lifted 0.49p to 2.97p by news that production at its Main Pass well in the US might start in the fourth quarter, boosting its oil reserves substantially.

But IT company Redstone fell 0.95p to 0.925p after its new management team raised £8.5m, including a placing of shares at 0.5p each. It has also settled a £2.9m liability due to software business Eckoh. The company warned that if shareholders did not approve the fundraising, the company would be unlikely to be able to continue trading.

Finally Pinewood-Shepperton added 5.5p to 172.5p as activist investor Crystal Amber edged up its stake to just above 27% ahead of the film studios results tomorrow. Crystal Amber has been critical of the stewardship of Michael Grade and is pushing for change at the business.

Have fun helping the community stay healthy this flu season.

Maxim Healthcare Services has admistrative positions available at flu clinics throughout the community. Clinics are held at assisted living, retail, and corporate sites. Day, evening, and weekend shifts available. Clinics will start mid September and run through early December. Pay is $10.00 per hour. Customer Service and organizational skills are necessary for this position. Enjoy fast paced work in a fun environment! Great way to earn extra holiday cash.



Job Duties will include:
Recording/Verifying Data
Cash Handling
Working with Public
Help setting up clinic sites


You will be required to attend one group interview which will last for one hour and a follow up orientation that will last about 2 hours.

Group Interviews will be held:

9/7 - 9a or 2p
9/8 - 4p
9/9 - 9a or 2p

Orientation dates to be announced at interviews.

All who are interested should send a resume to VancouverHomecare@maxhealth.com.

We need a really outgoing and friendly person to help with our lunch rush a few days a week at Freshii. This would be an ideal job for a student in the loop who has a few hours free between am and pm classes. Shifts would start around 11 am and run until about 2 pm. Monday thru Wednesday for sure. Maybe Thursday. Fridays off and weekends off.

If you are comfortable talking to anyone, love to smile, and are fun to be around, this is the job for you. We offer free meals when you work, and a 50% discount when you're off. We also offer a fun working environment, with great co-workers, and good music. Best of all, you get to work for a company that values fresh, healthy food, an environmentally responsible approach to business, and most of all, it's people! If you've never heard of Freshii, check us out online at www.freshii.com. If you like what you see, please come apply in person at our 200 W. Monroe location. Thanks for reading!

Shire has come under pressure ahead of next week's results and imminent news from a US study into treatments for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The study, commissioned by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2007, is looking at the potential increased risk of heart attack and involves drugs such as Shire's Adderall and Vyvanse which make up a third of the company's revenue. The results are due to be released in August, and although analysts at Bernstein Research said the risk levels in children were low, they were still a matter of concern to parents and the FDA, and could be underestimated by the market. Analyst Jack Scannell cut his rating from buy to market perform and said:

We continue to believe that things should be OK for the stimulants. However, we remain worried by the small chance of a very bad outcome and wonder if the risk is being partly ignored, rather than priced-in. There has been much less market 'chatter' than we would have expected. We have had far fewer calls from nervous investors than we would have expected. We are uncomfortable recommending the stock until either the results of the FDA sponsored studies are known, or the general level of anxiety increases.

Shire closed 35p lower at £14.55. Elsewhere Anglo American lost 16.5p to 2524.5p despite reporting a doubling of first half profits and a return to paying dividends. The mining group benefited from recent rises in metal prices, and from a disposal programme which has so far raised $2.2bn. It has reinstated a dividend of 25 cent a share after halting payments last year to conserve cash during the downturn. It was confident about the medium term outlook, but warned that its key Minas Rio iron ore project in Brazil faced delays and would not now start production in 2012 as planned. Charles Kernot at Evolution Securities said:

Anglo American's strong rebound in earnings, return to the dividend lists and disposals of $2.2bn of assets all look good and we are lifting our target price to 2705p. The company's disposal and cost-cutting programme are both ahead of expectations which bodes well for the balance sheet and aided the payment of a 25 cent interim dividend.

Panmure Gordon kept its buy recommendation but said the results were disappointing:

The first half results came in below our expectations. With results for Kumba, De Beers and Anglo Platinum already announced the key focus of today's results will be on coal and copper, both of which came in significantly below our forecast. The market is also likely to react negatively to further delays and further $390m in capex overruns at Minas Rio.

Other miners also fell back as weaker than expected US GDP figures revived fears of further problems for the global economy. So BHP Billiton lost 26p to 1951.5p and Rio Tinto dropped 50.5p to 3304.5.

Overall the FTSE 100 finished 55.93 points lower at 5258.02 following the US growth figures, although better than expected Mid-West business numbers and a positive Chicago consumer confidence survey helped limit some of the damage.

Utility companies were wanted for their defensive qualities as investors moved away from risk. They also benefited from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's £5.8bn purchase of EDF's UK power grid business, which drew attention to the value locked up in other infrastructure assets. United Utilities, which today continued its disposal programme with the £119m sale of its 50% share of a gas and electricity metering business, added 24.5p to 585p while Severn Trent rose 30p to £13.10.

Among the mid-caps, United Business Media lost 22.5p to 550.5p as profit takers moved in after a positive set of results and a 17% rise in the last few weeks. The company said half year revenues dipped 0.2% to £434.3m but adjusted operating profit rose 6.3% to £83.2m.

Overall it said it was on track to meet full year expectations, and analysts were generally supportive, although some cut back their recommendations after the shares' recent good run. Simon Davies at Collins Stewart said:

UBM's shares have performed strongly this year, up 23% as investors focused on late cycle recovery potential, backed by an attractive dividend yield. The shares are now on a 12.1 times 2010 PE, which is broadly in line with the peer group. We see few grounds for changing our 600p target price, which offers just 5% upside, so we are reducing our recommendation from buy to hold.

Clapham House, the owner of the Gourmet Burger Kitchen chain, added another 2p to 75.5p on hopes of a bid from 27% shareholder Capricorn Ventures, which is behind the Nando's brand.

The Barclay brothers, owners of the Telegraph newspapers and the Ritz hotel, have raised around £335m by selling their shareholding in InterContinental Hotels.

The brothers' Ellerman Corporation sold its entire 10% stake - 29.9m shares - at £11.20 each in a placing conducted by Barclays Capital. The news sent InterContinental's shares down 89p to £11.10, making it the biggest faller in the FTSE 100.

Ellerman bought into the business at the end of 2006 and took the stake up to 10% in May the following year, prompting speculation the brothers might be interested in buying the whole business, although many analysts questioned whether it would fit with their existing operations.

Traders said their original purchase price was close to the current share price, and they had probably been waiting until InterContinental's shares recovered before contemplating a sale. In recent weeks InterContinental, which owns the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, has been lifted by a successful investor roadshow, and by positive comments on current trading by rivals such as Starwood.

Overall the FTSE 100 finished 14.55 points better at 5365.67, its highest level since 13 May. However some of the early shine was taken off following a drop in US consumer confidence figures.

Bank shares continued to be buoyed by the results of the European stress tests, which were released on Friday evening and showed UK banks in a relatively strong position. Lloyds Banking Group led the way, up 5.8p to 71.80p while Royal Bank of Scotland rose 3.68p to 50.35p and Barclays was 23.9p better at 339.55p. Sentiment in the sector was also helped by reasonable results from both UBS and Deutsche Bank, as well as certain amendments published last night to the Basel 3 capital and liquidity proposals first issued last December. Jonathan Pierce at Credit Suisse said the proposed changes seemed favourable to the UK banks, especially Lloyds:

Previously we assumed that Lloyds would not be able to start paying dividends until at least [2013] because of the Basel 3 measures. On this basis, the dividend paying capacity of Lloyds has likely been pulled forwards. It remains our favourite UK bank for now.

Elsewhere AstraZeneca added 63p to £31.89 after the US Food and Drug Administration issued briefing documents ahead of a review meeting tomorrow about the company's experimental blood thinning treatment Brilinta. The FDA comments were mixed but not as critical as some commentators had feared. Savvas Neophytou at Panmure Gordon said the FDA reviewers had been "relatively benign." He added:

Some analysts had expected the agency to request further trials in US patients before approval, so a positive endorsement on Wednesday/today should go a long way towards triggering upgrades. We reiterate our buy recommendation and £36.00 price target. Astra is due to report second quarter results on Thursday.

Heritage Oil was 4.5p higher at 415p after it completed its long awaited sale of its stakes in two oil fields in Uganda to Tullow Oil, up 34p at £12.73. Tullow has paid $1.45bn in cash, and $405m of that has been set aside to resolve a tax dispute with the Ugandan government. Heritage plans to pay a 100p a share special dividend in August.
Evolution Securities analyst Richard Griffith said:

Concluding the disposal of Uganda in our view highlights the undervaluation of Heritage's exploration and appraisal assets in Kurdistan. We believe that today's news should be a catalyst for a re-rating of the shares and we reiterate our buy recommendation.

Care home operator Southern Cross added 6p to 35.5p on takeover talk, while lower down the market Ceres Power climbed 8.5p to 81.5p after four directors including chairman Brian Count and chief executive Peter Bance increased their shareholdings in the fuel cell specialist.

Horizonte Minerals rose 2p to 10.75p on news it had bought the Araguaia nickel project in northern Brazil for £7.5m from Canadian miner Teck Resources. The all share deal will give Teck a 50% stake in the group, which has also raised £5.13m by issuing new shares to institutional investors at 10p each. Horizonte's chief executive Jeremy Martin said:

This is a transformational deal for Horizonte. We now have a major mining company as a key shareholder, a world-class nickel project with significant upside and a fast track development plan, all underpinned by institutional shareholders who have invested £5.13 million in the enlarged company.

Finally Berkeley Minerals - which specialises in processing mining tailings or leftovers - added 0.15p to 1.95p after it said it expected to start sales of metal stockpiles in September. More news from the company is likely in the next couple of weeks.

Thriving and growing e-commerce company located in Manhattan is currently seeking motivated candidates to fill 2 immediate openings as a Retail Phone Sales Representative. Our team answers INBOUND calls and deals directly with customers to satisfy their needs and answer questions about consumer electronic products sold on our websites. Good candidates will demonstrate their proven success in sales and customer service and bring a positive, energetic attitude. The company offers growth potential, business casual atmosphere, and a nice office in Midtown. Good salespeople who work hard can make $40k in their first year with the salary/commission structure.

Shift Available: 2p - 11p, Sat - Wed (If you can't work this schedule, do not apply. No exceptions.)

Key Responsibilities:
~ Deal directly with customers one-on-one, over the phone, to sell products and provide positive customer support
~ Utilize problem-solving skills to satisfy customer needs
~ Manage calls and information on in-house computer system
~ General office duties - filing, faxing, paperwork, etc.
~ Learn about and understand new retail products
~ Working independently and within a team to reach individual and department goals

Qualifications:
~ 2+ Years experience with Retail or Inside Sales and Customer Service
~ Call Center experience a Big Plus
~ Retail Sales Experience in Electronics a Big Plus
~ PC skills in Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer
~ Type 30+ WPM
~ General office duties and technologies
~ Proven verbal and communication skills
~ Self-starter, team player, and motivated
~ Excellent follow-up skills

Company will provide:
~ Start at $30k/yr salary; switch to salary and monthly commission after 2 month training program
~ Solid benefits package includes health, dental, 401k, transit assistance, etc.
~ Paid Vacation, Personal Time, and Holidays
~ One month training program
~ Advancement opportunities and compensation increases based on performance
~ Energetic, business casual atmosphere

Ted Baker, the designer brand, is upbeat about its prospects despite the current consumer uncertainty and the prospect of tax rises and spending cuts.

The company has announced an 18% increase in revenues for the 19 weeks to 12 June, with the UK doing well and its overseas markets continuing to improve. It plans to open four new stores in the US this year, as well as outlets in Australia and Abu Dhabi.

It said current trading continued to be good and Ray Kelvin, founder and chief executive, said:

We have made a good start to the financial year. Whilst we are mindful of the uncertain macro economic environment, [our] strengths [in service, design and creativity] continue to drive our business forward and we have been pleased with the customer response to our spring/summer collections.

The company's shares have climbed 6.5p to 512.5p, and Freddie George at Seymour Pierce raised his recommendation from hold to buy, saying:

The company has great potential to develop the brand overseas and expand its internet activities and we believe it is undervalued relative to peers.

Ramona Tipnis at Oriel Securities was also positive:

We are very encouraged by these results, which are ahead of our assumption on both the retail and wholesale businesses. We have scope to upgrades these numbers despite management's caution towards the rest of the year. On current forecasts of pretax profit of £22.5m, the company is trading on 13.2 times earnings, delivers a 4% dividend and has over £15m of cash on the balance sheet whilst generating further cash. This is a strong buy and we reiterate our recommendation here.

But fashion retailer Alexon fell 2p to 19.25p after it said like for like sales in the past 19 weeks had dropped 5.4%. Part of the problem was the volcanic ash disruption delaying "a key high summer stock package" for its Ann Harvey business. Philip Dorgan at Ambrian said:

Blaming volcanic ash is a new one for us, but Alexon is making progress in its recovery plan. It is not without risk, but we see significant self help opportunity as it invests to return to industry operating ratios. A recovery to 10% margins within five years would generate a decent amount of cash and place the shares on less than 3 times earnings.

Bakery/Cafe looking for Line & Prep Cook. Part-time to start - (24-32 hrs/wk).
Shift is daytime - 7a to 2p. Could grow into full-time with 40 hours/week within a couple months.

Applicants Must Have:

- At least one year of recent, solid breakfast line experience. (high-volume is a plus).

- The ability to work independently and a willingness to help where needed is essential. Our breakfast is really growing - this hire will play a big role in managing it and making sure it runs smoothly. The position will have a lot of responsibilities on top of cooking.

- A genuine interest in cooking regionally and seasonally.

How to Apply:

- Please paste your resume into the body of an email. The subject line should read "AM Cook Opening".

- Please include a couple paragraphs summarizing your work history and skills, etc. It doesn't have to be a cover letter, but it should say something about you.

As markets end the week with another volatile performance, Vodafone is bucking the current downward trend.

The mobile phone group has had a busy week, winning an Indian 3G licence (albeit for a hefty £1.74bn) and reporting a doubling of annual profits to £8.7bn. Today its shares have jumped 2p to 131.45p, making it the biggest riser in a falling FTSE, following reports it plans to sell its 55% stake in its Egyptian business. The deal would be worth around £3bn to the company, if it went ahead.

Overall the FTSE 100 is down 45.02 points at 5028.11 following Wall Street's 3.6% slump and a 2.45% decline on the Nikkei 225. Investors are deeply worried about disunity in the Eurozone after Germany unilaterally brought in a ban on short selling certain government debt. With Greece in crisis and other countries sitting there like dominoes waiting to fall, a united front in Europe is key to resolving the continent's economic problems and supporting the euro. On the other hand, there are also fears other countries could follow Germany's lead and impose their own bans. Today could be a key day, with Germany voting on its part in the €750bn Greek rescue package and EU finance ministers meeting again.

Banks are among the leading fallers, following a sell-off of the sector on Wall Street after the senate approved new regulations which could see financial institutions broken up. With the UK coalition making similar noises, Royal Bank of Scotland is down 1.16p at 43.66p while Lloyds Banking Group is 1.1p lower at 53.8p.

Miners however are giving the market some support after their recent falls, with Xstrata up 7.8p at 901p and Rio Tinto rising 13.5p to 2827.5p. David Buik of BGC Partners said:

All this years' gains on the mature equity markets have been wiped out. London has lost 7.1% since the start of the year – much of it this week and the S&P; 500 is down 10% since the 23 April high. The lack of political unison within the EU has been very damaging with differences of opinion still be expressed yesterday with Madame Lagarde of France to the fore, as a critic of Germany's actions on 'naked-short-selling' without prior consultation.

Thriving and growing e-commerce company located in Manhattan is currently seeking motivated candidates to fill an immediate opening for a Retail Phone Sales Representative to work from 2p - 11p, Monday thru Friday. Our team answers INBOUND calls and deals directly with customers to satisfy their needs and answer questions about consumer electronic products sold on our websites. Good candidates will demonstrate their proven success in sales and customer service and bring a positive, energetic attitude. The company offers growth potential, business casual atmosphere, and a nice office in Midtown. Good salespeople who work hard can make $40k in their first year with the salary/commission structure.

Current shift available: Full-time ~ 2p - 11p (Mon - Fri)

Key Responsibilities:
~ Deal directly with customers one-on-one, over the phone, to sell products and provide positive customer support
~ Utilize problem-solving skills to satisfy customer needs
~ Manage calls and information on in-house computer system
~ General office duties - filing, faxing, paperwork, etc.
~ Learn about and understand new retail products
~ Working independently and within a team to reach individual and department goals

Qualifications:
~ 2+ Years experience with Retail or Inside Sales and Customer Service
~ Call Center experience a Big Plus
~ Retail Sales Experience in Electronics a Big Plus
~ PC skills in Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer
~ Type 30+ WPM
~ General office duties and technologies
~ Proven verbal and communication skills
~ Self-starter, team player, and motivated
~ Excellent follow-up skills

Company will provide:
~ Start at $30k/yr salary; switch to salary and monthly commission after 1 month training program
~ Solid benefits package includes health, dental, 401k, transit assistance, etc.
~ Paid Vacation, Personal Time, and Holidays
~ One month training program
~ Advancement opportunities and compensation increases based on performance
~ Energetic, business casual atmosphere

Thriving and growing e-commerce company located in Manhattan is currently seeking motivated candidates to fill immediate openings for Retail Phone Sales Representatives. Our team answers INBOUND calls and deals directly with customers to satisfy their needs and answer questions about consumer electronic products sold on our websites. Good candidates will demonstrate their proven success in sales and customer service and bring a positive, energetic attitude. The company offers growth potential, business casual atmosphere, and a nice office in Midtown. Good salespeople who work hard can make $40k in their first year with the salary/commission structure.

Current shifts available include: Full-time ~ 9a - 6p (Mon - Fri); 2p - 11p (Mon - Fri); 11a - 7p (Sat - Wed); Part-time ~ 11a - 7p (Sat and Sun only).

Key Responsibilities:
~ Deal directly with customers one-on-one, over the phone, to sell products and provide positive customer support
~ Utilize problem-solving skills to satisfy customer needs
~ Manage calls and information on in-house computer system
~ General office duties - filing, faxing, paperwork, etc.
~ Learn about and understand new retail products
~ Working independently and within a team to reach individual and department goals

Qualifications:
~ 2+ Years experience with Retail or Inside Sales and Customer Service
~ Call Center experience a Big Plus
~ Retail Sales Experience in Electronics a Big Plus
~ PC skills in Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer
~ Type 30+ WPM
~ General office duties and technologies
~ Proven verbal and communication skills
~ Self-starter, team player, and motivated
~ Excellent follow-up skills

Company will provide:
~ Start at $30k/yr salary; switch to salary and monthly commission after 1 month training program
~ Solid benefits package includes health, dental, 401k, transit assistance, etc.
~ Paid Vacation, Personal Time, and Holidays
~ One month training program
~ Advancement opportunities and compensation increases based on performance
~ Energetic, business casual atmosphere

With the London market falling sharply for the fourth day running on UK election jitters and continuing Greek worries, one of the biggest losers in the leading index was hit for a completely different reason.

Cobham, the aerospace electronics company, fell nearly 6% after it warned its defence and security business had made a slower than expected start to the year, following delays in the award of a number of US military contracts. Its commercial businesses have also been trading at a lower level than last year. It added that earnings would be weighted towards the second half of the year, and the shares ended down 14.6p at 244.3p.

Overall it was another day of volatile trading, with the FTSE 100 finishing down 80.94 points at 5260.99 after hitting a low of 5251 and a high of 5371. The index has dropped around 360 points since last Friday morning. Meanwhile the uncertain outcome of the UK election pushed sterling below $1.50 at one point, its lowest level since the end of March, while the euro was under pressure all day as attempts to resolve the Greek crisis continued, but fears of a default and a possible knock on effect on other European countries such as Spain and Portugal continued to grow. The European Central Bank left its interest rates on hold despite early rumours of a possible cut, but its response to the Greek situation was widely seen as underwhelming. Spain's Ibex 35 closed down another 2.2% while Portugal's PSI 20 fell 2%.

Sentiment was also hit by an opening fall on Wall Street following weaker than expected retail sales, and ahead of the key non-farm payroll figures tomorrow. By the time London closed the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost almost 100 points. Joshua Raymond, strategist at City Index, said:

There was an early relief rally in the market. But any upside was being used as an excuse by investors to get out of their positions at a better price.

Banks were hit by Moody's warning that the Greek crisis could hit the sector hard, with Barclays down 21.05p at 301.70, Lloyds Banking Group 3.46p lower at 56.64p and Royal Bank of Scotland falling 2.17p to 48.23p.

Miners showed some initial gains, but they soon lost ground again as investors shied away from risk. Rio Tinto lost 83p lower at 3106.5p while Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation fell 42p to £10.35.

There were some bright spots in the gloom. Schroders added 80p to £13.89 after the fund management group unveiled a jump in first quarter profits from £36.1m to £93.2m.

Diageo rose 2p to £10.83. The world's biggest spirits group - whose brands include Smirnof vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky - said third quarter sales had risen a better than expected 12% and stuck to its target of low single digit growth for the full year. Evolution Securities raised its recommendation on the company from neutral to add with a £12 target price, saying:

With trading momentum and sentiment clearly improving in its core businesses, and after recent share price falls, Diageo's valuation is increasingly attractive. The shares now trade on a discount to the sector and to its historic average. Although Pernod Ricard remains our top spirits pick, Diageo's current attractions should not be ignored.

Elsewhere Cairn Energy climbed 4.7p to 388.9p after an upgrade from Exane BNP Paribas, which has raised its rating from neutral to outperform, while Burberry was 11p better at 675.5p after an 18.5% jump in quarterly sales at rival luxury goods group Hermes, and a buy note this week from Goldman Sachs.

Insurers had a mixed day. RSA Insurance slipped 0.2p to 117.9p on profit taking after news of a 5% rise in premiums in the first quarter. Panmure Gordon said in a buy note:

The shares have been impacted by the wider fall in the investment market together with a general malaise towards the non-life insurance sector a whole. This is both unfortunate and unwarranted given the consistently good performance of RSA led by a hugely competent management team.

But Prudential put on 0.5p to 549.5p on suggestions that any failure of its plan to buy AIG's Asian business could leave it vulnerable to a break-up bid. Resolution, tipped as a buyer of Pru's UK business, dipped 0.35p to 70.45p following a 19% increase in first quarter sales.

Home Retail added 5.5p to 274.3p. The Argos and Homebase owner has been tipped as a takeover target for the likes of Wal-Mart or private equity, and was recently upgraded by Morgan Stanley.

Lower down the market the Restaurant Group slipped 0.3p to 230.4p. Like for like sales in the firs 18 weeks rose 0.5% but would have been higher if not for the effects of the volcanic ash cloud on its airport concessions. The company put the total impact so far at around £500,000.

Still with the eating out sector, Clapham House dipped 2.25p to 62.75p as the owner of the Gourmet Burger Kitchen unveiled a placing at 60p a share to raise £2.2m for expansion. In a buy note Altium Securities said:

Encouraging returns from new units combined with robust recent trading from Gourmet Burger Kitchen have given management the confidence to accelerate the roll-out programme that was slowed in December 2007. It is now accelerating the openings of Gourmet Burger Kitchen from two new units to five per annum. The return to higher levels of organic growth coupled with increased confidence in the trading prospects leads us to increase our target price to 90p from 78p and retain our buy recommendation.

Finally, Aim-listed biotech business Synairgen added 3.25p to 23.5p after a patent was granted in Europe for its lead product interferon beta to be used in the treatment of patients with asthma, bronchitis or emphysema that have contracted the common cold.

Can you see it, folks? It's the future! And it's filled with Bungie and Bungie-related spinoff games -- and it's soon! That's right: for the next ten years, we'll be seeing the world through our Bungivision-tinted glasses, forgetting all about that scuttlebutt that went down between the "Modern Whatsitfare 6" (or whatever) developer and Activision, like, forever ago.

For now though, we'll just keep right on reading these weekly webcomic releases and looking forward to the next pew-pew title, hoping that if we miss any especially fantastic comics, you'll let us know in the comments section below. Bungivision ... activate!

Untitled (Another Video Game Webcomic)
Lottery (NerfNow)
Untitled (Dipswitch)
Shifting Gears (2P Start)
A Boy Must Learn, Part Three (Penny Arcade)
Revenge (The Great Indoors)
Akela Frowns Mightily (Sidescroller)

Continue reading Weekly Webcomic Wrapup, now with Bungivision!

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup, now with Bungivision! originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 01 May 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 23rd is already shaping up to be one of the best nerd days of 2010. Not only will the warm, long, lazy days of summer slowly begin to ease their way into our lives, but May 23rd, at least in my house, will be spent preparing for the Lost series finale (with endless margaritas, naturally) and, I don’t know, maybe playing a little something called SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2! OMG BEST DAY EVER!

That’s right, in about one month’s time, Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be released into the anxious hands of happy Wii owners everywhere.

And I couldn’t be more excited.

In celebration of the highly anticipated sequel’s release, I plan on releasing the Kraken a series of features over the next month focusing on all things Mario. Great Mario levels, great Mario characters, great Mario moments. You get the idea. And what better way to start than with a love letter to my favorite videogame of this current generation of consoles: the original Super Mario Galaxy!

“My favorite videogame of this current generation of consoles.” Saying it out loud is very liberating. When I asked myself what my favorite game of the last several was, at first it was much harder to answer. Do I say Valkyria Chronicles? Metal Gear Solid 4? While I adore (ADORE!) those games, once Super Mario Galaxy entered my mind I had no other thoughts. The answer was easy!

But what is it about Super Mario Galaxy that makes it so gosh darned great? Why does it hold such a special place in my heart? Hit the jump for my reasons why Super Mario Galaxy is the best videogame of this current generation.

FUN! FUN! FUN!

In today’s crowded market of various types of videogames, sometimes harmless, smile-inducing fun can be forgotten. As much as I admire Heavy Rain, can I ever really say I had fun playing it? Not really. (If anything, that game just depressed me with its non-stop thunderstorms and gloomy attitude.) Same with the Modern Warfares and even the God of Wars of the world. Love the games. Entertaining, sure. But fun? That descriptor should be reserved for the games that make you squeal with glee. The ones that make you feel like a kid again.

Even if someone managed to convince me there was a better videogame in the last five years, I would still never, ever change my opinion that Super Mario Galaxy is the most entertaining, flat-out fun videogame I have played this generation. No question.

Playing Super Mario Galaxy for the first time reminded me of why I love to play videogames in the first place: mainly to experience something that transports me to a new, exciting world with a giant smile plastered on my face. And that’s exactly what Super Mario Galaxy did -- and still does!

The game is an absolute blast to play. From start to finish.

Pinpointing exactly why the game is so entertaining would involve a ridiculous amount of paragraphs in all capital letters, so I will spare you that and summarize by saying it all comes down to the strength of the game’s design. Design so strong, yet so deceptively simple, that its level of genius is almost unrecognizable. The experience of playing Super Mario Galaxy feels so natural and fluid that you almost fail to realize the absolutely mind-boggling level of intricate game design that surrounds you.

So, let’s get to that incredible design, shall we?

Amazing level design!

Instead of just saying “OMG THE LEVEL DESIGN IN SUPER MARIO GALAXY IS AMAZING!” let me offer some examples of why, well, THE LEVEL DESIGN IN SUPER MARIO GALAXY IS AMAZING! And, actually, these examples are great representations of what I love about level design in general:

1. Nothing ever feels empty in Super Mario Galaxy
Throughout the massive, universe-spanning adventure, Super Mario Galaxy is constantly throwing new things at you. There is never a section of the game that doesn’t include some form of creative obstacle or enemy. But, in a brilliant, not-as-easy-as-it-sounds move, nothing ever feels overstuffed as in something like Banjo-Tooie. While Super Mario Galaxy may be full, it never feels overwhelming. Each gameplay section smoothly flows into the next, never once feeling repetitive or boring. Take this sequence for example:

The level is full of so much variety, but it all just fits together perfectly. What starts as a simple stomp on enemies/dodge the fire level turns into an epic gravity-defying journey through the heavens. And it all exists in the same full, rich world without ever feeling overly chaotic. Blasting away from the exploding volcano is one of favorite gaming moments ever. Brilliant!

2. Creativity!
It goes without saying that good game design needs to be injected with a high level of creativity. But the amount of creativity in Super Mario Galaxy is out of control. Just think about some of the sections of the game: Think about the battle with the giant spider on its web. Think about the giant floating capsules that, once entered, seamlessly transition the game into a 2D platformer. Hell, think about EVERYTHING in the game. The game oozes the genius of Miyamoto. It may be his best work to date!

Here is the boss battle with the giant spider again as a reminder: (Note the extraordinary creativity -- from the character design to the unique gameplay throughout the entire level.)

3. The “organic flow” of good game design
There is a certain “flow” to good game design that Nintendo (in particular Miyamoto) has mastered over the years. It’s hard to explain exactly what I mean by this “organic flow”, but think about a few of Nintendo’s biggest successes and you will start to see a pattern.

In the best Zelda and Mario games, the levels organically lead you from one place to the next without holding your hand or offering any exposition whatsoever. The levels just work together, fitting multiple, complicated pieces together into a perfect package. When you conquer one obstacle you are automatically led into the next, most of the time having to use your previous learned skills to take on a slightly more challenging section.

The best Nintendo levels perfect this “organic flow.” In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario flips, flies, and leaps around these enormous maps with such ease and with no need for guidance at all. Again, it all just works. It’s truly a Nintendo thing that other game designers have tried to mimic since the original Super Mario Bros.

Watch this level from early in Super Mario Galaxy to get a good idea of what I am talking about:

Absolutely perfect design.

Bee Mario!

Really, need I say more? Anyone that (correctly?) argues that the Bee Mario power-up in Super Mario Galaxy is one of Mario’s lesser power-ups obviously doesn’t have eyes.

LOOK AT HOW CUTE MARIO LOOKS IN A BEE COSTUME! LOOK! WITH YOUR EYES!

I knew you would agree with me.

Ice Mario!

Okay, looking past how cute Mario looks as a bee (SO CUTE!), let’s talk about one of my favorite specific moments from Super Mario Galaxy. Mario is running on an elevated platform high in the Beach Bowl Galaxy. In front of him stands a small lake surrounded by two enormous, towering waterfalls.

The goal is for Mario to make it to the top of the waterfalls.

But how to do it?

Easy. Mario grabs the new Ice Flower power-up, jumps on the surface of the lake, and turns all the water under his feet to ice. While he quickly skates around (yup, he actually skates), there are times when he jumps and -- brace yourself -- does triple axels.

It’s adorable.

But, again, trying to ignore how adorable Mario looks in his power-ups (focus, Chad!), the Ice Flower is super handy. After Mario grabs the Ice Flower he turns all the water he touches to ice. With this, he can actually use his new power to wall jump up the two waterfalls that pour into the lake and reach his destination.

It’s a marvelously creative touch and another wonderful example of the game’s superb, entertaining level design.

Great Wii controls

Super Mario Galaxy came out about a year after the Wii had debuted. Up until that point, many developers other than Nintendo had tried -- and failed -- to implement an appropriate amount of motion control into their games. In a similar timeline to games on the Nintendo DS finally coming into their own, Super Mario Galaxy was a perfect mixture of “traditional” control with just enough Wii-specific features to feel fresh and unique.

Even playing the game all these years later, everything still controls beautifully. Running around with the nunchuk and jumping with the perfectly placed “A” button feels just right for a Mario game. And when the specialized Wii controls kick in they are never too overwhelming of cumbersome. Shake the nunchuk to have Mario do a spin; tilt the Wiimote to control Mario on a giant ball; point the cursor on the screen to collect star pieces or interact with “pull stars” (definitely my favorite thing to do!).

Add all this to the brilliant, addictive gravity-mechanic that makes a healthy, very welcome appearance throughout most of the charming adventure and you have a game that is as much a joy to control as it is to play.

Old-school multiplayer ... with a twist!

Let me set the scenario: I went to spend Thanksgiving 2007 with my family in North Carolina. I hadn’t completed Super Mario Galaxy yet so I brought my Wii along. Luckily, the airline did not destroy it in transit (whew!), so for a couple hours before the massive annual feast, I got to enjoy the game with the luscious scents of cooking turkey and stuffing filling the air.

At one point my father decided to watch me play Super Mario Galaxy for a spell. (Keep in mind this is a man who never plays videogames.) A few minutes later he had a Wiimote in his hand and had inexplicably jumped in as my 2P, a giant smile plastered on his face.

He was having the time of his life.

It almost brought a tear to my eye.

Sure, the multiplayer in Super Mario Galaxy is a little basic -- player two controls a star on screen that can stun enemies or help change the environment -- but it’s old-school, multiplayer gaming at its best. Sitting in the same room with a friend -- or a father! -- and laughing and smiling your way through hours of fun gameplay is a wonderful, nostalgic, wholly satisfying experience.

A perfect package

There are only a few videogames that have been released this generation that I would describe as perfect. Super Mario Galaxy is one of them.

I can’t think of anything in the game I would change. I can’t think of anything I would add; I can’t think of anything I would take away.

It’s not often you play a perfect game. But when you do, you know it. And every second of the experience is enjoyable.

Super Mario Galaxy is a masterpiece -- arguably the best Mario game ever made. But what makes it a masterpiece isn’t its perfect level design, gameplay, or colorful graphics. More than any other game this current generation, Super Mario Galaxy made me feel like an eight-year old again, holding my original NES controller for the first time.

And that is a one-of-a-kind experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.

What do you think? What are your thoughts on Super Mario Galaxy all these years later? Do you love it as much as I do? Are you going to replay it to prepare for the release of Super Mario Galaxy 2? Or do you still have yet to play it for the first time? (If that’s the case, stop reading immediately and GO! GO! GO!)

And, the big question, what is your favorite videogame on this current generation of consoles? It’s a pretty tough question to answer. Well, unless your answer rhymes with Buper Bario Balaxy. Then the answer is easy.

This position is a part-time to start after training then you will be moved to full time. We need someone that has a high tone of voice, great friendly and upbeat voice as well. Need to have experience in front desk, answering phones, making copies, computer skills, taking messages, and customer service. This is a entry level position. Pay is depending on your experience; medical, dental, and vision are covered and we also offer a 401k. This is a Audi dealership, so car dealership experience is a +; but isn't required. Only apply if you are completely open, you will not get a set schedule to start so being open from Sunday to Sunday 9am to 8pm is necessary. We are willing to train the right person, so good luck!
Don't sent your resume to the email address come in and apply in person Today only from 2p to 6p. We want to hire someone ASAP! Come to the green trailer and ask the front desk girl for a application. Parking is on the street.

Santa Monica Audi
1020 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is almost here, but you wouldn't know it from the way Nintendo of America is acting. We haven't heard anything from Reggie and the gang about the game since that press event a few weeks back. We've have to turn to Japanese sources to learn new stuff about the game (like the return of Bucken Berry and Ala Gold), and even then, details have been minimal.

Now that Nintendo of Japan has opened an official Super Mario Galaxy 2 section on their website, we'll hopefully start getting more new info more often. Already we've learned that at some point in the game, Bowser's going to get very big (or Peach will get very small), that giant cogs will be making a comeback, and that a second player will be able to join in the campaign by controlling a Luma (the little baby star-things that you could force feed to the point of explosion in the first game). I'm not sure how you'll be able to control the little jerk with just the Wii remote, but hopefully Nintendo will find a way.

And hopefully Nintendo of America will get around to posting all this stuff in English. There is a lot of cool content on the site that would only be made better by knowing what the heck all those squiggly lines mean.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 site updates with screens, art, music and footage [GoNintendo]

 

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. Be on the lookout for Australia-time-friendly events as part of the new Australia Series!

I also hope you'll consider hosting your own public webinars using the LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Tuesday, March 30th

• FUTURE OF EDUCATION SERIES
  5pm PDT (US) / 8pm EDT (US) / 12am (next day) GMT/UTC (intl times):
  Join me for a live and interactive interview with Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element:  How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.   
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/60493
  

• THE AUSTRALIA SERIES
  3am Pacific (US) / 6am EDT (US) / 12am (next day) GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "E-blends and Regional/Remote Students Overcoming the Challenges" with Jo Hart.  This will be an interactive session aimed at exploring some of the challenges (and some possible solutions) of using e-learning blends for flexible delivery to a highly diverse and geographically scattered student group across four AQF levels of literacy, numeracy and study skills.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65232
  
  
• EDUCATION FOR A DIGITAL WORLD 2.0 SERIES
  12pm Pacific (US) / 3pm EDT (US) / 7pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Cultivating Communities of Practice: Analysis of 3 Case Studies Using the 7 Principles" with Sylvia Currie, Patricia Delich, and Paul Stacey.  "In this session we will describe 3 case studies using Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder's (2002) 7 Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice. This framework provides a close look at how our decisions about community design and technologies to support community activities were made and revised, as well as a consistent and rich view to help those involved in online and hybrid communities learn from our experiences."  30 minutes.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65701
  
  
• EDUCATION FOR A DIGITAL WORLD 2.0 SERIES
  12:30pm Pacific (US) / 3:30pm EDT (US) / 7:30pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Blended Work – Experiences From International Development Project" with Susan Chrichton and Azra Naseem.  "We know about blended learning but what about blended work? When we use learning tools in academic work place applications, what changes and what are the challenges?  This seminar shares the authors’ experiences from the last fourteen months as we’ve navigated the virtual terrain connecting colleagues in Pakistan East Africa, the UK and Canada.  Trust us, time zones weren’t the biggest challenge!"  30 minutes.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65704
  
  
• 4pm Pacific (US) / 7pm EDT (US) / 11pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Blogging for Beginners" with Lorna Costantini and Kim Caise.  Designed for participants new to blogging. Students will create a blog hosted at Weebly.com. Concepts covered - reading and writing a blog post, adding images, embedding video, what is an rss feed, and using a feed reader to monitor blog posts and comments.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65209
  
  
• MERLOT CLASSIC WEBSITE AWARDS SERIES
  5pm Pacific (US) / 8pm EDT (US) / 12am (next day) GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Connecting Concepts – Biology Classics Award" with Jan Cheetham.  Students play the role of predators on moths on a tree trunk. Then, they play the role of biologist, analyzing the changing gene frequencies of the moth population and determining if the population evolved over three generations. Students will: 1) collect data by “eating” moths; 2) calculate gene frequencies for each phenotype over three generations; 3) interpret graphs of data their data to determine if microevolution occurred; and 4) explain how selection acts on populations.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/60496

Discuss the day's big issues, send us your favourite links and follow us on Twitter

8.14am: Good morning and welcome to our daily sports news blog. Throughout the day we'll update this page with news, links and what's expected to happen in the hours ahead. Time permitting, we'll try to wade in below the line, answering your questions and comments.

We'll let you know what's coming up after our morning meeting shortly. In the meantime, Donald McRae has been talking to Usain Bolt in Jamaica, who believes he can run the 100m in 9.4 seconds. Elsewhere Sir Alex Ferguson is in positive mood ahead of Manchester United's Champions League tie with Bayern Munich and Michel Platini has backed the the government's proposals for fan-backed clubs. TB

8.45am: Good news for the New Jersey Nets: their 90-84 win over the San Antonio Spurs last night in the NBA has allowed them to dodge a particularly unwelcome bullet - the tag of worst ever NBA team. Their victory was the tenth of the season, meaning they have bettered the Philadelphia 76ers 1972-73 season record of 9-73. "It's a big relief," said Nets point guard Devin Harris. "Guys really wanted to get this off our back. Nobody wants to be the worst team in history." Well done. Sort of. TB

9.35am: porrig: Our understanding on Ribéry/Robben is that Bayern won't make a decision on their fitness until a few hours before tonight's game. Ribéry though looks more likely to make it than Robben. We'll let you know if we hear any more ... KM

10am Here's what is coming up today:
* Bayern v Man Utd and Lyon v Bordeaux (7.45pm)
* Gianfranco Zola returns from Sardinia
* Championship: Cardiff v Leicester and Watford v Palace
* Rob Halsey returns to refereeing at Accrington v Barnet
* SPL: St Johnstone v Rangers
* David Haye press conference between 7-8pm
* The Miami Masters tennis continues

Meanwhile on the site we will have:
* Live mbm reports on both Champions League games
* Paul Doyle on Lyon v Bordeaux
* Andy Bull's cricket email, The Spin
* Louise Taylor on Millwall
* Lots of Arsenal v Barcelona preview pieces, including Sid Lowe on Cesc Fábregas
* There's also this very popular Iain Dowie gallery

11.02am: The sounds coming out of Mark Hughes's camp are that he would be interested in taking over at Celtic. His assistant at both Manchester City and Blackburn, Mark Bowen, has had this to say to the Daily Record:

"Mark has always said it has to be the right vehicle, the right situation .... It seems to be the natural thing at the moment that Mark is linked with any vacant manager's position. His talents are widely recognised and since City we've been waiting for the right opportunity. In that sense, I suppose we were expecting this speculation and it's a pleasant expectation to see that he's been linked with the Celtic post. Mark's credentials are there for all to see."

Also, for anyone wanting to reminisce about United's victory over Bayern in 1999, you might be interested in Paul Wilson's blog on Ferguson's three survivors from that treble-winning season who could feature tonight at the Allianz Arena. KM

11.32am: Marcello Lippi has announced that he will step down as Italy's coach after the World Cup - a decision that has already encouraged speculation that Carlo Ancelotti could be lined up as a replacement should he lose his job at Chelsea. Another in the frame could be Cagliari's Massimiliano Allegri.

Lippi said in today's Gazzetta dello Sport that the Italian football federation president Giancarlo Abete "already knows what I will do after the World Cup", and there are rumours he wants to return to troubled Juventus, a club he has already managed before. TB

12.12pm: Didier Drogba has been given a two-match European ban for his - now traditional - auto-destruct during Chelsea's Champions League exit. The striker was already on a two-year probation after his referee-bating antics after Chelsea's defeat against Barcelona last year and the red card he received this year against Inter means that probation has now been extended. Here's the Uefa statement:

Chelsea FC striker Didier Drogba has been suspended by UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body for two European club competition matches after being sent off in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg against FC Internazionale Milano in London on 16 March.

The suspension applies to the next two club competition matches for which Drogba would be eligible. The player's existing period of probation, which began on 15 July 2009 and was originally intended to run for two years, has also been extended to 15 July 2013. An appeal may be lodged within three days of the sending of the reasoned decision.

TB

12.37pm: Today's Talking Horses is up and running - with today's best bets and the latest on David Reynolds lamping Kieren Fallon.

1.17pm: Couple of pieces of lunchtime news for you: Cesc Fábregas remains a doubt for Arsenal's clash with Barcelona tomorrow after sitting out training earlier. And the FA is looking into Roberto Martínez's outburst last night, when he appeared to accuse referee Stuart Atwell of "lying" following Wigan's defeat to Manchester City. KM

1.37pm: Sir Alex Ferguson warns Bayern Munich that Manchester United are hitting their best form before hailing the recent contributions of Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic ahead of tonight's Champions League quarter-final. TB

1.41pm: The news from Arsenal is that Cesc Fábregas will face a late fitness test before the game against Barcelona. Arsène Wenger confirmed that the midfielder's knee injury would, if the game were tonight, rule him out. Here's what the manager said:

"He did not train this morning and at moment he is not fit to play. We will give him 24 hours more, but I don't know if he will be available. If the game were today, he would not play. If he is not capable to play, I would not take a gamble and put him on the bench."

Meanwhile, in news lower down the divisions, Louise Taylor has filed her blog on the football league - and Millwall could be the side to back for automatic promotion. TB

2.05pm: Amid all the noise about Manchester United facing Bayern Munich, the game between Lyon and Bordeaux has slipped somewhat under the radar. Here's Paul Doyle on why both teams will be desperate to win - but will know defeat might hasten the end of an era. TB

2.15pm: If it's pictures of sporting things that have happened in the last 24 hours that you want, then click here and watch as your entire computer screen magically fills with just such images. TB

2.28pm: Andy Bull's weekly cricket round-up, The Spin, points its steely gaze at Pakistan and their startling decision to suspend Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan, then asks WTF. TB

3.09pm: If you've ever wondered who would win in a fight between Diego Maradona and a dog then the answer has finally been revealed. It is the dog. Read here how Maradona has undergone surgery after being attacked by one of his canine companions. If it is clashes of a different kind you are interested in then read David Pleat's guide to the key head-to-head battles in tonight's game between Bayern Munich and Manchester United. EF

4.08pm: As many of you have mentioned below the line, rumours have been swirling around the airwaves and internet this afternoon that Martin O'Neill had quit as Aston Villa manager. Not so according to sources at the club, who while refusing to comment officially, have dismissed the speculation as "pure nonsense." As far as we understand, it looks like it stemmed from a Twitter hoax, though if we hear any more we'll let you know. KM

4.28pm: Jens Lehmann has announced that this season will be his last. Following consultations with his family he will retire in May. Presumably his family are looking forward to having him asround the house a bit more starting arguments over nothing and making outrageous comments. EF

5.00pm: That's all for today's folks. We'll be back tomorrow morning about 9am, but in the meantime why not occupy yourselves with today's Fiver. If it takes you less that 16 hours to read you can always enjoy the minute-by-minutes of both Bayern Munich v Manchester United and Lyon v Bordeaux which are coming up at 7pm. Thanks for all your comments. EF

Date: Mar 30th 2010 1:12p.m.
Contributed by: laurafitch

Ever since we heard rumors of this contest last year (actually, since we started receive random emails from the organization on the hunt for participants), we've been waiting with bated breath to see if this beauty pageant would pan out.

Well, it looks like it will, as the first-ever beauty pageant for foreign women in China has just announced its contestant list. Check it out here. Let the games begin!

Mining shares were in focus on higher metal prices and details of a new iron ore agreement, but they failed to hold onto early gains as investors decided to cash in profits ahead of the long holiday weekend.

BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale both agreed with Japanese steelmakers to price iron ore on a quarterly basis from next month, meaning a 90% increase in the price paid to the mining groups. The move signals the end of annual agreements, which analysts said had cost the miners billions of dollars because they were locked into a fixed deal even as spot prices moved sharply higher. Rio Tinto - the number two producer after Vale - is expected to follow suit later this year, and may even accelerate its plans in the wake of yesterday's news. European and Chinese steelmakers have been opposed to a change in the annual pricing system, but the Japanese agreement may prove an irresistible trend.

BHP ended up just 1p to 2268.5p after touching 2340p while Rio Tinto fell 13.5p to £38.97 and Xstrata dipped 1.5p to £12.30. Kazakhmys, which reported underwhelming full year figures, closed 6p lower at £15.43 while Lonmin lost 55p to £20.50 after it shut its number one furnace in south Africa after yet another incident at the troubled smelter.

But analysts said the Japanese deal would benefit the sector. John Meyer at Fairfax said:

Moving to a quarterly contract from the annual benchmark negotiations should take some of the tension out of the negotiating process and will allow for more frequent and lesser adjustments to prices.

Meanwhile Credit Suisse suggested the move could swiftly lead to monthly pricing contracts:

Industry contacts suggest that we should look at the manganese market where quarterly prices where adopted after the breakdown of annual pricing and now the market has migrated to a monthly business - essentially a spot based business model.

There was also a positive note on the sector from Deutsche Bank which raised its price targets on a number of miners, including Rio, BHP and Kazakhmys.

But banking shares proved a drag on the market, helping push the FTSE 100 38.34 points lower to 5672.32 by the close of trading. Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index said:

A battle between mining strength and banking weakness [was] the key theme behind today's losses. [But] the way in which the losses have quickened throughout the day may raise an alarm or two, particularly as we started the day with the FTSE 100 reaching a new 21 month high. The question that will inevitably be on investors minds is have we come a little too far and until they answer this decision, the markets are likely to lack any significant direction.

Barclays fell 8.85p to 358p after an analyst sell note in the wake of a meeting with the bank. Bruce Packard at Seymour Pierce said that while nothing new came out of the meeting, the two sides had opposing views about the future performance of Barclays Capital. Packard said:

Barclays disagree with our hypothesis that the Fixed Income Currency and Commodity division of Bar Cap (£13bn of group income, or 45% of group total income) was driven by low interest rates and global savings imbalances – but the counter argument "Barclays Capital is well positioned, whatever the macro economic environment" is not well supported with evidence.

Separately, George Osborne, shadow chancellor, singled out Barclays bosses for "not understanding what the rest of the country is going through" on TV last night. The reason why bank bashing is such a popular political sport is because at the moment there are more losers than winners from the banking crisis. In such a world, taking the part of the losers is a promsing path to political power, in our view.

Royal Bank of Scotland - fined £28m for breaches of competition law - dropped 1.52p to 43.26p and Lloyds Banking Group lost 1.89p to 61.36p, both spooked by the spectre of the next government of whatever shade selling some or all of its shares in the state owned banks after the election.Traders said this had partly come into focus again after the US treasury's decision to dispose of its $32bn holding in Citigroup over the course of the year.

But Amec added 24.5p to 790.5p, making it the biggest riser in the leading index, after the oil services and engineering group paid £61.2m for consultancy business Entec, which specialises in water and waste water services. Kevin Lapwood at Seymour Pierce said:

The exit multiple of 8.7 times looks to be excellent value and is clearly earnings enhancing. The shares have fallen sharply since the slightly disappointing 2009 results announcement at the beginning of March. We increase our 2010 pre-tax profit estimate from £231.8m to £237m and adjusted earnings per share from 51.2p to 52.3p.

The shares are trading on a PE multiple of 14.7 times for 2010 and falling to 14 times in 2011 We therefore move from hold to outperform with an increased target price of 820p (750p).

Carphone Warehouse, the retailer which has just split from telecoms group Talk Talk, climbed 6.3p to 161.3p as analysts issued positive notes on the business. Morgan Stanley said:

We initiate on 'new' Carphone Warehouse at overweight with a price target of 235p (62% implied upside) as we believe it offers direct exposure to three growth stories that if successful should deliver five-year earnings per share growth above 35% – more than double that of any other stock we cover. Best Buy Mobile profit share could deliver £50m plus annual income by 2014; 'Big Box' [the joint Carphone Best Buy stores due to start launching in May], while unproven, could prove an extraordinary opportunity; Virgin Mobile France is to become a scale operator and new Carphone also has a 47.5% stake in France's largest mobile virtual network operator.

But electrical retailing rival DSG dipped 0.52p to 35.19p on fears of competition from Best Buy as well as talk of an increase in short selling.

Finally Aim listed Symphony Environmental was steady at 9.5p despite recording its first profit - a £640,000 gain in 2009 compared to a loss of £400,000 - after ten years and £13m of investment in its environmental plastics business. Most of the revenues from its oxo-biodegradable technology - added to plastic products such as bags and food wrapping to make them harmlessly self-destruct once used - come from overseas markets such as the middle east, central America and Africa rather than the UK, which has been slower on the uptake. But the company has just spoken seriously to the UK government for the first time, following a Defra report raising awareness of oxo-degradable technology, and felt it had received a sympathetic hearing. It is also pushing its product into north America which, if successful, could see a major boost to revenues. House broker Allenby Capital is forecasting pre-tax profits of £1.25m for 2010, and £2m in 2011.

Join our special viewing party at Piermont Landing in Wheatstone Waterways today (Tuesday 30th March) at 2pm SLT for a very unusual episode of Designing Worlds!

Last October, the Designing Worlds teams visited New Babbage to explore the amazing new underground railway system .. but things went terribly wrong when they were party to the discovery of the cellars of a long-forgotten Asylum, and its dark secrets. Elrik and Saffia were lucky to escape with their lives that time – but, nothing daunted, they are returning to New Babbage to investigate the phenomenon of burlesque.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Well … you will see … as they find themselves caught up in a new Babbage adventure.

This week, the Designing Worlds viewing party is NOT in the studio, but will be hosted by Miss Breezy Carver at Piermont Landing in Wheatstone Waterways. The show starts at 2pm, but this is going to be an exciting episode, and we recommend you arrive early if you can.

When people start discussing the term "density" as it relates to IT, they are literally talking about delivering more system performance while dealing with the limitations of space and cooling. These challenges are nothing new but with Dell's latest 11^th generation of PowerEdge servers we're addressing them in innovative ways by focusing on optimal performance, virtualization, energy efficiency and systems management capabilities.

Consider our latest server based on the AMD Opteron 6000 Series platform, the Dell PowerEdge R815, designed to deliver up to 48 processor cores with a balanced architecture of advanced manageability, memory scalability of up to 32 DIMMs, massive I/O, and system redundancy all in a space-saving 4-socket/2U form factor. This server provides users with truly exceptional price/performance. Capable of tackling some of the toughest virtualization, high-performance computing, email messaging, and database workloads, the PowerEdge R815 offers customers an excellent RISC/UNIX migration platform.

With its increase in the number of processor cores, the new 12-core AMD Opteron 6100 Series processor helps customers to virtualize their IT environments more quickly and on fewer systems. AMD is utilizing the same processor cores and the same chipsets across all of its new platforms, so as Dell builds out new PowerEdge server offerings, like the new PowerEdge 815, they can utilize the same building blocks.  2P, 4P, it's all the same to us; it's a single platform definition that will make keeping all of your systems up to date a snap.

Dell is also driving more "intelligence" and responsiveness into each new PowerEdge server platform with the inclusion of its unique Lifecycle Controller. Lifecycle Controller provides IT administrators with a single console view of their entire IT infrastructure while performing a complete set of provisioning functions including system deployment, system updates, hardware configuration and diagnostics. 

The PowerEdge 815 is also made to deliver energy efficiency as a design standard while helping customers meet the performance and budget goals they require. Energy-efficient system design built with Energy Smart technologies such as power capping, power inventory, and power budgeting help to better manage power consumption within a specific environment.

The PowerEdge 815 is our latest AMD technology-based server. Below is a quick video that highlights what's new:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Looking to take a break from tinkering on your latest project this weekend? Here are some fine maker events to check out, from The Maker Events Calendar. Wish your event was on the list? Add it to the calendar!

Coming up this week:

Dorkbot PGH
Pittsburgh, PA
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010, 7:30pm+

Handmade Music: Minneapolis
Minneapolis, MN
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010, 7pm - 12pm

Twestival San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010

Open Programming/Make Night @Interlock Rochester
Rochester, NY
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010, 7pm - 10pm

Informal HacDC Anniversary Celebration
Washington, DC
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010, 9pm - 11pm

Open Hack Session @Baltimore Node
Baltimore, MD
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010, 7pm - 9pm

AHA! Build Night
Ann Arbor, MI
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010, 7:30pm 12am

Association of Professional Model Makers 2010 Conference
Cambridge, MA
Friday, Mar 26, 2010 - Monday, Mar 29, 2010

Industries Slideshow / Birthday Celebration @ HackPittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, Mar 26, 2010, 7pm - 9pm

LVL1 Electronic Mischief Workshop
Louisville, KY
Saturday, Mar 27, 2010, 1pm - 4pm

Arduino / Project Night @theTransistor
Provo, UT
Saturday, Mar 27, 2010, 5pm - 8pm

Introduction to Electronics @Metrix Create Space
Seattle, WA
Saturday, Mar 27, 2010, 6:30pm - 9pm

Art, Design and the Arduino: a lineage @NYCResistor
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, Mar 27, 2010 8pm-12am

Greater Baltimore Hamboree & Computerfest
Timonium, MD
Saturday, Mar 27, 2010 - Sunday, Mar 28, 2010, 6am - 4pm

Hackathon: Quiet Riot @PS1
Chicago, IL
Saturday, Mar 27, 2010, Sunday, Mar 28, 8pm - 12pm

Saturday Night Blows @Hive13
Cincinnati, OH
Saturday, Mar 27th, 2010, 6:30pm

Introduction to Soldering @Metrix Create Space
Seattle, WA
Sunday, Mar 28, 2010, 2pm - 4:30pm

Soldering Sundays @Alpha One Labs
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Mar 28, 2010, 1pm - 2pm

Start planning for:

Bay Area Hamcram - Morgan Hill
Morgan Hill, CA
Saturday, Apr 3, 2010, 8am - 5pm

BarCamp Rochester 5
Rochester, NY
Saturday, Apr 3, 2010, 9am - 11pm

Make:SF April 6th @ Tech Liminal
Oakland, CA
Tuesday, Apr 6, 2010, 7:30pm - 9pm

Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Events | Digg this!

Ad agency behind Tony Blair 'demon eyes' adverts reports drop in profits and reveals it has rekindled links with Conservatives

The Conservatives have rekindled their relationship with M&C; Saatchi, more than a decade after the ad agency last worked for the party in the runup to the 1997 general election with the Tony Blair "demon eyes" campaign.

David Kershaw, the M&C; Saatchi chief executive, confirmed today that the agency was working on a Tory advertising campaign for the impending general election, as the firm reported a 27% fall in pre-tax profits to £10.3m in 2009.

M&C; Saatchi's co-founders, brothers Charles and Maurice Saatchi, have had a relationship with the Conservatives going back more than 30 years, having developed the "Labour Isn't Working" slogan that helped carry Margaret Thatcher to victory in 1979 at their previous agency, Saatchi & Saatchi.

M&C; Saatchi was set up in 1995 by the brothers and other former Saatchi & Saatchi executives including Kershaw.

The agency itself has not worked with the party on an advertising campaign since the 1997 general election, although the Conservatives' advertising account was handled by a subsidiary, the Immediate Sales Company, during the 2005 election.

M&C; Saatchi's controversial 1996 poster advertising campaign portraying Blair with red "demon eyes" won industry awards but drew criticism from the Advertising Standards Authority.

"We have had a relationship with the Tories for the past 32 years so it seems natural to be drafted onto the team," said Kershaw. "We are actively working on assignments now."

Euro RSCG is the Tories' main advertising agency, but a Conservative spokesman confirmed that the party was also working with M&C; Saatchi again. "The party has been working with [the Saatchi brothers] off and on since 1978 and they are also part of the team working to help us kick out Labour in this campaign," he said. "Euro RSCG are our main advertising agency. We're delighted with the contribution they've made and will continue to make as we near the general election."

Saatchi & Saatchi, which no longer has any connection with the brothers, was appointed in 2007 to handle the Labour account.

Maurice Saatchi, a director at M&C; Saatchi, was co-chairman of the Conservative party between 2003 and 2005, but has had no formal role since the last election.

In 2006 Charles Saatchi sold his 7% stake in M&C; Saatchi. He held the role of board director from the formation of the agency until 2004, whereupon he became a "sleeping partner" until effectively ending his relationship with the business completely with the sale of his stake.

M&C; Saatchi today reported a 25% fall in operating profits year on year to £10.4m for 2009. The agency also announced that it was selling a 20% stake in its Australian office to the local management for AUS$5m (£3m).

Overall the group reported a 5% year-on-year fall in revenues on a constant currency basis to £103.4m. Operating margin fell from 13.2% to 10%. The company said that the strongest performances came from the Australia and Asian regions which reported year-on-year revenue growth of 12%.

The worst performer, by some stretch, was the Los Angeles office, which reported a 37% year-on-year fall in revenue.

Australia and Malaysia, the strongest growth performers, showed showed like-for-like revenue growth of 8% year on year.

The European operation reported a 3% year-on-year fall in like for like revenues, with a 6% fall in the UK market. The agency's consulting business, Clear, suffered steep revenue declines of 18% year on year.

"Despite the year-on-year decline in the financial results the underlying financial health of the group has not suffered," the company said, attributing a significant portion of the operating profit slump to a £1.4m investment in three new offices. "The board believes that the business is in good shape and we are confident that the group has significant opportunity for growth."

M&C; Saatchi invested £1.4m in startup costs to push into new markets by opening offices in Switzerland, Brazil and Japan. This year it has also opened offices in South Africa and China and is also pushing into the Middle East and North Africa.

"The entry into new markets is still in the investment phase but is expected to move into profitability towards the end of the year," said Kershaw. "We expect returns on these investments in 2011."

The company said that it had reduced debt from £6.7m to £4.4m and that the total dividend for 2009 will be 3.62p a share.

"2010 has started well both operationally and financially and the group is well positioned to meet any pick up in demand. Visibility remains an issue, but we remain confident in our business model," said Kershaw.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.

• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

Thomas Cook is on the rise for the second day running following an upbeat trading statement, with winter and summer bookings both up.

The shares benefited yesterday from a similar positive report from rival Tui Travel, as well as an upgrade from analysts at HSBC.

Today they have climbed another 4.9p to 261p as the company said UK sales of summer holidays were up 30% in the last four weeks, with cumulative bookings ahead of planned capacity levels. The winter programme was 91% sold, it added.

There was a note of caution from some of the company's analyst followers, however. Mark Brumby at Langton Capital said:

The picture, as with TUI Travel yesterday, is one of a market that, though somewhat fragile, continues to improve. Any emergency Budget after the general election, tax rises Europe-wide, interest rate increases and the World Cup will not help but both Thos Cook and TUI have made the right moves and the market is currently moving in the right direction.

Nick Batram at KBC Peel Hunt, who has a hold recommendation on the company, said:

As with Tui Travel, the group has reported a continued recovery in all key areas. This suggests that the 20% discount to Tui Travel is a bit harsh. However, Thomas Cook still has to refinance its debt by the year-end. This it will do, but at what cost? We also have concerns about UK consumer demand post the general election.

Overall there was no real post budget hangover. The FTSE 100 is currently up 8.10 points at 5685.98, helped by news of a debt restructuring in Dubai and ahead of an EU meeting on Greece, US jobs and UK retail sales. Owen Ireland at ODL Securities said:

Following a budget that was more political jostling than strong economic leadership, the markets appeared to take everything with a pinch of salt. The focus for today will be the start of the EU meeting in Brussels, and US job data. Whilst we have enjoyed the rally, it has naturally increased calls from market bears that we need to be cautious, and bear in mind mistakes of the past.

Retailers have been lifted by positive results from Next, up 105p to £21.75, which has helped Marks & Spencer climb 5.7p to 362.2p. But B&Q; owner Kingfisher was not so lucky following its update, down 2.8p to 225.7p. But the retail sales figures due out shortly could change all that one way or the other.

Meanwhile British Airways climbed 6p to 251.5p on hopes that a merger deal with Iberia - whose board is due to meet today - could be announced imminently.

Swimming pool repair trainee needed immediately. No experience necessary.

Must be available Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Job hours are approximately 6am - 2pm depending upon the work load. Some Saturdays may be needed during the summer months. Must have reliable transportation but not needed for the job. You will be spending the day riding in our commercial vehicle. Must have a valid drivers license with no history of bad driving or dui's. Must be able to lift 50+ lbs. Must be willing and eager to learn. Wage is $8.50 per hour.

Take this opportunity to learn a trade from the very best.

Please DO NOT apply if you cannot show up for work EVERY DAY and on time. Will not tolerate absence or tardiness.
Please DO NOT apply if you do not speak English.

This position is permanent but will start with a two week trial basis to ensure that both parties are happy and content. If you are interested, please contact Ralph at 619.662.1223 after 3 pm or email at ralphpoolman@cox.net.

You do want to take some measures to prevent lost luggage on your trip. Lost luggage is a nightmare you really don’t want to deal with when you’re starting your long awaited holiday. Here are some tips to prevent lost luggage: The absolute best way to keep from losing your luggage it to [...]

One of the most important resources the social entrepreneurship field has, believe it or not, are entrepreneurs with social aims who don't associate themselves with the field at all. If we're looking for ways to push the "beyond profit" mentality into the mainstream, I'm making a bet on this unaligned cohort.

Check out this video from Supercool School at the annual DEMO pitch conference in Palm Springs, CA (embedded below). Think about the words it uses. They want to "decentralize and democratize education the whole industry, by empowering everyone to create an online school with the simple click of a button." While the investors at DEMO may have heard "industry disruption = big profits," I know for a fact that the entrepreneurs behind Supercool School are thinking, "Here is a great big problem that must be solved. Let's do it."

And the problems with our education system are exactly the type that demand entrepreneurship. To stop strip-mining children for particular aptitudes, to help teach students now only how to read but to love to read and to prepare a new generation for the technical challenge of a new era -- as well as the moral challenges that accompany it -- we have to have a revolution.

That revolution needs to invoke a paradigm shift. It means we have to stop thinking about education as something that only happens between 9-2pm on school days. It means we have to move from a Manichean teacher vs. student perspective to the assumption that everyone has something to teach, and everyone has something to learn. The revolution also needs a mechanism that enables people to live the new paradigm. It needs a commons in which everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher, and where people who were failed by "traditional" education can find their love of learning.

That's the fence that Supercool School is swinging for. They're not interested in providing a nice place to learn a class or two online. They're not trying to build a great system for virtual corporate training that may have some application elsewhere, as well. They want to fucking fix education. Period.

What is the place for them in the social entrepreneurship movement? The entrepreneurs behind Supercool School don't read the Stanford Social Innovation Review. They don't go to the Skoll World Forum. But they sure as hell share the sense that we need big fundamental change to solve big fundamental problems. If we don't find a place for people like them, I think we're missing a big bet.

The broader point extends beyond social enterprise and cuts right to the core of the next generation of entrepreneurs. The way I see it, we need to be asking: Why solve anything other than a great big problem?

When I see a new web startup trying to increase click-thru ad-rates by 10%, it breaks my heart a little. It's not that what they're doing is wrong. But I just can't help but feel like I'm seeing incredible entrepreneurial talent wasted on something that fundamentally doesn't matter much.

Of course that's my bias. It's incredibly dangerous to begin telling people what types of startups are or aren't valuable. Supercool School proves that you don't have to be affiliated with a social movement to create social value. Social value is not always just about solving social problems. The overall growth of the economy is, with the right protections, generally a good thing.

But at the end of the day, the monstrous challenges we face demand such insane amounts of creativity that we need all hands on deck. I can't help but believe that the potential upside -- from the standpoint of personal satisfaction, social impact and in many cases, financial return -- is just so much bigger when you're tackling problems at the heart of what it means to live, work, think, learn and act in the 21st century.

Photo credit: Anonymous9000

Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC P.O. Box Winter Park, Florida, United States click here to view items

Treasure Auction #7: Daniel F. Sedwick, LLC

Wednesday, April 7, 2010	(11:00 AM pacific time)
	(2:00 PM local time)

- SESSION I (Wednesday, April 7, 2pm EDT) Gold coins, shipwreck ingots and coins. > (Lots #1-699) - SESSION II (Thursday, April 8, 2pm EDT) Silver cobs, world silver up to Mexico. > (Lots #700-1451) - SESSION III (Friday, April 9, 2pm EDT) World silver coins starting w/Mexico, artifacts & books. > (Lots #1452-2160) As usual our latest Treasure Auction is full of surprises, but this time we feel it is also very well balanced across many fields, with more general world coins than ever before. Here are some highlights: In great deference to the Sedwick patriarch, for the first time ever we are offering selections from the Frank Sedwick study collection of 1715-Fleet gold cobs, including plate coins from past editions of the Practical Book of Cobs and other pieces never seen or offered for sale, coins that the pioneering “Dr. Cobs” kept as the best examples among thousands that passed through his hands. The unique opportunity to own a “Frank Sedwick” specimen will start in this auction with just two 1715-Fleet masterpieces: The finest-known Lima 4 escudos 1711 and one of the best Lima 8 escudos 1712 ever offered. In the same category of quality as Frank Sedwick’s 1715-Fleet gold cobs is a choice Cuzco cob 2 escudos 1698, a plate coin in Marty Meylach’s classic book Diving to a Flash of Gold. But perhaps most intriguing in the gold cobs this time is a 1715-Fleet Mexican 1 escudo that was flown aboard Apollo 14 in 1971, the only one of its kind. Before this specially engraved coin came to us, we had no idea that the Apollo astronauts included genuine shipwreck treasure in their “flown” souvenirs on their trips to the moon, but apparently the link between NASA and the Real Eight Co. was more than just geographic. We have come to understand that medallions made of 1715-Fleet silver flown to the moon are very hot with space collectors, who will no doubt go crazy for this genuine coin as well, but perhaps the treasure collectors will win out in the end. Highlights in shipwreck silver coins include large offerings of lion daalders from the Campen (1627), Potosí cobs from the Consolación (1681) and the Boticaria site of the 1681 Fleet off Panama (first-ever offering, also with some artifacts, with updated history), and hundreds of choice (and some interestingly shaped) 1715-Fleet Mexican cobs from the estate of Karl H. Goodpaster (Real Eight Co. conservator), as well as hundreds of Mexican cobs from the Rooswijk (1739). The Goodpaster collection in particular will be fun to watch, as nothing is hotter today than Fleet silver cobs! In the non-wreck cobs sections we feature the John Pullin collection of over 150 choice, dated Mexican silver cobs, in addition to Part II of the Mark Bir collection of cobs from Mexico, Lima and Potosi. Also highlighted are the mints of Panama and Santo Domingo, as we feature several Santo Domingo SILVER and copper coins of Charles-Joanna AND Philip II (yes, you read that right) in addition to THREE Panamanian silver cobs (half, 1 and 2 reales), following the record-setting prices for such coins in our last sale. Our Spain-cobs section has an abundance of Ferdinand-Isabel coins in all denominations, including a set once featured in the PLVS VLTRA newsletter. One last surprise: the Louis Hudson collection of zoomorphic cobs. You won’t want to miss it! The world silver coins section this time is massive, featuring the John Pullin collection of Mexican War for Independence silver coins (just in time for this year’s Bicentennial of Mexican Independence), Mark Bir’s milled Spanish colonial coins (various mints) and a HUGE section on all periods of Venezuelan coins (over 100 coins), in addition to many other Latin American countries. Before we get to the artifacts, let’s just say there is a wealth of gold and silver (and even copper) shipwreck ingots too, both Spanish and Dutch (VOC), including the world's ONLY gold-bar clump! This museum-piece features twin, complete bars (each over 1 kilogram and 10+” long) fused in near parallel by white coral, just the way they were found on the “Golden Fleece wreck” of ca. 1550. And then our trademark and exclusive, shipwreck artifacts: This time we will have a genuine bronze astrolabe, the most complete and intact one we have ever handled, fully dated 1656 and well detailed, solid and stable, alidade intact, one of fewer than 80 pieces known and among the best from any wreck. We are also showcasing the famous gold box from the ca.-1810 “Coconut wreck,” the single most important item found in this deep-water salvage venture, as it contained 13 gold coins (a Spanish dowry known as an arras) wrapped in an 1809 newspaper talking about sales of slaves… and yes, the intact newspaper comes with it! There is also a genuine gold chain and massive silver candlestick from the Atocha, emeralds from many different wrecks, swords, flintlocks, and much, much more. It’s over a million dollars’ worth of treasure all in one place, and any part of it can be yours for the high bid… we wish everyone good luck and happy hunting! - A note about the order: As the world’s leading purveyors of New World cobs and shipwreck coins, we have always separated and highlighted our cob and shipwreck offerings from the rest of what we sell. We have preserved that arrangement in our auctions as well, with cobs presented in order of establishment of each mint (the rare and unusual mints at the end) and the shipwreck coins, ingots and artifacts presented in chronological order by wreck.

Flyer distributer needed for midtown. Looking for 2 people to distribute flyers 2-4 hours a day, 3 days a week (you will not be asked to work when it is raining). Shifts available are 11am- 3pm, 12pm- 4pm, and 2pm-5pm.

Ideal candidate must be sociable and pleasant. You must speak English. This is a great gig for a school student looking to make extra money.

Visit our website at www.nywonderland.com

The job pays $8/HR. If you are interested in the position please send an e-mail with your contact information, availability, and a photo. The jobs starts Saturday.

Under Law, Insurance Companies Could Refuse Children With Pre-Existing Conditions WASHINGTON -- Hours after President Barack Obama signed historic health care legislation, a potential problem emerged. Administration officials are now scrambling to fix a gap in highly touted benefits for children. Obama made better coverage for children a centerpiece of his health care remake, but it turns out the letter of the law provided a less-than-complete guarantee that kids with health problems would not be shut out of coverage. Under the new law, insurance companies still would be able to refuse new coverage to children because of a pre-existing medical problem, said Karen Lightfoot, spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the main congressional panels that wrote the bill Obama signed into law Tuesday. However, if a child is accepted for coverage, or is already covered, the insurer cannot exclude payment for treating a particular illness, as sometimes happens now. For example, if a child has asthma, the insurance company cannot write a policy that excludes that condition from coverage. The new safeguard will be in place later this year. Full protection for children would not come until 2014, said Kate Cyrul, a spokeswoman for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, another panel that authored the legislation. That's the same year when insurance companies could no longer deny coverage to any person on account of health problems. Obama's public statements have conveyed the impression that the new protections for kids were more sweeping and straightforward. "This is a patient's bill of rights on steroids," the president said Friday at George Mason University in Virginia. "Starting this year, thousands of uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions will be able to purchase health insurance, some for the very first time. Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions." And Saturday, addressing House Democrats as they approached a make-or-break vote on the bill, Obama said, "This year ... parents who are worried about getting coverage for their children with pre-existing conditions now are assured that insurance companies have to give them coverage -- this year." Late Tuesday, the administration said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius would try to resolve the situation by issuing new regulations. The Obama administration interprets the law to mean that kids can't be denied coverage, as the president has said repeatedly. "To ensure that there is no ambiguity on this point, the secretary of HHS is preparing to issue regulations next month making it clear that the term 'pre-existing exclusion' applies to both a child's access to a plan and his or her benefits once he or she is in the plan for all plans newly sold in this country six months from today," HHS spokesman Nick Papas said. The coverage problem could mainly affect parents who purchase their own coverage for the family, as many self-employed people have to do. Families covered through employer plans typically do not have to worry about being denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Parents whose kids are turned down by an insurer would still have a fallback under the law, even without Sebelius' fix. They could seek coverage through state high-risk insurance pools slated for a major infusion of federal funds. The high-risk pools are intended to serve as a backstop until 2014, when insurers no longer would be able to deny coverage to those in frail health. That same year, new insurance markets would open for business, and the government would begin to provide tax credits to help millions of Americans pay premiums. An insurance industry group says the language in the law that pertains to consumer protections for kids is difficult to parse. "We're taking a closer look at it to see what exactly the requirement will be," said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, the main industry lobby. Scramble Afoot To Fix Gap In Kids' Benefits - Health News Story - WJXT Jacksonville (http://www.news4jax.com/health/22925170/detail.html?treets=jax&tml;=jax_12pm&ts;=T&tmi;=jax_12pm_1_11450103242010)

Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC P.O. Box Winter Park, Florida, United States click here to view items

TREASURE AUCTION #7: Daniel F. Sedwick, LLC

Wednesday, April 7, 2010	(11:00 AM pacific time)
	(2:00 PM local time)

- SESSION I (Wednesday, April 7, 2pm EDT) Gold coins, shipwreck ingots and coins. > (Lots #1-699) - SESSION II (Thursday, April 8, 2pm EDT) Silver cobs, world silver up to Mexico. > (Lots #700-1451) - SESSION III (Friday, April 9, 2pm EDT) World silver coins starting w/Mexico, artifacts & books. > (Lots #1452-2160) As usual our latest Treasure Auction is full of surprises, but this time we feel it is also very well balanced across many fields, with more general world coins than ever before. Here are some highlights: In great deference to the Sedwick patriarch, for the first time ever we are offering selections from the Frank Sedwick study collection of 1715-Fleet gold cobs, including plate coins from past editions of the Practical Book of Cobs and other pieces never seen or offered for sale, coins that the pioneering “Dr. Cobs” kept as the best examples among thousands that passed through his hands. The unique opportunity to own a “Frank Sedwick” specimen will start in this auction with just two 1715-Fleet masterpieces: The finest-known Lima 4 escudos 1711 and one of the best Lima 8 escudos 1712 ever offered. In the same category of quality as Frank Sedwick’s 1715-Fleet gold cobs is a choice Cuzco cob 2 escudos 1698, a plate coin in Marty Meylach’s classic book Diving to a Flash of Gold. But perhaps most intriguing in the gold cobs this time is a 1715-Fleet Mexican 1 escudo that was flown aboard Apollo 14 in 1971, the only one of its kind. Before this specially engraved coin came to us, we had no idea that the Apollo astronauts included genuine shipwreck treasure in their “flown” souvenirs on their trips to the moon, but apparently the link between NASA and the Real Eight Co. was more than just geographic. We have come to understand that medallions made of 1715-Fleet silver flown to the moon are very hot with space collectors, who will no doubt go crazy for this genuine coin as well, but perhaps the treasure collectors will win out in the end. Highlights in shipwreck silver coins include large offerings of lion daalders from the Campen (1627), Potosí cobs from the Consolación (1681) and the Boticaria site of the 1681 Fleet off Panama (first-ever offering, also with some artifacts, with updated history), and hundreds of choice (and some interestingly shaped) 1715-Fleet Mexican cobs from the estate of Karl H. Goodpaster (Real Eight Co. conservator), as well as hundreds of Mexican cobs from the Rooswijk (1739). The Goodpaster collection in particular will be fun to watch, as nothing is hotter today than Fleet silver cobs! In the non-wreck cobs sections we feature the John Pullin collection of over 150 choice, dated Mexican silver cobs, in addition to Part II of the Mark Bir collection of cobs from Mexico, Lima and Potosi. Also highlighted are the mints of Panama and Santo Domingo, as we feature several Santo Domingo SILVER and copper coins of Charles-Joanna AND Philip II (yes, you read that right) in addition to THREE Panamanian silver cobs (half, 1 and 2 reales), following the record-setting prices for such coins in our last sale. Our Spain-cobs section has an abundance of Ferdinand-Isabel coins in all denominations, including a set once featured in the PLVS VLTRA newsletter. One last surprise: the Louis Hudson collection of zoomorphic cobs. You won’t want to miss it! The world silver coins section this time is massive, featuring the John Pullin collection of Mexican War for Independence silver coins (just in time for this year’s Bicentennial of Mexican Independence), Mark Bir’s milled Spanish colonial coins (various mints) and a HUGE section on all periods of Venezuelan coins (over 100 coins), in addition to many other Latin American countries. Before we get to the artifacts, let’s just say there is a wealth of gold and silver (and even copper) shipwreck ingots too, both Spanish and Dutch (VOC), including the world's ONLY gold-bar clump! This museum-piece features twin, complete bars (each over 1 kilogram and 10+” long) fused in near parallel by white coral, just the way they were found on the “Golden Fleece wreck” of ca. 1550. And then our trademark and exclusive, shipwreck artifacts: This time we will have a genuine bronze astrolabe, the most complete and intact one we have ever handled, fully dated 1656 and well detailed, solid and stable, alidade intact, one of fewer than 80 pieces known and among the best from any wreck. We are also showcasing the famous gold box from the ca.-1810 “Coconut wreck,” the single most important item found in this deep-water salvage venture, as it contained 13 gold coins (a Spanish dowry known as an arras) wrapped in an 1809 newspaper talking about sales of slaves… and yes, the intact newspaper comes with it! There is also a genuine gold chain and massive silver candlestick from the Atocha, emeralds from many different wrecks, swords, flintlocks, and much, much more. It’s over a million dollars’ worth of treasure all in one place, and any part of it can be yours for the high bid… we wish everyone good luck and happy hunting! - A note about the order: As the world’s leading purveyors of New World cobs and shipwreck coins, we have always separated and highlighted our cob and shipwreck offerings from the rest of what we sell. We have preserved that arrangement in our auctions as well, with cobs presented in order of establishment of each mint (the rare and unusual mints at the end) and the shipwreck coins, ingots and artifacts presented in chronological order by wreck.

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(Reuters) - Two days after shutting its Chinese portal over censorship, Google Inc said it plans to phase out deals to provide filtered search services to other online or mobile firms in China.

LINK TO ORIGINAL

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The Google-China conflict will very likely be viewed as a major ideological watershed by historians of the future. The battle line is clearly drawn--free speech or not, open Internet or not. The contestants are each major players on the world stage. The one is the shrewd emperor using traditional methods of social control, while the other is an upstart that represents much of what is non-traditional in today's world. One is China, one the USA. Free speech is now a major, global ideological battle. Will Australia and Canada continue to play the roles of buffoons on the world stage with their newly minted Internet filters and hate speech laws? "A wise horse knows when to back up." China may back up, but probably won't. I doubt Google will. Will Australia and Canada come to their senses? What about Europe? The world has not seen a good, healthy ideological battle in some time. This is a clean fight with well-defined issues. Will what used to be called the "free world" come down on the side of freedom, or will it side with China? Opening round: Google-1, China-0. ABN

Ask ten different people about the state of the Cowboys receiving corps these days and you'll likely get eleven different answers. And it would definitely be a mixed bag of answers. Some might focus on the very public struggles of Roy Williams, others on Miles Austin's breakout season, others again might lecture you on Dez Bryant or Golden Tate or Jacoby Ford - or on all three.

The simple answer would be to look at the usual stats. Here's what the raw stats for the four top Cowboys receivers looked like in 2009:

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2009	Receptions	Yards	Average	TDs
Miles Austin	81	1,320	16.3	11
Jason Witten	94	1,030	11.0	2
Patrick Crayton	37	622	16.8	5
Roy Williams	38	596	15.7	7

We've long held that the NFL is becoming more and more of a passing league. With a casual glance at the table above, it may not have struck you as particularly noteworthy that the 2009 Cowboys had two 1,000+ yards receivers, but in fact, this is only the fourth time in franchise history that this has happened. The other three seasons were 1979 (Tony Hill, Drew Pearson), 2006 (Owens, Glenn) and 2007 (Owens, Witten).

Were the Cowboys’ receivers individually as good as the overall stats suggest? Does Miles Austin really stand head and shoulders above the rest, is Patrick Crayton only half as good as Austin, how big a disappointment was Roy Williams and whatever happened to Jason Witten's touchdowns? Follow me as we turn the all seeing eye of Expected Points Value (EPV) on our receivers to uncover the truth behind the stats.

Go back to one of my previous posts if you would like a refresher on EPV.

Before digging into the individual receiver stats, please keep in mind that the EPV I'm using in these posts is the value of each play, not the value of each player. As I look at the player stats, what I'm actually doing is adding up the value of each play a player was involved in according to the play-by-play of the NFL game books. This is important because football is a team sport, and the credit or blame for each pass is shared by the receiver, the O-line, the coaching, opposing defenses and many others.

There is one important area in which I deviate from this rule as I look at receivers: Interceptions and turnovers on downs. I gave the full penalty of an interception to the overall passing game numbers, but am leaving it out of for the receivers. That's because you don't always know, on an interception, who the ball was intended for. In the game books, the scorer has to make a judgment call, but when the ball is tipped or overthrown for instance, who really knows where that ball was supposed to go?

More often than not, an interception really is a poor decision by the QB, despite the opinion of QBs that the receiver may have run the wrong route. And there's no way I could 'credit' Witten with that fluke bounce of the ball off his foot into the arms Kenny Phillips in the first Giants game last year.

The overall passing game numbers shake out as follows: The official records show 550 pass attempts. Two spikes, nine interceptions and two passing turnovers on downs - out the window. Leaves us with 537 pass attempts for the analysis, of which five passes have 'n.a.' as a target, because not even the official scorers had the slightest clue who those balls were intended for, and fans in the stands don't count as receivers.

The value of the Dallas Cowboys receivers

My good friend M. Excel and I have charted every single pass play of the 2009 season. The numbers below are the average value of a pass thrown to each Cowboys receiver. Rather than simply comparing quantitative stats like numbers of catches or total yards (not very helpful for comparing players), these figures show the average value that each play involving a Cowboys receiver generated for the team. And everything's factored in: those blown routes by Roy Williams? In there. Miles Austin's team leading 17 first down conversions on third down? Got 'em. The incomplete short lob to Martellus Bennett in the end zone against the Panthers? Look no further.

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EPV by Receiver
Player/Position	Pass Att.	EPV/PA	Player/Position	Pass Att.	EPV/PA
All Receivers	537	0.39	Halfbacks/FB	82	0.06
			Marion Barber	35	0.14
Wide Receivers	290	0.54	Tashard Choice	22	0.07
Kevin Ogletree	8	1.25	Felix Jones	22	-0.02
Miles Austin	122	0.66	Deon Anderson	3	-0.33
Patrick Crayton	65	0.62	Tight Ends	160	0.32
Sam Hurd	10	0.56	Jason Witten	121	0.44
Roy Williams	85	0.23	John Phillips	9	0.17
			Martellus Bennett	30	-0.09

 

So what can we deduce from this chart? Miles Austin rocks, Roy Williams is overpaid, Kevin Ogletree should see more playing time, Jason Witten had a disappointing year and that throwing to our running backs is not the best idea? On the surface, yes. But stay with me as we break the numbers down a little further.

The curious case of Jason Witten. Despite posting 1,030 receiving yards ('merely' the 19th best TE season in the Super Bowl era), there seems to be this nagging meme in Cowboys nation that Witten had a sub-par year. Perhaps this is because he had only 2 TD receptions last year, perhaps it's because of the uncharacteristically high seven false start penalties he accrued, perhaps it's something else altogether. And his EVP of 0.44, a lot lower than Austin and Crayton, seems to bear this out.

But the devil is in the details and the details in this case clearly are his lack of touchdowns. If we were to level the playing field between our receivers even further than we're already doing with EVP, and exclude all touchdown receptions from their figures ("No fair", a cry arises from in front of multiple monitors the world over - but it's just to illustrate a point), we end up with the following EVPs for the four top receivers:

1. Crayton: 0.44, 2. Witten: 0.42, 3. Austin: 0.37, 4. Williams: 0.07

We'll return to Crayton's and Williams' numbers a little further down, but it's pretty clear that Witten's numbers suffered from a lack of touchdowns. Why the Cowboys chose to ignore one of their most potent offensive weapons on touchdown plays continues to baffle me.

In an interview with CBSSports.com Witten said that only scoring two touchdowns in 2009 was frustrating, but overall he felt he had a tremendous year, finishing with the second best totals of his career in catches and yards. "I thought I had a good year," Witten said. "I didn't get in the end zone as much as I liked. You want to be that guy that makes those critical plays."

Kevin Ogletree or how to get great EVP numbers. As always with this data beware of the very small sample size behind some of these numbers. But still, one thing is undeniable - the few times Ogletree was called on, he delivered. Of eight passes thrown his way, he caught seven. The seven catches all came in situations with nine or more yards to go. Five of the seven catches resulted in first downs. We'll see if this short but impressive résumé is enough to get him more playing time in 2010.

Roy Williams: Red zone threat? As we've seen above, outside of his seven touchdowns, RWs performance really wasn't anything to write home about (of course, I haven't factored in his downfield blocking, which by now has attained superhero proportions). Now, if RW were a legitimate red zone threat, perhaps we could all learn to live with him, but is he?

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2009	Crayton	Williams	Witten	Austin
Pass Attempts	11	15	6	20
Red zone TDs	4	6	2	3
Red Zone EPV	0.75	0.35	0.26	0.18

Again, beware of the low sample sizes, but it looks like Roy Williams' production in the red zone, from a purely numerical point of view, could be taken up by Crayton and Witten without the Cowboys missing a beat.

Are our halfbacks really that bad? The EVP numbers seem to suggest that the Dallas halfbacks add little value to the passing game. And that is true. But it's not because the Dallas halfbacks can't catch the ball, far from it:

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	Pass Att.	CMP	CMP %	1st down	1st down%
Barber	35	26	74%	10	29%
Jones	22	19	86%	5	23%
Choice	22	15	68%	6	27%

All three halfbacks have very good to excellent completion percentages. But the passes to the halfbacks result in a first down (or TD) on less than a third of the passes. For comparison, Austin and Crayton are both close to 50 percent. And because EPV places a premium on conversions for a first down, the EPV numbers for our halfbacks are low.

I have no idea how many of the passes to the halfbacks were actually designed plays, my guess would be not that many. Now, if the majority of the passes to the halfbacks were thrown their way because no one else was open, then the EPV number is actually quite ok, because it effectively says that throwing to the halfbacks did not negatively affect the overall Cowboys game, but in fact maintained the value of the drive. Not at all shabby for the fourth or fifth read in the QBs progression.

The amazing Patrick Crayton. There. I said it. Patrick Crayton had an excellent year in terms of EPV, and whatever else you might think, there's little doubt that as a slot receiver he added significant value to the Cowboys games.

Going in to this analysis I had expected Patrick Crayton to come away with so-so numbers. Boy, was I surprised. The plays that involved Patrick Crayton generated nearly as much value for the Cowboys as plays involving Miles Austin. This does not mean that he would be able to replicate these numbers as the number one or two receiver on the team, but as a slot receiver, he did an exceptional, if under-appreciated, job.

In the next and final installment on the passing game we'll break down our top receivers further. Who was Romo's security blanket last season, who was the guy who got it done up the middle, and why all the love for Patrick Crayton?

[Hat tip to Brian Burke at advancednflstats.com for providing the EPV data]

It’s spring, and my thoughts turn to vinyl. April 17th marks the fourth annual Record Store Day [1]. [Record Store Day] is a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally.…this is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music . Between marking this on my calendar yesterday and reading some of the comments on my post about the eventual demise of the CD, I spent a good portion of a rather restless night thinking about records. [2]My first “record” wasn’t vinyl at all, but an Archies record [3] that I punched out of the back of a cereal box.  No one would let me play it on their stereo. Not my parents, not my cousins, not even the next door neighbor. No one would dare let their precious needle touch a piece of cardboard pretending to be a record. I suspect now that it wasn’t so much the cardboard as it was the Archies themselves. I ended up listening to it on a Fisher-Price record player. I was given real records after that – Partridge Family and Bobby Sherman collections and a few children’s albums. But they were just novelties. My real love affair with vinyl began when I was nine, when an older cousin introduced me to The Who’s Tommy. I remember pulling the record out of its sleeve as my cousin showed me how to properly handle a album.  He placed my hands around the edge of the record, explaining about fingerprints and dust and grooves.  He showed me how to drop the record on the turntable. Until then, I had been using the Fisher Price system and was a bit haphazard about how I handled my cardboard records. My cousin was almost reverent about it, holding the edges with his palm, placing the album gently on the turntable, dropping the needle on the groove by hand because he didn't trust the automatic arm to do it right. He turned the volume up. The unmistakable crackle and hiss of needle upon vinyl filled the room. My love for vinyl was born at that moment. I’ve been through all the phases of music storage since – 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, digital – and none of those storage mediums have the character of vinyl. I’m not an audiophile by any means. When I say vinyl is the best form of music, it has nothing to do with how clean or pure the sound is; it’s about my sensory  relationship with albums. The way a record feels in my hands, the symmetry and pattern of the grooves, even the imperfections  - the scratches and skips – are part of what makes vinyl matter so much to me and what makes each individual album unique to its owner.  The way my copy of Led Zeppelin IV had a little pop at the start and in my mind, it became the intro to the song, the thing I hear right before Robert Plant’s Hey, hey mama.  Or how my mother’s copy of Sgt. Pepper had a scratch in it and to this day I can’t hear A Day in the Life without singing found my way up…found my way up…found my way upstairs. Some might view those things as flaws. To me, they are part of the charm and personality of vinyl. [4]Purple Rain on purple vinyl (photo by me) Can CDs or digital offer you the artistry of records? Album covers framed and hung on the wall like pictures at an exhibition. Colored vinyl and picture discs turning your music into a work of art.  In 1980, I bought True Colors by Split Enz and was endlessly entranced by the laser etching in the vinyl [5] that made it seem full of colorful prisms.  Later, I would work in a record store and spend my entire paycheck each week on seven inch imports [6], a reminder of my days of collecting 45s.  Each record had its own character, a specific memory attached to it – memories that were made of more than just sound. There’s the feel of the record, the sight of it, things so ingrained in the experience of listening to vinyl that just walking into a record store is like opening up a time machine. I’ve never met a CD that made me fall in love with it like a record. I’ll still love the music, but the CD is just a container for that music, where a record is part of the entire music experience. It’s good to see that records are making a comeback [7]. More and more bands are including album versions in their new releases. Turntables are selling again. A new generation is learning to embrace vinyl.  I hope they appreciate the imperfections that make records so, well, perfect. Last year on Record Store Day I bought Radiohead’s The Bends [8]. This year I’m hoping to pick up Queens of the Stone Age – Feel Good Hit of the Summer EP, just one of a slew of special releases in honor of Record Store Day [9]. Find a participating store near you [10]. Josh Homme: Record Store Day Ambassador - [1] http://recordstoreday.com/Home [2] http://trueslant.com/michelecatalano/files/2010/03/Tommy-The-Who.jpg [3] http://farm1.static.flickr.com/44/170715600_d3dc98f437.jpg?v=1150747569 [4] http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3382/3581728984_c86cb29b24.jpg [5] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/33/Splitenz_etchedvinyl.png/792px-Splitenz_etchedvinyl.png [6] http://www.flickr.com/photos/asv/1890463604/in/set-72157618733972460/ [7] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/nyregion/07vinyl.html?_r=2&src=twt&twt=nytimes [8] http://www.flickr.com/photos/asv/3455628556/ [9] http://www.recordstoreday.com/templates/Store/pretty_new/rsd/RSD_2010_RELEASES_WEBSITE.pdf [10] http://www.recordstoreday.com/Venues

Whooooa Man

The HP Officejet Pro L7680 Color All-in-One. It’s not a bad trip. Can you dig it? Can you?

Every HP Officejet Pro L7680 Color All-in-One is a self-sufficient reality on the edge of consciousness. It’s a wild journey to the center of the place where your mind is born, and back again. When you start printing, faxing, scanning, man! You’ll be slipping into a new dimension of honesty and truth.

 How do you feel? You don’t yet know how you feel. Not truly. Let the HP Officejet Pro L7680 Color All-in-One open your perceptions and take you to a place you’ve never even thought about. The HP Officejet Pro L7680 Color All-in-One will turn you inside out and take you to the center of the being you think you want to call you.

Warranty: 1 Year HP

Features:

• Professional quality color, 12ppm black and 10 ppm color in laser quality
• 35 ppm black and 34 ppm color maximum print speed
• Replaceable print heads
• 8.5×14 inch maximum scan size at 2400×4800 dpi
• Reduce or enlarge documents from 25% to 400% from their original size
• Stores up to 125 faxed in memory, even when powered off
• 2.4 inch color display
• Built in Ethernet networking
• Memory card compatibility
• 250 sheet paper tray, 50 sheet automatic document feeder, and automatic two-sided printing
• Scan and store directly to memory devices or network folders with Direct Digital Filing

HP Photo Book Features:

• Gives you everything you need to create professional-looking, customized photo books right at home
• 12 glossy sheets of HP Advanced Photo Paper
• Cloth, hardcover book
• HP Photosmart Essential design software
• Print and insert up to 100 pages, so you can keep on adding to your photo book whenever you have new photos or special items you want to include
• HP Photosmart Essential gives you a ton of easy layouts and themes (over 70 combinations) for customizing your photo pages

HP Bluetooth USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter Features:

• Wirelessly connect your Bluetooth-enabled devices to your PC and Bluetooth-compatible printer
• Wirelessly transfer documents, photos, music, and email to your PC from your Bluetooth-enabled devices
• Wireless print documents, email, text messages, photos, and graphics-just plug the adapter in any HP-Bluetooth enabled printer
• Connect up to seven Bluetooth-enabled devices within a range of 30' with EDR
• Compatible with Microsoft 2000, XP, Vista, and Mac OS X

 

Specifications:

All-in-One Functions
Color printing Color copying Color scanning Color faxing
Black-and-white printing Black-and-white copying Black-and-white scanning Black-and-white faxing
Print Technology
HP Thermal Inkjet
Print Resolution
Black:	Up to 1200x1200 dpi
Color:	Up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi Color when printing on premium photo paper; 1200 x 1200 dpi input
Print Speed
Black:	Maximum 35 ppm
Color:	Maximum 34 ppm
Black Laser Quality:	Up to 12 ppm
Color Laser Quality:	Up to 10 ppm
4 x 6 in photo:	As fast as 90 seconds
Print Capabilities
Direct Print Supported:	Yes (memory cards, PictBridge cameras)
Borderless printing supported:	Up to 8.5 x 11 inches
Duty Cycle (monthly, letter)
Up to 7500 pages
Printer Languages
HP PCL 3 GUI
Fax Resolution
Up to 300 x 300 dpi
Fax Features
33.9 kbps 3 sec per page Delayed sending supported Junk Barrier Distinctive ring detection Auto redialing PC interface Fax polling Fax forwarding Auto fax reduction Color faxing
Fax memory:	Up to 125 pages
Maximum speed dialing numbers:	Up to 99 numbers
Scan Type
Flatbed ADF
Scan Resolution
Hardware:	Up to 2400 x 4800 dpi
Optical:	Up to 2400 x 4800 dpi
Enhanced:	Up to 19200 dpi
Bit depth:	48-bit
Grayscale Levels:	256
Scan Input Modes
Front-panel scan (scan-to-application) Copy Fax Digital Archive (scan to network folder) HP Solutions Center software TWAIN/WIA
Scan Size Maximum
8.5 x 14 in (215.9 x 355.6 mm)
Copy Features
Maximum number of copies:	Up to 99 copies
Copy scaling:	25 to 400%
Copy Resolution
Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi
Copy Speed
Black:	Up to 35 cpm
Color:	Up to 34 cpm
Copier Settings
Copies Lighness/Darkness Reduce/Enlarge Quality Collation Margin shift Tray select
External IO Ports
Hi-Speed USB 2.0 10/100Base-T Wired Ethernet PictBridge RJ-11 fax
Network Ready
Standard
Digital Send
File Formats:	PDF JPEG
Send to network folder Programmable speed dials for network folder paths
Memory Card Compatibility
CompactFlash Type I and II Memory Stick Secure Digital MultiMediaCard Secure MultiMediaCard xD-Picture Card
Paper Handling
Input:	250 sheet input tray Up to 600 sheets with 350 sheet optional tray (sold separately) 50 sheet automatic document feeder (ADF)
Output:	150 sheet output tray
Input capacities:	Up to 250 sheets (letter, legal) Up to 70 trasnparencies Up to 70 sheets photo paper Up to 80 cards Up to 30 envelopes
Output capacities:	Up to 150 sheets (letter, legal) Up to 60 transparencies Up to 60 cards Up to 15 envelopes
Two-sided Print Options
Automatic
Media Types
Paper (plain, inkjet, photo, banner) Envelopes Labels Cards (index, greeting) Transparencies
Media Sizes Supported
Letter Legal Statement Executive 3 x 5 in 4 x 6 in 5 x 7 in 5 x 8 in 4 x 10 in 4 x 11 in 4 x 12 in 8 x 10 in Envelopes (No. 10, Monarch, DL)
Media Weight Supported (US)
Tray 1:	16 to 28 lb (plain media) 16 to 110 lb (special media) Up to 110 lb (index cards) Tray 2: 16 to 28 lb (plain media)
Metric Tray:	60 to 105 g/m2 (plain media) 60 to 200 g/m2 (special media) Up to 200 g/m2 (cards media) Tray 2: 60 to 105 g/m2 (plain media)
Media Weight Recommended
20 to 24 lb (75 to 90 g/m2)
Custom Media Sizes
3 x 5 to 8.5 x 14 in (76 x 127 to 216 x 356 mm)
Print Cartridges
4:	Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
Print Heads:	Black/Yellow Cyan/Magenta
Display
2.4-inch CGD
Memory
64MB RAM 16MB ROM 4MB Flash
Dimensions (w x d x h)
20.91 x18.35 x 14.02 in (531 x 466 x356 mm)
Weight
34.94 lb (15.85 kg)
Power
Power supply type:	External
Input voltage:	100 to 240 VAC (=/-10%) 50 to 60 Hz (+/- 3Hz)
Power Consumption:	10 watts (sleep) 15 watts (ready)
Power Consumption when Printing or Active	29 watts (printing) 33 watts (Fax/copy)
Replacement Ink Cartridges
HP 88 Black Officejet Ink Cartridge (~850 pages), C9385A HP 88 Cyan Officejet Ink Cartridge (composite yield ~900 pages) HP 88 Magenta Officejet Ink Cartridge (composite yield ~900 pages) HP 88 Yellow Officejet Ink Cartridge (composite yield ~900 pages) HP 88XL Black Officejet Ink Cartridge, (~2450 pages), C9396A HP 88XL Cyan Officejet Ink Cartridge (composite yield ~1700 pages) HP 88XL Magenta Officejet Ink Cartridge (composite yield ~1700 pages) HP 88XL Yellow Officejet Ink Cartridge (composite yield ~1700 pages) HP 88 Black and Yellow Printhead, C9381A HP 88 Magenta and Cyan Printhead, C9382A

In the box:

• HP Officejet Pro L7680
• HP Photo Books
• HP USB Bluetooth Dongle
  
• Power Cable
• Ethernet Cable
• Phone Cable
• Duplexer
• Bezel
• Yellow 9ml C9388A Ink Cartridge
• Magenta 9ml C9387A Ink Cartridge
• Cyan 9ml C9386A Ink Cartridge
• Black 20.5ml C9385S Ink Cartridge
• Black/Yellow Print Head C9381A
• Magenta/Cyan Print Head C9382A
• Installation CD

Several weeks ago, I compared the draft to a crapshoot, in which luck was as important as skill in determining success in the NFL draft.  While I still believe this to be the case, I also believe there are teams that do gamble better than others. So maybe I should change my analogy to Blackjack.  Even though you might demonstrate more skill than the other guys, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to win.  

Part of this change in perspective is due to a recent study by Pro Football Weekly (PFW).  In their 2010 Draft Guide, the magazine took at look at each team's drafts during the 5-year period of 2004-2008.  It looked at several benchmarks for success, but the benchmark that was the most interesting and useful was each team's breakdown for all 7 rounds of the draft in the following 3 categories:

     1) Percentage of Players Drafted On The Roster

     2) Percentage of Players Drafted Who Were Starters

     3) Percentage of Players Who Made At Least One Pro-Bowl

In my limited research, I added two other data points:

     4) Win-Loss Record For Each Team During this Period (2004-2008)

     5)  Average Draft Selection (all draft picks) For Each Team During this Period (2004-2008)

With these additional considerations, and if one believes PFW, one should be able to give a general overview of teams that have done a good job through the draft of filling their rosters, filling their starting lineups, developing draft picks into pro-bowlers, and lastly, translating these drafts into wins.  Additionally, we'll be able to see who's been doing it with less or more resources (high draft picks).    Finally, we'll see how our own Denver Broncos have faired against the rest of the league.  

So, which teams hit 21?  And do the Broncos always bust?   Bring your chips to the other side of the jump and let's find out (Raiders fans, leave your firearms at the door).

The Data

Here are the results of the PFW study of every team's draft from 2004-2008 through rounds 1-7, along with my additional data points over the same period:

table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;} .tableizer-table th {background-color: #060C12; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}

TEAM	% Still on Roster	% of starters	% pro-bowlers	Winning %	Avg. Draft Pick  (#)
ARI	50.00	28.10	6.30	41.25%	102
ATL	47.60	26.10	4.80	51.25%	125
BAL	57.10	26.20	4.80	55.00%	133
BUF	55.30	31.60	2.60	43.75%	129
CAR	56.10	22.00	2.40	56.25%	125
CHI	50.00	19.10	7.10	56.25%	129
CIN	38.60	13.60	0.00	48.10%	128
CLE	38.90	25.00	8.30	35.00%	127
DAL	50.00	26.30	10.50	57.50%	125
DEN	38.90	16.70	5.60	58.75%	124
DET	33.30	13.90	2.80	26.25%	107
GB	59.20	26.60	2.00	51.25%	127
HOU	47.20	33.30	11.10	38.75%	128
IND	50.00	27.30	6.80	78.75%	139
JAC	40.00	25.00	0.00	56.25%	128
KC	38.10	21.40	2.40	40.00%	128
MIA	42.10	21.10	5.30	38.75%	131
MIN	38.20	20.60	2.90	51.25%	113
NE	31.70	19.50	7.30	78.75%	132
NO	44.10	32.40	5.90	45.00%	122
NYG	66.70	36.40	12.10	58.75%	124
NYJ	44.70	23.70	13.20	46.25%	128
OAK	46.20	28.20	0.00	25.00%	121
PHI	44.70	23.40	4.30	58.23%	134
PIT	42.50	30.00	2.50	70.00%	130
SD	55.30	34.20	18.40	67.50%	128
SEA	54.10	24.30	2.70	56.25%	128
SF	53.30	31.10	6.70	31.25%	125
STL	41.00	25.00	2.30	33.75%	135
TB	38.30	23.40	2.10	47.50%	142
TEN	43.10	15.70	7.80	50.00%	128
WAS	54.80	22.60	6.50	47.50%	139
AVG	46.60	24.81	5.55	50.00%	127

 

Let's walk through Denver as our example so that we can better understand the data.   Over the course of 2004-2008, 38.9% of Denver's draft picks were on the roster during the same period.  16.7% of Denver's draft picks were starters. Lastly, 5.6% of Denver's draft picks made the Pro-Bowl at least once during that period.  This translated to a 58.75% winning percentage.  During this 5-year span, Denver's average pick in the draft was the 124th pick (rounded).  

At once, what should immediately strike you from this data is Denver's relative lack of success when compared to the league average in all categories.  On average, 46.60% of those players drafted by all teams were making their respective rosters.  Almost 25% were becoming starters.  Although Denver's winning percentage was higher than the league average over this 5-year period, and they had more highly-valued draft picks, they were simply not drafting players who were making the roster or becoming starters at the same rate as other teams.   

This lends some credence to the widely-held view of Mike Shanahan as coach versus Mike Shanahan as General Manager. Shanahan was winning despite his draft skills, not because of them.  But we'll return to this in a moment.  

Denver's lack of draft success is especially crippling when comparing it to that of the San Diego Chargers, who have dominated the AFC West over this same 5-year span.  55.30% of San Diego's draft picks were on their roster. Over 34% became starters.  A whopping 18.40% of the Chargers' draft picks became pro-bowlers.  And despite the fact that their average pick in the draft was 128 (slightly worse than the league average), the Chargers were winning 68% percent of their games.  A.J. Smith may be may things, but apparently, from this data, the creep can roll, man.    

The New York Giants were extremely impressive with respect to these benchmarks.  Almost 67% of the players they drafted were on their roster, 36.4% became starters, and 12% became Pro-Bowlers.  This translated into a winning percentage of 58.75%.  

Drafting Does Not Equal Winning

One might expect those teams that, in generally, had a higher percentage of draft picks on their rosters, as starters, and as pro-bowlers would also have the highest winning percentage.  Certainly, PFW suggests as much:

"The following study, which spans drafts from 2004-08 and analyzes drafting proficiency through a myriad of categories, only confirms what has long been suspected--a correlation exists between draft quality and on-field success."  

p. 12.

But this not the case.  In fact, the team that won the most games during this 5-year period, the New England Patriots, actually had the lowest percentage of their draft picks on their roster and were well below the league average with respect to draft picks who became starters.  

To further test this concept, I ran a series of linear regressions to see if there was any actual statistical correlation (everyone now: correlation is not causation) between these benchmarks and team winning percentage.  Of the three different categories, only the percentage-of-players-as-starters had a moderate correlation to winning percentage (.529) over the 5-year period.  However, when I tested this regression with p-values, the statistical correlation was no more significant than a random sample.  So there goes the claim that winning is correlated to the percentage of your draft picks who become starters or who become pro-bowlers. Neither translates to winning in the NFL--at least from this data set.

Why?  I speculate that there are several reasons.  First and foremost, winning in the NFL is extremely complex.  The three benchmarks with which PFW graded teams are not sufficient to account for the multitude of factors that contribute to wins. Scheme, team chemistry, injuries, weather, coaching, all of these factors could be considered independent of draft day. Second, free agency plays a role in winning, perhaps more than the draft in some years.  Reggie White, Brett Favre, and others are good examples of this.  Third, one good draft can set a team up for years, but skew the overall draft data.  When the Colts drafted Peyton Manning, they certainly had the luxury of having poorer drafts in subsequent years.  Lastly, the simple rotation of draft picks through one's roster and into the starting lineup doesn't guarantee winning.  Neither does having draft picks make the pro-bowl, which many consider to simply be a popularity contest. Draft quality, like pornography or art, is hard to define.

Overall, the PFW study, although not perfect, is useful, and does illustrate some larger trends.  It clearly confirmed many suspicions about Denver's drafts over the last several years.   However, the magical notion that who the Broncos draft in April will transform the team into champions is a reach.  Coaching, injuries,work ethic, free agency, team chemistry, and yes, a whole mountain of luck will also play a large role.  

So, on draft day, if the Broncos stay on 16 or if they hit, you can rest easy knowing that it may matter less than you think. Or, if you'd prefer, just remember that Al Davis doesn't play Blackjack.  He only plays the slots.  

What do you think of this data and PFW's assertion?  Any teams surprise you?

Thomas Cook is topping the FTSE 100 risers after an upgrade from analysts at HSBC and a positive update from peer Tui Travel.

Tui said it had seen a significant recovery in consumer demand for leisure holidays, with the winter programme almost fully sold and strong summer 2010 bookings. Tui has edged up 0.2p to 304.4p, but Panmure Gordon cut from buy to hold:

Tui Travel's pre-close update is in line with expectations. Winter 2009/10 trading is finishing strongly, with booking volumes ahead of capacity reductions and pricing holding firm in the lates market. Summer 2010 trade continues to show strong volume growth particularly in the UK, France and Nordics. We leave our 2010 forecasts unchanged and retain our 325p price target but downgrade our recommendation from buy to hold on valuation grounds; we prefer Thomas Cook where we have a 315p price target and a buy recommendation.

Thomas Cook - up 6p at 261.8p - also benefited from HSBC's positive tone:

We upgrade our medium term forecasts – a combination of top line and margin upgrades put our 2012 estimated EBITA 16% ahead of consensus. Visibility for 2010 trading is limited, but a recovery in consumer confidence and weak comparisons bode well. Foreign exchange and industry capacity increases remain risks, but are more than priced in on current valuation. We raise our target to 315p from 280p; maintain overweight.

But after a brightish start, the market has begun falling back. The FTSE 100 is now down 19.01 points at 5654.62, not helped by a return of sovereign debt fears as credit agency Fitch lowered its rating on Portugal.

Banks are unsettled by talk of a new bank tax in the budget. Royal Bank of Scotland is up 0.14p at 44.2p but Lloyds Banking Group is 0.11p lower at 62.89p despite being added to Merrill Lynch's European buy list, with analysts saying the share price could double within a couple of years. Merrill said:

We think Lloyds can earn earnings per share of 12p by 2012, generating a return on net asset value of more than 15%. We believe the story of rising margins, falling costs and sharply decreasing bad debts is compelling. Company guidance of a 2010 profit suggests the 2009 net asset value of 58p should mark a floor for the share price. We have increased our top end
pro-forma pretax profit by 5-7% in 2010-12 and now expect a £3.5bn profit in 2010. We are increasing our 12-month price objective to 85p from 80p. Our 2012 estimated some of the parts stands at 122p suggesting the share price could double on a two-year view.

Leading shares rallied during the course of Alistair Darling's budget speech, with banks and housebuilders particularly buoyant.

The FTSE 100, down 10.38 points when the chancellor stood up, had recovered to 5672.01, down just 1.62 points by the time he finished. Meanwhile the pound started at $1.4932, fell back to a two week low of $1.4903 on the borrowing forecasts, and stood at $1.4925 by the end of the speech.

Gilts were also fairly stable during Darling's speech but fell back on news the government planned to sell £187.3bn of gilts in 2010/11, even though this was pretty much in line with expectations.

In the background too was the previous news that Fitch had cut its credit rating on Portugal, reviving sovereign debt fears.

Darling's forecast of borrowing being £11bn lower than forecast this year at £167bn pleased investors, given suggestions of a £8bn change.

Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads, said:

A safe play budget which lacked anything radical but had digs at the Tories and of course attempted to appeal voters by showing the Chancellor was playing with a straight bat.

In attempting to win over voters he didn't raise VAT, capital gains tax and froze inheritance tax.

As a result, whilst the FTSE drifted sideways, the pound/dollar exchange rate continued to fall against the dollar and looks set to weaken further as international investors turn their back on sterling.

Tim Hughes at IG Index said:

There was very little new but there were better numbers on borrowing. Banks responded to the comments on there not being an immediate banking tax.

The banks were also lifted by new lending requirements, with Royal Bank of Scotland up 0.75p to 44.81p and Lloyds Banking Group lifted 1p to 64p.

Housebuilders benefited from the rise in the stamp duty threshold, designed to help first time buyers. Bellway, which also released pleasing results, was 38p better at 757.5p and Persimmon put on 13.2p to 459.2p.

Strangely Magners maker C&C; Group , after an early dip, is up 3.85% despite the 10% hike in cider duty.

Reigning US Match Race Champion to compete in most prestigious match race event in the USLong Beach, CA – Bill Hardesty and his Team CMRC will start competition today in the 46th Congressional Cup, hosted by Long Beach YC. This event is the only ISAF Grade 1 match race regatta in the US, and has had a long tradition of attracting some of the highest-caliber talent in the sport.Hardesty is the 2009 US Match Race Champion and thus is well-qualified to meet the field of ten teams deep in America’s Cup, Olympic, and World Match Race Tour talent.“This is an awesome opportunity, its an honor to be have been invited,” says Hardesty. “And the field here is going to be really tough. But we had a great season last year, my team is really strong, so we’re looking forward to having a great event.”Racing with Hardesty on equally-matched Catalina 37 class yachts is Matt Cassidy, Rod Hagebois, George Peet, Andy Escort, and Andrew Campbell.Team CMRC will compete today through Friday in a double round-robin format, followed by the Semi-Final and Final rounds to be held on Saturday. Skippers in the Congressional Cup will earn valuable Grade 1 points on the ISAF World Match Race Ranking List, a share of the $40,000 prize money purse, as well as a chance to join the elite list of former winners who have been awarded the emblematic prize of the event, the coveted Crimson Blazer.For more information about the Congressional Cup, daily results, photos, live audio, and nightly videos of the day’s action on the water from t2p.tv, visit the event website at www.lbyc.org.http://www.sailkarma.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss Direct Link

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