machine of binding

machine of binding

This is an amazing news about the invention of Espresso Book Machine Pilot that is Launched by Lightning Source Launches.

machine of binding

Assuming the quality of these books are up to Lightning Source's usual high standards, it'd be great if these machines could be located in countries where English is commonly spoken and that are far removed from where they now print books (the U.S. and U.K.)

Lightning Source has launched an Espresso Book Machine pilot program, done in conjunction with On Demand Books, through which select publishers will be able to offer their customers the opportunity to print their titles on the Espresso machines located in bookstores.

The pilot program expands on Lightning's previously announced partnership with no demand books, the company that makes the EBM, a device that works like a copier for books, printing and binding them in a few minutes.

Publishers participating in the pilot, culled from among Lightning's clients, include Simon & Schuster, John Wiley & Sons, Hachette Book Group, McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, University of California Press and Norton. Through the program some 85,000 titles will be available at EBM locations across the country, starting next month.

According to On Demand Books, there are currently five Espresso machines in the U.S. (with 10 others in locations throughout Canada and the U.K.). This, though, will soon change. Dane Neller, CEO of On Demand, said that "within a relatively short period that number will be increasing dramatically." On Demand is releasing a new model of the machine, version 2.0, which will print books faster--roughly four minutes for a 300-page book as opposed to eight minutes--and be offered at a lower price point. Neller added that the Espresso machine can now be leased as well. The 2.0 model will be on display at the London Book Fair.

cessna 421

cessna 421

This is a sad news that cessna 421 crashed into a house.

cessna 421

A twin engine plane leaving Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport, bound for the Jacksonville area, crashed shortly after takeoff Friday morning, slamming into an Oakland Park home and setting the house on fire. The plane virtually disintegrated upon impact.

The plane, a twin engine Cessna 421 which can seat up to 8 people, hit a home at 5200 NW 1st Avenue in Oakland Park, damaging the home and starting a fire.

...

I AM ABOUT 1.5 MILES FROM LOCATION. CO WORKER WAS EVACUATED FROM HER HOUSE.

My co worker indicates smoke rising from house close to hers after her daughter who was at home heard a loud explosion. Elementary school is perhaps 300 yards east of crash site and a High School is located about 6oo yards ese of crash site. ~ mcgrande

miranda tozier robbins

miranda tozier robbins

This is a an amazing news about our britney spears.Ex-Idol Hopeful Arrested at Britney Spears's House










miranda tozier robbins

Spears was nowhere in sight when the camo looking started.


A woman accused of peeking into the windows of Britney Spears's Calabasas, Calif., home was stopped by security guards and then turned over to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Thursday morning – hours before the pop star was due to deliver the first of two Los Angeles shows on her Circus tour.

Authorities arrested Miranda Tozier-Robbins, 26, who was wearing camouflage and toting a camera at the time of her arrest, the Associated Press reports. She was cited for trespassing and disorderly conduct before being released. Relying on other reports, Entertainment Weekly also says that Tozier-Robbins was a fifth-season American Idol hopeful, who auditioned with the Spears ballad "Everytime."

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore told the AP that the reason Tozier-Robbins was at Spears's home is unknown. It is also unclear where Spears was at the time of the alleged intrusion.

Later Thursday, however, onstage at L.A.'s Staples Center, Spears was evident for all to see – including her young sons, Preston and Jayden Federline, 3 and 2 respectively, who watched her from just above the 17th row, next to a sound booth. And though their mother, 27, performed a sexually charged show, the boys didn't see all of it. They were gone from their seats by the time Mama finished.

siderodromophobia

siderodromophobia

This is amazing news about derailing the straight talk express.

siderodromophobia

Though I'd prefer to not spend too much time discussing the presidential race, there is a clear enemy of rail development vying for the White House, and so I feel it is important to address that in a blog about trains. In McCain we have a very outspoken detractor of trains [Boston Globe]. He has consistently voted down funding to revive Amtrak to meet new demands, while showing no such concern for large sums of government spending on automobile and air travel. This is a common view among political enemies of rail. The notion that government spending on trains is socialist and wasteful, but government subsidies on automobile infrastructure, car manufacturer loans, airports and keeping unprofitable airline flights afloat, are somehow necessary for a supposedly "free market".

What I find particularly odd about McCain however, is for a man who seems to hate spending so much as a dime on trains, he sure does love train imagery and metaphors. His infamous catch phrase is that he is the "Straight Talk Express", an allusion to the direct nature of train lines. He has ironically campaigned in a tour bus called the McCain Train. I even noticed the song that came on after his speech at the GOP convention contained lyrics with American train imagery.

On a campaign stop in Erie Pennsylvania, McCain visited a factory that produces train locomotives. He seemed rather surprised to find America still makes so many trains. Of interest however, is that the factory exports most of it's train engines to foreign markets [Streetsblog]. Since America has let it's rail support decline for decades while many other countries have been investing significantly in expanding their freight and passenger rail systems, this is no surprise.

China alone has been spending hundreds of billions of dollars expanding and modernizing it's rail system under a highly ambitious plan. Sadly, significant investment in rail projects has not been the case in the United States for quite sometime. Although Congress did give Amtrak a much needed boost recently with a veto proof majority in both houses, in response to growing train ridership, safety concerns after the unfortunate Metrolink tragedy, and declining vehicle miles traveled by cars.

So what gives? McCain seems to enjoy imagining himself as a metaphorical train, but consistently votes down any attempt to modernize our U.S. train system. This has led me to wonder if perhaps he is closeted railfan. Maybe he has a model train city in one of his basements, but publicly manifests siderodromophobia (fear of trains and rail travel) in his voting record. What ever the case is, McCain is no friend of the train even if he does put McCain Train sticker on his bus.

So what about his opposition from the Democratic ticket, Barak Obama? He and his running mate Joe Biden wouldn't necessarily make advancement of trains a sure thing, however there are several reasons to believe they would be very supportive of rail projects. Obama has been quoted promoting promoting high-speed rail, and seems to get that we need to look at all transportation alternatives. Although mass transit seems to be low on his priorities for talking points, he does include it in his energy policy. Joe Biden has a long history of supporting funding to revive the Amtrak system, and is himself a frequent train commuter on Amtrak's semi high-speed train Acela. For more information, the CA High-Speed Rail blog did a great post discussing what an Obama and Biden White House could mean for support of rail projects in the US.

With all the other things that get the television coverage this election, train development may seem like a niche issue. However I would argue that trains, both commuter and freight, are an absolutely essential component to getting this country off of foreign oil dependence, something both candidates profess they want and that our Nation needs. Not to mention train projects would create non-outsourceable infrastructure jobs at a time with record unemployment rates. People look at projects like this California high-speed train and think, well it's going to cost money and it will be a decade before all phases will be completed. The McCain/Palin love affair with drilling for more oil (something McCain has opposed in the past) seems to be in denial about the fact that it will cost a lot of initial investment and be a decade before that oil enters the market. Once this new and relatively limited supply does get flowing, it's significance on the effects of oil's market price is debatable [U.S. News].

So I urge that any one who wants to see the advancement of trains, and a real break from oil dependence in this Country, to consider not voting for McCain come election day (or earlier for you mail in ballot folks). That and if I hear the contrived phrase "my friends" one more time I may become the next victim of spontaneous human combustion.

julissa brisman

julissa brisman

Boston police today identified the victim of the Craigslist killer as Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City. Do you know her?

julissa brisman

DEATH INVESTIGATION AT THE COPLEY MARRIOT HOTEL
Homicide Victim Identified

The Boston Police Department continues to seek the public’s assistance for information related to the homicide that occurred at the Copley Marriott hotel on April 14, 2009. The victim has been identified as Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City, New York.

On Tuesday April 14, 2009, at approximately 10:13pm, officers from District 4 responded to a report of an unconscious female at the Copley Marriott Hotel at 110 Huntington Ave. Upon arrival, hotel security updated the police that the unconscious female may have been the victim of an assault, possibly a stabbing. Officers observed Ms. Brisman suffering from what was determined to be multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.

Members of the Boston Fire Department administered CPR and EMS then rushed her to BMC where she was soon pronounced as a result of her injuries.

The preliminary investigation suggests Ms. Brisman was advertising masseuse services on Craigslist. Detectives are investigating the possibility that this incident was an attempted robbery. It appears that there was a struggle between the victim and the suspect in the threshold of the hotel room immediately prior to the shooting.

In addition, detectives are investigating the possibility that this incident is related to another recent incident which also occurred at a local hotel.

On April 10, 2009, at approximately 12:46am, officers responded to a robbery in progress at the Westin Hotel at 10 Huntington Ave. Officers received a report from a 29 year old female victim that she was robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room.

The Boston Police Homicide Unit is actively investigating the facts and circumstances of this incident and urges anyone with information regarding this incident to notify them by calling (617) 343-4470. Individuals wishing to provide information anonymously may do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or texting ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463). The Boston Police strictly protects the identity of all individuals wishing to provide information anonymously.

john madden

john madden

This is a shocking news that our Madden Decides to Put Down His Microphone.

john madden

Hall of Fame coach and most honored broadcaster in history says it's time

John Madden retired on Wednesday from calling football games, leaving a weekly discipline that he revolutionized with a coach’s eye, cartoonish sound effects and a taste for Thanksgiving

turducken.

Skip to next paragraph

Fred Prouser/Reuters

John Madden began his broadcast career in 1979, after he retired as coach of the Oakland Raiders.

“It’s time,” he said in a statement issued by NBC Sports, where he had been an analyst for “Sunday Night Football” since 2006 following stints at ABC, Fox and CBS, where he began his second career after retiring from coaching the Oakland Raiders in 1979. “I’m 73 years old. My 50th anniversary is this fall.” He added: “It’s been such a great ride. The N.F.L. has been my life for more than 40 years, it has been my passion — and still is.”

Madden rose to prominence at CBS with Pat Summerall as his terse partner and straight man; the two announcers moved to Fox when the network acquired the rights to televise the National Football League. Madden subsequently moved to ABC, where he and Al Michaels called “Monday Night Football.” He and Michaels moved to NBC in 2006.

NBC did not name a replacement for Madden but the likely candidate is Cris Collinsworth, NBC’s lead studio analyst and the co-host with Bob Costas on “Football Night in America.” Collinsworth has shifted between calling games and studio work (he did both at Fox) in his career, and is currently a game analyst for the NFL Network.

Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports, said in a statement that he was with Madden on Tuesday to determine if Madden was certain of his decision.

“To put any speculation to rest,” Ebersol said, “John has just decided to retire because it’s time — nothing more, nothing less. We’ll never see or hear another man like John Madden. We will sorely miss him because he was the most fun guy ever to just hang out with.”

Madden’s retirement means less — or no more — mileage on the plush bus that he used to travel to games to avoid flying. But it will probably have no impact on his connection to EA Sports’ “Madden NFL Football,” the top-selling sports video game ever. The video game, now 20 years old, is part of a portfolio of commercial work in which Madden has been a spokesman for Ace Hardware, Outback Steakhouse and Tinactin.

joy philbin

joy philbin

This is an amazing news about Thursday's Talk Shows.

joy philbin

So, are you ready for fun!
'The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson' welcomes Madeleine Albright.

Good Morning America Author Steve Harvey ("Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man"). (N) 7 a.m. KABC 89719

Rachael Ray Debra Messing ("The Starter Wife"). 9 a.m. KCBS 25142

Live With Regis and Kelly Guest co-host Joy Philbin; Ben Affleck ("State of Play"). (N) 9 a.m. KABC 43516

The View Author Tom Bergeron ("I'm Hosting as Fast as I Can"); author Kristin Chenoweth ("A Little Bit Wicked"). (N) 10 a.m. KABC 95326

The Morning Show With Mike & Juliet Repeat segments. 11 a.m. KTTV 35968

The Bonnie Hunt Show Author Jenny McCarthy ("Mother Warriors"); Billy Ray Cyrus ("Hannah Montana: The Movie"). (N) noon KNBC 76622

The Tyra Banks Show A woman talks about her missing daughter. 1 p.m. KTTV 75500

The Martha Stewart Show The fashion exhibit at New York's International Center of Photography. (N) 2 p.m. KNBC 15622

Oprah Winfrey Dr. Laura Berman returns to further discuss how to talk to children about sex. (N) 3 p.m. KABC 36500

Dr. Phil "Sexting," where teens send nude or semi-nude photos via cellphone. (N) 4 p.m. KCBS 2719

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Jessica Lange ("Grey Gardens"); Jesse McCartney and Ludacris perform; Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani ("Dancing With the Stars"). (N) 4 p.m. KNBC 7887

The Tyra Banks Show Patti Stanger ("The Millionaire Matchmaker"); Nitro ("American Gladiator"). (N) 4 p.m. KTTV 73055

Tavis Smiley Olympic swimmer Dara Torres; India.Arie. (N) 7 and 11 p.m. KCET 48326,

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Ben Affleck. (N) 11 p.m. Comedy Central 5979448

Charlie Rose Joe Scarborough; Mika Brzezinski. (N) 11:30 p.m. KCET 635871

The Colbert Report Kanishk Tharoor; Doug Kmiec. (N) 11:30 p.m. Comedy Central 4824210

Late Show With David Letterman Matthew Perry; Elisha Cuthbert; Rascal Flatts performs. (N) 11:35 p.m. KCBS 72753326

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Jessica Alba; Bob Saget; Jonny Lang performs. (N) 11:35 p.m. KNBC 72844622

Jimmy Kimmel Live Zac Efron; Patti Stanger; Franz Ferdinand performs. (N) 12:06 a.m. KABC 8052104

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; Amy Smart. (N) 12:37 a.m. KCBS 9279122

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Rachel McAdams; Michael Emerson; football player Matthew Stafford; Solange performs. (N) 12:37 a.m. KNBC 3174938

general growth properties

general growth properties

This is an amazing news about General Growth Files Biggest U.S. Property Bankruptcy.

general growth properties


I love that they ran out of checkboxes: over 100,000 creditors; liabilities over a billion.

April 16 (Bloomberg) -- General Growth Properties Inc. filed the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history after amassing $27 billion in debt during an acquisition spree that turned it into the second-largest shopping mall owner.

The owner of Boston’s Faneuil Hall and the South Street Seaport in New York City ended a seven-month effort today to refinance its debt. The company listed $29.5 billion in assets and debts of about $27.3 billion in the Chapter 11 filing. General Growth will continue operating its more than 200 properties.

“We intend to emerge as a leaner company,” General Growth President Thomas Nolan said in an interview today. “We want to come out as a less leveraged company. Our business model remains strong.”

General Growth collapsed after spending $11.3 billion to buy commercial-property developer Rouse Co. in 2004 only to get caught in the credit crunch and a U.S. recession that has cut spending and property values. Banks have reduced lending amid mortgage-related writedowns. Commercial real estate prices in the U.S. dropped 15 percent last year, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in March as soaring job losses forced consumers to pull back.

The filing lists Eurohypo AG, a unit of Commerzbank AG, as General Growth’s largest unsecured creditor with claims totaling $2.59 billion under two loans. Noteholders are owed about $4 billion.

Simon Gains?

The bankruptcy may remake the nation’s mall business and allow General Growth competitors including Simon Property Group Inc. to buy properties and strength its position as the No. 1 mall owner, said Dan Fasulo, managing director at real estate research firm Real Capital Analytics.

“I think Simon’s going to be able to pick up some of these assets on the cheap,” Fasulo said in an interview.

General Growth’s filing is the “beginning of the distress cycle” and may lead other companies to fail.

“This is kind of the beginning of the end,” Fasulo said. “This bankruptcy will drive down the values of mall assets in the United States. It’s going to put, I believe, more supply on the market than can be absorbed by investors.”

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Nolan said: “We’re not looking for wholesale sales of assets. It’s possible we could choose some to be non-strategic going forward.”

Hedge fund manager William Ackman’s Pershing Square Pershing Square Capital Management LP will provide General Growth with $375 million in financing to help run the company during the Chapter 11 process, today’s statement said. Ackman is likely to play a key role in the reorganization since Pershing is the third-largest shareholder, according to Bloomberg data.

Rouse Deal

Much of the company’s debt can be traced to its purchase of Rouse Co. in 2004, which owned malls including South Street Seaport. As Chicago-based General Growth struggled to meet debt deadlines, it lost 81 percent of its market value in the last six months after saying repeatedly it may have to file for bankruptcy.

Nolan said General Growth, the largest mall owner after Simon Property Group Inc., was a victim of “a broken capital market.” No one could have predicted the severity of e “the credit markets shutting down,” he said.

The company plans to file a reorganization plan by the end of the year, he said.

Rouse and 165 units were included in the bankruptcy filing. General Growth said several properties that are part of joint ventures weren’t included.

‘Disaster’

The company on March 23 said that a deadline for bondholders to agree to new terms for $2.25 billion in debt expired without the minimum number of holders accepting the agreement. General Growth said on March 30 it was continuing to negotiate with creditors.

“It was a disaster waiting to happen,” said Patrick Sumner, head of real estate securities at Henderson Global Investors in London. “They didn’t realize the market was going to get like this and that they were going to be in the front line when the guns went off.” Henderson doesn’t own General Growth shares.

Standard & Poor’s in November removed General Growth from the S&P 500 Index, saying the mall owner’s stock-market value of about $128 million at the time ranked it last in the index.

Two weeks later, Ackman’s bought a 20 percent interest through shares and swaps. The hedge-fund manager has since boosted its General Growth stake.

Family Control

General Growth’s history stretches back to 1954, when brothers Matthew and Martin Bucksbaum expanded their family’s grocery business by building the Town and Country Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of the Midwest’s first regional shopping malls. General Growth became the No. 2 U.S. mall owner in 1989 when it bought the assets of Center Cos., and in 1993 raised about $300 million in an initial public offering.

For the first time in its history, General Growth in October was turned over to someone outside the family when it replaced CEO John Bucksbaum, Matthew’s son, with 47-year-old Metz. John Bucksbaum, 52, replaced his father as chairman last year, and remains in that position. Martin Bucksbaum died in 1995.

John Bucksbaum’s removal as CEO followed the October departure of Chief Financial Officer Bernard Freibaum after he sold 2.95 million shares to meet margin calls. An affiliate of a Bucksbaum family trust had loaned Freibaum $90 million to pay margin debt. Bucksbaum’s failure to disclose the loan violated company policy, a review by General Growth’s independent directors found.

‘Too Much Debt’

Marcia Goldstein of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and James Sprayregen of Kirkland & Ellis LLP will represent General Growth in bankruptcy. The company also hired turnaround firm AlixPartners LLP and investment bank Miller Buckfire & Co.

General Growth closed at $1.05 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday, valuing the company at $329 million. The shares traded as high as $67 in March 2007.

“General Group has long been the poster child of too much debt,” said Rich Moore, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets in Solon, Ohio. “There’s finally been some comeuppance for having too much debt. I think that’s the key point to take home for the other guys.”

The case is: In re General Growth Properties Inc., 09- 11977, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York. It was assigned to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper.

theview.com

theview.com

this is amazing!

theview.com

Be the first to know about new videos, announcements and more!

The View, Emmy Award-winning American talk show created by Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie and broadcast on ABC. It features a panel of women as co-hosts: Whoopi Goldberg moderates discussions and is joined by Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters, who also serves as the show’s co-executive producer.

The stated goal of The View is to showcase women with a range of perspectives. The show opens each day with “Hot Topics,” in which the co-hosts provide their commentary on the day’s top headlines in politics and entertainment.

The show is produced and shot at ABC’s studio on West 66th Street in New York City. The View airs live in the Eastern and Central Time Zones, Monday-Thursday, and is on tape most Fridays. Generally the shows receives about 3 million viewers an episode.

rodenator

rodenator

This is a sad news that Humane Society blasts squirrel slaughter in Spokane.

rodenator

They say the better plan is to starve them out. Having them dying slowly over a period of weeks is more humane? Beauty!
Have to say Bullwinkle would not be pleased with this type of squirrel blasting

SPOKANE — The Spokane Humane Society is trying to stop the blasting of troublesome squirrels at the Finch Arboretum.

Spokane Parks and Recreation is using a device called the Rodenator Pro to inject propane and oxygen into squirrel burrows, sparking an explosion that kills the varmints and collapses the tunnel.

Humane Society Executive Director Dave Richardson sent a letter to the Spokane City Council, saying the detonations are a temporary and unethical response to a problem that could be solved by limiting the animals food supply.

The parks department said an overpopulation of squirrels is causing destruction at the arboretum, and blowing them up is the best way to deal with the problem.