R.I.P. Jonas Bevacqua

A sad day for the world of fashion, and even more specifically the streetwear culture.

Jonas Bevacqua, co-founder of LRG (Lifted Research Group) was found dead in his home on Bern Drive in Laguna Beach on Monday. Bevaqua was 34. No additional information has been officially released.

Bevacqua, along with Robert Wright, founded LRG in 1999. The company became profitable by 2002, and made its first $1 million in 2000. In 2006 sales figures were at an estimated $150 million. - Wikipedia

LRG focuses primarily on the design, production, and marketing of streetwear clothing and accessories. LRG both supports and is supported by a community of musicians, artists and athletes who have donned the company's clothing. According to LRG, the company's clothes have been worn by celebrities from Kobe Bryant and Reggie Bush to Kanye West and John Legend to Quentin Tarantino and Tom Arnold.

According to Orange County Register, his family is a veritable melting pot. Bevacqua, who is U.S-born Vietnamese, was adopted along with six others by Helen and Joe Bevacqua, who also have one biological son. He has a black brother and sister, Filipino brother and sister, half-white-half black sister, half Jamaican-half-Spanish brother and a white brother.

Bevacqua is survived by his fiancé, son, seven siblings and his mother and father, LRG officials said.

With P Diddy

With Kanye West

With his parents

RIP Jonas Bevacqua.


Image sources:
- Vibe.com
- Freshnessmag.com

China admits it has a commando unit of 30 cyberwarriors

For the first time ever, China has admitted that it has poured tens of millions into the formation of a commando unit of 30 cyberwarriors called The Blue Army. The team is reportedly trained to improve the security of the country's military forces and to protect the People's Liberation Army...

Pentagon says cyber attacks are acts of war: send us a worm, get a missle in return?

Well, the Pentagon is finally fed up with hackers picking on its buddies and foreign intelligence taking shots at its computer systems, and has decided that such cyber attacks can constitute an act of war. Of course, the powers that be won't be bombing you for simply sending them some spyware, but attempts to sabotage US infrastructure (power grids, public transit, and the like) may be met with heavy artillery. It's unclear how our government will identify the origin of an attack or decide when it's serious enough to start shooting, but Uncle Sam is looking to its allies to help create a consensus answer for those questions. The retaliatory revelation is a part of the Pentagon's new cyber strategy that'll be made public in June -- so saboteurs beware, your next internet incursion might get you an ICBM in your backyard.

PBS Hacked After 'WikiSecrets' Documentary Aired

PBS aired a Frontline episode focused on Wikileaks on May 24, and received retribution as a result. Its site was hacked, late Sunday, by the hacking group LulzSec. Remnants of the site defacing were still around on Monday. The episode, titled 'Wikisecrets,' didn't sit so well with the hacking group LulzSec. As a result, they hacked PBS' main..."

E.coli outbreak in the cards?

No, the above is not a kaleidoscope pattern. It's a pattern of sliced cucumber and tomato, vegetables that are causing the current E.coli outbreak in Germany. 14 people have died and more than 300 seriously ill in Germany. The outbreak has spread to other north European countries and is expected to worsen in the coming week according to medical experts.

From The Star..Germany E.coli cucumber death toll rises to 14:
The source of the virulent strain of the bacteria is unknown according to German authorities. Most of the deaths have been in northern Germany. The E. coli pathogen has been identified on cucumbers imported from Spain but it is unclear if they were contaminated there, during transport or in Germany.

There are 36 cases of suspected E. coli in Sweden, all linked to travel in northern Germany, authorities said. A small number of cases have been reported in Britain, Denmark, France and the Netherlands, all linked with travel to Germany.

The identified pathogen, hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) affects the blood, kidneys and in severe cases, the nervous system and can be particularly serious for children and the elderly.

Consumers have been warned by German authorities to avoid eating cucumbers, lettuces and tomatoes and some products have been ordered to be removed from shelves.


Can we really predict the future or know what's coming? Below is a prediction (report) received last week, for the forthcoming fifth lunar month which begins on June 2. There is mention of armed conflicts and terrorist activities and natural disasters. What's new? However, I was skeptical when "DISEASES" was mentioned, but with this E.coli outbreak, can we mark it down as mere coincidence?

====================================
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 10:10 AM
Subject: Time for new beginnings and start putting your dreams into action

We will be entering into the 5th lunar month that is from the 2nd Jun – 30th Jun 2011. Many people might have experienced many changes during the past lunar month. Some were traumatized, some rejoiced, leaving some still wondering what had happened. Putting the past behind us, this 5th lunar month will be a time for new beginnings, to pioneer new ideas and developing new routines. If you want to watch your ideas grow and your dreams take shape, this will be an opportune time to act. Most of us will be able to develop our individuality and leadership qualities to the utmost. Our creativity and originality will be enhanced. We will be ambitious and possess a great deal of drive to lead. We will be able to express our ideas clearly, be persuasive and charismatic. In general, you will have great expectations for yourself. Remember that you can be a pleasant, persuasive and confident leader. However if you go overboard you will run the risk of becoming self-indulgent, opinionated, selfish and domineering. Should that happen, others might feel intimidated and will withdraw from you. In doing so, you might also attract the wrong group of people to work with or to implement your plans. This will limit the likelihood of success of your plans. Success cannot be achieved by being alone or by living in our own world. Do not be a self-indulgent and unpopular leader. You will want to be seen as a rising leader with unlimited potential. Start to put your dreams into action now!

During this 5th lunar month, there will be a great deal of social activities and enjoyment in terms of wining and dining. As everybody’s popularity starts to soar, there will be a lot of negative temptations lurking around the corner and many might be drawn towards vices. Everybody will appear to be friendly but most relationships might remain only on the surface. It will be best not to take such “friendliness” at face value. You might join in the fun but avoid being hooked on to any negative forming habits that will have detrimental effects on your creditability and relationship with your life partner etc. For those of you who have had a personal reading done with me and if it is indicated that you might meet your special person during this month, your personal reading will supersede the above.

There will also be armed conflict and terrorists activities in the Indian Sub- Continent and parts of Eastern Europe. North East Asia and the US might be plagued with natural disasters and diseases.

For those who need to cleanse their crystals or have been using their crystals actively, you might want to use the moonlight of the 17th June 2011 to do so.

regards
SEE Han Teen
Jmine Consulting
+65 9114 1770
www.jmine.com.sg
======================================

Incredible Tree Map of Central Park

A detail from the 36-by-26-inch folding map by Ken Chaya and Edward Sibley Barnard depicts the trees in the Ramble and its environs.  Their map includes 174 species and represents about 85 percent of the vegetation on the park’s 843 acres.

  

 The legend in the map enumerates trees of 174 species and shows each one's color and leaf.  Map by Ken Chaya and Edward S. Barnard

Two men who are tree-enthusiasts and graphic designers are mapping every tree in NYC’s Central Park.  So far they have mapped 19,933 trees, out of the park’s approximately 23,000.  They are doing this independently from the city’s Parks Dept., and at their own expense.  They estimate they have spent over $40,000 of their own money on the project, and 2 ½ years of their lives.  These two guys have not only inventoried the trees, but they have made a beautiful, water-proof, poster-sized folding map, for sale in the Central Park Dairy, an historic structure from the time the park was built, where milk used to be distributed to poor children and now is a gift shop, exhibit hall, and information center.  (As an interesting side note, one of the reasons that milk was distributed from the Dairy as a public service was that in those pre-regulation times, most of the milk available for sale in NYC was contaminated because the cows were being fed left-over brewery mash to cut costs, instead of hay.  The Dairy milk was fresh and un-tainted.)

 Central Park Dairy, 1870, designed by Calvert Vaux in the Victorian Gothic style. One of my favorite buildings in NYC!

Chay and Barnard’s map is called “Central Park Entire: The Definitive Illustrated Folding Map,” and is also available for sale as a folding map or a poster on their website http://centralparknature.com/  The website has some great information about the Park and the trees, plus a video about how the mapping was done.  According to the two tree mappers, there are only about 150 of the original trees remaining that were planted in the 1860’s to fulfill the Olmsted/Vauxhall design for the park. But when you think about it, that was about 150 years ago! The map also includes very nice depictions of every architectural and other built elements in the park, as well as the location of restrooms - very helpful info!  (Thanks, Amy Trexler, for sending me this link originally, way back in February, 2011!)

The Central Park Conservancy has done its own tree censuses and even has an internal GPS system that identifies individual trees in the park, but has not produced a publicly-available map.  

For those of you who are New York Times digital subscribers or who haven’t used up your 20 free articles a month, here is the story from today’s Times. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/nyregion/2-enthusiasts-compose-map-of-central-park-trees.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha29

EtherSphere Spans The World With Ethernet

Global Crossing is circling the globe with standards-based Carrier Ethernet services under the umbrella of its EtherSphere solutions portfolio. For multinational corporations and other companies with an international reach, this offers one-stop shopping for a network that unites geographically diverse business locations.

EtherSphere offers a number of Ethernet services that have been established as standards by the MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum). These include Point to Point Ethernet Private Line (EPL) or E-Line and multiple private line or Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL), Point to Multipoint or E-Tree, and Multipoint to Multipoint Ethernet Private LAN or VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service) E-LAN.

This suite of standard Ethernet services accommodates whatever connectivity is needed to interconnect multiple locations. All connections are made using EtherSphere’s Smart Demarcation Network Interface Device (NID). This allows the network to monitor performance end to end, perform traffic management and offer end to end SLAs (Service Level Agreements). Customers have administrative access through the Global Crossing uCommand online portal.

The Smart Demarcation NID supports 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps and 1000 Mbps Ethernet port interfaces. Bandwidth is highly scalable and can be ordered in committed data rates from 1 to 10 Mbps in 1 Mbps increments, 10 to 100 Mbps in 5 Mbps increments, 100 to 1000 Mbps in 25 Mbps increments, 1000 to 2000 Mbps in 100 Mbps increments and greater than 2 Gbps upon request.

There are six classes of services supported on the network that are identified as premium, premium plus, enhanced and enhanced plus, and basic and basic plus. The service level agreements can be POP to POP or end to end with metrics that include frame delivery, frame delay, and delay variation by class of service, plus installation and mean time to repair.

One beauty of Carrier Ethernet is the ability to provide layer 2 switched Ethernet service over wide area networks, including international destinations. VPLS can interconnect data centers and remote locations in a bridged LAN arrangement that includes all of a company’s offices. With simple Ethernet interfaces at every location, connections between LANs are greatly simplified compared to creating worldwide networks using traditional telecom services.

Global Crossing is expanding this popular EtherSphere service to include more than 40 new locations in the United States, Europe and China by the end of 2011. This will expand the carrier and enterprise offers now available in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia and Latin America served by 150 locations served by multiservice edge routers. The expansion in China will deploy EtherSphere Layer 2 VPLS to business centers in China through Global Crossing’s extended reach partner, CITIC Telecom CPC.

Is your company multinational in structure or do you simply need to do business worldwide? If so, perhaps a more comprehensive network solution that links all of your business locations through an Ethernet WAN solution can reduce costs and improve performance. Get International Carrier Ethernet pricing and availability to compare with what you have now.

A Cool Way to Look Up Prices for Municipal Bonds

Municipal bonds trade in a very illiquid market. Bond owners are at the mercy of their brokerage firms in terms of getting muni price quotes. Now, you have an easy way of getting quotes, or at least recent sales.

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has a Quick Bond Search. Just click on the Municipal button, enter the CUSIP number in the symbol box, and click the Search button.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Second Week of June

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Ameren Corporation (AEE) market cap: $7.1B ex div date: 6/6/2011 yield: 5.1%

France Telecom SA ADR (FTE) market cap: $58.3B ex div date: 6/7/2011 yield: 10.4%

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG) market cap: $17.1B ex div date: 6/7/2011 yield: 4.0%

Westar Energy, Inc. (WR) market cap: $3.1B ex div date: 6/7/2011 yield: 4.7%

Genuine Parts Company (GPC) market cap: $8.5B ex div date: 6/8/2011 yield: 3.3%

Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB) market cap: $26.7B ex div date: 6/8/2011 yield: 4.1%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Hipster-ville, USA

 The Post-Grad’s Hipsters’ Guide to Inhabitable U.S. Cities, for all of you recent graduates or about-to-be-graduates! Map by Cartographer Katie Gillett from: http://therumpus.net/2011/05/post-grad-hipsters-guide-to-inhabitable-u-s-cities/

 This map looks at normalized Google Search volumes by State for ‘hipster.’  Contrary to popular perception, Minnesota comes out as the hippest, New York only at #2.  Although Minnesota has less than 1/3rd the population of New York state, it leads the nation in searches for the term ‘hipster.’   Map source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrismenning/the-most-hipster-state-in-the-us

“Looking for an abundance of bike lanes, farmers' markets and bearded dudes? Then head to Minnesota, the most hipster-iffic state in the U.S., according to Buzzfeed's super-official map of American hipsterdom.  The results are actually based on search engine statistics for the word ‘hipster,’ which means that while Minnesotans are readily researching the loaded term, they're probably also most likely to deny being one. It also explains how they beat out New York — it's assumed Brooklynites already know the meaning of the word, or you know, can't be bothered to read about a far-too-frequently analyzed subculture. 

In other words, take these findings with a shaker of salt.  After all, Minnesota is also home to the country's largest shopping mall, not the largest second-hand, vintage clothing store. And as for the all the guys with bushy sideburns, plaid shirts and cans of PBR — I'm pretty sure they're just actual lumberjacks.  Curious to see how your state fared? Check out the map above.”  From http://www.nerve.com/news/current-events/the-most-hipster-state-in-the-us-isnt-new-york:

Some comments in rebuttal to the designation of Minnesota as the #1 Hipster location:

·         Wait, if it's based on amount of search of the term "hipster" doesn't that mean MN doesn't understand what hipsters are and have to do research? I've been to most of the places on that list and the coasts are way more hipster than MN (which is my home state). Minnesota still thinks food trucks are cool. Also, flared jeans are still popular here.

·         Hold on -- you're saying that Minnesota is most hipster-ish based solely on how often people search for the word "hipster"?  That makes absolutely no sense.  By that logic, 13-year-old boys must have the world's biggest boobs.

·         Easy on the Brooklyn bashing.  It is the way it is because it's full of Midwestern transplants. They aren't emulating Minnesotans.  They are more than likely Minnesotans huddled together in an ironic enclave they created in NY...

 The Fake MTA has released what they are calling a “Hipster-friendly subway map.”  Do hipsters really talk about going to Brighton Beach that much? From: The Gothamist at http://gothamist.com/2010/05/21/map_hipster_friendly_mta.php

And now, from the Left Coast, “New Real Estate Map Has Some Losing Hipster Cred, Gaining Sales Value,” map by Kaitlin Jaffe/Jennifer Rosdail, of Paragon Real Estate Group, as reported by Lynda Chavez in Mission Local at http://missionlocal.org/2010/07/new-sf-real-estate-map-has-some-losing-hipster-cred-gaining-sales-value/ 

There has been lots of push-back on this map, what with the real estate industry’s unofficial re-naming of neighborhoods in SF, extension of neighborhood boundaries to augment gentrification efforts and increase asking prices, virtual red-lining of black communities (by segregating them outside the boundaries of the hipster neighborhoods and calling them by their original names, while the white people’s (hipsters') areas have been re-named something else), and in general escalating the already crazy housing prices in the city.

As an end note to all of this, it should be mentioned that no self-respecting hipster would want to be called a hipster. Of course not! That wouldn’t be ironic enough! Anyway, in many circles they are also known by the term “douchebag-slackers,” which they don’t like, either, for some odd reason. Oh, well! What do I know! I am probably an aging hipster, myself, and have been called far worse in my day!

Collette Vacations for Best deals on Europe tours

Travelling to a country in Winter on holiday is not exactly my idea of an ideal holiday. I prefer to travel light and dress light - no fuss about winter clothing or extra extra layers. Plus, who doesn't like some sunshine..

Beijing is one of my top destinations to visit in China but it won't be a Winter visit, mind you. Nowadays, there is no shortage of travel agencies selling packages for china tours. The other day, I was going through some sites for guided Beijing tours and was pleasantly surprised to find so many choices and packaged tours with varied destinations. I wonder what is the best time to travel to Beijing.

Italy is another country topping my travel list. I have no doubt should I start checking out on italy tours, there will be lots of choices. Watching Astro's TLC is a delight especially when they show Venice and Vatican City. They just showed one last night. Did you know that policemen in Rome are wearing uniform designed by Giorgio Armani? How cool is that! Italy is indeed the fashion capital of the world!

If you like history and art, Europe is a fabulous place to visit. Escorted tours are aplenty. You would be spoilt for choice for europe tours. I stumbled upon a travel site online that offers not only tours to Europe, but to other interesting parts of the world including Panama, the Land between the Seas, as it is called. Collette Vacations is offering some great discounts currently, so if you are looking for a good travel deal, Collette Vacations is where you could pick up some great savings and they do have lots of discounted packages and special offers, left, right and center. Check them out. You won't regret it.

GMO debate: Consumer activists seek labeling of genetically modified foods - latimes.com

GMO debate: Consumer activists seek labeling of genetically modified foods - latimes.com

Trusty metal cabinets

Metal cabinets may not look so great in a living room but they certainly work very well in a garage or a storeroom, don't you think?

Made of steel and of sturdy construction, they last for years. No more worries about termite or bug infestation. The metal cabinets at Durham Manufacturing come in three sizes. You can choose from 36", 48", 60" wide units. They come in full height flush doors with 7 gauge leave hinges that prevent sagging. There are many other good features that make metal cabinets a winning buy which accounts for why they are cabinets of choice for industries.

If you are working with small parts as in a garage and are looking into small parts storage for better inventory management and ease of access, Durham Manufacturing has just the storage product for you. From open bins to clear-view cabinets to drawer cabinets or even plastic compartment boxes and racks, there would be one solution that would fit your storage needs. A stock service cart could also help organize tools and parts for easy access and improved work flow.

Durham, headquartered in Durham, Connecticut, was founded in 1922 and has developed into one of the leading producers of metal and plastic products for packaging, storage, organization of maintenance products as well as heavy duty material handling equipment, storage and workstations.

Discount Specialty and Custom Flags

If you are sourcing for flags and pennants, or even pennant strings, here is a true discount Flag and Pennant store to check out.

Discount Custom & Specialty Flags helps you get the best flags and pennants that meet your requirements for quality and budget. Whether you are looking for automotive flags for your business or custom flags for any occasion, their catalogue of high quality material and artwork will be what you are looking for as they use the best quality material made in the U.S.A. and the best UV-resistant ink available.

You can find custom flags for every occasion including corporate events for advertising, fundraising or just celebrating an event. They are there to assist you in making every event an outstanding one, with their huge selection of custom flags, feather flags, pennant strings, message flags, flutter flags, Automotive flags, retractable banners, Pop Up Banners, etc. Discount Custom & Specialty Flags also provides a large selection of flag poles and banners including commercial flag poles, institutional and residential flag poles.

Discount Custom & Specialty Flags has been manufacturing and delivering the highest quality products and serving their customers for the last 23 years. For enquiries, call them on their toll-free line.

Barcelona beats Man Utd 3-1 in Champions League final

There is no doubt. Manchester United lost to a better team. Congratulations, FC Barcelona!

The Star: At Wembley Stadium, Barcelona and Lionel Messi put their places among football's all-time greats beyond all doubt Saturday as the Argentina striker scored one goal and created another in a 3-1 Champions League final win over Manchester United.

GOALS:
27' [1 - 0] P. Rodriguez
34' [1 - 1] W. Rooney
54' [2 - 1] L. Messi
69' [3 - 1] D. Villa

Ferguson said, "They do mesmerize you with their passing and we never really did control Messi. But many people have said that."

"In my time as manager, it's the best team I've faced," he added. A third Champions League title in six seasons and fourth overall means that only Liverpool, AC Milan and fierce rival Real Madrid have won more European Cups than Barcelona's four.

On the Man United website, Sir Alex was quoted as saying, “I think it is the best team we have ever played. They are at a tremendous peak in the cycle of their team and you get teams who elevate themselves to that status and I think Barcelona are that team.

“We were well beaten. There is no other way to address the situation. We were beaten by the better team, a fantastic team of course, but I expected to do better. We expected to do better, it’s as simple as that.”

The two team managers, Pep Guardiola and Alex Ferguson.

“It has been a great season in many ways," said Sir Alex. "We are just disappointed we’ve come to Wembley twice and been beaten, against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final and then to Barcelona in the final of the European Cup. But it has been a fantastic season - we are just disappointed it has ended on a disappointing note.”

Sir Alex feels his side also belong among the European elite after a strong run to a third final in four years.

"I think our record this season has been excellent. We have won some really important games, but tonight we were beaten by probably, in fact definitely, the best team in Europe. There is no shame in that. From time to time you do come up against a team that is better than you and tonight was that."

Nemanja Vidic of MU said, "“I think if you look at the past, we have never played against a team like we did tonight against Barcelona. We just have to give them credit. They played good football and they deserved to win.”

Commentators had said before the game that Barcelona, which had already won a third straight Spanish league title, would be ranked among football's truly great sides with victory over United.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has now won 10 titles - including two European Cups - in three years.

Lineups:
Barcelona: Victor Valdes, Dani Alves (Carles Puyol, 88), Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Eric Abidal, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Pedro Rodriguez (Ibrahim Afellay, 90), Lionel Messi, David Villa (Seydou Keita, 86).

Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar, Fabio da Silva (Nani, 69), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick (Paul Scholes, 77), Ryan Giggs, Park Ji-sung, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez.

Related articles:
Live commentary
Champions League - Ferguson: United mesmerised by Messi
Champions League - Guardiola 'privileged' to coach invincibles

High Yield Electric Utilities: Check Out the Dividend Increasers

If dividend increases are indicative of a strong industry, then electric utilities are in great shape. Portland General Electric Company (POR) recently announced a 2 percent increase in its quarterly common stock dividend to 26.5 cents per share, up from 26.0 cents per share for the previous quarter. DTE Energy (DTE) also declared a 5% increase in its dividend payout. In addition, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (CPK) raised its quarterly cash dividend by 4.6%.

Summer is approaching, which means more electricity to run air conditioners, and more electricity may be consumed. What electric stocks should you plug into? WallStreetNewsNetwork.com just updated its list of electricity stocks and there are more than 30 with yields above 3%. In addition, these companies can provide relative safety, security, and stability compared to stocks in many other sectors. In the past, utilities have paid favorable dividends for many years with low volatility.

Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) distributes electricity in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. The stock pays a yield of 5.3%, has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 17.8, and a forward PE of 13.4.

Westar Energy, Inc. (WR) also pays a decent yield, with a payout of 4.8%. It has a trailing PE of 15, and forward PE of 13.5. The company serves the state of Kansas.

Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (TEG), based in Chicago, Illinois, trades at 13.8 times earnings, 14.4 times forward earnings, paying 5.2%.

For more top yielding utilities, you can access a free downloadable Excel database of high yield electric utility stocks including one which yields more than 6%, which you can update, change, and sort, at WSNN.com.

Disclosure: Author did not not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Have You Seen Google's Gmail Motion?

On the following video, you can check out Google's (GOOG) service called Gmail Motion, where you would use body language to create and send emails.



This is a fairly innovative idea that smacks of similarity to some of the video game consoles that track motion.





Too bad the Gmail Motion is a hoax.

Public Transportation is NOT the answer?

Map of Public Transit Access in the New York Metro Area, according to the report “Missed Opportunities: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America,” by the Brookings Institute. 

In urban planning, environmental, public health, and other circles, public transportation is often held out as the answer to many of the world’s problems, especially in the U.S. (air pollution, respiratory and cardio-vascular disease, profligate use of non-renewable fossil fuels, obesity and lack of exercise, over dependence on foreign oil, traffic congestion, vehicular fatalities, stress, lack of  "community," and social isolation, etc., etc.). 

Turning this conventional wisdom on its head, the Brookings Institution, (which is ranked as the number 1 “think tank” in the U.S. and therefore has far-reaching policy influence, and has variously been called “conservative,” “liberal,” and “centrist”!) recently conducted a research study with rather disappointing (and depressing) results for those of us who have always bought into the concept of mass transit = better world/environment.  Forget about whether or not the transit options exist, or could exist given the exigencies of today’s lack of public resources.  Even if they DID exist, according to this study, it wouldn’t help most Americans to get from home to their places of employment within a 45 minute commute time.  The average American commute today (mainly by private vehicle) is 21 minutes, so a 45 minute commute is a considerable increase in time on the road (or railroad).  But even allowing for the 45 minutes threshold, most transit systems in major metro regions would not be able to get you there in that timeframe, making it extremely unlikely that people would opt for mass transit over their private automobiles.  Somewhat surprisingly, the report found that 15 of the 20 metro areas that rank highest on a combined score of transit coverage and job access are in the West.  (Really??? Salt Lake City, Tucson, and Las Vegas are among the top-ranking?  Sounds a bit dubious to me!) 

“The report is unusual in not evaluating the performance of metropolitan transit systems, but rather, ‘what they are capable of.’  Moreover, the Brookings access indicators go well beyond analyses that presume having a bus or rail stop nearby is enough, missing the point the availability of transit does not mean that it can take you where you need to go in a reasonable period of time.” (Wendell Cox, of newgeography)

This, of course, is not to blame public transit systems for the length of time required to get from point “A” to point “B.”  Rather, it is due to the increasing dispersion of jobs away from the downtown areas of the cities, which generally are (or could be) well-served by transit options, as well as the general sprawl of residential suburbs to areas outside of easy (and direct) public transit commuting options. 

            According to their report, only 7% of the jobs in the U.S. would be accessible within 45 minutes by public transportation.  I need to see their methods on how they figured out the issue of access and how they calculated the commute times.  But if the methods and their results are valid, then we have a bigger problem on our hands than just finding the money to throw at public transportation financing.  Is it too late to turn the tide on the faulty land use planning policies of the past 60 years (since the post-WWII period)?  Can we reverse the trend of massive decentralization and dispersion of both homes and jobs? Can we stop the madness of land consumption and development of our agricultural and "natural" areas near our cities? Can we create policies that will encourage jobs to remain in the areas well-provisioned by easy public transit? Is it possible to refocus American priorities away from ¼ acre lots in the suburbs?  Can cities once again be desirable places to live for middle class families, and not just be warehouses for the very poor and playgrounds for the wealthy, the tourists, and the young urban hipsters?

You can read the full article on the website “newgeography” at:

http://www.newgeography.com/content/002251-transit-the-4-percent-solution?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Newgeography+%28Newgeography.com+-+Economic%2C+demographic%2C+and+political+commentary+about+places%29

Really good interactive map of about 100 metro areas’ access to transit, (you can zoom to specific metro areas, filter by income level, and look at transit coverage, service frequency, job access, and travel time, etc.)

http://www.brookings.edu/metro/jobs_and_transit/Map.aspx

The Brookings report “Missed Opportunities: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America,” can be accessed at: http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2011/0512_jobs_and_transit.aspx and full report pdf at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Programs/Metro/jobs_transit/0512_jobs_transit.pdf

Explaining the findings of the Brookings Report (interesting rebuttal of some of the criticisms of the study):

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/0523_transit_berube_puentes.aspx

Another example of their maps and stats – this one for Oklahoma City, OK. 

Capability of Transit: 45-Minute Job Access in Metropolitan Areas over 2,000,000 

Feng Shui your business card

A friend who runs a business recently asked if I have any contact for a business cards printing service.

She's looking into changing the design of her business card to incorporate some feng shui principles.

You read right. Business cards these days are designed along feng shui lines so as to increase business and profits. I read that it really works thus the popularity of the concept. Is your business card feng shui'd?

Champions League Final - FC Barcelona v Manchester United - May 28, 2011, Wembley Stadium

This is going to be huge! Tonight's game, I mean, between Barcelona and Manchester United. It's their Champions League final, two in three years which Man U lost to Barca in 2009 with a scoreline of 0-2.

Ferguson said. "It really could be the best final of the decade. The attraction of two teams with such history is obvious. Anything could happen in this game." - according to The Daily Chilli.

Here's image of Man United players training on the eve of the crucial day.

"According to the bookmakers, we are underdogs, but I don't think that matters to us," Ferguson said. "Anyone coming to a game of this nature doesn't care what the experts say or the bookmakers say.

Who are you rooting for? Here are some stats comparing both teams achievements thus far. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Remember Paul the Octopus, well, in Spain, Iker the “psychic” octopus has predicted Manchester United will beat Barcelona to be crowned club champions of Europe in today’s final in London.

Iker forecast a United win in the Champions League by choosing to eat a sardine from a glass cylinder decorated with the club’s crest instead of one from a cylinder with Barcelona’s crest at the Sea Life Aquarium in the southern resort of Benalmadena.

Barca need not worry though, as Iker last month wrongly forecast the Spanish club’s arch-rivals Real Madrid would make the Wembley final. So there.. More..

Besides prestige and all, what else would the players look forward to? Barcelona star, Lionel Messi and his teammates will each earn 650,000 pounds (about twice the amount MU players will be making) if they win the Champions League final which works out to more than 7,000 pounds per minute or 120 pounds for every second on the pitch.

The amount is not evenly spread out among the squad however. It is believed World Footballer of the Year, Messi and stars like Xavi and Iniesta will pocket well over a million each.

As for Manchester United players, each player can expect to pick up around 350,000 pounds if they beat Barcelona. This is part of a 9 million-pound reward for winning the title and conquering Europe.

Here's the team line-up courtesy of Yahoo! (Click on image to enlarge.)

Enjoy the game. Check out kickoff below, also indicated on image at the top.

FC BARCELONA vs MANCHESTER UNITED
Date: 28 May 2011
Time: 19:45 BST (2:45am Malaysia time)
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Live on Astro


Related articles:
Ferguson determined to improve MU's European haul
Champions League - Match facts: Barcelona v Manchester United
Rooney aims for final redemption against Barca
United get second chance to pick Barcelona pocket

Real Estate Trends in Four Major Cities

Check out the above chart which shows the price of real estate, seasonally adjusted, for four major US cities since 1987. The four cities shown are Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Miami.

Las Vegas didn't have as much of a bubble as Los Angeles or Miami, but it did have the biggest drop. Surprisingly, New York had the smallest rise of the four, and the smallest drop of the four.

Top Yielding Water Utility Stocks

Water utility stocks provide excellent income diversification along with a portfolio of electric utilities and natural gas utilities. Water utilities provide CD beating yields ranging from 2.5% to 4%. There are about a dozen water utility stocks with dividends that were turned up by WallStreetNewsNetwork.com on their water utility list that was just updated. Here are a few examples.

SJW Corp. (SJW) is a San Jose, California based water distributor which serves the Silicon Valley area and has customers in Cupertino, San Jose, Campbell, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Los Gatos, and parts of Santa Clara County. The stock trades at 20.5 times forward earnings and pays a yield of 3.1%.

American Water Works Co., Inc. (AWK) is a New Jersey based distributor of water in 35 states and two Canadian provinces. The stock trades at 16 times forward earnings, with a decent 3% yield. Earnings for the quarter ending March 31 were up over 53.6% from the previous quarter on a 7.8% increase in revenues.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO), based in the Cayman Islands distributes water in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. It also operates desalinization plants. The stock trades at a forward PE of 16 and yields 3.3%.

To see a free list of all the top yielding water stocks, all with yields over 2.5%, which you can download, update, and sort, check out WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Talking About Regeneration

You probably realize that there is a distance limitation to sending signals through wires, fiber strands or wirelessly. Your USB and Ethernet cables can be just so long. Yet, we easily communicate worldwide on the Internet and through private networks. How’s that possible?

Signals do deteriorate as they travel. The trick is to boost them from time to time and recreate the original waveform. Analog phone lines use passive equalizer components, capacitors and coils, to compensate for the reactance in the wires that causes the voice signals to sound muffled before they get to the central office. Over longer distances, linear amplifiers boost signals that lose amplitude due to the resistance in the wiring.

There’s one small problem with simply amplifying a signal to bring it back to its original voltage. Amplifiers amplify everything. That includes the signal we want, but it also includes any noise that is picked up along the way. There’s lots of noise that leaks into the wiring. Twisting the pairs of copper wire helps cancel out external fields, but you still get small amounts of power line hum, crackles from thunderstorms, and crosstalk from other wires in the bundle. You boost the faded signal, but you boost the noise by the same amount reducing the ratio of signal to noise on the line. The longer the path, the noisier your signal gets at the end.

Digital transmission offers the opportunity to get around the deteriorating signal to noise problem. Digital signals have only two states, 1 and 0. These can be low and high currents, different polarity voltages or the presence or absence of a light pulse. It doesn’t matter as long as there is a way to tell the difference between the ones and the zeros. If so, you can recreate the original signal and throw out the noise completely.

Here’s a simple example. In the days of the telegraph, the Morse code dots and dashes could only be sent so far using the wires and batteries of the day. One solution is to have telegraph stations with live operators along the line between cities. The first station would send the message to the second, where it would be transcribed and then resent to the next station in line. Because the signal was regenerated completely, it would be exactly the same leaving the second station as it was leaving the first.



Well, in theory anyway. Any mistakes would show up as noise in the signal that couldn’t be removed. Besides being slow and potentially error-prone, this method is laborious. An automatic process is to have a telegraph receiver (sounder) connected to a key and re-transmit everything it receives. This is the familiar electrical relay. It is also a regenerative repeater. The relay repeats everything it receives and regenerates the signal back to its original form.

Sound old-timey? We still use this process for T1 lines. No, there are no Morse code keys in those telephone boxes. It’s all solid state electronics these days. The similarity between Morse code and T1 digital transmission is that they both use binary signals. The T1 line is running at about 1.5 Mbps, a bit fast for telegraphers but no problem for a solid state regenerator. The shape of the signal at the input has been distorted by electrical characteristics of the line and attenuation over distance. It has also picked up noise.

The regenerative repeater determines whether each pulse is a one or a zero and then recreates the string of pulses in the T1 signal at exactly the specified voltage level and waveform of a “perfect” T1 signal. You can’t tell the difference of a T1 signal leaving the telco office and one leaving a regenerative repeater. These repeaters can be placed every 6,000 ft to regenerate the signal back to spec. Five or ten miles out, it looks as good as it did at the central office.

The availability of simple, inexpensive regenerative repeater cards is what makes T1 service so universally available. It doesn’t matter if your business is located downtown or on a farm in the middle of nowhere. If you can get telephone service, you can probably get T1 service. T1 takes two pair of phone wires, one for upload and one for download. Other than that, regular multi-pair telephone cable is all that is required. If no T1 service has ever been installed for miles around, the provider may have to do some construction to install those regenerative repeaters to get the signal to your location.

Are you interested in getting T1 or higher speed line service for your business? It may be less expensive than you think and higher bandwidths are becoming more available. Get pricing and availability for T1 and other line services now and check out your options.



Note: Photo of telegraph repeater courtesy of Daderot on Wikimedia Commons

Friday Frolics - What Room of the House Are You?

We all have a favorite room in the house, don't we? Some of us simply love our bedroom, others the living room, yet others the kitchen, and so forth.

If you were a room, what room of the house do you think you are? Take the quiz to find out..

You Are the Living Room

You are laid back and casual. You can have fun in almost any situation. You believe in being easy going. Life's hard enough, and you're not going to make it any harder. You are sociable and friendly. You welcome almost anyone into your life. You are completely unpretentious. You prefer living in a comfortable home to living in a showy home.

What Room of the House Are You?

Friday Folics: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Chinese Prisoners Forced to Play World Of Warcraft

Welcome to chain gangs 2.0. Prisoners in Chinese labor camps toil away by day, digging ditches and breaking rocks—and by night, they're forced to play online games like World Of Warcraft, where they mine virtual gold that prison guards sell for actual cash, the Guardian reports. According to a former prison guard who was later incarcerated at the Jixi labor camp in northeast China, the racket generates more money than physical labor does.

"Gold farming" is the practice of repeating basic tasks over and over in online games like WOW in order to gain valuable credits that are sold to players looking for a shortcut to progressing in the game. It's estimated that 80% of the gold farmers in the world are in China, and guards could pocket more than $900 a day from the routine. "If I couldn't complete my work quota, they would punish me physically," says the ex-con. "They would make me stand with my hands raised in the air and after I returned to my dormitory, they would beat me with plastic pipes. We kept playing until we could barely see things."

From: Newser

You Can Put a Working GPS Radio Inside Your Viewsonic G-Tablet

We’re not sure how popular this device is amongst the masses, but if any of you who bought it were annoyed by the lack of GPS radios inside, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Well, that’s if you’re a hardware engineer with some rad soldering skills. The guy who did it was even nice enough to whip up a parts list and some instructions. After looking at the list myself, I cowered in fear – it’s pretty semi-hardcore stuff. If you’ve got the technical knowhow and the ballz, head on over to XDA and get started.

Sourec: Engadget

Man Uses Google Books to Build Fully Functional 1906 Oldsmobile

I’ve always thought of using Google Books as a way of passing time. Reading fictional tales of knights and sorcerers in a far off land. Never once had it crossed my mind that you could use Google Books as a reference for say, building something. Even then, I would only imagine them providing handy information like replacing a leaky faucet or applying drywall.



Well, leave it to Bob Ferry of Louisville, Kentucky to make your hobby look like Popsicle stick crafts. Using nothing but Google Books to provide him with over 10o back issues of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science, Bob managed to construct a fully functional 1906 Oldsmobile Model B Runabout from scratch. Holy cow. So what did you do today?

Source: InsideGoogleBooks

The City with the Fastest Internet in the US, Olympia, Washington

Casey Chan — I've never actually been but I hear the Pacific Northwest is beautiful. Apparently, there's some really fast internet there too. An FCC report says that Olympia beats every US city in download speed at 21Mbps. That's nearly double second place.
Second place would be New York City and Seattle, who are both at 11.7Mbps. So not bad Olympia! But our best is still slower than the world's best which is Seoul, South Korea. Those speedy bastards clock in at 35Mbps.


Source: Gizmodo, FCC, Geekwire

Spring Tornadoes in the Southern US

Over the last three months, nearly 1,400 tornadoes have been reported, most of them in the southeastern U.S.  The map shows the location reports day-by-day. Over 120 people were killed in Joplin, MO after a tornado swept through the town on Sunday night, May 22nd.   See the animated map at:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/23/us/0523-tornado-tracker.html?ref=us
Thanks, Kristen, for sending me the link!

Also, see interactive aerial photos of Joplin, MO, before and after the tornado. It's pretty dramatic - The Greenbriar Nursing Home, for instance, is just totally gone in the "after" photos. Photos by M.J. Harden / GeoEye, at:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/25/us/joplin-aerial.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

Another good New York Times interactive feature is the map series "The Deadliest Years," which combines a point map of tornado touchdown sites AND a proportional symbol map showing numbers of associated deaths.  With nearly 500 tornado-related deaths so far, 2011 has already shaped up to be the deadliest year since 1953, when there were 519 deaths. What is pretty surprising as you play the time series sequence, is that in almost every year there are at least a few dozen tornado-related deaths, and in some years, hundreds of deaths.   
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/04/28/us/tornado-deaths.html?ref=us

Lime makes it the fifth of McDonald's Coca-Cola Can Glasses

I've got my McDonald Lime Coca-Cola Can glass. Have you? Today, the Lime Can glass goes on sale. This is the fifth McD Can glass, second last of the series of six. An intense shade of Lime, unusual and unique.

Other colors before Lime include Charcoal, Purple, Blue and Pretty Pink. Still looking to complete your set? Here's where you may be able to pick up the missing ones.

Can't wait to have them all. A peek at what's next.. the final piece to the jigsaw puzzle.. the Green one come June 2!

High Yield Brazil Stocks

The four BRIC countries are Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with Brazil being the leader of the group. Brazil is one of the largest countries in the world by both population and area and is the largest economy in Latin America. It is also the largest producer of ethanol in the world, which comes from sugarcane.

Fortunately, there are plenty of Brazilian stocks available to US investors. One source of information is the book I wrote a few years ago, Investing in Brazil Stocks: Get Rich from the South American Giant. Another resource is the free list of Brazil stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Here are some from the list. Twenty of the stocks on the list pay dividends.

An example is Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID), the second largest Brazilian steel manufacturer. The company is participating in the growth in the rebuilding of infrastructure and the demand for steel. The stock pays a yield of 4.8% and trades at 12 times forward earnings.

Vale (VALE) is the second largest mining company in the world and the largest logistics operator in Brazil. The stock has a price to earnings ratio of 9, and a yield of 1.5%.

Companhia de Bebidas Das Americas (ABV) also known as AMBEV, is a distributor of beer, soft drinks, sport drinks, and bottled water. The stock has a PE ratio of 19.6 and provides a yield of 4.8%.

CPFL Energia S.A. (CPL) is one of the largest electrical utilities in Brazil with a PE of 15. The yield is 4.3% based on historical dividend payments.

To see a list of all Brazilian stocks that trade in the US, check out WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or the book Investing in Brazil Stocks.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written. However, he wrote the above book.

By Stockerblog.com