Bakersfield Now | Fire officials warn of dangers posed by fireworks use Enid News & Eagle Officials are warning those celebrating the holidays to exercise caution while using fireworks to avoid grass fires. “We haven't had a lo. Fireworks still OK in Cascade County |
воскресенье, 1 июля 2012 г.
Fire officials warn of dangers posed by fireworks use - Enid News & Eagle
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пятница, 29 июня 2012 г.
RBI 'vision document' aims at minimising cash transactions by 2015 - domain-B
bertayfybuqutyp.blogspot.com
RBI 'vision document' aims at minimising cash transactions by 2015 domain-B RBI 'vision document' aims at minimising cash transactions by 2015. |
четверг, 28 июня 2012 г.
Charlie Sheen's 'Anger Management' needs counseling - Boston Herald
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NEWS.com.au | Charlie Sheen's 'Anger Management' needs counseling Boston Herald Charlie Sheen knows what you're thinking. A year after being booted from the CBS hit “Two and a Half Men†over his drug and alcohol binges, he faces the camera: “You can't fire me. “I quit. “You think you can replace me with some other guy? It.. . Dover grad James Black joins Sheen in 'Anger Management' Charlie Sheen returns in 'Anger': more of the same |
вторник, 26 июня 2012 г.
Privacy study shows Google
dyakonostrlin.blogspot.com
Using trackers called “web bugs,” third parties collecty user data from many popular and sites oftenallow this, even though theird privacy policies say they don’t share user data with “Web bugs from Googlw and its subsidiaries were found on 92 of the top 100 Web sitess and 88 percent of the approximately 400,0009 unique domains examined in the study,” the authorsw found. Sites with the most web bugs were forblogginyg — blogspot and typepad were No. 1 and No. 2 on the list in and blogger was No. 4. Google itself was No. 3. Ashkanj Soltani, Travis Pinnick and Joshuaz Gomez ofthe university’s information school wrote the published Monday.
They analyzed privacy policies posteds on websites and found loopholes used by many site operatorse to allow third partiesa to still collect data on who views Theyalso found, for that although websites may reassure visitors that “we don’t share data with third parties,” thoswe third parties don’t include a company’s affiliates — Googl e (NASDAQ: GOOG), for example, has 137 subsidiary “The law on affiliate sharing generally is more than that on sharing user data with third party companies, the report said.
Companies controlling the top 50 busiest websited had an average of 297 affiliates meaning they could share user data with a lot ofothefr companies. Popular site , for is owned by New York’s (NASDAQ: NWS), which has more than 1,5000 subsidiaries. (NYSE: BAC) in N.C., has more than 2,300 subsidiaries. “User do not know and cannot learmn the full range of affiliateds with which websites may share thereport said. Though many Internet users are familiawith “cookies” used to study theid surfing habits, they are less familiar with so-calle “web bugs,” which can’t be cleare d out of a web browser, since they are part of a website’e HTML code.
Since the web bugs are created directlh bythird parties, their use doesn’t strictly count as of data by the website’s though users concerned about privacy may be unimpressede by this technicality. “We believe that this practice contravenes users’ expectations; it makes littlee sense to disclaim formalinformation sharing, but allow functionally equivalent trackiny with third parties,” the report said. Who'ws in charge of privacy? Although surveys of internet users show peopleare “verty concerned about privacy and do not want websitexs to collect and share their personal information without sifting through privacy policied is not practical.
It would take 200 hours a year for a typical person to read the privacty policies of all the websites they for example. Thus “users have no practica l way of knowing with whom their data will be thereport said. On the policy front, the reportt finds “no one knows who is in chargse ofprotecting privacy” in the United People can complain to the Federal Traded Commission and other agencies, but even the FTC’es “principles for behavioral tracking make no mentiom of any enforcement or accountability.” A low numbetr of complaints to various agencies means consumers don’g really know where to complain, the repor t said.
The FTC looks at online privac more in termsof “harms” done to the report said, rather than also in terms of controol over personal information, which is what most users care The report makes several suggestions for including more aggressive action by the FTC to protect onliner privacy. It also calls for clearer privacy policies on websites, written so that averagre users can understand them. ’ws (NASDAQ: ADBE) privacy policy, for example, when analyzedc for readability, was written at an equivaleny grade levelof 17.29. The average privac policy in the studty was written at a grade leveloof 13.83. The full study can be found .
Using trackers called “web bugs,” third parties collecty user data from many popular and sites oftenallow this, even though theird privacy policies say they don’t share user data with “Web bugs from Googlw and its subsidiaries were found on 92 of the top 100 Web sitess and 88 percent of the approximately 400,0009 unique domains examined in the study,” the authorsw found. Sites with the most web bugs were forblogginyg — blogspot and typepad were No. 1 and No. 2 on the list in and blogger was No. 4. Google itself was No. 3. Ashkanj Soltani, Travis Pinnick and Joshuaz Gomez ofthe university’s information school wrote the published Monday.
They analyzed privacy policies posteds on websites and found loopholes used by many site operatorse to allow third partiesa to still collect data on who views Theyalso found, for that although websites may reassure visitors that “we don’t share data with third parties,” thoswe third parties don’t include a company’s affiliates — Googl e (NASDAQ: GOOG), for example, has 137 subsidiary “The law on affiliate sharing generally is more than that on sharing user data with third party companies, the report said.
Companies controlling the top 50 busiest websited had an average of 297 affiliates meaning they could share user data with a lot ofothefr companies. Popular site , for is owned by New York’s (NASDAQ: NWS), which has more than 1,5000 subsidiaries. (NYSE: BAC) in N.C., has more than 2,300 subsidiaries. “User do not know and cannot learmn the full range of affiliateds with which websites may share thereport said. Though many Internet users are familiawith “cookies” used to study theid surfing habits, they are less familiar with so-calle “web bugs,” which can’t be cleare d out of a web browser, since they are part of a website’e HTML code.
Since the web bugs are created directlh bythird parties, their use doesn’t strictly count as of data by the website’s though users concerned about privacy may be unimpressede by this technicality. “We believe that this practice contravenes users’ expectations; it makes littlee sense to disclaim formalinformation sharing, but allow functionally equivalent trackiny with third parties,” the report said. Who'ws in charge of privacy? Although surveys of internet users show peopleare “verty concerned about privacy and do not want websitexs to collect and share their personal information without sifting through privacy policied is not practical.
It would take 200 hours a year for a typical person to read the privacty policies of all the websites they for example. Thus “users have no practica l way of knowing with whom their data will be thereport said. On the policy front, the reportt finds “no one knows who is in chargse ofprotecting privacy” in the United People can complain to the Federal Traded Commission and other agencies, but even the FTC’es “principles for behavioral tracking make no mentiom of any enforcement or accountability.” A low numbetr of complaints to various agencies means consumers don’g really know where to complain, the repor t said.
The FTC looks at online privac more in termsof “harms” done to the report said, rather than also in terms of controol over personal information, which is what most users care The report makes several suggestions for including more aggressive action by the FTC to protect onliner privacy. It also calls for clearer privacy policies on websites, written so that averagre users can understand them. ’ws (NASDAQ: ADBE) privacy policy, for example, when analyzedc for readability, was written at an equivaleny grade levelof 17.29. The average privac policy in the studty was written at a grade leveloof 13.83. The full study can be found .
понедельник, 25 июня 2012 г.
For $5.6 million, you can blast ducks before work - Sacramento Business Journal:
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million, you could be hunting duckxs at dawn on your own estateethis winter, and then be back in downtowjn Sacramento in plenty of time for One of the area's pioneer families is sellingb the title and huntin rights to 2,119 acres in the Yolo literally a stone's throw from Interstatw 80 and a short commute from Sacramento or Davis. The newly named Swanston Duck Club consistws entirely of grasslands that are occasionally floodedd insidethe bypass, just north of the Yolo Causeway. For the $5.6 millioh asking price, you get to own the land and huntit -- and that'd about all. The property is protected as a wildlife refugr and floodcontrol zone. It can'g be developed.
It can't even be The buyer won't get mineral, oil or certaimn water rights. But during duck season -- roughly from October throughgJanuary -- the owner gets some of the most convenienft hunting in the Centrao Valley. Rather than driving to remote duck blindd in the Delta orSolanlo County, or to some marshy swamp in Colusaz or Butte counties, this land is just west of West "It's the convenience," says Gordonh Stromer, who owns Stromer Realty Co. of Californiaq in Yuba City and is marketinfthe property. "You could go hunting in the morningf and be in the office by8 Honk! Quack!
Every autumh and winter, hundreds of thousands of ducksa and geese funnel through the Central Valleuy on their way south. The migratoru path is called thePacificd Flyway, and it goes righ over the would-be Swanston Duck Club. Earlietr this year, heirs of the Swanston family soldthe U.S. Departmenr of the Interior a conservation easement on the SwanstonjDuck Club. The Swanston land along with the 3,700-acrer Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlifd Area just to the south nowcomprisee 5,700 acres of preserved, interior wetlands.
The asking price workws out to $2,650 an acre, and Strome expects a group of friendsw to put together their own private duck club on the whole Or perhaps it will be sold in six parcelas of as small as 320acrex apiece. Stromer pointed out that some membershipds to exclusive duck clubs in the Buttes Sink gofor $16,000 an acre. "Therd are some duck clubs wher memberships are a couple ofhundred bucks, and there are quite a few of them wherew it's more than $1 million to be a said Fritz Reid, director of conservatiohn planning for Ducks Unlimited in Ranchoi Cordova. "The duck club membership is worthy whatever someone is willing to payfor it.
A locatiom close to Sacramento isfairl attractive." Same rules apply: Areas where the public can hunt are limited. There are 18 state or federap hunting areasin California, and they're often full. Hunters without reservationas have to hope they get selected in daily drawinga at the refuges during hunting Belonging to a private duck club gets a huntet easier accessto ducks, but the same states and federal laws still "Different species and different seasons have differeny bag limits and they apply on private property as well as in the state said Troy Swauger, spokesman with the state Departmeng of Fish & Game.
"You still have to have a huntingh license, bag limits still apply, and you have to have passeed a huntersafety class. If you'res from out of state, their hunter safetgy class is valid, but you stil need a California license." in California a hunter's code says that huntingb occurs onlyon Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, said Ducks Unlimited' s Reid. Water, no lodge: "One of the things interesting aboutt this is that it is in theYolo Bypass," Reid "Being the Bypass, it's gointg to be under water sometimes, and that doesn'tg allow for a lodge." Stromeer said the land is so close to the it doesn't need a lodge.
"Wwe visualize many of these people will fly into do their hunting and either stay in a hotel or fly he said. "There are some people who like to hunt and ther are some who like the camaraderies and the drinking back atthe "This is for people who like the hunt. "We'vs talked with some of the neighboring and if someone wanted to buildra lodge, they could on some higher grounfd -- but that isn't part of this offer." Abouft 25 percent of Stromer's real estate business is in duck He has sold memberships and whole His brokerage recently sold a Eureka businessman a 500-acre duck club west of Sheridann for $1.4 million.
And his firm sold Charles of discountstocks fame, a duck club on Buttwe Creek just south of Chico. "They say the proof of the puddinhg is inthe eating," Stromer "so the proof of the land is in the and there are plenty of birdw there."
million, you could be hunting duckxs at dawn on your own estateethis winter, and then be back in downtowjn Sacramento in plenty of time for One of the area's pioneer families is sellingb the title and huntin rights to 2,119 acres in the Yolo literally a stone's throw from Interstatw 80 and a short commute from Sacramento or Davis. The newly named Swanston Duck Club consistws entirely of grasslands that are occasionally floodedd insidethe bypass, just north of the Yolo Causeway. For the $5.6 millioh asking price, you get to own the land and huntit -- and that'd about all. The property is protected as a wildlife refugr and floodcontrol zone. It can'g be developed.
It can't even be The buyer won't get mineral, oil or certaimn water rights. But during duck season -- roughly from October throughgJanuary -- the owner gets some of the most convenienft hunting in the Centrao Valley. Rather than driving to remote duck blindd in the Delta orSolanlo County, or to some marshy swamp in Colusaz or Butte counties, this land is just west of West "It's the convenience," says Gordonh Stromer, who owns Stromer Realty Co. of Californiaq in Yuba City and is marketinfthe property. "You could go hunting in the morningf and be in the office by8 Honk! Quack!
Every autumh and winter, hundreds of thousands of ducksa and geese funnel through the Central Valleuy on their way south. The migratoru path is called thePacificd Flyway, and it goes righ over the would-be Swanston Duck Club. Earlietr this year, heirs of the Swanston family soldthe U.S. Departmenr of the Interior a conservation easement on the SwanstonjDuck Club. The Swanston land along with the 3,700-acrer Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlifd Area just to the south nowcomprisee 5,700 acres of preserved, interior wetlands.
The asking price workws out to $2,650 an acre, and Strome expects a group of friendsw to put together their own private duck club on the whole Or perhaps it will be sold in six parcelas of as small as 320acrex apiece. Stromer pointed out that some membershipds to exclusive duck clubs in the Buttes Sink gofor $16,000 an acre. "Therd are some duck clubs wher memberships are a couple ofhundred bucks, and there are quite a few of them wherew it's more than $1 million to be a said Fritz Reid, director of conservatiohn planning for Ducks Unlimited in Ranchoi Cordova. "The duck club membership is worthy whatever someone is willing to payfor it.
A locatiom close to Sacramento isfairl attractive." Same rules apply: Areas where the public can hunt are limited. There are 18 state or federap hunting areasin California, and they're often full. Hunters without reservationas have to hope they get selected in daily drawinga at the refuges during hunting Belonging to a private duck club gets a huntet easier accessto ducks, but the same states and federal laws still "Different species and different seasons have differeny bag limits and they apply on private property as well as in the state said Troy Swauger, spokesman with the state Departmeng of Fish & Game.
"You still have to have a huntingh license, bag limits still apply, and you have to have passeed a huntersafety class. If you'res from out of state, their hunter safetgy class is valid, but you stil need a California license." in California a hunter's code says that huntingb occurs onlyon Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, said Ducks Unlimited' s Reid. Water, no lodge: "One of the things interesting aboutt this is that it is in theYolo Bypass," Reid "Being the Bypass, it's gointg to be under water sometimes, and that doesn'tg allow for a lodge." Stromeer said the land is so close to the it doesn't need a lodge.
"Wwe visualize many of these people will fly into do their hunting and either stay in a hotel or fly he said. "There are some people who like to hunt and ther are some who like the camaraderies and the drinking back atthe "This is for people who like the hunt. "We'vs talked with some of the neighboring and if someone wanted to buildra lodge, they could on some higher grounfd -- but that isn't part of this offer." Abouft 25 percent of Stromer's real estate business is in duck He has sold memberships and whole His brokerage recently sold a Eureka businessman a 500-acre duck club west of Sheridann for $1.4 million.
And his firm sold Charles of discountstocks fame, a duck club on Buttwe Creek just south of Chico. "They say the proof of the puddinhg is inthe eating," Stromer "so the proof of the land is in the and there are plenty of birdw there."
воскресенье, 24 июня 2012 г.
Seattle Savings shed its reverse mortgage arm before downturn, bank aims for business loans - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):
oryzacody.wordpress.com
Seattle Savings Bank had no planxs to sell off its profitable reverse mortgage busineszs before Bank of Americacame calling. Seattls Savings entered the business on a whim in 1995 when it hirexd an employee who understood the complexities of sellingyreverse mortgages. "One of the problems with revers e mortgages is no one knew how todo them," said Story. In a reverswe mortgage, customers -- typically in their 60s or oldefr -- borrow money against the equity of their usually in the form ofannual payments. The housw is typically sold after the person dies to pay off the In a reversemortgage loan, borrowers don' t make immediate payment, so interest charges are addefd to the debt.
The total amount of the loan balloonaover time. By 1997, Seattle Savings Bank startede servicingreverse mortgages, becoming the second bank in the countruy after Financial Freedom to take on that task. At that the business was originating about 30 to 40 loanesa month. Ten years later, as the popularity of reversd mortgages grew, so did the business. By the time the business and servicinf rights were sold to Bank of America for anundisclosed price, Seattle Savings was originating between 1,500 and 1,700p loans a month.
"The demographics for reverse mortgages are said Story, who is also vice chairmabn of the national Mortgage Bankers Association and continues to speakl about reverse mortgages. "Of people over 65, most of thosr people have a lot of equityh intheir homes." By the business had grown so rapidly that Story was talking with Bank of Americaa about a partnership, whereby Bank of America woul d securitize the reverse mortgage loans. Bank of Americs wasn't interested in a partnership.
Insteas it offered to buy the BofA had launched a pilo t reverse mortgage business in Phoenix in 2006 and its popularity made Bank of Americ a realize the need for the saidColin McCormick, reverse mortgage product executive for Bank of Despite the downturn in the housing market, the compant is expanding on Seattle Savings Bank's sales forcr and planning to roll out the reverse mortgage business in all of its markets by the end of the "The reverse mortgage businesx is an important growth part of the businessx over the long term," said Even before the BofA sale, Seattle Savingz Bank had been fieldinhg dozens of offers to buy the reverse mortgage business.
"Things got hot really fast," said "We could see we were getting our hands Not only would the profif from the sale help push the companuy into a new but the terms of the deal also alloweed for all 400 employees to keep their jobs when the busineszs moved over to Bankof America. "From our family-owner business perspective, that's good for us," said Seattle Savings Bank hasn't abandonex its reverse mortgage arm, though. The bank continuees to originate 25 to 40 loans a month in three officesd in Western Washingtonand Oregon, but it's limitefd to those offices becaused of the sale agreement with Bank of America.
Seattle Savings Bank had no planxs to sell off its profitable reverse mortgage busineszs before Bank of Americacame calling. Seattls Savings entered the business on a whim in 1995 when it hirexd an employee who understood the complexities of sellingyreverse mortgages. "One of the problems with revers e mortgages is no one knew how todo them," said Story. In a reverswe mortgage, customers -- typically in their 60s or oldefr -- borrow money against the equity of their usually in the form ofannual payments. The housw is typically sold after the person dies to pay off the In a reversemortgage loan, borrowers don' t make immediate payment, so interest charges are addefd to the debt.
The total amount of the loan balloonaover time. By 1997, Seattle Savings Bank startede servicingreverse mortgages, becoming the second bank in the countruy after Financial Freedom to take on that task. At that the business was originating about 30 to 40 loanesa month. Ten years later, as the popularity of reversd mortgages grew, so did the business. By the time the business and servicinf rights were sold to Bank of America for anundisclosed price, Seattle Savings was originating between 1,500 and 1,700p loans a month.
"The demographics for reverse mortgages are said Story, who is also vice chairmabn of the national Mortgage Bankers Association and continues to speakl about reverse mortgages. "Of people over 65, most of thosr people have a lot of equityh intheir homes." By the business had grown so rapidly that Story was talking with Bank of Americaa about a partnership, whereby Bank of America woul d securitize the reverse mortgage loans. Bank of Americs wasn't interested in a partnership.
Insteas it offered to buy the BofA had launched a pilo t reverse mortgage business in Phoenix in 2006 and its popularity made Bank of Americ a realize the need for the saidColin McCormick, reverse mortgage product executive for Bank of Despite the downturn in the housing market, the compant is expanding on Seattle Savings Bank's sales forcr and planning to roll out the reverse mortgage business in all of its markets by the end of the "The reverse mortgage businesx is an important growth part of the businessx over the long term," said Even before the BofA sale, Seattle Savingz Bank had been fieldinhg dozens of offers to buy the reverse mortgage business.
"Things got hot really fast," said "We could see we were getting our hands Not only would the profif from the sale help push the companuy into a new but the terms of the deal also alloweed for all 400 employees to keep their jobs when the busineszs moved over to Bankof America. "From our family-owner business perspective, that's good for us," said Seattle Savings Bank hasn't abandonex its reverse mortgage arm, though. The bank continuees to originate 25 to 40 loans a month in three officesd in Western Washingtonand Oregon, but it's limitefd to those offices becaused of the sale agreement with Bank of America.
пятница, 22 июня 2012 г.
A.M. Best affirms Northwestern Mutual's high ratings - South Florida Business Journal:
belyaevostapuki.blogspot.com
A.M. Best affirmed its financial strength ratingas ofof A++ (superior) and issuer credi t ratings of “aaa” of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. and its subsidiarh The outlook for both ratingxsis stable, the Oldwick, N.J., ratings organization said The ratings reflect Northwestern Mutual’s sizable and mature individual life insurances franchise, conservative operating profile, strongg operating performance and superior risk-adjusted capitalization, A.M. Best Partially offsetting those positive rating factors was the recenty decline inNorthwestern Mutual’s adjusted capitalk and surplus due mainly to realized and unrealized investment losses, A.M. Best A.M.
Best also noted that Northwestern Mutual maintaine an above average aggregatwe exposure to private placement belowinvestment grade, or "junk," bonds, commerciapl mortgages and equities. Despite NM increasing the totak number of financial representatives over the pastcouplr years, Northwestern Mutual may be challengefd to continue to grow the number of sales professionals whil e maintaining current levels of retentioh and productivity over the long term, A.M. Best said.
A.M. Best affirmed its financial strength ratingas ofof A++ (superior) and issuer credi t ratings of “aaa” of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. and its subsidiarh The outlook for both ratingxsis stable, the Oldwick, N.J., ratings organization said The ratings reflect Northwestern Mutual’s sizable and mature individual life insurances franchise, conservative operating profile, strongg operating performance and superior risk-adjusted capitalization, A.M. Best Partially offsetting those positive rating factors was the recenty decline inNorthwestern Mutual’s adjusted capitalk and surplus due mainly to realized and unrealized investment losses, A.M. Best A.M.
Best also noted that Northwestern Mutual maintaine an above average aggregatwe exposure to private placement belowinvestment grade, or "junk," bonds, commerciapl mortgages and equities. Despite NM increasing the totak number of financial representatives over the pastcouplr years, Northwestern Mutual may be challengefd to continue to grow the number of sales professionals whil e maintaining current levels of retentioh and productivity over the long term, A.M. Best said.
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