Mosquito Squad Opens 100th Franchise In Southeast Georgia To ...

Company Continues Expansion of the Nation's Largest Tick & Mosquito Elimination Brand

RICHMOND, Va. - March 27, 2013 // PRNewswire // - Mosquito Squad, North America's largest and most trusted tick and mosquito control brand, has hit a milestone with the opening of its 100th franchise location, Mosquito Squad of Southeast Georgia owned by Michael and Monica Fendley of Woodbine, GA.

Mosquito Squad specializes in eliminating mosquitoes and ticks from outdoor living spaces so homeowners can enjoy their yards, outdoor events, and outdoor living and dining spaces. Now with over 120 locations slated to open this Spring, the company has been recognized as one of the country's fastest growing franchise concepts in 2012 and 2011 by INC. Magazine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5,387 cases of West Nile were reported in 2012, with 243 deaths. West Nile is spread only via the bite of an infected mosquito. Incidents of Lyme disease, spread via ticks, have increased as well, with more than 32,000 confirmed and probable cases reported in 2012, up from 22,000 in 2011.

"The mosquito and tick populations and associated diseases such as West Nile Virus and Lyme disease have grown exponentially in the U.S. over the past several years, and our growth is due in part to that," said Scott Zide , president and COO of Outdoor Living Brands, parent company of Mosquito Squad. "Our goal is to educate homeowners on how to take a proactive approach to mosquito and tick elimination so that they can enjoy outdoor living in comfort."

The Fendley's service area includes Golden Isles , Kings Bay, Cumberland National Seashore Cities, Allenhurst, Alma, Altama, Ashintilly, Baxley, Bayview, Blackshear, Bristol, Brunswick, Carnigan, Cox, Crescent, Darien, Doctortown, Donald, Elim, Eulonia, Everett, Fleming, Flemington, Folkston, Fort Stewart, Gardi, Glennville, Graham, Gum Branch, Guysie, Hickory Bluff, Hickox, Hinesville, Hoboken, Homeland, Hortense, Jekyll Island, Jesup, Jones, Jot Em Down Store, Kings Bay, Kingsland, Ludowici, Lulaton, Madray Springs , Manor, McKinnon, Mendes, Meridian, Mershon, Midway, Nahunta, Odum, Okefenokee, Patterson, Pine Grove, Piney Bluff, Raybon, Retreat, Riceboro, Richmond Hill, Ridgeville, Rockingham, Saint George, Saint Marys, Saint Simons Island, Screven, Sea Island, Sears, Shellman Bluff , South Newport, Spring Bluff , Sterling, Surrency, Thalman, Tison, Townsend, Valona, Waverly, Waycross, Waynesville, White Oak and Woodbine.

For more information, contact Michael and Monica Fendley at (912) 576 - 4300 or via email: southeastgeorgia@mosquitosquad.com.

About Mosquito Squad

With more than 100 franchise locations nationwide, Mosquito Squad specializes in eliminating mosquitoes and ticks from outdoor living spaces, allowing Americans to enjoy their yards, outdoor living spaces, special events and green spaces. Mosquito Squad, an Outdoor Living Brands company, was certified as a World Class Franchise by the Franchise Research Institute in 2012, 2011, and 2010 and was rated one of the Top 50 Franchises by Franchise Business Review, receiving their 2012, 2011 and 2010 Franchisee Satisfaction Award. For more information, visit www.MosquitoSquad.com, www.MosquitoSquadFranchise.com and www.OutdoorLivingBrands.com.

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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20130327_mosquito_squad_opens_100th_franchise_in_southeast_.html

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Baumol and Blinders (cont.) (Unqualified Offerings)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/294901996?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Digg.com Disappears From Google, Old Digg Links May Be To Blame [UPDATE: Google Admits Mistake]

Digg.com and other links from its website have disappeared from Google's search result pages, following a recent update to Google's algorithms. It's unclear at this time exactly what caused the site to be de-listed, though the current speculation is that it has to do with Digg pointing to bad or spammy links. [UPDATE: See below, Google says it will fix the problem].

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/GU8ip8RpTyw/

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Bobby Brown Already Out of Jail: WTH?!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/bobby-brown-already-out-of-jail-wth/

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Police and Family Services Raid NJ Man's Home Over Photo of Son ...

10:00 am ET March 20, 2013

New Jersey dad Shawn Moore got quite a shock when police and representatives from the Department of Child Services showed up at his home after he posted a picture of his son to Facebook. In the photo, 10-year-old Josh can be seen proudly holding the .22 caliber rifle he got for his birthday.

Shawn and Josh Moore joined Fox and Friends this morning to tell their story. According to Shawn, when authorities showed up at their home, they said they wanted to look through the house to make sure that guns weren?t available to his children. They also wanted to access his safe in order to run the serial numbers on his weapons to confirm that they were all registered to him. They did not have a warrant.

Moore said the request immediately raised red flags. ?I think it?s totally illegal cause in New Jersey, you don?t have to register your firearms. I didn?t commit any crime, I wasn?t charged with anything,? he said.

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WATCH: What Does Judge Napolitano Think of This!?

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He was able to quickly get his lawyer on the phone, who advised him not to open the safe. At that point, the representatives from the Department of Child Services threatened to take his children away if he didn?t open it. Moore stood his ground and after about an hour of discussion, they left and never returned with a warrant.

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WATCH: Obama Caught Whispering About Congress Upon Arrival in Israel

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PHOTOS: Racy Pics Get Houston Police Sergeant Demoted

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RAID VIDEO: Dramatic Footage Captures Police Raid of Murder Plot Suspect?s Room on UCF Campus

Source: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/03/20/police-and-family-services-raid-nj-mans-home-over-photo-of-son-with-rifle/

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Pure Fitness Rx opens in west Wichita | Have You Heard? | Wichita ...

WICHITA ? Pete Rohleder has been working out at Fit Physique Fitness Center since he was 12 and working there since he was 16. After spending half his life there, he says he was ready to have his own place.

This week, he?s having a soft opening for his Pure Fitness Rx at 3460 N. Ridge Road.

?Fit Physique is a wonderful place ? but I needed to grow professionally,? Rohleder says.

He got his master?s degree in exercise science last year and says, ?I wanted to be able to offer more services.?

Rohleder calls himself an exercise physiologist.

?It allows me to be a little bit more in-depth and a little more comprehensive with my approach to health and fitness.?

He says he can incorporate more physiological tools for better results.

?I can help develop programs that are much more efficient.?

Rohleder says he trains all kinds of people, from elite and professional athletes to people struggling with diseases.

?It?s an exclusive setting,? he says. ?They?re the only ones in the studio.?

That includes one-on-one training and private, specialized yoga.

Cristi Howell of J.P. Weigand & Sons and Dan Unruh of InSite Real Estate Group handled the deal for the 1,500-square-foot space.

Rohleder says in addition to the training, he?s adding a number of smaller touches, such as infused flavored water, aromatherapy, towel service and personalized music and temperature settings.

?The entire experience from the second you walk in to the second you walk out is important,? he says. ?It?s whatever the client wants.?

Source: http://blogs.kansas.com/haveyouheard/2013/03/20/pure-fitness-rx-opens-in-west-wichita/

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The Insane One-Man Computer Station It Takes to Cover Every Single March Madness Game

When March Madness kicks off tomorrow at noon Eastern time, thousands of sports fans across the country will be suddenly stricken with sore throats, coughs, or other excuses to ditch work and find a place to watch one or more of the 16 college basketball games that will tip off. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/PG-094XEApU/the-insane-one+man-computer-station-needed-to-cover-march-madness

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Assault weapons ban won't be in Dems' gun bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The sponsor of a proposed assault weapons ban says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has told her that the ban will not be part of the initial gun control measure the Senate will debate next month.

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein says that instead of being included in the measure, the ban will be offered as an amendment.

The decision, which was expected, means that the ban seems to stand little chance of surviving because of expected solid opposition from Republicans and likely defections from some moderate Democrats.

The ban was one of four gun control measures approved this month by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The others would expand required federal background checks for firearms buyers, increase federal penalties for illegal gun trafficking and boost school safety money.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-19-US-Gun-Control-Congress/id-bbcca582bd934c81ac65674a45aa9497

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Power partially restored at nuclear plant in Japan

TOKYO (AP) ? Power has been restored to two fuel storage pools at Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear plant, but two others have been without fresh cooling water for more than a day, raising concerns about the fragility of a facility that still runs on makeshift equipment.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that pool temperatures at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were well within safe levels, and that pools would remain safe for at least four days without fresh cooling water. The utility said the reactors were unaffected and no other abnormalities were found.

The cooling system was restored at two of the four pools by Tuesday evening, and the systems for the two other pools were to resume by Wednesday morning as workers complete repairs and try to determine the cause of the problem, TEPCO spokesman Masayuki Ono told reporters.

"We now have better prospects for cooling to resume," he said.

About 50 workers in hazmat suits and full-face masks were mobilized to fix cabling that involved the last of the three switchboards that they suspect as a possible cause of the problem. The utility was also preparing a backup system in case the repairs didn't fix the issue and "the worse comes to worst," Ono said.

Japan's March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant's power and cooling systems, causing three reactor cores to melt and fuel storage pools to overheat. Massive radiation leaks from the plant have contaminated air, water and soil around the plant, causing some 160,000 residents to evacuate.

The current power outage is a test for TEPCO to show if it has learned anything from the disaster. TEPCO, which has repeatedly faced cover-up scandals, was slammed by local media Tuesday for waiting hours to disclose the blackout.

Ono acknowledged the plant was vulnerable.

"Fukushima Dai-ichi still runs on makeshift equipment, and we are trying to switch to something more permanent and dependable, which is more desirable," he said. "Considering the equipment situation, we may be pushing a little too hard."

Ono said the utility did not immediately try to switch to a backup cooling system because doing so without finding and fixing the cause could lead to a repeat of the problem but prioritized power restoration after all.

There is a backup cooling system but no backup outside power. TEPCO has backup cooling systems with separate power sources for reactor cooling, but fuel storage pools only have emergency diesel generators as a backup. TEPCO said it will consider installing backup outside power for the pools.

Units 3 and 4 reactors shared a makeshift switchboard that sits on the back of a truck but an upgrade for permanent, safer location was being planned later this month. Reactor cooling water pumps also sit on the back of a truck, with hoses traveling several kilometers (miles) to reach the reactors.

"We have a ton of problems that still needs to be taken care of to overcome the challenges that we have never experienced," Ono said. But he denied the power outage would affect the plant's long-term cleanup plans.

Regulators have raised concerns about the makeshift equipment and urged the plant to switch them to a more permanent arrangement. The operator still has to remove melted, fatally radioactive fuel from the reactors before fully decommissioning the plant, which officials say could take 40 years.

Yoshihide Suga, the chief government spokesman, sought to allay concerns.

"In a sense, we have put in place measures that leave no room for worry," Suga told reporters in a regular briefing.

The command center at the plant suffered a brief power outage before 7 p.m. Monday. Electricity was quickly restored to the command center but not to equipment pumping water into the fuel pools.

The temperature in the four pools had risen slightly, but was well below the utility's target control temperature of 65 degrees Celsius, TEPCO said.

"We don't believe the Fukushima disaster is under control," said Yuko Endo, chief of Kawauchi village, part of which remains restricted due to radiation contamination, keeping hundreds of residents away from home. Officials are struggling to make the area livable again, but people cannot return home unless they feel confident about the plant's stability, he said.

__

Associated Press writer Malcolm Foster contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/power-partially-restored-nuclear-plant-japan-100728203.html

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AP: Costs of US wars linger for over 100 years

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- If history is any judge, the U.S. government will be paying for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for the next century as service members and their families grapple with the sacrifices of combat.

An Associated Press analysis of federal payment records found that the government is still making monthly payments to relatives of Civil War veterans ? 148 years after the conflict ended.

At the 10 year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, more than $40 billion a year are going to compensate veterans and survivors from the Spanish-American War from 1898, World War I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the two Iraq campaigns and the Afghanistan conflict. And those costs are rising rapidly.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said such expenses should remind the nation about war's long-lasting financial toll.

"When we decide to go to war, we have to consciously be also thinking about the cost," said Murray, D-Wash., adding that her WWII-veteran father's disability benefits helped feed their family.

Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator and veteran who co-chaired President Barack Obama's deficit committee in 2010, said government leaders working to limit the national debt should make sure that survivors of veterans need the money they are receiving.

"Without question, I would affluence-test all of those people," Simpson said.

With greater numbers of troops surviving combat injuries because of improvements in battlefield medicine and technology, the costs of disability payments are set to rise much higher.

The AP identified the disability and survivor benefits during an analysis of millions of federal payment records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

To gauge the post-war costs of each conflict, AP looked at four compensation programs that identify recipients by war: disabled veterans; survivors of those who died on active duty or from a service-related disability; low-income wartime vets over age 65 or disabled; and low-income survivors of wartime veterans or their disabled children.

?The Iraq wars and Afghanistan

So far, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the first Persian Gulf conflict in the early 1990s are costing about $12 billion a year to compensate those who have left military service or family members of those who have died.

Those post-service compensation costs have totaled more than $50 billion since 2003, not including expenses of medical care and other benefits provided to veterans, and are poised to grow for many years to come.

The new veterans are filing for disabilities at historic rates, with about 45 percent of those from Iraq and Afghanistan seeking compensation for injuries. Many are seeking compensation for a variety of ailments at once.

Experts see a variety of factors driving that surge, including a bad economy that's led more jobless veterans to seek the financial benefits they've earned, troops who survive wounds of war and more awareness about head trauma and mental health.

?Vietnam War

It's been 40 years since the U.S. ended its involvement in the Vietnam War, and yet payments for the conflict are still rising.

Now above $22 billion annually, Vietnam compensation costs are roughly twice the size of the FBI's annual budget. And while many disabled Vietnam vets have been compensated for post-traumatic stress disorder, hearing loss or general wounds, other ailments are positioning the war to have large costs even after veterans die.

Based on an uncertain link to the defoliant Agent Orange that was used in Vietnam, federal officials approved diabetes a decade ago as an ailment that qualifies for cash compensation ? and it is now the most compensated ailment for Vietnam vets.

The VA also recently included heart disease among the Vietnam medical issues that qualify, and the agency is seeing thousands of new claims for that issue. Simpson said he has a lot of concerns about the government agreeing to automatically compensate for those diseases.

"That has been terribly abused," Simpson said.

Since heart disease is common among older Americans and is the nation's leading cause of death, the future deaths of thousands of Vietnam veterans could be linked to their service and their benefits passed along to survivors.

A congressional analysis estimated the cost of fighting the war was $738 billion in 2011 dollars, and the post-war benefits for veterans and families have separately cost some $270 billion since 1970, according to AP calculations.

?World War I, World War II and the Korean War

World War I, which ended 94 years ago, continues to cost taxpayers about $20 million every year. World War II? $5 billion.

Compensation for WWII veterans and families didn't peak until 1991 ? 46 years after the war ended ? and annual costs since then have only declined by about 25 percent. Korean War costs appear to be leveling off at about $2.8 billion per year.

Of the 2,289 survivors drawing cash linked to WWI, about one-third are spouses and dozens of them are over 100 years in age.

Some of the other recipients are curious: Forty-seven of the spouses are under the age of 80, meaning they weren't born until years after the war ended. Many of those women were in their 20s and 30s when their aging spouses died in the 1960s and 1970s, and they've been drawing the monthly payments since.

?Civil War and Spanish-American War

There are 10 living recipients of benefits tied to the 1898 Spanish-American War at a total cost of about $50,000 per year. The Civil War payments are going to two children of veterans ? one in North Carolina and one in Tennessee? each for $876 per year.

Surviving spouses can qualify for lifetime benefits when troops from current wars have a service-linked death. Children under the age of 18 can also qualify, and those benefits are extended for a lifetime if the person is permanently incapable of self-support due to a disability before the age of 18.

Citing privacy, officials did not disclose the names of the two children getting the Civil War benefits.

Their ages suggest the one in Tennessee was born around 1920 and the North Carolina survivor was born around 1930. A veteran who was young during the Civil War would likely have been roughly 70 or 80 years old when the two people were born.

That's not unheard of. At age 86, Juanita Tudor Lowrey is the daughter of a Civil War veteran. Her father, Hugh Tudor, fought in the Union army. After his first wife died, Tudor was 73 when he remarried her 33-year-old mother in 1920. Lowrey was born in 1926.

Lowrey, who lives in Kearney, Mo., suspects the marriage might have been one of convenience, with her father looking for a housekeeper and her mother looking for some security. He died a couple years after she was born, and Lowrey received pension benefits until she was 18.

Now, Lowrey said, she usually gets skepticism from people after she tells them she's a daughter of a Civil War veteran.

"We're few and far between," Lowrey said.

___

AP Writer Mike Baker can be reached on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/HiPpEV

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-costs-us-wars-linger-150854910.html

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Kids In Tune, Kalamazoo Music Program, Changes Lives One Note At A Time

This article originally appeared in Southwest Michigan Second Wave.

A kid who would give up recess to make time for another lesson? Never happen.

At Woods Lake Elementary at 3215 Oakland Drive, in the Kids in Tune program, however, that is precisely what did happen. And not just one child made such a choice, but 79 children voted to extend their music lessons rather than go outside to play.

For them, Kids in Tune is play. These children play musical instruments for two-and-a-half hours, four days of the week, as part of the Kids in Tune program, a collaboration of Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS), Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and Communities in Schools (CIS) of Kalamazoo. An after-school program launched in the fall of 2011, Kids in Tune is built on the Venezuelan philosophy known as El Sistema, founded by Dr. Jos? Abreu.

"I saw a YouTube video of an orchestra of young people from all walks of life playing instruments, and I started to think about how to reach people in our community," says Elizabeth, or Liz, Youker, education director at Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and founder of Kids in Tune. "Music changes lives."

Youker found the partners she needed in Woods Lake Elementary, a Magnet Center for the Arts, where she worked with Rachel Boomsma, senior site director for Communities in Schools, to put the music program together.

"It's an extraordinary meld with CIS," says Youker. "The wonderful thing about working with CIS is that we can surround the kids with a web of support, helping them develop social and academic skills along with musical skills. There's a lot of interest now in the concept of resilience, how that's needed in life, and it's fairly inherent in music."

"Resilience is built into music study," echoes Boomsma, who is a thesis shy of her master's degree in music therapy. "Music is fun, but it's also hard work. You have to keep doing it, practice and push through, even when you are good at it."

Children pop in and out of the classroom at Woods Lake Elementary, and they ask Youker and Boomsma about their instruments, about practice sessions, about the recital coming up the next day, when they will perform for their families and other community members. The flow of activity is bustling and constant.

Five hundred children attend Woods Lake Elementary, and the capacity for the Kids in Tune program is 100 with plans to expand. "In terms of demographics," says Boomsma, "about 84 percent are eligible for free or reduced cost lunches. We identify the kids with a strategic need for this program, those who are least likely to have access to music but need it the most."

"The instruments are for the most part made available through grant funding," says Youker. "Some instruments come from KPS, and we will always accept donations."

The walls of the room are lined with instruments. Junior-sized cellos, violins, flutes and clarinets, percussion instruments lined up neatly, waiting to be taken up in the next child's hands. The children, kindergarten through fifth graders, take their chosen instrument and head down the hall to another room for rehearsal. Kids in Tune has started with strings, but the plan is eventually to include all the instruments that comprise an orchestra--even harps, Youker says a little dreamily.

Kids in Tune is music and far more than music. The program includes hot meals and transportation, academic tutoring, group lessons and one-on-one sessions, choir, dance, and the occasional field trip to hear the professionals perform.

"Money can be an obstacle to the arts, of course," says Youker, "but kids can be dealing with all kinds of obstacles, like getting a ride, or just finding the space at home to practice."

"Parents love this opportunity, much more than any other program we've offered," adds Boomsma. "We've actually met some of the parents in the music events for the first time. We were seeing about 20 percent attendance at events from parents. Now, we see as much as 94 percent, and extended family, too, come to the events."

Parents are called in for meet-and-greet meetings, instructed on instrument care, and how to help their children practice at home, says Boomsma. For the most part, however, practice happens at school, after hours. She and Youker are looking into allowing the children to take their instruments home for the weekend.

Helping Youker and Boomsma with the program is a growing cadre of volunteers. Eric Barth, a mathematics professor at Kalamazoo College by day, shows up at the end of his work day to become the young orchestra's conductor. He is the music curriculum director here, writing arrangements suitable for young beginners.

"I caught the magic," says Barth. "I love sharing this experience with the kids. All the challenges we all face--music builds those skills that we need to face life's challenges."

A moment later, Barth is in front of the kid's orchestra, coaxing, praising, cheering, and successfully inspiring enthusiasm in the young musicians. Seated among them are several Kalamazoo College music students, part of a college service learning program, playing with the kids. That, too, is part of the program, with those who are just beginning to learn practicing side-by-side with those who have already achieved expertise.

Deb Faling, director of social-emotional health initiatives at CIS, wanders through the gathering crowd, talking to parents, talking to kids. "Oh, I'm very charged up about this program," she says. "It's amazing, to see the changes in these children as they take up their instruments. Every kid here feels like they have an advocate in this program. Our staff is always trying to find a way to personalize the experience and to connect with the child."

Faling tells a story of a boy who loved wrestling, and so a staff member wrote a music arrangement based on the WWF theme song for the young cellist's favorite wrestler. A new and dedicated musician was born.

"Every kid thinks it's normal to play music," Faling says. "They identify with it."

"We focus on the whole student," Youker adds. "Music isn't just about learning to play the scales. This is wholly affirmative, passion over precision. Once they have the passion, they will be motivated to pursue precision. We want them to fall in love with music."

This is the El Sistema philosophy: through passion and support, nurturing and joy, given a chance to know music intimately and personally, a child will learn life skills through the learning of music skills. As the orchestra of tiny musicians soars into another go at Beethoven, however squeaky it might be at moments, it appears that change is well under way at Woods Lake Elementary.

Standing at the back of the room, lips pressed into a smile, cheeks flushed, Youker listens. "It's working even better than I expected," she whispers.

Read more growth and innovation news, plus inspiring stories of life in Southwest Michigan, at Southwest Michigan Second Wave.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/16/kids-in-tune-kalamazoo-music-program_n_2884378.html

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Gov. Dalrymple defends North Dakota University System

BISMARCK ? Relentless scrutiny of North Dakota?s higher education system is nothing new, Gov. Jack Dalrymple said Friday.

But the fractured relationship between some legislators and embattled Chancellor Hamid Shirvani may be stirring the pot even more.

?Higher education has always been a big topic of attention as long as I?ve been around, and that just seems to continue,? the governor and former state representative said. ?It would be nice if it could settle down and be a little bit quieter for a period of time, but I can?t honestly think of a time when we didn?t have somewhat of a rocking boat.?

Dalrymple said one ?source of irritation? is the constitutional division of authority in place here since 1938, when voters approved the creation of the State Board of Higher Education. While the board is tasked with hiring the chancellor and overseeing the 11 public campuses, the Legislature has few options to weigh in, other than setting the budget.

Still, he said the North Dakota University System is generally ranked among the top one-third of American higher education systems, and he said the state now has 11 institutions doing a good job of meeting the education and workforce training demands of a changing state.

Dalrymple said the state has made strides in improving its system in recent decades, both through the work of the board and the Legislature. But those positive steps may be overlooked as reporters, pundits and critics focus on the conflict with Shirvani, including an amendment passed by the Senate that would give the board enough money to buy out the remainder of his three-year contract.

?It?s a little discouraging at times that we do spend so much time on a personnel issue or something else that really is a small, small piece of the big picture,? he said.

Dalrymple said the system faces challenges, including overzealous steps since Shirvani began his job July 1 to implement the kinds of higher education reforms that have been discussed here for decades.

?I don?t think it?s any secret that this chancellor is off to a bit of a rocky start, and there are clearly a number of people who feel that he?s been too aggressive and people don?t appreciate that,? Dalrymple said.

He said part of the problem has been the quick pace Shirvani has worked at to enact sweeping changes, including the Pathways to Student Success plan that will raise admission standards in an attempt to improve graduation rates and other outcomes. But he said the issue often has been the way these changes are being made, not the actual changes.

Higher education has remained a top issue during the current legislative session, with lawmakers mulling five proposals that would abolish the board, create a new elected commissioner of higher education or lead to other sweeping reforms.

Dalrymple believes current board members understand they need to ?settle things down one way or the other? and move past the current disruptions to do their job.

?I would have to say that of all the options that there are out there, I do not see a better system of governance than we have today,? he said. ?I?m not saying it?s perfect, I?m not saying it?s ideal, but when you start talking about alternatives, they have their drawbacks, too.

?The concept of an independent board of policymakers for higher education is not a bad concept,? Dalrymple said. ?But, of course, you have to hope that it?s being well-executed.?

Tags: north dakota,?higher education,?news,?updates,?politics,?education

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Source: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/259104/

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Boeing: Commercial 787 flights to restart in weeks

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner speaks during a news conference in Tokyo, Friday, March 15, 2013. Boeing executives said commercial flights of its grounded 787 jets will resume "within weeks, not months" with a third of safety tests already completed. They said Friday they had not pinpointed the causes of the two battery problems that resulted in the global grounding of the technologically advanced Dreamliner planes. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner speaks during a news conference in Tokyo, Friday, March 15, 2013. Boeing executives said commercial flights of its grounded 787 jets will resume "within weeks, not months" with a third of safety tests already completed. They said Friday they had not pinpointed the causes of the two battery problems that resulted in the global grounding of the technologically advanced Dreamliner planes. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Vice President and Chief Project Engineer Mike Sinnett poses with a model of newly designed 787's battery during a news conference in Tokyo, Friday, March 15, 2013. Boeing executives said commercial flights of its grounded 787 jets will resume "within weeks, not months" with a third of safety tests already completed. They said Friday they had not pinpointed the causes of the two battery problems that resulted in the global grounding of the technologically advanced Dreamliner planes. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Vice President and Chief Project Engineer Mike Sinnett poses with a model of newly designed 787's battery for photographers during a news conference in Tokyo, Friday, March 15, 2013. Boeing executives said commercial flights of its grounded 787 jets will resume "within weeks, not months" with a third of safety tests already completed. They said Friday they had not pinpointed the causes of the two battery problems that resulted in the global grounding of the technologically advanced Dreamliner planes. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

TOKYO (AP) ? Boeing said Friday it sees commercial flights of its grounded 787 jets resuming "within weeks" even though it has not pinpointed the cause of battery overheating.

Boeing Co. Chief Project Engineer Michael Sinnett outlined a fix centered on a new design for the lithium-ion battery system that has many layers of safeguards to prevent overheating. It also has measures to contain any problems if malfunctions do occur.

"We could be back up and going in weeks and not months," Sinnett told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. A third of safety tests have already been completed. A Japanese official said it was possible flights could resume next month.

The 787 fleet was grounded worldwide by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, its counterparts in Japan and other nations in January, following a battery fire in a Dreamliner parked in Boston and an overheated battery that led to an emergency landing of another 787 in Japan.

All Nippon Airways, a major Japanese carrier, was the launch customer for the technologically advanced Dreamliner planes. With Japan Airlines another customer, about half the 787 jets in use are with Japanese carriers.

The Boeing executives sought to allay flier fears about the 787 by repeatedly stressing their commitment to safety.

They said it would take too long to figure out what had specifically caused the problems in Boston and southwestern Japan but the new design would ensure 787s are safe.

Boeing came up with 80 possible causes for the battery failures, categorized them into four groups, and came up with design adjustments such as better insulation between each battery cell so any malfunctions won't spread. That was to allow the 787 to be back in the air more promptly, they said.

There were also changes to wiring for the battery, aimed at preventing overheating, and a new enclosure for the battery that would eliminate fire risk.

The enclosure has a direct vent to carry battery vapors outside the airplane, and small holes at the bottom of the battery case will allow moisture to drain from the battery, according to Boeing. The battery charger is also being adapted to beef up safety, it said.

While executives acknowledged that final approval would have to come from the FAA, and didn't rule out further delays to ensure safety, they said they were in close contact with the FAA and didn't foresee any long delays.

"It's a safe airplane. We have no concerns at all about that," Sinnett said.

Boeing Executive Vice President Ray Conner offered his apologies to Japan for the problems.

"We do apologize for this situation," Conner said. He said he was in Japan to meet with aviation authorities and airlines, and the company had picked Japan as the place to outline the battery fix.

About a third of the plane is made by Japanese manufacturers, including GS Yuasa, which supplies the lithium-ion batteries.

Despite assurances from Boeing, it is unclear if travelers will have enough confidence in the 787 to book flights on them.

Both ANA and JAL have announced cancellations of hundreds of 787 flights through the end of May.

Still, once the FAA clears the jet, approval from Japanese aviation regulators is likely to be instant.

Transport Ministry official Yasuo Ishii said Japanese officials were part of the tests and certification in the U.S., and planned to go along with and be part of the FAA decision.

He said it was even possible commercial flights could resume as early as next month.

JAL spokesman Jian Yang said in a statement the airline sees the 787 tests going "to a new stage," and was ready to cooperate with others in the effort.

ANA also welcomed Boeing's plan.

"As the launch customer for the 787, ANA hopes for a resumption of flights as soon as possible, while putting safety as a top priority," it said.

Boeing executives played down fire risks, stressing that there was no fire in the Japan failure and that there was no major damage to the aircraft.

They said they would not hesitate to fly on the 787 or have their families fly on them.

They declined comment on questions about monetary compensations for the carriers, which are suffering losses because of flight cancellations.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-15-Japan-Boeing%20787/id-3545e75c50894cf083093515d736fa22

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EBay Slams Google Ads As A Waste Of Money - Business Insider

Businesses may be wasting billions of pounds a year buying up keyword advertising on search engines such as Google, a new report has claimed.

The study by auction website eBay claimed that most of the money spent buying up search terms was a waste of time and had little effect on sales.

Google has built its business on the back of persuading advertisers to buy keywords ? such as their company name or a term such as "insurance" or "Christmas" ? to get a link to their website high up on Google search rankings.

Spend on search advertising in the UK alone is worth about ?3bn a year, with Google accounting for around 90% of that. Google made close to $37bn from advertising in the US in 2011, said the report.

"Results show that brand keyword ads [where companies purchase ads on searches for their own name] have no short-term benefits, and that returns from all other keywords are a fraction of conventional estimates," said the authors of the research.

The 25-page report ? given the not entirely search-friendly title of Consumer Heterogeneity and Paid Search Effectiveness: A Large Scale Field Experiment ? found that most customers would have clicked through to a particular site without being prompted by an ad for the company.

"[In the absence of paid search links] consumers simply substitute to organic search links [the results Google's search algorithm brings back without companies having to pay]," said the report.

"This implies that brand keyword advertising has neither persuasive nor informative value to well-known corporations."

The report found that "new and infrequent" users are influenced by ads. However it is "existing loyal users" who already know all about a service and would already go to the website account for most of the clicks on paid-for keywords.

This suggests companies are wasting their money targeting ads at existing customers.

"Advertising may appear like it is successfully attracting these consumers, when in reality they would have found other channels to the firm's website," said the report.

"We calculate that the short-term returns on investment for search engine marketing were negative because more frequent eBay shoppers are accountable for most of paid search sales."

In carrying out the study eBay removed paid-search keywords using its brand name from Yahoo and Microsoft search engines and kept paying to keep them on Google.

"The results show that almost all of the forgone click traffic and attributed sales were immediately captured by natural search," the auction site found. Removal of these advertisements simply raised the prominence of the eBay natural search result.

eBay also conducted a separate test of the effectiveness of non-branded keywords ? such as "cell phone" ? and found "search engine marketing had a very small and statistically insignificant effect on sales".

The company said its findings were likely to be equally relevant for other major brands, and raised questions about the received wisdom that Google is an efficient way to market to consumers.

"The efficacy of search engine marketing is weak, a conclusion that is likely to apply to other large brands that together spend billions of dollars a year on internet marketing," added the report.

In response to the report, a Google spokesperson said search outcomes differ among advertisers and encouraged them to experiment with their keyword campaigns.

"Google's own studies, based on results from hundreds of advertisers, have found that more than 89% of search ad clicks were incremental and that 50% of the search ad clicks were incremental even when there was an organic search result for the advertiser in the top position. Since outcomes differ so much among advertisers and are influenced by many different factors, we encourage advertisers to experiment with their own campaigns. We provide tools such as AdWords campaign experiments and content experiments and recommend a statistical method for advertisers to conduct their own geo-targeted experiments."

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/ebay-slams-google-ads-as-a-waste-of-money-2013-3

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Today on New Scientist: 14 March 2013

Four wings bad, two wings better - for early birds

Evidence is mounting that primitive birds initially evolved flight using four wings

Higgs keeps mum about universe's secrets - for now

The last known quirk in the properties of the Higgs boson discovered last year has vanished from the data of one of the experiments that detected it

Glow planes: Plasmas take the drag out of air travel

Futuristic planes with glowing wings, super-efficient wind turbines, greener cars... can a coat of ionised gas deliver all this magic?

65 tonnes of dead fish clog Rio's Olympic lagoon

It's fishmageddon at Rio's Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, where low oxygen levels have killed thousands of fish days before an Olympic rowing qualifier race

Clawed drone grabs prey on the fly just like an eagle

Drones with arms and legs will be able to help out with tasks like bridge repair, pruning trees and using hand tools

Mystery boson earns Higgs status thanks to W particle

New decay data confirms that the unsatisfyingly named "Higgs-like particle" announced at CERN last year really is a Higgs boson

Are breast milk stem cells the real deal for medicine?

Breast milk could give a plentiful supply of embryonic-like stem cells for treating Alzheimer's or repairing damaged hearts

Meet six winners and losers from wildlife trade meeting

At this year's CITES meeting, some animals had their trade banned, some are doing so well their protection level was decreased, and some are gone forever

Cellphone sniffer hunts down illicit prison calls

Contraband cellphones are a massive problem in prisons - now there's a way to see who's using one

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Music review: The Virgins fall short on 'Strike Gently' | The Salt Lake ...

The Virgins, "Strike Gently" (Cult Records/Frenchkiss Label Group)

The best thing about the New York quartet The Virgins is Donald Cummings? adept angular guitar playing. In spots it?s pleasantly reminiscent of Richard Hell?s inventive work in television, or even the David Byrne/Jerry Harrison combination in Talking Heads ? and it?s clear there?s a post-punk New York aesthetic that The Virgins are mining. It is, after all, their hometown.

"Strike Gently" is their second full-length effort, and it is considerably more down-tempo than their 2008 debut. Much of the sexy dance beats from the first record have been shelved in favor of slower attempts at contemplative songs like "The Beggar" or "Amelia."

Cummings sings in an Iggy-esque basso that has a little too much reverb, or doubling effect, in places, and isn?t nearly as captivating. The verses with the sharp and often ornamental guitar licks unfortunately devolve into the most banal of choruses ? like a television tune with a Rick Springfield refrain. There are plenty of New York stories for a creative guitarist and vocalist to discover and transform into something unique and listenable. Sadly, "Strike Gently" fails to deliver.

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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See more about comments here.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/55993319-223/gently-strike-virgins-york.html.csp

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Increase Your Mindfulness at Work with Hourly Check-Ins

By training you to be in the present, mindfulness can increase your focus in whatever you do and also reduce stress. One way to become more mindful at work is to check in with yourself regularly, such as every hour.

The idea is simple: Pause regularly throughout the day and notice what's happening in your mind and body. On the World of Psychology blog, mindfulness teacher Ed Halliwell says you can download mindfulness bells and have them chime every hour to remind yourself to take that break:

As one bell chimes, for instance, you might notice yourself rushing for no reason. (For many of us this has become our autopilot.) Just noticing that you're sprinting through your day can help you break out of the harried habit.

You can combine this with hourly desk stretches or other much-needed movement. In OS X, you can set an hourly announcement in the Date & Time settings, while Windows users can use Task Scheduler to set up a similar hourly reminder.

These quick check-ins and pauses may help you become more attuned to everything around you?and keep calm even in a pressure-filled workplace.

Hit up the full article for more tips on practicing mindfulness at work.

3 Tips for Being Mindful at Work | World of Psychology

Photo by Andrei Zarubaika (Shutterstock)

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/krShdEVBXaU/increase-your-mindfulness-at-work-with-hourly-check+ins

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Curiosity hits 'pay dirt': Mars was habitable, evidence suggests

The Mars rover Curiosity analyzed the inside of a rock it drilled and found that the sample was likely formed in standing water 'so benign' you likely could have drunk it, researchers say.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / March 12, 2013

This image released by NASA shows the Curiosity rover holding a scoop of powdered rock on Mars. The rover recently drilled into a Martian rock for the first time and transferred a pinch of powder to its instruments to analyze the chemical makeup.

NASA/AP

Enlarge

The verdict is in: Mars's Gale Crater was habitable in its distant past, perhaps during the same period in which microbial life was establishing itself on Earth between 3 billion and 4 billion years ago.

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That is the conclusion scientists have reached after NASA's Mars rover Curiosity analyzed the first sample ever culled from deep in a rock on another planet.?Curiosity used a first-of-its-kind drill to extract the sample.

Now, only seven months into its mission ? a period set aside primarily for testing the rover's various instruments ? Curiosity has already given researchers the answer to the broad, basic question they set out to answer: Did Mars ever host environments suitable for life?

The issue of habitability is "in the bag," said John Grotzinger, a planetary geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., and the mission's lead scientist, during a press briefing announcing the results on Tuesday.

The minerals in the tiny, gray, ground-rock sample exposed by Curiosity's drill speak of abundant standing water, conditions neither too acidic or too alkaline for life, and the minerals that would have provided a ready energy source for microbes, if any had been there.

The patch of Gale Crater Curiosity is exploring would have been "so benign and supportive of life that probably if this water was around and you had been on the planet, you would have been able to drink it," he said.

The drill is crucial to Curiosity's mission because Mars's oxidizing atmosphere changes the chemical qualities of the exterior of rocks. To see the fuller story of the planet's geologic history, scientists need to drill past the surface.

With the first test of the rover's drill system, it turns out, the research team "hit pay dirt," added David Blake, a scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. He's the lead scientist for CheMin, one of two mini-labs inside Curiosity's chassis that analyze the mineral and chemical compositions of rock and soil samples.

Even before Curiosity arrived, evidence from orbit suggested that the floor of Gale Crater would be an excellent choice to test the proposition of habitability. The crater sits on the border between the Martian highlands and lowlands, forming a catch basin for any water flowing downhill.

From orbit, the landing site centered on what looked like the downhill edge of an alluvial fan ? eroded sediment that spread out, fan-like, from summits along the crater rim.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/Jx4hOMxia58/Curiosity-hits-pay-dirt-Mars-was-habitable-evidence-suggests

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U.S. lifespans lags other high-income countries, tied to mortality rates under age 50

Mar. 13, 2013 ? Higher mortality rates among Americans younger than 50 are responsible for much of why life expectancy is lower in the United States than most of the world's most developed nations.

The research, by Jessica Ho, a University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate in demography and sociology, found that excess mortality among Americans younger than 50 accounted for two-thirds of the gap in life expectancy at birth between American males and their counterparts and two-fifths between females and their counterparts in the comparison countries.

The study is published in the March issue of Health Affairs.

Ho used cross-national mortality data from 2006-2008 to identify the key age groups and causes of death responsible for the U.S. life-expectancy shortfall.

Most of the excess mortality of those younger than 50 was caused by noncommunicable diseases, including perinatal conditions, such as pregnancy complications and birth trauma, and homicide and unintentional injuries including drug overdose, a fact that she said constitutes a striking finding of the study.

"These deaths have flown under the radar until recently," Ho said. "This study shows that they are an important factor in our life expectancy shortfall relative to other countries."

She said that the majority of the drug overdose deaths stemmed from prescription drug use.

Ho said her study underscores the importance of focusing on policies to prevent the major causes of deaths below age 50 and to reduce the social inequalities that lead to them.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. Y. Ho. Mortality Under Age 50 Accounts For Much Of The Fact That US Life Expectancy Lags That Of Other High-Income Countries. Health Affairs, 2013; 32 (3): 459 DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0574

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/tcmFbi3Ob0c/130313182259.htm

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Indian smartphone vendors could crush Nokia in emerging markets

Mar 11 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 2. Tiger Woods $2,671,600 3. Matt Kuchar $2,055,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,491,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 11. Charles Howell III $1,238,219 12. Brian Gay $1,171,721 13. Jason Day $1,080,664 14. Chris Kirk $1,004,053 15. Keegan Bradley $976,993 16. Josh Teater $883,229 17. Bill Haas $876,800 18. Scott Piercy $868,592 19. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indian-smartphone-vendors-could-crush-nokia-emerging-markets-210756881.html

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Wanna Z10 phone? It might just save BlackBerry.

BlackBerry will open pre-orders for its new Z10 smart phone today.

By Matthew Shaer / March 12, 2013

The BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, pictured here, comes equipped with the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

Reuters

Enlarge

Today, BlackBerry ? the company formerly known as RIM ? will begin taking pre-orders for its Z10 smart phone.?

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The stakes are extremely high. In recent years, BlackBerry has watched as its competitors, including Apple and Samsung, take bigger and bigger bites of its once-substantial smart-phone market share. Meanwhile, layoffs have been rampant, corporate restructuring has been a regular occurrence, and products that should have helped bolster BlackBerry, such as the PlayBook, have turned instead to be incredibly costly flops.?

So yes, there's a lot riding on the Z10, which will actually hit shelves on March 22. The BlackBerry-10-equipped device is powerful and sleek and while it retains a lot of the business-first amenities of its predecessors ? lots of security, dynamic email, and messaging options ? it's also a phone that is clearly targeted at a wider array of users. Indeed, early hands-on reviews have stressed the accessibility of the device.?

"BB10 is all about swiping to navigate. You swipe up to wake the devices, swipe right to check out BlackBerry Hub and view your notifications, swipe left to access your currently running apps and the home screen, and swipe down to check out both system-wide and app-specific settings," one critic wrote. "Overall, while it?s different, it?s a?surprisingly?intuitive experience, and one that exceeds the tacked-on touch experience of BB OS 7 and earlier."?

BlackBerry, of course, faces the unenviable task of convincing consumers they'd be better off with a Z10 than, say, an iPhone 5 or the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S4.?

But early signs have not been particularly promising. According to the Financial Post, T. Michael Walkley, an analyst with?Canaccord Genuity, recently slashed his forecast of BB10 shipments in the current quarter to 300,000 units. He'd previously estimated that BlackBerry would unload 1.75 million units.?

"Our follow-up checks have indicated steady but modest sales levels," Walkley said in a report obtained by the Financial Post. "With new BB10 smartphones launching in the U.S. only in mid-March or later at subsidized prices no better than competing high-end Apple/Samsung smartphones? we are lowering our BB10 sales estimates for the February quarter and all of fiscal 2014."

For?more tech news, follow us on?Twitter @venturenaut.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/zYKSsrM-cIE/Wanna-Z10-phone-It-might-just-save-BlackBerry

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Derek Jeter singles in return from broken ankle

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter listens to pitcher Mariano Rivera, who holds baseball's all-time saves record, announce his plans to retire at the end of the 2013 season during a news conference at Steinbrenner Field Saturday, March 9, 2013 in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter listens to pitcher Mariano Rivera, who holds baseball's all-time saves record, announce his plans to retire at the end of the 2013 season during a news conference at Steinbrenner Field Saturday, March 9, 2013 in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter singled sharply to left field on his first pitch since breaking an ankle last fall in the AL championship series.

Jeter missed New York's first 13 spring training games and was the Yankees' designated hitter and leadoff batter Saturday against Atlanta. Jeter received a partial standing ovation from the crowd at Steinbrenner Field in the first inning, then singled between shortstop and third base against left-hander Mike Minor.

Jeter was forced at second base on Ichiro Suzuki's grounder, sliding into second base on a play that was not close.

The 38-year-old broke his left ankle lunging for a grounder against Detroit last Oct. 13 and had surgery a week later. He returned on the 147th day after the injury and wore protective gear on the foot.

Also, Phil Hughes threw 10 pitches in his first mound session since being diagnosed three weeks ago with a bulging disk in his upper back. The right-hander said he felt great and planned to have a 25-to-30 pitch bullpen session Monday

New York relievers David Robertson (shoulder) and David Aardsma (groin) also had bullpen sessions.

CC Sabathia, the expected opening-day starter, is to pitch in a simulated game Sunday. He had offseason left elbow bone spur surgery.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-09-BBA-Yankees-Jeter/id-8dc0e5d7c88f4beaa5d8cf3ebc76601d

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New Writers, eBook Publishers, and the Power to Negotiate ...

In writing the pieces about Random House and its egregious, non-advance paying eBook imprints and how no writer ever should submit to them, or indeed work with any publisher that does not offer an advance, there are some folks in the comments and elsewhere on the Internet who are saying things along the lines of the following (paraphrased to condense points into a single statement):

That?s easy for Scalzi to say because he has power now, but us newer authors have no power to negotiate. And the market is changing and there are lots of good eBook publishers who just happen not to pay an advance.

One word for all of the above: Bullshit.

First, for those you who think the ?Hey, let?s not pay you an advance but instead you can share in the backend!? model of publishing was first thought up in relation to electronic publishing:

AH HA HA HA HA HAH HA HA HA HA.

No.

This shit?s been around, my friends. It?s been around for decades, and writers groups and others who make it their business to warn aspiring authors about scams and pitfalls have been raising flags about it all that time. The idea that that because it?s now attached to electronic publishing, that somehow makes it different (and, more to the point, better) is highly specious, to say the least.

Sprinkling the Internet on a bad business model does not magically make it a good business model. It merely means that the people who are pursuing a bad business model are hoping you are credulous enough to believe that being electronic is space-age zoomy and awesome and there is no possible way this brilliant business plan could ever fail. Or even worse, that they believe that being electronic means all these things, which means they are credulous. Which is not a very good thing to have as the basis of one?s business model.

So why are so many eBook-only publishers attempting to run with the ?no advances? business model? If I had to guess, I would say because many of these then-erstwhile publishers assumed that publishing electronically had a low financial threshold of entry (not true, if you?re serious about it) and they fancied being publishers, so they started their businesses?undercapitalized, and are now currently in the process of passing the consequences of that undercapitalization unto the authors they would like to work with. Alternately, as appears to be the case with Random House, they?re looking for a way to pass as much of the initial cost of publishing onto the author as possible, and one of the best ways to bring down those initial costs is to avoid paying the author anything up front. Both of these are bad business models, although one is more maliciously so, and both are to be avoided. Just because someone has stupidly or maliciously planned their business, doesn?t mean you?re obliged to sign a contract with them.

But, these publishers and their defenders may say (and have said), the publisher takes all the risk in producing a book! Yeah? Hey, to publishers and their defenders who say that: Fuck you. Fuck you for asserting that the author has shouldered no risk, when she?s invested the time, opportunity cost and material outlay required to create a?manuscript. Fuck you for asserting the the author sees no risk to her own career from the choices that the publisher imposes on the publishing process that the author has no control of: everything from cover art (which, if horrible and/or out of step with the market, can sink a book) to the size and distribution of the initial print run, to the marketing plan the publisher has for retail.

Fuck you for lightly passing over the risk that the author has if the book fails ? that any additional books in the contract might be cancelled or put out with the bare minimum of contractual obligation, that the author might not be able to sell another book to the publisher or other publishers because of a track record of poor sales ? and for lightly passing over the fact the a publisher mitigates its own risk of the failure of a single book by having an entire portfolio of releases. If one single book fails but the publisher?s line holds up generally, then the risk the publisher encounters to its livelihood is minimal. The risk to the author, on the other hand, is substantially greater. Yes, to all of that, ?fuck you,? is probably the politest thing to say in response.

Tell me again how all the risk lies with the publisher in producing a book. I want to hear it again. And I expect you can imagine what I would say to that assertion, again.

Any publisher who would assert that the risk of publishing is all on them is one who simply does not understand publishing. I sure as hell wouldn?t work with them. Especially one that has the gall to not pay advances and shift production costs to the author by arguing that doing so offers a more equitable apportionment of risk. It?s certainly an advantageous apportionment of risk ? to the publisher. But ?advantageous? in this case is almost certainly not the same as ?equitable.?

On the subject of risk and investment ? when a writer gets an advance from a publisher, it?s the publisher signaling two things: One, it acknowledges the risk and investment the writer and only the writer?has made to that point in creating a manuscript that the publisher sees as having commercial potential. Two, it?s signalling how much risk and investment that the publisher is willing to make in the property.

Both of these are important. As regards the first, why work with people who don?t acknowledge that the work you?ve done has value, even as they are trying to license the product of that work? Two, why work with people who have signaled they have no intention of making a material investment in the work? And if they wish to suggest that they will make that material investment ? by way of editing, marketing, production, etc ? again we come to the question of why everyone else is getting paid ahead of the writer.

(And as for ?but, but ? profit sharing!? my answer is, groovy: The advance is advanced against the expected profits (as opposed to against royalties, which is a separate thing entirely). Rule of thumb: If anyone gets paid, the writer gets paid. First. Because, once again: What the writer provides is why everyone else gets paid ? and the writer has already done the work.)

Now, let?s talk about me for a minute. Yes, I am in a position where I have some influence on how my contracts are negotiated, what?s in them and what?s not, up to and including how much of an advance I get. But here?s the thing: Back when I was selling my very first novel? I was also in a position to have influence on how my contracts were negotiated, what was in them, up and including the advance.

Why? Because I had something the publisher wanted. Namely, the novel in question.

People: Unless the publisher you?re talking to is a complete scam operation, devoted only to sucking money from you for ?publishing services,? then the reason that they are interested in your novel is because someone at the publisher looked at it and said, hey, this is good. I can make money off of this. Which means ? surprise! Your work has value to the publisher. Which means you have leverage with the publisher.

Publishers are not grand mystical portals into a realm of fantastic living and eternal happiness. They are companies looking to make a profit so they can continue existing, staffed by people who are looking for manuscripts that will make their companies a profit, so the companies can continue existing and they don?t have to work at Wal-Mart, stocking shelves. I?ve met my publisher and editor. They are lovely people and I like them a lot, and they?ve done pretty well for me. But then, I?ve done pretty well for them, too, and at the end of the day none of us is sporting the majestical look of destiny. We?re just people, doing our respective jobs.

So when a publisher comes to you and says ?We like your book, can we buy it?? do not treat them like they are magnanimously offering you a lifetime boon, which if you refuse will never pass your way again. Treat them like what they are: A company who wants to do business with you regarding one specific project. Their job is to try to get that project on the best terms that they can. Your job is to sell it on terms that are most advantageous to you.

You can do that even when you?re starting out. I did. So have many other debut authors. Because they all had something the publisher wanted: The work.

But you will not be able to do that if you go into the negotiation assuming you have no leverage. Forget the publisher screwing you ? you have screwed yourself. And if that?s the case you can?t blame the publisher for then taking you for every single thing they can. Because, remember, that?s their job. They don?t even need to be evil to do it; they just have to be willing to take every advantage you let them have. That?s business. This is a business negotiation. They?re going to assume you know what you?re getting into. That?s why they have contracts: So it?s all down in black and white and you can?t say you didn?t know.

So, yeah. Damn right I negotiated terms from contract number one. And the fact I did put me in much better stead for the next contract, and the next one and all the ones after that. I had that power then ? the same as any new or first time author.

What have we learned today?

1. Not offering advances is not a great new business model, it?s a crappy old one;

2. Writers are not responsible for propping up crappy business models;

3. Don?t believe anyone who tells you publishers carry all the risk of publication;

4. Even new writers have leverage with publishers;

5. If you don?t respect yourself or your work, no one else will either.

Now go out there and sell to a publisher who deserves your work, and make them show just how much they deserve it.

Source: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/03/10/new-writers-ebook-publishers-and-the-power-to-negotiate/

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