Author: Serkadis

We’ve been discussing some of the problems book publishers have had in coming to terms with the new age of ebooks — such as by trying to delay the release of ebooks with a “windowing” system. However, there’s another issue that’s coming up as quite important for back catalog authors. Many of them are looking to sign their own ebook deals with other publishers than those who published their physical books, and they note that the old contracts make no mention of electronic or ebook rights — mainly because such things didn’t exist at the time. But the publishers are pushing back and telling authors who seek to sign separate ebook publishing deals that those deals violate their existing agreements while also seeking to amend older agreements to add in ebook rights and royalties.

Unfortunately for the publishers, they may not have much of a legal leg to stand on. As the article notes, there have already been lawsuits on this topic, and Random House repeatedly lost in its attempt to sue ebook publisher Rosetta Books a while ago. The court didn’t find Random House’s argument that the phrase “in book form” in its contracts covered ebooks as well. While that case was eventually settled, that only happened after Random House came out on the losing side in the earlier battles. Random House is among the publishers still claiming that “in book form” means ebooks as well, but it must be relying on the likelihood that some authors won’t bother to look up those earlier rulings (or hire lawyers who are aware of them).

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Although Barack Obama has refrained, at least for now, from delivering triumphant speeches in a naval flight suit, there is nevertheless a strong tone of accomplishment emanating from the United States president and his deputies.

Over the weekend, top White House economic adviser, Lawrence Summers, even pronounced that the recession was now over. Without hedging his bets, Summers declared that thanks to the Obama administration’s wise stewardship, economic stimuli and emergency bailouts, another Great Depression, set up by the prior administration, had been narrowly averted. Summers saw no impediment to the return of sustainable growth. He may as well have delivered these remarks from the deck of an aircraft carrier, in the manner of president George W Bush, who delivered a speech on Iraq from the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a banner proclaiming “mission accomplished”.

I hate to shoot down these high-flying expectations, but the economy is not improving. All that has changed is that we are now more indebted to foreign creditors, with even less to show for it.

Read the whole story at Asia Times Online >>

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See Also:

• Obama Administration Can’t Decide Whether The Recession Is Over, But It Wants Banks To Lever Up
• Peter Schiff Gloats About How He’s Whipping Chris Dodd In The Polls
• Obama’s Newfound Populism: All Hat No Cattle

One of the more interesting new features to make its way into the upcoming Firefox 3.6 is support for the latest W3C File API for HTML and also for the Drag and Drop API from the proposed HTML 5 standard. With these two APIs web developers can create powerful app for file management without resorting to proprietary plugins and technologies for the more advanced functionality. For example, it will allow developers to enable users to upload multiple files, asynchronously, at one time even by just dragging them over the web page.

“Firefox 3.6 now supports much of the W3C File API, which specifies the ability to asynchronously read the selected file into memory, and perform operations on the file data within the web application (for example, to display a thumbnail preview of an image, before it is uploaded, or to look for ID3 tags within an MP3 file, or to look for EXIF data in JPEG files, all on the client side),” Mozilla’s Arun Ranganathan wrote introducing the feature.

Mozilla gets into the technical aspects of the functionality with an overview of the basic features complete with code samples. The most common application for the File API is for upload tools, a no-brainer really, but also more interesting uses can be implemented like the possibility to display… (read more)

Think the economy is being inflated by economic stimulus right now?

Well if that's the case, then get ready for a ride over the next two years.

The majority of Obama's stimulus hasn't even been spent yet. Thus the support won't disappear any time soon, and actually could accelerate. There's still another 70% to go.

Slate: Since it was passed in February 2009, only $237.6 billion (30 percent) of the $787 billion package has entered the economy. The tax cuts and infrastructure spending in the pipeline for 2010 and 2011 will support job creation. On Dec. 9, New Jersey Transit approved a $583 million contract for two construction firms to get cracking on a new commuter rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey under the Hudson River.

Read more here.

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See Also:

• Get Ready For Epic Stimulus Spending Out Of China In The Final Couple Weeks Of December
• Shocker: Washington DC Got More Stimulus Money Per Capita Than Any State In The Union
• 10 More Amazingly Wasteful Stimulus Projects

We’ll keep bringing you perspectives on the Exxon/XTO deal as we come across them.

We particularly like this from Bill Holland at Platt’s:

While ExxonMobil’s announcement that it’s buying Fort Worth’s XTO Energy for $31 billion and $10 billion in debt is a rousing cheer for US shale producers, the real stimulus has been Russia’s annual bully-thy-neighbor approach to winter gas supplies.

Exxon made no bones Monday it was buying XTO for its expertise in cracking shale gas plays, with plans to export that talent to the nearly 3 million acres of shale leasehold it has in Poland, Hungary, and Germany. CEO Rex Tillerson almost salivated at the prospect of producing gas smack in the middle of a gas-hungry market (same dynamics as Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale and a little town called New York City).

Read the whole thing >

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See Also:

• With XTO Acquired By Exxon, Here Are The Next Players To Get Snapped Up (XTO, XOM, CHK, EOG, DVN, UNG)
• Exxon Finally Wakes Up To Reality (XOM, XTO)
• Exxon: Here’s Why We Just Spent $41 Billlion On Natural Gas (XOM, XTO, UNG)

Nine years after its previously launched version, ECMA International has announced the release of ECMAScript 5, which was approved as a web standard by the ECMA International’s General Assembly at the start of December. This will bring many new features to ECMA-based languages like JScript (Microsoft) and JavaScript (Netscape).

The new version was approved in ECMA’s International General Assembly held on December 3 at Google’s headquarters. 21 out of the 22 members were present, 19 of them voting yes, with two voting no. IBM and Intel voted against adopting this version as a general standard because of various reasons (for IBM, the lack of decimal, while Intel didn’t have enough time to study the intellectual property implications of the standard).

The General Assembly is formed of 22 voting members, mainly companies that have interest and experience in matters related to one or more of ECMA International’s regulated domains of activity: Google, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Konica Minolta, Intel, IBM, Adobe, Yahoo, Xerox, Toshiba, Lexmark, Hitachi, Philips, Sony, Samsung, Pioneer, NVIDIA, AMD, Canon, Fujitsu, Avaya and Ericsson. Other non-voting members of ECMA include Mozilla, Opera, Apple, Novell and many more. The General Assembly also agreed that the standard be submitted to ISO for approval as a general inter… (read more)

The U.S. dollar spikes higher ahead of today’s market open. We’re now approaching a good week and a half of dollar gains with nearly a 4% move since December 4th.

That’s a huge move for any manufacturing company running on 10% margins. It’s also nasty for anyone operating on 50:1 leverage as many currency traders do.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• RBC: Beware A Double Dip, And A Disorderly Collapse Of The US Dollar In The Second Half Of 2010
• The Dollar Bulls Are Multiplying Like Rabbits
• Desmond Lachman: The Dollar Is A Mess, But Here’s Why The World Can’t Ditch It

With one flick of a switch, Russia’s long-standing dominance and near monopoly over Central Asian natural-gas exports officially came to an end on Monday.

The Turkmenistan-China pipeline, which will carry natural gas from eastern Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan into China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, went on line on December 14 during an inauguration ceremony attended by regional leaders. It marks the first time in more than a decade that a pipeline has been constructed to pump gas out of the region, and is the biggest effort to date to export Central Asian gas without using Russian routes.

The ceremony in Samandepe, the starting point of the 1,833-kilometer pipeline that originates in Turkmenistan’s gas-rich but previously untapped east, took place just over three years after the China-funded project was agreed upon.

Read the whole story at Asia Times >>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• United States Natural Gas Explodes Higher On Exxon Optimism (UNG)
• The IMF Won’t Bail Out Ukraine, As Government Finances Deteriorate Beyond Repair
• Australia: Copper Production To Slow Next Year, Global Shortage Coming

For those interested in commodities, China, and Australia’s contribution to China’s voracious commodity demand, the  Australian Bureau of Agriculture And Resource Economics has some good holiday reading for you.

MineWeb: In its latest quarterly outlook, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics cut its forecast for refined copper exports by 15.8% for the year to June 30, 2010, and its estimate for refined copper output by 13 percent to 408,000 tonnes.

“If realised, this will be the lowest refined copper production recorded in Australia since 1998-99,” it said. Australia’s Macquarie Bank predicts a global copper supply deficit is looming this year that will take two years to correct, increasing its 2010/11 copper price forecasts by 2-3% on Tuesday to $3.25-3.40/lb ($7,166-$7,500 a tonne).

The bureau also revised up iron ore exports by 2% and coking coal exports by 16.2%, citing strong demand for raw materials by Asian steelmakers.

Chinese imports of coking and thermal coal and iron ore should remain strong into 2010, underpinning higher production from Australia mines as demand shows signs of picking up in other Australian export markets, according to the bureau.

ac09_Dec_a –

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See Also:

• Why Investors Are Going Crazy For Australia
• Crowded Trade: Copper Theft Is Back
• Hedge Funds Ditch Equities In Favor Of Oil, Copper

Google is speeding up the pace ahead of the holidays and various teams at the company are working to get what they’ve been working on out the door. The Google Toolbar is the latest to get an update and comes with a couple of big new features for Internet Explorer and Firefox. The biggest announcement is the new Share feature which does what its name suggests, it allows users to share web pages on a number of social networks, blogs or by email. The second feature is the My Location geolocation tool which made its way out of Labs and into the main product for the IE version.

“We’ve been busy working on even more ways to make web browsing easier and more fun. First off is our new Share feature in Toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox. This makes it easy for you to share any page on the web with your friends over various social networks, blogs or email,” Mina Radhakrishnan, Toolbar product manager writes. “With this new release, we’ve also “graduated” the My Location feature from Toolbar Labs. It’s now available in Toolbar for Internet Explorer (Firefox already has a similar feature built in to the browser).”

First up, the Share feature. This kind of functionality is hardly anything new at this point, most sites, blogs and services have some sort of Facebook, Twitter, Digg etc… (read more)

Spray treatment: This process is based on the synergy among chemical – physics action of the solution of process and the strong impact of the liquid in pressure on the pieces to be treated.
The nozzles convey the liquid of process in order to reach uniformly the whole surface to be treated. In order to maintain, in the time, the efficiency of the plant of spraying and avoid the blockage of piping and nozzles, is necessary to install a good system of filtering.
The treatment can be “to warm” or “to cold”, the choice mainly depends on two factors: thermo – physical characteristic of materials, and the characteristics of the process to be effected. The high temperatures reached in the process “to warm” on the one hand accelerate the phase of drying, on the other hand could lengthen times of attended before passing to any following treatment. In case of process “to cold”, the times of drying are more dilated because of the low temperatures.

Immersion treatment: This process is based on a direct contact among the elements to treat and the solutions of process, are them water based, solvent based or mixed system.
The treatment can be “to warm” or “to cold”, the choice mainly depends on two factors: thermo – physical characteristic of materials, and the characteristics of the process to be effected. The high temperatures reached in the process “to warm” on the one hand accelerate the phase of drying, on the other hand could lengthen times of attended before passing to any following treatment. In case of process “to cold”, the times of drying are more dilated because of the low temperatures.
Immersion process can be effected in plants endowed with one or more vats, the choice depends on the specific necessities of the treatment to effect.
Immersion process is often sustained and accompanied by a mechanical action (rotation, agitation, flushing, ultrasounds, hydrokinetic, etc.).

The model ESTREMA is a high speed milling machine characterized for his configuration with open portal to L, patented.

Projected with the appeal to the modern methodologies of optimization through the calculation to finish elements, FEM, introduces a good rigidity and an elevated lightness in his parts in movement.
These are characteristic, that particularly bright dynamic performances allow to the top of the range.

Longitudinal travel (X axis) 1.600 ÷ 3.600 mm
Cross travel (Y axis) 1.100 mm
Vertical travel (Z axis) 700 mm
Feeds 0 ÷ 120.000 mm/1`
Spindle motor 20 – 30 kw

FC and RP are the latest MINIPACK-TORRE’s innovative patented manual packaging systems. The quality and excellence of these products are guaranteed by the manufacturer’s extensive experience in this sector.

The new technological innovations on these equipment facilitate the production speed and increase safety and comfort for the operator. FC and RP represent the future of the chamber machines.

The FC LINE has a fresh design and solid structure, an electronic of new generation, and several other technical improvements which improve even more the performances of these machines.
Every idea by Minipack-torre is always unique!

NEW LOOK
steel body: solidity and accessibility.

NEW ERGONOMIC FEATURES
frontal control interface: intuitive programming, larger packaging area.

NEW TECHNICAL FEATURES
sealing bar liquid cooling system: excellent and more durable sealing
immediate stop of shrinking fan at the end of the cycle: less heat dispersion, more energy saving, more benefit for the user
innovative fixing of the plexi-glass hood: easier maintenance and higher stability
safety control on sealing blades: safer machine
basic versions can be used as table-top: flexibility and versatility
roll support with bigger diameter (250 mm): useful with the micro-perforated film used for bread packaging
packaging plate separated from the roll support: suitable for the packaging of very small products with the same film roll
larger in-feed plate: similar size as the shrink area
innovative micro-perforator: continuous and accurate perforation
new membrane switch electronic board: water-resistant, indipendent from the card and easy-to-use
3-digit display: clear and complete information
10-programs card: programming versatility
couterpiece included: more complete equipment
more powerful fan motor: easier maintenance
safer and higher screened plate: more protection of the heating elements
more powerful fan motor: higher shrinking performance
new die-cast aluminium heating elements with innovative geometry: higher heat exchange, higher efficiency, higher shrinking speed, less comsumption
extra safety thermostat on the heating elements: safer machine
new rubber support: easy to change

Wiesbauer makes light work of heavy work! This Wiesbauer motto can also be applied to the SENNEBOGEN 5500 Star-Lifter. The 180 t crawler crane was recently added to the extensive Wiesbauer fleet along with a SENNEBOGEN 3300 Star-Lifter. This well-established company was founded in 1958 and has developed successfully over the years through healthy growth and expansion. Today, Wiesbauer is a leading name in Germany in the field of cranes, transport and assembly and is now under the management of Thomas and Jochen Wiesbauer, the 3rd generation of the Wiesbauer family to run the business.

“We are extremely satisfied with the two new SENNEBOGEN crawler cranes. The robust, durable design and straightforward technology are of particular importance for us in the rental field”, states Marco Wilhelm, authorized representative at Wiesbauer. The ease of transportation between construction sites and the self-assembly system of the SENNEBOGEN Star-Lifter crawler crane make it an extremely cost-effective solution that can be deployed almost instantly.

One of the first tasks for the SENNEBOGEN 5500 Star-Lifter was the construction of the new logistics centre for Fressnapf Tiernahrungs GmbH in Feuchtwangen. With a total investment sum of 16 million euro, the distribution centre is one of the largest investments made by Fressnapf GmbH to date. From as early as November, over 100 HGVs will be delivering products to Fressnapf outlets in southern Germany from this centre each day. The Max Bögl Group with headquarters in Neumarkt is the general contractor responsible for this major project. The SENNEBOGEN 5500 was rented by Wiesbauer complete with driver specifically for the heavy lifting work. With a boom configuration of 29.9 m on the main boom and the same length on the luffing jib, the machine was used to position solid walls, main girders, frost barriers, supports and other heavy components safely and precisely, including parts weighing way over 30 t. With its ability to move and turn safely under full load, the SENNEBOGEN 5500 offers maximum flexibility on construction sites. The extremely high loads are also impressive, particularly on the luffing jib, as is the flexibility of the boom system and the straightforward technology, enabling the machine to offer maximum availability and reliability.

SANYO DENKI EUROPE SA. is pleased to introduce its «San Ace 92» GA type DC serie measuring 92 mm square by 38 mm thick. This low power consumtion fan has been designed to meet the requirements for higher cooling performances, lower power consumption and lower noise in ultra high density equipments of the IT and Telecommunication industry.

Main Specifications

• Reference : 9GA0912P1H03 (031 – ribless type)
• Size : 92 mm square size by 38 mm thick
• High static pressure (500 Pa) and large air flow (4 m3/min – 141 CFM)
• Speed code : H code (9700 rpm rated)
• Rated Voltage : 12 VDC
• PWM speed control function (25 kHz) for external fan rotation speed control
• Pulse Sensor (sensor less and lock sensor options available)
• Expected life : 40000 hours (at 60°C with survival rate of 90%)

Product advantages

1) Energy saving :
Compared with our current model, the power consumption has been reduced by -30 % at the same air flow conditions, thanks to new impeller and frame and an improved motor efficiency with new circuit design.

2) PWM Control:
By controlling the speed depending on cooling needs, electricity consumption and sound pressure can be managed.

3) High reliability:
The life expectancy is 40000 hours at 60°C with survival rate of 90%.

Target Applications and Industries
IT and Telecommunication devices such as servers, storage, power supplies, and other applications.

For further information on Sanyo Denki «San Ace 92GA» DC fan, please contact us at +33 1 48 63 26 61 or email us at [email protected].

As the trend for outsourcing has grown, rental has become seen as the cheap and easy alternative to purchasing in many areas of service provision. With entry matting, renting can be a false economy as the wrong product choice can impact not only on the appearance of a building’s entrance, but also factors such as cleanliness and safety. The wrong choice of entry matting can increase the risks of slips and trips and can lead to more water and dirt being tracked onto surrounding flooring.

Richard Jones of 3M says: “Rental can appear to be the easiest way of procuring entrance matting, but it does have a considerable downside, not least lack of control. Buying branded matting from an established manufacturer means that you can take all of the relevant considerations into account and it offers the vital reassurance of ensuring brand-new, fit-for-purpose and durable matting.”

Available from a wide range of suppliers, 3M Nomad Basic Entry Mats are lightweight and conveniently packed. Supplied in a neutral grey shade, the mats are available in three standard sizes and seamless edging allows mats to be placed edge to edge to extend the protected floor area.

Three new interference-free measurement boards expand the range of products in the PCI Express series: the APCIe-2200 relay board, the APCIe-3021 analog input board and the APCIe-3521 analog output board. They have been specially developed for use in harsh industrial environments and are therefore equipped with numerous protective circuits. The functionalities of the PCI Express multifunction counter board APCIe-1711 have also been expanded. It is now possible to acquire 28 digital 24 V inputs or 16 RS422/TTL inputs and 12 digital 24 V inputs with up to 1 MHz in parallel and to transfer the signals directly to the PC RAM via DMA. With the expanded BiSS functionality (A/B and C mode), the APCIe-1711 can exchange data with up to 6 sensors / actuators.
The APCIe-2200 relay board is fitted with 8 or 16 electromagnetic relays with change-over contacts. This enables every relay to be wired as a make, break or change-over contact. The contacts are equipped for switching voltages up to 60 VDC/48 VAC. The maximum switching current is 2 A with a maximum switching capacity of 30 W. Up to 16 digital opto-isolated inputs are available. Transorb diodes and EMI filters protect the inputs, which are optically isolated up to 1000 V, from high-frequency interference radiation.
The analog APCIe-3021 input board is available with 16, 8, or 4 single-ended or with 8 or 4 differential inputs. The signals are acquired with a resolution of 16 bits. The following input ranges can be set via software for each channel: 0-10 V, ±10 V, 0-5 V, ±5 V, 0-2 V, ±2 V, 0-1 V, ±1 V, 0-20 mA (optional). Gains are possible for small voltages. There are different acquisition modes and trigger settings to control data acquisition. The APCIe-3021 has a PCI Express DMA controller for direct data exchange with the PC memory. The board is designed with 500 V optical isolation, has input filters and is protected against overvoltages. Depending on the version, the analog output board APCIe-3521 has 8 or 4 analog outputs to drive actuators with a resolution of 16 bits. The outputs can deliver either a voltage or a current. The outputs are optically isolated up to 500 V, equipped with EMI filters and protected against short-circuits. The APCIe-3021 and APCIe-3521 are equipped with 4 opto-isolated digital inputs and outputs. One digital input is interruptible.

R. STAHL’s new 8074 F series position switches and 8040 F series command devices are truly, completely wireless solutions for radio signal communication. Requiring neither signal lines nor external energy supply connections, the units can be freely installed in zone 1, 2, 21, or 22 hazardous areas. Users therefore need not worry about any wiring when e.g. retrofitting the command devices into difficult-to-access machines or plants. Since there is no need to route cables around or over joints or bearings, the switches are particularly suitable for reporting positions from movable machine parts. The switching signals are transmitted on the license-free SDR band at 868 MHz. Up to 300 m maximum radio range outdoors and a 30 m range within buildings ensure that receiving units can usually be placed within safe areas.

Otherwise, R. STAHL can equip these with flameproof enclosures. The Ex switching devices generate the energy required for sending data telegrams by means of an integrated induction generator: when the switching element is actuated, the kinetic energy of the switching process is electrodynamically harvested, and immediately used to feed the radio module. In contrast to battery-supplied wireless switches, these self-supporting units do not need any regular servicing to remain fully functional.

With a maximum transmitting power of 10 mW and maximum energy quantities of 50 µJ, radio communication according to the EnOcean standard does not amount to a potential ignition source in hazardous areas. Both switching units are suitable for operation in a wide temperature range from -20 to +60 °C. The IP65-protected 8040 F command devices are fitted in a ruggedized metal housing designed to withstand even extremely harsh environmental conditions.

…reduced inventory costs and improved flexibility

Implemented in complex facilities, encoders have to meet many requirements in all their facets. All of a sudden you end up with a multitude of different configurations entailing high costs as well as inventory and administration effort. Programmable encoders help to keep the product variety down to a minimum and to improve flexibility. Not just one but four new
programmable encoder series launched by Baumer provide the optimum solution for the widest range of applications. The portfolio comprises encoders that utilize optical and magnetic sensing principles and are available in various mechanical designs and sizes. All devices enable configuration of impulse number and rotational direction, some even provide optional programming of zero pulse sensing. Three out of the four series enable programming by PC or notebook. The ITD 2P encoder does not require any separate programming cable but can be configured via the supply line. The programmable parameters like impulse number, output circuit HTL/TTL, zero impulse position and width can be easily configured by the operator and are retransmitted to ITD 2P. The new, modular cable concept and the wide range of voltage
supply enable even more simplified inventory.

BHK/BVK 1D allows quick, easy and reliable programming by DIP switch. Series BHF/BHG HighRes convinces by the very high resolution of max. 320.000 impulses at an angular accuracy of 40“. The encoder family EcoMag BRIH/BRID/BRIV utilizing a robust magnetic sensing principle makes the selection complete. By virtue of their programming options, the new encoders by Baumer are the universal solution for detecting angles, positions, speed or acceleration in industry automation.