For the first time in decades, a controversial wolf hunt is underway in Sweden. The Swedish Environment Protection Agency approved the limited cull of 27 wolves, or about 10 percent of the Swedish wolf population. In October, the Swedish parliament voted to limit the wolf population to 210 animals for the next five years.
So, which Australian cities do you know of? Without cheating of course…
(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly Environment Committee chairman John F. McKeon sponsored to provide local governments and counties with up to $5 million in matching grants to convert contaminated sites into renewable energy projects was today …
Reddit commenter icallthebigspoon posted an ad on Craig’s List trying to swap his camera for a usable AT&T phone. I sincerely doubt that he expected this offer, but he’d be one cruel man if he didn’t take it.
Click on the image for a bigger version.
According to icallthebigspoon, he posted this simple, unremarkable Craig’s List ad:
I have a pink Casio Elixim 7.2 Megapixel digital camera that needs a new battery and maybe a new charger as well. I am selling it for $30 OR I am willing to trade it for a useable cell phone that works on the ATT network. Email me if interested.
and received this response:
Hello,
I am very interested in trading with you. I have a barely used att i-phone that my ex-wife gave me. I don’t like to use it because it reminds me of her ugly face. I also have a camera just like yours except that the screen is cracked (I have the battery and charger). I need a camera bad because I have a new girlfriend and she is hot and is willing to let me take pictures of her!!!!! Lets make a deal straight up?
There’s no word on whether he made the trade yet, but how could he not when it would make the other man’s life oh-so-much more fun? [Reddit]
What child has not sat starry-eyed around the fire, dreaming of the goodies to come on January 1—Public Domain Day? The thought of new books and movies and music coming out from copyright is enough to send sugarplums dancing through heads, unless you live in the US in 2010. In which case, you have nothing to celebrate, since nothing is entering the public domain this year.
Thanks to various copyright terms extensions over the last four decades, the US is living in the midst of a public domain “donut hole” under which no important works will come out of copyright protection. Before the 1976 Copyright Act reforms, copyright in the US lasted for 28 years, with another 28 if an extension was applied for. Under the old regime, works from 1953 would have entered the public domain this week, works like C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair and Saul Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March.
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Say Cheese! Who knew the high-dysfunctional fomer First Family of Reality TV were besties with The Kardashian Klan? The Kardashians celebrated the holidays with Sharon and Kelly Osbourne at the Kardashian’s surburban L.A. home on Christmas Eve.
Kim and her mom Kris, stars of E!’s Keeping Up With The Kardashians, posed for a mother-daughter photo with Kelly and Sharon — who appeared on a family reality hit of their own with MTV’s The Osbournes –during last month’s festives.
“I had the best Christmas Eve this year! The whole family gathered at my mom’s house, which she had beautifully decorated, as she does every year,” Kim blogged Monday. “It was so great to have everyone together… all of us sisters, Rob, baby Mason, Brody, Burt and Brandon, Lamar… just perfect! We had so much fun messing around together and catching up!”
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Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating (SSHE), the premier meal replacement company in the country, kicks off today its weight loss contest called Seattle Sutton’s 2010 Slim Down.
Seattle Sutton’s 2010 Slim Down contest is the first of its kind for the nearly 25-year old company that provides freshly prepared, portion-controlled meals to thousands of people from coast-to-coast each week.
The contest is a 14-week weight loss challenge beginning today through April 12, 2010 and will provide 10 lucky contestants with the 1,200-calorie SSHE meal plan.
Meals included in the contest are every breakfast, lunch and dinner for the contestants, a total of 294 meals in all, for the entire 98 days of the contest.
ACL Labs will measure contestants’ glucose (blood sugar), cholesterol and triglycerides at the beginning of the contest and at the conclusion to measure their improvement of health. Blood pressure will also be recorded at the beginning and end of the contest.
Contestants will be monitored weekly and weigh-in each week at their distributor locations when they pick up their SSHE meals.
The contestant who loses the most weight based on percentage of body weight loss will win the challenge. The two contestants who lose the second and third most weight based on percentage of body weight lost will also win prizes.
The 10 Seattle Sutton’s 2010 Slim Down finalists competing for improved health and great prizes are:
The 10 finalists were chosen from thousands of entries accepted from October 5, 2009 through October 26, 2009 from web and mail entries. To learn more about the contest visit seattlesutton.com and read the official rules.
Or, follow along with the contestants, go to chicagonow.com/seattlesutton for up-to-date progress.
Prizes for the Seattle Sutton’s 2010 Slim Down contest for those who lose the most weight based on percentage of body weight lost are:
Seattle Sutton, founder and president of Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating said, “I’m overjoyed at the possibility of helping these 10 people change their lives for good. Healthy eating is essential in overall good health. Good health is the most important asset one has in life, without it, nothing else matters…your car, home or material possessions mean nothing without good health.”
“Taking on a weight loss challenge like this is very courageous, since habits can be difficult to break. But habits are breakable and health can be re-gained through healthy eating. I’ve seen it time and again through helping people with our freshly prepared meals and as a registered nurse,” Sutton said.
Sutton continued, “I’ll be rooting each and every one of our 10 finalists on. I want each of them to succeed and live a healthier life for them and their families.”
Seattle Sutton’s 2010 Slim Down contest is sponsored by SSHE in cooperation with the Tribune Media Group, and ACL Laboratories.
About Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating
Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating (SSHE), a family-owned, Illinois-based healthy meal replacement company offers a no-gimmick approach to convenient, healthy eating nationwide.
The meal program is scientifically designed and taste-tested. Founded by Seattle Sutton, RN, BSN, in 1985, SSHE helps to address patients’ desire to lose weight and improve overall health.
Seattle Sutton’s dedication to health continues today, since all SSHE menus are analyzed on an ongoing basis and adhere to recommended dietary guidelines.
SSHE prepares thousands of fresh meals weekly and its innovative approach has helped thousands of people achieve and maintain weight loss without planning, shopping or cooking for themselves.
For more information, seattlesutton.com or 1-800-442-DIET (3438).
For business-related inquiries, 1-888-442-DIET (3438).
Prime Property Investors, Ltd. Co-CEOs, Barbara J. Gaffen and Michael H. Zaransky announced the purchase of The Arbors of Brookdale in Naperville, Illinois, a 281 Unit, full amenity luxury Class A Garden Style Apartment Complex.
The fully stabilized property was 96% occupied at closing.
Gaffen stated, “This acquisition provides a significant opportunity to purchase a rarely available highly stable quality asset, in an excellent community, at a price level significantly below replacement cost.”
Zaransky added, “Emerging demographic trends coupled with unique market conditions have created a significant opportunity for increased cash flow and future appreciation in values for Class A suburban garden style apartment complexes.
The Chicago suburban MSA, and Naperville in particular, provides considerable upside due to a lack of new construction, significant barriers to entry, and projected growth in renter demand.”
Arbors of Brookdale is a thirty five building, plus club house and garages, complex, with a combined 281 separate private entrance apartment units. The total building square footage is approximately 317,705 square feet and the site lot size is 26 acres.
The property grounds are set in a unique arboretum of trees and fountain ponds and include 359 recently fully repaved surface parking spaces and 138 enclosed private parking garages with remote controlled overhead doors.
All apartment units feature highly desirable separate private entry doors, two exposure views, and triple pane double hung windows.
The 5,100 square foot Club House includes the on site management and leasing office, great room with fireplace and bar area, a business center, and a newly renovated and equipped full service fitness center and locker rooms with sauna.
The common areas are free Wi-Fi access equipped. Community amenities include an outdoor pool and large sundeck, heated indoor pool and hot tub, 2 tennis courts, a sand volleyball court, and two outdoor gazebos.
With a population of over 145,000, Naperville is located 25 miles west of downtown Chicago in DuPage County, Illinois. During the past two decades, DuPage County has been widely recognized as the fastest growing county in the Midwest.
The DuPage County estimated population of 931,533 represents a 19% increase over 1990 figures. Growth in DuPage County is projected to remain strong for the foreseeable future.
In three of the last four years, Naperville was ranked in the top three by Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live in America edition.
Prime Property Investors, Ltd., based in Northbrook, Illinois, is a leading multi-family property investment firm with a specialized niche in Garden Style Conventional Suburban Apartment Complexes and Student Housing properties.
The nationwide Student Housing portfolio properties are branded as Prime Campus Housing and the Garden Style Conventional Apartment Complexes are branded as Prime Residential Communities.
Due to Prime’s tremendous growth, the company was recognized by Inc. Magazine for placement on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America.
Additionally, Prime was ranked one of the 50 best companies in the nation to work for in the residential property industry in an independent survey by Professional Builder Magazine.
Filed under: Aftermarket, Hybrid, Hatchback, Honda, Toyota, Design/Style
Hybrids aren’t exactly known for being the sportiest vehicles on the road, but that doesn’t mean their owners don’t want to look as good as possible behind the wheel. As such, perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising that Japanese tuning companies are jumping on the gas-electric bandwagon almost as quickly as the automakers themselves.
Chief among those hybrid tuners is Tommy Kaira, which has released a slew of new bodykit bits, suspension upgrades and wheel options for both the 2010 Toyota Prius (which we saw teasers of previously) and Honda Insight. We’ll leave it up to you to decide if the add-ons add up to an improvement in the wedge-shaped hybrid hatchbacks. In any case, click here to see the whole kit and caboodle for the Prius and here for the Insight.
Gallery: Tommy Kaira 2010 Toyota Prius
Gallery: Tommy Kaira 2010 Honda Insight
[Source: Tommy Kaira]
Mean Green: Tommy Kaira slams Toyota Prius and Honda Insight originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I’ve been watching home shows today and saw the same thing over and over. A realtor would come in and be horrified by all the individuality showing through and they’d make the house nice and plain. Then, in the next show, decorators would come in and say the house was bland and not individual enough. They’d add tons of color and pattern. So, what do you do if you don’t plan to stay in a home long term?
How have you added color to your walls without painting the whole room?
Photo: SXC
Post from: Blisstree
First read this.
Scratch(ed) and Dent(ed) RMBS – Posted by Tracy Alloway – Here’s something that might have escaped your radar during Christmas week — a mass downgrade of so-called `Scratch and Dent’ RMBS deals by ratings agency Fitch – FT Alphaville
Here are additional thoughts from MNC reader, Nom De Plumber …
Implications, especially for whole-loan portfolios:
1. Seasoned cohorts have been converging with newer cohorts, as negative equity and strategic borrower behavior trump all.
2. Seasoned mortgages are really just failed extensions/modifications.
3. Cure rates for even seasoned mortgages will continue to decline – meaning that 30-day delinquencies are increasingly just inevitable defaults.
4. Historical roll-rate default modeling is an insufficient credit predictor, as economic policies create incentives for borrowers to game for cheap or free home usage.
5. Scratch-and-dent loans should be priced heuristically per observable severities, not econometric projections of eventual re-performance or refinancing/sale prepayments.
Nom De Plumber is a Nom De Plume.
Most Challenger tuners slap on a supercharger, a few exterior elements and call it a day. Mr. Norm’s Super Cuda stands apart, from its retrolicious makeover to its 600+ hp blown V8.
The Challenger’s design is not but simple. So Dodge has released a new Appearance Package to make the muscle-bound coupe stand out from the crowd.
In Top Gear’s best review of the season, Richard Hammond takes the Lexus LFA to the track to see if Toyota’s first foray into supercardom lives up to the hype… and it’s lofty price tag.
Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed
Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 1.4.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Buenos Aires – Argentina
This was one of the first traditional Italian meals my not-so-traditional Italian husband cooked for me back in our courtin’ days, and it remains one of my favorites. If you’ve been hankering after the heaps of local escarole at the market this time of year, this recipe is a great way to put them to use. Best part: This satisfying one-dish meal can be made in about 45 minutes.
Loose fabrics that highlight a comfortable collection is evident in Kolor’s Spring/Summer 2010 range. Pieces such as trousers, blazers, light jackets, button downs, and sweaters are very relaxed and all drape the male form in a soft way. There’s a lot of crumpling and oversized items in the collection, but are well put together to maximize the look and feeling of comfort. The color range is also appropriate for the collection with light blues, yellows, dark greys, black, olive greens, and tans. There’s an earth tone to the range that is quite unique.
Continue reading for more images.
Source: Selectism
If there was any hope that launching on Verizon could be a major boon for Palm’s unit sales, Boy Genius Report has stepped in to throw some ice cold water on it. According to their contacts inside Verizon, both phones are now appearing in Big Red’s inventory systems, and Verizon has apparently only order 200,000 each of the Pre and the Pixi (so 400,000 total). Previously we heard that Palm had cut their Pixi orders for the quarter by 200,000, leaving them with 600,000 units, though we were not certain how they would be distributed amongst carriers.
For what its worth, Palm managed to sell just 573,000 units to end consumers last quarter, so while 400,000 more would be a significant increase, it also doesn’t speak well of Verizon’s expectations for the webOS phones – assuming the report is accurate. Unless Palm is having trouble producing enough devices, it does raise fears that there may not be a large push from Verizon behind the Pre or Pixi. Verizon’s marketing muscle was put big time behind the Motorola Droid and the phone is thought to have sold over one million units in a matter of a couple months [corrected]. With only 400,000 rumored to be available between two models we wouldn’t expect Droid-level results.
Could you disconnect, even if you wanted to? – Nick Gogerty – Here is an interesting map from William Easterly’s site AidWatch. It shows the distance from major cities as a function of geography and time. Most of us are a few hours away from each other.
A few things to consider when looking at a network diagram like this:
People and things spread fast
Ideas spread faster
Feedback loops amplify and intensify certain things
Individuals can’t really opt out of this process easily Designing Better Futures
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A Ponzi scheme that works – The greatest strength of America is that people want to live there – The Economist
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Deflation – Larry Doyle – Although the American consumer is much more accustomed to inflation and the threat of inflation, I am increasingly convinced that the threat of deflation remains the greater challenge. This battle between macroeconomic deflationary forces versus governmental supported inflationary programs is THE ultimate issue facing our economy in 2010 and beyond – has logic – Sense on Cents
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Stimulating By Saving – John Tamny – Consumers aren’t spending as much this holiday season, and that’s a good thing. – … Most economists place consumption at the center of all economic activity, but it seems in doing so that they ignore what truly drives economic advances. Consumption is always going to occur–it is one reason we work–but we truly stimulate the economy when we save. … – Forbes
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James Grant: Let the Good Times Roll – Why James Grant Thinks the Economic Recovery Might Be More Robust Than Widely Expected – New York Magazine
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Bubble-onomics: 10 Predictions for 2010 – Andrew Butter -` 1: S&P 500 2: Oil 3: Gold 4: U.S. House Prices 5: U.K. House Prices 6: U.S. 10-Year and 30-Year Treasury Yields. 7: U.S. Commercial Property 8: Hong Kong Housing 9: Dubai Freehold 10: Shanghai Stock Market – Seeking Alpha
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FACTBOX: 10 big U.S. financial scandals of 2009 – The year of the Ponzi scheme will be followed by heightened regulation and more aggressive prosecutions, experts say. As 2010 approaches, regulators and prosecutors are scrambling to uncover and pursue more fraudsters, while lawmakers seek to close regulatory gaps and give officials more resources. – Reuters
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The economic statistic of the decade – Felix Salmon – Mike Mandel has four nominees for his “Economic Statistic of the Decade” award, including home prices (obvs), Chinese growth, and global trade. But the most startling one, for me, is US household borrowing … – Reuters Blogs
Via WMExperts we have an official response to the Y2k16 SMS bug affected some Windows Mobile handsets on some carriers.
The Microsoft spokesman says:
“Microsoft is aware of reports that phone messages received after 1/1/2010 may be dated 2016. These reports have not yet resulted in widespread customer inquiries; however, we are working closely with our manufacturing and mobile operator partners to investigate the cause and correct the issue as appropriate.”
While Microsoft pontificates a work-around is currently available which means SMS messages will get their timestamp from the phone rather than the network. It can be downloaded here.
New Mexico regulators have given the state’s largest utility another three weeks to turn in a filing that spells out how it will incorporate renewable energy into its portfolio. Public Service Company of New Mexico was supposed to file its plan …
