To be fair, however, it may simply be that EBay isn't the best fit for a company like EBay from an integration standpoint. It is in and of itself a company worthing owning strictly for its marketshare and name brand recognition in the VOIP and UC markets but also because of its massive user base. Having said this, did EBay over pay for Skype? Me thinks yes. But they may have had little choice. I am sure Skype had no shortage of suitors trying to one up the next guy for a night in the sack with the bride to be.

This leads to me to wonder...did they REALLY buy Bill Me Later for approximately $1 Billion on the very same day they announced they are trimming 10% of their workforce? Sign of the times I guess. The acquisition makes EBay even more formidable in the online payment market and is an extremely nice fit alongside PayPal and other services.

This wasn't of course a spur of the moment decision - they had been in talks since at least 2006. It's just bad timing and you have to feel for the 1,100 EBay employees who got cut. One has to think had this been even 6 months ago they would have made the buy (their stock has taken a 46% hit in that time). But in the current economy where even billion dollar companies can only get over-night loans, EBay has to take a step back to take one forward.

The irony of it all? Bill Me Later is a company that evaluates credit risks during a credit crunch. I wonder how many of the now out of work EBayers will be added to their high risk list :( I hope that 1.1 Billion is worth it - you could have launched a ton of new products internally as well as marketing campaigns in key overseas markets with the money you spent on Bill Me Later. I think it will be though - the economy is still early on in the downward turn (which is a win for Bill Me Later) let's see where we are in 12 months. EBay's traditional revenue sources will certainly be trimmed as fewer people are out there buying things in such a bad economy.

The Chicago Cubs collected the most wins in the National League this year and yet they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that made the playoffs because they won their division, but had the least wins of all NL playoff teams. Why? I'll tell you why. The Curse of Fred Merkle. Look it up.

Because of this curse, the Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. Yes that is 100 years this year. Being the 100th anniversary of the Cubs' last championship, everyone in the baseball universe thought it quite fitting that they were having their best year in...ever, almost. It was almost a cosmic inevitability that the Cubs would finally shrug of the Curse of Merkle.

100 years.

Almost 100 wins.

It had to be.

And yet it isn't.

Why? Because the Cubs are cursed.

Couldn't the Cubs claim this curse as a permanent disability? If they did, think of the benefits they could receive. They could get the National League to pay for all of their expenses, so that they could save up their money for payroll and put together the most unstoppable force that ever took the field. They could get a first round bye in the playoffs. And all seven games of the NLCS and World Series at Wrigley Field so they would not have to travel!

Oh but then if they won the World Series, they would no longer be able to claim permanent disability. So never mind.

Some time this week I am going shopping for a new chair. I got my prescription from my doctor. The chair I am in is definitely not fit to last another winter. I used and abused it this summer. I think all of that running around, along with the pressure of my job, have given me high blood pressure. Not really high, but higher than normal. I found that out when I had my appointments. Weird. I just wanted to get a prescription for a new chair and I found that out.

By the way, the doctor barely looked at me and started writing out the prescription for the chair, so I don't know why I had to spend the time.

Vado da A. ascoltanto la meravigliosa canzone "Ossigeno" di Raf tratta dall'ultimo Album "Metamorfosi".

ok parto bici, pedali, stazioni, ....

Oh mio angelo,
il tuo sguardo bastò, a cambiare i giorni miei
e in quell'attimo, il tempo scappò,e di noi si è, scordato ormai
Ma la vita è bella perché, è imprevedibile,
lasciati portare lei sa.
Prendere la vita com'è ,com'è difficile
c'è una sola certezza in me.
E' per te, per te,per te, perdutamente,
che farei dell'impossibile, e dei sogni la realtà,
e dei miei pensieri, sei tu il punto fermo,
sei nel cuore oppio, fuoco e ossigeno.
Questo amore piegò odio ed invidia
perché è inviolabile,
e con occhi chiusi, siamo in volo senza più ferirsi
non scendiamo se non vuoi
E se sto sognando vi prego non svegliatemi,
questa è la mia vita, e voglio dirti che,
E' per te, per te , perdutamente
e perduto follemente
il mio mondo è per te.
Sei nei miei pensieri, e nei desideri
come nel DNA.
Quando tu non ci sei
sei nell'aria che respiro,
sei nel cuore oro, luce e ossigeno. (Cit. testo Ossigeno- Raf.)

Non ascoltavo la radio penso ormai da diversi anni, sempre CD con le solite canzoni;

sento cantare la "Ferreri" una canzone che mi riporta a 15 ani fà, come se ieri sera, tra Parma e Bologna, stessi guidando la macchina del tempo.

Era una canzone che ascoltavo da bambino con il mio primo lettore di musicasette, prendevo le cassette di mia mamma e mi diviertivo ad ascoltare la musica degli anni 60-70.

 "Ma che freddo fa" , l'originale cantata da Nada.

e l'ulteriore e ugualmente fantastica di Giusy Ferreri.

Prinsip Dasar Moving Average

Moving Average adalah sebuah indikator analisa teknikal dalam forex trading yang paling sederhana, mudah dan sering digunakan. Moving Average juga merupakan dasar dari banyak indikator, dalam artian banyak indikator tersusun dari Moving Average atau banyak indikator yang menggunakan moving average sebagai bagian dalam indikator tersebut.

Prinsip dasar dari Moving Average adalah menyerhanakan garis yang terbentuk dari titik-titik pergerakan harga dalam periode tertentu. Seperti kita tahu pergerakan harga forex akan membentuk sebuah pola tertentu yang tergambar dalam chart. Pola tersebut terbentuk dari volatility pasar yang berupa kenaikan harga, penurunan harga maupun sideways yan bentuknya tidak teratur. Nah disinilah fungsi dari Moving Average untuk menyederhanakan bentuk pergerakan harga tersebut menjadi lebih sederhana dan mudah untuk melakukan analisa.

Garis Moving Average bisa diset dalam periode tertentu sesuai dengan kebutuhan. Semakin besar periode yang digunakan akan semakin landai garis moving average yang terbentuk, sebagai contoh adalah moving average periode 25 berikut ini :

moving average periode 25 (garis biru)

dan semakin kecil periode yang digunakan garis yang terbentuk akan semakin landai ( Moving Average dengan periode 0 adalah garis asli pergerakan harga ). Contoh dari moving average dengan menggunakan periode yang kecil ( periode 5 ) adalah gambar berikut ini :

Moving Average periode 5 (garis merah)

Penggunaan Moving Average Untuk Prediksi Pergerakan Harga

Penggunaan moving average dalam analisa teknikal lebih mudah bila menggunakan 2 garis moving average, satu garis moving average diset dengan periode kecil dan satu lagi garis moving average dengan periode yang lebih besar. Dalam contoh ini kita gunakan moving average periode 5 (periode kecil) dan periode 25 (periode besar).

Double Moving Average

Dari perpotongan dua garis moving average tersebut, seorang trader/analis forex akan lebih mudah mengamati kecenderungan pergerakan harga yang akan terjadi, apakah naik atau turun. Ketika garis moving average periode kecil (5) memotong garis moving average periode besar (25) mengindikasikan bahwa pergerakan harga cenderung menglami kenaikan. Dan sebaliknya apabila garis moving average periode kecil (5) memotong garis moving average periode besar (25) mengindikasikan bahwa pergerakan harga cenderung untuk turun.

I've just signed up to an MA.  In fact I've started this blog in response to my tutor's request to create a blog and "record the journey". 

Since my wife Diane decided to start her MA in English Lit with the OU, I've been eyeing up some further education.  Not for any poncy reasons; not because I want MA after my name, or to attend a posh bash and throw a mortar board in the air (I wonder what David Cameron would say about the health and safety lefties on this one?) but because I want to master something of the industry I have ended up in.

Selected Transactions:

Target: DHX Media
Acquirer: Entertainment One Ltd.
Value $56.8 million
Target Financial Advisor: GMP Securities
Acquirer Financial Advisor: TD Securities

DHX Media, a Canadian children’s television program producer has agreed to a reverse takeover of Entertainment One Ltd, a global independent entertainment content ownership and distribution company. The $56.8 million cash and stock deal is at a 61% premium to DHX Media’s prior closing price.

Target: New Millennium Capital Corp
Acquirer: Tata Steel Ltd.
Value $22.6 million
Target Financial Advisor: Credit Suisse
Acquirer Financial Advisor: Undisclosed

New Millennium Capital Corp, a publicly owned Canadian mining company engaged in the exploration and development of iron ore properties, has become a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited with Tata Steel acquiring 19.9% of the common shares in a $22.6 million private placement. Credit Suisse acted as the financial advisor for New Millennium Capital.

Rain on the car windshield.

Day 271, 9/28

By a pond in Lincoln, RI.

Day 272, 9/29

Bellingham, MA

Day 273, 9/30

Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA.  More photos to come.

Day 274, 10/01

Tut-tut, looks like rain.

Day 275, 10/02

We went for a walk on the bike path and got caught in a brief rainshower. 

Day 276, 10/03

Oak Hill Cemetary, Woonsocket.  More photos to come.

Congratulations, Cheryl and Tom!

The lovely bride being escorted to the canopy

The ceremony

Too cute

"Ciccì, questa è la protocugina Eufrasia, te la ricordi?" - "Come no, Ma!" - "Come non te la ricordi? era al tuo battesimo!" - "Non posso ricordarmela al mio battesimo, Mà!" - "Valla a salutare e chiedile come sta lo zio?" "Quale zio?" - "Suo padre, Ciccì" - "Ma se non me la ricordo la cugina, mi ricordo dello zio secondo te?" - "Era pure lui al battesimo tuo" - "E dove era seduto?" - "In fondo assieme alle figlie: salutamele tutte..." - "Bonanotte, Mà!".

Altra grande domanda cosmica: perché mia madre mi presenta solo gente che a guardarla riesco a pensare solo: "Chicazzè?".

Not too long ago I moved. I do that quite a bit. I am a mover. I think I’ve said this before but I’ll go over it one more time. I lived in Southern California for four years, in five different apartments. I lived in DC for one year and moved twice. I’ve lived in Boston for 8 months and have lived in two different apartments. And now, just a month after my last move, I’m thinking about doing it again – sooner rather than later.

Why all the moving? Roommates weren’t right, the location was a little off (or a lot in the case of Riverside, Ca), or the space was constrictive. I’m always seeking something else. I don’t know if it the quest is for something better or just different, but it’s always something. It’s never quite enough. And it’s not just that way with apartments.

It’s that way with my relationships, family, friends, faith, and work. I find flaws in everything and everyone, starting and ending with myself. I worry that I’m a black hole of dissatisfaction. My best friend had the courage to tell me once that she worried that there would never be enough for me (in regards to my ex-boyfriend AV3). There is definitely an element of that for me. I’m getting better with age (seriously!) but….it is true that I have almost impossible expectations for happiness. As a result I’m always looking for the next best thing or making comparisons. In the midst of wanting to move, once again, I think God is offering me the opportunity to start transforming that behavior.

How? Well....I mentioned that I was thinking of moving. There are a few reasons why. I live in a rough neighborhood. I have experience with that (in Lansing, Mi and Washington, DC) but this may be the toughest place I’ve ever lived. It's pretty unsettling to live in that environment. More pressing is the roommate I can’t stand living with. He is 21, thoughtless, messy, and hairy. My other roommate is family and the whole reason I moved into a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom with that 21 one year old. I just found out, from the family gossip grapevine, that he is going to break the lease 4 months early to get married. So that leaves me in the 'hood with a kid I can barely tolerate and some unknown stranger (once my cousin moves out).

I want to use my age and say I’m too old for this but the truth is even at 21 I would have been pissed about this situation. My first thought is to move. Go somewhere new, start over, create a new beginning. Why not? That is what I always do. But it’s not what I want to do anymore. There are struggles about where I am right now but there is tremendous joy. I can walk to work in 20 minutes. I live close to a beautiful park. I’m less than 5 minutes away from St. Mary’s of the Angels and go to prayer service Tuesday thru Thursday. It is an amazing parish. I’m in solidarity with a community without being a part of gentrification. When I walk down Abbotsford Street the women sitting on their porches say hello. I see the students I mentor on a regular basis. I don’t think money should buy safety and I don’t want to live anywhere else. The situation is imperfect, but I don’t want to run from that. I've lived in an exclusive gated community in Irvine,Ca to one of the rougher parts of Boston - no matter where I am there is struggle and imperfection.

I still think my cousin did me scurvy by not telling me and signing a lease in the first place but I love him and where I live. Instead of looking for the next best thing, the green grass around the corner, I am going to embrace the here and now. I can be satisfied in the midst of dissatisfaction. How? I am reading John Dear's "Living Peace" and see that it will require a lot of prayer in solitude, silence, and listening to God.

Hey, that doesn’t mean I’ll stay put for long. A year ago I was in Brasil and a year from now I hope I’m in a place that my imagination can only begin to envision. It just means I’m ready to do something different and new. I’m ready to be happy and for “it” (whatever “it” is) to be more than enough. I'm ready to stop trying to fill my back hole of expectation and dissatisfaction with the next best thing. I'm ready for right here, right now, to be glorious and great. Amen.

高清記招 Watch this press conference in Normal Quality or High Quality here

媽媽, 不用擔心! Don't Worry, Ma! is showing to a screen near you!

媽媽，不用擔心！Don't Worry, Ma! 之 不飲牛奶可以飲什麼？

媽媽，不用擔心！Don't Worry, Ma! 之參與者心聲

媽媽，不用擔心！Don't Worry, Ma! 之 腎結石治癒後如何保健？

The Town of Wakefield, Massachusetts has settled its lawsuit concerning the Millbrook Estates affordable housing project.

Under the agreement, the town has agreed to drop its pending lawsuit and the developers in return will pay the town $500,000 over five years, Town Counsel Thomas Mullen announced at last night’s meeting of the Wakefield Board of Selectmen.

“The settlement is a good result for the town,” Chairman Betsy Sheeran said. “Wakefield was among the first communities in the Commonwealth to recover excess profits identified by the Inspector General in a report on Chapter 40B developers. The town has aggressively pursued its claim. The settlement means that there will be a substantial return of funds to the town without the costs, delays and uncertainties of further litigation.”

The Inspector General’s report, issued in March 2007, suggested that the developers of Millbrook Estates off Water Street owed as much as $1,324,019 in excess profits to the town. The report claimed that the developers, who were obliged under the state’s affordable housing program to pay to the town all profits in excess of 20 percent, had understated their income and overstated their costs in an attempt to avoid having to pay anything to the town.

The suit was filed in December 2007 on behalf of the town in Middlesex Superior Court by the town’s attorney in this matter, Stephen D. Anderson of Anderson and Kreiger, LLP of Boston.

The suit named as defendants Millbrook Estates, LLC; Ronald J. and Raymond S. Falite; Falite Bros., Inc.; Millbrook Rentals Realty Trust, (MRRT); and Pine Tree Realty Trust (PTRT).

Ronald J. Falite of 24 Walton Lane in Wakefield and Raymond S. Falite of 15 Ross Lane, Middleton were identified as members of Millbrook Estates, LLC. Falite Bros., Inc. and Millbrook Estates, LLC both list their principal place of business as 9 Broadway, Wakefield MA.

Millbrook Estates, a 40-unit condominium complex on a 105,804 sq. ft. parcel off Water Street, was developed by the Falites under the Commonwealth’s affordable housing statute, General Laws Chapter 40B.

The town maintained in its lawsuit that in return for Chapter 40B’s authorization to obtain a comprehensive permit allowing the developer to circumvent numerous local bylaws and regulations, Millbrook and its principals entered into a Regulatory Agreement stipulating that project profits would be limited to 20 percent of total development costs. Under Chapter 40B, any profit in excess of 20 percent must be turned over to the municipality for future affordable housing purposes.

Under the settlement, the defendants will pay the town $150,000 by June 30, 2008, and $70,000 per year for the next five years. The defendants’ obligation will be secured by mortgages on units at Millbrook Estates, according to Mullen.

Under state law, all the money recovered through the settlement must be applied to affordable housing and related purposes, including the town’s enforcement action to recover these proceeds. The town’s legal costs in pursuing the matter will be paid out of the money recovered in the settlement.

Presenting the proposed settlement to the selectmen last night, Mullen said that the town’s suit raised “cutting edge legal issues” and “complicated accounting questions.” Mullen praised Attorney Anderson’s work, adding that both he and Anderson believed the settlement to be in the best interests of the town.

Mullen noted that Anderson was “probably the lawyer in the state with the greatest experience in asserting excess profit claims against developers in 40B cases.”

Mullen said that the recommendation to settle was due to the “highly uncertain” outcome of the litigation, coupled with the fact that it would be “extremely expensive and time consuming” to pursue the lawsuit to its conclusion.

“For all of these reasons,” Mullen said, “we believe that the compromise of $500,000 represents a good result for the town.”

The defendants continue to deny any wrongdoing and defend their actions on the grounds that the Inspector General’s report and the town’s litigation applied new regulations and guidelines to Millbrook Estates, which were not in effect when the project was built.

In the agreement, the defendants maintain that the settlement does not “constitute an admission of fact, law or liability on the part of any party” and that they entered into the agreement “to avoid significant transaction costs of litigation.”

[caption id="attachment_79" align="alignnone" width="196" caption="Mendon Market Report"][/caption]

 

 

1 home sold in the month of September 2008 in Mendon, MA.  Here are the averages for the properties that sold:

*Average Sale price $350,000

*Average List Price $356,900

*Average Days on Market 96

The above information is based on single family homes only in Mendon, MA only.  

I am a Proud Member of Angel's Realty located in Uxbridge, MA.  We are a dedicated, detailed oriented TEAM committed 100% to our clients...Specializing in properties that did not sell the first time!  We have the tools and the determination to get you where you want to be.    I dedicate this blog to all of my clients and future clients.  Lisa Mahoney can be reached at 508-802-3436 or via email at Lisa@angelsrealty.net. 

Servicing Worcester County area, including home sales in Northbridge, Uxbridge, Douglas, Sutton, Millville, Upton, Mendon, Hopedale, Blackstone and Grafton.