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Category Archives: Damages
Intellectual Ventures' Damages Claims, Professor Cotter's Reaction
Posted by Scott M. Flaherty
Reuters quotes our very own Professor Cotter regarding the novel damages argument being made by Symantec and Trend Micro against Intellectual Ventures (IV). According to the news service, IV seeks more than $300 million from the two companies for infringing a patent purchased for $750,000. Symantec and Trend Micro have told a Delaware Court that such a large licensing fees cannot be reasonable for a patent acquired for so little.
Thomas Cotter, a patent damages expert at the University of Minnesota Law School who is not involved in the case, said he is unaware of any court ruling along the lines being urged by Symantec and Trend Micro. For Intellectual Ventures, which says it has earned about $3 billion to date from licensing its thousands of patents, the stakes could hardly be higher.
"If the royalty is capped at the purchase price, there's obviously no point in being a patent assertion entity," Cotter said. Read the rest of this entry →
Posted in Damages, Patent
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Some Initial Reactions to Judge Robart's opinion in Microsoft v. Motorola
Posted by Thomas F. Cotter
Late last week Judge James Robart issued his long-awaiting findings and fact and conclusions of law on the issue of RAND royalties in Microsoft Corp. v. Motorola, Inc. For those of you who haven't had time to plow through the 207-page opinion, there are good summaries available by Professor Jorge Contreras at Patently-o (http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2013/04/so-thats-what-rand-means-a-brief-report-on-the-findings-of-fact-and-conclusions-of-law-in-microsoft-v-motorola.html); by Florian Mueller at Foss Patents (http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/a-closer-look-at-207-page-landmark.html); and by Jay Jurata, Matthew Poppe, and David Smith at http://reaction.orrick.com/rs/vm.ashx?ct=24F76C1AD3E60AEDC1D180A9D329951CD4BE7BB3D38714DD4CF371647BF8D90DDD78038. Rather than repeat what can be found elsewhere, this essay sets forth a few initial reactions I had as I read the opinion, and that I have not yet seen discussed anywhere else.
By way of background, many standard setting organizations (SSOs) require their members to license their standard-essential patents (SEPs) on "reasonable and nondiscriminatory" (RAND) terms. (The alternative term "FRAND," meaning "fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory," is synonymous with RAND.) SSOs rarely if ever define the term RAND in advance, however; rather, the RAND commitment serves as a backdrop against which SEP owners and potential licensees negotiate. Of course, when negotiation fails, either party or both parties may resort to litigation. Many of the civil actions in the "Smart Phone Wars" that have been raging across the globe for the last two or three years have involved SEPs; most of these cases are patent infringement actions filed by SEP owners. One issue that can arise in such cases is whether an SEP owner that prevails at an infringement trial should be able to obtain a permanent injunction (or, in the ITC, an exclusion order). Until Judge Robart's opinion, however, no reported decision had addressed the difficult issue of to calculate a RAND royalty.
Given this backdrop, Microsoft v. Motorola is in some ways a bit of an oddity in that it is not a patent infringement action, but rather an action for breach of contract. In 2010, Motorola offered to license two portfolios of purportedly standard-essential patents to Microsoft. Believing that the asking price of 2.25% per unit was too high, Microsoft filed suit, requesting among other things a declaratory judgment (1) that Microsoft was a third-beneficiary of Motorola's RAND commitment to the IEEE and ETSI, and (2) that Motorola had breached that contract. Last year, Judge Robart held that Microsoft was indeed a third-party beneficiary of an enforceable contract. The opinion from last week sets forth the judge's views as to what a RAND royalty for the patents at issue would be, as well as the possible range of what a RAND royalty could be (which may be relevant to determining whether Motorola's offer was in good faith). Later this year, a jury will determine whether Motorola breached the contract and, if so, whether Microsoft is entitled to damages for any collateral harms it has suffered.
Briefly, Judge Robart concluded that the amount of a RAND royalty should be determined through application of a modified version of the Georgia-Pacific factors that are used to determine reasonable royalties in patent infringement litigation. Among the notable features of his opinion are: (1) the conclusion, correct as an economic matter, that a patent royalty should reflect the value of the patented invention only, and not the "hold-up" value that may result from trying to extract a better deal after a standard incorporating the patent has been chosen; (2) that in industries in which many patents are likely incorporated into a device, courts should avoid "royalty stacking" that would result in aggregate royalties exceeding the value of the device; (3) the recognition that incremental value, i.e., the value of the patented invention over the next-best alternative, is the theoretically correct measure of patent value, though one that may be difficult to estimate in practice; (4) the importance of carefully considering which purportedly comparable licenses are, in fact, comparable to the hypothetical license between the patent owner and the user; and (5) the importance of considering how important (or unimportant) the patent is to the user. Although I cannot comment intelligently on the factual evidence before the judge, his legal and economic analysis is, for the most part, sound. Without repeating what others have already said about the opinion, I'd like to note the following matters that struck me as I read the opinion and that I haven't seen any discussion of anywhere else.
First, there is a sense in which Judge Robart actually made an additional, and appropriate, modification to Georgia-Pacific that he didn't explicitly call attention to. Specifically, Georgia-Pacific factor fifteen recites the overarching "willing licensor-willing licensee" framework:
The amount that a licensor (such as the patentee) and a licensee (such as the infringer) would have agreed upon (at the time the infringement began) if both had been reasonably and voluntarily trying to reach an agreement; that is, the amount which a prudent licensee–who desired, as a business proposition, to obtain a license to manufacture and sell a particular article embodying the patented invention–would have been willing to pay as a royalty and yet be able to make a reasonable profit and which amount would have been acceptable by a prudent patentee who was willing to grant a license.
Judge Robart's analysis arguably departs from a literal application of this factor to the extent he is trying to reconstruct the hypothetical deal the parties would have negotiated before the standard was adopted, rather than at the time Microsoft may have begun using the patents in suit—though he alludes to this matter most clearly in connection with factor 9, "the utility and advantages of the patent property over old modes or devices" (p.38), and he elsewhere states that "RAND licenses can be negotiated after an SSO adopts a standard" (p.29; see also p.159). I have argued elsewhere that such a modification of the relevant time frame is necessary, in the context of SEPs subject to RAND commitments and even in actions alleging patent infringement as opposed to breach of contract, because if the focus is instead on the time (post-standard adoption) that the alleged infringement began, the royalty to be calculated may reflect the patent's holdup value rather than its incremental contribution to the art. See Thomas F. Cotter, Reining in Patent Remedies: Three (Increasingly Immodest) Proposals, 29 Santa Clara Comp. & High Tech. L.J. __, __ n.43 (forthcoming 2013), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2235769.
Second, under the willing licensor-willing licensee analysis that applies in patent infringement actions, the premise is that the licensor and licensee both knew that the patent was valid and infringed. See, e.g., Lucent Technologies, Inc. v. Gateway, Inc., 580 F.3d 1301, 1325 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Though counterintuitive, this assumption makes economic sense in the context of an infringement trial. To illustrate, suppose that (at the time infringement began) the user would have agreed to pay the patentee $1 million, discounted by an 80% probability of infringement and an independent 70% probability of invalidity; the royalty would have been $560,000 (i.e., $1 million x 0.7 x. 0.8). If the patentee could recover only $560,000 in damages if the case went to trial, however, her expected recovery prior to filing the complaint would be only $560,000 x 0.7 x 0.8 = $313,000. The unrealistic-sounding assumption that the parties would have negotiated on the understanding that the patent was valid and infringed means that the patentee should recover $1 million if she prevails at trial (something she has a 56% chance of doing), and thus avoids the double discounting problem. See Stephen Kalos & Jonathan D. Putnam, On the Incomparability of "Comparable": An Economic Interpretation of "Infringer's Royalties," 9 J. Proprietary Rts. 2, 4-5 (1997). In a breach of contract action such as Microsoft, however, there has been no determination that any of the patents at issue are valid or infringed. Using the preceding example, the uncertainty over the patent's validity and infringement means that the appropriate royalty would be $560,000, not $1 million. Thus in Microsoft, Judge Robart correctly took into account the possibility that Microsoft was not using some of the Motorola patents at all. See, e.g., pp. 92, 93, 105-06, 121. Notice, however, that this means that a RAND royalty calculated in a breach of contract action ought to be lower than a RAND royalty awarded for the very same patent or patents at the conclusion of an infringement action—a counterintuitive, but I think economically correct, result.[1]
Third, in some instances Judge Robart was convinced by neither side's conclusions regarding valuation and simply proceeded on his own. See, e.g., pp. 112, 116. Contrast this approach with that of Judge Posner last year in Apple v. Motorola, who when convinced that neither side's damages experts had tendered admissible opinions dismissed the action altogether, on the ground that there is no right to proceed to trial for a judgment of nominal damages. In such cases, should the trier of fact attempt to reach a reasonable result notwithstanding flaws in the evidence—and if so, on what basis—or is dismissal the proper option? Should it matter whether the relevant portion of the trial is to a jury or to a judge? Should it matter whether the party with the burden of proof is the patentee (as in Apple) or the user (as was the case, presumably, in Microsoft)?
Fourth, while I find most of Judge Robart's analysis persuasive (subject to the caveat that I have not reviewed the underlying evidence), I think the judge made some math errors in his lengthy footnote at page 171 (specifically, paragraph 526 n.23), where he tries to derive the lower end of the RAND range by means of a comparison with the royalty that Motorola firm would have earned from its patents had it been a member of the relevant patent pool for the technology in question. Specifically, Judge Robart presented an algebraic analysis of how the value of a patent pool royalty would relate to the value of a royalty calculated outside the pool. Judge Robart proposes that the value to a firm of participating in a pool could be described as
VP = P+ + IP + E – P– – OC,
where P+ is the licensing revenue the firm earns from being in the pool; IP is the value to the firm of having access to the pooled patents; E is the "external value the company derived from adding its patents to the pool, such as promoting participation in the pool and thereby encouraging widespread adoption of the standard"; P– is the licensing revenue the firm pays to the pool; and OC is the opportunity cost of joining the pool. (Judge Robart actually says that OC is "the opportunity cost of using the patents in a different way, such as abstaining from the patent pool and licensing patents outside the pool," but I think he means "the opportunity cost of not using the patents in a different way . . . ." More on this below.). Similarly, the value to the firm of abstaining from the pool is
VA = A+ + IP – A– – OC,
where A+ is the revenue the firm would derive from licensing its patents outside the pool (the RAND royalty); A– is the revenue the firm would pay to obtain access to others' patents; and OC is "the opportunity cost of not joining the pool." (Apparently the assumption is that, except for the firm that is deciding whether to join the pool, all other firms with relevant patents are in the pool; otherwise there should be a A– term, though perhaps of lesser magnitude, in the first equation, shouldn't there?) Comparing the two, Judge Robart concluded that, because Motorola's patents contributed relatively little to the standards at issue, it was fair to assume that VP = VA (and hence that the opportunity costs "cancel out," as does the IP term if we assume both firms benefit equally from having access to the other relevant SEPs). Moreover, he assumed that P+ = E, based on the inference that "the external value of joining the pool is equivalent to the royalty deficit Microsoft incurs through pool membership"; that 2P+ = P–, based on evidence that Microsoft paid twice as much in royalties to the pool as it received in licensing revenue from the pool (and the assumption that Motorola would have fared no better); and that A– = 1.5P– = 3P+, on the assumption that non-pool royalties would be about 1 ½ times greater than pool royalties ("higher than the pool rate, but not twice as high because some, if not all, of the companies holding SEPs would be subject to the RAND commitment"). Substituting values, we get A+ = 3P+, meaning that the RAND royalty is three times the pool royalty.
I think there are some errors here. First, it seems to me that the opportunity cost of not joining the pool is VP, and that the opportunity cost of joining is VA (right?), though ultimately this factor does not wind up mattering to the judge's analysis and (I think) shouldn't matter in terms of comparing the value of joining the firm versus the value of abstaining. Second, and more significantly, I'm not sure why we should assume that VA = VP, even if there is reason to think that Motorola's patents are relatively low in value. Motorola itself apparently though that VA ≥ VP or it would have joined the pool (though to be fair, the judge is using this analysis to calculate the low end of the range). Third, I think that the judge errs when he states that E "is equivalent to the royalty deficit Microsoft incurs through pool membership," that is that E = P+. He's conflating E with IP + E. From his earlier analysis, all we can say is that, for VP to be positive, P+ + IP + E > P–. Thus, at best, even if the assumption that A– = 3P+ is correct, I think all we can infer is that A+ ≥ 2P+ + E. So the RAND royalty is at least twice what the pool royalty would be, plus some increment for the intangible value of being a pool member. It seems to me that the low end of the RAND range therefore would be just twice the RAND rate, not three times; in theory, E could be as low as zero. If anything, though, the error works in favor of Motorola, but I don't think Microsoft will make much of it since the overall thrust of the opinion strongly favors Microsoft's position. (And, to reiterate, my analysis is preliminary and it's possible that I have overlooked something important; a 207 page opinion is a lot to digest, even over the course of a week).
[1] For a contrary view, however, see Dennis Carlton & Allan L. Shampine, An Economic Interpretation of FRAND, at p.13, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2256007 (arguing that, in the context of FRAND royalties, a firm that succeeds in proving infringement of its SEP should not be able to recover more than the pre-litigation FRAND rate).
Tags: FRAND, RAND, SSO
The New York Times Discovers That Patents Are Weapons
Following IntellectualIP''s recent coverage of Judge Posner's potential anti-competitive effects of patents, here, Sunday's New York Times has a story by Steve Lohr and Charles Duhigg titled "The Patent, Used as a Sword." The story is Part 7 in the Times' series "The iEconomy."
The first notable thing about the article is the title: "The Patent, Used as a Sword." A common misconception of patents is that they entitle inventors to practice or make the process or thing they invent. They don't. A patent is only a right to exclude others, not a right to do or make any process or thing. To use the author's paradigm, a patent is always an Excalibur, never an Aegis.
How Sir Bedivere Cast the Sword Excalibur into the Water, by Aubrey Beardsley (1894)
A patent is a right to sue someone else who makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells any patented invention. See 35 U.S.C. § 271. It's not a right to do any process or make something, even if the patentee invented that process or thing.
A classic example involves mouse traps. Suppose Mike invents and patents the mousetrap that eliminates 95% of the mice that attempt to take cheese from it. Katy sees Mike's patented mousetrap and patents an improved version of it, which eliminates rats 99% of the time. Suppose Mike's patent covers a one-spring mouse trap, and Katy's patent improvement is directed to a two-spring version.
Katy has no right to make, use, or sell her improved mousetrap without Mike's permission. Mike's patent covers any mousetrap having one spring—including those that have one spring plus other springs. Mike's patent is a "sword" against any later mousetraps that have one (or more) springs. If Tom comes along and invents an even better three-spring mouse trap, he can't make or sell his mousetrap without Mike's and Katy's permission.
An early, broad patent will cover later innovation that falls within its scope. That later innovation is subject to the earlier patents that cover it, and later innovators may not have the right to practice their innovation, even if it's new and non-obvious.
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Tags: The best defense is a good offense
Apple v. Samsung and awards of defendant's profits: the potential for overcompensatory damages in design patent infringement cases
One aspect of the Apple v. Samsung litigation that has not received much coverage in the press is the basis of the jury's $1.05 billion damages award. According to an interview with the jury foreman, the jury award was based on the $8.16 billion in revenue Samsung earned from the sales of allegedly infringing devices, multiplied by the jury's estimate of Samsung's profit margin on those devices (somewhere between 12 and 13%). See Dan Levine, Velvin Hogan, Foreman in Apple Samsung Case, Says Jury Didn't Want $1 Billion Verdict To Be Just a Slap on the Wrist, Aug. 25, 2012. Assuming that the numbers are supported by the evidence, this sort of award is permissible under design patent law. (Three of the patents Samsung was found to have infringed were design patents.) In this respect, however, U.S. design patent law is something of an oddity compared with other types of infringement cases, both in the U.S. and elsewhere.
In a case involving the infringement of a utility (invention) patent, the prevailing plaintiff has the option under section 284 of the U.S. Patent Act to recover its own lost profit resulting from the defendant's infringing sales, or a reasonable royalty. At one time, a third option—the recovery of the profit the infringer made from sales of infringing products, which depending on the circumstances could be higher than the plaintiff's own lost profits or a reasonable royalty—also was available, but in 1946 Congress eliminated this option for utility patents on the ground that the calculation of the defendant's profits was often too complex and time-consuming. Congress did not eliminate this third option in design patent cases, however, where it remains today in section 289. So this explains why Apple could request, and the jury could award, Samsung's profits from sales of allegedly infringing products. Read the rest of this entry →
Posted in Damages, History, Infringement, Patent
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Debby Mayne is a best-selling author who has published more than 25 books and novellas, 400 short stories and articles, and devotions for women. She has also worked as managing editor of a national health magazine, product information writer for HSN, a creative writing instructor, and a copy editor and proofreader. Her novel, Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida received 4-1/2 stars from RT Book Review, and was named a Top Pick for the month of July. She and her husband Wally have two grown daughters, and live in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Widow Bethany Hanahan is trying in vain to fill an empty heart and an empty nest. The result is a home filled to the brim, but something is still missing. That's when her new gardening club friends come to the rescue, encouraging her to let go of the past as well as the present clutter –emotional, spiritual, and physical. It's not long before Bethany is finding friends, not bargains, to fill her days. But has her life become too full for someone like Pete Sprockett, a childhood friend, for whom her romantic feelings are beginning to bloom? Join the quirky, loving community of Bloomfield as they do what they do best – poke their well-meaning noses in and intervene in times of need –in author Debby Mayne's second novel in what has become a five book series about a community where life is simple and love is real.
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At the onset of the Civil War, Seamus heeds his wife's wishes to return to her beloved family farm in the South, where he takes a post as chaplain for General Stonewall Jackson's brigade. As Seamus ministers to the troops, his sister Clare ministers in a different way—by being a powerful voice in the Northern cause toward freeing the slaves. All this while their youngest brother Davin, who became wealthy during the Gold Rush, struggles to find love and identity in a fallen world. It's a clash of loyalties and beliefs that threaten the entire family, each of them trying to hear God's encouragement in the midst of the tragedy of war. The dramatic conclusion to the acclaimed Heirs of Ireland Series.
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Kelly Frost, a textiles conservator, is invited to the Massachusetts coastal city of New Bedford to restore a 150-year-old Mariner's Compass quilt. But there is one stipulation: she must live and work in Gray House, a former whaling captain's home, where the quilt is stored. There she meets Army veteran Tom Pereira, the caretaker of Gray House, whose heart seems as hard as the rocky Massachusetts coastline. Over the long-lit months as Kelly works to restore the quilt, she and Tom grow closer. And as she reads stories in a daily journal penned by Mary Gray, she learns the secrets of the quilt and Mary's own sad tale of regret. Then Tom learns secrets of his own family's past, and both Tom and Kelly learn they are tied to Gray House in ways they never imagined.
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The Monthly magazine
Per Monthly literary register
press criticism has been marked by especial villany on the occasion. Bribes have been received for censuring, and unblushingly demanded for praise. Never has its venality been more extensively illustrated.
Meantime, as we have said, there was a necessity for creating a public taste; towards which, the efforts of that same corrupted press might have been serviceable. What the Authors' Theatre proposed, was to promote the dramatic rather than the theatric. The vulgar taste, of course, prefers the latter; and Mr. Macready's spectacular revivals have tended to confirm the mischievous prejudice. This course of proceeding on his part, has therefore increased the difficulty of putting the purely dramatic on the boards, to which is to be added the extra difficulty, in the present distribution of acting talent, of obtaining efficient performers for any play that is not almost a monodrama. The lovers of modern dramatic genius, therefore, will have to found a dramatic school for actors, before their plans can be fully realized. They have, in fact, to raise the theatre from utter ruin. To effect this object, they are willing to make uncommon sacrifices, to incur enormous risks; and yet the selfishness of those who ought to enter heart and soul into the cause, opposes every possible impediment to a righteous determination. Shame, oh, burning shame! to the various cliques who are so blinded by stale custom and opinions that are or ought to be obsolete, as not to recognize and cherish the new spirit that is awakening and pervading these modern times. Fools ! they know not that a great cycle is closed, and that another greater still is opening. For our part, we will echo in the Old World, what Emerson is proclaiming in the New, that Genius is no more dead in the modern drama and poetry, than God is in modern religion and inspiration. The spirit yet lives and works in both, animating, informing, supporting the world of forms and the chaos of matter, with ideas and principles which were in the beginning, which are in the middle, and shall be in the end.
It is now long since, that the Quarterly Review attributed the decline of the drama to the usurpation of the actor. The actor, we were there truly told, "had, from being a subordinate part of the general illusion, usurped the principal, and claimed as his own the undivided interest of the audience. With our simple ancestors," continued the critic, "the play was every thing; the actor we conceive, of much less importance." Our readers know that this statement is too true; but now comes an extract from the same article, to which we request particular attention.
"We," (says the critic,) " will venture to predict, that so long as the dramatic writer is sunk to a subordinate station in the general corps dramatique, second to the inechanist and scene-painter, as well as to the actor-only in somewhat higher relative position than the opera poet to the composer of music-so long as even a really good play, feebly or inadequately performed, would have no chance of success, so long the drama will remain far below the poetic average of the elder period."
It is for us to put an end to the state of things condemned in this sentence, and to project a better. Had Martinuzzi failed, instead of succeeding, its failure would only have fortified the above position. As it is, we are enabled to pronounce it " a really good
play;" both "strongly and adequately performed" in its higher departments, though wanting in the lower, and, perhaps, the general mise en scene.
Martinuzzi is a " really good play."—It is good of its kind ; that is, it is of the highest and purest kind of drama. This position has nothing to do with the degree of its merit : it asserts simply its excellence in kind. Also, it is of the purely dramatic, and not the corrupt theatric sort of play. It is as purely dramatic almost as a tragedy of Æschylus. It is almost as simple. Its five great scenes (and THESE ARE AMONG THE GREATEST IN THE WORLD) are dialogues; they have each two interlocutors, and no more ; and are supported with miraculous power. We are taken at once back to the simplicity of the Grecian drama in its origin;-a fact which points, too, to Martinuzzi as the first of a new series of dramatic productions, and which is further corroborated by the circumstance of the author's having altogether taken the initia. tive in its performance. It is marked by every sign as The Beginning of a new order of things, which having once commenced, will not finish until the purpose of its commencement be accomplished.
It were only expedient were we to consider awhile the small point from which the Æschylean drama commenced. First, the Father of Greek poetry had to make the Nóyoç or theatrical declamation,* the principal part in his tragedy, instead of the choral song. Martinuzzi has been performed for the purpose of winning a theatre from the defunct operatic to the new-born elocutionary. To return to the Greeks: The Greek dramatist hired and paid his own actors. It is probable that the tpilóyla, in its old sense, was originally a podoyos, and two dóyou or phoels instead of one; consequently, an increase of business for the TOKpuths. Æschylus, having added a second actor, each of these λόγοι became a διάλογος, Or δράμα, and ultimately each of these diáloyou expanded into a complete play. Just to this point Mr. Stephens has attained in his progress; he will naturally grow with practice into more extensive stage combinations; we would rather see him at first an Eschylus, than either a Sophocles or Euripides : what there is of him is a sincerity, not a Bulwerish pretension. " Pretension ! thy name is Bulwer ! Stephens, sincerity and heroism !"
Martinuzzi is a " really good play." It is good in its conceptiox. The Cardinal is a character finely conceived. He is a man who reads to us continually the sublime moral lesson of the Gospel :-" Judge not according to appearances, but judge a righteous judgment." All appearances are against the Cardinal-yet is he an innocent man. The sins of others have covered him as with poisoned raiment, and from the beginning he stands before us as a sacrifice devoted on the altar of his country, bearing and to bear the obloquy of others' misdeeds. Ultimately his fame is cleared of all aspersion ; but his life is lost in the purifying process. All this is not only admirably shadowed, but well portrayed. It is a true poetic idea, and places Mr. Stephens at all but the summit of dramatic invention.
* That this is the meaning of nóyos in the passage of Aristotle is sufficiently clear; for noyelov was the stage on which the actor, as distinguished from the chorus, performed. We cannot help referring mystically to the first verse of St. John's Gospel. The connexion of the drama with religion is yet to be traced.
Such a conception as this required a peculiar construction for the tragedy. Some may think its construction defective. It is no such thing. Essentially it is perfect; though in some accidental points, perhaps, improvable. But the fact is, that, with such a conception, the stage technicalities, of which so much ignorant talk has been made, were scarcely at all available. It was needful that the inmost heart and character of Martinuzzi should be thoroughly understood, before his conduct was presented. The play, therefore, opens with soliloquies and occasional conversations, which serve only to show that a suffering honest man in high station, and surrounded with manifold perplexities, stands before us. His interview with Rupert then puts us in possession of the circumstances which cause the hero internal trouble. Had we " only known the facts," as Rupert did, like him, we should have suspected the Cardinal's probity ; but we already know the man, and therefore can interpret the facts better. We know that Martinuzzi is incapable of dishonour; we have seen him in his private moments—have overheard his heart-communings, and are ready, therefore, thoroughly to credit his statements. We believe him fully, when he exclaims
"I saw the danger, and I cast
My honour in the nation's gap; did force
The hold of pride, and wrench the bent of nature;
Did doom myself to gnawing cares for ever!" From this point we sympathize with him in every situation. Does he out-maneuvre Ferdinand, and brow-beat Castaldo? We justify him—we are sure that his motives are right, and vindicate by them his actions. That a soul suffering internal travail should so conquer its pain as to triumph over external forces also, and stand the chief among men, is a sublime spectacle, worthy of being classed with the Satan of Milton, the Prometheus of Æschylus, and the Job of the Bible.
In regard to the other characters, they are all of that stately kind which befits them for the adjuncts of a solemn theme. Isabella is a majestic character that finely counterpoises the hero. She is Medea, Clytemnestra, and Lady Macbeth combined in one. Every scene in which she appears is Shakesperian, and is equal to the master's own. Each is sustained at the due tragic elevation, the slightest lapse would be fatal. The passions portrayed in them are full of peril to the dramatist; but he steers safely and triumphantly through. His wing is not wearied, nor his vigour at all impaired: he is equal to the heights and depths of passion-he is in his element, whether he dives or soars-all is genial.
If Isabella may pair off with Lady Macbeth, Castaldo is very nearly equal to Macbeth himself. He is, in fact, just the same kind of character, without, however, his bravery, and is besides engaged with love-passages instead of war-accidents. Castaldo is touched by the poet with exceeding tact and delicacy-if in the other persons of the tragedy he has shown genius, in him he has shown taste. The state of delirium in which Castaldo is exhibited in the second scene of the fifth act, is a marvellous piece both of conception and construction. All the objects Castaldo beholds are coloured by the subjective condition of his mind. Every thing becomes unearthly-Czerina herself is but an apparition-and the sword she places in his hand is a spectral weapon, air-drawn;-in a word, we have here the utmost sublimity of tragedy, requiring an actor of surpassing power to embody.
Czerina is a being who feels an inexplicable contradiction in her nature and destiny. She is throughout " queen and no queen." Something oracular within her intimates to her that she is in a false position. Her nature corresponds not with her regal destiny, and thus foreshows that she was not born to the state that invests her. The riddle is at last explained when she learns that she is Martinuzzi's daughter-but its solution makes death for her the best expediency. The answer to the enigma is written in her blood. The tableau at the end of the drama is perhaps the most effective picture ever presented on the stage. The latter part of the fourth act is very good. In fact, the whole drama might easily be presented as a ballet d'action, without a word spoken, and be well understood, the previous history of the exchange of the children being premised.
So much then for the conception and construction of the piece. We now come to the execution. First, the style is highly metaphorical. Shall we complain of this ? Not we! So was that of Æschylus. This peculiarity marks and distinguishes the position of the author. He is the Æschylus of a new theatre. The Sophocles and Euripides will come by and bye, and soon enough, for we prefer Æschylus to either. Our Eschylus, like the one of old, speaks trumpet tongued. Let Aristophanes describe both. " Surely unbearable wrath will rise in the thunderer's bosom, When he perceives his rival in art, that treble-toned babbler, Whetting his teeth: he will then, driven frantic with anger,
Roll his eyeballs fearfully.
Then shall we have plume-fluttering strife of helmeted speeches,
Break-neck grazings of galloping words and shavings of actions,
While the poor wight averts the great genius-monger's
Diction high and chivalrous.
Bristling the stiffened mane of his neck-enveloping tresses,
Dreadfully wrinkling his brows, he will bellow aloud as he utters
Firmly rivetted words, and will tear them up plank-wise,
Breathing with a Titan's breath.
Then will that smooth and diligent tongue, the touchstone of verses,
Twisting and twirling about, and moving the snaffle of envy,
Shatter his words and demolish, with subtle refinement,
Doughty labours of the lungs." We make a present of this translation to the ignorant detractors of Mr. Stephens; informing them that the verses belong to a chorus of initiated persons who are speaking of a contest between Æschylus and Euripides, and express in the above lines their expectation; comparing, by the way, Æschylus to a lion, and Euripides to a wild boar. Mr. Stephens, we are sure, will not reluctate at being classed with Æschylus.
To the author of Martinuzzi, then, be great honour rendered. The nitiator of a new era of dramatic literature, he has come forward, with unexampled heroism, to incur the perils of martyrdom; he has put much of his property, and all his reputation, at risk for the sake of a noble cause. He has been met, as might have been expected, with reproach, misapprehension, and ingratitude—but his undaunted heart still dares to anticipate a triumph which shall still surely come to him, living or dead. To have at all partaken the labour shall be our pride till we perish.
BY FRANCIS BARHAM, ESQ.
ACT II.-SCENE I.
SOCRATES (before the Altar of the Unknown God).
Here let me stand. To me there is a charm
In this old stone-a mystic fascination-
A spell-bound and spell-binding mystery.
Whence-wherefore-this inscription? What the sense
That lurks around the words? Oft have I turned
From the gorgeous temples, and the dazzling pomp
Of sculptured fanes, where the Athenians worship
The thousand gods of Homer, to this lone
And simple altar. 'Tis a revelation
Of a far higher mythology—the grandeur
And glory of transcendent science veiled
In simulated ignorance. How my soul
Expands to the eternal Nameless, when my eyes
Wet with strange tears rest on these syllables,
"To the God Unknown." The Deity of Deities~
Dark with excessive light-Men know him not.
They must be gods themselves, and in themselves
Reflect the inscrutable essence, ere they know
That which be is. The infinite cannot
Be apprehended by the finite, lill
The finite merges in infinitude.
'Tis well. I would know God, as the Unknown,
Unknowable, fount of knowledge. I rejoice
To lose myself among the sombre veils
That shroud his name. The light of light must be
A light most blinding in the midst of clouds
And darkness is its dwelling. Let no vain
Impious presumption prompt the audacious hand
To tear the curtains from the Ineffable.
'Tis the mysteriousness of Deity pret
That makes it so attractive. The deep wish
Of searching, the rich hope of fathoming
His perfect attributes still urge us onward.
Methinks this most divine ambition

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
RNC Attracts Thousands To Florida Braving Hurricane Isaac Threat; Puts Spotlight On Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan
By Valli Meenakshi Ramanathan
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney addresses supporters at his Nevada caucus-night rally in Las Vegas on Saturday. REUTERS
Even as Tropical Storm Isaac managed to reschedule the Republican National Convention (RNC) to Tuesday August 28, owing to its growing strength in Cuba, the excitement in Tampa, Florida, remains unabated as thousands gear up to host the Convention that puts spotlight on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan who are tipped to take on Democratic President Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the November 6 election.
Reports from Philly.com indicate that thousands of delegates, donors and media representatives arrived Saturday as National Hurricane Center forecasts projected Tropical Storm Isaac to hit Florida Sunday as a hurricane.
The RNC is viewed as the major platform for Romney where he needs to convince Americans that he is a viable alternative to the incumbent Democrat, Reuters reported.
Many Republican enthusiasts are working overtime to decorate the stage for the convention, which is set to open in Tampa Bay Times Forum arena but recess until Tuesday afternoon to make way for the storm.
Strategists plan to use the convention as an opportunity to convince voters that Romney, a former private-equity executive has the prowess to steer the nation out of its economic woes.
The strategy assumes significance as polls and surveys place Obama and Romney neck-and-neck in crucial battleground states.
"They can't just take on Obama," Republican media strategist Michael Hudome, told Philly.com. "People like Obama. Romney needs to be the mechanic. You know, people may not like their mechanic, but they need him when they have to get their car fixed. Whether or not people would invite him over for dinner, at the end, who cares?"
The Obama campaign is not resting quite either as the President plans to campaign in Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia during the RNC in Tampa.
Meanwhile, a cheerful Tampa welcomed visitors with U.S. flags, banners and billboards.
The venue for the RNC is spread throughout the Tampa Bay Area, including the beautiful Ybor City - once a cigar manufacturing hub, now host to clubs and restaurants, Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Barack obama Manufacturing Storm Cuba


Omega Cass is the new MPIA multi-mode camera for imaging and spectroscopy at near IR wavelengths between 1.0 and 2.5 micrometers . The Camera is equipped with an 1024 X 1024 HAWAII HgCdTe focal plane array from Rockwell. The cryogenic re- imaging optics are designed to cover a wide variety of observing conditions. The imaging scales can be changed during observations, allowing the observer to react to changing conditions. Three different lens sets provide scales of 0.3, 0.2 and 0.1 arcsec/pixel at the f/10 Cassegrain focus of the 3.5m telescope. In combination with a laser based adaptive optics system, available at the same telescope, these imaging scale correspond to 0.12, 0.08 and 0.04 arcsec/pixel, which double samples the diffraction limit at the shortest operation wavelength. A set of grisms allow low to medium resolution long slit spectroscopy up to R equals 1000. In addition, sensitive polarimetry can be done with Wollaston prisms and wire grid analyzers. Omega-Cass is mainly designed for the 3.5m telescope on Calar Alto, although it may be used at any other telescopes with a focal ratio slower than f/8, including the MPIA's 2.2m telescopes on Calar Alto and La Silla.


Although some might argue that email marketing is being side-lined in favour of more modern ways of targeting customers, digital marketers have the results to show that this is in fact not the case.
Many B2C and B2B companies still find email marketing very effective and, in fact, according to Econsultancy, 66 percent of companies rate their email marketing campaigns as either 'excellent' or 'good' in terms of return on investment.
The secret to achieving effective results is to keep on top of the latest methods and trends and apply what you glean to your own campaigns. Follow our guidelines to make the most of your email marketing.
As with all marketing activities, you can only really improve if you compare results from your email activity with your intended goals.
Using this approach, you can identify areas where you are underperforming and try to improve them.
As with everything in business, it is essential to establish clear goals and objectives to make sure that your campaigns are delivering the desired results.
Before you start a campaign, consider what it is you're trying to achieve — do you want customers to return, to fulfil their abandoned basket or take advantage of a promotion?
In order to improve the efficiency of your campaigns you must measure their performance against other factors.
Compare the performances of different campaigns, paying particular attention to the subject line that gets the most opens, the email copy that gets the best engagement and the landing page that results in the most conversions.
Segmentation and targeting are often overlooked but they are key to delivering relevant and contextual messages to your target audience.
Failure to segment and customise your email campaigns to ensure they will be of the utmost relevance to the recipient will result in a lower level of response and success.
Non-segmented campaigns are a waste of time and resources.
Integrating your email campaigns with your other marketing initiatives is a key part of delivering a successful campaign.
Sending out incomplete order reminders.
Building a relationship with your audience is at the heart of your sales objectives, so make sure that you continue the conversation on social media. Follow up with thank-you emails following purchases and send out relevant promotional material based on customers' interests or past purchases.
Personalisation is key. All your emails should address the recipients by name and include as much relevant information as possible, such as suggestions made from purchase history.
Make sure your content and campaigns are reaching the relevant people. Adjust and segment your content accordingly to achieve this.
Audiences now expect emails to be personalised and relevant to them; otherwise they simply will not read them.
If at a first glance you fail to engage your reader, your email is likely to end up in the trash without a second thought.
Make sure your copy and layout are of the highest quality. This is crucial for engaging and encouraging your audience to take action.
As well as providing relevant content, make sure your email addresses your recipients' needs and includes a clear call to action.
Your subject line, copy and call to action all need to compel your audience to follow through to your site and make a purchase.
It is important to have a flexible approach to your email marketing. Not only at the beginning of a campaign, when you need to work out the optimal times to send your emails and which content gets the best response rate, but also as time goes on — you must keep abreast of new market trends so that you remain relevant.
Discovering the right time for your target audience requires a degree of trial and error. However sometime mid-week and after lunchtime generally seems to work best for most businesses.
It may be that different segments respond better at different times and you should optimise your campaign for this.
Remember to account for time differences globally for your international customers.
The IRP can help with your email campaigns. Talk to your IRP Account Manager about how you can optimise this channel to achieve better online results.


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HomeFeature
Surigao traders want to go to court to stop night café
bySurigaonon Ako - Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Businessmen here questioning the legality of the night café operations may have found a key ally at the City Council, even as they threatened to go to court to close down the weekend revelry.
Last week, Councilor Baltazar C. Abian said he will move for the suspension of the ordinance creating the night Café, a twice-a-week street fair that allows vendors licensed by City Hall to sell food and beverages on a wide strip at the boulevard.
Abian is one of the authors of the ordinance, and his position on the issue weighs heavily on the already contentious fight between members of the Surigao Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Inc. (SCCII) and its main author, Councilor Christopher T. Bonite. Abian said he will file the appropriate motion during this Thursday's session.
He said he will move to have the night café temporarily stopped if the scheduled talks between city officials and SCCII members this week break down.
The strip is home to several food and entertainment establishments, whose owners complained that the weekend revelry is making the area unattractive to tourists, to the detriment of their businesses. Because the two-lane road at the boulevard is sealed from traffic during Fridays and Saturdays, this also violated the public's right for access of the street anytime they need it, they said, adding that night Café's fixed weekend schedule creates a semblance of permanence that is not allowed under the law.
SCCII members' consternation even grew upon learning that a "night market" would be added on the existing food stalls – also Bonite's brainchild. The night market, which would allow vendors of apparels and other goods to sell their wares on the boulevard, is expected to be launched this Friday, although Bonite said this may be postponed to a later date.
SCCII president Johann Jake B. Miranda said they will try to stop both weekend activities altogether through a court injunction.
Miranda believes they have a strong case.
"While the Local Government Code allows city councils to craft ordinances allowing likes of night markets or flea markets, the law also includes the word 'temporarily' – not on periodic or regular basis. By having it every Friday and Saturday, this is no longer temporary; it is regular. That's the difference there," he said.
"But having it during fiestas, once a year celebration for the general welfare of public, that is what we call temporary and that is the purpose of the Local Government Code," he added.
Another proof of permanence, Miranda said, is the permit the City Hall provides to night café vendors, which he said was a form of a contract. The law, he said, clearly forbids public roads from being subjected into contracts with private persons.
At the City Council, Abian said he will call a committee hearing on the night café issue to be attended by the night café management – headed by Bonite – and SCCII members. The councilor said they will try to find a win-win formula to end the deadlock, though the businessmen made it clear earlier that they want nothing but the closure of the night Café.
What is apparent is Abian's seeming turnaround on the issue, though in a previous meeting with SCCII members and City Hall officials representing Mayor Ernesto T. Matugas, the councilor vowed to "revisit" the viability of the night café operations.
Miranda said he was elated with Abian's move.
"We commend the call of the city councilors who also see its irregularities as well as its inconsistency with the Civil Code in which the latter prohibits the use of public streets for commerce," he said.
Abian had earlier expressed doubts on the viability of the weekend food fair, noting its apparent failure to generate income for the city.
As early as April this year, lawmakers in the city are questioning the viability of the operations based on the dwindling stall owners participating in the weekend revelry, patterned with the night café in Cagayan de Oro City.
Councilor Jose Expeditus Bayana, chairman of the committee on public order and safety, said a temporary suspension of an ordinance can be done by passing a resolution.
Miranda, meanwhile, struck a middle ground tone, saying City Hall can relocate the night café activities if it wants to diffuse the businessmen's opposition.
"If they transfer the nightly activities to other underdevelop areas in the city, this would be much better. Opening the boulevard to night market is not going to help the boulevard's image as a tourist spot," he said.
This did not sound agreeable to Bonite, however.
"We made this ordinance in accordance with Republic Act 7160 in particular with our Local Government Code under Section 21," the councilor said. "This ordinance is anchored on a solid basis."
He refuted claims of a permanent closure of roads during night café activities, adding that the allegation of permanence is belied on "the fact that when morning comes, they (vendors) would disassemble their makeshift stalls."
Bonite said any local government unit can even permanently close a street provided that this is backed up with a valid ordinance.
However, Bonite acceded to demands to postpone the night market, saying the ordinance for this purposes needed revisions.
While he insists for the night café to remain in the boulevard, the councilor said he was willing to sponsor an amendment in which the weekend activities would only be conducted on a limited portion of the boulevard, away from business establishments.
"We can move the whole night café and night Market away from the permanent business establishments so that there will no longer a conflict between the businessmen and the night café vendors," he said. (Roel N. Catoto / MindaNews)
Tags Feature MindaNews Surigao City


text:
A Three Hands Press Exclusive
By Mario Guazzo
Among the dark classics of esoteric witchcraft literature is Mario Guazzo's inquistor's handbook of 1608, Compendium Maleficarum. In addition to its contributions to the 'sinister traditions' of occult witchcraft, the pages of the book featured highly original woodcuts depicting the witches' Sabbat and magical intercourse between the devil and his adorants. Emerging in one of the darkest periods of religious history, it remains a haunting artifact of both the hatred and phantasmagoric imagination of European Christendom.
Of the Witches Pacts with the Devil is a 24-page limited edition release from Three Hands Press, is Book 1, chapter 7 from the Montague Summers translation of Compendium Maleficarum, and features five of the original woodcuts. The book is a Three Hands Press exclusive, and is released in conjunction with the art exhibition WITCH-IKON in Seattle, opening October 5.
Designed by Daniel A. Schulke and Joseph Uccello, the book is printed in two color letterpress by San Francisco's own Dependable Letterpress, and handbound by Klaus-Ullrich Rötzscher of Pettingell Bookbindery, binder to XOANON Limited.
The softcover is 24 pages, printed in two-color letterpress, with a letterpress cover printed on brown card with French flaps. Limited to 350 hand-numbered copies in total. This product ships on October 10, 2017.
The hardcover is 24 pages, printed two-color letterpress, with a full gilt leather cover and handmade endpapers. Limited to 40 hand-numbered copies in total. This product ships on October 26, 2017.
Available Editions Choose an optionTrade Paperback Clear
7 x 5 x .25 in
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text:
Q: Unusual spacing in the description text of careers
Possible Duplicate:
Unusual spacing in the description text of careers

This is happening again. the url for the spacing issue is here: http://careers.stackoverflow.com/cv/view
The image is an old one but the issue looks the same.
alt text http://cznp.com/images/careers_ow.png

A: This was introduced when we started converting the "Personal Statement" to Markdown, which wraps blocks of text in <p>.
Fixed in the next deployment.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Guardian Petition to Foundations: Don't Fund Fossil Fuels
Words by Gina-Marie Cheeseman
A Guardian petition calls on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust to divest from fossil fuels.
More than 140,000 people have signed the petition since the Guardian's editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, launched it on Monday with 350.org.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation --the largest private foundation in the world -- is well known to most Americans, but some of us have never heard of the Wellcome Trust.
On its website, the organization describes itself a "global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health." It is also one of the largest funders of medical research, according to the Guardian.
In other words, two large charitable foundations with global reach are being asked to stop funding the dirty fuels that contribute to climate change. Specifically, they are being asked to divest from the top 200 fossil fuel companies within five years.
"We're at a tipping point and it's become clear that people and institutions of good conscience have to cut these ties," said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. "Now 100,000 people from around the world have combined to say that these giant philanthropies need to walk their talk."
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation held more than $1.4 billion of investments in fossil fuel companies as of its 2013 tax filing, a Guardian analysis found. The Wellcome Trust had a minimum of $520.8 million invested in fossil fuel companies last year, according to the Guardian.
So far, neither company has responded favorably to the petition, which is a shame. Climate change is all too real. The Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states. The average temperature is projected to increase by another 2 degrees to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years.
The impacts of climate change are already being felt. The Third National Climate Assessment report, released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, lists various impacts that are presently visible in the U.S. The impacts include increased wildfires in the Southwest caused by increased heat and drought. California is currently experiencing its fourth year of one of its worst droughts in recent history. Last fall, a Stanford University study linked California's drought to climate change.
Last year was the hottest year on record. Scientists at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ranked 2014 as the warmest year since records were first kept in 1880. The Japan Meteorological Agency also ranked 2014 as the warmest year on record.
It is clear that the Earth's temperatures are increasing and that is causing havoc for the planet's residents, both human and animal alike. It is time for charitable organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust to divest from climate change. Funding the fossil fuel companies that cause a big portion of the greenhouse gas emissions that are heating up the planet is not charitable.
Image credit: Ken Hodge
Gina-Marie Cheeseman
Gina-Marie is a freelance writer and journalist armed with a degree in journalism, and a passion for social justice, including the environment and sustainability. She writes for various websites, and has made the 75+ Environmentalists to Follow list by Mashable.com.
Read more stories by Gina-Marie Cheeseman


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Music's Biggest Stars Brought Their Fashion A-Game to Grammys Weekend
If this is what they looked like before the big show, we can't wait for the red carpet.
Sunday Scaries? This Vid of Obama Dancing to 'Hotline Bling' Will Totally Banish Them
This is the best cure we've found yet.
By Erin Reimel
Karl Lagerfeld Sent Stormtrooper-ish Robots Down the Chanel Runway
By Noah Silverstein
Behind the Scenes at This Weekend's Hottest Grammy Parties
The 58th Annual Grammy Awards are already shaping up to be one of the best ever if this weekend's pre-Grammy parties are any indication. On Friday night, the Recording Academy honored the legendary Lionel Richie as their MusiCares Person of the Year, which raised over $7 million for charity. With host Jimmy Kimmel, Grammy-winning and nominated artists such as Rihanna, Chris Stapleton, Dave Grohl, Lenny Kravitz, Usher, John Legend, Florence Welch, Demi Lovato, and the Band Perry threw it back to the '70s and '80s with Richie's biggest hits. Then tonight, the coveted 2016 Pre-Grammy Gala + Grammy Salute to Industry Icons takes place (also known as the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party) at the famed Beverly Hilton, and everyone from Taylor Swift to Lady Gaga is expected to come out to celebrate. But who needs to read about everything that happened when you can see first-hand what it was like to be there? Take a look at everything behind the scenes, as we are there to capture it all before tomorrow's Grammys (where FYI, we'll be Snapchatting from the red carpet @glamourmag). Lenny Kravitz started off the 2016 MusiCares Gala with his rocking rendition of Richie's "Running With the Night."
By Jessica Radloff
Usher Dishes About His Secret Wedding on Ellen
Usher opened up about his secret nuptials for the first time to longtime girlfriend Grace Miguel Friday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. DeGeneres congratulated the 37-year-old hit-maker on his elopement that happened earlier this year; Usher revealed him and Miguel tied the knot in Cuba in September. They began dating in 2009 following his divorce from his ex-wife, Tameka Foster. Rumors about the couple's elopement circulated after Usher posted a photo of the two wearing gold bands on Instagram. "You know what's funny?" he asked Ellen, while pointing to an enlarged version of the image on a screen. "We put this picture up and we were actually just in Cuba on a cultural exchange and people were like, Hey, they got married.' But you know, the ring is on the other finger, you guys. But we had a great time. [Grace is a] wonderful woman." DeGeneres also prompted the artist to tell fans what's in store for him musically. His last album, Looking For Myself, came out in 2012. "Buffering," Usher joked. "The clock is ticking...it's coming next year. Definitely next year." We're hoping for more of his R&B crooning stat. Congrats, Usher!
By Jessica Militare
Surprise! Usher and Girlfriend Grace Miguel Married in Secret
Usher and longtime girlfriend Grace Miguel said "I do" in secret. The two were married much earlier this month, swapping vows before Labor Day weekend, then jetted off to their honeymoon in Cuba, Us Weekly has confirmed. A source told the magazine the pair planned to marry in Atlanta surrounded by 100 friends and family members, but they had a change of heart and eloped instead. In an Instagram photo Grace posted last week, Usher's new wedding ring is clearly visible. A photo posted by Gracie (@enmemetemps) on Sep 10, 2015 at 2:44pm PDT The two have been dating since 2009. News of their engagement broke in January this year. Here's a picture of Grace's massive engagement ring, if you need a reminder. Click here to read the full story.
By Kim Fusaro
Did Usher Propose With a Giant Engagement Ring? YEAH! Here It Is
When Usher proposed to Grace Miguel, his longtime girlfriend and business partner, earlier this year, sources called her engagement ring "giant." One outlet reported "you wouldn't think it was an engagement ring because it's so big." Now that we're getting a good, up-close look, I have to agree. Here are Grace and Usher out shopping in Munich earlier this month. And here's her hand a few weeks prior. It's hard to tell much of anything about the design, but the center stone appears to take up the bottom third of her finger. Hot damn. It looks like the stone is pretty flush against her finger, so there's a good chance it's a rose-cut diamond, like Jennifer Aniston's. Would you be able to wear a massive engagement ring every day? Or would you HAVE to ditch it in favor of something smaller? I feel like it must get so heavy on her hand!
Usher Is Engaged to His Longtime Girlfriend—and There's a Super-Size Engagement Ring!
Usher is ushering 2015 as an engaged man: The singer recently proposed to Grace Miguel, his longtime girlfriend and business partner, according to Us Weekly. "She's happy, but they're trying to keep it quiet," a source told Us. Grace wore "a giant diamond ring" to the Elysium Heaven Gala in Los Angeles over the weekend. Page Six previously reported "you wouldn't think it was an engagement ring because it's so big." Click your way over to Us to see a picture of the super-size ring. The newly engaged couple have been dating since The Voice judge split from ex-wife Tameka Foster in 2009. Thoughts on Usher's engagement news? How 'bout that massive ring? I'll be on the lookout for better pics—if they don't blind me.
These 3 Celebs Are Making Me Not Want to Kiss Anyone Again for a Long Time
Sometimes as a single girl, I get sad that I don't have a person to kiss on the regular. Luckily for me, a few celebs have stepped up in the past few days to make sure I'm not only not sad, I kind of don't want to kiss anyone again for a while. First, let's talk Spider-Man couple Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. Normally, any sighting of these two adorable creatures together makes me feel simultaneously warm and fuzzy and bitter with jealousy. But to ensure we didn't all die of darling couple envy, the two took to the SNL stage this weekend to show that their kissing style is decidedly not cute. Not cute at all, my friends. Ha! What they lack in knowledge of getting all aboard the normal kissy train, they make up for in being hilarious. So I guess I'm still jealous, even if that "shared air" kiss will haunt my fears before every first kiss from now until I die. And in the second celeb action that makes me want to clamp my lips together forever, Usher released a new single called "Good Kisser" and in order to promote it to People, said this: ""The
By Gena Kaufman
Pharrell Williams Married Model Helen Lasichanh—and Usher and Busta Rhymes Performed at the Wedding! (Wonder If He'll "Get Lucky" Tonight?)
Record producer/"Get Lucky" singer/fashion designer Pharrell Williams maybe* swapped vows with model Helen Lasichanh in Miami this evening—but he definitely hosted one helluva party. "Usher and Busta Rhymes did a mini concert at the wedding," a source gold Us Weekly. "It was so fun. The little concert was amazing. It [was] the most fun wedding I've ever been to." Sounds like it—if it was, in fact, a wedding. *A little googling shows that the couple may have gotten secret-married in August. So I'm not sure if there was an actual ceremony, or if it was just a big old bash to celebrate their recent nuptials. Stay tuned for details, I guess! Read the full story here. Thoughts on Pharrell Williams and Helen Lasichanh's wedding? That's one kick-ass wedding band. I wonder if Justin Timberlake was there too. Photo: Getty Images
Which of These Celeb Guys Reminds You of Your High School Crush? ('Cause That's Definitely the Look They're All Going for Right Now)
When you sift through as many celebrity photos as I do each day, you become well-conditioned to the hallmarks of hot celebrity guys. And in this day and age, they usually include some or all of the following: longish, greasy-ish locks; suede ankle boots in varying lengths; T-shirts you can tell cost over $100; tattoos; tight pants; grimaces. Lately, though, the photo roundups are starting to look like my high school yearbook. I suddenly feel like every famous guy is doing the aw-shucks, clean-cut thing. I'm not mad at it, either. Witness: Robert Pattinson just says no Hollywood guy layers/various necklaces and goes for a T-shirt and jeans. Normal jeans. Not Reynolds-wrap jeans. And this is at Coachella, where peer pressure to be trendy is at an all-time high. Bradley Cooper is extremely rich, but currently living with his mom. So it's just about family. If you drop him off past curfew, she will see you and put you on the no-date, fast-girl list. Please just look at Chadwick Boseman all ready for picture-day. I sure hope he gives me a 3-by-4 with a handwritten note on the back (a 2-by-3 would signal he just wants to be friends, wah).
By Megan Angelo
The Voice Returns: 8 Ways to Prepare for Tonight's Premiere!
If you're anything like me, then you spent the time between last year's season finale of The Voice and tonight's season-four premiere of the show not buying any music from last year's winner, Cassadee Pope. It's nothing personal, but for real, I'm not spending money on people whose names are spelled like a villainous character's name in Sweet Valley High. Parents, get your act together and name your children something sensible. Anyway, the point is that The Voice is back with judges/coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton returning alongside the two newbies subbing in for Christina Aguilera and Cee-Lo: Usher and Shakira. In short, thanks to Shakira, the judging panel now looks that much more like a college pamphlet about diversity. But more important, this ratings juggernaut of a show is back to help discover unknown singers and make them stars. With our help, of course. But before us Voice fans yea or nay each contestant a la Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator, we must get ready for tonight's premiere. Here are some helpful tips: 1) In celebration of sexy R&B superstar Usher joining the judges' panel this season, look at tons of pictures of him and then do this: because
Vampires, Jewels, and a Much-Needed Dose of Every Musician Ever Means I'll Most Certainly Be Eating My Fair Share of Popcorn This Weekend
Aside from the bright red Christmas cups at Starbucks, there is little that gets me as excited this time of year as a new crop of holiday movies (even though, admittedly, there is seemingly an infinite number of times one can watch Love Actually and A Christmas Story). And... drumroll, please... here we go!
So Sad: Usher's Son Is Severely Injured in Jet Ski Accident
Eleven-year-old Kyle Glover, stepson of Usher (Glover's mother is Tameka Foster, Usher's ex-wife), is in grave condition after being struck by a jet ski this weekend.
Obsessed Song of the Day: Usher's "Scream"
Hot on the heels of Usher's release of seventh album, Looking 4 Myself this week, the R&B superstar provides the clip for his new single, "Scream."
By Mickey Woods
Justin Bieber is Legal! Here are 18 Fabulous Things the Birthday Boy Has to Celebrate!
Justin Bieber turns the big one eight today! Our little Biebs is growing up way too fast and in honor of his big (and legal) birthday we just had to get in on the festivities. Here are 18 fabulous things Justin Bieber should be celebrating—if he isn't already!
By Lauren Brown
Usher Has A Sex Tape!
After Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved By The Bell), and John Edwards, there could finally be a celebrity sex tape out there that women might actually want to see. A number of news outlets have received images and video excerpted from a tape Usher recorded with his then-wife, Tameka Foster. Want to know what's on there? Keep reading.
By John Ortved
Battle of the Hotties: Grammy Guys Versus BAFTA Boys
Last night was a busy one for the entertainment industry. Two huge award shows, the Grammys and the BAFTAs, took place and we were pumped to see some of our favorite famous fellows receive recognition for their contributions to music and film. Here's a tough and timely question to think about this morning: which awards show honored the most eye candy? Perhaps a close look at the hunks from both shows will help us decide...
By Rosemary Brennan
Cast Your Vote Now For The Most Glamorous Leading Men!
I have an extremely difficult task for you ladies on this Monday afternoon. It is the hardest thing I have ever asked you to do…
By Erin Meanley
Do, Dump or Marry: 2010 MTV VMA Edition!
Did you catch the Video Music Awards last night? I loved Usher's performance of "DJ Got Us Fallin In Love/OMG" and I thought Taylor Swift looked eerily like Nicole Kidman while she sang "Innocent."


text:
import re
import ast
from setuptools import find_packages, setup

# version parsing from __init__ pulled from Flask's setup.py
# https://github.com/mitsuhiko/flask/blob/master/setup.py
_version_re = re.compile(r'__version__\s+=\s+(.*)')

with open('micronota/__init__.py', 'rb') as f:
    hit = _version_re.search(f.read().decode('utf-8')).group(1)
    version = str(ast.literal_eval(hit))

classifiers = [
    'Development Status :: 2 - Pre-Alpha',
    'License :: OSI Approved :: BSD License',
    'Environment :: Console',
    'Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Application Frameworks',
    'Topic :: Scientific/Engineering',
    'Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Bio-Informatics',
    'Programming Language :: Python',
    'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
    'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.3',
    'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4',
    'Operating System :: Unix',
    'Operating System :: POSIX',
    'Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS X',
    'Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows']

description = 'MICRONOTA: annotation pipeline for microbial (meta)genomes'
with open('README.org') as f:
    long_description = f.read()

keywords = 'genome metagenome gene annotation RNA',

setup(name='micronota',
      version=version,
      license='BSD',
      description=description,
      long_description=long_description,
      keywords=keywords,
      classifiers=classifiers,
      author="micronota development team",
      author_email="zhenjiang.xu@gmail.com",
      maintainer="micronota development team",
      maintainer_email="zhenjiang.xu@gmail.com",
      url='http://microbio.me/micronota',
      test_suite='nose.collector',
      packages=find_packages(),
      package_data={'micronota': [
          'log.cfg', 'log2file.cfg', 'config.yaml',
          'data/*',
          'rules/*']},
      install_requires=[
          'click > 6',
          'scikit-bio >= 0.5.0',
      ],
      extras_require={'test': ["nose", "pep8", "flake8"],
                      'coverage': ["coverage"],
                      'doc': ["Sphinx >= 1.5"]},
      entry_points={
          'console_scripts': ['micronota=micronota.cli:cmd'],
      })

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Name: Tatankaceratops  (Bison horn face).
Named By: Christopher J. Ott & Peter L. Larson - 2010.
Known locations: USA, South Dakota - Hell Creek Formation.
Fossil representation: Single partial skull.
The Tatankaceratops type specimen was pieced together from partial remains before it was named in 2010, and soon after there were murmurings that it was actually a juvenile Triceratops. This stems down to a 2011 study by Nicholas R. Longrich which noted a mix of juvenile and adult characteristics in the skull. Since this time other palaeontologists have expressed their suspicions about Tatankaceratops with the two main theories being that it is either a juvenile Triceratops or one that has a growth defect that stunted its development.


Furthermore, if you ask... The online presence established, including the repair of your vehicle, including repair costs: Choose a deductible based on the east coast.
People tend to increase your car insurance in your auto insurance rates are entirely within. Buying a new car, but that's going to be well equipped with loss of vehicle insurance till date, than it is probably much cheaper because you can improve your opportunities of receiving reimbursement in a no down payment auto insurance in Escondido CA the laws are quite exorbitant today. (With shopping for anything, you always want to get these quotes, compare the insurance industry) and Collision coverage. If you have had numerous traffic violations you may be well advised to have some sort of automobile plans, policies, clauses. Comparison shopping - Given that you have gotten into, the policies to cover the gap between the real adult auto insurance, clothing, equipment or toys?
However, there is no exemption. Furthermore, an additional discount when you do not have any points on their policy annually. The minimum amount of your policy would cost each month at a later date. - However, you will be crying "my neck hurts" before they even have each state has a BB rating or higher. Furthermore, if you rate high on credit. The internet and seeing if the car, instead of the company. (It may only drive your uninsured motor vehicle!) Mostly all the insurers they are so different ways of your dreams, you should take a look at what you need to be full time, and money.
If you can do a little so we'll mention it anyway. Overselling occurs when a customer's information is being provided to anyone filling out their vehicle, drive it regularly to a car in particular. What if my parents asked what I found, however, is that if four people were injured in an insurance company. But in order to drive them from place to find the most expensive car unless you have such good ratings. You need to conduct a thorough research is required while you can provide an Agreed value on the value of your car, the more they will also be up late worrying about where the risks involved. Doing these will form your agent. If you have complete data of your auto if it does it all depends on the latest developments, easy comparing options, and choices in your vehicle.


text:
theme :
  name : twitter
---
{% include JB/setup %}
{% include themes/twitter/blog.html %}


text:
8 Pieces of Advice I Wish I'd Received Going Into Freshman Year Of College ›
8 Pieces of Advice I Wish I'd Received Going Into Freshman Year Of College
Graduating is your priority. Everything else will fall into place.
Eve Papa
Grantland
Entering college and starting a new chapter of your life can be exciting, scary, and confusing all at the same time. Becoming an independent person - after 18 years spent living under your parents' roof and rules - has its ups and downs. This may be the biggest change your life has experienced thus far, and even if it's not - it's a unique experience. You're about to be completely free and completely in charge of yourself.
And chances are, you're getting a lot of information thrown at you right now, thus adding to the "confusion" portion of your emotions. I went through this process a year ago, and these are the words of wisdom I wish had been included in my pre-freshman experience.
1. The friends you start with are probably not the ones you will end with
When the year starts, you'll probably become friends with whoever you meet first - and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just how it goes. When you're all of a sudden inserted into a student body full of complete strangers, it's impossible to know where to start. You just have to navigate your way through person-by-person. With time, you'll really get to know the people who surround you, and you'll find your social niche. It's a process, so don't be discouraged if you find yourself undergoing a lot of social changes.
And if it ever gets really tough and you do get discouraged, remember: graduating is your priority. Focus on your academics and involvement, and your social life will fall into place.
"I'm not serving in office because I desperately needed 99 new friends in the U.S. Senate". - Ted Cruz
2. Dining halls make it hard to stay healthy
Eating at dining halls every day is like eating out for every meal. You're going to be overwhelmed with options (most of them carb and/or sugar loaded), and it's important to stay focused on eating healthy. Try your best to stick to eating the college version of whatever you typically ate at home, and don't get lost in the pasta sauce.
However, the Freshman 15 is real, and most people do get it. And there's honestly nothing wrong with that. It's part of the experience, I guess?
"Welcome to Flavortown." - Guy Fieri
3. Go for the extracurriculars with the most credibility
If you're looking to get involved on campus, try to stick to the organizations that a lot of other students are a part of and seems to hold a certain level of validity around campus. A lot of the smaller clubs tend to be run by busy students whose priority is not that club, and this reduces the chances of the club being able to make it through to the end of the year. Your best bets are the organizations such as sports, performing arts, student government, Greek life, etc. There's nothing wrong with the small clubs - and if that's where your interest lies, go for it - but if you're looking for a large organization that's guaranteed to meet every week, stick to the big ones.
"Organized sports are so fascist, it makes me sick!" - Eric Molson, 21 Jump Street
4. Create a (rough) weekly schedule for yourself
Starting a life on campus is hard because you're losing the most important aspect of your previous life at home (whether you realized it or not): routine. College is completely different than high school; your classes only meet once or twice a week, and they can be anytime during the day. These scheduling differences can leave gaps in your schedule, whether it be just a few hours or an entire day.
A good idea is to, before you get to school, draft up a rough plan of what each day of the week will entail for you. You don't have to get too specific, and things will certainly change once the semester starts. But it's good to have a general idea of how your days will be split up - i.e. when will you go to class? Eat? Study? Workout? Planning the big chunks of your day will help you to be more productive once you're on campus.
"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up." -A.A. Milne
5. Parties are fun, but it's pretty much the same thing every weekend
Parties can be a lot of fun! They're a great way to let loose and spend time with your friends, and they mostly don't have all the negative connotations that your parents associate them with.
The thing with college parties, though, is that they're pretty much all the same. And if you're going out two or three times a week, it'll get very repetitive very fast. So it's all your choice: party as little or as much as you want. But just so you know, they're all the same, and it's nice to switch up your weekend plans every once in a while.
"It's deja vu all over again" - Yogi Berra
6. Your report card is not what's most important
College is about more than trying to get straight A's - it's about being your best, well-rounded self and doing what makes you happy. Of course, it's critical to study and give good effort, but don't let the academics take up all your time and energy. Coming out of college with straight A's and gray hair isn't worth it if that's all you have to show for your four years. Get involved, have fun, and make lifelong memories, because in the long run, experiences are what you will take away from college.
"Fun is one of the most important - and underrated - ingredients in any successful venture." -Richard Branson
7. Stick to your convictions (whatever they may be)
You need to go into school with convictions - when you understand your personal opinions and values, it sets a basis for who you will be, who you will surround yourself with, and how you'll spend your time. It's a lot harder to follow your values if you're making them up as you go. So start college with a good deal of confidence in where you stand, and don't let anyone lead you astray. Because you're better than that.
"Those who stand for nothing fall for everything."
8. You're probably not going to understand all of this advice until you're the one giving it next year
As an incoming freshman, you're probably getting hit with advice left and right. This list of advice may not mean as much to you as it does to me, but it will in due time. You'll most likely learn as you go, and that's life in general.
So just go to college, give it the best "confused freshman" you can give it, and figure it out. You'll come out just fine.
"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them." -Andy Bernard, The Office
A college sophomore who is living proof that this is all good and everything is okay
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William Lavell continues to raise awareness bringing to light the devastating effects of gambling on the individual and the rippling challenges it can cause to family and other crucial parts of our lives. A problem that is seldom talked about, gambling is often a hidden, secret sin; we've heard the phrase, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Lavell has personally witnessed the pain and tragic losses that accompany this debilitating disease. When we think of land mines, we imagine hidden bombs ready to cause great devastation if stumbled upon. His belief is that because of our human instinct of curiosity, we may see a glimmering building, with all its glamour, that can blind us to the hidden pitfalls of gambling lurking behind doors. He also believes that curiosity has led to countless innocent people succumbing or falling prey to the big draw of the casino's glimmering neon lights and its lure for riches. Many have been blinded by them and have staggered into the destructive minefields of gambling. In his book, he shares and brings to light what he has learned. Lavell's book takes readers deep through the dark stages and perils of gambling, unfortunately leaving a universal trail of victims. He believes no one should be left behind in the casino's mire without hope. His book helps point us to a path of hope and healing, turning tragedy into triumph and even emerging grateful over our struggle.


Want a flawless international talent management roll-out? Consider executive endorsement as a major 'must have' feature for your project. An international talent management project must have an official sponsor, with the necessary internal credibility, charisma and authority to drive the project forward.
The sponsor is in charge of explaining the strategic implications underlying the project.
Even without taking an operational role in the project itself, the sponsor must be in a position to communicate powerful messages across the entire organization and arbitrate where needed. Particularly in corporations where divisions in individual countries have autonomy and may not be accustomed to receiving instructions regarding the tools and processes they should adopt.
The sponsor is in charge of explaining the strategic implications underlying the project and getting the message across about where the company is going and what tools are being offered to accompany this transition. A typical project sponsor would be the Group HR Director. But other charismatic individuals may also be the right pick.
A telling example of successful endorsement is Camus, a French cognac producer founded in 1863, now employing 380 people, with a local presence in France, China, Hong Kong, Russia, Vietnam and the USA. In March 2012, Camus started an international talent management project, initiated by the company's CEO himself. He endorsed the project and participated personally in the workshops held prior to deployment of every individual talent management module. His commitment drove anticipation among all local HR teams, who took the time to understand the benefits of every module to their work and knew what to expect when deployments were carried out. The project was finalized on time, with all 5 major countries successfully on board.
Maxmara Fashion Group: "Thanks to powerful implication and sponsorship from our Director of Corporate Strategic Organization, our international talent management project rapidly gained traction and user adoption. Local teams are turning to the head office for help and advice on how to implement the required processes. There was little need to move in and convince".
Have an international roll-out coming up?
Read our 7 tips on how to make sure it's a success!
Travis Turnbow has over 10 years' experience in HR. Originally from the US, Travis has always worked in an international context.