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Nov 16, 2012; Fisherman Todd Asks:
Stacey, Are you attracted to black men? Thank you.
Nov 13, 2012; Frobisher Gleeson Asks:
Howdy. I would like to know your take on "Cloud Atlas," either the movie or the book. Mainly the movie though, because I saw it but did not read the book. I enjoyed the movie very much. Did you see it? Did you like it, and what is your review, if you have one to give. Thank you!
Frobisher! I feel like I've done my time with Cloud Atlas by reading it, though I can imagine it might be a cool movie. As a book I found it uneven (parts are great, parts are tedious), and annoyingly coy about being a fantasy/sci-fi novel (though maybe that was my problem). In general, I'm not a big fan of the recent explosion of the novels-in-stories form because, well, what's wrong with stories? No one called Winesburg, Ohio a novel because it's not; it's fantastic and intricate and interesting and you don't have to read it in order. The topic of fragmentation impresses me less ever since I realized how much easier it is to write a bunch of disparate things on a theme and make the reader tie it together in their brain than to write a unified novel. But as those kinds of books go, Cloud Atlas was better than most. You actually do have to read it in order. You should! Just skip all the parts about the 70's woman snooping around corporate headquarters.
Nov 12, 2012; Win-Again's Fake Asks:
Stacey, you wrote that when you're older you know how to deal with assholes. I would like to learn from your wisdom on this: How do you deal with assholes? Also, how do you prevent becoming an asshole? Where is the divide between asshole and non-asshole, and please do not tell me there taint such a thing. Another question: How do you use your hotness, and is it possible to use too much hotness? But here is another question about getting older: Friends. What becomes of friends? I have friends who have friend-dumped me. I have also had to friend-dump some friends. What happened here? Friends used to be very close and loyal. Now one minute they're on your side, and the next minute they're all, "Why are you calling me?" Then I am left with this feeling in the pit of my stomach like I did something wrong and don't know what, and probably will never find out.
Actually, I wrote that with age you learn what to do when someone is an asshole, which is different than how to deal with them because in my definition, an asshole is someone who can't be dealt with. I, too, used to think there was some supergreat way to dispatch difficult people but I finally realized that there's only the best way for each person, and that adding the painful cherry of right and wrong to the sundae of dealing with assholes makes it taste all the more disgusting. A turning point for me & asshole exposure was when I realized that the most unpleasant people were not the ones I should try to make like me. Now I try to get away as quickly and politely as possible, with a minimum of humiliation. This is not always realistic.
Paradoxically, the only way not to be an asshole yourself (& I'm no expert in this) is to leave the door marked "asshole" cracked. Everyone is a jerk sometimes. It may be by accident, or a misunderstanding, or justified, but does that matter when you're on the receiving end? Probably not. But leaving the asshole door cracked is surprisingly hard. A lot of people, even self-hating ones, have a gentle, downtrodden voice inside them, well-meaning and earnest, that says in a seven year-old girl tone that you cannot ever be truly destructive, or bad, or mean, because you are essentially well-meaning and good. You'll hear this voice when someone tells you you did something to hurt them, and it's very sad and victimized and compelling, but you don't want to feed this part of yourself too many cookies. Let's recall that the most vicious characters of history thought of themselves as victims--Hitler was losing the war because of the Jews, Stalin was being mocked by the peasants he starved, etc., ick. If you have a feeling of being terribly wronged, there's a good chance that someone else thinks you're being a tool. Are you? You know, from their point of view? This is when you might have to tell your victim voice to pipe down for a while and apologize--even though you feel bad too. This is hard, hard, hard. I've done it but usually I don't. It's really hard. But it's possible.
Friends. The thing with friends is that as people get older they have less time in general and want to have fun with their friends rather than long, free-form psychotherapy sessions. When you're young and have recently left home you need intense friendships to cover the loss of your family, but after a while your independence kicks in and you no longer need your friends to tell you who you are. This might not feel quite right or fair if it hasn't been this way all along, but eventually you'll want it too. Pretty much everyone gets more involved with their families and jobs as they get older (vs. their defining tribe of friends), it just happens to people at different rates.
Of course you still need companionship, and friends are still friends: you can still love them and admire them and share life events and ask them how to dress and tell them how you really feel, but as you get older you have to do it just once, not over and over, and it's better if you do it while doing something fun, like rollerskating. There's nothing wrong with feeling needy, but constantly imploring your friends for help is the emotional equivalent of asking to sleep on their couch: it's okay now and then but it might be time to get your own apartment, aka boyfriend or a life-coach or mentor or a support group. Besides, a little lightness can be good for a friendship. It cuts down on the friend-dumping.
Hotness. I am not using my hotness in any practical sense; rather, I am using it for general self-esteem, sucking all the juice I can from moments of inner dialogue such as: "I am pleased & uncomfortable to note that that semi-cute, weird biker-guy writing in his journal is looking at me like he wants to tear off my clothes and fuck me right here on the trash-strewn floor endemic to Starbucks. Why can't they sweep the floors? It's disgusting." As for too much using of the hotness, I'm not sure when that happens--maybe if you're getting paid? Then again I don't have a problem with a little willing prostitution as long as your mother doesn't find out. And why would she? Just don't get so caught up in it that you forget to tend the smart and talented part of yourself, and don't use it against other women or you'll end up using it against yourself someday (see below).
Oct 12, 2012; littleshirlybeans Asks:
Hello! It's your admirer again! I met someone the other day who is from Tucson, and, of course, thought of you. I told her that one of my favorite authors was from Tucson and mentioned your name. She didn't know who you were. I was flummoxed! You're bigger than life in my head and surely big in Tucson, right? I guess that's just how life goes. Everything is bigger in my head and there are more good writers than you can shake a pack rat at. This is why I try not to get down about getting published. It will happen or it won't. I'll still be me. Anyway, I was wondering how you felt about aging. I feel young. I'm curious when I'll start to feel old. For my 30th birthday I bought a new dress and went out dancing with friends. It felt great! But now, close to 35, I'm starting to LOOK old. I was stretching the other day and my knees looked old. Old! Really! I'm grossed out that this even crossed my mind. It's more than my knees, but I don't want to give you a laundry list. I've never been super concerned with my appearance, but things just seem to be falling apart recently. So, do you worry about aging? I'd really like to stop this worrying nonsense because it's just not my style.
Hi Little S. B. Yes, I worry about aging. My approach is to alternate between panic and denial. I'm worried about death, I'm worried about not writing all the books I want to write or reading everything I'd like to read before I die. I'm worried I'll lose my intelligence and become someone who doesn't understand technology, and I'm worried about losing any hotness I have, because I'm still using it and I'm too insecure not to. The only people who seem to be worse off than me are every other woman I know, practically, chicks in their forties who get a glass of wine in them and are like, "Ugh, I'm such a dried-up old bag." They're usually painfully beautiful, not to mention successful, and I stare at them in shock. Every now and then I'll say, "Really? Is it really so tragic to be hot and 45? What's the problem? Did you really want to fuck everyone? You still could. Go ask that guy! Come on, don't be a pussy."
It's less of a problem if you don't believe, on some crazy-belief level, that getting older is somehow your fault. (Neither is getting fatter, by the way). My advice is to go into aging with a plan that takes into account the fact that it's completely out of your control and will not stop until you die. Once you understand this, you can decide how terrible you really think it is. Do you really want to mourn your disappearing youth, every day, at 35, 36, 37, 47, 57? Or do you want to enjoy what you have? There's an ocean of peer pressure, for lack of a better word, for women to feel bad about themselves. We are self-punishers, we are supposed to be; somewhere in our brains we believe we can have perfect lives if we look perfect, and it's hard to get an exemption from this.
But getting older has perks. You're smarter, you know what to do when people act like assholes, and you have a bed rather than a futon. It's fine and dandy. With the years you do not automatically turn into your mother or some cafeteria lady you looked at with disdain when you were seventeen. Your knees are not revolting--you just thought that once, when you were seventeen and hated your mother and that lady in the weird suit swimming laps in the pool. Back then, you didn't have anything except your youth. You were an idiot, I promise; you had no idea that hating older ladies was going tempt you into hating yourself when you became their age. You had no idea that the bad thoughts of our society had permeated you so thoroughly that you'd started directing them on to other women who would someday be represented by your knees, or that youth itself is full of a howling emptiness that is often really fucking unpleasant. I say wait to mourn losses until you have real losses. Your knees are fine. They're adorable. Someday, if they hurt, they will not be fine. Until then, they are just little and shirleyful. Go take them out to play.
Oct 03, 2012; Just Somebody Asks:
Stacey, you are a genuinely thoughtful person. It is heartening to know such a person is out there and I consider it generous of you to answer these questions. I really enjoy your Q&A pages. I find myself wanting to come up with questions just to ask you to see what you'll say. But a part of me also feels like I shouldn't because it would be like the pesty little brother and probably you have better things to do. I used to be a lonely little brother and my big sister was always on the phone or something and I always felt inadequate and unable to be at her level, and often she would slam the bedroom door shut on me and I was standing there on the shag carpeting staring at a door. I don't blame her because that is what big sisters do, and she had a lot going on in her world. I am sure a pre-teen girl's world is a whole lot more complicated and freaky than a boy's world. At least, on average. Anyway I guess maybe you remind me of my big sister. Always like you know something more than I do, but also in a nice way, like you wouldn't mind helping me learn more too, at least for a while before you need to shut your door. I thank you for that. I think you are nice. I am supposed to ask a question here. My question is, um, what were your favorite children's books? What was the earliest memory you had of reading a book, and what did you like about it? One of my favorites was Harold and the Purple Crayon. I was fascinated how he made worlds out of a crayon and then could climb up onto them, or into them.
Dear Somebody,
No, you're nice! Thanks so much for your complicated compliment, and also for taking the time to construct a mental world in which to put me. I have an older sister too, my only sibling, and I used to curl up outside her door and/or sleep on the foot on her bed when I had night terrors. (She feels bad about that now, but I'm just grateful someone was there at all). Actually, there's nothing I'd love more than a pesky-little-brother-friend, but in real life I'm too annoying (needy & supercilious & mean) for this to ever happen. I will stomp on your dreams, Somebody, and believe I'm doing you a favor, so watch where you put them.
The first book I can remember "reading" was Walt Disney's "Cinderella," a Golden Book, which I couldn't really read but memorized. It remains the dominant myth of my life.
Sep 27, 2012; Sean B. Asks:
which is better 'hunger games' or '50 shades of grey'? i have a book report.
I've only read The Hunger Games, but if you go to a school where you can write a book report on what I believe to be softcore porn, I say do that--and more power to you! I quite liked the first book of The Hunger Games though. It's scary and a little bit satirical. And why not try your hand at capitalization while you're at it?
Sep 26, 2012; Danny Forever Asks:
I like "The Shining" but I don't understand why Scatman Cruthers travels all the way to the hotel and then he shows up and is immediately killed. Wouldn't it be a better movie if Scatman Cruthers went all Samuel Jackson on Jack Nicholson's ass and made him his bitch? All work and no play makes Jack into Scatman's bitch. Also what kind of a superhero would "Scatman" be? Would he have the power of scat? Would he say, "Put down your weapon or I'll shooba-de-dooba-diddle-bop-a-shimma-shimma-jing-jang!"? I wonder.
Well, yes. Have you seen The Simpson's version of The Shining ? It's in one of the Halloween specials and has a great send-up of the axing of Scatman Cruthers. Don't you think it's kind of scary though, how he just walks in and gets his skull split? Where's his power of shining gone off to? Now we know just how much danger Danny is in, because if Scatman can't overcome the bad thing, how can a one little boy? Even if he is aided by another little boy who lives in his mouth.
I love Scatman Cruthers in that movies. He is fucking brilliant. "Say somebody burns some toast..."
Sep 26, 2012; your name R.menjivar G. Asks:
Your Question: I have to write and argumentative essay about the beauty treatment, but I can find any ideas. How should I beging? I have written notes but still nothing happens. Thansk.
Begin by using proper grammar and punctuation, my friend. You are not texting your bro, you're writing an actual author and asking her to help you with your homework. What should I make of: "I can find any ideas?" If you can find them, use them.
Sep 23, 2012; T. Gassert Asks:
Recently a close relative died. We grew up playing together and used to be very close. During and after the college years, we grew apart but stayed in touch. We exchanged phone calls and many emails. Then somewhere along the line, she became rabidly political, in the right-wing sense. She sent out emails to numerous recipients where she referred to the president as "The Kenyan" and linked to articles from Breitbart and Glenn Beck's website. We had a few awkward phone conversations in which she would talk about how much she loved listening to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and how the country is going into the toilet because of Obamacare. I gradually stopped talking to her. When I heard she died, I was sad but a part of me did not care. I feel a lot of guilt over how little I am grieving for her. I feel like I didn't lose my childhood friend, but that her death was an act of mercy after her heart and soul were already destroyed by Pod People aliens from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Is there something wrong with me that I mourn so little?
Hi T. Gassert. What a hard question! I don't know if there's something wrong with you for mourning so little because I don't know anything about real grief. I've never lost a close relative or a friend except for my grandmother who died at 103--at that point it was difficult to feel anything but lucky for having her around for so long. But fortunately, I do know something about being an asshole. What I've noticed is that when a person is having a hard time, sometimes she will express this by being insufferable. It makes no sense since niceness works better for getting sympathy, but when things are really, really bad, or endless, or hopeless--things that you'd think would make someone cry, or scream, or paint their house crimson, or jump out of an airplane, or quit their job--sometimes they make a person a total unendurable dickwad instead.
I wonder if your friend's dogmatic tirades had anything to do with being ill, and if she couldn't express it otherwise? After all, denial seems to exist in order to mediate between our forward-thinking brains and our knowledge of death. Maybe going off on "The Kenyan" made her feel closer to someone in her life who had already died. Maybe being a right wingnut made her feel closer to her dead father who she unconsciously hoped would escort her from the tunnel of light to a Rush Limbaugh afterlife. Maybe her heart and soul weren't destroyed but just terrified. Maybe she was trying to make everyone hate her so there was less to leave behind. Maybe she was trying to mitigate her own grief and terror at leaving the world by saying it sucked anyway: it's better to leave a country going down the toilet, after all, than to leave a golden age full of wonders, where everything we want to learn or see or hear is right at the tips of our fingers.
That was her outer self, I think. I'm guessing. There was another self? You can always mourn the little girl you knew. She died too. I'm sorry.
Wrong answer. Pirates never die! Arrgh!


This is a diphone database for festival that uses 8k samples so it takes up a minimum of disk space. Using this diphone database, festival also converts text to speech faster than with the 16k version. However, the sound quality is not as good.
The voice contained in this database is a British English male speaker.


text:
It's Now for Buy Now, Pay Later
Kevin Woodward December 1, 2020
This versatile point-of-sale option is growing fast. Is it threatening credit and debit card traffic?
Many merchants can't say no to buy now, pay later (BNPL) options, which are arriving in force as retailers and consumers gear up for a holiday shopping season that may be busier than usual.
Though BNPL programs have been around for years—think BillMeLater, which started in 2000 and later became PayPal Credit—a slew of recent entrants has propelled it to the forefront.
Point-of-sale lending is projected to account for 11% of total unsecured credit in 2021, up from 5% in 2015, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, an investment firm owned by St. Louis-based Stifel Financial Corp.
Indeed, the rapid growth of POS lending is expanding the "overall pie, presenting an opportunity for both incumbent and new entrants," the KBW research note says, adding KBW expects the product to "surpass private-label cards by 2021."
Global BNPL volume is forecasted to increase to more than $680 billion in transaction value by 2025, up from $285 billion in 2018, according to Kaleido Intelligence Ltd., a London-based research firm. "This rise is fueled not only by changing shopper habits among younger demographics, but also by the overall shift to digital spending as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic," the firm noted in its "Digital BNPL & EPOS Financing: Market Outlook 2020" report.
'Three Years Overnight'
A number of companies are boosting BNPL, including Affirm Inc., Klarna AB, Splitit Ltd., Afterpay Ltd., Sezzle, and Quadpay Inc. Broader payments companies are also getting involved—think PayPal Holdings Inc. with its Pay in 4 service, Visa Inc. and its installment API, Mastercard Inc., and American Express Co.—and offering similar interest-free short-term repayment plans.
POS financing is better integrated into the purchase process these days and offers better application experiences, KBW says. Newer business models are also fanning the growing interest.
One major factor, however, is the growth in e-commerce, something that already was organically increasing but received a major boost during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"While [e-commerce] was expected to happen gradually, I would say it has essentially jumped ahead three years overnight," says Ana Braskamp, an Affirm spokesperson. "This has forced merchants to embrace the increase in online spending by offering modern payment options."
POS financing offers, meanwhile, ride on the digital experience and the way it's able to be optimized online, says Adam Ezra, chief executive of New York City-based Quadpay.
Retailers like this payment option, though it typically costs a little more than traditional credit and debit card acceptance, because they are funded much more quickly and it can attract new customers.
Typically, Afterpay assesses a fee ranging from 4% to 6%, says David Katz, chief product officer. That's in line with estimates for Klarna's costs. Quadpay charges a 5.9% fee plus 30 cents as a sticker rate, says Ezra, though larger volume merchants may pay less. PayPal merchants pay their standard fee, which, for U.S. online transactions, is 2.9% plus a fixed fee.
Katz says Afterpay settles immediately with the merchant. "We're taking on the risk," he says. "We're bringing them a higher average order value and a higher conversion rate."
Quadpay's Ezra says in some instances the impact on conversion rates and average order value is such that they can be as much as 20% and 60% higher, respectively. "It's about driving new customers and new business," he says.
That's a big driver for merchants, says David Sykes, head of Klarna's U.S. business. Stockholm-based Klarna was founded in 2005 and entered the U.S. market a decade later. Its origins stem from consumer reluctance to enter bank card data online, especially when debit cards dominated a market such as Sweden's, Sykes says.
"By and large, the reason retailers are adding BNPL is [it] creates new customers," Sykes says.
'Increasingly Skeptical'
For consumers, there is a psychological impact from splitting a large purchase. "$50 sounds more accessible than $200," Sykes says. "The simple act of breaking that payment down increases someone's propensity to buy." The average order value for a Klarna installment purchase is $150, which is similar to that for Afterpay.
At Afterpay, Katz views the payment option as a budgeting tool for consumers. "We think that's part of what makes it so attractive, particularly to Millennials, who have shown some resistance to revolving debt and traditional credit products," he says.
Indeed, card powerhouse Visa said its debit volume was up 22.7% for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared to the same quarter last year, while its credit volume dropped 8.7%. Credit union service organization PSCU, in its first Tracking Transaction Trends report for Nov. 1, said debit card spend was up 16.8% compared to the corresponding week in 2019, while credit card use increased 4.7% for the same period. Afterpay says 90% of its transactions are made with debit cards.
That view is echoed by Affirm's Braskamp, who says Millennials—those born between 1981 and 1996—and Generation Z—born from 1997 onward—are affecting the payment options merchants provide.
"These two generations, which together make up more than half of Affirm's consumer network, are increasingly skeptical of traditional credit cards and banking services and are looking for transparent payment alternatives," Braskamp says. "Additionally, because they grew up with monthly subscription models like Netflix and Rent the Runway, Millennials and GenZ often prefer predictable monthly payments versus payments that vary month-to-month like credit cards."
While much of the action has been online, BNPL options have been moving into physical stores, too. Afterpay launched its in-store service in October. In Australia, where Afterpay has approximately 40,000 storefronts, 40% of its customers made in-store Afterpay purchases, Katz says. Quadpay offers the same service, as do Klarna and Affirm.
'Immediate Value'
Whether used in-store or online, the transaction risk is minimal. Afterpay says its gross loss as a percentage of underlying sales for fiscal 2020 is 0.9%, a record low for the firm. "Our ability to keep losses very low is the secret sauce to Afterpay," Katz says.
Afterpay uses proprietary risk analytics to assess new customers. Like many other BNPL providers, it eschews traditional credit checks. "We keep the first transaction very low," Katz says. And because consumers tend to be repeat users, they strive to meet their payment schedules, lest they lose access to Afterpay's service.
Quadpay may do a so-called soft credit check, which doesn't affect credit scores, and that information feeds into its risk model, Ezra says. Other data may include consumers' activity at merchants, digital footprint data, such as the device type, and email addresses.
Affirm underwrites each transaction individually, Braskamp says, and uses machine learning to continuously refine its underwriting. "This enables us to support consumers by never extending loans that we don't believe can and will be repaid," she says.
But does BNPL cannibalize credit and debit transactions? The KBW report suggests the growth in POS lending is expanding the overall pie, "presenting an opportunity for both incumbents and new entrants."
In fact, BNPL methods rely on credit and debit cards as the underlying methods for the installment payments. Between 80% and 85% of Klarna's transactions are made with debit cards, Sykes says. Affirm customers can pay directly from a checking account, but other options are available. Affirm distinguishes itself from the pack with loans offering varying interest rates over longer repayment periods.
Quadpay's Ezra views BNPL as additive to the merchant's mix. Remove the conversion lift from the BNPL equation, and in a majority of cases merchants will still see a high lift in average order value, he says.
"There aren't many things that e-commerce merchants can do that have a dramatic and immediate impact," says Katz. "Buy now, pay later is one of those that has immediate value."
Previous Payments 3.0: Covid-19 And the New American Wallet
Next Smart Phones Go Contactless

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Old Victoria Driving Tour
William Thomas House
William Thomas was a long-time resident of Goliad who moved to Victoria and built this expansive home for himself, his wife and seven surviving children in 1905. Oddly, none of the children ever married. This is yet another of Jules C. Leffland's masterful designs. The house remained in the William Thomas family until 1984. It was moved to its present site in 1987.
304 N. Wheeler St Victoria, TX 77901
Old Victoria Driving Tour Self-Guided Tour Map
Order a free Old Victoria Driving Tour self-guided tour map, or stop by the Explore Victoria Visitor Center to pick one up!
© 2011 - 2020 Explore Victoria, City of Victoria.


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Twitter Lemons
Bringing you the saltiest social media - this week, #bcafc
By DowntheMannyRd Mar 23, 2017, 10:00am GMT
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Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images
This is the first of a semi-regular feature here at Lion of Vienna. We're going to trawl through the worst of Twitter and other platforms, and bring to you the very saltiest collection of characters and hashtags the footballing world has to offer. This week's Twitter Lemons come from the most bitter fans in League One, possibly the football league. Ladies and gents, Bradford City.
3rd)
"Hoofing hell what a disgusting brand of football #bcafc"
Points awarded for the pun but little for invention and flair, I'm afraid. To be fair, the account in question has had the good grace to avoid the #bwfc hashtag, but he's not got away from us this time.
Nothing we haven't heard before, lacking invention. 4/10.
2nd)
"Smug under-achievers who needed a #bcafc castoff to make 2nd in League One. Club's a financial mess. Play boring football. All a bit sad"
This is more like it! Obviously, the temptation to apply the Bradford arrogance to the game of football and how it's played has proved once more irresistible. However, this isn't why I like it. It's not the "you've got no money" bit either. Heard all that before. What I like is the "we didn't want Filipe Morais anyway and it's no achievement to be above us even though we're the best football team in the land". That's what makes his tweet so special. 7/10.
1st)
"Sweeeeet free kick!!!!! Come on Oxford get a third...#bcafc"
This week's winner is a tweet that is begging a club to score an equaliser when they're chasing your play-off spot, purely because the other team's manager used to be your manager, and he was very good, but he's not your manager anymore and you can do better anyway, and you don't care where his new team are in the league, it's nothing to do with that, he's just rubbish and so are they and you've got no idea why they're second in League One. It may seem strange at first, but welcome to the mind of a Bradford City fan. 8/10.
If there's a particular tweet, hashtag or club's support that you'd like us to focus on in our next instalment of Twitter Lemons, let us know in the comments below.


In its decision here, a divided Federal Circuit created a new test for secondary meaning, placed limits on trade dress infringement with an analogy to design patent law, and more . . .
In this case, the 2013 mark registration by Converse creates a presumption of secondary meaning — as of the registration date.
Converse argues that it is entitled to rely on the presumption of validity afforded to registered marks. We do not agree that this presumption applies to infringement that began before registration. . . . [U]nder the statute, the registration and its accompanying presumption of secondary meaning operate only prospectively from the date of registration. . . . This rule is a straightforward application of the Lanham Act, pursuant to which the PTO examines whether secondary meaning has been acquired at the time of registration. See 15 U.S.C. § 1052(f). The resulting registration confers a presumption of secondary meaning from that point in time, see id. §§ 1057(b), 1115(a), but at the time of registration the PTO is not asked to determine whether secondary meaning had been acquired at some previous date, and therefore registration cannot support a presumption for the period before registration. Indeed, on a record such as this, with a multiyear gap between infringement and registration, registration cannot even be probative of secondary meaning at the time of infringement.
Because the ITC did not establish when (if ever) the mark established secondary meaning pre-registration, on remand, Converse will be given a chance to prove that secondary meaning was established prior to "the first infringing use by each respondent." The dissenting opinion in this case filed by Judge O'Malley would not have given Converse the opportunity to go back and provide this new evidence.
Today we clarify that the considerations to be assessed in determining whether a mark has acquired secondary meaning can be described by the following six factors: (1) association of the trade dress with a particular source by actual purchasers (typically measured by customer surveys); (2) length, degree, and exclusivity of use; (3) amount and manner of advertising; (4) amount of sales and number of customers; (5) intentional copying; and (6) unsolicited media coverage of the product embodying the mark. . . . All six factors are to be weighed together in determining the existence of secondary meaning.
This test is similar to that adopted by the various circuits, but include some quirks. (Prepare an additional post on this).
Although we agree with the ITC that evidence of the use of similar but not identical trade dress may inform the secondary-meaning analysis, we think such uses must be substantially similar to the asserted mark. Here, the ITC made no determination as to which of the prior uses were substantially similar.
Establishing infringement: On the infringement side, the Federal Circuit also found errors in the ITC's likelihood of confusion test. Here, the court held that product design trade dress can only infringe if it is "substantially similar" to the protected trade dress — noting that "We have applied an analogous requirement in the design-patent context, where infringement cannot be found unless an ordinary observer would perceive that the 'two designs are substantially the same.'" Quoting Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 543 F.3d 665, 670 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (en banc) (quoting Gorham Co. v. White, 81 U.S. 511, 528 (1871)).
Defaulting Parties: Finally, the ITC had refused to enter an exclusion order against defaulted respondents — based upon its finding that the trademark was invalid. In the appeal, the court here suggested that result should be changed.
I agree with the majority that the International Trade Commission ("ITC" or "Commission") erred in its legal analysis in this matter and that its decision must be vacated. I also agree that a remand is appropriate. I even agree with many of the ways in which the majority finds that the ITC erred. I cannot join in the majority's reasoning, however, because I believe that the majority overlooks important procedural facts and binding statutory authority to reach issues that are not properly before us. Thus, I do not agree with the majority's decision to remand questions regarding the validity of the registered mark for further consideration or its decision to even address questions of infringement. And, I cannot accede to the majority's failure to order the ITC to enter a remedy against the parties found in default in the proceedings below or to explain why public interest concerns would justify not doing so.
Specifically, I believe that the majority: (1) misperceives the scope of the ITC's authority to invalidate duly issued intellectual property rights when it addresses the issue of the validity of a registered mark; (2) blurs the line between the concepts of priority of use under common law and the validity of a registered mark; (3) espouses advisory—and unnecessary—opinions on the weight to be given certain survey evidence and the question of infringement; and (4) ignores the ITC's statutory obligation to enter remedies against defaulting parties. Thus, except where otherwise noted, I concur only in the conclusion that the ITC's findings must be vacated, and the matter remanded to the ITC for further analysis. I dissent from the fact that the majority discusses matters not properly before us and from the nature of the remand the majority outlines.


January is "National Dieting Month" in the United States, and the spotlight is on the Keto Diet and IF, aka intermitent fasting.
They are the latest dietary trends and the Big Q's are: Do they actually work? Are they sustainable?
Dieting isn't a modern phenomenon. In the 1960'sss the cabbage soup diet was popular for weight loss, and Weight Watchers began around that time. The early 1970's saw the grapefruit diet, followed by the Sleeping Beauty plan, which Elvis Presley was reportedly a fan of. If you are sleeping then you are not eating.
The paleo diet can be traced back to the 1980's, while the Atkins diet, started in the 1990's regained popularity when Kim Kardashian credited it for helping her shed extra pounds after childbirth.
Then in Y 2011, it was as if Americans woke up and collectively agreed to start throwing coconut oil into everything. This was soon followed by juice cleanses and diet pills.
The the favorite diets of today are the ketogenic (keto) diet and intermittent fasting (IF).
The Keto diet is a high-fat, low-carb meal plan where people aim to consume only about 5 to 10% of their total calories as carbs. It it is made up of mostly fats, and moderate protein.
The idea is that a sharp reduction in carbs will put the body into a metabolic state called ketosis where the body begins to burn fat, instead of sugar, for fuel. The liver also produces ketones from fat, which can supply energy throughout the body, especially for the brain.
IF is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting, with either no food or significant calorie reduction, and periods of unrestricted eating. Popular versions of IF include the 5:2 diet, which allows for normal eating for 2 days, and a low-calorie diet of about 500 calories per day on 2 non-consecutive days of the week. Another version of IF is the 16/8 diet, where 1 fasts for 16 hours each day, and eats only within an 8-hour nutritional window.
We asked Dr. Lim Yen Peng, Do they work?
According to Dr Lim, though small-scale studies have shown benefits of the Keto diet and IF, the long-term effects of these regimes remains to be seen. While research has shown that the Keto diet may bring about short-term benefits such as weight loss and an improvement in blood sugar and cholesterol over 12 wks or less, it is challenging for individuals to maintain this diet due to the disproportionate distribution of fat and carbs.
Nonetheless, she cautions that the applicability of these diets to people with various health conditions is ambiguous, especially among those with liver or kidney problems. "People with Type 1 diabetes, those who are pregnant, elderly, or adolescent, are not suitable. Some other side-effects of long-term ketogenic diet include high uric acid level in blood, osteoporosis, and kidney stones," she says.
Another issue with the Keto diet is that it does not specify the proportion of unsaturated to saturated fats in meals. As such, it is possible for individuals to consume excessive high-saturated fats that can adversely affect cardiovascular health, Dr Lim says.
Separately, those taking medication for diabetes, pregnant women, people with eating disorders and children or adolescents should not consider trying IF, Dr Lim explains. She adds that both diets are generally not recommended to people who are keen to lose weight, as they may be restrictive and not sustainable.
Dr. Lim highlights that it is important for people to appreciate that in order to achieve long-term weight loss, one will need to couple healthy diet choices with increased physical activity, while enjoying a variety of food in suitable portions. For sustained weight loss, 1 will need to adopt "lifestyle and behavioral changes" that can be adhered to in the long run, instead of seeking quick-fix solutions.


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Last Shoot Out
After newlywed Jocelyn learns that her husband Jody (Michael Welch, Twilight franchise) had her father shot down, she flees from the Callahan ranch in fear. She's rescued by gunman Billy Tyson, who safeguards her at a remote outpost as he staves off Jody's attempts to reclaim his bride.
Actor: Brock Harris, Skylar Witte, Peter Sherayko
Director: Michael Feifer
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Rango is a pet chameleon always on the lookout for action and adventure, except the fake kind, where he directs it and acts in it. ...
Genre: Western, Adventure, Comedy, Animation, Family
Actor: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Harry Dean Stanton, Timothy Olyphant, Ray Winstone, Ian Abercrombie, Gil Birmingham, James Ward Byrkit, Claudia Black, Blake Clark
The Train Robbers
A gunhand named Lane is hired by a widow, Mrs. Lowe, to find gold stolen by her husband so that she may return it and ...
Genre: Western, Romance, Comedy
Actor: John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, Christopher George, Bobby Vinton, Jerry Gatlin, Ricardo Montalban
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Set in 1882 in the American west, Albert is a lowly farmer with a nice girlfriend. But when she leaves him for the more successful ...
Actor: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, Christopher Hagen, Wes Studi, Matt Clark, Evan Jones, Aaron McPherson, Rex Linn, Brett Rickaby, Alex Borstein
The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
In 1876, the Missouri legislature issues a pardon and amnesty to the James and Younger gangs despite many people considering them outlaws. The pardon is ...
Genre: Western
Actor: Cliff Robertson, Robert Duvall, Luke Askew, R.G. Armstrong, Dana Elcar, Donald Moffat, John Pearce, Matt Clark, Wayne Sutherlin, Robert H. Harris, Jack Manning, Elisha Cook Jr., Royal Dano, Mary-Robin Redd, William Callaway
A young civil war veteran is forced on a desperate journey to save his kidnapped wife.
Genre: Action, Western, Adventure, Thriller
Actor: Scott Eastwood, Walton Goggins, Camilla Belle, Adam Beach, Samuel Marty, José Zúñiga, Tzi Ma, Joaquim de Almeida, Danny Glover, Greg Lawson, Yaniv Bercovitz, William Belleau, Morris Birdyellowhead, Rohan Campbell, Roberto Franco
Day of the Outlaw
Cowboys and ranchers have to put their differences aside when a gang of outlaws, led by army captain Jack Bruhn, decide to spend the night ...
Actor: Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise, Alan Marshal, Venetia Stevenson, David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert, Frank DeKova, Lance Fuller, Elisha Cook Jr., Dabbs Greer, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Helen Westcott, Donald Elson
More Dead Than Alive
When the multiple murderer Cain is released from prison after 18 years, he wants to settle down as a rancher and never touch a gun ...
Genre: Western, Romance
Actor: Clint Walker, Vincent Price, Anne Francis, Paul Hampton, Craig Littler, Mike Henry, Clarke Gordon, Beverly Powers, William Woodson, Harry Lauter, Eric Matthews, Robert Foulk, Frank Baxter, Andy Albin, Emile Meyer
A white man, Tommy, raised by Indians is approached by his long lost father who tells him he needs $50,000 or he'll die at the ...
Genre: Western, Comedy
Actor: Adam Sandler, Terry Crews, Jorge Garcia, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider, Luke Wilson, Will Forte, Steve Zahn, Harvey Keitel, Nick Nolte, Jon Lovitz, Whitney Cummings, David Spade, Danny Trejo, Nick Swardson
1878 in New Mexico: John Tunstall picks up young gun men from the road to have them work on his ranch, but also to teach ...
Genre: Action, Western, Drama, Thriller, Crime
Actor: Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko, Terence Stamp, Jack Palance, Terry O'Quinn, Sharon Thomas Cain, Geoffrey Blake, Alice Carter, Brian Keith, Thomas Callaway, Patrick Wayne
The Salvation
In 1870s America, a peaceful American settler kills his family's murderer which unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader. His cowardly fellow townspeople then ...
Country: Belgium, UK, South Africa, Denmark, Sweden
Genre: Western, Drama
Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eric Cantona, Mikael Persbrandt, Douglas Henshall, Michael Raymond-James, Jonathan Pryce, Alexander Arnold, Nanna Øland Fabricius, Toke Lars Bjarke, Sean Cameron Michael, Carel Nel, Kobus Swanepool, José Domingos
The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. New Mexico Territory. A stranger with no ...
Genre: Action, Western, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Actor: Daniel Craig, Abigail Spencer, Buck Taylor, Matthew Taylor, Cooper Taylor, Clancy Brown, Paul Dano, Chris Browning, Adam Beach, Sam Rockwell, Ana de la Reguera, Noah Ringer, Brian Duffy, Olivia Wilde, Keith Carradine
The Shooting
An ex- bounty hunter turned miner returns to his mine dig to find one of his partners dead, how brother has run away and the ...
Actor: Will Hutchins, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Warren Oates, Charles Eastman, Guy El Tsosie, Brandon Carroll, B.J. Merholz, Wally Moon, William Mackleprang, James Campbell
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Teresa Giudice Enjoys Football Game With Daughter Amid Joe Giudice's Italy Arrangements
The mother-daughter hangout comes just a few days after Joe Giudice was granted to travel to Italy.
By Alyssa Morin Oct 06, 2019 12:49 AMTags
SportsCeleb KidsKidsMomsTeresa GiudiceCelebrities
Teresa Giudice scored a major touchdown on Saturday.
Why, you might ask? The Real Housewives of New Jersey star spent the afternoon with her 18-year-old daughter, Gia Giudice, at the Rutgers Scarlet Knights university football game. The 18-year-old TV personality attends the school, so it makes sense the mother-daughter duo would celebrate the college team, who played against the Maryland Terrapins.
And it looks like they really enjoyed their day out, according to the Bravo star's Instagram Stories. From a fun tailgate session beforehand, which entailed lots and lots of yummy food and drinks, to literally standing on the sidelines during the game, both Teresa and Gia were all smiles at the game.
The 47-year-old reality TV personality even got into the football spirit and sported a t-shirt with the university's logo and colors. "Rutgers mom," the bright tee read. Additionally, the 18-year-old student was seen hanging with her college friends and having a good ole time.
Joe Giudice Faces Another Legal Setback as His Deportation Appeal Is Denied
Watch: Joe Giudice Asks to Return to Italy Amid Deportation Appeal
Fans of the family may know that the Italian-born permanent U.S. resident has been in ICE detainment since March, when he was released from prison after serving three years for fraud.
Since then, Joe has been appealing his deportation case. He recently requested to be released to Italy, and on Wednesday, two judges signed off on it, according to court records obtained by E! News.
A source close to his case previously told E! News that arrangements are being made for Joe to return to Italy as expeditiously as possible. A second source shared that there is a plan in place and a location picked out for Joe.
As of now, it's unclear if Teresa and the couple's four daughters will go to Italy. The Bravo star recently spoke to E! News and said her family was her "rock."
"We just do. I mean, we've come a long way and I'm happy I have four beautiful daughters," Teresa said. "They're strong and I'm happy to have them. I'm their rock, they're my rock and I'm glad we have each other."


Surge in mobile accessories market driven by demand for fitness, healthcare and smart wearable devices, research suggests shipments of smart wireless accessories could reach 170 million per annum by 2018, compared to around 15 million this year, according to a report by tech analysts Juniper research.
Juniper's latest report, 'Smart Wireless Accessories: CE, Fitness, Health, Payments & Enterprise 2013-2018', claims connected consumer electronics and fitness accessories will be the main catalysts of short term change, accounting for more than 50 per cent of devices shipped in the forecast period.
The introduction of connected wearable accessories, such as smart watches, is expected to continue to push the number of devices shipped towards the end of the forecast period, while healthcare accessories are also expected to become more popular in the long term.
The report also found "significant" growth can be expected across a range of products, from video eyewear, such as Google Glass, baby monitoring, home security and TV equipment.
Juniper Research senior analyst and author of the report Nitin Bhas (pictured) commented: "The actual take up of smart wireless accessories will depend on whether companies succeed in creating accessories that will capture the imagination of the consumer. Nevertheless, the multiplicity of potential use cases means that the consumer electronics category represents one of the most important areas in which smart wireless accessories will develop."
Source: Mobile News. Read more here.