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Bank Performance, Efficiency and Ownership in Transitition Countries
39 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2007
See all articles by John Bonin
John Bonin
Wesleyan University - Economics Department
Paul Wachtel
New York University - Stern School of Business
Iftekhar Hasan
Fordham University ; Bank of Finland; University of Sydney
Using data from 1996 to 2000, we investigate the effects of ownership, especially by a strategic foreign owner, on bank efficiency for eleven transition countries in an unbalanced panel consisting of 225 banks and 856 observations. Applying stochastic frontier estimation procedures, we compute profit and cost efficiency scores taking account of both time and country effects directly. In second-stage regressions, we take these efficiency measures along with return on assets as dependent variables with dummy variables for ownership type, a variable controlling for bank size, and dummy variables for year and country effects as explanatory variables. Methodologically, our results demonstrate the importance of including fixed effects, especially country effects, and also suggest a preference for efficiency measures over financial measures of bank performance in empirical work on transition countries.
With respect to the impact of ownership, we conclude that privatization by itself is not sufficient to increase bank efficiency as government-owned banks are not appreciably less efficient than domestic private banks. Our results do support the hypothesis that foreign ownership leads to more efficient banks in transition countries. We find that foreign-owned banks are more cost-efficient than other banks and that they also provide better service, in particular if they have a strategic foreign owner. Moreover, the participation of international institutional investors is shown to have a considerable additional positive impact on profit efficiency, which is consistent with the notion that these investors facilitate the transfer of technology and know how to newly privatized banks. In addition, we find that the remaining government-owned banks are less efficient in providing services, which is consistent with the hypothesis that the better banks were privatized first in transition countries. Finally, efficiency declines with bank size, which could call into question government-orchestrated bank consolidation strategies. We conjecture that the presence of many small and efficient foreign greenfield operations in these transition countries may be responsible for this result.
JEL Classification: P30, P34, P52
Bonin, John P. and Wachtel, Paul and Hasan, Iftekhar, Bank Performance, Efficiency and Ownership in Transitition Countries (June 4, 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1015205 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1015205
John P. Bonin (Contact Author)
Wesleyan University - Economics Department ( email )
New York University - Stern School of Business ( email )
44 West 4th St.
HOME PAGE: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~pwachtel
Fordham University ( email )
45 COLUMBUS AVENUE
GBA-5TH FLOOR
Bank of Finland ( email )
Helsinki 00101
University of Sydney ( email )
P.O. Box H58


The first AGILE Early Access Dev Kit test with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus resulted in novel measurements that could not be gathered using traditional methods.
This technology is a game-changer for developmental biologists. It opens the field of proteomics to a discipline that's previously used just RNA data.
AGILE (Automatic Graphene Immunolinked Electronic) is the world's first and only commercially available graphene biosensor. It is an all-electronic, portable, label-free system that provides real-time analysis of biomolecular interactions including kinetics, affinity, and concentration.
AGILE sensors are now available to participants in Nanomedical Diagnostics' Early Access Dev Kit program. The company will be showcasing AGILE technology at MnM's Biomarker Conference on February 18 and 19, and at the Experimental Biology Conference from April 2nd through 6th, both in San Diego.
For more information about Nanomedical Diagnostics or AGILE Sensors, including Early Access Dev Kit opportunities, visit http://www.nanomedicaldiagnostics.com.
Nanomedical Diagnostics is a biotech company based in San Diego, CA. Begun in late 2013, it is the first company to combine expertise in biology, nanotechnology, surface chemistry, engineering, and manufacturing to create practical and scaleable graphene biological field effect transistor (BioFET) products. Its ongoing mission is applying cutting-edge capabilities to produce affordable diagnostic and monitoring platforms that deliver accurate, timely health information and improve patient outcomes and lives.


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Missouri AG: We Have Evidence Gov. Greitens Committed Felony
REUTERS/Handout
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said during a Tuesday press conference that he has "uncovered evidence of wrongdoing" while investigating Gov. Eric Greitens' involvement with The Mission Continues charity. Hawley claimed that Greitens used the charity's donor list "to solicit for campaign donations in his gubernatorial run," which is a felony. Hawley said the investigation had been "ongoing for the better part of two months," and said Greitens could have violated a "computer-tampering statute." Hawley added that he has turned over all evidence to the House committee and said it would be "up to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office whether or not to press charges," according to Fox 2. Greitens has since released a statement, saying the "allegations are ridiculous" and calling St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner a "liberal prosecutor funded by George Soros who allegedly suborned perjury, falsified documents, and withheld evidence." This comes after a woman told lawmakers that Greitens coerced her into an aggressive, unwanted sexual encounter during their affair.
Read it at Fox 2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Archive for the 'Protests' Category
"The British will know who we are."
While women were limited in the ways in which they could express their resistance to British treatment of the colonies compared to men, they could, through the purchases they made or did not make, send an economic message to British merchants. Fifty-one women of Edenton, North Carolina, in support of the Resolution of the Provincial Deputies of North Carolina, to boycott all British tea and cloth received after September 10, 1774, declared their intention in October of 1774 to abstain from drinking tea and buying manufactured products from England until the repressive acts they objected to were repealed. See my post on this.
The woman who organized the Edenton protest was Penelope Pagett Barker. Widowed twice at a young age, she inherited a substantial amount of money and property making her the richest woman in North Carolina. Her third husband, appointed as agent for the North Carolina Colony in London in 1761, was stranded there during the Revolution and did not return until 1778. During his absence Penelope successfully managed the family property and organized the protest that resulted in the Edenton Tea Party by canvassing door to door. She said, "Maybe it has only been men who have protested the king up to now. That only means we women have taken too long to let our voices be heard. We are signing our names to a document, not hiding ourselves behind costumes like the men in Boston did at their tea party. The British will know who we are." The resolution read in part:
As we cannot be indifferent on any occasion that appears nearly to affect the peace and happiness of our country, and as it has thought necessary, for the public good, to enter into several particular resolves by a meeting of Members deputed from the whole Province, it is a duty which we owe, not only to our near and dear connections who have concurred in them, but to ourselves who are essentially interested in their welfare, to do everything as far as lies in our power to testify our sincere adherence to the same: and we do therefore accordingly subscribe this paper, as a witness of our fixed intention and solemn determination to do so.
Penelope Pagett Barker's Resolution is remembered with a huge bronze teapot mounted on a cannon west of the Village Green. It has become a symbol of Edenton and its revolutionary women. The photo was taken by Donna Campbell Smith.
More information about Penelope Pagett Barker can be found HERE. Barker's statement about women's voices occurs in Diane Silcox-Jarrett's "Penelope Barker, Leader of the Edenton Tea Party," in Heroines of the American Revolution, America's Founding Mothers (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Green Angle Press, 1998), page 17. Barker's portrait of 1794 appears courtesy of the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.
posted May 9th, 2013 by Janet, Comments Off on "The British will know who we are.", CATEGORIES: Patriots,Protests,Resistance to British


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Tag Archives: Heavyweight division
Greatest Moments in Battlebots History: Son of Whyachi vs. Biohazard
We love a good underdog story and honestly, who doesn't?? There was a plethora of 90's sports and kid films that just milked this trope repeatedly. I think by far though the best film that pulled off the underdog story is Rocky. Can I get a hell yeah on that one folks?
Anyways, what's better than an underdog in film is one in real life which brings us to today's article, Battlebots. Now, I already talked about Battlebots last year where I critically analyzed how well it held up (hint: not very) but with the recent revival of the series (yay!) I want to go back to the show and talk about one of the greatest moments in Battlebots History, Son of Whyachi vs. Biohazard.
Okay, let me set the scene, it's season 3 of Battlebots and the show is reaching its peak in popularity. By now, many of the series' fan favorites have already made their appearance (such as Nightmare and Hazard) or will make their rookie appearance (Mechavore) this season (the season was already starting off great when Nightmare destroyed Slamjob in the first episode in a spectacular fashion(see above video!)).
As such, the stage was set for veterans and newcomers to fight each other to determine top bot.
image from Battlebots Wiki
One of these top bots was one of the most winningest battlebot of all time, Biohazard, a several time winner of the Heavyweight division in Battlebots. Biohazard has taken down foes again and again no matter how formidable they were. Biohazard was definitely one of the best defensive robots of all time. It was incredibly low to the ground and it had steel flaps that protected itself from getting flipped (and it minimized damaged significantly from blades). But the most important feature of Biohazard was its god damn lifting arm which he used incredibly well to flip over high-centered gravity opponents and push them against the hazards. Biohazard's ability to tank hits, be aggressive, and easily disable opponents won him many battles.
A rookie to season 3 is the now glorified, Son of Whyachi. Whyachi unusual makeup helped him win many rounds. He had a spinning helicopter-blade like weapon that was supported by strong cables at the end and topped off with hard spikes to jam into the opponents. Whyachi was also a walking robot and as such, got a weight bonus that was allowed towards him meaning he could be much heavier (walking robots, in general, have not worked very well and have won few battles which was why they got a bonus).
Both of these robots faced each other in the finals and the best part is that they almost seemed like they were destined for each other for the fights they went through. Biohazard took down Little Sister and the more famous Overkill and Tazbot while Son of Whyachi knocked down Nightmare (in a glorious fashion mind you, see above video), chipped away at Mechavore and tore apart Hexadecimator. All of these robots the two fought, mind you, have won their share of battles and would win more in the following seasons. But more importantly, these were robots that everyone knew and recognized. Overkill, Nightmare, Hexadecimator, Tazbot, Mechavore, these were celebrities in the heavyweight division! Taking these guys down earned you much street cred!
And oh man! The HYPE surrounding these beasts were incredible. I was rooting for Son of Whyachi so hard, I always liked Nightmare but not even he could take down Biohazard as evidence in their fight in the previous season. You know what, I'm going to shut up and show you the fight. It's awesome.
This is like eeeevvverrryyything a Battlebot battle should be like. A long battle where the bots continue to go at each other despite their limping, broken status. These bots were not giving up and would keep going if their battery connections allow them to. It's too bad this is not the status quo because some final round battles are either dull or one sided but this is definitely not one of them. It's really similar to Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa just pounding the shit out of each other in Rocky I and not letting up until the final round.
The result of the battle was monumental in the Battlebot community. Biohazard's almost untarnished record was smashed along with his sleek, unbent and unbroken body. Son of Whyachi proved a wholly offensive robot could take down the defensive based Biohazard and that walkers were not all useless. Unfortunately, newcomer Son of Whyachi, although he won the Nut, was never able to reclaim his glory because he was that good. I'm serious, it used to be that you could have a 50% weight bonus if you were a walker. Son of Whyachi dropped that down to 20% the following season. As such, Whyachi had to adjust to his new environment in the Super Heavyweight environment where it miserably failed to go the distance having suffered a bad design plan in Season 4 (it was saaaaaaad) and only going to the sweet sixteen in Season 5
The build up, the battle, and the fallout afterwards made the Whyachi/Biohazard bout one of the greatest in Battlebots history. There are few battles I can recall that were this epic and not one-sided. I sincerely hope that with the upcoming new Battlebots show on ABC, we'll see more battles like this with intensity and power. Fingers crossed!
This entry was posted in Television and tagged ABC, Battlebots, Battlebots Season 3, Biohazard, Comedy Central, Heavyweight division, Mechavore, Nightmare, Overkill, Son of Whyachi, Tazbot on June 15, 2015 by Andy.


Director Atlee is on his rapid way of completing his film 'Raja Rani' that marks his maiden debut in Tamil industry.
The filmmaker made a vigorous promotion of announcing wedlock between Aarya and Nayantara that created mixed reviews.
Apparently, the director opens up confessing that if it had hurt the sentiments of people, he will offer a best wholesome entertainer that will be a remedy to all of us.
If you liked this 'There is Something between Aarya and Nayantara' – Atlee, please like, tweet and share this on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pin Board or leave a comment. You can also get the latest News by subscribing to our feed. Don't forgot to share your voice with your friends! They may have also like or have thought on this News and that will help us to improve our selves!.
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For goggles as adventurous as you are, shop our SilverSlick triathlon & open water swimming goggles collection today.


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Considerations - Things to be aware of
Overseas Electors
Benefits of being a registered voter
In order to vote in UK Elections and Referendums, you need to apply to have your name included on the Register of Electors. This is known as registering to vote. It is a legal requirement to supply the required information.
The simplest way to register is by going online. It only takes a few minutes to register but you will need to have your Date of Birth and National Insurance Number to hand as you won't be able to complete your application without it:
Register to vote at the GOV.uk website
If you are not registered you will not be able to vote at any Election.
You are not automatically registered even if you pay Council Tax.
You can register to vote if you are 16 years old or over, and a British, Irish, Commonwealth or European Union citizen.
If you are 16 or 17, you can register now but you are not allowed to vote until you are 18.
Anyone included in the Register of Electors may apply for a postal vote (.docx | 40kb). If you know that you will not be able to vote in person, you should apply for a postal vote as soon as an Election is announced or as soon as you become aware that you will be out of the country on polling day.
Postal votes can be sent to an address outside the UK - for example if you are going on holiday - but please remember that it will take time to get there and for you to return it in time for the vote to be counted.
Postal ballot papers are normally sent out a week or two before Polling Day (depending on when you send in your postal voting application), so if you will not be at home around that time you should consider appointing a proxy to vote on your behalf. However, you are advised to contact the Electoral Services Team via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or telephone who will be able to tell you the specific application deadlines and despatch dates for each Election.
You may still be able to vote even if you are unable to get to your polling station on Polling Day for a particular Election by applying for a proxy vote (.docx | 40kb) (a proxy is someone who votes on your behalf). You will only be able to appoint a proxy for one Election, unless it is on the grounds of medical or employment reasons.
If you want to appoint a proxy to vote for you, he or she must be:
Willing to vote on your behalf
A registered elector
A British citizen or citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland, or for local government and European Parliamentary Elections, a citizen of the European Union
Old enough to vote and legally allowed to vote.
If you are a member of the Armed Forces and are registered as an elector, you will be entitled to vote in Parliamentary, Local and European Elections in the UK.
Service personnel and their spouses' resident in the UK may register in either of two ways:
they may be included as an ordinary elector by completing an individual registration application, or
they may register as service voters
In order to register as a service voter you will need to complete a service declaration every 5 years. If you are likely to be posted overseas, it is advisable to apply to vote by post or by proxy.
If you are a British National living overseas you are entitled to vote in UK Parliamentary Elections and European Parliamentary Elections for up to 15 years after you were last registered in the UK. Overseas Electors cannot vote at Local Government Elections. If you are in the armed forces or crown personnel this does not apply to you. Overseas Electors can register to vote online.
In order to register as an Overseas Elector you will need to contact the Electoral Registration Officer at the local council covering the address for where you were last registered within the UK. If the last UK address you were registered at was in North East Derbyshire District you can register with us or contact us at:
Electoral Services,
District Council Offices,
If you have never been registered as an elector in the UK, you will not be eligible to register as an Overseas Elector. However, if you left the UK before you were 18 years of age you can register at your parents or guardians' address, provided that they were registered and that you left the UK no more than 15 years ago.
Overseas Electors should also apply to vote by post or proxy. Postal votes are sent out approximately one to two weeks before polling day (depending on when you made your application). However, you are advised to contact the Electoral Services Team who will be able to tell you the specific despatch dates for each Election. If you are not likely to be able to receive and return a postal vote in that time, you should consider appointing a proxy.
Students who are away at university or college can remain registered at their family home and may also register at their student accommodation. You cannot vote twice in a UK Parliamentary or European Parliamentary Election. You would be committing an offence if you voted twice. However, you can vote in a Local Government Election both at home and your term-time address, as long as they are in different Local Government areas. Students may also wish to consider the option of a postal vote.
The Register of Electors contains the names and addresses of all those who have registered to vote within the North East Derbyshire District.
Each year after completion of the Annual Canvass, the revised Register of Electors is published on 1st December.
Monthly Updates to the Register of Electors are also published between January and September. This is known as Rolling Registration.
There are no Monthly Updates to the Register of Electors in October and November.
Two versions of the Register of Electors are compiled:
The Full Register lists everybody who is eligible to vote, a copy is available at our District Council Offices, 2013 Mill Lane, Wingerworth, Chesterfield S42 6NG for public inspection in accordance with legal requirements. Inspection of the register is strictly under supervision and only handwritten notes can be taken. You will not be permitted to photocopy or take images of any part of the register. It is not permissible for an electronic search to be carried out.
The Open Register leaves out names and addresses of people who have made a request to be excluded from this version of the register. The Open Register can be bought by anyone for any purpose.
If you move house after the Register of Electors is published on 1st December each year, you can apply to be registered in respect of your new address under the Rolling Registration which takes approximately four to six weeks to take effect.
You can register online at your new address or alternatively contact us for a printed form.
Once an Election has been called and you find out that you are not currently registered, you can apply to register up to 12 days before the Election.
Many of the major credit firms check your address against the Register of Electors and you may be refused a loan, mobile phone agreement, mortgage, bank account, etc. if you are not registered.
Being registered also provides you with the chance to have your say about how your local council or the government is run and how they impact on services such as education, housing, public transport, planning and leisure facilities, amongst others.


Thanks again for the last two days …. great. Two of the girls stayed on last night to do a gantt chart which they're using for a team meeting today!
One of them didn't feel at all confident but was steered by her colleague and when I left she was really excited that she was able to map out how to manage better all the houses she runs for people with learning disabilities.


Can I clean my boat hull with ordinary dish soap?
Yes – when washing the boat, use a mild detergent, such as Dawn or Ivory dish soap, or similar commercially-produced detergent, and warm water solution. DO NOT use abrasive cleaners, solvents, ammonia or chlorine, as these will damage the gel coat surface.


Barracudas play the Hawks for Scholastic Football Championship.
The St. Croix Educational Complex (SCEC) Barracudas Football Team came out fully charged, and with family, friends, classmates, faculty and staff members loudly cheering on their side, they were all geared up to demolish the Charlotte Amalie High School (CAHS) Hawks, who had flown in from 40 miles across the sea for a friendly meet.
But the Hawks didn't brave the foul weather, the strong winds and intermittent showers in flight for nothing. They had their own goals intact. During the early quarter of the tense and exciting game, the Barracudas quickly scored the first goal, earning 6 points but losing the 2 safety points. Surprised by the aggressive start of the SCEC team, the CAHS Hawks got very serious on the offensive, and by the 2nd quarter they had scored 22 points while the Barracudas scored another 6 points, giving them 12.
The game progressed, but only the Hawks scored: 30, 36, 42 and then 44 points compared to the Barracudas 12 points at the end of the match. The flying Hawks kept the unstoppable, seafaring Barracudas at bay.
They proved no match for the soaring Hawks, who comfortably captured the Virgin Islands Football Championship by 44 to 12, on Sunday, Jan. 28, at the University of the Virgin Islands field, St. Croix.
Before celebrating and refreshing themselves with fruits, snacks and fluids, all members of the Barracudas and Hawk entourages greeted each other, shaking hands and hugging in some instances, as they passed by. The two teams then posed for photos together.
"They scored first; they jumped on us. We were not aggressive, but we got our act together," said CAHS Coach Irving Beazer. "They are a very well coached team," he said.
SCEC Barracudas Coach Sgt. Malik Carlos, gathering with his troop after the game, pointed out their errors, but he praised them for their impressive efforts. "Some of you came out of the game mentally," he began. "You beat yourselves." But then Sgt. Carlos, before identifying and praising players for executing good plays, added, "We came together as a team. We found players who had never played before. We had to reform equipment. You have learned everything you should be learning. We went from nothing to this – we did win two games straight," the Barracudas new coach said.
The Virgin Islands Scholastic Football League started in December 2017. Along with the CAHS and SCEC teams, the St. Croix Central High School Caribs and the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Rays participated in the league.
I'm sorry but this article is downright comical.


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January 25, 2015 in Drama
First Hit: Because Patrick Stewart is so much better than rest of cast the film comes off very uneven.
Stewart playing a former ballet star and current Juilliard ballet professor named Tobi Powell is being interviewed by Lisa (Carla Gugino) and her husband Mike (Matthew Lillard) under the guise of a dissertation on the history of dance in New York City in the 1960's.
As the interview proceeds it is clear this isn't historical research on dance but of something else. Most all of the film takes place in Powell's apartment. This means that the dialogue and acting must be crisp, meaningful and dynamically interesting.
Unfortunately the actors are not well matched and therefore this film becomes uneven quickly. Only Stewart seems to get the importance of making the dialogue dynamic.
Stewart is the standout in this film. Gugino is OK but doesn't bring enough to her role to make it work. Lillard makes attempts to match Stewart's level but I think the script falls a little short. Stephen Belber both wrote and directed this film. From a scripting point of view the idea is a good one but the unevenness of the script and execution by the actors brings down this film.
Overall: In the end this film fell a little flat.
Tags: Carla Gugino, film, film review, film reviews, films, Matthew Lillard, movie, movie review, movie reviews, movies, Patrick Stewart, Stephen Belber


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using MVCForum.Domain.DomainModel;

namespace MVCForum.Website.ViewModels
{
    public class PopularTagViewModel
    {
        public Dictionary<string, int> PopularTags { get; set; }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Do you want to disappoint Tilda Swinton? No, of course you don't. Over the weekend, the actress took part in a Reddit AMA to promote her new film Snowpiercer. During the session she gave many charming and informative answers to a wide variety of questions. Asked about an unappreciated movie of hers that she hopes more people might see, she wrote enthusiastically about Erick Zonca's 2008 film Julia.
The movie, inspired by John Cassavetes' Gloria, features Swinton in the lead role as a woman who kidnaps a young boy in hopes of ransoming him for a large amount of money. Below, read her comments, and watch the trailer for the film.
There are only so many worthwhile storylines you can wring out of a premise before the concept starts growing stale, and it's because of this that I approached the airing of Dexter's third season with severe trepidation. The knockout first two seasons had already tackled some pretty hefty topics, both of which tied in significantly with Dexter's past and current struggles. What else was there left to explore in the life of Dexter…? A lot, apparently. Season 3 of Dexter may take a little while to get going, but it does so only to make the payoff that much more satisfying. The build-up of the relationship between Dexter and Miguel Prado (played by Jimmy Smits) introduces a fascinating dynamic to the show, and seeing how it factors into Dexter's slow but progressive emotional transformation is as engaging as ever. Unlike some people, I probably wouldn't call Dexter one of the best shows on television, but it's solid trashy fun that has a brain to boot. My only real frustration with it stems from Deb, Dexter's unbelievably annoying sister. Hopefully, the fourth season of the show will include her dying in a horrifically graphic and painful fashion. Fingers crossed!
Notable Extras: DVD & Blu-ray – Interviews and book excerpts from "Dexter by Design".
What? Exclusive 60-minute cast Q&A panel from Comic-Con.


Olib, with a town bearing the same name, is part of the western Zadar archipelago overgrown by maquis and especially black pine. It was inhabited in Roman times already, and is mentioned by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos in the 10th century.
The island of Olib is a small island which belongs to the Zadar archipelago, situated in the Adriatic Sea east of the island of Silba.
Olib has been inhabited since Roman times, and in the 10th century it was mentioned under the name of Aloip. On the west coast there is the largest bay and the Olib port, while on the east coast there is the Slatinica port. The tower Kaštel dating from the 16th century is located at the entrance to Olib port. This is one of the lowest islands in the whole Zadar archipelago with its highest peak Kalac (only 74 m).
Besides fish bought from the local fishermen, quality homemade oil, wine and cheese can be bought from the locals.


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Extra Warmth - This temperature weight is best suited for those who tend to get cold. Great for people who sleep by themselves and tend to like a lot of covers.


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Does the Hall of Fame hate John Sterling?
Drew Sarver· 1 year ago
Yes, listening to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman announce a game can drive you up a wall. However, just like with our brothers and sisters, it's all right for us to criticize/pick on them, but nobody else better try it! And, that brings me to want to stand up for John Sterling vs. the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In case you missed it, and it was easy to miss it since the announcement came right on the heels of the World Series, the Hall of Fame officially released its ballot for broadcasters.
And the nominees are…not John Sterling
The nominees for the Hall's 2020 Ford C. Frick Award ballot are: Joe Castiglione, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ken Harrelson, Pat Hughes, Ned Martin, Mike Shannon, and another former Yankees' broadcaster, Dewayne Staats. Each nominee is a team broadcaster (the 2021 award is for a network broadcaster).
The voters are past winners Marty Brennaman, Bob Costas, Jaime Jarrin, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Tim McCarver, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel, Vin Scully, Bob Uecker, and Dave Van Horne. Former sports media columnist Barry Horn and historians Ted Patterson, Curt Smith and David J. Halberstam (the former broadcaster, not the late author) round out the voting committee.
It's a disgrace that John Sterling isn't on the ballot. Harrelson's inclusion on the ballot makes me doubt the whole voting process. "The Hawk" is one of the WORST all-time announcers in the history of any sport. He was nearly unlistenable when he was part of the Yankees broadcast crew from 1987-1988. Sure, we laughed when he said "jelly leg" and "duck snort"…and then he went back to the Chicago White Sox and became an all-time clown.
It was the "good guys" (White Sox) vs. "bad guys" (opponents). He blurted out his trademark obnoxious call of "He gone" when a player struck out, and he so openly rooted for Chicago that he made Phil Rizzuto sound like he hated the Yankees. But, enough about that joke of a broadcaster.
It is High, it is Far…
Sterling isn't everyone's cup of tea, but except for his daughter's wedding and a recent bout of illness, he has been on the air every day since the Yankees made him their No. 1 voice in the radio booth in 1989.
He has added flair to a game that can drag on for hours with 6,000+ pitches thrown. Sterling's trademark home run call – "It is high, it is far, it is gone! – is legendary. WFAN, ESPN, the MLB Network, etc., replay his calls on a regular basis.
And, of course, he upped his home run call to include homages to the players. "An A-Bomb for A-Rod" (Alex Rodriguez), "Never nervous, Yangervis" (Solarte), and "All Rise" (Aaron Judge) are just a few of his more memorable taglines.
What is a Yankees' win without his boisterous call of "Yankees win…Thaaaaaaaaaaaa Yankeeeees win!", especially in a postseason situation!
The 81-year old's eyesight isn't what it used to be and I've lost count how many times someone hit a "home run" that went foul or landed in an outfielder's glove. But, his enthusiasm and love for the game has always been there. He's a fabulous storyteller and he's someone who's not afraid to criticize a Yankees player or manager. He's a great ambassador for the team as well.
Simply put, he's an icon; one that deserves recognition in Baseball's Hall of Fame. You can't predict baseball, Suzyn, and you can't predict the Hall of Fame, either.


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What's the best Sonic game to recommend to a newcomer?
Is it still conceivable that, in 2018, there are gamers out there who have zero experience of Sonic the Hedgehog? As in, they've never seen any gameplay footage, and their only knowledge of Sonic is that he's a blue hedgehog? (That is, if they've even heard of him at all!) Picture that person, and then work out which would be the […]
Is it still conceivable that, in 2018, there are gamers out there who have zero experience of Sonic the Hedgehog? As in, they've never seen any gameplay footage, and their only knowledge of Sonic is that he's a blue hedgehog? (That is, if they've even heard of him at all!) Picture that person, and then work out which would be the best Sonic game to recommend to them – a title that perfectly captures the magic of the franchise and shows the full spectrum of everything the chilli dog-loving mascot has to offer.
It's hard isn't it? I mean, when I look back at the games that first won my heart, I'd be harking back to the Megadrive era – the likes of Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic and Knuckles, etc. But the franchise has evolved so much since then. Sonic 2 is a classic title, but in the 26 years since its release, an awful lot has happened in the interminable war between the 'blue blur' and his nemesis Doctor Robotneggman. Sonic 2006 for example – love it or hate it – occupies an entirely different universe of gaming.
Sonic 2006 is in a league of its own.
Sure, there are the fan favourites. I'm thinking of the likes of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and even (not sure why) the divisive Sonic Heroes from the mid naughties, with its slightly clunky gameplay, ropey graphics and no less than 12 playable characters. But people still seem to like it, so I won't moan. The point about these faves is that they're pretty atypical. In the Sonic Adventure games, you can only play as Sonic for one sixth of the story. And they both lack the 2D side-scrolling moments that made Sonic a standout franchise at the dawn of the nineties.
So then you can go to the other extreme. With 2010's Sonic 4: Episodes I & II the developers tried to capture the essence of the Megadrive classics, whilst incorporating the features that had proven successful in the 3D era, such as Sonic's homing attack and the top-notch graphics. However, these titles were slightly hampered by some questionable 'ball physics' and a heavily diluted story, although I must confess that I am a gamer who will defend Sonic 4 to anybody. I think it's a solid effort. But is it the best Sonic game to recommend to a newcomer? Probably not.
The gorgeous Sonic 4: Episode II.
Sonic Colors is a contender, though. This game was exclusive to the Nintendo Wii in 2010, and is a rare example of a 3D Sonic game that was almost universally liked. It was fun, vibrant, creative… It introduced new gameplay elements such as the Wisps, which granted special powers and added some intriguing variety to the various mission attempts.
The thing about Sonic Colors, though, is that it was only available on the Nintendo Wii, and in fact it still is. And the Nintendo Wii is a defunct console. So for a newcomer to play Sonic Colors, they will either have to already possess such console, or go out and buy a second-hand one, which isn't ideal. Moreover, I may be alone in this view, but I don't think the Wii controller is 'the best' for operating a title such as Colors. Okay, you can substitute the Gamecube controller if you really want, but it still lacks the comfort of the PS4 or, heck, even the Xbox One. So there's also a certain learning curve in this respect.
Okay, so what are we left with? 2008's Sonic Unleashed is a game that's loved by many, but I find it so hard and infuriating that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Sonic Mania is great, but again it's 'restricted' to the format of the Megadrive era. Sonic Forces is solid, but lacking in overall substance. Sonic Lost World is worthy of praise, but arguably breaks with tradition a bit too much. And goodness knows what Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is meant to be.
The perfect blend?
Therefore, all things considered, I would have to cite 2011's Sonic Generations as the best Sonic game to recommend to a newcomer. It was created as a celebratory release to mark the franchise's 20th anniversary in 2011, and it features an almost equal balance of 3D platforming and 2D side-scrolling, re-imagining some of the best levels from the past with a modern day spin. There's also enough of a story for those who appreciate narrative-driven games, and heck, you can even unlock the original Sonic the Hedgehog game if your noob really wants to learn about the hero's origins. Plus, on top of all this, Generations is generally a fun and enjoyable title, with a bare minimum of cringe, bugs and general frustration (even if Tails' helium voice borders on the ridiculous.)
Another great thing about Generations is that there are currently many ways to experience it – PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS. And I'm sure it's one of those games that will make a resurgence on the platforms of the future, so save a slot on your PS5's hard drive.
But tell me what you think. Would a Sonic Generations recommendation be a grave mistake? Is Sonic 3D Blast the tip of the iceberg when it comes to quality? Are you one of the people who thinks that Sonic Heroes is wonderful? And if so, why? WHY?? I don't get it!!
Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading 🙂
Posted on October 2, 2018 0 By Al Survive	Sonic Posted in Sonic Tagged #featured, Sonic
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Making money from Open Source SoftwareHow we do it?
RavenDB is a document database.
It is about a decade old.
The server is released under the AGPL / commercial license.
We offer free community / developer licenses without any AGPL hindrance.
The RavenDB client APIs are licensed under the MIT license.
RavenDB (the product) is created by Hibernating Rhinos (the company).
I created RavenDB because I couldn't not to. It was an idea that had to go out of my head. I looked up the details, and toward the end of 2008 I started to work on it as a side project. At the time I was involved in five or six active open source projects, just got my NHibernate Profiler product to a stable ground and was turning the idea of getting deeper into databases in my head for a while. So I sat down and wrote some code.
I was just doing some code doodling and it turned into deep design discussion and at some point I was actually starting to actively look for hep building the user interface for a "done" project. That was in late Feb 2010. Somehow, throwing some code at the compiler become over a journey that lasted over a year in which I worked 16+ hours days on this project.
Around Mar 2010 I knew that I had a problem. Continuing as I did before, just writing a lot of code and trying to create an OSS project out of it would eat up all my time (and money). The alternatives were actually making money from RavenDB or stop working on it completely. And I didn't want to stop working on it.
I decided that I had to make an effort to actually make a product out of this project. And that meant that I had to sit down and plan how I would actually make money from it. I firmly believe that "build it, and they will come" is a nice slogan, but it doesn't replace planning, strategy and (at least some) luck.
I already knew that I couldn't sustain the project as a labor of love, and donations are not a sustainable way (or indeed, a way) to make money.
Sponsorship seemed like it would be unlikely unless I got one of my clients to start using RavenDB and then have them pay me to maintain it. That seemed… unethical, so wasn't an option.
Services / consulting was something that I was already doing quite heavily, and was quite successful at it. But this is a labor intensive way of making money and it would compete directly with the time that it would take to build RavenDB itself.
Support is a model I really don't like, because it put me in a conflict of interest. I take pride in what I do, and I wanted to make something that would be easy to use and not require support.
Open Core / N versions back – are models that I don't like. The open core model often leaves out critical functionality (such as security) and the N versions back mean that you give the users you most want to have the best experience (since that would encourage them to give you money) the worst experience (here are all our bugs that we fixed but won't give to you yet).
That left us with dual licensing as a way to make money. I chose the AGPL because it was an OSI approved license that isn't friendly for commercial use, leading most users who want to use it to purchase a commercial license.
So far, this is fairly standard, I believe.
I decided that RavenDB is going to be OSS, but from most other aspects, I'm going to treat it as a commercial product. It had a paid team working on it from the moment it stopped being a proof of concept. It meant that we are intentionally set out to make our money on the license. This, in turn had a lot of implications. Support is defined as a Cost Center in Hibernating Rhinos. In other words, one of the things that we routinely do in Hibernating Rhinos is look at how we can reduce support.
One way of doing that, of course, is not have support, or staff the support team with students or the cheapest off shore option available. Instead, our support staff consists of decided support engineers and the core team that builds RavenDB. This serves several goals. First, it means that when you raise a support issue with us, you get someone who knows what they are doing. Second, it means that the core team is directly exposed (and affected by) the support issues that are raised. I have structured things in this manner explicitly because having an insight into actual deployment and customer behavior means that the team is directly aware of the impact of their work. For example, writing an error message that will explain some issue to the user matters, because it would reduce the time an engineer spends on the phone troubleshooting (not fun) and increases the amount of time they can sling code around (fun).
We had a major update between versions 3.5 and 4.0, taking almost 3 years to finish. The end result was a vastly improved performance, the ability to run on multiple platforms and a whole host of other cool stuff. But the driving force behind it all? We had to make a significant change to our architecture in order for us to reduce the support burden. It worked, and the need for support went down by over 80%.
Treating RavenDB as a commercial product from the get go, even though it had an OSS license, meant that we focused on a lot of the stuff that is mostly boring. Anything from docs, setup and smoothing out all the bumps in the road, etc. The AGPL was there as a way to have your cake and eat it too. Be an OSS project with all the benefits that this entails. Confidence from our users about what we do, entry to the marketplace, getting patches from users and many more. Just having the ability to directly talk to our community with the code in front of all of us has been invaluable.
At the same time, we sell licenses to RavenDB, which is how we make money. The idea is that we provide value above and beyond whatever it is our license cost, and we can do that because we are very upfront and obvious in how we get paid.
We have a few users who have chosen to go with the AGPL version and skip paying us. I would obviously rather get paid, but I have laid out the rules of the game when I started playing and that is certainly within the rules. I believe that we'll meet these users as customers in the future, it isn't really that different from the community edition which we offer freely. In both cases, we aren't getting paid, but it expands our reach, which will usually get us more customers in the long run.
We have been doing this for a decade and Hibernating Rhinos currently has about 30 people working full time on it, so it is certainly working so far !
Richard Stallman is, without a doubt, one of the most influential people on the Open Source movement. I think it is fitting in a post like this to look for a bit at some of his reasoning around what Open Source is.
The essential freedoms he talks about are "users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software". That was the intent behind the GNU, the GPL and much of the initial drive for Open Source. Rather, to be exact, the lack of these freedoms drove a lot of the proponents of Open Source.
I find the philosophy behind Open Source is a good match to my own view in many respects. But it is really important to understand that the point behind all of this is the user's freedom, not the developer. In many cases (such as developers tools), the distinction isn't obvious, but it is an important one. The developer in this case is the entity that developed the software and released it. The user is whoever got hold of the software, however that was done.
As you might have noticed above, Stallman's reasoning explicitly call out free speech and not free beer. In other words, nothing is constructed as to prevent or forbid paying for Open Source software. So far, this is great, but the problem with selling Open Source Software is that one of the essential freedoms is the ability to redistribute the software to 3rd parties. Let's assume that party A is selling licenses for OSS project at 1,000$. The OSS license is explicitly okay with the first buyer of the software (party B) immediately turning around and selling the software for 500$. And the first buyer from party B to sell it onward for 250$, etc.
In practical terms, this means that you would expect the price of OSS projects to be near the distribution cost. When the GPL came about in 1986, that meant floppy disks as the primary mode of data transfer. There was a very real cost to distributing software, especially on mass. With today's network, the cost of distributing software is essentially nil for most projects.
In my previous post on the topic, I mentioned that this cause a real problem for OSS projects. Building software projects cost a lot of time and money. Sometimes you get such projects that are funded for the "common good". The Linux Kernel is one such project, but while other examples exists (jQuery, I believe), they are rare. If you want to make money and work on OSS projects, this isn't really a good way to go about doing this.
If you want to make money and not do OSS, you are likely to run into a lot of pressure from the market. In many environments, being an OSS project gives you a huge leg up in marketing, users and mindshare. Conversely, not being OSS is a major obstacle for your intended users. This pretty much forces you toward an OSS business model, as described in my previous post.
A really interesting aspect of OSS business models is the use of the core principles of Open Source as a monetization strategy. Very rarely you'll find that there is something that interesting / novel in a particular project. It is the sum of the individual pieces that make it valuable. Sometimes you do have projects with secret sauce that they want to protect, but for the most part, keeping the source closed isn't done to hide something. It is done so you'll be able to sell the software. Dual licensing with a viral license take a very different approach for the same problem.
Instead of keeping the source secret and selling licenses to that, you release your software under an OSS license, but one that require your potential customers to release their source code in turn. Remember how I said that most projects don't have anything interesting / novel in them? That was from a technical point of view. From a business perspective, that is a a wholly different matter. And if you aren't in the business of selling software, you probably don't want to release your code (which include many sensitive details about your organization and its behavior).
An example that would hopefully make it clear is the Google ranking algorithm. Knowing exactly how Google ranks pages would be a huge boon to any SEO effort. Or, if you consider the fact that the actual algorithm probably wouldn't make sense without the data that drives it, consider the case of a credit rating agency. Knowing exactly how your credit score is computed can allow to manipulate it, and the exact details matter. So you can take it for granted that businesses would typically want to avoid Open Sourcing their internal systems.
The dual licensing with a viral license utilize this desire to charge money for OSS projects. Instead of using the software under a viral OSS license, customers pay to purchase a commercial license, which typically have non of the freedoms associated with Open Source Projects.
Here is the dichotomy at the heart of this business model. In order to make money from OSS projects, companies chose viral licenses so their users will pay to have less freedom (and its obligations). There Is No Such Thing As Free Lunch still applies.
Recent moves by Redis and MongoDB, for example, show how this apply in practice. Redis' Common Clause prevent selling the software (directly or via SaaS) and MongoDB's SSPL is used to prevent hosting of MongoDB by cloud providers without paying a license fee. The problems that both of them (and others) have run into is that new deployment models (SaaS in particular) has rendered the previous "protections" from viral licenses obsolete.
I find it refreshingly honest that Redis' license change has explicitly acknowledged that this isn't a Open Source license any longer. And SSPL was almost immediately classified as non OSI license. MongoDB seem to think it is meeting the criteria for an Open Source license, but the OSI seem to disagree with that.
I wrote this post (and had an interesting time researching OSS history and license discussions) to point out this dissonance between a license that has more freedom (as the GPL / AGPL are usually described) and being more limited in how you can use it in practice. This is long enough, so I'll have a separate post talking about how we approach both licensing and making money from Open Source.
Open Source is a funny business model, first you give away the crown jewels, then you try to get some money back. I have been working on OSS projects for close to twenty years now. I have been making my living off of OSS projects for most of that time. It is a very interesting experience, because of a simple problem. After you gave away everything, what do you charge for? I wrote this post because of this article and this twit. The article talks about the Open Core model and how it is usually end up. The twit talks about the reaction of (some) people in the marketplace when they are faced with the unconscionable request to pay for software.
The root problem is that there are two very different forces at play here.
Building software is expensive. And that is only the coding part*.
There is a very strong expectation that software should be freely available.
* If you also need to do documentation, double that. If you need to do deployment (multi platform, docker, k8s, ), do that again. If you need to support multiple versions, you guess it. There is also the website, graphics, GDPR compliance and a dozen other stuff that you have to do if you want to go beyond the some code on GitHub repository stage. There is so much more to a software project than just slinging code, and most of these things are not fun to do and take a whole lot of time. Which means that you have to pay people to do so.
When I say very strong expectation, I mean just that. To the point where if the code isn't available, it is a huge barrier to entry. So in practice, you usually have to open source the project, or at least enough of it to satisfy people.
Reading the last statement again, it sounds very negative, but that isn't meant to be the case. A major advantage of being Open Source project is that you get a lot of credibility from potential users. To start with, people go in and go through your code. They do strange things like talk to you about it, offer advice, patches and pull requests. They make the software better. They also take your software and do some really amazing things with it. For the past decade and a half, my default position has been that software I write is opened by default. I have yet to regret that decision.
An OSS project can typically get a lot more traction than a closed sourced one, these days. Which create a lot of pressure to open source things. And that, in turn, lead us to a simple problem. How can you make money from OSS projects?
Labor of love – in some cases, you have people who simply enjoy coding and sharing their work. The problem here is that eventually you'll run out of time to donate to the project and have to find some means to pay for it.
Donations – this is how people typically imagine OSS projects are paid for. I have tried that a few times in the past, I don't believe that I made enough money to go hit the movie theater midday.
Sponsorship (small) – sometimes a project is important enough for a company that they are willing to pay for it. That means either hiring the major contributors or paying them in some manner. This is a great way to get paid while working on what you are passionate for, especially because you can usually complete all the taxes that a project requires (from a website to the documentation).
Sponsorship (large) – I'm thinking about something like Apache, Linux foundation, etc. These typically reserved to stuff that is core infrastructure and trying to build something like that from scratch seems… hard.
Services / Consulting – I did that actively for several years. Going to customers, helping them integrate / customize various projects that I was involved in. It was a lot of fun, but also exhausting. It's basically being a consultant, but you are focusing on a few projects. Here, OSS work is basically awesome for building your reputation and showing off your skills. You can build a business around that, but that require having a large number of users and it subject to the usual constraints of consulting companies. The most limiting of which is that the company is an charging some % of the costs of employees, and the % can't be too high (otherwise the employees will just do that directly).
The common thread among all the options above? None of them are viable options if you have VC money. The problem with all of these options is that (even in the case of something like the Linux Kernel), the ROI just isn't worth it.
So what can you do, if you believe that your project should be OSS (for marketing, political or strongly held believes reasons) and you want a business model that can show significant returns?
Support – Offer the project itself for free, but charge for support. For certain industries and environments, that works great. But it does suffer from a problem, if you don't have to buy support, why would you? In such cases, usually there is a conflict of interest here. Making the software simpler and easier to use will cannibalize the support that the company relies on. Red Hat is a good example of that. Note that a large part of what Red Hat does is the grunge work. Back porting patches, ensuring compatibility, etc. The kind of things that needs to be done, but you won't get people doing for fun. To my knowledge, however, there are very few, if any, examples of other companies that successfully monetize this approach.
Open Core – in this model, you offer the core pieces for all, but keep the features that matter most to the customers with the most money closed in some fashion. In a sense, this is basically what the Support model is doing, for customers who need support. GitLab, MySQL, Redis and Neo4J are common examples of open core models. The idea is that for development and small fries (people who would typically not pay much / at all) will get you the customers that will pay for the high end features. The idea here is to get people to purchase licenses, similar to how commercial software works.
N versions back – A more aggressive example of the open core model is simply having two editions. An open source one and a commercial one. The major difference is that the open source one is delayed behind the commercial one. Couchbase, for example, is licensed under such a model.
Dual licensing with viral license – in this model, the idea is that the code is offered under a license which isn't going to be acceptable for the target customers. Leading them to purchase the commercial edition. This model also mandates that the company is able to dual license the code, so any outside contributions require a copyright assignment to the company.
Cloud hosting – in this model, the software itself is offered under OSS license, but the most common use case is to use the cloud offering (and thus pay for the software). WordPress is a good example of that. The idea is that while people can install your software on their own machines, paying the company to do that is the more cost effective solution.
I'm sure that I have skipped many other options for making money out of OSS projects, but the ones I mentioned seems to be the most popular ones right now. I got a lot more to talk about this topic, so there will be most posts coming.


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By FHCDelegates
Submitted to: Social Humanitarian & Cultural Committee
Addressing the Topic of: Combating Racism And Xenophobia
Country: Republic of Estonia
Delegate: Rebecca Dooley
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Estonia, a small nation in Northern Europe, enjoys a great level of democracy and personal freedom, and as a result, progressive ideals have been allowed to flourish. Due to the fact that the majority of the population is not particularly religious, many Estonians share cultural or historical backgrounds, and all citizens benefit from a revitalized economy, there are few causes of tensions between different groups in Estonia. However, mirroring the global trend, Estonia has seen a rise in right-wing social groups. Unlike many other countries, however, this trend is likely not caused by the global refugee crisis—Estonia takes in a few refugees due to our own initiative and even fewer due to European Union's initiatives. The small number of refugee applicants means that there has been no major emergence of anti-immigrant policy, in fact, Estonia has made it easier for employers to hire foreign workers and for those workers to obtain temporary visas. These workers are more relevant to Estonian society than refugees; because of the easily obtainable work visas, thousands of people migrate to Estonia specifically to work. Because of this, policy has needed updating to protect the rights of these immigrant workers, as concerns for their well-being have been raised.
Estonia has additionally made efforts to minimize the risk of racist and xenophobic attitudes by investing in campaigns like No Hate Speech. Just three years ago, Estonia allocated over 110,000 euros to the Ministry of Education and Research to set up mobile counseling and educational groups for immigrants, create guides on the prevention of xenophobia for teachers, and aid for students arriving under the EU migrant plan. This money also goes to different schools and organizations that teach Estonian to children and illiterate adults wishing to find work.
Delegate Name: Rebecca Dooley


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The number of mortgage approvals has increased in the year to February according to new data from e.surv.
Manchester has been confirmed as the top migration destination for Londoners leaving the capital.
Buyer affordability in the property market has improved once more as wages grow above house prices according to Rightmove's latest House Price Index.
It's been a busy start to the year for the property market according to the latest mortgage data. January's figures highlighted some 66,350 mortgage approvals last month, including a high proportion of completions (27%) from buyers with small deposits, such as first-time buyers.


Just a quick note to let you know that I've got the latest episode of The Targ up! This week is Episode 17: A Tale to Tell. I try something different this week...this time, instead of doing a typical radio break between songs, I tell a whole story...about my centuries long quest to get a multiregional DVD player!
Other than that, I'm just lamenting the amount of money I spent yesterday. In addition to the aforementioned DVD player, I also bought myself a VCR. It may surprise you to know that I haven't upgraded all of my movies to DVD yet...and I still have a bunch of videos I watch from time-to-time. Besides, with season premiere season just around the corner, I wanted to be able to start watching Family Guy again.
And, I bought a vacuum cleaner. That was a flat out necessity, as my carpet was starting to get pretty vile.
And, as has become my way whenever I make a trip to Edmonton, I wind up blowing $100 on DVDs. This time, I splurged and got those ultra-rare Cadillacs of special editions...Criterion DVDs. I got Criterion's releases of Armageddon and Monty Python's Life of Brian. Each one was $50.
I can hear you all the way from where you are..."$50 FOR ARMA-FREAKIN'-GEDDON??" What can I say? It's one of those DVDs I've been lusting after ever since the medium was invented.
Now go listen to The Targ.