Saturday, July 16, 2005
Common Sense Advisory, Inc., an independent business globalization, internationalization, and localization and translation research and consulting firm, announces the release of its list of the top 20 language service providers (LSPs) and its estimate of the size of worldwide translation and software localization market. The list, which includes Lionbridge (LIOX) and L-3/Titan (LLL) is based on the firm’s Human Delivered Service Company (HDSC) Index, a sophisticated assessment model that evaluates the business fundamentals, market strength, and service offerings of companies that depend on people to produce most of their revenue. The ranking of translation companies reflects recent industry mergers and acquisitions including Lionbridge’s acquisition of Bowne Global Solutions, a unit of Bowne & Co, (BNE).
Common Sense Advisory also estimates the current worldwide translation and localization market at US$ 8.8 billion, reaching a total of US$ 12 billion in 2010. “This figure is particularly relevant at a time where the market seems to be entering a new wave of consolidation,” comments analyst Renato Beninatto.
Explains Common Sense Advisory founder and CEO, Donald A. DePalma, “Many language services companies want to get bigger. Our certification model lets us benchmark one company against comparable language services firms, against offshore providers providing a full range of engineering and localization offerings, and against the service firms that make up our own innovative HDSC Index. This information is valuable to any procurement department – not to mention to any LSP thinking about where it fits in the marketplace relative to its competitors.”
Ranking of Top 20 Translation Companies is now available for free download.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Dale Ogden, a 2010 California gubernatorial candidate, talks with Wikinews reporter Mike Morales about his platform.
Ogden is a member of the United States’ Libertarian Party.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
The Spanish word “tortuga” means “turtle.” But in the wake of the New Orleans disaster, the USS Tortuga is helping other animals.
For nearly two weeks now, sailors from Tortuga’s repair division have devoted much of their time during this disaster relief operation to ensure the health and comfort of displaced pets.
September 4th, just after the ship moored to a pier at Naval Support Activity (NSA) New Orleans, HT1(SW) Mark Hanley and DC1(SW) Antony Graves gathered materials from the repair shop on board to construct a kennel along the levee. The facility they made soon became a popular shelter for the homeless animals of the storm.
Tortuga’s search and rescue team brought aboard more than 170 displaced citizens during this past week, providing them with food, water, medical aid and a place to sleep.
Tortuga’s makeshift kennel, named ‘Camp Milo & Otis,’ has housed as many as 90 dogs, eight cats, one rabbit, one guinea pig, a pair of parakeets and a flightless pigeon during the past week of operation.
Currently, there are 14 dogs that remain in Tortuga’s care, as many of the other pets have been taken to animal shelters in the area for extra medical attention, or been claimed by their owners upon arrival to Tortuga. The pets that Tortuga has registered have all been in the hands of professional veterinarians assigned to provide expert medical attention to the members of Camp Milo & Otis.
Dr. Kelly Crowdis and Dr. Latina Gambles, both from Tuskegee University and Christian Veterinary Missions, have treated many of the pets for infection, dehydration, malnourishment and broken bones at the Camp during the past week.
“The animals were bathed and assessed before physical interaction with the sailors,” said Dr. Crowdis. “They’ve been given immunizations, antibiotics and medications based on their medical needs.”
Dr. Crowdis added, “What these sailors have done on their own has been such a heart-warming thing. As an animal lover, it is so comforting to know that everyone cares about the animals in addition to the human lives rescued from the storm. I’m very pleased with these guys for taking the initiative to construct this kennel.”
Graves, Hanley and other members of their division have consistently bathed, fed, walked and given special attention to every dog, every day.
“We play with them,” said Hanley. “We take them out of their kennels to give them attention every day. And we’ll continue to do that for as long as our ship’s mission keeps us here.”
September 11th, the Agricultural Center at Louisiana State University donated supplies to “Camp Milo & Otis” in support of Tortuga’s efforts to help the animal victims.
”We got medical supplies, bowls, food, cages, leashes, collars, toys, cat litter and cleaning supplies from these people yesterday,” said Graves. “It’s nice to know that so many people out there have heard about what our ship is doing, and responded by donating so much to support us the best they can.”
A photo gallery of unclaimed pets is on the USS Tortuga’s web site.
As part of disaster plans, the Department of Homeland Security has also deployed Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams to provide medical care to pets and livestock, as well as provide any needed veterinary medical care for search and rescue dogs.
There are over 3,850 animals being sheltered around the state. If someone is looking for a pet they should contact their nearest Humane Society or go online to http://www.petfinder.org// . More information is also available at http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu//.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
American and European scientists say the upgraded Hubble space telescope has spotted the oldest galaxies ever seen. The images were taken with the telescope’s new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in August this year.
The galaxies are about 13 billion light years from Earth, meaning they formed less than one billion years after the Big Bang — the cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent development of the universe.
WFC3 was installed in May this year, during a mission by the space shuttle Atlantis to repair and upgrade Hubble. Experts say the new instrument will let them peer even further back in time, to when the universe was in its infancy. The more distant a galaxy is, the more its light is “redshifted” due to expansion of the universe. Light from the furthest galaxies is shifted to infrared wavelengths invisible to the human eye, but WFC3 can detect these.
The new image was taken in August, in the same region as a 2004 visible light image known as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The 2004 photo previously showed the most distant galaxies, but the new infrared pictures from the WFC3 allow even more remote galaxies to be seen.
| At these distances, you’re really looking back in time, like you have a time machine | ||
Capturing the image took four days, and the total exposure lasted 173,000 seconds. In the three months since, twelve scientific papers have been submitted on it. On Tuesday one of these confirmed the galaxies as the furthest ever seen.
They are also the oldest, with the light from them having taken around 13 billion years to reach Earth.
“At these distances, you’re really looking back in time, like you have a time machine,” said Ray Villard, of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “Those things don’t exist anymore.”
The photo could be one of the ultimate achievements of the Hubble telescope, now almost twenty years old.
“These new observations are likely to be the most sensitive images Hubble will ever take,” said Professor Jim Dunlop of the University of Edinburgh.
The servicing mission in May extended the telescope’s life by around five years, but it is scheduled to be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2014. This will use infrared imaging and have a greater collecting area than Hubble, and it is thought that it may be able make out objects from just 100 million years after the Big Bang.
“We’ve really pushed Hubble to its limits,” said Villard, “and we need a bigger space telescope to go back even farther. It shows us there are really exciting things to look for with the Webb telescope.”
<br\>This image, taken in August 2009 by the Hubble telescope with its WFC3 upgrade, shows the oldest galaxies ever seen. Image: NASA, ESA.
<br\>Astronaut working on Hubble during Servicing Mission 4 in May 2009, which included the installation of WFC3. Image: NASA.
The Hubble Space Telescope, seen from Space Shuttle Atlantis. Image: NASA.
Another image from WFC3, showing NGC 6302 — popularly known as the “Butterfly Nebula” Image: NASA, ESA.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
A magnitude 8.1 undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami that has killed at least fifteen people, including six children, in the Solomon Islands. Tsunami warnings have been issued for parts of Australia as well.
According to the US Geological Survey, the magnitude 8.0 quake struck Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 20:39:56 (UTC) about 45 km (25 mi) south-southeast of Gizo, New Georgia Islands, Solomon Islands, at a depth of 10 km.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The U.S. Senate passed a revised bailout bill designed to help the struggling U.S. financial economy, which has measures nearly identical to the bill rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday.
“Senate Democrats and Republicans believe it is essential that we work quickly on this important legislation to restore confidence to our financial system and strengthen the economy,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The new revisions include raising the FDIC insurance cap to $250,000, a move designed to please progressives. However, the $110 billion in tax breaks, earmarks and what has been called pork barrel spending is not offset by any increases in revenues and has added opposition to the bill from some Representatives in the House.
Earmarks added into the bailout bill included $192 million in tax rebates for the Virgin Islands rum industry, $148 million in tax cuts for the wool industry, $100 million tax cuts to the auto racing industry, and $48 million in Hollywood tax incentives.
Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, Steve Ellis, offered his explanation for the pork and earmarks added in. “People who support some of these provisions will forget about the $700 billion and concerns they may have on that, and say, ‘If you give me a few million in tax breaks for my constituents, I’ll go along'”.
The tactic seems to have worked, however, managing to flip enough votes to pass the bill.
“The inclusion of parity, tax extenders and the FDIC increases has caused me to reconsider my position,” said Representative Jim Ramstad (R Minnesota), who voted against the previous bill on Monday. “All three additions have greatly improved the bill.”
But Representative Marcy Kaptur (D Ohio) was not changing her no vote. “I will not support this legislation because it’s the wrong medicine,” she said.
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The Senate took H.R.1424, a bill originating in the House concerning “equity in the provision of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health plans, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment,” and extended it with the bailout provisions.
H.R.1424 was introduced on March 9, 2007, by Rep. Patrick Kennedy (RI-1) and had the support of First Lady Rosalind Carter. It is noted on the Congressional Website that “On 10/1/2008, the Senate passed H.R.1424 as the vehicle for the economic rescue legislation. In the EAS version of the bill (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by the Senate), Division A (pp.1-110) is referred to as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; Division B (pp. 110-255) is referred to as the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008; and Division C (pp. 255-441) is referred to as the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008.” It was not treated as an appropriations bill in the House.
There were two votes in the Senate. The first was to amend H.R.1424, which required 3/5 to be accepted, which it was. The second was a vote on the bill. Passage of the Bill required only a 1/2 majority. It was passed with 74 yeas and 25 nays. Senator Kennedy did not vote.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
An article in the February 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports on an unusual cause for an outbreak of low blood sugar among men in Singapore: illegal use of sexual performance enhancement drugs that were contaminated with a diabetes drug.
Between January and May 2008, 149 men and one woman between 19 and 97 (mean age 51) were admitted to five public hospitals for unexplained low blood sugar. Similar cases were reported in media reports from Hong Kong. Seven Singaporean patients remained in a coma because of prolonged sugar starvation of the brain, and four subsequently died. The diabetes drug glyburide was found in blood and/or urine samples in 85% of cases; 30% admitted having used illegal sexual performance enhancers.
The contaminated products were a counterfeit version of the drug Cialis (meant for the treatment of genuine erectile dysfunction), and three purported herbal preparation (the affected brands included Power 1 Walnut and Santi Bovine Penis Erecting Capsule). All four preparations additionally contained Viagra in varying concentrations. Two herbal products contained traces of the weight loss drug sibutramine, a compound related to amphetamines.
The drug packaging mentioned names of non-existent overseas production facilities, so the source of the contamination with the diabetes drug could not be established.
The authors underline the risks that is known to be associated with purchasing drugs from unreliable providers or from online resellers. The clandestine use of impotence drugs as sexual performance enhancers seems to have provided a good illustration of this problem. They further call for more efforts by national and international health and law enforcement agencies to curb the manufacturing, international transport and sales of untrustworthy medication.
September
30
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket has failed to place a DARPA demonstration payload into orbit, on its first flight into space. The rocket launched from Omelek Island, at 01:10 GMT on 21 March, just less than a year after its maiden flight which failed just seconds after launch.
The rocket, which is the first privately-funded liquid-fueled launch vehicle, was intended to place the payload into a low-Earth orbit, but all contact with the rocket was lost just over five minutes into the flight.
The first stage burn proceeded nominally, and separation occurred on schedule. As the first stage fell away from the second, it was observed to have impacted on the engine bell of the second stage. About five minutes into the flight, the second stage began to roll out of control. All data was lost at T+5 minutes, 5 seconds.
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By Guna Seelan
Ask any entrepreneur for a business idea, and you’ll seldom hear retail. Many businessmen see retail as too difficult, or too risky, and one of the main reasons for this is that they don’t know how to source wholesale goods. Sourcing wholesale goods is one of the major hurdles facing any prospective businessman looking to venture into the retail market. However, with the advent of the Internet, it has become easier now than ever to both source and sell products from wholesale suppliers. In practical terms, what this means is that it is now easier than ever to enter the retail market through wholesale channels. In this article, we will cover the finer points of sourcing wholesale goods for your business.
Wholesalers are often considered to be insider secrets, and it is very rarely public knowledge. When making initial enquiries, it is almost impossible to find out who the main wholesalers are in your market, because the retailers don’t want to give the game away. Supply products down the chain makes good money for everyone involved, and at end of the day the retailers are only middlemen, taking a cut from the price you pay. Why would they let you in on it? What you have to do is dig a little deeper if you want to find wholesale suppliers.
Wholesale suppliers rarely advertise in your face, and if you’re wanting to buy from a wholesaler you’re going to have to go through a lot of hard work finding them first. Since the Internet has become more widespread, it has of course hand an effect on the way we look for information, but more on that later. For the time being, the primary way in which you should source wholesalers is in business directories. Business directories and relevant trade magazines are the main haunts of wholesalers, who usually work with a stable customer base rather than trying to actively recruit new clients. Finding them in a business listing guide is probably one of the best ways to discover the contact information you need to get the ball rolling on your acquisition.
Another vital tool in sourcing wholesale products is the world wide web, also known as the Internet. Every wholesaler that is worth his salts will have a website (usually a very poor website), allowing you to access their contact information, or order a brochure. Additionally there are one or two wholesale marketplaces where buyers and sellers can meet to exchange wholesale goods. Get yourself online, and get digging beneath the surface if you want to source wholesale goods – if you look in the right places, you’ll soon find the suppliers you are looking for.
Sourcing wholesale goods has traditionally been quite a difficult process, but rewarding after you’ve achieved success. By sourcing the right wholesale supplier, your business can flourish, through a mutual respect for each other’s needs and the desires of the end consumer. Over time, the relationship built with your wholesaler will prove to be very profitable, and provided you’ve chosen wisely, very successful.
About the Author:
redwholesale.com
is a wholesale purchasing and wholesale selling portal for wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers.
Source:
isnare.com
Permanent Link:
isnare.com/?aid=182018&ca=Marketing
Friday, November 3, 2006
On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is St. Paul’s West (Ward 21). One candidate responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include John Adams, Tony Corpuz, Joe Mihevc (incumbent), and John Sewell.
For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.