Don't Believe Everything You See on YouTube: Par cutin Edition

I?d like to conduct an experiment someday. I?d like to gather together a group of experts in a particular field and show them a few popular science video clips relevant to their areas of expertise. Would they groan, howl and laugh as much as I did during these three short clips?

The sad fact is, even august purveyors of information can get things hysterically wrong. And I use the word ?hysterically? advisedly ? I mean they seem to be pining for disaster. They?re like the poor Angahuan tourist guide who, gazing upon the serene, extinct edifice of Par?cutin, said wistfully, ?It would be nice if the volcano would erupt again ? just a little bit.?

I feel you, amigo. I?ve said the same thing gazing into Mount St. Helens?s caldera.

Britannica and Discovery seem to have the same yearning. Watch these two clips, and you?ll see. You should watch them because they are of a cinder cone being born, and they are awesome, despite the bit o? wrong.

?Now it is dormant. Its activity seems to have come to an end. But we know that some volcanoes have remained inactive for hundreds, even thousands, of years, and then, unexpectedly, erupted again.?

Yeah, you just go on telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, buddy.

This next video comes with a trigger warning for those who become upset at egregious mispronunciation of Spanish words.

?It has not erupted since, but it?s not dead, either. At any moment, Par?cutin could erupt again.?

Translation: ?Doo-doo-DOOM. You?re all gonna diiiiieeeee!!!!!!!!!!! Ah-hahahahaha! It could happen any second! Mwa-ha-ha!?

These two videos combined inspired me to write a geopoem in the style of Buffalo Bill?s by ee cummings.

Paricutin's by Dana Hunter. A screenshot with the proper formatting, which WordPress hates and will not reproduce without more pleading and cajoling than I wish to engage in. Thank you, ee cummings.

Par?cutin?s
defunct
which used to
erupt rubblyrough-black
lava
and shoot onetwothreefourfive bombsjustlikethat
Jesus
it was a feisty one
and what i want to know is
how do you like your brandnew cinder cone
Se?or Pulido

The key term here is ?defunct.? Par?cutin is defunct. It is definitely deceased. It is an ex-active volcano. It?s a monogenetic volcano ? it shot its charge and is now resting in peace. So all of those announcers warning of possible future mayhem in dolorous tones ? they?re wrong. I hope the poem helps them remember this fact.

But I have good news for them ? the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Par?cutin is located in is definitely not defunct. We may not see it in our lifetimes, but a new cinder cone could pop up there at any moment. And it has plenty of volcanoes that go boom. There are several just around Mexico City alone, plus there?s the possibility that a cinder cone could rise up in a Mexico City suburb somewhere, bursting through someone?s living room floor in a fissure of fire, spewing molten rock all over the sofa and teevee, making life quite exciting for the residents and causing the neighborhood to undergo a rather drastic rezoning from residential to volcano. Is that not enough potential mayhem, pop sci program writers? Must you invent entirely fictitious possible future eruptions of Par?cutin in order to frighten viewers into watching?

Sadly, I suspect the answer is yes. We?ll probably never convince them otherwise ? fear sells, and well they know it. This is why I try to keep a large block of salt handy when watching science programming on the teevee ? or, in this case, on YouTube. But those errors, while egregious to those of us who know what a cinder cone actually does, were but minor quibbles compared to the howler in this next video. Seriously, I laughed so hard in the dead of night I thought my neighbor may come up to see what was wrong with me. Watch this, and see if you can spot what had tears of mirth streaming from my eyes.

Have you got it? If so, have you recovered yet? You were probably lulled by the fact it started out so beautifully factual ? I?d been sort of serenely enjoying the animations, nodding my head along to the story, thinking, ?Oh, yes, tremors must be very common along that belt,? and then bam. It?s like the narrator?s fact finder made a wrong turn at Albuquerque. And this happens:

?What had once been a peaceful cornfield was now a major volcano 3188 meters high. Par?cutin is the seventh largest volcano in the world.?

This will come as a nasty shock to volcanoes like Parinacota, which by elevation above sea level, is the 7th tallest according to the Global Volcanism Project. The number quoted is Par?cutin?s elevation above sea level, and the narrator fails even by that measure. 6348m is greater than 3188m by, like, a lot.

Par?cutin is awesome because it was a volcano we got to watch grow up from crack-in-the-ground to strapping young cinder cone, but it?s not even the highest volcanic summit on its own continent ? Pico de Orizaba is. Our poor Par? is dwarfed by literally every stratovolcano in the country. It?s only 424 meters (1391 feet) tall. Like all cinder cones, it?s short, and not terribly explosive. It only reached a VEI of 4 ? respectable, yeah, but ten times smaller than the May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, and it took nine years to achieve a tiny fraction of what St. Helens did in an afternoon. It?s not the seventh largest volcanic anything that I?m able to determine ? although I?d argue it?s in the top ten in coolness. I mean, it suddenly appeared in poor Se?or Pulido?s field and grew into a robust young volcano within a week, watched by people start-to-finish, and caught on film in the 1940s ? if that?s not cool, no volcano is cool, and we might as well just shut up shop right now and start talking about other geological things.

At the risk of making Rosetta Stones all volcanoes all the time, I?ll write up the true story of Par?cutin someday fairly soon ? and I hope that I can prove that a volcano doesn?t have to be among the biggest or most dangerous or liable to awaken at any time in order for its eruption to be one of the coolest geological events in history.

This spectacular nighttime time-exposure of M?xico's Par?cutin volcano in 1948 shows strombolian ejection of incandescent blocks and their trails as they roll down the slopes of the cone. Par?cutin is renowned as the volcano that was born in a cornfield in 1943. It grew to a height of more than 150 m within the first week of its appearance, and remained active until 1952. Photo by Carl Fries, 1948 (U.S. Geological Survey). Image and caption courtesy the Global Volcanism Program. I enter it as Exhibit A for why Par?cutin doesn't have to be potentially active or veryvery big in order to be cool.

I think we?ve also proved that respected names as well as unknown folk can be hilariously wrong about science. If you run across an error in any video clips you?re watching, send me a link ? you never know what adventures error correction may launch us on.

References

Fries, C.F. et al (1993): Movie footage of the activity of Paricutin Volcano, Michoacan, Mexico, 1945-1952. USGS Open-File Report 93-197-A.

Luhr, J.F. and Delgado-Granados, H. (1997): Aerial Examination of Volcanoes Along the Front of the Western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and a Visit to Par?cutin. International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth?s Interior.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9875fb4ddf6a6ba3d4053fefd32d957d

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Dr. Craig Malkin: Can Cyborgs Fall in Love?

Watch the TEDTalk that inspired this post.

Up until Amber Case's thought-provoking TEDTalk, the whole idea of cyborgs falling in love might have seemed like the premise for an outrageous science fiction story. You know -- the kind with cheesy cover art, depicting a fetching, scantily clad fem-bot, draped around a beefy, steely-eyed hero. (I picture him winking.) But thanks to her work, and the work of MIT psychologist, Sherry Turkle, who also studies the influence of technology on identity, we've begun grappling with the far less amusing notion that we, ourselves, are the cyborgs. Suddenly, the question as to whether or not cyborgs can fall in love has become as pressing as it is real. And answering it requires that we take a hard, honest look at what we've become.

Even prior to the Internet, the idea that we exist in multiple versions of self was accepted wisdom by many. I am my daughter's father, my wife's husband, my client's therapist. Each relationship -- each environment -- calls on a slightly different version of who we are, so that in many ways, we create, and our created, by our own experiences. That's what Case and Turkle mean by the second self. It's the self we fashion for cyberspace even as it fashions us.

In the process of crafting our second self, we can only retain our humanity -- and our capacity to love -- if we use technology in a way that doesn't leave us anemic and enervated. . - Dr. Craig Malkin

When we talk about our cyborg self, then, what we're really describing is the as yet crude admixture that emerges from the blend of human needs, desires, motivations, and perceptions and the projected self we know through cyberspace. The second self isn't at all the same as the human self, precisely because who we are is limited and shaped by the cyberspace in which it dwells.

Case offers an apt metaphor, for example, for the astonishing constriction of time and space afforded by cell phone technology: a worm hole, the theoretical short cut between two points in time and space. With each call, our mental self is instantaneously transported from one point to another.

But the metaphor is telling. Many wormhole theories draw on the idea of a singularity or black hole, and most physicists agree that nearing a singularity would tear us apart. On Twitter, communication is restricted to 140 characters, so the self that emerges there is less nuanced by necessity. It serves a purpose in that world, reaching out in bits and pieces of communication, but the rest of us -- the more human part of us, messy, complicated, ambivalent, loving, striving, reaching, flinching -- is left behind.

We are rent asunder when we enter cyberspace, fragmented -- made smaller. The very constrictions of time and space that permit magically instantaneous communication also mean that the more we reach out with this second, cyberself, the less human we become; we only know ourselves -- and are known -- in bits and pieces. When the second self takes over, our full humanity begins to fade, like the iconic heroes of The Matrix, whose bodies atrophied from lack of use while their projected identities wandered through cyberspace, unwitting captives of the machines. The quality of our cyborg self -- and therefore, our capacity to love -- depends entirely on which self we use to reach out to those around us. That's where things get a little bleak.

Fathers, Turkle reminds us, now push their children on the swing with one hand, while glancing at their smart phone with the other. And more chillingly, in one of the more somber moments of her talk, Case warns us that, in all the frenzy to return texts and react to the rapid fire information which surrounds our cyborg selves, we've sacrificed the capacity to reflect; in so doing, we've lost ourselves. With no time to sit and think and dream and ponder and create, one of the most powerful means we have of knowing ourselves has begun to vanish. The self emerges in moments of silence, outside the hum and buzz of "the culture of distraction." Does the father pushing his child with one hand truly know himself? Does his daughter know him?

Love, I would argue, requires the full experience of our own humanity and self-knowledge. It requires that we make ourselves vulnerable, open, expansive, allowing the moment to fill us, and ourselves to fill the moment we're in. Our deepest attachments develop when we can show all of who we are and be accepted, and that includes romantic love. The crudely pixilated self of cyberspace can hardly represent the best of us.

In the process of crafting our second self, we can only retain our humanity -- and our capacity to love -- if we use technology in a way that doesn't leave us anemic and enervated. That means living with intention -- staying present, and choosing, wisely, the moments we decide to step through the wormhole, rather than quietly, mindlessly slipping into it. I once wrote that "technology is only as healthy as our use of it," and I still believe that. The more we reflexively dwell (and hide) in cyberspace, the less practice we have at being fully human, and the harder it becomes.

And that means we can only truly love -- and fall in love -- when we lead with our humanity, and reach out to touch one another with all of who we are. We can't afford to leave even one hand behind in cyberspace while embracing our children. It's up to us to decide how much humanity is left in the emerging cyborg race. And that means it's up to us whether or not cyborgs can fall in love.

If you like my posts, let me know! Let's connect on facebook andTwitter. I frequently respond to comments and questions there. And feel free to check out www.drcraigmalkin.com for more tips and advice, as well as information on my book in progress.

The next Hold Me Tight Couples Workshop takes place April 26-28, 2013. For more information and to register, visit www.drjenniferleigh.com.

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TEDWeekends will highlight some of today's most intriguing ideas and allow them to develop in real time through your voice! Tweet #TEDWeekends to share your perspective or email tedweekends@huf?ngtonpost.com to learn about future weekend's ideas to contribute as a writer.

?

More in Machines Make Us More Human

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Choosing Between Computer Science and Information Technology ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Mathematics and algorithms are very dominant across Computer Science programs and courses. A typical program in Computer Science will include Programming principles, Programming paradigms, Data structures, ...

Source: http://www.articleswide.com/article/12212-Choosing_Between_Computer_Science_and_Information_Technology_Engineering_Courses.html

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Euribor seesaws as policymakers dispel rate cut hopes

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Key Euribor bank-to-bank lending rates eased on Thursday, having risen in the previous session as earlier comments from a clutch of European Central Bank policymakers played down chances of another ECB rate cut.

Joerg Asmussen, a member of the ECB's Executive Board, said last week he would be "very reluctant" about the ECB cutting its deposit rate - now at zero - any further, adding that "our (monetary) policy is very accommodative".

Another board member, Yves Mersch, said he did not see the logic of a debate about the ECB cutting its main rate from a record low of 0.75 percent. A third board member, Peter Praet, said earlier this month there is little room to cut.

The ECB kept rates on hold this month despite new forecasts suggesting the euro area economy will contract next year as it has this.

On Thursday, three-month Euribor rates, traditionally the main gauge of unsecured bank-to-bank lending, ticked down to 0.185 percent from 0.186 percent.

The six-month rate was unchanged at 0.319 percent while the one-week rate eased to 0.089 percent from 0.090 percent.

Dollar-priced bank-to-bank Euribor lending rates were mixed, with three-month rates falling to 0.57462 percent from 0.57667 percent and one-week rates rising to 0.63692 percent from 0.58167 percent.

($1 = 0.7867 euros)

(Reporting by Frankfurt newsroom; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/euribor-seesaws-policymakers-dispel-rate-cut-hopes-104948213--finance.html

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No BS for Greater Training Gains: Episode 2 - Muscle and Fitness

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Episode #2 of Muscle & Fitness No BS takes you to the hardcore gym MetroFlex in Long Beach California. In this video Pauline gets down to basics, and demonstrates what it really takes to build muscle, and add some size to your legs.

Source: http://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/other/no-bs-greater-training-gains-episode-2-video

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Royal prank call: Duped nurse was found hanging

By NBC News' Keir Simmons and wire reports

LONDON ? The nurse duped by two Australian radio show hosts into putting through a prank call to the hospital ward of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was found hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe, an official said Thursday.

AFP - Getty Images

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead days after being hoaxed by an Australian radio show.

Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found by a colleague and a security guard at King Edward VII?s Hospital, in the British capital on Friday, coroner's officer Lynda Martindill told a formal hearing into the circumstances of her death called an inquest.

Police detective chief inspector James Harman told the hearing that the married mother-of-two had injuries to her wrists.?

He also said that three notes were found in the room, The Associated Press reported.?As well as examining the notes, Harman said police were interviewing her friends, family and colleagues and looking at emails and phone calls to establish what led to her death.?

The cause of Saldanha's death was described as "unexplained."

At the brief hearing, Coroner Fiona Wilcox opened and then adjourned the inquest until March 26.

Nurse who was duped by prank call about Duchess Kate found dead

Saldanha put the hoax call through to a colleague who disclosed details of the care given to Kate, who was being treated for acute morning sickness at the hospital.

The prank call by Sydney radio station 2Day FM made headlines around the world, as did news that Saldanha had died.

Southern Cross Austereo, the station?s parent company, has apologized for the stunt and said on Tuesday it would donate its advertising revenue until the end of the year to a fund for Saldanha's family, with a minimum contribution of about $525,000.

Still in shock that nurse Jacintha Saldhana took her life after being tricked by the Australian radio hosts' imitation of the Queen, the two DJs – whose radio show has been canceled – said they are 'gutted' and 'heartbroken.' NBC's Keir Simmons reports.

Royal prank radio station to pay $525,000 to family of dead nurse

However, British lawmaker Keith Vaz told Reuters that he had written to Southern Cross to express his dissatisfaction.

"There has been no written apology, no request for a meeting with the family and no attempt to travel to the United Kingdom to express contrition," Vaz wrote in a letter to Southern Cross chief executive Rhys Holleran that he released to the media.

"I would be grateful if you could let me know how you arrived at this figure and why you think this adequately deals with this serious and important issue," Vaz wrote.

Neil Hall / Reuters

Tributes to nurse Jacintha Saldanha are seen outside the nurses' accommodation near the King Edward VII's Hospital in London on Tuesday.

DJs speak out, say they're 'heartbroken' over death of nurse in royal hoax call

Southern Cross and its two DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, have faced a barrage of criticism.

Greig and Christian have both been suspended and their show has been scrapped.?

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Follow NBC News' Keir Simmons on Twitter.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/13/15880659-royal-prank-call-duped-nurse-was-found-hanging-also-had-wrist-injuries?lite

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Sharing is not caring: FTC probes app providers for revealing kids - RT

(Image from flickr.com user@flickingerbrad)

Parents need to think twice before letting kids use apps on their portable devices, as it may reveal youngsters geolocation along with other data which can later be shared with third parties, FTC warned as it seeks to crack down on the practice.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that 6 out of 10 apps surveyed in the report share collected data about a user's mobile device with other developers, advertising networks, analytics companies and other third parties without parental consent. The data includes such personal information as device ID, geolocation, and the user?s phone number.

"Our study shows that kids' apps siphon an alarming amount of information from mobile devices without disclosing this fact to parents," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. "All the companies in the mobile app space, especially the gatekeepers of the app stores, need to do a better job."

The report further shows that apps contained features such as advertising, the ability to make in-app purchases, and links to social media without notifying parents of this beforehand.

The FTC stated that it wants to make that type of information private and to force companies to get parental permission to get access to data.

The FTC investigation targets mobile app makers, but does not identify which ones. The agency did call upon Apple and Google to straighten out their privacy practices.

One of the main concerns is that the device number can be used to compile information on kids? online activities and locations, subjecting them to marketing techniques that they are not ready for.

The FTC?s goal is to toughen the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA?? the 1998 law that makes it mandatory for companies to get parental consent before collecting information about kids under 13.

The agency wants to prohibit websites and mobile apps that target kids under 13 from setting up tracking cookies or using GPS location tracking for marketing without parental consent.

Experts believe that if the FTC threatened to name names then some progress could be made.

"Revealing names is the real incentive to issue a fully compliant privacy notice," privacy lawyer Lisa Sotto told Los Angeles Times. "There is no question that the apps community will pay attention."

Exposure to mobile devices at an early age makes kids vulnerable, believes American University professor Kathryn Montgomery.

"In the rapidly growing children's mobile market, companies are seizing on new ways to target children, unleashing a growing arsenal of interactive techniques, including geo-location and use of personal contact data," Montgomery said. "It is clear that there is an urgent need for the FTC to update its COPPA."

The FTC?s biggest case was against Sony Music that collected and shared personal information of 30,000 children under the age of 13 and was fined to pay US $1 million in 2008.

Source: http://rt.com/usa/news/ftc-privacy-breach-kids-779/

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Sky refreshes mobile app, lets you remotely download on-demand content to your Sky Box

Sky is ensuring that you'll have some TV to binge on once all of that turkey's been polished off. It's updated the Sky+ app to include on-demand listings, letting you set programs to download to your Sky Box remotely. That way, if you're out and about, you can tee-up a half-day's worth of Game of Thrones to make leaving the house worth your while. That said, if you just want to watch the shows while you're pretending to shoot the breeze with your relatives, there's always Sky Go.

Continue reading Sky refreshes mobile app, lets you remotely download on-demand content to your Sky Box

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

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X-47B unmanned jet fighter starts light workouts aboard USS Truman (video)

While the USAF has been tacking missiles onto Predator drones for quite some time, so far a true unmanned fighter has yet to grace any carrier decks -- until now. The US Navy has started flogging an X-47B Unmanned Combat Aircraft System (UCAS) aboard the USS Truman, with a video (below the break) showing it taxiing around the flight deck. The current round of tests has focused on "handling and control characteristics," but officials have said the robotic stealth fighters could be launched from the ship's catapult "if all conditions are nominal." The X-47B has already completed some flight tests, and was even launched from a sling on November 29th, but all that happened at naval air bases, not on the open water. With all the unmanned aircraft coming into the military's system, we can imagine a lot of pilots on the Truman were giving it the stink-eye.

Continue reading X-47B unmanned jet fighter starts light workouts aboard USS Truman (video)

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

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Via: DefenseTech

Source: Defense News

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Home Decor Ecommerce Company One Kings Lane Raises $50M From Scripps Networks, IVP, Kleiner, Greylock

One Kings Lane, an ecommerce company for home decor, has raised $50 million in Series D financing led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) with additional investment from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Greylock Partners, Tiger Global Management, and new investor, Scripps Networks Interactive, the home to TV shows like HGTV and The Food Network. This brings the total amount raised to $117 million.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/s8GbClM45nw/

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How to Protect Trademarks in the Internet [Podcast] | Legal News ...

?

Matt:? Welcome to Lawyers.com Radio. Your legal solutions start right here. We?ll help you understand your legal issue, find a lawyer in your area and suggest legal forms for legal self-help.?

We?re talking with Enrico Schaefer from Traverse Legal, PLC. Enrico is an attorney who specializes in Internet trademarks, and today we?re discussing how to protect your Internet trademarks.

?

Biggest Trademark Issues on the Internet

Enrico, many times in the past I?ve heard you refer to the Internet as the Wild West of today, which is true because it?s still kind of in its infantile stage as far as law?s concerned. What are some of the greatest trademark issues on the Internet?

Enrico:? It is the Wild, Wild West because it?s so easy for anyone to register a domain name, put up a website and post comments on someone else?s website. There are bulletin boards. There?s Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can actually rate someone or their business in Google Places. There?s Yelp. There are all these different opportunities for people to express themselves online.

Part of that self-expression, unfortunately, can be in the form of trademark infringement, where someone?s actually using your trademark to steal your customers or diminish your goodwill. That can occur with a domain name, where someone registers a domain name that?s very similar to your trademark. It doesn?t even have to be identical; if it?s confusingly similar to your trademark then you can make a claim of trademark infringement.

The trademark can be used in the Web page itself in a way that makes it seem like the person whose got that web page is you or they can steal your website design in a way that it appears to consumers who know you that they?re at your website when they?re not.

With email marketing, trademarks can be used inappropriately and we all get those Bank of America spam emails that hopefully, we all know aren?t from Bank of America asking us to check into our account. There are thousands of examples of trademark infringement on the Internet and you have to protect yourself.

What you have to remember is that trademarks are a very important business asset. Fifty percent of Apple?s total, its total market value, is in its trademarks. So you need to treat your trademarks and intellectual property appropriately. That means you have to monitor and you have to protect those trademarks. By doing so, you create a portfolio of enforcement that actually increases the value of the asset.

?

Steps to Protect Trademarks in the Wild West Internet

Matt:? Enrico, how can a business protect its brand or trademark in this Wild West we call the Internet?

Enrico:? Well, the first thing you need to do is you need to audit your company for trademarks. We get calls from folks all the time, and it?s clear very quickly that they haven?t done an intellectual property audit for trademarks, so they don?t know what all their trademarks are. Now they?ve got their company name, and they?ve got the sense that that?s a trademark, but they also may have products and services and slogans that also qualify for trademark protection. In some instances, a person?s name can also be a trademark if they happen to be famous.

You need to do an audit and identify your trademarks. From there you want to ask, ?OK. Am I comfortable with just having a common law trademark?? Because once you start doing business under a name, either as a service or a product, you have common law trademark rights. You don?t have to register your trademarks with the USPTO but it certainly makes sense to do so.

You want to ask, ?Am I comfortable having common law trademark rights with a certain level of protection or do I want to register my trademark, my names, my brands, my slogans, my logos, my designs? Do I want to trademark them with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which is going to give me a much higher level of protection??

Once you?ve made those decisions and you?ve got your trademark audit in place, and have identified your intellectual property, then you need to monitor your trademark, which can be a challenge. If you?ve got an employee at your business, a simple Google Alert for exact match phrases is a good starting point. If your trademark assets are valuable enough it will make sense to hire a company, or a law firm, or a service that actually provides monitoring for you and reports either daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually on things such as domain registrations which are similar to your mark.

You have to monitor because if you don?t know what?s going on out there, then you?re going to be relying on customers who come to you and say, ?Hey, I really had bad service and I want my money returned.?? You?ll look in your files and realize that this isn?t your customer at all, but someone who has been to another website. You don?t want to rely on anecdotal information from your customers to know that there?s a trademark problem on the Internet.

Hemera/ Thinkstock

Once you identify problems, you have to prioritize them. For example, not all returns on your Google Alerts are going to be things that you?re going to have to send out trademark infringement threat letters or notice letters to the person involved. Some things will be important; some things will not. Once you get your priority list in line, then you?ll need to get someone from your company or your attorney to then start sending threat letters and notice letters as appropriate to the folks, whom you believe are infringing your trademark.

?

Trademark Audits

Matt:? Can you explain what an audit is and how it works for trademark issues?

Enrico:? A trademark audit for many companies, certainly small and medium size businesses, is usually pretty easy. It?s basically going through all your marketing materials and seeing how you?re using you brands. An audit is going to do more than just identify your brands which are trademark worthy; it?s going to actually identify any problems that you might be experiencing unintentionally with the use of your mark.

Are you using the appropriate TM or Circle R in each instance of your mark? If you believe that the logo design is important, is that identical across all of your marketing? How are you presenting your trademarks to consumers? Are you doing it in a way that strengthens your trademarks or potentially weakens or invalidates your trademarks? Are you using your trademarks as common words which can then make them generic and cause you to lose your trademark rights?

Let me give you an easy example of that, I know that?s kind of a tricky one. Google doesn?t ever want to say Google this, because then they?re using Google not as a trademark, but as a verb and when your trademark becomes a verb, then it becomes generic and becomes potentially invalid. You want to make sure that your marketing department is appropriately using your trademarks.

?

Preventing Your Trademark from Becoming Generic

Once you?ve got all that together, then you can look at the Internet and make sure that, for instance, your vendors, your distributors, the people who you have contractual relationships with, are using those trademarks appropriately. It is very important and a good trademark attorney will tell you that you need to protect your trademarks by contract as well with the folks that you?re giving permission to use your trademarks on things such as marketing displays.

Matt:? With trademark names, I?ve heard you give the Google example before. It?s kind of like Kleenex for example, where the term Kleenex has become synonymous with the word tissue. While we?re talking about saying Google as a verb, how far into the English language does a trademark word need to go to be in danger of becoming generic?

Enrico:? The key test is this: Is the word being used to identify the source and origin of goods and services or is it being used to describe something?? So irrespective of whether or not it?s context is noun or verb, if your brand isn?t being used to identify your company, but instead to identify the type of good, for instance, Kleenex, then you?ve got a potential trademark problem.

Most companies would love to have this challenge that they?re brand is being used by so many people in ways that are describing the goods and services as opposed to source and origin, that they can become genericized. Google is an example. Kleenex is an example. Aspirin is an example. These are examples of companies whose brands became so big, so famous and so generic that eventually they have the risk of losing their trademark rights.

Kleenex has already lost their rights, but Google, of course, still has trademark rights and still enforces it?s trademarks. But it is at risk moving forward with the concept that people are going to say, ??Google? now describes ?search? as opposed to the company.?

Matt:? Today?s show is sponsored by Traverse Trademark Law and the Traverse Legal Office in Traverse City, Michigan.

You?ve been listening to Lawyers.com Radio where legal issues and solutions are always the topic of conversation.

---

Source: http://blogs.lawyers.com/2012/12/how-to-protect-trademarks-on-the-internet-podcast/

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New anticoagulant discovered based on the same used by malaria vectors to feed on

Public release date: 11-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Marta Calsina
mcalsina@imim.es
34-933-160-680
IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute)

The results open the door to a new generation of anticoagulants

An international project lead by the Molecular and Cell Biology Institute of Porto University with the participation of researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) has, for the first time ever, deciphered the mechanism by which a substance called anophelin binds to an enzyme (thrombin) involved in the process of blood coagulation. This discovery was published in the last issue of the PNAS journal and opens the door to, on the one hand, designing a new generation of anticoagulant drugs with a totally different functioning to current ones and, on the other hand, fighting against the spreading of malaria by designing inhibitors for this substance.

Anophelin is a substance playing a crucial role in the nutrition of a large number of parasites like malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquitoes or vampire bats. These animals need to feed on fresh blood and stop it from coagulating while they are eating. To make this possible, they use powerful inhibitors of the coagulation process mainly affecting thrombin. Researchers have discovered that "anophelin blocks thrombin in a new and different way than other substances: it's like a key fitting in a lock of a door, but in this case the key fits in the other side" explains Ricardo Gutirrez Gallego, a member of the IMIM Bioanalysis research group.

The project is based on two recent studies which led to the discovery of thrombin inhibitors presenting new structures. For the inhibitor produced by Anopheles mosquitoes (anophelin), it was seen that after binding to thrombin, proteins did not degrade, so a systematic study was launched for all coagulants in the several variants of the Anopheles mosquito. By using very powerful and sensitive analytical techniques it was possible to determine and monitor in real time the molecule interactions in both anophelin and thrombin, leading to a detailed characterization of their structure and interaction. Researchers also performed mutations on this protein, i.e. they changed the amino acid at each time, so as to discover the crucial components of the molecule when it interacted with thrombin.

Blood coagulation is a complex mechanism to prevent bleeding after an injury. However, in some cases, the formation of blood clots can lead to a myocardial infarction, a cerebral infarction etc. In these cases, administering anticoagulants is essential. Anticoagulants are drugs that prevent blood from coagulating, thus avoiding cardiovascular events, which are the leading cause of death in Spain. In recent years, one of the most active fields of research has been the search for the ideal anticoagulant since the ones available today may have side effects and must be administered under strict medical control. "The discovery of this new interaction could be useful in the future to create new generation anticoagulant drugs that improve these aspects and also to fight against the spreading of malaria" concludes Dr. Gutirrez Gallego.

###

This project has lasted 3 years also with the participation of the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble; it was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and by the Fundao para a Cincia e a Tecnologia in Portugal.

Reference article:

"Unique thrombin inhibition mechanism by anophelin, an anticoagulant from the malaria vector". Ana C. Figueiredo, Daniele de Sanctis, Ricardo Gutirrez-Gallego, Tatiana B. Cereija, Sandra Macedo-Ribeiro, Pablo Fuentes-Prior, Pedro Jos Barbosa Pereira. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/12/04/1211614109.abstract

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 11-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Marta Calsina
mcalsina@imim.es
34-933-160-680
IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute)

The results open the door to a new generation of anticoagulants

An international project lead by the Molecular and Cell Biology Institute of Porto University with the participation of researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) has, for the first time ever, deciphered the mechanism by which a substance called anophelin binds to an enzyme (thrombin) involved in the process of blood coagulation. This discovery was published in the last issue of the PNAS journal and opens the door to, on the one hand, designing a new generation of anticoagulant drugs with a totally different functioning to current ones and, on the other hand, fighting against the spreading of malaria by designing inhibitors for this substance.

Anophelin is a substance playing a crucial role in the nutrition of a large number of parasites like malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquitoes or vampire bats. These animals need to feed on fresh blood and stop it from coagulating while they are eating. To make this possible, they use powerful inhibitors of the coagulation process mainly affecting thrombin. Researchers have discovered that "anophelin blocks thrombin in a new and different way than other substances: it's like a key fitting in a lock of a door, but in this case the key fits in the other side" explains Ricardo Gutirrez Gallego, a member of the IMIM Bioanalysis research group.

The project is based on two recent studies which led to the discovery of thrombin inhibitors presenting new structures. For the inhibitor produced by Anopheles mosquitoes (anophelin), it was seen that after binding to thrombin, proteins did not degrade, so a systematic study was launched for all coagulants in the several variants of the Anopheles mosquito. By using very powerful and sensitive analytical techniques it was possible to determine and monitor in real time the molecule interactions in both anophelin and thrombin, leading to a detailed characterization of their structure and interaction. Researchers also performed mutations on this protein, i.e. they changed the amino acid at each time, so as to discover the crucial components of the molecule when it interacted with thrombin.

Blood coagulation is a complex mechanism to prevent bleeding after an injury. However, in some cases, the formation of blood clots can lead to a myocardial infarction, a cerebral infarction etc. In these cases, administering anticoagulants is essential. Anticoagulants are drugs that prevent blood from coagulating, thus avoiding cardiovascular events, which are the leading cause of death in Spain. In recent years, one of the most active fields of research has been the search for the ideal anticoagulant since the ones available today may have side effects and must be administered under strict medical control. "The discovery of this new interaction could be useful in the future to create new generation anticoagulant drugs that improve these aspects and also to fight against the spreading of malaria" concludes Dr. Gutirrez Gallego.

###

This project has lasted 3 years also with the participation of the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble; it was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and by the Fundao para a Cincia e a Tecnologia in Portugal.

Reference article:

"Unique thrombin inhibition mechanism by anophelin, an anticoagulant from the malaria vector". Ana C. Figueiredo, Daniele de Sanctis, Ricardo Gutirrez-Gallego, Tatiana B. Cereija, Sandra Macedo-Ribeiro, Pablo Fuentes-Prior, Pedro Jos Barbosa Pereira. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/12/04/1211614109.abstract

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/idm-nad121112.php

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Win-Win for Brighton's Surfers & Offshore Wind - Carve

Posted on 10 December 2012.

Surfers Against Sewage is delighted to announce that after its crucial intervention with E.ON, the Rampion offshore wind farm developers, potentially catastrophic damage to local surfing waves has now been averted.

E.ON initially identified a potential reduction in wave height of up to 22% for surfing beaches in and around Brighton as a result of the planned renewable energy development. This would have been a major blow to the substantial local surf community and important related economy. However, thanks to vital discussions between SAS, E.ON and leading local surfers and surfing-related businesses, the developers have reassessed their plans to minimise impacts on important local surfing breaks. This outcome will deliver a win-win for sustainable energy and local surfers.

Surfers Against Sewage was quick to act on learning the potential loss of local wave resources in E.ON?s draft Environmental Statement (ES), swiftly mobilising prominent Brighton businesses and surfers to meet with developers to address their concerns.
SAS also provided comprehensive data relating to potentially affected sites of special surfing interest along the south coast and recommendations on how to minimise impacts on these unique and important resources.

Thanks to the timely actions of local surfers, led by campaigners at Surfers Against Sewage, E.ON?s engineering team has now revised the project with new models projecting a maximum loss to local wave height at 3%. As a safeguard, Surfers Against Sewage campaigners will be calling for E.ON?s new models to be verified with available wave buoy data if the Rampion development progresses.

Dave Samuel, local surfer and director of Brighton?s Paddle Round The Pier, the world?s biggest free beach and water sports festival says: ?We?re all very grateful to Surfers Against Sewage for ensuring the water sports community was represented and the valuable surf that Brighton enjoys is safeguarded for this and future generations.?

Surfers Against Sewage believes that climate change poses a major threat to recreational water users, the marine environment and the global environment as a whole, and agrees that action needs to be taken to combat it. Surfers Against Sewage supports the advancement of renewable energy sources, but will examine each new development on a case-by case basis in order to assess any potential negative impacts on coastal environments, surfing resources and recreation

SAS Campaign Director says: ?After some urgent intervention from SAS there is a win-win solution for the south coast, protecting surf resources and delivering green energy. The current proposal won?t impact on the finite surfing resources the region enjoys and should provide a significant amount of sustainable, renewable energy. SAS will continue to encourage offshore developers to consult the entire community and make special efforts with hard to reach sectors.?

TEXT ?WAVE13?10? to ?70070? to support the vital Protect Our Waves campaign.

For similar news check out...

Source: http://www.carvemag.com/2012/12/win-win-for-brighton%E2%80%99s-surfers-offshore-wind-farm-development/

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Van Gogh dazzles at Netherlands' Kroeller-Mueller

AMSTERDAM (AP) ? With the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam closed for renovations until April, the world's second-largest collection of the tortured Dutch master's work is stepping into the limelight.

The Kroeller-Mueller museum in the eastern Netherlands is not as well-known but is still considered a jewel among connoisseurs. It has revamped the layout of its central rooms, giving more space and more focus to its very best works.

"Van Gogh really stands central now, both physically in the museum and in the collection as a whole," director Lisette Pelsers said in a telephone interview.

This week the museum announced "Vincent is Back," because after a time in which many of its 91 Vincent Van Gogh paintings, 180 drawings and other works have been on loan, they are set to return in style.

It has opened "Native Soil," the first of a two-part exhibition looking at the spectacular changes that Van Gogh underwent in his artistic career, which took place almost entirely in the decade from 1880 to 1890. The appropriately wintery exhibit focuses on Van Gogh's formative years in the Netherlands, with a dark palette and simple, somber subjects.

"Native Soil" culminates in what is widely regarded as Van Gogh's first great masterpiece, the 1885 "Potato Eaters." It also shows smaller works that presage the colorful brilliance to come, such as the 1885 "Head of a Woman Wearing a White Hat," which may have been part of Van Gogh's preparations for "Potato Eaters,;" and the emotive 1882 study "Sorrowful Old Man" in black chalk.

"You can really see him struggling to find his style as an artist," Pelsers said.

Beginning in April, the "Land of Light" exhibition will show off the incredible range of color and energy in Van Gogh's late works. Much of the collection from both periods will remain on display throughout the year, including later masterworks such as his 1888 "Terrace of a Cafe at Night." Also remaining on display are a series of excellent portraits, including a famous 1887 self-portrait, and others such as the 1889 "Portrait of Joseph Roulin."

Although the Kroeller-Mueller Museum has decided to more actively promote its Van Gogh works, its collection ranges well beyond that with important paintings by Georges Seurat, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, Paul Gauguin, Giorgio de Chirico and dozens of others. It also features one of Europe's best sculpture gardens, with works by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Niki de Saint Phalle and many more.

The museum is located in Otterlo, Netherlands, not far from the German border.

For the more adventurous, one of the museum's special attractions is the option to begin a visit at one of three park entrances rather than the museum itself. It's easy to borrow one of hundreds of free bicycles and cycle several kilometers (miles) on well-marked paths through the park's gentle dunes and pine trees to the museum.

_____

On the Net: http://www.kmm.nl

___

Getting there: The museum is a two-hour drive from Amsterdam; access by public transportation is possible but requires a combination of trains and buses.

The museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. year round but closed on Mondays.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/van-gogh-dazzles-netherlands-kroeller-mueller-124347101.html

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WVU mascot told to stop firing musket at wildlife

FILE This Saturday Sept. 22, 2012 file photo shows West Virginia University Mountaineer mascot Jonathan Kimble is seen during the NCAA college football game between West Virginia University and University of Maryland in Morgantown, W.Va. A video showing Kimble using his mascot rifle to hunt bear has gone viral. (AP Photo/Brian Ach)

FILE This Saturday Sept. 22, 2012 file photo shows West Virginia University Mountaineer mascot Jonathan Kimble is seen during the NCAA college football game between West Virginia University and University of Maryland in Morgantown, W.Va. A video showing Kimble using his mascot rifle to hunt bear has gone viral. (AP Photo/Brian Ach)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) ? The musket toted by West Virginia University's Mountaineer isn't just a prop ? it's a bona fide weapon, and mascot Jonathan Kimble demonstrated that when he brought down a black bear with it in the woods.

Now WVU has ordered Kimble to stop using his university-issued weapon on hunting trips after a video of this week's kill was posted online. He says hunting with the gun is a Mountaineer mascot tradition.

The 24-year-old Franklin resident accompanied more than a dozen friends and family on the trip in Pendleton County on Monday. In the video, Kimble is shown firing the musket at the bear in a tree.

"Let's go Mountaineers!" Kimble yells afterward. He also posted a photo of himself with the bear on Twitter.

The WVU mascot wears buckskin and a coonskin cap and fires the musket ? loaded with black powder but minus ammunition ? at home athletic events and other sponsored activities. Hunting isn't one of them.

"While Jonathan Kimble's actions broke no laws or regulations, the university has discussed this with him, and he agrees that it would be appropriate to forego using the musket in this way in the future," said WVU spokesman John Bolt.

Kimble said Friday that he's been hunting all his life and this was the first black bear he's ever killed. He said all his friends have congratulated him for that.

"Hunting can be a controversial topic," Kimble said. "I apologize to any of those who took offense to the video. It definitely wasn't my intent to offend anybody."

Kimble said he taking the musket on hunting trips has become a tradition with the mascots.

"Other Mountaineers have gone and shot multiple deer with it before. I've taken it with me deer hunting before, also."

Some WVU fans stood behind Kimble on Friday.

"This is a smart young man from West Virginia who did nothing wrong, who was celebrating who he is," said Robert Hickman, who holds two degrees from WVU and lives near Fairmont.

"If you're from West Virginia and you love the outdoors, or if you hunt or don't hunt, or if you fish or don't fish, it is a celebration of this state. As a former WVU graduate, I'm thrilled to death with him. Happy as can be."

The Mountaineer mascot first appeared at athletic events in the 1936-1937 school year. The Mountaineer is selected each year and the mascot's outfit is custom tailored to fit the winner.

Last February, the bearded Kimble was chosen from among 13 applicants.

__

Online:

Video: http://bit.ly/VHOKVu

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-12-07-Mascot%20Goes%20Hunting/id-4e40337c491e475c92c3b108b1a568d5

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Public trusts Obama, Dems to solve fiscal cliff crisis

Facebook (FB) announced on Tuesday that it will begin opening Facebook Messenger to consumers who do not have a Facebook account, starting in countries like India and South Africa, and later rolling out the service in the United States and Europe.?This is a belated acknowledgement of a staggering strategic mistake Facebook made two years ago. That is when the messaging app competition was still wide open and giants like Facebook or Google (GOOG) could have entered the competition. WhatsApp, the leading messaging app firm, had just 1 million users as late as December 2009. By the end of 2010, that number had grown to 10 million. Right now, it likely tops 200 million, though there is no current official number

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/poll-public-trusts-obama-dems-solve-fiscal-cliff-144612703--politics.html

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Apple/HTC cross licensing deal details revealed with scads of redactions

Last month?Apple and HTC signed a ten-year cross-licensing agreement that saw the two companies agree to set aside their gangs of lawyers and get back to creating new and exciting devices. We didn't expect that we'd ever be made privy to the details of the agreement, but seeing as Samsung's lawyers and Apple's lawyers haven't yet managed to hammer out a similar agreement, Samsung found themselves curious about the details. And being that they pay their lawyers in wheelbarrows of won, they were able to make that happen, with some assistance from the court.

The heavily-redacted 140 pages documents were made part of the public record by way of Samsung for today's hearing in their patent trial against Apple in California. AllThingsD's Ina Fried dug into the stack of documents, and while a lot of the nitty gritty details were covered up with thick black lines (many Sharpies were killed in the production of this document), we were able to get an idea of the broad strokes of the deal between Apple and HTC.

As you might expect, Apple's design patents on devices like the iPad and iPhone are not part of the deal, as Apple takes their design patents very very seriously (see: Apple vs. Samsung, parts 1-?). In keeping with that, the agreement sets up an 'arbitration process' for Apple and HTC should the former believe the latter has released a "cloned" product. Seeing as HTC's recent designs have taken a decidedly unique approach to design, we wouldn't consider that clause likely to be invoked any time soon.

Apple has also agreed not to sue HTC over a certain list of their products, but those are redacted. Also redacted are nine patents HTC has not licensed to Apple, otherwise it appears that everything else in Apple's and HTC's patent portfolios are getting shared to prevent further litigation. Unsurprisingly, how much HTC is paying in royalty rates to Apple was also blacked out, though HTC's said before that they don't expect the agreement to have "to have an adverse material impact" on their bottom line. That's what happens when you swap paying for lawyers with paying licensing fees.

Ina Fried was also in the courtroom as Samsung and Apple's lawyers went back to sparring over patents and the like in San Jose today (The Rumble In The Valley?), providing excellent blow-by-blow coverage as United States District Judge Lucy Koh presided over the proceedings. Before things even got started at 1:30 Pacific time, HTC was already involved, arguing that their excessive redactions were within the letter of the order, with HTC having redacted "terms and details irrelevant to this case"; Samsung contends that the agreement with HTC "is proof that Apple was willing and in fact has entered into license agreements concerning at least some of the patents at issue in this case."

In fact, Apple had offered a licensing agreement to Samsung back in 2010. The terms would haven been mighty expensive for Samsung, amounting to around a quarter of a billion dollars annually. Instead, we've been treated to the driest and nerdiest courtroom drama ever. They spent forty-five minutes arguing about damages over the Samsung Prevail today. Yeah, exciting stuff.

Source: AllThingsD (HTC agreement, Trial coverage) via?Android Central

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/thqKWQjOOdc/story01.htm

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farrahjhonson: Crystals Feng Shui Bedroom | HouseofFengShui ...

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Source: http://botadorilao.blogspot.com/2012/12/farrahjhonson-crystals-feng-shui.html

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Entrepreneur Interview: Dan Roitman, Stroll : Business Info Guide ...

Business Name:
Stroll

Website URL:
www.stroll.com

Year Founded:
2000

Number of Employees:
166

What does your company do?

Stroll is a next-generation education e-commerce platform company which uses proprietary analytical marketing methods to sell educational products to consumers.

Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level?

There have been many turning points in Stroll?s twelve year history. Perhaps the most dramatic was when Ajay Segal joined the company. Before bringing Ajay on board, I was solely responsible for the vision, strategy, and execution of the business. Ajay joined us as VP of Marketing and then worked his way to COO in 2009, taking over the day-to-day operations. He?s played an important role in complementing my skill set and transforming Stroll into a professionally managed organization ? one which now has a six-member management team. It?s rare when you find someone who you can strategize with at a high level, and can then turn those strategies into actionable plans. We build on each other?s thoughts and share a vision for the company. He?s enabled us to get the benefit of having inside and outside leadership. His detail orientation and operating plan management frees me to constantly go outside the company, find new ideas and bring them back to Stroll. Before joining the company, Ajay worked as an industry analyst and publisher in the online interactive space. That role gave him unique access to best practices drawn from thought leaders, which we have been able to integrate into Stroll?s operating plans in order to achieve triple-digit growth.

What processes or procedures have you implemented that have helped grow your company?

We have structured every area of the company and developed standard operating procedures for each task from human resources to our call center, marketing, accounting, and IT. Our fundamental commitment is to constant optimization, or the ability to continually make small incremental improvements that compound over time to deliver triple-digit growth. For instance, we have built sophisticated financial models that allow us to accurately predict cash flows a year out in time. It?s these types of procedures and processes that allow us to grow more in one month than most companies do in one year.

What is most rewarding about running your business?

Building a team of all stars, working in it, and seeing the team execute on plan. Seeing how our employees come together to achieve aggressive growth plans is very rewarding. We are always growing, hiring new people, and embarking on new initiatives. There?s never a dull moment and it?s an incredibly challenging, rewarding and fun way to live life.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

The greatest challenge we have faced was during the recession when our bank became impaired and withdrew their commitment to double our line of credit. We spent over a year finding a new bank to provide the capital needed to fund our aggressive growth and expansion. From 2002 until today, we have grown at an annual compounded growth rate of over 70%. Even if you?re profitable, that kind of growth requires capital. When our banks developed issues to no fault of our own, we couldn?t fund our marketing at our historic trajectory, so we only grew 3% between 2009 until 2010. We interviewed and talked to more than 170 financial institutions during that period and finally secured the money needed to jumpstart our growth, growing 105% in 2011. In essence, we lost a year as a result. On a positive note, we lined up the working capital we needed for the foreseeable future and developed new capital relationships which will support other future needs.

If you were starting over today, what would you do differently?

I don?t believe it takes money to make money if you have sharp business skills and time. But I do believe it takes money to make money faster. If I was starting all over again, I would do one of two things. First, I would trade money for time and buy a business that I could grow, instead of starting from scratch and wasting valuable start-up time. Or, I would start from scratch with sizable investment capital so that I could finance the company correctly from the beginning and shortcut the growing pains of boot strapping. With the proper capital and a recruiting team, I?d be in a position to perform rapid market testing to prototype the business model while building a management team which can in turn bring in the successive layers of employees and structure.

What advice do you have for other business owners?

Surround yourself with like-minded people who share your values, commitment and vision. If you want a growth business, surround yourself with high-energy, analytical people who share your desire to get big quickly. Another piece of advice is to ready everything you can find that relates to learning more about your business, reach out to industry thought leaders and network with owners of similar businesses. Learn from them so you have an endless pool of fresh ideas to apply to your company. For instance, finding out that a certain strategy worked for a similar (or dissimilar) business often provides you with an 80% chance of duplicating that success in your business. If you incorporate such data points into your marketing experimentation, you?ll likely have a secret weapon against your competition. Never underestimate the value of your network!

Please list any favorite books, tools or resources (software, website, etc.) you would recommend for others?

I have read more than 500 business related books over the past ten years in an effort to learn more about every aspect of business and apply best practices to Stroll. Among my favorite books are: Winning, by Jack Welch; The E-Myth by Michael Gerber; and Getting Everything You Want Out of All You Got by Jay Abraham.

My favorite tools are simple ones. I use Excel for project plans and action items. I use my iPhone to take notes and capture photos during brainstorming sessions on white boards. I have a running spreadsheet where I keep ideas and return to them when we need to look at things in a different way. And I have an endless list of marketing books popping with Post-It notes or Kindle books with juicy highlights to refer back to. My advice is to find what works for you and optimize it in every way you can.

What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you?

I was the first person in the state of Maryland to ever win a scholarship for guitar. When I was young, I loved music, particularly the guitar, and was awarded a scholarship to Towson University. I later walked away from that guitar scholarship and transferred to the University of Maryland because I wanted to apply my creativity and love for numbers to pursue business. I graduated with two degrees ? one in International Business and one in German.

Source: http://businessinfoguide.com/entrepreneur-interview-dan-roitman-stroll/

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