Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Making Money Ebay

Blogger Andrew Trench recently presented a theory on the threshold of when Internet penetration starts to matter, writing:

Social networks have also been given plenty of credit for the revolution unfolding in Egypt.

So I went and had a look at the numbers over on www.internetworldstats.com to see what they could tell us about these two scenarios. Well, fascinatingly, both Egypt and Tunisia have seen a massive growth in internet users and internet penetration over the last 10 years.

Both have now got internet penetration of over 20% and in Tunisia's case it was as high as 34%.

While it is clearly simplistic to over-state this factor and there must be many more drivers contributing to such a rapid political uprising, it is obviously a factor as evidenced by the Egyptian regime pulling the plug on the country's internet access to try and block the rising tide of revolt.

My back-of-napkin theory is this: that a rapid increase in internet penetration in a repressive regime does play an important role as it provides an unfettered channel of communication allowing disaffected citizens to share views - and more importantly - to rapidly organise and mobilise.

If Egypt and Tunisia are valid case studies, it looks like internet penetration of around 20% is the mark.

Geopolitics & Macroeconomics adds:

Internet penetration: Social networking sites were critical to sustaining the momentum in the recent protests. The internet penetration in Egypt is 16%. In Libya, it is a meagre 5% [1]. The unrest in Libya has thus far remained concentrated in regions that are geographically distant from the seat of ‘real' power (see more on this below). The dependence of momentum on internet communication is far greater in Libya than in Egypt where protests began in Cairo itself.

Taking the conversation to Pakistan, Sabene Saigol writes, on BrandRepublic:

Perhaps one reason for this is that we're still not that used to communicating via the ‘net - maybe we need greater broadband and internet penetration. Personally I think it is more to do with culture - while Pakistani internet users are savvy to using social media to connect with friends, I feel they have not yet ‘crossed over' to seeing SM as a means for professional communications - or even wider social communications that go beyond their immediate circle. Yes, there are no doubt savvy people - both within marketing and tech circles, and outside - however, these people are likely a tiny proportion of the total number of ‘net and social media users.

Blogger Andrew Trench recently presented a theory on the threshold of when Internet penetration starts to matter, writing:

Social networks have also been given plenty of credit for the revolution unfolding in Egypt.

So I went and had a look at the numbers over on www.internetworldstats.com to see what they could tell us about these two scenarios. Well, fascinatingly, both Egypt and Tunisia have seen a massive growth in internet users and internet penetration over the last 10 years.

Both have now got internet penetration of over 20% and in Tunisia's case it was as high as 34%.

While it is clearly simplistic to over-state this factor and there must be many more drivers contributing to such a rapid political uprising, it is obviously a factor as evidenced by the Egyptian regime pulling the plug on the country's internet access to try and block the rising tide of revolt.

My back-of-napkin theory is this: that a rapid increase in internet penetration in a repressive regime does play an important role as it provides an unfettered channel of communication allowing disaffected citizens to share views - and more importantly - to rapidly organise and mobilise.

If Egypt and Tunisia are valid case studies, it looks like internet penetration of around 20% is the mark.

Geopolitics & Macroeconomics adds:

Internet penetration: Social networking sites were critical to sustaining the momentum in the recent protests. The internet penetration in Egypt is 16%. In Libya, it is a meagre 5% [1]. The unrest in Libya has thus far remained concentrated in regions that are geographically distant from the seat of ‘real' power (see more on this below). The dependence of momentum on internet communication is far greater in Libya than in Egypt where protests began in Cairo itself.

Taking the conversation to Pakistan, Sabene Saigol writes, on BrandRepublic:

Perhaps one reason for this is that we're still not that used to communicating via the ‘net - maybe we need greater broadband and internet penetration. Personally I think it is more to do with culture - while Pakistani internet users are savvy to using social media to connect with friends, I feel they have not yet ‘crossed over' to seeing SM as a means for professional communications - or even wider social communications that go beyond their immediate circle. Yes, there are no doubt savvy people - both within marketing and tech circles, and outside - however, these people are likely a tiny proportion of the total number of ‘net and social media users.

Surface Encounters

Mike Krzyzewski: Jalen Rose's Duke talk 'very insulting'

Mike Krzyzewski called Jalen Rose's comments on Duke "very insulting."

Surface Encounters

Take Two: Donald Trump Releases Official Birth Certificate - The Note

Donald Trump learned the hard way this week that if you're going to call on the president to release his official birth certificate, you'd better do the same. The Note, authored by ABC News' Amy Walter and Michael Falcone, ...

Surface Encounters

Heavy Fire Afghanistan coming to Kinect Xbox 360 News - Page 1 ...

Read our Xbox 360 news of Heavy Fire Afghanistan coming to Kinect.

Surface Encounters

With the company’s future already clouded by Steve Jobs’ latest medical leave, the possibility of the iPad’s chief designer, Jonathan Ive, cashing out ups the uncertainty, Dan Lyons writes.

Is Apple losing its design guru?

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced in January that he would take a third medical leave, the biggest concern was the cloud of uncertainty that hovered over the company. Now that uncertainty has become an issue again, as rumors have started swirling that Apple might lose its chief designer, Jonathan Ive.

Apple's head designer Jonathan Ive poses for a portrait on January 27, 2010 in Cupertino, California. (Photo by Paul Harris / Newscom)

Reports in Ive’s native England suggest that the man who oversaw the design of the iPhone and iPad wants to spend more time in the U.K., putting him at odds with Apple’s board enough that he would consider leaving the company. Although Ive and Apple won’t comment, the scenario is plausible for two reasons: First, Ive is about to cash in options valued at $30 million that he was granted in 2008; and second, Ive has an especially close relationship with Jobs.

Whether Ive stays or goes, the brouhaha shows the challenges that Apple is increasingly likely to face given the questions about Jobs’ role in the coming months. One scenario being bandied about by Apple-watchers suggests Ive is making a power play to succeed Jobs; it seems just as likely, however, that he simply may not want to work at Apple if Jobs isn’t there.

Still others think the entire notion that Ive might leave is completely unfounded. But either way, the whole incident shows how the Jobs health situation is bringing more drama to a company that, until now, has been a model of tight-lipped discipline.

Apple’s products are famous for their sleek designs, and conventional wisdom holds that losing Ive would be a terrible blow to Apple—“Apple’s worst nightmare,” Britain’s Guardian called it. But the truth is, losing Ive may not be as big a deal as some Apple watchers think.

For one thing, Apple has loads of bench strength in every department, and because of its success it can attract just about anyone it wants.

“How much of this is Steve, how much is Jon, how much someone else? Steve always had an eye for design. The designer is only as good as the client,” says Jean-Louis Gassée.

For another, the real genius behind Apple’s designs might not be Ive—but rather Jobs.

That’s the educated guess of Jean-Louis Gassée, a former top executive at Apple and a longtime close watcher of the company who still has many connections there.

Gassée points out that Ive was already working at Apple when Jobs returned to the company in 1996. Ive joined the company in 1992, when Jobs was gone from the company, having been ousted by the board in 1985.

And before Jobs returned to Apple, Ive wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. The first products that Ive designed under Jobs were the “Bondi Blue” iMac and the somewhat ugly iBook. Ive’s next products, the "desk lamp" Mac and the early metal laptops, were better looking, Gassée says.

Dirty Percent

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

It’s not hard to make the case that Apple’s new in-app subscription system offers numerous benefits to users, developers, and publishers. But whatever those benefits, they stem from the mere existence of these new subscription APIs. What’s controversial is the size of Apple’s cut: 30 percent.

No one is arguing that Apple shouldn’t get some cut of in-app purchases that go through iTunes. And, if Apple were taking a substantially smaller cut, there would be substantially fewer people objecting to Apple’s rules (that subscription-based publishing apps must use the system; that they can’t link to their external sign-up web page from within the app; and that they must offer in-app subscribers the same prices available outside the app).

The reasonable arguments against Apple’s policies seem to be:

Apple should be taking less, perhaps far less, than 30 percent.

Apple should not require subscription-based apps to use the in-app subscription APIs. If it’s a good deal for publishers, they’ll choose to use the system on their own.

Apple should not require price-matching from subscription offers outside the app. Publishers should be allowed to charge iOS users more money to cover Apple’s cut.

Apple should consider business models that simply can’t afford a 70/30 revenue split.

Let’s consider these in reverse order.

Apple Should Consider Business Models That Can’t Afford a 70/30 Revenue Split

Apple doesn’t give a damn about companies with business models that can’t afford a 70/30 split. Apple’s running a competitive business; competition is cold and hard. And who exactly can’t afford a 70/30 split? Middlemen. It’s not that Apple is opposed to middlemen — it’s that Apple wants to be the middleman. It’s difficult to expect them to be sympathetic to the plights of other middlemen.

Some of these apps and services that are left out might be ones that iOS users enjoy, though. This is the leading argument for how this new policy will in fact hurt users, and, as a result, Apple itself: it’ll drive good apps off the platform. Frequently mentioned examples: Netflix and Kindle. For all we know, though, Netflix may well be fine with this policy. Apple would only get a 30 percent cut of new subscriptions that go through the Netflix iOS app, and that might be a bounty Netflix can live with in exchange for more subscribers. Keep in mind, too, that Netflix and Apple seemingly get along well enough that Netflix is built into the Apple TV system software.

Kindle, and e-book platforms in general, are a different case. For one thing, Kindle doesn’t use subscriptions. Kindle offers purchases. Presumably, given Apple’s rejection of Sony’s e-book platform app last month, Apple is going to insist on the same rules for in-app purchases through apps like Kindle as they do for in-app subscriptions. If so, something’s got to give. The “agency model” through which e-books are sold requires the bookseller to give the publisher 70 percent of the sale price. So if the publisher gets 70 and Apple gets 30, that leaves a big fat nothing for Amazon, or Barnes & Noble, or Kobo, or anyone else selling books through native iOS apps — other than iBooks, of course.

But leaving aside the revenue split, there are technical limitations as well. The existing in-app purchasing system in iOS has a technical limit of 3,500 catalog items. I.e. any single app can offer no more than 3,500 items for in-app purchase. Amazon has hundreds of thousands of Kindle titles.

Something’s got to give here. I don’t know what, but there must be more news on this front coming soon. I don’t believe Apple wants to chase competing e-book platforms off the App Store.

Apple Should Not Require Price Matching

Why not allow developers and publishers to set their own prices for in-app subscriptions? One reason: Apple wants its customers to get the best price — and, to know that they’re getting the best price whenever they buy a subscription through an app. It’s a confidence in the brand thing: with Apple’s rules, users know they’re getting the best price, they know they’ll be able to unsubscribe easily, and they know their privacy is protected.

Credit card companies insist on similar rules: retailers pay a processing fee for every credit card transaction, but the credit card companies insist that these fees not be passed on to the customer. Customers pay the same price as they would if they used cash — which encourages them to use their credit card liberally. (Going further, many charge cards offer cash back on each purchase — they can do this because the cash-back percentage refunded to the customer is less than the transaction processing fee paid by the retailer.)

So the same-price rule is good for the user, and good for Apple. But Matt Drance argues that Apple could dissipate much of this subscription controversy by waiving this rule:

The requirement that IAP content be offered “at the same price
or less than it is offered outside the app,” combined with the
70/30 split, means developers must make less money off of iOS by
definition. They can’t price their IAP content higher to offset
the commission, nor can they price their own retail content lower.

If I am interpreting this correctly, I can’t bring myself to see
it as reasonable. […] I think a great deal of this drama could
go away if Apple dropped section 11.13 while keeping section
11.14: Your prices on your store are your business; just don’t
be a jerk and advertise the difference all over ours.

And I agree with him. Yes, the same-price rule is good for users and for Apple, but waiving this rule wouldn’t be particularly bad for users or for Apple, either — and it would give publishers some freedom to experiment.

I suspect one reason Apple won’t budge is that their competitors — like Amazon — insist on best-price matching.

Apple Should Not Require Apps to Offer In-App Subscriptions

I’m sympathetic to this argument, too. “If you don’t like our terms, don’t use our subscription system.” But it has occurred to me that this entire in-app subscription debate mirrors the debate surrounding the App Store itself back in 2008 — that 30 percent was too large a cut for Apple to take, that it shouldn’t be mandatory, etc. The same way many developers wanted (and still want) a way to sell native iOS apps on their own, outside the App Store, many publishers now want a way to sell subscriptions on their own, outside the App Store.

The fact is, the App Store is an all-or-nothing affair. You play by Apple’s rules or you stick to web apps through Mobile Safari. This alternative is no different for periodical publishers than it was (and remains) for app developers in general. A lot of these demands boil down to a desire for more autonomy for native iOS app developers. Apple has never shown any interest in that.

There’s one striking difference between the subscription controversy today and the App Store controversy in 2008: with subscriptions, Apple is taking away the ability to do something that they previously allowed. There was never a supported way to install native apps for iOS before the App Store. Subscriptions sold outside the App Store, on the other hand, were allowed until last month.

Apple Should Be Taking Less, Possibly Far Less, Than 30 Percent

Another difference between the App Store itself and in-app subscriptions is that with apps, Apple hosts and serves the downloads. Apple covers the bandwidth, even for gargantuan gigabyte-or-larger 99-cent games. The OS handles installation.

With in-app subscriptions (and purchases), however, the app developer is responsible for hosting the content, and for writing the code to download, store, and manage it. So — one reasonable argument goes — given that Apple is doing less for subscription content than it does for apps (or for music and movies purchased through iTunes), Apple should take less of the money.

Taken further, the argument boils down to this: that for in-app subscriptions and purchases, Apple is serving only as a payment processer — and thus, a reasonable fee for transactions would be in the small single digits — 3, 4, maybe 5 percent, say. More or less something along the lines of what PayPal charges.

Apple, I think it’s clear, doesn’t see it this way. Apple sees the entire App Store, along with all native iOS apps, as an upscale, premium software store: owned, controlled, and managed like a physical shopping mall. Brick and mortar retailers don’t settle for a single-digit cut of retail prices; neither does the App Store.

Seth Godin argues that Apple’s 30 percent cut is too big to allow publishers to profit:

Except Apple has announced that they want to tax each subscription
made via the iPad at 30%. Yes, it’s a tax, because what it does is
dramatically decrease the incremental revenue from each
subscriber. An intelligent publisher only has two choices: raise
the price (punishing the reader and further cutting down
readership) or make it free and hope for mass (see my point above
about the infinite newsstand). When you make it free, it’s all
about the ads, and if you don’t reach tens or hundreds of
thousands of subscribers, you’ll fail.

Godin’s logic strikes me as questionable. For one thing, he freely switches between a newsstand metaphor (arguing, perhaps accurately, that the App Store is too large for publishers to gain attention from potential readers in the first place — you won’t read what you never notice) and the economics of subscriptions. But subscribers are the opposite of newsstand readers. Newsstand readers are buying a single copy, often on impulse. Subscribers are readers who are already hooked, and who know what they want. Put another way, the size of Apple’s cut of subscription revenue — whether it were higher or lower — has no bearing on the “attention at the newsstand” problem.

Second, the problem facing traditional publishers today is that circulation is falling. Newsstand sales and subscriptions are falling, under pressure from free-of-charge websites and other forms of digital content. The idea with Apple’s 70-30 revenue split is that developers and publishers can make it up in volume — that people aren’t just somewhat more willing to pay for content through iTunes than other online content stores, they are far more willing. The idea is that Apple has cracked a nut no one else1 has — they’ve created an ecosystem where hundreds of millions of people are willing to pay for digital content. Thus, potentially, publishers won’t just make more money keeping only 70 percent of subscription fees generated through iOS apps than they are now with 96 percent (or whatever they’re left with after payment processing fees) of subscription fees they’re selling on their own — they stand to make a lot more money.

I’m not guaranteeing or even predicting that it’s going to work out that way. I’m just saying that’s Apple’s proposition.

Godin’s assumption is that iOS in-app subscriptions won’t significantly increase the number of subscribers. If he’s right about that, then he’s right that Apple’s 30 percent cut will prove too expensive for publishers. But Apple’s bet is that in-app subscriptions can dramatically increase the number of subscribers. Consider the app landscape. Apple’s 30 percent cut didn’t drive the price of paid apps up — the nature of the App Store drove prices down. It’s a volume game.

The App Store itself proves that Apple might be right. Like with app sales, in-app subscriptions won’t work for every publication. But it could work for many. It really is possible to make it up in volume.

And if a 70-30 split for in-app subscription revenue doesn’t work, the price will come down. That’s how capitalism works. You choose a price and see how it goes. I’ll admit — when the App Store launched in 2008, I thought Apple’s 70-30 split was skewed too heavily in Apple’s favor. Not that it was wrong in any moral sense, but that it was wrong in a purely economic sense: that it might be more than developers would be willing to bear. Apple, clearly, has a better sense about what prices the market will bear than I (and, likely, you) do.

Competition vs. Anti-Competition

One last argument I’ve seen regarding these in-app subscription rules is that it’s further evidence of anti-competitive behavior from Apple. That makes sense only if you consider iOS to be the entire field of play. Apple, though, is competing at a higher level. They’re competing between platforms: iOS vs. Kindle/Amazon vs. Android/Google vs. Microsoft, and in some ways, vs. the free web. Why should publishers make an app rather than just a mobile web site? For happier customers and more money.

Sony has a platform for e-books. Amazon has a platform for e-books. Barnes & Noble has a platform for e-books. Apple has a platform for e-books. But Apple is the only one which allows its competitors to have apps on its devices. And Apple is the anti-competitive one? I’m no lawyer, but if the iTunes Music store hasn’t yet been deemed a monopoly with Apple selling 70+ percent of digital music players, then I doubt the App Store will be deemed a monopoly for a market where Apple has never been — and, according to market share trends, may never be — the top-selling smartphone maker, let alone own a majority of the market, let alone own more than a single-digit sliver of the phone market as a whole. As for ruthless profiteering, consider that Amazon, with their e-book publishing, originally took the fat end of a 70-30 revenue split with authors.

One question I’ve been asked by several DF readers who object to Apple’s new in-app subscription and purchasing policies goes like this: What if Microsoft did this with Windows, and, say, tried to require Apple to pay them 30 percent for every purchase made through iTunes on Windows? To that, I say: good luck with that. Microsoft couldn’t make such a change by fiat. The whole premise of Windows (and other personal computer systems) is that it is open to third-party software. Apple couldn’t just flip a switch and make Mac OS X a controlled app console system like iOS — they had to introduce the Mac App Store as an alternative to traditional software installation. If Microsoft introduced something similar to the Mac App Store for Windows, Apple would simply eschew it. If Microsoft were to mandate an iOS App Store-like total control policy for all Windows software, they’d have a revolt in their user base that would make Vista look like a success.

iOS isn’t and never was an open computer system. It’s a closed, controlled console system — more akin to Playstation or Wii or Xbox than to Mac OS X or Windows. It is, in Apple’s view, a privilege to have a native iOS app.

This is what galls some: Apple is doing this because they can, and no other company is in a position to do it. This is not a fear that in-app subscriptions will fail because Apple’s 30 percent slice is too high, but rather that in-app subscriptions will succeed despite Apple’s (in their minds) egregious profiteering. I.e. that charging what the market will bear is somehow unscrupulous. To the charge that Apple Inc. is a for-profit corporation run by staunch capitalists, I say, “Duh”.

If it works, Apple’s 30-percent take of in-app subscriptions will prove as objectionable in the long run as the App Store itself: not very.

Surface Encounters

Surface Encounters

What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.

THE QUAKE IN JAPAN, A GOOFBALL IN VENEZUELA Japanese earthquake damage is estimated at $310 billion and could be the costliest natural disaster ever. Japanese exports suffer. Kate Rogers of Fox revisits how to protect your business from catastrophe. “Small-business owners can determine if they should be seeking disaster coverage by weighing their investment in the business itself, among other factors. If the business is the sole form of income, the risk is much greater than if it is a hobby or part-time project.” Elsewhere around the world, the war industry gets a boost in Libya. And Hugo Chávez of Venezuela says capitalism may have destroyed life on Mars.

REAL ESTATE FALLS, JOBS RISE Mark Thoma says commodity prices are increasing because of world demand. A small-business owner in Georgia is trying not to pass on the cost of high gas prices. Detroit’s population declines 25 percent. Existing-home sales fall to the lowest on record. Meredith Whitney, an investment adviser, says, “Unless the government comes out with a 50-year mortgage, this market is in trouble longer term.” Gallup’s job-creation index is the highest since September 2008. Durable goods orders fall.

ANNE HATHAWAY AND WARREN BUFFETT The Fed earns $79 billion and predicts that the recovery is taking hold. Nonetheless, one of its officials warns that the United States is approaching insolvency. Meanwhile, Warren E. Buffett predicts growth but some think his company’s stock is buoyed by Anne Hathaway. Household balances sheets continue to improve. Scott Grannis says “the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey came in very strong. It hasn’t been this strong since the economic boom times of the early 1980s. It’s very difficult to ignore the mounting evidence of a strong economic recovery.” Architect billings increased slightly in February.

DEFICIT THRILLS The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is thrilled to see 64 senators calling for comprehensive deficit reduction. But Stan Collender, a budget expert, isn’t thrilled at all: “Does a letter that is so vanilla that it could have been written at any time over the past 40 years really indicate any movement on the current budget debate?” James Pethokoukis of Reuters says he thinks President Obama’s budget is wildly dangerous.

A NEW DEFINITION OF SMALL BUSINESS Timothy F. Geithner says that American small businesses need greater access to capital to spur innovation. The Small Business Administration, facing even more cuts, is for the first time in more than 25 years proposing to change the way it defines small businesses. JPMorgan Chase says it will cease its debit card rewards program because of new legislation that would restrict fees. Missouri gets $27 million in incentives for small-business growth. The Small Business Savings Account Act makes its way through Congress.

TAKING CREDIT The health care legislation celebrates its first anniversary and Ezra Klein defends it by saying, “Is it a perfect piece of legislation? Not even close. Will everything work as expected? Almost certainly not. But for all its flaws, it’s a good law. And it’s worth trying.” Many small businesses are still not taking advantage of the health care tax credit.

TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES A Google project manager pitches cloud computing: “Web-based software is much less costly for buyers than traditional software, and programmers can be so much more innovative, that it’s worthwhile for an entrepreneur to say, O.K., let’s start from scratch.” Paul Mah, an information technology expert, gives us eight reasons to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9. Firefox 4 is released. Microsoft jumps to second in video search and introduces a new PC tool for small business. Netflix suffers an outage. BlackBerry’s tablet is scheduled to arrive in April. AT&T buys T-Mobile but not for the reason you think. And boy. has computer technology come a long way in 10 years.

THE GROWING APPS MARKET Information Week reports that 38 percent of small- and medium-size businesses depend on mobile apps. Amazon introduces an Android app store, and Apple is not pleased. Minda Zetlin of Inc. asks if you should make a tablet app for your business: “The answer is likely a yes if one, your product or service is one where having tablet access could benefit customers; and two, your customers are the type who use tablets.” Just in time: a flood of royal wedding apps.

SPEAKING OF THE BIG WEDDING General Electric releases a much-needed William and Kate refrigerator. Jack Daniels introduces a new product — perhaps to help us forget the royal wedding. Danny Wong gives us three winning ideas to consider. A dating site features a new single man every day. Score plans an e-business learning Web site for small business. Small Business Television is rebranding itself and has introduced a new Web site. Small Business Opportunities magazine is doing the same. A small business introduces its first electric car. Sales of e-books have doubled. The group buying industry is projected to grow to $2.7 billion this year.

TWITTER’S TAX BREAKS Casey Hibbard explains how one company used social media to make $300,000 in a weekend. Robert Scoble discovers the future of work: “Just when we thought we figured out the new ’social enterprise’ market along comes Convofy.” Twitter shows San Francisco’s businesses how to save a bundle on taxes. A one-legged wrestler shows us how to become a national champ.

IT’S GOOD TO BE GREEN A woman in Canada gets a standing ovation for being green. The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce holds its green marketing event on Wednesday. The Clinton Global Initiative holds its university conference this week with a focus on entrepreneurship and a live webcast.

ADVICE FOR SXSW: HAND OUT PILLOWS The Global Entrepreneurship Congress meets in Shanghai this week. April 2 is International Pillow Fight Day. The South By Southwest conference: as seen from a bunch of social media video bloggers — which is yet another reason I won’t attend next year. American Airlines offers a big promo for California business travelers. John Jantsch wants to know the worst business advice you ever received. A third-base coach gives life advice.

SEARCHING FOR HELP WITH SEARCH An American Express survey finds that more than half of small-business owners say they need help with search-engine marketing. A video about why it’s not important to go viral goes viral. Dharmesh Shah shares a few low-cost advertising ideas for start-ups and cautions readers to “think of advertising not as a long-term traffic strategy but as a testing tool to improve your Web site and find out more about your ideal visitor.” An advertising blog discusses how to develop a relationship with the media. Lucy Thornton comes up with a few good marketing themes for April.

A 100-MILLION-MEMBER NETWORK LinkedIn officially reaches 100 million members. Seems like a good time to read the co-founder’s 10 rules for entrepreneurial success.

TRIED TALKING? Whitson Gordon of Lifehacker gives us his top 10 tricks for working while on the go. Example: “Whether it’s that old, dead iPod or the smartphone you’re already carrying with you, you probably have gigs of unused storage lying around waiting to be filled with portable apps, files and other digital travel necessities.” Melanie Brooks of Workawesome.com explains why she uses a leather day planner instead of a smartphone. Greg Schinkel warns against hiding behind our keyboards: “Before you hit ‘reply to all’ and send back a zinger to someone who maligned you, stop and go talk to the person.”

THIS WEEK’S AWARDS

BEST WAY TO GET YOUR CUSTOMERS TO LOVE YOU Ben Yoskovitz talks about the benefits of delighting your customers: “The rewards are immense. Loyal, rabid fans tweet shamelessly about how incredible you are, how valuable your Web application is and how successful your start-up will be.”

BEST WAY TO MARKET WITHOUT A BUDGET Shisha Dublin-Green explains how to market without a marketing budget: “Form an alliance: if you have a hair salon that’s mostly frequented by women with young children and elderly women, you can offer a service whereby you arrange to do their grocery shopping whilst they’re in the salon. You may decide to form an alliance with a local reputable grocer or delivery service to provide this for your customers. This could also be a way to reach out to new customers via your local grocer.”

BEST ADVICE FOR BOOTSTRAPPERS The Smart Bear says that the things money cannot buy are still the most valuable things: “Show proof of your ability to master the things money cannot buy — your ability to learn, change and improve.”

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: How do you bring in customers without spending a lot? We do free webinars every month.

Gene Marks owns the Marks Group PC, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.

What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.

A 100-MILLION-MEMBER NETWORK LinkedIn officially reaches 100 million members. Seems like a good time to read the co-founder’s 10 rules for entrepreneurial success.

THIS WEEK’S AWARDS

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: How do you bring in customers without spending a lot? We do free webinars every month.

Gene Marks owns the Marks Group PC, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.

Surface Encounters

New York Yankee News: Granderson, Chavez, Joe West and Barry Bonds ...

All the Yankee news you need. ... New York Yankees Make Roster Decisions. Mar 2011 by Brandon C. - 47 comments. News links: Feliciano, Romulo, Chavez and the Canseco twins. Mar 2011 by Travis G - 51 comments. Around SB Nation ...

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Surface Encounters

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FOCUS: Courageous workers at troubled nuclear plant endure tough ...

Each of the employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other workers engaged in containing damage at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is given 30 survival food crackers and a 180 milliliter pack of vegetable juice for ...

Surface Encounters

Making Money Working

Actually, these bastards are going to end up hanging themselves on a couple of points (not my words, but family deeply involved in the legal business as lawyers and law professors).

First, there is a little point of technicality called the “Equal Protection Clause(s) of the U.S. Constitution, which pretty pointedly states that it is not exactly legal to try to deny guaranteed rights (under the constitution) from any one group of citizens. This is what ultimately torpedoed much of segregation (and Jim Crow laws) in the Deep South, and why the attempts to impose a modern day equivalent in Arizona are unlikely to survive a constitutional challenge. Trying to deprive these state union members of legally recognized rights, in organizations that are recognized as legitimate under both state and federal laws, is going to set off a whole minefield of legal issues, and could extend way beyond just the rights of union members to seek representation for collective bargaining purposes. Such as the rights of any number of groups to organize and hold meetings about common points of interest. Not too great an extension to say that if this bullshit can fly (what the Spotted Wanker is pushing in WI) than some other governor with a rubber stamp legislature could turn his attention to stripping rights from gays. Or blacks. Or Jews. Or whoever the hell these goons feel like ganging up on. That is why the poem from the 1930s has never lost any of its power…”first, they came for the trade unionists, but I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a trade unionist…” (apologies if this quote is not completely accurate or otherwise misstated) )

Second: the little abomination that the Gang of Five on the Supream Court gave us a year or so ago (Citizens Inebriated) actually contains a little bouncing betty of its own that could very well go off in the faces of Govs Wanker, Sacitch, Krysty, and J.O. Daniels. Since this ruling extended the concept of “personhood” to both corporations and unions, to try to deny them any right to operate within the legal framework that they were organized under deprives these “persons” of the freedoms of speech, association and movement. Which means (once again, quoting law school trained family) that either the courts have to uphold these rights for the unions (as individual “persons” as guaranteed by the Federal (and most state) constitutions, or they have to declare that these attempts at stripping or limiting union rights have to apply to major corporations, also.

I'm as entertained as anyone with the recent antics of Charlie Sheen, and if capturing the attention of the entire public was the goal, then Charlie is "winning."

Most of us are watching in a kind of awe-inspired horror. This would be great, we think to ourselves, if Charlie was actually in control, if his TV show was still in production and if his kids had not been carted away in the dead of night.

Charlie keeps saying he's tired of hiding who he is. He's tired of apologizing for his behavior and he doesn't see his choices as a problem. After all, he has tiger blood and Adonis DNA; he's special and he's tired of hiding it. This is where, in a free society, one has to ask, just how free are we, really?

Charlie has declared himself in defiance of social etiquette as a guy who does anything he wants to do whenever he wants to do it -- rules be damned. Society is now saying, "We can't stop you, but you won't be working for us, and you can't have custody of your kids".

For a lot of people in America, Charlie's antics are making him more of a role model than ever. They look at Charlie and say, "I want to party with you, man." These are the same people who say, "I love Jackass," and they go to shows where stunt men deliberately get into accidents. It's considered uniquely American to have the freedom to not care what society thinks, even if what you're doing is self destructive.

Most of us care about consequences; that's what keeps us in line. What other people think matters to us. We don't have our own definition of winning. We measure our success against a societal definition. As a result, most of us feel like failures, and as we watch a "free" man, we become frightened.

Charlie Sheen is fascinating, compelling, dangerous and exciting. We know it can't last. Eventually, Charlie will have to surrender and admit failure because too many people are watching. He'll either be reined in or become the societal definition. One way or the other, this will come to an end and we'll all say, "It was fun to watch while it lasted".

The funny thing is, there are lots of people living just like Charlie Sheen and no one is telling them to stop. Their children are not being removed and, if they don't work, many of them get money from the government or live completely outside the law. Charlie's problem is that he's experiencing too much of that societal definition of success and at the same time being too high profile. We all know you can't have it both ways.

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Iranian Video Says Mahdi is 'Near' - World - CBN News - Christian ...

New evidence has emerged that the Iranian government sees the current unrest in the Middle East as a signal that the Mahdi--or Islamic messiah--is about to appear.

REPORT: News Corp. In Talks To Hand Over Control Of MySpace To ...

News Corp. is in preliminary talks to give control of Myspace to Vevo.com, the site partly owned by top record companies, including Universal Music and Sony Music, according to a Bloomberg report. News Corp. has been looking to unload ...

How to create a Facebook news feed for a journalist (or anything ...

I've been enjoying The Independent's individual Facebook feeds for journalists, football teams and other 'entities' of their news coverage. So much so that.

Monday, March 28, 2011

SEO Services Vancouver For A Better Marketing Solution

When you begin your own website there are many ways you will have to sell it off and something the best way is to use Search engine optimization Vancouver if you happen to be in that area. The SEO or seo services will be the top method of getting good traffic to your site and for that reason making more sales.

Now, you should know that you won't use SEO service if you are no internet business - but then again, if you don't come with an online presence if you are an offline business, then you will not make it very far.

It's a well known fact that if you are going to really make it in the offline world you need to have an online presence. This is something which all business people are learning hard way. Something that you should also know is the fact that it's not as easy as just establishing the website and leaving it to complete its things.

This can be done in most types of ways, however these companies usually make use of multiple techniques to create an ideal marketing technique online. It is possible to hire them to write articles for you personally, post on forums and blogs, create meta data and meta descriptions, clean up the code, add alt tags towards the images and much more.

It is crucial that you simply do this because otherwise the organization you have worked so hard for could end up losing the money. If you have an internet site you want to produce, then you'll also employ the services of a search engine optimization company, which stands for search engine optimization company. What the corporation does is basically go ahead and take best areas of your site, look into the code, create keywords and write various articles and documents to ensure your site is placed near the the surface of the list for the major search engines.

As a result the SEO company can not only improve your traffic, but also ensure that your website is fully optimized for the search engine spiders that'll be brought to it. These spiders are used to analyze your website and put it in certain positions determined on certain keywords.

If you want to make use of the Search engine optimization Vancouver then all you have to complete is find the top companies. It is through these how the SEO gets done effectively and efficiently. With so many SEO companies to choose from you need to be certain the one you're going for is reliable. You should be able to request a breakdown of what you want, and also the company also needs to have the ability to tell you know long they have been operating for. This will limit the list to reveal the top ones.

SEO Services Provided by Different Vancouver Web Companies

The Vancouver SEO company services are extremely good for business growth because they provide quality services. If you are planning to create a website for your internet business, then you've come to right article as I will be explaining below how Search engine optimization Vancouver company services can improve your website ranking making it popular.

Before that, you need to know what Seo is. It's not that complicated and i am sure you're going to get a grasp from it after reading my article. The primary goal of SEO is to have increased traffic to your website and target audience. It is a good decision to select a Vancouver SEO company that are experts in this kind of work, which means that your website could be listed in search engines like google.

There isn't any point in you using a website without any website ranking at all while you won't get any business and profits to outlive. It's a very tough atmosphere available because there are so many online business people exactly like you, who want their share of pie. You must be familiar with the truth that nearly 85% of online traffic can be got from websites.

When a user types in a keyword or keywords for which he/she wants to know in various sites, these use crawlers to get web-sites using the relevant content and index them according to algorithms. It's not necessary to be worried about the algorithms which these sites use as that is not important.

To appear in the first page of the search result, you will need to hire professionals and pros who can perform the needful to maintain your site among the good books in these websites. These professionals can optimize your website content to ensure that your website gets increased traffic.

When the traffic gets high, it's a sign that you're getting a service that will get you more revenues. SEO Vancouver company do the following to create your website appear inside the first page of search results.

Use keywords which are popularly used on search engines on your website content.
Have a website design for the website which is simple because top sites are allergic to flash and weird designs.
Submit your website to directories.
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Postings on blogs and forums with back links for your websites. This is considered as an effective method of getting more traffic to your website as many online users use blogs and forums.

SEO Vancouver company also perform site diagnostics that is a significant part in online optimization as research and analysis on finding keywords is the way to begin a SEO campaign. So, make sure you choose the best SEO Vancouver service company.

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What to Expect Whenever Getting a Roofing Contractors

When the time comes to repair or even substitute your roof, it's really a challenging job to locate somebody that is actually competent for the job. There are many roofers available, however the types who'll do a great job for a reasonable cost are not frequently easy to find. If you're in the marketplace for the service provider, make use of the ideas below for interviewing and hiring the right one.

Job interview and Consultation

The majority of roofers offer totally free consultation services. This is particularly important, since it gives them an opportunity to evaluate exactly what your homes roof requirements, also it provides you with a chance to evaluate all of them. As with all of companies, believe in instincts concerning the individuals a person let up on your roof. No matter how great the contractor's status or even suggestion, he or she should begin by presenting a person having a company greeting card. If the service provider occurs searching and talking in an unprofessional manner, chances are that the task he is going to perform may also be unprofessional. This isn't to say that you should anticipate contractors to reach within fits. They will be hiking on your roof, so the majority of will be dressed up in denim jeans and work footwear or even sneakers. If the service provider appears to be interested in speaking upon their mobile phone while on your homes roof compared to he is within evaluating your own roof's requirements, which may be an additional indication that he's not really the main one to do the job. For the legal safety, be certain that the actual contractor offers adequate liability insurance.

Roof Assessment

Expect that the contractor is going to be rising on your roofing. In fact, any service provider who does not want to increase on your roofing to judge the problem ought to be instantly reduced. Those who are seriously interested in their function may either make a drawing of the roof's surface as well as mark problem areas onto it as they go through their assessment, or even they will consider pictures or video of the surface while they're up there. This is an extremely essential step, because it enables you to see exactly what the problems are and know how they will be fixed.

Estimate

The next step will be the created estimation. The contractor will require out his loan calculator and are available track of an itemized estimation. Some contractors goes out to their own vehicle or truck as well as write up the proposal, while others may crunch the numbers to do the job prior to you. Once you're because of the proposal, ensure that you understand which products is going to be utilized, how long the task will take and when you will find any additional or even hidden expenses that may arise throughout the restore from the roofing. The contractor should be able to answer many of these concerns with ease and forewarn a person of any additional expenses that might be incurred should the roof's integrity end up being damaged within.

After you have received several created estimations from roofers, assess exactly what every organization or even service provider would like to offer you for the cost. Do not always low cost the greatest bet, simply because sometimes the highest bet will in reality function as the contractor who does the task correctly. Also, be skeptical associated with prices for bids that are significantly less than others. They might be utilizing substandard items or perhaps be unethical concerning the chance of concealed costs. Most importantly, trust your instincts as well as opt for the actual contractor who enables you to feel most comfortable regarding handing more than your hard earned money.

Seven Uyghurs Sentenced to Death

2011-03-23

Critics of the sentences say China has politicized the robberies as acts of terrorism.

AFP

A Uyghur man walks past armed Chinese security forces in Urumqi, July 17, 2009.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have ordered the executions of seven ethnic minority Uyghur men convicted of "violent" crimes, official media said on Wednesday.

The death sentences were handed down by the Supreme People's Court in recent days, according to state media in the regional capital, Urumqi.

The men were accused in connection with three separate attacks late last year in the Silk Road city of Kashgar, according to the news website Urumqi Online.

According to another website, the Xinjiang-based Tianshan news site, Aimaiti Tuheti, Yiming Dawuti, and unnamed "others" killed a security guard at a pedestrian mall as part of a failed Aug. 7 robbery attempt.

In a separate incident on Oct. 12, it said, Nuermaimaiti Aobulikasimu and 11 others broke into a house, bound and killed the couple living in it, and took their possessions.

It said the group also broke into the homes of two brothers, robbed them, and killed six people in a Nov. 11 attack in Kashgar.

The report gave no information about the victims or the schedule for the executions.

Three of the men were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, a sentence that is normally commuted to life imprisonment in China's judicial system.

They were convicted of deliberate homicide and armed robbery by the Kashgar Intermediate People's Court in the first instance.

'Strike hard' campaign

A Han Chinese resident of Urumqi surnamed Yang said a reference to "terrorism" in official news reports on the case showed that it was being politicized by the authorities, who have launched a series of "strike hard" campaigns in Xinjiang following deadly ethnic violence in July 2009.

"There is an implied political meaning; that they were somehow engaged in separatist activities or ethnic divisions," said Yang.

Exile Uyghur groups said the trials had been conducted behind closed doors, with scant opportunity for public scrutiny.

"The entire process against these men, from the trial through to the judgment, was opaque," said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress.

"There was also very little reasonable evidence to convict them on a legal basis, because all the evidence came from one side of the case," he said.

"We strongly condemn the Chinese government for continuing to pursue their policies of ethnic division," said Raxit.

"We are also strongly opposed to the death penalty in this case."

Earlier cases

Last month, the Supreme Court sentenced four Uyghurs to death for alleged involvement in an Aug. 19 bomb attack in Xinjiang’s western Aksu city.

The World Uyghur Congress pointed to concerns over lack of transparency in those cases too.

The Aksu blast left eight people dead, including two of the bombers, and 15 wounded after a man riding a three-wheeled vehicle threw explosives at a group of uniformed patrolmen. Four Uyghurs were arrested shortly after the attack.

State media characterized the cases as acts of terrorism and unrelated to longstanding ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and Han Chinese in the region.

Exiled Uyghur dissident Rebiya Kadeer has warned that attacks like those in Aksu will continue to occur until Beijing addresses the underlying source of tension in the region.

Millions of Uyghurs—a distinct, Turkic minority who are predominantly Muslim—populate Central Asia and Xinjiang.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Those frustrations erupted in July 2009 in deadly riots that left nearly 200 people dead, by the Chinese government's tally.

At least 26 people, mostly Uyghurs, were sentenced to death in the aftermath of the riots, many of whom have been executed, according to state media.

China is believed to execute more people each year than the rest of the world’s countries combined, although the government does not publish official figures.

Rights groups say Beijing may execute as many as several thousand prisoners annually.

Chinese authorities blame Uyghur separatists for a series of deadly attacks in recent years and accuse one group in particular of maintaining ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

New training scheme

China on Wednesday also announced a training scheme which places ethnic minority graduates from Xinjiang in work elsewhere in China.

Governments of the destination cities will spend 450 million yuan (U.S.$ 69 million) for the program, while Xinjiang will spend 400 million yuan (U.S.$ 61 million), the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The program targets some 60,000 jobless college graduates in Xinjiang, around 80 percent of whom are from ethnic minorities, and 60 percent of whom are women.

However, some commentators see the move as an attempt to assimilate non-Han Chinese into mainstream Chinese culture.

"From the point of view of ethnic minorities, the graduate work scheme is really taking the cream of youth from the minorities and using them to 'further cultural development,'" wrote one ethnic minority user on a popular microblogging service.

"In fact, the culture that is being advanced is Han culture, and this group of young people will have been totally brainwashed," the microblog update said.

An Urumqi resident surnamed Li agreed.

"They have run senior high school schemes like this before during the past few years," he said.

"Whether it's high-schoolers or graduate training programs, these are measures that are aimed at thought control and brainwashing, and the 'Partification' of their education," he said.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Wikileaks and the Uyghur People

through holly on December Twenty, This year
Henryk Szadziewski, Manager, Uyghur Human Rights Project

Whether it were ever uncertain, information obtained through the whistleblower website, Wikileaks, offers verified Chinese government worries over its continued charge of the location it calls Xinjiang, also is referred to as Eastern Turkestan. The actual leaked out wires through Ough.S. diplomats show the degree to which Chinese government bodies make an effort to persuade government authorities globally to consider its position upon issues affecting Uyghurs. The actual wires also display the U . s . States' issues as well as sights regarding the ongoing repressive steps in the area.

The majority of lighting associated with Chinese language government stress would be the cables pointing in order to Chinese anger, or the specter associated with Chinese language ire, over the release of Uyghur detainees within Guantánamo to 3rd countries. A December 29, 08 cable television relates exactly how Chinese language Helper Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi met with the Ough.S. Ambassador to China to tone of voice Beijing's powerful opposition of launch to any kind of nation apart from China, and that when the Ough.Utes. do indeed accede to this ask for it would "avoid injury to bilateral relationships and to cooperation ‘in essential areas'". In addition, a Feb '09 cable explains the way the Chinese language Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded as the possible discharge of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees because "an unfavorable act toward us" along with a "slap in the face". That the Ough.Utes. government stood company in not really releasing the actual detainees to China demonstrates the extent from the politicized nature of the Chinese language judicial program. Genuine issues over terrorism tend to be easy to understand, however in the U.Utes. government's view the detainees might most likely face torture as well as delivery when they came back in order to China

Chinese language federal government pressure regarding the Uyghur Guantánamo detainees was not just put on the actual U.Utes. government, but also in order to Brand new Zealand along with a number of European governments that were thinking about resettlement. Albania, Indonesia and Finland, in addition to Eu member states just about all appear to have borne the impact associated with Chinese government disappointment. In the case of Indonesia, which was at first willing to think about two Uyghurs on solely relief reasons, Uyghur Guantánamo instances were much less better than other detainees because of the unwanted effects taking Uyghurs might have on relationships with China. The Might 8, '09 cable applies exactly how "German Ambassador Erina Schaefer reported which Germany experienced informed China from the Ough.S. request to accept a few Uighur detainees kept at Guantánamo coupled with already been subsequently cautioned through The far east associated with ‘a large burden upon bilateral relations' in the event that Indonesia had been to accept any kind of detainees".

The actual diplomatic cables also discuss the unrest in Urumchi, the local capital, within July '09. The This summer 13, '09 cable talking about bulk incidents within China states:

"Ethnic riots such as those who work in Xinjiang July 5-7 and in Tibet in March of 2008 vary substantially in origin and nature through mass occurrences, XXXXXXXXXXXX emphasized in order to PolOff [Political Officer] upon XXXXXXXXXXXX. Both existing severe trouble for the actual Party, XXXXXXXXXXXX stated, but the Party management would not wait to spread out fireplace upon Uighurs or even Tibetans if they considered this necessary to restore order. Mass occurrences present a different type of threat, he explained, as the management is ‘afraid' to fireplace upon Han rioters for fear of sparking massive open public outrage that will change from the Celebration."

This can be a relaxing opinion, particularly when one considers the evidence presented by 50 percent reviews launched this year by the Uyghur Human Rights Task (UHRP) and Amnesty Worldwide which fine detail eyewitness accounts from the use of deadly live fireplace against Uyghur protestors in July 2009. Additionally, the actual observation which fire wouldn't be deployed towards Han Chinese language protestors offers resonances for the different strategy taken through Chinese protection causes within Urumchi in order to Han Chinese language direct orders in September 2009. Throughout those protests, after that Celebration Assistant, Wang Lequan, addressed protesters, who experienced demanded he let them know about federal government reactions in order to protection issues. An identical request to satisfy with the Celebration Secretary by Uyghur demonstrators within This summer wasn't met.

The actual wider repercussions from the unrest additionally noticed a brief dialogue on the effect it would have on Iran-China relations, and on relations along with Sydney after World Uyghur Our elected representatives Leader, Microsoft. Rebiya Kadeer, spoke at the Nationwide Push Membership within Canberra in July 2009. In the second option case, china government "privately warn[ed] a major Aussie bank which vendors the National Press Membership to use it's impact to block a Kadeer speech there".

The actual U . s . States' concerns about the situation in the Uyghur area are available through in the wires. In a dialogue upon policy path within Tibet, Ough.S. authorities clarify that it'll be impossible with regard to Chinese leaders to adopt a softer line "if they appear like doing this under worldwide pressure". The actual cable television out dated April 16, 08, one month following the outbreak associated with unrest in Tibetan regions, also relayed the actual declaration "that household stability remains the leadership's top priority most of all, meaning there will ‘almost surely' be no rest of the present difficult line upon Tibet or perhaps in places like Xinjiang." The information included in the cable television additionally sheds light on the severe level of sensitivity that the Chinese government sights territorial integrity, and also the possible spill over associated with unrest through Tibet.

The chance associated with solutions to tensions within Tibet as well as Xinjiang as a result of civil society tend to be debated inside a Feb 24, 08 cable. Whilst recommending which China's financial achievement increases its potential to deal with democratic change, the actual cable also talks about exactly how Chinese language frontrunners see the usefulness of "a limited expansion of civil culture, including enhancements within the guideline associated with law and a more powerful role for approved religions, NGOs, non profit organizations and other stars within places that contribute to social stability and don't problem Communist Party rule." This is a significant change in thinking, which has seen U.Utes. authorities promote the notion that Chinese financial development, as well as economic relations along with The far east brings about a progressively democratic culture; however, more belief appears to be placed in a grassroots movement compared to one which starts in the top quantity of a Chinese language federal government. Nonetheless, the actual cable proves that "[i]n places such as Tibet and Xinjiang, the fear of separatism results in tighter restrictions on the growth of municipal society." This method is viewed as counter-productive through the official, who shows that the Ough.S. federal government "should continue to express...serious concerns more than Beijing's individual privileges report and attract China's growing awareness that greater respect for individual privileges, spiritual freedom and also the guideline associated with regulation assists to promote the improvement and sociable stability which The far east looks for as well as to improve China's worldwide picture." This type of technique would take substantial diplomatic skills considering "China's paranoid concern that the Usa privately encourages routine change and ‘separatists' within Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang".

The wires offer insight into the actual daily business of diplomacy that is rarely afforded to the general public, and it is fascinating to note the quantity of work done behind closed doors on Uyghur problems. The importance of the part of the United States as a monitor of Uyghur human privileges conditions in personal conversations is made obvious, and contrasts with its sensible open public position. The staff from the Uyghur Individual Rights Task is actually well aware of the pressure china federal government puts on Uyghur activists; still, the facts associated with Chinese government stress upon its counterparts is illustrative of the diploma which Chinese language officials make an effort to suppress contradictory stories. With more revelations in the future through Wikileaks, concerns more than Uyghurs may not grab the actual head lines, but the cables have get rid of new light about the paperwork associated with individual rights problems within the Uyghur area.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wikileaks and also the Uyghurs

through holly on Dec Twenty, This year
Henryk Szadziewski, Manager, Uyghur Human Rights Project

Whether it had been actually uncertain, information obtained through the whistleblower web site, Wikileaks, offers verified Chinese government fears over its ongoing charge of the location it phone calls Xinjiang, which is also referred to as East Turkestan. The leaked wires from Ough.Utes. diplomats demonstrate the degree that Chinese government bodies attempt to persuade government authorities globally to adopt its stance on issues affecting Uyghurs. The cables also display the actual U . s . States' issues and views concerning the ongoing repressive measures in the area.

Most illuminating associated with Chinese government stress are the wires directed to Chinese anger, or the specter associated with Chinese language ire, within the discharge of Uyghur detainees within Guantánamo to third countries. A Dec Twenty nine, 2008 cable applies exactly how Chinese language Helper Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi fulfilled with the Ough.S. Ambassador to The far east to tone of voice Beijing's strong competitors of launch in order to any kind of country apart from China, which when the Ough.S. do certainly accede for this ask for it would "avoid harm to bilateral relations and to cooperation ‘in important areas'". In addition, the Feb 2009 cable television describes the way the Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Zhang Yannian, regarded the possible discharge of Uyghur Guantánamo detainees as "an unfavorable behave towards us" and a "slap within the face". That the U.Utes. government stood firm in not releasing the actual detainees to The far east illustrates the actual degree of the politicized character from the Chinese language judicial system. Genuine concerns over terrorism are easy to understand, but in the U.Utes. government's observe the detainees might most likely face do-it-yourself torture as well as execution when they came back in order to The far east

Chinese federal government pressure regarding the Uyghur Guantánamo detainees was not only applied to the Ough.Utes. government, but also in order to New Zealand and a handful of European governments which were thinking about resettlement. Albania, Indonesia as well as Finland, as well as Eu member states all have the symptoms of borne the actual brunt associated with Chinese language federal government unhappiness. Regarding Indonesia, that was at first willing to consider two Uyghurs on purely relief grounds, Uyghur Guantánamo cases were less preferable to additional detainees because of the unwanted effects accepting Uyghurs might have upon relations along with China. The May Eight, '09 cable applies how "German Ambassador Erina Schaefer reported that Indonesia experienced knowledgeable China from the U.Utes. ask for to simply accept some Uighur detainees kept from Guantánamo coupled with been subsequently warned through The far east of ‘a large burden on bilateral relations' if Indonesia had been to accept any kind of detainees".

The diplomatic wires additionally talk about the unrest within Urumchi, the regional funds, within July 2009. The This summer 13, '09 cable talking about bulk incidents within China says:

"Ethnic riots like those in Xinjiang This summer 5-7 as well as in Tibet in 03 associated with 2008 differ markedly in source as well as nature from bulk occurrences, XXXXXXXXXXXX emphasized in order to PolOff [Political Officer] upon XXXXXXXXXXXX. Each existing severe problems for the actual Party, XXXXXXXXXXXX said, however the Party leadership wouldn't wait to open fireplace on Uighurs or even Tibetans if they deemed it essential to restore purchase. Bulk occurrences present a different kind of risk, he explained, as the management is actually ‘afraid' to fireplace on Han rioters for fear of causing massive public outrage that will turn against the Celebration."

This can be a chilling opinion, particularly when 1 views evidence presented in two reviews released this year by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) and Amnesty International that detail eyewitness accounts of the utilization of deadly reside fireplace against Uyghur protestors in This summer '09. In addition, the observation which fire wouldn't be deployed against Han Chinese language protestors offers resonances for the various approach used through Chinese language security causes within Urumchi to Han Chinese language protests within Sept '09. Throughout those direct orders, then Party Secretary, Wang Lequan, tackled protesters, who had demanded he let them know about federal government responses to security issues. A similar request to satisfy with the Celebration Secretary by Uyghur protesters within This summer wasn't fulfilled.

The actual wider repercussions from the unrest also noticed a short discussion about the impact it would have upon Iran-China relationships, as well as on relationships with Sydney following World Uyghur Congress President, Microsoft. Rebiya Kadeer, talked in the Nationwide Press Club within Canberra within July '09. In the latter situation, china government "privately warn[ed] a major Australian bank that vendors the nation's Press Club to use its impact to block a Kadeer speech there".

The actual United States' issues concerning the situation in the Uyghur region are available via within the wires. Inside a discussion on policy direction within Tibet, U.Utes. officials clarify that it will be not possible with regard to Chinese leaders to consider a softer collection "if they look like they are doing so under international pressure". The cable dated 04 Sixteen, 2008, 30 days after the outbreak of unrest in Tibetan regions, also relayed the observation "that domestic stability continues to be leadership's top priority above all else, which means there'll ‘almost surely' be absolutely no relaxation of the current hard line upon Tibet or in places like Xinjiang." The info contained in the cable television additionally sheds gentle about the extreme sensitivity that china government views territorial integrity, and also the possible drip over of unrest from Tibet.

The chance associated with solutions to stress within Tibet as well as Xinjiang arising from municipal society tend to be debated in a February Twenty-four, 2008 cable. While recommending that China's financial achievement will increase it's resistance to democratic reform, the cable also talks about exactly how Chinese language frontrunners see the effectiveness associated with "a restricted growth associated with civil society, including improvements in the guideline of regulation and a stronger part for approved religions, NGOs, non profit organizations along with other stars within areas which bring about sociable stability and don't problem Communist Party guideline." This is a notable change in thinking, that has seen Ough.Utes. officials market the notion which Chinese language financial development, and financial relationships with The far east brings in regards to a progressively democratic society; however, much more belief appears to be placed in a grassroots motion than one which starts in the top levels of the Chinese language federal government. Nonetheless, the actual cable television concludes which "[i]n places such as Tibet and Xinjiang, driving a car of separatism leads to tighter restrictions about the growth of municipal culture." This method is viewed as counter-productive by the recognized, who shows that the actual Ough.S. government "should continue to express...serious concerns over Beijing's human rights report and appeal to China's growing awareness which greater respect with regard to human privileges, spiritual freedom and the rule of law assists to promote the improvement and sociable balance which China seeks as well as to enhance China's international picture." This type of technique would take substantial diplomatic skills thinking about "China's paranoid fear that the Usa secretly encourages regime alter and ‘separatists' in Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang".

The actual cables provide understanding of the actual daily business of diplomacy that is hardly ever owned by everyone, and it is fascinating to notice the quantity of function carried out behind closed doors on Uyghur problems. The significance of the role of the United States like a monitor of Uyghur individual privileges problems in private conversations is created obvious, and contrasts using its sensible open public stance. The staff from the Uyghur Human Rights Task is well aware of the pressure china federal government exerts on Uyghur activists; nevertheless, the facts associated with Chinese government pressure upon it's counterparts is actually illustrative of the degree which Chinese language authorities make an effort to suppress contrary narratives. With increased facts in the future from Wikileaks, concerns more than Uyghurs may not get the actual headlines, however the wires have get rid of brand new gentle about the documentation of human privileges conditions within the Uyghur area.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Search Engine Marketing And Article Marketing Will Place Yourself on Page One

Search engine optimization and article marketing are a couple of the most powerful strategies that you can use to promote your website and get the revenue and success that you desire for your online business. Those two everything has been around for a really very long time already however they still still be really effective. In reality, these have helped lots of people free themselves in the traditional methods for money-generating options of society.

In this post, I will be showing the ways how it is possible to properly execute seo and article marketing for the betterment of one's small business web site. In addition, I will also be discussing different points you need to consider when you're using these two website marketing strategies to promote your website and acquire customers. Despite the fact that article promotion and Seo have been around for a long time already, you need to know that the trends and choices concerning how they are done are continually changing, and that's why you should keep yourself up to date with these things through the help of Search engine optimization forum sites so that you can quickly adjust and learn to make your strategies more efficient.

In the past article marketing to various websites used to be so simple the effects they produce for websites was really powerful. However, stuff has changed a whole lot today. Currently submitting the identical article to different websites is not a good suggestion because engines like google have now changed to a huge extent in the manner they rank pages. They no more rank contents which are identical like they used to in the past. This really is among the best examples of changes that exist in web marketing trends. This change has given birth to wide plethora of methods that internet marketers are using today. Nearly all of web marketers now produce articles and publish them in really popular article submission sites and watch for targeted prospects to come to their pages. This is perhaps that most reliable Search engine optimization strategy that can be used. Aside from being effective, this also delivers favorable benefits on a regular basis. A small problem using this technique is that the caliber of traffic that you will get out of this won't be so good if you don't do proper market and keyword research beforehand and rehearse in-links. You need to attend to these two things before you decide to submit your articles so that you won't end up losing large amounts of targeted prospects. This means that you need to practice good amounts of diligence if you want your advertising initiatives to work.

In addition to articles, you can even use blogging, that is another really powerful form of internet marketing strategy today because it's highly well-liked by search engines. On this technique, you are able to choose to produce a single blog site that specifically targets your selected market or else you can contribute to other weblogs which can be called experts in your niche.

Learn effective Vancouver search engine marketing techniques at the Vancouver SEO website.

Roofing Contractors Vancouver WA

There are numerous things to think about when looking for a roofing contractor. Price tag, experience, as well as referrals are a handful of the things you will probably be concerned about. Keep reading for even other great ideas.

Finding a Roofers

Before hunting for a roofing contractor, be sure to have a common idea of the job that you need to have done. By no means do you have to be a professional. If you have a Roof Certification, read it extensively to find the information about your current roof. If you do not have a Roofing Certificate, reference documents authorized during shutting to locate houses roof Inspection page. These files should supply you with everything you need to learn about your roof. Before contacting a new roofing contractor, you ought to have a list of specifications and features to help you make a decision exactly who works for your roof covering project. Be sure to write down each potential roofer contractor's answers and check these against the other person. If you will find any mistakes, be sure to take note this and also take this into consideration when creating a final selection. There are no straightforward ways to select a roofing contractor, in case you take heed to the data provided, your odds of a successful roofer project tend to be greatly superior.

One of the best methods for finding a roofers is by recommendations. Try inquiring a friend or relative that has had roofer work completed, and has been satisfied with the work. Get the brand of the enterprise and their particular contact information. If you have not sure of jaws referrals, try first looking in the cell phone book and internet based. A large advertisement or fancy website is not necessarily a sign of the high quality of work, but can be a excellent tool with regard to measuring how long and devotion they have put in their particular profession. In addition, try locating current worksites and look at the roofer work which is done or perhaps in the process of getting finished. If you are visually amazed, ask the house manager for that name from the roofing contractor and their speak to information.

Preliminary research

When looking for any roofing contractors, it is imperative to 1st do your own background research. Purchasing in the phone book or on the Internet is a suitable destination to find a builder, finding relevant information on these types of businesses is going to be found in a number of other areas. Very first, check with areas like the Bbb, city, point out, and county public records, along with local certification agencies. Request your roofer if they are a member of any roofer associations. These types of precautions can mitigate your risks. Also ask them what forms of roofing they specialize in. Additionally ask your own roofing contractor with regards to any extended warranties they offer on the installed roofing. Find out what safety measures they decide to use avoid damage done to the rest of the home by workers. Items such as gutters, home siding, and chimneys are close in proximity and for that reason susceptible to random damages.

Make sure all of this details are included in your created contract. Determine if you need a covering permit and/or agreement from your homeowners association beforehand. These people will let you know who's responsible for acquiring these makes it possible for and permissions. If it is the responsibility of the roofer, also have it included as part of your contract. If it is your accountability, get stated permits as well as permissions collated while using estimated roofer project and have it evidently posted or even readily available.

Licensing and Recommendations

Roofing Contractors are not needed to be licensed in all claims. Contact nearby licensing businesses that govern general construction contractors for any list of specifications. Once you have obtained the requirements, build a list of in depth questions to ask your current potential roofing contractor. This simple record should instantly help you to weed out the skilled from the not qualified roofing companies. Qualified installers should be able to quickly answer questions or tell you that they should do even more research prior to giving a definitive response.

Even if the roofing contractor features all necessary licensing, you must ask to view pictures involving completed covering jobs as well as speak to happy clients. Have a very list of queries handy to ask recent clientele, such as the character of the employment, timeliness, and overall satisfaction. Ensure these are latest clients along with cross guide if possible. In the matter of commercial roof covering, make sure that the particular roofing contractor will be bonded. Checking out these personal references is another included measure of protection to define the list of potential roofing contractors.

About Me 0074

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Making Money Ebay

Mike Krzyzewski: Jalen Rose's Duke talk 'very insulting'

Take Two: Donald Trump Releases Official Birth Certificate - The Note

Heavy Fire Afghanistan coming to Kinect Xbox 360 <b>News</b> - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Dirty Percent

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Apple Should Consider Business Models That Can’t Afford a 70/30 Revenue Split

Apple Should Not Require Price Matching

Apple Should Not Require Apps to Offer In-App Subscriptions

Apple Should Be Taking Less, Possibly Far Less, Than 30 Percent

Competition vs. Anti-Competition

New York Yankee <b>News</b>: Granderson, Chavez, Joe West and Barry Bonds <b>...</b>

FOCUS: Courageous workers at troubled nuclear plant endure tough <b>...</b>

Making Money Working

Iranian Video Says Mahdi is 'Near' - World - CBN <b>News</b> - Christian <b>...</b>

REPORT: <b>News</b> Corp. In Talks To Hand Over Control Of MySpace To <b>...</b>

How to create a Facebook <b>news</b> feed for a journalist (or anything <b>...</b>

Monday, March 28, 2011

SEO Services Vancouver For A Better Marketing Solution

SEO Services Provided by Different Vancouver Web Companies

What to Expect Whenever Getting a Roofing Contractors

Job interview and Consultation

Roof Assessment

Estimate

Seven Uyghurs Sentenced to Death

'Strike hard' campaign

Earlier cases

New training scheme

Wikileaks and the Uyghur People

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wikileaks and also the Uyghurs

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Search Engine Marketing And Article Marketing Will Place Yourself on Page One

Roofing Contractors Vancouver WA