Casa Buena

I'm back, baby!

2010-09-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

I've been gone for a long while now but I'm back now. Google gave me some static about "suspicious activity" on my account, but it's been straightened out now.

What do you folks want to hear about? Trees? Wine?

Let me know.

Fondly,

Buena

Value of a view

2009-09-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Jerry and I have been in our new home for about a year now. It's been a long year. First, we had the move and attendant disruptions. Then 3-4 months of planning for renovation. Then 4-5 months of renovation and displacement. Then a new baby.

I'm bushed.

The point of all this renovation, by the by, was to improve our view. We removed the chimney and put in huge glass doors, giving us a long long view. Now, a year after the process started, it is starting to feel really *worth it*. Now, the construction is done. I wake up in the morning to silence and come out to the living room, stare at the view, and work. It is a joy.

I don't know how long I'll need to enjoy this view to make up for the months of inactivity. Probably for a decade or more. But I can now see it paying for itself over time, not in money, but in daily blissful contemplation.

I'm happy.

Obsession with Twitter

2009-09-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

Where have I been, you might ask? What happened to casabuena? Basically, it moved to Twitter!

I find that Twitter is a lot more fun and less onerous than Blogspot. What I say here at Casa Buena stays here just about permanently. What I say on Twitter is fleeting, so it can be sexier, looser, more fun. Look me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/buenavilalta!

Just today I got a new Twitter client for my new Mac Book Pro called Twit Menulet. This program is the bomb...tweets show up in the menu bar rather than in a separate window. That means I can write this blog post or (better yet!) "participate" in a conference call while watching the tweet stream flow by. Twit Menulet is the best program I've found yet for allowing me to follow twitter *unobtrusively*.

As for the new MacBook Pro, let's just say that a pregnant woman has a lot of leverage over her husband!

I'm pregnant!!!

2009-08-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a loong time since my last post, I know.

The truth is that: I'm pregnant! Does this leave time for blogging? Yes, of course, but to be honest I've been very tired and this last month has been the worst. I'm due September 21!

I don't know how many words I can eke out but I'd like to get back to this in the days and weeks after the baby is born. I may come to you all for advice, as it's been many years since I was in this position!

Rain's perfect timing

2009-02-08T07:26:00.001-08:00

You all may know that I've been sitting here praying, hoping, ferverently desiring: rain. Rain down here means snow in the hills, which we skiiers need desperately.

The past few days have been just perfect. It rained on Friday while I was at work. It was clear yesterday while I played soccer with my buds. It rained again last night while I was partying, then sleeping.

Beats sitting here watching the stock ticker!

Are we ready for the Galaxy?

2008-06-10T06:36:00.001-07:00

Woke up in a funk this morning about the Earthquakes, I'm not sure why.

This weekend we are going to face David Beckham and the Galaxy. We are coming off a 2-0 win against the Crew, which would be great, except...our win was against the Crew. When's the last time those guys scored a goal, anyway? Does anybody remember? Even their name stinks: the Crew? Why not the Gang? How about the Bunch? Even the Posse would have been better.

So, we are coming off the win, but I'm not sure whether we have the momentum we will need. Perhaps I'll feel better when I put on my face paint!

Binoculars for my man

2008-06-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

We are set to move in to our new house at the end of this month, so we have the whole summer ahead to enjoy it. I'm picturing: breakfasts in bed, mornings in the garden, long dinners on the porch, evenings under the stars, and sunbathing in the back yard next to a kiddie pool. I wonder if Jerry is imagining the same activities--or a whole bunch of back-breaking renovations!

I have to admit that Jerry has been a prince throughout this house-hunting ordeal. I'm going to reward him with some summertime gifts to go with our new house. I'm going to go back to OpticsPlanet, where I got Jerry's telescope, which he loved. I can't decide what is the best next step, though. A more powerful telescope? Binoculars for the Earthquakes game we will see this coming weekend? (Don't miss it: they are playing the Galaxy in Oakland.) Or even Laser Sights for the summer's hunting?

Vote in the comments!

Warm fuzzies for Jerry

2008-06-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

OK, maybe Jerry isn't cold through and through. We got the house after all, and a new roof to boot!

We spent a few days in Tahoe, fishing and waiting to hear from our agent. Nothing beats fishing while also checking the cell phone for messages every few minutes, let me tell you. And everything came together nicely: we caught NINE good-size trout, then got the call we've been waiting for, then we had a nice trout dinner to celebrate.

Now the work begins: furniture, gardening, painting. I think nothing beats buying a new house, not even fishing, and you only get to do it a few times in life, so I plan to take advantage.

My husband is a cold trout

2008-06-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

OK, I didn't mean that. But sometimes he does seem a bit calculating!

We've been looking for a house for a really long time, about four months. Finally, we found one, had our offer accepted--and now Jerry wants to take the seller back to the bargaining table over a $14,000 roof.

Yes, ya se, a roof is big deal. That's what we're buying: a ROOF over our heads. But we are paying almost $1M, so $14,000 really isn't such a big deal. Meanwhile, the house has deer in the back yard every morning and views of the city lights of the back deck. I am in love with it. If the roof falls off, I'll just look at the stars!

I hope he doesn't ruin this deal. Jerry can be very stubborn indeed.

Hackers Slow Internet Root Servers With Attack

2007-02-07T00:04:00.000-08:00

This is kind of an amazing story that is well covered in the commentary at Slashdot. Imagine the botnet that can bring down two root servers!

Online attackers have briefly disrupted service on at least two of the 13 "root" servers that are used to direct traffic on the Internet. ...

Link: Hackers Slow Internet Root Servers With Attack

Searching for insurance

2007-02-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

See, the thing about buying a home abroad is...you soon realize that you will have to live abroad. By live, I mean that you have to do all the little things that we all do every day: chat with neighbors, pay bills, get the house cleaned, do laundry, fight with the insurance company...you know, the usual.

So now I'm looking for car and home insurance for the new place. Two years ago, Jerry and I had our house broken into and three laptops stolen. This was a devastating experience, both financially and (more importantly) personally. It was particularly devastating financially because we had a very uncooperative insurer. The best site I've found so far to compare car insurance in the UK is Insure121, which offers home insurance in addition to car insurance.

Link: car insurance

Google CEO: Internet's Role in Freedom Still Expanding

2007-02-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

I think that free expression is meaningless if nobody is listening. Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago would have been meaningless if it had never been smuggled out of Russia...I guess I'm trying to say that expression isn't the problem, communication is the problem. Expression is impossible to squelch, while communication is all too easy to squelch.

Eric Schmidt said the Internet has an ever-growing role in allowing free expression, but only if attempts to squelch it are unsuccessful. ...

Link: Google CEO: Internet's Role in Freedom Still Expanding

Financial calculators

2007-02-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

I need to head over to Niemann-Marcus and pick up a green eyeshade. Seems like I'm spending most of the day either daydreaming about my new home or trying to figure out whether I can afford it. The considerations are: I love the weather and the soccer and the prices in Spain (yes, those outlandish prices are relatively affordable) but I love the language and the soccer in England. Should be an easy choice, I suppose, but the language matters to me.

And so does the money. Not in the really visceral way that it probably should matter to me (i.e., so that I'll have enough to eat). Rather, it matters in the same adrenalin-inducing, exhilirating way that a soccer game matters to me. I want to win. It sounds lame (very lame) to say so, but I think that Jerry and I have always enjoyed collaborating on money projects for this reason. We like to play on the same team.

In fact, I've become something of a connoisseur of financial calculators. The online competition in this space is actually amazing, and the variety of different calculators is endless. Jerry prefers to wrestle with Excel for a couple of hours, while I spend my hours on Google checking out the calculators.

CreditProvide is a great example of a site with an almost endless variety of calculators, from mortgage refinance calculators to simple loan calculators to payday loan calculator. This site also has a great education center that has helped me to understand mortgage refinancing. Part of the plan here is to refinance our first home in order to help afford our second. Is this a bad plan? Perhaps the education center (or your comments!) can help me. Has anybody tried this? Experiences? What about buying property abroad? I know so many folks with second homes here, but none with second homes abroad (save one friend with a flat in Hong Kong).

Link: payday loan calculator

Cisco profit rises as Internet traffic grows

2007-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

I've always been a Cisco believer, and it looks like I've been proven right again! Jerry keeps setting up new websites while at the same time telling me to sell Cisco...

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO.O) surprised investors on Tuesday with a stronger-than-expected outlook and quarterly profit as demand for network equipment to handle Web traffic showed no signs of weakening, driving its shares up 5 percent.

The announcement defied some analysts' predictions that the biggest maker of routers and switches to direct Internet traffic might fail to surprise this quarter, after the previous two quarterly results triggered heavy buying in the shares.

Link: Cisco profit rises as Internet traffic grows

The debtor's lifestyle

2007-02-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last year was a good year for my Jerry and I, and we have made significant progress toward paying off a number of loans that we've held for a long time. This is a wonderful feeling, but I'll also say that I look back with some appreciation on the folks and institutions who lent us the money. It is incredible to me that folks like Jerry and I can always manage to live, regardless of whether we are making money or losing money. Jerry and I have had both kinds of years, for sure!

I've been up-front on this blog about our search for another home, probably abroad, so I am getting ready to take the plunge into another mortgage. I'm pushing for a home in the UK (they speak English and play soccer over there!), so I've been browsing a British site that has put us in touch with several banks offering good terms, though they also do secured loans and personal loans.

Link: loans

Barca holds La Liga's top spot

2007-02-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

Truly, Xavi's early goal was a thing of beauty. I know, he isn't Catalan, but I'll give him the "X" on the strength of his performance in this awesome game:

Barcelona held onto its slim lead in the Spanish La Liga on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Celta de Vigo at the Nou Camp.

The defending champions now have 42 points, one up on Sevilla, who gained their first victory of 2007 with a 4-2 win over Levante. Real Madrid sits in third place, four points back after losing to Villarreal Saturday.

Barca was able to earn the victory after striker Javier Saviola headed the team in front in the first half. Celta got the equalizer midway through the second when Nene scored on a penalty but Ronaldinho returned the favor about 10 minutes later to put the home side up one. Ludovic Giuly scored on a breakaway in the closing minutes to seal the win for Barcelona.

The first goal was a thing of beauty after several chances by the home team had been thwarted in the early going.

The cross was from Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, who isn't Catalan by any stretch of the imagination. You need a nice precise German for these crosses.

Barca holds La Liga's top spot - Soccer

Manager: Beckham could play for Madrid again

2007-01-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

Fabio Capello strikes me as a great guy, but it is silly to speculate about this now. Beckham will be spending the next five years in the US, and this time away probably won't improve his skills.

David Beckham could play again for Real Madrid -- if he were fit and had the right attitude. Manager Fabio Capello previously said the former England captain never again would play for Madrid after the 31-year-old midfielder signed a five-year deal on Jan. 11 with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy. "People can make mistakes," Capello said of his initial stance. "When I see that he is in good shape and has a good attitude then he can form part of the team, but he has to show it."

Link: Manager: Beckham could play for Madrid again

Fantasy MMA

2007-01-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

I'm serious about my sports (as this blog should make obvious!), but not everybody takes things so seriously.

My husband, for example, loves fantasy leagues of all kinds. Fantasy baseball, fantasy soccer, and recently...fantasy mixed martial arts!

You heard me. He found a site called "Mixed Martial Arts Playground", which offers fantasy mixed martial arts and discussions of all kinds for MMA fans. Before he found this site, Jerry liked MMA OK. The site is so great that he's getting increasingly obsessed, though!

It is free to use but offers a $500 prize for the first season of play. It is targeted at UFC and PrideFC MMA fans.

Link: fantasy mixed martial arts

Beckham green light to face Celts

2007-01-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

He'll be there, all right, but will he show up, if you catch my drift. David was a different player entirely in his Manchester United days. A better player, to be frank.

And there seems little doubt that former England skipper Beckham, who has faced Celtic before in his Manchester United days, will feature in the game.

Link: Beckham green light to face Celts

David Beckham eye reality TV

2007-01-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

This strikes me as the worst idea ever. Ozzy Osbourne was somebody who seemed like he'd be a disaster for reality TV, but he wasn't--because Ozzy Osbourne is one smart SOB, as it turns out. David and Victoria Beckham are in the opposite situation: the seem like a good fit for reality TV, but they'll be disasters, because they simply aren't that smart.

Soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria are considering their own reality TV show chronicling their new life in America. ...

Link: David Beckham eye reality TV

Happy New Year

2006-12-31T23:18:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

I'm blogging live from Walt Disney World so I'll keep this short:

Happy New Year!

It's been a great first year for the blog and I hope you'll come back frequently next year.

Much love,

Buena

Networking for beautiful Russian wives

2006-12-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

After posting recently about a social network for Jewish folk, I got to thinking more broadly about these networks. Talking about this with a Russian friend of mine, Olga, made me think to look specifically for social networks of expatriates. So I started looking...guess what?

I came across a Russian wives site! More than one, actually, but Loversplant.com was the most interesting. The brides' profiles are worth a read. You won't believe it when I tell you so, but: most of the brides are looking for a life partner. That's right, the whole life. To be honest, I think that Loversplanet.com might outstrip koolanoo in this regard. The site gives the definite impression that prospective Russian wives put marriage as their main priority (read: they put family before their career). Dating is a route to marriage and family, not a diversion.

Of course, it is hard to know whether the avowed interests of these brides will hold up on that fateful first date. But I have read in some places that the divorce rate in marriages with Russian women tends to be lower than with local marriages. So, if you are a family man, perhaps you should actually consider a Russian wife!

Link: Russian wives

More Camera, More Style, Modest Price - New York Times

2006-12-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

I, too am asking this question this year:

How much digital camera can you get for $300? This year, 11 companies submitted their best cameras with a street price under $300. The contenders are the Canon A630, the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z700, the Fuji FinePix F30, the Hewlett-Packard Photosmart R827, the Kodak EasyShare C875, the Nikon Coolpix S7c, the Olympus Stylus 740, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX3, the Pentax Optio A20, the Samsung Digimax NV3 and the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W100.

The answer, finally, seems to be that you can get something pretty great for $300. I've tried three of the cameras listed above, and all of them take better photos than my cheap old film camera, by far. So, I'm thinking that maybe this is the year I finally get a new camera for Christmas! Did you hear that, Jerry? Do you still read this blog?

Link: More Camera, More Style, Modest Price - New York Times

My hero!

2006-12-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

I'm Jewish, and my husband is Catholic. So we have a lot of jokes about who's really in the club and who isn't.

Well, a friend of mine just send me a link to a hilarious video from www.koolanoo.net, which bills itself as the world's first Jewish social network. Let me tell, you it is far from the first! The site will also offer Jewish Dating services. But the video is well-produced and funny and koolanoo will be successful if their web site has half the style of this video:

Link: Jewish Dating

Ronaldinho to the rescue!

2006-12-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Barça needed a win to avoid early elimination, and Ronaldinho came through, of course. But in what style!

Ronaldinho surprised the Bremen defense in the 13th minute by rolling his free kick along the ground — under the jumping defensive wall — and inside the right post from just outside the area.

All soccer fans should see this goal. Of course, we've all pulled that trick in practice--but to pull it in such a huge game, playing against pros, requires some serious cojones.

Had Barça lost, they would have been the first reigning champions ever to be eliminated so early.

Link: IHT

Desktop Wallpapers

2006-12-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

I've got my own laptop now and I'm getting serious into the wallpapers. For a while I was into personal themes: vacation photos, mostly. Now, though, I've started to explore sports and outdoors themes.

The best site for free desktop wallpaper is American Greetings. These wallpapers are free and easy to download; a wide variety is available from Christmas to inspirational to outdoors; the wallpapers are spyware-free (I had a run-in with some wallpapers that weren't, which led to a run-in with my irate husband); and there are screensavers to go with the wallpapers.

These are highly recommended. Check 'em out.

Link: free desktop wallpaper

Sevilla beats Espanyol!

2006-12-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't say that Sevilla necessarily blew this match. The Tamudo goal was amazing and maybe Tamudo deserves the credit. Check out the replays if you can.

Sevilla surrendered a lead to lose 2-1 at Espanyol and blow their chance to go top while Celta Vigo came back from two goals down to earn a draw at Mallorca in Spain's Primera Liga on Sunday. Mali striker Frederic Kanoute put Sevilla ahead after 26 minutes, and it looked that despite being outplayed for much of the match and Sevilla keeper Andres Palop making several saves they may get the three points. However, former Spain striker Raul Tamudo engineered an outstanding equaliser in the second half. Facing his own goal and with two defenders in attendance, Tamudo pulled the ball back and spun between his markers before beating the advancing Andres Palop with a cool near-post finish.

Link: a great goal!

GroupLoop

2006-12-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

Are you in my GroupLoop?

Sorry for that nonsensical question, but I just like saying "GroupLoop".

I've started using GroupLoop.com recently and I love it. See, I get the raw end of my husbands numerous adventures in sports and business. I am the scheduler and organizer, and I can tell you that when you have to schedule 12 different busy board members for a meeting, the situation can get difficult quickly.

GroupLoop.com takes away most of this pain, offering group messaging, calendar, file sharing, and RSVP systems all in one place. This site is sort of an integrated combination of other services that are available in other places, plus some new ones that make life easier. I like it a lot.

Link: GroupLoop.com

Rice prices up and sugar down in Kabul

2006-12-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

This kind of pedestrian article is one of the amazing things about the web. Over in Kabul, somebody is surfing the web actually looking for this stuff. Just like I do every day or every week anyway here in the U.S.

KABUL: Prices of rice went up and those of sugar registered decline in Kabul markets as compared with the last week. Prices of rice ...

Link: Rice prices up, sugar down in Kabul

RockStartup.com

2006-12-04T10:39:00.001-08:00

My family is a veteran of the start-up wars. My husband has started three companies in the past ten years, and each experience has been more painful than having a baby. And I know exactly what I'm talking about, in that arena. I've given birth to two children without any pain medication, and I'd rather have another child tomorrow than start another company.

For folks like us, RockStartup.com is fascinating to watch. This site chronicles the birthing pains of PayPerPost.com, which pays bloggers to cover new businesses that are looking for coverage. This process--the birthing of a company--is a thrill even secondhand, and this site brings you as close as you can get to the process without your actually having to max out all your credit cards, drive down to Sand Hill Road, and put your family's well-being on the line.

This show walks the line between a web reality show and a documentary. I'd say that it is a documentary, with the boring parts taken out.

I will say that I suspect that some of the painful parts have been taken out, in addition to the boring parts. Ted Murphy shows up at Draper Fisher Jurvetson within the first 30 seconds of the show. In my experience there is a lot of hard work before that arrival at the VC's offices.

Link: web reality show

Canada wins at soccer's Peace Queen Cup

2006-12-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

I am really envious of the women's soccer situation in Canada. There, women play more soccer, earlier than here in the US--but there is a real interest in women's adult professional and amateur soccer to sustain the players as they get older. Here, the fans don't even support the men, let alone the women.

Christine Sinclair of Burnaby, B.C., scored two first-half goals on Saturday as Canada posted a 3-2 win over Italy in the Peace Queen Cup, a women's soccer tournament in Seoul.

Link: Canada wins at soccer's Peace Queen Cup

Moving.bz

2006-12-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

I have a friend who struck it rich in a minor, tenth-person-hired, kind of way. Nevertheless, she is going to take the opportunity to follow a dream and bike around the United States. When I say that she is going to "bike around", I don't mean that she is going to meander aimlessly all over creation. I mean that she is going to circumnavigate the United States. Yes, she is a serious biker.

She is looking for a Self Storage facility in which to keep her whole life. I visited a couple of seedy, down-at-the-heels locations with her on Saturday, but we didn't see anything confidence-inspiring. And she is going to be keeping her whole life in this facility, so something better is definitely required.

My husband pointed us to Moving.bz. This site has a truly complete directory of storage facilities all over the US. It is extremely simple to find what you need and get multiple quotes: just type in your zip code and press go. You'll get a list of storage facilities with the major features outlined, and you can request another quote right on the site.

You know what this means, right? Yes...this means we'll spend the coming Saturday playing pickup soccer rather than cruising for storage facilities.

Link: Self Storage

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Reports Increased Sales and Earnings

2006-12-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

I think that the Anheuser-Busch folks are benefiting from my husband's total addiction to sports...and drag-racing, if you call that a sport, which I don't!

BUD today reported that third quarter 2006 net sales increased 4.7 percent and diluted earnings per share (excluding a one-time litigation settlement in 2005 ...

Link: Anheuser-Busch Cos. Reports Increased Sales and Earnings for the ...

Web Hosting

2006-12-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

I've been on Blogger.com now for about three months, and I like it pretty well, but I am still thinking about moving to my own web site. I want to expand this blog into a directory of sorts for soccer in the USA, growing fuschias, and other interests that you haven't even heard about yet!

But the feature list I have in mind is pretty impressive, and Jerry tells me that Blogger just can't handle it. I want message boards, live chat rooms, a large database of photos, and large directories of web resources. So Jerry has me looking for web hosting. He says that if I can find a great deal on a site with (and I quote, because I don't know what this means, for the most part): "shell access, ftp access, cgi priveleges, and subdomains" then he'll help get me up and running. And he wants me to do it cheaply, of course, says I shouldn't need to spend more than $25 per month.

So I've been browsing over at Web Site Host Directory for budget web hosting. This is a well-organized site showcasing some amazing deals. For example, pulling up the "Budget Web Hosting" sections yeilds several competitors charging only $4.95-$5.95 per month for a package of services that should be enough for most any blogger...but of course, not for me and Jerry! We have an almost pathological need to search out better (more expensive!) products. So I check the "Unix/Linux" hosting section and immediately found a provider offering more than I need ("2000MB space, 20GB Transfer, Unlimited Email Accounts, FrontPage, PHP, CGI, Ruby & Ruby on Rails, JSP & Java Servlets, MySQL, Crontab, ASP & .NET (Windows Only), Webmail, Spam Filtering") for only $9 a month. Pretty incredible.

So the next question is: which of these competitors is most reliable? Which ones are going to be up 99% of the time, which are going to back up my data, and which have the best tools for managing the site?

Web Site Host Directory offers some help here too, with FAQs and articles about web hosting that will help you ask the best questions of prospective providers. Also, there is an news section filled with information that is of interest to bloggers generally, not just to hosting services providers.

Link: budget web hosting

FC Barcelona primer

2006-11-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

I'm an American woman who loves European soccer. I get a lot of blank stares from my friends. Female friends especially, but only because they are less embarrassed to frankly admit their ignorance.

There are a lot of Americans who don't know what Barça is, and I've spent a lot of time explaining it to my friends.

I've decided that Wikipedia is the answer here. It actually has a pretty good article on the FC Barcelona team, which is linked to other articles that explain the various European leagues. Here's a start:

Futbol Club Barcelona, also known as FC Barcelona, or Barça, is a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto Més que un club (More than a club).
The club's main stadium is the Camp Nou. Barça is best known for its La Liga football team, and the reserve football team, FC Barcelona B. The senior team was among the founding members of La Liga in 1928, and, together with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, they have never been relegated from the Primera Divisi�n. The club were also the first La Liga champions and are currently champions of both Spain and Europe.

Confused friends, male and female alike: follow the jump and spend a little time with those pages:

Link: FC Barcelona

Office suites: Desktop

2006-11-03T07:52:00.002-08:00

OK, I am officially dreading this next OS update. My husband is obsessed with updating my computer immediately upon release of new software. Usually, this "update" leads to a work stoppage for me, ranging from one to five days.

Today we exclusively revealed the Australian pricing details for Microsoft's Office 2007 suite, which is scheduled for release at the same time as Vista in ...

Link: Office suites: Desktop

Piquant Blue records 67% sales boost

2006-10-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hey! We use this stuff:

Australian olive oil company Piquant Blue Ltd has reported first quarter sales of $2.2 million - a 67 per cent increase on last quarter and more than three ...

Jerry is big on cooking with olive oil, and his favorite is the Njoi brand. It is good stuff, maybe they deserve their success.

Link: Piquant Blue records 67% sales boost

Posh pad prices stall as rates rise

2006-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Prices are starting to fall all over the world:

British prices will rise 6 per cent next year, down from 9 per cent in 2006, it said.

But, if I have one regret about this recent boom, it's that real estate prices have gone up all over the world. We can't take our profits from our American home and buy a lovely place, say, on the Costa del Sol. And that hurts.

Link: Posh pad prices stall as rates rise

UK Weekend Soccer Refs Blow Whistle on Abuse by Quitting Game

2006-10-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

... ``There are times when I think, `Do I need to come out here and have all this aggravation?''' the 59-year-old soccer referee said after finishing a game at ...

Link: UK Weekend Soccer Refs Blow Whistle on Abuse by Quitting Game

ev3 Inc. Reports Third Quarter Net Sales Increase of 55%

2006-10-22T08:50:00.001-07:00

I have an ev3 device in my body, and it was indeed expensive. I'm not surprised that they're doing well:

ev3 Inc.
(Nasdaq: EVVV), a global endovascular device company, today reported
financial results for its fiscal third quarter of 2006. ev3's net sales in the third quarter of 2006 increased 55% to $51.9 million versus net sales of ...

Link: ev3 Inc. Reports Third Quarter Net Sales Increase of 55%

Canadian women's soccer team in turmoil

2006-10-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't shared with you folks yet that I share my husbands soccer addiction. I've been so disappointed with the failure of professional soccer to develop here in the US, which is surprising because youth soccer is so successful. I was saddened to see this article about my hometown team:

On the eve of World Cup qualifying, the Canadian women's soccer team is in turmoil with captain Charmaine Hooper and two other veteran players threatening a ...

Link: Canadian women's soccer team in turmoil

Foreign car sales overtake domestic for first time ever

2006-10-18T08:50:00.001-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

... since Russians traditionally make most of their purchases in the last months of the year, it is already clear that 2006 will beat records for foreign car sales ...

Link: Foreign car sales overtake domestic for first time ever

US Producer Prices Fell 1.3%; Core Rate Up 0.6% (Update1)

2006-10-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

By Joe Richter. Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Prices paid to US producers fell last month by the most since April 2003 as energy costs dropped. ...

Link: US Producer Prices Fell 1.3%; Core Rate Up 0.6% (Update1)

Real slip to defeat as Ronaldo sees red

2006-10-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Things are unsettled in Casa Buena! El Marido isn't too happy today. I'm a Barca fan so this news was fine for me:

Fabio Capello's Real Madrid suffered a double blow this morning when they slumped to their first league defeat of the season, 1-0 away to Getafe, and had ...

Link: Real slip to defeat as Ronaldo sees red

Glenn Myernick, 51; Olympic soccer coach

2006-10-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

By AP | October 10, 2006. THORNTON, Colo. -- Glenn Myernick, an assistant coach for the US soccer team and a former head coach of Major League Soccer's Colorado ...

Link: Glenn Myernick, 51; Olympic soccer coach

Suspicion Surrounds Retreat In Gas Prices

2006-10-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

Gasoline prices are down about 75 cents in two months, but whether motorists will see further declines at the pump depends in part on whether the Organization ...

Link: Suspicion Surrounds Retreat In Gas Prices

Papers fund plan to kill estate tax

2006-10-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

An initiative aiming to repeal Washington's estate tax is tugging at the heartstrings -- not to mention the purse strings -- of some of the state's most ...

Link: Papers fund plan to kill estate tax

Oil prices feed Bush conspiracy theories

2006-10-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

... WASHINGTON — In mid-May, with gasoline prices at $2.95 a gallon and rising, 15 percent of Americans listed high fuel prices as their top concern ...

Link: Oil prices feed Bush conspiracy theories

Ciao to hoops, Suns take in soccer

2006-10-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns went to Italy for the beginning of their National Basketball Association training camp -- and a soccer game broke out. ...

Link: Ciao to hoops, Suns take in soccer

EL estate agent barred from selling houses

2006-10-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

... In e-mails to the Border-Kei Chamber of Business, its members and the domestic real estate industry, Kuhlmann has accused Bassingthwaighte, who is also chamber ...

Link: EL estate agent barred from selling houses

The case of the shamed judge overshadows a real travesty

2006-10-01T15:13:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

... pool. But the real revulsion against Khan, and the crux of any investigation by the Lord Chancellor, centres on Driza's status. ...

Link: The case of the shamed judge overshadows a real travesty

How to buy investment real estate

2006-09-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

Investing in real estate most likely won't produce the get-rich-quick results promised by many a late-night infomercial. But for investors willing to do some homework, make a good purchase and properly manage a piece of property, the rewards can be substantial.

Link: How to buy ... investment real estate

Hands off, say outraged family

2006-08-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

This would be funny if it weren't so outrageous!

The family of a Luton grandmother who died on Christmas Day were shocked to find her home was being eyed up by Town Hall officials with new powers to commandeer empty properties for people on the waiting list.

Link: Hands off, say outraged family

World mining equipment demand to exceed $ 27 billion in 2009.

2006-08-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

Beginning about 2002-2003, prices for mineable commodities--especially metals like copper, silver and gold--began to firm, and then surged in 2004 and ...

Link: World mining equipment demand to exceed $ 27 billion in 2009.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Declares Second Quarter 2006 ...

2006-08-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

Thought this looked pretty cool:

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Updates FY 2006 FFO And EPS Guidance Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. updated its fiscal 2006 FFO to $5.16 per ...

Link: Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Declares Second Quarter 2006 ...

Group Critical Of Oversight By Real Estate Commissions

2006-07-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

As a person who has been in the industry a long time, I have to admit that we have a hand on the scales. It is easy for me to admit this in my anonymous blog!

The heavy weighting of real estate commissions with industry members "stacks the deck" in ... Real estate commissions often do not widely publicize their ...

Link: Group Critical Of Oversight By Real Estate Commissions

Senate panel OKs ban on banks in real estate

2006-07-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

Banks should be barred from investing in real estate. Real estate is a heavily leveraged and risky business by nature. I don't want my deposits used this way.:

The real estate group said banks should be barred from investing in ...

Link: Senate panel OKs ban on banks in real estate

Images

2006-07-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

The new real estate agent is different from the old, offering more ...

2006-07-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

It's true that real-estate has changed a lot, and that there are more go-getters in our field now.

"They say agents are salespeople who can't get a job," says real estate< agent Lori Sacco... Real estate has always been a job with a low bar for entry.

But I think it is ridiculous to say that "real estate" has been a job with a low bar for entry. OK, yes, if you just want to enter real estate it isn't too hard to do so. To be successful, though, is orders-of-magnitude more difficult and requires dedication and smarts. All the long-term agents that I know are smart, smart people.

Link: The new real estate agent is different from the old, offering more ...

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2006-01-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

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