Horace Mann Reports Results for First Quarter CNNMoney.com (press release) - For the three months, variable annuity deposits decreased 2 percent and deposits to fixed accounts decreased 15 percent compared to the same period in 2007. ... The Hanover Insurance Group Reports Strong First Quarter Results ACE Limited Reports First Quarter 2008 Operating Income up 9.5% to ... Cincinnati Financial Reports First-quarter 2008 Results |
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Horace Mann Reports Results for First Quarter - CNNMoney.com (press release)
Prudential Income Hit By Investment Losses - Wall Street Journal
What it Takes to Turn the Fixed Indexed Annuity Critic into an ... - Insurance News Net (press release)
What it Takes to Turn the Fixed Indexed Annuity Critic into an ... Insurance News Net (press release), PA - Anaheim Hills, CA - April 29, 2008 – Find out why a fixed indexed annuity can be positioned as a viable alternative to other non-stock retirement savings ... |
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Withdrawal Methods - Financial-Planning.com
Withdrawal Methods Financial-Planning.com, NY - A financial planner loses the ability to manage VA assets after they've been converted to a fixed-payout annuity. "There may also be the perception that ... Reducing Retirement Anxiety |
Your Money Team: What is a charitable gift annuity? - DesMoinesRegister.com
Your Money Team: What is a charitable gift annuity? DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - The donor transfers the cash to the charity and in return gets a fixed, guaranteed payment of income for their lifetime. Ireland-Schunicht says that ... |
Guaranty Financial Group Slips To Loss In Q1 - RTT News
Guaranty Financial Group Slips To Loss In Q1 RTT News, NY - Noninterest income rose 8% to $42 million from $39 million in the preceding year quarter, as a result of increased fixed annuity sales commissions, ... Guaranty Financial Group Inc. Reports First Quarter 2008 Results |
Guaranty Financial Group Inc. Reports First Quarter 2008 Results - StreetInsider.com (subscription)
Guaranty Financial Group Inc. Reports First Quarter 2008 Results StreetInsider.com (subscription), MI - Insurance commissions and fees including fixed annuity sales were $19 million for the first quarter 2008, an increase of 19% from the first quarter 2007. ... |
The Hartford Announces First Quarter Net Income Of $145 Million ... - WELT ONLINE
Monday, April 28, 2008
Jackson SM Enhances Fixed Index Annuity Lineup with Launch of ... - Business Wire (press release)
Jackson SM Enhances Fixed Index Annuity Lineup with Launch of ... Business Wire (press release), CA - Advisers who are interested in learning more about Select Annual Reset, Jackson’s FIA wholesaling support team or any other of Jackson’s fixed index annuity ... |
Market may be scary, but don't jump into bonds - Austin American-Statesman
Market may be scary, but don't jump into bonds Austin American-Statesman, TX - The sale proceeds will provide part of the money she would need to buy a 10-year income annuity that will provide her with a monthly income of $1600 a month ... |
Hot Off the Presses - Planadviser.com
Hot Off the Presses Planadviser.com, CT - The US division of Sun Life Financial Inc. has introduced new investment options for its Masters Variable Annuity suite. New options include a 90/10 Masters ... |
The Hartford Announces First Quarter Net Income Of $145 Million ... - StreetInsider.com (subscription)
The Hartford Announces First Quarter Net Income Of $145 Million ... StreetInsider.com (subscription), MI - ... gains and losses such as net periodic settlements on credit derivatives and net periodic settlements on the Japan fixed annuity cross-currency swap. ... |
LV= launches with-profit pension annuity - ifaonline.co.uk
LV= launches with-profit pension annuity ifaonline.co.uk, UK - For this investment term, many people would consider it inappropriate to invest the whole of a pension fund in a vehicle backed wholly by fixed interest ... |
Just Retirement sales up 12% in Q1 - ifaonline.co.uk
Just Retirement sales up 12% in Q1 ifaonline.co.uk, UK - Over the period, annuity new business was £147.6m, compared to £130.7m for Q1 2007. On the equity release side of the business, the firm has benefited from ... |
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tuition Reimbursement
Why take out student loans when you could earn a degree for free? You may be able to save thousands of dollars by asking your employer to pay for your education through a tuition reimbursement program. Here’s what you need to know.
Source: http://distancelearn.about.com/od/payingforschool/a/Tuition_Assist.htm
Electronic Resumes: What you should know
Electronic resumes are easier to read when submitted through e-mails and also when an employer is searching in their database to fill a position.
Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/electronic-resumes-what-you-should-know.html
Digital Worlds Week 8, Round-Up
Another slow week on the Digital Worlds front, and again I didn't find the time for the half-a-day or so of tinkering that the the Game Maker posts require:-( And next week is already looking less than promising in terms of time available for daily posting, with two days being lost to the OU Making Connections conference...
Anyway, here's the weekly round-up, a week in which I started looking at how games can encroach on daily life in ways you may not necessarily expect...
Post hoc Game Documentation - Walkthroughs and Speedruns: this post actually got a comment about a potential family learning dimension to Digital Worlds, which is somethiong I probably need to think a bit more about...
Looking Realistic...
The World of Serious Games
Searching for Games and Interactive Media Content on the Web
All the World a Game?
Friday Fun #9 Gaming in Google Earth and Virtual Earth 3D
ARGs UncoveredFrom the blog stats/link referrers, I also picked up on some interesting links via delicious from delicious user truna, (who I'm guessing may be a.k.a. j. turner), particularly relating to the Hero's Journey and the role of story in game development. I was actually posting about that topic several weeks ago, so it's a real issue as to how an uncourse can best accommodate 'new' material.
(In our traditional course production process, where materials are developed over periods of months, and even years, there is always the chance of rewriting sections before they are produced. Of course, in those traditional production methods, the discovery of new materials through people linking to your own draft materials is not a possibility if the draft materials are sitting on a personal PC somewhere, hidden away from public, or at least peer, use...)
Anyway, as to how to accommodate the new material - I could have produced a new post, but instead I chose to add "additional reading" comments to the original Digital Worlds posts that mentioned the corresponding topics (Mapping plotlines…and coping with interactivity… and Story Arcs, and the Three Act Structure). I did consider amending/rewriting the original posts, but chose not to for no particular reason I've yet thought through...
I guess one way of maintaining a 'more on this subject' feed would be either to havea special blog category or topic for posts that extend posts from much earlier in the uncourse blog, or maybe I could use and 'uncourse tutor' persona with which to post extension comments, and then produce a filtered feed of just these comments, maybe even mixing in these comments to the main uncourse blog feed?
Anyway, taking the route I did - of adding comments to original posts using the same persona I've used for other chatty comments, etc., it gives me something to think about with respect to non-linear authoring and how to author branching topic lines out-of-linear time sequence so that there is a well-defined trail through the topic for several particular audience types:
people who have been following the uncourse blog for some time (and would have read the original annotated post at the time it was created, and therefore had an opportunity to subscribe to its comment feed if it was a topic they were particularly interested in, for example;
people who may have started following it recently (that is, since the original post);
people who happen across the post via a search engine, or link from elsewhere.Ho hum, always, always, each week raises more questions than it provides answers...Blogged with the Flock BrowserTags: digitalworlds, social discovery
Anyway, here's the weekly round-up, a week in which I started looking at how games can encroach on daily life in ways you may not necessarily expect...
Post hoc Game Documentation - Walkthroughs and Speedruns: this post actually got a comment about a potential family learning dimension to Digital Worlds, which is somethiong I probably need to think a bit more about...
Looking Realistic...
The World of Serious Games
Searching for Games and Interactive Media Content on the Web
All the World a Game?
Friday Fun #9 Gaming in Google Earth and Virtual Earth 3D
ARGs UncoveredFrom the blog stats/link referrers, I also picked up on some interesting links via delicious from delicious user truna, (who I'm guessing may be a.k.a. j. turner), particularly relating to the Hero's Journey and the role of story in game development. I was actually posting about that topic several weeks ago, so it's a real issue as to how an uncourse can best accommodate 'new' material.
(In our traditional course production process, where materials are developed over periods of months, and even years, there is always the chance of rewriting sections before they are produced. Of course, in those traditional production methods, the discovery of new materials through people linking to your own draft materials is not a possibility if the draft materials are sitting on a personal PC somewhere, hidden away from public, or at least peer, use...)
Anyway, as to how to accommodate the new material - I could have produced a new post, but instead I chose to add "additional reading" comments to the original Digital Worlds posts that mentioned the corresponding topics (Mapping plotlines…and coping with interactivity… and Story Arcs, and the Three Act Structure). I did consider amending/rewriting the original posts, but chose not to for no particular reason I've yet thought through...
I guess one way of maintaining a 'more on this subject' feed would be either to havea special blog category or topic for posts that extend posts from much earlier in the uncourse blog, or maybe I could use and 'uncourse tutor' persona with which to post extension comments, and then produce a filtered feed of just these comments, maybe even mixing in these comments to the main uncourse blog feed?
Anyway, taking the route I did - of adding comments to original posts using the same persona I've used for other chatty comments, etc., it gives me something to think about with respect to non-linear authoring and how to author branching topic lines out-of-linear time sequence so that there is a well-defined trail through the topic for several particular audience types:
people who have been following the uncourse blog for some time (and would have read the original annotated post at the time it was created, and therefore had an opportunity to subscribe to its comment feed if it was a topic they were particularly interested in, for example;
people who may have started following it recently (that is, since the original post);
people who happen across the post via a search engine, or link from elsewhere.Ho hum, always, always, each week raises more questions than it provides answers...Blogged with the Flock BrowserTags: digitalworlds, social discovery
Challenger knocked out of the ring - The Australian
Challenger knocked out of the ring The Australian, Australia - This funding includes its capital-guaranteed annuity liabilities, which run into billions. For this sort of model to work, it has to be very good at ... |
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Classic hedges against inflation aren’t providing their usual magic - Kansas City Star
Classic hedges against inflation aren’t providing their usual magic Kansas City Star, MO - With an annuity, people pay a lump sum up front and draw payments until they die. The problem is that, over decades of retirement, that fixed payment can be ... |
Cheap tricks for summer travel (USA Today)
With the dollar tanking abroad and gas, lodging and flight costs soaring in the USA, leisure travelers face an expensive summer. But that doesn't mean you have to stay home. USA TODAY asked travel experts for money-saving tips for summer getaways.
Public Storage Says John Graul Retires As President Of Self ... - RTT News
Public Storage Says John Graul Retires As President Of Self ... RTT News, NY - 4/22/2008 5:45:38 PM Public Storage (PSA) on Tuesday revealed the retirement of John Graul as President of Self-Storage Operations effective December 31, ... |
Annuities provide steady future income - The Coloradoan
Annuities provide steady future income The Coloradoan, CO - Annuities are also classified as either fixed or variable. A fixed annuity pays a set rate of interest, whereas a variable annuity's rate of return depends ... |
Sorting out the various kinds of annuities - Cincinnati Enquirer
Sorting out the various kinds of annuities Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - In recent years, the insurance industry has created the equity-indexed annuity. This is a fixed annuity that wants to be more. That is, while it does not ... |
Friday, April 25, 2008
Sikorsky Aircraft Selects SPSS Predictive Analytics to Improve Customer Satisfaction (CRM Today)
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced helicopters for commercial, industrial and military industries, has selected market-leading Predictive Analytics software from SPSS Inc. (Nasdaq: SPSS) to increase customer loyalty by proactively anticipating customer needs in helicopter fleets.
It's Time to Learn to Speak Spanish Fluently
If you are looking for a better quality of life, learning Spanish can be a blessing in disguise that can open the doors to personal, professional and financial improvement. What are you waiting for?
Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/its-time-to-learn-to-speak-spanish-fluently.html
Which Planned Gift Gives Money To Charity Now? - OnPhilanthropy.com
Which Planned Gift Gives Money To Charity Now? OnPhilanthropy.com, NY - In my example early on, I assumed a fixed annuity payout of 7% and total return on investment of 13%. What investments today will guarantee that kind of ... |
Ameriprise Financial Reports First Quarter 2008 Results - StreetInsider.com (subscription)
Ameriprise Financial Reports First Quarter 2008 Results StreetInsider.com (subscription), MI - Declines in net investment income were driven by lower certificate and fixed annuity balances and net realized losses, which were partially offset by higher ... |
You and your money - Business Day
You and your money Business Day, South Africa - ELIZE: I would like you to tell me more about when comparing a linked annuity to a fixed annuity what are the options and the pitfalls? ... |
Identifying annuity as retiree investment option - Business Day
Identifying annuity as retiree investment option Business Day, Nigeria - A fixed annuity provides you with pre-determined monthly distributions starting on a specific date. The insurance company invests the money and agrees to ... |
American Financial Group, Inc. Announces Record First Quarter Core ... - Business Wire (press release)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
It's scary, but just stay put - Houston Chronicle
It's scary, but just stay put Houston Chronicle, United States - The sale proceeds will provide part of the money she would need to buy a 10-year income annuity that will provide her with a monthly income of $1600 a month ... |
Ameriprise Financial Reports First Quarter 2008 Results - Centre Daily Times
Ameriprise Financial Reports First Quarter 2008 Results Centre Daily Times, PA - Declines in net investment income were driven by lower certificate and fixed annuity balances and net realized losses, which were partially offset by higher ... |
Genworth Financial Reports First Quarter Net Operating Income of ... - MSN Money
Genworth Financial Reports First Quarter Net Operating Income of ... MSN Money - Retirement income spread-based earnings declined $5 million primarily from 10 percent lower fixed annuity AUM. Sales more than doubled from focused ... |
ASK CMMB - Giving children a head start - The Star Online
ASK CMMB - Giving children a head start The Star Online, St. Lucia - Firstly, if you do not currently have a level of savings to start with, you may enter into an annuity in which you pay a fixed amount per month. ... |
Monday, April 21, 2008
Ceramic, heal thyself (Addict 3D)
A new computer simulation has revealed a self-healing behavior in a common ceramic that may lead to development of radiation-resistant materials for nuclear power plants and waste storage.
ESCONDIDO: Residents continue to fight storage complex plan - North County Times
ESCONDIDO: Residents continue to fight storage complex plan North County Times, CA - ... County officials Monday objecting to a developer's plan to build a big self-storage complex in a San Pasqual Valley neighborhood east of Escondido. ... |
Vanguard Opens Payout Funds With Alternative Strategies - IndexUniverse.com
Two goals and a win for the Quakes - San Jose Mercury News
Ablowitz: Charitable gift annuities: A gift and an income - Daily Camera
Ablowitz: Charitable gift annuities: A gift and an income Daily Camera, CO - Like a commercial annuity, payments are not for a fixed term. The older the annuitant, the higher the annuity rate, from a projected low (based on recently ... |
AnnuityAdvantage.com Responds to Dateline NBC Report 'Tricks of ... - Emediawire (press release)
AnnuityAdvantage.com Responds to Dateline NBC Report 'Tricks of ... Emediawire (press release), WA - ... questions and offer straightforward and honest answers to all annuity-related concerns. "All of our fixed annuities, including equity-indexed annuities, ... |
Sunday, April 20, 2008
To be in the same professional league as your brothers - Washington Post
To be in the same professional league as your brothers Washington Post, United States - The three Carroll brothers played at West Springfield High School and for Division I programs before making it to MLS. Brian, 26, spent five years with DC ... |
Torchmark Corporation Reports First Quarter 2008 Results - Earthtimes
Torchmark Corporation Reports First Quarter 2008 Results Earthtimes, UK - Torchmark Annuities consist of variable and fixed annuity contracts. Underwriting margin from the annuity segment was US$1.1 million, down 57% from the ... |
MLS: New England 1, New York 1 (tie) - United Press International
MLS: New England 1, New York 1 (tie) United Press International - EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ, April 19 (UPI) -- Jeff Larentowicz scored a penalty shot 11 minutes into the second half Saturday to give New England a 1-1 MLS tie ... Gladstone’s adoptable pets |
Former Club America Teammates Square Off In MLS - NBC5.com
Asian growth drives Prudential sales up 13% - MarketWatch
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Life annuity is there as long as you are - Cincinnati Enquirer
Life annuity is there as long as you are Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - This column discusses only fixed annuities. Variable annuities are the topic for another day. Such a fixed annuity guarantees you a certain income for life, ... |
Sales 'melting' - Canada.com
Sales 'melting' Canada.com, Canada - CALGARY - Calgary has recorded the steepest decline in residential MLS sales in the country for the first quarter of this year with total sales plunging by ... 'Cooling' the watchword in Canadian real estate Listings lasting longer Canadian Home Sales, Price Increases Slowed in March |
Revolution trade former captain Franchino - Boston Globe
MLS Saturday Preview: Week Three - Goal.com
MLS Saturday Preview: Week Three Goal.com, Switzerland - Goal.com USA's Pat Walsh runs down the slate of games on Saturday, providing predictions for each of them. The Gist: After a three-week tour of the United ... |
Jackson SM Reports First Quarter 2008 Sales and Deposits of $3.5 ... - Business Wire (press release)
Jackson SM Reports First Quarter 2008 Sales and Deposits of $3.5 ... Business Wire (press release), CA - Jackson, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the United Kingdom’s Prudential plc (NYSE: PUK), recorded nearly $1.8 billion in variable annuity sales in ... Prudential Mortgage Capital Company Closes $100 Million Loan For ... |
Psychic pair to perform - Towanda Daily Review
Psychic pair to perform Towanda Daily Review, PA - The show will be Buchanan and Krug, two psychics, who give psychic readings. They will begin with a scientific explanation of how they “do what they do” ... |
Friday, April 18, 2008
Retirement planning’s best done with MFs - Sify
Retirement planning’s best done with MFs Sify, India - Once the corpus is built and the individual retires, the annuity phase commences with the payment of monthly or quarterly income to the individual. ... |
BBC Blogoscoped....?
One of my favourite Google watching sites is Google Blogoscoped, a great site for keeping tabs on what's happening in the Googleverse. So tonight, whilst going for a ramble around the BBC website, I wondered whether there was an equivalent for the BBC?
For example, did you know:
BBC Active ( formerly known as BBC Worldwide Learning, (includuing BBC Children's Learning and BBC Languages)) is now part of Pearson Education: "The partnership will be co-owned by Pearson Education and BBC Worldwide, with BBC Worldwide holding a minority stake, and will sit alongside Pearson's existing educational publishing businesses." BBC Active signals new partnership for BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. (When I posted If Universities Were Companies, and idly wondered whether Pearson might make a play for a struggling university, I had no idea they had been buying up chunks of the BBC since October 2005!)
the BBC Archive is up and running, albeit just on a single topic at the moment, as far as I can tell: BBC - Archive - Titanic;
whilst at the JISC conference, one of the BBC speakers quipped that the BBC wants to "own time"; as well as the lapsed On This Day minisite ("Video and audio from the BBC News archive WWII and 1950-2005. This site is archived and no longer updated."), the upcoming Memoryshare would appear to be part of that play, a user submission site for capturing people's memories and popping them on a timeline. (I've covered some of the BBC's other timelime plays here: OUseful posts on BBC timelines...);
BBC Learning Zone includes a growing clips library featuring streamed clips from BBC schools programmes. At the moment, clips play in the BBC media player, rather than the iPlayer.
iPlayer on the wii - a bit slow when I tried it last week, maybe it's a bit quicker this week?
Anyway, until a "BBC blogscoped" site appears, here are a few feeds to keep tabs on:
BBC Radio Labs blog - this is where I found out how to get 'live text' over XMPP (I had to get the geeky 'duh? wassat?' bit in somewhere!;-)
BBC Internet Blog, "a place where senior staff from BBC Future Media teams will discuss issues about the technology behind bbc.co.uk, our mobile services and the BBC's presence on the internet."
BBC Backstage - the BBC community developer area, and the BBC Innovation Labs...
BBC Press Office - "New media" news announcements.
Blogged with the Flock BrowserTags: bbc
For example, did you know:
BBC Active ( formerly known as BBC Worldwide Learning, (includuing BBC Children's Learning and BBC Languages)) is now part of Pearson Education: "The partnership will be co-owned by Pearson Education and BBC Worldwide, with BBC Worldwide holding a minority stake, and will sit alongside Pearson's existing educational publishing businesses." BBC Active signals new partnership for BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. (When I posted If Universities Were Companies, and idly wondered whether Pearson might make a play for a struggling university, I had no idea they had been buying up chunks of the BBC since October 2005!)
the BBC Archive is up and running, albeit just on a single topic at the moment, as far as I can tell: BBC - Archive - Titanic;
whilst at the JISC conference, one of the BBC speakers quipped that the BBC wants to "own time"; as well as the lapsed On This Day minisite ("Video and audio from the BBC News archive WWII and 1950-2005. This site is archived and no longer updated."), the upcoming Memoryshare would appear to be part of that play, a user submission site for capturing people's memories and popping them on a timeline. (I've covered some of the BBC's other timelime plays here: OUseful posts on BBC timelines...);
BBC Learning Zone includes a growing clips library featuring streamed clips from BBC schools programmes. At the moment, clips play in the BBC media player, rather than the iPlayer.
iPlayer on the wii - a bit slow when I tried it last week, maybe it's a bit quicker this week?
Anyway, until a "BBC blogscoped" site appears, here are a few feeds to keep tabs on:
BBC Radio Labs blog - this is where I found out how to get 'live text' over XMPP (I had to get the geeky 'duh? wassat?' bit in somewhere!;-)
BBC Internet Blog, "a place where senior staff from BBC Future Media teams will discuss issues about the technology behind bbc.co.uk, our mobile services and the BBC's presence on the internet."
BBC Backstage - the BBC community developer area, and the BBC Innovation Labs...
BBC Press Office - "New media" news announcements.
Blogged with the Flock BrowserTags: bbc
Prudential beats blues with Asia arm - Times Online
Prudential beats blues with Asia arm Times Online, UK - ... demand by nervous American savers from equity-backed products - Jackson's traditional range of offerings - to the safer haven of fixed-annuity products. ... |
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Security 2.0: for Today's Web updated Thu Apr 17 2008 7:08 pm CDT
The objective of computer attacks has morphed from graffiti to greed -- from adware to crimeware. Script kiddies have been pushed aside by networks of skilled internet criminals. Attacks begin immediately after vulnerabilities are publicly known, and sometimes long before. Signature-based scanning is no longer able to keep up with emerging threats. Scanning introduces vulnerabilities of its own. This Lens describes a defense that relies on behavior-based defenses. The result is a more robust multi-layered defense.
Source: http://www.squidoo.com/security2
Smart Strategies Can Keep Cash Flowing In Retirement - Hartford Courant
Smart Strategies Can Keep Cash Flowing In Retirement Hartford Courant, United States - An immediate annuity works like this: You give a financial company, say, $100000. The company, often an insurance firm, promises to give you a fixed monthly ... |
Boom in Far East makes up for Prudential's troubles in US - Telegraph.co.uk
Boom in Far East makes up for Prudential's troubles in US Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - He added that, while US variable annuity sales were down 13pc on last year to £90m, there was more demand for its fixed annuity products, with sales jumping ... |
Prudential Reports 13% Rise In Q1 Group Insurance Sales - Update - RTT News
Prudential Reports 13% Rise In Q1 Group Insurance Sales - Update RTT News, NY - Jackson's variable annuity APE sales totaled 90 million pounds in the first quarter, down 13% from same quarter in 2007. Fixed annuity APE sales climbed 46% ... |
InsuranceNewsNet Responds to Flaws in Dateline NBC Report - Business Wire (press release)
InsuranceNewsNet Responds to Flaws in Dateline NBC Report Business Wire (press release), CA - ... type of annuity with surrender charges. What about traditional fixed and variable annuities, some of which contain similar lengths of surrender periods? ... |
Pension or Isa? Or both? - Investors Chronicle
Pension or Isa? Or both? Investors Chronicle, UK - For a 65-year-old man to buy an inflation-protected annuity greater than this, he would need a pension fund of around £900000. Assuming he takes the 25 per ... |
Clues for the Clueless - Tehran Times
Clues for the Clueless Tehran Times, Iran - As a result, plenty of college graduates can psychoanalyze Hamlet and quote from the US Constitution, but they don’t know how an annuity works. ... |
Prudential PLC announces 1st Quarter Results - CNNMoney.com
Prudential PLC announces 1st Quarter Results CNNMoney.com - Fixed annuity APE sales of GBP19 million were 46 per cent up on the same period of 2007 reflecting a higher customer propensity towards fixed-rate products ... |
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Digital Worlds Week 6, Round-Up
Here's this week's round-up from the Digital Worlds uncourse blog experiment. Other things got in the way somewhat, so the posting frequency was a few posts down on what I really need to producing, and it's looking as if the same will be true for the coming week. I'm also going to be offline for a few days in the coming, so I'm going to have to schedule some of the posts...
Breathing Life into Animated Objects
The Process of Game Creation & the Game Design Document
Friday Fun #7 Try Your Hand at Animation
An Example Game Design Document Template
Listening to the Game - A Brief History of Game AudioInnovation wise, there's not much to report. I've started trying to make more use of third party readings, but these do tend to break the flow somewhat. If I was using my own Wordpress installation, I'd be tempted to launch readings into a lightbox that would overlay the actual blog poast, but the free hosted wordpress site doesn't allow user scripts or modules:-( (This also means I can't try out any progressive enhancement code, which is also a bit of a pain :-(
I have put together a Google Custom Search engine that searches over the Digital Worlds blog as well as all the sites I link to from the blog, but I'm still trying to get a feel for how useful this is. I haven't publicised this search engine yet (this is the first public mention of it) though it is publicly listed and is open to volunteers. At the moment there is only a single refinement - a limit that allows searching only over the Digital Worlds blog. I'm not sure what other refinements to offer as yet, if any more at all... For what it's worth, here's a link to the default page: Digital Worlds Custom Search Engine
The daily reader numbers are down, so either everyone who was passing by has wandered off because they've lost interest in the content, or they were only reading to see what sort of presentation model was being used... and now they know, there's little reason to keep going back...
Through a confluence of school holidays here (with all the attendant intrusions that that situation brings to the average homeworker!), and lesser apparent reader engagement (e.g. via user stats and user lower user comments) I've also felt less engaged with the content (maybe this is a self-reinforcing negative cycle? A couple of the posts from last week were scheduled in advance - I had tried to get ahead with some scheduled postings knowing my work week was likely to be disrupted - BUT that broke the daily cycle/posting ritiual I had been developing; I also missed a post (scheduled or otherwise) on one of the days last week...
Game Maker posts fell by the wayside completely last week, though I did try to leave a launchpad post into self-directed 'study' on developing a Game maker platform game the week before, knowing this was a possibility (Growing the Platform Game - You̢۪re On Your Own, Now (If You Want to Be!)). If I get a free day in the coming week, I'll try and get a series of Game Maker posts out for the weekend... but it's looking unlikely :-(Blogged with the Flock BrowserTags: difitalworlds, google cse, custom search engine
Breathing Life into Animated Objects
The Process of Game Creation & the Game Design Document
Friday Fun #7 Try Your Hand at Animation
An Example Game Design Document Template
Listening to the Game - A Brief History of Game AudioInnovation wise, there's not much to report. I've started trying to make more use of third party readings, but these do tend to break the flow somewhat. If I was using my own Wordpress installation, I'd be tempted to launch readings into a lightbox that would overlay the actual blog poast, but the free hosted wordpress site doesn't allow user scripts or modules:-( (This also means I can't try out any progressive enhancement code, which is also a bit of a pain :-(
I have put together a Google Custom Search engine that searches over the Digital Worlds blog as well as all the sites I link to from the blog, but I'm still trying to get a feel for how useful this is. I haven't publicised this search engine yet (this is the first public mention of it) though it is publicly listed and is open to volunteers. At the moment there is only a single refinement - a limit that allows searching only over the Digital Worlds blog. I'm not sure what other refinements to offer as yet, if any more at all... For what it's worth, here's a link to the default page: Digital Worlds Custom Search Engine
The daily reader numbers are down, so either everyone who was passing by has wandered off because they've lost interest in the content, or they were only reading to see what sort of presentation model was being used... and now they know, there's little reason to keep going back...
Through a confluence of school holidays here (with all the attendant intrusions that that situation brings to the average homeworker!), and lesser apparent reader engagement (e.g. via user stats and user lower user comments) I've also felt less engaged with the content (maybe this is a self-reinforcing negative cycle? A couple of the posts from last week were scheduled in advance - I had tried to get ahead with some scheduled postings knowing my work week was likely to be disrupted - BUT that broke the daily cycle/posting ritiual I had been developing; I also missed a post (scheduled or otherwise) on one of the days last week...
Game Maker posts fell by the wayside completely last week, though I did try to leave a launchpad post into self-directed 'study' on developing a Game maker platform game the week before, knowing this was a possibility (Growing the Platform Game - You̢۪re On Your Own, Now (If You Want to Be!)). If I get a free day in the coming week, I'll try and get a series of Game Maker posts out for the weekend... but it's looking unlikely :-(Blogged with the Flock BrowserTags: difitalworlds, google cse, custom search engine
Torchmark Corporation Reports First Quarter 2008 Results - PR Newswire (press release)
Torchmark Corporation Reports First Quarter 2008 Results PR Newswire (press release), NY - Torchmark Annuities consist of variable and fixed annuity contracts. Underwriting margin from the annuity segment was $1.1 million, down 57% from the ... |
JPMorgan Chase Reports First-Quarter 2008 Net Income of $2.4 ... - StreetInsider.com (subscription)
JPMorgan Chase Reports First-Quarter 2008 Net Income of $2.4 ... StreetInsider.com (subscription), MI - Net revenue also benefited from the absence of a prior-year charge related to accelerated surrenders of customer annuity contracts. ... |
Earnings Calls: Prudential First Quarter Earnings Call - 123Jump.com
Earnings Calls: Prudential First Quarter Earnings Call 123Jump.com, FL - In the US, variable annuity sales were up 31% in the quarter. - M&G’s net inflows of $1.4 billion represent the second highest quarter ever. ... |
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
BAJTELSMIT COLUMN: GOOD AND BAD OF VARIABLE ANNUITIES - Colorado State University (press release)
Shady Sales Tactics Pushing Indexed Annuities on Seniors Exposed ... - SeniorJournal.com
Shady Sales Tactics Pushing Indexed Annuities on Seniors Exposed ... SeniorJournal.com, TX - When he was 72 years old, Leo bought something called an "equity indexed annuity." It's a legitimate investment for some people, and sales have soared ... |
What Did Samuel Morse Do?
While a professor of arts and design at New York University in 1835, Samuel Morse proved that written messages could be transmitted by electrical wire. He used pulses of current...
Source: http://inventors.about.com/b/2008/04/11/what-did-samuel-morse-do.htm
Monday, April 14, 2008
Dupont's ETFE - the miracle polymer that's shaping public architecture
May 2, 2007 Dupont's innovative ETFE polymer is 1% the weight of glass. It stretches to three times its normal length without losing its elasticity, has controllable shading and noise insulation properties, and never gets dirty due to the non-stick properties it shares with its cousin Teflon. Laid out in sheets or blown up in pillows, it's being used in a number of fascinating major architectural developments, including the stadium and aquatic centre being built for Beijing's 2008 Olympics. It's developing a reputation as a "miracle polymer" for public architecture...
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- The Grand Canyon Skywalk
- Flexible see-through battery power
- Beijing’s Olympic Aquatic Centre: the eye-catching, eco-friendly Water Cube
- READIUS ‘Rollable Display’ pocket e-Reader concept at IFA 2005
- Philips roll-up large screens and electronic books on the way
- The educational Hydrocar – US$79 reversible Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell toy car
Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GizmagInventorsAndRemarkablePeople/~3/114291448/
NAFA Objects to Dateline Report - Insurance News Net (press release)
NAFA Objects to Dateline Report Insurance News Net (press release), PA - Given the current unstable financial markets, it is important that consumers are aware of the steps fixed annuity companies and agents are taking to ensure ... |
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