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To add a fun element to her warriors, she has humanised Pokok bytelling people that it was him who made all the green items.The five dolls in tennis ball containers are assembled using oldsocks, tennis balls, strips of old clothes and toilet paper tubes.I put each warrior in a capsulated case to tell people that theair outside is contaminated and so they can only survive in thesterile air, although they really want to come out, Yuen said.Her creations under the I Am Not Junk series are not for sale atthe moment, although many people find them cute and useful.I decided to take away the element of greed because I feel that ifyou want to do something good, it should come from the heartwithout expecting plastic toys anything in return.It started as a hobby, I didnt think much about how it wouldimpact the environment in a positive way. But it has become moremeaningful now by saving more things from ending up in landfills.I am doing what I love without receiving money, and it has led meto many opportunities, she said.Yuen recently exhibited her creations at the No Plastic Bag Concertby The Recyclists and people approached her to ask how she made theitems displayed.I dont mind sharing my knowledge at all. I am glad that I havemet my objective, which is to inspire more people to save theenvironment! she said.Yuen is going to give out her bookmarks at her mini exhibition atthe arts and culture event at Menara Hap Seng every Sunday inAugust.Visitors can also meet Pokok and ask him any questions by writingthem down on paper and placing them in his notebook. He willrespond via email or snail mail, Yuen said.Yuen said developers and other organisations could maximise theirresources by reducing waste and transforming them into premiumgifts.Instead of wasting money giving away diaries or notebooks andcreating demand for more trees to be chopped down, they could usescrap materials on site and turn them into decorations andstationery, or even create a new product line to add value to theirbusinesses, she said.Her future plans include creating soft toys of endangered animalswhich die as a result of trying to eat plastic bags, producing anebook to illustrate ways of turning junk into art, and utilisingher knowledge in remedial therapies to come out with her ownskincare products. I am also experimenting on how to make rubber stamp ink fromjuices of fruits and vegetables, she said.Yuen  http://closetcrafty.blogspot.com

Inflatable plastic toys gaining popularit.By Zakir Hassnain.PESHAWAR: Chinese inflated toys have flooded local marketsand are in great demand due to hot weather.Both adults and children enjoy relaxing in toy swimming poolsfilled with water to beat the sizzling heat while small childrenrest in water-filled homes, chairs, ducks, lions, fish, aeroplanes, and other such floating toys.Local shopkeepers and roadside toy sellers purchase inflated toysfrom Karkhano markets, a few kilometers from Peshawar, which arefamous for smuggled goods. Roadside sellers have a variety ofinflated plastic toys and do a roaring business in hot season..I have a variety of swimming pools at reasonable prices rangingfrom Rs 450 to Rs 1500 and they are for both adults and kids,Ijaz, a roadside seller, told Daily Times.Ijaz, a young boy and resident of Mansehra, Hazara, said he boughtplastic toys from Kharkhano markets. Most Chinese plastic toyscome from Lahore to Karkhano markets in containers and hugestocks, he said.Ijaz said inflated toys were used only in summer and were of no usein winter. We dont have any customers in winter for water-filledtoys. However, rocking toys for kids give us little business, hesaid.I save Rs 20 to 50 on a small piece. Large swimming pools give agood profit, he said..Ijaz charged customers extra money for air pumps. He said customerswere given one glue sticker free of cost for punctures. He saidplastic toys lasted for two to three years if properly handled.Tanvir Ahmed, another roadside toy seller on Sher Shah Soori Roadin front of the railway station, said he had left school. Myfather has given me money to do this business. Sometimes I purchasetoys from Karkhano market shopkeepers on credit. They trust me,said Tanvir, 14.Sometimes we dont have a single customer for two or three daysand its really disappointing, said Kashif, anther roadsideseller. Kashif said Karkhano shopkeepers increased prices ofinflated toys in summer.Home National

.

The toy guns and binoculars were made in China and imported bySymak Sales Co. Inc., St.-Laurent, Que.Health Canada is also recalling 164, 15.2 cm tall horseshoe magnetswhich have a red plastic coating on the handle end.The department says the surface paint on the magnet also containsdangerous levels of lead.The plastic toys magnets were sold between March 2003 and April 2008 in Alberta,Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Ontario and Manitoba at EducationStation, Helping Hands Tools for Parents, J & M Kool Ltd.,Kidsource Inc., Dynamic Learning Toys and Supreme Learning Productsstores. The magnets were manufactured in China by Dowling Magnetsof Sonoma, California.Health Canada is advising parents the recalled toys shouldimmediately be taken away from children and safely disposed of.To date, it has not received any reports of illness or injuryrelated to the use of these toys.Canwest News Service 2008

The Berforts Group has responded to a growing demand for itsshort-run educational and academic book printing service bybecoming the first UK printer to invest in the Nipson VaryPress 200SED.

The print and mail company took delivery of the single-engineduplex machine at its Harlow site and is anticipating a low unitprint cost, especially on high pagination documents.

This allows for letter-sized and A4-sized documents to be printedon both sides by the single print engine.

White said: "Nipson's professional and personal service, pre andpost installation, has been excellent. Although my operators nowcomplain that the printer is extremely boring as it never breaksdown."

What would you expect, if you were going to pay ?,000 for a monolaser printer? At that sort of price, you'd probably want a goodspeed, several feed trays, a duplexer, networking, PostScript aswell as PCL and a lot of expandability. HP ticks all those boxeswith the LaserJet P4015x, part of a new range of printers aimed atworkgroups of 10 to 15 people.

This printer is a lot taller than most mono lasers we've tested,but mostly because it comes as standard with a second paper tray.Since both trays can hold 500 sheets, it makes the machine quitehigh off the desk. There's a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, too,which pulls down from the front of the printer.That's all of the standard paper sources but, optionally, theprinter can handle up to six trays, and one of these can be amassive, 1,500-sheet bulk tray. Other options include astapler/stacker, an envelope feeder and a special media tray, aswell as more memory and a hard drive for document storage.The control panel is neat and straightforward, with a key pad forsecure printing and a 4 line by 16 character, backlit LCD display,which includes access to tutorials on printing techniques, printedout from the machine's own firmware.One feature we've seen on quite a few recent lasers is a USB socketon the front, so you can print files from a flash drive. Sadly,there's nothing like this on the HP machine, though you can printsecurely by sending a file through its Gigabit Ethernet link andprinting only after you've reached the machine and entered a PIN.As well as the network interface, there's a standard USB 2.0 socketfor local connection to a PC.Given the 225,000 page-per-month duty cycle of this printer and thecapacity of its drum and toner cartridges, it's surprising howdiscreet they are. Fold up the front cover of the printer and youcan slide in a cartridge with a minimum of fuss - and it doesn'tdisappear deep inside the machine's mechanism.Software installation is also straightforward, with the drivers andsupplies monitoring utilities loading easily from CD. The driversupports duplex documents, booklets, watermarks, multi-pages persheet and prints at both 600dpi and 1200dpi resolutions.

Wausau Paper Corp (WPP) Q2 2008 Earnings Call July 29, 2008 11:00 am ET

Executives Perry Grueber - Director of IR Tom Howatt - President and CEOScott Doescher - CFO

Dan Trettin - SVP - Printing and Writing Analysts Mark Wilde - Deutsche Bank Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & Company Presentation Ladies and gentlemen thank you and welcome to the Wausau Paper 2008Second Quarter Results Conference Call.Now would like to turn the conference over to the Director ofInvestor Relations Perry Grueber. Perry GrueberThank you, Liya. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining usfor the Wausau Paper second quarter 2008 analyst and investor call.I am pleased to be here today with Tom Howatt, President and ChiefExecutive Officer of Wausau Paper and Scott Doescher, our ChiefFinancial Officer. I would also like to welcome Dan Trettin, ourSenior Vice President of Printing and Writing.This morning we will be discussing Wausau Paper second quarterfinancial results, which we announced yesterday afternoon. Tom willprovide a few opening remarks relating to the performance of thecorporation and initiatives in each of the three business units.Then we will ask Dan to provide commentary on the progress Printingand Writing is making against its profit recovery plan and uncoatedfree sheet market conditions in general.

Scott will then provide a summary of financial review and touch onoften asked for data points. Tom will then conclude our preparedremarks with a review of our outlook for the third quarter of 2008,after which we would be happy to address any questions you mighthave.

As usual, I would like to inform you that statements made duringthis conference call, other than those that refer to past eventsand results are forward-looking statements made pursuant to theSafe Harbor provisions of the Securities Reform Act of 1995. Suchstatements including those relating to expectations concerningearnings and price increases involve risks and uncertainties thatmay cause results to differ materially from those set forth duringthis discussion. Among other things, this risks and uncertaintiesinclude the risks and assumptions described in Item 1A and Item 7of the companys Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.The company assumes no obligation to update or supplementforward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequentevents.Now over to Mr. Tom Howatt. homas HowattHi, good morning. Second quarter results for Wausau Paper werereflective of the broadly weakening domestic economy and generallydifficult demand characteristics that each of the company businesssegments faces.

Away-from-home tissue market demand was essentially flat over thefirst half of the year, while uncoated free sheet volume wasreported to have declined by more than 7%. While public industriesare generally available for Specialty Products markets it is ourbusiness that most significantly impacted by economic cycles.Demand in core markets such as release liners and tape has beenfalling substantially under recessionary or near recessionarybusiness conditions.

Second quarter results also reflect this years surge in energycosts unprecedented levels with dramatic impact on freight,chemicals, boiler fuel and other input costs, while these costincreases are pressured margins in the short-term. Our continuedfocus on strategic markets coupled with actions we have taken overthe last several quarters to address underperforming areas of thebusiness, have set the tone for significantly improved futureresults.

The move away from commoditized grades in Specialty and Printingand Writing, combined with industry capacity closures, has resultedin solid pricing leverage in some markets with customers becomingmore concerned about lining with well positioned suppliers likeWausau Paper to ensure reliable supply.While the benefits of our strategic initiatives have been masked byeconomic weakness and cost pressures, our confidence in ourstrategy has reflected in our outlook for much improved thirdquarter earnings over second quarter levels with a potential foreach of our three businesses to be profitable during the quarter.For example, margins at our Towel and Tissue business increasedfrom first quarter level to nearly 10% in the second quarter,despite unrelenting increases in wastepaper, freight and parentrolls cost. We expect our third quarter price increase and therebuild of our toweling machine at Middletown delivered improvementin operating margins over the next several quarters.At Specialty Products, our growing presence in the higher marginfood service and food packaging markets coupled with reducedexposure to the commoditized segments of the release liner marketwill drive margin gains as the economy improves. Printing andWriting, will continue executing our profit recovery plan with agoal of achieving cost-of-capital returns by the end of 2009.

The initial phase of Printing and Writing s recovery plan sawcapacity reduction well executed by the business and has deliveredthe desired mix up upgrade with the elimination of commodity gradesand much improved pricing for the balance of our portfolio. We areon track to achieve breakeven results for the third quarter of thisyear as expected, and Dan Trettin is here today to comment further.Dan TrettinThank you, Tom. It’s a pleasure to be with you this morning. Iwill cover highlights of Printing & Writing’s financialperformance for the quarter and then provide some additional detailon success we are having related to our profit recovery planinitiated last year.Second quarter shipments up 66,000 tons were 29% below prior yearlevels. The result of anticipated volume reductions associated withGroveton mill closure.Net sales were $95.6 million compared with a $114.2 million lastyear, while average selling price improved 19% reflecting thesignificant product mix improvement and price increases achieved inrecent months. Input costs continued to climb with second quarterfiber and energy cost increasing $7.5 million as compared with lastyear.Printing and Writing recorded an operating loss excluding Grovetonclosure charges of $2.8 million as compared to $2.3 million lastyear and $4.9 million in the first quarter. The $2.1 millionsequential improvement reflects progress made with our profitrecovery plan and was achieved despite the execution of annualmaintenance outages at both mills in the quarter.

As you may remember, we announced the three-part profit recoveryplan last October. The three elements of that plan were to minimizeour exposure to the commodity segments of the uncoated free sheetmarket, bring singular focus to our core products and brands andsystematically infuse capital into our ongoing manufacturingsystem, to enhance operational efficiency and improve theprofitability of these assets.

In December, we closed Groveton, a high cost facility therebyreducing our paper making capacity by 28%. Now properly sizedrelative to our markets, we selectively exited a substantial volumeof non-core lower margin business that was detrimentally affectingprofitability.

The second part of our recovery continues today. Our sales andmarketing teams are enhancing margin contribution from our premiumbrands such as Astrobrights, Royal and Exact to enhance branddevelopment and customer segmentation. Market response to-date hasbeen favorable and supportive of our efforts to refocus ourbusiness around recognized core competencies.

We are particularly encouraged by the improved pricing environmentfor uncoated free sheet papers, even though the industry demandacross the entire spectrum of grades has declined. One data sourcereports North American shipments declining 8% to the first fivemonths of 2008.

Currently, beginning the historically strongest quarter of theyear, we remain confident in our earlier guidance of achievingprofitability for the third quarter of 2008. The first initiativerelated to the investment phase of our profit recovery plan is theBrokaw dry fiber handling project. The anticipated returns of thisproject well exceed the corporations capital return threshold.This investment will reduce cost and improve both efficiency andsafety at the mill. As you know, the goal of the profit recoveryplan is returning this business to earning its cost to capital bythe end of 2009. We remain confident in our ability to do so. Iappreciate the opportunity to share a few comments with you. Wewill be more than happy to address specific questions during thequestion-and-answer session.Scott Doescher will now continue our presentation with a corporatefinancial review.Scott DoescherThank you, Dan. During the second quarter, we reported a grossprofit of $21.8 million or 7% of net sales, compared to a grossprofit of $32 million or 10% of net sales last year. Included incurrent quarter cost of sales were $1.2 million of charges relatedto closure of the Groveton mill and roll wrap operations inColumbus, Wisconsin and Jackson Mississippi.

Profit margins remained under pressure from escalating input costsas year-over-year fiber prices increased more than $14 millionincluding market pulp price increases of $8.8 million or 13%.Purchase Towel & Tissue parent roll price increases of $3.1million or 17% and wastepaper price increases of $1.6 million or30%. In addition, year-over-year energy prices increased $7 milliondriven by a $2.4 million or 43% increase in natural gas, a $2.6million or doubling the fuel surcharges on outbound transportationand an $800,000 or 50% increase in fuel oil costs.

The second quarter included $13.8 million of pre-tax chargesrelated to the December 2007 closure of the Groveton mill with $1.1million reflected in cost of sales and $12.7 million as arestructuring line item. The restructuring charges can be largelyattributed to expenses associated with utility agreements at thenow closed facility.

Yeah, okay, alright. And can you just, when you talk about theprofit improvement plan and you want to get the cost-of-capitalreturns by the end of '09. I think one of the key questions for alot of shareholders is, when you do that is that a plan, which hasyou sustainably it cost-of-capital returns going forward in thebusiness, because it’s really been a business is underperformedhere for several years?

Tom Howatt

Well, Mark, I’d say that's certainly our expectation. And I thinkif you take a look at the improvements is occurring at thatbusiness and presuming we would be able to achieve that. We"ve infact would have been able to accomplish it during perhaps in themost difficult of circumstances imaginable with energy costs atunprecedented levels, even since the recovery plan announcementlast October, natural gas, which impact this business unit has goneup dramatically.

I think when you look at the combination of declining marketplacein the current year coupled with those energy costs, those types ofheadwinds, I think being able to achieve the result we've targetedat this point in time would suggest that we have a solid businessmodel at this point.

Ultimately, I think what's important though, is to be able tocontinue to grow at the premium side of the business. That includessustaining a solid position with the merchant distributioncommunity and commercial print markets coupled with further successin some of the new channels that we are focusing on such as [endleaf]; scrap booking and various other similar type markets.

So, I think a way of gauging our progress and the sustainability,this is going to be our ability to penetrate those markets anddrive that premium paper growth.

Mark Wilde - Deutsche Bank SecuritiesOkay. And Dan just also on Printing and Writing, I noticed that theindustry statistics for June in uncoated free sheet were quite abit better than we haven’t seen for last few months. Have youseen any real change in market trends that would tie-up with that?DanTrettinMark, this is Dan. Our volume is really been at expectation ormaybe better than expectations, really in the months of June andJuly. So, yes, I think that the performance has been better thanmaybe what has been earlier than year.Mark Wilde - Deutsche Bank SecuritiesOkay. And then just turning over to Specialty, I noticed you'vementioned in the release that you've taken some downtime at Otisand I wondered if you could give us a little color on that. Andthen maybe also just give us a sense of kind of the specific typesof products out of Specialty that really have been hit hardest. I'massuming part of this is some of the Specialty tape products andthings?

Dan TrettinYes, and let me take them in the order that you described them. Wedid take some market related downtime at the Otis facility in thesecond quarter, that amount to approximately 2500 tons of capacityfor the period. And quite frankly what we are simply doing ismatching up the capacity, that facility with the demand for coreproducts. The cost structure that facility is relatively high, itsfuel oil hired. So, we were really not in a position of consideringwhat I characterize is more commodity oriented fill-type grades.So, we have really controlled capacity to meet demand in coremarkets of that facility.With respect to the grades that are being most significantlyimpacted by the economic downturn. Clearly both of our largestmarkets, release liner and tape are under the rest during thisperiod. As you know, we have perhaps the emphasized release linermarket in favor of food service and food packaging grade, so we areseeing a decline in that market in part due to that reason, butthere is still weakness in those markets.Perhaps more significantly though is the weakness in tape marketsand we saw this is the time with last economic downturn at thebeginning of this decade, where this Specialty tape grades itcarried a highest margins in fact declined quite significantly andthat relates to the industrial economy, weakness in the automotivesector as well as than other grades within Specialty that are tiedto housing and other related construction markets.

Mark Wilde - Deutsche Bank SecuritiesOkay. And then Tom, if we could on Specialty that the guys at Boisehad put in that on that machine conversion over into release linerjust recently, have you seen much impact from that in yourbusiness. I know you planned a slightly different chunk of themarket?Tom Howatt Yes, and most certainly that capacity has shown up in the morecommoditized segments of the release liner market. And in fact,that's in part the reason for our strategy to move away from thosemore commoditized segments of the release liner markets, wherethere is limited price leverage despite the input cost increasesand again refocusing that capacity on food service and foodpackaging grades.Mark Wilde - Deutsche Bank Okay, very good. Thanks.Scott Doescher Thanks Mark.Operator And next we go to line of Jonathan Lichter from Sidoti &Company. Please go ahead. Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & Company Good morning, guys.

Tom HowattGood morning, Jonathan.Scott DoescherGood morning, Jonathan.

Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & CompanyWas there any growth in product that you still sold there in Q2?Tom HowattYes, there would been product that we had in our warehouse thatwould have been part of corestock business, Jonathan.Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & CompanyDo you have any idea how much in terms of tonnage or any othermetric?<BR>Tom Howatt

No. I really don’t know how much of that specifically was groupedin product.Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & Company Okay. And then on the Towel and Tissue side, the tonnage gain isthere, is that new products that you're selling or are you gainingshare?Scott Doescher Right, I think it’ s fair to say that there is a modest share gainassociated with that 3% year-to-date volume increase, given thatthe fact that the market is relatively flat. We continue to havegood success with new product introductions, but I’d say themagnitude of that volume gain over the first half of that yearwould suggest there is some slight share gain.Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & Company Okay. And how confident are you that the August price, increase inSpecialty Products will be enough to get to breakeven orprofitability in the later half of the year?Scott DoescherThere is a rather substantial as you might imagine, cost push inthe industry that’ s I think causing many competitors to look forways to move price. So, I think that there is fairly broad support,quite frankly across all three of our businesses at this time forimproved pricing.Based on our early read of the situation and the discussions we hadwith customers so far, we are quite confident of the August priceincrease and the fact that, we will have a profitable third quarterin Specialty Products.

Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & CompanyAnd then finally just, when could be the share repurchases start upagain? Would it be after you completed the CapEx?Tom Howatt

Yes, maybe I’ll comment first and then Scott can perhaps addfurther comment. But as you know, when we have talked about use ofcash on long-term basis, we have always said that our focus is onprofitably growing the corporation and that’s really our numberone priority and in recent times absent and lack of good investmentalternatives, we have look to return value to shareholders throughthat share repurchase plan.

On a more near-term basis, we have a couple of very sound capitalprojects that we are focused on, whether there will be additionalcapital projects identified and approved, I think really isuncertain at this point in time. So, I think over the short-term you’ d see us likely suspending that repurchase program.Scott anything further or?Scott DoescherNo. I think you have covered at well, Tom. What I would also noteJonathan is that, over the last three years, we have spent betterthan $32 million on that share buyback program and we’ve reallydone that without increasing the leverage on our balance sheet.So, as Tom mentioned our focus now and our priority always has beenthe profitable growth of our businesses and our step away from therepurchase program in the near-term it just a reflection of thatpriority.Jonathan Lichter - Sidoti & Company Okay, thank you.Operator  (Operator Instructions) And we have a follow-up from Mark Wilde.Please go ahead. Mark Wilde - Deutsche Bank Yes, Scott I wonder if you can help us understand the carryover ofso many growth and charges into the second quarter. I know it wasreally close I think at the end of last year?Scott DoescherYes, Mark, that’s a very good question. What we did see isoperations at the mill in terms of the paper machines in Decemberof last year. But we continue to operate certain equipment as wesupported distribution from that facility. So, there were assetcosts that remained and continued into 2008, Mark, and those wentdown during the course of the first and the second quarter. And asa result, as part of our guidance and as part of our footnotesyou'll see that we just expect about $2 million, $2.1 million ofadditional closure costs through the balance of 2008.Mark Wilde - Deutsche Bank Okay. Very good, thanks.Operator And gentlemen we have no further questions at this time. You maycontinue.Tom Howatt As we begin the third quarter, we are confident that our focus onstrategic markets and product innovation, and our disciplinedapproach to operations, has positioned us for solid recovery overtime. We look forward to reporting our continuing progress againstthe goals we have established.We appreciate your taking part in today's discussion and yourinterest in Wausau Paper. We plan to release third quarter 2008results on Monday, October 27th. Our next scheduled conference callis slated for 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, October 28th.Thank you for your participation.Operator Ladies and gentlemen this conference is available for replay after12:00 p.m. Central Time today through August 5th at midnight. Youmay access the AT&T replay service at any time by dialing1800-475-6701 and enter the access code of 930808. Once again thatnumber is 1800-475-6701 with the access code of 930808 and it isavailable after 12:00 p.m. Central Time today through August 5th atmidnight. That does conclude your conference for today. Thank youfor your participation and for using AT&T ExecutiveTeleconference. You may now disconnect.

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Reader Comments ( rss )

( Flattened / Threaded ) Huh? by PaulT on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 4:18am

Isn't "camcording" basically "recording with a camcorder"? How willrestricting home equipment stop this?

Even by their own logic, they're not making any sense. And theirlogic is a long, long way from reality.

( reply to this comment ) ( link to this comment ) The obvious question by Chronno S. Trigger on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 5:13am

Did anyone ask them the obvious question? If they want to getquality products out to the customer faster, Why don't they justrelease the movie on DVD or Blu-Ray right after, or even while, themovie is in theaters? Why not keep their current pattern ofTheater, DVD, PPV, TV just not have six months in between them?

( reply to this comment ) ( link to this comment ) Re: The obvious question by Anonymous Poster on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 5:37am

Because that would make sense, and the MPAA has hardly ever been inthe business of doing things that make sense.

( reply to this comment ) ( link to this comment ) The Free Market at Work by Steve R. on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 5:48am

Besides the obvious logical flaws in Seth Oster comments there isthe the clear disconnect of private companies seeking regulatorysupport from the FCC for their business model. The usual mantra ofprivate industry is "don't regulate us, it hurts innovation andbusiness", obviously the MPPA doesn't really believe in the freemarket.

Given our litigiousness society, the DVR manufactures shouldundertake a preemptive lawsuit against the MPPA for trying to putthem out of business. After all, don't DVR manufactures alsodeserve their own "special" regulations to foster their businessmodel.

( reply to this comment ) ( link to this comment ) Useless by jb on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 6:10am

It will be cracked in a couple of days.

( reply to this comment ) ( link to this comment ) Delusions by Jon on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 6:10am

This is seriously pissing into the wind. As long as there's an opensource DVR (there is, MythTV), there will always be a DVR that iscapable of ignoring any SOC bits. All it takes is one DVR and oneindividual, and your content is seeded on torrent sites in hours(if it wasn't there already, which it probably was). The only thingit's going to do is upset people that want to record the content tolegitimately time-shift it.

DRM is a plague that is being dealt with in the marketplace - it'sdying everywhere. I can't imagine how studios justify the amount ofmoney they put into 'fighting piracy,' when it's not a battlethat's even remotely winnable.

( reply to this comment ) ( link to this comment ) Re: Huh? by Liquid on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 6:15am

@PaulT

Pretty much. The MPAA just wants to call it something completelydifferent kinda like how George Bush makes up his own words forthings. They are trying to take the approach to how ignorant thelaw actually is when it comes to technology since it is so farbehind today's standards.

( reply to this comment ) ( link to this comment ) Re: Re: The obvious question by Liquid on Jul 22nd, 2008 @ 6:17am

@Ananymous Poster

Public-Interest Groups: Deny FCC HD DVR Waiver Public Knowledge, six other public-interest groups ask FCC to denystudios' request for waiver that would allow them to restrictcopying of some HD movies by DVRs. By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/22/2008 10:54:00 AM

Public Knowledge and six other public-interest groups asked the FederalCommunications Commission to deny studios' request for a waiver of FCC rules that would allow them to restrictthe copying of some HD movies by digital-video recorders .

The Motion Picture Association of America filed a formal request with the FCC June 6 for a waiver of FCC rules governing the "selectableoutput controls" of set-top boxes so that they can selectivelyprevent the digital copying of HD versions of films they want todistribute via multichannel-video providers before their DVDreleases.

The MPAA said the waiver will benefit the public by giving themmore viewing choices more expeditiously and will help the digital-TV transition by boosting interest in HDTV sets.

Public Knowledge and company begged to differ, telling the FCC in written comments that the waiver has little to do with the DTV transition and, inany event, would be costly to consumers and, if anything, hurt thetransition.

“If granted, the waiver will frustrate consumer expectationsregarding their home-theater equipment and will give movie studiosunprecedented and undesirable control over the design and use ofhome electronics equipment,” they argued.

Generation Y is a small but influential group when it comes totechnology adoption, while Gen Xers choose to adopt a technologywhen it fits in with a personal need or desires, according to asurvey about consumers' technology adoption and attitudes from Forrester Research Inc.

While Gen Y is a small generation of 18 to 28 year olds, consistingof only 38 million adults, it sets the pace for technologyadoption. Nine out of 10 Gen Yers own a PC, and 82 percent own amobile phone, according to the study from Cambridge, Mass.-basedForrester Research.

But it is technology use that sets the generation apart. GenerationY spends more time online, both for leisure or work, than watchingTV.

In contrast, Gen X, which is composed of 29 to 42 year olds --about 63 million adults -- uses technology when it intersects witha personal need or fulfills a desire. For example, 32 percent ofGen X households own an HDTV, and 29 percent have a DVR. In thepast three months, 69 percent of online Gen Xers shopped online and65 percent banked online.

The study from Forrester is the largest annual data set based on amail survey of nearly 61,000 consumers.

Forrester said that its 2008 North American TechnographicsBenchmark survey includes responses to more than 100 questionscovering 1,500 elements and more than 450 brands and representing53,000 households in the United States and Canada.

"The viewer with an impulse can buy right away and no longer needsto remember to do so the next time they are at their PC," EvanYoung, director of broadband services for TiVo, said in statement. "Television advertisers and consumer products companies are nolonger limited to the traditional linear shopping channels thatrequire live viewing for product merchandising and fulfillment."

Indeed, the feature could prove particularly helpful to advertiserswhose products are praised in programs like The Oprah Winfrey Show , in which the host recommends products for health care, cooking,beauty, etc. If viewers have a hankering to buy, they only need touse their remote to do a search on Amazon and then either purchase the item right away or place itin their shopping cart for later.

The service automatically calculates shipping and tax and presentsthe final bill, which has to be OK'ed before the user is charged.Purchases are secured through the personal identification numberassociated with the user's Amazon account.

"Now, a record label can merchandise and sell a new artist's CD ona show where the music is featured, or a publisher can merchandisean author's book during a talk show when the author appears as aguest -- the marketing possibilities are endless," Scott Merlino,senior manager of business development at Amazon, said.

The service will be available to subscribers of broadband-connectedTiVo Series2 and Series3 digital video recorders, and the company's HD DVR.

TiVo, which pioneered the DVR in the late 1990s, has had to expand into other markets to combatcompeting products offered today by cable operators and satelliteTV providers. In seeking other revenue, TiVo has moved aggressivelyinto advertising.

The company, for example, offers advertisers the option oftargeting viewers with products related to specific programming orgenres. TiVo also offers interactive advertising that givessubscribers the option of taking a closer look at a productadvertised on TiVo's programming guide.

TiVo in the fiscal quarter ended April 30 reported a drop in revenue to $54.9 million from $58.1 million in the same period a year ago. Net income, however, increased to$3.6 million from $835,000. The company expects a net loss from $2million to $4 million in the current quarter on revenue from $53million to $55 million.

gas masks "I'm putting a kid through college – and myself, too, to getmy MBA," says Kampling, 48. "There was a lot of motivation. Madefinancial sense for me to leave the car at home."

As gas prices have soared beyond $4 a gallon, more people havebegun looking for alternatives that will allow them to get to andfrom work without burning up an entire paycheck.

Who knew that blowing through the $3-a-gallon benchmark last yearwould make so little difference to American drivers? Yet once wecrossed into $4 territory, the search for a cheaper commute grewserious.

As Mercy's guest services director – in charge of thehospital's bike commuter program, among other things –Kampling has seen the number of employees interested in biking towork increase with the cost of gasoline.

He sees more folks out on the bike trail in the mornings now, too,and you have to figure fuel costs play a part.

But for Kampling, saving money amounts to a happy side effect ofhis decision in the spring of 2007 to start biking to work.

"I went through somewhat of a transformation," Kampling says. "Ilost my mother, and it was very sudden. And I had a frienddiagnosed with prostate cancer who's not much older than I am.

"Those things made me look at my life and realize I needed tochange some things. I hadn't been valuing my body and making sureI'd live a long life.

"There are other reasons" – expensive gas prices among them– "but that's what really pushed me onto my bike."

His bike helmet hangs behind his office door at Mercy, along withfreshly dry-cleaned work clothes. His commuting bike – a 1990Trek – is parked beside his desk. (He rides another bike onthe weekends, when he trains for 100-mile rides, a pursuit thatbrings specialized meaning to the word "fun.")

Ron Kampling by the numbers: In the past year, he's lost 35 pounds.In an average week, he bikes the 44-mile round trip from Rosevilleon three days, and he brings his bike on Amtrak's Capitol Corridortrain the other two, biking to and from the train station.

And he commutes on his bike 12 months a year. Even in the rain andcold – and even, last week, in the heat and smoke, wearing amask over his nose and mouth to filter the air.

His bike commute tends to take 80 minutes, as opposed to 50 minutesin his truck. But driving to work and stopping at the gym on theway home would require even more time, he points out.

Besides, he says, "The days I drive, I hate it. I loathe the ideaof jumping in the car and being in traffic. This is a moreefficient use of my time. I also don't have to pay for parking atthe hospital."

Biking improves his outlook, too.

"I'm a native of Kansas," he says. "When you hit the bike trail onElkhorn, for a mile it's open field. I see pheasants. I see wildturkeys, and here and there a few snakes. It goes back tode-stressing. It's nice to enjoy the scenery along the way."

His employer also provides showers, bike lockers and free mealvouchers for people who bike to work – a nice perk.

But Ron Kampling does it because he likes it.

"At first, I was losing weight so fast, people made fun of me," hesays. "And some people told me later they were afraid to sayanything to me because they thought I was ill. I saw my primarycare physician not long ago, and he's like, 'Wow.'

"I can't help but enjoy people saying, 'Wow, I wish I could dothat.' It's been transformative."

About the writer:

Anita Creamer's column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays inScene. Reach her at (916) 321-1136 or

acreamer@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/creamer.

Ex-worker left without money after being recognized, police say

From KTVZ.COM news sources

A young man wearing a gas mask tried to hold up a Bend ice cream parlor Wednesday morning but fled without the cash after he took off the mask and a worker recognized him as a former employee, police said.

Police later found and arrested the Redmond man.

A female worker said a young man of Asian appearance entered the Baskin-Robbins at 1106 NE Third St. around 10:40 a.m., wearing a gas mask, opened the cash register while she was in the back room and took an undisclosed amount of cash, said Bend police Sgt. Ron Taylor.

The employee confronted the suspect before he could leave the store, and after a short verbal exchange, he returned the money, then left, Taylor said.

But during their exchange, the suspect removed the gas mask ,allowing the worker to recognize him as a former employee ,identified as Andrew Miyomoto, 18, of Redmond.

No threats were made, no weapons observed and nobody was injured,Taylor said. In fact, the store's workers thought it was apractical joke, but Taylor said later, "We believe it wasn't goingto be a joke until after he was recognized."

Miyomoto later was taken into custody and lodged at the DeschutesCounty Jail on second-degree burglary charges.

Taylor said the investigation was continuing, and anyone withinformation or who might have witnessed the incident was asked tocontact police at (541) 322-2960.

In his special report last year on the lack of home frontpreparedness during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, State ComptrollerMicha Lindenstrauss minced no words. He heaped criticism on allconcerned and described the neglect to which civilians in Israel'snorthern third were subjected as "a total eclipse." On Saturday,the former OC of the Home Front Command, Aluf (res.) Yitzhak"Jerry" Gershon, judged during an in-depth Israel Radio interviewthat "things today aren't much better."

Buildings, he said, have still not been reinforced with bomb-proofadditions; much of Israel remains inadequately protected againstnon-conventional attack, and the gas-mask kits collected back fromthe public have yet to be distributed afresh.

Gershon, who two years ago was responsible for the then largelyforsaken, shell-shocked civilians - and was harshly taken to taskby the comptroller - complained in the interview about a "lack ofseriousness during the war. Politics permeated all practicalconsiderations and expedient politicians sought to reap personaladvantage at the expense of all frameworks concerned."

While Gershon's personal considerations may color his assessments,he is hardly the only one to warn that two years after thatill-considered and ill-conducted war, Israel's citizenry cannotrest easy and that it would be wrong to assume the home frontfailures have been corrected.

MORE THAN a year ago, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and DefenseCommittee warned against the inordinately sluggish process ofrevamping returned gas masks. The committee noted that "it would beimpossible to reissue the masks in time during an emergency."Recently, a new date, next January, was unveiled as the target forthe upgraded masks' redistribution. As the tensions with Iran growrelentlessly, the delay is frankly unconscionable.

This is but one example of what is either unwarranted complacencyor plain incompetence.

Israel now faces greater dangers than it did in 2006. For onething, the failure of the war to push Hizbullah out of southLebanon as a military force has led to its unprecedentedreinforcement, with an estimated 40,000 rockets at its disposal(versus 12,000 in 2006). Since many of these are longer-range, moreof the country is now in Hizbullah's potential shadow; manyIsraelis who were immune last time around could now find themselvesbattered.

When this is coupled with Syria's arsenal, Iran's nuclear andconventional threats and the Gazan menace in the south, essentiallyall of Israel is vulnerable as never before, at least partiallycountering the IDF's firepower advantage.

It would be wrong to claim that nothing positive has been done overthe past two years. The Defense Ministry did set up the NationalEmergency Network - a preliminary step toward greater coordinationin time of need. However, the overall response has beenexcruciatingly slow and short-term budgetary concerns have beenallowed to overshadow existential long-range needs.

THE BOTTOM line is that the civilian population still lacksadequate protection from a rerun of the 2006 scenario and wouldface potentially incalculable losses and demoralization - factorswhich would greatly impact on any future war's outcome.

In improving that situation, there may be no choice but to involvethe local authorities to a greater degree - granting them widerauthority and financial wherewithal, under strict nationalsupervision. Those who are in close contact with the citizenry intimes of calm, after all, can most quickly aid it in times ofcrisis. Some local councils have, at their own initiative, alreadyrisen at least partially to the challenge.

The past two years have featured lots of rhetoric, notably amongIsrael's senior political leaders, asserting a new calm in theNorth and suggesting that Hizbullah is thoroughly averse to furtherconflict. Indeed, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert claimed in aninterview last weekend that Hizbullah's Hassan Nasrallah is "scaredto death" of a repeat encounter.

Unfortunately, many of Israel's citizens are also fearful - worriedthat they would be no better protected in the event of a newconflict than they were last time. Only now, Hizbullah constitutesa threat to a deeper swathe of the country.

To more adequately protect Israel's hinterland, the government musttreat all threats as real and imminent - as if the worst wasexpected tomorrow.

But before then, Israel could find itself under attack without themeans to protect its civilians, said Yuval Steinitz, chairman ofthe Knesset Subcommittee for Security Perception.

Steinitz said the masks should have been returned to the generalpopulation months ago, adding that the government was lagging farbehind its own timetable. Israelis would be "wholly unprotected"should war erupt in the next six months, he warned.

"The masks were collected during 2007, and the government said itwill repair and redistribute them all over northern Israel and toreserve soldiers by the end of 2007. Then, at the beginning of2008, the government was supposed to complete the redistribution tothe rest of Israel. Here we are two years later, and no masks havebeen redistributed," Steinitz said.

He dismissed out of hand the idea that the Home Front Command couldrapidly distribute the masks should war erupt this year.

"No one can tell when we will be at war. If we have an escalationwith Syria, or if, for example, America attacks Iran and someShihab missiles with gas fall on Tel Aviv or Haifa, it would beimpossible to distribute the masks. So I think this is veryirresponsible," said Steinitz. "I can tell you with confidence, ifthere is war tomorrow, not even 20 percent of the population wouldreceive the masks."

Steinitz directed the preparation of a report on the state of thecountry's gas masks in 2007 that resulted in the decision tocollect and repair them.

"Reserve soldiers will head to units without gas masks, and theywill need it more than anyone else. We've checked this, and wefound it is entirely impossible to distribute them in times ofemergency," he said. "This is so ridiculous because we have between4 and 5 million masks that have been renovated, at a cost ofseveral billion shekels. So if war breaks out tomorrow, it will beas if the masks don't exist."

Vilna'i announced the issuance of a tender for private sectorcompanies to take charge of the redistribution, a role that upuntil now had been filled by the Home Front Command.

"Cancel the tender - we need to redistribute immediately. At leastto northern cities like Haifa and to soldiers and their families,amounting to 30% of the population. Stations can be opened nowwhere soldiers can hand out the masks. People will come and collectthem," Steinitz said.

The timing of the masks' distribution is seen as a sensitive issueby some, since Israel's foes and neighbors might interpret theredistribution as preparation for a regional escalation involvingIran.

But senior military analyst Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror saidthere was no reason to link the date with a fear of war.

"As far as I know, it is a result of logistics, not intelligence,"he said. "It's always better to have them, but we shouldn't gethysterical. Syria has a large quantity of chemical weapons. I'mvery much in favor of allocating the masks as a form of nationalinsurance against biological and chemical weapons. It's much betterwhen the masks are at home."

Under Vilna'i's proposal, people can opt to have the kits sent totheir homes for NIS 50, and defense officials hope a newcomputerized redistribution system will make the process far moreefficient. Each kit will have its own bar code, which will allowthe masks to be tracked, and to be recalled if additional repairsare needed.

Vilna'i also announced that special masks equipped with bellowswill be handed out to vulnerable sectors of the population such asthe elderly and the ill.猬?

 cotton yarn dyed fabric 32 contracts week were registered at the Turkmen commodity and rawmaterials exchange last week Contracts exceeding US $ 235, 64million were made for a variety of products, theTurkmenbusiness.org website reports. Afghan businessmen purchased L-0,9-62 diesel fuel, and the UAE businessmen purchased straight-run gasoline produced at the Seyydioil refinery. The UAE businessmen also purchased A-95 and A-92gasoline, L-0,2-62 diesel fuel produced at the Turkmenbashi complexof oil refineries. Finnish, Austrian, Belgium, Belizean and Iranian business menpurchased K-354 technical carbon and A-type technical iodine. Other than that, Russian, US, Gibraltarian, Virgin Island, Iranianand Turkish businessmen purchased grey and jeans fabric, dyed andgrey stockinet, cotton yarn, a variety of jeans products and tomatopaste. With deposit national currency exceeding Manat 22,723 billionKyrgyz, Belarusian and Hong Kong businessmen purchased refinedcotton-seed oil, while Azerbaijani and Virgin Island businessmenpurchased sewing cotton.

 Knitted Bamboo Fabric Redley finishes summer edition of Fashion Rio June 17, 2008 (Brazil) The Olympics are inspiring the stylists for next summer. Redleyalso joined in but brought a softer collection with regard to sports. For her, uniforms constructed over organic bases using bamboo fiberknit, cotton and linen. The traditional numbers were stylized with cutouts of print or striped fabric, or fabric with light graphic art. Overlays of transparencies give new hues to the base of greens,yellows, blues, grays and denims. The silhouette is looser, in long and midi versions. For him, many cutouts: irregular, graphic art, patchwork contrasting with darkercolors in shirts and lighter colors in blended knits. Tailored bermudas, rounded tank tops, tricot tops, tracksuits in jacquard, pants with folds summarize the shapes.

 Filter materials Citing continued escalation in raw material, energy and freightcosts, Hollingsworth & Vose announces 3-9% increases for its High Efficiency & Specialty Filtration business, which serves HVAC, cleanroom, facemask, appliance, analytical and other markets. Newprices for glass and synthetic filter media will be effective by July 1, 2008 or as contracts allow. The increase will vary by product, grade and region depending costescalation. Established in 1843, Hollingsworth & Vose Company (H&V) is a global leader in the supply of technically advanced engine, high efficiency and liquid filtration media, battery separator materialsand industrial nonwovens. H&V delivers value to customers by inventing next-generation materials with superior performance. H&V 2008-06-18 13:37:16 Textile Materials Filter materials Top Line Expanding Diaphragm Valve Product Line  Tag : Sanitary Material Top Line Process Equipment Co. Release date: June 3, 2008 Top Line Expanding Diaphragm Valve Product Line to IncludeSpecialty Materials 06/03/2008 Top Line is expanding it's already popular sanitary diaphragm valveline into specialty and duplex type body materials for severeservice. The materials upgrades are to include AL6XN, HastelloyC276, Hastelloy C22, and Titanium in sizes

 Drywall  material City lays out rules for flood garbage disposal Baraboo has developed procedures for disposal of residential flood damage materials. City crews will be working the next several weeks on debris disposal. Those with questions about disposal should call (608) 355-2715 or(608) 355-2701. Those who need help to remove any of these materials can call the Sauk County Emergency Management office at(608) 355-3200. * Citizens are advised to wear gloves and masks when handling materials and especially when working with mold and mildew. The river water is considered contaminated. Change the mask often and those wit respiratory problems should be extra cautious. Those who get a puncture or cut are advised to get a tetanus shot if they haven't had one in the last two years. * Residential garbage and recycling — put this out to the curb as you normally would on your regular pickup day. Please do not mix this with the storm damage garbage. * Put all storm damaged materials at the curb side (terrace),behind the curb. Please do not put anything in the street. * Sandbags — Put sandbags at the curbside. * Limbs and brush — Put the limbs and brush in a separatepile at curbside. Regular brush pickup is the last full week of the month and crews will do pick up at this time. * Drywall and other construction materials should be separated from other residential garbage. This material can also be place ingarbage bins. * White goods — Refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, hot water heaters, water softeners and similar items should also be placed curbside. Keep these separated and don't pile them together. Madison Check road conditions on hotline, Web site The public is asked to call (800) ROAD-WIS (762-3947) or visit the Wisconsin Department of Transportation website atwww.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/incident-alerts.htm for up-to-datein formation on road closures for Interstate and major state highways. Major openings and closures announced Monday include: * I-94 westbound remains closed at the Crawfish River west of Johnson Creek. The right shoulder along I-94 eastbound at the Crawfish River is closed. * Interstate 90-94 west-bound north of Madison is open. * Eastbound Interstate 90/94 is open to traffic from Highway 2 near Lake Delton to Highway 78 just south of Portage. Exits from I-90/94to Highway 33 and I-39 entrances remain closed. Detour routes: * Traveling northbound along I-39 toward Wausau take exit 132(Highway 51) north to Highway 16 west near Portage to I-39northbound * Traveling southbound along I-39 take exit 89 (Highway 16) east to Highway 51 southbound to I-90/94 near Madison WASHINGTON Flood victims may qualify for IRS disaster relief Victims of recent severe storms may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS is postponing until Aug. 13 certain deadlines for tax payers who reside or have a business in federal disaster areas. The postponement applies to return filing, tax payment and certain other time-sensitive acts otherwise due between June 5 and Aug. 13. In addition, the IRS will waive the failure to deposit penalties for employment and excise deposits due on or after June 5 and on or before June 20, as long as the deposits were made by June 20. If an affected taxpayer receives a penalty notice from the IRS, the taxpayer should call the phone number on the notice to have the IRS abate any interest and any late filing or late payment penalties that would otherwise apply. Penalties or interest will be abate donly for taxpayers who have an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date, including an extended filing or payment duedate, from May 30 to Aug 7. IRS computer systems automatically identify taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and apply automatic filing and payment relief. Affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area must call the IRS disaster hotline at (866) 562-5227 to request tax relief. MADISON Doyle obtains disaster unemployment assistance Gov. Jim Doyle announced Monday that individuals in seven counties ,including Sauk affected by recent floods will be eligible to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance. Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available to unemployed workers who worked or were self employed if they: Benefits are based on a person's earnings for the most recent tax year. As a result, applicants will be asked to furnish earning sdata from their 2007 federal tax returns when filing a claim. The unemployment benefit can range from $134 to $355 per week. Workers, including those who are self-employed in farming or other businesses, must apply for benefits by July 16. Applications can be filed by calling the Unemployment Insurance Division in Madison at(608) 232-0678 or toll-free at (800) 822-5246.

 Sanitary Material Top Line Process Equipment Co. Release date: June 3, 2008 Top Line Expanding Diaphragm Valve Product Line to Include Specialty Materials 06/03/2008 Top Line is expanding it's already popular sanitary diaphragm valveline into specialty and duplex type body materials for severeservice. The materials upgrades are to include AL6XN, HastelloyC276, Hastelloy C22, and Titanium in sizes