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শনিবার, ৩ মার্চ, ২০১২

Plangrid Builds A New Market For The iPad: The Construction Industry

Mark this up as one more crucial chapter in the much-thumbed book called "The Consumerization of IT": a new app has launched from a Y Combinator-backed startup that offers builders the ability to store, manage and view blueprints on and iPad tablet. The unique selling point for PlanGrid, as the app is called, is that it promises to present building blueprints in a far more efficient way than they have been presented before. But on a more general level, PlanGrid is a sign of how the iOS platform is maturing and attracting a new wave of developers who target specific enterprise verticals with solutions tailored to their business needs.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4lBLkBua1I0/

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শুক্রবার, ২ মার্চ, ২০১২

Your First Year at Barnard College: Opportunity: apply to be a ...

An announcement from the Speaking Program:

Speaking Fellows applications are now available!

After completing an intensive training course in the theory and practice of public speaking, Speaking Fellows work with students in speaking-intensive courses on their presentation and leadership skills.? Applicants should have a passion for public speaking, whether that means giving speeches, performing, presenting, debating, or simply engaging in conversations. Candidates should have excellent leadership and team-building skills, as Speaking Fellows work highly collaboratively.

Applications are available for download at speaking.barnard.edu/become-speaking-fellow. They are due on Friday, April 6th, at 1:00pm.

If you have any questions, please contact Pam Cobrin (Director, Writing and Speaking Programs; pcobrin@barnard.edu), Daniela Kempf (Manager, Speaking Program; dkempf@barnard.edu), and/or Cecelia Lie (Coordinator, Writing and Speaking Programs; clie@barnard.edu).

Source: http://barnardfirstyear.blogspot.com/2012/03/opportunity-apply-to-be-speaking-fellow.html

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Questions loom as Yelp prices IPO at $15 a share

FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2011 file photo, the logo of the online reviews website Yelp is shown in neon on a wall at the company's new Manhattan offices in New York. Online reviews site Yelp is expected to price its initial public offering of stock on Thursday , March 1, 2012, and become the latest in a long line of social websites going public. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Yelp's popular online reviews guide the hungry to the best restaurants, the thirsty to the friendliest bars and the flabby to the toughest personal trainers. But, on the eve of its initial public offering, the eight-year-old, still unprofitable company has yet to convince analysts of its long-term prospects.

San Francisco-based Yelp Inc. late Thursday priced its initial public offering of stock at $15 a share. That's above its expected range of $12 and $14 per share. Yelp is selling 7.1 million shares, while its charitable foundation will sell 50,000. Investment bankers also have an option sell another 1.07 million shares, depending on investor demand.

The offering could raise as much as $123 million before expenses. It values Yelp at $900 million.

That's a lot for a company that hasn't turned a profit since its 2004 founding. Rick Summer, an analyst at Morningstar, says that while Yelp is at "the head of the pack" compared to other review sites, he's concerned that businesses "may not see enough value in (Yelp's) advertising platform to increase spending and justify the expected price of this IPO."

Though it's best known for restaurant reviews, Yelp's users have reviewed churches, strip clubs, hospitals, hotels and high schools. The company makes money from advertising. Most of the ads come from the local businesses that its users review. In 2011, it booked revenue of $83.3 million, up 74 percent from 2010. It had a net income loss of $16.7 million last year and $9.6 million the year before.

Like so many startups, Yelp originated as a solution to a problem. Jeremy Stoppelman co-founded Yelp with former PayPal colleague Russel Simmons. Stoppelman, who serves as the company's CEO, wrote about the Yelp's beginnings in an op-ed printed in the San Francisco Chronicle in January 2009:

"One day in the summer of 2004, I got sick and needed to see a doctor. I asked friends for referrals, but most of them were Bay Area transplants and didn't have any good recommendations. I searched on Google, but found only generic lists on health insurance Web sites. I wanted a doctor that fit my needs, not just any doctor," Stoppelman wrote. "I wondered why it was so easy to find consumer reviews for products like books and electronics, but so hard to find good referrals for local service providers like doctors and plumbers."

That's where Yelp came in. By 2009, Yelp had grown to 17 million monthly users and 4.5 million reviews. It has expanded overseas, to the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany and beyond.

Yelp.com attracts 66 million monthly unique visitors and is home to 25 million reviews as of the end of 2011, according to its regulatory filings. People used the company's mobile application, meanwhile, on 5.7 million mobile devices a month, on average. That's an impressive run, but Summer is worried that Google and Facebook "could grab more of the local advertising pie" and take business away from Yelp, constraining the company's potential growth and profitability.

Foursquare is also edging in on Yelp's territory. The New York-based company best known for letting users check in to venues using their mobile phones, offers local recommendations and user tips on what to eat or do once you've checked in to a restaurant, store or other business.

Even so, Yelp's stock will likely see a big jump on its first trading day, as investors who didn't get in at the pricing clamor to grab a share. That's what happened with LinkedIn Corp., the consumer reviews site Angie's List Inc. and others. Online deals company Groupon Inc. saw its stock jump 31 percent on its first trading day. On Thursday, though, Groupon's stock was trading slightly below its IPO price of $20.

Francis Gaskins, president of IPOdesktop.com, expects Yelp's IPO to price above the expected range and thinks "there will be a lot of happy users who don't know valuation metrics" who will buy the stock on its first trading day. Even so, Gaskins says he's a "little bit skeptical" about Yelp's long-term prospects.

"Sooner or later people will be wanting them to make money," he said. "They won't go away, it's not like the dot-com bust. (But) at some point in time, people are going to get tired of them losing money all the time."

Nick Einhorn, research analyst at IPO investment advisory firm Renaissance Capital, thinks Yelp has done an "impressive job so far" in building up its user base and content.

"While it is still reasonably small from a revenue standpoint, the company is still in the relatively early stages of monetization ? a large percentage of its revenue comes from its 20 oldest markets, so it should be able to continue to grow strongly as it drives monetization in its other 51 markets," along with new ones, he said.

Yelp's users are its bread and butter. They're the ones who write the reviews, see the ads and hopefully click on them. To ensure that they trust the site ? and keep using it ? Yelp has kept a sturdy wall between its advertisements and reviews. Businesses can't run ads to boost their ratings and ads are clearly marked. Still, Yelp has elicited complaints from businesses about the way it screens out fake or biased reviews. The company uses an automated program to weed out unreliable posts, such as those written by business owners about their own restaurants ? or a competitor's. Some merchants have complained that the program made legitimate reviews disappear. In 2010, Yelp responded by adding an option to let users see reviews that are filtered out.

That said, most user reviews are positive. As of August 2011, 38 percent of the reviews on Yelp were five stars, the highest possible rating, and just 11 percent were one-star reviews. On Friday, investors will get a chance to give their own ratings on the company's business.

Life as a public company will be a change of pace for Yelp. Its new status will invite scrutiny from investors, regulators and the public. The challenge will be to keep it all in perspective.

"Some companies feel that there is a lot of short-term focus," once they have gone public, said Gordon Tucker, the managing director of Protiviti, a company that helps businesses go public. "The companies that are successful are able to keep the long-term focus in mind."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-03-01-US-TEC-Yelp-IPO/id-e0e1a2f407cf4374990294748159daea

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Homeowners' emphasis on energy efficiency grows | Pro Hands at ...

(ARA) ? Even in a volatile economy, homeowners are making home upkeep a priority. While the number of projects annually had been on the decline in recent years, a study from BuildFax, a resource for building, remodeling and repair information, found remodeling activity was up in 2011 over 2010. Additional data shows homeowners are opting to invest in what matters most with projects that benefit their wallets, personal comfort and the environment.

Know the facts

Before buying anything, shoppers are taking time to learn more about the products they put in their homes. For one in four consumers, knowing and understanding what makes up general household products is important. As options continue to increase, this attention to research is key to finding efficient products that offer maximum value. For instance, homeowners will find that a few newer home insulation products that help provide greater energy efficiency also boast new sustainable formulations. Owens Corning EcoTouch insulation is made from 99 percent natural materials, contains a minimum of 58 percent recycled content and is verified formaldehyde free.

Energy-efficient essentials

According to the 2010 Home Improvement Research Institute Trends Program Report, reducing household energy usage and bills through energy-efficient improvements continues to be the No. 1 reason homeowners make home improvements. That same report also indicated six out of 10 consumers need help identifying what they can do to be more environmentally conscious.

?Now is the right time to make efficiency improvements around the home because homeowners will see an immediate impact on their monthly utility bills, and will reap even greater benefits in the long term,? says Frank O?Brien-Bernini, chief sustainability officer at Owens Corning. ?According to the U.S. Department of Energy, buildings use more energy in the United States than either transportation or industry, accounting for the consumption of 40 percent of our nation?s energy resources. On a more granular level, the primary use of energy in a home is for heating and cooling. In many homes, excessive energy is wasted through poorly sealed and insulated attics, walls and ductwork ? all problems that can be solved by handy do-it-yourselfers or through experienced contractors.?

The Home Improvement Research Institute reports roughly one in three homeowners plans to purchase more energy-efficient doors, windows or HVAC systems in the coming year. Sealing all openings around doors and windows can help homeowners make the most of their investment. Air ducts should also be inspected to ensure they are clean, are free of leaks and holes and direct air to the right spaces.

Recycling 101

While recycled content is commonly focused on, recyclable materials are also important. Often with home improvement projects, old materials are thrown out and replaced with the new. What many homeowners may not know is that many building materials and appliances are recyclable. Recycling is a better solution for the environment, and may be less costly than taking material to a landfill.

?There are more recyclable materials on and in a home than you might first assume. Millions of tons of shingles torn off from roofs end up in our country?s landfills each year. Fortunately, the technology now exists for all those shingles to be recycled instead,? says O?Brien-Bernini. ?In 2009, Owens Corning Roofing and Asphalt, LLC formed an alliance with Heritage Environmental Services to create a Shingle Recycling Program with roofing contractors to make recycling convenient, cost-competitive and differentiating and have since recycled more than 90,000 tons of asphalt shingles.?

Homeowners looking for more information about shingle recycling and other types of recycling can turn to Earth911.com, with whom Owens Corning Roofing and Asphalt, LLC recently also formed an alliance. The site hosts the largest and most accurate recycling directory in North America and provides information about what materials can be recycled as well as lists of recyclers in local markets.

For more tips on efficient home improvements, visit www.OwensCorning.com.

Source: http://prohandsatwork.com/?p=60255

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WWE NXT results: Dueling Divas

WWE NXT Redemption: Feb. 29, 2012 results:?

Darren Young & Titus O'Neil def. Percy Watson & Alex Riley (PHOTOS | WATCH)
Kaitlyn, Justin Gabriel and Alicia Fox staged an intervention to try and save Derrick Bateman from Maxine (PHOTOS | WATCH)
Michael McGillicutty def. Tyson Kidd (PHOTOS | WATCH)
Matt Striker announces that William Regal is WWE NXT's new Match Coordinator (PHOTOS | WATCH)
Kaitlyn def. Maxine (PHOTOS | WATCH)

NXT Rookie records:

Derrick Bateman: Win/loss record: 11-11, Redemption Points: 0
Darren Young: Win/loss record 14-18, Redemption Points: 7
Titus O?Neil: Win/loss record 25-13, Redemption Points: 45

WWE Universe, watch WWE NXT highlights and the complete episode each Wednesday on WWE.com. The complete episode is also available Wednesdays on YouTube.com/wwe ?and ?Hulu.com.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/2012-02-29/results

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ১ মার্চ, ২০১২

Protein complex affects cells' ability to move, respond to external cues

ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) ? In a paper just published in the journal Cell, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has explained for the first time how a long-studied protein complex affects cell migration and how external cues affect cell's ability to migrate.

Cell migration is one of life's basic processes, from development in the womb to immune system response, to learning and brain development, wound healing and -- when it goes wrong -- in cancer.

Jim Bear, PhD, principal investigator on the study, says, "The ARP 2/3 protein complex is -- evolutionarily speaking -- very old, but very little is known about what happens to cells when it is eliminated. It was thought previously that cells could simply not survive without it. Thanks to Norman Sharpless' lab here at UNC, we were able to find a cell line where the protein can be eliminated without loss of viability in order to see what happens to cells."

The result, says Bear, was fascinating. With the ARP 2/3 protein complex intact, cells migrate by forming a fan-shaped structure, called a lamellipodia, at the leading edge. The team found that eliminating this protein complex caused cells to switch to making finger-shaped protrusions instead -- called filopodia. The cells with "fingers" on the leading edge move much more slowly than those with "fans."

Bear, who is an associate professor of cell and developmental biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist, has focused his laboratory's work around how cell movement responds to environmental cues. Once his team figured out that loss of ARP 2/3 could change cells actual structure and movement, they went on to look at how those changes affected the ability of cells to respond to external cues.

"Cells sense a wide variety of soluble chemical cues through 'chemotaxis' -- a process that is the basis behind many drugs that target cell behavior. They also respond to attached cues from the surface that they are crawling upon -- a much less well understood process called haptotaxis," says Bear, who is also a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

So Bear's team set out to test the widely held idea that the cells require lamellipodia "fans" to respond to chemotactic cues. They found that cells with lamellipodia "fans" and filopodia "fingers" (with and without the ARP 2/3 protein complex) respond to chemotaxic cues indistinguishably, although they move faster with lamellipodia.

"The really interesting finding came when we looked at how each type of cell responds to hapotactic cues," says Bear. The team developed a new laboratory technique that uses a microfluidic device to lay down a gradient of a surface molecules (or substrate) for the cells to 'crawl' across in a way that could be measured in the lab. They could then look at whether the cells could 'sense' a gradient in the matrix. With the ARP 2/3 protein complex, the cells with "fans" on the leading edge followed the gradient of the surface proteins in an orderly, predictable faction. Without it, the cells with "fingers" moved randomly.

"This experiment -- which was possible only with the help of many diverse UNC colleagues ranging from genetics to biomedical engineering -- finally tells us what lamellipodia and the ARP 2/3 protein complex do: help the cell respond to clues from the extracellular environment. It has long been assumed that the protein was important for chemotaxis, but that is not the case."

The study opens the way for a new frontier of investigation in the area of hapotaxis, or behavioral clues that cells get from the extracellular matrix. Also, says Bear, "We don't understand chemotaxis as well as we thought. What are the forces in the cell that respond to soluble cues?"

Both areas of investigation could be important for future breakthroughs in areas requiring precisely controlled cell migratory behavior including wound healing and tissue repair, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Other members of the research team include members of the Bear lab, Congying Wu, BS, Sreeja Asokan, PhD, and Liz Haynes, BS, as well as Matt Berginski, BS, and Shawn Gomez, Eng.Sc.D. from the UNC/NCSU Biomedical Engineering program, and Norman E. (Ned) Sharpless, PhD, and Jack Griffith, PhD, from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition, many of the imaging experiments were conducted in the UNC-Olympus Imaging Research Center, of which Bear is the director.

The research was funded by NIH (Institute for General Medicine) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Congying Wu, Sreeja B. Asokan, Matthew E. Berginski, Elizabeth M. Haynes, Norman E. Sharpless, Jack D. Griffith, Shawn M. Gomez, James E. Bear. Arp2/3 Is Critical for Lamellipodia and Response to Extracellular Matrix Cues but Is Dispensable for Chemotaxis. Cell, 2012 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.12.034

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120301143314.htm

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