Life Without Health Insurance | Care2 Healthy Living

On the afternoon of the election, I sat counting ceiling tiles at my local Planned Parenthood clinic.

?Have you ever been to a Planned Parenthood clinic before?? the receptionist asked me when I approached the front desk.

?No ma?am.?

?Please fill out these forms. All your information will be kept confidential.?

?Okay, thanks.?

I found a seat in the back corner of the waiting area and slowly raised my eyes to look around the crowded room. To my right, there was a young girl ? maybe 15 or 16 years old ? with her arms crossed rigidly over her chest. She was wearing fishnet stockings, a transparent black tank top, and dark eyeliner painted thickly along the lids under her eyes. I wondered why she was here. She looked too young for an annual pap smear.

I looked back down at the forms on my clipboard:

Name: Chelsea Roff

Birthdate: 7/30/1989

Insurance? No

To my right, I heard the door open again and in walked another woman ? probably 35 ? wearing lululemon pants and a long, flowy shirt that easily could have served as a dress. Her hair was dark and curly, her skin a sun-kissed bronze. She approached the reception desk timidly, her eyes darting rapidly around the room.

?I?m not an American citizen,? she said to the receptionist. Her accent sounded British? maybe South African. ?Will they still see me??

?Yes, of course, honey. Do you have an appointment?

?No.?

?Fill out these forms. We?ll get you in.?

I ?looked back down at the clipboard in my lap, subconsciously breathing a sigh of relief for the woman at the desk. What was she here for? Emergency contraception? Abortion? STD test? Was she pregnant? I wondered if she had a national health care system in her country of origin, and thought about how frightening it would be to have a medical emergency happen and be so far from home.

Finishing my paperwork, I re-approached the reception desk, getting in line behind a mother-daughter couple and a ?young man. To my left I saw a small framed sign on the wall adjacent to me:

THE TRUTH ABOUT TEEN PRIVACY

We encourage teens to discuss their health care concerns with their parents or other adults, but you can give us your own permission for the following:

• • Birth Control
  • Pregnancy test
  • Abortion services
  • Sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment

You can also talk to us about the following and be sure they will remain private:

• • Alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco, or drugs
  • Personal, school, or family issues
  • Sex and sexuality issues

I thought about my younger sister, about the handful of times I?d walked her into a clinic like this. I?d forgotten what that was like? being underage and in the foster care system, Planned Parenthood the only place you knew to go.

Just then, my phone buzzed in my purse. I pulled it out, seeing a new text message from an unknown number:

?Get out + vote! Make sure your voice is heard + vote counted. Follow?YogaVotes on Facebook +Twitter for election day updates.?

I smiled at the irony. Somehow I managed to schedule my first appointment at a Planned Parenthood clinic on the day of our national election ? a day that, without doubt, would decide the fate of whether these clinics would continue to exist at all. I thought about what was at stake? access to basic STD testing, women?s health services for those without health insurance, a safe place for teens to receive medical care and advice without the risk of getting kicked out by their parents. I ?wondered where I would go if this clinic wasn?t here. I wondered how many women I knew would say that?Planned Parenthood had saved their lives.

I haven?t had medical insurance since I was seventeen. In fact, the last time I had coverage, I was on Medicaid ? a federally-funded program that?provides free or low-cost health coverage to more than 50 million children and families. Because of a ?pre-existing condition? I experienced in my teens, I?ve been rejected by insurance companies each and every time I?ve applied for coverage as an adult. Now, I?m in the long, arduous process of trying to attain coverage under California?s?Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), a program which ? thanks to Obamacare ? will offer health coverage to medically-uninsurable individuals until the legislation goes into full effect in January 2014 (I?ll be writing more about PCIP in a forthcoming article).

My experience at Planned Parenthood that day prompted to think more deeply about healthcare in the United States ? and more specifically, about how the other?50+ million Americans who are?uninsured in the United States fare when health issues arise.

Who are these 50 million Americans ? are they young, old, rich, poor, educated, too stupid or lazy (as many conservatives often imply) to purchase health insurance?

Where does an uninsured woman go when her Planned Parenthood doctor finds a lump in her breast? What about uninsured children ? how many are there, and what do parents do when their gets a 106 degree fever in the middle of the night and they can?t afford an ER visit? Is healthcare a basic human right, or a privilege reserved for the wealthy?

While I have many friends and colleagues who shun politics; for me, the issues at stake in the 2012 election were far too personally impactful to turn away. From the moment I heard Mitt Romney unequivocally?declare that,??on my first day if elected President of the United States, I will act to repeal Obamacare,? I knew just how high the stakes were. Had Obama not been re-elected, my hope for finally having health insurance would have been squashed. The one clinic that I ? and so many women I know ? depend on would likely have lost federal funding.?Voting was not merely a symbolic act of civic engagement? it was a public statement of what I want andneed from my government: the institutional support?necessary to preserve life.

On Friday, I put out a call to my Facebook friends:

?If you are uninsured, have been for at least 6 mos, and would be willing to participate in a brief (anonymous) interview, please email me.?

I was absolutely astounded at the volume (and diversity) of responses I received. In just 24 hours, I had over 50 messages in my inbox ? emails that contained heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and eye-opening stories about how people across America are living without health insurance. Some had boycotted insurance industry and firmly believed that they were better off for it ? others had been trying to attain affordable care for over a decade. I realized that I would never be able to unpack all the issues contained in those emails in a single article ? and so began the series I?m starting today,?Life Without Health Insurance.

The?Life Without Health Insurance Series will examine the questions listed above, as well as a host of other issues related to healthcare around the world. Here is a tentative, non-ordered list of the articles I envision for this series:

1. Is Access to Affordable Healthcare a Human Right?
2. Taking Care of Your Vagina without Health Insurance
3. Raising a Sick Child without Health Insurance
4. So You Have a Pre-Existing Condition?
5. When Emergencies Happen: Where to Go When You?re Uninsured
6. Do Healthy People Really Need Insurance?
7. Preventative Care in the Health Insurance Industry
8. Obamacare: What the Mandate Means for You
9. How the Affordable Care Act Will Impact the Economy
10. Beyond America: Models of Healthcare Around the World

I look forward to beginning this discussion with you, and I hope it can be a catalyst for all of us ? both those with and without insurance ? to have a more meaningful dialogue about what we want from our government when it comes to healthcare. If there are any issues related to healthcare you?re particularly interested in learning (or talking) about, please share them in the comments section below.

I am still seeking stories of people living without health insurance in the United States, so if you would like to participate in a brief email interview please send me a message at chelsea [at] intent.com. I will send you back a list of questions, and any answers you give will remain anonymous should I choose to use them in the series.

*****

Chelsea Roff is Managing Editor for?Intent Blog. She is a speaker, survivor, and advocate writing about women?s health, humanitarian issues, and the intersection of science and yoga. Check out Chelsea?s?website and follow her on?Facebook and?Twitter.

Read more from Intent Blog?here. Follow us on?Twitter. Like us on?Facebook.

Photo Credits:?Strangely, B,?Alex E. Proimos

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/life-without-health-insurance.html

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Why did Obama invite Romney to lunch?

President Barack Obama is having Mitt Romney over for lunch on Thursday, and their meeting is already generating a lot of buzz. Here are five theories about the White House?s motives.

cspandebateObama and Romney were bitter rivals in the 2012 presidential campaign, with Obama getting a surprisingly big victory in the Electoral College.

Since then, Romney has stayed out of the spotlight, while Obama said he would invite Romney to the White House at some point.

The pair will have a private meeting for lunch, so there will be no press coverage or a photo opportunity.

So here are five theories that are floating around about the get-together.

1. Obama is extending a common courtesy

In 2008, President-elect Obama met with John McCain on November 17 in Chicago, and there was a photo op with the two men. McCain had lost to Obama, but he was still a U.S. senator.

At the time, McCain said he would ?obviously? help the incoming president, and the former foes issued a statement about bipartisanship.

Conditions are different in 2012, with Romney not holding a Senate position and Obama sitting in office as the incumbent.

We?re also not sure that there is a tradition of losing presidential candidates meeting with incumbent presidents.

The protocol for current presidents meeting with former presidents is entirely different.

You can read excerpts from a book called ?The President?s Club? for a look at how presidents interact.

2. Obama will offer Romney a Cabinet job

That doesn?t seem likely, since Romney is self-supporting financially and has a life outside politics, with 18 grandchildren.

If a job were forthcoming in the new Obama Cabinet, it would have to be approved by the U.S. Senate, with a majority vote.

Since the Senate is controlled by the Democrats, that could get interesting.

Also, as a Cabinet member, Romney would be reporting to Obama, which also would be interesting, given the mutual dislike between the candidates on the campaign trail.

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3. Obama will enlist Romney in the fiscal cliff debate

One issue where the candidates disagreed sharply on the campaign trail was on the fiscal cliff debate.

Romney was not in favor of raising taxes on higher income earners, because he believed it stunted the growth of business and hurt its ability to create jobs.

Obama was critical of Romney?s philosophy about the fiscal cliff, especially his attacks on entitlement spending.

However, one of Romney?s ideas on the campaign trail, a cap of income tax deductions for wealthier Americans, might become part of the negotiations in Congress in December.

Obama had floated out a similar plan in the past, but just after the election, Senate Democrats attached Romney?s name to it, as a way to get the Republicans to discuss it.

?Let?s just say there?s a renewed interest,? said Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota and chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, as reported in The New York Times on November 13. ?Part of it is people reflecting on Obama?s proposal, but when Romney said what he said, it just added fuel.?

4. Obama wants Romney?s advice on business issues

That?s also a distinct possibility, since President Obama praised Romney?s business acumen after the campaign.

?He presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that I actually agree with. And so it?d be interesting to talk to him about something like that. There may be ideas that he has with respect to jobs and growth that can help middle-class families that I want to hear,? Obama said.

Of course, President Obama has scores of business advisers already, including friends in the private sector.

5. Obama wants closure on the 2012 presidential election, or something else?

President Obama said after the election that he was interested in talking with Romney about ways the two men could work together.

He used similar words about John McCain in 2008, after Obama easily defeated the Republican candidate. That didn?t come to pass.

One theory is that Obama could just want to be consistent in how he publicly handles his consecutive wins in 2008 and 2012, and it would be a slight to Romney if he didn?t extend a similar invitation for a sit-down meeting.

But in an editorial in Wednesday?s Washington Post, former Romney strategist Stuart Stevens paints a portrait of Romney as a good man who is a Washington outsider, who was never accepted by the GOP establishment.

?I appreciate that Mitt Romney was never a favorite of D.C.?s Green Room crowd or, frankly, of many politicians. That?s why, a year ago, so few of those people thought he would win the nomination,? Stevens said.

Given that some key Republican leaders criticized Romney for his post-election comments about Obama using ?gifts? to win the election, could Obama approach Romney about some kind of position related to bipartisanship or public service?

As odd as the idea sounds, Romney has made it clear he?s done running for public office, but has no plans to retire.

An Associated Press story earlier this month cited a Romney insider as saying the former candidate had an interest in philanthropic efforts or having a role in future Olympics efforts.

Scott Bomboy is the editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-theories-obama-meeting-romney-100811036.html

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High honor for 2 UC Riverside physicists

Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
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Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala
iqbal@ucr.edu
951-827-6050
University of California - Riverside

Richard Seto and Jing Shi are elected as fellows of the American Physical Society

RIVERSIDE, Calif. Two physicists at the University of California, Riverside Richard Seto and Jing Shi have been elected as fellows of the American Physical Society (APS). Only 250 researchers received the high honor this year.

The APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories and industry in the United States and throughout the world. Fellowship in the society is limited to no more than one half of one percent of the membership. The evaluation process for fellowship election is done entirely by one's professional peers.

Seto, a professor of physics and astronomy, was elected an APS Fellow "for creative experimentation and leadership in the study of hadronic matter under extreme conditions including measurements and analysis leading to the discovery of the strongly-interacting Quark Gluon Plasma (sQGP)."

Seto works in the field of relativistic heavy ion physics a blend between nuclear physics and particle physics that focuses on the properties of bulk systems governed by the theory of strong interactions or Quantum Chromodynamics. His research is carried out on the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, where very high energy collisions of heavy nuclei are available. This has led to the discovery of the strongly-interacting Quark Gluon Plasma, a state of matter in which the protons and neutrons in a nucleus are melted into their constituent quarks and gluons.

The author or coauthor of more than 170 papers in scholarly journals, Seto has served on the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation on research priorities in nuclear science; the program committee for the Division of Nuclear Physics of American Physical Society; the editorial board for Physics Review C; and as PHENIX deputy spokesperson. Currently, he serves on the PHENIX Executive Committee, which advises the management of the experiment. Seto received his doctoral degree from Columbia University in 1983.

Shi, also a professor of physics and astronomy, was elected an APS Fellow "for his pioneering work in spin transport in organic semiconductors and organic molecules."

At UCR, his research endeavors include experimental condensed matter physics. Currently, he is working on the charge and spin transport in carbon-based and other novel electronic materials.

He has published nearly 90 papers in scholarly journals including two in Nature, one in Science, and six in Physical Review Letters. He holds 11 US patents and provisional patents. His many awards and honors include the highly competitive Research Innovation Award in 2000 from the Research Corporation as well as the IBM Faculty Award in 2009. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994.

###

The APS works to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings and education, outreach, advocacy and international activities.

The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala
iqbal@ucr.edu
951-827-6050
University of California - Riverside

Richard Seto and Jing Shi are elected as fellows of the American Physical Society

RIVERSIDE, Calif. Two physicists at the University of California, Riverside Richard Seto and Jing Shi have been elected as fellows of the American Physical Society (APS). Only 250 researchers received the high honor this year.

The APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories and industry in the United States and throughout the world. Fellowship in the society is limited to no more than one half of one percent of the membership. The evaluation process for fellowship election is done entirely by one's professional peers.

Seto, a professor of physics and astronomy, was elected an APS Fellow "for creative experimentation and leadership in the study of hadronic matter under extreme conditions including measurements and analysis leading to the discovery of the strongly-interacting Quark Gluon Plasma (sQGP)."

Seto works in the field of relativistic heavy ion physics a blend between nuclear physics and particle physics that focuses on the properties of bulk systems governed by the theory of strong interactions or Quantum Chromodynamics. His research is carried out on the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, where very high energy collisions of heavy nuclei are available. This has led to the discovery of the strongly-interacting Quark Gluon Plasma, a state of matter in which the protons and neutrons in a nucleus are melted into their constituent quarks and gluons.

The author or coauthor of more than 170 papers in scholarly journals, Seto has served on the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation on research priorities in nuclear science; the program committee for the Division of Nuclear Physics of American Physical Society; the editorial board for Physics Review C; and as PHENIX deputy spokesperson. Currently, he serves on the PHENIX Executive Committee, which advises the management of the experiment. Seto received his doctoral degree from Columbia University in 1983.

Shi, also a professor of physics and astronomy, was elected an APS Fellow "for his pioneering work in spin transport in organic semiconductors and organic molecules."

At UCR, his research endeavors include experimental condensed matter physics. Currently, he is working on the charge and spin transport in carbon-based and other novel electronic materials.

He has published nearly 90 papers in scholarly journals including two in Nature, one in Science, and six in Physical Review Letters. He holds 11 US patents and provisional patents. His many awards and honors include the highly competitive Research Innovation Award in 2000 from the Research Corporation as well as the IBM Faculty Award in 2009. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994.

###

The APS works to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings and education, outreach, advocacy and international activities.

The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/uoc--hhf112912.php

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Digital-era science success (Unqualified Offerings)

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Amelia Ashlock checks out the blinking, present-shaped Christmas lights surrounding the Mayor?s Chri

Point of View

When is it appropriate to start decorating for the?holidays?

?Christmas is my most favorite holiday, however I can?t stand all of the Christmas stuff in stores at the day after Halloween! I love the lights on houses, but they would feel so much more special a couple weeks before Christmas. No humbugs here, but it certainly feels less special the longer they are up! Keep the spirit of Christmas closer to the holiday and give of your time to others. The best gift is given unselfishly to a?stranger.?

? April?Jeffries

More responses

Source: http://www.bonnersprings.com/photos/2012/nov/28/49579/

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Order of psychiatric diagnoses may influence how clinicians identify symptoms

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? The diagnostic system used by many mental health practitioners in the United States -- known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- assumes that symptoms of two disorders that occur at the same time are additive and that the order in which the disorders are presented doesn't matter. But new research suggests that order actually plays a significant role in determining how clinicians think about psychiatric disorders.

In an article published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researchers Jared Keeley, Chafen DeLao, and Claire Kirk of Mississippi State University draw from existing research on conceptual combination to investigate how clinicians diagnose psychiatric disorders that occur together.

They predicted that for disorders with overlapping symptoms -- such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) -- clinicians would describe the disorders pretty much the same way, regardless of which disorder was presented first.

But for two disorders that are quite different -- such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) -- the researchers predicted that the order in which symptoms are presented would significantly influence clinicians' descriptions of the disorders.

Keeley and colleagues also predicted that the features of one disorder would overshadow the features of another, providing evidence for a "dominance" effect.

In two different studies, the researchers asked clinicians to identify the symptoms that would describe each of three disorders individually (MDD, GAD, ASPD) and the symptoms that would describe paired combinations of the three disorders.

In both studies, the clinicians were inconsistent in their descriptions of disorder pairs -- for example, the symptoms they identified for a combination of MDD + ASPD were not necessarily the same as those identified for a combination of ASPD + MDD.

And in one of the two studies, the researchers found that the order of symptoms mattered more for clinicians' descriptions of disorders that were different than for disorders that overlapped, partially confirming their original hypothesis.

Together, these results seem to contradict the assumption that order doesn't matter in psychiatric diagnoses.

Findings from a third study indicated that clinicians' descriptions of the symptoms involved in GAD were dominated by their descriptions of both MDD and ASPD, while symptoms of ASPD and MDD had equal weight.

Keeley and colleagues offer several possible explanations for their findings. Clinicians could be straying from the additive guidelines of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Alternatively, their clinical experiences may have led to "rater drift," such that the criteria that they use to evaluate symptoms have drifted over time.

But it's also possible that practitioners are actually ahead of the curve. Keeley, DeLao, and Kirk argue that clinicians could be "accurately modeling an aspect of psychopathology that our current diagnostic system has yet to accommodate."

While it remains to be seen whether these findings have implications for the actual treatment of psychiatric disorders, Keeley and colleagues believe that these three studies may help researchers and practitioners in trying to bring the classification of psychiatric disorders and actual clinical practice closer together.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. J. W. Keeley, C. S. DeLao, C. L. Kirk. The Commutative Property in Comorbid Diagnosis: Does A B = B A? Clinical Psychological Science, 2012; DOI: 10.1177/2167702612455742

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/XtIjLyJWvQs/121128162209.htm

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Video: IT Industry Hot Spots

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50014312/

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Job Interview? Write a Thank You Note! - Speak Up For Success

Once upon a time, almost anyone who could write, knew how to write a thank you note. But today, a well-written note is so rare that it places you ahead of the pack.

The best thank you notes are short, sincere, and specific to each interview. So:

1. Be Prepared for Thank You Note Success

• Before going to your interview, buy an attractive blank?note card from a card shop. No humor, and nothing fancy or with writing on the inside. This needs to reflect?you, so keep the card simple and write your note in your own words.
• Take the card and a stamp with you to your interview.
• Be sure to ask your interviewer for their business card, so that you know where to send your thank you.
• After your interview, go sit quietly (if you?re an introvert, want to take some notes) or call a friend (if you?re an extrovert, or want to talk things out) and think through what went well and what you?d like to do differently next time.

Now use this simple approach to craft your note:

2. Start By Thinking About Your Audience

In this case, your ?audience? is the person, or people, who interviewed you. To put them solidly in mind, ask yourself:

• Did they enjoy our conversation?
• Where, in particular, did we connect?
• Was their interviewing style more on the ?warm and friendly? or more on the ?strictly business? end of the scale?

OK, got it? Now you?re ready to write.

3. Use ?The Rule of 3? to Write Your Note

Three sentences, plus a date, a greeting, and a close, are all you need to get this job done.

At the top of the note, in the right-hand corner, write today?s date.

Then, on the left, write, ?Dear [Their Name].? If the person was super friendly, a first name will do; it they were super formal, use their title. In between ?Mr.? or ?Ms.? and their last name is correct.

Then write:

Sentence: #1 Thank the person for meeting with you.

• If you liked them, or if they were particularly friendly, you can say something like ?Thank you for making my interview today so pleasant.?
• If they were more businesslike, just say something like, ?Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today.?

Sentence #2: Mention something that you liked about the interview.

• If they were personal or friendly, say something personal, such as, ?I particularly enjoyed our talk about [whatever you?and they?particularly enjoyed talking about].?
• If they were more businesslike, say something businesslike, such as, ?I was glad to learn more about [name of organization].?

Sentence #3: Repeat your interest in the job (but don?t?repeat your qualifications or act as if the interview is still going on!).

• Friendly version: ?I would be thrilled to work for [name of organization], and hope to meet you again as a colleague.?
• Business version: ?I am now even more interested in working with [name of organization], and appreciate your help with the process.?

Here?s what those two notes look like when you put it all together:

Friendlier Version:
Thank you for making my interview today so pleasant.?I particularly enjoyed our talk about [whatever you?and they?particularly enjoyed talking about].?I would be thrilled to work for [name of organization], and hope to meet you again as a colleague.

More Businesslike Version:
Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today.?I was glad to learn more about [name of organization].?I am now even more interested in working with [name of organization], and appreciate your help with the process.

Sign it ?Sincerely,? then print your name so that you?re sure they can read it. If you have a business card, include it.

And Last But Not Least?

Go home, put your feet up, and have a glass of wine or hot tea.

The hardest job in the world is looking for a job. So congratulate yourself on a job well done today, and be kind to yourself while you?re waiting for the results.

Tagged as: career, job interview, public speaking, thank you note

Source: http://speakupforsuccess.com/6056/thank-you-note/

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First-ever hyperspectral images of Earth's auroras: New camera provides tantalizing clues of new atmospheric phenomenon

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? Hoping to expand our understanding of auroras and other fleeting atmospheric events, a team of space-weather researchers designed and built NORUSCA II, a new camera with unprecedented capabilities that can simultaneously image multiple spectral bands, in essence different wavelengths or colors, of light. The camera was tested at the Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO) in Svalbard, Norway, where it produced the first-ever hyperspectral images of auroras -- commonly referred to as "the Northern (or Southern) Lights" -- and may already have revealed a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon.

Details on the camera and the results from its first images were published November 29 in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express.

Auroras, nature's celestial fireworks, are created when charged particles from the Sun penetrate Earth's magnetic field. These shimmering displays in the night sky reveal important information about the Earth-Sun system and the way our planet responds to powerful solar storms. Current-generation cameras, however, are simply light buckets -- meaning they collect all the light together into one image -- and lack the ability to separately capture and analyze multiple slivers of the visible spectrum. That means if researchers want to study auroras by looking at specific bands or a small portion of the spectrum they would have to use a series of filters to block out the unwanted wavelengths.

The new NORUSCA II hyperspectral camera achieves the same result without any moving parts, using its advanced optics to switch among all of its 41 separate optical bands in a matter of microseconds, orders of magnitude faster than an ordinary camera. This opens up new possibilities for discovery by combining specific bands of the same ethereal phenomenon into one image, revealing previously hidden details.

"A standard filter wheel camera that typically uses six interference filters will not be able to spin the wheel fast enough compared to the NORUSCA II camera," said Fred Sigernes of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Norway. "This makes the new hyperspectral capability particularly useful for spectroscopy, because it can detect specific atmospheric constituents by their unique fingerprint, or wavelengths, in the light they emit."

These spectral signatures can then reveal subtle changes in atmospheric behavior, such as the ionization of gases during auroras. This form of multispectral imaging also will enable scientists to better classify auroras from background sky emissions and study the way they cluster in the atmosphere.

A New Phenomenon

On Jan. 24, 2012, during the inaugural research campaign of NORUSCA II, a major solar flare jettisoned a burst of high-energy particles known as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The CME eventually slammed into Earth's magnetic field, producing magnificent auroras and a chance to fully test the new camera.

The researchers were able to image the aurora in unprecedented clarity through a layer of low altitude clouds, which would have thwarted earlier-generation instruments (see Image 1). The camera also revealed something unexpected -- a very faint wave pattern of unknown origin in the lower atmosphere (see Image 2). The wave pattern resembles "airglow" -- the natural emission of light by Earth's atmosphere. Airglow can be produced by a variety of known sources, including cosmic rays striking the upper atmosphere and chemical reactions. Its concurrent appearance with the aurora suggests that it may also be caused by a previously unrecognized source.

"After the January CME, we think we saw an auroral-generated wave interaction with airglow," said Sigernes. This would be an entirely new phenomenon and if confirmed, would be the first time airglow has been associated with auroras.

"Our new all-sky camera opens up new frontiers of discovery and will help in the detection of auroras and the understanding of how our Sun impacts the atmosphere here on Earth. Additional development and commissioning will also hopefully verify our intriguing first results," concludes Sigernes.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/NnP1uPSdwfc/121129111839.htm

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WebOS raised from the dead again, this time as an Android app [video]

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have been married for five years. I recently discovered that she made between 10 and 20 porn videos when she was 19. We got married when she was 27. We have four kids from two previous marriages.I am devastated. When I confronted her about it, she cried harder than I had ever seen. She said she was lost, and it's the biggest regret of her entire life.I understand how hard it can be to tell someone you have done something like this. I haven't led a perfect life either, and I have my own skeletons and things that I would never mention. But still, I can't get over this. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/webos-raised-dead-again-time-android-app-video-035619982.html

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College football: State of Oklahoma has become popular spot for schools searching for head coaches

STILLWATER ? Bill Young has already passed some important advice?on to his defensive graduate assistants at Oklahoma State.

Where Big 12 assistants have landed as head coaches, assistants

Coach, School, Position/year, New Job

Dana Holgorsen, OSU, OC 2010, West Virginia OC

Kevin Wilson, OU, OC 2010, Indiana head coach

Larry Fedora, OSU, OC 2007, Southern Miss head coach

Kevin Sumlin, OU, COC 2007, Houston head coach

Chuck Long, OU, OC 2005, San Diego State head coach

Mike Gundy, OSU, OC 2004, Oklahoma State head coach

Mark Mangino, OU, OC 2001, Kansas head coach

Mike Leach, OU, OC 1999, Texas Tech head coach

?They need to get in the other room if they ever want to be a head football coach,? Young?tells those coaching hopefuls.

?The other room? is, of course, where the offensive coaches meet. And while Young assures that message is delivered in a semi-joking fashion, the results of recent coaching carousels?seriously support Young's claim.

With the shopping season ? shopping for head coaches, that is ? now underway, there's arguably?no better time to be an offensive?assistant coach or coordinator, with high-powered attacks producing points, energizing fan bases and creating attractive candidates for head coaching gigs.

And the state of Oklahoma has become a popular spot to find one of those offensive minds looking to take the jump.

Since 1999, Oklahoma has had five offensive coordinators ? Kevin Wilson, Kevin Sumlin, Chuck Long, Mark Mangino and Mike Leach ? hired?as head coaches. At OSU, former offensive coordinators Dana Holgorsen, Larry Fedora and Mike Gundy himself?are now head coaches at BCS schools.

And this offseason, current Cowboy offensive coordinator Todd Monken is sure to be a hot candidate after directing an OSU offense that has remained one of the nation's best, despite?losing Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon to the NFL Draft, needing three starting quarterbacks?and a barrage of injuries on that side of the ball.

The motto that defense wins championships is still largely true in college football, as evidenced by the heavy-hitting SEC's six consecutive?BCS national titles. But programs making a coaching change aren't often trying to win a championship, at least immediately. They're trying to?create a buzz among?fans, boosters and recruits, sell tickets and elevate the program from poor or mediocre to good, then maybe great.

That helps explain why 20 of 28 Football Bowl Subdivision hires, including 10 of 14 at BCS schools, following the 2011 season were coaches with an offensive background.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Newsok/Sports/Osu/~3/XrdTNknIIPI/3732806

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Japan fund managers grow equity stakes, but not at home: poll

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese fund managers slightly increased their asset allocations to shares on the prospect of more monetary easing in the developed world and a pickup in Chinese economy, a Reuters poll showed.

At the same time, however, they trimmed their weighting on Japanese shares to seven-month low as they viewed Tokyo shares' strong performance this month as driven by unrealistic hopes of more money-printing in Japan after next month's election.

A survey of 10 Japan-based fund managers, polled between November 15 and 21, also showed they trimmed their overall bond allocation for two months in a row after notching it up to a record high in September.

"Monetary easing in the United States and Europe should help to curtail various downside tail risks. Chinese macroeconomic data is improving and the world's market players now recognize pressure on the Bank of Japan to ease its policy after the election," said a fund manager at a Japanese asset management firm.

"These are all positive factors for stocks. The market should gradually edge higher," he added.

As risk tolerance crept up, allocation to equities reached 42.0 percent from 41.2 percent in October, although it still fell short of last year's 44.4 percent average.

Bond allocations fell for two months in a row to 51.4 percent from 52.2 percent last month and the record high of 53.3 percent in September.

During the survey period, world stock markets rose on upbeat U.S. economic data as well as optimism U.S. lawmakers would clinch a deal to mitigate the "fiscal cliff" -- $600 billion tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in next year.

The U.S. S&P 500 index <.spx> rose almost three percent after hitting a four-month closing low on November 15.

Within their equity portfolios, fund managers raised weighting for U.S. and Canadian shares to 32.9 percent from 31.9 percent last month and cut weighting for Japanese stocks by one percentage point to 32.9 percent from 33.9 percent.

The survey asked respondents if they expected U.S. President Barack Obama and Congress to reach a budget deal by the end of year, and all five managers who answered said they did.

On the other hand, some fund managers were cautious of the rally in Japanese shares sparked by expectations main opposition leader Shinzo Abe will win the December 16 election and increase pressure on the central bank to reverse the country's persistent deflation.

Abe's proposals have included unlimited monetary easing, setting a higher inflation target and a possible review of the law guaranteeing the central bank's independence.

During the survey period, which started just after Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called the election, Japan's Nikkei share average <.n225> rose 6.4 percent. It added another 2.2 percent by last Tuesday to hit a seven-month closing high before retreating on profit-taking.

The yen also weakened about four percent to hit 7 1/2-month low of 82.84 yen to the dollar last week.

"The latest moves in the yen and stocks seem like an excessive reaction. It seems to be driven by foreign investors who are not well-informed on Japan," said Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Life.

"Policies that could cause unexpected moves in long-term bond yields will likely to meet opposition from the Ministry of Finance and are likely to fall through," he said.

(Editing by Eric Meijer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-fund-managers-grow-equity-stakes-not-home-033539407--sector.html

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Video: Frightening crane collapse caught on camera

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49976875/

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Kerosene lamps identified as big source of black carbon

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? The primary source of light for more than a billion people in developing nations is also churning out black carbon at levels previously overlooked in greenhouse gas estimates, according to a new study led by researchers at UC Berkeley and the University of Illinois.

Results from field and lab tests found that 7 to 9 percent of the kerosene in wick lamps -- used for light in 250-300 million households without electricity -- is converted to black carbon when burned. In comparison, only half of 1 percent of the emissions from burning wood is converted to black carbon.

Factoring in the new study results leads to a twenty-fold increase in estimates of black carbon emissions from kerosene-fueled lighting. The previous estimates come from established databases used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others. One kilogram of black carbon, a byproduct of incomplete combustion and an important greenhouse gas, produces as much warming in a month as 700 kilograms of carbon dioxide does over 100 years, the authors said.

"The orange glow in flames comes from black carbon, so the brighter the glow, the more black carbon is being made," said study principal investigator Tami Bond, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "If it's not burned away, it goes into the atmosphere."

The findings, published online this month in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, are coming out at the same time that the United Nations Climate Change Conference kicks off in Doha, Qatar. While officials from around the world are seeking effective policies and guidelines for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the study authors note that the simple act of replacing kerosene lamps could pack a wallop toward that effort.

"There are no magic bullets that will solve all of our greenhouse gas problems, but replacing kerosene lamps is low-hanging fruit, and we don't have many examples of that in the climate world," said study co-author Kirk Smith, professor at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health and director of the Global Health and Environment Program. "There are many inexpensive, cleaner alternatives to kerosene lamps that are available now, and few if any barriers to switching to them."

Smith pointed to lanterns with light-emitting diodes that can be powered by solar cells or even advanced cookstoves that generate electricity from the heat produced. Such technology, said Smith, is already available in developing countries.

The researchers used kerosene lamps purchased in Uganda and Peru and conducted field experiments there to measure the emissions. They repeated the tests in the lab using wicks of varying heights and materials, and kerosene purchased in the United States as well as in Uganda.

The study authors noted that converting to cleaner light sources would not only benefit the planet, it would help improve people's health. A recent epidemiological study in Nepal led by Smith and other researchers at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, for example, found that women who reported use of kerosene lamps in the home had 9.4 times the rate of tuberculosis compared with those who did not use such lamps.

"Getting rid of kerosene lamps may seem like a small, inconsequential step to take, but when considering the collective impact of hundreds of millions of households, it's a simple move that affects the planet," said study lead author Nicholas Lam, a UC Berkeley graduate student in environmental health sciences.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Agency for International Development and Environmental Protection Agency helped support this research.

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Journal Reference:

1. Nicholas Lam, Yanju Chen, Cheryl Weyant, Chandra Venkataraman, Pankaj Sadavarte, Michael Johnson, Kirk R. Smith, Benjamin Brem, Joseph Arineitwe, Justin Ellis, Tami Bond. Household Light Makes Global Heat: High Black Carbon Emissions From Kerosene Wick Lamps. Environmental Science & Technology, 2012; : 121119133048006 DOI: 10.1021/es302697h

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/vsJWMHXt52c/121128183055.htm

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Inside Baylor Sports, May 10, 2009

May 10, 2009 (Baylor Athletics) Now Online ???QuickTime (streaming, 300kbps) ???Windows Media (streaming, 300kbps) About QuickTime Files Some of the clips available for this item make use of Quicktime technology from Apple. This software is free and is available for Windows and Macintosh. For more information, or to download Quicktime, visit http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Note: If you encounter problems with a Quicktime stream, set your Quicktime Preferences > Streaming Transport to use HTTP and port 80. About Windows Media Files Some of the clips available for this item make use of Windows Media technology from Microsoft. This software is free and is available for Windows and Macintosh. For more information, or to download the Windows Media player, go to http://www.microsoft.com/ .

Source: http://www.baylortv.com/video.php?id=1504

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The Biggest Lies Ever Told By Major Advertisers - Business Insider

Advertising doesn't have a reputation for being the most honest profession.

While most people know that banner ads from companies you've never heard of that promise to melt away "20 pounds in a week, no exercise required!" should be taken with a grain of salt, some huge and highly respected brands are also guilty of telling their consumers major lies to make sales.

You'd have to be pretty dumb to believe some of them. Skechers once claimed that by simply putting on a pair of their shoes you'd magically get buns of steel. Others? went so far as to cite fake studies to prove their false selling points.

Here are the 15 biggest offenders.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-lies-ever-told-by-major-advertisers-2012-11

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Groups Plans Boycott of Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade

A group opposed to a proposal to raise rents on residential dock space in Newport Harbor said it is prepared to boycott next month?s 104th annual Christmas Boat Parade there.

Stop the Dock Tax said it represents 1,200 residential dock owners in Newport Harbor, and has reserved advertising space in newspapers throughout Southern California to publicize the boycott of the event.

The boat parade draws visitors from throughout the region during its annual run, and is set for Dec. 19-23 this year.

The threat of a boycott comes as the Newport Beach City Council considers the increase, with a vote that could come as early as Wednesday night.

The city?s proposal would increase the rent for residential docks from a flat $100 annual fee to 52.5 cents per square foot. The change could add anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars in annual costs for homeowners with dock space owned by the city.

?The residential docks are attached to the homes that rim Newport Harbor,? Stop the Dock Tax said in a press release. ?Each year we voluntarily spend thousands of dollars to lavishly decorate our homes and boats in the holiday tradition. It is reported that one million people view the annual Christmas Boat Parade.?

Properties on private waterways or county tidelands would be exempt from the increase.

The increases for city-owned docks would be phased in through 2015.

?This is an unnecessary money grab and we can?t take it anymore, said Stop the Dock Tax Chairman Bob McCaffrey. ?The money we use to decorate our homes will have to be used to pay the new tax.?

The proposal to raise rents on residential docks follows a similar move on commercial marinas in Newport Harbor.

Source: http://ocbj.com/news/2012/nov/27/groups-plans-boycott-newport-harbor-christmas-boat/

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Milestone along the way to CO2-free power plants

ScienceDaily (Nov. 27, 2012) ? A new method for capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted by power plants could reduce their CO₂ emissions by more than 90%, while utilizing less energy and incurring less expense than former approaches. The TU Darmstadt, which operates one of the world's largest pilot systems for capturing CO₂, has been investigating the "carbonate-looping" method for the past four years, with success. Yet another major benefit of the method is that it may be retrofitted to existing power plants.

Large quantities of the greenhouse gas CO₂ are generated during the combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas. A key technology for arriving at lower-emission, more environmentally friendly, power plants is thus carbon capture and utilization (CCU) applied to fossil fired power-plants. CCU could allow reducing CO₂?emissions arising from employing fossil fuels for generating electricity and various other purposes by industry to a minimum and thereby significantly contribute to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. However, previous approaches to CO₂?capture required high energy inputs and operating costs, which reduced their efficiency and hindered their acceptance.

Limestone binds the CO₂ contained in power-plant flue gases

The TU Darmstadt's Institute for Energy Systems and Technology has been conducting pilot-scale investigations of various innovative methods for CO₂?capture. Means are being developed for virtually totally avoiding CO₂?emissions, while keeping energy inputs and operating costs extremely low. In conjunction with that work, the "carbonate-looping" method has emerged as a particularly promising approach that the Darmstadt researchers have meanwhile studied for more than 1,000 operational hours. The carbonate-looping method involves initially employing naturally occurring limestone for binding CO₂ contained in power-plant flue gases in a first-stage reactor. The now pure CO₂ is then reliberated in a second-stage reactor and may subsequently be further processed or stored.

The TU Darmstadt's pilot-scale research system proved capable of capturing more than 90% of the CO₂ emitted, while reducing both the energy input and operating costs formerly required for CO₂?capture by more than 50%. Yet another benefit of the "carbonate-looping" method is that it may be retrofitted to existing power plants. Institute Director Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Epple, who, along with his staff of more than thirty coworkers, have been investigating the method, remarked that, "This method represents a milestone along the way to CO₂?free power plants and will allow coal-fired, natural-gas-fired, waste-derived-fuel-fired, and biomass-fired, power plants to reliably, cost-effectively, generate electricity and heat, without burdening the environment."

Suitability for utilization on full-scale systems

Since various investigations and simulations conducted in parallel have indicated that the method would be suitable for utilization on full-scale systems, the experience gained by the TU Darmstadt group is currently being applied to a system that has been scaled up by a factor of twenty. The aim of that project, which is being supported by the German Federal Economics Ministry and various industrial associates, is planning such a scaled-up system for installation on an existing, German, power plant. However, which power plant will be involved remains to be decided.

The investigations of the "carbonate-looping" method have been supported to date by grants totaling more than five million Euros from the German Federal Economics Ministry and various industrial associates. Another project that is supported by grants totaling 1.5 million Euros from the European Union and industry is aimed at further improving the method's energetic efficiency.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/eOGPycfNfqg/121127094001.htm

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The Social Commerce Attribution Problem: IBM Says Twitter Referred 0% Of Black Friday Traffic

There?s a huge problem with social commerce attribution. Twitter and Facebook usually aren't the last click before an ecommerce buy, but that doesn't mean they didn't inspire or influence the purchase. Yet IBM's Black Friday report says Twitter delivered 0% of referral traffic and Facebook sent just 0.68%. To lure advertisers and ecommerce integrations, they have to show its not Google driving every sale.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/YoVIN5-XMPw/

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SMTP Inc.: A High Growth Email Marketing Company - Seeking Alpha

Disclosure: I am long SMTP.OB. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

At Spruce Point Capital Management, we were recently screening for attractive microcaps with relatively low risk business models, experiencing above market growth, having solid, debt-free balance sheets offering downside protection, high insider ownership, and potential catalysts that could result in significant upside potential. The one company that fit our criteria perfectly is SMTP, Inc. We believe the investment opportunity offers an attractive risk/reward, and we recently became a shareholder.

SMTP (SMTP.OB) is a provider of cloud-based services to facilitate email deliverability that includes bulk and transactional sending, reputation management, compliance auditing, abuse processing and issue resolution. The services provide customers with the ability to increase the deliverability of email with less time, cost and complexity than handling it themselves.

Key Investment Highlights for Potential Investors to Consider are the Following:

Large and Growing Market Opportunity

• The annual U.S. market spend by large and small enterprises is estimated by Forrester Research to be $1.5 billion (growing 12% p.a.) for trusted email marketing solutions that reduce the time, cost, and complexity of managing mass mail campaigns.
• Equally as important are solutions which ensure that emails are received by intended recipients (reducing bounce rates), have value-added analytics, and comply with increasingly stringent regulatory requirements.
• Because the market is large and growing, and the needs of large enterprises differ from smaller businesses, the competition is broad and fragmented with no single dominant solution provider offering solutions to every possible segment. This allows SMTP to focus on a small slice of the market, which involves mission-critical delivery services.

Attractive Business and Financial Profile

• SMTP has a diversified client base of over 8,500 clients. Owning the SMTP.com domain name has been a valuable asset -- the client base has grown organically, with 80% of customers reaching them directly through internet searches. This reduces customer acquisition costs from more expensive third party referrals.
• With an experienced management team and laser focus on growing the business, revenues have jumped from just $0.8 million in FY 2008 to $5.2 million as of LTM 9/30/12 - representing a 16.8% CAGR.
• Given the company's simple, SaaS-like model, Gross and EBITDA margins are 77% and 35%, respectively as of LTM 9/30/12. The company's high EBITDA margins are a function of their extreme focus on cost discipline, while retaining a small entrepreneurial environment. Management is based in Cambridge, MA but SMTP has 25 - 35 contractors in the Ukraine that handle technical support, engineering, R&D, and other administrative functions.
• The company is extremely capital efficient and has generated $900,000 of net income on average equity of just $850,000 in the last twelve months. This translates into a Return on Equity of 106%.
• For above average industry growth, the valuation is cheap at just 12.8x and 7.1x 2013E EPS and EBITDA.

Shareholder Friendly Policies and Strong Insider Ownership

• The impressive management team includes Chairman/CEO Semyon Dukach as the largest shareholder. He's an MIT graduate, a proven entrepreneur, and member of the world famous MIT Blackjack team. Insiders and founders own a majority of the shares, which provides a strong alignment of interests with shareholders.
• The company has historically been shareholder friendly, and has decided its main use of excess cash flow will go toward paying shareholders dividends. In April 2012, the company announced a $1.4m special dividend and initiated a quarterly dividend policy.
• With business continuing to be strong, at the end of October, SMTP announced a 20% dividend increase to 1.8 cents per quarter or 7.2 cents per year. Assuming a share price of $1.15, current investors are receiving an attractive 6.3% dividend yield (425bps more than a 10yr treasury).

Potential Takeover Target Offering Upside

• On October 31st, SMTP announced it had retained Bowen Advisors as its investment bank to pursue strategic alternatives for maximizing shareholder value. We believe this sends a strong signaling effect that the Board believes the shares are materially undervalued, and is willing to entertain higher offers.
• A recent flurry of transactions in the email marketing and solutions space show the strategic value large corporations are placing on email and marketing tools to drive customer awareness and engagement. Recent acquirers include Google (GOOG), Twitter, Rackspace (RAX), ExactTarget (ET), OpenText (OTEX), IBM (IBM), Vocus (VOCS) and the Hearst Corp.
• A broad range of potential acquirers should increase the chances that SMTP is sold at an attractive premium; meanwhile, shareholders are paid to wait with a generous dividend yield.

SMTP's Value Proposition and Differentiation Points

SMTP provides services to enable small, medium and large businesses to outsource the sending of outbound emails. Senders of email use their services to help maintain their online email reputation so that their email is not blocked and is delivered to the intended recipients. The services are differentiated by level of computer, software and customer support resources provided, which is largely based on the volume of emails sent by customers:

• Business solution services are for small business users that send low volumes on an infrequent basis. These customers typically send between 500 and 200,000 emails each month and pay between $2 and $200 per month in fees (~90% of customers).
• Corporate solutions are for larger businesses requiring dedicated computer and software systems with advanced features, proactive reputation management and phone support. Their high volume corporate customers receive more powerful computer and software systems, high speed Internet connectivity, advanced email management features, 24/7 event monitoring and the highest levels of customer support. Corporate customers typically send from 200,000 to many millions of emails each month and pay between $200 and $10,000 per month. The average customer in this segment pays ~$450 per month (5% of total customers).
• High volume-dedicated solutions are for customers sending over 1m emails per month. The average paying customer in this segment will spend $1,000 - $5,000 per month and receives the highest level of counseling, support, and technology services (estimated <5% of customers).

SMTP's solution delivers both a technical and customer service aspect. From the technical side, emails outsourced to SMTP go through "reputable" IP addresses to ensure delivery to the inbox and monitor delivery issues. SMTP actively educates clients on how to maintain proper email lists and how to send emails, while working with ISPs and email providers to address resolutions to non-delivery issues.

Competition is Intense but Fragmented

SMTP faces competition from three principal categories 1) in-house, do-it-yourself operators, 2) integrated solutions from email marketing companies and, 3) direct competition from infrastructure providers. Integrated solutions companies range from companies like ConstantContact (CTCT), ExactTarget (ET), MailChimp, and VerticalResponse. These are mostly one size fits all models, and have all customers on one IP address. For enterprise customers with large needs, even Amazon (AMZN) has entered the market with their "Simple Email Service" which allows customers to leverage their infrastructure at low cost, but with limited service, support, or add-on features. SendGrid.com is another example of an infrastructure provider. Some of SMTP's closer competitors are AuthSmtp.com, SMTP2Go.com, TurboSMTP.com, SocketLabs.com, and iContact.com.

(click to enlarge)

SMTP is Focused on Low Risk, Profitable Growth, and Will Reward Patient Shareholders

With an experienced management team and laser focus on growing the business, revenues have jumped from just $1.5 million in FY 2009 to $5.2 million as of LTM 9/30/12. All of the growth has been organic, and primarily from inbound lead generation. Given the company's simple, SaaS-like model, Gross and EBITDA margins are 77% and 35%, respectively as of LTM 9/30/12. The company's high EBITDA margins are a function of their extreme focus on cost discipline, while retaining a small entrepreneurial environment. SMTP has 25 - 35 contractors in the Ukraine that handle technical support, engineering, R&D, and other administrative functions. The core management team is based in Cambridge, MA.

The company is extremely capital efficient and has generated $900,000 of net income on average equity of $850,000 in the last twelve months. This translates into a Return on Equity of 106%. Free cash flow per share has historically approximated earnings per share. The company is managed in a conservative manner, and the management has articulated that they will not pursue acquisitions or unprofitable growth opportunities. Instead, the company will return excess cash to shareholders through regular and special dividends. Shareholders are currently being rewarded with a 6.3% dividend yield, while the business continues to grow organically, and the strategic evaluation occurs.

(click to enlarge)

M&A Activity is Robust in the Marketing Services Space and Offers Upside Potential

In October 2012, SMTP announced that it retained Bowen Advisors to help it evaluate strategic alternatives for maximizing shareholder value. We believe this is a strong signal from the management and its Board that they believe their share price to be undervalued. It is easy to understand why this would be the case with the torrid pace of M&A activity in their markets, and modest valuation they are currently receiving. In addition to the various direct and adjacent competitors we discussed earlier that would be interested in evaluating SMTP as a target, there are a variety of other companies that have been acquisitive in the email marketing space. In just the past few months, Twitter acquired RestEngine, Rackspace acquired Mailgun, and Vocus acquired iContact. We believe these deals underscore the priority that companies are placing in using email services to connect and engage with customers in an increasingly competitive and slowing growth business environment. The table below summarizes recent transactions in the email marketing software and services sector.

(click to enlarge)

Current Valuation Leaves Room for Appreciation Even Without a Strategic Transaction

While there is no exact comparable company to SMTP, we have benchmarked their valuation against a broad range of marketing and digital software service companies such as Valueclick (VCLK) and Acxiom (ACXM), although closer comparables are likely ExactTarget, J2 Global (JCOM), ConstantContact (CTCT), Responsys (MKTG), ReachLocal (RLOC), and Zix Corp (ZIXI). In the table below, we have provided a full valuation comparison.

(click to enlarge)

The key financial metrics and valuation comparison are best illustrated in the charts below. As can be seen, SMTP has above average margins and growth, yet trades at a valuation discount to peers, primarily as a result of its microcap discount and limited awareness of its investment merits and opportunities.

(click to enlarge)

Key Risk Factors to Consider

As a small company and microcap, there are numerous risks that investors should consider when evaluating SMTP. We've listed a few possible concerns, but for a complete list, potential investors should read the company's Risk Factor section in SMTP's annual report.

? Technology risk: As a technology company, the market for their services is competitive and rapidly changing, and has low barriers to entry. New technologies and new entrants to the market, could increase competition and harm their ability to increase sales, through lower customer additions, or lower product pricing.

? Contract risk: Customer contracts are short-term in nature (1 month to 1 year). The company must continually renew existing customers, and attract new ones to continue its historical growth.

? Search engine risk: SMTP relies heavily on search engines to attract customers, so changes in search algorithms and advertising prices could increase their costs and/or reduce their customer growth rate going forward.

? Shareholder concentration and microcap illiquidity: A majority of SMTP's shares are held by its Board and management team. Potential investors must get comfortable owning the company through periods of reduced liquidity, and comfortable with the management team that exercises control over the company's strategy.

Summary

For investors that can get comfortable owning shares in a small technology company in a large and fragmented industry, we believe that SMTP represents an attractive/risk reward at the current share price. The company's email marketing and delivery solutions address a large and fundamentally growing need for organizations to effectively deliver their email needs, at a cost-effective price, with minimal bounce rates. SMTP's base of over 8,500 customers, extremely low cost structure, and debt-free balance sheet help to mitigate some business and financial risk. Furthermore, investors are currently being rewarded with an attractive 6.3% dividend yield. At the current share price, the company is valued modestly at just 2.5x, 12.8x, and 7.1x 2013E sales, EPS and EBITDA, respectively. Our research suggests that M&A activity is accelerating in the email marketing solutions sector, with a broad range of large and small companies scrambling to broaden their offerings to customers. As a result, we believe SMTP could be attractive to a number of acquirers, and that investors are currently receiving a free call option on a value-enhancing transaction.

Disclaimer

Use of the research produced by Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC is at your own risk. The author of this report holds a long position in the security of SMTP, Inc. that will benefit from a rise in the price of the common stock. Following publication of the report, the author (including members, partners, affiliates, employees, consultants, or other shareholders) may transact in the securities of the companies covered herein. The author of this report has obtained all information contained herein from sources believed to be accurate and reliable and has included references where available and practical. However, such information is presented "as is," without warranty of any kind- whether express or implied. The author of this report makes no representation, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any such information or with regard to the results to be obtained from its use. Forward looking statement and projections are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and involve many risks (known and unknown) that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice, and the author does not undertake to update or supplement this report or any of the information contained herein. Spruce Point Capital Management, LLC has not accepted compensation from SMTP, Inc. to produce this report, is not a broker/dealer or financial advisor and nothing contained herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment or security mentioned in this report. You should do your own research and due diligence before making any investment decision with respect to securities covered herein, including, but not limited to, the suitability of any transaction to your risk tolerance and investment objectives and consult your own tax, financial and legal experts as warranted

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1026821-smtp-inc-a-high-growth-email-marketing-company-with-an-attractive-dividend-and-takeover-potential?source=feed

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