Apple loses another copyright lawsuit in China: Xinhua

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese court has fined Apple Inc 1 million yuan ($160,400) for hosting third-party applications on its App Store that were selling pirated electronic books, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

Apple is to pay compensation to eight Chinese writers and two companies for violating their copyrights, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court ruled on Thursday, Xinhua said.

Earlier in the year, a group of Chinese authors filed the suit against Apple, saying an unidentified number of apps on its App Store sold unlicensed copies of their books. The group of eight authors was seeking 10 million yuan in damages.

"We are disappointed at the judgment. Some of our best-selling authors only got 7,000 yuan. The judgment is a signal of encouraging piracy," Bei Zhicheng, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters.

Apple said in a statement that it takes copyright infringement complaints "very seriously".

"We're always updating our service to better assist content owners in protecting their rights," Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu said.

China has the world's largest Internet and mobile market by number of users, but piracy costs software companies billions of dollars each year.

Apple, whose products enjoy great popularity in China, has faced a string of legal headaches this year. In July, Apple paid 60 million yuan to a Chinese firm, Proview Technology, to settle a long-running lawsuit over the iPad trademark in China.

($1 = 6.2360 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom and Melanie Lee; Editing by Kazunori Takada and Matt Driskill)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apple-loses-another-copyright-lawsuit-china-xinhua-093548443--finance.html

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How Much Money Can You Make With A Manufactured Home ...

An article I wrote recently, telling the story of my first manufactured home community that I purchased for $400,000 and sold around ten years later for $1,525,000, raised the ire of a self-styled industry ?guru? who contended that such amounts cannot be made with a manufactured home community. Of course, a community we closed on a few weeks ago in Kentucky showed an appraised value of over $1,000,000 more than we paid? so it doesn?t seem that unique to us. But it does raise the question of how much money you can realistically expect to make with a manufactured home community.

How much money do you want to make?

People have different goals. Some people are only concerned with trying to get a higher return on their cash, which is currently getting 1% in a CD. Others are trying to create substantial wealth, far beyond a simple return on their down-payment. It?s a free country, so there?s no law on what you have to make from a manufactured home community purchase.

What you make is totally based on what you buy.

If you are buying communities at 7% cap rates which are 100% occupied, with no room for pushing rents or sub-metering utilities, then it is unlikely that you will create much value other than a 10% or so cash-on-cash return. You?ll run the park for a while, maybe make a small rent increase over time, but you?ll probably sell it back for that same 7% cap rate years later, and have a very small amount of profit going to you at closing. On the other hand, if you buy manufactured home communities at a 10% cap rate, and with significant room to push rents, bill-back utilities and fill lots, and then, after successfully putting all those factors into motion, sell that now 18% cap rate purchase for a 9% cap rate, you will have created a huge amount of value, which you will receive as a cashier?s check at closing. That?s one way that you can create $1 million of value with a manufactured home community.

Don?t forget about buying $1 for 50 cents.

Sometimes you can buy a manufactured home community on the front end, that?s already running well, for less than it?s worth. This is normally a result of a seller who has failed to perform proper accounting on his property, including expensing items that should be capitalized, or not collecting the rent because they are too friendly with their tenants.

Benjamin Franklin summed it up.

Benjamin Franklin once said ?diligence is the mother of good luck?. What I think he meant is that your success or failure is based on how you buy the property on the front end. If your goal is to create a significant amount of capital by buying a property that has great numbers going in, with the possibility of even better performance over time, then you can make a lot of money with a manufactured home community. If, however, you buy a community with lousy numbers and no possibility of improvement, then you will make no money? or even lose your money.

But this is not a ?get rich quick scheme?.

Buying and operating manufactured home communities is far from a ?get rich quick scheme?. But that does not mean it?s not a ?get rich scheme?. The only reason to get involved in this industry is to make money? it?s not a sexy business that sounds good at a cocktail party, nor is it really that much fun. But I think it?s safe to say it?s never a ?quick? business. Holding and operating a community for 5 to 10 years is anything but ?quick?.

As the industry becomes more professional, the opportunities will diminish.

Of course, one of the reasons that there is so much money to be made in the manufactured home community business is that the industry is dominated by moms and pops, who are not the most sophisticated sellers. There are roughly 50,000 manufactured home communities in the U.S., and the majority of these are owned by the original founders or folks who have had them for decades. There are hardly any new communities being built, so this supply is static. As professional investors buy out these moms and pops, the profitability of manufactured home communities? based on going-in cap rates and potential income growth will decrease. This means that there is some sense of urgency, and it is not a given that opportunities will always be as ripe as they are now.

There are two types of business models in this industry.

There are public companies that prefer to buy ?finished? goods that are stable but have a lower return, and others who seek out ?turnaround? opportunities that are non-stabilized, and offer higher returns for those who take the time, effort and risk to stabilize them. There is no reason that these two business models cannot happily co-exist. And also no reason that the lower returns of the one niche should apply to the other. The industry ?guru? who believes that it is impossible to make significant money in this business has been hanging around with the guys at the public companies for too long.

Conclusion

I am proud to make significant returns with manufactured home communities. I firmly believe that there is still plenty of opportunity in this industry. Those who think otherwise either don?t really know what they?re talking about, or don?t have what it takes to be a successful community owner.

Source: http://www.reiclub.com/realestateblog/how-much-money-can-you-make-with-a-manufactured-home-community/

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Around the Web?

TGIF! Give the last links of 2012 a read: Some parents banning toy guns at home after Newtown tragedy ? Parenting.com Russia bans adoption of its children by American citizens ? The New York Times RECALL: Nap Nanny recliners no longer sold at four major retailers ? TheBump.com Hospitals struggle to treat babies born with [...]

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/YUF_PALfmqA/

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Family quiet on condition of George H.W. Bush

FILE - In a Tuesday, June 12, 2012 file photo, former President George H.W. Bush, and his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush, arrive for the premiere of HBO's new documentary on his life near the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said Wednesday, Dec. 26. 2012 that doctors at the Houston hospital where Bush has been treated for a month remain ?cautiously optimistic? that he will recover. Still, no discharge date has been set, and McGrath says that doctors are being cautious because at Bush?s age ?sometimes issues crop up that are beyond anybody?s ability to discern or foretell.?(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

FILE - In a Tuesday, June 12, 2012 file photo, former President George H.W. Bush, and his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush, arrive for the premiere of HBO's new documentary on his life near the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said Wednesday, Dec. 26. 2012 that doctors at the Houston hospital where Bush has been treated for a month remain ?cautiously optimistic? that he will recover. Still, no discharge date has been set, and McGrath says that doctors are being cautious because at Bush?s age ?sometimes issues crop up that are beyond anybody?s ability to discern or foretell.?(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

HOUSTON (AP) ? Former President George H.W. Bush is unlikely to leave the Houston hospital where he's being cared for anytime soon but would tell well-wishers to "put the harps back in the closet," a longtime aide said.

Jean Becker said in a statement Thursday evening that the 88-year-old, who has been hospitalized for longer than a month, is receiving excellent care after a "terrible case of bronchitis which then triggered a series of complications."

Bush, the oldest living former president, has been in intensive care since Sunday. He was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Houston on Nov. 23 for treatment of what his spokesman Jim McGrath described as a "stubborn" cough. He had spent about a week there earlier in November for treatment of the same condition.

McGrath and a hospital spokesman did not provide any new information on the president's health Friday morning. McGrath said previously that only changes in Bush's condition would prompt updates about his health.

Becker, Bush's longtime Houston chief of staff, said "most of the civilized world" contacted her Wednesday after word spread that Bush had been placed in intensive care unit when physicians were having difficulty bringing a fever under control.

"Someday President George H.W. Bush might realize how beloved he is, but of course one of the reasons why he is so beloved is because he has no idea," Becker said in the at-times lighthearted statement that made multiple references to jokes and the former president's sense of humor.

She said updates about Bush's condition have been limited "out of respect for President Bush and the Bush family who, like most of us, prefer to deal with health issues in privacy." She said another factor was "because he is so beloved we knew everyone would overreact."

"I hope you all know how much your love, concern and support are appreciated," Becker said.

While the president's treatment was "unequaled anywhere," she said prayers also were needed and welcomed.

"I am thinking heaven has not seen such a barrage of prayer intentions since 'It's a Wonderful Life,'" she said, referring to the classic Christmas movie.

It was hoped Bush would be well enough to spend Christmas at home. But while his cough eased, he developed a persistent fever and his condition was downgraded to "guarded."

The former president has had visits from family and friends, including longtime friend James Baker III, his former Secretary of State. Bush's daughter, Dorothy, arrived Wednesday from her home in Bethesda, Md. Other visitors have included his sons George W. Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor.

Bush and his wife, Barbara, live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at a home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Bush, the 41st president, had served two terms as Ronald Reagan's vice president when he was elected in 1988 to succeed Reagan. Four years later, after a term highlighted by the success of the 1991 Gulf War in Kuwait, he lost to Democrat Bill Clinton amid voters' concerns about the economy.

Bush was a naval aviator in World War II ? at one point the youngest in the Navy ? and was shot down over the Pacific. He's skydived on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House, most recently when he turned 85.

He left New England for an oil business job in West Texas in 1948. He's also been a Republican congressman from Texas, U.S. ambassador to China and CIA director.

Bush suffers from a form of Parkinson's disease that forced him in recent years to use a motorized scooter or wheelchair for mobility.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-28-Bush%20Hospitalized/id-6f86a779afde44a891ad59b101a239ff

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Video: Weekend storm to hit Northeast

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50307731/

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Pets rescued from burning Woodbury house | Woodbury Bulletin ...

• PHOTO: House fire

This home on Timberlea Drive caught fire Sunday, Dec. 23, in Woodbury.

Firefighters were able to save a portion of a house and two pets in a Sunday blaze on Timberlea Drive.

Crews responded at 2:20 p.m. to 2526 Timberlea Drive, where a passerby spotted smoke and flames near the home?s front door.

Woodbury Fire Department Cmdr. John Wallgren said the fire had spread to an attached garage and up into the home?s rafters after running through the eaves.

?They did a quick exterior offensive attack,? he said. ?That?s something that we actually put emphasis on in our training this year. Our training?s paying off.?

The two residents of the house were not home at the time of the blaze. Wallgren said no firefighters ? which included crews from Cottage Grove and Oakdale ? were injured during the fire.

The fire appeared to be accidental, Wallgren said, though the cause remained under investigation. He said investigators narrowed the origin of the fire to an area near the front door where planters contained Christmas decorations.

Tags: public safety,?news,?accidents,?woodbury

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UK Milk Supply Contains New MRSA Strain

Tests on milk from several different farms across the U.K. have turned up evidence for a new strain of MRSA ? bacteria which have evolved resistance to common antibiotics. As long as the milk is properly pasteurized, it poses no threat to consumers, but anyone working directly with the animals bears a small risk of infection. According to The Independent,
"The disclosure comes amid growing concern over the use of modern antibiotics on British farms, driven by price pressure imposed by the big supermarket chains. Intensive farming with thousands of animals raised in cramped conditions means infections spread faster and the need for antibiotics is consequently greater. Three classes of antibiotics rated as 'critically important to human medicine' by the World Health Organization ? cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones and macrolides ? have increased in use in the animal population by eightfold in the last decade."

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/C-T_D1XlRE8/story01.htm

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