Insert Catchy Title Here

The Early Disappointments of 11-12: First Round Edition

2012-01-19T21:58:00.000-05:00

Dwayne Wade: A consensus top 5 pick, Wade has missed 4 games and underperformed the rest of the time. Through 9 games he's shooting .439 from the field (versus last year's 50% and a career clip of .484), with no 3s, fewer boards (4.3 vs. 6.4) and obviously less point production (19.6 vs. 25.5 a year ago). It's still early and there's hope that Wade can shake his injuries ... but it's a reminder that FNBA success is about every player on your roster, not just your first round pick.

Dwight Howard: No one is going to complain about 20.1 ppg or 15.6 rebounds ... or a .587 FG% with 2.4 blocks per game. This is the Dwight we've come to know and love. However, Dwight's traditionally atrocious free throw shooting (career .594) has reached a whole new level this year (.450 with 11.4 attempts a game, ouch!). It's tough to punt a category and win a league. I've owned Dwight during those 59% seasons (remarkably he's finished between .586 and .596 during his last six seasons -- he's been reliably bad) and could still luck into 3 points with a team free throw percentage around 76%. But there's no hope of that if he's shooting 45% from the line.

Dirk Nowitzki: The champion Mavericks looked old and slow out of the gate and Nowitzki was no exception. But there are some other factors at work in the severe stat deflation. Nowitzki only played 42 minutes total in two blowout wins over the Kings and Bucks (back to back). Similarly, he only played a combined 50 minutes in blowout losses to the Nuggets (game two) and Spurs (game eight). He's only averaging 30:23 this season after averaging 34:17 in playing time a year ago. Coincidentally, that was the first season that he had averaged under 36 minutes since 1999-2000. At age 33, Nowitzki is unlikely to log as much time as he did earlier in his career (36-37 minutes) but 30 minutes still strikes me as a tad low (dictated moreso by lopsided games than a Carlisle plan to rest Dirk even more). The more concerning aspects of Nowitzki's performance are his early FG% (.458, down from a career high .517 in 10-11), lack of 3s (0.5 on 25% shooting vs. .379 career) and rebounds (5.5 vs. 7.0 a year ago). The scoring should rise (17.9 ppg vs. 23.0 a year ago) as the minutes and percentages rise but temper expectations; 21 ppg might be as good as it gets in a share the wealth Dallas offense with a coach who still wants to save his star for the playoffs.

Russell Westbrook: Nothing too concerning ... this merely boils down to low assists figures (5.5 vs. 8.2 a year ago) and slightly less scoring (20.5 vs. 21.9). He could be back in the top 20 by next week.

Deron Williams: .372 on 15.6 attempts per game ... maybe last year's brief Net stint (.349 in 12 games) was a sign of things to come. Not having Brook Lopez (due back in 2-4 weeks) certainly hurts but Williams has always been a turnover prone player (3.1 career) and has shown no signs of letting up (4.3 per game this year).

Bighorn Sheep Photo Collection

2012-01-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

Makeover fit for a queen: Field exhibit puts a face on Cleopatra myth

2012-01-05T09:22:00.001-05:00

Makeover fit for a queen

Field exhibit puts a face on Cleopatra myth

August 12, 2001

By Jeff Meredith, Tribune staff reporter.

To the victor go the spoils -- and also the positive public-relations spin. But Cleopatra, a victim of thousands of years of hyperbole, hype and Hollywood distortion, is finally getting an image makeover. "Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth," an exhibit coming to the Field Museum, attempts to examine the legends surrounding the queen and shed light on the real woman behind the rumors, innuendoes and flashy biopics.

The exhibition, which has been seen in Rome and London and opens at the Field on Oct. 20, is no small undertaking. Field Museum senior coordinator of temporary exhibitions David Foster notes that one would have to travel the globe to see the hundreds of items on display, which come from prestigious collections in Alexandria, Cairo, the Vatican, St. Petersburg and New York, among other places.

"The content of the exhibition is irreplaceable antiquities . . . from major collections," Foster says. "In the case of the Egyptian museums, this is their cultural patrimony, so it's very special to be able to see this material in Chicago," the show's only North American stop.

Yet the goal of the show is not just to collect as much Cleo loot as possible, but to sort through the distortions that have beset her legacy. Through the years, she has been seen as everything from a skilled political leader to a brazen seductress; if you've only seen movies about her, you probably think she's just an attractive but opportunistic manipulator. To help educate museumgoers about Cleopatra's real deeds and achievements and examine the mythmaking and half-truths that have surrounded her life, the Field has added new elements to the show -- aspects that weren't part of its stops in Rome and London.

Context is everything

"The way the exhibition was presented in Rome and Britain [was] art for art's sake. They didn't really add a lot . . . about her life," Foster says. While keeping the main elements of the show, he explains, "we've enveloped it in an interpretative context."

The British Museum, for example, housed all the exhibit's objects in one large room, but the Field version of the show will consist of eight rooms. The first room is devoted to the Ptolemaic Dynasty (332-30 B.C.), which ended with Cleopatra and Mark Antony's defeat at Actium.

"The exhibition really begins 300 years before her birth with Alexander the Great," Foster says. "She has a place in the chronology, but it begins long before her . . . the first room you enter, in fact, is all about her ancestors, so you essentially get her genealogy."

The religious and cultural aspects of Egypt's historic capital Alexandria, where Cleopatra was born, and Egyptian and Greek representations of Cleopatra and her court, can be seen in other rooms. The oft-sensationalized love affairs of Cleopatra with Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Mark Antony also receive their due, as do her influence on the art and culture of the Rome of her day.

The examination of the role that Hollywood has played in shaping the queen's image is perhaps the Field's biggest contribution. The museum will display a dress worn by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 production of "Cleopatra," as well as photographs and film clips of famous actresses who've played the queen, including Tallulah Bankhead, Claudette Colbert, Vivien Leigh, Sophia Loren and Katharine Hepburn.

Checking the details

The film footage doesn't end with Hollywood, however -- in six rooms of the exhibit, video montages projected on the walls will attempt to "put you in the picture," Foster says. The montages will display many different images of Cleopatra, as well as various historic locations relevant to her history. The goal is to deliver the information on multiple levels.

"A person could not read a single label, be immersed in the video and almost by osmosis get the message," Foster says.

But to collect and check all the information it presents to visitors, the Field Museum couldn't just send its staff to a library. Egyptologist Robert Ritner, who works at Chicago's Oriental Institute, has acted as the first filter for the content of all the displays win the show.

Ritner and the Oriental Institute have collaborated with the Field Museum since February 2000, with Ritner and several others helping revise 300 labels from the British exhibition for a Chicago audience, which should provide visitors with a broad historical perspective about the queen. Even signs in the museum gift shop were checked for accuracy.

"I was called upon to review hieroglyphic texts to be used as decoration in the museum shop," writes Ritner in a recent Oriental Institute newsletter. "Unfortunately, one of the selected pieces proved to be the Egyptian titles of her enemy [Roman politician] Octavian, adopted after his conquest of Egypt. A selection of Cleopatra's own titles was quickly substituted. She has suffered quite enough from that man; he will have to get his own gift shop."

Bad-girl image

Ritner recognizes that Cleopatra's savvy as a leader, a result of upbringing, has often gone unrecognized.

"She had seen sisters attempt to dethrone her father . . . she was never a babe in the woods politically," Ritner says. "She had been expelled from her kingdom by the plotting of her younger brother's advisers."

Ritner says Cleopatra is often seen as "sort of latter-day Helen of Troy who draws strong men to their death."

"The classic Roman understanding of Cleopatra was that she took the virile warrior [Mark] Antony and converted him into a helpless lapdog," Ritner says.

The works of 14th Century Italian writer Boccaccio, as well as Dante's "Inferno" (where Cleopatra is condemned to hell) have perpetuated the image of Cleopatra as an evil, promiscuous woman. But that doesn't stand up to close examination, Ritner says. Her only crime may have been possessing a lousy family background.

"She was the last member of a particularly fascinating dynasty that was looked upon by the Romans as scandalous," Ritner says. "The same Romans who themselves produced [many infamous] scandals thought of the Ptolemys as far, far worse."

Putting it all together

Showing all of Cleopatra's fascinating qualities -- her political tact, her command of nine languages and, of course, her legendary beauty -- is not the only challenge the Field Museum is tackling.

The process of shipping all of the exhibit's artifacts to Chicago is a complicated, difficult process. For example, Foster says that Italian institutions often have a strict limits -- one year at the most -- on objects they loan out.

"It's immensely complicated and it's not over," says Foster of working out the exhibit's final details. "There are a lot of planning and logistical issues that impact us."

Another challenge has been setting up an impressive series of events and lectures, at the Field and the Oriental Institute, to complement the exhibition. Lectures, classes and a free documentary film series are part of the campaign to educate the public about the legendary queen.

"We always add [programs like these] so that we provide some meaningful frame of reference for our visitors," says Foster.

Winter in Arches National Park

2012-01-04T14:02:00.001-05:00

E-Security Grows Despite Recession

2012-01-04T13:47:00.001-05:00

I-Street

February 2002

By Jeff Meredith

In an economy producing its fair share of disgruntled employees - and former employees - e-security has become a recession proof industry. And as 2002 gets underway, the importance of e-security issues is resonating with CFOs who had in the past failed to see the need for strong investment.

"It is more preventative with Code Red and some of the other viruses that have plagued the IT business in the last year," said Heath Pow, an account executive responsible for network security at Subject, Wills & Company, an Oak Brook-based e-security company. "Some of the things that happened with 9/11 have played on the psyche of business."

A 20-year old company with roots in application development and system engineering, Subject, Wills & Co. started to diversify over the last few years, spinning off a security practice with a service called NetSecure. Vulnerability assessments are done for clients so that they can create a holistic security policy; Subjects, Wills & Co. then monitors how they're holding up.

Pow anticipates a 200 percent growth rate this year, saying they've spent the last two or three years evangelizing the need for security and now companies are seeing the logic of it.

Peter Tapling, CEO of Authentify, a Chicago-based provider of online authentication tools, expects all areas of IT spending to improve in 2002, not just security. He believes 2001 carried a spending hangover from earlier years of buildup. "People had purchased so much technology that they weren't using," said Tapling, adding that things are now changing.

Tapling said internal sabotage is the biggest threat to companies' e-security. "Insider fraud is always worse in a down economy. There are layoffs, the opportunity for an employee to become disgruntled is that much greater. All organizations need to put in place internal security mechanisms so access to certain computers requires two people. Passwords need to be regularly reset."

Brandon Friedman, a director for the risk consulting company Kroll, has experience with computer forensics and notes that investigators should have their hands full when employees leave the company.

"As those employees leave, companies are concerned their intellectual property and trade secrets become compromised," said Friedman. "A company may be filing for bankruptcy and employees recognize the company is going under. There may be a fear from the corporate perspective of the company being looted for its sales lists - former employees then go off and start a competing [venture]."

It's not just discarded employees that companies should be concerned with. Friedman says inactive computer hardware could become an issue as well. The use of data recovered from old computers lying around the office can be costly for an organization.

"There's all sorts of valuable data on those machines. And if they're not treated properly - no policy or procedure for getting rid of those machines - what you see happen is the data pops up somewhere in a really unfriendly environment and can be used against whoever owned it or didn't recycle it," said Friedman.

While there is no dearth of problems for e-security professionals to address, the industry has been characterized by a wave of consolidation. In December, California's VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) swooped in and bought technology assets of local Internet infrastructure service provider Telenisus. Last August, Solutionary, Inc. of Omaha, a private e-security company, acquired S3 networks, LLC of Chicago, a provider of security assessment services. Tapling says consolidation isn't relegated just to this sector, but admits that the acquisition and merger activity has been humming.

"Security is a very viable ongoing business, but in an economy that's reducing its size, market forces will decide who gets to live as an independent entity and who doesn't," said Tapling. "There's a newsletter I get on mergers and there are at least two or three each month. There's enough demand for security products and services that all companies that are being successful in the market have the opportunity to pick up on the assets of under-performing companies."

Robots to treat prostate cancer

2012-01-04T10:44:00.002-05:00

I-Street

March 2002

By Jeff Meredith

It is easy to associate robots with auto assembly lines and novelty home and consumer offerings that are only attainable for the affluent and gadget crazy: robotics lawnmowers, snow blowers and vacuum cleaners. But there is a practicality to surgical robots that few can deny and Burdette Medical Systems, Inc. (BMSi), a Champaign, Ill.-based developer of next generation medical devices, is poised to become a major player in this market.

Collaborating with the Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology (CISST) Engineering Research Center at Johns Hopkins University, Burdette recently used a surgical robot to guide radioactive seed implants for the brachytherapy treatment of prostate cancer. The robot was controlled with interplant, an ultrasound image-guidance computer system for brachytherapy developed by Burdette.

Brachytherapy, in which radioactive materials are placed close to a malignancy in order to attack it, has relied upon physicians' ability to accurately place the seed implants. Complications can easily arise, such as damage to a patient's surrounding anatomy - the bladder, rectum and urethra - says Dr. E. Clif Burdette, president of BMSi. Burdette hopes that surgical robots can avert such side effects and the work first undertaken by his company and Johns Hopkins a year and a half ago is quickly moving toward that goal.

"It's the only system capable of providing live, real-time intra-operative dose information and feedback as the radiation systems are planted," said Burdette. "[Johns Hopkins] approached us to look at a role robotic surgery might play in better placement. We took advantage of a program initiative from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and we submitted an application for developing an interactive approach that would utilize the capabilities of our software - interactive dose feedback to the doctor, the ability to have a surgical robot deliver radiation sources into the proper place for the implant."

Burdette and Johns Hopkins have just finished the first year of a $1.6 million, three and a half year program. In January, a robot was tested using Burdette's software to deliver a mock implant. A phantom, or anatomical model, was created with all of the lower torso anatomy present - much like what medical students would use in training. Dummy radiation sources were implanted by the robot to complete the procedure. Now comes phase two: the ability to drive in needles at any angle.

"As the robot inserts the needle, our software knows where the needle should be and can overlay a display for the doctor to see," said Burdette. "Feedback will tell the robot if it's not quite on track, correct its trajectory while it's inserting. That's the next major level of advancement."

The third phase of the project will involve clinical trials, a possibility in 2003. Burdette's technology is not just limited to prostate treatment; he hopes to guide other minimally invasive procedures. Burdette anticipates the release of a product later this year that could guide the targeting of external beam radiation therapy for cancer involving soft tissues.

"There are some difficulties with soft tissues inside the body that don't show up on the CT [Computerized Tomography], their position has to be inferred from other anatomy that can be seen," explained Burdette. His company's technology could help better pinpoint soft tissue location and use that data to plan and guide external radiation, which is often targeted with surface markers placed on a patient's body. Soft tissues have a tendency to move around, however, meaning that uniform markers are not sufficient.

Burdette Medical Systems, Inc., was founded in 1997 and its early development was aided by SBIR grants. In 1997, Illinois delivered close to $100,000 for the company's brachytherapy guidance system and an additional $617,000 was earned for the ultrasound guided radiation therapy for prostate cancer. The company "was not venture backed in the traditional sense," said Burdette, noting he invested some funds initially and that the company did a private offering of equity securities for another round of financing last year. The company has grown from four employees in early 1998 to a staff of 25. This number includes five employees in St. Louis who were a part of Tayman Medical, a medical product development company acquired in 2001. Tayman has designed hardware - called AccuSeed - for prostate seed implantation, making for a logical convergence of technology.

"Taymen makes hardware for holding the grid used to guide the implants for prostate radiation. They had a very solid product and a large install base that actually had quite a bit of sales in Europe as well as the US," said Burdette. "We have a full line of products for prostate treatment, now we have all the hardware."

FNBA: Cheap Points

2012-01-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

Points

* It would be best to pass on Hakim Warrick (5% owned in Yahoo), who averaged around 18 minutes per game last season and isn't likely to sustain this level of playing time (26:53) or scoring (15.7 ppg). For his career, Warrick has averaged 9.8 ppg in about 21 minutes of action. In his first four games Channing Frye's playing time has been way down (20 minutes vs. an average of 33 last season). I expect that to change and even if it doesn't Markieff Morris (17:06) blocks Warrick's path to 30 minutes.

* Leandro Barbosa is a fair bet to chuck up a shot every 2 minutes. Last season he had 11.3 attempts per game in 24 minutes of action and he has averaged 12.7 shots in 24:36 thus far. If you're hard pressed for scoring, Barbosa should certainly be considered. He averaged 13.3 ppg last year and has 43 points in three games thus far.

* Anyone who watched MarShon Brooks at Providence knows that he can score in bunches and he's doing exactly that for the Nets (55 points in 76:57 over the last three games). Your league would have to be asleep for Brooks to still be available but scoop him up now if he is. Even if Sundiata Gaines and Anthony Morrow start games at the 2, expect Brooks to finish them. This team will get blown out early and often and there's no reason to not give Brooks a long look. His Webber-esque mistake in the Hawks loss was immediately forgiven and the team is so lacking in firepower that he has to get minutes.

* Ramon Sessions averaged 13.3 points in 26.3 minutes last season and he's scoring at the same clip through the first three games of the season (albeit with 3 fewer minutes). After hitting only 13 threes during his first four years in the leagues (13 for 71 - yuck), Sessions has 4 in the first three games of this campaign. Who knows if this will continue but 3 point shooting certainly makes Sessions more viable in the Irving era -- with reduced minutes he would have to provide a new feature. It's also tough to find anyone on the wire averaging over 4 assists per game (Jeremy Pargo, subbing for an injured Mike Conley, and Mario Chalmers are the only ones in my league) -- Sessions deserves a roster spot but just barely.

High Voltage and Midway gear up for Xbox

2011-12-31T13:17:00.000-05:00

October 2001

I-Street

By Jeff Meredith

Chicago hopes to recapture a position at the forefront of another multi-billion dollar industry: video games. Although the release of Microsoft's next-generation video game console, Xbox, has been delayed until Nov. 15, local firms are gearing up with new creative titles. High Voltage Software, a game developer set in Hoffman Estates, will help unlock Xbox's potential when it releases a new action-adventure game in March: "Hunter: The Reckoning."

Based upon a popular White Wolf role playing game, the Xbox title has been a work in progress since January, said executive producer Kevin Sheller.

Close to 30 employees - artists, designers, programmers, producers - have been plugging away, creating 25 different monsters and roughly the same number of game levels. If your'e ready to battle a big piece of meat, possessed by a spirit, or a monster made out of machine parts, this is the game for you. High Voltage has even managed the sounds of 'Hunter' in house - as you enter a moment of tension, speed metal will play in the background. The company brought in outside talent for this niche role, but it also has four audio employees who both produce original music and record field sounds. From the rattle of a metal gate to the sounds of a shooting range, everything's becoming more real in the world of gaming.

High Voltage is not the only Chicago-area developer gearing up for the launch of Xbox. Midway Games, known for such titles as "Spyhunter" and the notoriously bloody "Mortal Kombat," is also preparing for a blitz that will involve three key players. Sony's Playstation II, a current kingpin launched in the US last fall, will be joined by Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube, set for a Nov. 18 release date. Midway corporate spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald feels that three competing systems will provide a life for an already lucrative industry - computer and video games generated just over $6 billion in sales during 2000.

"The demographic trends are very positive for the video game industry right now, (there's an) increasing teenage population that's just kind of ramping up," said Fitzgerald. "Three major players competing for the consumer's attention will likely lead to increases in marketing and promotion of the consoles, which is an overall positive for the industry."

Microsoft has already indicated that it will put $500 million toward advertising and marketing in the 18 months following launch, and total ad spending for the three systems could approach $1.25 billion this fall. The stakes are incredibly high but where does Chicago fit in this picture?

Some have written off the Windy City as a relic. Chicago was the epicenter of a pinball craze that swept the world during the 1950s and 60s and the game industry naturally expanded its reach. But a host of companies closed (Viacom New Media, 1997) or relocated during the last decade, raising eyebrows and hinting at the words of Horace Greeley: "Go West, young man, go West."

In June 2000, Microsoft purchased Chicago's Bungie Software Products and moved the company to Redmond. A year earlier, Microsoft did the same with Chicago-based FASA Interactive Technologies, Inc., maker of MechWarrior. Zehnerbrainer.com, a website that focuses on game developers, perhaps captures it best with its Illinois list split between "Still Going" and "Ex-Illinois Developers." That list includes Konami of America, Inc., which has relocated to San Francisco, as well as Kinesoft Development and Blue Byte software, both now based in Austin, Texas.

"Originally, Chicago mostly seemed to be an arcade and pinball area and since that's really dropped, we've lost a lot of companies," said High Voltage's Sheller. "But even some of the companies that worked on other games - not arcade games, home games - still went out of business and it may be a lack of talent in the area because most of the talent for games is on the West Coast."

Midway Games has experienced the changing market forces firsthand. In 1998 it spun off from its parent, pinball giant WMS Industries. WMS shut down its pinball operation in 1999 after losing close to $18 million during a three year period -- the company now keys on slot machines and other gambling equipment. But that wasn't the end of the transition for Midway. This past June, the company announced its departure from the arcade business, focusing its efforts solely on the home market.

"The arcade business has been declining for some time now. We hung around and hoped it would improve," said Fitzgerald. "It just didn't make sense to participate in the declining arcade business anymore at the expense of our home business."

Midway's business is now keying on Xbox, GameCube and Playstation II. A hockey game called NHL Hitz will be released at the launch of GameCube, with a football title, NFL Blitz, likely following in January. Those titles will also appear on Xbox, and will be joined by a snowmobile racing game called Arctic Thunder, due out in late November. Midway has a baseball title, MLB Slugfest, and a soccer game, Red Car Soccer, in development for all three systems. And yes, Mortal Kombat is on the way next year.

"There's really no reason that a video game company would not be able to be successful in Chicago," said Fitzgerald. "We find that there's a lot of programming talent and a lot of art talent that we can draw on."

High Voltage may be an example of survival of the fittest and it has no shortage of talent -- the company received quite a number of resumes recently by virtue of a competitor's folding, said software development manager Jesse Helton. But its blueprint for success also lies in an institutional philosophy, reveals Sheller.

"For a game company, we're very business-like in that we don't have a lot of crazy people running around the halls throwing stuff and shooting each other with Nerf guns," said Sheller. "We conduct ourselves in a professional manner and that isn't so common across the game industry. We've had a lot of comments from publishers who come in and say, 'Wow, this feels like a business. You guys are organized and have the end result in mind.'"

Sheller says it's "very rare that our very best have left," although the West Coast bug has bitten in a few cases. But the company usually heads off that problem by rigorously screening applicants -- there's greater comfort with residents of the Midwest and the chief requirement is what one would expect, a devotion to the craft.

"We can take people without a lot of experience but you've got to have some strength to back up that lack of experience. An intense passion," says Helton. "If someone comes to me and says 'I am going to make games, am I going to make them for you or someone else?' they're on the right track."

High Voltage, it seems, has been on the right track too. Since being founded in 1993 with a staff of perhaps a half dozen, it has grown to 90 employees. President John Kopecky said he lost track of who was who when the company's personnel attended a Cubs game. But the nature of the games, and sheer size of the development teams, is also driving the growth. Including 'Hunter,' High Voltage is currently working on three projects, one being a Playstation II title accompanying an upcoming Disney movie. All are for different publishers, limiting the company's risk and allowing for greater autonomy. And the staff? They seem to be enjoying themselves.

"The fact that any of us are paid to do this is ridiculous," said Eric Nofsinger, High Voltage's vice president of creative content.

Protesters decry death penalty, even for McVeigh

2011-12-29T19:17:00.001-05:00

By Jeff Meredith

Tribune staff reporter

June 11, 2011

Flower petals collected at the feet of Jane Bohman this morning, plucked and dropped to the ground as the names of the 168 victims of the Oklahoma City bombing were read to some 30 to 40 onlookers in the Kluczynski Federal Building Plaza in downtown Chicago.

Bohman, program director for the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty, then addressed fellow protesters who had gathered to remember those lost in the 1995 bombing, and the 164 people now on Illinois' Death Row. A state moratorium, declared by Gov. George Ryan on January 31, 2000, currently prevents Illinois from staging executions.

"These 168 people are victims of a culture of violence, where (Timothy) McVeigh thought that violence was the language," Bohman said. "The execution of Tim McVeigh is not going to bring back any of the victims of Oklahoma City. It creates only more violence in a society that certainly could do without more killing, more suffering."

Timed to correspond with the 7 a.m. executive of McVeigh, the first person put to death by the federal government since the 1963 hanging of Victor Feguer, a convicted kidnapper and murderer, clergy members led a Mass for the Dead on the plaza.

Bishop James Wilkowski, bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest of the Independent Evangelical Catholic Church, began his prayer vigil at 5 a.m., protesting the McVeigh execution and all executions to follow.

"We are absolutely, unconditionally opposed to the death penalty," Wilkowski said. "And we believe that the pastoral community has an obligation to help right what's becoming a broken moral compass."

Approaching McVeigh's execution, Rev. Bill Leaming, of the Church of the Holy Family, Chicago, admitted there was "a human part of me that would've loved to do it myself." But Leaming, having just removed the white stole he wore for the mass, reaffirmed his belief in the Ten Commandments' "Thou Shalt Not Kill."

"Simply putting another name on an event in an attempt to minimize the impact or to change its meaning by calling it an 'execution' doesn't diminish (that) it is in fact murder," Leaming said. "It's premeditated murder. Our government spent (years) planning this execution. I see no distinction whatsoever between that act and the act (McVeigh) carried out."

Passersby who witnessed the protest did not hesitate to voice disagreement.

"What value does it serve society not punishing (McVeigh) with the ultimate punishment?" asked Keith Miller, a senior engineer with a Chicago power plant engineering firm. "To keep him around and let him become an icon or someone to be spoken to? Twenty years from now, I don't want to hear reporters going to interview McVeigh in jail."

Death penalty opponents conceded that McVeigh was not typical of Death Row inmates. Convicted of the largest single act of domestic terrorism in U.s. history, it would be difficult finding much sympathy for him, they said.

The protesters called for improved legal representation and access to DNA testing for Death Row inmates, and criticized the disproportionate number of minorities sentenced to death in this country -- factors that were not at issue in the McVeigh case.

Citing what he called a "government-orchestrated ... 'Hate Timothy McVeigh'" campaign, Robert Schultz, death penalty program coordinator for Amnesty International USA's Midwest Regional Office, said, "Ironically, some of the victims have expressed they never want to hear his name again. We etched his name in American history today. If we want to not do that with perpetrators of violence, let's lock them away for life."

Tribune net income surges

2011-12-29T15:44:00.001-05:00

Published in I-Street

January 30, 2003

By Jeff Meredith

CHICAGO - Reeling no more, Chicago-based Tribune Co. delivered impressive fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday. The media giant reported net income of $193.5 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with $106.8 million or 32 cents a share during the 4th quarter of 2001. The 81 percent increase was driven by an uptick in ad revenues.

For the year, Tribune's net income rose to $443 million, or $1.30 a share, from $111.1 million or 28 cents a share in 2001.

"This was an outstanding year for our company," said John Madigan, Tribune's chairman. "Our people have proven once again that they are star performers. Through their efforts, we achieved record earnings per share for the fourth quarter and full year, and our businesses established real momentum heading into 2003."

The clouds of war could curb such enthusiasm. Dennis Fitzsimmons, Tribune's president and CEO, acknowledged the impacts on the company's publishing business. Looking at the first quarter, Fitzsimmons said classified ads are down slightly, "which is what we expected. We also think the uncertainty of a war with Iraq is impacting job creation and help wanted."

In the company's three largest markets - Chicago, New York and LA - quarterly ad revenue increased 11, 10 and 5 percent respectively. Tribune's television group produced a 22 percent increase in revenue as its 24 stations benefited from improved market conditions and a strong fall from the WB Network.

Tribune Co. is not the only newspaper publisher riding high this week; McClatchy Co. posted record earnings Thursday of $39 million in the fourth quarter. Net income was 86 cents per share, a boost over last year's fourth quarter earnings of 66 cents per share.

For Tribune, the Interactive division could be one to watch in 2003. While the company said Tribune Interactive has reached profitability and pointed to CareerBuilder increasing "its market share by about 2 points at the expense of Monster," the unit was breakeven in the 4th quarter after being cash flow positive in the the 3rd quarter.

"The declined reflected significantly higher promotional spending for CareerBuilder and Cars.com in order to build brands, build traffic and increase market share over time. Looking ahead, we expect to again be cash flow positive and show continued improvement over 2002," said Don Grenesko, senior vice president and CFO for Tribune.

Fitzsimmons said CareerBuilder's January traffic "is up 50 percent plus from the 4th quarter." CareerBuilder has also gotten a boost from its appearance in Gannett markets. In late 2002, Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper publisher, took a one third stake in CareerBuilder alongside Knight-Ridder and Tribune.

FNBA: Observations From Day Two

2011-12-27T12:51:00.000-05:00

* I got burned by Marcus Thornton when he lost his starting job in New Orleans and of course didn't have him for his second half redemption act with the Kings. I figured that if I drafted him, he would return to sucking. Since he's not on my team, it figures that he's already lighting it up. 9 for 13 from the field, 5 for 5 from the line, 4 3s, 27 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal. That's one hell of a debut for the Kings. I could have taken Thornton at #62 overall in my draft (6th round) but instead opted for Wesley Matthews. It now appears that Thornton and Harden would have been better choices, even though ESPN had Matthews ahead of both.

* The Mavericks had no answer for Ty Lawson last night. And Nowitzki is right -- they have looked out of shape and old. Kidd (4 3s, 12 pts, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) and Nowitzki (7/14, 6/6, 20 pts, 4 rebounds) were reasonably productive through three quarters but sat out the entire fourth quarter in a blowout loss to the Nuggets. Blowout games are the last thing you want as a GM.

* DeJuan Blair got in early foul trouble against the Grizzlies and was never a factor.

* Spencer Hawes, how awful will you be in game 2? If game 1 is any indication (10 pts, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 1 block in 39 minutes), you'll go 0 for 4 and foul out in 7 minutes.

* Ramon Sessions was great last night (18 pts, 4 rebounds, 6 assists in only 22 minutes) and even hit two 3s. Doesn't Kyrie Irving seem like the type of player who would have a debilitating injury during his rookie year and then be a fantastic player by his third season? Just a hunch here ...

* While Jared Dudley did not have a great night from the field (3 for 11), he was on the court more than any other Suns player (35 minutes). Shannon Brown was 1 for 8 from the field in 20 minutes of action.

* Recently waived players in our league (in order of ownership level): Charlie Villanueva (71% ... Can Jerebko keep Charlie out of the starting lineup? And does a platoon kill the value of both players?), George Hill (62%), DeJuan Blair (52%), Ramon Sessions (50% ... obviously happened before last night, due to the news that Irving was starting), Brendan Haywood (12%), Gary Neal (12%), Josh McRoberts (10%).

* Nice start to the year for Luol Deng, who cracks the top 25 in season avg (I know this is relatively meaningless through two games -- no need to comment). Deng averaged a career high 1.4 3s last season (0.5 for his career) and fantasy GMs can only hope he'll keep it up -- even though he's not a particularly effective three point shooter (.345 last season and .326 for his career) and it's not in the team's interest. I'd expect his field goal attempts to ultimately be around 14 per game again. Richard Hamilton should shoot more than last year's collection of off guards (essentially the substitution of Hamilton for Bogans, with Korver and Brewer taking a backseat) but I'd expect the losses to be shared by all four Bull starters (Rose, Deng, Boozer, Noah). If it's only 2 shots more, that's negligible. Hamilton has been quiet thus far -- only 16 points and 20 shots through two games -- but I expect him to be a 13-15 ppg scorer for this team. His impact on other Bull starters is the only thing to watch here -- a shooting guard who doesn't hit 3s is rarely valuable.

FNBA: Free Agents Producing Little Enthusiasm

2011-12-26T11:22:00.000-05:00

I've traditionally been in leagues with 12 teams and 14 player rosters (where the top 168 are off the board). With that said, here are some players to keep an eye on. If you're in a league with a transaction cap (ours is 35 for the 66 game season), you will not want to make an immediate investment in these players -- it's better to watch for 2-3 games and then make a decision.

Andris Biedrins (21% owned in Yahoo): I can't believe I'm saying this. Keep in mind that Biedrins only averaged 5.0 ppg, 7.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks a year ago. Chances are that the Warriors will play small and he won't see the court for more than 24 minutes a game. Still, Biedrins produced 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks on opening night, albeit in only 20 minutes of action. The odds are against him being this efficient on a regular basis. Biedrins has only averaged over 30 minutes per game once -- his stellar 2008-2009 campaign when he averaged 11.9 ppg, 11.2 rpg and 1.6 blocks. Don't count on it happening again.

Brandon Rush (5% owned in Yahoo): Another Warrior but one with the chance to log more playing time and contribute in every category but assists. His playing time would receive a significant boost with any injury to Stephen Curry (Ellis shifting to the 1, Rush playing the 2), Monta Ellis or Dorell Wright. As it stands, he played 28 minutes on opening night and was very productive (12 points, two 3s, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks). I'd still temper expectations a bit while those three are healthy and expect a line closer to what Reggie Williams produced a year ago (9.2 ppg, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 3s in 20 minutes). Some managers can consider him as a 14th man, banking on an ankle injury for Curry. Rush has demonstrated ability as a shot blocker in his short career (0.6 bpg in 27 minutes) and as any Derrick Rose owner can tell you, blocks from your guards always come in handy. The downside is that Rush is not much of a passer (1.1 apg) and not a very good shooter (.423/.702).

Udonis Haslem (30% owned in Yahoo): We know what Haslem can do and his 10.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg career averages are certainly attainable. Haslem had 9 points and 14 rebounds in 32 minutes of action but the fact remains that he is not much of a passer (1.1 apg) or shot blocker (0.3 bpg). At best he's a double-double with nothing else to offer. Unless you're desperate for rebounds, move along ...

DaJuan Blair (54% owned in Yahoo): He produced a #113 rank last season in only 21 minutes of action so one wonders what he could do with 30 minutes per game. Assuming the same per minute rate of production, Blair would leap to 11.6 ppg and 9.8 rpg (from 8.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg a year ago). While Blair is the starter (for now) at center, it still seems like an optimistic projection. Keep a close eye on Blair's minutes in the early going.

Shannon Brown (50% owned in Yahoo): You've likely read a lot about Brown in the preseason and I have nothing new to add. Dudley is the starter for now, Brown is coming off the bench. If that somehow changes, Brown could be an excellent source of 3s and steals.

Carl Landry (26% owned in Yahoo): Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman seem like the big dogs in this offense and I can't see Landry as anything more than a third option. He only averaged 8.8 shot attempts for New Orleans last year (26 mpg) and I can't see more than 10-11 this year. He strikes me as a 14 ppg, 5 rpg player, one who will perpetually be dropped and picked up throughout the season.

2011-12-04T11:27:00.001-05:00

2008 NBA Finals: Vladimir Radmanovic is challenged by Paul Pierce near the 3 point line

2008 NBA Finals: Senator John Kerry sits courtside with Swift Boat veterans who doubt that he was ever in Cambodia

2008 NBA Finals: Kobe Bryant, Vladimir Radmanovic and a very blurry Leon Powe (photograph taken from the upper deck)

2008 NBA Finals: Lamar Odom attempts a tough shot as PJ Brown and James Posey of the Celtics look on. Ronny Turiaf heads in for a rebound.

2008 NBA Finals: Pau Gasol prepares for a free throw. Also pictured: Ray Allen

2008 NBA Finals: Sasha Vujacic drives past Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom sets screen

2008 NBA Finals: Kobe Bryant is defended by James Posey

Musee D'Orsay

2011-12-03T17:58:00.001-05:00

Photos from the Museum of Bad Art in Dedham, MA

2011-12-01T09:47:00.001-05:00

Nameless art

Anguria in un Gondola a Venezia

Blue Mushroom Man

Mana Lisa

The Itch: "A young woman with thick raven-black hair is portrayed simultaneously scratching her right side with her left hand and the back of her neck with her right. She appears to be double-jointed. Her blissful smile possibly indicates her temporary relief from a torturous case of scabies."

Playboy Bunnies

Mariachi in Tianamen Square

Lady with Enormous Pants

Drilling for Eggs: "Green alligator flames dominate the foreground and a bright pink sky provides the backdrop for this disquieting depiction of a color-altered future in which eggs, a renewable resource, have replaced traditional hydrocarbon fuels. The artist is saying, in no uncertain terms, that unless we learn to conserve our priceless resources, the yolk will be on us."

Papa Nostro: "Clearly an homage to the late John Paul II, this painting is laden with mysterious imagery. The MOBA Research Department has determined that the writing in the upper left corner is the beginning of the Lord's Prayer in Italian ("Our father who art in heaven"). Unexplained, though, is the unusual lettering and Milkbone logo in the lower left quadrant. Also unexplained is the significance of the jagged red line across the image. Some speculate it represents an EKG of the Pope in failing health, while others insist it is the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the life of the "Great One," 1920-2005.


Torment of the Soul: "An ochre aura emanates from the young man with the eyes of an exorcist. His rhetoric rushes from white joyless lips. His left boot fluoresces above a seething swamp. What happened to his hand?"

Did IDFA Fund A Dead Company?

2011-11-03T09:58:00.006-04:00

Did IDFA fund a dead company?
March 20, 2002
By Jeff Meredith

CHICAGO - In one of his last public appearances as
president of the Illinois Coalition, Shaye Mandle said
he wished government would improve the amount of seed
stage capital available for local startups. Perry
Snyderman, vice chair of the Illinois Development
Finance Authority (IDFA), indicated that the pool of
available funds through the state's Technology Bridge
Development (TBD) fund was not even being completely
used.

"At the present time, I think there is more money than
there are qualified transactions being submitted on
the startup stage," said Snyderman.

But would a dead company be considered a 'qualified
transaction' by IDFA? That is the question posed by
the funding of WanderOn, formerly a B2B marketplace
for the bicycle industry. The company once had the
domain name WanderOn.com. That site is now registered
to Kelly Grable of Arlington, Virginia, and a quick
visit demonstrates that this is definitely not a B2B
marketplace for the bicycle industry.

What happened to WanderOn? Brett Singer, formerly
chief creative officer of the defunct company and now
a film director and producer with Chicago-based Sneaky
Kings Productions, shared some of the story with
i-Street in a January interview.

"After the bubble burst, we literally just ran out of
money. And then we got our Illinois Coalition money.
So it was kind of like we were dead and then all of a
sudden we got a couple hundred thousand dollars," said
Singer. "So that money has since been taken by the
primary investor."

Since the 1997 inception of the TDB, the Illinois
Coalition has funded close to 30 startups through its
financing arm, the Illinois Development Finance
Authority (IDFA). Entrepreneurs present their business
plans to the Coalition, which assembles an evaluation
team, and makes a recommendation to IDFA. IDFA can
make disbursements of up to $300,000 matching private
investors.

WanderOn received $300,000 on January 31, 2001, five
months after the Illinois Coalition made its funding
recommendation to IDFA on August 31, 2000. But in that
span of time, Singer indicated that WanderOn basically
became a non-entity.

"We started shooting [our movie] the second or third
week of November [of 2000], that was really the day
that we kind of officially declared WanderOn on hold,"
said Singer.

Singer recognized a lag time in receiving the money.
And in the volatile world of startups, a lot changed
between being approved and receiving IDFA money.

"From that day - 'It's congratulations you have it' -
to getting the money might have been six months. It
was a really long time," said Singer.

"No amount of money would've made it work at the
time," he added. "Had we raised $10 million, we
would've been a $10 million dead company."

Kristina Koch, general counsel for IDFA, said that
WanderOn executed legal documents when they received
funding and after a quarterly-ending report in April
2001, indicating that they were a going concern. "We
did not knowingly put money into a company that was
not operational."
=================================================
[March 2003, Crain's Chicago Business]

The Illinois Development Finance Authority (IDFA)
would be forced to stop investing directly in
start-ups under a bill introduced late last month in
the Illinois Senate by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Chicago.
Bill 1426 would repeal a 1983 statute that authorized
the Illinois Venture Investment Fund, which makes
investments of up to $300,000 in area seed-stage
businesses.

The IDFA has invested more than $14 million through
the fund, including money for the Technology
Development Bridge Fund, which is jointly administered
by the Illinois Coalition, a quasi-public technology
booster group.

"(The fund) has been a major, major tool for small
business. To see that go would be a big loss," said
coalition Executive Vice-president Thomas Thornton.
============================================
http://www.eprairie.com/news/viewnews.asp?newsletterID=4484

Through a bill endorsed by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama
(D-Chicago), the Illinois Venture Capital Association
(IVCA) seeks to eliminate direct venture investments
by state agencies such as the Illinois Development
Finance Authority (IDFA).

The IVCA, on the other hand, encourages state
investments in privately managed fund of funds –
presumably, the proposed Illinois Opportunity Fund – a
program backed by the governor that would incent
participating firms to make local investments. A fund
of funds is collection of money from other private
equity funds.

"The IVCA supports a professionally managed fund of
funds that will be invested in Illinois-based private
equity firms," said IVCA President Jim Downing, who
worked for IDFA prior to co-founding the IVCA in 2000.
"We do not support direct investing or co-investing by
the state."

A spokesperson for Sen. Obama told ePrairie that Bill
1426 would not pass as currently constructed. The
bill's intent, rather, is to "raise the profile" of
how the state manages the venture capital process.

One notorious case in point is a $300,000 investment
IDFA made in early 2001. WanderOn, which billed itself
as a business-to-business marketplace for the bicycle
industry, collected money from the IDFA several months
after the company essentially ceased to operate.
==================================================
May 2002
IDFA spinning the wheel of fortune
State funding for new ventures through the TDB leaves much to
be desired

By Jeff Meredith and Darcy Evon

In one of his last appearances as president of the Illinois Coalition
- appearing as a panelist for a Technology Executives Club symposium
held in late February - Shaye Mandle said he wished the State of
Illinois would improve the amount of seed stage capital available for
local startups.

Perry Snyderman, vice chair of the Illinois Development Finance
Authority (IDFA), then indicated that the pool of available funds -
$15 million - through the state's Technology Development Bridge (TDB)
fund was not even being completely used.

"At the present time, I think there is more money than there are
qualified transactions being submitted on the startup stage," said
Snyderman.

Apparently that means a dead company can be considered a qualified
recipient of state money. I-Street uncovered the fact that IDFA
invested $300,000 into WanderOn, a B2B portal for the bicycle
industry, months after it became a non-entity (see www.i-street.com
for extensive coverage). Former employees of WanderOn said that the
money went to the primary investor, Frank Silzer, from family-owned
JFM Enterprises. Silzer told I-Street that he intended to invest the
remaining money into a new entity on behalf of WanderOn.

When confronted with the issue, some of IDFA staff, including the
general counsel, said they would ask for a return of the money while
Patrick Rea, executive director of IDFA, seemed to support Silzer
investing the money into a new entity.

"The terms have changed. And effectively it is our view that if we
left it in there, it would be like a fund of funds investment," said
Rea. "My charter is to assist - in a modest way - in the development
of venture capital funds. I will try to convince my board to do fund
of funds investments."

Since the 1997 inception of the TDB, the Illinois Coalition has helped
connect nearly 30 startups with funding through its financing arm,
IDFA. Entrepreneurs present their business plans to the Illinois
Coalition, which assembles an evaluation team and makes a
recommendation to IDFA. IDFA can then make disbursements of up to
$300,000 matching private investors.

As for the lag time that exists between the IDFA board approving a
deal and a check being cut, a key factor in the WanderOn case in that
it was more than four months, Rea said he would like to reduce that
time to 31 days.

A state problem

IDFA claims it does not receive state funding and is a self-supporting
bond authority that has devoted $15 million of its reserves to funding
the TDB program. Rea notes, "We have never received DCCA (Department
of Commerce and Community Affairs) money. We received initial funding
in the early 1980s around a $5 million amount. Investments were made
in which we lost a good deal of it and made most of it back. What I
did was then take it from $5 million and committed the number to $15
million in order to be part and parcel of this program."

Surprisingly, materials handed out at the governor's mansion for the
state's annual tech day credited Governor George Ryan with providing
"an additional $15 million for the Technology Development Bridge
program to be invested in Illinois companies," when in fact some of
the money was pre-existing.

But beyond the distortions of state literature, Illinois is at a
severe disadvantage in the public venture capital game. Shaye Mandle,
now executive director of the East West Corporate Corridor Association
in DuPage County, clearly recognizes that. In an interview conducted
with I-Street in late April, Mandle said, "Most states that want to be
active in technology are outpacing Illinois. Illinois is really
lagging behind in terms of government-catalyzed venture capital."

As a contrast, Mandle mentions a program in Oklahoma where the state
government held out millions in tax credits as an incentive for large
institutional investors like banks and pension funds to make fund of
funds investments.

"That gatekeeper is investing in early stage funds, but the tax
credits are only triggered if big institutional investors lose their
shirts. That's one way for government to act without having to
actually commit its own money," said Mandle.

The Oklahoma Capital Investment Board - which raises capital from
institutional investors - holds $50 million in contingent tax credits.
According to a recent report from fedgazette, a publication of the
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the board has invested $26
million in Oklahoma firms, producing an internal rate of return of 28
percent. The kicker? It has not yet issued any tax credits and the
program's generating revenue for the state. Wisconsin has a similar
program. In 1999, it set aside $50 million in tax credits - to be
spread out over 10 years - for insurance company investments in
capital companies providing venture capital to in-state businesses.
According to a National Governors Association Report, at least 18
states offer such investment tax incentives -- Illinois isn't sharing
in any of the successes.

"There's only one identifiable entity in the State of Illinois making
a difference in technology and that's the Illinois Coalition," said
Mandle, who noted that the state puts "a couple hundred thousands
dollars a year" into the Coalition and that its priority is "bringing
large federally-sponsored research and research facilities" to the
state. "Management of the TDB - while the Coalition probably commits
25 percent or more of its resources toward the activity - is still a
small part of what it does."

Management of the TDB is often criticized for being extremely
arbitrary. Mandle indicated that the broad base of Coalition
activities should allow for lower expectations for the TDB program.

"The Coalition has far exceeded what anybody ought to expect," said
Mandle. "The fact remains that if Illinois wants to get serious about
science and technology, it really needs to join forces with the
private sector, put an adequate pool of resources behind this
activity."

Entrepreneurs often argue that the state's maximum $300,000 investment
- matching another $300,000 from private investors - is simply not
enough to make a difference; it can't aid with additional staffing or
marketing one's product. Mandle said IDFA can do a follow-up round of
$100,000 and that there were discussions earlier in the year about
"perhaps doing a third round." Under statute, IDFA could more money
and "their determination over the last few years with the program has
been that the [$300,000] is a good number," he said.

"I think some of what you're hearing may be more because of the
current economy. What does 300 grand do? I would agree that 300 grand
only lets you do so much," said Mandle. "600 grand (IDFA plus private
investors) when the economy was flush and venture capital was active,
was a good number for them to go through a seed stage and then go out
and raise a million. One of the problem we have today is nobody's
doing those deals anymore. I don't think the question is so much 'Is
it worth doing $300,000?' It's 'Can $300,000 carry you to the next
round?' and we all know that today the timetable is significantly
longer. And that's really why I raised the [idea of a] third round
investment. In this current economy, it makes sense to put some more
money back into some of the companies to get through this."

Getting in the door

The state funding program is poorly understood by entrepreneurs and
most do not know how to approach it. A former executive at Ikadega, a
now-defunct startup that provided high bandwidth server technology,
never applied for seed stage capital through the state's TDB.

"We were told that it was a waste of time by VCs and that we would be
on Medicar before we would ever get the money," said a former
executive at the company. "I think it's sad that the State of Illinois
doesn't recognize the opportunities that exist with small startup
technology companies like Ikadega, and to help them. The State of
Illinois doesn't know that Ikadega exists and certainly will not know
of its demise. If you go to Massachusetts and you go to California,
it's a different ballgame. The State of Illinois doesn't get it."

Christine Mason, former chief marketing officer for the now defunct
MetalMaker.com, echoed similar sentiments: "We didn't apply for
funding from IDFA because I don't think we even knew it existed."

Of I-Street's top 50 emerging tech companies for 2001, only six
received matching funds from IDFA, although roughly 42 would qualify
and were in search of funding.

Even if entrepreneurs know about the program and have a qualified
investor, getting approval from the Illinois Coalition to receive
matching funds from IDFA can be downright tough, and some would argue
completely arbitrary. The Coalition uses panels of seven people;
presenting firms need to earn five votes to gain approval.

Seven people unless only six are available, that is. 2Xchange, a
Chicago software company specializing in web-based asset management
and redeployment technologies, presented to six panelists on a second
time around and had four in favor, two against; they did not receive
approval. In an ironic twist, co-founder Stephen Meade said that after
they were rejected the first time he served as a judge for another
venture (which did receive funding) to better understand the process.

When Meade served as a judge,he observed that his co-panelists did not
review business plans at home as expected. They instead flipped
through them upon entering the session, much like students taking an
open book test.

"We can never control how much work those people put into the project.
I think for the most part our volunteers take the process very
seriously. They ask to be a part of it, they're certainly given the
business plans and financials and everything they need with plenty of
time," said Mandle. "You can never control how much time they're going
to spend, but I think for the most part they do an exceptional job of
really getting to the meat of the business plan, coming prepared with
specific questions to ask."

Mandle said the Coalition has had alternate panelists from time to
time. There were different models, including "having a pool and not
telling anybody who's going to be there until the last moment so that
everybody did their preparation ... that was something that they
didn't like that much." Even if the Coalition passes a deal through
one of its panels, IDFA's board can still overrule - Mandle said
IDFA's board has tabled or chosen not to fund companies approved by
the Coalition.

"IDFA's concern with the Coalition is that the pool of capital that
they have to invest isn't invested so poorly that IDFA loses the long
term opportunity to continue to do it ... IDFA wants to make sure
we're putting the dollars into the best opportunities to succeed,"
said Mandle. "There is no perfect system for the way the project is
done. The Coalition and IDFA had hundreds of hours of meetings and
strategy sessions in the two and a half years that I was there about
how we can make things better. There's been a lot of improvement,
there are still things that need to get fixed. It's still
unfortunately the only game in town."

Companies that received funding from IDFA and the dates the money was
received by the company (Source: IDFA)
Accelchip - 11/1/01
ClearStack - 8/15/01
Deliver Station - 11/12/99
Distributed Bits - 10/20/97 and 4/5/99
Epigraph - 5/3/01
Forest One - 8/23/00
MortgageBankingCenter - 8/28/00 and 4/5/01
Neodesic - 3/24/98
NetZilient - 7/21/00
Neuronautics - 3/29/01
Open Channel Software - 5/22/00
Perceptual Robotics - 11/14/97 and 6/3/99
PreviewPort - 12/19/01
ProofSpace - 3/16/00
ShopTalk - 5/5/98
SmartSignal - 3/6/98 and 5/28/99
Stonewater Software - 12/15/00 and 8/24/01
Touchsensor Technologies - 11/3/97
UserActive - 1/23/01
Venture Capital Online - 12/2/98 and 5/24/99
VideoHomeTours - 9/15/99 and 4/10/00
WanderOn - 1/30/01

IDFA also made two fund investments, one into Peter Fox's
Champaign-Urban Venture Fund and Tom Churchwell's ARCH Development
Partners.

Videos From Yellowstone & the Tetons

2010-10-11T20:01:00.002-04:00

Close encounter with a black bear:

Fire east of Tower Falls:

Check out the blur of movement from 0:28-0:30:

Wounded bull moose near Menor's Ferry:

Yellowstone Photos

2010-09-24T17:22:00.009-04:00

The Temper Trap

2010-09-16T23:34:00.003-04:00

"Rest" ... check out 2:21-2:45:

Even better live ... same section can be heard from 4:13-4:37:

"Love Lost":

"Down River":

"Hearts":

"Science of Fear":

"Sweet Disposition":

"Fader";

Videos from Rocky Mountain National Park: Sept. 11-12

2010-09-15T13:42:00.003-04:00

Bighorn sheep (Rams ... late afternoon on Sunday, Sept. 12):

Bull elk (Evening of Saturday, Sept. 11):

Elk (Morning of Saturday, Sept. 11):

Elk crossing (Morning of Saturday, Sept. 11):

Moose (Morning of Saturday, Sept. 11):

Bull elk (Afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 12):

Bull elk (Afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 12):

Tree combat (Afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 12):

Breaking of park rules -- Example #5,143,678:

Deer (Morning of Saturday, Sept. 11):

Rocky Mountain National Park: Sept. 11-12

2010-09-13T16:42:00.002-04:00

Labor Day Trip to Costa Rica: Photos from Manuel Antonio

2010-09-10T11:01:00.001-04:00

Jimmy Eat World: A Few Favorites

2010-08-28T20:08:00.002-04:00

Demo for a new song called "Stop" -- awesome, particularly the solo:

"If You Don't" (Live at the 9:30 Club in DC):

I still like the original "Your House" -- this is the 2007 version:

And here's the original:

"Goodbye Sky Harbour":

"For Me This Is Heaven" (off Clarity, probably their best record):

"Ten":

"Just Watch the Fireworks":

What I've Learned in FLMB: Part Two

2010-08-28T19:44:00.002-04:00

2) You can get saves off the free agent list, but they'll probably take a toll on your ERA and WHIP

My team has 103 saves this year, good for second in the league. I drafted K-Rod in the 9th round and Cordero in the 10th, but didn't go any further with relievers ... having drafted only 3 hitters in the first 8 rounds (Jimmy Rollins, Manny Ramirez and Torii Hunter), I found myself in desperate pursuit of some hitting when I should've been taking a 3rd and 4th closer.

Despite my poor draft, I managed to fill in the gaps with a series of closer pickups throughout the year. First Jose Contreras as a fill-in for Brad Lidge, then Carlos Villanueva and John Axford during Trevor Hoffman's meltdown. After Mike Gonzalez broke down, I was able to plug in David Hernandez and then Alfredo Simon ... and now have Koji Uehara. Aaron Heilman, Michael Wuertz, and Hong-Chih Kuo have also supplied saves. Fernando Rodney just joined my squad yesterday after the Angels' trade of Brian Fuentes. By my count, I've had a closer stake in 9 different teams (Mets, Reds, Phillies, Brewers, Orioles, Diamondbacks, A's, Dodgers, Angels) this year.

The problem is that many of these substitute closers were setup men for a reason. While they supplied 44 saves (K-Rod and Cordero have accounted for 59), they took a hell of a toll on my ERA and WHIP. Looking at all of the pitchers I mentioned in the last paragraph (plus Will Ohman, who was briefly the Orioles closer and blew up in the role), here's the toll:

60 earned runs (4.67 ERA) in 115 2/3 innings
166 hits/walks (1.44 WHIP)

Without Axford (who could be a steady closer next season), those #s would be even worse.

What I've Learned This Year in FMLB

2010-08-25T19:59:00.002-04:00

1) If you're shopping a player you believe in and everyone else thinks he has no value, keep him -- don't cut him

I can offer two examples here. I had Aubrey Huff earlier this season (my 17th round draft pick in a 12 team league) and I firmly believed in his ability to bounce back from a poor 2009 (.694 OPS). Just look at Huff's even years vs. his odd ones:

2004 -- .853
2005 -- .749 (down .104)
2006 -- .813 (up .64)
2007 -- .778 (down .35)
2008 -- .912 (up .134)
2009 -- .694 (down .218)
2010 -- .928 (up .234)

After 128 at bats for my team, Huff had the look of a good but not great fantasy player. Hitting .289 with 19 runs, 4 HR and 18 RBI, he was on pace for 89 runs, 19 HR and 84 RBI in 600 at bats. If that's your 1B production, you can expect to severely lag behind teams with Cabrera, Pujols, Votto and Teixeira. At the same time, I knew that Huff had value and could be a fine 9th or 10th bat to round out a lineup. And if the anemic Giant offense started putting more men on base, he'd be in a position to produce a lot more RBI. It was relatively early in the year and I thought he could become a 30-100 player. But I wanted a sure thing at first base, not a vague hope.

As I sought to upgrade at the position and exchange Huff with other GMs, they told me that Huff was "the type of player I could get off the waiver wire. He's garbage." I heard as much from a GM who was unwilling to move Victor Martinez.

Of course, we can fast forward to today and see that Huff is the 6th ranked first baseman in terms of season totals (#26 overall in Yahoo), 12th ranked in terms of season averages (#85). Victor Martinez? 27th among 1B eligibles in season averages (which doesn't penalize him for his time on the DL).

The tragedy here (if there can be tragedies in a game as frivolous as fantasy baseball) is that I listened to the other GM and became convinced that Huff was worthless. I cut him for the likes of Adam LaRoche and Russell Branyan. Through 442 at bats, Huff has produced 79 runs, 22 HR and 74 RBI. He may not reach 30-100 status (the Giants have 35 games left ... 8 HR and 26 RBI is a bit ambitious), but 25-90 is firmly within sight.

Another example of a player I believed in who had no trade value? Colby Lewis. Lewis is currently the 25th ranked starting pitcher based on season totals with 156 Ks in 161 1/3 IP, a 3.40 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He'd probably be ranked even higher if not for a relatively low win total (9). I knew Lewis was for real right from the get go this season -- particularly the strikeout totals. But with a loaded pitching staff (Lincecum, Halladay, Wainwright, Lee and Hughes) and poor hitting to start the year, I needed to change my roster. Unfortunately, my pitching depth -- particularly Lewis -- didn't interest anyone. So I cut Lewis and the same GM who had knocked his credentials (based on his performance pre-Japan -- the Lewis of 2010 bears no resemblance to the Lewis of 2003) was swift to pick him up with a waiver claim.

Moral of the story: If you believe in someone, don't pay attention to their trade value. Only pay attention to how much you value them.