Read this on Bugg’s Blog

Kumburgas – Turkey was a close encounter with multiple witnesses present during filming over several weeks. The objects were not lights in the sky, but structured craft. Yet before scientists even examined this video, they claimed it was a hoax. This is the video, which I’ve motion stabalized. The stabalization software is not licensed and thus the reason for the word “Demo” on the screen. This doesn’t really impair the video too badly. This recording was made using a Canon video camera and at its closest to the object the photographer (Yalcin Yalman) uses the 300x digital zoom, so the “shake” is considerable at maximum zoom. The shake is somewhat minimized by the stabilization software.

“Prof. Adnan Oktem from the Istanbul University Department of Astronomy Sciences, Prof. Mehmet Emin Ozel from the Istanbul University Department of Physics and Prof. Kerem Doksat from the Istanbul University Department of Psychiatry claimed with great prejudice that the footages taken in Kumburgaz were a hoax made up by a mockup or computer animation without having conducted an analysis or any kind of study.” Turkish ufology group, Sirius, had already done exhaustive research on this video. Their conclusions agreed with the scientists’ report.

After Professor OKtem had it analyzed, the report stated:

“The objects sighted in the aforementioned footage that have a structure that is made of specific material are definitely not made up by any kind of computer animation nor are they any form of special effects used for simulation in a studio or for a video effect therefore in conclusion it was decided that the sightings were neither a mockup or hoax. “

But do the Turkish scientists accidentally give ufology a bit of an assist here, by citing all the things the objects can’t be? Indie Turkish researchers from the Sirius ufology group suggest the scientists unwittingly help the cause here:

Furthermore in the last part of the report, it was concluded that these objects in the sightings that have physical and material structures do not belong in any category ( such as; planes, helicopters, meteors, Venus, Mars, satellites, fire balls, Chinese lantern… etc.) and but rather fall into the category of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects )…

You decide!

These pebbles were all photographed within a few metres of each other on the beach at Whiteford Point, Gower. A relatively small selection showing a wide  variety of shape, colour, texture, pattern and composition. There are limestones, sandstones, conglomerates, and fossils. Ovals, triangles, rectangles and boot-shapes! Red, yellow, orange, brown, buff, grey and blue-grey. Rusty patterns made by the inclusion of iron minerals within the stone. Patterns made by an assortment of rock types of different sizes cemented together. Designs formed by the inclusion of fossil corals. Patterns made by quartz veins in the mother rock. Pebbles derived from local rocks like Old Red Devonian sandstone, Carboniferous limestone, Millstone Grit and Coal Measures. Pebbles delivered to the Point from much further afield courtesy of an ice sheet.  

© Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog, 2009. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material, including both text and photographs, without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 Photographs in this blog are copyright property of Jessica Winder with all rights reserved

With the extension of the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit, the housing industry has seen a rush of interested people looking to take advantage.  Per an article in USA Today, the National Monthly home sales volume is up 21.4% from one year ago. With this huge increase, I have seen a larger number of people needing assistance with their credit in order to qualify for a home loan. I talked to Jeff Harris, a credit consultant in Raleigh, NC and asked him a few questions.  

Me: What do you see is the biggest misconception when it comes to credit (i.e. “I don’t have to pay that off because it falls of my credit report in 7 years”)?

Jeff: The biggest misconception that I see is that individuals don’t realize how much one slip or one mistake can damage one’s credit scores.  Even an individual with a perfect credit history can see his credit score drop anywhere from 75 to 100 points as a result of one late payment or one small collection account reporting.

Me:  What is the most common issue you see on credit reports?

Jeff: There are two issues that I most commonly see that negatively affect credit scores.  One is sporadic pay histories.  A lot of individuals do not realize how much late payments detrimentally affect scores and how long the recovery period will be.  Another major issue is individuals carrying high balances on their credit card accounts.  Fewer realize how much “maxing out” one’s credit lines hurt their scores.

Me:  Does paying off collections and/or judgments raise scores?

Jeff:  Typically, no.  Paying off collections and/or judgments usually have very little affect on one’s scores.  The majority of an individual’s credit scores come from the reported information related to their open, active accounts.

Me:  How long do collections and late payments stay on a credit report?

Jeff: All negative information can stay on a credit report for seven years from the last date of activity of the account.  In most states, public records such as bankruptcy, tax liens, and judgments can stay on the report for 10 years from the filing date.

Me:  What is the best way to check your credit scores?

Jeff: The new Fair Credit Reporting Act allows individuals to get a free copy of their credit report once a year directly from the credit bureaus.  Anyone can get a free copy of their credit directly from Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union by visiting the following government web-site:  https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp.  Unfortunately, obtaining your credit score is not free.  But once you get a copy of your credit from the credit bureaus, typically they will allow you to purchase your scores as well for about $10.

Me: With all the credit repair providers out there, what is the best advice you can give someone in need of help?

Jeff:  In the past, there was a brisk business for agencies that would promise to eliminate legitimate collection accounts and negative information from individuals’ credit reports by knowingly and repetitively disputing this information on their clients’ behalf.  In many instances, they were largely successful.  As more and more of these companies developed, the credit bureaus and creditors realized the issue was becoming a major problem.  The advent of new laws, technology, and automated verification systems, these tactics are now antiquated. There is no substitute for an accredited credit consultant who is familiar with how credit scoring works and can give sound advice to their clients on how to legitimately improve their credit scores and handle past credit issues.

This post is based on a true story … really!

There was an elderly, widowed 9th grade algebra teacher in Alabama, who, as a result of the years and the students she had to put up with, became convinced that she was an equilateral triangle.  When she was cornered, she always looked for a new angle, in her own way of circular thinking she could never measure up. She treated everyone equilaterally, until someone called her a square. Although this may have been an acute observation, it was not right. The Pythagorean who made this accusation did not realize that it was actually an obtuse theorem. The teacher was put on a plane, sent away and committed for her polygonous belief. Many thought that being institutionalized would scalene down her parallelanoia, however, it must have been geometrically impossible to solve that equation. To sum up … there is good news and bad news. The good news is that this teacher was cured of believing she was a triangle. The bad news: in a special, isoscelestic, 180° turn, she now thinks she is trapped inside a triangle. Does that mean that she is trapezoid?

Note: Puns have been added to protect the insanely and algebraically innocent.

Artwork by Lauren.

Le design industriel est souvent considéré comme une pratique dont l’ultime visée est de concevoir des produits. Qu’en est-il de toutes les pratiques périphériques qui contribuent à la richesse de la discipline ?

Marie-Hélène Héon & Annie Roy, designers entrepreneurs, Triangle

Une grande proportion des finissants en design industriel sont des femmes, alors qu’elles ne semblent pas représenter une aussi large proportion des praticiens actifs sur le marché du travail ? D’après vous, à quoi peut-on associer ce phénomène ?

Il y a une différence de visions sur le design industriel, est-ce que le design industriel n’est que le design de produit pur et dur qui est fait dans un bureau de design ou est-ce plus large que cela ? Qu’on le veuille ou non, le design évolue vers des avenues connexes, par exemple la  gestion et le marketing. Aussi, au sein d’un département de recherche et développement, la formation en design est importante pour pouvoir faire une bonne gestion, donc c’est aussi reconnaître que ces gens-là sont en design. Si on cherche toutes les personnes qui ont des formations en design et aussi des responsabilités connexes en design et bien peut-être que le pourcentage de femmes augmente un peu plus. Il y en a peut-être pas autant que l’on voudrait, mais il y en a certainement plus que l’on pense.

Jonathan Beaulieu, président, EDI

Entreprenariat & design sont-ils conciliables ? Si oui, à quel prix ?

Entreprenariat & design sont non seulement conciliables, mais selon nous (EDI – le regroupement des Entrepreneurs en Design Industriel) c’est essentiel. C’est-à-dire que pour avoir un positionnement clair, net et précis, ne serait-ce que pour partir sa propre ligne de produits ou pour être consultant, être entrepreneur c’est un repositionnement ! C’est difficile lorsque l’on est employé de se positionner, car on fait partie des meubles. On voit le phénomène apparaître lorsque l’on est consultant. On arrive, on peut bousculer, on peu « shaker » les piliers. Chose que l’on ne peut pas faire alors que l’on est employé. D’une autre façon, si on prend l’exemple de la consultation, il faut prendre un autre exemple pour le développement de produits. C’est évident que lorsque l’on veut faire un produit, son produit, il faut le lancer. Et puis de là part inévitablement une démarche d’entreprenariat.

Monday morning and setting up for my day and week.  Of the four options for me from my morning Relative Strength Analysis I like the look of GBPCHF short.

I liked the fact that there was CHF strength across the board and that there was a nice Descending triangle setting up. Also the lower line of support was lined up with S3, if that broke I felt this would be a ‘moo’ trade. Quite simply I’d keep selling till the cows come home. (I appreciate that pivot levels can be skewed on Mondays based upon how your charting package works out the levels but in this case there was enough price action / candles respecting the level to give me confidence).

My order was set to go short at 1.6718 ( 2 points below the low) with a catastrophe stop at 1.6760 ( quite wide for me) but I was happy that I would kill the trade far before that should it not go my way.

So the trap was set….but would it be sprung?  As you can see from the MACD there was divergence building so I was not holding my breath.

As you can see in the view above price did breakout……but it blew north which invalidated my trade idea. I removed my order and went back to looking at the markets.

Does that mean this was a bad trade?  Far from it.

Most Private Retail Traders are killed by a mix of over-trading and over-leveraging.  Amateurs love to be involved in ‘Trading’ – the buying and selling, the exposure to the market, the collection of profits and losses (mostly losses).  But the only people who make money from ‘Trading’ are the brokers.

I prefer to be a ‘Profit Planner’ and set traps for my trade ideas.  Should price enter my ambush then the trap is sprung and my trade plan is live.  Should price not do what I believe it will do then so be it. I remove the trap and go looking for other possible ambush opportunities.  I certainly don’t just jump on board the market at the first sign of movement!  The problem is most people find my style of trading boring, but that’s ok.  I know that having the patience and discipline to plan my trade and trade my plan is what sets me apart from the 95% of losers in Forex trading.

Onwards and upwards.

This book is a very good suspense/drama. To learn more about this book, and the author, Sondra D. Kelly go to www.createspace.com/3403536. You will love this book.

There are three main classification of Triangles with regards to the relative length of  their side namely;

• Equilateral Triangle,
• Isosceles Triangle, and
• Scalene Triangle

thank you wikipedia for the definition

As you can see, each triangle has corresponding persons that makes each triangle a Love Triangle. Here are the stories behind those Love Triangles.

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First we have the famous love triangle of  Kevin Federline, Britney Spears and Shar Jackson. Let us consider this an Equilateral Love Triangle wherein both Britney and Shar indeed had an equal relationship with Kevin Federline since they have both tried marrying Kevin and had some sad times during at some point in both relationships. See how Equilateral?

See full article. . .Thanks Castina for this article.

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And then next is this Isoceles Love Triangle. This is a romantic love triangle wherein a girl, for example, really can’t say whether which of the two guys really has the edge over her heart.

Have you ever watched Boys Over Flowers? I really love Boys Over flowers a lot because of its unique love triangle story between Gu Jum Pyo, Geum Jan Di and Yoon Ji Hoo. At first, Geum Jan Di really is seeking for the love of his “soulmate” Yoon Ji Hoo but later on, this rude guy, Gu Jun Pyo came in and then changed everything. Here in this TV drama, you will see how Geum Jan Di really had a hard time to choose the real one. . . since both sides are equal!

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Lastly is the Scalene Love Triangle. Who knows about the love triangle of the Kapuso Stars Kris Bernal, Marky Cielo and Aljur Abrenica? Eventhough both of Marky and Aljur are very consistent pleasing this lovely lady, none of them really have tried courting her. Maybe there’s something that is happening, but as what Kris said, there’s no instance that both tried courting her and then that they are only good friends. As what Kris said, there’s no edge between Aljur and Marky in her heart. Both of them really has a special place in her heart and that theirs no one parallel to her. See how this love triangle goes?

Read more. . .

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Throughout the world, where car runs, where our wheel locks(tire lock), www.cn-std.com

At work, I’m currently managing a team in India that is doing our testing. And they’re doing everything possible, I think, to drive me crazy. The shenanigans continued today. *multiple headdesks*

My ankle still hurts. Yesterday, walking up and down stairs was awful; today is better, but not great. I thought I was okay by class time, though, so I didn’t tape it. Wrong answer. Just jogging was too much (it’s my left ankle, and that one was on the inside as we jogged, so more pressure); then side-to-side, ow. Bear crawls, not so great, either. Shrimping, mostly okay as long as I didn’t hit a funky angle. Alligators, okay again; also working very hard to bend my elbows, though it’s currently a two-step process and so takes me a little longer to finish.

Single legs… crap. I usually shoot on my left foot, so that was out. But my right big toe has some kind of turf toe thing going on and doesn’t want to bend, so shooting was painful and slow on that side, but I did it. Then shoot and sprawl… slow shoot on the right, then sprawl onto left forearm and right hand (since left wrist still hurts), but then couldn’t get back to my feet without pushing off my left ankle, and that wasn’t going anywhere. I tried twice, and both times had to scoot back on my butt to the wall. Squat jumps were actually the best tonight; go figure. Hammies and glutes were awake and working, so quads didn’t burn out. Then front rolls; one trip, as usual, because of dizziness.

Rolling. Justin first. Not getting away with anything sloppy, and so not getting anything. Swept and caught; try defense? Nope. Tap. Repeat. The good news is I got caught with fewer of the things I usually fall for, since I actually recognized that I was setting myself up for it; the bad news is I found lots more things to fall for. Oh well.

Then Tim put me with one of the spazzy new guys. (My guys had actually been talking about these two right before class. They’ve come in at least one night, maybe more, probably on Wednesdays. Definitely not guys I want to roll with.) My hips, however, woke up. He tried to just run around my legs, and I chased him around and snagged guard. He — and the other guy, too, though they didn’t come together — both grabbed my wrists to pin my arms down and then dropped all their weight on me when I had them in guard. Yeah, this is fun, no one can move. This first guy apparently has some wrestling background, so he eventually moved on to trying to can-opener me and then break my arm off kimura me from inside my guard. Grr. Escaped from those. He was panting and puffing and straining; I was sighing and slipping around and thinking This is so boring… I hit a scissor sweep finally, which freaked him out. I went with his frantic shoving and back to guard rather than have my other ankle get crushed. I actually was hunting submissions and sweeps, but just couldn’t find any among the tension, jerking, and grunting. Dropped into half guard often, looking to sweep, but he’d freak again and sprawl; that much, he knew how to do.

Then Tim put me with the other new spazzy guy. Really, I think one was plenty. I mean, I know what you want from me, and I’d be glad to give it to you, except I’m banged up and tired so I’m not much good to you right now…. Oh, fine. This guy has no wrestling background, which made him a little easier to deal with, even though he was also tense, jerking, and grunting. He also tried to just run around my guard, and my hips weren’t having it. Also got him in guard; he reached back to break my guard, and I hit that triangle nice and deep and slick. I was feeling nice and so pointed out what he’d done; he remembered for the next minute or two, and then forgot. Did hit a couple of scissor sweeps on him; he tried to spaz from under mount, but didn’t really know how. Again hunting sweeps and submissions, though again was having a hard time finding them, and again moving to half guard. But also again, he was panting and straining, while I was bored.

Hey, looky, I rolled with spazzy new guys and 1) I didn’t panic, 2) I actually tried — and hit! — sweeps, and 3) I actually finished a submission. Yay!! Gold star for me! Now, I didn’t try to push the pace, which I probably could have, but I didn’t want them freaking out even more than they already were, which was plenty. Now if only I could figure out how to strip a grip that goes all the way around my wrist…

Drilling was a choke/shoulder lock, similar to this one (just a different start). We started in reverse scarf hold. Far arm blocks their hip; the elbow comes tight into their armpit. Near arm plants palm down on the mat to block their hip. Switch hips through to north/south and walk around to reverse scarf hold on the other side. Scoop their now-inside arm as you come around and swing your new far-side arm out and around in front of their face, catching their far-side arm with your triceps and dragging it across their face, so their far-side arm is pulled across their face and under their chin. Take that same hand and swim it under their head, diving deep through. Bring your other arm up to the far side of their head; grab the bicep of that arm with the through arm (or grab the forearm, or even gable grip). Squeeze to finish.

We had an odd number for drilling, so I was going to join another pair, when Perry sent in one of the giggling girls to be my partner. She was apparently the only one who had showed up for his class tonight, so he was going to cancel class, and she’d said she’d always wanted to try BJJ, so he sent her in to drill with me. And she giggled. The. Whole. Time. (And Tim made faces at me every time she did, which was making me giggle!) Kind of tried to be light and not so tight on her, because she’s never done this before. She still said I was really tight and heavy. The first time I applied the choke/lock, she said, “Yeah, you got it.” I asked if she meant that as a tap; she said, “Oh! Yes!” so we had a little talk about how to tap. Tim had to come over and walk her through how to do the technique, since she really had no clue (and it’s hard to explain while someone’s sitting on your head). By the end, she was doing it pretty well. And she was covered in my sweat, for which I apologized.

During drilling, in a pair that included the first new guy and a blue belt, the new guy was practicing the move. The blue belt tapped. The guy cranked harder. The blue belt tapped again. The guy cranked harder. The blue belt got mad and escaped the hold and was out for blood; the newbie spazzed. Justin broke it up and told the new guy that he’d come *this* close to getting choked unconscious (if he hadn’t let go when Justin told him to, or if the blue belt had gotten there first), that you let go when your partner taps. Forget an intro class — I think I’d rather whack ‘em all upside the head first.

We went back to rolling, and the girl ran away to sit with Tim. (And to giggle.) Big Tommy first. It’s like trying to sweep a mountain, and that’s when he’s not even trying to have a heavy base. I don’t think I ever got on top or had a sweep. We fought a lot from our knees and sitting as neither of us would concede the bottom.

Tim put me with the second new guy again. (Then again, most of the other choices weren’t so great, either.) Again he mostly held on for dear life. Did get a few more sweeps, but also caught more elbows to the face. Did several things (not sure entirely what) that apparently astonished him; he’d exclaim, “Oh, nice” as I slid past. I did roll my eyes at Tim several times during the roll — Why are you inflicting this on me?! — because I was bored and annoyed. Wanted bump sweep, but he’d slam me back down. From there once hit a scissor sweep to mount, to S-mount, worked for the armbar; he grabbed my fingers and tried to snap them off. While I recovered my fingers, he postured up, but left a triangle sitting there; got it after a bit of work. Nearly through another sweep, my left calf cramped up something awful; had to call out, “Wait, stop, stop!” and massage it out. (Can’t stretch it out because the ankle won’t bend. Ack.) Great, so now my left leg is out of commission, as are both of my wrists (did something to the right one at some point in class), and we’re still rolling. Rest of the round, I was still looking for sweeps and submissions, though.

I thought about saying something to both spazzy new boys. That’s not as good as actually saying something, but it’s a step in the right direction. Guess I should at least mention the illegal stuff before they try it on someone who will rip their arm off first and point out their mistakes later.

I’ll be a good girl and sit out from Open Mat tomorrow to give my ankle, calf, and wrists some time to heal. Then Saturday I’ll have to leave class early for the last home football game of the season. Next week we have a couple of days off for Thanksgiving. I might get some rest eventually. — And whoa, I have a tournament in two weeks!! !! Oh boy…

FighterGirls.com has a new line of grappling shorts called the “Boyfriend Shorts.” They look great, and they’re supposed to be a wider and more relaxed cut, which would be good because all the regular shorts now are a slim cut, which I am not. I ordered a pair on Monday; they came today. And… they’re not so relaxed. Maybe if you ordered two sizes up…? (The site now recommends ordering 1 size up. Which, frankly, defeats the purpose of making a “relaxed” cut. And even one size would make them too long for my short legs.) The pair I ordered from FG a year and a half ago is the best pair of shorts I own, and I keep hoping to find another pair like those. Subsequent pairs, however, have not met expectations, even though I’ve kept them (because I’ve never returned anything (exchanged, yes; returned, no), and because I need another pair of shorts), but these’ll be going back. First time for everything :/

Each one of two of the vertices of an equilateral triangle lies inside a closed disk. Find the locus of the third vertex of the equilateral triangle.

Apparently I have enough time to update my post tag list, nothing new in the land of N yet, trying to figure out how I’m going to interlink all of my story’s into movuies and stuff.

Pentru toate vanatoarele de preturi mici: REDUCERI inainte de sarbatori! Sariti cu comenzile pana pe 6 decembrie, cand vine MOS NICOLAE !

Mai jos: LUCRUSOARE EXTRA NOI!

(cerceii au tortite de argint, deh, generozitatea asta)

Bratara “Albastru 100%” – 24 lei     20 lei (REZERVATA)

Cercei “Albastru 100%” – 17 lei     12 lei (REZERVATI)

Bratara “Figurine cuprate” – 24 lei     20 lei  (UNA a fost DATA, A MAI RAMAS doar UNA)

Bratara “Flower power” – 24 lei     18 lei

Bratara “Verde invechit” – 25 lei     20 lei

Cercei “Triunghi tripolar” – 17 lei     13 lei

Cercei “Ursuletul astronaut”/”Ursuletul teleportat”- 15 lei    12 lei

Cercei ” My blue heart” – 16 lei     12 lei

Cercei “Puppy” – 17 lei     14 lei (REZERVATI)

Bratara “Inima mea nu ti-o dau” – 24 lei     19 lei

Bratara “Pretty in green” – 22 lei     18 lei

Cercei “Bomboana de aur” – 18 lei  (optishpe)   14 lei

Colier “Foita aurie” – 28 lei  (doua’sh’opt)   22 lei

Colier “Frunzulita” – 32 lei     26 lei

Cercei “Frunzulita” – 16 lei     12 lei

Bratarile “Alien”  -   24 lei    19 lei

Cerceii “Alien” – 16 lei     13 lei

Bratara “Millefiori galben” – 22 lei     18 lei

Cerceii “Millefiori galben” – 13 lei     10 lei

Bratara “Pretty in mauve” – 25 lei     20 lei

Brosa “Bluesome” – 22 lei     18 lei

Bratara “Golden Swirl” – 25 lei     21 lei

Bratara “Cadre negre” – 23 lei     18 lei (REZERVATA)

Bratara “Vartej albastru” – 25 lei     20 lei

Bratara “Black blue dots” – 24 lei     19 lei

Cercei “Vrajitorul” – 16 lei     12 lei

Bratara “Classy Murano” – 25 lei     23 lei

Cercei “Ochiul lui Allah” – 16 lei     12 lei

Cercei “Old School” – 15 lei     12 lei

Cercei “Rochita turquoise” – 17 lei     13 lei

Cercei “Rochita mov” – 17 lei     13 lei

Bratara pentru copii “Life is colourful” – 18 lei  (optishpe)   13 lei

Bratara pentru copii “Floral marin” – 18 lei  (optishpe)   13 lei

Bratara pentru copii “Florile copilariei” – 18 lei  (optishpe)   14 lei

Cercei pentru copii “Floricica rosie” – 10 lei     6 lei

I recently had a conversation with David Cozzarelli who is a licensed appraiser and the owner of Apex Appraisals. I asked him about changes in the appraisal industry and how it is affecting home transactions in the Triangle. If you are looking to purchase or refinance a home in the Triangle, you really need to hear what he had to say.

Me:  I’ve had several people ask me recently about the new appraisal rules. Can you give me a little update on new appraisal regulations?

David: The regulations you are talking about deal with HVCC

Me: What is HVCC? What is its purpose?

David:  HVCC was created as part of an agreement by Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York and Fannie & Freddy.  In exchange for dropping the class action lawsuit against them as a result of the Washington Mutual case, Freddy & Fannie agreed to the HVCC as a policy in order for them to buy the loans. HVCC’s purpose was to change the relationship between borrowers, lenders and appraisers.

Me:  How did it change these relationships?

David: It narrowed the scope of communication borrowers, lenders and appraisers can have between each other. The biggest change was pushing brokers into using Appraisal Management Company’s, AMCs, to order appraisals. AMCs act as a third party and eliminates direct communication between lenders and appraisers.

Me:  Are these AMCs local or National? How do they push brokers into using AMCs?

David:  Most AMCs are National or Regional. There are some that exist on a local level but they make up the minority.  Lenders are requiring all brokers they do business to use AMCs. This recreates the Washington Mutual issue in that there is a direct oversight by the lender with the AMC. Through this direct link, there is an opportunity to direct the direction of the value, especially since AMC’s are not subject to supervision the Banking Commission or the Appraisal Board.  Banks and Correspondent Lenders are not required to use a third party, but the loan originators or any support staff that is paid any portion of the loan origination fees are not allowed to order the appraisal. 

Me:  How are appraisals ordered or assigned by an AMC? Are they bid on or are they assigned on a rotating basis?

David:  There is no rotation.  AMC’s broadcast the appraisal orders to their panel of appraisers. The first appraiser to accept a $175.00 to $200.00 fee gets the order. Since AMC’s are not concerned with how long it takes to get the order back, appraisers sit on the orders until they have a number in the same area.  This is both an expense reduction & time management strategy by the appraisers, who are trying squeak out a living with significantly reduced fees.

Me:  That doesn’t sound like the most effective way nor does it sound like it takes the borrowers timeframe. With the appraisers normally charging $400 to $450 per appraisal, it seems like they are taking a big pay cut on appraisals completed for AMCs. Has this caused an issue in the quality of appraisals being completed thru AMCs?

David: Since AMC’s keep a significant percentage of the appraisal fee, only inexperienced, bitter (lost their direct broker business), and out area appraisers are willing to do this work. In order to make what they made before, they must do the appraisals twice as fast.  The path of least resistance is to use the lowest valued home sales comparables available.  A typical condition that a mortgage loan underwriter asks for are additional comparables which were not used that were lower in value. If the appraiser working through a AMC uses the lowest sales comparables, then there are no conditions to answer for.  This streamlines the appraiser’s work. The big problem here is that it does not provide a true market value.  

Me: Wow. That’s huge. That can really hurt the property values of people not even directly involved in the transaction – like the neighbors of the home being purchased or refinanced.

David:  Absolutely. I am definitely seeing that to be the case.

Me: So the regulation, HVCC, that came into effect earlier this year and had the purpose of letting appraisers estimate a true value of a home’s worth without any outside influence i.e lenders, customers, and real estate agents, has in many cases failed because of the quality of appraisals being done by the AMCs?

David: Correct. Now in some instances people have been able to purchase homes for a lesser value than what they really are, but overall it has had a negative effect on home values.

Me: Are there any proposals for amending or dropping HVCC?

David: Federal Bill HR 3126 has gone out of committee and will be debated in both The House and The Senate at some time in the future.  And of course the President would have to sign it.  In North Carolina there is a change that has been proposed. 716 is a bill that would provide oversight of AMC’s by the Appraisal Board.  This bill has passed the State House, and is at the State Senate.  This week a petition will be delivered to Andrew Cuomo with over 500,000 signatures and horror stories of the issues caused by the HVCC.  The HVCC is not a consumer friendly policy, but instead has driven 40% of the appraisal orders through AMC’s, where prior to this year, they had 15% of the orders.  I am not confident of changes, since not enough home owners are up in arms about it yet….our Senators and Congressmen are not hearing enough complaints from the voters in their districts.

Triangles are assumed to be two-dimensional plane figures, unless the context provides otherwise (see Non-planar triangles, below). In rigorous treatments, a triangle is therefore called a 2-simplex (see also Polytope). Elementary facts about triangles were presented by Euclid in books 1–4 of his Elements, around 300 BC.

The measures of the interior angles of a triangle in Euclidean space always add up to 180 degrees. This allows determination of the measure of the third angle of any triangle as soon as the measure of two angles are known. An exterior angle of a triangle is an angle that is a linear pair (and hence supplementary) to an interior angle. The measure of an exterior angle of a triangle is equal to the sum of the measures of the two interior angles that are not adjacent to it; this is the exterior angle theorem. The sum of the measures of the three exterior angles (one for each vertex) of any triangle is 360 degrees.

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Consider closed disks in the plane with disjoint interiors, all having the same diameter. Prove that we can pick three of them such that we can’t find any equilateral triangle having every one of its vertices in one of the three circles.

I thought I would spend some time tonight discussing a recent yoga experience I had that left me truly inspired.

I grew up in Danville, IL. It was a great place to be a kid and I knew a lot of really incredible people there. It afforded me many opportunities as a high schooler. But it also has some pronounced disadvantages. I knew that once college ended and I stopped having long breaks to return home, I would only visit a day or so at a time to see family. I knew my social life in Danville would end abruptly.

Danville isn’t a bad place, but it also isn’t exactly on the cutting-edge or trendy side of things. So I was shocked when I found out that they were having a yoga retreat this year, in October. It happened to be the weekend before I was scheduled to attend my Level 1 YogaFit training, and I thought it would be a great warm-up to a weekend of training. It was that, and so much more!

The retreat was hosted by Gordon Alexander, who became interested in the martial arts while serving in the Army in the 1960s. His background is in Tai Chi, which inevitably led him to yoga. The day was from 8:30-5 and included six one-hour sessions. We broke for lunch and we were treated to a martial arts demonstration by some of Gordon’s yoga students. Lunch was great — soup and bread — and just the right sort of light meal to accompany a day of yoga.

The best part? The entire day was $20. TWENTY DOLLARS! For six hours of yoga with really amazing instructors, lunch, and networking with fellow yogis. I couldn’t really afford not to go.

I started the day with Kripalu yoga with Gordon. His flexibility really impressed me, and I can only hope to maintain that sort of strength when I’m his age.

Next, I went to a Yoga for Strength and Endurance class with Chuck Crosby from Indianapolis, IN. Chuck blew my mind. It was with his help that I came into the best tree pose of my life. He makes teaching look so easy, and I have to say I have borrowed some of my favorite cues from him. He kept an excellent flow going through class while still making me sweat.

My last class before lunch was Iyengar with Thom Adams from The Shanti Center in Terre Haute, IN. I know that this is the class that made me sore the next day! I had never experienced Iyengar before, but I was very impressed. Simply put, Iyengar focuses on just a few poses during one class, and you hold the poses for much longer and spend a lot of time focusing on your alignment in each pose. We did Warrior I, Warrior II, Triangle, and Side Angle/Extended Side Angle. I think a Vinyasa (flow) style class is more my style than Iyengar is, but learned a lot from Thom. If you read his bio at The Shanti Center, you’ll find out that he’s also a bodybuilder and a professor of mechanical engineering. So long stereotypes!!! He also has a tattoo of a unicorn on his shoulder…which was adorable, if distracting. ; )

After lunch, I took a Vinyasa class with Amy Luke of Heart Wisdom Yoga. It was the most standard class for me, a lot like the practice I get at my fitness class. I can’t find a website for Amy, or else I would share it with you.

I couldn’t resist – I went to Chuck’s class again next. He is just outstanding!

The last class I went to was Restorative with Rachel Burge. Let me tell you – after 5 hours of yoga (two of them being Yoga for Strength and Endurance!), I needed the restoration. Rachel did not disappoint. The last 30 minutes or so of her class we practiced something called wakeful sleeping, basically putting your body to sleep while keeping your mind engaged. Rachel led us through a stunning guided meditation.

All in all, I was so incredibly thankful for the opportunity of the Danville area yoga retreat. It was really unbelievable to spend the day with other yoga folks and get to experience so many different approaches to something I love. I left feeling so inspired by the people I met and so enthusiastic about my YogaFit training the following weekend. The Saturday I spent in Danville injected my practice with a dose of energy I really needed. I can only hope Gordon will organize the retreat again next year!

Namaste,
Jamie

as a big level.  We will allow for another move higher and back to this area due to the timing but this is clearly an important area on the charts.  We wouldn’t be surprised to see a break of the support level here to bring in some duration hedges then a quick reversal higher to break the triangle.  Our minimum target would be in the 3.80%/4.00% neighborhood with a more drastic 4.50%/5.00% area on a major puke which we think this will become.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting a series of blogs with each blog consisting of a Question and Answer session with local Real Estate & Banking professionals. If you are looking to purchase or refinance a home in the Raleigh/Durham area, this information will be of the utmost importance to you.

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Erica McClenny, Realtor and co-owner of eRealty Inc. She has been a top producing Realtor for the past 9 years in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area with over 300 transactions closed to date. I asked her a few questions about what she has experienced over the past few months with Real Estate in the Triangle

Me:  The news outlets would have everyone believe that purchasing a home is more difficult than ever. Is that true?

Erica: Actually that is false.  The fact is buying a home right now if you have decent credit, a stable job and a small amount of money saved makes buying a home simple.  What the media isn’t talking about is the problem.  Many people were over buying in price and/or lack of stable credit before the mortgage market collapsed.  The loan guidelines had softened too much.  Qualifying is step #1!

Me:  What is largest group of home buyers right now?

Erica: Here in the Raleigh, NC area I’m seeing buyers from $80,000- $325,000 as the most active.  FHA is very popular since you can purchase with 3.5% down payment.  In the outlying areas like Wendell, Zebulon, Garner, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina…100% financing is possible with a USDA loan.  The price range of buyer grabbing up deals is under $200,000 for sure!

Me:  How has the First Time Home Buyers tax credit helped your business?

Erica:  The Tax Credit has made a small difference in my business.  I always focus on providing information versus selling homes.  Personally, I’m selling homes credit or not!

Me:  Do you think there will be a big increase in “moving up” buyers with the creation of a tax credit for them?

Erica: I do think there will be an influx of move up buyers after the holidays.  Many of them are scrambling to prepare their home for sale come January 2010.  It’s a really smart move to make.  My only fear is the flood of homes for sale may drive prices down due to competition. 

Me:  What is the biggest obstacle that you are having to overcome when it comes to someone buying a home?

Erica: Tough one!  I think it’s different for every buyer.  If it’s a single person buying their first home, they want to be sure they are making a smart financial move.  If it’s a young family, stable schools are a big factor.  Here in Wake County you can never bet on that though!  It really is a personal questions, everyone has their own issue.

Me: Foreclosures get a lot of exposure in the media. How have foreclosures affected the Triangle real estate market?

Erica:  Prior to 2007, foreclosures did not impact the market heavily.  They have now but the bigger issue is short sales.  The banks have taken on so many homes that short sales are becoming the norm over foreclosures.  The impact is substantially different from $125,000 homes to $800,000 homes but values have been hit across the board for sure.

Me: If you could offer one piece of advice to someone looking to buy a home, what would it be?

Erica: If it’s your first home, INTERVIEW an agent before you sign a buyer agency agreement.  If you’re selling and moving up to another home, make sure you have a plan in place if you home sells faster than you anticipate.  Bottom line for ALL interested home buyers is to get qualified first.  You don’t know what your budget to house hunt is until a lender has reviewed your entire financial picture.  It’s much easier to go up in price than it is to go down.  You’ll always be comparing if you look high first.  That’s a hard obstacle to overcome! 

The other group of triangle is classified by their internal angles. They are namely;

• Right Love Triangle
• Acute Love Triangle
• Obtuse Love Triangle
• Equiangular Love Triangle

Thanks to wikipedia for this definition

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Let’s review the different types of triangle with this very simple video.

This would really help you in recalling the concepts about the triangle.

from- Youtube