6eff`ohhhhnine :D

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 @ 1:57 AM

Reader's digest bankruptcy?!

NEW YORK - The publisher of Reader's Digest, the country's most popular general interest magazine, said Monday it will file for Chapter 11 protection with a plan to swap a portion of its debt for ownership of the company.

Reader's Digest Association Inc., which also markets books and publishes dozens of other magazines and Web sites, said it has reached an agreement in principle with a majority of lenders to erase a portion of $1.6 billion in senior secured notes. The lenders will get ownership in return.

Already, this year's advertising declines have prompted the shuttering of several high-profile magazines, including Conde Nast's Portfolio, Domino and Blender.

Reader's Digest CEO Mary Berner insisted, though, that the company's U.S. magazines remain strong, with the number of ad pages down less than 6 percent through the September editions. She said Reader's Digest titles rely less on luxury brands and high-income tastes, giving them an added appeal in a recession that has clobbered much of the print media industry.

"Our brands are home and heartland. Our brands have a very, very Midwestern sensibility _ a back-to-basics sensibility," she said in an interview. "Reader's Digest has actually done quite well."

She said some additions for the company, including the magazine Everyday with Rachael Ray and cooking site AllRecipes.com, have succeeded as well.

Instead, Berner blamed two underperforming properties the company agreed to sell off last year: Books Are Fun Ltd., a company that sells books at events and book fairs, and QSP, which assists with fundraising for schools and youth groups.

Even so, Reader's Digest, the iconic monthly magazine founded in 1922 as a collection of condensed articles from other publications, has been searching for a new niche as the Internet upends the magazine industry's traditional business models.

In June, the magazine announced it would cut the circulation guarantee it makes to advertisers to 5.5 million, from 8 million and lower its frequency to 10 issues a year from 12.

In the second half of last year, the U.S. edition of Reader's Digest had circulation of 8.2 million, down from a peak of roughly 17 million in the 1970s.

The planned bankruptcy filing, which does not include operations outside the United States, marks the latest stage in a long evolution for the company.

Reader's Digest went public in 1990 and was initially controlled by a charitable foundation set up by the company's founders, DeWitt and Lila Wallace. The company bought out the foundation's shares in 2002.

Ripplewood Holdings LLC, a New York private equity firm, led a consortium of investors in a $1.6 billion buyout that took the company private in 2007. Those investors include GoldenTree Asset Management, GSO Capital Partners, Merrill Lynch Capital Corp., J. Rothschild Group and Magnetar Capital.

In a statement Monday, Berner said the decision to file for Chapter 11 follows "months of intensive strategic review of our balance-sheet issues."

The company said it will skip a $27 million interest payment on its 9 percent notes due in 2017 while it looks to build support among lenders for its restructuring plans.

The agreement includes $150 million in "Debtor-in-Possession" loans to finance the company during bankruptcy protection. Overall, the company plans to shrink its debt from $2.2 billion to $550 million following Chapter 11. It said the "vast majority" of suppliers will be paid in full under the bankruptcy plan.

The company said it will seek further agreements from lenders and other stakeholders before making a formal bankruptcy filing within a month. Its largest debt holders, led by J.P. Morgan Chase, include GE Capital, Aries Management, DK Partners, Regiment Capital and Merrill Lynch. The company expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection 45 to 90 days after the filing.

Aside from Berner, all of the company's board members who have served since Ripplewood's $1.6 billion acquisition of the company in 2007 have resigned. Two members who recently joined will continue to serve.

Finding credit card numbers?! OMG

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - A 28-year-old man was charged with the largest credit card theft ever in the United States, in which more than 130 million card numbers were stolen, the Justice Department said.

Albert Gonzalez, of Miami, Florida, and two co-conspirators were accused of hacking into the computer networks of firms supporting major American retail and financial organizations and stealing data.

The two co-conspirators were not named and were identified in the indictment handed down in New Jersey only as "Hacker 1" and "Hacker 2" living "in or near Russia."

Beginning in October 2006, Gonzalez used a sophisticated hacking technique to get around firewalls and steal information related to more than 130 million credit and debit cards, the Justice Department said in a statement.

"The scheme is believed to constitute the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the US Department of Justice," the US Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said.

Targeted companies included Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey-based card payment processor; 7-Eleven Inc., a Texas-based nationwide convenience store chain; and Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc., a Maine-based supermarket chain.

Gonzalez and his co-conspirators sent stolen data to computer servers they operated in Latvia, the Netherlands, the United States and Ukraine and used "sophisticated hacker techniques to cover their tracks and to avoid detection by anti-virus software used by their victims," the Justice Department said.

Gonzalez, who operated online as "segvec," "soupnazi" and "j4guar17," was charged with conspiracy and conspiracy to engage in wire fraud.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy and an additional five years in prison for conspiracy as well as a fine of 250,000 dollars for each charge.

Gonzalez is scheduled to go on trial in New York next month on separate charges for allegedly hacking into the computer network of a national restaurant chain.

He is facing a separate trial next year in yet another case, in which he is accused of hacking into the computer networks of eight major retailers and stealing data related to 40 million credit cards.

UK got UFO???

LONDON (AFP) - - Lemon-headed aliens, scrambled fighter jets and mysterious lights over a cemetery were among details of some 800 UFO sightings released by British authorities Monday.

But another intriguing finding to emerge from the 1981-1996 archives was a surge in reports at the time of UFO-related blockbusters such as 1996's "Independence Day," not to mention the British television run of "The X-Files."

Among the most striking accounts released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is that of two boys who reported being spoken to by an alien with a lemon-shaped head, who appeared before them in a field on May 4, 1995.

"We want you, come with us," said the alien's voice, according to a police report filed after the youngsters, who seemed "agitated and distressed," recounted their experiences.

"They stated the object was about four houses high in the sky and about forty foot away from them," said the report, adding that when officers went to check two days later, they found only a farmer spraying his crops.

In another account bound to excite ufologists, a former armed forces chief urged authorities to take more seriously a report by US Air Force (USAF) staff near an airbase in eastern England.

The individuals "reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest," said a report by a US air force commander, recounting what three of his staff told him of the incident, early on the morning of December 27, 1980.

"It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it manoeuvred through the trees and disappeared."

Then there is the report of how, between November 1989 and April 1990, the Belgian air force scrambled F-16 fighter jets to investigate a series of UFO sightings -- and reportedly "locked on" to them with their radars.

"The mystery remains unresolved," wrote General Wilfried de Brouwer, Chief of Operations, Belgian Air Staff, adding that despite being sceptical, "the evidence was remarkable."

One of the spookiest incidents occurred in the early hours of July 15, 1996, when a UFO was spotted hovering over a cemetery in Widnes, northwest England, before firing burning laser beams into the ground.

Cynics would note that the man involved was heading home from a night out at the time -- possibly in a similar mental state to two revellers who claimed to have seen a UFO hovering over the jazz tent at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival.

And sceptics will also point to a more general trend made clear by the latest archives.

In 1995 there were 117 UFO sightings reported to authorities, but this spiked to 609 in 1996, according to the MoD reports, released after a three-year project with the National Archives.

"It's evident there is some connection between newspaper stories, TV programmes and films about alien visitors and the numbers of UFO sightings reported," said UFO expert and journalism lecturer David Clarke.

"Aside from 1996, one of the busiest years for UFO sightings reported to the MoD over the past half century was 1978 -- the year 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' was released," added Clarke.

wow this is a real big BOT(bullk of text)

FireLibra

Civilized People (: ♥: Cheryl Heng, Chew Yi Jing, Divya Balakrishnan, Emily Blackburn, Stefanie Ho, Jastina Suah, Katharine Ng, Khong Ting Feng, Nicole Lee, ~~Jenny Lee~~, Liu Yu Xi, Mao Xi Yun, May Thu Lwin, Gina Poh, Siah Sze Fann, Siti Muneera, Brittany Tan, Tan Zhi Rui, Tang Hui Xin, ~~Tao Jia Qi~~, Venisa Leong, Wong Shi Ying, Zhou Yu ♥: Keith Cheang, John Foo, Khairuddin, Albert Li, Lionel Lim, Jonathan Lim, Malcolm Harris, Marcus Chin, Gerald Ong, ~~Benjamin Shi~~, Tai Kai Jie, Tan Shao Bin, Benjamin Tan, Tan Zi Jun, Vijay Ramanujan, Martin Wong, Zhang Yao Hua, Zhu Hong Zhi ♥: Ms Grace Phang, Mrs Tina Ng, Ms Chew, Mdm Tan Yian Loo, Mr Taufek, Mr Samath, Ms Chua, Ms Kwek, Mdm Kum
Thursday, August 27, 2009 @ 3:47 AM hey thr ppl . the cbox has been removed temporary . it'll be a little ... irritating i guess? without a tagboard , thn lazy ppl will nt be able to tag , cause they dont want to post . hah , jk . anw , it will be back be soon i hope . we'll see . anw, i'll post more after PSLE . yes, i do realise how irritating it is . why ? you dont have to know .. goodluck to everyone for prelim/PSLE :] - CHERYL , back to top?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 @ 1:57 AM Reader's digest bankruptcy?! NEW YORK - The publisher of Reader's Digest, the country's most popular general interest magazine, said Monday it will file for Chapter 11 protection with a plan to swap a portion of its debt for ownership of the company. Reader's Digest Association Inc., which also markets books and publishes dozens of other magazines and Web sites, said it has reached an agreement in principle with a majority of lenders to erase a portion of $1.6 billion in senior secured notes. The lenders will get ownership in return. Already, this year's advertising declines have prompted the shuttering of several high-profile magazines, including Conde Nast's Portfolio, Domino and Blender. Reader's Digest CEO Mary Berner insisted, though, that the company's U.S. magazines remain strong, with the number of ad pages down less than 6 percent through the September editions. She said Reader's Digest titles rely less on luxury brands and high-income tastes, giving them an added appeal in a recession that has clobbered much of the print media industry. "Our brands are home and heartland. Our brands have a very, very Midwestern sensibility _ a back-to-basics sensibility," she said in an interview. "Reader's Digest has actually done quite well." She said some additions for the company, including the magazine Everyday with Rachael Ray and cooking site AllRecipes.com, have succeeded as well. Instead, Berner blamed two underperforming properties the company agreed to sell off last year: Books Are Fun Ltd., a company that sells books at events and book fairs, and QSP, which assists with fundraising for schools and youth groups. Even so, Reader's Digest, the iconic monthly magazine founded in 1922 as a collection of condensed articles from other publications, has been searching for a new niche as the Internet upends the magazine industry's traditional business models. In June, the magazine announced it would cut the circulation guarantee it makes to advertisers to 5.5 million, from 8 million and lower its frequency to 10 issues a year from 12. In the second half of last year, the U.S. edition of Reader's Digest had circulation of 8.2 million, down from a peak of roughly 17 million in the 1970s. The planned bankruptcy filing, which does not include operations outside the United States, marks the latest stage in a long evolution for the company. Reader's Digest went public in 1990 and was initially controlled by a charitable foundation set up by the company's founders, DeWitt and Lila Wallace. The company bought out the foundation's shares in 2002. Ripplewood Holdings LLC, a New York private equity firm, led a consortium of investors in a $1.6 billion buyout that took the company private in 2007. Those investors include GoldenTree Asset Management, GSO Capital Partners, Merrill Lynch Capital Corp., J. Rothschild Group and Magnetar Capital. In a statement Monday, Berner said the decision to file for Chapter 11 follows "months of intensive strategic review of our balance-sheet issues." The company said it will skip a $27 million interest payment on its 9 percent notes due in 2017 while it looks to build support among lenders for its restructuring plans. The agreement includes $150 million in "Debtor-in-Possession" loans to finance the company during bankruptcy protection. Overall, the company plans to shrink its debt from $2.2 billion to $550 million following Chapter 11. It said the "vast majority" of suppliers will be paid in full under the bankruptcy plan. The company said it will seek further agreements from lenders and other stakeholders before making a formal bankruptcy filing within a month. Its largest debt holders, led by J.P. Morgan Chase, include GE Capital, Aries Management, DK Partners, Regiment Capital and Merrill Lynch. The company expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection 45 to 90 days after the filing. Aside from Berner, all of the company's board members who have served since Ripplewood's $1.6 billion acquisition of the company in 2007 have resigned. Two members who recently joined will continue to serve. Finding credit card numbers?! OMG WASHINGTON (AFP) - - A 28-year-old man was charged with the largest credit card theft ever in the United States, in which more than 130 million card numbers were stolen, the Justice Department said. Albert Gonzalez, of Miami, Florida, and two co-conspirators were accused of hacking into the computer networks of firms supporting major American retail and financial organizations and stealing data. The two co-conspirators were not named and were identified in the indictment handed down in New Jersey only as "Hacker 1" and "Hacker 2" living "in or near Russia." Beginning in October 2006, Gonzalez used a sophisticated hacking technique to get around firewalls and steal information related to more than 130 million credit and debit cards, the Justice Department said in a statement. "The scheme is believed to constitute the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the US Department of Justice," the US Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said. Targeted companies included Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey-based card payment processor; 7-Eleven Inc., a Texas-based nationwide convenience store chain; and Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc., a Maine-based supermarket chain. Gonzalez and his co-conspirators sent stolen data to computer servers they operated in Latvia, the Netherlands, the United States and Ukraine and used "sophisticated hacker techniques to cover their tracks and to avoid detection by anti-virus software used by their victims," the Justice Department said. Gonzalez, who operated online as "segvec," "soupnazi" and "j4guar17," was charged with conspiracy and conspiracy to engage in wire fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy and an additional five years in prison for conspiracy as well as a fine of 250,000 dollars for each charge. Gonzalez is scheduled to go on trial in New York next month on separate charges for allegedly hacking into the computer network of a national restaurant chain. He is facing a separate trial next year in yet another case, in which he is accused of hacking into the computer networks of eight major retailers and stealing data related to 40 million credit cards. UK got UFO??? LONDON (AFP) - - Lemon-headed aliens, scrambled fighter jets and mysterious lights over a cemetery were among details of some 800 UFO sightings released by British authorities Monday. But another intriguing finding to emerge from the 1981-1996 archives was a surge in reports at the time of UFO-related blockbusters such as 1996's "Independence Day," not to mention the British television run of "The X-Files." Among the most striking accounts released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is that of two boys who reported being spoken to by an alien with a lemon-shaped head, who appeared before them in a field on May 4, 1995. "We want you, come with us," said the alien's voice, according to a police report filed after the youngsters, who seemed "agitated and distressed," recounted their experiences. "They stated the object was about four houses high in the sky and about forty foot away from them," said the report, adding that when officers went to check two days later, they found only a farmer spraying his crops. In another account bound to excite ufologists, a former armed forces chief urged authorities to take more seriously a report by US Air Force (USAF) staff near an airbase in eastern England. The individuals "reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest," said a report by a US air force commander, recounting what three of his staff told him of the incident, early on the morning of December 27, 1980. "It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it manoeuvred through the trees and disappeared." Then there is the report of how, between November 1989 and April 1990, the Belgian air force scrambled F-16 fighter jets to investigate a series of UFO sightings -- and reportedly "locked on" to them with their radars. "The mystery remains unresolved," wrote General Wilfried de Brouwer, Chief of Operations, Belgian Air Staff, adding that despite being sceptical, "the evidence was remarkable." One of the spookiest incidents occurred in the early hours of July 15, 1996, when a UFO was spotted hovering over a cemetery in Widnes, northwest England, before firing burning laser beams into the ground. Cynics would note that the man involved was heading home from a night out at the time -- possibly in a similar mental state to two revellers who claimed to have seen a UFO hovering over the jazz tent at the 1994 Glastonbury Festival. And sceptics will also point to a more general trend made clear by the latest archives. In 1995 there were 117 UFO sightings reported to authorities, but this spiked to 609 in 1996, according to the MoD reports, released after a three-year project with the National Archives. "It's evident there is some connection between newspaper stories, TV programmes and films about alien visitors and the numbers of UFO sightings reported," said UFO expert and journalism lecturer David Clarke. "Aside from 1996, one of the busiest years for UFO sightings reported to the MoD over the past half century was 1978 -- the year 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' was released," added Clarke. wow this is a real big BOT(bullk of text) FireLibra back to top?
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @ 1:54 AM altering of PSLE papers? lol SINGAPORE: A Tamil teacher who pleaded guilty to altering Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scripts has been sentenced to eight weeks in jail. In 2007, Shanti Krishnasamy altered the Tamil language answer scripts of some of her pupils at Canberra Primary School. In court on Friday, she was dressed in black and accompanied by several friends and family members. Her defence lawyer Subhas Anandan had requested for a lenient sentence, saying his client was suffering from major depression and was trying to cope with her daughter who has leukaemia. When sentencing, Judge May Mesenas said Singapore is a meritocratic society and a message must be sent out to ensure that the public’s confidence in the teaching profession is upheld. The Education Ministry said Shanti has been suspended from duty pending court proceedings. Following that, MOE will decide on an appropriate course of disciplinary action. Mr Anandan said his client is planning on spending more time with her family and to give private tuition after completing her jail sentence. FireLibra back to top?
Monday, August 10, 2009 @ 3:54 AM lol so fast singapore 44 years old lol SINGAPORE: Singapore celebrated its 44th birthday with a massive party by the bay — the National Day Parade (NDP) at the Marina Bay Floating Platform. Over 27,000 people watched the NDP from the parade stands while thousands more caught the show around the bay area, on television and online. It was a sea of red and white at the parade ground as the nation gathered for its biggest party of the year. In the early part of the show, three F—16s swooped across the bay in what is known as the salute to the nation, wowing the crowd. There was also a thrilling police boat chase on the Singapore River just metres away from the crowd, and some spills too — literally — with a Chinook flying low over the water. Then it was all eyes on the skies as the audience caught the freefallers parachuting down to the parade ground. Pomp and ceremony came in the more formal part of the show, with the guard—of—honour inspection by President SR Nathan as well as the 21—gun salute. There was also a march past that for the first time saw contingents marching along a 3.2km stretch of road and past famous city landmarks just outside the bayfront area. In addition, a staple at these annual shows — cultural performances to underscore the country’s multi—ethnic mix, but with enough twists to keep the crowd entertained. And what’s a party without music? Local rock band Electrico performed their special composition for the occasion "What Do You See?". Then in a special moment for a country which has been through some turbulent times this year, the bayfront turned silent at exactly 8.22pm for the participants to recite the national pledge. It was the exact moment when organisers hoped, for the first time, all Singaporeans — even those outside the parade ground — would stop what they were doing to put their hand on their heart and recite the pledge. Following that was an explosive finale to the parade as the brilliant fireworks display lit up the skies and dazzled the audience. Singaporeans weren’t the only ones celebrating the country’s 44th birthday. Tourists and expatriates were also at the NDP party, and they were impressed. "This is on a very big scale compared to local carnivals....." said a British woman. "I like how everyone’s here for one cause.....there are so many different races," said an American man. The parade may be over but the party has only just begun for many others. In fact, hundreds of performers were dancing the night away, and they’ve got every reason to celebrate, having put on such a great show — full of colour, music and action. — CNA/ir sad news.. another person died from H1N1!! must protect yourself ar SINGAPORE: A 27—year—old woman has died, bringing H1N1—related deaths in Singapore to nine. The woman had no known underlying medical conditions. She went to Changi General Hospital’s Emergency Department on 23 July with a four—day history of fever, cough and lethargy. She was admitted to the intensive care unit and intubated. But her condition deteriorated and she died on Sunday morning from a heart attack, with H1N1—infection and pneumonia as contributing factors. — CNA/ir FireLibra back to top?