Monday, December 5, 2011

Utah home inspired by Disney movie 'Up' sold (omg!)

In this July 6, 2011 photo, a full scale rendition of the house in the animated movie, "Up," located a in Herriman, Utah, will be part of this year's Parade of Homes. The house has been sold to a family who are self-described Disney and Pixar fanatics. Clinton and Lynette Hamblin of Petaluma, Calif., are buying the home in Herriman, Utah, for $400,000. The Hamblins say they were searching for a home in California that was similar to the colorful cottage seen in the movie when they heard about the Disney-approved "Up" house in Utah. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Paul Fraughton)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Two self-described Disney "fanatics" have purchased a house in Utah modeled after the colorful home featured in the animated movie "Up."

Discovering the house in the Salt Lake City suburb of Herriman, Utah, was a dream come true for Clinton and Lynette Hamblin of Petaluma, Calif. The couple had been looking for a house with some of the same flourishes as the one in the movie, such as a multi-colored exterior or a blue kitchen with retro appliances.

They initially looked in California until they saw news reports about the house in Utah that included every possible detail from the movie and was even officially recognized as the "Up" house by Disney. Even more surprising was the $400,000 price tag, which was less than homes they looked at in California.

For them, however, the real attraction to the house was it underscored the overriding theme of the movie.

"We just love the message of the movie ? adventure is out there," Lynette Hamblin told The Salt Lake Tribune.

The house is modeled on its appearance early in the movie, when Carl and Ellie Frederickson are flush with the optimism of newlyweds. That was before infertility undid their hopes for a family and Ellie's death left Carl a curmudgeonly recluse who refuses to succumb to developers and sell his house.

Homebuilder Adam Bangerter told The Associated Press earlier this year that he and his brothers ? who collectively own Bangerter Homes ? wanted to replicate the house because it's iconic and plays an important role in the movie.

"It illustrates what homeownership really is, and it's not an investment. It's part of the American dream to have a house to care for, to improve and to make part of your family," Bangerter said during a tour of the house.

Herriman City spokeswoman Nicole Martin said about 45,000 people have visited the home for tours, and will continue to do so through the month of December. City leaders even recently passed a resolution honoring the house for its economic impact.

The Hamblins plan to move into the home after closing Jan. 4, which happens to be Lynette Hamblin's birthday.

FILE - This July 6, 2011 file photo shows a full scale rendition of the house in the animated movie "Up" lin Herriman, Utah. This highly detailed recreation of the house from the Academy Award-winning movie "Up" has become a curious visitor attraction in this suburban development south of Salt Lake City. It's now been sold by the builder to a couple who loved the movie as much as he did. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Paul Fraughton, File)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_utah_home_inspired_disney_movie_sold210052399/43787607/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/utah-home-inspired-disney-movie-sold-210052399.html

matt cassel snowman google music willis mcgahee willis mcgahee 2013 ford escape stop online piracy act

Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, December 4, 2011

SAP offers $3.4 billion for SuccessFactors (Reuters)

Dec 3 ? Germany's SAP announced a $3.4 billion cash deal to buy U.S. web-based software company SuccessFactors, joining the scramble among technology firms to offer cloud-computing services to businesses.

SAP said on Saturday it would pay $40 per share for SuccessFactors, a premium of 52 percent over both its Friday closing price and the one-month volume-weighted average price, making it expensive for any rival bidder that might want to put in a counter bid.

SuccessFactors, which first went public at $10 a share four years ago, makes human resources software used by companies to review employee performance, It competes with Taleo Corp and Kenexa Corp.

The deal helps SAP catch up in cloud computing, a fast-growing field where data and processes are hosted remotely on the Web. Analysts have warned that the German company risked losing ground to U.S. rival Oracle Corp.

Oracle in October announced a $1.5 billion deal to buy cloud computing firm RightNow Technologies Inc, a rival of SAP. Salesforce.com pioneered cloud computing for companies and is still the market leader in the field.

Paul Hamerman, an analyst at technology research group Forrester, said SAP was paying a substantial premium to acquire SuccessFactors but its own cloud strategy had been lagging.

"By acquiring SuccessFactors, SAP puts itself into a much stronger competitive position in human resources applications and reaffirms its commitment to software-as-a-service as a key business model," he said.

Forrester estimates the cloud computing market will grow from $40.7 billion in 2011 to more than $241 billion in 2020.

SAP has slowly begun to gain traction with its Business by Design software aimed at mid-sized companies. It reiterated on Saturday that it aims to have around 1,000 customers there by year-end.

"While our growth remains primarily organic, where we can innovate faster with acquisitions, we take action. In this case, to become a cloud powerhouse," SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott told a hastily arranged conference call with journalists and analysts.

The move means SAP can beat its target of generating 20 billion euros ($26.9 billion) in revenue by 2015 while maintaining its 35 percent margin goal, company officials said.

The SuccessFactors deal is more about generating top-line growth than wringing out cost synergies, they said.

SuccessFactors will remain an independently run unit in the group. Its founder and Chief Executive Lars Dalgaard will run SAP's cloud business and is set to join SAP's executive board.

Dalgaard said the deal would accelerate SuccessFactors' roadmap by 10 years. It now has more than 3,500 customers and a total of 15 million paying users.

SAP said it would take a 1 billion euro ($1.34 billion) term loan to help fund the acquisition, which it said would be slightly dilutive to earnings per share next year and accretive thereafter. It was set to close in the first quarter of 2012.

SuccessFactors' operating margin jumped to 9 percent in the third quarter from zero a year earlier, and the company said it could not hire quickly enough to meet demand.

Its shares have gained 26 percent over the past three months, giving the company a market value of about $2.2 billion.

The company has said it expects its 2011 revenue to jump by about 59 percent but has not given a profit outlook.

JPMorgan Chase advised SAP on the deal, while Morgan Stanley advised SuccessFactors.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, Maria Sheahan, Michael Shields, Nadia Damouni and Paritosh Bansal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111204/bs_nm/us_sap_successfactors

lsu vs alabama cain gingrich debate andy rooney dies andy rooney dies bank transfer day daylight savings 2011 day light savings

Posted by at No comments:

Video: McCain, Schumer get into a spat

When her test was lost, critical care delayed

Medical tests can reveal critical information about a person's health, but sometimes, the? test is lost and the doctor and patient never get the results, potentially delaying essential care. That was the case for one Maryland woman whose cancer went untreated for a year.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45515610#45515610

surrogates james garner veteran aircraft carrier apocalypse now happy veterans day happy veterans day

Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, December 3, 2011

International Forum on Climate Change Communications | Flickr ...

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfam/6443161833/

texas rangers marie osmond st louis cardinals josh hamilton beavis and butthead cardinals jennifer nicole lee

Posted by at No comments:

AP Sources: House GOP drafting bill to extend unemployment benefits as well as payroll tax (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/168684617?client_source=feed&format=rss

jack o lantern dave thomas mean girls houston weather peter king hank williams jr hank williams jr

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, December 2, 2011

Britain pulls embassy staff out of Iran (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Britain has evacuated all its diplomatic staff from Iran, Western diplomatic sources told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after protesters stormed and ransacked its embassy and residential compound.

Both properties were severely damaged, with official and personal possessions seized or destroyed, said sources who had spoken to staff at the embassy. One described the damage as "carnage."

Britain said it was outraged by the attacks and warned of "serious consequences."

"In light of yesterday's events, and to ensure their ongoing safety, some staff are leaving Tehran," Britain's foreign office (ministry) said in a statement.

While the official statement referred only to "some staff," two diplomatic sources said that all British staff were leaving.

The two embassy compounds were stormed mid-afternoon on Tuesday during a demonstration in the street outside the main building in downtown Tehran, smashing windows, torching a car and burning the British flag in protest against new sanctions imposed by London.

Protesters broke into the residential compound at Qolhak in north Tehran, a sprawling, wooded property which used to be the embassy's summer quarters.

Iranian media said there were between 100 and 300 protesters in Qolhak and some 50 in the main, downtown compound. The storming lasted for a matter of hours and appeared to be over by mid-evening after local police intervened.

An Iranian report said six British embassy staff had been briefly held by the protesters and then freed by police, something British Foreign Secretary William Hague played down, saying the situation had been "confusing" and he would not have called them "hostages."

Several sources told Reuters that diplomats had had their movements restricted by protesters and one said staff in the main compound had been herded into a room while protesters ransacked the compound.

OLD FOX

Iran's Foreign Ministry said it regretted the attacks and was committed to ensuring the safety of diplomats, and parliament speaker Ali Larijani criticized the U.N. Security Council for condemning the attacks.

"The hasty move in the Security Council in condemning the students' actions was done to cover up previous crimes of America and Britain while the police did all they could to keep the peace," Larijani told parliament in an address broadcast live on state radio.

"This devious action will lead to instability in global security," he said.

Kar Va Kargar daily quoted what it said was a statement issued by the students involved.

"The seizure of the British embassy was done by the revolutionary students and this action was not done on the order of any organization," the statement said. "Each free Iranian ... should know that the seizure of this old embassy is in the interest of Iran."

Most Iranian newspapers splashed photographs of the embassy break-in across their front pages.

"Fox's den seized," ran the headline in conservative daily Vatan-e Emrouz, referring to Britain's nickname "the old fox" which reflects a view widely held in Iran that the former imperial power still wields behind the scenes influence in Iranian affairs.

Several newspapers referred to the storming as akin to a repeat of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in which 52 Americans hostages were held for 444 days, ending diplomatic ties with Washington that have never been restored.

"Seizure of second spy den by Ruhollah's revolutionary children," ran the main headline in hardliner Ya Lesarat, referring to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

(Additional reporting by Hossein Jaseb and Mitra Amiri in Tehran, and Keith Weir in London; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111130/wl_nm/us_iran_britain_embassy

weather orlando the stand winston churchill winston churchill arkham city conjugated linoleic acid world series schedule

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)