(PRWEB) January 16, 2009 -- Have you ever rented a cottage over the Internet? If you have then you'll know how annoying it can be. Surfing endless sites with sometimes disorganized information and no address, trying to find out if Fido can come, looking for the nearest beach, searching for a romantic place or a fishing spot, there's no end to it.
A family in Toronto complained about not being able to search for a cottage, but, unlike most, they didn't just complain about it, they decided to do something. They were looking for a cottage just like everyone else; on the multitude of websites. They simply wanted a three bedroom cottage within 250 km of Toronto. They found about 50 different cottages. And then the nightmare began.
"We had to check the distance to each cottage individually using Google Maps. It was even sometimes impossible to find some of them," says Yuriy Setko, founder of Rent Cottage Canada. Like every family, the Setko's have their preferences. It took some deciding, but both them and their friends found amenities they both agreed on: a fireplace, a satellite TV, a ping pong or a pool table, etc. They also wanted to have fun outside the cottage. Yuriy's wife likes cross-country skiing, Yuriy himself likes ice fishing, and their teenage daughter has always wanted to try snowmobiling. The entire family and their friends also wanted the cottage to have a sauna or hot tub.
"More or less, the cottages had most of the things we wanted, but we still needed to find one within our price range. The best the cottage renting sites could offer - besides the price range and the number of bedrooms - was to narrow the search to waterfront properties. As for the rest, we were forced to print out every single property listing and literally go through everything with a highlighter," says Yuriy.
The printouts were everywhere, and the Setko's house was a mess because of it. Even after all that, they had nothing. Their friends did the same, but they, too came up with nothing. This story has no happy ending. The Setko's wasted lots of time searching the Internet, printing stuff out, and talking tirelessly to their friends, deciding. They were forced to celebrate New Year at home by themselves.
Yuriy, a software engineer, has summarized the disadvantages of cottage renting sites, and, finding these to his dissatisfaction, decided to design a new engine. The engine will give potential renters a powerful Cottage Finder, and provide cottage owners with renters. The engine has the ability to search the distance to the cottage from their home, find the amenities, features, services, and activities they want.
Google Maps was selected to calculate the distances and to visually represent the cottages on the Map. A detailed search screen was designed to satisfy the needs of any renter. When staying at a cottage it's always nice to know what's around. Not just stores and shopping malls, but also historical places and attractions. There are Wikipedia articles connected to the Map, so every cottage renter can see what's in the area. There are millions of good quality pictures uploaded to Panoramio. These pictures are geotagged to a place on Google Maps. Rent Cottage Canada also has this feature. Panoramio photos also can be displayed on the Map, so the renters can easily browse attractions around the cottage, and on the actual cottage listings as well, adding up to 20 of the most popular (taken within 25 km distance from the cottage) pictures from Panoramio to their cottage listing.
There is much more on the site to help unite renters and owners that other sites have not even begun to discover yet.
Rent Cottage Canada was launched just a few days before New Year, and currently has over 150 cottages on the map from most of the Canadian provinces.
You can check out the new cottage renting service online on Rent Cottage Canada http://rent-cottage-canada.com.
New Internet Fraud Targets Guests of Top Hotel Chains
(Vocus) January 26, 2009 -- A well-organized online fraud is scamming over 71,000 travelers each month as they book rooms online at some of America's best known hotel chains, including Hyatt, Clarion, TraveLodge, Comfort Inn, Red Roof, EconoLodge, Super 8, Ramada, Days Inn, and Wyndham, according to an exclusive report by FraudTip.com.
Findings released for the first time this morning show that the Internet scam combines advanced online advertising, bogus hotel locators, third-party reservation systems, and Internet browser crimeware to redirect hotel guest traffic to fake versions of well-known hotel chain websites.
The scam casts a big net and is evolving daily, reports FraudTip.com. Affected properties include hotels and suites, budget motels, airport hotels, luxury hotels, resorts, and casinos.
Hardest hit are Super 8 Motels, Days Inn, and Ramada, which are owned by Wyndham Worldwide in Parsippany, New Jersey, the world's largest hotel chain. A total of over 50,000 travelers seeking out these hotels are redirected to the bogus sites each month.
Another 15,862 prospective guests are redirected from Comfort Inn, the chain owned by Choice Hotels International located in Silver Spring, Maryland. Econo Lodge and Clarion Hotels & Resorts, also owned by Choice Hotels, are targets as well.
Red Roof Inn, headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is currently losing an average of 4,441 visitors per month. In addition, Hyatt Hotels, headquartered in Chicago, has fallen prey to the same fraud network.
FraudTip.com's preliminary findings show that the fraudulent sites are attracting a higher-than-average percentage of female visitors, teens, as well as adults 50+. The scam has also attracted a higher-than-average percentage of African American visitors, and has proven effective in attracting an affluent audience, and a high index of graduates and post graduates.
In conducting its investigation, FraudTip.com used several methodologies including an audience measurement approach that couples machine learning with massive quantities of directly measured data. The system, by QuantCast.com, is designed to deliver detailed audience information that can be leveraged in real-time for addressable advertising, however, it was used by FraudTip.com to estimate the magnitude of the fraud.
A series of conference calls for hotel chain executives will be held today with Washington, DC cybersecurity insiders to evaluate claims against the perpetrators, legal options, asset recovery, and continued monitoring.
Findings released for the first time this morning show that the Internet scam combines advanced online advertising, bogus hotel locators, third-party reservation systems, and Internet browser crimeware to redirect hotel guest traffic to fake versions of well-known hotel chain websites.
The scam casts a big net and is evolving daily, reports FraudTip.com. Affected properties include hotels and suites, budget motels, airport hotels, luxury hotels, resorts, and casinos.
Hardest hit are Super 8 Motels, Days Inn, and Ramada, which are owned by Wyndham Worldwide in Parsippany, New Jersey, the world's largest hotel chain. A total of over 50,000 travelers seeking out these hotels are redirected to the bogus sites each month.
Another 15,862 prospective guests are redirected from Comfort Inn, the chain owned by Choice Hotels International located in Silver Spring, Maryland. Econo Lodge and Clarion Hotels & Resorts, also owned by Choice Hotels, are targets as well.
Red Roof Inn, headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is currently losing an average of 4,441 visitors per month. In addition, Hyatt Hotels, headquartered in Chicago, has fallen prey to the same fraud network.
FraudTip.com's preliminary findings show that the fraudulent sites are attracting a higher-than-average percentage of female visitors, teens, as well as adults 50+. The scam has also attracted a higher-than-average percentage of African American visitors, and has proven effective in attracting an affluent audience, and a high index of graduates and post graduates.
In conducting its investigation, FraudTip.com used several methodologies including an audience measurement approach that couples machine learning with massive quantities of directly measured data. The system, by QuantCast.com, is designed to deliver detailed audience information that can be leveraged in real-time for addressable advertising, however, it was used by FraudTip.com to estimate the magnitude of the fraud.
A series of conference calls for hotel chain executives will be held today with Washington, DC cybersecurity insiders to evaluate claims against the perpetrators, legal options, asset recovery, and continued monitoring.
GreatCampJobs.com: Working at Summer Camp is Great for Your Career
CampGroup announces the launch of GreatCampJobs.com, a completely redesigned website featuring summer camp jobs and how they are beneficial to your career. A common application is supplied for available summer camp counselor positions at all of CampGroup's overnight and day camps, located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, New Jersey and Michigan.
White Plains, NY (PRWEB) February 6, 2009 -- CampGroup announces the launch of GreatCampJobs.com, a completely redesigned website featuring summer camp job opportunities and how they are beneficial to your career.
How often do young adults hear "Get a real job"? GreatCampJobs.com points out that working at summer camp is a real job with training, growth potential, management skills, and practical experience. Summer camp jobs provide on-the-job training for careers in teaching, coaching, parks and recreation, child development, as well as, business skills such as problem solving, communication, public speaking, time management, planning and execution. Some colleges will even allow students to earn internship credit through summer camp counselor jobs.
"Unlike other job seeker websites, GreatCampJobs.com, points out the strategic advantages of working at summer camp. Many of the skills utilized and learned as a summer camp counselor are valuable tools in the business world," says Dan Zenkel, CEO of CampGroup, a family of independently owned and operated summer day and overnight camps in the Northeast and Michigan.
GreatCampJobs.com provides detailed job descriptions for all positions from cabin counselors and activity specialists to nurses, accounting and support staff. "Experience shows that realistic expectations are the number one factor in retaining staff year after year and GreatCampJobs.com strives to depict a clear picture of the hard work yet priceless rewards." According to Sue Baldwin, staffing coordinator for Lake of the Woods camps, four 2-4 week overnight camps in Michigan for boys and girls.
A major draw to working at summer camp is the chance to work with expert professionals in each field, whether a top collegiate sports coach, exhibiting artist or experienced teacher. The training and practical experience gained in a camp position is unique. Counselors forms special bond at summer camp and these lifelong networking connections can be invaluable in later job searches.
For a position at any of the CampGroup summer camps, visit GreatCampJobs.com for an easy online application. All candidates undergo a personal interview and rigorous background check before a final offer is extended. For international applicants, there is comprehensive J-1 and F-1 visa information and applications available.
CampGroup, LLC, the largest owner/operator of for-profit summer camps in the nation, is at the forefront of summer camping. The Company's fifteen premier camps, which are located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, New Jersey and Michigan, include Camp Akeela, Black Bear Lake Day Camp, Camp Cobbossee for Boys, Camp Danbee, The Glen at Lake of the Woods, Greenwoods Camp for Boys, The Grove at Lake of the Woods, Camp Kippewa for Girls, Lake of the Woods Camp for Girls, Camp Mah-Kee-Nac, Ramaquois Day Camp, Camp Walt Whitman, Camp Wicosuta, Camp Winadu, and Camp Winaukee. http://campgroup.com
White Plains, NY (PRWEB) February 6, 2009 -- CampGroup announces the launch of GreatCampJobs.com, a completely redesigned website featuring summer camp job opportunities and how they are beneficial to your career.
How often do young adults hear "Get a real job"? GreatCampJobs.com points out that working at summer camp is a real job with training, growth potential, management skills, and practical experience. Summer camp jobs provide on-the-job training for careers in teaching, coaching, parks and recreation, child development, as well as, business skills such as problem solving, communication, public speaking, time management, planning and execution. Some colleges will even allow students to earn internship credit through summer camp counselor jobs.
"Unlike other job seeker websites, GreatCampJobs.com, points out the strategic advantages of working at summer camp. Many of the skills utilized and learned as a summer camp counselor are valuable tools in the business world," says Dan Zenkel, CEO of CampGroup, a family of independently owned and operated summer day and overnight camps in the Northeast and Michigan.
GreatCampJobs.com provides detailed job descriptions for all positions from cabin counselors and activity specialists to nurses, accounting and support staff. "Experience shows that realistic expectations are the number one factor in retaining staff year after year and GreatCampJobs.com strives to depict a clear picture of the hard work yet priceless rewards." According to Sue Baldwin, staffing coordinator for Lake of the Woods camps, four 2-4 week overnight camps in Michigan for boys and girls.
A major draw to working at summer camp is the chance to work with expert professionals in each field, whether a top collegiate sports coach, exhibiting artist or experienced teacher. The training and practical experience gained in a camp position is unique. Counselors forms special bond at summer camp and these lifelong networking connections can be invaluable in later job searches.
For a position at any of the CampGroup summer camps, visit GreatCampJobs.com for an easy online application. All candidates undergo a personal interview and rigorous background check before a final offer is extended. For international applicants, there is comprehensive J-1 and F-1 visa information and applications available.
CampGroup, LLC, the largest owner/operator of for-profit summer camps in the nation, is at the forefront of summer camping. The Company's fifteen premier camps, which are located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, New Jersey and Michigan, include Camp Akeela, Black Bear Lake Day Camp, Camp Cobbossee for Boys, Camp Danbee, The Glen at Lake of the Woods, Greenwoods Camp for Boys, The Grove at Lake of the Woods, Camp Kippewa for Girls, Lake of the Woods Camp for Girls, Camp Mah-Kee-Nac, Ramaquois Day Camp, Camp Walt Whitman, Camp Wicosuta, Camp Winadu, and Camp Winaukee. http://campgroup.com
VRDirectory.Net: Travel on a Budget at a Vacation Rental
Vacation rentals offer a great way to travel to your favorite destinations on a budget and enjoy family. Newly launched VRDirectory.Net will help you find the right home for the right price.
Destin, FL (PRWEB) February 4, 2009 -- Despite severe winter weather, steadily rising gas prices and weak U.S. economy, Americans are still finding time to travel to their favorite destinations - with a few changes. A new online vacation rental directory is helping people find value prices on accommodations.
Many making their summer vacation plans are opting for more economical options. Instead of an expensive European vacation, for instance, they are choosing a more affordable drive to a closer destination. And instead of booking a hotel for a few nights, families are finding vacation rentals as a more flexible and cost-effective alternative.
"With the economic situation being what it is today, more and more of guests are returning to the beach for a relaxing, simple and more economic vacation," says Amber Leto, Director of Rentals at Seascape Golf & Beach Resort in Destin, Florida.
"With the current financial state of affairs, families are finding comfort in the destinations they've been traveling to for years - just to relax and unwind. It's simple… it's comfortable… there's no guess work. And their finding it more affordable to stay in vacation rentals with family and friends. It's a great way to get back to the basics and enjoy your vacation."
As a whole, the vacation rental industry has enjoyed steady growth, thanks in part to an ever-growing number of travel websites specializing in vacation homes, condos and more.
Joe Scurto, founder of VRDirectory.Net notes, "Vacation rentals provide individualized and flexible options to travelers - options you won't get at a hotel. When searching for accommodations, many property owners provide valuable details on the home, its surroundings and even the destination in general. It's that sort of personalized touch that has converted long-time hotel guests to vacation rentals."
If you're looking to take a budget-friendly summer vacation this year, look no further than booking a vacation rental for your family. To search from hundreds of homes, townhomes and condos in the United States, visit VRDirectory.Net www.vrdirectory.net - you'll be glad you did.
Destin, FL (PRWEB) February 4, 2009 -- Despite severe winter weather, steadily rising gas prices and weak U.S. economy, Americans are still finding time to travel to their favorite destinations - with a few changes. A new online vacation rental directory is helping people find value prices on accommodations.
Many making their summer vacation plans are opting for more economical options. Instead of an expensive European vacation, for instance, they are choosing a more affordable drive to a closer destination. And instead of booking a hotel for a few nights, families are finding vacation rentals as a more flexible and cost-effective alternative.
"With the economic situation being what it is today, more and more of guests are returning to the beach for a relaxing, simple and more economic vacation," says Amber Leto, Director of Rentals at Seascape Golf & Beach Resort in Destin, Florida.
"With the current financial state of affairs, families are finding comfort in the destinations they've been traveling to for years - just to relax and unwind. It's simple… it's comfortable… there's no guess work. And their finding it more affordable to stay in vacation rentals with family and friends. It's a great way to get back to the basics and enjoy your vacation."
As a whole, the vacation rental industry has enjoyed steady growth, thanks in part to an ever-growing number of travel websites specializing in vacation homes, condos and more.
Joe Scurto, founder of VRDirectory.Net notes, "Vacation rentals provide individualized and flexible options to travelers - options you won't get at a hotel. When searching for accommodations, many property owners provide valuable details on the home, its surroundings and even the destination in general. It's that sort of personalized touch that has converted long-time hotel guests to vacation rentals."
If you're looking to take a budget-friendly summer vacation this year, look no further than booking a vacation rental for your family. To search from hundreds of homes, townhomes and condos in the United States, visit VRDirectory.Net www.vrdirectory.net - you'll be glad you did.
Cheap Vacation Travel Packages Versus Independent Budget Travel
When traveling on a budget, one of the most often asked questions is whether it is best to travel independently, reserving your own airfare, hotel stay and sightseeing reservations, or choose a package tour where everything is set up for you in advance.
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. It is largely dependent on the location you have selected and dates of travel. For instance, travel to European destinations are often less costly to book on your own, especially when the airlines are running specials of European airfares in the off-season.
On the other hand, travel to many exotic locations, like Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, and India, are often much less expensive when booked through a vacation package company or travel agent. That is because these tour operators often have special deals with the national airlines of these companies, and with very nice resort hotels, to provide considerable discounts in exchange for a steady flow of business.
For instance, with a little bit of shopping, you can book a vacation package from New York to Egypt for a grand total of $1,100, including airfare, an excellent hotel, daily breakfast, airport transfers, and daily sightseeing tours, including guided tours of the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. This is far less than you would have paid if you had booked this trip independently.
Similar deals exist for other locations, notably India, China, and Taiwan. So be sure to check on the availability of these package deals when shopping for a budget travel deal.
Of course, some great deals can be had on your own as well, and this is often a great way to go, especially if you are a solo traveler. Solo travelers often have difficulty getting those great deals on package deals, since the required single supplement can often ruin the deal.
It is also important to find out exactly what is, and what is not included, in any package you are considering. Many package deals have optional excursions built in, and these extras can add considerable cost. Be sure to ask for a detailed daily itinerary to determine if you will be left on your own if you fail to take these optional. Also ask for a detailed list of these optional excursions, including full descriptions and prices, and then carefully compare the total price to what you could find on your own.
If you are traveling on your own, be sure to start shopping early, especially if you are traveling by air. The important thing to remember is that airlines allocate only so many seats for those advertised low fares, and if you fail to act quickly, you may be out of luck. It is important to book the airfare, and the hotel, as early as possible to ensure the lowest possible prices.
Ultimately, the decision of whether to choose a vacation package deal or independent travel is up to each individual traveler. It is important to carefully compare package prices with those for independent travel to the same location. It is also important to consider your own personal travel style. Some people are more comfortable with a packaged tour, particularly to an unfamiliar location, while others relish the freedom from schedules that independent travel provides.
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. It is largely dependent on the location you have selected and dates of travel. For instance, travel to European destinations are often less costly to book on your own, especially when the airlines are running specials of European airfares in the off-season.
On the other hand, travel to many exotic locations, like Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, and India, are often much less expensive when booked through a vacation package company or travel agent. That is because these tour operators often have special deals with the national airlines of these companies, and with very nice resort hotels, to provide considerable discounts in exchange for a steady flow of business.
For instance, with a little bit of shopping, you can book a vacation package from New York to Egypt for a grand total of $1,100, including airfare, an excellent hotel, daily breakfast, airport transfers, and daily sightseeing tours, including guided tours of the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. This is far less than you would have paid if you had booked this trip independently.
Similar deals exist for other locations, notably India, China, and Taiwan. So be sure to check on the availability of these package deals when shopping for a budget travel deal.
Of course, some great deals can be had on your own as well, and this is often a great way to go, especially if you are a solo traveler. Solo travelers often have difficulty getting those great deals on package deals, since the required single supplement can often ruin the deal.
It is also important to find out exactly what is, and what is not included, in any package you are considering. Many package deals have optional excursions built in, and these extras can add considerable cost. Be sure to ask for a detailed daily itinerary to determine if you will be left on your own if you fail to take these optional. Also ask for a detailed list of these optional excursions, including full descriptions and prices, and then carefully compare the total price to what you could find on your own.
If you are traveling on your own, be sure to start shopping early, especially if you are traveling by air. The important thing to remember is that airlines allocate only so many seats for those advertised low fares, and if you fail to act quickly, you may be out of luck. It is important to book the airfare, and the hotel, as early as possible to ensure the lowest possible prices.
Ultimately, the decision of whether to choose a vacation package deal or independent travel is up to each individual traveler. It is important to carefully compare package prices with those for independent travel to the same location. It is also important to consider your own personal travel style. Some people are more comfortable with a packaged tour, particularly to an unfamiliar location, while others relish the freedom from schedules that independent travel provides.
Amanda Seyfried keeps men guessing
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Seyfried likes to ''keep men guessing'' but thinks they are attracted to her ''filthy'' side.
Amanda Seyfried thinks men love her "filthy" side.
The 'Red Riding Hood' actress - who is currently dating actor Ryan Phillippe - insists she doesn't think she is "irresistible" to the opposite sex but thinks they find the different aspects to her personality appealing.
She said: "I don't think men find me irresistible at all. I've got a filthy side and a romantic side - I like to keep them guessing."
The 25-year-old beauty also admitted she never had much luck with men when she was younger, and can't believe how that has changed in recent years.
She told more! magazine: "Growing up I didn't have a lot of boyfriends. But I have great boyfriends now - I've had like 12 of them."
Amanda recently admitted she is attracted to bad boys, even though she finds wayward men "disgusting."
She said: "Mystery is really sexy. Bad guys also tend to be really self-centred and very fearless - I don't know why but that is sexy. It shouldn't be, it's disgusting."
Sam Faiers will always have soft spot for Mark
Sam Faiers
'The Only Way Is Essex' star Sam Faiers says she and Mark Wright will ''always have a soft spot'' for each other, even though he is now engaged to Lauren Goodger.
'The Only Way Is Essex' star Sam Faiers says she and Mark Wright will "always have a soft spot" for each other.
Although the club promoter recently got engaged to his on-off girlfriend Lauren Goodger, Sam - who dated Mark during one of his breaks from Lauren - thinks there will always be something between them although she is keen to move on.
She said: "There's always going to be a soft spot there and I think he'll have one for me as well, but life goes on, doesn't it? But, as soon as I find The One, I won't dwell on Mark."
While Sam was not surprised by the couple's engagement she believes Lauren was wrong to accept Mark's proposal as there is no "trust" in their relationship.
She explained: "I wasn't gobsmacked, but I was a bit like, 'Woah!' If it was me, I'd hate the feeling that I had to get engaged just so that I could trust someone. Putting a ring on someone's finger doesn't mean that you're going to be able to trust them and Mark's only doing it so that she trusts him. If it had been me, I'd have said no. You want to feel that trust before you get engaged."
Dionne Bromfield inspired by her diary
Dionne Bromfield
Amy Winehouse taught Dionne Bromfield how to write songs from her diary, and helped her ''tweak'' songs for her second album in the studio.
Amy Winehouse taught Dionne Bromfield how to write songs from her diary.
'Yeah Right' hitmaker Dionne didn't initially understand why her godmother - famous for her confessional, personal lyrics - told her to keep notes on what she did week to week, but when it all made sense when it came to recording her second album.
She told BANG Showbiz: "I kind of have a diary. My godmother Amy told me, 'Always keep a diary of everything you do' and I was thinking, 'how can you make a song out of stuff you've written in your diary?'
"But then it all just clicked in my head, and once you're in the zone, it's kind of just there, it was amazing."
Dionne, 15, added she and Amy worked together a great deal in the studio making 'Good for the Soul', with her helping to "tweak" certain arrangements until they were just right.
She added: "She was always in the studio always helping, if something didn't sound right, in one of the verses or whatever, she'd just tweak it here and there.
"Some of the songs she had a little bit of input into writing the songs, and singing wise - well, you'll just have to wait and see."
'Good for the Soul' is released in June.
Coronation Street's Sophie Webster furious with Tommy Duckworth
Brooke Vincent
Brooke Vincent has revealed her 'Coronation Street character Sophie Webster will be livid when she finds out Tommy Duckworth tried to kiss her girlfriend.
'Coronation Street's Sophie Webster will be furious when she discovers Tommy Duckworth has made a play for her girlfriend.
The 19-year-old lothario - played by former 'Hollyoaks' star Chris Fountain - offers to give Sophie's girlfriend Sian Powers (Sacha Parkinson) a driving lesson before attempting to kiss her but Brooke Vincent who plays Sophie says her character is not impressed.
She said: "She's got such an attitude hasn't she so she's not going to take it well."
However Brooke says things couldn't be more different in real life as she finds it difficult to be mean to Chris because he makes her laugh so much.
She explained: "We've filmed some of those scenes already and because I know Chris already it's just funny to act nasty or with an attitude towards him. I'm supposed to be having a go at him but then there are times when he looks at me and I just burst out laughing.
"I love working with him, we get on really well and Sacha gets on with him too so it's great."
Brooke also revealed she adores being one half of the soap's lesbian couple and is thrilled when she hears from impressed viewers.
She told BANG Showbiz: "I don't know where Sophie and Sian are going - I just trust the writers to do what they think is best but I know the public really support the couple. We've got such a big gay fan base and as I'm not a lesbian myself it's wonderful to hear that we are portraying the couple realistically.
I think they're meant to be together and hope they do stay together but they are only young so who knows?"
Ozzy Osbourne to replace Cheryl Cole on The X Factor?
Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne is set to replace Cheryl Cole on 'The X Factor' judging panel, with the Geordie beauty reportedly ''certain'' to get a role on the US version of the talent contest.
Ozzy Osbourne is set to replace Cheryl Cole on 'The X Factor' judging panel.
The 62-year-old rocker - whose wife Sharon appeared as a judge on the ITV1 show for four series - is reportedly being drafted in as "controversial choice" to replace the Geordie beauty, who is said to be certain to get a coveted role on the US version of the talent contest.
An insider explained: "Ozzy would certainly be a controversial choice but he can really bring something different to the show. Sharon was a big hit and we think Ozzy can do well too."
However, Cheryl's reported departure from the series has ruffled feathers both in the UK and the US, with Stateside TV bosses only having recruited the 'Promise This' singer after music mogul Simon Cowell - who is in charge of the show - persuaded them to offer her the role.
The source added to The Sun newspaper "Producers this side of the pond aren't happy Cheryl has gone but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Bosses in the US are nervous but it looks as though Simon has twisted their arms."
Cheryl will not be the only judge notably absent from this year's UK 'X Factor', as ITV boss Peter Fincham has confirmed Simon - who is currently concentrating on the upcoming US launch of the series - won't be assuming a weekly role on the show.
He told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "We have been aware that his on-screen ¬involvement in this series will not be as great as ¬previous years for months now. It is something that we are completely -comfortable with.
"We are talking to him about ways he can have an on-screen presence later in the show. He will not be a weekly judge, but he will be an enormous presence backstage as always."
The Obituary Writer Has the Upper Hand
As of Wednesday morning, it cost a total of 3 cents to buy used copies of all three of Timothy Schaffert’s previous novels from Amazon.com: “The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters” (2002), “The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God” (2005) and “Devils in the Sugar Shop” (2007). Yet each of these books is a quirky little gem, particularly the first one. Life is not fair.
Here’s a happier part of Mr. Schaffert’s story: he’s got a flair for writing fanciful titles. He uses that gift to excellent effect in his fourth book, “The Coffins of Little Hope.” He concocts an imaginary series of young adult books that have supposedly taken the world by storm. They’re known as Miranda-and-Desirees because of the two plucky sisters who are their heroines. The institution that Miranda and Desiree have made famous sounds almost as well known as Hogwarts. But it’s “Rothgutt’s Asylum for Misguided Girls.”
Mr. Schaffert’s own narrative drops a number of nicely mischievous references to the 10 books in the Miranda-and-Desiree series. No. 4 is “The Dead Weights of the Doll’s Head.” No. 6 is the “Christmas-themed novel, the one in which Miranda and Desiree fall into a crack in the frozen lake and meet watery phantoms in long, flowing scarves skating figure eights across the underside of the lake’s layer of ice.” No. 11, called “The Coffins of Little Hope,” is the last book in the series. It’s just about to come down the pike.
As Mr. Schaffert’s own tale begins, fans of the series are in a frenzy. The gut-punch of the series’ end is imminent, and the book itself is physically nearby. It is being printed in a super-secure site in a quaint and dusty little Nebraska town where the local paper is called the County Paragraph and the publisher’s column features such folksy archetypes as “the missus,” “little sis” and “sonny-boy.” That paper’s longtime obituary writer is a tart, unsentimental, unstoppable 83-year-old great-grandmother. Her byline is “S Myles,” but everyone calls her Essie.
Essie is in an excellent position to narrate Mr. Schaffert’s book. She knows just about everyone in the area, whether those people are alive or dead. At fond moments in the story, she recalls some of the obituaries that count as her greatest hits. And she is caustic enough to appreciate the crazy media circus that comes to town once a half-mad woman named Daisy claims that her daughter, Lenore, has vanished. Something about the anxiety that accompanies the imminent death of the Miranda-and-Desiree books turns the disappearance of even one girl into a hot-button issue.
There’s a lot of plot to “The Coffins of Little Hope.” But Mr. Schaffert’s style is so gossamer-light that the story elements don’t become cumbersome. His book can accommodate a large cast of characters who bump into one another with an almost screwball regularity. The only one whose presence is underrepresented is Lenore. Why doesn’t Lenore have a birth certificate? Daisy is so nutty that some townspeople suspect Lenore may never have existed at all.
Mr. Schaffert’s sly wit and frank affection for his characters can make him sound like a very American Alexander McCall Smith. So the mystery about Lenore isn’t really this book’s main concern; it would much rather ramble. It would rather dwell, for instance, on the secretive author of the Miranda-and-Desiree books, the reason he has demanded that they be printed in an especially environmentally friendly way, and the upshot of that requirement: The books smell like cut dandelions crossed with cinnamon rolls.
Mr. Schaffert also throws in a minor plot thread about another writer: a revered, musty woman named Myrtle Kinglsey Finch who won the 1918 Pulitzer Prize for something called “The Ladies of the Katydids.” Finch aficionados, who sound more pious than the Lenore-stalkers and less frantic than the Miranda-and-Desiree fans, are determined to preserve their favorite author’s hometown “by killing it, inch by inch, and casting it in amber.” As he has with earlier books, Mr. Schaffert fills this one with Nebraskans who get lost in “nostalgia for a time that never was.”
“The Coffins of Little Hope” makes the most of its insular little atmosphere. Everyone knows everyone else’s habits — and is apt to have opinions about them. As Essie says about her grandson, Doc: “He took to wearing a linen suit and straw porkpie hat, elements of style that, in my honest opinion, hurt him in the community.” As a younger woman with a possible romantic interest in Doc tells him: “It suits you, the hair that’s going away. You have a good forehead for it.” And as Doc warns Tiff, who is his niece and Essie’s great-granddaughter, about Essie: “She’s already outlived two husbands. A son. A daughter-in-law. She’s clearly cursed. You should be afraid to be around her.”
A faint but important frisson of fear runs all through this seeming lightheartedness, giving the book a spooky undercurrent. After all, Essie is one of what she calls the town’s “death merchants.” The snicker about Doc’s suit and hat is directly preceded by the news that his parents died when their car went off a bridge. The young are made to seem old, and vice versa. And many of the women in this mortality-haunted, four-generation story have been coincidentally damaged by the disappearances of their mothers.
“Generation after generation of parents lost, of abandonment — starting with my mother’s death at my birth — had left us all stunted,” Essie says in one of the book’s brief moments of complete seriousness. “It wasn’t funny.” And yet, in Mr. Schaffert’s world, somehow it is.
Workplace Fiction That’s True to Life
I’VE often wondered why there aren’t more strong works of fiction dealing with the business world. Offhand, with the possible exception of Tom Wolfe’s “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” Richard Ford’s real estate dramas, or Michael Crichton’s forgettable “Disclosure,” I can’t think of many novels of recent years that grapple with the kinds of issues most business people encounter.
Invariably, what we get instead is the corporate thriller. You know, young Ned lands a job in the mailroom at Faceless Colossus Inc., climbs the ladder to middle management, then finds his boss in a pool of blood and balance sheets in the conference room, then uncovers a giant global conspiracy to subvert humanity in the boardroom, then goes on the run, where he is pursued by stern men in Joseph Abboud suits as he and the inevitable girlfriend scramble to save their lives, the world and, I don’t know, their 401(k)s. The villain is always the C.E.O.
The paucity of thoughtful business fiction, I surmise, has to do with the novelist’s preference for matters of life and death, or at least love. Writers yearn to put their characters in jeopardy, whether actual or emotional, and at first glance the main thing at stake in most corporate dramas, real or otherwise, is money. If the crucial issue is whether Faceless Colossus makes its earnings estimate for the quarter, or whether young Ned gets that bonus, well, not many novelists want to go there.
Which is kind of a shame. Television, after all, has set all kinds of excellent tales in the business world. “Mad Men” jumps to mind; it actually finds drama in the gritty realities of account management. “L.A. Law.” Heck, even “Ally McBeal” had its moments.
These shows also illuminate the lives that people lead in the workplace — another part of experience that is not especially well represented in fiction. Sloan Wilson (“The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit,” published in 1955), Joshua Ferris (“Then We Came to the End,” from 2007) and Mr. Ford are among the few who have found fictional inspiration inside the office.
Mr. Ford attempts to add to the meager store of workplace fiction with a new paperback collection of short stories he has edited, called “Blue Collar, White Collar, No Collar: Stories of Work” (Harper Perennial). By and large, these pieces don’t pierce the dark heart of Corporate America, or limn its existential dilemmas. Instead, most are character studies set in all manner of work environments, be they barrios, furniture warehouses or typewriter repair shops.
It’s hard to generalize about 32 stories by 32 authors, including some written by such luminaries as Alice Munro, Donald Barthelme, John Cheever and Joyce Carol Oates. A few are vignettes that deal only glancingly with work at all. Mr. Ford’s piece, for instance, gives us a young couple driving to his boss’s home when, on a darkened country road, the wife suddenly volunteers that she has had an affair with the boss. There is some awkward silence, a fast punch to her nose, then a dead raccoon and a quick denouement. Mr. Ford’s prose is evocative, but this is what usually passes for a story when novelists write about “work” — a sharp vignette set against a workplace backdrop, but not really about the work. Which is fine. Nice story.
Maybe I should read more modern fiction, but a few of these tales left me scratching my head. One called “Zapatos,” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, is about a vaguely Chilean shoe importer who sends his son off to a distant warehouse to buy shoes that fit only a left foot. Maybe you had to be there. Or the first one, by Max Apple, about a Houston woman attempting to open a small business; it meanders through a trip to a loan officer and a come-on from a supplier and then ends with the promise of impending marital sex. (Don’t look at me; I didn’t understand it either.) The Russell Banks offering tells the story of three kids from a distant barrio who start their own security business and get rich; as nicely as Banks writes, I’m still not sure what the point of the thing was.
For every tale that’s a little, um, odd, there are stories here that do take us into work, and into lives, that feel very real. One of my favorite stories from the collection, “Drummond and Son,” by Charles D’Ambrosio, is a gentle snapshot of a lone father trying to raise his troubled son in the father’s Seattle typewriter repair shop. It gets the feel of a small business just right, the usual customers, the minutiae of the work, the juggling of family and outside pressures that press into the day.
Another perceptive piece is “Edison, New Jersey,” by Junot Díaz, which chronicles a few days in the life of a Dominican delivery man as he and his partner cart pool tables around the New Jersey suburbs. The man steals a little — O.K., a lot — hits on the help, and leaves unpleasant bathroom surprises for customers he dislikes. There is nothing remarkable about the story or the protagonist, but a reader is left with a keen sense of a frustrating blue-collar job, the kind of work, done by the kind of person, that we find too easy to ignore.
WALKING up and down airplane aisles, I usually notice that most businesspeople are reading work materials, nonfiction or some kind of self-help book. Rarely do I spy anyone reading business-themed fiction. But if you want to give it a try, or just sample snippets from some good fiction writers, this book is worth a read. I learned a few things, smiled a time or two and made myself a promise to leave very, very good tips for the next delivery man who comes to our house.
Some Stuff She Knows About Hawaii
Sarah Vowell starts her willfully cutesy-pie book “Unfamiliar Fishes,” about the Americanization of Hawaii and America’s imperial ambitions, by asking this question about the takeout meal she has bought as a tourist in Waikiki: “Why is there a glop of macaroni salad next to the Japanese chicken in my plate lunch?”
This is typical of Ms. Vowell’s relentlessly casual, David Sedaris-chatty style. And her highly personal approach — like her guest appearances on television programs like “The Daily Show” and the “Late Show With David Letterman” — underscores our blog-era culture’s appetite for spontaneity and subjectivity, its tolerance of self-absorption and craving for entertainment.
“Unfamiliar Fishes” is less history than performance art by a multiple-hyphenate writer-humorist-public radio personality, who acts in these pages as a hostess steering us through Hawaii’s past as though it were a marathon cocktail party, pointing out this or that personage or event, while keeping up a constant flow of conversational chatter about her own likes and dislikes, and dishing out plenty of free-associative riffs about her own life and travels. It’s the complete opposite of traditional history, which aspired to objectivity and wide-angled perspectives, and tried not to judge the past retrospectively through contemporary mores and ideals.
Ms. Vowell’s storytelling and descriptive skills enable her to convey the hubris of the missionaries from New England, who vowed to spread the gospel in Hawaii, to teach the natives to read, to translate the Bible into Hawaiian and to cover, as the missionaries said, “those islands with fruitful fields and pleasant dwellings, and schools and churches.” She conveys the swiftness with which change came to the islands and the “runaway death rate” among native Hawaiians caused largely by outbreaks of smallpox, measles and other diseases brought by foreigners (described in the resonant words of one Hawaiian educator as “large and unfamiliar fishes” from big countries who have come to devour “the small fishes” of the islands). She also does a nimble job of delineating the cruel political manipulations involved in America’s annexation of the Hawaiian archipelago.
Ms. Vowell’s impressionistic and highly selective narrative style, however, can be annoying in the extreme, calculated to amuse or titillate, while skimping on depth and context. She mentions the importance of the hula in traditional Hawaiian culture, for instance, but focuses on the sexual aspects of the dance and its chants — “they’re wonderfully metaphorical, enumerating the qualities of a particular king’s penis, using images such as a ‘large sewing needle,’ or a ‘bald horse’ ” — without really delving into religious and broader cultural meanings or storytelling techniques.
She similarly raises important questions about the evolution of Hawaii’s multicultural ethos, the inequities of land distribution in the 19th century, which left a majority of real estate in foreign hands, and the strategic importance of the islands as a military and commercial hub. But she declines to examine such issues in detail, electing instead to pelt the reader with extraneous digressions about “Moby-Dick” and a visit she once made to the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
At one point Ms. Vowell pauses to wonder if Chin Ho Kelly, a detective on “Hawaii Five-O,” had his cavities filled at the King Kalakaua Dental Center. At another, she prattles away self-importantly about having an undergraduate degree in French language and literature, asserting that “affection for the French Enlightenment kind of comes with the diploma, along with a map of the Paris subway and a foolproof recipe for Proust’s madeleines.” The reader can only ask: who cares?
Like Ms. Vowell’s earlier books “The Wordy Shipmates” and “Assassination Vacation,” this one is fueled by her interest in her own emotions and reactions, and her eagerness to entertain. Certainly at a time when ignorance and historical illiteracy are rampant, there is a place for books that make the past relevant and easy to digest for the casual reader. But Ms. Vowell’s determination to render history user-friendly often feels reductive and condescending, and her contemporary analogies can be strained.
She compares the mix of missionaries and sailors in 19th-century Hawaii to the Hawaii Convention Center in Waikiki hosting “the Values Voter Summit and the Adult Entertainment Expo simultaneously — for 40 years.” And she writes that “a missionary preaching the first sermon in an archipelago pretty much has to quote” a verse from Isaiah about “the isles” waiting for God’s law; otherwise, “it would be like a Bon Jovi concert without ‘Livin’ on a Prayer.’ ”
At least there are no analogies as cringe-making as the remark in her last book, “The Wordy Shipmates,” that the build-up to the 17th-century Pequot War (in which English-led troops massacred hundreds of Pequot Indians) reminded her “of what skateboarders call the frustration that makes them occasionally break their own skateboards in half” — that is, of “a destructive tantrum brought on by an accumulation of aggravation.”
David Foster Wallace: The Last Audit
It seems to me there are two ways of understanding the document assembled from a jumble of boxes, disks and printed or handwritten papers that, at the time of David Foster Wallace’s suicide in 2008, ran into the high hundreds of pages — a document that, conscientiously and intelligently whittled down by Wallace’s editor Michael Pietsch to 500-odd pages, is now being published under the title “The Pale King,” and, just as significantly, the subtitle “An Unfinished Novel.”
The first is as a coherent, if incomplete, portrayal of our age unfolding on an epic scale: a grand parable of postindustrial culture or “late capitalism,” and an anguished examination of the lot of the poor (that is, white-collar) individual who finds himself caught in this system’s mesh. The setting that Wallace has chosen as his background (and foreground, and pretty much everything in between) could not be more systematic: the innards of the Internal Revenue Service — the sheer, overwhelming heft of its protocols and procedures. If, as one of Wallace’s characters asserts, “the world of men as it exists today is a bureaucracy,” then the I.R.S., “a system composed of many systems,” not only represents that world but also furnishes the ultimate stage on which its moral dramas are enacted. In the words of Midwest Regional Examination Center Director DeWitt Glendenning Jr., one of the more shadowy (or pale) presences in this multicharactered and multivoiced book, “The tax code, once you get to know it, embodies all the essence of [human] life: greed, politics, power, goodness, charity.”
To its own agents and enforcers, the I.R.S. even offers a role and status akin to that of the lone, righteous gunslinger in the Wild West or the caped crusader in Gotham. “Enduring tedium over real time in a confined space is what real courage is,” accounting students are informed with evangelical zeal by their instructor. “To retain care and scrupulosity about each detail from within the teeming wormball of data and rule and exception and contingency which constitutes real-world accounting — this is heroism.” The proposition is comic (one of the novel’s would-be heroes practices saying “Freeze! Treasury!” in front of his mirror) but sincere as well: the instructor is a Jesuit priest, and the scene is redacted with a genuinely epiphanic air. In a universe of veiled and veiling numbers, the task of drawing the true ones out into the light and holding them up for inspection, clear and remainder- less, really is a sacred one. “Gentlemen,” the instructor rounds off his sermon by saying, “you are called to account.”
The problem, as I.R.S. recruits soon discover, is that neither moral nor heroic codes hold true anymore. The bulk of “The Pale King” takes place in the mid-1980s, as the Spackman Initiative is being implemented. Pure invention (as far as I can tell) on Wallace’s part, the initiative nonetheless describes an all too recognizable shift in administrative culture, with the supplanting of a public service ethos (tax enforcement is an affirmation of all citizens’ duties toward others) by a free- market one: the I.R.S. is a revenue- generating business and, as such, should audit only those returns that promise the highest yield-to-man-hour-spent- investigating ratio. Post-Spackman, the tax agency is a godless space whose commandments are simply those of the profit motive, and whose driving logic is being automated at an alarming pace thanks to emerging software. “It was frightening,” writes David Wallace (a character who shares his name not only with the author but also with another David Wallace at the I.R.S., causing yet further blurring of identities and voices), “like watching an enormous machine come to consciousness and start trying to think and feel like a real human.” Machines will never feel, of course; nor do they allow for human agency and its offshoots (free will, ethics, compassion, love) to unfold and blossom in their arid data fields. By the time the software’s up and running, those high up in the I.R.S. are questioning the very need for humans to administer its programs at all.
How to Get Your Books Published
If you have finally written that book, there are basically five ways that you can get it published. One way to go is to find a literary agent to represent you or you can approach the traditional mainstream publisher yourself. Then again, if you relish the challenge of publishing the book yourself either because you do not want to loose creative control of your work or you are looking for a bigger financial return, you may consider Self publishing. You can do this by either using a local printer or using an on-line Print On Demand service like Lulu.com. Lastly, there is the option of embracing the technology and market place of the world wide web and producing your book as a piece of digital information or e-book.
Publishing through an agency.
Finding yourself a literary agent can be a great time saver. If you can get your book, accepted by an agent who is on the inside of the literary network, they will be able to help guide you through the system. First of all, and most importantly, they will tell you if your book is marketable, you do not want to waste time and energy flogging a dead horse. That is not to say that your book is bad, just that it is not saleable. This can be a fine distinction and there can be many reasons. If they do decide to recommend it, that will almost guarantee that your manuscript will be read by a publishing house. If the agent believes your book is worth representing they will draw up a contract, and in return for about 15% of the entire deal your agents will work extremely hard to get your manuscript into a publishing house.
Depending whether you’ve written a work of fiction or non-fiction, you will be able to find someone suitable by paging through a publishing guide directory. Most agents have built up contacts in a particularly genre, so it is worth checking what previous books they have helped published. You can then make contact by sending them a short query letter as way of an introduction to yourself and your idea. Include enough information to arouse interest and take it from there.
Going with a traditional publisher.
You can of course try to cut out the middleman and go it alone. You will need to do a bit research and find out which publishing house prints books similar to the one you have written. Again, you will have to contact them by sending a short query letter and hopefully you will get a request to submit your manuscript. Be prepared, if they like your book you will probably be asked to pitch it to them in person. In fact, this is one part of writing that some authors still feel uneasy with but you must be prepared to market yourself. As budgets get tighter for publishing houses, authors are expected to do a major part of their own marketing.
You must also be prepared for rejection if you use this method. Many of the larger publishing companies will not risk their money on an unknown author,. This is one advantage of using the literary agent, as their judgement is trusted and will go a long way to influence the publisher’s decision in your favour..
Self publishing with a local printer
If you decide to take your book to a local printer and self publish, you must be prepared to make the decisions concerning the production of your book. You will have to make all the decisions. As well as having to organise the printing and marketing, there are even the minute details to consider, including what paper the book is printed on. Make sure you choose a printer that has experience in book production, then at least he will be able to give you some good advice. Do not go with the first one, visit two or three and get quotes to help you work out your budget. You must remember that the printer will produce precisely what you give him, without any revision or editing. It is important that your book is proofread before submission. If you choose this path you will have to store your books, do all the marketing and promotion, fulfil all the orders and organise shipping.
Self publishing online with print on demand.
With the advent of on-line sites like Lulu.com, self publishing has become so much easier and cheaper. After you have downloaded your version of the book to Lulu, they will take care of the printing and delivery. This means after you have written your book, you can devote your time to marketing and promoting it. They can even provide extra services for you,such as giving an ISBN number and making your book available to big book stores, like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Selling you work as an e-book.
The e-book is a digital version of your book that may be purchased and downloaded, and then immediately read on-line. If you use free word processing software like “Open Office” writer, you can automatically turn your document into a PDF e-book that can be sold on-line from your blog or website. You can do this by setting up an account with an e-commerce site like Pay Pal which will provide you with payment buttons on your website pages, to sell your book. Another more sophisticated way to go is to get a shopping cart system or use data delivery software like Smart DD
Which way to go?
Obviously there are risks and benefits with each method, and to a certain extent, your choices will be controlled by your budget. With traditional publishing, if your book is accepted, you can expect between 5% and 8% of the royalties on an initial run, that is perhaps as low as 5000. If you have an agent, you will have to pay them their share out of this.
When going with a local printer, you will have to have enough money to pay for everything upfront. Usually the more you can afford to have printed, the cheaper each book will be. You then have the expense of marketing and publicity, along with all the hassle associated with running a small publishing company. This includes keeping all the business books, sales invoices, delivery notes, etc.; and dealing with officials like the tax office. Offset against this is the fact, that if you are successful, you will earn more money and will be in the position to help other authors publish their books.
Publishing your book with a print on demand service, like Lulu is probably the cheaper of the options. You will also save yourself a great deal of time, as they take care of all the storage and delivery. You will still have to to spend a lot of time publicity and marketing if you want to be successful.
Finally, e-books are the way to go if you want to retain complete control of your book and its profits. Once you have the system up and running to sell your books actually producing them cost virtually nothing and in theory, you can sell them every day for the rest of your life. All you will have to worry about is getting potential customers to your website.
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