Thursday, November 7, 2013

Apple updates iBooks for Mavericks with bug fixes

Apple updates iBooks for Mavericks with bug fixes

Apple has posted iBooks Update 1.0.1 for Mac users who are using OS X 10.9 Mavericks. The update is available through Software Update.

The update sports typically terse Apple release notes:

This version of iBooks includes bug fixes and improvements to performance and stability.


    






Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/aP7wdzrX-lo/story01.htm
Similar Articles: sunday night football   Dustin Keller  

Here, Drink A Nice Glass of Sparkling Clean Wastewater





One man's sewage is another man's drinking water. This pipe, filled with straw-like filters, gets rid of the contaminants in __.



Amy Standen/KQED


One man's sewage is another man's drinking water. This pipe, filled with straw-like filters, gets rid of the contaminants in __.


Amy Standen/KQED


In California's Silicon Valley, there will soon be a new source of water for residents. That may not sound like big news, but the source of this water – while certainly high-tech — is raising some eyebrows.


With freshwater becoming more scarce in many parts of the country, the public may have to overcome its aversion to water recycling.


Ah, The Stench Of Drinking Water


If text could transmit odor, you'd already know where this water is coming from.


"Well, we happen to be very close to a landfill," says Marty Grimes, a spokesman for the brand-new $68 million Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center in San Jose.


There's also a wastewater treatment plant across the street. And that is where this water comes from: a place that smells a lot like a toilet.





This hydrant carries __ water to/from the treatment plant.



Amy Standen/KQED


This hydrant carries __ water to/from the treatment plant.


Amy Standen/KQED


"Wastewater is not necessarily a pretty business," says Grimes. "But let me tell you, the result of our plant is going to be pure, clean water."


It's a little unfair to linger on the unsavory sewage source. When this plant starts up later this year, it will be doing some of the most state-of-the-art water filtration in the country.


Naturally, that's what engineers here emphasize when they give tours.


"The water comes from the autostrainers, where it's strained down to 300 microns," says Crystal Yezman, who works at the facility. One micron is one thousandth of a millimeter, so 300 microns is about the size of a human hair.


That's step one — filtering out everything wider than a human hair.


Then, the water passes through filters that get rid of the tiniest of contaminants, like viruses or pharmaceuticals, by a process of reverse osmosis.


Finally, the water gets zapped by ultraviolet rays, which scramble the DNA of anything that might be living in it. This water is clean.


"The Department of Health has acknowledged that we are removing 99.99 percent of all pathogens," says Yezman.


If that's true, then the water is cleaner than snow melt, and certainly almost as good as what people get from their kitchen sinks now.


Or, says Grimes, "it could be even better."


Erasing A Dirty Past


Despite how clean this water is, no one's going to drink it. It's going into segregated pipes bound for landscaping instead.


But that may have to change one day because, like a lot of places in the West, water supplies here are drying up. Recycled water is the future — if enough people can be convinced that it's OK to drink.


"You have to break the memory, or the line of history, of the water," explains Brent Haddad of the University of California, Santa Cruz.


This is not an engineering challenge, he says. It's a psychological challenge. Water managers, he says, need to rewrite the history of the water to help people forget the part about sewage.


One way to do this is to take recycled water and put it back into a natural setting, like a river.


A "river is something that's comforting to people," says Haddad. "And we don't have to think anymore that it was passing through a city. We just begin the history of that water in the river itself."



Nine Years Of Convincing


This, of course, happens in nature every day. Just look at the Mississippi River — it's full of treated sewage water that people downstream clean and then drink.


And it's happening in Southern California, home to the largest potable water recycling facility in the world.


"We put it back into the ground, and then eventually it becomes part of the water supply," says Mike Markus, general manager of the facility.


Instead of putting their water into a river, his district cleans treated sewage and then pumps it underground, where it mixes with other water. Then, they pump it back up and treat it all over again, before piping it to peoples' houses.


Even with this crazy, Rube Goldbergian system, getting the public to accept recycled water took lots of meetings.


Markus says he and his colleagues talked to almost anyone who would listen — local elected officials, the health and medical community, the chamber of commerce, schools, environmentalists, rotary groups.


"We talked to the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. And scouting troops," Markus adds. "Anyone who would want to hear or receive a presentation."


That whole process took nine years.


The irony, of course, is that when you put recycled water back into the ecosystem, it actually gets dirtier and has to be treated again. How does it feel to put that beautiful clean water into a hole in the ground? "Frustrated," Markus says.


So, he reminds himself that winning people over to recycled sewage water is a process — one that's just beginning here in Silicon Valley.


Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/11/07/243711364/here-drink-a-nice-glass-of-sparkling-clean-wastewater?ft=1&f=1001
Tags: Jaimie Alexander   last minute halloween costumes   Geno Smith   Hyon Song-wol   neil armstrong  

Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams together again




This image released by Nickelodeon shows, from left, Penny Marshall, Jennette McCurdy, Ariana Grande and Cindy Williams in a scene from the series "Sam & Cat." Marshall and Williams, best known from their comedy series "Laverne and Shirley," will guest star in the episode airing Saturday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. EST. (AP Photo/Nickelodeon, Lisa Rose)






LOS ANGELES (AP) — Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams play feuding ex-TV partners on an episode of Nickelodeon's "Sam & Cat," but they brush aside any comparison to their past.

The former "Laverne & Shirley" stars, who back in the day of their 1976-83 sitcom were reported to have crossed swords, said they were never enemies and remain friends despite lingering suggestions to the contrary.

"That was rumors. Any show you work on for eight years, you're gonna argue at some point," said Marshall. "Way overblown."

Williams agreed, but added a bit of detail.

"Yes, it was a bit overblown," she said. The actress added that she and Marshall have "very different personalities" with contradictory styles of working, which sometimes led to on-set clashes.

That said, Williams regularly visits Marshall's house to watch and discuss TV. There's a chill in the air, Williams said, but only because Marshall keeps her thermostat turned down and, to compensate, provides down coats and blankets for guests.

Marshall, whose big-screen directing credits include "A League of Their Own" and "Big," is busy working on a documentary about provocative ex-NBA player Dennis Rodman. But she and Williams were enticed by "Sam & Cat" creator Dan Schneider to guest star on the comedy airing at 8 p.m. EST on Saturday.

"He loved our show," Williams said. "He wanted to do a little tribute."

In the episode, Sam (Jennette McCurdy) and Cat (Ariana Grande) face having to rename their baby-sitting business because it's similar to "Salmon Cat," a faux 1970s TV show. The young women track down the show's creators (Marshall and Williams) and try to dissolve their enmity.

In another Nickelodeon reunion, "Happy Days" creator Garry Marshall (brother of Penny Marshall), makes a guest appearance on "See Dad Run" starring Scott Baio, a cast member on the 1974-84 sitcom starring Henry Winkler and Ron Howard.

The "See Dad Run" episode airs 8 p.m. EST on Sunday.

___

Online:

http://www.nick.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/penny-marshall-cindy-williams-together-again-152213089.html
Category: Monster Mash   eric decker   House of Cards   Brad Culpepper   Mayweather vs Canelo results  

Apple posts two EFI updates for late 2013 MacBook Pros with Retina Displays

Apple posts two EFI updates for late 2013 MacBook Pros with Retina Displays

Apple on Thursday posted two firmware updates for the late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display - MacBook Pro Retina EFI Update v1.2 and MacBook Pro Retina EFI Update v1.3.

The 1.2 update is specifically aimed at models equipped with Nvidia graphics, and updates a problem that, "in rare cases, may limit the performance of the discrete graphics processor after a system wake or boot."

The 1.3 update is recommended specifically for 13-inch models, and fixes an issue that cause the built-in keyboard and Multi-Touch trackpad to become unresponsive.


    






Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/rCY9I4GiLO0/story01.htm
Similar Articles: Daylight Savings Time 2013   Google Glass   Mary Queen of Scots   Shannon Sharpe   aaron hernandez  

5 ways BYOD is shaking up tech support



November 07, 2013







Amid the clamor of "bring your own device" (BYOD), a question lurks in the background: "What happens to technical service and support?" Concerns for the tech support function encompass the extremes, from agents being overwhelmed with calls, to their becoming inhabitants of a help desk ghost town.


On the one hand, it’s easy to imagine a flood of calls as employees attempt to access wireless networks or synch their e-mail, especially in companies that permit the use of any device type. At the same time, as more people own smartphones, they are increasingly accustomed to resolving issues independently, through online forums, communities and other means of self-support.


By 2016, says Gartner analyst Jarod Greene, help desks will see a 25% to 30% drop in user-initiated call volume, as BYOD drives a companion trend of BYOS, or “bring your own support.”



To continue reading, register here to become an Insider


It's FREE to join




Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/consumerization-of-it/5-ways-byod-shaking-tech-support-230379?source=rss_mobile_technology
Related Topics: chris christie   samhain   harry potter   gucci mane   Cal Worthington  

Twitter shares rocket 92% higher in NYSE debut



By Olivia Oran and Gerry Shih


Nov 7 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc stock soared 92
percent in their first day of trading on Thursday on the New
York Stock Exchange as investors snapped up shares in the
microblogging site, pushing its market value to a heady $25
billion.


The shares opened at $45.10 a share, up from the initial
public offering price of $26 set on Wednesday, then added to
those gains, hitting a high of $50.


Sources said the flotation had drawn strong demand, with
investors asking for 30 times the number of shares on offer as
they bet on potential growth at the money-losing social media
company.


The opening price valued the shares at about 22 times
forecast 2014 sales, nearly double that multiple at social media
rivals Facebook Inc and LinkedIn Corp.


Twitter executives including Chief Executive Dick Costolo
and founder Jack Dorsey thronged to the floor of the New York
Stock Exchange to witness the IPO. The Big Board snatched the
offering away from Nasdaq after the normally tech-focused Nasdaq
stumbled with the larger Facebook flotation last year.


"Facebook was so overhyped people felt like they couldn't
miss out," said Kenneth Polcari, a senior floor official at
O'Neil Securities Inc. "Twitter isn't like that, though you can
feel the excitement."


British actor Patrick Stewart rang the opening bell at the
exchange together with 9-year-old Vivienne Harr, who started a
charity to end childhood slavery using the microblogging site.


"I guess I represent the poster boy for Twitter," Stewart
said, adding that he had only been tweeting for about a year and
wasn't buying Twitter stock today.


Twitter's building staff opened its offices in San Francisco
extra early, at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. By 7:30 a.m., hundreds of
employees had flocked to their 9th floor cafeteria to watch
Stewart ring the opening bell on TV.


The microblogging network priced its 70 million shares at
above the targeted range of $23 to $25, which had been raised
once before. The IPO values Twitter at $14.1 billion, with the
potential to reach $14.4 billion if underwriters exercise an
overallotment option.


If the full overallotment is exercised, as expected, Twitter
could raise $2.1 billion, making it the second largest Internet
offering in the United States behind Facebook Inc's $16
billion IPO last year and ahead of Google Inc's 2004
IPO, according to Thomson Reuters data.


Twitter boasts 230 million global users, including heads of
state and celebrities, but it lost $65 million in its most
recent quarter and questions remained about long-term prospects.


It also lacks the ubiquity of Facebook or the "stickiness"
factor that keeps people checking the No. 1 social network on a
daily basis.


A Reuters-Ipsos poll last month showed that 36 percent of
people who signed up for a Twitter account say they do not use
it.



Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-set-debut-ipo-30-141551118.html
Category: Bad Grandpa   cnn   breaking bad   monday night football   nfl scores  

The Carolina hammerhead, a new species of shark, debuts

The Carolina hammerhead, a new species of shark, debuts


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Steven Powell
spowell2@mailbox.sc.edu
803-777-1923
University of South Carolina






Discovering a new species is, among biologists, akin to hitting a grand slam, and University of South Carolina ichthyologist Joe Quattro led a team that recently cleared the bases. In the journal Zootaxa, they describe a rare shark, the Carolina hammerhead, that had long eluded discovery because it is outwardly indistinguishable from the common scalloped hammerhead. Through its rarity, the new species, Sphyrna gilberti, underscores the fragility of shark diversity in the face of relentless human predation.


Quattro, a biology professor in USC's College of Arts and Sciences, didn't set out to discover a new cryptic species, let alone one found exclusively in saltwater. When he started as an assistant professor at USC in 1995, he was largely focused on fish in the freshwater rivers that flow through the state before emptying into the western Atlantic Ocean.


He has wide interests that include conservation, genetic diversity and taxonomy. A driving force in his scientific curiosity is a desire to better understand evolution. As it turns out, South Carolina's four major river basins the Pee Dee, the Santee, the Edisto and the Savannah are a source of particularly rich ore for mining insight into evolutionary history.

Glacial influence had limits


Quattro grew up in Maryland, earned a doctorate at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and completed a post-doc at Stanford University. "New Jersey and Maryland, in particular, had huge glacial influences," said Quattro. "The areas where rivers now flow were covered with glaciers until 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, and as the glaciers receded the taxa followed them upstream."


In contrast, rivers south of Virginia were not covered with glaciers. "In other words, these rivers have been around for quite some time," Quattro said. "The Pee Dee and the Santee are two of the largest river systems on the East coast. And we just got curious how distinct are these rivers from one another?"


Beginning with the pygmy sunfish, Quattro and colleagues examined the genetic makeup of fish species within the ancient freshwater drainage systems. They found the banded pygmy sunfish in all the South Carolina rivers in fact, this widespread species is found in nearly all the river systems of the U.S. southeastern and Gulf coasts, starting from the plains of North Carolina, around Florida, and all the way to and up the Mississippi River.


But two species are much rarer. The bluebarred pygmy sunfish is found only in the Savannah and Edisto systems. The Carolina pygmy sunfish is found only in the Santee and Pee Dee systems. Both species coexist with the common banded pygmy sunfish in these river systems, but are found nowhere else in the world.


From an evolutionary standpoint, it's a noteworthy finding. These rare species are related to the widespread species, yet the details of the inter-relationships such as which predates the others and is thus an ancestral species still defy ready description. The fact that a rare and a common species are located together in an ancient river system is important information in the ongoing struggle to clearly define evolutionary history. In the past, scientists drew taxonomic charts almost solely on the basis of physical structure (morphology) and available fossils. The genetic data revolution of recent decades is helping redefine biology in a much more precise manner, but the process is still in the early going.

From the river to the sea


Quattro has been doing his part by slowly moving down the river systems to the ocean, collecting genetic data the whole way down. In the freshwater rivers, he has examined pygmy sunfishes, other sunfishes and basses. Closer to the sea, he has looked at short-nosed sturgeon, which spend most of their time in the estuary (where the river meets the ocean), but do venture up the river to spawn. And further downriver still, he has looked at shark pups.


South Carolina is a well-known pupping ground for several species of sharks, including the hammerhead. The female hammerhead will birth her young at the ocean-side fringes of the estuary; the pups remain there for a year or so, growing, before moving out to the ocean to complete their life cycle.


In the process of looking at hammerheads, Quattro, his student William Driggers III and their colleagues quickly uncovered an anomaly. The scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) that they were collecting had two different genetic signatures, in both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Searching the literature, they found that Carter Gilbert, the renowned curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History from 1961 to 1998, had described an anomalous scalloped hammerhead in 1967 that had 10 fewer vertebrae than S. lewini. It had been caught near Charleston and, because the sample was in the National Museum of Natural History, the team was able to examine it morphologically and suggest that it constituted a cryptic species that is, one that is physically nearly indistinguishable from the more common species.


After publishing the preliminary genetic evidence for the new, cryptic species in the journal Marine Biology in 2006, Quattro and colleagues followed up by making thorough measurements (of 54 cryptic individuals and 24 S. lewini) to fully describe in Zootaxa the new species, S. gilberti, named in Gilbert's honor. The difference in vertebrae, 10 fewer in the cryptic species, is the defining morphological difference.


Apart from the satisfaction of discovery, Quattro has established locations and genetic signatures for a number of closely related, yet distinct, species in South Carolina's rivers, estuaries and coastal waters. The results will go a long way in furthering efforts to accurately define taxonomy and evolutionary history for aquatic life.


His team's work also demonstrates the rarity of the new species. "Outside of South Carolina, we've only seen five tissue samples of the cryptic species," Quattro said. "And that's out of three or four hundred specimens."


Shark populations have greatly diminished over the past few decades. "The biomass of scalloped hammerheads off the coast of the eastern U.S. is less than 10 percent of what it was historically," Quattro said. "Here, we're showing that the scalloped hammerheads are actually two things. Since the cryptic species is much rarer than the lewini, God only knows what its population levels have dropped to."



###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




The Carolina hammerhead, a new species of shark, debuts


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Steven Powell
spowell2@mailbox.sc.edu
803-777-1923
University of South Carolina






Discovering a new species is, among biologists, akin to hitting a grand slam, and University of South Carolina ichthyologist Joe Quattro led a team that recently cleared the bases. In the journal Zootaxa, they describe a rare shark, the Carolina hammerhead, that had long eluded discovery because it is outwardly indistinguishable from the common scalloped hammerhead. Through its rarity, the new species, Sphyrna gilberti, underscores the fragility of shark diversity in the face of relentless human predation.


Quattro, a biology professor in USC's College of Arts and Sciences, didn't set out to discover a new cryptic species, let alone one found exclusively in saltwater. When he started as an assistant professor at USC in 1995, he was largely focused on fish in the freshwater rivers that flow through the state before emptying into the western Atlantic Ocean.


He has wide interests that include conservation, genetic diversity and taxonomy. A driving force in his scientific curiosity is a desire to better understand evolution. As it turns out, South Carolina's four major river basins the Pee Dee, the Santee, the Edisto and the Savannah are a source of particularly rich ore for mining insight into evolutionary history.

Glacial influence had limits


Quattro grew up in Maryland, earned a doctorate at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and completed a post-doc at Stanford University. "New Jersey and Maryland, in particular, had huge glacial influences," said Quattro. "The areas where rivers now flow were covered with glaciers until 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, and as the glaciers receded the taxa followed them upstream."


In contrast, rivers south of Virginia were not covered with glaciers. "In other words, these rivers have been around for quite some time," Quattro said. "The Pee Dee and the Santee are two of the largest river systems on the East coast. And we just got curious how distinct are these rivers from one another?"


Beginning with the pygmy sunfish, Quattro and colleagues examined the genetic makeup of fish species within the ancient freshwater drainage systems. They found the banded pygmy sunfish in all the South Carolina rivers in fact, this widespread species is found in nearly all the river systems of the U.S. southeastern and Gulf coasts, starting from the plains of North Carolina, around Florida, and all the way to and up the Mississippi River.


But two species are much rarer. The bluebarred pygmy sunfish is found only in the Savannah and Edisto systems. The Carolina pygmy sunfish is found only in the Santee and Pee Dee systems. Both species coexist with the common banded pygmy sunfish in these river systems, but are found nowhere else in the world.


From an evolutionary standpoint, it's a noteworthy finding. These rare species are related to the widespread species, yet the details of the inter-relationships such as which predates the others and is thus an ancestral species still defy ready description. The fact that a rare and a common species are located together in an ancient river system is important information in the ongoing struggle to clearly define evolutionary history. In the past, scientists drew taxonomic charts almost solely on the basis of physical structure (morphology) and available fossils. The genetic data revolution of recent decades is helping redefine biology in a much more precise manner, but the process is still in the early going.

From the river to the sea


Quattro has been doing his part by slowly moving down the river systems to the ocean, collecting genetic data the whole way down. In the freshwater rivers, he has examined pygmy sunfishes, other sunfishes and basses. Closer to the sea, he has looked at short-nosed sturgeon, which spend most of their time in the estuary (where the river meets the ocean), but do venture up the river to spawn. And further downriver still, he has looked at shark pups.


South Carolina is a well-known pupping ground for several species of sharks, including the hammerhead. The female hammerhead will birth her young at the ocean-side fringes of the estuary; the pups remain there for a year or so, growing, before moving out to the ocean to complete their life cycle.


In the process of looking at hammerheads, Quattro, his student William Driggers III and their colleagues quickly uncovered an anomaly. The scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) that they were collecting had two different genetic signatures, in both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Searching the literature, they found that Carter Gilbert, the renowned curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History from 1961 to 1998, had described an anomalous scalloped hammerhead in 1967 that had 10 fewer vertebrae than S. lewini. It had been caught near Charleston and, because the sample was in the National Museum of Natural History, the team was able to examine it morphologically and suggest that it constituted a cryptic species that is, one that is physically nearly indistinguishable from the more common species.


After publishing the preliminary genetic evidence for the new, cryptic species in the journal Marine Biology in 2006, Quattro and colleagues followed up by making thorough measurements (of 54 cryptic individuals and 24 S. lewini) to fully describe in Zootaxa the new species, S. gilberti, named in Gilbert's honor. The difference in vertebrae, 10 fewer in the cryptic species, is the defining morphological difference.


Apart from the satisfaction of discovery, Quattro has established locations and genetic signatures for a number of closely related, yet distinct, species in South Carolina's rivers, estuaries and coastal waters. The results will go a long way in furthering efforts to accurately define taxonomy and evolutionary history for aquatic life.


His team's work also demonstrates the rarity of the new species. "Outside of South Carolina, we've only seen five tissue samples of the cryptic species," Quattro said. "And that's out of three or four hundred specimens."


Shark populations have greatly diminished over the past few decades. "The biomass of scalloped hammerheads off the coast of the eastern U.S. is less than 10 percent of what it was historically," Quattro said. "Here, we're showing that the scalloped hammerheads are actually two things. Since the cryptic species is much rarer than the lewini, God only knows what its population levels have dropped to."



###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/uosc-tch110713.php
Related Topics: courtney stodden   homeland   Americas Cup   Wentworth Miller   Rosh Hashanah 2013  

1 worm, 2 mouths

1 worm, 2 mouths


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Erik Ragsdale
erik.ragsdale@tuebingen.mpg.de
49-070-716-01496
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft



A devious evolutionary path between genetics and environment




Depending on the environment in which the worm grows, the larva of the roundworm Pristionchus pacificus develops into either a wide-mouthed predator or a narrow-mouthed bacteria eater. A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Tbingen, Germany, headed by Ralf J. Sommer have now discovered a developmental biological switch that determines the worm's mouth form. According to this, the scientists are now able to explain how organisms adapt to different surrounding conditions.


When it comes to survival, flexibility is a trump card. This principle also applies to the microscopic roundworm Pristionchus pacificus, which is being researched by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in a study headed by Ralf Sommer. Depending on the environment in which Pristionchus grows, it develops either a short wide mouth or a long narrow one. The wide-mouthed variant, which has a single, characteristic tooth, is suitable for carrying out predatory attacks. The narrow version, in contrast, is mainly used for grazing on bacterial food sources. The developmental path taken by a Pristionchus larva is not decided by its genes but by the environment. When the animals were starved or when too many worms crowded the Petri dish, the researchers observed the increased development of the wide-mouthed variant.


Erik Ragsdale, Manuela Mller, Christian Rdelsperger and Ralf Sommer have now discovered a crucial interface between the worm's environment and its developmental genes. The Tbingen-based scientists found a gene which functions like a switch and selects the suitable variant from the two possible mouth forms.


The discovery of this gene was the crowning success of a genetic experiment, to which roundworms are particularly suited due to their short generation time. Ragsdale and Mller discovered mutated worm lines which only produce worms with narrow mouths, irrespective of the environmental conditions, and in which the same gene, eud-1, is inactivated. "We were able to show that a gene that we found in a genetic experiment under laboratory conditions controls an ecologically significant characteristic," comments Max Planck Director Sommer, explaining the special significance of this discovery.


eud-1 is the gene for a sulfatase. Sulfatases are enzymes that chemically alter other proteins or molecules. The scientists in Tbingen do not yet know precisely which molecules are the targets of this special sulfatase. They presume, however, that eud-1 influences the characteristics of hormonal messenger substances. This would fit with their observation that eud-1 is mainly active in the worm's neurons where important messenger substances are produced.


Armed with the information about the eud-1 mutants, Ragsdale and his colleagues crosschecked their findings and introduced additional copies of the eud-1 gene into Pristionchus worms using genetic engineering tricks. Almost all of these transgenic worms developed the wide mouth form with the characteristic tooth.


eud-1 thus works like a train dispatcher at a large railway station who decides which platform a high-speed train can pull into based on the current traffic situation. During a critical phase in the worm's development, it follows the one-way track to a "wide mouth" or "narrow mouth".


The capacity of many organisms to tailor their development to the changing demands of the environment is known as "phenotypic plasticity". The discovery of the des eud-1 gene is important because the molecular-genetic mechanisms that facilitate this plasticity in the animals have been largely unknown up to now.


"Phenotypic plasticity is often referred to as an explanation for evolutionary adaptations to different environmental conditions. We provide an example of a genetic mechanism that enables such evolutionary bifurcations," says Sommer.


Exactly how the environment and genes interact is a controversial topic among evolutionary biologists in certain respects. It is clear that the environment selects between genetically different variants this is Darwin's natural selection. However, researchers like American biologist Mary-Jane West-Eberhard claim that the environment can also directly influence the emergence of new phylogenetic characteristics.


In the case of a "plastic" characteristic like the shape of the mouth aperture, external circumstances determine whether it presents in one form or another. West-Eberhard and other scientists suspect that a characteristic determined by the environment in this way can then become permanently defined at genetic level. Speciation or the division of species could even arise in this manner. However, this is little more than a controversial theory, for which hardly anything by way of experimental proof could be provided to date.


With the discovery of the switch gene eud-1, the Max Planck scientists in Tbingen have identified a genetic mechanism that fits well with this hypothesis. Hence, complex evolutionary models with plasticity and environmental influences as driving forces may perhaps be more than controversial musings.


###


Original publication

Erik J. Ragsdale, Manuela R. Mller, Christian Rdelsperger, Ralf J. Sommer

A Genetic Switch Coupled to Micro- and Macroevolution of a Developmental Plasticity Acts Through a Sulfatase
Cell, 7 November 2013



[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




1 worm, 2 mouths


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Nov-2013



[


| E-mail

]


Share Share

Contact: Erik Ragsdale
erik.ragsdale@tuebingen.mpg.de
49-070-716-01496
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft



A devious evolutionary path between genetics and environment




Depending on the environment in which the worm grows, the larva of the roundworm Pristionchus pacificus develops into either a wide-mouthed predator or a narrow-mouthed bacteria eater. A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Tbingen, Germany, headed by Ralf J. Sommer have now discovered a developmental biological switch that determines the worm's mouth form. According to this, the scientists are now able to explain how organisms adapt to different surrounding conditions.


When it comes to survival, flexibility is a trump card. This principle also applies to the microscopic roundworm Pristionchus pacificus, which is being researched by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in a study headed by Ralf Sommer. Depending on the environment in which Pristionchus grows, it develops either a short wide mouth or a long narrow one. The wide-mouthed variant, which has a single, characteristic tooth, is suitable for carrying out predatory attacks. The narrow version, in contrast, is mainly used for grazing on bacterial food sources. The developmental path taken by a Pristionchus larva is not decided by its genes but by the environment. When the animals were starved or when too many worms crowded the Petri dish, the researchers observed the increased development of the wide-mouthed variant.


Erik Ragsdale, Manuela Mller, Christian Rdelsperger and Ralf Sommer have now discovered a crucial interface between the worm's environment and its developmental genes. The Tbingen-based scientists found a gene which functions like a switch and selects the suitable variant from the two possible mouth forms.


The discovery of this gene was the crowning success of a genetic experiment, to which roundworms are particularly suited due to their short generation time. Ragsdale and Mller discovered mutated worm lines which only produce worms with narrow mouths, irrespective of the environmental conditions, and in which the same gene, eud-1, is inactivated. "We were able to show that a gene that we found in a genetic experiment under laboratory conditions controls an ecologically significant characteristic," comments Max Planck Director Sommer, explaining the special significance of this discovery.


eud-1 is the gene for a sulfatase. Sulfatases are enzymes that chemically alter other proteins or molecules. The scientists in Tbingen do not yet know precisely which molecules are the targets of this special sulfatase. They presume, however, that eud-1 influences the characteristics of hormonal messenger substances. This would fit with their observation that eud-1 is mainly active in the worm's neurons where important messenger substances are produced.


Armed with the information about the eud-1 mutants, Ragsdale and his colleagues crosschecked their findings and introduced additional copies of the eud-1 gene into Pristionchus worms using genetic engineering tricks. Almost all of these transgenic worms developed the wide mouth form with the characteristic tooth.


eud-1 thus works like a train dispatcher at a large railway station who decides which platform a high-speed train can pull into based on the current traffic situation. During a critical phase in the worm's development, it follows the one-way track to a "wide mouth" or "narrow mouth".


The capacity of many organisms to tailor their development to the changing demands of the environment is known as "phenotypic plasticity". The discovery of the des eud-1 gene is important because the molecular-genetic mechanisms that facilitate this plasticity in the animals have been largely unknown up to now.


"Phenotypic plasticity is often referred to as an explanation for evolutionary adaptations to different environmental conditions. We provide an example of a genetic mechanism that enables such evolutionary bifurcations," says Sommer.


Exactly how the environment and genes interact is a controversial topic among evolutionary biologists in certain respects. It is clear that the environment selects between genetically different variants this is Darwin's natural selection. However, researchers like American biologist Mary-Jane West-Eberhard claim that the environment can also directly influence the emergence of new phylogenetic characteristics.


In the case of a "plastic" characteristic like the shape of the mouth aperture, external circumstances determine whether it presents in one form or another. West-Eberhard and other scientists suspect that a characteristic determined by the environment in this way can then become permanently defined at genetic level. Speciation or the division of species could even arise in this manner. However, this is little more than a controversial theory, for which hardly anything by way of experimental proof could be provided to date.


With the discovery of the switch gene eud-1, the Max Planck scientists in Tbingen have identified a genetic mechanism that fits well with this hypothesis. Hence, complex evolutionary models with plasticity and environmental influences as driving forces may perhaps be more than controversial musings.


###


Original publication

Erik J. Ragsdale, Manuela R. Mller, Christian Rdelsperger, Ralf J. Sommer

A Genetic Switch Coupled to Micro- and Macroevolution of a Developmental Plasticity Acts Through a Sulfatase
Cell, 7 November 2013



[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

[


| E-mail


Share Share

]

 


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/m-owt110713.php
Related Topics: PS4 release date   Susan Bennett   Spring High School   Liam Payne   miley cyrus  

TWITTER IPO LIVE: Contrasts near Twitter HQ

Specialist Glenn Carell, who will handle the Twitter IPO, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Twitter set a price of $26 per share for its initial public offering on Wednesday evening and will begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol "TWTR" in the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's 2012 debut. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)







Specialist Glenn Carell, who will handle the Twitter IPO, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Twitter set a price of $26 per share for its initial public offering on Wednesday evening and will begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol "TWTR" in the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's 2012 debut. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)







Twitter Chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey, co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams and, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo pose for a group photo after their company's IPO began trading, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. If Twitter's bankers and executives were hoping for a surge on the day of the stock's public debut, they got it. The stock opened at $45.10 a share on its first day of trading, 73 percent above its initial offering price. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)







Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey, and co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone, front row left to right, applaud as they watch the the New York Stock Exchange opening bell rung, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. If Twitter's bankers and executives were hoping for a surge on the day of the stock's public debut, they got it. The stock opened at $45.10 a share on its first day of trading, 73 percent above its initial offering price. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)







Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, center, and Mike Gupta, chief financial officer of Twitter, wait for shares to begin trading during the IPO, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. If Twitter's bankers and executives were hoping for a surge on the day of the stock's public debut, they got it. The stock opened at $45.10 a share on its first day of trading, 73 percent above its initial offering price. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)







Twitter signage is draped on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 in New York. Twitter set a price of $26 per share for its initial public offering on Wednesday evening and will begin trading Thursday under the ticker symbol "TWTR" in the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook's 2012 debut. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)







(AP) — Twitter had a strong public stock debut Thursday in the most highly anticipated initial public offering since Facebook's last year. That doesn't mean the people in the neighborhood near Twitter's headquarters are doing well.

Twitter is trading under the ticker symbol "TWTR." Twitter's stock opened at $45.10, or 73 percent above its $26 IPO price. The opening price values Twitter at more than $31 billion based on its outstanding stock, options and restricted stock that'll be available after the IPO. Expect some changes throughout the day, though: It has traded as high as $50.09 and is now at $48.21.

The high price comes despite the fact that Twitter has never turned a profit in seven years of existence. Revenue has been growing, but the company is also investing heavily in more data centers and hiring more employees.

Here's a running account of Twitter's first day of trading, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are EST.

___

— 3:05 p.m.: AP's @liedtkesfc explores the neighborhood outside @Twitter HQ and sees contrasts.

The San Francisco neighborhood outside Twitter's headquarters provides a forlorn contrast to the suddenly rich people working inside the building.

These are among the meaner streets in downtown San Francisco, long populated with the destitute who have no place to live and the miscreants who resort to crime to make ends meet. In hopes of cleaning the area up, the city of San Francisco gave Twitter local tax breaks on employee stock options to help persuade the company to move into the neighborhood two years ago.

But times are still tough here. Scruffy-looking people gathered against the wall of a post office across the street from Twitter's headquarters. Four of them had just spent the night in a homeless shelter. All of them said that they wished that they owned Twitter stock, yet they maintained that they didn't really envy Twitter employees becoming wealthier as the stock soared Thursday.

There was a clump of litter just a few feet away. Amid the empty coffee cups, cigarette butts and empty liquor bottles, there were two scratch-off games for the California lottery that had been discarded because they didn't pay off. #LandofBrokenDreams

— Michael Liedtke, San Francisco, @liedtkesfc

___

— 2:50 p.m.: In Asia, @Twitter has competition from local companies, reports AP's @YKLeeAP

Led by Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and India, Asia was the fastest growing region for Twitter in summer 2010, according to Semiocast, a Paris-based social media research company. But growth has slowed in South Korea and Japan, a red flag for Twitter as both countries are wealthy and have high rates of mobile device usage — now the predominant way Twitter is accessed.

New mobile applications from companies such as South Korea's Kakao Corp. and Japan's Line Corp., have experienced explosive growth, making them potent competitors for eyeballs and advertising.

Why are people leaving Twitter or spending less time on it?

Too open. Too crowded. Too difficult.

"In South Korea and Japan, open type social networking services like Twitter and Facebook are losing steam," said Justin Lee, an analyst of mobile messengers and games at BNP Paribas. "Closed social networking services where messages are shared among a small group of people will become more popular."

Twitter remains blocked from China's vast market but another giant, India, is open to Twitter. It has amassed 27 million users there, according to Semiocast. Yet Twitter acknowledged in IPO filings that low use of smartphones in emerging markets such as India could hamper the ability of advertisers to deliver compelling advertisements and hurt its earnings potential.

International users accounted for about three quarters of Twitter's members but only a quarter of revenue in the first nine months of this year. About 25 percent of Twitter's 232 million active users are in Asia.

— Youkyung Lee, Seoul, South Korea, @YKLeeAP

___

— 2:30 p.m.: @Twitter now among the most valuable media companies, notes AP's @rnakashi

Like Twitter, the other large media companies in the country rely to some extent on advertising revenue. As of mid-afternoon, Twitter's value is nearly $33 billion, after including options and restricted stock that'll be available after the IPO.

The market value of other media companies: CBS Corp., $34.7 billion; Discovery Communications Inc., $30 billion; Viacom Inc., $38.8 billion; The Walt Disney Co., $120 billion; Time Warner Inc. $60.3 billion.

— Ryan Nakashima, Los Angeles, @rnakashi

___

— 2:10 p.m.: @NYSEEuronext has congratulated @Twitter "on a successful #NYSEIPO! We're excited to be your partner."

___

— 1:55 p.m.: Looking back at Twitter's IPO price, here are some quick facts from @Dealogic

Twitter priced its IPO at $26, raising $1.82 billion. If the offering's underwriters fully exercise their option to buy more shares, the IPO's value will rise to $2.09 billion. That would make it the second-largest Internet IPO by an American company on record, following Facebook Inc.'s $16 billion, but beating Google Inc.'s $1.92 billion.

The research firm Dealogic says Twitter's IPO is set to be the third-largest U.S.-listed IPO so far this year, behind Plains GP Holdings at $2.9 billion and Zoetis' $2.6 billion.

Including Twitter, U.S.-listed tech industry IPOs have raised $7.8 billion through 41 deals so far this year. That's down from $20.5 billion generated by 35 deals during the same period of 2012, though Facebook accounted for $16 billion of the 2012 total.

Tech companies tend to post bigger first-day jumps than the overall market. The average one-day jump for tech industry IPOs this year is 35 percent, compared with an average gain of 17 percent for 2013 IPOs overall. Twitter's stock opened at 73 percent above the IPO price.

— Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

___

— 1:40 p.m.: @Twitter soars while drop in overall market pulls down rest of Internet cos.

Twitter shares are flying high, but other Internet companies are having a tough time getting off the ground.

While Twitter's debut likely helped send shares of Facebook Inc. down, the overall tech industry also took a hit as the markets pulled back from record levels on worries that the Federal Reserve could soon start curtailing its economic stimulus program.

Facebook shares fell $1.07, or 2.2 percent, to $48.05 after dropping as low as $47.41 earlier in the day. Other Internet companies such as LinkedIn Corp., AOL Inc., Google Inc., Pandora Media Inc. and Zillow Inc. all posted small to moderate losses.

— Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

___

— 1:20 p.m.: Will Twitter's stock keep going up? There is risk of Twitter burnout. #TwitterHaters

There's plenty of evidence online about the celebrities who tire of Twitter. The long list of Twitter quitters includes everyone from Alec Baldwin to Miley Cyrus to "Lost" co-creator Damon Lindelof, though some eventually return.

Some get overwhelmed by followers spewing hatred. Others get addicted to interacting with huge fan bases and need to pull away. Even non-celebrity users complain of the amount of time spent posting and replying and vow to close accounts to get on with their lives.

With its public stock debut, the company has been selling potential investors on the idea that its user base of 232 million will continue to grow along with the 500 million tweets that are sent each day. The company's revenue depends on ads it inserts into the stream of messages.

But Wall Street could lose its big bet on social media if prolific tweeters lose their voice.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/user-burnout-could-threaten-twitters-prosperity

— Ryan Nakashima, Los Angeles, @rnakashi

___

— 1:05 p.m.: Twitter chairman @jack makes reference to first tweet in Vine video post

About two hours ago, Twitter chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted this: "just setting up our $twtr —https://vine.co/v/hI1nP3vQOBI" The link is to video on Twitter's Vine app, showing traders shouting on NYSE trading floor.

The tweet, of course, is a reference to the world's first tweet, which was sent by Dorsey on March 21, 2006, and read "just setting up my twttr." Dorsey uses "$twtr" in Thursday's post in a reference to the stock's ticker symbol. Putting a dollar sign before it is a common way to refer to stocks on Twitter.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

___

— 12:50 p.m.: @Twitter is trading very heavily in its first day on @NYSE.

About 82 million shares of Twitter have exchanged hands already. To put that in perspective, Twitter only sold 70 million shares in its IPO. One way to think about it, every share issued in Twitter's IPO has been traded more than once, and the session isn't half over yet.

Of course, not every investor who got shares of Twitter at the $26 IPO price is selling Thursday. Many large institutional investors are buy-and-hold firms. If every investor had sold at the debut, the stock would not have opened at 73 percent above the IPO price.

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 12:35 p.m.: @TDAmeritrade official says stock debut is flawless

"It's gone on pretty flawlessly," says JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at online brokerage TD Ameritrade.

For one, he says, the broader market's downturn isn't affecting Twitter much. Trading is also tight, rather than volatile, which indicates that people feel like it was "pretty fairly priced," he says.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

___

— 12:15 p.m.: Learn more about @vivienneharr, @sirpatstew and @bostonpolice official who rang @NYSEEuronext opening bell

Crediting its success to its users, Twitter gave the honor of ringing Thursday's opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to three high-profile tweeters: a child activist, a legendary British actor and a Boston Police official.

Nine-year-old Vivienne Harr used a lemonade stand to raise more than $100,000 to support efforts to eliminate child slavery around the world. Her pink lemonade, along with a ginger-infused version, is now being bottled and sold online. A portion of the profits is donated to groups that work toward ending child slavery. More than 22,000 people follow @vivienneharr on Twitter.

Patrick Stewart is known both for his Twitter presence and his stage and screen careers. His highest profile roles have included Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and Professor Charles Xavier in the "X-Men" movies. About 722,000 people follow @sirpatstew. Stewart tweeted a picture of himself on Halloween dressed as a lobster in a bathtub. It was retweeted nearly 39,000 times.

Cheryl Fiandaca has been chief of public information for the Boston Police Department since July 2012. Fiandaca spearheaded the department's social media efforts, and her department used Twitter to get information to the public in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. More than 266,000 people follow @bostonpolice.

Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

___

— 11:55 a.m.: @Wedbush analyst @MichaelPachter says high debut price suggests #TwitterIPO was managed well.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says the surge "clearly shows that demand exceeds supply of shares."

"It's impossible to know what the real value is," he says.

Still, he acknowledges that the price is "pretty high" and not something he was expecting.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

___

— 11:45 a.m.: It's #BusinessAsUsual at @Twitter headquarters, though employees seem happy.

Although Twitter's fortunes are already soaring on Wall Street, there haven't been any audible whoops of joy emanating from the company's San Francisco headquarters yet. But almost every employee walking in and out of the building is grinning.

Twitter seems to know that it needs to accelerate its revenue growth to support its lofty stock price. A few employees just came out to usher in a group of advertising agency representatives. #TheNewReality

--Michael Liedtke, San Francisco, @liedtkesfc

___

— 11:30 a.m.: @Barclays official in charge of stock debut speaks with AP's @KenSweet, admits being "a little nervous."

It was the biggest IPO of the year for Glenn Carell, the Barclays Capital official in charge of Twitter's stock debut. He has been doing it for 21 years and says, "I was a little nervous, but it went well."

Twitter hired Barclays to be its "designated market maker," which supervises the trading of a company's stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The IPO process itself was managed by three other investment banks.

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 11:05 a.m.: RT @KenSweet: Twitter took a long time to open due to the deal size. Goldman also likes to take its time.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are the three investment banks in charge of Twitter's IPO.

After debuting at $45.10, the stock is now trading at $47.85, or 84 percent above the IPO price.

___

— 10:55 a.m.: AP's @BarbaraOrtutay notes that the $31 billion value puts Twitter in the ballpark of Yum Brands and Deere & Co.

It's also slightly below State Street Corp.

___

— 10:53 a.m.: The opening price values Twitter at $31.3 billion.

To calculate its value, the AP is using 694.8 million shares that Twitter is expected to have outstanding after the IPO, counting restricted shares and stock options it plans to issue to employees. At the $26 IPO price, the value was more than $18 billion.

___

— 10:51 a.m.: Twitter stock opens at $45.10, 73 percent above IPO price

___

— 10:50 a.m.: Range is now $45 to $45.25, or up to 74 percent above IPO price. Very close to debut.

RT @KenSweet: They're closing the book.

___

— 10:45 a.m. AP's @KenSweet says current bid is $45.25. The debut is near in #TwitterIPO.

___

— 10:40 a.m.: Patrick Stewart tweets on #Ring of opening bell as Twitter trade debut imminent.

RT @SirPatStew: Honored to join @ev @jack @biz @dickc & the @Twitter team at their historic IPO this morning. #Ring! pic.twitter.com/XaJpYW2kIh

___

— 10:35 a.m.: It's getting close to Twitter's stock debut. First indication for opening price is even narrower: $45.50-$46.50.

The high end would be 79 percent above its IPO price.

___

— 10:30 a.m.: AP's @KenSweet now says opening price narrowed: $45-$47.

He reports: "This is a good sign. Could mean we're finding the right price. Progress."

___

— 10:20 a.m.: AP's @KenSweet says opening price is expected even higher: $43-$47.

The range for first indication means Twitter could start trading at up to 81 percent above its IPO price.

___

— 10:15 a.m.: RT @KenSweet: I've heard some traders mention that this may not open until 1030, maybe 11. But things are changing rapidly.

___

— 10:10 a.m.: AP market reporter @KenSweet explains the role @Barclays has in #TwitterIPO.

Trading for Twitter's stock is under the supervision of Barclays Capital. Twitter hired the bank to be its "designated market maker." A DMM supervises the trading of a company's stock. He or she is an experienced trader in charge of ensuring that buying and selling go smoothly. If trading becomes volatile, the DMM can step in and buy shares using his or her firm's own money.

DMMs are especially important the day a company goes public, because the DMM coordinates between Twitter, the company's investment banks and NYSE's floor traders to get a stock trading. If technical problems arise, the NYSE uses DMMs to bypass electronic trading systems, allowing humans to trade a company's stock. That is not possible on all-electronic stock exchanges such as the Nasdaq, which had technical problems during Facebook's IPO last year.

Barclays' role as Twitter's DMM does not mean it is in charge of the entire IPO process. That role falls to Twitter's investment banks: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/twitter-picks-barclays-coordinate-ipo-trading

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 10 a.m.: #TwitterIPO first indication for opening price: $42-46.

That means Twitter could start trading at up to 77 percent above its IPO price. Trading is to begin soon as representatives from Barclays continue negotiations to find the right price.

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 9:50 a.m.: With the #Ring of the #NYSEBell past, what will happen? @KenSweet reports.

Traders gather around Twitter's booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. At Twitter's post, the company's "designated market maker" starts taking orders from the traders, who are representing dozens of firms and hundreds of investors.

The goal of the DMM, who used to be known as the NYSE's specialists, is to figure out what is the best price to start trading Twitter's shares.

Due to massive investor and media interest in Twitter, the actual negotiation over what are the right price for Twitter's now-public shares will take some time. It could take as little as 20 minutes, or it could take an hour. The NYSE wants to avoid the trading debacle that Nasdaq faced with last year's Facebook's IPO, so it's going to be careful.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/going-public-how-twitters-ipo-will-work

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 9:40 a.m.: The market is open at @nyse, though Twitter's stock won't trade right away.

RT @NYSEEuronext: #RING! Markets OPEN. #NYSEBell has rung, now begins #TwitterIPO price discovery. Wait for it . pic.twitter.com/gPxGgB6QWa

The opening bid is $35, reports AP's @KenSweet. It's the first indication of where the stock will open later in the morning.

As the NYSE's opening bell was rung, the graphic below displayed the hashtag #Ring!

Who rang the bell?

RT @NYSEEuronext: @Twitter owes success to its users, so gives #NYSEBell to @SirPatrickStew, @VivienneHarr & @Bostonpolice #TwitterIPO pic.twitter.com/fAprlGV8Vs

— Bree Fowler, New York, @APBreeFowler

__

— 9:25 a.m.: What's being said on Twitter? IPO is the 10th most popular trending topic in the U.S.

IPO is behind Thanksgiving, Texas, NFL and #throwbackthursday.

Worldwide, it doesn't make into the Top 10. Nobel Prize-winning author Albert Camus does. It's his birthday, after all.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

___

— 9:05 a.m.: RT @KenSweet: Floor trader Kenneth Polcari thinks twitter's $26 share price is pretty fair. Doesn't expect it to double on the open.

___

— 8:50 a.m.: Busy morning at @nyse trading floor, reports AP's @KenSweet

RT @KenSweet: Orders for Twitter have been coming in since 8 am, floor trader Jonathan Corpina tells me. Very busy.

RT @KenSweet: Corpina expects a smooth opening. The NYSE does IPOs all the time, he says. The difference here is volume and media attention.

RT @KenSweet: Traders use these handheld wireless computers to send orders. Paper orders ended a long time ago: pic.twitter.com/bwz8UK4xcB

___

— 8:40 a.m.: Why Twitter went to @nyse. Pressure is on with opening bell less than an hour away. #lessonsfromFB

Twitter chose to go public on the NYSE over the all-electronic Nasdaq. One of the reasons why Twitter likely chose the NYSE over the Nasdaq has to do with problems Facebook faced with its Nasdaq-listed IPO last year. A glitch in Nasdaq's trading software led to trading delays and order failures on Facebook's first day of trading.

The NYSE isn't taking any chances with Twitter. The exchange tested its trading software on Oct. 26 to prepare for Twitter's debut. If the NYSE faces technical problems with its ordering software, the exchange can switch over the traditional human-based stock trading that dominated Wall Street for decades.

RT @KenSweet: NYSE traders and execs are really playing up the human element to this IPO. It's a shot across the bow at the Nasdaq.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/twitter-list-new-york-stock-exchange

— Ken Sweet, New York, @KenSweet

___

— 8:20 a.m.: AP markets reporter @KenSweet says media outnumber traders 5:1 @nyse trading floor

It's a media madhouse. But it's still more than an hour before the opening bell, so more traders should be coming. Expect a big crowd.

RT @KenSweet: The NYSE is decorated head to toe. with twitter logos. They went big here to promote: pic.twitter.com/pnwRQ9e6QG

___

— 8 a.m.: After #TwitterIPO pricing, market debut comes Thursday.

It should come as no surprise that Twitter used Twitter to announce its public stock debut.

It began with a tweet on Sept. 12: The 7-year-old company posted on its official Twitter account that it has "confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO." Details about offering emerged after the IPO documents were released publicly later.

On Oct. 24, Twitter set its IPO price target at $17 to $20 per share. It raised that to $23 and $25 per share, signaling an enthusiastic response from prospective investors. The actual price on Wednesday night was even higher, at $26. That bodes well for the company's stock when trading begins.

Twitter also took to Twitter to announce that price: https://twitter.com/twitter/status/398235511254298624/photo/1

The company is offering 70 million shares in the IPO, plus an option to buy another 10.5 million. If all shares are sold, the IPO will raise $2.09 billion, making it the biggest IPO for an Internet company since Facebook raised $16 billion last year.

Of course, Facebook made its debut with high hopes, only to see its stock fall below the IPO price by the second day of trading. Twitter has valued itself at just a fraction of Facebook and sought to cool expectations in the months and weeks leading up to the offering.

— Barbara Ortutay, New York, @BarbaraOrtutay

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-11-07-Twitter%20IPO-Running/id-5f87c41248124d44bef6ca50e8343dab
Similar Articles: julianne hough   politico   Bobby Cannavale   brandon jacobs   Alison Pill