I’m writing you to convey the following important information and option:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Last Thursday, May 10, Governor Perdue released her budget recommendations for next year, FY 2012-13, which starts this coming July. The Governor’s budget is available at: Governor Perdue’s 2012-13 Recommended Budget Adjustments. Page 155 of the budget includes a recommendation of $2.5 million for the One NC Small Business Program (a.k.a., NC’s SBIR/STTR Matching Grant Program).

This recommendation is significant, particularly because the One NC Small Business Program has no funding in this current fiscal year. Notably, inclusion of the program in the Governor’s budget recommendations for next year is a direct result of your input. As you will recall, at the start of this year you provided to us, via an online survey, information regarding one or more grants you have received under the One NC Small Business Program. Using that information, we drafted a report evaluating the One NC Small Business Program and other activities of the Office of Science & Technology. The full 83-page report, which we provided to the NC General Assembly on March 1, is available at: Office of Science & Technology Continuation Review Report. Information pertaining specifically to the One NC Small Business Program is available on pages 29-39.

While being included in the Governor’s budget is a necessary step toward restoring funding for the One NC Small Business Program, it is not sufficient. Specifically, only the NC General Assembly has the authority to appropriate funding. And as you know, the state budget continues to be very constrained, meaning that not all worthy programs will receive funding. Accordingly, to improve the odds of the One NC Small Business Program receiving funding, you may opt to let the General Assembly know the importance of the program to your small business, North Carolina’s economy, and its citizens.

OPTION

The NC General Assembly will begin its legislative session on Wednesday, May 16. The session will move very quickly. Thus, if you opt to convey to key legislators the importance of restoring funding for the One NC Small Business Program, it is recommended that you do so within the next week, preferably as soon as possible.

Doing so is easy. Initially, you need only write a brief letter your local Senator (The Senate starts the budget process this year). You can locate your Senator’s contact information at the following link — Who Represents Me? You can search by county, but if more than one Senator represents your county and you need more information regarding specifically which one represents you, you may also search by ZIP Code at the link above. When you send the letter to your senator, it may also be beneficial to send copies to the Co-Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee. Their contact information is available at: Appropriations/Base Budget Committee.

Hard copy letters on your company’s letter head are best, but you may also e-mail your letter (on letterhead) to the Senators. The Senators would benefit from hearing why you think state support, particularly the One NC Small Business Program, is important is for small, promising, high-tech companies such as yours. They also would benefit from learning more about your company, including its location, mission, technologies, size, potential for growth, etc., as well as your appreciation for their past support of the One NC Small Business Program. As a constituent and contributor to North Carolina’s economic growth and quality of life, you play an important role in informing the General Assembly of the importance of their support for your company’s growth and development.

$50 Copay NCBCBS Blue advantage B

$250 against $3500 deductible for back brace

What is an epidural?

1/20/2012 - First Epidural - I almost passed out.  The pain became excruciating as my leg nerve blocks were “pressing in”.  I said”I don’t feel well, it hurtssssss…and then the pain became a tingle.  Then the right leg started to hurt excurciatingly.  I didn’t think I was going to make it.  The pain was so intense that I felt nausea and started sweating and had to be carted into a room and observed.  Within a few minutes my BP was back to normal, but I have never felt so much pain. My nurse intimated that I was a wimp.  It hurt, way more than the MRI in Dec. Humbled by the pain of the injection makes me feel like I don’t know real pain. Numb sciatic nerve and burning foot from injection lasted several hours.

$50 Copay NCBCBS Blue advantage B

1/21/2012 - Spend the day helping my son do a brake and rotor replacement on a Saab.  Feeling OK without the brace.  Went to church with it under a sweater and was un-noticeable.   CC would regularly bring 2 blue icyballs cold in a sack inside her purse and bring them out at just the right time.  In church, after we have been standing.  Got bill for surgery Posterior T12 or L1-illiac wing instrumentation fusion with laminectomies. possible TLIF. Bone autograft and allograft

1/22/2012 - Finished the brake job with my son and daughter.  She had her first date.  Pain is minimal, although wearing brace. Horrible night sweats!

1/23/2012 - Localized pain due to the injection. Otherwise feeling good.  Went a few hours without backbrace. Went swimming.

1/24/2012 - Up early, localized pain.  Feeling a bit better.

2/13/2012 - Twinge, but abated with a swim, phew!

3/5/2012 - Struggling to get up stairs, hurts in the morning - hoping to swim later tonight.

3/7/2012 - Call for another injection.  Try Naproxen Sodium and hold out for total 3 months between

3/9/2012 - Remarkably better on Naproxen Sodium.  I swam 30 laps today (continuous for cardio) - kept up with Catherine only because we were on a time crunch.

3/30/2012 - BCBSNC won’t pay for a lidoderm patch.

4/2/2012 - Still doing remarkably well even after mowing the lawn.  Yes, up hills to the point where my legs went numb from muscle pain, not nerve pain.

3/30/2012 Noticed 2 weeks of swimming ~ 1 mile 3xweek - weight is 205

5/1/2012 Swam 40 laps over a mile today.

5/7/2012 Swimming miles a week.  Hope it keeps up.

5/10/2012 Wow, Took two heavy gracery bags back to  our room in Atlanta (the “W”) Reverse descrimination is nice.  I

5/11/2012 Walked several miles today on a treasure hunt for my wife. What fun, but the clinical trial is a NO. I do not have a disc tear, so no injections of Fiberin. Oh. Well. Not my plan.  God’s plan. I walked another 20 Atlanta blocks to prove I can do whatever it takes.

Microsoft last week for the first time revealed specifics about Windows 8 versions and features, confirming that the operating system will come in three, traditional desktop editions and a version built specifically for tablets that run chips based on ARM’s reference design.

Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows 8 Enterprise will run on traditional desktops and laptops, as well as ultrabooks. Windows 8 RT will run on tablets that use ARM-based chips manufactured by Qualcomm, Motorola, and Nvidia. Windows 8 RT will only be available as a preinstalled OS on tablets and other mobile devices. Those tablets will also come with a touch-optimized version of Office 15 preinstalled.

The Windows 8 lineup represents a streamlining of sorts by Microsoft. By comparison, Windows 7 was available in six editions, including Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise. Microsoft did not release pricing details of the various Windows 8 versions.

Windows 8 marks Microsoft’s most significant redesign of its franchise OS since Windows 95. The new OS gives users the option of ditching the familiar Windows Explorer interface in favor of the touch-based Metro UI, which first appeared on Windows Phone.

A new study by ExactTarget found more than two-thirds of Americans shopping online are baited with email first – nearly twice the rate brought in from Facebook and text messages.

It makes sense why we’re partial to the email route. It’s easy enough to mark messages as spam and ignore ones we don’t feel like reading straightaway.

But for a shopaholic, email is basically the gateway drug to overspending.

When the time comes that I actually need to shop, I’ll prowl CouponSherpa.com or Retailmenot.com for discount codes first and check to see if Ebates has a cashback offer available. I rarely turn up empty-handed.

According to forensic experts, pedophiles are increasingly using gaming systems to exploit children, while terrorists are using it for communication. With this evidence, a contract was awarded on April 5 by the Naval Supply Systems Command to Obscure Technologies for the research and development of “hardware and software tools that can be used for extracting data from video game systems.”

Obscure Technologies, a small San Francisco-based company that performs computer forensics and which has just been awarded a $177,237 sole-source research contract to develop “hardware and software tools that can be used for extracting data from video game systems,” and “a collection of data (disk images; flash memory dumps; configuration settings) extracted from new video game systems and used game systems purchased on the secondary market,” according to the contract award from the U.S. Navy.

Solicitation Number:
N0024412R0024
https://www.neco.navy.mil/synopsis_file/N0024412R002…
Description: N0024412R0024_JA_Obscure-Game.docx
Contracting Office Address:
N00244 NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center San Diego Seal Beach Office 800 Seal Beach Blvd. Bldg 239 Seal Beach, CA

Right now, it’s illegal for a startup to solicit investors on platforms like Twitter or Kickstarter. But the JOBS Act would change that. For startups raising $1 million or less, anyone can now buy up to $10,000 or 10 percent of the annual income (whichever is less) in equity

IPO filings of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 which said that any company with more than 500 shareholders has to open its financials to the SEC like a public company. But under the JOBS Act, anyone who gives $10,000 or less will not count toward this limit. The act also raises the shareholder limit from 500 to 1,000.

Startups can opt to raise as much as $2 million in this manner; but if they go the crowdfunding route, they will have to provide audited financial statements to their investors. There are some drawbacks for startups. Here are some highlights:

1. First, startups must understand that minority stockholders have certain significant rights under state law, including voting rights, the right to inspect the company’s books and records, the right to bring a derivative claim on behalf of the company, and certain protections against oppression by the controlling stockholders. Indeed, the more stockholders a startup has, the greater the likelihood that a disgruntled stockholder will cause problems, including filing lawsuits.
2. Second, having hundreds of stockholders is an administrative nightmare and will be time consuming and costly. Presumably, each stockholder will be required to execute a subscription agreement and/or stockholders’ agreement to address key issues such as transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal, and drag-along rights. There will also be administrative issues relating to voting and stock transfer issues.
3. Third, startups will likely have difficulty raising funds from VCs and other sophisticated investors if they have hundreds of unsophisticated stockholders. Needless to say, few sophisticated investors will want to sit on the board of directors of such a company due to the risks of lawsuits relating to director liability, and I would assume D&O liability insurance rates will skyrocket for these companies.

The JOBS Act also makes it easier for small companies to go public by increasing the offering threshold for companies exemepted from SEC regulation from $5 to $50 million on companies. Additional regulations will be phased in over a five-year period for companies that stay under $1 billion in revenue.

As much as I don’t like Cree (I have hired many ex-Cree engineers who were very unhappy, but some of the most talented engineers in the semiconductor business) they have a profitable (lucrative) manufacturing process and are SECURELYpatented.

1,598 family groups, 2,267 patent records in the above link

The Japanese are not far behind, but they are behind.

For the record, I have tried many LED indoor bulbs of different temperature (color) and prefer the Honeywell dimmable bulbs.