Irina Shayk is not a half bad looking woman. I tried to pick her as my physical therapy service provider under Obamacare but the site crashed halfway through my application. So I just looked at porn and figured I wouldn’t get sick this year.
Photo Credit: La Clover Lingerie
Courtesy of Kabbage
For many online and other small businesses, getting a loan or a big cash advance is tough. Banks and other traditional lenders are often leery of those without years of financial statements and solid credit scores.
But some lenders and other financial services companies are beginning to assess credit risk differently — using criteria you might not expect.
Jeffrey Grossman is an acupuncturist in Bellingham, Wash. He's also a small businessman. He creates media marketing materials for other acupuncturists hoping to expand their practice.
Over the years, Grossman has borrowed money from family and from bank lines of credit, but recently, he needed a quick infusion of extra cash. He turned to a company called Kabbage, an online financing firm for small businesses.
He found the concept interesting, but the application also made him skeptical. "They wanted all this information about QuickBooks [accounting software] and UPS accounts and all this stuff," he says.
Such details, says Kathryn Petralia, a co-founder of Kabbage, allows the company to "effectively build a financial statement." The firm provides financing to small businesses — such as online merchants — that banks typically don't lend to. Petralia says Kabbage uses real-time and verifiable data from things like UPS shipments, eBay and PayPal accounts to assess creditworthiness.
"We can see historical data and current data, and we can see tomorrow's data. And we are looking at information that could be as detailed as what people are actually buying from you," Petralia says.
And she says that can be more useful than static financial documents that banks and other traditional lenders typically rely on.
“ Are customers saying that you are doing a good job? Are consumers complaining about you?
"If you see that the customer's business is changing over time — they're selling different products, they're changing their price points, transaction volume is going up or down — you get a lot more visibility and insight into that business than a pure financial statement's going to give you," Petralia says.
To be clear, small businesses that get money from Kabbage give the company permission to view their online accounts. Christine Pratt, a senior financial services analyst at Aite Group, says Kabbage's use of this real-time transaction data is smart. She also likes the fact that Kabbage looks at companies' social media pages.
"Are customers saying that you are doing a good job? Are consumers complaining about you?" Pratt says.
Kabbage looks at a small business' Twitter account and its Facebook page. The company knows the information there isn't foolproof but says it can add insight into how a company is relating to its customers — and at the margins it can be helpful.
"They use that information to be able to look ahead, to see whether or not your business not only is doing very well right now but can also sustain that business and grow," Pratt says.
She says the use of social and real-time data is growing. Some traditional lenders are starting to embrace it, and Amazon is quietly mining its own data to find retailers it wants to make loans to.
Back in Bellingham, Grossman, the small businessman, decided to take the plunge and gave Kabbage access to some of his online accounts.
"I think we were funded probably within like minutes," he says.
But he has words of caution to would-be borrowers: The company's fees can be steep.
"I don't want to say you're doing business with the devil, but sometimes when you're a small business, if the banks aren't able to give you the money and if you need some cash flow, you kind of have to bite the bullet and do it," he says.
Grossman was approved for up to $25,000 and says the funds he got have helped him grow his business and for that he remains grateful.
A photo released by NASA this summer shows a photo composed of nearly 900 images taken by the rover Curiosity, showing a section of Gale Crater near the equator of Mars. The rovers are continuing to work through the U.S. government shutdown.
A photo released by NASA this summer shows a photo composed of nearly 900 images taken by the rover Curiosity, showing a section of Gale Crater near the equator of Mars. The rovers are continuing to work through the U.S. government shutdown.
The budget negotiations in Washington are not front-page news on Mars. There, millions of miles away, NASA's rovers continue to operate, taking photographs and collecting data as they prepare for the coming Martian winter.
NPR's Joe Palca has this report for our Newscast unit:
"NASA's newest rover, called Curiosity, is on the move. It's headed to the base of Mount Sharp, a mountain that towers three-and-a-half miles above the floor of Gale crater where the rover landed. Scientists hope the foothills of the mountain will reveal some of the ancient geologic history of Mars.
"The other rover called Opportunity is studying something similar at the rim of Endeavor crater. In January, the rover that was designed to last 90 days will mark its tenth year on Mars.
"Some of Opportunity's instruments have stopped working, but it's still taking pictures and still roves across the surface, albeit quite a but slower than its newer partner on the other side of the planet."
The two rovers are taking in data and getting into strategic locations before winter arrives on Mars in a few months.
The scarcity of sunlight shouldn't pose a challenge for Curiosity, whose systems are powered by heat generated by the radioactive decay of plutonium. NASA hopes that the older Opportunity, which powers itself with solar panels, will be aided by its position on a north-facing slope.
As the Planetary Society website notes, this will be Opportunity's sixth winter:
"Harsh beyond belief, winters on Mars are life threatening, even for robots. Opportunity must endure constant, sometimes radical fluctuations in daily temperatures, not to mention survive temperatures as low as 100 degrees below freezing, all of which is really tough on her metal parts. Of course, the veteran rover has proved its resilience many times over while exploring this sub-freezing planet."
"Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" (Alfred A. Knopf), by Helen Fielding
Time has dulled Bridget Jones.
It has also left her neither wiser, more relaxed nor comfortable with the person she's become and the people she counts as her friends.
That's both good and bad because in Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy," the British heroine — whose sense of self was so strong and so entertaining in the first two novels that it created an archetype of self-determination belaboring amusing bouts of self-confidence — is lost amid social media, parental responsibility and trying to impress the moms at school.
So how, now, is Bridget Jones at 51? Content in marriage to Mark Darcy? Happily ensconced in having quit smoking, raising two children and avoiding the trap of being a smug married woman?
In a word, no. Darcy is dead and Bridget is a single mother to their two children, dating a man whose age is around half her own while her best mates find themselves vacillating between adult responsibility and living their lives as the unfettered and unbound twenty- and thirty-somethings they used to be.
It's been nearly 20 years since "Bridget Jones's Diary" was published in 1996, vaulting Fielding from freelance reporter to one of Britain's best-known and most popular writers. The 1999 sequel, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," continued Bridget's bold, if not brassy, tales.
But it seems that fear of being a 51-year-old single parent raising two young children in the age of social media is too much for her.
Fielding strives throughout the book to add relevance to her character's life and all of its foibles, mishaps and happy accidents. It's just not enough, though not for lack of trying. Perhaps that's an echo of the time that Bridget and her readers live in, with the short bursts of information, a focus on the quick and a general intolerance for taking time to do things.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Led by a pair of precocious rookies, the Los Angeles Dodgers got themselves right back into the NL championship series.
Hyun-Jin Ryu outpitched Adam Wainwright with seven innings of three-hit ball, and Yasiel Puig celebrated twice on his RBI triple that helped Los Angeles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 Monday night in Game 3.
Adrian Gonzalez's RBI double ended a 1-for-17 drought for the Dodgers with runners in scoring position. An ailing Hanley Ramirez added a run-scoring hit as Los Angeles handed Wainwright his first postseason loss and trimmed its deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
"The playoffs are one-day momentum swings," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Right now I feel like we've kind of grabbed it."
Puig's youthful exuberance, which energized the Dodgers as they surged from last place to first during a torrid midseason stretch, was on full display in the fourth inning.
The 22-year-old Cuban defector was so excited when he connected that he raised his arms immediately and stood in the batter's box to watch the flight of the ball toward right field, clearly thinking it was going out of the park.
Once he realized it wasn't, Puig started charging. He roared into third base and clapped his hands before raising them again as the sellout crowd of 53,940 cheered.
Puig had reason to exult, having struck out seven times in the series before getting his first hit.
"He brings unbelievable energy every day," Ramirez said. "When we spoke to him, he told me, 'I got it today,' and he did. He's a great player."
Game 4 is Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, with Ricky Nolasco scheduled to start against St. Louis right-hander Lance Lynn. But there was speculation the Dodgers might switch to Zack Greinke, especially after they passed over Nolasco with short notice in the previous round.
"Everybody's trying to do the best they can to get to the World Series," Puig said through a translator.
Los Angeles got Ramirez and center fielder Andre Ethier back in the lineup after both proved in batting practice they were healthy enough to play. Ramirez wore a lightweight flak jacket to protect his broken left rib — having been hit by a pitch from Joe Kelly in Game 1 — while Ethier has been bothered by shin splints.
"What can I say? It couldn't be better," Ramirez said. "Really happy we got the first win. Just come back tomorrow and even up the series."
Ramirez singled his first time up off Wainwright and then helped the Dodgers extend their lead to 3-0 in the eighth.
Ramirez hit a soft single off Seth Maness over the head of second baseman Kolten Wong to score Carl Crawford. The speedy Crawford, on second base after a one-out single, rounded third and never stopped running when the throw from the outfield went to second base.
On a close play at the plate, Crawford barely beat the tag by catcher Yadier Molina.
"We just had a lot of balls in the air tonight that hit the ground that normally don't," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We're a better club than this."
During the rally, retired Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, whose 1988 team won the franchise's last World Series title, stood up and waved his white rally towel to raucous applause.
"We just knew we had to scratch away and get a win," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "We needed a great starting pitching performance from Hyun-Jin, and we got that. You knew it was going to be tough sledding against a guy like Adam. He's so good, especially on the big stage, so we were fortunate we scratched a couple of runs across."
Wainwright entered 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA and four saves in 15 career postseason games, including six starts. He pitched St. Louis past Pittsburgh in the division series, going the distance in a decisive Game 5 last Wednesday.
The right-hander tossed seven strong innings this time, allowing two runs and six hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Ryu, however, was even better.
"I hate to lose," Wainwright said. "I felt like tonight if I had got a couple of balls in there, we win the game. I think you just have to tip your hat and move on."
The two pitchers were nearly even through the first three scoreless innings, with Wainwright giving up one hit. Ryu, who struggled in his first postseason start in the division series against Atlanta, retired 12 of his first 13 batters, yielding only a walk.
"I just zoned in," Ryu said.
Ryu was much improved after lasting just three innings as the first South Korean pitcher to start a playoff game last week against the Braves. He allowed four runs on six hits for a no-decision in a game the Dodgers won.
The left-hander didn't permit a Cardinals runner past second base. David Freese's single to right leading off the fifth was their first hit of the game.
Freese was replaced by a pinch-runner because of tightness in his right calf. He is day to day.
Ryu struck out four and walked one.
Mattingly came out to the mound accompanied by a translator with two outs in the seventh. Ryu responded by striking out Matt Adams to end the inning as Ellis pumped his right arm in the air. Fans waved South Korean flags in support of Ryu.
"It's definitely a big motivation when you see your star players go out there hurt," Ryu said through a translator. "It really inspires you and motivates you to go out there and do the best you can."
Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for a save.
Major League Baseball noted on Twitter that the nine combined runs in the series are the fewest ever through three games of a league championship series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
After the first two games in St. Louis were decided by one run, the Dodgers got to Wainwright in the fourth and took a 2-0 lead.
Gonzalez's double down the right-field line scored Mark Ellis, who doubled leading off. Gonzalez smacked his hands together in a celebratory gesture resembling an explosion.
"I saw Adrian doing some Mickey Mouse stuff at second," Wainwright said.
Gonzalez replied: "I did what I always do. Mickey Mouse is only an hour away so, you know, it fits us."
With two outs, Puig tripled off the wall in right to snap his 0-for-11 skid in the series.
Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay was involved in an apparent miscommunication when the ball hit by Mark Ellis dropped between him and right fielder Carlos Beltran. The Dodgers' first hit, a single by Ramirez to shallow center in the first, dropped between Jay and second baseman Matt Carpenter.
"It's a ball I've got to catch. I'm the center fielder. It's my ball. I've got to take charge," Jay said. "It came back to haunt us, but that's part of baseball. You're going to make mistakes sometimes."
NOTES: The Dodgers snapped a stretch of 22 innings without a run in the fourth. They hadn't scored since the third inning of Game 1. ... Ethier was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. ... Dusty Baker, Reggie Smith, Ron Cey and Steve Garvey — baseball's first 30-homer quartet in 1977 — tossed ceremonial first pitches. That Dodgers team won the NL pennant before losing to the Yankees in six games in the World Series. ... Neither team has a home run through the first three games. ... Among the famous faces in attendance were Dustin Hoffman and Ice Cube.
Daniel Radcliffe tells Fresh Air that his parents were initially hesitant about letting him play Harry Potter.
Daniel Radcliffe tells Fresh Air that his parents were initially hesitant about letting him play Harry Potter.
Many child stars find themselves washed up by the time they reach adulthood, but Daniel Radcliffe's career is going strong — and that's no accident.
"There is never a moment's doubt in my mind that this is what I want to do," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "If I die on a film set when I'm 80, I'll be happy with that."
Since wrapping up the last Harry Potter film, Radcliffe has taken on roles you may not have expected from the former boy wizard: He starred onstage in Equus, in which he appeared nude; he sang and danced in a Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; he co-stars in the new TV series A Young Doctor's Notebook, in which Mad Men's Jon Hamm plays a morphine-addicted doctor and Radcliffe plays the doctor's younger self; and he stars as poet Allen Ginsberg in the new movie Kill Your Darlings, set in 1944, when Ginsberg was a freshman at Columbia University.
Radcliffe plays Allen Ginsberg in the new film Kill Your Darlings, about Ginsberg's friendship with Jack Kerouac — and his entanglement with literary provocateur Lucien Carr.
Radcliffe plays Allen Ginsberg in the new film Kill Your Darlings, about Ginsberg's friendship with Jack Kerouac — and his entanglement with literary provocateur Lucien Carr.
On why director John Krokidas chose him to play Ginsberg
He saw something in Allen's situation in life — which was that of somebody trying to figure out who they are creatively — and he saw, I think, a parallel of that in my life, as somebody who had come out of one thing, obviously Potter, which I'm very known for ... and trying to establish myself outside of that.
Also, John and I are aware that most people in any kind of creative industry generally, I think, have an operating system that runs between the extremes of self-doubt or anxiety, and ambition, and that's definitely something Allen has. And I think that's something I probably have in common with him.
On being tutored on the set of Harry Potter
I pretty much left full-time, formal education when I was 11, so that was when I was taken out of the school system. ... The longest stretch I would go back for was a term and a half when I was about 14. And then other than that I would really just go back for exams, and it wasn't something I looked forward to. I was so happy on set ... that I really didn't love going back to school.
I was not very academic as a child when I was at school — not bottom of the class, but not far off it either. [I] found concentrating very hard, all of that stuff you always hear. And being tutored one-to-one on set was just fantastic.
Also, I'm a very hyperactive person, so if you tell me to sit still and shut up and learn and take information, it's not going to happen. I take things in better when I'm allowed to talk, and respond, and engage and move around a bit.
On breaking into musical theater
“ I think if you walk on with a good attitude, enthusiastic and happy to be doing what you're doing, hopefully that helps engender a better atmosphere.
Both of my parents have been actors; there were a lot of show tunes on in the car all of the time. I grew up with that. I honestly didn't think [singing] would be something for a lot longer in my career, but when the opportunity came up to do it [in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying] I thought, "Oh, well, why not?" It seemed like such a mad challenge to take on.
The singing was something I had more confidence in because I've always loved singing, and I've always done it around the house. Actually, [in] the first scene of Equus, my character comes on ... and he only sings advertising jingles. ... And when I first started doing Equus, I constantly was screwing up the tune. ... So they sent me to a singing teacher just so I could learn the tune. And then I really got on with my singing teacher ... and I've been going to him ever since.
On his parents' hesitance at letting him play Harry Potter
Both my mom and my dad had not had very great experiences as actors, and when I was initially asked to audition for Harry, they both said no. And I didn't have any knowledge of this at this point — obviously they kept me pretty out of it, rightly so. But they said no, because at that time the deal was that we'd have to sign on for seven films, and they'd all be made in America, and they just said, "No, that will be too big of a shift to his life. That's not going to happen."
And so months later, when the deal had changed, and ... we only had to sign on for two, and they'd both be filmed in the U.K. — I think [with that], coupled with the fact that I was really not having a great time at school, they thought, "Maybe we should let him audition." And then everything went from there.
On what he learned from the veterans on the Potter set
The most important thing I learned during Potter from a lot of those actors was just how to be on set. ... Because there were some people that handle themselves so brilliantly that they make everybody's day better by the way they conduct themselves. Imelda Staunton, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis — they can lift a set with what they bring to it. And I think watching that really made an impression at a young age and gave [me] a sense of the responsibility you have if you're a lead actor on a film. Because I don't think a lot of actors take that responsibility very seriously.
As a lead actor on a film, you have the opportunity to dramatically affect the course of the day, because if you come on set with a terrible attitude then everyone else immediately sees that, and if you don't want to be there, why should they want to be there? I think if you walk on with a good attitude, enthusiastic and happy to be doing what you're doing, hopefully that helps engender a better atmosphere.
On his sense of belonging in the film business
The British school system ... if you're not good at certain things, basically it makes you feel very, very mediocre and very average. To suddenly be taken out of that and put into a world where A) I felt like I belonged and B) my insane energy levels that I had, particularly as a kid ... were actually viewed as useful and people enjoyed that about me ... it gave me a purpose and sense of belonging and confidence that I doubt I ever would've had, had I not gotten into it when I did. So I want to do it for the rest of my life.
