I called in and spoke about archives and businesses coming back to microfilming as a way of preserving their information. I don't remember if I gave the name of my business. It's Praxess and we're in White Plains, NY.

On home improvement contractors, that was me on the air. Consumer Affairs has failed to license most home improvement contractors because of high insurance rates, which consumers don't want to pay, but it is the state assembly which regulates this scam. Anybody interested please contact me aaron@gmcandd.com. Brian should do a show about the causes of consumer dissatisfaction, the high costs, the shortage of workers, and how laws are circumvented by almost everybody to get the job done.

Among the the most important events of 2012 in the area of public health has been the killing by the Taliban of the public health workers administering the oral polio vaccines in Pakistan. These acts represent a crime aagainst humanity by negating over 20 years of a worldwide cooperative effort of governments, communities and families to eliminate a crippling and sometimes deadly disease from the face of the earth. Not only will the children of Pakistan now be at risk, but so will the children in neighboring countries and even those in the Middle East and Africa.
Dr. M. A.Belsey, former head of Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning, World Health Organization

It was a surprise to hear a caller in the archiving business talk about the return to microfilm. I've been doing genealogy research for many years, and have read data from many microfilms. But now the Mormon genealogy service, Family Search, the largest source of archived data for genealogists, is phasing out microfilms, and converting to digital format, because they say machines to read microfilms are no longer available. Presumably that is because large industries are no longer using microfilm. So the caller's recommendation to go back to microfilm needs to address the question of how to read the microfilms.

There have been news stories very recently about the huge amount of applicants for flight attendant jobs at American Airlines and Delta. I think in Delta's case there were 22,000 applicants for 400 advertised open positions. Those numbers mirror how hard it was to get a "stewardess" job for a major carrier in the 50's 60s' and 70's before the airline industry was deregulated and service levels changed. In those earlier years major airlines could be extremely choosy about the people they hired for those flight attendant positions given the steady quantity of applicants who looked good and were well educated and qualified. I wonder what the impact on the industry, and possibly in-flight service, the return of all that choice of employees might have?

My business is Caesarstone. We supply quartz counter tops and have seen an influx in purchasing Asian knockoff materials. Breton Technologies found very high contents of toxic volatile organic components, such as BTEX and STYRENE. Their study also found an extremely high content of resin (about 50% higher than a similar Bretonstone® slab). The high content of resins may cause the material to stain, chip, scratch and bend. Please contact me to see the results of the study.

Try number 2

The large number of orchestras on strike or locked out. The destruction of NY City Opera and generally contracts for less and less money for the musicians while administrative costs increase.

Remember the artistists in Union Square? We have finally been killed of by the new Park rules. All the old time individuals who sold there have left. We used to get customers from the Greenmarket crowd. Now its been two years that we cannot do that. Sales are so bad -- and we have to fight for limited spots at 4 and 5 AM -- that even I have quit. It used to be my full income.

Two observations:

The large number of major and regional orchestras locked out or on strike with the result frequently ending in huge pay and benefit cuts. For example, Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and many, many small regional orchestras in our area, not to mention the disappearance of NY City Opera.

2) The ramming through of dumming-down curriculum change at CUNY despite massive faculty objections.

I am a priest. As of September 1, the Bishop of New York gave clergy permission to solemnize the marriage of any two Christians who have met the canonical requirements of the Episcopal Church. I have been ordained almost 30 years and never believed I would see this day. I have so far blessed the marriages of three same sex couples. It has been a joy and a privilege.

I work in the Union Square Greenmarket, while weather always affects agriculture, the dramatic weather changes attributed to climate change are directly effecting the production of produce on the farm as well as in the instance of Tropical Storm Sandy, shutting down our distribution point-Union Square. Along with the massive droughts in the Western USA this year, climate change is impacting our food production.

As a Forester for the NYC Parks department we realize that more large storms like Sandy are in the future. We alone handled over 20K calls to 411 about downed or split trees and many Parks are still closed because of dangerous conditions. Unfortunately there are more and more cuts to the Parks Department and not enough workers-our budget is the same as it was in the 70's! I believe that this should be a wake up call that there needs to be more progress in public sector jobs and more strength within the Unions. There needs to be enough public servants to help in emergency cases like this.

We have two small businesses.
A furniture design build company hivemindesign inc and a small farm Raven & Boar Farm that raises pigs for restaurants that specialize in nose to tail and charcuterie.
Our farming business has supported us through the recession due to the amazing support of restaurants that support small farms in the Hudson valley.
In the furniture world, business is up in an amazing way. I think similar to the restaurant biz, people are more aware of where product come from an want furniture that lasts a lifetime not a year.
Support small business by supporting bigger business's that support small business!
Thank you!
Ruby
Www.ravenandboar.com
Www.hivemindesign.com

I am a substitute teacher in Westchester County. The big news this year is the computerized sub caller. Instead of getting a call from Norma or Tina, I get a sound from an app on my iphone that offers me sub assignments for the day. The big change is that because of the lack of relationship to the caller, I have no problem turning down assignment and being pickier because I'm not "letting down" someone I"ve developed a relationship with over time.

One of the 'hot' topics of 2012 for the City University of New York (CUNY) has been the 'Pathways' initiative., a plan designed by the central CUNY administration to create a list of courses offered at all CUNY campuses that will be accepted across CUNY. One of the official lines of reasoning behind this plan is to ease transferring and increase graduation rates. In reality, however, many other problems arise, such as changing the format of numerous courses (e.g., 3 hours-3 credits for science courses with labs instead of the 6 hours-4 credit nationwide standard) or reducing contact hours (e.g., removing 1 hour recitation in English classes). These changes will decrease the value of a CUNY degree and will decrease the chances of CUNY students transferring outside CUNY or continuing to non-CUNY graduate programs, among other problems. Threats against faculty who have democratically expressed opposition to 'Pathways' have been made public by the administration at various levels. New Yorkers should be concerned about the changes attempted to be imposed within one of the greatest public higher education systems in the country.

Hey Brian, i'd love to hear more about the rise of digital publishing. At first it started with books. but now it seems theres a growing trend among magazines, newspapers and textbooks. So much so - i'm noticing books as full on Apps now... #digitalPublishing???

I work at one of the big three credit rating agencies. I see the only thing that has changed as a result of financial reform is that there's more and more paperwork for the publishing group.

I am web developer and even though the term is from 2011 but "responsive design" is something really buzzing in 2012. Making one website adaptable to various platforms...(i.e. mobile, desktop, tablets).

In IT, it's the mainstreaming of the cloud, the emergence of Big Data, and the glimpse over the horizon of "consumerization of IT"

there would be A LOT more time for callers if Brian would change his mind and stop the incessent reiteration of the questions. If there are any long shoreman listening, they might be banging their heads against the wall instead of calling in.

I'm a bookkeeper and the best thing that's happened for me this year is the Sales Tax feature on QuickBooks. Makes life infinitely easier.