Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<br /> Always expect the unconventional and completely off the beaten path when it comes to a <keyword id="7206" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Narendra-Kumar">Narendra Kumar</keyword> fashion show. For Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2017 the men’s wear collection “The Millennials” from the designer presented by top linen brand <keyword id="4137576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="burgoyne">Burgoyne</keyword> was a much-awaited event. Burgoyne linen has a history dating back to 1912 and its exquisite linen fabrics have been coveted by the top haute couture brands in the world.<br />
<br /> <keyword id="44" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra">Narendra</keyword> Kumar’s collection was aimed at the young male in the age group of 18-20 years. The clean-shaven, boyish, models that strutted their attitude on the ramp were a refreshing change for the audience. It was a coming-of-age look for the boy-turned-man who looked for garments to match his changing lifestyle. The colour palette swayed from neutrals to bright pops of hues and then ended with deep tones of maroon and wine.<br />
<br /> Using a profusion of linen, Narendra added cotton and velvet for variety as he showcased the three looks. The opening collection worked around the <keyword id="1080417" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-jungle">Urban Jungle</keyword> that started with jungle prints in earthy toned neutrals along with olive green, khaki and salmon with the hip-hop, long line jackets with urban safari inspirations. The two-toned asymmetric shirts and track pants had a youthful vibe. Narendra offered a variety of bomber and biker jacket options along with some easy blazers and jogging pants.<br />
<br /> The <keyword id="245207" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aqua">Aqua</keyword> pop look came with fun pin-up girl prints on linen shirts with bomber jackets and relaxed linen trousers. Prints played a major role with zippered blousons making a style statement. Here it was stylish tailoring that spelt pure comfort with the easy silhouettes.<br />
<br />
Finally, for the boy-to-man look there was classic tailoring with decadent embellishments. The decorative formal look had a 70’s vibe inspired by the rocking Beatles era where an assortment of single and double breasted jackets with 1/2/3 buttons closures and double vents were unleashed down the ramp and looked very contemporary in their styling.<br />
<br />
Mixing them with jogger and bomber jackets, colour blocked sporty linen and evening wear combinations; the section had a marked athleisure appeal. The colours moved from blue to green, lilac, purple and then onto black. Intense butterfly embroidery in multi-colours or tonal versions added to the formal look of the jackets.<br />
<br />
The silhouettes created were forward fashion, which were at all times young trendy and very apt for the stylish New Age male. From skinny pants to fitted bomber jackets, the shapes were a little more relaxed for the kurta-shirts and tunics.<br />
<br />
Exhibiting a quirky sense of humour, Narendra showcased some of the trendy stylish garments on female models probably hinting that the collection could be androgynous too?<br /> Making a debonair, show stopping entry was the very dashing and handsome <keyword id="1981" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Khanna">Rahul Khanna</keyword> in a black fully embroidered jacket and fitted pants.

Are you in the age bracket of 18-25? Here’s
what you should wear

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Peloton stock rose as much as 12% Thursday after announcing a partnership with Lululemon.</li><li>Lululemon will discontinue its Studio Mirror and steer customers to Peloton's classes.</li></ul><p>Peloton stock soared Thursday after announcing an apparel and fitness content partnership with former rival Lululemon.</p><p>As a part of the deal, Lululemon will discontinue its Studio Mirror line and steer customers to Peloton, which will now become the exclusive digital fitness content provider for Lululemon. Meanwhile, Peloton will sell co-branded Lululemon clothes.</p><p>"In the months ahead, we look forward to bringing this partnership to life with Peloton and leveraging the strengths of both brands to further support our growing guest and member communities on their fitness and wellbeing journeys," said Celeste Burgoyne, president of Lululemon's Americas and Global Guest Innovation team, according to a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230927420138/en/lululemon-and-Peloton-Announce-Five-Year-Strategic-Global-Partnership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>.</p><p>The Lululemon partnership comes after each side attempted to break into the other's turf, igniting a rivalry. Lululemon's Mirror was a bid to break into the at-home fitness market, while Peloton had launched a line of its own apparel.</p><p>A few years ago, the two were tangled in lawsuits against each other, brawling over "copycat" workout apparel like sports bras and workout tights.</p><p>Peloton stock rose as much as 12% Thursday but pared gains sharply. It's down 41% since the beginning of this year and way below it's high of $167 in January 2021.</p><p>The company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peloton-company-history-rise-fall-2022-2">has struggled to perform well in the post-pandemic world</a>. Once valued at around $50 billion, Peloton has sunk to $1.7 billion. today. In August the company saw a <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/peloton-stock-price-subscribers-loss-bike-seat-recall-consumer-spending-2023-8">plunging stock and subscriber count after several bike seat defects</a>.</p>

Peloton stock jumps 12% after announcing Lululemon partnership on apparel and fitness content

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword> engineer Hayden Burgoyne spends his nights betting <keyword id="11892695" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cryptocurrency" source="Orion">cryptocurrency</keyword> on stock picks. </li><li>He's part of an online tournament hosted by crowdsourced-fund Numerai, <keyword id="12259015" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bloomberg" source="Orion">Bloomberg</keyword> reported. </li><li>"We trade stocks, and we're doing a better job of it than the best hedge funds," Numerai's founder said. </li></ul><p>A 32-year-old NASA engineer spends his evenings betting cryptocurrency on stocks he thinks will beat the market - and his hobby has paid off. </p><p>At his day job, Hayden Burgoyne builds the spacecraft set to explore <keyword id="11949137" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jupiter" source="Orion">Jupiter</keyword>'s moons. But at night he picks stocks he thinks will outperform, and he bets cryptocurrency - in an online trading tournament against thousands of others - that his picks will win.</p><p>Bloomberg News documented Burgoyne's nighttime hobby <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-06/crowdsourced-quant-backed-by-tudor-jones-rides-the-crypto-wave?srnd=markets-vp&amp;sref=BWbpWjRmWjRm">in an article</a> titled "Crowdsourced <keyword id="12259013" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="quant" source="Orion">Quant</keyword> Backed by <keyword id="12259014" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="paul-tudor-jones" source="Orion">Paul Tudor Jones</keyword> Rides the Crypto Wave" by Justina Lee. He told the news outlet his hobby is "more lucrative than most," considering it's paid for both his wedding and honeymoon in South America. </p><p>About 3,500 people from all over the world are part of the tournament, organized by San Francisco hedge-fund Numerai, 34-year-old founder Richard Craib told Insider.</p><p>The so-called <a href="https://docs.numer.ai/tournament/learn">Numerai Tournament</a> crowdsources amateur quants who evaluate market data, stake cryptocurrency called Numeraire on their stock picks, and are rewarded more Numeraire based on their performance.</p><p>"There's so much hype in crypto," Craib told Insider, but "we've actually used it to do something in the real world."</p><p>Craib told Insider the 2 million Numeraire the firm has rewarded thus far are now worth an estimated $90 million, making the digital asset <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/numeraire/">worth about $45 a piece</a>.</p><p>Burgoyne, based in Los Angeles County, told Bloomberg he now has 630 tokens staked on his stock bets.</p><p>Some have started making the tournament a big part of their income, Craib said. "Some people are staking half a million dollars on their models, so they could make $50,000 in a week if their models did really well," he said.</p><p><a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/12/7500-faceless-coders-paid-bitcoin-built-hedge-funds-brain/">In a 2016 Wired article</a>, Craib said he thought of the idea while working for a South African asset management firm where he helped build machine learning algorithms. His firm now provides all its data and allows recruits to build machine learning models "without really knowing what they're doing."</p><p>"We trade stocks, and we're doing a better job of it than the best hedge funds," Craib told Insider. </p><p>The crowdsourced fund has beaten many others, considering last year it rose 8% as others struggled, according to a <a href="https://medium.com/numerai/numerai-outperforms-market-neutral-hedge-funds-by-29-raises-up-to-150m-9df9a0ce642">Medium post from Numerai</a>. This year, the fund is up 9% as of August, Craib told Insider.</p><p>Numerai has received backing from billionaire Paul Tudor Jones and former Renaissance Technologies executive Howard Morgan, Bloomberg reported.</p>

A NASA engineer paid for his wedding and honeymoon by betting cryptocurrency on his ability to pick stocks for a quant trading firm

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Mirror</span></p><p class="caption">Mirror's interactive home gym.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/mirror">Mirror</a>, the New York-based startup that makes an interactive workout mirror, announced Wednesday that it had raised $34 million in a new round of funding led by hedge fund Point72. Lululemon and Karlie Kloss also invested in this round. </strong></li><li>Mirror also announced that it would be partnering with Lululemon to offer new Mirror X Lululemon classes on the device. A Mirror spokesperson told Business Insider the company will kick off this partnership with meditation classes led by <a href="https://shop.lululemon.com/story/ambassador-program">Lululemon ambassadors</a>.</li><li>This nod of approval from Lululemon is concerning for boutique fitness concepts, as it signals that other players in the fitness industry are viewing at-home fitness as an important area of growth. </li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></strong></li></ul><p>Buzzy home-fitness startup Mirror just got the seal of approval from Lululemon. </p><p>The company behind the $1,500 interactive fitness mirror announced Wednesday that it raised $34 million in a round of funding led by Steve Cohen's hedge fund Point72. Lululemon and model-turned-entrepreneur Karlie Kloss were among the other investors contributing to the funding round. </p><p>At the same time, Mirror announced that it would be partnering with Lululemon to bring new content to the interactive device. A spokesperson said that at first this will include meditation classes that are hosted by Lululemon ambassadors. Mirror's CEO and founder, former New York ballet dancer Brynn Putnam, was previously an ambassador for Lululemon. </p><p>"MIRROR is an example of how Lululemon's purpose to unleash the full potential within every one of us comes to life. We're proud of Brynn's journey from being one of our ambassadors to CEO of an incredible company committed to helping people become the best versions of themselves," Celeste Burgoyne, Lululemon's EVP of the Americas and global guest innovation, said in a statement to the press announcing the news. </p><p>While Lululemon would not divulge exactly how much it has invested in the company, Burgoyne described the deal as a "strategic partnership." It could help Lululemon to reach new customers and grow beyond apparel as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lululemon-grows-beyond-womens-yoga-pants-2019-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">competition in the athleisure market</a> continues to heat up. It also signals that America's best-known athleisure brand has confidence in this model being the future of fitness. </p><h2>Working out at home has become a major trend</h2><p>In the past few years, home fitness concepts have become more advanced at being able to recreate the experience of going to a fitness class without having to leave your home. Experts say this is concerning for boutique fitness studios such as SoulCycle, Pure Barre, or Flywheel, as fickle customers are likely to stay at home if they can do the same workout in a more convenient way. </p><p>Peloton, who had led the way with its core product, the high-tech fitness bike, has also solved one of the biggest downsides of working out at home, which is not having the encouragement of a group to keep you motivated. </p><p>"They have managed to use technology to create a sense of community so people feel like they are part of something. They get both the convenience and the social aspect," Jason Kelly, author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sweat-Equity-Inside-Economy-Bloomberg/dp/1118914597?tag=bisafetynet2-20">"Sweat Equity</a>," said in a recent conversation with Business Insider.</p><p>Mirror is now taking home workouts to the next level. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mirror-fitness-startup-launches-personal-training-service-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">Earlier this month</a>, it announced that it would be offering personal training sessions on the interactive mirror. Putnam said that this would pave the way for other types of content such as therapy and wellness. She sees the tech as eventually becoming a way for users to shop and chat with friends.</p><p>"We believe it will become the third screen in your life," she previously told Business Insider. </p><p>Mirror launched its LCD mirror in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mirror-workout-stream-classes-at-home-photos-2018-9#the-on-demand-classes-are-taught-by-certified-instructors-from-the-countrys-top-fitness-studios-who-give-instruction-and-live-feedback-5">September</a> 2018. It looks just like a standard mirror and is operated using an app.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-gold-is-so-expensive-2019-10">Gold can cost $1,500 per ounce - here's why it's so expensive</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Lululemon just made a bet that the $1,500 interactive workout Mirror is the future of fitness, and it should terrify boutique workout studios

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://thothx.com/news-2/">THOTHX.COM</a></span></p><p class="caption">Space flight pad atop 20 km Space Tower</p></div><p></p></div></div>Canadian space and defense company, Thoth Technology, announced that it has secured a US patent for a <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/thoth-technology-patented-a-12-mile-tall-space-elevator-building-2015-8">12-mile-tall tower</a>. The concept would deliver astronauts, supplies, and even tourists to stratospheric heights.</p><p>The plans are bold, and Thoth claims its tower "will herald a new era of space transportation" by shuttling astronauts toward the edge of space in an elevator. Then, Thoth says, they can hitch a rocket ride from a rooftop launchpad.</p><p>The structure's "active guidance system," Thoth says, would adjust its center of gravity to offset disruptions from external forces, like hurricanes.</p><p><strong>But scientists are calling foul.</strong></p><p>Andrew J. Lockley, moderator of a popular <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/geoengineering">geoengineering forum for scientists</a>, says the concept of a "space tower" brings even more challenges than the traditional concept of the "space elevator." First proposed in the 1890s, the latter idea requires a narrow, taut, strong, and as-yet-nonexistent cable to zip people and supplies between Earth and space.</p><p>"This is a big fat tower, and it's under compression," Lockley told Tech Insider. "The graphics don't show any tethers or taper, and the sides are not obviously wind permeable. This means the torque [twisting force] at the base will be enormous.<strong> It's just not clear how it will actually stay up</strong>."</p><p>Wind, rain, and snow constantly pushing on the structure would be a nightmare, Lockley said. He noted a cable-based space elevator wouldn't face as many problems from the elements: It'd be under high tension and the cable would be narrow, avoiding the punishment of high winds better than a building ever could.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/technology/space-travel">Don't Panic</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Another threat to the tower comes from an atmospheric phenomenon sailors nicknamed "the doldrums," officially called the inter tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). It's a belt of stormy clouds that circle the globe near the equator, where high-pressure winds meet from the north and south.</p><p>The ITCZ is heavily influenced by the position of the sun, so it shifts throughout the year. <strong>That's an issue for a structure stuck in one place.</strong></p><p>"Thunderstorms and icing would be a big problem," Adrian Tuck, a visiting professor in atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, told Tech Insider. "Construct[ing] a tower to take wind gusts and turbulence arising from deep tropical convection looks very problematic to me."</p><p>Ice would threaten the tower in the same way it does airplanes and drones at such high altitudes, by coating it and making it heavy. But unlike aircraft that can fly, a giant tower can't move or navigate around dangerous, icy weather.</p><p><strong>"Even an F-15 can't out-climb that except by very special zoom-and-climb maneuvers," Tuck said.</strong></p><p>There's also concern that the tower would buckle under its own weight.</p><p>"The issue for tall towers is not strength but stiffness," Chris Burgoyne, professor of structural engineering at University of Cambridge, told Tech Insider.</p><p>Thoth says that it will sidestep this issue by supporting the weight of the structure with stacked rings of <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/space-elevator-with-inflatable-tower-patented-by-thoth-technology-1.3194738">inflatable Kevlar cells</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://thothx.com/news-2/">THOTHX.COM</a></span></p><p class="caption">20 km Space Tower</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Once again, scientists are skeptical.</p><p>"The problem with this, assuming you could design one that you could actually build, is that it would be subject to the same problems of self-weight buckling," Burgoyne said. When one part of the internal cell starts to buckle, the volume of the gas inside does not change - which means it couldn't resist domino-like collapsing action, Burgoyne said.</p><p>Hugh Hunt, an engineer at the University of Cambridge, agrees. "There is an error in the basic concept," Hunt says. "Inflatable towers would be subject to exactly the same buckling conditions as any ordinary tower."</p><p>Burgoyne, Hunt, and the rest of their team know this because they <a href="http://www-civ.eng.cam.ac.uk/cjb/papers/p77.pdf">once considered</a> a giant-tower design to deliver climate change-combating chemicals high into the atmosphere. They completely ruled out a high tower based on the problems of weight alone, Burgoyne said.</p><p>Then there's the serious material and cost limitations. <strong>According to <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/space-elevator-with-inflatable-tower-patented-by-thoth-technology-1.3194738">CBCnews</a>, Thoth claims it can build a 9-mile-high version of its tower on top of a 3-mile mountain in 10 years. The finished structure would reach 12 miles above sea level and cost about $5 billion.</strong></p><p>But Hunt says that the most feasible type of tower they determined that could reach such heights was a cylindrical tower made out of plastics reinforced with carbon fibers, called carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP). The material alone would cost about $500 billion - 100 times this smaller version of the tower's total projected cost - and Thoth would need 250 million tons of the stuff.</p><p>"Of course new materials may become available, but nothing much is on the horizon that is substantially better than CFRP," Hunt said.</p><p>Finally, Thoth claims that the tower will offer a 30% savings on fuel compared to conventional rockets launched from the ground. This appears to be specious as well, according to Hunt's calculations.</p><p>"As for ThothX being used to launch astronauts into orbit, less than 1% of the energy required for orbit is saved by launching from a height of 20km," Hunt said. "There doesn't seem to be much benefit."</p><p>It seems that if Thoth really wants to revolutionize space travel, it might have to get its head out of the clouds and rethink the concept from the ground up.</p><p>Tech Insider reached out to Thoth for comment on scientists' critcisms of their design, but didn't hear back immediately. We'll update this story if we hear back.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/perseid-meteor-shower-time-lapse-2015-8">Here's a time-lapse of the Perseids - the most stunning meteor shower of the year</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RpdTYxdzrjYkmbSPdfzf2VhtvZLgJTKg" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This new 12-mile-tall 'space elevator' concept is completely baffling to engineers

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/lululemon/photos/pb.33693527731.-2207520000.1451923976./10153230807407732/?type=3&amp;theater">Facebook/Lululemon</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/lulu-stock">Lululemon</a> reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.</strong></li><li><strong>The athleisure retailer has outperformed in ecommerce sales, which should help the company reach its goal of hitting $4 billion in total sales by 2022.</strong></li><li><strong>A Credit Suisse analyst raised its price target to $98 per share.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/lulu-stock">You can view Lululemon's current stock price here.</a></strong></li></ul><p><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/lulu-stock">Lululemon</a> is doing what most retailers would kill to do - getting online customers to spend on its website.</p><p>The athleisure company's ecommerce game is part of the reason why it reported an earnings beat for the fourth quarter of 2017, and also a reason why analysts are optimistic about its prospects.</p><p>The retailer posted an adjusted $1.33 per share and revenue of $928.80 million, above analysts' expectations of $1.26 per share and $912.42 million in revenue. Meanwhile, its ecommerce sales increased by 42% on a constant dollar basis for the quarter, on top of a 12% increase last year, the company reported.</p><p>The ecommerce boost was largely attributed to the relaunch of its website, which made it more attractive and easier for consumers to shop.</p><p>"Our digital and ecommerce business saw structural changes with transformative investments across people, process, and technology," Celeste Burgoyne, Lululemon's vice president of the Americas, said in an earnings call. "In short, it's working."</p><p>The company's stock spiked 10% on Wednesday, a day after reporting earnings.</p><p>The retailer has plans to hit its <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/lululemon-stock-price-has-a-long-international-runway-that-will-get-it-to-1-billion-in-sales-2018-3-1019189324">goal of $4 billion in sales by 2022</a>, including $1 billion from online sales, $1 billion from international sales, and $1 billion in sales of men's apparel. Some analysts at Wall Street felt it was well on its way.</p><p>"We see further opportunity ahead, as product and digital initiatives take hold and the int'l growth story continues," Randal Konik, a Jefferies analyst, wrote in a client note on Wednesday. However, Konik believes the company's valuation is too high.</p><p>Konik maintained a "Hold" rating on the company, and a price target of $82 per share.</p><p>Other analysts were more bullish. Credit Suisse's Michael Binetti says there are multiple drivers supporting a ramp up in sales, including the company's increased capex investments, its co-located men's and women's stores that are driving traffic, and its continued ecommerce strength.</p><p>Binetti raised his price target to $98 per share from $96.</p><p>Lululemon's stock was trading at $86.63 per share, and was up 8.75% for the year.</p><h2><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/lululemon-stock-price-turnover-woes-may-leave-it-behind-the-rest-of-the-sports-apparel-market-2018-2-1014999493">Read more about how Lululemon's management woes could hold it back from its goal to reach $4 billion by 2022.</a></h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/lulu-stock" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/lulu-stock">Markets Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/remove-apps-facebook-privacy-issue-data-tip-fix-2017-11">How to stop your Facebook friends from giving away your data</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Lululemon's ecommerce game could help it get to $4 billion in sales

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Cisco</span></p><p class="caption">Cisco SVP Surya Panditi</p></div><p></p></div></div>What if you woke up one day and found that someone had posted a litany of unfounded accusations about you on a website?</p>
<p>What if you tried to ignore the website but then discovered it was popping up at the top of search results on your name, keeping you from getting job offers, making people at work snicker about you behind your back, even interfering with some of your friendships?</p>
<p>This is the nightmare facing Surya Panditi,<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> Cisco's </span><a href="http://newsroom.cisco.com/execbio-detail?articleId=532851">senior vice president and general manager of Service Provider Networking Group</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, a unit responsible for some of the company's most advanced networking products.</span></p>
<p>For two years, he has been unsuccessfully trying to get rid of a website hosted on Wordpress.com that accuses of him of incompetence and corruption at work and having an affair. Now, after exhausting all other ideas, he has hired lawyer Hank Burgoyne and is suing.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"At first, I thought, it would go away. Who really cares about my personal life?" Panditi tells Business Insider. "But it lingered and I needed to get someone like Hank to help me. It was hurting me in terms of personal life and professional life, these false accusations."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Panditi's legal battle won't be easy, however, because he has no idea who is responsible for the website and before he can get a judge to hear the case, he has to go on a manhunt to try and find out. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Along the way, he may end up</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> exposing a notorious Cisco leaker who has been targeting the company for years.</span></p>
<h2>How NOT To Get A Website Removed</h2>
<p>Before filing the lawsuit, Panditi approached Wordpress.com and even Google about getting the website removed from the internet or from Google's search results.</p>
<p>"I sent an email to Wordpress and got a standard response that they were not going to do anything. I tried contacting Google. I got no response," Panditi says.</p>
<p>Web hosting companies like Automattic's Wordpress.com, Google, Microsoft, "do not take content down without a court order finding these statements are defamatory," Burgoyne tells us.</p>
<p>In fact, a <a href="http://en.support.wordpress.com/disputes/">Wordpress.com spokesperson confirmed that this is the company's policy and pointed us to its support pages, which say: </a>"If we receive a complaint and are not in a position to make a determination (for example whether something is defamatory or not), we defer to the judgment of a court."</p>
<p>Panditi also tried hiring a so-called reputation management firm, which promises to clean up such things. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reputation-management-2013-12">As we've previously reported, some of these firms are notoriously sleazy.</a></p>
<p>He paid one of them, but "it didn't work," Panditi says.</p>
<h2>Exposing A Corporate Whistleblower</h2>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://twitter.com/BradReese">Brad Reese</a></span></p><p class="caption">Brad Reese</p></div><p></p></div></div>After hiring a lawyer, Panditi filed a suit in  Califonia's San Francisco Supior Court on June 27 against the owner of the website. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Since the owner of the website is unknown, however, Burgoyne is seeking against people who may have information.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One person Panditi is trying to track down and identify is someone who has been leaking Cisco gossip and inside info for years, known only by his anonymous username "Corporate Renegade."</span></p>
<p>Corporate Renegade is to Cisco what famous Microsoft inside blogger "<a href="http://minimsft.blogspot.com/">Mini-Microsoft</a>" was to Microsoft. Most of Corporate Renegade's leaks are highly critical of Cisco and made to a Cisco blogger also known to be critical of the company, Brad Reese (who writes a Cisco blog named after himself, <a href="http://bradreese.com/">bradreese.com</a>).</p>
<p>Panditi is after Corporate Renegade because the leaker made comments on the Brad Reese blog about Panditi's love life, similar to the accusations on the website. His comments were also showing up in Google search results until Brad Reese removed them.</p>
<p>Panditi's lawyers subpoenaed Brad Reese looking for records on Corporate Renegade, Reese told Business Insider: "A sheriff knocked on my partner's door and said, here's a subpoena."</p>
<p>The lawyers asked for Reese's log records, such as IP addresses, on comments made by <a href="http://bradreese.com/blog/7-23-2014-3.pdf">Corporate Renegade over about the last two years</a>. Reese tells us that he has no idea who the commenter is but suspects he is someone inside Cisco or very close to the company.</p>
<h2>Who Is Really Responsible?</h2>
<p>That doesn't mean that Corporate Renegade is responsible for the website, only that he knew the gossip.</p>
<p><span><span>"I never even commented on this executive other than relaying what was said about him,"<a href="http://bradreese.com/blog/7-23-2014.htm#comment-1502754496"> Corporate Renegade said about the hunt to find him in a commented posted on Brad Reese's blog</a>.</span></span><span> </span></p>
<p>There's also some reason to believe that someone other than Corporate Renegade could be responsible.</p>
<p>Months before the website appeared, someone sent Reese an anonymous email, saying he was "forced out" of Cisco. That email contained a bunch of accusations against Panditi that echoed what was written on the website. It concluded "No one at Cisco cares." Reese posted the email on his blog for a short time, and it has been included as evidence in the lawsuit.</p>
<p><span>But Corporate Renegade's leaks began long before this website was posted and have continued since. So he may not be someone who was "forced out" of Cisco.<br /></span></p>
<p><span>Still, Panditi remains focused on <span>Corporate Renegade</span> because he has no other leads, he tells us. The website, "came out of the blue," <span>Panditi </span>tells us.</span></p>
<h2>A Huge Legal Bill</h2>
<p>Burgoyne says that Panditi doesn't have a choice but to try and expose the identify of Corporate Renegade.</p>
<p>That's because the <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> currently leans in favor of freedom of speech, making it very difficult for people to get critical websites taken down, Burgoyne says. In order for a blog, comment or site to be declared by a judge as defamation, the courts prefer that a defendant be present in court.</p>
<p>"In a situation like this, where you don't know who [wrote the website] who the defendant is, you can't move the case forward until you've exhausted every effort to find them. After months of discovery, if you haven't found them, you can go back to court and ask to serve the lawsuit by means of 'service by publication' for example by publishing a notice of the lawsuit in a newspaper," Burgoyne says.</p>
<p>And that's, of course, a double-edged sword. The more publicity a defamation lawsuit gets, the more people hear the allegedly libelous gossip.</p>
<p>In the meantime, this is racking up a considerable legal bill for Panditi. While Panditi wouldn't confirm how much he's willing to spend, Burgoyne says that a case like this could cost $100,000 or more.</p>
<p>Although <span><span>Panditi</span></span> is suing for damages, the fact is, he really just wants the website taken down.</p>
<p>"First and foremost, I want to clear my name. I hold myself to very high ethical standards and I want people to know me for who I am, judge me for my merits not on these false accusations," he says.</p>
<p>And his advice for others who wake up to find an internet troll ruining their life. Don't wait. It won't go away by itself. Hire a lawyer immediately.</p>
<p>Cisco declined comment on this story.</p>

Cisco Executive: An Internet Troll Is Ruining My Life And Now I'm Fighting Back

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Madeline E. Burgoyne, an undergraduate student from MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, competes in the annual 2.007, a robot competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 11, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>In early 2018, Amazon unveiled a list of 20 finalist cities for its second headquarters, HQ2.</strong></li><li><strong>The company listed a highly educated workforce as an important factor in its decision.</strong></li><li><strong>The Brookings Institution conducted a study that analyzes which HQ2 finalist cities have the most educated millennials.</strong></li><li><strong>Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, DC; and New York, New York ranked highest in the study.</strong></li></ul><p>In January, Amazon narrowed down <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-reveals-hq2-candidates-2018-1">its top 20 picks</a> for the future home of <a href="http://businessinsider.com/category/amazon-hq2">its second headquarters, called HQ2</a>. The $5 billion campus will generate 50,000 jobs over the next two decades, according to the company.</p><p>In <a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/Anything/test/images/usa/RFP_3._V516043504_.pdf">its RFP</a>, Amazon outlined several requirements for prospective cities. These include a population of over 1 million, access to mass transit, proximity to an international airport, up to 8 million square feet of vacant space, economic incentives, and a highly educated labor force.</p><p>"A highly educated labor pool is critical and a strong university system is required," the RFP <a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/Anything/test/images/usa/RFP_3._V516043504_.pdf">reads,</a> adding that the location should have "the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent."</p><p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2018/02/06/where-do-the-most-educated-millennials-live/?utm_campaign=Metropolitan%20Policy%20Program&amp;utm_source=hs_email&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=60722899">A new study from the Brookings Institution</a> looks at which of Amazon's top 20 cities surpass that criteria. Analyzing the 100 largest metros, the researchers found the locations with the highest percentages of college graduates ages 25 to 34 in 2015.</p><p>Just five HQ2 finalists - where over 45% of millennials graduated college - made Brookings' top 10. They are Boston, Massachusetts (58%); Washington, DC (54%); New York City (47%); Raleigh, North Carolina (47%); and Denver, Colorado (46%). </p><p>The Boston area, which ranked first on millennial education, is home to dozens of schools, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Northeastern University. Washington,DC also has several prestigious institutions, like Duke University, George Washington University, American University, and Howard University.</p><p>Overall, Amazon chose 11 locations with the best-educated millennials in the country, according to the study. <span>The potential HQ2 locales with the lowest millennial college graduate percentages were Los Angeles, California; Dallas, Texas; and Miami, Florida, which all have average college-education levels in the 32% to 35% range.</span></p><p>There's reason to believe that education will be a big factor in Amazon's decision. Amazon mentioned education three times as a "key preference and decision driver" in its request for bids. The company also asked cities to include a list of partnerships with higher-education institutions; a list of nearby universities offering computer <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> degrees; and the number of students graduating with those degrees over the last three years.</p><p>The company estimates that the annual salaries for those 50,000 jobs at HQ2 will average more than $100,000, which means that it will probably hire employees with a high educational level.</p><p>The San Francisco Bay Area remains the top spot for STEM jobs in the US, but that growth could be slowing and moving to other regions. From 2006 to 2016, Silicon Valley saw a 33% growth in tech jobs, or around 3% per year. But as The San Jose Mercury <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/20/san-jose-san-francisco-oakland-job-losses-hammer-bay-area-employers-slash-thousands-of-jobs/">notes</a>, that annual rate has declined to 2% in the past two years.</p><p>None of the applications for HQ2 in the Bay Area were selected as finalists.</p><p>"<span>Clearly, the Amazon finalists are skewed toward places with very high concentrations of college graduate millennials," the Brookings researchers write. "However, other such places were passed over, presumably in the quest for different qualities."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-human-breasts-big-2018-2">The science of why human breasts are so big</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

A new study reveals the Amazon HQ2 finalist cities that could have an edge on the competition

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Cory Tschogl</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>There's another <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> that's making life difficult for Palm Springs, California, condo owner Cory Tschogl.</p>
<p>She's having trouble getting a court date for an eviction hearing against <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-host-cant-get-squatter-to-leave-2014-7">a man and his brother who won't leave her home</a> after renting the place on Airbnb.</p>
<p>The squatters have been avoiding the process server trying to hand them legal documents summoning them to court.</p>
<p>Maksym Pashanin reserved Tschogl's condo for 44 days through Airbnb. Although the reservation ended in mid-July, he only paid for 30 days of it, and Tschogl is being forced to go through the full legal eviction process due to a California law by which people who rent for 30 days can sometimes be considered month-to-month tenants.</p>
<p>He's been occupying the condo with his brother, Denys, ever since. That's not to say that they haven't left the home - we've heard multiple rumors that they have. But they are free to come back until she gets a judgement that officially evicts them.</p>
<p>Tschogl originally told Business Insider that she had hoped to have that court judgement this week. But now a source says that a court date hasn't been set yet because Maksym Pashanin has avoided being served.</p>
<p>He has been "disguising" himself to avoid having an identifying picture taken, the source tells us. If approached, he claims to be someone else.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>YouTube</span></p><p class="caption">Maksym Pashanin and Denys Pashanin</p></div><p></p></div></div>That's a delaying tactic that can be surprisingly effective in California, San Francisco attorney Hank Burgoyne tells Business Insider.</p>
<p>Judges prefer what's known as "personal service" when the process server verifies the identity of the person ("Are you Maksym Pashanin?") and hands the papers over directly.</p>
<p>Most judges won't agree to proceed with a case until "you've made a compelling argument that the person is evading service." That often requires three failed attempts at serving papers. And it's helpful to have photos of a person sneaking away, too. (That's where the disguise comes in.)</p>
<p>After that, a judge will usually agree to an alternative method of serving papers such as mailing it to an address or publishing a notice in the paper or in this case perhaps leaving it at the door.</p>
<p>All of that takes time<span>, however, </span>and also increases Tschogl's legal expenses.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Tschogl seems to be stuck in legal limbo with her condo, not able to rent it out to others, even when the squatters leave the premises.</p>

The Airbnb Condo Squatters Allegedly Evaded Eviction By Wearing Disguises

<p>The <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> Independence Party (UKIP) is hoping to build on its shock byelection victories in Clacton and Rochester &amp; Strood by stealing more seats from the mainstream Westminster parties at next year's General Election.</p>
<p>Current forecasts have them gaining between 9-14% of the national vote, although the distribution of those votes could see them pick up only three or four seats. Even then, doubling their current representation in Parliament would be seen as a major coup for UKIP leader Nigel Farage.</p>
<p>Given the collapse in Lib Dem support in the polls, Labour or the Tories may well require more than one coalition partner to secure a Commons majority. This could leave UKIP as a possible kingmaker - a <a href="http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2014/02/28/farage-i-want-to-be-kingmaker-in-2015">prospect that Farage relishes</a>.</p>
<p>These are UKIP's top targets for May <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1324855/ukip-poll-reveals-12-most-wanted-seats">as revealed by the party's own polling</a>.</p>
<h3>1. South Thanet</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Farage was selected by UKIP members to stand in the Conservative-held constituency in east Kent. Announcing his intention to stand in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/im-against-the-death-penalty-but-i-think-we-should-be-free-to-debate-it-9669991.html">a column for The Independent</a> Farage expressed his confidence in taking yet another seat from the Tories:</p>
<p>"Of course I think I stand a good chance of winning. I have fought the seat before and it is in my home county of Kent and an area I have represented in the European Parliament since 1999."</p>
<p>His confidence aside, it is unlikely to prove an easy ride for the bombastic UKIP leader. In 2010 the Conservatives won 48% of the vote, a 7.4% swing from second-place Labour, while UKIP garnered only 5.5%. However, Farage's party stormed home in last year's local elections and <a href="http://survation.com/new-constituency-polling-in-south-thanet/">a recent poll by Survation at the end of November</a> had UKIP at 30%, only 5 percentage points behind Labour with the incumbent Conservative candidate pushed into third place.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>Farage may still be trailing in the polls but his national profile may just be enough to overcome that deficit. Highly possible.</p>
<h3>2. North Thanet</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>The neighbouring constituency of North Thanet is also high on the UKIP hit list. Back in 2010 it was also comfortably won by the Conservatives, with MP Roger Gale taking 52.7% of the vote - a margin of victory of over 30 percentage points from Labour. UKIP took a meagre 6.5%.</p>
<p>Time, however, has not been a friend of Mr Gale. In <a href="http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/North-Thanet-Results.pdf">a local poll taken at the end of September</a> his lead had narrowed by under 2%, with UKIP surging to 31.5% against the Conservatives 33.4%.</p>
<p>With momentum looking to be with the party after its byelection victories UKIP's candidate, barrister Piers Wauchope, is confident that such a narrow lead can be overturned. Wauchope previously <a href="http://www.courier.co.uk/Ukip-Tunbridge-Wells-councillor-Piers-Wauchope/story-22971861-detail/story.html">lost out to Farage in a bid to become UKIP candidate for South Thanet</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>Right on the doorstep of Farage's campaign, Wauchope is likely to benefit from the media attention and popularity of his party leader. Highly possible.</p>
<h3>3. Boston and Skegness</h3>
<p>Since the constituency of Boston and Skegness, on northern shore of The Wash, was formed in 1997 it has been solidly Conservative. However, it is also the seat that saw one of the best UKIP performances at the 2010 election with the party taking 9.5% of the vote.</p>
<p>According to a S<a href="http://survation.com/ukip-won-in-8-westminster-constituencies-last-thursday/">urvation study that extrapolated from the May 2013 local election results</a>, if they were repeated next May it would also give UKIP it's largest margin of victory (11.18%). As <a href="http://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2013/05/the-lesson-from-boston.html">a column from last year on Conservative Home</a> put it:</p>
<p>"Anyway I suppose if they are to get an MP at the next election then Boston and Skegness is their best bet."</p>
<p>However, the author swiftly dismissed these concerns adding that "personally I doubt we will get any UKIP MPs". Well, they already have two at least one of which (Clacton) they are all but certain to hold next May. So if a wise man today wouldn't bet against UKIP having at least one MP, what's to stop the party adding to its tally?</p>
<p>A <a href="https://twitter.com/lordashcroft/status/515910632831729664">Survation poll arranged by UKIP in September</a> gave the party a comfortable lead of 46% to 26% for the Tories. This race is certainly going to be an interesting one.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>This looks to be UKIP's best shot of adding to its seats. Highly possible.</p>
<h3>4. Thurrock</h3>
<p>The constituency of Thurrock was held by Labour at each General Election from 1945-2005 barring a single loss to the Conservatives in 1987. However, it was taken off them by a resurgent Tory party in 2010 as MP Jackie Doyle-Price managed to sneak over the line by a mere 82 votes.</p>
<p>It is among the must-win seats listed by the Labour leadership if the party is to have any chance of returning with a majority of seats next year. There's only one problem - UKIP is leading in the polls.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Lord Ashcroft" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/548721e3dd0895a56f8b45e6-960/ukip thurrock poll.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span><a href="http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Thurrock-July-2014-Full-tables.pdf">Lord Ashcroft</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>A <a href="http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Thurrock-July-2014-Full-tables.pdf">poll by Lord Ashcroft in June</a> showed UKIP on 37% compared to Labour's 29%. If this result is realised next May it would be a hammer blow to Labour leader Ed Miliband's dream of a majority and send some worrying messages to his party's strategists. As Jim Pickard put it <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1cbb17dc-1d90-11e4-8f0c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3LOVl7XWG">in the Financial Times</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It used to be a working assumption that a strong showing for Ukip would damage the Tories. But the party's anti-immigration, anti-EU message is rapidly picking up supporters in one-time Labour heartlands."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Verdict: </strong>Signs have been looking good for UKIP in Thurrock, although a win is far from guaranteed. What can certainly said is that this seat will be one to watch to gauge whether the party has been able to turn its surge in the polls into parliamentary gains. Highly possible.<br /></span></p>
<h3>5. Great Yarmouth</h3>
<p>Another Conservative-held coastal constituency that is very much the heartland of UKIP. The seat has bounced between Labour and the Conservatives with the latter losing out in the 1997 General Election before winning it back in 2010.</p>
<p>The result, however, was far from overwhelming with the Conservatives taking 43.1% to Labour's 33.2%. UKIP took 4.8%.</p>
<p>Even more worrying for MP Brandon Lewis, who is also the Minister of State for Planning &amp; Housing, is that UKIP's poll figures have taken huge chunks out of his lead. A <a href="http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Great-Yarmouth-July-2014-Full-tables.pdf">poll by Lord Ashcroft of the constituency in July</a> had UKIP on 32% to the Conservatives' 33% - and that was before the parties byelection victories over the past few months.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Unfortunately, for UKIP to take advantage of its surging poll numbers it will have to avoid getting in its own way. And on this score things don't look so positive. In July <a href="http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/matthew_smith_steps_down_as_ukip_s_prospective_parliamentary_candidate_for_great_yarmouth_1_3700305">Matthew Smith, the party's parliamentary candidate for Great Yarmouth, stepped down</a> in order to fight charges of electoral fraud.</p>
<p>Last month Alan Grey, a local businessman and County Councillor for Breydon, was picked to replace Smith but clearly the party's progress in the local area has been set back by events of recent months. It remains to be seen how much damage it has inflicted on its chances.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>Great Yarmouth was looking a much better prospect for UKIP earlier in the year. If its support holds up this remains a winnable seat, but that's now a very big "if". Possible but unlikely.</p>
<h3>6. Eastleigh</h3>
<p>The <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9901730/Eastleigh-by-election-Ukip-inflicts-major-setback-on-David-Cameron.html">Eastleigh byelection last year</a> provided an early glimpse of the shock that UKIP was above to give the Westminster establishment with the party beating both the Conservatives and Labour into second place behind the Liberal Democrats.</p>
<p>UKIP's Diane James took 11,571 votes or a 27.8% share in a seat that the Tory leadership had earmarked as a key target for next May. This put her only marginally behind the victorious Lib Dem candidate Mike Thornton on 32.1%.</p>
<p>The Conservatives had hoped that Prime Minister David Cameron's pledge to hold and in/out referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union would be sufficient to blunt UKIP's popularity. Eastleigh helped to demonstrate the folly of this strategy.</p>
<p>There was better news for Cameron from recent polls, however. A Lord Ashcroft poll from August had the Tories leading on 32% with UKIP still stuck behind the Lib Dems in third place.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>The byelection may have been UKIP's best hope of winning Eastleigh, at least for the time being. With the party currently sitting in third place this one looks set to remain just out of Farage's grasp. Unlikely.</p>
<h3>7. Forest of Dean</h3>
<p>Once again the Forest of Dean in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire was a comfortable Tory hold in 2010. Mark Harper held the seat for his party with a 9.2% swing from Labour to the Conservatives, delivering him 46.9% of the vote to UKIP's 5.2%.</p>
<p>Despite this, the <a href="http://survation.com/ukip-won-in-8-westminster-constituencies-last-thursday/">analysis of local election results in the constituency by Survation</a> suggested that were they to be replicated the seat could swing to UKIP, albeit by the narrowest of margins (0.9%). There are, however, good reason to doubt that local election results are a strong predictor of General Election performance as voter turnout tends to be significantly lower.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/stanburysteven">Steve Stanbury</a>,UKIP's candidate for Forest of Dean, is <a href="http://www.forestofdeanukip.org.uk/">calling for a public debate about the use of local taxpayer money to fund foreign aid</a>. He also joined his party's successful campaign for Rochester and Strood last month.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rochester?src=hash">#Rochester</a> with Steve Stanbury, PPC for Forest of Dean <a href="http://t.co/zGap4QS0mo">pic.twitter.com/zGap4QS0mo</a></p>
- Janice Atkinson MEP (@JaniceUKIP) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaniceUKIP/status/535421145127092225">November 20, 2014</a></blockquote>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>The swing to UKIP in the local elections was significant but even if they come close to a repeat performance at the General Election, it still looks like the Conservative advantage would be difficult to overturn. Unlikely. </p>
<h3>8. Sittingbourne and Sheppey</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Sittingbourne and Sheppey is a coastal seat in the far north east of Kent that was created in 1997 out of a large part of the old Faversham constituency, which the Conservatives had held continuously since 1970. The Tories then failed to win the newly-created seat until 2010 having lost out by only 79 votes to Labour in 2005. </p>
<p>The 2005 performance was <a href="http://www.allthatsleft.co.uk/2013/08/ukip-targets-4-sittingbourne-and-sheppey/">widely attributed to the personal following of its local Labour MP and former England rugby player, Derek Wyatt</a>, who stood down in 2010. With his departure Labour were comfortably swept aside as the Conservative Gordon Henderson took 50% of the vote, a huge 12.7% swing, with UKIP garnering only 5.4%.</p>
<p>In January Richard Palmer was announced as the UKIP candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey. The <a href="http://www.sittingbourneandsheppeyukip.org/">official UKIP constituency website</a> quotes him as saying:</p>
<p>"As an ordinary working family man who has struggled with bringing up a young family whilst working in the NHS as a Paramedic, I feel I can identify with the various needs of people in this constituency."</p>
<p><a href="http://survation.com/ukip-won-in-8-westminster-constituencies-last-thursday/">Survation's extrapolation from local election results gives a majority of 5.7% for UKIP</a>, but such a result would require a huge swing from the Conservatives that current national polling does not support.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>The Conservative margin of victory in 2010 is a daunting challenge for UKIP. The party's impressive result in local elections suggests they are on track to take a significant proportion of the vote but will it be enough? Possible but unlikely.</p>
<h3>9. Aylesbury</h3>
<p>Aylesbury has been a Conservative seat since Sir Alan Hughes Burgoyne was elected as its representative in 1924. In fact the Tories have increased their share of the vote in every General Election from 2001 and even held up well in the party's disastrous 1997 election that saw a resurgent Labour romp home with a huge majority.</p>
<p>In other words, this one is something of a long shot.</p>
<p>However, UKIP did come top in the May 2013 local elections winning 33.4% versus 29.5% for the Conservatives. Support for the Tories is strong in the rural parts of the constituency but the party came fourth in Aylesbury itself, where UKIP polled strongly.</p>
<p>The key local issue is the new High Speed 2 train line route that is bitterly opposed by a number of local residents. An <a href="http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/news-editor-s-comment-aylesbury-is-hs2-s-forgotten-victim-1-5919188">article in The Bucks Herald in March</a> described Aylesbury as "the forgotten victim of HS2" as it would bring "construction [that] will be hellish for everyone living and working in Aylesbury".</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Stopping HS2 has been the major theme of the UKIP campaign and has paid dividends at the local level. Turnout in May's local elections, however, was 30% versus 68% in the 2010 General Election. If those voters come out again next May this seat will pose a huge challenge for Chris Adams, UKIP's candidate, to take for his party.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict:</strong>This one looks to be a long a shot for UKIP. Expect them to do much better than in 2010 but still fall some way short of a win. Highly unlikely.</p>
<h3>10. Worthing East and Shoreham</h3>
<p>The constituency was won comfortably by the Conservatives in 2010, as it has been since its creation in 1997. However, UKIP posted a creditable performance in the last election with 6.2% of the vote, up from 4.7% in 2005.</p>
<p>If the results of local elections were to be repeated, <a href="http://survation.com/ukip-won-in-8-westminster-constituencies-last-thursday/">Survation estimate that UKIP would win a 1.72% majority</a> but given the margin of the Conservatives' previous victories and the likelihood of much higher turnout next may that is unlikely to prove a safe prediction.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>UKIP have undoubtedly gained ground in Worthing but whether they can overturn almost two decades of comfortable Conservative margins of victory is another matter. Unlikely.</p>
<h3>11. Portsmouth South</h3>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Portsmouth South looks set to be one of a number of Lib Dem casualties next May as the party's share of the vote looks set to collapse into the single digits. MP Mike Hancock held the seat from 1997 but he <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29265679">resigned from the Lib Dems in September over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a constituent</a>.</p>
<p>Recent polls put the Conservatives on course to benefit from the scandal with a Lord Ashcroft poll last month giving them 32% with Labour and UKIP neck-and-neck on 21%.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>With the party some way behind the Tories it will be hard to turn the tide sufficiently over the next five months. This one is also a long shot. Highly unlikely.</p>
<h3>12. Grimsby</h3>
<p>Grimsby is one of those rarest of things - a Labour seat targeted by UKIP. Unfortunately for Farage, its exceptional nature does not seem to have aided much in terms of the polling figures.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/LORD-ASHCROFT-POLLS-Marginals-report-May-2014.pdf">a Lord Ashcroft poll from May</a> UKIP are on course to gather some 25% of the vote in Great Grimsby constituency, ahead of the Conservatives on 23% but well behind Labour's 37%. What will be most concerning for Labour is not the likelihood of losing the seat but the finding by Survation that <a href="http://survation.com/new-constituency-polls-in-grimsby-dudley-north/">70% of UKIP voters in the seat did not vote Conservative in 2010</a>.</p>
<p>That is, what Grimsby could show is that the image of UKIP as the party of disaffected Conservatives is now well past its sell-by date.</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: </strong>Grimsby looks set to remain a solid Labour seat, and while UKIP's gains here have been notable they have mostly come at the cost of the Conservatives to date. It will be an interesting contest though. Highly unlikely.</p>

You Searched For "burgoyne" and got 11 results

Are you in the age bracket of 18-25? Here’s what you should wear

Suchayan Mandal

Peloton stock jumps 12% after announcing Lululemon partnership on apparel and fitness content

Aruni Soni

A NASA engineer paid for his wedding and honeymoon by betting cryptocurrency on his ability to pick stocks for a quant trading firm

Natasha Dailey

Lululemon just made a bet that the $1,500 interactive workout Mirror is the future of fitness, and it should terrify boutique workout studios

Mary Hanbury

This new 12-mile-tall 'space elevator' concept is completely baffling to engineers

Julia Calderone

Lululemon's ecommerce game could help it get to $4 billion in sales

Kimberly Chin

Cisco Executive: An Internet Troll Is Ruining My Life And Now I'm Fighting Back

Julie Bort

A new study reveals the Amazon HQ2 finalist cities that could have an edge on the competition

Leanna Garfield

The Airbnb Condo Squatters Allegedly Evaded Eviction By Wearing Disguises

Julie Bort

The 12 Seats Most Likely To Go To UKIP In The May 2015 General Election

Tomas Hirst,Tomas Hirst

The 14 seats most likely to go to UKIP in the May 2015 General Election

Tomas Hirst

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides