Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:05 am

FAQ about community foundations

0 comments

As new people hear about the Adams County Community Foundation
and as people who know about the Adams County Community Foundation
pause to think about the concept, I am asked to answer the same
questions over and over again. Here are some of the most frequently
asked questions:

What is the Adams County Community Foundation?

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:05 am.

Question: Why change?

A: This is the first major redesign of Bradenton.com in several years. Our main goal has been to produce a site that is less cluttered and easier to use, while still providing all the breaking news, photo galleries, things to do and other information you expect to find. You should immediately notice that the speed of the site has improved.

Q: Am I going to get used to this only to have you change it again?

A: This is version 1.0 of our new site and we do expect to add several features and enhancements over the next several weeks and months. But the look and feel of the site will basically remain the same.

Q: Will I need to register again?

A: No. Your existing username and password have been carried over to the new site.  

Q: Where is the best place to find breaking news?

A: Check the Top Headlines section on the home page for latest news. You can also find news on your favorite topics by going to that section.

Q: Where are the obituaries?

A: You can find a link to “Obituaries” in the navigation bar near the top of the site.

Q. What are the primary sections of this redesigned site?

A. As listed in the blue bar near the top, our primary sections are Local News, Business, Sports, Photos, Entertainment and Shopping.

Q: I have my favorite sections or pages on your site bookmarked. Will those bookmarks still work?

A: Yes, they should. We did pare down some redundant sections, so if you have a problem finding something, please check our Site Map, linked from the bottom of all the pages or use the search function towards the top of the page.

Q: Where did my favorite blog go?

A: They are all still here. You’ll find a roundup of recent blog posts under the Local News menu, in the Blogs section just as you used to. In addition, you’ll find links to blogs on their topics pages – “Sounding Off” and “Prep Rally” will be on the Sports section; “Buzz Worthy” will be on the Entertainment section, for example.

Q: How do I find what other people are reading?

A: A list of the most read stories of the day can be found on the right side of most pages on the site. It’s labeled “Most Popular Stories.”

Q: I love your photo galleries. Where do I find them now?

A. You’ll find the most recent photo galleries on the Photos section of the homepage. You’ll see photo galleries for the topics on each of the section fronts as well. In addition, you can click on the “View All Galleries” link in the “Recent Galleries” box to see all the photo galleries.

Q. I can’t get enough of Crime Courts news. Where do I find more of those stories?

A. You’ll still find many of the latest Crime Courts stories on the homepage just as before. Additionally, we highlight several of the latest Crime Courts stories in a homepage digest section. The full list of Crime Courts stories can be found by clicking the section header.

Q. I’m looking for things to do in Bradenton and Manatee County. What do I do?

A: You can find things to do around town on the “Calendar” page of the “Entertainment” section. From the Calendar page just click on the category you want to view – movies, restaurants, etc. You can also add your public event from the calendar link. You can click on the Entertainment link in the blue bar to find dining reviews, movie showtimes and more.

Q: What happened to the poll question?

A: We appreciate that you liked our poll tool. As part of our design change, we are transitioning to a new solution. Once it is ready, we’ll put it back on our website for you to use.

Q: I can’t find what I am looking for, what do I do?

A: You can go to the search box at the top of the site and type in a name or description for what you’re trying to find. We think one of the improvements on the new site is an improved search function.  You can also click on the “Site Map” in the line of links at the bottom of each page. The site map is a listing of sections and pages on the site.

Q: I can click a Facebook “like” button on other sites, what about here?

A: Yes. When you are on a story page a Facebook “like” button is located just beneath the time stamp on the story. You can click there to “like” the story. If you wish to post the story to your Facebook page, you can click the Facebook icon at the bottom of the story itself, in the bar that says “Share this story.”

Q: Can I still comment on articles?

A: Yes.

Q: I’m using an older browser. Will that make a difference in what the site looks like to me?

A: Yes, the best experience for you will be to use Firefox 3.6 or above, Internet Explorer 7 or 8 or above or Chrome.

Q: How do I make a suggestion, offer a comment or ask a question about the new site?

A: Please go to http://www.bradenton.com/customer-service/ and give us your feedback using the form we have posted there. You can get there directly by clicking on the “Customer Service” link on any page, right above the Search box on the top right side.

As it proves yet again tonight (8 ET/PT) with a typically funny, true-to-life parents-vs.-kids showdown, this splendid ABC comedy deserves to be on any list of TV’s best series. And yet despite being in the middle of a great season, the show still seems to be flying under the pop-culture-buzz radar.

What is it? Is it because it actually makes you laugh, anathema to those who think a TV comedy is just supposed to make you smile in smug satisfaction that you got a joke others surely missed? Is it because it is set in a recognizable Middle West populated by characters you might actually find there?

• VIDEO: Sneak a peek at this week’s ‘Middle’ episode

Or is it simply because it shares a night and network with TV’s indisputable best comedy, Modern Family? Granted, on most weeks (though not all), The Middle falls just a tiny bit short of its more-rewarded nightmate — but if that’s a crime, it’s one every other sitcom commits as well, in most cases more often and more egregiously.

Whatever the reason, if you’re not watching, you’re missing a marvelous half-hour, and one of the rare current shows that explores what life is like for an economically pressed family. Last week, when Sue (Eden Sher) wanted to buy tickets to a concert, odds are many parents could sympathize with her mother’s answer: “We just don’t have the money right now. Not that we’re going to have it in the future, but we definitely don’t have it right now.” It’s a clever line, one that stays true to the characters while, with a light touch, revealing a predicament that too seldom makes its way from the real world onto TV.

One of TV’s most underappreciated duos, Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn, star as Frankie and Mike — loving, harried parents who try their best and yet are aware of their own, and their kids’, failings. They’re not always right, but they’re always visibly in charge, and the focus is on their efforts to raise their children, rather than on the children’s attempts to avoid being raised.

Tonight, that effort involves ceding some control in an effort to teach their kids responsibility. Of course it goes wrong, but how it gets there showcases the writers’ knack for smart, unexpected twists. And as a bonus, you get a dryly witty take on Of Mice and Men from Brick (Atticus Shaffer) and Axl (Charlie McDermott), who have evolved into a terrific fraternal comedy act.

It’s a great cast, all of whom are deserving of more praise. Still, if you could push just one actor for recognition this year, it would have to be Sher, whose Sue is a fully realized, endless delight. It will be sad, though not shocking, if the Emmys yet again overlook her and her show.

It will be even sadder if you make the same mistake.

​

Standard Poor’​s published a Q​A on its recent money fund ratings changes entitled, “`​A Closer Look At The Revised Principal Stability Fund Ratings Criteria.” The update, written primarily by Madeleine Parish and Ruth Shaw, says, “Standard Poor’​s Fund Ratings Group released its updated criteria for rating principal stability funds, also known as money market funds, on June 8, 2011 (​see “​Methodology: Principal Stability Fund Ratings,” published on
RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal). After a five-​month implementation period, the criteria went into effect on Nov. 1, 2011, for the principal stability funds we rate. Although our criteria aim to offer a high level of transparency and detail, over the past few months we have received questions from market participants regarding the application of the criteria to areas such as diversification, collateral, cure periods, and the calculation of weighted average maturity to final (​WAM[​F]), also known as weighted average life.”

The “Frequently Asked Questions” include: “Do your criteria only apply at time of purchase? No. Our criteria apply throughout the term of the investment, not only at time of purchase. For example, a fund manager purchases commercial paper that matures in 90 days with an issuer that represents 4% of the fund, and two weeks later, a large redemption pushes that exposure to 6%, causing the fund to breach a quantitative criteria metric. In this scenario, we would apply a 10-​business-​day cure period for diversification at the time of the criteria breach. Furthermore, if a security is downgraded to ‘​A-​2′ from a higher rating category, the cure periods for investments downgraded below ‘​A-​1′ would apply, based on the exposure percentage and maturity of the affected investment (​see table 1).”

The “Credit FAQ” asks, “Do you consider rounding when determining a breach in criteria? Yes. When determining whether a breach of a quantitative criteria metric has occurred, we apply rounding to the fund holdings provided in weekly surveillance reports. For example, our diversification criteria regarding commercial paper exposure call for a maximum of 5% per issuer. Therefore, we would consider an exposure of less than 5.​5% to be within our criteria and exposure of 5.​5% or above outside our criteria. In addition, the maximum weighted average maturity to reset, or WAM(​R), for ‘​AAAm’ rated funds is 60 days. Therefore, we would consider a WAM(​R) of 60.​4 days within our criteria and a WAM(​R) of 60.​5 outside our criteria. However, we do not apply rounding to a money market fund’​s net asset value (​NAV), since we consider the unrounded marked-​to-​market NAV to at least five decimal places.”

S​P continues, “How do you apply your credit quality and diversification criteria for sovereign government-​guaranteed programs? We apply our sovereign diversification criteria to securities with a guarantee from a sovereign government–​as long as Standard Poor’​s has evaluated the sovereign guaranteed program. For example, under our PSFR criteria, we treat securities guaranteed under the U.​K. Debt Management Office’​s 2008 Credit Guarantee Scheme as equivalent to U.​K. government securities for the purposes of both our credit quality and diversification criteria. We also treat noninterest-​bearing deposits, which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (​FDIC) currently guarantees until Dec. 31, 2012, as equivalent to government agencies for the purposes of our credit quality and diversification criteria.”

Another question states, “How do you treat securities issued under the FDIC’​s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (​TLGP) for purposes of credit quality and diversification criteria? We consider securities issued under the FDIC’​s TLGP as FDIC-​guaranteed and, therefore, our agency credit quality and diversification criteria would apply. For example, a fund manager could invest up to 5% in General Electric (​GE) corporate bonds and then an additional 33.​33% in GE’​s TLGP commercial paper with maturity longer than 30 days and still be consistent with our PSFR criteria.”

“How do you treat asset-​backed commercial paper (​ABCP) programs supported by a sovereign government or government-​related entity with respect to your diversification criteria when there isn’​t an explicit government guarantee? We treat ABCP programs, such as Straight-​A Funding LLC and Kells Funding LLC, as separate and distinct issuers. Sovereign government-​related entities support these ABCP programs but don’​t explicitly guarantee the programs’ payments. Therefore, our 5% maximum diversification criteria limit applies.”

S​P also answers, “Do you treat a bank branch’​s credit quality as equivalent to the parent company’​s? How do you apply your diversification criteria to deposits with bank branches? We consider a bank branch’​s credit quality to be equivalent to its parent company’​s, unless the branch is located in another jurisdiction. We cap the rating on branches domiciled in foreign jurisdictions at the rating on the “​host” sovereign if the sovereign’​s actions could affect the branch’​s ability to service its obligations and if the branch’​s creditors cannot access all of their funds in a timely manner via any other branch located in another jurisdiction. For diversification purposes, we view a branch as the same as the parent company. For example, we consider Deutsche Bank AG (​A+/​Negative/​A-​1) and Deutsche Bank AG (​Canada Branch) (​A+/​Negative/​A-​1) as one entity for diversification purposes.”

They address the question, “How do your diversification and credit quality criteria apply to different entities within a bank group? If the entity is legally separate and distinct from its bank holding company and has been assigned a separate credit rating, we would also apply our diversification criteria to that entity. For example, if we rate hypothetical Bank A NV ‘​A+/​A-​1′ and its hypothetical bank holding company, Bank A Group PLC, ‘​A/​A-​1′, we would treat these two entities as separate and distinct issuers and apply our issuer diversification criteria to each.”

S​P’​s piece continues, “For diversification purposes, how do you treat municipal securities issued by an issuer on behalf of other obligors? When an issuer issues municipal securities on behalf of a separate obligor, we consider the issuing entity as the “​issuer” for diversification purposes. For example, if Illinois Finance Authority (​A+/​Stable/–) issues debt on behalf
of University X, we attribute the exposure to Illinois Finance Authority and not to University X.”

They add, “How do you apply your diversification criteria to tender option bonds (​TOBs)? If a TOB is issued from its own separate and distinct trust (​that is, a separate legal entity) we would consider each trust as a separate issuer when applying our PSFR diversification criteria. Therefore, our diversification of 5% per issuer would apply. However, if the TOB is issued through a “​series trust,” we would consider that series trust as a single issuer based on our criteria. For example, the Deutsche Bank SPEARs/​LIFERs Trust TOB Program Series 1000 bonds are issued from a single legal entity and, thus, under our PSFR criteria, all series issued under this
structure will be combined and capped at a maximum exposure of 5% for the investment-​grade PSFRs.”

Finally, the Q​A asks, “How do you factor variable-​rate demand notes (​VRDNs) in the WAM(​F) calculation? We consider VRDNs to be nonsovereign government floating-​rate instruments that should be included in the calculation of a fund’​s WAM(​F) using the unconditional put date. When the VRDNs aren’​t included in the calculation, the resulting maximum WAM(​F) is higher.”

This may come as a surprise to you, but when it comes to having a successful business, age does not matter.

And, now for the really important news — there is no way that you can cover every part of building a business in advance.

• COLUMN: Index of Gladys Edmunds’ Entrepreneurial Tightrope columns

Being in your own business is a constant state of discovery. That’s what makes it interesting. You will become a master entrepreneur by learning something from each situation that comes up, as well as the many ways to solve those situations.

When I was a couple years older than you I teamed up with a friend and we decided that we were going to get rich selling fire alarms and extinguishers. She sold the extinguishers and I sold the alarms. We planned for weeks until we were certain we had every single detail down pat before setting out to find our first customer.

With complete confidence we set out on our door-to-door sales adventures to get rich. The first day we found ourselves returning to the drawing board to deal with situations that we had not imagined, like how to avoid big guard dogs hiding under porch furniture waiting for our feet to light on the porch, or how to handle people who wanted our product but wanted to bargain with our prices.

Notwithstanding these obstacles, we believed we had two great products that could make us wealthy girls. And so we kept moving forward.

My biggest lesson came the day that we gave our sales pitch to a woman who was so impressed that she called her husband out to the porch to place the order and give us the deposit.

Her husband listened to us with a skeptical look . Once I had completed my part of the sales pitch he took the fire alarm from my hand and asked if he could test it. I quickly agreed. He struck a match and held the flame to the bottom of the alarm. The match nearly burned his fingers before the alarm went off. I learned a valuable lesson that day — know your product and make sure it works!

I tell you this story so that you can become familiar with life as an entrepreneur and cultivate an attitude that will lead you to success.

So, as you get organized for your summer business, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• You will learn how to be an entrepreneur by being an entrepreneur.
• View each obstacle as an important lesson and figure out how to get through it.• Not everyone will be interested in buying your services. But don’t let that discourage you.
• Always expect great things from yourself and others; this will help you measure up to the best that is already in you.
• Mistakes are great teachers; don’t be afraid of them.
• And, finally, maintain a strong desire to succeed, and you will.

Have a great and successful summer with your venture.

Gladys Edmunds’ Entrepreneurial Tightrope column appears Wednesdays. As a single, teen-age mom, Gladys made money doing laundry, cooking dinners for taxi drivers and selling fire extinguishers and Bibles door-to-door. Today, Edmunds, founder of Edmunds Travel Consultants in Pittsburgh, is a private coach/consultant in business development and author of There’s No Business Like Your Own Business, published by Viking. See an index of Edmunds’ columns. Her website is www.gladysedmunds.com. You can e-mail her at gladys@gladysedmunds.com.

What MMO / Expansion are you looking forward to most in 2012?

Guild Wars 2
The Secret World
TERA
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
Firefall
PlanetSide 2
MechWarrior Online
Neverwinter Online

251 total votes

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• By Lennard Zinn
• Published 29 mins ago

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• 
  Schematic drawings of cantilever brake post specifications. The red circle indicates the distance specification from the brake post center to the center of the spring hole. Drawing courtesy TRP
• 
  LZ riding the TRP CX9 mini V-brake on an ENVE cyclocross fork at 2012 US Nationals in Madison, WI. Photo: Jon Patz

Editor’s Note: Zinn’s regular column is devoted to addressing readers’ technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riders can use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can send brief technical questions directly to Zinn.

Dear Lennard,
I recently picked up a set of TRP 8.4 mini-V’s for a ‘cross bike I am building (I know it is late in the season — I actually got it for the rack mounts so that I could have a bike that can also carry my new son along).  In trying to install them on my EDGE cross fork, I found that the pins on the brakes do not line up with the holes on the fork.  I tried wiggling to no avail — it seems that they are just a little further out from the center of the mounting posts than the holes on the fork.  I tried a bit of force by hand, but that just chipped the clear coat on the fork.  Do you have any suggestions?  I thought about using a small drill bit to open the hole, but it seems like a risky idea.
― Jon

Dear Jon,
That’s a new one on me. I have the TRP CX9 mini-V’s on my Enve ‘cross fork; in fact, here’s a photo of me on it at Nationals. I have had no such problem installing it, and I’ve put it on and taken it off a number of times; the spring pin drops right into the hole.

I asked Jake Pantone, marketing and sponsorship director at Enve about it, and he said, “This is the first I have heard of an issue like this.” He did wonder if perhaps you have a fork that was a show sample or something that might not have gone through the normal drilling procedure that production forks do.

Since you say it’s an Edge fork, it must be a few years old, given that the brand changed to Enve a couple of years ago. So I’m going to make the assumption that this is not the first set of brakes you have had on that fork. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the holes are not mis-drilled, because the loose spring on many cantilevers makes it easy to line the spring up with a mis-drilled hole. However, it does indicate that they cannot be that far off, and the below tip could make the difference for you.

Lance Larrabee, marketing director for TRP, says, “I have not seen this problem with our brakes on Enve or any other fork. From time to time when installing brakes I have had to guide the pin into the hole using a small screwdriver.  Also, I’ve found sometimes it helps to loosen the brake pad before installing the brake arm as the pad sometimes overlaps the fork blade or seatstay forcing you to tension the spring a bit as you install the brake arm and spring pin.” Larrabee also sent the brake post schematic drawing. Check your fork’s spring hole location and dimensions against this.

If you still can’t get the spring pin to line up with the hole and the spring hole location is off, then I suppose you could move the hole over slightly with a round jeweler’s file. The base of the post should be aluminum. I suppose you could also use a slightly bigger drill bit and widen the hole; don’t drill more than a millimeter deeper than the length of the spring pin, though. I don’t think you would be able to start a drill bit of the correct size (2.4mm — see schematic) a bit off to the side of the existing hole, since it would tend to wander back into the existing hole and maybe snap off in the process.
― Lennard

Dear Lennard,
I am planning to do a 12-day fully-loaded tour on the Blue Ridge Parkway in April and hoping to use my current Felt CX bike, which has Dura-Ace Di2.

Question:  can I use and will it shift properly if I install a 30 x 42 (2×10) XTR or SRAM mtn bike crankset?

I need much lower gears than the 39 x 28 I currently have. Was hoping to be able to get a 30 x 28 low gear for the mtns. Will the front derailleur handle the smaller front chainrings?  Any other considerations or suggestions?
― Bob

Dear Bob,
Here’s what Shimano RD director Wayne Stetina says about your situation: “Every MTB Di2 conversion uses an FD-7970F front derailleur with a clamp band adaptor and a 2X crank successfully.  Hint — get the 42/30 XTR crank; it will shift like a Dura-Ace racing double crank.  SRAM will only be rideable.  Also, you can re-space the MTB crank by swapping one bottom bracket cup spacer for 1mm spacers as needed, or use triple bottom bracket axle spacers to the non-drive side for narrower chainline on the 68mm-width road bottom bracket shell, since the 2X XTR axle is long enough for a 73mm bottom bracket shell.”

Another option might be to try a Shimano cogset not recommended for Di2, as a number of riders used on the Angliru climb in the Vuelta this past season. (The maximum cog size recommend by Shimano for Dura-Ace Di2 is 27 teeth.) I’ve heard of riders using Shimano cogsets topping out at 30 or 32. They said that they had to max out their b-screw adjustment (to rotate the cage way back so the upper jockey wheel won’t pinch the chain between against the largest cog). A trick for getting more backward rotation rear derailleur rotation to eliminate noise and roughness on the largest cog is to remove the b-screw and put it in from the opposite direction so the head, rather than the tip, contacts the derailleur hanger tab. You have to be very careful when trying a cog larger than the recommendation, as you wouldn’t want to ruin such an expensive derailleur by trying to make a shift that it couldn’t handle because the chain was too short.

If I had a Di2 bike, I’d try it and tell you what happened, but, alas, I do not.
― Lennard

FILED UNDER: Bikes and Tech / Technical FAQ TAGS: Di2 / Enve / front derailleur

Lennard Zinn

Lennard Zinn, our longtime technical writer, joined VeloNews in 1987. He is also a frame builder, former U.S. national team rider, and author of many bicycle books including Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance, Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance and Zinn’s Cycling Primer: Maintenance Tips and Skill Building for Cyclists. He holds a bachelor’s in physics from Colorado College. Readers can send brief technical questions to Ask LZ.

• Follow @lennardzinn
• All articles by Lennard

How is the NASCAR season like a baby fruit bat? They both start out upside down. The season’s biggest race, the Daytona 500, is also the first.  And this year’s edition on Sunday sports an added attraction: the Sprint Cup debut of Danica Patrick. The Indy Car veteran, and marketing magnet, turns her attention to stock cars full time this year. Here’s what you need to know about this on-track pace setter and off-track marketing icon.

Danica_Patrick_by_David_Shankbone (Photo credit: david_shankbone)

So who exactly is Danica Patrick?

Patrick is a 29-year old rookie  stock car driver for the Stewart/Haas/Tommy Baldwin racing team. After a modestly successful career in Indy Cars, Patrick will race the full schedule this season in NASCAR lower-level Nationwide Series and 10 races in the top-tier Sprint Cup series. Oh, yeah, she’s a woman.

Why does she have a good chance of success?

Because she’s on one of the very best teams in the sport. Tony Stewart, the team’s owner and top driver, won the Sprint Cup title last year for Stewart/Haas, and Greg Zipadelli, Stewart’s longtime crew chief, will be preparing Patrick’s car in her debut at Daytona. And most people forget that Stewart was an Indy Racing League champion before switching to NASCAR, so he has a unique perspective that will no doubt aid Patrick’s transition.

What bodes badly for Ms. Patrick?
The fact that, aside from Stewart, Indy Car drivers haven’t been all that successful in making the transition to stock cars. Dario Franchitti, a four-time Indy Car series champ and two time Indy 500 winner, ran 10 Sprint Cup races in 2008 and finished no higher than 22^nd. He returned quietly to Indy Cars after his NASCAR team folded. Sam Hornish, Jr. who won three Indy Car titles and one Indy 500, is currently trying to work his way back to Sprint Cup, after three largely disappointing seasons in NASCAR’s premier series. The most successful recent transplant is Juan Montoya, also an Indy 500 winner and series champion, who won two Sprint Cup races, collected 49 top 10 finishes, and qualified for The Chase, NASCAR’s season-ending playoff system in 2009. All of these drivers had much more success in Indy Cars than Patrick did.

Can Danica win the Daytona 500?

Why not? The Daytona 500 is actually one of the easiest races in which to pull an upset. Trevor Bayne did it just last year, winning the race as a rookie at the tender age of 20 Why? To control top speeds, the engines of the cars are fitted with restrictor plates. This makes for huge packs and tight racing where a tiny bit of luck can propel a driver to a win, and Zipadelli is one of the sport’s great strategists. Drivers often pair up and Patrick will have Stewart and former Daytona champion Ryan Newman as potential drafting partners. Stewart has come right out and said that under the right circumstances, he would literally push Patrick to victory.

Last week, Apple took most Mac users by surprise when it released a developers preview of Mountain Lion, the company’s newest desktop operating system, and announced it would ship the upgrade later this year.

OS X Mountain Lion, the first in a yearly upgrade schedule, sports new features, many of them borrowed from the iPhone and iPad; a new security framework that should stymie the most common kinds of Mac malware; and tighter ties to the company’s iCloud sync and storage service.

But because Apple’s not yet disclosed all the facts about Mountain Lion, you probably have questions.

We’ve tried to fill in the blanks.

When can I get Mountain Lion? Apple’s only given the vague “late summer” due date, summer being relative, since in four months the southern hemisphere will enter winter. August 2012 is our bet: That syncs with Snow Leopard’s Aug. 28, 2009, release.

Even that, though, is a guess, since Apple’s on new ground here. It usually unveils an OS a year or more before it ships, then pins a release month at its June developer conference. In 2009, for instance, it told users to expect Snow Leopard in September, but beat that by a few days. Last year, it pegged Lion’s release to July, which it met with 11 days to spare.

What about the preview? Can I get that now? Only if you’re a registered Apple Mac developer . Membership in the program costs $99 per year.

How much will Mountain Lion cost? Apple hasn’t said, but if it’s not $29.99 or less we’ll eat our hats. That was the price of Lion last year — and 2009′s Snow Leopard was $29 . And while Apple hasn’t officially committed to under-$30 for all upgrades, Mountain Lion is, like Snow Leopard, an incremental update, rather than the more ambitious Lion.

That’s why we would be surprised if Apple charged more for Mountain Lion than it did for Lion.

How is Apple distributing Mountain Lion? Like Lion, through the Mac App Store.

Although Apple offered Lion on a flash drive last year to quell concerns from some that they didn’t have the bandwidth to download the multi-gigabyte upgrade, according to Pocketlint , the company won’t repeat the USB offer with Mountain Lion.

Can I upgrade to Mountain Lion? We don’t know. The developer preview requires Lion or Snow Leopard, and although it makes sense — together those two editions powered 80 per cent of all Macs that went online in January — that could change by the time the final code is ready.

Apple has also told developers which Macs will run Mountain Lion’s preview . The list excludes such notable systems as the now-discontinued white MacBook, the first-generation MacBook Air and all iMacs prior to the August 2007 20- and 24-in. models.

With some exceptions, Macs sold from 2008 forward will run Mountain Lion, while 2009 and later models are guaranteed to run the new OS.

As with other system requirements, the out-in-the-cold list could change by the time Apple ships OS X Mountain Lion.

How many machines do I get to put Mountain Lion on for my $30? Since the upgrade will be delivered through the Mac App Store, the market’s guidelines apply: All your personally-owned Macs can be upgraded for the one price.

How can I get a free copy of Mountain Lion? Buy a new Mac this summer. Apple will probably repeat previous offers that have awarded buyers of new Macs a free copy of the new operating system.

Last year, Apple gave away Lion to customers who bought a Mac between June 6 — the date the company officially unveiled Mac OS X 10.7 — and Lion’s eventual Aug. 28 release date. Later, it extended the offer to cover all Macs that were sold equipped with Snow Leopard, no matter the sales date.

Apple will likely run a similar “Up-to-Date” deal this year with Mountain Lion.

I’m responsible for several dozen Macs in our business…. How do I upgrade them? Not sure, but going by Apple’s past practice, you’ll probably buy upgrade licenses in bulk then use a single redemption code to download an installer from the Mac App Store that you deploy and run on each machine.

Will I be able to run any Mac application on Mountain Lion? I’ve heard Apple’s blocking some apps. You’re talking about Gatekeeper, the new security model that will by default let you install only software downloaded from the Mac App Store or programs created by authorized developers.

Gatekeeper is Apple’s reaction to last year’s spread of the Mac Defender malware, which was tucked into fake security software: Gatekeeper will prevent such “scareware” from ending up on your Mac.

But Apple isn’t locking Macs to the Mac App Store, as it does with iPhone and iPads, which — unless they’re hacked, or “jailbroken” — can run only apps obtained from the App Store. A quick change of Gatekeeper’s default preference lets you install software acquired from any source.

Why should I upgrade? Always an excellent question, even when the price is right. Apple has touted several new features, but the overriding theme is that Mountain Lion continues the practice the company debuted when it borrowed a few things from iOS for last year’s Lion.

That means Mountain Lion might be most compelling to users who also own an iPhone or iPad, and want a more consistent look and feel between their Macs and mobile devices. The new OS X applications and services — ranging from Notification Center and Notes to Game Center and Reminders — that Apple has touted originated on the mobile side, and other, already-on-the-Mac applications have been renamed to match the labels on iOS.

From what we’ve seen, there are few user interface changes in Mountain Lion, so if you’re looking for a visual revamp, you may want to pass.

What new integration with iCloud does Mountain Lion sport? Mountain Lion adds a “Documents in the Cloud” view to the Open and Save dialog boxes of Mac applications that support the feature: Apple’s home-grown apps, such as TextEdit in OS X and the for-a-fee Pages, Numbers and Keynote components of iWork, do. Most third-party software, notably Microsoft Office, does not.

You can also create folders the iOS way by dragging and dropping one document atop another.

Documents saved to iCloud — or moved there from a Mac’s hard drive by dragging from the Finder — are automatically available on all iCloud-synced devices, including iPhones, iPads and Macs.

It’s unlikely that Microsoft will modify Office to let customers save and open documents to and from iCloud, since Apple allows only software sold through the Mac App Store to access iCloud storage. While Microsoft has never explained why it doesn’t sell Office in the Apple e-market, the 30% cut that Apple takes of all revenue is probably top of the list.

Another reason: Microsoft pitches its own online storage service, SkyDrive , as the way for Office users to share and synchronize documents.

Any other notable new things in Mountain Lion? Likely lots that Apple hasn’t yet described, but our favorite known change is the disappearance of a separate Software Update mechanism. Starting with Mountain Lion, Apple is using the Mac App Store to deliver OS updates composed of security patches and other bug fixes. In the preview, selecting “Software Update” from the Apple menu launches the Mac App Store, which then checks for available updates.

When will we learn more about Mountain Lion? We’re betting at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which historically has been a wellspring of information about any impending OS.

Apple has yet to set the 2012 dates for WWDC, but according to the calendar of San Francisco’s Moscone Center — the venue Apple has used since 2003 — the week of June 11-15 is tagged with the generic “Company Meeting.”

The Moscone Center has used the same placeholder the last two years to mark the schedule eventually confirmed for WWDC.

(The same week this year as the last two WWDCs, June 4-8, is partially booked by the Design Automation Conference, a get-together for electronic automation and embedded systems engineers and designers.)

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer , on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com .

See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com .

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Last week, Apple took most Mac users by surprise when it released a developers preview of Mountain Lion, the company’s newest
desktop operating system, and announced it would ship the upgrade this summer.

OS X Mountain Lion, the first in a yearly upgrade schedule, sports new features, many of them borrowed from the iPhone and
iPad; a new security framework that should stymie the most common kinds of Mac malware; and tighter ties to the company’s
iCloud sync and storage service.

But because Apple’s not yet disclosed all the facts about Mountain Lion, you probably have questions.

We’ve tried to fill in the blanks.

When can I get Mountain Lion? Apple’s only given the vague “late summer” due date, summer being relative, since in four months
the southern hemisphere will enter winter. August 2012 is our bet: That syncs with Snow Leopard’s Aug. 28, 2009, release.

Even that, though, is a guess, since Apple’s on new ground here. It usually unveils an OS a year or more before it ships,
then pins a release month at its June developer conference. In 2009, for instance, it told users to expect Snow Leopard in
September, but beat that by a few days. Last year, it pegged Lion’s release to July, which it met with 11 days to spare.

What about the preview? Can I get that now? Only if you’re a registered Apple Mac developer . Membership in the program costs $99 per year.

How much will Mountain Lion cost? Apple hasn’t said, but if it’s not $29.99 or less we’ll eat our hats. That was the price
of Lion last year — and 2009′s Snow Leopard was $29 . And while Apple hasn’t officially committed to under-$30 for all upgrades, Mountain Lion is, like Snow Leopard, an incremental
update, rather than the more ambitious Lion.

That’s why we would be surprised if Apple charged more for Mountain Lion than it did for Lion.

How is Apple distributing Mountain Lion? Like Lion, through the Mac App Store.

Although Apple offered Lion on a flash drive last year to quell concerns from some that they didn’t have the bandwidth to download the multi-gigabyte upgrade, according
to Pocketlint , the company won’t repeat the USB offer with Mountain Lion.

Can I upgrade to Mountain Lion? We don’t know. The developer preview requires Lion or Snow Leopard, and although it makes
sense — together those two editions powered 80% of all Macs that went online in January — that could change by the time
the final code is ready.

Apple has also told developers which Macs will run Mountain Lion’s preview . The list excludes such notable systems as the now-discontinued white MacBook, the first-generation MacBook Air and all iMacs prior to the August 2007 20- and 24-in. models.

With some exceptions, Macs sold from 2008 forward will run Mountain Lion, while 2009 and later models are guaranteed to run
the new OS.

As with other system requirements, the out-in-the-cold list could change by the time Apple ships OS X Mountain Lion.

How many machines do I get to put Mountain Lion on for my $30? Since the upgrade will be delivered through the Mac App Store,
the market’s guidelines apply: All your personally-owned Macs can be upgraded for the one price.