To the historian, English is a fascinating language.  Unlike most of the languages of Europe, it underwent an almost complete makeover following the Norman invasion (1066 and All That).  As a result, although or basic words and grammar are basically like German and especially Dutch, the lion’s share of our vocabulary is from French and Latin.  

My grandfather had a special room in his cellar for the various presses and casks he used to make his notoriously mouth-wrenching red wine.  I have friends whose microbrew apparatus takes up the entire spare bedroom of their house, like a permanently boozy-smelling houseguest.  Accordingly, I thought that fermenting was best left to the hardcore hobbyists-- too complicated a pursuit for the average partly-stocked kitchen.  Turns out, it's pretty simple. I recently made ginger ale with only items I had laying around my kitchen. 

SKILLMAN, New Jersey, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

ConvaTec, a world-leading developer and marketer of innovative medical technologies for community and hospital care, announced today that it has completed the divestiture of the Unomedical Wound Care and Ophthalmics business to Aspen Surgical Products Holding, Inc. Aspen is a portfolio company of RoundTable Healthcare Partners, an operating-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry.

The divestiture of the Unomedical Wound Care and Ophthalmics business was a requirement of the European Commission following the acquisition of ConvaTec by Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Partners and the subsequent integration of the Unomedical business with ConvaTec.

PARIS, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 26th 2009, the Supervisory Board of Somfy examined the annual accounts for the company and its subsidiaries for the year ending on December 31st 2008.

Consolidated figures FY 2008 FY 2007 Change in EUR million 2008/07 Sales 749.4 720.2 +4.0% Operating current income 123.9 132.3 -6.4% Non current items (2.8) (1.2) Ns Operating income 121.1 131.2 -7.7% Income before income tax 108.6 129.7 -16.2% Income tax (24.1) (38.8) -38.0% Share of associate companies' earnings 1.9 13.1 NS Net income 86.4 103.9 -16.8% Net income excluding contribution from 86.4 93.2 -7.3% Faac Cash flow from operating activities 123.9 119.7 +3.5%

CHICAGO, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Ability for in-depth analysis of the latest data

OAG, www.oagaviation.com, the industry's most accurate single source for airline schedules information, commercial fleets, analytical services and asset valuation support, has integrated its own metrics to the data just recently made public by the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

GUILDFORD, England, February 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Against a background of increasing corporate fraud, Compleat Software Limited http://www.compleatsoftware.com warns that a lack of eProcurement and spend control is a major contributor to business fraud. Compleat Software advises that businesses consider eProcurement to improve spend control and reduce opportunities to commit fraud. According to research from consultancy firm KPMG, UK companies suffered a five-fold increase in fraud last year http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7863862.stm

BAIKONUR SPACE CENTER, Kazakhstan, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Satellite Connects North America, Europe and Africa; Serves Growing Demand For Mobile Broadband From Maritime and Aero Markets

Telesat, the world's fourth largest fixed satellite services operator, has successfully launched its state-of-the-art Telstar 11N satellite. Telstar 11N will be located at 37.5 degrees West and utilize 39 high powered Ku-band transponders to support a wide range of video and data applications in North America, Europe and Africa and across the Atlantic Ocean.

TAIPEI, Taiwan, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Executives of Leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Companies in Taiwan and the World Will Present Their Views on Latest Products and Trends

Executives of some of the largest information and communications technology (ICT) companies in the world will present their views on new products and trends at the Taiwan - Bringing Innovations to the World press conference during CeBIT 2009.

The presentations will take place from 11:00 to 12:30 at Saal 13/14, Convention Centre (CC), Hannover Messe on Wednesday, 4th March, 2009. Members of the news media are cordially invited to join us.

TAIPEI, Taiwan, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- Companies in Taiwan Have Large Stakes in Markets for PCs, LCDs, Semiconductors and Mobile Phones; Branded Businesses and Manufacturing Operations Are Becoming More Distinct

Taiwan's information and communications technology (ICT) companies play a key role in the global supply chain for electronics products. Taiwanese companies account for about three-quarters of the world's production of PCs and half of the world's liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). In addition, Taiwan makes about a quarter of the world's semiconductors and about a fifth of the world's mobile phones.

SAN DIEGO, February 27 /PRNewswire/ --

ChemDiv, Inc. announced today that it has earned the successful milestone in its Lead Discovery collaboration with Nerviano Medical Sciences (NMS). In October 2007, ChemDiv and NMS expanded their partnership to discover and develop potential anticancer agents.

Under the terms of the collaboration, ChemDiv will receive a milestone payment for successful delivery of a lead molecule to NMS, in addition to research fees earned for discovery services.