Will they or won't they get married? That's the question we keep asking about Kourtney Kardashian and her longtime boyfriend Scott Disick. Disick has made it no secret that he's ready to take the plunge -- and that it's his girlfriend of five years who's holding up their nuptials. But it seems as though he might be ready to stop pushing the question.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/large-u-corn-sowings-menaced-drought-usda-says-132946079.html
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Every year (ours will begin every two months on the first) the Hunger Games take place annually in the country of Panem, a nation that was built after the old world went into ruins.
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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?50th Hunger Games?. Anything posted here will also show up there.Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.What have you DONE to the coding on your intro?!
"You write love stories of tragedy, with clich? happy endings. A true love story has no ending." ~ Skye Alexander James Sutton .A.K.A. DarknessUndying"One simple word can free us of all pain and burden, and make our lives better. That special word is Love." ~ Skye Alexander James Sutton.
"I don't need any romantic connections, because I know when my Soulmate comes, he'll come in with a bang, and I'll be the happiest man alive." ~ Skye Alexander James Sutton
So we are supposed to have at least three characters?
ISo stick that in your juice box and suck it!
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Tony Greig was funny, outspoken and enlightening in a question and answer session. Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images AsiaPac
I attended the Cowdrey Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord's on Tuesday. This may seem an anglocentric way to start a World Cricket Forum but the speaker was Tony Greig, an international figure if ever there was one.
Greig was born in South Africa, played for England, settled and worked after the end of his cricketing career in Australia and is often feted in Sri Lanka and India ? though after his lecture he may not be feted quite so extravagantly in India as he once was. He is without question a global figure, always provocative and entertaining whether as a player or a commentator on the game.
For Greig this was an emotional homecoming. Here he was, welcomed back to Lord's, the home of an establishment that he had enraged 35 years ago by signing up for Kerry Packer and then recruiting cricketers for the "Circus". It may have helped a little that the president of the MCC, Phillip Hodson, is a good friend of Greig and a brother-in-law. The welcome was genuinely warm.
Actually the lecture format did not suit Greig perfectly. It was almost as if he was shackled by a script, which had taken weeks to chisel out, and he was determined to cover almost every aspect of the modern game. This was highlighted when the evening moved to a Q and A format, hosted by Mark Nicholas, in which Greig was joined by his old mate, Derek Underwood, and the nearest equivalent to Greig that England can currently offer, Stuart Broad, blond, 6ft 6in and a dashing all-rounder with a bit of devil in him. Once the Q and A was under way Greig was at his best: instinctive, mischievous, funny, outspoken and enlightening.
Greig has always been a man of contradictions. He took on the old order, yet last Tuesday he mentioned how much he regretted causing such pain to two very contrasting members of that cricketing establishment, EW Swanton and Alec Bedser. In the Q and A he was extolling the virtues of "walking" to Broad one moment and then explaining amid much hilarity why he could not contemplate walking against the Australians back in the 70s and how he encouraged the English players of that era to follow suit.
He explained that one of his reasons for aligning himself with Packer was to secure the future for himself and his family. Clearly self-interest was a significant factor. Yet here he was beseeching India to put aside self-interest ? or at least immediate financial gain ? for the greater good of the game.
In simple terms Greig's analysis was this: that India holds the future of the game in the palm of her hands. Everything hinged on India's willingness to apply the "spirit of cricket" and to make some financial sacrifices along the way, a simple analysis but also an alarming one.
So it was all the more striking to read on the day after Greig's lecture that India would not agree to the use of the umpire decision review system in the forthcoming series against England at the end of this year. In the scheme of things it does not matter hugely that India should veto the DRS again. The assumption is that a senior player, such as Sachin Tendulkar, does not like the system partly because it is always used against him. After all, it makes sense for India's opponents to use their reviews against the opposition's best player. But there is something symbolic about India's stance. With all that financial clout, India is more than willing to go her own way on a whole range of topics whatever the majority at the International Cricket Council think.
Less symbolic but far more financially significant was Greig's suggestion that the administrators in India should reduce the duration of the Indian Premier League as part of a package to preserve and protect Test cricket. Even Greig, a natural optimist, was none too sure whether India currently regards Test cricket sufficiently highly that they might be prepared to do that.
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It's surely been a crazy couple of weeks for the folks at Google. The company clearly has more new features than it can shove into a couple of lengthy keynotes -- like functionality for Play that lets users update and uninstall apps by way of the My Android Apps tab in the browser-based version of the store. Check the source link below to begin your cloud-based bidding.
[Thanks, Allen]
Google Play lets you update and uninstall apps from the comfort of your browser originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Home Educating Family Publishing has several options this year to help you get ready for the new school year!
I have personally purchased and used The Well Planned Day for Homeschool Teachers but I am featuring the High school Student Versions ? both electronic PDF and paper.
In exchange for this review... We received free version of the Well Planned Day for my 2 highschoolers and tried it out for months=)
Home Educating Family Publishing also has help for your students. They can start the new year with these options.
This 4-year product is working out great for our family. It is soooo important for kids to know the college prep deadlines and career planning. These items are speckled throughout. Tips and wisdom and WONDERFUL Worksheets they can fill in for transcript planning, and other tasks are highlights of this version.
We acquired a PDF version for my tech-savvy son. I do NOT give him PAPER when possible.? At first, he drooled over his sister?s paper version for a few days?mostly because it looks attractive and it is set up so well. I simply printed out a trial month for him to use on paper. After weeks of picking up random sheets of paper around the house I told him the trial was over. He seems quite content to simply log his work in his electronic PDF version on his laptop. He uses it for recording his homework assignments and class deadlines as well.
My daughter on the other hand was quite disturbed by a PDF version. She is the hands-on crafty type so it didn?t work for her. She now happily carries her paper High School 4-year Plan planner around for school. In past years most planners fell by the waist side by 3 weeks. She has used this planner for months now! I am very thankful for the opportunity to review this product! It is working for our family.
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The Home Educating Family Publishing website also has planners for younger students. They have a variety of options? both for 1-yr. or 4-yr. planners.
The Well Planned Day is a great parent version of planners.? I personally purchased this version because it is especially geared for our homeschooling family?
I?m not sure however,? if I purchased it because of NORMAL reasons.
I personally was tired of retro-fitting planners for our family. PLUS the pages are gorgeous. So pretty that I dare say that is possibly the #1 reason for my purchase=) Then it had everything I needed?.
I am quite critical when it comes to planners. If the paper isn?t right? the ink to light?the layout is awkward?. it doesn?t work. All these factors are important to me. So I was impressed with these planners.
I also noticed other moms at homeschool co-op carrying The Well Planned Day as well=) They said were pleased as well. One mom went to great lengths to personalize it because she also ran a side-business as well.
I have quite a fetish for paper planners despite the iPhones and Google calendars and Hotmail?etc. I know the company offers an electronic PDF version of their planner as well but that was not an option for me.
The paper planners are well laid out with enough space for me to record each of my older 4 kids learning progress. This is great for my required homeschooling record-keeping.
I also color code what I WANT the kids to achieve so I can remember where they SHOULD be=) Sometimes I forget for a minute.
BUT then I can look back and say, ?Ahh -haaa?we discussed this 2 weeks ago and agreed that you would finish_____?
I LOVE it?. I DID give the Colorful Binder the planner set came with to my daughter. She was drooling over it! She put her planner in the binder. Her eyes lit up!
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There is a multi-purpose version for busy parents who want to get organized called On the Go
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See their site for more details:
Home Educating Family Publishing
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By HOWIE RUMBERG
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 10:36 p.m. ET June 26, 2012
NEW YORK (AP) - Dewayne Wise was helped up by several fans in the stands, saw the emphatic out call and thought one thing: keep the glove closed.
Wise ran straight for the dugout - giving birthday boy Derek Jeter a glove tap on the way - after flipping into the crowd while trying to make a catch of a foul ball during the New York Yankees' 6-4 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.
"What was I supposed to do run back to left field?" Wise said. "I saw him looking at my glove so I just got up, put my head down and ran off the field."
Wise knew he never had the ball when he went over the low wall down the left field line with two outs and a runner on third base in the seventh inning. Third base umpire Mike DiMuro didn't realize the ball hit off Wise's glove and fell for a souvenir until he saw a replay after the game.
"I went out on the ball and saw the ball into his glove in the stands. He disappeared into the stands and I believed that the ball was in his glove," DiMuro said. "In hindsight, I should have asked him to show me the ball since he fell into the stands and out of my line of vision."
Phil Hughes threw his hands up in the air, thinking Wise just helped preserve his shutout. Manager Joe Girardi thought it was a tough call.
"They're human. As much as we want them to be perfect and as much as there's talk about replay and all this stuff, they're under such a microscope the way the TV has developed this slo-mo that it's - I think it's a difficult time to be an umpire," Girardi said
Before seeing a replay, Indians manager Manny Acta had an inkling his team had gotten some bad luck in their fourth straight loss.
"If it's a great play, how come you're not showing it on the board for the fans?" Acta said. "We were discussing that with the umpires, but, what can you do?"
Hughes (8-6) got out of that jam and several others in pitching eight innings of six-hit ball.
"That's the first time I've seen an all left-handed lineup before and I'm pretty comfortable with my fastball going in on lefties," Hughes said.
Alex Rodriguez hit a long home run for New York, which scored five of its runs without a homer - they came in on a tear, having scored 16 of their last 21 runs on long balls.
"We only hit one homer," Girardi said with a chuckle of the Yankees' streak of five straight games with at least two drives that came to an end. "We had some big hits by some guys."
Curtis Granderson had a two-run single and Chris Stewart added an RBI hit as several bounces went New York's way against Justin Masterson (4-7) in the second inning.
Little is going right for the Indians. In their previous four games Cleveland scored just five runs. They scored four runs against Cory Wade in the ninth on Johnny Damon's RBI single and Jose Lopez's three-run homer. Lopez was in for third baseman Jack Hannahan, who was ejected in the eighth.
Rafael Soriano got one out for his 16th save.
On the flip side, the Yankees can do little wrong these past few weeks. Rodriguez's monster shot in the seventh off Tony Sipp into the second deck in left field was No. 642 of his career and helped the Yankees to their fourth straight win and 14th in 17 games. Masterson had never allowed a homer to the Yankees in eight outings and that held true. So the Yankees played small-ball against the pitcher with a 1.24 ERA in June and a streak of having not given up an earned run in 20 1-3 innings coming in.
Mark Teixeira walked leading off the second inning but was taken out at second base on Nick Swisher's fielder's choice. After out No. 2, Wise, starting a second straight game after homering Monday night, singled. Stewart hit a hot shot down the third base line that hit off a diving Hannahan's glove for a run-scoring single. Hannahan argued with DiMuro the ball was foul.
Jeter then hit a bouncer that deflected off Masterson's lower leg and he reached safely to load the bases. Granderson followed with a two-run opposite-field single to left-center to make it 3-0.
Granderson walked leading off the fifth and advanced to third on Robinson Cano's broken-bat blooper to short center field. Teixeira drove him in with a fly to center.
"There were a lot of miss-hit balls, not real comfortable swings, which is exactly what you want, and somehow, you're four runs down on the board," Masterson said. "But I feel we were doing a lot better than the way that looked."
The Bleacher Creatures chanted "Hap-py Birth-day!" for Jeter instead of his name during roll call. Fans gave a big cheer when the newly 38-year-old captain gave a wave.
NOTES: Indians DH Travis Hafner (minor right knee surgery) will begin a rehabilitation assignment Wednesday at Triple-A Columbus. There is no set amount of games scheduled yet, Acta said. ... RHP Carlos Carrasco (elbow reconstruction surgery last September) threw from a mound. "It's encouraging to see him throw the bullpen the way the ball was coming out of his hand today," Acta said, adding Carrasco is on track to return next season. ... The Yankees claimed RHP Danny Farquhar off waivers from Oakland and optioned him to Double-A Trenton. To make room on the 40-man roster, they transferred OF Brett Gardner to the 60-day DL. Girardi says there is little chance Gardner (elbow) will return before the All-Star break.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Tuesday brought the devastating news that beloved screenwriter, essayist, novelist and reporter Nora Ephron died at age 71, due to complications from myelodysplasia, a blood disorder she was diagnosed with six years ago.
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker, known for hits such as "When Harry Met Sally..." and "Sleepless in Seattle," leaves behind legions of famous friends and fans, who've already begun to eulogize her.
Launch the gallery below to see celebrity reactions on Twitter:
Contribute to this Story:
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Bill Haber / AP file
Retirees of the future will find their experience much different from their parents' golden years.
By Samuel Weigley, 24/7 Wall St.
??Once people reach their 50s they finally see retirement on the horizon. They start envisioning that time when they can stop going to work and instead spend their days on the golf course, on the beach or with their families. Yet many people have not saved nearly enough for retirement by the time they are 50 years old. A recent survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 60 percent of workers born between 1946 and 1964 have less than $100,000 for retirement. In fact, 40 percent have saved less than $25,000.
24/7 Wall St. interviewed retirement-related experts from brokerage firms, banks, retirement advocacy groups, and independent financial advisers. With their help, 24/7 identified the eight actions you should take if you have not prepared to retire.
Financial advisers generally recommend people begin saving for retirement starting in their 20s to take full advantage of compounding interest. Although the financial advisers who spoke to 24/7 Wall St. say it is very hard to give concrete estimates on how much should be allocated toward equities and fixed-income, they say it is best to cut risk as one approaches their target retirement age.
24/7 Wall St.: America's richest school districts
Not saving up enough for retirement used to be less of a problem. Workers in previous generations often received pensions from their employers, allowing retirees to know exactly how much money they would get once retired. But employers have increasingly shifted that responsibility onto the employees through 401k and other defined contribution plans.
These days, notes Joe Ready, executive vice president for retirement at Wells Fargo, people get married and have children later in life than previous generations. This means that it is increasingly hard to save for retirement during the 40s and 50s because they still face heavy financial obligations -- they are still paying off their mortgage, sending their children to college and so on.
The fact that many current retirees are living off pensions has conditioned younger generations to think their retirement might be the same, says Lule Demmissie, managing director of retirement for TD Ameritrade. ?Face it,? Demmissie says, ?your retirement isn?t your parents? retirement.?
Demmissie notes that people in retirement today are working until a later age and finding cheaper housing as they no longer can count on that pension that was once provided to employees. She also points out that while many people have never saved enough for retirement, the problem has become worse once the financial crisis took hold.
24/7 Wall St.: 13 ways to sell your home this year
By the time you reach age 50, you should have roughly four times your annual income built up in retirement, according to Jean Setzfand, vice president for financial security for AARP. The best way to reach that goal is to start socking away money starting in your 20s. Still, if you are well behind on your goals by the time you reach your 50s, all hope is not lost.
These are the eight things to do if you have not planned for retirement.
1. Reassess life priorities
Part of reassessing priorities is ensuring you have a plan in place. People should have a retirement plan when they are significantly younger than 50, yet EBRI finds that only 42 percent of workers of all ages have a retirement plan.
If, at the age of 50, people find themselves inadequately prepared for their dream retirement, they should start by looking at the future, advises Setzfand. ?The first thing people should do is consider, ?What do I want to do with the rest of my life??? The answer to that question will help decide what actions need to be taken, Setzfand explains. Before moving forward, it is important to ask such questions as ?Do I really need that second house in Florida?? or ?Can I (afford to) start a trust fund for my grandkids??
People need to consider how much they are willing and able to fund their children's college education. Setzfand notes that many parents in their 50s will foot most or all of their children?s college bill to make sure their children don?t end up with debt early in life. However, she cautions people to be careful to make sure they have enough money to build and sustain their own retirement nest egg. After all, you can?t borrow to fund your golden years.
2. Take advantage of increased contribution limits
If you are late saving for retirement, you may need an extra boost to get closer to your goals. Once people reach age 50, the amount of money they can contribute annually to their 401k and their IRA increases from $17,000 to $22,500 and from $5,000 to $6,000, respectively.?Employees should take advantage of these higher contribution limits if possible, since contributions to these plans are tax deductible.
Plus, many employers match contributions up to a certain amount, meaning that employees are forgoing free money if they do not contribute the maximum contribution amount. ?If you have access to a 401k, jump into it with two feet,? Ready says.
3. Downsize
Advisers also recommend downsizing. While the level of downsizing for some could mean simply cutting down on small expenses such as eating out and shopping, for others, more drastic measures may be necessary.
?Downsizing often isn?t something that can be done on the peripheral,? Demmissie says. For some, it may even mean downsizing the house, especially if there is a lot of equity on the property.
Those eyeing retirement can even plan to move in with their adult children. Demmissie notes there has been an increase in multiple generations living under one roof. While living with children is not necessarily part of most people?s dream retirement, it can help make sure retirees do not outlive their money by cutting out housing costs and even some home-care costs. Moving to places with lower tax rates and costs of living, Demmissie notes, may also help people live their more ideal retirement at a lower cost.
4. Keep working
With people living longer than generations past, the traditional retirement age of 65 is generally increasing and will continue to do so. About 40 percent of current American employees plan to continue working until at least age 70, according to a 2011 study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
Working until a later age, whether full-time or part-time, gives people more time to build their nest egg while also reducing the likelihood that they will run out of money during their golden years. Plus, if someone truly enjoys his or her job, continuing to work in some capacity is not necessarily a bad thing. ?I always believed retirement was fictional,? says John Sestina, founder of John E. Sestina and Company in Columbus, Ohio. ?Why does someone have to quit working if they are productive, and what are they going to do to replace that in their life? You can only play so many rounds of golf.?
People still need to take into consideration that their employment status could change due to circumstances such as a layoff or deteriorating health, says George Middleton, an adviser with Limoges Investment Management in Portland, Ore. ?A lot of my clients say they will just keep working,? he says. ?I always tell them ?but what if you can?t???
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5. Factor in health care costs
Another burden facing retirees in the relatively near future is rapidly growing health care costs. A 65-year old couple who retires in 2012 should plan for $240,000 for medical costs, according to a study by Fidelity, provided the couple does not receive employer-sponsored health coverage. This figure, on average, has risen 6 percent annually since 2002.
Diane Pearson, a financial adviser at Legend Financial Advisors in Pittsburgh, says higher health care costs in recent years have changed the way she has counseled clients on retirement. She used to try to get her clients? nest eggs to accrue 2 percent more than inflation each year, but now that number is close to 6 percent due to rising health costs.
?People generally underestimate the amount of money they?ll need in retirement,? Pearson says, noting that health care predictions play a major role in that underestimation. ?The rule of thumb has been spending 75 percent to 85 percent in retirement of what you were spending while you were working full-time. I think that?s absolutely false.? Pearson says the amount spent in retirement likely will be about the same spent in your working years.
6. Don?t play catch up
If someone has failed to save enough for retirement by their 50s, it may be tempting to build a portfolio full of stocks to play catch-up. The financial experts interviewed by 24/7 Wall St. generally advise against this move. While some stocks are still important in a portfolio to help manage inflation, a bad stretch in the stock market can completely devastate a person?s financial goals. ?That?s financial suicide,? Sestina calls such a move. ?They can?t afford the risk with so little time.?
Middleton says he counsels his clients to take on as little risk as possible in order to reach their retirement goals. Someone who has not saved anything for retirement by age 50 would need to take more, but not excessively more, risk than someone who saved since they were in their 20s. ?I just warn (clients) that the plan might not work,? Middleton says.
7. Beware of financial scams
When people have not saved enough for retirement, they feel overwhelmed and are willing to take drastic measures to try to reach their retirement goals, including falling for financial scams such as the ?get rich quick? and ?work from home? schemes. Those ages 60 and older lost at least $2.9 billion due to these scams in 2010, according to a recent joint study from Metlife Mature Market Institute, the National Committee for Prevention of Elder Abuse and Virginia Tech University.
Setzfand says that when people are approached about financial products, they need to do research to make sure the product really can help achieve their financial goals. She also recommends people do some research on the broker trying to sell the product to make sure no sanctions have been levied on the broker. ?If something looks too good to be true, it?s too good to be true,? Setzfand says.
8. Do not skimp on insurance
While socking a higher portion of your income in your 50s may help build up a dream retirement fund, it is important to keep up with insurance payments in order to prepare for the unexpected. Such plans as life insurance and long-term care insurance can ensure a person?s spouse or children aren?t financially devastated in case of unfortunate events.
Since life insurance is relatively affordable, Middleton says he has not noticed many people going without it. However, he is concerned many are forgoing long-term care insurance due to its high cost. Middleton says not having long-term care insurance can ?completely destroy an estate? if a spouse happens to need that level of care in the future.
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FILE- In this Monday, June 18, 2012, file photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveils its"Surface", a new tablet computer to compete with Apple's iPad at Hollywood's Milk Studios in Los Angeles. Microsoft announced Monday, June 25, 2012, that is paying $1.2 billion to buy Yammer, an Internet startup that has built a social network similar to Facebook for the business world. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
FILE- In this Monday, June 18, 2012, file photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveils its"Surface", a new tablet computer to compete with Apple's iPad at Hollywood's Milk Studios in Los Angeles. Microsoft announced Monday, June 25, 2012, that is paying $1.2 billion to buy Yammer, an Internet startup that has built a social network similar to Facebook for the business world. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Microsoft is buying Internet startup Yammer for $1.2 billion in an attempt to bring Facebook-like sharing features to its widely used suite of business software applications.
Yammer specializes in creating private social networks so employees within the same company can keep tabs on what colleagues are working on. That's similar to how Facebook's online social network allows friends and families to track what's happening in each other's personal lives.
The deal, announced Monday, comes nearly two weeks after word of Microsoft's negotiations with Yammer first leaked out in published reports.
The acquisition represents Microsoft's latest attempt to adapt to a major shift in the technology industry, one that is fueling demand for more Internet-connected services and social-networking tools.
The upheaval is threatening to marginalize Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, and ultimately diminish the amount of money coming in from sales of its Windows operating system and a wide range of applications designed primarily for personal computers.
As part of its effort to remain relevant, Microsoft paid $8.5 billion last year for Internet video chat service Skype in the largest acquisition in its history.
In another bold move, Microsoft last week unveiled its own tablet computer, Surface, to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPad. Microsoft has designed Surface to run on the upcoming Windows 8, the biggest change to the company's operating system in nearly two decades.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is counting on Yammer's sharing tools to ensure that long-established Microsoft applications, including its word processing and spreadsheet programs, remain vital components for getting work done. Google Inc. has emerged as a threat with a toolbox of similar programs that run primarily over the Internet rather than on individual machines.
"Think of Yammer as a fundamental part of our Office family," Ballmer said on a Monday conference call.
Microsoft will have much of the same autonomy given to Skype since that deal closed eight months ago. Yammer will continue to be run from its San Francisco headquarters by its co-founder and CEO, David Sacks. It will also continue to provide its services separately from Microsoft's offerings.
Microsoft did not give a time frame for when the deal should close.
Gartner Inc. analyst Larry Cannell said Microsoft's latest acquisition was smart and reflected "a recognition that the social capabilities in Microsoft's products have been deficient."
Investors couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the deal on another somber day for the stock market. Microsoft's stock fell 82 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to close at $29.88.
Although other companies such as Jive Software Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc. are building social networks for businesses, Yammer shares the most DNA with Facebook Inc.
When it started in 2008, Yammer raised its initial funding from Peter Thiel ? Facebook's first major investor. Thiel formerly worked with Sacks while they were both executives at PayPal, an online payment service that eBay Inc. bought for $1.5 billion in 2002.
Sean Parker, the former Facebook president depicted by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie "The Social Network," also sits on Yammer's board of directors. Parker still owns a 4.6 percent stake in Facebook currently worth about $2.2 billion.
Microsoft has its own financial ties to Facebook, having invested $240 million in the social network in 2007. After selling $250 million in stock in Facebook's initial public offering last month, Microsoft still retains a 1.7 percent stake worth about $840 million.
Yammer has relied largely on word of mouth to attract more than 5 million registered users at more than 200,000 companies worldwide.
The service depends on employees to use its free tools to set up a private network within their company. Once the network is getting wide usage, Yammer then tries to sell more sophisticated features to the companies.
As a privately held company, Yammer hasn't disclosed its revenue. In a Monday note about the Microsoft deal, Nomura Securites analyst Rick Sherlund estimated Yammer's revenue at $15 million to $20 million last year.
The company has been expanding so rapidly that it had been considered a prime candidate to pursue an IPO by next year.
The stock of Yammer rival Jive Software has gained 65 percent since it went public six months ago, though it fell 74 cents Monday to close at $19.75.
The IPO market has gone into a deep freeze since Facebook flopped in its closely watching stock market debut last month. Instead of soaring as had been widely anticipated, Facebook shares plummeted during the first few weeks of trading. Although the stock has rallied recently, it remains 16 percent below the IPO price of $38, which had minted Facebook Inc. with a market value of $104 billion. Facebook shares dropped 99 cents, or 3 percent, Monday to close at $32.06.
Sacks said the frosty conditions in the IPO market didn't influence Yammer's decision to sell to Microsoft. The negotiations between the two companies began before Facebook's IPO, according to Saks and Ballmer.
"Our thinking was based on the fit with Microsoft and the fact that we think Microsoft is a great partner for us in expanding the service and taking it to the next level," Sacks said.
The sale will provide a hefty return for Yammer's early backers. The startup has raised about $142 million in venture capital.
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