The second was the moderate continental climate that favored agriculture.

In Soviet times, priorities changed. Under the third five-year plan for the Soviet economic, Novonikolaevsk, then already a regional center known as Novosibirsk, was to be industrialized by 1937. Armaments were to be the priority. Four plants were put into action in that time, among them the Chkalov Plant for military aviation (No. 153) and Plant No. 179, which was the country's largest producer of ammunition during the war. (After the war, it became Sibselmash.) Construction of an aircraft engine plant was begun in 1939.

World War II was decisive in the transformation of the region's economy. In the 1940s, 31 factories belonging to four People's Commissariats � those of ammunition, weaponry and the electrical and aviation industries � were moved here from Moscow, Leningrad and Tula, Voronezh and Rostov Regions.

Knight Capital Group Announces Earnings of $0.52 Per Diluted Share for ...

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NITE) today reported earnings of $49.6 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, and pre-tax income of $78.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2007. The results include a non-recurring tax benefit of $0.02 per diluted share. Excluding this item, earnings for the fourth quarter of 2007 were $0.50 per diluted share.

For the fourth quarter of 2006, the company reported earnings of $47.4 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, and pre-tax income of $71.6 million. The results included a $0.09 per diluted share gain from the sale of the remaining strategic investment in shares of the International Securities Exchange, Inc. (ISE) and a non-recurring tax benefit of $0.03 per diluted share. Excluding these two items, earnings for the fourth quarter of 2006 were $0.33 per diluted share.

Who's Blogging

Another popular e-mail scam tells the recipient they need to download and use an attached IRS form to properly file their taxes, or that the recipient is the subject of an IRS audit and should view the attached document. The attachments usually contain spyware that can steal passwords and financial data from the victim's computer.

Don't cheer smoking ban; you may be next target

I want to add my opinion to the two letters published on Jan. 11 from Mike Lynch (``Stop bureaucrats from making decisions for us'') and Brian Thomas (``Don't let our government `protect' away freedom'').We are becoming a police country. Like Brian said, first it was seat belts, now a total smoking ban. I think the total ban went too far.Smoking is still legal. If the government wants to protect us from ourselves why not make smoking illegal? No, they won't do it because too much revenue is generated from cigarettes.What saddens me is to go to the VFW and watch our veterans who fought and died for the freedoms we used to enjoy, standing outside smoking at their private club.smoking police better wake up. One of your freedoms may be next and, believe, me you won't like it and there won't be anything you can do about it.Carol SylvesterBloomington .

Summary of Apple's first quarter financials

Apple recently made available its first quarter financial data for 2008, which displayed record earnings for the company. Senior VP and CFO Peter Oppenheimer guided analysts and industry insiders through the quarterly figures, citing record Mac sales, with strong software and iPod sales backing the numbers. A strong install-base of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard has also helped the company's quarter, with estimates being placed at a 19-percent install base on Macs. Apple's cash generation has doubled that of its net income, and has over $18 billion of financial reserves.

MacNN has assembled a list of all topics that were covered during the report. This has been Apple's best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in company history. Revenues are up 36-percent year-over-year at $9.6 billion, an increase of $2.5 billion over the previous December quarter.