There has been a lot of news about a town worried about that a large, beached animal may explode. "You mean the dead blue whale in California?" I was asked. "No, Toronto mayor Rob Ford." ... Political advisors have determine the best way to keep Ford from embarrassing statements is to have rocker Ozzy Osbourne give him elocution lessons. That way Ford can continue make gaffs, but no one will understand him. ... It is widely believed by scientists, because they play such an important role in our society, if the Kardashians did not exist, we would have to invent them.

Qlik Technology, which makes the Qlik View analytic line, turned in a loss for the first quarter ended March 31 that was nearly double the year ago figures as revenue rose by 15.1 percent. The most notable thing in last month's earnings calls was not the numbers but the views expressed by some analysts. One told CFO Tim MacCarrick that there is concern in the investment community "around your ability to make sure you hit the numbers" and asked if there was "Anything more you can say that would give the investment community comfort in your forecasts?"

Blackbaud had good results for the first quarter ended March 31. But the discussion on this week's earnings webcast was as much about the investments being in the company as it was about past performance. "We had a solid first quarter," noted CEO Mike Gianoni. Net income for the nonprofit software company rose to $3.8 million in the most recently ended period, up 43 percent from $2.7 million a year ago.

Edgewater Technology, which owns Dynamics reseller Fullscope, rebounded to a profit of $711,000 for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to a loss of $889,000 a year ago. In this week's earnings webcast, CEO Shirley Singleton said the company's bet on "manufacturing coming back to the United States" was one of the factors behind a strong performance. Revenue for the most recently ended period was $27.6 million, up 18 percent, from $23.5 million in last year's corresponding period.