  Mass outflows from Eddington-limited accreting compact objects appear to be a
very widespread phenomenon. They may provide the soft excess observed in
quasars and ULXs, and imply that such objects have a major effect on their
surroundings. In particular they allow a simple parameter-free argument for the
M_BH-sigma relation for galaxies, and offer a straightforward interpretation of
the emission nebulae seen around ULXs.
