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SAHMing, and realizing the end of an era quickly approaches
January 11, 2016
I'm feeling extraordinarily proud of my momming today, you guys. I took Emma to the local library story time, which she loved, and then there was crafting, which I actually participated in, and then we picked out books and now we're home eating lunch. I feel like a proper stay at home mom instead of a mom who stays home and spoils her kid in coffee shops every morning and spends too much money at Target.
Now that it's January I feel acutely aware of how much full time momming I've got left. Emma's birthday is a few weeks past the kindergarten cut off date, but in the opinions of me, Phillip, my former teacher parents, and my current teacher friends, she will be totally ready for kindergarten in the fall. (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE POTTY TRAINING ISSUE, which we will discuss in a moment.) So if she actually does go to kindergarten in September, I've only got six months left of Big Kids Go To School, Little Kid Hangs Out With Mommy. I expect All Kids Are At School to be really really different. Moms already in this position tell me that I won't have as much time as I think I'll have, but I still expect it to be DIFFERENT. The preschool driving back and forth, the figuring out what to do with us on not-preschool days, the eating lunch together, the snuggling in bed and waiting until the absolute last second to pick the kids up at the bus stop... those days are quickly flying by and I'm feeling the pressure to Cherish! Every! Moment!
And I WANT to. I'm not being obnoxious or sarcastic. Even on the rotten days when my kids are horrible and I'm exhausted and out of patience, I've been thankful for the option of being a stay at home mom. I quite enjoy not having a boss or responsibilities to other people besides my family. It's given me space to devote to the not-paid things I'm really interested in doing. I am a terrible housewife and a lazy mom, but I'm good at lots of other things (and other aspects of being a mom!) and I can do all of that because I stay home. I'm suited to it, which really does surprise me, and because I stay home my career-oriented husband has had near complete freedom to pursue his goals. I struggle with not earning money and the paycheck=worth feeling, I sometimes feel useless or not as accomplished as my working mom friends, and the full-time working husband/stay at home wife dynamic can be confusing in 2015. But ninety-nine percent of the time, I'm confident in my role.
So what will it be like when Emma goes to kindergarten?!?!
I've had MANY more-experienced-parents say to me that as your kids get older it becomes more important to be around for them. I... am not sure about that! I mean, we'll see how it goes, right? But just on a daily taking-care-of-everyone's-needs basis, it seems like things are only going to get simpler. (Until my kids start demanding to be driven to sports and social engagements, I suppose. I'm sort of hoping they are couch potato nerds on that front.) People might start being actual helps in the taking out the garbage department, the cleaning up of the kitchen department, the laundry department, and the - could it BE? - cleaning the toilet department. (All things I am notably lazy and bad at, btw.)
And when all three kids are in school I expect finding time for bakery emails and the gym and meeting up with church people and PTA social media and whatever else I've dipped a toe in to be MUCH MUCH EASIER. I will probably not go back to work, the big reason being that I don't have a Work to go back to. I was "in publishing" (the scare quotes are super valid) before and have no interest in going back. The career-type jobs that interest me (design, coding, user experience stuff) feel very hard to get into at age 36. I think I missed the boat on those things, which is probably just how it goes when you have absolutely no idea what you want to be until you're no longer in your 20s. And the stuff I'm ACTUALLY interested in (almost all church-related things) aren't paid. Ha. Honestly, if I went back to work it'd probably be as a part time admin or a barista or some job at the kids' school, something where I would leave all my work at work and still have enough time to do the things I'm involved in now. And I could see that happening. If something presented itself, I'd seriously think about it. Grad school? HA HA HA. What for? I can't justify however many thousands of dollars for an MFA, which is really the only degree that sounds awesome. Phillip went to the iSchool (I like to think of his master's degree as my third child, Emma being the fourth) which could potentially be up my alley, but again, I don't think I want a Real Job. Maybe some sort of spiritual direction type certificate, but when I'm, like, 50. That's got plenty of time to percolate.
ANYWAY. ALL THAT TO SAY. These last (hopefully) months with just Emma and me at home, that's an Era coming to an END. I just want to be aware of it and make the most of it, while also reserving my right to fall down foaming at the mouth on Terrible Children Days. Library story time, which I regret to say I didn't even bother to look up until this morning, is every Monday. What if we did the gym after the bus stop and then headed to the library on Mondays? That would be a GREAT routine! Preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays - more gym and plenty of unpaid-work-that-I-still-have-to-get-done time for me. Wednesdays and Fridays reserved for our typical coffee and shopping, or visiting Grandma, or hanging out with Mommy's friends, or folding clothes in front of TV.
Maybe all this stuff is also on my mind because of how BIG Emma is getting. She's just a big girl these days, with plenty to say about everything. She's the little spoiled sister in our family, but when it's just her and me I can see how much her brain is expanding: her vocabulary, her ideas, her thought processes. IF ONLY this would extend to the bathroom! I keep saying I'm going to take her to a naturopath, so I should actually get on that. I think I've been slow because in my heart of hearts I suspect this is a LEARNED ATTITUDE, not a physical issue, and I am not going to get the potty training timeline I prefer. What kid do you know who's been dry overnight with nary an accident for 1.5 years, yet will not even TELL you when she needs to go poop? (Sorry Future Emma, but the fact that I have to resort to discussing your habits (or lack thereof) on the blog is YOUR fault, not mine.) I mean, I devoted my Christmas novena to this issue. I AM PRAYING FOR HONEST TO GOD MIRACULOUS HEALING.
Let us all direct our good juju to the potty training gods and the people who decide whether a four-year-old-but-turns-5-in-3-weeks gets to enter kindergarten in Seattle Public Schools. I thank you for your efforts.


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Amid the sharp pullback of the market, top analyst Collin Gillis on Wednesday recommended investors buy shares of Cisco Systems, but not for any conventional reason.
Gillis thinks the stock will soon turnaround, as CEO John Chambers seeks to preserve his legacy by returning the former tech bellwether to prominence before he retires.
"He's out there trying to protect his legacy before he goes," Gillis said. "So he's going to push hard to get this turnaround and to cut these costs out in a relatively timely manner and we're seeing that happen right now."
Veracruz founder Steve Cortes said he would only buy the stock if Chambers left. It seems he's not alone. After several botched quarters, Chambers' leadership has come into question, even though he was the very person people had long looked to for a read on the tech space.
Investors will look to see what Chambers says when Cisco reports earnings after Wednesday's closing bell. Gillis thinks its results will be the same as last quarter with revenues flat and some earnings-per-share upside because the company is controlling costs.
- Doug Kass: Stock Market Put in 2011 Low on Monday
- Market Indicator with Perfect Record Just Signaled 'Buy'
Don't expect Cisco to reset its long-term goals, though, Gillis said. He expects guidance for October to likely be a flat revenue quarter.
Gillis is a technology analyst with BGC Partners LP in New York. He regularly appears on "Fast Money."

subset: commoncrawl


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This is the latest in a series of articles looking at the challenges faced by diverse films to get film distribution. The first was Is Film Distribution Institutionally Racist? followed by a Diversity In Film Distribution: Breaking Down The Box Office, looking at how studio films with actors of colour have performed.
Here I'm exploring how diverse independent films fit into the finance and distribution landscape. As I discussed in Is Film Distribution Institutionally Racist?, films with actors of colour face an uphill struggle for distribution, particularly for foreign sales. There's a gauntlet of conscious and unconscious bias diverse films come up against, a perception they won't sell, that audiences won't turn out to see them.
We've seen a number of diverse studio films break out in recent years, challenging that bias. So, what about independent films?
Not all independent movies are created equal. It's helpful to think of them as super indie and indie.
What do I mean by super indie? If a film's coming from a major producer or a top tier production company, that's a super indie. Think 12 Years A Slave. Helmed by a name director that can draw audiences like Spike Lee? Super indie. Headed up by an A-lister? Super indie.
This one's more ambiguous, but projects supported by national and local government film organisations? Arguably super indie. They might not be able to compete on the same level of budget, but films with finance from national film funds benefit from the organisation's infrastructure, development process, and networks.
Hong Khaou's debut feature Lilting would be an example. Funded through Film London's Microwave scheme for £150,000, Lilting starred Ben Whishaw and was sold by Protagonist Pictures.
All these elements put a super indie streets ahead of an indie filmmaker shooting a movie on a shoe string with their friends.
What's the attitude towards financing and distributing films with actors of colour at the super indie level?
I spoke to President of American Entertainment Investors (AEI), Joseph N. Cohen to get his insight. He's one of the leading financiers in the film industry. When he was President of Largo Entertainment, Joseph co-financed Malcolm X with Warner Brothers.
With AEI, he advises leading production companies including Alcon Entertainment (Book of Eli) and River Road (12 Years A Slave) and he's an Executive Producer on the upcoming The Man Who Knew Infinity about Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons.
What was his take on the belief films with actors of colour didn't sell?
"That sort of truism is only partially correct. There are only a few black superstars that travel internationally – Denzel Washington and Will Smith.
I think the issue is not about minority actors. It's about the underlying material.
If the underlying theme of a film is very urban, that's going to be challenging internationally. If you've got Denzel Washington in a post apocalyptic film called Book of Ali, which Alcon did, that's no problem at all. For an action film with Will Smith versus a white star of a similar caliber, I don't think it makes much of a difference at all.
We did a small art film called Five Flights Up, with Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton who play a married couple. He's an artist and she was his model. I didn't see any pushback from financiers or distributors.
For 12 Years A Slave, the brutality of the subject matter was the challenge, rather than the fact a black man was the hero of the film. Chiwetel is such a marvelous actor but it's hard stuff and that was an issue for a number of people."
12 Years A Slave went on to perform above all expectations, taking $187M worldwide at the box office, with $56M domestic and $131M foreign. Dramas tend to skew towards a 50-50 split between domestic and foreign. 12 Years A Slave ended up a 30-70 split, domestic to foreign.
With the box office success of films like The Help, 12 Years A Slave, Belle, Straight Outta Compton, Creed and more, there's a been a sea change in the market and growing recognition diverse films can sell. At Sundance, Nate Parker's The Birth Of A Nation sold for a record breaking $17.5M to Fox Searchlight.
Rising stars like Michael B. Jordan, David Oyelowo, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong'o, Gugu Mbatha Raw and Tessa Thompson are climbing the ladder on the way up to become bankable stars who can carry a movie.
Things are getting better. At the European Film Market, there was a noticeable improvement in diversity compared to past years. Projects for pre-sale included Dee Rees' Mudbound based on the best selling book of the same name and Amma Asante's A United Kingdom with David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike saw a revolving door of buyers making offers based on footage.
FilmNation launched Judd Apatow's latest comedy The Big Sick starring actor/comedian Kumail Nanjiani who co-wrote the script with his wife Emily V. Gordon about the culture clash in their relationship as a Pakistani-born man and an American woman.
Mister Smith International were selling dance movie Ain't No Half Stepping about a black sorority who has to teach a band of wild, Kardashian-obsessed white sorority girls how to dance from Drumline director Charles Stone III.
That's all well and good at the super indie level, but does a rising tide lift all boats? For indie films, that's harder to answer.
Most filmmakers fall under the indie umbrella. You're starting out, you don't have much money for a first feature and you're still a long away from being able to secure a star. You may be able to get recognisable actors who could give you an amazing performance but aren't considered a commercial draw for distribution.
For diverse films, that becomes even more challenging, given the bias in foreign distribution. That said, there are films that break out – Precious, Beasts of The Southern Wild, Middle of Nowhere, Dear White People, Fruitvale Station and Tangerine.
The common thread? They're undeniable.
Tangerine was one of my favourite films of 2015. It's the cinematic equivalent of eating pop rocks, and on paper, everything traditional film finance and distribution would bolt from. Shot on an iPhone, about black transgender sex workers, with first time actors. It went theatrical in multiple territories. This is why we need indie film. Exciting voices telling fresh stories.
That said, the main market for these films will largely be the US. The challenge for ALL indie filmmakers, whether you're a person of colour or not, is to make your film at the right price point for the market. Joseph N. Cohen offered these insights.
"You've got to make films for the right price. You can't count on anything from foreign. It's a bit like the dilemma a French producer has; he's got to realistically project he can recover his budget out of France.
Can the US sustain these kinds of films? Yes. Fruitvale Station was made for less than $1 million. It's a smaller critically acclaimed art film. It took $16M domestic and $1.2M foreign. The foreign returns are low because it was considered urban material, which doesn't travel well.
If you're a black or Latino filmmaker in the US, you've got to figure out what you can recoup out of your local market. Make your film at a price you can recoup out of domestic."
Keep your costs down, be creative with how you source your financing, leverage your relationships, and above all, be good. It can be done. Ava DuVernay won the directing prize at Sundance for her second feature Middle Of Nowhere. It was made for $200,000.
Dee Rees' Pariah was first an award winning short and developed into a feature for $500,000 through a combination of equity and grants. LUV was made for under $1 million. Mosquita y Mari by writer/director Aurora Guerrero was made for under $500K through equity, grants and crowdfunding.
Programs like Sundance Labs and Film Independent in the US are invaluable for honing your film and building connections for finance and distribution.
In the UK, the BFI's made a commitment to diversity for all their film financing by instituting their three tick scheme. It's designed to address diversity in relation to race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation and socio-economic status, both behind the camera in crews and on screen in terms talent and the stories told. This applies across development, production, distribution and audience development.
Films that have received funding so far include Gurinder Chadha's Viceroy's House, Andrea Arnold's American Honey, Peter Middleton and James Spinney's Notes On Blindness, Amma Asante's A United Kingdom, Michael Lennox's A Patch of Fog, Andrew Steggall's Departure, Ben Wheatley's Free Fire, and Colm McCarthy's She Who Brings Gifts.
But even with the positive progress towards diversity, it is still incredibly challenging for filmmakers of colour to get projects financed and distributed within traditional structures. But there are new models shaking up the industry.
"This industry is no longer what it used to be. The gatekeeper's gates are rusting. There are new ways to do things. New ways to monetise, new ways to distribute, new audiences to find, new ways to communicate with them, that don't require some old man telling you you can do it. So, now that's the case, and we know that's the case, we need to begin." – Ava DuVernay at the BlogHer Conference
Ava DuVernay knows what she's talking about. In 2010, she founded what was then AFFRM, the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement, now known as ARRAY. Coming up against a brick wall trying to get distribution for I Will Follow, Ava took control and partnered with African American film festivals in the US to create a new distribution entity.
The festivals championed and screened African American films. They had already established their community and knew the audience who were hungry to see their stories. Ava worked in partnership with the festivals and AMC Independent to roll out a theatrical release for I WILL FOLLOW. On opening weekend, it hit a per screen average $11,428 over 5 screens and expanded onto 22 screens in 15 cities.
This is self distribution in action. Finding your audience, working with partners, taking ownership for your film all the way through to the distribution cycle. You can see Ava talking about her experience here.
Having built the infrastructure, ARRAY has gone on to release 10 more movies. They have a team of passionate volunteers working on the ground and online on promotion, built on the foundation of the festivals and arts advocacy organisations.
All indie filmmakers should aspire to this. You are stronger together. You are stronger advocating and supporting each others work. This is a model that can be replicated.
Maybe you're a female filmmaker, a gay filmmaker, an Asian filmmaker. Maybe your film is rooted in a cause or an issue like autism or climate change, where you can work with organisations already in this field. Find partners. Build relationships. Get your tribe together, the people who are going to be excited and energised by the stories you want to tell.
It applies for financing too. The Film Collaborative have a fantastic case study in their excellent ebook Selling Your Film Outside The U.S. available www.sellingyourfilm.com about Pawan Kumar's movie Lucia.
Indian director Pawan Kumar was hitting a wall. An established actor, with his directorial debut already under his belt, he was trying to make his next film psychological thriller Lucia. Based in Bangalore, he wanted to make the movie in the Kannada language, but he kept getting told it wasn't commercial in a market where remakes were valued more over original content.
"The market controls the scripts that we write. I was frustrated that I had to keep tweaking my script because the producer would say "This is what sells right now." I felt like the key to this whole problem was the audience. Producers kept telling me they won't come to the theater to see the kind of film I wanted to make and that's why such a film won't be made." – Kumar in Selling Your Film Outside The U.S.
Sound familiar?
Frustrated, Kumar vented on social media. His post went viral. Realising he had an audience who believed in his work, agreed with his frustrations and were willing to support him, he crowdfunded the film, reaching the budget in 27 days from around 110 people, who took a leap of faith and transferred the money directly to Kumar.
He went on to use direct distribution platform Distrify for pre-orders, a satellite TV rights sale to Udaya TV and partnership with distributors PVR Pictures to finance and roll out the film's Indian theatrical release. It went on to gross over $550,000 at the box office, five times its production budget. The film continues to be sell digitally on Distrify and Kumar's sold Hindi, Tamil and Telgu rights to the film for remake.
This may be a challenging time for indie filmmakers, but it's also a hugely exciting one and an opportunity to be massively creative and innovative, not only in the films you make, but how you get them financed and out in the world.
It's never been easier to make a film. You can, as Tangerine showed, literally shoot a film on an iPhone and edit on a laptop.
Crowdfunding has shaken up access to finance. Spike Lee raised over $1.4M on Kickstarter for Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus.
You can directly distribute with theatrical on demand tools like Tugg, Gather and ourscreen. Online, there's a plethora of platforms from Distrify, VHX, Vimeo On Demand to direct sales through iTunes.
Nollywood actor and producer Uche Jombe makes her films to sustain in Nigerian home market and hosts them on Distrify for the diaspora audience to watch digitally through online screening and download, creating her own foreign revenue stream.
Want to market your film and yourself? Buy a URL, get on social media and make good content. Build your audience and start sharing. UK director Cecile Emeke got the industry and press to sit up and take notice through her short films and short documentary series Strolling on YouTube.
It's the time of the artist entrepreneur. Embrace it.
Agree, disagree, questions, thoughts? Hit me up in the comments.
Huge thanks to Joseph N. Cohen for his input on this article and Andra Gordon for her help on case studies.
Further Reading
Hollywood's Lack of Diversity Is Costing It Millions. Here's why.
A Distribution Success Story – I Will Follow written and directed by Ava DuVernay
BFI opens £1M diversity, more UK funders adopt diversity rules
'The Birth of A Nation': Meet Nate Parker, the Revolutionary Filmmaker Behind the Sundance Smash


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How to Determine Your Bar's Potential Market
It may seem like a no-brainer to pattern your bar after the other ten that are on the same street, but it's not a given. What if you could do much better by opening the only falafel-and-margarita bar in town? Okay, maybe that won't work, but what will?
What type of bar clientele do you want?
Decide who you want your customers to be and make sure your concept is likely to appeal to them. Figure out what demographic group(s) you're likely to attract. The term demographics describes characteristics or traits shared by a group. A demographic group includes people within a specific age range or income level, or who share other distinguishing traits like gender or marital status.
Over time, build a profile of your desired patrons and tweak your concept, as appropriate, to appeal to this group. Figure out where they eat and drink. Discover what motivates their decision to choose one place over another. Find out what kind of entertainment choices they opt for.
How to use competitive analysis for bars
Many businesses adopt some form of a competitive analysis process, a process that compares them to their competition. Sometimes they look at specific parts of their business, say, comparing their respective happy-hour offerings.
Or maybe they compare their overall concepts. Whatever the case, you need to develop a tool to help you see what's going on objectively. The following is an example of how to set up your own competitive analysis.
Use the criteria we've chosen, or adapt it to your own concept to do an objective study of the competition. Study each of your competitors and create an easy-to-read spreadsheet so you can quickly compare them.
|Ray's Rec Room
|The Library, a Campus Bar
|Hours of operation
|11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; closed Sunday
|Noon to 4 a.m.; closed Sunday
|Beers on tap
|2 (light and regular)
|Beers in bottle
|2 (light and regular)
|Food menu
|Pub grub, with great wings and burgers
|Cheese fries, burritos, and garlic cheeseburgers
|Cocktail menu
|6 signature cocktails, specializing in martinis
|Wine list
|8 total by the glass, 4 red, 4 white
|Close to downtown, across from the stadium
|Across from the student union
|Targeted demographic
|Affluent, regulars
|Flair bartenders
|Garage bands on weekends, jukebox, pool,
|Happy hour
|6–9 p.m. Thursdays, $1 32-oz. pitchers
|Free cover with student ID
|Special draw
|Close to campus
Scratch that niche: How to identify an opportunity
After you get all your information together about the bars in your area, you need to focus your plan (including your business plan and marketing plan) on capitalizing on your strengths and exploiting the competition's weaknesses.
Here are some ideas to get you started on identifying your niche (what you offer that your competitors don't):
Look for anything missing that you may be able to provide. In the example, both bars are closed on Sunday. Maybe you decide this town needs a sports bar where people can watch their favorite teams play on Sunday.
Think about things that are missing for some groups of customers but present for others. For example, a 30-something who wants to play pool on a Friday night has no options based on the info. So you may want to consider creating a bar with pool tables, darts, and shuffleboard designed for that particular demographic group.
Pay attention to the breadth of the offerings. Although both bars in our example serve beer, neither bar has a huge variety. Maybe that could be your thing. Set up 40 (or more) tap handles of local faves, and you're in business.
Consider just how you're going to be different or better. Carefully consider your market differentiation. If you think you're going to open a bar just like the place down the street and the customers will come to you because of your bright smile, you may want to rethink your concept. What makes you special?


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David Wittig
David Wittig (born July 29, 1955) is the former chief executive officer of Topeka, Kansas-based Westar Energy, a utility company.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Wittig became a Wall Street investment banker.[1] In 1995, Wittig, having earned millions in New York, was asked to return to Kansas as an executive at Western Resources (later renamed Westar Energy) by John E. Hayes, then CEO of Western and a customer of Wittig's at Salomon Brothers.[2] At that time, Warren Buffett had taken over Salomon in the wake of a trading scandal "and decided to cut the exorbitant compensation of the firm's managing directors."[3] Wittig accepted the Western invitation, and was named President in 1998 and Chairman and CEO in January 1999. He quickly became one of Topeka's most prominent citizens and was a generous contributor to local charities. Wittig supported the Multi-cultural Business Scholars Program at the University of Kansas and established a $250,000 scholarship in his family's name. He then purchased and renovated the mansion of former Kansas governor Alf Landon, the 1936 presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Wittig's remodeling of the home (appraised at roughly $2 million, compared to the median Topeka single family home value of $125,000) later became subject to much controversy.
Among other unconventional initiatives taken by Wittig at Westar, he "bought around 30 percent of ADT, the home-security company, and then sold it for a pre-tax profit of $865 million to Tyco, making more for the staid utility in one year than it had made in many."[3]
In 2002, it was revealed that there was some evidence that a Topeka banker had entered into an illegal loan with Wittig. The banker, Clinton (Del) Weidner, well known in Topeka for his charitable efforts, had informed Wittig that he was considering investing in a property development in Arizona and was in need of a $1.5 million loan to make a proper investment in the venture. Wittig loaned Weidner $1.5 million and Weidner increased the bank's line of credit to Wittig, ultimately by $2 million.[3] The two men faced trial in 2003, and both were found guilty as charged. In February 2004, Weidner was sentenced to six years and six months in a federal prison in North Dakota. Wittig that same month was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $1 million.
Concurrent with the loan to Weidner becoming public, Wittig and corporate strategy vice president Douglas Lake resigned from Westar amid charges of "looting" the utility company. Prosecutors contended that the two men had unjustly compensated themselves and used the company jet for non-business-related matters. The two men were put to trial on 39 charges in fall 2004. The tide seemed to be in favor of the prosecution, but the trial ended with a hung jury in December. A retrial with an added 40th charge was conducted during the late summer of 2005. On September 12, Wittig was convicted of 39 counts while Lake was convicted of 30; both were convicted of the 40th charge, forfeiture, later that week. On April 4, 2006, US District Judge Julie Robinson sentenced Wittig to 18 years and ordered him to pay a $5 million fine in addition to $14.5 million in restitution.[4] Wittig faced a maximum of 455 years behind bars and intended to appeal.
On January 5, 2007, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Wittig and Lake in the Westar Energy case. Wittig was freed from prison on February 12, 2007.
Wittig was scheduled to be retried for the third time for looting Westar in September 2008. With delays, in July 2010, the new trial was set to begin September 20. However, the trial judge first was "expected to rule whether to proceed at all (and, if so, on what basis), in light of the Supreme Court's ruling [in June] on the conviction of the former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling, which appears to limit the government's use of the so-called honest services statute to seek convictions in corruption cases. A motion to dismiss the case is before" the judge, Julie A. Robinson.[3]
In 2010 all charges against Wittig were dismissed.[5]
In July, 2011, Wittig settled a dispute with Weststar Energy for back compensation owed him. The settlement amount received by Wittig was $36,000,000 in cash, $3,100,000 in legal fees incurred by Wittig, and $2,700,000 in stock compensation.[6]
- ^ Robert Boczkiewicz (2007-07-10). "Wittig claims judging bias". Capitol Journal Online. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
- ^ Serwer, Andy (30 December 2002). "There's no place like home". Fortune. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ a b c d "What Happened at the 'Enron of Kansas'?", by William D. Cohan, The New York Times "Opinionator" blog, July 22, 2010, 9:06 pm. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
- ^ David Twiddy (2007-01-06). "Convictions Overturned in Westar Case". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
- ^ New York Times (21 August 2010). "Charges Against Former Westar Executives Dropped". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ The Wichita Eagle. "Wittig Settles for $36 Million Plus Fees".


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By Noam A. Rotem, Saturday October 18, 2014, Tel Aviv, Israel
Last week, John Kerry said the following:
"As I went around and met with people in the course of our discussions about the ISIL (Islamic State) coalition, the truth is, we – there wasn't a leader I met with in the region who didn't raise with me spontaneously the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation that they felt, and I see a lot of heads nodding, they had to respond to. And people need to understand the connection of that, and it has something to do humiliation and denial and absence of dignity..."making a fraudulent and deceptive linkage between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the barbaric bloodletting going on in the Mideast, which many would correctly argue, is the direct result of a failed US foreign policy, which at every step of the way during the Obama administration, provided a tailwind to radical Muslim extremists. From the power vacuum it left in Iraq, to the supporting of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. And from its reluctance to label the attacks at Benghazi and Fort Hood, as radical Islamic terrorist attacks, to its impotence to stop the rampant killings in Syria and Iraq.
There is not one liberal democratic, country in the Mideast outside of the State of Israel. Moreover most all Mideast countries surrounding Israel, have a virulent anti-Israel agenda, with many of those countries practicing outright anti-Semitism.
Last but not least, all of these countries have abominable human rights records. Subjugation of women, lack of free speech, persecution of Christians and minority religions, ethnic cleansing, political persecutions, suicide bombings, public hangings and executions, to mention just a few.
So when John Kerry says "there wasn't a leader I met with in the region", he's referring to these very same oppressive regimes, practicing hostile anti-Israel diplomacy.
Accepting their words at face value about Israel and the Mideast turmoil, demonstrates not just utter lack of critical thinking, but also a lack of moral clarity. It shows how dangerous he and the US Mideast policy is, and worse, it undermines the only liberal democratic country in the region that shares fundamental human rights values, with America and the west.


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Peradeniya Botanical Gardens
These gorgeous gardens were first planned and laid out for King Keerthi Sri Rajasingha (1747-1780)
and cover some 150 acres of trees, lawns and flowering shrubs,
including a 50 acres arboretum of more than 10000 trees.
Under British rule, the royal park became a botanical garden in 1821
and is the largest of Sri Lanka's three mail botanical gardens.
The best known attraction of the garden is the Orchid house,
which has more than 300 varieties of exquisite orchids.


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"…our soul is contained inside structures referred to as microtubules which in turn are located within our brain cells."
The term soul (from the Latin anima) refers to an immaterial entity that, according to the assertions and beliefs of different philosophical and religious traditions and perspectives, all living beings have.
The description of the soul's properties and characteristics varies according to different traditions and perspectives. Continue reading Scientists find the 'LOCATION of the human soul'


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Is my employer required to grant me the same severance as my peers?
min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.Employers generally have the right to choose their own policies when it comes to terminating employees and providing severance.
That said, there are significant exceptions to the rule. You can't discriminate against employees for reasons of race, creed, color, national origin, gender or disability--to name a few classifications. Nor can the company set a policy (for example, as in an employee handbook) and then violate that policy without giving employees notice that the policy has been changed.
Whether or not the lesser severance package was legal in your case depends on a number of factors including:
* The extent to which severance pay was enshrined in policy.
* Whether there were any policies about discounting severance because of disability.
* Where you live and work.
* The number of employees in your company (which determines whether federal or state discrimination laws apply).
* The length of the term of disability of the other employees.
* Whether you had a written agreement with the company outlining these issues.
Because state and local laws can vary, speak to an employee-side (as opposed to "management-side") employment attorney in your area so that you can get specific guidance on your situation.


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With the holiday season officially upon us, so comes the opportunity to revisit our most treasured Christmas traditions, including the once-a-year pleasure of indulging in a Santa's sleigh-full of Christmas entertainment for the whole family to enjoy. This year, VisionTV will premiere 4 new Christmas movies to get you in the spirit just in time for the holidays.
Christmas Princess
Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 9pm ET/6pm PT
Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 12am ET/9pm PT
Against the backdrop of Christmas in Southern California comes Christmas Princess, a heart-warming story inspired by true events about one brave high school girl who overcomes her difficult past to become one of the elite princesses in the world-renowned royal court of the Tournament of Rose Parade. Starring Nicole Muñoz, Rosa Blasi and Zak Santiago (2017).
Santa Baby
Thursday, Dec. 13 at 12am ET/9pm PT
Ambitious young workaholic Mary Class (Jenny McCarthy) discovers the real meaning of love and loyalty when crisis hits the family business. Mary's father, Santa suffers a health scare prompting Mary returns home with her big city ways and her executive assistant on hand to revolutionize Santa's workshop. But as the Elves refuse to come round to Mary's ideas, and Mary's boyfriend put together a scheme to turn Santa's village into a giant North Pole Palace shopping Mall, Mary must above all protect the family secret and take on the responsibility of her father and deliver Christmas presents to the entire world (2006).
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Monday, Dec. 17 at 12am ET/9pm PT
A stranded holiday traveler arrives unexpectedly at Jennifer Cullen's house looking for a place to stay. Before he leaves, he'll find a place in her heart. Jennifer Cullen is an intensely driven executive and single Mom so devoted to her job that she barely has time for her son Brian, let alone Christmas. This year, her Uncle Ralph is coming for the holidays. But when Ralph arrives with a passenger he met on the plane, it throws a wrench into Jennifer's meticulously orchestrated plans. Morgan Derby is an adventurer and free-spirit whose connecting flight has been grounded by snow. Jennifer agrees to put him up until the weather clears. But as Christmas nears, their destinies call. The perfect holiday treat, this heartwarming romantic comedy stars Brooke Burns, Warren Christie and Henry Winkler (2008).
Twelve Days of Christmas Eve
Monday, Dec. 24 at 12am ET/9pm PT
Calvin Carter (Steven Weber) is a successful business executive who has it all, but neglects those closest to him. On Christmas Eve, all that changes when the sign on his office building falls on him. He awakens in a hospital bed, attended by Angie (Molly Shannon), an angel in the guise of a nurse, who informs him know he has twelve days—that is, twelve chances—to get his act together and achieve the "perfect" Christmas Eve, else there will be dire consequences (2004).
And here's one that we premiered last year that deserves an honourable mention to add to your Christmas viewing list this year.
Miracle of the Heart
Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 12am ET/9pm PT
Thursday, Dec. 27 at 12am ET/9pm PT
Young doctor Nathan Andrews goes back to his hometown after losing a teenager on the operating table. While coaching a youth basketball league, he befriends single mother Meghan and her ill son, Charlie. Based on a novel by Donna VanLiere. Starring Neil Patrick Harris and Rebecca Gayheart (2005).
The enduring popularity of Christmas movies is very much evident in this top ten list of the most successful holiday movies of all time. Is your favourite in there?
1. Home Alone (1990): $285 million
2. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000): $260 million
3. The Polar Express (2004): $186 million
4. Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018): $184 million
5. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992): $173 million
6. Elf (2003): $173 million
7. The Santa Clause (1994): $144 million
8. The Santa Clause 2 (2002): $139 million
9. A Christmas Carol (2009): $137 million
10. Four Christmases (2008): $120 million
You can also catch other favourites including Blizzard, Crazy for Christmas, Flight of the Reindeer, November Christmas, Road to Christmas, Secret Santa, Silent Night, and The Man Who Saved Christmas.
Download your very own schedule to stay up to date on all Holiday Programming specials this year!


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Our Story
The Port Chalmers Maritime Museum is owned and operated by the Port Chalmers Historical Society Inc, formerly the Port Chalmers Early Settlers and Old Identities Association which was founded in September 1913.
The Museum is housed in the former Port Chalmers Post Office building, an iconic 1876 Category 1 Heritage Building and is located on a commanding site which, prior to the 19th century land reclamation, was the beach in Koputai Bay where the first settlers from the sailing ship John Wickliffe landed on 23 March 1848 to establish the Port and the Province of Otago.
The newly built Boat Shed displays a 100 year old wooden seine fishing-boat, a complete ship's cabin from the late 19th century, and an X Class yacht. A large window in the gallery will give a close up view of the port's operations. The Boat Shed is designed to replicated the former Union Steam Ship Company Port Chalmers Marine work which stood nearby the museum building is unique internationally by being surrounded on three sides by a working container port, Port Otago, with container and cruise ships berthing within 200 meters of the building.


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The unauthorized access included email addresses associated with Battle.net accounts in all regions, outside of China. Additional information from accounts associated with the North American servers (which generally includes players from North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia) was also accessed.
The company says the information includes cryptographically scrambled versions of passwords but not the actual passwords, the answer to a personal security question, and information relating to Mobile and Dial-In Authenticators.
Blizzard says that even with all this information hackers would not be able to gain access to Battle.net accounts.
Based on Blizzard's investigation to this point, credit card and other customer payment data does NOT appear to have been accessed or affected. As a precaution, however, Blizzard encourages players to change their Battle.net password and any similar passwords used for other purposes.


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Bean Town Bound
WASHINGTON, DC--The great thing about political conventions is that, however hyperscripted they are, if you're there to do your thing, you never know exactly they're going to turn out for you.
This time is particularly true for me. In past years, I've gone to conventions under the aegis of whatever print publication I was currently gigging for, but this time I applied for my tags as a blogger.
And I got a nice letter that said they were mine.
Then I got one saying it had all been a terrible mistake. (Scroll to page 2 of the "nice letter" PDF.)
The way I see it, I have two letters, both signed by the same person--one of which says I'm in, one of which says I'm not. So I'm choosing to believe the former, which I will present when I go to pick up my imaginary tags.
I mean, they really couldn't have wanted to shut out a liberal feminist who's been dogging the right for--let's not say how many years. Especially when only seven of the 33 bloggers the party credentialed are female, right? (Count 'em, girls, that's nearly 80-percent testosterone.) I mean, surely, they couldn't have meant to treat a friend this way.
So, I'm heading to Boston with my iBook. From whence I'll blog, who knows?
You see, the great thing about blogging is, you don't need no stinking badges. Whatever happens to you, wherever you wind up, whomever you meet, that's what you write about. So, I'll be writing the story that presents itself, as it happens. Stay tuned.


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Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 2PM EST
Building codes and owner expectations are driving innovative new ventilation strategies. As a result, engineers are looking to simulate the performance of their HVAC system designs to optimize designs at the earliest opportunity. The trend is toward more companies adopting Airflow Studies in-house with a focus on mitigating risk and winning new business.
Today, HVAC engineers can validate and optimize their designs when submitting bids. Controlling undesired microclimates to meet Thermal Comfort, Draft Rating and Air Quality compliance and operational goals has never been easier. Autodesk CFD gives engineers the ability to see the invisible properties of air moving about the building. With the ability to visualize and analyze microclimates within spaces you can optimize the design with confidence.
This webinar will answer questions, such as:
- How is CFD and Revit integrated?
- Is your design optimized for ACH?
- Does your design meet ASRAE thermal comfort standards?
- How can CFD improve AirQuality?
Register now!
Speakers:nspan style='color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: "Segoe UI", Frutiger, "Frutiger Linotype", "Dejavu Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;'>Ryan Abel, Simulation Business Development Specialist, Autodesk


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Kings Blog
Pregame notes: Rudy Gay a major concern for Mavericks
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle is worried about Rudy Gay when the Kings face the Mavericks.
In two games against the Mavs, Gay is averaging 32.5 points and nine rebounds while shooting 60 percent.
"We've got to limit his quality looks and it's hard," Carlisle said. "He's really one of those unique players who can rise up over you."
Mavericks 107, Kings 100
My record: 48-27 (minus the pregame session missed due to travel issues).


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First, start here and read the series.
They said to write to you, so I did. I wrote something. I wrote something because they said to and they said it would help. "It will help!" they said, so I wrote to you. Apparently maybe I'm not getting better. Dear Lover, maybe I'm not.
My lover has brown hair. Curly, crazy brown hair that changes every day. Like the tides, I used to say. Like a sandbar under changing tides. Have you ever seen pictures of sandbars? Changing all the time. Slowly, of course. My lover's hair changes every day. My lover has eyes like the princesses do in the movies—the ones whose long lashes frame big round eyes and bat and shimmer when they laugh at things like woodland creatures or Prince Charming or funny TV shows. My lover has a wonderful carpet by the fireplace where he watches the games and the shows. My lover's home is warm in the winter because there's a fireplace that always has a tiny spark and the walls are insulated with books and stuffed animals and family photos and so much love. My lover's home is so goddamn warm that it burnt me the first time I walked in— seared the tough skin I thought I needed. It had messes and it had a dishwasher and worst of all it had family photos and so much love. My lover's voice echoes through my lover's lips that I can't forget and down staircases and sticks to the furniture. My lover's voice dances with curious confidence, swinging with a fake southern swagger, accented with that beckon, "MOM!" —The call that feigns a demand but acts as a reliant request. My lover's voice echoes through my lover's lips that stuck in my mind the first time I saw them. That stuck on the end of my pencil and stuck in every corner of my notebooks the first time I kissed them. Ever since I first kissed them, I've been tracing that top lip whose sharp, twin mountains carve down into eternal corner smiles and rests on the softest, sweetest, reddest bed. Over and over again, I traced them— Lips in a big-toothed smile, lips hanging just apart, lips kissing my lips. I traced them and traced them and put them on my wall until you saw them and I lied and said I'm chill. I'm chill. My lover has big hands with long rectangle fingers that never quite fit in mine. My lover has triangle shoulders that stand straight, except when he leans forward at the dinner table to ask you another question with those reddest lips. My lover has legs that let him jump higher than I expected and run faster than I expected and hold him steadier than I expected. My lover wears t-shirts that rest on wide shoulders and basketball shorts that swish around his knees and tennis shoes that I helped him pick out. My lover wears khakis sometimes. My lover wears what he wears because he's always ready to run but I did my best to make him stay until I didn't. My lover makes wonderful friends who think he is wonderful, though he'd never notice. My lover tells stories with loud voices and excitement and he's so damn kind. My lover is funny and made me laugh until 4 in the morning and then he made me laugh until he didn't anymore and no one knew why. Here, I've grown harder. I've received, rejected, and accepted advice. I've earned Words and worked at disassembling them. I've earned Words and often reassembled them. I've watched others' letters stop as others' lovers fell out of love and the strings they attached unraveled. I became dubious of your stack of letters because I thought I didn't know you. And furthermore, I thought you forgot who I was when I wasn't from here. And I got scared that you were part of the present life when I wanted to live in the past. I got scared that we didn't have enough in common. And I fought you. And I shriveled. And I bore no more fresh fruit for you to taste, but grew thorns I asked you to climb. They say I should explore those feelings. They say I should find how to fix me. And I ripped up your letters and thought I'd feel better and changed my address and so you changed yours and I ripped up your letters and ripped up my letters and got so damn mad and you changed your address you changed your address. You changed your address? My lover has brown hair and a big, warm smile, and isn't sure about all of this. My lover's hair was like a sandbar and his mind doubted the voices I made that my mother made too but his voice picked them up slowly and surely. My lover spoke so kindly it hurt. My lover cared so earnestly, I stopped caring. I tripped over the roots and forgot that this was real life and my lover loves me but he changed his address. Brown hair. Long fingers. Soft sheets he always kept clean. Stuffed animals he named and cradled at night "for his shoulder," whose spots I took. I imagine him now, in bed in his changed address, holding the soft fur of a being he gave a mind to. I imagine him now, in bed holding the heart of the girl he once gave love to. My lover is a man man-enough to be held. A man man-enough to whisper bed times stories. My lover has brown hair and uneven nostrils and a tall head and brows that look like he's always interested. My lover changed his address and so did I and while I was here in this place with white jackets and walls I lost his letters in a fire I built then extinguished and I can't find him. They said I should write about him but why write about him when writing about him makes you remember that you lost his address and it's your fault not his. My lover plays devil's advocate and it drives me crazy. My lover played devil's advocate and changed his address. But now I'm here, in the quiet of the night, realizing that I'd rather argue his advocate than wrestle the devil himself.
That's all I wrote.


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Work starts on a brand new garden for Dyce Primary kids
The first spade has gone into the ground today on the site of a brand new £5,000 sensory garden for Dyce Primary.
The school, the local councillor, and Aberdeen Airport have been working together for more than a year on the project. The garden itself has been designed by the pupils from the schools Eco-Committee. Every single pupil from the primary school was there to watch the work getting underway.
Wendy Wallace is the Head teacher at Dyce Primary, She said "We are absolutely delighted with the new garden. The sensory garden will not only be a fantastic facility for the school but also something for the whole community to enjoy.
"The people at Aberdeen Airport have been a brilliant help and involved the whole school in the project. "We are all really looking forward to watching the garden take shape.
"I would like to add that we cannot thank Councillor Ron Clark enough for all his help and support."
Councillor Clark added, "It is really great that work is now starting on-site and the children's ideas are becoming a reality.
"This project has captured the imagination of the whole Dyce community, even the local gardening club have offered to help with the planting stage. We are all working as one great team and I am very proud to be part of it".
Staff from Aberdeen Airport have been involved since the start of the project, helping with the design, the drawings, and even providing free man-power and equipment to help with the mammoth task. The Airport's Community Fund also donated a whopping £5,000 towards the cost of the garden.
Stuart Torpey is the airport's Environmental Compliance Manager. He said "We were delighted to get involved in this project, to build on an already well-established relationship with the school. Helping create a garden that the whole school, and even the rest of the community can be proud of is very important to us all.
"Our staff have given up their time to help and thanks must go to local teams from contractors Mansell, Raynesway Construction and ISS Waterers Landscape who are providing labour and equipment
It is hoped that the garden will be complete and ready for use by May.


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Oil Changes
Winnipeg Oil Change
At Birchwood Chevrolet Buick GMC, our technicians are GM-trained to understand how your GM vehicle uses its oil and how it monitors oil life. So an Oil Change from a GM-trained technician not only gives you great service, convenience and a great price. The Birchwood Chevrolet Buick GMC Oil Change also gives you the added value of our expertise on the particular GM make and model that you drive.
Most GM vehicles are now equipped with the GM Oil Life System. This system actually senses your vehicle's speed and engine temperature and can continuously monitor operating conditions. This helps determine when it's time to change the oil.
This system can actually monitor your personal driving habits and your area's climate condition to let you know precisely when to come in for a Birchwood Chevrolet Buick GMC Oil Change. When the light comes on, you come in. It's that simple. It'll will save you money and help reduce oil waste.
Your Birchwood Chevrolet Buick GMC Technician will reset your Oil Life Monitor System after an Oil change. Ask your Birchwood Chevrolet Buick GMC technician how, or consult your Owners Manual if necessary.
Always consult your Owners Manual for the proper procedure to check your oil level. You'll get a more accurate dipstick reading by following those instructions.
How to know when it's time for a change?
- Your Owners manual recommends you check oil level each time you refuel.
- To check oil must be warm and car on level round
- Turn the engine off
- Wait a few minutes for oil to drain back into pan
- Remove the Dipstick and wipe clean
- Reinsert stick and remove to take the reading
Every time you have your vehicle serviced at Birchwood Chevrolet Buick GMC, you will receive 6 Months of Roadside Assistance absolutely FREE!
- 24-Hour Roadside Assistance
- 24-Hour Towing Service
- 24-Hour Mechanical First Aid
- 24-Hour Tire Change Service
- 24-Hour Emergency Delivery
- 24-Hour Battery Service
- 24-Hour Lost Key Service
- Rental Car Discounts
- Map Routing Service
- Theft And Hit & Run Protection
Learn more about Birchwood Roadside Assistance


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Alice Nunnelley Boxley Fry, age 97, of Knoxville and formerly of Oak Ridge, passed away on Sept. 18, 2012, at the home of her daughter.
Alice Nunnelley Boxley Fry, age 97, of Knoxville and formerly of Oak Ridge, passed away on Sept. 18, 2012, at the home of her daughter.
The daughter of the late Waller and Mayme Nunnelley of Winchester, Ky., Alice was a 65-year member of First United Methodist Church in Oak Ridge and recently attended church at Fountain City United Methodist Church.
After 20 years of service, she retired from the Y-12 Plant.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Richard G. Boxley (1957); her daughter, Marian Boxley Cobb; and her grandson, Brian Cobb.
Surviving are her daughter and son-in-law, Dixie Boxley Bopp and Philip Bopp, with whom she made her home; son-in-law, Donald Cobb; grandchildren, Richard (Ann) Cobb, Rebecca Cobb, Patrick (Christian) Cobb, Daniel (Kim) Stinnett, Sharon (Robert) Morton, and Robert (Amanda) Stinnett; step-grandchildren, Lynda Shade, Nancy (Barry) Sanders, and Gary (Janna) Bopp. She is also survived by 18 great-grandchildren; five step-great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.
A special thank you to caregivers, Cathy Carl, Janice Evans and Jane Peoples, and the staff of UT Hospice for their care and support.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, at Fountain City United Methodist Church with the funeral to follow with the Rev. Mahan Archer, the Rev. Dr. Randy Frye and the Rev. Mellissa Smith officiating.
Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Sunset Cemetery in Clinton.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Mid South Chapter, PO Box 291566, Nashville, TN 37229-1566, or the Alzheimer's Association, 1807 Dandridge Ave. Knoxville, TN or the charity of your choice.
Gentry Griffey Funeral Chapel and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. You may sign and view the online guestbook at www.gentrygriffey.com.


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For this term (3), our theme is "Life's A Stage!"
My thoughts for this term's theme is drama+music, one of my favorite subjects in school. I am excited and looking forward to learning more about different music types and performing because the school production is coming very soon.
During the term, learning and creating songs of my own is what I am hoping I could do.
My favorite singer is Beyonce because she is good at reaching high notes and has amazing trills. My dream is to meet her and have a photo with her.
I cannot wait until the school production and what it might be called. I hope that our production is going to be fancy, fun and musical as it is also my last year at Pt England School.
As auditions come, I'd feel agitated to sign up for acting and singing.
Looking forward to more! LIFE'S A STAGE!!!!!!


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Teen studies better cleaning through chemistry
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Inspiration for science projects can be found almost anywhere, even in the most common of tasks. Nathan Deng, 14, found his doing the dishes. The teen wondered why hot water worked better than cold water when washing, and what made soap a good cleaner. The simple experiments he devised to investigate these matters earned him the Lemelson Award for Invention here at the Broadcom MASTERS.
MASTERS stands for Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars. Every year, this event brings together 30 middle-school students from around the country to share their award-winning science fair projects. The competition was created by Society for Science & the Public — which publishes Science News for Students and this blog. It's sponsored by the Broadcom Foundation.
Nathan — now a freshman at San Marino High School in California — doesn't like his household chores any more than anybody else. But he said doing them made him curious about why we use hot water and soap to clean. The teen was further inspired something he read about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. To clean up the mess, planes sprayed the water with a chemical mix called Corexit. It was supposed to help disperse the oil, preventing it from clumping on the surface and coating the wildlife, though it didn't work well.
"I decided that I wanted to find a method for cleaning that is both efficient and environmentally friendly," he says.
But this is a big goal, so the teen started small. He decided to look at surface tension — an effect that occurs when molecules bond to each other on the surface of a liquid. Surface tension is why, when you fill a glass just a little too much, the water forms a tiny lump at the top. This is great for keeping water in your glass but bad for cleaning, Nathan explains. Dishes are riddled with tiny cracks and pores — places where dirt and germs can hide. Surface tension holds water together, keeping it out of these itty bitty spots. Instead of going into the pores where it can reach the dirt, the water bridges over these places, Nathan explains. And that "can make it difficult to clean the stuff stuck in the crevices," he says.
The teen wanted to see how he might reduce the surface tension of water. That would break up the bridging over the pores, he explains. Then, the water could flush through and rinse out the dirty substances.
Weighty water
Nathan didn't have a lot of fancy equipment to work with. That didn't stop him. To measure surface tension, he gathered a large plastic syringe, some tubing, a kitchen scale — and of course some water. If a water droplet has a high surface tension, it holds together longer — and gets bigger — before a drop breaks apart. Nathan filled his syringe with water and slowly pushed it out over the scale. Bigger drops have more surface tension. So by weighing his drops, the teen could find out if changes he made to the water increased or decreased the surface tension.
Nathan started with drops of water that had different temperatures. As water gets hotter, the molecules in it move faster. The teen hypothesized that this would make it harder for the water to form a film on the surface and its surface tension would decrease. He tested water at 5°, 15°, 20°, 35° and 50° Celsius (41°, 59°, 68°, 95° and 122° Fahrenheit). Nathan avoided water at 0 °C (32 °F) since ice doesn't drip well. He also avoided boiling water, which could get dangerous. The teen dripped water at each temperature and weighed it to determine the size of his drops, running each temperature test three times.
As the temperature of the water increased, the size of the drops decreased, which suggested the surface tension was also decreasing. Nathan concluded that cleaning a dish with hot water is probably more efficient than cold.
Next, he tested soap — or rather a main ingredient in it, sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (or SLSA). This chemical is a surfactant — a chemical that decreases the attraction between water molecules, which lowers surface tension. Nathan tested pure water, water with 0.01375 percent, 0.01275 percent, 0.055 percent, 0.1 percent, 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent SLSA. (All were held at the same temperature of 20 °C.) He dripped and weighed his mixtures again.
The addition of the surfactant decreased surface tension more than simply heating water, Nathan found. After reading more about the chemical, the teen discovered that SLSA is a chemical with two ends. One is hydrophobic — it is repelled by water. The other is hydrophilic, or attracted to water. When SLSA with its two ends is placed in water, the molecules of the chemical line up at the water's surface. Their hydrophobic heads stick out into the air while their hydrophilic tails stay comfortably in the water. This film of molecules means water can't form its usual bonds at the surface. The whole mixture has lower surface tension.
At high concentrations of SLSA, something else happens. The surface of the water is filled with the chemical, and the rest of the molecules are stuck under the water. There they from clumps called micelles. These clumps are very good for cleaning up oil, Nathan notes. Oil is also hydrophobic, and a micelle isolates the oil from the water.
Finally, Nathan wanted to see what would happen if he added regular old table salt. He thought that salt might decrease surface tension, because adding the tiny molecules to the water would stop the water bonding to itself at the surface. But he found that salt made very little difference.
The teen ended up with an answer to why we use hot water and soap to clean dishes instead of cold water alone. Both reduce surface tension. And this helps water get into the nooks and crannies of our dirty dishes. If you have no soap, he says, use hot water. But adding soap is usually a good idea.
Nathan found that his apparatus — a syringe and tube with a scale — was great for measuring surface tension. He wants to sell his setup as a surface tension kit for classrooms, so other teens can do his experiments. Then they, too, can learn that invention and research don't require fancy materials or expensive equipment.
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Power Words
blog Short for web log, these Internet posts can take the form of news reports, topical discussions, opinionated rants, diaries or photo galleries.
bond (in chemistry) A semi-permanent attachment between atoms — or groups of atoms — in a molecule. It's formed by an attractive force between the participating atoms. Once bonded, the atoms will work as a unit. To separate the component atoms, energy must be supplied to the molecule as heat or some other type of radiation.
Broadcom MASTERS Created and run by the Society for Science & the Public, Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars) is the premier middle school science and engineering fair competition. Broadcom MASTERS International gives select middle school students from around the world a unique opportunity to attend the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair.
chemical A substance formed from two or more atoms that unite (become bonded together) in a fixed proportion and structure. For example, water is a chemical made of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom. Its chemical symbol is H2O. Chemical can also be an adjective that describes properties of materials that are the result of various reactions between different compounds.
concentration (in chemistry) A measurement of how much of one substance has been dissolved into another.
degree (in geometry) A unit of measurement for angles. Each degree equals one three-hundred-and-sixtieth of the circumference of a circle.
disperse To spread, often widely. Plants, for example, disperse their seeds to far off sites by allowing them to ride the winds or survive being eaten by animals that travel great distances.
engineering The field of research that uses math and science to solve practical problems.
germ Any one-celled microorganism, such as a bacterium, fungal species or virus particle. Some germs cause disease. Others can promote the health of higher-order organisms, including birds and mammals. The health effects of most germs, however, remain unknown.
glass A hard, brittle substance made from silica, a mineral found in sand . Glass usually is transparent and fairly inert (chemically nonreactive). Aquatic organisms called diatoms build their shells with it.
high school A designation for grades nine through twelve in the U.S. system of compulsory public education. High-school graduates may apply to colleges for further, advanced education.
hydrophilic Strongly attracted to (or readily dissolving in) water.
hydrophobic Repelling (or not absorbing) water.
liquid A material that flows freely but keeps a constant volume, like water or oil.
mass A number that shows how much an object resists speeding up and slowing down — basically a measure of how much matter that object is made from.
micelle A tiny clump of molecules in a liquid that form because the liquid contains molecules with one charged end that is attracted to water, and one uncharged end that repels water. In milk, for example, casein proteins clump together into micelles, with their negatively charged ends facing out into the liquid.
molecule An electrically neutral group of atoms that represents the smallest possible amount of a chemical compound. Molecules can be made of single types of atoms or of different types. For example, the oxygen in the air is made of two oxygen atoms (O2), but water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O).
plastic Any of a series of materials that are easily deformable; or synthetic materials that have been made from polymers (long strings of some building-block molecule) that tend to be lightweight, inexpensive and resistant to degradation.
pore A tiny hole in a surface. On the skin, substances such as oil, water and sweat pass through these openings.
salt A compound made by combining an acid with a base (in a reaction that also creates water). The ocean contains many different salts — collectively called "sea salt." Common table salt is a made of sodium and chlorine.
Society for Science & the Public (or SSP ) A nonprofit organization created in 1921 and based in Washington, D.C. Since its founding, SSP has been not only promoting public engagement in scientific research but also the public understanding of science. It created and continues to run three renowned science competitions: The Regeneron Science Talent Search (begun in 1942), the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (initially launched in 1950) and Broadcom MASTERS (created in 2010). SSP also publishes award-winning journalism: in Science News (launched in 1922) and Science News for Students (created in 2003). Those magazines also host a series of blogs (including Eureka! Lab).
sodium A soft, silvery metallic element that will interact explosively when added to water. It is also a basic building block of table salt (a molecule of which consists of one atom of sodium and one atom of chlorine: NaCl). It is also found in sea salt.
sodium lauryl sulfoacetate A chemical that is a surfactant — is breaks up bonds between molecules. It is used in cleaning.
star The basic building block from which galaxies are made. Stars develop when gravity compacts clouds of gas. When they become dense enough to sustain nuclear-fusion reactions, stars will emit light and sometimes other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The sun is our closest star.
surface tension The surface film of a liquid caused by the strong bonds between the molecules in the surface layer.
surfactant A chemical that decreases the attraction between water molecules. Manufacturers use such compounds to make it easier for water to spread on surfaces and to mix with other substances (such as oil).
technology The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry — or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.


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Feeling miserable and forgotten because nobody remembered your birthday? Cheer up! It might not mean you're unpopular. Maybe you're just holy.
Because as far as I can tell, saints don't do birthdays. There are plenty of stories about miraculous births, but I don't recall a single one involving a birthday celebration. The one birthday everyone celebrates, that of Jesus, is a happy event for us, but not so much for him. We also don't know when it really was – we only celebrate Christmas on December 25 because in ancient times that was the winter solstice. The Sun's return was seen as the rebirth of the Sun god.
In fact, most saints' feasts are celebrated on the day they died; or occasionally when their remains were found, or as in the case of my own patron, Saint Jerome, when their stolen bones were installed in a new church. With Jerome, who was deemed a cardinal centuries after his death for translating the Bible into Latin, his remains were translated (as the technical term is) from his tomb in his abbey in Bethlehem to the Vatican, where they molder still. (The practice, called furtum sacrum, "holy theft," was allowed in the Middle Ages,if the right people were bribed, there was reason – usually a reported dream – to think the saint wanted more publicity, and if indeed, the cult flourished with attendant miracles in the new location.)
And there's biblical authority for this birthday bitterness, too. The great teacher Origen said:
But Scripture also declares that one himself who is born, whether male or female, is not "clean from filth although his life is of one day." And that you may know that there is something great in this… not one from all the saints is found to have celebrated a festive day or a great feast on the day of his birth. No one is found to have had joy on the day of the birth of his son or daughter. Only sinners rejoice over that kind of birthday. For indeed we find in the Old Testament, Pharaoh, King of Egypt, celebrating the day of his birth with a festival, and in the New Testament, Herod. However, both of them stained the festival of his birth with human blood. For the Pharoah killed "the chief baker", Herod, the holy prophet John "in prison". But the saints not only do not celebrate a festival on their birth days, but, filled, with the Holy Spirit, they curse that day. (Origen, Homily on Leviticus 8.2(2) Emphasis added.)
He goes on to give examples from Jeremiah and Job and the Psalms of passages bemoaning birthdays, and cites the Law on maternal uncleanness to nail the point in. So it seems that birth was seen by the Early Church as kind of a fall from grace. Perhaps Origen and the gnostics, who felt that angels who fell might incarnate in human flesh, thought it literally was one.
We should not regret the day we came into this world, but every day that passes in which we do not strive to make it better. For if birth is a fall, then death is a return. All the authorities say that our birth into the afterlife should be the one worth celebrating.
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Member Profile: Liam Wild
Most PCNSW members own or have owned a fair number of Porsches in their time, but no matter what you've got in your garage now, you never forget your first. Maybe you picked up an old 924 to get you started, or perhaps a classic 911 in need of restoration? A few of the more 'experienced' members may even have bought a 356 new off the showroom floor.
Then there's 25 year-old PCNSW member Liam Wild from Sydney's Northern Beaches. Nothing run-of-the-mill about his first Porsche, as he took the plunge early this year and bought a very well-known 2004 996 GT3 racer with prestigious motorsport history. Not what you'd call easing yourself into the marque, but this well-known club member has more reason than most to indulge his dreams early.
Suffering from cystic fibrosis, a disease that greatly reduces life expectancy, Liam is on a mission to get the most out of life at every opportunity. To that end, what better way to satisfy his passion for speed and motorsport than in such a competent and quite awesome example of Porsche race engineering.
Liam's entry into Porsche ownership means he is now a full PCNSW member, but has been with us for the past seven years running Subaru Imprezas at track events. "I was looking to move on from the Subarus," he says, "and when I found out PR Technology was putting the GT3 up for sale I jumped on it. It was a big learning curve though from getting out of turbo all-wheel-drive road cars into a rear–engined, rear-drive and normally aspirated dedicated race car." Big learning curve indeed, but one hell of a fun one.
This GT3 has had an enviable motorsport history in its first five years of life. In its time it has won the inaugural Mt Buller Sprint in the hands of Alex Davison, competed in numerous Dutton Rallies and took out overall victory in the Challenge class at the Australian GT Championship last year. Prestigious owners and drivers are names familiar to PCNSW members: David Withers, Richard den Brinker, Kim Burke and Richard Kimber; the latter being the Australian GT Challenge winner and the last owner of the GT3 before Liam took over.
It was sold to Liam in its full Australian GT racing spec featuring some choice modifications and enhancements from PR Tech Racing, the team behind Richard Kimber in 2008. These include a custom rose jointed and Ohlins coilover suspension setup plus a host of impressive carbon fibre body parts. Here was an entry-level Porsche to end all others!
"It was in perfect condition when I bought it," Liam explains, "and spending that sort of money I've approached the Supersprints and track days with a bit of self- and car-preservation in mind. My first outing was at Oran Park at the first Porsche Club Supersprint of the year. It was an amazing experience and a completely different drive to the Imprezas. The way it handles is phenomenal, braking can be left very late and I ended up around three seconds faster around Oran that I'd managed in the Subarus."
On a following track day Liam adjusted the sway bar settings to his preference, but insists it is so very well set-up that he hasn't needed to alter anything else on his racing 996. He's added a few personal touches such as his own racing steering wheel, and it's hard to look past the beautiful aesthetic touch of painting the GT3 wheels black with a red lip.
Even though Liam has owned the car just a matter of months, he's hardly been shy about exercising it. "I'm getting my money's worth, that's for sure," he says. "I'm doing the odd track day, have used a skidpan and run it in the Porsche Club motorkhana. The best day I've had so far was at the fourth Porsche Club Supersprint at Wakefield Park on 4 July where I took ten seconds of my best Subaru lap and finished the day in third."
When you consider Liam's condition forces him to pit after only 10 or 15 minutes to recover and have a breather, the enormity of this achievement is surely impressive to all. The man's undoubtedly a talented driver putting his GT3 toy to excellent use, and on evidence from the Eastern Creek Supersprint, a bloody brave and determined guy too: "At Eastern Creek I was competing with a collapsed lung that I only found out about when seeing a doctor later." Mark Webber with a sore leg eat you heart out!
Such incidents have thankfully not deterred Liam, who makes a point of saying: "While I can I'm going to get out there and enjoy it. It really is a great car and being a part of the Porsche Club ensures I can get the best out of it. I'll keep enjoying it on the track, and even though we've had a few little offs (necessary to discover the limits!), I've thankfully not had any big incidents in it."
You're sure to spot Liam's distinctive 996 GT3 at future PCNSW events (two more motorkhanas, a Supersprint and Club Challenge all planned for), and as a true enthusiast of the Porsche marque he's well worth sharing a few stories with. He's one of PCNSW's youngest members, is familiar to many with his continued involvement over the years, and above all is a top bloke to speak with about the good times to be had with our Porsches. Just don't expect him to do you any favours on the track when he's out there wringing the neck of his beloved racing GT3!
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SUSAN A. LUCAS - ABR, ABRM, CRB- I have been listing and selling properties since 1978. Although real estate has changed tremendously over this time, the one thing that remains a constant is that clients want someone they can trust. Let me put my knowledge and expertise to work for you today.
The combination of my knowledge with technology =
I commit to surpass the needs of my customers through responsive communication and service.
"High tech, and High Touch"


text: On 5/27/12 12:15 PM, "Joe Touch" <touch at isi.edu> wrote: > The format should be optimized for longevity first, utility of the output > formats second, and flexibility of the author tools third. I agree with this, so I'm not sure why benefits to the utility of the output formats are something you keep arguing against. >> Have you ever shepherded a document? Did you check code and references? > > Yeah, but I didn't expect the tools to optimize that effort. Dream bigger? -- Joe Hildebrand


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HPA presents the Tony-nominated musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"
Recent Trips
Every year the HPA turtle research program—also known as the "turtle tagging" program—hosts researcher George Balazs and his colleagues from NOAA to study green sea turtles on Hawai'i Island. There are approximately 10 trips a year to turtle hotspots all over the island, while occasionally sending trips to other locations off island including other Hawaiian islands, New Caledonia, and Japan.
While the program is led by Marc Rice and George Balazs, highly trained HPA students perform the majority of the scientific research. That work includes tagging, weighing, measuring, and evaluating each turtle that they catch.
Below are descriptions of the most recent trips:
The Kapoho Trip — 4.6.15-4.10.15
The HPA program joined NOAA researcher George Balazs and four scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to capture and tag green sea turtles in Kapoho. Kapoho is located on the east side of Hawai'i Island near the easternmost point of the island chain. HPA students aided the scientists in catching, weighing, and measuring the turtles. In addition, HPA students helped the four scientists from the NIST collect blood and tissue samples from the turtles. The main purpose of this trip was the obtain those samples, while also gathering data on the growth rates, tumor rates, and behavioral changes of the turtles in this area. Over four days of the trip, the students and scientists caught 24 turtles; 10 recaptures and 14 new captures. It is common to catch a turtle numerous times over it's lifespan. Every time students recapture a turtle they have the opportunity to see how much it has changed since it was last captured. The researchers from the NIST present a rare opportunity for students to network and interact with professional scientists in the field while also performing high level scientific research.
Learn more about this trip
Hualalai Trip — 3.15.15
This trip was led by HPA turtle research program director Marc Rice and middle school science teacher Laura Jim to the Four Seasons resort at Hualalai on the west side of Hawai'i Island. The crew caught a total of 10 turtles, 5 new captures and 5 recaptures. One goal of this trip was to attach a satellite tag to a turtle, to monitor and study turtle movement in this area of the island. The team outfitted one of the turtles with an ARGOS satellite tag. The satellite tag will update this map.
Learn more about this trip
Punalu'u Trip — 2.20.15
This trip took place on the southeast side of Hawai'i Island, over three hours away from the HPA campus. Five HPA students and Marc Rice joined 30 University of Hawaii students at the famous Punalu'u black sand beach. The team caught, weighed, and measured turtles, while also gathering samples for a UH study concerning the effects of various pesticides on intestinal bacteria. This was a great opportunity for HPA students to see what it is like to conduct graduate level research in the field. The fact that high school students are helpful in this graduate environment is a powerful testament to the level of work that the HPA turtle research program exposes HPA students to. During this trip, the team also attached a satellite tag to one of the turtles to study turtle movements in the area.
Learn more about this trip
New Caledonia — 9.18.12-9.27.12
In September 2012 four middle school HPA students travelled with Marc Rice, Laura Jim, and George Balazs to the the aquarium "Noumea Aquarium des Lagons" in New Caledonia. The project was three years in the making, requiring extensive planning and an array of researchers and government officials from New Caledonia. This project's main goal was to attach ARGOS satellite tags to loggerhead turtles from the aquarium. The students had all participated in the turtle research program before, and were presented with the opportunity to travel abroad and apply their skills. After the students aided in attaching the tags, the turtles were released off a container ship en route from New Caledonia to Australia. This project's main mission is to study the travel patterns and potential hazardous locations for turtles in the south pacific.
Nagoya — April 2010
Recently six HPA middle school students and one high school student travelled with Marc Rice, Laura Jim, and George Balazs to Nagoya, Japan. The team spent a total of 10 days in Japan, four of those days working with turtles. The crew attached SPOT 5 satellite tags to 29 loggerhead turtles from the aquarium over the first four days. However, for the rest of the trip the students had a chance to experience Japan. They travelled to Kyoto, Osaka, and other cities around Japan with a local Japanese HPA student as their translator. To wrap up the trip, the students and scientists watched as the turtles set to sea on a fishing boat, to be released a few days later into the ocean, south of the Japanese main Islands. The team hopes to learn more about the migratory paths of loggerhead turtles in the North Pacific.
Learn more about this trip, and see the maps detailing the turtles' travels


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Friday, April 17, 2015
Hobie and Salt Life SUP Surf Pro-Am
In addition to the Pro heats, there will also be an amateur competition, divisions for Groms (under 14), Open (15-49), and Master's (50+). One event you certainly don't want to miss is the Longboard SUP Division. Participants will be judged heavily on style and grace! On Sunday, at 3 PM, 3 X World Longboard Champion, Colin McPhillips will conduct a 3-hour clinic. The cost is $150 and class size is limited to 10. Please note: all participants should have some experience in the surf, including paddling out, keeping control of their board, and being able to catch a wave.
This promises to be a family-friendly day of top-notch competition so if you haven't already, dust off those beach chairs and track down your picnic basket!
For more details including registration forms please use this link: http://www.wbsupsurfproam.com/
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1967 67 Camaro Pro Street Drag Race Car Project Car
- Condition: Used
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Trim: 2 Door
- Year: 1967
- Mileage: 999,999
- Engine size: 350
- Drive type: RWD
- Vehicle Title: Clear Want to buy? Contact seller!
1967 Chevrolet Camaro
Please call Jay at 518-857-0311 with any questions. CAR IS SOLD WITH A BILL OF SALE!
You are bidding on a 1967 Camaro. This is a Pro Street Project in that got started and never finished. It was a very solid car to begin with. What is seen with the car is what comes with it. Car has both vin tag and cowl tag on it. Rear Frame rails and Ladder bar suspension have been tack welded into the car just so the car is moveable. It has a 350 engine sitting in it with a Edelbrock Intake,we have no detailson the engine (it does turn over). The car has a new Full Rear Quarter on the passenger side and alower quarter skin that is in the beginning stages of being installed on the drivers side. It has a10 bolt rear and from drum brakes.Car does roll and we will assist with loading. CAR IS BEING SOLD AS IS. MUST BE PAID IN FULL WITHIN 7 DAYS. A 500.00 Non-refundable deposit is due immediately. THE BALANCE IS TO BE PAID IN CASH OR BANK CHECK,NO PAYPAL FOR THE BALANCE!!!!! All funds must clear before the car is picked up! I have the car listed local and reserve the right to end the auction at anytime!


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-Steve Rowly
That's precisely the reason why working parents have to strike a precarious balance between the raising the child well and professional excellence.
At Bubbles n Blossoms (BnB), we understand that every working parent is concerned about the child's safety, health & hygiene, eating habits, skill enhancement and also about the need for guidance in completing school curriculum especially homework when they are away.
"Keeping our surroundings hygienic, keeps us healthy mentally and physically."
BnB believes it and that's why follows very high hygiene standards. Our centre is cleaned thrice a day and all the toys and other tools are sterilized properly. It helps in keeping children infection free.
At BnB, we provide personalized care and comfort to all the kids. Our centre head is always there to provide love and affection to the kids. Our Teachers and Mentor Mums are expert in child care and they are trained regularly regarding the same.
"Healthy Mind Resides in Healthy Body"
BnB believes that for the holistic development of the child healthy food is of utmost importance. So our nutrition expert suggests a meal menu keeping in mind all the nutritional aspects. Meals are cooked at our in-house kitchen using the fresh ingredients. Food is without spices but with good taste.
We have constantly monitored 20 High-Definition CCTV cameras in the entire Centre covering the premise both indoors as well as outdoors. The images captured by the CCTV system will be retained for a maximum of 3 months. Our Child-Centric Ambience gives freedom to kids to explore their own world. Our Mentor Mums are well- trained to ensure the environment for the children is safe & secure. All our staff is police verified and our centre is safety standard compliant.
Bubbles n Blossoms S-18, Uppals South End, Sector-49,
Sohna Road, Gurgaon-122001
9560766383 / 9910062109


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Samsung's Bixby is a virtual assistant similar to Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant. And while parts of Bixby are on the phone today, the voice controls and best aspects of Samsung's assistant are missing.
Currently, the Bixby early access page says that "new voice features are coming" and that you'll be able to test these feature on your Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ first. Since the phone launched in April we've been waiting for Bixby voice, and it's almost ready for primetime.
How to Fix Samsung Galaxy S6 Battery Life
How to Fix Autocorrect Problems in Samsung Galaxy S8
How to use Bixby Voice on Samsung Galaxy S8
All Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ owners need to do is head to the Bixby beta page and sign up for the beta. This is opened again in July for even more users. However, you'll need a Samsung account, which most should have to use their phone to its full potential. Here's how to make sure you're on the list.
- Head to the Bixby Voice Early Access website
- Scroll down and agree to terms for early access
- Create a Samsung Account at Settings > Accounts > Accounts > Add Account > Create Account
- Enter your Samsung Account email address
- Click the big purple Sign Up button
There will be a limited amount of space for users in the program according to Samsung, and only a select number of users will get to participate. There is no charge to use Bixby Voice, you're simply getting access to new features ahead of everyone else. Look for an email with links for access and updates to the app.
Additionally, users are reporting that Bixby Voice just suddenly appeared on their device. Open the app tray, find the Samsung Galaxy App store, and check for updates. Then, try the new Bixby Assistant. If you didn't get access to the first beta, sign up again and you should get it.
More Details
For those curious, Bixby voice sounded extremely promising during the announcement. The assistant can send texts, change your settings or make a call by simply holding down the Bixby button and speaking to the Galaxy S8. Then, Bixby will get better over time as it learns and adapts to each user. Samsung claims you can speak naturally knowing that Bixby will better understand nearly everything you say.
That being said, multiple reports suggest Bixby Voice is struggling to do exactly that, understand users and what they want. The Wall Street Journal went on to say the assistant missed the May release window, and now the company is aiming for late July. Part of this early access beta is to get Bixby Voice in the hands of more users, which will allow Samsung to test its product faster and prepare for a global release.
So, if you'd like to help improve the Galaxy S8 and get some neat new features early, follow our instructions above. Considering this early access program is open again and news claims the launch is delayed, don't expect it officially until late July or even August.


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This Digitally Mundane Life
- This Digitally Mundane Life
- Want To Waste Even More Time?
I wonder if anyone will ever do a study of how technology has actually harmed the quality of life of the average person who has fully adopted the digital lifestyle. This isn't to say that the word processor and the information Web site haven't benefited us all in lots of ways. I'm talking about the fact that, with the computer in particular, you have to take the good with the badand it is starting to look mostly bad.
And by bad, I mean time-wasting. Seriously time-wasting. Do we really need to send e-mail correspondence to the same person sometimes three or four times in one day just to say that you agree with something? And of course to even find this correspondence we have to wade though an inbox full of e-mail junk.
People are spending hours on e-mail daily. HOURS! Instead of being a great convenience, it is a great burden.
At that's just the tip of the time-wasting iceberg. What about Web surfing or getting involved in threaded debates? There goes the day.
This gets worse with the new Web initiatives that give you more things to do and more ways to be distracted. Hooray for AJAX, which lets us move things around on the screen like never before. We can spend hours customizing the page to suit our personal needs. What personal needs? It's a Web page!
With news-ranking sites such as Digg.com you can not only waste your time becoming the editor, but you can also be a writer and blow off steam in the comments section. And of course you do not want to look like an idiot with your comments, so you read the 5,000 other comments first to make sure that your point is original, just in case Waterfall4327 notices that in comment #245 Gerrymander988 said the exact same thing!
Power to the people, dude!next: Want To Waste Even More Time? >


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Why spend over a quarter of a million dollars on a Lamborghini when you can have a miniature model for 12 times the price? That's the thinking behind a new model car that will appear at the Frankfurt Auto Show at the end of September.
Hailed the world's most expensive and precious car model by Guinness World Records, the creation is based on the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 and is decked out in gold, platinum and diamonds, reports Business Insider.
Jokes aside, this might actually be worth investing in. Cars are known to devalue the second they leave the lot, but if the bejeweled car's materials alone are worth a total of $2.7 million, this is one car that will go up in value after purchase.
Sotheby's will auction the car in December in either New York or Dubai with bids starting at $4.7 million, reports Wired. Or you might want to purchase it at the show, but that will cost you an an extra $1.3 million.