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BACKSPIN TIME CAPSULE: 2004 U.S. Open
After Anastasia Myskina had become the first Russian slam winner at Roland Garros, then was quickly followed by a 17-year old Maria Sharapova into the major champion winner's circle at Wimbledon a month later, it didn't seem possible that the summer of 2004 could get any better for the Hordettes populating the WTA tour.
Ah, but those sneaky Tennis Gods had another ace up their collective sleeve. Her name was Svetlana Kuznetsova, and the two slam-winning Russians were soon to be joined by a third in New York.
A decade ago next week, as the annual August humidity was enveloping Flushing Meadows, the footsteps of 19-year old Kuznetsova weren't ringing in anyone's ears nearly as loudly as Sharapova's had been earlier in the summer. But Sveta HAD been making some noise. It had just been occurring off to the side, on the edge of the spotlight, but not quite in it. That would change, of course, and the Russian's activities prior to the '04 U.S. Open would later make everyone wonder how they'd missed the inevitability of her early arrival on the big stage.
Kuznetsova was the junior #1 in 2001, winning the U.S. Open girls doubles crown but failing to also sweep the singles title, losing in the final to a fellow 16-year old named Marion Bartoli, soon to be Backspin's "La Trufflette" and, eventually, a slam champion herself a dozen years later. A year later, Kuznetsova claimed a pair of small, tour level singles titles in Helsinki and Bali. In 2003, she finished the season ranked in the Top 40.
Even while Myskina and Sharapova were making history in 2004, there was Kuznetsova. Lurking. Just out of sight.
At Roland Garros, she held match point against Myskina in the Round of 16 before the Czarina would win that match and three more to earn the right lift to the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. On the grass in England, Sharapova won a pre-Wimbledon title in Birmingham, then a week later Kuznetsova won an even bigger crown in Eastbourne. But Sveta lost in the 1st Round at the All-England Club, while Sharapova, well, you know.
As things shifted to North America in preparation for the U.S. Open, Kuznetsova was again playing in the shadows of others. She lost in the QF in Los Angeles to countrywoman Elena Dementieva, then did the same in the 3rd Round in San Diego against another Russian, Vera Zvonareva. At the Olympics in Athens, Amelie Mauresmo took her down in the final eight, preventing Kuznetsova from being assured of playing a for a medal in either the Gold or Bronze Medal matches. She came into New York having won just six total matches since her Eastbourne title, and one fewer than she'd need to win to become the third straight Russian slam champion.
But the two weeks in Flushing Meadows would prove to simply be the FIRST time that Kuznetsova would confound us and our expectations, either for the good or the bad, during her enigmatic career.
The first week of the Open seemed to revolve around what Serena Williams was wearing, as well as the exits of many big names. Myskina (2nd Round) and Sharapova (3rd Round) lost early, then Venus Williams (4th Round) and #1-seeded defending champ and Athens Gold winner Justine Henin (4th) failed to reach the final eight. Meanwhile, #9-seeded Kuznetsova quietly went about her business, reaching her first slam semifinal without dropping a set. She outlasted Lindsay Davenport in a three-set semifinal, setting up the second all-Russian slam singles final of '04, as RG runner-up Dementieva was there waiting for her, having taken out the likes of Dinara Safina, Zvonareva, Mauresmo (who'd nonetheless rise to #1 for the first time after the tournament) and Jennifer Capriati, playing four three-setters in five matches (she got a 3rd Rd. walkover) to earn yet another eventually-star-crossed chance to win a slam of her own.
Kuznetsova's 6-3/7-5 victory, and the Russian flavor of the final, solidified the "Year of the Russians" -- not that further ammunition was necessary, the Hordettes would add on a few additional huge moments to remember by the end of the season -- and, at the time, established the teenager's sturdy game as the one with maybe the most potential of those of any of her countrywomen.
Of course, the free-spirited, oft-inconsistent and focus-wandering Kuznetsova has never quite lived up to those early, (though still not overreaching) assumptions, but she continues to persevere on the tour a decade later, well beyond the time when most -- save for one -- of her fellow Hordettes have either walked or drifted away from the tour, or slam contention. Or both.
But the moment that that occurred now ten years and few weeks ago continues to stand the test of history. Here's how I recounted it all at the time...
September 14, 2004 - Finally the Bride"
Here we go again.
Last week in New York, after a season of constantly finding herself in the role of "bridesmaid" to her Russian-born countrywomen, 19-year old Svetlana Kuznetsova finally put together a bride-worthy performance (sorry, I couldn't come up with a "mail-order" reference that wouldn't strain everyone's patience) that officially puts her near the top of the invitation list of Horde nominees hoping to snare the honor of "best Russian." And since she's been hovering in the weeds all season, Kuznetsova's U.S. Open crown might just give her the right to claim the now-exalted title as 2004 swiftly comes to a close.
Consider this. Kuznetsova held a match point against Anastasia Myskina at Roland Garros, only to fail to convert it and then watch the Czarina become the first female Russian slam champion. During the grass season, Maria Sharapova won a grass court title two weeks before Wimbledon. Kuznetsova, for her part, took the more prestigious Eastbourne crown the week before play began at SW19 and went to the All-England club as many people's dark horse to challenge for the title. Of course, it was Kuznetsova who was bounced in the 1st Round while the Supernova went on to claim her eventual destiny -- a little earlier than most expected -- at age 17.
Also, Kuznetsova's had the most consistent season of all the Russians. After an 0-3 run in finals earlier this year, she's now won two in a row. She's 5-0 in singles semifinals (the best mark on tour), and this week is #6 in the singles rankings and #3 in doubles -- the only player to show up in both Top 10 lists. And how's this for a little known fact? The two longest WTA match winning streaks in 2004 have belonged to Lindsay Davenport (22) and Justine Henin-Hardenne (16). Guess who snapped both streaks. Yep, it was Kuznetsova.
It'll be interesting to see how Kuznetsova immediately responds to being the third straight Russian slam winner. Myskina has been a bit of a disappointment since Roland Garros, over-scheduling herself during the hard court season (and is that her name again in the Bali draw?! -- what is she doing to herself?), imploding in Athens, then leaving her head in Greece while she lugged her body to Flushing Meadows. The post-Wimbledon Sharapova, too, has been as shaky as a 17-year old slam winner would be expected to be, even if it seems an ungainly reality for a Supernova such as she.
It's the rugged game of Kuznetsova, though, that caused her to be befriended early-on by the likes of Martina Navratilova and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (with 22 slam singles crowns between them). Maybe they were onto something. Maybe the best Russian has only now taken her turn on the big-time international stage.
Considering the exploits we witnessed earlier this summer in England, wouldn't THAT turn of events be a stunner?
...at this getting-late point in the season, the POY race is now essentially down to three players. I'm tossing Myskina and Sharapova out of legitimate contention for just not consistently having their game up to par beyond their isolated slam runs. Of the final three, Amelie Mauresmo is ranked #1 on the computer and Lindsay Davenport is #1 in the 2004 points race... but only Justine Henin-Hardenne has won a slam title (and an Olympic gold) this season. In fact, the other two haven't even made a single slam final this year. So, the question is this: Can a Player of the Year be a woman without a slam title (or RU) for the season? That'll be answered during the 4th Quarter. For the time being, with neither Mauresmo nor Davenport seizing the moment in New York, Queen Justine re-assumes her spot atop the race board despite her 4r exit. The race:
[Tier I]
1.Henin-Hardenne...Open disappointment tempered by 5 titles, 1 slam and 1 Gold
2.Davenport...6 titles, but nary a slam final in '04
3.Mauresmo...the reigning (dubious) #1, she's had great Tier I event success but choked in the slams yet again
[Tier II - Russian Division]
4.Myskina...was handed RG on a silver platter, then ran herself into the ground on hardcourts
5.Kuznetsova...might catch Myskina in race soon. Plus, she's #3 in doubles, too.
6.Sharapova...only "pretty good" year seems so much better with Wimbledon title in the mix
7.Dementieva...hasn't won a title yet, but was RU in two slams
[Tier III]
8.Suarez...quick start has slowed, but doubles play keeps ahead of "the rest"
9.Zvonareva...having breakthrough year, but still falling back into Horde pack
10.V.Williams...how easily we forget her stellar spring on clay. And think what her hardcourt summer would have been like without Davenport getting in her way -- she was 0-3 vs. Davenport, and 11-1 against everyone else.
H.M. - Serena Williams & Virginia Ruano-Pascual...VRP is the doubles #1, while Serena is, well, just Serena -- and that's enough for honorable mention
1. Dementieva and Kuznetsova, for their heartfelt addresses to the crowd after the US Open singles final. In the shadow of the September 1 Russian school tragedy, and on the three-year anniversary of 9/11, the players' pleas for unity against worldwide terrorism revealed the two to be more than just ball-striking machines.
2. Mary Pierce. With summer wins over Venus and Sharapova, is she looking to be the Davenport of '05?
3. Young American females. With the likes of Davenport and Capriati nearing the end, finally a little light was shining on the red, white & blue's youngsters as Angela Haynes made some waves in the main draw, 16-year old Jessica Kirkland was the girls' RU and 15-year old Julia Cohen quietly won her first ITF title in Mexico City while everyone else was in New York.
4. Anna Kournikova. Even while not playing, she's getting more and more credit for ushering in what has become the Horde's current wave of success. It's far more complimentary than the things most said about her game when she was a Top 10 player herself.
5. Pierre Cantin. Yes, it's the Tennisrulz head honcho himself making the list! Remember, he WAS correct about a Russian winning a third straight slam crown. And he was right about Vera Zvonareva winning her first slam title, as well. Sure, the Russian singles winner turned out to be Kuznetsova rather than his pick of Vera Z, whose first slam title came in Mixed Doubles, not the biggie he forecast two weeks earlier. A little disconnect? Sure. But the thread of a psychic prophecy was there, so let's forget that it was a tad "off." Good job, anyway!
1. Mariana Alves. Move over Ted Watts, you've got some company in the "Disgraced Umpire of the Year" contest. Sure, replay wouldn't be "full-proof." But we already know that the current system is anything but. To err is human, but ineptitude needn't be tolerated.
2. Amelie Mauresmo. Yeah, I know she's the new #1, but she could have clinched it with a QF win against Elena Dementieva and instead pulled her usual in-need-of-the-Heimlich act when it really counted the most.
3. Lindsay Davenport. So much for going out on top, huh? Sure, she was injured in "practice." But one wonders if that hip flexor would have happened if she hadn't decided to jam Cincinnati into her schedule at the last minute when her real goal was supposed to be success at Flushing Meadows. As it was, she blew another slam SF lead to a Russian teenager who went on to win the title.
4. Black Monday/Tuesday. The top three seeds on the women's side all fell within 24 hours in 4th Round and QF matches.
5. The Boo Award. It goes to Alan Schwartz. You're president of the USTA but can't pronounce the name of a Top 10 player (and #3 in doubles) who's playing the final your organization supports? That's downright embarrassing. And it's not as if "Kuznetsova" is the most difficult of the Horde surnames to decipher. Just imagine what would have happened had Schwartz tried to congratulate Anna Chakvetadze or, worse yet, Ekaterina Bychkova.
S: Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Elena Dementieva 6-3/7-5
D: Ruano-Pascual/Suarez d. Kuznetsova/Likhovtseva
M: Zvonareva/B.Bryan d. Molik/Woodbridge
GS: Michaella Krajicek d. Jessica Kirkland 6-1/6-1
GD: Krajicek/Erakovic d. Gojnea/Niculescu
[US OPEN WEEK 2 - 4r to F]
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Svetlana Kuznetsova
...is she the first slam champion to wear braces since Tracy Austin?
RISERS: Kuznetsova & Elena Dementieva
...#5 Dementieva's still ranked ahead of #6 Kuznetsova on the WTA computer.
SURPRISE: Shinobu Asagoe
...Miss Opportunity. The 28-year old Japanese vet took advantage of Myskina's ouster from her section of the draw to, at #62, become the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist since #66 Venus Williams in 1997.
VETERANS: Virginia Ruano-Pascual & Paola Suarez
...they won their third straight US Open doubles title, and their third slam crown in 2004.
FRESH FACES: Michaella Krajicek & Jenifer Widjaja
...Krajicek swept both the girls singles and doubles titles in Flushing Meadows. The Brazilian Widjaja, 17, won back-to-back-to-back ITF titles in the period before and during the Open.
DOWN: Jennifer Capriati
...twice this summer, Capriati advanced to a slam SF with a golden opportunity to grab her fourth slam title in an otherwise underwhelming year. She went 0-2 vs. the Russians, never showing up against Myskina in Paris (after which she fired Heinz Gunthardt) and dropping the 1st set at love against Dementieva in Flushing (is Stefano next?). At 28, it's feeling like #4 won't be happening.
[4th Rd. to Final]
1. QF - Capriati d. Serena
...2-6/6-4/6-4. The most poorly officiated contest since the last time a Williams got jobbed at a slam.
2. Final - Kuznetsova d. Dementieva
...6-3/7-5. What'll the Russians do for an encore in 2005? Hmmm, I smell an "Intriguing Question" coming on.
3. 4th Rd. - Petrova d. Henin-Hardenne
...6-3/6-2. This was the JHH we expected in Athens. After 46 weeks, #1 is history...for now.
4. 4th Rd. - Pierce d. Sharapova
...4-6/6-2/6-3. Sharapova had 14 DF, and blew a 3-1 lead in the 3rd set.
5. 4th Rd. - Davenport d. Venus
...7-5/6-4. Davenport went 4-0 vs. Serena & Venus this summer after not beating them during the previous four years.
6. QF - Dementieva d. Mauresmo
...4-6/6-4/7-6. Dementieva's serves were in the mid-60 mph range. She had a groin injury, suffered from an upset stomach, had 15 DF, needed a I.V. after the match and was down a set and a break to Mauresmo. And she STILL won.
7. SF - Kuznetsova d. Davenport
...1-6/6-2/6-4. What's the bigger Davenport story this summer -- the four straight titles, or the two blown slam SF leads?
8. SF - Dementieva d. Capriati
...6-0/2-6/7-6. Was Capriati feeling "unworthy" after that Serena match?
9. Mixed SF - Molik/Woodbridge d. Navratilova/Paes
...will Martina's last slam act be a DF on match point? After all the farewell talk at Wimbledon, there was decidedly little fanfare in NY in what is "supposed" to be her grand slam sayonara.
10. Jr. Final - Krajicek d. Kirkland
...6-1/6-1. Krajicek was the 2003 US Open girls RU.
In her next two tournaments, Kuznetsova won Bali the week following her Open triumph, then reached the Beijing final (losing to Serena) and ran her winning streak to fourteen matches before finally going out in Filderstadt. The stretch, aside from the three-title clay court run that included her second slam win in Paris in '09, was probably the last time she fully rode a wave of momentum and followed through on the promise of her talent while everything great seemed probable, not just possible. But she didn't win another title until Miami in early 2006.
While it'd be unfair to call Sveta a full-on "talent tease," she hasn't evolved into a great champion, either.
Kuznetsova had maybe the most potential, talent-wise, of the entire group of Hordettes, armed with a game that translated to success on the most surfaces. Since that summer in the city, the inconsistent Sveta has become one of the most confounding enigmas in the sport. Ever the free-spirit -- who else would manage to sport cornrows and suddenly show up with a "Pain doesn't kill me, I kill the pain" tattoo over the last decade? ...not counting maybe Bethanie Mattek-Sands, I mean -- she's sometimes seemed disinterested on court over the years, and has constantly been searching for the "right" coach to get the most out of her.
It's become commmon to wait on pins and needles when it comes to Kuznetsova, wondering whether her motivation will wane on a match-to-match basis in a tournament, or it'll be game-to-game...or even point-to-point. You just never know when Sveta will start to look like she has something else better to do than hit a fuzzy yellow ball with a racket. She's become the "ultimate wild card" in any event she enters, capable of a quick flame out or trip to the final weekend at each turn, with both being equally likely. In 2011, she defeated Henin in the final match of the Belgian's career in the 2nd Round of the Australian Open, then two rounds later played Francesca Schiavone in the longest women's slam match of the Open era. She lost a 16-14 3rd set in a contest that lasted 4:44.
When healthy and in form, she's still dangerous, having become the first player since the grand slams began seeding thirty-two players in '01 to reach the QF as an unseeded entrant in back-to-back majors (at the Australian Open and Roland Garros in '13). At this point, even if the well-liked Kuznetsova manages to win a third slam, she'll be viewed as something of an underachiever, though her two slam wins and Fed Cup heroics will likely get her into the HOF, assuring the Russian generation that came of age during the 2000's of at least two (w/ Sharapova) women eventually enshrined in Newport.
Of course, Sveta holds a special place in this space because of all that potential she showed back in 2004...
"The devil made me do it." "Everything happens for a reason." "Karma." Right alongside those should be "The Kuznetsova Curse."
For anything that occurs, there's always a reason, excuse, or dose of blame ready to be pulled out to explain it. Here at Backspin, while predictions do come true on occasion, just the lightly tapping of a particular player to achieve something is reason to think that, since the possibility was even brought up that it COULD happen, that from that point on it might now have ZERO chance of actually becoming reality. The notion has history, too. In fact, it even has a name. "The Kuznetsova Curse" goes back nearly a full decade now, unleashed upon the WTA (and, later, ATP) landscape all because of one double-headed prediction back in 2005. You see, after the official birth of the Russian tennis revolution back in 2004, Tennisrulz (Backspin's original home) Head Honcho Pierre Cantin and I posted our dual Top 10 predictions for the upcoming season that January. Without any consultation between the two of us, we'd both surprisingly picked the same player to finish as 2005's #1-ranked player. And it wasn't a "tried and true" champion, either. It was Kuznetsova, who'd just finished 2004 ranked at #5. Of course, as soon as the predictions were made I knew they -- and Sveta -- were doomed. As I said then, "hmmm. Both Pierre & I picked Kuznetsova to be #1? One is a prediction. Two is a jinx. So, it probably won't happen now. Sorry, Contessova. (Psst... blame Pierre!)"
I didn't know how right I was. After reports of a failed drug test greeted her at the Australian Open, Kuznetsova suffered through a less-than-compelling "year after," becoming the first defending U.S. Open champ to lose in the opening round, and finished the season at #18. Thus, the "Kuznetsova Curse" was born... and lives until this day, and into the future. The Curse seems to have covered the Russian's entire boom-or-bust career as she's bounced back and forth between being "focused & lethal" and "distracted & an upset waiting to happen."
The Curse eventually spread to other players, and has become the easy thing to "blame" whenever a perfectly reasonable prediction ends up looking pretty bad once the dust has settled, while (fill in the name of the unlucky individual) is forced to suffer through the consequences. It didn't take long for the pandemic to become reality, either. In 2007, I was even forced to issue an only-partly-in-jest "Statement" to "protect" Pierre and myself from legal action after both of us predicted Sharapova to finish '07 at #1, and she quickly fell into an early-season slump. Three years later, the Curse jumped tours. I picked reigning U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro to be the ATP's #1 player for 2010, only to see him injure his wrist and miss three slams before having to embark on a comeback that, after some brief additional success, he is STILL trying to complete.
As a result, I stopped making official preseason #1 predictions, and instead simply compile an alphabetical list of players I think might finish in the Top 10. Well, until 2014, when I tempted fate and predicted that Serena would win the season Grand Slam, which was essentially a #1 prediction in all ways but the most blatant one. I soon noted that I figured we'd see just how great Serena was if she could outrun even The Curse, which was being tested to see if it had any "juice" left.
Well, I guess we know how THAT turned out, huh? Can you say, "Her. Worst. Slam. Season. Ever.?" (Ruefully shakes head.)
"The Kuznetsova Curse" came in a #5 on the "All-Time Backspin MVP List" back in 2012, behind only Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams. It was the highest-placing Russian-related entry on the countdown, while Kuznetsova didn't make the list in her own right. In the end, I suspect that's Sveta's ultimate "legacy" in this space since, you know, you never really get to choose how you'll be remembered. Heehee.
Not that she hasn't had a very good, though not great, career. Kuznetsova has won fourteen tour singles titles, and sixteen in doubles, including five with the legendary Martina Navratilova and a pair of Australian Opens with Alicia Molik and Vera Zvonareva. She's reached the doubles final at all four slams. She's had five Top 10 seasons and six wins over world #1's. She's played in fifteen slam QF and four slam finals, as well as an additional SF. Kuznetsova topped out in the rankings at #2, first reaching the spot at the conclusion of the '07 U.S. Open. In 2008, if she'd won the Roland Garros title she'd have taken over at #1 in the wake of the retirement of top-ranked Justine Henin two weeks before the start of play in Paris. But she lost in the semifinals to countrywoman Dinara Safina, who'd then lose the final to Ana Ivanovic as the Serb won her first (and so far only) major title and became the new #1. A year later, five seasons after winning in NYC, Sveta won the Roland Garros championship that had eluded her in '08 (and in '04, when she'd held match point in the Round of 16 vs. Myskina, as well as '05, when Kuznetsova also got to MP vs. eventual champ Henin in the same round a season later).
En route to taking that title in Paris, Sveta got wins over both the then-#1 (Safina) and #2 (Serena) players in the world in the tournament. She's the only woman to accomplish the feat on her way to winning a slam in the last eight seasons, since Sharapova did it at the U.S. Open in 2006.
Actually, those near misses in Paris weren't the only times Kuznetsova has come THIS CLOSE to taking a third slam crown, or at least taking out the woman who'd eventually win the title. In 2009, she served for her QF match against soon-to-be champ Serena in Melbourne, then had Williams a break down in the 3rd set in the QF again in Paris four years later before Serena went on to claim her own long-awaited second RG title. While a third major crown is still theoretically possible for Sveta, becoming the third Russian to reach the #1 ranking isn't a reality. Ah, but history can STILL be made. Only three women -- Hana Mandlikova (4), Ann Haydon Jones & Virginia Wade (both with 3) -- who played in the Open era have ever won as many as three singles slams but never reached the #1 ranking. Kuznetsova, if she could hold things together for one more two week stretch in what's left of the now 29-year old's career, could still be the fourth woman added to that list.
Of course, if she never darkened even the grounds of the final eight at another slam, no one would be surprised, either.
Maybe if Kuznetsova hadn't surprised everyone so much with her early slam win in '04, the five years between that triumph and her eventual return to the slam winner's circle at Roland Garros in '09 wouldn't have seemed so disappointing. But after flashing her skills and proving what she WAS capable of accomplishing, little leeway was given the Russian as she failed time and time again to live up to her Open success, from struggling to win regular tour finals to often missing golden grand slam opportunities. Maybe more than any other player this decade, Kuznetsova walked the fine line between being a "great talent" and a "great player," often times falling on the "lesser" side of the equation.
Still, after her '05 dip in results, she managed to once again finish seasons in the Top 10 from 2006-09 (twice she was in the year-end Top 3), star on multiple Fed Cup-winning Russian teams, and was the only women to defeat Henin twice (in '04 & '07) when she was ranked #1. But while her Russian countrywomen were sweeping the Beijing Olympic Medal stand in '08, Kuznetsova was losing in the 1st Round. Early in the '09 season, she found herself in a 1-10 rut in tour singles finals over the previous two seasons. It just went on and on, even when she never showed any physical or game-related reasons why she shouldn't be winning big tour titles.
Kuznetsova, on the advice of none other than Roger Federer, moved back to Russia from her longtime training ground at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain at the start of the '09 season, then in the spring enlisted former Soviet doubles star Larisa Savchenko-Neiland as her new coach. For a time, the change seemed to work wonders, as for the first time as a pro she seemed settled and finally began to pick up where she'd left off five years earlier. After not winning a singles title outright since '06 (her '07 New Haven crown came when Agnes Szavay retired while leading the final), Kuznetsova won three times in four final appearances in '09, including at Roland Garros (where she had much unfinished business) and in Beijing (where she'd missed out on the Russian party a year earlier). After reaching the #3 ranking in '04, she returned there five years later, finishing at #3.
Since then, her results have been spotty. Many coaches and advisers have come and gone. The underachieving nature of Kuznetsova's career still rings true, but so does the prospect of her one day coming through with another result befitting her early promise, especially on a WTA tour where 29th and 30th birthdays have proven to be stepping stones to late-career success in recent seasons. Of course, we only occasionally see evidence of the Sveta capable of THAT. In the same 2012 season in which she was included as one of just ten then-active players on Tennis Channel's "100 Greatest Players of All-Time" list -- she was #92 -- the Russian missed the second half of the season due to injury and fell to a year-end #72, her lowest ranking since 2001. She rebounded with the two slam QF runs in '13 to finish at #21. In early '14, she briefly returned to the Top 20 for the first time in nearly two years, then in Oeiras reached her first final since 2011. Sure, she blew a 4-1 3rd set lead and lost, but she's since reached her fourth slam QF since her '09 RG win (again, in Paris), claimed her first tour singles title (in Washington, D.C., pictured below) in four years and once again finds herself on the cusp of returning to the Top 20 as the tenth anniversary of her U.S. Open title run arrives (she's ranked #21, but with the absences of other injured players she'll be seeded in the Top 20 in New York).
So, after all these years, lingering signs are there that Kuznetsova is still capable of jumping up and out with a great result. But can she still go deep in a major event, and is that historic third major title possible? Hmmm, probably not, since finding the prolonged consistency necessary to make it through seven matches is a huge sticking point. But we're talking about Sveta, so never rule anything out. 2014 is the five year anniversary season of Kuznetsova's LAST slam win in Paris in '09. In the fifth year after her U.S. Open win, she won her second slam, so who's to say Sveta's strangely ticking clock can't still make her soon-to-begin return to Flushing Meadows an even more significant anniversary than it already is? No one would be TRULY stunned if the Hordette could pull together a "time machine moment." Nothing she does on court over the years has ever really been a big shock.
As always, well, at least since 2004-05, there may be no WTA star more fitting than Kuznetsova of the description of a player who could lose in an upset on Day 1 of a slam or win the entire thing and, even now, really surprise no one with either outcome. The possibility of the latter scenario continues to play out in the back of your mind at slam time... until Kuznetsova is finally ousted from the draw, that is.
Oh, things could have been so different, and seemed like they would be a decade ago. But, then again, that wouldn't have been very Sveta-like, would've it?
As for the Hordettes, they went on to claim an even bigger chunk of 2004 history. Hmmm, don't be surprised if there's another Russian-centered '04 Time Capsule by the end of the year.
Maria Sharapova went on to end her season by winning her first and (so far) only Tour Championships title, becoming the only Russian to ever do so when she pulled off a sequel to her Wimbledon triumph by getting a second victory over (an injured) Serena Williams in the final in Los Angeles. Nearly a full decade later, Sharapova is still seeking win #3 over Williams.
The 2004 season-ending Top 5 included all three slam-winning Hordettes, as Myskina (#3), Sharapova (#4) and Kuznetsova (#5) gave the Russian threat rankings teeth. Two-time '04 slam finalist Dementieva was #6, while three more countrywomen (#11 Zvonareva, #12 Nadia Petrova & #15 Elena Bovina) made it seven Russians in the Top 15. Sharapova, contrary to what I thought possible after the U.S. Open, won "Ms. Backspin" honors (though, at the time I wasn't officially calling the "Player of the Year" winner that), while Myskina finished third, Kuznetsova sixth, Dementieva eighth and Zvonareva tenth.
A week after Sharapova won the Tour Championships, Myskina led the Russians to their first-ever Fed Cup title with little if any help from the season's other two slam champions. Kuznetsova, who'd eventually become a FC legend (twice winning title-clinching singles matches in '07 and '08), performed well in that week's semifinal action vs. Austria, but went 0-2 in the final against France, while Sharapova wasn't even on the team, mostly because Myskina, who had issues with Maria's father Yuri, had essentially forbid it if she was going to devote her own time to the Fed Cup cause. Sharapova wouldn't make her FC debut until 2008. The '04 FC win for Team Russia would be the first of the Hordette's four FC titles in five years. After having lost in four finals with Soviet/Russian squads prior to '04, the team has since reached additional finals in '11 and '13. Myskina officially became the Russian team's Captain before the 2014 campaign.
Suddenly, the old "quantity over quality" argument is back in the discussion when it comes to the Hordettes, as well. Really, unless Kuznetsova's talent flashes again, only Sharapova survives as a legit slam contender. The group has claimed just two slam crowns (both in Paris by Sharapova) since Sharapova's own pre-shoulder surgery Australian Open title in 2008, and no fourth Hordette major title winner has followed Kuznetsova in the decade since she won in New York. Other than the three slam winners of '04, the other Russian Revolution stars -- Dementieva, Safina and Zvonareva -- who have reached slam finals have gone a combined 0-7.
So far, no member of the NextGen Hordettes have shown major-winning ability, either. They're a talented lot, and the Russian junior stars keep coming in mini-waves -- two have won girls slam crowns in '14 -- but many are even sometimes more emotionally destructive on court than the notoriously fragile Safina and Zvonareva. Additionally, some of the better younger players are deciding to represent other nations with smaller talent pools, allowing themselves more opportunities for support and/or spots on Fed Cup or Olympic rosters. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, now 23, seemed to have the most ability of the next generation. She was once as dominant in junior play as any girl ever was, but fitness, coaching questions and inconsistency have kept her from a true breakthrough. Ekaterina Makarova, a truly lethal opponent for any top player to take down on one of the Russian's good days, is capable of a huge upset on a grand stage, but hasn't been able to string together enough of those sort of wins to be a realistic dark horse for a slam title. If veteran Maria Kirilenko could ever stay healthy, she might have a real shot at starring in a late-career Cinderella slam story. But that's a big "if." She's yet to reach her first slam semifinal.
Yes, the Russians are here to stay. As 2014 U.S. Open beckons, four Hordettes are ranked in the Top 25, and six in the Top 100. Not bad. But things are never, ever going to be how they were ten years ago.
Of course, we should have know that at the time.
2001 U.S. Open Girls Doubles (w/ Galina Fokina)
2004 U.S. Open Women's Singles
2005 Australian Open Women's Doubles (w/ Alicia Molik)
2009 Roland Garros Women's Singles
2012 Australian Open Women's Doubles (w/ Vera Zvonareva)
[most WTA titles]
32 - Maria Sharapova (2003-14)
16 - Elena Dementieva (2003-10)
13 - Nadia Petrova (2005-12)
12 - Vera Zvonareva (2003-11)
12 - Dinara Safina (2002-09)
10 - Anastasia Myskina (1999-05)
9 - Olga Morozova, USSR (1969-75)
8 - Anna Chakvetadze (2006-10)
[age at Hordettes at first title]
16-Dinara Safina (2002)
16-Maria Sharapova (2003)
18-Elena Likhovtseva (1993)
18-Anastasia Myskina (1999)
18-Vera Zvonareva (2003)
18-Maria Kirilenko (2005)
18-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (2010)
19-Elena Bovina (2002)
19-Anna Chakvetadze (2006)
20-Alisa Kleybanova (2010)
20-Ksenia Pervak (2011)
21-Elena Dementieva (2003)
22-Vera Dushevina (2009)
22-Ekaterina Makarova (2010)
22-Alla Kudryavtseva (2010)
23-Nadia Petrova (2005)
26-Elena Vesnina (2013)
[most all-Russian finals]
12...Elena Dementieva (6-6)
7...Dinara Safina (3-4)
5...Maria Sharapova (3-2)
4...Anastasia Myskina (4-0)
3...Elena Vesnina (0-3)
2...Anna Chakvetadze (2-0)
2...Alisa Kleybanova (2-0)
2...Nadia Petrova (0-2)
[Australian Open]
2007 Serena Williams def. Maria Sharapova
2008 Maria Sharapova def. Ana Ivanovic
2009 Serena Williams def. Dinara Safina
2012 Victoria Azarenka def. Maria Sharapova
[Roland Garros]
1988 Steffi Graf def. Natalia Zvereva
2004 Anastasia Myskina def. Elena Dementieva
2006 Justine Henin-Hardenne def. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2008 Ana Ivanovic def. Dinara Safina
2009 Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Dinara Safina
2012 Maria Sharapova def. Sara Errani
2013 Serena Williams def. Maria Sharapova
2014 Maria Sharapova def. Simona Halep
1974 Chris Evert def. Olga Morozova
2004 Maria Sharapova def. Serena Williams
2010 Serena Williams def. Vera Zvonareva
2011 Petra Kvitova def. Maria Sharapova
[U.S. Open]
1974 Chris Evert def. Olga Morozova
2004 Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Elena Dementieva
2006 Maria Sharapova def. Justine Henin-Hardenne
2007 Justine Henin def. Svetlana Kuznetsova
2010 Kim Clijsters def. Vera Zvonareva
[Olympic Gold Medal Match]
2000 Sydney: Venus Williams def. Elena Dementieva
2008 Beijing: Elena Dementieva def. Dinara Safina
2012 London: Serena Williams def. Maria Sharapova
[Olympic Bronze Medal Match]
2004 Athens: Alicia Molik def. Anastasia Myskina
2008 Beijing: Vera Zvonareva def. Li Na
2012 London: Victoria Azarenka def. Maria Kirilenko
[Tour Championships]
2004 Maria Sharapova def. Serena Williams
2007 Justine Henin def. Maria Sharapova
2008 Venus Williams def. Vera Zvonareva
2012 Serena Williams def. Maria Sharapova
[Fed Cup]
1988 CZE def. USSR 2-1
1990 USA def. USSR 2-1
1999 USA def. RUS 4-1
2001 BEL def. RUS 2-1
2004 RUS def. FRA 3-2
2005 RUS def. FRA 3-2
2007 RUS def. ITA 4-0
2008 RUS def. ESP 4-0
2011 CZE def. RUS 3-2
2013 ITA def. RUS 4-0
[singles titles]
62...Serena Williams
45...Venus Williams
32...Maria Sharapova
22...Caroline Wozniacki
17...Victoria Azarenka
14...Ana Ivanovic
14...Aga Radwanska
13...Jelena Jankovic
13...Nadia Petrova
[singles finals]
79...Serena Williams
74...Venus Williams
54...Maria Sharapova
35...Caroline Wozniacki
32...Victoria Azarenka
32...Jelena Jankovic
30...Vera Zvonareva
All for now.


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Review: Apple's next-gen MacBook Pro with 15" Retina display
Jump to a different section
Wrap up
The new MacBook Pro is the best notebook Apple has ever built to date. Its Achilles' heel, if it could be called such a thing, is its price. Starting at $2,200 for the entry-level model, this notebook is a glimpse at the future, when all of Apple's notebooks will offer power and performance, and a beautiful Retina display, inside a thin-and-light enclosure. That day isn't here yet, which is why there is only one 15-inch model for the new Retina MacBook Pro.
But if you want that future today, you're going to pay the price. Consider the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display carries a price tag $400 more than the entry-level 15-inch MacBook Pro with an optical disc drive and without a Retina display. That extra $400 gets you double the RAM to 8 gigabytes, but it also offers half the storage. While the entry-level next-generation MacBook Pro has 256 gigabytes of flash storage, the 15-inch legacy model has a slower but larger 500 gigabyte 5400 RPM hard drive.
In our view, the additional cost and the concessions made for the new design are worth it. The only question that remains is: Can you afford it?
Score: 4.5 out of 5
The Good
- The Retina display is gorgeous and very practical for pro users
- New thin design is aided by finally ditching the optical drive
- Battery life is h2 even with the demands of the Retina display
- The Ivy Bridge CPU and Nvidia GPU are h2 enough to justify calling this machine "Pro"
- Built-in HDMI port is an unexpected and welcome addition
The Bad
- Starting at $2,200, this notebook is a serious investment
- Pro users, particularly those who work in design, may want to wait for popular third-party apps like Photoshop to be updated for the Retina display
How to Save When Buying
AppleInsider, through its sponsor MacMall, is offering the lowest prices anywhere on new MacBook Pros with the coupon code

subset: commoncrawl


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Emily Litz Noe has been here
Hilton Head Island, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Anywhere!, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina| Map |
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Recent User Reviews
Experienced Traveler Emily Litz Noe
Morristown, Tennessee
- Visited: March 2012
- Submitted: Jan 17, 2013
- Traveled with:
Big Kids (6-8), Tweens (9-12) and Teens (13+)
One of the best family vacations we have been on!Flag review
Perfect beach vacation for families! Hilton Head is not commercialized like other beaches. It is very family oriented! There are lots of restaurants,miles of bike trails, and miles of beautiful beaches.
Tips for Families
We enjoyed visiting in the off-season with less crowds! Beaches were not too crowded, and the weather was beautiful! We booked our condo last minute on the Internet to save money.
Suggestions for nearby family-friendly accommodations
Suggestions for nearby family-friendly restaurants
My Kid's Review
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indicates every 2 miles
Stapleton Loop via North Allerton Cycle Route
|Cycle Route Details
|Route Name
|Stapleton Loop via North Allerton
|Distance : miles (km)
|39.68 (63.86)
|Posted By
|R Cousins
|Calories Burned
|(login and provide your weight for more accurate calories burned)
|Cycle Steps
|Outward Leg:
Stapleton to Barton and out through Middleton Tyas to Molton and then on to Scorton. From Scorton fast road to North Allerton. Mini roundabout turn left and then right into trading estate stopping at Sam's Garden Centre for tea.
Distance 19 miles.
Return Leg:
Right out of trading estate Y junction go left onto B road to Danby Wiske then on to Streetlam up to Atley Hill. T-junction turn right onto B1263 follow for 2 miles and turn left for Croft Circuit and immediate left for Moulton. From Moulton to Middleton Tyas, Bartonm and Stapleton.
Distance 20 miles
|Landmarks/Pubs for lunch/Sites to see?
|Sam's Garden Centre, Romanby Golf and Country Club
|Near By Cycle Shops
|Northallerton Halfords
|Your comments?
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Fear The Bust! Bank Carnage, Precious Metals Bull Returns? – Welcome to Dystopia #15
TND Podcast Spotlight: Welcome To Dystopia
Jason Burack of Wall St for Main St and independent financial journalist and managing editor of The News Doctors, Eric Dubin are back for Episode #15 of their new Welcome to Dystopia podcast show.
Topics on this week's show include:
1) Japan going to negative interest rates
2) Some members at the Federal Reserve talking about copying Japan and experimenting with negative interest rates
3) Where do negative interest rates come from? (Hint: They come from Marx's labor theory of value and Marx's and Keynes' views of a "savings glut" in an economy)
4) Bank Stocks Look to Be Collapsing and predicting an imminent stock market crash and large global financial crisis
5) Many sovereign wealth funds are selling their stock positions to go to cash to pay off debt in their home countries
6) Russia now takes RMB for its oil. What does this mean for the petrodollar?
7) Gold and Silver markets appear to have finally bottomed and a strong rally looks to be underway
8) What problems does a strong US Dollar cause for the global economy?
Scumbag of the Week Nominees:
1) T Boone Pickens for saying oil will double by the end of 2015 only to do another public interview a few days later saying he dumped all his oil investments. Egregious hypocrite in this instance! (ZeroHedge article for context: Four Days After Predicting Oil Will Double, T. Boone Pickens Sells All Oil Holdings)
2) Hillary Clinton for cliaming she doesn't take money from drug and big pharma when she takes lots and for hooking up Planned Parenthood for more funding in exchange for a political contribution
# # # #


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Heidelberg Announces Enhancements To Its Customer Support Systems
Monday, September 29, 2003
Press release from the issuing companyCHICAGO, September 28, 2003 – Heidelberg today announced at Graph Expo/Converting Expo 2003 new customer support processes created to improve upon its renowned level of customer service and the addition of several new service programs. Heidelberg's integrated approach to meeting planned and unplanned parts and service needs is the most comprehensive in the industry and the new systems are aimed at increasing the productivity and up time of all of its customers. Building upon the most comprehensive network of field service technicians in the world of print, and its 24X7 customer support call center, Heidelberg has dramatically expanded its remote troubleshooting capabilities with the creation of a Technical Support Center at its Kennesaw, Ga. headquarters. Print experts participate in phone based troubleshooting for most service calls, assist with specifying parts and field service requirements, and also support premium services such as Heidelberg's Remote Service program. Remote Service is a state of the art remote diagnostic product, coupled with priority access and extended hours of availability, allows for rapid repair from afar via direct data connections to certain Heidelberg equipment. Additional service products range from the proactive Fitness Check through to Full Service Contracts; all designed to provide customers with the support they need to ensure maximum productivity, in a package that is right for them. "In an effort to maintain our leadership role in customer service and product support, we have decided to update our systems and offerings to improve our customer's experience," stated Geoff Loftus, senior vice president, customer support. "Heidelberg believes that our customers' satisfaction with our complete solutions is the most important element of our relationships with them, and these support improvements and new services will allow us to continue to meet their high expectations by helping them stay ahead of their competition."
Industry News
Copyright © 2019 WhatTheyThink. All Rights Reserved


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Amazon has launched the Amazon Fire TV Stick in India with a price tag of Rs 3,999 + Rs. 499 Cashback with Amazon Pay Balance + 100GB Airtel 4G & Broadband Data 3 months.
The Fire TV stick can enable users to watch Amazon Prime videos on the television. Launch offers for customers to purchase the Fire TV Stick, Amazon has provided many new offers.It is offering 100GB of free data on the Airtel broadband as well as 4G WiFi connection and is valid for three months. Apart from that, it is also offering 240GB of data on YOU broadband, also valid for three months. If you are an Amazon Prime member you can buy the product where the credentials will come automatically configured. Being a Prime member can also get you Rs 499 cashback. This offer is valid on payment through Amazon Pay.
The new Amazon Fire TV Stick India is the service's second era of its least expensive video streaming gadget. It points itself soundly at opponents, for example, Google Chromecast Ultra and Roku Streaming Stick, pressing the majority of its gushing skill into a dongle-sized gadget. You can stream full HD video from Amazon Prime, and in addition, Netflix and the full program of the UK's make up for lost time services. There are plenty more applications additionally, including Prime Music and Spotify, in addition to access to Amazon's developing games library.[one_third_first][/one_third_first][two_third_last]Anyway, what's new? For a start, the interface has had an entire upgrade to make it look a considerable measure prettier and less demanding to utilize. This will channel down to more seasoned gadgets after some time, however, as will the Alexa voice control, so the genuine advantages of the new Stick are its quicker processor and enhanced Wi-Fi. The Amazon Fire TV Stick w/Voice Remote is a piece of the Streaming media players and administrations test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Streaming media player models like the Fire TV Stick w/Voice Remote are appraised on numerous criteria, for example, those recorded below.[/two_third_last]
The Amazon Fire TV Stick w/Voice Remote is a piece of the Streaming media players and administrations test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Streaming media player models like the Fire TV Stick w/Voice Remote are appraised on numerous criteria, for example, those recorded below.[/two_third_last]
Everyday use: This score reflects how easy it is to use on a normal basis. It looks at how the remote and user interface interact for common tasks like powering on the device, navigating the menus for access to content, and how easy it is to perform common tasks like visiting websites and playing games.
Table of Contents
What Is Amazon Fire TV?
It is a media streaming device which makes your normal HDTV into a smart TV after connecting Amazon Fire TV Stick in HDMI port of your TV you can watch online content directly on your TV without the need to download a movie in Pendrive and then connect to your TV. There is one major Issue that we face in this manual process of watching movies on TV is sometimes media formats are not recognized by TV so all your efforts get wasted. Amazon Fire TV stick helps you to watch online content on your Big TV screen rather than on Mobile, tablet or Laptop.
There is one major Issue that we face in this manual process of watching movies on TV is sometimes media formats are not recognized by TV so all your efforts get wasted. Amazon Fire TV stick helps you to watch online content on your Big TV screen rather than on Mobile, tablet or Laptop.
Since we watch online content a lot specially kids on smart devices keeping them near their eyes so it also helps in stopping radiations entering into eyes.
So It is a great device from every angle be it related to entertainment or eyes health. So buying it is a smart option.
Simple To Set Up
Installing a Fire TV is a piece of cake. Simply connect an HDMI cable and the power supply. Sadly, Amazon ditched the optical digital audio jack for this generation, which means those who want to connect the Fire TV to an A/V receiver will be forced to use their receiver as an HDMI switcher. Once powered up, the Fire TV's setup wizard will guide you through the process.
For 4K Ultra HD streaming, we highly recommend connecting a hard Ethernet line, but an 802.11ac router will also do the trick. Sadly, there's no optical audio output for an independent audio connection, so if you want to run your Fire TV through your home theater system and get the best audio quality, you'll need to use your receiver as an HDMI switcher.
What's new in the new Fire TV
There are three big new additions for this second-generation Fire TV: 4K Ultra HD streaming ability, Alexa voice assistant, and juiced-up hardware. Alexa Voice assistant is amazing features and remote facilities are much better than any device present in Indian market right now. Even chrome cast doesn't comes with a remote to control it. You just ask Fire TV and it will find movies, serials, cartoons from thousand of online media.
4K Ultra HD
Amazon, like nearly every other maker of streaming set-top boxes (except Apple), knows that streaming is where most people get their 4K Ultra HD content. TiVo's new box does it, the new Roku box will, and most 4K Ultra HD TVs do. But as one of the few 4K Ultra HD streaming content providers out there, support for this new resolution was an absolute must for Amazon.
Juiced-up hardware
Amazon says the Fire TV's new MediaTek Quad-center (up to 2 Ghz) processor is 75 percent quicker than sometime recently, and that its new Power VR GX6250 design processor (GPU) is twice as effective – RAM and hard stockpiling continue as before at 2 GB and 8 GB separately. For us, the Fire TV's quicker CPU doesn't appear to have any certifiable advantages presently — it has dependably been a smart gadget to work. If there's one prominent advantage at this moment, it's that voice-enacted inquiries process and returns amazingly rapidly. Going ahead, however, we think the gadget might have the capacity to accelerate gameplay.
Picture quality
Picture quality includes image clarity, color accuracy, and contrast of streaming video. It's based mainly on the judgments of a panel who compare each device's output to a reference. However, the quality of the video that you'll get is largely dependent on the speed of your wired or wireless network. We tested all the players using a wired Ethernet connection, if available.
1.Fast, powerful hardware
2.Huge selection of top-quality apps
3.4K Ultra HD capable
4.Advanced voice-assisted search
5.Fun games[/one_half_first][one_half_last]
1.Won't work with all 4K Ultra HD TVs
2.Heavily favors Prime subscribers[/one_half_last]
Amazon Fire Stick vs Google ChromeCast
Amazon has revealed the Fire TV Stick, and it's being sold as a gadget to contend with the Google Chromecast. The Fire TV Stick brags more memory and installed stockpiling, however, the main equipment difference that truly matters is that it has the better double band WiFi, and that is simply because the Amazon Fire TV Stick and the Google Chromecast are entirely unexpected gadgets that work in very surprising ways.
An ideal approach to thinking about the Amazon Fire TV Stick is a contracted Amazon Fire TV, which is the reason it requires more RAM and capacity to introduce applications and such. This is additionally the reason it requires its own particular free remote. The Google Chromecast, in any case, is absolutely a gadget to convey the Google Cast convention to your TV, which implies you don't need to introduce any applications on the gadget to get your substance. In this way, the Chromecast just needs enough RAM and handling energy to play the video stream on your TV.
Launch Offers On Amazon Fire TV
- Cashback of Rs.499 for Prime Members
- 100GB Airtel Data on BroadBrand & on 4G wifi connections for 3 months
- 240GB Data on YOU BROADBAND
- 3-month free premium subscription for Eros Now
- 6 months of ad-free streaming on music streaming Apps like Gaana, as well as a month of ad-free streaming on Voot and Voot Kids.
Is It Worth Buying Amazon Fire TV Stick?
This looks like a useless purchase of Rs. 3999 But let me explain to you that it is worth every penny spend on this streaming media device.
- It makes your Simple HDTV a Smart TV. You can watch online content on bigger screen easily.
- It removes the problem of formatting downloaded movie on Pendrive. It saves time & efforts.
- You can watch content directly from your mobile to your TV screen. It allows screen Mirroring.
- It saves your Kids eyes from harmful radiations because they watch on TV Screen which is bigger in size & away from their eyes.
If you're at all put resources into the Amazon Prime universe, the Fire TV is an easy decision. What's more, if you officially claim a Fire TV and are thinking about the redesign, we just prescribe pulling the trigger if you have a 4K UHD TV or expect to buy one soon. Else, you can bear to hold off on the upgrade.
Amazon Fire TV Stick Review
Picture Quality - 9/10
Sound Quality - 9.5/10
Hardware Quality - 9/10
Value For Money - 9/10
Final Word
If you're at all put resources into the Amazon Prime universe, the Fire TV is an easy decision. Grab this best fire tv stick.


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March 20 2018, 06:36
Infinity versus finity. Eternity.
In finite space distance can be calculated in up down or across directions by normal mathematics.But infinity is a space where if you multiply the distance of infinity or add infinite space to another quantity of infinite space you always get the same answer.That answer is simply Infinity.Ten times infinity equals infinity.So the amount off space in all the Infinity calculations is the same.So you could say that all of infinity is the same space.This is not the case in Finite space, where all the space is at a different space,
Therefore Infininite space is a different sort of space to Finite space.
Finite space is outer space.
Infinite space cannot be outer space.There is no outer space mathematics in Infinite space.If Infinite space is not "out there" where is it.?
It is inner space.
Yet if you travel "out there"and keep going into infinity , into the infinite universe,How can you say infinity is not out there?And if infinity is the same bit of space everywhere, everything out there must be the new type of space called infinity.Therefore infinite space is also finite space, which makes these two types of space the same type of space from the point of view of infinity, but not from the point of view of finity.Therefore this fourth dimension of space includes in its nature the other three dimensions of space.
Therefore all space being the same point in space ,is the true nature of space.The true nature of space is inner space, and its mathematics does not include distance or time.
Time does not exist in infinite space.Nor distance.
You can work out Eternity for yourself from the previous posts in the same way.All calculations of time can be added up to a finite amount of time but eternity does not do so.If you multilply or add eternity to eternity, you find that it still adds up to eternity , therefore all points in time are the same in eternity, therefore by the same logic as used with space there is another dimension of time which is not the past present and future idea of time.
If you look at Eternity and Infinity side by side, you can see that time is a distance travelled in a 3D universe, but if this distance moves up a level to Infinity then distance does not exist, so you can see that time is a product of this 3D space.In 4D space you would have to change the meaning /dimension of Time to say that it would take forever or eternity to travel an infinite ammount of distance.So Eternity is a product of infinity, it is a dimension of Infinity.It is a dimension of 4D space.
Time is a product of Space.A dimension of space.
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Photography provided by Jared Chambers
When you are selling a professional service, what really sets you apart from your competitors? Many of our clients say it's their expertise and responsiveness. That may very well be true, but can you prove it? Let's be honest, it's really difficult to prove that your engineers are smarter than the engineers who work for your competitors.
That's where we come in.
AEC Marketing offer a wide-array of services from branding and website design to proposal production and interview coaching. In a nutshell, we help our clients win new business and raise visibility for their brand.


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Introducing Emily Keal of Online Toolbox, Finalist in the Woman Who…Achieves in Business Category.
Emily director of Online Toolbox specialising in Internet Marketing and Website design. You cut her and she bleeds internet marketing, she's been training business owners how to dramatically improve their online presence, for more than 5 years.
Outside of this she is a lecturer in Computing for Warwickshire College and Business Mentor supporting Young Enterprise.
Emily inspires the best from her team with her forward thinking, lively and engaging approach – regularly brainstorming as a group to keep the ideas fresh.
Teacher, sales, marketing and all round problem solver – Emily has one job really, to lead her team to succeed. And bring in the cupcakes – of course.
Congratulations Emily on being a Woman Who…Achieves in Business Finalist.
Come along and support Emily and our other Finalists at the Awards Lunch which takes place on Friday 5th May at Coombe Abbey Hotel (Limited availability)
Woman Who…Achieves in Business Category Sponsored by Askews Accountants


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Getting started
To start your patients on Orenitram, download and complete a referral form, then submit the completed form to ASSIST. Download referral form.
To learn more about initial treatment with Orenitram, request the Start Guide from an Orenitram Sales Rep.
For more information, see the Full Circle ASSIST Support Video.
Sample referral form
The following is a sample of completed sections of a patient referral form. It is being provided by United Therapeutics Corporation for educational purposes only and is not a guarantee of coverage or reimbursement. It is the responsibility of the healthcare provider to determine coverage and reimbursement parameters and appropriate coding for specific patients and/or procedures.
Ensure the patient reads, understands, and completes the following sections of the form, including all necessary contact and insurance information (see below)
- Any missing information (eg, missing signature) may delay the initiation of therapy
- ASSIST will follow up with patient or provider regarding any important missing information
- Ensure the patient signs and dates the release
You or your staff determine the appropriate prescription information for the Specialty Pharmacy to fulfill
The example below shows information for a patient on a TID dosing schedule with a 0.125-mg titration every 3 days. 4 mg is an example target dose and is not intended to represent a recommended dose. Increase the dose as tolerated to achieve optimal clinical response.
- You or your staff can also provide side effect management strategies
- Don't forget to sign before submitting the form
NOTE: The signature appears at the bottom of page 2 before the side effect management strategies


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An Almost Disastrous Winter Road Trip Through Southern Utah
Rule number one of road trips: plans never go as planned. Something you just have to learn and deal with. This past weekend we had planned to go to Alstrom Point, a lookout point of Lake Powell, to camp and hangout.
We left Friday evening after work, the weather continued to get worse the further south we went. Driving the majority of the way through white out conditions. Sasquatch isn't 4WD (yet), but she handles the snow well. We got to the town of Big Water, where you turn off the highway and have 20 miles of dirt road before Alstrom Point. It was 2AM so we decided to call it a night and finish the rest of the way in the morning.
There was no snow on the ground where we had slept and the roads didn't look to wet, so we ate some muffins and headed on towards our destination. About 4 miles in, there is a little river through the road that you have to cross, not a problem. 6 miles in, the roads are getting a little bit worse but still nothing that Sasquatch can't handle. We are at about 9 miles when the road turned into a giant mud pit and now I know we are in trouble but I can't stop now or there is no way we are getting out. So I keep my head down and keep driving. We get to a dry spot in the road and take a break. Knowing that the road is only going to get worse from here on out, we decided that it would be best to turn around. The only problem is we still have to get through the half mile mud pit, but this time its uphill! There was a couple spots where I thought we were in trouble as I heard the wheels spinning and but we weren't moving. In a half panic I dropped down the gear and she climbed right up the muddy mountain.
So now what do we do for the rest of the weekend?
We went down to Horseshoe Bend since 3 of the 4 of us had never been there. Definitely worth it. And from there we headed to Zion National Park which was hammered by the snow storm. The park ranger told us that they received over 15 inches of snow! You think Zion is magical in the summer? You should see it covered in snow, I've never seen anything quite like it. We drove through the park and stopped to photograph Watchman at sunset. The sky put on a show for us that night. Top 5 favorite sunset.
We grabbed some dinner and then parked the bus for the night. Hung up the lights and starting playing games. Have you played 'What Do You Meme?' I Haven't laughed that hard it a long time. Simply hilarious. 10/10 would recommend. You can pick yours up here. We then snuggled into bed and turned on a movie as we fell asleep at the base of Watchmen Tower.
Winter road tripping in a semi converted school bus can be tricky. Here is our list of things we wish we would have had with us to help brave the freezing temperatures and white out snow conditions:


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Nation & World
As GOP's Palin campaigns, Obama ad calls her a distraction
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Republican John McCain showed off his vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in this key battleground state Saturday as Democratic rival Barack Obama's campaign aired a new TV ad urging voters not be distracted by McCain putting a woman on the GOP ticket.
It wasn't Denver's 75,000-seat Invesco Field at Mile High, but the Republican ticket filled the stands and infield of Southwestern Pennsylvania's 3,200-seat Consol Energy Park — home of independent baseball's Washington Wild Things — for McCain to introduce his running mate. Palin is only the second woman in American history to be a vice presidential candidate from a major party.
"I had a lot of good people to choose from," McCain told the enthusiastic crowd. "I have found the right partner...I found someone who has accomplished reform, who has accomplished and managed a multi-billion dollar budget and fought against corruption and the failed politics of the past."
Palin told the crowd she's not interested in being vice president to maintain the status quo.
"I didn't get into government to do the safe and easy thing," she said. "It's like the that old adage 'A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship is built.' Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The people of America expect us to seek public office and to serve for the right reason."
Palin repeated many of the lines she delivered in her introductory speech Friday in Dayton, Ohio, including remarks praising Sen. Hillary Clinton for breaking the political glass ceiling and collecting 18 million votes in the Democratic presidential primaries.
But where the Clinton line drew cheers in Dayton, it was lustily booed in this town, located about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
Obama and running mate Joe Biden, meanwhile, stumped in Ohio Saturday. At the same time, their campaign unveiled a 30-second national TV ad that says McCain's selection of Palin should not obscure the fact that McCain candidacy represents a continuation of President Bush's policies.
"So, while this may be his running mate," an announcer says with a photo of Palin on the screen, "America knows this is McCain's agenda." The visual then switches to a shot of McCain and Bush. "We can't afford four more years of the same."
Obama himself offered a non-committal assessment of Palin during a television interview released Saturday. Speaking during a taping of CBS' "60 Minutes," Obama said Palin "Obviously, she's a fine mother and an up and coming public servant" but added "It's too early for me to gauge what kind of running mate she'll be. My sense is that she subscribes to John McCain's agenda."
The new ad ran as McCain and Palin campaigned their way through the southwestern area of Pennsylvania, making short stops before the late afternoon ballpark rally.
Earlier in the day, McCain and Palin greeted voters at Tom's Diner's in Pittsburgh's Southside neighborhood.
"It's great to see another part of the country," Palin told reporters who accompanied the candidates into the diner.
Palin, who has been on the go since being whisked with her husband and five children from Alaska to Dayton, Ohio, for McCain's vice presidential announcement, said she's enjoying campaigning and admitted to not getting much sleep in the last few days.
"Yeah, a little sleep, but we're not going to get much sleep," she said, holding her son, Trig.
Obama and Biden hit the diner circuit in Ohio before attending a funeral service in Cleveland for the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. The Ohio Democrat was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and a staunch support of Hillary Clinton during the primaries.
Obama told reporters he was "deeply concerned" about the threat of Hurricane Gustav to New Orleans and was asking his Senate staff to monitor the situation. Obama also spoke Saturday with FEMA director R. David Paulison and to officials in Louisiana.
"We're praying for New Orleans," Obama said.
Biden said the state and federal government seems "much, much, much more prepared" for this storm than Hurricane Katrina.
Even so, he said, "Say a prayer it doesn't hit. They've had enough."
McCain also expressed concern about Gustav, saying in a taped segment of FOX News Sunday that next week's Republican National Convention in St. Paul-Minneapolis might be trimmed or altered because of the storm barreling towards the Gulf Coast.
"It wouldn't be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster," he said in the taped interview.
The Democratic candidates also attended a rally Saturday evening in Dublin, Ohio, an affluent swing-vote suburb of Columbus that is home to corporate headquarters including Wendy's International and boasts a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course. Nicklaus, the legendary golfer, endorsed President Bush in 2004 at a rally in Columbus.
However, Dublin seemed a natural fit for the Irish-Catholic Biden. Dublin's motto: "Irish is an attitude."
At the Yankee Kitchen in Boardman, Ohio, the Obamas and Bidens shook hands and posed for photos before tucking into booth for breakfast. They talked to an unemployed social worker a retired road superintendent and a McDonald's franchise owner and Obama fund-raiser who said he bought one of his stores from Michelle Obama's uncle.
Lucy Moreland-Smith, a deputy clerk at Youngstown Municipal Court, called a friend from the restaurant said gushed into the phone that she was watching the man she believed would be the next president eats breakfast:
"They're just eating and talking like normal people," she said. "And look, he is just talking like a normal conversation with his wife while he's sitting there eating and drinking coffee. He stuffed his mouth with eggs. I love him. He's my kind of guy."
For more McClatchy politics coverage:Check out McClatchy's expanded Politics coverage


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Kachiri is a female vampire and the apparent founder of the Amazon coven, which includes Zafrina and Senna, both turned by her. They reside deep in the Amazonian rainforest; they are known to have lived outside civilization for centuries and for not keeping up the human façade.
Kachiri is the only member of the Amazon coven to not exist in the movie franchise.
Early life
Kachiri used to belong to an ancient native tribe located on the fringes of the Pantanal. After she was changed, she went back for her closest friends, Senna and Zafrina. They've been together ever since, rarely leaving the wet lands, hunting in the habitations along the fringes. Their self-sufficient way of life has kept them a secret from most other vampires. Carlisle and his family discovered them in the 1940's while on a hunting trip, the Cullens' interest in large animal game brought them to an area other vampires dismissed for its lack of human prey. The Amazons were quite taken with Carlisle's gentle, friendly manner.
Breaking Dawn
- Main article: Breaking Dawn
- "Zafrina and Senna. But where's Kachiri? I've never seen the three of you apart before."
- ―Carlisle to Zafrina and Senna[src]
Kachiri is instrumental in helping Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale find Hulien and Nahuel to prove to the Volturi that Renesmee means no threat and to prevent a fight from breaking out. Because of this, Kachiri goes with Alice and Jasper while Zafrina and Senna make their way to Forks. After locating Nahuel and Huilen, they make it to Forks just before the battle commences, and Kachiri is reunited with her coven mates. After the confrontation resolved peacefully, she returns to South America with her coven.
Physical appearance
Along with the rest of her coven, Kachiri is described as being dark skinned, 6'4" tall with long limbs and muscular, and has wild black hair. She is also more muscular than the others and wears wilder clothing. Bella describes her as the wildest-looking of the three.
|Amazon coven


text: Two new in-ear headphones from Klipsh have come into play, the Image S2 and Image S4, bot for well under the $100 mark. Nothing unusual about this you may say but Klipsch is not usually known for making its headphones easily affordable to the masses. Despite the price cut, both the Klipsch Image S2 and Image S4 have the same Klipsch trademark specs as their more … [Read more...]


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In June, the board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) -- the multi-jurisdictional entity that oversees transportation planning in Travis, Williamson and Hays Counties -- is set to adopt its CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan, the latest version of its long-range transportation plan for the region. (This planning effort is required by state and federal law, covers a 25-year planning horizon, and is updated every five years.)
After reviewing the draft (currently available at www.campotexas.org) and talking with local citizens and leaders, Liveable City feels the CAMPO 2030 Plan is unacceptable --it does not fix our traffic problems, it does not reflect community values, it is not affordable, and it runs counter to the vision that Central Texas has endorsed for its future.
Liveable City has adopted a resolution, also signed by other community organizations (including ; ), calling on CAMPO's Transportation Policy Board to reject the 2030 Plan as drafted. Instead, the board (comprised of elected and appointed local and state officials) should seek a substantial strategic revision that serves to advance Central Texas toward its community goals of managed growth, sustainability, and equity.
According to CAMPO, the region is required to meet a mid-June federal deadline for the adoption of a long-range plan. Staff at CAMPO have indicated the organization's willingness and desire to make changes in the future -- to the specifics of the plan itself, and to the way CAMPO and the region approach the transportation planning challenge. Final approval of the 2030 Plan has already been delayed in response to serious concerns among many of the jurisdictions (most notably, the City of Austin and Travis County) represented on the CAMPO board.
Liveable City hopes this delay will lead to substantial improvements in the 2030 Plan. In any event, we think the CAMPO board needs to respond to the community by making strong and immediate commitment to begin transforming our regional transportation plan into the document we really need and want.
Why the 2030 Plan fails
Simply put, the problem with the 2030 Plan is that it's not appreciably different from previous CAMPO plans. In recent years, and certainly since the now-expiring plan was adopted in 2000, Central Texans have made loud and clear that they don't like the transportation status quo and don't want to see it continue. The 2030 Plan should be the first opportunity to reflect this new community consensus. But it doesn't.
Instead, CAMPO bases this long-range plan on assumptions that the population of the three-county area -- which it expects will nearly double by 2030 -- will continue to sprawl out into the countryside, including over the Edwards Aquifer; that just as many, if not more, of the trips in the region will be made by people driving alone; and that the rising cost of driving will not appreciably change travel behavior.
This echoes the "status quo" Scenario A developed by Envision Central Texas, a planning process that involved citizens and elected officials across five central Texas counties. However, Scenario A was overwhelmingly rejected by the tens of thousands of citizens who participated in ECT's community visioning project. Instead, those citizens, by wide margins, endorsed scenarios that reflect a fundamentally different way of managing growth, emphasizing density and mixed use, regional jobs/housing balance, protecting open space and the environment, and providing more transportation and land use choices.
Of course, one can argue that the preferred ECT vision is a vision, and it's CAMPO's job to do a realistic assessment of the region's needs. But all sensible planners and policymakers, including the staff of CAMPO, publicly acknowledge that the transportation investments detailed in the 2030 Plan will go a long way toward creating the land-use and growth patterns of the future. If regional leaders are as serious as they claim to be about wanting to make the ECT vision a reality, now is the right time, and the CAMPO 2030 Plan is the right place.
In addition to the 2030 Plan's basic failure to address this new community consensus, it contains several more specific elements that Liveable City finds problematic. The many thousands of citizens who, like Liveable City, opposed the regional toll road plan -- adopted last year by CAMPO as an amendment to the now-expiring long-range plan -- will find little in the 2030 Plan that indicates toll roads are even controversial, let alone measures that address the toll plan's financial, social, and environmental problems. And despite the fact that public opinion couldn't be much more clearly against major development over the Edwards Aquifer, the 2030 Plan still calls for unacceptable road projects in the area.
What's more, even with all of these problems, the 2030 Plan still doesn't actually reduce or even stabilize traffic congestion in the region. According to CAMPO, under the 2030 Plan the number of congested roadways in the three-county area would triple, and travel times would likewise substantially increase, over baseline 2000 levels. Throughout the plan, performance measures like this are compared to a "no-build" alternative -- what would happen if the region experienced the expected growth but made no new transportation investments at all. Naturally, the 2030 Plan's performance is better than the no-build scenario. But what the plan is missing is any comparison to alternatives that invest our limited resources in different ways. Such an analysis might find that other strategies are wiser, better tailored to community goals, and more sustainable, while also doing more to improve mobility -- the primary purpose of CAMPO.
What needs to be done
It's true, as some (including, indirectly, CAMPO itself) have pointed out, that the 2030 Plan is not as bad as it could have been. The plan does not further extend the planned tollway system, and roads that in past plans were slated to become freeways are instead set for "corridor studies" to weigh alternative transportation options. The plan also calls for increased investments in bicycle/pedestrian facilities and public transportation. And the plan "outlines some steps that CAMPO will be taking to more robustly coordinate regional land use and transportation in the future."
Staff at CAMPO have indicated that the scores of individual projects in the 2030 Plan project list -- including both roadways and other infrastructure -- have been evaluated under the preferred Envision Central Texas growth scenario. The results of this evaluation are not in the 2030 Plan draft, and Liveable City feels this important information should be released immediately for review by the public and the CAMPO board.
However, Liveable City feels CAMPO must go farther, and soon, to revise its plan to only include projects that are consistent with, that perform well and that serve to relieve congestion under the preferred ECT vision. A footnote in the 2030 Plan notes, with apparent approval, that after implementing its similar vision (high density, mixed use, alternative transportation) for its region, Vancouver, B.C., has seen such a significant decrease in peak-hour auto travel that local planners are now trying to figure out how to remove unnecessary roadway lane miles. It would be much simpler in Austin to not build those roads in the first place.
This approach could also help CAMPO deal with the ever-growing financial burden of the transportation status quo. By law, the 2030 Plan has to be "fiscally constrained," not just a wish-list of roads people might like to see built someday. The financial assumptions CAMPO cites to justify the 2030 Plan's fiscal soundness already include such elements as $3 billion in toll-road financing, an as-yet-hypothetical increase in the gasoline tax, and expected "private sector contributions" -- all revenue sources whose long-term stability has yet to be proven.
But CAMPO also claims that (again, based on its status-quo vision) the actual needs of the region exceed even the $22 billion price tag of the 2030 Plan, and contemplates even more aggressive and speculative financing sources in the future. Liveable City believes now is the time to instead refocus our planning with a goal of financial, as well as environmental and social, sustainability. Instead of building roads we don't need and can't afford, we need to change the way we develop the region and use its resources to create long-term stability and balance.


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Food and Beverage
CTRM software for total margin management throughout production
The Challenge
It is estimated that 90% of companies with large commodity exposure do not have an integrated CTRM system that allows them to manage commodity procurement and direct spend along with treasury and risk. Rather than Commodity Procurement Risk Management (CPRM) systems, these businesses have homegrown solutions, multiple and, in some cases, thousands of spreadsheets or an old legacy database. With the globalization of operations, this problem will only become greater without a system in place to manage the complexity created by expanding production chains.
The Opportunity
The opportunity for improved profits lies within enhancing transparency across risk, cash and procurement in order to gain a competitive advantage – a single source of data tracking all the operations of the business. By creating a single resource across the enterprise for sharing and viewing data, breaking down silos and applying and sharing deep expertise up and down the enterprise.
The Openlink Solution
Openlink provides a complete solution for margin management on finished goods – from raw materials procurement and forecasting to recipe management, contract management, transportation and logistics, right through to risk management, treasury management, compliance and reporting. This means you can follow the path of materials from origination to finished good for complete visibility into the margin contribution from every process throughout the value chain. With procurement and finance working within the same system, materials purchasing and hedging can be seamless. By adopting total margin management, a company can manage and monitor margin creation (and destruction) from each and every part of the commodity value chain and source all processes into one singular, real-time platform.Request a consultation
Measure and understand margin contribution from each process in the value chainChallenge
Any company that produces food or manufactures finished products needs to fully understand where, exactly, the profits and losses are generated. The challenge is that companies have literally thousands of raw materials contracts each with their own terms and conditions with different characteristics (e.g. priced, forward, long priced). So there is tremendous complexity in the management of physical contracts.Solution
With an Openlink solution, you can follow the path of materials all the way through the value chain – from origin all the way through to finished goods. Customizable features include such factors as price volatility, manufacturing costs, transportation and storage costs, and reformulation – in order to gain a true understanding of where the profits and losses come from in every step of the process. As a result of this transparency, you have the necessary information to take action to improve margins at multiple points in the process. Openlink provides comprehensive pricing analytics capable of valuing commodities inventory based on the current market price (mark to market). In addition, we value the supply chain demand against forward curves improving predictive analytics and forecasting. This helps to better understand P&L and how market volatility is affecting business performance. Examples include hedging price volatility, trade-offs between in-house and third-party origination and consideration of different transport options.
Uncover more effective strategies to mitigate the impact of supplier defaultChallenge
Supplier risk continues to be an issue for a variety of reasons, including general economic conditions and high price volatility for raw materials through every step of the product development and manufacturing value chain.Solution
Openlink's solution can help you devise strategies to mitigate the impact of supplier default using methods such as collateral management and supplier concentration management. This can help mitigate the effect of supplier failure to properly analyze and understand potential future exposure (PFE). You can also model the commercial impact of switching raw materials where this is an option in the manufacturing process.
A complete view across the business enables optimal commodities hedgingChallenge
Prices for commodities continue to be volatile, and fewer long-term purchasing contracts are generally available. For shipments that don't have back-to-back supply and purchase contracts, this can expose commodity management companies to price risk, which may, in turn, need to be hedged. But hedging is typically undertaken by the finance team, using spreadsheets to determine requirements, and is usually completed by procurement.Solution
Openlink's solution supports business processes that parallel the workflow, from planning and procurement to hedging. With a comprehensive overview, purchasing and finance teams get a complete view of company-wide inventory, as well as forward commitments when they are purchasing and hedging outstanding commodities. This enables effective hedging strategies that mitigate the effect of price volatility without adding unnecessarily to hedging costs. Additionally, with Openlink's Direct Spend Analytics & Forecasting tool, you get an aggregated view of hedged and unhedged positions across multiple divisions and locations, including cross-commodity hedges. You can optimize hedging strategies for better allocations across the business and reduce costs.
Align inventory and forward commitments with production forecastsChallenge
The ability to react to market forces and macro events is curtailed by not having a single source of the truth to capture this information. Companies can face lead time of up to 4 to 6 weeks to alter direct spend plans.Solution
By capturing current raw materials positions and inventory, forward commitments and finished good forecasts in a single system, Openlink's Direct Spend Analytics & Forecasting enables procurement to optimize the supply chain. One can also set up multiple bills of materials for manufacturing each individual product, and model the commercial impact of switching raw materials.
P&L ExplainedChallenge
There is a constant challenge understanding P&L impacts to the business and how and where those changes occur.Solution
Openlink provides comprehensive pricing analytics capable of valuing commodities inventory based on the current market price (mark to market) and can explain what the impacts to any P&L change are and where they occur, giving management greater trust in the numbers. In addition, we value the supply chain demand against forward curves, improving predictive analytics and forecasting. This helps to better understand P&L and how market volatility is affecting business performance.
- Products that make up your Openlink Solution:


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So you've got the carpets, upholstery or rugs (or all 3) cleaned and ready for the party. But, once the party gets going, how will you keep your precious items around your house safe? Instead of tossing the Wine and … Continue reading
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Choosing The Right Carpet | Where Do I Start?
In today's age, carpeting matters. Back when carpet was the "new thing" it was a luxury item but now, it's basic building block that help determine quality & even more, the value of the home itself. For instance, carpeting is … Continue reading
Stop Allergens at the Door this Spring
As winter comes to and end and spring begins, we all feel a burst of life. Flowers bloom, babies are born & the weather starts warm up. However, there is one downfall. Allergies! While you can't control the pollen in … Continue reading
Start The Year Fresh with These Cleaning Tips
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Stain Proof Your Home this Holiday Season
Over the years, you've worked hard on your home. You've invested in a couch, carpetand a soothing and inviting environment for your family members to come home to each and every day. But let's be honest, how often do you … Continue reading
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Carpet cleaning companies generally use one of three methods: Steam cleaning, spray-on additives or hot carbonated extraction. Chem-Dry uses hot carbonated extraction, which is more effective and healthier than the others. The most common alternative is steam cleaning, which works only to … Continue reading
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Any act of creation, whether it is a piece of art or a new business, starts off as a vision.
Think about it: everything manmade that we can see around us began in someone's imagination.
If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, your ability to get other people (clients, customers, investors) to buy into your vision is paramount. The more clearly you can imagine and communicate that vision, the more likely it is to become a reality.
The opposite is also true: if you can't imagine it, it's not real. The moment you stop seeing or believing in the thing you want to create, all of it vanishes.
How to Create a Compelling Vision
Here's how to convince other people (and yourself) of something that doesn't exist yet:
Be transparent. You don't need to have everything figured out, or pretend you are further along than you actually are. Trust, at a deep emotional level, is the key to influence. And transparency engenders trust.
Tell stories. There's a reason why stories have been around since the dawn of time, why the Bible contains so many parables, and why most good speeches start with one. Stories help us relate more closely to you and your ideas. They humanize you and make your big vision into something smaller and more tangible.
Get specific. The best way to sell something that doesn't exist is to make it as real as possible. That means incorporating video, diagrams, and specific plans about what you are creating. It means thinking through the hard questions before you get put on the spot.
Give away value. This one mostly happens over time. When you cultivate relationships and help other people make their vision a reality, they will be more likely to return the favor and believe in you. When the time comes that you need help, be ready to answer the question "What's in it for me?".
Keep the faith. Perception is key when it comes to vision. And your perception influences other people's perception. The first sale is yourself, because family, friends, and potential investors will only believe in your vision if you do.
Do it again. The more often you can practice bringing something from your imagination into the world, the better you'll get at it. This is why I've started creating new projects, as opposed to new businesses; they allow me to test ideas quickly without feeling like I have to live or die by them.
It's Your Turn
If you implement the advice above, you will get more people on board with your ideas, raise more money, and attract business partners and relationships more quickly. You'll also feel better. Because when you are able to paint a clearer picture of your vision for others, you're better equipped to deal with your own self-doubt.
This isn't a one-time process. You must constantly sharpen and re-communicate your vision, as it's always evolving.
In those moments when your imagination falters, it can be helpful to get around and support people who are making their own visions a reality. If there is one key to success, it is surrounding yourself with people who have already done what you want to do.


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By Erik Stokstad, Science. For GSS Losing Biodiversity chapter 6. Excerpt: One of nature's best scavengers is under serious threat in Africa, largely from poison. According to the first analysis of African vultures, populations of seven species have fallen by 80% or more over three generations. ...Despite their gloomy reputation, vultures provide valuable services. Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) have been found to remove up to 22% of the waste produced in towns along the Horn of Africa. And by picking clean the carcasses of dead animals, vultures indirectly keep the numbers of feral dogs in check; that, in turn, reduces transmission rates for diseases like rabies. ...The main threat appears to be poison. In most reported cases, vultures are the incidental victims of attempts by farmers to kill lions or hyenas by lacing carcasses with pesticides and other toxic compounds. But more and more frequently, vultures are being directly targeted by poachers who presumably don't want park rangers to notice the birds circling over killed elephants or rhinos. ...Vultures are also killed for use in traditional medicine. Various parts are thought to bring good luck or ward off evil spirits, whereas eyes and brains are prized for clairvoyance. Vultures are eaten in some African countries, and smoked vulture meat is trafficked internationally.... http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/06/vulture-populations-plummet-across-africa
Updates >


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If you read the news around the world, there are people keep saying a housing bubble is imminent in their county. Although it has just happened, like in the United States when the last housing bubbles brought down a few investment banks which had been hit by the sub-prime scandals, people who are smart enough say a housing bubble is in the making there. China is another country people is expecting to have its property bubble burst anytime soon. Why does this keep happening again and again?
It is due to the nature of housing. People keep on buying houses to live in it and to try to make a lot of money out of it by selling it at a higher margin. The question is, why don't people learn that they will drag down the economy due to their greed to make a profit? Why do they keep on doing the same thing again and again? Aren't the governments around the world doing anything about it?
Here's the thing about housing. There are genuine buyers who want to have a roof above their head and there are those who think houses as an investment. They are mixed together without any borders separating them in the same space. When you see a long line queuing up at a property launch, you cannot determine who are the genuine buyer and who are the speculators. The speculators who buy and want to make money out of the property want the same treatment the genuine house buyers are getting. It will make the profit higher as the housing developers will throw in so many things into the sale. Including cheaper housing loans.
Governments around the world have been trying to control speculative buying of property by imposing tax on the profit anyone makes when a property is sold. In Malaysia it is known as Real Property Gain Tax. The current tax regime impose tax on property sold within 5 years of the property being bought. The tax imposed is a withholding tax where the seller will have to pay the Internal Revenue Department and only get it back once it is checked out there was no profit made on the property transaction. The withholding tax for Malaysian property sellers is 2%.
Does this current withholding tax stop or reduce the property transactions or sales of houses? Does it stop the speculative buying of houses? No. It does not.
Here's why.
Any good property speculator will know you only have to factor in the cost of the Real Property Gain Tax into the margin that you will make from the sale of the property. This Real Property Gain Tax is not the only thing the property speculator has to contend with. The Malaysian government has imposed in 2010 a maximum margin of 70% on any third housing loan taken by any one buyer. That is already a deterrent factor there. Still people buys houses speculatively and try to make huge profits out of it.
Banks are also culprits in the making of housing bubbles. Why? Because they make so much money out of giving out housing loans to people who want to buy houses, whether they need it or not. A speculators adage has always been "If you can use other people money, do not use your own money." This has also been the adage that fueled a few of economic crisis in the world.
Another factor why housing bubble will visit the world every few years in this modern era is due to the property gurus that keep teaching people to buy and sell property to make a profit out of it. While these property gurus go running and laughing to the bank thanking the gullible students for paying them an arm and a leg trying to learn how to make money from property speculation, new property speculators are born and play the property speculation game all over again
So, as the sun keeps on shining and people keeps on needing a house, a housing bubble will keeps on visiting each property hot spot.
Again and again...
*Originally wrote this as a LinkedIn post : https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140617041553-25491383-why-a-housing-bubble-will-always-happens-again-and-again-all-over-the-world?trk=prof-post