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The Truth About Venture Capital
This story appears in the February 2000 issue of . Subscribe »
Some entrepreneurs beat the bushes in search of venture capital. Some pound the pavement. Others look high and low. Still others search with a fine-toothed comb or cover all the bases. Then there's Mark Fletcher, who did none of the above. (He avoids idioms.) Fletcher--chairman and vice president of technology for eGroups Inc., a free e-mail community service that allows Internet users to connect around common interests--sat back and let venture capitalists come to him. Well, maybe he didn't just sit back.
"We started working on eGroups [formerly ONElist] in August '97 and went online in January '98," recalls Fletcher. After nine months running the new business evenings and weekends while working full time, "we got calls from [venture capital firms] CMGI and Bertelsmann Ventures saying they had gotten together and were interested in investing in us. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving [1998], they called to set up a meeting the following day. We got the terms of the offer the day after Thanksgiving, and on Monday we signed a term sheet." In less than a week, the 29-year-old entrepreneur had arranged for a $4 million investment in his start-up.
Does Fletcher advise other entrepreneurs to wait for VCs to approach them? "No," he says emphatically. "My philosophy creating the company was: Let's get the service up and prove ourselves first. By Thanksgiving [1998] we were approaching a million users, so we could go in and say, `Here's what we have; here's how it works; it's a proven commodity.'"
Fletcher's experience would seem to perpetuate the myth that there is an abundance of venture capitalists in search of needy entrepreneurs. Fact is, there's more funding than ever, but there's no shortage of would-be takers. Tens of thousands of companies are unable to arrange any financing. Based on a PricewaterhouseCoopers Money Tree national survey, of the estimated $20 billion in VC funds invested in 1999, more than 90 percent went to tech ventures (including biotech, communications, computers, software and Net-based companies).
Does that confirm the myth that only high-tech companies qualify for venture capital? No, says John Martinson, chair of the National Venture Capital Association, the industry trade group. "There's certainly a segment [of the VC industry] that invests in consumer and low-tech companies--maybe not restaurants, but restaurant chains, for example," says Martinson, who also is managing partner of Edison Venture Fund in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. His member firms look to build sizeable companies that can command a premium value, either in an IPO or upon sale to a larger company--"companies that can be $100 million in annual revenues in three to five years," he explains. In today's market, that usually means technology companies.
But Dee Powers thinks there's more money available now for nontech firms. "Most VCs are mesmerized by the dot.coms," observes the cofounder of Profit Dynamics Inc., a research and consulting firm in Phoenix. "[But] since last summer, they've begun returning to quality and value investments, looking at management and markets. Entrepreneurs still have to look harder for nontech capital, but it's there."
To find it, Powers recommends checking the library for Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital. Or try VC directories, then call firms directly and ask for their requirements. While your best path to capital is a referral from your accountant or attorney, another option is searching the Internet. A Lycos Web search found 30 VCs seeking queries from nontech businesses.
Another prevalent myth: Venture capital is available only if your company needs millions of dollars. High-tech start-up veteran Neal O'Farrell agrees: "[As a high-tech entrepreneur,] unless you're looking for $4 million or more, forget venture capital. Of course, that's a generalization." In reality, the generalization is contradicted by the experiences of countless entrepreneurs and diminished by the formation of more and more small venture capital firms and Internet portals targeting start-ups needing smaller amounts.
As managing editor of Bottom Up (www.bottom-up.com) in Cincinnati, O'Farrell helps match start-ups with investors. His e-zine connects compatible parties while providing entrepreneurs with news, information, a panel of high-tech consultants and more. O'Farrell, author of Stepping Into Magic: A Handbook for the High Tech Start-up (Pylon Books, $24.95, 513-677-6749), has seen "tens of thousands of great ideas that won't make it because they aren't big enough. They might do $50 million [in sales], but that's not enough for VCs." His goal at Bottom Up is to help fill the funding gap for start-ups that don't yet appeal to the VC community.
Apple Computer's former chief evangelist, Guy Kawasaki, is eyeing a comparable niche: the gap above friends and family and below Sand Hill Road. Kawasaki's third and latest start-up, Garage.com, in Palo Alto, California, is intended "to help guys and gals in a garage find seed capital ranging from $4 million to $1 million," he says.
The Web site (www.garage.com) has a two-stage submission process. The first stage asks for a three page "executive summary" (who you are and what you want). The second stage is a detailed 10-page amplification. The best prospects are directed to a group of VCs and angel investors to exchange one-to-one e-mails. In the first nine months of 1999, Garage.com helped 20 start-ups raise more than $60 million.
Contributing writer Paul DeCeglie writes our monthly "Money" column.
Control Freaks
Kawasaki, who recently authored his seventh book, Rules for Revolutionaries (HarperBusiness, $25, www.harpercollins.com, raised $4.25 million for each of the first two rounds of financing for Garage.com, and raised $12.5 million more last September.
Which leads to another myth: Entrepreneurs risk losing control of their businesses to VCs. That may be true, says Spencer Kluesner, president and CEO of CyberLoan.com, a Denver firm with an online application system for business and commercial real estate loans. "Venture capitalists usually demand a larger percentage than an angel investor, and often take controlling interest, but your private company is probably worth only half that of a public company with the same revenues."
Which is to say, in the words of Guy Kawasaki, "I have never met an entrepreneur who, after an IPO or an acquisition, said, `I'm worth $22 million, but if I'd taken 10 percent less dilution I'd be worth $25 million. I'm unhappy.' You're either worth $22 million or you're worth nothing. Don't focus on [dilution percentages]."
What should you focus on? "Build a solid business before courting VCs," says Bill Tomeo, president and CEO of Tellsoft Technologies Inc. The Colorado Springs, Colorado, company, provides technology that enables customers to use any telephone to create, broadcast and archive live audio to the Internet. "Do your homework. Determine which firms play in your market, what their expectations are and at which stage they invest. Perhaps more important, evaluate your management team. Before VCs put money into your business, they want to ensure you have a [capable] management team."
Tomeo should know: He was brought in to assist the company's founders, former MCI engineers who lacked management experience, as part of TellSoft's initial $1 million round of venture funding. The founders remain aboard as executive vice presidents, and the company secured second-round financing of $7.3 million in October 1999.
In a recent survey of VC firms by Profit Dynamics, management caliber was the primary factor influencing investment decisions. The other determinants, in order of importance, were:
1. size of the company's market;
2. proprietariness, uniqueness or brand strength;
3. return on investment; and
4. potential for growth.
While two or three years ago VCs wouldn't even talk to inexperienced entrepreneurs, many VC Web sites now reflect a more relaxed posture, calling for "an experienced management team or the willingness to build one." It seems VCs are accepting the fact that the entrepreneur may constitute the entire management team.
Does that discredit the myth that VC firms are out to wrest control from founders? "It's not about replacing existing management, unless they're underperforming," says Kluesner. VCs, he says, look for "a balance that will provide investors with an outstanding return and motivate the founder to become wealthy in the process. We have never had a success where the company leaders did not become multimillionaires. The question is, how wealthy the founders will be relative to returns to our investors. And sometimes those founders are displaced."
Which may not be such a bad thing, argues Arthur Lipper, whose British Far East Holdings Ltd. in Del Mar, California, arranges financing for companies with extraordinary risk-related potential. "Investors frequently prompt management changes" when projections aren't met, says Lipper. He sees that as good for the entrepreneur, who, after all, is also an investor. "Coaches retire pitchers when they aren't performing. Why shouldn't entrepreneurs be retired [similarly]?"
To minimize the risk of being phased out, negotiate an employment agreement. But don't insist on control. Venture firms want top-level management--people who have taken companies public, have venture-backed management experience and boast a high-growth history. If that's not you, be prepared to step aside, because even if your technology is unique and the potential great, venture capitalists will walk away from an intransigent founder unwilling to relinquish control.
Know Your VC
One risk that certainly is not a myth is that of unscrupulous brokers who present themselves as venture capitalists. "Anyone who asks for money upfront is not a venture capitalist," says Kluesner. To determine if you're dealing with a broker or a VC, "ask who their investors are," Kluesner says. "A VC will rattle off names and fund sizes. If they say, 'It depends on the deal,' that's a broker."
Once you've determined a VC is legit, there are more questions to ask. "Find out who they've invested in and talk to those companies," says Kluesner. "Concentrate on VCs that invest in your industry. [Otherwise], you'll spend too much time educating them in your business, you won't benefit from their advice, and in the end they aren't likely to make that jump. Remember, they're not only investors, they're also your [potential] partners."
That proved true for David Cremin who, at 29, cofounded Vis-A-Vis Entertainment, a company that amassed a library of songs for distribution over telephone lines. "We were a little ahead of our time," Cremin reflects 10 years later. Intending to solicit capital infusion from a company called DigiDesign, Cremin inquired about the company through its financier, Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. "When I explained why I was looking for DigiDesign, Draper expressed interest in financing my company."
Draper invested $450,000 in seed capital in return for 33 percent of the company. "I couldn't have found a better VC," Cremin says of the relationship that lasted until 1998, when Cremin left Vis-A-Vis to become a partner in Draper's new Los Angeles firm, Zone Ventures (www.zonevc.com), which invests between $750,000 and $1.5 million in IT companies with huge market potential and great management teams.
Edward P. "Ned" Grace III, president of Phelps Grace International Inc., an investment firm in Orlando, Florida, urges entrepreneurs to understand the character, background and motivations of investors. Many founders put a lot of time and research into starting companies, "but risk blowing it all by not knowing their investors," he warns. "These people can, in the end, control [your] destiny." Grace further advises: "Look for value added from venture capitalists or any investor. What are their contacts? What is their power base? What do they bring to the table besides money?"
That persuaded Mark Fletcher that CMGI and Bertelsmann Ventures would make ideal partners for eGroups, which now has more than 10 million users. "CMGI was the initial funder of GeoCities, Lycos and others we have synergies with," says Fletcher. "Bertelsmann Ventures gave us access to [parent] Bertelsmann AG, the third-largest media company in the world. That enabled us to enter Europe. Not to mention, they own Random House, Doubleday, 50 percent of barnsandnoble.com, and have a board seat on AOL."
If you can find an investor who shares your vision, if you've done your homework, and if both parties agree it's a mutually beneficial fit, the remaining steps should be easy: The VC firm will give you a nonbinding term sheet to review. If that presents no problem, both parties investigate each other's facts and figures before negotiating the final points of the deal. Then lawyers draw up the documents. About a month later, you receive a check, and the VC firm appoints a director to your board. You and your VC share the same goal: to see your business grow and prosper. Once you've joined forces with the proper partner, Cremin says, "Get ready for the ride of your life."
Don't Be Myth-Led
1. Venture capitalists want to take control of my company. Not true. Most VCs want a fair portion of the company in return for their capital, but don't consider control unless your management team fails.
2. Venture capitalists load their deals with unfair terms. Some terms may seem unusual or unfair to an entrepreneur. For example, there may be a provision requiring the company to redeem investors' stock at a certain price after a certain period. Keep in mind that such a redemption represents a failure on the part of the VC, which will do everything possible to avoid taking this step.
3. Venture capitalists are only interested in numbers. VCs with finance backgrounds may want to dig into numbers. Those with technology backgrounds want to understand the technology. Management-oriented VCs want to spend time with key staffers. Overall, venture capitalists focus more on market, technology and people than on pure numbers.
4. Venture capitalists have unrealistic performance expectations. Our limited partners are making high-risk investments and expect high rewards. We must provide an overall return significantly better that the S&P 500. Top-quality, venture-backed start-ups have proven it is possible to achieve 40 to 50 percent annual growth.
5. Venture capitalists harp on "exit strategy." Limited partners expect a return on their investment in the form of cash or securities. Without an exit strategy, there is no return to investors.
6. Venture capitalists give me a lower valuation than a private placement. Sometimes. Venture capitalists, especially early-stage investors, spend significant time with entrepreneurs. We participate in business planning, sales strategy, key hiring decisions and links to the larger capital markets for additional investments or an IPO. In contrast, private investors tend to be less involved and offer less value in the long run.
7. Venture capitalists won't invest in small deals. The growth of venture capital "megafunds" that lean toward deals of $5 million or more has opened up opportunities for smaller funds to specialize. Smaller venture deals can get financed; you just have to look in the right places.
8. Venture capitalists are too quick to pull the plug. Almost never. That drags down the overall performance of the portfolio. Most VCs do their best to keep a company afloat.
9. Venture capitalists don't like signing nondisclosure agreements. True. Good ideas often arise in more than one place. If we sign overlapping nondisclosure agreements, it can become impossible to work with a company without violating covenants with someone else.
10. Venture capitalists are impossible to get on the phone. Guilty. In the early stages, it's far more effective to communicate electronically. After the investment, the VC will return your call. It's our money, too.
Stephen Fleming is general partner of Alliance Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in life sciences and IT startups.
Do's And Don'ts
Venture capitalists aren't untouchable--they're just busy. So send a business plan and cover letter before--or instead of--calling. Don't expect a response. Submit the plan to several firms. If invited to call (or if you must call), keep conversations brief.
In addition to a business plan, be prepared with a business summary focusing on the management team, profit projections, market position and exit strategy. Also put together marketing materials and due diligence analyses on the company, management and industry.
Take these materials--along with your product, if you have one--to your meeting to help the venture capitalist fully understand your product or service. Focus on your business plan. No pie-in-the-sky plans or dreams, no mention of products or services not covered in the business plan.
- expect a response
- dodge questions
- give vague answers
- hide significant problems
- expect immediate decisions
- fixate on pricing
- embellish facts or projections
- bring your lawyer
- prepare all materials before soliciting any firms
- send a business plan and cover letter first
- solicit several firms
- keep phone conversations brief
- remain positive and enthusiastic about your company, product, service
- know your minimum deal and walk away if necessary
- negotiate a deal you can live with
- investigate the venture capitalist's previous deals and current portfolio structure
Involvement in the venture capital market is complex. An accountant and attorney with VC experience and connections are essential and will provide your best leads to VC firms. For additional leads, check out the following:
- America's Business Fund Directory (http://www.businessfinance.com)
- Bottom Up (http://www.bottom-up.com)
- Capital Connection (http://www.capital-connection.com)
- Financing Start-Ups 1-800 831-7799
- Garage.com (http://www.garage.com)
- Infon Venture Capital Directory (http://www.infon.com)
- Investors Network (http://www.investorsnet.com)
- Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital Sources (public library)
- The Elevator.com (http://www.thelevator.com)
- The Quest for Capital: A Financing Guide for Entrepreneurs (http://www.capital-connection.com)
- Venture Capital Online (http://www.vcapital.com)
- Venture Capital Resource Library (http://www.vfinance.com)
- Venture Directory (http://www.venturedirectory.com)
- VentureTrack 2000 (http://www.datamerge.com)


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Clatsop County's new tobacco-free campuses are now in effect.
Tobacco use is prohibited at three Clatsop County properties in Astoria. Signs to that effect have been installed at the 800/820 Exchange St. offices, the Judge Guy Boyington Building at 857 Commercial St., and the public works complex at 1100 Olney Ave.
The new policy, approved by the Board of Commissioners in August, will eventually be extended to the remaining county properties, including the county courthouse and the Sheriffs Office/jail facility in Astoria and the parole and probation office and animal shelter in Warrenton.
The ban covers buildings and surrounding grounds, including parking lots. Violations would be classified as Class B violations and subject to fines of up to $300.
The tobacco policy is aimed at protecting the health of county employees and members of the public who do business at county facilities. It is also recognizes the traditional leading role of public health departments in reducing tobacco use. Tightening tobacco control policies has been shown to reduce its consumption and the impact of second-hand smoke.

subset: commoncrawl


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Moms In The Western Part Of Nation Are In The Majority
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released its 2014 Breastfeeding Report Card. States in the western part of the nation are in the top rankings, while southeastern states fall toward the bottom.
Photo credit: Monashee Alonso/Caiaimage/Getty Images
This year's stats
The CDC's annual report breaks down overall breastfeeding statistics across the nation as well as how each state ranks in terms of how many mothers are breastfeeding and for what amount of time. The report states that breastfeeding rates are continually rising across the country — approximately eight out of 10 newborns are being breastfed for at least some amount of time. In addition, there are now more International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) and Certified Lactation Counselors (CLCs) in the U.S.
The report states, "From 2006 through 2013, the number of IBCLCs increased from 2.1 to 3.5 per 1,000 live births. In 2013, there were 3.8 CLCs per 1,000 live births, compared to only 2.5 in 2011."
State by stateThe state-by-state stats are broken down into and determined by five indicators: ever breastfed; breastfeeding at 6 months; breastfeeding at 12 months; exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months; and exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months.
The five states with the highest breastfeeding rates are California (92.8 percent), Oregon (91.9), Washington (91.8), Montana (91.2) and Vermont (90.0). Aside from Vermont, the Western states are certainly leading the pack.
Interestingly, the lowest rates for breastfeeding seem to be largely regional as well, with southeastern states falling to the bottom of the list. Louisiana (56.9 percent), Kentucky (61.3), Mississippi (61.5), Arkansas (67.1) and Alabama (67.3) have some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the country. Beyond the southeast, West Virginia (59.3 percent), Delaware (65.7) and Missouri (67.9) also fell to the low end.
As for the reason behind the very different breastfeeding rates between the western and southeastern states, Larry Grummer-Strawn, chief of the CDC's nutrition branch, told The Washington Post, "I don't know that we fully know [why]. It's a different culture… in the general population and among health professionals."
He added that in the southern states physicians do not emphasize the importance of breastfeeding, telling patients instead that it "doesn't matter that much."
Where does your state rank?
More on breastfeeding
Never feel shamed for breastfeeding in public
Bust out those boobies for World Breastfeeding Week 2014
Nursing challenges?


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[Adapted from Real Choices, Conciliar Press, 1997]
Glance around any room where people are gathered and a curious pattern emerges: they tend to be in pairs. At a church, a concert, a movie theater, a male head is usually near a female head of roughly the same age. Other creatures gather in herds or flocks, or peel off as solitary loners, but humans prefer the couple bond. They gravitate toward it naturally; it's how they seem to want to go through life. Why?
We might as well ask a follow-up question: why does this pattern fail? Why has our current culture reached such a high level of divorce and dysfunction? Why is there so much pregnancy outside durable bonds, and so much abortion?
To answer these questions we'll have to step back to get a longer view. Step *way* back. Imagine a zookeeper on Mars, who has built up a pretty thorough collection of earth mammals.
The Martian zookeeper has noted some interesting things about the residents of the human exhibit. In the first place, compared to other creatures their young are born alarmingly premature. Other mammalian newborns crawl to the mother's breast and begin to nurse, but if the human baby were not assisted to do this it would starve. The human baby takes a full year just to walk, an age where—even allowing for proportionate life-spans—other mammals are near adulthood. A human newborn looks like it's not ready to come out yet. But out it comes, and keeping it alive is an exhausting task for a very long time. It appears to be too much work for one parent.
The baby's ability to communicate in the language of the species is similarly slow to develop. Human parents are markedly more frustrated by inability to interpret their baby's cries than are bovine or canine mothers. Most mammals rapidly learn to survive without their mother's care, but a human may take decades of training before he is able to support himself.
The Martian notes that raising a human baby is a lengthy and exhausting process. Unlike the rearing of other mammals, it requires the attention of an adult nearly full-time; without that attention, the species would not survive.
It seems that the female is more suited to this intensive labor of child-rearing, both by temperament and by her ability to nurse—an attribute so vital that it gives the mammalian family its name. Child-rearing is so demanding that she has little time to provide food and shelter for herself, and both mother and child are at risk. The mother's arms encircle the child, but a second adult is required to add an outer ring of care around those two.
The child's father seems suited to this role, although not without ambivalence. The early years post-puberty, in particular, propel human males into an exhausting round of compulsive sexual thinking and (attempted) activity that was described by a lustful Hollywood star as "waking up every morning chained to a maniac." A look at these same males a few years later reveals that most have settled down in monogamous, child-rearing arrangements, although some struggle against a recurrent longing for sexual adventure. What would motivate the males to accept such a trying bargain?
The zookeeper is not surprised that males wind up monogamous. The hand that designed the varieties of life in his zoo consistently shows exacting care for efficiency and symmetry. It would not have rigged a situation as counter-productive as a female who needs monogamous loyalty to produce the next generation and a male who flees it. Males must inevitably have a need for monogamy as well, although their motivation is not obvious.
The Martian zookeeper has developed some theories about why human males make this bargain. First, at the root what feels like a sex urge is actually a reproductive urge. It will do the male no good to impregnate many women if these women are barely able to raise healthy children unaided. The children must survive and be strong enough to carry his genes forward one more generation for reproduction to have truly taken place.
Secondly, how can he know that the child his mate is raising does in fact carry his own genes, and not some other male's? Ultimately, he can only trust her word on this. In order to persuade her to mate only with him, he must offer her inducements: shelter, provisions, protection and, perhaps most difficult, his own fidelity in pledge. As he watches the mother nurse their child, he sees his only link to the chain of human life. Without his connection to the two of them, he would free-fall into oblivion.
Is biology destiny? No; we are not prisoners of these roles, and our ingenuity can offer many ways to redesign them. But biology is orderly. It has its own internal logic, and when we tamper with one element of it we must expect another element to fall out of place. The superwoman single-mom with a hot career and a hot date is famously exhausted on her treadmill. This should not be surprising. Disrupt biology's rules and you will find yourself doing things a less-efficient way.***
The other thing the Martian zookeeper notes is the heightened sense of loneliness humans display. They carry a burden of self-awareness that other mammals appear to evade, with associated fears of abandonment, rejection, and meaninglessness. They need more complex things from each other than goats do. Even in old age he sees them in pairs, when the impetus of child-rearing is decades past. Gliding over earth's atmosphere in his shiny saucer he observes elderly couples on Florida sidewalks wearing identical clothing. What's that all about?
The Martian is recognizing the profound human need for connectedness, and pregnancy is the icon of human intimacy. The connection an unborn child experiences with her mother is the first any human has of closeness to another person. Because it predates language and self-awareness it is the more profound and ineradicable, though we may be largely unaware of this pull.
Life outside the womb is lonely. We look all our lives for an experience of similar intimacy and safety even though many, as the saying goes, look in all the wrong places. When pregnancy begins, a woman is plunged into an experience of intimacy more profound than any of her adult life; she is knit, literally, to another human, one half-made of her own self. In the same blow she is linked to the child's father, whose half-life lives on as well within her body. Yet this being formed of two halves is more than their sum, a radical third never before seen on earth. She shoots from her parents' bodies like an arrow from a bow, carrying their immortality into the future, beyond the reach of their crumbling arms.
Pregnancy is about connectedness. It spins the wheel tighter, and centrifugal force draws the players together, more aware than ever of their mutual dependence. When a pair-bond is healthy, pregnancy makes it stronger still.
But today, unfortunately, many couples begin a sexual relationship without having that strong foundation of interdependence. When pregnancy occurs in such relationships, multiple problems arise: broken trust, fear, loneliness, abandonment.
We are told that the solution is contraception. The Martian zookeeper is perplexed to observe that this seemingly-logical idea doesn't work in practice. Even though these humans "don't want" to have unplanned pregnancies, even though contraception is cheap, available, and more effective than nothing, humans often choose not to use it. It looks to him as if sex is another one of those things that is more complicated for humans than it is for other creatures.
Unreckoned with in the contraceptive strategy—indeed, nearly unrecognized in forty years of sexual revolution—is the distinctive character of women's sexuality. Here are a couple of quotes. The feminist poet Adrienne Rich wrote, "The so-called sexual revolution of the sixties [was] briefly believed to be congruent with the liberation of women…It did not mean that we were free to discover our own sexuality, but rather that we were expected to behave according to male notions of sexuality."
And Germaine Greer wrote, "Women's desire for affection and closeness usually has to be translated, more or less unconsciously, into desire for sex." As the old cliche has it, girls give sex in order to get love; boys give love in order to get sex. When the sexual revolution flooded the market with "free sex," its trading equivalency in square units of love was radically depreciated.
Women are getting less and less durable love in return for sex, and sooner or later they'll figure out that it's a bad bargain. Already we see an unexpected sign among young people, that despite being confronted with every possible variety of sex at the earliest possible ages, the rate of teen virginity is rising. It may be that what our sex-saturated culture has succeeded in conveying is that sex is intense and intimidating, and some kids would rather wait.
There is some evidence for this. In 2002 the Centers for Disease Control found that the vast majority of adolescents are still virgins at the age of 15, and reported that this majority has been increasing since 1995. And a Dec 2003 survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy showed that, among teens who have had sex, 67% said they wish they had waited. And 85% said that sex should occur only in the context of a long-term committed relationship.
What's a long-term committed relationship? Traditionally, it's one in which you make a commitment, in public, that you intend to stay together long term. It's called marriage.
The institution of marriage is not in good repair in our current culture. The divorce rate lingers around 50% (although things are not quite as bad as they seem , because that figure includes many people who have had more than one divorce. Thus over 50% of marriages do last a lifetime.)
So marriage can be celebrated for its multiple benefits: it takes into account both the woman's need for emotional security, and the indications that healthy child-rearing goes best with two parents. Perhaps those needs are the reason that humans are among the very small percentage of mammals – approximately 3% — who mate for life.
But not everyone cheers this concept of marriage—the mated pair with offspring, the "nuclear family." The way I always used to hear this phrased is "Ozzie and Harriet is a myth." (Which sounds oddly naïve. "Mr. Ed" was a myth, too.) This viewpoint would insist that marriage can't be the answer; it disappoints, is imperfect, demands annoying sacrifices, and limits one's range of sexual adventure.
But the nuclear family is not a wacky new untested idea, likely to damage participants virtually every time. There are centuries of evidence showing how the concept works in practice: pretty good, usually resulting in the survival and success of a new generation, which is humankind's first responsibility. Bonuses of companionship, romantic love, pleasure and joy often appear as well.
In comparison, an ethic of sexual freedom, where one in four pregnancies ends in abortion and the numbers of children in single-parent homes keeps rising, is going to fail that goal like clockwork. Indicators for sexually transmitted disease, divorce, abandonment, impoverishment of women and children, unwed motherhood, and abortion are at record levels. The heartbreak index is at an all-time high. Despite all this pursuing of happiness, Americans appear to be markedly more unhappy. The flip side of freedom is loneliness.
It is the right-hand side of the cultural spectrum that has historically been more enthusiastic about marriage, while the left has doubted its feasibility. This is somewhat ironic, because, as we saw above, life-long marriage is what best suits women's desire for security in a sexual relationship. (A friend once told me, "Why did feminism arise on the left? Because it's men on the left who are hardest on women.") The pattern over 40 years has been for the left to expect women "to behave according to male notions of sexuality," while the right upholds woman-friendly notions of chastity, fidelity, life-long marriage, and so forth.
Every few years a study comes out showing that it is women who are both devoutly religious and married who report the highest levels of sexual satisfaction. Everyone is always amazed by this. Maybe it shouldn't be so hard to figure out.
I once attended a forum on the state of the family, sponsored by a progressive think tank. It presented the daring idea that whenever possible children are better off with two parents. Some impressive speakers, such as T. Berry Brazelton and Barbara Whitehead, argued eloquently that children need intact families.
I sat near a woman who carried a journalist's notepad and who was not having fun. She passed the morning scowling at the floor, tapping her pencil, tapping her foot, and emitting derisive snorts. When others applauded, she hugged her legal pad to her chest. I guessed that her own life had not followed the pattern being promoted, and so she was feeling uncomfortable.
When the question period began, she raised her hand. She confessed herself "nervous" at the promotion of two-parent families, and informed the crowd that "Ozzie and Harriet is a myth."
The story doesn't end there, though. I expect that when she left the conference she wrote a news story about it. How do you think it read? What assumptions did readers absorb?
People often plead for stable marriages on the basis that they benefit children, but children are not the ones we need to convince. Kids are instinctively in favor of the nuclear family. The harder task is convincing grownups who feel compelled to defend their different choices. The leaders in media, education, and government are not likely to promote values they do not meet in their own lives.
In these circumstances, it is hard to gain broad public support of any moral conviction. For example, the idea that teens should be taught to abstain from sex before marriage is attacked, not by teens, but by adults. They protest that expecting abstinence is unrealistic, and it may be they feel it is unrealistic for themselves. They could also be feeling something like the sting of personal insult. A public-school teacher told me that, when she taught her middle-schoolers the reasons to abstain from sex outside marriage, she received angry calls from parents, saying, "Don't teach my kids to judge how I live!"
We don't want to be starry-eyed about marriage; we don't want to suggest that it is always "happier ever after." There's a saying that "the good is the enemy of the best," and expectations that are *too* high can be as damaging to marriage as those that are too low. Children of divorce, particularly, may have an exaggerated idea of how perfect marriage is meant to be, and delay marrying decade after decade for fear that they haven't found perfection yet. If they were told, with the best intentions, "Mommy and Daddy still love each other, but sometimes this just happens and people have to get divorced," the child may view divorce as being an uncontrollable force, like a hurricane, that can descend on even the happiest families. They haven't had a chance to see how a real healthy marriage can look. They might not know that it won't look perfect.
The author Tolstoy wrote that "happy families are all alike," and maybe they are alike in not expecting to be happy all the time. Perhaps they expect that problems and disappointments are going to come, and expect to take them in stride. In real marriage—not the TV-show myth—the dishes get dirty, the wife gets plump, the husband gets bald, and everyone gets grumpy at least occasionally. In the course of a lifetime together, everyone will need forgiveness, and happy families learn that giving it is the best way to be sure to receive it in return.
Why put up with these annoyances? For one thing, it is far worse to be alone. The world is too big and we are too small to make it through without being trampled. The bravado of individualism is false; we can never be free enough to be all-powerful, but we can be free enough to be lost. We warm our hands together at the night fire. Behind the other's back we see, behind our own back we know, the dark wilderness broods.
"It is not good for man to be alone," but it is also positively good to be together. The light you loved in your lover's eyes at the beginning grows more compellingly beautiful through the years. You meet those eyes in worship, in passion, in anger, in tears, over the baby's bassinet, over your father's casket. There is no substitute for the years, the life-time work, of looking into those eyes. Gradually, you see yourself there; gradually, you become one.
Contrary to popular belief, the Church is not anti-sex. In speaking of the union of the Church with Christ, St. John Chrysostom draws a frank parallel to marital union; the sexual bonding of husband and wife, he says, is like the uniting of fragrance and ointment in the making of perfume. He rebukes those who were shocked at his words: "You call my words immodest, because I speak of the nature of marriage, which is honorable…By calling my words immodest you condemn God, who is the author of marriage." Chrysostom affirms St. Paul's image of the Church as the Bride of Christ: "Shall I also tell you how marriage is a mystery of the Church?," he writes. "The Church was made from the side of Christ, and He united Himself to her in a spiritual intercourse."
The secular world likes to think that religion is just a way of sublimating feelings about sex. But I think that the truth is something like the opposite: sex is given to teach us something about religion, about faith and union with God. How could human beings understand what it's like to become one with God. If two became one, wouldn't their individuality annihilated? God designed it so humans could have an experience that would be universal, common, and enjoyable. He said, in essence, "Here. This is what it's like. This is where you're going." That's not the only earthly experience that helps us understand theological principles, of course. Eating ordinary food helps us to understand how we become one with Christ in the Eucharist. Parenting teaches us what God the Father's love for us is like. Sex, eating, parenting, are all good things in themselves, given and blessed by God. But they are also handy as object lessons, able to give us ready, simple, intimate analogies for what heavenly reality will be like. In light of this, I think heaven is going to be not so bad.
But this is not the way the secular world views sex. Advertisements and entertainment are always telling us that what we want most is to wake up next to someone sexy tomorrow morning. But in the quiet of our hearts we know: we want to wake up next to someone kind, fifty years from tomorrow morning.
We've made a good case for keeping sexual activity within the bounds of life-long commitment, so far as women and children are concerned. Where the ties of marriage bind a couple securely together, babies are more likely to survive and women more likely to feel safe and loved. But we haven't talked yet about the man, the father of the child. What's in it for him? Don't men's desires run to sexual adventuring, spurning hearth and home? Why would he agree to such an obligation?
This question came up during a business meeting over dinner at a restaurant, years ago. I was there with three men, all leaders in pro-life and pro-family organizations, and we were talking about a magazine article I was going to write. I asked them about the male side of the relationship puzzle, and all three tried to convince me that men are untrustworthy and incorrigible. Men are shallow, self-centered, and interested only in the next exploit, they said. They would inevitably use women and dump them without a backward glance. "Men just want to do it and run," one of the guys stated bluntly.
I looked at the tired faces of these three men, winding up another long workday. In three suburban homes, these men's wives are tucking in the cumulative nine children and ending busy workdays of their own. Those tenderly-loved women had been able to spend that day at home because their husbands were still at work, wearing ties at a meeting at 9:00 PM.
It made me think about sheep in wolves' clothing. I asked them, If men are all such barely-restrained fiends, why are you going home tonight? Why aren't you fulfilling the stereotype and running off to an affair?
They registered surprise. Well, because the risks are too high and the benefits too low, they said. Because they sincerely delight in their homes and children. Because being protectors and providers is a role that makes them feel worthy. But most of all, because they love their wives.
The Martian ponders the white-haired man on the sidewalk. He is baking in the Florida sun, waiting outside the craft shop while his wife gathers materials to make another ceramic doll. His lime-green polo shirt and white slacks match her own.
His children are grown, his youth is gone, twenty thousand days and night of marriage have flown past. His days of power, of protecting and providing, have slipped away. He waits quietly in the sun, a little drowsy. There is no reason on earth for him to be there but one.


text:
Posted at 14:39h in physio 0 Comments
Physiotherapy near Waverton, 2060
The physiotherapists at Five Dock Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Centre are highly trained professionals, specialising in the assessment, treatment, and prevention of spinal, sports and musculoskeletal injuries.
Our clients will experience the highest standard of physiotherapy treatment, utilising our state of the art equipment.
Our physiotherapists will work with you to develop a treatment plan that takes into account your lifestyle, leisure activities, and general health. We aim to get to the source of the problem and help you correct any biomechanical or postural causes.
Therapy Provided For:
- Sports Injuries – sprains and strains
- Orthopaedic Rehabilitation – Pre/Post Surgery
- Degenerative Joint Disease (Arthritis)
- Osteoporosis
- Back and Neck Pain
- Headaches
- Maternity and Pregnancy related spine and muscle pain
- Adolescent/Growth Related Problems
- General aches and pains – shoulders, knees and hips
Management of sports related injuries:
- Sport specific injury management
- Aim to minimise your time to return to sport
- Development of sport specific rehabilitation programme
- Joint mobilisation and manipulation
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- Therapeutic and sports taping
- Onsite Rehabilitation and Gym Equipment
Sports Screenings:
- Help to prevent problems occurring
- Limit unwanted time out of activity
- Learn More about Sports Physiotherapy
Postural Screenings:
- Help to prevent problems occurring as a result of posture and workstation
- Ergonomic Set Up
Fracture management:
- Waterproof fibreglass casts
- CAM boots
- Crutches
- Splints
- Bracing
General Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy:
- All musculoskeletal injuries – peripheral, muscular and spinal (back and neck)
- Headaches
- Sprains and strains
- Post operative rehabilitation


text:
A new standup paddle event brought out about 100 competitors to the south side of the Huntington Beach pier over the weekend, with a handful of Orange County athletes taking home the inaugural wins during the US SUP Tour.
The event had a number of different competitions, such as an intense technical race, a surf-focused segment, and an open division for novice looking to get into the race scene. There were about 50 total Orange County competitors, with nearly half of them making it to the finals of various competitions during the two-day contest. Six winners from Orange County – all from San Clemente – claimed titles in 12 divisions.
The waves were in the 2-4 foot range, with winds kicking up on Sunday but calming before the finals.
"Having those conditions is what I was hoping for, it made it more difficult," said co-creator of the event and former professional surfer Ian Cairns. "We wanted something difficult and to make it so everyone raised their game. If you do that, then the athletes just improve and improve. We wanted to challenge the best guys with the course that is difficult, so they thrive."
San Clemente's Colin McPhillips won the men's pro SUP surfing event.
"The event was awesome," said Phillips, a three-time Association of Surfing Professionals longboard surfing champ who has been competing in stand-up paddle events for the past 5 years.
He still loves to longboard, but the lack of contests has geared him toward doing standup events full time. He not only competes in the surfing segment, but also does the distance racing and placed 5th in the pro SUP race division.
"I can't move today," he said Monday after the event. "I'm sore, but it was fun."
He said the US SUP Tour has the potential to help the sport of stand-up surfing grow even more.
"Unfortunately, there's only been a few SUP surfing events in the past, that's what's so great about this tour starting," he said. "To have a professional tour in the U.S. is great. We now have a venue to show what we do, I think it's going to really take off."
McPhillips, 37, said he hasn't lost his competitive drive he's had since he was younger, and he was stoked to win on Sunday. His two boys, Kai, 10, and Dax, 8, met him at the water's edge after his victory.
"They said they wanted to put me on their shoulders but they couldn't – so they helped me carry up my board," he said.
Another crowd favorite to watch was the technical race, where competitors had to do laps from beach to buoy, and catch waves to the finish line while using big race boards.
"That event is really spectacular, those boards are really hard to catch waves and really hard to punch through the surf," Cairns said. "There were tons of wipeouts."
The tour now heads to Seaside Heights, N.J., from May 17-19, and then heads back to San Onofre State Beach from June 14-16. Cairns said he hopes the US SUP Tour will expand to six events a year, and is scouting locations such as Ventura, Fla., and Chicago.
The total prize purse was about $10,000. Each event is sanctioned by Surfing America and World Paddle Association.
Information: ussuptour.com
Men's Pro SUP Surfing: Colin McPhillips, San Clemente
Men's Pro SUP race: Matt Becker, Santa Barbara
Women's Pro SUP Surfing: Emmy Merrill, San Clemente
Women's Pro SUP race: Tamara Lentz, Hermosa Beach
Overall Pro Champions (surfing & race combined finishes):
Men: Mo Freitas, Haleiwa, Hawaii
Women: Sofia DeWolfe, San Clemente
Open Surfing & Race Results:
Men's Open SUP Surfing: Mike Baker, San Clemente
Women's Open SUP Surfing: Sara Messina, Los Angeles
Men Open Race:
Chuck Trout – 12'6 board, San Clemente
Rick Stinson- 14′ board, San Clemente
Women Open Race
Antoinette Cocco, 12'6 board, Los Angeles
Sarah Messina, 14′ board, Los Angeles


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Ohloh? Oo la la - Open Source Project Analysis
What a stunningly fabulous idea so elegantly executed. Ohloh (blog) (Phil turned me on to it) analyzes open source software. Not deep source analysis like Fisheye, but broad analysis that answers so many of the questions being asked like: Is it actively developed? Is it just one guy or a bunch? Is it well commented?
It says that DasBlog is about 13 Man Years of effort and would cost about $726k to write from scratch. It's about 54k lines of code.
Subtext, a Fork of .Text managed by my other arch-nemesis Phil (I have a baker's dozens arch-nemisi (nemisissies?) Just kidding.) has 81k lines of code and would cost $1.1M over 15 Man Years.
What's really interesting is looking at more important projects like FireFox. Looks like only 50k lines of code? I wonder if that counts the rendering engine or if it's really that tight?
One odd problem/artifact, there's two DasBlog's listed. I'm not sure if this is because we had a CVS repository then moved to SVN, or what. We'll get the older one deleted.
As an aside, the flash-based charts they are from Maani.us and they are slick slick slick. A very inexpensive and permissive license and they consume a fairly intuitive XML format as their datasource. Hook those babies up to an HttpHandler and you've got great looking charts for your ASP.NET (or whatever) page.
Additional aside: There is a small transparency problem with the charts showing up with a gray background under Firefox 2 RC3, but I'm not sure if that's Flash's problem, Firefox's problem, or Ohloh's.
The real question that Ohloh may be able to shed some light on over the coming months is "Is Open Source a Crap Idea?" Seriously, though, it's interesting to see the levels of involvement, although there's no way to show the dozens of patches that were submitted to the DasBlog project by the community that were committed to the repository by me "glucopilot."
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.
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Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareLUCKIEST Jan 31, 2008 9:41 AM (in response to Discount_Beds)Welcome to this web site. How about Run it
Designed to meet the needs of today's demanding retailers, RunIt offers a more powerful POS software solution. RunIt's
innovative real-time technology gives you up-to-minute access to your
business information so you are able to make better and faster
From in-store point-of-sale to ecommerce and from
inventory management to accounting, RunIt is a complete
POS software
solution. RunIt provides all the real-time tools to run your business
more profitably.
With RunIt, you are in complete control of your business information any time of the day and from any location!
You can
be at home, on the road or at a trade show and you can still be
productive and profitable.
They will also offer a FREE trial, LUCKIEST
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareDiscount_Beds Jan 31, 2008 4:34 PM (in response to LUCKIEST)I went to Runit's website to see what it cost and the price is not even listed. That can't be a good sign.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareLUCKIEST Jan 31, 2008 6:38 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)Beds are you looking for a SIGN or something simple and inexpensive…????
I tried. Try googling P O P software. In business Cheap is Cheap.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareSoccer1999 Jul 24, 2009 11:20 AM (in response to LUCKIEST)
I have used RUNIT for 11 years in my Retail Stores. Suddenly July 6 I could not complete a sale as it kept erasing the payment information and the error said not paid in full.
Calling the company they said Rev 4.0 is no longer supported. I would need to upgrade. Further checking showed that all my stores had the very same error and we could not process sales.
I also understand there were 15 more locations with the same problem.
Cost to upgrade approx $4,000. Or you could go real time for $90.00 a month.
Just awful strage to have the same error at the same time.
I'm switching to another POS system.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareT.A.POS Jul 24, 2009 11:31 AM (in response to Soccer1999)Soccer1999,, give us a call, we can help you out im sure,, or we can discuss your situation and issues with what you have now...
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareSoccer1999 Aug 8, 2009 10:31 AM (in response to T.A.POS)Well I went onto the Web site and filled out the on-line form. No response as yet.
There must be a simple switch, command embedded in RUNIT that was set.
I have rev 4.0, which they claim they no longer support. I must buy the upgrade to 5.0 or use their Real-Time POS software that cost $100 plus a month.
And you must use their Merchant Services as it is integrated in the software. After thirty years in IT, this is bull.
I do know that my three locations all had the exact same problem at the exact same time. They claim that 15 others had the same issue.
So anyone else with this issue?
I can run everything else, except receive payments. It just clears the amount typed in.
On another note I was looking for an option to Export the data bases, but cannot find any. I can copy, but not export.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareamspcs Aug 8, 2009 7:27 PM (in response to Soccer1999)I believe I warned you a long time ago about the perils of purchasing proprietary products in which you
MUST use their add-ons and no other. And how can anybody even remotely expect a "POS" system for $19.95 to be useful?
My best advise: If you can't afford a real POS system, stick with a simple terminal or Virtual Terminal system to process electronic payments until you can.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareSoccer1999 Aug 9, 2009 10:03 AM (in response to amspcs)Can't be in response to my message.
RUNIT is a full blown Retail tailored POS system. It costs a lot more than $19.95. With support, modules, installation and upgrades it is more like $10,000 over the past 11 years.
I think you have me confused with someone else as I have just joined this discussion group.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareT.A.POS Aug 10, 2009 9:25 AM (in response to Soccer1999)Soccer1999, give me a call or email me sometime,, our cost will be nothing close to what you found from RUNIT and you will have a full blown Inventory, AR and POS system...
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarecomppetcare Jan 31, 2008 10:02 AM (in response to Discount_Beds)Depends on your definition of cheap. (Free is best!)
You may still obtain Microsoft Accounting Express for FREE direct from Microsoft in the download area. This is a basic accounting/management product, with many features available that may be beneficial as your business grows. If it does not answer your immediate needs, I would download it and play with it as your time permits.
While you are in the download area you may also want to look at all the templates available for Excel. There is a ton of them there that are excellent, and many have user ratings attached. There are, last time I looked, templates for Invoicing, Inventory, and basic financial formats ie: P&L, General Ledger, etc.
Hope this helps.
Retired MS Great Plains Customer Sales Manager
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareLUCKIEST Jan 31, 2008 10:44 AM (in response to comppetcare)Care, welcome to this web site. Good answer. As you will find out, This web site loves FREE.
I am a SCORE Counselor and SCORE is FREE of charge.
Suggestion go to Members and add a few words about yourself.
Retired MS Great Plains Customer Sales Manager, would like to talk with you.
email me at " email@example.com "
Thanks LUCKIEST
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareLatin Insurer Feb 1, 2008 6:31 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)Quickbooks is as cheap as it gets. not only you can do POS but also track all accounting and billing needs. I've used it for running restaurants, bars and even a small computer's importer
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareLUCKIEST Feb 1, 2008 6:41 PM (in response to Latin Insurer)Latin Insurer, welcome to this web site. Go to the Members page and add a few words about
your business. Where are you located??
I love Quickbooks. I am a Quickbooks Consultant with clients all over the U S.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareLighthouse24 Feb 1, 2008 6:49 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)
Do you have a community college or vocational school nearby that teaches an Excel class? If so, contact the instructor and see if he/she is aware of anyone who may be able to customize a template and provide exactly what you need for little or no cost. They will almost always know someone who is looking for freelance work or an actual application to complete in order to build a portfolio (sometimes its the instructor himself!). If you have a low number of SKUs (unique items) in inventory and a low volume of transactions each day, then you are right in thinking that a lot of the software you'll find is overkill (and requires more time to learn and use than it's worth). A few spreadsheets can do the job just fine. Best of luck.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareRongDesign Feb 3, 2008 1:09 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)
A very FREE website store to look into is Oscommerce. Its easy to use but you have to know what you are doing when it comes to web development. Looks great though, when you play with it for along time it can be your website by itself.
But I still recommend getting a good website with a store added in. A lot of great designers will be able to review your needs and come up with a well rounded price at http://www.websitequote.org/.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarealvin101 Feb 10, 2008 1:48 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)Hello Discount_Beds
First Excel is not free. If you use a spreadsheet you should go get openoffice, its better, its free
Second spreadsheets don't make very goods POS's, a database is more suited for the job
POS I use is th-erp http://www.therpsoft.com/ It also is open source
and free to use, it runs on a web server, but if you need it to run on
your local machine, it is easy to load WAMP5 (a server) and to use it.
The nice thing about running it on a web server is once you have it set
up all you need is a computer and a connection to the internet. That is
all you need to add a second cash register, or a data entry back in
shipping and receiving, or when your on vacation to see how the store is
I can get you more information on this if you like, I have a contact form over at www.zoomwireless.net so you can reach me, Chow
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareBemore Feb 10, 2008 2:07 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)I use an online version of Quickbooks that is very reasonable and I do not have to be concerned about updates. I get any training I need as well but there is a fee for that.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareTSI4all Feb 25, 2008 8:19 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)you should try out iPOS.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarehogg02 Feb 27, 2009 11:08 AM (in response to Discount_Beds)Please check us out at TransActPOS. www.psdg.com we have multiple gift stores, hardware stores, etc all over the country. Please email me at email@example.com or vist our website,, thanks!!!!! ;]
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareamspcs Feb 27, 2009 11:17 AM (in response to Discount_Beds)Yes, cheap is good. But do you REALLY want to trust your inventory and other tracking mechanisms
on something 'free'. I have found over the years that you usually get what you pay for, with 'free' being no exception, if you get my drift..
QuickBooks POS is about as inexpensive and basic as it gets, all things considered, not the least
of which is customer support.
Here's a proposition for you: I'm an authorized agent for QB merchant services. I know what QB direct
sells their POS bundles for, and I have found another source in which I get the very same software
and hardware much cheaper---I can mark it up a little and STILL resell it for less than what QB direct gets for it. So here's the deal: You set up your merchant account via my affiliate site, and I'll get you the software and hardware package at cost.
Interested? If so, drop me an email.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwaremrpositive Apr 13, 2009 6:37 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)AveraSell from POSitive Software is a real point of sale program and the single user version is absolutely free. When the program starts there are a few ads promoting some of the other products and services offered by POSitive Software, but you can quickly skip past them. You don't have to sign up for merchant services, support or anything else in order to use AveraSell. Please visit www.averasell.com to learn more.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwaresonshine1014 Jul 8, 2009 4:48 PM (in response to mrpositive)Quickbooks is expensive if you are really struggling.
You can purchase POS MAID on ebay for $28. It is great for one computer except there are problems if networked. We have been using this for 4 months on 4 computers.
You can also get Retail Ice on ebay for about the same price. I really love this program but it can't be used with more than one computer. We used this one for 2 years but we needed to run more than one computer.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarebettybug Aug 8, 2009 10:15 AM (in response to mrpositive)Ok here me out on this one. You may not want to believe me, but you will pay the price for not listening to me.
DO NOT get free POS software. They are cheap, crappy, hard to operate software. Furthermore, think about this. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR SYSTEM GOES DOWN? aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, if that's what your thinking, yo'ure right. YOUR DEAD MEAT LOL! So that's why I recommend you to get something that is RELIABLE, and that you can get technical SUPPORT for. Software that is coded crapily and stops working after a while just isn't worth it.
Now as to the good software, quickbook and myob and microsoft pos is good. They are around $500 each. The non-POS editions are probably even more cheaper, ~ $200. You should also think about ChikPOS Checkout, that one is $269 (a little more expensive than non-POS quickbook, myob), but it is oriented towards POS requirements.
Personally, I've had NO problems with it whatsoever. It's a Jeremy Shum Invent so its a quality Aussie product too - helping the economy. The features are also endless... multi-language support, managerial decision making reports, not locked to hardware, fully multi-touch (like iphone), external monitor support, xbrl compliant, auto-generation of online store, can advertise "related products", corporate chat support, show time/date/news on external screen... it's just top stuff. AND it's Windows 7 compatible!
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareAustinLivin Aug 11, 2009 4:08 PM (in response to bettybug)I agree with BettyBug on not buying free or super cheap software. The old adage "you get what you paid for" is still in effect. You can't go wrong with QuickBooks for the price. For more upscale solutions, there are better ones that QuickBooks, however, that can easily cost $10-20k. If you're a small single store location, give those a wide berth!
Good luck!
Mindover Software
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarecschrage Apr 15, 2009 10:38 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)You get what you pay for. I sell hundreds of Quickbooks software to small businesses every year. You can personalize the software to fit your business. Quickbooks Pro starts out @ $199.99 and sometimes you can find it on sale for as low as $99.00 at Officemax or any office supply outlet or on-line. Go with the best. I don't work for Intuit by the way.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwaremrpositive Apr 16, 2009 12:02 PM (in response to cschrage)QuickBooks is great accounting software and it does have the ability to handle inventory and create invoices, but it is better suited for a service oriented business, like a landscaper, rather than a retailer. If you do more than a few transactions a day, then you really need to look at a true point of sale program.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarecschrage Apr 23, 2009 11:29 PM (in response to mrpositive)Depends on the Quickbooks you use. Quickbooks POS does everything you need for inventory control, invoicing, ect. for hundereds of items daily. A POS regester system can also be purchased from Quickbooks that includes cash drawer, credit card scanner, bar code reader, receipt printer and the Q/B POS software. All you need to do is hook the system up to a computer and load the program. Again, I don't work for Intuit, but I have sold the product.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwaresonshine1014 Aug 5, 2009 11:28 AM (in response to cschrage)None of the quickbooks products you mentioned are point of sale, which is what the post asked for. Quickbooks point of sale is $800 for each station or computer. It was going to cost me $3200 for my 4 computers. That is a lot for a struggling small business just getting started. That is not cheap. I got POS Maid for 4 computers for little over $100.
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareDavepearce May 22, 2009 11:18 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)Hi Brian
If you want a totally free POS system that is very easy to use, accepts bar code scanners, various printers and does nearly everything and very easy to set up and use, then try Cash Register By Dale Harris. I looked at the website and thought it looked a piece of junk being a small program and the tacky look of the website, but the free software works excellent and so easy to use. Its not excel is the only problem I see for you. It actually runs in Msdos , but will run from your windows main screed. Take a look it cost nothing though he does offer a donation if the person likes it, but you don't have to pay anything. I tried many free POS programs which had too many features for a small retail business, but this is so easy even the sales girl.
only took 30 minutes to understand it.
This is the download link.
Very easy to setup once you read what it says. For some reason the files download as .ex, but you need to rename it as .exe. I don't know the reason for this as I don't know dos, but guess its to stop it loading from download or something, but I'm sure you will like it if you try it. Its the most simple I ever tried and runs without a hitch, will even work over a network if you need it
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareAustinLivin Aug 1, 2009 4:58 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)Hi,
I sell accounting software for a living. Most of the time I run QuickBooks into the ground because I'm trying to get customers to upgrade to a more robust software application. That said, QuickBooks is a market leader for small businesses, including retail companies. You can't go wrong with it, there are tons of QuickBooks experts who can support you for a reasonable rate, CPA's use QuickBooks...I can go on. So, if you are looking for cheap, reliable, excellent functionality in an accounting/POS solution, QuickBooks is your answer!
Hope this helps!
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarequickbooksgal Aug 4, 2009 10:02 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)If you want inventory management and don't want to pay for a full POS, then just buy QuickBooks Pro and an inventory scanner, and use it that way. You can get a cash box to manage the actual money. If you need additional help or to get a great deal, let us help you at www.quickbooks-consulting.com
Hope this helps!
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarebettybug Aug 8, 2009 10:16 AM (in response to Discount_Beds)I would agree with what people are saying about free trials, GET IT! The ChikPOS trial will cost you $19.99, but it's VERY good, and VERY worth it, and when you purchase the full product, you will get a reimbursement for that amount too!!! Or you could just go to a warez site and download it =P hehe
Anyway, as to the good software, quickbook and myob and microsoft pos is
good. They are around $500 each. The non-POS editions are probably even
more cheaper, ~ $200. You should also think about ChikPOS Checkout,
that one is $269 (a little more expensive than non-POS quickbook,
myob), but it is oriented towards POS requirements.
Personally, I've had NO problems with it whatsoever. It's a Jeremy Shum
Invent so its a quality Aussie product too - helping the economy. The
features are also endless... multi-language support, managerial
decision making reports, not locked to hardware, fully multi-touch
(like iphone), external monitor support, xbrl compliant,
auto-generation of online store, can advertise "related products",
corporate chat support, show time/date/news on external screen... it's
just top stuff. AND it's Windows 7 compatible!
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwareposforyourmac Nov 23, 2009 7:13 AM (in response to Discount_Beds)Checkout these links on a POS software called BCResto. The system was developed by Business Computing Monaco and works on both Mac and PC.
Links: http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/11/05/bcresto.enables.sales.and.billing.management/
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwarePOSman Nov 25, 2009 3:13 PM (in response to posforyourmac)hi.. i agree with all the post here about Point of sale system and softwares.. but if you want to know more about advance POS system that is very affordable with your budget please try to check CEGID Solutions www.cegid.us they are the international leader in POS system with over 50,000 stores installed worldwide including tycoon companies.. they have everything you need for a POS software. if you want to know more about CEGID Solutions call me at 212-967-4477. ask for marvin edwards
Re: I need Cheap Point Of Sale softwaredavbrown74 Sep 28, 2010 4:13 PM (in response to Discount_Beds)Our company just recently acquired POS Software Systems from VisualRetailPlus.com. Their software is top-notch and very easy to use.
You can find them at http://www.visualretailplus.com/home.asp
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Reply to original post
Does anyone know where I can find a excel based Point Of
Sale software? I am looking for something simple and inexpensive… if not free.
All I need it to do is inventory, Sales Invoices and a rudimentary Profit and
Loss report and anything else you guys think I might need for this startup
location. I don't need it to write checks or process credit cards with this software.
I have looked into QuickBooks and Peach Tree, but they are expensive and over
kill for what I am looking for.
Any Ideas?
Does anyone know where I can find a excel based Point Of
Sale software? I am looking for something simple and inexpensive… if not free.
All I need it to do is inventory, Sales Invoices and a rudimentary Profit and
Loss report and anything else you guys think I might need for this startup
location. I don't need it to write checks or process credit cards with this software.
I have looked into QuickBooks and Peach Tree, but they are expensive and over
kill for what I am looking for.
I have been looking for something for months
Any Ideas?


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The Painful Journey Toward Schoolhouse Security and Safety
School policy has been evolving for decades, sometimes in reaction to major incidents of school violence, sometimes in response to societal changes and trends in the area of public safety. In some cases, districts have been forced to expel or suspend students in recent years because of state and federal laws. More recently, states and individual districts have, to some extent, been turning away from policies that allow unfettered use of consequences that lead to students' absence from school.
Sources: Education Week archives and research; the National Conference of State Legislatures; court rulings; interviews
Reporter: Nirvi Shah | Editor: Mark Bomster | Producer: Gina Cairney | Designer/Programmer: Chienyi Cheri Hung
Coverage of school climate and student behavior and engagement is supported in part by grants from the Atlantic Philanthropies, the NoVo Foundation, the Raikes Foundation, and the California Endowment.
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
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POPSUGAR Shout Out July 16, 2013
POPSUGAR Shout Out: Vote on Your Favorite Superhero!
- Cast your vote in the Superhero Bracket — Tech
- Shop a French flea market like it's your job — Home
- How to become a runner who actually likes to run — Fitness
- The best celebrity travel hairstyles — Beauty
- How to go vintage for your big day — Love & Sex
- 7 strange supermarket spinoffs — Food
- Check out the awesome new posters from Catching Fire! — Entertainment
- You need these free birthday-party printables for adults — Smart Living
- Orlando Bloom goes shirtless in NYC — Celebrity & News
- Video: Make this delicious ribboned farmers market salad — Food
- Awesome and on-trend maternity clothes — Moms
- Shop Fall trends on sale now, and wear them now (or later)! — Fashion


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Kendrick Lamar, Keith Urban, Soundgarden and Pitbull are among the big-name acts scheduled to perform at the first-ever iTunes Festival at SXSW.
It might just be the hottest ticket of the 2014 South by Southwest, which runs through Sunday in Austin, Texas. Yet, you can watch the shows — even if you're nowhere near the Lone Star State.
The iTunes Festival at SXSW — which is really a festival within a festival — will be streamed live and on-demand for free via the iTunes Store. Apple TV viewers can also watch all the action, by selecting iTunes Festival from the home screen.
Here's a breakdown of the nightly action. All set times listed are in Texas (CST) time. So, West Coast viewers just need to subtract two hours.
**Wednesday (March 12)
8 p.m. Isaiah Rashad
8:45 p.m. ScHoolboy Q
10 p.m. Kendrick Lamar
**Thursday (March 13)
8 p.m. Capital Cities
8:45 p.m. Band of Skulls
10 p.m. Soundgarden
**Friday (March 14)
8 p.m. G.R.L.
8:45 p.m. ZEDD
10 p.m. Pitbull
**Saturday (March 15)
8 p.m. Mickey Guyton
8:45 p.m. Willie Nelson
10 p.m. Keith Urban


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For those of you who missed the news, Pri-Med acquired Amazing Charts EHR for a currently undisclosed amount. This was a really interesting move in the EHR industry. Anne Zieger suggested that this and other indicators was a sign of EMR consolidation. Turns out there's a lot more behind the Pri-Med acquisition of Amazing Charts than most people would see on the surface.
In a call I had with Amazing Charts founder and president Dr. Jonathan Bertman, as well as John Mooney, founder and CEO of Pri-Med, I learned a lot about why this acquisition makes sense and how they're planning to capitalize on the investment.
CME Chart Level Review
One of the most interesting things I learned was that chart level review was the best way to see the gaps and needs that can be satisfied by CMEs. Considering Pri-Med is a major player in the CME space, you can see the value that having relationships with a bunch of doctors using an EHR can be for them. I didn't dive into how Pri-Med plans to leverage the Amazing Charts EHR charts, but you can see the possibilities. Although, Amazing Charts is a mostly client-server based EHR, so Pri-Med won't have any access to do chart level reviews without permission from the doctors using the EHR.
Protecting EHR Data
In fact, in my discussion I learned that Dr. Bertman and John Mooney both had no interest in using a physician's EHR data to make money. That philosophy actually seemed to bring Pri-Med and Amazing Charts together to make this acquisition happen. Both believe that their company should make money providing the software and services a doctor needs as opposed to making money off the data in an EHR. This is nothing new since I've heard Dr. Bertman espouse this belief many times before, but does contrast with other EHR vendors in the market.
EHR Acquisition Options
I was also fascinated to hear about Dr. Bertman's thoughts on Amazing Charts approach to acquisition. He said that he didn't want Amazing Charts users to experience what other EHR users had experienced when their EHR was acquired by another EHR company. He didn't want Amazing Charts to be one of many EHR software in a company's portfolio. Inevitably, EHR software will get sunset to streamline the company and Dr. Bertman didn't want that for his users.
What does the Acquisition Mean for Users?
Ont thing users of Amazing Charts can expect is efforts to create clinical training and information at the point of care. John Mooney mentioned their "5 Minute Clinical Consults" as a model of short education that could be integrated into the clinical documentation process. I'll be interested to see how this evolves. Even 5 minutes seems too long for most doctors to stop their patient workflow. However, it is interesting to bring Pri-Med's education knowledge, experience and library to the point of care in the Amazing Charts EHR.
I also was fascinated by John Mooney's suggestion of Amazing Charts possibly integrating a Provider Self Assessment tool into Amazing Charts. Definitely makes sense to have the doctors self assess to get the best CME. While not a perfect match inside an EHR software, it doesn't seem completely out of place in the EHR if it's done right.
Amazing Charts User Groups at Pri-Med Events
I also learned that they'll be working to hold Amazing Charts user group meetings at the various Pri-Med events. This could be a great boon for Amazing Charts users. I know a lot of doctors and their staff won't or can't attend the national user group meetings that most EHR vendors hold. I'm not sure where the 6500 Amazing Charts users are found throughout the country, but if planned well it would be great to leverage the existing Pri-Med events for this and engage more of their EHR users close to home.
Post-Acquisition Logistics
They told me that Amazing Charts would maintain a separate entity in Rhode Island to continue developing and supporting the EHR software. Their marketing and sales would come out of Boston where Pri-Med is located. For Amazing Charts users, this sounds like it will be mostly business as usual from their perspective. In fact, it could mean Amazing Charts has more resources available to build our their EHR software. All in all, this seems like a smart move for Amazing Charts and their users.
Full Disclosure: Amazing Charts is an advertiser on this site, but you can be sure I'd cover every EHR acquisition I can find.


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Music's impact on both developing and developed brains has been well corroborated by a wealth of scientific research. It has been shown that music not only improves a child's language ability, but is also a fundamental way to teach basic communication and interpersonal skills. Recent findings are suggesting that music can help improve a child's learning ability, such that many scientists are now starting to believe that music's role in brain development is larger than ever expected.
At the most elementary level, music is a good way to develop the way a child listens and interprets words. It can be a good way to teach children how to pay attention to sounds and how language is used to help them learn. Sing-a-long songs are especially beneficial because they help your child pay attention to the language in songs, in addition to reinforcing their learning by showing them the words that they sing. They challenge your child to participate and repeat back phrases. Mimicry and repetition are both critical factors that help a child to eventually becoming articulate to express his or herself.
Furthermore, music can have a dramatic impact on the way a child retains knowledge. Conscious or unconscious memorization of songs helps a child to develop stronger and more complex neutral pathways so that they're able to remember things more clearly. Eventually your child will also begin associating memories with the music. Positive and healthy memories associated with songs help to cultivate a happy and mentally nourished child.
Perhaps the greatest boon to music, in addition to improving a child's listening skills and nurturing his or her creativity, is that it's fun. An early interest in music for a child can blossom into a productive lifelong interest, hobby, or even professional career. Make sure to sing along with your child, and play music with them. Providing positive music-related experiences throughout a child's life is greatly beneficial to their development and learning.
Whats Going On 4/12/2013
Its almost summer time and im looking forward to the warm weather. I broke a few ribs and collapsed a lung this winter while I was snowboarding. It took a bit to get better, but im good now. We changed the name of the website. I was asked to do so from a company that had rights to the word beats. I hope you like the new name! I am always looking for some help programming or making sample packs. If you can help in either of these fields call us on our googe voice - (617) 213-0062
Whats Going On 11/12/2012 All is well here at buttonbass. We have come a long way in the last 5 years. We will need to purchase a dedicated server to keep up with the traffic requests we have been getting lately. We really like all the songs the community has transcribed for the pinao. Any of the songs can be pasted into the player or trainer pianos. Just copy the song, clear the text box in the piano and then paste your new song. buttonbass has received over 200,000 installs on our android apps. If you have a droid you should search the play store for "buttonbass" and get all 4 of our apps.
Whats Going On 5/23/2012
Google put out a Robert Moog doodle on their home page this morning. I thought google was recognizing buttonbass for a minute. lol. The Moog doodle was pretty cool. I was playing with it for at leats 5 minutes. It had some cool oscilator effects done through java script or something.
Whats Going On 4/21/2012
I upgraded the piano sounds from a mono samlpe to a stereo sample. These samples came out nice. Even if you play many keys at the same time it sounds smooth.
Whats Going On 4/6/2012
I updated the icon nav below the piano and on all pages. Instead of the instruments opeing in the iframe they now open in the same window (_self) I added a player drum set, a player acoustic guitar, and the new freestyle tables with mic recording support. Everett and I worked on the new riff guitar. It looks pretty sweet. Im just waiting on Ariel for some new Fire beats to put on the freestyle tables. As soon as those come in I will replace the current beats on the new tables.
Whats Going On 2/22/2012
I got the Player Piano and the Player Guitar thet I was working on uploaded. The player piano is a good time. Just copy the songs from the song list and paste them in the player piano and it plays the song to you. I will try and make an acoustic player guitar.
Whats Going On 2/13/2012
I have been working on this new feature I received a request for. You will be able to type out the notes you want to play and then hit a play button and hear them played back. Sounds simple. It works fine now, but I need to add the ability to tell it to play multiple notes at once. That will probably be a challenge because the logic of the playback algorithm breaks apart the array and runs conditional testing on each element individually. hmmm I will probably need to get some help on that one. We Bought some new beat mixing equipment and should have some fresh instrumentals up soon to freestyle to.
Whats Going On 2/11/2012
We uploaded all the guitars we have hanging around the living room. I need to buy a 6 string bass still. We plan on recording a new set of distorted guitar notes that are crunchier. Right now I am about to take the new guitars to the google chrome web store and submit them as apps for the google chrome browser.
Whats Going On 2/8/2012
I got the bass guitar uploaded. It sounds a little low to me. I think we might need to normalize or re-recoted the samples. Let me know what you think. There are keys on the keyboard that do not play anything on the bass. There are 2 blank keys between each fret of 4 strings. I will probably add a 6 string bass soon. I just need to buy one. Does anyone want to donate a 6 string bass?
Whats Going On 2/6/2012
We have been spending much of our time recently recording and editing all the recent guitar additions. We made a few trips to the guitar store, bought an acoustic guitar and a bass. We also bought some pedals and a few other things. I just finished up the acoustic guitar earlier today. Adam recorded the notes from a fender and I edited them to fit the guitar model. I am almost done with the bass and it should be up tonight. The bass was recorded from a yamaha 4 string. We plan on buying a new 6 bass and a 12 string acoustic to add to the site. Are you selling one on ebay? email me firstname.lastname@example.com We have a new freestyle turntable widget coming out soon. The beats are so fresh they are still being produced!
Play the piano with either your mouse or your computers keyboard. To play with your computer keyboard click the 'activate keyboard control button' on the right side of the piano (the button looks like a computer keyboard). The notes are all accurate. The sheet music is converted to a sequence of letters you type on the computer keyboard and it will play the actual song. So if you wanted to play jingle bells on the piano you would click the 'activate keyboard control' button then type the letters for jingle bells - jjj jjj jl ghj. Please visit the comment section at the bottom of the page and share any songs you have for the piano or guitar.
There are hundreds of songs available for you to choose from. The songs are located in 2 places, above the piano as a drop down menu or on the piano itself under the buttonbass logo. Select a song, click the 'activate keyboard control' button on the piano then type the sequence of letters (song) you selected. You should be able to play bits of Beethoven in minutes.
Located on the gray piano are black buttons. These buttons add effects to the piano only when playing with your computer keyboard. There are 3 or 4 buttons for each effect, each representing one of the 4 available sound banks with the specified effect applied. The Echo effect produces one sound and then 2 echos of the sound with fading out volume. The layer buttons play 2 of the sound banks at the same time to produce a layer effect. The Studder buttons play the sound 5 times quickly at the same volume. The Split buttons split the piano with half being one of the sound banks and the other half being one of the other sound banks.
The voice recorder microphones have a button that says 'record voice sample from mic' Click that and then you will be prompted by flash to allow the mic to access your microphone. When you are finished recording click the 'stop recording' button. Then you can click the 'play recording' button to play back your voice sample. There are 2 different types of mics. One that plays your voice back faster and at a higher pitch, then there is a normal playback mic.
Throughout the buttonbass website there are many different mixers used to play loops and samples in many different ways. Many have volume, balance, tempo, and visualization mixed in with the many loops and sound samples.
Below many of the widgets on buttonbass there is a text box that contains the code you would copy and paste into your website or blog. When you insert the code the widget will appear on your website. So you could put the piano on your site!
The Best method to record your mixes from buttonbass is to install the freecorder toolbar in firefox. with the toolbar you can record any mixes you make and it even saves your audio file as an mp3. You could then download audacity and mix many of your mp3's together and add effects.
You can download many of the widgets from the website and keep them. Navigate to our downloads section.
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Music helps a child's brain develop.
Music can play a special role in early child development. Music influences the auditory impulses which structures the way we learn to communicate. As music stimulates the brain, the emotions and the body simultaneously, it is a rich nutrient for developing speech, movement and expression in children.
All types of music including pop and folk music have a place in our lives as long as it is not too loud. The music of Mozart is well ordered, while romantic music of Beethoven and Brahms relate to the emotional and heroic energies. Though music is not a cure all, it has many miraculous properties especially in relation to stress and pain. To a young child, music is a movement with participation and flowing with activity. It creates stimulation or deep relaxation and is especially useful at naptime, bedtime and creative play time. When sounds become a distraction for children especially those with hypersensitivity to sound, it can create attention deficit disorder and dyslexia in children.
There have been many studies on the positive effect of music on children's math abilities. The young brain strengthens as child studies music thanks to the more rhythmic integration, movement and learning about proportions in time- space perception. In the elementary years, playing a musical instrument and practising music assists in the overall development of the speech, language and math perception. Rhythm instruments are best in pre-school years, together with singing. Also it is important in elementary years as it helps the child in forming memory and movement patterns. The earlier you start the better. But keep in mind; never force an instrument on a child. The effect of music on every child will be different.
The rhythmic quality of music is a stimulant for the lower part of the brain stem system. The harmonies of music and the rhythm of these harmonies have a direct emotional response at times. The melody and tone has a direct response on text and language. Music helps in the smooth integration of knowledge and emotion, thus music becomes a tool to integrate mind and body.
Music also helps in the auditory stimulation and makes inroads in the development of neuro- connections for multiple purposes, such as linguistic, vestibular and kinesthetic integration.
Every language and every speech has musical qualities. Thus the language skills can be developed in young children through chant, tap and play. That is also one of the reasons for the practice of nursery rhymes with movement in pre- school and kindergarten. Almost all games and activities have a musical element in them.
Music has been proven to benefit people who have undergone surgery and help them in their recuperation. If music accompanies a person throughout the day, it helps him as it reduces stress and can be very inspiring for adults as well. Thus it is very advisable to integrate music into modern day family to help maintain wellness, motivation and inspiration. Thus a little music in the background during family time can build harmony and can benefit the family as a whole.


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Cloud storage options abound and providers continue to offer new options and increase their free storage capacities. Small business providers are wise to take advantage of the capabilities and opportunities cloud storage provides. Simply put, cloud storage is a web-accessible … Continue reading
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In a room with long windows overlooking Discovery Green, four people instrumental in bringing the Super Bowl to Houston in 2017 raised champagne flutes to toast their accomplishment.
The group included Houston Mayor Annise Parker, Houston Super Bowl Bid Committee chairman Ric Campo, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Texans president Jamey Rootes. They gathered in a celebratory mood with other principals in the city's Super Bowl effort for a news conference one day after the NFL awarded Super Bowl LI to Houston.
"It was a citywide, county-wide joint effort with everybody committed to one goal, and that was to bring the Super Bowl back to Houston in 2017," Parker said. "This event will be concentrated in two areas – county facilities, Reliant Park and all of the wonderful venues down there. … Just as we worked seamlessly together to land the bid, we will continue to work seamlessly together to ensure that all of the activities and the different venues come together in something that will be uniquely Houston."
The NFL owners Tuesday awarded Houston the 51st Super Bowl over South Florida minutes after awarding the 50th to San Francisco over South Florida. It will be Houston's third Super Bowl, joining the games in 1974 and 2004.
Expanding fan base
The process intensified April 17 when NFL officials did a site visit here.
"We got hints from them and had discussions with them," Campo said.
It was after that visit that the group decided to rename the Discovery Green location from "Super Bowl Center" to "Super Bowl El Centro." The city is planning on making it one of the two centers of activity for what will be a 10-day event rather than just one week. The other area will be around Reliant Stadium.
The NFL has made no secret of its desire to expand its brand globally and increase its Hispanic fan base.
"The Super Bowl's a product and Houston's a product; we market Houston to tourists, to businesses all the time," Campo said. "You have to market your strengths. One of the strengths we have here is our diversity and our connection to Mexico and to South America. Houston has more flights to Mexico than any other city in America. When Southwest Airlines opens their new terminal in 2015, we will be the leading gateway to Mexico.
"It's a huge issue, and the NFL owners get it. They understand the Hispanic population is growing … both size-wise and income-wise. … We want more people to move here and to do well. It was a big selling point for us and one of our biggest assets to sell to the NFL."
The committee hopes to attract fans from Mexico to the city for the week, regardless of whether they attend the game.
Downtown work ahead
Despite Wednesday's celebration, officials acknowledged the amount of work ahead of them. The convention center will be rebuilt, a 1,000-room Marriott Marquis will be added downtown and various transportation projects are in the works. Parker said there will be three light-rail lines in time for the Super Bowl.
"This space will be completely transformed because there will be a new convention center and hotel," Parker said. "We start from scratch designing an event plan, a security plan, a traffic and transportation plan. All of those will have to mesh, and they will be based on what the reality on the ground in 2017 is."