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Hanlon把剃刀(Hanlon's razor)係句格言,話:
唔好將一樣可以用蠢解釋嘅嘢當做惡意 [1]
當蠢已經夠解釋既時候,唔好假設惡意 [2]。
據 Joseph Bigler 話 [3],呢句嘢原先來自一條叫 Robert J. Hanlon 嘅友,佢提交呢句嘢畀一本1980年出版嘅收集關於 梅菲定律 嘅笑話嘅書:「摩菲律第二集,點解啲嘢會出錯嘅更多理由」[4]。
類似嘅嘢講出現喺 Robert A. Heinlein 響1941年嘅短篇 《Logic of Empire》:(「你將蠢嘅結果歸究咗到邪惡度」[5]);呢樣已經喺1996年見到(係 Bigler 指出 Robert J. Hanlon citation 之前五年),而第一次被引用喺 4.0.0 版嘅 Jargon File [6], 重推測, Hanlon's Razor 可能係 "Heinlein's Razor" 嘅變樣。此後,「Heinlein 把剃刀」被定義做「唔好將用蠢就解釋到嘅嘢歸究到惡,但亦唔好完全排除惡意。」 或者「... 但仍然要𥄫實 [7]。」嘅變奏[未記出處或冇根據]。
好幾種文學作品睇過,蠢比惡更加擺佈人。歌德本《少年維特嘅煩惱》 (1774) 提到:「...誤會同忽略比詭計同惡響呢個世界產生更多混亂。無論如何,後兩者(即係詭計同惡--譯者註)肯定少見好多 [8]。」有句可能源自愛因斯坦、但亦好可能係杜撰嘅嘢,講蠢嘅威力:「得兩樣嘢係無限嘅,宇宙同埋人類嘅蠢,而關於宇宙我唔肯定 [9]。」 比較下席勒嘅「對住蠢,啲神自己白白咁鬬爭」[10]。阿西莫夫本小說 en:The Gods Themselves 個名就係來自上面席勒句嘢。好似,Elbert Hubbard 又話過:「天才可能有限,但蠢唔會就咁被限 [11]」。
有首類似嘅 epigram,可追溯到 William James 同埋其他人 [未記出處或冇根據]。
德國將軍 Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord 響 Truppenführung(1933年)留意到蠢嘅實際風險。渠話:「我分我啲軍官做四類;精、懶、勤、蠢。 呢啲質素每一軍官都有至少兩種。又精又勤嗰啲適合做最高參謀(staff appointments)。又蠢又懶嘅可用得到。 而又精又懶嘅就啱做最高指揮,佢有應付任何情況嘅性格同膽量(temperament and nerves)。但又蠢又勤嗰啲,係種威脅,要即刻整走 [12]!」
Cock-up 論改
一常見嘅英文短版,Sir Bernard Ingham 話齋:「先 cock-up 後陰謀 [13] 」。Sir Bernard 嘅全文係「好多記者都落入咗政府陰謀論。我保證你聽,渠地會寫出更準嘅嘢,如果渠地黏實 cock-up論 [14]。」
- ↑ Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
- ↑ Never assume malice when stupidity will suffice.
- ↑ In an e-mail to Quentin Stafford-Fraser, one Joseph E. Bigler claims that Robert J. Hanlon was a real person and did indeed invent this quotation. This is followed up by a later note which leads us to Murphy's Law Book Two, More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong (ISBN 0-417-06450-0); not to be confused with Murphy's Law #2 (ISBN 0-8431-0674-3). Note that publisher of these books, Price Stern Sloan, was acquired by Putnam Berkley Group (history) in 1993.
- ↑ Murphy's Law Book Two, More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong, ISBN 0-417-06450-0
- ↑ "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity"
- ↑ http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon-upd.lst
- ↑ Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice. 或 ... but keep your eyes open.
- ↑ "...misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent."
- ↑ "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."
- ↑ "Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain."
- ↑ "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped."[未記出處或冇根據]
- ↑ "I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!")-- Bruce Condell, David T. Zabecki, editors and translators, On the German Art of War: Truppenführung, Lynne Rienner, 2001
- ↑ "cock-up before conspiracy"
- ↑ "Many journalists have fallen for the conspiracy theory of government. I do assure you that they would produce more accurate work if they adhered to the cock-up theory."http://www.whatquote.com/quotes/Bernard-Ingham/9374-Many-journalists-hav.htm


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Another D20 Conversion - Why Bother?
When I opened up my birthday present this year and found a copy of the D20 Conversion for Holistic Designs' Fading Suns RPG, my first thought was, "What in the world do I need this for?" But being the rules geek I am, I had to pick it up and read it. While I can't say I loved everything about it, by the time I finished it, I had to admit, I was impressed.
When I opened up my birthday present this year and found a copy of the D20 Conversion for Holistic Designs' Fading Suns RPG, my first thought was, "What in the world do I need this for?" But being the rules geek I am, I had to pick it up and read it. While I can't say I loved everything about it, by the time I finished it, I had to admit, I was impressed.
What's so Special About D20 Fading Suns?
Fading Suns D20 is a well constructed, thoughtful D20 conversion. It includes everything I've come to expect from a Fading Suns game product, including an excellent introduction to the game universe and well written background materials. I was also impressed with the production values. The Fading Suns books are generally well done (particularly the newer ones), and the D20 conversion is perhaps the best. Rules are easy to read and find and the layout is attractive.
Nevertheless, the question remains, is Fading Suns really in need of D20 conversion? The answer is a resounding "yes and no". On the one hand, Fading Suns has a unique system and gameplay that help set the stage in one of the most unique sci-fi game settings around today. The classic Fading Suns rules offer multiple opportunities for teeth-grinding dice rolls, fast action and high heroics. A D20 conversion always means the loss of some of the spirit of the original game, and in Fading Suns, any loss is a shame. Fading Suns also includes a unique game system called the Victory Point System (VPS). Long-time Fading Suns players who are devoted to this game system may be unwilling to abandon it for D20.
So why convert Fading Suns to D20? The first reason is the VP System is quite simply difficult to learn, verging at times on the arcane. One area in particular that gained something from the conversion was the implementation of powers and rituals. In Fading Suns, mental powers and religious rituals are potent parts of the game. They aren't so much like spells in Dungeons & Dragons, where each one is very specific and focused. Rather, they are general disciplines with as many applications as the players can imagine. The D20 conversion retains this innovation. Even better, it retains a unique aspect of Fading Suns, the concept that these powers have a dark side that can manifest itself with dangerous consequences. I found the rules covering this aspect of powers to be much clearer and easier to implement in the D20 version of the game.
The second reason to do a conversion of Fading Suns is game balance. D20 does a very good job of balancing the various character classes, powers, skills and feats. The D20 conversion fixes some inherent game balance problems in Fading Suns. When I converted the characters from my existing Fading Suns games to D20, these inequalities were glaring. While most of my Fading Suns characters came out as respectable 4th - 5th level D20 characters, at least one of them, a flamboyant fencing nobleman with a shady past, could not be converted at anything less than 8th level. The reason for this is because the player had chosen certain powerful techniques and knacks that made his character an unstoppable swordsman. In D20, the same abilities have been converted into feats to prevent a character from taking too many of them at a low level.
So What's Wrong with Fading Suns D20?
Despite everything I've just said, it's not all roses and sunshine with the Fading Suns D20 conversion. For one thing, it's D20. Any D20 conversion has certain commitments which are not necessarily desirable. For one thing, not all gamers like to see characters climb up the inexorable ladder of levels towards godlike power and ridiculous numbers of hit points. In addition, the Fading Suns D20 conversion added a couple of character classes I can only describe as the "space monk" and the "space druid". These classes don't' really fit in Fading Suns and were added, I believe, to fit the D20 mentality better. While the "druid" (AKA Beastmaster) is an interesting class, it would have been better to include Fading Suns' own unique form of nature magic, the Gjarti. While Fading Suns has martial arts in the original, the new "monk" (AKA Living Weapon), doesn't really fit the background.
In addition, certain aspects of Fading Suns were cut in the D20 conversion, most notably, spiritual attributes. FS is the only game I've played that really manages a cool and workable method for dealing with the spiritual well-being of the player characters. Spirituality is an important part of Fading Suns, giving the game a medieval cultural feel I haven't found in any other game. If you're a D20 player who has never played under the VP system, I recommend you give it a try just for this aspect of the game. If you're a VP player who's thinking of switching to D20, I recommend you come up with a way to bring the spiritual attributes over into D20.
Some Obvious Conclusions
The conclusion to all this is the rather straightforward observation that Fading Suns D20 is not for everyone. Neither does the D20 conversion in any way replace the Victory Point System. On the other hand, it's a great way for D20 fans to benefit from one of the coolest game settings around today. Game masters who've been trying to get players to try FS for ages may find that converting the game to D20 attracts people who were previously not interested. For game masters and players who aren't intimidated by a new system, I recommend giving the VP version of the rules a try. The core rulebook has more material in it, particularly in terms of background. Fading Suns also has a lively online community. There are a number of discussion groups and web sites, and a very active fan fiction movement. In addition, many of the older FS books have not been converted to D20. Non-VP players will have to wait or do conversions themselves. Game Masters and players who like D20 and don't want to bother learning a new system should jump right in with Fading Suns D20. The core rules are quite playable, and there's a wealth of background material already published for the game. Luckily, Holistic appears to be quite dedicated to D20. Their upcoming Stellar Bestiary will include stats for both systems. This is a trend which is very likely to continue in all future releases for the game.
Interesting. You're the first person I've ever heard defend the original rules setting from Holistic. A friend and I both bought Fading Suns when it first came out however many years ago. We absolutely loved the background, and so did everyone else that we described them to. However, we could never get enough people together to play. Ryan and I were chatting a little while ago about the upcoming d20 Fading Suns and hoping that maybe now we would actually be able to get a game together. I agree that d20 isn't necessarily going to work for every game setting, but I would have thought that Fading Suns would have converted very well. I am VERY happy to hear that the classes are a bit more balanced with this version.
I had played the FS Victory Point and i think that this system is VERY good... well, I ever prefer point systems, with merits and flaws...
Also I and my friends will play to FS D20, and the new rules are good... but I don't like the idea that my PJ can't win Allies, Assets, etc if he don't spent a feat...
Also I can say that FSD20 balance the power between players, especially between typical nobleman and typical Brother Battle (for example)... while nobleman can earn merits with interpretation easily the typical soldier no, and one or two points don't mark the diferencies for a soldier, and for a noble they do.
Apologies for my pathetic english.
Thanks for the comment. This is a problem that my gaming group has been talking about a lot lately. I am running a D20 game based in the 1920's. We want to do something like the allies, assets, etc. in Fading Suns. The problem is, if you have to spend a feat on it, it's not worth it. You need to spend you feats on combat and magic abilities if you want to succeed. What we are thinking of doing is handing out assets, allies, and other things as rewards for creative role-playing. I wish that D20 made this easier.
Interesting review. I found it because I was looking for conversion rules on the internet out of curiosity. After reading your rather thoughtful review I think I will probably pick up the conversion book and possibly even the FS core rule book to take a look at what I might be able to add into my game. As for TonyD's comment on the drawback to spending feats on rp related feats, your right. For all its advantages D20's serious flaw is that it is in many ways set up soley (I know that isn't spelled right) for killing. Since I want more rp in my game I have made changes for my campaign to make it worth the players time. I give out exp for roleplaying as well as for killing creatures, also I don't require you to have taken a feat to craft magical items. You simply have to have a high enought caster level to have taken the feat. You might want to consider do the same sort of thing with assets and allies, or simply they gain those through role-playing. Anyway thanks for the review it is definately something I will keep an eye on now.


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This article was published on April 29th, 2017
Are you feeling the lull of spring? Looking for a change in your life to add some spice and shake things up a bit? It's time to repaint your house and living space with fresh color. Use the power of color to bring your home back to life. Here is what you know about what colors to choose, how to coordinate, and how to have a positive change from painting your home.
While we love and embrace the rainbow, color should be used strategically when interior decorating. A dark brown can turn your dwellings into a cave, while a fiery red can add too much intensity to one living space. Neutral colors like greys and tans can add a soft feeling to your home. Brighter shades like pale yellows, soft greens, and light blues can add an earthy, naturally calming effect to your walls.
Choosing colors that you enjoy and that bring out the best emotions is an important step. Asking yourself what shades you enjoy, the feeling you get when looking at them, and the raw emotions you feel when witnessing each color. You want a color that is going to be soothing, yet different. Bold and daring, but something you're going to be able to live with permanently on your walls.
A safe bet would be to start with the neutrals. Neutral colors are easy to incorporate other colors with, aren't overwhelming, and won't make such a statement that you'll love or hate it within the week. And just because you start with a neutral, doesn't mean you cannot still create a stark change to your surroundings.
Balance neutrals with blocks of color. By using the color wheel we learned in art class circa 6th grade, we can determine which shades block together the best. Color blocking is the use, together, of two or more contrasting colors together. Color blocking can have a fantastically modern look to it, while giving you the pops of color you might want in and amongst the neutral colors.
Using color blocking can help accentuate molding and other features on the walls and ceiling. Two and Three-toned colors together call look fantastic if the right colors are chosen together? How does one successfully color block? Again, start with the color wheel. Colors opposite from one another on the spectrum often work great together in fashion and in the home.
Color blocking can be done using furniture and accessories, too. Adding an orange pillow to a grey couch with purple walls gives it a pop of color blocking without going the full Monty. Think of your home as a runway model. Sometimes accessorizing is all it takes for a fashionable ensemble to really come off as a piece of art. The same can be said about your home.
Start with the basics. Try redecorating an office nook by painting a wall and incorporating new throw pillows that are colors from an opposite end of the wheel of which you painted your wall. Start with neutrals and then go bold: combining bright hues with light colors is a dramatic choice that may have you wishing you would have started simpler.
Finally, be yourself. You're the one who has to live with your color palette and choices. Choosing to revamp your personal space by changing the color scheme is a big step and should be slowly and efficiently. There are lots of ways you can use color to enhance your home. And remember: if at first you don't succeed, you can always go with a different block of colors to color your world down the road.


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One of the first museum equipped with our GEOLiFi technology
The « Musée de la carte à jouer » based in France close to Paris, will inaugurate its temporary exhibition about AUGUSTE RODIN and his molder PAUL CRUET this Wednesday night!
For this specific exhibition some of our liFi spots were installed on the top of iconic sculptures, each one transmitting one unique id.
The Visitors by using the LiFi tablets will be able to receive and watch a video documenting the artwork they are looking at during their visit.
One app specially configured for the museum has been developed and installed into the tablet making it a really easy solution to be used for the visitors and the Museum when updating the content.
This solution, called GEOLiFi have been designed especially for this kind of application.
It allowed you to share any kind of data: text, text to speech, videos, pictures … anything that can enhance visitors' experience!
For more info: www.oledcomm.com / email@example.com / +33(0) 139 254 757


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Sea kayaking holidays in Croatia
Kayaking is almost synonymous with Croatia. And if you want to move, in the words of the iconic actress Katharine Hepburn, through its marine magnificence, this really is the way to do it. With a collection of over 1,000 islands grouped into several archipelagos, sea kayaking in Croatia really is living.
If you'd like to chat about Croatia or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.
Rosy & team.
If you'd like to chat about Croatia or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.
Rosy & team.
01273 823 700
There are a few myths out there about kayaking, for those who have never had that experience of pushing their posteriors into plastic and then sliding out into sea. Most importantly, just about anyone can do it. Secondly, you are never too old or young to start. There are buoyancy aids made for babies these days, and you can paddle in a tandem kayak with your children if you like. Although for your own peace of mind, and sometimes for insurance purposes, many kayaking tour operators insist that you can swim. Thirdly, it isnt always as tiring as you might imagine, especially if you are a beginner, when expert kayaking tour operators will choose itineraries that mean you can just sit pretty and go with the flow, building up slowly and kayaking between two to five hours a day.
Independent versus guided holidays
Experienced kayakers have been paddling their way around Croatias archipelagos for years, and there are plenty of holidays out there catering for those who know the ropes and can kayak between several islands, all before breakfast. And do so independently with no guides. For the most part, however, kayak holidays in Croatia cater for the paddle and pootle brigade, and for those who are happier being out on the waves with an expert instructor guide. Sea kayaking needs some expert knowledge and so, if in doubt, go on a guided tour. It makes for a much more stress-free holiday.
The Elaphiti Islands
The most accessible sea kayaking is around the islands that glisten tantalisingly off the Dubrovnik coast. They are the Elaphiti Islands, a small archipelago covering around 30km2, the main ones being Sipan, Lopud and Kolocep. You can spend a week kayaking on this part of the Dalmatian coast, travelling in a small group and being fully guided by expert kayakers, taking your first trip out onto the water by ferry to Lopud. Here you will spend a day getting used to being on a kayak, paddling around tranquil, sandy bays such as Sunj, having a sunset walk through its lush woodland, and then chilling at a waterfront café in the evening.
When you are kayak confident, you will start island hopping, leaving your bags to be transferred for you by a boat while you go in search of, for example, the island of Sipan, this time without a ferry. After kayaking through turquoise Adriatic waters past natural stone arches, dramatic cliffs and a cornucopia of coves, you reach its coast, letting the waves carry you ashore. Sipan is the largest of the Elaphiti Islands and a place to also explore on land, with a plethora of ancient, romantic towns, tiny fishing villages, vineyards and olive grove covered hills.
A highlight for many kayakers is the exploration of sea caves. Paddle out to the island of Ruda, off Sipan, then kayak to, and swim through, a hole into a magical, shimmering cave, where the sunlight peeks through just enough to illuminate it and the water. Sea kayaking holidays in Croatia, whether four-day breaks or weeklong odysseys, are full of magical maritime moments like this.
Mljet Island National Park
If island hopping isnt your thing, you can spend several days exploring different hidden coves and beaches around the island of Mljet, Croatias only island national park and located in the Dubrovnik archipelago. Three quarters of this stunner is covered in forest, so although you can also hike through it, sometimes taking a kayak around it is the only way to explore it fully. You can also kayak and swim on its two saltwater lakes which are the glistering sapphires in its emerald interior.
Istrian idylls
It is hard to find a bit of the coast that isnt covered by sea kayaks, and the Istrian Peninsula in the north is another paddling paradise. This is a good spot for a multi activity holiday in Croatia, combining sea kayaking around the ancient coastal town of Rovinj or the Porec Islands, for example, with a couple of days hiking in Plitvice National Park. Water addicts need not panic, however, as Plitvice is a land of 16 freshwater lakes and 90 waterfalls. And for those who like the idea of combining inland and coastal, you can also go on a kayaking holiday that starts on the Zrmanja and Krupa Rivers in Velebit Nature Park, rafting or canoeing all the way down to Obrovac, where you change to sea kayaks and enter the Novigrad Sea.
Photo credits: [Top box, Independent versus guided: Huck Finn Adventures] [Sipan: snailo86] [Mljet Island National Park: Jaganjac ] [Rovinj: Andreas März]
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Weddings Spaces
Elegant Indoor & Outdoor Spaces for Timeless Weddings in LAYour walk down the aisle is a little more magical when you host your wedding in our romantic spaces. Featuring a perfect location near Beverly Hills, our luxuriously appointed indoor and outdoor wedding spaces in Century City reflect the glamour of Los Angeles. Exchange vows in the stunning garden courtyard and celebrate in a classic ballroom that's been upgraded with modern chandeliers and a sophisticated color palette. Host a scenic rehearsal dinner, intimate reception, or post-wedding brunch in our beautiful spaces - the InterContinental Los Angeles Century City are designed for unforgettable events.
The Garden
One of the most beautiful outdoor wedding venues in Los Angeles, the garden features an expansive and immaculately manicured lawn that makes for a picture-perfect sunset ceremony site or post-wedding brunch location for up to 300 wedding ceremony guests.
- 3,300 sq. ft.
- Accommodates up to 350 wedding ceremony guests
- Available with the adjacent 900-square-foot Glass Lounge, which features floor-to-ceiling garden-facing windows
Glass Lounge
For cocktail receptions, smaller indoor ceremonies, and the most intimate wedding receptions, this cozy space offers a refined setting with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the Garden Courtyard.
- 900 sq. ft.
- Accommodates up to 60 reception guests
- Available as a standalone site or with the adjacent Garden.
Grand Salon Ballroom
Featuring high ceilings, upscale lighting and chandeliers, and timeless decor to match your customized color palette and theme, this luxurious ballroom is the perfect space for refined wedding receptions, with stylish banquet seating for up to 300 guests and 400 cocktail reception guests.
- 4,032 sq. ft.
- Accommodates up to 400 reception guests
- Available with the adjacent 2,400-square-foot Grand Salon Foyer for cocktail hour


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No one that I know of has one.
Can anyone who really knows bugs tell me if this thing was eating fire ants?
All of the other traps around it in that picture are by far immature next to this one. If you look to the back and to the left of the small ones, it looks almost like a more mature flytrap. Also, someone on the cpuk forum had suggested that it looked like a bug had eaten part of it. The outside of the trap does exhibit what appears to be scarring, almost like something bit into it.
Ok, bug people, what do you think?


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Jon Miller: Value-added Percentage, and other Parlor Tricks
By Jon Miller, - Last updated: lundi, février 9, 2015 - Save & Share - Leave a comment
"What should be the target value-add percentage in a process?"
This is a very interesting question. Oddly, value is one of the least discussed and understood topics in lean. Perhaps this is because there is so much good that can be done simply by tackling the vast amounts of obvious waste in most of our organizations and processes. Even a poor definition of value is good enough, as long as it sheds light on the opportunities to covert wasted time and effort into more valuable ones.
Value is subjective. Humans define value. How we define value is time-bound. Humans are very bad at making long-term decisions concerning our own well-being and the well-being of others. In life, compound interest and delayed gratification yields more value but we are not wired to understand this so we choose the shorter-term value that in fact is lower value to our lives. This is important because the result is local optimization, or the maximization of value for me and my process to the detriment of others. Humans are also bad at assessing system-level impacts of our decisions.
Value is defined by the customer. But who is the customer? The customer of a process is the downstream process, all the way down the chain. This thinking allows the creation of a lean production system triggered by pull. This in turn minimizes overproduction, which limits various other wastes such as inventory, defects, transportation and motion, since less unnecessary output means less waste associated with output in general.
At the beginning process of the pull chain, consumption, the paying individual is the customer for the product or service. The target value to the customer should be at least 100%. Receiving less than 100% of the promised value turns people off. It is unfair at best, dishonest at worst. Receiving more than 100% expected value is what creates customer delight and repeat business. It is simply a question of under-promising and over-delivering. But that is shallow thinking that most lean organizations fall under. It is dangerous to define value only in terms of the paying customer.
What about the employees who work in the process, and are themselves not only stakeholders but consumers and members of society? What about allowing them to define factors that affect value in the process, such as health and wellness, creativity, empowerment to make changes, the various things that lean thinkers may bundle under "respect for people"? More leaders and organizations are realizing that a designing a workplace that has value for the employees and not only the end customers is critical to attracting and retaining talent, engaging them, improving performance, and retaining customers. It is a virtuous cycle. The target is 100% engagement, with the ideal (but not the target) being 100% satisfaction.
But what about the shareholder? Executives who worship at the altar of "increasing shareholder value" view share price as the ultimate value, over and above the paying customer and the employee or community stakeholder. If we aimed for 100% value to shareholders, at the expense of those other customers, the result is a sociopathic organization whose products and services pollute, executives who cheat, mistreat people and make a lot of money for short periods of time while nurturing a toxic culture that leads to eventual decline. At the risk of ruining my chances of ever being invited to be on a Board of Directors again, I will state my conviction that maximizing shareholder value is not a good management process target for any organization other than privateers.
Toyota aims for 95% run rate on their assembly line. Why is it not 100% as a target? It turns out that a perfect day hides problems, such as overburden on the workers, slack in the process that makes it easier to hit 100%, or other. 'No problem' is a problem. A perfect day is not possible; it is only an illusion of safety that lulls us into complacency and eventual decline. The lesson here is that we must set targets that help us to safely expose and address our problems, not hide them.
How should we set targets for value-add in a process? First, define the customer at several levels, and think as broadly and as long-term as possible. Get a clear enough definition to separate good from bad, waste from value. This is not too hard, but keep in mind that the answer will be subjective.
Second, think about the processes involved and ask "What is the need of the downstream process?" Depending on how well we understand the customer and answer this question will result in how we design our processes and set targets for value-added.
Is the customer need desirable? This question asks whether we even want to be doing business with these customers in the first place. Are they reasonable people? Do they pay on-time? Are they profitable? Do they fit our company vision, mission, culture and so forth? When we force-fit customers to delivery processes, we create a lot of waste and the value-add percentage will be low. Being able to answer 'yes' to the question "is it desirable?" means that we are designing in a high value-add percentage to your process by offering products or services that we can build and delivery smoothly and at a low cost. Sometimes we have to fire your customers to have a high value-add process. At other times such as during a startup phase, we may wish to acquire undesirable customers to gain market knowledge, or if the business must take on more work of any kind in order to survive, the value-add percentage may be sacrificed. The ideal answer to "is it desirable?" is yes, the situational answer is 'no, but'.
At the process level, it is much harder to ask this question since it is not practical for most processes to refuse to supply the next process within the same organization. Yet, this is exactly how pull works. If the downstream process makes an unreasonable demand, the chain breaks and problem solving activity is triggered. If the downstream process request is truly unreasonable, the takt is adjusted, capacity is supplied and flow is resumed. If the request is reasonable but the upstream process is unable to supply, the root cause of this is located and removed. We don't want the process to break, but we also don't want it to never break. We must intentionally remove waste but add slack to the system, and continuously test the right amount of slack within different customer demand conditions.
What is the value of slack in the process? Taiichi Ohno wrote "Don't fear opportunity losses" in exhorting Toyota managers to not keep inventory "just in case" it was needed. This was directed at the Toyota business model of the 1980s for mass producing low-cost, high quality automobiles in high volumes. It does not necessarily fit a business whose model is built around responding to profitable quick-response opportunities, emergencies or natural disasters. International courier services, hospital emergency departments and moisture removal product companies come to mind. In these situations, keeping inventory or capacity on hand in order to respond to unpredictable customer needs is practically the only way to deliver. Viewed from a value-add percentage point of view, it may be very low, but profitability may be very high. Customers who will pay more for an immediate delivery, be it medical care or take-out food, based on their situation. Value is subjective.
At the process level there are situations that do call for keeping reserve capacity, in effect reducing the process value-add. For example, keeping a top sales person at 50% load or less so that they are available to respond in a moment's notice to an unexpected visit by a high-value customer is a valid strategy. Keeping a water spider's standard work at 80% or less in order to respond to cycle time fluctuations in the production lines they are supporting caused by product mix variations is another example of local sub-optimization for optimizing at a higher level of the system. One area that most lean and non-lean organizations fail is in adding more indirect team leaders and supervisors (slack and cost at the headcount level) to an organization in order to create capacity to monitor, train, coach and improve people and processes (overall cost and quality improvement at the system level).
Lean thinkers love to talk about value added percentage, shaming traditional managers by how low it is in their organization and shocking them into action. While useful, this is largely a parlor trick. The truth is that lean thinkers are just as bad at defining value as the rest of the world. We just have fewer good excuses for this.


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Saturday, February 16, 2013
Finally a Finish
14 comments:
Ann ~ReplyDelete
Your memory is way better than mine (since you're still a young pup!). It was so long ago I don't remember responding but I must say, the rug came out terrific!!! So sweet. Your new rug is lookin' good, too.
The weather is the same here in northern Ohio. We got a covering this afternoon. I do hope that is all we get.
Keep on hookin'!
Hugs :)
Ann...I think I've done as much "reverse hooking" as "hooking"! It's just part of the process. Both of your rugs look so nice! Lauren has a good eye for color and contrast. She was helping me with my rug at Sauder. It's been a blizzard here in Michigan. Another 30+ car pile up on south bound I-75...gonna stay in! Have a cozy, wool-filled evening!!ReplyDelete
I like it. I don't hook so I doubt that my opinion is worthy but I think a gray tweedy background would look nice with rusty flowers. Your basket finish is really nice.ReplyDelete
I like how it turned out! The one with the posies is going to be a nice one too!ReplyDelete
Evening, I also love how the rug turned out, beautiful and love the colors, Lauren`s a sweetheart.......Blessings Francine.ReplyDelete
I like your colors and the finish.ReplyDelete
very nice indeed, I like it better without the date.ReplyDelete
your friend was right- it looks better without the date :) a lovely rug, great work!ReplyDelete
Oh that Lauren is one smart cookie! :-) It looks less cluttered without the date. And, your next project is hooking up great too! Leave all the colors there until you get a background going... sometimes colors change when other color is put next to it.ReplyDelete
Good advice from Lauren :) I love the muted colors myself. Not the multi-colored and that's just me.ReplyDelete
You're doing wonderfully so far, just as I suspected you would :)
What a great finish - I love the red, and the dark background.ReplyDelete
Ann It is sooo pretty~ great work~ReplyDelete
gotta love Ohio~ the best thing with February you can feel that sun warming a bit~ little bit longer days~ giggles~ a bit!!!
Beautiful finish! Love the colors and the design, Ann!ReplyDelete
Oh gosh girl, that is exactly why I could never do needle punch, LOL! I would NEVER be able to decide on colors and would be re-doing more than I get done, haha. So far it looks wonderful!
I love your floor!.....I can't see my hubby and I putting one in....ReplyDelete
I am the picky one!...lol.......Your rug hooking looks great, too! I have done a few things and I never put the binding on them.....Maybe one of these days I will get them done and start on something else.
Bear Hugs~Karen


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This was the first official Thankful Tuesday that you haven't heard from me. I may fail to bring you my brain on various other days of the week, but on Tuesdays you can usually count on a thankful post.
Today, however, it wasn't happening. I stayed up late with my brother and sister in law, slept a little later until August stirred, rushed to get the boy to his school by 9, stuffed laundry in the washer and dryer, drove my bro and sis in law to the airport, got lost on the way and frantically called my husband in the state of panic he's experienced far more often than any man should, hugged them goodbye, picked up August, fed him, read to him, got him to nap, fell asleep (this baby in me is demanding), and then quickly prepared my house for an evening of guests.
Tonight is what I'd really like to talk about this Thankful Tuesday (there are still seven minutes left of Thankful Tuesday right now on the West coast). I had a houseful of guests tonight because last week my friend Jeremy Courtney contacted me to ask for some help. I know Jeremy because his wife, Jessica, and I spent our high school years together. I almost shared on the '90s music post about my memories of riding in her Bronco and listening to No Doubt singing "Spiderwebs" on our way to lunch at her house everyday back in '96.
Jessica and Jeremy met in college and both felt a calling to the Middle East. I remember a conversation with Jessica in 2000, when she shared with me about their love for Turkey and their desire to live among the Turkish people.
I love seeing beautiful things come out of the dreams God puts in us. Years later, Jessica and Jeremy ended up in Northern Iraq, working among the Kurdish people. After encountering the staggering amount of children being born with congenital heart defects, the Courtneys, together with Cody Fisher, began a non-profit called Preemptive Love Coalition. Their vision for PLC is that it might raise funds to provide (through supplying doctors, medical training and financial opportunities) life-saving heart surgeries for the children of Iraq. So far, 90 children have been given the surgeries they needed.
Last week, Jeremy told me his friend and partner in PLC, Cody, was going to be in San Francisco with his wife, Michelle. (Cody and Michelle met while both working with PLC in Iraq and have been married a year and a half.) So, Chris and I gathered some pizza, some friends, and shared a remarkable night with Cody and Michelle, hearing about this beautiful work going on in Iraq.
In a time when all we seem to hear about is the discord between the "Christian" and the "Muslim" world. When yahoos who want to burn the Koran in the name of Jesus are the only picture most people in the Middle East have of the US or Christianity, Cody and Michelle shared tonight about doing more than simply loving the idea of peace. They described their longing to be "peace-makers." For them, that means seeking to bring wholeness into the lives of the people they encounter in Iraq. By loving families who are frantically searching for a cure for their dying children, they are slowly building peace between Muslims and Christians. And, as Cody shared tonight, even desperate enemies, like the Kurds and Arabs of Iraq, whose families are waiting for life-saving surgeries for their children, are building peace out of their equal understanding and longing for the health of their children.
As much as I'm continually frustrated and disappointed by the "Christianity" that seeps out of our wrecked culture, my life is full of gleaming beauties: reminders that God is renewing this dark, bitter world, reminders that I believe in hope.
I'm going to bed tonight grateful that there are Jeremys and Jessicas and Codys and Michelles in this world, giving up the comfort of a typical American life in order to build peace in places and lives of brokenness. And I'm going to bed tonight challenged with the thought that I am also called to build peace (wholeness, completion) into the screwed up world and lives around me.
What does it mean to make peace in my home, in my son's life, in my friendships, in the playground, in my writing? I'm not sure, but I'm thankful that such a calling exists in my simple life and I somehow get to live into it.


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Pre-Interest Form
Please send me more information as it becomes available.
Help us to save the worlds oceans from PLASTIC
The worlds oceans are in trouble.
Pisces Plc is a new UK company which will develop sustainable methods to handle the plastic pollution problems which are now so prevalent.
Investors are cordially invited to register their pre-interest here.
c. 201x IW Global


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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act continues to spur entrepreneurial activity in clean energy and sustainable business. Projects in solar power, geothermal energy, hydropower, and bio-fuels - and the manufacturers that support them - are still vying for a slice of the $67 billion in federal grants, credits, and financing of direct loans or loan guarantees. States have also created incentives for projects, including tax exemptions or abatements and cash grants.
The wind energy industry has especially benefited from these incentives. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the wind industry finished 2009 with 34,863 megawatts of installed capacity, a 37 percent increase from 2008. Fourteen states reached 1,000 megawatts or more of installed capacity, as compared to only seven states that reached that mark in the previous year. Thanks to incentives, Texas and Iowa led the nation for installed capacity in 2009.
Federal Funding
The federal government has lent significant financial support to the wind industry. In a recent survey by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 73 percent of the respondents indicated that the new Section 1603 grants, in lieu of production and tax credits, were either "extremely important" or "very important" to renewable energy project development. The dollar figures provided support those responses. Since August, the U.S. Treasury has approved $2.6 billion of Section 1603 grants. Eighty-five percent of the grants have gone to the wind industry, with an average project award of $47 million.
Section 1603 provides cash grants equaling 30 percent of the basis of "specified energy property" (only 10 percent in certain instances). The term "specified energy property" generally includes two broad categories of property: renewable-based electricity production property (IRC Section 45) and qualifying alternative energy credit property (IRC Section 48). More specifically, "specified property" is depreciable (or amortizable in lieu of depreciation), tangible personal property, and other tangible property (excluding buildings) as defined in the Income Tax Regulations. The "tangible personal property" must be an integral part of the facility and must be located at the facility.
To determine the basis of the "specified energy property," the Treasury has adopted the general rules of determining the basis for federal income taxes. Typically, the basis is the cost of the property placed in service after 2008, "unreduced by any other adjustments to basis, such as that for depreciation, and includes all items properly included by the taxpayer in the depreciable basis."
While the Section 1603 grant program will expire on October 1, 2011, eligible projects must commence in 2009 or 2010, and the projects must be serviceable by various credit termination dates. "Placing the property in service" means that the specified energy property is ready and available for its specific use. Where a project contains used parts, the property still qualifies for "original use" if the cost of the used parts is not more than 20 percent of the total cost of the facility.
To be eligible for the Section 1603 Grant, the specified energy property must be originally placed in service by the owner or lessee. The four categories of persons who are not eligible for the Section 1603 Grant are:
• Any federal, state, or local government;
• Any organization described in IRC Section 501(c) and exempt from taxation under IRC Section 501(a);
• A clean, renewable energy bond dealer, or a cooperative electric company;
• Any partnership or pass-thru entity, any direct or indirect partner that is an organization or entity described above, unless the person only owns an indirect interest in the applicant through a blocker sub (i.e., a taxable C corporation).
To attract program beneficiaries, the Treasury has been paying the grants within 60 days of receiving a completed application for property that has been placed in service. The grant is not subject to federal income tax (with exceptions for certain leases), although it may be subject to state income and franchise or gross receipts taxes. Instead, the basis of the "specified energy property" is reduced by an amount equal to 50 percent of the cash grant.
Since 1603 grants are available for projects in all 50 states, individual states compete to attract new wind projects by offering a full range of incentives, including exemptions, credits, grants and rebates, and abatements. According to the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE), at least half of states offer incentives. Many states offer a variety of incentives to support specific industries.
State Support
In Texas, Iowa, and California - states that cumulatively represent more
than 15,000 megawatts of installed capacity - programs offer favorable
financing for wind projects. The Iowa Energy Center administers a state
loan program called the Alternate Energy Revolving Loan Program. Through
a competitive process, developers can apply for a zero percent interest
loan with a maximum term of 20 years. The maximum loan amount is $1
million, and a lender provides the remainder of the funding at market
For wind projects in Colorado, Texas, Florida, or California, developers
can tap into what DSIRE calls Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)
financing. In each of these states, the legislatures have authorized
local communities to offer long-term financing to property owners for
alternative energy improvements. In exchange, the property owner must
agree to a contractual assessment on the property that is used to repay
the loan. The programs share similarities with tax-increment finance
districts. While each state differs, the laws generally require each
local community to adopt a formal plan that may include:
• A map delineating the area where the contractual assessments may be
• A model agreement between the property owner and local government;
• A requirement whereby the property owner may contract for the
installation or purchase the systems directly;
• A requirement of whether the installers of the alternative energy
improvements must be licensed;
• A method for determining whether property owners have the financial
clout to repay the assessments;
• Types of eligible facilities and improvements;
• A maximum aggregate dollar amount of contractual assessments;
• A method for prioritizing applications if requests exceed the
authorized amount;
• A plan for raising capital required to pay for the improvements,
including whether local communities may issue bonds to fund the program;
• An itemization of the transaction costs and professional fees
associated with the financing, administration, and collection of the
special assessments.
Some local governments - like Boulder, Colorado and Berkeley, Sonoma
County, and Palm Desert in California - have already adopted PACE.
In addition to offering favorable financing, Iowa and Texas offer
corporate tax credits and exemptions as incentives for wind energy
projects. The legislature in Iowa enacted two separate production tax
credits, according to DSIRE. The Section 476C credit is $0.015 per
kilowatt hour for facilities placed in service on or after July 1, 2005
and before January 1, 2012. Under Section 476B, the credit is $0.010 per
kilowatt hour for facilities placed in service during the same time
period. But the Section 476C credit may be transferred only once to a
third party, while a Section 476B credit is freely transferrable. This
difference can affect financing for wind projects.
In Texas, corporations or other entities subject to the state's modified
franchise tax may deduct the cost of wind energy devices from their tax
liabilities, according to DSIRE. (The original language referred to
"solar energy devices," but House Bill 3 revised the overview to qualify
wind energy devices for exemptions and deductions.) The deduction is 10
percent of the amortized cost of the system from the taxpayer's
apportioned margin. Manufacturers, sellers, and installers of wind
technologies receive a franchise tax exemption, along with wind power
Tax Incentives
Texas and Iowa also offer specific property tax relief for wind
projects. Local Iowa communities may adopt an ordinance assessing wind
energy equipment at a special property tax valuation. The rate commences
at zero percent of the net acquisition cost in the first year, and
increases incrementally to a maximum of 30 percent of the net
acquisition cost in the seventh year and on. The special valuation is
permissible for 20 years, and at the end of the period, the property is
appraised at fair market value rather than 30 percent of the net
acquisition cost. To further benefit projects in Iowa, the Department of
Revenue will not assess wind property until the project is complete.
Additionally, wind projects are exempt from the state's Energy
Replacement Generation Tax, a replacement tax on generation facilities
in lieu of property taxes.
Texas permits a property tax exemption for wind projects. The exemption
is for the amount of the appraised property value that results from the
installation of a wind project. The exemption requires a completed Form
50-123, "Exemption Application for Solar or Wind Powered Energy
Other states also offer enticing incentives, and the winds of change may
mean new wind energy leaders are on the horizon.
Note: Detailed information on
the state and local tax exemptions and credits described above, in
addition to incentives not mentioned, can be found at the Database of
State Incentives for Renewable Energy (www.dsireusa.org).
For information relating to Treasury's Grant in Lieu of Tax Credits,
please see Treasury's Guidance (www.treasury.gov/recovery/1603.shtml).


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The team at Bennington Toyota makes financing or leasing your next vehicle easy and stress-free
At Bennington Toyota we're eager to get you into a new Toyota or used vehicle at a price that fits your budget, and we're able to do so thanks to our knowledge finance team.
After coming into our dealership, test driving, and landing on a vehicle you like, we'll have you sit down with a finance rep. They'll have you fill out a finance application (or use the one you did online) and factor in any down payments you may have or trade-ins. This process is the same if you're looking to buy a vehicle (new or used) or lease a new model.
To help ensure you get the best rate if you're buying new, they'll look at the monthly new Toyota specials to see what is available for the model you have your eye on. If you're lucky and eligible, you could get a 0%-1.9% APR rate to buy or get a low monthly rate for leasing. Then we'll work with national and local lenders to help you secure an auto loan if you need one.
Not only do we enjoy playing with the numbers and getting you into a car, but we work hard to do it as transparently as possible. We'll explain the numbers if you have questions and ensure you don't leave scratching your head about the deal you just signed.
When you're ready to take the next step, come into our dealership! We're located in Bennington, VT, but because we're so close to New York and Massachusetts borders, we also serve shoppers from two other states. That's right, if you're from Troy, NY or call Pittsfield, North Adams, or Williamstown, Massachusetts home you can come over to Vermont to buy or lease your next ride. It's not a long drive and we'll welcome you with open arms to the Green Mountain State!


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Leigh Slogett
Looking For The Clues
Leigh Slogett's new album was inspired by a common theme, that of the journey, be it inward or outward. He's a more than capable interpreter of weighty themes and songs here.
"Blue Jewel" is a fine example of his style, a careful hush of a song with excellent guitar playing and a sensitive lyric by his friend Peter Newell. "On the Climbing Road" is a typical folksy song that Sloggett plays and sings well. He has a dry desert tune that's very apt for the theme. "Crayfish Col" tells of a man gone on the trip of his life, and it's a quiet and contemplative tune, but with an underlying tension that works in its favor.
"Boomer and Sweet Honey" is a lengthy track that works well, a story of man hell-bent on destroying himself and his salvation. It's a fine example of what Sloggett does so well. Take the trip with him.
Copyright © 2009 Anna Maria Stjärnell
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Statistics South Africa has released its education enrolment and achievement statistics for 2017.
The report is based on Stats SA's Community Survey (CS) 2016 data and includes information on the participation of learners at the primary/secondary and post-secondary phases, the number of high school and post-secondary graduates, and historical trends that compare various census data points to the CS 2016.
Some of the information is supplemented by data sourced from the General Household Survey (GHS), the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) and administrative records.
According to the report, 2.1 million adults aged 20 years and older have attained a tertiary qualification at a South African university – and with 503,096 graduates, Education comes out as the top field of study in the country.
This is followed by Business and Economics (439,719 graduates), Health (221,121) and Engineering (219,007).
A matter of age
166,224 (close to 8%) of South Africa's university graduates are aged 20–24 – whereas the majority (close to 52%) are between 25 and 44 years old.
This is due to either the slow progress of students in the higher education system or the late entry of students in the higher education system, the report noted.
Computer and information sciences are mostly majors for younger graduates between 20 and 34 years old (close to 52%), whereas the field of education mostly had graduates aged 35 years and older (close to 81%).
Although close to 50% of graduates in the physical sciences and mathematics and statistics fields are in the age group 25–44, the low percentage of younger graduates in these fields of study is worrying, noted Stats SA
The reported also noted that although black Africans constitute half of the graduates, this group still lags behind in terms of educational attainment compared to whites (who constitute 37,2% of the graduates), and Indians/Asians and coloured (with both groups constituting 6,1% of the graduates).


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Chinese-Indian cuisine ("asian fusion")
39-23 Queens Boulevard
suitable for very large parties (banquet hall)
Entrees are $7-$14, except for crab and lobster at $20
This is apparently an expansion from a much smaller, established resturant, and it shows -- the food is very well prepared, not at all generic, and not very expensive. We got a chicken tangra (dry -- like many of their dishes, this can be prepared dry or with sauce) and a tofu manchurian.
The chicken was quite moist, but very mild (we'd been warned that this was spicy, and it did have a bite, but only a small one), and quite flavorful. Very pleasant, but we werer glad it was "dry", since it really didn't need a thick sauce. It was more Indian than Chinese, which makes sense.
The tofu, we'd ordered extra spicy, but came with much less bite than the chicken (the table did have chili oil, fine-ground black pepper, and pickled peppers, though, and I made liberal use of the first two), in a black bean sauce. Lisa was miffed that the bean curd was lightly fried (we'd asked and been told it was soft -- guess we should have been more specific), but it was quite pleasant and comfort-food-like (and, of course, quite Chinese).
They also had shakes at $3.25 -- $.25 cheaper than their lassis, so we ordered a pistacio one. Unfortunately, they were out of pistacio ice cream, so we got a malai shake, which was very vanilla, but quite pleasant.
Their rice (free with entrees) was very Indian -- short-grain and very dry.
The menu's got a much higher variety than we tried, of course -- goat, "fish", prawns, lobster, crab, beef, chicken, fried rice, chow mein, thai noodle, chop suey and a quite long variety of veggiterian dishes ("gobi", eggplant, potato, string bean, paneer, tofu, and baby corn).
Alltogether, a positive experience, though we'll want to make a greater attempt to get them to spice up their food next time; I'm not quite sure what they're used to, but they clearly have an expectation that their customer base likes things very mild, which is not really the case for us.


text: We love helping people who truly love what they drive, and setting them up with the best products and services for their needs and vehicles. Before taking delivery of his new Midnight Silver Metallic Model S 90D, this customer contacted us to find out what we recommended. He wanted to keep his car looking as new as possible without a meticulous wash and care regimen. This car is a daily driver and he had a really limited amount of time so he knew that he would not be able to wash and care for it the way that would do it justice. The completed project The Goal Our goal was to make sure this P90D looked like it had never set foot off the show room floor – but without any of the stress or hassle that come with maintaining perfect paint. We wanted the customer to be able to have an over-the-top shine factor, take it anywhere he wanted to have it washed without any wash marring, drive it across the country without getting rock chips, and to put it simply – enjoy his P90 to the fullest without worrying about keeping it perfect. Correction and Protection Plan We protected this car right with a full body Suntek clear bra paint protection film wrap topped off with CQuartz Finest ceramic coating for the highest level of paint protection available. Decontamination Prep We started off by doing a decontamination wash using Shine Supply products: Smooth Move (an iron remover/decontamination cleaner for paint) and soap. We followed this by claying the car, then polished it using CarPro's Essence Polish. Suntek Paint Protection Film After the car was polished, we were ready to install a full paint protection film (clear bra) wrap with Suntek self-healing film. Suntek film offers 8 mils of ultra thick protection and in our opinion has the most invisible appearance of any of the top grade films on the market. This film has a very glossy top coat with a high level of optical clarity, reducing any distortions in the vinyl for a very clear and shiny finish. Our climate controlled, clean room environment with 75,000 lumens of light is the ideal environment for clear bra paint protection film installations. We take every precaution to ensure flawless installs and we stand behind our work 100%. We covered every painted surface of this car in protective film: the hood, bumpers, fenders, rockers, mirror backs, roof, a-pillars, grill, and doors. To make the paint protection film completely undetectable, the edges were wrapped in every place possible (certain spots, like mirror backs, were not wrapped). Wrapping edges on panels during installation for a truly invisible look These photos show how hard it is to tell film is on the car after installation CQuartz Finest Ceramic Coating After the paint protection film was installed, 3 generous coats of CarPro's CQuartz Finest was applied to every painted surface, as well as the wheels and the trim. We are honored to be an authorized CQuartz Finest Installer, as only 0.5% of detailers that apply are approved to install this exclusive product based on their ability to properly correct the paint prior to installation. This coating is known worldwide among professionals as the richest, deepest, highest gloss coating available anywhere. Not only is it glossy, the coating is harder, more durable and thicker (2-3 μm) than anything else on the market. When applied to paint, it resists fine swirls and scratches, dirt, bugs, bird droppings, tar, iron, UVA/B rays and other environmental contaminates, keeping the elements from ever touching the car's paint (or in this case, the paint protection film). It is also hydrophobic, which mean water is kept from absorbing into the paint so it just sheets off the surface of the car (a huge factor in your car being able to stay clean). CQuartz Finest has a self cleaning effect so dirt and dust are retained up to 90% less compared to carnauba wax. Any dirt and dust that is retained slides off easily during the next wash without scrubbing, which makes washing very easy. Combining Paint Protection Film and CQuartz Finest for Over the Top Protection The CQuartz Finest coating on top of the film makes this level of protection truly spectacular - really above and beyond. The combination of self-healing film and the self-cleaning effect of the coating means that the car is protected as much as humanly possible from any rock chips, scratches, and scuffs. It adds a whole new level of shine, and also takes much longer to get and appear dirty. Adding the coating also makes it that much harder to tell the film has been installed. We love that this owner can relax and drive to his heart's content, knowing his car will look super shiny and flawless for years to come without worrying about the elements or how he washes it. Work completed: Windows tinted Car was prepped for the film · Washed · Decontamination rinse · Clayed · Polished Full Clear Bra Paint Protection Film Wrap CQuartz Finest Coating applied on top of paint protection film, wheels and trim Benefits of full coverage paint protection film topped with CQuartz Finest ceramic coating: · Much shinier than clear bra paint protection film alone · Combined with the wrapped edges, CQuartz Finest makes the paint protection film even harder to detect, even under extremely lit conditions. · Takes longer to get dirty, and when it does, most dirt just glides off the coating when rinsed off with water · Scratches and rock chip marks will self heal (completely smooth out) after being exposed to heat from the environment · Paint stays flawless · The coating protects the film itself from environmental damage (especially helpful in preventing bee pollen stains) Ready to head out into the elements Thank you for reading and we wish you a very Happy New Year from Impression Auto Salon in Santa Clarita, CA!


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Any & every little thing of interest we find and have a moment to share-
Any & every little thing of interest we find and have a moment to share-
Chip Colwell-
An anthropologist at University of Colorado, Denver.
In recent years, the US supreme court has solidified the concept of corporate personhood. Following rulings in such cases as Hobby Lobby and Citizens United, US law has established that companies are, like people, entitled to certain rights and protections.
But that's not the only instance of extending legal rights to nonhuman entities. New Zealand took a radically different approach in 2014 with the Te Urewera Act which granted an 821-square-mile forest the legal status of a person. The forest is sacred to the Tūhoe people, an indigenous group of the Maori. For them Te Urewera is an ancient and ancestral homeland that breathes life into their culture. The forest is also a living ancestor. The Te Urewera Act concludes that "Te Urewera has an identity in and of itself" and thus must be its own entity with "all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person". Te Urewera holds title to itself.
Although this legal approach is unique to New Zealand, the underlying reason for it is not. Over the last 15 years I have documented similar cultural expressions by Native Americans about their traditional, sacred places. As an anthropologist, this research has often pushed me to search for an answer to the profound question: What does it mean for nature to be a person?
A majestic mountain sits not far north-west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Like a low triangle, with long gentle slopes, Mount Taylor is clothed in rich forests that appear a velvety charcoal-blue from the distance. Its bald summit, more than 11,000 feet high, is often blanketed in snow – a reminder of the blessing of water, when seen from the blazing desert below.
The Zuni tribe lives about 40 miles west of Mount Taylor. In 2012, I worked with a team to interview 24 tribal members about the values they hold for Dewankwin K'yaba:chu Yalanne ("In the East Snow-capped Mountain"), as Mount Taylor is called in the Zuni language. We were told that their most ancient ancestors began an epic migration in the Grand Canyon.
Over millennia they migrated across the south-west, with important medicine societies and clans living around Mount Taylor. After settling in their current pueblo homes, Zunis returned to this sacred mountain to hunt animals like deer and bear, harvest wild plants like acorns and cattails, and gather minerals used in sacrosanct rituals that keep the universe in order. Across the generations Dewankwin Kyaba:chu Yalanne has come to shape Zuni history, life and identity no less than the Vatican has for Catholics.
But unlike holy places in the western world, Zunis believe Mount Taylor is a living being. Zuni elders told me that the mountain was created within the Earth's womb. As a mountain formed by volcanic activity, it has always grown and aged. The mountain can give life as people do. The mountain's snow melts in spring and nourishes plants and wildlife for miles. Water is the mountain's blood; buried minerals are the mountain's meat. Because it lives, deep below is its beating heart. Zunis consider Mount Taylor to be their kin.
There is a stereotype that Native American peoples have a singular connection to nature. And yet in my experience, they do see the world in a fundamentally different way from most people I know. Whether it is mountains, rivers, rocks, animals, plants, stars or weather, they see the natural world as living and breathing, deeply relational, even at times all-knowing and transcendent.
In my work with Arizona's Hopi tribe, I have traveled with cultural leaders to study sacred places. They often stop to listen to the wind, or search the sky for an eagle, or smile when it begins to rain, which they believe is a blessing the ancestors bestow upon them.
During one project with the Hopi tribe, we came across a rattlesnake coiled near an ancient fallen pueblo. "Long ago, one of them ancestors lived here and turned into a rattlesnake," the elder Raleigh H Puhuyaoma Sr shared with me, pointing to the nearby archaeological site. "It's now protecting the place." The elders left an offering of cornmeal to the snake. An elder later told me that it soon rained on his cornfield, a result from this spiritual exchange.
Understanding these cultural worldviews matters greatly in discussions over protecting places in nature. The American west has a long history of battles over the control of land. We've seen this recently from the Bundy family's takeover of the federal wildlife refuge in Oregon to the current fight over turning Bears Ears – 1.9 million acres of wilderness – into a national monument in Utah.
Yet often these battles are less about the struggle between private and public interests, and more about basic questions of nature's purpose. Do wild places have intrinsic worth? Or is the land a mere tool for human uses?
Much of my research has involved documenting sacred places because they are being threatened by development projects on public land. The Zuni's sacred Mount Taylor, much of it managed by the US National Forest Service, has been extensively mined for uranium, and is the cause of violent disputes over whether it should be developed or protected.
Even though the US does not legally recognize natural places as people, some legal protections exist for sacred places. Under the National Historic Preservation Act, for example, the US government must take into consideration the potential impacts of certain development projects on "traditional cultural properties".
This and other federal heritage laws, however, provide tribes with a small voice in the process, little power, and rarely lead to preservation. More to the point, these laws reduce what tribes see as living places to "properties", obscuring their inherent spiritual value.
In New Zealand, the Te Urewera Act offers a higher level of protection, empowering a board to be the land's guardian. The Te Urewera Act, though, does not remove its connection to humans. With a permit, people can hunt, fish, farm and more. The public still has access to the forest. One section of the law even allows Te Urewera to be mined.
Te Urewera teaches us that acknowledging cultural views of places as living does not mean ending the relationship between humans and nature, but reordering it – recognizing nature's intrinsic worth and respecting indigenous philosophies.
In the US and elsewhere, I believe we can do better to align our legal system with the cultural expressions of the people it serves. For instance, Congress could amend the NHPA or the American Indian Religious Freedom Act to acknowledge the deep cultural connection between tribes and natural places, and afford better protections for sacred landscapes like New Mexico's Mount Taylor.
Until then, it says much about us when companies are considered people before nature is.
This article originally appeared on The Conversation
Public trial of Monsanto for ecocide and violation of farmers rights at the Monsanto Tribunal and the People's Assembly in the Hague
Public trial of Monsanto for ecocide and violation of farmers rights at the Monsanto Tribunal and the People's Assembly in the Hague
Navdanya, the organization founded and led by Vandana Shiva, is co organizing, along with multiple civil society organizations, the Monsanto Tribunal and People's Assembly to take place at The Hague from 14 to 16 October 2016. The Monsanto Tribunal will hold Monsanto accountable for their crimes against humanity, human rights violations and ecocide, in tandem with the People's Assembly, a gathering of leading movements and activists working to defend our ecosystem and food sovereignty, to lay out the effects of industrial agrochemicals on our lives, our soils, our atmosphere and climate. Over 800 organizations from around the world are supporting and participating in this process while over 100 people's assemblies and tribunals are being held across the world.
In the last century, giant agribusiness interests which came out of the war industry, have poisoned life and our ecosystem, are destroying our biodiversity and the lives of small farmers, appropriating their land, in an attempt to control and profit from these essentials for life on earth. The risks keep increasing as these multinationals diminish in number as a result of aggressive takeovers and mega-mergers – such is the case with the recent 66 billion Bayer-Monsanto merger. A merger which serves to further extend the control of these multinationals over agricultural and food production systems. There is only one way to translate this process: maximum focus on potential profit, and a minimal concern towards the environment, to the quality of our food, to consumers and to workers in the sector.
Large multinationals are lobbying democratically elected governments to take on neoliberal policies and international 'free' trade agreements such a TTIP and TPP: the race towards deregulation is an unprecedented attack on biodiversity and to life itself on Earth. Multinationals like Monsanto have already expanded their control over our seeds, our food and our freedom, depriving us of our basic human rights and our right to democracy. With patents and international property rights (IPRs) as their tools, they have established monopolies and threatened the rights of farmers and consumers.
Participating at the People's Assembly will be leading representatives of movements and associations, seed custodians, farmers and journalists from all over the world. The aim of the Assembly is to shine the light on crimes against nature and humanity of mega chemical and biotechnological industrial corporations which through patents on seed have opened the doors to the invasion of GMOs. Based on the ecocide and genocide of the past century, the Assembly will lay out the necessary actions for a future based on the rights of small farmers to save and exchange seed, on food sovereignty, on agroecology, the rights of consumers and workers in the sector, on the commons and a sharing economy, as well as on the rights of nature and a true Earth Democracy.
Speakers include: Vandana Shiva, Nnimmo Bassey, Andre Leu, Ronnie Cummins, Hans Herren, Dr. Eric Seralini, Percy Schmeiser, and others.
See Monsanto Tribunal program HERE — See People's Assembly program HERE
Resources for journalists
The People's Assembly will take place, 14 to 16 October in The Hague, Bazaar of Ideas (next to the Student Hotel) – Hoefkade 9, 2526 BN Den Haag
For more information, audiovisual material, for accreditation and to interviews with the president of Navdanya, Vandana Shiva and other speakers
Please contact
Navdanya International
press [@] peoplesassembly [.] net
Source: http://peoplesassembly.net/the-monsanto-tribunal-and-the-peoples-assembly/
Waking Dogs Collective
April 2018


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Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos
Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) is a Christian mission that strives to provide a permanent family and home for orphaned, abandoned and other at-risk children who live in conditions of extreme poverty.
St. Thomas has "adopted" the home in El Salvador in order to build relationships with the children, to provide financial assistance and support to NPH, and to increase awareness of NPH's mission. This ministry involves annual trips to the NPH home in El Salvador, fundraising efforts, and promoting the mission of NPH.
There are several ways to participate. First, is planning and participating in the annual trip to NPH El Salvador. Second, is to sponsor a child. Third, is to volunteer at sponsorship or fundraising drives. These drives help supplement cost of annual trips to NPH, El Salvador, fundraising events, and promoting the mission of NPH.
You can learn more about NPH by visiting their website at nph.org.
To view a video from the children at NPH, click on the picture above.
One of the pequeños from NPH El Salvador, Juan Manuel, has a CD of original music written and performed by him. If you are interested in ordering The Sound of Gratitude, visit www.thesoundofgratitude.com


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January 2013
If you were hypnotized into believing and experiencing "God", or if you were given a pill that induces mystical feelings of intimacy with a supreme being, could such experience or feeling be equated with God? Most probably your answer would be a resounding 'NO!'
But what if it's our own human brain that makes us naturally prone into believing in the existence of a supreme being and "tricks" us into experiencing "God"? Would religion, in this case, be valid?
The worse part is, they're mostly other people's thoughts, "thinking in us"... like work deadlines, grocery list, career goals and other such useless details... that we lose touch with what we really want our life to be.
So, what do you think you think?
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We are proud to share the NCT Asia 2016 Conference and live CBRNe Demonstration videos with you all. This video will give you a good impression of what to expect at NCT events. We look forward to welcoming you to our upcoming NCT Asia & SISPAT 2017 conferences and exhibition at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore next year.
NCT Asia 2016 Conference from IB Consultancy on Vimeo.
NCT Asia 2016 Demonstration from IB Consultancy on Vimeo.
NCT Asia 2016, organized in official partnership with the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Sciences and Technology Research Institute for Defense (STRIDE), hosted two separate conferences, NCT CBRNe Asia and NCT eXplosive Asia, with shared opening/closing plenaries and an exhibition area. The event which took place from the 8th to the 10th of November 2016 at Le Meridien Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, brought together government officials from all over the world, experts, first responders and decision-makers in the field of CBRNe and EOD/C-IED. Delegations from Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia attended the event which welcomed over 350 participants.


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Enhancements focused on supporting the growing diversity of non-natural biological entities
Dotmatics has today announced Bioregister 3.2, an updated release of the company's system for registering and managing biological entities as part of the development of novel biologic compounds. This latest version of Bioregister adds further capabilities for non-natural and chemically-modified biologics, support for the emerging HELM standard for macromolecule notation, and streamlined workflows for bulk registration procedures, ensuring that Bioregister 3.2 remains one of the most comprehensive biologics registration systems available.
One of the key emerging aspects of biologics research and development is the development of non-natural biologics, where directed chemical modifications of a natural biologic entity type is performed to create a new entity type with desired functional characteristics. These exciting developments place additional burdens on informatics systems to ensure that they can fully and accurately represent the newly engineered entity type. For example, a biological registration system that defines sequence-based entities in the traditional manner of a series of letters representing the constituent residues, can miss fundamental and defining characteristics of the entity. "Only through a full chemistry representation of the entity can uniqueness be completely determined and verified", said Stephen Gallagher, Founder and CEO of Dotmatics. Gallagher continues "Moreover, a full chemical representation allows for chemistry-based querying of biological entities, providing more precise search results. These factors are central to organizations such as drug discovery companies, in managing and protecting their valuable intellectual property. Dotmatics, with its pedigree in both chemistry and biology, is one of a very few informatics providers who fulfill these needs."
Bioregister 3.2 also integrates the Pistoia Alliance's HELM Web Editor, supporting the emerging HELM standard for notation and sharing of macromolecular entities. Bioregister also now generates and stores entity definition in HELM format.
New capabilities in Bioregister 3.2 include:
- Full chemical representation of natural and non-natural entities
- Integration of the Pistoia Alliance HELM Web Editor as well as generation and storage of HELM notation
- Simplified and streamlined bulk registration workflows, driving greater consistency in entity definition and providing a better experience for users
- Higher resolution definitions of chirality and cross-links for non-natural residues
- Improved property calculations for complexes
- Soft-delete for entities – deleted entities are retained in the system but hidden from view
To learn more about the new features in Bioregister, please view the "What's New in Bioregister 3.2 " webinar.


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First Aid Associates to provide First Aid support to the Endurance GB Horse trial events. Here's a picture of Steve and Mel enjoying the sunny weather at Tebay!
Responder News >
Responder News >
Cockermouth First Responders provide first aid to Endurance GBposted 30 May 2010, 09:50 by Rich Hill [ updated 30 May 2010, 10:39 ]


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Dave Anderson, Planet GRANTS It! Recipient, has now completed his journey to China and is making his way back to the States. To read about the beginning, read part 1 and part 2.
In life, perspective can be gained in many different ways, but the simple passing of time often reveals the greatest changes.
At 6:00 am Litang was still slumbering in the cold air of a city at nearly 13,000 feet. The morning stillness quickly evaporated as our soon to be driver, Ado, honked his horn in front of the locked gate of our hotel. We piled our bags of food, clothes, camping and climbing gear into Ado's jeep and headed southwest out of town toward the Genyen Massif. Rinchen Chuta was also accompanying us to help with various logistics during our expedition and give us a better insight into the local culture of the region. Ado and Rinchen were from the same village and chatted in Tibetan, non stop, like a couple of teenagers catching up after summer vacation. Meanwhile, Eric, Szu-ting and I bounced around in the back seat watching the morning light illuminate the boulder strewn hillsides. As we ascended through a series of tight switchbacks the mist began to lift. At the top of the pass we were treated to an amazing panorama of the full Genyen Massif. The Genyen range was even more expansive than I remembered from my 2006 expedition. A multitude of granite spires poked through distant glaciers with most summits still unclimbed. After another hour of dust and bumps we could drive no further, we were in the tiny village of Zhangma, the end of the road or so I thought.
In Zhangma, I had a tremendous sense of deja vu. We parked the jeep in the same place as in 2006, I sat in the exact same seat and drank tea in the same room while talking with the horse packers as I did during the last expedition and the same old woman held the horses as our bags were strapped onto their backs. But as we headed out of town toward the river things looked different. Instead crossing the sketchy suspension bridge there was a brand new concrete bridge spanning the river. What had been a narrow trail, just passable by horses, had been transformed into a road that a two wheel drive car could safely navigate. Instead of crude mini hydro generators the remote farm houses now had power provided by miles of high tension electrical wires.
An hour into our trek Mt Genyen, at 20354 feet, came into view with its snowy summit contrasting with the summer temperature we were experiencing 10,000 feet below. After following the dirt road for six miles, we then turned south and continued on a spur road another three miles to its terminus. At the end of the road was a large construction site. When I asked the horse packers what was being built, they told me it was the new location for the Lenggu Monastery. I was shocked. The Lenggu Monastery was built over 600 years ago and was one of the few monasteries that was not destroyed during the cultural revolution of the 1960's. In the end, the lure of modern conveniences that a road side location could offer made the remote yet stunningly picturesque original Lenggu Monastery relocate to the "suburbs."
Even though the road ended, a new motorcycle accessible road continued the remaining two miles up to the doorway of the old Monastery. We climbed slowly up the remaining distance. Clouds surrounded Genyen and the rest of the valley's peaks obscuring their summits, but I knew they were there watching us. As we neared the Lenggu Monastery, we heard voices. In 2006 there were only seven monks living in the monastery. Today, we watched dozens of monks in red robes spilling out of the entry way like ants looking at the intruders approaching. We waved and the monks waved back and returned to their studying. We continued following the horses another half mile up the valley to a flat meadow next to the river where we installed our base camp.


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Blog Archives
Beatnik and Ostrich Feathers
Fleur deKey Excerpt from Chapter 11: Riverfront: Promenading
Inspired by real life snippets from a Sunday stroll
Garbed all in black, sunglasses and a beatnik cap, a battered horn case sat open at his feet, seeded with tip money. His wiry grey hair and beard spoke of his age. He played another quick scale to keep the interest of the building crowd then paused to roll his long sleeves to his elbows. A grandmother pushed a baby stroller up to his bench, sat and talked with the old guy while he oiled the keys on his horn, waiting for more people to join the crowd. Finally he wet his whistle and raised the horn to his lip. Smiling at the grandmother, he played "Braham's Lullaby". The old man responded to the surprise applause with a dip of his head and shifted into a rousing, fun tune to keep the crowd's interest.
Two benches farther, another street performer claimed his performance space along the walkway. His yellow painted grocery cart, decorated with Mardi Gras beads, ostrich feathers and a pink bra flying from a bamboo staff, also sported a multi-colored tire stretched around its frame as a bumper. The dark skinned, lanky boy arranged his instruments – a bongo drum, horn, Indian flute, maracas, tin can on the end of a stick – in and around his cart preparing to compete for attention and tips.


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You're in pain after surgery, and your doctor prescribes you Vicodin, or maybe Percocet. But when you get home, the pain hasn't subsided and you decide to pop some Extra Strength Tylenol.
Unknowingly, you may have just taken more of the drug acetaminophen than is safe.
Acetaminophen is often used in pain medications with opioids such as oxycodone (Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin) and codeine (Tylenol with Codeine). These are called combination drugs, and the Food and Drug Administration is asking doctors to stop prescribing those that have more than 325 mg of acetaminophen per dose.
The FDA says no data show that taking more than that amount provides enough benefit to outweigh the risk of liver damage.
"Many consumers are often unaware that many products (both prescription and OTC) contain acetaminophen, making it easy to accidentally take too much," the FDA said in a statement Tuesday.
The warning does not apply to over-the-counter drugs such as Tylenol, which contains acetaminophen. The FDA said it will address over-the-counter products in another regulatory action.
In 2011, the FDA asked manufacturers to limit the amount of acetaminophen in prescription combination drugs to 325 mg per capsule or tablet by January 2014. While more than half of the manufacturers agreed, some combination drugs with higher amounts of acetaminophen remain on the market.
The federal agency says it plans to start the process of withdrawing approval of prescription combination drugs from manufacturers that have not complied.
See more at CNN.com
I read your blog.. its amazing. you having very good content. very helpful to all.
Surgical product Manufacturer and Suppliers
Infusion Set and Syringes Manufacturer and suppliers
This has nothing to do with aspirin! So why your headline?


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Why Ting is a great fit for families
Andrew Moore-Crispin • July 17, 2017if( has_post_thumbnail( $post_id ) ): ?>
Perfect solution for family mobile
When Ting tells you that Ting is a smarter choice for family mobile service, your first thought might be "right. As if Ting would tell me that Ting is a bad choice for family cell phone service."
First, we understand cynicism. We're well versed in the art. It's healthy. Second, nice use of a rhetorical device.
We get it but let us lay out the case. Ting really is the perfect solution for many family's cell phones. We beat "unlimited" in just about every permutation. How does a family cell phone bill of just $81 for four phones sound?
Ways to save
Ting isn't unlimited. Simple steps you take to save mean real money in your pocket as opposed to in ours. Here are a few simple things a family can do to cut their Ting bill even further.
- Use Wi-Fi: If you do nothing else, do this. Connect to Wi-Fi at home, school and work. You don't pay for mobile data if you don't use it.
- Set limits: Don't let one phone drive up your cost. Set alerts in the online control panel or the Ting app.
- Add lines: The more phones on your account, the less you pay per phone on average.
- Voice chat: Use Hangouts, Facetime, WhatsApp or whatever to voice chat instead of phone call.
- Instant message: Text messages don't cost much but every bit counts: Use Facebook Messenger, Discord, Hangouts, Facetime, WhatsApp, whatever for text communication.
Here are a few reasons why Ting and our honest, decidedly not unlimited setup is a smarter choice for your family mobile plan.
Many phones sharing one pool
On Ting, you can have as many phones active on your account and the more you have, the less you pay per phone on average.
Mom, Dad and the kids can each have their own phones. Even when kids head off to college they can stay on the family plan. Let's be honest: they would anyway. Each active phone on your account costs just $6.
Bring Grandma and Grandpa in too; their usage probably won't even tip you over to the next level for minutes, messages or mobile data.
Level up
Speaking of levels for minutes, messages and mobile data, that's a key part of how Ting works. It's a bit of an adjustment from the traditional mobile plan. The upside is way more flexibility than a set plan can ever offer.
You don't pick anything up front. With Ting, the family uses their phones as they normally would and all usage is pooled together. Use less one month, pay less that month.
Minutes, messages and mobile data are pooled and billed separately. So, for example, if Mom and Dad talk for two hours each in a given month and the kids spend an hour a piece on the phone, your family's bill is for 480 minutes, which is the Medium level for minutes:
$9 – Voice
Data on Ting is $10 per GB beyond the first. If the kids use 1 GB of data a piece (there's a lot you can do with a gig) and so do Mom and Dad, that's 4GB total. The family falls into the XL+ level:
$40 – Data
We won't labor the point with text messages. Let's just say a collective 2,000 texts were sent and received. That's the L level:
$8 – Texts
Here's how that adds up:
(four active phones X $6) + $9 for minutes + $40 for data + $8 for messages = $81 for four phones or $20.50 per phone
If you use more one month, you'll pay a little more. If you use less, you'll pay less.
Taxes vary from region to region but you can rest assured that Ting doesn't charge any recovery, tax collection, access or other cash grab fees.
Powerful account controls
That calculation is just the beginning. With Ting, parents get unprecedented control over phones on the family mobile account, in a web browser or using the Ting app for Android and iOS.
For example, you can set email, app or text alerts for when a phone has used more than a given amount of minutes, messages or megabytes.
You can take it a step further and set a hard cap on the amount any phone, or your account as a whole, can use. No need to worry about exceeding your budget or one phone blowing through a ton of shared mobile data.
Rules can be set up as a one-time thing or can can reset and start again with each billing cycle.
More, the account holder (you know, the one paying for this stuff) can turn service on or off on a device or account level. Disallow international calling<!– (though why bother: international calling is free on Ting all summer)–>, turn tethering on or off, allow or disallow inbound or outbound calling, text messaging, data use and much more.
A few minutes setting up your Ting account control panel translates into real monthly savings and removes the possibility of bill shock.
The phones you want
Over 80% of phones will work on Ting. You can have a mix of iPhone, Android, smartphone and feature phone active, all sharing one account. We've made it easy to bring phones you already own, buy phones in the Ting shop or find phones from other retailers or online.
Get started with Ting
If you're not ready to go all-in at this point, we get that too. Try Ting. Maybe with one Guinea pig in the family. Check out the Ting app. Check out your account control panel. Get familiar with Ting rates (and remember, you're not picking anything in advance.)


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The way to reach me is by email. Telephone is a very unreliable way to reach me and is not recommended. (However, if you wish to speak to me we can use email to set up a phone appointment.)
The email address to use depends on the purpose of your contact.
--If you are an undergraduate student:
----Contact email@example.com if you need general information, or specific help concerning course selection, graduation requirements, transfer requests etc.
----Contact the Vice Chair for Undergraduate Affairs email@example.com if you have other issues, including difficulties related to an instructor in a course you are taking
For others who need to contact me:
--Use firstname.lastname@example.com to contact me in connection with departmental or university affairs related to my role as department chair,
--Use firstname.lastname@example.com to contact me on matters unrelated to my role as department chair