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The competent authority for the development and implementation of co-existence measures in Greece is the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. Designated departments of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Development assist with this task.
To analyse co-existence issues and to suggest implementation strategies, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food appointed an expert committee in summer 2004. The committee consists of the General Secretary of the Ministry, representatives of other state authorities, and experts from the public and private research sectors.
Since January 2006, Greece participates in the expert network on co-existence, Coex-Net, coordinated by the European Commission, DG Agriculture, and Rural Development Unit F1 - Environment and Forestry. Only one meeting has taken place to date, in which Greece stated the following position:
"Regarding the subject of national co-existence measures, these measures have not been taken yet. However, the co-competent Services of our Ministry are still processing these measures. Furthermore, genetically modified multiplying material has neither been imported from other Member States, nor been given import licenses from Third Countries for cultivation and trials. Consequently, concerning the subject of research projects on co-existence in our country, within the framework of license procedures, it is assessed that relevant research projects have not been carried out."


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Hillary Scott Gushes About Her Fur Babies, Hobbs and Baker
If Hillary Scott loves her new baby half as much as she loves her dogs, Hobbs and Baker, he/she will be one lucky kid.
Hobbs has been a member of the household for awhile, but just a few months ago, Scott and her husband, drummer Chris Tyrrell, gave him a furry sister named Baker. Even with two of them running around, to say that the 'Just a Kiss' hitmaker spoils her babies would be the understatement of the year -- the dogs live the good life on the road right alongside Mom and Dad.
"They're the funniest, sweetest. We only got Baker a couple months ago. We weren't really sure because Hobbs is so used to being on the road. He's more comfortable out on the road than he is at home," Scott told the Tennessean. "We were just curious to see if they would really get along. And they don't even know we are in the room half the time. Like they are so obsessed with each other. They just play and play and play and wear themselves out. It's so cute."
Obviously, the songstress loves her pups because they're too cute not to. But she and her hubby also took the breed's size and temperament into consideration when they welcomed Hobbs and Baker into their home.
"Hobbs is full grown and he's 13 pounds and Baker will be about 15 pounds. I am a huge proponent of rescuing animals and think that's so important and eventually we will do that," she said. "But traveling like we do, I just needed to know how big they would be. I needed to know all of that going in instead of going in and getting a sweet, sweet puppy and then it turning into being 100 pounds."
So far, Hobbs and Baker have been the apple of their mother's eye, and when summer rolls around (and Scott and Tyrrell's first human baby comes into the world), the dogs may feel a bit competition in the house. But somehow, we think the family will be rounded out perfectly.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Weight Loss Chain Fired Employee Over Bipolar Disorder, Federal Agency Charged
DETROIT – A Southfield, Mich.-based chain of weight loss clinics will pay $68,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that Medical Weight Loss Clinic, Inc. unlawfully fired an employee with bipolar disorder because it regarded her as disabled, even though she had a superior work record with the company.
According to the EEOC's lawsuit (Case No. 2:07-cv-15394 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan), employee Catherine Jovic was a successful employee for more than seven years with Medical Weight Loss Clinic, but was discharged after it learned that she was on leave due to her disability. Such alleged conduct violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
As part of the consent decree resolving the suit (entered by Judge Marianne O. Battani), Medical Weight Loss Clinic will pay $68,000 to Jovic. Medical Weight Loss Clinic also agreed to draft and implement disability discrimination policy training to all of its employees on the ADA.
"We are pleased with the relief provided by the consent decree," said Dale Price, the EEOC attorney who handled the case. "It provides meaningful relief to Ms. Jovic and protections for the employees of Medical Weight Loss Clinic. It also reminds employers that they cannot make employment decisions based on fears and stereotypes about people with various conditions."
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov.


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Most audio component manufacturers have a DAC in their product lineup, and NAD is no exception. However, the NAD M51 is unusual in that it takes the incoming digital PCM bitstream and converts it directly to a PWM bitstream, which is then fed directly to the output. The idea has been around for about a decade, but the technology for implementing it was not fast enough in those early days. Now, with modern technology and techniques, NAD has produced what they call a "Direct Digital DAC", where the digital signal does not go through digital to analog conversion in the normal sense, but converted to PWM at 844 kHz sampling, with 35 bit word length. As you will see with the bench tests, the results are quite amazing, and the price is very affordable.
- Design: Direct Digital DAC (Converts PCM to PWM)
- Resamples at 108 MHz; Converts to PWM at 844 kHz, 35 Bit
- Digital Inputs: XLR, Coax, Toslink Optical, USB, 2 x HDMI
- Analog Outputs: One Pair XLR, One Pair RCA
- Other Connections: HDMI Video Out, RS232, Trigger, Upgrade Jack
- Dimensions: 4″ H x 17″ W x 16″ D
- Weight: 15 Pounds
- SECRETS Tags: NAD, DAC, PCM, PWM
The Design
In a conventional DAC, a Pulse Code Modulated (PCM) bit stream, e.g., 16 bit, 44.1 kHz sampling, is decoded into an analog output signal. The bitstream consists of 1's and 0's, in groups of 16, representing a 16 bit word that is a code for a voltage level in the music signal with respect to 0dBFS. In a typical DAC, the output at 0 dBFS is usually about 5 volts. The bits, which are pits and "land" are all of equal duration as the laser scans them while the disc is spinning. For a 44.1 kHz signal, 22 kHz has only two samples, which would otherwise be translated to an analog square wave, which, if dissected, would consist of an infinite number of harmonics. To eliminate the harmonics, and pass just the 22 kHz analog signal, there is a filter at the output that is very steep, and which eliminates all signal above 22.05 kHz.
Sometime around the beginning of the 21st century, engineering articles began appearing that discussed ways of converting PCM to Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM. With this method, the signal remains in digital format all the way to the output. It never actually is converted to an analog signal, but rather, a Pulse Width Modulated signal that resembles the musical wave form.
The PCM-to-PWM conversion approach to digital music reproduction has matured rapidly, and products have begun to appear on the market that use this technique. The NAD M51 is one of those products. It's called a Direct Digital DAC due to its digital signal from input to output.
A Pulse Width Modulated signal is produced by a series of pulses, all of which are at the full rail voltage, but they are of different duration. The M51 takes the incoming PCM signal, and using a clock running at 108 MHz, resamples the PCM at 844,000 samples per second, so each pulse ("period") is 1/844,000th of a second in length, but the voltage is on for varying percentages of that period, depending on the voltage level of the signal, with respect to 0 dBFS. This is controlled by two switches, one for the + and one for the -.
At 22 kHz, instead of only the 2 samples that you would have with a conventional 16/44/1 bitstream, you now have 844,000/44,100 = 38 samples. These are fed to a high precision op-amp. As with a PCM signal that is converted to an analog signal, a PWM output uses a filter to remove any harmonics, and the filter consists of a capacitor and inductor.
Here is a spectrum of a 20 kHz sine wave and the PWM pulses that would represent it at the output: The pulses are indicated by the vertical blue bars, and for the positive portion of the waveform, the + switch is on for a longer period of time than the – switch, and vice versa. The spectrum is based on having a 1.33 ?sec delay between the pulse and the voltage at the output, which is a result of the values of the output filter (inductor and capacitor).
The values of the output inductor and capacitor are critical. For example, if the values changed the delay to 1.8 ?sec delay, the output waveform would appear as in the spectrum shown below. Note the large amount of ripple.
Besides having 38 samples at 22 kHz, the PWM is 35 bits, so the M51 can be used as a preamp with its digital volume control. With a conventional PCM signal, using a digital volume control truncates the LSB (Least Significant Bits), so music detail is reduced at low volume. With the 35 bit PWM signal in the M51, even with a 24 bit PCM incoming signal, the volume would have to be reduced by 66 dB before truncation of the original music signal would begin to occur.
The front of the M51 is very conservative in appearance, as seen in the photo on the previous page. It has an On/Off button, an LED status window, and an Input Selector button.
The remote control is very nice quality, fits nicely in my (large) hands, and the buttons are shaped differently for locating the one you want in the dark.
The rear panel is full of inputs and outputs. From left to right are one pair (each) of XLR (balanced) and RCA (single-ended) outputs, followed by XLR (balanced), RCA (single-ended coax), Toslink Optical, USB-1, HDMI-1, and HDMI-2 digital inputs. There is also an HDMI video out (pass-through), an upgrade socket, an RS-232 jack, and trigger jacks. The AC connector is grounded (three-prongs).
In Use
I used the M51 with an OPPO BDP-95 universal player, Classé CP-80 preamplifier, Classé CA-5200 power amplifier, and Threshold ES-500 electrostatic speakers. Cables were Emotiva, Wireworld, and Marc Audio.
I did most of my listening before the bench tests, but after seeing the distortion measurements, I did the remainder of my listening using the HDMI out from the OPPO to the HDMI-1 input on the M51.
Perhaps Debussy's most well-known piece is "Clair de Lune", but he did compose many very beautiful works, including the music on this Telarc SACD. The amount of detail that the M51 provided was breathtaking. Overall, the presentation was neutral. There was no emphasis on any particular part of the audio spectrum. I used the volume control on the M51 to fine tune the loudness, and I did not notice any loss of detail, which is one of the features of having a 35 bit PWM signal.
Although this is not the best version of the 1812 Overture, nevertheless, it is a good demo disc for dynamics, and the M51 delivered. The cannon shots at the end go very deep, and everything that was on the disc came out of the speakers. There was no evidence of any overload distortion. I should say here, that when I bench tested the M51, if I used a 0 dBFS test signal, and the M51 volume control was set to 0.0, there was some digital clipping. This is common with 0 dBFS signals feeding a DAC, and is why music digital recordings usually don't go near the 0 dBFS mark, but stay at least – 5 dB below that, so as to avoid clipping. However, for really dynamic recordings, including the 1812 where there are special effects such as the cannon shots, I would suggest turning the M51 volume control down to – 1 dB. This will eliminate the digital clipping – if any should occur. The ability to control the volume digitally on the M51 without truncating the LSB is unique, and extremely useful.
I would be at a loss if I could not retire to Baroque music to relax with, especially after experiencing cannon shots with signal that must have gone down to 10 Hz at least, and Scarlatti is one of my favorites. Stringed instruments will easily lose clarity if there is significant harmonic or IM distortion, and as you will see, the M51 has very low amounts of this contamination. The music was splendid, and so went my afternoon, with this album and more of same.
On the Bench
Distortion measurements were within an 80 kHz bandwidth unless otherwise stated. Signals were at – 5 dBFS unless otherwise noted. I used the XLR balanced outputs.
To summarize what I found, distortion was always at 0.003% – 0.004% THD+N, except for IMD, which was near the limits of the Audio Precision (less than 0.001% THD+N) when using the HDMI input.
With the Coax input, there are no visible harmonics with a 1 kHz test signal that was generated at 16 bit, 44.1 kHz sampling frequency.
Here is the digital clipping I mentioned. The input signal was at 0 dBFS, and the volume control was also at 0.0. It is very unlikely that a consumer will encounter a musical piece that hits 0 dBFS, but if it does, you can always set the volume control on the M51 to – 1 dBFS.
19 kHz and 20 kHz sine waves produced a B-A peak at 1 kHz that was 107 dB below the fundamentals. Notice also that there are no other peaks at the base of the fundamentals. This is very clean sound reproduction.
In this IMD spectrum, there are no visible peaks at the base of the 7 kHz peak (IMD tests use 60 Hz and 7 kHz sine waves at a 4:1 ratio). Again, clean, clean, clean. This is a graphical representation of what you will hear (or not hear) in terms of musical detail.
The measured Frequency Response at 16/44.1 was flat to 20 kHz.
Using 24/192 test signals, the noise band can be seen above about 35 kHz, which is far above the audible region. Again, though, THD+N was less than 0.004% with a 1 kHz sine wave input.
With the 19 kHz, 20 kHz pair, there is a slight rise in the noise floor below 4 kHz, but there is no B-A peak visible, so if there is one, it is lower than the noise floor.
The lack of any peaks at the base of the 7 kHz peak in this spectrum is practically a definition of clean detail in the sound.
The measured Frequency Response with 24/192 signal, using the Coax input, was flat to 32 kHz, and then rose 3 dB at 90 kHz.
OK, now for the HDMI input on the M51. This is the first DAC I know of that has this type of input, and did it perform!!
At 1 kHz, distortion was 0.003% as were all the other distortion tests using the HDMI input, except for IMD, which was at the limits of the Audio Precision test instrument. And, as I mentioned, after seeing these results, I used the HDMI output from the OPPO to the HDMI-1 input on the M51 for all my subsequent listening, some of which was while I was reading the newspaper. Good thing the music sounded so great, because the news was all bad.
Here is the same test, but with a 24/192 test signal. Again we see the noise floor rise above 35 kHz. A rise in noise at out-of-band frequencies is also seen with SACD, but it is a much larger rise than seen here with the M51.
19 kHz, 20 kHz, 16/44.1 sampling. No peaks around the base of the fundamentals, and no clear B-A peak that can be absolutely distinguished from the noise floor.
19 kHz, 20 kHz, 24/192 sampling. No peaks at the base of the fundamentals. No distinguishable B-A peak.
IMD, 16/44/1 sampling. Just the input signals and a noise floor. Kind of lonesome without any distortion peaks.
And with 24/192 sampling, pretty much the same thing.
Using the USB input on the M51, and 16/44.1 test signals, distortion is way down there. Here, at 1 kHz, THD+N is 0.002%.
With 19 kHz and 20 kHz, there is no visible B-A peak at 1 kHz. There are two peaks on either side of the fundamentals, but they are 97 dB below.
IMD through the USB input was less than 0.002%. Note that the USB input is asynchronous, and it will accept 24/192 music.
I'm truly amazed at the performance of this $2,000 DAC. It is state-of-the-art in design, but more importantly, also in performance. Its unique HDMI input, which displayed incredibly low distortion, makes this product a must-consider if you are thinking about purchasing an outboard DAC.


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Based in our converted cowshed in Somerset, we work with clients from all over the UK and further afield – from individuals to companies and schools of all shapes and sizes. We're known for offering serious expertise alongside a friendly, down-to-earth approach.
Our team is small, tight-knit and experienced, formed of creative professionals with complementary skills and talents. We find a personal touch achieves the best results, so each team member manages his or her own projects, running thoughts and ideas past one another as they go.
As a result, clients always get to deal directly with the designer who's actually doing the work. It's an approach that helps us form close and loyal partnerships that stand the test of time.
Already established as one of the UK's leading portrait photographers, Tim created Mercer Design in the 1990s so that he could indulge his passions in other fields too. Fields like rugby – he was closely involved in the 2015 Rugby World Cup – and classic sportscars.
Mercer Design has not only taken Tim and his close-knit team of colleagues in exciting new directions over the years. It's also brought new levels of creativity and strategic planning to sectors that previously found it hard to access leading-edge design services. Sectors like independent schools – in which Mercer is today the UK's leading design practitioner – artisan manufacturers and architectural services.
All the while, Tim's profile as a photographer remains high, with work on view at the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Academy and the V&A. Today, he continues to bring his experience and impish sense of humour to design, art direction and photography.
Helen co-launched Mercer Design with Tim in the 1990s, since when she's worked closely with clients across the full range of printed and digital design solutions. She gets the biggest buzz from helping smaller clients think about how where they want to be in a few years' time, so ensuring their literature is aligned with their ambitions.
Helen spends much of her own time exercising her green fingers in the garden. And in the winter, she enjoys nothing more than a project such as upholstering a classic chair.
Larraine is the studio's technical wiz, always beavering away on website designs and print projects. With a BA Hons in Graphic Design from Nottingham Trent University, she'll only ever make tea if two or fewer people are in the studio – and, after 15 years at Mercer, no one's going to make her change.
Away from work, she loves to make and bake (her proudest creation is Mary Berry's Fraisier cake), and can often be seen on the touchline cheering on her husband or one of her three kids…
After 14 years with Mercer, Reuben's still the quiet one in the corner – only now he often shares it with his black lab, Harley. With a BA Hons in Graphic Communication from the Institute of Wales in Cardiff, he is passionately interested in print and magazine design.
Reuben collects James Bond memorabilia in his spare time, because he loves the illustrations, graphics and packaging design – his most treasured possession is an ultra-rare Bond bubble-gum packing case from the 1960s.
Hannah has been with Mercer Design for 10 years and holds a BA Hons in Graphic Design from UWE. She can't keep quiet about her genuine, deeply felt love for fonts – an adoration that's only matched by her passion for neon Pantone colours.
She's currently applying her inner interior designer to a house-restoration project that's taking up much of her time outside work. But that's not stopping her from adding to her shoe mountain, which already exceeds a lifetime's supply…
Budding photographer Katie is a graduate of Lincoln's De Montfort University. Our main client-liaison person and first point of contact, she also has the self-awarded (and sometimes thankless) task of making the studio a calm and peaceful place to work.
She devotes much of her spare time to her twin passions for making jewellery and travelling. But what matters most to her is keeping up with her extensive friends list…
Contacting us puts you under no obligation. If you have any project in mind or any marketing ideas you'd like to talk through, we'd love to hear from you.
Mercer Design
The Cow Byre
Woodlands End
t: 01373 812589
e: email@example.com
Click here to download a PDF map of our location.
Mercer Design is the trading name of Mercer Associates Ltd. Registered Office: The Cow Byre, Woodlands End, Mells, BA11 3PE. Registered in England No. 7292438. VAT No. 993 4626 76
Worth is in the south east of England, a highly competitive market for private schools. Their brief was to enhance their profile and showcase their ethos: 'A difference of kind'. We used this across multiple platforms, including website and prospectus.
We commissioned Eaton & Woods for the photography.
t: 01373 812589
e: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Grinning Skull ShortsItem #: GO 1692
Grinning Skull Shorts
With the skull shorts in the summer you're definitely an eye-catcher!
The Grinning Skull shorts are a cool summer trousers fashionable brand kustom kulture, she wear two side pockets, belt straps for belt-free and two ribbons to tie up the trouser leg.
The trendy skull shorts with Mary and child deaths pressure is the madness and go well with our Heartless T-Shirt Served combine.The bermuda shorts with side pockets are an absolute grenade for the hot summer.The skull shorts are knee-length and printed with various motifs such Grinning skull, star, cross, diamond blades, dead woman with child and writing around.The wicked skull shorts is at punks, skaters, surfers and Boys alike.The knee-length shorts are cotton punk tones in gray and in the cargo section is held so that the skull shorts seem timeless.
- Material: 100% cotton


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Sorghum, Rice & Quinoa SD Bâtard
My last sourdough starter had an unfortunate accident in which it ended up all over my kitchen floor, along with pieces of its glass container. So, I started a new one and yesterday it was ready to use. I fed it about 2 hours before making this recipe. It turned out really great! Nice and reasonably light with a good amount of sour flavour.
- 150g 100% hydration starter (mine is mainly rice and sorghum flour, with a little red teff)
- 400g water
- 21g psyllium husks
- 11g salt
- 110g corn starch
- 110g stone-ground white rice flour
- 150g sorghum flour
- 40g very coarsley ground quinoa (I just bashed it up in a mortar and pestle)
- Brown rice milk, for glazing (optional, but gives a more attractive finish)
- Dilute the starter in the water and whisk in psylliu until emulsified.
- Leave covered for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle over salt.
- Mix together the flours and quinoa.
- Add to the starter mix and knead until it comes together to form a dough.
Note: You only need to knead until it comes together, as gluten free bread does not require development of the gluten strands through kneading - just make sure it's well mixed and smooth.
- Form a ball and leave to rise in the fridge overnight in a covered and oiled container.
- The next day, knock back the dough and form into two bâtards.
- Cover and leave to prove for an hour.
- While the bread is proving, preheat the oven with a stone to full temp (This is 250c on my oven).
- Uncover the loaves, brush with a little brown rice milk, slash and transfer to the oven.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, turning halfway through if neccassary, until a dark reddish brown colour is acheived.
- Leave to cool COMPLETELY before cutting the bread, otherwise the texture will be gummy.


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by Katie Parker, sports information graduate assistant
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - The No. 19 Georgia College & State University soccer team (13-1-4) jumped two spots in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) National Rankings and remains third in the Regional Rankings.
The Bobcats moved from 21st to 19th in the national poll and rest third in the Southeastern Regional standings as announced yesterday, Nov. 4. The move came after Georgia College posted two shutouts last week against North Georgia and Columbus State University, who dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 this week in the national rankings.
The Bobcats have 13 shutouts this season after eliminating Lander University 2-0 last night in the Peach Belt Conference quarterfinals. They lead the PBC with only six goals allowed this season and a team GAA of 0.34.
Other PBC teams receiving ranking recognition include Columbus State and UNC Pembroke. Columbus State claimed top honors in the Southeastern Regional Poll and slid to the No. 5 slot in the national standings. UNC-Pembroke sits second in the region and fell one spot to 10th in the nation.
The Bobcats are back in action Friday, Nov. 7 in Evans, Ga. at Blachard Woods Park as they take on UNC Pembroke, the No. 2-seed team in the PBC Tournament. During regular season play, the Lady Braves gave Georgia College its only loss of the season 1-0. Kick-off begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday for the semifinals of the conference tournament.
The GCSU Department of Athletics sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, GCSU prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the Bobcats' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Follow the Bobcats and their positive impact on the Milledgeville community at www.gcsu.edu/bobcats.


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1003 Sports gloves
- Girard: 1003
- Style: Sports gloves
- Fabric: Sheepskin
- Material: nothing
- Color:Black
- Introduction: 1003 sports gloves sheepskin, black
Product Details
Gloves are hand warming or labor protection products, but also decorative. The glove is a very special thing, it is not practical to produce, it is only in the modern times, it became a cold heat insulation fixture, or medical bacteria, industrial protective products. But in addition to the traditional sense of the gloves, gloves now have a deeper meaning, and traditional gloves are very different. This is due to the rise of online games, the overwhelming name game equipment, game player due to a large number, especially compared to traditional industry, the relevant information on the Internet is more information gloves network game equipment, gloves originated in ancient greece.


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Parallel Studio 2011: Now We Know What Happened to Ct, Cilk++, and RapidMind
Intel has released Parallel Studio 2011, a suite of tools intended to simplify and speed up the development of parallel programs running on multicore architectures. Based on the Parallel Studio package released last year, Parallel Studio 2011 adds expanded threading libraries and a threading advisor to its C++ compiler, error-checking and profiling tools.
The enhancements that Parallel 2011 brings to the table focus on two key areas, the addition of:
- Parallel Advisor, a design tool intended to simplify development by identifying parts of a program that can benefit from parallelization, giving architects the guidance they need to transition from serial to parallel code. Once those opportunities have been identified, Intel Parallel Advisor provides step-by-step recommendations for the best way to implement parallelism and helps developers analyze potential implementation scenarios.
- Parallel Building Blocks (PBB), a set of tools that let developers exploit parallelism with a new set of task and data parallel models that are portable, scalable, reliable, and future proof. These models easily integrate into existing applications, preserving software and hardware investments.
The Parallel Building Blocks component is built on Threading Building Blocks 3.0, Intel's existing C++ template library. What's most interesting, however, is that PBB also includes Cilk Plus, a technology Intel acquired with the acquisition of Cilk Arts. Cilk Plus is a C++ language extension consisting of three keywords that simplify the implementation and addition of task and data parallelism. Cilk Plus provides support for task, data, and vector parallelism.
Equally interesting is the introduction of Array Building Blocks, an API backed by a runtime library that provides a generalized data parallel programming solution that frees developers from dependencies on particular low-level parallelism mechanisms or hardware architectures. ArBB stems from the combination of RapidMind technology which Intel acquired a year ago, and Ct, which was developed by Intel Labs. ArBB is a C++ template library for data parallelism that automatically scales to future Intel platforms. It's use of cores and threads are determined by the runtime compiler.
From a high-level view, Parallel Studio addresses all phases of the development lifecycle, enabling developers to efficiently:
- Design by finding threading opportunities using the Parallel Advisor threading guide
- Build and debug C/C++ applications using the compilers and libraries in Parallel Composer, which now also includes Parallel Building Blocks.
- Verify to improve code reliability and quality by finding crash-causing bugs using the Parallel Inspector memory and threading error checker.
- Tune application performance with the Parallel Amplifier threading and performance profiler.
In addition, Parallel Studio now further assists C/C++ development by offering compatibility with and enhancement of the new parallelism capabilities introduced in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. (Intel Parallel Studio also continues to offer full parallel programming support for versions 2005 and 2008.)


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Teenager goes for prom gold
Malibu, Calif., teenager Dyer Pettijohn asked fellow southern Californian Olympian Gracie Gold to his senior prom.Gold tweeted about the video. This melted my heart â¤ï¸ï¿½ http://t.co/Y0mDDQiFmB— Gracie Gold (@GraceEGold) February 24, 2014Fans also seemed to adore the video, retweeting it more than 1,000 times. No word on whether the figure skating bronze medal winner Gold will attend with Pettijohn.
View "Teenager goes for prom gold" on Spundge


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"You found a way to make e-mail useful to you, you'll find a way to make Facebook useful to you," Sree Sreenivasan, leading technology expert and dean of student affairs at Columbia, told the skeptical crowd that had gathered in Julius Held Lecture Hall for the Social Networking panel. The office of Alumnae Affairs, in conjunction with the Alumnae Association Reunion Committee and Barnard Business and Professional Women, put together this Reunion event. Moderated by Lisa Weinert '02, publicity manager at Random House, it addressed a medium that, despite resistance by some, is part of how the world functions now.
Essentially what social networking sites offer is a form of community for people who share interests, activities, or personal connections. Of the many services available online, the most prominent (at the moment) are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, each of which serves a different purpose. In addition to these three, there are sites and services for specific groups, like eons.com for baby boomers, or Shine, a site for women administered by Yahoo! and run by editor-in-chief and Reunion panelist Brandon Holley '89. "What's really neat to me is seeing women being able to connect and share things," said Holley. But for those wondering what is being shared and why, there are many answers.
One alumna joked that panelist Sarah Cohen '08 and her contemporaries probably don't want the older generations on Facebook. To which Cohen, Barnard Web administrator, replied, "I made my mom join Facebook because my family is kind of far-flung and I wanted us to keep in touch."
Sreenivasan agreed, "I'm in better touch with my family—spread over nine countries in four continents—as a result of Facebook than I ever would have been otherwise. If they waited for me to write the letter or I waited for them, it wouldn't happen." This is first and foremost the appeal of social networking sites, allowing instant and continuous contact with friends and family, near or far, without cost or much effort.
Surpassing MySpace in worldwide unique visitors, Facebook is now the most popular social networking site on the Internet. What started out as a service for Harvard students in 2004, soon opened to other colleges, and, by the end of 2005, to high schools. In 2006 the general public could access Facebook. The site has more than 200 million active users. Its fastest growing demographic is users over 35, according to the site. Facebook's appeal is the simplicity of the interface and layout, relatively few ads, and the ability to set individual levels of privacy for each "Friend."
When opening an account on any of the major sites, a user may import their e-mail contact lists to search for people they know who may already have accounts or invite those who do not have one to open an account and become a Friend. For each Friend on Facebook, a user can adjust her privacy settings to include or exclude certain people. For example, if you post family photos on your Wall (your profile page's public forum space), you can set up your profile to keep work colleagues from seeing the Wall, but still allow them access to other aspects of your profile.
For some, it's a fast way to send a message to a large group of people. Cohen recalled that as a student, Facebook not only allowed her to virtually meet her classmates online the summer before attending Barnard, but once at school it became a powerful marketing tool. "If you had an event at Columbia and you wanted students to be there, you would just say to everyone [in the Columbia network], 'Hey, we're having an event today on the lawn, c'mere.' As we started using these tools, our needs for these tools started to grow as well." Sreenivasan also noted that Facebook is useful in his work as dean, "If I really want to reach [my students] I need to 'Facebook' them. That means being connected to them where they are."
Panelist Andrea Katz Stimmel '76, class president and director of business development for Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, made that company the first big law firm (in American Lawyer's top 200) to use Facebook as a tool to recruit law students, a wildly successful campaign. However, her personal networking site of choice is LinkedIn. The site, which is far less casual than Facebook, allows users to post résumés and links to outside sites, ask for and display recommendations, and join common-interest groups.
"In my business, and in most businesses, it's really all about relationships: If you need to make a sale to someone, if you need to influence a sale because you're halfway in the door, or if you need to expand your knowledge in a certain area, you just ask your network. Erin [Fredrick] found out that I'm doing all this work in social networking because I posted on my LinkedIn profile [that I was] giving a speech to the city bar association on how to use social networking…. And Erin is a member of my group. She called me up and she said, 'I didn't know you were doing that.' … [Y]ou throw a rock in the water … and you create a ripple…. That's what happens in these social-networking sites," said Stimmel.
For those on the hunt for a job, be aware that potential employers are using sites like LinkedIn to research candidates. "I've been in the business development and research world for a long time," said Stimmel, "and we used to go to Who's Who…. And we used to go to all these resources to try to find out about people.
Invariably if you just go to LinkedIn, most people in business are there in some capacity." Being able to see each other's "Connections," the other users in your network, also removes the awkwardness of introducing associates to one another, which used to require giving out e-mail addresses. "If I want to find out about someone … I just ask you to introduce me to so-and-so [through LinkedIn], and then all of the sudden I'm not only seeing that person's profile but all their Connections as well," observed Stimmel. Although being on a site like LinkedIn does not guarantee anyone a job, it is possible that a candidate with a résumé, recommendations, and a strong network of Connections on LinkedIn may have a leg up on a candidate who has no Internet presence.
Twitter and Tweeting
LinkedIn and Facebook serve as gathering spots where people can share varying amounts of information; the purpose of Twitter is a bit more equivocal. A networking service (also referred to as a micro-blog), Twitter allows a user to deliver "tweets," text messages of no more than 140 characters, to "Followers," people who subscribe to a user's Twitter feed. As Sreenivasan noted at the panel, Twitter is both a talking and listening device, depending on how you want to use it. Although 140 characters does not seem like much, Sreenivasan pointed out that it's more than the average newspaper headline, something designed to say a lot in very little space.
This past June Twitter was a rallying tool for the election-result protests in Iran. The FDA uses Twitter to make recall announcements; many companies use it to follow and shape conversations about their products. Performers and arts organizations make announcements about events and opportunities like ticket giveaways. Many often include links, where the Follower can find more information. For example, on May 18, Barnard College tweeted: "Sec. of State Hillary Clinton is speaking at Barnard's commencement right now http://bit.ly/19hn4y", the link leading the user to a page featuring a live-video feed.
Up to You
It is up to the user to decide whether or not she has something important to write about and what she finds important enough to follow. Just as everyone needs to be savvy about what they read in a magazine or newspaper, we need to be savvy about what we read on Twitter and other online communities, reminded Holley. There is misinformation on these sites, she noted, "but there are times when it's about something that's personal and you just want to hear someone else's story, the common person's wisdom." Some of that wisdom blogged on Shine has gained enough of a following that the bloggers have become regular paid writers for the site. Moderator Lisa Weinert agreed that using the Web as a writing outlet can lead to more success; a book she is currently promoting at Anchor began as a blog.
In addition to deciding what to pay attention to, it's up to the user to decide how much time to dedicate to social networking. "I don't think anybody here is advocating just spending all your life [online]," said Sreenivasan. For some it's the perfect thing to do on their handheld device while waiting in line, others may want to discipline themselves to 20 minutes each morning, or there are those who will weave it throughout a workday that has them in front of a computer anyway. "This is all new....We're making it up as we go along. There're no rules about any of these things," said Sreenivasan. He then cautioned, "Common sense doesn't end when you go online." In other words, watch what you write and be polite.
—by Deborah Staab, illustration by The Heads of State


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Model Community
This inventive toy maker has an on-line community like you dream about. So how come they almost killed it?
A short time ago, in a galaxy about 90 miles from Chicago, there was a hot little toy company that had a mysterious competitive weapon: an on-line customer community that really smoked. Only the rulers of the company didn't quite get what a powerful weapon they had. It took a gutsy employee (with a knack for being really aggravating) to show how the right interactive Internet presence could help the business generate ideas, solve problems, and tap into customer passion for its products.
The company: Playing Mantis Inc. of South Bend, Ind., manufacturer of die-cast cars, plastic-model kits, and action figures. The employee: Lisa Greco. In the physical world she is the company's customer-service manager, opinionated and outspoken despite a Fargo-like midwestern cheer. On-line, however, she is something more mighty to behold. As moderator of the bulletin board dedicated to the company's model kits, this single mom is a nurturing guide for the adult men who come to her bulletin board to talk about toys. She is Mistress of Monster Models. The Queen of Styrene.
Simply put, Greco represents a customer's pipeline into the heart of the company. That's an incredible boon to hobbyists accustomed to traditional toy makers, which guard product information as if they were Napoleon Solo protecting nuclear firing codes. Playing Mantis, on the other hand, is available 24/7 on the boards. Anyone can ask questions or find out about new products. Moreover, toy-heads can safely indulge their love of the trappings of childhood without fear of being scorned as terminal nerds.
What Playing Mantis gets is even more valuable. Through the boards it can reach the burning core of its customer base with company news, promotions, and quick-and-dirty survey questions. It can vet product ideas with real consumers before committing a dime to development. Last year alone, board members promoted new products, provided remedies for Web-site problems, and helped bring Playing Mantis to a new understanding of who was actually buying its stuff.
And to think the company almost threw the whole thing away.
Before we tell that story, let's consider a simple proposition: In this world, men don't grow up. That is no expert opinion, nor is it the result of painstaking research. It's just common sense. Ask anyone who ever married one.
Once we can agree on that, the whole story falls into place: why Tom Lowe, son of one of the world's best-known entrepreneurs, started a company dedicated to reissuing lines of toys from the 1960s; how the company became successful despite the toy industry's reputation for a competitive viciousness usually reserved for totalitarian nations; and how both Lowe and Playing Mantis discovered the secret formula (wouldn't be much of a tale if it didn't have a secret formula) for building a vibrant, successful on-line customer community -- the Holy Grail of all E-commerce companies.
Here's the thing: most American men never, ever lose their passion for the playthings of their past. That's why store shelves are packed with classic hits of the '60s -- Hot Wheels cars, Etch A Sketch, and the Duncan Butterfly Yo-Yo, to name a few. Toy makers know that parents make the big buying decisions and that fathers especially never lose affection for the toys they loved as kids. Which brings us to Lowe and his company.
Walk into Playing Mantis and you'll see drab offices, just like those of any typical light-manufacturing company, but with one exception. There are toys everywhere. Glass cases in the lobby display build-ups of the company's Polar Lights line of model kits (mostly foot-tall figures of monsters, spies, and space robots). The walls are festooned with test shots and lineups of the company's Johnny Lightning die-cast toy race cars. Employees' shelves are packed with Pezzes and other playthings.
Lowe's own modest office is especially crammed with goodies. His shelves are filled with Playing Mantis products, and the walls are covered with framed photos of NASCAR champions and muscle cars. But Lowe's real treasures are stowed behind a Cyclone security fence in the shipping bay. That's where the boss keeps his personal stash of collectibles. He has enough Johnny Lightnings and Captain Actions there to make a grown man -- should there be such a thing -- swoon.
But for all the play factor, the corporate headquarters is still basically a cube farm in the unglamorous burg of South Bend. Playing Mantis, founded in 1994 and still tiny by toy-industry standards, has only 40 employees and revenues of $15 million to $20 million. Most of the employees are locals. Half have been hired in the past two years.
It doesn't take too many strides for Lowe to reach any corner of his empire. Lanky, sleepy-eyed, renowned for his prankster sense of humor, he ambles around the building like a big kid. Stopping in his product-development department -- a couple of banquet tables pushed together -- he checks out some handcrafted prototypes from a new line of toy cars tentatively called "The Dreamboats" -- family sedans from the 1950s, real Bulgemobiles. Lowe picks up a bloated Chrysler and offers his highest praise: "Rock on!" (Well, it's a toy company, not the English-lit department at Columbia.)
Lowe, 40, is firmly grounded in the tail-end baby-boomer demographic his company serves. He grew up in Cassopolis, Mich., which everybody calls Cass, amid the richest cultural influences of the '60s: Mad magazine, monster movies, and good old-fashioned network television -- oh, yes, and social protest and the Vietnam War. His father was the well-known entrepreneur Edward Lowe, inventor of kitty litter (somebody had to) and, by a number of accounts, a my-way-or-the-highway kind of guy. Lowe grew up mostly in the care of his mother, who, wonderfully, did not throw away his old toys.
Never straying from his midwestern roots, Lowe graduated from Miami University of Ohio, earned his master's in marketing at DePaul University in Chicago, and married his high school sweetheart. He sold for a food broker and did marketing work for Domino's Pizza, but the corporate life was not much fun. "I was tired of being told what to do," he says.
In 1987, in Dundee, Ill., Lowe started his first company: Safe Care Products. Financing the effort with his own savings, Lowe was the company at the beginning. From his basement he developed products he knew he could sell to mass merchandisers. He had one hit toy -- a Velcro football called the WhattaCatch -- but most of his 30-some products were anonymous, you-never-thought-you-needed-it-until-you-saw-it-on-a-store-shelf items, such as a bathtub cushion and a Nintendo video-game lock called HomeworkFirst. The best stuff was yet to come.
By the early 1990s, Lowe's generation was rediscovering the toys they thought they had outgrown. In those pre-eBay days, the bible of this loose society of arrested adolescents was a magazine called Toy Shop, filled with classifieds featuring goodies from the preceding 40 years or so. Reading it, Lowe noticed that a lot of the stuff he had played with when he was a kid was selling for big bucks.
That demand looked like one hell of an opportunity. Take Hot Wheels, for example. Introduced by Mattel in the mid-'60s ( You can tell it's Mattel. It's swell!), these little die-cast cars were engineered to roll freely and fast. They were a sensation -- and still are. Although new Hot Wheels are on store shelves, some versions from the '60s command hundreds of dollars each.
Down in his mother's basement lay all the toys Lowe had discarded back when he discovered girls, including about 50 Hot Wheels and 8 cars from the Johnny Lightning line. He initiated a trademark search. Mattel had a death grip on the Hot Wheels name, but the Johnny Lightning name had been abandoned years before.
"Polar Lights is very special to me. ...You've rekindled the joy I once felt when buying these kits. ...You're the only company who I feel a part of." --Lou H.
Through an ad in Toy Shop, Lowe says, he bought a collection that included 30 original Johnny Lightning cars. He brought the swag to Wal-Mart, notorious for being tougher than the A-Team when it comes to taking on new products. "Whattaya got here? A flea market?" the buyer roared. "I'll give ya five minutes."
Lowe explained that he was going to re-create toys from the '60s. "I was there for an hour and 15 minutes, explaining what my plan was," he says.
Wal-Mart bought in. Toys R Us did, too. Lowe was ready to rock. He sent his original Johnny Lightnings to China with a simple directive: copy these. And in 1995, Safe Care was reborn as Playing Mantis, a name he chose to be clever and kid friendly. "I always liked playing with praying mantises when I was young," Lowe says, illustrating the difference between a Cass native and, say, some kid from Brooklyn.
Lowe has always had one measure for deciding which products Playing Mantis will pursue: "If it isn't cool, we won't do it," he says. He means it, too. This is his company all the way; he owns it free and clear. There isn't even any long-term debt ("Just a working line of credit," says chief financial officer Randy Miller), so the company has the resources to choose and develop its own products. "Being private is an important advantage. We can do what we want," Lowe says.
What he wants to do is to diversify enough to fight off challenges from the Hasbros and Mattels of the world. (Playing Mantis has already survived trademark-infringement litigation with Mattel. The suit was settled out of court.) He now has 2 solid brands; he'd like to build up to 10.
And he has two secret weapons. The first: customers such as the guys on the bulletin board, gleeful pseudo-grown-ups who share his child-of-the-'60s sensibility. The second: his company's ability to spin on a dime and give those guys what Lowe knows they want.
That's how he decided to revive a line of monster models originated in the '60s by a company called Aurora Plastics Corp. In those years, Aurora models were bigger than Star Trek. Aurora produced model kits of classic monsters (like the Wolf Man and the Mummy) as well as characters from television (like Batman and Superman). And did they ever sell! "Those guys were easily putting out 200,000 or 300,000 units at a run. I'm sure some of the best-sellers, like Frankenstein and Dracula, were up there with sales of 2 million or 3 million apiece," says Thomas Graham, professor of American history at Flagler College, in St. Augustine, Fla., and author of Greenberg's Guide to Aurora Model Kits. "At the time, plastic models of all sorts were sold everywhere -- in candy shops, drugstores, bicycle stores -- and I even found mention of one mortuary. They were easy to find, they were inexpensive, and pretty much all your friends were building them."
By the 1980s, Aurora was gone, a victim of bad business decisions. With it went the entire market for monster models. The models weren't missed until their original fans grew older and started searching for the icons of childhood -- a pursuit that Graham claims is healthy. "The people I know who are living long and prospering are those who still enjoy playing," he says. "Playing with toys in particular."
Take Lowe, for example. He built Aurora models as a kid and remembered one with special fondness: the haunted house from The Addams Family TV series. "I loved it," he says. So in 1995, under the name Polar Lights (Get it? Aurora? Polar Lights?), Lowe had the kit re-created, offering it as a $60 exclusive at the high-ticket FAO Schwarz toy-store chain.
The collector's market went nuts. Original Addams Family house kits were selling in Toy Shop for at least $500. A year later, when the remade kit went into wide release at less than $25, a new market was born. Make no mistake: the days of 300,000-unit runs of a monster model are over. Most Polar Lights kits are produced in runs of 15,000 units. Yet Polar Lights has been successful enough for the line to be expanded to include 60-odd kits. To date, the most successful is a new original done in the Aurora style: a model of the Jupiter 2 spaceship, the interstellar Winnebago featured on the TV series Lost in Space.
Playing Mantis launched Polar Lights just as intelligent life was being discovered in cyberspace. In late 1995 and early 1996 -- through bulletin boards on Prodigy, America Online, and other services -- collectors, craftspeople, and genre fans were discovering whole communities of like-minded souls.
Lowe and his managers caught on to the phenomenon -- sort of. In 1995 they stuck up a quick site, just some early brochureware. But for serious marketing, Playing Mantis held fast to traditional methods -- newsletters and print ads. Part of the reason for going slow on the Web was that Lowe was no fan of online customer interaction. "I would do chats and look at boards on AOL, but I found that I didn't get a lot of new ideas from them," he says. "Besides, there are some vicious people out there. Some of the employees who left would get on the boards and say things that just weren't true. There were competitors who got on there just to screw around with you. I might go on to see what's being said, but in terms of being Tom Lowe on the boards, I don't do it anymore."
But Greco had no such reservations. She and Hank Hagquist, an outside contractor who was Playing Mantis's original Web master, were old friends from Riley High in South Bend. Hagquist was running his own site, called Hobbytalk, for fans of radio-controlled car models. He talked to Greco about starting a section devoted to Playing Mantis products. "I thought they could be a good subject," he says. "I thought the people who bought or collected their products were real enthusiasts, people with a passion."
In 1998, Hagquist established a board for Polar Lights, moderated by Greco. Dave Metzner, the company's product-development manager for model kits, helped Greco answer board members' questions. But it was she who ruled the board. Judiciously leaking product news, insisting on cordial relations and polite language, Greco -- signing missives with an enthusiastic "Moi!" -- gathered a loyal cadre of fans to her cyberclubhouse. Yet even after hundreds of members had signed on, she didn't fully understand the potency of the boards until Polar Lights released that model of the Jupiter 2.
The kit, enthusiastically received, had a flaw: a hatch inside the ship was upside down. That detail would escape 99.9% of normal buyers. But this was the Internet, where obsessive behavior hangs its hat. Board members were all over the error, and Metzner, with Lowe's approval, decided to correct the flaw for the second run of the kit.
The online critics felt as if they had spoken and the company had responded. True enough, says Metzner. "If it hadn't been for people telling us about it, it wouldn't have been fixed," he says. It was the kind of action that converts loyal customers into devoted fans.
As the online community jelled, its members got very comfortable with one another. Their exchanges strayed way beyond toys. In the course of a limerick contest initiated by Greco ( There once was a monster named Frankie, in the mood for a little hanky-panky... What say we just don't go there?), one member posted a message revealing that his wife had left him. "Why share it out here like this?" he wrote. "I don't know. Thanks for the support out here, you guys."
Greco responded immediately -- "We're here for you" -- and the board members pitched in. It brought home for Greco just how much this community meant to its members. The board was a sanctuary that connected them to the company and to one another far more deeply than she had realized.
"As I reflect back on my hobby experiences for the year, one of the most satisfying has been the relationship formed by a large number of us with Polar Lights. It is not their products that, I feel, sets them apart from other model companies. It is their devotion to the consumer." --PCModeler.com
Unfortunately, Lowe was not frequenting this board (or boards that were set up later for Johnny Lightning and Captain Action fans), so he saw little of all that. What he did see was that Greco and Metzner were spending an awful lot of time on the Internet. It didn't seem as though their involvement with the boards was adding much to the business. "That's what they were doing with their time?" Lowe remembers asking. "Talking to people about their problems, which have nothing to do with model kits? So we took a very hard look at that."
At the time, in 1998, Playing Mantis was already reexamining its entire customer-service function. By 1999 some customer-service staffers were being asked to do more active selling.
That's how it happened that the boards almost died. It started with Hagquist, who was still hosting the virtual community on his site. "At some point I was saying that here we have this multimillion-dollar company building its name for free," he says. "C'mon, guys, feed a little back." So he gave Greco a deadline: By the end of February, start paying him $50 a month for each of the three boards.
Greco filed all the appropriate paperwork, never imagining there'd be a problem. But Miller wouldn't approve the expense at first. Look at it from his point of view. For one thing, it is often his job, as with any CFO, to be the one who says no when it comes to using company resources. For another, he and Lowe were already wondering what the true cost of the boards was and whether they were worthwhile. "It wasn't really a financial decision as much as a decision regarding use of time," Miller says. "Intangibles like that make for the toughest decisions."
As the deadline approached, Greco grew nervous. If the boards shut down, it would be a disaster -- and not just for the company, which would lose a resource that she felt hadn't even begun to pay off. "This community, and I think most communities, are built on trust," she says. "These boards are a refuge for the guys, a place where they can be themselves. Shut it down, even for a day, and you create an uncertainty from which the community might never recover."
She went to Metzner for advice. Of all people he best knew what was happening on the boards. Together they decided that even if they had to pay the fee themselves, they'd keep at least the model-kit board running. But first Greco wanted to reach out to Lowe directly. It wasn't politically correct, and it would anger her managers, but it wouldn't be the first time she had gone right to the top. (Greco was once a guard in a prison for men, and she prides herself on being pretty tough.) "I felt I owed the fight to the guys out there," she says.
On February 22, Greco posted a new topic on the Polar Lights board. Under the title "Hypothetical Question" she wrote, "Good morning, guys! Everyone have a cup of coffee? Anyone bring the donuts Time for a little sidebar discussion. SUPPOSE, just suppose, this BB would cease to exist. How would you all feel about that?"
That week the boards hummed. Members figured that something was going on in South Bend. Member Steve Iversen, who under the nom-de-Web CultTVMan operates a popular site for builders of science-fiction models, E-mailed his list of 700 subscribers, urging them to register their support. In post after post, members expressed their need for the board:
"It helps us to be kids again. ... It's easier to be a kid again when you see there are a bunch of other people doing it: you feel less guilty/silly!" --David Redknap
"As I reflect back on my hobby experiences for the year, one of the most satisfying has been the relationship formed by a large number of us with Polar Lights. It is not their products that, I feel, sets them apart from other model companies. It is their devotion to the consumer." --PCModeler.com
On it went. By Friday, February 26, Greco had a printout the size of a small-town phone book. With Hagquist's deadline imminent, she walked into Lowe's office and threw the printout on his desk. On it was a sticky note that read, "You'd better read this before 5 p.m."
And Lowe did. Previously, when he had read the boards, "it would be all kinds of strange subjects. I hadn't really thought it was worth the trouble," he says. But here was new evidence that the boards had built a bridge to customers unlike any that he or his managers had seen before. It wasn't lost on the CEO. Over the next few days the company made the decision to keep the online community.
"Lisa went to Tom and said, 'Pay the man," Metzner recounts. "That's basically what happened."
This was all happening just as community was becoming a buzzword in the world of E-commerce. Few companies had been able to build what Lowe already had: an active forum in which customers and the company could interact. "When we looked at the macro picture, we realized there was this base of 500-plus customers who were very actively involved with each other and the company and the hobby in general," Lowe says. "Now we know that one of the best ways to solve a customer problem is to explain it on the boards. The word then spreads automatically."
The customer community repeatedly proved its value in the months that followed. Lowe, for example, had always vowed never to re-create one of Aurora's most popular models: a guillotine. Because it actually worked -- you could chop off the head of a little plastic 18th-century French aristocrat -- it had been one of Aurora's biggest sellers. But one of factors that killed Aurora was protests from parents over its more gruesome products, including that very kit. Lowe didn't want Playing Mantis to stir up that pot again. Besides, as a father of three, he wasn't crazy about gory toys himself.
Yet despite Greco's best efforts at banning any mention of the g word from the Polar Lights board, members were relentless in their efforts to get the company to redo the kit. She brought their postings to Lowe, who began to question his original decision. He commissioned research to confirm that it was mainly adults who purchased Polar Lights kits. And he decided to issue the guillotine after all. "After I saw what Lisa and Dave were hearing on the boards, I went out and looked to see how it compared with other toys on the shelves," Lowe says. "It was tame by comparison. Besides, it was historical."
It was a landmark for the boards, which were beginning to affect not only product decisions but also the way the company defined itself and its audience.
Members of the boards came through again on September 2, 1999, when Playing Mantis launched a new iteration of its Web site. Packed with animations meant to charm visitors, the new site fizzled on the launch pad. The bells and whistles jammed up the site's works. It was a bad day in South Bend.
Well, nerdy the boardies may be, but many are professionals and some are programmers. Throughout the day, they surfed the site, identifying problems and posting recommended solutions. Some wrote code fixes and sent them in. Greco ran back and forth, delivering the information to the company's overwhelmed Web architects. Within a few days the site was running much better.
Now with 3,000 active members -- plus plenty of lurkers, who read but don't post -- the boards are a proven asset in the halls of Playing Mantis. "There's so much merit there," says CFO Miller. "This company was built on its connection to the collector, and the boards make that immediate and real."
"What better way to build brand loyalty than to have a community built by those who have a real sense of ownership in the company?" asks Greco. Even the boss is a convert. "Information flow is hugely important," Lowe says. "For a small company up against giant competitors, there's no faster way to build bridges or get information to customers."
Lowe believes the boards feed customer relationships that would be the envy of any company. Playing Mantis dominates its niche, thanks partly to the boards, he says. "The market may be small, but we've got all of it." You can almost hear the words: Rock on!
Michael Warshaw is a senior editor at Inc. Readers can access Playing Mantis's bulletin boards at www.playingmantis.com.
What does it take for a company to create a cybercommunity for its customers? According to Playing Mantis founder Tom Lowe, it requires a few simple ingredients:
The right products. Not every company has what Playing Mantis has: cool products that customers want to talk about online. "Certain product attributes are more apt for building community than others," Lowe says. "The customer has to have warm feelings about them. If there is any kind of nostalgia attached to the products, it probably will be something people will want to get online and talk about."
The right people. "It's very difficult to find employees who can grow a board," Lowe says. "Either they have it or they don't. Lisa Greco is an experienced customer-service manager who really cares. Dave Metzner I found in a hobby shop, where he still moonlights. He's a builder and collector himself. They can really talk to these guys."
The right attitude. Lowe says the easiest way to kill a community is for management to kibitz once the first two ingredients are in place. "You get your people, and you really have to give them the power to do it themselves," he says. "You can't tell them what to do. They have to be able to be honest about what they're hearing and what they're telling you without fear of being fired. You have to believe in 'em and let 'em do it their way."


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Burning Around the Clock Berlin Airport Can't Turn Lights Off
Forget about the problems with the complicated fire safety equipment. Not even the lights can be switched off at Berlin's troublesome new airport.
It has been a bleak winter in Berlin -- the bleakest ever, in fact, at least in the 62 years since records on sunshine duration began in 1951. On average, measuring stations in Germany recorded a mere 96 hours of sunshine in the three-month period between the beginning of December and the end of February.
There is, however, at least one place in Germany where brightness is the rule rather than the exception. At the problem-plagued construction site that will eventually become the Berlin International Airport, the terminal lights burn around the clock. And the reason is not to prevent workers there from succumbing to the winter blues. Rather, technical difficulties at the ultra-modern airport -- which will ultimately cost close to 4.3 billion -- mean that the lights can't be switched off.
"It has to do with the fact that we haven't progressed far enough with our lighting system that we can control it," Horst Amann, airport technical director, said on Wednesday during a rare public appearance.
That isn't the only technical hang-up at the airport, of course. Originally scheduled to begin operations in October 2011, its opening was unexpectedly delayed due to concerns about safety equipment -- before being delayed again last May. Since then, however, myriad problems, construction shortcomings, design errors and technical glitches have been found. Not to mention concerns that the building might be too small.
'Only Moderate Progress'
Currently, there is no opening date scheduled, though Amann said on Wednesday that he plans to set a date by the end of this year. "I will only name a date when I can take responsibility for it," he said.
There is much to be done before then. Recent reports have highlighted the vast and complicated problems that the terminal -- originally designed as one of the most technologically advanced airports in the world -- has encountered during construction. Currently, walls and ceilings are being torn open to inspect cables, ventilation and structural details. Some have even suggested that the entire building might have to be demolished and rebuilt, though Amann said that is "complete nonsense" on Wednesday.
Only after a complete evaluation of the site will building continue. Currently, only between 200 and 300 workers are on site. "It isn't a standstill, but we are only making moderate progress," said Amann, according to the tabloid Bild Zeitung.
The same could be said for the airport's search for a chief executive. In January, Rainer Schwarz, under whose watch the opening of the airport was delayed multiple times, was finally fired. But the search for a successor has proven difficult. Indeed, since Wilhelm Bender, former head of the airport in Frankfurt, declined the position at the beginning of February, little progress has been made.
Amann hopes that will soon change. "I am beginning to worry about my summer vacation," he joked on Wednesday. And he mentioned that the board has now hired a headhunting firm to find someone looking for a challenge -- and one who can find the light switch.
cgh -- with wire reports


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It's never too early to think about summer classes at Penn State York and registration is under way. Two six-week sessions offer students, undergraduate or graduate, the opportunity to take day or evening classes.
Two sessions offer students a convenient way to get ahead for fall, catch up on classes or just get started. The first summer session begins May 12 and continues through June 19, and the second summer session begins June 23 and continues through July 31.
Penn State York's small class size offers students the opportunity to get to know faculty members and work in research areas using state-of-the-art lab facilities. The two summer sessions also allow students to take a class and still have time to enjoy the summer.
High school students can put the summer to good use by taking a college course through dual enrollment. Dual enrollment allows eligible high school juniors and seniors to take college courses at a 50 percent tuition reduction. This enables students to get a jump on their college careers by earning college credits while still in high school.
With the variety of science and math courses offered in the summer, high school students can also get started on the Chancellor's Honor Certificate in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) designed to provide them with the skills they need for jobs in the 21st century. For more information on dual enrollment and the chancellor's certificate, contact the Penn State York Admissions Office at 717-771-4040.
For more information on summer course offerings at Penn State York, call 717-771-4050 or visit the summer website.


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This is a new live-action trailer for Mass Effect 3. Because an expensive pre-rendered one last week wasn't enough!
Kind of wish it had stopped at the collapsing roof. The "end of the world" stuff from the perspective from Joe on the Street is a neat angle to show a bombastic sci-fi game from, so to then have to cut to a Shepard being assaulted by poor computer effects undermines it a little.
Ah well! The game's out on March 6 on PS3, PC and 360. Which is soon!


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We take pride in going that extra mile for our customers and offer free delivery to the majority of mainland UK regions.


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Bona Fides Cafe Restaurant
Relax with a Three Course Lunch or Dinner for Two People in Sydney's CBD! Select Any Entrée, Main and Dessert Each from a Menu Including 300g Scotch Fillet, Garlic Prawns, Succulent Duck and More. Plus Receive a Glass of Wine or Chilled Tap Beer. Only $59 instead of $159 - Top Rated on Urbanspoon
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Enjoy a three course lunch or dinner for two people with wine at Bona Fides Cafe Restaurant in Sydney's CBD
Highly rated on Urbanspoon with an 80% approval rating and happy patrons praising the "beautifully presented" and "delicious" food
Course One: Select any entrée each from the menu. Try mouth-watering haloumi bruschetta, garlic prawns, succulent duck breast and more
Course Two: Choose any main from the menu each including Balkan-style mixed grill, scotch fillet steak served with prawns, grilled fish of the day and more
Course Three: Satisfy sweet cravings with your choice of dessert each like tiramisu or chocolate brownies!
See the 'Menu' tab for more mouth-watering menu recommendations
Plus you each get to enjoy a glass of red wine, white wine or chilled tap beer with your dinner
What We Like
Unique menu featuring Balkan style dishes, like cevapi!
Great atmosphere with outdoor laneway seating or warm and ambient indoor seating
Fantastic Druitt Street location - perfect for dinner after work
Offer expires 3 May 2014 (bookings must be made by 19 April 2014)
Bookings are essential and are subject to availability. Not valid public holidays
Voucher valid for two people for dinner Monday - Saturday and lunch on Saturday and Sunday only (dine-in only)
Multiple vouchers may be purchased
A maximum of three vouchers can be redeemed per booking/table (maximum six people dining)
48 hour cancellation policy applies, non-attendance and late cancellation voids voucher
Valid at Druitt Street location only
Not valid in conjunction with any other offer and not redeemable for cash
Redemption instructions can be found on your voucher
The Company
70 Druitt St, Sydney CBD, NSW
Menu Recommendations (see the complete menu here)
Duck A La Darko
Duck breast served with baby petite panache leaves balsamic reduction
Salt and Pepper Calamari
Served on a bed of rocket salad with passion fruit mayonnaise
Garlic Prawns
Cooked in a rich tomato base and garlic chilli sauce served with garlic bread
Prawn Linguine
Homemade linguine with Sydney tiger prawns, ricotta, fresh lime, chilli and coriander
Char-Grilled Chicken
Marinated tenderloins of chicken fillets, char grilled to perfection served with baby corn, chat potato and tatziki sauce
Steak of the Day
Char grilled, grain fed steak with mash, bbq prawns and your choice of sauce
...Food was superb, fantastic service and really pleasant atmosphere ... Beautifully out side interior that makes you feel like you're in Italy. Highly recommend it."Eatability
For entree we had the duck and zucchini flowers. The duck was TO DIE FOR!! Cooked to perfection and incredibly tasty. I just wanted more."Urbanspoon


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knelkin needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 67 designs submitted by 23 freelance designers.
M.S. Nelkin & Co.
We are a growing jewelry manufacturing and design company that has been family run since the early 1900's. We are looking to create an identity for our company through a logo which would appear on our website, marketing materials, letterhead, and business cards. Many jewelry company's tend to use script fonts to create a feeling of elegance, rarity, and expense, however since we are manufacturers and designers, we would like to be more bold, yet still soft and elegant at the same time.
A font that we like, but don't necessarily want or have to use is Bank Gothic (may only be available on MAC computers).
We would like to maybe incorporate the initials into some design. Perhaps a diamond shape, but PLEASE NO pictures or images of diamonds!!
We are not retailers. We are targeting retail shops and individuals that are already present in the business. We manufacture jewelry for the top retail jewelry companys in the world and would like to expand to more of these company's.
No images of diamonds. Not a lot of color. Basic, black, blue, gray and white is preferred.
We prefer the name and/or the initials to be the logo. We are not looking for any kind of image to go along with it.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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text: Bob Schutz/AP Opinion Krulwich Wonders... What Did Rachel Carson Hear? The Mystery Of The 'Fairy Bell Ringer' June 3, 2013 It's not easy making friends with wild animals, especially when the animal is impossibly small, very shy, hiding under a pile of leaves. But when the writer Rachel Carson heard a "ting! ting! ting!" coming from her backyard — like someone ringing a teeny bell — she had to meet this creature, the one she called "the Fairy Bell Ringer."


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Guide to market research and analysis
From Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
This guide is intended to help you better understand market research and its importance. It provides information on how to conduct a market research project, specifying several options that are available to you regardless of your market research budget.
Table of Contents
What is market research?
Successful businesses have extensive knowledge of their customers and their competitors. Market research is the process of gathering information which will make you more aware of how the people you hope to sell to will react to your current or potential products and services.
Whether you are aware of it or not, as a business owner you conduct market research all the time. When you talk to customers about your business or check out the prices of your competitors you are conducting market research. Formalizing the process can produce a wealth of information about your products and services, your customers and the marketplace you operate in.
The level of complexity used in your market research campaign is up to you, as market research can cover a broad spectrum of activities. You can undertake simple activities that can be done on your own, such as creating a short customer satisfaction questionnaire or studying demographic data for your area, or undertake complex ones that require assistance from a professional market research firm. Regardless of the size of your market research budget, the time you have available or your level of experience, some form of market research is possible and it can help you to improve your business decisions.
Why conduct market research?
The goal of doing market research is to equip yourself with the information you need to make informed business decisions about start-up, innovation, growth and the 4 P's:
Product — Improve your product or service based on findings about what your customers really want and need. Focus on things like function, appearance and customer service or warranties.
Price — Set a price based on popular profit margins, competitors' prices, financing options or the price a customer is willing to pay.
Placement — Decide where to set up and how to distribute a product. Compare the characteristics of different locations and the value of points of sale (retail, wholesale, online).
Promotion — Figure out how to best reach particular market segments (teens, families, students, professionals, etc.) in areas of advertising and publicity, social media, and branding.
Part of being prepared with market research is avoiding unpleasant surprises. Intuition and experience can be helpful at times, but research and facts often paint a more accurate picture of your market.
By conducting research on a regular basis, you can keep up with the dynamics of the economy and demography. You can also adjust to new regulations and technological breakthroughs.
Market research can help you:
- Understand your customers and their preferences (4 P's)
- Profile your customers (location, age, gender, income level, etc.)
- Create more effective marketing campaigns
- Find the best business location
- Identify opportunities to grow and increase profits
- Recognize changes in demand
- Offer new products or services for the new demand
- Find new markets within and outside of Canada
- Recognize and plan for industry and economic shifts
- Shift inventory, price and staff levels as needed
- Monitor the competition in your market
- Identify competitors
- Get information on how your competitors operate
- Learn how customers compare you with your competitors
- Mitigate risk in your business decisions
- Use information, not just intuition, to drive your business decisions
When to conduct market research?
Market research is widely viewed as a component of the planning stage of a business. Indeed, market research is critical for new start-ups and should be a key element of any entrepreneur's business plan. Market research data feeds into a number of areas of the business plan, contributing to sections on:
- Determining the sales potential of your products and services
- Identifying the demographic characteristics of your customers
- Selecting the appropriate business location
- Setting the price for your products and services
- Attracting customers to your business
- Establishing your company image
- Setting prices for your products and services
- Ensuring advertising is on target
- Selling to customers and earning repeat business
Business plans and market research are not solely for new businesses. Accurate assessment of the market and development of an effective plan is critical to the success of both new and existing businesses.
Businesses contemplating significant changes, such as business expansion and relocation, are also wise to use market research to support their decisions. Examples of situations that might call for market research include:
- New advertising campaigns
- Opening a new location or changing business locations
- Increasing production levels
- Introducing new lines of products or services
The kind of information gathered through marketing research during the planning and growth stages of your business can also be very useful in its day-to-day operation. A regular flow of market research information can help you to maximize the potential of your current business activities and help you to create a roadmap for future growth.
How to conduct market research?
First, it is important to establish clear goals for the market research activity you will undertake. You need to make sure you have defined what you need to know and why.
Once you have established your goals, it is important develop a strategy and select techniques you will use to gather data. The two broad types of research you can use are primary and secondary research.
Primary research
Primary research is original information gathered through your own efforts (or on your behalf by a hired research firm) to respond to a specific question or set of questions. This information is normally gathered through surveys, observation, or experimentation.
The following are examples of questions that can be addressed through primary research:
- Who are my customers and how can I reach them?
- Customer profiles
- Prospective business locations
- Marketing strategies
- Which products and services do buyers need or want?
- What factors influence the buying decisions of my customers?
- Price, service, convenience, branding, etc.
- What prices should I set for my products and services?
- Customer expectations
- Who are my competitors, how do they operate and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Some drawbacks of primary research are that it can be time consuming and expensive if not performed yourself, and the results are not available immediately.
The benefits of this type of research are that you can specifically target desired groups (such as your customers or the geographic market for your business) and can tailor your research instrument to answer specific questions. In addition to keeping the costs down, an added benefit of doing the research on your own is that you will get to know the market for your business better.
Surveys are the most common way to gather primary research. Surveys can be conducted:
- Through direct mail
- Hand out at the place of business or mail out with survey returned in person or via mail
- Questionable effectiveness; follow-up reminders necessary
- Over the telephone
- Cost-effective
- Can be difficult to reach participants
- Little appetite in the public for telephone interruptions
- On the web or via email
- Allows participants to complete the survey on their own time with little effort
- Cost-effective
- In person
- Personal interviews or focus groups
- Can introduce follow-up questions or change the focus of the survey on the spot
- Can be difficult to recruit participants
When designing your own research questionnaire, be sure to:
- Keep it as short and simple as possible
- Make sure it is visually appealing and easy to read
- Move from general questions to more specific questions
- Make sure questions are brief and easily understood
- Avoid leading questions, questions with ambiguous words, questions that are too difficult to answer (due to recall problems, etc.)
- Make sure any response scales used are logical with categories that are mutually exclusive
- Always pre-test your questionnaire to identify potential problems
The web is a good resource for sample questionnaire questions that can be adapted to answer your suit your particular research needs. There are also a number of companies that allow you to create and conduct surveys online.
Some business owners are reluctant to ask their customers to complete a questionnaire for fear that their customers will be made to feel uncomfortable or annoyed at the inconvenience. A good way to reduce any awkwardness is to offer your customers an incentive to fill out a questionnaire. You might reward them with coupons or hold a prize drawing for customers that turn in a completed questionnaire.
Good information on your customers can often be obtained without engaging them directly. Interviewing your employees can provide excellent insight, as they are in constant contact with your customers and can provide information on:
- Customer profiles
- Goods and services that customers demand
- Satisfaction with price levels and quality of service
- Experiences with your competitors
- Designing a questionnaire
A well-designed survey questionnaire can help you gather market research data.
- Types of survey questions
Examine different kinds of closed-ended and open-ended questions that can be used in surveys.
- Market research methods
Find out how to use popular research methods to do market research for your business.
Secondary research
Secondary research exploits existing resources like company records, surveys, research studies and books and applies the information to answer the question at hand. It is normally less time consuming than primary research, and can be less expensive as well.
While secondary research is less targeted than primary research, it can yield valuable information and answer some questions that are not practical to address through primary research (such as assessing macro-economic conditions) or questions that may make customers uncomfortable if asked directly (such as questions on age and income levels).
The following are examples of questions that can be addressed through secondary research:
- What are the current economic conditions that my business is operating in? Are these conditions changing?
- International, national, provincial and local economic conditions
- What trends are influencing the industry my business operates in?
- Consumer preferences
- Technological shifts
- Prices for goods and services
- Are there international markets for my products or services that could help me to grow my business?
- What are the demographic characteristics of my customers or where do they live?
- Populations, age groups, income levels, etc.
- What is the state of the labour market?
- How many people have the skills I require?
- How much should I expect to pay my employees?
Existing company records such sales invoices, receipts and formal complaints are important secondary resources that businesses can utilize. Often times these records shed light on the same issues businesses seek to address through primary research, and therefore an examination of company records should be done before considering a customer survey or other form of primary research. Some specific examples of using existing company data in market research include:
- Examining sales receipts to find trends in the demand for particular goods and services
- Cross referencing sales receipts with customer addresses or products and services to determine the effectiveness of advertising
- Compiling complaints to determine areas for improvement in customer service, prices or products and services offered
Another key secondary resource is statistical data from official statistics providers and other organizations. These statistics in turn can feed into analytical papers and market profiles that can help to put the numbers in context.
Identifying statistics and analysis that can help you with your business decisions can be difficult, and some datasets are expensive to purchase. There are, however, a number of quality statistics and analytical resources available to you, as well as guidance to help you make sense of all the materials available.
- Labour and employment data
Find statistics and analysis related to the labour force, employment and income from official Canadian and international sources.
- Demographics
Get data that sheds light on population characteristics such as location, age, income, education level, and more.
- Industry sector data
Find statistics that can help you better understand your industry, and study the latest trends that could impact your business.
- Canadian economy
Get the latest official economic indicators, which shed light on the performance of several segments of the Canadian economy.
- Importing and exporting
Find Canadian and foreign trade statistics and other information that can help you to grow your business.
- General research and statistics
Discover resources available through Canada Business Network Service centres, Statistics Canada, Canada's government libraries and the United Nations.
Other sources of secondary research materials include libraries, universities, industry associations and government departments at various levels.
Canada Business Network centres
Canada Business Network Service Centres are found in each province and offer research materials that you can access free of charge, as well as expertise to help you with your research.
- Contact the Canada Business Network
The Canada Business Network has centres across the country that offer guidance, information and resources to help make your journey in business a success.
Some centres feature libraries that are stocked with materials to help small businesses.
- Canada Business — Nova Scotia Reference Library Only Applies to : Nova Scotia
Through an information officer, you can access the latest business resources that can help you start or grow your business.
- Info entrepreneurs' Strategic Information Centre Only Applies to : Quebec
Access lists of businesses with profiles and strategic market information with the help of business information experts.
- Business Link — Market research services Only Applies to : Alberta
Are you looking for a business research service that is free of charge to help you start or grow your business?
- Secondary market research — Canada Business Ontario Only Applies to : Ontario
Are you looking for a business research service that is free of charge to help you start or grow your business?
What can government do for your business?
Get a tailored list of grants, expert advice, connections, and more.
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