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Are innovation strategies back on CIO agendas?
IT innovation, that fraught phrase, has come roaring back after maintaining a polite silence during the fiscal misery of 2008 and 2009.
Companies are starting to broadcast their efforts to foster technology innovation among the ranks. (You can read about radical, reapplied and incremental innovation strategies at Chevron Corp. in today's Q & A with the oil company's innovation specialist, Jack Anderson.) Meantime, companies that appear to be lacking in ingenuity — cue Microsoft — are publicly flogged on no less than the op-ed page of The New York Times for "never developing a true system for innovation," record earnings be damned.
So, has the corporate risk appetite for trying new IT stuff changed?
"I don't think it is so much the risk appetite as it is the nature of IT innovation that has changed," said Mark McDonald, who covers CIO strategy and the business of IT at Gartner Inc. McDonald said that in his conversations with CIOs this year, he is hearing about three conditions that have the potential to "completely reposition IT in three years" — in other words, make it new.
- 1. The first shift is that business is looking to IT more to raise productivity than to cut costs in the enterprise.
"Obviously, to raise productivity I can't just do the same with less. I have to do different things with the same resources, which you could argue opens the door for innovation," McDonald said. Rather than building a better mousetrap to do the same with less, CIOs should be looking for ways to "disrupt the mouse cycle so they don't ever have to catch mice again," he said.
- 2. The second shift — more subtle, according to McDonald — is that the housecleaning CIOs did during the recession left their IT departments with fewer projects to maintain. Companies got rid of those pet projects that kept IT a servant to the business unit that squawked the loudest, he said.
"So, if CIOs think a bit proactively, they can actually start allocating a bit more resources to innovation than they have in the past," McDonald said. (CIOs at hard-strapped companies may not want to put in a budget request for innovation just yet, however. Call it increasing productivity, instead, he suggests.)
- 3. Finally, Gartner argues that "lightweight technologies" that don't require a big up-front capital investment, such as cloud computing, Software as a Service and Web 2.0, will continue to make IT departments more responsive — which is different from being agile (a topic for another blog post).
And there is some data to suggest that the urgency for innovation is only going to grow, according to Gartner. In its periodic survey of some 1,000 CIOs worldwide, about 30% listed "creative new products and services" among their top five problems to address in 2010. Asked to project for 2013, just under half of all CIOs told Gartner that innovation will be the No. 1 issue they have to address.
Mobile phone management strategy in a cloud-based world
Would paying for corporate mobile data in a cloud-like format change your mobile phone management strategy? It's something to consider — AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson thinks the wireless industry is moving toward a usage-based pricing model for mobile data.
"For the industry, we'll progressively move towards more of what I call variable pricing, so the heavy-[use] consumers will pay more than the lower-[use] consumers," Stephenson said at an analyst conference this week.
A lot of analysts have seen this coming for a while. More mobile customers are sharing information via text messages, e-mails and even Skype on their smartphones rather than by making traditional phone calls, driving down their need to purchase pricier phone plans. (I speak from experience: A combination of these factors — especially Skype — has allowed me to remain with AT&T's 450-minute calling plan, where I otherwise would have needed to trade up.) This could be viewed as a reflection of the cloud computing model that's gotten so much buzz in the IT sphere, where you pay for what you use, rather than paying a flat rate.
These changes could drive up costs for big-time corporate users, who — like most mobile users — not only download and edit documents for their work, but also are inclined to surf the Web on their work phone during idle time. And why not? It doesn't cost anything extra. But should IT start paying for mobile data based on usage, corporate mobile phone management policies might have to change.
Would a data-usage-based payment approach for mobile devices change your organization's mobile phone management strategy or your mobile procurement decisions? What sort of mobile phone policies would you put into place for corporate users who also want to surf the Web?
Common desktop virtualization design-stage mistakes
Kevin Vogl has overseen hundreds of desktop virtualization deployments as vice president of virtualization for systems integrator Champion Solutions Group Corp., out of Boca Raton, Fla.
And he's seen his share of desktop virtualization design-stage mistakes, a common one being the creation of too many desktop images.
Eager to satisfy the diverse needs of the user base, some enterprise IT departments end up designing hundreds or even thousands of virtual desktop images — voiding a major benefit of desktop virtualization, simplified desktop management. And it typically starts with one group of users and snowballs.
"I see enterprises that take a small group of users and instead of giving that group one or two images, they end up with six [images] because a few people in the group use an application that the rest of the group doesn't," Vogl said.
Instead, applications that are unique to a few users should be delivered separately through application virtualization, he said.
User boot storms also are often brought up as a storage-allocation or network-capacity nightmare that can be avoided during the design stage. Shared memory, available these days in most virtualization products, allows the first image of Windows 7, for example, to be loaded only once. Shared memory technology voids the need to load memory for that image the next time a user boots up Windows 7, Vogl said.
Read more about preparing your infrastructure for desktop virtualization in a tip written by Tom Nolle, president of consulting firm CIMI Corp. Or email your own tips to email@example.com.
CIO weekly blog: Google and Microsoft at odds, social media news
I am reporting live from TechTarget's brand new office in Newton, Mass., just up the highway from our longtime Needham offices. I have Internet access and my phone has a dial tone – so far, so good!
What's everybody else thinking about? It sounds like Google and Microsoft are ready to go to war over ant-trust issues, while a new study confirms what I think most of us already know: More Americans are getting their news from the Internet rather than the newspaper or radio, and social media news sites like Facebook and Twitter are accelerating info-sharing opportunities.
As you catch up on these and other stories, be sure to check out the latest SearchCIO.com stories:
A dozen danger signs that your outsourcing contract is on the rocks — Outsourcing contract renegotiations were up sharply last year. Most of that activity focused on cost cuts, and that spells trouble. Experts offer advice, in the first of two articles.
What to watch for during negotiations with outsourcing vendors – And here's part two! Outsourcing contract renegotiations were up sharply last year. Most of that activity focused on cost cuts, and that spells trouble.
Storage virtualization helps rein in storage sprawl — Storage virtualization can help CIOs manage the ever-increasing storage requirements that server and desktop virtualization cause.
IT governance framework helps public agencies boost service, cut costs — An IT governance framework can help public agencies improve service levels and cut costs amid tight budgets. Read more about IT governance models in Massachusetts and California (my background in community journalism was a big help with this one!).
Public sector challenges mitigated by IT governance framework
My background is in community journalism, so public sector challenges — strained municipal budgets and efforts to improve education, health care and other city services — are all too familiar to me. But rarely do I get to put that knowledge to work nowadays, as I did this week in my story on implementing an IT governance framework in the public sector.
In researching my piece, I reached out to the CIO of the commonwealth of Massachusetts and to the chief deputy director in the state's Office of the CIO in California. I spoke with each of them about how they've worked with their state governors to structure IT so that it can best serve not only the governor and his staff, but state residents too.
That's one of the differences between public sector challenges versus private sector challenges for CIOs. In the private sector, CIOs are focused mainly on finding and implementing solutions that will move the business's vision forward while cutting costs and boosting revenues. In the public sector, money matters, of course — particularly with California, as we've all heard about the state's budget crisis — but the bottom line is far more intangible and difficult to measure with traditional ROI formulas.
A successful IT deployment might mean a better database of roads in need of repair, so the local Department of Public Works can fix a pothole before a kid on a bike tumbles into it. Or it might mean planning for the purchase of new desktops so that high school students without Internet access at home can work at the school library. On a much larger scale, the government push to electronic health records underscores the importance of technology in meeting citizens' everyday needs.
Do I sound like the overzealous press person for a city mayor right now? Maybe a bit (I'm all too familiar with them as well). But one of the many things I've been impressed to learn through my reporting at SearchCIO.com is that IT — supported by a dynamite IT governance framework — can enable innovation and success at any level, from the multibillion-dollar corporation to the 5,000-person town.
Is it better to work for an outsourcing provider than for corporate IT?
Consultant Tom Young has been mulling over the good, the bad and all the ugliness of outsourcing contracts for 13 years, eight of them with the IT advisory firm TPI, where he is managing director of the CIO services and infrastructure group. Before that, he was a financial director at AT&T Labs.
"The people side of [outsourcing] is a tough, tough business," Young said. This was at the tail end of a long interview for a piece I was doing on the danger signs of outsourcing contracts. Young was a wealth of useful information on that subject, and now we were talking shop about cutting jobs.
Young has seen his share of hatchet jobs. "I've been through this many times," he said. At one company, where he was dispatched to cut IT costs, the employees called him and his partner "the Bobs," after the two consultants in the 1999 cult film "Office Space" who were brought in to fire employees. (He had the modesty not to compare himself with the George Clooney character in "Up in the Air.")
But Young said he "sleeps at night" because he's convinced that the corporate IT guy is better off working for the very outsourcing provider that displaced him. His argument is that the IT professional working in a corporate IT organization is judged by his ability, of course, but limited by the opportunities to move up the value chain. In Young's view, those opportunities typically pale beside the potential for career advancement at the big provider firms.
And unlike a corporate environment where you might be locked into a salary, "the more valuable you are to the provider, the more you make," Young said. And he knows, because he's kept in touch with people who have made the transition. "Nobody likes to be told, you're not working here anymore," he said, "but most people, except the slackers, will be better off."
This sounds plausible, but didn't I read not that long ago about IBM shipping U.S. jobs off to India?
The year of desktop virtualization
When the audience at VMworld 2008 was asked if anyone had virtualized hundreds of desktops, I saw only one person raise his hand.
This year, anecdotally, VMware said at its partner show that the majority of its customers are evaluating, testing or rolling out its virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) product.
Last month, Citrix Systems said that 1,000 new customers bought its desktop virtualization technology in Q4 2009, with several customers buying more than 10,000 seats.
In addition, a very large food manufacturer plans to virtualize 10,000 desktops this year, according to a system integrator I spoke with who had interviewed a job applicant working on the project.
There aren't many CIOs putting themselves out there as desktop virtualization pioneers on a large scale, however. There are risks involved, after all: The technology is not mature, the ROI is questionable, new strategies have to be developed to account for the capacity needs of a virtual infrastructure, and software companies are still trying to figure out how to support their applications in a virtual environment.
Yet companies are moving forward with desktop virtualization. Independent Bank Corp., out of Iona, Mich., for example, has 1,000 virtual desktops as part of its disaster recovery strategy.
Disaster recovery was not named as a top driver for desktop virtualization in an informal survey conducted by Forrester Research analyst Mark Bowker. What did top the list? Reduced capital expenses associated with traditional desktops, simplified application upgrades and deployments, and reduced operational expenses tied to supporting client devices.
Let us know what is moving desktop virtualization forward — or holding it back — at your company. Email firstname.lastname@example.com.
CIO weekly wrap-up: Is the Windows 7 phone suited for the enterprise?
The New York Times caught my eye today with this piece on whether the Windows 7 phone will be better than the iPhone for the enterprise. The BlackBerry is still the undisputed leader and the iPhone isn't doing too shabby, but as the article points out:
We really have not seen any bona fide use of mobile collaboration tools as of yet across any device. People are using smartphones to check messages and use applications. The applications they do use are services like Twitter.
Also in the Times, a primer on traveling smart – with your technology. Most of this you've probably heard before, but it never hurts to review.
Come back here and share your thoughts on these stories, as well as the most recent content from SearchCIO.com:
Desktop, server virtualization help CIO fix disaster recovery plans — A combination of desktop and server virtualization is helping one bank CIO sync up disaster recovery between the backup data center and production site.
Proving the value of a business continuity plan (before disaster hits) — It's the bane of business continuity experts: proving the value of business continuity management — before the incident occurs. Are KRIs and KPIs the answer?
CIO and IT salaries: Do you know what you should be paid in 2010? — CIO and IT salaries and IT job security and optimism all took a hit in this economic recession. Review our latest IT salaries stories and find out if you're being paid enough in 2010.
WordPress problems: Temporary blog failure shows need for DR, BC plans
It's been a week of mea culpas. Following Google's admission that it didn't handle the launch of Google Buzz very well, on Thursday WordPress, a leading provider of blogging platforms to individuals and businesses alike, experienced an outage of approximately 110 minutes. The WordPress problems affected 10.2 million blogs, depriving those bloggers of about 5.5 million page views.
According to the official WordPress blog (which I assume was also unavailable during the downtime), the problems were likely the result of an "unscheduled change to a core router by one of our data center providers [that] messed up our network in a way we haven't experienced before, and it broke the site." Worse, the outage broke all of the company's mechanisms for failover in San Antonio and Chicago.
I'll be interested to hear about WordPress' stopgap solutions in the case of blog failure. In the meantime, I'm left to ponder — and point out to our readers — that having a disaster recovery and business continuity plan isn't necessary only for such catastrophes as hurricanes — or a massive data breach that leaves you scrambling to explain to irate customers what went wrong (I gather that WordPress did an admirable job updating users via Twitter during the outage). But how do you prove this to the business so you can get the resources you need? Consider piggybacking disaster recovery efforts on other projects or mapping availability risk.
The WordPress problems also underscore the importance of properly vetting your providers, whose data center outage could negatively affect your business and its customers. For more information about assessing potential sourcing partners, check out our FAQ on getting started with IT outsourcing.
What business continuity plans? I have a business to run!
Ahh, the irony! Organizations that have been through some kind of a disaster certainly understand the value of business continuity plans. But for most everybody else?
"When you talk about having a plan that could cost $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000, and might sit on a shelf and gather dust, for most business leaders, it's 'Excuse me, I have a business to run,'" said Paul Kirvan, a business continuity consultant based in New Jersey.
I heard a lot of variations on that attitude in my reporting this week for a story on mapping key risk indicators and key performance indicators in order to prove the value of business continuity (BC) programs. BC plans are a tough sell and not only because of those business leaders who'd rather spend money on making money.
The field is young — only about 35 years old, Kirvan told me. And the tools of the trade are not all that sophisticated. Quantifying the impact of a business-disrupting event that hasn't happened, in order to craft a sound plan for getting back to business, is a soft science.
So soft, in fact, that Ramon Krikken, an analyst with Burton Group, has found that anecdotes about the bad things that have happened to other companies — good, old-fashioned horror stories — continue to be among the more powerful tools continuity specialists possess for convincing upper management that business continuity plans hold value.
In the United States there's another element at play that makes it hard to get funding for BC — what Kirvan calls the "cultural dimension."
Business continuity is viewed differently in the U.K. and other European countries from the way it is here, said Kirvan, who has worked extensively in the United Kingdom and is also a board member of the Business Continuity Institute. Of course, Great Britain is the source of arguably the industry's most accepted business continuity standard, BS 25999. But it's not just a matter of standards or certification, he said.
"The culture over [in the UK] tends to be one of anticipating potential problems," he said. Business continuity is taken seriously, he said, perhaps because of issues with the IRA over the years and more recently, the 2007 terrorist bombings.
"Our culture, by contrast, with the pioneer spirit, that can-do, 'We can handle anything, just throw it at us' attitude, doesn't take that view," Kirvan said. American businesses are focused on the present and tend to believe the future will always be brighter.
"The typical reaction I have seen over the years from American businesses is that, 'Well, we have never had a major issue, why should we worry about it? We'll deal with it when it occurs,'" he said.
What about at your company?


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subset: commoncrawl


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Final Fantasy XI Developer Interview And New Updates
An in-depth interview and a hands-on tour of the next few content updates for Final Fantasy XI.
It seems as if you can -- as you unlock more pieces to use -- create the dungeons to be as simple or as difficult as you want. Some runes describe the structural integrity of your dungeon (although we don't yet know if this means there will be holes in the floor you have to navigate, or if the whole place might actually collapse if not beaten within a certain time limit), while others like 'Supreme Might' suggest NM-level difficulty of the monsters, describing them as 'much stronger than the players in your party.' Other runes ensure you will encounter monsters that use enfeebling magic exclusively, elemental magic, or simply add status effects to the dungeon, like being unable to cast spells. Presumably, your rewards will be greater the more challenging you make your dungeon. During the battle we participated in (with various Square Enix tourguides in attendance), we -- a pimped-out Paladin, Red Mage, White Mage, and Samurai --- fought an earth elemental with a unique name. As you might expect, this battle took quite a while, since earth elementals are, by their very nature, equipped with the strongest hit points and defense. Unlike an earlier group Square Enix took through this dungeon, we actually won, and our reward for our efforts were 20 marbles and a Maze Rune 042 (which would most likely unlock other types of pieces in our next, theoretical dungeon). Marbles can eventually be traded in for special equipment rewards, but what is to be spent on what wasn't revealed at this time. Exiting the dungeon merely requires you to activate the Maze Copmass you're given at the start of the match (like Fireflies in Assault), which warps you back out to Lower Jeuno.
Swarm, on the other hand, is much less complex, and perhaps more immediately enjoyable. Placed at the D-9 location in Rolanberry Fields (it's interesting how the dev team is starting to make use of lesser-used zones), and the general theme of the quest is to fight and kill as many enemies as possible within the time limit. Different enemies have different attributes, like Bombs (the classic Final Fantasy flaming ball) explode the instant you hit them, although to a level 75 character they don't do much damage. You enter Swarm as a team, but you generally play as individuals, killing as many monsters as possible to rack up the highest points. The party leader uses the trigger item, 'Pest Repellent,' on himself, and then enters the instanced area (which looks like Palborough Mines) to begin the mission.
Once you enter the arena, the mobs will come to you in about 45 seconds, enabling you to cast buffs, eat food, etc. Once the enemies arrive, it's a parade of crawlers, goblins, chigoes, beetles, and other random enemies (we didn't see any dhalmels in our play session). Occasionally, however, a really big monster, like an Aspidochelone, will drop in on the party, requiring a lot more firepower. The mobs we fought in our session were almost all one-hit kills, and while Aspid took a King's Justice weaponskill or two to take down, they were nothing like their much harder in-game counterparts. At the end of the time limit, scores were tallied, and my Warrior had collected 8060 points, while the group's total post-battle ranking was 11,880 points. What we'll eventually be able to spend the points on wasn't revealed, but the rewards will likely be in line with most of FFXI's other group activities.
These new modes will be available starting December 8th, after the next patch is released, and should provide much-needed alternatives to Wings of the Goddess's Campaign-heavy activities. As Square Enix releases more information about the upcoming three-pack of mini-expansions, we'll have all the details.
See all Final Fantasy XI Previews >
Comments (71)
I get so sick and tired of .....Posted: Dec 10, 2008 12:00AM PST by jinkoku
Check out my SUPER HYPE on FF XI, WOW, and EQ. I think it sums up somethings for people!!! Click HERE.
If you have opinions like me, and wish them to be heard in an evironment that loves to hear it, come and join my club for UBER -GAMERS
JOIN MY CLUB FOR GAMERS - Public URL: http://uber-gamers-club.1up.com
Come onPosted: Dec 09, 2008 12:00AM PST by semjaza
It's honestly hard to swallow this. They're already ahead of the pack in terms of the amount of expansions as it is.
Meanwhile, they want to charge for pieces of content over the main monthly fee? Is any of their competition doing this? LotRO gets major free content updates every few months, sometimes introducing huge new areas along with quests, enemies and so forth. Warhammer and WoW do this to some extent as well.
FFXI continues to beat to its own drum and, frankly, the drum just seems to be greed. I get that they're not WoW-huge, but they're certainly doing decently enough. It's bothersome to me. Between this and how Japanese developers handle microtransactions on the 360, I can't help but feel that they are really taking advantage of people compared to their Western counterparts.
The "don't buy it then!" exclamation stands obviously, but the value here is notably lopsided and that is worrying to me.
YeahPosted: Mar 05, 2006 12:00AM PST by dOOmShrOOm
I agree with the person a few spaces below me. Where is the originality in next-gen gaming!?
Beta Testing = teh 3qualiz3rPosted: Feb 26, 2006 12:00AM PST by ChaucersJester
While not the graphical powerhouse everyone was expecting the 360 version of FFXI was gonna be, and given that FFXI is well over 4 years old, FFXI still has more than enough pizazz left in its package to bring home the bacon, and by the beta test population, bring home some new bacon. It is a completely different picture to see a brand new in-game economy on a new server filled with a bunch of new people who just want to check out what the whole experience is all about (although it's a short time to get that). I think it's up to the more experienced FFXI gamers to help the new folks get through the rather steep and unfriendly learning curve of FFXI because the rewards for sticking with it are fun and jealousy-inducing (so many "OMFG where didjya get that piece of equipment?!" moments). Don't hate, but play with an open mind, ask for help when you need it (I garuntee 98% of the pople there are willing to help and can sympathize/empathize with whatever you're going through in-game), and for god's sake, get a USB keyboard... /end rant
Squaresoft, you disappoint me...Posted: Feb 23, 2006 12:00AM PST by LeoTheEternalFire
Seriously, I agree with the people here. You just don't see the next generation feel here. Where is the original content?
Lost a potential customerPosted: Feb 22, 2006 12:00AM PST by SuicideNinja
I would like to say that I was able to play the demo. Nope. After two hours of installation and taking multiple gigs of my hard drive, I find out that the Hydra server was having technical issues and I couldn't finish creating my character. I tried on two occassions later on and it still didn't work. Apparently I have messages that may be important, but it won't let me read them. I have had no desire to try since. If this is what it takes to play a MMO, then I'm not interested. Square Enix would have been better off releasing the regular Final Fantasies on the XBox, and leaving the MMORPGs to PCs. I cringe at the thought of going through the same process with my PS2. That console is slow enough as it is, let alone going through all this registration and installation hassle. I'm so glad I never bought this game. Final Fantasy XI = Practice in Futility.
FFXI is squaresoft trash!Posted: Feb 18, 2006 12:00AM PST by e2ekiel520
blah, the demo was terrible, took like four hours to set up my account and truth is this game just isnt that impressive. the graphics are terrible as far as 360 is concerned(jaggies, low res pixillated textures, terrible water effects 'is that supposed to be water?',little to no ligthing....ugh, this games ugly.)and the gameplay fits with the graphics...simple, outdated, plain...phantasy star online was better than this, and that was only cool on the dreamcast back in 1999.
Too many...Posted: Feb 16, 2006 12:00AM PST by stve5150
...people in the areas for lower level characters. I've played FFXI since it was out for PC, and I have the beta for 360. Thank God you can use your established account when the game is actually released. I don't think I have ever seen so many people in the mines at Bastok. You have to look for quite a while to find something to fight. It makes leveling a nightmare. I guess the good news would be that I never had that problem on the 'real' game. I do agree with the article, the graphics are up there with the PC version. I didn't see enough difference between the two to get too excited. 5.1 DD is a plus though. Looking forward to launch.
The demo sucksPosted: Feb 13, 2006 12:00AM PST by MaximusZX
My pal littlebadwolf says it took over five hours to get the FFXI demo game he got to run. He claims it absolutely sucks to set up, mostly it seems because you have to connect to the game's unique servers, rather than just to Live like every other game. It also crapped out on him and crashed multiple times. I hope the actual game isn't this buggy--but I doubt I would play it anyway because I'm not paying a monthly fee to play a game--the $50 I plopped down for 12 months is all I'm willing to spend.
re ZOMBIE2KPosted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by nintendofanDS
if ff11 had voice chat, your pc probably WOULD burst into flames...if you actually read the article it would tell you that if it cant handle the sound effects from the animations and such, how do you think it could handle 9347503284759347 people all screaming insults at each other? ff11 isnt just a 16 player game of halo... its got about 2k people on each server (probably wrong about that but its damn high) and if everyone was talking every second, id probably kill myself... you want to get trash talked by a five year old?
No room for etiquette on an overcrowded serverPosted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by xander_green
This isn't actually true, but in the race to get to level 10, and head out of the newbie area of Bastok, I have been guilty of stealing enemies with Provoke on several occassions. Oftentimes it's easy to not see that other character heading for the same enemy that you are, and when you stop to use provoke or a spell, the other PC, seems to think that he's won at the point or that you have given him the initiative, only to have the kill stolen out from under him/her. To say that they're irritated would be an understatement. However, having tried to be polite on many occassions, I found I was making very little to no progress in leveling up and it became clear that the majority of players, whether noobs or vets, didn't bother showing me the same courtesy. Why? Simply, because there isn't enough to go around. We're fighting over crumbs here, not only for xp but also for gil. Crystals and other high selling items on normal servers, are worth less than a third and sometimes a fifth on the Hydra server. Things should ultimately settle down when the game goes official...I hope.
Umm... FFXI is not a new gamePosted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by lupine73
There's alot of posts in this Hype section that demonstrate many people's unawareness that FFXI is not a new game. It's been around for a good 2-3 years now... first in Japan, then in US on PC and PS2... It's new that it's coming to the 360, but the game is not new. It's been around at least 2-3 years now.
It's about time!Posted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by the_forchdog
I have played every Final Fantasy since the franchise began and I can't wait to see what it looks like on my 360. The only concern I have is that my 360 will burst into flames after I play for a few hours. I mean if it overheats now, what about when I'm in the middle of a fight and haven't saved it in 2 hours.
RudenessPosted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by Rocwing
I have to agree with the milkman's statements about people being rude. it's like the xbox live "frag everything that moves" crowd brought that mentality to the peaceful world of Vana Diel. Now I'm not one to claim I am a hardcore MMO person, but I do at least try to respect everyone. My friends are playing this on their PC's in the same room as me while I test the beta on the 360 so I have seen first hand the difference in etiqute, it is really quite appalling. I have to ask, is the "Xbox crowd" ready for this sort of game? hopefully on 4/20 we will begin to know the answer..
EwwPosted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by Zombie2k
FFXI might be a beta game as of this point, but there are still alot of problems with it. First of all, voice chat. WTF where is the voice chat!? I don't care how many people i might be hearing at the same time, the text BS is so horrible it made me want to stab the game. So on my next point, the interface. The interface completly sucked and uber orgy of donkey nuts. I couldn't figure out what in the h*** was going on. I had somebody teach me and it took a half an hour! The grapich are ok as of now. I know that this is still a beta, but this won't get me into Final Fantasy any time soon.
A+ Mr MielkePosted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by nomoremana
FFXI is my first real MMORPG experience. And I must say I love it so far. I'm a Lvl 14 WAR right now, and managed to get there all by myself. I even started to train my woodworking crafting skills. The game has alot of depth and encouraging quest, even though failure is inevitable and leveling ist quite hard, I found it one of my best gaming experiences so far. Mielke, sir, is right about the missing etiquette, but that's a problem when you have a free beta running were every 2nd grade fool can pick up a copy on the newspaper stand and run it. Hope that will change with the upcoming subscriptions. I found alot of mature XBox players here in Germany enjoying the party system and the needed teamwork to accomplish anything in this game. FInd me there, oh Hydra, Yours sincerely "Aureatus"
bea testPosted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by hoppehoppehoppe
i got it for my 360 i havent played it much because im focused on beating my other games instead of being on live all the time but from waht ive done so far its cool as hell
11 "horrible"?!!?Posted: Feb 10, 2006 12:00AM PST by jhmdf1
If you actually call FF11 graphics "horrible", but think WOW's are great.....then what the hell? Umm, if you want more detailed, polished graphics, then I guess you would go towards 11. If you want more cartoon style, and "simple" game, then I guess WOW would be for you. Dont just call 11 crap beacause you dont play it. WOW is a fun game....so is 11. Both are different, and I enjoy 11 alot more. damn.
BlahPosted: Feb 09, 2006 12:00AM PST by Inferius
This game looks terrible on the 360. It probably looks terrible on the PC or PS2 also though. Playing it on a 360 through a HDTV does NOT make it look 'sort of' next gen like the reviewer claims. I am a veteran MMO player and i just thought this game was lousy. If you play WoW this isn't even close.
no interest in thisPosted: Feb 06, 2006 12:00AM PST by DF-Striker
As long as I have World of Warcraft I do not not need to buy this. I was not impressed with the pc version so I am not buying this one sry.
Not impressedPosted: Jan 22, 2006 12:00AM PST by _Mako_
I played the Demo that came with my copy of XBOX magazine. I will have about 2 months to play around with the game. After the first couple of hours though I was not impressed. The graphics look like they were rendered on a PS2. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not rendered in 720p, or at least it does not look like it. The game play is not intuitive at all. Walking out to the countryside was met with a lackluster monster whomping experience. There were many players (presumably beta testers with demo disks like me) and not many creatures to attack. The one mission that I picked up did not seem to be working correctly. I was probably doing something wrong but it was not obvious. The game really requires a keyboard to play properly and that is OK but it takes a bit to get used to typing in chats and commands from a couch based keyboard. At least I think so. I would much rather play it from a desk. Over all, I am not very impressed by the title. Of course it looks like you have to play for a long time to really get into the details of what could make the game interesting. Characters are very generic only allowing for 8 differnet faces and 2 hair colors per character race and gender. Not having the detail of other MMOs in character design means a lot of characters will look alike. I don't get the feeling of diversity that other MMOs deliver. Overall, I am not impressed and would likely not play this game. Games like World of Warcraft are a better representation of the genre. If I were to play a fantasy MMO again, it would probably still be WoW over a game like FFXI.
HOPES...Posted: Dec 22, 2005 12:00AM PST by tyedyemonster
lets hope this game was better than all of the other games except 7
heyPosted: Dec 10, 2005 12:00AM PST by soulsurvivor
if you get this game on xbox 360...would you be able to play with people on the PC or PS2 verisons??
Who knowsPosted: Dec 06, 2005 12:00AM PST by dOOmShrOOm
Its like everyone is mentioning below. How will the fees work? Until I know, I don't have a huge interest for this game. But it would still be cool as hell having a FF game on the 360.
YawnPosted: Dec 02, 2005 12:00AM PST by GAMINGREALTOR
This game is going to be...well...not very good. Mark my words. Everyone will get hyped up about nothing, and everyone will soon realize just how poor this series is....well maybe everyone will realize this series isn't really all that good when they release Final Fantasy CVVYBBZZIII on the Xbox 1720 in the year 2025.
calm downPosted: Nov 24, 2005 12:00AM PST by rainbowblack
YOU CAN PLAY FFXI W/O XBL so dont worry even ms knows how big of a scam that would be...but that scamming us is beneath them or anything
About the feesPosted: Nov 23, 2005 12:00AM PST by bouli
On the hand, those who do want to play FFXI, AND will have XBL Gold cause they want to play other games online, would have to pay both fees? If that was the case,I could see why people are arguing hehe. Not as if everyone who wants to play ffxi won't want to play other games online, see what i mean? I don't mind, cause I play it on the PC, but it's just an opinion hehe. Ah well, the price for enjoying such luxuries ;)
Too Little Too LatePosted: Nov 19, 2005 12:00AM PST by SlaughterX
As it has been said before, this game could have worked fine on the original Xbox, where all HDDs were STANDARD. Why would anyone pay (probably) $60 for this game with an additional monthly fee on top of the Xbox Live subscription fee? Especially when it doesn't even look better then the PC version.
They may very well be cheap.Posted: Nov 19, 2005 12:00AM PST by VandalHeart
The precedent has already been set. Anyone recall Phantasy Star Online? Sega still had the nerve to charge people $9 a month to play that game in addition to the monthly fees already incurred by Xbox Live. Squeenix charging for FF11 isn't totally out of the question. If they were able to offer the game for free, they would've done so already with the PS2 and PC versions.
Theyre not cheapPosted: Nov 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by Milkman
If you didnt have to pay a monthly fee, every PC and PS2 player would just switch over to the 360 version, and FFXI would shut down because no one would be paying monthly fees any more. You dont actually have to have Xbox Live Gold (the paid version) in order to play FFXI. Just Xbox Live Silver. Don't you guys read the whole article? No, it wont have voice chat and yes you will need a keyboard. It's how they track abuse and take action. They can't possibly track people calling other people names if there was only voice chat.
one simple questionPosted: Nov 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by Kyse_Zenith
what are the odds that square-enix will be a bunch of cheap bastards and still make us pay the monthly fee for the game when we're allready paying for xbox live??
Voice?Posted: Nov 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by chaotic_deckard
I am still wondering if they are going to implement voice chat or are we going to have to use a USB keyboard to communicate with other players? I'm hoping that there can be voice because that will save the trouble of switching from controller to keyboard in a middle of a battle where team work is crucial.
Character TransferPosted: Nov 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by Dreamkin
There is no need to "transfer" any character "to the XBOX version" Your new game on XBOX 360 will only be a client. All your character data except your macros are stored on SE servers. You can plan on any machine and even switch machines anytime you wish.
To Soulhaxor and other idiots...Posted: Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM PST by Iris_TB
You must not know ANYTHING about MMORPG's to make such a stupid 'kid-like' statement. If you knew anything about these games, you'd know that most companies actually make very little profit off of the games, or atleast don't start to turn a good profit until a year or two down the road. Even then, there's constant payments to make such as salaries of workers to pay, not to mention the people who run tech support. You also have bandwith costs, and what about the servers? Building costs? There's other countless bills that need to be paid aside from that.. If anything, I'm glad you're staying away. If people want to play that badly but don't want to spend a ton, they'll get the PC version or ps2(provided they have the old ps2, and even then it's super easy and cheap to find them). You can stay with your first person shooters, I'm sure the FFXI community is better off without you. Me? I work hard for my money, and I don't give two shits about the monthly fee because I can think beyond the "OMG MONEY GRUBBING WHORES" mentality.. (|Logic|) (|Do you need it?|) (|Yes, please.|)
Porting charactersPosted: Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM PST by spoonybard
Since characters are stored on SE's servers then you'll be able to transfer your characters.
Old CharactersPosted: Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM PST by Epidemic
I'm wondering if ill b able to take my characters on the ps2 version and bring them over to the xbox version. Also I'd like to see the party problem fixed where at lvl 60 and up u need a rdm in ur party. I hate waiting around for rdms when there aren't any available.
This is hot but stupidPosted: Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM PST by soulhaxor
I think giving a monthly fee is complete bull, considering you paid for the game. ITS A VIDEO GAME let the kids have fun instead of making them dig deeper in there pockets. Lets see November 22nd the world goes poor,(Xbox360-$400 FFXI=$50(guess)Xbox LIVE-$50 a year and greedy square enix wants us to spend $12 a month on a dam video game, im giving this hype a zero cause people shouldnt be charging us gamers anymore money, expecially for an MMORPG. Its very sad that $50 isnt enough for these people. This is why i stick with my 1st person shooter games. And i swear to god i better not have to pay for another LIVE account my wallet isnt that thick.
Raking in the doughPosted: Oct 02, 2005 12:00AM PST by RandomHero005
Hopefully the monthly fee won't be that high, I don't mind about the XBL gold subsciption but I don't want to have to pay ridiculous amounts for one more game. looking forward to it anyway
Maybe too expensivePosted: Sep 22, 2005 12:00AM PST by dOOmShrOOm
I will have Xbox live anyway but the fact that there is a monthly fee sucks really hard. If I buy the game once why should I keep buying it every month?
Not for me.Posted: Sep 20, 2005 12:00AM PST by Ortadragoon
Do not get me wrong; I love Final Fantasy, sans FFX, FFX-2, and FF:MQ (the one that shall not be named fully) and several others. I would also love to play FFXI. But, I won't. Why? Money. First, if you must have Xbox LIVE Gold, that's a good 50 bucks out of your pocket. It isn't very much, but when you couple that with over 10 bucks a month just to play the damn RPG, you've got some serious cash to deal out. I'd rather stick with more conventional 360 games then FFXI. Of course, I may not even get a 360 now. MGS4 and the Revolution controller totally made me cry. MGS4's beauty (on PS3 hardware) and the Revolution's awesome innovative controller totally sold me on those two. Will I get a 360? Eventually, but I'm not sure.
Sound good 2 mePosted: Sep 19, 2005 12:00AM PST by Jordanaire
I definitely have this title on my wishlist, can't wait for it.
OXMPosted: Sep 19, 2005 12:00AM PST by firstname.lastname@example.com
In the newst OXM they said you dont need xbox live gold to play MMOs
SoulReaverPosted: Sep 19, 2005 12:00AM PST by CodeD
So now when people voice their opinions and pressing them on everyone. Soulreaver, I feel I am being oppressed by your crappy opinion, please stop. On the game though, I started out my MMO gaming with FFXI, there were many things about the game that I didnt like, it was pretty and all, but it just had some crappy mechanics. I switched over to WoW recently and it is such a better interface and overall gaming experience.
wowPosted: Sep 19, 2005 12:00AM PST by soulreaver17
Geez people, stop thinking your opinions are everyone's. Somewhere between 500,000 and 750,000 people play this game, which was as much as EverQuest before this generation of MMOs came out. They couldn't do amazingly grpahical update for an MMO that is already Live. You do know the new users will be thrown into the already populated game world right? Stop pressing your opinions on everyone.
Well, that's unexpectedPosted: Sep 19, 2005 12:00AM PST by JediKitsune
Huh... this is news to me. I heard initially that Xbox 360's FFXI wouldn't go through Xbox Live, so you'd only pay for your FFXI subscription there. Anyways, I think this COULD be a welcome addition to the game. I mean, the game needs new players and this would open up new avenues for them. Of course, I do somewhat dread this because I have nightmares of entering Valkurm Dunes or even one of the starting cities and being overrun by Xbox fanboys and their... Halo 2...
voicePosted: Sep 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by Gwynplaine
actually i remember reading an interview with someone at SE saying theres no OFFICIAL support for voicechat integrated into the game, however that there WILL be the standard xboxlive chat on the live service in the game. Sooo yeah, im not familiar with xbox live, if anyone could find that article (im pretty sure its on 1up.com) please link :D.
I got up the second part of my Next gen poll if your interestedPosted: Sep 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by mandangsbelow69
I got up the second part of my Next gen poll if your interested
Doesnt really look like a Next gen gamePosted: Sep 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by mandangsbelow69
Even for a MMO this doesnt look too great graphic wise.
maybePosted: Sep 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by sl1ck83
since its the only mmo out there for 360 arround launch, and if youre into thos etype of games, there really no other options out there for you right now. id hold of on it and wait for 2nd year mmo's to arrive and then decide. marvel mmo sounds cool and im still holding out hope that true fanatsy online live comes out. and heres to blizzard getting a clue that wow would sell a but load if they ever made it for consoles. i think the only other mmo thats been announced is vanguard, and i think that one is the best bet as it will allow not only 360 users but ppl on their pcs and cell phones to work together. and since its going to becomming out for both at the same time you wont have the unbreable task of going against high level pc users off the bat like u would with ffx1
mothly fees....Posted: Sep 18, 2005 12:00AM PST by KrashOverIDE
good god.... anyone who buys this game for the 360 is an idiot
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- Game:
- Final Fantasy XI
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- ESRB Rating:
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- Release Date:
- 10/28/2003
- Also Known As:
1UP Editor Score: B+
Average Community Score: B
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Just 35 minutes from Santa Monica is a place of wild beauty and serenity. The cottage in the olive grove sits among a new grove of olives and looks out over the beautiful blue Pacific. The cottage is entirely separate from the main building and is completely private.
Trails run from the house up into the Santa Monica Mountains, all the way to the Backbone Trail -- the spine of the west for hikers, runners, and riders. Surfing, swimming and kayaking are all to be found at Zuma Beach which is minutes away. Local vineyards offer tastings, and the produce from local farms is available on a seasonal basis, shopping and restaurants and movies theaters can be found 10 minutes away.
If you just want to relax, curl up with a book in the "nest" chair on the screened verandah and laze away the afternoon looking at the ocean and the hills. Or take a shower in the garden among the roses, or nap on the hammock under the trees.
As our guests you have access to the 2 miles of trails on our 19 acre property at any time. There are spectacular views and in spring the local wildflowers change the chaparral into a garden. Wild deer and rabbits come to the meadow below us and the hummingbirds hover when you take a shower in the garden.
The sunsets are a photographer's dream whether you view them from our lawn or down on the beach. The cottage in the olive grove offers you a simple but comfortable escape from the noise of the world and a unique view of Malibu.
Keywords: Cottage, romantic getaway, cabin, honeymoon cottage
My husband and I are trail runners and garden enthusiasts. We have lived together in the Santa Monica Mountains for 25 years and are still discovering the magic of this stunning mountain range on a daily basis. We love sharing our corner of the coast with people and showing them the best that the beaches and the hills have to offer. Locals from mountain bikers, to runners to horseback riders to deer and others stop at the water fountain by our gate on the way up and down the trails. We planted over 200 olive trees five years ago and are now watching them fruit. Our lives are busy and fulfilled and we feel privileged to live in such a beautiful place.
The Owner purchased this cottage in 1997
We always dreamed of having a house on a hill overlooking the ocean and were lucky enough to be able to buy at the right time. Malibu has a growing allure as a vacation destination and we realized that other people would have the same dream that we did.
Serenity, peace, quiet, privacy -- and all within 10 minutes of the beach, shopping, marketing and Malibu's relaxed lifestyle. Watching the sunset from the daybed on the screened verandah, taking a long, lovely shower in the garden after a trail run down the mountain at our backs, eating a caprese salad made from the fresh tomatoes and lettuce at the Zuma farms. A day at the cottage is like a week anywhere else -- we emerge, relaxed, refreshed and restored to the world.
My boyfriend and I spent the most romantic weekend of my life at this cottage in the grove. We enjoyed the privacy and freedom to use the outdoor showers and outdoor fireplace. We spent hours lounging from one sun drenched
beautiful room to the next lounging on daybeds. It is now and forever "our" place. everyone needs a place that your biggest problem is waffles? or pancakes? and what bed do we want to snuggle in today. Jill and her husband blew us away with their kindness and their willingness to help with anything.I could honestly go on forever with my gushing. <3
Love Nickie Mingarelli & Johnny Ceravalo
The cottage was amazing. Beautiful views, clean, all the comforts of home. We loved being on the property and exploring the trails and visiting the horses. Sitting by the fire, the outdoor shower, resting on one of the day beds in the sun room, all perfection. Sparky gave us a number of maps to help us choose a hike, and restaurants to try. We travel to Malibu often and love Nobu, Cafe Habana - where we see the owner - Cindy Crawford every time we go. Marmalade is great for breakfast and lunch, and Taverna Tony's is fabulous for dinner. Thank you Sparky and Jill for your hospitality!
We spent an idyllic few days in this gorgeous cottage. The views are spectacular. WE loved the open air shower, the open air fire and the bbq......definitely hoping to return soon.
My wife and I travel a lot and often stay in 5 Star hotels with names like Ritz, Four Seasons and Fairmont. In it's own way Jill and Sparky's Olive Grove Cottage is every bit as good as the very best. Enjoy the hot tub, the outdoor showers, the outdoor fireplace and the hiking/running trails all through the Malibu hills. The beds are very comfortable, the cottage is very clean and you can see forever across the beautiful Pacific! Our most important recommendation is don't plan too much. Enjoy the property. If you must leave, beautiful beaches, wineries and of course all the amenities of Malibu are right down the hill. But take our advice and stay in, the kitchen is very well appointed and the outdoor eating area sits literally on top of the world. Breathe deep and relax.
My husband and I were fortunate enough to stay at the Olive Grove Cottage for a few days while visiting California and can honestly say it was a little slice of Heaven. Far more beautiful than the pictures in the listing-and they looked good-the cottage has everything anyone will need for the perfect getaway-privacy, hot tub, outdoor showers(2), lovely yard, outdoor fireplace, wonderful kitchen, divine sleeping porch, deck and views that will make you cry they are so gorgeous! Oh, and I can't forget how friendly and helpful the owners Jill and Sparky are-we also loved their menagerie of dogs and horses! We plan to return this summer with the kids and spend long, lazy beach days at spectacular Zuma beach which is only minutes away. I will spend the winter dreaming of Malibu and the Olive Grove cottage...Thank you Jill and Sparky for opening up your beautiful property to us!
We first came to the Olive Grove Cottage last summer and we had to go back again!!! It is so romantic, so private and relaxing and the view is incredible. The lovely couple that own it are so sweet and go above and beyond to make your stay as wonderful as possible. I highly recommend this getaway to anyone wanting a serene, gorgeous, comfortable and amazing getaway! We did not want to leave and cannot wait to go back!!!
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N.J. SUPERIOR COURT, APPELLATE DIVISIONNew Jersey Law Journal
Mandal v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Because plaintiff did not fall while riding a train or embarking or disembarking from a train, the trial judge erred in instructing the jury that defendant was burdened by the heightened standard of care imposed on common carriers.
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First Posted: 4/8/2012
The Back Mountain Bandits hosted Mountain Top for the first game of the season and came up on the short end of a 6-4 score. Scoring goals for the Bandits were Ricky Morgan, Michael Santora, Ryan Cohen and Stone Mannello.
The Back Mountain Bandits Girls 7/8 team opened the 2012 season with a double-header against the Easton MS Red and Black teams.
In the first game against Easton Red, the Bandits played strong but came up short, losing 11-6.
Scoring for the Bandits were Samantha Delamater (four goals), Jordon Kelly (one goal) and Taylor Alba (one goal) with assists going to Amada Miller, who had two, Kathy Strohl and Julia Baloh with one assist each.
In the second game, the Bandits shut out Easton Black, 9-0, and were led by the excellent goaltending of Grace Butler. Anchoring the defense were Tabitha Greene, Claudia Leu, Lauren Finnegan and Katie Snedeker.
Scoring for the Bandits were Amanda Miller with two goals, Samantha Delamater with three goals, Hailee DuMont, Jordon Kelly, Julia Hutsko and Claudia Waltz with one goal each. Assists went to Jessica Blat who had two, Katie Kapral, Jordon Kelly and Emily Masi with one goal each.


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PayPal is by far the safest way to play online bingo. When you deposit via PayPal, you put up an extra layer of security between yourself and the bingo site.
Getting started is pretty easy. We recommend that you use a resource that lists all the sites that accept PayPal, this way you can compare and contrast the difference between each site, or perhaps just bookmark it so you can go back for future reference.
PayPal Compatible Sites
There are many different sites to choose from. Currently the most popular ones include:
- Lucky Pants Bingo
- Kitty Bingo
- Bgo Bingo
- Sky Bingo
- William Hill Bingo
- Betway Bingo
The most common operator for PayPal compatible sites is Virtue Fusion. Virtue Fusion bring you top brands like Ladbrokes, Sky, William Hill, Winner and many more.
Most of these brands are very well trusted in the industry and any UK punter can feel safe and secure using them. Other less well known sites include ones that use Microgaming software such as Betway, or independent up and coming companies such as Lucky Pants and Kitty Bingo.
Obviously, if you are depositing at a site that is independent the risks of playing there tend to be slightly higher than a household name like William Hill that is part of another network of sites.
Things To Consider
Whether you are depositing for the first time or using PayPal over and over, there are various benefits, drawbacks and considerations to bare in mind. Including:
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- Bonuses and promotions: Due to extra transaction fees, in rare cases, depositing via PayPal does not provide the same deposit bonuses.
All things considered though, the pros of using a bingo site that takes PayPal definitely outweigh the drawbacks.


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Thinking of upgrading my camera...I am using a 7D with a rather old 100-400L lens which is beginning to struggle a little. I am thinking or replacing both the lens and maybe a new body as well in the next few months or a year.
I was thinking about the 5Dmk3, but because it is full frame, I lose some reach because 99% of every photo that camer takes is aviation and I need the extra reach. So if I get a 5D and have to crop my images, how does that compare to my 7D quality where I don't have to crop anything much?
I am also waiting for maybe the 100-400Mk2, rumoured for release this year. I don't think any other lens is realistic for me. The 200-400 sounds great but I refuse to spend that amount of money on a camera lens. Doesn't leave me with much choice.
Anyone with any advice?


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Magento - Dev Site + Upgrade + New Theme + Upgrade Live Site
This project received 5 bids from talented freelancers with an average bid price of $358 AUD.Get free quotes for a project like this
Skills Required
Project BudgetN/A
Total Bids5
Project Description
Basically we need someone to create a mirror development site of our live site.
The development site is then to be upgraded to magento 18.104.22.168
Next stage is to install the new theme on the development site
We will then perform modifications on the development site
Final new website to be uploaded to replace existing live site (once we give the go ahead)
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2211 Church Avenue, Room 201
Brooklyn, NY 11226
tel: 718-282-2500
Ready to open a storefront location or lease an office space? ...read more
Aug. 2016: Businesses have been receiving visits from City reps notifying them that the project is scheduled to begin in late summer/early fall 2016. Construction is tentatively expected to take one year. Check the BID's Facebook for updates and please notify the BID if you have concerns....read more
Flatbush and Ditmas Park's restaurants offer great dining options - from casual to elegant and for every palette, taste and budget. Click HERE to access the list of dining options....read more
The Church Avenue Business Improvement District enhances the visitor experience and business environment of Church Avenue from Coney Island Avenue to Flatbush Avenue through supplemental sanitation service, promoting the neighborhood as a shopping destination, and providing assistance to Church Avenue merchants and property owners.
We Thank Our Supporters70th Precinct Community CouncilCAMBACouncil Member Mathieu Eugene David Shannon Florist & NurseryDowntown Natural MarketEmpire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlusFlatbush OpticalLowe'sMedina SilkNYS Homes and Community Renewal
Church Avenue BID • 2211 Church Avenue, Room 201 Brooklyn, NY 11226 • Telephone 718-282-2500


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July 2- Leelanau Peninsula, MI
Private Event
July 3 - Charlevoix, MI
Private Event
June 9 - Harbor Springs, MI
Private Event
July 14, 7pm - Gaylord, MI
Gaylord Alpenfest Main Stage!
Grab your lederhosen and your best dancing shoes! The Cookies are bringing the "fest" to Alpenfest this year. Join us at the Main Stage for a great family dance party.
July 22, 7pm - Petoskey, MI
Petoskey Rocks!
We will be on Lake Street downtown by Pennsylvania Park bringing the summer dance grooves to the street. Come on now Petoskey, Welcome to the Party!
July 23, 9pm - Gaylord, MI
Otsego Club
The Cookies are bringing their dance party back to the Otsego Club! June's dance party was so hot, we're doin' it again. Doors open at 6pm with an opening act: The wonderfully talented Grayling native, Adam Hoppe, will entertain you from 6-9. Then, the dance party heats up at 9. $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Contact the OC at 989-732-5181 to get your tix now, before they're all gone. Reserve your spot on the dance floor now!
July 29 - Harbor Springs, MI
Private Event
"We keep em dancin"
Hey guys and gals. Welcome to the official Cookies website! This your one stop shop to keep up on what's happening with Northern Michigan's hottest dance group. Have a look around and follow us on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/thecookiesmusic and check out our Youtube Channel.
August 3 - Elk Rapids, MI
Private Event
August 6 - Traverse City, MI
Private Event
August 7, 6pm - Boyne City, MI
Polish Festival
You know The Cookies will be bringing a big party to the final night of the Polish Festival. You like to party, right? Be there!
August 11, 8:20 pm - Johannesburg, MI
We will be down on the farm at Farmfest at the dance pavilion for the first of two performances at this awesome annual music festival. Need to dance? We can make that happen!
August 13 - Harbor Springs, MI
Private Event
August 14, 7:20 pm - Johannesburg, MI
Round two at our favorite music fest. We will be kicking it into high gear on the main stage at Farmfest!
August 19, 10pm, Petoskey, MI
Petoskey Festival on the Bay
We are headlining Friday night for the third year in a row. This is one of our favorite shows every year. Join us under the big beer tent on the bay. It is an awesome time.
August 20 - Grayling, MI
Private Event
August 26 - Detroit, MI
Private Event
August 27 - Gaylord, MI
Private Event
August 31, 7pm - Sault Ste Marie, MI
Soo Locks Concert Series
Party at the locks! We return for our third year at the Soo's premiere concert series. We look forward to the dance party in the Locks Park. Bring a lawn chair, bring a cooler. See you there, Sault Ste Marie!


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September 1, 2013
Hello! My name is Emma. I started DnD, spent more time hanging out with the techies at my local tech college more than my own classical music school, and adore Doctor Who and Adventure Time. I'd like to get out more and meet fellow geeks. :)
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Creamy cauliflower & broccoli bake
Nutrition and extra info
- Vegetarian
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal173
- fat12g
- saturates7g
- carbs8g
- sugars4g
- fibre5g
- protein8g
- salt0.6g
- 1 large head of cauliflower, broken into florets
A brassica, like cabbage and broccoli, cauliflower is a mass of tiny, tightly packed flower…
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 large head broccoli, broken into florets
Like cabbage and cauliflower, broccoli is a brassica and is sometimes known by its Italian name…
- 200g tub crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- splash of white wine (if you have some)
- generous grating nutmeg
- 2 slices stale bread, whizzed into crumbs
Cover the cauliflower in cold water, add the stock cube, then bring up to the boil. Add the broccoli and cook for 1 min, then drain (reserving some of the stock) and allow to steam-dry for 1-2 mins. (The veg shouldn't be tender.)
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mix together the crème fraîche, mustard, wine (if using), nutmeg and some seasoning. Add the veg and mix well. Tip into an ovenproof dish, scatter with the breadcrumbs and bake for 30 mins until golden and crisp on the top.
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Comments, questions and tips
Comments (4)
This dish didn't do much for me...there was quite a bit of liquid at the bottom of the dish when it comes out of the oven (likely from the broccoli and cauliflower), which was unappealing on a dish that's meant to be creamy. The flavours weren't bad and it is different to your typical cauliflower cheese, so may considering adapting the recipe in future to see if it could turn out better
Made this tonight, and my partner and I loved it. I didn't have any fresh breadcrumbs so grated a little fresh Parmesan on instead. I'm not a fan of nutmeg so didn't add that, or the reserved stock as when it came out of the oven there was a bit of liquid in the dish but other than that the crème fraîche went lovely and thick. I used wholegrain and Dijon mustard. Great alternative for cauliflower cheese! Will be making again.
Great way to do something different with vegetables for a Sunday roast. I just halved the quantity for a smaller crowd. The recipe says reserve some of the stock, but doesn't actually say what it's for - I assumed it's for when the vegetables and creme fraiche are mixed together, in case a bit more liquid was needed. I used half fat creme fraiche as that's what I had in the fridge and it worked fine.
Questions (2)
Tips (0)
Got your own twist on this recipe? Or do you have suggestions for possible swaps and additions? We'd love to hear your ideas.
Be the first to suggest a tip for this recipe…


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Tessitura's Innovator Series is an ongoing program of brief and inspiring presentations by industry innovators, each focused on a single theme to advance insight and innovation in the business of arts and culture. Presented periodically at no cost to a live webinar audience of Tessitura Network Members and others engaged in or studying the arts and cultural sector, Innovator Series presentations are subsequently released through the Tessitura Network YouTube™ channel to expand and extend the accessibility of these powerfully innovative ideas globally.
Our next Innovator Series will be presented live on Wednesday, August 10 at 9:15 US Eastern time at TLCC2016. It will also be live streamed.
Heather Walker, Project Director
Royal Opera House
The Journey from Customer Care to Visitor Experience
When the Royal Opera House embarked on an extensive capital development project named "Open Up", the aim was not only to enhance the audience experience but also to welcome daytime visitors to this landmark site. While the design will ensure improvements to the building, the project will only be truly successful if these physical changes are matched by a redefined visitor experience. Heather will share the challenge of moving from a venue to a destination - from caring for your customers to delivering an engaging and memorable visit - and discuss her approach in ensuring that the project delivers on its promise to open up the Royal Opera House to many more visitors beginning in 2018.
Annie Burridge, Managing Director
Opera Philadelphia
Embracing Innovation by Partnering for Success
Increasingly, Opera Philadelphia is garnering national and international attention as a high-energy producer and fervent proponent of opera as an exciting and relevant art form, capable of meeting a wide range of audiences wherever they are – from the opera hall to some of the most unexpected places. In this talk, Annie will share how Opera Philadelphia consistently creates the opportunity for imaginative and inspired work to happen by being what she calls "a partnership ninja," equally deft at co-commissioning with another opera company as co-creating with a group of talented and passionate high school students.
Nik Honeysett, CEO
Balboa Park Online Collaborative
Our Enchanted Future
There has never been a better time to be in education and interpretation in the museum field. If current examples of the use of Augmented and Virtual Reality, Haptic Feedback, Creative Coding and the Internet of Things are anything to go by, the cultural experience of the future will be a jaw-dropping mixture of education and entertainment, with a heavy dollop of magic. Using compelling examples from the field and the predictive powers of the Cone of Plausibility, Nik promises to take you on an unforgettable ride, so strap in and brace yourself for a glimpse into our enchanted future.
Heather Walker
Heather Walker has spent her career working for artistic and cultural organizations in a range of roles across commercial operations, programming, business planning and change management. She held a variety of positions at the Royal Albert Hall in ticketing, visitor services, commercial operations and programming. As its Deputy Chief Executive from 2000, she led the development of a new operating model for the organization to coincide with the completion of a major redevelopment of the building. Heather's next role at Melbourne's Arts Centre in Australia involved implementing a series of major change projects, following which she returned to London and undertook consultancy projects for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Roundhouse, Southbank Centre and National Theatre - reviewing operations and contributing to business re-modelling. She became the Chief Operating Officer at the Roundhouse in 2012 with a responsibility for driving commercial income, managing operations and delivering a £3m project to create new accommodation facilities. In September 2015, she joined the Royal Opera House as Project Director leading the development of a new Visitor Experience vision to be delivered alongside the capital project to 'open up' the building and organization, to a wider range of visitors from 2018 onwards. Heather is a graduate of the Royal College of Music and lives in London.
Royal Opera House website
Royal Opera House's Open Up Project
Annie Burridge
Annie Burridge was named Opera Philadelphia's Managing Director in February 2015, joining the artistic planning team and assuming responsibility for the implementation of the company's business plan. With the Opera Philadelphia since 2007, Annie most recently served as the Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement, overseeing the development, marketing, and communications departments. She led the company's rebranding campaign, and has conducted groundbreaking consumer research exploring the matrix of factors influencing today's entertainment purchasing decisions. During her tenure as the company's chief development officer, contributed income has increased 76%. Annie also serves as adjunct faculty in the Arts Administration graduate program at Drexel University. Before switching her focus to administration, Annie performed with numerous opera companies and orchestras, and was a young artist with Des Moines Metro Opera. Annie holds a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Administration from the University of Pennsylvania; a M.M. in Voice Performance and a M.M. in Opera Studies from the New England Conservatory; and graduated the valedictorian of the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State University, where she earned a B.M. in Voice Performance with a Minor in Business Administration.
Opera Philadelphia website
Annie's 2014 Innovator Series talk
Nik Honeysett
Nik Honeysett is CEO of the Balboa Park Online Collaborative, a technology non-profit consultancy that provides support, development and strategy for the museums in Balboa Park, San Diego and beyond. Previously, he was Head of Administration for the J. Paul Getty Museum, administrating their two campuses in Brentwood and Malibu. Formerly, he lead the Getty's Web Group and before moving to Los Angeles, he was Head of Production at Cogapp, a UK-based consultancy specializing in interactive and online multimedia for the cultural sector in Europe and the USA. He currently sits on the boards of AAM and MCN, and lectures on the culture and management of museum technology through Johns Hopkins' Museum Studies Masters Program.
Balboa Park Online Collaborative website
Nik's blog
Nik on Twitter: @nhoneysett
Nik on LinkedIn
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Please note that not all items are carried in the shop all year. Winter items are not displayed in the summer but may still available. If you are interested in an item not listed please let me know and I will tell you if it is still available.
If you would like a sample of yarn to match colours please contact me to see if one is available. Samples will only be sent if you send a self addressed and stamped envelope.
Contact me if you wish to buy more than one item to see what postage will be. All of my postage costs are at cost and due to the nature of some items difficult to determine before buying. While I state EU for postage this will actually cover all of Europe.
Please note that not all items are carried in the shop all year. Winter items are not displayed in the summer but may still available. If you are interested in an item not listed please let me know and I will tell you if it is still available.
If you would like a sample of yarn to match colours please contact me to see if one is available. Samples will only be sent if you send a self addressed and stamped envelope.
Contact me if you wish to buy more than one item to see what postage will be. All of my postage costs are at cost and due to the nature of some items difficult to determine before buying. While I state EU for postage this will actually cover all of Europe.
Busy hands stay out of trouble and learning new things keeps your brain working.
When I became disabled I was not able to get out much so I turned to my life long hobby of yarn crafts to keep me from dying of boredom.The shop was the idea of friends who felt my work was good and that I should sell it, after all what else would you do with a mountain of hand made items. The shop has helped me generate custom work locally and keeps me busy and out of trouble.
My shop is an outlet to show the techniques I am interested in at the time and the interesting yarns I find. If others like my items and buy them it allows me to continue to explore the art of yarn craft. I have continued to learn new techniques and as they develop will show up in my shop.
I enjoy designing my own things and hope to have some interesting items for the shop in the future.
Around the web
Shop members
Mel Leonis
I have had an interest in crafts since I was small. Most of the things I made were for gifts. Since becoming disabled my crafts have been a lifeline in keeping me busy and involved with new ideas.
Shop policies
Colours are not always accurate so if you are not sure please ask for a sample of the yarn. You will be required to send a stamped self-addressed envelope for samples. E-mail first to make sure I have one.
Accepted payment methods
- Accepts Etsy gift cards
If you don't have a PayPal account you can still make payment through the PayPal website using your Credit or Debit Card without opening an account, simply follow the easy instructions given at the time of check out and on the PayPal web site; contact me if you need any help!
Alternatively, you can now pay for your purchases using your credit or debit card though Etsy's 'Direct Checkout' system and also redeem Etsy Gift Cards in my shop.
(Custom orders will be longer and this will be agreed upon case by case, before the sale is completed.)
I post using Royal Mail services with a delivery aim of 5 days.
(Please remember that postal services run slower over weekends and during public holidays.) If the item is over a certain weight/value/size I use a courier as this is cheaper than Royal Mail.
The exact postage and packaging price for one item will be stated in each item listing; if you wish to combine postage on more than one item purchased together, please contact me first, so that I can check the best price for you.
I will always choose the cheapest service appropriate for the items you are purchasing and use recorded delivery or courier only when it is appropriate for the value of the item(s) you are purchasing.
I use 'Airmail Small Packets' as my standard posting method. Insurance is included and reflects the value of the item in case of loss. Delivery aim is 5 days for both of these services, but can take longer.
Please note that international customers from outside the UK are responsible for paying any additional duties or taxes imposed by their countries' postal authorities at customs. I must, by law, clearly mark parcels as being merchandise, and state the price paid on any customs declarations; I cannot be responsible for any delays at customs.
For further information please refer to the following link in the Etsy sellers' handbook:
Refunds and Exchanges
If, for whatever reason you are not happy with the goods or have changed your mind please contact me. In line with the European Union's DSR's (Distance Selling Regulations) within the EU, you are entitled to cancel the contract by contacting me via Etsy messages, within 7 working days after the day you received the goods, to request cancellation.
I would kindly ask you to return the goods in an unused and resalable condition, as soon as possible, preferably within 7 working days after cancellation. I will issue you a full refund for the item and the original delivery charges relating to the returned item
The buyer will be responsible for any postage costs incurred in the return of the item; if you wish to cancel a transaction before an item has been dispatched, this is the easiest option. The customer reserves the right to refuse delivery of an item if the order has been confirmed as cancelled after dispatch, but before it has been delivered.
If a buyer contacts me regarding an item being lost or damaged in transit I will contact the postal service to inquire into the situation and keep you updated throughout the process; when the outcome is confirmed you will be issued with a full refund, including the delivery costs.
In addition to the 7 day cancellation period for EU customers and regarding returns for non-EU customers, if you feel that the item you receive does not match the product described in the listing or the product is damaged or becomes faulty in normal use due to a manufacturing fault or poor quality parts please contact me within 45 days of the payment date (in line with Paypal's Buyer Protection). I will kindly ask you to return the goods to me as soon as possible and I will be happy to refund the full purchase price and postage costs, original and return.
Please post returns along with original packaging if possible and obtain proof of posting for any items returned.
Custom orders for products made to a customer's own specifications are not covered by the 7 day cancellation policy. Once the customer has given the go ahead for work to start he/she is contractually bound to honour their part of the contract; however, the product may still be eligible for a refund if it is found to be faulty or very different from the design agreed upon.
Please ask if you have any questions I will do my best to help.
Additional policies and FAQs
Please note, I will ask for a deposit on Custom items. This is to cover my costs for materials up front. Please make sure you want me to make the item required as the deposit will normally be forfeit for cancellations. Please contact me if there are issues with an order to see if a resolution can be found.


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Disney On Ice Meet and Greet
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Tough Kid Tournament 2016
TOUGH Kid Tournament 2016: Young Athletes Compete, TOUGH Kids Win! Yes, it's that time of year again!! Get your teams ready and register below! 1. Tournament is May 15th, from — View Full Article
Santa Photo Contest 16
Do you have a funny photo with Santa, or even a precious photo with Santa? Well, you could win a set of 4 tickets to the Ringling Bros. & Barnum — View Full Article
ACT Prep Class Now Offered at The Tutoring Center
The Tutoring Center in Hoover has been helping students for over 6 years, and their students boast of improved grades and better study habits. Now they are offering SAT — View Full Article
Disney's "The Little Mermaid" presented by Red Mountain Theatre Company
Disney's "THE LITTLE MERMAID" presented by Disney's "The Little Mermaid" at the Dorothy Jemison Day Theater in Birmingham, AL July 8 – Aug 7, 2016 LOCATION Dorothy Jemison Day — View Full Article
Samford Bulldogs Vs. Chattanooga Football Game
Samford Bulldogs Vs. Chattanooga Football Game When I arrived at the University of Samford I noticed right away how much fun the fans were having before before the game. Of — View Full Article
Hey Dad: Do your Best
Hey Dad: Do your Best Most dads really have a desire to become really good fathers. I have discovered over the years that for me to be the best dad — View Full Article


text: MFA Program Details All students in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing (MFA) program are required to complete forty-eight academic credits. Courses A writing-focused, multi-genre exploration designed to widen and deepen student awareness and knowledge of the literary world. Core Seminar (4 credits) Required Craft Courses (8 credits) Groundings in the Craft: Elements of Fiction, Poetry, or Creative Nonfiction (4 credits) Advanced Fiction, Poetry, or Creative Nonfiction (4 credits) Writing Topics Courses (28 credit) Choose from a variety of courses, including The Graphic Novel, The Literary Memoir, The Personal Essay, Lyric Essay, The Novel, Point of View, Slipstream Fiction, The Short Story, Form and Vision in Poetry: Ode & Elegy, Form and Vision in Poetry: The Long Poem & Lyric Sequence Capstone/thesis (8 credits) Learn More Contact a Graduate Admission counselor to learn more about pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing. Request Info