text:
The Tribune-Star
---- —
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry M. Doolittle
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry M. Doolittle will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Dec. 9, 2012.
The Doolittles were married Dec. 9, 1962, in Eighth Avenue Baptist Church by the Rev. Don Edwards.
Cards are welcome and may be sent to 7068 N. Rebecca Court, Terre Haute, IN 47805.
Mrs. Doolittle, the former Leanne Cunning, is a retired registered nurse.
Doolittle is a retired commercial artist.
The couple have three daughters, Julie Rhodes of Dover, Del., Jill Austin and husband Jay of Kildeer, Ill., and Jan Wilson and husband Nathan of Broken Arrow, Okla.; and one son, the late Jerry Robert Doolittle. They also have five grandchildren.
Mr. and Mrs. Norman Borders
Lara and Norman Borders of Port Orange, Fla., will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on Nov. 19, 2012, with their son Dennis, their niece Kathy Allen and Randy, Lara's twin sister Laree, her daughter LaDonna, and friends Vivian and Tom Davidson from Terre Haute.
Lara and Norman are formerly of Terre Haute. Norman is a World War II veteran. He served in the U.S. Army. Lara retired from Public Service Indiana (Duke Energy) after 37 years.
The Borders owned the Toasty Shop and later, the Terre Haute House Coffee Shop, before retiring and relocating to Florida in 1990.
Lara and Norman have one son, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Their granddaughter, Denise Borders, resides in Terre Haute, along with her children, Lauren and Justin Michael. The Borders' grandson, Jesse, resides in Florida. Lara's only living brother, Earl Romine, lives in Farmersburg. They also have several nieces and nephews.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Travelstead
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Travelstead will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Nov. 30, 2012.
The Travelsteads were married on Nov. 30, 1962, in LaPorte, Ind.
Mrs. Travelstead is the former Nora Bose.
The couple have three children, Danny, Mike and Lisa Travelstead. They also have four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cottrell
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cottrell will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary during an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, in the Sandcut firehouse at 5970 Rio Grande Ave.
Friends and family are invited. Cards would be appreciated, but no gifts please.
They were married Sept. 8, 1962, in the Methodist Church in Bainbridge by the Rev. Verl Winslow.
Mrs. Cottrell is the former Kay Ruark. She worked in the Otter Creek Assessor's office for 25 years. Charles worked at J.I. Case and First Financial Bank. They are both retired.
They have a daughter, Chris (Wilbur) Reid, and a son, Chad. They also have five grandchildren.
The Cottrells also celebrated earlier with a Caribbean cruise.


text:
Our long national nightmare continuesBy
The Yankees have not reached any sort of decision, GM Brian Cashman said after today's meeting. Apparently, they are trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem. I thought they were just trying to decide whether or not to offer their Hall of Fame manager a contract extension.
Update by Joe: PeteAbe is saying that Cashman has the backing of ownership with his A-Rod decree. That's good news, I suppose. Now let's see what kind of offer they make him.
11 Comments»
Lol I was wondering if A-Rod does go to FA (which Im really thinking he won't opt-out) is he considered an AA Free Agent or something extra so we could get like two supplemental picks?
I was wondering because since A-Rod's contract does include an opt-out for next year as well, if he does not opt out and signs an extension with the Yanks will that opt-out be rooted out?
As I understand it he can only opt out next year and the year after if we don't offer him some sort of raise. A million or two a year. I forget how much. But if he doesn't get that raise or isn't the highest paid player in the game he can opt out. It's an insane contract and I hope that any extension wouldn't include such silliness.
i remember Cash$ saying something during the summer that to his knowledge the Yanks would get a compensatory 1st rd pick if Arod departs via free agency.
I am not comfortable with drawing lines in the sand during negotiations. The outcome then becomes a matter of saving face for at least one side — hardly conducive to reasoned talks. I would have preferred it if Cashman has made his position known privately to A-Rod and his agent.
In this case a line in the sand makes sense. If A-Rod wants to play in New York I'm sure they can come up with an extension to the current deal that will provide him with a ton of money. A public stand will be a shot across the bow Boras will take notice of.
We've been hearing non-stop about a-rod; pettitte has said that he will probably pick up his option; mariano has made some public statements… why haven't we heard anything about posada?
Everyone, look over to the left side of your screen under "current yankees." Posada has ONE post about him, and it wasn't even baseball related. Darrel freakin' Rasner even has two posts. I don't mean this to be critical of Mike, Joe, and Ben, because if one can't simply create news if there isn't any (except arod, of course). Has anyone heard anything about Posada's situation?
In our defense, I had every intention of writing a post praising Jorge's amazing season. I just never got around to it because work got kinda crazy.
Jorge's such a pro and so low key that it's hard to drum anything up about him. Just because we didn't write much about him doesn't mean we don't love him.
I love this team but they are officially getting on my nerves with this drawn out, dramatic crap. Enough is enough. Stop treating everyone like a damn moron, Yanks.
this sounds like more your problem than the failings of the FO.
i don't understand this notion that we as fans are "owed" this information in any sort of timely fashion.
the Yankees have the most challenging off-season of the past decade. it's understandable that they want to get their ducks in a row before they possibly commit $200-300M in salaries and commit to a manager.
I like the way Cash has handled the A-Rod negotiations. Makes sense that he wouldn't want to lose the money from Tex. Also it puts the Yanks in the catbird seat in the negotiations to an extent (I just wanted an excuse to say "catbird seat.") because A-Rod's chances of landing 30+ m. on the open market is decreased significantly if the Yanks are not in the running.
When deliberations are complete on St Joe's future
White smoke will come from BigStein's chimmy if Torre stays; Black smoke if he is gone

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. will hand out the Golden Globes on Sunday, in what should be a fizzy stop in an unpredictable awards season for nominees including Ben Affleck, Kathryn Bigelow, Jennifer Lawrence and Hugh Jackman.
The Globes are uneven as Oscar predictors -- the small group of international journalists who make the selections have no crossover with the membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters. But the show is reliable as a "sloppy, loud party," as this year's co-host Tina Fey described the festivities in a promotional video. Fey and Amy Poehler will emcee the Globes, which air live on NBC at 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel.


text:
In this episode: A taste of homegrown chocolate, Tasmania's cider industry shines and we examine the controversial new star-rating system for food.
Topics: industry, consumer-finance, consumer-protection, food-and-beverage, australia
Posted| Updated
A network hardware failure is believed to be behind a major outage that crashed most of the Commonwealth Bank's network around the country today.
Topics: banking, business-economics-and-finance, company-news, consumer-finance, information-technology, australia
Ian McLean, Author, Northern Beef Situation Analysis for 2013
Topics: beef-cattle, consumer-finance, community-development, agricultural-prices, mount-isa-4825
Posted| Updated
A report looking at the state of finances in the northern beef industry has found the majority of businesses are unsustainable.
Topics: beef-cattle, consumer-finance, agricultural-prices, community-development, mount-isa-4825
A Newcastle researcher is calling for stronger regulation of the financial industry, with mums and dads losing billions of dollars each year because of bad advice.
Topics: consumer-finance, newcastle-2300
Posted| Updated
Four Corners reporter Linton Besser discusses his investigation into lender Ian Lazar, who has a 'dubious' track record.
Topics: consumer-finance, business-economics-and-finance, australia
Posted| Updated
For more than a decade, Ian Lazar has been a prominent fixture of Australia's shadowy second-tier financial market.
Topics: consumer-finance, banking, industry, business-economics-and-finance, north-sydney-2060, nsw, australia
A lacklustre session on the Australian share market, has resulted in some stocks managing small gains late in the session.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, markets, consumer-finance, australia
Posted| Updated
New home sales jumped sharply in February, confirming there is a boom underway and accordingly, home lending is also on the up.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, consumer-finance, housing-industry, housing, australia, vic
Posted| Updated
There was healthy February growth in private sector credit for housing and businesses.
Topics: consumer-finance, money-and-monetary-policy, housing-industry, business-economics-and-finance, australia
The Future of Financial Advice amendments add up to the comprehensive return of disguising sales as independent advice, leaving planners with that grubby feeling.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, consumer-finance, government-and-politics, federal-government
A Newcastle charity has opened a one-stop shop for financial services in a bid to save scores of low income earners being stung by loan sharks.
Topics: consumer-finance, newcastle-2300, muswellbrook-2333
Posted| Updated
Finance minister Mathias Cormann is standing by the Federal Government's changes to financial advice rules despite putting a key aspect of the controversial plan on hold.
He defended the Coalition's push to let banks and financial advisers pay incentives to low-ranking staff for giving general product advice.
Labor says the changes have been delayed because they are hurting the Liberals' campaign in the West Australian Senate re-election.
Retail and industry superannuation funds and a key seniors group are backing the delay.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, consumer-finance, consumer-protection, banking, regulation, superannuation, federal-government, australia
Posted| Updated
The Federal Government has frozen plans to change financial advice rules, which until recently were being pushed by former minister Arthur Sinodinos.
The changes to the "future of financial advice" legislation would remove a catch-all clause stipulating that financial advisers must act in the best interests of their client.
Consumer groups, industry superannuation funds and the Financial Planning Association have raised concerns the changes could see call-centre workers and bank tellers receive commissions for giving general advice.
The changes were announced just before Christmas by former assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos.
Topics: consumer-finance, business-economics-and-finance, industry, regulation, federal-government, australia
Posted| Updated
A coalition of consumer groups has written to the Federal Government, Opposition and Greens senators, urging them not to support the changes to the Future of Financial Advice reforms.
FoFA took effect last year under the former Labor government and was designed to tidy up the financial services industry in the wake of disasters such as the collapse of Storm Financial.
Opponents of the existing arrangements say the reforms have introduced too much red tape and the amendments will save the industry millions of dollars.
However, a coalition of six consumer groups including Choice say the Government should not repeal FoFA.
Topics: consumer-finance, business-economics-and-finance, federal-government, federal-parliament, parliament, government-and-politics, australia
Posted| Updated
The Greens have raised concerns about a return to the days of dodgy Managed Investment Schemes in agribusiness.
Topics: tax, timber, consumer-finance, agricultural-policy, agribusiness, huonville-7109, mount-gambier-5290, ballarat-3350, tumbarumba-2653, bega-2550, parliament-house-2600
Posted| Updated
Japan has passed its biggest ever budget, a $US937 billion spending package aimed at propping up growth as consumers brace for the country's first sales tax rise for over 15 years.
Topics: budget, consumer-finance, japan, asia
Paul Halligan, a financial planner in Mt Gambier, has noticed successful farmers tend to do similar things – particularly when it comes to weathering the highs and lows of agriculture.
Topics: consumer-finance, business-economics-and-finance, sustainable-and-alternative-farming, farm-labour, rural, sa, mount-gambier-5290
It is impossible to tell by looking at a farm and its pastures, animals and machinery, if its books – or its finances - are healthy or not.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, consumer-finance, farm-labour, sustainable-and-alternative-farming, industry, accounting, rural, sa, mount-gambier-5290
The US Federal Reserve will cut bond-buying to US$55 billion in April, but has moved to assuage fears of imminent interest rate hikes.
In a press conference following the end of Wednesday's two-day Fed meeting, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that it would be a "considerable period" between the end of the current bond-buying program and the beginning of interest rate increases.
She then added that it could be "six months or that type of thing."
The markets took the Fed's economic outlook as more hawkish than expected as it pointed to "sufficient underlying strength" in the economy to support an improved jobs market.
The Fed's forecasts showed several committee members see the Fed funds rate hitting 1 percent by the end of 2015.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, business-economics-and-finance, consumer-finance, economic-trends, markets, money-and-monetary-policy, united-states, asia
Posted| Updated
The US Federal Reserve will cut bond-buying to $55bn in April, but investors are more worried about early interest rate rises.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, business-economics-and-finance, consumer-finance, economic-trends, markets, money-and-monetary-policy, united-states
Posted| Updated
The Federal Government says regulatory intervention "may be necessary" in a bid to stamp out unfair credit card surcharges.
Topics: consumer-protection, business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, consumer-finance, australia
Posted| Updated
In this update: The Reserve Bank says interest rates are likely to stay on hold for some time. The Australian dollar rose after the news.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, company-news, consumer-finance, globalisation---economy, australia
The backlash against the Government's Future of Financial Advice amendments demonstrates just how hard deregulation really is.
Perhaps you disagree with the Coalition's FoFA changes, but it is true that Labor's original FoFA remains - in letter and spirit. It is not being gutted. The Coalition's changes are not radical.
But the Abbott Government will still have to counter the reaction of special interests and an unfortunate natural human tendency for doomsaying and fearmongering.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, federal-government, consumer-finance, regulation
Posted| Updated
Australian consumers have been hit with $800 million in credit card surcharges over the past 12 months, according to new data released today.
Topics: consumer-finance, consumer-protection, australia


text:
A lady about seven months pregnant got on a bus. She noticed the man opposite her was smiling at her. She immediately moved to another seat. This time the smile turned into a grin, so she moved again. The man seemed more amused. When on the fourth move, the man burst out laughing. She complained to the driver and had the man arrested.
The case came up in court. The judge asked the man what he had to say for himself. The man replied, "Well your Honor, it was like this, When the lady got on the bus, I couldn't help but notice her condition. She sat under a sign that said, "The Gold Dust Twins are coming" and I had to smile. "
"Then she moved and sat under a sign that said, "Slogan's Liniment will reduce the swelling" and I had to grin."
"Then she placed herself under a sign that said, "William's Big Stick Did the Trick" and I could hardly control myself."
"BUT....when she moved the fourth time and sat under a sign that said, "Goodyear Rubber could have prevented this accident." I couldn't help not laughing out loud."
"Case Dismissed" said the Judge.
Free help from tech expertsWelcome to Geeks to Go forums. Create a FREE account now to gain access to all our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing topics, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. Best of all, registration and all assistance is 100% free! This message, and all ads will be removed once you have signed in.
Create an Account Login to Account
Ads on a Bus
Started by ackeiyword , Jan 22 2011 03:17 AM
Posted 22 January 2011 - 03:17 AM
Posted 04 August 2011 - 08:44 AM
Posted 03 January 2012 - 07:36 AM
That Was Funny!
- 1
Posted 20 June 2012 - 01:00 PM
i love this one
- 0
Posted 21 June 2012 - 03:53 PM
True story.
- 0
Posted 24 March 2013 - 09:47 PM
Hahaha..... Very funny. Poor pregnant woman.
- 0
Posted 24 March 2013 - 11:16 PM
Posted 26 March 2013 - 02:19 AM
So much win from the ads!
- 0
Posted 20 June 2013 - 11:42 PM
Too good....Even I also had the same expressions that the man gave after reading all the signs boards.
- 0
Posted 26 June 2013 - 03:50 AM
Holy ads
- 0
Posted Yesterday, 01:03 PM
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users


text: Shots - Health News New York Debates Whether Housing Counts As Health Care WNYC July 28, 2014 Offering a homeless person an apartment with access to a doctor and social services may be cheaper than paying for emergency room visits and jail or shelter stays. But should Medicaid help with rent? Listen Loading… 7:09 Download Playlist


text:
ROCK HILL — Police arrested a Rock Hill man they say stole a woman's car and then crashed it on Tuesday.
Officers were sent to the 1300 block of Russell Street after receiving word of a two-car accident at about 11 a.m., a Rock Hill police report states. When they arrived, they found that the 2011 Mazda was unoccupied.
The driver of the other car, a 29-year-old Rock Hill woman, said the man driving the Mazda ran on Blake Street towards Haynes Street after giving her his ID, the report states. The ID belonged to Knovell Hemphill, also 29, of 1316 McCullough St.
While on scene, the Mazda's owner, a 30-year-old woman, arrived and told police that Hemphill called her to say he crashed her car, the report states. She said Hemphill had been at her house just a few minutes earlier and said he needed to go to the store.
The woman said she told Hemphill he wasn't allowed to take her car, the report states. Preoccupied with caring for her two children, the woman didn't notice until several minutes later that her car and Hemphill were gone.
When Hemphill called her, the woman found him at the corner of Blake Street and Haynes Street, she told police. He gave her the keys and told her where her car would be. The woman told police where she last saw Hemphill and what he was wearing, the report states. Police tracked Hemphill to his home and placed him under arrest, charging him with grand larceny auto.
Damage to the car is estimated at $3,000, police say. By Wednesday morning, Hemphill was still in jail, held on a $50,000 bond for the grand larceny charge and $1,200 bond for driving under suspension.


text:
Big Boulderall reviews | post a review
Get a chance to WIN ski lift tickets when you Post Public Snow Reports OR Post a Review
Skiing and Snowboarding at Big Boulder
|Get more information about skiing and snowboarding at Big Boulder, including lifts, trails, and terrain
Recent Reviews for Big Boulder
|All Reviews | Post a Review
2 main lifts closed
Even though two main lifts were closed, I love this little mountain, so much fun!!! Great time always! fabulous snow making and conditions always!!!!...More
Great Family Ski Spot
We took our 4 children for the first time to ski. The conditions were great. However, I can not thank the staff for being so nice and teaching my kids to ski! Snow Monsters was great for little ones and older ones did well...More
College Night
If you are a college student, or were one, this is one of the best mountains to go if you live close. The trip to get there is rather easy, always close parking to the slopes. There are some good jumps for this resort, and ...More
What's New This Season at Big Boulder
|Nestled in the Western Poconos, sister areas JACK FROST and BIG BOULDER have upped the action, on and off the slopes. Glade Skiers will have more terrain to cruise at Jack Frost, while the tubing crowd will be able to hit the chutes on Fridays at Frost from January 16th through February 27th. Both Frost and Boulder have opened colorful new Burrito Bars and both are committed to facing the economic realities of the times, by holding down costs for skiers and riders. Also keep an eye out for Green Conscious-Recycling Centers and improvements inside and out. Stop by at: www.jfbb.com
Big Boulder Contact Information
Big Boulder Website
Big Boulder AddressLake Drive
Lake Harmony, PA US
Big Boulder Phone Numbers570-443-8425


text:
Trick Daddy
• Pitbull Releases Video For 'The Anthem,' Featuring Lil' Jon
• New Artist Watch: Qwote
• 2006: Year In Music (Pt. 4)
• New CD Reviews, Dec. 19, 2006 (Nas, Bow Wow, RBD, Trick Daddy, Styles P, Julio Iglesias)
• Pretty Ricky's "Late Night Special" Coming January 23
1990 Until...
International Takeover (Feat. Pitbull & Frien…
Dick & Dynamite
Frikitona Chosen Few Remix (Feat. Trick Daddy…
Thugs Are Us All Albums >>
More Songs >>
|She's So Hot (Edited)
On: She's So Hot (8-Track Maxi-Single)(Feat. Tric…
|Buy Song
|I'm A Thug (New Super Clean Edit)
On: Thugs Are Us
|Frikitona Chosen Few Remix (Feat. Trick Daddy…
On: Frikitona Chosen Few Remix (Feat. Trick Daddy…
|Buy Song
Birth Name: Maurice Young
Born: 1973/09/23
Birth Place: Miami, Florida, United States
Years Active: 1995 – present
Genres: Hip Hop
Born: 1973/09/23
Birth Place: Miami, Florida, United States
Years Active: 1995 – present
Genres: Hip Hop
Maurice Young (born September 23, 1973), better known by his stage name Trick Daddy, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. Young appeared on the track "Scarred" by former 2 Live Crew member, Luther "Luke" Campbell, from Luke's 1996 album "Uncle Luke." The song became a hit and immediately caught the attention of fans and record producers alike. Ted Lucas, a former concert promoter and then-CEO of Slip-n-Slide Records, signed the rapper to the newly formed record label. Slip-n-Slide released Trick Daddy Dollars's debut album "Based on a True Story" in 1997; the album was popular in the Miami area. In 1998, when his next album "www.thug.com" came out, Young removed "Dollars" from his st... Continue Bio >>
Photo Gallery:
Video News:
Related Artists:
Young Jeezie Boosie Field Mob Juvenile Young Buck Lil' Scrappy Hot Boyz DJ Smallz Darla Arrick J.T. Money
More >>
Browse More Music:


text:
Need help planning? Check out one of our Planning Guides!
Pink Ribbon
Men's Health Awareness
Alice in Wonderland
See the rest!
Most in-stock orders placed by 5:00pm ET ship the same business day!
Get details
Guaranteed lowest price. We're so confident that we have the best prices that if you find a better price, we'll beat it by 10%.
Click here for details
Price Guarantee
No order is too small! We don't have minimum quantities like the other guys, so you can order exactly what you need!
Item No: 086-157
59 In Stock
Need More?
Follow @twitter
Celebrate in Style with Birthday Party Favors
Spice up your 50th birthday party with party favors. No birthday party is complete without the perfect favors for all your guests.
Fill your guest's loot bags with birthday party favors and fun. No birthday party is complete unless your guests leave with gifts too. Give your guests a bag full of fun with birthday party favors and toys for all!
Your cart is empty.
How Can We Help?
Call Us
(800) 325-6232
We're available 24/7!
Customer Service
Try it – you'll like it! But if you don't, many items can be returned up to 30 days later. No questions asked!
Earning Your Trust
Safe and Secure


text:
Scientists can now sequence the entire genome of a fetus from samples of a pregnant woman's blood, several recent studies have shown. It will come as no surprise that bioethicists are plenty interested in these developments and the benefits and thorny issues they will raise.
The technology -- and the issues -- are discussed at length in a commentary this week in the journal Nature Medicine by Diana Bianchi of the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center.


text:
Presto Geosystems®
30 years of best in class experience, innovation, products, service and support providing cost-saving and eco-friendly soil stabilization and stormwater solutions.
Soil Stabilization Solutions
The GEOWEB® system is the world's original geocell cellular confinement system and recognized for dependable quality and innovation. Sustainable soil stabilization solutions in the following applications:
- Load Support, Slope Protection, Channel Protection, Shoreline Protection, Erosion Control, Vegetated Retaining Walls
Manage scour and surface flows with the GeoRunner® System.
Porous Pavement Options
Select from a full line of world-renowned quality porous pavement systems made with recycled materials to meet any loading or aesthetic requirement:
Portable Construction Mats
Two reusable construction mats offer portability, low environmental impact and cost-savings:
Explore how the Presto Geosystems products create the right solutions for you and your customers. Full Catalog
Your trusted partner consistently providing quality, innovative, competitive and customer-focused soil stabilization and stormwater solutions.
Green Solutions
Presto manufactures eco-friendly, low-environmental-impact products that utilize recycled materials and contribute to LEED® green building credits.
Contractor-Friendly Tools
Time-savings accessories and tools improve productivity, offer tangible cost savings. ATRA® Keys, ATRA® Anchors, ATRA® Driver System.
Complimentary Design Service
Presto offers a complimentary Project Evaluation Service to support your Geoweb® project designs.
Worldwide Distribution Network
Presto's worldwide network of distributors and representatives offers expertise and local support.
© 2009-2011 Presto Products Company All rights reserved.
Reproduction or retransmission of any materials contained in this website, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is a violation of copyright law.
Request Literature
Featured Products & Projects
Read articles highlighting our currently featured products and projects.
Featured Video
Watch videos detailing installation of our products and their features in action.


text:
University of Vermont staffers said no to joining a union.The choice was to join the NEA or no union at all. Technicians, research and library support staff, and others who earn overtime voted 443-189 to stay nonunion. Other groups on campus, including faculty, are unionized. UVM released a statement saying the 80 percent turnout shows the vote is representative of workers and the school is looking forward to working directly with employees.The NEA says it's disappointed by the results and is still working to bring more staff into the union.
PO Box 4508
Burlington, VT 05406-4508
Primary Phone: 802-652-6300
Primary email: email@example.com


text:
According to a July 21 press release from the Newtown Police, a burglary in the Sutherland Drive area took place sometime between July 13 and 16. The resident reported that a black 32 inch LG brand television and an approximately 3 foot x 1 foot amplifier, weighing 100 pounds and covered in gray-colored carpet, were taken from a basement residence. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Newtown Police.
At about 10:30 p.m., on July 20, Charles P. Hill, 28, of Osborne Hill Road, Sandy Hook, was charged on an outstanding warrant by Police Officer Wood. Hill was found at the Blue Colony Diner on Church Hill Road. Wood took Hill into custody and charged him with conspiracy to commit larceny in the fifth degree. Hill was given a court date of August 3, and was released after posting a $5,000 surety bond.


text:
Sports Editor
Blount Today
Theyre so close.
Watson Hartsoe and Ridge Carter sprung for goals, with junior Daniel Weatherbee delivering a head-turning performance in net, and the Maryville High School soccer team shut out former state champion Lenoir City, 2-0, on Tuesday at Shields Stadium.
The win was a welcome change after last weeks disappointing 3-1 loss to South-Doyle, Maryville coach John Kerr said.
Against the Panthers, the Rebels (7-2-1, 3-1 District 4AAA) often looked sharp, with Spencer Jackson running down long, angled balls out of midfield at the corners. The senior midfielder collected the assist on both Maryville goals. In goal, Weatherbee was nothing short of super, parrying clear a pair of Panther free kicks with spectacular diving saves.
Against the Cherokees the previous Thursday, the Rebels bore little resemblance to Tuesdays team. With the districts big three Knox West, Farragut and defending state champion Bearden on the schedule in rapid succession in six days starting Friday, that lack of consistency is a concern, Kerr said.
"I just wish more of the kids would have joined in (Tuesday)," Kerr said. "I saw too much fragmentation."
The Rebels have climbed within striking distance of multiple state champions Bearden and Farragut the last few seasons, knocking off the Bulldogs, 2-0, a year ago and playing the Admirals to a scoreless draw. Much of that Maryville team is back, headlined by Carter, last seasons district player of the year.
Carter is amply supported on all sides, with junior Oscar Sanchez pacing a balanced Maryville attack with 10 goals and pair of assists on the year. Fellow junior David Large is just back of Sanchez team-leading 22 points with seven goals and four assists. Carter is a deadly third option with six goals and five helpers. Jackson is delivering an exemplary season in his final campaign, directing Maryvilles fortunes with seven assists and four goals.
Hartsoes opening goal Tuesday was the sophomore stoppers third this season, punctuated with a spirited celebration that left Carter bewildered.
"Thats just a weird kid doing a weird dance," he said.
All told, seven Rebels have found the opposing net for at least a pair of goals this spring.
"One game we had eight goals, and seven different players scored," Kerr said.
Will it be enough to land Maryville its first-ever win over Farragut on Monday?
"We want to win out from here on," Carter said. "Thats our goal. Its going to take a little luck (against Farragut), and were just going to have to come out and want it more than they do. We havent had anybody come out every game with their A-game yet."
Friday, when West visits for a 7 p.m. match, would be a good place to start, Kerr said.
"We always get up for Farragut and Bearden," he said. "We dont
have to motivate them for those. Im not as worried about winning
and losing the rest of the (regular) season as I am about getting
better as a team. The real season starts at
the district tournament."


text:
Key Stage 4 Skills resources
'Skills'. What does that cover I hear you ask? To name just a few; essay writing, revision, speaking and listening, writing to analyse, writing to argue and writing to inform! There are others of course – take a look for yourselves.
Take Five
Brush up your teaching skills with our Take Five resource pack. Bursting with tips, tricks and activity ideas for everything from active approaches to Shakespeare to differentiation, make it your secret (teaching) weapon!
Creative writing (KS3) (50 resources)
Creative writing (KS4) (37 resources)
Creative writing - mystery, murder and suspense (11 resources)
Descriptive writing trail (23 resources)
Drafting and redrafting (9 resources)
Grammar - sentence construction (36 resources)
Grammar - word classes (23 resources)
Knowledge about language (10 resources)
Media and non-fiction trail (10 resources)
Original writing trail (16 resources)
Persuasive writing trail (7 resources)
Reading challenges (30 resources)
Revision skills & exam preparation (10 resources)
SPaG correction exercises (11 resources)
Speaking and listening tasks (47 resources)
Thinking and discussion skills (11 resources)
Topical and seasonal one-offs (22 resources)
Writing for audience and purpose (13 resources)
Writing to analyse, review, comment (5 resources)
Writing to argue, persuade, advise (57 resources)
Latest staffroom posts
New AQA B AS Lit coursework: comedy
Latest resources
Conceit in 'Mother to Son' by Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes / John Agard
Analysing Fourteen Days in May
General film
GCSE 2015 draft specification summaries
Planning aids
Working in association with NATE
SPECIAL OFFER: 10% off NATE membership fees for Teachit subscribers. Read more ...


text:
This Apartment design with minimalist style in building and interior
design with sky deck lounge area facility.The Apartment is constructed
in an approximately 0,2ha land which is a part of +1,5ha mix-development
by PT JSI (Jakarta Setiabudi International).
PT JSI (Jakarta Setiabudi International) that consist of setiabudi 1 & 2
retail and office complex, Setiabudi Complex (offices), Town houses and
upcoming Setiabudi Office Tower just in front of the apartment complex.
The Approx 38.00sqm building is divided into two towers, one tower for
private lifts and other tower is for common lifts apartments.
The reason that this apartment project is doing really well is due to
its strategic location, which is smack dab in the midst of its "Yuppies"
target segment.
Located in Setiabudi near Rasuna Said Road, the apartment is in
proximity of the CBD and accessible through Sudirman, Kuningan and Gatot
Subroto. For more direction about the location please click here.
Copyright © 2012 Setiabudi-Residence.com


text:
Maltese Puppies
Maltipoo Puppies
Morkie Puppies
Shih-Poo Puppies
Teddy Bear Puppies
Shih Tzu Puppies
Poochon Puppies
Toy Poodle Puppies
Yorkie-Poo Puppies
Yorkshire Terrier Puppies
Caring For Your Puppy
Recommended Food
Nutritional Supplements
Puppy Starter Package
Males vs Females
Crate Training
House Training
Spaying & Neutering
Our Guarentee
Marlen Designer & Purebred Puppies strives to produce healthy, loveable puppies, for our customers. We have worked with animals all our lives and this what we chose to do in our Senior Years. We have a good understanding of the dog's basic needs that keeps them healthy and happy. We live in Northeast Missouri on an acreage where we raise our adorable
We welcome potential customers who are close enough to visit and
pick out a perfect available pet. We can ship puppies to most international airports within the US. We do offer ground service to certain areas. Please call or email for prices and
We breed for genetic health, sound temperament, and gorgeous color to bring you the perfect purebred and designer puppy. We feel if we don't like the puppy, no one else will either.
We take great pride in the cleanliness and comfort of our Puppy Nursery. From birth, our puppies are handled with great care and love, which is so important for proper socialization.
Our dogs are our only business. We are with them 24 hours a day. We have a great love for all animals and our dogs get our first attention.
Our puppies are famous for being loving, affectionate, open, friendly, and eager to please. They are not only intelligent & easy to train but they are fantastic with small children & families.
With our designer puppies for sale, we only breed First Generation Dogs; meaning the Dam is a purebred breed
(ex: Maltese) & the Sire is a purebred breed (ex: Toy Poodle). First Generation designer breeds are genetically healthier due to fewer hereditary problems than a purebred dog.
Designer breeds are famous for being loving, affectionate, open, friendly, and eager to please. Designer breeds are not only intelligent & easy to train but they are fantastic with small children & families. Their calm, laid back personalities & benefit of hybrid vigor has steadily increased their popularity over the last 20 years.
Having a successful breeding program takes many years of experience. Over the years we have been very selective in raising top quality parents and producing healthy bloodlines and beautiful poodle mixes. By breeding great dispositions and family friendly pets we have accomplished our goal!! Helping families choose the right breed and passing on our extensive knowledge to potential canine owners is our pleasure. We welcome visitors and consider previous customers a part of our family!
CONTACT US 660-949-2244 Email
Marlen Designer & Purebred Puppies is Owned and Operated By
Mary and Leon
Greentop, Missouri
State Licensed
February 12, 2010
Website Redesigned & Maintained by Web Graphiti
Powered by Boomers Domain


text: Damn, it's already July? Just yesterday it felt like summer was beginning, and now fall is on the distant horizon. While most of us have been enjoying the nice weather and BBQs for two months, some, like Cobe Obeah, still haven't even begun to enjoy their summer, as they Come Alive in August. Chicago … Read More


text:
Star Beacon
CONNEAUT — Edward S. Peterson, 87, of Monroe Township, Ohio, died unexpectedly Monday, April 1, 2013, at UH-Conneaut Medical Center.
Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m., Saturday, April 6th, at Marcy Funeral Home, 208 Liberty St., Conneaut, Ohio.
Calling hours will be at the funeral home on Friday, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Make A Wish Foundation.


text:
Monday Mashup vol. 1
Hello little freaks!!
As I'm in very very good spirits I've deciced to create a brand new rubrique for this modest music blog: the Monday Mashup! Every Monday, I'll post you a mash-up and you can suggest me all the week long the one that will be put on FREAKS AND GIGS the next Monday.
Today's mashup is kinda… spooky. Well, you take a classic ghost movie from the 80s, you add one of the most famous Australian band in the world and you get THUNDER BUSTERS!
So rate it, listen to it and share it to your friends (even though they're actually afraid of thunders and/or ghosts)


text:
Staff report
The Tribune-Star
North Central senior Chase VanSchoyck broke his own state and school records for single-game rushing yards in high school football Friday night, piling up an unofficial total of 567 in his team's 71-50 victory over host Eastern Greene.
His previous mark was 511 yards set against Riverton Parke in September 2012.
VanSchoyck also scored seven touchdowns as the Class A No. 9-ranked Thunderbirds improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Southwest Conference.
North Central will welcome Riverton Parke to its field next Friday, while Eastern Greene (2-4, 1-2) will travel to Union next Saturday.
In other high school football Friday night:
• Northview 28, Vincennes Lincoln 14 — At Brazil, coach Mark Raetz's Knights improved their record to 5-1 and won their third game in a row after rallying from a 14-0 deficit.
For Northview, Tucker Stewart passed to Tyler Rector for a touchdown and ran for another TD and Jacob Dean and Kelly Hawkins also ran for scores.
Northview will visit South Vermillion next Friday. Vincennes Lincoln (1-5) will play host to Washington.
• Rockville 43, South Vermillion 7 — At Rockville, Keiontre' Wilkey rattled off touchdown runs of 8 and 70 yards and added a 2-point conversion run and Ben Cunningham totaled three TDs, including one on a pass from Wilkey, to lead the Rox.
South Vermillion 0 7 0 0 — 7
Rockville 14 14 9 6 — 43
R — Wilkey 8 run (Thistlethwaite kick)
R — Cunningham 2 run (Thistlethwaite kick)
SV — Dunegan 24 run (Shew kick)
R — Cunningham 1 run (kick failed)
R — Wilkey 20 run (Wilkey run)
R — Safety, South Vermillion lateraled ball out of end zone
R — Cunningham 3 pass from Wilkey (Thistlethwaite kick)
R — Lewis 19 run (kick failed)
Next — Rockville (5-1) will travel to North Vermillion next Friday. South Vermillion (1-5) will play host to Northview that same night.
• Sullivan 40, Owen Valley 33 — At Spencer, Mike Willis passed for four touchdowns and 258 yards while also rushing for another TD and 67 yards to lead the visiting Golden Arrows to a Western Indiana Conference triumph.
Michael Hutchcraft, Trevor McGill, Luke Spurlock and Brooks Weszely were on the receiving end of Willis' TD passes.
Sullivan (4-2 overall, 2-1 WIC) will make the trip to Brown County next Friday. Owen Valley (3-3, 3-2) will visit West Vigo that same night.
• Class A No. 1 Linton 55, North Daviess 0 — At Linton, the host Miners recorded their first shutout of the season.
Linton (6-0) will play next Friday at North Knox. North Daviess (4-2) will travel to Wood Memorial that same night.
• Turkey Run 26, Riverton Parke 8 — At Marshall, Ind., the host Warriors chalked up their first victory of 2013 in convincing fashion.
Turkey Run (1-5 overall, 1-3 Wabash River Conference) will go on the road to Seeger next Friday. Riverton Parke (1-5, 0-5) will visit North Central that same night.
• Class A No. 2 North Vermillion 52, Attica 16 — At Attica, the visiting Falcons boosted their marks to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Wabash River Conference.
North Vermillion now prepares for its home showdown with Rockville next Friday. Attica (3-3, 2-3) will play host to Covington that same night.
• Mount Zion 70, Paris 33 — At Paris, Ill., Riley Spencer passed for 240 yards and three touchdowns for the host Tigers in their loss.
Friday's Wabash Valley football
TH North 49, Columbus North 17
Bloomington South 28, TH South 21
Edgewood 33, West Vigo 12
North Central 71, Eastern Greene 50
Northview 28, Vincennes Lincoln 14
Rockville 43, South Vermillion 7
Sullivan 40, Owen Valley 33
Linton 55, North Daviess 0
Turkey Run 26, Riverton Parke 8
North Knox 82, Union 14
North Vermillion 52, Attica 16
Mount Zion 70, Paris 33
Newton 21, Marshall 20
Arthur-Lovington 46, Martinsville 0
Casey at Cumberland (n)
Palestine-Hutsonville at Red Hill (n)


text:
August 1, 2014
DALLAS (AP) - A Dallas man using a firearm for target practice in his yard has been arrested after a stray bullet shattered the window of a nearby home and critically injured a 9-year-old girl.
Cristian Manzano, 20, is facing charges that include a felony count of causing injury to a child. Manzano was being held Sunday at the Dallas County jail with bond set at $31,500.
Police say the stray bullet pierced a kitchen window Saturday and struck the unidentified girl in the head. She was taken to a Dallas hospital where she was listed in critical condition Saturday evening.
The investigation into the shooting continues.
Online jail records don't indicate an attorney for Manzano.
To comment, the following rules must be followed:
Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content, but the station is under no legal obligation to do so.
If you believe a comment violates the above rules, please use the Flagging Tool to alert a Moderator.
Flagging does not guarantee removal.
Multiple violations may result in account suspension.
Decisions to suspend or unsuspend accounts are made by Station Moderators.
Questions may be sent to email@example.com. Please provide detailed information.


text:
For the past couple of months, I've been playing with a laptop from ZaReason, a small, GNU/Linux-based system builder founded in Oakland, CA (though it has expanded to New Zealand). ZaReason's deal is that they build computers themselves, using components that are guaranteed to have free and open drivers, and pre-install your favorite free/open operating system at the factory. They offer full support for the hardware and the software, and promise that they'll never say, "Sorry, that component just doesn't work right under Linux." So unlike buying a ThinkPad or other commercial laptop and installing a free operating system on it (which can be a bit of a gamble, and will shortly become more of one, see below), ZaReason's machines arrive ready to run. And unlike buying a commercial laptop from a freedom-friendly vendor like Emperor Linux (who'll sometimes warn you that certain features of your hardware aren't supported), ZaReason can promise you that every single capability of every single component in your system will just work.
ZaReason sent me their Alto 3880, "Long battery life, HD graphics, light and lean = everything a laptop should be." I found it to be a very snappy, responsive machine that, as promised, "just worked" out of the box. The machine's styling is pretty generic -- it looks like your basic, silvery OEM laptop, albeit one where they've opted for the top-spec option for the pointing surface, keyboard, etc. It's rather heavier than the machine I carry for daily use, a Lenovo ThinkPad X220, which shaves its ounces by omitting the optical drive and shrinking the screen to 12" (the Alto has a 14" screen). My machine came loaded with Mint, a Linux flavor forked off of Ubuntu, the OS I use on my ThinkPad. Mint seems to me to be what you'd get if you kept on developing the venerable (and somewhat fuggly) Gnome desktop, which looks a lot like various flavors of Windows. Ubuntu, meanwhile, is driving full-on for a more "modern" (and more constrained) desktop environment called Unity, which I've come to tolerate and even like with the latest release, which came out in April. I found the Mint/Alto combination slightly more stable than the ThinkPad/Ubuntu combo, though both of them are easily as stable as any commercial OS I've ever used, and rarely, if ever, crash or require a reboot. If you prefer Ubuntu to Mint, ZaReason will happily install it at the factory -- other choices include Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Debian, Fedora, or whatever you specify (I assume there are some limits to this).
The ZaReason laptop prices compare well to other PC vendors' machines, within a few points up or down when compared with a comparably equipped Dell. They work well. But working well is easy -- when it comes to my computers, the question I always ask is "How well does it fail?" I live and die by my laptop and even a day's downtime is unacceptable.
My experience -- both personal and as a former CIO -- with the major vendors, from Dell to Apple, is that none of them are terrific when it comes to hardware support. There's a lot of queuing up, a lot of being deprived of your machine for unpredictable periods, and a lot of arguing about whether the warranty covers whatever has gone wrong. On the plus side, Dell has an enormous, bottomless well of replacement parts, and a titanic staff of service techs. Apple, of course, has its ubiquitous stores, where you can drop off machines for service.
ZaReason can't compete head-on with this. Instead, the company offers a highly personalized tech support service from named technicians who treat you like a person, not a trouble-ticket. And the company is willing to go the extra mile for service when it can -- they told me about a South African customer whose machine had some bad RAM; rather than have the machine shipped back to them for service, they diagnosed the problem remotely, found a local South African PC store that had the required part, and had it couriered directly to the customer.
I have been a very, very happy ThinkPad user for some years now. They generally support Linux very well (though there were some bobbles when I moved from 32 bit machines to 64 bit machines), and the company has a whole product line devoted to serious travellers -- machines that cut their weight by leaving out the CD/DVD drive, and come with a variety of batteries, in varying degrees of heaviness/long life, meaning you can go featherweight for short trips, or add an extra 500g with a snap-on, two-day Slice battery that covers the whole underside of the machine, depending on your needs.
More importantly, ThinkPad has an extended on-site hardware replacement warranty that is fulfilled by IBM Global Services, the gold standard in worldwide tech support. For about the same price as AppleCare, Lenovo will give you a warranty whereby any faulty hardware parts are overnighted to you, anywhere in the world, and a few hours later, a technician will show up at your door and fix your computer right there, on your own desk. IBM Global Services are genuinely global, and I've had service in several countries.
ZaReason doesn't really do a laptop for road warriors (yet) -- their offerings fall into the "good-spec/low-price" bucket, or the "massive, blazing gamer/graphics pro laptop," both of which are important categories, but they're not my category. I'm a guy who's on the road about a third of the time, and whose chronic back pain means that every gram of extra weight is a big deal.
But I'm awfully glad that ZaReason exists. As a company, I get the impression that they are as motivated by the cause of freedom as they are by profit. This is especially important today, as a new PC "security" feature called UEFI is making it increasingly hard to install non-commercial OSes on your own computers: free OSes like Fedora and Ubuntu are having to pay blood money to Microsoft so that their users can install and boot their OSes without having to lift the lid off their machines and change the inner workings. This is a trend that I see getting (much) worse before it gets better -- although the right to freely choose and modify your kernel is highly esoteric and technical, it is the wellspring from which all other technological freedoms arise. ZaReason's mission isn't just to make free/open hardware: it's to ensure that there is always a free-as-in-free-speech option for your computing needs. This is a vital role, and they deserve kudos for stepping up to it.
ZaReason's machines work -- and fail -- as well or better as comparably priced systems from much bigger vendors. They promise to support both hardware and software and will never punt support calls on the grounds that "the hardware isn't performing as it's supposed to, we do the software" or "that's a software problem, we only supply the software." They offer limited support for peripherals (external drives, scanners, printers, etc), though in truth, I find that these devices work better in Linux-land than they do for Macs and Windows machines.
Though I thoroughly support ZaReason's mission, I regret to say that I'm not their target market. The Alto they sent me to try was as nice a machine as any other in its weight/price class, but it's not the kind of machine I need. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with, when and if they decide to try it. And in the meantime, they have my endorsement and gratitude for keeping freedom alive, and putting ethics ahead of profit.
67 Responses to "ZaReason: a computer company with freedom built in"
Meteorswarm says:
As much as I like zareason in principle, their much-vaunted service and build quality are pretty bad. I bought a Terra HD from them a year ago, and suspend and hibernate were broken. I tried to contact tech support, and after a brief exchange they went "buh, we don't know" and stopped replying to email.
It was only a few months ago that I discovered it would suspend only if the webcam was disabled. of course, now, only a year in, the case is physically falling apart.
Their hardware is expensive, low quality, and, despite their claims, does not always work out of the box. I'm not buying from them again, so I'm hoping there's another Linux vendor around.
aaronmhill says:
I had a similar experience with LinuxCertified. Have you checked out System76 yet? I have my eye on one of their new line; they're pretty well-established, at least. Hardware looks good.
Meteorswarm says:
I looked at them when I was considering buying this laptop, and I almost went with them, but I decided to go with Zareason because the screen was higher resolution (I do like the screen…). I'm probably going to buy from them next time, and hope they don't suck.
benenglish says:
I have no interest in laptops, but I bought a System76 Wild Dog a while back. With no frame of reference to consumer-grade products (I've spent the last 15+ years living in server rooms), it initially appeared to me to be flimsy. Now that I've had it a while and had a chance to do some upgrades and a repair (following a lightning hit, not the fault of System 76), I find that while the case is light it's sturdy enough for home use and the system was impeccably assembled. If I ever need a laptop or when I decide to replace this desktop, I'll buy from them again.
Alex Rudnick says:
+1 for System76! (see my comment further down; I've had a 13″ laptop from them for some years now, and it's nice)
Palomino says:
I've owned three laptops; two Toshiba Satellites and one Acer. None of the threes screen saver or hibernate modes worked for very long. I'm tired of receiving errors when I don't use a preloaded desktop image.
Based on my experience with my Toshibas, the power chord is a huge issue for me. I gave up on both, purchasing 8 chords total which could have bought me a new laptop. Both sit in storage now.
Benjamin Slade says:
In addition to ZaReason, the other Linux vendors I know of are System76, ThinkPenguin, Eight Virtues, and Ohava. Of course there are others if you're looking at a desktop rather than a laptop, e.g. Puget Custom, eRacks etc. (though you could also just build your own pc).
digi_owl says:
Was there not a kernel change around 3.x regarding suspend and USB devices? Seems they were a general pain in the behind because you could not trust them to accurately report suspend support.
I think that left the devs with 3 options:
1. stay with the status quo, not really acceptable.
2. always power down everything and pray that it comes back up at all. not really acceptable either.
3. leave them powered on even when otherwise suspended. The option gone for, and that later got reported as a battery draining bug.
Andrew Kane says:
In my experience using the nVidia blob driver can also break suspend/hibernate on some systems (not just laptops).
digi_owl says:
Noted. I buy ATI/AMD for the open source driver.
zatech says:
Would you mind sending us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com so we can look up what we did wrong when supporting you and what we can do to fix it? Thanks.
janusp says:
This isn't the fault of ZaReason. ZaReason is limited by what chipsets are available and particular combinations of chipsets. ThinkPenguin is actually working with chipset vendors, distributions, and others to fix these types of issues. But you aren't going to get a fix from them or anybody else directly. What is going to fix this is buying from companies who are funding free software developers and working with chipset vendors in the background.
a h says:
For what its worth, my Asus eee PC started falling apart within 6 months, but since I installed my own operating system I wasn't about to even try get it fixed under warranty.
VVelox says:
Just looking at their servers. The two 1Us and two 3Us are rebranded Supermicro hardware.
digi_owl says:
No surprise, Linux have always gotten more love from the server hardware vendors.
Guido says:
What about System 76? Those machines look really good and at a good price.
I am thinking to buy my next laptop from them. I am tired of playing games with the drivers to get my 3D desktop to work, hibernation/suspend problems.
Alex Rudnick says:
I've got a System76 laptop: a "Lemur Ultra" model that they don't carry anymore. It's held up quite well for about two years now! The keyboard is pretty nice, and it's never had problems with suspend/resume. The wireless card has had some issues with some (not all) wireless networks, but surely that's been sorted out in later models?
I'd say I'm a happy System76 customer :)
janusp says:
Actually the ZaReason machines and System76 machines are about the same from an appearance stand point. Both are pretty generic.
ThinkPenguin is doing a little bit of design work on some aspects in order to improve support for free software although for the most part all these systems are similar/identical. Dell, HP, Apple, etc are all using very similar parts inside. You will find two similar models from two different manufacturers for instance using the same keyboards (Dell and say Acer). There are only a handful of actually manufacturers for laptops and none of them are names you would know.
Joseph A Watson says:
I have a zareason laptop i was impressed even came with a screwdriver so you could take it apart. still working well after the 2 or so years I have had it.
simonster says:
Is the BIOS open source? If not, I'm sticking with my Lemote Yeeloong.
Andrew Singleton says:
That you Stallman?
Andrew Kane says:
You can still use coreboot to *make* it open source (seaBIOS, or boot to GRUB or a kernel or…)
Palomino says:
In June 2011, BB had an excellent post about Solid State Drives.
My next laptop will have a Solid State Drive. That will be my first criteria. Next will be power chord reliability. Then customer service ratings. Next will be screen resolution/quality. After that, keyboard usability. The rest is up to the salesman.
Write down your own list of needs and don't let a sales person talk you out of them. Cory's laptop services his needs and he's a satisfied customer.
LS says:
I have been eyeballing this other place https://www.thinkpenguin.com/
though i need to research coreboot a bit more
digi_owl says:
Interesting, they actually offer a laptop where one can opt for non-US keyboards.
janusp says:
They have some other nice options like matte screens as well.
Chesterfield says:
Cory, I'd love to hear more about Unity from you. I only ever read negative things while personally, I quite like it. My favourite tip – use the Windows key to start the applications 'pinned' in the task pane. Win-1 launches the top item, Win-2 launches the next one, etc…
KeithIrwin says:
When Unity first was added to Ubuntu it clearly wasn't ready for prime time. It just wasn't ready to be the default desktop of millions of users, so it got a lot of terrible feedback. But it's not full of terrible ideas, just had bad execution. It's been getting steadily better with each release. If they'd improve the reliability of some of their components (some of them seem to have bugs which crop up only after they've been running for days), which they may have actually done in the last release (I'm still one behind), then I would probably recommend it over Gnome. On the whole, the window-management parts are reasonable, and, as a Mac user, I prefer the paradigm of having the top menu bar be the menu of the active application. The application launcher is a more modern style with the commonly used and currently active applications on a launch bar, which is pretty good. And then search the other applications by name in order to launch them which works quite well, really.
penguinchris says:
I now use a macbook pro primarily, but was using linux for years before that and still run it on a second laptop (Thinkpad) acting as a server. I had always used OpenSUSE but recently had major issues with it and decided to try Ubuntu, which is currently running on it (though not issue-free).
As a Mac user I understand and appreciate the ideas behind Unity, but it doesn't feel right in use and customization is limited. I don't mind lack of customization if the default state is well thought out (e.g. OS X) but linux GUIs have never been well thought out and their great strength is that you can customize it exactly how you want – so the default state is essentially meaningless.
Unity also feels clunky and fragile (like KDE 4) and for me it breaks down after being left running for a couple weeks, sometimes to the point of needing to reboot to fix it (which I've never had to do before with linux).
Chesterfield says:
You leave the GUI running on a server machine? I'm guessing it isn't heavily loaded.
penguinchris says:
Yeah, it's not really doing anything important, it serves video to a PS3 and downloads torrents. I can manage all that remotely via ssh but it's easier to just walk over to it and use the GUI (or use VNC if I'm feeling particularly lazy). Especially since there isn't an easy way to pass magnet torrent links to another system (at least there wasn't at the time I set things up as magnet links were still pretty new).
Frank Diekman says:
I like the 70′s styling of their logo.
digi_owl says:
As usual when we discuss computer support, i find myself thinking that there is a delineation between consumer support and business support. With the notable exception of Apple, the Thinkpad style support is mainly aimed at business. I am quite sure that one can get the same level of warranty from Dell, HP, Acer or any other, if you buy one of their premium, professional grade computers. This in contrast to the consumer grade ranges they peddle via Wal-mart and equivalent around the globe, that are in essence designed to be disposable.
JohnnyMiskatonic says:
UEFI (unified extensible firmware interface) isn't a 'security' feature, it's a replacement for the obsolescent BIOS utility. It was developed by Intel as a way to get around the 80s-era hardware restrictions built into the basic input output system (aka BIOS). As was pointed out in comments when BoingBoing first mentioned this story, anybody who is willing/able to run Linux is probably capable enough to go into the UEFI and toggle the software setting that disables secure boot.
Tarliman says:
We will not achieve good distribution of Linux on the desktop until we overcome both the image and the necessity of Linux users being highly technical. My youngest son runs Linux on his netbook, and very rarely has to bring it to me. That is to some extent dependent on the distro, mind you, but my point being that we need hardware that will run Linux without the user being able to modify the chipset, in order for the average computer user to even consider adopting Linux as their OS.
social_maladroit says:
I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I don't really care whether or not Linux is viewed as a "hobbyist's OS" or whether this year is finally the "year of the Linux desktop." The reality is that Linux can be installed and used by anyone who can read and follow directions. And look how far it's come since Torvalds released the first Linux kernel back in '91.
On the other hand, the more Linux is adopted, the more problems like suspension and hibernation on laptops will be addressed by vendors, rather than being hit-and-miss affairs that depend on the laptop make and model and how much time and effort the end user is willing to spend futzing around with low-level drivers. To use another example, I definitely appreciate how easy it is to install Ubuntu and its sister distros, and the fact that I no longer have to manually install my video driver every time there's an updated kernel.
janusp says:
That is why you should make an effort to buy freedom friendly hardware. If there isn't enough demand there won't be fixes to these types of issues.
digi_owl says:
"The reality is that Linux can be installed and used by anyone who can read and follow directions."
Best i can tell, most never install a OS. Maybe they grab the geek kid of the neighborhood or some relative with similar attributes, but generally they go with whatever comes preinstalled until it breaks.
The computer is treated as an appliance. A very flexible appliance, but still an appliance. It gets used as it shipped until it breaks, and then tossed out and a new one bought.
Linux desktop computers needs to be in peoples faces, on stores shelves and tables , booted up so people can see the difference and play around. If not then people will think they are buying a Windows box and return it as broken within a week.
zibuki says:
" Apple, of course, has its ubiquitous stores, where you can drop off machines for service."
Ah, but here's the thing: As far as the US is concerned, you can drop off your unit at the store for service, but it won't actually be serviced there. The units are shipped to a small handful (at one point I was told three, but that was around 2008) service repair facilities.
TheKaz1969 says:
Ignore the man behind the curtain…
janusp says:
I was informed it could and does frequently takes two weeks to get a repair done and your system back from Apple. I know Lenovo frequently gets system back within 3 days (using overnight shipping). Although I believe they advertise 3-5 or 3-7 to be safe.
penguinchris says:
Lenovo had a box sent to me overnight, I put the Thinkpad in the box and it arrived at their facility the next day, and I had it back two days later. Pretty good.
But, even that would be annoying for a problem that isn't major (like a fried motherboard or something) – I recently had a minor problem with my long out of warranty macbook pro and was in and out of the apple store within half an hour with the macbook fixed free of charge (something I couldn't have done myself).
I have no doubt that if you have major issues with an Apple computer you'll be waiting longer than with a Thinkpad, but not always – I'm sure they strive to do as many things in-store as they can. Of course, this relies on easy access to an Apple store :)
digi_owl says:
And thanks to their push of Time Capsule and such, they can often just toss you a new one (or one that was turned in some time ago and refurbished, but never tell you as such as long as there is no way to tell from the outside) of the same product and tell you to restore from the latest backup.
zibuki says:
Replying to my own comment to add this: I bought one of the first MacBook Pros (I know, I know, but it was so shiny!). Within the first year I had to get it repaired several times (several of the early MBPs eventually had their motherboards replaced). Even though I lived in California, I noticed sometimes that Apple would send my unit to Texas for repairs, and every time it got sent to Texas the repair facility said my unit had water damage and I had to raise hell with Apple to get a second opinion, and every time they agreed that the unit wasn't water damaged after all. I finally stopped taking it to the Apple store and took it to a local shop authorized by Apple for repairs. When the local shop mentioned that they wanted to send it to Texas I refused and insisted they do the repair in-house, even though it might be more expensive. I told them about Texas, and they didn't seem at all surprised. They repaired it locally in two days and I didn't have a problem with the unit again for years.
Matthew Petty says:
I am waiting for my System76 Lemur laptop – it should be shipped today. The first one I received from them had suffered a cracked screen at the hands of UPS.
I considered ZaReason as well. I'll be doing a write-up of my experience – and an unboxing video!! thrilling stuff.
Marios P. says:
It is funny that in all those built it yourself websites, there are only + cost options to buy. Never, less memory or less disk storage or less wireless card which would reduce the over all cost, and would enable you to source for cheap second hand parts, or use ones gathering dust in your parts bin…
Syke Phank says:
That's another good point for ZaReason. They do offer options such as no hard drive or no ram which gives you a discount.
janusp says:
This is because most of these companies aren't really doing anything other than re-selling. They don't have the choice in which wifi cards to use. ZaReason claims they build them so I don't see why they can't offer better support for free software at least. As far as shipping without a component ThinkPenguin does offer pretty barebone options (80GB drives, 1GB of ram, Single core Celerons etc) so there really wouldn't be much of a difference price wise. I bet they would leave out options if you asked them (although the savings would be extremely minimal).
janusp says:
ZaReason has good intentions and use the "right words". My gripe with ZaReason is they either don't get or are being intentionally deceiving about there support for free software and GNU/Linux.
1. No Microsoft Tax (We don't want to support a company fighting freedom do we!)
ZaReason isn't paying this. I can confirm that much.
2. No "Trusted Computing Technology"
This is better known by free software users as "Treacherous computing". It is incorporated into the CPUs being offered as options on ZaReason systems. Example of one CPU ZaReason ships with: i7-2860QM
Read more about this issue at: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.html
3. No chipsets dependent on non-free software
Intel Wireless N cards are NOT compatible with free software operating systems. The distributions which include support for these cards are not free. They are only based on mostly free software and include non-free drivers/firmware.
4. Money is going back into improving support for free software (I don't feel like being taken advantage of)
I do feel better that I wouldn't be supporting Microsoft by getting a ZaReason system although I feel that given the price of these systems ZaReason should be giving something back to the free software developers. It might be different if ZaReason was at least making a splash and shipping only hardware that wasn't dependent on non-free software. However they aren't.
ThinkPenguin is the only one that I can even find that is really making a difference for GNU/Linux users. There is a lot of bad information out there right now on which companies are free software friendly and which aren't. ZaReason is not. Nor are the ones that the free software foundation links to (with the exception of ThinkPenguin). The FSF should fix that.
There is one other issue that can't be solved and it will take a huge increase in the demand of free software friendly laptops to solve. A free BIOS. Nobody company currently selling "Linux Laptops" is going to be able to offer 100% freedom perfect system. The task of porting a free BIOS is signifcant. However there are the above issues which can be solved by ALL companies selling non-MS taxed laptops provided that these companies are actually doing the work. I know System76 isn't even doing that (One reason I would NEVER buy from System76).
Al Billings says:
Richard, is that you?
Andrew Kane says:
Again: coreboot + SeaBIOS or your payload of choice.
The software is there, these vendors just need to use / support it.
Larye Parkins says:
After 15 years of buying laptops and squeezing Windows aside, never to be seen again, fighting with wireless and other incompatibilities, and a disastrous adventure into building a "desktop in a bag" based on a mini-ITX board, it was a relief to order a Zareason laptop that not only ran Linux "out of the box," with no glitches, but came customized to requirements for memory, GPU, CPU cores, etc., for bioinformatics development (GPUs and multi-core aren't just for games, anymore). The only thing I've done extra is dump the skinny Case Logic bag that barely had room for the beefy power adapter for a massive road warrior backpack that holds "everything," including the spouse's Netbook (converted to Linux, of course) and a change of clothes. Speed costs–in the case of Zareason, the cost is weight. The philosophical arguments aside, some of us absolutely need Linux, and can't afford to take a chance that a high-end commodity (read "Windows") laptop will run Linux without problems. Open-source software is one issue, open source hardware is one that hasn't been solved yet, because, until now, we've been buying and recycling hardware built for Windows.
Dan Griswold says:
I bought an Alto 3880 a few months ago. I love it. However, I didn't exactly love it at first. It failed a couple of hours after I got it and started it up. I had to send it back on my dime. (I live in NY.) But now that it's come back to me, it works great. I understand that all companies have a (usually) small percentage of failures like this. I just wish it hadn't happened to me, and I wish that it didn't cost me (in terms of shipping) to get it fixed.
Friendly people, good product. I can see myself buying from them again.
Tom Chandler says:
Sadly, none of the Linux vendors seems to offer a travel or "Ultrabook" equivalent laptop (really, I can live without the DVD). That's a shame.
As for Zareason, I ordered a Zareason desktop about 1.5 years ago, and while their support people were helpful and getting a machine already running Ubuntu was nice, mine has been a bit of pain. Had to send it back pretty quickly (and on my dime) for a motherboard replacement, and the wi-fi card I paid for stubbornly refused to connect to my network (I finally subbed in a USB wi-fi dongle).
Two months past the one-year warranty the motherboard failed again, and while the manufacturer warranty was three years, Zareason's was only one. Again, helpful, but they threw up their hands.
Turns out they'd built my system with bargain-basement BioStar board; I replaced it with an Asus and the machine suddenly works much better. RMA'd the Biostar board to Biostar and got a new one back, which failed… immediately.
They're a good company with good support for Linux, but I probably won't buy another desktop from them if they're going to build the things with low-quality motherboards.
I'm idly considering buying a new laptop for travel, yet nothing I've seen from a Linux vendor impresses me. Perhaps I'll end up going the Thinkpad route.
digi_owl says:
Would this do? https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/the-new-penguin-air
Tom Chandler says:
My wife's Zenbook gets about 7 hours of battery life and weighs less than three pounds; the Penguin lists about three hours and weighs more than four.
It's not a bad choice, but similarly outfitted, there isn't much of a price differential. It's one area where the Linux companies are lagging a bit. I expect we'll see some entries soon.
digi_owl says:
Heh, checking the images it seems it has a removable battery. I think the ultrabooks get their battery life from packing the battery inside the case, allowing a tighter fit but no removal (unless you feel like taking the whole thing apart). I think this may be as close as they get, while still catering to the people that want to upgrade over time and generally tinker.
Jay Cassano says:
Check out my comment below about the Strata Pro 13. If you're interested you should email ZaReason and let them know you'd be interested in that model. At the very least it will help them register that there's serious demand for the subnotebook form factor.
pjcamp says:
Unity bites ass.
We've already got one goddamn Apple, why do we need another?
forwardourmotto says:
I've owned a ZaReason laptop for a few years and I've had no problems. I like Ubuntu actually although I've gone back to their old interface, I feel like it's a little bit simpler and that the new interface is optimized for touch screens…
Jay Cassano says:
I own a Strata Pro 13 from ZaReason – a model they don't offer anymore. It's basically the professional-traveller model Cory would want from them. 13″ screen, no optical drive, very light – though not as lite as the "subnotebook" Thinkpad that Cory has (and that was my last Windows machine before I gave up on Windows in frustration). It's a fantastic laptop that can rival Thinkpad's in durability – or as I say – dropability; I've dropped this thing more times to care to admit and it keeps on chugging.
The computers aren't perfect and some things don't "just work". For instance, my webcam didn't work when I first booted up and had to reinstall the system to get it work. That's not quite the ideal of consumer-friendly Linux that I really want ZaReason to meet. On the other hand, I really pushed ZaReason to rush my order out the shop door because I needed it in a very narrow window of time. But the computers are good and do have "freedom built in" and I think it's good for Linux users to support them or other Linux-friendly manufacturers. System76 looks very promising and I'm tempted to try them in the future, but for now I think I like ZaReason's politics and attitude a little more (though I'm not really basing that on anything).
I've emailed ZaReason about bringing back this model a number of times and htey say they plan to in the future but first they want to focus on a few target niche markets. That makes sense as a business strategy, but I do regret them not having this model anymore.
Mike Lesser says:
My excitement to support a smaller company was squashed by Zareasons incompetence and arrogance. After a month delay in shipping my machine and a month of back and forth about a non functioning wifi card Cathy Malmose the president did not respond to my email pointing out to her that they are required to deliver a working product or give me my money back. I resolved the matter with a charge back through my bank. The look & feel of the hardware was super.
I picked up a Sys76 Lemure Ultra thin for about $700 last February. I live in NYC and if you want it you can have it for $100.
Matt Bellis says:
I bought a Limbo desktop last year from Zareason and was very impressed with the hardware and their in-house construction. But Linux (Debian) wasn't installed properly and I had to do a full re-install myself. This was after a week of sub-par customer support. I bought the machine for work/research and had to go through some extra hoops within my university to purchase equipment from a non-standard vendor. I feel very strongly about open-source companies, and I honestly believe that Zareason does as well so I thought I'd be doing some good by supporting them….but their mantra is that they install Linux so you don't have to, and my experience with them is that they couldn't do that. Maybe I'm a lone data point and the majority of their customers receive computers that work. I'd like to believe that is true. I was so disappointed, I actually signed up for a Yelp account just to detail my experiences with them (they also messed up a live-boot USB stick order of mine).
http://www.yelp.com/biz/zareason-berkeleyI'm moving to a new college and will have to order another desktop for my work and research, but I won't be going through Zareason. I just felt so burned by them and the truth is, there's other options out there. I had also been considering them for a new laptop last year, but after my experience with a desktop, I just went with a Lenovo X220 and did the install myself.I really hope they can get their act together, as they seem to really be sincere about supporting open-source.
anon anan says:
I was kind of surprised to read about the bad experiences from ZaReason customers. I bought a TerraHD, their now discontinued netbook, in December 2010, and I'm very happy with it. I'm used to Win XP and Mac OS X, but I found Linux Mint 10 (installed by ZaReason) to be easy enough to use. Yes, it's true that Hibernate doesn't work right. My PageUp and PageDn don't work either, but I thought it was a Mint issue, and anyway I use the spacebar and shift+spacebar to navigate.
My peripherals play well with the Terra. I have an old Epson scanner that doesn't work with Linux Mint *period*, but everything else is perfect.
I honestly don't know much about computer hardware either, but I do know that this machine still works after I accidentally sat on it, after my wife wrapped it in a warm comforter in her sleep. It has survived very hot and cold temperatures. It's a great little machine.
By the way, it's also my first machine with a SSD drive. Maybe that makes a difference.
Rob Willis says:
I bought a 64bit zareason about a year ago.
The best thing I can say is that I hardly notice it. Everything works as it should.
This is the machine I run everything for my small business on.
My partner uses it to prepare lectures and 'powerpoint' presentations for the health industry.
Friends and relatives who use this machine while visiting don't even notice that it is linux.
When this machine eventually needs replacing, I will contact zareason again for new one.
Hopefully the postage to Australia will be cheaper this time.
Eric Rucker says:
One thing about many of the major laptop manufacturers (Apple being a huge exception) is that they offer next-day on-site service if you pay for it at the time of purchase, especially on business-grade machines.
So, the support doesn't have to be "ship it off and wait".
In any case, most of these "Linux-specific" laptop "makers" are buying ODM reference machines (Clevo, Quanta, Compal, companies like those that you've probably never heard of) that happen to have components that work well with Linux. They may well be installing the CPU, RAM, wireless card, HDD, et. al. themselves, but it's not their design at all, and they get very little input into how it's made. This is pretty much the case for any low-volume laptop brand, FWIW (the only exception I can think of in the past decade is Tadpole, who designed their own SPARC motherboards for a Compal reference chassis, and you REALLY paid for it).
ZaReason NZ - Cathy says:
This is great to hear. Note that zareason.co.nz is now servicing the Australasia region so shipping will definitely be easier and quicker. Thanks.


text:
Missourians are more likely to volunteer and to do favors for a neighbor than the average American. But their level of civic engagement depends greatly on their circumstances.
A new report on the state's civic health, issued by six Missouri universities and the National Conference on Citizenship, found that Missouri largely aligns with the rest of the nation on community involvement.
The report measured political activity, but also whether residents volunteered, helped their neighbors, or attended public meetings.
Joplin residents are getting an extra layer of security in storms thanks to their approval last week of a $62 million school bond issue.


text:
top stories
Businesses need to re-think risk, says ACCA
Businesses need to work harder to spread responsibility for risk management across the whole organization, according to a new report from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). The survey of over 2,000 ACCA members found accountants on the front-line of businesses have a vital role to play in successful risk management, and that they stand ready to do more.
The survey also found a statistical link between the use of accounting practices that contribute to managing risk and lower occurrences of dysfunctional behaviour. The survey also found differences in the perception of a company's exposure to risk between those at board level and those accountants working below board level.
'Risk happens at all levels of business,' says Paul Moxey, head of risk management and corporate governance at ACCA. 'It doesn't sit in silos. Risk management needs to be something that is undertaken by everyone in an organization so it is fully integrated.
'The survey shows that accountants have an excellent grasp of the risks faced by their organization and the steps needed to manage those risks. The survey also shows clear support amongst accountants for 'challenging senior people' as being part of good business culture. Accounting is really about providing information to help make good decisions, and good decisions mean less risk. The accountant's day-to-day role is all about managing risk, even if people don't think about what they do in that way.
'The results are both encouraging, in terms of what accountants do and would do more of, and frightening in terms of the extent of dysfunction revealed. There is a big problem to be addressed. Businesses need to make sure they use the risk awareness and risk management skills of their qualified accountants, and not miss an opportunity to effectively integrate risk management.'
The value of accountants' contributions can be lost through their misuse. Accountants in the survey reported very high levels of 'bad behaviour' around risk management. Examples include frequent 'gaming' of forecasts, providing optimistic versions to avoid criticism or pessimistic ones to reduce expectations. Only 1% of respondents reported never seeing any of the bad behaviours asked about in the survey at their organization.
However, the survey did find a statistical link between the use of good risk management practices by accountants and incidences of dysfunctional behaviour: more good practices correspond with less dysfunctional behaviour. Types of good practice include aspects of management accounting, forecasting, reporting and quality controls, decision support and controls over wrongful behaviour.
Some of the highest scores for good practices were from small organizations. Perhaps there is more that can be learned from these stereotypical 'unsophisticated' businesses.
The survey also found that those in more junior roles are more aware of both risks and 'bad behaviour' than their board-level colleagues. 'Non-execs were more likely than anyone else to identify 'personality' factors – such as planned dishonesty or the opportunistic abuse of power – as causes of problems rather than more controllable factors, such as financial pressure on an organization' explains Moxey. 'They were also much more optimistic about the frequency of 'bad behaviour' than anyone else, and were more enthusiastic about management tools that the survey shows to have debatable effectiveness, such as budgetary controls.
'It may be because senior levels are less involved in the day-to-day running of the organization, or because they're taking a broader view of the business. It might be that the way information is reported to them needs to be improved.'
The survey findings have been used by ACCA to develop an online 'risk health check' for businesses. Using this resource, businesses can compare themselves to the practices and experiences of businesses from the survey, and identify areas for improvement.
Paul Moxey concludes: 'This is a very timely report as now is a critical time for risk management. The financial crisis highlighted the disastrous consequences of senior management effectively ignoring risk management. Risk management has since risen up the agenda, but its importance hasn't always been reflected in budgets or actual actions and there's a danger it will be forgotten about once the current crisis has passed. Businesses need to take this opportunity to properly integrate risk management into their business processes.
'Integrated risk management is vital for any business that wants to pursue sustainable growth. We hope businesses take advantage of the insights on offer as part of the 'health check'.


text:
"Data" is plural!
John R. Wood, Sc'70, of New Westminster, BC, offers a timely reminder of the meaning of the word "data"
You run a very high calibre publication, for which many thanks. However, I have one comment on the "Editor's Notebook" column in Issue #1-2012, p.2. At one point you write: "... because the data you get from any survey is only as good ...."
"Data" is a plural noun, so the sentence should have read "... because the data you get from any survey are only as good ....".
Keep up the wonderful work, and please pay attention to grammar. It is so misused, abused, and neglected these days.
John R. Wood, Sc'70, New Westminster, BC
Guilty, as charged. – Ed.
Related Stories
- 2012-08-07Fond memories of Queen's Debating Union
- 2012-08-07"Extras" not needed at McMaster football games
- 2012-08-07Complaints about wind turbines and QAR coverage
- 2012-04-27Another Queen's pollster
- 2012-02-10Responses to "Two admired teachers"
- 2014-07-31: The Agnes: Free Thursday Tour
- 2014-07-29: Faith date: Islam: Id al-Fitr
- 2014-07-26: Functional Anatomy Boot-Camp
- 2014-07-25: Staff and Faculty $5 BBQ
- 2014-07-24: The Agnes: Free Thursday Tour
- 2014-07-23: Roughriders add Webster
- 2014-07-22: Paul Stothart Memorial Golf Tournament set for September 9th
- 2014-07-16: City council approves amended temporary noise exemption.
- 2014-07-16: City council approves amended temporary noise exemption
- 2014-07-15: OUA Men's Volleyball back on the court October 17th, Gaels open up October 24th


text:
How Does the Voice Channel Impact Customer Engagement?Posted by admin January 2nd, 2013
Marketing individuals have a lot of ways to interact and "read" their customers online thanks to the power of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Customers are posting their unfiltered opinions about movies, books, local restaurants and brands online after almost every interaction—a brand that can dig through the noise and clutter of social media to find real, valuable insights into the mindset of their customers can really differentiate themselves via the customer experience. When you know what your audience really needs and wants you can position your brand as the solution much easier. Social networking sites are also becoming popular customer service forums, as well as powerful lead generating solutions for many brands. But online social networking sites aren't the only places a brand can really connect with their target audience. The voice channel, including your contact center, is arguably your best channel for connecting with your customers to gain customer experience insights and enhance their customer experience. Read the rest of this entry »


text:
- Respected online degrees. Earn a degree employers value.
- Flexible, online study. You learn when and where it fits your life.
- Affordable, lower tuition. WGU is a nonprofit online university.
July 29th - White House Recognizes WGU as an Example of What Works in PostsecondaryEducation
July 16th - New WGU Scholarship Helps Students Earn Master's Degrees in Business
WGU Honors More than 5,500 Graduates at Semi-Annual Commencement
July 11th - U.S. News and World Report: "Competency-Based Learning Provides Perks for Online Students"
At WGU, an online university, you earn your degree based on what you've learned, not how long you've spent in a classroom. We call it competency-based education, and it means you can move quickly through what you already know so you can focus on what you need to learn.
With competency-based education, your previous college and work experience means you could accelerate your program, saving time and money.
Privacy Policy |
Site Map |
Contact Us
© 2014 Western Governors University. All rights reserved.
WGU is an accredited online university offering online bachelor's and master's degree programs.