text:
I've had this maybe amazing idea whizzing around my head, involving Airbnb, to use its website structure to help loads of people, at no cost to the company and with universal benefit to society. I also thought of how to coerce them into doing it. I can't find a flaw.
Please feel free to comment and please share this blog entry if you like the idea. Let's make the 'sharing economy' live up to the tag.
10 Paid Nights, One Free Night.
Over the past three years Airbnb has grown hugely, exponentially, worldwide. If you don't know it, Airbnb offers a website for people anywhere to rent out their spare rooms on an informal, short-term 'holiday let' basis. The system is kept clean and fair by a TripAdvisor-style open comment/rating facility, so people who rent out rooms are judged by those who've stayed with them. Like Tripadvisor and SpareRoom, Airbnb is having nothing short of a revolutionary effect; radically changing our lifestyles. We love Airbnb – for example we find it significantly more reliable than booking conventional hotels via Laterooms.com. We've stayed all over the place and met fascinating, lovely people.
So here's what I want Airbnb to do (at first in the UK but with potential global roll-out). I think this could be a fantastic, enormous social benefit, while costing Airbnb almost nothing to implement. In fact it will benefit the company in long-term reputation and help to bring this new kind of informal web-connected marketplace model into the heart of our cultural mainstream. But also, in case Airbnb is unwilling to try it, I reckon the UK government has leverage to coerce.
The idea.
10 paid nights, one free night. Airbnb makes people renting their rooms out offer respite accommodation for carers and digs for touring artists. Anyone letting out a room for money gets 10 nights as normal, then they have to donate one night in that same room for free. This is regardless of room price. The room is offered with exactly the same description and conditions as normal. People renting out their rooms must sign up to either (or both) of two schemes:
Scheme #1 provides respite breaks for full-time carers. Carers are 'approved' by the charities working in that field and once they're accredited, can book Airbnb rooms for free, as and when they need, up to a certain total (perhaps 50 nights per year). The charities do what they normally do (provide respite care in their absence and other support mechanisms) but no longer need to fund the accommodation, for carers to get a break. There is no cap on the number of full-time carers who can register; as long as they qualify, they're on the list.
Scheme #2 provides digs for touring performing artists of all kinds (theatre groups, actors, musicians, comedians, perhaps even writers on retreat). This requires a slightly more convoluted structure, accredited through the Arts Council. Rather than individual artists being accredited ad infinitum (which would be open to abuse) ACE accredits specific touring shows and projects (or perhaps artists for a specified 'travelling work period', such as two months). The artists then book through Airbnb in the normal way. (Perhaps there's a rule whereby artists cannot opt into accommodation and at the same time get other public funding, so you either join the accommodation scheme, saving those costs, or you apply for funding in the normal way. Accommodation is a major cost of any tour – the biggest cost by far for small-scale touring. A whole swathe of working artists who don't want the layers of complexity and uncertainty involved in applying for formal ACE funding would still sign up and benefit hugely from this simpler in-kind opportunity. But I digress…)
If people renting out their rooms want to offer more than one free night, that's fine. Doing this builds up credit – so if they give away four free nights in a row, they have 40 paid nights before needing to donate again. A whole two weeks given free = another 140 paid nights before needing to re-up.
These new service users feed back on rooms they've stayed in, in exactly the same way as paying customers, in fact not distinguished from them unless they state it themselves. This beautifully blurs the line between people paying to stay and people who've been donated a room because they're fulfilling a crucial social function. It gives them an equal voice.
And ideally, eventually, this becomes the standard Airbnb model: one free night for every 10 paid nights.
So here's how we coerce Airbnb into doing it. Airbnb has grown so fast it is now valued in the £billions, if you can believe it, it's already a significant proportion of the value of the world's entire holiday accommodation industry. The mainstream hotel business is terrified and lobbying fiercely (particularly in the USA at the moment) to have governments clamp down. In particular they're building concern that because it's informal and based on thousands of individuals doing small, cash-in-hand transactions, the people who make money from it won't declare their earnings as tax. Also, they don't jump through any of the bureaucratic, or health-and-safety hoops that commercial hotel or B&B businesses have to navigate. So there's the fear that people renting rooms through Airbnb will have their data passed to the state, or that the site might get made liable and shut down.
Meanwhile, historically, the British Government (specifically HMRC, regardless of which party is in power) has been bloody shit at collecting huge amounts of owed tax from massive multi-national companies, for no discernible reason except they're chummy with the bosses. They have so much leverage in this area that goes to waste, it's sick. Yet because Airbnb helps many non-rich people earn small amounts of extra money that may be taxable, likelihood is, Government (especially the current gimp coalition) will consider going after it aggressively.
What if, instead of getting lobbied into the courts to grab Airbnb's data, the Government just takes the firm's UK bosses out for dinner and quietly says to them: donate one room in 10 and we'll leave you alone?
I don't mean for a moment that people using Airbnb will avoid owed tax; they're still totally liable. It's just, well, HMRC has happily sat down for posh lunches and made informal bespoke arrangements to pay almost no tax at all, with big fat bastards like Vodafone, Amazon, Starbucks and that tiny little bastard Ecclestone. Why can't they use their weight to do something good for a change? Imagine, this could be a shining light, a morally beautiful example of the government's tax powers directly encouraging a social good, without even letting anyone off paying what is owed.
Or maybe, to get ahead of this possibility and earn huge, lasting public goodwill in one fell swoop, Airbnb will just do it off their own backs. Use the UK as a beta trial, to see how viable it is...
Even the website bolt-on required is simple; doesn't get in the way of any transactional mechanisms. And of course, Airbnb can offset costs of the web-build. Or perhaps the web developers will do it pro bono because they're hip like that. More broadly, I can even imagine a bold move like this from one market-leading company having a permanent, paradigm shifting positive effect across the entire 'sharing economy', creating a presumptive good-spirited norm that the service being offered also requires a charitable, community-led element. Surely that would be incredible and forever undercut the negative perceptions coming out of more traditional industries.
And that's it. Airbnb gets 'persuaded' to go for 10 paid nights, one free night. Donated to carers needing respite, or touring artists needing digs. It's so simple, it feels perfect.
What do you think? Beautiful but impossible? Does it have any holes? Feel free to jump in with a comment if you have one. And if you like it, please share this argument because – who knows – maybe the Arts Council and carer charities will just build their own rival system. Or even better, Airbnb will just decide to do it anyway, out of the kindness of their hearts.
The morning after, my manager phones me. "What the fuck did you say to Ed Harcourt?"
"Nothing? I don't think we spoke, maybe he said hello? Why?"
"Chris, you're an idiot, he was sat in the hotel lounge explaining to everyone what a rude cunt you are. You've done yourself no favours. For God's sake."
Hotel lounge. I'm remembering the last train home heaving with Croydon drunks and someone kicking my guitar.
"Sarge, I honestly don't remember a conversation. You had me there from midday til midnight to play two songs with no food or money while everyone else swanned in and out, I was pretty fucking tired and pissed off at the end, maybe I was a dick but not in a proper personal dick sort of way, just in a me-being-a-dick sort of way and you know it was a fucking rubbish night, for that lineup it should've been rammed, Hitchcock and Stewart Lee and a half full room and some Plum Promotions arse and no atmosphere and you pretending to spin discs on your laptop, not even a real CD player and we turned down supporting fucking Decemberists at the Water Rats for that? Fucking Decemberists, they're going to be huge!"
(Calmly) "No they're not, Chris. You did the right gig. And you've got to be nicer next time."
Last weekend we went to Collider at the Science Museum, the exhibition about CERN, the LHC and the discovery of the Higgs Boson. It is £10 for an adult, gets drastically undermined by its introductory film – and I don't think I've ever been so disappointed coming out of a major exhibition.
Is this what mainstream science-based curation is like?
Collider opens with a video introduction given by scientists inside a mocked up lecture theatre. It's not clear if these are real staff members, or actors playing caricature. The lead is a Yaffle-ish cliché, over-enunciating like a first time local newsreader, giving us a kind of smug, self-absorbed monologue about peripheral, mostly meaningless stuff. Of course, if he's a real CERN scientist I feel bad for dissing his delivery – but this whole section is desperate distraction rather than rich content. It feels like a hundred idiots tweaked the brief. It feels like a multi-agency fluff – where directors and editors entirely fail to establish target audience, or decide what needs saying, or oversee their presenters to be simple and economic. Actually, it feels as if the sole aim is not to explain the Higgs Boson or LHC at all, rather to ram home the point that scientists are interesting people with human lives. This is Cowellian distopic nightmare writ large and shoved worryingly deep into our science and innovation establishment. Emotive (and silly) personal life nonsense and generic "Whoa! how excited we are!" replaces any sense of authority or faith in the richness of what these experiments may mean. One scientist tells us she's doing it all for the memory of her humble schoolteacher father – and her script reads exactly like one of those moments on X Factor when they force-grow audience empathy. My gears grind. We're in a presentation to relentlessly tell us how important it all is, rather than showing us.
Also, they use the phrase 'money shot'. How on earth did that get past an editorial team? "Mum, what does 'money shot' mean?"
There's one teasing footage moment of Peter Higgs and some actual findings – less than three seconds – before we skim away again, uneducated and unmoved. Far more time is spent on an inane, irritating joke involving Brian Cox, who appears faced away from us, while a scientist calls him 'new boy' and demands a cup of tea from "what was your name again?" "Brian". Meaningful look to camera.
And then one scientist makes this joke, with the clear implication that we're meant to laugh with him, not at him: "My wife says I spend more time with the LHC than her. But I can get another wife."
Gobsmacking. The scriptwriting is criminal. Imagine how much more powerful this film could've been if someone (yeah perhaps Cox, since they've paid him to show up anyway!) did the following simple steps: (1) explained the problems they wanted to solve, questions they wanted to answer in the first place (which don't get a mention). (2) showed us clips of CERN at work and play, (3) then clips of the announcement of the discovery of the Higgs and maybe some Peter Higgs himself (that can be our emotional kicker). Finally (4) summing up (as simply as possible) what it all means. It's, er, not rocket science. By god, an actual history lesson.
Collider's opening salvo is sexist, badly put together and dumb, its compromised cheapness rendered obvious by the huge screen size. It fatally injures the rest of the exhibition, which without it (and without the entry fee) might've been perhaps mostly harmless. We need to suspend skeptism and, fundamentally, maintain interest in these scientists' achievement in order to enjoy being briefly and vaguely immersed in their world. Instead we walk through the rest of Collider filled with the exact wrong responses. Sarcastic and flaw-spotting. Disengaged. There's a high quality surround CG film that takes us 'inside' the LHC itself, whooshing around us on a huge screen, yet with no components or processes adequately explained. There are further scientist narratives which are much better; talking about individual aspects of CERN's work. There's the evocative recreation of an office space and corridor, which – again – aims to entirely prioritise the humanising of the staff, ahead of any explanation of what they do.
If Collider is this weak, it has a further problem: how vastly rich the experience is to simply walk through the rest of the Science Museum to get there. If you're remotely engaged with, or interested in science, or if you have children who are interested in science, please visit the Science Museum, it's a wonderful, overwhelming place. I found more of Prof. Cox's trademark "Wonder!" in a single projected display showing vividly how many satellites there really are orbiting Earth (answer: a shitload, looking at it makes Gravity a ton more plausible) than the entire Collider walk-through. So please don't spend the extra money to visit Collider. If they're contributing to the Cowellising of culture like this, we'll only encourage them if it's successful. Instead, we can find other ways to discover and share the joys of the LHC and the stories of the scientists who built and used it. An hour on Youtube will probably do the job vastly better.
My third Pecha Kucha talk was given (as were both previous ones) for the Brighton Digital Festival edition of PKN Brighton. I love the format but this time it ran away from me…
This article was originally published in Louder Than War magazine.
A great number of UK music artists I admire now use crowd-funding platforms like PledgeMusic or Indiegogo to raise cash from fans, to fund albums, videos, or touring. It's very quickly been normalised in the music industry, to the point that you'll almost never hear a bad word spoken about these platforms. Unusually, they're popular with mainstream upcoming artists, the companies around them and also fully independent, self-described DIY or underground artists.
But something in me finds them disconcerting. I admit I've not once contributed money to an artist's Pledge campaign. Each time I hear about one, even when I adore the artist, my heart sinks. Yet people clearly feel it works and there are a pile of happy (on the surface at least) customers. It's a perfectly legitimate way to fund music in the new online paradigm.
So, what's my beef?
As hugely successful US crowd-funding company Kickstarter launches in the UK; for the first time offering a serious competitor to PledgeMusic, it's worth considering the case against, if only to enable a debate when the narrative is so blandly positive. Full disclosure: I've never tried it myself. Xtra Mile Recordings did run a successful Pledge campaign to replace stock (including my albums) destroyed in the depot fire (after the London riots) but I have no personal experience of running one. Trying to figure out why I'm not into them, here's what I've come up with:
The emperor's new clothes. Wasn't half the point of going online to get rid of third parties? Instead it's a messy battle. We binned major labels but got trapped in the price-controlled, tax dodging chaos of Amazon and iTunes, even when Bandcamp gave us a cleaner alternative. Then along came this whole new generation of third parties, jumping in ahead of the distributors to get their share, before the music's even made. And because the process is automated, artists and punters alike seem blind to an obvious truth; at a basic fundamental level, web-based platforms are the same old villains wearing a hipper jacket. Yet again they find a thing that artists (wrongly) believe they can't do alone, then slide in between artist and audience by offering that thing as a service, in order to cream off profit.
I'm convinced almost any artist with a moderate fan-base can crowd-fund just as easily, with less commitment, more control and a greater overall ROI (return on investment), just by having conversations with the right people. What is it about these formal frameworks that let the artist off the hook of asking personally for support, when it's usually the exact same people who end up contributing anyway? You want someone's money, fucking go and ask them. Write a letter. It feels as if everyone's playing at grown-ups by using a third party website as a dressing-up box.
That's too much money. For running a largely passive, artist-driven web-based platform (nothing more complex than Flickr, Instagram, Facebook or a hundred other free sites) with a simple financial processing structure bolted on, these companies charge 15% of revenue – and are less than transparent to funders, who are often only vaguely aware that there's a percentage taken at all. And that's a lot. That's what a music manager or booking agent took in the old days, for doing a massive load of work to bring in income. Artists have spent 100 years deeply resenting – and regularly sacking or suing – managers and agents on the same percentage they now happily give to strangers for letting them sit on their web servers for a bit.
Treats for funders are embarrassing and a total arsehole to get done. Money is teased out of devoted fans with offers of rewards, exclusive content, private attention, all sorts. But these bring the wrong kind of closeness; too big a sense of a personal debt owed; often placing artists in uncomfortable situations. Trying to record music with 25 funders sitting in the control room as part of a treat day is a joke. A cause of this over-reach is also malevolent: the ever-increasing sense of urgency (becoming terror later) as the deadline looms, because 'success' is so important it erodes any objective sense of what is realistic or achievable. Which brings me to:
Something not even made yet is already a failure. On Kickstarter 56% of projects fail to make target and get zero. Unpack that stat and it's pretty concerning: these creative people didn't undertake Kickstarter lightly in the first place, they made a plan, shot a video, offered their fanbase all the bonuses in the world and still failed to hit target. That's a whole lot of effort and commitment gone to define themselves as a big fat loser, for financial reasons rather than artistic judgement. I wonder what the damage done is, in real terms.
This is innately biased (of course) against inarticulate, disorganised and working class artists (whose wider communities and support bases tend to have fewer financial resources). I also reckon, although this is tenuous, that the system leans in favour of technically innovative, science-based, gimmicky, design or technical projects over pure art, because the former can be more easily explained, ahead of actually doing it.
New album releases go on forever. First the artist talks up the new album before even starting to make it. Then they endlessly document the process. Then it's done and first they release it exclusively to funders. Then they do other posh formats separately, in order to send them out to other funders. Finally they release the album to everyone else. It's been weeks since those first people got hold of it and someone immediately file-shared it. We're bored now.
Finally, my biggest, most esoteric dissent speaks to broader issues about fundraising campaigns in general. These platforms rely on everyone turning a blind eye to a truth: that a very few devoted followers will fund almost everything. When artists draw resource from their audience, a very select core number of individual funders (relatively wealthy and truly devoted) will underwrite the whole ballgame. This is already true of the wider music industry: If we started analyzing the tiny contingency of people propping up our entire business, we'd be aghast. In crowd-funding, success or failure depends on whether the artist has those particular followers. I say this without specific data to back me up – however it is based on first hand experience not in the music world, nor business, but in the third sector (charity industry). In language and structure, arts crowd-funding campaigns far more closely resemble charity appeals than other kinds of business fundraising, right down to the ideas around 'donating' in return for special rewards. A charity industry 'universal truth' is that at least 80% of money comes from fewer than 20% of donors. Successful crowd-funding campaigns will always have exclusive, very high value rewards for much larger amounts, where 'selling' only a handful of them underwrites a massive proportion of the campaign. It's an identical approach.
Honestly, so many artists I know who've crowd-funded would back me up here: because of this principle, the success or failure of a project is less down to the size of audience, or how hard the artist works the campaign across the breadth of their fan-base; it's more down to whether they're lucky enough to have a small core of very devoted and relatively wealthy fans, and/or some rewards of high value to offer those fans.
I believe, far too often, the artist becomes slave to the campaign, rather than the other way around. You would be astonished the number of artists out there who, even after publicly successful target-smashing campaigns, will later quietly express a range of regrets that they wouldn't want their generous audience to know about. They look back and regret what they offered; regret the time wasted honoring those offers; regret how panicky they got about a ludicrous arbitrary definition of 'success'; regret how the balance in their relationship with supporters shifted; regret not finding the funds elsewhere, so they could be more flexible about what it was they were making.
And these are the ones who won.
Now, I'm not really bothered; from all angles it's just people making choices. I guess I just feel a bit sorry for them all, that they couldn't try other ways first. And phew, I didn't even mention Amanda Palmer.
ps. thanks to music fan and Words With Friends opponent Matt Rhodes for emailing me a question about recorded music pricing, which triggered this article – sorry I haven't actually answered your questions at all, Matt, I'll get to them.
I knew Kim Gavin's Closing Ceremony would be the antithesis of the crazy-beautiful joy that Danny Boyle and Frank Cottrell Boyce brought to the opening night: I knew it would be predictable and mainstream. But that was fine, we'd have a laugh, enjoy the music acts we like and I honestly thought it would still be funny after three hours. Witnessing the pop stars and lickspittles trying to equal Boyle's heady brew. Art is subjective, after all.
I was mistaken: it was a numbing, disheartening disaster. The biggest floating turd we ever did whiff; reducing, demeaning and re-squishing Britain, at the very moment we'd felt shifted long-term for the better by these liberating Olympic Games. In one fattened pig of a gong-show, Gavin forced us back into clunky shackles that Boyle and Boyce briefly, tantalisingly freed us from, only a month ago. Far worse than just being bad, what unfolded was – I think – proper fucking dangerous. You know that phrase: the banality of evil. So.
There'd been rumblings that Danny Boyle didn't put enough Churchill in. Our war leader, fast deposed in peacetime, wasn't given enough of a strident voice for organisers' tastes. Because obviously we need thoughts of conflict and top-down triumphalism, not co-operation and shared effort, to show us off to the world on the eve of a big sports pageant. Dur. Anyway, Kim Gavin kicked off by correcting that error, with admirable actor Tim Spall bellowing something from The Tempest, stretched over a noisy background canvas in awful parroting rasp, reprised in broader strokes from his performance in The King's Speech. Not a fresh moment then; instead lifted from someone else's casting and someone else's process.
This flags up clearly what was about to happen for fucking hours: piles of stuff presented as unique, weighty or historical that was actually just re-staged ubiquity; hackney carriaged bits and bobs, flung up-and-out on stadium scale, nothing new added. Constantly disappointing, the show repeatedly heralded musical legends who weren't there; Bowie, Bush, they didn't appear, just backing tracks over a tannoy. Desperately a commentator tells us Kate Bush re-recorded her vocal part for the ceremony. Why even bother, though?
Another outing for Emeli Sandé. In the Opening Ceremony she performed too but it wasn't so much about her, then, as what she was singing: The Meaning had little to do with her domestic fame or career path. This time it was the opposite: entirely about Sandé as a PR machined product – and she went on for ages. I have to believe both Adele and Leona turned down Gavin, for Emeli to have got this length of slot; I've forgotten anything about the song except the totally Adele-ish solo piano accompaniment. Foghorn Florence was too edgy to appear, or too smart.
Gavin couldn't get Oasis to reform; instead relying on Liam's Beady Eye to karaoke ancient song Wonderwall. And what the fuck has happened to Liam's voice? Once perhaps the greatest sneering, louche roar this country has produced – a rich, northern counterpoint to Johnny Rotten – yet now I guess ravaged by cocaine, inactivity, far too much soft cheese, it's a horrible whining dither. Like when The Fast Show one week swapped Jazz Club for Indie Club (ha, there's a boring, outdated 90s reference for you) it was a disinterested parody of 'alternative'.
I reckon George Michael's live auto-tune was still on as he spoke between his two songs, so his voice glitched out as if he'd breathed helium.
And the most audaciously lazy bit of all: the entire audio track of the opening section then replayed as backing soundtrack to the athletes arriving and partying. Gavin couldn't even be bothered to pick some different tunes to play out over the PA. Even the shittest amateur wedding DJ wouldn't pull that stunt. So cheapskate, one almost expected the Spotify adverts to interrupt halfway through.
Such relentless, vacuous prioritising of burger van iconography over real-life performance (or talent) is summed up by Russell Brand's song'n'dance number. I like Brand but he is a stand-up comedian, television presenter and sometimes a useful cultural commentator. None of these are here, instead we rely on his hyperdriven celebrity itself to carry something that is patently (and self-knowingly, since he played it for laughs) drivel. Now I'm getting carried away slagging it off but there is a more important thing needs highlighting about this show, with a direct comparison:
From the Opening Ceremony, take Atkinson-as-Bean's comic bit around Sir Simon Rattle conducting Chariots Of Fire. Whether or not you enjoy Bean, this was an undercutting and re-humanising of an epic 'classic' piece of music that – without fundamentally lessening its power (it was subsequently used throughout the Olympics) – took it to a previously unseen, interesting, funny place. THAT is how to treat an icon. It was Gerard Hoffnung-esque, de-mythologised the orchestra and took itself lightly without deadening itself. Meanwhile, there was Akram Khan's powerful Indian dance in near silence, linked to Emile Sande singing Abide With Me in tribute to fallen comrades. Here, crucially, the ethnicity, or 'exoticism' of the dance is not the point of the dance, rather it is presented as part of a bigger 'us', while the emotion in the dance is its strength and focus.
Compare those two sections to their near parallel in the Closing Ceremony; where Eric Idle flounces through Python smash Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life before being interrupted by, again, some Indian dancers, who befuddle and confuse him, throw dust on him, leave him distracted. On a quality level; again nothing new or rare. Performances of this song take place every night somewhere across the UK as part of Spamalot. On a political level, it no way captured any of the subversive silliness of the original from Life Of Brian. All reference to the film's edgy content exorcised, of course.
But far worse, this routine was entirely about the otherness and exoticism of the Indian dance juxtaposed against Idle's familiarity; this was the dancers' sole point; to be alien where previously there was comfort. This is deeply malignant. Idle's uncomfortable adversity was cultural diversity, because that is how this ruinous establishment needs us to feel about multi-culturalism, even as we pay lip service to difference. We already saw clearly – for example in far-right Tory arsewipe Aiden Burley's "multi-cultural crap" tweet and a Daily Mail piece so bursting with racism even they re-edited it – how Boyle's opening work was drastically radical by comparison: ethnicity and background properly enmeshed and un-highlighted.
Kim gave a similar bashing to gender, sensitivity perhaps heightened by how the past three weeks has been an extraordinary Olympic Games for women; with significant, real steps taken. The 'fashion biz' segment in the Closing Ceremony was an unfathomably regressive bit of choreographed objectification. It felt deliberate, as if designed to rein in any aspiration or hopes that briefly glimpsed light this past month. Huge photos of girls in posh frocks. Superstar models appear, celebrified, apeing their runway work on flatbeds. It wasn't a fashion show in itself, or a true celebration of design (which would've told us something about design). It was more like the revenge of the owner of the commodified clothes-horse: as if womankind needed to be ritually re-objectified, after a short respite month of being valued in a better way. Ramming back home the wider truths of rape culture and wealth-based costumery idealism.
Appalling on both fronts: politically (not party-politically but in its representation of us as a people, a nation, to the world) and culturally, through its sheer, gobsmacking lack of material. Kim Gavin's ceremony contained not a single new or unexpected idea. Not one! Just relentless looping of overly-seen bits from other big recent shows, produced by the same hegemony. The Who perform. Tick. Brian May does a big guitar solo. Tick. Ed Sheeran. Tick. There is no content and no meaning here whatsoever.
They were perfectly within their rights to produce a poor show – or rather, a show I personally didn't enjoy: one person's piece of crap is another person's fun party. But what they weren't within their rights to do was claw back the goodness. They stole our rapture and they put John Lennon's dead face onto commodified conventionalism. Kim Gavin is the perfect example of an endemic disease in the modern British arts industry: a hugely powerful establishment creative director who is not actually a creative person, or if he was, long ago outsourced it for status and pies. His show was not cookery but mere assemblage – a Lego house built from bricks we all saw already, outdated values and the co-opting and commodifying of grace. And not even an interestingly shaped whole.
What Boyle's Opening Ceremony had done was open up the doors; a box of delights; the best of what we are and what we can be in Great Britain, how we built this motherfucker. Showing us our truthful crazy-beautiful spirit and heralding in two weeks of sport in such a way that we felt something could be reclaimed and changed. We repaid him by being the best athletes, volunteers and audience in history.
What Gavin's Closing Ceremony has done is to throw Britain back in the box and slam it shut; fiercely and unquestioningly placing current hegemonies back in charge; re-infantilising and re-exoticising all that Boyle had tried to unlock for us; a revenge for the otherness and the hierachy and the celebrity-for-its-own-sake, just as these bullshit Cowellian things had seemed to be proven unneeded. It was a boot on our face. I wonder how we'll repay him.
I'm very proud to say I have an essay in the first New Public Thinkers book, available now. Edited by Dougald Hine and Keith Kahn-Harris, the book is called Despatches From The Invisible Revolution and includes some breathtaking writing from the likes of Pat Kane, Keri Facer, Noah Raford, Vinay Gupta, Smári McCarthy and many others.
We were asked to write about 2011 as a fulcrum year. My contribution The Year Punk Broke seeks a connection between last year's accelerated global changes and our personal ability to grow and change.
Find out more and purchase Despatches From The Invisible Revolution.
"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" – John Lydon
"They're just a band." – Scroobius Pip
If you're remotely interested in live music (or just fucked off when you can't get tickets for a show without paying double face value) then last night's Dispatches programme was essential viewing (watch it on 4OD). It exposed the reality of 'fan-to-fan' ticket reselling websites like Viagogo and Seatwave; that they're actually just online touting; regardless of any stated business model, they primarily cater to professional touts and promoters of major shows, such as SJM, LiveNation and Metropolis, who collude by allocating them batches of prime tickets, to make more money than face value.
Grim stuff, yet it was nothing one couldn't expect or predict if one thinks about it for more than a few seconds.
However the investigation left out three points that I think could've been covered with equal vigour:
First, because Dispatches approached the issue solely from a consumer point of view, they failed to follow the money and investigate bands and their agents' relationships with those promoters who've bumped up profits by re-selling. A fascinating (and potentially explosive) question is: do bands and their agents get a share of that extra profit, or not? Promoters and artists split profits of a sold out show, based (presumably) on number of seats times ticket price equals overall gross income. How is that calculated? Are the big artists being diddled, or are they complicit?
I ask because it will be terrific fun to watch, if it turns out promoters have ripped off some of the biggest names in music by reselling their tickets above the agreed sums, without passing on any of the profit. Unlike us humble punters, these bands have the resources and wherewithal to fight back, if they so choose. Or, if they're complicit, they would make a much more effective target for consumer groups to attack, by publicly shaming the likes of Coldplay or Rihanna or Will Young, rather than the comparatively anonymous promoters.
Secondly, Dispatches should've investigated the perfectly legal and now almost universal, yet immensely damaging, exclusive closed pre-sales to owners of certain mobile phones or users of other services that have a relationship with the venue but no connection to the artist. By giving a specific group of people priority access to tickets, regardless of whether they're a fan, surely the secondary market is being massively further nourished, while real fans are locked out in the cold. Arguably these pre-sales are actually worse for fans than plain touting, since they normalise the reselling process and turn otherwise normal ticket buyers into touts, for the bands they didn't want to see but felt obliged to 'take advantage of an offer' on.
(I don't mean pre-sales to artists' own mailing lists or fan clubs, by the way, that would seem to me to be a perfectly logical and reasonable process.)
Finally, I would've loved to see Dispatches widen the investigation to look at the whole process of brand sponsorship of elements of the entertainment industry. If you're an artist playing to 2,000+ people in the UK right now, it's almost impossible to do that without becoming a tacit advertiser of O2. It's not the Brixton Academy anymore, it's the O2 Academy Brixton. Even smaller venues are increasingly branded. Yet did you know that if you purchase a t-shirt at a gig, the band aren't getting all the money – the venues take as much as 25% of all income from merchandise, despite being supposedly 'supported' by a brand sponsor? Almost no bands are able to fight this – even the 'guaranteed sellout' bands who know they'll fill a venue, make a venue and promoter a heap of money in drink sales as well as their share of ticket revenue, still are unable to work out individual deals to keep all the money from their merch sales. So one solution you increasingly find happening is artists and their management quietly supporting and supplying the 'bootleg' merch sellers outside the venue, to claw back some of that revenue…
and da-dah! …the system gets even more fucked and corrupted.
I have mixed feelings about this Dispatches. Although touting is fucking irritating and further snags up an already messy business, if punters weren't so obsessed by certain hyped huge shows that they pay ridiculous amounts over the odds, it simply wouldn't happen. Moaners seem to be calling for some kind of legislation to regulate an industry over and above other industries, simply on the basis of an annoyance factor. I hate it when otherwise-happy Capitalists do that, it's one of the worst, nimby-est bits of liberalism. Last night on Twitter I called it a #sheeptax but nobody reacted (probably for the best!).
Anyway, there's an economic case for saying it is proof that these shows are under-priced (ha! This isn't something I actually believe, by the way) – a secondary market only exists while fans are willing to pay. So Madonna took a shit-load of heat recently (including from me) for saying her tickets should be £180, yet once you average the touted price with the official £60 face value Coldplay tickets, they actually came out at roughly the same figure. Many, many people paid £200+ to see Coldplay at the O2. Well, ultimately, do they really want my sympathy? Who's the bigger fool?
So yes, it's an appalling practice. But if people resolved tomorrow that they wouldn't pay above face value, even if that means sometimes missing a show they wanted to see, pouf! the trade vanishes in a cloud of smoke.
I just had a killer idea for selling advance tickets to concerts online – a way of migrating 'pay what you want' across to the live music world, without having to do loads of gigs for £1.50. I think someone needs to build this app (or Eventbrite and other online sellers need to add it as an option). By the way, if this is already happening somewhere and I just missed it, I'll happily stand corrected.
The 'pay what you want' model (popularised by Radiohead I guess) is now widely used by artists to sell downloads. It's available as an option on Bandcamp for example; I tried it myself for 2010's Christmas download and it worked beautifully. But to my knowledge nobody has set it up for gigging in a way that works: Eventbrite does have a 'donation' based ticketing option but it has two deal-breaking flaws: 1) they still charge a booking fee on the donation (!) and 2) if you reach capacity mainly from people who donated nothing, you can't then prioritise those people who donated more. You get a room full of people who valued the experience at zero and turned away some folks who were willing to donate a chunk. So here's a simple twist on the system that would make it beautiful:
Pay-what-you-like but the promoter can keep offering tickets after capacity has been reached. At close of sale (based either on a fixed point in time, or on a total amount of money donated), the highest offers (bids/donations) are the people who get the tickets and have their money taken.
The promoter can even set a cut-off point, so they want to earn a fixed amount and (once capacity has been reached) the system keeps prioritising higher offers (bids) until that amount is reached, then cuts off – which will still allow some lower bids access to the show. Meanwhile punters can keep checking back on a gig's popularity and raise their bid / donation if they start worrying they won't get it. It needs to be open to be fair, I guess.
*EDIT* and I guess it needs a reserve amount too, below which the gig doesn't happen!? Hadn't thought of that…
I bet this would be a relatively simple add-on for an advanced system like Eventbrite or The Big Cartel. (Not to even mention good old WeGotTickets, because they've got some catching up to do)
*EDIT* Luke Beesley (@LukeTotD) has found a catch: it makes life tricky for people who travel to gigs via public transport, since there's an element of risk involved, yet you get much cheaper public transport bought in advance. And you're more likely to want to donate *less* if you have to travel, because of the total cost involved. Yes, this is a problem.
I wonder if you could include in the model an option for a 'secure it now' price, for people who don't like the risk. This would have the added bonus of encouraging gig prices upwards (from my point of view that's a bonus since I fundamentally believe most non-'heritage genre' or 'tribute' small live music events are currently underpriced), while taking the risk out for those willing to pay a little more. It'd also be fun and perhaps, with a forum-style comment space under the ticket thing, create more of a community out of gig goers?
Am I now over-thinking it all? Comments welcome below, as always…
*BIG EDIT* Rhodri Marsden made a strong critique of the idea on ideological grounds on Facebook, and he's agreed I can add our conversation in below:
I thought "Wow! that's a good idea!". And then I thought, no, it's not. The reason it works for music is that there isn't a finite number of products. If people want to pay more, then they can. That's fine. But excluding people from gigs because people with more disposable income pushed ahead of them in the queue just seems a bit crap.
Gigs shouldn't be about exclusivity. Certainly not in our world. Part of the reason it's nice is cos everyone has paid a tenner to be there. Except the freeloaders, but I don't believe in freeloading either and always pay even if I'm on the guest list. (I'm rambling now. I also appear to have become more left-wing in the last 3 minutes than I thought I was.)
my starting position (which you may disagree with) is that most small gigs (discounting 'heritage genre', 'tribute bands' and 'lineup of local hopefuls') are currently underpriced. Secondly, surely this system is no more exclusive than setting a fixed price in the first place? I believe a key to the gig industry is the disconnect between what promoters and artists believe people will / can pay for live music and reality. The myth is: people won't pay £10 for a evening of live music but they'll pay £8.50 for the cinema. To counter your 'exclusivity' issue, you can still run the 'auction' but stick in a 'buy it now' price.
Oh right. Yes. For some reason in my head we were talking about a room full of people who'd paid £20 squeezing out those who could only afford a fiver. If it's a roomful of people paying a tenner squeezing out those who are only paying a measly quid, somehow it becomes more palatable.
In many places in the country a glass of wine in a bar costs almost £5. I'm not feeling bad about people only prepared (able) to pay that, perhaps (sometimes) getting edged out. But fundamentally, folks would set their own levels.
But doesn't supply & demand economics set gig pricing levels in any case? Popular gigs cost more money, less popular gigs don't. I don't think there's going to be a rush of people (say) desperate to pay £15 to watch something at the Buffalo Bar.


text:
Taylor Swift and The Jonas Brothers Awkwardly Ring in 2009by Hilton Hater at . Comments
Amazingly, the millions of morons that spent New Year's Eve soberly shivering in Times Square, shoulder-to-shoulder with complete strangers, were not the most uncomfortable people in New York City Wednesday night.
For the climactic moment of Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve, Ryan Seacrest assembled an awkward sixtet on stage, just as the ball was dropped.
Here's a look at who rung in 2009 together:
The Jonas Brothers: Baby-faced trio that has sold millions of albums in 2008. Wildly popular rising stars. Makes sense.
Demi Lovato: BFF to all The Jonas Brothers, yet utterly unknown to anyone outside of loyal celebrity gossip readers. Those at the party half our staff attended were more confused about her identity than they were about why anyone would spend New Year's Eve in Times Square.
Lionel Richie: Father of Nicole Richie. Last recorded a commercially successful album in 1986.
Taylor Swift: Ex-girlfriend of Joe Jonas. Has publicly slammed Joe for dumping her over the phone and immediately moving on with actress Camilla Belle.
You really had to watch this group ring in 2009 together in order to truly grasp how awkward it was for everyone involved. Swift turned to the crowd for the duration of the celebration, pretending to wave to fans - but likely contemplating how many bones would break if she jumped.
i think joe was just mean i mean cond't you at lest tell her to her face i mean come on joe .
Team Taylor! I can't believe Joe would do something like that! Well actually I can.
Does anyone think Ryan Seacrest was a little off at the Grammy's?...............
i don't think that joe waz that mean, but it's not like taylor hasn't been that harsh either. let's face it, they were both equally as mean 2 each other... some more than others. lol
i think that is really slack of Joe to dump Taylor when she seems like a nice girl, and that is also slack how he dumped her over the phone i think that he is taking being famous way to much and that he is just uing these girls!!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Meridian™ 3D Audio Technology
Hear the story behind the incredible sound system in the
Range Rover Sport.
Hear the story behind the incredible sound system in the
Range Rover Sport.
The Premium 1700-Watt System uses 23 loudspeakers to expand the sense of space within the cabin and provide a realistic three-dimensional listening experience.
The full length of the seat can be adjusted to provide you with that extra level of comfort.
The Four Zone Climate Control system provides separate controls for the driver, front passenger and the passengers on each side of the second row of seats.
Discover the level of detail and skill that goes into furnishing and upholstering the Range Rover Sport interior.
The wide variety of options and colour ways available give you the freedom to create the ultimate personalised interior.
The beautifully soft, high-grade hides are carefully selected for their tactility and appearance.
The warm, soft surfaces can be offset by stunning, cool to the touch metal details.
Five digital cameras provide an almost complete 360-degree view on the touch screen, helping to give you confidence when towing or pulling out at junctions.
Choose between eight-inch or 10.2-inch screens and keep passengers in the rear seats entertained on the longest journeys.
The driver and front passenger can view completely different content on the touch-screen display. So while the passenger is watching TV, the driver can follow navigation instructions.
As you would expect from Land Rover, the Hard Disk Drive-based satellite system features enhanced on and off-road capabilities.
The power tailgate's opening height can be programmed to suit your personal preferences or accommodate more confined loading areas.


text:
Profitable strategies for binary options & nbsp;
As with Forex and share trading, you need a certain amount of knowledge and strategies, to make a profit when trading binary options over the long term. There are two main strategies in the world of professional traders: It is the Technical Analysis or Chart Analysis and the Fundamental analysis, we describe here with short summaries. For complete article click on Fundamental analysis or Chart Analysis. Furthermore, we will still appeal to an empirical strategy here, which e.g.. the Trendstrategie heard, in another Articles are also discussed in detail. Profitable strategies, there are many. However, they must correctly apply.
Acting according to the technical analysis
Technical analysis - or even the Chart Analysis - Deals with courses in the past, to predict the future development. This type of analysis is based on the "Dow Theory". This theory came from an excellent financial analyst and co-founder of the "Wall Street Journal" and is based on the principle "The market remembers". That is, that the market behaves according to specific patterns. These patterns repeat themselves constantly. In other words, we can say, that the analysis of the last decades we know the pattern and it can predict the development of an asset with a high reliability. Therefore, the technical analysis consists of the analysis of chart with the help of technical indicators (for further information or additional charts) and the observation of patterns of graphs / Candlestick chart patterns. This type of analysis is used by traders most. Furthermore you will find a lot of information in books and on the Internet.
Acting according to the tendency indicator
Another method, being debated in various forums often, is the observation of an indicator, indicating the tendency of traders (also: Stimmung that Trader Indicator). This tool is often provided by brokers. This indicator describes the balance (Ratio of CALL to PUT the respective asset) the currently open positions. Since the traders at online brokers do not act directly on the exchange and pursue many no strategy and act only according to "gut feeling", this indicator is not absolutely reliable. We encourage you to rely on such indicators in no case. It is even worth considering this indicator to act opposite.
Trade nach der Fundamentalanalyse
We have compiled the reasons Fundamental analysis is the second major branch of analysis tools for trading binary options. This method is based exclusively on the economic data and the general economic climate, with which one tries the future development of assets previously to say. Example: The crisis of 2008 was a good example to bet on falling prices of publicly traded companies, above all banks and investment funds. If you look at it in detail, so there are dozens of small indicators, which are published daily (z.B. Unemployment rate of a country). All these data are in Economic calendars in real time available. The observation of these indicators can help you decide, if you put on a falling or rising price.


text:
You must log in to access this feature. Sign in with Twellow or Facebook to get started.
By signing in to Twellow, you indicate your agreement to our terms of service.
Simply connect with Facebook and kiss those password blues away,
or go here to reset your password.
Life coach, Spinning, Buddhist, unschool,crochet,pagan,knitting, farming,mother,tarot,aura,psychic, eft,loa,midwifey type,green, fibromyalgia, yoga


text:
IBMA Award Nominees Announced; Ashton Shepherd and MCA Nashville Part Ways; Trampled By Turtles Cover Springsteen
- IBMA Award nominations were announced last night. The entire list of nominees, along with the names of two new Hall of Fame inductees (Ralph Rinzler and Doyle Lawson) can be found here.
- It appears that Ashton Shepherd and MCA Nashville have parted ways.
- The JaneDear Girls have split.
- Barry Mazor wrote about The Mountain Music Project for The Wall Street Journal.
- Blogger Mando Lines interviewed Drew Kennedy for a post on No Depression.
- Keith Urban showed Yahoo's RAM Country around some of his favorite places in Nashville, including the Hall of Fame.
- Here's a video for Kelly Joe Phelps' "Down to the Praying Ground."
- Out September 18: Hillbilly Jedi, a new album from Big & Rich.
- Jake Owen's four-song EP, Endless Summer, will be released September 25.
- Kix Brooks will be on Good Morning America September 12.
- This autumn, Carrie Underwood will be the subject of two VH1 shows: Behind the Music and VH1 Unplugged.
- Trampled By Turtles covered "Open All Night" for the compilation Long Distance Salvation: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska.
- Jim Ridley previews Jason & The Scorchers' upcoming performance at this weekend's Perry Baggs memorial show in Nashville.
- Books by Gregg Allman and Bob Dylan made Rolling Stone's list of the 25 Greatest Rock Memoirs.
- Marissa R. Moss of the Nashville Scene profiled Derek Hoke.
- If you missed Dwight Yoakam performing "Nothing But Love" from his upcoming record, 3 Pears, on The Tonight Show last night, skip ahead to 39:00 on this video.
- A lawsuit alleges that the song "Backwoods," performed by Justin Moore, was stolen from songwriters Bobby Carmichael and Britton Curry.
- Kelly Dearmore interviewed Kasey Chambers about the songs she couldn't fit on her covers record, Storybook.
9 Comments
Looking forward to hearing Carrie on VH1 Unplugged! Will be good to hear her acoustic again, especially on some of the tracks from Blown Away that are so overproduced.
Oddly enough, the IBMA list of nominees to which the link points is incomplete, as it doesn't include the nominees for a new award: Songwriter Of The Year (don't ask why I noticed this). A complete list can be found here: http://bluegrasstoday.com/46574/2012-ibma-award-nominees/ .
As the Entertainer of the Year nominee might say:
"Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!"
IBMA link's been fixed…
And congrats on that Jon; you're in pretty swell company in the category (Tom & Dixie Hall, Donna Ulisse, and Jon Weisberger are the songwriter of the year nominees) whichever way the vote goes..
If Jon wins that award, I doubt there is a big enough hat made to fit on his soon to be swelled head! (lol)
I can't believe anyone would claim they had anything to do with a Justin Moore song! Forget about the money guys, think about your reputation! Crikey!
When Kelly Dearmore isn't focusing on that Red Dirt cra.. er I mean stuff, he can write a pretty decent piece now and then. That Kasey interview was cool, but then Kasey never does a bad interview as she just doesn't have it in her.
It's not surprising Ashton Shepherd was let go by her label after the "Look It Up" single didn't do as well as needed on AirHead Country Radio. In fact I was kind of surprised they recorded a second album at all. I do hope Ashton gets picked up by a small label that can help her realize her musical potential. This development, when combined with Kellie Pickler's recent label separation, even further dims the chances tradition oriented country female artists will get airplay at Top 40 radio. That's just frickin' pathetic…
I also hope Aston Shepherd finds a home soon. I really liked the first album because it was such a breath of fresh air. The second album where they tried to put her with all these other writers didn't turn out as well. The songs I liked best were the ones she wrote by herself. I hope she does more of her own writing on the next album. She has such a great voice for country.
Congrats, Jon. Are there any particular songs (and/or album cuts) which you believe inspired the nomination? I'd like to check them out.
Thanks, Arlene. Hard to say what went into the nomination, other than to note that having a lot of cuts during the eligibility period probably helped. Here are a few of my favorites:
"Don't Mean Nothin'," "The Place That I Call Home," written with The Infamous Stringdusters, on their Silver Sky album:
"If You've Got Something To Say," written with Tim Stafford, on Blue Highway's Sounds Of Home:
"Bridge," written with Sarah Siskind, on NewTown's self-titled debut:
"I'd Rather Love A Memory," written with Jennifer Strickland, on the Missy Werner Band's Three Kinds Of Lonesome:
"The Battle Of The Bands," written with Thomm Jutz and Charley Stefl on The 1861 Project:
And, of course, "Final Farewell," my first #1 record (Bluegrass Today's airplay chart), written with Chris Jones and recorded by our band, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, on Lost Souls & Free Spirits:
Current Discussion
- luckyoldsun: MH-- "...divisive, dismissive and argumentative." There's a shock. Who'da thunk it.
- MH: Looks like the IBMA is finding out what a lot of us already knew about former & frequent Engine 145 …
- Tom: ...it is almost the year 2015 - ain't it about time we leave people (celebrities included) having the personal relations …
- Paul W Dennis: I had assumed that Herndon was gay after the incident that Lucky Old Sun referenced, but bought the next Herndon …
- Jonathan Pappalardo: For anyone who wants to buy it, the Rosanne Cash 45 is available again. With 1000 copies being created, I …
- luckyoldsun: It seemed that the old morals arrest incident really did Herndon in. He was a pretty big country star before …
- CraigR.: Hopefully in the future being gay or straight won't matter at all. And then people won't have to hide their …
- Bruce: Jim has a remarkable voice for his age. Heck, for any age.
- bob: Good luck to Herndon and Gilman. I've seen Herndon in concert. While I liked his 90's material better, he's still …
- Leeann Ward: It was Brad Paisley and its on his Christmas album.


text:
Just a week after the White House released the new Digital Government Strategy, agencies get some pointers on how they can proceed with the approach that could fundamentally change how the entire federal government delivers services to citizens.
In a May 30 blog post on DigitalGov.com, Jim Wilson, senior producer of NASA.gov, outlines how agencies can meet the main objectives of the newly released Digital Government Strategy. The blueprint seeks to make government information more accessible to citizens, and helps agencies adjust to a new digital environment. The idea is also to harness the power of government data to spur innovation nationwide, by making data open and machine-readable by default.
Navigating this new territory starts with establishing the Digital Services Innovation Center at the General Services Administration, Wilson said. Under the direction of Gwynne Kostin, director of mobile in the General Services Administration's Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, the center will work with agencies to establish shared solutions and training to support infrastructure and content needs wherever needed across the federal government.
"The center will build on the fundamental work already being done at GSA — expanding Data.gov to open up even more government information and services to citizens, providing shared services for mobile development, and building on the best practices guidance and training provided by HowTo.gov and DigitalGov University," Wilson wrote.
The new framework also pushes agencies to migrate to an information-centric approach by building a secure architecture for interoperability and openness from the start. Also key, Wilson pointed out, is making sure online information is be accurate, available and structured in a way that enables citizens, agencies and industry to use it.
With more emphasis on shared solutions and services, agencies will also have to abandon the old concept of building a new website or mobile application for every new initiative, and instead use existing resources "when it makes good business sense," Wilson said Rethinking how they have always proceeded in their work isn't the only challenge, he acknowledged, as the strategy will force agencies to put in "considerable effort, including the always difficult 'culture change.'"
"But the time has come for government to deliver the services our customers expect and deserve — where and how they want it," he said.
About the Author
Camille Tuutti is a former FCW staff writer who covered federal oversight and the workforce.
E-Mail this page
Printable Format
Advanced Search
Nominations are now open for the 2015 Federal 100 awards. Get the details and submit your picks!
Make a nomination today
Steve Kelman considers the costs of corruption in Mexico, China, and most developing countries -- and argues that Americans should keep their own government troubles in perspective.
Agency leaders must proactively invest time, energy and resources to shape the future rather than reactively wait for change to happen.
Meet 24 men and women who are driving key changes in federal IT -- and shaping up as the community's likely leaders of tomorrow.
GSA's administrator talks with FCW about short-term hiring, long-term planning and Robert Frost.
Without a future vision and an appetite for risk, reforms lead down a rabbit hole. There is a better way.
VA's top tech official says he is balancing risks while trying to keep the department's online services open for business.
After five years on the job, the founding director of the Office of Government Information Services believes that a deeper understanding and acceptance of FOIA is seeping into the federal government.
The September attack, made public Nov. 10, potentially puts customer and employee personal information at risk, including addresses, Social Security numbers and emails.
The General Services Administration's Matthew Goodrich predicts more agency-driven authorizations and previews a new two-year road map.
8609 Westwood Center Drive, Suite 500Vienna, VA 22182-2215 703-876-5100
© 1996-2013 1105 Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only.To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, visit: www.1105Reprints.com


text:
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) Greg Kraft struggled to explain the emotions that followed his first "official" PGA Tour victory when a simple thought came to him.
"I wish I could describe how I feel," Kraft said. "Maybe justice."
Perhaps, given Kraft's career of near misses, lost chances and overlooked success, that's indeed the most appropriate.
Kraft held on for a one-shot victory at the inaugural Puerto Rico Open on Sunday. He finished at 14-under to hold off Bo Van Pelt (72), who led after the first three days, and Jerry Kelly (70), the highest-rated player to compete at Trump International Golf Club.
"All the work, rookie year, '91, '92, all the way to now. Ups and downs, I had chances to win" through the years, Kraft reflected.
Even Kraft's one win on tour before now, the Deposit Guaranty Classic in 1993, a second-tier event played opposite the Masters.
Back then, the younger Kraft figured he deserved the win because "it was my time."
Fifteen years has a way of changing one's perspective.
"I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't even compare to the way I feel now," he said.
The world's best were again elsewhere for Kraft's latest success, playing Doral's Blue Monster in the World Golf Championship's CA Championships.
This time, though, there'll be no asterisks.
Kraft earned $630,000 - more than he's made on the PGA Tour combined since 2003 - and has secured playing privileges through 2010. He had played only two other PGA Tour events this season, his best finish before now a tie for 19th at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico, which also came the week of a WGC tournament.
The win brings Kraft flexibility. Since he'll no longer worry about chasing tournament opportunities, he'll work on conditioning to regain playing shape.
"I don't have to play the Nationwide Tour to get my card back. That's no fun, go out there and starve," he said.
It's been a long road back to the top for Kraft, who turns 44 in April.
Kraft had closed in on the tour's top 50 money winners a decade ago and looked to be entering the prime of his career. However, he contracted an illness, Valley fever, during the 2002 Tucson Open. The disease is caused by a fungus that get stirred up in soil and attacks the lungs.
Kraft suddenly was losing strength and didn't know what was wrong. Doctors had trouble diagnosing the malady, even telling Kraft he had cancer. He underwent painful chemotherapy and had a section of a lung removed.
The problems led Kraft to sue the PGA Tour and the resort that hosted the tournament. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, Kraft said.


text:
You must log in to access this feature. Sign in with Twellow or Facebook to get started.
By signing in to Twellow, you indicate your agreement to our terms of service.
Simply connect with Facebook and kiss those password blues away,
or go here to reset your password.
Jokes. And plugs for things that I do. I try to do more jokes than plugs, it doesn't always work out. My new tour is called WIluminati and on-sale now.


text:
Sun, Jul 20, 2014
Rockwell Collins' MultiScan ThreatTrack weather radar is now certified and flying on Boeing 777 aircraft. Taiwan-based EVA Air was the first airline to take delivery of and operate a new 777 equipped with the advanced airborne radar system that brings unprecedented capabilities for avoiding significant weather threats.
"Accurate information about "what's ahead" is critically essential to pilots, especially when flying passengers on the world's largest twinjet," said Steve Timm, vice president and general manager, Air Transport Systems for Rockwell Collins. "MultiScan ThreatTrack provides flight crews with a more defined picture of potentially disruptive weather threats, ultimately increasing passenger satisfaction as a result of smoother flights and more on-time arrivals."
MultiScan ThreatTrack goes beyond hail and lightning prediction within a thunderstorm cell and alerts pilots to these significant threats adjacent to or above the cell. In addition, the new radar is the first in the industry to feature two levels of turbulence detection—severe and ride quality—which more accurately informs flight crews of the type of turbulence in their path.
Also unique to MultiScan ThreatTrack is its patented Predictive Overflight Protection, which tracks thunderstorm cells ahead and below the airplane, measures growth rate, predicts bow-wave turbulence and indicates potential threats in the airplane's flight path.
Rockwell Collins' new air transport weather radar is not limited to in-production Boeing 777 airplanes—the system has also been certified for the Boeing 777 aftermarket. Through a relatively minor hardware and software upgrade by Rockwell Collins and Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, operators of fielded 777 aircraft equipped with previous-generation MultiScan radar can take advantage of ThreatTrack's new safety-enhancing benefits.
MultiScan ThreatTrack is also available for new and currently fielded Boeing 737 airplanes.
(Image provided by Rockwell Collins)
Airborne 11.19.14: FAA v Pirker Update, F-35C Night Traps, G650ER Delivers
Aero-TV: And Now For Something Entirely Different -- The Tecnam Astore
Airborne 11.17.14: Jabiru Problems Reported, ANOTHER Civvy Harrier!, Orion Arrives
See All
©2014 All Rights Reserved.
© 2007 - 2014 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC


text: And you can proudly show that "NOPAL" en la frente papa!! jajajaja wow all of a sudden every Mexican American does not break the law!! To be honest with you I am an American FULL blooded MEXICAN born in the USA! I will not let this happen to my fellow people I really don't know what white country you're from but the USA was made and is made by immigrants! Just like you're parent or grandparents even if they had to get a visa they "immigrated" thus the word immigrant!Pa que lo sepas PAPA!!


text:
Got Homework?
Connect with other students for help. It's a free community.
acrossMIT Grad StudentOnline now
laura*Helped 1,000 studentsOnline now
HeroCollege Math GuruOnline now
Here's the question you clicked on:
- 0 viewing
Group Title
- one year ago
- one year ago
tpenn Group Title
- one year ago
- one year ago
This Question is Closed
mitchelsewbaran Group TitleBest ResponseYou've already chosen the best response.0
- one year ago
inkyvoyd Group TitleBest ResponseYou've already chosen the best response.1
Comon @mitchelsewbaran that doesn't help anyone. Give him a hint :)
- one year ago
tpenn Group TitleBest ResponseYou've already chosen the best response.0
what are the steps it took to get to that answer?
- one year ago
mathstudent55 Group TitleBest ResponseYou've already chosen the best response.0
One way to factor a trinomial like this is to follow the following steps. This method involves some guessing and trial and error. 1. Set up two sets of parentheses: ( )( ) 2. On the left side of each parentheses, write two factors of the first term, 3x^2. The factors of 3x^2 are 3x and x: (3x )(x ) 3. On the right side of the parentheses, write 2 factors of -20. Here's where you need to do some trial and error. The factors of -20 are: -20, 1 -1, 20 4, -5 -4, 5 2, -10 -2, 10 In addition, each of those guesses can be placed two ways, for example, if you use 4 and -5, you can place them these ways: (3x + 4)(x - 5) and (3x - 5)(x + 4) How do you know which version works? Do OI of FOIL and add the two terms. Whichever choice of factors that gives you the middle term is the correct one. With (3x + 4)(x - 5), OI is -15x + 4x = -11x (Doesn't work) With (3x - 5)(x + 4), OI is 12x - 5x = 7x (dosen't work. Let's try 2, -10 (3x + 2)(x - 10) OI is -30x + 2x = 28x (doesn't work) (3x - 10)(x + 2) OI is 6x - 10x = -4x (Works!) Therefore, 3x^2 - 4x - 20 = (3x - 10)(x + 2) There is another method called factoring by parts that invloves less guessing. I can show you that too, if you're interested.
- one year ago
See more questions >>>
Your question is ready. Sign up for free to start getting answers.
→ View Detailed Profile
is replying to Can someone tell me what button the professor is hitting...
- Teamwork 19 Teammate
- Problem Solving 19 Hero
- Engagement 19 Mad Hatter
- You have blocked this person.
- ✔ You're a fan Checking fan status...
Thanks for being so helpful in mathematics. If you are getting quality help, make sure you spread the word about OpenStudy.


text:
Is your PR firm ready for digital marketing? Use these 10 questions to assess their SEO and social media readiness
- September 14, 2009
- 146 Comments
Guest post by Lee Odden: Follow him on Twitter | Read his blog
6 Questions to Assess Your PR Vendor's SEO/Social Media Readiness
Recently Jason Falls made an insightful comment on his blog about PR professionals being "social media ready". In that post, he cited the need for specific social media marketing skills to be assessed for companies evaluating the effectiveness of their PR efforts.


text:
How closely were you watching Bravo this week?
The 'Top Chef Masters' host shows the late-night host he can tell jokes too -- dirty ones.
The Real Housewife shares her tips for dealing with party conflict.
Enter your caption for a chance to be featured in our weekly newsletter!
The Bethenny Ever After star wants another child, but needs to find the time!
The Housewife plans to tackle the big screen next.
"No. 1 is trust," the New York Housewife said.
Thankfully no one was injured in the Tuesday blaze.
"The combo of his acts w/ his last name is 2 much," posts Kyle Richards.
"If a man isn't making plans with you, he's not into you. Period," says Kelly.
"I only sweat the small stuff," B. admits.
"They belong with their mom," Kyle states.
What happens when Housewives and Wolverines clash?
Father's Day gift ideas to die for.


text:
Doctor Who vs Sherlock Tonight
Reminder: the winners of the 2013 National Television Awards will be announced later tonight live on ITV1.
As previously reported, Doctor Who is nominated for Best Drama against Merlin, Downton Abbey and, arguably the biggest, Sherlock.
Matt Smith is up for Best Male Drama Performance, against Colin Morgan (Merlin), Daniel Mays (Mrs Biggs) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock).
While Karen Gillan is nominated for Best Female Drama Performance, facing Sheridan Smith (Mrs Biggs), Miranda Hart (Call The Midwife) and Suranne Jones (Scott & Bailey).
Let's hope if Matt wins, he won't use the event like Tennant famously did in 2008 to announce his departure!
The awards ceremony is broadcast live tonight on ITV1 from 7.30pm.
Step back in time...
COMMENT GUIDELINESPlease be civil and keep article comments relevant and on topic. Flag and report any offensive/trolling behavior, or contact us with details.
Please do not post SPOILERS including anything from leaked episodes! Your account could be banned. For complete details on our comment policy please read.


text:
November 27, 2014
Stay up-to-date with KAKE News:
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. (AP) -- For the second day in a row, lightning has been blamed in the death of a visitor at Rocky Mountain National Park.
Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson says officials were notified late Saturday afternoon of four people being struck by lightning near Trail Ridge Road. The four were rushed to a hospital, but 52-year-old Gregory Cardwell, of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, died of his injures.
On Friday afternoon, park officials said lightning killed one woman and injured seven other people. That also occurred near Trail Ridge, which is the nation's highest continuously paved road.
Patterson says they are the park's first lightning fatalities since 2000.
A park news release identified the woman who died Friday as 42-year-old Rebecca R. Teilhet, of Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson says two of the injured were taken to a hospital by ambulance and five others transported themselves.
Patterson says park officials were notified of the lightning strike at about 1:20 p.m. Friday. It happened on the Ute Crossing Trail, which is located off Trail Ridge Road. Trail Ridge is the nation's highest continuously paved road.
The park did not identify the woman who died, or the people who were injured.
Officials said they would not be releasing additional information Friday.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


text:
Please note that support is offered to verified customers only, and is limited to questions regarding problems/issues with our themes/templates.
We are NOT able to provide support for:
We are NOT able to provide support for:
- Customizations (design/code);
- General WordPress usage tutorials;
- Third-party plugins;
- Any inconveniences produced by third-party customizations.
2nd October 2014: If you are experiencing problems with the license code here on the support forum, contact us by email and let us know. The issue is caused by changes in the Envato API (more details on ThemeForest Forum here).
Most answers can be found in the documentation provided with the theme/template. You can also read the documentation online, in the "Documentation" section of this website. If you do not find the answer you need there, than please perform a forum search before you post a question.
- Forum
- Topics
- Freshness
- Ezra Tumblr Theme
- 0
- No Topics


text:
Found the same room at a different price? Tell us, and we'll offer to match it.
BEST WESTERN Waxnas Hotel
Access to wireless Internet throughout the hotel is available. In your spare time, feel free to relax in our sauna. In our restaurant you can enjoy a tasty breakfast buffet in the morning. To make it comfortable for our hotel guests, we also invite you to our complimentary evening buffet, available Monday thru Saturday.
Our hotel is located three kilometers from Karlstad city centre and about three kilometers from Bergvik shopping centre and Ikea. Taxi and local bus service is available to downtown Karlstad and Bergvik shopping centre.


text:
You must log in to access this feature. Sign in with Twellow or Facebook to get started.
By signing in to Twellow, you indicate your agreement to our terms of service.
Simply connect with Facebook and kiss those password blues away,
or go here to reset your password.
Um paraense ambicioso e honesto...um futuro Bilionário,empreendedor e magnata da construção civil com um objetivo de vida: ajudar o Norte à crescer!


text:
Ellsbury blasted a game-winning, three-run homer in the 14th inning late Sunday night to lift the Red Sox to a had-to-have-it, 7-4 win over the Yankees. The victory gave the Red Sox a split of a day-night doubleheader and left them with a one-game lead in the wild-card race with three games remaining.
In the opener, a 6-2 Red Sox loss, Ellsbury went deep twice against Yankees starter A.J. Burnett. His solo shot to right field in the sixth inning marked both his 30th homer and 100th RBI. Ellsbury is the first player in Red Sox history to have at least 30 homers and 30 steals in a season. He also joins Jim Rice (1977-79) and Mo Vaughn (1996, 1998) as the only players in team history with at least 30 homers, 100 runs, 100 RBI and 200 hits in a season.
Then, there's this: In major league history, Ellsbury is one of only seven players to reach 30 homers, 30 steals, 100 RBI, 100 runs and 200 hits. The others are Hank Aaron (1963), Ellis Burks (1996), Larry Walker (1997), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Vladimir Guerrero (2002) and Alfonso Soriano (2002).
Lately, Ellsbury hasn't had much time to bask in his historic season. The Red Sox are 6-18 in September and have seen their wild-card lead shrink from nine games on Sept. 1.
So, it was hardly surprising that Ellsbury focused on the big-picture significance of his big day and night in New York.
"This is a huge win. It allows us to control our own destiny," said Ellsbury, an AL MVP candidate.
"We know if we win out that we're in. We don't have to scoreboard-watch or anything like that. We know if we play like we can, it's in our hands. We know what's at stake, so it's definitely a huge win for us."


text:
November 22, 2014
The kickoff and broadcast times for the USC-Virginia game has been set for Saturday, August 30th at 3:30PM on ABC16. Two games were also set: September 6th against Richmond at 3:45PM and September 13th at Connecticut at 7:30PM. Both games are on ESPNU. Click the link above for the video.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


text:
Astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin have measured the second-largest black hole ever discovered. It takes up some 14 percent of the galaxy's mass and may lead to an overhaul of theories regarding the formation and evolution of black holes. Read More
NASA: mission accomplished, Kepler – now look harder still
It's been more than three and a half years since the Kepler Space Telescope began its mission as humanity's watcher for Earth-like planets outside of the Solar System. In that time, Kepler has done exactly what was asked of it: provide the data to help identify more than 2,300 exoplanet candidates in other star systems. And so NASA has announced the "successful completion" of Kepler's prime mission. There's one nagging detail, though: we are yet to find a truly Earth-like planet. It's time to alter the parameters of the search. Read More
Due to the masterful efforts of an international team of astronomers, a new super-Earth planet has been discovered within the habitable zone of a star just 42 light years from Earth. Part of a six planetary system, the super-Earth known as HD 40307g has several promising attributes in terms of its ability to support life and because of its relative proximity, it may soon be possible to observe the planet optically. Read More
Spectacular 9-gigapixel image of the Milky Way released
The European Space Observatory (ESO) has released an impressive 9-gigapixel image of the central part of the Milky Way Galaxy. The historic image contains some 84 million stars and represents the largest ever catalog of the center of our home galaxy. Read More
Curiosity finds ancient stream bed on Mars
NASA's unmanned Curiosity rover has found the most direct evidence to date that ancient Mars once had running water. The robot explorer discovered rock outcroppings thrusting from the Martian surface that are the remains of an ancient stream bed consisting of water-worn gravel that was washed down from the rim of Gale Crater where the nuclear-powered rover landed. This means that Mars was once a much wetter place and increases the chances that it once harbored life ... or still does. Read More
Distant galaxy opens window into the early universe
A team of Johns Hopkins University astronomers have spotted what may well be the most distant galaxy ever detected. Dubbed "MACS 1149-JD", the discovery provides insight into the most remote epoch of cosmic history, as light captured from the faint galaxy shone forth when the universe was just 500 million years old – or 3.6 percent of its present age. Read More
Dark Energy Camera captures its first images
The Dark Energy Camera (DEC) has captured an initial batch of images as part of an ongoing quest to afford scientists with a better understanding of dark energy. The images were taken by the 570-megapixel behemoth from its location within the Chilean Andes on September 12 while undergoing a series of tests. Scientists hope it may soon help answer one of the biggest mysteries in physics: why the expansion of the universe is speeding up. Read More
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is little known to the public, but represents one of the most-challenging efforts in observational cosmology ever attempted. The most recent phase, SDSS-III, began in 2008 and includes the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a part of SDSS-III aimed at mapping the cosmos. Its goal is to map the physical locations of all major galaxies back to seven billion years ago, and bright quasars back to 12 billion years ago – two billion years after the Big Bang. This is being done so we can gain a better understanding of dark matter and energy, and hopefully encounter a few surprises. Read More
Earth destroyed repeatedly in the name of science
Unlike in old B movies, real scientists don't scream "Fools! I'll destroy them all!" before throwing the switch on their doomsday device. At least, most of the them don't. However, the August 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal reports that a team of scientists are working on destroying the world - not once, but repeatedly. Fortunately, the world they're destroying exists only in a computer simulation and its destruction is in the service of learning more about planets revolving around other stars. Read More
Located in the Elqui Valley in Chile's Norte Chico region, Elqui Domos is one of the few astronomical hotels in the world. The area is renowned for its sparkling clear skies and Elqui Domos takes advantage of this by offering lodgings in a series of geodesic domes with elevated loft beds and open rooftops as well as recently added wooden cabins designed with star-gazing in mind. Read More
- Features
- Reviews
- Aircraft
- Architecture
- Around The Home
- Automotive
- Bicycles
- Children
- Computers
- Digital Cameras
- Electronics
- Environment
- Games
- Good Thinking
- Health and Wellbeing
- Holiday Destinations
- Home Entertainment
- Inventors and Remarkable People
- Laptops
- Marine
- Medical
- Military
- Mobile Technology
- Motorcycles
- Music
- Outdoors
- Pets
- Robotics
- Science
- Space
- Sports
- Telecommunications
- Urban Transport
- Wearable Electronics


text:
David Guetta & Showtek – Bad (The Rooftop Boys Remix)
August 25th, 2014 | by Matt
After reaching #1 on Hype Machine with the release of their first ever remix to Kanye West's "Bound 2," The
August 25th, 2014 | by Matt
After reaching #1 on Hype Machine with the release of their first ever remix to Kanye West's "Bound 2," The
July 22nd, 2014 | by Matt
I hope you're ready to go insane at the sounds of Showtek's edit to MAKJ & M35′s "GO." Showtek has
June 24th, 2014 | by Matt
Justin Prime, the Dutch DJ and producer behind the massive 2012 hit "Cannonball" with Showtek recently spoke with us for
April 17th, 2014 | by Matt
UK duo, Lets Be Friends are back with the second volume of their This Means War mix series. This hour
April 2nd, 2014 | by Matt
Global Dance Festival is making its way back to the Rocky Mountain region for its 12th year this July 18th
March 28th, 2014 | by Matt
And just like that day one of Ultra Music Festival is over. Unfortunately we were unable to attend, but we
March 27th, 2014 | by Matt
After their recent California takeover during Presidents Day Weekend, LED has announced the debut of their first ever Day Club
March 26th, 2014 | by Matt
The guys of Showtek have teamed up with Ookay to release their massive new tune "Bouncer" and the official music
February 26th, 2014 | by Matt
UK dance music duo Lets Be Friends are back with the second episode of their new weekly podcast series, Friends
February 19th, 2014 | by Matt
Last Sunday night was one for the books as LED and Goldenvoice teamed up to bring Finger Lickin' to the


text:
Film Swap with rake (http://www.lomography.com/homes/rake)This photo was shot on film. Taken by phoenix1206 with a Lomo LC-A+ (available in our Online Shop) loaded with Fuji Neopan film in London, United Kingdom. These tags describe this photo: lc-a, lomo, b&w, swap, and flim. This photo can be found in the albums Crosscountry: UK x US.
Please login to get more out of this site
You are currently not logged in, do so now to add comments, like articles as well as photos, submit to competitions, translate articles and gain access to unlimited photo upload! If you are not registered yet, go here to find out more about Lomography and join now! If you just want a limited account for now you can use Twitter or Facebook. We would love to have you as a member here!
Waiting for the first likes
Liking photos helps us to present the best ones to you and others.


text:
Member Since: 01/06/12Send This Person a Message Give this person a Gift Add This Person as a Friend
You can reach this milestone by accruing more than 50 reputation points in the last 7 days
You can reach this milestone by completing the quiz Would You Pass the Police Exam?
You can reach this milestone by completing the quiz Good Cop / Bad Cop
You can reach this milestone by completing Stew Smith's Fitness Challenge
You can reach this milestone by starting a group that is one of the top 100 most active groups.
You can reach this milestone by inviting at least 5 friends who join PoliceLink.
The first 1,000 PoliceLink members to earn one star are considered Founding Members
This user is a PoliceLink Forums Moderator
You can reach this milestone by being one of the top 100 users on the Reputation Leaderboard.
Only sworn LEOs are eligible to receive access to restricted areas.
ksarmy1: Profile Photos
ksarmy1: Gifts
COPS Support Ribbon
Police Patch
ksarmy1: References
ksarmy1: Activity
Comment Wall
Add this person as a friend to write on their Comment Wall.
about 1 month ago
27040 Comments
Greetings from Missouri.Enjoy a pleasant week.Take care.
Remembering our fallen and their families this 9-11-2014.
Take care and I trust you will have a terrific rest of the week.
5 months ago
27040 Comments
Have a safe up coming holiday.Take care!
Hope your Tuesday is going well so far.Cloudy here but at least it's not raining.Got enough rain yesterday.Take care and stay in touch.
Wishing you and yours a pleasant Easter Day.
Have a peaceful and blessed Sunday.Take care and stay safe.
I remember someone driving away from one of these with the speaker.Lol. Have a terrific week and take care friend.
9 months ago
27040 Comments
Hey the weekend is almost here.Hope you have a great one!Looks like some more of that falling white stuff for us.Take care.
10 months ago
27040 Comments
Snowing here now.That's Winter weather for you.Lol.You have a good day and stay safe my friend.
It's been that kind of week.You have a great weekend and stay safe whatever you do.
Wishing you happiness and wonderful times during 2014!
Merry Christmas from across the miles.
12 months ago
27040 Comments
Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours.
about 1 year ago
27040 Comments
Not much going on here this evening.Just wanted to say howdy.You take care.


text:
Cadillac's first TV commercial for its ELR plug-in hybrid, Poolside, was a smash hit, in that a lot of people saw and talked about it. The 60-second spot didn't say the car was a plug-in, took potshots at the work ethic of all non-Americans and has raked in over a million views on YouTube (you can add one more here). Caddy's new ELR video will get a lot less media attention, but that's exactly the point.
Cadillac claims it was happy with the way actor Neil McDonough strutted his way into the controversial ELR discussion. This time around, though, the coupe gets promoted in a more traditional way: with information about the car and what it can do - you know, drive on electricity, capture braking energy into the battery, go further on gas power when needed, those kinds of things – courtesy of GM's executive chief engineer for electrified vehicles, Pam Fletcher.
The tone of the video has not been changed because of the Poolside controversy. David Caldwell, manager of Cadillac communications, tells AutoblogGreen that the new video is not destined for TV and is completely different because it's meant for a different audience. "It doesn't have any direct relation to Poolside," he says. "TV advertising is not necessarily the heart of marketing something like the ELR. Notwithstanding the fact that we had a very thought-provoking ad [laughs]."
The way you reach out to people via the web is different than the mass-media techniques used in spots like Poolside during big TV events (it aired during the Winter Olympics). The two video spots are different because you need to offer different information in different ways, for example having an ELR website as well as an iPad filled with ELR information at the dealership. For Cadillac, TV is "not going to be the predominant methodology," used to sell the ELR, Caldwell said, "the web is closer to what you need to do to reach people. We definitely have a need to communicate what the ELR is. It's not television advertising at all."
"We definitely have a need to communicate what the ELR is" - Cadillac's David Caldwell
Caldwell said a handful of other short videos similar to the new one will go live in the near future, showcasing design and powertrain aspects of the car. Keep an eye out for them – just don't look for them on TV. You can watch the new video below.


text:
1955 Cadillac Series 62 Four-Door Sedan Chassis Number: 5562130541 All original 2 owner car! Same owner from 1955 – 2013! Powered by its original 331 cubic... More
4.9 Liter Auto Full Power Cinnamon... More
Very original DeVille in good driving condition with a new convertible top, excellent upholstery, strong running engine, smooth shifting transmission, power windows work. This... More
YOU ARE VIEWING POSSIBLY ONE OF THE NICEST UNRESTORED, ORIGINAL AND LOW MILEAGE 1978 CADILLAC ELDORADO BIARRITZ COUPE IN EXISTANCE. THERE IS NO BETTER... More
1961 Cadillac Series 62: Beautiful, elegant, low and long, this series '62 4 door hard top is a survivor. It's been given exceptional care and... More
Call Tracie for more details, 712-255-3000.... More
1967 Cadillac Eldorado1967 Cadillac Eldorado model in mint conditionTwo-tone Pink and Black metallic plus a matching two-tone Pink and Black interiorEquipped with an 8-Cylinder... More
- 304 HP V-6 engine- Automatic transmissionTo be sold at the Kansas City 2014 auction, Kansas City, MO, December 4-6, 2014. To consign a... More
To be sold at the Kissimmee 2015 auction, Kissimmee, FL, January 16-25, 2015. To consign a car or to register to bid, visit the... More
To be sold at the Kissimmee 2015 auction, Kissimmee, FL, January 16-25, 2015. To consign a car or to register to bid, visit the... More
- White leather interior with Red dash in excellent condition- Digital instrument cluster- Canvas roof in white- Gold ornamentation package- Climate control air conditioningTo... More
1937 Cadillac LaSalle Convertible Coupe - Recently released from a long time private California collection, this is a gorgeous ground up restoration in elegant... More
1947 Cadillac Convertible Coupe, an excellent complete and authentic ground up restoration of an absolutely rust free car! Very correct French Gray with correct... More
Stunning example of a very rare custom built San Remo Seville only approximately 200 were built this is an Elegant model that has been... More
This 1914 Cadillac Touring Convertible . It is equipped with a 4 Speed Manual transmission. The vehicle is Green with a Black interior. -... More


text:
November 23, 2014
The league office has announced, in conjunction with the scheduled move of the Tucson franchise to El Paso starting in 2014, a realignment of the conferences and divisions within the Pacific Coast League.
The makeup of the PCL conference divisions for the 2014 schedule will be as follows:
· American Northern – Colorado Springs, Iowa, Oklahoma City, Omaha
· American Southern – Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Round Rock
· Pacific Northern – Fresno, Reno, Sacramento, Tacoma
· Pacific Southern – Albuquerque, El Paso, Las Vegas, Salt Lake
The PCL postseason format will remain the same; the Division Champions within the Pacific and American Conferences will compete in a best-of-five Conference Championship Series with the victors advancing to a best-of-five PCL Championship Series. The Pacific Coast League Champions will face the International League Champions in the Triple-A National Championship Game.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
If you like galactic romps, this sure beats watching a battered video of Ice Pirates…
If you like galactic romps, this sure beats watching a battered video of Ice Pirates…
A film in which I explore the mechanics of time travel shallowly, but in far more depth than the screenwriter…
Nearly three hours of geek heaven: dwarves in barrels, elves dancing on their heads, and a dragon coiled inside a mountain of gold!
Let's see who gets voted off in this year's episode of The Hunger Games: All Star Edition…
I wanted to like this gorgeous but ultimately shallow film more than I did…
Everyone says it's good — and well, they're right. Gravity is a relentless thrill ride really firing on all cylinders…
Watching Sofia Coppola's latest film, The Bling Ring, I scratch my head and rip out my hair — not at the movie but at…
Sure it's overdone and really should have been only two films, but I can't help but get a little excited…
Agora, set 1600 years ago, centers around riots in the Egyptian city of Alexandria between government and mob. Between conservatives and fundamentalists. Sound familiar?
OMG, someone finally ripped off Van Helsing! Hansel & Gretel takes bad to new lows, blending poisonous styles in a foul and bizarre cauldron…
A triumph of style over substance, can about 4 billion explosions and the CGI obliteration of nearly two planets make up for a lack of characterization?
I crave Science Fiction films that can live up to good science fiction prose. I demand Blade Runner and Aliens. How does the Cruisimeister's latest stand up?
Finally, 30 years later, they get around to making a movie out of my favorite book… at age 15.
Rarity of rarities. We have a film adaption of a novel written and directed by its author!
The body of a new style Chinese Martial Arts film like House of the Flying Daggers, the brains of Enter the Dragon, and the soul of Machete…
I found this very interesting (and very creative) Buffy vs. Edward mashup online. It's worth highlighting not only because of its skill, but because it contrasts two of the most popular teen vampire franchises. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my…
A rather magnificent movie that makes use of all that is great about the film medium…
This crazy romp down memory (and temporal) lanes is surprising fun…
The Hobbit isn't flawless, but it is totally captivating and left me burning for more. Let's take a look at the why and how of that…
BDP2 is not nearly as vomit inducing as part 1. Sure, I did my fair share of cringing, but mostly the film brought a smirk to my face…
Co-creator of Crash Bandicoot and author of The Darkening Dream and Untimed
For Amazon Kindle:
Buy for the Kindle!
Buy the Trade Paperback!
Buy the Hardcover!
Trade Paperback:
Audiobook on Amazon:
Coming soon in
additional E-Book formats
Aubible Audiobook:
For Amazon Kindle:
Buy for the Kindle!
Trade Paperback:
Buy the Trade Paperback!
Audiobook on Amazon:
Coming soon in
additional E-Book formats
Buy the hardcover!
Aubible Audiobook: