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Cost of inefficiency – Penny wise and pound foolish!Change management, IT costs, IT value management
The CIO was doing quite well; he had good credibility within the company as well as outside with peers in the industry. He wasn't the flamboyant type, neither was he a pushover; he participated in industry discussions and was seen as the strong, silent and effective leader. His company had invested well in IT; they were not early adopters, neither laggards, a balanced view of technology investments and business was happy with what they had. The company was growing faster than the market and placed well in the industry.
Working with business leaders and the CEO who understood the value of IT, he managed the budgets pragmatically. The CEO gave him enough latitude to work independently and he kept abreast with the technology curve to field any challenge thrown at him. IT vendors were happy to work with him as he was straight and forthright in his approach telling it as it was. His team was made up of business focused professionals who had invested their careers in the company. The turning point for him was when the CEO moved off to greener pastures.
The new CEO had grown through the ranks; he restructured the organization and the CIO found himself under the tutelage of the CFO. An ostentatious man, the CFO never lost an opportunity in the game of one-upmanship. He met the IT team and vendors with visible disdain with a clear message that the golden era of IT spends was over. The mantra set by the new CEO was to deliver a better bottom-line and he, the CFO was going to leave no stone unturned in his quest. The budget shall be cut by 20% with immediate effect.
The CIO a logical man attempted to discuss the irrationality of the step as it would impact operational efficiency. IT budgets did not have any buffers, the CIO never needed to pad his budgets with the trust he had from the earlier CEO. Support charges for ERP, CRM, and office automation licenses apart, the network links to global offices and sustenance of support services for users and data center took up the larger part of the operating budget. He had limited choices and began the process of rediscovery for cost control.
Negotiations and calling in favors he was able to bring down operational cost by 10%. The balance appeared unachievable and he sought help from the CFO to evaluate options. Why does everyone need an expensive license? Why do we pay so much on software maintenance contracts? We should move to cheaper solutions, embrace open source, bring in garage mentality into our team. Move to lower cost options on email, start using common ids at remote locations, move to cheaper hardware; and make sure the "management" does not get inconvenienced. Thus the CFO spoke!
His protests on operational impact being overruled, the CIO got down to execution; mail was migrated to a lower cost option of a popular personal public free mail services' corporate offering. Onsite engineers were reduced at locations, development work brought in. The change was seen as a retrograde step across the enterprise. The trickle of problems from the alternative solution slowly became a barrage which had every function head tearing their hair in frustration on lost functionality and team efficiency.
Slowly and steadily the noise ebbed when people realized the change was driven by the new CFO; citing business impact some teams sought and received approvals to move back to the older system. Soon enough everyone was attempting to go back to the past, though not very successfully. People learned to live with the new, factoring in the inefficiency into their work schedules, discussing and debating the gap in communication. It was fairly evident that the resultant reduction in performance cost the company a multiple of the savings.
Do organizations measure such a consequence where deployment of a new tool or process has an adverse impact on the outcomes? Consultants tout their new success when the change is even slightly positive; I haven't seen instances of the adverse impact or degraded efficiency being elevated or discussed openly. I believe that this costs enterprises significantly almost to the tune of 20% reduction in productive time. Change is rarely sanctioned due to costs involved which is typically a fraction of the lost hours. How long will pennywise and pound foolish continue?
It's an opportunity for the CIOs to take a stand and lead the way!
DevOps: Solving the non-existent problem for good ITChange management, DevOps, IT support, Software development
I have been flooded with articles, case studies, and the benefits of DevOps; every newsletter that I subscribe to (over a dozen that arrive in my inbox every day) has at least one link that headlines DevOps. In the initial days I read a few of them with curiosity and forwarded some of the articles to friends and peers in the industry. The flood of discussions and seminars raised my anxiety if I had missed any salient point in my analysis and understanding. So I dug deeper to understand the subject and its relevance to good IT departments.
What is interesting is that many vendors are now offering tools and consultants providing frameworks and expertise on helping organizations create DevOps centers of excellence. It's the new buzzword that promises to fix the issues faced by enterprises when they deploy new custom solutions. The most interesting and highly impressive manifestation appears as "a cross-disciplinary community of practice dedicated to the study of building, evolving and operating rapidly-changing resilient systems at scale." Do you get what it says? I don't!
If you search for the term online, the definition on Wikipedia is as follows: "DevOps (a portmanteau of "development" and "operations") is a software development method that stresses communication, collaboration and integration between software developers and Information Technology (IT) professionals. DevOps is a response to the interdependence of software development and IT operations." Note the keywords that stand out, communication, collaboration and integration between IT and developers!
Over the decades there were many methodologies that evolved since we needed to develop "for purpose" software. I am not discussing one over the other or their pros and cons; there are proponents and opponents to each depending on what has worked for them. The point is that whether you followed one or the other, all of them required communication to flow between the stakeholders (Business, IT teams and developers). Else how do you ensure that everyone understands the problem or the opportunity and what is needed?
When in a group people collectively work together towards a common objective, I would safely assume that they are collaborating. There are instances when differences of opinion or point of view may result in conflict or disagreements; that does not imply that they are not collaborating. The level of integration is determined by the crisp and clear communication from the top as well as within, and a shared vision and objective of their goal. That is how I have seen almost all projects, IT or otherwise, – big or small – getting off the ground.
What changed in recent times that gave birth to this new term and the wave that is following? The underlying assumption is that development teams and operations teams are independent (which they are in many cases though not a universal truth) and that they don't talk to each other; that is an interesting hypothesis and rare occurrence when both teams are collocated. Companies who outsourced support operations of applications or moved them away from core teams did suffer often requiring rework and occasional disruption.
So should CIOs be bothered or worried about DevOps? The starting point would be to diagnose if there is a gap, perceived or real. Once deployed, are applications able to scale and sustain themselves? Or they slowly wither away into the IT Orphanage (where applications who no one wants rest until they find a benefactor). Are business users happy with the solution provided and the support rendered? Some of these questions would probably point you into the right direction on what needs to change to the desired state.
Simplistically many solutions may endeavor to push for additional investments in tools, technology and consulting; my belief is that tools and technology do not solve a problem if the underlying process and culture don't support it. As the CIO or for that matter the CEO, it is necessary and essential to look at the facts and data before beginning to get paranoid about competition or next door neighbor doing it. Even if you have your support teams sitting across the seas, if the development team has thought about support, you are already there!
Does BI require business to be intelligent?Business Intelligence, Change management
"This is awesome, I love it! Let's make this live next week; and don't tell me that it cannot be done in that timeframe! After that we will work upon models for the other parts of the business and zap them with data that they have never seen before." So said the CXO who had just been given a demonstration of the Proof of Concept that the vendor and the IT team had developed to highlight the capabilities of the tool. The Business Intelligence lead tried to get in a few words sideways and was brushed aside brusquely with a wave of the hand.
The company had history of failed projects and challenged BI implementations with business users running berserk. A new CIO had brought some semblance of order to the chaos with an IT governance framework. With some fresh talent as the journey progressed, the information needs started getting addressed which in turn raised the expectations bar. Earlier attempts at BI had faced multiple challenges which resulted in their being shelved. The new resources the CIO brought in had a pedigree of success and the result was visible.
In the initial stages of education the primary requirements revolved around reporting; can fragmented systems deliver consolidated reports from the data warehouse? Any amount of persuasion would not deter them from their resolve for reports; so the first set of milestones did reports that did not require large investments in tools or great amount of intelligence. Some of the newer business users who had experienced a different reality in the world outside craved for dashboards and analytics. They were heard but not prioritized by the powers that be.
Seeing an opportunity the BI Subject Matter Expert worked with the business members to define the landscape and put in the extra effort post work hours to build the cubes and models. He sought new tools which were granted and with renewed vigor he created working prototypes that excited him and the business users who helped him. Tentatively they approached the self-professed technophile CXO who they felt would be excited with the new way of looking at information. They were however not prepared for the reception they received!
The CXO in his inimitable way was seen as the person who exuded overdoses of confidence and threw technology jargon liberally in every meeting. Know it all, been there done that was what he wanted everyone to believe; for the knowledgeable it was massacre with unrelated keywords interspersed with unverifiable anecdotes and visions of peaks achieved in the past. He was closed to ideas from others, derogatorily critiquing the world at large for not believing in him. The team feared his acidic behavior and kept away to whatever extent they could.
Recovering from the ridiculous, the BI SME stood firm that Proof of Concepts are exactly that and they cannot be deployed or scaled. He explained that for analytics to work effectively, he needed to build the model, test all data sources for efficacy, check for exception conditions and stress test for load. Almost all – barring the sycophants and the ignorant – agreed with him silently, putting the CXO in a spot. Taken aback not used to being challenged, he directed one of the minnows to ensure that his wish and command be done and huffed away.
Put in a spot the team member frantically looked around for a solution to his predicament. Gathering information from multiple sources to create a strong argument, she was able to enroll the business champions into her cause; they too wanted the new BI solution. It took some time and effort by the business champions to educate the CXO who reluctantly agreed to let go of his tantrum. Back on track the team worked together to build the solution which promised to open up new possibilities for the business.
The generally accepted new belief is that business knows what they want; the level of awareness and understanding has improved. Decisions are now information and data driven; BI solutions deliver this and more. Change management is a critical success factor towards adoption and the journey on the evolution curve. The data deluge and associated tools to manage them has created new challenges and opportunities; the ability of enterprises to leverage these will be determined by their maturity towards analytics.
The BI solution was a great success; everyone loved it. The CXO was last seen ranting about why the team did not use big data!
Value destruction in the name of changeDisruption, Project management
When I came across my CIO friend who looked like he had been trampled multiple times by a runaway cattle herd, I was anxious to find out more about the cause of his pitiable condition. His demeanor suggested that he was on the brink of giving up, ready to throw the towel, just run away and retire into the Himalayas, to hell with the fabled Ferrari and take up the way of the monks. For someone always willing to help with a ready smile, it was a sight that concerned many of us to do a root cause analysis and help the poor soul.
He was not a recluse or introvert but in recent times conferences and seminars had been prominent with his absence. He was a busy man, everyone knew it; he was also known to be a master in time management rarely forgetting an appointment or being late or making anyone wait. So his growing hermetic avatar was a surprise to many of us who surrounded him to hear the cause of the rainy clouds replacing sunshine. Hesitant at first, after a few drinks he decided to share his predicament to lighten his heavy heart and seek a solution from collective wisdom.
His mega project that was on the watch list of many vendors, partners and the industry had run into some minor challenges. He engaged a specialist consulting company to review the situation and suggest the way forward. They had suggested shift in approach for the issue and resource augmentation with specialist skills which appeared to be a rational approach. Some internal stakeholders taking advantage of the situation wanted to take control with infusion of their coterie. Despite no skill match, they had prevailed to further damage of the project.
Like termites the project was soon crawling with unskilled people ignorant of business or ability to manage complexity and were projected as God's gift to mankind and specialists. Despite the situation deteriorating, status reports were altered to reflect progress. This continued for some time with the CIO being asked to back off. Protests and discussions with key stakeholders and management changed nothing. The project in a tailspin now, the CIO could only watch from the sidelines; he was hurting from the damage to his toil and blood.
The large business and IT project team disillusioned by the downward spiral were of broken spirit indifferent to the outcome. Unable to bear the incompetence some quit the project and the company weakening the now shaking foundation and structure. Timelines slipping further and expert opinions overruled, there was little hope for the transformational project that was to be the savior and enabler for the business and enterprise. Unable to bear the hurt to his passion child and with no recourse, the CIO had decided to detach from the company.
We listened with stunned and angry silence absorbing the pain, empathizing with the CIO living his agony, everyone unanimously wanted to reach out and touch his wounds to heal them. No one disagreed with his decision, many wanted to help his recuperation; there was shock at enterprise apathy and silence by a large affected group to the value erosion. Lightening his burden the CIO managed a fleeting smile which lifted the gloom from the group. He joined the light banter that typically follows a serious discussion.
Time flew by, months passed away, the CIO moved on to newer ventures and greener pastures, happy and successful again with no visible scars of the past. It was as if he had buried the bitter experience never to be unearthed again, any discussion on it a taboo. But morbid curiosity never lets' go especially when someone you know and respect has been wronged; you want the perpetrators to get their due punishment. Meetings with common industry peers and vendors does raise queries on progress and status.
A year into the intervention, the project had seen slippages on timelines consistently; some of the leadership team finally found a voice and challenged the continually sliding deadlines. Running out of excuses though unwilling to acknowledge their limitations they shifted the blame to the business folks for not defining the requirements, cooperating and providing accurate data; it seems there is no hope for redemption. Last heard there was pressure to shape up or ship out; a new date has been set to go live in whatever state, business disruption be damned!
Tale of 3 CIOs, people join companies, people leave their bossesIT politics, Leadership
X had just completed 4 years in his role and grown to take on additional business responsibility. He had built a team which worked across business units and corporate IT on the forefront of some of the new technological innovations. Accolades came from peers and industry acknowledging his ability to take risks and succeed. Life appeared to be going well for him and he was enjoying his professional life. After a few quiet months or was it quarters, he was suddenly looking for a change with agitation that was alien to his happy go lucky nature.
Having spent almost a decade in the company, Y had seen career growth that would be the envy of many; his profile encompassed local and global responsibility. Staying with one industry through his career made him a specialist of sorts and he became a star. His efforts outside of work also made him quite popular in his chosen field. His company had maintained leadership in a competitive industry locally and globally carving a niche with their products. Out of the blue one fine day he called seeking greener pastures.
He was a jolly good fellow and so said all of us ! The life of any gathering, ready with a joke (sometimes too quick), Z had steadily risen through the ranks with some help from his Mentor. Through the 5 years in his company, he had strengthened the foundation and completed seemingly impossibly difficult projects that his predecessors could not. Promoted every alternate year, he had taken new challenges as they came and successfully dealt with them. Over a drink he broke down seeking to leave the company that launched him.
The 3 incidents above spanning 3 different companies and 3 different industries had the 3 CIOs reaching out to me within a span of few months. Maybe it was coincidence, but it was almost as if there was concerted action against my former team mates. All of them had high levels of anxiety and all of them wanted to get out as quickly as possible. Their stories were quite different and then they had many common elements too. They were victims of the same malaise which appeared to be more widespread than reported.
Take the first case, the company management reins passed from founder to the next generation. X found joy working with him as his new manager with an Ivy League pedigree used technology as a native. He drove the company fast and furious, recklessly at times as seen by the old school, he wanted to get somewhere in a hurry. X attempted to run with him and soon found himself at the receiving end frequently irrespective of root cause. He soon realized his non Ivy League or named Institute stature made him an outcast in the inner circle.
Y had done well through the years growing from mid-level to heading the function eventually. His sharp and quick eye for detail made him a popular choice to be included in any team struggling with a tricky problem. The company saw CEOs change thrice over his tenure; all of them nudged him to greater heights. Law of averages caught up with him; the latest CEO hired across layers from his previous company sidelining most old-timers. Y used the last resort calling global compliance which saved his position but killed his career.
Z had a new manager who was task oriented; the resultant change in workload gave Z a high. He rose to every occasion and delivered to promise. Some of the initiatives were industry firsts giving the company a competitive talking point. He was outspoken which was not a negative, his quick wit and mannerism portrayed him of lesser maturity. His work was commended but his manager thought he needed to grow up. Thus despite the success a search for a senior leader above him was launched forcing him to introspect and seek options outside.
Success is no longer a guarantee for continuity; political hues and cronyism seem to be the new mantras required in large doses. Managers are looking for comfort within their teams in new environments thereby throwing enterprise culture and values out of the window. In the quest to succeed, tolerance to such behavior is accepted as part of the game. Collateral damage with some exits does not appear to perturb owners and Boards. By the time the realization hits the company, the damage is already done which takes a long time to recover.
Lunch time networking causes indigestionCIO, IT expectations
The new email is a retrograde step and not an upgrade; life was so good with the older system. What is happening with our IT? The world is moving ahead and we are going backwards. How do you expect us to be effective when we cannot even communicate with our customers? I don't know what to do, probably this year again thanks to IT we will have some unhappy customers!
I had approved the investment almost 2 months back and you are telling me that we still have not placed orders? How do you expect us to work? What is the problem? As the Business Head when I have given the go ahead who can challenge the decision? Why are you trying to save a few thousand dollars? Do you know that the loss to business due to this delay is in hundreds of thousands?
These are a sampling of lunch time ranting as described by CIO friends. One of them was a good guy, dedicated, focused, always ready to please; his team imbibed the same ethos and worked hard, always available to the business. He was successful in a typical way with conscious budgets and a fair set of initiatives that kept the engine humming. Inorganic growth and lateral expansion caught him capacity constrained which was beginning to hurt. He did not like the lunch time discussions anymore which ended up embarrassing him most of the time.
A long time back one of my managers gave me an interesting insight; we all typically have our office lunch with our teams. If you look around in the lunch room you will see a finance table, legal table, an IT group, and so on. These groups get together automatically and enjoy shop talk and extended work discussions over the rice, curry and bread. In open organizations there is a reserved table for the Managers where you will find the CXOs quietly having a meal with small talk. Most employees stay away from this table and likewise the CXOs.
My manager who became and stayed a friend believed that the world should not be polarized this way. He too ate at the staff canteen whatever food was served and consciously sought new groups every day to share a meal with. Likewise he expected all of us at C-level to break our comfort zones and network with staff across levels and functions. The discussions though initially polite became a tool to measure the pulse of the company. Employees warmed up to the idea and based on their ease opened up with some of us.
Observing this through the years I realized that the behavior is universal; birds of feather flock together. People gravitate into groups with familiar faces and shun the relatively unknown; if they find no seat within their groups they rather sit alone and not with another group; they did what they did, it was automatic. I saw similar behavior in social gatherings, networking dinners and wherever people got together. Off course there are exceptions who love to meet new people and merge into any group easily.
Practicing what I learned whenever possible, the initially forced experience soon made me welcome into any group. No walls went up or conversations died when I joined a group for lunch. The connect with people created empathy that I could use in various discussions around problems and opportunities as well as driving change which came along with the interventions IT created. We connected beyond work related transactions and built many friends who light up when we meet even in a casual encounter on the streets or a mall.
One of the answers would be that it is all about anticipating requirements, partnering the business and being proactive in your discussions. If you are a good CIO who is aligned to the business, blah, blah … lunches can be fun. Your customers' perceptions are your reality; any change takes a lot of effort and consistency. Another view is that some people will never be satisfied whatever you do; so don't get impacted by all these ramblings, manage them separately and keep going. Go and sit on another table rather than get indigestion.
Corporate ADHD and time managementTime Management
Once upon a time there was a disruptive technology that took the corporate world by storm. Every executive aspired to own it and badgered their respective managers and IT to provide it across the ranks. The investment was quite high and thus it was rationed off down the hierarchy incrementally. The haves strutted it proudly and for the wannabes it was a classic case of owners envy, neighbors pride. It took a while to become a commodity and then the paradigm changed again. I am referring to mail on the mobile that every executive wanted.
It was fashionable to have a message footer which indicated which device you used to send a message especially if it was not a PC or laptop. Notifications and alerts from these devices ensured that you knew 24X7 whenever a message arrived. Initially due to enthusiasm and then by habit replies were almost instant. Whether in meeting, at a social event, getting the nightly beauty sleep, or traveling including driving, there was an intrinsic urge to respond. The resultant impact to mind and body created rifts in relations, disease forms and cures.
Multitude of newer devices and smartphones eliminated the divide between the privileged and the bourgeois. Consumerization of IT created newer possibilities which the CIOs struggled with; added to this social media addiction completed the digitization of the populace. Armed with multiple devices to separate personal from corporate, the demands on the individual from peers, friends, acquaintances, and the illuminati made everyone a slave in the connected world with pings and vibrations of all kinds vying for attention.
We want to achieve more in lesser time and thus multi-task in a hope that within the same time more will get done. Thus people flit from moment to moment with their attention darting from one thought to another; the flurry of activity divided between competing tasks and priorities. Interruptions now enter less in physical form and more on multiple connected devices attached or surrounding us. The result is that everything ends up taking longer and little gets done which pushes us to do more of the same entrenching us deeper into the quicksand of inefficiency.
Empirical data from numerous studies has proven that attention span stands reduced by 3X over the last few decades and continues its downward spiral. We don't have time is the pet peeve of busy corporate executives buried under the mountain of unfulfilled tasks and missed deadlines. Numerous apps, email alerts, and push notifications keep us bound to the devices and habitually pressurizes us to take notice and demands action. Unable to comprehend the nemesis they struggle to stay afloat with no evident way out.
Everyone is working harder in their quest to get much done; longer hours has become the norm. Work life balance anyone? Shun the thought and take some work home; get it done while you travel and the rest when you get there. There are no options for the individual; enterprises now have choices from the downsized, unwanted and freelancers; there is always someone who will do it cheaper, faster, probably in the neighborhood or oceans apart. Technology also makes it possible to automate many processes and eliminate the inefficient.
Effectiveness of meetings dwindle and urgency overrides the important with perceived time value of information becoming a key measure even when it influences no change in outcomes. Time is getting filled with activity leaving no discretionary activity possible. People attending "Time Management" seminars find that it sets them back with the time spent. The urgent has overtaken our lives and the important is neglected.
A generation of digital slaves emerges from the shadows; they walk with bowed heads with their hands at diaphragm level holding their (master) devices, attentive eyes glued to glowing screens beckoning them to the inane and unimportant. Some devices strapped to different body parts communicate with other things which in turn influences the slave's behavior. The promise of a better future keeps the addicts hopeful and asking for more. It is scary that we are beginning to forget what life used to be and what it can be.
Chief interrupted officerChief Interrupted Office, Leadership
Times are getting better for most CIOs with economy looking up, growth back on the agenda, business wanting to create a digital enterprise, the hype around various technologies like Cloud, Social Media and what have you dying away. CMOs and CIOs have figured out a way to work together while CFOs have set the governance on budget management and are not obsessed with Return on Investment as the only measure. IT budgets are beginning to show signs of revival and so are expectations on the new projects and possibilities.
Some mature companies used the lean period to reinvent themselves and re-engineer processes; they invested in refresh of not just the servers and other hardware which could be had for a steal with piled up inventories with vendors, they also used the spare capacity with people to upgrade their ERPs and build new systems. Many CIOs were busier in the last few years than they had been when business was booming. They also started seeing attrition in the team with the job market opening up which added to the challenge.
Good times bring a lot of events, seminars, offsite meetings, and invitations to all kinds of gatherings which have great headlines to attract all and sundry. One of the CIOs whose spouse was traveling mentioned that she hadn't cooked for a week by just accepting these. Except that they rarely offer any major learning or insight; after a while even the networking turns stale with the same people ending up in every event. It is another matter that the structure of events has remained the same over the years defying logic and evolution.
I was thus surprised to hear about a CIO who never attended any events or seminars or exotic trips that are organized by the friendly vendors. No one had ever seen her in any of the events despite the long years she had put in into the industry. She never responded to any phone calls, messages or emails or any attempts to reach her. It did not matter who was inviting her, Chairman, CEO, Account Manager, she remained a hermit. Her reclusive ways created many stories and not all of them were flattering or positive.
Her team did not know how to react to such a situation; they wanted to network and socialize and get exposure to what was happening in the world outside. They were reluctant to ask as they never saw their Boss ever accept any or go to such gatherings; her demeanor did not invite anyone to venture to ask. New team members who came from different environments found this quite unusual. A few who were bold enough to participate on their own enjoyed the benefits; their rationale, it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
So when I met with one of her brave team members I thought I would attempt to unravel the mystery. I was perplexed by what I heard. Her calendar was double booked many times with internal meetings; she was always flitting between meetings without spending enough time to get to the bottom of the issue or to understand the impact or action items. She almost always turned up late for the appointment and would be out of the room no sooner the meeting started with a phone call interrupting her transient presence within the first five minutes.
She spent a lot of time on the phone, but then she never took calls from the vendors and most people internally found her phone busy. Few who had spent long years with her knew it was not her partner. The interruptions had become part of her persona that people no longer saw that as abnormal behavior. Within her company they had gotten used to meetings without her even when she accepted them. Someone dared ask her about the calls; if looks could kill, the poor inquisitive lady would have died on the spot.
Everyone speculated about her leadership, effectiveness, longevity and survival; difficult to comprehend unless your family owns the business or there was a relationship of another kind (neither was the case). Her team was at the receiving end of rebukes while she remained immune to the environment. Her team was adequately effective and the business had limited expectations from her. Working at her lowest level of inefficiency she had rarely been challenged for innovation or transformational leadership.
I wonder what would happen to her should she join another company?
Survival of the paranoidBYOD, Internet of Things, Security
She received an alert from credit card Company of a debit of $50 from the neighborhood grocery store. She panicked and then remembered that it was probably the refrigerator ordering replenishments (My refrigerator has gone shopping). She was however worried about what did it end up ordering. Having finished the orange juice from the last purchase and not wanting anymore, nor the horrible cake that came as an offer last time (She was anyway trying to lose weight). She then received the e-bill on mail and was shocked to see sausages and beef steak! These did not exist in the master list and decided to visit the store on the way back to find out what had gone wrong.
Recently I was at a cybersecurity conference in the country which boasts of the maximum number of IT security startups and companies. They continue to redefine information and cyber security in ways that most of us would find hard to imagine. The new and old are not focusing just to make better antivirus or firewalls or mobile device management solutions; their R&D has transcended conventional boundaries. With Internet of (Every)Things and all kinds of devices communicating with again all kind of devices, the channels need to be secured.
The use cases discussed sounded straight out of science fiction or futuristic movies except that all were stark reality which we are rarely exposed to. The innocuous IP audio-conferencing phone in the meeting room as a listening device or the video conferencing equipment transmitting images or streaming live unknown to everyone. Directional antenna sniffing the airwaves and breaking wireless networks or RFID tags or readers in a manufacturing facility misbehaving and making a mess of the inventory and production plan.
At our homes the number of connected devices is increasing; for me it started with my streaming media box, then the television followed by the gaming console which was fighting with multiple tablet and laptop computers. My new car wants to send messages to the service station when it felt sick and my GPS has a mind of its own routing me through lesser known roads in a quest to get me to my destination faster and screwing up. When I have not finished my daily dose of walking my fitness ban posts on social media embarrassing me.
It is not a stretch of imagination to believe that these devices can be infected with malicious code which may change behavior or purpose. Individuals unknowingly changing their daily pattern or nudged in an alternate direction by compromised devices can impact their professional actions and outcomes. Why do you need to break into a trading system, break the trader, it's easier! Shutting down an electrical grid is big effort, shut down people or change them; use sensors to hack into the system. I was stunned by the possibilities.
In the future with every device connected and transmitting or receiving information, intelligence is corruptible and creates new scenarios of what can go wrong. Recent demonstrations though not malicious in intent of some highly computerized cars being hijacked predict an unstable future. The ability to patch or secure the large number of devices (estimated at 20 billion plus), company provided or individual owned BYOD enabled will be a veritable nightmare for the enterprise security managers and CIOs.
Enterprises are pushing to create new opportunities that become possible with IoT; some of these maybe seeded with hare brained ideas though I believe many will survive and become the next big thing of tomorrow. I believe that everyone needs to be cognizant of the fact that IoT is here to stay; how we leverage it within our ecosystem will give a differentiated advantage that success stories are made of. Every new hyped technology falls through the trough of disillusionment before becoming mainstream. Stay invested.
She reached the store and challenged them demanding a refund and the fact that they had goofed up majorly. In return they showed her the order which did contain specific brand of sausages and steak. She called the refrigerator company who informed her that the last software upgrade had added social media features and her refrigerator had accepted a request from the specified company to receive promotions. The conversion of the promotion to order was probably a bug which they will investigate and patch the firmware.
I wonder if a virus were to infect the refrigerator, what would it do?
I've lost my mindBYOD, Internet of Things
"We are sorry sir, we are unable to accept your order; thank you for calling your favorite dining place." I am sure you have also received or read some of the messages floating around on social media where the protagonist is unable to order his favorite pizza or pasta or whatever dish you may want to imagine. He is repeatedly denied his request to quench his craving with inferences about his cholesterol or past illness or health insurance coverage; you can imagine the rest as it would probably pan out for the majority of us.
The situation is not too far in the future! In an interconnected world, combination of personal, medical, social, financial and professional data creates new possibilities of analytical correlations that can be used or misused depending on how you look at the situation. Connected netizens fill in void hours in their lives on multiple devices through the day with status updates, browsing for information or clarifications on something that they are unable to comprehend. They leave behind a trail that can be picked up.
We already see this happening with targeted advertisements across various sites depending on our browsing behavior. Would you turn off cookies or stop accessing popular search engines from your mobile? What about all the apps on the smartphone? Some nifty utilities that make life so much easier; finding great restaurants, booking tables, looking up flight schedule or delay. Can these apps pry at other data on your smartphones or the remnants of bread crumbs and widgets start snooping around your laptop or tablet?
I get this weird feeling when advertisements remind me of my visits to some websites like someone has been looking over my shoulder spying on me all along in my public and private moments. So I decided to confuse the intruders by randomly checking for exotic locations which I would never visit or check out merchandise that most sane people would shudder to buy. The trail it created led the crawlies on a red herring trail. I felt elated as if I had won a major war by thwarting the evil shenanigans in their quest to hound me.
Our dependence on technology is slowly and steadily shifting our thought patterns and the way we think. Intuitively we reach out to query a term or gather additional information adding to the vast amount of data we assimilate. We also seek help for simple and complex problems or situations rarely exerting our thinking prowess. I am not sure if this is good or bad, healthy or not, this has become a way of life. The extreme dependence of the newer generation also known as Digital Natives on technology is exciting and scary.
CIOs have struggled with BYOD getting entrenched across their enterprises and made half-hearted attempts to rope in the rogues with Mobile Device Management and other tools. But that is only part of the story; our incessant need to be online across all our devices adds to the trail we leave behind. Most of the providers have become our shadow with embedded trackers hiding their intent in fine print over 30 pages of agreements which no one reads and clicks "I Agree." And guess what? In most cases we don't really care.
Every day we are flooded with huge amounts of quotes, stories, posts, pictures, videos sent to us by people we know. No one knows the origin or validity of the content we receive. Are we at the cusp of incremental revolution nudged by technology that is controlled by few who are playing with our decisions? Are our cognitive behaviors are being shaped by some manipulative story teller who is pulling at our heartstrings in ways unknown to us? Are we really in control of our actions and destiny anymore?
The digitization of the world is an eventuality that cannot be wished away. It is gaining momentum every day and encompassing every aspect of our lives slowly and steadily. We are given choices on how we would like to engage with technology but peer pressure breaks down resistance quickly. I wonder if I have a mind of my own as I keep going back to technology to assist me with every step I take. As a kid I read the Orwellian tale about Big Brother watching me; I think the future has arrived stealthily without telling us!


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Sainsbury's Packages, 1962–19771962
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1. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
directed by Blake Edwards
featuring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, Mickey Rooney
2. The Quiet Man (1952)
directed by John Ford
featuring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond
3. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
directed by Nora Ephron
featuring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, Rosie O'Donnell, Victor Garber, Rob Reiner, Dana Ivey
4. Shirley Valentine (1989)
directed by Lewis Gilbert
featuring Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, Alison Steadman, Julia McKenzie, Joanna Lumley
5. An Affair to Remember (1957)
directed by Leo McCarey
featuring Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Richard Denning, Neva Patterson, Cathleen Nesbitt
6. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
directed by Ang Lee
featuring Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, James Fleet, Greg Wise, Gemma Jones, Elizabeth Spriggs
7. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
directed by Audrey Wells
featuring Diane Lane, Sandra Oh, Lindsay Duncan, Raoul Bova, Vincent Riotta
8. Sabrina (1954)
directed by Billy Wilder
featuring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden, John Williams
9. The Cutting Edge (1992)
directed by Paul Michael Glaser
featuring D.B. Sweeney, Moira Kelly, Roy Dotrice, Terry O'Quinn, Dwier Brown
10. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
directed by John Madden
featuring Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench, Simon Callow
11. Shall We Dance? (2004)
directed by Peter Chelsom
featuring Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Lisa Ann Walter
12. Used People (1992)
directed by Beeban Kidron
featuring Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Marcello Mastroianni, Marcia Gay Harden
13. Return to Me (2000)
directed by Bonnie Hunt
featuring David Duchovny, Minnie Driver, James Belushi, Bonnie Hunt, Chris Barnes, David Alan Grier, Carroll O'Connor
14. As Good As It Gets (1997)
directed by James L. Brooks
featuring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Skeet Ulrich, Shirley Knight, Harold Ramis, Jesse James
15. Before Sunrise (1995)
directed by Richard Linklater
featuring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Hanno Pöschl, Andrea Eckert, Peter Ily Huemer
16. Only the Lonely (1991)
directed by Chris Columbus
featuring John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy, Kevin Dunn, Milo O'Shea
17. A Lot Like Love (2005)
directed by Nigel Cole
featuring Ashton Kutcher, Amanda Peet, Kathryn Hahn, Kal Penn, Ali Larter, Tyrone Giordano
18. Cousins (1989)
directed by Joel Schumacher
featuring Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Sean Young, William Petersen, Lloyd Bridges
19. A Room With a View (1986)
directed by James Ivory
featuring Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands, Daniel Day-Lewis
20. Northanger Abbey (2007)
directed by Jon Jones
featuring Felicity Jones, JJ Feild, Carey Mulligan, William Beck
21. The Swan (1956)
directed by Charles Vidor
featuring Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan, Agnes Moorehead, Jesse Royce Landis
22. Mansfield Park (1999)
directed by Patricia Rozema
featuring Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Alessandro Nivola, Embeth Davidtz, Harold Pinter
23. The Preacher's Wife (1996)
directed by Penny Marshall
featuring Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines, Justin Pierre Edmund
24. To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996)
directed by Michael Pressman
featuring Peter Gallagher, Claire Danes, Kathy Baker, Wendy Crewson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bruce Altman, Laurie Fortier
25. Mystic Pizza (1988)
directed by Donald Petrie
featuring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor, Vincent D'Onofrio, William R. Moses


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I know it is best to get nutrients from food, but I think I should start taking a daily vitamin. Any suggestions? Should I take a female specific daily vitamin?
This article, Do I Need to Take So Many Supplements?, sparked my interest in this topic.
I concur. Real food is the best source of "living mineral" or vitamins. I have however been experimenting with supplementation. Currently I am taking a liquid multi-vitamin made by a company called Nature's Plus (www.naturesplus.com). The product is called Source of Life, and it has quality ingredients. About six months ago I did a cycle of a similar supplement called Optimum Nutrition made by another company called Health Direct (http://www.healthdirectusa.com/). I have noticed moderate increase in energy and decrease in fatigue / recovery time. Who knows how much of that is placebo effect. Another technique that I practice regularly is the weekly vitamin supplementation; at least once a week I drink 12-16 oz glass of fresh vegetable juice. As for the female versions of the vitamins, I think a lot of it is marketing except for neonatal vitamins. My friend who is a guy was taking a neonatal multivitamin, because he is a vegetarian and there is higher levels of iron and B12, which are particiulary of concern to vegetarians and vegans. Some times he combines vitamins by letting the tablets sit in the bottom of a glass until they dissolve, gives them a good stir and down the hatch. I prefer liquid vitamins because I read / heard that they have a higher absortion rate, although I can't reference any scientific journals of the top of my head that confirm such a claim. Hope this helped. ciao.
Nice. Thank you. I'm going to check out that site now. I had heard liquid vitamins absorb better, but never knew it was true or not. It makes sense though. Anyway, this is awesome. Thank you for your help.
Yes! Not only does food supply us with vitamins but also gives us the needed carbohydrates, proteins and fats that are essential to life. Many vitamins were not even discovered before the 1900's. I'm sure there are nutrients in food that science has yet to discover. Vitamins should remain supplements because that is what they are: supplements. And yet, the question remains: Are you getting all the nutrition that you need from food alone? According to the most recent findings, an optimal level of vitamin E would be 400 I.U. To get that amount from food, one would have to eat 29 pounds of spinach every day or 2.3 pounds of Almonds every day or a quart of Safflower oil every day!
According to the Journal of American Medicine, " Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements. " Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults. In an article I read in the Chicago Tribune, it said that the JAMA recommendations underscore a growing concern among nutrition experts that the recommended daily allowances, or RDA's, for many vitamins are set too low. Take multivitamins, AMA urges in policy reversal
Here are a couple of links from my blog that talk about how to choose a vitamin. The first one has a clip from an interview with Dr. Oz from ABC News. He and Dr. Michael Roizen are interviewed about the importance of vitamins in our diet. The second link is a book review of "The Comparative Guide To Nutritional Supplements." Finally, a book that seperate's the wheat from the chaff as far as vitamins are concerned.
Dr. Oz Reveals The Vitamins You Need Most For Healthier Living
The Comparative Guide To Nutritional Supplements
Stay away from vitamins with iron in them. Unless you have been diagnosed as anemic by your doctor, you probably get all the iron you need from food. Most vitamins have a lot of antioxidants in them. Iron is an oxidant and can cause arthritis and a host of other problems that should be avoided. Too much iron leads to a condition called Hemochromatosis.When taken with calcium, it interferes and hinders the absorption of calcium. If you have had an operation or heavy loss of blood, take iron pills separately from your vitamins as they can interfere with one another.
A woman's vitamin could contain more[folic acid|http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1151.asp]to help her baby to avoid neural tube defects like Spina Bifida. In my opinion, a "woman's" vitamin is just a gimmick created by vitamin companies to sell more vitamins. If you choose a high quality vitamin, it should have all the potency and balance that you need. That should be your focus.
I used to take Nature's Plus too. They had a liquid formula for joint health that I used to give to my parents. Taking supplements in liquid form made a lot of sense to me at the time. There was a study done in Canada a few years back that tested the disintegration properties of many different dietary supplements. Over half the tablet products tested failed to disintegrate fully within 20 minutes, a stringent standard, and about a quarter of the products failed the less-stringent USP disintegration tests for supplements. Consumer Labs (ConsumerLab.com) did a study of vitamans recently and found that Nature's Plus® Especially Yours® Women's Multi-Vitamin failed to break apart properly, requiring more than one hour to disintegrate. A relative of mine takes liquid vitamins because he claims that they absorb more quickly into the blood stream. If this is true, then why are most drugs and vitamins still in the tablet form? Like you, I questioned the science behind the claim. Here is what I found.
Nutrients are absorbed by the small intestine (unless they are taken sublingually or injected). When you ingest a supplement in either a liquid or tablet form, it must first pass through the stomach before reaching the small intestine. If liquids were simply absorbed directly into the bloodstream, as some supplement companies claim, would the same happen when you ate soup?
Bioavailability is defined as the degree and rate at which a substance (as a drug) is absorbed into a living system or is made available at the site of physiological activity. Different vitamins and minerals have different absorption rates no matter if they come from a tablet, liquid, powder, or food. Calcium, for example, has a pretty standard absorption rate (around 25-35%). The form does not generally make a significant difference.
A well-made tablet provides a very effective delivery system and is the chosen form of most pharmaceutical medications. This is because tablets have been shown to be a very efficient delivery system for medications. Why would vitamin and mineral supplements be any different? Does anybody doubt that an aspirin tablet is less effective because it comes in a tablet?
Tableted products provide the advantage of an increased amount of active ingredient (almost 3x as much as a capsule and much more than a liquid or spray). In general, the stability of tablets is also superior to liquids.
There are many factors that can affect the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body. Some of these factors are a function of the person taking the nutrient and are dependent on the age of the person, the integrity of their digestive system, the state of their health, the time of day, the person's gender, and if the supplements were taken on a full or empty stomach. People whose nutrient needs are greater - such as growing children, pregnant or lactating women, and those who are currently deficient - may have significantly enhanced absorption rates for certain nutrients. Recently, some individuals and companies have made claims that their products are superior because they are "98% absorbed" or some similar number. This is a misleading statement because there are far too many variables to imply that an individual's absorption is a certain percent of the material consumed. Even absorption of minerals from food sources can vary significantly. Boron, molybdenum and iodine can be absorbed at over 90 percent, while the average absorption rates of zinc, copper, and selenium can range from 30 to 80 percent depending on the form.
It should seem reasonable, then, that stating an absorption rate on a package or in advertising is very misleading.
When looking for a vitamin, you should look for one that is formulated to meet United States Pharmacopoeia standards, which require full disintegration within 30-45 min. Look for the letters 'USP" on the label. This means that it is manufatured to the same standard as a drug. Most vitamins do not meet this standard. Those that do are reaching for a standard of purity and potency that others are not. Unfortunately, the FDA does not regulate the vitamin industry. Therefore, having USP on the label is still not enough. Look for independent verification from an independent lab like ConsumerLab.com or look for certification by the NSF.
The supplement industry itself originated on account of published studies in the scientific literature that contributed to the knowledge and insight into nutritional elements. With the hundreds of studies connecting calcium and vitamin D supplements with bone health, it is hard to dispute that tableted supplements provide an effective delivery system. If tablets weren't any good, why did the researchers get positive results? If liquid or spray supplements are so much better, why are they rarely, if ever, used in published scientific research?
(Keep in mind that I am speaking of multiminerals and multivitamin formulations. There may be certain products, such as children's medicine, that are more appropriate in a liquid form. However, these are the exceptions, not the rule.)
Finally, liquid supplement promoters often contend that liquids are better because they don't contain fillers (excipients used in tablets for disintegration, form, binding, coating, etc). This is perhaps the most ridiculous argument of all, since liquid supplements require even more "other" ingredients, such as emulsifiers, solvents, preservatives, stabilizing agents, coloring, flavoring, etc. Generally speaking, the more vitamin and mineral ingredients there are in a liquid supplement, the more excipients that product will require. Natures Optimal Nutrition liquid vitamin has Sodium Benzoate, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Natural Flavors and lots of water. Sodium Benzoate is a preservative and is generally considered safe in our foods and cosmetics even though it has been linked to cancer in government or academic studies or assessments. It has also been linked to birth defects, infertility and reproductive organ cancers. Some of it's other names are Benzoic acid or Parabens used in cosmetics. Xanthan Gum is a binder or emulsion stabilizer. Potassium Sorbate is another chemical preservative.
Biochemist Lyle MacWilliam did a six year study on over 1,500 multivitamins in North America in order to help consumers to wade through all of the advertising hype ("We are the best, we are the World leader,"etc). He uses 18 scientific criterion including completeness, bioavailabilty and potency to test the effectiveness of each product. Only 33 products got a 5 star rating. Click on the following link to read my review of his book. Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.
WOW, that was beautiful. All too true.
It has been a week since I ran out of my liquid vitamins, and upon further consideration I will not be supplementing anytime in the near future, or at least until I further investigate the USP and your recommended title Comparitive Guide to Nutritional Supplements. As you mentioned there is no regulation by the Food and Drug Administration, which has long been the cause of my own skepticism.
The same website you referenced in the Crystalline Fructose post has lots of awesome articles, including this one about Xanthan Gum. Xanthan Gum There is a lot of "organic" food that contains various colloidial perservatives, but if Xanthan Gum is enzmatically processed from corn, who knows the integrity of the corn originally harvested. A great book that I recently discovered is Superior Nutrition by Herbert M. Shelton. Provides lots of scientific reserach as well as an interesting philosophy; that nutrient intake is not as important as absorption.
With that in mind, what about vegetable juice? I have read that contrefugal juicers destroy lots of heat sensitive nutrients, such as chromium. Any truth to that? Does fruit and vegetable juice, or even smoothies with nuritional supplements benefit from being in an aqueous solution / liquid form?
*I went to a health conference a month ago and learned about a product called BarleyMax. It is an organic product but the results are said to be amazing. Personally, I have not tried it but my mom started taking it about 2 weeks ago (she recommends the capsules) and said she not only feels healthier but more alert and energetic. Here is a website about BarelyMax: *https://commerce.hacres.com/product.aspx?id=441
Just a new idea to throw out there.
Interesting. I'll check it out. I have another one to throw out there too. What about fish oil? I hear it has amazing benefits. Anyone use it or have any info?
Fish Oil... I just ate a fish. Similiarly to the integrity of the vitamin company, the fish and its elements depend on the quality of the fish. Either way I prefer to eat fish than drink their oil. Fresh (not frozen), wild (not farmed) fish. My mom told me that my grandma would give anyone who was getting sick a tablespoon of Cod Liver Oil, but my uncle Paul said it was threat of the aweful taste that helped everyone to feel suddenly better. I have heard that there is the potential for nasty burps too. yuck. haha. I only imagine, for like you I have never supplemented fish oils. I did however once hear about a study conducted with alcoholic Irish Americans who were given fish oil supplements to help decrease cravings and anxiety from alcohol withdrawl.
As for BarleyMax, I have been reading about wheat germ and have yet to decide whether or not to incorporate it into my nutritional regiment. The more I learn about new food technology, the more I prefer food. What say yee? ; ]
Hey Sara,
I came across your question and thought that I would shoot you a quick response. I too believe in getting your nutrients from the food we eat, but with all the stress of every day life and trying to get everything done, it just isn't that easy!! I have been taking and loving the effectiveness of a combination of vitamins by Herbalife. Infact I was so impressed and excited by the results that I started distributing them!!
I would suggest two products for sure : Garden 7, gives you all the required vitamins and phytonutrients you need on a daily basis. It contains seven servings of different fruits and vegetables and is loaded with anti-oxidants. And the second suggestions would be the Cell Activator; this product helps your body absorb all the nutrients you take in through food and vitamins.
If you interested you interested in learning more, here's my web site; www.herbal-nutrition.net/taylor I'd be happy to help you put together a personalized program.
I read the article that you referenced and the author seemed to only concentrate on one reason that someone might take vitamins. More energy? Could it be that there are other reasons to take vitamins? Heart health, brain health, joint health, eye health, metabolizing sugars better? Lowering your chances of getting diabetes, arthritis, cancer, Alzheimer's, spina bifida in your unborn children?
Until recently, most doctors have been taught that vitamins are not only useless, but might also be dangerous to your health. They also make very expensive urine as many vitamins that are not utilized by the body will pass through and out of your system. They tell us that we can get all the vitamins that we need from food. Vitamins are basically silly and if you want to be silly, then go ahead and take them.
On the other hand, there are a growing number of medical professionals that are learning to reject that kind of outdated and archaic advice. In the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was reported that, "Most people do not consume and optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements. Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults.
This does not mean that you should be taking buckets of pill in the place of a variety of foods. That kind of thinking would be even more silly. Some foods contain nutrients that we probably have not even discovered yet. Our bodies were designed to eat whole, unrefined, uncontaminated foods. In theory, if we lived in an ideal world, we could get all the nutrients we need from an ideal variety of foods. But the cleanliness of theory is no match for the mess of reality. According to the JAMA study mentioned above, most people do not get the optimal amounts of nutrients from the food they eat. Most of us don't get the variety and balance that we need every day. So, a dally multivitamin pill can get the insurance that you are getting what you need.
Because of bad farming practices in the United States, our soils have become dangerous and depleted of nutrients. Over farming and the use of pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers have created a toxic environment for our crops to grow in. For too long, the concentration has been on volume, size and output for farmers. Cows are fed growth hormones, steroids and antibiotics that get into our bodies by default. Our, once nutrient dense and clean vegetables and fruits have been replaced with foods that are bigger but bankrupt of the vitamins and minerals that they once had. Recent studies that compared the mineral content of soils today with soils 100 years ago found that agricultural soils in the United States have been depleted of eighty-five percent of their minerals (Rio Earth Summit 1992). In other words, a stalk of broccoli is not what it used to be.
Our food system is losing its ability to produce food with nutrient levels adequate to maintain the health of our families. There is no guarantee that the food produced and harvested meets nutritional standards needed to maintain good health. Click on or copy the following link to read a paper from the Nutrition Security Institute.
" The alarming fact is that foods - fruits, vegetables and grains - now being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contains enough of certain needed nutrients, are starving us - no matter how much we eat of them." U.S. Senate Document 264 1936
Sara, you had a question about fish oil back in October. I use a pharmaceutical-grade fish oil for several reasons. I was able to lower my cholesterol naturally by about 50 points. I like fish too. I go to a fish fry almost every Friday night. I don't eat the fried fish because of the transfats and saturated fats. I eat the broiled fish instead. None the less, I worry about eating a lot of fish because of the contaminants found in fish, like PCB's, lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and dioxins. The FDA warns that women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children should:
not eat any shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish
eat only two average servings (6 ounces per serving for adults, but less for kids) a week of fish that are lower in mercury, including shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
Pharmaceutical-grade fish oil goes through a molecular distillation process that removes these toxic ingredients and leaves you with the essential fatty acids that your body needs for brain, joint and heart health. All fish oil is not the same. The stuff you get at the grocery or drug store usually does not go through a molecular distillation process. Consequently, there can be algae and some of the other contaminants that I mentioned here. A Pharmaceutical grade fish oil is more pure and more concentrated. It costs twice as much but it is more than twice as concentrated which results in fewer pills to take to get the same result. What are some of the results of taking a good quality fish oil? Here are some:
reduces triglycerides and cholesterol
raises HDL ( good cholesterol)
lowers blood pressure
reduces risk of blood clots
reduces risk of heart attack and stroke
reduces inflammation
reduces arthritis inflammation and pain
alleviates autoimmune diseases
improves eczema, colitis, arthritis, MS, psoriasis, migraines
prevents preterm deliveries and toxemia
helps support brain, eye and joint health
essential for the brain, eyes of a developing fetus
Also, a good quality fish oil like Carlson, Usana, Omega RX or Nordic Naturals will not give you gas or the "fish burps" like the cheap grocery or drug store brand. If you notice, most supplements do not have any health claims on them. Fish oil is the exception. Most of them make claims on the label that have to do with heart disease. Check it out. There are many studies out there that show a benefit for those that have arthritis. My father is 90 and has severe arthritis all over his body. The doctor showed it to me on an X-ray last year. The amazing thing is that he has no pain. I have not given him a pain pill (which he used to take a lot of) for four years now. Doctor cannot explain it.
Hi all,
thx for sharing so much helpful info. i just want to know more info about daily vitamins and their effective to our body.
any post of u will inform what i want i think.
thx for sharing. and any new info will be appreciated.
Years before vitamins and other nutrients were replaced in the dirt and moved to into the plants, but since agriculture methods have altered drastically, so has the vitamin and nutrient content of the crops.
Great ! Thank you for your informative post.
Yes , it's all to know , not only does food supply us with vitamins but also gives us the needed carbohydrates,
proteins and fats that essential to our body ,even to out daily life. But as the fast pace of life goes,
if people don't have a balanced diet or do not have a good eating habits,people can get enough essential Vitamins
though they eat food everyday. Maybe that is why some Vitamins Supplement appeared. But i do believe that liquid vitamins is
easier and better to be taken in by your body than the solid ones, isn't it?


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Brow Lift Cosmetic Surgery Center - San Gabriel, CA
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Garden Grove Hospital & Med Ctr
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the how-did-I-ever-live-without-it makeup applicator
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text: Why Coach D'Antoni will never lead us to the promised land. March 14, 2011 / thenewyorkknickspodcast Defense wins titles, while offense does not make up for lousy defense. Share this:Click to email this to a friendClick to share on TwitterClick to share on TumblrShare on FacebookClick to share on PinterestClick to share on RedditClick to share on Google+Like this:Like Loading... Related


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Indie Next List
The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery
The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery (Paperback)
Related Editions
The first Miss Marple mystery, one which tests all her powers of observation and deduction.
Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe, declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, would be doing the world at large a favor!
It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours laterwhen the Colonel is found shot dead in the clergymans study. But as Miss Marple soon discovers, the whole village seems to have had a motive to kill Colonel Protheroe.
About the Author
Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in one hundred foreign countries. She is the author of eighty novels and short-story collections, nineteen plays, and six novels under the name Mary Westmacott. She died in 1976.
Praise for The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery…
"Agatha Christie taught me two things: that plotting mysteries was an art, and that a woman detective could be as strong a character as a male detective."
-Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of the Ian Rutledge mysteries and Bess Crawford mysteries
"When she really hits her stride, as she does here, Agatha Christie is hard to surpass."
-Saturday Review of Literature


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Party Pictures
It's Fashion Week, the opening of the fall art season, and there are hundreds of parties. So how does an art opening compete -- especially one for a reclusive middle-aged artist who all but disappeared in the 1990s? It's possible if the curators are banking heir Andy Valmorbida and Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld, son of former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, who cashed in on their vast celebrity connections for the opening reception of "Richard Hambleton: A Retrospective" on Friday night, Sept. 9, 2011.
Valmorbida and Restoin-Roitfeld, along with Giorgio Armani, enlisted the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen, Owen Wilson, Shala Monroque and an army of models to celebrate the reemergence of the street artist who was long ago considered more famous than contemporaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Perhaps even more amazingly, the duo convinced Hambleton himself to show up. (The artist had succumbed to a heroin addiction and holed up inside his Lower East Side apartment for decades.)
Hanging on two floors at the uptown Phillips de Pury & Company headquarters building at Park Avenue and East 57th Street were 50 Hambleton works dating back to 1982. They ranged from the artist's iconic lurking, jumping and squatting "Shadowman" paintings to canvases of expressionistic Marlboro Men on horseback to his recent series of metallic landscapes called, simply, "Beautiful Paintings." Also on view are 20 shots of Hambleton street works by photographer Hank O'Neal.
The exhibition, which is only open Sept. 10-13, 2011, debuted in New York in 2009 before traveling to Milan, Moscow, Cannes and London, and finally returning to the city for its grand exit.
Later that night, VIPs headed downtown for the after-party at Indochine, where an ice-cream truck was strategically parked outside handing out copies of Dasha Zhukova's new Garage magazine. Inside, the 1980s Fleetwood Mac on the speakers, the gaudy palm-printed wallpaper and the pre-Bloomberg attitude toward indoor smoking made for a kind of revival of Hambleton's heyday.
Socialites perched atop banquette backs and, at a side table, a bleached-blonde Lindsay Lohan appeared to be behaving herself. Nonetheless, when a photographer came over to snap a photo she blocked her face with an ice bucket.
A couple hours later, many of the guests had decamped for a Jade Jagger party at the Dream Downtown Hotel. Not Anthony Haden-Guest, however, who was leaning solo against a pillar at the edge of the room. He was heading to a bar in the Lower East Side to party with an even younger crowd. At around 2:30 am, we ran into him there and waved goodnight. "What do you mean?" he said. "You're not coming to Santos Party House?"


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Falcon Soccer Represented with 11 Academic All-Conference Selections; Six Women, Five Men
October 25, 2012
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Conference Carolinas is proud to announce the 2012 Mens & Womens Soccer Academic All-Conference Team award winners. Pfeiffer University saw the women's team collect six members, tied for most out of all institutions, while the men posted five. League member institutions stress the role of "Academics and Athletics Working Together" and each sports Academic All-Conference award winners exemplify this continued league-wide commitment.
The 2012 Conference Carolinas Mens & Womens Soccer Academic All-Conference representatives have been awarded to the following junior and senior student-athletes with a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale in all work completed at their member institution that have played in a conference sponsored sport. The GPA is calculated based on the student-athletes cumulative average through the previous semester and each student-athlete must have attended their member institution for at least one academic year.
Each year the Academic All-Conference Team is released while closing out each regular season before starting the tournament championships. Womens soccer will begin tournament play on Monday, October 29th, while the men kick-off on Tuesday as all quarterfinal games will be played at the higher seeded team. Semifinal and final matches are also at the higher seeded team with the women playing that following Thursday and Saturday and the men playing on Friday and Sunday. Keep up with all the Conference Carolinas fall tournament action on the league website Fall Championship Central link (or at www.conferencecarolinas.com/Championships/2008-09/20082410_08-09ChampionshipsLinks )
Mens Soccer Academic All-Conference Team
Archer Bane, Barton
Dalton Bauer, Barton
Patrick Schultze, Barton
Richard Worthy, Barton
Josh Koerner, Belmont Abbey
Joseph Mack, Belmont Abbey
Mario Nunez, Belmont Abbey
Ben Vangucci, Belmont Abbey
Noah Lascell, Coker
Atticus Lum, Coker
Brendan McCarron, Coker
Jonathan Pent, Coker
Tyler Staub, Coker
James Sweeney, Coker
Roberto De La Vina, Erskine
Jay Lang, Erskine
Zachery Clark, King
John Eagan, King
Peter Griffith, King
Calvin Bond, Limestone
Thomas McCready, Limestone
Thomas Metzemaekers, Limestone
Mark Mitchell, Limestone
Muhammed Ceesay, Mount Olive
Alex Rodriguez, Mount Olive
Justin Braddock, North Greenville
Jon Clelho, North Greenville
David Frazao, North Greenville
Will Harrison, North Greenville
Kelton Knutson, North Greenville
Andrew Kyle, North Greenville
James Lobbestael, North Greenville
Cameron Neal, North Greenville
Cameron Porter, North Greenville
Alex Redding, North Greenville
Corey Tillingham, North Greenville
Seth Dey, Pfeiffer
Josh Johnson, Pfeiffer
Simon Leslie, Pfeiffer
Ramiro Martinez, Pfeiffer
Aldo Ramierez, Pfeiffer
Matthew Cavallo, Queens
Jeremy Chambers, Queens
Gersi Cilingiri, Queens
Joshua Dowd, Queens
Zachary Mellon, Queens
Felipe Netto, Queens
John Rush, Queens
Womens Soccer Academic All-Conference Team
Adrianna Jimenez, Barton
Ashley Mahoney, Barton
Sara Treadwell, Barton
Kristin Foster, Belmont Abbey
Montana Rindahl, Belmont Abbey
Meagan Gitchell, Belmont Abbey
Alana Ryczek, Belmont Abbey
Juliana Stalzer, Belmont Abbey
Morgan Hartline, Coker
Sarah Kinsey, Coker
Melanie McGrath, Coker
Brooke Barr, Converse
Jana Gentry, Converse
Samantha Lockman, Converse
Samantha Abbott, Erskine
Kasi Benskin, Erskine
Emily Brown, Erskine
Katie Busbee, Erskine
Cate Cardinale, Erskine
Molly Harpe, Erskine
Mary Dorn, Lees-McRae
Emily Jones, Lees-McRae
Holli Schwartz, Limestone
Macy Simpson, Limestone
Ashley Spanitz, Limestone
Patrice Clarke, Mount Olive
Jennifer Floyd, Mount Olive
Elvia Rodriguez, Mount Olive
Abigail Brack, North Greenville
Marguerite Motsinger, North Greenville
Michelle Salle, North Greenville
Lexie Makris, Pfeiffer
Jill Maykut, Pfeiffer
Bianca Moeller, Pfeiffer
Brittany Papaj, Pfeiffer
Tish Patino, Pfeiffer
Sarah Yates, Pfeiffer
Sarah Hartman, Queens
Sarah Johnson, Queens
Kelsey Seretis, Queens
Megan Sload, Queens
Amanda Sloan, Queens
Jennifer Swanstrom, Queens


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See your brown on these designs right now!
Enter your colors here, then click the icon below any design to preview it in your colors.
Recommended Just For You
Customer Raves & Reviews
Perfect size and light weight to place on plastic florist card holders and into centerpieces. The larger size would be too obstrusive. All purchases from this printer have been more than wonderful. Highly recommend!
Looks Great!
I am very impressed with the amount of customization allowed on the colors and fonts on most magnet street products. I just have two small complaints about the table numbers- (1) you can't change the font of the number itself, and (2) you have to order their pre-set amount of cards. I kind of wanted to get the larger numbers, but I had to order 20 of them. I am only having 10 tables, so I went with the smaller ones and still had to order 16. But all in all I am happy and they look exactly like the proof.
Beautiful, will use them again!
Everything was beautiful and great quality! The staff took time to ensure everything was exactly as I had requested and it was a very quick delivery, same day! Great attention to detail, gerat quality, vivid colors, quality paperstock, I have only great things to say!
Absolutely LOVE the product.. My friend recommended me to this website & said they've helped her so much.. I love the quality of the product & I had asked them 1 simple thing to change (if they could) and it was not a problem at all. The colors are EXACTLY what the samples you get look like. The quality of paper is thick & elegant.. and the printing is perfect.. I will for sure be getting the rest of my stuff for the wedding here :)


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Office of the Provost
Our goal is to provide you with a user-friendly, on-line method of obtaining answers to university related questions.
The mission of the Academic Affairs division is to provide leadership and support in the production of faculty scholarship and the design, delivery, and assessment of rigorous curricula. We are dedicated to providing excellent undergraduate and graduate programs in an environment that promotes high levels of student engagement and learning.
Best of luck as you pursue your academic and professional goals. The faculty, staff, and administration are committed to helping you be successful. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you need assistance.
Rosanne Stripling
Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs
Quality Enhancement Program (QEP) Report
Student Achievement 4.1


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BikeRay Ray IV Lights
|(2 Reviews)
Product DescriptionAs you're flying past your friends downTheTrack, do you ever worry about out-riding your light? Problem Solved!The BikeRay IV emits 1500 lumens of light downTheTrail. BikeRay has done an excellent job at creating a lightThat emits aTon of light, and is a great bang forThe buck. You'll findThatThis light is a fraction ofThe cost of what other competitors would charge forThis amount of light. 1.76"Total length 15 degree angle Polycarbonated lens. SecuredTrigger switch. 150o lumens on
Mtbr Bike Lights Shootout - over 50 bike lights reviewed, photographed and measured here.
Review Options: Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating
|Reviews 1 - 2 (2 Reviews Total)
User Reviews
Date Reviewed: February 22, 2013
Strengths: Very, very bright
Inexpensive (for the amount of lumens)
easy to attach and detach to bike. No tools necessary.
Excellent light for commuting.
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
The Ray IV is a big light in a small, light package. Attaching and detaching the light is very quick and simple and does not require the use of any tools. Excellent light at an amazing price!
Date Reviewed: May 14, 2012
Strengths: Very Bright
4 Led
1500 Lumens
Great Acknowledgment from traffic
Keeps you safer on road
Weaknesses: Not many, battery life a little shorter than Ray I and Ray II may be the only weakness.
Bottom Line:
When roads appear nice or not nice depending on traffic, just remember that distracted and careless drivers can come at random. A road that may appear nice and relaxed can turn deadly in a matter of minutes due to a distracted and careless driver. A a cyclist, I must remember that while training, I am the smallest form of traffic on the road and need to be well seen. Riding with BikeRay lights, especially the brightest of the all (The Ray IV) will only improve my visibility and decrease my chances of getting hit and struck by an automobile.
I ride with BikeRay lights because I care and give a damn about my safety above all else. A BikeRay IV light and battery pouch will only be an extra pound on your bike will be the most beneficial pound you ever put on your bike, I guarantee it. When ever I feel vulnerable on the road to traffic, I keep the RAY IV on flashing. Some drivers may find it annoying, but as a cyclist I say the most annoying thing to vehicular man-kind is big steel-box automobiles: clogging roads, polluting the air, contributing to the nations obesity problem, contributing to the nations gas-financial crisis, and killing people.
O and just imagine, the BikeRay IV light not only keeps me safe and bright during the daytime, but at night the light is magnified to a super-bright beam that will definitely keep let you see everything in front of you and well seen by cars!
|Reviews 1 - 2 (2 Reviews Total)
Review Options: Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating
Related Ray IV Forum Posts
Bike Ray IV
It's October 25th. Do we know where my BR IV is? :nonod: My shop is waiting and it would seem we didn't get any on the last go around. Hopefully my luck has changed. Anyone????? Bueller? Buelller?Read More »
Bike Ray IV
It appears that there are some new pictorials on the Bike Ray page of the BR4 to be released July/August: [url]http://www.bikeray.com/a/en/product/RAY%204/2011/0415/24.html[/url] I cant really tell if the BR4 light head bodies are the same as the recently introduced shorter BR3s though ... based o ... Read More »


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Volunteers play a critical role in helping the Idaho Botanical Garden grow. A dedicated group of volunteers work closely with our small staff to present a wide range of activities to the community.
Volunteers utilize their skills and knowledge to assist in a variety of ways; and there are many exciting opportunities to explore new interests and meet new people. Volunteers contribute to the Garden's mission of cultivating, educating, and celebrating by helping with special events, participating in Garden projects from grounds maintenance to operations, and assisting with the education program in a variety of roles. Additionally, Garden visitor services volunteers assist with various office projects. The Garden welcomes volunteers of all ages including children with parents to school groups to corporate groups. Please join our Garden team and volunteer today.
Download the Volunteer Application Form HERE »
Download the Volunteer Brochure HERE »
View the Volunteer Photo Gallery HERE »Sign up to receive the Volunteer Cheer e-newsletter for volunteer updates


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Johnny Hangtime
Johnny Hangtime (Paperback)
Related Editions
It's a bird, It's a plane--no, It's Johnny Hangtime!
Jumping off the Empire State Building, fighting on the wing of a biplane, and parachuting onto the back of a horse are all in a day's work for 13-year-old Johnny Thyme, a stunt kid known in the movie business as Johnny Hangtime. But Johnny's phenomenal feats are a movie industry secret. Ricky Corvette, the superstar teen for whom Johnny doubles, wants his fans to think he does his own stunts. Johnny's devoted to repeating the career of his legendary stuntman father, but what's he going to do when his favorite director asks him to perform the super-dangerous stunt that killed his father? Will following in his daredevil; dad's footsteps take him over the edge?
About the Author
Dan Gutman is the author of the Baseball Card Adventure series, which has sold more than one and a half million copies, and the My Weird School series, which has sold more than 5.5 million copies!
Thanks to his many fans who voted in their classrooms, he has received fifteen state book awards and thirty-eight state book award nominations. Dan Gutman lives in Haddonfield, New Jersey, with his wife, Nina, and their two children, Sam and Emma.
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