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Usability Is King For Your Product. Here's How We Can Finally Measure It
"Life used to be simpler," my mom says while making her fourth attempt to update her Windows firmware in order to install Office 2011 on top of Office 2008.
I don't correct her, but I don't believe her either. As far as I can tell, life has always been complicated; and certainly as long as my mother has been alive, there has been incredibly sophisticated technology in the world. (When she was my age, people were landing on the moon. Nothing simple about it.) What I do believe, though, is that life used to be more usable. What's different now is that complex technology has become so freakin' cheap that it seems free to include "one more" feature in your product. The unforeseen cost, of course, is that those extra features hurt usability.
But we know all this. There is plenty of literature on the subject, and good usability is table stakes for a modern product. If your product isn't usable, your business is in a dangerous position. Maybe you can get by in the short term by boasting your killer feature set; but the fact is that if people can't figure out how to use your bells and whistles, you're going to feel it on your bottom line sooner or later.
It may be old news, or even obvious to some, that poor usability can hurt customer relationships and hold back sales. But what isn't obvious to business leaders is: How do I tell if it's happening to me?
Before I get right to answering that, consider customer service for a moment. The adage "the customer is always right" has been uttered many times, in many languages, for many years. Long before the cash register was even invented, businesspeople intuitively knew that cultivating relationships with loyal customers was key to long-term success. Yet still, even in 2012, there is no end of companies who find ways to pull short-term profits out of their customers, at the expense of the longer-term customer relationship. (Example: So-called free three-month magazine subscriptions that you have to remember to opt out of before you get automatically charged.)
As the service economy continues to evolve, more and more companies are working to measure and improve their customer-service performance as a key indicator of success. And to this end, a minor revolution occurred in 2003, when the corporate world was introduced to Net Promoter Scores (NPS). In only a few years, NPS had become far and away the leading measure of customer loyalty.
Here's the beautiful thing about NPS: Organizations get results from the data, but it's amazingly simple to collect. You simply ask your customers, on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely they are to recommend your company/product to their friends and colleagues. People who give high marks are "promoters," (i.e., will recommend you) people who rate low are "detractors," (i.e., will bad-mouth you), and in the middle are "passives" (i.e., don't care enough to do either one). The theory, which has been backed up by evidence, is that companies who have more promoters than detractors (i.e., a high Net Promoter Score) will win. They will acquire more customers and make more money.
Critics of the metric say it is a blunt instrument, and maybe it is. But if your NPS is -20, and your biggest competitor's is 80, you had better do something about it. It could certainly be argued there are better ways to measure customer loyalty; but the success of the Net Promoter Score was closely tied to being the most usable way to measure customer loyalty. This is all by way of saying that even one of the oldest goals in the business world—to keep the customer happy—has only recently been armed with a really useful, usable metric.
Now, back to usability. I suspect that even if you believe wholeheartedly in the power of usability, you probably aren't measuring it in a useful way and making it a key part of your business strategy. I am willing to bet that one of the major reasons people don't effectively measure usability is that they don't know how. One of the other major reasons is that the established usability metrics take a lot of effort and analysis to get anything out of them, so ironically, the usability measurements themselves aren't terribly usable. So here's my thought. Let's apply the broader lessons of the Net Promoter Score to usability. No complicated metrics, no long surveys, just one "ultimate question for usability" that lets us know if we need to invest more in making our products intuitive.
What, then, should that question be? When I was in college, we were taught that the quantitative measures of usability are efficiency (how long a task takes), effectiveness (whether or not a subject can complete a particular task), subjective satisfaction (whether or not the experience is enjoyable), and error rate (how many times the subject makes a mistake, even if they eventually complete the task). All good stuff to know, but too low level for this purpose.
The famed usability expert and evangelist Jakob Nielsen says that quantitative measures of usability are low bang for the buck; he favors qualitative evaluation instead. When it comes to making a product better, I also firmly advocate qual over quant. But qualitative evaluation is just too much work to answer the simple question, "How do I know if I need to invest in usability?" I asked all of my "usability guru" friends, dug into the existing metrics, and came up with some of my own ideas; and the one I came across that most succinctly captured it was "How confident are you using this system/product/service?"
Unfortunately for me, this wasn't one of my original ideas. It is a question I poached from the System Usability Scale (aka the "SUS"), originally published by John Brooke at Digital Equipment Corporation in 1986. It's actually a nice survey in and of itself, but it takes several minutes to complete and doesn't overtly tie to business goals, and I've never actually seen it done. Put another way, it's usable but not usable enough to actually ever get used.
I settled on that notion of self-reported confidence, because it captures two important factors from both a human and business perspective. First, technology is supposed to work for people, and not the other way around. Second, as my uncle Fred once told me, "The worst thing you can do to an adult is make them feel stupid."
In our modern world of automated interactions, the usability of your product or service is an important part of your relationship with your customers, and it had better not suck. If people knew that the complexity of their products was causing serious brand damage, they would surely make the investment to prevent it. But by no fault of their own, people outside of the design and usability world just don't necessarily know when there is a problem. So even if this one question is under-nuanced, over-generalized, and does not tell you how to fix your usability issue, it does answer the question, "Do I have a problem I need to address?" with a yes or no.
So I propose that we all ask one simple question of as many potential users of our products as we can. The question I asked above was "On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident do you feel using this system?" But in truth, the question itself is less important than making sure you ask it. It's a well-understood quirk of human nature that we tend not to take things seriously unless we're measuring them. Whatever you ask, pay attention to the percentage of scores that are under 7. Those are all the customers you'll lose, customers you'll keep without delighting, or customers you'll perennially frustrate, and for an embarrassingly fixable reason. It's easy to do, and it might just move us toward a more usable world, which I know my mom would appreciate.
[Images: urfin, Olga Danylenko, and Triff via Shutterstock]
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32 Comments
Great article. But what a bad reading experience (fonts & article structure)...
I'm not sure we need a new metric. We just need people less people in the field who claim or imply that usability or UX can't be measured. That just confuses decision makers. NPS is actually quite useful for measuring UX. SUS is pretty darn good for measuring perceived usability. Modern technology makes it easy to gather other metrics based on actual usage or feedback on prototypes.
I come to usability from a hardcore social science research background. But UX people can also come from visual design or software engineering backgrounds. I suspect those of us who haven't been trained in social science research methodology are unlikely to know and understand usability testing.
This is a good question for usability. Thank you.
NPS is good for overall corporate satisfaction. If you want the parallel thing for product satisfaction, why not just ask "How likely are you to recommend this product?" Usability is a subset of product satisfaction which is a subset of supplier satisfaction.
A simple question can be useful but cannot ever give complete information. This is a polarity to be managed.
Nice article. No, not an ultimate explanation of usability, but actionable in virtually any setting for virtually any product. If your product makes the customer feel confident, but the customer wants something more, you probably DON'T need to work on usability (though you might want to work on marketing, to find customers aren't looking for more than you're providing). That's really useful to know.
Great article! Thanks for sharing your thougths. In my experience, even if users "say" that product is easy to use, it can be not good in itself because it may not give good results for them. In this case your question could partly measure it, because they could be "not confident" about effects of their actions.
Great article, I love your Uncle Fred's comment.
Thanks for the article. Your point about confidence reflects some research I did some years ago in medical education: confidence inspired greater participation with the e-learning. It started off as an association but later work showed it to be an encouragement rather than a result.
For for NPS - I'm unsure if a single question enscapulates the entire issue. It's hard to tell if it's stable over time (I would guess it fluctuates according to experience modulated by most recent experience and severity). It is, however, quite compelling if convincing evidence could be found for it.
Guys.. what have you done to typography on fascodesign, It is way harder to read now, especially condenced typeface is unreadable. Are you motivating people to use Google Reader for experiencing your content?
I love the irony of how usable this article is when typed in this font.
the serif fonts make it hard to read, it was ironic to read an article on the greatness of helvetica, univers and other iconic fonts in this irritating type.
This makes perfect sense, I can't tell you how many times I am in applications and am thinking to myself "what on earth was this company thinking, did they not test this themselves". Just because these applications emcompass everything the user could ever want and need to know, does not mean that it has the correct flow. In the end, the users/customers will inevitably be missing steps, gaining frustration and confusion. The user will just give up.
Confidence does not necessarily translate into delight and satisfaction, which is ultimately what we should be after. Have you ever sat in an "economy" car, confidently breezed through the simple seat and temperature controls, and found yourself wishing that the experience was a bit more sophisticated, engaging or quirky? Sometimes it can be about the kinds of materials you use--the iPhone feels like a piece of glass art, but other touchscreen phones with a similar form factor do not--they twist and creak, feel plasticky, make strange noises when you type on the keyboard. What does this mean for usability? Simply that the human mind can learn new tricks--again, the iPhone is a good example of how people adapted to touchscreen phones, swipe gestures, and more. But convincing the brain to be satisfied takes more than inducing confidence.
Usability does not necessarily translate into delight and satisfaction, which is ultimately what we should be after. Have you ever sat in an economy car, confidently breezed through the simple seat and temperature controls, and found yourself wishing that the experience was a bit more sophisticated, engaging or quirky? Sometimes it can be about the kinds of materials you use--the iPhone feels like a piece of glass art, but other touchscreen phones with a similar form factor do not--they twist and creak, feel plasticky, make strange noises when you type on the keyboard. What does mean for usability? Simply that the human mind can learn new tricks--again, the iPhone is a good example of how people adapted to touchscreen phones, swipe gestures, and more. But convincing the brain to be satisfied takes more than inducing confidence.
I remember a documentary about the terrible Airbus UI that allegedly resulted in more than one airliner crash.
They said that from voice recordings they heard two phrases that should have been a dead giveaway:
"How do you make it do xxx ?"
"Why did it just do that ?"
A good UI does exactly what a new user expects it to. That's pretty much all rteh definition you need.
It gives the user a mental model of how the system works that actually matches the underlying functionality.
Its true to a point where competitors are facing each other over the edges. But these days new technologies are paving their own way to the customer on using their newly introduced product as they want. Now the competiton lies on how softly you bend the customer to stay loyal to it. firstname.lastname@example.com
Opening with "update her Windows firmware in order to install Office 2011" doesn't lend much to the articles credibility. Windows and Office are software, firmware is typically embedded in chips and is read-only. As for someone who comes from a tech and a design background it was distracting, it bothered me the whole time I read the article.
You do offer some insight but in the whole, it's fairly obvious that we do have to make the interactions between humans and machines easy and seamless but at the same time we have to push that relationship to train the population on new concepts.
For example, the Wii controller or the XBOX Kinnect: these are very simple, and intuitive ways to interface with the machine and software but those concepts had to be communicated first to the audience. You can also add the iPhone into that mix as well. And I believe that the success comes from advertising and marketing geared to engage and train the audience, not just build interest.
To go back to your topic on how to measure, I feel that in our day and age, the survey is an anachronism. Today we have real time metrics, we can see where the users have trouble, we can see how long it takes them to eventually find a menu item, we can see when they quit applications, where their mouse moves, and even though the technology is still quite new... even where their eyeballs are looking. We can see where people are having trouble in real time, we just have to track it. As far as fixing these problems, my only solution is to get people interested in the product and communicate with them on how to use it and find a way to get them interested in learning (not an easy task I know). Make it fun and interesting like Nintendo, Microsoft and Apple did it. I don't claim to have the answers, just my $ .02.
Noel, you are correct, the firmware is not part of Windows, that was an oversight on my part. I should have said "...her fourth attempt to update whatever it is that her computer needed her to update in order to then update Windows." From an end-user perspective, the distinctions between software and firmware (in fact I would argue...most technical distinctions) are lost on all but the most savvy of users.
I apologize for the distraction.
To your second point, I can't disagree that we have more mature metrics, and that surveys are barely state of the art. If I had my way, everyone would do what you described or something equally elegant. I hope, though, that those who aren't ready for that do something, no matter how sloppy, in the meantime.
Great post!
At live|work we've been using a measure called the Service Usability Index for a few years now. It's also based on the Net Promoter Score to give a simple "1 number you need to know" approach, but it's derived from users' responses to 4 key criteria of a service: Proposition, Experience, Usability, & Accessibility.
Ultimately it's a qualitative response measure, and as such, there is still resistance to measuring the subjective (even though it can be scaled up to a quant study).
So whilst I agree with Roderick McMullen's plea that asking the question is the most important thing, but getting organisations to ask it let alone act on the answer is the real challenge.
Daniel Letts, Senior Partner at live|work


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When his 6-year-old nephew wouldn't cooperate in picking out his school clothes for the next day, a Delaware County man - a black belt in karate - beat him to death, officials said.
Paul Adams, 38 of Wallingford, allegedly lashed Tyreece Charlow with a large belt after the child failed to follow directions promptly, the District Attorney's Office said.
"The beating lasted 45 minutes," District Attorney Jack Whelan said. He called the incident a "heinous, savage beating," adding that medical examiner's staff said they had not seen a worse case of child abuse. An autopsy revealed that Tyreece died of blunt-force trauma.
Adams, who holds a fourth-degree black belt, has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail at the Delaware County Prison.
Whelan said Adams used more than his belt in administering the beating Thursday.
"This uncle utilized his hands and/or feet to kill this child," he said. Adams' only regret, Whelan said, was drawing blood.
It was not clear why the child, a student at Nether Providence Elementary School, lived with Adams, Whelan said, adding that he did not know the name or address of the child's mother.
Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Superintendent Rich Noonan said Tyreece, who had attended the school since kindergarten, was known as a "normal, happy first grader."
"The whole thing is a terrible, shocking tragedy for all of us," Noonan said. He said that counselors were at the school Monday and that a special meeting was held later in the day for parents.
According to court documents, after picking up Tyreece from school, Adams told police, the two attended a karate class in West Chester.
When they returned home after 10 p.m., the boy went upstairs, brushed his teeth, took a shower, put on pajamas, and returned downstairs to say his prayers.
The uncle said they went over the plans for the next day, including choosing clothes. Adams set a timer and told Tyreece he had three minutes to get everything ready. When Tyreece did not comply, he beat the boy first with a small belt, then reset the timer and retrieved a wider belt.
He removed the boy's pajamas and continued to strike him, restraining the child's hands. The child fell to the ground when Adams stopped the beating.
He cleaned the wounds with peroxide and put the naked boy to bed. Adams told police that when he first returned to check on the boy, he thought he was asleep, but a few hours later he found Tyreece unresponsive, with a brown liquid coming from his mouth, according to court documents.
Adams brought the boy to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead early Friday.
"We don't believe the child was breathing at the time he was brought into the medical center," Whelan said.

subset: commoncrawl


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The 'current' Director is listed as Gareth Edwards (Monsters - 2010) so they have avoided the typical "Blockbuster" director route and seem to be keeping the movie a low key in the "Who's who" list of Hollywood Massive Explosions Used in a Film. The only notable names to the movie so far are the two story writers mentioned before, along with Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Savages) and Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle, Breaking Bad, Rock of Ages). The producers are where you are going to see a list of notable names with Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, Brian Rogers, and Thomas Tull already listed.
EDIT - Darabont is confirmed as screenwriter for the film. With his work on films like Shawshank and The Green Mile as well as his current work on The Walking Dead, I am sure he will head up the team.


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The Sag Harbor Board of Trustees prepared for the spring season at their monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 10 by signing off on an Easter parade, a car show, the farmer's market and a Plum TV show to be filmed in the village.
The board approved Kate Plumb's request to hold the Sag Harbor Farmer's Market every Saturday at the Breakwater Yacht Club from May 23 through Labor Day weekend. From HarborFest weekend, in September, through Halloween, the market will be relocated to Marine Park. The board advised Plumb to meet with James Early, superintendent of public works in the village, to discuss safety issues related to the market while it's at Marine Park.
A representative from Plum TV visited the board asking to shoot the channel's weekly live series "Morning, Noon and Night" from the windmill area in the village. The production would shoot only on weekend mornings and would be low impact, said the representative. Citing the show's potential to attract publicity for the village, Plum TV hopes the fees associated with shooting in the village will be waived. Sag Harbor Mayor Greg Ferraris asked Plum to contact the village's Chamber of Commerce to work out a partnership with them.
The board also approved the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce's request to hold the annual Easter Bonnet Sidewalk Parade on Saturday, April 11, from noon to 2 p.m.
Charlie Canavan, a local resident, also asked the board if the village would close off the Long Wharf on the same day for his collectible car event. Canavan is organizing a group of owners of show cars to have a display on the wharf where visitors can inspect the cars.
The board approved Canavan's request pending a meeting between he and Police Chief Tom Fabiano to discuss safety issues and a possible procession down Main Street.
At the close of the meeting, trustee Tiffany Scarlato reported that building permit receipts were higher than anticipated. In January, the receipts totaled $2,987, but in February receipts totaled $7,036. "[These numbers] are not as bad as I thought they were going to be," said Scarlato.
Scarlato added that a copy of the revised proposed village zoning code will be available to the public in the coming days.


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Yesterday at the Maine Real Estate and Development Association's spring conference in Portland, Alan Hall, a pro-business advocate from Utah offered his advice for Maine's business leaders to improve the business climate here. Staff writer Jessica Hall included this quote in her report from the event: "Don't fight each other. Go beyond politics. The time to make the changes is now. You probably need to take some drastic measures to […]Continue Reading
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Earth Day post: the boom in bag bans
Here's a fascinating chart for Earth Day, by way of the environmental organization Earth Policy Institute. The takeaway: more than 12 million Americans now live in jurisdictions where plastic bags at grocery stores are either banned or taxed. Even more cities – including Portland, Maine – are looking into similar policies. The trend might have started in counterculture enclaves like San Francisco, but it's quickly catching on in other big […]Continue Reading
Friday Apr 11, 2014 | 10:27 am
How Heartbleed works: the comic version
Randall Munroe, the artist behind the webcomic xkcd and former NASA roboticist, has given us the best explainer I've seen yet on Heartbleed: Most websites have patched the bug so that servers won't spill out secret information any longer. To check the status of your online banking site, or webmail site, or any other website that you entrust with sensitive information, visit filippo.io/Heartbleed. Then change your passwords.Continue Reading
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Last week, Kennebec Journal reporter Paul Koenig covered a brewing debate between Central Maine Power and solar power advocates. CMP, which owns and maintains the lines that deliver electricity in southern and central Maine, wants to levy a new fee against customers who own solar panels. They also want to shift more of its charges to fixed monthly fees, and away from variable fees that are proportional to how much […]Continue Reading


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Alton Hauntings Tours
Based on the book Haunted Alton by Troy Taylor, Alton Hauntings Tours offers an entertaining and spine-tingling trip into the unknown, taking visitors to the most authentic haunted places in Alton. Uncover the eerie folklore, ghostly tales and documented haunted spots on a three-hour walking tour of the city's most haunted sites. Visitors will see sites that have become nationally known, like the old Alton penitentiary, First Unitarian Church, Enos Sanitarium and many others. The tours have been proven to be popular with ghost enthusiasts and history buffs alike, and nowhere else can you learn as much about the real, haunted history of Alton. Walking tours and bus tours are offered during two touring seasons – Spring & Summer and the Haunted Fall Season. Private tours are also available for groups of 20 or more. Reservations must be made in advance for all tours.
Eagle Watching in Alton
Illinois boasts the largest concentration of wintering American bald eagles in the continental U.S., and the Alton area is a great place to see them. Mingle with a live eagle at the National Great Rivers Museum. Get a bird's-eye view from eight stories high as majestic eagles soar along the Mississippi River at the adjacent Melvin Price Locks & Dam. Or drive along on an exciting eagle-watching expedition with a nature expert at Pere Marquette State Park during Bald Eagle Days, held from late December through mid-February.
Underground Railroad Shuttle Tours
Learn about local, Underground Railroad sites on a shuttle tour with J.E. Robinson Tours and the Alton Regional CVB on the last Saturday of each month (10 a.m. to noon). The two-hour guided shuttle tours will stop at some of the sites that were part of the Underground Railroad system including the Old Rock House, Rocky Fork Church and more. Alton's riverfront location along the Mighty Mississippi played a vital role in helping slaves make connections to the freedom of the northern states. Buried beneath the streets of Alton and Godfrey, remnants of this period in history still exist.
Spirit of Peoria Cruises
Enjoy the river by boarding the Spirit of Peoria sightseeing cruise. The cruise will travel the Mississippi River and people will have a chance to enjoy the scenic beauty found here. There are sightseeing, lunch and dinner cruises.
All-Star Restaurant Week
Join us for an All-Star lunch or dinner special, at a participating All-Star restaurant of your choice July 10 - 19. There will be 18 restaurants participating and lunches are $10 while dinners are $25.
Jacoby Arts Center: Summer Music Series
Jacoby Arts Center presents the Summer Music Series to showcase the diversity and range of regional talent. The doors will open at 7:30 p.m., with the performance starting at 8:00 p.m. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, and no reservations are required. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10.
Alton Muny Band: Haskell Park
Locals seldom miss a beat during the weekly summer concerts performed by the Alton Municipal Band at Haskell & Riverfront Park. Enjoy concert band music, which includes marches, concert pieces, popular tunes, and novelty numbers. This is a family friendly and the concerts are free and open to the public. Every Sunday the Alton Muny Band will perform at the Haskell Park starting at 7:00 p.m. Bring a blanket or lawn chair.
Alton Muny Band: Riverfront Park
Don't miss a beat during the weekly summer concerts performed by the Alton Municipal Band at Haskell & Riverfront Park. Enjoy concert band music, which includes marches, concert pieces, popular tunes, and novelty numbers. This is a family friendly and the concerts are free and open to the public. Every Thursday evening the Alton Muny Band will perform at the Riverfront Park starting at 8:00 p.m. Bring a blanket or lawn chair.
Alton Farmer's & Artisans' Market
There will be an abundance of delicious fresh produce, crafts, baked goods, plants & flowers, locally-raised hormone-free meat, handmade soaps, jewelry, artwork, pottery, art demonstrations and more at the Alton Farmer's and Artisans' Market. Admission is free for shoppers and there is plenty of parking at its new permanent location in the city-owned parking lot at the corner of Landmarks and Henry Street. The Alton Farmer's & Artisans' Market is every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Lynyrd Skynyrd at Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater.
Southern rock favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd will be performing at Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater this summer. With a catalog of over 60 albums, sales beyond 30 million worldwide and their beloved classic American rock anthem "Sweet Home Alabama" having sold over two million ringtones, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd remain a cultural icon that appeals to multiple generations.
Dwight Yoakam at Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater.
Country legend Dwight Yoakam will be performing in Alton along with The Glendale Riders on July 10th 2015. Yoakam has won two Grammy Awards and has been nominated 15 times. With every online order for Dwight Yoakam show tickets, fans will receive one standard physical copy of his new album "Second Hand Heart." Ticket purchasers will receive instructions via e-mail on how to redeem their album within 10-14 business days after their order.
Towboat Festival
Experience "Life on the Mississippi River" at this annual festival. Take free tours of working towboats. Enjoy live music, special deals, giveaways and much more.
The Loading Dock
We're proud to be considered the region's best outdoor bar and grill, with the best scenic view, at the end of the best scenic drive. Our majestic view is not to be missed. Watch the river roll by while listening to live entertainment. Our full menu features something for everyone...don't miss our famous Dock Salsa! Be sure to stop by the fourth weekend of the month March - October for the Riverside Flea Market featuring over 60 local vendors. Let us host your next party! We cater events of all sizes...from reunions and receptions to birthdays and bridal showers. Keep the fun going at one of our four Loading Dock Guest Houses, perfect for an intimate getaway or an all night get-together.
Hakuna Matata River Rambler Cruise
Cruise the river, learn its history, and view its geographical features during the River Rambler Tours on the Hakuna Matata, a 49-passenger all weather tour boat. The first level of the boat is fully enclosed with large windows and is seasonally air-conditioned and heated. The upper deck is a huge open air patio offering 360 degree views of the river and surrounding bluffs. Tours set sail from the Grafton Harbor. Admission is $18/adults, $16/seniors, $9/children ages 3-7, $4.50 for children 2 and under.
Twilight Thursdays at the Tower
Watch the sunset over the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers from 150 feet in the air at the Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower. Experience the breathtaking view of the landscape during the twilight hours, July 16th and 30th from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at "Twilight Thursdays" at the Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower. Admission is $5 per person.
Hummingbird Festival
This birding adventure is being held In conjunction with the Illinois Audubon Society. Participants can adopt and release a hummingbird. Event begins at 9 a.m. and ends at Noon.
Kid'Cation Scavenger Hunt at the Tower
Take part in the Kid'Cation Confluence Tower Scavenger Hunt July 31 and earn fun prizes! All children who tour the Tower can participate. Tour guides will provide a special Scavenger Hunt activity sheet and give clues throughout the tour. At the end of the tour, children will receive a special gift. For this event, the Tower is offering reduced tour rates of $1 per child and $2 for adults.
Jersey County Fair
Food, merchandise, vendors and more. A week-long annual county fair offering rare glimpses of livestock, agriculture competitions mixed with nightly entertainment. Don't miss the NTPA tractor and truck pulls, a monster truck challenge, demolition derby and Queen competitions. General admission is $2 per person, children under 13 free. Separate pricing for grandstand events.
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text:
The Discworld book 'Equal Rites' has often been referred to as having the central theme of female equality , with one of its main protaganists Esk challenging a world where women can't be wizards.
So is Esk an activist?
is pratchett trying to say someting about inequality and hierarchy in 'Equal Rites'?
Do you think these themes of activism come up in any other of the Discworld novels?


text:
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by July 28, 2003, 12:00 AM
Samsonite Company Stores has appointed BVK/Meka as the advertising agency to conduct Hispanic communications in the U.S. The first assignment will be a test market promotional campaign in Dallas, TX that will run during third quarter.
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BIZ DEV: Anheuser-Busch InBev Awards Wieden+Kennedy Bud Light And Corona Brands
July 7, 1:55 p.m.
Following its recent split with Heineken, Wieden+Kennedy was awarded global creative work for Anheuser-Busch InBev's Corona brand, and U.S. work for Bud Light. Work for Corona will be managed from W+K's Amsterdam office and W+K New York will handle Bud Light. BBDO previously managed creative for Bud Light. "Our new ...
BIZ DEV: Gravity Media Named Digital Agency For Melia Hotels International
July 6, 12:22 p.m.
Melia Hotels International named Gravity Media as its digital agency, charged with increasing visitors from the Americas to its hotels and resorts worldwide. The digital campaign will focus on the U.S., Canada, Caribbean, Mexico and all Latin American markets, excluding Brazil. Melia Hotels International spent $2.1 million on measured media ...
BIZ DEV: Following Split With W+K, Heineken Names Publicis Worldwide As Global AOR
July 2, 11:40 a.m.
Heineken tapped Publicis Worldwide as its lead global creative agency. Wieden+Kennedy previously served as lead agency and recently parted ways with Heineken. "We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Publicis," said Jan Derck van Karnebeek, chief commercial officer of Heineken. "Over the last two years, the team has ...
BIZ DEV: Mason Named AOR For The Connecticut Open Tennis Tournament
July 1, 2:56 p.m.
The Connecticut Open Tennis Tournament Presented by United Technologies named Mason as its agency of record. The agency will handle advertising, public relations, press events, as well as social and digital media programs, to highlight the tournament's charitable initiatives. The tournament generates $26 million in economic impact for the Greater ...
BIZ DEV: The Excelsior Youth Center Taps Cactus For Rebranding Initiative
June 30, 2:34 p.m.
The Excelsior Youth Center, a non-profit behavioral healthcare organization, selected Cactus to develop and lead the organization's strategic rebranding and repositioning. The agency is charged with helping the mental health facility execute its strategic plan that includes the expansion of community- and family-based care options, crisis intervention and short-term programs. ...
BIZ DEV: Perkins Restaurants & Bakery Named The Buntin Group AOR
June 29, 12:28 p.m.
Memphis-based Perkins Restaurants & Bakery named The Buntin Group agency of record, following a review of creative and media duties. Doner previously handled the work. The agency will handle traditional and digital strategy and creative, including TV, print, social media, research, analytics and field marketing elements. New work is slated ...
BIZ DEV: Divot Named AOR For LPGA
June 26, 1:26 p.m.
Divot was named agency of record for the Ladies Professional Golf Association. The Austin-based agency was launched by former CP+B and GSD&M creative director, Rich Tlapek, and former PGA Tour vice president and GSD&M alum, Kent Simon. New LPGA ads focus on the athleticism and intense level of competition in ...
BIZ DEV: BSUR Amsterdam Wins Global Creative Work For Princess Yachts International
June 25, 1:07 p.m.
Princess Yachts International, owned by the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy group, tapped BSUR Amsterdam as its global lead creative agency. The account was previously handled by local agencies on a project basis. BSUR will work on brand strategy, design and development, marketing collateral, video productions and product launches. Princess Yachts ...
BIZ DEV: Current Named N.A. AOR For De'Longhi
June 24, 2:53 p.m.
De'Longhi Group America named Current, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, as its public relations agency of record following a review. Work will be handled out of the agency's New York office. De'Longhi, a manufacturer of espresso, specialty cooking and home comfort products, charged Current with developing communications programs ...
BIZ DEV: Campbell Ewald Wins Covered California
June 23, 2:35 p.m.
Campbell Ewald was named agency of record for Covered California, the state-run health care exchange, following a review. Weber Shandwick previously handled the account. The agency will handle strategy, creative, digital and social media elements, as well as media planning and buying. In addition, Campbell Ewald will lead a consortium ...
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text:
The following is an archive of a post made to our
'vox-tech mailing list'
by one of its subscribers.
Bill Broadley said:
> Xdu is 1000 times quicker/more useful
Is it, as the name implies, a graphical app?
Hosting provided by:
Sunset Systems
Sunset Systems offers preconfigured Linux
systems, remote system administration and
custom software development.
LUGOD: Linux Users' Group of Davis
PO Box 2082, Davis, CA 95617
Contact Us
LUGOD is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization
based in Davis, California
and serving the Sacramento area.
"Linux" is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.


text:
Deutsch, Español, Français, Indonesian, Italiano, Kiswahili, Kreyòl ayisyen, Melayu, Português, Русский, Soomaaliga, Tagalog, Tiếng Việt, Türkçe, Ελληνικά, தமிழ், नेपाली, 中文, اردو, 한국어, 日本語, العربية, فارسی, עִברִית, हिन्दी, ไทย, বাংলা, తెలుగు, ગુજરાતી, ລາວ
Gianni Crovatto is an Italian designer of solar cookers. His designs have been made in four different sizes, although all of them follow the same pattern: they are made mainly of wood, a square box with round bottom to facilitate the orientation and transportation, a circular window and reflectors that hold over an octagonal base around the glazed area. The biggest models are known as the most efficient and achieve temperatures as high as 370 ºC. All the reflectors are tipped up, to facilitate storage and transportation.
Email: email@example.com


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Sunday, May 1, 2011 is a date that will forever be remembered as the day that Justice was finally served. Almost 10 years post 9-11 the American people got to hear the long awaited news that Al Qaeda's leader Osama Bin Laden had been killed at the hands of American Troops.
Late Sunday night news stations were frantic when they heard that President Obama was going to address the American people and it would have something to do with National Security. When the news stations finally confirmed that the press conference was to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden, massive celebrations broke out in the streets and tears filled the eyes of many Americans.
About a week ago, U.S. forces found Al Qaeda's master mind in a million-dollar compound just over an hour's drive from Pakistan's capital. U.S. officials said that four helicopters carrying CIA paramilitaries and a Navy Seal team conducted a nighttime raid on the compound and after about 40 minutes of fighting, Bin Laden, an adult son, one unidentified woman and two men were dead. And after a week of being on pins and needles while waiting for confirmation from a DNA test, the results were in and it was time to tell America that we finally got him.
U.S. forces were led to the fortress-like three-story building after more than four years of tracking one of Bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Authorities discovered in August 2010 that the courier lived with his brother and their families in an unusual and extremely high-security building. The home is in Abbottabad, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad, that is relatively affluent and home to many retired members of Pakistan's military.
The building sat on a large plot of land that was relatively secluded. Intense security measures included 12- to 18-foot outer walls topped with barbed wire and internal walls that sectioned off different parts of the compound. Two security gates restricted access, and residents burned their trash, rather than leaving it for collection as did their neighbors. Few windows of the three-story home faced the outside of the compound, and the terrace came complete with a seven-foot privacy wall.
This historic moment comes just months before the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The four airplane hijackings orchestrated by Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organization and carried out on that day killed more than 3,000 people, including 24 Canadians.
The attacks set off a chain of events that led the U.S. and its allies into wars in Afghanistan and then Iraq, and America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.
However, one thing that all Americans and others alike need to remember while celebrating this milestone is that Osama Bin Laden's death does not end the threat of terrorism because sadly, others will take his place.
Osama Bin Laden's death is a major blow to Al Qaeda, and it could actually increase the threat of a domestic attack. Experts are warming "to be on full alert" for attacks by Islamic terrorists looking to avenge the killing of the movement's long-time spiritual leader.


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text:
The BizTech Division of the NWU represents writers who work as freelance contractors or temps on a work-for-hire basis. For example, business, technical, instructional, non-profit, government, and similar writers.
BizTech writers create software documentation, corporate communications, marketing materials, textbooks, industrial training programs, policies and procedures, grant requests, research reports, and so on. Typically, BizTech writers do not hold the copyright to our work and often have no byline. On the other hand, we are sometimes better paid for our work than those in other writing genres.
The BizTech Division works to improve working conditions, contract terms, and payment rates for NWU members who create intellectual property on a contract or project basis, typically referred to as work-for-hire. BizTech is concerned with contractors, whether we work independently on a 1099 basis or as W-2 employees, and whether we are hired through agencies or directly by employers.
The BizTech Division studies issues affecting professional self-employed writers, deliberates on them, and takes action in the interest of our members. Primary areas of concern include laws and public policy, employer relations, and contract terms and negotiation.
Laws and public policy:
As small business people, we want fair and equitable status before the IRS and related law. We lobbied to raise the deductible for self-employed health insurance costs to 60 percent. During 2000, we are meeting with legislators to get it raised to 100 percent.
As temporary or contract employees, we want the same legal protections that full-time staffers have. We mobilized activists to oppose a permatemp legalization law that would have constrained our members from practicing their professions freely.
We also want the freedom to choose the terms of our employment, whether as employee or freelancer, W-2 or 1099. We seek to repeal a section of the tax code that threatens the right of professionals to work as freelancers.
Employer relations:
We want to escape the abuses of hiring agencies which take a third or more of what an employer pays for our labor. When we are compelled to work through a third-party agency, we want to choose the agency that hires us, and we want our choices to include firms which meet our standards. The NWU recently signed an agreement with a labor consortium and a private staffing firm to provide a union-friendly payrolling service to employers and NWU members.
We want our members who work on-site at an employer's location to have safe and healthy working conditions. We are lobbying for the adoption of the Ergonomics Standard within the language of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act).
Contract terms and negotiation:
We want our members to negotiate and sign clear, complete, and fair contracts. We offer a contract review service by experts in the NWU Grievance and Contracts Division free of charge to our members.
We want our members to be well informed about acceptable standards and terms for contract work. We provide on-line resources at the NWU website . BizTech documents include "Tips for Getting a Better Work-For-Hire Contract," "BizTech Contracts Glossary," "Technical Writers Code of Practice," and "Fair Standards: Third-Party Employment Agreements (Technical Writing)."
We want our members to find good work at good rates of pay.
We need your help and participation in the following areas:


text:
Castleton fire department petitions for new stationBy Lucia Suarez
STAFF WRITER | March 18,2013CASTLETON The fire department wants a new station and has petitioned town officials to put its construction on a special bond ballot.
First Assistant Chief Richard Combs said Wednesday the petition asks for a $1.5 million bond to construct a new emergency service building on land near Castleton Corners less than 2 miles from its current location near the college.
Weve outgrown the station we are in, Combs said. Its past the time to replace it. We have to look into the future and I am willing to invest in that.
The fire department used the architectural plans drawn more than a year ago by NBF Architects that also included the town offices and police department as a possible design for the project. It also helped them determine the potential cost of the new emergency station.
It was easy to split it (the design which included the town offices and police department) down the line, Combs said.
The design, as it stands, is about 6,900 square feet and includes four drive-through bays that hold seven trucks and two trailers, office space for officers, a bathroom for decontamination, and a training or meeting room.
It does not have to be the Cadillac (plan) or the Taj Mahal, Combs said. It just has to look good and work well so we can serve the town.
The Castleton fire station located on Elm Street, a side street off Main Street consists of two buildings that were originally built as the towns garage before they were taken over by the fire department. Seven trucks are parked in both buildings with less than a foot of space in between each.
Combs said the current conditions are dangerous for the volunteer firefighters because of the tight quarters. Luckily, he said, nobody has been hurt.
The petition for the bond, presented to the town this week, began circulating last fall, but the fire department took a break to see where the two most recent bond votes for the town hall issue fell, Combs said.
Then we took the ground running. It took about a week, he said.
The reaction fell across the board, Combs said, with people supporting the project wholeheartedly, people wanting a new space in the current location, and people not signing because they dont want their taxes to go up. He said, though, the sentiment seemed to be mostly in favor of a new fire department.
Once the petition is verified meaning the signatures on the petition are from legal voters town officials are required to warn a special vote.
Now we have the opportunity to see what the voters want, Combs said. Maybe (this project) will get the town behind it.
@rutlandherald.comMORE IN Local & StateRecovery takes time, patience and a desire to change. Full StoryMayor Louras wants the city to have a better idea on what to pay its department heads. Full StoryThe Rutland Town Select Board plans to appoint a new member next week who will serve until a... Full Story
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A successful, wealthy businessman, Wesley Deeds has always done what's expected of him, whether it's assuming the helm of his father's company, tolerating his brother's misbehavior at the office or planning to marry his beautiful but restless fiancee, Natalie. But Wesley is jolted out of his predictable routine when he meets Lindsey, a down-on-her-luck single mother who works as a cleaning person in his office building. Outspoken, impulsive and proud- and also recently evicted- Lindsey struggles to make ends meet for herself and her young daughter. But when Wesley offers to help her get back on her feet, his innocent good deed ignites and unexpected attraction- and suddenly Wesley finds himself caught between the life he thought he wanted and the powerful desires of his heart?.
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Running time: 2hr 9min
Opens: Feb 24, 2012 Nationwide


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Quarterly Report: 2013, January - March (Q3), Koyuk
Iura Leahu
DCRA Regional Office:
Gov't Type:
Second Class City
Agreement Date:
City of Koyuk
Assessment Status:
Assessment Date:
Exp Date:
Last Updated:
Community Sanitation Overview:
The City of Koyuk owns, manages and operates Koyuk Public Water System (KPWS). There are three active wells in Koyuk. KPWS consists of the water treatment plant, washeteria, and a centralized watering point for residents to haul their own water. KPWS has a 200,000 gallon water storage tank. The system currently supplies water through two buried arctic pipe main water loops. KPWS uses a gravity wastewater collection system, a lift station and a wastewater lagoon. KPWS water plant and washeteria have severely deteriorated within the last several years and upon an inspection completed by CRW Engineering Group, LLC the building was declared unsafe. In response, the city council adopted a resolution stating that the city council 'desires to accept the Sanitation Facilities Improvement Plan' dated August 2010. The city council has been working with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, (ANTHC) to undertake major improvements to the Koyuk water, wastewater, and solid waste utility system. ANTHC has subcontracted CRW to prepare the sanitation plan. CRW proposed a three-phased construction plan. The first phase would involve the construction of a new water treatment plant and washeteria, the study of a new water resource and insulation of the water storage tank roof at an estimated cost of $3.6 million. The second phase would consist of finding a new water source, biulding residential water and wastewater services, building a well access trail and well house, and transmission line upgrades at an estimated cost of $1.4 million. The third phase would accomplish improvements to the lift station, wastewater collection system and removal and replacement of the existing lagoon lines at an estimated cost of $969,000. The City of Koyuk hired a grant writer to research and apply for available grants.
RUBA Status & Activities This Qtr:
This quarter, Nome RUBA staff received copies of the monthly financial reports from the Koyuk Public Water System (KPWS). RUBA staff maintained telephonic and email contact with the city and utility staff. Among other technical assistance, RUBA staff assisted the city clerk in recodefying city ordinances. RUBA staff assisted with editing, numbering, and comparing the city ordinances against state statues. RUBA staff all finished the rate study for KPWS. A meeting was scheduled with the city council to go over the rate study and assist with the proposed rate adjustment alternatives. This effort began in response to council's decision to stop allocating subsidies to KPWS. Without such subsidies KPWS would run a significant annual deficit. The rate study proposed three options to address distribution of user fees in order to manage the deficit. This quarter, a permanent full-time utility clerk was hired. The clerk participated in city council meetings and provided the council with written management reports and written monthly financial reports. KPWS also hired an alternate water operator. RUBA staff has been in contact with the city clerk on a number of occasions this quarter.
RUBA Activities for the Coming Qtr:
This coming quarter, April 18-21, 2013, Nome RUBA staff will travel to the City of Koyuk to discuss in detail the rate study with the city council. RUBA staff will work with the city clerk, utility clerk and city council on recodifying the city code of ordinances. RUBA staff will conduct an on-site RUBA assessment.
Essential Indicators:
25 of 27
Sustainable Indicators:
22 of 27
Total Score:
47 of 54
Essential Indicators
All revenues and expenses for the utility are listed in the utility budget.
The utility has adopted a balanced realistic budget.
Monthly financial reports are prepared and submitted to the policy making board.
The utility is current in paying all water/wastewater electric bills.
The utility has on hand a year's adequate fuel supply or it has a financial plan to purchase an adequate supply.
The utility is receiving revenues (user fees or other sources) sufficient to cover operating expenses.
Sustainable Indicators
The utility is receiving revenues (user fees or other sources sufficient to cover operating expenses and Repair & Replacement (R) costs.
YTD revenues are at a level equal to or above those budgeted.
YTD expenditures are at a level equal to or below those budgeted.
A monthly manager's report is prepared.
Budget amendments are completed and adopted as necessary.
Finances Comments
The City of Koyuk has adopted the FY13 budget on July 25, 2012. A copy of the approved budget was submitted to the Division of Community and Regional Affairs. Typically, the Koyuk Public Water System (KPWS) budget is included in the overall city budget. KPWS revenues are estimated to be $126,000 and expenditures are $165,524, a $39,524 deficit. In the past, the city council provided subsidies to KPWS. However, the city council made a decision not to subsidize KPWS this fiscal year. The city council requested that city staff conduct a rate study in order to make an informed decision on setting up new user fees in order to balance the budget without using other sources of revenue. What made the deficit so large was the fuel related expense. KPWS forecasts spending about $53,625 on fuel; this is one of the highest expenses incurred by the utility following salary expense. Historically, the city did not include the fuel expense in the KPWS budget because fuel was subsidized by the city council using grant funding, such as Community Revenue Sharing and Norton Sound Community Benefit payments. This fiscal year, the fuel expense was included in the utility budget, significantly increasing the deficit. Historically, the utility has not been able to receive the budgeted revenue due to lack of enforcement of its collection policy. This problem persists. However, according to the monthly financial report for the months of September and October 2012, KPWS has paid its electric, telephone, payroll and other bills. The year-to-date revenues from residential and commercial customers and the local school have varied. Some months, year-to-date revenues are at the level equal to or above those budgeted, but other months' year-to-date expenditures go below those budget. The utility has had a very difficult time with employee turnover especially, the utility clerk position. Several utility clerks have left the position in the last year. Typically the utility clerk prepares and submits QuickBooks monthly financial reports to the city clerk. In turn, the city clerk converts the QuickBooks generated monthly financial reports to an Excel spreadsheet format which compares actual year-to-date revenues and expenditures to the budget. The city clerk submits those reports to the city council on a monthly basis.
Accounting Systems
Essential Indicators
The utility has adopted a collection policy and actively follows it.
The utility bills customers on a regular basis.
An accounts receivable system is in place which tracks customers and reports past due accounts and amounts.
An accounts payable system is in place.
The payroll system correctly calculates payroll and keeps records.
A cash receipt system is in place that records incoming money and how it was spent.
The utility has a cash disbursement system that records how money was spent.
Sustainable Indicators
A chart of accounts is used that identifies categories in a reasonable, usable manner.
Monthly bank reconciliations have been completed for all utility accounts.
The utility has a purchasing system that requires approval prior to purchase, and the approval process compares proposed purchases to budgeted amounts.
Accounting Systems Comments
The Koyuk Code of Ordinances outlines the collection policy in detail. The utility clerk mails water and wastewater invoices by the first day of each month. Bills are considered delinquent if payment is not received by the last day of the month. This quarter, the utility clerk sent out monthly statements on time. Efforts to collect past and current amounts due were made and revenues went up in the last quarter. An accounts receivable system is in place. The utility clerk uses both Excel spreadsheets and QuickBooks to track customers past due accounts and amounts. The accounts receivable data generated by QuickBooks reports show that in September, October and November revenues fluctuated, but more revenues were recorded than expenses. The October report shows that the KPWS revenues were above expenditures by $1,115. The utility uses QuickBooks for accounts payable and payroll accounting. Payroll taxes are paid via the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). KPWS fell behind paying federal and state payroll taxes in the last quarter, but this quarter KPWS paid off most of the federal taxes. The utility accepts cash as payment. Cash is exchanged with checks at the local store or corporation. The checks are then mailed and deposited in the bank account. Cash records are entered into QuickBooks. The utility's purchase order system requires the review and signature of either the city clerk or the mayor, depending on the amount needed to be spent. The utility clerk and city clerk report that bank reconciliations are done on a monthly basis.
Tax Problems
Essential Indicators
The utility has a system to accurately calculate, track, and report payroll tax liabilities.
The utility is current on filing tax reports.
The utility is current on making tax deposits.
If there are any past due tax liabilities or recorded tax liens, a lien release has been issued or a repayment agreement has been signed and repayments are current.
Tax Problems Comments
The utility clerk uses QuickBooks to calculate, track and report payroll tax liabilities. Tax payments are made using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) bi-monthly. On March 28, 2013 the Internal Revenue Service reported that KPWS is not in compliance with federal tax deposit requirements. However, the IRS has no liens against the city. KPWS owes a small amount in federal taxes. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development confirmed that all state employment tax payments are current as of March 27, 2013.
Personnel System
Essential Indicators
The utility has a posted workers compensation insurance policy in effect.
Sustainable Indicators
The utility has adopted and uses a Personnel Policy, which has been reviewed by an attorney, AML or Commerce for topics and language.
The utility has adequate written job descriptions for all positions.
The utility has adopted and follows a written personnel evaluation process that ties the job description to the evaluation.
The utility has an adequate written hiring process.
The utility has personnel folders on every employee that contain at least: I-9, Job Application and Letter of Acceptance.
The utility has a probationary period for new hires that includes orientation, job training/oversight, and evaluations.
The utility provides training opportunities to staff as needed and available.
Personnel System Comments
The City of Koyuk has a worker's compensation insurance policy with the Alaska Municipal League Joint Insurance Association (AMLJIA) valid through June 2013. All city employees are covered by the insurance, including KPWS employees. This is a comprehensive insurance which covers work-related accidents and occupational diseases as per Alaska Statutes. Proof of coverage is posted in the city office. Koyuk personnel policies were adopted by ordinance on May 1, 1989. These policies apply to all employees of the city. The utility follows the personnel policies of the city. These policies address classification, compensation, salary schedule, recruitment and hiring, workweek, pay, performance evaluation, resignation, suspension, layoff, dismissal, disciplinary action, and grievance procedure. City's personnel folders are well-organized and contain all necessary I-9 forms, IRS forms, acceptance letters, records of disciplinary actions and performance evaluation. The utility provides orientation, job-training, oversight and performance evaluation. The utility also provides outside training opportunities. The prior utility clerk attended Financial Management for Rural Utilities course in April 2011, and the new utility clerk and the water operator completed the Organizational Management for Rural Utilities course in November 2011.
Organizational Management
Essential Indicators
The entity that owns the utility is known; the entity that will operate the utility is set.
The policy making body is active in policy making of the utility.
The policy making body enforces utility policy.
The utility has an adequately trained manager.
The utility has an adequately trained bookkeeper.
The utility has an adequately trained operator or operators.
The utility has adopted the necessary ordinances (or rules and regulations) necessary to give it the authority to operate.
Sustainable Indicators
The utility has adopted an organizational chart that reflects the current structure.
The policy making body meets as required.
The utility complies with the open meeting act for all meetings.
Organizational Management Comments
The City of Koyuk owns, manages and operates Koyuk Public Water System (KPWS). The city council acts as the policy making body and as the board of the utility. The Koyuk Code of Ordinances describes the roles and responsibilities of the city council in relation to the operation and management of public facilities. Overall the city council enforces the utility policies and procedures. The city council also responded to the need to upgrade and extend the current water and wastewater system. The city council passed and adopted a resolution stating that the city council 'desires to accept the Sanitation Facilities Improvement Plan,' dated August 2010. The city council has been working with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, (ANTHC) to undertake major improvements to KPWS. The utility clerk acts as the utility manager. The utility clerk attended and successfully completed the Organizational Management for Rural Utilities course in November 2011 as well as the Utility Clerks Management for Rural Utilities course in August 2012.
Operation of Utility
Essential Indicators
The utility operator(s) are actively working towards necessary certification.
The utility has a preventative maintenance plan developed for the existing sanitation facilities.
Sustainable Indicators
The manager receives a monthly O&M report from the utility operator and routinely "spot checks" the facilities to see that the maintenance items are being completed.
The utility has a safety manual and holds safety meetings.
Utility facilities have not suffered any major problems/outages due to management issues that are unresolved.
The utility is operating at the level of service that was proposed.
The operator provides status reports to the manager on a routine basis.
The utility has completed and distributed its "Consumer Confidence Report".
The utility is not on the "Significant Non-Complier" (SNC) list.
The utility maintains an inventory control list.
The utility maintains a critical spare parts list.
Operation of Utility Comments
Koyuk Public Water System (KPWS) employs two water and wastewater operators and a utility clerk. One of the operators is certified: Water Distribution 1 (expiration 12/31/2014), Water Treatment 1 (expiration 12/31/2014), Wastewater Collection 1 (expiration 12/31/2014) and Wastewater Treatment Provisional (expiration 12/31/2014). The operators maintain a preventive maintenance plan, which is part of the utility operations manual. Both operators, the utility bookkeeper, city clerk and the city council communicate with each other in-person on a daily basis. The operators also maintain a written log of maintenance activities, water distribution and production, as well as concerns and needed parts for purchasing. KPWS has a safety manual and the utility staff participate in the monthly safety meetings provided by AMLJIA. The operator indicated that the utility is operating at the proposed level of service. No major water and wastewater problems or outages due to management issues have occurred. The building itself was declared unsafe by engineers, but the utility staff responded by finding a temporary solution to fix the building. KPWS distributed its Community Confidence Report (CCR). The utility is not on the Significant Non-Compliance list. The operators maintain a sufficient number of parts, supplies and tools. The operators also maintain an inventory and critical spare parts list. When there is need for parts, the operators inform the utility bookkeeper of the need and the city council makes decisions on the purchase.
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So it's the little things that matter most, huh? Whether it's true or not, I'm unsure. But when it comes to suspension, there is certainly a case to be made. It's a common misconception that all one needs are new shocks, sway bars, a Panhard bar, and so on, and their car is ready to take the high seas straight to the track. This is where the problem lies, however. All those components do work, and drastically improve handling by stabilizing unwanted suspension movement. Whether it's made to stabilize lateral, forward, or an up-and-down motion, aftermarket suspension components are made to keep the car tight and straight. Although the new suspension parts are doing just that, the bushings in those parts might not be.
Factory OEM bushings are designed for highway cruising, not dipping into a corner at accelerated speeds or taking on loads of torque. Because of this, the bushings crush under pressure, which decreases handling and performance. Even though the new suspension parts are doing exactly what they are designed to do, the rubber bushings can't quite keep up with the demands of the car, and you suffer. Many suspension companies sell their products (considering these products require bushings) with polyurethane bushings already installed to fix the problem. But when it comes to control arm bushings, motor mounts, torque arm mounts, and parts you don't plan on replacing, the only way to compensate is to install the polyurethane bushings yourself.
Energy Suspension in San Clemente, California, has the cure for the inadequate rubber bushings. Throughout its two decades of polyurethane bushing development, HYPER-FLEX technology has been applied to nearly all aspects of the Chevy market. What exactly is HYPER-FLEX? Its Energy Suspension's technically advanced chemical formulation performance polyurethane that has been granted nine U.S. patents. The HYPER-FLEX polyurethane product is much more durable, performance-oriented, and longer lasting than rubber components used on cars, trucks, SUVs, and the like. The bushings can also withstand oils, atmospheric conditions such as ozone, smog, road salt, chemicals, and other contaminants that can destroy and breakdown rubber bushings over time.
HYPER-FLEX bushings are also designed for each specific application. Because some parts need to be stiffer and some softer, Energy designs each bushing with the correct durometer, which is firmness or softness. From front to back, Energy has designed a bushing to replace the OEM rubber bushings on just about all Chevy cars and trucks. Whether it's a control arm bushing, a trailing arm, a Panhard bar, an end link, a leaf-spring pad, or a body mount. If there's an OEM bushing, there's a good chance Energy has one, as well.


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The Link Art Gallery at Kent State University at Trumbull exhibits emerging and established regional and national artists. A wide variety of exhibitions are staged throughout the year. The Gallery is open Monday thru Thursday, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
For information on exhibiting - or on the current exhibitions - please contact Phillip Buntin, assistant professor of art, at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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This is the Corvette that Dave Hill and his Corvette engineering staff don't want to know about. The C4s, built from early 1983 (as an '84 model) 'til mid-1996, were former chief engineer Dave McLellan's creation, while Hill gets credit for the '97 and newer C5s. Some folks inside at GM have told us that McLellan deserves more credit for the C5 than he's been given, but that's another story entirely.
The point here is that, except for the Z06, the C5 is not a very good autocross car. Autocross, or Solo 2 in SCCA, is a unique form of competition. You have to drive around on an artificial course that's usually set up in a giant parking lot, you're racing against the clock, not directly against other cars, and a lap lasts less than a minute. If you think of an autocross as a qualifying lap in racing, you're pretty close. There's no chance to relax and very little opportunity to think about what you're doing. Driver ability and a good handling car are the important things for winning in autocross. It also helps for your engine to have a lot of low-end torque and to be hooked to a solid-shifting automatic transmission. When you're driving through cones on narrow courses, wide cars and long wheelbases are hindrances to getting the best time. Think about this-early ('84-90) C4s are 176.5 inches long and 71 inches wide on a 96.2-inch wheelbase, while C5s are 179.6 inches long and 73.6 inches wide with a 104.5-inch wheelbase. The same width and long wheelbase that make a C5 roomy inside and exceedingly stable at high speed make it awkward and unwieldy on a tight and twisty autocross course.
The old '85 to '87 Corvettes seem to rule the autocross courses around the United States. These old C4s flat beat everything that's come out of Chevrolet since the mid-'80s. When you look at the SCCA National Championships, you'll always find some of these old torque monsters in the standings.
Roger Johnson's yellow '86 is one of the best of these unbeatable autocross Corvettes. It's so competitive that a couple years ago some members of the Corvette engineering team invited Roger and his '86 to the Milford (Michigan) Proving Grounds so their boss could see a real, winning autocross Corvette. Some of the team thought it might be useful if they could get a handle on why this old C4 was able to blow away the brand-new C5s. Of course, it blew away the new Corvettes, right on Chevrolet's home turf.
This yellow '86 is a legend amongst the autocross fraternity. While no one is sure if it's the driver or the car that is great, Johnson's driving ability is something that every Corvette owner who's ever run an autocross aspires to. On the other hand, most autocrossers would like to have his car.
There are several reasons that the '85-87 C4s make wonderful autocross cars. The old L98 just can't be matched for bottom-end torque-it'll damn near pull stumps out of the ground. The LT1s, LT4, LT5s, LS1s, and LS6s are all great horsepower engines, but each and every one of them lacks the raw low-end grunt of the old Tune-Port Injection 350. Fifteen years of technology has produced some great engines, but none of 'em can match the low rpm power of a well-tuned L98.
Roger's car, which he bought brand new, only has about 5,000 miles showing on the odometer. The first thousand or so was on the street. The rest is a lot of Solo 2 runs, a whole lot if you consider that the average run is usually well under one mile, and lots of times closer to a half-mile.
In late 1987 the folks at Chevrolet convinced Roger that the new '88 Corvette with its re-designed, zero-scrub-radius front suspension would be the way to go. He even put the yellow beast up for sale while he prepped a new '88 version. Roger was serious about the '88's prep, with the car sent to C4 performance guru Kim Baker for special attention, while John Lingenfelter was making sure that all was perfect within the engine.


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Tonyblack wrote:raptornx01 wrote:I always got a kick out of the fact that Ancient dwarfish is call Oggham.
Ogham (with one G) really was an ancient language.
Depends on who you believe... Ogham was a medieval development, according to something I read somewhere (which I realize is only one point above What Some Bloke In The Pub said).


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Geothermal Heat Pump: 10 tons for Residential, 50 tons for Commercial
Dual Fuel Heat Pump: 10 tons for Residential, 50 tons for Commercial
Air Source Heat Pump: 10 tons
Residential Sector Only:
Refrigerator: $75
Electric Water Heater: $50
Room AC: $50
Both Commercial and Residential:
Ground Source Heat Pump (New Installation): $750/ton
Ground Source Heat Pump (Replacement) : $150/ton
Dual Fuel Heat Pump: $150/ton
Air Source Heat Pump: $75/ton
The residential and commercial appliance and heating rebate program encourages members to purchase Energy Star equipment that qualifies under the White River energy efficiency program. Items available in the program include electric water heaters, room air conditioning units, and geothermal heat pumps, dual fuel, and air source heat pumps. All transactions that are part of this program are subject to follow-up audits by the White River staff. Visit the program web site for additional information and to access rebate applications.
Dual Fuel/Air Source Heat Pump: 16.5 SEER Minimum
Electric Water Heaters: Efficiency rating of .90 minimum
Tankless Water Heaters are not eligible for this program
Room AC: Energy Star
Refrigerator: Energy Star, must show proof that old model was disposed of properly
Geothermal Heat Pump: EER 19.1


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