text:
The present invention comprises an apparatus and method for a card payment instrument providing that a share of program profits above a pre-designated level is returned to participating consumers at pre-designated intervals such as annually. Customers respond to an offer to participate in the mutual benefit program. After admission to the program, the card issuer tracks the performance according to the desired financial metric for the participating cardholders. At certain intervals, such as yearly, the card issuer reports out the financial performance for the period. If the financial performance exceeded the pre-designated threshold performance, then returns are distributed to participating cardholders according to a share methodology. The share methodology can provide that returns are allocated among participating cardholders according to various criteria, such as based on spending volume, finance charges, and so forth.
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
establishing in a computer database a card payment account for an accountholder which provides returns to the accountholder based on a performance of a card issuer according to a pre-designated financial threshold;
wherein said returns are provided based on a portfolio of like accounts demonstrating a performance meeting or exceeding a pre-designated financial threshold during a pre-designated interval;
tracking performance of the portfolio during the interval;
computing the performance of the portfolio for the interval;
comparing the performance of the portfolio during the interval to the pre-designated financial threshold and computing a net return if the threshold is met or exceeded;
computing a share of the net return for each participating accountholder based on a pre-designated formula; and
providing the share to each participating accountholder.
2. The computer-implemented method of
3. The computer-implemented method of
4. The computer-implemented method of
5. The computer-implemented method of
6. The computer-implemented method of
7. The computer-implemented method of
8. The computer-implemented method of
9. The computer-implemented method of
10. The computer-implemented method of
11. The computer-implemented method of
12. The computer-implemented method of
issuing one or more interim reports regarding the performance of the portfolio during the interval to the participating accountholders.
13. The computer-implemented method of
issuing card payment account statements to participating cardholders that include information of account activity and information of portfolio performance.
14. The computer-implemented method of
15. A system for monitoring card account portfolio performance and issuing performance-based returns, comprising:
an account database storing data of a portfolio of card payment accounts which are eligible for a return based on the portfolio meeting a pre-designated financial threshold for a card issuer over a pre-designated interval;
a card transaction processor for processing transactions against said card payment accounts;
a financial accounting system for maintaining financial performance information for the card issuer including revenue, cost, and profit data;
a data extractor module for deriving financial performance data for participating accountholders having eligible accounts and comparing derived financial performance data to said financial threshold;
a share allocation module for allocating a net return based on results of the comparison across the participating accountholders based on a share formula; and
a return issuer system for providing the allocated shares of the net return to the participating accountholders.
16. The system of
17. The system of
18. The system of
19. The system of
20. The system of
21. The system of
22. The system of
23. The system of
24. The system of
25. The system of
26. The system of
This application asserts priority to and fully incorporates by reference the prior application filed as 60/494,559, on Aug. 13, 2003, in the name of inventor Kevin Sullivan, entitled "Cardholder's Card".
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for providing a payment instrument in which user-consumers of the payment card product receive returns at various intervals should the program exceed certain pre-disclosed financial performance metrics.
It is increasingly common for consumers and small businesses to use payment card products such as charge cards, credit cards, debit cards, pre-paid cards, bankcards and stored value cards rather than using cash or checks. Consumers do this because it is more convenient than using cash or checks, offers greater payment flexibility (such as revolving credit payments at low annual percentage rates, the ability to have a deposit account automatically swept at the end of the month for a full or partial payment, etc.) and because card payment products are available so widely—giving consumers many opportunities to switch to a new payment account and making it easy to open a new account, transfer a balance from an existing account and begin usage immediately.
Marketing to offer such payment account products is increasingly prevalent in our society today. Competition to successfully sell such products is fierce. The card payment industry currently offers more than 4 billion such offers each year through direct mail to U.S. households (source: BAI Global/Mail Monitor, CSFB estimates). Industry experts estimate that payment card marketers utilize more than 55 billion Internet advertising "impressions" each year, more than 2 billion telemarketing telephone calls, and spend millions of dollars to promote card payments through other channels such as in-person sales, bundling with other financial products, and on-site event marketing.
The intense marketing focuses on a variety of messages about why the particular card payment product is more beneficial for users than other card products, such as:
As a result of the vast amount of information contained in the many offers that are received, consumers and small business decision makers are left unsure about which card payment products represent a sound choice for them based on their future spending levels, average sales transaction amount, revolving credit management, servicing options, lifestyle interests, and other personal parameters.
Also, consumers are often wary of the various financial institution practices related to such products, such as policies that dictate when accounts can be "re-priced" with a new annual percentage rate or when terms such as late fees and other penalty charges can be changed. Some consumers feel that the growing revenues reported by publicly-traded, large financial institutions are due to onerous lending and account offering terms aggressively pursued by these institutions, and/or overlay aggressive account management practices such as the imposition of late fees. Some consumers feel large financial institutions manage such programs to create a level of profitability for the institution that is "unfair" or takes more than a perceived reasonable share of consumer and merchant revenues derived from these card payment products.
There is a need for a system and method that assists institutions that offer such card payment products to stand out among the marketing clutter of the industry and allows consumers to evaluate card payment offers and gain assurances that the card payment provider is offering a fair deal. The customers should receive quality card payment products and high-level associated service at a reasonable cost, with the card payment product issuer receiving a reasonable, but not excessive, return.
It is known in the prior art that mutual insurance companies owned by their policyholders can provide funds back to policyholders at specific time periods after the company's operating, marketing, overhead and other costs and expenses are met. Similarly, other insurance companies (e.g., USAA) provide rebates to car insurance policyholders or home insurance policyholders on an annual basis. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,372 to Burton, et. al., and assigned to Meridian Enterprises, discloses providing rewards to a cardholder based on that cardholder achieving the cardholder's assigned level of performance. However, the prior art does not have card payment account product (e.g., credit card accounts) systems that manage to designated profit levels (or other aggregate financial targets) and provide returns to participating cardholders.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to overcome one or more of the aforementioned and other limitations of existing systems and methods for the use of card payment instruments.
What is desired is a system and method for providing a card payment or payment account that provides returns to participating cardholders or accountholders when profits to the issuing institution exceed pre-designated levels at pre-designated intervals while the cardholder and financial institution maintain the payment product relationship so that cardholders can share in the financial benefits of operating such a program.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a system and method which allows the issuing institution to promote this benefit to prospective and current cardholders as a way to differentiate the issuing institution's payment card product from the myriad of other card payment account products on the market.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a system and method whereby such a return program encourages cardholders to remain loyal to the issuing institution by maintaining accounts and opening new accounts with the institution.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a system and method to consumers whereby such a program encourages cardholders to remain loyal to the payment account product by encouraging usage of the card payment account for the purchase of goods and services.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a system and method where the payment account issuer and a third-party company that participates in the program by offering the payment card product to its customers share some of the costs associated with the issuance of the payment product and/or the return above a certain level of profitability for the benefit of both institutions.
It is another object of the invention to provide such as system and method to extract profitability data from core, existing operating systems at the financial institution and derive profitability information for the group of participating accounts so that the rebate potential can be tracked and administered.
To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, an embodiment of the present invention comprises an apparatus and method for a card payment instrument providing that a share of program profits above a pre-designated level is returned to participating consumers at pre-designated intervals such as annually.
According to one embodiment of the invention, messages in various advertising and direct prospective customer communications can highlight that fact that the issuer organization will only retain profits from the program up to a certain level for a specific time period. For example, the program profitability threshold could be placed at a return on outstanding loan dollars of 2.50%. Instead of (or in addition to) a threshold based on % of return on outstanding loans, other profitability metrics can be used such as pre-tax income, pre-tax and pre-marketing cost income, after-tax income, % of return on investment, % of return on equity, total finance charge collected, total fees collected, industry averages of any of the aforementioned, dollars of profit per cardholder, dollars of profit per account, and others. The threshold could be established so that the institution would return profits to account holders once the program exceeds the then-average profitability for other card payment programs (e.g., competing programs) in the marketplace. The profitability threshold could be established in other manners. Other aggregate financial metrics besides profitability could readily be employed.
According to one embodiment of the invention, profitability above the threshold would be distributed to cardholder program participants based on an established share methodology. The share methodology would determine how participants remain eligible and how much of the share they receive based on various account parameters (e.g., account usage).
Whatever profitability metric is selected as the basis for the threshold, it can be measured according to various time periods, such as an annual time period, semi-annual time period, a "cumulative since the program's inception" period, or other timeframe. According to one approach, the system of the present invention tracks the profit metric by accessing the financial institution's general accounting and financial reporting systems for all programs to create specialized reporting on profit and loss accounting entries related to these participating payment accounts as a group. Amounts above the threshold may be shared evenly with all participating account holders or cab be based on some other disclosed formula or share methodology (e.g., based on total dollars spent using the card during the period, minimal dollar amounts spent at merchants using the payment product, collected finance charge, annual fees, or some other share metric).
According to some embodiments of the invention, the computed return can be applied as a credit to the card payment account; provided in check format attached to the account statement or some other written communication from the financial institution; provided in check format separately in another form of communication to the accountholder; via automated clearing house (ACH) deposit into a pre-designated deposit or other account held by the accountholder; via electronic funds transfer (EFT) or money order or other form of direct payment.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the return is submitted in the form of a favorable change in account terms. For example, return can be provided as a reduction in annual percentage rate charged for the credit payment account; in the form of a reduction in an annual fee or other fees; in the form of enhanced or increased rewards, reward points or other non-financial currency from a frequency or loyalty reward program that is linked to the account; or in the form of spending or investing the funds on behalf of the consumer or other form of compensation.
The invention has many potential benefits and advantages. For example, the invention benefits the card issuing institution that is trying to attract new accountholders and retain existing ones. The prospective customer/existing cardholder can consider this "mutual benefit" when weighing the many options for payment instruments and is able to better understand the financial dynamics of this payment product offering due to the candid communication about profits versus other offerings in the market that do not address such subjects.
Additionally, on an ongoing basis, the financial institution can offer program options to participating cardholders to reduce program administration costs that, should many cardholders participate, will reduce program expense and allow for greater return to cardholders, result in lower borrowing rates or other benefits. Examples of such options include the promotion of low-cost servicing channel access such as Internet or email only (rather than contacting the financial institution for assistance by telephone), setting up auto-pay functionality so that the consumer's core deposit account is electronically accessed by the issuer for account payment, or an agreement not to request emergency rush replacement of lost of stolen cards or other account materials.
This new payment account and system (which herein may be referred as the Cardholder's Card™ or a "mutual benefit" product) is advantageous in a number of respects. It is beneficial to card payment issuers because it encourages the creation of new accounts, usage of existing accounts, and maintenance of existing accounts. It is beneficial to consumers and small businesses and other account holders because all participants will benefit if the program is successful (the product is used frequently, participants make payments on time) from a financial standpoint. At the most basic level, the system provides a way for financial institutions to communicate that its customers are being treated fairly in this commercial arrangement. The Cardholder's Card™ can also allow for partnerships between the issuing financial institution and other concerns that will want to offer such a product to their members or customers. This offering can be branded with both the name of the issuing financial institution and its partner.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. It will become apparent from the drawings and detailed description that other objects, advantages and benefits of the invention also exist.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from that description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the system and methods, particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
The purpose and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art from the following detailed description in conjunction with the appended drawings in which like reference characters are used to indicate like elements, and in which:
As discussed in the Summary of the Invention, the present invention is directed to a system and method for a payment instrument that is associated with a cardholder consumer's account, which that consumer's account is one of many accounts in a portfolio of similar accounts, and whereby returns are issued or applied once pre-designated profitability metrics for the entire portfolio are satisfied.
At 100, a program offer is made to an existing accountholder or a prospective accountholder. The program offer may be made in a variety of manners, such as by direct mail, e-mail, a web page, unsolicited telephone call, an overture during a customer service call, handouts/flyers, print advertising, billboards, and so forth.
At 105, the offer communication preferably provides a product overview, an explanation that the offer relates to a managed profits product, and that the goal is a low cost structure to facilitate the profits goal and returns to participants. Preferably, the program offer includes information describing the "mutual benefit" nature of the card payment account offer that indicates that the card issuer will manage the portfolio to achieve pre-designated financial performance criteria, and if those criteria are met or exceeded, a share of returns will be provided to eligible participating cardholders. The offer may identify the financial performance criteria, as well as the interval(s) over which the performance will be measured. According to one embodiment, the offer may also set forth the so-called "share criteria" regarding the methodology for how returned shares will be determined/allocated. According to one embodiment, the offer may also set forth the manner in which shares are provided, such as (and discussed in more detail below) credits to the participating account, credits to another account, improved account terms, reward points, and so forth.
At 110, the customer (existing accountholder or prospective accountholder) submits an application for the mutual benefit product. The customer may make the application in any suitable manner, such as over the Internet (e.g., using a personal computer, personal digital assistant, or other computing device), over the telephone by submitting data to a human agent, over the telephone by submitting data to a machine agent (e.g., a voice response unit [VRU] or a voice recognition device), through the mail system by mailing in an application, and so forth.
At 115, the application for the mutual benefit product is processed. The application may be processed based on data submitted by the applicant and/or data acquired from a credit bureau. The application may be processed automatically without any human intervention, semi-automatically with limited human involvement, or with substantial human involvement. Preferably, the application processing is carried out by an application processor server component which can access remote credit bureau databases.
At 120, if the application is approved, the mutual benefit account is fulfilled. An account number, expiration date, credit limit (if applicable), account terms, and other account information may be established. At 125, a cardholder database is updated to reflect the new account information. In the case of an applicant who was not an existing accountholder, the database is updated with the typical account information for a new cardholder, as well as information which designates the account as participating in the mutual benefit program. In the case of an existing accountholder applicant, the existing account data may be updated with information which designates the account as a mutual benefit program participant. According to one embodiment of the invention, the card issuer may maintain "regular" accounts for those not participating in the mutual benefit program (e.g., because they did not choose to apply or because they were not given an offer to participate), as well as mutual benefit accounts. The cardholder database may maintain both types of accounts, and can identify the latter through an additional field, flag, or other suitable means for identifying participants.
According to one variation of the invention, mutual benefit program participants may be grouped as a single portfolio. In that scenario, the designated financial performance criteria is based on the performance of that portfolio of participating accounts.
According to another variation of the invention, mutual benefit program participants may be assigned to various sub-portfolios (groups). These assignments may be based on an applicant's selection or request to participate in a particular group. These assignments may be based on the rules imposed by the card issuer for each group. Different groups may have different financial performance criteria and/or different financial performance thresholds.
For example, a card issuer may offer five different groups, each having the same financial criteria based on pre-tax income per account, but each group having a different threshold. The level 1 group may have a threshold of $X/account of pre-tax income; the level 2 group may have a threshold of $X-5/account of pre-tax income; the level 3 group may have a threshold of $X-10/account of pre-tax income, and so forth.
The generalized concept is that accountholders can be segregated into different groups of participating accounts, each having their own criteria and/or threshold for returns. Moreover, at the end of the return interval, accountholders can be moved "up" or "down" to different groups depending on their account-level performance. For example, if an accountholder is a participant in a level 1 group directed to the highest level of performance, but that accountholder was not a high-level performer during the interval, he/she may be removed from the level 1 group and placed in another group or even expelled from the mutual benefit program entirely. The benefit to the card issuer, as well as the program participants, is that this can prevent low performers from undermining the overall performance of a group.
Accountholders may be removed from particular groups based on a variety of disqualifying behaviors. For example, the card issuer may disqualify an accountholder based on negative behaviors such as late payment problems, underspending, periods of inactivity, dramatic changes in credit scoring, and so forth.
Groups may also be based on different categories of financial criteria. For example, one group may be based on return on a % return on outstanding loans criteria, a second based on pre-tax income, a third based on account cost, and so forth. As indicated above, accountholders may be given the option to select which group they wish to participate in. The card issuer, of course, may have guidelines that govern which groups a given accountholder is eligible for.
At 130, the card issuer tracks financial metric performance. The card issuer may have a core financial systems operation that tracks basic financial parameters, such as revenue (various sources, such as interest income, fee income, merchant transaction income, outstanding balance, and so forth), costs (operating costs, marketing costs, overhead, and so forth), and profits. For example, each month, various inputs are collected from the points within the financial institution that track purchases, sales volumes, finance charge collected, account fees, revenue items, expenses, costs and other elements which impact the program. According to the invention, the returns provided to participating cardholders are based on a financial metric. Preferably, the financial metric is based on profitability. Whatever is selected as the financial metric, the core financial systems of the card issuer are employed at 130 to track the overall performance related to this financial metric.
At 135, the card issuer links the financial performance to participating mutual benefit accounts. In other words, based on aggregate financial performance parameters provided by core financial systems, at 135 the subsidiary financial performance parameters associated with the mutual benefit accounts are derived. This may be accomplish in various fashions. For example, revenue may be computed by reducing the aggregate revenue figures to remove non-participating accounts. Costs may be computed in the same manner, although certain cost figures (e.g., overhead) which are not amenable to allocation on an account-specific basis, may be allocated pro rata or another appropriate fashion. Based on 135, the card issuer generates a participating account portfolio performance measure for the selected financial metric. A variety of financial metrics are discussed below, but just for example, if the metric is % return on loans, the output of 135 might be 3.2% annualized.
If the mutual benefit program is implemented as a series of groups with different financial performance metrics, 130 and 135 are implemented to track the performance for each of these different metrics.
At 140, the card issuer may provide interim reports to the participating cardholders regarding the financial metric performance. Just by way of example, if the metric is % return on outstanding loans, the threshold is 2.5%, and the interim performance is 3.2% annualized, the card issuer may issue communications that the portfolio is on track to exceed the goal. The card issuer may issue these communications in statement messages, statement inserts, separate mailings, e-mails, website content, phone calls, on-hold messages, customer service representative (CSR) updates while the customer is on the phone, cardholder newsletters, or other suitable fashions. The interim reports are beneficial because they provide preliminary feedback to participants on the success of the program. If performance is behind the target, for example, due to higher costs, the communications may encourage the participants to modify their account behavior to improve performance (e.g., by reducing costs).
At 145, the card issuer computes the financial performance for the return period. The period could be any suitable pre-designated interval, such as annually, semi-annually, bi-annually, quarterly, and so forth. The computed financial performance reflects the actual performance of the portfolio for that period and reflects whether the target financial performance was achieved.
At 150, the card issuer compares the actual performance against the goal or threshold. If the goal was not achieved/exceeded, at 155 the card issuer reports out that there will be no share returns for the period. If the goal was achieved/exceeded, at 160 the card issuer computes a return for each participant based on the share methodology. The share methodology reflects how the return is to be allocated among participants. The share methodology can be very simple, such as each participant getting a fixed return amount (e.g., $25.00, 1000 reward points, a reduction/elimination of annual fees, a reduction in interest rate, an even share of the excess, or other return).
The share methodology can be more complex so that different participants get different returns. For example, a net return value may be computed by the card issuer (e.g., $5,000,000 value). That net return value may then be allocated across the participants based on (1) account behavior parameters and/or (2) qualifying criteria. Account behavior parameters (discussed further for
Moreover, as discussed above, the invention is amenable to assigning cardholders to various different groups (each considered to be a portfolio), each group having its own financial performance metric and/or financial performance threshold. Thus, the aforementioned steps for tracking performance and determining whether a return is available due to satisfaction of the financial metric threshold may be carried out for each of the various groups.
Based on the share methodology, the returns are distributed at 165. The returns may be distributed in any suitable fashion, such as by credits to the participating account, credits to different accounts, a favorable change in account terms, reward points, paper check, and so forth. The cardholder may be given the option of how the return is to be provided, such that some accountholders may wish to receive an account credit, while others receive a credit to a different account, while others get a reduction in interest rate, and so forth.
The consumer's selection of how the return is to be provided may be made available when the consumer first applies to participate the in the mutual benefit program. For example, the option could be given as a radio button to select or box to check when applying over the Internet. Alternatively, the consumer's selection may be provided at the end of the computing interval. For example, the financial institution could give each consumer the option once it is determined that a return is available. This approach would allow consumers to revise how the benefit is to be provided from interval to interval.
As previously described, based on the individual performance for the interval, accountholders may be removed from their existing groups or removed from the program entirely. For example, poor individual performers may be moved to lower performance goal groups. Or they may be removed from the program entirely. On the other hand, excellent performers may be moved into higher performance goal groups.
As described above, issuer 200 will access a core financial accounting system 245 to derive the performance of the portfolio. Both issuer 200 and core financial system 245 may interface with a data extractor module 250 which computes, extracts, or otherwise derives the performance of the portfolio of accounts from the aggregate account data. Core financial accounting system 245 may include one or more networked computers which can access financial data inputs in order to track revenue, costs, profits, and/or other financial performance parameters. The data extractor module 250 can be a process implemented within the core financial accounting system 245, or it may be implemented as a separate process on a stand-alone computer.
Issuer 200 may interface with a card association/interchange 235 (e.g., VISA™, MasterCard™; and/or American Express™ and Discover™ who are now offering access to their platforms by other institutions) in order to process transactions for the card payment accounts. Issuer 200 may also interface with a partner 250, which may be a co-brand entity, partner, or other financial institution, which sponsors the card payment instruments jointly with the card issuer. Partner 250 may market the product to its existing customers, including potentially marketing the product with the name and mark of partner 250. According to one embodiment, the partner and the card issuer share the costs of mutual benefit program. For example, both the partner and card issuer can contribute to the share returns provided to the participants. According to another embodiment, the share returns are issued as value redeemable with the partner, such as points (e.g., frequent flyer miles, rental miles, etc.) or other value that can be used against the partner's goods or services.
Accountholder 220 interfaces with merchants 225 to make payments for goods or services using the card payment instrument. The payments can be made as point-of-sale (POS) transactions, transactions over the Internet, the phone, and so forth. Merchants 225 make transaction requests which are provided to a merchant acquirer/processor 230, which may forward them through an card association/interchange 235, which in turn may forward them on to the issuer 200 for approval/denial. Results from merchant transaction requests are returned back to the merchants 225 so that sales can be completed. The card association/interchange 235, of course, may interface with other financial institutions 240.
Card transaction processor 340 processes transactions against the accounts, which may include charge transactions, payments, and so forth. Processor 340 could be an operation that is internal to the card issuer or it could be an external operation carried out by an agent. The account database 335 is updated based on the transactions.
Core financial accounting system 345 monitors transactions, fees (both annual-type fees and merchant transaction fees), payments, costs, and the like in order to track financial performance for the issuer. Mutual benefit program data extractor 350 interfaces with (or can be implemented within as a sub-process) core financial accounting system 345 in order to compute, extract, or otherwise derive the performance of the portfolio of mutual benefit accounts according to the pre-designated financial metric. Core financial system 345 and/or data extractor 350 may be implemented as one or more computers in a networked system.
Share methodology processor 355 accepts the portfolio performance data and applies a pre-designated share methodology in order to allocate share returns when measured financial performance satisfies or exceeds the threshold. When the threshold is satisfied or exceeded, return issuer system 365 issues the share returns to participating accountholders according to the share methodology. As described previously, the share methodology may set minimum account behavior benchmarks to qualify for a return, and/or may allocate the aggregate determined return based on account behavior parameters. The returns can be issued to participants over various channels as described previously, such as via electronic credits to the accounts, electronic transfers to other accounts, electronic awards of points, checks issued with account statements or by separate mailings, and so forth.
Financial performance report generator 360 may issue interim and final reports over various channels as previously described.
As described previously, the threshold can be established in a variety of fashions. For example, it may be a fixed threshold, such as X % profit, $XX total profit, $XX profit/account, $XX profit/cardholder, and so forth. Or it may be a relative threshold, such as a ratio to (or delta over) some performance benchmark, such as the performance of the issuer's entire portfolio of card accounts, the performance of the issuer's non-participating portfolio, the performance of other issuers in the industry, and so forth.
At 440, the share methodology is applied such that an aggregate return is allocated across the participating accountholders. The aggregate return may be determined based on the level of performance above the threshold. For example, the aggregate return may be the total profit above the threshold. Alternatively, the aggregate return can be determined in other fashions. For example, it could be a fixed amount, such as $5,000,000 to be distributed regardless of how much the threshold is exceeded. The aggregate return could be computed based on an incentive formula. For example, the incentive formula could provide that some portion of the excess is distributed. For example, the formula could provide that 50% of all profits above a profits threshold are distributed. Other approaches for computing the aggregate return could be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
At 445, the returns are issued based on the share methodology.
Electronic payment 635 may be a qualifying parameter tied to whether the cardholder has authorized the account to be automatically paid each month using a linked checking account, for example. Additionally, on an ongoing basis, the financial institution can offer program options to participating cardholders to reduce program administration costs that, so that if many cardholders participate will reduce program expense and allow for greater return to cardholders, result in lower borrowing rates or other benefits. Examples of such options include the promotion of low-cost servicing channel access such as Internet or email only (rather than contacting the financial institution for assistance by telephone), setting up auto-pay functionality so that the consumer's core deposit account is electronically accessed by the issuer for account payment, or an agreement not to request emergency rush replacement of lost of stolen cards or other account materials. Such "low cost options" can be considered by the share methodology either as a qualifying parameter, or can be used to enhance the return provided to accountholders who select those options.
Elements 640–655 refer so so-called disqualifying parameters that can result in the accountholder being removed from his/her group and placed in another group, or removed from the mutual benefit program altogether. Late payments 640 may result in disqualification if the accountholder has been late a specified number of times. Underspending 645 may result in disqualification if the accountholders total spending on the card account has been unacceptably low. Inactive periods 650 may result in disqualification if there is one or more long periods of time without any account activity. Credit scoring changes 655 may result in disqualification if the accountholder's credit score significantly drops. Other parameters 660 could be considered for disqualification.
Other embodiments and uses of this invention will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. The specification and examples given should be considered exemplary only, and it is contemplated that the appended claims will cover any other such embodiments or modifications as fall within the true scope of the invention.
Those of skill in the art should appreciate that the allocation of the elements in the various figures is exemplary and functional, the purpose here being to explain the present invention most clearly. The functions performed by said elements could be allocated differently, such that the elements could be combined or further divided depending on the requirements of specific implementation into hardware and or software. Additionally, the elements of the system need not to be co-located, but could reside at geographically distinct locations ad could interface using communications technologies well known in the art, such as direct-dial connections, hardware link, the Internet or various Internet protocol standards, satellite, microwave, cellular networks and so on.
Citations de brevets
Citations hors brevets
Rķfķrencķ par
╔vķnements juridiques
Image d'origine
Faire pivoter


text:
Quick Links
Shop All Jewelry
RGZ11236 In Stock
It is often said that a mother is the key to keeping a family machine running smoothly. Show your mother, wife, sister, or friend how much their hard work and never-ending love means to you! This Sterling Silver Mother's Love Knot Ring is a gorgeous piece with plenty luster and shine. The stylized knot twists together and is held in place by a beautiful row of four custom birthstones. Choose the stones to represent the birthdays of your children, or just pick the colors you like best! This band is a perfect gift for Mother's Day, birthdays, or any day you want to say "I love you."
Eve's Addiction.com wants you to be a happy customer. We want you to be completely satisfied with the sterling silver jewelry that you receive from us, as we only sell high quality silver and cubic zirconia cz jewelry. We do understand that you may not like your purchase for some reason.
You may return or exchange your jewelry within 60 days of purchase if you are not satisfied with it. The jewelry must be returned in its original condition for a refund or exchange. Engraved, personalized, photo, monogram, name and initial, chocolate and clearance items are not returnable or exchangeable.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Root Catalog
Shop by Brand
937 Items
Heat Smart MT1500-CSN-PL Star XL Infrared Heater$294.00-Solid metal cabinet design with custom molded plastic front in classic black with pecan wood accent -Hi-Low opti-switch allows operation at 1500 watts for a large room or 1000 watts for a small room -Galvanized, electro-plated convection-style steel ch Learn More
Airway Canister Vacuum Bags +$19.85These are Canister Vacuum Bags comes in a pack of 12. Learn More
Genuine Smart Choice Carpet Pro 06.153 Upright Vacuum Cleaner Bags to Fit All CPU Models, 3pk.$6.99These are genuine Smart Choice Carpet Pro Premium Filtration vacuum cleaner bags that fit ALL Carpet Pro uprights.These genuine Carpet Pro bags have a special feature named Allerest lining. The interior of the bag is lined with an electrostatically charge Learn More
48 Generic Smart Choice Carpet Pro Upright Vacuum Bags, BULK DEAL 48 Total Bags$79.96This is bulk deal of 48 total Smart Choice Carpet Pro generic upright vacuum bags for all CPU models. Learn More
Carpet Pro SCBP-1 Backpack Vacuum Bags (10pk)$19.99This is a 10 pack of Carpet Pro SCBP-1 Backpack Vacuum cleaner bags for the Carpet Pro, Sanitaire, and Powr-Flite Backpack Model Vacuums. Learn More
CarpetPro CPU 10 Pack Generic Vacuum bags$19.95CarpetPro CPU 10 Pack Generic Vacuum bags use the highest quality Micro-Plus filter media including Melt-Blown inner liner in order to achieve filtration efficiencies up to 99.9%. Learn More
Carpet Pro 62.072 Exhaust Compact Canister CPCC1 Filters - Genuine$6.99Genuine Carpet Pro 62.072 Exhaust Compact Canister CPCC1 Filters. Learn More
Carpet Pro SCBP-1 Backpack Vacuum$329.95Carpet Pro SCBP-1 Backpack Vacuum is a lightweight backpack vacuum that delivers power and filtration for maximum cleaning. The 12 amp motor generates an amazing 120 CFM of airflow. Offered from GoVacuum with Free Shipping. Learn More
Carpet Pro CPU-1T Heavy Duty Household Upright Vacuum Cleaner CPU1T With On-Board Attachments$249.95This is the same model as the Carpet Pro CPU1, except that it has on-board attachments. This is the household model (2 prong plug). Features# 10 AMP High Quality Metal Motor# Electrostatic Filtration# Metal Handle# Metal Bottom Plate# Metal Brushroll# 30 Foot Cord# Headlight# Includes On-board ToolsWarranty:1 Years on all parts, 90 days labor. Learn More
Carpet-Pro CPU-75 Household Upright Vacuum Cleaner w/o Tools$99.9510 Amp Motor, Foam Filtration, 12" Nylon Bristles Metal Brushroll, Headlight, 30' Cord Learn More
Carpet-Pro CPU-75T Household Upright Vacuum Cleaner$99.9510 Amp Motor, Foam Filtration, 12" Nylon Bristles Metal Brushroll, Headlight, Onboard Tools, 30' Cord Learn More
Smart Choice Carpet Pro CPU-1 Household Vacuum$249.95Smart Choice Carpet Pro Household Vacuum 10 amps Motor 4 stage elctrostatic filter 30 ft black cord 12" Metal Brushroll Learn More
Carpet Pro Commercial Upright Vacuum CPU-85T w Tools$119.95This is the Carpet Pro Upright Vacuum, model CPU-85T. This upright is great for all grades and piles of carpeting and with its on-board tooles can accomplish above the floor cleaning with ease. 1 Learn More
Carpet Pro CPU-85 Commercial Upright Vacuum Cleaner w/o Tools$159.9510 Amp Motor, Headlight, Foam Filtration, 12" Nylon Bristles Brushroll, 40' 3-wire SJT Cord. No Onboard Tools Learn More
,CARPET PRO CCPC-1 19688 HOSE ASSEMBLE$16.60HOSE ASSEMBLE,CARPET PRO CCPC-1 CANISTER Part # 19688 Learn More
PANASONIC / RICCAR / SHARP / CARPET PRO UPRIGHT ATTACHMENT HOSE$24.95PANASONIC / RICCAR / SHARP / CARPET PRO UPRIGHT ATTACHMENT HOSE Learn More
CARPET PRO 19.452 HOSE$23.00CARPET PRO BACK PACK HOSE PART NUMBER # 19.452 Learn More
Carpet-Pro Part Number B431-2300 Rubber Foam Handle Grip For Commercial CPU-2T$9.99This is a orCarpet Pro Part Number B431-2300 Rubber Foam Handle Grip For Commercial CPU-2T Learn More
Carpet-Pro Part Number B431-2300 Rubber Handle Grip For Upright Commercial Machines CPU-2$9.99This is a Carpet-Pro Part Number B431-2300 Rubber Handle Grip For Upright Commercial Machines CPU-2 Learn More
Carpet Pro Scbp-1 Backpack Vacuum Cleaner By Smart Choice$319.95Carpet Pro Carpet Pro SCBP1 Backpack, is a high quality Carpet Pro Vacuum Cleaners from the Ace Vacuums. Carpet Pro Vacuum Cleaners store in Fairfax Va, Vienna Va, Leesburg Va, Gainesville Va, Carpet Pro SCBP1 Backpack provided in all color and sizes. Car Learn More
Carpet Pro CPU 2t Commercial Vacuum Cleaner$264.953 wire cord on the commercial model. Features # 10 Amps # 4-stage electrostatic filtration # 40 ft. 3-wire cord # 12" Metal Roller Brush # Metal handle # Metal bottom plate # Soft furniture guard # Includes On-Board Tools 1 Year Part Warranty 90 Days Labo Learn More
Carpet Pro Vacuum Cleaner Tiny Tank Bags$10.97Carpet Pro vacuum cleaner bags. Fits canister model Tiny Tank SCC1. Also known as part CP1401. Genuine six pack of Carpet Pro vacuum cleaner bags. Learn More


text:
Guys like the Sparrow devs are hurting the industry imo. I'm now hesitant to buy into anything and change my workflow outside of cheap apps because i'm not sure if it's going to be around if it gets bought out. I was a huge fan of Sparrow and am so glad I held off on purchasing the desktop client. It's almost like stealing our money when they take it and bail. I def won't buy another app from those developers. OK, rant done.
Sparrow for iPhone updates with iPhone 5 and Passbook support
Sparrow, the email client for iPhone that was recently acquired by Google, surprisingly received an update that includes support for the iPhone 5's larger display and the ability to open Passbook attachments. The is surprising because with the acquisition, the developers said that there was no plan to release new features to the Sparrow apps.
Now, iPhone 5 and Passbook support aren't exactly huge new features, but still more than I was expecting. However, there are many reports of this new version causing the app to crash and be unusable, so if you use Sparrow as your primary mail client on your iPhone, you may want to stay clear of the update for now.
Do any of you still use Sparrow? How's the update working out for you?
$2.99 - Download Now
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
Sparrow for iPhone updates with iPhone 5 and Passbook support
I paid $2 for the sparrow app 18 months ago. I've had excellent use out of the app since then. All for the princely sum of TWO DOLLARS! The sense of entitlement people have beggars belief. "Hurting the Industry" - Get over yourself!
I think your wrong Steve. They sold out. Just like Instagram. They get bought because their users attract action, and the end result is the users are kicked to the curb. It's high time we had more companies like Apple, who actually stand for something.
<sarcasm> YEAH! You're right. If myself and a friend started a company and then someone wanted to give me millions or billions for the work I did I would tell them to shove it.</sarcasm>
They made a great app. Someone big noticed and now they've been paid for their hard work. Good for them.
Well it depends on the goal these developer were trying to reach. Did they have a passion for the apps they created? Were they hemorrhaging money to support their apps? or were they trying to support themselves and maybe their families. People very seldom open their eyes and their minds and thats why we have alot of assumptions to scenarios like this.....
The update is working fine for me on iPhone 5. I was also surprised by the update because they claimed there wouldn't be any. In the App and in the description in the App Store it says push is coming. For now, I use boxcar which alerts me of a new email, I click on the notification, and it opens Sparrow. Very simple and ensures I get all emails on time. This will hold me over until they give actual push.
I see this article went up round 1 in the am. It says free but the store now says 2.99. Did it get switched back to pay price so quickly?
I happily paid for both Sparrow on Mac OS X and iOS. Both were cheap. I liked them better than what Apple is offering as far as email. It was a sad day for OS X and iOS users when Google bought them. I would have gladly paid for any upgrades for Sparrow. I really wish Apple would have acquired them instead. I just hope Jonny Ive can bring things like email up to 2012/2013 expectations. Apple Mail on ML is very dated (still doesn't archive well with Gmail...really Apple?). Sparrow made email fun to use again. I will keep using it until Apple breaks it.
Just bought it because I prefer the UI to that of the Gmail app and it crashes immediately on start on my iPhone 4. Would like a refund.


text:
Text only
Professor of Business Administration
815 North Orlando Smith Ave.
Oglesby, IL 61348
Office: B322
Phone: (815) 224-0354
Fax: (815) 224-3033
: email@example.com
Summer 2015 Course Information
|BUS 1010 - Intro to Business: ONLINE
|BUS 2210 - Internships
|MGT 2010 - Principles of Management Telecourse
|MKT 1210 - Principles of Marketing Telecourse
**Certain materials are included under the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and have been prepared according to the multimedia fair use guidelines and are restricted from further use.
Summer 2015 Schedule
No Office Hours during the Summer! Please email!
Also teaching BUS 1010-100, MKT 1210-140, MGT 2010-140, and BUS 2210-02.
If you have any questions, please email me at email@example.com.
Last Modified: Monday, May 18, 2015


text:
Main Content
This item ships within one business day.
$4.99 flat rate shipping. See other shipping options.
Take your Coyotes festivities up a notch with this Game On wrist shot & shot glass holder! You'll be able to toast the Arizona Coyotes every time they make a great play and keep the party going with your team spirit. This soft glove is made of medium-density lightweight foam for your safety and features a team-colored scheme and a printed team logo. The glove also comes with a 2oz shot glass so you can get the party started!
- 2oz. shot glass included
- Approximately 3 1/2"L x 2"H x 2"W
- Fits most shot glasses
- Great gift idea
- Imported
- Medium-density lightweight foam
- Officially licensed Coyotes shot glass holder
- Pre-packaged case
Special event items are produced by manufacturers only after the outcome of a game or event. These are advanced sale items and will ship immediately after they are received in our warehouse.
Manufacturer direct items are shipped directly from the manufacturer. These items are not available for international or expedited shipping.
Customized items can be personalized with options such as your name, your favorite number, and/or designs. Some options may be limited by league rules.


text:
The MakerShield kit
If you've ever done any breadboarding, you know that it's great for sketching out an electronics idea, but terrible at storing a more permanent prototype. In the same way, fixing mistakes on soldered protoboard can be frustrating and messy.
The Arduino design strikes a great balance between these two options by exposing the pins of the microcontroller on top of the board in four female headers. Using these, you can snap in pre-made daughterboards, or shields, to add different applications. With the proper wires, you can easily use the Arduino with a standard breadboard to test out a circuit. With the MakerShield, however, you can transfer your working prototype to a shield that snaps into an Arduino just like a pre-built shield. The MakerShield makes it easy to build your own permanent prototypes as shields.
The MakerShield includes several on-board components (LEDs, potentiometers, tactile switches) that can be connected to the Arduino's inputs and outputs. A generous 19 x 13 through-hole prototyping area comprises the rest of the board.
More Details:
Advanced users might want to stack another shield (eg. an Ethernet shield) on top of the MakerShield. This isn't a problem since the MakerShield kit provides stackable header pins. Some other development boards, such as Netduino, require 3.3V analog signals instead of the Arduino's 5V. The MakerShield provides a jumper that allows you to select between either 5V or 3.3V signals on the potentiometer.
Please note: Assembly required (soldering). Does not include a microcontroller. Also available in the Ultimate Microcontroller Pack for Arduino.
Kit includes:
The MakerShield is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Click Here to download the Eagle .brd (board design) and .sch (schematic) files
Schematic (PDF)
You might also like...


text:
The smell of burning building materials breezing through your hair, squishing mud and saw dust between your boots, and sipping water by the saw horses — this may not sound like the kind of spring break college students are stereotyped to have, though this is exactly what some volunteer students signed up for this year.
Jane Rose Britton, volunteer and community coordinator for the Housing Development Alliance (HDA) in Hazard, said a total of 77 volunteers have come this month from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, the last 10 of which came this week to help with a house raising in Browns Fork and a bathroom renovation in Bulan.
"I really admire these kids because you turn on the TV and you see the kids drinking and doing other things of debauchery," Britton laughed, "and then you have these kids who work in the snow and mud and rain to help give people a better life."
The student volunteers are with the Alternative School Break (ASB) Club at Lafayette, which aims "to empower the Lafayette College community to create positive change and foster passion for civic engagement through alternative break exercises," according to the ASB website. The club offers students a way to help out all over the U.S., and some Central and South American countries as well, by offering service trips during spring break to assist those areas with relief, housing, food, and other needs.
Ryan Crumlish, a volunteer helping in Browns Fork this week, has participated in the club before. Last year he went with a group to Tennessee where they helped local Cherokees build and clean up.
"We built a deck to a senior center, did a children's thing, we cleared out a forest," Crumlish said. "I really liked it."
A "trip reflections" portion of the ASB website is available for volunteers to post their thoughts before, during, and after their break trips. Crumlish posted a reflection the day before coming to Hazard, and said he couldn't wait to finally be starting the trip with his group.
"I am hopeful that we will have a chance to meet the homeowners and interact with them," he wrote. "For me, there is nothing that helps me understand what and why I am doing more than talking to the local people. I've been waiting for this week for a long time and I can't wait for it to begin!"
Joe Ingrao, another volunteer at the Browns Fork site who is a first time volunteer with ASB, said he was proud to have a hand in helping put up a whole house for someone in need, even if it meant a lot of hard labor.
"A lot of hammering — today's the first day I haven't used a hammer yet, but I'm sure I will by the end of the day. It involves a lot of hammering," Ingrao said.
A week might seem to fly by for those on spring break, but during this time the volunteer group not only bonded with each other but with the carpenters, too.
"I see these guys every single day," Britton said.
She said she has developed relationships with the volunteers just as much as they have with the professionals they work with when building or rehabilitating a house.
"Even though they're not here for long, it still makes an impact," she said.


text:
Juandrigus Williams of Milledgeville was driving along Highway 49 in Jones County Oct. 10, 2009, at a few minutes past 8 p.m., when he saw a van on fire and a woman outside the vehicle also in flames. He stopped and was able to put out the fire enveloping the victim and stayed with her until help arrived.
Williams also talked to officers and told them what he saw as he came upon the scene.
Assistant District attorneys Gregory Bushway and Keagan Goodrich held a press conference Monday, Nov. 26, to present a $3,000 check to Williams on behalf of the Georgia Arson Control Program.
Bushway introduced law enforcement and agency representatives and Williams to begin the press conference.
For the full story, pick up a copy of this week's newspaper or subscribe to our e-Edition at http://ee.jcnews.com.


text:
A rosy dot placed on the "i" in loving;
'Tis a secret told to the mouth instead of to the ear.
Ah, the mystery of a kiss. Soft and sweet, tender lips pressed gently against a forehead like the kiss of a parent given to a child, then slowly covering each eyelid, warm and romantic, one by one, breath tickling the cheek, lips wordlessly speaking of love. A nuzzle, lips curved into the neck, a perfect fit, honeyed words whispered barely loud enough to be heard, and finally lips brushed against lips, a quick caress, hearts beating, the affectionate kiss of a sentimental fool or of the well-beloved.
Or hard and wild, passionately pulled into his arms and held fast against him, lips greedily searching, eagerly tasting, possessing. Burning with desire, the kiss is returned, enraptured, exhilarated, head spinning, knees weak. A certain urgency sweeps over us, hands grabbing, groping, clinging, lips, mouth in ardent yearning, heart pounding, impatient.
Besotted, charmed, we give way to our better judgment at times, losing ourselves in the perfect kiss. If we are ever so lucky, the lips belong to us, and only to us, the lover a part of our life, always with us, the kisses ours for the asking, warming up a cold winter day, bringing sunshine to the gray and gloomy, sweeping away our cares and worries in a single, breathless touch. Languid kisses, slow and easy, like sleepy summer afternoons, a cool drink sipped, something dainty nibbled on, sugary, pale, the color of lavender and mint, mild and warm like a soft breeze rippling through the tall grass. Or kisses falling like rain, rat-a-tat-tat, quick and warm, like candy poured into cupped hands, making us giggle and squirm, anxious for more. Or strong, turbulent, heated like showers of dark chocolate, bittersweet, spicy and exotic.
And if we could package the kiss? What form would it take? Like a fairy tale magician or storybook Fairy Godmother how would we brew the Perfect Prince Charming Kiss? Sugar and spice and everything nice? Frog's warts and eye of newt and a few drops of golden rays of sunshine? A red, red apple dipped in magic potion, sprinkled with fairy dust and offered to the fair maiden, pressed into her delicate hands, urging her to taste of its goodness, watching from the shadows as she hesitates, rejoicing as she bites into its juicy flesh and savors its sweetness. Soon, we know, she'll be swept off her feet by the handsome fellow on horseback and off they'll ride, off into the happy-ever-after sunset of eternal kisses.
I am not capable of this type of magic. My powers are limited to what I can brew, create in my own homey, warm kitchen, blending, mixing, stirring, kneading, flour, sugar, eggs, popped into the oven, warm cinnamon and vanilla scents floating through the house. Being married to a Frenchman, maybe my friends think that I have special insider's knowledge of the making of the perfect French Kiss… well, I do not kiss and tell (contrary to what my Prince Charmant thinks…), but I do know that the perfect French macaron may just be the embodiment, the sugary and almond translation of the French Kiss.
Delicate, tender and sweet, the size of a kiss, hold one in the palm of your hand like lips touching your skin, any flavor you like, sweet as a kiss, salty as tears. Bring it up to your mouth, to your lips, hesitate, but only briefly, knowing that ecstasy is not far behind. Bite down into the gently domed cookie, formed of the perfect union of a feminine froth of white, white meringue, gently, tenderly, lovingly folded into fine almond meal, fine like sand on a beach, like arms wrapped around your body, barely scented with whatever you choose, whatever your mood, your desire, your urge. Piped out into beautiful shiny mounds, creamy smooth, to puff up in the warmth of the oven – bite down * crack * into the crispy barely-there outside and find yourself pulled into a tender chewy center, a burst of flavor and you are utterly swept off your feet. Choose your flavor, intense and exotic, dark chocolate or tangy raspberry, or something more subtle, sublime, a hint of cinnamon or nuts. Or something wild and dreamlike, white truffle or saffron, tomato or cheese. Let your imagination run wild!
Macaron Madness began for me at the end of the summer when the heat must have gone to our heads and my wonderful bevy of twitter friends and I decided to try our hand at making French Macarons together. We braved the challenge and I fell in love. My first try, my Shrinking Violet Macarons were a rousing success. Onward and upward! A month later I made my second batch, coffee and chocolate, and they were scrumptious. I love the whipping of the whites, the folding and the piping, watching the magic as each tiny round of batter bakes, rises, crisps up and becomes the perfect macaron shell. Filled with ganache and it truly is as sweet as one tender kiss.
This month's Daring Bakers Challenge, chosen by Ami S. of Baking Without Fear, is none other than the wonderful French Macaron. There are so many flavor combinations that I dream of trying, but I decided to make a personal favorite flavor combo: chocolate-coffee-sea salt. Quite a while ago, I received a cute little sachet of Espresso Sea Salt from Heather at girlichef and it has been crying out to me to use it with chocolate. I love chocolate and sea salt together. So I made a simple chocolate macaron shell with just a pinch of the espresso sea salt, and I filled them with a simple chocolate buttercream flavored with more espresso sea salt. Outrageous! The macaron was full of flavor and tender and chewy, like an elegant brownie bite, with a subtle hint of espresso and a wonderful salty tang. One bite of this macaron is like the perfect stolen kiss.
This recipe is based on a recipe from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Grammercy Tavern as given to the Daring Bakers by Ami. I cut back proportions for 3 egg whites. I will give both quantities here. I also relied on Aran's recipe for her chocolate macarons on her beautiful blog Cannelle et Vanille for the cocoa proportions.
Daring Bakers Challenge:
Confectioners' (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)
I cut back to:
Confectioner's sugar: 200 g, 7.2 oz
Ground almonds: 110 g, 4 oz
Granulated sugar: 30 g, 1 oz
Egg whites: 3 large
Cocoa powder: 15 g (about 1 Tbs)
Espresso Sea Salt: a pinch, about 1/8 tsp *
* You can replace the Espresso Sea Salt with a pinch of table salt or eliminate it completely for wonderful chocolate Macarons.
Prepare 2 large baking sheets. On 2 large pieces of white paper the size of your baking sheets, trace 1 ½ inch-diameter circles (I used the wide end of my pastry tip) evenly spaced, leaving about ¾ - 1 inch between each circle. This will be your template to help you pipe even circles of batter onto the parchment paper. You will be able to reuse these endlessly. Place one paper on each baking sheet then cover with parchment paper. Set aside. Prepare a pastry bag with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809).
Sift the powdered sugar, the ground almonds and the cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the espresso sea salt if adding. Set aside.
In a standing mixer or with a hand mixer, whip the egg whites for 30 seconds on low speed then increase speed to high and whip until the whites are foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar as you are whipping the whites until you obtain a glossy meringue. Mine was just stiff.
Gently but firmly fold about 1/3 of the whipped whites into the powdered sugar/ground almonds/cocoa. Add the rest of the whipped whites/meringue and fold, using a silicon spatula or the equivalent, turning the bowl as you lift and fold, making sure you fold in all the dry ingredients completely. When the batter is ready to pipe, it should be flow from the spatula like lava or a thick ribbon. To test to see if you have folded it enough, drop a small amount onto a clean plate and jiggle it slightly. The top should flatten, not remain in a point. If it doesn't flatten, give the batter a few more folds and test again.
You can also fold the powdered mixture into the meringue if it is easier for you.
Fill your pastry bag with the batter. Pipe circles onto the parchment paper, using the traced circles on the template sheets to guide you, holding your pastry bag above each circle and piping into the center. When you have piped all of your batter out into even rounds, sprinkle half of the shells with some espresso sea salt if using. These will be the top half of each "sandwich". DO NOT FORGET TO CAREFULLY REMOVE THE WHITE PAPER TEMPLATE FROM UNDERNEATH THE PARCHMENT PAPER. YOU DO NOT WANT THIS TEMPLATE TO GO IN THE OVEN!
Preheat your oven to 280°F (140°C).
Allow the macarons to sit out for 30 minutes to an hour. The top of each shell should form a "skin" (it will feel like it hardened a bit when gently touched). Bake the shells for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on their size (when I touched macs that were not quite done, the top jiggled a bit as if there was still a bit of liquid batter between the top and the "feet" so I let it continue to bake another minute.) I turn the trays back to front halfway through the baking.
Remove the tray from the oven and immediately slide the parchment paper with the shells off of the hot baking sheet and onto a surface, table or countertop. Allow to cool before sliding the shells very gently off of the parchment by slipping a cake spatula under the shell as you lift it up. Be careful or the center of the shell risks sticking to the parchment.
6 oz (175 grams) powdered/confectioner's sugar
3 1/2 Tbs (50 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 Tbs (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbs very hot water
¼ to ½ tsp Espresso Sea Salt or plain instant espresso powder to taste
Using an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and the powdered sugar together. Add the cocoa powder and the hot water and beat, scraping down the sides as necessary, until well blended and fluffy.
When the macaron shells are cool, pair the shells up evenly, each with a partner. Pipe a dollop, about a teaspoon, of buttercream filling onto half of the shells, the bottom shell in each pair. Carefully sandwich the shells together with the buttercream. If you didn't sprinkle the top shells with the espresso sea salt, then shower a bit of cocoa powder over the macarons to decorate.
Love is to be tasted.
There are some you love, I know;
Be not loathe to tell them so.
Lips go dry and eyes grow wet
Waiting to be warmly met.
Keep them not in waiting yet;
Kisses kept are wasted.


text:
North of the border
2014-07-03 12:00:00
Six-man stars travel to Canada to battle for supremacy.
The 2014 Summer Edition
is now available!
The 2014 Summer Edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football — the 55th annual edition of "the bible of Texas Football" — is available now! Here's what you need to know:
SUBSCRIBE: Are you a true Texas football fan? Become a DCTF Legends Member or a DCTF Champions Member! Not only will you get all of our magazines early — a week before they hit shelves — but you'll also get the exclusive content from DCTF, including 10 digital editions throughout the year!
ORDER NOW: Are you ready for some football? You can order your copy of the 2014 Summer Edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football right now in the DCTF Store! Then, it'll get sent straight to you!
For more than a century, the town of Lubbock has suffered as the butt of jokes in every direction…mostly headed out of town.
Lubbock native Mac Davis sang it best in his song, "Texas In My Rear View Mirror."
But all of his complaints are about Lubbock.
Texas Six Man footballers better get their butts in shape in the next few days – for a long, winding and occasionally beautiful drive to the Country of the Maple Leaf.
The football All-Stars left Lubbock on Monday, road-tripping 27 hours and more than 1,600 miles to Saskatchewan, Canada to play in the 18th annual Can-Am Bowl.
To put that in perspective, that's an El Paso-to-Texarkana round trip, tacking on an extra 100 miles or so.
Destination: Hague, Saskatchewan.
The best six man players gathered from across the world's second largest country await.
Team USA Head Coach Bear Chesley says his team is ready for sitting on those cushy(not) bus seats and playing on the terra firma of Team Canada.
Heck, he's even throwing in a side trip to Mount Rushmore just to keep things interesting.
"This is a trip of a lifetime for most of these kids and the opportunity to test their Six Man football skills against those big boys up there in Canada," says Chesley, who, like Ken Kesey, will be "on the bus" with his18 All-Star players for the duration.
Crossing borders and knocking heads Six Man-style is getting more and more common for American players and their Canadian counterparts.
Last year, Team USA won 64-14.
There's no 45-point mercy rule in the international game like you see on Six Man fields across Texas. In 2013, the referees just kept the clock running and didn't count the last TD of the Texans…err…Americans.
This year's star-spangled edition of Team USA is again distinctly Texan. Of the 18 players hand-selected for the squad, 12 are from The Lone Star State.
Three hail from Colorado, 2 from Wyoming and 1 from Montana.
Six Man Texas private school players will also don the red, white and blue – three players from Dallas Covenant and two from Rock Round Christian were picked.
Aquilla, Rankin, Cherokee, Sanderson, Wilson, May and Newcastle will also be well - represented.
"All of these players have graduated so this may be their last time to play Six Man," adds Coach Chesley, who recently moved from Cherokee to Wilson to be head coach. "It's very emotional for them. And they get to represent their country too. That's a very unique way to end a football career."
And unlike some international competition we've seen lately, good sportsmanship will be the rule of the day.
As is tradition in Texas Six Man, both Team USA and Canadian players will kneel in respect if a player is injured and attended to on the field.
The game will end with firm handshakes and prayer, exemplifying the camaraderie we are so proud of across the Friday Night Lights of Texas.
Then, the American boys will reclaim their bus seats, get comfortable, crank up the AC, and start thinking about college and careers.
Let's hope they've got at least 26-30 hours of chillin', groovin' tunes loaded up on their pods, pads, or tablets.
Ken Capps is a special contributor to TexasFootball.com.
If you would like to report inappropriate behavior within the Facebook commenting system, please email firstname.lastname@example.com and we will review your request.


text:
LUNCHEON 12:00 p.m.; PROGRAM 12:30 p.m.
Hirshleifer has published more than 50 papers, several of which have won research awards, including the Smith Breeden Award for outstanding paper in the Journal of Finance. He helped develop the field of behavioral finance, with an emphasis on the psychological basis for market under - and overreactions, and has also worked in the areas of corporate finance and investments. Some of his recent research has been on psychology in firms and markets, social transmission of investment ideas and behavior, and the effect of emotions on stock prices. He research also covers such topics as risk management, determinants of futures prices, social interactions and markets, fads and fashions in economic decisions, and how psychological bias affects political and regulatory decisions.
The study of social interactions is the greatest remaining underexplored continent in economics and finance. Some basic steps forward have been the empirical documentation that people are influenced by the behavior of others in their investment decisions, and theoretical modeling of herding/cascading and how information and behaviors spread along social networks. A crucial new direction is to explore the transmission biases that cause some ideas to spread at the expense of others, and thereby to affect economic decisions. This leads to such questions as: What are the characteristics that help an idea win in the competition for investor attention? How do transmission biases affect savings and risk-taking? How do religion and moral attitudes affect financial decision-making? What causes certain speculative investments, such as a hot tech-IPO, spread through the population like wildfire, and for interest to cool? What causes more general financial ideologies such as value versus growth investing, to evolve and spread? What causes long-run shifts in the popularity of different money management vehicles, such as mutual funds, ETFs, and hedge funds? Modeling the social transmission of investing ideas promises to address such questions, and to explain a number of stylized facts about investor behavior and security prices. Furthermore, lags in social transmission promise to provide a microfoundation for understanding fluctuations in investor sentiment, and market bubbles and crashes. Social finance therefore promises to be a worthy descendant and successor to behavioral finance.
David Hirshleifer's visit is sponsored by the Financial Economics Institute.


text:
By Butch Morris
Fifty four people signed in at last Friday's meeting. A good turnout. We had 5 of the 6 Sheriff candidates on our agendas. The candidates introduced themselves and took questions submitted from the floor. The candidates who participated in our forum were: Dan Breshears, Keith Mack, Terry Duncan, Calvin Smith and John Arthur.
Fred Kimball brought us up to speed on water related issues.
A quick comment on running for public office. Candidates must have courage. They must be willing to put themselves up to public scrutiny. They must have a desire to serve the public. The key word here is serve. Often public service is thankless. Particularly when people cannot see exactly what you've been or are doing. The "If I can't see it, it isn't happening: attitude.
At any rate there are those of us who appreciate your willingness to run for office. I know that only one can win but good luck to all and thank you.


text:
Be sure to register your return trip and any post-program travel plans through NYU Traveler!
Returning from living or working abroad, and experiencing re-adjustment issues? Feeling slightly disappointed by the reaction (or lack thereof) from your colleagues, friends and family as you try to share your global experience? Having trouble re-integrating into the life you had before you left? If so, you may be experiencing Re-entry Shift/Shock, also known as Reverse Culture Shift/Shock.
Checkout these resources:
What to do now that you're back:
-canceling your global health insurance and re-enrolling with a domestic provider
-canceling any global payroll deductions
-talk about your upcoming taxes, do you have to file in the location(s) you just left?
-cell phones
-credit card companies
-review and modify automatic payments
-close bank account abroad
Monday - Friday
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST


text: Caleb Carr - The Alienist. I so loved it, I went on to The Angel of Darkness. I sincerely wish I had loved that as well, I haven't much read Carr since. But wow - if you want a bit of an oh wow - try it...The Alienist. I guess I'd best get back to Koontz cause I really do like him - I'd like him more if the tide didn't tug me toward Saul. I know it shouldn't, but it does.


text:
0 Results for 'HP Officejet 6500A Plus e All in One Printer E710n'
Sorry, no items were found that matched your search. Try using more general search terms.
We thought so. However, the product you're looking for is no longer available on the Apple Online Store.
We do have some similar products to show you.


text:
America Online and Turner Network Television have teamed up to promote the start of the 2002-03 NBA season with the "NBA Tip-Off" promotion, which runs through Dec. 2, 2002.
Why should you care, action figure fanatic? Well, because you can win cool stuff, including toys from McFarlane.
Fans can access the "NBA Tip-Off" promotion at AOL Keyword: NBA Tip-Off, tnt.tv and NBA.com (click the contest links on the TNT and NBA sites). There, fans can take part in a number of interactive challenges and enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win a VIP trip for two to the Atlanta-based TNT studio and an opportunity to meet Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. The winner will also attend an NBA basketball game. Other prizes include McFarlane Toys collectible NBA action figures and a new book titled Basketball's Best Shots.
Consumers can enter the sweepstakes by playing "Guess the Identity," a game that reveals images of NBA players, and challenges online participants to guess the identity of those players. Fans can also enter the sweepstakes by answering NBA Trivia and participating in a poll. The sweepstakes will allow one entry per day for a total of 35 maximum total entries per person. Sweepstakes official rules can be found at AOL Keyword: NBA Tip-Off, www.TNT.tv and www.NBA.com.
TNT's exclusive 2002-03 NBA coverage begins the19th consecutive year that Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. networks will televise the NBA.
The 2002-2003 NBA season signals the start of a new, six-year television agreement between the NBA and TNT. Under the new deal, TNT will televise 52 regular-season primetime NBA games for the 2002-2003 season -- 48 of which will be part of Thursday night exclusive doubleheaders -- as well as an NBA All-Star Friday show, NBA All-Star Saturday events and, for the first time ever on cable, the NBA All-Star Game. In addition, the network will also air approximately 45 NBA playoff games in the first two rounds and, on an exclusive basis, the Conference semi-finals and one Conference Finals series. For 2002-2003, TNT will air the Western Conference Finals.


text:
Ways to get involved in promoting the Victorious Gospel
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Greetings,I have been just fine, still living and learning and looking forward to comming to know God. Sometimes one does not realize how dead they are, until they come out of the graveyard of their learning place. I have come to understand, somewhat, that God has his own pace, and willnot be rushed. I wish I knew more, had more to feed myself and more to explain this understanding that I believe. More to defend against these unending interpitations that do not properly explain God. But my egar desire, does not change the pace of " Here a little, there a little", God gives precept upon Precept, or he builds understanding systematically, and does so " Line upon Line", or one sentence at a time.So other than the irritation that this can spring forth, I have been well, and growing like a turtle. Slow, but heading there.Peace.
willieH: Hi Mickiel! back brother! [.Peace.
Welcome back, Mickiel!
Interesting Mickiel.......I thought I was the only one ;).......I quit fighting the injustices thru natural means, and just move when He tells me to move, thus I have a similar work history. It used to bother me a lot.....several of them closed down and I had no choice but to go elsewhere. Although I did wonder if the prayers He led me to pray led to their closings. At least once, I KNOW it did.....He does a lot more in the land of Pharoah than I previously suspected ;).........Blessings to you........


text:
My Pie Monday: Polly-O Pan Pie, Spicy Bacon Jam, Detroit-Style Marco Pollo Pizza, and More!
A joyous My Pie Monday to one and all! We have a jaw-dropping count of twenty-four contributors this week, and I'm not kidding when I say that each and every one of them has been kicking some major pizza butt. More


text:
Technical report Frank / Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität, Fachbereich Informatik und Mathematik, Institut für Informatik
- 33
- Adequacy of compositional translations for observational semantics (2008)
- We investigate methods and tools for analysing translations between programming languages with respect to observational semantics. The behaviour of programs is observed in terms of may- and must-convergence in arbitrary contexts, and adequacy of translations, i.e., the reflection of program equivalence, is taken to be the fundamental correctness condition. For compositional translations we propose a notion of convergence equivalence as a means for proving adequacy. This technique avoids explicit reasoning about contexts, and is able to deal with the subtle role of typing in implementations of language extension.
- 26
- Program equivalence for a concurrent lambda calculus with futures (2006)
- Reasoning about the correctness of program transformations requires a notion of program equivalence. We present an observational semantics for the concurrent lambda calculus with futures Lambda(fut), which formalizes the operational semantics of the programming language Alice ML. We show that natural program optimizations, as well as partial evaluation with respect to deterministic rules, are correct for Lambda(fut). This relies on a number of fundamental properties that we establish for our observational semantics.


text:
About Drop Your Thesis!
The Drop Your Thesis! programme gives university students, from Bachelor's to PhD level, the opportunity to perform scientific or technological research in microgravity conditions. The gravity levels that are obtained in ZARM Drop tower experiments are as low as 10-6 g and last for about 5 to 10 seconds. This is the same level that is attained for experiments on the International Space Station, and is enough for a multitude of scientific research opportunities.
As a direct result of the research conducted during the Drop Your Thesis! campaigns, student teams have already presented their results in many theses, at international conferences and/or published papers in renowned scientific journals.
Gravity plays a large role in many natural phenomena and technological processes, ranging from human development, biological and chemical reactions, to mechanical aspects, such as the deployment of antennas on spacecraft. Low gravity research can lead to an increased insight in many natural phenomena and contribute to a plethora of technological improvements.
ESA has the capabilities to conduct research on several low gravity platforms. One of these platforms is the ZARM Drop Tower, located at the University of Bremen. Drop towers offer the best microgravity conditions for Earth-based systems, and have additional benefits, such as relatively fast turnaround times. This makes multiple experiment runs easy, and significantly simplifies troubleshooting.
The ZARM Drop Tower is 146 metres high. An experiment capsule can be inserted in an evacuated tube and released from 120 meters, providing around 4.74 seconds of microgravity. As of 2007 a catapult mode is also offered, in which the experiment capsule is launched from the bottom of the tube. This essentially doubles the duration of microgravity to 9.3 seconds. At the end of the experiment the capsule is decelerated rapidly to 50 g. This setup allows for a wide range of microgravity experiments to be performed in the Drop Tower.
With the Drop Your Thesis! programme, ESA provides university students with the chance to perform experimental research in facilities not usually accessible to students. The programme usually opens a call for proposals once a year in September, which then stays open for three months. During this time, students, together with the endorsing professors from their universities, are encouraged to submit their proposals for experiments in the ZARM Drop Tower. These may be in various fields, as long as relevant research is being done. ESA will select a team that will be given the opportunity to perform a 2 week campaign with the Drop tower, resulting in 5 launch opportunities. A team usually consists of 2 to 4 people, and the development of the experiment, after selection, will last around 6 months. After the experiment is performed, the results need to be processed and documented. A more detailed timeline can be found here.
DYT is a great opportunity for students to conduct their experiments in microgravity conditions. Moreover, their research results can be published in papers and journals, and can also be presented at international conferences.
Are you interested in participating in the next Drop Your Thesis! campaign? Please check the links on the right side of this page, and see how you can propose an experiment.
Quick Facts
|Drop Your Thesis!
|DYT 2015 campaign will take place from 2 to 13 November, DYT2016 call for proposals will open in September
|Natacha Callens, dropyourthesis @ esa.int


text:
Root Catalog
Oreck PK800025DW Hypo Allergenic XL Upright Vacuum Bags 25 Pack$42.95These are 25 Genuine Oreck Hypo Allergenic XL Upright Vacuum Cleaner Bags, Designed to fit all XL Upright models WITHOUT a docking station. Genuine Oreck Part PK800025DW. 743808275118 Learn More
AirFree P1000 Air Sterilizer$219.00
Here's a natural solution to asthma, respiratory allergies and mold that you have been battling all these years. Airfree P1000 Air Sterilizer works by destroying microorganisms at its heated capillaries, it ceramic core uses air convection to destroy micro organisms at very high temperatures. Because it uses heat to purify air, there are no side effects or dangerous emissions that you need to be worried about. Designed for rooms up to 450 sq. ft. (42m²), Airfree P1000 can be used in air conditioned rooms and it is also recommended that you leave it on even when you leave your home. Airfree's sterilization process is natural so you are assured that this is the most natural means to combat all the allergens in your home and reduce the incidence of allergies among your family members.
How would you like to replicate nature's purifying process using technology? You can clean the air in your home effectively with the help of air sterilizers. That means you can assure a clean, fresh and healthy environment for you and your loved ones. It has been recognized that hot air sterilizers ensure the complete destruction of bacteria, viruses and fungi, so if you are looking for one that you can use in your home, login to GoVacuum.com. Usage is simple as all you need to do is simply place your instruments inside your room, and it will get to work to clean the air in your room. Compare reviews and prices of the Airfree brand of air sterilizers and find quality products at great prices online.
Product Features: • 450 sq. ft of air purification and bacteria removal • Electric consumption: 45W • Voltage: 120V • Completely silent
Airfree P3000 Air Sterilizer$299.00Airfree is the right solution for allergy and asthma suffers. It is also highly indicated for mold problems. This is the air purifier which uses heated air to destroy airborne mold, bacteria, viruses, dust mites, and pollens. Unlike commonly available ion Learn More
Airfree Platinum P2000 Air Sterilizer$269.00Airfree is the right solution for allergy and asthma suffers. It is also highly indicated for mold problems. This is the air purifier which uses heated air to destroy airborne mold, bacteria, viruses, dust mites, and pollens. Unlike commonly available ion Learn More
Airfree Onix 3000 Air Purifier$299.00Airfree Onix 3000 Air Purifier Learn More
AirFree P-1000 Air Sterilizer and Purifier Air Filter - Ionic free + Ozone Free$438.00AirFree P-1000 Air Sterilizer and Purifier Air Filter - Ionic free & Ozone FreeThe AirFree P-1000 Air Sterilizer and Purifier Air Filter uses heated air to destroy airborne mold, bacteria, viruses, dust mites, and pollens. Unlike commonly available ionic units, it does not produce harmfully elevated ozone levels; it also reduces existing indoor ozone, which the EPA indicates can be a serious respiratory irritant and asthma trigger. With no filters to replace or clean, the compact cleaner pulls air into the internal chamber which is heated to 400F to silently destroy airborne mold, bacteria, viruses, pet dander, pollen and common household dust mites in a room up to 450 sq. ft.. Despite its high internal heat level, the purifier will not change the room temperature. For the highest level of air purification, it is recommended for use 24-hours a day, every day, yet it draws less power than a 60-watt light bulb. A soothing adjustable night light is built in. 10 1/2" H x 8 1/2" Diam. (2 1/2 lbs.)Independent TestsRemember, don't just take our word for it. Airfree offers copies of independent tests in real working conditions, assuring Airfrees outstanding efficiency in drastically reducing airborne microorganisms. On top of this there are dozens of testimonials from delighted users.So, before you buy your next air cleaner, ask yourself the following questions and find out why Airfree is the best option:1. Does the manufacturer have independent tests to prove their claims?2. Does the air purifier generate ozone? Is it safe?3. How does it purify the air?4. How much will it cost to run? What about hidden costs?5. Is it noisy?6. Is the technology clean and environmentally friendly?7. What about size and portability?8. How long does the warranty last? Learn More
AirFree P1000 Air Purifier$219.00AirFree P1000 Air Purifier Learn More
Airfree P-2000 Filterless Silent Air Purifier - 550 Sq Feet$269.00Airfree P-2000 Filterless Silent Air Purifier - 550 Sq Feet Learn More
AirFree Fit Wall Mounted Home Air Sanitizer Purifier$169.00AirFree Fit Wall Mounted Home Air Sanitizer Purifier Learn More
AirFree Home Desk Room Air Sanitizer Purifier$159.00The Airfree T800 uses the same technology as other Airfree models but made to fit smaller spaces. The Airfree T800 measures 6.1"W x 3.5"D x 11.8"H and can virtually be placed anywhere. Uses 110V electricity and covers 180 sq. ft. Airfree has the only technology that safely destroys airborne allergens, mold spores, mildew, dust mite allergens, viruses, bacteria and pet dander. It does not use harmful emission such as UV light or ozone. It uses heat instead with no noticeable heat contribution to the room temperature. Airflow is quietly achieved through air convection generated by Airfree's patented Thermodynamic Sterilizing System (TSS) that sterilizes air at high temperatures. Cooler air is then continuously drawn into the Airfree. No moving parts, no noise and best of all, no maintenance! Two-year warranty. Learn More
Evolution 6000 Series H13 HEPA Filtration Vacuum Cleaner Bags, 5pk.$22.50Genuine Evolution EZT 6000 Series H13 HEPA Filtration vacuum cleaner bags, 5 bags per package. H13 is the highest certification for HEPA standards. These bags will drastically reduce the amount of dust exhausted into the air you breathe, and also keep you Learn More
Evolution Lite Upright Model DCC-658 Vacuum Cleaner Bags, 5 Pack.$12.95Evolution lite upright vacuum cleaner bags fits model dcc-658 Learn More
Evolution DCC-358 Vacuum Cleaner Bags, 5 Pack.$11.99Evolution DCC-358 Vacuum Cleaner Bags, 5 Pack Learn More
Bissell Lift-Off, Lift-Off Revolution Headlight Lens, Part 203-6623$10.50This is the headlight lens or cover for the Bissell Lift-Off, Lift-Off Revolution Series bagless upright vacuum cleaners. Covers the headlight bulb assembly. Fits Bissell models; 3554, 3750, 3760, 4220, 6595, 6801, 6850, 6860, 89Q9 & 18Z6. Genuine Biss Learn More
Evolution Robotics Mint Plus Automatic Hard Floor Cleaner, 5200$299.00Product Details
- Includes Pro-Clean System
- Cleans up to 4 hours on a single charge - fast charging
- Compact size gets under furniture and other hard to reach places
- Square shape cleans all the way into corners
- Low maintenance - no bins to empty or filters to replace - and whisper quiet
The Mint Plus Automatic Floor Cleaner from Evolution Robotics keeps dust, dirt and pet hair under control for you. Designed exclusively for hard surface floors, Mint Plus sweeps and mops using dry and pre-moistened cleaning cloths.
With features like the Pro-Clean Reservoir Pad and expanded cleaning area, Mint Plus can mop further and better than ever before. And with faster charging and longer run time, Mint Plus can cover more ground more often for everyday clean floors.
Guided by the enhanced NorthStar Navigation System 2.0, Mint Plus cleans methodically by moving back and forth across open areas in straight lines, working around furniture and rugs, and cleaning along baseboards. Mint Plus's compact design gets into tight spaces, under furniture and into other areas that are hard to reach with traditional mops and sweepers.
Mint Plus is easy to use. Simply attach your cleaning cloth of choice, choose sweep or mop and let Mint Plus clean for you. Since Mint Plus is not a vacuum, it operates quietly so you – and your pets – won't be disturbed while it cleans.
NorthStar NavigationThe NorthStar Navigation System works like an indoor GPS that helps Mint keep track of where it has been and where it needs to go. Learn More
Vacuum Cleaner Stretch Hose Evolution 6508 Upright Vacuum Cleaner Stretch Hose$43.97Works With: Evolution 6508 Evolution V700256451 Evolution 01-1104-03 Description:Evolution 6508 Upright Vacuum Cleaner 6 Stretch Hose V700256451 01-1104-03 Learn More
Dust Care Evolution Upright Vacuum Cleaner Bags$9.10Works with: Evolution 6000, Evolution Prestige, Evolution 6100E, Evolution 6709Z, Evolution 6706Z, Evolution 6502Z, Evolution 6707Z, Evolution 6100C, Evolution 6500C, Evolution 6508CZ Learn More
Vacuum Cleaner Stretch Hose Evolution 6500C Upright Vacuum Cleaner Stretch Hose$38.97Works With: Evolution V700256401 Evolution 01-1106-67 Description:Evolution 6500C Upright Vacuum Cleaner 6 Stretch Hose V700256401 01-1106-67 Learn More
Bernina / Evolution Vacuum Hepa Exhaust Filter - 01-2399-02$8.92Bernina / Evolution vacuum cleaner Hepa exhaust filter. Fits Bernina / Evolution upright vacuum cleaner models 6700 and 6700CB. Genuine Bernina / Evolution vacuum part. May have bernina or Evolution printed on the filter. Learn More
Evolution Vacuum Cleaner Stretch Hose$34.40Works with: Evolution 6502Z, Evolution V700178451, Evolution 01-1107-05 Learn More
Dust Care Evolution Lite Vacuum Cleaner Brushroll$14.54Works with: Dust Care Evolution Lite DCC-658 Learn More
Evolution Cleaner Motor Carbon Brush$9.77Works with: Evolution V700987300, ##Evolution 01-8410-09 Learn More
Evolution Series Vac Cleaner Floor Brush$12.55Works with: Evolution 6100E, Evolution 6709Z, Evolution 6706Z, Evolution 6502Z, Evolution 6707Z, Evolution 6100C, Evolution Evolution 6500C, Evolution 6508, Evolution SL006, Evolution DCC358, Evolution 6400, Evolution 6600, Evolution 6700, Evolution EZT, Evolution 01-1500-65 Learn More
17-5915-03 Fireball Cord Winder DCC06, SL006, SL006-31, 17-5915-03 Evolution Cord Winder$22.99Works With: Evolution DCC06 Evolution SL006 Evolution SL006-31 Evolution 17-5915-03 Description:Evolution Fireball Canister Vacuum Cleaner Cord Winder Assembly. Fits Evolution Fireball Canister Vacuum Cleaner DCC06, SL006, SL006-31 17-5915-03 Learn More
Evolution Vacuum Motor Carbon Brush$9.77Works with: Evolution 6200, Evolution 6264, Evolution 6400, Evolution V900991300, ##Evolution 01-8400-02 Learn More
Evolution Vacuum Cleaner Power Cord$29.35Works with: Evolution 6400, Evolution 6600, ##Evolution V700979303, Evolution 01-5810-07 Learn More
Evolution EZT Vacuum Cleaner Brushroll$44.94Works with: Evolution V700324400, ##Evolution 01-3415-02 Learn More


text:
Paranormal Research Society (PRS) is a new website covering news, reports and research into the paranormal. Over the coming weeks we will be posting reports and research from famous haunted places in america and other haunted places around the world – we hope to have a paranormal report for every State, maybe we can see which state has the most activity! We also have paranormal videos and general paranormal news. I will also be covering the parapsychology topics and delving a little deeper into parapsychology over the coming months. We will cover conspiracies although we will mostly be touching on topics covered in conspiracy documentaries, we even have a post about a paranormal experience is like in time for Paranormal Activity 5 coming out.
We have a small but dedicated community of users on the paranormal forum, if you have any questions, want to share news or even if you are looking for advice about the paranormal then our forum is the place to be. Hopefully I get to have a chat with you all in the forums.
State Legislator Alexander Moore Hannah, who built this red brick house in Indiana in 1858, was the best kind of man. A farmer,...Read More
Disneyland in Paris is known for its haunted mansion attraction but a video has resurfaced that shows the park might actually be...Read More
We have all been there when your trying to find a friday night DVD in the rental place and you are forever dropping the...Read More
...Read More
There is nothing worse than witnessing a car crash, or even being involved in one… other than when there is a death...Read More
I came across this video today and thought it was fairly interesting. As for ghost videos its not the most conclusive of videos,...Read More