text:
Amazon is just one place where Aeonix can live – it can also be on Microsoft and Google clouds. In addition, everything lives in the cloud – from the SBC to the SIP trunks. Instances can also move between clouds as needed. In addition, the server can have call center, unified messaging, unified communications, voicemail, dispatch and attendant console on a single server.
The licensing is also flexible enough to allow you to move instances as needed without paying Tadiran. This can be a great savings in disaster recovery scenarios where you don't need to be 100% active-active.
The real value for resellers however is in the way the company approaches the market. Quite often, cloud vendors begin to take over the client relationship and a concern for the channel is – how will this play out over time? They could conceivably get cut out altogether. It isn't unprecedented for hardware companies to have conflict between internal sales and the channel and change their model over time. I am not pointing to anyone in particular but industry veterans (interconnects anyone?) have the scars to prove this has been a past problem.
Tadiran's approach is to not own the customer – at all, for any reason. They want you to build the cloud practice and resell the service. It can be an OPEX or CAPEX model and they can even help with leasing via a third-party vendor as needed.
MSPs can even resell service to others MSPs, so you can take baby steps into the new model by reselling someone else's service – which basically means they manage the software in the cloud for you/your customers.
The best part is, the prices are also far lower than the large competition. 10-15% according to the company but perhaps half of what Microsoft Skype for Business will charge. It's worth noting, Tadiran does offer professional services if there is a need.
Tadiran certainly has a great solution to the cloud flexibility problem and customer ownership dilemma faced by VARs, the channel and MSPs.]]>
What sorts of things can you do with this integration? You can have Alexa tell you a joke, purchase items or even change your thermostat settings - if you have your home automation system linked with the Echo.
"The Amazon Echo is one of the best new smart devices to hit the market in years," said Peter Rank Schrøder, co-founder and CEO of Telzio. "Within a few days, we were able to go from idea to a live deployment integration where our customers were talking to the Echo through Telzio."
All Telzio customers can connect with their Amazon Echo as part of the service. New customers can sign up at the current price of $1 per month for all the features and the mobile app needed to start talking to Alexa.
Now, I am fairly certain no RFP for cloud-based phone service include integration with Amazon Echo Alexa - after all, this isn't something that's too common at the moment. But what it does show is Telzio's commitment to adding new features and not even charging for them. In the process, they've added a powerful feature to their phone system thanks to the simplicity of API calls.
Here it is in action
The company has deep experience in speech app and IVR design using open standards such as SIP, VXML and others. Founded in 2002 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vail Systems, the company consists of a team of professionals with backgrounds in speech recognition technology, software engineering, cognitive linguistics, user interaction design and solution consulting. In addition to the Chicago HQ, they have offices in Austin and Dallas with its sales office based in Denver.
The company's Cue Analytics solution allows a company to know what is happening in their contact center at any time (see pictures above and video below) – thanks to integrations with many of the industry's players such as Nuance, Genesys and others. You can determine if callers are repeating themselves, where they are calling from and a lot more.
Stephanie said you can simply add JavaScript to your application to access their product's functionality – they also have a professional services team, as explained above, and are looking for more developer partners. They see the move to "Everything in your business as a service" being good for the contact center… They think their company and the contact center are positioned well for this transition.
Finally - they want to help guide companies through the process. Versay is platform agnostic and we can expect big things from them as they continue to embrace leading edge tech and tie it into the tried and true contact center working so well in many organizations today.
I think I may have found out why prices are lower. When I tried to check out on my most recent order, I got a repeated error message. A call to the call center was answered promptly – I made the call after I got nowhere with email. Basically, I received an email response which led me to believe a call was a better option. The call center operator explained all I had to do was delete my credit card number and re-enter it and that should fix the problem. It did.
The .Ugly
A few days later, I was sent a tracking number from FedEx which didn't work when I clicked it. It is tough to see how you can screw up something so easy.
Its .Alpha
Basically – here is the situation… Jet.com is in Alpha. Use it and save some money. But expect startup glitches. The first three months of the service are free then it costs $50 per year. If you Google a bit, you can find a free annual membership.
The company has explained it will only make money on the membership fees - not the products. It will be interesting to see how the company does – if you are Walmart – etc. – you can't allow Jet.com to fail. I expect a lot of retailers working with Jet to ensure they become a viable competitor to the behemoth from Seattle.
Cyril works at InfoVista, a leading provider of IP and RF planning, assurance and optimization software solutions and they recently acquired WAN optimization and application performance leader Ipanema Technologies. He went on to say CIOs have to deal with the challenges of a multitude of applications running on their network while at the same time, enterprises are looking to offload more traffic to the internet to save money. As a result, this puts more pressure on communications service providers or CSPs.
The numbers are somewhat sobering actually. According to the company:
His company helps carriers and the enterprise with application visibility and control. By prioritizing traffic, they can ensure the performance of the most critical apps in their organization. In addition, dynamic WAN selection allows the solution to choose the best path based on the criticality of the application. This is all managed in a fully-automated fashion via their SALSA multi-tenant central management platform.
These features are available he said in a private cloud or a data center and consumers of the applications or corporate workers can be at home or anywhere else when taking advantage of these features. In fact he said, this can be part of a new offering for CSPs – performance as a service which of course is powered by the Ipanema Technologies' SD WAN.
In order to configure the service, the administrator assigns objectives for various applications such as top, high, medium or low – where top is as close to real-time as possible. In addition, CSPs can take advantage of DPI and optimize data delivery as needed.
In fact the synergies between InfoVista and Ipanema are significant, allowing carriers to benefit from IP and RF planning as well as application optimization and delivery. The company likes to say they orchestrate application and network performance to guarantee business application experience in a digitized world through carrier-grade solutions.
Bottom line – CSPs are in a great position to provide application-aware network services and InfoVista/Ipanema solutions allow carriers to enhance their product and service offerings by providing MPLS-like services for a variety of applications. Moreover, these solutions can be VNFs allowing carriers to integrate them into their forward-looking SDN/NFV network transformations – or software telcos.
See also:
Ercom Teams with InfoVista for Improved LTE Network Emulation and Radio Planning
InfoVista's Five Step Model Gets Communications Service Providers Ready for SDN and NFVInfoVista's Five Step Model Gets Communications Service Providers Ready for SDN and NFV
To learn more, I sat down with Schneider Electric's Srdan Mutabdzija (above), Global Solution Offer Manager, and Jason Covitz (below), Director of Strategy for IT Business where we talked about IT infrastructure and how it will look in the future.
Jason emphasized the move to commoditized and standardized infrastructure – not just in the spaces mentioned above but oil and gas, mining and manufacturing. Srdan explained the evolution of their products and the market in general is to a more prefabricated, plug-and-play, efficient cooling solutions which lower time to market, reduce risk and allow a more seamless move to public/private clouds.
An example of their product offering is the FlexPod Express for the office environment – allowing the company's data center product to be deployed in an SMB or branch office. The solution supports products from Microsoft, NetApp and Cisco among others.
I also had a chance to read a white paper on the costs associated with a TCO analysis of a traditional data center vs. a scalable, prefabricated data center. The premise is standardized, scalable, pre-assembled, and integrated data center facility power and cooling modules provide a TCO savings of 30% compared to traditional, built-out data center power and cooling infrastructure. Avoiding overbuilt capacity and scaling the design over time contributes to a significant percentage of the overall savings. The results are based on a hypothetical data center in St. Louis, MO in the USA with density of 7kW/rack
You can see below the OPEX and CAPEX costs decrease considerably since the data center can be built out over time. Moreover, Significant CAPEX and OPEX savings accrue when the data center is built out to 4 MW instead of 5 MW. Moreover, running the system at a higher percent load each year results in energy savings and the capital costs savings is approximately 2% due to the cost of capital. One assumes this becomes a greater savings in a higher interest rate environment.
The chart below shows the savings all together over time.
Another important takeaway from my conversation is the edge isn't going away – especially in light of the fact IoT devices will continue to generate a tremendous amount of data. Srdan said, "We are moving to a hybrid cloud with emphasis on a big data center in the middle and smaller ones on the sides."
One final comment was enterprises not wanting to handcuff themselves to the public cloud. There are many reasons to keep data local in fact, security, the ability to know if government data requests have been made and privacy.
In short, Schneider Electric sees the data center of the future morphing to a more prepackaged offering with modules being added as needed. Moreover they see the need to ensure enough compute power is near the devices which will generate the bulk of the data. In other words the IoT will be responsible for a rethink of how corporations design and build out their macro and micro data centers.]]>
VoIP continued this trend with even greater arbitrage and carriers spent billions on equipment to save money carrying phone calls on networks. Sonus, Acme Packet (now Oracle) and many other companies saw billions of dollars of aggregate sales as a result of this new arbitrage opportunity. Then there were the traditional TEMs like Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia (now the same company), Cisco and Ericsson who participated in this shift.
The next opportunity in the market is the move to NFV or a software telco – carriers don't want to have to deal with the proprietary boxes in their networks. Open, virtualized systems allow cost savings on management and electricity as well as on real estate.
The move to NFV is tailor made for a company like HP as they are a major telecom supplier to data centers already and they are not strangers to the carrier market. The company is looking to become a solid anchor in the move to COTS servers. In fact, they hope to simplify the transition.
Sarwar Raza, Vice President, Product Management recently briefed me on their HP NFV system designed to accelerate the move to network functions virtualization by ensuring carrier grade reliability, scalability and performance. Speaking of which – this week I was at GENBAND Perspectives 15 where there was an NFV panel consisting of Sharon Rosov of ConteXtream, Werner Schaefer of HP, Renu Navale of Intel and Charlie Ashton of Wind River. One comment Charlie made was they now deliver six nines reliability – an amazing number to say the least – under a minute per year.
The HP NFV System is pre-integrated with HP Helion OpenStack Carrier Grade and is designed to ensure end-to-end systems design, validation and support to ensure continuous availability of critical network functions.
The company has a complete set of components to get you started consisting of:
"Many telcos and suppliers have done NFV proof-of-concepts and are now ready to move to production. To do that, they need solutions that are open, carrier grade, and easy to deploy," said Saar Gillai, senior vice president and general manager, Network Functions Virtualization and Global Lead Telecommunications, HP. "HP NFV System provides an integrated, pre-tested, deployment-ready NFV hardware and software platform to get customers up-and-running quickly and confidently."
HP NFV Director 3.0 provides enhanced management and orchestration (MANO) capabilities that streamline bridging of NFV and telecommunications resources, as well as enable faster VNF on-boarding. It combines operations support systems (OSS) and IT management capabilities in a multi-vendor NFV orchestration solution that automate service and infrastructure management to enhance the flexibility and scalability of CSP's current OSS systems.
New HP NFV analytics capabilities in HP NFV Director 3.0 are powered by HP Vertica, providing CSPs the ability to make decisions in real time using NFV data to improve uptime, traffic steering, resource, application and network usage. Predictive analytics gives CSPs critical insights on trending as well as historical capacity usage and threshold crossing warnings or alarms.
HP NFV Director 3.0 with optional HP NFV Analytics is available fully integrated with NFV System and HP OpenStack Carrier Grade or separately.
According to Sarwar "The service provider has access to all the data which was once unstructured allowing them to take actionable intelligence from intelligent traffic steering to hitting capacity."
The final piece of the puzzle is consulting services which the company hopes you will consider. HP is also leveraging Accenture to help in this area. Jeff Kibodeaux explained this to me at the Perspectives event. He is the Manager of the HP OpenNFV Program and also explained his new company – a split of HP, includes cloud and as a part of this spin-out they will be investing a billion dollars in these areas.
Jeff said this about what carriers are telling him, "We have head from them, they love to have choices." He concluded, "It is exciting for them and scary at the same time." He went on to say they are excited to be more agile and to be able to compete in a more cost-effective way.
He also discussed how GEBAND will be able to leverage HP hardware acceleration cards instead of using their current ARM DSP line-cards allowing them to move to COTS and a software-driven model.
From there, he described the demo they did at the show of spinning up SBCs and load balancing as calls start to increase in a network. As calls decrease, there is also a corresponding destruction of VMs as the capacity is not needed.
He continued, "With software, it's more flexible and less expensive." He adding, "Genband is betting on the software side of things. They are more innovative than some of our other partners with that approach."
He then said, "David Walsh (GENBAND CEO) as well as anyone else grasps this future so I think they're going to be on the forefront of leading these transformations with the carriers. We approach customers together and prove the apps will run and save a lot of time testing with the customer." He concluded, "We test in five labs worldwide for partner integration testing.
He also mentioned an interesting conundrum for our industry. Many of the people working in telcos are experts in their silo of proprietary hardware, we are now asking them to have an entire skillset in software. "We need to take a network engineer and make them an IT engineer." He said.
This of course gets us back to professional services – yet another major arbitrage opportunity for those supplying the telecom industry as we go from fixed-function hardware to open and flexible, virtualized software and clouds.]]>
However, in order to be able to properly leverage the heterogeneous cloud, we need numerous layers of abstraction for various applications and service so as to leverage the right servers in the right locations at the right time. Some of the reasons could have to do with cost, government regulations, compliance or just to be able to run the business more flexibly.
Recently I had a chance to learn about Independence IT, competing in the Desktop-as-a-Service/Virtual Application/Workspace-as-a-Service areas against vendors such as Citrix and VMware. Scott Markley Senior Vice President explained their service enablement platform allows companies to run remote applications and workspace as a service across public or private clouds.
Benefits include a single plane-of-glass for deployment and control, a containerized workspace-as-a-service and as mentioned in the title, a multivendor cloud strategy – leveraging VLAN and SDN. The multivendor angle is smart because like a CDN, companies can choose to keep the PoP as close to users as possible for performance reasons and Independence IT makes managing this across a large organization far easier.
The control plane is API-driven meaning they can extend their platform into existing systems – tying in billing and administering all their services in one place. This allows seamless service to the end user from an MSP or VAR who will typically charge $75-100/user per month including help desk, monitoring, Exchange, data and apps.
The next area of growth for the company is identity management which makes sense because once again it's about abstraction… If you have services strewn throughout private and public clouds, it is best to have a central lock-and-key allowing users access to the right information at the right time. A logical move for Independence IT in a world looking to simplify the move to a multi-cloud world.]]>
Shopping cart abandonment rates are still high, why do you think that is?
The power of cart abandonment emails is the clear buyer intent. When you couple this with new capabilities to entice buyers to convert that purchase through a free shipping offer or a warning that a product is low on inventory, you add that small incentive that brings them back into the purchase funnel.
Every retailer, big or small has some sort of triggered messaging as part of their email marketing mix, and most begin with a welcome series trigger (thanks for signing up!) and a cart abandonment (why did you not buy!?). These are triggered emails purely based on customer activity. They are effective because they are automated, timely and personal - everyone wins. While there is plenty of data showing how effective abandoned cart emails are, it's a mistake to think that these triggers encompass the world of all possible triggered messaging. The reality is that triggers based on customer activity, while effective, represent only a tiny portion of a retailer's potential email marketing mix.
How and why should marketers automate communications based on product catalog changes?
Unlike Customer Triggers which act on data that is a few days old at most, merchandizing triggers requires the ability to process fine-grained customer and product catalog activity at scale that spans a timeframe of months or years.
Marketers have not traditionally implemented merchandising-based triggers because the technology that was necessary to ingest, transform and take action on this type of data has only become affordable in the last year or two. In addition, legacy email systems are horizontal systems that serve many different industries and not just eCommerce. General purpose platforms do not understand the semantics of eCommerce right out of the box. This is the primary reason why Bluecore only works with eCommerce/Brands/Retailers, all of our technology is built specifically to understand the semantics of eCommerce, so that we can launch these advanced triggers in days or weeks, not months.
Across our customers who have implemented merchandising triggers (New Product Arrivals, Price Drops, Low Inventory) these triggers end up representing up to 50% of all email channel revenue. And better yet, these emails are based on product and customer activity that makes everything down to the subject line, extremely relevant to the user. Bluecore partners average an open rate of 41% and an average click-through-rate of 8% - those numbers trounce the industry averages.
How does the term omnichannel figure into abandonment if at all?
Savvy retailers have realized that the value of their email marketing programs cannot solely be measured by conversions. Many customers first open an email on their mobile device while on the go, only to revisit an offer from a laptop later in the day. Or, in the cases of more premium retailers, customers use email marketing content like cart abandonment or new product arrival triggers and a digital shopping list, taking their mobile devices to brick-and-mortar locations to make purchases.
How is commoditization of products influencing cart abandonment?
For commodity products, it becomes much more important to be real-time with cart abandonment. Reaching the customer even 24 hours might be too late, as they might have made that purchase elsewhere.
What about shipping costs?
Free shipping is a great incentive retailers can offer customers to drive return engagement with their online storefronts.
What are your thoughts about services like ShopRunner – effectively Amazon Prime for a group of retailers?
Services like ShopRunner are great for consumers, especially if services like that can aggregate customer behavior across groups of retailers to better personalize marketing to their customers.
How can retailers turn the high abandonment rate trend around?
Two key components here are personalization and timing. First, deliver a message that not only takes into account the exact products that were browsed for, searched for or placed in a cart, but also includes related products based on past purchases or top sellers in that same category. Second, time is of the essence. If you have a compelling message, or better yet offer (FREE SHIPPING), trigger that email just hours after abandonment. Waiting days just provides customers more opportunity to either lose interest or purchase elsewhere.
Can you give us some real-world examples?
Diamond Candles averages a 40% unique open rate across all triggered emails. All six triggers currently deployed are personalized based on customer browse, search and purchase behaviors and optimized for time based on retailer preference to drive high open and conversion rates. Diamond Candles' Abandoned Cart trigger shows a conversion rate of more than 22% and, when taking into account all six triggers across the program they average a 13% conversion rate. Typical conversion rates for non-personalized, high-volume promotional email sends is 2-5%.
Fayez Mohamood (LinkedIn, Twitter) is cofounder and CEO of Bluecore, enabling eCommerce marketers to create and distribute personalized triggered emails with the speed and precision not previously possible, dynamically reacting to customer behaviors and cataloging changes in seconds. With more than 70 partners representing more than 100 consumer brands. Bluecore is one of New York City's fastest growing startups, recently closing a Series A round led by FirstMark Capital.]]>
In a conversation with Manual Hernandez and Eeric Krause, they told me their go-to-market strategy is different than most companies. They are a contract manufacturer and subsequently handle the export, import and distribution. They emphasized they have no middleman which means you don't see the product marked up few times.
Moreover, the company wants the corporate world to know they have been serving this market for almost four years and they are disruptive when competing against companies like Belkin. They have 47 bulk cable SKUs in fact. At Interop 2015 they showed off their bootless line of patch cables of the CAT5e and 6 variety.
What I thought might be most interesting however to users of the latest laptops on the market is their line of USB-C cables from $10-$35. It's worth noting the cables all have a lifetime warranty and the company isn't shy in telling you they also carry routers, switches and patch panels.
Getting back to USB-C… Monoprice will charge you $12.99 for a 6-foot USB-C male to male connector while Apple will charge you $29. The price savings is similar across the board.
The pair also told me their new USB-C cables work with Chromebooks as well as Apple products as opposed to Apple USB-C cables which only work with Apple products. I couldn't verify this claim independently and Apple did not immediately respond to a request on the matter. If they do, I will update this post - assuming of course I don't die of shock.
Bottom line: Monoprice wants to be a household brand – known for providing superior quality at low prices. Not unlike what Honda was once and perhaps is still known for.
The biggest challenge for the company of course might be Amazon – but the online retailer does also sell their products making them frenemies. In reality though, many of us have been burned by low-priced cables and other products when shopping online. I have thrown out all my low-cost Lightning cables I purchased on the online retailer. If Monoproce can continue to establish itself as a high-quality, low-cost provider it likely has a bright future.]]>
It's all about abstraction really. Software running on smartphones for example can replace fixed-function remote controls. A great example is home stereo equipment provider Sonos and their app versus a hardware remote. Users gain familiarity with the software interface and can operate it on various types of hardware running iOS, Android or any other OS. To some degree this brings with it hardware commoditization – then again, I tread lightly with the idea as it seems to hold little meaning in Cupertino.
In other example, the cloud or something like PaaS can be thought of as mainframe abstraction… You no longer have to deal with the underlying hardware – you can access it through abstraction provided through various software interfaces. Yes, a compiler is another example.
A common concern as a network operator moves to software is – how to ensure the hardware solution has the necessary fault tolerance (FT) or at least high availability (HA). One option in the world of stateful HA is to have 1+1 redundancy which means utilization rates of 45-50% or less. The challenge of course is software telcos are supposed to become much nimbler and lower their costs in order to compete with OTT. OTS hardware is relatively cheap but if you don't need to double the cost, your telco is in a better financial situation.
Enter Stratus Technologies – the company that was one of the pioneers in the fault tolerant server business back in the eighties along with Tandem Computers. In fact Stratus was launched in Mass along with many of big computer companies of the day like DEC, Wang and Prime.
Over the years, the company went through a bewildering array of acquisitions and spinoffs – suffice it to say, Stratus Technologies is still focused on providing HA solutions. Notice I wrote "solutions." The point here is the company has taken the best of its fault tolerant, HA technology everRun and placed it in software.
There are a number of benefits to what Stratus has done. Because they have rewritten their technology to take advantage of OTS servers, companies can leverage HA at far lower price points. Moreover, there is tremendous flexibility afforded by the software-only approach. Just as you can assign a priority to an application running on an OS, you can easily – in an automated fashion determine how to distribute network functions - whether they need to be fault tolerant or just HA.
The result is Stratus now considers themselves to be a software defined availability company – an apt name for what they are doing. Moreover, their solution doesn't require a rewrite of code. The service continuity has fully stateful resiliency and availability – all compatible with currently running applications.
I mentioned at the start that typical stateful fault tolerant systems have 45% utilization or so. Stratus says they have been able to get this number up considerably – as high as 80% in fact.
In fact, Ali Kafel, Sr. Director & Head of Telecom Business Development at the company had this to say about their technology in a recent phone conversation and email exchange:
The Stratus Cloud Technology provides fully stateful FT at much higher utilization because we don't do 1+1 (like we did in HW) but instead N+k De-Clustered Redundancy where K is much smaller than N (in some small cases just 1). In this scenario, each primary VM has a shadow secondary VM (on a different server) that uses significantly less resources (about 6-10% of the primary).
This means there is no need to dedicate the same number of servers for just the backups. In fact, all the servers (including the K servers) will have secondary VMs and well as primary VMs with stand-up reserve capacity to standup the secondary to become primary if needed. This sophisticated level of resiliency automation is what enables our solution to dramatically increase utilization, and raise the efficiency of redundancy from traditional telecom levels of 45% to levels of 80%+, while providing uncompromised reliability, at a fraction of the cost.
The concept here is formally called the Stratus Automated Virtualized Resilience Layer and it currently works with KVM in OpenStack environments and Ali explained, it may eventually support VMWare. It can coexist with VMWare today. Moreover, there can be a common orchestrator and different levels of resiliency based upon function as I alluded to above. For example DDOS protection functions can be designated FT and voice just HA (isn't it amazing that voice can be a lower priority than something else these days?).
The idea here is telcos have very complicated environments – the more automation you can apply to deploying VNFs, the better.
One other point Ali made is when the secondary host takes over, it automatically spins up a third host. With many traditional FT solutions, when a redundant system fails, it could take time… Minutes, hours, days to get another system up and running and a subsequent secondary failure could be disastrous.
Finally, he said, "One of the other key benefits that Telcos like about this solution is that they can take any application, like a traditional enterprise-grade firewall that may not be redundant and deploy it on the Stratus software NFVI with immediate and simplified FT, with no complex code development, testing and support." He further exclaimed, "This gives them tremendous agility in their partner/vendor system because it immediately opens up VNFs that they otherwise would not have considered!"
I started this piece by talking a lot about abstraction. Supercomputers have become abstracted thanks to Linux… Android devices also have become generally abstracted and commoditized. In another example, RAID systems abstract the hard drives but add value through the software which makes a series of generally unreliable spinning disks a more reliable solution.
In fact, in some ways, RAID or a Clustered File System is very similar to what Stratus showed me. I'd propose in fact we could describe their HA technology when applied to NFV as Redundant Efficient Managed Virtual Network Functions or REMVNF. After all, who doesnt like more acronyms? Especially when they are six-letters long?
John Donovan, Senior Executive VP of AT&T said roughly that as AT&T becomes a software company, they need to boost their utilization from 45% to 80-90%. Technology like what we've seen from Stratus will certainly help them and other carriers meet these goals in order to more effectively compete with OTT and other emerging threats.
To learn more - there is a sponsored webinar on the matter May 26, 2015 (archive available as well if you miss it.)
There are days however where a few news items bring into clear focus something we kind of know but don't readily admit.
Today is such a day.
Long story short, IBM, Dell and HP have their hands full competing with Amazon.
Anyone who tracks Amazon's stock already knows the company is one of the few which gets away with not making much if any profit – yet its share price continues to grow. The argument goes according to many, the company can reduce investment at any point and profits will swell. In reality the company hasn't done this on a consistent basis for many years.
Instead, it continues to drive prices in the cloud computing and other markets downward.
It is so tough to compete with the company that today, HP did something unthinkable. They pulled out of the public cloud market. This is a huge deal because contrary to what hardware vendors want to have happen – there are many businesses using the public cloud to run their organizations.
Moreover, HP seems to be sending a mixed message. On the one hand they say they can't compete against public cloud vendors but on the other, they say they aren't leaving the public cloud. What this should tell us is they will eventually leave the market after they have racked up as-yet-to-be-determined losses.
More importantly - by definition, if companies are moving from servers to the cloud and HP doesn't provide an offering in this space, they will continue to sell less servers.
To add insult to injury, just as HP tells us what many did consider obvious – they can't compete with Amazon… The ecommerce leader has just launched a new service on its cloud which in some ways rivals what IBM touts as a differentiator with its Watson product.
Amazon Machine Learning can do many things such as detecting problematic transactions, preventing customer churn, and improving customer support. The related APIs and wizards guide developers through the process of creating and tuning machine learning models that the company says can be easily deployed and scale to support billions of predictions.
The goal of the solution is to make machine learning broadly accessible to all software developers by abstracting away this complexity and automating these steps which require expertise in statistics, data analysis, and machine learning. Moreover, developers can quickly create as many models as they need, and generate predictions from them with high throughput without worrying about provisioning hardware, distributing and scaling the computational load, managing dependencies, or monitoring and troubleshooting the infrastructure.
"Amazon has a long legacy in machine learning. It powers the product recommendations customers receive on Amazon.com, it is what makes Amazon Echo able to respond to your voice, and it is what allows us to unload an entire truck full of products and make them available for purchase in as little as 30 minutes," said Jeff Bilger, Senior Manager, Amazon Machine Learning. "Early on, we recognized that the potential of machine learning could only be realized if we made it accessible to every developer across Amazon. Amazon Machine Learning is the result of everything we've learned in the process of enabling thousands of Amazon developers to quickly build models, experiment, and then scale to power planet-scale predictive applications."
Another salient bit of information is the following provided by the company – the bolded area was added by me.
Amazon Machine Learning allows developers to visualize the statistical properties of the datasets that will be used to "train" the model to find patterns in the data. This saves time by allowing developers to understand data distributions and identify missing or invalid values prior to model training. Amazon Machine Learning then automatically transforms the training data and optimizes the machine learning algorithms so that developers don't need a deep understanding of machine learning algorithms or tuning parameters to create the best possible model. Using the Amazon Machine Learning technology, a single Amazon developer was able in 20 minutes to solve a problem that had previously taken two developers 45 days to solve – none of these developers had prior experience in machine learning, and both models achieved the same accuracy of 92 percent. Once a model is created, developers can then easily generate batch or real time predictions directly from Amazon Machine Learning without having to develop and manage their own infrastructure to do so.
The challenge for server companies is greater than ever as the public cloud – which in many cases people believe is the same thing as AWS gets better. Innovations such as these are certainly not only happening at Amazon but what differentiates the company from others is they are willing to reduce prices to a point where there is no profit in order to get customers in the door. This is why Microsoft and Google often offer $100,000 credits to get promising startups on their cloud before it is too difficult for them to switch.
Amazon, continues to amaze with its bewildering array of products from tablets to cloud services. Obviously they aren't infallible because their tablets and phones are having competitive challenges. In cloud however, the company's early lead and innovation means the competition in public and private cloud as well as server companies are going to have to find ways to differentiate. And with Amazon adding new innovations to their cloud on a regular basis, another trend I predict is it will be ever-more difficult to point to advantages your cloud provides that theirs doesn't.]]>
Talari Networks is all about revolutionizing WAN economics or in less marketing speak, they are disrupting the MPLS monopoly. Wait, I am still talking in marketing terms. Let's try again. Talari Networks allows companies to use the networks they have already such as cable and DSL to bypass the need for individual high-quality and expensive connections such as MPLS. They basically benefit from the arbitrage between traditional broadband and MPLS for companies with at least three locations looking to spend a little money to save a lot.
Buying the company's boxes can set you back as little as four-thousand dollars for each one but can provide a rapid ROI while also boosting QoS. By monitoring the network continuously, decisions can be made on the fly to allocate various connections to the traffic which makes the most sense. Web surfing can be low priority while voice and video can rise to the top of the heap. In all, a very slick solution. I found it interesting that Talari found DSL and cable can outperform MPLS in some cases.
Kevin Gavin has been the company spokesperson for ShoreTel for many years and I met with him at Talari, his "new" company. He says he sees lots of similarities to the PBX market when he joined ShoreTel in the early days.
One other point worth noting – for the same spend, VARs can now sell more equipment at the expense of service providers.
Polycom is a huge video and voice player but over the last few years a number of cloud-based startups have been gunning for them. Expect the company to continue fighting back with a slew of new services and business models. I had a long talk with Jim Kruger and Maurizio Capuzzo at the company about how they are spending more on R&D and will also focus on getting higher levels of user utilization of products already in the field. Finally, they think WebRTC will be good for business as more video will be used as a result. Expect to see Polycom in 2015 positioned as the collaboration company focusing on voice, video and content as a service.
Airtight Networks is an important company – as it is likely involved in providing the WiFi in the stores and banks you use but you may not have heard of them. I'm impressed with their solutions which add security to WiFi – either guest or internal. Their wireless intrusion prevention system can overlay on other hardware from companies like Aruba. They also have standalone boxes and cloud-based solutions.
By working with them you can ensure you don't have to manually deal with WiFi AP security configuration at all your locations. I spoke with Ksenia Coffman and Hermant Chasker who told me organizations with over 100 locations really can't rely on manual security solutions. In fact, companies with certain transaction volume have to pass audits by credit card companies and government compliance such as HIPAA and PCI are other areas where Airtight can assist. Typically, the branch manager of an Airtight customer takes the device out of the box and plugs in the Ethernet cable and is all set. There is an instructional video as well to help out.
In our meeting they told me about a thief that robbed a store and was found because the system was able to pull up the MAC address of the suspect's smartphone. Having said that, there is a wall between the analytics and security sides of the solutions. Analytics keeps a hash of the MAC address while security keeps the MAC address. This allows customers to remain anonymous but still, a store can tell how many people visit a location each day, week etc. They can further use the analytics to measure the impact of an ad campaign on new customer foot traffic. They can also use it to determine if a menu is turning off potential diners. For instance, if many people spend a few minutes at the front of the store looking at the menu but then leave, it could be a sign that the bacon flavored ice cream craze may have come to an end.
Another idea one of the company's customers had which I thought was smart was to provide free WiFi to customers in exchange for a tweet mention or FaceBook like.
A few months back the company released the C-65 (pictured)which brings intrusion detection to the world of IoT and 802.11ac.
Imagine Communications may be one of the more disruptive companies that doesn't get talked about enough. Communications carriers are becoming software telcos powered by SDN and NFV running on OTS computers in part to take on WhatsApp/Facebook and other OTT competitors. But the video distribution market is behind this curve. Charlie Vogt who has been a frequent ITEXPO keynote speaker in fact left GENBAND some time back to head Imagine as CEO. In a meeting with him at NAB he seemed to be confidently executing on his strategic vision.
The video industry is changing rapidly thanks to time-shifting, on-demand and mobile devices. This in-turn affects the whole broadcast chain. The typical broadcast studio has lots of big iron with blinking lights – roughly analogous to mainframes or perhaps carrier class switches – a Class 4/5 perhaps is more like it. While the cable companies have moved to standardized IT and SDN, these companies haven't made the change.
Imagine thinks the market needs to move to virtualized networks, software defined architecture; networks and workflows which would allow the players to move a lot faster. Moreover, the end-game is all IP multiscreen, multiplatform distribution. Or, succinctly, sort-of what telecom went through a decade-and-a-half ago.
The company has put together a staggering list of acquisitions and spin-offs – too voluminous to go into here. The goal is to build a major company which provides all the needs of video production and distribution companies. They say they want to be open and encourage interoperability – which is good news because they are a much larger player in this market than GENBAND was competing with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei and others.
Going forward, we can expect Imagine Communications to help the video industry transition to SDN, virtualization, OTS hardware, open source and more. It will be interesting to see how this market changes… Also, how long it takes to fully transition, who the new entrants will be, what sorts of new consolidation ideas will take hold and much more. Stay tuned.
Mavatar Technologies Inc is a mobile commerce engine which ties into many different back-end ecommerce sites. Moreover it takes into account discounts by enabling you to get a final price quickly. It further lets you compare products via a quick button press. This is great because it works across stores. In the "detail compare" mode you get to factor in shipping, tax, etc. Mobile shopping is taking off and Mavatar is positioned well. I spoke with Susan Akbarpour about the company many months back and at the time it seemed like it was on fire. I'm surprised they haven't generated more buzz lately. This is especially true around the holidays where mobile shopping is all the rage. Download it free for yourself (iOS) to try it. It seems very useful.]]>


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Charles Dharapak, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Our take: a New York Times profile of the Tax Policy Center, a think tank that "has found itself at the center of a rancorous $5 trillion debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney."
WASHINGTON — A small nonpartisan research center operated by professed geeks has found itself at the center of a rancorous $5 trillion debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney.
No white paper or policy manifesto put out during the presidential campaign has proved more controversial than an August study by the Washington-based Tax Policy Center, a respected nonprofit that issues studiously detailed tax analyses.
That study found, in short, that Mr. Romney could not keep all of the promises he had made on individual tax reform: including cutting marginal tax rates by 20 percent, keeping protections for investment income, not widening the deficit and not increasing the tax burden on the poor or middle class. It concluded that Mr. Romneys plan, on its face, would cut taxes for rich families and raise them for everyone else.
Read more about Tax Policy Center in Spotlight for Its Romney Study on New York Times.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Beastrider fellow who runs the cargo bike FB group asked me to write a review of my new Yuba Mundo. I'm putting it here, as it seems a little long for a FB post, and also so people considering this bike can find it with a google search.
I have only had the bike a few days, so this post is just first impressions, and I'll need to follow up as I use the bike more.
As anyone shopping for a cargo bike knows, there are a number of options. So let me start by explaining why I chose the Mudo. Mostly it is because I am a really big guy. I'm 6'5" tall, and even when I lose another 30-40lbs. I will still be over 200lbs. (I lost 60# last year, so pretty sure I can lose the rest this year) I spent my tweens/teens delivering newspapers on a bike, and I still have the legs to show for it. I am very hard on bikes. I have broken 3 frames, two of them without crashing. Machine built wheels don't stand a chance with me. When you look at the weight ratings of many of the other cargo bikes, and subtract my current ~240# weight, you don't have much left for cargo. Yuba rates the Mundo for 400# of cargo PLUS a rider. Seeing the bike first-hand, I have no problem believing it. The ovalised main tubes are massive, and don't really show in the typical profile photos. They are wide enough that a short rider might have knee clearance concerns with the top tube. The rear triangle tubes are about 1-1/8"…as big as the downtube on standard road bike! The rear axle is a 14mm diameter chunk of tempered steel. The rear wheel has 48 13ga spokes and the front 36. Note that Yuba's specs say they are 14ga, but I measured mine at 2.15mm (13g) not 2mm(14g) …maybe this is a running change? While I will probably only rarely use the bike's full capacity, it is nice to have a bike I don't have to worry about breaking.
Paint: It's orange. Really REALLY Orange. Lots of orange on a really big bike. Did I mention it is orange? The color is very pretty, slightly metallic. Unfortunately, the paint is already proving not to be very tough. It flakes readily when bolt heads tighten against it, and I gouged it badly with the low-rider rack when I towed my commuter bike. As anyone who has priced custom frames knows, paint-jobs don't come cheap...but if Yuba was considering raising the price, powder-coating or Imron, or other tough paint is the the place to spend money that would improve the bike the most IMO.
The mundo uses a long, oversized seatpost, like on a folding bike. Even with my 37" inseam, I could raise the post about an inch beyond my needs before hitting the limit marks. Kevbabe at 5'5" will be able to ride the bike just by dropping the post. The two of us probably couldn't be comfortable on any single example of the other longtails…though if she ends up riding it too much, I may have to get another cargo bike for her. I might steer her toward something lighter, as she doesn't break bikes the way I do.
Frame: The Mundo is made of welded mild steel (AKA hiten) . Some are critical of this, but it is probably critical to holding the line on price. In addition to costing less than chrome-moly, mild steel can be mig welded while Cr-Mo really needs to be tig or gas welded or brazed. Those are far more labor intensive processes. The welds on my Mundo , I would describe as workmanlike…If I had made them, I wouldn't hide them, but I wouldn't be showing them off either. I don't anticipate having any issues with the joints failing. Consider that high-strength steels are used to make bikes lighter, and livelier (less stiff) while the Mundo is designed to be stiff enough to carry huge loads. This means the tubes are fat and thick walled. Many people don't know that ALL steel alloys are equally stiff. (within 1% anyway) An equally stiff Cr-Mo frame would weigh the same, but be a bit stronger. To make it lighter, you would have to thin the tube walls, and then it would be more limber. I would certainly like it to be Cr-Mo, but I am not so sure I would want to pay for it.
The Mundo doesn't follow Extracycle's standard, so none of the extracycle stuff will fit it. (freeloaders might, but I don't have one to try) So you lose some of the modular versatility that you'd have with a Big Dummy, Atlas, or FreeRadical'd bike. The upside of this is that the racks on the Mundo are very solid, and contribute to the overall stiffness of the bike. Also, it is not as if the X accessories are exactly cheap, and Yuba offers most of what I would need at comparative prices. The Yuba bipod stand is a real bargain compared to the X version. The V4 Mundo is a little different here from earlier versions: The top/front rails of the rack terminate at the top tube rather than continuing to the bottom bracket as on V<=3 bikes. This means you need to take care to get the right version top-deck if you don't order it with the bike.
Wheels: I mentioned the high spoke counts earlier. (48R, 36F) These seem to be machine built. If you are buying through a dealer, see if they will stress-relieve, tension, and true the wheels as part of the deal, especially if you stick with the rim brakes. My front wheel was none too true, and the spokes were barely snug. The back wheel was notably better. A session on the truing stand was needed to bring them up to my Clydesdale standards. Note that many bike shops won't have a spoke wrench to fit the 13ga nipples. You can get one from a motorcycle shop, or work over a red spoke wrench with a needle file as I did. Also, the 14mm rear axle wouldn't drop into the dropouts on my truing stand, but I was able to get by with it just setting partly into the openings. The threaded front axle mic'd at exactly .375"…but it might be an undersized 10mm. I was pleased to see cartridge type bearings on the front wheel. The spokes are stainless with brass nipples. The spoke heads are marked "8"…not sure what brand that is. The 21 speed version I have uses a 7 cog freewheel. .. NOT a cassette and freehub. This concerns me a little with regard to future parts availability. Obviously, this was done to allow for the oversized axle, and strong chain. Yuba sells a special tool to remove the freewheel, which I have ordered, but don't yet have. As on almost all derailleur bikes, the rear wheel is dished. I got the disk brake option, so my front wheel is slightly dished to allow the spokes to clear the caliper. If you need to save pennies and get the rim-brake option, you can console yourself that you are also getting a stronger front wheel! With the long chain, and only 7 sprockets on the rear cluster, all the 21 gears are usable without cross-chaining concerns. I didn't count gear teeth, but the bike is geared rather low, typical of most mountain bikes. This should be good for schlepping a loaded bike up hills. It was easy for me to get the bike into top gear on just slight downgrades, but it was tall enough that you'd need a tailwind to do that if you live where it is flat. If you want to pedal hard down steepish hills, you will be wanting taller gearing…and probably not a cargo bike.
Other components: The V4 uses a 1-1/8" thread-less steerer. I have never seen one, but I think the earlier versions used a quill type stem. Yuba supplies basic steel handlebars…sort of a classic English roadster bend. After riding with these, I find I quite like the hand position. I may replace them with Jones loop bars at some point, but that item has moved well down on my list. I think my newspaper bike had very similar bars…and as much as I hated that bike, these bars bring back pleasant memories. The derailleurs are SRAM X4, which my spandex wearing, weight-weeny of a cow-orker called "pure junk". Whatever dude, they seem solid enough and shift great. The X3 shifters work very well. I like that they will downshift multiple gears with one motion, and that they have gear indicators on them. The rear cluster is back where it is hard to see, and the indicator is helpful in deciding if I need to get on a smaller chain ring to prepare for a looming hill. (This has been an issue on our tandem.) One thing I did find is that the shifting was rather poor when the axle was fully back in the dropouts, due to the long distance from the top jockey wheel to the cluster. With the axle in the middle of the dropout, the shifting was perfect.
The cranks are SRAM alloy, not sure what "level". The chainrings are steel, which I prefer on mountain and utility bikes, and there is a guard ring to help keep pants cuff clear, though a leg band is still needed to keep grease off . With no chainstays to clear, the cranks are wider than they really need to be. Works fine for me, but folks who worry over Q-factor might want to replace them. It came with alloy BMX style platform pedals. The front indexed shifter works great, and I didn't hear any rubbing of the FD in any gear, so never felt the need to trim it. This has an indicator as well, though not really needed, as it is easy to look down and see which ring you are on. The FD is a top pull unit (first for me) and the RD cable runs under the top tube as well, so there are no cables under the bottom bracket. There are cable stops at each end of the top tube, then sheaths beyond that, so I expect the bike will be immune to "ghost shifting", even when loaded to capacity. Also nice not having the cables under the bottom bracket where they pick up a lot of grit. Overall the drive-train works well, and seems well chosen for the application.
The saddle is a no-name, with a center trench. Padded with a rather firm foam and narrow enough not to be a problem. It does have a couple of badly placed seams near the edges. It seems to work OK though, and I will probably leave it alone if Kevbabe ends up using the Mundo very much. If I am to be the only rider, I'll probably change it to a B-17.
The 21 speed version comes with SKS style (not sure the actual brand) aluminized plastic (poly-carbonate) fenders. These offer gobs of clearance for the stock 2" tires, and will probably be OK with 2.3" tires. The rear stays attach to the rack, and are thus short and sturdy. The front fender uses a single stay, and is a bit floppier than I would prefer…will probably have to do something about that soon. I have bamboo fenders on my commuter, and I quite like them. The rear mudflap got a bit compressed in the carton the bike came in, and also when the bike is stood on the rear racks.
The tires are WTB "freedom" cruiser tires. I'll be replacing them with big apples, as the freedoms won't stop a goat head thorn, which I pick up regularly. With the fender, nutted axle, disk brake, and the horizontal dropouts, R&Ring the back wheel is a bit of a chore, so I'd rather deal with as few punctures as possible. Nutted axles make sense from a strength and security standpoint, so I really can't fault Yuba for not having QR quills.
I got the disk brake option. They are Tektro IO cable operated calipers. The front rotor is shipped off the wheel. If you are assembling the bike, you will need a Torx driver to bolt it to the wheel. And you will also need to cut the cable to length. This is the first pedal bike I have had with disk brakes. They work great…not sure if better or worse than other disk brakes. The rims are very beefy, and I think I would probably be OK with the standard rim brakes if the disks had been beyond my means…they do fine on our tandem, though we do have a drag drum for long descents.
Fit, handling, and ride: I was a bit dubious about the "one size fits most" claim, but it really seems to be true. The bike looks a bit odd with the seatpost up as high as I need it, but works well for me. I might end up adding a riser to the steerer to get the bars a little higher, but they are working OK for now…body position is OK, but I might like my arms a little more bent. With about 20# on top of the rear rack, (my mutt in a basket) I found the bike wanted to shimmy with my hands off the bars. Even with my knee (well, shin, in my case) on the top tube. This built slowly, and was not really worrysome. With the seat that high, it puts the weight high and back, and that often leads to shimmy. My commuter is far worse. This thing tracks well and feels totally stable with a hand or two on the bars. It is the first bike I have ridden where I can't feel the frame flexing when pedaling out of the saddle. I wouldn't call it nimble, but I was expecting it to be a fair bit more sluggish than it is.
Accessories: I plan to make a rear deck and running boards from bamboo plywood. I only got the front "bread basket" and the bipod center stand for now. Both of these seem sturdy, well designed and well built. The breadbasket will need a floor, as it has but two bars across the middle. It was OK with a couple of 12-packs of beer in it, but a grocery bag of canned goods would be trouble. The basket mounts to the frame, not the fork. It bolts to braze-ons intended for this, so isn't adaptable to other bikes without torch work or custom fabricated clamps. I was able to use a couple of zip ties to manage the cables so they don't get molested by the rack when the bar turns. Not sure how this works with the rim brake option…might want to ask Yuba about that before you order one.
Hauling: I haven't had the bike but 4 days, so not much to say. The first ride, I towed my commuter bike home from work (had the Mundo shipped to office) in the dark, and that went well. Hauled the mutt to the off-leash park…she's roughly small schnauzer sized, about 17#, and another couple of pounds of basket. On the way home from the dog park, I stopped and got about 10 lbs. of groceries, which I carried in a soft cooler in the front basket.
That's all fer now. Will update as I gain experience.


text:
Ahrens, Frank. "The Super-Rich Get Richer: Forbes 400 Are All Billionaires." Washington Post, September 22, 2006.
Apgar, William C., and Allegra Calder. The Dual Mortgage Market: The Persistence of Discrimination in Mortgage Lending. Cambridge, Mass.: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, December 2005.
Appel, Adrianne. "More Uninsured Means More Healthcare Corporate Profits." AlterNet, April 10, 2007, www.alternet.org/healthwellness/ 50360/.
Arenson, Karen W., and Diana Jean Schemo. "Report Details Deals in Student Loan Industry." New York Times, June 15, 2007.
Armour, Stephanie. "High Costs of Child Care Can Lead to Lifestyle Changes, Adjustments." USA Today, April 18, 2006.
Aron-Dine, Aviva, and Isaac Shapiro. New Data Show Extraordinary Jump in Income Concentration in 2004. Washington, D.C.: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, July 25, 2006.
Bagli, Charles V. "$5.4 Billion Bid Wins Complexes in New York Deal." New York Times, October 18, 2006.
Bahney, Anna. "The Bank of Mom and Dad." New York Times, April 20, 2006.
Bajaj, Vikas, and Christine Haughney. "Tremors at the Door." New York Times, January 26, 2007.
Bajaj, Vikas, and David Leonhardt. "Home for Sale, by Anxious Owner." New York Times, August 25, 2006.
Bartlett, Donald, and James Steele. Critical Condition: How Healthcare in America Became Big Business—and Bad Medicine. New York: Basic Books, 2004.
Berman, Talia. "Student Debt Crisis: Are There Any Solutions?" AlterNet, August 23, 2006, www.alternet.org/story/40187/.
Bernhardt, Annette, et al. Divergent Paths: Economic Mobility in the New American Labor Market. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2001.
Bernstein, Jared. All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2006.
———. "There's Always Money for War." AlterNet, March 14, 2007, www.alternet.org/waroniraq/49194/.


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Pink Mickey Mouse Umbrella Stroller.
Located @ Trotters Walk subdivision - Covington, GA off Brown Bridge Rd.
Contact Tony 678-895-7759 or text Donna 470-899-3389 for more info.
Apr 12 -
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Marietta - Baby & kid stuff
We'll be sending text message alerts for your subscription to


text:
- GuatemalaRetailFunding via ADICLA
Dúo Cantare...GuatemalaRetailFunding via FAPE
Las Chicual...GuatemalaRetailFunding via Friendship Bridge
Ixlacuitzence No. 1 Group
She decided to organize a group in order to request a loan she'll use to expand the business buying such merchandise as sugar, noodles, basic grains, snacks, soft-drinks, canned goods, etc. She hopes in future to own a grocery store.
The other group members are merchants. Thirteen members of the group appear in the photo but only ten of them were granted the loan.
Decide organizar un grupo para poder solicitar un préstamo que lo utilizará para ampliar su negocio comprando mercadería como azucar, jabones, fideos, granos básicos, golosinas, aguas gaseosas, productos enlatados etc. desea en el futuro contar con una abarrotería. Las demás integrantes del grupo se dedican al comercio. En la fotografía aparecen 13 miembros de grupo, pero, solamente a 10 de ellos se le concedió el préstamo.
Additional Information
About Asociación ASDIRASDIR (Asociación de Desarrollo Integral Rural - Association for the Development of Rural Communities) is a community-based organization that works to promote development in the villages and communities where it serves. It was founded in 1999 in the village of Nimasac, Totonicapán Department, by a handful of local men and women to support community projects and group loans. Today ASDIR has 5 offices across 3 departments (Totonicapán, Sololá and Suchitepéquez) serving more than 6,000 clients, most of them in rural communities.
This is a Group Loan
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.
Kiva's Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower's loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.
About Guatemala
63View loans »
Success!! The loan was 100% repaid
- Repayment Term
- 14 months (Additional Information)
- Repayment Schedule
- Monthly
- Pre-Disbursed:
- Jun 14, 2013
- Listed
- Jul 11, 2013
- Currency Exchange Loss:
- Possible
- Ended:
- Aug 30, 2014


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Welcome to Domino's at 31 Carroll Rd, where we work to give you the best in pizza delivery and more! Our restaurant's menu aims to please by offering you millions of ways to create your pizza and delivering them directly to you! Everyone can find something they like on the Domino's pizza menu, from vegetarian delights to carnivorous creations.
Plus we do more than just pizza. For example, when it comes to delivery wings, there's no one like Domino's. You can count on wings that are always baked to crispy, tender perfection.
What can you choose? There's nothing like our delicious chicken wings for a hearty meal. After we bake these mouth-watering wings perfection, they are topped with your choice of our sauces—or leave them plain! (Just as delicious, we promise) Or choose our boneless wings, which are lightly breaded with savory spices for a satisfying flavor. Want even more flavor? Dip into one of our sauces for the perfect combo. Order any of our saucy treats, from sweet meets hot (think Mango Habanero) to spicy (our classic Buffalo Wings Kicker Hot Sauce) to creamy and cool (reach for Ranch dressing). We serve deliciousness however you like it. That's because wing delivery from Domino's is all about serving the best. We also have meal choices like saucy penne pasta bowls and chicken, as well as sides like salads, drinks, and our stuffed cheesy breads. And don't forget about dessert! Why do we offer so many choices? Simply put, we pride ourselves on our ability to bring you quality.
And Domino's is about more than just deliciousness; we make it convenient for you to order from your neighborhood location! Just give your location a call, use our website to order, or get the free Domino's smartphone app and order from anywhere. Since we have over 11,700 stores throughout more than 75 countries, we know what it means to be the best. With more than 34 million options to customize your pizza, plus convenient online and mobile ordering for delivery or carryout, we strive to make your order just right.
Looking for a job at your local 31 Carroll Rd Domino's? Your local Domino's provides a variety of job opportunities for Benton residents like you, to put some extra change in your pocket or jump-start a new career. Whether working as a pizza chef or store manager, delivering pizza or being a customer service rep, Domino's employees can gain a variety of levels of expertise. Part-time and full-time employees alike are part of a company that puts quality and fun first - not just for the brand, but for the dedicated team members, too. Delivery drivers are far from bored - with a fun crew, different tasks, a flexible schedule, and listening to your own jams in the car while you deliver, being a Domino's driver is an awesome way to make some extra cash! Plus, being a Domino's driver can put you on the list to becoming the next store manager with Domino's grow-from-within approach. Whether you want to be a part-time delivery driver or a full-time store manager, Domino's provides the possibilities. When your career begins with Domino's, you join a team of individuals dedicated to creating the best work atmosphere and delivering the best pizza in Benton. That's because Domino's goal is to create a business that values every part of the process and every person in it. Our philosophy is team-centric, focusing on the belief that team members are crucial in making a Domino's store successful.
Interested in starting your career at Domino's? We'd love to have you! Find a job here to start an application at the Domino's store near you, and see how your 31 Carroll Rd Domino's can jump-start your new career.
Mon-Thu: 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Fri-Sat: 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Sun: 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.
(270) 527-1030


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Respond to Review of Vge Cafe
by dara
Review: The restaurant is clean, bright, and comfortable. The menu has a great selection of various vegan soups, salads, and sandwiches. The price point is very inexpensive considering the quality of the ingredients and the food. The service was prompt and timely. Now to the most important part: the food.... My dining companion and I shared a Creamy Cauliflower soup, Baked Falafel Salad, Cheesesteakless With Vge Sandwich, and Vge Burger Sandwich. All were delectable! It's hard to believe that nothing is fried because the baked falafel and vge burger were both moist with wonderful flavors and texture. We really loved all the items we ate. My (meat-eating) companion and I left the restaurant feeling full, satisfied, and thrilled to have found food that is extremely healthful and extremely delicious. We grabbed some cupcakes to-go and look forward to our next trip there!
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will not boot grey screen, fans spinning loudly
I have followed the guide from ifixit to replace my MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2009 Upper Case. I followed everything very carefully. I am a very technical person and do lots of IT support in my job. I have followed the guide and was able to do the swap under 2 hours. When I turned on my macbook pro all I get is gray screen and fans spins loudly. I have search and google all the forums with no luck.
Possible Problems that I assume that happened during swap.
1. I cannot perform any of the task such us. boot holding shift key. Hold c key. Hold cmd option p r. I kind of assume maybe I damaged keyboard cable during install. But I can boot the mac and i see power cable is connected with keyboard. So this is maybe.
2. Maybe I damaged harddrive cable. Therefore mac wont see harddrive and wont boot. But usually mac shows folder with question marks if it cant see the drives. I have 2 harddrives in my macbook pro. Since I cannot hold option key to see what drives it sees I cant verify that. Also putting in target mode doesn't work
3. Maybe I damaged motherboard. I highly doubt that but at this point i don't know what to do.
4. I have rechecked all cables like 5 times and they are all connected to mb.
Keyboard lights don't light up and I checked other macs during boot keyboard usually don't light up and caps lock also don't work.
I tried connecting external keyboard and it seems don't work ether.
Any suggestions or help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Is this a good question?
I have 2 very playful cats they were running after each other and dropped my mac from the table. My top case bend near power button and lower part of the case was not aligning properly. Macbook looked crooked. I figure I can do the swap to give it another life. It did work however before the swap.


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|Sesame Street
|Fire at Susan and Gordon's Part 2
|Air date
|February 23, 1990
|Season 21
|This episode guide has been compiled from incomplete video material.
|The morning after Susan, Gordon, and Miles have a fire in their apartment, Big Bird pays them a visit, where they have spent the night at the Rodriguezes' apartment. He asks how they are -- and specifically how Miles is, who is sleeping in Gabi's room. Maria and Luis wake up, and Big Bird tells the assembled grown-ups that he brought them birdseed pancakes for breakfast, much to the chagrin of everyone else.
|A disobedient jacket illustrating words that begin with the letter J annoys an off-screen narrator, which reveals two kids named Jenny and Jeff inside of it. (EKA: Episode 2228)
|Linda Ronstadt sings a special rewritten version of "Y Andalé" with a mariachi band. (EKA: Episode 2487)
|Bruce Cayard's The Noble Ostrich. (EKA: Episode 1056)
|Hands build things out of triangles and squares while off-screen voices try to figure out what the constructions will be. (EKA: Episode 2059)
|The Two-Headed Monster sounds out the word SHADOW, then sees one of itself projected behind it. (EKA: Episode 2628)
|Previous episode:
|Next episode:
|Episode 2687
|Episode 2691


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Cool stuff to do in the coming days
Published: Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 10:08 a.m.
FRIGHT NIGHTS: Silver Springs teams up with the Ocala Jaycees 37th annual haunted house to offer Fright Nights from 8 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 1 at the attraction, 5656 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Silver Springs. $12. (236-2121 or www.silversprings.com)
FILLIES FOLLIES: Fillies Vaudeville Revue is the theme for this years show sponsored by the Florida Thorobred Fillies Club, set for 6 p.m. at the Ocala Breeders Sales Company, 1701 S.W. 60th Ave., Ocala. Desserts and dancing follow the show. $20. (624-3051)
SEASON OPENER: The University of Florida Saxophone Quartet, directed by Dr. Jonathan Helton, will open the season for the Marion Chamber Music Society in a concert set for 3 p.m. at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 6455 S.W. State Road 200, Ocala. The program will include classical and popular music from Handel, Haydn, Vaughn-Williams and others. Admission is free. (867-1340)
JEEPTOBERFEST: Ocala Jeep Club will host its 12th annual Jeeptoberfest from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17 and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Ocala Speedway, 9050 N.W. Gainesville Road, Ocala. Registration is $20. (624-1933 or www.OcalaJeepClub.com)
M FOR MACABARET: Come join the fun as local teen performers act, sing and laugh in Macabaret VII: Dial M For Macabaret, a cabaret-style show with a Halloween twist, opening Oct. 23 at the Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. Proceeds from the sale of food and beverages go toward the Education Department Scholarship Fund, and tips go to cast members, who double as your wait staff. $5-$10. (236-2274)
SCARECROW CONTEST: Enter the sixth annual Scarecrow Contest and Fall Festival to be held from 3 to 8 p.m. on the downtown Ocala square. The event includes hay rides, a pumpkin patch, a DJ, games and activities for kids. (362-1993)
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In response to both my Tuesday tease of this week's Smith review and the actual review itself, I got this pleasant little note from BooBerry--a reader obviously quite concerned about the terrible degradation of my palate.
"Rainier tallboy? Do you also order the bottom-rung wine and liquor when you dine out? Aren't you supposed to have an enlightened palate?
They have plenty of delicious beers on draft at Smith begging to accompany your food and it's a Rainier for you.
Thank god they have pbr on draft at Quinn's for when you show up."My dearest BooBerry,
As a matter of fact, I do sometimes go for the lowest-priced swill on a restaurant's wine list. And some of the time, I even like it. I will often order a cold Corona at a place where I know there is better stuff on tap, and will always go for a Genny Cream Ale when it's available (Genny Cream being the Rainier of Rochester, New York). I've been known to tip a pitcher of PBR on occasion (on many, many occasions...), and have sometimes gone out of my way (despite the fact that The Man picks up my tab when I'm working) to order the worst whiskey ever made by man: Wall Street--a spirit so vile that you actually have to drink two in the hopes that the brain damage caused by the second will wipe out all memory of the first.
And do you know why I do this, darling BooBerry? For the same reasons that I eat cheeseburgers on some nights and foie gras on others. For the same reasons that I write about pho shops and noodle bars with as much frequency as I do the white tablecloth bastions and temples of haute cuisine. For the same reasons that, when left to my own devices, I will happily subsist on meatloaf sandwiches, moules et frites, tekka maki, bottles of Jameson Redbreast and bags of barbecue potato chips without saying a damn word about it to anyone.
My reasons? Simple. One, because I like all these things. In some cases, love. And because I just don't see that much difference between a cheeseburger and a seared slip of foie--both are dinner, both take skill to do well.
And two, because I never want to come off sounding like a pretentious, entitled, foodier-than-thou douchebag by telling someone that they shouldn't eat and enjoy the fuck out of cheeseburgers or drink all the Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill they want just because I don't think it's good enough.
But hey... That's just me. And I'm glad that you're out there, looking out for me and my barbarian's palate, BooBerry.
Now if you'll excuse me, I believe you said something about there being PBR on draft at Quinn's. I'll race ya.


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Some things change dramatically over the course of a year. For instance, today we are beaten over the head daily with videos of celebs and regular people twerking, but who had even heard of it last fall? Also, the term "duck dynasty" likely conjured up images of stately-yet-friendly aquatic birds a year ago, not a bearded, bandana-wearing reality television family. And then there are things that remain somewhat consistent a year later, like the Q4 2013 job market.
According to CareerBuilder's Q4 2013 U.S. Job Forecast, 1 in 4 employers say they intend to hire full-time workers over the remainder of the year, which is virtually unchanged from this time last year.
Meanwhile, 9 percent say they anticipate downsizing staff, also the same as last year; 61 percent expect hiring to remain unchanged and the remaining 5 percent are undecided.
The national survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder took into account responses from more than 2,000 hiring managers and HR professionals across industries and company sizes.
In a statement, CareerBuilder's CEO Matt Ferguson weighed in on a hiring trend we are continuing to witness even during this time of economic uncertainty: "Consistent hiring has been the theme throughout this jobs recovery … Companies will continue to produce an even stream of new jobs in the fourth quarter as they assess their positioning and prospects for the coming year."
Top Hiring Trends You Need to Know
Here's a complete breakdown of some hiring trends we have pinpointed based on this forecast:
- Hottest Industries. The following industries are expected to outperform the 25 percent national average in terms of hiring this quarter: IT (36 percent); financial services (32 percent); and manufacturing (30 percent).
- Temp Trend? Will temporary hiring be up or down this quarter? Neither, as it turns out. Nearly 1 in 3 employers intend to hire temporary or contract workers, which is relatively the same as last year. On the bright side, some employers (22 percent) expect to transition some of their temporary or contract workers into permanent employees this quarter.
- Does Size Matter? There's a gradual increase in the intent to hire based on company size, with larger companies leading the way compared to small businesses. However, hiring activity in companies of all sizes is expected to hold steady compared to last year.
- Hot West, Cool South. The West continues its streak of positive hiring plans, with 29 percent of employers expecting to add full-time/permanent staff this quarter. Even though it's down from last year's 31 percent, it still remains the most optimistic region in the country. The South, on the other hand, saw the biggest drop in employers' plans to hire when that number dropped 4 percentage points to 24 percent. Still, it leads the Northeast and the Midwest (with 23 percent each) ever so slightly.
Want to compare these findings with our midyear forecast? Check it out right here.


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Mary Emma Karam
Partner, Dallas Office
Mary Emma (Ackels) Karam has practiced law at Jackson Walker for more than 30 years, providing practical advice and strategic thinking to clients in a wide range of legal matters. Her current practice consists of counseling clients on health care implications and strategies; representing various organizations as outside general counsel and coordinator of legal work; and consulting in litigation, banking, real estate, and corporate matters involving emerging health care issues in the marketplace.
Representative Clients
More about Mary Emma Karam: Involvement | Recognition | Speeches / Publications | News
Organization Membership
Ms. Karam is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the State Bar of Texas and its Health Law Section, and the Dallas Bar Association and its Health Law Section and the DFW Alliance for Healthcare Excellence.
Community Involvement
Ms. Karam is deeply committed to giving back to the community through civic activities and pro bono work. She is a member of Attorneys Serving the Community and has played a leadership role in a number of charitable organizations. Most recently, Ms. Karam founded and chaired the St. Philip's School Advisory Council, which works to provide much-needed resources to support the school and its students. For years, she has served on the host committee for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's annual Dallas event. With her husband, Albert G. Karam, M.D., she served as honorary Co-Chair of Children's Medical Center of Dallas annual fundraising event at Six Flags over Texas in 2006. She received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Ursuline Academy of Dallas, where she is Past-Chairman of the Ursuline Academy Foundation and Past-President of its Board of Trustees. In 2007, she received the President's Award for her extraordinary leadership and service to support excellence in the education of young women. She was also appointed to serve on the Blue Ribbon Committee for Dallas High Schools for the Diocese of Dallas. She also Co-Chaired the 2009 Saint Monica School Annual Fund Drive.
More about Mary Emma Karam: Biography | Recognition | Speeches / Publications | News
Peer Recognition
Ms. Karam is a recipient of the State Bar of Texas' Certificate of Merit for having rendered outstanding service to the legal profession. She also received the distinguished Alumna Award from Ursuline Academy of Dallas, as well as the President's Award for her extraordinary leadership and service to support excellence in the education of young women. In recognition of her pro bono services, the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Services of North Texas awarded her a Certificate of Appreciation in 1993. Ms. Karam was named a Pro Bono Champion in 2014 by the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA).
More about Mary Emma Karam: Biography | Involvement | Speeches / Publications | News
Speeches / Publications
Ms. Karam has given numerous presentations at health care forums, medical societies, health leadership councils, board meetings, and shareholder meetings of health care corporations. She was awarded the Texas Medical Association Philip R. Overton Lecture on Medicine and Law plaque, commemorating her presentation on managed care contracting to the TMA Leadership Conference.
Links to Publications
More about Mary Emma Karam: Biography | Involvement | Recognition | News
Latest News
More about Mary Emma Karam: Biography | Involvement | Recognition | Speeches / Publications |
Dallas Office
Practice Areas
J.D., Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law


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Kansas City Public Library - Newspapers & clips
One of the unique resources in the Missouri Valley Room is the extensive collection of newspaper articles selectively chosen from Kansas Citys major metropolitan dailies of the twentieth century. These cover topics of local and regional interest. Arranged by subject and on microfilm, articles can be searched in the 43-volume index in the Missouri Valley Room.
Kansas Digital Newspaper Program - Kansas Historical Society
More than 20 newspapers dating from 1860 to 1904.
Kentuckiana Digital Library - Historic Kentucky Newspapers
Contains a database of 70+ newspapers from across the state of Kentucky, with more added as submitted.
Kitchener Waterloo Record Online
Ontario, Canada.
Kosciusko County Indiana Historic Newspaper Articles
Historical articles from Kosciusko County Indiana newspapers & a civil war journal.
The Keystone Library Network (KLN) Digital Collections
14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and other affiliated libraries which reside in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Includes: Bloomsburg University, Clarion University, Kutztown University, Millersville University, Slippery Rock, West Chester.
Ontario, Canada.


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On the Cover
Shining Stars: This detail from the National World War II Memorial is our tribute to all members of the Fordham family who have served our country. In our cover story, "Profiles in Service," we feature some of the many Fordham veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Download a PDF of our fall issue.
Photo by Bill Denison
FORDHAM magazine welcomes letters from readers. Share your thoughts, comments, and Fordham stories with us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
FORDHAM is published by the Department of Development andUniversity Relations, with editorial offices at 888 Seventh Avenue, 7th floor, New York, NY 10019. Phone: 212-636-6537. Fax: 212-765-2976. E-mail: email@example.com. Opinions expressed in FORDHAM magazine and FORDHAM online may not necessarily reflect those of the Fordham University faculty or administration.Copyright © 2014, Fordham University. eeo/aa
Updated: 11/19/14


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NHL lockout imminent? No. We all just need more meds
Editor's Note: We're pleased to welcome Ian Dudgeon to the MLHS blogging team. Ian was one of the co-founders of McKeen's Hockey.com. He's been busy at work assembling a database of profiles on Leafs...


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Ludlow Winter Carnival kicks off ThursdayFebruary 06,2013Winter Carnival kicks of Thursday
LUDLOW The third annual Lovin Ludlow Winter Carnival is back, according to event organizers.
Festivities kick off Thursday and include a variety of activities and exhibits. There will be snow sculptures, scavenger hunts, kids fun races, family fun races, sledding, Warren Miller ski films, wine tastings, ice skating, a ski and snowboard fashion show, a Texas Holdem poker tournament, an ugly sweater contest, fireworks, a chowder contest and more.
For more information call Liz Crowley at 558-5691 or 228-5830, email firstname.lastname@example.com or visit www.yourplaceinvermont.com. The winter carnival ends Saturday.MORE IN This Just InLike the rest of you, Ive spent the past week immersed in the local conversation about welcoming... Full StoryVermonts property laws were applied Wednesday to a galaxy far, far away. Full StoryThe Vermont Health Department is warning residents to take care to avoid potentially rabid... Full Story
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New Super-Man Kenan Kong's Secret Origin Arrives In "Batman/Superman" #32
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