text:
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
OUTLOOK: Long Island enters the 2012-13 campaign with hopes of becoming the
first Northeast Conference team to win three consecutive league titles, and
the Blackbirds have an awfully good shot at pulling off that feat. After
beating Robert Morris in each of the last two NEC championship games, LIU head
coach Jim Ferry took the open job at Duquesne and was replaced by assistant
Jack Perri. Perhaps that transition will open the door for Robert Morris,
which has played in four straight NEC title tilts, to finally crash through.
After all, the Colonials do lead all mid-majors with 117 victories over the
last five years.
While those two squads figure to once again be among the last teams standing
in the conference, there are plenty of interesting storylines elsewhere. In
addition to Perri, three other new coaches join the NEC. Bashir Mason inherits
a very favorable situation at Wagner, where the 28-year-old becomes the
youngest head coach in Division I. Jamion Christian, who is just two years
older than Mason, takes over at Mount St. Mary's, while Rob Krimmel steps into
a rebuilding job at St. Francis-PA.
Don't sleep on Quinnipiac, as the Bobcats will turn to a promising frontcourt
to replace former leading scorer James Johnson. St. Francis-NY, Monmouth and
Sacred Heart could also figure in the mix. Of the rest of the schools, Central
Connecticut State has some key holes to fill but plenty of young talent to do
it with, while Bryant and Fairleigh Dickinson combined for just five wins a
year ago.
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Long Island
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Long Island, 2. Robert Morris, 3. Wagner, 4.
Quinnipiac, 5. St. Francis-NY, 6. Sacred Heart, 7. Monmouth, 8. Central
Connecticut State, 9. Mount St. Mary's, 10. Bryant, 11. Fairleigh Dickinson,
12. St. Francis-PA
LONG ISLAND: LIU was picked to finish first in last year's coaches poll, and
the Blackbirds went on to win the NEC Tournament for the second consecutive
season, even advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Over the
last two years, they have won a conference-record 32 NEC games and enter the
2012-13 campaign riding a 27-game home win streak, the second longest in the
nation behind Kentucky. Former coach Jim Ferry took the head coaching job at
Duquesne back in April, and assistant Jack Perri was promoted to take Ferry's
place. Look for Perri to stay with the team's up-tempo style that produced the
nation's second-ranked scoring offense (81.4 ppg). Julian Boyd, the reigning
NEC Player of the Year, and all-conference selections Jamal Olasewere and
Jason Brickman return, making the Blackbirds a strong candidate to three-peat
for the first time in league history. Senior forwards Boyd (17.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg)
and Olasewere (16.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg) are both highly-efficient scorers. Boyd, who
is on pace to become the NEC's all-time leading rebounder, led the conference
with 14 double-doubles in 2011-12 and was named NEC Tournament MVP. The
athletic 6-7 Olasewere is a matchup nightmare, while point guard Brickman (9.6
ppg, 7.3 apg, .406 3ptr) has led the conference in assists in each of his
first two seasons. Third-leading scorer CJ Garner (12.6 ppg) also returns to
the backcourt.
ROBERT MORRIS: The Colonials figure to once again have something to say about
who wins the league crown this season. After all, they have played in each of
the last four NEC title games (winning two) and are primed to be a contender
yet again. Third-year head coach Andy Toole returns the top seven scorers from
last season's squad that set a new school record with 26 victories, including
a nation-high 14 road wins. It all starts with senior All-NEC guard Velton
Jones, who averaged a team-best 16.0 ppg and was fourth in the conference with
4.5 assists per tilt. Jones also went to the foul line a conference-most 270
times. He is joined in the backcourt by junior Coron Williams (10.8 ppg), who
buried a league-high 87 3-pointers (.410). On the wing, athletic sophomore
Lucky Jones returns after averaging 8.5 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds
off the bench to earn NEC All-Rookie honors. Junior Anthony Myers, a 40.7-
percent shooter from beyond the arc, adds depth at point guard. Down low,
senior Lijah Thompson (7.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and junior Mike McFadden (8.4 ppg,
4.3 rpg) roam the paint along with senior small forward Russell Johnson (8.5
ppg, 5.7 rpg). Juco transfer Vaughn Morgan (6-6) could also work his way into
the frontcourt rotation.
WAGNER: The Seahawks won a school-record 25 games last season, including a
seismic road win over Big East school Pittsburgh. Four starters return,
although the pressure will be squarely on 28-year-old Bashir Mason, who was
promoted from assistant to head coach, replacing Dan Hurley. The foundation is
certainly in place for a successful 2012-13 season, as Second-Team All-NEC
guard Latif Rivers returns after averaging 14.6 points and knocking down 59
three-pointers. Rivers, who has shown a knack for making clutch plays, ranked
second in the conference in free-throw percentage (.884). Junior point guard
Kenny Ortiz won NEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, finishing in the top-
five in the NEC in both steals (second, 1.8) and assists (fifth, 4.3).
Michigan State transfer Dwaun Anderson can play multiple positions and will be
a welcome addition. Small forward Jonathon Williams returns after averaging
13.4 ppg and a team-best 5.0 rpg, while junior center Naofall Folahan is back
after pacing the conference with 1.7 blocks per game.
QUINNIPIAC: The Bobcats are coming off an 18-win season (10-8 NEC) and a
third straight postseason appearance, but they'll need to replace two-time
All-NEC guard and leading scorer James Johnson. Head coach Tom Moore, who is
entering his sixth season at the helm, does return a potent frontcourt
featuring 6-7 junior forward Ike Azotam. Last year as a sophomore, Azotam led
the conference in rebounding (9.5 rpg) and double-doubles (14), and he was
second on the team with 15.8 ppg to earn Second-Team All-NEC honors. Joining
Azotam once again on the front line are 6-9 sophomore center Ousmane Drame and
6-7 senior forward Jamee Jackson. Drame was an All-Rookie selection after
averaging 6.5 points and 7.3 rebounds despite playing less than 20 minutes per
contest. Jackson fought through injuries to average 8.4 points and 5.1 boards.
Behind that trio, Quinnipiac ranked second nationally in rebound margin
(+10.2) behind only North Carolina. In the backcourt, senior point guard Dave
Johnson (8.8 ppg, 3.7 apg) is flanked by promising sophomore Zaid Hearst (7.2
ppg), while Garvey Young (5.9 ppg) and newcomers Kendrick Ray and Tariq Carey
will likely figure into coach Moore's rotation.
ST. FRANCIS-NY: The Terriers weren't expected to make a whole lot of noise
last year, but they turned some heads by starting 9-2 in league play and
hosting a NEC tournament game for the first time since 2004. Now, they are
eyeing up their first-ever NEC title. Glenn Braica, who was named the NEC
Coach of the Year, brings back nearly all of the key components from last
year's squad. It all starts in the paint with Jalen Cannon (8.8 ppg), who
earned NEC All-Rookie honors after a remarkable freshman campaign. Cannon's
8.8 rebounds per game were second-most among freshman across the country
behind Kentucky's Anthony Davis. With Cannon roaming the blocks, St. Francis-
NY established a reputation as one of the conference's top rebounding teams.
Senior Akeem Johnson is another skilled forward, as he shot an impressive 57.4
percent from the floor while averaging 11.1 ppg. Sharpshooter Stefan Perunicic
has moved on, but the Terriers still have a few shooters in tow. Ben Mockford,
who led the team in scoring with 11.8 ppg last season, knocked down a league-
best 2.8 three-pointers per game. Travis Nichols shot 40.7 percent from the
perimeter and averaged 9.3 ppg. At point guard, senior Dre Calloway returns
after missing nearly the entire 2011-12 season with a shoulder injury, and
he'll be flanked in the backcourt by sophomore Brent Jones (7.9 ppg, 3.9 apg).
SACRED HEART: Coming off a 14-18 season, the Pioneers will likely go as far
as senior All-NEC guard Shane Gibson takes them. Gibson was the nation's
fourth-leading scorer a year ago (22.0 ppg), as he shot an ultra-efficient 51
percent from the floor and knocked down a league-high 87 3-pointers (.433).
Put simply, there isn't much that Gibson can't do on the basketball court. An
86 percent free-throw shooter, he also averaged 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals
per game last season. Fellow guards Chris Evans (8.1 ppg), Louis Montes (7.8
ppg, 5.1 rpg) and Evan Kelley (7.3 ppg) all logged heavy minutes last year as
sophomores, and 35th-year head coach Dave Bike is hopeful they'll each
continue to progress. Likewise, point guard Phil Gaetano led the team with 4.0
apg last year as a freshman. Bike added some size in the offseason to try and
create better spacing for Gibson, as 6-6 De'Aires Tate and 6-7 Tevin Falzon
are new to the fold. Justin Swidowski, a 6-9 senior, averaged 11.1 points and
a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 53.6 percent from the floor.
MONMOUTH: The Hawks (12-20, 10-8) are coming off their best season in the NEC
since 2005-06, and more success could be in store this winter. King Rice has
plenty of talent on the roster and it starts in the backcourt with speedy
senior Jesse Steele, who averaged a team-high 12.6 ppg and knocked down 62-
of-177 trifectas (.350). Dion Nesmith (8.8 ppg) can also stretch the floor, as
he shot an impressive 38.4 percent (38-of-99) from beyond the arc. Nesmith and
6-6 swingman Andrew Nicholas tied for second on the team in scoring, and both
are back. Down low, seniors Ed Waite (7.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Marcus Ware (6.4
ppg, 3.9 rpg) roam the paint, although Rice would like to see some more
scoring from his frontcourt. Freshmen Tyrone O'Garro (6-5) and Collin Stewart
(6-7) could work their way into the forward mix. After posting a minus-8.7
scoring margin, Rice believes he has the players to now open up the offense a
bit, but that will also hinge on converting more high-percentage looks from
the paint.
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE: The Blue Devils finished in the middle of the pack
last season (13-16, 10-8 NEC), and now they'll have to try and replace former
NEC Player of the Year Ken Horton as well as 1,500-point scorer Robby Ptacek.
Still, if anyone is up to the challenge, it is longtime head coach Howie
Dickenman. The departures of Horton and Ptacek open the door for sophomore
guard Kyle Vinales to become CCSU's primary offensive option. The reigning NEC
Rookie of the Year was named the league's rookie of the week a record eight
times last season, but the training wheels are now off and Vinales will be
asked to carry the scoring load. No freshman in the nation scored better than
his 17.9 ppg last season, as Vinales proved deadly from long range (71-of-184)
and adept at finding open teammates (3.6 apg). Fellow guard Malcolm McMillan
is also looking to take a step forward in his sophomore campaign after leading
the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.02) as a rookie. CCSU is a bit thin
down low, but 6-7 freshman Brandon Peel could provide an immediate spark.
MOUNT ST. MARY'S: After finishing 8-21 overall and 6-12 in the conference,
the school hired 30-year-old Jamion Christian to replace Robert Burke as head
coach. Christian, who previously served as an assistant under Shaka Smart at
VCU, played at Mount St. Mary's from 2000-04 and was a three-year captain.
Christian had a solid first recruiting class, and Marist transfer Sam Prescott
and George Mason transfer Rashad Whack are now eligible, which should make for
some interesting competition. Christian plans to shift from the team's
familiar slow-paced, defensive style to a more open and up-tempo style. He
certainly has the players to pull off such a switch. Junior guard Julian
Norfleet led the Mountaineers with 13.7 ppg while knocking down a team-high 69
threes (.373). Norfleet's range provides a nice complement to point guard Josh
Castellanos (8.1 ppg), who ranked third in the NEC with 4.6 apg. Rounding out
the starting backcourt is former walk-on Kelvin Parker, who came out of
nowhere to average 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds last year as a freshman, also
hitting 43 percent from beyond the arc. Raven Barber (9.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and
Kristijan Krajina (5.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) return to the frontcourt.
BRYANT: Despite winning only two games last season, things are starting to
look up for the Bulldogs and fifth-year head coach Tim O'Shea. Junior Alex
Francis remains the focal point. The 6-6 forward followed up his NEC Rookie of
the Year campaign by averaging 17.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last year
as a sophomore, both of which ranked in the top-10 in the NEC. In addition to
Francis, the team returns double-digit scorers Frankie Dobbs (13.3 ppg) and
Corey Maynard (11.4 ppg). The senior point guard Dobbs finished second in the
league with 4.6 assists per game, while Maynard, a junior guard, hit 40
percent of his three-point attempts in 2011-12. Complementing those veterans
are seven newcomers, headlined by Columbia transfer Dynami Starks. Another
transfer, 6-4 guard Joe O'Shea (Holy Cross), can hit from long range. He is
also coach O'Shea's nephew. All in all, the Bulldogs appear poised to make a
significant leap in the win column, although they may still be another year or
two away from contending for the NEC crown.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON: After posting only three wins last season, fourth-year
coach Greg Vetrone is hoping for a spark from any of his six newcomers.
Transfers Yves Jules (Hofstra) and Mustafaa Jones (Hartford) add some depth to
the backcourt, while 6-6 freshman Xavier Harris could crack the frontcourt
rotation. Just how much those newcomers are ready to contribute remains to be
see. However, the backcourt remains a strength with the return of top scorers
Melquan Bolding (15.1 ppg) and Lonnie Hayes (13.0 ppg, 4.1 apg). Bolding is a
strong ballhandler, although his team-high 38 three-pointers came on only 29-
percent accuracy. He'll move back to the two-guard spot to make room for point
guard Hayes, whose season was cut short due to a broken foot after 11 games.
Another guard, Lonnie Robinson (6.9 ppg), knocked down 35.4 percent of his
attempts from long range and will resume his role stretching opposing
defenses. Down low is 6-6 senior Kinu Rochford, who averaged 9.3 points and
6.8 rebounds per game while shooting a healthy 56 percent from the field.
ST. FRANCIS-PA: After a disappointing six-win campaign, the school hired
former player Rob Krimmel (1996-2000) to become the new head coach and try to
rebuild the program. With 11 underclassmen on the roster, Krimmel will need
some time to see what he can do. Still, the cupboard is not entirely bare at
St. Francis-PA. Guard Umar Shannon was a Second-Team All-NEC pick two years
ago as a sophomore, and his hopes for a breakout season last year were
shattered by a knee injury in the opener against VCU. Shannon, who had 26
points before suffering the injury, averaged a team-best 15.8 ppg and made 68
three-pointers in 2010-11. With Shannon unavailable last season, senior
Anthony Ervin shot 37.6 percent from the perimeter (38-of-101) and averaged
11.2 points. Elsewhere in the backcourt, sophomores Stephon Whyatt (9.2 ppg)
and Ollie Jackson (6.3 ppg) look to build off solid rookie seasons and
continue to knock down shots from outside. Down low, the Red Flash are razor-
thin. Sophomore Earl Brown (6.0 ppg) showed some promise last season, but
coach Krimmel will likely have to rely on some freshmen for minutes.
The Sports Network


text:
Reuters must be watching Novak Djokovic very closely these days and loving it.
The global news organization reported on Nole's 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Swede Robin Soderling in Bangkok today with the headline "Classy Djokovic through to Thailand Open semis". Classy? Intriguing.
Stumped as I was by this description, I anxiously ran through the story to see what level of classiness the Serb displayed today. Did he offer an overly excited fan an autograph and a hug? Did he give full credit to Robin for his own defeat?? Did he share his Pad Thai???
But, alas, nothing. Nothing even close to the Nole's past attempts at classiness like, oh, putting words in a stadium crowd's mouth.
You're a tease Reuters and now your secret is out.
(image via Getty)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Reuters has a secret crush on "classy" Nole - who knew?
Labels: Bangkok, media, Novak Djokovic, Reuters, tennis
7 comments:
Yeah, classy isn't the best word to describe him. Feisty? Controversial? Hell, I would even take "hard-working". Did his girlfriend write the article? His parents? Carol Brady? Alice? Cousin Oliver? (I always hated that annoying brat.)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 26, 2008 at 12:55 PM
it was classy because he has been doing that Thai gesture after every match.ReplyDelete
and he's gracing them with his sexyness. Classy indeed.ReplyDelete
It's Nole's turn to get totally naked. Just thought I would throw that thought out there since everyone's so naked lately...ReplyDelete
i second that emotion b2012...drop the drawers already nole!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 27, 2008 at 8:25 PM
We need to see Nole butt naked a la Rafa, only then would I consider calling him "classy".ReplyDelete
"We need to see Nole butt naked a la Rafa, only then would I consider calling him "classy"."ReplyDelete
Can you imagine? *Faints again*

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Idea by Style Me Pretty Follow
Featured in Mix and Match Craze for Bridesmaids: Can Groomsmen Do It Too?.
wedding fashion guide for groomsmen mix and match style 9.
Create Account
Add Listing
Plan, book and shop for your wedding with inspiration as your guide. Plus, save photos to your favorites!


text:
- We don't link to Ebay Auctions, although if you have a Craig's List Ad that meets our terms of clear price, etc, that is fine.
- You must state a clear price- no OBO.
- We provide an infrastructure platform only, all sales are between the involved members. We'll assist as much as is possible in a dispute, but in the end, it's between thee and your seller/buyer.
- Hijacking another member's For Sale Thread for your merchandise will result in an immediate ban
I've tried to make this as clear and simple as possible, to avoid confusion. Thanks for your cooperation.
Tom Stormcrowe
Site Administrator


text:
Water levels : HighWater temperature: 62 degrees. Since these two reservoirs store irrigation water, levels will fluctuate during growing season. Most anglers are looking for perch (no limit), pike (no limit) or rainbow trout (limit four). Yellow perch can be found near the dam, northern pike and rainbow trout are all over the lake. Some large walleye (limit one) have been spotted off the Cedar Campground loop. We did hear a 22-inch walleye and a 24-inch pike were caught by the same angler. Crappie have a limit of 20 and can be found near the dam and inlets. Bass must be returned to the water through June 15. Rainbow trout (3,600 of them, at least 10 inches in length) were stocked in Harvey Gap on April 19. Yellow perch are caught north of the boat ramp. Catfish have a limit of two and can be found in the deep water. Late in the day is when you'll likely have the best luck.Mandatory aquatic nuisance species inspections are available at both boat ramps Monday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Sept. 15. Call 625-1607 with any questions.- Terry Wise, park naturalist and volunteer coordinator
Back to: News
May 30, 2012
Follow News


text:
Apple Inc. ordered several international suppliers to reimburse $3.3 million in excess recruitment fees to foreign contract workers in 2011, the Cupertino, California-based computer maker announced in its Apple Supplier Responsibility 2012 Progress Report. The report tracks activities at locations where Apple's products are manufactured.
The company limits recruitment fees to the equivalent of one month's net wages, and suppliers are required to reimburse overpaid fees. The report said the company found 15 facilities where workers were overcharged.
Apple suppliers have reimbursed workers a total of $6.7 million in excess recruitment fees since 2008.
In addition, Apple found two facilities using involuntary labor. One of the suppliers was terminated. Apple is working with the other supplier to correct the situation.
Apple also announced that it joined the Fair Labor Association, and it will open its supply chain to the association's independent auditing teams.
For the full 2012 Progress Report, click here.
Staffing Industry Analysts is a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Stay informed and connected. Get human resources news and HR features via Workforce Management's Twitter feed or RSS feeds for mobile devices and news readers.


text:
Logistics technology: GT Nexus, Capgemini partner up for cloud-based endeavor
October 10, 2011
Cloud supply chain technology services provider GT Nexus and Capgemini recently announced they inked a joint go-to market BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) initiative to enable what it described as "Supply Chain Orchestration."
Through this effort, the companies will collaborate in providing customers with supply chain services in North America and Europe powered by GT Nexus' technology platform.
GT Nexus officials said that through this partnership is focused on ensuring that shippers' supply chains are "interconnected with other complex networks so that processes can be automated across numerous enterprises and promote much greater visibility end to end,….with cloud [enabling] entirely new information sharing models so that the supply chain more closely represents the reality of a network rather than a simple chain."
The potential of cloud computing has tremendous implications going forward, too. According to research from Gartner Inc., the market for cloud-based SCM technology will grow by 25 percent by 2013.
GT Nexus and CapGemini said that they will provide shippers with joint on-demand solutions to facilitate collaboration and visibility of trade and logistics operations across global networks in the cloud, using the "single page" information model. Capgemini will bring its BPO services expertise, Supply Chain Orchestration managed service offerings, global Rightshore resources and Platform solutions. And GT Nexus will offer its cloud based collaboration platform to help companies take advantage of the cloud to improve business agility. Shipper benefits cited by the companies include: End to End process control, visibility and traceability, Enhanced Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), reduction in operating costs, increases in efficiencies and improvement in Cost of Supply Chain Operations whilst maintaining the balance of Service and Quality.
"What a cloud platform brings to the mix is that it takes away the proprietary [nature] of technology," said Greg Kefer, GT Nexus Director, Corporate Marketing, at last week's Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Conference in Philadelphia. "Typically in the past a shipper would go out and buy a legacy-based technology platform and maintain it with servers and an IT operation. With cloud, those legacy systems don't work because supply chain is inherently an inter-company business."
And for inter-company processes, he said cloud is more efficient when linking and sharing supply chain-related data.
As an example, he cited when a shipper enters a purchase order. In order to find things like related documents or inventory to that order, one of the challenges in the past was that technology vendors put the data processing capabilities at the nodes, as opposed to in the middle—of the cloud.
"This is an environment shared by many people and what you are getting is economies of scale," explained Kefer. "Supply chain goes a step further, because cloud allows you to access data regarding to 3PLs or suppliers or other needed data sources outside of your company. There is openness to it while being secure at the same time and enabling things that were not possible before."
About the Author
Group News Editor
Subscribe to Logistics Management magazine
entire logistics operation. Start your FREE subscription today!


text:
Art is subjective, but we think we can objectively say that Massachusetts has the best art in the entire solar system. After all, it's home to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, one of the world's most impressive collections of fine art; Mass MoCA, the country's most fertile site for large scale new art; and the "small but big" Worcester Art and Fitchburg Art Museums. Plus, there's a whole museum of bad art, and one that's free if your name is Isabella. Wake up your soul at the Jacob's Pillow dance festival, catch yourself clapping inappropriately loud for the world famous Boston Symphony Orchestra or banging your head (in a good way) in the birthplace of hardcore punk. And don't leave without experiencing some drama (also in a good way) at one of our amazing theaters, from the Berkshire theater scene and Worcester's majestic Hanover Theatre to Boston's storied theater district. You can also visit the Massachusetts Cultural Council website for more information on the arts in Massachusetts.
Get more info on the Boston art scene with the Art App Boston
View the latest Arts and Culture bulletin.
Shakespeare & Company, Lenox
Cyclorama, Boston
Amazing Arts, Cool Culture: it's all here
Looking for fun things to do and see in Massachusetts?
Get some Amazing Arts, Cool Culture ideas
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association - Memorial Hall Museum
Paintings and exhibitions throughout 19 rooms. Deerfield's arts and crafts movement, Native American Perspective, quilts, tools, furniture, dolls and miniatures, in... more+ 0 saves
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association - Memorial Hall Museum
8 Memorial St.
413-774-3768+ 0 saves
Amazing Arts, Cool Culture: it's all here
Looking for fun things to do and see in Massachusetts?


text:
To see deals in your local area, enter your postcode and select the services you want to compare
Save up to £336*
0800 542 4704
Lines are open until 9pm
Calls are free from a landline. On a mobile? Call 0203 620 7478 for standard rates.
Simplifydigital can help you compare broadband, phone and TV
deals & switch to the best package.
Call our friendly experts and they'll compare deals for you, or
use our Ofcom-approved price comparison calculator to get the best
online deal.
Simplifydigital.co.uk is one of The Times' Top 10 Money-Saving
Read the Simplifydigital FAQ
for info on how to switch suppliers, what to do if your
contract changes and how our service works.
You'll see news about us and our services on media websites and in the papers
Enter your postcode to see if a provider offers services in your area.
John Lewis Broadband is available in your area.
We take a look at the quickest and simplest way to switch your current broadband provider
All your questions about fibre broadband are answered! How is it different from ADSL? Does it cost extra? Can I get it? Read on for all the answers and discover the best
TalkTalk's new UFO service is now available in 1800 homes in York
*20% of Simplifydigital customers received a minimum
saving of £192 per year, and the top 10% saved on minimum £336.
Data based on 622 Simplifydigital records between
August - October
Please note: Fibre availability varies by property. Please call
our free switching service to confirm availability for
your address or click on the supplier link to confirm.
Simplify Digital Limited - Company No. 6095563. VAT number 898781928.
Registered address: 2 Temple Back East, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6EG.
Please note your call may be monitored and recorded for quality and training purposes.
Calls are free from a landline
On a mobile? Call 0203 620 7478 for standard rates
Our call centre is now closed, we'll reopen tomorrow at 8am
You can:


text:
STARmeterTop 5000
Up 79 this week
Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Ehle was born on December 29, 1969 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA as Jennifer Anne Ehle. She is an actress, known for Zero Dark Thirty (2012), The King's Speech (2010) and Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). She has been married to Michael Scott Ryan since November 29, 2001. They have two children. See full bio »
More at IMDbPro » Contact Info: View agent
Represent Jennifer Ehle? Add contact information


text:
Hank Silverberg, wtop.com
RICHMOND, Va. – Road projects across Virginia could be in jeopardy because of an ongoing budget impasse.
The major dispute left in the $85 billion Virginia state budget is over $300 million in borrowing the Democrats want to use to mitigate tolls on the Dulles Toll Road.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has already started notifying contractors working on 473 construction and maintenance projects that work may have be halted May 1 if the budget impasse goes on much longer.
The contractors need two months lead time to wind down operations on any particular project and the current budget and authority to spend money will expire June 30.
Both the Senate and the House are set to vote on the budget Tuesday and House Speaker Bill Howell is predicting it will pass.
That budget does not include $300 million for Dulles Rail. The tolls are being used to finance the $2.7 billion phase two of the rail extension to Dulles Airport.
Some republicans are warning that if the $300 million for Dulles Rail is added to the budget, 40 other transportation projects would be delayed. The Washington Times reports that includes the long planned widening of Route 1 in Prince William County, as well as the interchage at Route 659/Belmont Ridge Road and the Battlefield Parkway extension in Loudoun County.
Follow Hank and WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
Memorial Day weekend events from around the nation, and the D.C. area, captured in photos.


text:
Meet the 12 People Who Have to Fix the U.S. Budget
There has been a pleasant lull in reporting about the debt ceiling and budget debate, but don't let the quiet fool you. Right now, 11 men and one woman are crafting a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. They are the members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction -- aka, the Deficit Supercommittee


text:
Physician Search
Search by: Name, Town, Specialty
Physician Directory
Alpha Listing by Last Name
Practice Directory
Alpha Listing by Practice Name
Behavioral Health
Bereavement Support Services
Bloodless Medicine & Surgery
Bone & Joint Institute
Cancer Center
Cedar Mountain Commons
Critical Care Units
Comprehensive Liver Center
Cystic Fibrosis Center
Dental Clinic
Diabetes LifeCare
Emergency Medicine
Epilepsy Center
Eye Surgery Center
Geriatrics/Senior Health
Hearing & Balance Center
Heart Center
Hernia Center
Hospital Medicine
Imaging Center/Radiology
Institute of Living/Psychiatry
Integrative Medicine
Jefferson House
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Neuroscience Center
Pain Treatment Center
Palliative Care Consult Service
Pastoral Services
Patient Financial Services
Patient Transfer Center
Preadmission Testing Center
Pulmonary Medicine
Rehabilitation Network
Robotic Surgery
Sleep Disorder Center
Social Work Services
Stroke Center
Spiritual Care
Surgical Weight Loss
Thoracic Surgery
Transplant Program
Vascular Laboratory
Volunteer Services
Women's Health Services
Wound Healing & Hyperbarics
more services >>
Advancing Medicine
Check Your Symptoms
Decision Tools
Health News
Interactive Tools
Learning Centers
Video Library
For Patients
Advance Directives
Contact Hartford Hospital
Directions & Parking
Integrative Medicine
Medical Records
Pastoral Services
Patient Billing Inquiries
Patient Financial Assistance
Patient Guide
Patient Health Care Journal
Patient Safety & Quality
For Visitors
Visitor Guide
Hudson Suites
Community Relations
Fund Development
Social Work Services
Auxiliary/Gift Shop
Send a CareGram
Web Nursery
All Areas
Classes & Events Calendar
Classes & Events Listing
Programs Listing
Support Groups
Specialty Areas
Cancer Care
Heart Health
Integrative Medicine/Wellness
Mental Health
Parent Education
Allied Health
Biomedical Engineering
Center for Education,
Simulation & Innovation
Center for Global Health
Continuing Medical Education
EMS Education
HHC Portal
Health Science Libraries
Medical Staff Services
Online Benefits Payments
Patient Transfer Center
Tissue Bank
The Imaging Center
Find a Radiologist
About The Imaging Center
CT Scan
CT Scan Radiation Safety FAQs
CT Virtual Colonoscopy
VCT Scan (Cardiac CT)
PET/CT Scan
General Diagnostic Radiology
MRI Scan
MRI Scan / Breast
MRI Scan / 3T MRI
Nuclear Medicine
Patient Information
Our Specialists
Vascular/Interventional Radiology
Patient Resources
Leading Technologies & Treatments
Share this information with your friends.
Email Page
Google Bookmarks
Yahoo Bookmarks
Patient Information: Ultrasound
Request an appointment for this procedure!
(click here)
Download an Ultrasound Patient Guide
To best visualize images, ultrasound examinations are performed in a dimly lit room. Images and information are collected by a registered sonographer (technologist) and interpreted by a board certified radiologist. No ionizing radiation is employed. Therefore, the technology is safe and is frequently used in pregnancy and pediatrics.
Before the Procedure
General Diagnostic Ultrasound
Eat a fat-free dinner the night before your exam, but do not eat or drink anything after midnight.
A small amount of clear liquid may be taken with oral medication if needed before your appointment. Morning appointments are recommended.
No preparation is required for hernia ultrasound.
Arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time to register for your test.
Plan for about 30 minutes to complete your exam.
Renal (Kidney) Ultrasound
Finish drinking 2 glasses (16 ounces total) of water one hour prior to your appointment time.
Do not empty your bladder prior to the exam.
Arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time to register for your test.
Plan for about 20 minutes to complete your exam. Renal vascular ultrasound examinations may take up to 1 hour.
Obstetrical Ultrasound
Plan for 30 minutes to 1 hour while the sonographer gathers important information about you and your baby.
Arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time to register for your test.
You may eat as you normally would before and after your examination and return to your usual or recommended activities after your exam.
For exam in the first trimester (first 12 weeks):
A full bladder is essential for adequate visualization of the fetus at this early stage.
Please finish drinking 4 (32 ounces total) glasses of water one hour prior to your appointment time. If your bladder is not filled, your exam may be delayed or rescheduled.
Do not empty your bladder prior to exam.
Transvaginal ultrasound examination may be necessary to adequately image the fetus. The need for transvaginal imaging will be determined by the radiologist during your OB ultrasound examination.
For exam in the second trimester (13 to 20 weeks):
No preparation is usually required, but a partially filled bladder is preferred.
You may be asked to drink some water for better visualization of your cervix and/or placenta during your appointment.
Do not empty your bladder prior to exam.
For exam in the third trimester (21 weeks to term):
No preparation is usually required.
You may be asked to drink some water for better visualization of your cervix and/or placenta during your appointment.
Do not empty your bladder prior to exam.
More Information
Contact Us
Classes, Events & Programs
Make a Donation
Related Links
Cancer Center: Radiation Oncology
Clinical Trials
For Patients
Hours of Operation
Schedule Your Appointment
Download Patient Guides for Common Procedures
Requisition Forms
Imaging Center Requisition form (PDF)
About Us
contact us
mission, vision, values
hospital leadership
hospital news
awards, recognition
compliance & ethics
community relations
For the Media
media relations staff
media policy
myHHNS news service
news releases
leadership profiles
Career Opportunities
Hartford Hospital job postings
Hartford HealthCare job postings
gift shop
the cancer boutique
community fundraising
fund development
volunteer opportunities
Social Media
rss feed
hh sharepoint
hhc sharepoint
outlook web app
site map
mobile site
Staff Login
Powered by:
Creative Change, Inc.
Powered by:
Creative Change, Inc.


text:
Ohmic Losses and Temperature Distribution in a Passive PEM Fuel Cell
Application ID: 8553
In small PEM fuel cell systems (in the sub-100 W range) no active devices for cooling or air transport are normally used. This is due to the desire to minimize parasitic power losses from pumps and fans, and to reduce the system complexity, size, and cost. The reactants at the cathode are therefore transported by passive convection/diffusion. Also the heat dissipation occurs by passive transport mechanisms to the surrounding environment.
When designing the air side of a passive fuel cell the goal is to ensure an even current density and heat profile over the cell for various surrounding temperatures and current loads.
The holes in the cathode cover plate should typically be large in order to provide good reactant transport to the electrode, but the hole-to-solid material ratio may not be too large since the structural rigidity and electron conductivity of the plate also have to be maintained. Large air holes will also cause high local ohmic losses in the GDL. This example models the current density and heat profile over a passive PEM fuel cell.


text:
Scholars Assisting NWHM
Click here for NWHM response to recent criticism regarding dissolution of Scholars Advisory Council.
In 2011, NWHM convened three meetings with scholars from across the country for guidance on Phase I of the Museum's interpretive plan for the physical building. The scholars were invited based on a wide-range of expertise in women's history and their ethnic and geographical diversity. Meetings were conducted by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, a world-renowned museum program design firm, and held in Washington, DC, Raleigh, NC at Duke University and at the University of California at Irvine.
The following scholars participated in the meetings:
1. Professor Teresa Murphy (George Washington University)
2. Professor Jennifer Thigpen (Washington State University)
3. Professor Stephanie Cole (University of Texas - Arlington)
4. Professor Juliana Barr (University of Florida)
5. Professor Marjorie Spruill (University of South Carolina)
6. Professor Eileen Boris (University of California - Santa Barbara)
7. Professor Kathryn K. Sklar (SUNY-Binghamton)
8. Professor Jean Pfaelzer (University of Delaware)
9. Professor Laura Edwards (Duke University)
10. Professor Vicki Ruiz (University of California - Irvine)
11. Professor Sally McMillen (Davidson College)
12. Professor Susan Strasser (University of Delaware)
13. Professor Rebecca Plant (UC San Diego)
14. Professor Bonnie Morris (George Washington University)
15. Professor Stephanie Camp (University of Washington)
16. Professor Catherine Allgor (University of California - Riverside, Director of Education at the Huntington Library)
17. Professor Anne F. Scott (Duke University)
18. Professor Thavolia Glymph (Duke University)
NWHM has partnered with both the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the George Washington University to offer lectures on women's history. The following scholars have participated:
1. Dr. Marjorie Spruill (University of South Carolina): Women's Rights, Family Values, and the Polarization of American Politics – April 8, 2011
2. Dr. Vicki Ruiz (UC Irvine): Why Latino/a History Matters to US History – October 18, 2011
3. Dr. Thavolia Glymph (Duke University): African American Women Refugees in the Civil War – November 17, 2011
4. Dr. Linda Gordon (New York University): Dorothea Lange: Life, Politics, and Work – December 12, 2011
5. Dr. Deborah Willis (New York University): New Negro Women and Beyond: Posing Beauty in African American Culture – January 18, 2012
6. Professor Dolores Hayden (Yale University): Grand Domestic Revolution: Recovering the Forgotten History of Feminism and Housing Design – February 15, 2012
7. Dr. Kathleen Brown (University of Pennsylvania): What Do Sex and Laundry Have to Do With It? – March 14, 2012
8. Dr. Robin Lakoff (UC Berkeley): Language Makes History: Intersections of Language, Gender and Politics – April 12, 2012
9. Dr. Richard Kurin (Smithsonian Institute): MadCap May: Mistress of Myth, Men and Hope – September 19, 2012
10. Dr. Kathy Peiss (University of Pennsylvania): Woman-Made Women: American Designers, Taste, and Mid-Century Culture – November 7, 2012
11. Dr. Leisa Meyer (The Collage of William and Mary): A New Order: Change for Women in the U.S. Military – October 2, 2013
12. Dr. Pamela Laird (University of Colorado Denver): Making a Business of Change: American Women in Business – November 12, 2013
13. Dr. Bonnie Morris (The George Washington University): Game Changers: American Women & Sports – February 19, 2014
14. Professor Paula Giddings (Smith College): Standing Up For Change: Women & The Civil Rights Movement – March 26, 2014
The following historians have worked with NWHM to curate Online Exhibits:
1. Dr. Ida E. Jones (Howard University): Claiming Their Citizenship: African American Women From 1624-2009
2. Daile Kaplan (NYU, Swann Auction Galleries, author) and Donna Henes (author and artist) - Kaplan-Henes Photographs Collection: Daring Dames
3. Dr. Alison Landsberg (George Mason University): Women in Early Film
4. Edith P. Mayo, Curator Emeritus, Smithsonian American History Museum: Votes for Women and Rights For Women: The Suffrage Movement and Its Leaders
5. Linda McCarthy (Founding Curator of the CIA Museum): Clandestine Women: Spies in American History
6. Dr. Jean Pfaelzer (University of Delaware): Chinese American Women: A History of Resilience and Resistance
7. Jeanne Schramm (Collector, Librarian and Co-Founder of the Mobile Women's History Museum) and Bob Schramm (Professor of Physics & Archivist and Museum Curator, West Liberty State College): This Isn't Right: Women Reform Leaders
8. Doris Weatherford, Historian and Author: Women With a Deadline: Female Printers, Publishers, and Journalists form the Colonial Period to World War I, First But Not the Last: Women Who Ran for President, Young and Brave: Girls Changing History, Women of Jamestown, Women Wielding Power: Pioneer Female State Legislators, and Leaving Their Stamp on History
9. Dr. Kristen Gwinn Becker (independent scholar, founder of HistoryIT): From Ideas to Independence: A Century of Entrepreneurial Women
10. Dr. Debra Michals (independent scholar, instructor-Merrimack College): From Ideas to Independence: A Century of Entrepreneurial Women
11. Dr. Bonnie Morris (The George Washington Univerity and Georgetown): Game Changers: American Women & Sports
12. Dr. Robyn Muncy (The University of Maryland, College Park): A History of Women in Industry
In March 2013, NWHM worked with several scholars to present programs to celebrate the Suffrage Centennial:
1. The Press's Impact on the Suffrage Movement panel discussion at the National Press Club in Washington, DC with Dr. J.D. Zahniser (independent scholar) and Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (Morgan State University).
2. Three Generations Fighting for the Vote panel discussion at the Lisner Auditorium (GWU) in Washington, DC on the history of Suffrage with Dr. Kristen Gwinn Becker (independent scholar), Dr. Erin Chapman (GWU) and Dr. J.D. Zahniser (independent scholar).
3. First Ladies: Hidden in Plain Sight event at the Arts Club in Washington, DC. Journalist Cokie Roberts interviewed Dr. Catherine Allgor (University of California-Riverside) on her recent book about Dolley Madison.
4. Dr. Debra Michals (independent scholar) spoke to the WINS (Women's Initiative for Networking and Success) group at The McGraw-Hill Companies in New York City on the topic of "Women Entrepreneurs."
NWHM Partners with Google Connected Classroom:
1. Dr. Bonnie Morris (The George Washington University and Georgetown) and Nancy Hogshead-Makar, JD: Game Changers: Women & Sports – March 31, 2014.
Scholars Assisting NWHM with A Different Point of View(Quarterly Newsletter):
1. Dr. Catherine Allgor (University of California-Riverside)
2. Dr. Marjorie Spruill (University of South Carolina)
3. Dr. Bonnie Morris (The George Washington University and Georgetown)
4. Dr. Barbara Ganson (Director of Caribbean and Latin American Studies, Florida Atlantic University)
5. Dr. Despina Stratigakos (Professor of Architectural History, University at Buffalo)


text:
Join & Support IMMA > Why IMMA needs you
The Irish Museum of Modern Art, a significant and dynamic presence in the Irish and international arts arena, is widely admired by its peers throughout the world for the range and vibrancy of its exhibitions, its innovative use of the Collection, its award-winning education and community programme, and for its visitor-orientated ethos and facilities. It has rapidly become a valuable and popular addition to the country's cultural infrastructure, attracting up to 300,000 visitors from diverse social backgrounds each year.
As the Museum moves from being a relatively new to a more established institution, it is vital that it has the resources to develop further its programmes and displays, both at IMMA and throughout Ireland through its National Programme. The Museum's ground-breaking work in fostering public understanding and engagement with the visual arts must also be taken forward through an expansion of its unique Education and Community programme.
To help fund these developments we are appealing to individuals and companies to partner and support us in our work. In doing so you can join with all of us at IMMA in moving the Museum's work into a new and more exciting phase.
Become a Member/Renew your Membership
|Press Office
|Corporate Events
|Customer Charter
|Print Version
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland
Tel: +353-1-6129900, Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
About this font family
available in all of the styles in this family:
only available in some of the styles in this family:
Available in the Monotype Library Subscription
Get unlimited access to this and over 2,200 font families for use in your designs. Subscribe for only $14.99 per month. Learn more…
- Basic text strings
- Random text strings
- News feeds
- Pangrams
Etruscan Std
Available formats
only available in some of the styles:


text:
Topic: New version is available!
==== Required information ====
- iRedMail version: 0.8.4
- Store mail accounts in which backend (LDAP/MySQL/PGSQL): LDAP
- Linux/BSD distribution name and version: Centos6.3
- Related log if you're reporting an issue:
Apparently we have an upgrade available!
See screenshots.
- Urgent issue? Pay iRedMail developer to solve it remotely at $39.


text:
Music, Movement and Sign Language Classes for Infants and Toddlers
Loading Map....
41.6096258 -93.77589710000001
Date(s) - May 22, 2014 - May 23, 2014
9:30 am - 10:15 am
Clive City Hall, Clive, IA
Come join us for a fun six-week session of playing instruments, reading favorite stories, singing traditional songs and signing fun rhymes. Children will also work on their gross motor skills by balancing, crawling through tunnels, shaking a parachute and catching bubbles. We will learn the basic building blocks of music and around 100 American Sign Language signs useful in everyday life. New lessons are introduced every two weeks.
To register visit Clive Parks and Recreation


text:
Installing A Powertrax Differential Unit - Making TraxWritten by on March 1, 2002 Getting Your 8 1/4 Rear Hooked Up With The Power Trax No-Slip
Got horsepower? If you are going to do more than go up in smoke, you're gonna need some traction to back it up. The conventional open differentials used in most passenger cars utilize side gears that are splined to the axleshafts and in constant mesh with the differential pinion (spider) gears. These spider gears turn freely on the pinion shafts, and act as idler gears when the rear wheels are turning at different speeds, such as around a corner. This cheap, simple, and effective way to provide differential action in a drive axle has been around for a century. For high performance applications there's a drawback we're all too familiar with-lay on the power, and the conventional differential sends the power to the wheel with the least amount of traction, producing a smoky one-legged burn-out.
Chrysler, like the other manufacturers in the musclecar years, was hip to this requirement, offering their Sure Grip limited-slip differential as an option. With a Sure Grip, the differential was equipped with a clutch mechanism to create locking action to the rear axles which increases as drive torque is applied to the differential. Unfortunately, the vast majority of passenger cars received conventional open differentials. Since the differential case serves as the carrier for the ring gear, installing an OE-style limited slip requires full disassembly of the rear, and the accompanying "setting-up" of the gear clearances and bearings.
Our '69 Dart, originally a 273 car with a 7 1/4-inch rear, had been updated with a later A-Body 8 1/4-inch rearend. With its 5 on 4 1/2-inch wheel bolt pattern, availability, and greater torque handling capacity, it was a good swap. Unfortunately, this rear, like most, was a peg leg. With a built 318 up front, and a four-speed in the tunnel, dropping the hammer produced more tire smoke than acceleration. Considering the remedy, we weighed the options. The rear could be torn down and a new OE-style limited-slip case installed, but the down time and setup hassle made us put it off. Then we heard about the Powertrax.
The Powertrax unit is a no-slip retrofit differential designed to fit within the confines of the stock differential case. Make no mistake about it-the Powertrax is a locking differential which results in uncompromised torque splitting when locked, and then automatically unlocks when going around a corner in a normal manner. Simply put, it's either locked or unlocked, and therein lies the caveat. There is a mechanical shift from locked to unlocked and back again. Around a corner, the differential will unlock to disengage the outside wheel under mild acceleration or disengage the inside wheel when coasting or braking. The rear and chassis will react to the change. With the Powertrax unit, extra care is required under certain driving conditions, particularly under hard braking or acceleration in corners and any time the vehicle is driven on wet or slippery roads. Like any locker or limited slip, hammering the throttle in a corner will lock the differential, and the rear will want to come around.
Since it fits in the stock "open" differential case, installing the Powertrax requires only stripping the components out of the differential and installing the Powertrax parts in their place. Because the original case is used, the Powertrax can be installed without fully disassembling the rearend and resetting the gears. It seemed like the ideal upgrade for our street Dart. The installation proved to be as simple and quick as we expected, requiring no special tools, and we were back on the road in a couple of hours. Though we could hear it and feel it while driving, the added straight-line performance made it a worthwhile upgrade.
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
The Powertrax unit is simple enough to install at home with basic tools. We set the Dart on jackstands under the framerails to let the rear axle hang. The wheels and tires come off to get to the axleshafts.Our rear is an 8 1/4-inch which like the 9 1/4-inch has a rear cover plate for access to the differential. Getting in to install the Powertrax is just a matter of pulling the cover. For 8 3/4-inch rears, pull the center carrier from the housing.To take apart the stock open differential, you need only one wrench to back out the differential pinion shaft lock screw.Turn the differential gears, and the spider gears rotate out of engagement. Then remove the spider gears and their thrust washer.The 8 1/4-inch, like the 9 1/4-inch, uses C-clips to retain the axleshafts. To remove them, just push in the shafts slightly so they clear the recess in the gears, and slide the clips off. The axleshafts can now be pulled out of engagement with the differential side gears. However, to remove the old gears and install the Powertrax pieces, only the right shaft needs to be pulled out a few inches for clearance.The side gears and their thrust washers are the last things out of the stock differential. With the differential now stripped, the Powertrax can go in its place.For the syncros to line up, the Powertrax components fit together in just one orientation. We marked the couplers and driver halves with a marker in the correct orientation so we could visually confirm that the pieces are correctly installed. The couplers slide in place of the side gears and use no thrust washers in this application. The C-clip on the left-side axle is now installed. The driver half is fitted with springs and the spacer, and is then slipped in to engage the coupler. If the all parts are oriented as specified in the instructions, the teeth of the driver and coupler will seat together.
To make sure the clearance between the halves of the differential is within specs, the Powertrax comes with a simple gauge. This will confirm the assembly is correct; however, the unit is not adjustable.With everything checking out OK, the right axleshaft is pushed back in, and the C-clip is installed through the window in the Powertrax. Pull the axle back outward to make sure the C-clip is properly seated.The last step is to reinstall the pinion shaft, which has to wiggle in to get past the four springs in the pin bore. Use the lock bolt as a handle to work the shaft in, and then lock it down.


text:
Corduroy Bench Cushion
Never-Flatten Corduroy Bench Pads
Corduroy Bench Cushion
Never-Flatten Corduroy Bench Pads
Our tufted bench cushions transform hard, unforgiving benches into soft, cushiony places to settle down with a good book or a good friend. Instead of a sore, smarting backside you're treated to one of the best seats in the house. Thick, well-padded, and covered in 100% cotton corduroy, these bench pads are filled with resilient latex foam, tie securely in place, and are crafted to retain their shape no matter how much you use them. Available in 36" and 42" lengths. Both measure 14" wide. Machine wash; air dry. USA from imported fabric.
- Bench cushions measure 14" wide and come in 36" and 42" lengths
- Filled with cushiony latex foam that won't flatten
- Sturdy ties secure pads to benches
For home furnishings with traditional style and unsurpassed quality, shop The Vermont Country Store. Our ever-plump bench cushions retain their shape no matter how much you use them.


text:
Just in case you weren't sold on IBM's commitment to better serve and team with smaller enterprises, here is some hard hitting evidence for you. IBM recently launched the Small and Midsized Business (SMB) web portal around Cloud & Smarter Infrastructure as a clear illustration of how the Tivoli, Maximo, TRIRIGA and Netcool solutions are geared for the SMB space across Cloud, Mobility, Asset Management and Storage.
We fully recognize that SMB customers have different sets of needs and IT requirements than our large enterprise customers . And just to be clear, these are NOT watered-down, leftover, or recycled enterprise level products. Instead, the portal features a portfolio of easy to deploy, rapid-value solutions that are appropriately sized and priced for SMB's.
For example, our new cloud provisioning product includes a "try & buy" feature that allows you to quickly download a free trial. SmartCloud Provisioning delivers computer infrastructure as a service by providing on-demand access to virtual machines and storage in the network. The trial is fully functional for 90 days at no charge, and at the end of the trial period, you can purchase the products directly from the site with just a few clicks.
And if you are interested in interacting with a community for this product, you can visit our developerWorks site for discussion forum for the IBM SmartCloud Provisioning Open Beta Program
The new SMB portal also links to a free trial download of Tivoli Endpoint Manager, so you can experience its capabilities and benefits firsthand. This trial has all features enabled and is good for an evaluation period of 30 days.
Once you have chosen the solution that's right for you, use the portal to connect with an IBM business partner in their area. And when the time comes to talk dollars, you can look to IBM Global Financing for leases and loans to help preserve cash with flexible terms, competitive rates, and predictable monthly payments.
Cloud & Service Management blog
IBM and SMB: We're Fired Up, not Watered Down
David Ojalvo 060001CNQC email@example.com タグ:  storage web asset infrastructure management smb cloud smarter endpoint 3,542 件のアクセス
Just in case you weren't sold on IBM's commitment to better serve and team with smaller enterprises, here is some hard hitting evidence for you. IBM recently launched the Small and Midsized Business (SMB) web portal around Cloud & Smarter Infrastructure as a clear illustration of how the Tivoli, Maximo, TRIRIGA and Netcool solutions are geared for the SMB space across Cloud, Mobility, Asset Management and Storage.
why we might love the most what we don't notice
ivor macfarlane 2700022KPS email@example.com タグ:  ivor service-management back2itsm 7,422 件のアクセス
There have been a lot of good discussions on Back2ITSM recently. I find the site a wonderful reminder of the two universal constant truths: 'everything changes' and 'there is noting new under the sun'. They might seem contradictions at first, yet the older I get the more both seem true.
Firstly, if you aren't looking at the Back2ITSM group on facebook then you are missing out - go sign up, now! Let me explain what it is and how it is brand new and full of ITSM tradition at the same time.
Secondly, it is about people talking with each other. That's the bit that is the same as it's always been. The willingness to share ideas, help others – even those in competing organisations – is just exactly like many itSMF regional meetings I have been to, in UK, Canada and New Zealand; except that now we are all in three at the same time.
Of course, social media isn't new, and facebook is not the newest kid in town. But what is 21st century about this kind of group are the immediacy of comment and dialogue and the wide spectrum of simultaneous participants it allows. Since it has active members from all across the world, there is constant input and comment.
OK, so we have all know that the technology for this has been around a while. After all it is 'just' about real time input to a forum – and we now have about 20 or 30 people across the world presenting their opinions to an audience of 500+ (lurking is positively encouraged). For me what is important is precisely that I am not aware of the clever technology or feel all the time that I am using a novel means of communicating or even just how damned clever the whole thing is. With this group I have reached stage three in my own 'using technology' scale: comfort and taking for granted.
Stage 1 is when you are using some new way of doing things just because you can. This isn't just about IT of course, many of us may recall how such things have affected our choice of travel (my
example is choosing an airline because they had A380s on the route, and even if a bit dearer I had never been on one of them before …).
Stage 2 is when the mean is no longer overwhelming the ends – you're using it now because it is logical to do so, and it is delivering value. But, you are still very aware of how cool it is. And you probably keep telling other people how cool it is too.
Stage 3 is when your focus is totally on what you are doing. I can now just read what is written, comment if I have something to say. You know it's a normal conversation because it goes off at tangents, people get flippant, say daft things, agree, argue, make subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) digs at each and launch jokes that no-one else notices. In short, it's normal human conversation, without thinking about how you are achieving it nor where all the people are, or what time it is there.
And to me this is a good motif for successful technology. It isn't when it is there and running that the implementation part is properly over. Real success is when people don't notice it any more, but just get on with using it, unconsciously – as part of their everyday lives.
It's one more example of how success is about being invisible. First time I flew in an A380 I was excited about it – last time I was watching a movie before we reached the runway. That's success. (Ok, so there was a little re-attention on the technology after the Qantas 380 had an engine explode but I am back to ignoring it again now.)
So the important lesson and message that I see is how we need a customer perspective on the introduction of new technology. And maybe what you actually want is people to stop telling you how impressed they are, because then they are getting on with using it, which was, after all, the real point of the exercise, wasn't it?
Q: What does IBM Watson know about Incident Management?
Noah Kuttler 110000SVNJ firstname.lastname@example.com タグ:  collaborative-lifecycle-m... linked-data oslc-series oslc tivoli watson cloud service-management jazz 5,499 件のアクセス
A: Linked Data
The following article was written by Cameron Allen, Pierre Coyne and Beth Sarnie and is the second in our OSLC series.
In fact, if you were at Pulse 2012...you heard how IBM Watson will be used to help doctors diagnose medical conditions and improve patient care at WellPoint.
For those of you, like myself, that don't have a Watson-like recollection, here's a quick flashback detailing a millisecond in Watson's brain on a sample patient:
If you're in the business of IT, this may sound a lot like incident management. And as any level 1 support person can attest, diagnosing the root cause of an incident is much like diagnosing a patient's condition. You need information from multiple sources (e.g. service desk, license, CMDB, monitoring, and asset management systems), but more importantly, it has to be in context, up to date, and delivered in a timely basis to make an accurate diagnosis of the root cause.
The problem has always been that an incident manager, like a doctor, has to jump between tools, entering requests in each system for the right information...and that is time consuming. In some cases, information isn't readily available and must be requested from other sources, not under their direct control.
One of the ways Watson is able to be such a great diagnostician (and incident manager) is through "linked data," which allows it to seek out and find related information on the patient from multiple sources in a fraction of a second to facilitate faster, more accurate patient diagnosis.
Until now, an incident manager did not have this same luxury.
That's where Jazz for Service Management comes in. Jazz is IBM's realtime platform for integrating management across multivendor tools, and across service lifecycle processes and functions. Like Watson, Jazz for service management uses principles of linked data, along with community standards (including OSLC) to support Watson-like service management decisions, regardless of what vendor tools you have in place.
If you want to learn more about OSLC and linked data in the context of service management, join the IBM developerWorks Jazz for Service Management community for demonstrations, and to gain early access to beta software.
Motherhood, Apple Pie and Devops
ivor macfarlane 2700022KPS email@example.com タグ:  ivor itsmf devops service-management itsm itil ibm 4,490 件のアクセス
A while back I wrote a blog just mentioning devops, and what a sensible idea it seemed – certainly the word 'devops' hit some bells and I got 3 times my normal hits in the first day. At the beginning of this year (2012 in case you got here late) I wrote a blog inspired by a discussion with a TOGAF fan; I felt we in parts of the IT world need to talk to our neighbours a lot more.
I was reminded of these by seeing several devops write-ups recently (separate articles in itSMF UK and US magazines in the same month). Both are encouraging and make the unavoidable point: what devops suggests as a matter of principle is clearly something to be supported like the proverbial apple pie. It is just so obvious, it has to be right - why would you not use the people who built and know a new piece of software (or anything else for that matter) to get it in place and working, and as first point of call should anything not work as expected?
Both articles argue that ITSM people should embrace the ideas rather than rush to defend their empires. Devops is not the only example, but it seems to me that what we might be faced with is set of approaches[1] all driven from disparate firm foundations in our vast ocean of IT and services.
In fact the commonality between the approaches is massive, especially once you get past a temptation to overly rigorous application. It amazes me that the same IT people who would never dream of reading the instructions before using their new technology toys insist on applying every word of best practice.
If you want an example of how ITIL® overlaps the base devops concept look at section 6.7, page 236 of Stuart Rance's Service Transition book in ITIL 2011[2].
The point I really wanted to make is that we need to get above the point of origin and see identification, creation delivery and operation of service as the real goal and the subject of some integrated guidance. Everything we have so far shows its origins.
I started my career helping organisations establish and improve services, I got sidetracked into IT and oft-times I miss that bigger image. I still find it hard to think only of IT aspects and solutions, but I find I am often talking with people – suppliers and customers – who are content to be restricted to IT aspects.
In the short term I think what we need is more selling of the neighbour's ideas. I want to see devops being evangelised by someone from the ITSM community, and we need the converse too. Otherwise it can feel like the recommendations for apple pie are coming exclusively from the apple marketing board; doesn't mean they are wrong but they can less than convincing, especially to a cynical audience or to one that has something they feel they must defend. Maybe I have stumbled onto my subject for next year's conferences – anyone interested in inviting me?
[1] You call them methodologies, frameworks, revelations, best practices or whatever – I was searching for a generic term, if you have a better one let me know.
[2] In case you don't like what is there, I should point out the content of that section comes from the 2007 version, which was not written by Stuart. There is simple diagram here that makes the point, but it is Crown Copyright so I dare not use it here, so please o look if you are interested.
IBM InterConnect And SmartCloud Foundation
Noah Kuttler 110000SVNJ firstname.lastname@example.com タグ:  interconnect storage cloud service-management smartcloud 4,323 件のアクセス
As the Western Hemisphere was slumbering, news from Singapore was lighting up Twitter as our senior executives took the stage at the IBM InterConnect conference to talk about some of the latest announcements from the IBM corporation on innovation and a Smarter Planet.
Much of the reporting has been done on Twitter (hashtag #IBMInterConnect) and these keynotes are available on the LiveStream including an amazing speech by Dr. Michio Kaku about the future of computers ("everywhere and nowhere").*
These are supplemented by interviews conducted by Todd "Turbo Todd" Watson, also on the LiveStream.
Since this event was focused on a Smarter Planet (the entire IBM portfolio), we covered a lot of ground. Big Data. Social. Mobility. And, of course, cloud.
For SmartCloud Foundation, the Tivoli organization has a number of exciting solutions that are designed to help you increase the levels of innovation you provide to your clients.
For this blog, I thought it'd be good to focus on three of the new solutions you might not have seen before that are going to help you in building out your private cloud.
IBM SmartCloud Cost Management is one of the key components in transforming IT from a "cost center" to an innovation center by providing levels of visibility, and transparency, to the IT costs associated with your cloud. Measure, analyze, report, and invoice the utilization and costs of physical, virtualized, and cloud computing resources, storage and network resources, applications, and other non-IT cost drivers.
IBM SmartCloud Patch Management combines the benefits of two solutions, IBM Endpoint Manager for Patch Management and IBM SmartCloud Provisioning, to provide an effective entry point that delivers lower costs and improves the visibility and control of physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
Finally, the IBM SmartCloud Virtual Storage Center is a solution that you might have seen us talk about at Pulse 2012 and it's now an exciting addition to the portfolio. This solution helps IT storage managers migrate to an agile cloud-based storage environment and manage it effectively without having to replace existing storage systems. If you're looking to increase your storage efficiency in cloud, but don't have the checkbook to do a "rip and replace" of your entire infrastructure, you need to be looking at this solution.
There's more going on in Singapore over the next two days, and more discussion of SmartCloud Foundation and IBM Smarter Planet. Stay tuned to Twitter and the LiveStream and feel free to post comments below.
* I have to confess that this blog was delayed because I got sucked into watching the keynotes.
Enterprise Systems from IBM
Noah Kuttler 110000SVNJ email@example.com タグ:  system-p system-z enterprise-systems service-management entsys system-storage storage 1 件のコメント 6,337 件のアクセス
This blog post was written by George Mina
Earlier today, IBM shared its point of view on the future of the data center with Smarter Computing V3 (press release). A central focus is IBM Enterprise Systems (zEnterprise EC12 and Power) and their ability to deliver exceptional value through a private Cloud. We've seen how organizations have been able to leverage IBM Enterprise Systems to achieve significant benefits. Take the City of Honolulu for example which was able to lower its licensing costs by 68% while increasing tax revenue by $1.4M USD in just three months.
By adding Tivoli software to their current IT environment, organizations can advance their enterprise-class Cloud environment while protecting their existing IT investment. How? IBM SmartCloud Foundation software is deeply rooted in openess - an open standards approach and common management tools that are platform agnostic. Essentially, you pick the platform(s) that best meets your business goals and we deliver a set of interoperable Cloud management tools across your heterogeneous environment. Of course, there are intrinsic benefits to building a Cloud management stack on top of IBM Enterprise Systems given the tight integration between hardware and software. OMEGAMON for example leverages a deep integration with zEnterprise systems to deliver advanced monitoring that reduces typical time to resolution from 90 minutes to 2 minutes.
Whether your starting to consider virtualizing your IT environment or deep into your Cloud journey, we have open Cloud management tools that help you expand your Cloud footprint without fear of vendor "lock-in". Learn more about the latest announcement and our Cloud solutions by visiting this site and attending the System z webcast on October 17.
When IBM keeps its head in the clouds, everybody wins!
David Ojalvo 060001CNQC firstname.lastname@example.com タグ:  financing partner msp business tivoli smartcloud ibm 1 件のコメント 6,660 件のアクセス
As I began to read through the press release about IBM's new initiatives to help Managed Service Providers (MSP's) in the cloud space, it suddenly struck me - this is a great opportunity for ALL parties involved.
Here's why:
For MSP's, IBM is providing a bundle of services and support in the way of marketing skills, technical expertise and financing options. On the marketing side, MSP's will have the ability to better target their customers and generate demand for their services through IBM education that includes topics such as developing effective marketing plans and exploiting the burgeoning social media space. Additionally, MSP's can sell IBM SmartCloud services under their own brand names. On the technical side, MSP's will have access to four new "Centers of Excellence" (located in China, Japan, Germany; and New York City) where they can collaborate with IBM technical experts to build their cloud services, and connect with other IBM ISV's. In terms of funding their efforts, IBM announced a financing offer which includes 12-month, 0% loans for IBM Systems, Storage and Software, and allows MSP's to defer payments for up to 90 days.
For end-users in the SMB space who often lack the necessary IT skills, this is a great opportunity to leverage local technology providers and take advantage of a cost effective "pay-as-you-go" model that cloud computing affords them. In addition, end-users will have the confidence of knowing that the services provided were built on an IBM platform.
Finally, for IBM, this is a great opportunity to expand its cloud ecosystem, and leverage the growing population of MSP's, who are continuing to gain traction in the cloud computing space for SMB's.
Here's the link where MSP's can go to sign up
Looking back to look forward
ivor macfarlane 2700022KPS firstname.lastname@example.com タグ:  ivor ibm itil service-management itsmf back2itsm iso20000 7,804 件のアクセス
I went to an itSMF
Now that kind of thing, apart from making me feel old (which is, admittedly, a fair enough feeling at my age) also made me look back and think on where we (the ITIL community) have come from and where we are now.
The first thing that occurs to me in thinking back to the early days of ITIL is that we now find ourselves in a place that none of us imagined we would. Don't get me wrong, the original inventors and drivers[1] of the ITIL idea were not short on confidence or vision, nor in seeing the benefits that documenting this aspect of best practice would bring. But I suspect that world domination of this industry sector by the word 'ITIL' was beyond even their best possible visions.
The key to the expansion of ITIL was that it quickly became about more than just the books. The ITIL advertising leaflets produced in the mid 90s coined the term 'ITIL philosophy' to represent this expanded
scope of ITIL. I suppose I should confess that I invented that phrase and also the diagram that went with it – a version from about 1997 is shown here. The accompanying words suggested that, even back then, less than 1% of 'ITIL-related sales' were about the actual ITIL books, and the rest were evolved services.
The fact that I couldn't even hazard a guess at what that percentage might be today indicates a few, pretty self-evident truths:
Some other things have changed too.
Nowadays the maturity of the ITIL ideas means most players are focused on market share rather than growing the sector itself. That means more competition than there used to be. Nonetheless there are still lots of examples of that collaboration still easily found. Probably the best example is the 'Back2ITSM' facebook group – a place where free advice, constructive debate and openly shared thoughts are still the norm[3].
The itSMF was born in 1991, and played – probably – the major coordinating role is promoting the idea, importance and approaches of service management. Like ITIL, itSMF predates the term 'service management', having started as the ITIMF. Even here we have seen a lot more competition during the last third of its lifetime: both competition from other community organisations and also considerable internal competition. I hope itSMF will evolve form this to carry on delivering benefit to its members. I am a bit too frightened to work out what percentage of my time has been given to itSMF over the last 17 years – or at least frightened what my employers over that period might think. But that commitment does make me wish hard for its future health.
So, looking back should makes us appreciate where we are now – nostalgia can be deceptive for usually the past wasn't better; because progress is exactly that – going forward and getting more. And wherever ITIL is now, IT Service management has come a wondrous way in the last 20 years. Global technology changes have made a difference to that journey; we've seen personal computing and the internet make all but unbelievable levels of change. We may well see Cloud do the same; personally I think cloud might do that by freeing us from some of the technical baggage and letting us see and address real service management issues, without the obfuscation of technology issues or the opportunity to hide behind them any more.
We've seen a move from books being the go-to source of wisdom when ITIL started to an amazing range of information sources. Nowadays your typical service management will expect their influences to come via social media, electronically delivered white papers and the like. Interestingly, in many cases, they would also expect them to come for free, and that throws a real challenge on the thought leadership business. If ITIL 4 ever happens I think it will be a radically different entity from versions1-3.
Where I want to see ITSM going is towards SM. IT is now so pervasive that it is everywhere, which to me means that ITSM cannot be a subsection of overall SM anymore because it logically applies to everything, since all services now depend on IT. Nevertheless, IT has treated SM well, and – after some effort –has taken it seriously. I hope those lessons will work their way into broader adoption and we will see an improved – and critically an integrated – approach to service management across enterprises because of that. I am driven to optimism in this (not my natural state you understand so it is noteworthy) by the fact that, alongside this blog, I am involved just in this same month in a webinar and an article for IBM's SMIA series on the idea that IT is now spreading its ideas – and delivering its technology and specifically its evolved software solutions – to the broader enterprise needs.
I wonder what we will be saying in another 20 years looking back – maybe ITIL will survive another 20 years, maybe not, but I am certain service management will progress and improve.
[1] And the top two names I would put here are Pete Skinner and John Stewart – perhaps our least sung heroes, especially the late Mr Skinner – but pivotal all the same.
[2] I don't plan to, and hope no-one else is tempted – there are far more constructive things for intelligent service management practitioners to progress knowledge about.
[3] And if you are interested (sad?) enough to be reading this then you should be part of that group if you aren't already.
You Can't Spell 'Service Management' Without 'OSLC'
Noah Kuttler 110000SVNJ firstname.lastname@example.com タグ:  oslc-series linked-data oslc service-management cloud jazz tivoli collaborative-lifecycle-m... 5,563 件のアクセス
The following article was written by Cameron Allen, Pierre Coyne and Beth Sarnie and is the second in our OSLC series.
In non-acronym speak, what I'm saying is that the future of service management has arrived in the form of Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration.
Or, "OSLC."
But, what is OSLC and what does it have to do with you?
If you are a user of service management tools of any kind, or rely on information from tools to do your job, then you probably know that finding the right information is half the battle, and getting realtime access to that information when it is not under your direct control can feel next to impossible.
OSLC means you can now leverage the simplicity and ease of web links to both find and share information across your management tools (be they IBM, or any vendor tools).
Just as web pages can be linked on the Internet, data can be linked together from one application to another – creating an application ecosystem where applications don't care what vendor they're from. They look up who has the data in a directory, and jump right to it.
OSLC is not something new, and Tivoli is not the first to adopt it for integration. If you're an IBM Rational user, you may already be a believer. IBM Rational, its users, and an extensive ecosystem of partners have been using OSLC to successfully interconnect the application lifecycle for years.
In fact, Rational Jazz is the realization of OSLC community specifications and shared services in an open platform that anyone can use to interconnect the application lifecycle. Rational just delivered their 4th incarnation of the integrated product offering called Collaborative Lifecycle Management based on Jazz.
Tivoli is now leveraging these same principles to help break down silos of information across the end-to-end service lifecycle. That means expanding the notions behind Jazz from service design and development to now include service delivery and management. We call this Jazz for Service Management.
Take for example, problem management. In order to diagnose and resolve a given trouble ticket, the problem information must be gathered and aggregated from multiple sources. We may need information pertaining to the application topology, the health of a system within that topology, outages or events that may be affecting the application, the CPU utilization, the versions and configurations of the hardware and software that this application is dependent upon. I could go on...
The problem is that all of this information lives in different places. You can either call around to the various owners of that information, or you pay a business partner to learn the API of the tool in order to get to the data, or you can have a highly skilled, in-house resource write the integration. These options require extensive expertise in vendor-specific APIs and lots of maintenance to keep them current.
OSLC utilizes community defined specifications for sharing and linking data applied to specific service management scenarios so that in a critical outage scenario, all relevant information relating to that outage can be accessed in real time from any number of sources, displayed in the context of that problem, in a single integrated view, with related actions that can be taken.
The difference is simplicity. You might be able to do this this now with a lot of experts and time but OSLC delivers simplicity.
And, most importantly, because OSLC uses community specifications for service management scenarios, integrations can be built once and applied across multiple 'related' OSLC-enabled tools. "Write-once, Apply-many."
For more information, listen to this podcast on the Tivoli User Community. This podcast provides a deeper insight into the next generation of service management built using linked data.
Also, at Pulse 2012 (video link), developerWorks' Scott Laningham is joined by Don Cronin, program director, Tivoli Technical Strategy and Architecture; and Mike Kaczmarski, IBM Fellow and Tivoli Chief Integration Architect to discuss the Magic of linked data.
Leave your comments on how you are using OSLC in your organization below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter @servicemgmt and be sure to bookmark our OSLC story on Storify.
APM In The MQ
Noah Kuttler 110000SVNJ firstname.lastname@example.com タグ:  mq gartner service-management magic-quadrant apm 3,601 件のアクセス
Depending on where you're from, some people call it "autumn" and other people call it "fall."
Either way, it's when things in most offices start getting a bit hectic.
Back in the autumn of 1968, IBMers in Boca Raton were putting together 1130 computer systems for customers.
Here's a neat photo of them hard at work in the factory.
As you can see, once demand picks up in autumn. It doesn't slow down.
Even today. Demands on services are high and they keep getting higher which is why application performance monitoring (APM) becomes important.
It's why I'm pleased to let you know that Gartner identifies IBM as a leader in the 2012 Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Management (APM).*
The full report is available on the Gartner website.
Give it a read and let us know how you are using APM in your organization in the comments section below.
PS I recognize that the 1300 has nothing to do with this blog post. I just felt the need to post pictures of classic IBM hardware...
* Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose
Why Is IT Agility Still So Darn Elusive?
Noah Kuttler 110000SVNJ firstname.lastname@example.com タグ:  linked-data cloud service-management tivoli oslc-series oslc 4,670 件のアクセス
The following article was written with significant contributions from Cameron Allen, Pierre Coyne and Beth Sarnie
Question of the day: why is IT agility so darn elusive?
Give up?
Follow up question: after spending multiple millions in technology to improve service delivery, quality, and productivity, why do so many line of business executives perceive that IT is still not moving "fast enough?"
Silo'd information presents a big speedbump to agility. According to the 2012 IBM study of CEOs, high performing organizations are able to access data 108% more, draw insights from that data 110% more, and act on that data 86% more, than their underperforming peers.
Which brings us back to the specific problem: Information exists, but it is not shared. Information remains trapped in silo'd tools and departmental applications. It's not only not moving "fast enough," it's not moving at all.
If you agree with ITIL and related methodologies, agility is directly linked to your IT processes. So while we can improve process methodology and connections across roles and functions, and within specific technology siloes with tools, if the data and resources can not be freely shared across process-enabling tools, then its all for not.
Going one level deeper, what is the cause of this 'information black hole', where data enters tools, and is never seen again? Your reality is that you probably rely on a mix of multi-vendor tools. Those vendor tools rely on proprietary APIs for integration and trying to make tools with different APIs communicate requires the IT equivalent of a team of United Nations translators, where each is an expert in their applications main language (API). Once successful, the herculean effort can create a constant maintenance cost, and might not work well in the end - things will be lost in translation. That said, even single vendor tool suites are notoriously difficult to integrate.
So what can be done?
Stop for a moment and consider the best example that demonstrates simplicity of integration on a massive scale. It's the Internet. With the Internet, you can get information from millions of different web sites and all you need is a browser.
So for argument's sake, if tools are the equivalent of web sites, then all we need are links to connect two tools. We can take that one step further, borrowing principles from social networks like LinkedIn or IBM Connections, where we can search for one person, and see relationships to other people (making searching for data across tools much easier).
That in essence is OSLC (Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration): A set of open, community agreed upon specifications for linking tools using web technology. (And before you ask, no. It's not a standard, because apparently standards alone have not done the job)
Data from any vendor tool is registered in a directory like a search engine, where other tools can find it, its relationship to other data, and access it via simple web link technology. Not similar to the Internet, but exactly like the Internet.
What that means is you can easily interconnect tools and processes. You can even replace tools with competitive tools - eliminating vendor lock in. It also means you can re-purpose one integration across a series of 'like' tools. "Write once, reuse-many" inherently applies here. All of this translates into simpler and faster access to information by people and tools, better analytics leading to better decisions, and better automation of workflow.
Now, IT will be seen as agile.
No longer elusive.
This is the first in a series of articles we will be posting about OSLC. Feel free to leave your comments below. Be sure to listen to the podcast we did for OSLC on the Tivoli User Group - TUC Podcast: OSLC Series - Learn how Tivoli's enhanced architecture strategy will help you simplify integration across products – IBM and Other Vendors, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter @servicemgmt.
Also, stay tuned to the blog for more in our series of articles about OSLC.
PS a reminder that InterConnect 2012 in Singapore is coming. October 9-11 and it's going to be an amazing conference. Tiffany Winman has a great post about it on the IBM Software Group blog.
Continuous delivery and DevOps anyone?
Branavan Ganesan 110000SGFR email@example.com タグ:  continuous-delivery devops vmworld agile 2 件のコメント 10,736 件のアクセス
I am at VMWorld this week, in San Francisco CA where IBM is a platinum sponsor.
With the growing adoption of Cloud implementations, private, public and hybrid, there's clearly a desire in the clients exploring solutions here to optimize and exploit their environments rather than a maintenance and steady state approach. Therefore, it is timely that Bala Rajaraman and Pratik Gupta, two IBM Distinguished Engineers, are presenting a Collaborative DevOps session at VMWorld
The session is entitled: SPO 3304: Best Practices for Collaborative DevOps with Optimal Application Performance in VMware Environments
I sat with Pratik and Bala, and asked them what the impetus and motivation for developing this talk. The crux of the pitch, as Pratik explained to me, is that current conditions have created four drivers that a majority of customers are facing, that are making a DevOps approach an imperative.
At the heart is the desire in companies for agility. The desire in the Line of Business leaders to create value in their offerings is resulting in an urgent need for business agility. This in turn challenges the development organization to take an agile development approach. As more and more deployments move to a Cloud delivery model, it requires an operational discipline that is not always present. Add to this the human element. If you're in an enterprise shop, you know already that this is not purely solvable by software. Cultural gaps exist between the Line of Business sponsors, the developers and the Operations team. Notions of completion, priority and quality also are different.
Right now, companies are not getting this right. 50% of the applications released into production are rolled back. As much as 51% of projects are missing critical features. Quality and end user expectation delivery are clearly an issue.
Pratik and Bala will frame this problem space and then show how adopting a continuous delivery model can help address this.
IBM Business Partners: Ready, Set, Execute
David Ojalvo 060001CNQC email@example.com タグ:  software execute tivoli to partners ready business ibm 3,850 件のアクセス
I recently discovered ANOTHER great resource for IBM Business Partners. The IBM "Ready To Execute" initiative, which was originally launched internally to improve the quality of our marketing campaigns and drive higher quality leads, has been extended to Business Partners. In a nutshell, Ready to Execute is a web-based model that provides the foundation and all the elements for launching an effective marketing campaign, including multi-touch e-mails, telemarketing scripts, digital strategies, and compelling offers.
As I began researching all the specifics of the program for our Business Partners, I stumbled upon a blog post from one of my colleagues in Software Group, Jacqi Levy, who has done a fabulous job of summarizing the benefits of the program, as well as providing a great overview on how Business Partners can get started on launching a campaign. Nicely done, Jacqi!
And those who want to jump right in and start executing can go directly to the Ready to Execute campaigns that are specific to the Midmarket !
IBM Research, Africa And Smarter Cities
Noah Kuttler 110000SVNJ email@example.com タグ:  smarter-cities service-management research africa 1 件のコメント 4,682 件のアクセス
One of the coolest things about working at IBM is the global nature of our company.
Which is why the announcement of the new IBM Research - Africa (press release) is so cool. Of note is their focus on Smarter Cities. Specifically:
I'm looking forward to seeing the work that our African IBM team is going to do in this space and can't wait to work with them on future projects.
Could we just fake the IT?
ivor macfarlane 2700022KPS email@example.com タグ:  itil ibm service-management itsmf tivoli ivor 1 件のコメント 6,470 件のアクセス
Today we trust computers – literally and unconsciously with our very lives. I was reflecting on this level of trust when I got £50 of cash out from my local ATM and declined the offer of a receipt. Seems I now have total faith the computer systems will 'get it right'. I've come a long way from keeping all my own cheque books to cross check against later bank statements.
Now, combining that faith with a little healthy British cynicism, and triggered by watching the Olympics tennis finals on TV, a mischievous but irresistible thought came to my mind.
It used to be that when a ball hit the ground near the line we relied on the human eye to say whether it was 'in' or 'out'. That caused disagreements and discussion – and - in tennis often - sulking, swearing and the full range of petulant behaviour.
Nowadays that is all replaced by referencing the technology. When there is doubt – or one of the players questions a call - then we simply ask the computers. What we get then is a neat little picture representing the appropriate lines on the court and a blob showing where the ball had hit. So, problem solved: disappointment still for one player but, so it seems, total acceptance that the computer is right. After all it is an expensive system working away inside a very expensive box – must be right, mustn't it. Or to put it another way 'computer says in', who would argue?
But what occurred to me is this. All we can actually see is some boxes around the court, and a stylised display with a blob on it. That could be delivered by one person with a tablet showing the court lines and them touching the screen where they think it landed. Very cheap and still solves all the arguments because – naturally – everyone trusts technology don't they!
Now – of course, and before anyone calls their lawyers – I am not suggesting for the merest moment that there is the slightest possibility of such a thing happening. But it's fun to think it might be possible. There is little public awareness of what accuracy the system – and here I presume it does really exist – works to. If you dig around on the web you can find out (the answer by the way for tennis is 3.6mm). You also find out there is some very minor grumbling and questioning going on. But that seem at geek level – in everyday use the audience stands instantly convinced.
So, thinking it through there are a couple of interesting consequences to real IT life:
I guess my big issue is to wonder how comfortable we are – as the deliverers of the technological solutions for our customers – and especially our users - to have such blind faith. Of course, people being the irrational things they undoubtedly are, that blind faith in the detail is often accompanied by a cynical disregard for overall competence – think faith in ATMs and on-line bank account figures with the apparent level of trust in the banking industry as a whole.
As a little codicil to the story, I registered with anew doctor yesterday – the nurse asked me questions, took blood pressure etc and loaded all the data she collected into a computer. The system was clearly ancient, with a display synthesising what you typically got on a DOS3.0 system. First thought: 'OMG why are they using such old software, that can't be good? Second thought: 'They've obviously been using it for years, so they really understand it, have ironed out all the bugs and it does what they need. It ain't broke so they aren't fixing it'. But my instinctive reaction of suspicion of it for not being pretty was there and I had to consciously correct myself.
Would you as a service provider prefer more questioning of what you package up and present to your customers and users, or are you happy to have that faith? My own view is that the more blind faith they have in you, the more the retribution will hurt if things do go wrong. Or perhaps that's just me being cynical again?