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VIDEO: Catching up with IU Volleyball's Jazzmine McDonald
Tue., Aug. 2, 2016
VIDEO: Where are they now? Catching up with former high school athletes: Ashley Benson
Tue., Jul. 5, 2016
VIDEO: IU Women's Soccer Coach Amy Berbary on the team's 2016 schedule
Tue., May. 31, 2016
VIDEO: IU Women's Soccer Coach Amy Berbary on winning the Herbert Cup
Fri., May. 27, 2016
VIDEO: Off the court with IU Volleyball
Mon., May. 16, 2016
Hoosier Morning: Weekly Roundup
Fri., May. 13, 2016
VIDEO: Off the court with IU Volleyball
Thu., May. 12, 2016
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State senior quarterback Matt McGloin threw for 395 yards and four touchdowns and sophomore wide receiver Allen Robinson caught 10 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns to lead Penn State to a 45-22 win over Indiana on Saturday in front of 90,358 at Beaver Stadium, officially eliminating the Hoosiers from bowl contention.
Indiana fell to 4-7 overall, 2-5 in the Big Ten. The seventh defeat means the Hoosiers will fail to reach a bowl game for the fifth straight season. They have only been to one game since 1993.
"That's very disappointing," junior safety Greg Heban said. "Not just personally but for all the seniors that have been here working all four years to get the bowl game. It's disappointing for the staff as well. They put so much time and effort into trying to get us where we need to be. That's how important those non-conference games are at the end of the season. … Those are the ones you have to get. If we had won against Ball State and Navy we'd be playing for a bowl game."
This one got away from the Hoosiers on both sides of the ball. Penn State didn't demolish the Hoosiers in quite the same fashion that Wisconsin did a week ago, but the Nittany Lions still posted 546 yards of total offense. McGloin was on point and the Hoosiers had no answer for Robinson, but the Lions were also able to move the ball on the ground. Their 151 rushing yards weren't even a third of the 546 Wisconsin hung on the Hoosiers a week ago, but it still made the pass game more effective. Sophomore running back Zach Zwinak rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown and fullback Michael Zordich rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries.
Indiana's defensive performance was better than it had been against Wisconsin, but the Hoosiers still missed a number of tackles at critical times. Robinson could have been stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage on a bubble screen midway through the second quarter, but instead juked a number of would-be Indiana tacklers for a 53-yard touchdown.
"They were able to swing a couple of big plays, big momentum plays," linebacker Griffen Dahlstrom said. "Long downs. We need to get off the field. We need to do a better job of making those plays as players, keeping our feet hot, myself included, we just gotta make the plays."
Said IU coach Kevin Wilson: "We make some good plays at the line of scrimmage. But I think as we look at some things, our support with linebackers and secondary, we just lose leverage on the ball and give up some plays. … We gotta keep working defensively. We are not at a point right now where we're going to play shutdown defense, but we gotta keep finding ways to play it better as we move forward. That's for sure. That's two weeks in a row."
The Hoosiers also left the game believing they'd missed a number of offensive opportunities. Sophomore quarterback Cameron Coffman threw for 454 yards, the second-highest single-game total ever by an Indiana passer and just 26 yards short of Ben Chappell's record of 480. He threw for two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions and could attribute much of his yards to volume of passes. He was 33-for-59 on the day and missed a number of wide-open passes at critical junctures.
"I thought he left a bunch," Wilson said. "We're gonna keep putting the ball in his hands. He's gotta make some plays in some tight windows, tight throws. A couple of third down throws, he's throwing past bubbles. He's throwing some passes he shouldn't. To move the chains, it hurt us on a couple of those when we got to the 40. A couple of times, we had the combination of run and throw and he took a throw that wasn't there. It's give and take, sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong."
Sophomore wide receiver Shane Wynn caught 12 passes for 108 yards and tight end Ted Bolser and Stephen Houston each had touchdown receptions — Houston's being a 79-yard catch and run off a screen pass. However, the Hoosiers ran for just 24 yards on 26 carries, failing to reach 100 yards on the ground for a third straight week.
That was one of the biggest reasons, Wilson said, that the Hoosiers scored just two touchdowns in nine trips into Penn State territory and four trips into the red zone.
"One of the best ways to be a good scoring zone teams is when you run the ball," Wilson said. "The field gets compressed. The zones are tighter, the windows are tighter. You gotta run the ball, and we run the ball for (24) yards. We gotta keep working to get a run game going. We like to throw it some, but we want some balance. Earlier the year, the more balance we had the better we were. When you don't run it well and you don't play good defense. It's tough to win. That's the main reason we're on the wrong side of the ledger today."
The Hoosiers were actually up 10-7 in the second quarter thanks to a 26-yard field goal by kicker Mitch Ewald and a 2-yard touchdown pass from Coffman to Bolser, but the 53-yard touchdown pass from McGloin to Robinson put the Lions up for good. Indiana answered with a 44-yard field goal to make it 14-13, but Robinson caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 2:25 to go in the half and an interception by Penn State linebacker Gerald Hodges set up a 16-yard touchdown run by Zwinak to make it 28-13 at halftime.
Indiana answered early in the second half with Houston's 79-yard touchdown catch and had a chance to put more pressure on the Nittany Lions. After missing the extra point on Houston's touchdown, Ewald recovered his own onside kick, but the Hoosiers' drive stalled and Ewald missed a 55-yard field goal attempt. The Hoosiers recovered a fumble by Zwinak and Ewald then hit a 46-yard field goal, but getting just three points from that exchange cost the Hoosiers needed momentum.
"One of our big philosophies is we're not going to kick field goals, we're going to score touchdowns," junior wide receiver Kofi Hughes said. "That's something we didn't do today. … We weren't scoring touchdowns. We left a lot of big plays out there. We shot ourselves in the foot with a couple of things. The defense was doing their thing and we really could've capitalized on them early. I think that would've changed the outcome of the game and probably the second half."
The Nittany Lions marched 75 yards on nine plays on the ensuing drive and scored on a 1-yard run by Zwinak. They added a Zordich touchdown on the next drive to go up 42-22 and then tacked on a 28-yard field goal by Ficken for the final margin.
The Hoosiers season is now down to one game, but Wilson said the Hoosiers take more than solace in the fact that it's a game that means something regardless of the records of the teams involved. Indiana ends its season against Purdue next week for the Old Oaken Bucket.
"We don't like to lose bowl eligibility because of the season, the way we didn't manage or call and execute and get our guys ready to win some games," Wilson said. "That being said, we are lucky to be at a school that has a great rival. A lot of schools don't have that."
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Unbelievable how many drives stalled because Coffman couldn't hit the wide open WR and/or throw a more catchable ball. IU should have had at least 3 more TDs, and been able to keep PSU's Offense off the field for much, much longer…
Also, what ever happened to LB Jacarri Alexander? He seemed to have the speed and toughness IU needs on the outside, but I haven't even seen him on the field the past few games.
Well, the D continues to be an epic fail. You look good one play then turn around, miss four tackles, and let them rip off a 40 yard gain.
The offense would have had to be near flawless to have any hope, but they were far from it. As much yardage as we put up through the air, it's underwhelming to only put up 22. Every chance to turn momentum they failed to punch it in. Coffman's inaccuracy was a major factor.
I think the qb play is good, cam hits the difficult passes, maybe just rushes the easy passes. But this 19 years old kid did great 400 plus yds is very impressive.
And the d is in the right place, just can't finish. I think we are close…… Let get pu next week!
CH, Exactly right.
I don't know if we're CLOSE, but I think we're CLOSER. I don't deny there has been some positive progress this season.
However, despite the good recruiting news, the defense still has some significant challenges to overcome to get us where we need to be consistently. I'm talking longer term here.
That said, a win vs PU would be a huge momentum boost for our continued development. At least it appears POSSIBLE.
"I don't know if we're CLOSE, but I think we're CLOSER."
D-BONE, very good way to express it. We are absolutely getting better. I'm pretty sure we have the youngest team in the FBS with very few seniors and not many juniors. We are looking at the possibilities of some real big dogs signing. No doubt we are desperate for some big athletic defenders.
It's still coming in fits and spurts, but seriously, don't most of you guys thinks that, at kickoff, 'If we play well we can win this game', instead of 'Please don't let it get ugly'?
We are discussing who is better, the freshman or the sophomore QB, who were never expected to play but can put up 400 yards on 'a bad day'.
It's better than I expected, especially after seeing Tre play then losing him.
D-Bone, your posts #2 and #5 were excellent comments. From my vantage point, they were right on target!
It's not an automatic that IU's defense is going to improve next year. We lose our two best players to graduation. Talented freshman and JC transfers are not going to come in and be better than Black and Repog were this year. IU is still going to have too many defenders that are undersized. Wilson will need to bring in a lot of bigger and better athletes on defense in order to produce better performance in 2013. Yes, the returners should be better with another year of physical maturity and experience, but I agree with D-Bone in that it may not be enough.
As for Coffman, forget the 420+ yards passing yesterday, when you chuck it over 50 times to receivers as talented as IU's receivers, you should have a lot of yards. And this year's PSU's defense is not what it used to be. Coffman missed a lot of wide-open receivers, on simple passes, and he often missed them in the most critical situations, to keep drives alive or score touchdowns. The more important the play, the less likely Coffman was to throw on target. He did some good things yesterday, but his performance seemed more erratic as the game went on.
Forget our Soph. QB established 59 passing attempts as 2nd most all time at IU + 33 completions 4th most all time along with 454 passing yards 2nd most all time, not to mention our 5th yr. center sails a snap over the QB's head or our Jr. kicker misses a PAT and a possible 55 yarder while IU's leading rusher yesterday totaled 28 yd.
D-Bone great comment. Actually, the heart of the names of the posters who seem to always be there and watching the seed sprout is in this thread. Even Podunker,(not attacking him…just sort of smiling at his nearly eternal 'but we could be very close to things getting worse, even if they are good'.
Reminds me of what someone once told me was the definition of a Baptist…the fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time. The day the Hoosiers have to go to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, Podunker will be worried that the runway at Monroe County airport may not be large enough to handle a Boeing 787 and that forcing the team to take the bus ride to Indy Airport will somehow become the focus of the team's thinking prior to kick-off and result in someone running the kick-off back on us…Because he loves us. We all love you Po (p.s. I'll try to get off the computer without shutting it on my hand)
It's been a good season…I feel we are at the beginning of IU's real football program.
Losing seasons are never "good seasons," Tsao. I'd say it has been a better season with reason for optimism next year.
I don't have the expertise to determine if Wilson's defensive cupboard was simply that empty when he arrived, or if the co-defenisve coordinator model is not working, or if Wilson's offensive focus is a problem (as another poster suggested), but IU's defense is still terrible and it needs to get a lot better in a hurry.
Tsao, a very astute comment. Given IU football's thin foundation, lack of tradition, and below average budgets (for football), things are always very close to back-sliding. In the 60's we hire a great coach who leads us to a Rose Bowl in his third year and shortly thereafter, a boycott deletes all the momentum he had built. Fast forward; we hire a promising young coach, he coaches for one year and then bolts to the NFL. Mallory rebuilds the program and leads us to numerous bowls and the morons in administration fire him in the most unprofessional way possible. We fire a coach after three years because he was not warm and fuzzy with the athletic department staff. Then, we hire a great coach who sees the IU job as his dream job, and just when he's turning things around, we lose him to brain cancer. Yep, as always, IU football "could be very close to things getting worse, even if they are good."
Losing seasons are good seasons if recruits are noticing improvement but still recognize their talent can make a difference. That certainly is happening.
The co-coordinator model is the reason the D has improved. They have made what talent they have tougher. It cannot get better in a hurry. It will get incrementally better every season as new talent matures. Quick fixes rob from somewhere. Ask Auburn, Illinois, Tennesse and UCLA.
"Good season" says TTG…wow what a loser you are.
And Clarion of course. By the way, the snap was not over your hero's head. It was high, but he should have caught it. 59 attempts, he better throw for some yards. He led (and I use that term in the loosest was possible) the Hoosiers to two touchdowns. That's the only stat that matters.
In fact you use it so loose you do not mention the 3 FG's. As I would expect.
Your view as usual is from the quarter full glass perspective.
Podunker, you may actually be right in that 'something' always seems to happen to tear it all down. In many cases it is not even internal to the program. I'm arguing that sometimes it seems we expect things to fall apart and, therefore, they do. The best example of how 'successful' we got at 'inventing' failures comes from the the years of terrific football we got from Coach Mallory and the stupidity involved in not understanding the cyclical nature of 'success' and 'failure' in athletics.
We have to ask, why didn't fans didn't simply rise up and defend Mallory. One word, ignorance.
Not doing so allows the space where individuals agendas and confusion take over. More than anything it is what had contributed to the failure of IU football to sink its roots and succeed. And, darned near destroyed our legacy of great baskletball.
I truly believe there is something different these days. The appointment of Fred Glass as Athletic Director and his empowerment to make the professional decisions, while limiting Trustees and other actors and other outside interests to a peripheral role. Believe it or not the Sampson scandal, the continued failure of (how many) football coaches, Knight's firing and the cause of the instability, the influence peddling and the power brokerage competition among top administrators wanting to play 'Boss' nearly collapsed IU athletics. Luckily, their failure washed away a number of these characters whose own ambitions seemed to be superimposed on the Hoosiers.
And, in their ignorance they created the circumstances, eliminated the influence peddling and allowed the circumstances to install a professional athletic administration and, in turn, reset the objectives and strategies for success.
I believe the first step wand most important step was the naming of and empowering Fred Glass (I don't even know the man- like you I just read and follow everything going on… with deep interest)to run athletics, professionally. Glass, has brought a vision, specified clear goals, stabilized the department, professionalized its operation and given a clear understanding of the link between succeeding athletically, institutional accountability and the growth of the University's reputation.
program) are well run; leaving us as beneficiaries.
The rebuilding of the collapsed basketball program; and the evolution of Coach Wilson's program, from his hiring and how it was conducted, to how he confronted the crisis of the program and the 'losing culture' will some day be a case study that will be a source of pride for us who lived it as it evolved.
All based on one issue; leadership and the proper distribution of power among the parts.
That Podunker is why I believe the blog is the proper place for us to entertain ourselves. I sincerely hope none of the actors; Glass, CKW or CTC read it…except when they want a good laugh.
Always great to share, debate (and argue) with you. You are a great IU Man.
Dunbar, a question. I once had to deal with an athlete named Dunbar. One of the fastest kids I ever saw (and I had seen a bunch of fast kids including Larry Highbaugh).
Anyway, this Dunbar kid was a human jet. And, fairly big too. About 6'0″, 6'1″, 190-200 lbs. And, no one recruited him. The I found out the reason. He had taken the ACT college admissions test three times and his highest score was a 12. (As I understand it the ACT scale begins at 12, the score awarded for writing in your name without misspelling it; writing in the name of your school, the date.)
Since reading your comments, I've always wondered. Are you that Dunbar?
Yes. So nice to be reunited with you. I can't wait to watch Larry Highbaugh's grandson play football again next season.
HC…your way is my way. I'm very pleased with what I've seen; the approach by the staff, the vision CKW seems to have, his ideas of and for offense, his philosophies of both coaching and leadership.
Likewise, I trust he has noticed the impact our defense has on his vision and he doesn't seem to me to be the kind that leaves his weaknesses exposed too long. To summarize, I trust his coaching, the progress made, his staff selection and his standards. On every point of that scale we've made progress.
And, the progress has been exponential. There was a big difference between IU-2011 version and IU-2012 version. I expect we'll see the same between now and next year, and that the progress will be spread to the defense as well.
More important, I believe he has a great eye for 'what a football player is'. And that the type of talent he'll be bringing in will be more and more consistent through the years until a class of four years will mean some 55-65 good, solid, competitive football players at IU at any one time.
That makes this a 'good season'. Those who understand competitive athletics understand what that is.
(BTW, I've also seen 'bad' winning seasons. For instance, Kelvin Sampson's last season at IU he was 21-11).
Sampson was 22-4 his last season before Dakich took over and went 3-4. KS was 22-11 the previous year. But yes, 07-08 was actually a very unenjoyable season.
Tsao, I appreciate the verbal gymnastics you've used to conclude that the 2012 IU football season was "good." That is some impressive spin and I appreciate your optimism. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I'm a bottom line kind of guy. A losing season is bad season. A winning season is a good season. I don't think Wilson would agree with you that 2012 was a good season. He has higher standards and is paid to produce winning seasons.
I think we can all find good things from this season, I think we can all agree that it was a better season, and we can be optimistic about next season, but it won't be a "good" season until IU produces a winning record. Let's maintain high expectations.
Long live honesty!! Great post, Podunker.
Tsao- post #15 about firing Mallory: he was 1-15 in his last two years and the collapse was manifest. I remember watching one kickoff and the IU receiving team stood around and watched the ball come to rest while the kicking team recovered. Others have posted that the firing was rude, and maybe so (I don't have any skinny to support or deny the charge), but it was due. What some may deem ingratitude could also be interpreted as a desire to keep the winning momentum rolling (and not slip into the complacency that has afflicted IU football since, like, forever) by getting rid of a coach who had lost his touch. God bless Coach Mallory (there's a street named for him in Bloomington and that is not enough tribute in my book) but just 'cause the subsequent hires stunk did not mean the decision to let BM go was wrong.
Po- post #20 about Tsao's verbal gymnastics. Glad to see that you are not a relativist, but I concur the season has been good. No gymnastics necessary. Winning season = good, losing season = bad is just too simplistic. I hope IU gets to the point where all of us are royally honked off when IU finishes 8-4 and that's a bad season! Which relates to what I wrote about firing Mallory- let's not be complacent, but celebrate progress and not be satisfied with sliding back into the gloom.
Davis, thanks…maybe living through watching one coach walk out walking a turkey the Sat. before Thanksgiving and some of the epic losing does influence how I feel about Mallory's performance. I thought one more conditional year… But, your argument is just as justified.
I'm certainly not a relativist, and I do feel the season has been 'good', We are certainly playing to be competitive in the Big Ten, playing with a lot of commitment, much stronger and better conditioned physically, have raised standards of performance, seem to be much more solid in technique and mechanics, even accept the expectation of actually hitting during the week, we're deeper than I remember the program in quite a way and our expectations (as fans) are much higher which speak to addressing the change in culture we have spoken about.
While we still have a 'good' ways to go, we have made 'good' progress to get here even when measured by the standards of a 'good' team, which makes me feel this was a 'good' season on absolute terms. The record will follow. That's how I think it works.
Podunker, sorry…I meant to include your name in the salutation for #23. Probably had a stroke while writing it and forgot to type your name as well. Consider yourself included in the 'good' thought.
We don't agree,,,I know I consider some performances 'good' where we lost the game and consider some wins 'not good'. That's a standard I have for my own expectations, etc. And there's one other thing…sometimes we loose (lost) because the other team beat us (they do get to say something about it).
But, given that I used to expect IU to be clearly beaten against solid teams like Fitzgerald's Northwestern or Michigan State or Iowa, and this year I was able to feel we were the equal' on the field- of any team we faced except Wisconsin (yes, to marginally to include Penn State) and we fought eyeball to eyeball with nearly every team…it's been a good season. That's not being a relativist, that's applying an absolute standards of feeling 'we have a good football team', to last a while.
Gosh…I don't know how I'll fill me Saturdays next fall if you disagree with me….nahh, maybe I'll stay with good.
And I agree with Podunker…Good post (#21) Podunker!!!
Ooops! Triple oops! (Really not my day…head cold). Should have written on #24, last line…"I agree with HfH, great post Podunker!"
Yes sir. [...]
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t, this is the time of the season for all fans to dream of how good t [...]
Rico and Harvard, I have no patience. Go bicker somewhere else. The ba [...]
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Nature Watch
The adult trumpeter swan continues to be present near Perry Monument with two adult mute swans. An adult little gull was among hundreds of Bonaparte's gulls at Gull Point on Sunday and in the channel on Thursday. A Thayer's gull showed up well off Vista 1 at Presque Isle State Park on Dec. 22 and was seen at Gull Point the next day. Up to two lesser black-backed gulls were in Presque Isle Bay on Sunday and Monday. The first glaucous gull of the season was spotted in Presque Isle Bay on Sunday. The eight killdeer seen at the Fairview Business Park on Sunday was a very late sighting for this species.

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From Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York; Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center, Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona; and Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Grant Support: The general work of the USPSTF is supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This specific manuscript did not receive separate funding.
Potential Conflicts of Interest: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M10-0472.
Requests for Single Reprints: Reprints will be available from the USPSTF Web site (www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org).
Current Author Addresses: Dr. Leipzig: Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1468 Madison Avenue, Box 1070, New York, NY 10029.
Dr. Whitlock: Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, 3800 North Interstate Avenue, Portland, OR 97227.
Drs. Wolff and Barton: Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850.
Dr. Michael: Drexel University School of Public Health, 1505 Race Street, 6th Floor, MS 1033, Philadelphia, PA 19102.
Dr. Harris: University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, CB 7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590.
Dr. Petitti: Arizona State University, 502 East Monroe C320, Phoenix, AZ 85004.
Dr. Wilt: Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Minnesota Department of Medicine, 1 Veterans Drive (111-0), Minneapolis, MN 55417.
Dr. Siu: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, One Gustave Levy Place, Box 1070, New York, NY 10029.
Author Contributions: Conception and design: R.M. Leipzig, E. Whitlock, T.A. Wolff, Y.L. Michael, D. Petitti, A. Siu.
Analysis and interpretation of the data: Y.L. Michael, R. Harris, T. Wilt.
Drafting of the article: R.M. Leipzig, E. Whitlock, T.A. Wolff, Y.L. Michael, A. Siu.
Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: R.M. Leipzig, E. Whitlock, T.A. Wolff, M.B. Barton, Y.L. Michael, R. Harris, D. Petitti, T. Wilt, A. Siu.
Final approval of the article: R.M. Leipzig, T.A. Wolff, M.B. Barton, Y.L. Michael, R. Harris, D. Petitti, T. Wilt, A. Siu.
Administrative, technical, or logistic support: T.A. Wolff.
Collection and assembly of data: E. Whitlock, Y.L. Michael.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) bases its recommendations on an evidence-based model of clinical prevention that focuses on specific diseases, well-defined preventive interventions, and evidence of improved health outcomes. Applying this model to prevention for very old patients has been problematic for several reasons: Many geriatric disorders have multiple risk factors, interventions, and expected outcomes; older adults are not often represented in clinical trials; and important outcomes may not be measured and reported in ways that are conducive to evidence synthesis and interpretation. In 2005, the USPSTF convened a geriatrics workgroup to refine USPSTF methodology and processes to better address the preventive needs of older adults. The USPSTF has begun to apply these new approaches to the review and recommendation on interventions to prevent falls in older adults.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations focus on specific diseases, well-defined interventions, and traditional health outcomes.
USPSTF recommendations are developed by using an evidence-based model (or framework) that relies on systematic reviews of appropriate evidence.
Developing recommendations for the geriatric population has been problematic because adverse clinical events that affect the geriatric population (such as falls or fall-related fractures) are:
Multifactorial in nature
Require interventions with multiple and sometimes disparate components
Include multiple domains of functional status and quality of life that are not easily expressed as discrete events
Older adults are not often represented in clinical trials
Important outcomes in the geriatric population may not be measured and reported in ways that are conducive to evidence synthesis and interpretation
The USPSTF is developing new methods to review evidence and make recommendations for the geriatric population:
Addressing aging-specific issues for diseases prevalent in older adults
Expanding and adapting its typical analytic framework to better recognize the multifactorial nature of selected geriatric syndromes and their interventions
Addressing the outcomes that are important to patients (including nontraditional outcomes, such as effect on caregivers)
Bundling recommendations on related topics
Since its inception, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has based its recommendations on an evidence-based model of clinical prevention that focuses on specific diseases, well-defined preventive interventions, and evidence of improved health outcomes. However, applying this model to prevention for very old patients has been problematic.
Many USPSTF recommendations focus on prevention through the early identification of specific diseases with clearly defined risk factors or opportunities for early intervention. Using the current USPSTF approach for older adults has not been easy (1) because many geriatric disorders have multifactorial risk factors, interventions, and expected outcomes; older adults are not often represented in clinical trials; and important outcomes may not be measured and reported in ways that are conducive to evidence synthesis and interpretation.
Disease or disability in geriatric populations can result from many small risks acting together, and different persons will have different component risks as part of a higher risk profile (2). Distinct clinical entities (such as functional decline, falls, osteoporosis, or vitamin D deficiency) may share risk factors and contribute to one another (3). Thus, interventions to reduce risk may benefit the patient through small improvements across several risk categories rather than a large improvement in a single risk category. Many of the more efficacious interventions for these conditions target multiple risk factors with multiple components (4–5). Interventions with multiple, sometimes disparate, components may be difficult to synthesize into the systematic evidence reviews that are the basis for USPSTF recommendations.
Studies that evaluate the efficacy of these multifactorial interventions often measure more than 1 type of outcome (for example, physical function, cognition, affect, and quality of life), which further complicates the synthesis and interpretation of results, including the fair valuation of cumulative small effects across disparate outcomes that may have different clinical importance to different patients. In addition, these types of outcomes commonly cut across multiple and seemingly unrelated clinical topics. For example, physical function may be measured as an end point in studies that aim to prevent immobility, falls, hospital complications, or cognitive decline. It is difficult to identify all of the relevant evidence and determine which interventions are similar enough to combine qualitatively or quantitatively. This can lead to different findings from different systematic reviewers of the same literature and can complicate efforts to assess net benefit and develop USPSTF recommendations on such topics as the prevention of functional decline. Furthermore, a piecemeal process (making separate recommendations for individual interventions or diseases) is inefficient and ineffective for health care providers and policymakers, who strive to develop multicomponent systems to improve the health of older adults.
Although screening is often performed in older adults to improve health outcomes, the pathway to improved outcomes may not be principally through preventing the associated disease. For example, the USPSTF recommendation on screening for cognitive impairment in older adults took evidence on the effect of interventions on both patients and caregivers into account (6). The considered benefits of this screening included nontraditional outcomes, such as improved ability to understand health instructions and participate in counseling or shared decision making on the patient's part and improved support and planning capability on the caregiver's part. Similarly, screening for functional status might be justified not only because it is a worthwhile method of optimizing patient function or an important goal of care in this population but also because of the prognostic value of the resultant information (for example, for risk stratification for other conditions closely tied to the desired outcome, such as falls, or for life-planning purposes). Thus, screening may be desirable for reasons other than the prevention of the specific disease or syndrome targeted in the screening. This rationale has not been easily incorporated into the USPSTF analytic framework for clinical prevention.
The USPSTF methods are designed to use evidence that preventive interventions improve traditional health outcomes. Often, these are discrete and well-understood outcomes, such as all-cause or cause-specific mortality or cardiovascular events. However, the most relevant health outcomes for very old patients (particularly those with serious chronic illness) may include multiple domains of functional status and quality of life that are not easily expressible as discrete events. These measures offer important and relevant considerations for setting goals of care, but they are not often reported as research outcomes that can be easily compared or combined. For example, the many available functional status or disease-specific quality-of-life instruments are not equally reliable, reproducible, or reflective of changes after treatment. Instruments that assess functional status and quality of life may assess overlapping domains. For example, physical function is one of many domains of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the most commonly used instrument to assess health-related quality of life in older adults, and researchers may choose to report either overall or domain-specific results. Although functional limitations and disability are conceptualized as distinct entities with clearly differentiated definitions (7), the research literature does not consistently distinguish between these terms (8). The clinical significance of the differences between these types of outcomes has not often been assessed and may vary by baseline characteristic. Many outcomes are continuous or ordinal measures, designed to be sensitive across a continuum, that are more difficult to express in terms of numbers needed to treat to avert an undesirable outcome. Thus, results for these types of outcomes are not easily summarized for systematic reviews and the development of recommendations.
Even for prevention topics that can be approached with the traditional clinical prevention rationale and framework of the USPSTF, the nature of the evidence base complicates the derivation of preventive recommendations for older adults. Randomized trials (even for clinical topics prevalent in old age) sometimes exclude or include only a small proportion of patients at the extremes of old age or those who have short life expectancy. Thus, the USPSTF must often extrapolate results from middle-aged adults or younger older adults to much older persons and those with chronic conditions. Although the prevalence of the screening condition may actually increase with age, the risk for harm from the intervention may also increase, and the time until benefit may exceed the life expectancy of an older or frailer person. A common example of this problem is the dearth of evidence on the age or circumstances under which routine screening may be discontinued because of a lack of potential benefit. This issue is compounded in older adults of certain ethnic and racial minority groups, because these groups are generally underrepresented in research.
As a result, previous USPSTF recommendations may not have fully explored or delineated important issues, such as multiple chronic health conditions more commonly encountered in an older patient population. Because of this paucity of evidence, USPSTF recommendations provide only limited guidance on what should be done in the case of serious comorbid conditions or limited life expectancy. For patients with multiple chronic conditions, it is difficult to prioritize preventive interventions; clinicians must balance the intervention with the diagnostic tests and treatments the patient already receives for chronic conditions (9).
In 2005, the USPSTF convened a geriatrics subgroup of its Methods Workgroup to refine USPSTF methodology and processes to better address the preventive needs of older adults. On the basis of this group's work, the USPSTF proposes to address these shortcomings in its approach to topic prioritization, evidence review, and development of evidence-based recommendations on preventive services for older adults (see Key Summary Points).
The USPSTF plans to prioritize topics that focus on preventive services of interest to clinicians who care for older adults. The process of prioritization occurs on an ongoing basis; the USPSTF regularly reconsiders its portfolio of recommendations, accepts nominations for new topics, and makes decisions about whether to update its reviews and recommendations. The prioritization of new and previous topics is based on several criteria, including burden of illness, expected effectiveness, potential impact of the recommendation on clinical practice, gap between evidence and practice, and relevance to primary or secondary prevention and primary care (10). In its new approach to geriatric topics, the USPSTF will modify its prioritization process to include considerations specific to older adults. The collection of information on burden of illness will include data, when available, on the burden of illness in older adults. The gap between evidence and practice is an especially important criterion to consider in geriatric care topics because of the potential differences in benefits and harms, patient preferences, and reported health status measures in this population.
Once a topic is prioritized by the USPSTF for review, it uses a systematic method to determine which questions need to be answered to make a recommendation. These questions are identified by developing an analytic framework. The USPSTF intends to address topics in older adults by using the following approaches when creating an analytic framework and evidence review. The USPSTF would ideally consider the burden of multiple comorbid conditions, multifactorial assessments, and comprehensive health outcomes when reviewing the evidence in older adults. Given the paucity of evidence for some of these dimensions, it is not appropriate or possible to take this approach for all geriatric topics. Therefore, the USPSTF proposes to take 1 of 3 approaches to developing the analytic framework and evidence review. The USPSTF will select the appropriate approach on the basis of the available evidence, understanding of natural history, pathophysiology of the disease, and understanding of potential effectiveness.
First, the USPSTF proposes to address aging-specific issues for diseases prevalent in older adults when using a more traditional disease-specific analytic framework for its systematic reviews. For example, in commissioning a systematic review to update the 2003 USPSTF recommendation on primary care screening for depression in adults, the USPSTF specifically considered evidence for screening, treatment effectiveness, and harms of treatment in adults 65 years or older. Similarly, the systematic review to update the 2003 recommendation on screening for obesity in adults uses an analytic framework that addresses the importance of elevated body mass index and the effect of obesity treatments in adults 65 years or older.
Second, the USPSTF proposes to expand and adapt its typical analytic framework approach for selected geriatric syndromes to better recognize the multifactorial nature of these syndromes and their interventions, as well as the expected outcomes that are important to patients. Figure 1 shows an ideal version of the usual analytic framework. This ideal geriatric version represents an approach to identifying high-risk patients with common risk factors for 1 or more geriatric syndromes, who could receive 1 of several interventions developed to reduce geriatric syndromes and related outcomes (such as falls or functional limitations), some of which could benefit more than 1 outcome. We simplified this approach for our systematic review for the USPSTF recommendation on prevention of falls, as we will discuss. A follow-up systematic review of multifactorial risk assessment and management interventions to improve functional limitations is currently under way.
Third, the USPSTF proposes to bundle recommendations on related topics to make recommendations more consistent, interlinked, and comprehensive. The bundling of recommendations will be done from the outset at the time of the update, so that the analytic framework, language, end points, and clinical approach will be consistent for each of the bundled topics. As an example, the USPSTF proposes to bundle its recommendations that address the prevention of bone fractures, which could include separate recommendations on calcium and vitamin D supplementation, screening for osteoporosis, and prevention of falls. Similarly, topics related to the prevention of falls, such as interventions to reduce disability, could be bundled to more clearly reflect how clinicians consider evidence in the care of an individual patient or groups of patients.
When possible, the USPSTF intends to provide information in its recommendations on clinical considerations specific to older adults; this may include information that focuses on implementation or treatment in this population. Because sex, comorbid conditions, and small age increments may have a relatively large effect on health outcomes in older adults, the USPSTF will attempt to stratify recommendations according to these key components when the evidence permits.
The USPSTF geriatrics subgroup is working to more fully address other methodological issues critical to evidence-based recommendations. This includes further consideration of nontraditional outcomes, such as effect on caregivers, and determining approaches that allow more confident and consistent extrapolation of evidence from younger to older adult populations. Current projects of the geriatric workgroup include methods for evaluating evidence to determine whether screening continues to be beneficial in older adults, measures of quality of life, values and attitudes of older adults related to prevention, geriatric syndromes, and interventions that target functional limitations.
Figure 2 shows the analytic framework used in the systematic review for the recommendation on the prevention of falls. Although this systematic review primarily used the typical USPSTF analytic framework approach (11), the USPSTF began to make some important adaptations for complex geriatric topics. In this analytic framework, the USPSTF specified a focus on the intervention rather than the traditional focus on screening, with the critical question, "Do primary care relevant interventions work?," because of the diversity in domains and measures used to identify patients at risk for falls. This analytic framework for fall prevention also explicitly acknowledged that older adults at risk for falls are also at risk for other negative outcomes, such as disability, and that interventions to reduce falls may thus result in other beneficial outcomes, including improvements of global health outcomes, such as quality of life. The USPSTF decided that modifying the analytic framework in this manner would be a start toward a more integrated consideration of interrelated geriatric syndromes. For example, a systematic review that also considers the effect of interventions that focus on functional limitations (as opposed to falls) would probably target similar patients and could complement the effect of fall interventions on morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. Future work by the USPSTF will seek ways to conduct rigorous reviews of interrelated geriatric topics by using clear and defensible methods to better define the benefits and harms of similar interventions and to fairly value multiple related outcomes in assessing overall benefit.
KQ = key question; USPSTF = U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
In the recent review for fall prevention, the USPSTF encountered several challenges that will be important as it moves forward in addressing methods for geriatrics topics. Many of these challenges reflect the multifactorial nature of the risk factors, interventions, and outcomes. Multiple risk factors for falls can be specified at a population level and can act in an additive manner to increase risk for falls. However, the specific risks vary for the individual patient. The variation in approaches to risk assessment and the lack of validated risk instruments for fall prevention prohibited both the identification of a single approach that could be of robust use in primary care (12) and the assessment of conventional test performance characteristics (or at least of their reliability and validity).
This complexity in risk identification complicates evidence synthesis and is likely to occur with other complex geriatric syndromes. Synthesis is also a challenge because there is no consistent way to describe or categorize multifactorial interventions. The USPSTF also found in its review on fall prevention that researchers incorporated a greater diversity of measures for global outcomes, such as disability and quality of life, than they did for falls or fractures and that many of these outcomes were reported in ways that did not allow for the calculation of absolute risk. In addition, disability and quality of life were reported in only a few trials. Therefore, the USPSTF concluded that quantitative synthesis would not be useful and could be biased by selective reporting. The more complex approach set out in the ideal USPSTF analytic framework may remain unattainable for some time because of the lack of standardized measurement or reporting of disability and quality-of-life outcomes.
These issues influence the process of evidence review and synthesis conducted by the USPSTF, a process that often builds on previous systematic reviews (13). Differences in findings from previous reviews could reflect different inclusion or exclusion criteria (or the interpretation thereof) when selecting studies for review, as well as different approaches to categorizing interventions. Thus, more complicated interventions are both harder to synthesize and harder for the reader to understand and may show discrepancies between reviewers for reasons beyond the usual difference when a review is more current and therefore has newer studies to incorporate. Until the USPSTF has a more robust (and, ideally, empirically supported) mechanism for categorizing multifactorial interventions that address multiple risk factors as similar, and until global outcomes are consistently measured and reported, synthesizing results from interventions with related but distinct outcomes will be a challenge.
The USPSTF has begun developing methods for reviewing evidence and making recommendations specific to prevention in the geriatric population. This work is important because the anticipated, unprecedented growth of this population in the near future will result in increased attention to preventive services. In addition, the USPSTF will need to adjust its methodology because the benefits, harms, and preventive health care concerns of younger adults may not be entirely transferable to the older population. The public health sector and primary care systems need to offer effective services that maximize function and quality of life for an aging population. With the steps we have outlined, the USPSTF is committed to updating the methods of systematic evidence review to better meet the needs of the 21st century.
As new methods develop, the USPSTF expects to build a case for the research community to develop unified definitions of patients at risk, categorization of interventions, and standards of outcome measurement and reporting and to reduce the variability of these elements, especially for topics and populations in which standardization would be most valuable. The measurement of consistent outcomes, in addition to morbidity and mortality, is 1 element of the USPSTF plan; improved approaches to characterizing and describing interventions will probably be another. The USPSTF envisions an evolving process over the coming years as it addresses successive topics relevant to the geriatric population and further refines its methods to improve and maintain health for an aging population.
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text: Two new undergraduate study videos Posted on 03 May 2012 Two new videos interviewing our BA Drama and Theatre Arts undergraduate students. The first, below, sees Hal Geller, Ellie Scott, Madi Dunne and Adam Spicer talk about their experiences of the course and plans for the future. On the same day, we took the chance to speak to third year, Alex Ismail, about the Playwriting module taught by Fraser Grace.


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Election 2011
3:29 pm
Wed November 9, 2011
Even in Seattle, voters say no to taxes
Perhaps it was the struggling economy. Perhaps it was the thought of paying triple figures for vehicle registration. But Seattle voters did something on Tuesday they don't often do: They said no to a tax increase.
As many states and cities face budget deficits tied to the Great Recession, lawmakers and voters have been reluctant to raise taxes, or to even bring up the issue. Not Seattle, which has approved $1.3 billion in tax increases since 2000 to fund parks, low income housing and to renovate the city's iconic Pike Place Market.
But a $60 car tab fee on the ballot Tuesday proved to be too much, with 60 percent of the voters rejecting it. The proposal's defeat was a major blow to Mayor Mike McGinn and the City Council.


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The Perpetual Silver Chanter Trophy was kindly donated in memory of Lachlan McCabe, winner of the R.U. Brown Piobaireachd Society Gold medal contest on 3 occasions ('83, '84 & '85) and sadly passed prematurely after a lengthy battle against cancer.
This years event will be held on Saturday the 7th November 2015 at the Walkerville Uniting Church, 17 Smith Street Walkerville SA commencing at 1.00pm.
Tune Requirements: D Grade - Gound Only. C Grade - Full Tune. B Grade - One full Piobaireachd including Crunluath. A Grade - submit 2 full Piobaireachd including Crunluath (one to be played as selecetd by the adjudicator).


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Let the party begin! What follows is Part 2 to yesterday's post sharing images from Tyeler & Zach's wedding last weekend at Paradise Valley Country Club. If you missed the first part of the day, including the preparations, ceremony, bride & groom portraits and many details, be sure to check out Part 1.
But first, a few more details to share. Their romantic & elegant looking place card seating display table designed by uber-creative Victoria Canada Weddings and Events. Next to it was a table that featured their custom made guest signature album, designed by and containing images taken by yours truly from their fun engagement session last year. And all the gorgeous, custom paper products and calligraphy were designed and done by Celebrations in Paper. (Rene is awesome!)
A huge tent was constructed on the grounds of the club earlier in the week to accommodate the nearly 300 guests, dance floor, and band The Groove Merchants
Romantic centerpieces for the rounds and 2 head tables, alternating between highs and lows on the tables. All flowers for the wedding were designed by the fantastic team at Events by Showstoppers and the custom linens provided by Wildflower Linens
Julia Baker Confections outdid herself on this romantic, adorned cake. I love how every layer is different.
And now the party has officially started!
Tyeler's father John gave a welcome toast that was both so touching, and so funny
Love this image!
First dance moments
A stolen moment of a tender back scratch…it's the little things like this I adore.
The Groove Merchants, along with DJ Chris Henson really got the dance floor going OFF
No wedding is complete without a photo booth these days, especially one with props! (P.S. Adore this image of them in there!) Booth courtesy of The Arizona Photobooth Company
They had a custom ice sculpture! How cool is that? Designed by Union Ice/Arctic Glacier
The night concluded with their getaway car
Thank you Godbout and Potter families for sharing your amazing day with our team. We had a wonderful time capturing your wedding and wish you a lifetime of happiness! xo – JB
Vendors who helped make this wedding beautiful:
Event Design & Wedding Coordination: Victoria Canada Weddings and Events
Band: The Groove Merchants
Bridesmaids Dresses: Brides to Be
Cake: Julia Baker Confections
Ceremony Music: String Serenade
DJ: Chris Henson Productions
Florist: Events by Showstoppers
Guest Transportation: Ollie the Trolley
Hair: Amber Tillinghast/The Grateful Head
Ice Sculpture: Union Ice/Arctic Glacier
Linens: Wildflower Linens
Makeup: Linda Wagner
Menswear: Men's Wearhouse
Paper Products and Calligraphy: Celebrations in Paper
Photobooth: The Arizona Photobooth Company
Photographer: Jennifer Bowen Photography
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
Venue: Paradise Valley Country Club
Videographer: Serendipity Videography
Wedding Gown: Melissa Sweet by Priscilla of Boston
Wedding Officiant: Terrance "Terry" Sims


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Crane Safety
I would like to talk a little about crane safety. I know that what I am enclosing is common knowledge to you, and hopefully they are things you use in your everyday duties. I just want to give you a refresher on some things, and maybe a few things you don't know.
The hazards are many, being alert and aware of your surrounding are so important, following hand signals, watching for power lines and people, always check and double check before lowering and lifting the boom and hook. These are just a few things that come to mind. I am enclosing a list of safety suggestions and guidelines. I hope they are helpful and you can use them as you do your job. I have much more information available, so drop me a line if I can be of more help to you.
Make sure all cranes are safe for operation. Use rail clamps and wind indicators. Make sure the rated load markings are on the cranes. Maintain the proper clearances. Provide safe access to the cranes. Provide stops for all cranes. Provide stops, bumpers, and rail sweeps for top-running bridgestyle cranes. Provide adequate guards on cranes. Make sure electrical equipment is safe. Use proper controllers. Have a warning device on the crane. Provide fire extinguishers. Provide safe switches. Store personal and work materials properly on bridgestyle cranes.
Make sure outdoor cranes with a top-running bridge have both automatic and remotely operated rail clamps, and parking brakes, or other equivalent devices capable of holding the crane against a wind pressure of thirty pounds per square foot. There must be a wind-indicating device that gives a visible or audible alarm to the crane operator at a specified wind velocity.
Make sure a crane's rated load is plainly marked and legible from the ground or floor on each side of the crane, or component attached to the girder. Make sure the rated load is marked and legible from the ground or floor on each hoisting unit, or load block when more than one hoisting unit is used. The rated load must be visible at all times from the ground or floor.
Photo by Ronnie Bergeron
Maintain clearances between the crane, any obstructions, and all cranes operating on parallel runways.
Provide safe access to the cab or service platform by means of a ladder, stairs, and a platform. Service platforms have an anti-slip walking surface, such as unfinished wood or a surface with nonskid paint must have at least eighteen inches of clear passage space. Platforms are required to provide a safety factor of four times the imposed maximum load. The platform must be kept clear of obstructions and have toeboards and handrails.
Provide stops for bridgestyle crane trolleys and carriers. Stops must be at the limits of travel of the trolleys and carriers and be able to resist the force that is applied when contacted by the crane.
Photo by Derek Benjamin Lilly
Provide bridge bumpers or other automatic means for top-running bridgestyle cranes. They must be able to stop the bridge when it is traveling at forty percent of the rated load speed, stop the bridge (when not carrying a load and after power is cut) without decelerating faster than an average of three feet per second squared from twenty percent of the rated load speed, and retain the bumper in case of broken or loose mounting connections.
Companies must also provide trolley bumpers or other automatic means to provide the same effect. They must be on adjacent ends of all trolleys operating on the same bridge and be able to stop the trolley when it is traveling at fifty percent of the rated load speed, stop the trolley (when not carrying a load and after power is cut) without decelerating faster than an average of 4.7 feet per second squared from one third of the rated load speed, and retain the bumper in case of broken or loose mounting connections.
Photo by Grafixar
Provide bridge rail sweeps that extend below the top surface of the rail in front of the leading wheels on both ends. Make sure that guards are used to prevent contact between bridge conductors and hoisting ropes, when they could otherwise come into contact during normal operations. Make sure open runway conductors are guarded for prevention of accidental contact with hoisting ropes.
Ensure all electrical equipment is safe. Make sure any pendant controls do not exceed voltage of 150 volts for AC and 300 volts for DC. Make sure all electrical equipment is supported to protect the electrical conductors against strain and are constructed to prevent electrical shock. They must be clearly marked to identify their functions.
Make sure all top-running bridgestyle cranes have a device that disconnects all motors from the line when a power failure occurs.
Make sure any lever operated controller in a cab, or pulpit operated crane, has a notch or latch that prevents the handle from being accidentally moved to the "ON" position. Make sure rope-operated controllers automatically return to the "OFF" position when released by the operator. Make sure the push buttons in the pendant stations automatically return to the "OFF" position when the pressure is released.
Conclusion: All bridgestyle crane operators need to pass an operating exam. Please follow these safety guidelines, and most of all be alert. Watch and listen to your surroundings. If you would like some more information please let me know.
Related Links:
OSHA Responds to Crane Accidents
OSHA New York City's Top Cited Violations: Fall Hazards Top the List
Top 7 Tips on Using the 2006 Census to Improve Workplace Safety
Dallas Crane Topples at a Dallas Pump Station, Injuring Two Workers
Other Articles You May Like
6 thoughts on "Crane Safety"
What determines wind velocity when to stop working with a crane. Are OSHA MSHA regs on this?
hi, Bill. What kind of crane do you have in your worksite? While OSHA does not mention specific measurements for wind velocity that are safe for crane operations, it does have some standards related to it. It requires employers to equip cranes outside enclosed structures with a wind gauge or anemometer. The wind gauge must have a visible and audible signal to warn the operator of high wind conditions.
The placement of the wind gauge depends on the type of crane you have. In general, OSHA regulates that operators not exceed the crane manufacturer's recommended wind speed. This rating, along with the crane's manuals, must be placed inside the cab of the crane. This way, the operator will be reminded of the rating and they can immediately shut down the crane in high wind conditions.
While a lot of manuals out there say that you must never operate equipment at or above 40mph, some crane operators are instructed to shut down their cranes between 30-35 mph. winds.
[…] Crane Safety […]
I work in Saudi Arabia at the national Oil Company Aramco and they shut there mobile cranes down at 32kmh.
Please give me some words of wisdom and tell me that this is nonsense and cranes are safe up to 35mph or 56kmh?
Please reply to my email with any excerts from international standards that may help me persuade my Saudi colleagues that cranes are safe to operate up to 56kmph??
I found today one of rigger sitting outside and riding with moving crane.I stopped the unsafe operation.
Please send some details regarding the above unsafe and how to prevent infuture (it will help to explain the workers)
Looking for your mail reply


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BitBeat: Bitcoin's Status in China Not So Black-and-White
Welcome to BitBeat, your daily dose of crypto-current events, written by Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey.
Bitcoin Latest Price: $457.03, up 10% (via CoinDesk)
Crossing Our Desk:
- Bitcoin prices continue to recover from the China-induced selloff. Prices are up another 10% or so, on pretty heavy volume.
Yes, as we relayed last week, some Chinese bitcoin-exchanges received notices from their banks that they wouldn't handle any bitcoin-related transaction services. That caused the price of bitcoin to swoon. But it started rebounding on Friday after the governor of the People's Bank of China said the government is not going to ban bitcoin. It continued to rise over the weekend and Monday as bitcoiners grew less concerned.
There seems to be good reason for the growing ease. BTC China, the most well-known of the Chinese exchanges, has yet to receive any notices, according to CEO Bobby Lee. "We are so excited that we have not heard anything from the banks," Mr. Lee told BitBeat. "It looks like we're going to coast through this episode gracefully."
But he has his fingers crossed. The events of the past week have convinced him that the government has disseminated what amounts to a "confidential" policy, which has led to uneven enforcement. It may just be an accident that his company hasn't been hit by the notice, he said.
That said, BTC China has relationships with 10 banks on the mainland, and not one has sent it a letter. At the same time, Mr. Lee said he's had some conversations with other exchange operators, and it appear that while some banks are cutting them off, others aren't. "My guess is," he said, "the exchanges will have some bank accounts that are open. They might close a few." (Paul Vigna)
- We have chronicled in this space the rise of bitcoin in the popular culture, the songs, poems, and artwork that are being created about the digital currency. As much as bitcoin's story is about technology and finance, an equally large chunk of is pure pop culture phenomenon.
"Cryptocurrency could very well be a bubble or a blip, but it is a manifestation of an enormous and important cultural shift," states a report from the boutique New York ad agency Sparks & Honey. What's interesting about Sparks & Honey, a small firm, but one backed by ad giant Omnicom, is part of its business is to do trend-spotting for its clients, which include Walt Disney, AT&T, Unilever, Visa, and Staples. The firm produces several trend reports yearly.
Cryptocurrencies, the report says, will gain momentum so long as financial, political and social institutions remain stretched, or stretch further, and inequality rises, leading people to seek ways around that system. Conversely, stabilization of those same systems will rob digital currencies of momentum.
This report was the first of two parts; the second will be released tomorrow. (Paul Vigna)
In the News:
-Is the bitcoin mining bubble popping? With the price of bitcoin down almost a third from its December peak, it's not as profitable to mine the virtual currency using the expensive, energy-gobbling rigs that became the standard during the "arms race" of 2013. According to BitJuice, bitcoin mining equipment maker CoinTerra is reporting a 30% drop in sales over the past three weeks. (Michael Casey)
- Blockchain.info, which provides "wallets" to consumers and monitors the blockchain, announced via Twitter on Monday that it crossed the 1.5 million mark for customer accounts:
1.5 Million Wallets! Thx everyone for your support & appreciating our services we provide to the #Bitcoin community! pic.twitter.com/cqmXR4Q3wY
— Blockchain.info (@blockchain) April 14, 2014
Contacts: firstname.lastname@example.com, @paulvigna / email@example.com, @mikejcasey


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Definition of long pig in English:
long pig
A translation of a term formerly used in some Pacific islands for human flesh as food.
Example sentences
- They call it 'long pig' but it reputedly tastes like chicken.
- Well, removing the taboos against eating 'long pig' is one solution to the population problem.
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: long pig
Definition of long pig in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
= trending


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Community Health Worker – Colon Cancer Screening
Joy Rivera belongs to the Snipe Clan of the Seneka Nation Haudenosaunee People. She has more than 30 years teaching experience in the Indigenous community at the junior high, senior high and adult levels of education. Joy taught at both the late Heart of the Earth Survival School and the Red School House. For 17 years, she coordinated the nationally-recognized Ogitchidag Gikinooamaagad Peer Education Program that traveled throughout Indian County teaching Indigenous youth about health issues through live theater.
Currently, Joy does outreach in the Twin Cities indigenous community as the colon cancer screening navigator. In this work, she will tell you and anyone who will listen how to prevent colon cancer.


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Definition of duty officer in English:
duty officer
An officer, especially in the police or armed forces, who is on duty at a particular time.
Example sentences
- The duty officer ordered police not to confront the offenders but to call for back-up from nearby stations.
- If cells reach capacity the duty officer informs other officers to take suspects to neighbouring boroughs.
- After the word went out of the motorcyclist's death, the gun-totting prince went to the local police station and threatened the duty officer with dire consequences if the incident was made public, according to the reports.
For editors and proofreaders
Syllabification: du·ty of·fi·cer
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Is it ever far from our conscious mind at any time of the day that there are those who want to destroy us and our way of life, either from within or from across the ocean? Maybe, we can find periods of time where we are not in a survival mode as we are going about our daily life, but I think most of us have in the back of our minds that evil lurks around us and cannot wait to pounce on either those we love or even ourselves in the most inopportune of situations.
What can we learn from the bombings at the Boston Marathon? We can vow to be more aware and alert of our surroundings and report those who seem out of character or who speak of hatred for this country. Of course, I am not saying that we should become paranoid or judgmental of others, but just become more aware of where we are, where we go, who is around us and what may be going on that seems out of the ordinary. I am not saying that we should target those of the Muslim community, those of the Asian community or even those of the Spanish community, but just be aware that there are others in this world of differing beliefs who are not like us mentally, emotionally or spiritually, and will do anything to change our way of believing!
Why would anyone want to believe in a religion or a way of life that sanctions the killing of innocent life if it accomplished the purpose of keeping those from leaving that way of believing? To have that kind of mindset about the Almighty of one's beliefs is certainly not what those of us in the West believe in or adhere to concerning those precious beliefs. Of course, we respect what others believe in and always will, but there will come a time where we will be faced by intolerant belief systems from those who will take our lives just because we do not believe as they do — and do it in a blink of an eye!
Certainly, Christianity has gone through its devilish period, hundreds of years ago burning non-believers at the stake for not converting, but we are so much more above that mentality today. However, there are sects, religions that are still steeped in this one-sided view of what people should believe in, and until we can snuff out that destructive attitude of religious persecution and intolerance, we will be held hostage to those who want to see us destroyed forever just because we believe differently. How sad is that for humanity to believe like that?
Be ever so vigilant and believe that we will recover from anything that those who hate us will ever throw at us!
May God Bless America!
Location, ST | website.com


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There's still a full two months to go before Cannes Lions, the week-long advertising extravaganza that lights up the south of France every year, kicks off. But the Indian ad industry has already made its first impact on this year's festival.
Nine senior Indian advertising professionals have been named as jurors across various award categories, with McCann India executive chairman and McCann Asia Pacific regional executive creative director (ECD) Prasoon Joshi chairing the Outdoor Lions jury, Our Bureau reports from Mumbai.


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Wayfair hires a healthcare exec to improve fulfillment
Doran Robinson previously worked for healthcare information technology vendor athenahealth.
Wayfair hires a healthcare exec to improve fulfillment
Doran Robinson previously worked for healthcare information technology vendor athenahealth.
Amazon's suspensions don't sit well with marketplace sellers
Mom-and-pop online sellers find Amazon's decisions to suspend accounts "arbitrary," and they're turning to other online marketplaces and seeking legal advice to get reinstated.
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Amazon doesn't always offer the lowest price, but it is the most aggressive in changing prices to stay ahead of competitors, according to data from 360pi. Rivals are catching up.
The holiday season is extremely competitive for retailers—the entire year boils down to a battle for consumer attention and sales. This year was no exception, and many retailers applied different pricing strategies and tactics to win holiday revenues and margins. From a couple of weeks before Black Friday to the end of the holiday shopping season, 360pi closely compared retailers, such as Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Newegg, Costco and others, to Amazon and its assortment in order to analyze how these online and brick and mortar shopping destinations competed for the sale. This is what we learned.
Lesson 1: Black Friday deep discounts are a myth. Are aggressive discounts on Black Friday a thing of the past? We think so, based on the data that we gathered. On the week leading up to Black Friday, we found that Wal-Mart steadily increased prices and actually raised its average prices across eight categories in the sampled assortment, including TVs, tablets and more, by about 5 percent on Black Friday. Toys R Us was another retailer who used such strategies with their action figures—in mid-November, they were on average 37 percent higher priced than Amazon and steadily raised prices until Black Friday, when they dipped slightly. Overall, we witnessed only a few retailers dropping prices on only a few categories during the popular shopping day.
Lesson 2: Amazon was the price leader only 80% of the time. Many found this fact surprising. Our data showed Amazon was not always the retailer with the best price. In fact, they were not as competitive in the traditional electronics category within the sampled assortment. Amazon was only the lowest price 48 percent of the time in TVs, 57 percent of the time in tablets and 67 percent of the time in digital cameras during the holidays. They excelled in action figures (88 percent) and power drills (84 percent), however, which tells us that prices shift radically between categories.
We were surprised to see that, overall, other retailers are playing and winning on Amazon's "home turf", or product assortment, 20 percent of the time. Our analysis shows that Amazon does have weak spots and that retailers can compete with the online giant, especially if they can beat Amazon on other non-price purchase factors.
Lesson 3: Dynamic pricing is a strategy dominated by Amazon. During 2013, most retailers only made daily price changes on about 5 percent of their product assortment. During Black Friday, retailers were a bit more dynamic in pricing, making daily changes on about 10 to 15 percent of their assortment. However, Amazon went from a daily price change average on 10 to 15 percent of its assortment to 32 percent on Black Friday. Extrapolating from our pricing observations of 8000+ Amazon-carried products over the holidays, Amazon made 3 million daily price changes in November and the actual number could easily be ten times greater.
Amazon is the clear leader today when it comes to successfully executing dynamic pricing. Amazon's strategy is not necessarily to be the price leader, but to be the fastest follower of the price leader—i.e. when a retailer drops its prices, Amazon quickly follows suit. Price aggressive retailers that do not have a firm understanding of the competitive pricing landscape inadvertently work against themselves by accelerating a "race to the bottom" with Amazon. A much better, more sustainable pricing strategy would be to be competitively priced, but not the lowest price.
Other retailers are attempting to execute dynamic pricing, but don't have the insight into their own product assortment to do so successfully. Sears, for example, already has the lowest price on certain appliances, but it slashes prices to encourage sales and loses profit margins unnecessarily and perpetuates the downward spiral observed above. Sears is a competitively priced retailer, but the company (and consumers) may not know this.
Lesson 4: Pure-play online retailers were not the most price-competitive retailers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For holiday shopping days that seem geared towards the "shop from home" consumers, we were surprised to see that multichannel retailers actually had the most competitive prices. In the consumer electronics category, for example, multichannel retailers like Best Buy were on average 4 to 10 percent lower priced than online-only retailers, such as Tiger Direct, Buy.com and Newegg on Black Friday weekend. For retailers that don't have as much overhead costs as multichannel retailers, we expected the online stores to be more competitive, but we witnessed the opposite.
Overall, we saw that some retailers, such as Target, Home Depot and Best Buy, are catching on to the value of dynamic pricing. Given that our data is based on products drawn from Amazon's own assortment, you would expect Amazon to be the most price-competitive retailer. However, when you factor in different retail competitive strategies such as carrying a different assortment, leveraging private label, delivering targeted customer promotions, and creating unique customer experiences in addition to price leadership, it certainly appears that retailers are learning how to compete with Amazon.
360pi monitors millions of products from hundreds of retailer web sites to deliver price intelligence to its clients.
With Google devoting less space to search ads, those positions become more valuable than ever.
Posted 08/25/16
Parents don't always get through their entire shopping list by the time school starts, so ...
Posted 08/25/16
Retailers need to invest in the processes and tools to rapidly and intelligently respond to ...
Posted 08/24/16
Rapid rejection of multiple fraud attempts shows fraudsters that their approach is not working.
Posted 08/23/16
Online retail is hard, grocery retail is really hard, so online grocery is, of course, really, really hard."


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Looking For Work In This Mad Economy? Thousands Are Finding Work Within A Few Hours
Looking For Work? What About Starting An Offline Business That Has A 99% Chance Of Succeeding? Look No Further…
My friend sent me an email regarding people looking for work moving in droves to North Dakota. I didn't plan on posting anything like this, but I figure if I could help just one family without a job relocate and find work, then it's worth my time posting it. Also, not forgetting that for entrepreneurs, there are lots of opportunities there.
My first reaction was…North Dakota? Is this for real? Well, despite the economic downturn in America, there's a huge oil boom going on in North Dakota. Everybody's working. Unemployment in Williams County, North Dakota is less than 1%. Could you imagine? Unemployment rate is less than 1% in North Dakota, while in the US on a whole, it's up to 9.1%.
You can literally get off the bus and find a great-paying job within a few hours in North Dakota. While others are desperately looking for work in other states, there's a labor shortage in North Dakota. Yes, you read it right…a labor shortage. You can make $25 an hour as a waitress and $15 an hour working at Wendy's, $80k driving trucks…average salaries are $70,000 – $100,000.
Businesses that are struggling in other states are setting up shop in North Dakota. It seems that there is not a business you can start in North Dakota now that wouldn't make it. So this is not just a job boom, but for businesses also.
The only downside to this all is, due to the "Boatloads" of people moving to North Dakota everyday looking for work, there's a housing shortage. New oil field workers are sleeping in their cars. In addition to housing shortages, it's cold up there… below 20 degrees at night. To solve the housing issue, a mobile home would do the trick…one equipped with all the bells and whistles. Check out the video below…
Looking For Work? Go to North Dakota!! Oil Fracking jobs GALORE!!- MSN Money
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Workers are landing jobs that pay six-figures in the oil boomtowns of North Dakota. But the abundance of jobs and money comes with some steep trade-offs, including a lack of housing and extremely harsh winters.
At 3.5%, North Dakota's unemployment rate is the lowest in the country. (Nationwide, the rate is 9.1%). But among the small towns that lie along the Bakken oil formation, like Williston, Watford City and Belfield, unemployment is just 1.5%.
Many of the highest-paying jobs are at oil companies, where workers make an average salary of about $100,000, often with little-to-no experience or need for a college degree. Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500), Continental Resources (CLR), Hess (HES, Fortune 500) and Whiting Petroleum (WLL) are among some of the biggest players in the area. And jobs include everything from working on a rig to hauling crude and equipment in trucks to helping with administrative work, said Shawn Wenko, workplace development coordinator for the city of Williston.
But it's not just the oil companies that are hiring. The oil boom has brought such a big influx of people that every single industry — from hospitality to retail — has been hit with overwhelming demand as a result.
Driving down Main Street in the more than 20,000-person town of Williston, N.D., which has the highest average salary in the state of a little more than $57,000 and about 2,500 job openings at any given time, you'll see one hiring sign after another.
I doubled my salary in North Dakota
At fast-food chains, the going rate is about $15 an hour. Hair salons, pharmacies, banks, hospitals, gas stations, bars and clothing stores are also desperately looking for employees and paying a pretty penny to keep them from defecting for the oil fields. Even the local strip club is booming, with dancers making up to $3,000 a night.
"If someone doesn't have a job here, they don't want to work," said Wenko. To find a job in Williston or any of the nearby oil towns, including Stanley, New Town, Tioga, Dickinson or Minot, check out North Dakota's official job service portal, Job Service North Dakota, or visit job portals or Craigslist.org where there are several local postings. But before picking up and moving across the country, there are a couple things to remember.
North Dakota – a Tropical Paradise
Many of these jobs — especially those working for the oil companies — require grueling hours and physical labor — from lifting equipment to getting dirty performing maintenance on oil wells. As a truck driver or oil field worker, in order to earn all of the coveted overtime pay, many employees only get 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night and then have to go straight back to work.
"We work insane hours," said Benjamin Lukes, who gets an average of four hours of sleep a night as a hydraulic fracturer in Williston but earns about $100,000 a year — thanks in large part to overtime. "Over this two week cycle, I've worked 220 to 230 hours. We get more overtime than straight pay with all those hours, and that's where the tradeoff is."
But perhaps one of the biggest issues for workers here is housing. Those who don't line up a place to live before moving out to North Dakota typically find themselves homeless after they arrive.
The thousands of workers and job seekers that flocked to the oil patch have led to a housing shortage in many of the towns in the area, forcing many newcomers and workers to sleep in their car (or in an RV) in the local Walmart parking lot or at a rest stop or campground. It's a grim prospect no matter how you slice it, but even more grim as the North Dakota winter — with its close to negative 40-degree temperatures — fast approaches.
Six-figure salaries, but homeless
If you do find an apartment, it will be pricey. The surge in demand has caused rents to triple in some cases. Single-bedroom apartments are currently going for more than $1,500 a month, while two-to three-bedroom apartments are renting for upwards of $3,000. Often times, however, you won't find a place to live until you find a job. Some of the oil companies have built "man camps," or dorm-style housing facilities (some of which are made out of cargo containers), for their workers, but there aren't enough rooms for everyone.
In any of these living situations, it's not easy to bring your family along for the ride. So many workers end up leaving their loved ones behind. There is also a question of job security. It's hard to know just how long the oil boom will last. Some estimates say the boom could go on for another three decades, while others say it could just be a matter of a few years before declining oil prices or a new regulatory environment could put an end to the boom that has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal job environment.
Click here to visit CNN Money…


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Jurors unable to break a deadlock on two of three murder charges against a Coachella man today will resume deliberations on Tuesday.
Angel Anthony Esparza, 30, is charged with the killing of 16-year-old Angel Luna in Coachella on Dec. 3, 2009, and the deaths of farm workers Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia in Thermal on Dec. 19 that year.
Jurors announced Wednesday they were deadlocked 6-6 on two of the murder charges, and Riverside County Superior Court Judge James Hawkins asked them to keep working.
Deliberations continued Wednesday and today, but jurors reported no progress in reaching a unanimous decision as to Esparza's guilt in two killings.
No information was made public about the murder count on which the jurors rendered a verdict. The judge sealed that information.
Deliberations will continue Tuesday. Courts are dark Monday for the Cesar Chavez Day, when the late labor leader would have turned 87.
In addition to three counts of murder, Esparza faces special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder during the commission of a robbery and murder in the commission of a kidnapping. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
The two cases were filed separately and a judge ordered them
consolidated in November.
``Three head shots, three execution-style murders -- all three at the hands of the defendant,'' Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva told jurors in his opening statement earlier this month.
Luna dropped off some homework on the afternoon of Dec. 3 at Coachella Valley Adult School near Eighth Street and Orchard Avenue, which is near the Boys & Girls Club in Coachella. Surveillance video showed him riding his bike to the school and entering a classroom, as well as a ``shadowy figure'' in the backyard of a home on Ninth Street, Silva said.
``I'll argue that that figure is Angel Esparza, waiting for Mr. Luna,'' he said.
Witnesses saw Luna with someone wearing a black ``hoodie'' sweatshirt near or at the Boys & Girls Club, and two volleys of shots were heard, according to the prosecution.
After the gunfire, Esparza ran into a home on Ninth Street and asked a
woman for a ride, Silva said.
En route to Indio, the woman heard Esparza say, ``That fool was dead before he hit the ground,'' the prosecutor said.
He said Esparza saw reports of Luna's killing the next morning and told another woman with whom he spent the night that ``someone ratted me out.''
Christina Zapata and her daughter, Cecilia Morin, let Esparza take refuge in their trailer in Thermal and, on Dec. 19, Juarez and Garcia arrived with plans to pay to have sex with Morin, according to the prosecutor.
As the men were undressing in Morin's bedroom, Esparza burst in with a gun, ordered them onto the floor, took their cash and ATM cards, bound them and put duct tape over their eyes and mouths, Silva said.
Zapata and Esparza drove the victims to a vineyard at Avenue 58 and Pierce Street, he said.
``Christina Zapata will tell you the defendant dragged both individuals into the vineyard, and you'll hear they were never seen alive again,'' he said.
A boyfriend of Morin's mother drove Esparza, who had a can of gasoline with him, to the vineyard, Silva said. The next morning, the men's bodies were found ``burned beyond recognition,'' he said. Both were shot in the head.
When Esparza was arrested Dec. 24, 2009 in San Bernardino, authorities found a gun with ballistic characteristics that matched the one used to kill Garcia and a black ``hoodie,'' Silva said.
Morin and Zapata each pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder last year in exchange for sentences of 15 years to life in prison.
Defense attorney John Patrick Dolan said Esparza did run into Luna the day the teen was killed, but had no reason to hurt the boy.
After the shooting, witnesses told authorities they saw some people run to a vehicle, and Esparza, also a witness, ran because he was on parole, Dolan said.
"You will find there is no physical evidence in the area where Angel Luna was shot that relates to Angel Esparza,'' Dolan said in his opening statement. ``You'll learn there is no eyewitness that says, `Angel Esparza is the person who committed the shooting.'''


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Robert Fischell
Why you should listen
Robert Fischell began his work in space development, and created a 16-satellite system called Transit that was a key precursor to GPS. When he turned his attention to medical devices, he had the key insight that a pacemaker is like a tiny satellite within the body. The medical devices he has pioneered -- starting with a pacemaker that didn't require a new battery every two years -- have saved thousands of lives and improved countless more.
Fischell's true genius is his ability to see across technologies and sciences. His uncanny intuition allowed him to invent special features of the implantable cardiac defibrillator that has saved more than 60,000 lives -- followed by the implantable insulin pump, coronary stents used to open clogged arteries, and two extraordinary feedback systems that provide early warning of epileptic seizures and heart attacks. Though he is officially retired, he continues to create new devices to treat a wide range of ailments, from heart attacks to chronic migraines.
Accepting his 2005 TED Prize, Fischell made three wishes. First, he wished for help in developing an implantable device to treat brain disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder; second, he asked for help in designing his portable Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS), a drug-less migraine treatment -- for the latest news on this device, see the website for his company Neuralieve. For his third wish, Fischell took on the medical malpractice system, which, he believes, puts doctors at the mercy of lawyers and insurers.
What others say
"As an inventor, Fischell sees connections and analogies that most people do not see." — Discover


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When I print out an eMail, I find the text size is too small to read. How may I increase the font size? I use Windows 7 with Office 2007 and Outlook as my eMail client.
How can I increase the font size of an eMail for printing?
Comments for this Question are closed.
Answers (2)
Increasing the font size n yahoo email does not translate in to larger letters when printing the email
Increase font size in Outlook 2007: CTRL+] or CTRL+SHIFT+>
Alternatively, you should be able to highlight all of the text in the body of the email and adjust the font size before printing.


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The deadly storms that left large swaths of the East Coast without power just before the Fourth of July holiday provided an uncomfortable lesson to hotel guests like Ken White: Always call to confirm your reservation, especially when the place you're visiting is reeling from a natural disaster.
White lives in Charlottesville, Va., an area that was hit hard by the hurricane-force winds. Many residents were struggling to stay cool in record-breaking heat, and checking into an air-conditioned hotel nearby was a popular solution.
Maybe a little too popular.
"I made reservations at the Hilton Garden Inn for Sunday and Monday night," says White, a college marketing professor. "My credit card was charged, and I was given a confirmation number by Expedia."
When he tried to pick up his room key, a hotel representative said White didn't have a reservation and turned him away. The Hilton, like all the other hotels in the area, was fully booked.
Eric Pfister, the general manager at the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlottesville, confirmed the details of White's story. Pfister said that on June 30, his 124-room hotel quickly sold out.
The Hilton Garden Inn connects to Expedia through an electronic reservations system, and it also receives faxes from the online travel agency as a backup. Hilton's system was showing the property as fully booked for Sunday and Monday nights, but for some reason Expedia didn't get the message. It continued to confirm reservations and send backup faxes, which were piling up fast.
Hilton tried to contact Expedia, asking it to stop accepting new reservations. Eventually it did, but the hotel had to turn away nine guests the next day, including White.
When a hotel can't accommodate a guest because it's overbooked, the standard industry practice is to send that person to a comparable hotel and to pay for the first night's reservation. That would have happened for White and the other displaced customers, except that there were no available rooms in the region.
In such cases, a hotel's options are limited, says Stephen Barth, a professor of hospitality law at the University of Houston and founder of HospitalityLawyer.com. A property can still accommodate a guest by setting up a rollaway bed in the lobby, which sometimes happens during a natural disaster. It can also rent rooms in eight-hour shifts, giving guests a chance to freshen up, or it can allow them to use the showers at the pool.
The best way to avoid being turned away, he says, is to take a couple of preventive measures. White could have sidestepped the situation by booking directly through the Hilton website or by calling its reservations number.
Also, Barth says, "always contact the hotel and confirm the reservation." That's particularly important when you're booking through a third party, such as an online travel agency. When your stay falls during a major event, double-checking is a must.
Had White called the Hilton Garden Inn, he would have known that he didn't have a room, and he could have phoned Expedia to rebook him elsewhere.
Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Read more tips at elliott.org.