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Posts Tagged '.NET'
Introducing .NET Standard 2.0
Posted November 3, 2016on:
- In: .NET | Frameworks | Microsoft
- Leave a Comment
Recently Immo Landwerth post about .NET Standard 2.0 appeared in the web. Briefly, it is the unification of three major.NET Framework branches: .NET Framework, .NET Core and Xamarin. Simply saying, it is an API set which will be implemented by all platforms. This will join up the .NET platforms and stave off future fragmentation. This means that developers don't need to master three different base class libraries to write code that runs across all of them. As long as industry is rapidly changing new .NET features will be designed by Microsoft or someone else.
A significant change is that .NET Standard will replace Portable Class Libraries (PCLs) in order to build multi-platform .NET libraries. Although the gist will be the same for developers, but implementation will be different.
The .NET Standard will include two types of APIs, the ones which are absolutely necessary to be implemented by all platforms, and optional APIs, which are not obligatory to be implemented. The last will be available as individual NuGet packages.
The APIs that can not be implemented on all platforms can be divided into two groups: specific APIs for each runtime and specific APIs for each OS. There are three ways to deal with unrealizable API. The first one is to make API unavailable. Secondly, you can make API available, but throw PlatformNotSupportedException on the platforms where there is no implementation. And also you can simulate API (as Mono does, partially simulating the registry as .ini files).
.NET Standard uses all of these variations and their combination, depending on the situation. Technologies that are available only on certain platforms will be implemented as NuGet packages. If it is unreal to make a stand-alone package, then there are options: throw an exception or simulate API.
There are many versions of .NET Standard, which are compatible with different platforms:
In this table the arrows are showing the platform ability to support a higher version of .NET Standard. For example, .NET Core 1.0 supports the .NET Standard version 1.6, which is the reason why arrows point to the right for the lower versions 1.0 – 1.5.
As you can see, the 4.6.1 framework version meets twice. With this version exactly .NET Standard 2.0 will be compatible, as well as future versions of Xamarin and .NET Core. There was a roll back of changes that were included in versions 1.5 and 1.6. This was done in order to support backward compatibility. Newer versions of .NET Standard should contain previous and new features. During the analysis of NuGet.org only 6 packages with .NET Standard 1.5/1.6 target platform were found, the author of which is not Microsoft, so it was decided to take 4.6.1 as a basis, and to offer the authors of these 6-packs to update them.
PCL is replaced by .NET Standard, but you are still able to work with it. You can make a reference from one .NET Standard library to another, or to PCL library.
Graphically, this looks as follows:
In addition, it is possible to make a reference to a conventional .NET library using the compatibility shim.
But it will only work in case all APIs in this .NET library are supported by .NET Standard. In this case it will be much easier to apply the references to existing libraries.
The following image shows the main APIs of .NET Standard 2.0
Opportunities which are likely to appear in .NET Core are quite predictable as long as this brunch has less possibilities than others.
As for Xamarin, many of these APIs have been included in the release of Cycle 8 / Mono 4.6.0
Source: .Net Blog.
What do you think about these new features? Please feel free to share your thoughts with us. Thank you in advance!
Darya Bertosh
Business Development Manager
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Altabel Group
Professional Software Development
E-mail: email@example.com
Sitefinity & Sitecore: let's try to choose more proper one for your business needs.
Posted March 9, 2016on:
- In: .NET | Web
- Leave a Comment
Content Management Systems help to control and manage the content of any website where business is efficiently managed. .NET CMS gives you the power you need to develop high-concept, beautiful websites with a strong backbone which gives an experience working with .NET platform used in various kinds of business.
Sitecore CMS and Sitefinity CMS are two content management systems based upon ASP.NET framework. We have chosen to focus on these systems as they are flexible, functional and easy in using. They are proved to be compatible on multiple devices, albeit using slightly different mechanisms, and customizable for the needs of differing countries. Also they are able to deliver vast amounts of information as part of logical information architecture.
Both of these CMSs have similar features and can meet various business needs with different requirements. Websites get more customized, gain more potential and get more interactive with these CMSs.
Hope the information in this article will assist you with the choice of either Sitecore or Sitefinity as more appropriate option for you.
Sitecore is a flexibile, scalabile and secure CMS, used by many leading global organizations such as Experian, Toshiba, Canon and Nestlé. The CMS incorporates a powerful desktop interface that is controlled by a fully-customizable role-based system. This desktop is very similar in look to a Windows desktop, which makes it easy for users new to Sitecore to pick up and learn the system. There are also multiple applications, like in Windows, aimed at specific tasks such as editing content, managing users, monitoring campaigns, setting up workflows, etc.
Sitecore enables web content editors and marketers to have full control over all aspects of their website from social integration and blog posts to advanced personalization, e-commerce and more.
Points in favor:
• The possibility to customize content based on user activity, such as completing a form;
• The opportunity to add an engagement metric, allowing developers to give visitors a value based on how much they've engaged with your solution;
• Sitecore CMS makes it easy to create world-class websites with its open architecture and rich development environment and tools;
• The function to send triggered emails (automated marketing messages based on a prospect's behaviors) direct from the platform;
• On top of the CMS foundation, organizations can optimize the experience of their customers through multivariate testing, personalization and engagement automation;
• The CMS capabilities offer complete customization while maintaining data integrity so that organizations can manage large amounts of content efficiently not just on the web presence but across email, social, mobile and print;
• The ability to analyze the journey in either a campaign or a journey view, giving full visibility of the value to relevant sources;
• Sitecore CMS helps you to reach your customers in their preferred format with functionality to deliver content on multiple devices, including mobile.
Points against:
• If you do not have developers with .NET experience or operate on a small scale, Sitecore may not be the most appropriate option for your needs;
• The email marketing capabilities are still maturing along with volume capacity. The basics are solid, but the more advanced features still have some caveats in their function;
• When a platform offers an immense amount of features the usability becomes more challenging. For those organizations that can truly take advantage of the enterprise-level capabilities, proper training and onboarding (organizational change management) is a must-have in order to see the vision fulfilled;
• Sitecore CMS has a licensing cost. Pricing is based on the number of Sitecore Server installations, as well as the number of simultaneous users logged in (such as developers, designers, content editors, etc.).
Sitefinity CMS is used for the construction and management of commercial websites, community portals, intranets, etc. Different successful organizations such as NASA, Chevron, Expedia, PepsiCo, Panasonic, Roche and more, rely on this CMS to optimize customer experiences across multiple digital channels. Sitefinity is engineered with flexibility and extensibility in mind to give developers the freedom they need to integrate legacy applications or use custom 3rd party controls and modules.
This CMS doesn't require any special skills. You don't even need to know any web development languages to use this system. But if you want to customize the system like our experts, then some of the languages you'd need to know.
Points in favor:
• Content Authors and Marketers need the ability to change and edit content on the fly. With Inline Editing feature you can create and edit content right on the page;
• Sitefinity's page editor makes it easy to create rich, dynamic content by interacting with user-friendly interfaces. Content is created by simply dragging & dropping widgets onto a page;
• This CMS makes websites fully accessible on other platforms such as tablets and smartphones, which is really useful nowadays;
• Sitefinity provides a rich toolset for automatically connecting visitors with personalized content showing the right content to the right person by defining your audience, transforming the content, and testing the result;
• The multisite management makes it easy for organizations to manage a collection of websites and microsites through a centralized interface. Content authors can easily contribute to multiple websites, or utilize content from other websites. Users, roles, content, permissions, templates, images, and others can be effortlessly shared or synchronized between sites;
• Extensive Out-of-the-Box Features: there is an extensive toolset for addressing the challenges associated with managing a modern website. Solutions for mobile, email campaigns, social media, ecommerce, blogs, forums, search, and much more are instantly accessible. This allows organizations to focus on what to build instead of how to build;
• Sitefinity also provides inbuilt Search Engine Optimization (SEO) while enabling you to customize basic meta-data such as the title and page descriptions.
Points against:
• While the documentation is available, sometimes it isn't extensive enough for some of the advanced concepts because it is of a quite basic level;
• Sitefinity provides a high level of granularity to customize the system, but sometimes this is a bit overkilled. For example, e-mail notifications are disabled by default in the installation system. If you want to see e-mail notifications after a form was submitted, you have to update your system settings, notification profile, and also enable notifications for forms;
• This CMS works on a "feather" template that is supposed to be more bootstrap friendly, so ultimately you have to write some special template code. A large scale HTML mode could help with some updates;
• There is licensing fees. Sitefinity tailors their licensing toward different user bases. There's a free edition, a small business edition for companies who don't need to use a lot of the advanced features/modules, standard, and enterprise.
As we can see, there are various attributes of Sitefinity & Sitecore CMSs and the choice definitely depends on your preferences.
If you are not up to build very structured site we would like to recommend Sitefinity because you don't need any specific skills to work with this CMS. The licensing price seems good compared to others .NET CMS platforms and the out of the box features assist to get you up and running a site. The templating model is good and the extensible models aren't overly complicated to work with.
On the other hand if you have a relatively big website or host many websites Sitecore is better in this case because this CMS is the most effective when it's using as part of a full digital strategy, targeting content at your audience and using the personalization features to create real engaging websites. However in case your budget is limited and you have only a few sites to manage, this product is not the best option for you.
So wish you good luck with your own choice! I really hope this article was useful for you.
Also it will be nice to know your opinion. Which CMS do you use for your business? Which CMS do you think is more appropriate for your projects and why?
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
Evgeniya Chajkovskaya
Business Development Manager
Altabel Group
Professional Software Development
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Why is Sitecore getting so popular nowadays leaving Umbraco and Sharepoint behind?
Posted August 11, 2014on:
- In: .NET | ASP.NET | CMS | Microsoft | Open Source | Platforms | Sharepoint | Sitecore | Umbraco | Web
- 10 Comments
Sitecore's CMS flexibility, scalability and security make it an enterprise favorite, powering more than 32,000 websites around the world from financial powerhouses like American Express to some of the largest international sporting tournaments like Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Let's try to find out why Sitecore is so popular nowadays especially among companies which have got high traffic sites.
What is Sitecore and why it is a choice for so many companies and businesses?
From the start, Sitecore's architecture is able to meet every unique business need with speed, flexibility and dependability. The large variety of organizations are using Sitecore's CMS solutions – companies (more than 3,000 of the world's leading brands such as Experian, Toshiba, Canon, Nestlé, American Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, easyJet, Heineken, and Microsoft), schools, and government agencies all over the world in every vertical sector are leveraging from Sitecore CMS to create business advantage and online success.
Sitecore is one of the leading enterprise-level content management systems built on ASP.NET, enabling web content editors and marketers to have full control over all aspects of their website from social integration and blog posts to advanced personalization, e-commerce and more. Launched in 2001, Sitecore has used the .NET platform from the beginning of the language itself, and has been growing in popularity over the last few years. Nowadays Sitecore is a quite popular CMS in the U.S.A. and Western Europe.
Sitecore CMS brings the power of personalization and conversation management right in the hands of your marketers and business users. The CMS incorporates a powerful desktop interface that is controlled by a fully-customizable role-based system. This desktop is very similar in look and feel to a Windows desktop, which makes it easy for users new to Sitecore to pick up and learn the system. Developers will find Sitecore's powerful technology platform and open API architecture provides them the flexibility and scalability they need.
10 main reasons why companies should use Sitecore CMS
Some of the top features of Sitecore CMS include solutions that offer better insight to website user behavior as well as tools to increase site visitors:
1) Insight to Website Traffic Conversion;
2) Targeted Content Based on User Behavior;
3) Repurpose Content for Different Devices;
4) Easily Integrate with Third Party Tools;
5) Improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO);
6) Fast Integration with Microsoft Technology;
7) Highly Scalable;
8) Intuitive and User-Friendly Design;
9) Optimize Web Experience with Multivariate Testing;
10) Web 2.0 and Social Media Integration.
.NET-based CMSs: Sitecore, SharePoint, Umbraco – how to choose the right one for your business?
Comparing Sitecore and SharePoint
Firstly, let's look at SharePoint and Sitecore, as it is often asked about the possibility of using Sitecore for an intranet or SharePoint for a public-facing website. While the idea of using one technology solution to solve both problems sounds promising, there are many things you should consider before limiting yourself.
Here are some thoughts in which cases you should choose Sitecore CMS for your projects and in when it is better to stick to SharePoint (these points are based on experts' views as well as on Altabel's own experience):
- it is better to use Sitecore for a platform to customize the web user experience based on non-authenticated users;
- choose Sitecore for a marketing driven platform;
- for an external content focus, choose Sitecore;
- choose SharePoint for an IT driven platform;
- it makes sense to choose SharePoint for a collaboration platform;
- for an internal content focus with enterprise level security requirements, choose SharePoint.
Following the beaten path, many companies continue using SharePoint for creating public facing sites – they are well familiar with it and have already invested a lot of time, money, and knowledge in SharePoint. But actually it should be kept in mind that SharePoint was not developed for such sites so it's worth adopting another CMS to develop them. There are some advantages Sitecore offers over SharePoint as a CMS for a public facing website:
- Sitecore allows high flexibility for content editors and a logical hierarchical structure;
- SharePoint is very limited to List Viewsfor content entry;
- Sitecore's Web Forms for Marketers makes building forms and triggering goals simple;
- Frontend development for SharePoint is restricted and requires a lot of customized work, Sitecore on the other hand, is free of restrictions and able to do anything you want;
- Sitecore offers fantastic technical support;
- Sitecore offers easy multilingual configuration;
- A/B testing is included with Sitecore, a must for a modern website. SharePoint does not come with any kind of A/B testing;
- Sitecore's DMS (Digital Marketing Suite) – SharePoint has nothing like this. Any website that has marketing in mind can greatly benefit from this tool included with Sitecore;
- Sitecore is developer-friendly – Development in Sitecore is much easier and requires a lot less specific knowledge. More developers are able to produce a better solution, faster, cheaper;
- Sitecore has a clear line between data and presentation making content easier to manage.
The bottom line is simple: If you're looking to build a public internet site on the Microsoft platform, SharePoint makes sense if you meet a certain set of criteria. But Sitecore provides an extremely compelling alternative that, from a business owner's perspective, offers superior tools for engaging with the customer.
Comparing Sitecore and Umbraco
Sitecore CMS and Umbraco CMS are two leading content management systems based upon Microsoft's ASP.NET framework. Their flexibility, functionality, integration capabilities and ease of use is why many have chosen to focus their technical expertise on these systems.
Let's have a look at the similarities between Sitecore CMS and Umbraco CMS:
- Easy integration with Microsoft Office;
- Endless expansion possibilities;
- Easy-to use User Interfaces (UI);
- Design layouts are separated from the content;
- Due to the large open-source Umbraco community and the expert development teams within the Sitecore network both CMS platforms are constantly evolving at a rapid pace;
- Easily scalable and customizable through modules (Sitecore) or packages (Umbraco);
- Can be integrated with your internal systems like ERP and CRM;
- Comprehensive documentation and online help & guidance.
And now let's get acquainted with the differences between these two CMS:
– Sitecore is an enterprise solution whereas Umbraco is suited to small-medium sized businesses;
– Sitecore is a license-based product. This means a license fee is paid to acquire it. Licensing options can be chosen, taking in consideration a number of factors, making it possible to use Sitecore in a variety of projects: from small non-profits, with websites running on a single server, to big corporations with millions of visits per day;
– Umbraco is an open-source product, meaning there is no license fee;
– In both North America and Europe, you can easily find an existing Sitecore customer. This is very helpful to further increase adoption as it means that new customers have some experience they can tap into. In addition, Sitecore has many government references where Umbraco has almost none;
– Sitecore 7.1/7.2 has advanced feature set;
– Sitecore is an established global player; much more so than Umbraco. Sitecore is in particular strong in the important and highly competitive US and UK markets.
Our opinion is that if you do a proper CMS vendor evaluation, you will probably find that the license cost is only a fraction of the overall project costs. Your criteria should really be to look at which system will meet your requirements most efficiently.
If you are looking for a .NET-based CMS, all these products will work – but right now, at Altabel we would lean toward Sitecore when looking for a pure CMS that provides fast development time, stable platform and ease of use for non-technical content creators.
Of course, each organization is different, and it makes sense to check out the products and run them through your technology selection process to determine which is best for you.
Hope you have found the article interesting and helpful for you.
Also it would be nice to hear your opinion and practical experience. What CMSs do you use and for what kind of projects? What is your favorite CMS and why?
Thank you for your attention and looking forward to your comments.
Marina Karabanova
- In: .NET | IT Start Up | IT Trends | Microsoft
- 6 Comments
Over the years dynamic languages such as Python and Ruby have become cherished by startups. As for .Net it is more rarely heard to be used by startups. That's interesting indeed, because this platform is definitely bigger than most of the popular ones.
So I wonder why a platform as widely adopted and supported as .NET isn't more visible in startup culture. Let's try figuring out the main arguments in favor and against making .Net a startup technical choice.
1. Community culture
Some people say the main reason is the culture of the .NET community itself, not anything specific to the platform. Being centered mostly around the needs of enterprise market .NET developers' concerns are often regarding supporting legacy systems, building enterprise architectures, large systems for supporting business processes. This implies solving problems which are not so relevant for startups at least at their initial point.
As for members of the startup community, they fuss over different issues – concurrency, experience design, supporting multiple clients and browsers, etc.
As a result the startup community and the .NET community don't overlap as much as they do for other technologies. That's why startup founders don't get much exposure to .Net and don't think of it as an applicable tool for their purposes. The same way many .Net developers who want to work for hot startups don't have as many opportunities to do so unless they abandon the platform for a more startup-friendly one or start a company themselves.
So platform doesn't always dictate its use – that's people who make the choice. Enterprise and startups aren't mutually exclusive – they're just different stages in the evolution of software, and there's no reason why the startup community shouldn't look at .NET as an attractive starting point for a new business.
2. Startup tech compatibility
A startup is a risky venture with no guarantee of success. So tech startups seek advantages in order to succeed. Hence startups take what big enterprises consider risky bets on technology. This objective can be achieved by using technology that is popular in startup environment.
Many features of .NET, facilitating the productivity of big companies, are not always useful to startups. There is too much choice of implementation methods. If anything, web startups are looking to have this choice taken away – their technology choices come from the subset that is built for the web.
Also it is said that innovation is quicker with other ecosystems which have a bigger set of libraries and tools. As for .Net there are a few open source projects however most of them are pretty much an implementation of concepts that have already been implemented for a while in the Java world, for example.
3. Open source vs proprietary
Although many startups don't mind paying for tools and services, most of them still pick things based on cost. For a long time the "enterprise" level tools, services, databases, etc were hardly affordable by startups. That's why startups adopt so much open source.
It's also hard to justify the use of proprietary software from a business perspective. If you want to be acquired it is wise to develop your product using an open stack rather than Microsoft's.
However luckily for many startups Microsoft saw a huge value in giving their stuff away to startups and startups have benefited greatly. Microsoft has been running their Bizspark program for several years, which eliminates most of the startup costs normally associated with employing a .NET framework. To get into the BizSpark program you just need to get checked by BizSpark team if your startup is eligible (developing a real product). Then you'll get free licenses to basically every product they make, including SQL Server, and a free MSDN gold subscription, for 3 years. They figure 3 years is long enough for you to get going so after that they want you to pay for new licenses. The great part is that they let you keep the licenses you're already using. So Microsoft has basically taken the cost factor completely out of the equation for new startups.
4. Velocity vs performance
Some people say that it's all about the velocity. If you agree with an assumption that a startup goal is to find a niche vs build a product, then the goal of a startup is to learn about the market, customers, and product needs as quickly as possible. Python, Js, Ruby, etc allow you to iterate quickly without a lot of infrastructure and boilerplate. However a company that has already has a market has a little different goal, for them the objective is to build a stable product that they can maintain.
Some people say that .Net is not suitable for quick changes. This is a pretty outdated view of C# these days, it's actually fairly easy to write extremely terse code with. As an added bonus refactoring is so incredibly easy compared to JS, Ruby, Python, etc. that it's ideal for rapidly switching directions in code as you can refactor so fearlessly without being slowed down by massive amounts of tests. Unfortunately what's bad about .Net is the tooling and the supporting ecosystem.
Python is much better suited to quick prototypes that can be fleshed out into a reasonably reliable product without too many headaches. The key difference comes when you have to change features mid-stream. The lack of strict typing and interfaces means you can add, change, and remove features much quicker than C# for example. On top of that, you just write fewer actual lines of code to get the same thing done, although sometimes readability can suffer if you get too concise. There is a price to be paid with Python and Ruby though and performance is the biggest one.
5. Team and project size
The team and project size always matters. So when the solution is being built with a small team, then it is easier to use something like Python. Obviously the goal is to be fast to develop in and have a bunch of libraries to be used. On the other hand when building something with a big team, you feel like using something like C#. In this case it keeps it safe to develop in and easy to catch mistakes. Any optional documentation provided by a developer is incomplete. On the contrary the quality level of the available .Net documentation is outstanding.
However if the company is starting as very small at the initial point, it hopefully grows and builds up quite a sizeable codebase by some point. Python, JS & Ruby are fine for small programs but anything more than that and they become their own enemies because the programs they make are quite brittle.
6. Scalability
The common opinion is that .Net scales well.So, if your startup does make it, you'll probably have a much easier time scaling the .Net stack than you would with say Ruby or PHP.
Conclusion: it's all about stereotyping
Eventually, I found different opinions on my question of .Net being not so popular with startups such as "platform lock-in," "no open standards," "licensing costs." Sure, these are issues preventing many developers from adopting .NET in the startup space, but not enough to bar all of them from using it. Most of the arguments are just stereotypes that can be dispelled under closer examination.
All languages have strengths and weaknesses. For a startup, you need to do due-diligence and research what the right language to use for your idea will be because recoding in a different language can get costly.
So do you use .Net in your startup projects? Please share your feedback and experiences with us.
Aliona Kavalevich
- In: E-commerce | Magento
- 1 Comment
If you follow our blog regularly you probably remember that my last post was dedicated to Sitecore CMS. This time I decided to represent for your review one more powerful at the same time arguable CMS – Magento. Magento as well as Sitecore CMS is meant to build big things but this time in the world of ecommerce: helps to create online stores.
As the field of ecommerce is tending to grow and develop continuously IT solutions try to meet the needs and offer the best solutions to make it extremely innovative, make the managing process easier for holders and of course attract as many customers as it is possible. There are many CMSs for this purpose like PrestaShop, OpenCart, osCommerce, phpShop, Spree, nopCommerce and others. The choice of CMS depends on what kind of eCommerce/business you intend to go on. You need to take into account such aspects as the size of your firm, whether you haveB2B, B2C or you're retail, what management system you use or you will use ecommerce platform for that, connection of you websites with other sales channels, your programming skills: PHP, .NET, etc.
So as you may see there are many CMS available today, the choice depends on what type of business you have and type of software you use. Nevertheless, beyond the rich variety Magento is considered to be one of the front runners.
Almost all claims that Magento is rather complicated system as it is built on Zend framework; however has a lot positive aspects. Generally it is characterized as big, complicated and powerful CMS/platform that provide excellent and multiply options to grow you website.
Magento is also very serious CMS and there is no doubt that it is not for everybody. It is tool for professional rather than for amateur.
-It rather complicated to use and work on it for its coding style, so be prepared to spend/charge from your development team twice more hours than usual. Also if you're not experienced in coding or working with this CMS we would offer to hire skillful developer/development team with proven past experience to help you with that. Based on our experience working with Magento you should be prepared that the development process could take much more time as you will need to learn all the curves that CMS has.
– Magento is extremely powerful offering a wide range of customization options. It is easy-editable gives an opportunity to improve the code regularly by making updates and fixing bugs. And what is important here is that code itself doesn't require any changes!
– One more aspect is the rich variety of features that makes Magento so flexible. Let's now review the key features of Magento:
- International support – multiple languages and currencies, list of allowed countries for registration, purchasing and shipping, localization;
- Site Management – control of multiple web sites, multiple languages.
- Catalog Browsing – easy navigation, advanced product filtering system, product comparison.
- Catalog Management – inventory management, batch import and export of products, different tax rates per location, additional product attributes.
- Analytics and Reporting – integration with Google Analytics and offers different reports.
- Payment – different payment methods: credit cards, PayPal, Authorize.net, Google Checkout, ePay, etc.
- Marketing Promotions and Tools – – coupons, discounts and different promotion options.
- Encryption Key – security storage of the sensitive data in the script's database.
It is also scalable and it grows with your business. That's the point why it is mostly recommended for mid to large size vendors.
Additionally it should be said that Magento team offers 24/7 live support. Of course it is not super fast but at least it works and you never know when you will need immediate help. Moreover it has video tutorials, good knowledge base, webimars, user guides and support forum. As Magento has three versions the opportunities of each version differs: Community Edition (downloadable version, you will need to find hosting and security for your store), Magento Go (cloud based of hosted Magento CE, preferably for small retailers) and Enterprise one, the last is complete ecommerce solution, fully supported and it is not cheap. Here it should be noted about technical support: Community version has an access only to the forums that are not so active mainly because Magento is relatively new and don't have yet many followers. So there is no guarantee that you get an advice you need.
And at last as Magento is open source CMS it is free and you don't spend your money to download it. But you will need to invest if you want to have store live.
At the same time (there is always the other sideJ) there are gaps (that make this platform a bit vulnerable and look unfinished) that need to be improved too. We have a made a short list of them:
- Slow – Many reports that the software is clunky and suffers from slow load times.
- Expensive – Even it is open source and free it will end up costing you after you add up hosting, security, and developer fees.
- No Customer Support – Magento CE users have no access to technical assistance with the exception of a forum.
- Requires Coding Experience – it requires users to have technical skills and experience in order create and launch stores. It is not for amateurs or hobbyists.
Some more aspects to consider:
- Confusing and hard to learn.
- Difficult to implement templates.
- Not much themes to choose.
- Software updates don't work always properly.
To use Magento or not?
In my opinion Magento is proved to take one of the leading positions and has potential to save it. It has many positive aspects and if your business is well developed and you have large list of items to put online, you need to consider Magento and invest money in it. But of course be prepared for serious work with all the curves if you don't have much knowledge in programming or take care to choose the development team wisely. And certainly don't forget about tech support, Magento CE don't have it.
In case you still considering whether adopt Magento for your business or not, feel free to share your personal experience with us leaving your comments below or contact me directly if you need assistance with your ecommerce shop to discuss the details.
Thank you for your attention!
Katerina Bulavskaya
Business Development Manager
Altabel Group
Professional Software Development
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
- In: .NET | Cloud
- Leave a Comment
Developers are in a unique position to educate and to capitalize on cloud opportunities. Unlike learning new programming techniques or Frameworks, cloud learning moves beyond development. There are infrastructure aspects to consider as well as potential organizational process and policy changes. However, developers know the application and cloud administration is a much lower bar, than, for example network administration. If you're looking for a strategy to follow to cloud enlightenment; you're reading the right article.
Give the Cloud a Whirl
When it comes to the cloud, don't wait for the storm to hit you, but rather educate yourself; there is no substitute for experimentation and hands-on experience. Start by separating reality from marketing. Almost every cloud vendor offers a free trial. For example: Microsoft Azure offers a free trial. If you are truly new to cloud development; imagine borrowing a company server for 3 months; only there is no setup time. Just turn in on and away you go.
Given that experimentation time is limited; go for breadth rather than depth. Get a taste of everything. What most developers find is; after some initial orientation and learning the experience becomes what they already know. For example: Azure has an ASP.NET based hosting model called Web Roles. After configuring and learning Web Role instrumentation, the development experience is ASP.NET. Learning Azure Web Roles amounts to learning some new administration and configuration skills; coupled with a handful of new classes. The rest of what you need to know is nothing new if you've done ASP.NET!
Developer must keep their time constrained. Struggling for hours with something new is often not worth the effort. One should question wide adoption of something that will be difficult to work with. Cloud offerings are typically not niche or differentiating skills like, for example, SQL Server tuning.
Whatever cloud option a developer starts with; understand the authentication options. Intranet developers typically take authentication for granted. ASP.NET makes authentication look easy. Consider all the moving parts involved in making authentication automatic and secure. Understanding authentication is especially important if parts of an application will live within the organization's datacenter and within the cloud provider.
Finally, look for the right opportunities to apply these new skills.
Navigating the Fog
Most developers are adept at picking when to jump on new technology and when to pull back. Unlike adopting, for example, a new Web Services approach; adopting a cloud option entails learning a little more administration. The cloud can give a developer total control, but the cost is learning a bit more administration.
Developers may find themselves in new territory here. Typically a "hardware person" selects a machine and a "network person" selects and configures a firewall. Cloud portals make network and server configuration easier, but the portal doesn't eliminate the configuration role. The public cloud handles the hardware; but the developer must choose, for example, how many; CPUs, servers, and load balancers will be needed. This lowers the administration bar, but also might place the burden on the developer.
The cloud will not be the right option for every project. Give the cloud a fair chance. Decision makers may have two reactions to cloud; outright rejection or wild-eyed embrace. Neither reaction is healthy. There is middle-ground. Don't let unrealistic expectations set by marketing brochures guide the first project. A developer's experiences described earlier in the article will be helpful here. Set the bar low. Make the first experience a good experience.
Supplementing with the Cloud
One potential approach is to supplement with the cloud. Let the cloud handle some part of the application. For example: requirements may dictate a web page to handle user registration. Registrations often have deadlines and, given human nature, people often procrastinate. Registration traffic is likely to spike the week or a few days before the deadline. Rather than purchasing servers to accommodate the spike; leaving usage idle for most of the year, do registration in the cloud. Dial up more servers the week before registrations are due and dial the server could back down the week after registrations are due.
Aside from technical change; cloud adoption may require organizational change.
Clouds Don't Work in a Vacuum
I would bet good money that most developers reading this article have no idea which ports in their organization are closed to incoming TCP/IP connections. However knowing who to ask is far more important than what is known. In some sense every organization is its own private cloud. Networking professionals have been connecting things together longer than developers. Internet performance is considerably different than Intranet performance. Cultivate relationships with whoever operates your Firewall.
Passing through a Firewall is overhead. Your organization's infrastructure may not be cloud ready. Though if your network people banter about DMZs; chances are your organization's infrastructure is probably cloud ready. As stated earlier authentication is important to cover; forcing users to authenticate multiple times within an application is intolerable to most users.
Budgeting for servers may be different than budgeting for compute cycles. There may be concern over whether compute cycles will amount to more than purchasing a server or two. There is no shortcut here. Just like any other budgeting a developer must do the math. Again, this may be new territory for developers. Typically developers aren't asked how much storage an application requires. Typically the storage cost is spread throughout the projects an organization conducts. Budgeting difficulties may be a good reason not to do a project. The upside is; after doing the math a developer will likely find that costs are far below buying the hardware.
The cloud gives a developer control over all components from administration to assemblies. Added control comes with a price. A developer must venture into some new territory. This article provided a path to follow.
What is your opinion on cloud opportunities? Is it worth to give a trial? What is your personal experience in adopting a cloud option? Maybe you have some thoughts to share!
Polina Mikhan
Open-source .Net CMSs overview: DotNetNuke, Kentico, Umbraco, N2, Orchard, Sitefinity
Posted January 15, 2013on:
- In: .NET | CMS | Open Source | Umbraco
- 6 Comments
ASP.NET seems to have more and more quality options regarding extensible content management systems with each passing year. Depending on your needs, there are excellent options available both with commercial licenses or open source code.
In our blog, we have already tried to gather information about PHP and Java web frameworks, and in this article I`m going to present you a list of open-source CMS for .Net that, in our opinion, are worth taking a look at.
DotNetNuke (DNN for short)
If you are looking for something stable, DDN will be the answer. This CMS has been around for a while and DNN is probably the most well known and popular of all the .NET CMSs presented in my list. It`s is a web content management platform used to quickly develop and deploy interactive and dynamic web sites, intranets, extranets and web applications. It`s available in a free Community and subscription-based Professional, Elite and Elite Premier Editions. Community edition contains most of the features which comprise the other editions, but the support is left up to the community. The Professional Edition gives you support from the DotNetNuke Corporation along with a few more features, and for a (much) increased price, the Enterprise Edition gives you a few more features along with phone support.
Another Asp.net based CMS offering multiple licensing options is the Kentico CMS. The free license requires you to keep the logo and copyright information on your page, but the commercial versions offer support and allow you to work without the branding. This CMS allows building dynamic web sites, online shopping carts, intranets and web 2.0 community sites. Kentico CMS is designed to be easy to use for even novice users, so web development should go fast with someone who is experienced. It has powerful content editing interface – Kentico CMS Desk, which allows a user to edit content and preview it before publishing, also it`s easy to organize content into a tree hierarchy of documents (pages). The hierarchy (content tree) represents the site map and the navigation structure.
Umbraco CMS is free and open source Web CMS built on the Microsoft .NET Framework. It provides a full-featured web content management system that is easy to use, simple to customize and robust enough to run the largest sites such as wired.co.uk and asp.net. Umbraco CMS has recently become very popular with designers and web developers due to the open templating system and ability to build in guidelines that automatically format the content writers provide. Also, it uses ASP .NET "master pages" and XSLT, so there is no necessity to work with a heaped-together templating format. It's written in C# and is happy to work with a variety of databases, so hosting shouldn't be a problem.
N2 CMS is an open source lightweight CMS to create simple and user friendly website. N2 CMS contains a package of functional templates with News, Wiki, Photo Galleries, FAQs, RSS, Data Entry, Polls and more. Features include full control of content and nodes, drag&drop, versioning, wizards, export/import, security, globalization and more.
Orchard CMS is Microsoft's hand in the open source world. It`s community focused and is supported by full-time developers from Microsoft, that develop components and scripts that are open tools for developers to create applications. With the help of Orchard CMSO, it`s possible to create content-driven Websites. While this CMS may be a bit slow and some of the things you'd expect in a more robust CMS might be missing, there's several fantastic back-end features and it`s a CMS that is worth considering when choosing a technology for your project.
Sitefinity is the most modern .NET web content management platform available on the market today. It offers many enterprise features, and simple, easy-to-use online administration tools for managing your website. The new revolutionary User Interface is very task oriented and simplifies the user interaction with the system. Sitefinity has 6 available license editions ranging from free for personal use, to $499 for small businesses, and custom pricing for the Enterprise and Multi-Site Editions. Currently Sitefinity is responsible for powering thousands of websites. Some of their most prominent government websites include: The White House Federal Credit Union, United States Courts, Downtown Fort Worth, and the Canadian Securities Transition Office. Other customers include: Toyota, Vogue, IKEA, Chevron, Bayer, and Coca-Cola.
Certainly the list of CMSs can go further and further and every CMS has its advantages and disadvantages. I`ll highly appreciate if your share your opinions and experience on using these CMSs and adding your favourite CMSs to the list.
Anna Kozik


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Jaycee Magwood and Ashton Bell both scored two goals while Sky Brown earned the shutout as the Westman Wildcats blanked the visiting Yellowhead Chiefs 6-0 in Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League action on Tuesday night in Hartney.
Kenzie Robinson and Mackenzie Roach also scored for the Wildcats, who improved to 12-6-5. The Chiefs slipped to 12-10-1.
» Brandon Sun

subset: commoncrawl


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The Polygraph Unit provides polygraph services to the Indiana State Police and other state, county, and local law enforcement agencies. Polygraph is used very extensively in child molestation investigations where a delay in reporting often results in no physical evidence being available.


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The Budget Control Act of 2011 created the "Super Committee" of Members of Congress who were tasked with creating a plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal budget in the next 10 years. Their failure to reach an agreement triggered a provision in that law, known as sequestration, that resulted in an automatic across-the-board cut to most federal discretionary funding, including Perkins!
All federal discretionary programs, that are not otherwise exempt from sequestration, will be cut by five percent. This means that Perkins funding will be reduced by $58 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013!
Congress must find a balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not include further cuts to CTE. It is critical that you make sure that Members of Congress understand the impact that cuts to Perkins funding have on CTE students nationwide.
Perkins is one of several advanced funded federal education programs, which means that sequestration cuts will be applied differently compared to other federal programs. Perkins funds are distributed to states in July and October. The five percent across-the-board cut will be applied to the July 2013 Perkins allocation. This will result in $58 million less in Perkins funds available for CTE programs in the 2013-14 school year. Any reductions in federal support for CTE will be difficult to restore and will have long-term implications for students.
Call or Write Your Members of CongressShare your concerns about sequestration with your Members of Congress through the CTE Action Center.
You can also call your Senators or Representative directly or reach them through the Capitol switchboard:
202-224-3121. Once connected to the office, ask to speak to the staff member
who handles education or workforce development issues. Feel free to leave a
message if that person is not available to talk. After you have identified yourself,
tell them the reason you are calling. Remember to keep your remarks short and
focused, and thank them from taking your call.
Sample Talking Points (use when calling or writing your Members of Congress):
Utilize Social MediaYou can share your thoughts with your Members of Congress on Twitter (be sure to include hashtag #CareerTechEd) or write a
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June is Leave No Child Inside Month in Illinois! This year's theme is "Marvelous Mud," so come "cook" up some mud cupcakes, tacos, pies, or whatever other "culinary" concoction you can conceive. Children will be provided with mud, flowers, cupcake holders, leaves, rocks, and more. Come create with us at the Fruit & Vegetable Garden Family Drop In Activities. No registration required. Weather permitting. Free to all ages & adult. For more information visit chicagobotanic.org.
3/29/2017Chicago Wilderness Transition
2/1/2017Arcadis Colors for the Blue-Spotted Salamander
Chicago Wilderness
8 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 2101
Chicago, IL 60603
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago


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A fellow blogger and nonbeliever has a dilemma. I'd like to pose his question to our community since I know that not all will agree with my answer and may be able to offer alternative ideas for Jason. The same solution does not work for everyone.
Jason writes about the Vacation Bible School (VBS) dilemma for his 6-year-old here. His wife thinks it's harmless for their daughter to attend this summer; he thinks it's not as innocuous as it seems, that it's brainwashing disguised as fun. Should he allow her to go or stand his ground?
Here are my thoughts:
As many of you know from my blog, my ex-husband is Baptist and has taken my kids to church on and off for over 10 years. (My youngest was 2 and my oldest was 5 when we split.) I'd be lying if I said that it didn't bother the hell out of me that my ex- was taking my kids to all these things when he knew I was agnostic and didn't want to indoctrinate the kids. (My views bothered him, too, understandably.)
So I had to take a different approach since I didn't have any input when it came to time spent with Dad. However, I think it's worked out pretty well for us–or, at least, for how I wanted my kids to approach religion.
When they were young, my kids went to all the churchy things, including a laying on of hands for a troubled elementary school girl. (That was a real eye-opener for them.) When they came home, I'd asked them all sorts of questions. "What did you think about your experience? What did you learn? Does that make sense? Do you see any similarities in believing in God and believing in Santa, the Tooth Fairy or Unicorns? Can we have fun with characters that are make-believe (think: Mickey Mouse)? Can we scare people with things that are make-believe (think: witches and ghosts)? Do people have to believe the same things? Why or why not? How do we know what someone tells us is true? What questions do you have? Do you ever make up stories? How will your friends know if what you tell them is true or not?" These are the questions (and many more) I've asked over the years, and my dialogue with my kids still continues. I try to ask them more than I tell them, especially as they grow older. They don't want me telling them what to do nor what to think.
I agree with one of Jason's commenters–his daughter will be exposed to religion and God throughout her life. My kids certainly were. His daughter's friends will talk to her about religion–as may teachers (a fact for us). I also think that his wife made a good point–their daughter will start learning now what this whole religion thing is about. It's going to happen sooner or later, and if he can help her think things through now, she won't be drawn in by its mystery or by the appeal of the occult. He can sit down with her each day after VBS and talk to her about the stories she's learning. Tell her that, throughout history, there have been many similar tales. He could tell her (now or later) about the history of religion and how it developed: Early man used god(s) to control other men, to bring order to his world, to explain his surroundings and to calm fears, his own as well as others. Religion has been used for power and control and personal comfort. But man cannot answer the big questions it asks: How did we get here. Where are we going. Who made all this sh*t.
Most of our knowledge is hearsay anyway. So this can be a good learning experience for his daughter because it will teach her to think about what she is learning at school, too. At age 6, I don't think that a stance either way (to go or not to go) is going to make much of a difference. Unless this VBS dilemma becomes a huge, scary issue, one that Mom and Dad argue about, she's not likely to have strong associations. Brainwashing is cumulative and takes many years of unchallenged indoctrination. I think this would be a great time to start her thinking about the topic of religion.
I happen to agree with Jason that VBS is a sneaky way to slip God in on the sly–with all the friends and fun and talk of love. But I look at it this way: When his daughter starts to drive and has a permit, he'll be there to teach and guide her. That can be true now, too: Jason can be there to guide his daughter and to prevent her from falling for religion. With his help, her destination won't be belief; it will be understanding, knowledge and skepticism.
What are your thoughts? VBS or no VBS?


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I decided that if TLC would do their EXTREME COUPONING show and feature couponers going to extremes to score items to donate to tornado victims, I would be HAPPY to watch it! But I have a feeling that's not going to happen… 🙁
As I am sure most all of you know, there have been devastating tornadoes in the south!
I personally LOVE sharing my stockpile of goodies to help those in need…if you want to help, please read on…
LOCALLY…Today (5/4) there is a Donation Drop-off for Alabama Communities from 6:30pm – 8:00pm at the St. Charles Dollar Tree parking lot (by walmart on the service road)! They will be hauling a trailer on Thursday to two communities in Alabama that have been very hard hit. Let's show them some big St. Charles County (and St. Louis area in general) love by FILLING THAT TRAILER with much needed items to make their lives a little bit easier. Head over HERE for more details!!
Also, Kristen, a blogging buddy, who runs the site Couponing to Disney resides in Alabama and is working with her church to receive items for those victims who suffered losses in the latest round of storms and tornadoes. Here's a list of items they are in need of:
dishwashing soap
laundry detergent
hand sanitizer
clothing in all sizes
shoes in all sizes
small toys for displaced children
ziploc bags
bandaids and other first aid products
feminine products
baby formula
baby food
toilet paper
individual juices
pet food and treats
You can mail your donations Kristen's church. They will get your donations into the right hands.
Disaster Relief
c/o First Baptist Church of Moody
902 Church Street
Moody, AL 35004
You can send a monetary donations to:
Salvation Army Disaster Relief
PO Box 100339
Atlanta, GA 30384-0339
Red Cross is taking text donations. Just text text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to donate $10.
Let's show some lovin' to those who REALLY need it!!


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Article Preview
Profound Rapport; HENRY MILLER: LETTERS TO ANAIS NIN. Edited with an Introduction by Gunther Stuhlmann. 356 pp. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. $7.50.
By GENE BARO ();
June 27, 1965,
, Section BOOK REVIEW, Page BR5, Column , words
HIMSELF and how he got that way is Henry Miller's true subject. In one sense, his writings are a continuing act of self-creation. In another they are explorations and arguments that can never be fixed or final.
June 27, 1965
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Get an overview of this hotelLakefront hotel with free breakfast and restaurant
Popular property highlights
Located in the heart of Garda, this hotel is within 3 mi (5 km) of Golf Club Ca degli Ulivi, Church of San Severo, and Baia delle Sirene Park. Church of San Nicolo and San Severo and Monumento ai Marinai are also within 3 mi (5 km).
Hotel Features
Along with a restaurant, this hotel has an outdoor pool and a bar/lounge. Free buffet breakfast and free self parking are also provided. Additionally, a 24-hour front desk, multilingual staff, and a garden are onsite.
Room Amenities
All 170 rooms offer satellite TV, hair dryers, and safes. Other amenities available to guests include showers, phones, and desks.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!Opens in a new window
Hotel Royal
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
The hotel offers a restaurant. A bar/lounge is on site where guests can unwind with a drink. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast.
This Garda hotel also offers an outdoor pool, multilingual staff, and a garden. Onsite self parking is complimentary.
- Total number of rooms - 170
- Number of floors - 3
- 24-hour front desk
- Bar/lounge
- Free breakfast
- Elevator/lift
- Restaurant
- Free self parking
- Beach umbrellas
- Outdoor pool
- Television in common areas
- Pool umbrellas
- Multilingual staff
- Garden
- Number of buildings/towers - 2
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Outdoor pool
- Playground on site
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Air conditioning
- Phone
- Private bathroom
- Hair dryer
- Bidet
- Shower only
- In-room safe
- Desk
- Satellite TV service
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Cribs/infant beds available
Where to Eat
Hotel Royal has a restaurant serving breakfast and dinner.
Guests are offered a complimentary buffet breakfast.
Nearby Things to Do
Recreational amenities at the hotel include an outdoor pool.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Surfing/boogie boarding nearby
- Rafting nearby
- Kayaking nearby
- Sailing nearby
- Water skiing nearby
- Windsurfing nearby
- Mountain biking nearby
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Scooter/moped rentals nearby
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Parasailing nearby
- Ecotours nearby
- Golf lessons available nearby
- Personal motorized watercraft on site
- Playground on site
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at 10 PM
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Check-out time is 10 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Cribs (infant beds) are available.
- Pets not allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
- A tax is imposed by the city: EUR 1.00 per person, per night. This tax does not apply to children under 14 years of age.
Hotel Name
- Hotel Royal Garda
- Royal Garda
We should mention
All guests, including children, must be present at check-in and show their government-issued photo ID card or passport. Cash transactions at this property cannot exceed EUR 2999.99, due to national regulations. For further details, please contact the property using information in the booking confirmation. In accordance with national/local laws, air conditioning may be restricted to certain hours from 01 July to 31 August.


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Cleaning up our classrooms
Page Tools
Doubts over the standards of cleanliness in Victoria's state schools must be swept away.
Whatever views one might have about the quality of education delivered by the state school system, it is surely not too much to ask that Victoria's children at least be taught in premises that are properly cleaned. In years gone by, the school cleaner was often a valued staff member. Many stayed in the job for years and became known to generations of children. The cleaners valued their responsibilities and cared for the schools they worked in. Much has changed in the way our public institutions are run, especially in roles considered "non-core". In the case of schools, this has led to the services of staff cleaners being dispensed with in favour of contractors. In a competitive tendering environment - and with school budgets under pressure across all areas - it is understandable that the cheapest tenderers will often win.
Therein lies the nub of the problem, according to the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union. According to a recent union audit of schools, many Victorian students could be studying in schools that are dirty, even unhygienic. The audit of 45 schools found that one cleaner used only water to clean toilets over a three-week period after being denied supplies of chemicals. Others were found to be working with faulty vacuum cleaners, while about one in six cleaners were using the same mops to clean toilets and other areas of schools. The union also found that almost all cleaners surveyed were not formally trained.
There is, of course, an element of self-interest in this. The union is keen to retain jobs for its members and the use of non-union contract staff is a threat to that work. But there is also an issue of genuine public interest at stake and one that should be of considerable concern to parents and the community. In NSW, where state government contracts for cleaning some 2000 schools come up for renewal next year, the union has organised a conference of all stakeholders on the theme of "Cleaners and the Health of Our Schools" for later this year.
In Victoria there is clearly mounting concern not just from the union, but among teachers and principals about their inability to deliver something as fundamental as a clean, healthy environment for students and staff . In addition, as schools compete to attract students, their inability to maintain even basic standards of cleanliness makes that task all the more difficult. The State Government has already conceded that it is aware of some of the problems raised by the audit. It should now conduct its own thorough review of the standards being met by school cleaners and re-evaluate whether enough resources are being allocated.


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Since a lot of people kind of got upset with Bradshaw smacking Cruz upside the helmet I thought I'd look one of the best plays by Bradshaw during the Redskin game. No ones mentioned the trucking that Bradshaw gave to Fletcher. Can anyone post a vid of it?
For a smaller back Bradshaw runs over people like a mad man possessed, lol...I love it!!
Big ups to AB.


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The U.S. healthcare system could avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in medical costs if medication adherence rates improved, according to the CVS Caremark "2013 State of the States: Adherence Report" released today.
Walgreens extended its agreement as a network pharmacy provider in the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management national retail network.
CVS Caremark issued on Tuesday two new reports that highlight research the company is conducting around medication adherence, including one study that reviews and compares state-by-state adherence rates for patients managing four chronic diseases.
Pick an outside turnaround artist/corporate hotshot to lead the nation's most storied drug store retailer?...


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Article Preview
HERBERT G. THOMPSON DIES SUDDENLY AT 57; President of Anchor Post Fence Co. Seized With Indigestion in Grand Central Terminal.
The first paragraph is not available for this article.
January 12, 1928
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Discussion in 'Draft Zone' started by supercowboy8, Jan 11, 2012.
No you don't, Spencer was a 1st rd draft choice for us did he start day 1? No he didn't
You mean Upshaw, right?
Even though Ingram could be a day one starter since he does play OLB, DE and DT and drop sback into coverage and has INTs this year.
Melvin Ingram can't come into the NFL and play every down from day 1 either. He doesn't have nearly enough latteral or straight line speed to cover NFL rb's or te's. Pay Spencer something like 3/18 and address bigger needs in the draft. Replacing Spencer with ingram with our 1st round pick would be like spinning tires as someone else here said.
I agree that if we can fill some needs in FA and spencer walks then getting an Ingram or Upshaw would be a very good pick. Will they make mistakes sure they are rookies but you draft them not just for next year but for the long haul.
he was drafted 28th overall and show al lthe more of a reason to draft this positino early. Its hard to transition too. It takes time this is why you never see a 2nd or later round draft pick start at OLB.
We traded up out of the 2nd round to 28 to get Spencer.
If you draft a player in the 1st he should be ready to start and especially at 14.
why do you think Ingram can't move laterally and cover, he has only done just that the last two years in college. The guy drop s back into coverage and covers RB and TEs already.
Straight line speed, look at the auburn game where he is standing in coverage and a hole opens up to the QB, he goes from flat feet straight at the QB in no time and sacks the QB.
I am not sure that there is a improvement in this years draft . I don't agree with letting Spencer walk just to spend the 14th pick on a player that may not be an upgrade . If Upshaw or Ingram blows the combine up and the Dallas staff are sure that it will be a considerable upgrade , pull the trigger .
I agree it takes time it takes some time for most NFL rookies even top draft picks. But that does not mean you pay Spencer as a top OLB. If Dallas can bring him back at a reasonable deal great if not then you look at the bigger picture not just next year.
Or how about Whitney Mercilus (depending on the combine).
Summary: Whitney Mercilus was the most productive pass-rusher in college football in 2011. He led the nation in sacks (16) and forced fumbles (9). It was a record-setting season as Mercilus topped Simeon Rice's school record for sacks in a year. Like Rice, Mercilus is a fabulous athlete. He has a special combination of size, speed and strength to go along with excellent technique. Mercilus also recorded 57 tackles and 22.5 tackles for a loss.
Entering the NFL, Mercilus is an advanced pass-rusher. He got the better of the best tackles he faced this season. Against Ohio State's Mike Adams, Mercilus recorded 1.5 sacks with a forced fumble. The Wisconsin Badgers' powerful offensive line couldn't contain Mercilus. He bull rushed through massive right tackle Josh Oglesby to get a sack-fumble on Russell Wilson. Mercilus also knocked out left tackle Ricky Wagner for part of the game.
Mercilus has a very impressive repertoire of pass rushing moves. He attacks with speed around the edge. As a counter to the speed, he has the strength to execute rip moves and shed offensive linemen. Mercilus has the raw power to get under offensive linemen's pads and bull rush into the pocket. That catches linemen by surprise as they are so cognizant of being ready for his speed rush. Beyond his great physical skill set, Mercilus is an advanced pass-rusher technically.
Mercilus holds up well in run defense. Linemen don't push him around, as he is strong at the point of attack. He also will burst into the backfield to disrupt running plays.
The big question regarding Mercilus is why didn't break into the lineup sooner and why didn't he produce more earlier. In 2009 and 2010, Mercilus combined to record 24 tackles with two sacks and 6.5 tackles for a loss.
Player Comparison: Jason Pierre-Paul. There are a lot of similarities between Mercilus and JPP. Both are fantastic athletes who come to the NFL with a special combination of speed and strength. They also were one-year wonders at the college level. Mercilus had more production than JPP in their final college season, and the latter has turned into one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL.
Right now, it looks like Mercilus should get drafted in the same range as JPP. However, it is possible that Mercilus will be this year's Aldon Smith and surprise some by cracking the top 10. It is not out of the question for him to pass North Carolina's Quinton Coples in the lead up to the 2012 NFL Draft. JPP did that with Derrick Morgan in 2010. Projecting Mercilus to the pros, I see a player similar to Pierre-Paul.
I would love to get someone with that potiential at 14. Could be highway robbery.
I would not let Spencer walk just to let him walk but do you think he should get say top 5 money as OLB? Do you think there is a point where you let a guy go before you just hand over the new contract?
I agree but I think that will have to mean your pick at 14 will have to be a SOLB. So people should stop putting these mocks or full offseason plans together where they let SPencer walk and then draft a OLB to replace him in the 3rd. Chances of a 3rd round 3-4 OLB pick starting day one is very very slim
How is he vs the run and can he drop back into coverage? Alot of people think he is a 4-3 DE only, and he has only had the one year of production, before this year he hasn't done much. Is he just a one year wonder?
Also look at the players and teams he was playing when he got the majority of his stats. Not great competition.
There will be moves made before the draft and a clearer picture. I have said from the get go that 3 big concerns for me were OL,OLB and CB and if I can address any of those spots in the draft with the 14th pick I'm all for it.
I would also not dismiss a DE in terms of a pass rusher. Ware was consider a tweener out of Troy playing the DE spot.
There are few positions that you'd draft a player in the 2nd round knowing they'd be a starter so I fail to see your point. There are a bunch of players drafted in later rounds that could have started if they had been handed over the reins, it's just rarely done. When people say that they are letting Spencer walk, it doesn't have to mean that they are then drafting in the 2nd/3rd round for a starting position, it could mean that they are promoting Butler and drafting his backup who could potentially take over the starting position down the road. For the record, I'm not thrilled with any of the OLB in the early rounds of the draft and would probably take a chance on Vontaze making the transition to OLB before I would draft any of them.
If he ask for too much , let him walk . My point is that you don't burn the 14th pick to replace him if the value isn't there .
The guy you're looking for is Shea McClellin. He's strong, quick and relentless, and happened to play OLB and ILB as well as DE his senior year.
I like him alot. Most of the OLB in the early rounds don't impress me much.
I think people are missing a valid point you are making. We need an OLB that can cover and set the edge in the base 3-4 set. We don't need another Ware, we need a compliment to Ware. Now, when we go nickel we need another Ware. This is the problem that most overlook. The SOLB in the 3-4 is the hardest spot to fill. That guy has to do it all; set the edge, cover TE/RB and play the flat and when we go nickel he has to provide a pass rush.
Ware would make a great SOLB but then he would not rush nearly as much out of the base set unless it's a blitz (defined as sending more than 4 rushers). Spencer is no Ware but 6 sacks from the SOLB is about a reasonable expectation.
I'm an Ingram fan and I like Upshaw but neither is a marked upgrade over Spencer. I do think both can start day one. I think both will have a learning curve which is the speed of the game.
Personally I think more pressure from the ILB's and Ratliff is what is needed. Spencer is what he is, an avg SOLB. No shame in that. I vote to keep Spencer for a reasonable price.
thats the thing. If calvin pace is getting paid 7mil per you know spencer is going to want atleast that much. And that is what im trying to say. I rather replace him then pay him that much coin. If spencer was a hard worker and had great work ethic I might think about it. But come on the guy is playing across a hall of fame OLB who is getting much of the attention and he cannot get atleast 10 sacks?????
guys. It is real simple. We MUST have another pass rusher that can balance Ware. Spencer is clearly not that guy. Nor is anyone else on the team now. So we have to get one. Either a DE or a OLB. There does not appear to be a 3-4 DE coming out that is another Seymour, which is very rare anyway. So we have to get a OLB that will do better then Spencer at rushing the passer from the OLB. IT is BS that we need to have a guy there that does more coverage; the Steelers do not; the Pats in their best days did not; so a coverage or play the run well guy is NOT all important.
The #1 way to beat a team in todays NFL that passes all over the place is PRESSURE. SACKS.


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I had to buy the full size after sampling this product. The scent is really addictive - fresh, grapefruity smell without being too sweet. I keep it on my desk for use throughout the day, and I often get compliments from coworkers - "What IS that amazing smell?"
I use it as a hand cream rather than a body lotion, which makes the price tag a little easier to swallow since it lasts longer. It's rich enough to moisturize dry hands/cuticles.


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Naga Sadhu at the Kumbh Mela, Haridwar, India
I took this photo in the Naga Sadhu's camp during the Kumbh Mela in April 2010. I went into Haridwar for the day with two men who were also staying at Aurovalley Ashram — Lalit and Jean-Pierre. We spent an amazing day together, hanging out with the sadhus, swimming in the Ganges and having a lot of fun. I could never have had these experiences without the help of Lalit, who is a large, gregarious Punjabi man who speaks Hindi (and English and French). We spent a long time in this camp, where I bonded with this incredibly sweet young man (but I don't remember his name!). I wrote about another Kumbh Mela day — the main bathing day — in Alone, and at home, at the Maha Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering on earth.
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text: Sean Lee calls into Sirius NFL Radio to talk about the Cowboys OTA's with Gil Brandt and Brian McGovern... Sean Lee on Sirius - Jun 7 He's already one of my favorite players on the Cowboys and he's never stepped on the field in uniform yet. I know one thing about him and that's the fact that he's going to be in the right spot on 95% of the plays where he's in the game. [youtube]iRsrpn5UTok[/youtube]


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|"R. Allan Reese" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
|Stata distribution list <firstname.lastname@example.com>
|st: Graph preferences - which?
|Wed, 2 Oct 2002 11:47:45 +0100 (BST)
Stata has options to set colours, line widths, line styles etc. The commands are fully described, but this may be like confronting monkeys with typewriters - which to choose? I have looked at the Stata web site and checked the list archives, so unless I've overlooked it, this obvious FAQ has not been asked before. Statacorp provide some pallettes, but to me these seem arbitrary in parts and not directed to specific applications. Specifically, I would like to hear about users' experiences in setting preferences for: (a) interactive use on the screen (for which I prefer a white background and avoid yellow lines!) (b) printing on a B&W printer (for which I commonly increase the magnification and use landscape to avoid wasting half the sheet) (c) printing on a color [sic] printer (usually meaning a bubblejet) (d) for incorporating by software into a document (there is a FAQ about editing Stata graphs in Word) (e) for incorporating into a web page. As these are pretty wide questions, I suggest in the first instance that list users reply to me, with suggestions based on what worked for them, or comments based on technical parameters, psychology of perception, etc. I'll summarize or collate the replies. R. Allan Reese Email: email@example.com * * For searches and help try: * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
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Into the Valley of Death....
Trip Start Mar 28, 2012
55Trip End May 24, 2012
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Exchange Club Motel Beatty
Read my review - 3/5 stars
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What I did
Death Valley
The first via point was Trona - not a lot happening here so we kept on going and drove down into the Panamint Valley heading north on 178. Mile after mile of endless scrub - little vegetation and only the odd bird and more rare, odd other vehicle for company. The sun was getting hot and the temperature was climbing up through the 70s˚F. In the car it is very hot - even with air-con on but as soon as you stop and get out of the car the very strong wind masks the heat of the sun and it feels coolF16 at about 100' heading straight down the road towards us. It screamed overhead and went into a steep climb. this whole area is surrounded by military ranges and we were often to hear the sound of military jets throughout the day.
We continued north until we hit 190 where we turned east towards the Death Valley National Park. We stopped at Stovepipe Wells to buy lunch and check in at the Visitor Centre to pay our park entry - already worth the $20! It was closed for lunch but the vending machine offered us a permit in lieu of human interaction. I felt like saying, 'sorry, my wallet is closed for lunch"!
We continued the short distance to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes where I promptly attacked by a large black flying bug of some kind that seemed determined to have a part of me. I dealt it several blows before it went for some other poor unsuspecting woman and then it returned to have another go at me. Ugh! We marched into the dunes - thankfully the bug didn't do sand.
The advice for photographers was to head towards the east as there less footprints in the dunes here - advice which proved to accurate. However, after about 20 minutes of paddling about in the pleasant sand it was so hot my feet were burning - wrong day to wear sandals. I then found I had managed to walk at least half-a-mile into the dunes and it was a long, hot and very painful retreat tot he car park
From there we drove east and then south entering Death Valley properly and stopped at the aptly named Furnace Creek visitor center where the temperature had climbed to 94˚F. After taking on more liquids at the Furnace Creek Ranch, we set off for Zabriskie Point. This viewing point affords stunning views of the eroded landscape cut into steep V-shaped valleys that dramatically intersect each other. The area is rich in Borate minerals and is actively mined today.
With the attractive prospect of getting out of the sun and heading for our Motel, we set the sat-nav for Exchange Club Motel in Beatty, Nevada. It was a joy to arrive at about 4:15 pm and luxuriate into our lavish room with the conventional twin Queen-sized beds, fridge, TV, WiFi etc, etc. I used the opportunity of a break in the hectic schedule to bring my blogs and photos up to date before we headed across one of the two streets in this 'town' to enjoy a wonderful Aberdeen Angus steak, onion rings and of course the ubiquitous French fries. We then tried to find a bar but were disappointed to discover that Nevada either permit smoking inside, or doesn't police the ban. Rather than sit in something that could pass for an opium den, we sat outside one 'rustic' establishment (on the other street in Beatty) and enjoyed a drink but felt distinctly chilly as we watched the moon rise above the local hills. We could actually see the moon move as though it were motorised - propelled by some cosmic jet pack across the sky. So, it's back to the Motel to listen to chicadas calling outside and some awful karaoke from a local bar. the singing is thankfully broken up from time-to-time as 18 wheel rigs and fleets of Harleys come grinding through this town that feels more frontier than cosmopolitan. I do hope we will get some sleep tonight before we hed back into Death Valley tomorrow.
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ME TOO !!! The last one did not discourage me. I made lots of angels aka friends.
Nelco, I would like to participate. I have sent you a PM.
Thank you.
I am in again, too!! This is just wwaaaaaayy too much fun!
I've never participated in a mug rug swap, can I join, puhleeze?? PM-ing now.....
Muah ah ha... I was lucky #7... Mug rugs don't scare me any more!!
I'm in again too. I will be on vacation for the first week or so but will have time when I get home. If you end up being my partner just want you to know I may not be able to contact you, depending on the internet, until I get back home between the 10th and 15th, but I will have it done before the mailing date.


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Mists of Pandaria Launches September 25, 2012 – Pre-Sales NOW OPEN
Heroes of Azeroth, prepare to embark for an exotic new frontier! World of Warcraft®: Mists of Pandaria™ is launching on September 25, 2012 and you can be ready to play when the servers go live by pre-purchasing the game digitally. Plus, for the first time ever, players will have the option to upgrade a pre-purchase to the all-new Digital Deluxe Edition which comes with all of the in-game items from the retail Collector's Edition, including a World of Warcraft pet and mount, banner sigil and accent for Diablo® III, and Battle.net® portraits for StarCraft® II.
We're pleased to announce that the Battle.net World Championship -- the grand conclusion to the StarCraft II World Championship Series and the 2012 World of Warcraft Arena global finals -- will be taking place in Shanghai, China on Nov. 17 & 18.Check out the press release to learn more.
Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the World of Warcraft® community around the world who took part in our recent server-blade charity auction, we've raised more than $330,000 USD to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®.
In October 2011, we announced that a selection of retired World of Warcraft server blades -- hardware that once housed World of Warcraft realms -- would be made available for auction for this great cause, and you responded by opening up your hearts and your guild banks. Thanks again for your support and for helping to make a difference in the lives of children.
Our anniversary page is now home to a timeline detailing the 20-year history of Blizzard Entertainment. It covers nearly every major event, beginning in 1991 – when Mike Morhaime, Frank Pearce, and Allen Adham started Silicon & Synapse, the company that would become Blizzard – and taking us to the present day.
To help with the reminiscing process, we've packed the timeline with nostalgia-inducing images of old offices, "retro" box art, the graphics and haircuts of the 90s, some of our most recent game release events, BlizzCons, and the opening of Blizzard offices around the world. Take a look, but keep your eyes on the timeline page, because we'll be updating it with more noteworthy occurrences in the future.
From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank the Blizzard community for supporting our games for over two decades – here's to many more!
Following the global launch of Diablo III on May 15, the Lord of Terror has consumed a record number of souls. More than 3.5 million copies of the game were sold as of the first day of release, making Diablo III the fastest-selling PC game of all time. As of the first week of release, Sanctuary's heroes had already reached a total of more than 6.3 million. See the press release for all the gory details.
We're pleased to announce that Diablo III is NOW LIVE and available for purchase online at www.diablo3.com and at retailers throughout most of the world. Check out the press release for further details, and we'll see you in the Burning Hells!
We're pleased to announce that several official midnight launch events will be taking place around the world, starting on the evening of May 14, to celebrate the May 15 launch of Diablo III! See the press release for further details, and check out our global Launch Event site to find a location near you.
As you and your friends explore the "Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise" site, you'll find exciting new information about Diablo III, epic videos, unlockable content, contests, and the opportunity to earn exclusive sigils for use on your customizable banner when Diablo III launches.
Join the fight for Sanctuary today! Venture to New Tristram, seek the fallen star, and fulfill your heroic destiny.
We hope you enjoyed our April Fools' Day jokes for 2012! If you missed them, check out this year's pranks:
And so, the Blizzard Joke Squad go galumphing back whence they came, hiding amid the slithy toves that gyre and gimble in the wabe, busily plotting and scheming for the future. See you again next year!
Games can be incredibly useful tools to teach players valuable skills and life lessons. To help young gamers take learning "to the max™," we're launching Blizzard Kidzz: a suite of educational games set in the Blizzard game universes. Blizzard Kidzz games will cover important subjects for gamers aged 6 and up, including mathematics, reading/writing, science, history, and more! Visit the Blizzard Kidzz preview page now for screenshots, game descriptions, and preorder information!


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Some people say I have a gambling problem. No, its not that I go and lose hundreds of dollars in casinos, but rather I take too many lofty risks based mostly on hope. An example of this is when I dropped out of school in 2007 to go and work for then Senator Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign. As an African-American male, leaving behind a full scholarship at one of America's most prestigious private universities wasn't received well by anyone. In fact, there was even some campaign staff that didn't think it was a good idea. But I took a risk because for the first time ever, I felt I could make a difference because a politician believed in my generation and me.
Fast-forward four years later, and many young people and black people have started to wonder if President Obama will keep true to candidate Obama promises and rhetoric. Admittedly, I was one of those critics, but after yesterday's State Department decision to reassess the Keystone XL pipeline; I feel the tide shifting dramatically. When I started at the Sierra Club in May, I was told about this lofty goal to organize young people to try and stop this pipeline and I thought that will be extremely difficult before the end of year. Nonetheless, in August, the Sierra Student Coalition gathered its top 50 youth leaders in St. Louis, MO to talk about our work for the upcoming semester, and there our "Stop Keystone" youth campaign was launched.
Last week fifty University of Cincinnati students weren't stopped by nasty cold and rain to rally for a coal free campus.
We filled 400 white balloons full of 100% clean air. A coordinated flash mob made a giant wind turbine with the balloons right in front of the office of the president. This picture was taken from his office balcony.
Last week, thirty-five of the best and brightest young leaders descended upon the nation's capitol to deliver the grassroots demands and action that we've been organizing for months. From leading campaigns to move campuses beyond coal, to mobilizing against the Keystone XL pipeline, and hosting training and strategy sessions at our regional Power Shift conferences, these young people are leading in the grassroots, but last week they came to DC to be heard. And heard they were.
The first stop was a meeting with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to thank her for her leadership, and show our support for her continuing to lead on critical matters of the mercury ruling and the Keystone XL pipeline. In a packed room on Howard University's campus, we had a frank discussion on the state of public health, and the challenges we face in protecting it. Tayla Tavor from Michigan shared how she was diagnosed with asthma when she was 3-years old, and now finds herself at Michigan State University fighting to retire the largest on-campus coal plant in the country, which continues to threaten her and her peers' health.
Administrator Jackson shared our concerns about the impacts of dirty energy. "It's so important that your voices are heard, that campuses that are supposed to be teaching people aren't meanwhile polluting the surrounding community with mercury and costing the children a few IQ points because of the need to generate power. It's simply not fair," Jackson said. And she didn't mince words about some of the challenges she faces in protecting the American people from big polluters. She slammed the GOP for putting the interests of the coal industry ahead of those of the American people.
Yesterday, a few of us gathered together wearing "beyond coal" and Powershift t-shirts. Carrying cardboard signs saying things like "No More Coal!" and "100% clean energy" and wearing surgical masks, we marched around campus singing a song that fellow student, Zach Mason, had written advocating for students to write on our school's Facebook wall saying "No More Coal!". At the same time, we handed out flyers giving some detailed facts about coal. The best moment came when we were inside our cafeteria. Halfway through the song, everyone started clapping and cheering. It was awesome.
Last Thursday, as part of 100 Actions for 100% Clean Energy, seven Michigan State University students held a sit-in at their president's office demanding MSU shut down its coal plant and transition to 100% clean energy.
Unfortunately, Michigan State's President Lou Anna K. Simon delivered a weak response to the students' demands. Even though she was in the building, President Simon refused to meet with the students. Instead, she sent them a letter that contained several inaccuracies and stated that she would not commit to 100% clean energy.
Students continued to wait for President Simon to meet with them. When the building closed at 5pm, three students were arrested.
Thirty five top youth leaders will meet with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House Liaison to Young Americans Ronnie Cho today to thank Administrator Jackson for her leadership and discuss their concerns about a range of environmental issues, including the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The delegation includes student representatives from universities across the country, as well as Energy Action Coalition, Greenpeace and Sierra Club representatives, will start the day with a roundtable meeting with Administrator Jackson at 10 a.m. at Howard University. Youth leaders will then make a visit to Capitol Hill before meeting with Cho, from the White House Office of Public Engagement
After stops at twelve universities over the course of eighteen days in a journey totaling over one thousand miles I have reached an important conclusion: students in the Pacific Northwest are taking campus climate organizing to new heights. Here is what a small fraction of these schools are doing:
On October 22, FAU and FIU students of the Fl YES Coalition, dozens of other environmental groups in Miami, and Occupy Miami all joined together to hold a Rally for the Environment at the Society of Environmental Journalist's conference. With over 700 journalists (who regularly write about environmental issues and activism) attending the conference, we decided to give them a story to write!!
Over 50 Chicagoans gathered outside the Obama Campaign's Chicago Headquarters last Friday demanding that the President prevent the construction of the Tar Sands Keystone XL Pipeline. The demonstrators, a colorful mix of students, families, and individuals from Occupy Chicago, came bearing a petition against the Tar Sands signed by over 700 Illinois residents.
This afternoon, seven student activists marched into President Simon's office at the Hannah Administration building at Michigan State University to ask MSU to transition to 100% clean energy.
Activists walked in wearing Greenpeace Quit Coal t-shirts and surgical masks to display the health risks of burning coal.
Today's protest comes after two years of attempting to work with MSU's Administration to transition the campus from burning coal to 100% clean energy.
This is a bottom-up, grassroots hub for young climate activists like you. Click here to let us know how you want to push our movement forward.
The Power Shift Network relies on grassroots support from people like you. Invest in a new hub for the youth-led movement for climate justice today.