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What Do Experts and Novices "See" in Evolutionary Problems?
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DOI: 10.1007/s12052-011-0369-7
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- Nehm, R.H. & Ridgway, J. Evo Edu Outreach (2011) 4: 666. doi:10.1007/s12052-011-0369-7
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Considerable research has focused on differences in expert and novice problem representation and performance within physics, chemistry, and genetics. Here, we examine whether models of problem solving based on this work are useful within the domain of evolutionary biology. We utilized card sort tasks, interviews, and paper-and-pencil tests to: (1) delineate problem categorization rules, (2) quantify problem solving success, and (3) measure the relationships between the composition, structure, and coherence of problem solutions. We found that experts and novices perceived different item features to be of significance in card sort tasks, and that sensitivity to item surface features was adversely associated with problem solving success. As in other science domains, evolutionary problem representation and problem solving performance were tightly coupled. Explanatory coherence and the absence of cognitive biases were distinguishing features of evolutionary expertise. We discuss the implications of these findings for biology teaching and learning.
KeywordsEvolution Natural selection Problem solving Misconceptions Expertise Undergraduates
Fostering effective and efficient problem solving skills is a longstanding and universally agreed-upon educational goal (Huxley 1898; Kuhn 2005). Beginning with the pioneering work of Dunker (1945), disciplines ranging from cognitive psychology to science education have contributed explanatory elements to an increasingly elaborate conceptualization of successful and unsuccessful problem solving in science and other domains (Dunker 1945; Polya 1957; Newell and Simon 1972; Larkin et al. 1980; Marshall 1995; Markman 1999; Novick and Bassok 2005; National Research Council 2005; Kuhn 2005; Reif 2008). Comparative studies of experts and novices in different subject areas have been central to growth in understanding domain-general and domain-specific elements of problem representation and performance (Chi et al. 1981; Smith 1983; Novick and Bassok 2005). Experts and novices perceive, conceptualize, and internally represent problems differently, and these differences are associated with varying degrees of problem solving success (although see Smith (1983) and Hardiman et al. (1989) for discussions of gradational characterizations of expertise). Specifically, experts typically are more adept at distinguishing relevant problem components (domain principles) from contextual details or peripheral surface features (objects, places, people), identifying the formal structure of a problem, and generalizing across similarly structured problem types (Silver 1979). Likewise, high- and low-performing novices have been shown to differ in their perceptions of problem elements and, as with expert and novice comparisons, these differences have been shown to be associated with problem solving competency (Krutetskii 1976; Silver 1979; Chi et al. 1981; Markman 1999; Smith 1983; Hardiman et al. 1989; Reif 2008).
The study of problem solving can be split into two interrelated processes: problem representation and problem performance. Problem representation refers to the solver's construction of a model of the underlying structure, essential nature, or categorization of the problem at hand (Silver 1979; Novick and Bassok 2005; Greeno 2009). Structurally equivalent (or isomorphic) problems have been found to vary in difficulty because of problem solvers' different mental representations of the problems (Hayes and Simon 1977). Different features trigger different background knowledge, prior problem categorizations, and schemas, which impact problem representation (Marshall 1995; Nehm and Ha 2011). Thus, item features and the solver's background knowledge (and "comfort/confidence" level with the material) interact to influence how the problem is represented in the solver's mind.
In addition to different internal representations of problems, many other factors explain disparities in problem solving performance between experts and novices. Experts are typically better problem solvers because they harbor greater funds of well-organized domain knowledge (Reif 2008). Furthermore, so-called chunking, or the grouping of deep domain principles, theories, or performances into manageable units, coupled with effortless activation of such chunks, facilitates rapid and successful navigation through a problem search space (Newell and Simon 1972; Chi 2006). Additionally, similar problems may activate different goals and consequent solution strategies in experts and novices (Chi et al. 1981). Behavioral and attitudinal differences characterize experts and novices. Experts are often more persistent and principled in their problem attack, and enlist motivation and confidence in such efforts (Taasoobshirazi and Glynn 2009). Moreover, experts solve problems for very different reasons than novices (e.g., employment vs. grades). Overall, problem representation and performance, coupled with facilitative affective states, are key research areas within the large body of work on problem solving.
Problem Solving in Evolutionary Biology
While considerable research has focused on problem representation and performance in the domains of physics, chemistry, and genetics (e.g., Chi et al. 1981; Gabel and Bunce 1994; Heyworth 1999), no published work to our knowledge has explicitly explored experts' evolutionary problems solving. Evolutionary problem solving, unlike that in many areas of physics, chemistry, and genetics, often requires more probabilistic explanations (Jonassen 2000); demands the consideration of a multitude of forces or causal factors acting on a system; requires close attention to contextual factors (e.g., place, time, history); requires careful separation of chronologies and explanations (O'Hara 1988); necessitates the consideration of emergent properties (Lewontin 1991); and, perhaps most importantly, requires the distinction between proximate and ultimate causal explanations (Mayr 1991). For these reasons, we were motivated to explore whether existing models of expert-novice problem representation and problem solving in science built largely upon cognition research in physics also have explanatory power within the realm of evolutionary thinking.
Given the complexity of evolutionary explanations, models, and theories, and a lack of evolutionary laws equivalent to those of chemistry and physics (i.e., those with broad boundary conditions and unambiguous predictive validity), a significant challenge confronting researchers interested in evolutionary problem representation and problem solving is the delineation of a disciplinary topic in which the problem solving strategies are theoretically and operationally manageable. We believe natural selection (Darwin 1859) is the best such candidate. Regardless of lineage, environmental context, or timeframe, natural selection is considered by biologists to be the major (but not exclusive) driving mechanism of evolutionary change. Notably, it is not the only evolutionary mechanism; debates throughout the history of biology have focused on the relative importance of natural selection as a causal agent relative to genetic drift and species sorting, among others (Bowler 1983; Gould 2002). Importantly, no contemporary biologists have questioned that natural selection is a major cause explaining patterns of organismal diversity in time and space (Morris 2001; Gould 1996, 2002).
In short, natural selection is a theory that explains how the constant production of novel heritable variation—through mutation, genetic recombination, and sex—is differentially sorted by the environment; competition for limited resources, exacerbated by the constant overproduction of offspring, leads to frequent mortality and subsequent population distributions that are more closely aligned to the current state of the biotic and abiotic environment. Thus, if natural selection is employed as an explanation for biotic change through time, several components or concepts are typically acknowledged: (1) the causes of variation (mutation, recombination, sex), (2) heritability of variation, (3) hyper-fecundity or "overproduction" of offspring, (4) limited resources and competition, (5) differential survival and reproduction of individuals, (6) a change in the distribution of produced variation in the next generation. We follow Nehm and Reilly's (2007) terminology and refer to these components as key concepts of natural selection or simply as key concepts (KCs).
In addition to being a useful area of evolutionary biology for the exploration of problem representation and problem performance, natural selection is also a concept that has been shown to be particularly difficult to grasp for high school students, undergraduate nonmajors, biology majors, and science teachers (Nehm and Reilly 2007; Nehm and Schonfeld 2007, 2008; Nehm et al. 2009a, b, 2010; Gregory 2009; Nehm and Ha 2011). A large body of work in science education has delineated a daunting compendium of student alternative conceptions about natural selection (Duit 2004; Nehm and Schonfeld 2007, 2008, 2010). Many of these alternative conceptions are quite resistant to innovative instruction (Nehm and Reilly 2007; Gregory 2009). Overall, evolutionary mechanisms such as natural selection may provide a useful context for the study of problem representation and problem performance in novices and experts, given its central importance to the discipline of biology and the extensive research base on student background knowledge and alternative conceptions. Research on expert and novice problem representation and performance may provide useful insights into the teaching and learning of natural selection.
Research Hypotheses and Predictions
- 1.
Evolution experts and novices perceive different item features to be of significance when classifying evolutionary problems.
- 2.
Perceived item feature significance is associated with the types of cognitive resources that are used to solve evolutionary problems.
- 3.
Problem classification is associated with problem solving performance in evolution experts and novices.
Our sample consisted of 35 individuals characterized by varying levels of evolutionary expertise drawn from a large tier 1 Midwestern research university. Our novice sample comprised 25 undergraduate students who had successfully completed the second quarter biology course for majors. This course focused on concepts of organismal and evolutionary biology and ecology, including all of the topics mentioned in our card sort task and problem performance tasks (discussed below). Students voluntarily agreed to participate in the study in exchange for the opportunity to be entered in a random drawing for two prizes worth $150. Participating students were mostly female (76%) and White non-Hispanic (72%), with 8% Asian, 8% African–American, 4% Hispanic, and 8% mixed race. Novice ages ranged from 18 to 37 years (mean 21.3 years) and had overall grade point averages ranging from 1.85 to 4.00 (mean, 3.29/4.00). Thirty-two percent of novices received final course grades of A, 44% B, and 20% C. Overall, the novice sample closely approximated the diversity of students taking the course from which participants were drawn.
The sample of ten experts comprised individuals who had completed at least a baccalaureate degree in the biological sciences (one B.S., two M.S., and seven Ph.D.) and whose research or teaching focused on organismal, evolutionary, and ecological biology (in contrast to molecular, cellular, or developmental biology). Experts volunteered to participate without compensation. Participating experts were mostly White non-Hispanic (100%), male (60%); and had, on average, 13 years of post-Ph.D. research or teaching experience (range, 0–33). Expert ages ranged from 28 to 61 years (mean 45.5 years). In the expert sample, six participants were of the rank of course coordinator, lecturer, or assistant professor; two were of the rank of associate professor; and two were of the rank of full professor.
Study 1: Expert and Novice Card Sorting Task
Ten questions (Appendix 1) were developed that focused on evolutionary concepts to varying degrees by a panel comprised of biologists, biology educators, and English educators. All of the items focused on macroscopic patterns of evolutionary change. Each item was placed on a uniquely colored 4 × 6 inch note card along with a small image that corresponded in some way to the item content (e.g., a shark photograph). Two of the items were only indirectly related to evolutionary biology in that they attempted to elicit explanations drawn from the biological disciplines of biomechanics/functional morphology (item 2) or physiology (item 1). These two items required what Mayr (1991) referred to as proximal explanations rather than evolutionary or ultimate (teleological, theistic) explanations. The remaining eight items included six open-response questions and two multiple-choice questions containing prompts explicitly evoking evolutionary principles (e.g., natural selection) but containing many different superficial item features.
A priori superficial item feature designations included the type of question (closed/open response), evolutionary scenarios involving sensory features (bat/turkey vulture vs. others), water conservation (cactus/apple tree vs. others), flying animals (bat/vulture vs. others), "resistance" (bacteria/locust vs. others), environment type (e.g., water, land), human-related events (tuberculosis/DDT vs. others), and taxonomic groups (animals/plants). In contrast, deep item features included, for example, the types of selection involved in the event (directional, stabilizing, and disruptive), the phylogenetic scale of the evolutionary comparison (within vs. between species, ancestor vs. descendant), and the causal components of natural selection (KCs, as discussed above).
The 30-minute card sorting task (CST) involved three stages: (1) participants reading the items and preparing for the sorting task, (2) sorting items using a think-aloud procedure and explaining the sorting patterns, and (3) evaluating the meaning of a prepared item grouping of the same cards. After completing the teleology instrument (see below) in a waiting area, participants entered an office with two investigators (male and female), two empty chairs, and a sorting table. They were told that they would be asked a series of questions about biology items. Participants were provided the ten note card questions, asked to take them to the chair facing the window, take as much time as they needed to read and understand the questions, and indicate to the investigators when they were finished. At such a time, they were asked to move to the chair at the sorting table and bring the cards with them.
At the sorting table, participants were asked to think about the concepts or principles that the questions were about and then sort the items into groups that made sense to them. They were told that they could make as many or as few groups as they would like. Participants were also asked to think aloud as they performed the CST. This was described as "like talking to yourself, but we'll be listening." After the first sort, participants were asked to explain what concepts or principles united each stack of cards and how each stack differed from the other stacks. After follow-up questions to clarify participants' explanations, they were asked if they could think of any alternative grouping arrangement that would make sense to them and perform such a sort. Participants were allowed to engage in as many as five sorts before being asked about the final pre-prepared item grouping. Participants performed on average three sorts (maximum five sorts, minimum two sorts).
The sorting table contained a large white foam poster board on which the CST took place. On the back of this board was a prepared grouping of cards of an identical nature (size, color) to those used in the CST but fixed into two groups: (1) Appendix items 1 and 2, which focused on evolutionarily peripheral patterns and (2) the other eight items about evolutionary patterns. Participants were asked (even if they also constructed the prepared grouping) if they could explain why someone might have grouped the cards in this pattern and whether the grouping made sense to them.
- 1.
Whether the sort rules were emblematic of superficial or literal aspects of the items (e.g., plants vs. animals or flying vs. nonflying animals); such rules often comprised what Chi et al. (1981:125) referred to as item surface features. Examples of surface features included: objects referred to in the problem (e.g., bacteria, water) or the literal biological terms contained in the problem (e.g., evolve, ancestors),
- 2.
Whether the sort rules were naïve or scientific ideas. Naïve ideas included the notions that organismal needs may stimulate evolutionary change or that putting pressure on organisms will push them to evolve, and
- 3.Whether domain principles in evolutionary biology, such as the structure of evolutionary comparisons (e.g., ancestor–descendant vs. intraspecific comparisons) or the types of selection likely involved in an evolutionary scenario (e.g., directional, disruptive) were employed (Table 1). Two scorers independently rated and agreed upon on all sort rule classifications.Table 1
Item features used by experts and novices to classify evolutionary problems
Categorization feature
Feature level
Expert feature frequency (%)
Expert using feature (%)
Novice feature frequency (%)
Novices using feature (%)
Structure of evolutionary comparison (ancestor–descendant vs. intraspecific, etc.)
Types and components of selection (directional, disruptive, stabilizing)
Evolution vs. function/physiology
Environment, weather, seasons, climate, place where organism live vs. other factors
Sensory features vs. non-sensory features
Artificial vs. natural selection
Immunity or resistance vs. non-resistance
Various taxonomic groupings (single vs. multicellular
Predator-prey vs. other factors
Niche vs. other factors
Biotic vs. abiotic selective factors
Experimental/hypothesis driven
Microevolution vs. macroevolution
Observable change vs. non-observable change
Human involvement vs. non-human involvement
Body form, features, traits vs. other factors
Adapting to environment vs. other factors
Plant vs. animals (or other groups)
Pressure vs. other factors
Needs vs. other factors
Feeding or food-related vs. other factors
Flying vs. non-flying
Stronger survive vs. other factors
Behavioral traits vs. physical traits
In addition to our exploration of individual card sort rules and their use by experts and novices, we quantified card sort performance by scoring categorization features as expert (+1) or novice (−1; as discussed above and illustrated in Table 1). We summed these values for each participant for all of their sort tasks. This quantitative measure was used to explore sort rule patterns at a coarser granularity and quantify the direction and magnitude of associations among card sort expertise levels and problem solving performances (discussed below). Finally, we quantified card sort patterns with problem solving performance (as discussed below). All calculations were performed in SPSS 16 (SPSS, Inc.).
Study 2. Expert and Novice Performance on Evolutionary Problems
Two paper-and-pencil instruments were used to measure expert and novice knowledge and naïve ideas about natural selection. The first instrument was a truncated version of the Open Response Instrument (ORI), which was developed using questions from Bishop and Anderson (1990) and Nehm and Reilly (2007). The instrument comprised four open-ended essay questions: (1) explain why some bacteria have evolved a resistance to antibiotics (that is, the antibiotics no longer kill the bacteria); (2) cheetahs (large African cats) are able to run faster than 60 miles per hour when chasing prey. How would a biologist explain how the ability to run fast evolved in cheetahs, assuming their ancestors could run only 20 miles per hour? And (3) cave salamanders (amphibian animals) are blind (they have eyes that are not functional). How would a biologist explain how blind cave salamanders evolved from ancestors that could see? And (4) if biologists wanted to speed up evolutionary change, how might they do it? Participants were asked to be as complete as they could and provided a large space to answer each question. For more details on the validity, reliability, coding, and interpretation of these items, see Nehm and Reilly (2007) and Nehm and Schonfeld (2008).
The second instrument was a modified version of Bartov's (1978) teleological reasoning test consisting of ten items (Appendix 2). This instrument was used to measure participants' recognition of the appropriateness of teleological expressions. The Bartov instrument measures were therefore somewhat different from the ORI measures in that the Bartov instrument measured students' perceptions of the accuracy of teleological language whereas the ORI measured students' use of teleological reasoning in their evolutionary explanations. Each item in the Bartov instrument was scored such that a correct response received two points, a "not sure" response received one point, and a wrong answer received no points. We scored responses such that 15–20 points represented a score indicating clear recognition of scientifically inappropriate teleological reasoning, 10–14 points represented uncertainty about the appropriateness of teleological expressions, and a score less than 10 represented an inability to recognize teleological expression as biologically incorrect.
Problem solving performance was measured using the ORI and teleology test. The first set of variables extracted from the ORI related to participant knowledge of seven KCs of natural selection (Mayr 1982; Nehm and Schonfeld 2008): (1) the causes of phenotypic variation (e.g., mutation, recombination, and sexual reproduction), (2) the heritability of phenotypic variation, (3) the reproductive potential of individuals, (4) limited resources and/or carrying capacity, (5) competition or limited survival potential, (6) selective survival based on heritable traits, (7) a change in the distribution of individuals with certain heritable traits. The coding rubric was used to quantify the presence or absence of these seven key concepts in each of the students' three essay questions (see above). These rubrics are available from the authors upon request. Key concept scores were tallied separately for each question and collectively for each novice or expert. In addition, the number of different key concepts used among all questions (hereafter, key concept diversity) was scored for each participant.
Misconceptions or naïve ideas were scored in a similar manner as key concepts: each naïve idea was given one point (see Nehm and Schonfeld 2007; 2008). Naïve idea scores (which we will abbreviate as MIS for misconceptions) were tallied for each question and collectively for each participant. In addition, we calculated the number of different naïve ideas used among the four items (hereafter, naïve idea diversity). Correlation coefficients were calculated among: (1) instrument KC scores, (2) instrument MIS scores, and (3) card sorting task (CST) variables from study 1 discussed above and, (4) the teleology instrument scores as discussed above.
We provide a brief synopsis of the terminology that we use throughout our paper in order to facilitate clear understanding of our results and interpretations. Experts and novices refer to socially established categories emblematic of the degree of formal educational training and experience in the subject domain irrespective of measured knowledge or skills in the domain; expert- and novice-like refer to descriptions of behaviors, performances, or knowledge considered typical of the social categories "expert" and "novice"; sort rules refer to grouping and categorization features generated by participants in the card sort task; sort scores refer to quantitative measures that summarize the degree to which participants employed literal or conceptual sort rules during the card sorts; problem categorization features refer to the specific item features that were used as sorting rules; explanatory composition refers to the knowledge or naïve idea elements that comprised evolutionary explanations; explanatory coherence refers to the consistency of explanatory elements across prompts or items; explanatory structure refers to a description of how cognitive resource elements are assembled together into a holistic model or cognitive network; naïve idea diversity refers to the number of different naïve biological ideas or resources employed across item prompts; and KC diversity refers to the number of different scientifically accurate resources employed across all prompts.
Evolutionary Problem Characterization
Differences in problem categorization and representation are thought to have causal associations with problem solving success (Novick and Bassok 2005), and so our work began by exploring how experts and novices grouped and categorized evolutionary problems using a CST. During the CST, two scorers independently documented and subsequently verified 24 different evolutionary sort rules or problem categorization features that were employed by expert and novice participants (see Table 1 for a complete list). The categorization feature "flying vs. nonflying", for example, was used by some novices to describe two item groups (1) items about bats, birds, and locusts and (2) the remaining seven questions about nonflying organisms. The sort rule "evolution vs. function/physiology", for example, was used by some participants to distinguish functional/physiological items (the shark and apple questions) from evolution-focused items (the other eight questions).
In many instances, novices employed sort rules that were never used by experts (Table 1). Specifically, novices uniquely employed 10/24 categorization features; all of these categorizations were also classified as novice-like (see above). These novice-exclusive sort rules could be divided into two classes: (1) literal feature sort rules (e.g., plants vs. animals or behavioral vs. physical traits) or (2) naïve biological sort rules (e.g., needs vs. other factors or pressure causes change vs. other factors). The former sort class included six sort rules and the latter class included four sort rules (Table 1). The most common literal sort rule—employed by 48% of novices—was whether the item groupings involved humans or not. The most common naïve sort rule—employed by 24% of novices—was "adapting to the environment vs. other factors" (Table 1).
Expert participants employed considerably fewer sorting rules than novices (3/24 vs. 10/24, respectively). These unique-to-expert rules included "experimental/hypothesis driven or not", "microevolution vs. macroevolution," and "observable vs. non-observable change". These three expert sort rules were rarely used overall, however (less than 10% of experts employed these three rules). While we categorized the former two sort rules as expert-like because of their conceptual nature, the latter rule was not because "observation" is a conceptually basic scientific concept (even though no novices used "observable" as a sort rule).
Interestingly, the evolutionary sort rules used by novices and experts overlapped in many (11/24) instances. Five of these overlapping sort rules were classified as expert-like and six as novice-like (Table 1). Despite overlap, a greater percentage of evolution experts employed expert-like sort rules than did novices. For example, while 80% of experts used the "structure of evolutionary explanation" as a sort rule, only 40% of novices did so. Likewise, in the vast majority of cases, a greater percentage of novices employed novice-like sort rules than experts. For example, while 72% of novices viewed "environment and weather" as a salient sort rule, only 30% of experts did so.
Two of the sort features that overlapped between experts and novices displayed comparable percentages (Table 1): sensory features and niche. Overall, experts and novices, when confronted with the same evolutionary problems, independently derived many of the same sorting rules. In such cases, experts tended to use expert-like rules more commonly than novices did, and vice versa. Finally, novices generated many unique sort rules characteristic of literal item features and naïve biological concepts.
Expert and novice sort scores were significantly different (t = −4.7, 33 df, p < 0.001). Novice sort scores ranged from −6 to +2 (mean −2.48, SD = 2.3) and expert sort scores ranged from −2 to +5 (mean = 1.6, SD = 2.3). While 80% of expert sort scores were positive, 80% of novice sort scores were negative, indicating that most novices employed novice-like sort rules and most experts employed expert-like sort rules. While no novices' sort scores approached the highest scores of experts, three novices achieved the average expert score (about +2). Likewise, two experts had novice-level card sort scores (<0). Overall, card sort scores derived from judgments of card sort rules were highly predictive of social expertise level (e.g., evolutionary biologist or student). Nevertheless, overlap was also documented between the groups, indicating that some undergraduate students employed expert-like sort rules and some experts used novice-like sort rules.
Problem Solving Performance
In order to quantify expert and novice evolutionary problem solving abilities, we employed a version of the ORI and used it to measure KCs of natural selection diversity and naïve idea diversity (see "Methods" section). Overall, KC diversity differed significantly between experts and novices (t = −3.55, 33 df, p < 0.001). Likewise, experts and novices differed significantly in KC use for each item (p < 0.01; N.B., for the "speeding up evolution" item, p = 0.015). Experts on average used 4.9 KCs per item whereas novices used 3.8 KCs per item.
Interestingly, the pattern of KC use was highly consistent in the expert group: (1) 100% of experts employed KC1 (the causes of variation: mutation, recombination, sex), KC2 (heritability of variation), and KC6 (differential survival of individuals); (2) not a single expert employed KC4 (hyper-fecundity or "overproduction" of offspring) in any of the items and only 10% used KC5 (resource limitation); (3) 90% of experts used KC3 (competition) and KC5 (a change in the distribution of variation in the next generation) in their responses. Interestingly, a similar pattern of KC use occurred in novices, with KC4 again nearly absent from all responses.
Naïve biological ideas were also tabulated within and among the four item responses for all novices and experts. Such ideas included the notion that "needs drive evolutionary change," that pressure applied to organisms can push them to change, and that the disuse of phenotypic features proximally produces evolutionary loss. As was the case for KCs, the diversity of naïve ideas differed significantly between novices and experts, with experts expectedly employing fewer of them (t = 4.53, 33 df, P < 0.001). Likewise, naïve ideas differed significantly between experts and novices for each of the individual items (P < 0.01 for all items except for the salamander item, in which P > 0.05). As a group, experts on average employed 0.2 naïve ideas among the four items whereas novices employed an average of 1.44 naïve ideas among items.
A qualitative review of the types of naïve ideas used by participants indicated that experts and novices employed different naïve ideas. Notably, only one of the experts appeared to use a naïve biological idea (the redistribution of energy from vision to other senses). Novices employed a wider array of naïve biological ideas. These included not only the energy redistribution idea mentioned by an expert, but also: (1) needs drive change, (2) pressure forces change, (3) use and disuse explain change, (4) acclimation is the same as adaptation, (5) inheritance of acquired characteristics, and (6) intentionality explains change. For example, novices referred to the disuse of eyes in salamanders as an explanation of loss of vision. In another example, novices stated that organisms changed in response to needs caused by abiotic or biotic factors, such as the need to become immune to antibiotics, to outcompete other organisms, or to avoid predation. None of the experts employed any of these naïve biological ideas.
Explanatory Coherence
Explanatory coherence patterns in novice and expert participants
Cognitive resource
Consistencya of expert use (%)
Expert rank order
Consistencya of novice use (%)
Novice rank order
Key concept 6
Differential survival
Key concept 1
Causes of variation
Key concept 2
Key concept 7
Frequency change
Key concept 3
Key concept 5
Key concept 4
Naïve concept 1
Needs drive change
Naïve concept 2
Pressure forces change
Naïve concept 3
Use and disuse explain change
Naïve concept 4
Acclimation = adaptation
Naïve concept 5
Inheritance or acquired traits
Naïve concept 6
Intentionality explains change
As Table 2 indicates, experts' and novices' item response consistency for KCs differed greatly. Experts used six of the KCs with varying degrees of consistency whereas novices used only three. Seventy percent of experts consistently used KC 6 (Differential survival) whereas only 36% of novices did so. While experts consistently employed more KCs than did novices in their problem solutions, some concepts (e.g., limited resources) were rarely used consistently, and one (KC 4, hyperfecundity) was never used (Table 2). Overall, it is clear that experts displayed significantly greater explanatory coherence, and did so using scientifically accurate resources, than novices. Nevertheless, experts' use of scientifically accurate concepts was much less coherent than expected. Novices did not display explanatory coherence using scientifically accurate elements of natural selection.
Because naïve ideas were relatively common in novice responses, we also explored whether their application displayed patterns of explanatory coherence. Recall that experts almost never employed naïve biological ideas, and so it was not possible to explore consistency in this regard. As Table 2 illustrates, novices never employed naïve ideas in a coherent manner. Each item typically elicited unique (and naïve) biological resources.
In summary, the four open-response evolutionary problems (1) elicited different types and magnitudes of accurate and naive cognitive resources in experts and adults; (2) produced different structural arrangements of ideas; and (3) produced different degrees of explanatory coherence, with the greatest degree of consistency in experts' use of KCs of natural selection.
Teleology Test Performance
Correlation patterns among measures
Card sort score
Teleology score
Key concept diversity score
Misconception diversity score
Card sort score
Teleology score
Key concept diversity score
Misconception diversity score
Relationships between Problem Categorization Patterns and Problem Solving Performances
Our data set reveals three different patterns of association among problem sort rules and problem solving performance. First, the recognition of superficial item features by novices was, as may be expected, directly linked to naïve problem solutions. Novices who identified "immunity/resistance" as a salient sort feature, for example, typically solved evolutionary problems containing these literal components using naïve ideas relating to acclimation (cf. Bishop and Anderson 1990). Specifically, nearly half of novices characterized immunity/resistance as different from other types of evolution. This representation or conceptualization is associated with the use of naïve biological mechanisms in problem solutions (e.g., acclimation or adapting or "getting used to it"). Thus, we find a clear link between problem categorization and problem solving performance.
The second permutation links the recognition of deep item features with successful scientific problem solving. The sort rule of "evolution vs. function/physiology" (Table 1) is a deep conceptual feature that was recognized by 80% of experts and 40% of novices. These individuals recognized the difference between problems (a) taking place over many generations and requiring evolutionary explanations and (b) those occurring within a generation and requiring what may be termed proximal biological explanations (e.g., function, physiology; see Kampourakis and Zogza 2009). The individuals who recognized such distinctions in the card sort tasks were much more likely to successfully solve evolutionary problems.
The third permutation that we documented was the case of a superficial sort feature having little association with expertise or problem solving success. Sensory vs. non-sensory features are an example of this permutation; these two classes of phenotypic traits are in fact not subject to different evolutionary or selective processes, and yet some experts judged this item feature as salient and characteristic of different item groupings. Recognition of this superficial item feature was not, however, associated with problem solving success or failure; experts who recognized this superficial sort rule were good problem solvers, whereas novices who recognized this superficial feature as salient were typically poor problem solvers. Thus, in contrast to the previous two examples, the quality of problem characterization features or sort rules was not connected to evolutionary problem solving success.
Crosscutting Themes in Scientific Problem Solving
The results of our study mirror several conclusions drawn from the problem solving literature in other content domains (e.g., physics, mathematics, chemistry, and genetics). First, we found that the novices in our study are "not a uniform crowd" (Hardiman et al. 1989: 633); biology majors with comparable academic preparation demonstrated significantly different problem categorization patterns and problem solving abilities along an expansive continuum (Smith 1983; Camacho and Good 1989). Some novices outperformed experts in their problem characterization richness and equaled experts in their problem solving success. At the other end of the spectrum, however, some novices exclusively identified literal or concrete item features (categories such as flying vs. nonflying, plants vs. animals, behavioral traits vs. physical traits) and employed teleological and intentional models characteristic of young children (see below). Overall, the construct of a novice evolutionary problem solver is problematic given the diversity of cognitive representations and strategies documented among individuals in our study.
Remarkably, some novices exhibited expert-like evolutionary problem categorization and solving abilities within the first year of their academic careers (see also Smith 1983, for similar findings in the domain of genetics). An important question for science educators that was asked (but not answered) by Camacho and Good (1989) in their study of chemistry students was what factors facilitated such precocious development in these novices? Which experiences, domain knowledge elements, metacognitive strategies, attitudes, and argumentation skills explained this apparently remarkable achievement (see also Shin et al. 2003)? Purposive sampling of such individuals and exploring the factors that may have contributed to their expertise would be a profitable endeavor.
As with the many studies we reviewed from other science content domains, evolution problem categorization is significantly associated with evolution problem solving success. Novices employing expert item categorization groupings performed significantly better on evolution problem solving tasks (Fig. 1). Likewise, despite a diversity of novice explanation and card sort patterns (as noted above), experts displayed significantly higher evolution problem categorization scores and evolution problem solving scores. Furthermore, these scores were significantly associated with one another (Table 2). Thus, similar to the findings from research in physics education, we found that our participants' sensitivity to item surface features in problem categorization was adversely associated with problem solving success (see also Chi et al. 1981; Sabella and Redish 2007; Reif 2008; Nehm and Ha 2011). Indeed, those participants who employed more novice-like categorization features (Table 1) displayed lower problem solving scores. While our study design prohibits the attribution of causal conclusions, it has generated results suggestive of a relationship between problem characterization type and problem solving success emblematic of many other science disciplines.
Unsurprisingly, cognitive biases played a role in college-level evolutionary problem solving (Sinatra et al. 2008). We found that many undergraduate novices employed cognitive biases characteristic of children (e.g., intentionality and teleology) in both their problem categorizations and their problem solutions. Such cognitive biases were completely lacking in all expert responses. Some novices, for example, went so far as to use "needs" as a problem categorization feature and likewise explained the causes of evolutionary change in terms of organismal intentions and needs (see Southerland et al. 2001 for similar patterns in secondary school children). These results support the recent work of Kelemen and Rosset (2009), who demonstrate the ontogenetic persistence and masking (rather than replacement) of cognitive strategies characteristic of young children in college-age adults (see also Lombrozo et al. 2007 for comparable conclusions derived from adult samples afflicted with Alzheimer's disease). Overall, then, problem representation using primitive cognitive explanations was in some cases linked to explanations using the same elements. This result bolsters our conclusions that problem representation and problem solving performance are tightly linked in the domain of evolution.
Explanatory Coherence and Evolutionary Expertise
The consistency of explanations across items varied between experts and novices. As anticipated, expert problem solutions were almost exclusively composed of KCs of natural selection, whereas many novices' solutions comprised mixtures of key concepts, naïve ideas, and other contextually inappropriate cognitive resources (e.g., adaptation as acclimation and Southerland et al.'s 2001 P-prim "need as a rationale for change"). Thus, both the composition and structure of expert and novice evolutionary problem solutions differed in significant respects. Indeed, the greater use of key concepts in evolutionary explanations is but one empirical hallmark of evolutionary expertise.
Explanatory coherence may be considered another component of what may be termed evolutionary expertise (cf. Kampourakis and Zogza 2009). In our analysis of the structure and composition of problem solutions among experts and novices, we noted a diversity of ideas (scientific and naive) that were recruited and assembled into a variety of structural arrangements. We also delineated models of evolutionary explanations depending on whether the resources used by participants were primarily scientific KCs (expert), naïve biological concepts and/or item surface features (novice) or mixtures of the two (mixed models). Furthermore, we noted that social expertise levels (e.g., student, evolutionary biologist) were closely matched to the novice, mixed, and expert models. Finally, we noted that the consistency of explanatory model types across items (i.e., "coherence") was considerably greater for experts than novices. These patterns suggest that explanatory coherence is a useful measure of evolutionary expertise.
In a recent article exploring the coherence of evolutionary explanations in secondary students, Kampourakis and Zogza (2009) noted that "Students did not provide the same type of explanation to all tasks; rather this depended on the specific qualitative characteristics…in the tasks." Similarly, Nehm and Schonfeld (2008) and Nehm and Ha (2011) found that student explanations for evolutionary questions were context dependent in many cases; they particularly found that naïve idea measures were different depending on the measurement method and item features. Our results bring additional empirical evidence to bear upon such findings. It is clear that many superficial item features (e.g., locusts, sparrow wings, eye loss) activate different suites of cognitive resources in experts and novices (Hammer et al. 2005; Nehm 2010). Indeed, item features and contexts are perceived sensitively by novices and are associated with unique patterns of (1) prior knowledge cueing, (2) problem categorization and recognition, and (3) schema activation and solution pathways. Thus, biology educators must begin to attend to such context effects in their teaching, as well as better understand how they influence evolutionary learning. Given that explanatory coherence and insensitivity to such surface effects is a hallmark of evolutionary expertise, biology teachers must begin to tackle the issue of how to effectively teach students to represent and conceptualize evolutionary problems prior to attempting to solve them.
Study Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research
The conclusions generated from our evolution problem characterization tasks are constrained by the types of problems that we employed. Specifically, the problem types used in our card sort task were (a) ill-structured, (b) qualitative in nature, and (c) focused on the origin(s) and loss(es) of individual phenotypic features (e.g., sight, spines). A diverse array of problem types characterizes the domain of evolutionary biology, including quantitative and probabilistic problems relating to sub-cellular elements (e.g., alleles, base pairs, and other genetic elements); macroevolutionary scenarios such as adaptive radiations (Catley et al. 2011); and genomic and bioinformatic models (Nehm and Budd 2006). In order to better understand student thinking about evolution, which is prerequisite to designing effective instructional interventions and assessments (National Research Council 2001), further problem solving research is needed on a diversity of problem types that we did not attempt to investigate. Additionally, our expert sample was relatively small (n = 10), racially homogeneous, and dominated by men. A larger and more diverse sample of experts could lead to different findings. Nevertheless, our sample does approximate the racial and gender distribution of the field of evolutionary biology.
Methodologically, defining, describing, and analyzing evolutionary solutions require a rich and empirically validated taxonomy of explanatory elements (reminiscent of di Sessa's 2008 "call to arms" in this regard). The categories of analysis presented here are woefully incomplete in terms of the ways in which solution elements could be characterized and modeled (e.g., causal structure, P-prims, coordination classes, etc.; see Hammer et al. 2005). A richer taxonomy of the elements that comprise evolutionary explanations would permit a more fine-grained analysis of the compositional and structural differences between experts' and novices' open-ended explanations. The task of documenting and analyzing these explanatory elements in written text may be enhanced using new technological tools (Nehm and Haertig 2011; Nehm et al. 2011).
Finally, visual representations have a longstanding association with biological thinking and problem solving (e.g., Darwin 1859; Kindfield 1991; Catley et al. in press). Indeed, diagrams and their representative structure have been linked to biological problem solving success in domains such as genetics (Kindfield 1991, 1993). However, none of the problems employed in our card sort task incorporated visual or conceptual diagrams. Exploring putative connections among diagrammatic representations, problem representation, and problem solving success has great potential in bolstering our understanding of evolutionary thinking and problem solving.
We thank the faculty and students who participated in our study and NSF REESE 090999 (R. Nehm, principal investigator) for funding parts of this study.


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Aberdeen Caledonian Thistle Celtic Dundee Hamilton Academical Hearts Kilmarnock Motherwell Rangers Ross County St Johnstone
Aston Villa Barnsley Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Burton Albion Cardiff City Derby County Fulham Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Newcastle United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Reading Rotherham United Sheffield Wednesday Wigan Athletic Wolverhampton
Sam Allardyce tells Spurs boss AVB if he doesn't get third, he's a failure
SAM ALLARDYCE reckons Tottenham have to finish higher than fourth for Andre Villas-Boas to be seen as a hit.
They've got to finish higher than fourth, haven't they? That's the pressure for him
But the Hammers boss is on a revenge mission after his side lost 3-1 at White Hart Lane back in November.
Villas-Boas took over from Harry Redknapp in the summer and Big Sam insists the Portuguese boss must do better than the man he replaced to justify chairman Daniel Levy's decision.
"They've got to finish higher than fourth, haven't they? That's the pressure for him," he said.
"He's done great taking over but fourth is the same as Harry and you know what we're like in football - they'll say, 'Harry did that'."
West Ham have already beaten Chelsea at Upton Park this season and also held Manchester City to a draw.
But they have slipped down to 13th after winning just once in their last six.
Big Sam's men still hold a six-point cushion over the bottom three with tonight's game in hand.
But with only three matches in March, Allardyce knows how important tonight's London derby will be.
"We have to claim as many points as we can in the next three games," he said.
"Games in hand are not the advantage for me. It's points in the bag."

subset: commoncrawl


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It was the first day of school for Toby but wasn't why he was swearing. He called Annika a motherfucker. Annika still winced everytime she heard the word. It was shocking to hear an eight year old swear with such rage.Even though she was the one who taught him the word. The truth was Annika had never wanted to be a mother.Certainly not a mother to her sister's kid. Annika had enjoyed three things drinking, swearing and acting. She did a lot less since Toby came along.
" Toby just eat your yougurt" Annika muttered
" I know you hide my fucking pills in the yougurt" Toby said
" Take them out. Swollow them with a shot of water. I don't care" Annika said
Toby didn't surprise her he stirred around his yougurt and promptly gave in. He started humming the Jaws theme loudly the gobbling up the yougurt loudly.
Annika learned not her role her eyes or laugh she just gave a sudtle smirk. Toby didn't like getting laughed at. Children could be so cruel. Especially the older ones. But Toby had manged to meet a good group of boys his age. They didn't care that Toby refused to wear underwear or socks. They didn't care that he had to be brushed every two hours. He was the boy who got away with almost anything.


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May 30, 2015 – By Steve Case – I don't recall exactly what was going through my mind that morning, 30 years ago this summer, when a group of us in Tysons Corner, Va., launched a start-up called Quantum Computer Services, later renamed America Online.
Steve Case: Get ready, the Internet is about to change again. Here's how., The Washington Post


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ESPN Unveils Early-Season CFB Schedule Phelps Family Stars In Huggies Campaign FC Cincy Moves Ahead With Stadium Push New MLB Show To Stream On Twitter Chevrolet Extends Red Wings Deal Red Sox' Farrell Launches Ticket Program Star-Studded Crowd At Sports Business Awards Jerry Jones Receives Lifetime Achievement Award USGA Hopes To Avoid Politics At U.S. Women's Open Tom Ricketts Wins Sports Executive of The Year
Upcoming Conferences and Events
May 31 - Jun 1
Jun 15-16
Sep 14
Oct 11-13
SBD/Issue 211/Sponsorships, Advertising & Marketing
Hanley Ramirez Uses Home Run Derby To Unveil New Flashy Shoes
Published July 19, 2010
|Ramirez' Silver And Teal Shoes Part Of
Boombah's New H2R Line Of Clothing
Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez used last week's Home Run Derby to showcase his new silver-and-teal shoes "as part of an unveiling of his new H2R line of clothing, produced by a company called Boombah which signed Ramirez to a sponsorship deal" before this season, according to Ben Volin of the PALM BEACH POST. The clothing line includes "baseball T-shirts, pullovers, graphic tees and ... the flashy, space-aged spikes." Ramirez did not "design any of the clothes, but everything got his final approval." The shoes he wore "were the talk of the Home Run Derby broadcast" on ESPN. Among All-Stars, only Marlins P Josh Johnson "received a pair, though he didn't wear them because of his contract with Nike." Volin noted Boombah, an online-only store, "never had a baseball client before Ramirez, concentrating mostly on softball apparel." Ramirez, tied for 25th on THE DAILY's list of most marketable MLB players, signed with the company "through a mutual friend of his agent, Andy Mota, who said the clothing line is a way for Ramirez to create a brand and spread his profile beyond the South Florida market." Mota: "We're not New York, L.A., nothing like that. We're not on ESPN that much. This is very good for him. He has nothing to lose by trying it." The clothing line also is a sign that Ramirez is "becoming more comfortable with his place as one of baseball's brightest and most recognizable stars." Mota said, "We're taking baby steps, but he's matured and come to grips with his image and how big he has become. He's finally cognizant of his ability to market himself and develop a brand" (PALM BEACH POST, 7/18).


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Lazaro Wedding Gown For Sale
Only 2 months old, handmade to order gorgeous Lazaro wedding gown for sale at discounted price.
Asking $3999.00. Willing to set up payment arrangements if needed with the right person.
Would like to give another bride the opportunity to wear such an amazing gown on their special day!
You can visit Bravo Bride for more specs and details - Lazaro LX3167 or simply contact me for pictures.
Dress I am wearing in my main profile picture is the dress I am selling.


text:
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Wow! Not bad boobies and a nice ass! In the end, I thought she was going to let him cum in her mouth, but alas, she didn't! At least he didn't cum inside her, but did it on her belly! And I prefer a woman that's shaved completely bald, but it's retro and hairy twats were in style!
Hot !
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March 17, 2006
Evo Wants to Neutralize the Opposition
The government of Bolivia, headed by Evo Morales, is proposing to change the bill regulating the summon to the Constituent Assembly. You can find the entire text here, in Spanish. The changes are, first to extend the deadline for the registration of candidates, and the second is to stop state campaign finance.
The first change would affect every organization trying to register, but needing more time to do it. Many organizations just do not have the means or the know-how to do this. The electoral court is considering pushing the deadline about a week. That will give them enough time and it will not significantly affect the work of the court to keep the schedule.
The second change would directly affect the opposition. If state financing of political campaigns is stopped, the opposition would have difficulty reaching rural communities or any other region where they do not have a significant presence. Thus those people would not have alternatives for their choice. As far as the government is concerned, they would have the capacity to reach the four corners of the territory.
There are many people who are criticizing this decision as trying to neutralize the opposition and opening the opportunities for the government to control the Constituent Assembly. For its part, Evo Morales has expressed his desire to win the election of assembly members by large margins (70% or even 80%). His reasons were the difficulties Congress presented at the time of decreeing a law. Morales said he often feels constrained by Congress, because when he wants to do something with a decree, Congress has to first approve, and according to him, it is difficult to make Congress agree with his government. (article here)
It is difficult to trust the government on changes like these. Specially when it is widely known (ex post) that there are still Chavez advisors acting behind the courtains, "advising" the government of Bolivia and knowing how Chavez got to dominate the Constituent Assembly in Venezuela and used it to consolidate his grip on government.
1 comment:
I agree that Chavez advisors have been "advising" the government of Bolivia. The EVO administration is clearly attempting to consolidate its grip on government. Bolivia has to be careful at this point. This inexperienced government seems so naive with its strategy to associate itself with characters such as Chavez and Castro. When leaders keep themselves in power by crushing other parties, warning bells should ring across the country.
Venezuela is such a charade. Oil and money only create greed!!! The social programs are only a front for the world and are designed to crush the middle class.. Don't worry Tio Chavez will take care of you... NOT!!
My advice is to look to Brazil and learn from a legitimate economy. Brazil, like Justin Timberlake, moves to the left; slides to the right, but rocks that bottom line...


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|"Dave Gardner" <dgard...@dtbusiness.com>
|mod_jk seems to fail if not in debug mode
|Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:06:56 GMT
mod_jk seems to fail if not in debug mode I've set up my Apache/Tomcat servers and it seems to be working. However, in my httpd.conf if I use "JkLogLevel info" I get the following messages in my mod_jk.log file: [Tue Feb 13 08:08:45 2007] [24399:46784] [info] ajp_process_callback::jk_ajp_common.c (1433): Writing to client aborted or client network problems [Tue Feb 13 08:08:45 2007] [24399:46784] [info] ajp_service::jk_ajp_common.c (1832): (tomcat72) request failed, because of client write error without recovery in send loop attempt=0 [Tue Feb 13 08:08:45 2007] [24399:46784] [info] service::jk_lb_worker.c (979): unrecoverable error 200, request failed. Client failed in the middle of request, we can't recover to another instance. [Tue Feb 13 08:08:45 2007] [24399:46784] [info] jk_handler::mod_jk.c (2135): Aborting connection for worker=tomcats These repeat, not for every request but it cycles through all four Tomcat workers about every 10-20 minutes or so. Users also are getting page cannot be displayed, timeouts, etc. If I change it to "JkLogLevel debug" I get tons of information but no errors. Users tend to run a little slow (probably because of all the logging taking place), but it seems to work. Any help here would be appreciated. I am running: Linux RedHat Fedora 4.2 Apache 2.0.54-10 Apache Tomcat 5.5.12 Tomcat Connectors (mod_jk) 1.2.20 2 physical servers, each with dual procesors Each server runs 2 instances of Tomcat, each with it's own AJP1.3 connector Apache HTTPD runs on one server running virtual hosts. Each host routes to mod_jk using a "JkMount /* tomcats" directive My workers.properties file looks like this: # workers.properties start ps=/ worker.list=tomcat61, tomcat62, tomcat71, tomcat72, tomcats, jkstatus # DTBS6 Tomcat 1 worker.tomcat61.port=8009 worker.tomcat61.host=192.168.6.41 worker.tomcat61.type=ajp13 worker.tomcat61.lbfactor=100 # DTBS6 Tomcat 2 worker.tomcat62.port=8010 worker.tomcat62.host=192.168.6.41 worker.tomcat62.type=ajp13 worker.tomcat62.lbfactor=100 # DTBS7 Tomcat 1 worker.tomcat71.port=8009 worker.tomcat71.host=192.168.6.42 worker.tomcat71.type=ajp13 worker.tomcat71.lbfactor=100 # DTBS7 Tomcat 2 worker.tomcat72.port=8010 worker.tomcat72.host=192.168.6.42 worker.tomcat72.type=ajp13 worker.tomcat72.lbfactor=100 # Load Balancer worker worker.tomcats.type=lb worker.tomcats.balance_workers=tomcat61, tomcat71, tomcat62, tomcat72 # Status Worker worker.jkstatus.type=status # workers.properties end --------------------------------------------------------------------- To start a new topic, e-mail: email@example.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com For additional commands, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
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text: Short-term testosterone manipulations modulate visual recognition memory and some aspects of emotional reactivity in male rhesus monkeys.Agnès Lacreuse, Heather E Gore, Jeemin Chang, Emily R KaplanPhysiology & behavior2012The role of testosterone (T) in modulating cognitive function and emotion in men remains unclear. The paucity of animal studies has likely contributed to the slow progress in this area. In particular, studies in nonhuman primates have been lacking. Our laboratory has begun to address this issue by pharmacologically manipulating T levels in intact male… (More)


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Ex-Nobu director of operations opening 3 new spots on Brickell with ex-Michael's Genuine sous chef at the helm of 2
So, their people contacted ours and now we have the full story about the trio of venues opening on Brickell and related to the former Mare Nostrum space. After a 15-year run as Director of Worldwide Operations for Nobu, Santiago Rodriguez and the vassili Group are opening "three upscale establishments never before seen in Miami," hawks the PR team. Those three places, as we were saying, are The Hoxton, Box Park and Harvey Wolf.
"The idea is that happy hour is continuous and you can spend your entire evening at these three venues. Patrons can join us at The Hoxton for a casual drink, go next door to Box Park for a bite to eat, and end the evening at Harvey Wolf," Rodriguez explains. "You can meet with friends or work colleagues, watch the big game on the TV, or even be on a date."
The Hoxton is being described as an "urban beach house, while Box Park is an "intimate restaurant," and Harvey Wolf a "dark, seductive lounge." All three were inspired by Rodriguez's travel to places like, yep, Shoreditch in London, the location of the hipster Hoxton Hotel in which this writer stayed many moons ago and was speculating about yesterday.
"It's the simple things like sitting in the family kitchen surrounded by great company; that's what life is all about," explains Rodriguez. "I want to create a venue where guests could feel comfortable, almost like they were in their friend's living room."
As for the kind of cuisine, the chef and all that information, former Michael's Genuine Food & Drink sous chef Matt Hinckley, who also helped to open Harry's Pizzeria, is the chef. The menu will be "true to the Hamptons, New England beach-house feel with clams, mussels and seafood fare."
Rodriguez has enlisted the help of high end interior designer, Valerie Pasquiou, whose thirteen years of experience includes residential, luxury commercial, and creative spaces with Hermes, Ralph Lauren, and the New York MTV office.
Expect a late October 2012 (!) opening of The Hoxton followed eventually by the openings of Box Park and Harvey Wolf. All three spaces will be located at the Axis building on Brickell in what will be, says BRPR Group's Gerard Bush, Creative Director of Branding for the project, "A lounge/restaurant row."


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Well, hello Mr Bond
You have got to be kidding me. No wonder he was so smooth. And gorgeous. Okay. Be smart.
"So...would you like this coffee stirred? I wouldn't recommend shaken"
He laughs. I push the coffee towards him, the crema gleaming on the smooth dark liquid. His long fingers grazes the cup. He holds my gaze for a few precious seconds that feels like forever.
"Thank you. Amy."
He lifts the cup to his lips. His first sip is followed by an ever so slight sigh - a subtlety reserved for coffee lovers appreciating truly great coffee.
"So, what's it going to be called? The film. Or is it a secret?"
Please let it be the one by...
He didn't give me a chance to finish my thoughts.
"Devil May Care. It's based on the novel by Seb.."
"Sebastian Faulks! I've actually read that one!"
His phone rang before he could respond.
"Carter." He listened for a while, responding with a few yes's and no's, giving me no clues as to what the call was about. When he finished the call, he returned his phone to his pocket, took out his wallet and placed a note on the table.
"Thank you for the coffee, Amy."
I stared at him as he walked out. He paused at the door, turned around and said:
"If you'd like, you could come watch us film tomorrow."
"Wow, really? That would be great!" Overeager much?
He smiled. "Good. My assistant will pick you up tomorrow at 9 am. Here."
And with that, he was out the door.


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If you have, you know that it's vexatious, improbable and quite possibly the pinnacle of frustration.
In fact, it's much easier to change the name of the airline
And that's exactly what's happening to regional carrier Pinnacle. Again.
The brand that was also known as Express Airlines, Mesaba and Colgen, then Pinnacle, is now emerging from chapter 11 bankruptcy with a new brand and logo after Delta's investment of $52 million, creating a subsidiary.
The new name: Endeavor Air
Pinnacle chief executive Ryan Gumm told employees Endeavor Air was chosen as a name "because it evokes an image of innovation, excitement and the adventure of a journey."
Perhaps Mr. Gumm should also note, that the Latin root of the word, endeavor, is the verb, 'debere' which means 'to be in debt."]]>
SAAB was always a kind of off-beat car for American drivers and its reintroduction as an eco-vehicle made sense, sort of like the news that the DeLorean might make a similar comeback.
The brand looks set to be controlled by a group called National Electric Vehicle Sweden or NEVS (ironically owned by a Chinese-Japanese investment group). So, it seemed that after a few false starts, a new SAAB with (sort of) a Swedish connection would hit the road.
And then reality struck. NEVS seems to own everything related to SAAB including the Trollhattan production facility, but not the right to use the SAAB name or griffin logo we all know and love.
The SAAB name is shared by Swedish defense company SAAB AB and the logo is used by SAAB related truck company Scania. And thus the SAAB story gets another setback as the whole attraction of the new SAAB vehicle would be in the name.
Chalk this up to another company learning the hard way that you may buy another company but you don't automatically get the name. NEVS will need to work with SAAB AB and Scania to come to an agreement on use of the SAAB name.
I have followed the demise of SAAB for years now, and once called the name the ultimate "anti-brand." I meant it in a good way. The brand has the kind of individualistic, exotic cache that Apple used to have. And the Swedish connection makes it even more exotic, even if it has Chinese-Japanese owners.
SAAB has been around since the 1940s and it is one of those car brands we would hate to lose. But as Autoblog says, "Not to state the obvious, but if you're going to buy an automaker, it's probably advisable to secure rights to use the name."
Technorati Tags: SAAB, NEVS, National Electric Vehicle Sweden, Trollhattan, Electric Car]]>
This is a chip with "50 brains," which is probably the best way a non-technical person might think about its power.
Intel says "As we add Intel Xeon Phi products to our portfolio, scientists, engineers and IT professionals will experience breakthrough levels of performance to effectively address challenges ranging from climate change to risk management."
In other words, this is one impressive computer chip, and probably a big step forward for high performance computing.
Its code name was originally "Knight's Corner" and can do a trillion scientific calculations a second, a unit of computing charmingly called a "teraflop" (not to be confused with a "megaflop" and a "petaflop").
The Xeon Phi brand is set to be around for quite a while, partly because these chips can be integrated into equipment users already own.
This is the introduction of a new set of brands that will possibly usher in a new era of supercomputing, or "exascale" computing as the geeks call it.
Technorati Tags: Intel, Xeon Phi, Product Naming, Naming, Branding, Electronics Product Naming, Electronics Brand Name]]>
GigaOm calls this whole thing a "train wreck" and gives us a compelling list of reasons why this will turn into a mess.
Are that many companies or individuals or organizations really going to register for a .gay domain name, or a .arab one? And what purpose would it serve to have a .beer domain name, or a .pizza domain? That doesn't seem to matter to ICANN -- it plans to hand out names by the thousands regardless of whether anyone wants them (although it's not clear what will happen with .porn or other suggestions).
The problem is, of course, that so much of this is frivolous, and that it looks like a blatant move by ICANN to make some quick cash off brand managers and domain registrars.
Washington lawmakers seem to be calling this a big ".fail," with nervous government watchers worrying that this will cause confusion on the Internet.
And while we are on the subject, what about domain names like ".sucks" and ".fail," which are certainly going to be used to criticize brand and political figures.
The "most applied for" brand name extensions look a little encouraging (".app," ".LLC," ".LLP," etc) but let's note that many companies are against the process and have signed a petition with the Association of National Advertisers.
Still, Wired has asked us why the new gTLDs are not a bit more amusing and have in fact produced a list of domain names we'd like to see but, will not, due to the cost and regulation of the process of registration.
Technorati Tags: gTLD, Domain Names, Domain Naming, Naming]]>
The new gTLDs might change the character of the Internet altogether. Amazon wants ".joy" while Google wants ".love" and L'Oreal wants ".beauty." Google also went for ".hangout, .here, .inc, .kid, .lol and .music" just to add to the insanity.
Big technology names like Google, Microsoft and Amazon are the most active and appear to have big plans for new gTLDs.
Amazon also applied for a number of interesting gTLDs, including ".tunes, .app, .author, .aws, .book, .bot, .buy, .call, .circle, .cloud, .coupon, .deal, .dev, .fast, .free, .game and .play."
There turned out to be 1,930 proposals for 1,409 different suffixes. Most of the proposals came from North America and Europe with only a hundred or so in non-English characters.
Months remain before any of this will take hold and of course nay-sayers point out that while having an interesting suffix is quaint and cute, the fact is that users find stuff on the Internet using Google. They don't type in a suffix or company name into the URL line.
Lauren Weinstein, co-founder of People For Internet Responsibility said, "One thing that's going to occur is a lot of money is going to get sucked out of the ecosystem... The cost is billions and billions of dollars with no value returned to people and an enormous capacity for confusion."
Big brands who own suffixes like ".app" will be able to say who gets to use the suffix, causing suffix owners to be essentially gatekeepers. Yet this might be a smidge overblown. Apple only wanted ".apple" and Facebook didn't want any: "It was Amazon that bid for '.like' - the famous button on Facebook that lets users recommend links and brands to friends."
This last piece of news is a relief for me. It shows that not every major company is going to drink this ridiculous .Kool-Aid.
Technorati Tags: ICANN, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, gTLD]]>
Today, Wednesday, June 13th, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN) will release 2,000 proposals for new Internet domain suffixes.
As you may recall, in January ICANN started accepting proposals for new domains.
Now, the mad rush has closed and we get to see who wants what. Those interested in applying for a new domain name had until the end of May to propose new domain suffixes and cough up $185,000.
So what happens next? Well, according to Businessweek:
THE CHALLENGES: The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposals. Someone can claim a trademark violation or argue that a proposed suffix is offensive.
THE LOGISTICS: Because of the high number of proposals, ICANN will review them in groups of about 500. There's a lottery-like system to determine which ones get to be considered first. It could take a few years to get to the final group.
THE REVIEW: ICANN will review each proposal to make sure that its financial plan is sound and that contingencies exist in case a company goes out of business. Bidders also must pass criminal background checks.
And there is more to the review process, of course. Months and months of it.
This is adding hundreds of hours of work for everyone who has a meaningful domain, and offering upstarts a chance to make the Internet that much more confusing.
Think about the headache Coke has, for instance. Every single permutation of its name and the word .cola now must be theirs.
Or, consider the hassle faced by Lady Gaga (or any other celebrity): they are all waking up today hoping that porn sites haven't lobbied for their names.
As I have said before, this might be a big disaster. Or a small one. But a disaster nonetheless.
Technorati Tags: ICANN, TLDs, Domain Naming, Naming]]>
They are setting up an upscale watch company at Detroit's College for Creative Studies A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education in New Center.
The watches look great and they plan on making half a million of them a year. This may actually be the revival of the American watchmaking industry. But the thing that has really caught my attention is the brand name...
Now, some of you may recall that Shinola used to be a shoe polish that saw its heyday in the 1940s. The shoe polish has since disappeared (although it has a Facebook page) but a classic expression that incorporates the name has lived on: "He doesn't know sh+t from Shinola."
The phrase even made it to the big screen in Steve Martin's The Jerk.
Now, one might think that the people who chose the name overlooked this expression, but interestingly enough, they liked it so much it was the inspiration for the name. The expression came up in a "heated brainstorming debate" and it, well, stuck.
Just as interesting is the equity the Detroit name has. The company chose to set up production of the watches there because they found that "Made in Detroit" actually means something.
The car ads have obviously paid off and brought a certain gritty panache to the city. In fact, Detroit seems to be slowly becoming aware of the value of its name.
When consumers were given a choice between a $5 pen made in China, a $10 pen made is the US, and a $15 pen made in Detroit, they preferred the more expensive pen "Made in Detroit."
Behind all this strategic planning is the founder of the hugely successful Fossil Watches, Tom Kartsotis, so this is no stab in the dark. Apparently, people like Kartsotis really do know sh+t from Shinola.
Technorati Tags: Shinola, Made in Detroit, Detroit Branding, Watch Naming, Watch Brand Names]]>
Twitter has done away with the lowercase "t" and "bubbled typefaces."
Now, according to a Twitter blog post, "Twitter is the bird, the bird is Twitter." They go on to explain
Our new bird grows out of love for ornithology, design within creative constraints, and simple geometry. This bird is crafted purely from three sets of overlapping circles -- similar to how your networks, interests and ideas connect and intersect with peers and friends. Whether soaring high above the earth to take in a broad view, or flocking with other birds to achieve a common purpose, a bird in flight is the ultimate representation of freedom, hope and limitless possibility.
Twitter has released lots of do's and dont's around the new bird as well. We are required to use the bird to represent the brand, make sure the bird faces right, and allow for at least 150% buffer space around the bird.
The "don't" list is pretty fearsome: no rotating, coloring, animating the bird and no using speech bubbles or "other marks and logos to represent the brand."
This has let one source to say "the bird is the word," literally.
By the way, the bird's name is "Larry" and is named after basketball legend Larry Bird.
Design Week sniffs that Twitter should have "launched a new brand story," noting that negative reaction to a company's new logo "doesn't happen (as much) when rebrands are led by the story of what's happening to merit a new look, a new name or a fresh approach. Particularly if there's actually something in it for the audience."
I guess so, but then again the new logo is kind of cool.
Technorati Tags: Twitter, Twitter Bird, Twitter Logo, Naming, Branding]]>
The name comes from the Hillshire Farm brand that was acquired in 1971, which Sara Lee says represents the company's "ambitions for growing our portfolio of iconic brands in the future."
Meanwhile, the name Sara Lee will be maintained for the food service division as Sara Lee Foodservice.
As one would expect, the company will have a new visual identity for its "meat-centric brand and snack solutions."
Obviously the Sara Lee name meant "bakery" to many people, but the Hillshire Brands portfolio includes meat brands, such as Jummy Dean, Ball Park, Hillshire Farm and State Fair as well as two "artisan" brands: Aidells and Gallo.
Hillshire Farm was established in Wisconsin in 1934 by Friedrich (Fritz) Bernegger in New London, just northwest of Appleton. The name still stands for "quality, integrity and superior taste" according to Sara Lee.
This is not the first time Sara Lee has embraced a name change. The Sara Lee name dates back to 1939, but the name itself was changed in 1954 to Consolidated Foods, only to switch back in 1985 to Sara Lee.
I think this marks the beginning of the end for the Sara Lee name as we know it, ushering in a far more streamlined approach to a greatly transformed company. Yet, I am glad the Sara Lee name will remain in some capacity even if I am not expecting to see it on retail shelves anymore.
Technorati Tags: Sara Lee Name Change, Hillshire Farms, Company Naming, Renaming, Brand Name Changes]]>
As The Wall Street Journal reports today, "Is Redalen a) a town in Norway b) a bed sold by Swedish furniture chain IKEA or c) something that sounds uncomfortably close to getting to third base in Thailand?"
"The answer, it turns out, is all three."
IKEA's fifth largest superstore is in Thailand and the locals are finding the Swedish sounding product names pretty crazy. In addition to the Redalen bed, there is the Jättebra plant pot which sounds like a crude term for sex in Thai.
Consequently, a team of Thai speakers has been hired to modify the product naming by evaluating each product name and carefully and slightly changing the names to avoid negative connotations.
The problem of global naming is of course, a subject I have written about before. In earlier blogs I noted that Mr. Muscle sounds like Mr. Chicken Meat in China, and Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" tagline translates to "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead" in Taiwan.
And the list of naming faux pas goes on and on.
Interestingly, IKEA intentionally goes out of its way to create unusual names.
Chairs and desks are men's names, dining tables and chairs are Finnish place names, garden furniture is named after Swedish islands, and the list goes on.
Technorati Tags: IKEA, IKEA Product Naming, Product Naming, Naming Faux Pas, Naming]]>
This is a source of disappointment for some bloggers who are quick to point out that this product naming decision caused much confusion when it was announced in 2011.
By only tacking on the "U," many people thought is was just a tweak on the base unit, "like the DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL launched in previous years" suggests IGN, who already lambasted the Wii U name in an editorial as "too clever for its own good" because it doesn't differentiate the hardware from previous incarnations.
This may lead to a similar situation as the Nintendo 3DS where the company was forced to put red stickers on the boxes to differentiate them from the DS system while also reminding the people watching their TV advertising that "This is not DS. This is Nintendo 3DS."
I blogged about this earlier this year, pointing out that you really have to dig hard to figure out that Wii U is a whole new console. But Nintendo is adamantly sticking to the name, probably assuming we've figured it out by now.
As one blogger put it last month when it looked like the name was sticking around, "The Wii U Name is Final, Deal With It." I probably couldn't have put it better myself.
Technorati Tags: Wii, Wii U, Product Naming, Nintendo Names, Wii Name]]>
I think the point is that meaningless names are not only easier to find an available URL for, they also seem to carry subliminal meanings. Hibu sounds like "Hi!" and "Boo!" but, alas, also echoes the Japanese word for genitalia.
The point? Even fake names sound real. Like one contributor points out, Häagen-Dazs doesn't mean anything, but it sounds interesting.
Ikea sounds interesting but might as well be meaningless to the average American buyer, just like Toyota, which is based on a Japanse family name but it's doubtful many Camry drivers (another meaningless name) know this.
Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus, just happens to sound as if it has a Latin meaning, or possibly sounds like "luxury." And Finnish brand "Nokia" sounds like a Japanese brand.
Change is usually resisted at first when it comes to naming and logos. And thoughtless naming can be disastrous, as MAC cosmetics discovered when they created a line of cosmetics inspired by the Mexican City of Ciudad Juárez, a place known for its violence, drugs and murders of women.
The point is, a name is never meaningless. Almost any combination of letters will look like a real word or evoke some feeling simply by what it sounds like. Think of BlackBerry. It was originally going to be called StrawBerry, but that first syllable was too long and slow. Now, calling a phone a fruit is kind of crazy, but BlackBerry phones are still ubiquitous.
Here's a meaningless name: Viagra. One Stanford researcher pointed out that the name Viagra sounds like "Niagara," as in Niagara Falls. "Water is psychologically linked to both sexuality and life. And Niagara Falls, home of thousands of heart-shaped beds, connotes honeymoons. The initial vi- is a homonym of vie, meaning to fight or compete, and echoes the beginning of "vitality" and "vigor," while "-agra" evokes "aggression." On the basis of semantics alone "Viagra" is a winner."
Even though it doesn't mean anything.
Technorati Tags: Yell, Hibu, Toyota, Camry, Lexus, Nokia, Viagra, BlackBerry]]>
The label depicts five women in 19th century garb holding kittens in what may (if you squint and sort of tilt your head) be suggestive poses.
The Idaho State Liquor executive says sniffily "Products that we feel are marketed toward children, or are in poor taste with respect to our citizens will not be authorized for distribution."
Okay, but if the name and imagery is fine in Utah where Mormons comprise 62% of the population, why is it offensive to the state of Idaho where Mormons make up just 23% of the population and where right this moment Idahoians are buying "Free the Five Wives" t-shirts?
In addition to the sale of Five Wives, a brew named Polygamy Porter is made and consumed in Utah, and interestingly, Polygamy Porter is sold in Idaho.
An Idaho State Liquor executive sheds more light on this mystery saying that the vodka product space is crowded and, "There was nothing that really differentiated [Five Wives] other than its name and its label that had five women with cats in their crotches covering their genitals. We make decisions all the time in what we can fit into our stores."
But is differentiation really necessary? And what other vodkas offer similar labels?
Plus, the name, according to its creator in Utah, has nothing to do with polygamy: "The person who came up with the name, she really liked the idea of five wives sitting around having a drink. There really is no pointed meaning to it and everyone can bring what they want to it... it's not about making fun of Mormons at all. Quite simply it's a name that seemed to fit."
To make matters more interesting, the five wives on the label aren't even wives!
According to ABC News "They were sisters: the Barrison Sisters, a vaudeville troupe of dancers whose appeal was that they titilated by asking if audiences would like to see their female organs. They then would lift their skirts, revealing pussycats."
The head of marketing at Ogden's Own Distillery, maker of Five Wives, had this to say when he was told of the photo's history, "To us it's just an image. We love the fact that there was a mystery to where it came from. And so what? They're cats."
Have to agree with that.
Technorati Tags: Five Wives, Vodka Naming, Vodka Product Naming, Product Naming, Naming]]>
Take, for example, the fact that the FDA has just nixed the name "Corn Sugar" for High Fructose Corn Syrup.
The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) would like to see the Corn Sugar name as High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has such a bad rap.
I have been following this story since September 15, 2010 when I noted that HFCS is one of the biggest sources of calories in the American diet.
The rewards for a name change are obvious. Think about how much better Canola Oil sounds than Low Eurcic Acid Rapeseed Oil.
In 2011 I noted that the corn industry was slowly introducing the term into their ads and had created web sites like CornSugar.com and SweetSurprise.com. At that point the FDA warned that "It would be affirmatively misleading to change the name of the ingredient after all this time, especially in light of the controversy surrounding it... If we allow it, we will rightly be mocked both on the substance of the outcome and the process through which it was achieved."
The FDA has now nixed the name altogether, partly on the grounds that the product is a syrup and not a sugar.
The Sugar Association is loving this, with one lawyer in their camp saying bluntly "What's going on here is basically a con game to suggest otherwise... What do con men do? They normally try to change their name. The FDA has thankfully stopped that."
Technorati Tags: High Fructose Corn Syrup, HFCS, Corn Sugar, FDA, Naming, Product Naming]]>
A certain David Elliot in Phoenix is taking on Internet behemoth Google in an attempt to strip the company of its trademarks. Yes, he wants Google's name, and says that the trademark is now generic. He argues that the word Google now simply means "search on the Web."
I warned Google this would happen in a blog post years ago. Actually, in many blog posts where I talked about the slippery slope to genericism.
I noted that you don't copy something, you xerox it, and nowadays people call a facial tissue a kleenex. In fact, to Google is now a verb.
Now, Mr. Elliot is trying to make it official, not least because he owns an impressive amount of websites (750 of them, in fact) that contain the word "Google." Such as Googledonaldtrump.com and Googlegaycruises.com.
CNET notes that Elliot's legal team (who I hope are charging this man by the hour and collecting in advance):
Leans heavily on the American Dialect Society declaring that "Google" was the word of the decade, a word that means "search the Internet." The complaint also says Google is aware that its trademark could be lost, as happened with "zipper," "thermos" and "yo-yo."
Google has already sued Mr. Elliot for the rights to his websites and won, and I would imagine that they could afford to drop a few million just for the fun of it to ensure that they don't lose their trademark status.
To summarize Catherine Cai at Tom's Guide, this might have been the start of an interesting legal debate save for the fact that Elliot's websites are so pathetic looking it is clear he is trying to make a buck off Google's name. Cai concludes, "maybe this is just somehow an expensive, elaborate troll."
Yeah, that sounds right.
We Google things using Google, not Yahoo! or Bing. Additionally, Google has very carefully filed its trademark and defended it in the past.
The name may become generic someday, but only when it is determined through legal cases, and only then will Google possibly lose the trademark (although it really does not seem likely) but Elliot will be long gone by then.
The only thing that will remain of him at that point will be blogs and articles that are full of laughter, scorn and derision, that people can, well, Google.
Technorati Tags: Google, Google Trademarks, Google Naming, Genericism, Trademark Rights, Product Naming, Brand Naming]]>


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Warrick Controls 1D1D0 Electromechanical Control Relay
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Warrick Controls 1D1D0 Electromechanical Control Relay
Specifications :
Manufacturer : Warrick Controls Gems
Model/Catalog : 1D1D0
Style : Open
Voltage : Line 115 AC/Secondary 300V
Ampere : 16/8 Ampe
Description : Control Relay
Contact Information : 1 N.O. / 2 N.O.
Series : 1
Authentic Warrick Controls Product
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Re-Certified Gem Sensors 1D1D0's are offered by SuperBreakers as a way to save over the cost of purchasing new. These Gem Sensors products benefit from a highly selective process where they are cleaned, tested and repackaged to our exacting standard by our technicians.
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February 5, 2014 Fmr. U.S. Surgeon General Carmona "Applauds" CVS Pharmacy's Decision to Stop Selling Cigarettes Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona "applauds" CVS Pharmacy's decision to stop selling cigarettes in their stores.
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Causas do desmatamento da Amazônia: uma aplicação do teste de causalidade de Granger acerca das principais fontes de desmatamento nos municípios da Amazônia Legal brasileira [Causes of deforestation in the Amazon]
Many are the factors indicated by the pertinent literature concerning the causes of deforestation in Brazilian Legal Amazon. From endogenous aspects as the edafo-climatic conditions to aspects related to anthropic action, like the population movements, urban growth, and especially, the independent or induced actions of the different public and private economic agents who have acted in the region, historically configuring the processes of occupation of the land and economic exploitation of the Amazonian region. The objective of this article is to perform a causality test, in the Granger sense, in the main variables suggested as important that explain the deforestation of the Legal Amazon, in the period from 1997 to 2006. The methodology to be used is based on dynamic models for the panel data, developed by Holtz-Eakin et al. (1988) and Arellano-Bond (1991) who developed a causality test based on the seminal article of Granger (1969). Among the main results found is the empirical evidence that there is a bidirectional causality between deforestation and the areas of permanent and temporary cultures, as well as the size of the cattle herd.
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Volume (Year): 19 (2009)
Issue (Month): 1 (January-April)
Pages: 121-151
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49er O-Lineman Anthony Davis Still Dunks at 350 pounds [Video]
San Fransico 49er offensive lineman Anthony Davis shows that he has some bounce even at 350 pounds.
Davis posted an Instagram video of him throwing down in the gym. Check it out,
The big man definitely got up for a bit!
This definitely shows off how much of a freak athlete this guy is but to some this is not a surprise. You ask around Davis' home state of New Jersey and people will tell you that "AD" has been doing this forever!
Either way it great to see that Davis' explosiveness on the football field can translate in other sports.


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Rickey Sanchez avait besoin d'un nouveau design de logo et a lancé un concours sur 99designs.
Un gagnant a été sélectionné de 66 designs proposés par 29 designers freelance.
We are a business development/marketing company based out of Sacramento, CA by the name A2B Concepts. We are targeting bands, churches, and businesses for helping them get from Point A to Point B (hence the name). We specialize in developing marketing strategies and web presence for our target groups.
A2B Concepts LLC
We want something fresh, innovative, creative and edgy. Something simple and sleek yet catchy. Something that if you saw the logo would just want to look up what the company is because it catches your eye.