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Community and social computing
Malcom Galdwell's book Outliers
I've finally had a chance to read Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers today. As with his previous books, he tends to border on sensationalism focuses on events which may possibly be rare outcomes but wrapping it in a story. The impact here is that he is a great storyteller, but his stories may not necessarily be correct. I can't substantiate that irrefutably but I don't need to.
For example, one chapter focuses on birthdate year as an influential factor describing a host of folks in the computer industry who have gone on to be hugely successful. But at first depoints out that SOME of these folks may have had a series of lucky breaks (e.g. Bill Gates) that gave them an advantage, most not related to their age but to their connections. Then with some quick wave of the hand, he points back to the birthdate year being the summary of the chapter. Okay, what happened there?
Patterns may exist (same location, same birthdate, etc.) but it is a combination of these factors that contribute to success. For that matter, it doesn't qualify if one particular of these factors is a bigger contributor.
He's still a great storyteller and uncovers unusual tales, but from what he has in his books alone, it's hard to tell if what he describes is really is true, or just makes for interesting entertainment. That aside, he has still achieved business star status which can direct people to think that way.
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Dead-tree format
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  books blogs 2 Comments 3,257 Views
I have been looking at online-to-print publishing services lately, or alternate formats in e-books, lately. Even with so many online forms, dead-tree formats are still preferred by far. Part of it is a question of format and such, but right now I'm more interested in how people feel about a book.
Stability - It's ironic that in a business world where fluidity and change are pressing forces, that printed books with a fixed set of information are still preferred. It is not as much the permanence as the stability in knowing that the same information is still there, not changing. For a lot of information that does not require adjustments or fluidity, this makes books first in mind. This is also its weakness in books: the more variable information needs to be the less significant the value of a book.
Exclusivity - It is the fact that not everyone can get their work published that adds value to books. This doesn't mean that the best info always gets out there, but it does mean that people have to work harder to get their info published. In the traditional process, this was to encourage excellence (but I don't think that's always the case)
There are other values, but those are being eroded (slowly) with the rise of digital formats: portability, visual impact, artistic value, etc.
Therefore to some folks, its that feeling of exclusivity of having a published book that makes it worthwhile. Which is why I think the idea of vanity publishing used to be compelling enough to keep a cottage industry going. Today however, with key innovations like HP's Indigo press system, it becomes so much cheaper to print low-quantity runs of books.
Take a look at Blurb.com, which allows anyone to get their photos, words, blogs, etc. put into print format at an affordable level. Having written so much over the years, I wouldn't mind taking some of my old online work and having it published into a print format, if nothing else to just have on my bookshelf.
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A continuum of social models
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  books social_networks community_models community_building 3,414 Views
In my earlier view, I only identified two stages: social networks, and communities. The former describes a loose network of people who generally keep in touch with each other for a common purpose, whether purely social or for business purposes. The people within the network usually know the others, and have some degree of strong ties with each other, but they don't really define themselves in detail as a group, have well-defined goals or ideology. This contrasts against the next level of networks, the community, which do have a common identity and purpose, and where the network of people generally work together for the direction of the community. Beyond the community is the organization, a very strongly oriented group of people, often with defined objectives, budgets and even some level of hierarchy as to how they should work together.
Somewhere in between the social network and the community are other social models. What Howard Rheingold keeps describing as "smart mobs", a loose social network of folks who gather on an "instant" basis for a specific purpose. This is slightly different than the pure social network since folks in a smart mob have a (vaguely) defined purpose: anyone who is interested in X, let's meet up to do something. Other descriptions for this are often used in events as Birds-of-Feather (BOF) sessions, and Meetups. Unlike the more personal connection of a pure social network, the members do not necessarily know each other from prior contact and simply have a common interest. This can also be a transitional idea; one the meetup is over, the members disperse taking the knowledge gained from the event. Sometimes, they do keep in contact and evolve into a longer running community of interest, where membes return to keep working on that interest.
Another model that is described aptly in The Starfish and the Spider (see my book list). Groups like the Apaches of North America (circa 1800s); Alcoholics Anonymous, a peer-group organization, etc. These have some of the characteristics of a social network in that each group is fairly independent with no overall leader. However, they also go the next step along where there is an organizing principle or ideology, and there are local leaders on a decentralized basis. I call this as something different--some will say I'm just splitting hairs--because the overall larger picture of the group is never centrally coordinated. For that matter, something like this is hard to converge into a realistic distributed model, unless there is a strong need for and common belief amongst the members that the goals and purpose are what they share. Otherwise, it tends to be a localized organized that never grows beyond it's domain.
On the other end, the centralized community, seems like a good idea to try out at the beginning but over time this can grow into an inherent bureaucracy instilled in trying to centralize activities. It has some advantages in that there is less tendency to deviate from the mission of the community across the distributed organization. The Starfish model on the other hand has resilience, but truly works on a decentralized basis if the core goals and beliefs are truly of common interest on a distributed scale, and has been tested over time. Otherwise, it can break down into separate factions as each group goes its own way.
The key to group involvement in any of these types of people networks is still strong leadership and influencers. There are good practices and models for each level that can help people work faster or better, but the idea still depends on a having an interest in being a leader and keeping that interest and momentum going over time. I'm surprised by how many folks keep imagining that they can instantly grow a network from complete zero to success in a very short time. Such situations are pretty rare, and usually, new ideas that work in this vein really leverage existing relationships, population moods or past history to get there, rather than truly working from zero.
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Tagging real books?
I tend to markup the books I read. After a while, it just became easier to use those little 3M strip stickers and highlighters to index a book my way. I used to use different colored strips for different ideas: "hot idea", "case study", "problem point", etc. But eventually, I realized that it'd be easier to actually write specific words onto the strips. Guess what, I'm just doing something exactly the way I do online, but in a more primitive, and less easy-to-search way. I loose a lot of knowledge this way, or at least track of it.
So my wish here is that there would be some way how I could tag the content in any book I find into an online, searchable way, and perhaps share it with others. My thought is that there are several possibilities:
For 3 & 4, a side note: Safari is still hanging on but it is has a good approach to online books. You pay a service fee to be able to "borrow" books from their online library and can swap out your bookshelf over time; just requires a regular fee.
I think the idea of ebooks is great in terms of technology like digital ink that requires really low power consumption and can run for many hours at a time, but I think the need to be able to correlate or search related information, tagging, color images, etc. all require a net conneciton and better graphics support. In other words, the device just becomes a browser anyway, and the worst you have to do is keep recharging the device.
Take the iPod Touch or iPhone example as a browser people actually want to use and has some degree of a readable screen (compared to other phones). I don't have one, but I think you'd be able to access books from Safari and have a way to tag information. Ebooks (e.g., Sony Portable Reader System) have more screen real-estate, typically about the size of a paperback book. I think visually the iPod Touch
/iPhone is still a little small to read and chews power like candy, but it's much more capable in terms of enabling the reader or researcher.
Any ideas for other possible solutions?
- rawn
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A call with Chris Anderson and blogging
I keep running into Chris Anderson's activities lately. First, I'm listening to his dW podcast interview on our site this week, and next we had an internal meeting for book authors that Chris came to talk to us about. The main discussion in the call was more about how to approach book writing and some ideas that he found successful for his own bestseller, The Long Tail (see my book list). Some of it rang so true but is still missed by so many authors.
For one, he talked about blogging from the very beginning on the book as he did on his research, and carrying the conversation on regularly and for a long time. Chris started blogging from the beginning. It helped in shape his ideas, but also helped quite a bit when it came time to launch the book; he gave away a thousand copies of the book to all the bloggers who interacted with him on his blog. This, I think, really helped to spread the popularity of his book.
Blogging is certainly popular but to many book authors it is still a new phenomenon, even in the tech industry. With that in mind, many authors think that they should start blogging when their book is nearer completion that from the beginning. I think there are two parts to this: a) in general, for a blog to become even barely known takes a long-time of ongoing and active effort; b) blogging about your book helps to build awareness. In other words, if you already have (a) going for you, then (b) should be easier. However, back to my point on blogging still being new with many authors points to the fact that many of them don't even have (a) going for them.
To give my example, I am working on a book and many of the ideas that I have talked about are spread all around this blog of mine. However, I don't think I ever stated that intention. For me, the ideas are more significant--and even more than that discussion of the ideas--than the point that its for a book. But perhaps I should state that intention right away and define the premise more openly. I'll save it for a different post so as not to distract from Chris' point here.
Another interesting point and one that is dear to his heart apparently--he just launched a new startup BookTour.com on it--is about authors engaging others in live events, book tours, presentations, speaking engagements, etc. I think it's a great idea and fits my philosophy: most people need help on learning how to generate a community around an idea or even themselves. What live or virtual appearances and activities do is help to build that community and reinforce the significance of the work. By Chris' own admission speaking engagements can have a better ROI than book sales, even if they go hand in hand; and I don't disagree with that in terms of getting paid for day-long appearnaces versus spending months on a book. This means that as an author you need to spend the time and effort to actively promote your book and not just rely on the publisher's marketing team. The argument I always hear on this is that most people have full time jobs and do not have the time to do so. This is where I think an idea like BookTour can come in really helpful.
Let's take an online parallel: we at developerWorks are about to launch a new aspect called Expert spaces amongst other features. This allows a person to create a community around their own activities using different social software tools not unlike what groups of folks are doing with our community topic spaces now. Like our spaces now, you can start a blog of your own to talk about your project, link in resources your find useful. If you want to go a step beyond, you could even write parts of your book in a wiki online and ellicit comments about the contents you share.
For our own team, this means that we will now need to help these experts get going on communicating in this new way. BookTour focuses on the specific activity of bookwriting; we have a much wider focus on building awareness about any technical expert. We do that now to some degree, but there is a lot more that we could learn.
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Egalitarian and Autocratic networks
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  books social_networking 2 Comments 4,178 Views
I'm reading Mark Buchanan's excellent book on Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks, and came across the concepts of egalitarian and autocratic patterns in social networks. Before you jump to conclusions, let me say a few things about this book. To me it seems to focus on the mathematical origins of the theory of social networks, but takes a pleasant approach going through the history and background of how these ideas emerged. It also spans a wide range of disciplines in terms of where these patterns appear, from biology to watershed and geological studies.
First, it talks about Watts and Strogatz's truly innovative look that has eventually spread across the world as the meme: six degrees of separation. There's a lot more to it than the Kevin Bacon game, but I'd like to point out the particular elements here on egalitarian and autocratic networks. This is actually has little to do with policital systems like socialism versus monarchic or oligarchic communities. Instead if you look at it as a mathematical problem, what it describes is that there are often two varieties of patterns of connections in a system that emerge often.
The first is a basic heuristic that can be commonly seen in some biological systems like the brain: as a node (in a network system), you try to establish a fixed amount or ratio of connections to other nodes. The connections are not a random pattern, but neither is it based on a high degree of "purpose" or "intention". This proposes a very egalitarian and essentially a very simple rule to help build more complex systems as the overall network grows and evolves.
The other is the autocratic pattern, where the heuristic is to start with one node and grow from there. Essentially the key node itself starts growing in size or strength, while its immediate connections grows with it, and scaling down until you reach the end or leaf nodes which have only one connection to someone else. This easiest example is in terms of well known sites or articles on the Net that get linked from many sites, and in a very simplified description, the basis of the algorithm that Google's engine uses.
If you look at one example of each of these networks from a high level, the egalitarian network seems to be completely chaotic with no easily discernable pattern you can tell visually. On the other hand, the autocratic network looks strangely like one of those classic fractal diagrams. Yet, both serve different purposes and have different uses. You might almost say that they are the yin and yang that exist pervasively throughout the world. Okay, maybe that's too metaphysical for a Friday :)
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business books also need to be interesting
I was discussing with my enlightened other about fiction versus non-fiction books in particular business books versus fiction stories. The argument is that non-ficiton books have to be filled with facts to be of use, versus fiction which has to be entertaining. This means that fiction books take much more work to create because you have to think out a lot more of the plot in detail while a business book usually has a point and what you need is a proper series of facts to lead there. I beg to differ in that I feel that most business or technical books tend to achieve the "lower levels" of fact-filling but that doesn't necessarily make them a "good" or interesting book. The interesting ones are those that not only get the facts right but also have to tell a story in an interesting and appealing manner. To that regard, "good" non-fiction books of the like are in my view harder to do. The writer is hampered by details of facts, figures and sequence of events, which are, truth be told, sometimes as gripping as glossy paper covers the books come in.
Unfortunatley, I think this is lost among many business writers. I can consume probably about a 300-page business book in a week or less if it is really interesting, or a month if it not so, or even never if I find it just downright appalling. It seems like writing style is becoming even more significant these days with blogs, forms, and other social software. I'm not sure if anyone is teaching that beyond the do's an don'ts but I suspect is probably a new form of being an English major (not something I really know about).
That being said, I started working on my next book last week--I tend to have a "next" book in the works every other year--and already have about 55 pages in about 4 days; that's about 15% of the total page count that I feel a decent book should be. Now some people look at that as a sign of productivity, but I beg to caution folks that it matters more how useful that is versus how long it is. I'll probably end up with 2-3x the amount of pages than what I'll actually use.
Is there a point? Maybe what they say is true: more is not always better; better is always better.
-rawn[Read More]
Decentralized communities & Spaces
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  books community_building 3,462 Views
I picked up my copy of The Starfish and the Spider again to look back at how they describe their approach to building a community. The book advocates a new view of decentralized and non-hierarchical organizations, systems, even software. The two creates refer to the hierachical organism (Spider) that can survive loosing some parts of its body but after a point dies, as compared against the distributed organism (Starfish) which even when cut into pieces, essentially break up into multiple separate and surving organisms.
The reference is directly apt to communities, and in this light relevant to our Spaces model. Essentially, it is a way of how a community can organize itself. Per the book, there are five elements that help to make such a system successful: circles, a pre-existing network, ideology, catalysts, and champions.
In our view, a Space is a virtual implementation of having a circle of people that allows them to interact in any number of ways their own circle see fit. This is the home room for the virtual membership to gather together, interact or share information.
The pre-existing network comes from the large membership--6 million the last I checked--that already exists in developerWorks. However, that's not the only place. We also expect to draw folks from other areas of the Internet, which is why syndicating information from your space is so important. While circles can survive losses of members, they still need some minimum level of participation to sustain the existence of the system; otherwise, rather than subdividing, your membership simply dissipates. This is why for the long-term it is important to try to recruit new members. Of course, that still depends upon the intentions of the circle itself; they may decide that the circle only needs to exist for a short-term. In our model, the syndication not only helps to share information, but also acts a way to potentially draw more members based on their interest. The potential candidates can judge for themselves if they like the output of the circle.
However, raw information from the circle is not enough to bind people together. This is why ideology is of value. Call it what you like: mission statements, guidelines, values, tattoos, etc. They represent the ideas that the circle hold of importance; their view in relation to the information. Such ideology is not always necessarily complex, or spelled out; they may even be too subtle to ascertain from the regular ruminations of those on the roster. A better organized group works to make sure that their ideology is made apparent. To help shape that ideology, you need catalysts and champions who help raise and direct the circle.
dW Spaces can help shape the circle and tap pre-existing networks. It can even help the circle describe and post their ideology. However, this is where the software meets the wetware. This is where the brains of the catalysts and champions play key roles. In other words, software alone is not to build communities. It helps to to facilitate them, but you still need the people working to bring it together.
Our view in developerWorks is to try to help these communities start and grow, and collect the ideas of what works well in different situations, to feed back into other communities. That's a long-term process as well. Even though, the staff at dW may not be directly be the catalysts and champions, we try to help new them by acting as a common resource to collect and distribute that knowledge. In big companies, that is often referred to as a center of excellence. While we don't call ourselves that, perhaps that is the role we fill.
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More from the Starfish
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  books community_building 2,350 Views
Two other ideas from The Starfish and the Spider (see earlier post; book list) as the foundation of peer-developed community are: circles and pre-existing network.
The concept of a circle stems from how most peer groups (small social network) start: with a small group of folks. This is the very old idea of clans, tribes and even villages. Jared Diamond's excellent book Guns, Germs and Steel, describes how these groups originated in primitive human societies. The fact is that this is still the way many communities start, but of course, with a different purpose than survival. The small group allows the members to get to know each other on a more personal level, become familiar with their interests, and what they want to work on together. This relationship building on a one-on-one basis in a small circle greatly improves the bonds between members and allows that social network to exist.
Per my previous scale, a social network exists when the members know each other and have a vague or a definite idea of why they want to meet, but do not formalize the group with an identity. This means that the group in a social network tends to fall apart as enough people leave, since it only exists based on the individual relationships between the people; once those relationships are broken, the group breaks apart entirely. A community however, has an identity separate of the individual relationships, so the chances are that it can exist without the original members as long as there are enough people who know how to carry on the community.
The value of the small circle is the relatively tight bonds that exist (or the circle just wouldn't last very long). As more members join in, they look to the original circle for guidance and leadership. This is a basis for a stronger community. Having such circles makes it possible to build a community from ground up. There are some prerequisites, many of which are obvious when it comes in-person circles, but harder to implement in virtual circles:
This may be the basis for a circle/small social network, but it is still different from large social networks and communities.
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Community Ideology (The Culting of Brands vs The Starfish and the Spider)
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  community_building books 2,577 Views
As I read a part of Brafman and Beckstrom's The Starfish and the Spider, it struck me how similar some of its ideas are to Douglas Atkin's The Culting of Brands (see my list of Books on Communities). I'm going to have to cross reference some of this again later but both describe at least one common element necessary for building successful peer networks (starfish), or brands (culting of brands): ideology.
Brafman & Beckstrom's book talks about having a shared ideology amongst the members of the peer network. This could mean several things from having a core sense of values to a shared sense of purpose to a shared direction (each different things). However, they do not point out the specifics like Atkin's does:
On occassion, when you get enough mass, some of them will try to write down what these are--the Apache foundation went through this, but so sometimes so do the many community folks who start to write a FAQ--but each group goes through a rediscovery process of these ideas.
My view is that communities grow by their own efforts, not on a very focused path, but evolve over time and stabilize at a certain point. Some of the really successful ones actually start off because they are not something else (as in not the mainstream), which often predicates that they do not look into how other communities form. By trying to break into a new direction, they tend to leave all other ideas behind.
The other part is that a truly decentralized community tends to follow leadership (another hard to define quality), and not only does this change over time, but not all our leaders know how to organize a loose network of people such as a community. Without this kind of understanding, it becomes a harder process of successes and failures, and rediscovery of the same ideas.
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Starfishes, spiders, oh my
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  peer_networks books community_building 2,304 Views
The books just don't stop coming. I've found three more titles that may be worth reading in relation to online communities and the evolving notions around them: The Starfish and the Spider, Wikinomics, and The Wealth of Networks. (See my amazon list for link info).
The first book focuses more on the ideas of spreading organizational behavior from a top-down model to a non-centric or peer-networked model. This sounds like an interesting idea for organizations with many peers doing similar jobs (e.g., consulting), but I have yet to read it to understand how it works on a large scale operation.
Wikinomic's from Don Tapscott is likely a must read for me to learn more from this semi-socialogical study of wiki behavior.
The Wealth of Networks was on the list of best books of 2006 from the magazine Strategy+Business, alongside other books like The Long Tail (also on my amazon list). It takes a macroscopic look at peer-networking inside and outside organizations, and the impact of those relationships on a business.
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SOA Compass in Russian and Japanese
Our SOA Compass book is out in Russian and in Japanese, on different international book vendor sites. These were translations done from our own English version and released just recently. Norbert from our author team, indicated that they tried to translate the meaning of the title rather than a literal translation. Our names are also translated phoenetically according to Norbert's wife who learned Russian in school.
Now if I can only figure out the web site enough to purchase a few copies for myself... Can anyone translate?
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SOA Compass book still in the lead
Our SOA Compass book is still going strong after one year on bn.com and on Amazon. It changes places sometimes when new books come out, or with events, but I'm just glad to see it in the top ten for SOA books. It's been a year to this month that the book went out and we've had quite a few comments, reviews, and questions about it over the year. . In that time, the number of SOA books out there are rapidly climbing and as this technology (or is it business?) evolves, I'm sure even more will emerge.
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More community building books, the services industry and Services science
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  community_building books games ssme 2,603 Views
Okay, another hunt at the bookstore and came across two morebooks I need to read in depth, although I'm still finishing The Long Tail and The Wisdom of Crowds. (see my reading list).
The first book is MassivelyMultplayer Online Game Development 2 published by Charles Media in 2005,and edited by Thor Alexander. The first edition of this book was much more focused onthe programming issues around this topic, but this edition also has a number ofchapters—almost a third of the book--on managing the overall community,building guilds (groups), policing/managing member conflicts, analyzing memberbehavior, reward and punishment methods, and even pricing policies and marketadoption strategies. I'm surprised by the amount of detail they have in here. I have not seen a copy of Richard Bartle's Designing Virtual Worlds around here but that is also something to add to the list.
The other book is Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class …andhow its transforming work, leisure, community & everyday life. Thislatter book is interesting due to new ideas that I learned the other day on theimportance of Services and the service industry.
IBM has an ongoing focus on what we call Services Science, Management and Education (SSME)which is a look at the science (or business theory) behind the serviceindustry. The reason is because in leading nations and even some emerging ones,Services is becoming a significantly larger portion of the overall GDP versusAgriculture and Industry. We're talking 70-90% of the Gross Domestic Producthere version less than 5-20% for Agriculture and 10-30% forManufacturing/Industrial output. It's hard to describe, but for example,Starbucks is a service company (a café or caffeine delivery service) eventhough it produces caffeinated input for others; grocery stores are the same:they sell stuff, but selling is a service action not a production action.
The word "Service" in terms of an industry is difficult todefine; it is generally considered is different than a physical (or virtualproduct), although products are sometimes outcomes of services (and is oftencalled 'consulting'). Even much of IBM's revenue comes from services.
So if you look at the stats, the real "business" in topnations is in the service industry, producing stuff for the other customers.Yet, there is still a lot of vagueness about the subject (even after 200-300years). The Communications of the ACM has a special issue just on the subject,contributed by social scientists, business folk, technical folk, and more,indicating the wide range of applicability of this new science.
For the community side, services have a lot of impactespecially on measuring the value of each service provider. Any community is aninformal (or formal) environment for brokering knowledge or other services. Soa greater focus on this can only help us.
In any case,
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How Communities leverage the Long-Tail theory
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  books long-tail community_building 2,342 Views
I've been looking for relevance of
The three forces he mentions are democratization of production, democratizationof distribution, and connectionsbetween supply and demand. I can actually see correlations between thoseforces and social software systems, which aren't hard based on the manysuggestions he makes:
For example:
This just fulfils the applicability of the forces, but Ineed to still explain the application of the strategy to software products.
Many software applications are consumed in a different waythan content focused items like books, movies, music, etc. Most obviously, theyare usually tools used to accomplish, build, or fulfill something. Not all fitthis of course: computer games are still primarily a similarentertainment-consumption model. However, tools that a vendor, say IBM,produces are typically used to create or manage other things like applications,data, or knowledge.
This means that you can usually reuse a piece of software todo different tasks (assuming it is not restricted by the license-usage) if youwant to. More so, the deployment of such tools can be different for eachcustomer; and unless there is consulting involved, most vendors do not keepprecise track of exactly how they are deployed. Instead they tend to focus onthe type and number of products purchased (and, very often, how to get thecustomer to buy more).
Across the whole industry however, there is some level ofparity. Many customers with similar businesses may deploy the product insimilar fashion, or come across similar issues, a concordance of some sortaround the usage. These concordances are fuzzy (i.e., not identical) and ofvarying size.
Vendors may sometimes investigate if these concordances orniches of product use represent a potential market. In other words, they arelooking for that next 'hit' product that will sell profitably. What are missed in many cases are the smaller non-hit niches.In other words, there is a correlation to long-tail idea.
Vendors do want to capitalize on these opportunities but thediscovery and development of such opportunities can be difficult. Thetraditional business-case approach very quickly: make a hypothesis on apotential product, conduct research on market potential, shape the product,more research, more development, then marketing, launch, support, etc.
The niche products are often eliminated in the market researchstage usually because it is difficult to find proper subjects to interview andconduct the research with.
Changing business-case development
There is another way about this that can work forestablished or existing companies but it is yet to be tested enough to becalled a process.
Assume you have a base of users (a great many exisingcompanies) that have deployed or are interested in deploying your softwaretool.
The approach here is the opposite or bottom-up approach to definingmarkets that self-emerges from healthy active communities, rather than thetraditional top-down (the vendor trying to come up with new ideas). More so, itallows the potential for directly involving customers and users into theproduct-development lifecycle.
The role of online communities here is crucial. This meansnot just the passive approach of "let's deploy something and leave it outthere", but actually building relationships with the customers in thesecommunities, finding the influencers within, and trying to encourage healthygrowth. On other words, you need an active program to develop your community.
The dropping costs of "creating" such niches (moreaccurately: encouraging them to develop) through online mechanisms, means thatit is possible to explore many niches simultaneously, if you have a goodmeasurable system. Those with most potential automatically elevate to thehigher rankings, larger groups, and most activity.
I may be reaching here but it is almost like what quantumcomputing promises: calculate all the variations of an equation simultaneouslyto determine the correct—potentially multiple—result based on the highestprobability. (It might only truly apply if you have a really huge number of usersand a really huge number of products).
More Web 2.0 books just in
Just got my copy of Anderson's The Long Tail and Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds. There's just no end of reading and research for this new field of Web 2.0 and that is what makes it exciting. Check out my reading list so far.
I have already read through about 70 pages of Anderson's book in one sitting at the bookstore; it is just that easy to read. The ideas so far seem focused primarily on mass retail opportunities like the music, movie, book, etc. industries, rather than specialized ones like our software industry. For example, there are thousands of book titles, hundreds of genre's and a long history of specialization. Software on the other hand tends to be generic one-size or a-few-sizes-fits all. Most people don't expect a software vendor to carry thousands of different/specialized offerings (although the game software market comes close). I guess I'll have to read further on how it can apply.
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SOA Compass going international
I'm told our SOA Compass book ( Barnes&Noble , Amazon)has been translated into Korean and will soon be available, withJapanese and Russian versions down the line. Now, I can pontificate inlanguages I don't understand. :) [My Japanese is too rudimentaryto read this level of text] Nonetheless, I'm going to get a hold of acopy just for keeps. It does well still I believe, but I only get realdata twice a year, and not again until October.
The funny thing is that the five authors (Norbert, Marc, Sanjay, Keithand myself) have yet to still get together in a single face-to-facemeeting. We all live in different parts of the world and we justhaven't had the chance to find a common event we can all go to. Isn'tglobally distributed collaboration fun?
PS: Also check out other IBM Press books and the latest addition to the developerWorks line under it, Visual Modeling with IBM Rational Software Architect and UML, by Jim Palistrant and Terry Quatrani.
[Read More]
still climbing
Okay, I take that back. We're not behind Stephen King. Right now it's #21, ahead of Jim Collins' Good to Great.
-rawn[Read More]
We're #1: SOA Compass
Okay, I try to avoid being the braggart but I have to say that this week our SOA Compass book that I co-authored with four other engineers from IBM is today's #1 in all computer books on the Barnes & Noble's site, amusingly enough even ahead of Lou Gerstner's Who says elephants can't dance?.
This is only for today and only on Barnes & Nobles rather than Bookscan or the NY Times list of course, but it put a smile on my face. After years of writing, this is about as good as it has gotten. This is a good day for developerWorks Books.
Amusingly enough, we are also #24 amongst all fiction and non-fiction books right after Stephen King's latest book Cell and ahead of other books I admire like Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, Larry Bossidy's Execution: The discipline of getting things done and even Dan Brown's paperback version of Angels and Demons.
Okay, it's still not yet the top ten of all books alongside Friedman's The World is Flat, or Steven Levitt's Freakanomics.
Of course, all such success is fleeting.[Read More]
From communities to encouraging innovation
rawn 100000R0P5 Tags:  community innovation books 2,617 Views
I'm not sure if you've seen this meme but I've come across it in several books both about online and offline communities:
Interactions in communities -->
Creates Understanding --------->
Develops Trust ----------------->
Allows Exploration & Entreprenuership ->
Sets stage for Innovation
The most recent place I saw this meme again, in a slightly varied form was near the last chapters of The World is Flat (ok, maybe I make references to this too often these days :)
Now these are "grand" notions that often follow in a sequence like this above. You need to have one stage happening before you can really reach the next stage. Thus you don't really jump ahead and ask "How do we innovate?" but need to ask "What are we doing to set up an environment such that innovation can happen?"
It's important to realize that the arrows in the diagram above are not trivial. In other words, when you have one stage, you need to do something to progress it to the next stage. That something could take a whole lot of effort. But in terms of managed innovation, it gives points where you can measure how your population is doing and how you can recognize if you've reach that stage.
There are many books out there describing how to innovate and get others to innovate, and I certainly have not read nearly enough of them. I still wonder if some of them consider going through that meme sequence above.
The somethings are also where the opportunities lie. Many innovation and leadership management trends have come and gone, and still many exist in parallel. I'm no certified expert at it and there are likely some really good sources out there too. (Okay, maybe people like Steven Covey)
Right now, I'm just trying to develop an idea for the early stages of this meme, those focused on the developing the community. Hopefully more smart people will come along to explain what to do next.
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How to do a business of developing rather than publishing books online
The rise of Web 2.0 brings a new level of collaboration into the mindsets of the audience. Ideas which were previously taboo, are now actually being considered.
For example, the value of a book is traditionally considered to be in having access to the content of the book itself. For book publishers, this model means: get one or more authors, work on a book, then print and publish the thing, and distribute to bookstores where customers can buy them.
Usually, the ability a person has to examine the contents of the book is usually limited in time (enough time to read some of the book in a store), in content (having access to some portion of the content they can review), or based on the opinion of others.
While not the first, Robert Scoble helped change views while working on his book as a blog, by giving people access to its content while it is being developed online.
This idea is close to my heart and went into the reasoning behind why we needed the developerWorks Books series, and why I helped to start that as part of IBM Press. Somewhere in the following I think is the future of how books can be developed in something that benefits most parties.
It's similar to, although not exactly the same, as "open sourcing" the book since the philosophy of open source does not preclude selling the product. However, if you have access to the contents of the book for free, why would you buy it.
This puts traditional print publishers in a dilemma. Their business is based on selling the product, not giving it away online and hope someone still buys a copy.
To me, both ways seem a little extreme.
Developing a book takes a lot of time and effort and in some topics, by the time you finish writing, a lot may have changed. My guess is that most authors want not only the noteriety but hopefully would also like to get paid from the knowledge they put down. Call me a capitalist, but giving away a year or two of my life to write a book that may become outdated deserves some reward beyond the satisfaction that you've tried to impart some wisdom to the world.
In the fast changing online world, it makes a lot of sense to do some grass-roots promotion of the book by talking about the subject or showing people some of what you have been working on. This is in hopes that later, when you are done writing and editing, people will want to buy the finished product.
Therefore, I think there's a use-case somewhere in between. I say a use-case because I think this is something people will want to do online.
E.g., provide a group of authors with a tool for them to put together a document (say a Wiki), that they can all edit. Develop the outline, and start fleshing out some of the chapters and sections. Then introduce processes between the authors and an editor where they can bring in the editorial process. Then give access to a select audience or even a wide audience to some of the content so you can get some feedback and peer review. Finally, give access to the content and some knowledge about what others think of the book in progress to the book marketing group so they know what it is about and how its doing.
Thus, this package is a specific use-case for book development that involves an online tool for document development, perhaps another tool for discussion, access control to select or public audiences to portions of the content that you choose, ways to measure opinions and traffic to the publicly available/reviewable sections, and then finally a way to transfer the developed content into a format suitable for publishing/printing/distribution.
It involves giving away part of the book for free so that you get a drumbeat going as well as some feedback on coverage. In exchange, you get a better understanding of how the market may receive the work before it is even complete.
The step beyond is where it gets real interesting.
There's no real end to the book, if people are really interested. You could continue working on developing the content, adding new material, and exposing new material to others. You continue to build on a book without having to build a huge business case for a new book or a new edition, unless there really needs to be one.
Paul Dreyfus from our team is helping to make the dW series of books become real and there should be some interesting news coming out this year.
This idea above is so far just my own brainstorming. I doubt it is unique and probably already in force somewhere. It requires the expertise, experience and cooperation of a book publisher, an online publisher, and authors daring enough to try it out. From a Web 2.0 perspective, I think it makes for an interesting approach to team and even community driven content, and brings remixing to a whole new level (between print and online media).
-rawn[Read More]
Apache Derby/Cloudscape
Related to my previous post on our Peer Advisors Network with an initial focus on Cloudscape, IBM Press has released a new book on Apache Derby by Paul Zikopolous, Dan Scott and George Baklarz.
-rawn[Read More]
Immodest self-promotion of SOA Compass book
I've finally seen my new book on a physical book shelf at an actual bookstore. The Service-Oriented Architecture Compass is a project that I started working on as part of a team with four other authors, all senior architects. It took a long time to get this book off the ground simply because SOA is such a wide-ranging topic at IBM. There are products and projects that spread across our entire family of middleware products. Needless to say a lot of people were interested in the work and I'm happy to say we got a lot of support putting this book together.
This is also the first book in the developerWorks series of IBM Press which I helped to conceive. This partnership with the Pearson group of publishers (Prentice-Hall, Addison-Wesley, Penguin, Pearson Education, etc.) aims to produce the high-quality content of developerWorks into an even more in-depth format beyond our articles and tutorials for topics that need such broad coverage.
For SOA, even this one book is only the start. This book focus on the initial aspect of figuring out what an SOA project entails, how to explain that to your management, how to start planning your team, and the technical areas that you need to consider.
We're (across IBM) will be working on more books on the topic of SOA, so that we can get the full scope of what this technology really entails starting from the planning to business process modeling, services programming, services assembly, and eventual monitoring and administration.
-rawn[Read More]


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Covered in crisscrossing lines like a patchwork quilt, this clasp is sure to give some great visual interest to any piece of jewelry you finish with it. All you need to do is add some Zap Gel to the end of your cord, let it dry and away you go! With an inner diameter of 20 x 2.5mm, it's the perfect clasp for our Tapestry looming project. It is Rhodium plated, lead free and made in the USA. Will fit most cords and leather up to 20mm wide and 2.5mm thick. Not recommended for use with someone wearing a pacemaker.
Sold individually.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Contact us 24/7: +1 877 678 9627
View product details
Zoom In
- - True to size
- - Loose style, designed to be worn tied at waist
- - Model is 177cm/ 5'10" and is wearing a size XSmall
With cascading tiers and a delicate floral print, Juicy Couture's rose silk-chiffon maxi dress is the epitome of romantic sophistication. Slip it on during the day with sandals or after dark with heels and rose gold jewelry. Shown here with Pedro Garcia shoes, Mulberry bag and a Dominic Jones ring.
- Rose silk-chiffon maxi dress with a watercolor floral print and a ruffled tiered skirt. Juicy Couture dress has sheer short sleeves, a wrap-effect front, pintucks at bodice, bead-embellished self ties at waist, is fully lined and simply slips on. 100% silk; lining: 100% cotton. Hand wash. Designer color: Dusky Orchid.
Product Code: 112163
For alternative suggestions, contact our Fashion Consultants
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Product Code: 112163


text:
The Cardinals had hoped to return to Springfield on a winning note after pounding the Drillers on Monday 5-2, when the Cardinals ended a four-game losing streak behind Oscar Alvarez who pitched six innings allowing just one run on three hits.
Shaun Boyd provided a clutch two-out hit in the seventh, with the Cardinals leading 2-1, Boyd, who had an 11-game hitting streak going at the start of Monday night's game, was called to pinch hit for Alvarez with the bases loaded and two outs. All three men on base scored when Boyd hit a Judd Songster pitch over the head of center fielder Jeff Salazar, giving the Cards a 5-1 lead.
The Drillers managed a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-2 when Josh Kinney came into the game to finish off the last six outs and record his team-leading sixth save.
In Tuesday's loss, Jordan Pals pitched his best game of the season, going six innings and allowing only one run and no walks. Pals retired the first 11 batters in order. It was a pitching duel between Pals and Tulsa's starting pitcher, Jonathan Asahina, until the Drillers scored in the bottom of the fifth to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead.
In the seventh inning, catcher Dan Moylan singled to left field to drive in Tyler Minges to tie the score 1-1.
The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning after Kevin Estrada hit a single, his third hit of the day, off reliever Chris Young, with one out. Estrada then stole second and a walk was issued to Travis Hanson. Papo Bolivar gave the Cardinals the lead when he singled through the right side.
But, it was the eighth inning that did the Cards in as Tulsa scored four runs to beat the Cardinals 5-2, after Reid Gorecki, with Mike Jaramillo at third, struck out in the ninth and Shaun Boyd grounded out to third to end his 12-game hitting streak.
The Cardinals will send Randy Leek (2-0) to the mound against Corpus Christi's Fernando Nieve (1-1) Thursday, in the first game of the three-game series. Game time is 7:10 p.m. and tickets are still available by calling the ticket office at (417)863-2143 or by visiting www.springfieldcardinals.com.
All Springfield Cardinal games are broadcast live on JOCK 98.7 FM and can now be heard online anywhere through the Cardinals website (www.springfieldcardinals.com).
You can write to John at email@example.com


text:
Home Addition's Foundation Question?
1 Attachment(s)
I have a question on Home Addition Foundation. Currently I have a deck 12' X 44'. The deck is about 8' 6" from the concrete floor.
I would like to tear down the deck and build 22' X 28' Master Bedroom Suite with W/C and Bathroom. And the rest of the area will be a deck with 22' X 16' dimension. so that would be 10' X 44' addition to the existing plan. I hope you guy get the picture.
The area underneath the new master suite and deck will be some concrete floor and the rest is the grass ground. The concrete area will be the existing concrete area. I don't want to conver all the ground area with concrete.
What type of foundation do I need for this addition project?
Should I build the long square TEE (Spread) foundation? or can I just use the 6' x 6' post(column) with slab pad? Or is there any other way.
I had 3 contractors giving me estimates and they all gave me different ways to complete this project.
Therefore I start to research and try to pick one contractor. I just want to get some idea and see which contractor is the most reliable.
BTW, the property is in Duluth, GA. Do you have any suggestion?
If you're looking to compare apples to apples for an addition like that, you should get a set of plans drawn up. That really is the only way to know for sure each guy's scope matches the other, so you can judge properly. If they are providing numbers and you have no idea what the details are on what they are installing, that's design-build, and you're basically a slave to the guy with the best pitch, and they can name what ever price they want because they control the scope.
I'd recommend you get a set of plans drawn up by a professional, and have them give you hard numbers.
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text:
Contact us 24/7: +1 877 678 9627
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Zoom In
- - Fits true to size, take your normal size
- - Italian sizing
Heel measures approximately 105mm/ 4 inches. Monochrome was the message at Fendi's Resort '14 presentation - right down to the shoes. These white patent-leather sandals are adorned with a black 3D flower appliqué in perforated leather. The buckled ankle strap might be narrow, but it's placed for maximum support too.
Shown here with: Haider Ackermann top, Kenneth Jay Lane ring, Marni pants, Stella McCartney bag.
- - Heel measures approximately 105mm/ 4 inches
- - White patent-leather
- - Black perforated leather flower appliqué, open almond toe
- - Buckle-fastening ankle strap
Product Code: 399876
For alternative suggestions, contact our Fashion Consultants
Help & Advice
Product Code: 399876


text:
Listing Courtesy of Samuel J Sterk of Five Star Real Estate (Grandv)
Listing information
- Beds: 5
- Stories: 0
- Foreclosure: No
- Lot Area: 4.45
- Association Fee: $200
- Subdivision: G41 - Kent County
- Style: Single Family
- Baths: 4 (Full: 3 3/4: 0 1/2: 1 Other: 0)
- Parking Type Description: Attached 3 cars
- Total Square Footage: 3,087 ($191.09 per sq. foot)
- Lot Size: 264 x 735 x 264 x 735
- County: Kent
- Year Built: 2016
- Status: Active
- New Construction: Yes
- Above Ground Sq. Feet: 1,813
- Estimated Annual Taxes: $1,350
- School District: Byron Center
Access Feat: Accessibility Features No
Additional Items Ceiling Fans, Ceramic Floor, Garage Door Opener, Humidifier, Laminate Floor, Water Softener/Owned
Air Conditioning Central, SEER 13 or Greater
Appliances Dishwasher, Garbage Disposal, Microwave, Oven, Range, Refrigerator
Assoc. Amenities Other
Association Info.: Assoc. Fee Payable Monthly
Basement Yes
Construction Status Proposed
Design Ranch
Driveway Paved
Exterior Features Deck(s), Patio
Exterior Material Hard/Plank/Cement Board, Stone, Vinyl
Fireplace Gas Log, Living, Yes
Garage Type 3, Attached
Garage: Garage Yes
Heat Source Natural Gas
Heat Type Forced Air
Kitchen Features Center Island, Eating Area, Mud Room Access, Pantry, Snack Bar
Landscape Shrubs/Hedges, Underground Sprinkler
Lot Description Rolling Hills, Wooded
Manufactured: Manufactured Y/N No
Mineral Rights No
Other Association Info.: Approx. Assoc Fee - 200.00, Basement Rooms: Basement Bedrooms - 0, Basement Rooms: Basement Finished SQFT - 0.00, Basement Rooms: Basement Full Baths - 0, Basement Rooms: Basement Half Baths - 0, Basement Rooms: Total Basement SQFT - 0.00, Lower Rooms: Lower Half Baths - 0, Lower Rooms: Lower Bedrooms - 3, Lower Rooms: Lower Finished SQFT - 1274.00, Lower Rooms: Lower Full Baths - 1, Lower Rooms: Total Lower SQFT - 1813.00, Main Rooms: Main Bedrooms - 2, Main Rooms: Main Full Baths - 2, Main Rooms: Main Half Baths - 1, Main Rooms: Main Level SQFT - 1813.00, Road Frontage - 264.00
Property Sub-Type Single Family Residence
Roofing Comp Shingle
Sale Conditions None
Street Type Paved, Private
Substructure Walk Out
Terms Available Cash/Conventional
Util Avail at Street Cable, Electric, Natural Gas
Utilities / Sewer Septic System
Utilities Attached Natural Gas
Water Heater Natural Gas
Water Type Well
Waterfront Options: Waterfront Y/N No
Windows Insulated, Low E, Screens
Bedroom 2 M x
Kitchen M x
Laundry Room M x
Living Room M x
Master Bathroom M x
Master Bedroom M x
Bedroom 3 L x
Bedroom 4 L x
Bedroom 5 L x
Family Room L x
Listing Courtesy of Samuel J Sterk of Five Star Real Estate (Grandv)


text:
Friday, April 25, 2008
Eyespot Gets Win With Action Sports Site
San Diego-based Eyespot has scored a win with action sports site Digital Action Sports Network (DASN), the firm said Friday. The sports site will use the firm's Video Platform to power its interactive video. Eyespot provides video hosting services for web sites. According to Eyespot, DASN will roll out a number of online properties, including skateboard.tv, snowboard.tv, motorcross.tv, surfer.tv and gravity.tv, focused on action sports. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Eyespot is venture backed by Express Ventures and Gabriel Venture Partners.


text:
KPN shares drop on dividend cut, costly licenses
By Sara Webb
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Shares in Dutch telecoms group KPN, now part of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim's empire, plunged as much as 15 percent after it cut its dividend for this year and next to meet the higher-than-expected cost of new mobile licenses.
A new player, Sweden's Tele2, also won licenses in Friday's Dutch auction of 4G wireless spectrum, a move likely to increase competition in one of Europe's most lucrative telecoms markets as the winners roll out faster services that allow users to watch video and surf the Internet on the move.
"This is negative news for KPN as we estimate KPN generates about 15-20 percent of group EBITDA (core earnings) from its mobile business in the Netherlands," ING analyst Emmanuel Carlier said on Monday.
The fallout from the auction is the latest blow for KPN after cut-throat competition in text messaging and slowing European economies led it to cut profit and dividend forecasts, its chief financial officer abruptly left and competition authorities launched a probe into possible price fixing.
Some analysts also questioned whether the dividend cut would be enough, suggesting the group might have to sell assets or raise capital to fend off credit rating downgrades.
At 7:30 a.m. ET, KPN shares were down 13.7 percent at 3.997 euros, the second-biggest fall by a European blue-chip stock. The stock briefly touched 3.9 euros, matching a 10-year low hit in November.
The Dutch spectrum auction raised 3.8 billion euros ($5 billion) for state coffers, well above the 800 million euros or so that analysts had predicted.
"This has negative implications for all mobile players in the market," Exane BNP Paribas analysts said in a research note, adding it would raise concerns about the cost of ongoing and upcoming auctions in the rest of Europe. Continued...


text:
Army ROTC
The Hampden-Sydney College Army ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) program provides one way for H-SC students to pursue a commission as an officer in the US Army. It offers opportunities and challenges that can put you on the fast track to success in life. The program will help develop the confidence, self-esteem, motivation and leadership skills you will need regardless of your career plans. The qualities that ROTC training instills will be vital to a productive and rewarding future.
You Can Do Anything with a Degree from Hampden-Sydney College
Alumni and friends of Hampden-Sydney College are familiar with the success the College has had in preparing young men for leadership positions with professional, civic, fraternal, religious, and political institutions and associations. Every community and organization, no matter the size or mission, needs leaders. Graduates of Hampden-Sydney have had both the preparation and the conviction to serve in leadership positions for the past 235 years.
Good Men and Good Citizens
The founders of Hampden-Sydney College were American Patriots who embraced as their mission to form "good men and good citizens." They loved their country in 1775, just as we do today. Throughout these 235 years, we have been committed to enriching the personal and civic lives of our students. The heart of this institution has always been red, white, and blue.
We want you to be part of it.


text:
Artur "The Pin" Szpilka ready for Minto, then Mollo
By Przemek Garczarczyk
Video: Ringpolska.com
"I like Brian Minto because he is a fighter who, even when cornered, does not quit, is still dangerous. He likes to use his powerful left hook and this will be no doubt his most dangerous weapon, so I cannot relax too much in the ring," said 24-year-old Polish heavyweight hope Artur "The Pin" Szpilka (14-0, 11 KO), who on Saturday in Bydgoszcz, Poland, will be tested by the much more experienced Minto (37-5, 24 KO).
"Minto was sparring before with my colleagues, WBC champ Krzysztof Włodarczyk and cruiserweight contender Pawel Kołodziej and I know how tough he is," said Szpilka. Minto is ranked higher in WBC ranking, not the easiest guy in the world to fight. But I'm looking forward to this fight and the next one on ESPN against Mike Mollo on August 16 in Chicago. Minto said that the Mollo fight was a blueprint how to knock me down, but I'm a different fighter, I'm learning, using my mistakes to be all around better, more effective. And Minto never fought against me – so what can he really know?"


text: Mar 04, 2011 - I really wanted to like this product. I REALLY did. However, it just failed to work for me. I have 4a hair, and my hair loved the frank juice which is extremely moisturizing. But the hemp is drying to my hair. I tried it three different ways--I used it as a leave in, a deep conditioner and a rinse out. Each time my hair was dry. It's was not moisturizing at all for me. It is a decent detangler.


text:
Best Of :: Shopping & Services
Wine snobbery, or at least wine appreciation, has finally trickled down to the masses: You no longer need 1,600 dusty bottles in the cellar of your baronial manse to enjoy quaffing a decent port. Getting to know good wine is supposed to be fun -- Bacchus is a party god, after all. That wicked cherub reigns supreme at Hollywood Vine, where a handsome, irreverent crowd congregates around the granite counters to sample from a chalkboard listing of 20 or so wines, conducting off-the-cuff mini-tastings before plunking down $20 or $30 a bottle (the prices per glass are about half what you'd pay at a restaurant). This retail wine shop and liquor store has the intimacy and pizzazz of an upscale neighborhood pub, done up in glossy mahogany shelving to showcase wines and spirits from around the globe, plus a handful of artisan cheeses. On Tuesdays, vintners and distributors show up for light lectures and free tastings too. Partners Luciano Armellino, who formerly worked with Kendall Jackson distributors, and Steven Krakow, who managed a retail wine store, tasted 1,600 wines before they opened their doors this year. "We just chose our favorites," Armellino says. "Good wine is good wine."
Asa Boynton is a one-man crime fighter, dope-den destroyer, letter writer, and critic of Hollywood City Hall. In fact, Boynton's tireless hell-raising with Hollywood's Police Department and politicians earned him our nod as this year's Best Gadfly. Since moving to the Diamond of the Gold Coast from Kendall a decade ago, Boynton has made community activism his passion. But there's more to him than that. Boynton's also an entertainer, a man whose love of costumes inspired him to be what he is today: a singing telegram artist. Of course, Boynton does more than sing and dance. He dresses the part. He'll show up at corporate events, parties, and even your front door dressed in a purple gorilla suit or in his favorite costume, the Hairy Fairy. In fact, Boynton unveils his new Hairy Fairy costume with this photo. When it comes to his favorite shop in town, he's quick with an answer: Chantik Imports. Located in downtown Hollywood, Chantik specializes in furniture and arts and crafts imported from Indonesia. Boynton loves Chantik's furniture, but it's the store's masks and woodcrafts that drive him back week after week. "I just get off on carved wood and different kinds of masks," Boynton says. "Plus, I'm a Leo, and I love tribal-looking things." At Chantik, Boynton has bought everything from mirrors to masks to painted wooden fish that he uses to hang from his clown costume.
As the name suggests, CD Collector wants to unburden you of those extra discs piling up at the back of your music collection. If they're in good shape and not especially lame (e.g., Pat Boone's heavy metal album), bring 'em in for either cash or store credit. If your CDs are scratched-up or played-out, then bring cash -- you'll need some form of currency after perusing the assorted CDs, records, DVDs, T-shirts, and other music-related knickknacks you'll inevitably haul up to the register. While there are plenty of hip-hop and dance CDs to go around, the store is especially heavy on rock -- indie, punk, classic, new wave, etc. For your convenience, the more spin-worthy LPs are hung on the wall, including reissues of the Clash's self-titled album ($13.95) and Suicide's 1/2 Alive ($12.95). The thousands of used LPs in the main bin are a bit cheaper but still far above dollar-bin quality. Speaking of dollar deals, a buck is all you pay for each of the CDs stored in the back of the shop (across from the Numark DJ packages, which run $275 to $385 for dual turntable kits). A dollar also gets you one of those old-school punk, ska, and Oi! buttons you won't find at Hot Topic. Of course, after a trip to CD Collector, you've got no reason to do your music shopping at the mall.
If you're not accustomed to the scavenger-like joys of second-hand shopping, here's rule number one: The difference between a vintage store and a thrift store is like the difference between Ralph Lauren and Target. That being said, Vintage Diversity has the type of hip, retro garb you'd otherwise find only on eBay. Pick a decade, any decade (OK, maybe not the medieval period) and owner Melanie Garbo-Byrnes will find the right size and style. The prices are as varied as the fashions. Mod-styled blazers start around $46 and can run four times that. Forty bucks is the average price for men's shirts, black Members Only jackets (remember those?), and accessories like a '30s-era woman's hat (gray wool with sequins). For vintage on the cheap, show up on Saturday for the $5 sales racks -- that guayabera shirt you were eyeballing on Thursday just might be there. And if you just need something to rent for a party, that's fine; $75 covers your rental costs from head to toe. Just let Melanie know what look you're going for. Austin Powers -- no prob. Saturday Night Fever, Grease -- consider it done. Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Uh, how old are you?
Watching the wild thing doesn't get any easier than this. This spacious smut palace is just a few blocks off I-95 with easy and ample parking. Thousands of DVDs, featuring every form of bonking one could imagine, line the walls and racks, some for as little as $6. Complete Adult also rents DVDs for $4.25 for two days, with a refundable deposit. What this place has going over most of its competitors is the "preview room," where patrons can seal themselves into small cubicles and watch scenes from a selection of sex tapes that revolves weekly. At about a buck a minute, it's spendy, but it does keep your home porn stash down to a manageable level. Open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday till midnight.
As you walk through Las Olas Beauty, passing by shelves of skin creams and bath products, you can tell the store knows its cosmetics. But if you venture back into the massage room, you'll see that the store's concept of beauty runs more than just skin deep. The various massages available are tailored to your particular needs, whether it's working out the knots in your neck or giving your lymphatic system a good jolt. If you're a newbie who thinks all massages are the same (ever had an Oriental?), you'll probably want to start with a mini massage ($40), a 30-minute stress buster ($40), or a Swedish ($70). If you want to step things up a bit -- and don't have especially frail bones -- try the deep tissue for $80. (Mini deep tissues are available for $40.) Another $80 treat is the Shirodhara, which includes a foot and hand massage while a stream of warm oil is poured onto your forehead (the opposite of Chinese water torture). But if you're ready to go all the way, lymphatic drainage therapy (of the face or body) costs $125; it's an invigorating, detoxifying boon to your immune system. Until you learn to stop slouching, consider this your health retreat.


text:
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problem with nonlinearfit
Hi everybody,
I have to fit the function e = (s/K)^(Na)*(t/a)^a (s = constant;
t = variable; K,N,a = parameters) to a given set of datas.
Then, I have used the NonlinearFit function (Statistics'NonlinearFit'
package), but I have two problems:
1) I can't specify any start values or range using. I tried to give them
as any forms, but I always got error messages concerning these
2) mathematica shows kind of a strange behavior when repeating the fit
operation, sometimes it keeps old values and sometimes it reports
different error messages.
Any help welcome,
Thanks in advance, Dragan.


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Your Account
Frontend web applications are soaring in popularity and the Backbone.js library is leading this charge with a modular, lightweight approach for organizing JavaScript web applications. At the same time, testing client-side JavaScript and Backbone.js programs remains a difficult and tedious undertaking.
Backbone.js Testing brings sensible practices and current techniques to the challenges of Backbone.js test development. The book introduces fundamental testing concepts, comprehensive test infrastructure design, and practical exercises to easily and systematically test modern JavaScript web applications.
The book progresses from Mocha test suites and Chai assertions to advanced test mocks and stubs with Sinon.JS. The requisite libraries and utilities are introduced with in-depth examples and best practices for integration with your applications. The book guides you through the test planning and implementation processes for your application models, views, routers, and other Backbone.js components.
Backbone.js Testing gives you the tools, examples, and assistance to test your Backbone.js web applications thoroughly, quickly, and with confidence.
This book is packed with step-by-step tutorials and instructions in recipe format to help you create test infrastructures and gradually advance your Backbone.js application development and testing skills.
If you are a JavaScript developer looking to create and implement test support for your Backbone.js applications, then this book is ideal for you.
© 2016, O'Reilly Media, Inc.
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All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing on oreilly.com are the property of their respective owners.


text: Within this past week, the Bangor Humane Society has seen an increase in the number of kittens and cats being brought in.As Meghan Hayward tells us, they are reaching full capacity and need folks to adopt.Spring and Summer is known as kitten season at the Bangor Humane Society."Because of all the cats that are reproducing and having their litters this time of year. It's kind of held off until this past week. Right now we have about 180 cats."A high number, that presents some challenges for the humane society."Space. We do not euthanize for time or space. So we're not going to pull cats unless they are ill and so we only have a number of kennels to fit so many cats."Now, the Bangor Humane Society is asking for the public's help in adopting the cats."If you're looking to get a cat this is the place you need to come. We have every size, shape, color and age. A little bit for everybody."But Executive Director, Suzan Bell says there are a few things folks should keep in mind, including, can you afford it?"You also have to make sure it's something in your lifestyle that you're ready for."Patricia and Logan Cook meet those standards and are happily taking home two kittens."We have adopted several animals here before and we've always had great luck. They've always been very nice here and we like coming here."Logan isn't sure what he's going to name the new kittens but, he's happy with the two he picked."Well I like playful cats. Not too energetic, but still playful cats. One's that run around and I can interact with."The Bangor Humane Society is located on Mount Hope Avenue in Bangor.It's open Monday through Friday from noon until 6 and Saturday from ten to six.


text:
Answers Home
» Breeds
» Breeds N-R
» Pomeranian
Is my dog a mixed breed?
My pom is not shedding yet.. she was already a 5 months old.. and she looks like a siberain husky... can ya tell me if she was mixed breed?
Asked by
on Nov 7th 2012
in Pomeranian
- Cast your vote for which answer you think is best!
Defiantly a mix with those markings.
Layla Lu answered on 11/10/12. Helpful? / 0
Looks to be Pomeranian Shiba Inu mix. But she could also just be a big Pom.
Barry answered on 3/20/13. Helpful? / 0


text:
Contact the Office of Online Learning
Phone (845) 569-3458
Email firstname.lastname@example.com
Other Useful Links
What You Need to Know About Campus Closings and Delays
Sign up now for MSMC Alert to be automatically notified of campus-wide closings or other emergencies. Follow the link to register online to receive text, email, and phone notifications that may affect you.
Should severe inclement weater or other conditions make it necessary for the administration to suspend classes and office work on a scheduled school day, such notifications will usually be made over local radio stations commencing at approximately 6:00 a.m. or soon thereafter. Do not call the college switchboard or college personnel.
Class cancellations or delays as determined by the professor will be listed on the MSMC portal.
Online Learning at the Mount
Mount Saint Mary College promotes the application of online learning technologies in hundreds of courses offered to undergraduate students every year, from enhancing traditional classroom instruction to enabling the delivery of teaching online in lieu of on-campus class meetings. The college views distance learning as an extremely valuable format to supplement classroom learning and to strengthen learner engagement and collaboration in all traditional undergraduate programs. For graduate and adult undergraduate programs, online learning also provides the opportunity to increase access for student populations that otherwise would not be able to participate in and benefit from the College's higher education programs due to the constraints of family, work and distance.
This Library Guide serves as a resource for the distance learner to enrich his or her studies. This guide will direct you to the online library resources that are available, as well as provide outside links and suggestions for conducting further research. On these pages you will also find helpful links to writing and formatting your research papers, access to a librarian for individual help, and links to other resources available to students.
The Office of Online Learning offers a variety of resources and supports for both faculty and students engaged in online learning and teaching. These include tutorials, training and workshop sessions, eClass and WebEx support, and individual assistance. For more information about the Office of Online Learning, please visit their home page at http://www.msmc.edu/Academics/online_learning.
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Curtin Memorial Library
The Curtin Memorial Library is the center of information and research at Mount Saint Mary College. Located in Aquinas Hall, the library plays an integral role in the academic experience of every student.
The library collection includes nearly 100,000 books, close to 8,000 videos, CDs, and DVDs, and 244 current journal subscriptions. In addition, the library web page http://library.msmc.edu/ provides access to an extensive array of electronic resources including over 80 online research databases, more than 7,500 e-books, as well as over 25,000 full-text journals and magazines. The library website also serves as a portal to many library services, including the online library catalog, electronic reserves, online interlibrary loan requests, and reference assistance.
There are more than 60 computer workstations in the library, located on three levels, as well as space for group work and quiet study. Librarians teach information literacy skills to students through a program of course-integrated instruction, individual assistance at the Reference Desk, and in-depth, one-on-one consultations.
Curriculum Library and Design Center
A branch of Curtin Memorial Library is called the Curriculum Library and Design Center, located in the lower level of Hudson Hall. It provides resources and services to support professional education and related programs at the College, as well as tools for conducting research. The emphasis is on practical materials, which can be used for curriculum planning, preparation of lessons, teaching of lessons, and assessment of pupils. The Design Center in the Curriculum Library provides access to 10 multimedia workstations, allowing students to do research as well as utilize a variety of educational software applications. The Curriculum Library also offers a vast array of resources on their website, whcih can be found on the Curriculum Library Guide at http://libraryguides.msmc.edu/curriculumlibrary
A valid MSMC ID card is required to borrow materials, access student computers, print or make copies at both libraries.
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text:
North Central
North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan
Sargent County, North Dakota======I have for sale: (9/20/15)
130 Alfalfa Magnum7 bales RFV 80.19 TDN 53.31
192 oats/alfalfa bales; the alfalfa is Magnum7 and the oats are intact, RFV 67.8 TDN 52.07
180 extra bales pasture grass just planted last year, RFV 72.23, TDN 52.89
Big Round Bales, Twine tied
All are in hay lot, and all hay is available right now
David M. Eklund
Eklund Farms
(701) 680-1513
13272 87th St SE
Forman, ND 58032
Day County, South Dakota
Hay for sale:
200 ton 1st cutting Alfalfa, 150 ton 2nd cutting, 150 3rd cutting. 25-50 ton hay barley/alfalfa mix. Unlimited supply of excellent wheat straw and corn stover. All in 3x3x8 medium square bales. All hay is covered with tarps. Hay tests are pending and price varies with crop and RFV. Call for prices. Willing to deliver.
Brandlee Farms
Clint Brandlee
IHuron county, Michigan==========I have hay for sale DO NOT REMOVE THIS LISTING
1000 1st cutting bales 700 second cutting bales and 300 third cutting bales,
mostly pure alfalfa, some mixed. Large square bales. All hay is stored
inside. All of the hay has been tested for RFV (80-180), price varies with
according to RFV. Call for prices. We are willing to deliver. Jonathan and Angela firstname.lastname@example.com
Michigan, Tuscola county========I have for sale : [do not remove this listing]
200 round 4x5 bales of hay that are #800 pounds, Net wrapped, stored outside, Alfalfa grass mix, I am asking $30.00 a bale.for first cutting 2003 hay. Delivery is avaliable within the thumb area of michigan. My phone number is 989-683-2857, My E-mail address is email@example.com.
Pinckney, MI===========we have (Do not remove this listing)
2000+ small bales of wheat straw for sale at $2.00 each or less for large quantities. Delivery may be available for an additional charge depending on location and quantity. This is stored inside. You can contact us at 734-878-0545 or email@example.com
Ray Tyrell
Washtenaw County, Michigan (do not remove this listing)
I have ALFALFA for sale
quantity (50 bales now more later), type (alfalfa - 100%)
unit size (large square 3ft x 3ft x 7 ft.), binding material - twine
price in the barn: $30 per bale
delivery is available,
bales are stored in a barn, not wrapped
hay is available now with more growing
not tested;
Telephone:313-3375640, No Fax, E-mail address: firstname.lastname@example.com
return to the Haymarket
back to c-Agworld homepage


text:
NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
The NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms features 8,119 terms related to cancer and medicine.
- paricalcitol
- listen (PAYR-ih-KAL-sih-tol)
- A substance that is being used to treat overactive parathyroid glands in patients with kidney failure. It is also being studied in the treatment of cancer. Paricalcitol belongs to the family of drugs called vitamin D analogs.


text:
I do not think there should be a lawsuit but.....yes the players know the risk going in. Just like a high steel worker putting up buildings. The employer still has to have policies in place that present a safe work space (of course within reason considering the sport). The culture of players playing injured runs very deep. As a hockey coach with A level kids I saw kids playing injured. We also made sure that if a kidd took a hit to the head that he did not play until we, the parents, and a doc said he was OK.
Pros should be the same. There is a world of difference having a culture where you play with a broken arm and one where you feel you have to play after recieving a concussion.
Yes, it is part of the sport and I am at the top of the list that calls Sidney Crosby a whiner and cry baby (hockey player). But if indeed his concussion was that severe then he did set the right example for NHL players, which are role model for kids, to speak up and say I need more time off.
Again, it is personal responisbility, but that falls on the coach, medical staff, and owners of professional clubs and trickles down to youth sports.


text:
Anabolic Window: The Newest Revolutionary Solution to Muscle Recovery
Anabolic Window: The Newest Revolutionary Solution to Muscle RecoveryThe Research and Development team at Nutrabolics has developed a truly revolutionary post-exercise recovery supplement, which has been able to crack the code of muscle recovery. Anabolic Window has been scientifically proven to accelerate muscle recovery and dramatically increase lean muscle mass gains. Anabolic Window works to maximize anabolic action in the muscle tissues by rapidly restoring glycogen stores, increasing the secretion of the growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), and increasing levels of free testosterone in the body. Anabolic Window works because it contains a superior protein blend, an easily digestible high quality carbohydrate source, and other clinically proven functional nutrients to decrease your recovery time, to accelerate anabolism in your body, and to build untouchable muscle size and strength.
After a grueling workout or a strenuous competition it is crucial that an athlete replaces muscle and liver glycogen, as well as, the protein that was lost during the exercise. Studies indicate that not only is the selection of nutrients important but the timing of nutritional intake has a significant impact on muscle recovery and enhanced performance in athletes (3). Just as proper nutrition prior to exercise improves performance, carefully choosing post-workout nutrients and fluids can speed recovery for the next workout. Needless to say, an athlete who is rested and has properly restored all lost nutrients will perform better in a hard training session than an athlete who is still reeling from the previous one. More importantly, proper muscle recovery yields adaptation, and adaptation is the process of increasing muscle mass, making gains in athletic performance, and increasing overall fitness (4). Because hormonal and enzymatic changes that enhance glucose uptake by muscle and liver cells are elevated immediately after exercise, the dietary goal after exercise is to provide the body with adequate energy, proper carbohydrates to replace muscle glycogen (storage form of glucose), and sufficient amount of protein to ensure rapid recovery (3). This is why Anabolic Window, a revolutionary, most advanced post-exercise nutritional supplement, was created. Anabolic Window was designed with the hard working athlete in mind, to help you quickly recover and enhance performance in everyway possible.
Anabolic Window is your answer to superior post-exercise muscle recovery because it amplifies anabolic activity. With 30 grams of the highest quality protein blend available, Nutrabolics Anabolic Window promotes positive nitrogen balance in the body. Anabolic Window is a truly revolutionary breakthrough in post workout recovery that begins with the inclusion of the two superior rapidly absorbed proteins: Ultra High D.H. complete spectrum whey protein hydrolysate and cross flow micro filtrated whey protein isolate. Research on these two primary ingredients in Anabolic Window suggests that these proteins have many benefits for post-exercise recovery, specifically for gains in muscle size and strength (3). This superior whey protein isolate blend is an easily digestible, high quality protein source, which is clinically proven to have protein concentration of 90% or higher as a result of two processes, micro-filtration and ion-exchange (1). Hydrolyzed whey protein is used because the process of hydrolysis breaks down the protein molecule into smaller segments called peptides (small chains of amino acids) (5), making the protein easier to digest and rapidly used up for the quickest muscle recovery.
Furthermore, clinical studies have proven that whey protein isolate in Anabolic Window has an excellent amino acid profile including the highest source of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), such as leucine, isoleucine, and valine (1). In fact, the protein used in Anabolic Window has the highest levels of BCAAs: approximately 26% of its amino acid profile (as compared to 22% of egg white protein, 20% milk protein isolate, and 17% of soy protein) (1). Anabolic Window is also a source of complete proteins, meaning that the protein contains all of the essential amino acids necessary for the human body. Studies indicate that amino acid composition appears to influence the response of muscle protein balance following resistance exercise and net muscle protein synthesis results, specifically from the ingestion of essential amino acids (7). As a source of a complete protein, Anabolic Window contains high levels of arginine and lysine, which have been clinically proven to stimulate the release of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) (1). The growth hormone is an anabolic hormone and muscle growth stimulator. In the fifth paragraph for anabolic window, change the sentence to below so it is proper grammar. Hence, increased levels of this hormone circulating in the blood poses an incredible benefit for the bodybuilder and strength training athletes, by providing a natural alternative to anabolic-androgenic aids; Furthermore, the whey protein combination in Anabolic Window is an excellent source of glutamine, an essential amino acid for athletes because of the role it plays in preventing fatigue and over-training (1). Glutamine helps with muscle glycogen replenishment and helps to prevent a decrease in immune function from over-training (1). In addition, whey protein hydrolysate and cross-flow micro-filtrated whey protein isolate found in Anabolic Window are a source of protein that is low in fat, virtually lactose-free, and low in cholesterol (5).
Not only are you getting the most advanced protein blend for increased lean muscle mass, Anabolic Window is also clinically proven to dramatically accelerate post-exercise glycogen replenishment. Included in Anabolic Window are the physique altering properties of Nutrabolic's patent pending Anabolic Shock Matrix and also the advanced multi-stage insulinotropic carbohydrate blend that has the ability to act as a superior natural transport system and replenish the body's glycogen stores. During strenuous exercise the primary source of fuel is glucose circulating in the blood and the stored form of glucose known as glycogen (given that sufficient stores of glycogen exist in the muscle and the liver) (4). It is recommended that individuals training on a daily basis consume approximately 6 to 10 g of carbohydrates per kg body weight (4). Clinical trials indicate that for quick post-exercise recovery, depleted glycogen stores must be replenished immediately after training (2,4) because the first 30 minutes after the workout there is increased enzymatic and hormonal activity in the body (2,4). Furthermore, consuming a proper amount of high glycemic carbohydrates post-workout will spare the use of body protein, so that it can be used to build and repair muscle (4). For accelerated muscle recovery timing is everything, and Anabolic Window is the only advanced post-exercise supplement that has the capability to quickly replenish glycogen stores in the muscle. Anabolic Window is the ideal post-exercise supplement because it provides 43 grams of easily digested carbohydrates that will work to replenish any depleted glycogen stores immediately after the training session.
Anabolic Window is the most advanced and truly revolutionary post-exercise recovery supplement available today. Anabolic Window has forever changed muscle recovery because it is clinically proven to promote and dramatically accelerate anabolism in the muscle after exercise. There is nothing more important after an intense grueling workout than supplementing your body with the nutrients it needs to kick-start and accelerate that anabolic process. Every serving of Anabolic Window contains clinically proven muscle-building ingredients that work in synergy to dramatically promote increases in positive nitrogen balance and build lean muscle mass. Make every single drop of sweat count with this powerful post-exercise recovery supplement designed to accelerate post-exercise muscle recovery, rapidly replenish muscle glycogen stores, amplify anabolic activity, promote positive protein balance, and increase muscle building hormone secretion. What are you waiting for! Timing is everything and Anabolic Window is the only clinically proven post-exercise supplement that will maximize your anabolic opportunity to dramatically increase muscle strength and build lean muscle mass!
More Bodybuilding & Fitness Articles


text:
Welcome to the New Year's page at History.com, where you can discover the history and traditions behind celebrating the arrival of a new year.
When you get to the page, you'll find a great article that looks briefly at the history of early celebrations, when January 1st became the start of the new year, and the development of New Year's traditions. Did you know the practice of creating a New Year's Resolution dates back to the ancient Babylonians?
At the top of the page, you'll find a selection of videos that are featured; each dealing with a different aspect of New Years or containing interesting facts about the holiday. Also near the main article you'll find a section of related topics dealing with the History of the Holidays, Christmas, the Chinese New Year, and New York City.
You can also check out the More to Explore section above the article that has links to related information like Julius Caesar, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, Rosh Hashanah, and more!
This is a great snapshot of the interesting history of the celebration of New Years! Check it out today!
http://www.history.com/topics/new-years [1]


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Penns Manor camp scheduled
KENWOOD — A basketball camp for boys and girls will be held at Penns Manor High School on June 17 to 21 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The camp is open to any boy or girl entering grades 3 to 7. The cost is $50 before June 1 and $60 after May 31.
Registration forms are available at http://pmes.pennsmanor.org/.
For information, contact Jason Miloser at (724) 840-6796 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
IHS baseball golf tournament set
A golf tournament to benefit the Indiana High School baseball program will be held Saturday, May 25, at Meadow Lane Golf Course.
The scramble begins with a shotgun start at 1 p.m.
The cost is $80 per player, which includes golf, cart, food and beverages.
Corporate sponsors are available at $500, and hole sponsorships are available for $100. Corporate sponsorships includes a foursome in the tournament.
Entry forms can be obtained from any player or coach or by contacting Bill Thompson at (724) 422-2794.
IHS slates girls' camp
The Indiana High School girls' basketball team will hold its skills camp for girls entering grades 2 through 7 from June 10 through June 13, from 8 a.m. to noon, at the high school.
IHS varsity players and coaches will aid in basketball instruction.
The cost is $70.
For information, contact Dave Woodall at (724) 349-3924 or email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
ICCAP to hold golf outing
BLAIRSVILLE — The Indiana County Community Action Program will hold a charity golf outing on Monday, May 20 at Chestnut Ridge Golf Course.
For information, call Michelle Faught at (724) 465-2657.


text:
"The quality of these super cute, modern cards is superb. Go with the pearl paper, you won't regret. Fun size! I like to be a little different; these pleased! Shipped fast."
"It's a great personal card to give someone I meet that I want to keep in touch with, or have them contact me. In my opinion, it's much better then using traditional business cards."
"The "Hello Intro" square cards by Petite Alma were exactly what I needed. We're not ready for a full-on branding so a little intro was all I was prepared to offer. The paper is stellar and the speed at which we received the product was incredible."
"I really love the card. I like how easy it was to personalize with the fonts, sizes and spacing. Being able to put a logo on the back was great too. Only thing I wish they had had more front border color options."
"I love these cards, from their shape to how easy it was to make them look custom. I think if you are looking for something just a little different in a business card these are perfect. As always the quality of paper and print is fantastic. I love how my logo looks printed on the back."
Copyright © 2004-2017 Shutterfly, Inc | Tiny Prints | Terms of Use. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.


text:
The financial rule of thumb for your Car Payment:
All Vehicle Payments should not exceed 15 percent of your monthly take-home pay.
Offices in Eitzen, Caledonia and La Crescent, Minnesota
The financial rule of thumb for your Car Payment:
All Vehicle Payments should not exceed 15 percent of your monthly take-home pay.
The financial rule of thumb for Life Insurance: Buy a policy worth six to 10 times your gross annual income & covers at least your outstanding debt.
The Electronic-only Statement Delivery service (also known as E-Statements) sends your monthly account summaries, balances, and disclosures to your online account in electronic-only format.
Your electronic statements are exactly the same as your paper statements. Each month you will receive an email informing you when your statement is available online. Your statements will remain online for 24 months on our secure web site and may be downloaded or printed for permanent retention.
To begin the process, we require your consent for the service so that we can send your statements in electronic-only format and suspend sending your paper statements in the mail. To access your account statement online, you will also need to meet the following minimum hardware requirements:
You will be notified if these requirements change. If you select Electronic-only Statement Delivery but change your mind at a later time, you can opt-out of electronic-only statements and receive paper statements from Eitzen State Bank at the next statement cycle.
With a Home Equity Line, you can:
-Consolidate Debt
-Make Improvements to your Home
-Buy a Car
-Pay for College
Use your money. Your way.
111 South Walnut Street, Suite A
La Crescent, MN 55947
(507) 895-2227
Lost / Stolen ATM Card: (800) 383-8000
Lost / Stolen Credit Card: (727) 570-4881
ESB Banking & Insurance reminds customers that email sent from your computer over the internet are not always secure. We do not recommend sending confidential information such as account number, PIN number or social security number by email. Please call (888) 495-3321 for alternative means of communicating confidential information. Thank You.
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text:
San Juan Puerto Rico Travel Guide
San Juan is the largest city in Puerto Rico and the oldest city in the United States. Top attractions include "Old San Juan" and the World Heritage Fortress. Many forts and buildings in date back as far as the 1500s.
San Juan also has some great museums and art galleries. One of the best is called the Museo de Arte.
San Juan is the departure point for many ocean cruises to the eastern and southern Caribbean and the gateway city to Puerto Rico's beach resorts. Great hotels and resorts are located in and around San Juan PR. Beautiful beaches, plazas and historical sites can be found throughout Puerto Rico
The San Juan Airport (Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport) is the largest airport in the Caribbean. Many domestic, international and inter-island flights originate from San Juan airport.
Inexpensive airfares from a number of different airlines are now available to San Juan, Puerto Rico.