text:
Delas Cote Rotie la Landonne 2010
Syrah/Shiraz from Cote Rotie, Rhone, France
Winemaker's Notes
The wine's deep color is underscored by plummy hues. A complex nose shows deep, fruity aromas with hints of licorice and roasted coffee. Endowed with a dense and silky tannic structure, this is a full, fleshy wine that provides an ample and generous palate. Its lasting finish speaks of considerable ageing potential.
Critical Acclaim
The Wine Advocate - "Flirting with perfection, the 2010 Cote Rotie La Landonne offers up scents of black truffles, incense, smoked game, creosote, spring flowers and black fruits. Full-bodied with mouth-staining tannin as well as mouth-saturating extract and richness, this powerful, strikingly intense 2010 is young and unevolved, but it is filled with potential. Interestingly, Jacques Grange told me this cuvee was made from 100% destemmed fruit. Forget this wine for 4-5 years, and drink it over the following three decades.
Rating: 98+"
Wine Spectator - "A warm, plush style, with lots of cocoa powder-dusted fig, boysenberry and blackberry compote notes, followed by a strong charcoal spine that carries the long, smoldering finish. A terrific minerality is buried underneath the thickly layered fruit. Impressive. Best from 2015 through 2030. 100 cases imported."
International Wine Cellar - "Glass-staining purple. A wild, exotically perfumed bouquet evokes black and blue fruit liqueur, potpourri and sandalwood, with notes of olive and smoked meat emerging with air. Broad, palate-staining black raspberry and vanilla flavors are given spine and lift by juicy acidity. Superbly clear, silky and sweet, with excellent finishing thrust and length. The tannins are smooth and harmonious."
- View All
Delas Freres Winery
Founded over 160 years ago, Delas Frères was acquired by Champagne Deutz in 1977.
Delas Frères cultivates vineyards on the steep granite slopes of the northern Rhône, in some of the region's most prestigious appellations. Additional grapes are supplied through long-term agreements with southern Rhone growers dedicated to providing only top quality grapes.
Crafted by winemaker Jacques Grange to epitomize finesse and elegance, recent Delas Frères vintages from the vineyards of Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Côte Rôtie, Condrieu, Côtes-du-Rhône and Côtes-du-Ventoux have won renewed praise for their intensity of flavor and excellent value. View all Delas Freres Wines
About Cote RotieView a map of Cote Rotie wineries (cote roh-TEE)
The Rhone appellation furthest north, the translation of Cote Rotie is "roasted slope," named after the region's very steep, south facing slopes that have ideal exposure to the sun. There are two main slopes, Cote Brunes & Cote Blondes. They are just as they sound, with the darker Brunes soils consisting of rich clay and iron, producing firm and robust wine. The lighter soils of the Blondes slope contain more slate and limestone, making elegant and soft wine. Wine can be from one designated slope, or a blend of both – the label will designate which it is.
Notable FactsLike all Northern Rhone appellations, Syrah is the only grape allowed in Cote-Rotie. However, Cote-Rotie allows up to 20% of the more aromatic and elegant white grape, Viognier, to be blended into the red wines. From the Cote-Blondes slope, the grape makes no single-varietal white wines, it's only used to blend. In fact, no white wines at all come from Cote-Rotie. The reds, from both slopes, are marked for being elegant and complex, as well as ageworthy.
About France - Other regionsWhen it comes to wine, France is a classic. Classic blends, grapes and styles began in the country and they still remain. Think about it - people ask for a Burgundian style Pinot Noir, they refer to wines as Bordeaux or Rhone blends - Champagne even had to pass a law to stop international wineries from putting their region on the label of all sparkling wine.
The top regions of France are: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Rhone. And these regions are so diverse! It makes sense that wine regions throughout the world try to emulate their style. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah are no longer French varieties, but international varieties. They may not be the leader of cutting edge technology or value-priced wines, but there is no doubt that they are still producing wines of great quality and diversity.
Customer ReviewsSign In to Add Your Review0

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Latest Comments - Page 1
Anonymous about 518-313-8037
17 January 2017
I have had repeated calls from 518-313-8037. At first I ignored them and did not answer. After a second call yesterday I answered. A man asked to speak to Jennifer. After being told there was no one here by that name, he hung up. This morning for the third day in a row a call came from that number. I answered and a female asked to speak to Jennifer. She hung up after being told there was no one here by that name.
Anonymous about 780-271-6667
16 January 2017
I would like to know a little information on this caller due to the fact that I think this person has my dog.
Anonymous about 310-650-9832
16 January 2017
they have been calling my # for MONTHS & never leave a MESSAGE
Anonymous about 310-497-9533
16 January 2017
they have been calling my # forever & do not leave a message
Anonymous about 314-609-9086
16 January 2017
Constant text messages
Anonymous about 267-841-8082
16 January 2017
I don't know who these people are. I am on the do not call list. I want them to stop calling me. They leave no message.
Anonymous about 937-303-4436
16 January 2017
I am on the do not call list. When will this stop?
Anonymous about 210-290-5729
16 January 2017
Stated they were a cousin; Leroy.
Anonymous about 715-760-9226
15 January 2017
Called and will not say anything. This happened after I just received a call from IMC with a phone number of 715-203-1925 and also an anonymous call all within a matter of a half hour. Advised to take my name off the list or I would turn them in to FCC.
Anonymous about 714-931-6101
15 January 2017
Caused$1380.00 damage and I need to locate him.
Anonymous about 971-206-9121
14 January 2017
constantly calling, never a message, no one on other end responding. several calls a day from a series of like numbers.
Anonymous about 971-206-9120
14 January 2017
constantly calling, never a message, no one on other end responding. several calls a day from a series of like numbers.
Anonymous about 971-206-9126
14 January 2017
constantly calling, never a message, no one on other end responding. several calls a day from a series of like numbers.
Anonymous about 408-716-0284
14 January 2017
The robo call said I had stayed at one of their restorts and I was getting 75 % off. I hunng up.
Anonymous about 402-949-1981
13 January 2017
my phone app reported "danger" spam.
Aurelia Banks about 804-708-7087
13 January 2017
No message left but I see their number. If you have nothing to say do not call folks. Manners.
Anonymous about 815-215-8260
13 January 2017
called at 11:11am Friday and did not leave a message
Anonymous about 509-227-2690
13 January 2017
called before 9 am and hung up when cell phone was answered
Anonymous about 360-362-1393
13 January 2017
seems to be a scam call
Anonymous about 970-226-6080
13 January 2017
Calls about a car warrenty
Anonymous about 785-296-6121
13 January 2017
Who is this person. This is a scam, claiming that they sent a bill. Never have received it. Quit calling asking for something that you know we don't owe.
Teufelshunden about 985-202-9082
13 January 2017
This is their new number for this year. They text and call thinking that I am Leutmala wanting to give me a loan or I have been approved for a loan. When I text 'STOP' back it doesn't work. Just before Chritsmas I told them that my attorney said I could get up to $1500 per call they stopped until today. Supposedly this is their web site; http://hjael.host/lg4gzJ
Just did a search and imagine that there is NO SITE FOUND...
Just did a search and imagine that there is NO SITE FOUND...
Anonymous about 404-438-0660
12 January 2017
yes he is a scammer
Anonymous about 416-892-9363
12 January 2017
Calling at random times
Anonymous about 951-452-0492
12 January 2017
This person claimed he had the right to call me. I told him I was on a do not call list. I called his telephone back and his VOICE MAIL said his name was Michael Anderson with the Internal Revenue Service. You could hear car back noise in the back round.The IRS would have snet a certified letter if the wanted to talk to me. PURE SCAM! I hung up on him
Anonymous about 615-510-3326
12 January 2017
Called to offer prize sweepstakes of $1 million dollars stating I signed up on their website.
Anonymous about 626-244-3926
12 January 2017
Unsolicited call. recorded voice stating that they could improve my credit score.
Anonymous about 937-297-4235
12 January 2017
Calls come in daily from this number. I have stated that I am not interested, and have rejected the calls afterward, but today when I answered they hung up.
Anonymous about 805-415-1111
12 January 2017
They call and don't talk
Anonymous about 443-957-1498
12 January 2017
looking for the owner of this number
Anonymous about 615-202-2216
12 January 2017
Noted on my cell phone
Anonymous about 216-704-6156
11 January 2017
people call no talk
Shaelyn about 209-380-9629
11 January 2017
Want to know what's going on with this number. Weird phone calls.
Anonymous about 863-862-1013
11 January 2017
Recording without identification. Caller stated that it was a credit repair company and to press 1 if I wanted further information. On pressing 1 the line was silent and then dead. On calling back 1-863-862-1013, number rand but only went silent after that and after a few seconds the call disconnected. Scammers.
Anonymous about 412-387-2598
11 January 2017
Continue to receive calls from this phone number. Will not leave a message. Hung up when I answered the phone. Believe this may be a solicitor for "extended warranty" on automobile.
Anonymous about 419-871-1437
11 January 2017
calling all hours at night
Anonymous about 860-538-2406
11 January 2017
Just want to know who this person works for.
Anonymous about 647-773-4921
11 January 2017
calls me constantly
Anonymous about 866-467-4907
10 January 2017
Got a call from this number
Katie Hayes about 423-946-1667
10 January 2017
This number calls me over and over.
Anonymous about 314-658-8626
10 January 2017
pick up, they hang up.
Anonymous about 443-336-2324
10 January 2017
I believe this number has called me before. I normally block weird numbers from numbers I do not know. This person also did not leave a voicemail or anything. They are blocked now!
Anonymous about 704-208-4879
10 January 2017
Call arrasing me trying to get to buy a walmart prepaid card to send them money. When I refuse they got real nasty and then I hang up my phone.
Anonymous about 435-655-9181
10 January 2017
want to know who's calling
Anonymousxxx about 937-343-1962
10 January 2017
Some foreigner man called from Fairborn, OH. There was this loud doop sound on the phone, then he spoke real fast.....:Hello my name is Stephen & I'm calling in regards to _____."
He mumbles & slurs that last word & only in part then hangs up.
He mumbles & slurs that last word & only in part then hangs up.
Anonymous about 800-527-3369
10 January 2017
Has called me every morning for the last week and a half around 8 am. No message, now hangs up after two rings.
Anonymous about 407-879-7324
10 January 2017
None. Just trying to figure out who texted me
Frank about 484-352-2564
9 January 2017
They've called me from multiple numbers but always with a similar pitch. credit card services. but when pressed for actual specifics they hang up.
Anonymous about 913-312-5191
9 January 2017
Keeps calling repeatedly also received a call one number off of the last digit.
Anonymous about 913-312-5192
9 January 2017
Repeatedly calling me


text:
The only lint roller made with Scotch Brand Adhesive. Scotch Brand Adhesive grabs tough to remove pet hair. Effectively picks up lint and pet hair from clothing, furniture, auto interiors and more.
Neutrogena Body Lotion Light Sesame Formula - 8.5 Oz
Our Price:$5.03
Biotene Moisturizing Oral Rinse Original Flavor, 16 oz
Our Price:$6.65


text:
Modified Register for James Herron
First Generation
1. James Herron was born in 1777/1785 in Washington County, Virginia. He died on 13 Mar 1878 in Floyd County, Kentucky.
1850 United States Federal Census
Name: James Herron
Age: 50
Birth Year: abt 1800
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1850: My District, Floyd, Kentucky
Gender: Male
Family Number: 35
Household Members: Name Age
James Herron 50
Hannah Herron 55
Susannah Reynolds 25
1860 United States Federal Census
Name: James Heron
Age in 1860: 60
Home in 1860: Floyd, Kentucky
Post Office: Prestonsburg
Value of real estate:
Aaron Brown 45
Sarah Brown 45
John Brown 18
Susanah Brown 14
Elizabeth Brown 12
James Heron 60
Hannah Heron 65
Susan Reynolds 40
William Heron 34
1870 United States Federal Census
Age in 1870: 85
Birth Year: abt 1785
Home in 1870: Precinct 5, Floyd, Kentucky
James married Hannah Herrell daughter of Reuben Herrell and Rebecca Smith in Wythe County, Virginia. Hannah was born in 1776/1785 in Washington County, Virginia. She died on 10 Sep 1876 in Floyd County, Kentucky.
Race: White
Post Office: Laynerville
Value of real estate: View image
James Herron 85
Hannah Herron 85
Susan Reynolds 54
Kentucky Death Records, 1852-1953
Name: James Harlen (Harren)
Death Date: 13 Mar 1878
Death Location: Floyd
Residence Location: Floyd
Age: 100
Ethnicity: White
Birth Date: abt 1778
Birth Location:
Father's Birth Location:
Mother's Birth Location:
In 1846 the Virginia General Assembly passed the act incorporating the South Western Turnpike Road.
The road was to be macadamized and stretch from Salem westward to the Tennessee line via
Christianburg, Wytheville, Marion, and Abingdon. The specifications were for the road to be graded to a
width of at least 24 feet, of which at least 22 feet were to be macadamized. The grade of the road was
not to exceed three percent at any point. By 1848 the road was constructed as far west as Wytheville
(Summers 1903).
The idea for the Turnpike originated at least a decade prior to the start of construction. James Herron
conducted a survey for the Turnpike during the early 1830s. As part of his survey, Herron prepared
sketches that are archived at the Library of Virginia. The sketches for the area east of Wytheville are
dated 1833. The corridor surveyed by Herron does not appear to be the same one that was ultimately
constructed, but some sections of Herron's survey do include areas through which the historic
Southwestern Turnpike was constructed. Near the eastern end of the current study area, Herron noted
the location of the "Kiesling" house on his sketch. The location noted corresponds to the previously
recorded architectural resource, the Keesling Log House (VDHR# 098-5051; see Table 2). To the
northwest of the house on Herron's sketch a "Grave Yard" is mapped (Herron 1833). This cemetery is
noted in the same approximate location as a cemetery shown on the current USGS topographic map of
the area and appears to be just north of the assessment APE for CBA 7.
Another sketch made by Herron shows an area of Reed Creek that eventually became a Turnpike
crossing. This crossing location is nearly identical to the current CBA 10 crossing of Reed Creek near Kent.
The Herron sketch shows that the area where CBA 10 crosses Reed Creek consisted of a cultivated field
on the east side (Herron 1833). On the west side a "Poor House" is shown. The Turnpike skirted just to
the south of the Poor House when it was eventually constructed (Herron 1833; Shaw 1849a).
Herron, James
1833 Board of Public Works of Virginia: Herron's Surveys 1833, Book No. 5. Ms. on file, Library of Virginia,
Richmond. Board of Public Works, Entry 397 South Western Turnpike, Box 314.
Grants #34 pages 664-5 (Library of Virginia) dated 30 Sep 1796Land Office Treasury Warrant #411
issued 21 Jan 1793 to James Herrin, landdescribed as follows..."A certain tract or parcel of land
containing 50 acres by survey bearingdate 28 Jan 1792 and being in the County of Wythe on Walkers
Creek a branchof New River, and is bounded as follows to wit: Beginning at a hickory andpoplar
corner to his patent land and runneth S 71 degrees E 30 poles to ablack oak and hickory, S 20 degrees
E 88 poles to a buckeye and hickory in ahollow, S 54 degrees W 80 poles to between a walnut and linn
in a hollow, N86 degrees W 70 poles to 2 chesnut trees on a flat spur, N 51 degrees W 68poles to a
walnut in a draft, S 57 degrees W 92 poles to a hickory andwalnut in a sugar tree hollow, N 19 degrees
W 6 poles to a large Spanish oakon a ridge, S 32 degrees E 44 poles to 2 sugar trees one of these
doublenear the fork of a branch, thence crossing 2 branches, N 82 degrees E 42poles to a white oak
and black oak, N 49 degrees E 72 poles to a chesnutcorner to his patent land and with the lines thereof
as followeth to thebeginning, viz S 39 degrees E 114 poles to a chesnut and lynn sapling on theside
of a ridge, N 55 degrees E 80 poles to 2 black oaks by the corner of afield, thence N 32 degrees W 95
poles to the beginning."
Name: Hannah Herran
Death Date: 10 Sep 1876
Birth Location: Washington Co, VA
Gender: Female
Birth Date: abt 1776
Mother's Birth Location:
James and Hannah had the following children:
2 M i. William Herron was born about 1823 in Virginia.


text:
Hi, I was wondering, how can we contact one another when some of the users of this marketplace do not seem to have a fully enabled account? Should not we all be made to allow others to contact us if such occasion occurs? Im talking about authors writing with authors, but not buyers.
How can we contact accounts that are here for scouting not for staying?
Could that be sorted, or what we have now is within reason and will not be changed?
Only users who pass the author's test get contact form available on their profile page.
Why is that? I believe it's because of Envato's buyers privacy/anonymity policy. But I'm not sure.
Could it be slightly more social? Are they afraid we just gonna spam buyers with leaflets and offers about things that have nothing to do with the marketplace?
- "you like my tracks? Check out my nephews website about exhaust pipes, he sells them good…"
- "you just got yourself a brand spanking new track for your project didnt you? How about you visit my website www.funfuneral-services.com and have a look at what we can do for you in the future, lets keep in touch!"
- "Hi, its good I found your profile, my wife and I think of taking it to the next level, with the third person in the room just watching.. "
On SC we can still contact people who have zero tracks uploaded, and the site is fine. Im not complaining, I just wish we could contact each other no matter if you have basic or authors account.
I know this is off topic, but you mentioned "authors writing with authors". How exactly can Envato recognize two different owners of one product? I never see a way to label a secondary author whenever I upload something.
Yes you are right. The topic is not about collaborations..but to answer your question, you simply decide who uploads it between you two and split profits on your own..


text:
The Rev. Joseph Maksimczyk performed the ceremony. Prince Bernard presented a program of wedding music.
The bride was presented in marriage by her father. The bride's friend Tracy Morris of Los Angeles was maid of honor.
The groom's friend Manuel Loranzo of Santa Monica, Calif., was the best man. The bride wore her mother's blue garter she wore for her wedding.
A rehearsal dinner was given on the eve of the wedding.
The bride's parents gave a dinner reception at Shanghai Red's in Marina Del Rey. The groom's grandfather Schley Burrell of Clayton was in attendance.
The couple resides in Los Angeles.


text:
Gal Gadot Gossip
Gal Gadot gossip, latest news, photos, and video.
Gal Gadot's abs
Are the most memorable thing in the first trailer for Keeping Up With the Joneses. It's an action-comedy that looks like a cross between Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Burbs with a dash of Date Night thrown in, and stars Isla Fisher, Zach Galifianakis—who I BARELY recognized—Jon Hamm, and Gadot. Full Story
Kevin Costner in Criminal
Mark Sagliocco/ Michael Stewart/ Getty Images
Somehow, incredibly, in the span of less than one year, Ryan Reynolds appears in the same bad movie, twice. Last summer I had to sit through the mind-numbingly bad Self/Less Full Story
Meet Wonder Woman's three moms
Clay Enos /DC Comics
There is a brief feature on Wonder Woman in Entertainment Weekly this week, since she is one of the best parts of Superhero Face Punch—and the only element that successfully generates excitement for a future movie. So let's take a look at Wonder Woman along with the three women responsible for raising her. Full Story
Ben Affleck & Gal Gadot can't save Batman v Superman
Dave J Hogan/ Mike Marsland/ Karwai Tang/ Getty Images
SPOILER FREE Well. Here it is. After nearly three years of marketing, hype, and expectation, the film I have called Superhero Face Punch arrives in theaters this Friday, where it lands with a leaden thump, an overlong, overly serious, grinding f*cking drag of a movie. If you're not already a fan of Batman, Superman, and/or Wonder Woman, Batman v Superman may well make you loathe them. Full Story
Wonder Woman is being done right, maybe
While Suicide Squad got the big flashy trailer premiere during the televised DC Comics special last night, for me the big draw was seeing the first footage from Wonder Woman, which is filming now. It's not much, just about eighty seconds including interstitials with Kevin Smith and comic book writer Geoff Johns, but we get to see Gal Gadot in action as Wonder Woman, including her super-kicking some dude in the face, and riding a horse and maybe cutting a guy's head off. Full Story
Superhero Face Punch looks unintentionally hilarious
A new trailer for Superhero Face Punch debuted on Jimmy Kimmel last night—that's Marvel's backyard but Kimmel and Ben Affleck are pals—and for the first time, I am totally on board with this movie. It looks RIDICULOUS, like the grimdark, "no jokes", moody-broody DC hero treatment has come all the way around to straight up camp and I am 100% into that. Full Story
Don't forget about Batfleck
Lainey said this week was supposed to be about the Brange, but then Adele said "Hello" and the takeover belongs to Adele. A similar thing happened for nerds this week, too, as we were set up for a big profile on Superhero Face Punch courtesy Total Film magazine, but then Star Wars happened and no one cares about anything else anymore. Full Story
Superhero class photo day & Ben Affleck is the new Keanu Reeves
At Comic-Con The Hollywood Reporter gathered the casts of Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad and sat them down for a class portrait that reinforces what I said about the dynamics during the WB/DC Hall H panel—while the Suicide Squad cast seems fun, the cast of Superhero Face Punch would really like to get back and finish their class project. Full Story
Ben & Henry: do you want to hang out with the Justice League?
Albert L. Ortega/ Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
A big part of Marvel's success has been that the Avengers are the coolest club in Hollywood. If Hollywood is a high school cafeteria—and it is—then the Avengers are the kids everyone wants to sit with. Playing catch up at Comic-Con this weekend, Warner Brothers tried to convince everyone that they're cool, too, and we should totally come have lunch with them. Full Story
Smutty Social Media, Thursday July 9, 2015
Mirrorpix/ Splash News
Wonder Woman hanging with Khal Drago. Look who I ran into ..🙅🏻🌊 Full Story
Single Batman at Comic-Con
Well this is great timing, isn't it? It was confirmed yesterday that Batman vs Superman will be at Comic-Con and that Ben Affleck, despite the fact that he just announced his divorce, will make an appearance though it's been stressed that there will be no personal questions. Of course not. Full Story


text:
Part 1. The classic example of the issues involved: The Wreck of the William Brown.
The behavior of people in a situation of extreme scarcity, and the response to it, is a raw area where moral philosophy struggles to answer controversy. The story of the shipwreck of the William Brown, of Philadelphia, USA, while sailing from Liverpool, England, in March 1841, is one that nearly all priests and ministers like to tell, even if they don't know the story in detail, and even if the moral lesson they attempt to draw is the wrong one.
The ship hit an iceberg and sank. The ship's jollyboat (commanded by Cpt. George L. Harris) and its longboat (commanded by ship's mate Frances Rhodes) were both crowded, the longboat dangerously so. In addition, the longboat was leaking due to its excessive weight, which portended the death of everyone aboard. The commanders of both boats decided to head for a landing in Newfoundland.
There were 31 other passengers who missed both the captain's jolly boat and the longboat with the first mate. They went down with the ship. Imagine. 31 people looking enviously at the departing boats, muttering angrily to each other "It isn't fair!" "Damn right it isn't!" "What makes them better than us anyhow?" "I paid good money to get back to Philadelphia, and the captain is going to hear from my lawy...glub glub glub."
It became clear that the longboat would not go far unless it were made lighter. So the mate and some of his sailors started throwing some of the others overboard, both passengers and crew, but chiefly targeting males for getting the toss. It's not that they were heavier, exactly, since among those ejected were two boys, one of them 12 years old, the other being 18 and skinny. The older boy didn't have to be tossed. When he was "chosen," he cooperated, jumping overboard after being allowed to say his prayers. The younger of the boys saved his life by stealthily hanging on to the rear of the boat, keeping his head above water.
The first man to be thrown over was an obedient sailor named Riley. The mate asked him to stand up, and he did. Then the mate or someone assisting him grabbed Riley and tossed him into the ocean, where he drowned.
One man, a sailor named Charles Conlin, tried to appeal to the mate and his helpers through friendship, saying: "Holmes dear, sure you won't put me out?" (Holmes was Rhodes' main assistant in the toss party.) Conlin was tossed out.
One man, Frank Askin, tried to buy his life with gold, offering the mate five large coins as a bribe. But in that situation money was worthless, and Askin was grabbed and tossed overboard. Apparently in his struggles he attempted to swamp the lifeboat, but this was prevented.
But another man, a sailor named John Messer, successfully prevented his own tossing by menacing the mate and his party with a knife. He had to be ever-vigilant, of course, and it turned out that Messer was the one who, the following day, first sighted the sails of the Crescent (Cpt. S.J. Ball), whereupon the threat to him ended.
By the time they were finished, the mate had thrown overboard 16 men and boys, and 2 women. The women were the sisters of Frank Askin, and it is said that they jumped voluntarily after the mate tossed their brother into the sea. All together, these sacrifices made it possible for the longboat to remain afloat, which enabled the other 23 passengers to be rescued.
Upon their return to civilization, a maritime court of inquiry examined the behavior of Frances Rhodes and sailor Holmes, but they were unable to find fault with them, given the circumstances.
You can read the story in even greater detail at these pages:
There's more than one lesson to be learned in that story. Here are the big ones:
1. When it is not possible for everyone to live, the phrase "half is better than none" is as true for people as it is for loaves of bread. Fairness is irrelevant.
It is sometimes necessary that some die to save others, because the only alternative is for everyone to die and there be no survivors at all. However, when this kind of situation arises, each person will regard himself as having exceptional merit which puts him firmly in the class privileged with survival. Everyone else might be expendable, but not himself!
In an emergency, anyone who speaks of "fairness" and believes it is a fool (a bleating sheep). And anyone who speaks of fairness without believing it is a sneaky predator (a jackal). There will usually be bleating sheep, but the jackals will outnumber them.
2. When some must be sacrificed to save others, a dictatorship is necessary.
There are no other conflicts so intractable as those for which life for some means death for the others. Neither argument nor bribery, will persuade someone to sacrifice himself. An appeal to sentiments, such as patriotism or family love, will sometimes be successful in getting someone to volunteer to be a sacrifice, but not always. Perhaps not usually. When a substantial number of sacrifices is required, they must be taken by violence, and nothing else will substitute.
To supply the necessary violence to secure the number of sacrifices required to save the rest of the people, there must be an effective local government of a dictatorial nature. This government may not sacrifice themselves—at least, not until the very last—because then there would be no one with both the will and the ability to complete the required number of sacrifices.
In an emergency, a democratic process would be unable to make the required number of sacrifices in the available time. Although democracies are notorious for their characteristic of "two wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for dinner," the slaughter of the sheep always involves deception. Some of the wolves, for example, are the kind of people who will eat meat, but don't want to watch or to be the butcher. Some of the sheep must be persuaded that the slaughterhouse is really a funhouse. And some of the sheep must be persuaded that they are wolves, at least, until it is time for the real wolves to correct the misapprehension.
In an emergency, such as that on the William Brown's longboat, the mate might have called for a vote on who to toss—but there would be the equivalent of "nominations" and "caucuses" and "campaign speeches" and pleas of extenuating circumstances every time the next sacrifice was considered. And they'd have to be carried out one-by-one, or else those who were selected for tossing would revolt en masse.
Nothing must be done to warn the sacrifices in advance that they've been selected. If they were warned, they would join their strength and it might be impossible to sacrifice them. That's why the William Brown's mate didn't offer to cast lots to see decide who aboard the longboat would be tossed. Everyone who drew the short straws would immediately become a self-conscious subclass, and they would at once have engaged in defensive maneuvers. The struggle would have imperiled everyone in the boat.
3. Neither money nor appeals to sentiment can buy your life when the cost of maintaining it threatens the life of the one whom you would bribe.
Frank Askin and Charles Conlin learned these truths too late.
4. Obedience to authority can't save you, either, when the authority already has a sufficient number of willing servants. Obedience, in an emergency, sometimes kills the obedient.
Sailor Riley learned this lesson too late. He obeyed his senior officer and thus collaborated in his own death. Riley knew that somebody had to go, or the longboat would sink. He'd been discussing that very subject with his fellow sailors during the past few hours. Riley might have figured on being named one of the tossers, rather than being chosen as a tossee, or perhaps the theory of tossing had not yet been confirmed in his mind as a gory reality. His fatal mistake was in not being suspicious of authority's intentions when it came to call upon him.
5. When you must, to save your own life, resist the desperate measures of those who are also trying to survive, the only recourse that will work for you is violence, or the creditable threat thereof.
Someone resisting sacrifice doesn't always need to be stronger than the opposing group. Sometimes, he only needs to be strong enough to make fighting him not worthwhile.
Remember the story about two men, running from a hungry bear, and one man yells "Stop! I have an idea!" He stops running and begins to change from his dress shoes into his running shoes. The other man, confused, had stopped running too. The bear was getting closer and closer. "Why are you changing your shoes now?" asked the confused man. "Because," said the other, "I just realized that I don't need to outrun the bear. I only need to outrun you," and he took off like a dart.
That is the logic that saved the life of sailor John Messer. He wasn't as strong as the group of men opposed to him, but he was strong enough to convince them that they should choose other victims.
6. Not all lives are of equal value.
Suppose that the occupants of the longboat had not had the good fortune to be rescued by the Crescent. They would have had to make their way to Newfoundland, which was presumably the easiest landfall available to them. In order to get there, the longboat would need guiding by someone who understood the principles of ocean navigation. The ablest navigator must not be sacrificed, since, if he were, the longboat might wander aimlessly at sea until everyone aboard starved, and, in that case, all of the previous sacrifices required to remain afloat would have been in vain.
I reviewed the story of the William Brown disaster because it is very similar in some ways to the approaching apocalyptic end of the industrial age. The world will be an overcrowded lifeboat, and it won't be possible for everyone to survive. The survivor to sacrifice ratio for the William Brown's longboat was 1.28. Somewhat more people lived than died.
That same ratio for the apocalypse will be much lower: only about 0.05. For each survivor, there will be 20 deaths. That's where capitalism has taken us, Ayn Rand.
For the situation on the William Brown's longboat to be commensurate to that of the world during the apocalypse, mate Frances Rhodes and sailor Holmes would have had to keep tossing people overboard until they, just the two of them, were the only ones left aboard.
There is some conflict among the several accounts of the shipwreck. From the court records, it appears that the longboat was in the water 24 hours before the tossing began. Further, only male passengers were tossed (says this document) and of the ship's crew none were tossed, not even the ship's cook, who was a Negro. The sailors elected to sacrifice two skinny White boys instead of a fat Black male who outweighed both of them together. Now that was wrong.
I suspect that Frank Askin—the man who tried to bribe the mate for an exemption from tossing—was a Jew. The attempted bribery itself suggests this, and there's the fact that of all those tossed the only charge against sailor Holmes, back in the US, was for the murder of Askin. Not for Riley or Duffy or Charley or either of those boys. Only Frank Askin was "special" enough to have a high-ranking prosecutor seeking a posthumous vengeance. Imagine this Jew holding out five gold sovereigns to Rhodes and Holmes, as if the peril to everyone were a matter of secondary importance, as if his gold were able to buy him a significance that no one else had.
It further appears that sailor Holmes was convicted of manslaughter, but his punishment was much less than the maximum. He was sentenced to six months in prison and a fine of $20. However, even this was "remitted," which is this context means the penalty was commuted to a suspended sentence.
Part 2. Turning a population bottleneck to advantage: When Quantity Must Go, Save Quality.
MonteQuest wrote: You go to front of the "first to go" list. Sometimes I thinking "culling the herd" will be easy. Obvious humor aside, technology is what caused us to exceed our limits so soon. Didn't you read the Tragedy of the Commons? There are no techno-fixes for this.
linlithgowoil wrote: You obviously have something against the human race if you refer to it as a herd and think it needs to be culled. I suppose you think you should be the guy chosing who dies then eh? And obviously you wouldn't be one of the unlucky ones who have to die .... thought so.
He might have been joking, since he said so. But I'm not.
When quantity must go, save quality. If disaster must come, then turn it as much as possible to advantage. Who lives needn't be so much decided as discovered—in the same manner that the winner of an honest sporting event is discovered, and not decided beforehand.
Let there be "Olympics," of mind and character, as well as body. Let's see who is the most superior of intelligence, of ability to function in danger/while hurt/under pressure, of sensory acuity, strength, speed and muscle coordination. And of basic morals. The top 10% of humanity will be found by competition, and they might earn with their victories a place in the Lifeboat. The losers shall stay in the old William Brown.
Because of the way heredity works, quality can replicate any desired quantity faster than the reverse, and so when one must be sacrificed to save the other, jettison quantity, keep quality, and the race will profit.
gg3 wrote [comments in brackets by Jenab6]: Meanwhile, back to "freedom to breed." Determine the sustainable population for Earth and the number of years at most before that level must be reached in order to avoid tipping the planet into more than a +2 Celsius scenario. [check] Subtract that number from the current 6.5 billion, to arrive at the population decrease needed. [check] Calculate, based on likely death rates, the maximum number of births per year that will meet the goal. [check] Divide births by households, to arrive at the permissible number of babies [per household] per year. [ch... uh, NO!] Ration the babies via a lottery in each locale. [NO!] You win the lottery, you get to make a baby. [NO!] You can keep entering until you win, and then you're not eligible to re-enter the lottery for some number of years thereafter. Problem solved. [More like: Opportunity wasted.] If only humans were quite so rational... [Sarcastic retort withheld]
When quantity must go, save quality. Do not apportion births by lottery; apportion them by merit, as measured by competitive challenges. You want the best people to breed, so that the humanity of the future will be smarter, stronger, healthier, better coordinated, and better behaved than was the humanity of the past. Heredity has at least some influence on all these attributes, and quality can regenerate quantity if it becomes necessary or advantageous to increase the population later.
Wildwell wrote: The reason I mention immigration is because that's where the rise in population is mostly coming from in the west. If you argue that we must limit population growth, we must also limit immigration. You cannot say to the indigenous population you cannot have children, but we'll still allow people into the country.
Correct so far.
Wildwell wrote: The population question is a red hering. The vast majority of the world's population use little or no fossil fuel energy. It's far more sensible to look at the energy intensive activities of people in the west, and I'm afraid that comes down to personal transport and aviation as well as trading blocks, globalisation and so on. As for the third world, they should start by using renewable energy and not make the mistakes the west has.
Although the West must power down, it isn't true that the Third World uses "little or no fossil fuel energy." Everyone who eats, except those who eat only wild and homegrown organic foods, cultivated with hand-tools by farmers with the same dietary restriction, uses fossil fuel energy. The Green Revolution was all about using fossil fuels for tractor fuel and fertilizers. It will be reversed as fossil fuel supplies decline. More fossil fuels are used to transport foods across oceans and across land to the people who end up eating it. Those means of transportation will also disappear.
South Africa and Rhodesia used to feed Africa. Now the USA and Argentina do. Soon China will outbid everyone else for food on the global market, and Africa will starve. Subsequently, shortages of food in the countries that once supplied it to the global markets will force them to stop doing so, and China will starve—though it might try a conquest of the countries to its south, west, and northwest, to steal their food and farmland.
EnergySpin wrote: Wildwell If you want to talk about immigration by all means start the conversation yourself. I chose not to talk about immigration because securing infrastructure world wide will require people to move from the West to the developed world and probably vice versa. We are in this together. Permit me to have a more liberal view on this subject...
We are "in this together" in the sense that we are on the same planet and must draw on the same pool of global resources to sustain our existence. But that doesn't mean that everybody has the same access to those resources. Access varies. It must. That is how it should be. Fairness isn't a moral imperative; it is a moral luxury that we can no longer afford. The result of apportioning resources in "equal shares" (e.g., of calories), if that could even be done, would only result in everyone starving, fairly, together.
Think of Earth as a sinking ship with too few lifeboats to get everyone away. An attempt to save all will kill all when the overcrowded lifeboats sink, too. So some must die. When quantity cannot be sustained, preserve quality, or at least try to do the best you can in that regard.
Part 3. On the Virtue of Preparedness, the Need for a High Birth Rate Despite Overpopulation, and the Eugenic Function of Low-Techology Warfare in an Ecologically Competitive World.
MonteQuest wrote: [When a population overshoots its resource base], the organism starts to lose the ability to reproduce.
Some of that is the result of women delaying their first attempt to conceive until college and career establishment are accomplished. The fertility of women is greatest between the ages of 14 and 19, trailing off thereafter. The ability of a woman's body to deliver a first baby safely reaches a maximum at about ages 17-21. If she has a first baby about then, her body will "learn" how to give birth and she will gain the advantage of easier delivery for her later children.
zensui wrote: do you have citations to this fertility claims?
Prof. S.J. Holmes wrote: "The liability of women to conceive falls off quite rapidly after the twentieth year... Galton has established the fertility of women marrying at the ages of 17, 22, 27, and 32 as roughly in the ratio of six, five, four, and three, respectively. An increase of the average age at marriage, therefore, would have a potent effect in lowering the birthrate." [S. J. Holmes, Studies in Evolution and Genetics, New York, 1923, pp. 117-8, and Human Genetics and Its Social Import, McGraw, 1936, p. 197. ]
See also: Prof. Ellsworth Huntington & Leon F. Whitney, The Builders of America, Morrow, 1927, p. 117-120.
Anthony M. Ludovici wrote: "The more closely they [medical reports] approach the present age and the modern scientific view... the more inevitably are we driven to the conclusion that labour before 20 is more favorable than after, and that the decline in efficiency is rapid after the twentieth year." [A. M. Ludovici, The Truth About Childbirth, Dutton, 1938, pp. 76-8, pp. 136-153, pp. 154ff.]
G. Nicola wrote: "Delivery [before age 20] is normal and of short duration. Surgical intervention in pregnancy, delivery or afterbirth are rarely necessary. The vertex presentation is the most frequent in deliveries at full term. Transverse and other abnormal presentations are unusual. Pelvic abnormalities are rare. The joints of the pelvis of young girls have a great mobility and the contractions of the uterus are energetic." ["Pregnancy and Parturition in Early Youth," by G. Nicola, Annali di Ostetricia e Ginecologia & (digest) Journal of the American Medical Association, 1938, p. 196.]
Dr. Hugo Sellheim wrote (translated by Ludovici): "This transient function [childbirth] in which an adequate passage has to be made for the foetus by stretching the muscles of the pelvic floor to the limit of their elasticity-i.e., without damage to their essential and permanent function of keeping the pelvic outlet closed-can be performed by the pelvic floor only in normal, healthy, and fully developed girls, in whom the muscles are still resilient. In older primiparae, not only is the extra tissue growth in the birth canal necessary for the function defective, but there is also imperfect resilience, and defective increase of elasticity at the critical moment. To compensate for the fefects the tissues are stretched beyond the limit of their resiliance, with tears and lacerations as the result. In the youthful elastic primparae, however, this extreme compensatory sacrifice is only exceptionally called for, and on a much smaller scale. Only female organisms just attained to full development seem capable of further bodily development during pregnancy. For this is precisely what is necessary to secure perfect functions in motherhood, more especially in forming the birth canal without damage. An organism, which has already waited a long time in the developed state, is no longer fit for this function... In the woman who has had her first child in youth, the pelvic floor retains its capacity to form the birth canal for later births without damage, because this capacity is acquired with her first birth, provided this occurs at the right time." [Dr. Hugo Sellheim, Prof. Doctor of Medicine, Medical Adviser and Director of the Women's Clinic of Leipzig University, in Wer Ist's, Berlin, 1935. See Zeitschrift fur Soziale Medizin, Leipzig, 1910, vol V, Heft 1, pp. 128-130, quoted by Ludovici in The Truth About Childbirth, pp. 159-160.]
Dr. M. Fetzler, a student of Dr. Sellheim, wrote: "The chance of incurring disability were almost three times greater in primiparae of 28 than in primiparae of 20, twelve times treater in primiparae of 30 than in primiparae of 19, and before 19 the chances were nil."
Pogma wrote: What a bizarre thread, if taken seriously one might consider suicide. The world or the economy isn't about to end or run out of ANY fuels for godsakes.
Yes, we are, Pogma. The trouble starts before we run out though, i.e., when the power supply falls too far below power demand. But don't commit suicide. Surviving the die-off is the ultimate challenge.
Think of it as a game where you have lots of possible moves: tricking your neighbors into leaving you alone with false rumors that someone in your house has the Black Death, telling the sheriff who comes to confiscate your hidden food that two guys claiming to be his deputies carried it all away last week, etc. And then there's the pure schadenfreud, the smug sense of superiority, that you have the means of survival and others don't because you prepared wisely while they laughed at you for being a "conspiracy theorist." Now it's your turn to laugh. Enjoy it!
Pogma wrote: There's nothing wrong with necesary killing {eg, self defense}, but some of you people seem to be suggesting that we MURDER 55m a yr....is this your position?
Nobody's going to murder 55 million people per year. They will die because there will be no food for them to eat. The reason there will be no food for them to eat is that there won't be enough fuel for all the tractors and harvesters, not enough artificial fertilizer, not enough pesticide, not enough fuel for the distribution to the market of the food that does get grown, etc. They're goNNA DIEEE! But we aren't gonna kill 'em. We're just going to laugh (quietly, in our basements) as they stumble around the neighborhood like zombies piteously hooting "food, fooooood!" and fighting over a bean that somebody dropped on the sidewalk.
Eustacian wrote: This is definitely not far fetched. Here in the Seattle WA area there are charities who already pay women (mostly homeless, drug addicted women) up to $500 for sterilization or other long term birth control. There was even a period where men were offered the option of vasectomy for the cash. There was lots of news in the lefty media about how they were buying a womans god given right to reproduce. The liberals were in an uproar to say the least. Nonetheless, the program is still in operation. Of course the motive is not to reduce the population as a whole but to reduce babies born to people who cannot support them, or who are drug addicted.
It has been my opinion for a long time that irreversible sterilization should be required in order to qualify for public assistance, such as AFDC, food stamps, and other welfare programs. I also think that no food relief should be exported except such as will render anyone who eats it permanently infertile. (I suggested this to several members of Congress in the mid-1980s. One of them wrote back to deplore the idea and to say he'd never support it.)
Eustacian wrote: I wanted to add just one more thing to this post. A few messages back someone indicated they felt the population could be maintained at a high level with 1984esque big brother control over the populace, to prevent riots, distribute basic necessities, etc. It is amazing that anybody would actually promote a big brother situation to be a blessing. One thing we have to realize of course, is that in "1984" the government had to maintain a constant war in order to maintain control over the population. Maintaining that level of war will deplete our remaining energy during the hardest period of decline. A centralized, big brother regime is not going to save America—it is the exact opposite of what I think is needed—localization, tribal/communal living arrangements, etc.
You aren't going to save any sort of continent spanning state by any means. Dictatorship isn't the problem. Scale is. The bigger a state is, relative to the time required for information and troops to get from one side to another, the more difficult it is to suppress rebellions. So in the far future (post 2100) I expect at least political balkanization—"states" the size of one or a few counties/parishes, and some of them may be dictatorships, and some of those might be well-run.
dohboi wrote: My wife was 36 when she had her first and only child. Both are healthy. We have to give up on "ideal" and go for what is remotely doable. As I've said earlier the only way I can see of preserving any "right to procreate" in the face of massive and rapidly expanding overpopulation, is limit each couple to one child, and that only after the woman is at least 25, with benefits increasing for older births.
Sometimes the kneejerk answer isn't the right one. I propose a different sort of remedy to overpopulation, namely, war. Let us set our women to breeding babies hell-for-leather, raising all children with emphasis on physical fitness, muscular development, military training, and (of course) racial patriotism, giving each an IQ test at age 16, then sending them into combat duty for a period of 24 - 0.2(IQ) years, if positive, or receive a "procreation subsidy" of $200(IQ) - $24000, per year, if positive.
The land our soldiers take over will be theirs to settle, after their tour of duty is completed, subject to recall if their land is invaded by the enemy in the future. They will be set to work creating a new generation of soldiers for another wave of conquest, in which our race supplants other races—sort of the reverse of what Blacks and Mestizos are doing to us now.
One thing we must do, though, before we set out to reconquer California and Texas, is use our soldiers to round up the Federal Reserve governors and every member of their "advisory council," arrest them, and hold them absolutely incommunicado until they sign legal papers utterly forgiving the public debt of the United States, all endebtedness by the several states, and all private parties, corporate and individual, who owe any money to any bank. Or else we shoot them, and their heirs, and anyone else who might have a legal claim to money to which they have no moral claim because they never did any work to earn it.
dohboi wrote: the world is already heading in this direction as women get more education...and these trends should be encouraged by every means.
How about... we don't educate women (much). In a world where even men don't need to be astrophysicists anymore, surely they must learn to be carpenters, masons, farmers, hunters and trappers, instead, and even more surely women can learn those home economics subjects like they used to. Tarzan brings home the meat. Jane bakes the bread. They take turns milking the goats until Boy is six years old. Then he does it.
zensui wrote: Jenab6, you fool. War is not a solution. We will start it over again if we don't learn to live within limits.
I disagree. We won't be able to "start it all over again" because there won't be any fossil fuels to do it again with. War is the right answer. Voluntary population reductions is the wrong answer. Why? Read Garrett Hardin's essay "The Tragedy of the Commons." He explains why voluntary population reductions don't work at the level of individuals. I've extended it to show why it won't work for nations.
Hardin explained that when individuals are asked to limit their family size so that population growth can be checked, some people will heed the call and try to act "responsibly." Others will be more selfish and less responsible. As the generations go by, the irresponsible and selfish people have more children than the obedient ones do, and whatever quality made for volunteerism in the matter of limiting family size will eventually be bred out of the population. The selfish genes will displace the socially responsible ones, and thereafter moral appeals to limit population size will have no effect on anyone's conscience or on their breeding habits.
A similar thing is true for nations. As long as technology exists, it can play the guardian role for a nation that restricts its breeding for sensible reasons of ecology or economics. Technology requires power (watts, joules per second) for its operation, however, and we are about to run short on such power (watts). After the power (watts) goes, the technology will not function, and the (political, military) power will shift at once to nations that did not limit their breeding and, hence, have large surplus populations to use on military adventures. It can be assumed, I think, that the leaders of such populous countries will notice any plums that are ripe for plucking, and the ripest plums will be the low population density rich countries that no longer have working high-tech weapons to protect them.
Voluntary limitations on population size don't work for either individuals or nations. The right way to limit population size is low technology warfare. By war, man provides himself with the eugenic predator that nature doesn't otherwise afford him. So breed them soldiers, train them, give them weapons, point them at the enemy, and yell CHARGE!
Ludi wrote: Educating and empowering women has been one of the most successful ways of reducing population growth.
It really doesn't matter how or why population growth is limited. What matters is that not every group will limit their own growth. The problem is the "Tragedy of the Commons" that Hardin explained, except that the displacement occurs as the result of international or interracial competition, instead of the interpersonal competition assumed by Hardin's illustration. Again, it matters not at all whether the reason for a particular country's population reduction is educating women, or abortion, or infanticide, or the Carousel from Logan's Run. When the energy needed by technological national defenses is gone, as sooner or later it will be, then countries with small populations will be vulnerable to conquest by countries with large populations. Population reduction, by whatever means, is a fast lane to national extermination or enslavement in the coming low tech world.
Why is it that some people who can show a remarkable degree of good sense in some areas, can't apply the same intellectual prowess when the right answer is not also a nice answer?
Ludi wrote: What "right answer"? Yours isn't a "right answer." It is only "your answer." Small, weak countries or populations will probably be wiped out in the future by larger, stronger populations. Oh well. Later on, when we've gone back to the stone age, all populations will have equal technological ability, hence equal strength, and population will stabilize in the way it used to before civilization was invented. Problem solved.
I suppose that if it doesn't matter to you which people, or what sort of people, the survivors are, then your point of view is understandable. Some of us, however, have preferences in that regard. And anyone who would have his own nation be among the survivors will have to oppose voluntary population reductions, since to advocate them is to advocate national military weakness in an ecologically competitive low technology world. Bear that in mind whenever you believe that you should write the pronoun "we." We who? That "we" might not include you, nor yours, if you make it a habit to insist that the right answer is merely another answer.
Even in the post-dieoff steady state, human tribes will find it wise to maintain a high birthrate. The tribes will again fill the Earth until it has reached the contemporary logistic maximum population, at no later than which time, they will begin attempting, incessantly, to enlarge their populations by the "takeover" method of warfare. This condition of life will never end, and the only thing peaceniks of those future times will achieve is the extinction of their own tribes after their more aggressive neighbors defeat them and take from them all that they have.
Jerry Abbott


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Why is the Government of India disinvesting its equity in the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)?
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Love your dog? Do you love him enough to decorate your living room with his adorable mug? Some dog owners these days are translating their love for their dog into works of art, comissioning pooch portraits that range from adorable to laugh-out-loud kitschy. Below, check out a small sample of the artists who are actively working in this unique portrait field.
Regal Glory. Ordering a customized portrait from Valerie Leonard will get your pooch the Mona Lisa treatment. Leonard, who specializes in classic oil paintings, creates elaborate and realistic portraits of dogs lounging around in historic clothing reminiscent of the clothing you find on the aristocratic subjects painted by the European Old Masters. Your dog could be draped in an ermine stole, wear a gold pocket watch, or maybe model some napoleon era battle gear. Regardless of Leonard's clothing choices, your dog's portrait will certainly serve as a tongue in cheek conversation starter.
Pop art fun. If you're more into contemporary painting, Brooklyn based artist Dean Russo can create a pop art portrait of your pooch that's light, colorful, and very visually interesting. His doggie portraits sizzle with loud colors, pychadelic images and funky squiggles.
Elaborate Ink. Comissioning a portrait from Valentina Harper, on the other hand, will get you a South American influenced portrait of your puppy to hang by your mantelpiece. Harper, who is Veneuelan, usng black ink to create elaborately detailed portraits of man's best friend.
Whatever your taste in art may be, there's an artist who can help meet your doggie vision, and what better way to personalize a room in your home than a funky image of the most beloved critter living there? These artists are only a small sampling of doggie portrait artists working in the field today. To find just the right artist that suits the taste of both you and your best buddy, head over to Etsy or Pinterest to view the sample portraits of dog loving artists from all around the world.


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Two of Sino-Forest Corp.'s one-time largest investors have signalled approval for a court challenge of the company's plan to use bankruptcy-protection proceedings to sell its assets.
According to court documents, the company's second-largest shareholder, U.S.-based Davis Selected Advisers LP, has signed on for the potential $9.18-billion class-action lawsuit against the company.
The documents also say U.S. hedge fund Paulson & Co., at one time the company's single biggest shareholder, also supports an attempt by lawyers for the plaintiffs in that potential class action to quash Sino-Forest's bankruptcy protection and restructuring plans.
The embattled forestry company, once worth $6-billion, saw its shares collapse after it faced fraud allegations last year. The controversy has prompted investigations by the Ontario Securities Commission and the RCMP, as well as the potential class-action lawsuit. The allegations against the company have not been proved.
On March 30, Sino-Forest went to court seek bankruptcy protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), buying time to find bidders for its subsidiaries and forestry assets.
Lawyers in the potential class action are trying to challenge this plan. They demand instead that the company be put into receivership, and its board of directors replaced because of the allegations the company faces.
They also want to lift the stay, or freeze on litigation, imposed by the CCAA proceedings in order to move ahead with their lawsuit against the company, its auditors and underwriters.
An affidavit filed by lawyer Daniel Bach of Siskinds LLP, one of the law firms acting for the plaintiffs, said Davis had recently retained Siskinds. Davis, which manages a family of mutual funds and has about $35-billion, held 12.6 per cent of Sino-Forest's shares as of April, 2011.
According to the affidavit, the U.S. investment firm "completely supports" the plaintiff lawyers' demands, including the quashing of the bankruptcy protection process and the replacement of Sino-Forest's board.
The documents also say that on April 10, 2012, Mr. Bach spoke to a lawyer for New York-based Paulson & Co. Inc., a hedge fund run by John Paulson, a prominent figure in the U.S. financial world. The fund was at one time Sino-Forest's largest shareholder, but sold its stake after the allegations surfaced in June, 2011.
Paulson & Co. also supports the class-action lawyers' demands, the affidavit says. Representatives from both U.S. firms could not be reached for comment.
In Ontario Superior Court in Toronto on Friday, lawyers for the plaintiffs raised their objections to the company's plan to seek buyers for its subsidiaries and forestry holdings in order to pay off the holders of $1.8-billion in outstanding debt.
Plaintiffs lawyer Ken Rosenberg told the court his clients objected to Sino-Forest's request to extend the CCAA's stay to July 9, after the company's deadline for expressions of interest from potential buyers. Mr. Rosenberg called the proposal "excessive and beyond all reason in the circumstances of this case."
He also said his motion calling for the removal of the board of directors was necessary because the OSC notices sent to Sino-Forest and six former and current executives, disclosed this week, create a "cloud of fraud allegations."
After hearing Mr. Rosenberg's arguments, Mr. Justice Geoffrey Morawetz ruled that the company has until June 1 before it must return to court to renew the stay. He also scheduled a hearing later this month to hear other arguments in the case.Report Typo/Error
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What is article spinner
Okay, is that a question? If so, look it up.
But, they are mainly used for SEO purposes and article dumpsters, like, say, Ezine.
is it helpful for SEO.
Again, is that a question?
If so, then yes, it can be helpful. ... But not much.
I need some reviews and best tool of article spinner.
Then do a keyword search. :rolleyes:
But like the others said, you can write out your own articles.
If you are not that good at it, you can still take your time by writing out, say, just one article every few days, and in a month's time you will have a slew of articles that are much better.
With a spinner, it takes time to edit the second article that was spun from the first. Many times it can be a real hassle. Many times it can take as long as writing the article out yourself. So you might as well do it yourself.
Also, spinners can only squeeze out one decent (most of the time it isn't even "decent") article from the original. The second spun article is gibberish. And the wording is pretty much the same as the first spun version.
Why??? Because there just isn't enough replacement words to create more than one good article from the original.
So, again, you might as well write them out yourself.
Use this as an example to see why spinners are worthless http://articlequeen.com/
See how many spun articles this can create for you.
Also, see how long it takes you to edit the first spun version, and then add your own words to it to make it more of a quality, "hey, I like that" read.
There's your answer!
Find such sites that give you a free trial.
I didn't miss the point sir. When creaitng unique article content, it is best to optimize for the search engine visitor to genuinely read, rather than for SEO and rankings. This way, you can relate to others better in your article content presentations...
Research on a particular topic and write unique contents. You will learn a lot. Article spanner will not help you on this learning thing.........
Like I keep saying, spinners don't writed the bad writing.
I will say that you don't only need good spinner but also must have knowledge to spin articles with best unique output rate . I have noticed that many new users can spin articles with 40 to 60 percent uniqueness but many expert spin articles almost 75 to 80 percent with nice tricks they know and good knowledge of using tools .
Sorry, but can anyone say "irony"? :lol:
I've kinda hijacked this thread, haven't I?
Not at all. You're just the kind of person to make this section the copy of the SEO section this forum doesn't need.
The more about not writing in a writing forum, the better.
Please tell me about the article spinner which allows focus on a specific reader, such as a decision maker in a medium sized company. Because I'd like to avoid writing as well.
Examples on the top SERP spun articles would be especially appreciated.
Garbage in, garbage out.
The premise is, if you are able to judge good writing, you can spin it. Since a large percentage use spinners as a crutch, because they are (of feel themselves to be) horrible writers, this is a bit of a flawed premise.
You have to know garbage to avoid garbage. Many using spinners don't. Writing and reading are linked. Writing is thought. Spinning, in large part, is avoidance of thought, a "generate content" button if you will. The premise does not hold many who could write would want to waste their time filtering the pool when their aim is to take a text dump in it.
Finally, many articles that pass the parse test of "unique" are not unique to readers. A machine can be fooled by the technical uniqueness, but a human sees hundreds if not thousands of the very same article on every site.
The grammar and syntax might pass for readable, the utter lack of a new idea or angle on a topic won't. That is not exactly the fault of spinners, as many developers have such low regard for writing, they write what any generic web shop would. Who hasn't seen "you only get one chance to make a first impression" a thousand times over on web dev sites?
Not spun. Just the self same glassy-eyed thoughtlessness that would dump garbage into a spinner.
A poor architect blames the tool. Garbage in, garbage out. A spinner does nothing to your grammar, sentence structure or any of that. It's just a handy generating tool, you choose the pool it gets to pick from. It doesn't check grammar, it doesn't check readability; it is not an article writer.
Trash the idea you may have about article marketing being cheap (you have to spend time or money, probably more time than money), fast (not if you're doing it even close to correctly), and easy.Spin and then manually submit so you can check your quality. When you gain skill and confidence, considering joining a public/private distribution network.
PS - And don't believe the hype about traffic generation. Articles themselves do not generate traffic I've found. Focused anchor text improves SERP, which improves your traffic. It also brings risk of overoptimization though, be wary. Do some research. Something that is vital to your overall article marketing strategy in the first place, get used to it.
PPS - Oddly, I have found article marketing to be the single most consistently effective marketing strategy. It IS NOT quick, but it is effective. A distribution network has the advantages of residual distribution. Keeps distributing for months/years. It also forces you to produce high quality, as each spin is reviewed by an actual human before publication (some humans will publish complete trash, but it's something at least).It is said 3 to 6 months of consistent effort is needed to see the real results.
Good question Spartinman. I cannot see how they could without incredibly voluminous algorithmic analysis. The output gives no indication of where it came from. I suppose they could flag known or suspected publishers, but I can't see how they could know where content comes from.
Nobody likes a show off though, all forms of promotion will eventually be frowned upon by Google at this rate. Very soon good quality content will be regarded as promotion rather than attraction, they way they are going. Google has REALLY, REALLY, REALLY lost perspective IMO. Truth is, search engines and centralizing traffic sources are the only reasons for spam to exist. Google's mere existence justifies and creates a much larger market for spammers. I'm almost inclined to say let Google and the spammers they create, justify each other alone, I say we've been hypnotized by their trainwreck like sound and fury too long as it is.
Wow, holy rant.
This is what I think:
The best thing is to hire someone who could write many articles / week and publish good quality data on your site.. that way people can come and read and you get better rankings!
Ah, people can only notice bad spins. "All spinning must be bad". The logic astounds.
If you article market, you're a complete idiot if you don't spin, IMO.If you article market, and you spin poorly, you're a complete idiot, IMO.
The Best Spinner is indeed the best spinner I've ever seen.A good source for reviews and insights - http://articlesubmissionreview.com/
Honestly I do not recommend using this Spinner. I only creates bad articles, wrong grammar articles. Just a junk.
Aren't spinners picked up by google now? They kick those articles down in seo ranking and never show up on the 1st page for searches.
If you want good & original content for your website, write it yourself. I once used a spinner (suppose to be a 'great'one ) Dreadful, incorrect grammer, unrelated sentences,in fact 'gibberish'. I would strongly advise against using spinners.
Why would anyone want to use automated tools to generate articles? As @felgall pointed out, the best spinner is you - take the time to write good quality content or outsource it.
Google "The Best Spinner" and see if that can help...
The only effective article spinner is the one you have between your ears. All of the others are basically garbage generators.
that means felgall I should do it on my own??


text:
I've been playing with extensions to PDO and PDOStatement, trying to get database statements working even more smoothly. Without going through the exact code, this is what I'm doing in the extension. I'm wanting help spotting potential problems because this is so low level that tons of code are going to end up sitting on it and I don't want to be rewriting it.
Gazelle\Database extends PDO
override __construct: @param mixed (string or array)
Extended to accept a configuration array rather than just a DSN - however it will still accept a DSN. Also sets PDOAttribute defaults for the framework - placing PDO into Throw Exceptions mode and setting the Statement class below as the default statement object.
Gazelle\Statement extends PDOStatement
override __construct: @param Database object
Accept a reference to the creating db object? At the moment I haven't needed this. The plan was to have the statement update the main database object with performance information like query execution time. With PHP 5.4 on the horizon though I've decided to hold off to a later version of the framework and farm such debug related tasks to Traits that can be attached to the object only when the Debug mode is invoked explicitly. For the moment I've left this alone.
override execute [@param array]@return this
Parent returns Bool. The override function returns this for chaining statements and throws an error if the parent method returned false.
bindArray@param array
Bind an array by its keys to the statement. The draft of this function has me uneasy because it can get messed up by the calling code pretty easy and I'd like to harden it. Currently if the array has named keys then the statement should have named parameter tokens. If the array has numeric keys the statement should have question mark tokens. I'd like to tolerate receiving an array with numeric keys even if the statement has named tokens, but to do this I need to be able to retrieve a token list in order. PDOStatement has no public method that does this, does it have an undocumented protected method that provides this?
The function returns $this for chaining purposes.
key [@param mixed (string or integer)]
This statement causes the statement to index the return on the argument (if present) or first column (if not) instead of generating a key. return self for chaining. If this function never gets called the first column is used when indexed functions are explicitly requested.
fetchMixed@return mixed
Fetches the data based on the nature of the return. The using programmer should be able to predict what this is going to return based on the structure of the query. For example, "SELECT name FROM table WHERE id = 1 LIMIT 1" will return a single value, so fetchMixed returns just that value, not an array of 1 row with an array of 1 column with the value. fetchMixed is a very powerful shorthand, but if queries aren't watched it can cause trouble. There are times when we need to force the return to stay an array, and other functions exist for this as we go down the list.
fetchAllAssoc @return container array
This started life as an alias to fetchAll( PDO::FETCH_ASSOC ), but when I wrote the key function I realized this should be affected by that. If key is called then this function will move the contents of the key column into the key position of the return array.
fetchIndexedResults Returns the results with the key set on the return. If there's only two columns this function will return a single array as if you'd called fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_COLUMN) but with the keys being one of the columns (by default the first) and the values being the other.
fetchCollection@parameter Collator
This function collates the results into a structured return. By default the structure is inferred from the key names. Collation of sql returns into multidimensional arrays is perhaps one of the most common tasks in PHP. The function can accept a collator object to do the collation - otherwise it creates one of class TierCollator.
fetchTreeThis function uses two collators - first collating the rows into multidimensional array, and then passes that to a tree collator that creates a result tree. This is used by the core framework, but its use is infrequent enough I'm considering pulling it out of the base statement object.
The addition of chaining allows for these statements;
$ret = $db->prepare("SELECT * FROM table WHERE name = :name")->bindArray($array)->execute()->fetchMixed();
$ret = $db->query("SELECT * FROM table WHERE name = '{$name}'")->fetchMixed();
Ah, FETCH_COLUMN didn't think to try that. Rarely use PDO.
$pdo = new PDO('sqlite::memory:', '', '');
$pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
$pdo->exec('CREATE TABLE Test(id INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT)');
$pdo->exec('INSERT INTO Test(name) VALUES(\\'Rod\\')');
$pdo->exec('INSERT INTO Test(name) VALUES(\\'Jane\\')');
$pdo->exec('INSERT INTO Test(name) VALUES(\\'Freddy\\')');
$pdo->exec('INSERT INTO Test(name) VALUES(\\'Tom\\')');
$pdo->exec('INSERT INTO Test(name) VALUES(\\'Dick\\')');
$pdo->exec('INSERT INTO Test(name) VALUES(\\'Harry\\')');
$q = $pdo->prepare('SELECT id, name FROM Test ORDER BY name ASC');
$r = $q->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_GROUP|PDO::FETCH_UNIQUE|PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
array(6) {
array(1) {
string(4) "Dick"
array(1) {
string(6) "Freddy"
array(1) {
string(5) "Harry"
array(1) {
string(4) "Jane"
array(1) {
string(3) "Rod"
array(1) {
string(3) "Tom"
It shows how to do exactly what your function does, already built into PDO:
$q = $pdo->prepare('SELECT id, name FROM Test ORDER BY name ASC');
$r = $q->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_GROUP|PDO::FETCH_UNIQUE|PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
PDO's FETCH_ flags are doorways to some very useful things.
? What is that supposed to be?
Screw materialized views – hierarchical queries like Oracle is what MySQL needs!
Now if only MySQL would support materialized views, that would really speed stuff up a lot. Without them I don't really see the need for views unless the queries are extremely complex. Unless you're using another DBMS of course.[/ot]
You sure you tried my version here? Because the output did not change at all, while the flags did... I'm quite sure it works, because I use it in my projects quite often..
NO, It will not. That statement returns:
[5] => Array
[name] => Dick
[3] => Array
[name] => Freddy
[6] => Array
[name] => Harry
[2] => Array
[name] => Jane
[1] => Array
[name] => Rod
[4] => Array
[name] => Tom
The desired output is:
[5] => Dick
[3] => Freddy
[6] => Harry
[2] => Jane
[1] => Rod
[4] => Tom
Most of my frequently used read queries exist in the database as views. Write queries have a rudimentary ORM to compose them. This extender class doesn't have the responsibility of managing that though.
$r = $q->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_GROUP|PDO::FETCH_UNIQUE|PDO::FETCH_COLUMN);
That would do the job, no need for array_walk
Ah I see what you mean. Well yeah I suppose, though the difference is small. It'd just be a case of array_walking it; don't know how that would benefit in terms of optimisation but yeah.
I extend PDO simply to return customised PDO Statements, so that on error it's saved to a log with the information I require to fix it. However, I use a wrapper class which handles every type query which I'll use, because I can't stand using queries in the middle of code. Because only one class handles the queries, adding functionality to PDO is usually at an unnecessary cost.
But if we all programmed the same, there would be no progress in the world.
I would suppose a fluid interface is it's own reward - that and code reuse. I'd worry about using closures to tack functionality onto the statement object because it feels like a kludge. I can understand using it if you have to maintain compatibility with existing code, but that isn't the case here.
Still, maybe this will make it clearer. This is one of the functions out of the new class (Actually, I've written all of the functions but haven't completed writing the corresponding tests and running them. This is a rare instance of writing the test second for me).
public function fetchIndexedResults() {
$k = $this->key ? $this->key : 0;
$return = array();
// If the key is numeric, fetch the results with numeric keys, else fetch using named keys.
while ($row = $s->fetch( is_numeric($k) ? \\PDO::FETCH_NUM : \\PDO::FETCH_ASSOC )){
// Set the key
$key = $row[$k];
// Remove the key from the row result.
// If this leaves the row with one column only, reduce down to just that value.
if (count($row) == 1) {
$row = array_shift($row);
// Now bind to the return.
$return[$key] = $row;
return $return;
While not the world's longest function, it does provide a clean way to get this common use case - a SQL query of values off one column, with the keys being the primary key of the table. So the results we're looking for look like this
array (
1 => 'James',
2 => 'John',
3 => 'Jerry'
PDO has no way to do this as written - if you fetch the name column there is no association retained with the primary keys in the database. And calling fetchAll gives this structure.
array (
0 => array (
'id' => 1
'name' => 'James'
So this extending class saves a lot of time with this very common use case. The query is
$nameList = $pdo->prepare("
SELECT id, name
FROM owners
WHERE status = ?
And that's it.
Except it doesn't do what my function does...
Outputs of each are...
// Ren's example...
[5] => Array
[name] => Dick
[3] => Array
[name] => Freddy
[6] => Array
[name] => Harry
[2] => Array
[name] => Jane
[1] => Array
[name] => Rod
[4] => Array
[name] => Tom
// My function's output...
[5] => Dick
[3] => Freddy
[6] => Harry
[2] => Jane
[1] => Rod
[4] => Tom
I wasn't aware of the unique and group flags or mixing them with bitwise operators. That I could use to optimize what I'm writing.
Not sure I understand
Not sure there is any advantage of a fluent interface in this case.
And yet you'll have to write those closures over and over would you not?
Besides, the goal here is, externally, this would be a simplistic approach. Currently fetching an array from PDO is like this at a minimum.
$result = $pdo->query($query)->fetchAll( PDO::FETCH_ASSOC );
Chaining can already be done, but it's pretty limited in scope. This doesn't allow you to bind parameters or alter the array. If you need that it balloons
$statement = $pdo->prepare($query);
foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
$statement->bindValue($key, $value);
$result = $statement->fetchAll( PDO::FETCH_ASSOC );
By comparison
$result = $pdo->prepare($query)->bindArray($array)->execute()->fetchAllAssoc();
That is much, much simpler. The old functionality isn't lost for those corner cases when it is needed, but most use cases should be able to use these new functions.
Tend to favour a more simplistic approach, using closures rather than extending PDO.
class t
function prepare($sql)
$q = $this->pdo->prepare($sql);
return function(array $parameters) use ($q)
if ($q->execute($parameters))
return function() use ($q)
return $q->fetch();
return false;
$f = $t->prepare("SELECT * FROM table WHERE name = :name");
$i = $f(['name' => 'foo']);
while ($row = $i())
echo json_encode($row), "\
I didn't catch the last argument being changed from FETCH_ASSOC to FETCH_COLUMN. Hmm... I don't think that means my function is irrelevant, but it can be optimized.
public function fetchIndexedResults() {
return $this->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_GROUP|PDO::FETCH_UNIQUE|( $this->columnCount() == 2 ? PDO::FETCH_COLUMN : PDO::FETCH_ASSOC));
This does lose the ability to specify the key to index on, but that's a minor concern as, in any event, there should not be more than one unique keys for the query.
Thats a neat feature I wonder if my own DB abstraction classes support such functionality that if only a single field per record is returned it merges and returns a single dimensional array. If it doesn't consider this idea borrowed
Couple questions. First, I for another function idea I found I need to return a new statement. To do that I need a reference to the database. The cleanest way to do that is to have the database object provide a reference to itself as a construct argument.
However, If I so much as define a __construct function (even an entirely empty one "public function __construct(){}" ) for the PDOStatement, PDO stops using it as the statement object and instead falls back to using PDOStatement!!! This is infuriating since the documentation indicates it should be possible. Using the refection API I verified that there isn't an internal construct statement. I'm stumped and a little angry here.
EDIT: Ok, I discovered the problem. PDOStatement::__construct is PROTECTED!!!!!!
What the Hell PHP team??? What the Hell???
I thought __construct was ALWAYS supposed to be public???
This came from the comments section in the manual. The assumption is that statements are only created from the pdo object itself.
class Database extends PDO {
function __construct($dsn, $username="", $password="", $driver_options=array()) {
parent::__construct($dsn,$username,$password, $driver_options);
$this->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_STATEMENT_CLASS, array('DBStatement', array($this)));
class DBStatement extends PDOStatement {
public $dbh;
protected function __construct($dbh) {
$this->dbh = $dbh;


text:
Over the past year or so, I've embraced some small (but totally unglamorous) routines that have improved my work. And more importantly, these micro-habits improved how I feel about my work. I thought it might be fun to share a few of my favorite ideas. Not because you'll think I'm cool — if anything, I may lose street cred — but because they might help you, too.
I'm really interested to discover if any of these ideas appeal to you, and if I should elaborate or share more tips in future posts. Leave a comment or send a tweet to let me know.
Keeping a Work Journal
At the beginning of this year, I started out keeping a list in my planner* of everything that I checked off my list during the week. Partly because I wanted to actually understand what I was capable of getting done; partly because a lot of things never made my to-do list and I wanted credit for it, dammit!
Nowadays, I keep a slightly more detailed daily record of what I've accomplished. (For inspiration, check out Jim Henson's Red Book and Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist.)
How this helps: I get a real sense of how long it takes to finish a project, which is absolutely critical for developing accurate proposals, fair pricing, and realistic deadlines.
I left my job before it was time for my annual review, but those weekly lists would've made a pretty impressive argument for a raise. Now that I'm on my own and don't have co-workers cheering me on, the work journal provides a self-induced ego boost (without resorting to the cheesy pep talk in the bathroom mirror).
DIY Online Education
At least a few times a week, I watch online videos of conference sessions and seminars and take notes as if I'm in class and expecting a pop quiz the next day. Most videos from Creative Mornings, TED, 99U, and other conferences are only 20-60 minutes long — the perfect length for watching on my iPad while I eat breakfast or lunch.
I just took six pages of notes while watching Karen McGrane's BDConf presentation during breakfast, and it's totally reframed my perspective in the best of ways.
How this helps: Writing notes helps us retain and understand information, so that part is a no-brainer.
Even if the presentations I watch aren't directly related to the work I do on a daily basis, I always find nuggets of insight and inspiration to use elsewhere. Sometimes it's in my next client meeting or dinner party conversation, and sometimes it's in a blog post like this one. Which segues nicely into my next tip:
Intentional Curation
I love reading and try to maintain a diverse diet of newspaper articles, magazine stories, blog posts, and good old-fashioned books. I justify spending a little extra time on reading by making it purposeful. When I read, I'm not just consuming … I'm actively seeking nuggets of information that might be of interest to other people. Then I share the links and snippets via Twitter, Tumblr, email, or whatever platform makes the most sense.
How can you make curation work as part of your content strategy? Like most sound content decisions, it all goes back to understanding your audience. If you're "curating" just to show your impeccable taste in finding cool stuff that your other friends haven't posted yet, you're no better than a teenage fangirl on Tumblr. There's nothing wrong with that. But I think the more noble goal is to discover what your audience wants and needs, and find a way to collect and publish the resources that inspire them or help them become more successful.
How this helps: If you're reading this, you either subscribe to my email newsletter, read my blog, or clicked a link I posted on Twitter. I rest my case.
Tracking Responses
It's easy to use analytics tools in MailChimp, Clicky, and Google Analytics & Webmaster Tools. I rely on all of those to see how people are finding and using my website and email newsletter.
But how do you evaluate old-school marketing like a postcard mailing or article in the local paper? I'm sure there's an easier, high-tech way to do this, but I just keep a simple, synced text file and keep a running tally of personal responses.
How this helps: It would be great to have more data and more sophisticated insight (along the lines of keywords, bounce rate, visit time, etc.), but the bottom line is that interaction and sentiment** is the only metric that really matters to me. If someone goes out of their way to reply to a tweet, send an email, or actually pick up the phone and call me, it's worth tracking.
The numbers are miniscule, but so is my company size. I'm really interested to see how the value of these marketing tactics changes over time.
Syncing files on Every Device
Despite all the talk about "the cloud" and how all of our devices are designed to magically sync with each other, managing files and making them available on my iMac, MacBook, iPhone, and iPad still takes some work.
The typical solutions (like Apple's iCloud and Adobe's Creative Cloud) haven't really worked well for me and for the types of files I use. Instead, my go-to apps are Dropbox for all my files (including photos and design documents) and Simplenote for anything text-based. (The Verge has a great video and article about using Simplenote.)
How this helps: If I'm out running errands and get a frantic email from a vendor who needs a design file right away, I can send it directly from Dropbox. If I'm talking with a client on the sidewalk and want to refer to the notes from our last meeting, I pull up the text file in Simplenote. If I'm at the beach with my friends and need to access my super-awesome recipe for blackberry margaritas, I have it at my fingertips with Simplenote.
Taking time to make all these notes, sync them across devices, and share them online may seem like overkill, but the little "systems" I've started using have already made my life easier. Let me know if you decide to try one (or more), or if you're already doing these things and would like to share results or anecdotes.
* Yes, I still use a paper-and-pencil calendar. You heard me. Old school.
** So far, all sentiment has been blatantly positive or on the positive side of neutral. If I encounter negative sentiment or constructive criticism, I'll make a special note so I can learn from it in the future.
Disclosure: If you sign up for Dropbox or Clicky by following the links in this post, I get extra storage space and other affiliate benefits.