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A leaf blower is a gardening tool that propels air out of a nozzle to move debris such as leaves and grass cuttings. Leaf blowers are powered by electric or gasoline motors.
List of the Top rated leaf blowers
|Engine Type
|Air Speed
Makita BHX2500CA
Gas-Powered 4-stroke / 24.5cc
|Check it out
Electric / 12 amp motor
75 to 250 MPH / 350 CFM
|Check it out
Troy-Bilt TB4BP
Gas-Powered 4-stroke / 32cc
|Check it out
Husqvarna 125BVx
Gas-Powered 2-stroke / 28cc
|Check it out
Best Gas-Powered Leaf Blower for under 200$
Makita BHX2500CA Handheld Blower – A Japanese Class Above The Rest?
One of the best-rated leaf blower on Amazon – Makita BHX2500CA a gas-powered 4-stroke engine blower that makes a job easier! Japanese manufacturers are well known for making products that are of good quality and are reliable. So, is the Makita BHX2500CA any different? Take a look below…
Having a 4-stroke engine enables this Makita product to blow air at decent speeds, up to 145mph. This good speed can be maintained for a prolonged period thanks to the 17.7-ounce fuel tank. With the engine being an of a medium size, you would expect this leaf blower to be slightly on the heavy side. However, it weighs a mere 9.8 pounds, making it suitable for all users.
Even though the engine is a powerful 4-stroke, the emissions are compliant with CARB Tier III, thanks to the great engineering work carried out by Makita.
The Good About Makita BHX2500CA
- Commercial duty – powerful engine and construction make it perfect for professionals
- Low compression engine – makes for easy starting, cutting down wasted time
- Improved configuration – better than previous models for easier maintenance and control
- Lightweight – rated as "best in class" for its weight in this class of blower
- Good price – cheaper than comparison products
If you're a professional, then most definitely! The Makita BHX2500CA has been designed for commercial use in mind and this has been reflected, especially in its engine. If you're likely to be more of a casual user, then you'd probably be better off choosing a slightly smaller leaf blower.
A solid leaf blower, the Makita BHX2500CA is aimed at more of a commercial use with its powerful 4-stroke engine. Current customers seem to be happy so that's a good enough reason to grab it at a great price!
Gas-Powered 4-stroke / 24.5cc Leaf Blower
Best Electric Leaf Blower for under $100
WORX TriVac WG500 Leaf Blower – Leave your rake behind and pick this awesome blower!
The WORX TriVac WG500 is a very handy leaf blower indeed. Its ability to swap from blowing to vacuuming at the flick of your finger is a must-have.
Featuring just the one tube, switching between blow, mulching and vacuuming are oh-so-easy! The powerful engine can blow at speeds up to 210mph pushing it up the ranks of one of the most powerful leaf blowers on the market. This is without compromising its size since it's one of the most compact and easy to use blowers out there.
You won't have to worry about changing multiple tubes due to its handy one-tube design and managing the WORX TriVac WG500 is simple with one hand, allowing you to read a magazine at the same time. Just be careful you don't go blowing over unsuspecting neighbors and innocent pets!
The Good About WORX WG500:
- Large Capacity: holds up to 54 liters of mulch
- Well-made: constructed out of a breathable nylon fabric to maximize airflow
- Easy and lightweight: one-tube design allows for all three uses to be activated with one hand
- Great design: Easy to clean and clever tubing shape
The WORX TriVac WG500 is not necessarily recommended for those who are looking to clear up a park-sized pile of leaves. This is obvious when you see it, purely due to its size. If you're looking for something that's mobile, easy to store and will get the smaller job done, then it's definitely for you. Due to its light weight, it'd be perfect if you're slightly less mobile and not as strong as some, enabling you to really get those leaves out of the way.
Here's What The Customers Are Saying:
WORX have received an abundance of positive reviews from their customers. Most are praising the single-tube feature and the ability to easily switch between it's three handy options of blowing, vacuuming and mulching. Its weight is also mentioned in high regard, especially with those of the older generation.
There are some negative reviews, which are heavily outweighed by the positives. The most common negative comment is with regards to the WORX customer service, reporting a longer than normal waiting time for some response. This is worth taking into account, but shouldn't prevent you from making a sound purchase.
Hundreds of customers reviews say that this leaf blower is very good for its price and if you need an electric blower for under 100$ then pick this one you will be happy. Being easy to handle and operate is by far the greatest feature of the WORX TriVac WG500.
Electric / 12 amp motor - Vacuum/Mulcher/Blower
Best Backpack Leaf Blower for Under $300
Troy-Bilt TB4BP Leaf Blower – Will It Impel You?
Meet our winner in the price range up to $ 300, 32cc 4-Cycle Engine – forget about the mess during the mixing of oil and gasoline, just add gasoline and start to clean up the damn leaves (on the god damn plane!).
The Troy-Bilt TB4BP leaf blower is unique to most, in the sense of it being attached to your back while you blow those leaves away. It's been getting some great reviews, so read on to find out what the customers have been saying.
This leaf blower has great features, but what deserves it's own mention is – the backpack mounting system. Having the blower mounted on your back will save you a huge amount of fatigue than if it was a hand-held blower. The harness is padded for extra comfort meaning you'll be even more mobile as you breeze around cleaning up those autumnal leaves. The suspension system helps to spread the weight evenly between your shoulders to ensure you don't strain on one side.
The 32cc engine can blow at speeds up to 150mph, which is a solid amount of power, without being loud, producing a low 72 BA. No complaints from your neighbors whilst using the quiet Troy-Bilt TB4BP.
The Good About Troy-Bilt TB4BP
- Backpack system – spreads the weight for greater mobility and ease of use
- Powerful airflow – the oil powered engine can clear up the most stubborn piles of leaves and debris
- Compression-release technology – ensures fast and easy starts
- Large fuel tank – holds 20 ounces prolonging those annoying refill stops
To not have the hassle of carrying a leaf blower, the Troy-Bilt TB4B's backpack system will be great if you're susceptible to aches and strains from lifting. The harness is adjustable, so will fit all shapes and sizes, no matter your age. It makes more sense to purchase a backpack system over a handheld one for this reason alone.
Here's What The Customers Are Saying:
This is a most popular leaf blower. Positive reviews mention the ease of use due to the backpack as well as making an otherwise tiresome job comfortable. The lack of noise of the engine is also a focal point for the Troy-Bilt TB4B. On average, this leaf blower is rated 4 stars out of 5.
There is some attention drawn to it's potential to become unreliable, with problems mainly being hard to start, especially with the pull cord being weak. There's bound to be a warranty with this product, however, so these problems are easily resolved.
Perfect for making those fatigue-building jobs in your yard or on the sidewalk a breeze, the Troy-Bilt TB4B stands out from the rest purely due to its backpack system. At a reasonable price for under 300$, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better blower in its class.
Gas-Powered 4-stroke / 32cc - Leaf Blower
Another top-rated gas-powered leaf blower for under $200
Husqvarna 125BVx Leaf Blower – Leaves Nothing Left
The Husqvarna 125BVx comes from one of the most established brands on the market. Can this leaf blower compete with the others out there? Let's take a look.
What Do I Get?
Here's a quick run-down of the features you get with the 125BVx:
- In-lined outlet
- Cruise control
- Smart Start
- Adjustable tube length
Those are just a few, but in honesty, this great leaf blower has some fantastic features. There's a heavy focus on this model on its ease of use. The in-line outlet means that the air stream is in the same directional flow as the handle, causing more streamlined use. The cruise control feature of the Husqvarna 125BVx adds to this by enabling you to set the fan speed, so you can concentrate on getting rid of those lazy leaves.
Its single tube is easily adjustable, giving you better options for different circumstances. Weighing in at only 9.6lbs, using the simple buttons should be ever so easy, which will be within reach of your free hand. Yup, that's right, this blower is designed to be used by one hand only, making it much easier to operate.
If you add in the supplementary features of vacuuming and mulching, you've got yourself a fantastic all-encompassing leaf blower with the 125BVx.
The Good About Husqvarna 125BVx
- Smart Start – minimum effort to start
- Triple function – meaning you can blow, vacuum and mulch leaves
- Easy and lightweight – free hand to operate the controls
- Ergonomic – tube and handle design make operation extremely easy
If you're looking to clear up the accumulated leaves in your garden with ease and without complications, then yes, the Husqvarna 125BVx will definitely suit your needs. It has great control and design with a soft handle, so you shouldn't experience any discomfort using it. If you're looking for a bigger job, then this one-handed leaf blower might not be perfect. You'd still get the job done, but it might take a bit longer.
What Are The Customers Thinking about this leaf blower?
Research shows that for a small machine, there's a lot of power coming out of this little blower. It's been described as the best blower for the price you pay, which is what most of us look for when buying anything, really. It would seem that this is a safe purchase if you're looking to grab something decent for a good price tag.
There has been some negative feedback with regards to the instruction manual not being very user-friendly. It's not like you're going to be constructing a complicated piece of flatpack furniture, so although this can be annoying, it shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
Perfectly sized with great power, it's hard to not like this leaf blower. Being easy to operate and lightweight makes the Husqvarna 125BVx a safe purchase.
Gas-Powered 2-stroke / 28cc - Mulcher/Vacuum/Blower
Just in case if you are looking for cheap gas-powered leaf blowers then you can read our article.
Your friends might be looking for the same information as you so feel free to share this review on social media!


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SMS / MMS Widget from WordPress
I'm not sure where to ask this so forgive me if I am in the wrong part of the forum.
We are looking for a plugin/widget that will send the following within Australia:
a: Send sms from WordPress to admin users mobile (cell) – Within Australia
b: Send MMS from WordPress to a nominated mobile eg clients mobile (cell) – the idea is to have our virtual business card (image) showing in widget that can be sent from the wordpress site to a clients mobile so they can store this for future reference.
We have investigated other plugins similar but they have not been updated for some time and will not work in Australia.
If any one can help or point us in the right direction that would be terrific
- The topic 'SMS / MMS Widget from WordPress' is closed to new replies.

subset: commoncrawl


text: I'm getting my Evo at the end of the month and am putting together my accessory list right now. I've already decided on a case. I'm going to be getting whatever Otterbox comes out with when they finally get caught up. But I'm going to need something decent in the mean time. What's a good case fairly comparable to Otterbox quality that I should get until I can get what I want? Also, what are the screen protectors like that come with Otterbox cases? Are they any good or should I go with another company for the screen. I keep seeing GhostArmor mentioned everywhere but I've never heard of them. I've always used InvisibleSheild covers on my previous HTC phones just because of how delicate the screens are. I hear the Evo has a really tough screen so I should focus more on smoothness for easy finger movement and clarity for video quality. In short. What's a quality case until Otterbox releases one? What are Otterbox included screen protectors like? What's the ideal screen protector for capacitive screens? Thanks


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AN~ Yup, I'm starting a new story. An AU story. Normally I don't hold with AU, but in the case of this plot bunny, I'll put up with it. Warning: this will be updated very spottily, but I wanted to get the idea out here before anyone else took it. It's kind of like a very much expanded and more detailed version of my really long chapter of 'Hundred', Fairy Tale, if you want to take a look at that to see what you're in for. (Also kind of beating Winged Water to it, sorry, mi hermana!)
Disclaimer: Los personas aqi no estan mios.
From the desk of 'Scarecrow', Chief Scribe of Magica, formerly of Scholar:
The five tradeskingdoms of the great continent were established centuries ago, and Scholars long before myself have chronicled that already, and done so far better than I could.
However, as any good scribe, I must start my narrative with a brief history of the subject matter, and that means repeating what is common knowledge.
The founders of the kingdoms all had a common goal: to provide a place for people involved in any skilled trade to meet with others, share secrets and tricks, and to train others to do the same. They didn't begin as kingdoms, just empty tracts of land that were originally going to be turned into schools of sorts, but the kingdoms grew too fast, and simple, small structures had to be erected instead. After a time, tradespeople began to settle down and set up governments: schools where specializations could be learned, places for people to retire once their work was finished, and the like.
Originally, there were many small kingdoms, more lordships than anything, but one by one, most of these lands combined into countries proper.
My homeland, Scholar, is made up of teachers of all sorts, and those who love learning. We try not to discriminate who comes and lives with us, though few stay for long. Most leave the archipelago that houses us once they have learned all they need to, and go to other places to achieve firsthand knowledge or to spread the gift of learning to others.
My present country, Magica, is very unlike my previous dwelling. It is a mountain range that harbors little natural life, the furthest of these lands to the north, and it is landlocked. Magical enterprises are the only ones that could be studied in this cold, harsh land, other than perhaps mining, but that has been done and over with here for centuries.
The largest, Artisa, is a land of rolling hills and villages dedicated to one craft or another, from smithing to glassblowing to cooking and more. On my travels, it was my favorite of the lands, though I am not built for hard work.
Second largest is Trickster, which has long been debated as a tradeskingdom. The people there are dedicated to having no career at all, and rarely have they been chronicled to do anything helpful for anyone. It has a very large population of lazy people, though they all proclaim to have a talent of some sort, and they do farm and such enough to keep themselves alive.
Finally, there is Sneak. Little is known about this, the smallest of the tradeskingdoms. It is nestled in a valley surrounded by steep cliffs on three sides and the ocean on the last, less than two hundred miles square, and the people there become secret agents and spies and undercover sorts of things, but other than that, they don't tell anyone what they do. I, fortunately, had the benefit of a behind-the-scenes informant for this, otherwise this tale would be far less interesting.
Each of the countries lived together harmoniously most of the time. But on occasion there were... problems. I'm sorry to say that the occasion of which I will speak was started by my current home.
It begins, of course, with a princess...


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Denver, Colorado (PressExposure) September 05, 2007 -- New research into an obscure brain cell receptor found in the human brain has lead to a treatment that has been generating greater than 80% success for the past 12 months at a medical center in Denver, Colorado.
These brain cell receptors are a subclass of the super family of receptors called G-protein coupled receptors, which are made from amino acids.
"The specific receptor in question which is damaged in addiction is made up of 466 amino acids and found on the surface of only one in a million brain cells." Commented Tamea Sisco a certified addictionologist and scientific advisor to Excel, "this lead us to the so called 'Ah Ha!' moment."
If we were to administer the correct peptides and amino acids, in the correct proportion, to repair this receptor, would we be able to control addiction cravings?
"The answer seems to be an astounding, yes. We have now been administering this specific intravenous (IV) treatment for all types of addictive behavior with incredible success." Declared Dr. Wallace Arthur, Medical Director and scientific advisor of Excel.
"Amino acids are the building blocks of life, we just had to open our eyes and do our homework over again to determine which peptides and amino acids must be administered to relieve addiction.", Explained Dr. Arthur.
Tamea Sisco went on to add, "Safety isn't a problem, as each of the individual amino acids are FDA approved, the hard part was finding which amino acids were damaged in the G-receptor and how much to administer.",
The treatment, termed "Tigers" treatment, is administered as a painless intravenous drip over 3-4 hours for a total of 10-20 treatments.
"Tigers" stands for TGGRS which is Third Generation Genetic Repair System and is now patent pending at the US Patent Office.


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Stock Graphic - Set of stylish avatars man icons 199876 by robuart @ CreativeMarket
File Size: 1.59 MB; Layered: Yes; Vector: Yes.
Set of stylish avatar of male icons in flat design. Lovelace teenager brutal man emo businessman programmer
Keywords: male, face, avatar, man, user, icon, flat, vector, person, set, profile, portrait, mustache, app, design, hipster, boy, member, head, model.


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African American SMP Journey
Started by STL42 , Apr 11 2017 12:40 AM
5 replies to this topic
Posted 11 April 2017 - 12:40 AM
I'm a 23 year old African American and hopefully this post can help some others. I started losing hair at age 20, nothing drastic at first but the shedding started to happen faster around my 22nd Birthday. I came across SMP on Facebook and after doing research decided to be proactive and booked a consultation at the Houston clinic. The provider there (I won't post his name but he's British, cool as hell, and shares the same first name as the founder) was easy to talk to, answered all questions and is just a good guy in general. I was nervous since I couldn't find much on SMP in regards to African Americans but I just had my first session and I think this will end up being one of the best decisions of my life. I realized that the hair wouldn't magically get thicker so doing SMP seemed like a great choice. Still getting used to the new look and it's nowhere near as dark is I'd like but it's hard to complain when your Tech tells you that the first session is the foundation and the second is where it all comes together. That right there is the reason I'm a fan of HIS, no pushiness and they give it to you upfront. I have the utmost confidence that when I have my second session next week it will come together quickly. I'll keep you guys up to date and thank you to HIS and my Tech for the great business practice and helping me on the journey to getting my appearance where I believe it should be in my early 20's.
- Josh2.0, HIS - Ed, the bald ego and 2 others like this
Posted 11 April 2017 - 02:54 AM
Congrats! It's awesome to hear you're so excited after only one session. Looking forward to your update after session 2.
- HIS - Ed likes this
Posted 11 April 2017 - 12:31 PM
Congrats! It's awesome to hear you're so excited after only one session. Looking forward to your update after session 2.
Thank you, my only concern is that right now it's still really light and I don't like the contrast on my skin (medium brown complexion) but HIS is really straight forward about the process so I'm keeping my faith until my sessions are finished
Posted 11 April 2017 - 01:05 PM
Damn, 23? I think you're one of youngest I've seen. Happy for you. You're in super safe hands with Ian in Houston, he's amazing at this.
- HIS - Ed likes this
Posted 11 April 2017 - 01:32 PM
Damn, 23? I think you're one of youngest I've seen. Happy for you. You're in super safe hands with Ian in Houston, he's amazing at this.
I completely believe you, he's great, and I should caveat my "age 23" with the fact I was nowhere near bald, I was just having thinnage at the top and the temples nothing too drastic, but knowing that it wouldn't get any better with time I just decided to do SMP. I decided I'd rather be the proactive guy that just goes for a new look than the guy that hangs on for too long and ends up looking awkward. Thick hair with waves everywhere and a thin spot in the middle didn't sound too appealing. Lol
- HIS - Ed likes this
Posted 14 April 2017 - 07:38 AM
Cant wait to see the update bro!
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Avanti Gilded Birds Bath Towels
color options
select a color :
Give your bathroom a chirpy new look with Gilded Birds bath towels featured in a colorful collection of springtime's most beloved birds.
- embroidered birds accented with coordinating two-tone fabric
- decorative gold piping
- soft and absorbent
- an elegant addition to any bathroom
- coordinating Gilded Birds bath pieces also available
Cotton. Washable. Imported.
- Bath towel: 50x27"
- Hand towel: 30x16"
- Washcloth: 12x12"
- Fingertip towel: 18x11"


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- Born
- 6 March 1896
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Died
- 1993
South Australia, Australia
- Occupation
- Nurse and Servicewoman
Mollie Dutton was born in Adelaide. Her parents opposed her desire to nurse. At the age of 28 she began training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) in 1924. After a short term in charge of the Magill ward of the RAH Mollie Dutton enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Nursing Service and as a matron served at RAAF hospitals in Darwin and Laverton, Victoria. After the war Miss Dutton returned to the RAH and was Sister in Charge of Bice Ward until 1954, when she retired to care for her elderly mother.
Sources used to compile this entry: Halstead, Gay., Story of the RAAF nursing service : 1940-1990, Nungurner Press, Metung, Vic., 1994, 440 pp. p. 64.; http://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au:1083/search/aDutton/adutton/1,8,22,B/frameset&FF=adutton+mollie+1896&1,1, accessed 2004-04-15.


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In Love with Alma Cogan Trailer (2011)
04 October 2011 99 mins
The film revolves around, Norman, a world-weary manager of a pier theatre in a seaside resort. Norman has worked in the theatre for all of his life, but will not accept that the local council, which own the theatre are planning to install more commercial management in an attempt to boost audience numbers. As the story unfolds he realises it may be time to move on and put behind him the ghost of 50s & 60s singer Alma Cogan, who performed at the theatre many years ago. Sandra, his devoted long-suffering assistant and Norman decide to leave the theatre to fulfill her dream of being a professional singer and unexpectedly enjoying a late blossoming romance. From Wikipedia.
Watch the official In Love with Alma Cogan 2011 trailer in HD below or find more In Love with Alma Cogan videos on Vidimovie.


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America has been steadily sliding in global education rankings for decades. In particular, our students are increasingly unable to compete globally in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), in 2010 only 26 percent of high school seniors in the U.S. scored at or above proficient level in math. Another 36 percent were failing. Only 3 percent scored at an advanced level in math, and only 1 percent scored at an advanced level in science.
Students in K-12 across the U.S. struggle with STEM subjects, often because the subjects are poorly presented or badly taught. When students reach college, they choose to pursue non-STEM degrees, and too many struggle to find jobs upon graduation. Meanwhile, U.S. employers are having an increasingly hard time filling STEM jobs. Economic projections for the next decade show we will need approximately 1 million more professionals in STEM fields than our education system will produce. If we want to maintain our historical pre-eminence in science and technology, we must increase the number of students graduating with STEM degrees by 34 percent each year.
One Nation Under Taught offers a clear solution, providing a blueprint for helping students fall in love with STEM subjects, and giving them the tools they need to succeed and go on for further study in these fields. The audiobook challenges our whole way of thinking about education, and encourages educators and policy-makers at all levels to work together to make our schools places that promote curiosity and inspire a love of learning. If we do not change course, we will set our students and our country on the path to a lifetime of poverty. But if we can implement the reforms Dr. Bertram suggests, we can achieve long-lasting prosperity for our children and our nation as a whole.
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Good book, but over self-promotion in my opinion
- Donald
Why don't we listen....
- The Alchemist


text: Welcome to the July Quiz. As the title says, it will be a Christmassy Quiz. It will mainly be Disney based, but the odd Christmas movie question will be thrown in too Each question will be left open for a few days before I post the answer. Please post on the thread, then PM me with the answer I hope you'll join in Day 1 For 1 point each please name the actor and the character he plays in the picture below


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1. Floyd Mayweather (Boxer, US)
Floyd Mayweather is an American proficient boxer. He is the first competitor other than Tiger Woods to gain $100 million in Forbes' yearly count of the most generously compensated players. He is right now undefeated as an expert and is a five-division best on the planet.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Footballer, Portugal)
The Portugal and Real Madrid star was voted the sport's most significant player on the planet.
Portuguese proficient footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid
He is the chief for the Portugal national group.
In 2013, for the second time in his profession in the wake of scoring 69 goals in 59 club and nation competitions.
Real Madrid compensated him with a record 5-year contract worth more than $200 million.
3. LeBron James (Basketball, US)
LeBron Raymone James is an American proficient basketball player. He is the National Basketball Association's greatest endorsement star. Consecutive titles and four MVP honors have made LeBron James the ruler of the NBA. Manages Nike, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Upper Deck and others. Offers of his mark Nike shoes. He was tops among dynamic players at $300 million in the U.S. amid 2013.
4. Lionel Messi (Footballer, Argentina)
Lionel Andres "Leo" Messi Cuccittini is an Argentine proficient footballer. He plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and is the skipper for the Argentina national group. In May, he marked his seventh contract in 11 years that will pay him $50 million a year and amplify his stay at Camp Nou until 2018.
5. Kobe Bryant (Basketball, US)
Proficient b-ball player for the Los Angeles Lakbers of the National Basketball Association. Bryant had the most astounding compensation in the NBA for the fourth straight year amid the 2013-14 seasons. His $30.5 million pay is almost $8 million higher than whatever other player. His arrangements with any semblance of Turkish Air, Lenovo, Hublot, Nike and Panini for stock are worth $30 million every year.


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When: Sat., April 27, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. 2013
Humans have fashion weeks, dogs have dog shows. This weekend, give your canine companions a chance to strut their stuff in Marion Square. The Charleston Dog Show is an annual family event that showcases the coolest pooches in Charleston, from pound puppies to purebreds. The judges will award winners for each of 13 classes. Those winners will then compete for the distinguished Best in Show trophy. It's only 10 bucks to enter your dog in the competition, and your money will support a cause beyond just showing off your baby's beauty. All proceeds will benefit the Greyhound Pets of America-Charleston, The Rescue Village, and Middleton Place Hounds. There is also an exhibition ring for activities like service dog demos and agility trials. "In one past demo, there was a dog trained to help wounded soldiers," says director Diane Smith. "The dog demonstrated all the help he can give the soldier including picking up a dime from the cement ground and handing it to me." Outside the rings there will be several vendors, a silent auction with pet art, and a tent where you can get your pets microchipped. "It's a fun family event for all dogs and the whole family," says Smith. "It supports our local area rescues and brings our tri-county area together with everyone having a mutual love for four-legged furry friends."
Brooks Brunson
Price: $10/dog entrance fee


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I can't believe we are just a couple of months away from Life After Art hitting bookshelves! To lead up to April 1, I've assembled a couple of blog series. This first one, "Creative Giants," is going to be full of guests, talking about their struggles and triumphs in their creative pursuits. Remember, creativity comes in lots of forms. It's not always about traditional "creativity." Today, I'm really glad to kick things off with my good friend, Ally Vesterfelt. She blogs, tweets and she and her hubs, Darrell run Prodigal Magazine, and her next book drops later this year.
Creative Giants: Ally Vesterfelt
7 responses to Creative Giants: Ally Vesterfelt
I just went through this in email format. A friend thanked me for my email and as our conversation progressed I realized my email was received but skim-read at best. That was frustrating because I didn't want to repeat myself and insult my friend but I also didn't feel like we could have an adequate conversation under the pretense that my email had been read.
Katie, that's so hard. One of the worst feelings in the world is to feel like you are not heard. Maybe that's why we all have creative instincts. Maybe it is our way of expressing who we are to the world in a way it can't ignore for long.
Communication is so very tricky because words have different associations for different people. It is so tricky that when it comes to spoken instructions, I assume that as the speaker I am equally at fault when there is a miscommunication.
I have a very creative daughter who sometimes doesn't read directions or listen to mine. Sometimes, I think it is as much a failure on her part to ask questions to clarify in her mind what is required as. Whenever this happens, I usually praise the work she has given me as much as I can (which is difficult for subjects like math, which is cut-and-dried and has little scope for imagination in the lower levels) and the re-explain the assignment make sure she has opportunities to ask questions and make her re-do the assignment. And I try to tell her that it is okay to make mistakes.
You're right. Communication can be so tricky. And just when you think you have it mastered with one person (or group of people) you go somewhere different, and have to re-learn everything you thought you knew.
I think that's part of the beauty of it though. Like art, communication changes with time and with context. Bridging the gap between you and me may get easier as I gain more skill, but it will never become easy.
John Lewis January 21, 2013 at 11:27 pm
I have tried to communicate on Face Book with pictures, blogs and youtube to my family and friends and for most of the time, it has gone straight over their heads. I have now deactivated my account. Before I left, I asked them to send me an email to indicate if they would like to stay in touch. Wow! Do I have a clean inbox!! Thank you for sharing, it has set off some lights in my head.
You're welcome, John! I'm glad it was helpful for you.
Jane Loucks January 22, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Ally, another thought about communication: using the same words when we speak aloud and when we e-mail someone can send very different messages. Without the nuances of vocal expression, body language, etc., a sentence or phrase can seem insistent or even harsh when read online [or in any written form]. I've taken to rethinking, rephrasing, or hitting 'delete', rather than sending words which may carry an unintended subtext.


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I love a nice hotel. There's a charming, boutique establishment on a back-street in the Marias, Paris we're very fond off. But there's something about a big, grand hotel that's rather wonderful. Kingston-upon-Thames is about to get one of those. The Doubletree by Hilton is opening soon, and Kingston Chamber of Commerce held a networking breakfast in the new hotel's Sopwith Suite. Kingston's aviation heritage has given a theme to the hotel, they've used the names and photographs of old Hawker aeroplanes. The purpose-built structure went up seven years ago, but was mothballed by the then owners. Under new owners, it's been finished it to a very high standard, king size beds, giant TVs and a carpet with a design based on an aerial view of Kingston. It'll be a great place for a meeting over a coffee or a bite to eat. And I'm not just saying that because I got a free breakfast! And a chocolate muffin. And a pain au raisin.
"Every picture tells a story, make sure it's the right one!"
Trevor Aston Photography and Video is based in Teddington, Richmond upon Thames in southwest London close Kingston, Twickenham and Surrey.


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HATTIESBURG — The Asbury Foundation of Hattiesburg recently gave $350,000 to Pearl River Community College for scholarships and dental hygiene equipment.
The grant will be used to further the education of students living in the eight counties served by the foundation, said executive director Bill Ray.
"They are usually students who stay at home and contribute to the Mississippi economy," Ray said. "The money is well spent."
A portion of the money – $150,000 – will be used to purchase digital imaging equipment, computers and software for the dental hygiene program at the Forrest County Center.
"This is a huge upgrade," said Dr. Stan Hill, program director.
Students in the two-year program will learn how to manage charting and other aspects of a dental practice by computer as well as imaging, he said.
"Not everybody has gone digital in private practice, but it's coming," Hill said.
The equipment will be installed this spring, giving the instructors time to become familiar with it before putting it in use during the fall semester.
The remaining $200,000 of the Asbury grant will be used for scholarships through the PRCC Foundation.
Three full-tuition scholarships were awarded this semester, said PRCC Foundation executive director Ernie Lovell.
Although the Asbury Foundation did not restrict the scholarship funds, the preference is to assist students enrolled in an allied health or nursing program. The Asbury Foundation's charter requires recipients of its grants to live in Covington, Forrest, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River or Perry counties.


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24117 S LUKES Road, Crown King, Arizona
$600,0003 Beds1+ BathsActive
$600,0003 Beds1+ BathsActive
24117 S LUKES Road, Crown King, Arizona 86343 - This Elegant Private Mountain Retreat is nestled in the tall pines of the Southern Bradshaw Mountains. Located high above the town of the Crown King bordering Prescott National Forest, this original owner lodge style cabin is one of a kind. Enjoy cooler temps and lots of wildlife. This home boasts amazing views, terraced front garden, gated entrance, attached garage, stone walkways & beautiful boulders. The foyer is impressive with custom wood staircase & roomy loft. Master Brm has two dormer windows & double entrance. Downstairs Bedroom Suite is complete with fireplace & private exit. Kitchen features expanded counters, pantry & more. Screened porch works well for guests. Solid wood throughout creates a cozy feeling. Central AC/Heat. Massive Stone Fireplace and more. Nothing else like it!
Listing Courtesy of Crown King Realty
"I've bought and sold a home with the Amy Jones Group and on a scale from 1 to 10, this team is an 11! They are truly in a class all by themselves when it comes to reliability, professionalism, knowledge of the market, and assistance throughout the buying and selling transaction. There's not a shred of doubt in my mind that if I'm ever seeking real estate assistance in the Greater Phoenix area, The Amy Jones Group will get my business. Randy Warren"


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With a story going back 500 years, the famous Nando's grilled PERi PERi chicken is a favourite in all households. Providing a unique casual dining experience with the freshest ingredients, meals out at Nando's give you fast food with a difference.
If you are not familiar with the Nando's experience, each restaurant has a relaxed and inviting atmosphere, decorated with a fusion of Portuguese and South African influences. Although dining out at Nando's could be described as fast food, the quality and service is miles away from that of your local burger joint.
The famous Nando's chicken is marinated in their delicious PERi PERi sauce which is made with a delicious blend of herbs and spices including the renowned PERi PERi chili. The story is a long one, and goes back to Portuguese settlers in South Africa being introduced to the magic of the PERi PERi chicken by the indigenous peoples. Fast-forward to the present day and we have Nando's, supplying us with our favourite grilled chicken dishes with a touch of Portuguese and South African flavours.
A chicken lover's heaven, choose from breast fillet burgers and wraps, chicken wings or even a whole chicken, marinated and cooked in that famous Nando's PERi PERi sauce. Select your level of spiciness (from barely there heat to the extra hot throat scorcher) and your delicious sides (everything from grilled halloumi and spicy rice to luso beans and chips) and you're ready to go! With vegetarian and children's options, Nando's truly has something for everyone. Check with your local Nando's about halal options.
For a laid back and tasty dining experience, Nando's makes an excellent choice. Suitable for food lovers of all ages, Nando's is the perfect location for any occasion. If you're thinking of treating someone to a meal out, get your The Restaurant Choice gift cards for Nando's online today.
More info at: http://www.nandos.co.uk/


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From now until kickoff in Arlington, Texas, we'll be counting down the days before Alabama and Michigan get the season started. Today, we move to No. 44 and what it means to UA football. See all the previous editions here.
No. 44 on the University of Alabama roster certainly looks the part.
LaMichael Fanning is built to be a defensive end. The long, lean Georgia native is too strong for tight ends to block and too quick for offensive linemen. At 6-foot-7, 298 pounds, he's one of the largest men on the field at all times.
But Fanning didn't come to Tuscaloosa that way. In fact, it may be one of the reasons coach Nick Saban and Co. decided to redshirt him last season despite showing promise during fall camp. Like many true freshmen in college, Fanning enrolled looking more like a basketball player than someone who battles in the trenches. After a year in the weight room and in line at the cafeteria, Fanning put on nearly 30 pounds.
(You'll remember Adrian Hubbard signed with Alabama at a stringy 227 pounds. He's currently listed at 248 pounds.)
With the redshirt gone and more bulk to his frame, there's reason to expect Fanning to contribute on defense. The former top-20 defensive end prospect will have plenty of competition, though, with Ed Stinson, Quinton Dial and others vying for spots alongside Jesse Williams at nose tackle. If Fanning were to get into the rotation, it could give the Crimson Tide some much needed depth on the defensive line -- a position that values fresh legs above all else.


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What is the Leiden Islam Academie?
The Leiden Islam Academie is the Islam academy that makes use of its existing expertise in the field of Islam and Muslim societies available at Leiden University for the benefit and needs of Dutch society. Its program provides short courses (online, evening, or tailor-made) and commissioned research. They are aimed at Dutch civil society institutions, specific professional groups (lawyers, diplomats, bankers, etc.), the Dutch Muslim community, and individually interested parties. The topics are variable, and include Islamic bio-ethics, training of imams, Islamic education, Islamic family law, and Islam & politics. While some topics are related to the Muslim world, most topics deal with issues and situations in the Netherlands. In doing so, Leiden University wants to contribute to an improved understanding of issues related to Islam and its communities both inside and outside the Netherlands.


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little pin-up...
I have been making these little collages on some manila mail tags for my etsy shop. This is what clothes would look like if people wore confetti! They are quite small (about 2" x 4.5") and this one is availabe at myfolklover.etsy.com
794 views
15 faves
5 comments
Taken on May 12, 2007


text: Just received the seidio 1750 battery. I fully charged my oem battery before swapping it out for the seidio. Is it ok to store the oem battery fully charged in my car? I thought i read somewhere that it should be stored with about 40% charge left. Tried to find where i read it, but i threw away most of the docs that came with the phone.


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Don has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba and is the owner, manager of Heartland International Travel and Tours. He has been in the travel/tourism industry since 1974. Together with Heather Pedreira developed the incoming/receptive division of McDonald Worldwide Travel in 1990 and this incoming/receptive concept was the cornerstone of Heartland International Travel and Tours in 2001. He has created many Winnipeg and Manitoba tours that showcase our city and province to tourists. He is very familiar with all attractions and hotel properties in Winnipeg and is capable of guiding groups on any general or customized tours of the city. He is a member of Meeting Professionals International, Team Winnipeg, Winnipeg Tour Connection, Heritage Winnipeg, Canadian History Society, and SKAL.
Heather graduated from Success Business College's Travel and Tourism course in 1986. She started working in the travel industry as a travel agent coordinating group airline tickets and travel arrangements to destinations all over the world. In 2001 she continued with Don as he formed Heartland International Travel working as a Destination Management Company in the Winnipeg and Manitoba markets. She has 26 years experience in all aspects of tour planning, packaging, marketing and fulfillment. She has working relationships with most of the hotels, attractions and venues and as she has lived in Winnipeg all her life is very familiar with all aspects of the city. She is pleased her position allows her the opportunity to provide others with memorable experiences of this fine city.
Shannon is an incoming, receptive destination management company consultant who has worked at Heartland International Travel & Tours since June 2005. In her current job at Heartland International Travel & Tours, job duties include: developing local tours and packages for people and groups to book, working with local attractions, tour operators, and hotels, along with booking airfares and packages. These duties combined with a degree from Red River College's Tourism program give Shannon the experience necessary to perform her job effectively. Shannon has lived in Winnipeg all her life and enjoys traveling throughout the province giving her a great deal of experience in promoting the city and Manitoba as a unique tourist destination.
Jayde is an incoming, receptive destination management company consultant who has worked at Heartland International Travel & Tours since August 2015 after studying Business Administration at Red River College. Jayde specializes in arranging accommodation, transportation, as well as conference tours. Jayde has an extensive background in sports which has allowed her to travel throughout Manitoba and Canada, giving her a great deal of experience in promoting the city and province.


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We recently attended the C100's flagship event named "48 hrs in the Valley" and want to share some key moments, lessons learned and observations. The event was filled with so many activities that it is difficult to distill everything into a concise picture but we'll give it our best shot. Before we get started, we'd like to take a moment to thank the C100's organizing committee for their great work. Coordinating this type of event is very challenging work and we appreciate it the effort put into it.
Key Moments
Rob Burgess' insightful talk is the first things that come to mind when looking back at the event. Coming from a web design & development background, it was awesome to hear the inside story behind Flash. After becoming CEO of Macromedia, Rob had the foresight to pretty much cancel all development on the company's main revenue source (tools like Shockwave) and re-orient resources towards building products for the web (aka Flash). Given how drastically the industry has changed, this was the right decision but the amount of guts it took to perform this pivot is mind boggling. Pivots in a startups are difficult, but completely re-orienting a successful & profitable company with tons of money in the bank is much more challenging.
We also were fortunate to be matched with Debbie Landa for one of our one-on-one mentoring sessions. What started out with "I know nothing about franchises" concluded with a plan to revolutionize the franchise industry. By making parallels to the venture capital world, the future appeared obvious to us and we validated that FranchiseBlast's in a great position to completely alter the industry. Debbie had the energy and big vision we expected to find in the Valley. Combined with the open-mindedness to learn new things and the creativity required to challenge assumptions, these traits guarantee success regardless of your geographical location.
Being a bootstrapped startup not looking for funding, pitching to venture capitalists was also an interesting change of pace. The dynamics of each pitch was completely different. The first presentation was made to an analytical VC with a great poker face. Razor-sharp questions followed in quick succession to lead up to very insightful comments. It was the toughest meeting, but also one of the most valuable. Our second presentation was characterized by stellar flow: each slide was followed by a question answered on the next slide. It was a short meeting due to time constraints, but even in this short blitz one could sense the intellectual alignment. It's great to work with people with whom you can have fast-paced exchanges. Our third pitch slowed things down as we were given twice as much time as allotted and ended up being a conversation more than a pitch. This VC had domain expertise not found in the other meetings which lead the discussion in a completely different direction. The final pitch ended up being the easiest (emotionally) with great validation but few challenges. Putting myself in their shoes, though, I understand how gruelling it can be to deliver insights which can push companies to the next level, pitch-after-pitch.
Finally, I enjoyed the "both sides of the deal" talk where a startup and their VC discussed their deal from different perspectives. Not only was it extremely funny, it was also very insightful. Rather than discuss the specifics, let us dive into key lessons learned – some of which emanated from this talk.
Key Lessons Learned
Although we learned a lot during these 48 hours, we didn't necessarily learn anything explicitly taught. These lessons learned materialized after talking to enough people in Silicon Valley and reflecting on their thought process.
First, the importance of shared vocabulary cannot be overstated. In the software world, best practices are often boiled down to design patterns. When two software engineers have internalized concepts behind these patterns, they can propose & refine software architectures very efficiently. The same shortcuts apply to everything in the Valley: software, finance, companies, people, eras and methodologies. While we do not personally stay abreast of every hot new startup mentioned in tech news and feel it gets in the way of getting things done, we acknowledge that shared vocabulary is critical. In particular, being aware of some of the key events which shaped the technology industry in the past and general knowledge of current trends helps us align ourselves with success and avoid repeating past failures.
Furthermore, having intimate knowledge of the people behind those events is key. In our early days, we saw networking events as a chance to meet interesting people. We went into an event not expecting much and that's precisely what we got: nothing much. However, we unknowingly started to build a network of peers and, after a few years, we're now connecting some dots. We can start transposing our concrete needs onto the desire to meet concrete individuals – or at least give our interlocutor enough information to help guide us to a person which meets our criteria. Although you may randomly bump into the perfect contact, it is much more efficient to do your homework and seek out individuals yourself. As an aside, we purposefully dedicated some time during the event to plugging other local startups (Exocortex, Shopify, Project Speaker, etc.) when meeting relevant individuals because we firmly believe that we're not only founders, we're ambassadors for other startups in our community. "A rising tide lifts all ships", as Scott Annan often says speaking to the Ottawa startup community.
We also discovered that the more successful your company becomes, the lonelier it becomes for the founders. By this we don't mean people start ignoring you or despise you to the points of throwing rocks in your direction. No, in fact, we mean that the essence of loneliness is derived from the fact that you can't talk about your fears, successes, challenges or motivations with anyone else. To help illustrate this fact, visualize entrepreneurship as a pyramid of thousands of layers where the dimensions of each layer represents the number of likeminded individuals & companies. When you first start out at the base, pretty much anyone can give you valuable business advice. However, as your business grows, the value of this advice diminishes. This causes you to look elsewhere (higher-up in the pyramid) for high-impact advice, but it becomes exponentially more difficult to find it. As an example, when you've raised venture capital, you may find that there is a limited pool of likeminded entrepreneurs in your city with whom you can discuss your challenges; this forces you to branch out. We believe the same logic holds for every major transition in your company's lifecycle, from your first part-time freelancing gig to IPO to managing a trillion dollar company. In the technology industry, we believe the entrepreneurship pyramid reveals Silicon Valley's greatest asset for founders: a greater density of likeminded individuals to accompany you in your journey.
Key Observations / Thoughts
We're proud to announce that 2012 is off to a great start! We've recently received lots of local recognition and thought we'd share this great news with you.
First, we've been listed as a Startup To Watch for 2012 by the Ottawa Business Journal. Past nominees (Chide.it, FaveQuest, Select Start Studios and PatientWay to name a few) have had a tremendous impact on the Ottawa-Gatineau startup community and we strive to do the same. For decades, our region has featured a tremendous wealth of engineering talent and we're proud to be a part of the group of companies rebuilding our digital economy.
Second, we've won a Bootstrap Award for Best Sales/Value Proposition. This award recognizes companies who've grown their companies without the use of external funding (such as venture capital). We've been growing organically since our creation in 2007 and bootstrapping has enabled us to focus on creating value for our customers from day one. Today, we have an awesome product that is a perfect fit for our target market. If we had to name a single element which helped us refine our value proposition (other than listening to our customers for five years), I would have to name Lead To Win.
Lead To Win is a startup ecosystem/accelerator (which takes no equity) which helps companies get to market faster and/or accelerate their growth. We strongly recommend the program to other high-tech entrepreneurs, especially engineering students who don't have a background in business.
Thank you to everyone who's vouched for us over the years. 2012 will be a year of great growth for us and we hope to share more good news soon!
This post is a follow up to one of our previous posts that discussed starting a software business during the recession. In this post, I want to focus on the cash flow aspects for very early stage software startups. A few years ago, we started the company with nothing in the bank and we've managed to not only survive but prosper regardless of today's tough economic conditions. It is possible to launch a software startup with no money: the tradeoff is time. It will take longer to get out of the very early stages.
Before starting, I'd like to point out that the tips that follow are only valid in a particular context:
Understand that these tips are for the very early stage
You have no money and aren't interested in loans.
You're starting a software company.
Since this is your first business and you have no money, you need to establish a consulting sideline selling to businesses that will give you a good return for your time (even if you're building a product for individuals). You won't be able to pay your bills selling $20 licenses to individuals in the early stage. We recommend selling customized versions of something that will help you grow your core product, as long as you can keep the intellectual property. Read more about this strategy in our previous post.
Everyone values the dollar differently. The earlier stage you are, the harder it is to define appropriate pricing given your credibility level and you don't give the same value to each dollar as your customers. As you grow, you'll find your sweet spot and will be able to focus on your consulting clients that are right for you.
Eventually, you should aim at moving out of consulting, as it doesn't scale.
Assuming you have no money, it's important that you only spend when necessary. At a high level, you need to be versatile and be able to do as much as you can on your own. Later, you'll be able to delegate but not in the early days. Of course, know your limits and get pros to do things that are impossible for you to do properly.
There are plenty of examples of ways not to spend money when you're just starting out and have none of your own. It's time to learn things on your own.
I've dealt with a few different banks over the years. If you're a tiny business, it is good to know a few simple facts and comparison points.
Get a business account with a variable monthly fee
Know the minimum balance you need to get it for free
Don't get a commercial credit card for your purchases
Do you really need to accept credit cards?
Will you be dealing with multiple currencies?
Don't get a commercial telephone line via large companies
You'll pay much more than needed. Investigate Voice Over IP solutions such as Skype. You can get your own telephone number and free long distance in Canada + USA for an annual fee of $60. This service saves you hundreds per year. Don't get a fax unless your customers nag you for your fax phone number often enough. If you need one, look at online services such as myfax.com which deliver faxes by email and give you toll-free fax numbers for less than what you'd pay to get a separate telephone line in your office for the fax, without the clutter of a deprecated device.
Don't sign-up for a massive cell phone plan if you've got empty pockets
Depending on what you do with your phone, you can save upwards of a thousand dollars a year by downsizing to a prepaid plan. Smartphones are great, but depending on your situation, it might be a wise choice to minimize those expenses. Let's hope you're not locked into a crazy-expensive three year plan! In the end, this is a personal decision which depends on your personality; once you've tasted a smartphone you may be unable to go back. Just keep in mind you might be paying much more for your cell phone than the much faster Internet connection you use all day.
Use a co-working facility
One tip often given to people starting their own company is to avoid renting office space too early in the process. Instead, work from home or from a more affordable co-working location. Not only do co-working locations reduce costs, they help you build your business because of the contacts you can make there. Once you're read, upgrade to shared office space.
In addition to being able to exchange services with other companies to cut costs, there are a few places where you can't afford to cut costs.
Your Image
One thing you don't want to be cheap on is branding. Your image is everything - quality needs to be high. Get nice business cards created by pros. Don't do your own web design if that's not something you specialize in. Your product will look amateurish and you'll lose sales. There are tons of affordable graphic designers out there: find one and have something nice created. Use online marketplaces such as 99designs. Since you're still a software expert, however, you should know enough HTML and search engine optimization techniques to be able to maintain your website. If you're a horrible writer, have someone review your content. This basically boils down to knowing your limits; there are some things you won't be good enough at even if you try.
Hardware & work area
We agree with Joel Spolsky's view that you should buy the best computer hardware and computer chair you can find. These are your primary tools and they are relatively inexpensive compared to your salary, even when you have very low revenue. One investment that is definitely worth it is a second monitor as it tremendously increases your productivity.
Your health
As much as your work environment is important, you should also value your health. Even if you're living on a very tight budget, don't eat hot dogs all day. Proper nutrition and good sleep cycles keep you in good health and makes you more productive. You should not be falling asleep in the afternoon. Starting your business is a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure your lifestyle is well adapted for a marathon.
We've already covered this part in a previous blog post. Know what government funding opportunities are out there. Some require matching contributions. Some are based on your expenditures. Look around for these opportunities but mostly talk to other people to know what's out there and what's worthwhile.
You should always keep an eye on your cash flow, not just your revenue. I've created a very simple Excel spreadsheet to help with our cash flow projections. This one is simply a template with some random numbers in there. The one we use internally is a bit more complicated as it includes things such as currency exchange rates, taxes, etc. Build it however you like, but I've found that the two most important elements in there are:
What are my known sales (recurring revenue) versus what serious leads do I have in the pipeline. Being conservative, I base my business decisions on my past sales not my projected sales because I've learned that projected sales are often postponed. We have long sales cycles that culminate with a large sale which has a big impact on that month's revenue. Separating known sales from projected sales is of critical importance because of this because we either make the sale or get zero revenue from that customer in that month. If you're selling lots of lower value items (subscriptions to your service, for example), each individual customer has less impact on your total monthly revenue.
Given our current burn rate, when will we run out of cash if none of the sales in the pipeline are realized. This is useful to help you decide if you can hire and/or if you can give yourself a raise. It can also make you realize you're heading towards a problem and you need to correct the situation as soon as possible.
It would be nice to have a simple, open source, application that helps business owners track their cash flow projections in this fashion. You could go overboard and integrate it with accounting software, but I think it's nice when it's simple.
When you start your first company, and you have no cash on hand, you need to focus on making money and keeping the little money you have. Survival is a major milestone, but remember that it isn't the end goal. You'll learn tons of things along the way, and once you do leave the very early stages, you'll need to manage your cash flow properly. Later on in life, you'll probably start another business - this time you hopefully won't be as strapped for cash - and you'll be able to speed up the whole process.
I'm not sure what is harder between:
We're six months late to inform people that you can/should still start a software company in a downturn as this has been covered already here, here, here, here, and here. Why are we six months late informing you of this, you ask? We have been incredibly busy building software for our existing / new customers during this period. For reasons left unexplained, we've seen the number of leads in our sales pipeline increase dramatically since the start of the recession. Furthermore, people have been coming to us for consulting services thanks to the reputation we've built since we launched LavaBlast.
If we had to name a single element that has helped us / will help us during the recession, it would definitely be our capacity to discover commonalities between seemingly different situations, abstracting them out and generalizing the problem. We can build systems for people who may not be in the franchise industry, but have similar needs. This lengthens our runway. This is one of the skills that we learned in university (more on this subject in Part 7).
If you take a deeper look at what LavaBlast does (building customized software that helps collaboratively manage a franchise) it is easy to notice that we're solving a problem in a particular vertical that is present in numerous other business contexts. We build operational line-of-business applications (aka help-me-perform-my-daily-tasks-easily software) that are used by franchise owners and franchisors (aka different-users-can-see-different-parts-of-the-data-while-sharing-some-of-it software). Without going into greater detail, many businesses are looking for software that helps them simplify their day-to-day operations and reduce costs, recession or not. It might not be as scalable as a consumer-focused website and not as glamorous as other projects, but it does have its challenges and is a great type of business that one can bootstrap!
[ We'd like to thank Leigh Hilbert for the "Lava Blast" picture seen above. ]
In the Part 1, written last year, we describe how LavaBlast builds products (franchise management solution, franchise point of sale, etc.) but also services (as we adapt our software to each franchise's business processes). To help sustain development in a bootstrapped startup, software consulting is often a necessary "evil". This year, we did do some consulting but managed to make the best of it. We've made a few interesting realizations that we've shared at a recent TeamCamp event at The Code Factory and would like to re-iterate here. This discussion assumes you're building software for other businesses instead of consumers (for obvious reasons, it is easier to bootstrap a software startup that targets businesses).
Typically, software consulting companies produce the same kind of software a couple times for different clients before deciding that it would be a good idea to build a product that addresses this same problem. At this point, they've delivered source code to each of their customers, as the customers retained the intellectual property rights related to the produced software. Therefore, to build a product and commercialize it, the consultants need to start from scratch. Although this may seem bad as the firm loses time and money rebuilding the product, it typically allows them to "build it right" thanks to the lessons learned during the first iterations. The product's architecture is well implemented as the main variation points have been clearly defined.
Simply put, we did the opposite and have kept the intellectual property rights from day one. (How? We got lucky that our customers had limited funds to invest and knew the value of intellectual property.) We sprinted for over a year building the core of our solution that allows retail stores and e-commerce websites to communicate with a centralized franchise management application. This was a large undertaking, but we had our first customer already using the product and paying for its development, while we kept the rights to the source code. (Note: we still did multiple iterations and learned from our mistakes!) Once completed, the core was easy to adapt to different franchise systems because we're experts at rapid application development and because our core architecture allows us to vary software behaviour for each franchise (thank you the strategy design pattern and dependency injection!).
What's interesting to note here is that because we own the intellectual property for the core of our system, it is much easier to sell enhancements to our core (to new customers) while preserving the rights to the source code for the combined system. It is also easier to find new customers because the core is already built. Simply put, investing a year into a software product is an investment that keeps on giving, even in the services arena. Because we have a flexible core that has already been implemented and we're keeping the IP, it helps us keep costs down during a bad economy. This is a win-win situation for both parties!
To get back to the discussion we had at TeamCamp, the question was how do you turn your service business into a product-based software startup when you have limited/no funds, have limited/no leads, and own limited/no intellectual property? Well, I'm sad to say it, but it "sucks to be you".
You have to break the perpetual cycle you're currently in and do something different.
For some people, that means realizing that you're never going to make a decent living building static websites for $200 when you've got to spend 20 hours with the customer to figure out where they want the pictures of their puppies on their upcoming site before actually starting the work. Your competition is doing it at half the price with pre-built templates, stock photography and, as an added bonus if you order within the next 24h, offering them a box of branded pens, 500 full-colour business cards and a mention on their next Twitter post. You are a commodity.
For others, the decision boils down to what short term loss can do accept for possible future gains:
One tip that we do want to give fellow bootstrappers out there is that, in the early days, you can give the customer a non-restrictive copy of the code, while retaining ownership for yourself. That way, both parties have a copy of the source code and both parties can do whatever they want with it, including selling it to others. However, you're the developer and the customer has better things to do than commercialize your software: all they care about is being able to maintain the code when your contract with them is over. This is a win-win situation for both parties, especially when you've managed to collect various modules that you can re-use for different customers.
(Precondition: Start something that you can sell to businesses to lower the risk. )
Considering all that has been said about launching a software startup in a recession, I think it all boils down to asking yourself "is this the right time for me?". Software startups / Micro-ISVs are tiny in comparison to what's going on at the macroeconomic level. Before taking the risk to launch your own business, what matters is the presence of the following elements:
We recently joined the Microsoft BizSpark program after seeing posts about it on a few blogs (Flow Ventures and The Code Factory). To make a long story short, amongst the hundreds of startups that register each day from around the world, we've been selected as the most promising startup of the day. It is always fun to get recognition for our hard work!
In any case, you can view the interview here (today only!).
Have a nice weekend!
We've revamped our website home page and wanted to invite you to visit it and let us know what you think. The general template of the site hasn't changed, as our enhancements focused on five core elements:
Simply put, everyone we've talked to is divided in two completely distinct camps. One camp feels our cartoons makes our website unprofessional and inappropriate for the franchise industry's decision makers (one of the more vocal people in this camp is Michael Webster, Ph.D, LL.B.). Others feel it gives us a more personalized feel (a human touch) which increases their trust in our company.
There are hundreds of companies building software for the franchise industry and we want to show that we have a different philosophy from many of the old-school companies. Simply put, we (as web visitors) distrust generic consulting websites littered with stock photography and we didn't want to repeat the same mistake. We love to use pictures, but bad quality pictures or video are often worse than not having any. After a year and a half of having a more corporate feel (without using stock photography), we decided it was time to do something wilder. We hope to impress our target market with an atypical corporate website, even if it ruffles a few feathers.
We target small yet energetic franchise systems. These franchisors are not heads of billion dollar corporate empires, they are entrepreneurs who want to grow a concept which worked in their flagship store and scale it to the next level, via franchising. At their growth stage, these franchisors are looking for someone who can listen to their needs, build cost-effective software solutions, and help them grow. The franchises we deal with don't have large IT departments: they're looking to get outside help with technology, as they don't have the knowledge in-house. Outsourcing allows them to get more bang for their buck than hiring software engineers to build everything from scratch.
Does the following image incite you to contact a software firm for custom development?
When we shop around and find a company featuring such a picture, it reveals that they botched their web development work and they're probably going to botch any work we give them. Attention to detail is one characteristic we always want to see; however, we're not completely against stock photography but we disapprove of stock photography abuse. For example, if a company has a page talking about their team, and the team picture is actually a stock photo... they're taking it too far.
As a sidenote, Toronto-based Idée Inc. created an image search engine that not only helps identify stock photography but also people that have stolen your copyrighted images. Here's a screenshot of the results returned by TinEye for the previous image:
TinEye even found this modified image... very nice technology!
In summary, we decided to go with a cartoonish feel because we felt it was the best way to distinguish ourselves from our stereotypical competition. We purposefully project more youthful brand image, as we are targeting smaller franchise systems. Do you think differently? Are you an ardent defender of stock photo or do you think you've found the perfect balance of web 2.0 styling with the warm fuzzy feeling of seeing people? Do you agree with us? Let us know!
The omnipresence of technology in our lives and the Internet has changed the way we do business. The software industry is not only one of the driving factors for this change, it is also one of the first industries to be influenced and react to changes in society. This contrasts with the franchise industry which is a bit old school... which has its pros & cons. Regardless, being abreast of current trends is helpful for any business and we feel franchisors can benefit from the insights of those with a software engineering background. Since LavaBlast builds software for the franchise industry, we're at the junction point of two very different worlds ... which are more alike than you would initially expect.
This article is the first of a three-part series related to technology in the franchise world. It focuses on similarities between franchises and software startups and serves as a premise to Part 2, which covers current trends in both industries. A comparable evolution in a changing context was to be expected, given the similarity between software startups and franchise systems. Finally, Part 3 discusses what franchisors should be doing to react to this change in business context.
For the sake of argument, let's focus on small and/or new franchise systems. Why? There are numerous reasons:
There are numerous similarities between software startups and budding franchises: the strong need for domain expertise, the global potential, and they are both created to fill a gap in the market. However, their resemblance can be concisely be explained by looking at growth patterns and scalability.
In general, because of the very nature of software, software startups can achieve very high growth in a short period of time (examples abound!). Venture capitalists rate startups according to their scalability in order to obtain the highest possible return on their investment. This is done by building software which solves problems for a large group of people with little or no custom work required on the software firm's end to support a new user. Hosted software applications are installed once on the startup's web server and shared between customers, thanks to a scalable multi-tenant software architecture. Additionally, the first hires in a software startup are crucial to building both v1.0 of the product and also the company's culture. A solid team working together in the same direction is necessary to grow a successful company.
Franchises are similar because the concept must typically be tested and proven to be successful in its first location, akin to a software beta. Small business owners which turn to franchising as a growth strategy quickly discover than growing a franchise is a completely different ball game than making your first location successful. Scalability cannot be tacked on, it must be planned. The franchisor must find a scalable supply chain and must ensure the store look & feel is replicable. Unfortunately for some, purchasing store fixtures at your local flea market, police auction, or more recently eBay is not a replicable way to grow a franchise. The franchisor can't fly out to different cities to shop around for cool lamp shades for each new franchisee... Suppliers must be approved and utilized. The same is true for software where an integrated solution is the key to simplified franchise management. Furthermore, people with different backgrounds and skill sets are required to launch a successful franchise, and the first few franchisees are critical. As much thought (if not more) must be given when picking the first franchisees as the first hires in a software startup.
Additionally, the very nature of franchise systems implies that franchisees are geographically distributed. One might think this is not the case in software startups, but this is not totally true due to outsourcing and open source. Furthermore, even small software startups deal with international customers on a daily basis. As such, the various stakeholders are not necessarily always in the same room ready to discuss business issues even though both are have to quickly react to preserve customer/franchisee satisfaction and grow the business.
We've just scratched the surface of why software startups are similar to small franchise systems. You may have other similarities in mind or you may disagree and have opposite feelings; in both cases, you are invited to share your opinion.
If you are a franchisor, why should you care about software startups? Simply put, software startups are more in tune with the impact of technology on our society which affects your franchise's operating environment. This subject will be covered in detail next week, in Part 2. In the meantime, you are invited to read Growing up with Google: What it means to education which explains the characteristics of the Net Generation you should be aware of, regardless of your background.
We attended the second Montreal Founders & Funders dinner this week. Since I've noticed that all blogs assume that their readers know what the Founders & Funders event is (which is not the case), I thought I'd give a brief overview of this simple concept.
It was a nice experience overall and the non-stressful environment was great (although some founders appeared quite nervous!). The crowd was very diverse and we covered a broad range of subjects, in both French and English. Unilingual individuals must have had a bit of trouble following everyone's conversation but in general it was a very enriching experience. We ended up being so busy talking to everyone that the event just flew by, which confirms it was far from monotonous. We weren't looking for funding but we saw this event as a good opportunity for a first encounter. Going to such an event also reinforces the fact that it's a small community and I was surprised that lots of people had heard of us before, thanks to the hard work of the folks at StartupOttawa and MontrealTechWatch.
Some of the other founders at the event were:
The one improvement I would make for future events would be prepare and distribute a list of attendees a few days before the event. I personally prefer to do my homework before meeting a bunch of people. Furthermore, I met at most 20% of the people at the event and maybe missed out on some founders/funders with experience in retail environments.
Finally, Austin Hill had an open question: what could we do to get more people starting companies fresh out of university? I'll possibly talk about my opinions on the matter in a future blog post. For now, let me invite you to review the Founders & Funders site and strongly incite you to see if such an event can be organized in your community.
Last week, I loaded up my blog aggregator and I was pleased to see Joel Spolsky had written a new article on architecture astronauts. He made a good point about how Microsoft is rewriting the same software over and over and no one seems to care. I totally agree with Joel's argument about architecture astronauts as we are wasting precious intellectual resources and solving the same issues over and over. (Side note: an interesting read about how we're wasting massive amounts of brainpower.)
However, that's not what I'm writing about today. I found myself reading faster and faster as I progressed through the article, reading the last paragraph at a frenetic pace. You can definitely feel Joel's frustration - the big boys in the industry are "stealing" all the great programmers by offering starting salaries leagues above what smaller companies can offer. Why do I think Joel's frustration is paradoxical?
Okay... I'm generalizing just because I find it ironic to see Joel having hiring woes. Even if as a general rule things are going well, that doesn't mean you get anyone you want. Everyone has hiring frustrations, even those who set the example. However, I'm left to wonder... has anything changed in the context of hiring? Is there anything you need to do differently today to grab the best technical talent? I can't answer these questions myself, but I see lots of companies struggle with hiring.
I do agree that it is impossible for smaller companies to compete with some of these starting salaries (unless they are keen on burning VC money) but smaller firms do have (many) advantages. But what are they?
What I like most working for a startup (and it would be the case even if it wasn't mine) is the opportunity to touch a bit of everything (engineering, marketing, sales, legal, etc.). Even if you go work for a 40-person startup, if you're interested in contributing to elements which aren't related to your primary function (software developer), you probably can help out. For example, if you think the company's website doesn't communicate what the company does, you can take a step back, think about it a bit, and propose enhancements. (Complaining doesn't bring you anywhere, but constructive criticism helps everyone out!).
If you're a hardcore coder, you can still benefit from working for a smaller company, because you'll have a greater impact on the final product.
However, this fact is not something that has changed in the hiring context... what has?
This is one key differentiating factor for startups. Not all of the world's most talented individual feel inclined to move to get a job and I feel the number of people who will start their own software business in their home town will increase in the coming decade. In the past, we've seen a few companies such as Eric Sink's SourceGear in Illinois do well even if their offices are in the middle of nowhere, so to speak. This is due partly because of increased high-speed Internet availability combined with the lower cost to start your own software business. I think we'll definitely see more success stories from entrepreneurs living in non-metropolitan areas over the next decade because starting your own business (or working for a local one) is such an attractive alternative. It's funny how making it easy to go global causes the creation of many smaller local hubs.
On a related subject, I don't recall that many local startups trying to recruit us while we were software engineering students at the University of Ottawa... there were a few but we were mostly solicited by IBM and Research In Motion (leading to the infamous "hey! do you want a RIM job?" quote). If you're a competent student today, you should definitely look around at local startups that are working on interesting concepts.
There are tons of people talking about their software startup experiences on the Internet and it's easier to actively participate in the community today than it was a decade or so ago. I can't really see myself connecting to a BBS with my 14.4kbps modem to learn about software startups. Today, you can find people with similar interests very easily but, best of all, you can learn from their experience.
Rather than enumerate a long list of advantages that you wouldn't bother to read, I'd like to ask you an open ended question.
What do you think will change in the way we hire software engineers in the next decade?
Please feel free to discuss in the comments. Ideas: Outsourcing? Co-working? Telecommuting? Nothing at all?
A month or so ago we mentioned co-working environments in one of our blog posts about startup lessons. It appears we're now the number one hit on Google for co-working software startups. When I first heard of co-working, I assumed they were mainstream because the added value these environments bring to software startups is so obvious. However, they are an emerging trend in the software world and you should expect to hear more about them in the future.
The advantages of co-working environments:
In a sense, they improve on the familiar software engineering lab environment that is available to university students and we know universities help create startup hubs.
Given the fact that it has become so inexpensive to start your own software company, co-working environments are a perfect fit for the small software start-ups that want to strike it big but have limited resources. Furthermore, who better to help you with your software startup business plan than someone who's gone through the process in the past? Most government agencies that help you start your business don't fully grasp software companies, but the people in a software co-working environment do!
Rather than ramble on about why co-working environments are so great, I'd like to make an announcement:
LavaBlast Software will develop an industry-specific POS and interactive kiosk for The Code Factory, a new franchisor in the co-working arena.
The Code Factory will open their first location within a couple weeks. Ian Graham, the founder, is very much involved in the Ottawa startup community and this co-working space will definitely help budding software entrepreneurs in the Ottawa-region. The first event to be held at the Ottawa location will be the Ottawa Web Weekend, who is currently looking for more programmers for the event! Those of you who are not familiar with the franchise industry (and thought it was limited to McDonalds and Subway) might be surprised to see a co-working environment using the franchise model but you'd be surprised by the wide variety of businesses that do (software shops, web design shops, etc.)!
Not only are we very happy to have a new franchisor on board, we're especially excited by the fact that The Code Factory will be out first client outside the child-related retail industry to use our industry-specific interactive kiosk as a key differentiator.
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in anyway.
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Do you get the feeling that the pace of life is accelerating too quickly for you? I do. I think it all started with instant coffee and TV dinners. In the tech world, there was email because we couldn't wait for telephone calls, or snail mail to be returned. (Don't you just love that term? Talk about slow!) But that wasn't fast enough, so we went to Instant Messages. But even those that take more than a few minutes to answer aren't acceptable, and so now people text each other from their cell phones because they can't wait until they are sitting in front of a computer.
We say that Web pages are called slow to load if they don't appear onscreen in 20 seconds or so before we hit the reload key. And it was too hard to build Web sites from scratch, so we have Wordpress et al. to make building blogs a snap. But even blogs are too much work, so we now have Twitter to send short bursts of information out to the world. Soon we will have nanoblogs, one-word missives that we can transmit to millions of people. Pity that we have become so pithy. The devil is in the details.
Videos that are longer than three minutes are too long to watch. We have Tivo and DVRs that can fast-forward automatically through commercials, because no one wants to watch them in real time anymore anyway – who has the time to wait for a program to start at the top of the hour? It seems so quaint now that was the only way we could all see "must-see TV" back in the day on our black and white sets that were encased in our cherrywood furniture.
We have video Skype calls for instant conferencing and impromptu meetings, even with people that are in the same office, because we can't spend the time to get up from our cubicles and walk down the hall. Software "builds" used to be created weekly, then daily, now they are done hourly, and even that isn't fast enough for the always-connected, hyper-broadband generation. It used to be enough to carry around a few megabytes on a flash drive, now we can take our entire digital repository and listen to music and videos too.
And don't even get me started about social networks, or online dating, or even online breakups (I don't need to know anything more about Jimmy Wales, puh-leeze!).
Maybe it is time to start slowing down. Take a few minutes to re-read that email before hitting the send key and regretting what you said in haste. Call someone on the phone in real time, and turn away from your screen when you are talking to him or her so they have your undivided, single-tasking attention. Interact with someone in your office by getting up out of your chair and visiting with them, not to waste time or shoot the breeze, but to get a reaction and some face-to-face feedback.
Have a nice holiday break, if you are reading this this week. And a great New Year's!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Slow down!
Posted by David Strom at 11:15 AM
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About Me
- David Strom
- David Strom has looked at hundreds of computer products over a more than 20 year career in IT and computer journalism. He was the founding editor-in-chief of Network Computing magazine, and now writes for Baseline, Information Security, Tom's Hardware, and the New York Times.


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Mumbai, Dec 4: Star Indian footballer Sunil Chhetri is amazed to see Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor's involvement in football, the owner of Mumbai City FC.
All leagues special site; Full schedule of ISL 2016; Full list of squads for ISL 2016
Chhetri, one of the key strikers in the team, spoke over the phone from Mumbai on Saturday, December 3, and revealed: "I have got a firm belief that this time we have the maximum chances to win the League. I am saying this only after having watched Ranbir's involvement for the team."
Talking about the Bollywood star's passion for the game, Chhetri said: "Even after being busy throughout the night Ranbir joins us in the training in the very next morning.
"And he plays with us for full one-and-half hours. I become simply astounded after watching his energy."
Alexandre Guimaraes, the Brazilian coach of Mumbai City FC, is also delighted to have watched his franchise owner's involvement in the game.
The Brazilian coach also said over the phone from Mumbai: "Ranbir's fitness makes me surprised. He can run for the ball at same speed what the footballers deliver.
"More importantly, he is highly adept in snatching ball from a forward. I can remember that recently, Sony Norde had a great difficulty in dribbling past him in the training.
"He has instructed us to make the breakfast, lunch and dinner together. If he gets time then he himself joins us in any of the sessions.
"More importantly, on the day of the match Ranbir comes to team hotel in the morning even he did not have sleep at night due to shooting. And he talks to everybody to cheer up. And then he reaches the ground much before us in our every match."
OneIndia News


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Posted by John Fasoldt on 2:31:00 6/10/2015 from 188.8.131.52:
In reply to: Squirrel fell out of my chimney into my house - HELP! posted by Kathy on 1:40:53 6/10/2015 from 18.104.22.168:
If he is still in your BR, open the windows WIDE (daytime) and leave him completely alone until dusk. Close the windows at dusk, leave a light on so he can see the windowsill and the TINY bit of peanut butter bread you leave on the windowsill.
Next morning, sheck on the PB bread. If it is gone, repeat. If not, he probably went outside.
He will probably go outside before he'll go in the trap.
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Here's a link to more squirrel removal information and pictures from Rid-A-Critter, an Atlanta animal control company.
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A1 Body Shop and RV Repair
Review for A1 Body Shop and RV Repair
Dan A. on 08/09/2011
Dan stated that he would rate the overall experience a 10 on a 1 to 5 scale. He mentioned this is the first time he has left a business of this type and not been mad. Dan added that Johnny did a good job. He explained that for RV service, no one touches their service.
Category: Collision
Service Date: 06/30/2011
Review Created: 08/09/2011


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31.5″ length, two button, single breasted styling with a non-vented back.
Features a satin shawl lapel with an embroidered braid and satin covered buttons.
The El Rey is also available in white.
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They have really unfriendly clerks here, but, the cigs and fountain sodas are cheap.
In ShortTravelers recognize the blue and red Chevron hallmark as a place to refuel gas tanks, grab snacks and purchase a cup of coffee for the road. For those in a rush, these stations...
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