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Dr. (D)eath vs. Dr. (R)esistance
Last Updated on Monday, 12 December 2011 16:39 Written by Neil A. Davis, Gothenburg Friday, 16 September 2011 13:57
I agree with Glenn Bartels (08-03-11) in the aspect that, as citizens we need to work together to solve America's problems. However, in congress there is no starting point for such a process.
When Dr. (D)eath wants to cut off your arm and Dr. (R)esistance wants to save it, should you be pleased when they compromise to cut it off at the elbow?
In the coming elections, Democrats have absolutely nothing of merit to run on. Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" are already in play. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.
The current target is the "tea party." Much has been spoken and written by people whose sum total knowledge of this subject, equals zero point zero.
Penny Fattig in her apology letter, wrote that she was "...tired of the relentless Tea Party propaganda..." and that "...both sides of the issues should be addressed." Let's look at what she is tired of and apparently on the other side of.
The belief that (1) All men are endowed by their Creator with rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (2) Government is a function of the Constitution, not the other way around. (3) Government must be fiscally responsible, so that high levels of taxation do not "unjustly restrict the liberty our Constitution was designed to protect." (4) Powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution, belong to the states and the people (individuals). (5) Our current government's interference in the free market, inhibits individual and economic liberty.
Who are these tea party propagandists anyway? Recent Rasmussen surveys show: 71% of Americans believe government programs designed to help people out of poverty are not effective and 49% think they actually increase poverty; 67% think thoughtful spending cuts should be considered in every federal government program; 71% believe the problem with welfare, is that there are too many recipients rather than not enough; 84% think the country is heading down the wrong track.
Looks to me like the propagandists are three out of four of Penny's neighbors.
What (D)eath's advocates are saying: California Representative Maxine Waters "...the tea party can go straight to Hell." Indiana Representative Andre Carson "...this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me...hanging on a tree." President Obama on the Republican budget plan "...kids with disabilities would be left to fend for themselves." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi "...clean air, clean water, food safety, public safety. You name it, they're there to diminish it, destroy it." Vice President Joe Biden, told AFL/CIO members that they are "the only folks keeping the barbarians from the gates."
The fact that these "public servants" are being paid to steal our money and talk trash about us, is incredible to me. I want them replaced with people who believe in America and Americans.
Neil A. Davis, Gothenburg


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Give it a REST
I went to MuleCon 2008 and got to meet not only a lot of cool Mule engineers and users, but also Dan Diephouse, the original author of CXF. The Mule people have a really active and energetic community and are now supported by a company called MuleSource, which employs many of the Mule engineers. Among the many topics that came up, one that I took interest in was REST. I asked Dan about the REST support in CXF, which I didn't know a lot about when I asked. He said that they had an HTTP binding, but recommended going toward JAX-RS.
Coincidentally, one of our customers actually asked the next day about using the HTTP binding with CXF! So I had a look at it and it's basically right on. It's annotation based and uses Codehaus' Java REST annotations (JRA). It's a small set of method annotations first consisting of GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE to specify which HTTP method will get you to this Java method. Next, there's a way to map the path and headers to method arguments. That's it. And that's pretty much all you need.
Now, I've looked at JAX-RS and while I'll admit that conceptually it's closer to the original intention of REST, I think it makes things way too complicated. Most of the people using REST do not truly understand the notion of resources and verbs and all that good stuff. They just see the power of passing different parts of a URL to a certain method. When it comes down to the implementation of most normal REST schemes, you end up with a mapping from a URL to a method invocation. That's what the JRA does in a very simple way.
JAX-RS defines an object tree based on the resources and sub-resources specified by a path. Methods may return sub-resources on which further resource specification is invoked until you get to a terminal method. Did you get that? It's very nice, academically. However unless you've been working with REST for a while and are really a dyed-in-the-wool believer, all that just gets in the way when you're just trying to map a URL to code. I question the ability to make this fast as well, given the sub-resource concept. Not to mention that the spec itself says it does nothing to create client. I'm a believer that there should be a service interface shared on both the client and server: the server should implement it and the client should get a proxy facade using it. JRA lets you do that and JAX-RS doesn't.
Anyway, this is probably a futile discussion as JAX-RS is being discussed for inclusion in the next JavaEE standard (!) and a lot of people are thus looking at it as the way to do REST on Java. I hope I'm wrong…

subset: commoncrawl


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In this month's animal profile we meet Kiani (Suma), Melbourne Zoo's 35 year old orang-utan and star of the upcoming Go Undercover winter program.
Kiani was born at Melbourne Zoo on 24 June, 1978 and has a twin Bono, who lives at an overseas zoo. The twins were officially named Suma and Bono, in reference to Sumatra and Borneo, the last two places where orang-utans still survive in the wild.
Kiani spends her days with her daughter Gabby (Kamil) and the young male Malu (Menyaru). She is dominant over both of them but is happy to have rough wrestling sessions with Malu.
She is a very dominate animal and always ensures she has first pick of the food and enrichment items. She also loves all the attention she receives and is seen frequently interacting with visitors through the windows at Melbourne Zoo's Orang-utan Sanctuary.
Orang-utans are highly intelligent animals and Kiani enjoys working with her keepers, she will even mimic keepers' behaviour if she ever gets her hands on cleaning tools.
Like all orang-utans, Kiani eats a wide range of fruit and vegies but her favourite items are sweet fruits like mangos which keepers give her as a reward.
The Sumatran Orang-utan is critically endangered in the wild. The single greatest threat to the future of this species is the loss of rainforest habitat due to the production of uncertified palm oil.
You can help this species by visiting our Zoopermarket today!


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That's it? Everyone's done the game?
The Force was indeed unleashed this September as the latest Star Wars title stormed the charts, knocking the competition out of the way like Bantha Poodoo.by David Radd on Wednesday, October 29, 2008No one would call Star Wars games rare or infrequent, but Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is special. Its story, set between the two Star Wars trilogies and crafted with the help of George Lucas, gives the game a higher level of importance than most others. While some may say this is the most significant release since Revenge of the Sith came out, we can think of a better parallel: Shadows of the Empire.While many young fans may not have even been born when it was released, we can assure them that Shadows of the Empire was a big deal to the Star Wars faithful in 1996. It featured a video game, action figures, a comic series and a novel that all tied into a story set between Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, something that had until that point had never been done. Shadows of the Empire paved the way for the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition release the next year, and ultimately convinced George Lucas that there was demand for Episode I: The Phantom Menace. While it's unlikely that George Lucas will be convinced to do more Star Wars than the current Clone Wars TV series [And some people would consider that a good thing! - Ed.], The Force Unleashed shows that's there's still a lot of demand for Star Wars mythology.Go forth, my apprentice.According to the NPD, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed occupied the first, fifth, ninth and fourteenth best selling slots overall for the month of September. This made it the fourth best selling title on Wii, third best selling title on PS2 and the best selling title on the PS3, PSP and Xbox 360 platforms. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed sold over 1.15 million copies in the U.S. between the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii versions of the title alone during the September period.The Dark Side is funThe game's success has been truly meteoric, and LucasArts reported worldwide sales of 1.5 million units of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in only five days. This gave the game the heady title of "fastest selling Star Wars title ever." With well over 4.3 million copies of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed already shipped, LucasArts is planning more good news for the title in less than a week."The record-setting sales of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed shows the undiminished power of Star Wars and its popularity across all media types, including video games," said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts in a release. "We're blown away by the response to the game."You don't know the power of the Dark Side!The basic concept of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has been described by the team at LucasArts as "kicking someone's ass with the Force;" a crude approximation, but accurate. To put it in comparative gaming terms, The Force Unleashed is like a Star Wars analog for God of War. Starkiller, the game's protagonist, uses elaborate lightsaber combos, powerful Force abilities and even engages in the odd quick-time event for larger enemies (like slicing an AT-ST in half, to use a particularly cool example) making for a truly modern 3D action game in the Star Wars universe.Drawing many people to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, however, is the story. Featuring a collection of characters both familiar (Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Bail Organa) and new (Starkiller, Juno Eclipse, Rahm Kota), the story deals with hunting down rogue Jedi and ultimately forming the Rebel Alliance. Consultations with George Lucas and his staff made sure the game filled the gap in established cannon properly.Critics regarded Star Wars: The Force Unleashed as something of a mixed bag. The controls for the game were admonished (Zero Punctuation said lightsaber combat was like "trying to follow an aerobics routine with both your arms tied to different windmills") along with the general lack of deadliness of Starkiller's lightsaber. While the physics for the game were impressive in some ways, they were also criticized as buggy and "loose." The acting was generally praised, but the story itself drew mixed reactions, some saying it tied together the two trilogies in an unintuitive, contrived manner. The review averages for most versions of the game generally hovered around 70 percent on GameRankings.com."After the credits roll, Force Unleashed isn't the end-all, be-all interactive Star Wars experience but it manages to showcase some interesting new game technology and is a mostly fun virtual slugfest that's worth killing a few hours to experience," reads GameDaily's 7-out-of-10 review by Libe Goad. "It will at least inspire you to dust off those Star Wars DVDs and relive the magic all over again."Claim your destinyAs LucasArts' biggest release of the year, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was heavily promoted across all media. The marketing included a fairly extensive TV campaign, emphasizing the role as Darth Vader's apprentice and your Force abilities, along with subtle measures, like Starkiller's inclusion in Soul Calibur IV. The game's release also came during a heavy promotional period for Star Wars in general, as the Clone Wars animated movie and accompanying TV series were debuting in roughly the same time period.While the long worked on Force Unleashed is out and is already a bona fide success, it's unclear what future there is for the franchise. Reports have suggested mass layoffs from LucasArts, and the company may look to license out future projects to outside developers. The story for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed also does not lend itself to a direct sequel, unless LucasArts is willing to wander into the realm of "non-cannon." However, we're confident of one thing: so long as there is Star Wars, there will be Star Wars games.
by Justin McElroy Sep 30th 2008 11:25AMFiled under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, ActionThough it's fun unleashing the Force, wouldn't it be better if you could unleash the Force while pretending you're a good Jedi that has completely lost his mind? The people at LucasArts seem to think so: They'll be releasing new costumes for The Force Unleashed's single-player campaign this fall, including Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Kit Fisto. We've put an "in-game" picture of Fisto after the break, but he looks more like he's been pasted in from the cover of a Star Wars novel.And later this year, look for a new mission in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where the Apprentice will "learn more about his father, and while searching through the rubble of the destroyed building he must confront his inner demons."Neither the price nor specific dates for either of the DLC packs has yet been unlea-- err, revealed. We'll keep you posted.
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Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. This mixture contains more than 4,000 substances, more than 40 of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals, and many of which are strong irritants.
Exposure to secondhand smoke is called involuntary smoking, or passive smoking.
Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of lung cancer in humans. Passive smoking is estimated by EPA to cause approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths in nonsmokers each year.
The developing lungs of young children are also affected by exposure to secondhand smoke. Infants and young children whose parents smoke are among the most seriously affected by exposure to secondhand smoke, being at increased risk of lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis.
EPA estimates that passive smoking is responsible for between 150,000 - 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 18 months of age annually, resulting in between 7,500 - 15,000 hospitalizations each year.
Children exposed to secondhand smoke are also more likely to have reduced lung function and symptoms of respiratory irritation like cough, excess phlegm, and wheeze.
Passive smoking can lead to buildup of fluid in the middle ear, the most common cause of hospitalization of children for an operation.
Asthmatic children are especially at risk. EPA estimates that exposure to secondhand smoke increases the number of episodes and severity of symptoms in hundreds of thousands of asthmatic children. EPA estimates that between 200,000 - 1 million asthmatic children have their condition made worse by exposure to secondhand smoke. Passive smoking may also cause thousands of non-asthmatic children to develop the condition each year.
Created by the Environmental Protection Agency. Illustration copyright A.D.A.M., Inc.


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By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Rick Karney, director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group, returned last week from an international conference on invasive sea squirts, where he and one of his staff were both speakers and participants.
There has been plenty of discussion on the Vineyard about invasive foreign plants in the Island landscape; offshore, the ocean bottom and the water column are also in a state of change. New plants and animals are taking up residence in coastal waters that may have a long-term impact.
While there is little worry now about invasive sea squirts in Vineyard waters, there is plenty of worry on Georges Bank, where they have begun to wreak havoc on the farmed blue mussel fishery in the Canadian Maritimes.
Mr. Karney said he learned a lot at the conference, which was attended by about 100 people.
Mr. Karney and his summer assistant Emma Green-Beach each gave talks on work that has been done at the Vineyard hatchery. "We collaborated with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution," Mr. Karney said.
He spoke about his work years ago to find a market for a sea squirt found in Vineyard waters, known to be a delicacy in Korea. "I gave a talk about the club sea squirt that is one of their traditional meals. It is considered an aphrodisiac," Mr. Karney said.
Mr. Karney said he sought federal funding to do the necessary research. The effort was abandoned when no funding was found.
Ms. Green-Beach, a graduate student at Rutgers University, gave a talk on her research in August that centered on the behavior of bay scallops in the larval stage when surrounded by the sea squirt variety colonial tunicate genus Didemnum. The shellfish group received a $10,000 grant for the project.
The sea squirt is a sponge. There are many varieties around the world; one variety is spreading on Georges Bank at an alarming rate. According to a University of Connecticut Sea Grant report, in one 27-square mile area of Georges Bank, sea squirts cover from 50 to 90 per cent of the ocean floor.
Bay scallop larvae set on eel grass and other material in the water column but they clearly avoided setting on the sponge, Ms. Green-Beach found in her research project.
"We need to be a bit worried about these sea squirts. There are six to eight different varieties around here and almost all of them are from away. They are new to the ecosystem and we don't know the impact they have on our future," Mr. Karney said.
Up in the Prince Edward Island area, sea squirts are having a devastating impact on the $35 million a year blue mussel aquaculture industry. "It is bringing them to their knees," Mr. Karney said. The sea creatures are fouling gear and crowding out cultured blue mussels grown on ropes.
Mr. Karney said he had an opportunity to visit an aquaculture site and see how the shellfish growers are coping.
Hatchery Photographs for Sale
The shellfish group not only has a presence on Lagoon Pond but also on the Web. Internet travelers can visit the hatchery online and find out about their programs and activities at mvshellfishgroup.org.
The hatchery has also made advances in underwater photography that may pique the interest of shoppers looking for interesting Island photographs.
Mr. Karney said the interest in shellfish photography began over a year ago when the hatchery received a new Leica EZ-4D digital microscope. The purchase of the device was funded by the Edey Foundation. Mr. Karney said they acquired the microscope as a way to improve the science at the hatchery and increase public awareness about the mission of the shellfish group. "The purpose was to help our outreach. We hoped to be able to take photographs of shellfish and share those images with others. We would post the photographs on the Web site," he said.
People took an interest in the photographs that hatchery assistant manager Amandine Surier took with her own Olympus digital camera. Some said they wanted to buy the pictures.
As a result, many of her photographs are now available for sale through the Web site. All the money raised through the sale of the photographs goes to the nonprofit shellfish group.
Ms. Surier submitted one of her photographs of an adult bay scallop to a photo calendar contest hosted by organizers of the Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Exposition in Mystic, Conn. The photograph won first prize and was used on the cover of the calendar.
"We spawn shellfish and we always witness some pretty interesting events," Ms. Surier said. "I tell my friends, you should come by for spawning days. Very few make it. I started taking pictures and doing little videos, just to share with family members."
Ms. Surier exhibited some of her photographs at the Oak Bluffs Harbor Festival in June. "Dan Larsen of Edgartown Seafood came up to me and looked at a photograph. 'This is great, I am buying it,' he said." She added: "This is fun and it reflects a different aspect of the job."
Remembering Capt. Leonard Jason Sr.
The Vineyard fishing community was saddened this week by the death of Leonard Jason Sr., who died at the age of 92. Captain Jason, who was the former longtime shellfish constable in Chilmark, also owned the Menemsha dragger Little Lady.
And so this week in Menemsha there are two draggers named Little Lady. One is tied up at a dock and remains under the care of the Jason family. The second Little Lady is gone from view, out fishing in a place where old fishermen go when they die.
This other Little Lady is a better boat and under the constant care of her captain. The new boat doesn't leak and doesn't smell of yesterday's catch. This Little Lady will forever smell of fresh paint and shine in days of constant sunlight. Her winch doesn't squeak or jam under a heavy load. Her net drags show no evidence of ever being torn. There are plenty of fluke for the Little Lady and her captain, and no uncharted rocks on the bottom stand in her way.
"He was a wonderful supportive person in this waterfront community," Mr. Karney recalled of Mr. Jason. "I remember he was down helping with the building of the first shellfish pilot hatchery. He volunteered to cut the wood, run the electrical lines. He believed in this program. He was a great guy and will sadly be missed."


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Driven piles are used to support buildings, walls and bridges, and can be the most cost-effective deep foundation solution.
Australian landmark celebrates achievement of carbon neutral status five years ahead of schedule.
Non-material amendments can sometimes be necessary after planning permission has been granted. Find out more here.
Six things civil engineers could do to ensure the success of projects.
Dublin housing crisis restricts employers' ability to recruit, according to new U+I research.
Intricate inlays and beautiful patterns can be created with waterjet cutting.
Two historic quarries in environmentally sensitive areas were reopened to repair Exeter Cathedral.
The phrase 'time at large' describes the situation where there is no date for completion, or it has become invalid.
The Maldives is under threat from climate change. Read this report from BRE on their potential involvement in the region.
MHCLG update states there are still 124 private high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding and no remediation plan.


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Every day we collect and analyze travel data about vacation packages in Greece Mainland and show trends on travel market. You can always find three types of offers: Last Minute, Normal and Early Bookings on travel websites. But which of them is the cheapest one when you travel to Greece Mainland ? Is it true that last minute deals are always the most cost-effective for vacation in Greece Mainland ?
Looking for accommodation in Greece ? Cheap or luxury hotel or hostel? Find the best offer! » Climate and weather 2018
These charts show main trends on travel market. Advise when to choose last minute, early booking or standard offer. These are the average prices of departure from a European country. Prices are provided as a guide only and may vary due to fluctuations in start location of a trip (e.g. if you live in Greece and travel to Greece Mainland the price will be lower). Please note that the price of holiday due to in taxes or charges or due to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. But the trends will be always unchanged. Charts based on data from the past 7 years. We analyse more than 50 million offers every year.
The Land of Gods, Greece makes a fascinating visit if your want to delve deeper into the pages of history and theology. It never ceases to amaze tourists how they are so ahead of times in spite of being under the influence of the many gods that exist in their cultural history. Greece is the perfect culturally exotic destination for all those experimentalists who are willing to try out something different.
And of course, be open to the surprises that their exquisite culture has in store for you. The architecture is sure to blow you away with its structures, especially the mosaic artworks in Athens! And you will be pleasantly surprised seeing how beautiful and well maintained they still look! The old world charm with take you to a different world altogether and possibly the best thing about the place. You may start picking up a few Greek words to make it a lot more fun and happening when you travel around Greece and you can be sure that people are going to greet you warmly wherever you go!
Greece attracts tourists because of its eternal beauty, and not to forget the beaches, vibrant nightlife, summer weather, natural beauty and the stunning historical sites that keep tourists coming back for more. The museums in Greece will take you back in time, and the history behind every ruin will give you a brief insight about their exotic and vibrant culture.
Greece has freezing winters and very hot, humid summers, a typically Mediterranean-Temperate climate that is ideal for tourism. We recommend going to Greece during spring and autumn are the best times to visit Greece; specifically May, June, September and October. The high season starts to wind down in September and the weather conditions are ideal until the end of October. The winter months at Athens are sort of snowy but pleasant. And the period around November to February are chilly due to the rains, a typical of Mediterranean-Temperate climates. The winters are mostly cold and wet- the rains can hamper your travel plans, so we recommend not planning it around this time. Over all, the most expensive travel trip to Greece is around the month of October when the weather is the most pleasant and on the contrary, the cheapest being April, the time when the heat is around its peak at Greece. February is the month with the lowest temperature during the day and at night. July makes the best time to go to Greece with moderate temperatures making both day and night pleasant.
If you are one of those who love culture, we suggest you to plan out your trip that lets you enjoy the cultural vividness of Greece like the Athens festival, Patras Carnival and of course, the numerous wine festivals that keep happening there all round the year.
The mythical land of Greece waits to charm you and sweep you off your feet with its magic!
Why weather forecasts are the secret ingredient of your trip to Greece Mainland?
It's simple - when hikers go vacation, they usually expect a good weather and low prices.
Look at summer and winter temperatures in Greece Mainland:
Brief description of typical Greece Mainland weather throughout the year: temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers
Greece Mainland First Minute deals are usually the cheapest and starts from 420€ for 4 days trip


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which has built a computer technology that makes it less expensive for companies to expand their computing infrastructure � is a world-class execution machine. While Chief Executive Officer Doron Kempel isn�t killing anyone, his company simply excels at �getting stuff done.�
As a major in the Israel Defense Force at age 26, Mr. Kempel was a decorated second-in-command member of an elite unit, and led �meticulously planned and scrupulously executed missions far away from Israel and way behind enemy lines.� Importantly, in Mr. Kempel�s view, �his mentors include generals, former prime ministers, chiefs of staff and other execution and strategy luminaries.� Before that, in his teens, he was an athlete on the national Israeli handball squad.
Following degrees from Tel-Aviv University and Harvard Business School, he joined a Silicon Valley startup, as vice president of sales and marketing, that was bought. He moved on to EMC, where he viewed then-CEO Mike Reuttgers as �a great positive influence as a leader and a manager,� to set up a new independent business unit. Mr. Kempel grew that division �from zero to multihundred-million dollars in annual revenue� under EMC�s new CEO, Joe Tucci, who he called �a great strategist.� With the �technologically brilliant� Moshe Yanai, Mr. Kempel started Diligent Technologies. In 2008, Mr. Kempel sold Diligent to IBM, which called Diligent �the best run small company IBM has ever acquired.� Mr. Kempel, who proudly noted that �all of Diligent�s managers have been consistently promoted within IBM since the acquisition,� spent 15 months at IBM to make sure the company was successfully integrated into Big Blue.
When he started SimpliVity, IBM contributed to his views on how to run his startup. As he explained in an Oct. 26 meeting at his office, what he learned from these varied experiences help him to �architect, lead and manage� SimpliVity.
As I wrote in September, SimpliVity raised $25 million in venture capital from Kleiner Perkins. In that interview, the Kleiner partner, Matt Murphy, said Mr. Kempel was an �execution machine.� That got me wondering what Mr. Murphy meant, and Mr. Kempel was kind enough to take an hour to try to explain that to me.
Execution is important to SimpliVity because it competes with big companies to sell a �mission critical� product. If SimpliVity has any hope of surviving, it must take business from these rivals. If SimpliVity can execute well, �It can translate to better, faster product development, stronger partnerships, better decision making, a higher degree of customer satisfaction, retention and ultimately, higher sales and higher valuation,� according to Mr. Kempel.
What is execution? A complete answer is complicated. To Mr. Kempel, just as a race car gets its driver around the track faster than his rivals, a company should be a �system that must be architected in pursuit of a mission.� Each person working in the company should achieve a specific goal in a way that is �consistent with the organization�s mission, norms and processes.�
Think about the job of a salesperson who agrees with her manager to set an �aggressive but achievable� goal of selling $3 million worth of a company�s product in the next three months. Execution means, in part, that at the end of three months, the salesperson has achieved the $3 million sales quota.
But to Mr. Kempel, process matters. If the salesperson angers her colleagues by not communicating with her peers or manager, fails to respond to peer requests for help, and closes sales while acting in ways inconsistent with company values, Mr. Kempel would likely manage her out of the company. In this example, �she achieved her personal goal, but did so at an unacceptable risk/cost to the overall system,� said Mr. Kempel.
But in a company that hires all sorts of different people, execution � or what Mr. Kempel calls �IntoAction� � is a system whose elements reinforce each other. IntoAction flows from the company�s mission � its long-term reason to exist � which Mr. Kempel communicates repeatedly and clearly. IntoAction�s other elements include core competencies (critical activities like product design and sales that help SimpliVity realize its mission), norms (the way its people should behave), and its people, whose skills and actions should �align� with IntoAction. And tying all of these together is what Mr. Kempel calls its �programs, processes, standards, and techniques � without which, all the rest is just poetry.�
Beyond applying five principles of execution that may not interest the general reader, SimpliVity also trains managers in skills such as project management, planning and decision making to emphasize company-specific �principles, guidelines, standards, templates and acronyms.�
Despite all the processes, nothing is more powerful than the power of leaders to influence others through their actions.
�In 35 years of leadership and management � in sports, military and business � I have seen no substitute for leadership by example. If the managers and leaders do not live, breathe and exemplify the norms, then the execution-system will fail.�
If Mr. Murphy is right, Mr. Kempel�s execution machine will work wonders. And that means SimpliVity�s customer base will grow, its employees will enjoy making that happen, and Kleiner Perkins and the other investors will enjoy an attractive return.


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We are looking forward to the new firmware!
Don't expect new firmware anytime soon or any support from Lenovo staff in this forum.
The only information they gave is that the ROW update is planned for 11/10 which maybe means 10 Nov 2011. No explanation why or whatever other information.
11-05-2011 08:42 AM - edited 11-05-2011 08:44 AM
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2015 X1 Carbon, ThinkPad Slate, T410s, X301, X200 Tablet, T60p, HP TouchPad, iPad Air 2, iPhone 5S, IdeaTab A2107A, Yoga Tablet, Yoga 3 Pro
I AM one of those crazy ThinkPad zealots!
If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution"!
I am not a Lenovo employee
RW 10 of november-today? NO update in Slovenia-EU....
@JaneL wrote:
A release date is a release date. What needs to be explained about that?
You (Lenovo) need to explain why the different release dates for different regions. The reason for this is that you create extreme customer dissatisfaction in regions other than US, UK and WE (in this specific case). If you present credible reasons for this decision you'll ease the tension among your customers.
Learn from the mistakes of others and not just your own. Other vendors have made such mistakes before leading to more damage than benefits.
11-09-2011 10:37 PM - edited 11-12-2011 02:21 AM
JaneL, it is 1
1/10 11/11 11/12 here in Japan, and when I check for system updates I am told that my system is current. Would you please explain this to me? Thank you.
EDIT: My TPT would not give me an on-screen keyboard to compose my message. I'm having to use my netbook for this . . .
EDIT 2: I couldn't edit this message on my TPT either. I'm guessing this will be fixed with the <i>upcoming</i> OTA update . . .
Who can tell me when the update will be released? It seemed that my another thread about the release date was deleted. Lenovo let me very disappointed even if am from China.
11-12-2011 02:26 AM - edited 11-12-2011 02:27 AM
Did any of you in China or Hong Kong get the update? Nothing here in Japan . . .
And btw, JaneL, I think the original problem, what needed to be explained, is what "11/10" means. November 10, 2011 in America is written in short as 11/10/2011 (or 11/10/11), in Europe as 10/11/2011, and in Asia as 2011/11/10. Using American non-systemtatic shorthand for dates is guaranteed to be confusing in an international forum. The Asian format is obvious for anyone in the world; it goes systematically from largest to smallest timeframe.


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CHICAGO (AP) — Two men pleaded not guilty Thursday — one to 141 counts of first-degree murder — in the shooting death of a 15-year-old Chicago girl who performed at President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities days before she died.
Both Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and a long list of other charges in Hadiya Pendleton's death.
She was shot Jan. 29 after she and her friends sought shelter from the rain in a city park. Ward and Williams had been hunting for rival gang members and Pendleton was an innocent bystander, prosecutors say.
Her killing about a mile from Obama's home on Chicago's South Side made national news and became a symbol of movements to end gun violence. Michelle Obama attended her funeral.
Ward was the one charged with 141 murder counts. His attorney, Jeff Granich, said in a phone interview Thursday he has never heard of a case of a single murder with anything close to that number of counts.
The high-profile nature of the case, he said, appears to have led prosecutors to pile on the charges.
"I know prosecutors want to show they're taking this case seriously," he said. "But the 141 counts have the opposite result: Instead of looking professional and serious, they look silly and dumb."
Some of the attempted murder counts and other charges relate to Pendleton's friends who were in the park with her. But Granich said he still couldn't fathom how prosecutors ended up with so many counts.
Contacted later Thursday, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office declined any comment.
In addition to the 141 murder counts, Ward is also charged with 10 counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, eight counts of attempted murder, two of aggravated battery with a firearm and one of mob action.
Williams is charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, two counts of attempted murder, two of aggravated battery with a firearm and one of mob action.
Williams' lawyer, Matthew McQuaid, told reporters his client intends to go to trial.
"He didn't do this," he said.
The girl's father, Nathaniel Pendleton, also attended the hearing and told reporters afterward that he felt some anger seeing the suspects — though he said his focus was on advocating nonviolence.
"You're going to feel some anger, but I feel confident they (authorities) will do what they have to do to make justice happen," he said.
Ward and Williams, who remain in jail without bail, are due in court again for a status hearing May 6.
Follow Michael Tarm at http://www.twitter.com/mtarm .


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Accessory Shaft for Techmount GEN 4 Mounting systems.
Works only with GEN 4 Techmount Gadget Mounting systems available separately.
The required GEN 4 Techmount Mounting System features a 17mm ball allowing for unlimited positioning of your gadget.
- 17mm GEN 4 Ball Mount
- 1in Shaft Length
- Black, Silver or Chrome finish
Note: Not compatible with earlier Techmount systems.
|Manufacturer #


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Machine Learning Meetup Notes: 2010-05-23
From Noisebridge
Erin, Theo and Andy came together to define KDD machine learning problem definition.
We decided to remove (-) and add (+) the following features:
- Row, (only used for submission, not for ML algorithms)
- Anon Student Id,
- Problem Hierarchy,
- Problem Name,
- Problem View,
- - Step Name,
- + unique step name (step name+problem name)
- - Step Start Time,
- - First Transaction Time,
- - Correct Transaction Time,
- - Step End Time,
- - Step Duration (sec),
- - Correct Step Duration (sec),
- - Error Step Duration (sec),
- Correct First Attempt,
- - Incorrects,
- - Hints,
- - Corrects,
- - Opportunity(...)
- + set of superskills (either boolean or opportunity value) (superskills = clustered skills)
- + step success chance (% of successes total for this unique stepname)
- + student "IQ" (% successful answers by this student)
- + complexity (number of skills required for this unique stepname)
Submission datasets naming convention:[edit]
- "bridge"
- "algebra" -> also has KC rules model (need to orthoganlize them as well TODO erin)
Multi-algorithm idea:[edit]
- After we discussed the features above, we had the idea to use multiple algorithms for predicting out output variable (probability of success for first try for this student-step): one algorithm predicting student success, one for step difficulty, perhaps additional ones... then have an aggregate function learn the overall success probability. Since we have about 3000 steps per student, we should have enough data to train a model for each student.
- We agreed that the accepted features above generally make sense to us; to define the set of features for the individual multi-algo problems is yet TODO.


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Our Mission
The Institute for the Study of War advances an informed understanding of military affairs through reliable research, trusted analysis, and innovative education. We are committed to improving the nation's ability to execute military operations and respond to emerging threats in order to achieve U.S. strategic objectives. ISW is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization.
We believe ground realities must drive the formulation of strategy and policy. In pursuit of this principle, ISW conducts detailed, open-source intelligence analysis to provide the most accurate information on current conflicts and security threats. ISW researchers spend time in conflict zones conducting independent assessments and enhancing their understanding of realities on the ground. Through reports and timely events, our research educates military and civilian leaders, reporters, and the public to enhance the quality of policy debates.
Our History
Dr. Kimberly Kagan founded ISW in May 2007, as U.S. forces undertook a daring new counterinsurgency strategy to reverse the grim security situation on the ground in Iraq . Frustrated with the prevailing lack of accurate information documenting developments on the ground in Iraq and the detrimental effect of biased reporting on policymakers, Dr. Kagan established ISW to provide real-time, independent, and open-source analysis of ongoing military operations and insurgent attacks in Iraq. General Jack Keane (U.S. Army, Ret.), the Chairman of ISW's board, also played a central role in developing the intellectual foundation for this change of strategy in Iraq, and supported the formation of the Institute in 2007.
Dr. Kagan published her first Iraq Report in March 2007, introducing the Washington policy community to ISW's flagship research product. Since its formation in 2007, the ISW Iraq Project has remained the premier source for unbiased analysis on the changing political and security dynamics affecting progress in Iraq.
Building upon the success of the Iraq Project, ISW launched the Afghanistan Project in April 2009 in response to growing demand to better understand the war in Afghanistan. Research from this project has focused on insurgent groups such as the Haqqani Network, political corruption, and coalition operations. In addition, ISW has used its unique access to military commanders to launch a Best Practices in Counterinsurgency series that aims to capture the most important lessons from today's wars in order to speed the way in which these lessons are applied the formulation of new military strategy.
ISW has built a reputation for its accuracy and ability to translate complex military concepts and specialized information into formats accessible to a more general audience. In 2010 alone, ISW analysts and fellows spent more than forty weeks deployed to theater. ISW analysts deployed again in 2011, and Dr. Kagan spent over 200 days in 2010 and 2011 in Kabul . In July 2011, she was awarded the Department of Defense Civilian Service Award for her efforts.
In November 2011, ISW added to its Afghanistan and Iraq projects with the broader Middle East Security Project. This new research program will study the national security threats emerging from the Arabian Gulf and wider Arab World, identify ways the United States and Gulf States can check Iran's growing influence and contain the threat posed by its nuclear ambitions, explain the shifting balance of power within the Middle East, and assess responses the United States and Arab states take to address these changes as they emerge. Leading up to this project launch, ISW began tracking the conflict in Libya in March 2011, publishing daily and weekly Libya updates and an in-depth look at the first six months of that conflict called the Libyan Revolution.


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Merrilee Patterson Crain, secretary and board member of Crain Communications Inc., Workforce's parent company, and wife of Crain President Rance Crain died Nov. 2. She would have turned 70 on Nov. 27.
Mrs. Crain was active in charitable, business and family activities. She started the Gourmet Gala for the March of Dimes in Chicago and was a board member of the Hubbard Street Dance Company and the Goodman Theatre, both of which are located in Chicago. She also ran the benefit and auction for the Lake Forest (Illinois) Symphony. When the Crains moved to Florida, Merrilee served on the board of the Orlando Museum of Art.
One of her proudest accomplishments was to author a self-published book on her family history as it flowed through the Patterson cottage in Craigville, Massachusetts. The cottage was bought by her father's parents in 1919 for $4,025.
A woman of many talents and interests, she helped design the Crains' Bermuda-style house in Windermere, Florida, and the office building for the Turnstile Media Group, her husband's company in Orlando where she served on the board. Mrs. Crain was a talented artist and among other works painted the cover for her book, The Cottage. She also wrote poetry.
She was born Nov. 27, 1942, in Providence, Rhode Island. She grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, where she graduated from New Trier High School in 1960. After attending the University of Illinois, she graduated from the Katharine Gibbs School in Boston and worked in the engineering Department of IBM in Evanston, Illinois.
Mrs. Crain met her husband, Rance, in 1965 on a blind date arranged by Rance's brother, Keith. They were married eight months later. The couple raised their two daughters, Heather and Cindi, in Lake Forest, and now have six grandchildren. They split their time between Windermere and Centerville, Massachusetts.
"Merrilee was an extraordinary woman. It's very rare that a person combines creativity and intuition with a practical side, but Merrilee did. She came up with elegant solutions to problems that eluded the rest of us, and people gravitated to her for advice and counsel. We will miss her love, her pixyish sense of humor, her generosity and her invincible can-do spirit," Mr. Crain said.
She is survived by her husband; her mother Frances (who turned 100 in July); her brother Pat; her daughters Heather and Cindi; and six grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Nov. 12, in Craigville, where her family has owned a cottage since 1919.


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JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Drew Peterson's son stepped up Wednesday as the last witness before the defense rested, telling jurors in a calm, confident voice that he never for a second believed that his father killed his mother.
Shortly after the 19-year-old child of the former suburban Chicago police officer and his third wife, Kathleen Savio, testified, Drew Peterson stood in the Joliet courtroom to say he had decided not to take the stand.
Dressed in a suit and tie, Thomas Peterson, a Bolingbrook High School valedictorian last year and now a University of Pennsylvania student, smiled at jurors and seemed at ease as he repeatedly defended his father.
"I believe that my dad is innocent," he said firmly when a defense attorney asked why he was in court.
Asked by defense attorney Joel Brodsky if he was there to support his father, he answered politely, "Yes, sir."
Drew Peterson, 58, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Savio's 2004 death, which was initially ruled an accident. Her death was reclassified a homicide only after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007.
Just before the defense rested, Judge Edward Burmila asked the former Bolingbrook police sergeant whether he would take the stand.
"I will not testify," he said firmly.
The next step will be for prosecutors to put on a rebuttal of the defense case, recalling some witnesses and possibly calling new ones. That is expected to happen Thursday.
Testifying would have opened Drew Peterson to a blistering and potential damaging cross-examination. His well-spoken son cut a sympathetic figure.
Thomas Peterson was 11 when his mother was found dead in her bathtub with a gash on the back of her head. At the time, he and his brother were staying with Drew and Stacy Peterson just blocks from Savio's house.
Thomas Peterson told jurors he saw no change in his father's demeanor around the day his mother died.
"There was nothing out of the ordinary," he said. "I would remember if there was."
He said that when his father broke the news about their mother's death to them, he seemed genuinely distraught.
"I have never seen someone so shaken," Peterson told jurors.
In a high-risk move earlier Wednesday, defense attorneys put on the stand a divorce attorney who had spoken by telephone with Stacy Peterson about her plans to divorced Drew Peterson three days before she went missing.
Harry Smith told jurors Stacy Peterson was considering a possible shakedown of her husband by threatening to tell police he killed Savio, which the defense hoped would dent the credibility of hearsay evidence related to her.
"She said, 'If we threatened to do this, could we get more money?'" Smith testified.
Stacy Peterson's pastor testified for the state earlier that she told him how Drew Peterson mysteriously disappeared from the house one night around the time Savio died.
But Smith's testimony also emphasized that Stacy Peterson seemed convinced her husband did kill Savio. And it also risked raising the question in jurors' minds about what happened to Stacy Peterson.
The judge has barred any mention to jurors about her disappearance or that she is presumed dead. But Smith came close to broaching that issue when he said Stacy Peterson never got around to hiring him. When Brodsky asked why, Smith stammered, understanding the answer would be inadmissible. After a break, Brodsky withdrew the question.
Another time, Smith said, he told Stacy Peterson during the phone conversation that she should "be careful" — an apparent reference to how Drew Peterson could do her harm. When Brodsky said Smith had previously testified that he told her to be careful because she could be arrested for attempted extortion, the witness denied it.
"I did tell her to be careful, but it wasn't about extortion," he said. He didn't elaborate.
Some courtroom observers said later that the defense blundered by putting Smith on the stand.
"It was a gift from the defense," said Pam Bosco, a spokeswoman for the Stacy Peterson family who has attended nearly every day of the 5-week-old trial.
Bosco said Stacy Peterson grasped that what she knew about Savio's death gave her leverage to break free of Drew Peterson and ensure she would get custody of their two young kids.
"This was her way out," she said about Stacy Peterson. "Three days later she's dead — not disappeared: dead."
Drew Peterson is a suspect in her disappearance but has never been charged in her case.
In comments to reporters later Wednesday, Brodsky stood by the decision to call the divorce attorney.
"We have now given a motive for Stacy to fabricate (her claims that her husband killed Savio)," he said.
Follow Michael Tarm at www.twitter.com/mtarm


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No wonder that nobody can find anything in here when there's mess, and then we have duplicate threads...\
- \
- Please, do me a favour and use the field Subject properly:\
Fill in the subject (what the topic will be about, objectively) and not your comment (like e.g.: "Flipping the coin" - what is this supposed to be about?) \
- Please, do me more favour and use the categories.
From now on, moderators have right to remove/move/rename a topic if it doesn't comply to these guidelines.\
Please, leave a comment if you have read it.


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About South Hill Mall, Puyallup
Bakery with a full menu, located near Food Court
Bakery with a full menu, located near Food Court
Get our legendary made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls shipped directly to your doorstep anywhere in the US through our partner Goldbely.
Cater your next event with CinnaPacks! Visit our bakery to pick up our rolls in 4, 6, 9, and 15 count packs. Available in Classic Cream Cheese and Caramel Pecan.
Looking for a sweet job? Join our team! Contact the bakery for open positions.


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Gina Brissenden
Education and Outreach Coordinator
202-328-2010 x122
The Society assists its members to develop their skills in the fields of education and public outreach at all levels. The Society promotes broad interest in astronomy, which enhances science literacy and leads many to careers in science and engineering.
Upcoming Deadlines
27 September 2018 (All day)
28 September 2018 (All day)
3 October 2018 21:00
8 November 2018 (All day)
5 December 2018 21:00


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Himmelreich (Klobenstein) - Bad Süß - Saltner Hütte - Pemmern
A pleasant and varied walk which starts at the riding school at Himmelreich, reaches the beautiful Bad Süß spa and then continues up to the Saltner Hütte at 1701m. The path leads off this bare mountain and descends the ski piste and stunning slopes shunned by the crowds. It finishes with a long return home through a magnificent forests.
The Ritten is located at circa 1200m above the city of Bozen (Bolzano) in the South Tyrol, N. Italy. From Bozen take the SP73 towards Klobenstein (Collalbo). To reach Oberbozen (Soprabolzano) turn off left onto the SP134.
From Klobenstein drive north towards the Rittnerhorn, park circa halfway between Klobenstein and Pemmern at Himmelreich (park on the left at the bar).
ross the road and take the dirt track next to the horses, then bear left at the fork down path N.33 which leads to another road and path N. 3a. Follow this past some farms, paying attention to not miss the signs. The path zigzags slowly uphill, then crosses a beautiful field to enter the forest and cross a small stream. From here it rises steeply up the hill to reach Gasthof Bad Süß, a perfect spot for some refreshments and a splendid view onto the Dolomites. The small church is magnificent, as is the old bowling alley!
Our walk continues west up the road towards Pemmern, but only to the gate since it bears right at this point up through the forest. Follow the markers on the trees and boulders for circa 40 minutes to then exit the forest and reach the Saltner Hütte at 1700m, the highest point on this walk. Beware: at one point the path crosses the forest road and continues, almost completely hidden from view, uphill – make sure you don't get lost here!
From the hut continue west towards the cable cars along path N.1 which leads the the ski piste and down to the cable car station. Cross the parking lot and continue along path N. 9 which leads off to the right of Gasthof Zirm. Leave the crowds behind you and walk towards some beautiful fields and larch trees – possibly the most beautiful part of the entire walk. The path rolls gently downwards into a small valley with a few farms, horses, sheep and… lama! The road runs parallel to a small stream; follow this, then fork left along path N. 10 to ascend NNW back through the woods.
This final flurry leads to the main road, but the walk continues through the woods on the wide path marked N. 1, 6 and 28. 28 is the one to follow as it leads back to the starting point: bear left at the fork, then left again further on down path N. 33 through the thick forest back to Himmelreich.
Normal hiking equipment.
Kompass 1:25.000 RITTEN- RENON
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Today is the last day of the Month of the Military Child. Here at the USO, we do our best to provide programs and services that ease the unique burdens military children face daily - to provide ways to stay connected to parents when gone for long periods of time. Help us continue to provide these important services by purchasing one of these gifts for a loved one in your life today!
Growing Up Brave Deployment can be a challenging and confusing time for a child. This $25 kit gives them the tools they need to help cope with this challenge and keep them happy and healthy. It includes a coloring book, a specially-made DVD to answer the questions they often have and a journal.
Family Fun Day Our military families go through lots of hardships during their service. But at USO centers, they have a chance to relax and have some fun together. For $50 you can make a Family Fun Day at a center possible and give a little something back for all their sacrifice.
Bedtime Stories The hardest hit members of a military family are often the youngest. For $50 you can help by giving our service men and women the chance to read them a bedtime story through United Through Reading's Military Program, record it on DVD and send it back home.
Their journey is everyone's responsibility. From the moment they enlist, through their assignments and deployments, and as they transition back to their communities, they can rely on your support.


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Dec. 12, 2011
In WGBH News' Occupy "report card," one particular comment caught our attention: Alex Ingram, a spokesman for Occupy Boston, said the movement had to get the message out to the suburbs. We sent WGBH News' Cristina Quinn to Weymouth, Mass., a suburb that walks a political tightrope, to see where the movement might be headed next.
WEYMOUTH, Mass. — The second=oldest town in Massachusetts, Weymouth has a rich history that's steeped in working-class values. It was home to many shoe factories, and housed a naval airfield until the late '90s. Home to 54,000 residents, it's a 20-minute ride on the commuter rail to downtown Boston, but far away enough to forget about the city once you're home.
The 2008 presidential election divided Weymouth just about down the middle: Obama defeated McCain by just 2,000 votes.
Another thing they're split on? The Occupy movement.
In the parking lot of Walmart on Middle Street, bargain hunters wheeled their carts out to their cars. A shopper named Sarah said she was fed up with the movement.
"I see where some of them are coming from but that's not the way to do it, is my opinion," she said. "I think they're making a mess of the city. More and more people I talk to think that it's just not the right way to do it. And I don't agree with them. If people want to work bad enough, I think they can find a job."
Down the street at the Next Page Café, longtime resident Chuck put down his paper to discuss Occupy Boston. He sympathized with the Occupiers but thought they needed to organize better before making their next move.
"I think they need to think about their message and boil it down a bit. Because it got a little cloudy and it got a little confusing, and got a little too general," he said.
At Jimmy's Diner, customers regularly pledge their loyalty to the Yankee pot roast. Waiting for his mac 'n' cheese, Ralph agreed with Chuck: The Occupiers should get their act together.
"I don't think they have any idea what they really want. It's not like the '60s where everybody had one idea about ending the war. It's just confused," he said. "Everybody has their own little idea of what they want to get out of this…. There's no cohesiveness."
In the afternoon, Robert munched on a blueberry muffin at Mary Lou's on Main Street as pop music crackled through the speakers mounted on the pink walls. He thought that everyone in the younger generation had a long battle ahead, and that the Occupy Movement might be the answer.
"My heart does go out to you kids," he said. "I failed at some of my opportunities but I still had the opportunity, and you guys don't."
In all, the Weymouth residents WGBH News spoke with were split pretty evenly on Occupy Boston. But almost all of them agreed that the Occupiers needed to work on their approach if they want to be taken seriously.
Back at the Next Page, Chuck said, "just being angry, just being upset and frustrated and feeling helpless, that's fine. But you have to offer solutions. And if you're just going to offer anger and loud voices, you're not getting your message across."
Halfway through his blueberry muffin, Robert suggested that maybe Occupiers should stop paying their student loans.
"The people with mortgages — that was a lie, and the banks got away with murder, and I think the student loan thing was a lie," he said. If people quit paying their student loans, "That would get people's attention. Because the whole world runs on money."
Over at Jimmy's Diner, Ralph had his own idea. "They really should just be occupying Washington. That's where it all happened," he said. "Let them all sit down on the Mall and let the politicians see what the real problem is, and what the people want. Doing it in Boston and all these little cities doesn't do any good."
Sarah, the Walmart shopper, thought today's young people just wanted something for nothing. "They think they feel that they're entitled," she said. "You want a college education? Pay for it. Don't expect the government to give you breaks on the loans."
That attitude affected everyone, she said: "The people who live by the rules in this world are the ones in the long run getting penalized, because everyone else wants everything for nothing."
As the Occupy Movement considers its next steps, it's clear the message needs help in the suburbs — a place without encampments, but with lots of foreclosures.
Sign-up for WGBH News updates, WGBH promotions, and previews of what's coming up on WGBH TV.


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Registration is now open for the Rural Opportunities Conference, which will be held April 9-10 in Dodge City. The deadline to register to attend the conference is April 2.
WHAT: The Rural Opportunities Conference will highlight rural business and community development topics. Breakout sessions will discuss funding diversity and collaboration for community and entrepreneurial development; closing the workforce housing gap; the economic impact of water in Kansas; and attracting residents, workers and entrepreneurs to rural Kansas. A new breakout session will focus on topics proposed by conference attendees.
For a complete schedule of events, please visit KansasCommerce.com/RuralOpportunitiesConference.
WHERE/WHEN: The Rural Opportunities Conference will be held April 9-10 at the Magouirk Conference Center, 4100 West Comanche, Dodge City, Kan. 67801. Registration and exhibits open at 9 a.m. April 9.
REGISTRATION INFO: The cost to attend the conference is $75 per person and includes all sessions and meals. Registration is available online at KansasCommerce.com/RuralOpportunitiesConference. The deadline to register is April 2.
For those requiring overnight accommodations, special conference rates are available at the Hampton Inn & Suites (620-225-0000), the Best Western Plus Country Inn & Suites (620-225-7378), and Dodge House (620-225-9900).


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CINCINNATI (AP) — A judge on Friday chastised a man accused of starting a melee that involved up to 20 people at a southwest Ohio kindergarten graduation earlier in the week.
Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Bernie Bouchard said 33-year-old Raymond Walker showed poor judgment.
"As an adult, he is supposed to set an example," Bouchard said as he set bond at $50,000 on charges of assault and inducing panic. "He's showing all these kids that vigilante justice is OK."
Defense attorney Victor Dwayne Sims said there has been a rush to judgment and that the case has been blown out of proportion.
"I think that certainly, violence is not a good thing for our children to see," Sims told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "However, there is such a thing as reality TV that we seem to want our children to watch all the time."
He said Walker, who turned himself in Thursday, is a father who works as a landscaper.
Police say Walker hit another man on Monday over an apparent domestic dispute while newly graduated kindergarten students were celebrating with punch and cookies, triggering a melee that resulted in the lockdown of an elementary school in Mount Healthy while police responded.
Walker's case will go next to a Hamilton County grand jury.
Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com


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Committee Membership Information
Study Title:
Improving the Assessment of Proliferation Risk of Nuclear Fuel Cycles
Primary Board:
Study Director:
Dr. Robert C. Dynes
- (Chair)
University of California, San Diego
Robert C. Dynes is President Emeritus of the University of California (UC) and a professor of physics at UC San Diego. A first-generation college graduate and a distinguished physicist, Dynes served as the sixth chancellor of the UC???s San Diego campus from 1996 to 2003. He came to UC San Diego in 1990 after a 22-year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he served as department head of semiconductor and material physics research and director of chemical physics research. His numerous scientific honors include the 1990 Fritz London Award in Low Temperature Physics and his election to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1989 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994. Since leaving the UC presidency in June 2008, Dynes has joined the boards of Argonne National Laboratory, the review panel for the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Helmholtz Foundation in Germany and the San Diego Foundation. Active in the national scientific arena, he is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, the California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth and the Governor???s Nurse Education Initiative Task Force. He is a Fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology and a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum. He served as chair for the Committee on Evaluating Testing, Costs, and Benefits of Advanced Spectroscopic Portals and is currently serving on the NRSB. A native of London, Ontario, Canada, and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Dr. Dynes holds a B.S. in mathematics and physics and an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Western Ontario, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in physics and an honorary doctor of science from McMaster University. He also holds an honorary doctorate from L???Universit?? de Montr??al.
Dr. Amy Sands
Monterey Institute for International Studies
Amy Sands is the provost of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Prior to becoming provost, Dr. Sands served for two and a half years as the dean of the Graduate School of International Policy Studies. Previous to this appointment, she was the deputy director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies for seven years. From August 1994 to June 1996, she was assistant director of the Intelligence, Verification, and Information Management Bureau at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA). Upon leaving the government, Dr. Sands received ACDA's Distinguished Honor Award and the On-Site Inspection Agency's Exceptional Civilian Service Medal. Before joining ACDA, she led the Proliferation Assessments Section of Z Division (Intelligence) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute of Strategic Studies. She recently served on the NRC Committee on Determining Basic Research Needs to Interrupt the Improvised Explosive Device Delivery Chain. She received her B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (M.A.L.D.) and a Ph.D. from Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Dr. Arian L. Pregenzer
Sandia National Laboratories
Arian Pregenzer is a senior scientist at the Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) at Sandia National Laboratories. Under her leadership, the CMC was established in 1994 to enable international technical cooperation on nuclear security problems. She worked closely with officials in the U.S. and Jordan to establish a Cooperative Monitoring Center in Amman???the CMC@Amman. She has written on crisis prevention in Northeast Asia and nuclear material security in India and Pakistan. Dr. Pregenzer has also developed a cooperative project with the Arab Science and Technology Foundation to revitalize the Iraqi science and technology community. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. From August 1990 to August 1992, Dr. Pregenzer served as a technical advisor to the Department of Energy's Office of Arms Control. Prior to her career in international security, she worked at Sandia to develop lithium ion sources for particle-beam-driven inertial confinement fusion. Dr. Pregenzer received her B.S. in physics, mathematics, and philosophy from the University of New Mexico. In 1983 she earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California at San Diego.
Dr. Scott D. Sagan
Stanford University
Scott D. Sagan is the Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and the Freeman Spogli Institute. He also serves as the co-chair of the American Academy of Arts and Science's Global Nuclear Future Initiative. Before joining the Stanford faculty, Sagan was a lecturer in the Department of Government at Harvard University and served as a special assistant to the director of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. He has served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and at the Sandia National Laboratories and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Sagan has also won four teaching awards: the Monterey Institute for International Studies??? Nonproliferation Education Award in 2009, the International Studies Association???s 2008 Innovative Teaching Award, Stanford University???s 1998-99 Dean???s Award for Distinguished Teaching, and Stanford's 1996 Hoagland Prize for Undergraduate Teaching. He has written several books on nuclear nonproliferation and safety including The Limits of Safety. He received his B.A. in government from Oberlin College and his PhD in political science from Harvard University.
Dr. Chris G. Whipple
Chris G. Whipple is a principal in the Emeryville, California???s office of ENVIRON International Corporation, an environmental consulting firm. He has consulted widely for private clients and government agencies. His professional expertise is risk assessment, primarily related to hazardous and radioactive materials. He is a long-time member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Dr. Whipple is a member of the NAE, and currently serves as co-chair of the Academies??? Report Review Committee. He previously served as chair of the NRC???s Board on Radioactive Waste Management and as a member of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology. He has served on and chaired numerous NRC committees, most recently as chair of the Committee on Risk-Based Approaches for Securing the DOE Weapons Complex. Dr. Whipple received his B.S. in engineering science from Purdue University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in engineering science from the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. William Charlton
Texas A&M University
William Charlton serves as the director of the Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and as an associate professor in the Nuclear Engineering Department. NSSPI is a multi-disciplinary organization that supports research and education programs in nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, and nuclear material safeguards. Prior to his appointment at TAMU, he was an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin and prior to that served on the technical staff in the Nonproliferation and International Security Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He teaches courses on the technical aspects of nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and nuclear security as well as fundamentals of nuclear engineering. Dr. Charlton is recognized as one of the technical leaders in nuclear nonproliferation and has over 150 technical publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from TAMU.
Ms. Nancy Jo Nicholas
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Nancy Jo Nicholas joined Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1990 where she is currently the director of Nuclear Nonproliferation Program Office. From June 2006 to June 2010 she was the nuclear nonproliferation division leader. Prior to that she headed the Nonproliferation and Security Technology Program Office where she grew the nuclear safeguards programs in Washington D.C., and Vienna, Austria. She gained significant operational experience by managing an operational Category I nuclear facility for the LANL???s Advanced Nuclear Technology Group. She also serves as vice chair and founding member of the Vienna-based World Institute for Nuclear Security. She recently served a two-year term as president of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management. Her technical field of expertise is nondestructive assay measurements. Ms. Nicholas earned a B.S. in mathematics and physics from Albright College and an M.S. in nuclear physics from George Washington University.
Ms. Carol E. Kessler
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Carol E. Kessler is currently chair of the Nonproliferation and National Security Department at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. She was formerly the director of the Center for Global Security at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and built the center into a renowned program of study in international security and nonproliferation. Prior to that, she served as the deputy director general for the Nuclear Energy Agency at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in Paris, France. From 1984 to 1988, Kessler was an export control and international safeguards analyst for the Office of International Programs at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In 1988, she began her career at the State Department, serving as a foreign affairs officer for the Office of Nuclear Technology and Safeguards. She became the senior coordinator for nuclear safety in the Bureau of Nonproliferation Affairs, a position she held from 1995 to 2000. She recently served on the NRC???s Committee on Homeland Security and Export Controls. She received her B.S. in bio-geology from Brown University. She holds one M.S. in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and another M.S. in national security policy from the National War College in Washington, DC.
Mr. Allen G. Croff
Oak Ridge National Laboratory [Retired]
Allen G. Crofff worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for 29 years, retiring in 2003 and is now an independent consultant. At ORNL he held positions in line and program management working on projects in waste management research and development, analysis of nuclear fuel cycles and nuclear materials management, and strategic planning. One of his significant achievements was creating the ORIGEN2 computer code used worldwide to calculate radionuclide buildup and decay in nuclear material and waste characterization, risk analysis and nuclear fuel cycle analysis. He previously served as chair for a committee of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements on risk-based waste classification. He is a consultant to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America???s Nuclear Future and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Mr. Croff was vice-chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste and a member of the Department of Energy???s Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee. Mr. Croff has worked on numerous NRC committees including the Committee on Management of Certain Radioactive Waste Streams Stored in Tanks at Three Department of Energy Sites. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Michigan State University, an M.S. in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee.
Dr. Bart Ebbinghaus
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Bart Ebbinghaus is a project manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) where he studies the chemical and material properties of actinides, purification by pyrochemistry, recovery from wastes, and disposition in ceramics. For a number of years he also directed the plutonium analytical and materials characterization work at the LLNL plutonium facility. He was responsible for much of the technical work supporting the plutonium pit lifetime assessment. From 2006 to 2009, he was the technical advisor to the Nuclear Counterterrorism Program, which focuses on understanding the potential impact of improvised nuclear devices. He was involved in the technical review of the Department of Energy???s Graded Safeguards Table from which the figure of merit of nuclear material attractiveness originated. He received his Ph.D. in high temperature chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1991.
Dr. B. John Garrick
Independent Consultant
B. John Garrick is the retired CEO of PLG, Inc., an international applied science and engineering consulting firm. He is currently an independent consultant serving a presidential appointment as Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. He served for 10 years (1994-2004), four years as chair, on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission???s Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste. He has an active consulting practice in the development and application of the risk sciences to systems in the nuclear, space, chemical, environmental, and marine fields. His research interests include the quantification and importance ranking of catastrophic risks to society and the environment to support societal decision making. He has served on or chaired numerous NRC committees, including the Committee on Evaluation of Quantification of Margins and Uncertainty (QMU) Methodology Applied to the Certification of the Nation's Nuclear Weapons Stockpile; the Committee on Engineering Aviation Security Environments--False Positives from Explosive Detection Systems; the Committee on Combating Terrorism; and the Committee on End Points for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in Russia and the United States. He is a past president of the Society for Risk Analysis and received that Society???s most prestigious award, the Distinguished Achievement Award; is a Fellow of three professional societies; and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 1993. He received his M.S. in nuclear engineering from UCLA and his Ph.D. in engineering and applied science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mr. Milton Levenson
Independent Consultant
Milton Levenson is an independent consultant. He is a chemical engineer with 65 years of experience in nuclear energy and related fields. His technical experience includes work related to nuclear safety, fuel cycle, water reactors, advanced reactors, and remote control. His professional experience includes research and operations positions at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute, and Bechtel. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1976. Mr. Levenson is a fellow and past president of the American Nuclear Society, a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and recipient of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Robert E. Wilson Award in Nuclear Chemical Engineering. He is the author of more than 150 publications and presentations and holds three U.S. patents. He has served on several relevant NRC committees including the Committee on the Internationalization of the Civilian Nuclear Fuel Cycle. He received his B.Ch.E from the University of Minnesota.


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Thank you for taking the time to take this month's poll.
In this month's Sounding Board, Heidi Schlumpf argues that parishioners ought to give parents with less-than-perfect kids a break—and a helping hand. Are children at church a gift from God or a distraction? Tell us what you think:
Please take our entire survey on kids at Mass.
The results will appear in the August 2011 issue of U.S. Catholic. Order your copy today!
Distracting Children at Mass
We attend Mass to worship God and pray. We have cry rooms for children not old enough to understand what they are at Mass for, or their parents have not explained the Mass.
I look forward to the revised changes in the Mass.
No more dancing girls etc......
People who can't stand noisy fidgitty kids at mass should attend mass at a Catholic retirement home. Most have chapels and regular masses. Some of the congregation are hugging teddy bears but it's been a long time since they were kids.
We do not have a cry room at
We do not have a cry room at my church. There is no room in its tiny structure for such a frivolity. Babies are welcomed at our church. There is a nice changing table in the unisex lav. We would much rather deal with the crying and playing than not have the parents there. Eventually the children learn how to act.
By the way, I thought that the new translation was just that a new translation. I didn't know it had anything to do with dancing girls. Of course, my church never had dancing girls, so nothing will be missed.
Children at Mass
This is a long running topic; if the parent(s) properly prepare their children with the things necessary to keep them occupied that should allow for their attendance. And if the children act up the parents need to remove them from the congregation.
As a mother of six I NEVER used a 'cry room' due to the poor example of some parents, 1. who used it as a play room, and/or 2. spilled Cheerios or other messy food. I went to some daily Lenten Masses with 3 under 5 yrs who thankfully behaved.
Their father and I went to a separate mass on Sundays to spare very young ones from crowded situations. Was there anything more maddening than to see parents distractfully playing with their babies, as though they'd never seen them before.. and obviously paying little or no attention to the celebration.
When infants are baptized we
When infants are baptized we the congregation are called upon to help the parents raise their children in the faith. To my mind, that includes putting up with crying babies, fussy toddlers, terminally bored teens, and kids at those stages where they're actually excited about church even if they don't always behave appropriately. After all, they're family, and good families accept the kids, they don't relegate them to a different room. How else are they going to learn appropriate behavior?
Kids at Mass
I think parents should evaluate their children's behavior. Some kids are just quiet kids and do very well at Mass. Others need wiggle room and a place to vocalize. Our parish has a nursery that is for kids so parents can go to Mass in peace. I know when we lived in various places and my guys were little I took advantage of nursery services. It was so great to have an hour to myself to really focus on the Mass. It was the boost I needed and I know the people who would have been around my little wigglers unknowingly appreciated our attention to others and their possibly one chance a week for Mass.f
Children in church
I am one of those who loves to see children at Mass, especially the very young. Their smiling inquisitive looks remind me of the joy in all of God's creations. Yes, they may be noisy at times. If it persists, most parents take a time out! If their joy in the presence of the Lord bothers you, you are not paying attention.
When raising my own, we sat up front so they could see what is going on. From that beginning they always went to Mass with no questions asked and no behavior issues. Today they still go to church. If you do not start them when they are very young, when do you suggest they start and fully develop their faith?
Besides, I have found the young and restless to be the best teachers of true faith. Have you ever tried to answer the questions of a four year old? I quote from my grandchildren: Deacon, where is baby Jesus? Father, why were they so mean to Jesus? (That was upon closely seeing the giant and bloody crucifix at the church main entrance.) Do they know they should be quiet in church? How bout as the homily was concluding, a small toy truck falls out of a pocket and rolls across the floor to the foot of the alter: Oops!
Cry Rooms
I attended a Catholic Church where the pastor was very pro-life and showed it by taking a stand.
Mass is not the time for us to have me/God time but rather it is a time for community--all the community. Since we are a pro-life Church, babies are very welcomed. Eucharist is a very community orientated sacrament. The first one had thirteen people (at least) and who's to say (since the Apostles were married except for one) there weren't some children there. Children do play a part in the Passover meal.
This pastor did have a "cry room" but he renamed it the "Adults with problems room" and invited any adults who had problems with the noise to attend in that room. Of course you couldn't hear the Mass either. You could have good me/God time.
As a child psychologist I know parents spend every second of their time with infants and toddlers teaching them to talk, interact and develop. Some at Mass then expect the good parents to demand the infant, toddler, child of God to not make their parent happy by communicating. I'm the side of the parent who is a positive interactor with their child and a good teacher of language and religious practices (attending mass). It is good developmental psychology and a good prolife position.
Adults who can't stand noisy kids at mass
tend to be older ones who had their own kids in the day when corporal punishment was used regularly to control kids. Many are probably thinking, "What's wrong with those parents? Why do they allow their kids to run wild like that? Why don't they do like we did, tell them they'll get a spanking at home if they don't behave?" I really think that's a big part of it. The old folks think the kids should be spanked for "acting up". It's what they did with their kids.


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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mark Darr said Friday he would leave office Feb. 1, giving in to pressure from Democrats and fellow Republicans who said his impeachment was inevitable over ethics violations tied to his campaign and office spending.
Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe and Republican members of the state's congressional delegation had begun calling for Darr to resign on Dec. 31, a day after he agreed to pay $11,000 fines imposed by the state Ethics Commission for 11 separate violations, including making personal use of more than $30,000 of his campaign funds. Darr insisted that those violations, as well as improper spending a separate agency found on his state credit card, were unintentional, and had vowed to stay in office.
In a statement released by his office Friday evening, Darr said, "Politics can be a toxic business. I will no longer subject my family to its hard lessons." He had submitted his resignation to House Speaker Davy Carter and Senate President Michael Lamoureux.
Republican leaders in the Legislature expressed relief at Darr's decision. His refusal to leave office had threatened to overshadow GOP efforts in November to build on recent electoral gains, including the party's takeover of the state Legislature in the 2012 election.
"Everyone recognized (impeachment) would be a difficult thing to do and embarrassing for the state," said House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot. "Nobody wanted to do that, but I think people were prepared to do that. To that end, I think this is the best ending that was possible in this circumstance."
Just three days before Darr announced his resignation, the former pizza shop owner had insisted there was no outcry for him to leave.
"It would be an immediate fix to tuck tail and run but I would regret it for years to come," Darr said Tuesday.
In addition to paying the Ethics Commission fines, Darr had promised to reimburse the state for $3,500 in improper spending that the Office of Legislative Audit had found.
With Darr refusing to leave, legislative leaders had begun researching impeachment, a process Arkansas lawmakers haven't attempted since 1871. House Majority Leader Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, said Darr's impeachment was inevitable if the lieutenant governor didn't quit.
Lamoureux, R-Russellville, called Darr's resignation sad but said he believed the lieutenant governor made the right decision.
"He spared a lot of people time and expense and probably some partisan fighting," Lamoureux said.
Darr was elected in 2010 as part of a Republican sweep into state and congressional offices. In 2013, he announced a run for Congress, but he dropped out of the race in August amid questions about his spending.
The lieutenant governor's job is a mostly ceremonial position whose duties include presiding over the state Senate and casting the rare tie-breaking vote in the 35-member chamber. He's paid nearly $42,000 a year.
Darr tangled with Beebe last year when Darr signed into law a bill that kept secret the list of residents with concealed weapons permits. Beebe had left the state, which enabled Darr to act.
Beebe had planned to let the bill become law without his signature, but Darr said his passion for the Second Amendment prompted him to sign it.
"I always thought we had a pretty decent relationship," Beebe said at the time. "Obviously, I'll be much more careful. You can't turn your back now."
It was unclear whether a special election would be held to fill Darr's vacancy. A spokesman for Beebe said the governor was researching his options and obligations. State law says an election must be held within 150 days of a vacancy being declared.
Darr on Tuesday had cited the cost of a special election as a reason for staying. Westerman said lawmakers are considering changing the law during next month's legislative session to avoid having a special election.
The Ethics Commission found that Darr violated portions of the Arkansas code 11 times. The panel said it determined that he had made personal use of $31,572.74 of his campaign funds, received excess contributions to retire his campaign debt, didn't maintain adequate records, failed to itemize loan repayments and accepted improper reimbursement for travel expenses.
Darr's ethics case is similar to one earlier this year involving former Democratic state Sen. Paul Bookout. In that case, Bookout resigned without public pressure from Beebe.
Darr's refusal to leave office had undermined Republican efforts to tie Democrats to recent scandals, including Bookout and former state Treasurer Martha Shoffner's resignation over charges she accepted $36,000 from a broker who did business with the state. Shoffner, who faces trial in March, acknowledged taking the money and quit her post but said the money didn't influence her decision to steer state investments to the broker.
Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo


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Whether it's an malevolent agent, a poorly protected VoIP connection or a highly vulnerable collaboration application, there are countless factors that can threaten the security of a call center. Just ask Michael DeSalles. A strategic analyst with Frost & Sullivan, DeSalles said that it's not enough to simply have a security-minded IT department in place. Rather, he warned, companies must provide security at the network, application and desktop levels to ensure the protection of its highly sensitive customer data. Here are some steps you can take to safeguard your call center from today's security threats.
1. Know the risks. Protecting your call center from threats may "look easy at the outset," said DeSalles, but "this is not your regular do-it-yourself project." Rather, DeSalles said that companies must ascertain the budgetary demands, compliance issues, risk-management programs and data requirements involved in securing a call center's internal and external communication channels before opening its doors. What's more, a disaster-recovery plan will be needed in the event of a serious breach, such as a DoS (denial of service) attack, to ensure business continuity.2. Know compliance issues. From PCI (Payment Card Industry) to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), there's no shortage of certifications and regulatory-compliance issues governing today's call-center transactions. PCI compliance is particularly important, as it carries penalties. Without it, a company may not be able to process credit cards. For this reason, it's critical that organizations do their homework, investigating industry regulations and how to best ensure ongoing compliance. 3. Secure executive support. Ensuring a safe and secure call center takes more than technology: It also demands money. That's why companies must make certain that senior-level management is on board when it comes to identifying — and purchasing — the right tools. But that's not all. If a company has a clean-desk policy requiring employees to lock up their drawers and toss out paper notes, managers must also be willing to commit. Said DeSalles, "You have to set up rules and enforce them. And the rules that apply for the agents are the rules that apply for the managers. So if you have a manager who's not enforcing a clean-desk policy, you fire them. A policy has to have teeth at that level."4. Audit home agents. If you employ home agents in a virtual call center, make sure that they're out of sight but not out of mind. When hiring, conduct thorough background, criminal and financial checks of potential home agents. And make sure that candidates are willing to sign legal documents absolving the company from any liability in the event of criminal wrongdoing. From a technological standpoint, companies should also introduce desktop applications that disallow users from loading unapproved applications. That way, said DeSalles, "You'll never have the issue of agents trying to download iTunes while they're handling a customer call."5. Consider outsourcing. If taking the necessary steps to secure your call center seems overwhelming, consider outsourcing your customer-support capabilities altogether. "In the end, my research tells me it's easier to outsource," said DeSalles. Certainly, handing over this function to a third-party provider can give rise to control — and budgetary — concerns. But immediate access to qualified agents, low attrition rates and built-in security measures are often worth the added cost. "You factor all these considerations together, and outsourcing becomes a very economically viable model," DeSalles said.
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