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To, The Public Information Officer, C/o District Magistrate (D.M), District – Gorakhpur - 273413 Uttar PradeshAPPLICATION UNDER THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005
The Public Information Officer,
C/o District Magistrate (D.M),
District – Gorakhpur – 273413
Uttar Pradesh
Subject: Information required under the Right to Information Act 2005
Dear Sir,
Kindly provide me with the following information requested under the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Regarding -: Welfare work done for Gram Panchayat.
Kindly provide the following information related to welfare work done for
Gram Panchayat – JAGARNATH PUR, Block – KAURIRAM, District – GORAKHPUR, Uttar Pradesh
Particulars of information required : Please provide the certified copy of all the below information in my Email id as well as to below address.
- what is the name and serving period of Gram Pradhan/Sarpanch of Jagarnath Pur Gram Panchayat.
- Account number/bank name/account name of Gram Pradhan where money has sent for welfare work.
- Amount deposited/cheque number with dates to Gram Pradhan account.
3. Provide the following details of works done by the above mentioned Gram Panchayat with following particulars for period of 2008 to 2012 :
a) Name of Work/purpose for which the expenditure was incurred
b) Brief description of the work/purpose
c) Approved fund/amount for each and every work.
d) Date of approval of work/purpose
e) Position/ state of completion of each of the work or the ongoing work
f) Name of the agency responsible for getting each of the work done
g) Date of commencement of each work
h) Date of completion of each work
i) What is the rate at which the contract for work has been given?
j) How much money has already been paid?
k) An Attested copy of the sketch of the each work
l) When and on which basis the decision for getting the work done was taken? provide a copy of the decision
j) Provide the names of the Assistant Engineer and the super intending engineers who supervised the work and approved the payments. Which part of the work was supervised by him?
Period pertaining to information: March 2008 till date.
Find the application fee for the request attached with this application (Indian Postal Order No. _________dated __________ is enclosed).
If you feel that above requested information does not pertain to your department then please follow the provisions of Section 6(3) of the RTI Act, 2005/Also as per the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 please provide the details (Name and Designation) of the first appellate authority w.r.t to your department with the reply to the above request., where I may if required file my first appeal.
I do hereby declare that I am a citizen of India. Kindly provide me with the information at the address/email id mentioned with the application. I request you to ensure that the information is provided before the expiry of the 30 day period after you have received the application.
"I request to forward the application to designated official APIO/Public Information Officer"


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"Since the foundation of the Ballyhea G.A.A. Club in 1884, The "Black & White"
has been worn honourably by young and old and supported far and wide."
Ballyhea GAA Club has been in existence for over 115 years. The history of the club published in 1984 say the first GAA meeting took place in Jim Powers's Forge in the townland of Pruntas in late 1885 or early 1886. Present were Jim Power, Pruntus, Maurice Malone, Shinanagh and Johnnie Linnane Ardskeagh. From these humble beginnings the club grew and grew to what it is today. During its history the club has won County Championships in Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Juvenile Hurling.
Over the years Ballyhea players have helped Avondhu to County success. 1952 saw Lack Morrissey (R.I.P.) play in goal, Mick Quinn (R.I.P.) was corner-back, Jim Walshe (R.I.P.) was full-forward. 1966 saw Billy Fitzgibbon, Jack Russell, and Pat Behan (R.I.P.) win the elusive Senior County medals. All-Ireland medals have come to the parish from most grades, Vocational Schools Colleges, Minor, Under-21 and the two Big Ones, Johnny O' Callaghan in 1986 and Neil Ronan in 1999.
In 1999 our Under 14 team won the County Final, only to be narrowly defeated in the City V County final by Douglas. In 2001 the club won three county title's in one year. Our Minors completed the County Double by winning the Minor "A" Championship and League, while our U-16 hurlers won the "Premier" County Title. This was indeed a great achievement for our club. Incidently our minors were unbeaten for the whole 2001 campaign !!!! In that same year our juveniles won an outstanding 8 Titles, including 3 North Cork C'ship, 2 North Cork Leagues and as mentioned above 3 county titles. A magnificant achievement in any language.
At present the club caters for 3 adult Hurling Teams; Senior, Junior, and Under-21 as well as Junior Football. We also have a very strong Juvenile Club, catering for Minor, U-16, U-14, U-12, U-10 and more. We are lucky to also have a strong Camogie Club who won Under-12 County honours in 1999, and reached the County Semi-Final in Under-14. Our Past Player and Supporters Committee is another vital part of the Club.
The Gaels Memorial Park has been a great servant to the parishioners of Ballyhea and North Cork, but the demands placed upon it now necessitate the purchase of a second playing field. This is why we have launched a fundraising scheme in the form of a Super Draw. With your help Ballyhea G.A.A. can develop the facilities needed to cater for the demands of generations to come. At Present Ballyhea GAA facilities include a well laid out sportsfield, with a large car park. Our Clubrooms consist of Large Hall, museum, two meeting rooms, dressing rooms and a fully laid out kitchen.
Except for a short spell from 1916-1926, Ballyhea has always been in the Championship draws. The Club regained Senior status in 1980 and has continued in that grade since. In that time the Club has contested two County Finals and a number of Semi-Finals. A lot of young players come through our youth system each year to fill the void by retirement.
"We have over a century of Hurling in all grades in Ballyhea.
Hopefully the parish will enjoy another 100 years of the same..."

subset: commoncrawl


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At the Fontainebleau Marina, visitors can dock for the day or overnight during their excursion to Miami. Spend the night in one of the resort's guestrooms (separate from dockage fee) and enjoy an abundance of dining choices, relax at the Spa or simply meet friends for cocktails.
Already staying at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach? Book a private yacht charter leaving directly from the Fontainebleau Marina, located across the street from the resort.
Transient Dockage:
$10.00 per foot/day for private vessels
$10.00 per foot/day for commercial vessels
Holiday, Holiday Weekend, and Special Event Dockage:
$10.00 per foot/day for private & commercial
Term Dockage:
Contact us for rates
All rates subject to change without prior notice.
Offers based on availability.


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Message from the Chairman Fred P. Hochberg:
At the end of June—amid continued global market uncertainty and Brexit--EXIM Bank released its annual Competitiveness Report. Mandated by Congress, the 2015 report illustrates the global competitive landscape of government-supported export finance, and places EXIM's performance in a global context.
This year, the report reveals that EXIM medium- and long-term financing for American exporters declined more than 50 percent. This was largely due to the lapse in authority that EXIM experienced from June 30-December 4, 2015.
Today, with global competition increasing and growth rates slowing, the report found that there was a slight decline in overall export credit support by governments. The response: EXIM's competitors became more and more versatile and aggressive in support of their exporters, while EXIM support for American exporters declined, largely due to the lapse.
In the first three quarters of this year, EXIM authorized more than $4 billion in financing that supported American exports and more than 37,000 jobs that depend on them. . .
Read More (via EXIM Bank)
Check back for workshop details here.


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March 14th and March 15th (Friday and Saturday): Live Performances – 7:30PM Mitchell Hall, University of Delaware. $10 tickets. $5 Students.
March 18th, Tuesday: The Annual Paul Jones Lecture featuring the renowned artist Jonathan Green and a panel of all of the project collaborators. 5:00 pm. UD Gore Recital Hall, Rosell Center for the Arts. Free. We realize this is the same day of the women of promise dinner but do hope we can find a way to people both events.
The Paul R. Jones Annual Lecture features artist Jonathan Green in a symposium in conjunction with UD professors Gabrielle Foreman and Lynnette Overby, poet Glenis Redmond, Towson Professor of Dance, Vincent Thomas, choreographer, Teresa Emmons, composer, Ralph Russell and undergraduate research scholar, Audrey Wright. They will speak about the collaboration that produced the research, poetry, choreography and composing that informs the choreographic suite, "All My Relations." Jonathan Green's 1998 series of paintings about the life of David Drake (Dave the Potter) served as an important inspiration for this collaboration. Video and live performance will be a part of the symposium.
April 12 (Performance/Lecture) Dover, DE
May (Performance/Lecture) Possibly at the Peace Center or in Edgefield, SC
Monday June 30, Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel for the Council on Undergraduate Research Conference, Lunch Lecture/Performance


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Washington DC residential building to be sold for re-development (Photo: Seth Gaines)
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ProducingMarch 04, 2008
So here's a not-so-hypothetical question I'd like to put out there: as a designer what are the saleable products one might go about creating?
I mean products in the sense of re-sellable items that appeal to a mass market, instead of services like individual design work sold to a single client. And at the moment I'm biased toward independently produced and sold products. I've been thinking about this question quite a bit lately, as might be evident by the icons I built last year.
It seems like everyone else is building a web application of some sort. While that's becoming a well-trodden path, you can't exactly slap together a few static Photoshop mockups and convince people to put up money. There's a heavy coding requirement that a lot of designers can't handle. Yeah, uber-genius designer + coder types like Shaun Inman can bang out one-man apps like Mint in their sleep. And sure, you can always team up with a talented coder and collaborate. But for the purposes of this post, let's put aside those possibilities and focus on strictly that which a visual designer is capable of producing on their own steam.
Here are the few ideas I've managed to scrounge up thus far:
- T-Shirts
The big obvious one. With the success of Threadless there's clearly money in it. People will always need clothes. It's a safe bet. But it's also crowded; it seems like everyone and their dog is selling shirts these days, through CafePress or through their own sites.
Pros: services exist to help you get started, probably a safe choice. Cons: inventory and distribution management, finding an audience. Examples: Cottyn, SimpleBits (though it seems to be on hold at the moment).
- Buttons
Also a possibility, but buttons seem like less of a product, and more like schwag. I might be under-estimating the draw of well-designed buttons, but my suspicion is that it's hard to retire off selling them.
Pros & Cons - same as t-Shirts, I'd expect. Examples: DS Buttons, El Boton
- Icons
A lot of designers seem to be coming out with their own icon sets lately, and it's for good reason: icons may be the easiest product to get started with. There's no inventory overhead, and they're useful to designers in a way similar to stock photography or type, which both have proven markets. Of course producing good icons is awfully hard to do, so depending on where your talents lie, the barrier to entry might be higher than simply managing overhead.
Pros: low management overhead. Cons: unlicensed digital files are impossible to control, requires illustration abilities. Examples: Icon Shoppe, IconBuffet, Chalkwork
- Stock Photography
Not only does this take strong photography skills, which (while related) are quite different from design skills, it strikes me as being fairly hard to do independently.
Pros: low management overhead. Cons: requires expensive gear, unlicensed digital files are impossible to control, requires photography abilities. Examples: aside from the now Getty-owned iStockPhoto or Corbis-owned Veer, I can't really think of any significant independent stock photography providers. They must exist…
- Typefaces
I'll mention this for the sake of completeness, but it's not easy to crack into designing typefaces (or at least designing good ones) without years of prior experience. The few times I've customized type outlines I've been fairly glad it's not my job to do this for a living.
Pros: proven market. Cons: unlicensed digital files are impossible to control, requires a lot of experience and talent. Examples: Hoefler & Frere-Jones, Mark Simonson
- Re-sellable blog/web site templates
Given the quality free themes for blog software, I think it would be rather difficult to put together a premium template and license it. The market has decided what themes cost: nothing. Again listed for the sake of completeness, but someone please point me to a good theme that someone's selling for actual cash money, that's also doing well? I think crickets are chirping.
I've seen some other interesting ideas at places like T.26 and their chopsticks packages designed by Carlos Segura (hat tip: Zeldman), and moving a little further out, more traditional products at indie designer stores like Meomi and Gama-Go.
It seems a bit ironic that moving away from the web and into physical products is the most obvious path for web designers to pursue; I wonder if it's possible to do both? Web-based products? Or at the very least, staying on the digital side as much as possible. I've been enjoying watching Dan Cederholm experiment with both digital and web products on top of more traditional products and publications, it'll be interesting to see how these various ideas evolve over the next few years.
And as for myself, well I've already mentioned the icons. I'm not getting rich off those, but I've seen a few interesting things happen since launching that I think will encourage me to keep producing new sets for a while. The numbers aren't there yet, but they're promising.
One thing I have learned though is what everyone will always tell you about marketing: it's not enough to have a product, you have to tell people about it, and convince them they want it. So at SXSW this year I've got a whole pile of sheets of icon stickers that I'll be giving away; each sheet features a mixed variety of icon stickery goodness, collect the whole set!
Ironic, isn't it? Giving away a physical item to promote a digital product? Welcome to this strange new world the internet's creating.
I removed the word "web" from the very first sentence of this post because I think it was tainting people's interpretation of what I'm really asking for here. Medium isn't necessarily a factor, so much as existing skillset. If I had to boil down this entire post to a single question, it's this:
Hey, I've got these visual design skills, what can I do with them that will result in a product I can sell to people?
I realize I also talk about the irony of web designers creating physical products above, but that was meant as more of an aside than the theme of the post. The context of the quoted examples above point to where I'm trying to go with this, and they're mostly design-oriented items, and not specifically web-related.
These look really nice and are definitely a unique idea. Might be nice to throw a sheet in with a purchase as well. Although. I guess the idea is to promote, which if a person is already buying, would seem redundant.
I can't lay claim to coming up with the idea of icon stickers actually, I'm ripping off Microsoft there ;)
If you're sticking to 'pure' design stuff, have you considered how-to videos?
Pick a number of individual challenges in a design tool (like 'creating a metallic look in photoshop') and make a short video/screencast of it. Sell them individually or in bundles.
While you're at SXSW, check out the Lucky Oliver booth for a more grassroots approach to stock photography. I discovered them last year while down there and just wish I had more time to contribute my own photos to their site.
See you down there.
Something that I've struggled with as a developer is finding a good source of design elements for a page. Stock photos are okay, but sometimes you want more of an illustrated look.
I hate "web templates" because nothing's worse than having a site that looks almost identical to another site on the web. I'm okay with overall design in terms of combining elements together to look good, but making each of those elements is beyond my skills (most of the time).
I guess, something like www.vectorstock.com, only with a little more of a web-focus would be cool.
Or hey, if you want to collaborate on a web app or two, I've got a couple in mind that I'm working on :-)
I also struggled with finding a good source of small design elements for pages, I'm development.
Similar to what Denis Hennessy offered, there's always putting together an e-book. Is it better than writing a book outright?
"what are the saleable products one might go about creating?"
knowledge and advice?
To fill in the noise those crickets are making, here's the one example of a blog template that is actually being sold for money: http://www.quommunication.com
It's the only one I've ever seen, but it's not to say that there isn't some sort of market for it out there. Like you said though, since there are so many free ones, it seems like a difficult market to try to make money.
This was an unexpected post. It reminded me of discussions me and my team at work had when others in the organization didn't understand what we did. Because of this, we did the same thing we always did, but "packaged" it in a way that folks could grasp with a sound bit. Some folks got it. Others didn't. We felt like we were doing busy work to market or prove our worth. I got the feeling that that was what you were getting at with this post. Maybe I read it wrong.
From my point of view, moving to more physical items is not where you want to go. You don't create icons, or shirts or buttons or websites. You are a designer in design there is utility and significance. Folks want significance. If you "produce" stuff that can be routinely created, then the routinely created content always races to the lowest cost provider. There's no business in that.
A designer is much more about story, symphony, empathy, synthesis, play and meaning. You can't point to those things, sure, but that is the reason for their high priced value. I'd stick with that if I were you.
Hmm. I think the whole question ("what products can web designers sell?") is a little flawed. Web design, by its very nature, is a service. I'm not sure how you can turn it into a product. It's like asking what products hair stylists can sell. Or architects. (But it's not 100% impossible…I'll get to that in a minute.)
That's not to say you can't sell icons, or stickers, or photography, or tee-shirts, or any of the other things you mention. You can. But, to me, when you start creating, say, stickers, you're being a sticker designer, not web designer. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.
Dan's Foamee is one of a very few exceptions I can think of. He is, truly, producing a web design product. But for the most part, the things you're talking about aren't really things a web designer can do because of a web designer's unique skillset, they're totally separate trades a web designer can learn how to do *also*, and supplement (or even replace) their web design services with.
Again, nothing wrong with that – I think icons, t-shirt, and stickers are awesome! I just don't really think making them has much to do with *web* design, that's all.
All that having been said, Dan has proved that there IS such thing as a web design product (even if Foamee's the only one I know of). I wonder what other true web design products there are to be thought of? To me personally, that's more interesting than "what can I do to supplement my web design services?"
Writing this whilst on wifi at Salon Pop, as the purple is cooking in my hair. According to the owner there is only a 10% profit on hair/nail services but a 37% profit on products sold at the salon.
So Dave may be on to something here.
As a non-illustrator (or at least very allergic to Illustrator) I would love to have not icons but design elements in a variety of styles for purchase, a digital version of the design elements books that one can buy.
I'm with Jeff here, sorta. I think Jeff more clarified the post rather than contradicted it. If the question is "how can you sell web design?" then there's not much there, because as Jeff mentioned its more of a service than a product. But I more see the question as:
"Being born, raised & trained as a designer, specifically one who spends most of his time working on the web, what are other things that I can be involved with that allow me to use my skillset to create a marketable tangible product?"
In this case I think you've covered most of the obvious ones.
But I think there's something important that needs to be said. If one considers himself as just a "web designer" and not a "designer" than I think what that person is saying is that they can only do design in raster @ screen DPI. I usually see "web designers" fall into 1 of 2 different categories. Either a) they are a web designer who can code, in which case your products are web sites and applications. Or b) a web designer who is also just a "designer," i.e, can do design for pretty much any application. In this case the "print" world opens up millions of possible products. Book covers, artwork, posters, print media, clothes, video graphics & thousands more. I think thats an important distinction to make before you decide what products you'd be good at creating/selling.
You just need to find a way to tap into a bigger market that needs what you offer. I'm sure your icons are first rate, and that your book was first rate, but after the initial wave of excitement, the royalty cheques will drop off. Your market is devoted and talented, but small.
You need something that people will pay for over and over, and that has (somewhat) mass appeal.
Sounds like your idea of hooking up with a coder is a good bet as long as you complement one another. And as long as there is some marketing skill in the mix. Coder + designer = nothing without marketing consistently and ruthlessly.
That's the whole Am**y thing about residual income vs trading hours for dollars. As a designer, you get lots of dollars for your hours, but the trick is to continue to get lots of dollars for the work you have already done.
Your question is almost paradoxical. By designing a T-shirt, say, or getting into stock photography, you're moving away from web design. Buttons, stock photos and T-shirts in particular have *nothing* to do with web design. Branching out into those areas, you become less of a web designer and more of a graphic artist.
Of course, regardless of what you call yourself, there are plenty of things you could do: logo design/corporate identity, consulting, illustration…. if you'd rather sell products than services, hats go along similar lines as buttons and shirts. You could write another book or start a webcomic, or rip off Microsoft once more and make *action figures* of your icons. Or if you have an idea for a web application, find someone else to do the coding and do the design work yourself.
Really, it all depends on what you're good at, what you enjoy doing, and how much time you have.
"The market has decided what themes cost: nothing. Again listed for the sake of completeness, but someone please point me to a good theme that someone's selling for actual cash money, that's also doing well? I think crickets are chirping."
I've got to disagree here – the topic of 'premium themes' for Wordpress has been especially hot the last few months.
Successful themes have been launched by Brian Gardner, Solostream, Adii and the aforementioned Quomunnication.
If you'll permit the self-link, I'm also launching a magazine-style theme which comes pre-packaged with CMS options (a contact form, feed management, header/logo management and so on).
When done right, the premium themes concept has proven successful for designers looking for other revenue streams or simply looking to push boundaries.
Hey, to take the design elements thing one step further (because I know that's what everyone's waiting for), it would be neat to put a bit of a Threadless twist on it (an ongoing design competition). So put together some "requirements" and have folks submit theme packs that include all of those elements. Have the community comment/vote on which they like best. You award the winner with a cash prize and ongoing royalties. Why can't the Threadless model work in other places?
@Denis Hennessey - "have you considered how-to videos"
General educational materials are an option for those inclined to teach. I was originally going to list books, and videos would count too.
@J Lane - "I guess, something like www.vectorstock.com"
Stock illustration is tricky; a lot more work goes into each illustration than each photograph. I think there's a reason why clip art libraries are so horrible, and good stock illustration is hard to find. Not to say it can't be done, but my suspicion is that no one has figured out a decent way of making money off illustration other than commissioning it.
@Patrick Lauke - "knowledge and advice?"
See directly above re: books/video. :)
@Paul O'Shannessy - "the one example of a blog template that is actually being sold for money: http://www.quommunication.com"
Thanks! I wasn't aware that existed. Though I'm just now getting to wondering how a premium template provider would deal with the inevitable design rip-off problem, given how often they happen to other sites already.
@David Weiss - "If you "produce" stuff that can be routinely created, then the routinely created content always races to the lowest cost provider. There's no business in that."
Seems to work for movies. And I was going to say the music industry, but, well.
@Jeff Croft - "Web design, by its very nature, is a service. I'm not sure how you can turn it into a product."
Yeah, see my update to the original post, I think by dropping the word "web" in that first sentence I loaded it with meaning that's not meant to be there.
Also see Ms. Jen's comment below yours re: hair-stylists. I think that's exactly what I'm getting at. Coming up with those 37% profit items that a designer can re-sell to supplement the 10% profit services.
Or look at 37 Signals, they went from service-based company to products themselves. They didn't package up what they were doing as a service and sell that, they created something else. I'm wondering what the something else is, if it's not web apps.
In the line of what some other people have suggested, I think that coming up with a website where you could find many different "design elements" to sale to people who can code but can't design very well (there are some of us out there!) would be a great idea. Sort of like "templates", but more granular (A "design your own website" if you will).
The problem with such an idea is that in order to attract masses on the web, your product will need to be free. :-( Take wordpress or flickr, for example, they've got a sweet product, but it's all free. How can you compete! The truth is, you'll either need to find a product that people will be willing to pay OR to find a product you can offer for free, and then use the numbers to your advantage somehow (google anyone?).
By the way, the idea that Jeff and the others bring forth, i.e the fact that a web designer can't sell products because then they are no longer "web designer", is, to me, disputing the very notion of an evolving web experience. Who's to say what the definition of a "web designer" really is… What is the web? What will it be in 5-10 years from now?
In fact, in order to really succeed in your search for a good product to sell, you may need to come up with something that doesn't follow the current trends and molds. Something that will totally blow us away! But maybe I'm just rambling and it's not that complicated. Who knows.
@Rick Hawkes - "As a designer, you get lots of dollars for your hours, but the trick is to continue to get lots of dollars for the work you have already done."
That's pretty much my question in a nutshell. Nice summary!
@Darren Hoyt - "When done right, the premium themes concept has proven successful for designers looking for other revenue streams or simply looking to push boundaries."
I'd be curious to know what successful means in this case. Thanks for more counter-examples, this is a meme that's totally escaped my attention thus far.
Hey Dave-
After reading the your update, it's all much more clear. Sorry to have misunderstood! :)
I'm not sure I have any great ideas on other designy things one could produce and sell with a skillset like yours that haven't been mentioned. But, I really am interested in hearing what thoughts people might have on actual "web design" products. I'm not very interested, personally, in making and selling something more "physical," but I could find myself interested in selling web design as a product, if someone came up with a great idea for how one could do that.
Anyway, sorry to have derailed the conversation a bit…
@Jeff Croft -
Sounds like you weren't the only one that was confused, probably my fault for running off to the printer instead of proofreading before hitting that publish button. ;)
If there's a such thing as a "web design" product other than pre-built templates, I'd love to hear it too. Sounds like reusable pre-built graphic and UI elements, whether those be vector or HTML/CSS in nature (or both), are also something there may be a demand for.
"As a designer, you get lots of dollars for your hours, but the trick is to continue to get lots of dollars for the work you have already done."
That's the gist of developing high-quality Wordpress themes that generate dollars on a per-download basis. Providing some ongoing support via forums is important though too.
"Thanks for more counter-examples, this is a meme that's totally escaped my attention thus far."
No problem – it's definitely a recent phenomenon, and seemingly one with promise.
"Sounds like reusable pre-built graphic and UI elements, whether those be vector or HTML/CSS in nature (or both), are also something there may be a demand for."
Todd Dominey quit two very sweet jobs to sell his Slideshow Pro full-time:
@Dave S. - "Stock illustration is tricky; a lot more work goes into each illustration than each photograph. I think there's a reason why clip art libraries are so horrible, and good stock illustration is hard to find. Not to say it can't be done, but my suspicion is that no one has figured out a decent way of making money off illustration other than commissioning it."
Agreed. What do you think about turning it into a design competition? I had a twinge of "ew, spec work", but it isn't that at all. The best of the best will be chosen and paid a reward. Work can be re-submitted over and over again until the community votes it to first place.
I think you'd lay out guidelines like "must contain a background element (either repeating pattern or large image), a few interface widgets and some flare pieces for use on the page". You'd be specific about what each set should contain (I clearly haven't given this a lot of thought yet). I think you could end up with some really interesting contributions that would have good re-sale potential.
Keep it web-focused, all things that you could use in making a site look good. I can't remember the actual numbers of what Threadless pays designers, but it seemed to me that they were pretty good in terms of percentage and actual prize for winning designs. Designers submitting work could end up with a pretty good return is they win a few, and as the site owner you would get a pretty good percentage of sales.
Great post!
I think the most important part in determining what products a creative person can sell, is to focus on things that you're passionate about. Have an interest in typeface design? Dive in and see what happens. That hobby could turn into a product. For me, these "cottage business projects" have always scratched a creative itch. And they also fuel a certain level of ADD :) But by trying several different mediums, you can see which ones stick and refocus.
Someone mentioned screencasts, which AFAIK hasn't been explored much by CSS/UI folks. Seems like they've been successful for backend programmers (e.g. Rails) and could possibly quite successful for teaching CSS. Very interesting.
The "premium template" thing has always be rattling around as well. For instance, I'd always wanted to expand the Chameleon concept (icons that change color before being purchased) by offering customizable buttons, interface elements and even full templates by allowing the customer to plug in hex values, typeface choices, layout parameters etc. to "build" a theme. At least that way, the end products are somewhat unique.
The thing about premade graphics is that people like to make things their own. This is why sites like Facebook and MySpace allow users to customize their profiles. No doubt there's a large market for premade visuals and designs, but I think if you could somehow tap into the desire for uniqueness you could do well.
An alternate idea: a of marketplace for "visual web elements," such as icons or templates. People could sign up, upload their stuff and sell it, with you collecting a portion of the sale. Something like CafePress, but with more of a community feel.
@J Lane - you're describing Pixish almost to a T.
@Dan Cederholm - "Have an interest in typeface design? Dive in and see what happens."
That's certainly familiar. I said for a while that I'd like to get back into illustration. Then look: icons.
"People could sign up, upload their stuff and sell it, with you collecting a portion of the sale. Something like CafePress, but with more of a community feel."
Almost sounds like Etsy.com but for interactive designers. Not a bad idea.
On preview: or like Pixish!
@Jeff Croft
I've heard of other examples beyond Cederholm's Foamee product related to the web… what about those toys that are being sold:
a stuffed animal that you purchase for your young one, that has an online ID, opening up a virtual world of some sort online for the kids. They can build a home for the physical product, interact online, and all kinds of things from the look of it.
Sounds like a great idea; I would consider this a "Web-product"(as mentioned earlier). IN this case, they have the best of both worlds: sell the physical product at a great profit, and then get the consumer hooked online. From what I have heard from friends with younger children, these things are HUGE. I can imagine how much more they sell after the kid gets into the website and its world.
Could this model be used somehow for adults, kind of like foamee…but maybe something useful in a different way? Maybe this has already been tried before, I'm not sure…
@Dave S. - Eek. Spec work!
Okay, kidding aside, it's sort of like pixish, but we're not talking specific assignments, we're talking building up a library of general design elements.
I've been thinking about this a lot with respect to http://pixel-portraits.com/. It's not *exactly* the same thing but the whole idea of "person cards" came about as a physical good to offset the cost of labor involved in creating a unique pixel portrait. 8-12 hours at $100/hour is hard to justify when all you get in return is a 64x96 gif. But what if you got 1000 person cards with it? What if the portrait was printed on a giant canvas? Like an actual portrait (I'd love to do one of Steve Wiebe from The King of Kong).
The unfortunate thing about pixel portraits is that like traditional portraits they are more of a fine art. There's no money to be made mass-producing a blocky picture of your nephew. Even as niche collectibles (say a deck of playing or trading cards with web or other video game celebrities) I'm not sure the return would justify the initial time investment. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Most stock photography (outside of Veer) stinks. At least the royalty-free stuff. I think that it would be a viable business for a designer who could come up with a decent way to do subscriptions with GOOD stock photography, especially business photography.
The business world is increasingly more casual. And the "business casual" stock photography out there is horrible. All the workers are using antiquated computers and much of the photography is done by *cough* designers, who have never seen the inside of a real office.
I've developed an interest in woodworking lately. For me it was the ability to put a lot of work into something and have an actual physical object to hold in my hand at the end of the day. Great feeling. There are always friends or co-workers who could use some built-in bookshelves (technically carpentry) or other stuff around the house.
Charging someone for just materials is a great way to practice and build up your skill set. A guy at work was quoted $4000 for some built-in shelves from a local carpenter. He offered to pay me $2000. Materials cost about $400 and the rest is gravy! Couple projects like that a month and you're living pretty comfortably.
Having the design background applies right off the bat, and attention to detail doesn't hurt either. And if you ever turn the hobby into a real business, well, at least you've got the web site part covered! :)
I'm with Dan C. about following your interests and passions - if you are a creative thinker, that creativity will spill into anything else you are passionate about (or interested enough in to *become* passionate about).
Typeface design, furniture design, teaching and publishing are avenues I'm exploring of late, to expand into down the road. Also on the list are various experiments in product design (and customization of existing physical products) - as long as it has something to do with design, I know I can get into it.
Looking forward to picking up the set of sticker sheets in a few days :)
Brian: The trouble with something like your example, as it relates to Dave's post, is that it's a web app, with a lot of programming necessary to make it happen. Dave is specifically asking for something a web *designer* could do with his/her skillset alone.
That's not to say that product isn't a great idea – it is. It just doesn't really answer Dave's question, because it's not the sort of thing a web designer could build him/herself.
"And sure, you can always team up with a talented coder and collaborate."
Maybe that's your answer. (Hook up with a good coder.)
IMO, it's easier to license a good app than it is to license good design, simply because it's a less subjective deliverable.
That said, I know mediocre designers who do well producing shopify templates, myspace templates, content aggregator templates, etc.
Great post by the way. Tough to be 100% service forever.
Gah! I keep coming up with ideas that would undoubtedly require a hefty outlay of code. My argument has been that once a platform is in place the whole user focus could be on customisation via purchasing new design components … rather than on improving the platform itself.
Take virtual toys, for example. What if a platform existed that supported virtual points of articulation and facilitated movement and themes/skins. I'd give away the platform, but sell the 'skins' as completely individual characters. I know this particular example is probably a half-baked idea that's been tried and failed a couple of times, but I think you get the idea: establish a platform that facilitates 100% design related sales.
Of course, you could also sell the toys for real. Check out David Lanham's latest work, for example.
Thinking up ideas that aren't tied specifically to a application-based platform (and haven't already been mentioned) are tricky …
One of the obvious things (like icons) would be desktop wallpaper.
Although for computers, they tend to be free, the example of Vladstudio is interesting (membership for high resolutions).
For phones on the other side, creating a service that resizes provided designs to your phone resolution seems to be a service that people (micro)pay for. Maybe it has or will change with new, easier to tweak, smartphones.
I think designer toys and posters might be a great choice. The guys at eboy make some great stuff.
@Dave S.
You dismissed Blog templates because the markets demands the price to be nothing but…
Is a blog the only thing that requires a template?
Think of CMS providers for the SME market - I am in my last week with such a company - or those popular, off the shelf e-commerce applications that are based on template designs and are for the basic internet shop.
Much of these require custom templates (i.e. designer + code) or acceptance of "poor" templates often with table based layouts. These company's may be happy to sell your templates as part of a package such that you receive a percentage of the price charged. You could obviously sell your templates independently of the product and maybe charge an exorbitant exclusivity price.
So glad someone "high-profile" asked the same question I've been asking forever. :) I've been kicked a few times for having the audacity to sell a blog template or two so I can tell you I would probably never go back down that route.
However, there are some good suggestions here, specifically by the Dans. To expand on that just a little, it's my experience that people who genuinely seek to fill a creative or or other personal call will eventually find success in that.
On the other side of the same coin, someone who sets out to make money first and above all else will likely fail because their heart's just not in it.
What about greeting card sets? Apply your personal design take to holidays, events (wedding, whatever), and even event-less cards.
Post cards seem even easier.
I've seen some freelance designers do the greeting card things; some as free gifts, some for sale, and it's seemed to work pretty well. Posters are another great thing. The Hurricane Katrina Poster Project (http://www.thehurricaneposterproject.com/) is a great example of that - limited edition posters. Admittedly, for a good cause, but I think the idea could work. Veerle's "design is" poster competition had prizes, but there were a few posters I'd shell out some cash for, but as of now I can't. So I definitely like the Threadless model for that sort of thing.
As an designer fresh out of college, I'm doing a lot of small freelance jobs that I don't have the budget to spend a thousand hours doing everything, so I also like the idea of design elements for sale. In the LiveJournal icon communities, there are tons of designers/icon-makers who make resources - textures, layer masks, gradients, patterns, etc for Photoshop that people who want to make icons but don't know how to make the effects can use. Most of this is free but here and there people offer premium content for fairly cheap and it's been quite successful.
I think the issue is coming across as offering something useful, versus trying to "cash in"/scam people. Obviously, a successful product that people want will do that naturally, but that's not always easy to determine.
I personally like what Veer is doing with their bags, umbrellas, hoodies, prints et all. I think there's a good market for wearable design that goes beyond the rather saturated tshirt/button market. People want something unique and perhaps a bit exclusive. I'm not sure that answers your question, but there you go. :)
Publishing via Lulu or Blurb is a low-overhead option, at least from a financial perspective. (There's obviously significant overhead in terms of time and effort.)
For any design shop looking to really dive into selling goods, I think the best approach is the Coudal one. Keep churning out ideas, and act on them when there's reason to believe it could be a successful niche business. It would certainly require a much greater dedication to selling products you design than throwing a couple of Cafepress shirts on your site, but a couple of t-shirts aren't going to be the next Jewelboxing. The reward is potentially great if the idea is unique, good and well-executed.
I know one of the guys at Joomlashack ( http://www.joomlashack.com/ ) and they're doing pretty well with the commercial CMS template biz.
The web app thing is no panacea. We (three of us) spent nearly a year building Gift Ecology ( http://www.giftecology.com ) and it's hard to generate an audience for such a big-think concept. It would be far easier, but much less fun, to simply "solve a problem." So that's one trade-off.
We're starting another web app project soon (two of the original three founders), also in the "internet of things" space, and are focused a bit more on the market outreach than product design. The product is much simpler, which helps.
I get my stock photography from SXC: http://www.sxc.hu/ I don't know how independent they are but there's lots of good stuff.
I started writing a response to this late last night but it got unwieldy and turned into a blog post and I guess trackbacks aren't allowed.
You can read the post here: http://icanhaz.com/iwantdesignertote
Jist was that I would like to see some of my favourite designers making tote bags for using when I do my weekly shop. The supermarkets in the UK are moving away from plastic bags but while the reusable bags they sell for use are functional they are a bit dull.
I tried the T-Shirt route myself, and you're right about the cons. I think the hardest part is finding a niche that sets you apart from all the other T-Shirt retailers. Not to mention that you need a decent amount of $$ just to get setup.
Part of the issue is that designers are almost always applying thier trade to an already-existing product or idea. In other words, design hardly ever exists in a vacuum.
Design's cousin is fine art, which almost always exists in a vacuum. Maybe you should get into painting?
Stock photography has actually worked out pretty well for me. I contribute to http://www.ShutterStock.com and http://www.Fotoliacom and earn some decent extra cash from those. Sure there was the equipment expense, but the photography has already paid for it. And now I can be in control of the photography for my own projects and for my clients. ShutterStock now offers stock video as well.
Being a designer, using Photoshop comes as second nature for me. So getting into stock photography was kind of a no-brainer for me.
What about posters like
You can also do books, like
or other fun stuff like what these guys do
I realize I'm coming a bit to this thread, but I definitely find it interesting. As one of the three creators of DS Buttons I can confirm that buttons tend to lean a bit more towards swag and less towards an acutal product you can sell. I still feel the concept was a strong one and it was a lot of fun to work on. That said, none of us have gotten rich from them although we did make a little money.
It's an interesting topic, and I don't have much more to add in terms of new ideas on what just designers can do to make some residual income. I do agree though that you should focus your efforts on things you're passionate about like Dan Cederholm and Rubin suggested, but I'd add that you should look towards things that have a chance of bringing in some recurring revenue as well. If nothing else it helps keep you motivated to work on the project.
I've found things like buttons and t-shirts (with the exception of the big places like Threadless) tend to dry up after the first few months. For example, we made 90% of our income in the first month of sales with DS Buttons. It sounds like the icon business might be a bit more steady, but from my experience the physical goods are a lot more difficult (not to mention stocking the items, shipping, etc.).
Stock photography is becoming really saturated to make any decent money out of it. The mass photo sites like istockphoto, have millions of images that sell for less than $5.
I guess you have to have some very unique photos, or at least a lot of them.
This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. It lead me to create this: http://moustachefactory.com/ . And I have to agree with your comments about buttons. While I've sold a bunch, I'm not exactly ready to quit the day job on my button income. It's been a fun experiment, though; I haven't really put a ton of effort into it, but it's something I'd like to take further eventually.
Lots of good ideas here in the comments and in the article.
I think that selling CMS themes is a good business model that will continue to grow. Its been popular with Joomla for years and will migrate to Drupal eventually. Its already occurring in Wordpress. Someone else mentioned that your also purchasing support when you purchase one of these themes. So, its a product with a service attached.
I'm personally interested in selling educational items. So, teach people web design or graphic design. Books and ebooks have been mentioned. Creating a small group of paid members for a site where they learn web design would be cool. Of course this isn't a product, but rather still a service.
Educational videos are a product though. Lynda.com is a good example of this kind of business. If you find a market that isn't being served that needs the material then go for it. Lynda can't cover everything. Lullabot is coming out with a Drupal DVD for example and Lynda doesn't cover that.
Re: Stockphotography market "being saturated"
Having spent the last 5 weeks creating storyboards using istockphoto imagery, I can say that there are massive opportunities here.
Stock photography has it's cliches, but if you can improve on them or add a twist on them then your product will be hot. Also, there are plenty of holes in the catalogue - e.g. I needed imagery based on OHS and ergonomics - if they could be filled I'm sure you'd see a quick return.
Custom apparel still has a lot of appeal. But I agree that Cafe Press is a tough way to go. And keeping your own inventory is tough too. I recently dealt with Custom Avenue (www.customavenue.com)and think I've found pretty cool solution.
10% commission. It all works on iFrames, so it really can look like the art and design tool is on your site. You can create your own art work, and link to their design studio and allow the user to add their own wording etc. to "customize" the design.
Greeting cards are a cool idea, sold in packs and allowing the buyer to customize a few lines of text. They are pretty easy to get printed too.
Icon stickers for sale is definitely an idea worth pursuing. Think about ratings icons, and labels and stuff that people can throw onto physical goods. Stores could use these labels on their goods to mark them for users.
Create Coorporate Identities ;)
I have a buddy that won a Dot Net Nuke skinning contest a couple years ago and he's been banging out skins ever since. DNN really seems to be developer driven and most skins look like they were created by developers - not designers.
He makes templates which can be easily colour co-ordinated (like Sir Cedarholm's icons) and also makes one-off skins for businesses that don't want to go the template route.
While it's not for everyone (I can see it getting boring after a spell) he's good at and make a comfortable living.
If I had the next big idea, I'd be downstairs in my studio banging it out - not telling you about it - that's for sure :)
I may be a little late adding my two cents - but I wanted to add a vote for vector design elements - as well as icons. I tend to go to istockphoto.com for my graphics, and find it particularly challenging to find vector graphics which meet my needs that have corresponding icons available to tie everything together.
As for CMS templates - one thing I've considered doing is focusing on designing headers (I guess somewhat splitting the difference between design elements and creating full templates).
Another option I've been exploring is, in lieu of blog templates, focusing on some of the other website development software tools. The non-code-savvy (or less code-savvy) crowd using options such as rapidweaver and sandvox (I'm not familiar with any similar windows software) are also building template-based sites. I'm a CSS novice, and my understanding is that the coding might be offensive to a purist's eyes/sensibility - but you'd at least be able to influence the quality of the design!
None of those areas seem over-saturated to me. Regardless, since you would be also bringing your name/brand to the table, these would be premium/"boutique"/"designer" products.
From your blog, it sounds as though you enjoy creating - so I'm also adding my vote towards pairing up with a developer. We need more pretty applications in this world! Perhaps widget design?
(A lengthy response - because I think there is so much potential - thanks for indulging me!)
- Faryl
The funny thing about stickers is that I always find myself budgeting them. So, rather than stick them all over the place, I pile them up in anticipation of the penultimate sticker receptacle.
Great job on the stickers, they are by far the most interesting thing I acquired in Austin. It was awesome to meet you at SXSW; if you're ever up for a trip to the beautiful state of California, let me know.
Check out the scrap booking section at your local walmart. These icons could make some good money there.
I've also been walking around with the idea on how to monetize my design skills. For now i'm focusing on designing Wordpress themes, but in the Netherlands there is just a very small market for these products.
Lets focus on the question at hand:
"Hey, I've got these visual design skills, what can I do with them that will result in a product I can sell to people?"
When it comes down to it, design skills are service orientated and dependent in nature. They completely rely on someone saying (for example), "We are going to produce and sell a portable music playing device. But hmmm… what should this device look like?"
That is what "designers" are for.
The money comes from the person who knows what product to sell to people, not the industrial designers, illustrators, graphic designers, etc. who design it… because let me tell you there are plenty of people who can make something look pretty.
I feel like your question is basically asking, "Hey, anybody have any good ideas I can rip off?" And I understand that was not your intention, but please realize that the people who do know the answer would never tell.
This is why companies pay for market analysists aimed at answering the question "What can we produce vs. what should we produce?"
@Chris Hoffman - "I feel like your question is basically asking, "Hey, anybody have any good ideas I can rip off?" And I understand that was not your intention, but please realize that the people who do know the answer would never tell."
I'd have thought the 67 previous comments suggested we're having a discussion, rather than I'm outsourcing production ideas I can profit off of. I'm not the only one wondering this, and clearly I'm not the only one willing to share ideas. Wasn't that obvious?
Hi Dave
I haven't read all the comments, so I don't know if anyone has suggested this yet… but maybe you should consider designing skins for Second Life or There.com (or any of those other 3D sites).
I have a mate who designs various skins for There.com (mostly car skins and houses) and is making US$50 / day from sales . (Not a heap of money but she just does it for fun , she's not a preofessional designer.) Apparently, if you install There's 3D software, you can design new objects for that space and sell those too.
It looks like Moo.com are soon opening up their design partnership process, which might present another attractive option for turning your work into physical products.
Looks like a standard revenue sharing model.
>> Given the quality free themes for blog software, I think it would be rather difficult to put together a premium template and license it. The market has decided what themes cost: nothing. <<
That's one of the best points you mention there mate. I have thought about ways as a designer to add some extra income, too but getting money from themes is not the way to go.
There.com looks kind of like secondlife, I am really surprised your mate makes 50$ a day worth sales based on that… love your site, keep it up, jez
What could work? Something where your design-skills are persistently needed, plus are the basic product itself. But does such a thing exist?
Magazines/Newspapers are more about the content, with which comes a hell lot of work one undoubtedly can't handle
T-Shirts & such are nice, but with threadless, spreadshirt and the likes in mind it's probably the biggest competition and not quite the solid ground
What else is out there?
A very basic thing as a designer … we're whores. If people want something they'll try to get it from us (for the lowest price possible, most likely).
Everything else belongs to artists, I fear.
Design, no matter which kind, is always a "virtual, non-material value". Of course there's independent fashion designers and furniture designers, but they are, just as the designer teaming up for a web application, bond to another profession and their basic products are goods of daily needs - furniture & clothes.
Why is this? Because to design means to make something existing beautiful, not to make something in the first place. Design is not a product. We put a design onto products.
I've seen some people making money selling wordpress templates. Well, not exactly "selling" wordpress templates because they distribute it for free but they embed links unto the templates to sell. People make around $90-120 per template. Not exactly big $$.
Physical products are a non-starter in my opinion. Unless you can come up with a new product and start a trend then you'll probably end up doing a lot of work outside of your core areas of interest just to make it work.
Design is a service, that's true, but all you really need is a way to make it return more than a one off fee. Templates etc are low level stuff that wont be bringing in revenue a year from now let alone ten.
My suggestion is to start a little design collective with a few others to widen the disciplines represented and offer premium level design services to promising startups in exchange for shares. The startup gets professional quality work at no immediate cost at the point where they really need to develop their brand identity ( a complete package including website, logos, print advertising etc would be a big win for them ) and you get investments that MAY appreciate to many many times the value of the work done.
This has an element of risk but it isn't intended to replace your day job but is more like a lottery ticket with more favourable odds! Most startups will fail, some will produce steady income and the odd one will go nuts and make your fortune.
For my mind the greatest benefit of this scheme is it keeps you doing what you do best at the highest level, not supplementing your pay by pimping haircare products to your customers.


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For yet another year and with UBB support Apollonia transformsSozopol town into a summer capital of culture
- Beloslava will be awarded with UBB's special prize at the festival's opening on August 31st
For yet another year Sozopol town will be transformed into a summer capital of culture in the days between August 30th and September 8th, when it will host the 2012 Apollonia Festival of Arts. A traditional partner of this event is United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), which support for an 18th consecutive year provides the Bulgarian audience with the opportunity of enjoying unforgettable cultural events and unique art atmosphere, bringing together at one place some of the most famous musicians, theater actors, artists, writers and moviemakers as well as their fans.
This year's Apollonia ten-day program features a total of 67 diverse and interesting initiatives, organized by Apollonia Foundation and Sozopol Municipality. The town's amphitheater will host a total of 9 concerts, the first of which– on August 31st - is supposed to officially open the festival itself. On this day the stage will be graced by the world-famous diva Alexandrina Pendachanska, who will delight the Bulgarian audience with her performances, accompanied by the pianist Lyudmil Angelov. Apollonia's official opening will coincide with awarding the traditional prizes. UBB's special prize this year goes to the popular and beloved pop performer Beloslava, having become one of the emblems of Bulgarian music over the past two decades.
Also on August 31st the author of a photo from previous festivals will become known, who will be awarded the big prize in My Apollonia photo contest, organized by Apollonia Foundation and UBB. Over 35 original photos with captured unforgettable moments of the festival events from Y1984 until the present have been submitted for participation so far and their submission deadline is August 29th inclusive. The winner will receive a cash prize, provided by UBB and the selection will be made through voting on Apolonia's webpage in Facebookwhich will also continue for yet another day. Prize–passes for events from the festival program have been ensured for the first and second runner-ups, too.,
"UBB's traditional partnership with Apollonia is one of the main focal points in the bank's sponsorship program. We are aware of the fact that with the support provided by us, we make this unique event happen, which gives an opportunity to a wide range of people to touch in live contemporary Bulgarian art and experience one-of-a-kind emotions ", Anka Kostova, Manager of UBB Public Relations and Sponsorship Unit, commented. "We hope that in the year when UBB celebrates its 20th anniversary on the Bulgarian market, the festival will be even more splendid and more fascinating than ever", she added.
Within the days to follow Apollonia's opening, the audience may attend in the Amphitheater the concerts of Angel Zaberski Big Band Brass Association, Vassil Petrov, Akaga featuring Lyubo Kirov, Mariana Popova and Dani Milev, Nayden Kirov Folkdance Theater from Rousse town with Kamen Donev's special guest appearance and many others. Dublin Gospel Choir arrives for an exclusive appearance at Apollonia 2012 – this is one of the few bands working with celebrities of the world music scene, such as Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, John Legend, Damien Rice. With its incredible sound and impressive interpretations the choir attracts a numerous audience and is one of the most famous and favourite choirs in Ireland as well as in many other countries.
Apart from that, music fans will be able to enjoy 8 concerts to be performed in UBB Club during the days of Apollonia. Hilda Kazasyan together with Zhivko Petrov, Michail Yosiffov, Milen Kyukosharov and Hristo Yotzov will perform live on 2nd September. A day earlier, the club will host a concert by the Pedro Negresku Jazz Trio (Romania), Steve Hamilton (Great Britain), and Hristo Yotzov. Militza Gladnishka, Eva Quartet, TRI O FIVE, Kamelia Voce are among the other performers that music fans will be able to hear in UBB Club.
Another 9 concerts will also be held in the Archeological Museum in Sozopol town. The museum halls will be filled with the sound of Spanish fire concert by Yan Maxin (cello) and Ani Gogova (piano); of a concert dedicated to Edith Piaf, performed by Maria Elena Infantino (Italy) and Georgi Slavchev, Frosh String Quartet, the soprano Tsvetana Bandalovska, accopmpanied by Vesko Stambolov on the piano, the guitar duo Tzvetan Nedyalkov and Vesko Koychev, the violinists from Mincho Minchev's master class etc.
The program of Apollonia also features interesting theatre productions, which will be presented on stage at the Otetz Paisii Cultural Centre. There will be guest productions by Plovdiv Drama Theatre – Doll's House, Sofia Theatre – Tiramisu, Nikolay Binev Youth Theatre with two productions – Love Song and Love and Money, Little City Theatre Off the Channel with Golden Bridges and Sequoia, directed by Bina Haralampieva and Civilization Semi-understood, directed by Tedi Moskov etc.
The fans of the Seventh Art will also be able to enjoy impressive titles. One of the movies that will be shown in the cinema at Otetz Paisii Cultural Centre is Komi, the People documentary, directed by Petar Popzlatev and with cinematography by Emil Hristov, shot in the mid 80's and then secretly banned and considered destroyed. The movie will now have its first performance in front of the Apollonia audience. Face to Face with Agripina, directed by Nayo Titzin, The Boy Who Was King, by Andrey Paunov, I am You, by the director Petar Popzlatev and Violeta, Zhoro and I, by the director Lyubomir Popov are some of the other titles that viewers will watch.
The Art Gallery in the Old Town will host 3 exhibitions and 17 book promotions and literary readings. Alek Popov, Milen Ruskov, Mirela Ivanova etc. will present excerpts of their works. The audience will have the opportunity to meet the recently popular throughout Europe FYROM-born poet Nikola Madzhirov, who will present his poems from the Relocated Stone poetry book.
Along with the above the streets of Sozopol town will also be decorated with the paintings of the Colours of Day and Night Students' Project, which vision will differ during daytime and at night thanks to special effects. Within the Apollonia Kids, the international Spiritual Mirror Society will present children's achievements in various international competitions.


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- Before you open an account, always make sure that they casino you wish to play at is fully licensed and registered. In order for a casino to be legal in Europe and the UK, it needs to be licensed in Gibraltar, Alderney, or Malta. Online casinos which are properly licensed will have this information readily available on the front page of their website. If you cannot find information about a casino's gaming license, avoid that casino at all costs.
- Before choosing an online casino, make sure that the banking options are accessible to you living in the UK. Try to choose a casino that offers account in GBP to avoid conversions, and one which has a wide array of deposit and withdrawal methods that match your needs and are used in the UK.
- Casinos with independent accreditations or which are members of independent organizations are typically better to play at. Casinos which are affiliated with eCOGRA are considered to be some of the most reliable and fair, as these casinos are independently audited in order to ensure that they are run fairly and securely and that they meet the highest industry standards.
- Not only is the reputation of the casino you choose important, but you should also be aware of which software provider they use, and its reputation as well. Playing at an online casino that uses high-end, reputable software can make such a huge positive difference as smaller, less well-known companies often have reliability issues or do not have good relationships in the industry.
- You want to choose an online casino that has round-the-clock customer support, just in case anything goes wrong. Check online reviews to read about other players' experiences with the customer support at a specific casino, and when you first sign up, you should test the support by calling, emailing, or using the live chat. All of the top casinos have a live chat feature.
- Make sure that whichever online casino you choose, they have plenty of games for you to enjoy. You not only want a casino that offers the exact games that you like, but one that is constantly debuting new games and titles. Most of the top UK online casinos offer more than 100 games, but the majority of those are video slots, and table game players should always make sure that their particular game is on offer.
- Of course, you need to be sure that the casino's software if compatible with your system. It should be noted that not all downloadable casinos are available for Mac, and that if you have a Mac you may need to play on the flash version of the casino. However, all of the top UK online casinos should not only offer a flash version, but also a downloadable version for Mac and PC, and some even offer mobile versions as well.
- Know your local laws regarding online gambling. Some online casinos will accept players from any country, even if gambling online is illegal in that particular country. For instance, gambling online is technically illegal in the United States, and most top online casinos will not accept US players. However, some online casinos take a risk by accepting US players, as do the players themselves.
- If you are not in the UK, you want to choose a casino that supports your local language and currency. This extends not only to the language in the online casino itself, but that there is customer support which speaks your language, as well. And if you can use your local currency, you can avoid costly exchange fees.
- After you have finally chosen a casino and set up an account, you should set a budget for your online gameplay. New players often lose too much, too quickly and have a negative experience. Set a budget at the very beginning which is not for any more than you can afford to lose; never expect that you will win money. And when you have exhausted your budget, you should just walk away.
- Play games that you already know. While the big-jackpot games can be quite enticing, they can have specific rules and quirks that new players are not familiar with. Sometimes what may seem like win actually isn't, so it's best to play on games that you understand so that there are no surprises when you first start out.
- Always take advantage of every possible casino bonus. Not only should they be a factor in choosing an online casino, but you should also take advantage of every single bonus offered once you have become a player at that casino. These casinos often offer amazing generous welcome bonuses as well as on going and periodical promotions and events that can really boost your bankroll.
- You should also know the rules and requirements for each bonus which is offered to you. There is no such thing as free money, even though it may be made to sound like it. Ever casino bonus comes with a wagering requirement which must be met in order to unlock and withdraw the bonus. Also, some bonuses require you to claim them in different ways, so make sure that you always claim the bonus correctly so that you don't miss out.
- Take advantage of free slot tournaments as well. You can take a shot at winning a small amount of money without having to risk a single penny from your own account. While you won't win much more than a few quid, it's still free money that they casino is offering if you win.
- No matter what anyone else says regarding systems or bonuses, the only good way to find success gambling online is to set budgetary limits and bet within your budget. If you have a budget and stick to it, you will never end up losing more than you can afford, or chasing after lost money.


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friendly competition
All right, interwebs friends, I've been thinking about doing this for years, but this time I finally got around to it. It's time for the NCAA basketball tournament and I think a friendly bracket competition is in order. I've created a group over at ESPN's Tournament Challenge called AidBloggers2011. All you have to do is create an account over there, join the group, and make your tournament picks before the first game on Thursday morning. A few caveats:
- One entry per person.
- Please register using your Twitter or blog handle if you have one so everyone knows who's playing.
- Brackets lock before the first game tips off on Thursday.
- You can't move another bracket from another group into this one after the first game tips off on Thursday.
- Nothing locks and nothing counts with regards to the play-in game on Tuesday.
If you're not American and/or not obsessed with the NCAA tournament, I'd still encourage you to enter. The person who wins these pools is almost always someone who has no clue whatsoever about the teams and picks based on the team uniform colors.


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There were some impressive quilts on exhibit and fabulous vendors. While in prior years so many vendors were selling fat quarters from the same limited set of fabric lines, this year there was tremendous variety among the vendors. I had to work very hard on impulse control! I'll show you what I bought tomorrow but tonight's post is about the quilts I saw in the show.
Sandhill Stars by Sandi McMillan of Albion, NE
This quilt was pieced and quilted on a domestic machine. It won 1st Place in the Traditional category. The workmanship is exceptional! The center of each star is perfectly flat, none of that cupping effect you can get when so many pieces come together. In the photo below, you can see the feathers quilted in the background spaces.
Blue Rapsody by Carolyn Rider of Portsmouth, OH
This quilt won a ribbon for best machine workmanship. Look at the quilting in the white spaces in the photo below.
Summer Mole by Cheryl Lynch
The design was inspired by Mexican tiles. She has several quilts on display from her book called Quilt Fiesta! This quilt is both pieced and appliqued, which you can hopefully see in the close-up below.
In My Retirement by Marge Hurst of New Zealand.
Hand pieced and hand quilted, this quilt won an honorable mention in the Traditional category. You can see the quilting below. I like this quilting design for a hexie quilt. I'm guessing that Marge didn't have time to make this until she retired!
Aurora Florifeous by Helen Marshall of New Zealand
Wow, I love the use of color in this design! Think of the stash required to make it! Many of the hexies were fussy cut; see close-up below.
Forest Sunlight by Jecelyn Thornton of New Zealand
Machine pieced and hand quilted in batik fabrics. Batiks are not usually my thing but I love the use of color in this and how it actually looks like a light is shining from the center of the quilt.
These last three quilts from New Zealand were part of a special exhibit called World Quilt Competitive XV: On Tour. It included quilts from many countries.
Come back tomorrow for more on the show and a glimpse of my loot.


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Chronic daily headache in U.S. soldiers after concussion
Theeler BJ, Flynn FG, Erickson JC. Headache. 2012; ahead of print.
Concussions occur in almost a fifth of the United States service members that are deployed and the most common sign and symptom is headache. Headaches following a concussion can last for up to a month. Chronic daily headache (CDH) is defined as 15 or more headache days per month and little is known on the association between CDH and concussions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, characteristics, and other factors that are associated with CDHs in United States soldiers who had a previous history of a concussion. This was a cross-sectional questionnaire based study with a cohort of 978 soldiers who had a diagnosed concussion upon returning from Iraq or Afghanistan. Information about the head trauma was obtained by interviewing the soldier and from their medical records. The soldiers also took several questionnaires [i.e., Madigan Redeployment Evaluation of Concussion (MREC), Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was evaluated by the PTSD checklist PCL (military version), and a traumatic brain injury questionnaire]. The MREC is a neurocognitive-screening tool for concussions specifically for returning soldiers. The PTSD test is a checklist of signs and symptoms of PTSD. A global measure of the severity of their traumatic brain injury was determined by a 2-plus-10 questionnaire (2 yes/no questions followed by 10 injury screening questions using a Likert scale). Overall, 957 (20%) reported headaches in the preceding 3 months. Concussions occurred most commonly due to an explosive blast (~80%). Twenty percent of those with a history of deployment-related concussions and reporting headaches reported 15 or more headache days per month for the previous 3 months thus qualifying to be diagnosed with CDH, 78% were categorized as patients with episodic headaches. These soldiers with CDH had a median of 26.7 headache days per month and had the headache syndrome for about 11.5 months. Fifty-five percent of those with CHD had an onset of headaches within 1 week of their concussion compared to only 33% of those with episodic headaches. There was no significant difference between mechanism of injury (e.g., blast or non blast) or number of previous concussion between soldiers with CDH and episodic headaches. Significant signs and symptoms associated with CDH compared to those with episodic headaches are phonophobia (sensitive to noise) or photophobia (77%; sensitivity to light), nausea (45%), disruption of activities of daily life (55%), worse with physical exertion (66%), and throbbing (88%). In addition nearly half (49%) of the CDH soldiers used therapeutic analgesics 15 or more days a month to treat the headache compared to soldiers with episodic headaches who took medication an average of 3.3 days a month. CHD soldiers' traumatic brain injury score mean was 14.4 out of a possible 39, which was significantly higher than those with episodic headaches (12.0). More soldiers with CDH (41%) had a PCL score greater than 50, a positive screen for PTSD, compared to those with episodic headaches (18%).
The prevalence rate of concussions within returning soldiers is ~20%. Though there was no significant difference between mechanism or concussion history there seems to be a difference in many other factors between those soldiers diagnosed with CDH compared to those with episodic headaches (e.g., signs and symptoms, questionnaire scores, amount of medication used). Head trauma, regardless of mechanism or number of previous concussions, has been shown to trigger new headaches or exacerbate preexisting headaches. The soldiers diagnosed with CHD had significantly greater PTSD PCL score, so posttraumatic stress may exacerbate or contribute to headache frequency following a concussion. Also many of those with CDH had used medication to alleviate pain; however, medication overuse has been associated to transforming episodic headaches to chronic migraines. The prevalence rate of concussions in the athletic field is also ~20% and headache is also the most common symptom reported. Though, the mechanism of concussion is much different do you think some of the athletes' concussion signs and symptoms are exacerbated by the posttraumatic stress of the injury? Have you noticed athletes with a history of concussions reporting CHD?
Written by: Jane McDevitt MS, ATC, CSCS
Reviewed by: Jeffrey Driban
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|The Forefathers, Graham Day, Wolf Howard & Allan Crockford by Paul Slattery
|Graham Day by Paul Slattery
Check out the Retro Man Blog YouTube Channel for a bonus video of "Sucking Out My Insides".
|All Photos Copyright Paul Slattery 2014
|The Forefathers, Graham Day, Wolf Howard & Allan Crockford by Paul Slattery
Thanks to Paul Slattery and Allan Crockford. You can read a report on the Bethnal Green gig, including more of Paul's great photos, on the Blog here. Lots more videos of both Forefathers gigs, and other great bands, can be found at the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here. We also play a lot of Graham Day music and other Medway favourites such as Galileo 7, The Len Price 3 and more in various episodes of our Retrosonic Podcast, have a search through our archive here. In Part 2 of our latest Episode 12 "But If It Thrills Me Then That's Alright..." we waxed lyrical about The Forefathers' Bethnal Green gig like star-struck teenagers and play our pick of the show (there's a clue in the Episode title...). Listen in below...