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Conference Review: UPA 2007: Part I
Published: August 20, 2007
The Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) held its UPA 2007 conference at the Hilton Hotel in Austin, Texas, on June 11–15, 2007. This conference has a lot to offer, with a blend of
- the inspirational—keynotes and other invited speakers
- the didactic—tutorials, presentations, and peer-reviewed papers
- the participatory—workshops, idea markets, and special interest groups (SIGs)
- the social—cocktail receptions, networking breaks, lunches, and evening fun
This year's theme focused on Patterns and how they serve as "blueprints for usability." Conference co-chair, Carol Smith (shown in Figure 1), articulated the pertinence of this theme. "As usability professionals, our ability to observe users and to discover their patterns of interaction is integral to our work. By defining these patterns, we can then leverage that knowledge to create usable interfaces that are familiar and useful to our users."
Figure 1—Conference chairs, Carol Smith and Allain Robillard-Bastien
Even on the heels of the 25th anniversary SIGCHI conference, which attracted a large number of North American UX professionals, this year's UPA conference reached a record high of 741 attendees. This makes an exciting statement about the growth that has taken place in our field and industry's increasing recognition of usability professionals as strategic business partners in the product and service development lifecycles. Also, a conference focusing on patterns that garners this much interest seems to indicate that we are maturing as practitioners. This renewed interest shows we are seeking to learn from our successes, leverage our mistakes, and develop more efficient means of performing our work, with the hope that patterns will help.
I attended UPA 2007 with the hope of learning more about the relationship between design and patterns. Unfortunately, the designer's perspective was not well represented at this conference. Given the history of the organization and its focus on usability testing, this was really no surprise, but one hoped for the best. The CHI 2007 conference had the same problem this year. If two of the largest and longest-standing UX conferences are not meeting the needs of designers, is it time for the design community to organize a new conference for themselves?
Despite this gap in the conference's content, I learned something of even greater importance during the UPA conference this year. UX practitioners within every niche of the field are beginning to re-evaluate the working relationships within UX teams—between team members with different specialties—as well as with our external work partners—the members of multidisciplinary product teams. The next one or two years are going to be critical to the field of usability, as we attempt to redefine our roles and establish common definitions and processes in the face of increasing diversification. Creating awareness and beginning the dialogue solves half the problem. Because of the conversations and formal sessions that took place during the conference, what I took away from UPA 2007 was a sense of hope and anticipation for the future.
Overall, the conference was fairly well organized. The registration process was smooth and simple. Within seconds of mentioning your name, the registration booth staff provided a tote bag, water bottle, and a personalized packet, containing a welcome letter and registration receipt, the conference program, a conference badge, proceedings CD, and meal/drink tickets, plus information regarding any pre-registered workshops and tutorials. The registration booth (shown in Figure 2) and nearby message board served as the central information hub for the conference, providing a convenient place for attendees to learn about conference happenings, receive personal messages, and learn of any session additions or changes.
Figure 2—UPA 2007 registration booth
Overall, the conference planning committee, the hospitality booth staff, and the crew of poncho-clad conference volunteers (shown in Figure 3) made sure everything went on without a hitch. Having served in some of these roles in former years, I know they worked very hard during the conference and remain the unsung heroes. As an attendee with no conference-related obligations this year, I can say that everything looked great from the outside looking in.
Figure 3—Conference volunteers in their ponchos
Content & Presenters
The first two days of the conference, Monday and Tuesday, were devoted to special sessions like tutorials, interactive workshops, and on Tuesday, the Experienced Practitioner program. Because of other commitments, I was unable to attend any of those sessions. On Wednesday, the conference officially began with an opening plenary. The three days of the conference were filled with sessions belonging to the following categories:
- invited speakers
- experienced practitioners
- methods and skills
- strategy and organization
- accessibility and internationalization
- consulting and testing
- design—Web, product, mobile, multimodal
- workshop highlights
As is traditionally the case with UPA, the conference served the usability testing community and Web-focused practitioners quite well. But, in response to our expanding global economy, this year's conference also brought renewed focus on international issues, including recruiting international users, testing in newly tapped markets, and working in geographically distributed teams. In addition, I saw an improvement in the conference offerings for more experienced practitioners. Sessions extended beyond the discussion of advanced methodologies and cursory examination of usability institutionalization to slightly meatier issues regarding pricing models, metrics, and driving deep organizational change.
Finding this type of depth and variety in the session options was wonderful. But I was a bit surprised to discover that only a small percentage of the sessions were actually dedicated to the topic of patterns. Unlike at last year's conference, where the organizers wove the Storytelling theme throughout every aspect of the event—from the host city, keynote addresses, conference sessions, and entertainment—this conference's exploration of patterns seemed to be confined to just a few invited speakers and presentation sessions. Given the large body of research in the use of patterns for engineering, software development. and UX design, I expected there would have been more sessions relating to this topic. I am not sure whether this reflects a limited number of submissions on the topic or is an indication that the research in this field does not yet map well to practice. In any case, it would have been nice to see more on this topic during the conference.
As is often the case at conferences, there was too much to see and too little time. Since I couldn't clone myself several times to cover all the sessions, I decided to focus my attention during the conference and, subsequently, I've focused my reviews on the more inspirational and business-relevant topics. At times, when more than one session during the same time slot piqued my interest, I bounced around a bit to capture as much knowledge as possible or swapped notes with someone who attended a different session. Here is a summary of what I learned, with the addition of some session notes I received from my colleague, Michelle Scavella.
Monday: Tutorial: Listening and Telling: The Practice of Storytelling in Modern Times
Facilitators: Kevin Brooks and Laura Packer
Since I'd been unable to attend the tutorials and workshops, when I arrived on site Tuesday afternoon, I talked to several presenters, facilitators, and participants about them. They praised one particular session highly: Kevin Brooks and Laura Packer's tutorial "Listening and Telling: The Practice of Storytelling in Modern Times." So I did a little research into what took place during their tutorial. Kevin Brooks and Laura Packer are two very interesting facilitators. Kevin is a storyteller and researcher at Motorola, with a background in communications, computer science, and film production as well as a Ph.D. in Media Arts and Sciences. He was the closing keynote speaker at UPA 2006. Laura—also a storyteller—has an amazing talent for spoken-word performance. She'd provided the entertainment at last year's gala event at UPA.
Using their experience crafting and sharing stories, they facilitated an interactive tutorial that conveyed the power of storytelling and "storylistening" in human relationships—both in one's personal life and in the workplace. "While the session was technically called a tutorial," Kevin explained, "we designed it as a long workshop where the participants actually worked! So, much of the session had to do with the dynamics of their working together in different partnerships."
As usability professionals, stories are inherent in all that we do. We observe, document, and share users' stories; we design and deliver product stories. Learning about the nature of stories, their role in human life, and how to leverage stories in our communication styles is, therefore, invaluable knowledge to have. However, "many people mistakenly believe that storytelling is an activity for someone else—children, academics, or professional artists—but not for themselves," said Kevin. Thus, at the start of the session, Kevin and Laura established that the act of sharing and receiving stories is inherent to all humans—to convey knowledge, serve as a tool of persuasion, offer entertainment, and help build individual and community relationships. Good listening, in turn, empowers the speaker, educates the audience, and enables us to understand one another better, thereby deepening our relationships.
Throughout the morning, Kevin and Laura led participants through a series of activities to familiarize themselves with the skills of telling stories, listening, and giving appreciation for storytelling. Some of the pointers they provided for giving appreciation for stories include the following:
- Determine and honestly express what was good or what you liked about what the speaker said.
- Be specific about what you heard.
- Identify what affected you positively.
- Identify how what the speaker said affected you.
- Since, in our society, we often don't receive the appreciation we need and deserve, a speaker might behave strangely when receiving appreciation—through laughter, denial, deflection, or other inappropriate emotional responses. All of this is normal and often a natural part of the process.
- Remember, listening is just one among many tools. Your internal critic, good sense, experience, and professional knowledge are all good tools. Appreciative listening complements these other tools.
Kevin explained, "Because we live in a competitive culture, especially in industry, helping attendees become comfortable with these activities was critical. In typical business settings, unfortunately, most of what you do is interrupt or try to one-up one another." Accordingly, many of the morning exercises taught participants to "shut up, relax, and realize you don't have to contribute to the conversation. You're in a privileged position of just being there." Kevin admits that some people might think "it sounds a little Zen," but this approach laid a good foundation for the second half of the day. In the afternoon, attendees built upon their earlier experiential knowledge and examined the more technical aspects of storytelling, including how to identify and create structures, patterns, motifs, and contexts for stories. By the end of the day, participants had gained a much deeper understanding of the relationships between story, the storyteller, and the listener, and more importantly, they learned how to apply this knowledge in their daily lives.
For more information about storytelling, Kevin and Laura recommend the following resources:
Birch, Carol L., and Melissa A. Heckler, eds. Who Says? Essays on Pivotal Issues in Contemporary Storytelling. Little Rock, AR: August House, 1996.
Bradbury, Ray. Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays On Creativity. Santa Barbara: Joshua Odell Editions, Capra Press, 1989.
Brooks, Kevin. Story—Storytelling—Business—Research. Retrieved July 30, 2007. A nice collection of links to storytelling and business references.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New York: Pantheon Books, 1949.
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Boston: Shambhala, 1986.
LaMott, Ann. Bird by Bird. New York: Doubleday Books, 1994.
Lipman, Doug. Improving Your Storytelling: Beyond the Basics for All Who Tell Stories in Work or Play. Little Rock, AR: August House, 1999.
— The Storytelling Coach: How to Listen, Praise, and Bring Out People's Best. Little Rock, AR: August House, 1995.
Livo, Norma J., and Sandra A. Rietz. Storytelling: Process & Practice. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1986.
Maguire, Jack. The Power of Personal Storytelling. New York: Tarcher, 1998.
Mellon, Nancy. Storytelling & the Art of Imagination. Shaftesbury, UK: Element Books, 1992.
National Storytelling Network. Storytelling in Organizations. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
Pearson, Carol S. The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By, 2nd Ed. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1989.
Simmons, Annette. The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion Through the Art of Storytelling. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2001.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1992.
Wednesday: Opening Plenary Session & Keynote Address: A Sketch of Usability in the Broader Content of Design
Presenter: Bill Buxton
The opening plenary session began with a welcome from the conference chairs and members of the UPA board and planning committee. With this being the most highly attended UPA conference in at least five years, there was a bit of excitement in the air during the opening plenary. The UPA granted several awards during this plenary session. The UPA Usability Service Award went to Natalia Minibayeva and Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus, the Michigan Chapter received the UPA Chapters Award, and Whitney Quesenbery received the Presidents Award.
After the awards presentation, Bill Buxton, from Microsoft Research, gave the opening keynote. When Bill began his talk, which was entitled "A Sketch of Usability in the Broader Context of Design," he stated that he would not answer the question "What is design?" because it is "one of those black holes that suck the life out of you" kinds of conversations. Instead, he examined the role of sketching in design. While Bill acknowledged that "sketching is not design," he admitted that he's "never seen design where there is not sketching."
Sketching is the mechanism by which you, as the designer, work through the design process. It is also the means through which you communicate design ideas to others. For instance, if Bill asked you to draw your phone, everyone would know how to do that—even with limited drawing skills. But then, if he said, "Draw your phone's interface," the page would remain blank. Finally, if he asked you to draw the experience of using the phone, you could easily begin to express and articulate the concept visually. Reflecting on the notebooks of Mariano Taccola, an artist and engineer during the Italian Renaissance, we can understand that "sketching came about when science and technology became too complex to work it out in your own head."
Within the industrial design discipline, there is a strong sense of what is the appropriate style of representation at each phase of the design process. If you present something that is visually complete to your coworkers, they will believe you've finished your design process, and your design is ready for implementation. The visual language suggests a finality that is not real. So, to avoid sending the wrong message, designers intentionally leave holes and ambiguities in a design's visual representation. As Figure 4 shows, Bill shared example sketches from Michael Sagan—Trek Bicycles lead designer on Lance Armstrong's racing bikes—showing how his visual representations evolved as the design progressed.
Figure 4—Michael Sagan's sketches of Lance Armstrong's bike
—Bill Buxton
"In industrial design, there's a strong sense of what is the appropriate style of representation. In our field, we don't have this sense," said Bill. To describe user experiences, we often use state-transition diagrams. However, in such representations, "all the resolution is in the states and not in the transitions." Yet, in reality, the character, emotion, and feel of a user experience are about how you got there.
In the design field right now, we are transitioning from a materialist perspective on design to an experiential one. Bill stated this more strongly in what he calls his personal mantra, "Ultimately, we are deluding ourselves if we think that the products that we design are the things that we sell, rather than the individual, social, and cultural experiences that they engender, and the value and impact that they have. Design that ignores this is not worthy of the name." Clearly, the need to understand how to better articulate experiences is great. One of Bill's goals during this keynote address was to offer a meta-description of traditional sketches that we, as usability professionals, could apply to sketches of user experiences.
Some of the traditional qualities of sketches include the following:
- quick and timely
- inexpensive and disposable
- plentiful
- clear vocabulary—You know it's a sketch.
- distinct gesture
- minimal detail—No higher resolution than that required to communicate the intended purpose.
- appropriate degree of refinement
- suggest and explore rather than confirm
- ambiguous
"—Bill Buxton
Sketching in user interface design is analogous to traditional sketching and, therefore, shares some of the same qualities. However, such sketches must also capture transitions, dynamics, feel, and phrasing. Sketches are not prototypes. Although both are instantiations of a design concept, they serve different purposes. The relationships between the two are as follows:
During his presentation, Bill offered a few other important ideas for us to consider:
- With the status quo, usability testing generally occurs after the ideation and exploration phases. Typically, at this point in the process, a team can test only one design, so we end up focusing on getting the "design right" instead of getting the "right design."
- Bringing usability activities earlier in the process lets you have a greater impact on the quality of the design at multiple stages along the way.
- Sketching is not only a tool for designers. It can be useful for test subjects as well. You can ask subjects to sketch their ideal solution. When sketching, users—who are typically overly positive in their feedback—open up and provide more critical feedback, as well as offering insights into their needs and preferences that did not come out during discussions.
- Treat ideas like commodities. As soon as you think ideas are precious, you start protecting them and stop producing new ones. If you come in with an idea that's your baby, when someone critiques it, you'll feel like it's a personal attack. But if you always produce multiple design alternatives, you'll develop the ability to learn from your mistakes and move on to generating new ideas. When there are multiple alternatives available, you have two opportunities for creativity: in the design options themselves and in the heuristics you use to choose the final solution. Also, when there are multiple design options, users feel more comfortable critiquing the designs.
For more information about sketching and prototyping, Bill recommends the following:
Buxton, Bill. Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2007.
Ericson, Eric, Johan Pihl, and Carl Reese. Design for Impact: Fifty Years of Airline Safety Cards. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003.
Laseau, Paul. Graphic Thinking for Architects and Designers. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, 1980.
Muller, Michael L. "Pictive: An Exploration in Participatory Design," in Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: Reaching Through Technology. Paper presented at CHI 1991, New Orleans, LA, USA, April 27–May 2, 1991. New York: ACM Press, 1991.
Pugh, Stuart. Total Design: Integrated Methods for Successful Product Engineering. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1990.
Rettig, Marc. "Prototyping for Tiny Fingers." Communications of the ACM, Vol. 37, Issue 4 (April 1994).
Snyder, Carolyn. Paper Prototyping. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2003.
Wednesday: Looking into the Crystal Ball: The Future of Usability
Panelists: William Albert, Bill Gribbons, Daniel Szuc, Randolph Bias, Robert Schumacher, and Mary Beth Rettger
Six UX leaders—from a variety of UX specialties, business sectors, locales, and schools of thought—discussed their current assessments of the UX field and proposed their visions for our future as practitioners. Each had ten minutes to expound upon their ideas, then there was a 30-minute open discussion with the audience, shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5—Panelists discussing the future of usability
Future Directions
Bill Albert, from Fidelity Investments, served as the panel moderator, as well as one of the futurists. Bill articulated the importance of understanding the future direction of usability as it offers insights for organizational growth, individual career planning, and the overall development of the usability community. However, he also admits our predictions of the future are speculation—informed by our individual perspectives within the UX field. Bill's own crystal ball suggested:
- Usability practitioners will be part of a bigger picture. We must evolve beyond traditional usability evaluation to become drivers of innovation by examining the broader user experience—joy, frustration, stress, awareness, expectations, engagement, and so on.
- Our roles will become even less well-defined. The overlap with marketing, design, information architecture, and business will continue to grow. This is a double-edged sword: More opportunities for impact will exist, but also more turf wars. In the face of this increasing lack of clarity, we must articulate and maintain high standards or we risk losing our credibility. The more enlightened organizations will look to user experience to drive innovation and business strategy.
- The need to justify usability to our business partners will fade, because our current state of featuritis will eventually cause society to reach a breaking point and ultimately drive market demand for simpler, more usable products. As such, usability will become a necessity. And those who ignore usability will face significant financial risks, diminished market shares, and possibly, litigation.
- UX professionals will pay greater attention to select populations—particularly those in emerging markets like India, China, and the rest of the world, as well as older adults, people with disabilities, and new users of technology.
- Our changing world will impact what we work on and how we work. Examples include increased globalization, ubiquitous computing, information security, global warming, new technologies, privacy laws, and baby boomer retirement in the U.S.
- As practitioners, we must prepare for the future by continuing to develop our understanding of the underlying cognitive mechanisms of user behavior and perception. To do so, many of us must receive more cross-disciplinary training in areas like quantitative analysis and academic backgrounds in cognitive psychology, information science, human-computer interaction, design, and business.
The Increasing Importance of Usability
Randolph Bias is an associate professor in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin. He explored six aspects of contemporary computing that will raise the importance of usability, as follows:
- The continuing expansion of the Internet has led to an increase in the size and variety of the user population.
- The increasing number of new Web applications and experiences means existing users might become novices again.
- Web development tools have expanded the pool of developers.
- Ubiquitous computing encourages "migratory transactions."
- Ubiquitous computing means designers might not be able to anticipate on what device users will view their designs, making visual design and information architecture difficult to optimize.
- The "let's get something out there and get feedback from our users" approach does not work in the Web environment. As the number of Web-enabled applications increases, the need to design usability into the product increases.
Understanding these impending changes, Randolph believes the future holds the following:
- Usability will become another essential tool for all digital professionals. Thus, there is a need for more usability education in the university curricula across a variety of disciplines, not just within UX-related programs.
- There will be better integration of automated data-collection tools and behavioral methods.
- Lawsuits will motivate improved usability.
- We will have better cost-justification methods and metrics.
Opportunities and Essential Skills for Usability Professionals
Bill Gribbons is Director of the Human Factors Program at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. He also acknowledged that the marketplace is changing, as he illustrated in the slide shown in Figure 6. Usability is no longer one profession or one industry. The focus is shifting toward broader user experience.
Figure 6—Bill Gribbons' slide showing the changing marketplace
However, this brings good news to practitioners. Career opportunities are continuing to increase and diversify, but at a more realistic pace than in the dot-com era. And, at the moment—unlike for software development and other disciplines—offshoring of usability is limited. Bill also identified a set of skills usability professionals need today and as we move forward:
- field research methods
- knowledge of cognitive psychology, human-computer interaction (HCI), and human factors
- an understanding of consumer behavior
- qualitative and quantitative research methods, including survey design, ethnography, statistics, and research planning
- business skills such as project management, business process management (BPM), negotiation, managing teams, Six Sigma, and brand management
Challenges for Usability Professionals
Certain changes in the business environment might begin to pose a threat to usability testing:
- automation in the development process
- process improvements
- offshoring of development and some usability testing
When considering the relationship between UX professionals and their work partners, Bill posed the question the two previous speakers had hinted at: Who will control the user experience in the future? Figure 7 shows his slide on this topic. Business analysts, engineers, marketers, and HCI/usability professionals all have some input into the user experience. It remains to be seen who will ultimately be responsible for the holistic user experience and how we will integrate various perspectives into products.
Figure 7—Bill Gribbons' take on who will control UX
Themes for the Future of the Discipline of Usability
Mary Beth Rettger is the Director of Usability and Development Training at The MathWorks in Natick, Massachusetts. Her recent experiences at events like GEL2007, H2.0: New Minds, New Bodies, New Identities, and the MIT Media Lab Sponsor Day have inspired her vision of the future. After spending time with smart, forward-thinking people and reflecting on the notion of "hacking the human," Mary Beth has identified six themes we should consider when thinking about our future as a discipline.
Theme 1: The Power of Story
UPA 2006 focused thematically on storytelling. Since that conference, Mary Beth has attended several events that have solidified the importance of stories for her. In fact, instead of looking at storytelling as the theme for a conference, she has seen the notion of conference itself become a story, with increasingly meaningful discourse flowing between presenters and attendees during and between sessions. As practitioners, we can leverage the power of story in our own work.
Theme 2: Physical Loss as Opportunity
Mary Beth encouraged us to rethink physical disabilities. We often see them as disadvantages and marginalize evaluating the needs of disabled users to accessibility studies. However, with the great leaps that have taken place in scientific research and technology in recent years, the story has changed. Amputees who compete in athletic races now find task-optimized prosthetics such as cheetah legs have advantages over the limbs they were born with. This should lead us to reconsider the way we view physical loss.
Theme 3: Look to Children
There is a lot that we can learn from children and their adoption and use of technologies. One example Mary Beth explored was Scratch, the Web-based programming site for kids, which offers them rudimentary visual programming components that they can use to design, build, and share new applications. Such toys, or tools, are educating and empowering children, and when they grow older, they will be very technology savvy and have a very different set of usability needs from today's current adult population. We need to understand what's happening to the youth to prepare for the future.
Theme 4: Social Computing
Yes, in some sense, we have lost control of the product user experience and, in some cases, its associated marketing. So, we should embrace this as an opportunity. Mary Beth shared an example from her own company. MATLAB® users are documenting the tool, its features, and how to use them to achieve specific tasks and posting videos on YouTube to share their knowledge with other users. Instead of ignoring this phenomenon, companies should leverage and build upon their relationships with users in this context.
Theme 5: User Experience for the Last Billion People
The last billion people, or the population in poor and emerging markets—also referred to as the "base of the pyramid"—are becoming a critical demographic. Traditionally, companies have ignored such users and their needs. There is great opportunity—both socially and financially—in addressing their needs.
Theme 6: Everything on the Web
Companies are pushing more and more functionality to the Web. As this trend continues, the volume and distributed nature of information will add increased complexity. Good search functionality is not just the concern of search engine developers, but is now becoming everyone's business. We need to begin to understand and design for search implications in our current and future Web-based applications.
Defining the Profession of Usability
—Bob Schumacher
Bob Schumacher is Managing Director at User Centric. He began his position statement by examining our history as a field of practice. In the past, most usability practitioners had received a Masters degree or Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology or Industrial Engineering from one of the handful of schools having a program—or at least some classes—in Human Factors. Trained primarily in research methods, these usability practitioners placed little focus on design or aesthetics, so they were called engineers. With this narrow focus, or definition, there was a core set of skills and an agreed-upon body of knowledge for usability engineers.
Then, the "winds of change blew in." A technology explosion led to advancements in personal computing, the Internet, and mobile devices, resulting in increased complexity, as well as increased user frustration—thereby creating many new opportunities for usability practice. The need for usability-minded individuals on development teams has increased, and many people with limited training and experience have now become "usability experts," thereby watering down the field of usability.
If we stay on the current path, usability practitioners will continue to diversify. They will possess a "strange brew" of skills, including visual design, computer science, business, product design, anthropology, psychology, and engineering, with limited focus on research methods or human performance. While diversity gives us breadth of experience and enables us to see the bigger picture, this diversity will also lead to our having less shared knowledge and skills. Without an operational definition for usability, anyone can call himself or herself an expert, negatively impacting the overall quality of professionals in our industry and, consequently, the level of respect we receive.
Bob encouraged us to consider medicine, architecture, and other mature technical professions. They don't struggle with this problem of over-diversification at the conclusion of their training. He left us with the following calls to action:
- Make our job titles, fields, skill sets mean something.
- Re-emphasize the rigorous exploration of human performance.
- Renew our focus on research methods.
- Create a certification process, which will ensure common knowledge and skills.
- Increase the number of university programs focusing on usability, but make sure these programs stop watering down the skill sets.
- Demand true scholarship and respect the science behind what we do.
Watching Trends in the Field of Usability
Daniel Szuc is Principal Usability Consultant with Apogee Usability Asia in Hong Kong. He began his quest to find out what's ahead by doing some research. He examined our history, as well as the current buzz in the field. And, ultimately, he realized that the best way to approach this question about the future of usability was to "ignore fads; watch trends," as his slide in Figure 8 shows.
Figure 8—Daniel Szuc on product management
By examining trends in product design and changes in a variety of markets, reflecting on his own experiences as a consultant, exploring industry readings, interviewing leaders in the field, and watching children at play, he identified ten trends that UX practitioners should track—in no particular order:
- Get out of the lab. Technology is everywhere. Go meet users where they are, understand their contexts, and learn about their impacts on design. We do not do this enough.
- Play a game. Wii™, PlayStation®3, and Xbox can teach you a lot about user interface opportunities and rich, new interactions.
- Become a change agent. Oftentimes, a gulf exists between Product Management, Engineering, and User Experience. It is important for a liaison who understands the design process, management expectations, and organizational cultures to bridge the gap between these disciplines.
- Find a way to work faster. Explore iterative and agile design and testing methods. Optimize your processes to enable better collaboration and faster workflows.
- Don't fear the commoditization of usability testing. While we might not like to hear it, more and more people from other disciplines are beginning to conduct usability tests, particularly with the increasing maturity and acceptance of usability methods, as well as advancements in testing tools. Instead of resisting this change, embrace it. Develop hybrid approaches that will let you outsource the more straightforward usability tasks and progress along the value chain by bringing your user-centered expertise to other parts of the process.
- Usability has already been sold. There's a growing understanding of the commercial benefits of usability and accessibility, which has led to an increase in the demand for UX practitioners. We are approaching a scenario where there's too much demand and too little supply. Now, it's time to move from selling usability to our work partners to demonstrating its added value to decision makers.
- Move beyond usability toward holistic user experience. User experience spans channels—products, TV, Web, mobile, phone, and retail—and offers meaningful convergence of functionality that provides clear business value. Let's avoid the jargon—IxD, IA, UX, UCD, HCI, HF, ID, and so on. Do our customers and other stakeholders really care?
- Look to Asia. The usability/UX design community is growing in China, India, the Philippines, and other locales. They get product design inside and out. As Stefanie Olsen noted in her CNET article "The Human Factor in Gadget, Web Design," "U.S. engineers need a broader training than simply programming and engineering. They increasingly need to have an understanding of working with multicultural teams and being able to understand the social components of the products … We believe those types of people will add the most value in the coming decades."
- Look for opportunities to facilitate and improve communication within and across teams, as well as with clients. The BusinessWeek article entitled "Creativity That Goes Deep" explains, "In a design shop, the style of work is much more collaborative. Even though some hierarchy within teams likely exists, projects are typically assigned to teams rather than to individuals. A design team is mandated to come up with a design solution together—not individually. And the team is expected to interact with clients throughout the process by bringing them into the design collaboration."
- Consider Universal Usability. As Whitney Quesenbery pointed out in her UXmatters article "More Alike Than We Think," we really are more alike than we think. So, Daniel encouraged us to recognize similar behavior patterns across our user populations, minimize design complexity, and avoid creating specialized versions of products.
In addition to these ten trends, Daniel suggested a watch list for more trends on the horizon, including
- green computing
- speech-enabled interfaces
- increased mobility and context-aware devices
- interplay between usability and security
- redefined roles for usability testers or designers—or both
- the movement of usability from a closer role, in which practitioners identify issues, to an opener role, in which practitioners drive innovation. In other words, transitioning from critic to creator.
- increased collaboration
- transitioning from siloed organizations to organizations that focus on holistic user experiences
Here are some references and resource materials that Daniel used to develop his forecast for the future of usability:
Canny, John. "The Future of Human-Computer Interaction: Is an HCI Revolution Just Around the Corner?" ACM Queue, Vol. 4, no. 6, July/August 2006. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
E-consultancy. "UK Usability & Accessibility Market Worth �90m in 2004, to Surge Beyond �115m in 2005." Retrieved July 31, 2007.
Lash, Jeff. "Ignore Fads; Watch Trends." How To Be A Good Product Manager, February 7, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
Lund, Arnie. "Post-Modern Usability." Journal of Usability Studies (JUS), Vol. 2, Issue 1, November 2006, pp1–6.
Martin, Roger L. "Creativity That Goes Deep." BusinessWeek, August 3, 2005. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
Olsen, Stefanie. "The Human Factor in Gadget, Web Design." CNET News.com, February 12, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
Quesenbery, Whitney. "More Alike Than We Think." UXmatters, March 20, 2006. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
Sampson, Fred. "Old Dogs, New Tricks." The UPA Voice, February 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
Sherman, Paul J. "Connecting Cultures, Changing Organizations: The User Experience Practitioner As Change Agent." UXmatters, January 20, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
Wednesday: Beyond Screen Readers: A Field Study of Visually Impaired Users
Presenters: Yun Zhou and Caroline Beacham
Yun Zhou and Caroline Beacham from Wachovia discussed usability implications for visually impaired users—beyond just screen readers. After giving an overview of accessibility at Wachovia, Yun and Caroline offered insights into why this community should receive more attention from UX practitioners. There are 10 million visually impaired people in the U.S. alone—1.5 million of which are regular computer users. With the aging of baby boomers, this number is increasing.
When considering this market segment, it is necessary to account for the following:
- According to the American Federation for the Blind, 46% of visually impaired people of working age are employed. By 2010, 51% of the labor force will be over the age of 40 and 37% of the total population will be over the age of 45.
- The needs of people in the visually impaired market segment vary widely. Visual impairments from diverse causes including birth defects, degenerative disease such as macular degeneration, complications from diabetes, cataracts, glaucoma, and natural, age-related degeneration affect this population.
- No one solution meets the needs of this entire community, because each of these disorders affects the visual field differently.
Having examined current Web design practices, the presenters noted an interesting trend: Web sites are incorporating font-size controls. Three examples cited were GMAC Bank, CNN, and Queen's University. Wachovia developed technology that lets them offer users an optional viewing mode that enables modifications to content, layout, contrast, and magnification. Since this solution takes a relatively new approach, the team decided to conduct a research study that would both deepen their understanding of the visually impaired community and help them to evaluate the solution.
After describing the structure of their research study, Yun and Caroline summarized their findings about visually impaired users:
- Most test participants could not drive and were homebound
- The Internet offers such users independence, freedom, and access they cannot achieve in the real world. Therefore, they are frequent Internet users who expect a lot.
- Visually impaired users cherish whatever of their sight remains.
- Most such users need very large magnification, which means, on a 15" or 17" screen, they can see only a few words at a time.
- Many visually impaired people have installed magnification software on their computers. Otherwise, they would not be able to see well enough to open their Web browser and gain access to the Internet.
- These users often lean very close to the screen in order to read content. Focusing on one word or image at a time causes them to lose both context and the holistic experience.
- These users transition from an online to an offline experience to finish processing the information that is available to them on the Web. For example, they print out documents to read them on a magnification device.
Therefore, the research team concluded that their solution would work only for users who do not already use software to enhance their vision. In addition to finding a way to meet the needs of these visually impaired users, Yun and Caroline identified the following Web site design guidelines:
- Optimize the position of critical content. The upper-left area of a page is best for the most critical information.
- Avoid pop-ups and multiple browser windows. These are cumbersome for visually impaired users to use.
- Avoid horizontal scrolling. Since visually impaired users focus on such a small area of the screen, horizontal scrolling can cause them to lose their place on a page easily.
- Avoid labels that align horizontally with controls. Again, users can lose context. It's hard for users to know what a button or control is for if they cannot associate it with its label.
- Minimize the number of scattered, inline links. Inline links are harder to locate than links that are grouped together.
- Support search. For these users, searching is an easier navigation method than browsing. Make the search box easy to find and search results very easy to parse—similar to Google search results.
- Small, iconic images are better than large graphics. When a page is magnified greatly, users can easily lose context.
- Provide visual cues or markers to help orient users. Examples include blinking insertion points, company logos, animated images, and so on.
- Make sure there is good contrast between text and background colors. Avoid complex background imagery.
- Follow Web conventions. Visually impaired users rely on memory and expect sites to use Web conventions and consistent patterns. Unfamiliar designs can confuse them.
- Avoid distractions and prevent errors. Use both error-avoidance and error-recovery techniques.
- Support keyboard shortcuts for commands. Provide other alternatives to mouse-driven interactions.
- Offer settings that let users customize a Web site as much as possible. Let users customize a Web site's navigation, layout, magnification, contrast, and use of audio, so they can adjust them to accommodate their own impairments.
Yun and Caroline reminded us that "Good design is good for everyone." So, when designing your next Web site, remember to account for this demographic, even if doing so requires modifications. Remember, "what looks like a mediocre experience to us is incredible to them, because it helps them preserve their sight, and they can do it on their own." Their final recommendations to us included the following:
- Accommodate limitations.
- Be aware of contradictions.
- Enable or enhance user control.
- Assess risk for all audiences.
- Do not design for exceptions.
Read more
Conference Review: UPA 2007: Part II
Topic: Conference Reviews | Usability
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Watch cyclocross worlds live on VeloNews.com
- By VeloNews.com
- Published Jan. 29, 2013
Are you a cyclocross nut, but unable to make it to Louisville, Kentucky, for the 2013 UCI Elite Cyclocross World Championships?
Keep up with all the action live on with VeloNews.com.
In addition to daily tech and racing content from our 10-person team on the ground in Kentucky, we'll be streaming all four weekend races live, courtesy of the UCI.
The races are not scheduled to broadcast live on U.S. television, so be sure you tune into the official English language video coverage of the elite men, elite women, U23 men, and junior men 17-18 races.
Watch cyclocross worlds live >>
Broadcast schedule:
Saturday February 2: 11:00 a.m. ET (Junior men) / 2:30 p.m. ET (U23 men)
Sunday February 3: 11:00 a.m. ET (Elite women) / 2:30 p.m. ET (Elite men)
FILED UNDER: Cyclocross / News TAGS: Cyclocross World Championships / Louisville 2013

subset: commoncrawl


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How to Creatively Tell Your Significant Other That You Love Them
When a person is attempting to create a stronger bond with their significant other, the problem of communication can arise. Nerves, trust issues and emotional walls can break down a person's ability to effectively communicate feelings. A simple solution to this problem is to send your partner small meaningful messages in code.
This article has been tagged as a stub.
That means it's off to a good start, but still has room to grow into a more helpful resource. Until the article reaches its full potential, it will be hidden from search results. Can you help it flourish? If you think the article offers complete and accurate instructions, feel free to remove this tag.
1Take out a piece of paper or open a word processing program on your computer.
2Write or type out the sentence you would like to send.
3When you are finished with your message, place the first letter of the first word on a clean piece of paper. Example: You (Y).
4Take the first letter of the second word and place it beside the letter of the first word. Example: Are (A)....YA
5Repeat until you have created a new word with the sentence you jotted down. Example: You are the best that I have ever met......Yatbtihem.
6Make sure you place a period after every new word in order to signal the end of that sentence.
7You can create as many sentences as you would like and create full stories or phrases with this code. Example: Ditily. Yap. Laetya. Lwyfalaicky.......Dude I think I love you. You are perfect. I appreciate everything that you are. I want you for as long as I can keep you.
Community Q&A
Ask a Question
- Try to make the random words phonically make sense.
- Play with this code and make it your own. It is completely made up so have fun with it.
- You can fold the paper showing in front the letters then inside are the meaning of the letters.
- Just tell them, but don't do it too soon. If you're certain you love them there's no risk in telling them you do.
- Don't send this code to people that would not appreciate it. They may see the random words as a threat since they cannot decode it.
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Mariah Ramirez and the Utes will face another challenging schedule in 2014.
Nov. 6, 2013
SALT LAKE CITY - An exciting season awaits the University of Utah softball team in 2014 as the Utes take on a schedule that includes 30 games against 14 opponents who qualified for the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
"We are focused preparing ourselves for the upcoming season, rather than worrying about our opponents," Utah head coach Amy Hogue said. "The standards that this team lives by each day have been high. We are just excited for the first game of this season and to get started. This team has been through a Pac-12 season twice so they are prepared for everything. In my experience, the best thing that we can do is to focus on ourselves. I am extremely happy with the way this team has prepared during the offseason."
The Utes begin their 2014 season in Tempe, Ariz., at the Kajikawa Classic Feb. 7-9, against Boise State. Utah then takes on Western Michigan, Cal State Northridge, Portland State and Colorado State.
Utah makes its annual trek down to Las Vegas for the Easton Desert Classic from Feb. 14-16. The Utes open with a doubleheader against Toledo and UTEP on Feb. 14, then play Long Beach State and Seattle on Feb. 15 before facing Hawaii on Feb. 16.
After an off week, the Utes return to action at the San Diego Classic Feb. 28 through Mar. 1. The Utes start the tournament Feb. 28 with their second game of the season against Colorado State before taking on the host USD Toreros. On Mar. 1, Utah faces Tennessee, which finished second in last season's final edition of the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, and the host Aztecs at San Diego State University Stadium.
The tournament wraps up with the Utes' matchup with Lehigh on Mar. 2. Utah opens its home slate with a doubleheader against Utah Valley scheduled for Mar. 2, before concluding their early-season tournament schedule at the University of South Florida Tournament in Tampa, Fla. The Utes take on Tennessee-Chattanooga and Seton Hall on Feb. 7, Indiana State and Kansas State on Mar. 7 and the host Bulls on Mar. 9.
Eighteen of Utah's 24 Pac-12 Conference games will be against opponents who were ranked in the top 25 of the final USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll last season. The Utes begin league play Mar. 14-16 against 2013 Women's College World Series qualifier Washington in Seattle.
After the Washington series, the Utes host BYU on Mar. 20 before resuming conference play with a home series against Oregon (Mar. 22-24). Utah travels to UCLA (Mar. 28-30) before returning to Salt Lake City to host Oregon State (Apr. 4-6).
The Utes' Pac-12 schedule the rest of the way plays out as follows: at Arizona State (Apr. 11-13), home versus Stanford (Apr. 17-19), at Arizona (Apr. 25-27) and a three-game home set against California (May 2-4).
Aside from the BYU home game on Mar. 20, Utah will have nine other non-conference games dispersed throughout its conference campaign, including home contests against Idaho State (Mar. 26), Utah State (Apr. 9), a doubleheader against Southern Utah (Apr. 22) as well as a three-game set against Grand Canyon (May 9-10) in addition to a road doubleheader at Weber State (Apr. 2).


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International Journal of Morphology
versión On-line ISSN 0717-9502
JAYAKUMARI, S; SURI, R. K.; RATH, G y ARORA, J. Accessory Tendon and Tripartite Insertion Pattern of Fibularis Longus Muscle: A Case Report. Int. J. Morphol. [online]. 2006, vol.24, n.4, pp. 633-636. ISSN 0717-9502. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0717-95022006000500019.
The fibular muscles are the chief everters of foot and play an important role in stabilizing its subtalar motion. In the present case detected incidentally, we report a case of an accessory tendon and tripartite insertion pattern of fibularis longus muscle in the left leg, out of which two slips were attached to plantar and lateral aspects of base of first metatarsal and the third slip was found blending with first dorsal interosseous muscle. Awareness and precise knowledge of such anatomical variants are important to surgeons performing reconstructive procedures
Palabras clave : Fibularis longus muscle; Accessory tendon; Tripartite insertion.


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Roderick Henri Babers
Position: DB
Height: 5-9 Weight: 190 lbs.
Born: October 6, 1980 in Houston, TX
High School: Lamar
College: Texas (school history)
Drafted by the New York Giants in the 4th round (123rd overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 0 (15060th overall since 1950)
|0 Accepted Penalty


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Calgary-based Visual Search Startup Slyce Acquires Toronto's Hovr.it
Calgary-based Slyce, a visual search platform, announced today the acquisition of desktop visual search startup, Hovr.it.
Slyce, which raised two rounds of fundingworth a combined $6 million this year, did not disclose the value of the transaction.
Hovr.it allows users to hover over any image on the web such as Facebook and Pinterest and receive exact or similar product matches to those in the image, complete with direct, purchasable links.
The deal will see the Toronto-based Hovr.it team join Slyce, "combining the technologies and enabling the extension of it's advanced visual search capabilities across both mobile and desktop," according to the two startups.
"By adding the Hovr.it team and technology to the existing Slyce platform, we create a complete proposition for consumers who want to find inspiring things wherever they are and the brands, retailers and publishers who want be there at that moment of inspiration," Slyce CEO Cameron Chell said
Hovr.it was a recent graduate of the INcubes Accelerator.
"We're exceptionally proud of the entire Hovr.it team and believe they have just become a part of what will be a highly notable and global company," INcubes CEO Ben Zlotnick said.


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Hi Guys,
I just bought a 98 or 99 Peugeot Competition Cyclocross with all of the original components. Everything is functional, and there are a few superficial nicks to the paint, but it's in original condition. I found the model in a few catalogs and it seems to be a 98 or 99, but i can't find a single mention of this bike anywhere else on the internet.
It's a columbus Thron tube frame, with a full shimano RSX group and cantilever brakes.
I'm wondering what you guys think it might be worth, as it seems to be a fairly rare bike, and though I think I got a pretty good deal on it, I'm not 100% sure! It's a pretty nice ride, but I'm going to switch out an adjustable stem for the one that's on there now (a bit aggressive, and I've got odd proportions), but I'll keep the old one in case I ever decide to sell the bike again.
Thanks a lot!


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Yet again, the Jazz had a really bad quarter. This time, they changed things up though, playing solidly in the first before sucking it up in the 2nd. I guess that happens when you turn to your bench and bring in a line-up of Flop, Harding & Knight. Flop has to be the worst player in the league, or right up there. And that's counting all 2nd-round rookies this year, and all NBDLers that have been called up and even Jason Hart. Harding has been sucking it up for the past couple of games, and that continued. Brevin brings a veteran presence that the team probably needs. He also brings a terrible jumper, overconfidence on his own jumper, the innate ability to cause the offense to stall immediately, and more. Combine the 3 of them with AK (who loves to drive into the post all wild-like and then dish off to Flop) and Korver, and you're going to have a hell of a time. In a bad way. By the way… passing to Flop should be an offense punished by immediate benching. Luckily for the Jazz, AK & KK carried the Jazz bench, scoring all 38 of the bench points. The rest of the bench (aka the other 3 guys already mentioned) went 0-5 with 3 assists, 1 TO, 4 fouls and 0 points.
Fortunately for the Jazz, Deron, Okur & 'Sap (getting another start for the Injury Magnet) played well, overcoming off nights from CJ & Brewer, and teaming with AK & KK to lead the Jazz. Deron had 25 & 9, taking over late yet again. Okur couldn't drain a trey, but went 9-17 for 19 & 11. 'Sap finished with 18 & 11. Brewer had only 4 points on 6 shots (though he did throw in 5 assists), and CJ had 5 on 5. Truthfully, the game was ugly throughout, before the Jazz finally woke up late. They outscored the Raptors 28-14 in the last quarter, largely due to playing D and having the Raptors miss their jumpers. It ended up being enough, as the Jazz got a road win, something that we'll take no matter who we're playing.
Meanwhile, for the Raptors… Chris Bosh had 30 points & 10 boards (before choking?). Jose Calderon had 10 & 11, Anthony Parker had 16 & 11, Bargnani had 20 and 8, and The Matrix was held to 8 & 8. By the way, the caption to the picture is kinda telling for the Raptors. As are the polling results on the home page.
Here's how the Jazz extended their streak to 11 games.
I'm not a big fan of the bench, outside of the top 3 (top 2 if the Injury Magnet turns on). Well, I like The Koof, but he gets less time on the court than the guys making mid-court shots for money. And Fesenko & Almond, but they're both in the D-League right now. That leaves the top 3, the next 3 (mentioned above), and Ronnie Price. If this team is really dependent on anyone behind the top 3 for production (which they are, especially with Injury Magnet out), they're in trouble. If the Brev Brev/Price duo has to play more than 5 minutes (well, just Brev Brev because J-Slow all of a sudden hates Ronnie Price), they're in trouble. If Flop hits the court, they're in trouble (and my TV is off if the game is on, but that is irrelevant). If Harding gets called on in any game that isn't against the Spurs/Nuggets/etc., they're screwed. I know this is true for most teams beyond the first couple of guys, but given the way injuries are hitting, the Jazz have to be prepared. Turning to Flop & Harding does not equal prepared. If you enter a playoff series against the Lakers/Spurs, and put Flop on the court, you will be laughed out of the building. And eventually run out of it as well.
This whole spiel is probably irrelevant now, given that the big FAs (like Drew Gooden and Joe Smith and Mikki Moore, etc.) have all signed, and the deadline to add players that can play in the playoffs (or something like that) has passed, but still… how the team can leave Flop on the roster and not go try to get someone that can help is beyond me. Hopefully it doesn't come back to bite us in the backside…
That said, the Jazz won. Guess we might as well enjoy that. The last 5-game-Eastern-Conference-road-swing is underway, and the Jazz have a 1-0 start. Things could definitely have been a lot worse… and it seemed like they would be until 12 PM MST, when they finally woke up (they = Deron, it seems). Up next… the Pacers.
Archive for the 'Matt Harpring' Category
Jazz Get Past Raptors With Huge 4th Leave a comment
Yet again, the Jazz had a really bad quarter. This time, they changed things up though, playing solidly in the first before sucking it up in the 2nd. I guess that happens when you turn to your bench and bring in a line-up of Flop, Harding & Knight. Flop has to be the worst player in the league, or right up there. And that's counting all 2nd-round rookies this year, and all NBDLers that have been called up and even Jason Hart. Harding has been sucking it up for the past couple of games, and that continued. Brevin brings a veteran presence that the team probably needs. He also brings a terrible jumper, overconfidence on his own jumper, the innate ability to cause the offense to stall immediately, and more. Combine the 3 of them with AK (who loves to drive into the post all wild-like and then dish off to Flop) and Korver, and you're going to have a hell of a time. In a bad way. By the way… passing to Flop should be an offense punished by immediate benching. Luckily for the Jazz, AK & KK carried the Jazz bench, scoring all 38 of the bench points. The rest of the bench (aka the other 3 guys already mentioned) went 0-5 with 3 assists, 1 TO, 4 fouls and 0 points.
Houston, This Time You Have The Problem Leave a comment
Okay, not really… both teams played well, but Deron took over late, and there's no stopping him when he feels it. The game was close throughout, with both teams losing their starting center to foul trouble in the 4th.
The stars? Deron & Brewer yet again. They came up especially huge late. Deron finished with 26 & 14, Brewer had 19 & 4 steals. Oh, and Okur had 16 & 8 before fouling out.
How about AK and his assist of the night?
AK finished with 6 points, 4 assists & 3 rebounds in an off night.
Speaking of off nights, want to know who didn't have one? That's right… Booze was feeling it, finishing with 20 & 17 (!). He also had a team high +/- of +15.
Deron was amazing. CJ… not so much. He's gone MIA as of late… coinciding with the return of Booze? He finished 1-6 for the game, with 2 points. His stats offensively since Booze's return… the first 2 games, when Booze was playing minimal minutes, he was 4-10 (8 points… in 12 minutes!) and 6-10 (15 points). Since then though, he's gone 2-6 (4 points), 1-5 (2 points) and 1-6 (2 points). Save for the 15 point game, his minutes are hovering near 20 right now (on the lower end), almost 4 minutes lower than his season average.
Booze played well, the bench didn't, and the Jazz won. Korver only had 2 points, and Harding & 'Sap each had 4. Luckily the team shot well (50%) and was perfect from the FT line (17-17). Speaking of the FT line (and therefore fouls), the Jazz were called for 11 more fouls and the Rockets shot 15 more FTs. And yet the Rockets fans were complaining. Quite simply, well… first, they should've made their FTs (24-32). And second, as sad as it is, in this day and age, the NBA allows flopping (and rewards for it)… so it'll continue. There were flops on both sides (each center ended up fouling out because of them… depending who you ask). Also, it's stupid when refs that can't see the play (behind it all) blow the whistle. Leave it to the guys that can see the play!
Unrelated to the game, but why is the 'pro-hop' not an up-and-down or something like that? And speaking of that, you might as well toss out the rulebook, because the refs don't follow it. Making it even easier for them to help the 'superstars'… which is highly stupid. Quite simply, the call should be the same whether it's Kobe or Flop. If it's a charge on one, it's a charge on the other. Reaching in? Check. Blocking foul? Check. Anything.
Contract year issues. I think Fesenko, Almond & The Koof (not in a contract year) should all be playing more. If not with the Jazz, then in the NBDL. Taking Flop off of the 12-man roster hurts the team in no way.
The Jazz "are going streaking", having won 9 straight as they get ready to host the Nuggets (coming off of a win against the Blazers yesterday) tonight. FYI… if you watch the video, you see more of Will Ferrell than you've ever wanted to see.
Whiny Little Girl (not so little) obviously went off on the officiating. How dare they call a foul on him?!? That said, this 'preferential treatment' is just pathetic and stupid. Oh, and he's over the back on almost every one of his boards… he's lucky they aren't calling that.
If my review isn't long enough for you, The Dream Shake has you covered. Profanity included. If you want the profanity but not the length, The Dream Shake is there too. Seriously, it seems like they're closet Jazz fans, given how much time they devote to "hating" the Jazz. Oh, and the sites not only have profanity, but also a lot of 'Utah sucks' (to state it nicely) and some anti-Mormon sentiment. Because obviously all Jazz players are Mormon. I've never seen how saying "F*** Utah" or "Utah sucks" or "How are your wives?" adds anything to a sports discussion, but eh… I guess that's all they know. Sad, really… the NBA almost gives us all something to bond over (like hating the Kobes & Celtics and all), but some people would rather not. Eh. Anyhow, enough of that off-topic thing…
Speaking of the Rockets, the game's "surprising explosion against the Jazz D" was Kyle Lowry. Last time Von Wafer, this time Lowry. What?
Up next, the Nuggets…
Jazz Beat Kings, Roll Through February Leave a comment
If, before February started, you had told me that Jazz would go 10-1 in the month, I would've laughed you out of the building. Even with Booze & AK due back, injuries were killing the team. They had had a sub-par January, losing against most of the good teams (and Oklahoma City). 10-1 seemed like a far off dream.
If you had told me that the 1 loss would've been a blowout loss in Golden State, I would've laughed you out of the building for a completely different reason… and it has nothing to do with the Jazz owning the Dubs as of late nor anything to do with the Dubs struggling this season. With the February schedule featuring Dallas, the Kobes, Boston & New Orleans (even with all of them at home), Golden State would've been no higher than 5th on my list… even if considering "sleep-walking games" and the Jazzsters pathetic play versus not-so-good teams.
That said, yesterday's too-close-for-comfort (until the end) 102-89 win over Sacramento did exactly that for the Jazz… giving them their best month in franchise history. Not bad.
Ronnie Brewer had a huge night, finishing with a career-high 26 points (previous high was 25)… and throwing in 7 rebounds and a couple of highlight-reel plays as well.
AK struggled with his shot, Harding made 66% of his shots. I guess we can blame dwillfan (piling it on?) because we need to blame someone. As for Harding… I guess the haircut helped.
Some more love for Brewer & Okur (who also had 26 points). While Brewer relied on dunks and all (going 10-18 from the field), Okur did it by going 9-12 from the floor (not bad), and 4-5 from long range.
As for the others… Deron had 16 & 11, Booze is still trying to find himself, 'Sap just missed a double-double (8 & 12), CJ struggled offensively & Korver only took 2 shots.
The Jazz D was as expected… Kevin Martin had 19, and Rashad McCants exploded for 17 off of the bench.
Some more Brewer love… if they redid the lottery the year he was picked knowing what is known now… where would he end up? The answer? Most definitely NOT #14. We got lucky.
Speaking of the draft… should we say 'No' to the 2009 NBA draft? My thought… if we still have the pick (aka we didn't finish with a good enough record for it to end up in the hands of the Timberwolves) come the off-season, we should use it. The team is going to need at least 1 PG, and potentially a back-up PF to play behind either Booze or 'Sap. And they might even need a back-up wing (what?!?) if Korver opts out & leaves and if Harding can't play on. If the team doesn't have a first rounder, well then it's irrelevant… no reason to trade back in. If you have it… use it. Of course, that could just be me, a fan of the draft, speaking. The draft is a lot more boring if your team isn't picking.
While we're at it… more Brewer love. Is this guy amazing or what?!
And to finish with the Kings… Gooden buyout? And Gooden to the Cavs as a surprise FA signing?
Speaking of losing to the Dubs on the road… guess who we play (and where) tonight? Yep… last half of a home-road back-to-back. Golden State of Mind is seemingly fluctuating between pessimistic & optimistic. Part of the reason for pessimism? No Captain Jack as Nellie continues his "bench 1 star wing-guy" every game to develop the youth. Interesting… J-Slow wouldn't do that even if the Jazz were last place in the West with 2 weeks to go on the season. And Nellie has like 1.5 months left still.
Jazz Roster Ranking 3 comments
BBJ over at SLC Dunk has this thing going where he's ranking Jazz players from #15 to #1, with the following criteria…
Where I'm going with this is that I'm going to apply the same principle to the current Jazz roster. If you were an editor (GM) and had to start chopping off players, who would be the first ones to go?
We all know the players that are at the top and bottom of this list. The interesting thing will be to see when the axe falls for everyone in between.
There aren't really any rules set in stone that I'll go by. But I'll take into account things such as stats, salaries, chemistry, team need, and whatever else I come up with. For the sake of this column, we'll assume that everyone in the league has 15 players on their roster and that they're having to make the same cuts.
If rosters were suddenly cut to 7, who would you want? If rosters were 5, who would you want? And so on. 3. We'll also assume that everyone's healthy.
His #15 to #11 can be found here, and #10 to #6 can be found here. I decided to partake, though without separating it into 3+ well thought out posts. Instead, I have 1 post with 1 sentence explaining my thoughts (at least partially). For those that know my thoughts about the Jazz, some of the rankings might be a bit of a surprise, but it's how I seriously see it right now. (My list below)
Read the rest of this entry »
San Antonio 106, Utah 100 Leave a comment
Talk about mind-bogglingly ugly.
–>Brewer had 23 points after 3 quarters… and didn't score in the 4th. Of course, it didn't help that he didn't start the 4th, and J-Slow waited for him to cool down before putting him back into the game.
–>Okur seemed to finally find his shot… but disappeared big time down the stretch. He did have 17 boards though.
–>6 points from the bench (combined), including a couple of ugly looking treys by Korver. Trade him!
–>One game after playing well in a loss, the Fes/The Koof combo played for just over 3 minutes combined. What?
–>Tonya Harding yet again played alright, but didn't pull a Bruce Bowen or a Cheap-Shot Bob on anyone on the Spurs unfortunately.
–>The officiating (on both ends) was absolutely horrific. They had no idea about possession calls, flops were called every which way, and in general, it was perfectly legal hack someone, as long as it wasn't a 7-footer on the Spurs (or a guy married to an ABC show star).
–>The Spurs were draining everything (51.4% from the floor).
–>The Spurs were 11-20 from downtown (55%!), and that's after missing their last 4 treys. The Jazz refuse to play perimeter defense, and Matt Bonner (the 2nd coolest red-head in the league after Scalabrine!?) and Roger Mason lit them up. Hell, Mr. Longoria had 2 treys on the night… giving him 11 on the season.
–>Deron was 2-6 from the line.
–>CJ had yet another maddeningly inconsistent game… a couple of nice dunks & huge treys offset by some very stupid plays.
–>I miss AK.
Oh, and if you want to know why the MLB & No Fun League are better than David Stern's WWF on the Hardwood, just look at the officiating. I mean, I'm a Pirates fan, and I know they're going to be bad. But at least I have the knowledge that it's because the team was badly constructed and is rebuilding… and not because the umpires unfairly call everything against the Pirates. Not the case in the NBA, where the refs do whatever they feel like.
Of course, it doesn't help the Jazz to constantly leave players open on the perimeter, yet for some reason, that doesn't change. And we've been seeing that forever. What? As they say, defense wins championships. (Also, as someone somewhere might've said at sometime… "change can be a bi***".)
Cleveland 102, Utah 97 Leave a comment
In a recession, everyone suffers with money problems.
This might as well be a copy-and-paste from the Rockets game. Double-double for Deron (17 & 16) and 'Sap (24 & 15), and not much else. Two others hit double-digits last night… Korver with 15 and Tonya Harding (read this) had 11. The Koof had 7 points on 3-9 shooting, Fesenko got time (where was he against Houston?) and 2 points… and a slap of LBJ ("The King" if you ask the NBA). King Jackass, if you ask me. I second what clarkpojo said in the game thread at SLC Dunk…
Before this season, I really really liked him. He had a certain humility to him, actually. But his ego has been huge this season. I started getting super bothered when he wouldn't admit that he travelled against the Hornets and called the "crab dribble", a move that has been around for about 50 years, his move. He is trying to be a little too big now.
Nails it on the head… and shows what's wrong with the NBA… because the NBA is letting him get away with it all.
Okur struggled again… going 1-9 from the field and 0-4 from long range. I don't know what's up with him, but we need the Okur that went off for 43 points back. And now.
Other Notes
The second unit really kept the team in the game… Sideshow Bob had 5 fouls, and was killing the Jazz early, but when push came to shove, the Jazz stopped attacking the middle (3 FTs in the 2nd half) and settled for jumpers. At some point, don't you have to attack the middle? Of course, I guess getting very few calls in your favor early (when they attacked, or when James charged over them) kinda limits your desire to attack. Plus you have 'Sap, who rarely gets a call when he's hammered… The Cavs were 10-27 from downtown. Um, defense?… Why no Ronnie Price? For all the awesomeness earlier, Brevin Knight has really been struggling of late.
The Jazz have another game tonight (in Denver). A home/road back-to-back, with airplane problems keeping them in SLC longer than expected. If you were someone who thought the Jazz should trade for Michael Redd, it's not happening this year. Really unfortunate for the Bucks.
Houston 108, Utah 99 Leave a comment
Houston, we have a problem.
Actually, we have more than 1, as the game showed.
Despite getting 20+ point performances from 3 players (Deron with 32, Brewer with 23 & 'Sap with 20), the Jazz never really threatened, and the TMac & Crazy Pills less Rockets walked away with the home win. Of the many problems that popped up…
- The Jazz had only the 3 aforementioned players in double-digits. The Rockets had 5.
- The Jazz bench got 8 points total, from 4 players. Of the 4 Rockets bench-players to play, 2 of them had more than 8. Each.
- Okur was 2-13 from the field. Ugh. And he only had 1 assist, meaning that he wasn't passing it very often.
- CJ was just 3-8 from the field.
- Korver was 1-7. No Knees, who didn't need to play considering that TMac & Crazy Pills were both out, was 1-4. Plus the Jazz played him at the 4 a bit, which is just stupid. Knight jacked up 3 jumpers, and missed them all. Lot of confidence for a guy that's biggest negative was his inability to make the jumper.
- Flop was the first guy off of the bench (Flop!), and he only played 5 minutes. Why not bring The Koof off first? And why not bring Fesenko along… he's a better option than Flop most of the times anyways. Flop missed 1 shot and had 1 TO in his 5 minutes. The Koof, on the other hand, had 4 points (2-3 shooting), 2 boards & 1 assist in 13 minutes.
- The Rockets were draining treys, going 11-24 from deep. That includes a 5-7 night from Rafer Alston (seriously!) and a 3-5 night from Von Wafer. Um… defense? Wafer lit CJ up early and often.
- The Rockets shot 60% from the field in the 1st quarter, and 46% for the game. And that would've been much higher if Aaron Brooks & Shane Battier hadn't gone 1-9 from the field (0-4 from long range). Each! That's just weird, by the way.
- Late, with the game over… the Jazz were still fouling. And Wafer went in for a dunk despite the game being over, SOB. And J-Slow didn't play Almond, despite him being a Houston guy. Kinda like when J-Slow refused to play Shorty in Chicago, despite it being a blowout. No wonder some fans out there hate him… I know its all about winning (which he's never fully done, by the way), but still, when the game is over (either way), why not let the fans see a hometown guy?
- The team really missed AK. And it's obvious where not having Booze hurts… the bench is absolutely pathetic right now.
It might be time to make a trade… either to get some help on the bench (because our guys aren't cutting it), or to get a 2-guard with a jumper (shifting Brewer to the 3 and CJ to the bench). Because this isn't working. And Booze won't be back for a while… his return won't mean sh!t if the Jazz keep playing like they are right now. Especially with the stretch they have coming up.
Oh, and then there's the whole LHM thing. Really sad.


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April 5
Hombre por el fumigacion was a no show. NBD. (Just guessed at that meaning. If wrong, hope no one is offended and, of course, explaining all this pretty much negates entire point of abbreviation.) Will be touring tomorrow, so he'll have a heck of a time getting it done. Am fairly sanguine about a roach infestation of Galapagos from Anthem. Agriculture guy seems fairly blase (sorry, purists, diacritical marks are unavailable) as well.
Wonder if many have remarked on the irony of a heavily Catholic country being stewards of an island group critically responsible for originating the science of evolution? For those curious souls (no pun intended), Chuck lived most of his life as a Unitarian and died agnostic.
Resurgent shower sump pump sucks. This is a good thing. Suspect resistance in wire has kept performance well below optimum for eleven years and probably burned out a couple pumps. Fondness for each little piggy now prompts care in placement as switch is activated.
During passage to Marquesas, three and a half weeks minimum, do not be alarmed if boat leaps northward 120 to 1200 miles in a day. At least one time, expect an 'N' entry instead of 'S' for latitude. It just doesn't look right when it's always been the other way. Passing International Date Line could be a schizophrenic event. For some, this will be no surprise due to belief that a close association with reality has already fled.
April 4
Galapagos not quite as expected, but have only seen Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal since arrival at 1500 (2100 UTC). It's a quaint (pardon me for saying so, Sue) little town with very friendly people, an ATM, and ice cream, which Inspiration Lady, as first of local group to arrive, were buying - blackberry and coconut. Accomplished port entry and immigration today, fumigation and refueling tomorrow. Considering island tour on Tuesday. Expect extended period of unconsciousness tonight subsequent to indulgence in a tasty adult beverage or two.
Seals are everywhere near the water - on docks, on boats and in your dinghy, leaving presents of fish that, by passing through them, have been somewhat modified. This revision of molecular structure is not generally considered an upgrade. Like all the fauna here, they are unintimidated by humans and, when disturbed, express vocal displeasure before returning to sleep. Bet they'd pay attention if you painted yourself white on black and squeaked. Inspiration Lady are considering a contest to name their swim platform buddy.
Have not had sleep-deprived hallucinations, but after removing top of skull, discovered brain had actually turned to mush, so should stop now and get sleep before saying something crazy.
The Equator
April 3
Grey water is the stuff that's not drinkable and not poop. An example is shower run-off, which contains hair, dead skin, oil and all the goo your body created and adhered to over the last day (or week depending on your level of hygiene). If collected, you would find it ugly, smelly and disgusting. "Fine", Cal, my non-sailing exemplar, may ask, "but what's the point"? Boat showers are below sea level so this mess is collected then pumped over. Today was spent discovering why the electro-hydraulic system on this boat, designed for just that purpose, lost its way. Good volts. Switch, of necessity destroyed in removal, not problem. Pump OK. Finally found ground wire, in highly inaccessible bilge location, had been spliced by twisting ends together and taping. Smokies! Peace, tranquility and cleanliness have returned, but it took all day.
Central and South American entrepreneurs are now using submarines to fight their side of the war on drugs - no radar return. Saw a sub hunter aircraft two days ago and heard one flying low today. Hmmm? Protecting seals and land tortoises from ravages of Colombian coke? Saving the chastity of female penguins feeding their habit? Thought those planes were only used around Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Must be wrong as I'm not in Florida, am I?
Speaking of which, transitioned from pollywog to shellback around 0900 this morning and did not break out into a rendition of "Bali Hai". As it turns out, South Pacific looks somewhat similar to North and strangely, the line is not nearly as distinct as on globes, so confirmed with GPS. Had a wee dram of the Isle of Skye's best to celebrate. Word is that Neptune wants his share poured into the sea, but figured, hey, this guy's a god, he can get his own freaking scotch.
PS Does centrifugal force make one lighter at the equator than at a pole?
April 1
Replacing 27 chunks of tuner related hardware was somewhat more difficult than removing. This manifests cruising rule #12 which is amplified by corollaries relating to either too many or too few pieces remaining at completion. Uncluttered cockpit may now be crossed without need for expenditure of potentially precious minutes and prodigious agility of boat handler. Aft lazarette exhibits organizational improvement, while port compartment has inexplicably declined in that regard.
Saw a pod of whales this morning. Biggest one, maybe 30 feet, came up for air about a hundred feet to port going east. Just happened to be looking that way. Watched as long as they were in sight. Eight or so that I observed included a few calves. Glad mamas didn't take offense.
Have begun to see more boobies, possibly doing Galapagos run with cruising boats. An attractive bird, they don't deserve an appellation with such negative connotations. On the other hand, have no real evidence that they're anything but stupid. As gannets, they could have access to some of the publishing fortune, but, on reflection, that seems doubtful.
April 2
Surprisingly, wind began to pick up just after 2300 UTC (1800 EST) yesterday and continued to increase all night. Forecast of 5 - 10 maximum was somewhat in error (will desist from gratuitous, snide weatherman observation). Finally eased to 15 late morning for excellent sailing all day toward Sunday opportunity to be charged $500 for staying at a single Galapagos anchorage. Additional hundreds are demanded for pleasure of being trapped on your boat, unless accompanied by a guide, in three other locations.
GRIB (Grudgingly Reported Inaccurate Bullflop - that may not be completely correct) file of forecast wind and sea conditions now indicates continued good weather through arrival. This information will be taken under advisement. Fool me 1001 times shame on you. Fool me the 1002nd time shame on me.
Not sure this information has been widely disseminated, but expect to cross the equator tomorrow if wind doesn't veer too much and arrive in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (Wreck Bay - hey, that doesn't sound good) on San Cristobal, Galapagos, Ecuador around midday on Easter Sunday (as far as you know).
Schooner Wharf Bar
April 1
This last six months has been best April Fool's joke ever. After Trinidad, sailed back up via Jamaica and Yucatan (really enjoyed Isla Mujeres in 2005 and this time - highly recommended) to Key West. Have been keeping the boat on a mooring east of Fleming Key and renting a house off Caroline St. for about four months now. It started out as a joke for a few weeks, then sort of took on a life of its own. Initially thought to pretend crossing the Atlantic to the Med, but figured the current story would make more sense. When Liz supposedly went to India, she actually flew down on the puddle jumper for a visit, but doesn't really care much for the Keys. Weather here has been better than St. Pete, but she prefers some chillier temps in winter, plus there's not much for her to do. I mostly play with the boat and hit the bars at night. Irish Kevin's has become a hangout in the evening after usually spending some of the afternoon at Schooner Wharf Bar. Michael McCloud is still a favorite. This should be the end of it, but you just know somebody won't get the message, so I'll keep it going for awhile. Please don't say anything when someone mentions me in the Pacific. This thing could take some sort of record. It could get in Guinness.
Happy SSB
March 31
Again, opportunity to make bread didn't rise. Spent most of day up close and personal with assorted bits of single side band radio. Began by checking and cleaning connections to radio, then tuner. Latter involved filling cockpit with contents of aft lazarette then mashing svelte 169 pound form into resultant hole to gain access. De-mounted unit and opened it up, during which 27 individual pieces of hardware were removed (difficulty of ingress is probably a message), to see what's what (key phrase of naughty joke that will not be divulged) and to increase likelihood of irreparable damage. Discovered lots of pretty lights that changed pattern when tiny switch was exercised. It's OK, I'm sure it's OK, it looks OK, it's probably OK, you think it's OK?. Won't have chance to check ops until 1645, but email still works.
- Later
SSB has regained its former radiant elan. The pure euphonious sound of my voice again graces the marine and ham radio bands over a significant percentage of the inhabited universe, creating euphoria and rejoicing in even the smallest hamlet and in all the ships at sea (*Warning* preceding may contain a smattering of subjective judgment and/or hyperbole - some of reaction may be accounted to Easter).
At 0200 local, wind sprang up from south at useable velocity. Cool! Sailed from then, with blue sky, lower humidity and easy sea, until 1600. Had gone below for necessary duty when rain shower that had been gaining all day got close enough to switch wind 180 degrees. Obedient Voyager followed it around, aiming toward Equador (the big part) with an alacrity that was gratifying, if somewhat misguided and inconvenient. After return to more agreeable course, subsequent broad starboard tack lasted a few minutes until arrival of complete calm. Furled the one non-self-tacking sail and trimmed the others to await pleasure of conditions from approaching clear sky aft. Clear sky was pleased to offer more of same and then more. Now motoring SE to find wind. Forecast from weather guy not reassuring. Have kept bad news from horses, but, knowing something is amiss, they are becoming restive.
March 30
Tortilla sandwich for lunch. That's right, no bread making today. Maybe tomorrow. Had "The Tailor of Panama" by John le Carre to attend to plus a few other odds and ends.
After doing a little sleuthing of poor SSB transmissions with Whoosh, discovered poor sound on all bands except 12 meg. Hmmmmm. Robert on Bristol Rose suggested it sounded like tuner trouble. Hmmmmm. It's pure arrogance to explain a technical problem for which there is no knowledge, so here goes. (Warning!!! Simplistic and likely incorrect technological bullsh... ummm, information to follow). Frequency is a function of antenna length. For example, 10 MHz is the 30 meter band so those waves are 90 odd feet wide and ideally would require a 90 odd foot antenna. Anthem's insulated backstay comes up short, so to speak, so a tuner is lashed into the system to fool all those little electron thingies (little used scientific term) into seeing the correct size (in other words size only matters if you don't lie). Shut down all noisy stuff to listen and... no tuning! Hark, I thought I heard a pistol shot... No wait, that's part of a naughty joke. Anyway, may have found problem. Will begin, tomorrow, with two favorite repair techniques, hammer method and bigger hammer method.
Mostly had decent wind helped by rain showers west. Boat speed varied from 7 knots to zero. Higher end of range preferable, although a quarter ton of provisions should hold off emaciation until west flowing current would eventually float the boat close enough to motor in, probably.
Spiffy New VHF
March 29
Hello doldrums. Wind began exhibiting signs of ennui just before daybreak, but, of course, didn't vanish entirely until after drifter went up. Began motoring SSW at 6 kts, accompanied toward Isla Mapelo by slower breeze and faster swell. Course is south of rhumb for quicker passage through to southeast trades (possibly by tomorrow midday) before fuel runs out and horses go over the side. Just for the record, I have always spoken fondly of albatrosses. Headway-induced zephyr is providing limited relief from water saturated atmosphere.
Oddly enough, meal preparation has occurred and frig is jammed with pre-cooked, edible (open to interpretation) food. Exhaustion of last few slices of four-week old bread (should have bought more of it because preservative that good could keep you spry to a hundred and twenty) will soon require attempt at baking. Expectations are low; tortillas standing for backup.
Little luck contacting amigos 150 odd miles ahead. Propagation blows, plus radio isn't transmitting properly on 8 meg. VHF, which had worked well enough since hiccups in Bonaire, finally crapped out and has been replaced by spiffy new unit. Otherwise, except for a surprising number of passing ships, slide through oil- smooth sea has been uneventful.
March 28
Left anchorage with zero wind, but it picked up, wandering around through 10 to 18 knots on the beam, and has remained thus all day. Would that it maintain its thusness for next six days. Confidence low. ITCZ, Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, is a band of low pressure and high temperature that lies just north of the equator in these longitudes and is a no man's land between two weather patterns. Lots of heat, moisture and convection, not much wind. It's like when you want steak and your wife wants Chinese. Nobody wants to give, so you have a fight and don't go anywhere. Galapagos is on the other side.
Sorted out wind vane binding problem mid-morning and it has rendered yeoman service (this is generally considered to be a good thing, but what about yeomen who perform poorly? In fact, that one guy who inspired the catchphrase screwed it up for all the slackers. Everyone expecting excellent work is probably highly disappointed with your average person of yeo) since. Huh? OK sure, you forgot what the first part of the sentence was about, so just leave out the parenthesis (has anyone noticed it is formed by the words 'parent' and 'thesis' minus the superfluous 't'?) and all will be clear. Or not.
14 down, 192 to go. Daddy, daddy, daddy how much longer are we there yet when will we be there so now are we there how 'bout now are we there yet huh are we huh are we huh are - whack! OK, never mind.
March 27
Enthusiastic current made cleaning bottom a challenge this morning, although, on horizontal strings of barnacles along the keel, it swept scraper along from bow to stern like a conveyor belt. Got big chunks and prop, but not the slime. Also filled exercise quota for a few days, but wasn't done yet.
Sail to Rio Cacique (ca-SEA-kay) allowed time to sort out drifter. Sheet leads were changed three times, finally, to non-optimum location due to interference with solar panels. Should be a huge help for downwind to beam reach in light winds. As wind increased to 18 knots boat made hull speed before discretion reasserted for furling it and sailing on yankee and staysail into anchorage.
Observed no Cayman in Rio. Nor boas, opossums or land critters of any kind. Could have been due noise of outboard although I drifted for awhile. There was something dead along the bank as buzzards were buzzing through shoreline trees, low over river and over dinghy. Initial concern was partially relieved after discovering personal life-signs, but aggressive behavior was feared to indicate a new preference for fresh kill. Those guys are more agile than one might expect.
Returned to boat through surf-sized standing wave, caused by 15 foot tide rushing off the island, prefatory to putting engine on transom and deflated dink on bow. Had thoughts of taking off for Galapagos this afternoon, but circumspection followed realization of deficiency in wanna. Too bad as wind is 12 to 15 from the north. Alarm will perform its function at 0 dark hundred after ibuprofen and a nice nap.


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Resume Certifications & Licenses Listing Example and Guide
- The Example of Certifications & Licenses Listing in Resume.
- A Guide on How to List Licenses and Certifications.
- What to Do if I Have Many Licenses?
- Related Useful Resume Resources.
Quick Overview
Many professionals make a mistake of focusing on experience and education only. As a result, they disregard any additional information, such as certifications they have in their field, that would enhance their qualifications and assure that they stand out from the competition.
Any professional certifications and licenses that impact your career and your ability to do your job should be listed on your resume. This concept is straight forward for those professionals who cannot actually perform their jobs without having a license to do so.
This is the case for teachers, counselor, accountant, real estate agents, medical professionals etc. If you are in a profession that requires specific certifications and/or licenses, your resume should contain a section specific to this information. You should list any certifications and licenses that you have acquired in reverse chronological order.
The heading should state:
- Licenses and Certifications
- or Professional Licenses
- or Professional Certifications
Listing Examples
- Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), (2008)
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA), (2005)
The following is an example of licenses and certificates section in resume format.
However, it is a lot harder to consider this information and include it on your resume if your professional field does not require any certifications or licenses. For example, having a certificate from a seminar on managing multiple projects may not be required in order for you to do your job effectively. However, such a certificate can be very helpful in virtually any field, and if included on your resume, it can help you stand out from the crowd of available professionals and catch the employer's attention.
How to List Licenses and Certifications?
Make the list of licenses and certifications as you do your professional experience; make a list, in reverse chronological order, and consider which of the items you listed are relevant to your professional goals. Your resume should have no more than five most recent certifications and licenses. List the date when the certificate or license was obtained; if you took a course over time, for example, indicate the completion date in form of month and year only. The exact name of the certificate or the license should be listed, along with an issuing organization. No additional information is necessary for this area of your resume. Additionally, make sure to highlight any certification and licenses in the cover letter if they promote your qualifications for the job you are seeking.
What to Do if I Have Many Licenses?
If the listing of licenses or certifications is lengthy, you can include this information on a separate sheet of paper. You should always list a few most recent items; however if the listing exceeds five items, let the potential employer know that additional information is available upon request. Your resume or your cover letter can point out this information, as well as highlight only those elements that promote you as the best candidate for the job.
Related Useful Resume Resources
- Chronological Resume – Find out what is a Chronological Resume including sample and template.
- Functional Resume – See what is a Functional Resume with downloadable sample, template and example.
- Resume Writing Software Reviews – Find out what is top rating Resume Writing Software programs as well as what is the most favorite one for other people.
Link to This Page
If you find this article useful, please feel free to link to this page from your website or blog. You can simply copy and paste the following code into your page to create a link.


text:
This is a potential security issue, you are being redirected to http://nvd.nist.gov
Last updated: 5/27/2016 3:36:07 AM
CVE Publication rate: 21.13
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The I-O DATA TS-WLCAM camera with firmware 1.06 and earlier, TS-WLCAM/V camera with firmware 1.06 and earlier, TS-WPTCAM camera with firmware 1.08 and earlier, TS-PTCAM camera with firmware 1.08 and earlier, TS-PTCAM/POE camera with firmware 1.08 and earlier, and TS-WLC2 camera with firmware 1.02 and earlier allow remote attackers to bypass authentication, and consequently obtain sensitive credential and configuration data, via unspecified vectors.
Per: http://jvn.jp/en/jp/JVN94592501/index.html
"Products Affected
TS-WLCAM firmware version 1.06 and earlier
TS-WLCAM/V firmware version 1.06 and earlier
TS-WPTCAM firmware version 1.08 and earlier
TS-PTCAM firmware version 1.08 and earlier
TS-PTCAM/POE firmware version 1.08 and earlier
TS-WLC2 firmware version 1.02 and earlier"
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