text:
10. LG Optimus LTE
7. HTC Sensation
5. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc
4. Samsung Galaxy SII
3. Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx
2. HTC Rezound
1. Samsung Galaxy Nexus
The LG Optimus LTE is a pioneering phone by LG as it brings the world's first True HD 720p IPS display. The 4.5 inch display boasts enhanced color correctness, display intelligibility and, of course, high screen real estate for fitting more onto the display at once. It will also have a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, an 8 megapixel HD rear camera with LED flash, a 1.3 megapixel camera and more.
9. Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V is a new phone with a catch as it really resembles the Xperia neo, save for the fact that it runs with an updated edition of Android Gingerbread, 2.3.4. Design wise the device is almost the same, but when it comes to the specifications it looks more like a downgrade as the camera now only has 5 megapixels with support for 720p videos on the neo V, while the original Sony Ericsson Xperia neo featured an 8-megapixel snapper. All in all it's a nice phone to have.
8. Sony Ericsson Xperia S
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S was proclaimed in September 2011 and the Sony Xperia S was announced during CES 2012. The concluding device is the descendant to the Arc S, and also the third in the series, the first being the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S runs a 1.4MHz single-core processor against the faster 1.5MHz dual-core processor on the newer device. 3.5G HSDPA + WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Touchscreen candybar, 12.0 MP camera, 32GB Memory, Android OS 2.3 (Gingerbread)
7. HTC Sensation
The HTC Sensation is a turbocharged phone that commenced as the manufacturer's flagship device upon release. It is crowded to the edge with powerful specs and cutting edge design. The Sensation's 4.3-inch screen has an amazing 540 x 960 pixel resolution using a new screen technology called qHD Super LCD. It's all powered by a dual-cored 1.2 GHz processor with 728 RAM.
6. Samsung Galaxy Note
The device is a technology geeks dream. Who can ever deny that they wanted an immensely enhanced processor and RAM joined with a larger FULL HD display and a huge battery that can even last you a full day easily with continuous use. It also comes with a dual-core 1.4GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, a Mali-400MP GPU, and a stylus for a fun-filled huge-screened experience.
5. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc comes with the Ice Cream Sandwich giving a new life to older phones that have existed more than 1 year old, the Xperia Arc also brings back the love to blue and white colored-cell-phones again. The specifications involve having a 4.2-inch screen, an 8MP rear camera with flash and a 1 GHz Scorpion processor that comes with an Adreno 205 for graphics.
4. Samsung Galaxy SII
The 4.3? SUPER AMOLED Plus display goes a step beyond the already remarkable SUPER AMOLED to provide enhanced readability, a slimmer design, and better battery consumption for the best viewing value of any smartphone. Clocking at lightening speeds the performance of the Dual Core Application Processor provides functionality and density for fast browsing, quick multi-tasking, a smooth UI, snappy streaming and efficient gaming. With encoding/decoding ability that supports video play and recording, the Samsung GALAXY S II showcases outstanding power and performance.
3. Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx
Motorola RAZR features a 4.3 inches HD Super AMOLED display, enclosed with Gorilla Glass display on a really thin and light weight Kevlar conglomeratic body. This creates it the smartest mobile phone on planet. It's operated by an OMAP 4430 chipset with a 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 processor operating Android 2.3 Gingerbread and 1GB of RAM. It promises to be priced moderately as compared to different mobile phone rates.
2. HTC Rezound
The HTC Rezound is produced for the US spectators due to CDMA and 4G LTE competences, the HTC Rezound is argued to be a great music phone as its outer surfaces are complementary with Beats by Dr. Dre and an SRS WOW HD audio enhancement for the audiophiles. It has a better Sense 3.5 UI, a Dual-core 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor, and an Adreno 220 graphics processor.
1. Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Incoming as the world's first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Smartphone, the newest Nexus family member follows in the impressive touch screen footsteps of its close Galaxy compatriots.
Powered by 1.2GHz dual-core processor situated inside the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Nexus hosts an exciting 4.6-inch Super AMOLED HD screen that'll do full integrity to your 720p videos, internet browsing and the propel of camera features which includes the admirable single motion landscape style.
Powered by 1.2GHz dual-core processor situated inside the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Nexus hosts an exciting 4.6-inch Super AMOLED HD screen that'll do full integrity to your 720p videos, internet browsing and the propel of camera features which includes the admirable single motion landscape style.


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Vote: Xfinity Fan Game of the Week
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Lincoln Trojans begin season with chip on shoulder
posted on Friday, August 16, 2013 - 12:03pm
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Stockton's Nick Diaz goes from fighter to promoter
posted on Thursday, May 30, 2013 - 2:55pm
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Pacific win Big West earn automatic bid to NCAA Tournament
posted on Sunday, March 17, 2013 - 12:01am
ANAHEIM - Reserve Tony Gill scored 19 points, Lorenzo McCloud added 16 and the University of the Pacific held off a second-half surge by UC Irvine to win the Big West Conference Tournament...
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Tigers' Fulton leads Pacific into Big West Championship game
posted on Friday, March 15, 2013 - 11:55pm
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BANK OF THE WEST - Tweet of the Day - April 26, 2012
posted on Thursday, April 26, 2012 - 10:43pm
The News10 Sports Department selects a tweet of the day every Sunday through Friday, sponsored by Bank of the West. Be sure to check back each night to see the latest tweet. Also, be sure to follow...
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Girls D-II 2nd Round: (7) River City upsets (2) El Camino 50-48
posted on Friday, February 24, 2012 - 1:14am
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Girls D-I 2nd Round: (6) Oak Ridge upsets (3) Lincoln-Stk, 48-41
posted on Friday, February 24, 2012 - 1:13am
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May 31, 2016
No arrangements have been made for Claudie Mae Loper at this time.
Stephens Funeral Home in Union, MS is in charge of arrangements.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


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Wallowa Lake Lake Getaways
Located in northeast Oregon, the most notable feature at Wallowa Lake is the Wallowa Lake Tramway. It is the steepest tramway from the United States. Once you reach the top you can enjoy the view of four states while you have a drink at the deli. Other area activities include hiking, parasailing, horseback riding, boating and fishing for kokanee and trout.
Wallowa Lake State Park is nestled in the heart of Eastern Oregon's Wallowa Mountains.
Wallowa Lake State Park provides opportunities for camping, yurt stays, cabin stays, boating, fishing, picnicking, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, viewing scenery, bird watching, viewing wildlife and enjoying nature.
Other popular getaway locations in Oregon
Oregon Ski Getaways


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A Beginner's Guide to Herbs and Spices
Add a little zing
by Mara Betsch
If you're like me, you have an entire drawer of spices, but have no idea how to use them. Not only are herbs and spices a low-cal way to add zest to your meal, but they also have a slew of health benefits. Try these 10 easy-to-use herbs and spices in your upcoming meals.
Health benefits: Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial characteristics. It's also a rich source of magnesium.
How to use it: This popular Italian seasoning is great in pesto, on white meats, combined with fruit (such as raspberries and strawberries), or added in stir-fries. Just remember to add it at the endcooking it ruins the flavor.
Get basil recipes
Next: Cayenne pepper
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Western boys basketball coach Andy Weaver became a rising star in his profession by leading the Panthers to six Class 3A sectional championships and a regional title over the last 10 years and by serving as an assistant coach with the 2010 Indiana All-Stars.
Plainfield took notice.
The Quakers, looking to rebound following a 1-20 season, targeted Weaver for their job. He accepted and was approved at a school board meeting Monday night.
We became aware of the opportunity in March, the Tuesday after [Western] played in the regional. They let me know that they had an opening and wanted to know if I was interested, Weaver said. At that point, I wasnt really looking to move, but they were able to have me down to take a look at some things. I obviously found a lot of things that I thought were attractive.
Weaver, 45, likes Plainfields growing community and proximity to Indianapolis. He also noted Plainfield in 2008 built a new high school with a 3,500-seat gymnasium. An adjacent fieldhouse features four full courts along with other amenities.
And, then there is the weight room.
I have not seen a weight room like theirs. Its 7,000 square feet and they have a full-time strength and conditioning coach with 19 years of experience, Weaver said.
Weaver noted Plainfields schools all are highly regarded. Weaver and his wife are both teachers and they have three young children.
Its just a great fit for my family, he said.
Weaver enjoyed a great run at Western, compiling a 207-132 record in 15 seasons including a 166-67 showing over the last 10 seasons during which time the Panthers won six Mid-Indiana Conference titles along with the aforementioned postseason success.
The Panthers went 23-3 in 2003-04, winning their first and only regional title and setting a school record for wins.
Im proud of our kids and our program. Its not easy to say goodbye to Western, he said.
Weaver thanked his players, both past and present, for their commitment to winning. He noted the chance to build relationships with players is his favorite part of coaching.
Weaver also made a point to thank past and present assistant coaches, student managers, stat keepers, parents, athletic directors and principals.
I never thought Id leave Western, but I now turn from Westerns head coach to their biggest fan. I want nothing more than for the Western boys basketball program to go to an even higher level, he said.
Its been a great ride. Its something that I will always cherish.
First-year Western athletic director Ryan Berryman knows Weaver will be hard to replace.
Obviously, he has been a pillar of the community for the last 15 years. His success speaks for itself, Berryman said. Ive really enjoyed getting to know Andy and developing that bond and friendship. He is a class act off the court as well as on it.
Obviously, its a huge loss for us, to lose a guy who has invested that much time in creating an environment for success. He has left the program in a good position and well pick up and move forward, but hell be sorely missed.
Weaver will have his work cut out for him at Plainfield. The Quakers have endured three straight losing seasons capped by the 1-20 showing.
Plainfield won the Class 3A state championship in 1999, but it moved up to Class 4A the following year and since has been a non-factor in the tournament.
Im not afraid of challenges, he said. Obviously, I had roots at Western. I really thought I might be there for my whole career. But, this opportunity is exciting.
Known for his meticulous scouting and preparation, Weaver quickly ran down the Quakers Mid-States Conference and sectional opponents.
I obviously have some new teams that Im going to have to learn a lot about. But, that is exciting for me, he said.
Berryman is in the process of finding a new football coach. Now, he has a basketball vacancy, too.
Berryman said the school will need to post the coaching opening for at least 10 days and then well try to move quickly to go through the interview process and try to put a coach in front of our players going into summer.
Western under Andy Weaver:
Record: 207-132 in 15 seasons overall 166-67 over final 10 seasons. Weaver is Westerns all-time winningest coach.
State tourney success: Weaver has been Westerns only coach in the class tournament era. He led the Panthers to Class 3A sectional titles in 2003, 04, 06, 07, 11, 12 and a Class 3A regional title in 2004. The regional title was a first for Western.
Conference success: Outright Mid-Indiana Conference titles in 2004, 05, 09 and 12. Shared titles in 07 and 11. Western had won just one outright MIC title before Weavers arrival.
Andy Weaver new Basketball Coach at Plainfield
Started by NDCougar , Apr 24 2012 07:50 AM
2 replies to this topic
Posted 24 April 2012 - 07:50 AM
Posted 25 April 2012 - 10:48 AM
This sounds like a much better hire than the last coach. Though I don't know him, he at least has a winning record to bring along. The old coach just didn't work out, but when he dismissed talent walking the hallway by telling them not to come out it he pretty much handcuffed himself.
Edited by Need a change?, 25 April 2012 - 10:52 AM.
Posted 02 May 2012 - 09:15 AM
This sounds like a much better hire than the last coach. Though I don't know him, he at least has a winning record to bring along. The old coach just didn't work out, but when he dismissed talent walking the hallway by telling them not to come out it he pretty much handcuffed himself.
Having known coach Weaver since the 2005-06 season as a sportswriter, he is one of the more intelligent, honest and straightforward coaches I've had the privilege of interacting with. Also a no-excuse stickler for detail. Should work out well for the Quakers.
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Trevayne Farm Caravan & Camping Park in Pembrokeshire
Beautiful campsite set on the Monkstone peninsular. Access to Monkstone beach. Great facilities. Tremendous views. Located between Tenby & Saundersfoot. Friendly family atmosphere. The perfect holiday setting for a beautiful rural getaway.
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We have just had 5 nights at Trevayne and thought it was excellent, the views from the camping field were stunning and the private beach that was dog friendly awesome, would definitley recommend. Shower facilities adequate and allways clean
Kevin Boddy (1st Aug 2011)
We had a great stay at Trevayne Farm. The facilities are good, the staff very friendly and helpful and the site is close enough to Saundersfoot and Tenby to be handy while still being in a very rural spot. Good access to the beaches, and interesting walks. We enjoyed it so much we wanted to re-book the following year but we left it a bit too late and it was booked up. We hope to be back!
Jeremy Nichols (17th Jun 2011)
Although this is a beautiful area with amazing beaches, the campsite was incredibly overcrowded and the facilities were not sufficient for the amount of people on site. Even when it already seemed full they still squeezed another tent in next to us.
Elaine (16th Aug 2010)


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|ID This Location In Movie "Catch Me If You Can" posted Mon Nov 24 2003 18:49:38 by Hartsfieldboy
|Catch Me If You Can posted Thu Feb 13 2003 13:28:42 by Airsicknessbag
|Catch Me If You Can posted Mon Jan 13 2003 20:05:26 by Bwc1976
|"Catch Me If You Can" posted Thu Dec 26 2002 04:06:16 by Thomasphoto60
|Catch Me If You Can posted Fri Dec 20 2002 01:46:06 by BR715-A1-30
|'Catch Me If You Can' posted Thu Nov 28 2002 01:06:25 by Thomasphoto60
|"Catch Me If You Can" posted Fri Nov 22 2002 04:58:48 by Sleekjet
|Heathrow Hints.... Please Help Me If You Can :) posted Mon Mar 29 2004 13:05:32 by Glennstewart
|If You Can P*** You Can Paint posted Sun Jun 11 2006 22:20:21 by Samair
|Who's 737's Are These... If You Can See Them? posted Thu Sep 22 2005 22:26:36 by GulfstreamGuy


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Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) - In the desert within 35 miles of the Phoenix metro area, Arizona authorities found a car ablaze with five bodies burned beyond recognition inside.
The location of the smoldering car in a smuggling corridor known as the Vekol Valley and the nature of the crime have Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu saying that he's all but certain a violent cartel is responsible.
The Pima County Medical Examiner's Office was conducting autopsies Monday, two days after the bodies were found. The coroner will have to rely on dental records in an effort to identify them.
The autopsies also will determine whether the five people were killed before they were burned or whether they were alive when the car was set on fire.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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The Anatomy of a Help File: An Iterative Approach
Published: May 21, 2007
There is an adage in software development that says there are only three types of documentation that have ultimate value:
- code
- user assistance
- test cases
This adage does not mean that other documents such as functional requirements, documentation plans, wireframes, personas, and such do not have value. It merely means that you do not want to be a year, a thousand pages, or a million dollars into a project and not have any code, user assistance, or test cases.
Most iterative design frameworks such as the Rational Unified Process (RUP) or agile software development embrace the principle of getting to demonstrable, testable code as soon as possible. Typically, they achieve this by separating the product requirements into functional chunks, then systematically developing each of those chunks through sequenced project phases that are sometimes called iterations. The early iterations usually comprise architecturally significant or technologically risky functionality.
This article presents an approach to Help file design that focuses on creating a task-centered user experience and accommodates an iterative development strategy. This methodology allows the introduction of user assistance into early test phases—not only getting earlier validation for its accuracy, but also supporting quality assurance testing by serving as the test scripts for interactions with the user interface. This approach can also be a self-contained strategy—that is, one that allows an iterative approach to user assistance development even if the rest of product development operates on a waterfall model.
Selecting an Architectural Focal Point
Optimizing a user experience of any sort means understanding where the experience starts, then accommodating user needs at that time and place. For example, when designing a restaurant, an architect envisions an attractive main entrance and makes that the focal point for starting a satisfying user experience—one that guides people gracefully through the transition from a busy street to a cozy dining room. You can take a similar approach to designing a Help system by first envisioning how the user will access Help.
In general, there are five ways a user can get to a Help topic:
- navigating through the Help table of contents
- searching for a Help topic, then clicking a link in the search results
- clicking a link in an index
- clicking a link in another Help topic
- clicking a context-sensitive link in the application's user interface
Following a task-centered design approach makes it apparent that the primary entry points to a Help system should be context-sensitive links in the user interface. Create an architecture that optimizes this user experience. There are several reasons for making such links the focal points of a Help system.
One of the primary objectives of user assistance is to provide support to a user while the user is performing a task with an application. Most users try to do a task before consulting user assistance—usually they wait until they get stuck before resorting to Help. Therefore, users are typically within an application and already in the middle of a task when they consult Help. A context-sensitive link offers the best opportunity to serve users quickly and efficiently at their point of need. You can focus the entry topic on the information users most likely need—essentially making the user assistance experience a one-click transaction.
Another reason for focusing on context-sensitive entry points is that it lets you more easily link Help instructions to the product's functional user interface. As I discuss later in this article, this close association between Help topics and the user interface accommodates an iterative development strategy that supports the early documentation needs of quality assurance and allows early testing of critical user-interface-to-Help links.
Defining User Assistance Iterations
You can define user assistance iterations along two dimensions:
- product functionality
- degree of completeness
These two dimensions are by no means mutually exclusive. For example, if you are supporting a product being developed using an iterative methodology, you can focus on developing user assistance topics that support an iteration's targeted functionality. But you could also define the degree of completeness you intend to achieve along the product's development and test cycle. As user assistance designers and developers, we do not have much control over the first dimension—the functionality in an iteration. However, we do have a lot of control over the second dimension, the degree of completeness we will deliver at any given time.
As I said earlier, this iterative model of user assistance development does not require an iterative model at the product development level. The most inflexible of development models, the waterfall―in which a project lumbers through whole product-sized clumps during the planning, design, development, and test phases―has time-phased testing and release milestones that let Help developers employ degree-of-completion iterations. Even the most simplistic model has two critical milestones:
- Release to Quality Assurance (QA)
- Release for General Availability (GA)
In most cases, a product's test schedule is more granular and also includes alpha testing—when developers pound on functional versions of the code before releasing it to QA—and beta testing—when a company releases a product to select customers, who have reduced expectations about the completeness and performance of the product.
In a project I am currently working on, the project plan for the product identifies three critical milestone dates:
- Delivery to QA
- Delivery to Beta
- General Availability
Obviously, the Help must be robust and complete by the General Availability date, but this project plan gives us two opportunities for releasing less-than-complete versions of the Help—the first to QA on that milestone date; the second to Beta.
Designing Help
When products have page-level or tab-level context sensitivity, the design process I am about to describe can very efficiently support iterative releases of testable code. We are using an open standard methodology called DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) with an open source topic-mapping tool called Task Modeler. The DITA capability of semantically typing topics as Task, Concept, or Reference facilitates the approach I describe in this article, and the DITA mapping view within Task Modeler facilitates the design and file-stubbing steps I describe. However, applying this approach requires neither DITA nor Task Modeler.
The following overview summarizes the process for an iterative approach to creating Help:
- Identify the pages that need context-sensitive Help. If the product has embedded Help, treat that as context-sensitive Help. You've merely removed the need for a user to click an icon or link.
- For each of the pages the Help system supports, define a task-support cluster of Help topics. (I am about to discuss what that is.)
- Stub the file structure—creating files that have topic titles and the required inter-topic navigation links, but not necessarily any of the content.
- Write the task topics first.
- Flesh out the clusters with the conceptual and reference topics.
- Identify and write background and overview topics.
Task-Support Clusters
A task-support cluster is a closely associated group of Help topics you design specifically to meet the requirements of a user who is currently engaged in a task using the user interface. Its opening topic is called the keystone concept, and it is either a topic a user displays by clicking a context-sensitive Help link or the default topic in the embedded Help pane for a specific page. In designing the task-support cluster, make these assumptions:
- A user has the necessary computer and domain knowledge to be doing the task—although the user might lack the full knowledge or experience an expert would have. I call this assumption the "you must be this tall to ride this ride" principle.
- A user is in the right place to perform the task the user wants to do.
These assumptions will not be 100% true 100% of the time, but you are designing the primary user assistance experience at this point, not the complete user assistance experience. You can provide mitigation strategies for those users who do not fulfill these assumptions later. However, making these two assumptions lets you choose topics and write content that get the average user out of the Help and back on task within the application as quickly as possible.
A task-support cluster has the following elements:
- an introductory keystone concept topic—which is the target of a context-sensitive link in the user interface and provides a functional overview—what you can do on this page. It can also augment domain expertise by providing tips or examples that give insight into how best to use that page to accomplish user goals.
- task topics—which support the possible user goals for functions on the page
- any reference topics—which users might require in support of those tasks
- deep concepts—which, if appropriate, are more detailed than the keystone concept and present either more elementary information—for example, if the targeted task uses wildcards, how wildcard rules work—or more technical information—for example, if a targeted task initiates system activity that might be of interest to an advanced user who is trying to anticipate impact on network performance, how the system processes network traffic in the background. Either of these types of topics might be unnecessary clutter to the average user, but less-experienced or more-experienced users could find them valuable. However, deep concepts should still be closely related to the tasks a page supports.
- appropriate inter-topic links—which are links to other topics within the cluster
Figure 1 shows an example of a typical architecture for a task-support cluster.
Figure 1—Architecture for a task-support cluster
Guidelines for Designing Task-Support Clusters
Here are some guidelines for designing task-support clusters:
- Do not provide extraneous links—links that do not apply to the targeted task. Avoid the temptation to link the Help topics from one task-support cluster to another. For example, a page for selecting recipients to receive alert notifications by email is only loosely related to another page for configuring email. Assume a user's targeted task is to set up notifications, not configure email, and quickly get the user back to the user interface to finish that task. Certainly, you can point out dependencies and tell the user how to get to dependent pages, but let the topic-support clusters for those pages pick up the burden should the user need help there.
- Include navigation instructions in all task topics, either as explicit steps in the procedures or as links to navigation tasks. This mitigation accommodates users who get to Help topics through the Help table of contents, index, or search.
- Be parsimonious with content and navigation. Your primary goal is to get the user back on task as quickly as possible.
But what if a page is very simple and creating a task-support cluster would be overkill? Then don't do it. If a single task topic with a well-written goal or context statement can support a user goal, just create that. Or if Help cannot add any information beyond what the text in the user interface already provides, don't add a context-sensitive Help link to that application page.
On the other hand, what if the task touches on broad areas of domain expertise that some users may lack―failing the "you must be this tall to ride this ride" criterion? Include educational topics in the larger Help file—such as tutorials and overviews like "Principles of Network Security." Just do not include links to such extraneous information in the task-support cluster—or include just a single link to the top-level topic. The point is to avoid the inevitable link farm that results if you try to provide links to all conceptually related topics. Such over-linking makes a Help system unnecessarily complex and encourages users to read about functionality when they would be better off back in the user interface actually doing something.
Defining Iterations
Let's review the process for this iterative approach to Help:
- Identify the pages that need context-sensitive Help.
- For each of the pages the Help system supports, define a task-support cluster of Help topics.
- Stub the file structure.
- Write the task topics first.
- Flesh out the clusters with the conceptual and reference topics.
- Identify and write background and overview topics.
Your first iteration of the Help for early quality assurance (QA) testing might deliver just the user assistance structure you create in steps 1 through 3. As I mentioned earlier, because my company uses a topic mapping tool, Task Modeler, it is very easy for us to graphically design the structure of our task-support clusters and create stubbed XML files. Our DITA editor can easily transform those XML files into a Help file with navigation. So, with just our architectural design work and very little information development work, we can deliver a skeletal file to QA, who can then validate the navigational integrity between the user interface and the Help as well as among Help topics.
However, you would probably want your initial iteration of Help to be more complete and perhaps include the content for the task topics as well. That would allow QA to use the Help topics as test scripts—that is, QA can follow the documented procedures in the Help tasks and verify that the user interface behaves as described. A good first iteration, therefore, is one that includes steps 1 through 4.
Later iterations of the Help can flesh out the keystone concepts, references, and deep concepts within the task-support clusters. Subject-matter experts can review the content of these topics independently, because there is no need to verify them against the working user interface, as reviewers must do with tasks.
Even later iterations of the Help can develop basic conceptual topics such as overviews, broad background topics, and general support topics that you create to help users who come to the application "not tall enough to ride the ride." Instead of supporting specific tasks—read to do—such topics are more educational in scope—read to learn. You can also develop advanced conceptual and reference topics in these later iterations to support advanced users.
As you can see, you can shape an iteration strategy around the functionality dimension—for example, "The Help we deliver on such-and-such a date will cover functions A through F," as well as along a degree of completeness dimension, "...and cover just the task-support clusters, with only the task topics fleshed out."
A typical iterative strategy could look like this:
|User Assistance Iteration
|Code to QA
|Task-support clusters stubbed, with task topics completed
|Task-support clusters fully developed
|General Availability
Overviews and educational topics completed
You can describe this iterative approach to design and development using an anatomical metaphor. Your first iteration is a neuro-skeletal build. You are laying out the framework and interconnections—hypertext links. The next iterations are the muscular builds. You are fleshing out the core-value topics that do the heavy lifting of the user assistance. Later iterations are the organic builds—adding the skin and final components that make it a fully viable entity.
Benefits of an Iterative Approach
The benefits of the approach I have described in this article are two-fold. This approach encourages the development of user assistance that is more relevant to users' needs. Furthermore, it provides a development approach that lets user assistance authors connect with the product development and testing lifecycle sooner. In summary:
- The task-support cluster approach creates a strong user-centered, task-focused user assistance architecture. In effect, each cluster serves as an information express lane for users who have specific information requirements that their immediate tasks shape.
- The modularity and self-containment of the clusters help prevent users from getting lost in the Help. Many user assistance authors over-link their topics. Thinking about Help navigation in terms like "Oh, if a user is reading about x, she would probably also be interested in y," gets replaced with this: "The user who came here was doing x; let's deal with that and get her back into the application, not other topics in the Help."
- The linking of the clusters to specific application pages and the emphasis on initial development of task topics allow early releases of Help files that can have immediate value in QA testing.
Topic: Columns | User Assistance
6 Comments
Very thorough and helpful article. The concept of not linking support clusters sounded counterintuitive at first. But I see how it would allow most users to focus on the core task and return to the right path.
Thanks very much for this helpful article. It has definitely sparked my thinking about structuring and prioritizing Help systems.
However, a concrete example would be helpful. I can imagine how this might work in practice, but I'd appreciate confirmation from you.
For example:
- Application screen: Alert Notifications List
- Keystone concept: Alert notifications
- Related tasks:
- Adding a notification
- Deleting a notification
- Modifying a notification
- Related reference: Alert Notifications List field reference
- Deep concept: How alert notification are triggered
Does that fit?
Exactly! The keystone concept could include who gets alert notifications and when they might be helpful. The deep concept might be interesting to someone more technical like a system admin who needs to know how traffic flows on the system, but not something the typical user would want to know.
Thanks for adding value to the discussion with such an accurate concrete example.
This is a nice article. I like it very much, but I have a question about Help files and documentation: How many kinds of Help files are there? What is the most popular use? Advantages and disadvantages of these Help files and other documentation? Thank you in advance.
Big question. :-) First of all, a Help file is user documentation bundled for software or Web applications, bundled as part of the application, and accessible from within the application.
The Technical Answer: Some Help systems are proprietary and coded as part of the application code—for example, putting the Help text into Java properties files and using the application code to display the Help.
Other Help systems are written using Help Authoring Tools (HATs) such as RoboHelp or MadCap and exist as code outside the application, but with links or calls from within the application code that open the Help. These systems are often context sensitive—that is, they call up the appropriate Help topic based on where in the application the call comes from. Of these systems, the most common forms are HTML Help, which is a Microsoft standard that uses browser technology, but produces the Help file as a single compiled file—with the extension .chm—and Web-based Help, which creates each topic as a stand-alone HTML page and then renders the Help in a frameset that includes Contents, Index, and Search. There is also an emerging standard that uses the IBM Eclipse-based Help that takes advantage of the DITA (Darwin Information Type Architecture). And there is embedded Help that displays the Help as part of the user interface, usually in a dedicated pane that can be hidden.
The advantage of Help over other forms of product documentation is that it is included as part of the application, and its content can be closely coordinated with user tasks. The disadvantage of Help is that it does not handle long background or overview content very well. See my other column, The Help Landscape: A Mile Wide and Thirty Seconds Deep.
Thanks for writing this.
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Jeanie "Dear Steve, I have already gone to bankruptcy five years ago. I am currently in credit counseling, however, I do not have enough money to provide food and clothing for my child. I am a single parent not receiving child support, I have no child support judgment. Long story, but I felt it was in the best interest of ... Read More »
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"Dear Steve, Let me start by saying it has been very hard for me to get to this point and ask for help. I hate that I am where I am financially (due to factors both within and not within in my control). I'm 45 years old and for most of my life used to stay very on top of ... Read More »


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TransDeco 32" -60" Flat Panel TV Stand - Finish: Espresso
Item# SPM7444894610 | Model# TD610ES | Added on November 3, 2012 | Seller: Wayfair.com
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TDI1061: Features: -Curved front tempered safety glass top and bottom shelves. -Adjustable clear tempered glass middle shelf is removable for extra tall audio video components. -Cable management system to hide wires & cables. -Contemporary design compliments any room decor. TV Size Accommodated: -60 Inches. Product Type: -TV stand. Design: -Open shelving. Finish: -Black. Finish: -Espresso. Frame Material: -Wood. Frame Material: -Metal. Frame Material: -Glass. Orientation: -Floor unit. Generic Specifications: -holds at least 4 audio video components and a center channel speaker. Generic Dimensions: -Middle shelf: 7'' H 34'' W x 18.4'' D. -Bottom shelf: 9.5'' H 34'' W x 18.4'' D. Dimensions: Overall Height - Top to Bottom: -23 Inches. Overall Width - Side to Side: -55 Inches. Overall Depth - Front to Back: -22 Inches. Overall Product Weight: -93 Pounds.
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UW This Season: Julius Stinson will be a leading All-Conference candidate in 2007, after earning Honorable Mention All-Mountain West Conference honors as a junior in `06. Not only is he an outstanding cover corner, but he ranked third on the Wyoming team in tackles in 2006 with 57, and he led UW in solo tackles with 40. He will team with fellow senior cornerback Michael Medina to form one of the best corner tandems in the Mountain West Conference in `07.
2006: Stinson stepped into the starting lineup for the first time in 2006 and became an immediate star for the Cowboys. In addition to ranking third on the team in tackles (57) and first in solo tackles (40), he also intercepted two passes, to rank second for the Cowboys, and he broke up three other passes -- fifth best on the squad. He ranked 17th in the MWC in interceptions in `06. Due to his outstanding athletic ability, Stinson was utilized in a number of different ways including as a blitzer. He recorded two sacks on the season, 3.5 tackles for losses and one forced fumble. His best performance of the season came against Utah. He was credited with seven tackles versus the Utes, but his biggest play came on Utah's first possession of the second half. With Wyoming leading by a score of 24-0, Stinson picked off a Utah pass on that first possession of the second half and took the interception back 42 yards for a touchdown to seal an eventual 31-15 victory for the Cowboys. Stinson earned MWC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors with teammate Ward Dobbs for his performance vs. the Utes. He also had a nine-tackle game against TCU and an eight-tackle, one-sack performance versus Boise State. His other interception of the season came at Syracuse.
2005: Stinson appeared in 10 of 11 games for Wyoming, missing only the UNLV game due to a left knee sprain. He began to display his talents to Wyoming fans when, as a sophomore in `05, he intercepted two passes and made nine tackles as a backup cornerback. Stinson ranked 19th in the MWC in interceptions in `05.
2004: Stinson appeared in all 12 games for UW in 2004, primarily as a contributor on special teams. He concluded his true freshman campaign with eight total tackles and one pass breakup. With his outstanding speed, he was used as one of Wyoming's primary kick coverage men. Earned his first varsity letter.
High School: He earned All-Area and All-CIF honors both his junior and senior seasons of high school. In addition, Stinson was named to the Los Angeles Times All-Region team two years. A two-time team captain in football, he was named his high school's Athlete of the Year and football MVP his senior season. He earned All-Conference honors three years on offense and two on defense. As a senior at Silverado High School in Victorville, Calif., Stinson rushed for 1,449 yards on 164 carries. He averaged 131.7 yards per game, 8.8 yards per carry, and scored 16 touchdowns in 2003. His best two games came against Apple Valley (205 yards in 23 carries) and versus Rim of the World High School (280 yards on 29 attempts). As a safety on defense, Stinson was credited with 99 tackles, averaging 9.0 tackles per game. He also intercepted three passes, returning one for a TD. He led Silverado to an 8-4 record, advancing to the Second Round of the CIF Division VIII playoffs. Silverado lost in the Second Round of the playoffs to Kaiser High, 10-13. Stinson was also a standout in basketball and track at Silverado High. He achieved honor roll status three years in high school. He played for head football coach Paul Golla. Stinson was also recruited by Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
Personal: Born June 13, 1986, he is the youngest of three children of Crystal and Jeff Stinson. Stinson is majoring in communications at Wyoming.


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good bang for the buck
By Willy
from Lancaster Pa
About Me Avid Cyclist
See all my reviews
Comments about CatEye Stealth 50 GPS Computer:
downloads to stravaInitial setup out of box is frustrating even with cateye you tube videos !!
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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Great Computer for the Price
By Slice5
from Middleton, WI
Use the computer on a triathlon bike. Need to buy separate ANT+ heart rate monitor and cadence sensors
Every thing I need
By Don
from Florida
Fits all my needs, was fairly easy to set up and sync with My Wahoo cadence and CatEye heart rate monitor. Sat. syncs in a few seconds and stays locked in...For me It is exactly what I was looking for with out a big price tag. When I get through with my ride Just plug it into computer and w a Couple of clicks data is up loaded into Strava account, leave in the cradle over night and it is charged and ready to go.
I would buy this product again
By Dan
from Melbourne FL
About Me Casual/ Recreational
Easy to use and has all the functions I need.
(1 of 3 customers found this review helpful)
Cat eye Stealth 50 gps computer
By Vittal
from Fairport, Ny
Took the computer to local Cateye authorized bike shop and they spent 2-3 hours trying to set up and check it out for me. They finally gave up. They could not tell me what is wrong with it. I returned the computer back to Nasbar.
Bottom Line No, I would not recommend this to a friend
CatEye Stealth 50 GPS Computer
By Rich
from Bluffton SC.
I do I lot of Biking, great device. Great product build really well. Love it.
Works as advertised!
By Marty
from Dayton OH
I like the product and would recommend it. The only draw back is the initial setup which can be a pain to accomplish but once it is done it works great.
(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)
Strava Addict
By Travis the Triathlete
from Wheeling, WV
Simple and easy to use. Quickly connects to the Ant+ devices. Works with both of my bikes (one with ANT+ and one without). Logs long events without issues. I even take it for long runs to track my progress.
(29 of 29 customers found this review helpful)
Good Basic GPS Device with a Few Caveats
By WhiskeyandRye
from Brooklyn, NY
I was looking for was a barebones GPS computer that allowed "dashboard" display of ride data (Speed/Cadence/HR/Time) as well the ability to log my rides/data to Strava. I'd been using my iPhone with the Strava app, but using the GPS kills the battery especially in rural areas, not good if I ever need to make an emergency call. With the above in mind, I picked up the new Cateye Stealth 50 and for the most part if does what I need it to. I rode for years with my old trusty wired Cateye Astrale so I was happy to see they now have a GPS offering. I'm not gonna lie-I'm exhibiting some brand loyalty here, with my choice of Cateye. If you're looking for a basic ANT+ GPS device, you'll need to weigh the features you want and how much you want to spend for a similar device. With the Stealth 50 + ANT+ ISC-11 Speed/Cadence + HR-11 sensors you're looking at over $200 (on sale) compared to the similar mid range Garmin 500 bundle or now the new Sigma Rox 10.0 which both offer more features but are more expensive, and I'm sure not without their own quirks.I think Cateye is on the right track here, and hopefully future iterations of the device will see great improvements.THINGS I LIKE:Form: Looks Stealth! Aptly named compact unit, has an appealing design, and seems to be a quality piece of hardware.Display: Very easy to read and navigate. I am used to Cateye's menu UI so I may be biased here.ANT+: sensors work awesome and pairing is very easy. IMHO at the very least the Cateye Speed/Cadence ISC-11 is an essential add-on l to get the most out of the Stealth 50, followed by the HR-11 heart rate strap.Easy to use/set up (using .pdf and vids available from Cateye site)Cateye Sync: Apparently an early iteration of this software was quite horrible, but the newly upgraded version works fine for me, and does what it's supposed to (and I'm using an iMac w/ new OSX Maverick).Cateye Atlas/Strava compatibility: Very easy to upload trips to either site using Sync. I've noticed some mileage/avg speed discrepancies between Atlas and Strava, and not sure whether it is an issue with differences in each sites algorithms when calculating GPS data? in any case I'm not planning on breaking any world records anytime soon :) so this doesn't bother me too much. I may try doing a rollout with the Speed Sensor in the future to give a more accurate calibration with my weight/bike/tires then just using the chart number and see if that helps any.*Night time display - GREAT for easily reading computer during evening/night rides*GPS Sat Acquisition - for the most part this works well. I've found that starting computer up for a couple minutes while I'm getting dressed BEFORE I start ride helps with Satellite acquisition. By the time I'm ready to roll GPS is usually locked and I just have reset to create a blank new ride.THINGS THAT CAN BE IMPROVED* One-button reset to save trip. Would be nice if a user was given some on-screen feedback such as "Trip Saved". The way it works is you reset the current trip data with the Mode button, which starts a new trip and saves the old one to Trip Data for later upload. Because you always want to be safe that trip data has saved, you always reset the trip before a ride - doing this however means that you will end up with several "stub files" of very short data that you have to clean up during upload with Cateye sync. Not a huge deal, but I think this could be implemented better.* On device trip recall. To add to above comment, it would be great if there was a way to go back and view a list of saved trips on the device itself, even if just a snapshot view (Miles, Times, Avg Speed, Ag HR, Avg Cadence etc). I mean the data is in the device, right? Why not let us see some of it?The only way to view past trips is to upload data to desktop/laptop and upload to Cateye Sync. This would mainly be an issue when traveling where you might not have access to a computer. Psst Cateye! - How about an App?? It would be great if someday, these devices had the ability to connect via smartphones allowing uploads etc, such as many DSLRs are doing these days.NICE TO HAVES:*Barometric Altimeter - while you can view (GPS calculated?) elevation profiles on Cateye Atlas or Strava it would be cool to have this feature in the device itself.*Ambient Temperature - why not? Would be cool to see what the temp is.*Bar Fly type mount. The included mount is fine but I purchased a third-party Bar Fly mount which puts the computer just in front of the bars for ease of view riding(road bike), while still keeping an eye up the road. I put the included mount on my other bike so I can use the Stealth 50 with that bike too.*HR Zone Alarms - HR only display's current BPM, there is no provision for setting up training zones.
(5 of 5 customers found this review helpful)
Love this computer
By Sue
from Olympia, WA
Cateye has done a great job on this one. Large backlit display that you can read a night. With no speed sensors required, it's easy to move from bike to bike. With ant+ wireless technology, you may use any heart rate, power, or speed/cadance sensors from any manufacture that is also ant+. It is easy to program with Cateyesync. Cateye Atlas is a great online log book you can upload your rides to. There you can view your rides on Google Maps and keep track of your miles. You will also be able to upload to Strava and a couple of other sites. I ride under some dense tree cover and I have lost the satellite signal a couple of times. This Stealth 50 is for my wife's bikes. We love this computer.
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Hints for keeping bicycles out in highway traffic
Here are some hints for local planners, to help them to urge cyclists out onto the highways instead of using the bike paths.
• Keep writing roadwork contracts with "glitches" in them, such as the recent one that allowed the work crews to dig rumble strips down the middle of several bike paths, rendering them virtually unusable.
• Lay rough gravel "bike paths" alongside nice smooth asphalt roads to encourage cyclists to use the road instead of the path.
• Continue to lay glaring white concrete "bike paths" with stop signs at each crossover, down the median strips of nice black asphalt streets that have no stop signs, thus compelling every sensible cyclist to use the road instead of the path.
• And last, for heaven's sake, continue to allow developers to lay out cul-de-sacs that back up to other cul-de-sacs, with no pedestrian/bike access from the back of one development into the back of the other, forcing cyclists (and pedestrians) to go out into the highway traffic and take the long way around instead of proceeding along the residential streets.
Peter Schultz


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Rizzetta & Company provides portfolio and on-site management, accounting and financial services for our association clients. All of our managers are licensed with the State of Florida, and our firm is a member of Community Associations Institute (CAI). The Community Association Services division of Rizzetta & Company, Inc., with decades of experience in the industry, is a trusted partner to those that we serve.
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Ashlyn Park, a technical and professional office center is home to training and meeting facilities and planned for a 2,400 square foot data center and executive suites.
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Images: USARC Motorcycle Mentorship Program [Image 14 of 15]
Photo by Timothy Hale
Lt. Col. John Bates, U.S. Army Reserve Command, command group, checks tire pressure during the second annual Blessing of the Bikes Motorcycle Mentorship Program hosted by USARC at Fort Bragg, N.C., March 15, 2012. The MMP is designed to pair less experienced riders with those who have more experience through group rides while emphasizing safety and esprit de corps.
This work, USARC Motorcycle Mentorship Program [Image 1 of 15], by Timothy Hale, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.
Date Taken:03.15.2012
Date Posted:03.15.2012 18:00
Photo ID:542821
Size:2.55 MB
Location:FORT BRAGG, NC, US
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USARC Motorcycle Mentorship Program


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Andres Cutaway Blazer
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No hassle shipping and returns. Receive free shipping and free returns on all bridal and bridesmaid styles.
A sleek, strong-shoulder jacket with clean lines and a contemporary cut for instant office-ready looks.
- Solid lapels. Long sleeves.
- Cutaway detail at front. Slit at center back hem.
- Shoulder pads.
- Front hook-and-bar closure.
- Crepe: Polyester, Rayon, Spandex. Woven: Polyester.
- Hand Wash.
- Imported.
- Measures approximately 29.75" from shoulder to hem.
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More New and Used
from Private Sellers
Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
DIFFERENTIATION: From Planning to Practices, Grades 6-12
ISBN13:by Wormeli, Rick
Stenhouse Pub
Questions About This Book?
Why should I rent this book?
Renting is easy, fast, and cheap! Renting from eCampus.com can save you hundreds of dollars compared to the cost of new or used books each semester. At the end of the semester, simply ship the book back to us with a free UPS shipping label! No need to worry about selling it back.
How do rental returns work?
Returning books is as easy as possible. As your rental due date approaches, we will email you several courtesy reminders. When you are ready to return, you can print a free UPS shipping label from our website at any time. Then, just return the book to your UPS driver or any staffed UPS location. You can even use the same box we shipped it in!
What version or edition is this?
This is the edition with a publication date of 11/1/2007.
What is included with this book?
- The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any CDs, lab manuals, study guides, etc.
- The Rental copy of this book is not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. You may receive a brand new copy, but typically, only the book itself.
In this refreshing addition to differentiated learning literature, Rick Wormeli takes readers step-by-step from the blank page to a fully crafted differentiation lesson. Along the way he shows middle and high school teachers the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into effective lesson design for diverse classrooms.
Author Biography
Rick Wormeli is a National Board Certified Teacher and a columnist for Middle Ground magazine. The winner of Disney's American Teacher Award for English in 1996, Rick is an internationally known speaker on secondary education, innovation, and teacher professionalism
Table of Contents
|p. xi
|p. xv
|Developing a Common Frame of Reference
|p. 1
|p. 1
|Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom
|p. 4
|Defining Differentiated Instruction
|p. 7
|How to Extend These Processes to Any Subject
|p. 12
|A Walk-Through of a Differentiated Lesson
|p. 15
|p. 15
|Steps to Take Before Designing the Learning Experiences
|p. 17
|Steps to Take While Designing and Implementing the Learning Experiences
|p. 31
|Sample Lesson: The Impact of Cortez on the Aztecs
|p. 42
|p. 42
|Specific Objectives
|p. 42
|p. 42
|p. 43
|Learning Experiences and Sequence
|p. 43
|Differentiation Alternatives for Each Part
|p. 46
|Responding to the Needs of Advanced Students
|p. 48
|Differentiating in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Classes
|p. 52
|Three Questions to Guide Our Brainstorming of Lesson Modifications
|p. 53
|Changing Our Lesson Plans As We Respond to Students
|p. 53
|Reminders When Reviewing Our Differentiated Lesson
|p. 59
|Steps to Take After Providing the Learning Experiences
|p. 62
|Helpful Structures and Strategies for the Differentiated Class
|p. 65
|General Differentiation Approaches
|p. 65
|Different, Not More or Less
|p. 65
|Adjusting Instruction Based on Assessment Results
|p. 67
|Modify Options: Content, Process, Product, Affect, and Learning Environment
|p. 70
|Models of Instruction
|p. 72
|Flexible Grouping
|p. 75
|Collaboration with Students
|p. 79
|Personal Agendas
|p. 79
|p. 81
|A Slightly Different Definition
|p. 81
|Tomlinson's Equalizer
|p. 81
|Gradations of Mastery
|p. 83
|Respectful Tasks
|p. 89
|Compacting the Curriculum
|p. 90
|The Football and the Anchor: Teaching a Variety of Levels at the Same Time
|p. 91
|Scaffold Instruction
|p. 97
|Cognitive Science Structures and Tips That Help Us Differentiate
|p. 99
|Building Background Knowledge
|p. 100
|Priming the Brain and Structuring Information
|p. 100
|Primacy-Recency Effect
|p. 102
|Explore Similarities and Differences, Examples and Nonexamples
|p. 104
|p. 104
|Emotional Content
|p. 105
|p. 107
|Meeting Survival Needs
|p. 108
|Memory Ideas
|p. 109
|Social Interaction
|p. 110
|Twelve Samples of Differentiated Learning Experiences from Multiple Subjects
|p. 115
|Newton's First Law
|p. 115
|Sums of Interior Angles
|p. 117
|Learning from Lectures
|p. 120
|Physical Education Skills
|p. 121
|Art Skills
|p. 122
|Simplifying Square Roots
|p. 123
|Editing Text
|p. 126
|Show, Don't Tell
|p. 127
|Calculating Simple Interest
|p. 129
|Atomic Structure
|p. 131
|Taxonomic References with English Language Learners
|p. 132
|Students Can't Sit Still
|p. 134
|A Few Quick Reminders
|p. 137
|A Final Word: Three Tips to Begin the Journey
|p. 139
|Recommended Resources
|p. 143
|p. 153
|p. 165
|p. 169
|Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.


text:
I have a free DynDNS host/domain with an Ubuntu server.
I'm able to receive mails but I can't send emails from my domain.
Most servers reject my mails because the domain doesn't match the IP that sends it. This doesn't happen when I set the FQDN of the SMTP server to
My question is: it's correct to use
localhost as FQDN to send mails from a (sub)domain? If not, what I'm doing wrong? Some people told me that I need to use the SMTP relay provided by my ISP. In that case, which is the relay for DynDNS?
I'm using Postfix as my SMTP server.


text:
ICS Technical Report 96-16
This paper explores some of the issues that arise in effective use of measures to monitor and improve formal technical review practice in industrial settings. It focuses on measurement dysfunction: a situation in which the act of measurement affects the organization in a counter-productive fashion, which leads to results directly counter to those intended by the organization for the measurement.
The next section discusses several general concepts in measurement and measurement dysfunction. The following section applies these concepts to formal technical review and catalogs some of the potential measurement dysfunctions that might occur in FTR. The final section proposes some strategies for minimizing the threat of measurement dysfunction in FTR.
According to Austin, whenever you measure an attribute of an organization with the goal of improving the organization's performance, you run the risk of worsening the organization's performance as a direct result of the measurement. As a simple illustration, consider the apocryphal story of the Soviet Boot factory. Faced with high production quotas, they chose to produce only size-7-left boots. The desired productivity was achieved, as defined by the measurement, though the basic goals of the organization were sacrificed in the process.
For the purposes of exploring measurement dysfunction in formal technical review, a very simple analysis of measurement practice can suffice. Using Austin's terminology, there are at least two uses to which a given measurement can be applied: for information and for motivation.
Informational measurement "tells about an organizational process... It is used to learn from and to plan." In more FTR-specific terms, informational measures support process improvement.
Motivational measurement, on the other hand, "is used to quantify the value of compensation for compliance with objectively verifiable standards of work." In other words, motivational measurement is used to evaluate the performance of individuals.
One tenet of this book is that an individual measure is "value-free" with respect to its application: it can be used for informational purposes, motivational purposes, or both. Importantly, it is impossible for an organization to guarantee that a measure, once taken, will never be used for motivational purposes. Thus, individuals in an organization may tend to operate under the assumption that any measures of individual performance can be used for motivational purposes, regardless of the stated intention of the organization with respect to that measure at the time it is taken.
Measurement dysfunction occurs when individuals behave in a manner that produces good values of the measure for the purposes of motivation (i.e. performance improvement), although this behavior simultaneously undermines the value of the measure for the purposes of information (process improvement).
Austin does not claim that measurement dysfunction is guaranteed to occur when a measurement can be applied for both information and motivation. However, he does provide a compelling argument that dysfunction is a quite natural outcome and, unfortunately, that it is typically quite difficult to detect the presence and degree of measurement dysfunction.
Austin's book provides much more detail on the general issues and remedies for measurement dysfunction. The next section turns to the specific case of dysfunction in formal technical review.
What Austin's work reveals, however, is that it is not enough for the organization to claim that it will not use a review metric for personnel appraisal. As long as the review metric is available to management for use in that manner, reviewers may act as if it will be used in that way (either now or in the future). The problem with software review processes such as Gilb's Inspection (as well as by review processes of my own design such as CSRS/FTArm) is that they are designed in such a way that virtually all measures of review are available to management for use as motivational measures. Measurement dysfunction is a potential outcome of such a review process, regardless of whether or not the organization ever actually uses the measures for such purposes.
To detail this problem, this section provides explicit descriptions of eight different forms of measurement dysfunction possible in FTR.
Measurement occurs during FTR at both the individual and the group level. Individuals generate measurable data during planning, review preparation, and rework. Groups generate measurable data during the review meeting. Dysfunction can occur in both individual and group measures. For each type of dysfunction described below, its occurrence at either or both of the individual or group level is noted.
Measurement dysfunction can occur when an organizational goal is to increase the number of "important" defects found during FTR, as measured by metrics such as the percentage or frequency of non-minor errors found during FTR. Groups and/or individuals can artificially inflate the defect severity level accorded to defects to achieve the desired measurement improvement, even if the "real" measure is stable or falling. Such inflation may be done subconsciously, without any direct intent to deceive the organization by individuals or groups.
Measurement dysfunction can occur when an organizational goal is to improve FTR defect detection, as measured by an increase in the defect density measure over time. In this case, groups and/or individuals can improve this number over time by starting to classify certain items as defects that were previously classified into some non-defect category (such as "minor issues", "syntax", "formatting", or "author question"). Again, such change might be entirely subconscious, and could result in an improvement in the reported measure though the "real" measure might be stable or falling.
Measurement dysfunction can occur when an organizational goal is to improve defect closure rates or efficiency, as measured by metrics such as the number of open defects or the average time-to-close a defect. An organization might also weight this measure by the defect severity in order to encourage more effort into closing the more severe defects.
In this case, groups and/or individuals can improve this number over time in at least two ways. First, they can begin classifying certain difficult-to-fix issues as "enhancements" rather than "defects", which lowers the measured number of hard defects in the work product and thus improves the measure. Second, in the case of weighted measures, they can gradually lower the severity classification provided to a defect of a given type, which will improve the value of the weighted measure.
Measurement dysfunction can occur when an organizational goal is to improve or assess review (or reviewer) quality as measured by review preparation time. Measurement dysfunction can also occur as a result of the way in which reviewer preparation time data is collected. Typically, preparation time is publically presented by each reviewer to the moderator at the beginning of the review meeting. In this latter case, measurement dysfunction can result from pressure to be viewed as having worked as hard on the review preparation as the other participants, and thus to not be viewed as a "slacker".
Since reviewer preparation is a private activity, individuals are free to report a greater than actual preparation time value to the moderator without fear of being found out. Furthermore, there is substantial pressure on participants to never report "no preparation", since this could result in re-scheduling of the meeting. Low preparation effort could also show up (either implicitly or explicitly) as a negative factor on a future individual performance evaluation.
Preparation time inflation can also occur subconsciously, as when a reviewer simply "rounds off" a preparation time of a little over an hour and a half to two hours. Even such rounding results in a 30 percent error in the measure.
Measurement dysfunction can occur when an organizational goal is to improve individual or group efficiency as measured by defect discovery rate. In this case, reviewers may feel pressured to adjust their reported preparation times downward in order to move their efficiency upward. As noted above, reviewer preparation times are particularly vulnerable to alteration, since they are provided publically and because they are essentially unverifiable.
For example, a reviewer who spends three hours preparing (rather than the recommended two hours) would only benefit from reporting a preparation time closer to the recommended value: her efficiency would appear to be greater, and the disparity in preparation effort between her and her colleagues would probably be reduced.
Measurement dysfunction can occur when an organizational goal is to improve either defect density or defect detection rates for individuals. In this case, individuals will feel pressure to improve the number of defects they can report as found during preparation. One way, noted previously, is to inflate severity. Another way is to talk with other reviewers about the document and find out what errors they've discovered. The reviewer can then report these errors on his preparation defect report. The result is an increase in the personal measures for the individual, although these duplicate issues are simply collated during the meeting and do not result in any net quality improvement.
Measurement dysfunction can occur when an organizational goal is to increase review usage, as measured by either or both of review participation or review coverage. In either of these cases, there is a pressure to simply maximize participation and/or coverage while minimizing actual effort allocated to the review. The result is high frequency but low quality review.
Dysfunction can occur as soon as one or more individuals recognize that a measure might be used either now or in the future for performance evaluation. Thus, promises by current management to use the measures "appropriately" are largely ineffectual in preventing measurement dysfunction. As everyone knows, managers and management policies are subject to periodic and unpredictable change.
As shown in several of the examples above, dysfunction can occur without any explicit, conscious, malicious attempts on the part of the developers to subvert the data. In many cases, it manifests itself gradually over an extended period of time as a "false trend". Determining its existence would take extraordinary efforts for most organizations, such as comparing similar defect types over a period of a year or more to determine if inflation in severity types is occurring. Other forms of dysfunction, such as in preparation time reporting, may be impossible to detect.
First, if individuals and groups were provided with a measurement system that was impossible to use for performance evaluation, then there would be little motivation to record measurements inaccurately. Second, if the measurement system was clearly useful for informational purposes, then there would be clear motivation to record the measures consistently and reliably. Obtaining FTR measurement with minimal dysfunction appears to require both of these conditions to be met.
Let's assume that the measures list above in the previous section have value as informational measures, and thus the goal is to determine how to obtain accurate values for them for use in process improvement while minimizing the of possibility of measurement dysfunction. What would a formal technical review process look like under these circumstances? Here are some design principles for formal technical review processes based upon the goal of minimal measurement dysfunction:
The degree to which a review method minimizes the possibility of dysfunction is directly correlated with the degree to which it protects the privacy of individual data. Any individual data not protected by a review method is subject to potential dysfunction and may not truly represent the process.
Some of the more important implications of this principle are:
A solution to this problem is to ensure that any data generated by individuals is always presented in aggregate form along with data from other individuals, and with any ownership information missing.
Some implications of this principle are:
To satisfy both requirements, there must be some way for individuals to personally benefit from the effort invested into collecting review measures. A design requirement for a minimally-dysfunctional review process is to provide mechanisms for analysis of individual review data that supports individual process improvement. Fortunately, there exists a rich source of insight into how to do empirically-driven personal software process improvement in the form of Watts Humphrey's "A Discipline for Software Engineering" (Addison-Wesley, 1995).
Here are some example review measures of group activity that, in order to minimize dysfunctionality, should be kept privately by the group and not made available to management:
This implies that groups must be trained and provided with the tools necessary to do analysis and process improvement of their own data.
As a worst case scenario, if measurement dysfunction is found to be a substantial and widespread problem in Formal Technical Review practice, then:
It is important to note that susceptibility to measurement dysfunction does not necessarily translate into actual dysfunction. Dysfunction measurement susceptibility must be viewed as a continuum. Whether an organization needs to change some, most, or all of its FTR measurement mechanisms depends upon its culture and history.
Finally, there is also a silver lining. Formal technical review, while being shown over and over again to provide positive benefits, still suffers from a low adoption rate. Perhaps at least some of these adoption problems stem from the perceived invasiveness of FTR measures. As new FTR methods appear that attempt to actively prevent measurement dysfunction, at least one of the current obstacles to FTR adoption might be ameliorated.


text:
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text:
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24 Of The Most Hilarious Moments Captured At The Perfect Time
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You Won't Believe What This Shadow in the Sea Is!
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Prepare to Have Your Mind Blown
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A Sultan Commissions The Most Expensive Mack Truck Ever Built
6 Strange but True X-Rays
Why Every Traveler Has to Visit Japan
20 Times Nature Won In The War Against Civilization
Finally, A Realistic Barbie Doll
Jay Leno Invites A Perfectly Resto-Modded Porsche 356 Into His Garage
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21 Outrageous Customized Motorcycles
Born Fighters: the 25 Most Aggressive Dog Breeds
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17 of the Ugliest Celebrities
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Bank Earnings Taxed by QE2, Massive Regulation
Forget about Cyprus, a land of stifling heat and Russian hostess bars. It's time once again for bank earnings. In Q1 2013, the themes are peaking mortgage banking revenues and almost no reserve releases to pad results. Even as some of the biggest banks are (supposedly) reporting record mortgage banking revenues coming off of the refinance boom of 2012, these same institutions are laying off thousands of front office personnel from, you guessed it, the mortgage department.
As I noted in a presentation to American Enterprise Institute this week, the combination of Basel III, Dodd-Frank and the ongoing inquisition over foreclosure abuse will force the commercial banks out of the mortgage business over the next several years. The TBTF banks may be, well, big and dumb, but they are not going to continue producing mortgage loans if their cost to process these assets is 2x their profit – even including the gain on sale. Nobody in Washington understands what the combination of regulations and court decisions is doing to the world of mortgage finance.
Jay Brinkman, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, noted in a presentation to the same American Enterprise Institute audience that the cost to a bank to originate a new mortgage loan is over $5,000 today, a significant data point since that amount is 2x the average income to the bank from the same loan and several times the pre-crisis cost. Just imagine how financial markets will react when Wells Fargo, the largest US mortgage lender, announces its withdrawal from much of the mortgage business. My friend Mark Fogarty, veteran mortgage market watcher at Source Media, reminds us that Wells actually did drop out of the mortgage business in 1990 after the S&L crisis. (This graph is from a longer article on the mortgage market to be published in http://nationalinterest.org/ next week.)
With Dick Bove predicting record bank earnings in Q1, it is useful to recall that all US banks made $33 billion in operating income last quarter. The record quarter for the industry was $37.5 billion in Q2 2006, so what Dick is basically saying is that the industry could meet or beat $40 billion in net income. Even with the decline of reserve releases relative to the last several years, mortgage revenue could account for a large chunk of earnings. The industry sold $641 billion worth of loans into securitizations in Q4 2012, down 12% YOY, but servicing revenue nearly doubled to almost $5 billion. The drop in loan volumes is why the POTUS invited the banksters to the White House two weeks hence to talk about "opening the spigot" for mortgage finance.
As the chart above shows, bank dividends have just about caught up with net income, meaning that the banks are giving roughly amounts equal to operating income to shareholders. The Fed blesses this transfer even though most of the large banks are still woefully undercapitalized vs. their true risks. If you understand the difference between nominal and risk weighted assets, no more need be said. If not, read FDIC Vice Chairman Tom Hoenig in a speech last week that despite the higher capital standards implied by Basel III, the effect is largely an illusion in terms of reducing the riskiness of large banks.
Notice in the chart how much larger was the destruction of value by the banking industry during the subprime crisis vs. the S&L bust in nominals terms, when losses reached almost -$40 billion and dividends just about disappeared. In real terms, the numbers are pretty close. If systemic risk were taxed as some influential members of Congress are considering, what would the dividend flow of US banks look like?
So let's wander through the banks reporting today and see what to expect. First is JPMorganChase, which is currently rated "A" by Institutional Risk Analytics. The bank's tier one leverage ratio is just 6%, but its ratio of tier one capital to risk weighted assets is 14%. You get the joke now? The leverage ratio is the measure that matters. The bank also had a slightly negative RAROC as of 12/31/12, meaning that the bank's income is not actually positive vs. risk taken.
With a price to book of just under 1, JPM is actually considered cheap by many analysts. The market value of equity is up about as much as home prices YOY, some 9% for those of you who get out less than most, and the 1.6 beta is about right for a large money center bank. The Street has JPM down revenue 5.4% in Q1, but up double digits in Q2 2013 and finishing the year up less than one percent. The fact that the bank is laying off people in the mortgage unit, sad to say, tells the story on future volumes, but earnings are supposed to be up 5% for 2013 and 7.4% next year.
Wells Fargo was also rated "A" by Institutional Risk Analytics at the end of 2012. Of note, WFC's tier one leverage ratio is two points better than JPM, but its ratio of tier one capital to risk weighted assets is just 12%, reflecting the different business mix of the nation's largest mortgage originator. WFC had a positive RAROC of 3.4% as of 12/31/13. The market value of equity is up 10% YOY.
Net servicing fees were down almost $2 billion in Q4 to $1.4 billion and net securitization income was just $150 million, but net income was almost $19 billion in Q4 2012 up 19% YOY. This was more than half of the total industry income in the quarter, but only a quarter of the subsidy the Fed is giving the banks because of QE2. As I noted in the AEI deck, the cost of the funds for the entire US banking sector was just $15 billion at the end of Q4 2012 – a direct tax upon individual and corporate savers c/o Ben Bernanke and the FOMC. But banks are savers too.
WFC trades on a 1.2 beta, a good bit less volatile than JPM or Citigroup at 1.86, and reflects a very loyal shareholder base. How many of these fellow travelers of Warren Buffett know that the bank is headed into a massive business model change? Housing has been the leading revenue line item for WFC for years, but government regulation and the naked ambition of American politicians is about to threaten that opportunity. At 1.36x book, WFC is fully valued with the current business. What's it worth if servicing goes away and mortgage banking is cut in half or more?
The Street has revenue down in 2013, up small in 2014, so the business model change is at least partly priced into the stock, yet earnings are magically up 4x revenue growth. The third theme, of course, in Q1 2013 financials is that earnings growth continues to outpace revenue by a significant multiple. Cost reductions and layoffs are the drivers for bank earnings, but one has to wonder when investors are going to start hitting themselves in the heads with the tips of their skis.
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My friend just got the ax from that Big Bank in Cali mortgage department. He said 'there are simply much fewer loans then before. He is forced to try sell his (overpiced) house, yank the kids out of school and move East to Charlotte or Atlanta for a job.
Oh yeah, and take a big cut in salary also. The golden goose has flown the nest.
The phrase "Dick Bove predicting ...." to me is analogous to "Knock Knock, ...."
You're a good egg Whalen. Anyone who appears on CNBC and mentions their post on Zero Hedge is okay in my books.
It looks like the al-Qassam Cyber fighters will continue their DDOS cyber attacks on US banks and US allies (i.e. TD, Key Bank and Dutch banks).
The current targets identified today are Key Bank and HSBC. (12 April 2013)
The Qassam Cyber Fighters full name as claimed is: Izzad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters
Despite the commonality of names, they are more likely allied to Iran rather than holding any allegience to a Palestinian agency. They claim the reaons for the attacks is the video "Innocence of Muslims" produced by US "pastor" Terry Jones.
They also have a strong anti-Saudi flavour which again suggests a Shia group with Iranian leanings.
For more on this see: http://tinyurl.com/ct68dtm
Or go to www.pastebin.com and search for "Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters"
or go to: http://hilf-ol-fozoul.blogspot.ca/ (NOTE: this site is a bit suspect as it functions as a spokesman for the Qassam Cyber Fighters. You may not want to access it from work if your employer is a bit sensitive about this sort of thing.....)
Bank earnings- pumped by an annual 83 billion annual tax payer subsidy.
Get used to it...even Jesus couldn't get rid of the money changers. They will ALWAYS own this world.
Maybe I'm missing something, but are they complaining that is costs them $5000 to process a mortgage loan because it costs them twice as much to process it? Where the hell does the interest payments from the mortgage go???
A $250,000 mortgage at 4% is going to incur about $180,000 worth of interest over it's 30-year life.
The Banks bundle the mortgages and sell them to investors. The only investor in town right now is Fannie and Freddie. The banks originate the loan, package them and sell. When they sell to Fannie the bank picks up fees. In your example, on a $250K loan the bank might make a one time fee of $6000. If it costs $5000 to process...the $1000 net is too skinny. The banks retain servicing (collecting customer payments for Fannie and Freddie) and for that they get maybe .375% annually. Fannie and Freddie collect the 4% minus servicing.
Too many regulations? I read your post and looked at your presentation, not one example of a regulation that should be eliminated. How about no reserve requirements and no laws at all? Would that be good enough for these people? Fuck no! $5000 to originate a mortgage? Why is that? Cuz management pays themselves $20 million? What kind of goddamn market do they expect when housing prices are at "2003" levels but wages are at 1965 levels? Sure, the poor banks don't have shit, but that's because their owners have bled them dry with government HELP. They're ruining markets and average people for their own gain. Cry me a fucking river.
I had the opportunity to research the banking regulations for California due to a disagreement I had with B of A. This was years ago, maybe 2003. All the regs are online, and as I searched, it appeared that at least 66% of the regs were removed. Perhaps the author is too young to remember the famous banking DE-REGULATION that occured in the last 20 years.
interesting stuff. i think the need for "financial engineering" is only just beginning post "Japan thingy" and "Euro thingy." the first and only reason to have money in a bank is for security purposes...i think the USA is a real stand out right now (certainly vis a vis Europe) as a place where a bank is still a safe place to store one's money (if any of us have any left after 2008. do any of us?) i do agree the whole "Presidential" is there to juice the real estate market. the Fed and Fed's (suing the banks?!) isare out of bullets...and i get the feeling the securities firms are pulling back now. there is only one true way to restore confidence and that's by going all in on an economic recovery "and leaving the banks alone." if there is even an albeit mild recession in the Governments near term forecast...with the election now over...i'd say "just let it happen." sometimes you make things worse by trying to do something...i would argue this is one of those time. there's nothing unhealthy about a natural downturn in an economy during a recovery...i think they're quite common in all recoveries (1986 comes to mind). can the slowdown become something worse? sure. but if the policy front maintains "constantcy" then at least the private sector isn't getting any surprises...and normally that's all the private sector asks for. we shall see of course. the first goal of everyone should be to make sure the bank is a secure place to put your money...if i were the President that is all i would be saying. PERIOD. (especially post Cyprus.) we shall see of course. what were they called? "Fat Cat bankers"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgHhL3UIG-U
LMFAO!!! Bank "earning"? Is that anything like a financial "product"? Banks get free fucking money from the Fed (ZIRP), these motherfuckers don't earn shit. They buy treasuries with that free money (for a fee) and fucking profit.
Bankers use to "earn" a living when they could actually go fucking bankrupt and had to do some due diligence. They use to "earn" a living when they paid the saver interest. The problems we face are so fucking structural, people completely miss it. Roll the motherfucking guillotines.
What do these fuckers actually produce of real fucking value? NOTHING. Go ahead chris, you arrogant cunt, bail these fuckers out with taxpayer and savers money, go ahead you stupid fuck, do it just one more time.
It's like how Columbus "discovered" America. Or how when someone breaks into your home they earn your stuff.
At least when someone breaks into your home, you have the opportunity to provide them with other "earnings", such as a bullet to the head.
Inquisition .. of state treason Chris.
Basel III? How'd Basels I & II work out? And what's with the Roman numerals? Oh, this stuff is important, like Super Bowl important.
I would't compare the Basel Accord frameworks with the Super Bowl, to be frank. The interesting part about Basle III is that most US megabanks... can't implement them (yet). they don't know enough about their own balance sheet, they never integrated/expanded their accounting systems enough
why should they? they are TBTF, and so will be bailed out until the day the US is fed up enough to break them up
if this does not tell you in what kind of sorry state those giants are...
As somebody who is well versed in the Basel accords and the history of them, I can tell you that they will never be implemented in the manner intended.
"The interesting part about Basle III is that most US megabanks... can't implement them (yet). they don't know enough about their own balance sheet, they never integrated/expanded their accounting systems enough"
Yes. And the dog ate their homework.
I worked for an accounting firm (Big 4) that couldn't report their financial situation to their partners, because their accounting system didn't work. Because the senior partners didn't want it to work.
I have spent a lifetime gaming risk frameworks and I've been paid well (OK, I'd like more) to do so. The Basel style regime will never work, because the "regulated" do not want it to.
In short, the "regulated" are not really regulated at all. If they really were, there would be real consequences for bad behavior, they will not let that happen.
Bicycle...this is why I come here. Good info +1