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Thank you for spending the year with us. Watch this space for everything that's going to happen in this exciting 2015
Indulgence Cafe
Oh My Aching Heart, Gareth Patterson
As I read the final page of this book, I remembered why I read fantasy and fiction novels most of the time; they provide an escape from the hardships of life in general. They create doorways to worlds that don't exist, they open your imagination to lands of mystical beasts and magic, to wondrous creatures and they pretty much always end happily. One cannot say the same for reading life stories and autobiographies, not all are pretty and not all end happily and some just leave you shaken and stirred, sans the olive.
Gareth Patterson's autobiography, although being steeped in the harsh reality of life in the African bush does not fail to evoke the images of lands of mystical beasts and magic and wondrous creatures, which is all the more heartbreaking for it's sad reality. I spent many pages of the book with tears running down my face. Maybe I am just a really sensitive soul but Gareth writes so honestly that one cannot fail to take on his pain as ones own. I felt it, I cried when he cried, I walked with him when he walked with his lions, I sat with him when he looked after cubs, I sat in the back of the Beetle as he motored around Africa and I held his manuscript close to my chest as the lost plane traversed the skies in the dark. I shared his heartbreak and I wondered how he had managed to not go insane.
I find it nothing short of remarkable that a young man would choose to spend his life living in the wild and amongst the animals that he loved, from the bush to the forest when the majority of his contemporaries would have been hanging out in pubs and nightclubs and chatting up pretty girls. One can only be grateful that there are people in this world who put Mother Nature and the call of the wild above that of material possessions and fast cars.
I cannot say I enjoyed reading this book, it is not the type of book you can enjoy. You will not look back on it as one of your "best of all time reads" but if it doesn't affect you viscerally then there is something lacking in your psyche. My Lion's Heart is an incredible read about an amazing man who has selflessly dedicated his life to the well being of lions and to elephants, and in turn to mankind. It is not an easy read but it is easy to read. Gareth's style is simple and elegant and hauntingly evocative. This book is a sad testimony to the greed of man. A very sad indictment indeed. It belongs on every school syllabus throughout South Africa and the World at large.
Humankind has a tendency to destroy everything we touch in the name of progress (and religion). By encroaching and eroding the natural habitats of these amazing animals we do ourselves and our planet a huge injustice. We ridicule Mother Nature and we insult the Universe. Progress is not the annihilation of species and the hanging of their preserved heads on the trophy wall. If we do not wake up and lend assistance the the people who go out of their way to help preserve the Kings of the Jungle and the Majestic Elephants of the Forest, as well as our very own Unicorn, the Rhino, then these creatures can only end up as the mythical beings of ages past, and the animated characters of musicals and Hollywood animation.
I salute you Gareth Patterson. Thank you for allowing me into your head, for bearing your wounded soul and sharing your broken heart. And thank you for bringing your lion children to life in my world
From the Book Jacket to My Parlour, Raymond E Feist
I have been fortunate thus far in my life to have met quite a few authors, some starting out, some ending their careers, some good, some not so good, some have been really well known, some have had no ego to speak of and some have had trouble fitting those super-size-me heads through the door. It has only happened once in my entire life though that I have had the fortune to meet an author who changed the genre of books I read and thereby changed my whole life!
I have always believed in faeries at the bottom of the garden, the monster under the bed and that the garden gnomes come to life when you turn your back on them. A world of fantastical beings, filled with magic and wonder is not a stretch of my imagination to perceive. So, it is no small wonder that the first book of fantasy that I ever read, Magician, by Raymond E Feist, changed my life and set my reading on a path all of its own. I have never given up the thrillers, dramas and historical spectaculars but my one true reading love is fantasy and Ray, as he introduced himself to me when he arrived at Indulgence Cafe is the man who brought that spark into my life and introduced me to worlds not bound by the gravity and sense of the one we live in.
Magic, magicians, dragons, royal families, rags to riches, love, betrayal, elves, good and evil, light and dark, Raymond E Feist's work brings it all alive. He paints pictures with words and weaves worlds that you can picture in your head as you read and become lost in the forests and the mud splattered roads of Midkemia and kelewan. Careful, or you will find you leave your mind behind and end up a little confused about where you are when you close the book and suddenly return, abruptly to the harsh realities of planet Earth.
This man, this Raymond E Feist, has just returned home to San Diego after a whirlwind book tour of SA with his publishers and I was lucky enough, okay, I did have to grovel quite a bit, to get him to come and speak at Indulgence Cafe on Heritage Day, 24 September 2014, but that's okay as well because, I know people 🙂 Of all the authors we have hosted at Indulgence Cafe, this is the first one to have had people begging me for seats and places at the event. One family even brought me a box of chocolates to say thank you for making place for them, I was quite humbled and no, I have no intention of sharing. What a remarkable event, with an incredible author.
SA's own fantasy author, Dave De Burgh spent an hour chatting to Ray about his work, his characters and how he got started. Never before, has one hour passed by in such a flash and we would love to have had them speak for longer but duty and lunch called. Ray is awesome, funny, witty and he was incredibly patient with the fans who brought along entire collections of his work for him to sign. The poor man must have signed 300 books for the 103 people who were at Indulgence Cafe on Wednesday morning, I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with him.
The Fan Collections for Signing
The Happy Staff from Skoobs, Theater of Books
The Never Ending Queue for Book Signings
For me, little old me, it was a dream come true and something to cross off my bucket list. I met Raymond E Feist in the flesh, I heard him speak and I have the pictures to prove it.
The link to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du7BpOT1R_w
So when is the next one coming out Ray?
Bloody, Bloody Book Week
I am always saddened when the Bloody Book Week, brainchild of Jenny Crwys-Williams, ends every year, as it is a week filled non-stop with the magic of books and lots of truly fascinating people.
The Bloody Book Week over the last three years has given this humble coffee shop owner the opportunity, not always afforded to us ordinary mortals, of meeting and more importantly interacting with a host of some of South Africa and the World's most amazing authors
This year has been no exception and whilst I didn't get to host Peter James and Deon Meyer this time around I had the immense luxury of spending an incredibly entertaining Thursday evening with Jacques Steenkamp, Amanda Coetzee, and newcomers Penny Lorrimer and CM Eliot, as well an outstanding Saturday afternoon with 702's Ray White, Dr David Klatzow and Paul O'Sullivan.
It was fascinating hearing about the different writing styles of the lady thriller writers, to plot or not to plot is the question, character development, getting to know the characters and the joy of discovering the various protagonists, from CM Eliot's Sibanda in the African bush to Amanda Coetzee's Badger, a hunky sinewy Traveler (Gypsy). It does take a little leap of imagination to see these ladies sitting at their laptops plotting murders most foul, particularly in the case of Amanda Coetzee who is the bouncy, happy, irrepressible creature who talks at twenty to the dozen and writes a fabulous thriller.
Jacques Steenkamp the absolutely charming crime journalist who lead the conversation spent a few minutes chatting to me about his non-fiction book about the Griquastad murders, also the Steenkamp family but luckily no relation. I wouldn't be lying if I said it was a truly enjoyable evening.
Four Deadly Authors, Their Books…
Some of the evening's picture highlights with Authors, Mtutuzeli Nyoka and Mariyln Cohen De Villiers in the audience
A magnificent Saturday afternoon event spent with three very interesting characters, Dr David Klatzow, Paul O'Sullivan and Radio 702's Ray White.
What can I say about Ray White apart from the fact that he is a delightful human being, charming, lovely eyes, softly spoken but with some steal under there I think, and a great sense of humour. There are rumours that he too, has a book coming out at some point. I cannot wait for that to happen! Watch this space about Ray White!!!
Paul O'Sullivan and David Klatzow, couldn't be more different. Paul's CV must make for fascinating reading, I honestly cannot remember how many different types of policing or police/security services he has been in both locally and abroad. His accent is an unusual mix of Irish, Afrikaans with a little R rolling. I perceived him as a little uncomfortable to be around, he doesn't radiate warmth but maybe that has something to do with his choice of career. I did fully expect him to arrive with hunky, chunky Kevin Costner, bodyguards in tow, alas I was disappointed. I am pretty sure he is not at the top of Jackie Selebi's Christmas card list and I never said a word about Glen Agliotti, having taken center stage at Indulgence Cafe last year, with his charm at volcanic level charm. What is it that makes the bad guys charming and the good guys not quite so?
I realize it isn't polite to have favourites but David Klatzow could quite possibly get a Valentine's card from me next year. I think that gruff exterior and furry face hides a supremely sharp mind accompanied by a sharp wit and a very dry sense of humour. He does have a lovely smile when you catch sight of it, but the thing that strikes you the most is the passion with which he speaks. He positively radiates when talking about his chosen career and the work he does. For me it was an absolute privilege having spent the time listening to him talk to Ray White at Indulgence Cafe and Alex Eliseev at Bookdealers, The Colony.
The Books…
A couple of the pics from Saturday afternoon's event
Thank you so much Jenny and Co, for including me and Indulgence Cafe in the 2014 Bloody Book Week events, it was an honour and a privilege
Until next year..
A Beautiful Family…Not
A golden family, a happy, a beautiful family. The gorgeous wife who never has a hair out of place, with that handsome, blue-eyed, Charlie Hunam, husband, the self-made millionaire. He always looks handsome and debonaire, he holds the door, lays his jacket over the puddle so she can cross without getting those beautiful feet wet. Those amazing straight-A children, who excel at everything they do. That private education is certainly paying off. They look happy, they look fabulous, they're rich, how could life be anything but perfect? How could you be anything besides envious?
How little we know about what goes on behind closed doors.
How little we know about the people next door.
How little we know…
This book, A Beautiful Family by Marilyn Cohen De Villiers was thrust under my nose by a friend of mine, Marcia, who sent me articles and links and really pushed and shoved me towards reading it, but still I hesitated. I really didn't feel like a family drama and especially a family drama about a Jewish family. Particularly at this time in a world where Jews are under the microscope and antisemitism is right back in fashion. Who, right now, wants to put the Jews, my tribe, under the spotlight for…..shhhhhhh, don't say it out loud….ABUSE!
Abuse doesn't happen in good Jewish families, well not that one would know because what happens in a Jewish home stays in a Jewish home and anyway, how could that pillar of the community truly do the things that he is accused of, it is not possible. Or is it?
This incredible book opens the doors to your mind. It is a book that everyone should read, this could be any family, this family just happens to be Jewish.
Marilyn's book is a comfortable read, it makes you feel at home. For those who grew up in Johannesburg's north eastern suburbs there are many bells rung, as familiar corners are turned and local spots are mentioned. Damn, I grew up there, I can picture in my mind exactly where that little car is or the tree lined drive in Westpark Cemetery.
Marilyn's book is also an uncomfortable read, its topic, disturbing. A Beautiful Family, was not quite the "drama" I expected it to be, the book is more of a suspense drama with a twist, and well worth a read. I loved it and I cannot wait to host Marilyn Cohen De Villiers at Indulgence Cafe so that we can explore the family in more depth! She is apparently working on her second book, but I suggest you don't miss her first!
Marilyn lives in Johannesburg with her husband, Poen. You can find her on Facebook
The book, A Beautiful Family, is available in limited print editions from Skoobs as well as an e-book, from Amazon. Priced at around R220.
Do yourself a favour and discover what having a beautiful family can mean
Special People………….Jodene Shaer
It Takes a special kind of person to make a success of themselves yet remain humble and not look down their noses at other people. By a success, I don't necessarily mean make huge pots of money because in my own very humble opinion being loaded doesn't always make you a success as a person, it just makes you wealthy in cash terms. As nice as it is or would be to be rolling in huge amounts of dosh, and I am pretty sure Jodene shares my opinion, money does not amount to the be all and end all of life but being happy and confident and knowing that you are, does sure go a long way!
That is exactly what Jodene Shaer, partner in the business, Lifeology with Greg Arthur radiates; happiness and the confidence to show her vulnerabilities to the world through the medium of blogging, tweeting, facebooking, talking to people and showing the real Jodene to the world.
Jodene was the guest speaker at last night's Monday Night Talk and she managed to hold her audience in the palm of her hand for over an hour whilst she chatted about her journey from school to present day. From the trials and tribulations of not knowing where you are going to finding your way and making a go of it. Not afraid to mention her fight to get her weight down, her broken heart and the hardships of finding real people out there in a superficial world, Jodene was forthright and brave enough to answer all of the questions that were thrown her way.
Whilst Jodene does not profess to be a social media guru she certainly has an insiders knowledge and huge insight into the world of twitter and Facebook. Asked for "Twitter" tips she responded with the following five points which I have made into 6 points:
1. Follow people back
2. Engage with people
3. Avoid negativity & drama
4. Make the most of every opportunity
5. Take a picture (or it never happened)
6. hang out with influencers
Sounds easy enough doesn't it, maybe a little harder to get there than she made it seem. However, considering that last night I got to hang out with Jodene Shaer, David Graham, Greg Arthur, Jared Orlin and a whole bunch of others, there is photographic evidence, we engaged with everyone, kept the evening hugely positive and loved every minute of it, seems to me that pretty much sums up everything that Jodene was talking about last night…………….the tracks are laid, now for the steam train to roll on through!
We wish Jodene huge future success, go from strength to strength, stay positive and above all else stay the happy, humble person you are!
Thank you so much for your time last night for Monday Night Talk!
Visual Art, a Whole New World
Indulgence Cafe had the pleasure of hosting multi talented visual artist Roy Blumenthal, this evening, Monday 3rd February. It is not often that one comes across a speaker who manages to engage and hold the attention of his audience for more than thirty minutes. Roy had them eating out of the palm of his hand for about 90 minutes. He started his talk by handing out toys for people to tinker with while he spoke which hooked me straight away. I always love having something to do with my hands and it was great fun to watch what people assembled.
As a quick aside I am not referring to adult toys of the battery kind but puzzles and magnetic gadgets.
Roy's talk centered around his ability to reinvent himself from time to time and as the need emerges. Having gone from being a Jewish boy in an Anglican school to being a young man who created a religion for himself that would keep him out of the army in the apartheid years to working in an advertising agency to doing the work he does today. He is constantly changing and evolving and says it's his ability to notice and observe things that has always held him in good stead.
Roy has taken modern technology and his innate artistic talent and married it. A perfect fusion of a keen eye and an interesting take on life and people, that
keeps him employed in board rooms across South Africa and Europe.
Roy is one of those people who is doing the work that is his passion and loving every minute of it.
Follow Roy on Twitter @RoyBlumenthal
Join us every Monday evening at Indulgence Cafe for fascinating talks with some of Joburg's fascinating inhabitants.
Talks are free, just pay for what you eat or drink. Part of every talks proceeds are donated to Animals in Distress


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Downing Key to Passage of Solid Solar Bill
This past week, at the end of a long and winding road, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a solar bill. No one would argue that it's a perfect bill, but after years of often acrimonious debate about a subject that House Speaker Robert DeLeo fairly referred to as one of the most complex the Legislature has dealt with in his long tenure, it's a good one.
Now on its way to Gov. Baker's desk after passing 152-1 in the House and 35-0 in the Senate, the bill lifts — by about 650 megawatts — the statewide cap on solar installations that had stalled our otherwise successful solar program. This is enough to power roughly 130,000 homes, and it's about the amount of solar generation built in the state the last two years. The bill also instructs the Department of Energy Resources to extend and improve its solar incentive program.
So with this bill, the Legislature keeps the over 15,000 people employed in solar in Massachusetts at work, and it notches an important win in the project of making our electricity footprint more carbon-free. It's a powerful statement from the legislature: we want to continue to support solar in the state.
Of course, there are compromises. Chief among them, it cuts the reimbursement rate for power sold back to the grid for some kinds of projects — especially those most commonly used by low-income residents and renters — without much at all in the way of technical or economic justification. States like New York and California have taken the more sensible approach of directing their public regulatory commissions to determine the fair and reasonable level of compensation for solar, in the same way that other rates are set. And even with this bill, solar remains arbitrarily capped. So this is not the last time this Legislature will have to address solar. All stakeholders would have preferred a long-term, sustainable policy. This is not that.
But the very fact that this is not that is a testament to how difficult it has been to find a solution that works, and that effectively balances a range of reasonable priorities: to make sure Massachusetts continues to support solar; to ensure that we're doing so in a way that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the costs to our electricity system; to include all residents who want to share in our solar story; to manage this exciting transition to a cleaner, smarter grid in a way that ensures safety and reliability in our power system.
So for now, this solution — one that keeps solar working —is a good one, and our legislators deserve praise for finding their way through a complex and politically challenging debate to a bill that most everyone can support.
Though the House passed a bill in November that would have been very bad news for solar in Massachusetts, they kept at it, and over the course of four months, leadership listened carefully to the large majority of House members who expressed a strong desire to arrive at a bill that would support solar. The House representatives on the joint legislative committee that wrote the bill should be credited with finding the middle ground on a measure that ultimately drew opposition from a few groups on both ends of the political spectrum, but that was broadly supported between the two poles.
Solar's champion in this debate, though, has been Sen. Ben Downing. Sen. Downing, who chairs the Energy Committee, has done more than any other legislator, over a full decade, to understand the complexities and challenges of writing good solar policies.
Sen. Downing is leaving the Senate at the end of this year. The Legislature will miss his command of the most challenging energy issues, and his steady, principled, progressive approach to the often messy work of politics and policy.
This solar bill bears his signature: political moderation and compromise, but effective in serving the progressive priorities of Western Massachusetts.
Dan Berwick is executive vice president of Strategy and Business Development at Borrego Solar, and chairs the Massachusetts committee of the Solar Energy Industries Association.


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Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman broke through Bangladesh's resistance before Pakistan raced against fading light to complete a seven-wicket win on the final day of the second cricket Test yesterday.
Set a winning score of 103, Pakistan had no choice but to try to score quickly to claim a 2-0 series win, playing most of the final two sessions on the fifth day under floodlights.
Opener Mohammad Hafeez led Pakistan's victory charge with 47 off 52 balls before his attempted slog off Shakib Al Hasan ended at long-on fielder Shahadat Hossain.
He added 63 runs with Azhar Ali for the second wicket after first innings centurion Taufiq Umar was dismissed for 3 when he lofted a catch to Nazimuddin at midwicket off Nazmul Hossain.
Azhar was last man out when left-arm Elias Sunny bowled him for 34 off 43 balls with Pakistan two runs away from a win.
Misbah-ul-Haq completed the win with a six as Pakistan raced to 107 runs in 20.5 overs amid fears the umpire might stop play for bad light.
The hosts were looking comfortable after a delayed start due to fog before Rehman revived Pakistan's hopes by ending a dogged 117-run sixth-wicket stand between Nasir Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim to finish with career-best figures of 4-51.
Saeed Ajmal then claimed the final two wickets to complete a typical Bangladesh collapse.
The home side resumed after lunch on 200-5 but lost their last five wickets for 34 to be bowled out in their second innings with an hour remaining before the tea interval.
Rehman bowled Nasir for 79 runs before he had Rahim caught by Ajmal at mid-off for 53 as Bangladesh crumbled after surviving the morning session unscathed.
Nasir struck 11 fours for his maiden Test half-century, while Rahim hit seven fours.
Younus Khan took a brilliant catch at first slip to send back the next batsman Shahadat off Rehman and Ajmal soon bowled Sunny for 4 and dragged last man Robiul Islam out of the crease for a stumping to end the innings.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh named the country's cricket board president, Mustafa Kamal, as a candidate for the post of International Cricket Council (ICC) vice president.
Under the ICC's rotation policy, Bangladesh and Pakistan were asked to nominate candidates for the post, but this week Pakistan Cricket Board president Zaka Ashraf said they had withdrawn their claim in favor of Bangladesh's candidate.
Kamal, who heads the Asian Cricket Council, needs the approval of at least seven Test-playing countries to succeed New Zealand's Allan Isaac as vice president in June next year, a move that would pave the way for him to take over from Isaac as ICC president two years later.


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Events Calendar
- This event has passed.
Guns for Mary Hood Benefit Dinner & Gun Raffle
November 16 @ 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Hello I'm Debbie Williams and I'm trying to give you a small description of what it's been to serve the Lord through the PATTY POLLATOS FUND the last 27 years. There's no way that I could put everyone that was involved in this 18 minute clip but I wanted you to see what a miraculous job our Lord has done to serve people not only in this community but where ever it was needed in our world. Key donors that believed in our mission from the start such as Wayne Fox & Stacy Collins PNC Bank , Tom Netelli, Dan & Mary Sipe , Airport View Signs, Keeney Basford Funeral Home , Criswell, Sam Hall, Marks Equipment just to name a few – all knew that – One Person Can Make a Difference but together we changed the world.
Click to view the 2019 PPF FFF Final after 27 years of Service
Thanks to Craig Shipp for making this video possible!


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The convergence of service orientation and business strategy
Where the core competency model focuses on doing things more efficiently than market rivals, a differentiation-based strategy focuses on doing things differently (or doing different things) than market rivals. In this article, we will expand our discussion beyond the core competency model to explore differentiation-based strategy, and consider the linkage between an organization's strategic posture, and its approach to service-orientation.
The core competency model seeks to improve competitive positioning through improved operations efficiency. More efficient use of resources translates into lower production cost which is passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices or improved value, (i.e. the same for less, or more for the same). In this sense, the core competency model is a cost-based strategy. If an enterprise can lower its cost relative to its competitors, it will realize a significant competitive advantage.
The problem with cost-based strategies is that they are often easy to imitate and therefore the competitive advantage that accrues is difficult to sustain over an extended period of time. If, for example, an organization lowers its costs by leveraging market offerings for administrative support functions, its rivals can imitate this leaner organizational structure. They may of course have to contend with the tight integration and lack of modularization in their internal processes which will result in high switching costs that partially or wholly offset the near-term benefits (recall here the value of applying service-oriented design principles to transforming internal business processes). Nevertheless, cost-based strategies have a tendency to drive market convergence around a set of activities and business structures that represent industry "best practices". Convergence steadily erodes the competitive advantage of the low-cost competitor to a point of cost parity among industry rivals.
A differentiation-based strategy depends on unique positioning and value proposition within an industry, which is the cumulative and synergistic effect of doing things differently or doing different things than market rivals. Differentiation-based strategies tend to be much more difficult to emulate, as they tend to not only promote strong brand recognition among consumers (the effect of being different), but more importantly because they are often based on a set of activities, structures, management practices and culture optimized around their unique market position. Emulating this position would involve wholesale changes by market rivals at every level of their organization. Because of the difficulty in emulating them, differentiation-based strategies can lead to sustainable competitive advantage over market rivals.
The cost/quality frontier
The decision to pursue a cost-based or differentiation-based strategy is in large part determined by prevailing market conditions. A cost/quality curve is useful in modeling these because it posits a direct correlation between quality and cost in a given industry (Figure 1). Increased quality is more often than not followed by increased cost. The perfect correlation between these at the boundary of this curve is termed the cost/quality frontier. Enterprises offering products and services closest to the boundary of this curve represent industry best practices in operational efficiency – that is, they are the low-cost producers for a given standard of quality.
Figure 1: The common cost/quality frontier for just about any industry
Often an organization that has successfully executed a low-cost strategy in a given market may choose to expand horizontally into other areas, thereby leveraging its intellectual capital and internal capacity to establish new standards of operational efficiency and competitive advantage in another industry. We would represent this by adding a new data point at the appropriate quality standard closer to the cost/quality curve in Figure 1. Alternatively, technological innovation within an industry may be the source of improved operational efficiency that again will provide a source of competitive advantage. We would represent this by shifting the curve upwards demonstrating a change in the cost/quality boundary.
The gap between existing competitors and the theoretical cost/quality frontier represents opportunity to develop competitive advantages through a cost-based strategy. Often, where limited competition in a given industry due to the strength of entrenched competitors has prevailed for an extended period, operational efficiency tends to stagnate and, over time, significant opportunity to develop competitive advantage through cost-based strategies accrues.
Alternatively, in mature industries marked by extremely competitive markets, organizations tend to cluster close to the cost/quality frontier, at various watersheds along the quality axis (i.e. low, medium and high). Competition within these watersheds is largely based on cost, as cost-based strategies are easier to identify, execute and emulate. Under these conditions, there is limited opportunity to generate cost-based competitive advantage through improved operational efficiency. There is often however significant opportunity for a differentiation-based strategy that targets points outside the established watersheds on the quality axis.
Executing a differentiation-based strategy
The differentiation-based strategy creates a new market position and value proposition outside of established competitive watersheds. The new positioning arises from a broad set of organizational activities that are performed differently or a set of different activities that are not performed at all by the competition. If the cumulative and synergistic effects of these differences resonate with consumers, the result is a differentiation-based competitive advantage that is difficult for rivals to emulate.
Executing a differentiation-based strategy involves a series of cost/quality trade-offs that collectively define the new market positioning. Take for example IKEA's positioning in the home furnishings market. Traditionally, consumers have visited furniture stores where a sales agent escorts them through a showroom of furniture offerings from various manufacturers, helps them browse through a variety of styles, fabric swatches, wood stains, etc. often comparing with wall paper and rug samples from the residence as part of an overall design consultation. Once selected, an order is placed with the manufacturer and the furniture is delivered and set up at the residence several weeks later.
This highly personalized approach to home furnishing resonates well with consumers who are less price or convenience sensitive. IKEA recognized that there was a consumer group who were more interested in well-designed "functional" furniture and were willing to forego the personalized service for convenience and value-based pricing.
To deliver on this positioning, they made a number of cost/quality trade-off decisions:
- First and foremost, final assembly of much of the furniture has been offloaded to the consumer. This is essential to their value-based pricing strategy, as they can avoid the added cost of assembly, reduce the cost of warehousing and eliminate the need for specialized delivery vehicles to transport the furnishing from the store to the residence. To facilitate this, IKEA designs and manufactures much of its own furnishings so they can design-in ease of assembly into their product lines.
- Secondly, the number of design options is severely limited – it comes in dark or light stain, not maple, ash, oak, cedar, butternut, etc.
- Thirdly, the store is configured to promote consumer self-service. For example, furniture types are displayed in their natural room settings from kitchens to living rooms, to bedrooms to help consumers envision the furnishings in their own living space, eliminating the need for design consultation. A warehouse at the back of the store provides consumers immediate access to the unassembled products that they can transport home with the family vehicle.
The success of IKEA and the absence of successful imitators in the home furnishings market is testimony to the competitive advantage realizable through a differentiation-based strategy. Recognizing that the existing market offering based on personal design consultation and made-to-order inventory was over-designed relative to the needs of young families, IKEA developed a unique set of services optimized around a new market positioning. The services they created are the embodiment of the IKEA strategy. To be more to the point, the set of customized services do not enable the strategy, they are the strategy. It is the result of strategic thinking around how the enterprise can differentiate itself from its rivals, and in doing so appeal to a consumer segment that is not well served by current market offerings.
Convergence of service orientation and strategy
The set of customized services do not enable the strategy; they are the strategy. This is an extraordinarily provocative statement when considered from the perspective of service orientation. This statement highlights the convergence point between business and IT, and an evolutionary watershed marked by the permeation of technology within business to the point where it no longer makes sense to separate them (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Convergence of strategy and service-orientation
One of the most common points of discussion in the SOA arena surrounds the question of what services should be included in an enterprise SOA implementation. Answering this question requires a Copernican shift in thinking. Service-oriented design for the purpose of creating efficiencies in the development and maintenance of IT systems is a bit like using a laser to slice toast – it works, but the real strategic value is under-exploited.
How you think about service orientation, and ultimately the design and implementation of a service-oriented architecture, is in some sense the equivalent to how you think about your organization's competitive strategy and how to organize and execute against it. These are, in the final analysis, the same – and must be if the organization is to succeed. Cost-based strategies produce certain organizational designs, while differentiation-based strategies lead to others. Cost-based designs tend to converge around best-practice patterns. Differentiation-based designs tend to be highly customized. These of course represent opposite ends of a spectrum with an endless array of possibilities between. Now if your first instinct is to replicate "best practice patterns" for the implementation of service-oriented architecture in your organization – stop for a moment and think about it from a business strategy perspective.
Table 1: Strategy, Organizational and Service Design
What services your enterprise should develop will depend entirely on your business strategy because in a pervasively wired world it is your business strategy. If your strategy is to compete on costs, you should be thinking about services from a core competency perspective. If your strategy is differentiation-based, you will need to develop a set of highly customized services optimized around your unique value-proposition.
Strategic thinking and strategic planning
Having argued that an SOA implementation is as much about business strategy as it ever was about IT, and that the separation between these two is somewhat meaningless in a pervasively wired world, it is useful to close out this piece with a quick primer on the how-to of strategy.
Creating a good strategy requires strategic thinking. Executing a good strategy requires strategic planning. The first is an inductive, synergistic, creative exercise and the second is an analytical deductive exercise which fleshes out the implementation details of the strategy.
Strategy in itself is fundamentally an adaptive reflex. In other words, an organization is reacting to real (or anticipated) changes in their environment, whether sudden or built up over time, which represents a threat to their current quality of life or an opportunity to improve it. The starting point then is the environment, for which there are a number of tools and methodologies that are useful in gathering and organizing information. This exercise is often referred to as an environmental scan. The purpose of the environmental scan is to establish the strategic context within which the organization must adapt. The strategic context may have a number of dimensions – typically, the political, economic, social and technological dimensions are assessed.
Returning to the IKEA example, their differentiation-based strategy capitalized on changes to the social and economic dimensions of their environment. The strategic response was to invent a new position within the home furnishing marketplace through a highly differentiated set of services.
The takeaway here, is that when thinking about what services to include in your SOA implementation, think about it strategically. That is, instead of starting with an internal assessment of your as-is architecture, start with your external environment to develop a clearer understanding of the strategic context to which you must adapt. Consider what opportunities exist to improve your competitive positioning and what threats are on the horizon that may erode your current positioning.
With an understanding of your surrounding environment, you can shift focus to an internal assessment of organizational strengths and weaknesses relative to this strategic context. Internally, an organization is composed of resources and capabilities. A resource is something tangible that is used in the value-creating processes of an organization. Examples would include cash, machinery, information, infrastructure, raw materials, labour, etc. Capabilities refer to the ability to combine and integrate resources in useful ways to create new or enhance existing value propositions.
Information systems and related technology infrastructure are organizational resources. The orchestration and composition of these to create new and enhance existing value propositions are important organizational capabilities. The internal assessment of your organizations strengths and weaknesses relative to the opportunities and threats in its competitive environment would necessarily consider these resources and capabilities as part of a strategic approach to your SOA implementation.
At this point you now have three influences that should guide your strategic thinking:
- First, you have a general understanding of the difference between cost-based and differentiation-based strategies.
- Secondly, you have a clear understanding of your competitive environment and the threats and opportunities to improve your competitive positioning moving forward.
- Finally, you have assessed your internal strengths and weaknesses that will determine the ability of your organization to capitalize on emerging opportunities, or defend against emerging threats in its current state.
With this, you are well positioned for the synthesis of these three influences (Figure 3) and the hallmark of strategic thinking. As a result, the make-or-break things your organization must do (strategic objectives) and what corresponding services you should define in your SOA implementation will become more clear.
Figure 3: Forming a business strategy
Undoubtedly, there is always some linkage between IT and the business. What this article has been advocating is a clear break from the traditional approach that starts with a well-formed business strategy that is interpreted into a lengthy set of business requirements, which are subsequently translated into system designs. It is time for the IT folks to get out of the basement and get into the boardroom. In a wired world, service orientation is the business strategy and service-oriented architecture represents the organizational design and execution of that strategy.
About William Murray
This article was originally published in The SOA Magazine The SOA Magazine, a publication officially associated with "The Prentice Hall Service-Oriented Computing Series from Thomas Erl" . Copyright © 2007 SOA Systems Inc..


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A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, can happen if the brain is suddenly shaken inside the skull.
At Dignity Health Central California, our neurologists offer comprehensive care for mild, severe, and life-threatening head injuries. To receive personalized treatment for TBI in Central California, meet with a skilled provider at one of our convenient locations:
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It doesn't take much to injure the brain. Even mild jostling of the brain inside the skull can cause neurological issues. In many cases, someone may not even realize there's a problem if there are no visible signs of injury. This is why you should always see a doctor after any type of head injury.
Treatment for TBI depends on the severity and location of the brain damage. Doctors at Dignity Health Central California specialize in neurocritical care and acute rehabilitation, which may include occupational and physical therapy and psychotherapy. When needed, additional treatment may involve caring for complications from the injury.
Talk with a Dignity Health Central California provider about ways to prevent TBI. We're dedicated to keeping you and your loved ones safe.
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Anita Lenihan fails in bid to win back her brother's seat
THE sister of the late Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has been beaten by a Fianna Fail rival in the race to contest the seat formerly held by her brother at the Dublin West by-election.
Teacher David McGuinness was selected as the candidate ahead of Anita Lenihan, a qualified barrister, who declined to contest the seat in 2011 after her brother's death.
Irish Independent


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With an amazing retro style, the Pyle Vintage Radio Sound system offers that classic look while being on par with today's latest radio technology. You can use your smartphone to effortlessly stream high quality audio with a wireless connection, while also benefiting from a built in USB port, a card reader and a 3.5mm input jack. Every step has been taken so that every little detail reminds of a classic radio, from the tuning dials to the speakers and the wooden frame – it's like straight out of the 1950's.
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IT Pros get buried in the responsibilities of our jobs. And we get classified accordingly i.e. there goes the virtualization admin, the SQL DBA, the network admin, the storage admin, the server admin, etc. Regardless of your admin discipline, the one common denominator is managing change. Change includes updates to virtualization settings, network configurations, SW apps, OSes, and HW systems. Effectively managing changes to one's environment is the key to success in IT.
And it starts with visibility. You can't address changes in the environment's behavior without visibility. These behaviors usually manifest themselves as the following tickets:
• My application is SLOW!
• The Internet is SLOW!
• My system is SLOW!
Unfortunately, this usually is indicative of the level of details that IT Pros get on a trouble ticket. And the expectation is for the IT admin to root cause and solve the problem ASAP because the user's issue is effecting their productivity. For virtualization admins, the trouble is doubled because you add in the complexities of the additional hypervisor layer. In these situations, visibility is the beginning to unraveling the issues and pinpointing the root cause. Visibility involves monitoring the environment including all the components – compute, memory, storage, & networking as well as the OS, application & hypervisor stacks. Visibility also includes the logs of what had happened and what is happening.
Ideally, a holistic view of all the interdependencies in the environment regardless of layers and the ability to drill-down through the layers and view the base elements provide the best starting point for successfully dealing with change. Let me know what you think in the comment section below.


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Actress Nicole Sullivan joins fellow dieters Valerie Bertinelli and Phylicia Rashad as devotees of Jenny Craig, the successful weight loss program that has helped millions of women lose weight.
The actress, who is known for her roles on Lifetime's Rita Rocks, the sketch comedy series, MADtv and other sitcoms like Scrubs and The King of Queens, is determined to lose the 35 pounds she gained while pregnant with her second son. The actress gave birth six weeks ago and will spend the next few months working hard on the Jenny Craig food and exercise plan to lose the baby weight she put on her petite 5′ 5″ frame.
"You spend a year of your life eating what you want and enjoying letting the baby have what it feels like having — and I'[ve] lost track of what I'm supposed to be doing that's right," Sullivan tells People magazine.
With the constant support of Jenny Craig counselors, pre-portioned and calorie-controlled meals and the constant cameras who will be snapping nearly every pound of her weight loss, Sullivan has all of the pieces in place for a successful weight loss journey.
Sullivan's reasons for getting in shape are just like the rest of millions of moms who are eager to lose the baby weight:
"I want to put my jeans on and have my jeans look cute."
And on a less image-focused level, Sullivan also wants to feel young again. She discredits the extra weight she is carrying around to her feeling older and less willing to be active.
Sullivan is not that far off either: Carrying around extra weight is associated with early onset of age-related conditions like diabetes, and when you're not feeling great about yourself, digging up the motivation to take a jog with your partner or hit the beach with your kids is all but nonexistent.
But for a new-mom, it is important to keep weight loss at a safe pace and allow time for the body to replenish itself. Given Sullivan's post-pregnant state, it is likely that Jenny Craig will pay special attention to her unique nutritional needs and physical abilities.


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Pupils at St Philip's Catholic Primary School in Arundel rounded off the first half of the spring term with a fundraising Camel Trek.
On Friday, the last day at school before the February half-term, all the children in key stage two at the London Road school took part in the 5k trek across Arundel Park.
The trek was organised following a suggestion from a pupil in year four, who wanted the school to raise funds for a CAFOD World Gift, and involved children in years three to six.
Sydney Bridges, deputy head teacher, said: "The plan was to raise £400 for CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) so that we could buy a camel for a family in Ethiopia.
"We set off from St Philip's after lunch and headed towards Hiorne Tower, down into the park towards Swanbourne Lake and back up to the school through the High Street.
"The children managed the walk in just over an hour. The children were then greeted back at the school by the key stage one children, who had come to school in non-uniform to raise funds.
"As the count stands, we have raised more than £800 for CAFOD, which means we can in fact buy two camels.
"A huge thank you to all the parents, grandparents, staff and helpers who came of the walk and a special thank you to Aoife and her family for coming up with the idea and doing so much of the organising."
World Gifts are CAFOD's alternative presents that help transform the lives of poor communities and families in developing countries.
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Programmes in Bangladesh, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, India and Namibia awarded UNESCO International Literacy Prizes
Literacy programmes in Bangladesh, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, India and Namibia are the winners of UNESCO's literacy prizes for 2013. The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, announced the laureates today, following the recommendation of an international jury. They will receive their awards at UNESCO Headquarters on 9 September, as part of the celebrations for International Literacy Day on 8 September.
There are five awards in total: two under the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize created in 1989 by the Government of the Republic of Korea, and three under the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, created in 2005 by the Government of the People's Republic of China. Each of the five winners will receive $ 20,000, a diploma and a medal.
The National Literacy Mission Authority of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in India will receive one of the two UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prizes. The Saakshar Bharat (Literate India) Mission addresses problems of access, equity and quality in adult literacy and works with out-of-school youth, women and girls, minority groups and indigenous people. The programme functions in 25 Indian states, working in 26 languages and reaches 10 million Indians annually. Mission activities include basic education, vocational education, functional literacy and women's equality.
The second UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize is awarded to the programme Mother Tongue Literacy in the Guera Region of Chad implemented by the Federation of Associations for the Promotion of Guera Languages. The Federation was founded in 2001 to develop the 26 languages of the region of Guera, promote language education, provide training and create income-generating activities. The programme was selected for its focus on development and standardization of the Guera languages, allowing learners to become literate in their mother tongues. In the 2012-13 campaign, 13 languages were being taught in 143 adult literacy centres with 6,577 learners enrolled of whom 5,356 were women.
The Directorate of Adult Education of the Ministry of Education of Namibia will be awarded one of the three UNESCO Confucius Literacy Prizes. This governmental programme, available in 13 regions of Namibia, provides learning opportunities for out-of-school youth, illiterate and disadvantaged women and men. Learning is brought closer to communities through local development initiatives and learning centres. The programme also reaches out to learners in the workplace and those with special needs. Since its inception, more than 600,000 people have participated in the programme.
The second UNESCO Confucius Literacy Prize is awarded to the Dhaka Ahsania Mission in Bangladesh. This NGO focuses on development work, concentrating initially on education and human development, and subsequently diversifying to address health, work skills, human rights and social justice. The Mission's "Ganokendra" (People's Centre) Programme concentrates on work-skills training for rural adults and out-of-school youth, especially women and girls. Since 1992, more than 4.000 Ganokendras have been established throughout the country and more than six million participants have been involved in the programme.
The third UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy will be awarded to the organisation 'Savoir Pour Mieux Vivre' (Knowledge for Living Better) in Côte d'Ivoire. This NGO, established in 2006, aims to save the languages that provide access to Ivoirian culture. Literacy programmes focus on urban and rural development, gender, information and communication technology (ICT) and sustainable development in a multilingual context. It promotes literacy by encouraging the creation of literate environments in French, national and local languages. The programme "J'apprends ta langue, tu apprends ma langue, nous nous comprenons, demain nous appartient" ("I learn your language, you learn my language, we understand each other, tomorrow belongs to us") is recognized for its strong advocacy to raise public awareness and its commitment in favour of the use, development and enhancement of local languages and cultures.
More information about UNESCO's literacy work and International Literacy Day 2013
Media contact
Sue Williams,
Tel +33 (0)1 4568 1706


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It's well known that on your wedding day the Bride and Groom should be centre stage and at the Georgian Theatre Royal you really can be!
We are fully licensed for on stage civil marriages and services and we offer a stunningly unique venue for your day. We can offer a range of effects to enhance your ceremony, such as a Steinway concert-grand piano, nineteenth century scenery and a personalised sound and lighting plot.
We can offer the option of personalised theatre tickets for your day or why not treat your guests to a local ice cream when you sign the register to complete your experience.
On site bars are perfect for champagne receptions and, following photo opportunities with your guests on stage, the award-winning Friary Gardens opposite the Theatre is also a brilliant setting for pictures.
At the Theatre we pride ourselves on designing your day specifically to your needs so get in contact with us to arrange a viewing of the Theatre; you will be surprised by what we can do!
To arrange a viewing please contact the admin office on 01748 823710 or simply e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com
Box Office: 01748 825252
Theatre Office: 01748 823710
Open 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday
Guided tours every hour on the hour
The Georgian Theatre Royal,
Victoria Road, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 4DW
Site by Purple Creative Studio -


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This course supplies an intensive grounding within the important legal subjects needed for professional authorized coaching as a barrister or solicitor. Last Note: Make positive you get an excellent accountant and/or lawyer since they will be able that can assist you throughout your registration, and in addition do the legwork for you. Check on whether or not the developer or vendor have being in the business for a few years, is a company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, is a company with a capital quantity sufficient enough to fund the venture and so forth.
I lived all my life in england, now i'm thinking of returning to india and i want to begin a business in india. Therefore, it is sensible and prudent on the part of companies and companies to do enterprise in keeping with the necessities of the regulation and likewise endeavor to conduct business transactions in such an moral manner corresponding to can be accredited by the general public or the goal markets. Disclaimer: Any opinions appearing within the Business Law Review are those of the authors solely and do not necessarily reflect these of American University Washington College of Law or the Review.
I've simply been studying The Key To The Law Of Attraction and it made me wish to read your lens once more. Remember, you may set up a Paypal business account which lets you take credit cards. This space of Law is continually evolving, with workers' lawyers specifically searching for new ways to additional their purchasers' pursuits, in relation to each substantive rights below the contract (e.g. in relation to implied terms), and remedies accessible to breach by the employer, during employment and on termination. Acts and precedents supposed to encourage, defend, guide the enterprise actions.
As a qualifying law degree this course is likely one of the pre-requisites for software to both course. You'll research the interests over land which Land Law is ready to recognise and how these interests have to be protected to make sure enforceability against third events. Employability abilities are additionally developed via extracurricular actions together with shows and occasions organised by the Mansfield Law Society and the careers service, along with work expertise and networking with other college students.
Appellees moved to dismiss, contending that as a result of all five counts had been essentially by-product claims and because Shareholders had didn't plead sufficient details to beat the presumption that the Board had acted in the best interest of the company, the Board was entitled to the protections of the enterprise judgment rule. Please let me know whether is course will be helpful for me in getting higher job alternatives and increasing my data associated to firm legislation.


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Best Sellers
Here we aim to provide a core sample, a time transect of American Culture as expressed in book purchasing preferences.
Hop into the bathyscaphe...
Teach your phone a new trick...
... overall the experience was a joy. booktwo.org
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We are Barnes & Noble affiliates.
If you purchase after following a link to B&N you get fast and free delivery at regular prices and we get a small cut on the sale.
It wont cost you a cent but will help us out.
1864 Best Seller.
Southworth considered Ishmael to be her best work.
It's inspirations to wisdom and goodness were drawn from the real life examples of the heroes and statesmen of the American Revolution.
The novel tells the story of Ishmael, born into poverty and virtuously climbing to success.
1867 Best Seller.
The novel tells the story of a young boy 'Dick' and his climb to success.
Dick has a low start in life growing up on the streets of post civil war New York City
but he is honest and hardworking and his loyalty and persistence pay off.
The sequel to Ishmael.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Allison's Challenge-Shop Till You Drop
Obviously, I chose Black Friday! I have had this sentiment stamp for a long time, I guess waiting for the perfect card! Black Friday it is.
The top typewriter key alphabet is punched out using a 1/2 inch punch and glued to the top.
This is a pretty simple card................ Snoopy always loves a good story though!
Stamps:Stampabilities A Note From Snoopy F1073, Remain Calm-Shopping by Postmodern Design BN2-111-C, Nostalgiques (The Attic Collection) alphabet set
Cardstock: SU! Grey and Black
Ink: Black, green and yellow markers
Misc: Punches, black ribbon
13 comments:
- Carolyn Bounds said...
How fun!!!! That sentiment stamp is just too much!!! It sounds like it was designed for Black Friday! LOL!!:o)
I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!!!
- November 26, 2008 at 9:47 PM
- Allison said...
This is brilliant Sue! Love the typewriter stamps and that shopping sticker (you could this one with so many different stamps)! Very cute...thanks for playing again!
- November 26, 2008 at 11:39 PM
- MelissaS said...
Love this card. Especially the sentiment stamp :)
- November 27, 2008 at 7:53 AM
- Silli said...
*lol*... Sue, your card is so funny, I love it! The image is sweet... Have a great day!
- November 28, 2008 at 2:58 AM
- cats whiskers said...
What a great card, just adore that snoopy and the setiment
Hugs Jacqui x
- November 28, 2008 at 3:24 AM
- TeresaW said...
This is a great card Sue, I think it is great that the typewriter is the only thing in colour, the rest being black and white gives the impression Snoopy is writing the article.
Don't think I could have done that. Good luck with the challenge.
- November 28, 2008 at 5:35 AM
- Julia Aston said...
How fun - what super stamps for this challenge - made me LOL!!!
- November 29, 2008 at 10:13 AM
- Lesley said...
Great card Sue! Thanks for visiting my blog! xx
- November 29, 2008 at 1:49 PM
- Elena said...
What an adorable card you made! Love the saying! And Snoopy is so cute!
- November 29, 2008 at 8:13 PM
- TeresaW said...
Hello, it's me again. I have just updated my blog address to http://treesawardincrafts.blogspot.com could you update your SBS23 bookmark so you can find me again?
Many thanks.
- November 30, 2008 at 8:16 AM
- Sarah {SCS: Sairabee} said...
This is hilarious! I love it! :)
- November 30, 2008 at 12:32 PM
- Jamie Martin said...
Love this card, it's too cute and that is exactly what I did :)
- December 1, 2008 at 4:55 PM
- Curt in Carmel said...
What a cute card, Sue! I love your Snoopy cards! And you are right! This sentiment was perfect for the card challenge! Hope all is well with you! Best, Curt
- December 1, 2008 at 10:00 PM


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Low-Point Kashi Muffins
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 3/4 cups Kashi GoLean Cereal
- 3/4 cup 1% milk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 medium ripe banana, mashed
- Pam cooking spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine cereal and milk; let stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the honey and egg whites and beat well. Stir in applesauce and banana. Add flour mixture and mix only until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill sprayed muffin tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of a muffin. If you'd like a printer-friendly version of this recipe, Click Here.
Total servings - 12
Serving size - 1
Points per serving - 2
"A year from now you may wish you started today." - Karen Lamb


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I think it's time for a new website, don't you? There's a lot of new writing coming in the next few months (Thy Fearful Symmetry, His Work To See, World's Collider, Dark Faith 2), and that makes it a good time to overhaul this place. What do you think? Prod it and pull it to your heart's content, and let me know if anything breaks.
There's some blank space here and there, where I'm leaving room for things that aren't quite ready yet. As you go further back through time, there will also be an increasing number of missing thumbnails, but I'm not too worried about that. I'll call it work in progress.
One thing you should definitely do, right now, is sign up for the newsletter on the right. I've had newsletters before, which some of you may have signed up for. I stopped maintaining them in this new age of social media, where you can follow what I'm up to in a dozen different places. Unfortunately, that's also a dozen different places where you're following a lot of other things too, and if you're not logged in soon after an announcement, you're likely never to see it.
The email newsletter should address that. I won't bombard you – the plan is to send you an email at the end of each month, with a summary of anything important you might have missed, along with some links to whatever it was.
As extra incentive, from August onwards, there will be a monthly draw for at least six months. Each month, the winner out the hat will get a free print copy of His Work To See. If you're going to Anthocon in November, you'll be able to grab one of these at my author table there. There's a chance I may print some more up after that, for similar events. However, outside of those opportunities, you won't be able to get a paper version of this outside of the newsletter.
What are you waiting for? Sign up, then prod the site until it bleeds. I need to know what to fix…


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Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Trainer – NGO Forum
Interview in Kyiv, training in Donbass region
The Ukraine NGO Forum plans to facilitate a series of trainings from July – September 2019, intended for NGO staff who implement programs for the conflict-affected populations in eastern Ukraine.
The Separate Subdivision of the Association "Médecins du Monde" intends to conclude an agreement on the following: The purchase of medical equipment and consumables
The Separate Subdivision of the Association "Médecins du Monde" intends to conclude an agreement on the following: The purchase of vehicles and additional equipment
The ACCESS Consortium (PIN, MdM, ACTED/ REACH) is looking for a potential national partner (national NGO) to undertake/lead on advocacy activities in Ukraine aimed at influencing decision-makers.
IOM seeks NGOs for the project for development of self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship among conflict-affected population
The International Organization for Migration (hereinafter called IOM) intends to engage qualified non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to submit expression of interest as Implementing Partners for the project aimed development of self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship among population affected by the conflict in the East of Ukraine and Crimea.
Representative Office arche noVa in Ukraine is planning to carry out the document page-proof and according to the template produce the appropriate quantity of printed brochures, leaflets and printing products.
The programme "EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine (EUACI)" announces an open procedure for Implementing Agency for ?Integrity Cities? concept. The aim of this assignment is to provide support to local administrations to minimize the risk of corruption and to establish sound and transparent procedures and innovative solutions.
Deadline for Proposals: 1 November 2017, at 12:00 (noon), Danish time
International Alert is seeking a qualified organization or individual(s) to implement a research in Ukraine
International Alert is seeking to engage a qualified organization or individual(s) to implement qualitative or quantitative-qualitative research in Ukraine, beginning in December 2017. International Alert is undertaking a multi-country research programme that aims to build evidence base on peacebuilding-related issues to inform the programmatic and policy practices.
Ukraine NGO Forum invites qualified research groups or organizations to submit proposals to conduct Capacity building needs assessment (CNA) among Ukrainian NGOs.
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Take part in a tender for elaboration and implementation of the organization development strategy.
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posted about buying 10 pounds of marked-down organic carrots and how I diced, blanched and dried them. I even dried the peelings (but did not blanch) and used them when making stock or ground them to powder and used for seasoning blends. I've continued to dry any extra carrots I have on hand. They are very handy to toss into soup or rehydrate for a casserole.
Before Christmas I did a program for my Garden Club on garnishing. Like most of our programs, it was a hands-on workshop so everyone brought their favorite sharp paring knife and went to town making carrot flowers, apple swans and more. Garnishing is a lot of fun and especially nice to try when the garden is in full swing as you can just grab what you need and not worry about how many tomatoes you may ruin on the way to producing a perfect tomato tulip. In the winter, the cost can add up.
To help contain the cost of the program, I planned to work with some vegetables we had from the winter garden. Turnips and onions, both green and bulbing, make great garnishes and readily take up food coloring if you want to go that route. Apples are another thing we keep in cold storage so I knew I'd have them available. But I ended up buying a 25-pound bag of what's often labeled "organic juicing carrots" -- really big but still sweet and flavorful carrots. They were perfect for cutting into garnishes and we've been eating the rest.
But they were beginning to sprout feathery greens and since I didn't want to lose the last 10 pounds or so, I determined to dry them. This time I opted to scrub them rather than peeling and then shredded them in the food processor. I spread them out on the papery lining because I didn't want the shreds slipping through the plastic mesh as they shrunk during drying. I'll use them mainly for baking -- carrot cake or carrot-orange muffins are the first things that come to mind but I can also see using them in cornish pasties, meatloaf or spaghetti sauce and I'm wondering how they'd work in cha gio.
Monday, February 6, 2012
More dehydrated carrots
1 comment:
- Glenda said...
On one of my fav blogs a lady saved the tomato skins after blanching the tomato's for sauces. She normally fed them to her chickens. She later discovered you could dehydrate the skins and make them into a tomatoe powder. She use the mixture for soups and stews. I thought you might like her idea.
Great blog.
- December 1, 2013 at 5:17 PM
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For PackageKit we don't want to be refreshing caches or checking for updates when there is no network connection. Does anyone have a short guide on how to monitor and query the connected state of nm (session or system), just like evolution does? Any nm guys want to write me a quick patch or jot down some quick code? Cheers.
EDIT: Done, thanks guys.


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My friends call me Wonder Woman, which always makes me laugh because while they find me unique in what I can do, they never write to Regis and Kelly or Kelly and Michael extolling the graces of my life well lived. Instead, they secretly fuel my need to be everything to everyone. Or more accurately, they make me believe it's admirable to be a crazy woman – working, loving, and caring for all the things in my life until I privately crash with exhaustion. It's this collapse that has inspired me to share the details of my descent into overwhelming loss revealing how that experience helped me discover my true strength; appreciating that the best thing about being lost is the joy you discover along the way!
When my husband Chris passed away in January, it was the end of a defining chapter in my life. He was one of the few people who knew me; he gave me the courage to be big and bold and understood that behind the big, was the small. I met Chris when I was 24 and we dated and were married for 23 years. I only mention this as a point of comparison; in the 24 years I lived before Chris, I learned to walk, talk, ride a bike and drive a car. In the 23 years I lived with Chris, I learned to earn an income and to be a wife and mother. After Chris died there was such a fundamental shift in my existence; many of the pieces of my life no longer fit together.
The good news is, that while parts of my soul were seemingly torn away, other bits grew in their place. Words like fortitude, honor, freedom and strength tiptoed into my vocabulary. It's hard to watch your husband be zippered into a bag and taken away by the coroner. It's harder to tell your children, "your fathers dead". That's fortitude. Expecting your mother-in-law to live with you and share in the joy of your kid's lives forever, that's honor. Buying a home based solely on your earned income to debt ratio; that's freedom. Getting out of bed every day; that requires a strength that even I can't describe.
Welcome to my joy-filled journey.


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Glosco - Two-tone - Tall Stool (Set of 2)
(List Price $279)
Tall Stool (2/CN)
From two-tone backless designs to chicly upholstered seats, Glosco offers one cool stool collection. Three design choices are available, including a backless wood stool with deep scooped saddle seat and a two-tone finish; a shield-back upholstered barstool in a textured gray fabric with faux leather details; and a round backless model with bronze-tone metal frame, topped with a ''wood growth'' slab seat.
D548-124,-130 bar stool has gray toned fabric seat with medium brown faux leather back and dark brown rustic wood frame. D548-024,-030 is a two-tone backless stool design with saw kerf texture on deep scooped saddle seat with modern shape. D548-324,-330 is a metal stool design in a glazed bronze tone with wood growth ring seat detail in medium brown.
|15.25 Inches
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14 senators ask SC to review Sereno ruling
A majority of the senators have banded together to ask the Supreme Court to review its decision to unseat Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno through a quo warranto petition and defend the Senate's jurisdiction over impeachable officials.
Fourteen of the 23 senators have signed a resolution requesting the Supreme Court to review its May 11 ruling, and Sen. Risa Hontiveros has urged more of her colleagues to join them.
"The Senate has the duty and responsibility to formally communicate with the Supreme Court and ask it to review its decision and restore balance among the different coequal branches of the government," Hontiveros, one of the signatories to the resolution, said in a statement.
The other 13 senators who signed the resolution were Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes IV, Leila de Lima, Bam Aquino, Ralph Recto, Francis Escudero, Sherwin Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva, Grace Poe, Sonny Angara and Loren Legarda.
A source said other senators may sign the resolution on Thursday.
Citing the Constitution, the resolution says the Senate has "the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment."
It says the Supreme Court decision "sets a dangerous precedent that transgresses the exclusive powers of the legislative branch to initiate, try, and decide all cases of impeachment."
Legal groups have condemned the Supreme Court's 8-6 decision granting Solicitor General Jose Calida's quo warranto petition to invalidate the 2012 appointment of Sereno, the Philippines' first female Chief Justice, who is facing an impeachment bid in the House of Representatives.
The National Union of Peoples' Lawyers said the ruling robbed the House of its power to impeach Sereno and the Senate to try and convict the Chief Justice, powers set in the 1987 Constitution.
"We cannot issue strong statements on this travesty of the inviolability of the Constitution, yet to back it up with decisive action. We must not allow the Senate to be relegated to a hollow institution howling ineffectually at the margins," Hontiveros said.
"This is not about the Chief Justice and the accusations lodged against her. This is about safeguarding the integrity of our democratic institutions, diffusing the tension among the different branches of government and preventing a constitutional crisis," she said.
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The current medical advances have made it feasible for health care providers to unnaturally prolong life. To some people, the notion associated with hooking their loved ones to a life support method may be not be reasonable especially if there is no distinct chance of recovery from the debilitating condition.
However, a lot of folks strongly believe in the inviolability of existence. And unless the patient himself or herself wills the end of contract of life-prolonging measures, no-one has the right to end the deal. Then again, the only way this would happen is through the use of living wills.
You may not at first welcome the concept of dwelling wills. But as you attempt to weigh the pros as well as cons, you will start to realize that it is not a bad idea after all. A great deal of preparing and preparation can be your best option if you want your hospital care to prove the way you want to even when it involves pulling the actual plug for all types of artificial life help. In addition, putting the wishes into creating is the right path to take this particular situation.
Feasible Reasons For Refusal of Treatment
There may be millions of of different reasons why folks would want to refuse treatment. Then again, most of these rationales could be placed under two extensive categories. The first one essentially involves the overall advantage of the medical treatment. If the advantage of a specific medication or method is not huge sufficient to substantiate the associated discomfort and risk, then the patient may decide not to get such measures.
Even though most folks could be willing to undergo a number of risky and unpleasant treatments in order to live lengthier, this statistics should not be viewed as the basis for that medical care of all patients particularly those that do not possess living wills. Some people in fact prefer a smaller and more comfortable existence, especially if the quality is significantly compromised.
The second possible reason for the refusal of medical treatment will be the existence of intolerable conditions. In spite of the simplicity as well as tolerability of a particular life-sustaining involvement such as a nasogastric tube (NGT) giving, some may point out no to it in the presence of an irreparable condition like a persistent vegetative state.
When looked at in this light, the particular life-prolonging measures may be fulfilled with completely atypical decisions. The treatment would then be perceived to elongate the period of struggling, for both the patient and also immediate family.
Even though some decisions fall effortlessly under one of the two broad categories, other people just would not fit below any. Based on the circumstances present, the term "medical treatment" may involve the usage of ventilation tubes (inserted into the chest or neck), the administration of antibiotics or even any drug using a high probability of good results. Benefit/burden decision-making in these situations can bring about different choices.
If you would like certain treatments being withheld when you're no longer able to choose for yourself, you should designate them in your residing will. Numerous healthcare declarations or living wills contain instructions designed for doctors to reject the provision of "life-sustaining treatments" or even "extraordinary care".
These directives are often difficult to interpret correctly and are less likely to be followed than others that are more detailed.


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Pennsylvania Literary Journal
by Michelle
Pennsylvania Literary Journal is available now, with a feature on British Literature edited by Anna Faktorovich, the editor of Anaphora Literary Press. Themes of oppression, social realism and rebellion in nineteenth century British and American literature are nicely focussed, with the journal including contemporary short fiction and poetry.
Highlights include a critical essay on the use of fairy tale elements in Dickens' novel, Our Mutual Friend, by Victoria Williams, and an essay on allegory and the colonial condition by Mark Zunac. I also enjoyed reading an essay by Michael Cornelius, which explores the intertwining themes of public memory, landscape and sexuality in a poem by Henry Sewell Stokes about the romance between Piers Gaveston and King Edward 11, the "love that dare not speak its name."
Most interesting for editors and writers is the interview between Anna Faktorovich and Margarita Boyers, editor of Salmagundi Magazine, in which questions about the apprenticeships of editing, teaching creative writing and translating are addressed. On editing Boyers has this to say:
"I suppose I would say to young graduate students merely this: since there is no guarantee that anything you do will have a practical outcome (which is to say, a JOB), then follow your passion and read what you love and what feeds your soul, and which gives you more resources for pleasure. Whatever happens, you can only win by reading and reading more." (138)
To subscribe: www.anaphoraliterary.wordpress.com


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Missing form W-2? The IRS can help
Most taxpayers receive their forms W-2 at the end of January. Form W-2, wage and tax statement shows your income and the taxes withheld from your wages during the year. You need to file an accurate tax return.
What to do if you do not receive W-2 before February?
If you don't receive your form for mid-February, this is what you should do:
• Communicate with your employer. Ask for a copy to your employer (or former employer). Be sure to have your correct address.
• If you can get a copy of your employer, call the IRS at 800-8291040 Extensions 2, after February 23. The IRS will send a letter to your employer on your behalf. You will need the following information when you call:
◦ Your name, address, SSN, phone number number;
◦The name of your employer, address, and telephone number;
◦Dates of Employment of employment; and
◦An approximate calculation of wages received federal tax withheld in 2016. Use information from the last pay stub for these amounts.
File Your Tax Return, Even with No W-2
File your return on time. Your tax return generally expires on April 18, 2016. Use the form 4852, substitute for form W-2, statement of wages and taxes (in English), if you did not get your W-2 in time. Click here for an estimate of income and tax withheld as accurately as possible. If you can finish your return deadline, you may request more time to present. Request an extension of six months presenting the form 4868 (SP) application for automatic extension for filing a Federal Declaration of taxes. It can also send a request by e – file for more time or you can do it free with Free File of the IRS.
You may need to correct your tax return if you received W-2 missing after submitting the Declaration. If the W-2 tax information is different from that originally reported, you need to file an amended tax return. Use Form 1040 X, Declaration as amended from the tax Federal on income of the United States (in English), to make the change.
2016 Health Insurance Tax Forms
Important notice: by 2015, there are new forms of health insurance. Starting the year 2016, the majority of taxpayers will receive one or more of the forms related to the health coverage they had in the previous year If it is signed by 2015 for medical coverage through the health insurance market, you should receive form 1095-A, statement of medical coverage of the market, at the beginning of February.
What to do if Health Insurance Forms are Missing?
If registered in other medical coverage in 2015 you will receive new form 1095-B 1095-C offer health coverage and health insurance coverage provided by the employer for the end of March. If you believe that you should receive a form, but it has not reached contact the issuer of the form – the market, your provider coverage or your employer. If you expect to receive a form 1095 – A, must wait to file your taxes for the year 2015 until this form is received. However, it is not necessary to wait the 1095-B or C-1095 forms in order to present.
Every taxpayer has a number of fundamental rights which should be taken into account when dealing with the IRS. These are the rights of the taxpayer. Explore your rights and our obligations to protect them at IRS.gov.


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(Some more pictures of the trip will be at the bottom!)
So June 3rd through 15th were among the best twelve days of my life. The Greyhound trip there, in case you didn't see my tears on Twitter, was kind of terrifying. (Leading up to my boarding the bus, my mother and her friend told me horror stories and reminded me that arteries are a good thing to stab.)
Despite the massive paranoia following me, though, the ride wasn't too bad. I was lucky enough to sit next to this old man from, I believe, Poland. He seemed pretty cool (although I avoided speaking to him or anyone haha). There were also phone chargers, thank god, and I had brought a pound of beef jerky with me. What made the trip enjoyable, even, was the thought that I was on my way to see Morgan. Despite it being one of the sketchiest situations I've experienced in a long time (I'll throw in a little vignette at the end), it was, overall, a pretty happy ride.
About fourteen hours after I boarded the bus, I arrived in Denver, Colorado. (In all honesty, I couldn't tell whether the station there was more or less sketchy than the station in Boonville, Missouri.) After I grabbed my luggage, it took me a few minutes to find Morgan, since we hadn't planned where to meet beyond the station haha. But about two seconds after I saw her I got to hug my favorite person in the world so that made up for all the awfulness of the bus. <3
In addition to hanging out with the cooliest person in the world, I survived a two week stay in an online friend's basement, I for-real hiked for the first time at Hanging Lakes, Morgan and I went indoor skydiving, and I saw how Doritos are affected by being twelve thousand feet above sea level. And that's not even half of the awesome stuff we did together. (Plus we also met up with this other pretty cool online friend.)
It was a truly amazing time. In a way, it made me feel as if I really can live an extraordinary life; seeing a large portion of the world isn't something that's considered part of normal life, but neither is spending fourteen hours on a godforsaken bus to see a friend you met on the internet.
(Although, heh, this trip did teach me I need to be a little more careful with my spending habits.)
Morgan is now in Senegal, and although I miss her, I'm super excited and happy for her.
And now, onto the topic of college…
In August, I will be attending Truman State University with a declared major of Computer Science. I may?? double major in Mathematics or something, I don't know for sure; likely, I'll at least get a minor in Mathematics (as that shouldn't require many extra classes). Either way, I'm pretty confident I'll still keep my main major Computer Science. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been internally debating whether or not I want to maintain a 4.0 GPA; is it worth the extra effort? (However, I'm definitely going to keep my GPA above at least 3.5, so that I can keep all my scholarships). And I believe that I'm leaning toward, yes, it is worth the effort. Coming from a small town high school, though, where generally the most studying (outside of class) I did was glance over the study guide before the test, and going to the most rigorous public university in Missouri… Learning to study is going to be fun. After some adjustment, however, I'm confident I'll be able to handle it. I'm starting to actually use calendars to keep track of what I have going on, and I will aggressively make use of Anki, an SRS (Spaced Repetition System; essentially, fancy, scientifically based electronic flashcards) program, for all of my classes. So yeah, hopefully that four-point-oh will actually happen!
In all honesty, at first attending Truman didn't seem especially great; it was a college, not in a tiny town, so I was really excited to go, but I had picked it because 1) low tuition and housing and 2) lots of scholarships. But now that I've visited the campus a few times, talked to some of the staff, made friends with other incoming freshmen on our class Facebook group (everyone! seems! so! nice! and! open! minded! it's such a beautiful breath of fresh air after confederate flags and homophobia and hicks around here), and all the great things I've heard about it… I'm really glad I picked Truman. I'm so excited for the fall. Continue reading →


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Berdych Defeats Ferrer to Knock Djokovic out of London – Live Coverage
by Stephanie Neppl
By the time the final round robin match was ready to begin at the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday night, the O2 crowd was truly energized. Not only were they promised an intriguing match between David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, but the result would decide whether Berdych or world #1 Novak Djokovic would advance to the semifinals.
Ferrer had been the in-form player coming into the match after defeating both Djokovic and Andy Murray in straight sets to lead his group. Berdych, on the other hand, saw both his previous matches decided by third set tiebreaks. He wasn't able to close out Djokovic, but defeated Janko Tipsarevic after surviving a match point.
The O2 Arena delivers such an amazing experience when players enter the court. The lights dim, the blue court literally glows and superb graphics on the big screen and all around the court are dazzling. Add in the smoke machine and music and the tennis players must feel like grand celebrities. It's an amazing sight and made this tennis player proud to be present to cheer on the ATP's top stars during the week.
From the first point, Ferrer continued the form he'd shown all week and he fought off early break points to take the set 6-3. Berdych played evenly throughout the match, but it was Ferrer who was winning the rallies, which often ended on a Berdych error (43 in total).
But when serving up a break at 4-3 in the second set, the Spaniard tightened up and handed the break back. Seemingly from nowhere, Ferrer's play, particularly his serve slumped and Berdych seemed to have an extra spring in his step throughout the third set. He sprinted to a 5-0 lead (winning seven straight games), before Ferrer held serve to escape a bagel, and then took the match 3-6,7-5, 6-1.
Watching a player as likeable and hard-working as Ferrer suddenly struggle to find his shots was not easy. But Berdych, who seemed an afterthought on the tour for much of the first half of the season, was delighted with the way he hung in there and he was rewarded for his perseverance.
"The turning point, I think, was just the one that I made on set point to win the second set, because all the time before I was down," said Berdych. "When I made the second set, it just gave me a lot of confidence [and] energy. I started to feel really great on court."
The Czech moves into the World Tour Finals semifinals for the first time, and will face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Ferrer, who has already qualified after winning his first two matches, faces Roger Federer whom he has a 0-11 record against.
Stephanie Neppl is in London covering the ATP World Tour Finals as a guest contributor for Tennis Grandstand. She is the author of the website I Have a Tennis Addiction and you can follow her on twitter @StephInNZ for further updates.


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Firefox Browser to Block Tracking Cookies By Default
Online tracking is typically used in order to allow advertisers to serve ads that target your interests. This practise is unethical for some people, but others may pay no attention to that.
EU's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) put restrictions on how companies collect and share user data. One of the results was an increase in pop-up windows that stop you from entering a website unless you grant permission for the website to install cookies on your device. And since most people treat the pop-up as an annoyance, they agree without thinking about the possible consequences because they want continue their browsing. Firefox is stepping into the breach to help these people out.
The plan with the Firefox browser is to block tracking cookies by default and give users the tools to decide what information they wish to share with websites.
Firefox's anti-tracking program is rolling out in stages. The third-party trackers attached to ads not only invade privacy, they can increase the time it takes a webpage to load by more than 50% according to a study carried out by Ghostery and reported by Digital Trends. Firefox will begin by blocking trackers that slow down page loading. The feature is currently live in Firefox Nightly. An opt-in shield study is planned for this month and if all goes well, the feature will roll out to all users with Firefox 63.
The next step will be to strip cookies and block storage access from third-party trackers. This feature is also live in Firefox Nightly and will have a shield study this month with a full roll out currently planned for Firefox 65.
Mozilla also plans to block cryptomining scripts that report cryptocurrencies on a user's device and "fingerprinting" trackers that can identify users by device characteristics that are beyond the user's control.