text: Illinois juvenile defenders lack the time, support, and resources to represent effectively indigent children in court, according to a new report by MacArthur grantees the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law and the National Juvenile Defender Center. The report, a comprehensive examination of 16 representative counties in Illinois, is based on interviews with defense attorneys, prosecutors, probation officers, judges, law school professors, and researchers. The report was widely covered, including stories by the Reuters and The Chicago Tribune. An advance look at the findings led Illinois legislators to create a juvenile defender resource center, which will begin to set standards and provide training that the report indicates is so lacking.


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Looking at the past six games, it's feast or famine for the Sharks when it comes to scoring.
Thirteen goals in three wins, three goals in what would have been three losses if it weren't for Antti Niemi's outstanding goaltending in that 1-0 victory over the Blackhawks.
But the near-drought for goals goes back further than that when it comes to three forwards who were among the team's leading scorers earlier in the season.
Ryane Clowe has gone 10 games without a goal. Logan Couture has one in his last eight games. Marty Havlat has only one for the season and that was 10 games ago, but he's also dried up as a productive playmaker with just one assist in the last nine games.
This morning, Todd McLellan acknowledged that after reuniting the three on the same line late in Monday night's 2-0 loss to Los Angeles, he's tempted to keep them together Thursday night when the Montreal Canadiens make their once-every-two-years appearance at HP Pavilion.
We'll go deeper into that situation in tomorrow's print edition story, but here's what Clowe had to say on the lack of scoring this morning.
"I guess you could always say 'I feel good and the puck's not going in' or 'the goalie's making good saves,' but it's all about production," Clowe said. "That's what matters, finding a way.
"You've got to find a way," he continued. "You've got to bear down. Execution's not just passing and taking care of the puck and all that. It's about finishing."
At the same time, he tried to keep the past three games in perspective.
"There's always these few games," Clowe said. "You score a lot of goals and then you go through these little ruts. But you've got to get out of them quick."
Anytime you ask a player about lines, the response you get is that it's strictly up to the coach. Nobody lobbies. With the Sharks, you also hear a lot about how there are a lot of talented players in the room and it shouldn't matter who you're out there with.
Clowe, at least, did acknowledge he's more comfortable playing alongside Couture.
"We've played together so much," Clowe said. "I know it's only his second year, but we've had a lot of success playing together and I enjoy playing with him."
Then he quickly switched to his time on the ice with Patrick Marleau when Couture was moved to the top line.
"On the other side of that, I liked playing with Patty," Clowe said. "Patty was playing really well when we were playing together."
Not that any of the mixing and matching comes as a surprise.
"We expected right from the start coming into this year that there'd be some juggling," Clowe said. "There was no consistency as far as who you were going to play with. We expect to play with everyone. But there's no doubt, playing with Cooch, you like to play with someone you feel you've got chemistry with and there's some chemistry there."
Clowe also talked about keeping frustration off the ice.
"For me right now, I feel frustrated in that I'm not scoring and I like to produce more," he said. "But during a game you can't let that get to you if you miss a chance or have the goalie stop you. That moment can ruin a game if you let it affect you like that. I feel the guys mentally are in the right place."
*****Watching last night's game, I thought that unsporstmanlike penalty on Frazer McLaren for the snow shower that covered Kings goalie Jonathan Quick may have been tied to last spring's playoffs when the NHL had to eventually talk to the Sharks about more than a few similar ice sprays. No penalties were called then, but San Jose was on notice.
Turns out McLaren, who said he was initially surprised to learn he was being sent to the penalty box, looked at it similarly.
"That might have played into it a little bit and I'll definitely be aware of that next time," he said this morning, "because you never want to put the team short."
*****Antero Niittymaki's rehab progress has reached the point that goalie coach/assistant GM Wayne Thomas said this morning that Niittymaki probably will practice with his teammates tomorrow for the first time since undergoing hip surgery in September.
That was supposed to sideline Niittymaki for 12 weeks and Thomas said the netminder may even be a little bit ahead of schedule.
When he returns, the Sharks will have to figure out what to do with a pair of capable back-ups. And with more than a couple teams already dipping deep into their farm system for back-ups, I wouldn't rule out a trade involving either Niittymaki or Thomas Greiss.
*****Michal Handzus stayed home another day with an illness, but McLellan said he expects his third-line center to be skating tomorrow and likely to be in the lineup Thursday night barring any setback.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ecuador's schools have become a sobering reflection of the country's deepening drug problem amid student overdoses and a negative feedback cycle of dropouts dealing to their peers in school.
Following the death of a 13-year-old girl who overdosed on cocaine and sedatives last October, the Ecuadorian government has stepped up its efforts to reach out to young people in schools, but it may be an uphill battle given the prevalence of drugs in the communities these students live in.
"Drugs are present in schools, just like theft and violence, because they are present in society. All the things that are present in society are present in schools," Ricardo Loor, drugs prevention expert at the Guayaquil branch of Ecuador's drugs agency, Consep, said, according to the BBC.
While Ecuador itself is not a center of cocaine production like its neighbors Colombia and Peru, it has become a major transit route for the drug -- with coke becoming widely available at relatively cheap prices.
At the same time, young people, most often dropouts, are being drawn into the drug trade as low-level distributors to others in their age group, further exacerbating the situation.
"Cartels pay intermediaries through money and drugs. These intermediaries distribute drugs to micro-traffickers who use vulnerable groups to sell the drugs, such as boys and girls that have been excluded from the educational system," Interior Minister Jose Serrano said, according to the BBC.
In Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, local authorities are focusing on educating students about the dangers of drugs -- but not in response to the recent heavy media coverage of drug-related deaths, but rather as part of the state's ongoing anti-drug efforts.
"There hasn't been any drastic change," Monica Franco, vice minister of educational management, said, concerning the government's policy on drug abuse and crime prevention in schools, the BBC reported. "This issue has been exacerbated by the media who are opposed to the government."
But some in the country's educational system are critical of the government's policies and are demanding a different approach.
"The problem of drugs does not get resolved simply by a talk, workshop or contingency plan," Luis Chancay, a teacher and president of the local branch of the National Teachers Union, told the BBC. "We need to find ways to give young people future perspectives."
Last year, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report warned: "Ecuador is vulnerable to organized crime due to weak public institutions, porous borders and corruption. ... The increasing problems of domestic drug consumption and the associated rise in crime is a growing concern."


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Chavez enjoying second stay in Seattle
SEATTLE -- Endy Chavez has come seriously full circle with the Mariners.
The first time the veteran outfielder was with the club, in 2009, he tore a ligament in his knee in June and missed the rest of the season. At the time, he was helping the Mariners with a .273 average, nine stolen bases and excellent defense. A little over a month later, a 22-year-old from Triple-A named Michael Saunders was called up to the Majors and got some time in the outfield.
This year, the Mariners added Chavez as a Minor League signing at the end of Spring Training, and when Saunders went on the disabled list with a sprained right shoulder on April 10, the team called on Chavez. Once again, he's helping the team.
Entering Friday's game against the Angels, Chavez was batting .310 with three RBIs, two doubles and his usual solid defense. He said it's been great to return to the organization.
"I always liked it here," said Chavez, who knew current Mariners Felix Hernandez, Franklin Gutierrez, Michael Morse and Saunders from his time here in 2009 and in Spring Training that year. "They gave me an opportunity to play that year, and they're giving me an opportunity now, and I'm doing my best to help them win.
"It's kind of funny that it's worked out this way, but that's baseball."


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Energy Drinks: All Grown Upbrand News
THE ENERGY DRINK CATEGORY IS NO LONGER "maturing." More than ten years in, with annual growth, from emerging metrics, down to a stately 4 percent, and three brands swallowing up 2/3 to 3/4 of the market, it's fair, now, to call the once young and explosive category "mature."
Red Bull (see Red Bull Back in the Herd, but Ready to Bust Out, pg. 40), the top seller by dollar-value, still maintains its network of independent distributors, but other big sellers have sorted themselves into Coke and Pepsi camps. Monster, the top seller by volume, currently pushes its product through the Coca-Cola and Budweiser systems; number-three player Rockstar gets its product to stores on the same trucks as Pepsi and Mountain Dew. Even in the quadrant of the energy drink market not owned by those three brands, the biggest players claim some affiliation with the big houses. Amp, Pepsi's in-house invention, tops the also-rans followed by Coke-baby Full Throttle, Pepsi-ally Starbucks' Doubleshot, and NOS, a subsidiary of FUZE, itself a subsidiary of Coca-Cola.
For independent brands, that means the already-difficult task of building a successful business in the energy drink segment has gotten harder. Not only do they have to formulate an innovative product, build a brand identity, and scavenge customers, they have to do so while in direct competition with the world's two most powerful beverage distribution networks.
Under those conditions, the number of private brands has fallen. BevNET's 2008 energy drink guide listed 228 energy brands. The 2009 guide lists about half that number, a reflection of the growing number of entrepreneurs that have discovered that the energy drink gold rush is over.
But even in that environment, there are still some strong independent players. Jolt and Go Girl, in particular, posted high enough sales to make it on IRI's leader board, and brands like BAWLS and Redline have carved out enduring or growing niches for themselves.
Though those brands continue to find room to live and expand around the edges, the age of the entrepreneur as king of the energy category may be over. Still, there's opportunity for retailers to sell smart, well-run independent brands that have the potential to keep growing. Their ongoing ability to survive proves that they've hooked an enduring segment of the populace, and those customers may follow the product into your store.Arrow Productions. Adult novelty distributor East Coast News signed a deal with Arrow Productions to provide exclusive distribution of the company's Deep Throat Energy Drink to adult stores. Arrow has a promotion program offers retailers that buy 50 cases a free Deep Throat Energy Drink fridge that the retailer is not required to return.
XO Energy Beverage Corp. XO's 6 oz. energy drinks are now made in the U.S.A., Kosher "OU" and have a 24-month shelf life.
Zafi Beverages, Inc. Zafi Beverages, Inc. has re-positioned its Zafi Ultralight and Zafi Pumped Premium Energy Drinks into the energy mixer market with a new marketing slogan that reads: Zafi, 'The Perfect Energy Mixer.'
DD Beverage Co. DD Beverage Co. secured a partnership with 7-Eleven Pacific Northwest Group to sell Beaver Buzz and Beaver Natural Soda in these US 7-Eleven stores as of June 22, 2009.
Police Fuel. Police Fuel announced that it will donate a portion of its proceeds to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in support of efforts to create the first ever National Law Enforcement Museum.
rhino's energy GmbH. rhino's announced an agreement with 7-Eleven for distribution in all East Coast states aside from New York and Florida.
Bigg Juice Industries inc. Bigg Juice Industries Ltd launched RELOAD in March with a master distributor based in Vermont.
LIVE Energy, Inc. Starting April 2009, LIVE NATURAL ENERGY DRINK is now sold at HEB Texas through Kehe Distribution.
Fluid Motion Beverage Inc. Vixen Energy, going into its 4th year, has expanded its distribution into Western Canada.
Fluid Motion Beverage Inc. Talon Energy launched its "Get your Motto on a Talon Can" consumer program, allowing Talon drinkers to submit their personal motto for possible inclusion on Talon cans. Talon's first motto was "Stay Sharp!"
DNA Beverage Corporation. DNA ENERGY DRINK recently formed a subsidiary distribution company known as Grass Roots Beverage to distribute DNA throughout Florida. The brand will be available in the Mid-West by mid-summer.
Sex Drive Energy Drink. Sex Drive signed distribution agreements with 7-Eleven and HT Hackney in February. The brand also added new distribution in Atlanta, and expanded DSD operations in South Carolina in April. The brand also ran a promotional event at the Kentucky Derby.
XL Energy Drink Corp. XL Energy Drink has redesigned its Sugar Free can. XL's original flavor is now available in six-packs of 8.4 oz. cans.
The CL-ONE Corp. CL-ONE will launch a Quad-Pack this summer, backed by a "Get one free promo" allowing consumers to pick up four-pack for the price three cans.
Power Trip Beverages. Power Trip recently signed on as a sponsor of the hip-hop/pop band City of God. PTB also became a sponsor of the Excalibur Cricket Club of Northern New Jersey, and can be seen in several films this summer, including the new Van Wilder film, and the new Fox Television series "GLEE."
Anthracyte, LLC. Anthracyte, LLC announced a Fruit Punch version of its Ephedra Energy Tea. The New Fruit Punch Ephedra Tea is genuine Ephedra and Green Tea.
Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co. Go Fast Sports and Beverage Company released the two new flavors, GFTea and Z17, and a 16 oz. can size in the 4th quarter of 2008. GFTea is an energy drink flavored with black, white and green teas and tea catechins. Z17 carries an extra kick!
Fuzzee Bee Beverage Co. ZUN BRAIN BOOSTING ENERGY is out of R&D and has launched in the Boulder Colorado region. ZUN ROCK-IT-WOMAN! the new functional beverage for women is also planned for an estimated release sometime before the end of 2009.
Hunid Racks LLC. Within the last year, Hunid Racks has hit Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Kansas City, Nebraska, Denver, and Portland. The brand has also started sales in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware and Hawaii.
Rubyy Energy Drink. Rubyy is introducing Diet Rubyy this summer. The new product, packaged in matte white, re-sealable, aluminum bottles, is slated to hit shelves mid-June in Bevmo! and Famima stores.
1in3Trinity. In the past year, 1in3Trinity has signed endorsement deals with five-time NFL Pro Bowler Guy McIntyre, Saints player Olaniyi Sobomehin, NASCAR driver Morgan Shepherd and Grammy-nominated Christian rock band SONICFLOOd. 1in3Trinity also signed a distribution agreement with Tree of Life.
RLED, LLC. Roaring Lion Energy Drink announced its new Sugarfree line. Roaring Lion Sugarfree is offered in 1 gallon boxes and 16 oz., re-sealable bottles.
Vecordia Group, Inc. Through Vecordia's own distribution and an arrangement with R & R Vending, LLC, Blue Storm is now available at over 1,000 stores across the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. Additionally, Vecordia came to a distribution arrangement with Hillway Services, LLC to cover the Gulf Coast Region of Texas. Vecordia is offering a "Buy 3 Get 1 FREE" case pack promotions to new distributors and stores throughout the summer.
Nor-Cal Beverage Co. Go Girl Energy Drinks introduced a new flavor in February – Go Girl Bliss. Go Girl Bliss is a non-carbonated peach tea that is sweetened with agave and brewed with yerba maté tea. It's only 35 calories, and a portion of the proceeds is donated to benefit breast cancer research & awareness. Go Girl Energy Drinks also unveiled a newly redesigned www.gogirlenergy.com.
Johnny Fountain Beverage Innovators. Johnny Fountain Beverage Innovators entered into a distribution deal with High 5 distributors of New York City. Powerball Energized Juice is also in the midst of a marketing campaign using social networking sites and a sampling team that cruises the nightlife scene.
Impulse Energy USA. Impulse Energy introduced Impulse Extreme Energy Sugar Free in 16 oz. cans.
Xtreme Beverage Corp. Xtreme Beverage recently introduced Big Ol' Trucker energy juice, and is promoting the brand with an iPhone game, Maze Craze Trucker.
NERD Beverage Corp. Dr. Pepper distributors recently agreed to distribute NERD in Brownwood, Temple, Tyler, and Mason Texas.
Game Juice Inc. Game Juice selected David Fonseca of FYI Studio to develop its cutting-edge label design and branding campaign. Game Juice is also announced that it will be donating a portion of its proceeds to Dream in Green – a non-profit foundation dedicated to empowering energy education and conservation.
GURU Beverage Co. GURU Beverage Co announced a product collaboration with Kanye West, to create a new product inspired by his own personal artistic vision. The new product is expected to launch later this year in the U.S. and Canada. The announcement coincided with the launch of a marketing campaign dubbed "Clean Energy for Dirty Minds."
Marquis Platinum Inc. Marquis Platinum Vitality Drink signed with Innovative Trading Services Limited, UK, who will be the distributor of Marquis Platinum throughout Europe.
US Premium Brands. US Premium Brands recently announced Fuel High Octane Energy Supplement. Each 16 oz. can of Fuel High Octane Energy Supplement contains 240 mg of Caffeine and 200mg of L-Carnitine and is packed with B Vitamins.
Amplexo. Amplexo's all natural energy drink Vá, recently added Vá Lite. The company has also prepaed a launch in Mexico and reached an agreement with Nuestro Pueblo Distributors to explore new distribution channels for Vá and Vá Lite in North and South America.
Wave Energy Drink, LLC. Wave Energy recently entered the market. The Wave lineup includes a Sugar Free version, and will be rolling out nationwide this year. Franchise distributor opportunities are currently available across the country. Visit tastethewave.com if you are interested in becoming a distributor or would like to learn more.
XYIENCE. XYIENCE recently launched Xtreme Xenergy, which packs more B12 vitamins and slightly more caffeine than the original, in a black 16 oz. can. Xtreme is sugar- and calorie –free, with minimal carbohydrates.
Wholesale Outlet. Wholesale Outlet Speed Zone pre-priced, 99 cent energy drink recently hired a new director of business development to spearhead Speed Zone marketing.
Rage Liquid Energy. Rage Liquid Energy is now available nationally at 7-Eleven Canada.
XS Energy. XS Energy recently launched a 12 oz. version of its flagship Cranberry-Grape flavor as well as injecting itself into the fast-growing 2 oz. energy shot category.
Hansen Natural Corp. Hansen has signed a contract with the Coca-Cola Company in October to distribute Monster Energy Drinks through the Coke distribution system.
PepsiCo. In the last year, PepsiCo's Amp Energy added a Green Tea flavor, a Black Tea flavor, Lightning (a lemonade flavor), and Tradin' Paint, a limited time orange, lime and berry flavor promoted with help from NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Red Bull GMBH. Following the debut of Red Bull Energy Shot, Red Bull introduced taller, slimmer 16 oz. cans that echo the proportions of the brand's original 8.3 oz. can.
Rockstar. Rockstar in February ended its relationship with distributor Coca-Cola Enterprises in favor of signing a distribution agreement with PepsiCo. The agreement puts Rockstar in PepsiCo's three largest distributors: Pepsi Bottling Group, PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Ventures.
Wet Planet Beverages. Jolt Energy Drink secured placement at AM/PM and Circle K locations following the July, 2008 introduction of its 16 oz., resealable cap-can.
AriZona Beverages. AriZona Beverages has been sampling its 16 oz. All City NRG as well as Caution Energy and Low-Carb Caution Energy (in both 8.3 and 16 oz. sizes). The products were present at the Hollywood Reporter Lounge during the Sundance Film Festival, Project Pintura International Graffiti Conference in Orlando, Fla., and Nice Collective & GenArt Time Machine-Men's and Women's Fall 2009 collection at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York during fashion week.
Hobarama, LLC. High-caffeine soda BAWLS Guarana has won new partnerships with several chains including Jewel-Osco, Fred Meyer and Wilson Farms. The new alliances spotlight the brand's most popular flavors – BAWLS Guarana and BAWLS G33K B33R, named BevNET's "Best Energy Drink" of 2008..BEVERAGESPECTRUM.MAY–JUNE.09BrandDollar SalesChange vs. year earlierRed Bull$360,666,4000.4%Monster Energy$144,877,7009.7%Rockstar$92,056,340-6.0%Amp$31,806,6502.3%Doubleshot$23,934,36075,689,836.4%Java Monster$23,241,03086.4%Monster XXL$18,588,05010.3%Full Throttle$18,444,840-26.1%NOS$13,754,02064.1%Amp Overdrive$13,562,18016.5%Rockstar Juiced $9,900,636 -24.4%Private Label $9,830,481 4.4%SoBe No Fear $9,657,705 -54.0%Full Throttle Blue Demon $8,703,029 -29.2%AMP Sugar Free $8,456,112 215.0%Monster Khaos $7,759,453 -4.8%Rockstar Roasted $7,287,461 217.0%AMP Relaunch $6,929,738 594.8Venom $6,231,678 20,905.4%Monster $5,426,874 32.3% AMP Elevate $5,281,485 512.6% SoBe Adrenaline Rush $5,117,730 -59.3%AMP Traction $4,976,640 507.1%Monster M80 $4,927,069 101.0%Monster Assault $4,853,301 -14.1%Rockstar Punched $4,490,790 173.3%Glaceau Vitamin Energy $3,700,667 25.3%Jolt $3,465,486 13.8%Full Throttle Fury $2,719,689 -52.7%Go Girl $2,527,852 12.2%
Dollar Sales
Change vs. year earlier
Red Bull
Monster Energy
Java Monster
Monster XXL
Full Throttle
Amp Overdrive
Rockstar Juiced
Private Label
SoBe No Fear
Full Throttle Blue Demon
AMP Sugar Free
Monster Khaos
Rockstar Roasted
AMP Relaunch
AMP Elevate
SoBe Adrenaline Rush
AMP Traction
Monster M80
Monster Assault
Rockstar Punched
Glaceau Vitamin Energy
Full Throttle Fury
Go Girl
12.2%SOURCE: Information Resources Inc. Total food/drug/mass excluding Wal-Mart. 52 Weeks through 5/17/09


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A Gen Xer on the Future of FinTech
I'm not a millennial…let's get that out of the way quickly.
Matter of fact, I turned 41 this morning and take a multivitamin so I'm definitely not a millennial.
I think I also pulled a hammie last week.
While taking my vitamin.
But, I give a sh*t about millennials and financial services because I have been a young banking professional who had to learn everything financial himself. Who had to learn to balance a $19k annual salary with bills, who had to move back home for a time after college graduation, who had student loan debt, who hated the time requirements of getting financially educated on my already time-limited life.
And all the while I was trying to fall in love (check), get married (check), buy a home (check), get pets (check, check, and check), and have kids (check, check, and check).
While I was doing all of this growing up, I was also growing up in the financial services industry.
I started as a copywriter for accounts like Capital One and BB&T, then managed a creative department whose sole focus was to understand what makes people change banks and get these consumers to select our clients, to finally ending up in sales where I sold holistic million dollar customer acquisition strategies that covered everything from how to design your checking account menu so there's something easy to sell for every demographic, to front-line sales training, to direct marketing that gave away free gifts with every checking account.
Despite my success during that time "getting ahead," it felt like a celebration of horsesh*t (feel free to tweet this) as we were also optimizing our bank clients' overdraft fees and back office tactics like posting high to low and our clients were "killin it" when it came to optimizing fee income.
How did we sleep at night you may ask?
On piles of money like this:
But I did have a conscience.
And that lead to a question.
Where does the consumer go for great information about getting ahead when it seems as if the very system meant to support them (banking) was in many ways against them?
The easy answer was financial literacy. But who wants that?
We all want the outcomes but without the work. My problem with literacy is that it's slow and painful and that it knowingly or unknowingly propagates a system that doesn't give a sh*t about the customer.
Well I give a sh*t. I give many sh*ts! And we're too far a long technologically and with smart phone adoption to rely on the systems of the past.
If you need to do 10 hours of work to get ahead, you won't always do it. I doubt many others would either.
But I'm the anomaly as I did do many hours of research on all of this to get ahead. This is the book I read when we bought our first home:
Seriously…I read that sh*t.
Seriously, who the hell does that? Only a crazy person. But I'm crazy like that, I guess.
But I also know that people aren't geared like me.
And we also have less time now than every before. So asking someone to read that book, or take a class, come to the bank, or sit though a seminar to get financially educated is a bad system. But it keeps the status quo.
What we should be asking ourselves as an industry of FinTech, is where is the tech that gets the average user 90% of the benefit with only 10% of the effort? If the smartest banker is in your pocket (your phone), then why do today's banking apps merely help to deposit checks and transfer funds?
Where is my consultative financial best friend app for life's most important decisions?
When I was 21, I waited tables in a steakhouse. I know, I'm cool like that. At the time, the management's philosophy on hiring young college-aged waiters and waitresses was to "only hire someone you'd date." But it wasn't as politely worded as that. As a result, the staff was fun and sexy and, ultimately, temporary.
After I graduated and moved away to Atlanta for a year and then moved back to my parents' basement for 5 months – don't judge – I worked two jobs to get that fixed ASAP! One of the jobs was at that same steakhouse. Only something big had changed.
The staff was of all ages this time – 21 to 58ish – and was friendly and encouraging and supportive as never before. There were many career waiter and waitresses there. It was odd after having last remembered it as a swanky sexy server steakhouse (feel free to tweet that).
What changed? The new management's philosophy had been implemented. The hiring philosophy now was "only hire someone if you'd let them wait on your parents."
In this new environment, I learned what it's truly like to serve someone. To kneel at the table, to upsell, to craft a unique dining experience that a customer would never forget. To fold your leftovers like a tiny tinfoil steer or duck.
Today's FinTech is mostly sexy and fun and, ultimately, temporary. We're seeing a contraction now as there's a bigger gap in Series A to B financing and sh*t is getting harder. Sexy doesn't like hard.
But a real career FinTech-er doesn't sweat that. They are in it for the long haul. They know the cyclical nature of our industry and have ridden an up and down or two. They know whom they serve and how to serve them. They do it for a living.
For. A. Living.
It's what happens when you focus on the promise of what financial services could be instead of just the products that make up a bank.
So, this Gen Xer wants to know: who do you serve in FinTech and how do you serve them?
You have to know this to create meaningful value and change in our industry.
"FinTech" is half financial service and half technology, It isn't one without the other. Those who marry the two and who are creating blue ocean opportunities will serve the future of FinTech (#FutureFinTech) for generations.
Those who won't will die alone…at a steakhouse (feel free to tweet that).
Four months ago the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a new interactive tool to help consumers understand the mortgage rate disparity in any given market.
Here's what it looks like conceptually and in real life usage on my iPhone:
This tool prompted a lot of backlash among mortgage originators about how this doesn't account for the complexity of different loan types and how the tool can actually mislead the public.
But let's look at the problem the CFPB is trying to solve: 47% of homebuyers don't compare rates1.
If that's the problem, then I believe the tool does a great job of showing the user that there isn't parity within any market. The end result of using the tool, the user should understand that seeking multiple loan bids will save them money.
When we first walked down the path to forming Hip Pocket, we took a similar approach. We asked anyone in the Lincoln, Nebraska market to tell us where their current mortgage stood (rate, amount, home value, and remaining term) and we'd show them where they stood vs. their peers. We'd also then shop the market for them if they wanted and show them their best options as well as the disparity within the market.
Here's a bit about what that looked like:
With only two out of 17 banks and credit unions in our market offering a 3.5% mortgage at the time, a shopper's chances of finding both of the lowest APR loans with just two phone calls or online inquiries was 1.38%.
Now this isn't a race to the bottom on price within banking! That could be done but I'd advocate for bankers and credit union executives to consider this a wide open race to the top.
At the top is the ability to create and promote transparency in the marketplace so your customers and prospects can see that they can trust you to look after their financial well-being. When you do this, Gallup shows that you will win more engagement, confidence, accounts, and longer tenure2.
Competing on "relationships" is another way of saying that you don't have the tools, rates, and products to compete out in the open. Eventually the CPFB or other entities (read here or here) will force transparency to the forefront.
Only one bank or credit union can choose to lead this effort in any given market. I'd rather be the leader in transparency instead of lumped into the group of "followers" when this happens.
And it will happen. Soon. We're actually betting on it!
If your bank or credit union is leading the transparency evolution in your market, please let us know with a comment!
Innovation Needs Insights Not Just Ideas
I've had the privilege of being on the inside of a many corporate product development initiatives.
My biggest regret is that they didn't have code names like Operation Condor or Operation Honeydew.
My second biggest regret is that we did several of them all wrong by starting with an idea or a company/bank-first perspective. What I mean by that is that we were attempting to answer questions like these:
- "How can we optimize profit per checking account?"
- "How can we redesign our product offerings to make more money?"
- "How can we cross-sell more products to our current customer base?"
"How can we differentiate our industry or product offerings to diversify and lower risk?"
- "What should our project code name be? Is Condor taken?"
These questions lead to brainstorming for potential ideas/solutions to the problems. Our problems. In several cases they lead to profitable solutions but they never lead to large insights that could scale and create large profits. Your cash cow is meant to have cash calves.
If I had to do all of these meetings over again I would have shifted the focus onto the end customer and look for pain points we could solve. I would look for insights into their problems. Insights.
We don't do this enough if at all in the financial services industry and it's the reason that tech firms from outside our industry (@Simple for example) have entered into the foray. They believed bank customers hate banking. The customers hate the technology and the service. They asked questions and sought insights into those problems and identified opportunity if they could provide solutions.
See the difference?
Insights into customer problems = sellable solutions.
Ideas to solve our problems = potential solutions that then need to be sold.
Just over a year ago I moved my focus from working toward ideas to working toward insights. It was at this time that I became curious as to why more bank customers don't get better rates on their mortgages and auto loans.
In looking at the market and bank data, I saw a wide discrepancy in those who were getting the best rates and those who were at the bottom. Here's an example I presented last week from a market in Nebraska:
I knew this rate discrepancy wasn't due to FICO or other credit worthy issues because I could see directly into the customer files.
So, was this discrepancy due to a lack of information, poor emotional decision making, apathy, or something else? The only way to find out was to "get out of the building" and interview people.
After hundreds of qualitative and quantitative interviews, I found the consumer insights that now power the technology behind my patent-pending software company, Hip Pocket.
More importantly, the early client results are providing validation that we're solving a real problem and not just supplying another idea. The bank gets to solve a real problem around context and confidence for the customer and position it for what it is: a consultative conversation to save the customer/prospect money.
I for one am very excited to hear from Krista Berlincourt of @Simple present a keynote at the ABA Bank Marketing Conference in Orlando next week. I want to learn from those outside our industry, to broaden my perspective, to hear their insights, and to ultimately implement the same insight-generating processes into my company, Hip Pocket.
I hope to see many of you there!
Don't Wait for a Seat at the Table. Make a New Table!
In May of 2009, the sales manager at my employer sat me down and said, "I'm thinking about letting you go, Mark."
My first thought looked something like this:
Then, after I visualized leaping across the desk and slapping him, I asked, "Why is that?"
His response, which I will reveal in full at the American Bankers Association Marketing & Retail Conference in September, was along the lines of me disobeying his directive to not better myself.
Well, at least that's what I heard.
I was 34 years old at the time and had been in our industry for more than five years. I started as a copywriter before being promoted to creative manager and then been asked to move into selling strategic marketing initiatives. Selling under the watchful eye of this new manager.
My past promotions had come quickly and in large part because my previous manager was very good and because I couldn't stop asking questions about why we did things the way we did. Many times I was given very insightful and interesting answers to these questions that furthered my understanding of customer acquisition and customer profitability. Other times I wasn't given a good reason. It was in these times that I flourished.
"Was there a better way?" I'd ask myself or others. My good manager gave me freedom to explore the answers.
I eventually became the second youngest and second quickest promoted VP in the company's history. And then I ran into someone who didn't like questions. He probably didn't like puppies either. Or Christmas. Or puppies as Christmas gifts. He probably kicked them even.
This person – who will remain nameless unless you buy me a beer – wanted things to stay the same. He wanted to sell like he did in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Only this was 2009, a year after the greatest recession most of us had seen in our lifetimes.
Sh*t was broken. Ignoring broken sh*t won't make it less broken. (Tweet that gem, I dare you!).
It became clear that this son of a bitc gun wasn't going to make a seat at the table for me. This was his table. A table for one.
So I did what I knew I had to do. I built and set my own table. I bought the groceries. I cooked the dinner. I served the meal. I bussed the table. I…let this metaphor get away from me.
What I did was ask questions. I tried new stuff without permission. I begged for forgiveness when needed. Sometimes I hid in the toilet to get away from this manager.
Thankfully, I also discovered the power of LinkedIn at this same time.
LinkedIn gave me connection and insight into our industry's best and brightest minds. It was there where I reached out and connected to Ron Shevlin, Jim Marous, Jeffry Pilcher, JP Nichols, and others. I did this so I could learn from them. So I could eventually join them as a thought leader in our industry.
LinkedIn allowed me to advertise webinars when I didn't have any content designed. When people signed up, I designed the presentation.
LinkedIn and my blog gave me a platform to give away good information, not canned marketing solutions.
And it worked! I made sales, including the largest one the company had in 18 months.
I was on a roll.
It was then that I made my biggest strategic bet: I tried to better myself by doing something on my own time and on my own dime. When my "manager" found out, he told me, "I'm thinking about letting you go, Mark."
So what did I do?
Please join me and Dan Swift from LinkedIn at our Keynote address at the American Bankers Association Marketing & Retail Conference on Sept 7-9 to find out.
Minor spoiler alert: He was a real asshole. How big of an asshole? Find out in Orlando! 🙂
Four Takeaways from the First Ever Financial Brand Forum
April 2nd marked the first ever conference from The Financial Brand. It was an intense and energy filled two days in Las Vegas, and I'm now able to decompress and process what I learned and the insights I will take forward.
1. One of the first things I did at Thursday morning's opening event was engage in one of the many physical interactive posters that were placed throughout the vendor area. These posters asked questions of the attendees and asked them to write – not text or tweet – their answers on the poster. Who does Analog anymore? The Financial Brand does…and there in lay an interesting thought for me. In a conference that would be filled shortly by a kickass opening video from CU Grow, why ask participants to go old school analog?
That thought lead me to refrain from live tweeting any of the event or the nightly activities – I'm too old to engage in anything too incriminating – so this was indeed a conscious choice. What was the end result? I did feel as if my own internal processing of each event and the Forum as a whole went deeper. I wasn't looking for tweets, I was looking for linking ideas to build a larger, more in-depth picture of the content. I believe I found some very new insights into some ideas that were challenging me and my clients so will mark this as a win!
Takeaway: Digital is the future but it's meant to complement the best parts of old-school thought and engagement, not as a 100% replacement.
2. My favorite session of the entire conference was from Lani Hayward of Umpqua Bank. Her presentation on "Building the Umpqua Brand Experience" provided a great glimpse inside how Umpqua has grown, differentiated itself, and become the gold standard for brand within our industry.
My biggest takeaway was their internal barometer when it comes to going the extra mile and piloting new ideas. Innovation has to be an inside out movement within an organization for it to really settle into the DNA of the organization and it's true with Umpqua.
What is your bank doing to try new ideas? Are we too afraid of failure to be innovative at our banks and credit unions? I rarely see financial institutions green lighting things that are bold enough to make participants giddy and excited. What's your threshold for moving forward? A ironclad ROI guarantee? If so, you're not trying hard enough.
Takeaway: There's a huge chasm between Umpqua and most FIs…what's your first step to fill that void because you need to move now! Whenever I take on a large challenge, I just take it Bird by Bird!
3. I heard at least one conference participant say that the ideas presented at the conference weren't revolutionary. That's true for most conferences. The success of each participant will always reside solely on their and their FIs ability to EXECUTE the ideas shared within the sessions!
Takeaway: I took away a lot of great ideas from the conference – some new iterations on things I've heard, and a few new ideas or at least new lens from which to look – but they are all fluff without execution. What can you do today to start executing? I've already moved to distillation and now implementation on at least one idea…are you ahead of or behind me?
4. Finally, what I noticed the most about the Forum was how palpable the energy was in the first night and full day. Jeffry Pilcher and the team at TheFinancialBrand.com have done an amazing job of building their brand over the last few years and for delivering fantastic content.
The Forum was the first time most readers were able to physically experience the brand and to meet Jeffry. I won't say that the guy is a rock star but in watching people crowd around him at the first night's reception, it was clear that this brand carried weight.
Takeaway: Do FIs ever do a good job of creating pent up demand and excitement for a product or service? I've only seen a very few examples from ING Canada or other countries where a campaign was deployed over time to build excitement. Are we just that boring as an industry or will be ever be able to create excitement around something? The first step will be creating something that has the potential to delight and excite our customers.
So those are my takeaways from the conference. If you have some to add, I'd love to hear about them!


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I have tried but failed to do the following requirement. Any input from you folks will be helpful.
Requirement: there is a windows app1 in C++, i need to use .net create a console app (app2) that disables a button (b1) in app1 and adds another button (b2)to app1. The b2 button then does some verification from the form details in app1 and then enables b1.
Also I am not allowed to make any code changes in app1
my problems:
- how to disable a button of a different app.
- how to add a button to a different app.
- how to pass various textbox values from app1 to app2.


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We start with an initial meeting and free consultation at our offices or by phone.'
Search results
TopBorn is a digital agency that works strategically and expertly to strengthen the company's digital presence. The Internet is becoming an increasingly important location for companies that want to increase their earnings and our services are sought strenuously by customers all over Europe. So far we have helped thousands to extend their benefits online and will gladly help you as a company in Carrickfergus with your presence online or with sharp graphic design that will help you grow.
With smart communications, professional graphic identity and design, and user-friendly solutions, we can facilitate and streamline your presence. With proper optimization, functional systems and user-friendly graphic design, we get you in Carrickfergus to appear to your customers in the right way and in the right channel and context. Let us know and we'll show you what the Internet might mean for you by having the right management.
We start with an initial meeting and free consultation at our offices or by phone.'
Together we analyze how your situation looks today regarding your current solution.
We then go on to focus on your needs and presents you with a new approach.


text:
By Steve Keating
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Reuters) - Peyton Manning confirmed his Hall of Fame credentials with another record-breaking season but his standing among the truly great quarterbacks remains uncertain after his Denver Broncos suffered a humiliating 43-8 Super Bowl loss on Sunday.
After collecting his fifth National Football League most valuable player award on Saturday, Manning's place in the Canton, Ohio shrine is assured but the heavy loss against the Seattle Seahawks has left a cloud over his legacy.
With one Super Bowl win in three attempts, his historical impact will be left for others to debate in the coming years but on Sunday, the only thing on Manning's mind was where it all went wrong.
"I think we played a great football team," the 37-year-old Manning told reporters. "We needed to play really well in order to win and we didn't come anywhere close to that.
"We weren't sharp offensively from the get go."
It was hardly a Hall of Fame worthy first quarter for Manning, who watched the opening snap sail over his head for a safety to put Denver in an early hole.
Manning, who tossed for a record 5,477 yards during the regular season, completed just two passes for five yards and an interception that the Seahawks turned into a touchdown and a 15-0 first quarter lead.
"The turnover on the first play of the game to give them a safety is not the way you want to start a game," Manning added. "For whatever reason, we couldn't get much going after that.
"Give Seattle credit, they are an excellent football team and they caused a lot of our mistakes.
"At the same time we just didn't play well."
The Denver offense managed just 11 net yards in a miserable opening quarter but the misfiring continued into the second when Manning was picked off by Seattle's Malcolm Smith, who returned the ball for a 69-yard touchdown.
The half ended with the highest scoring offense of all-time held scoreless by Seattle's top ranked defense and in a shocking 22-0 hole.
The situation soon went from grave to terminal when Percy Harvin returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, handing Manning an insurmountable 29-0 mountain to climb.
Manning tried, going to the air and completing 34-of-49 pass attempts for 280 yards, but it was not nearly enough to erase the deficit.
"We got behind early and never could make a run to catch up," he said. "We knew they were an excellent defense. They executed better than we did.
"Certainly to finish this way is very disappointing. It is not an easy pill to swallow, but eventually you have to."
Thirteen times Manning has taken teams to the playoffs but he has hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy just the once, a championship less than little brother Eli, who has twice led the New York Giants to NFL titles.
Two seasons on from missing a year due to neck surgeries, Manning produced a campaign for the ages, setting single season marks for touchdown passes (55) as well as yards.
With the Broncos tipped as Super Bowl favorites right from the start of season, Manning had been under mounting pressure to prove he can also get the job done when it counts and turn his record-smashing campaign into another Super Bowl title.
Manning continued to rewrite the record book at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, setting a Super Bowl record with 34 completions, but a second ring once again slipped through his fingers as Seattle's ferocious defense left the Broncos quarterback under pressure and flustered.
"He's disappointed like all of us but he had a tremendous year," Denver head coach John Fox added. "I told him he had a great season, a record-breaking season and he just came up a little short tonight."
(Editing by John O'Brien)


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Tom Bristow
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- firstname.lastname@example.com
- @TomSBristow
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Heather Elise necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 79 diseños de 11 diseñadores freelance.
Heather Elise Photography
I am 30 years old, shooting weddings now for 6 years and love love LOOOOVE my job!!! Born and raised in SD I am a beach girl and often in the water; I where hip flip flops to my weddings as half the time I am shooting in the sand or at the beach. I LOVE photographing people, making them laugh, getting them comfortable with me. This is an awesomely rewarding career that I fell into; feel infinitely LUCKY to have it. I have gotten by with no logo for 6 years and I am ready to really get this biz movin and shakin with a clean hip design by YOU!
I am targeting the new bride and groom - 20somethings, 30somethings. Not super high end but about average priced weddings.
Turquoise! Must have turquoise with hints of other blues if you desire. My favorite color is orange however, so maybe just a little hint of orange somewhere within the design.
I do not like calligraphy or cursive text or block or traditional text. However, if you need to make the H or the E in my name cursive like to make it kind of squirrely and fun -go for it! I really like and prefer segoe text or something of that variation. I do kind of like the the ever popular squirrely kind of design that is happening these days, maybe waves or water could somehow be interpretted here? My name can be capitalized OR not but must be written out...heather elise photography.
Do not include any wedding images such as brides dress, tux, rings, tiara, etc...
Play, have fun with it! I am an artist and will appreciate your take!!! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOU EFFORTS!!!
check out my website at http://www.heatherelisephotography.com
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text: I am sorry if this is a relatively dumb question, but I was wondering if there is a way to store a SketchUp file (.skp) in a PostGIS database? I was thinking about as a blob, but I wasn't sure if anyone has had success with this. The record would be a point location. Right now I am doing a file path link to the file on the directory, but I was hoping there was a way to store the file in the database. I would like to use this for data storage, but also as a means to retreive and view the data as well.


text:
IT Inventory
|Contact IT Inventory
The goal of IT Inventory is to coordinate on-time delivery of laptops, desktops, and computer equipment to faculty, staff, and students. This is accomplished by cultivating solid relationships with every department within Liberty University so that all IT Marketplace orders are processed efficiently. In addition, IT Inventory prides itself on its ability to listen to the needs of students, individuals, and those in the outside community who are interested in purchasing surplus computer products.
Services provided by Inventory


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Ben Meadows:
- Quantity
- Price
- 1+
- $29.95
- 25+
- $26.50
- Description
- Specifications
- Reviews
Offers superior resistance to chemical permeation by PCBs and other hazardous solvents. Made of white DuPont Saranex™ Tyvek™, a film of Saran resin sandwiched between two layers of polyethylene. Provides a good protective barrier from liquids of many kinds, an effective, reliable shield against heavy sprays and wet conditions. The hooded coveralls feature a respirator fit and have elastic wrists and ankles. Bound seams. White. DuPont is a leader in developing materials that act as highly effective barriers against hazards. Apparel made of DuPont Tyvek® material combine the best qualities of film, woven fabric, and paper. DuPont Tyvek® is a tough, lightweight fabric that has outstanding tensile and tear strength, is equally strong (wet or dry) and is treated with a topical antistatic agent to minimize static build-up. • DuPont Tyvek® resists water penetration, is nonabsorbent, and offers you excellent splash protection. • DuPont Tyvek® performs well in all types of hostile work environments. • DuPont Tyvek® is 100% polyethylene and is chemically and biologically inert. Its physical properties are virtually unaffected by most organic and inorganic chemicals including acids, bases, and salts. DuPont Tyvek™ garments of spunbonded olefin are disposable, eliminating costly decontamination procedures. • DuPont Tyvek® garments provide an effective barrier against skin exposure during mixing, loading or spraying agricultural chemicals (the most common cause of worker poisoning). • DuPont Tyvek® garments provide highly effective protection against fibers, such as Asbestos, or particle contaminants down to sub-micron size. • DuPont Tyvek® clothing can be used in contamination controlled environments (cleanrooms). The high-density polyethylene contains no additives to flake off and cause contamination. In addition to the above applications, DuPont Tyvek® protective clothing can be used while sandblasting, painting or spraying, or processing food. Selecting The Best Fit All DuPont Tyvek® ProtectiveWear® apparel complies with the latest ANSI sizing standards. In keeping with our quality requirements, DuPont Tyvek® ProtectiveWear® is also required to pass dynamic fit tests that match it against demanding critical stretches common in industrial work. As a result of this up-to-date garment sizing and fit-testing, the DuPont Tyvek® ProtectiveWear® garment design can reduce rips and tears. Workers will also appreciate a fit that is consistent from garment to garment. An offering of styles and a range of sizes from medium through 4X large accommodate both men and women in a variety of jobs and environments. All garments meet the latest ANSI sizing standards and are designed with ample room so they can be worn over street clothes. Tyvek® and Tychem® are DuPont registered trademarks.
We encourage our customers to let us know what experiences they have had with our products, whether good or bad. By submitting a review, you can share your experiences with others and also provide valuable feedback to us as well. With just a few simple steps, you can add your review of this product.
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Log in to My Spektrum Get easy, online access to your Spektrum™ software updates, product registration and personalized settings.
My Spektrum
07/16/2010 by Gary Katzer
Copyright:© 2010 Horizon Hobby, Inc.
Whether you're running an off-road car or truck, boat or any RC vehicle, you're going to need to recharge a battery from time to time. With the range of chargers that are out there it can be a hard job figuring out what charger is right for you. Enter the Dynamite Vision series of chargers into the mix. These three chargers, the Vision LED, the Vision LCD and the Vision Ultra, will provide you with a quality charge each and every time without being overly complicated.
These new Vision chargers combine an easy-to-use charging device and an overall compact design to be great chargers you'd love to have in your pit box. Featuring AC/DC operation, banana plugs for the charge leads, four-button operation and more these chargers are a great revamp of the Vision lineup. We had a chance to spend some quality bench time with each of these chargers recently to see how well they perform.
Technical Specs
Manufacturer: Dynamite
Part Number(s):
Vision LED (DYN4069)
Vision LCD (DYN4068)
Vision Ultra (DYN4067)
Product Type:
AC/DC Ni-MH/Ni-Cd Battery Chargers (LED/LCD)
AC/DC Ni-MH/Ni-Cd/Li-Po/Li-Fe/LiIon/Pb Charger (Ultra)
Target Audience: Backyard bashers and casual enthusiasts looking for a quality peak detection charger
What's In the Box
All three Vision chargers come out of the box in the exact same fashion. Each feature a small footprint that will be welcome on any workbench, hard-wired AC and DC power cords sprouting from the rear of the cases, two buttons on the face of the Vision LED, four buttons on the face for operation on the Vision LCD and Vision Ultra and banana jacks on the face of the chargers for the charge lead outputs. Speaking of charge leads each Vision charger includes a charge lead that features a Tamiya-style charge connector that will be compatible with a vast majority of entry-level and RTR vehicles. Overall these chargers are very clean, simple and easy-to use right from the box.
Box-To-Bench Setup
Getting the Vision LED, Vision LCD and Vision Ultra chargers up and running was incredibly easy. All I had to do was plug each charger in, connect the charge leads, set my cell count on the Vision LED, select the charge rate on all three chargers and I was ready to go. I'd say, in total, getting these chargers going took less than five minutes each. It doesn't get much easier than this.
The one thing I couldn't get over with these chargers was just how nice and easy they were to get up and rolling, how little space they took up on my bench and how quiet they were while charging. That, to me, is one of the nicest updates to the Vision line - the nearly silent operation thanks to the redesigned fan unit. I don't always have the ability to charge on my workbench and sometimes charge on my desk to be able to monitor a battery's charge status while I work on something else. The nearly silent operation means I don't need to disturb others around me while they work. Granted, my situation is somewhat unique but it also really exemplifies the difference.
Let's be honest here, a charger that's not easy-to-use and intuitive can be more of a hindrance than a help. Thankfully all three Vision chargers are really quite easy to use which is especially appreciated since a majority of these will probably wind up in the hands of less-experienced RC-ers. Even the top-of-the-line Vision Ultra was a snap to get used to and operate.
Setting up the Vision LED couldn't have been much easier. It literally took me less than a minute to get everything set up to be able to charge my 6-cell, 1800mAh Dynamite Speedpack test battery. I tapped the Mode key until I had selected a 6-cell battery. Once that was done, I held down the Mode key until it changed to the proper charge rate, and for this pack I selected 3-amps. From here I plugged in the charge leads, connected the battery and charging was underway.
The Vision LCD was a little more time intensive to set up, not because it was more difficult but simply because you have more options. The first thing I did was to set the charge rate which is adjustable at .5-amp increments. As I was using another 1800mAh Speedpack, once again I set the charge rate to 3-amps, just as on the LED. Once the battery was connected, I hit the start button and the Vision LCD was on its way. The blue backlight made the display very easy to read and interpret.
The one thing I cannot say strongly enough is how nice the display on the Vision Ultra is. From the size of the font, the blue backlight which is even sharper than the LCD's (something I thought was almost impossible) and just the sheer amount of info that's on the screen, it's pretty awesome for a charger at this price. The Vision Ultra can store up to 10 charging profiles that you can scroll through and customize, based on your particular charging needs. Once you have a profile selected and have chosen your charge rate and chemical type, you can start charging. During the charge process the Vision Ultra will display the charge rate, chemical type, charge time, cell voltage and the mAH put into the pack. For a 2-line display, there's a ton of awesome info there for you to monitor what's going on with your battery.
As I mentioned above, I used a Dynamite 1800mAh Speedpack with both the Vision LED and Vision LCD. I was really surprised at how fast each of these chargers was able to charge these battery packs. Sure, they're not a super-high-zoot-high-capacity pack which will shorten the charge time—that's a given. Other chargers at a similar price of the Vision LCD and Vision LED, however, occasionally stop charging during a charge cycle to measure and monitor the battery's voltage and capacity. This sounds simplistic but if your charger's not charging for part of the time it's only natural that it will take longer to get to a complete charge. Both the LED and LCD, along with the Ultra, monitor the battery voltage and capacity on-the-fly which will reduce the overall charge time of your batteries. If it seems complicated don't worry. In the end all it means is that your batteries will charge faster and you'll have less down-time between runs.
For the Vision Ultra I decided to test it with both Ni-MH packs and Li-Po packs. After all what's the point of having a LiPo-compatible charger if you're not going to have it charge a Li-Po or three? I was able to quickly and easily change from one profile to another and back again when changing batteries on the Ultra. Now I want to be serious for just a moment here…you need to always make sure you are charging with the right chemical type selected. If you are using a Ni-MH pack always charge in Ni-MH mode. The same thing goes for Li-Po, Lead Acid or any other cell type. Selecting any other type could have some really nasty consequences, including possibly starting a fire. Ok, enough Mr. Serious.
I charged up a few different Li-Po packs with the Vision Ultra that I ran in my Pro Boat Formula FASTech and my HPI Blitz. The main thing I was interested in was how the packs would perform after being charged on the Vision Ultra versus my Passport Ultra. Now one main difference between those two chargers was the fact that the Vision Ultra doesn't have an integrated balancer like the Passport Ultra does. In the end I couldn't tell much of a difference, if any, in the charge quality between the two. I did hook the packs up to my external balancer after I had a few cycles on them with the Vision Ultra. I'm happy to say that the Vision Ultra did a very good job of not only charging my Li-Pos, but maintaining them too.
Final Thoughts
The Dynamite Vision chargers have received a well-deserved update and the changes aren't just cosmetic. From the Dynamite Vision LED, to the Vision LCD and the top-of-the-line Vision Ultra each charger provides a fast, quality charge without batting an eye or being overly complicated to use. If there's any take-away from this review, it should be that a quality charger doesn't need to be overly complicated to do a good job.
I spent a good amount of time tinkering with each of these new chargers on my bench and I am very pleased with their overall performance. I really think these are the perfect chargers for anyone looking to upgrade from a timer charger, wall charger or a charger included with an RTR to their first peak detection charger. The AC/DC operation makes it easy to charge anytime, anywhere. Beyond that these chargers work well enough that you won't be rushing to replace them anytime soon. There are still a ton of people using Ni-Cd and Ni-MH packs out there and those people will need to charge those packs. For those looking for an inexpensive AC/DC Li-Po charger, then look no further than the Vision Ultra for your charging solutions. At the end of the day the most important question to ask of a battery charger is if it will charge your batteries. These Vision chargers absolutely will without taking you to the poorhouse.


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The Sunnyvale infant whose father is charged with kidnapping him and fleeing to Mexico — triggering an Amber Alert — was to be reunited with his mother Thursday, officials said.
The mother of 2-week-old Henry Guler-Romero headed to Arizona to rejoin her son after the two-day ordeal ended with the child being found safe in Mexico, Santa Clara County District Attorney media coordinator Sean Webby said.
Meanwhile prosecutors filed felony kidnapping and child abduction charges, though no arraignment has been scheduled because Mesut Guler, 22, is not yet back in California.
He was taken into custody Wednesday around 8 p.m. by Pima County sheriff's deputies in Arizona, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a news release Thursday morning.
Mexican authorities found the infant and his father at a checkpoint south of the Sonoran town of Sonoyta and then alerted American authorities. The child was unharmed, Sunnyvale police said Wednesday.
The hunt began late Tuesday when the child's mother reported him missing to Sunnyvale police. She had not seen the baby since that afternoon, when his father allegedly took him and threatened to leave the state, police said. Police say Guler has made previous threats to harm himself and Henry.
Contact Joshua Melvin at 650-348-4335. Follow him at Twitter.com/melvinreport.


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Have you been working with compression? Have you inherited a database that may or may not have some tables compressed? On occasion you may want to know what the compression type being used on a table is. There is a really easy way to figure that out.
This is also helpful for those of us who may have known this before, but had difficulty finding where they filed the information.
In SQL Server there is an object catalog view that can help you find just the information you seek. The name of the view is sys.partitions. To find the compression information is rather simple as well. If you read the MSDN info about this view, you can quickly determine some easy queries to document the compression settings in your database.
One such possibility is (for instance to simply find tables that are compressed):
[codesyntax lang="tsql"]
select * from sys.partitions
where data_compression <> 0
And a little more informative might look something like this:
[codesyntax lang="tsql"]
Select OBJECT_NAME(object_id) as ObjName
,data_compression_desc as CompressionType
From sys.partitions
Where OBJECTPROPERTY(object_id,'ismsshipped') = 0
As you can see from that last query, I am limiting the results to User Created Objects. This is just a quick code snippet to reference in case you need it. Maybe, at a later date, I will venture into some pros and cons of compression as well as the types of compression available for the data in SQL Server.


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13ft circus tents
Atlantictrampolines Circus Tents offer the solution to be able to use your trampoline regardless of the weather conditions. Our new Circus Tents fits over the existing net poles retaining the safety element of the enclosure netting. It give the trampoline a circus tent look and it also acts as a cover to the jumping surface providing you with a clean and safe environment. It does not reduce the bounce area or restrict the height, This also means there's no more of having to take the netting and poles on and off to attach a tent. The tents are showerproof and UV resistant and are covered by a 12 month warranty against faults or defects.
The Trampoline Circus Tent takes approximately 10 minutes to erect. They could also use the trampoline as a den area to play and have fun in or use it as a tent for sleepovers.
The Circus tent needs a safety enclosure to attach to and will not work as a stand alone product. This purchase is for the Atlantictrampolines Circus Tent only and does not include trampoline, enclosure or other items shown and this product is only suitable for 13ft trampolines with 8 upright net poles.
This is designed to be used with enclosures that feature the bobble top cap so If you are in doubt to whether the Atlantictrampolines Circus Tent will fit your trampoline please call the Trampo-line on 0800 032 5879
This item is not designed to be used in high winds, please follow the instructions and remove if high winds are forecast.
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13ft Trampoline Tent (NB does not include trampoline)
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We offer FREE next working day delivery(Mon-Fri) on orders recieved by midday to the mainland UK for most of our products and a paid trampoline installation service is available for customers within 20 miles of our Pembroke Dock warehouse. We are unable to give a designated time of delivery and deliveries can be anytime between 8am and 6pm.


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VANCOUVER — It is a given that the first wave of ridicule in the wake of Friday's news that the New York Islanders had placed Rick DiPietro on waivers would wash over the hapless 31-year-old goaltender, no doubt inflicting a torn knee ligament, assuming they haven't all been removed and sent to the Smithsonian.
But if there's a God, the second, bigger wave — a tsunami, if possible — and every wave after it should knock Mike Milbury clean off his bully pulpit at the NBC Sports Network, and then capsize the dinghy which Islanders owner Charles Wang and general manager Garth Snow have been rowing around in circles together for nigh on seven funny/sad hockey seasons.
Each time DiPietro's name comes up, now and forever more, The Three Stooges — one former, two current — of a once-storied franchise, now bound for Brooklyn, deserve all the scorn there is.
DiPietro? He is, if you think about it a little, the victim here. An extraordinarily well-paid one, it is true, with eight more years after this one left on the 15-year contract the Islanders handed him in September 2006, at $4.5 million per season, but a victim nonetheless.
You've heard of no-trade, no-movement clauses? This one had a no-win clause. The dollars alone, let alone the length of the deal, guaranteed that the star-crossed goaltender would fail. And so he has.
Not without a lot of comedy between 2006 and Friday, mind you. Not without a scarcely believable list of abject physical miseries both minor and major, including the rare facial injuries/knee injury double DiPietro sustained when Pittsburgh's backup goalie Brent Johnson one-punched his lights out in an ill-advised goalie fight in 2011.
That would be either the high point or the low point, depending on your comedic sensibility.
But who among us would turn down $67.5 million from an employer who had more money than hockey sense? Even if, in our heart of hearts, we knew we weren't worth it and never would be, which of us would say: "No, Charles, you are making a mistake. Five years is plenty."
As it turned out, even five years would have been about three too many. DiPietro has appeared in just 50 of the Islanders' last 345 games, dating back to the start of the 2008-09 season.
The club's decision to cut its losses at long last means that, though DiPietro will get all the money still owed to him, the Islanders will incur only a $1.5-million annual cap hit ... for 16 years after this one. That's thanks to the compliance/amnesty buyout provision built into the new collective bargaining agreement.
It gets the Isles off the salary cap hook more lightly than they deserve.
To trace it to its genesis, the Rick DiPietro lunacy really began on draft day 2000, when Milbury, then the Isles' GM, ignored the advice of saner hockey men and spent the No. 1 overall pick on a goalie he did not need — because of course, three years earlier he had used the No. 4 overall selection, at the time the earliest pick ever for a goalie, to get Roberto Luongo.
• PHOTOS: NHL first-round draft busts
Never mind, Milbury said. You'll see. That same day, he traded Luongo, and Olli Jokinen, to Florida for (wait for it) ... Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.
As an aside, one year later, on draft day (or Daft Day, as it became known on the Island), Milbury sent Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt and the second overall pick, with which the Senators took Jason Spezza, to Ottawa for Alexei Yashin, then re-signed Yashin to a 10-year, $87.5-million contract.
Remember this, the next time a GM makes an unwise trade, and Milbury is asked on the NHL Tonight panel for his expert opinion on it between periods.
Mad Mike now exited the Islander narrative, however, and Wang, after hiring former Rangers GM Neil Smith, fired him 41 days later and gave the job to Snow — previously famous for wearing the biggest set of shoulder pads in goaltending history — the same day the goalie announced his retirement.
Two months later, Wang signed DiPietro, who had one NHL playoff win on his resume at the time, and has one more since, to his 15-year deal. The hockey world issued a collective WTH. (Heck, if you were wondering.)
"It means the owner is a moron," an unnamed NHL executive told Scott Burnside at ESPN.
Snow, new as he was to the job, somehow escaped credit for the DiPietro signing, for which Sports Illustrated named him the 2006-07 NHL executive of the year. It couldn't have been because the Islanders finished eighth and lost to Buffalo in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
In five seasons with Florida, meanwhile, Luongo never played a playoff game — and getting away from the Island was still a career upgrade.
So now, the Islanders will eat $3.6 million to play DiPietro (or not play him) with Bridgeport in the AHL, while Kevin Poulin is called up to the big team where Evgeni Nabokov holds down the No. 1 spot. Tim Thomas is nominally also on the roster, though in reality he is in seclusion with his Tea Party survivalist guide, destined to have the last laugh when the bleeding-heart liberal Obama administration brings on the Apocalypse.
Friday, 33 years to the day after Team USA celebrated its Miracle On Ice at Lake Placid, a guy who once looked like the heir-apparent to American-born goaltending heroes like Frank Brimsek and Jack McCarten, Jim Craig and Mike Richter is instead cast upon the scrap-heap by a franchise so down-at-heels, its constituents didn't even put up much of a fight to keep it from moving to Brooklyn.
Via the PuckDaddy hockey blog's Greg Wyshynski, here was the signature punchline to the day's developments, courtesy of @NotBenE: "How long before Charles Wang sees that DiPietro is on waivers and tries to claim him?"
It's a sad story all around, for more than just Rick DiPietro.


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The YU Sephardic Community Program (SCP) was established in 1964 for the purpose of assisting Sephardic and Near Eastern communities in establishing a strong and vital presence in North America. Today these communities are growing by leaps and bounds and are in dire need of proper resources that will help them to develop the communal and organizational infrastructure that will keep their communities spiritually thriving for generations.
The SCP was co-founded by Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky and Hakham Solomon Gaon A'H with the vision of having YU's community service division play a vital role in nurturing those communities by assisting them to build properly run synagogues and educational institutions. Today, more than 50 years later, their vision has yielded tremendous results and won the respect and admiration of Jewish religious and lay leaders and of countless Sephardim throughout North America. Currently, the SCP still benefits from the leadership of Dr. Dobrinsky. Among his many duties at YU, he still serves as special consultant to the SCP and is integrally involved in its day to day operations.
The Sephardim in the Americas
The SCP was developed at a time when the demographic makeup of the Sephardim in America comprised largely Jews of Spanish-Portuguese and Balkan ancestry. Today, these early Sephardim have been joined by many new groups of Jews from the Middle East who have established formidable communities in America with the help, guidance and services offered by YU's Sephardic Community Program. These Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jewish communities hail from countries all over the world, including Morocco and other North African nations, Syria and other nations of the Levant, Iran (especially Mashhad), Afghanistan, Bukhara, Iraq, and Yemen, to name a few. Indeed, today Yeshiva University's SCP represents a vast array of Sephardic communities that join under one umbrella as a united Jewish religious and cultural force.


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The main reason we can't accept frozen food containers in our program is they are have more types of plastic coatings than the shelf stable and refrigerated cartons. Cartons are coated with a layer of Polyethylene. Frozen food containers can have various types of coatings and because of the variation they can cause problems when trying to separate the fiber (paper) layer from the coating layers. Paper mills can't separate out these embedded plastic layers from the paper fiber, resulting in problems when they try to pulp the fiber into new paper.


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KIEV, Ukraine, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- With deadly protests paralyzing Kiev, Ukraine's president sacked the head of his armed forces Wednesday and announced a truce deal with opposition leaders.
With the death toll from two days of demonstrations reaching 26, the BBC reported President Viktor Yanukovych posted a statement on his official website saying the two sides had agreed to "negotiations" while trying to stabilize "the situation in the state in the interests of social peace."
The network said no reason was given for the firing of Col. Gen. Volodymyr Zamana, who was replaced by Adm. Yuriy Ilyin, the leader of Ukraine's navy, in a presidential decree.
The BBC said the agreement to halt the violence came after Yanukovych met with opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Vitali Klitschko and Oleh Tyahnybok. Details of the truce or how it would be put into effect were not disclosed.
"The storming of the Maidan [Independence Square] which the authorities had planned today will not take place," Yatsenyuk said in a statement on the website of his Fatherland party.
"A truce has been declared. The main thing is to protect human life."
Vitali Klitschko's Udar Party said negotiations with the government would resume Thursday.
The Voice of Russia reported a tally by Kiev paramedics and medical facilities showed that in addition to those killed at least 351 people were injured in clashes in the city center.
Also Wednesday, President Barack Obama said the United States holds the Ukrainian government "primarily responsible" for dealing properly with peaceful protesters.
Hours after the White House said the United States would coordinate with the European Union on a response to the violence in Ukraine that has some reports said injured more than 1,000, Obama said in Toluca, Mexico, the United States condemns the violence "in the strongest terms" and is "deeply engaged with our European partners as well as the Ukrainian government and the opposition to try to ensure that that violence ends."
"But we hold the Ukrainian government primarily responsible for making sure that it is dealing with peaceful protesters in an appropriate way, that the Ukrainian people are able to assemble and speak freely about their interests without fear of repression," the president told reporters during an appearance with Mexican President Enrique Pena-Nieto. "And I want to be very clear as we work through these next several days in Ukraine that we're going to be watching closely and we expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with peaceful protesters."
Obama added, "We've also said we expect peaceful protesters to remain peaceful and we'll be monitoring very closely the situation, recognizing that with our European partners and the international community there will be consequences if people step over the line."
Obama said the Ukrainian military should not "step into what should be a set of issues that can be resolved by civilians."
As Yanukovych and the opposition blamed each other for the violence in Kiev, French President Francois Hollande and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for "rapid and targeted European sanctions against those leaders responsible for these acts," the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
Other European leaders echoed similar sentiments.
"We have made it clear we would consider taking action against individuals who are responsible for acts of violence within Ukraine," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama traveled to Mexico for the North American Leaders Summit. "We have a toolkit for doing that that includes sanctions."
Rhodes said it would "figure into our calculus" if the Ukrainian government releases prisoners and negotiates with the opposition.
"The leaders of the opposition have disregarded the principle of democracy, which says we obtain power through elections and not on the street," Yanukovych said in an earlier nationally televised address.
Anti-government protesters behind burning barricades threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at raiding police officers in Independence Square Tuesday night.
Protesters torched the headquarters of the ruling Party of Regions and the opposition's headquarters, the Trade Unions House, also was on fire, CNN reported.
At least 10 police officers and a journalist were among the people killed in the violence, the Kyiv Post reported.
Helmeted protesters had hurled rocks, fireworks, broken pieces of paving stones and Molotov cocktails to fight back against riot squads firing stun grenades, water cannons, rubber bullets and, based on medical reports, live ammunition, witnesses said.
The protesters "crossed the limits by calling for people to take up arms," Yanukovych said.
"It is a flagrant violation of the law and those who are responsible will face justice."
Klitschko urged protesters to protect their Independence Square encampment from police, calling it "an island of freedom and we will defend it."
Acting Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov said the protesters "are bringing shame" on the country.
The journalist, who died Wednesday, was shot Tuesday night after a group of masked people stopped a taxi in which he was a passenger, a statement by his newspaper, Ukrainian Vesti, said. The group threw Molotov cocktails and beat other passengers in the taxi, the newspaper reported.
The Kyiv Post reported the Security Service of Ukraine indicated a criminal case has been launched into an attempted coup by several politicians.
The violence followed what seemed like a breakthrough in the months-long anti-government protests, after Yanukovych changed his mind about signing political and trade agreements with the European Union in favor of agreements with Russia in November.
The government said it would drop charges against people arrested during the political unrest. Lawmakers had said they would consider amending the constitution concerning presidential powers.
Protesters pulled back from holding Kiev's City Hall for three months but when the speaker of Parliament refused to allow amendments that would limit the president's powers angry people filled the streets, CNN reported.
The government's prosecutor general accused the opposition of breaking "the truce," opening the door for the police crackdown.
Police said the unrest had spread to western Ukraine, with reports of clashes and attacks on government offices in a number of areas, CNN said.
Ukrainian ally Russia said Washington was meddling in Ukrainian affairs by trying to tell "the authorities of a sovereign state what they should do next and how they should do it," an article in Russia's state-run RIA Novosti said.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights issued a statement Wednesday noting that "preventing further instability and bloodshed is a paramount priority."
The violence came after Moscow announced it was restoring a financial lifeline to Yanukovych's government by buying $2 billion in Ukrainian government bonds.
Yanukovych earlier had pledged not to use force to disperse the protesters.


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At least one-third of America – 25 million people – made their way to Chicago 120 years ago. What they found were astounding and amusing signs of progress in their young nation.
Many rode the world's first Ferris wheel (250 feet tall), heard music later known as ragtime and saw thousands of light bulbs brighten the night over 630 acres. It was an electrifying experience, literally, but this was just a part of what made the trip amazing.
The Columbian Exposition of 1893, about 400 years after the New World arrival of Christopher Columbus, gave average people an opportunity to make a few discoveries of their own.
For the first time, they could look a lion in the eye, size up dinosaur bones, examine exotic minerals and ancient fossils. This is where Cracker Jack, Juicy Fruit, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Aunt Jemina pancakes and shredded wheat were introduced.
"Opening the Vaults; Wonders of the 1893 World's Fair," a new exhibit at The Field Museum, shares 100-plus fair artifacts that the public has rarely or never seen since then.
They put into context the average person's world, America's eagerness to feel superior and Chicago's comeback from the fire that had devastated the city only 22 years earlier.
The Field Museum exists because of artifacts that survived the fair: Peruvian mummies, Zulu war shields, Javanese theatrical masks, Pacific Island drums, Gamelan musical instruments and myriad other introductions to the world beyond America.
Add now-odd apparel: a lace shawl made from tree bark, skirts from coconut fibers and pine needles, a loofah sponge hat. New gadgets – bed warmers, radiators, hot plates, fans – were introduced as home improvement devices. All were part of the 65,000 exhibits at the World's Fair.
The event was one part American showmanship and one part exotic culture. Curators acknowledge that displays and demonstrations from foreign nations were made to portray these countries as less advanced. Poor work conditions prompted some invited international groups to quit participating, then set up multicultural demonstrations outside of the fairgrounds.
The World's Fair cost $46 million to build ($1.2 billion in today's dollars) and earned Chicago a nickname: the White City, because of the many stucco buildings constructed for exhibits. The sight of it all reportedly inspired author Frank Baum to create the Emerald City in his "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" book.
Only one 1893 World's Fair building survives. It is today's Museum of Science and Industry, which was moved to its present lakefront location in 1921, after fires and neglect destroyed other fairgrounds property.
Another compelling, albeit darker, new Field Museum exhibit is "State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda," in place until Feb. 2.
Film clips, photos, posters and other artifacts explain how the Nazi Party in four years went from being a minor to leading player in German politics. Economic hardship and political instability were pivotal factors.
What began as a grassroots movement mushroomed through the tailoring of messages to address voters' fears, hopes and practical needs during the Great Depression. Political spin and strategy included easy-listening music, a celebrity treatment of Hitler and widespread distribution of Mein Kampf (even as a government gift to newlyweds). Hitler's background in visual arts boosted this effort.
The World's Fair exhibit stays in place until Sept. 7, 2014, at The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Christmas; special exhibits require a timed-ticket entry. fieldmuseum.org, 312-922-9410
Admission to all exhibits is $30 ($21 for ages 3-11 years, $25 for students and ages 65 or older). Basic admission, which does not include the World's Fair or other special exhibits, is $15 ($10 for kids, $12 for students/seniors).
Enrich an in-person visit by downloading the museum's free app, for customized virtual tours and a behind-the scenes look at the research and people who make the exhibits possible. You'll find the app at Google Play and the iTunes Store.
Visiting Chicago before year's end, maybe for the Packer-Bear game on Dec. 29 at Soldier Field? Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Bus Co. passes top city sites during the 2.5-hour, narrated Holiday Lights Tour.
Riders board near the Hancock Plaza tree, 875 N. Michigan Ave., and disembark twice, at Lincoln Park Zoo and the traditional, outdoor German holiday market on Daley Plaza.
The $29 ticket ($19 for children) includes hot chocolate and a brownie. chicagotrolley.com, 773-648-5000.


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Scott Pruett, starting up front, thinks this year's Rolex 24 has all the makings of a classic endurance race.
Times have changed. In a previous era of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the drama was usually relegated to the pits and garage, where winning and losing was often determined.
The winners often won simply because they didn't break down or wreck.
But over the years, the cars and all their moving mechanical parts have become so bulletproof, full-scale breakdowns have become rare. The sight of two cars on the lead lap in the 24th hour, once very rare, has become routine.
Expect more of the same from the 51st edition of this Saturday-Sunday endurance spectacle. In fact, Scott Pruett, whose four Rolex victories suggest he knows about such things, has predicted an "epic" race.
"Short of contact, we can run these cars really hard," he said. "We've shown over the last three years that from the drop of the green flag, we can run a very aggressive sprint pace. You just have to be very careful not to get caught up in traffic or get into somebody else's mistake.
"Over the years, the cars have been developed enough -- brakes, gearbox, engine -- where they are meant to go thousands of miles. I think this will be an epic race. Coming down to the checkered flag, it's truly going to be epic."
The Rolex 24 will get the green flag at 3:30 Saturday. Leading the way will be a pair of Daytona Prototypes belonging to Chip Ganassi Racing. Pruett is in the pole-winning No. 01 entry (127.455 mph). Scott Dixon, who earned the outside pole position (127.337) in the No. 02 car during Thursday's time trials, will be to Pruett's right when the cars pull off the grid.
There are 17 Daytona Prototypes highlighting the 57-car field. Barring mass mechanical issues or on-track mayhem, Sunday's overall winner will come from that 17-car division, while the GT and GX classes will battle among themselves for class championships in this unique three-races-within-a-race event.
If you can't make it to the track, check back often at www.news-journalonline.com/nascar for updates from the big weekend of racing.


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Keith Urban has added 17 dates to his Light the Fuse tour 2013, beginning with an Oct. 18 stop in Omaha, Neb. Urban's tour will also feature Little Big Town and "Cowboys and Angels" singer Dustin Lynch .
Urban will perform new music on the tour, and he expects to have a new project available in the spring, according to the tour announcement. Tickets for the tour go on sale on April 5.
The first leg of the Light the Fuse Tour begins July 18 in Cincinnati. Newly added stops include Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver.
Here is a full list of tour dates:
July 18: Cincinnati
July 19: Twin Lakes, Wis.
July 20: Monticello, Iowa
July 25: Charlotte, N.C.
July 26: Raleigh, N.C.
July 27: Atlanta
Aug. 4: Detroit
Aug. 8: Columbia, Md.
Aug. 9: Canandaigua, N.Y.
Aug. 10: Boston
Aug. 15: Austin, Texas
Aug. 16: Houston
Aug. 17: Dallas
Aug. 22: Birmingham, Ala.
Aug. 23: St. Louis
Aug. 24: Indianapolis
Aug. 28: Albuquerque, N.M.
Aug. 30: Denver, Colo. [Dustin Lynch not on this date]
Sept. 12: Cleveland
Sept. 13: Pittsburgh
Sept. 14: Camden, N.J.
Sept. 21: Mountain View, Calif.
Sept. 22: Sacramento, Calif.
Sept. 27: Los Angeles
Sept. 28: San Diego
Sept. 29: Phoenix
Oct. 4: Tampa, Fla.
Oct. 5: West Palm Beach, Fla.
Oct. 18: Omaha, Neb.
Oct. 19: Oklahoma City
Oct. 20: Springfield, Mo.
Oct. 25: Tulsa, Okla.
Oct. 26: Bossier City, La.
Oct. 27: Lafayette, La.
Nov. 8: Kansas City, Mo.
Nov. 9: Des Moines, Iowa
Nov. 10: Peoria, Ill.
Nov. 14: Manchester, N.H.
Nov. 15-16: Uncasville, Conn.
Nov. 22: State College, Pa.
Nov. 24: Toledo, Ohio
Dec. 6: Greenville, S.C.
Dec. 7: Charleston, W.Va.
Dec. 8: Louisville, Ky.