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Today Yanik Chauvin from Image-Y shares how he uses EV Compensation.
I've been using the EV (Exposure Value) button on my camera more than any of the other buttons so I thought I would share with you why and when I use it. Remember that I shoot with a Nikon so shutter speed and aperture are controlled with the front and back wheels not buttons ;). But before I get into that, let me briefly explain to you WHAT the EV button is and what it does.
To put it simply, the EV button allows your to quickly underexpose (darken) or overexpose (brighten) your image. How it works is pretty simple. When you're taking a photo, the camera's job is to adjust itself by changing the shutter speed and/or apperture to properly expose your shot so that it's not too bright or too dark. Some cameras do this better than others but that's another story. 😉 When you play with the EV button, what you're doing is telling the camera to either brighten or darken the photo from the optimal exposure it perceives.
You can use the EV button in P (programed auto), S or Tv (shutter priority) or A (aperture priority) modes.
In P mode, the camera will adjust the EV by changing the shutter speed and/or the apperture. In S/Tv mode, since you set the shutter speed manually, it will adjust the aperture to compensate. In A mode, the camera will change the shutter speed since you manually control the apperture.
NB: You cannot use the EV button to under or overexpose your photo in M (manual) mode since you control both the shutter speed and aperture manually.
Let's look at an example together. The 1st shot is without EV compensation, in other words how the camera sees proper exposure. I shot in Aperture Priority so my aperture stays the same so I'll only note (for curiosity's sake) the shutter speed changes that the camera selected. This shot is at 1/640 sec.
Using the EV button I selected +1 EV and got this shot at 1/320 sec.
At +2 EV the shutter speed was at 1/160 sec.
I then underexposed my shot by -1 EV and this is the result. The shutter speed went to 1/1250 sec.
At -2 EV the shutter speed was at 1/2500 sec.
So, as you can see, the camera adjusted the shutter speed to let in more or less light to fulfill my request.
You're probably thinking to yourself: "Great! Now I understand how to use the EV compensation button. Super! OK… when do I need to use this? You say you use it all the time? You don't think the camera is smart enough for you?" Alright then. Let's talk about when to use it. I can't go through all the situations but let me explain a few most common ones.
I had this issue with my Nikon D200. The camera seemed to overexpose by roughly 0.3 EV most of the time. So what I did to fix the problem was to set my EV at -0.3 and the problem was solved for general optimal exposures. Simple as that.
I often shoot birds and those suckers can move pretty fast sometimes and to freeze their movement I need as high a shutter speed as I can. And if their also far away and I'm at my full 400mm on my Nikkor 80-400mm VR I need speed to reduce or eliminate blur from camera shake. The first thing I do is go into A mode and set my aperture wide open (smallest number) to get the most light. Then I bring my EV down by roughly 0.7. I would rather have a crisp darker shot that I can easily recalibrate in post processing than having a properly exposed blurry shot. 🙂
When I shot the flower above my subject took most of the frame so the exposure was spot on. But sometimes your subject will be smaller, like a bird in a tree. Let's say you're shooting a bright yellow bird perched in a dark green tree and the bird only takes up 1/10th or less of the frame because you're too cheap to buy that Canon 800mm IS, The Sigma 800mm or that Nikkor 600mm ;), what your camera does is get a general metering of the frame and adjusts the EV accordingly (we could talk about camera metering controls but that's another article altogether!). What will happen is the your dark green tree will be properly exposed since it takes up most of the frame which means your little bird will be overexposed and therefore lose all it's detail. You'll have a little white spot where the bird is. Not exactly what we want. So with the flip of a button you then underexpose your shot by -1 EV and see if you get the details back. If it's still not enough bring it down lower until your bird is properly exposed. It's quick and easy. And of course you can apply this to a dark subject on a bright background to get details back by bringing up your EV.
Top photo is normally exposed. Bottom photo is exposed at -1.3 EV
So you're shooting this lovely landscape with a beautiful blue sky and poofy white clouds and you forgot your graduated ND filter. Shoot! Ah, but you do have your tripod so you set it up, frame your shot and take the 1st shot at normal exposure. Most of the time (depending on your composition) the land will be properly exposed and the blue sky turns white (overexposed). Darn! What to do? Underexpose your shot (by using the EV button of course) until your sky is nice and blue. Having used a tripod, my composition is the same so I can easily stitch the land and the sky together in Photoshop™ to make the perfectly exposed photo. Or use the HDR technique. Yes you can also do this by setting up your camera to bracket your exposure but that's way too long to do in the menus compared to just pressing a button and turning a dial. 🙂
So there you go! The mysteries of the EV compensation button are no more. 🙂
If you use the EV button in other situations, please post them here to share them with us.
I've always felt that setting the EV is a guessing game. I let my D600 setup the Preset white balance. I take one shot at a white or gray object and if the camera says its good, my exposures seem to be fine.
Here is the link to the manual of D7000 from the Nikon site where its mentioned Exposure Compensation (P,S,A and M Modes only). Is this a different kind of compensation? I am a bit confused. Please help...
http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/kie88335f7869dfuejdl=-cww2/D7000_EN.pdf ( page 107) top right corner.
I heard from a friend that Nikon has the option of controlling the EV in Manual Mode. He was told by a service center guy. Is that right? Does Nikon have the option? I use a Canon and i know I cannot use EV in manual mode. Waiting for your response eagerly,
if it works that way then how to keep the motion freesing or depth of feild same for all the frames, :/
i am starter so i have this comfusion in my mind :(
I just got my Canon 60D a week ago and I am stil trying to understand all of the dials and what works with what, so while looking at some pet photos in iPhoto that I just took, I noticed every single time there was this thing called "EV" that was aways at "0." I Googled it and this article came up, which is helpful. I noticed you mentioned using EV to adjust a blue sky back into a photo, but I read somewhere else that a UV filter will do that. I'm a complete newbie but aspiring to wrap my head around things and go professional some day, so I wanted to ask you: Is the EV adjustment for a blue sky doing something different than what the UV filter would do? Which would be more practical?
Wow. Thanks for that I understand much better now exactly what EV is. I have just bought a new Sony Camera and their guides are definitely not for idiots like me!!
You say EV does nothing much in M mode. Agreed it won't change the exposure as it does in S or A mode but it does adjust the balance point indicator on the camera display that indicates what the camera meter is suggesting is the correct exposure.
thanks so much for this information. i learned a whole lot from this. now i can tweak my camera without fear of creating an "ugly" photo. :-)
Thanks for such an informative writing. Infact i thought my simple Pentax Optio S7 has been damaged since for quite few months all the pictures shot were too bright. Even resetting and reinstalling firmware didnot help to resolve the issue. All other possible options of changing AF, sensitivity etc didnot work. Finally, underexposing EV resolved my problem, and i dont need to buy a new camera.
Thanks buddy once again
Thanks for the useful information. I have read/heard many other people talk about the exposure compensation button, but I like the fact that you give very practical, concrete examples of when and how to use it. It is the application part that so many people forget to explain.
Thanks so much for the EV primer. It was clear and with enough examples.
I'm looking forward to learning more from your website and just signed up.
jason rosenberg
Appreciate the article. If I'm understanding it correctly, it is indeed a workaround to avoid manual aperture/shutter adjustments -- aka, a crutch.
It would seem to me that this is another example of relying on a shortcut instead of learning the fundamentals of photography. Even on a digital camera, a solid understanding of aperture/depth of field and shutter speed is worth more than getting dependent on a button in manual mode. The reality is that if you're gonna be a serious photographer, you've got to be comfortable in manual mode -- believe me, you won't regret it. And shooting manual is as fast or faster than figuring out whether the automatic settings work, once you get the hang of it.
Thanks !
This was really helpful. Though i did know the EV and the use this article was very helpful in bringing out the ease of use it can get while using P, Av, Tv modes; which i have otherwise been missing using the Manual mode.
Also, sharing the situations where using EV adjustment is helpful made a lot of sense.
Thanks once again!
I absolutely LOVE this site and I cannot get enough of it.... Soooo helpful !!
I'll check it out. Thanks a lot! This is a doubt I've had for a long time and I finally get it.
federico: exactly right on both counts, yes.
If you're on full manual mode and look at the light meter, and it says one stop overexposed - that's exactly the same exposure value as if you were on aperture/shutter priority with +1 compensation.
If you're feeling ambitious, I'd recommend having a look at http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm - even if you don't absorb it well enough first time to practice the technique it describes, it should help you towards thinking in the right way.
Ok different jason, thanks. That was quite helpful. I guess then changing shutter speed or aperture will only change the exposure if I'm in full Manual mode, right?. And then I guess that when using full Manual you can't use exposure compensation.
Federico: changing the shutter speed (in shutter priority mode) or the aperture (in aperture priority mode) doesn't change the exposure at all. Each change you make, the camera makes the opposite change in the other control to compensate.
The best way to understand it is just to get your camera out, point it at differently lit things and look at what the camera's telling you.
Shoot some pictures in full manual - adjust both the shutter speed and aperture until the light meter is showing in the middle.
Remember what the automatic exposure modes (and the light meter in manual mode) are doing for you. If you take a picture without compensation the average brightness of your picture will be middle grey, whether you're taking a picture of a snowy field or a black night sky.
Just play and it'll become clear :-)
Well you cannot change your shutter speed when in Aperture priority mode, camera automatically sets this. In the A mode you can change the shutter speed by adjusting the EV compensation.
Thanks Jason, but I'm not quite sure that's what EV compensation does. I don't think it moves the optimal point, but it just messes with aperture or shutter speed to provide more or less light. Am I right?
Federico and Sami:
I'm no expert, but my understanding is this: your camera has a light meter and whether you are looking at it in manual or whether you are using one of the semi-automatic modes, the optimal point is the center of the meter. EV comp moves that middle to another point, like an offset.
So in a semi-automatic mode the camera sets the optimal exposure point higher or lower and will adjust the aperture or shutter to that point instead of to the original optimal point.
I don't know if in a manual mode if EV comp causes the meter to report differently or not.
I know! Anybody have any ideas about this?
I was thinking the same thing, I'm struggling to get my head around this too. Although I have been told Ev is very valuable for scenarios such as shooting a bride in a white dress / groom in black tux. Again why not just adjust the Aperture or Shutter Speed? I'm sure there is an explanation!
There is something I don't understand about Exposure Compensation. Perhaps this is silly but i don't exactly see the need for it. Ass Darren says, "In A mode, the camera will change the shutter speed since you manually control the apperture." or "In S/Tv mode, since you set the shutter speed manually, it will adjust the aperture to compensate"
So, if Exposure Compensation is essentially altering the aperture or the shutter speed, why not just do this yourself? If the scene is too bright, alter the exposure by playing around with shutter speed or aperture. Am I missing something?
I have a Pentax K20D and it has a button specifically for the auto-bracketing. Merely push the button, set your number of exposures (3 or 5), then set the steps. It's all done without having to access menus. Then one click of the shutter button and the camera takes 3 or 5 successive photos.
You've missed something quite fundamental from your list, I think - the main reason for biasing the exposure is when the image you want isn't mid-toned.
If you just think about what you're asking the camera to meter, remember that it's trying to render that as equivalent to a middle grey, and compensate accordingly - you don't have to remember so many special cases.
.... your camera has probably kicked you into the flash version of EV, also known as flash compensation.
Actually, there is one case where exposure value compensation worked with me in Manual (M) mode..
that was when i use a flash while shooting..
any explanations ?!!
Not THAT is a tip. I've never used the EV, but now I can see a lot of applications for it. Thanks
ev explained brilliantly. thank you ! even put a grin on my face, unlike most of the stuffy explainations on the web ! lets see if i can put this new found understanding in practice.
Thank you!!! An excellent and succinct overview to the use of EV compensation. The photo comparisons and heading of various times to use EV was a great lookover.
I LOVED this article! Thanks so much for explaining what the ev compensation is. I've always been interested in photography and since I was disabled in a car accident - my camera has become my lifeline. Taking pictures is just about the only thing I can do for "entertainment" soooo....long story short, I just got a new camera (not near as fancy as yours, lol) but it has many nice features that I had NO CLUE what they were and in the users manual it just says things like you can adjust your ev compensation by doing xyz.....but it didn't say why you'd want to or what ev compensation was. Thanks so much for writing an EASY to understand article that explains things in such a way that even the most inexperienced photographer can understand :-)
Does anyone know how to get the effect at the top? I know it could be done it post, but I'm talking about in camera. Thanks
I appreciate your good writeup on EV and those included pictures helpmake a point rather well.
These are good pointers. I'll have to practice this technique. The comments about being sure to put the camera back to normal mode are good pointers. I was using the bracketing on my D80 for some HDR shots and forgot to reset it for a while so only 1 in 3 shots were properly exposed. I can probably salvage most if I needed to but they were vacation shots that I was really just practicing with. now the time I left the ISO setting at 1600 for a day of shooting, that upset me as I got a lot of nicely composed noisy shots.
Great explanation of EV,as all camera meters arn't foolproof. Or you could try bracketing your shots. Thanks
Great post! I baffled by this when i tried to experiment w/ HDR. Thanks so much
How is setting the EV different from changing the ISO ?
This compensation is not electronical ? And in this case does not affects the pixels of your image, loosing quality ? I always had the feeling that my picture look more grainy after using the EV button ... Am I wrong ?
Great article! I dont remember where I read this, but a photographer suggested shooting with WB at cloudy and EV-3. I have been using this setting for some time on all my shots and my photos are very satuated and everything looks great. I usually have to only slightly tweek my shots in Photoshop. Thank you
I use the NikonD80 and after reading other replies over exposure seems to be a common problem. I also have to adjust the EV setting between -.3 and -1.0 to get the best picture balance. Hopefully camera manufactures will use these comments to help improve future camera designs.
Excellent article, one feature that I often use with my D80 is the hightlight feature. Using the hightlights will show if any of your image is clipped and you can adjust your speed, exposure,ISO or ev compensation to correct the shot . If you have overexposed in any mode you have lost that detail and no amount of photoshop will bring it back.
@DaveW -- Just to clear up: My Canon 40D does auto-ISO just fine, from 200 to 1600 ISO. (For anything from 100 ISO to 3200 ISO, you have to set it manually.)
thanks for the tutorial. One additional point: i turn on the blinkies, so i can know exactly what's getting blown out and then work back from there.
Oh, I totally agree with you... Actually, I thought the "overexposing" or "underexposing" was done by means of in-camera post-production, that's why I said it was useless when shooting in RAW, as you could do it better with your computer.
But, reading a tutorial from another blog, I realized that, in fact, when you use EV compensantion, the camera will change shutter speed or aperture to adjust the exposure.
Sorry about the confusion...
A quick response to Victor's comment: I don't agree that EV comp is not useful when you shoot RAW. Much as you can change the EV, as well as address clipping to some extent (particularly in CameraRAW 4 with fill and recovery tools), you are actually working with missing data if it is clipped at either end. The better the distribution of light that hits the sensor, the better result you can get by tweaking in software. I always try to get the best exposure I can in-camera, as this is obviously the best starting point for any other tweaks.
It is a similar point to people who don't believe that ND Grads are needed with digital (as you can blend exposures in Photoshop) - put two images side by side, one of which is taken by someone who knows how to use ND Grads, and you can tell the difference a mile off, because you get a much better histogram, and no missing data (those white lines that appear when you make changes in Photoshop). The same applies with EV.
I shot some action stuff recently - kite surfing. The conditions were changing too fast for M mode, so I shot Av. Using exposure compensation was great to get good skies, good beaches, and my subjects. This really applies for snow, as that seems to baffle all built-in meters!
Wedding dresses - they're another one, although with slower subjects, I find bracketing to be a better option (even in M mode).
Great article. Thanks.
That was terrific. Had my Canon S5 IS since Christmas, and didn't know about (or comprehend the value of) EV Compensation. One of the best written articles, because it was so easy to follow what you were talking about. Thanks a million.
Great article, thanks for offering the examples and explanations!
This is the type of article I really enjoy on DPS.
One thing that wasn't mentioned is how useful the HISTOGRAM is for determing if you need to use EV Compensation. I almost *always* look at the histogram after I take a photo to see if the majority of it is in the middle. If things tend to be on the low side then I tend to bump the exposure up. If things are on the high end, or if there's clipping (something at the very very left or right) I tend to adjust the exposure appropriately as well. The histogram is an EXTREMELY USEFUL tool to determine how to adjust your exposure. Some things can be done in software (Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture, etc) later, however, you risk saturating or adding grainyness to your picture. It's best to get the exposure right the first time. For more info on how to use the histogram, see the post: https://digital-photography-school.com/blog/understanding-histograms/#more-475
Thanks for the info! I have been using EV compensation at the ice rink --taking pictures of my son's hockey team.
Just a note about underexposing. Exposing to the right utilizes more of a digital sensors capabilities, so by underexposing one is losing detail that could be had farther to the right on the histogram. However, of course getting the shot slightly darker is better than a blurred one.
Yeah, good explanation and all, I just think you should have enphasized that EV compensation is worth it just when you're not shooting in RAW mode.
If you're in RAW, you can do the same later, and you'll still have the original photo if you want to make a exposure blend or something like that.
If you're shooting on manual mode, you're probably not worried about loosing some time trying to find the perfect ISO/APERTURE/SHUTTER-SPEED configuration, so I'd say it's not worth it using EV compensation as it seems for me we're loosing quality - in the sense you could have a better shot just adjusting ISO/APERTURE/SHUTTER-SPEED.
But, anyway, I agree that for the quick/jpg/S-A-or-P-mode shoot, it's worth it using EV compensation.
when using flash you often only want to use a little fill flash. If you set your aperture value and let the camera choose the shutter speed and the flash power, you might end up with too much flash light on your subject.
To reduce the flash itensitiy, so that flash is barely visible but still lightens up the shadows (or causes a "catch light" in the eye of the subject, for example a bird), it's good to set the flash exposure compensation to -2 (or 1 1/3) and you will get an image where flash is almost not visible but still improves the image.
This is a good technique when shooting people, flowers or animals against the sun.
Also when using flash as the main light source, you can compensate for over or under exposure with that control similar to using the EV button when using not flash.
Thanks very much for you explanation.
I have a question tough. I Always wanted to know what the difference is between the EV button and the 'flash' button wich i can also use to over and under expose.
Could you explain the difference between those two functionallities? That's a bit unclear to me.
thanks so much for that very easy to read article. I was always shying away from reading about ev and exposures (even though they are probably the most basic reads) the numbers always did my head in, but this brought everything together and made total sense to me, I've always wondered how to capture the sky with a quicker shutter speed, in av mode without a filter - quick and easy!
Thank you for the very useful information - I can't wait to get started on practicing EV compensation. Even though I still don't fully understand manual mode, I'm getting closer & closer with articles like this - and of course practice!
Thanks again & God Bless
Love Amanda
Thanks this explanation. I've just got my first dSLR and have been learning how to take advantage of this and KNOW what I am doing.
Thanks for this!
If I'm shooting in A or S I typically run -.7 EV on my D50.
Otherwise I just set the -.7 to -1 manually in M mode.
It would also be interesting to read about what that pesky exposure value is. Surely, we can google it easily, but it's an article on EV compensation, so why not explain what's that EV itself? :)
To a certain extent, a lower exposure will result in higher saturation in colours. Even if a shot is slightly overexposed the colours start to look washed out. I'll often shoot EV -0.3 during daylight to gain that extra bit of colour.
One of the biggest roles for EV compensation for those of us in northern climates is photos of snow... really bright backgrounds (which includes snow, and would include beaches in warmer climes) fool most camera meters into underexposing... resulting in grey snow. Turning the EV up a little corrects the problem.
EV compensation and flash compensation are different. EV compensation will compensate with your shutter speed and aperture. Flash compensation will brighten/darken the flash. You can usually set them independently.
One nice advantage of shooting in RAW (if available) is you can do all the EV adjustments after the fact in your camera's software. You can try any exposure level to see which looks best without changing your original photo. You also don't end up with ruined photos this way from forgetting to change EV back after playing it.
Bo: Flash compensation is similar. With flash compensation, you're deciding to adjust the amount of flash so that more or less is used compared to what the camera thinks is appropriate.
Great explanation on the EV Compensation feature. I used to manually do that on my K1000 years ago by pushing and pulling the shot a bit. Is this the same as Auto Exposure Bracketing feature?
Great advice, thanks! One note though, when in (Nikon) manual mode, EV compensation has the same effect as A, P or S/Tv modes. EV compensation is an adjustment to the camera's meter. We use the meter in manual mode to determine the correct exposure, so a "correct" exposure using EV comp will be either less or more exposed depending on the setting. Most folks who shoot manual will adjust the shutter or aperture to change the exposure. Even so, I use -.7 EV in manual mode because my camera's light meter is off by that much. I then adjust for the scene from that baseline.
When you say that you can't use EV compensation in manual, that isn't quite right, and the facility can be very useful in this situation (but only on Nikons). If you are in manual mode, with a desired aperture and shutter speed set (on a recent Nikon - auto-ISO isn't available on Canon), and you have auto-ISO activated, then the ISO speed will change to give you the best exposure, even though shutter and aperture are fixed. If you use EV compensation, then the appropriate ISO chosen by the camera will be changed to reflect the EV requested.
I tend to do this for most of my sky snaps especially on bright days to bring out the blues.
Good article and I like the way photo comparisons were made.
Great explanation. I've been meaning to do some tests with this, and it seems much easier than having to switch to Manual and recreate the base exposure settings before making adjustments. I may start using this a bit more when I'm in Av.
Curious, is exposure compensation the same as flash compensation?
I use the EV Compensation with my D300. I find that most of the images taken with the D300 tend to be slightly under exposed, so I keep my EV set at +.3 or +.7 to help offset this expsure issue.
The only suggestion I would make is if you are doing a shoot specific EV Compensation, please get into the habit of resetting the EVE Compensation when you are done with the shoot. I had a friend who shot a whole wedding at +1.7 because he forgot to change the EV back after another shoot. Needless to say you could hear the screams a mile away when he went to upload the images!
don't forget to set it back to normal after your done with the changed EV...forgot that a few times and had some good shots that were way too dark
Thanks! I needed this article and you did a great job explaining EV. This was the one area that was really very much a mystery to me.
Good pointers, I mainly use it stop the sky from overexposing.
Thanks for this explanation, it was very helpful to me. My question is - what is the advantage of doing this over just using manual mode and adjusting the exposure time there?
I am guessing that this is a very under utilized function for some people with DSLR's......glad you're bringing it out in the open!
I actually used this feature this weekend while shooting a show - I underexposed by almost a full stop the entire time, the better to catch the action. It helps that my Canon has a tendency to overexpose anyway, but even so, it's much easier to go back and fix exposure in post. If you miss the shot and it's blurry, there's no fix for that.


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2010 wasn't quite as good as 2009 for this blog's annual end-of-year predictions, but it wasn't too bad, either. Here's a wrap-up of the results, followed by a new batch of prognostications, sure to demonstrate the principle of "regression to the mean"...
- The US economy will grow only modestly in 2010, and unemployment will remain high. Consequently, the stock market will end the year down slightly. The Fed will continue its highly expansionary (short-term) interest rate policy, but the combination of easy money and profligate government spending will spur fear of possible inflation risks down the road, forcing up longer-term rates and thus impeding economic growth. On the other hand, the US dollar will recover somewhat, and gold and other commodities will fall in tandem, as Europe and Japan continue to suffer from an even worse case of America's economic malaise. This will help dampen short-term inflation. Real Estate will, after a brief pause, continue its decline.
Right on the big picture, but off on most of the details. The economy was indeed nearly stagnant through 2010--so much so, in fact, that fears of a double-dip kept even long-term interest rates low, impeded the dollar's recovery, and sustained the gold bubble. The low long-term bond yield also sparked a stock market rally in the fall that carried the indices back above their January levels. (On the other hand, I called the real estate market pretty accurately.)
- The Iranian regime will not fall in 2010. In fact, it will begin a massive crackdown not only on oppostion leaders and groups, but also (as previously predicted) on insufficiently hardline elements among the government and clerical elite itself. As the repression gradually succeeds in quelling mass protests, Western attention to internal events there will subside.
- In Iran's vicinity, conditions will continue to deteriorate slowly (with the Iranian regime's help, of course). The already-unpopular war in Afghanistan will grind on without anything like the dramatic progress achieved in Iraq in 2008. Pakistan will continue to totter on the edge of collapse, without actually collapsing. And sectarian violence in Iraq will increase, although again not enough to jeopardize the government. Elections there will proceed more or less normally, with the usual chaotic, not-entirely-conclusive results.
Pretty much spot-on, I'd say. I've added supporting links above from 2010 news reports.
- The Israeli government will fairly soon make a deal with Hamas to free hundreds of Hamas terrorists in exchange for the return of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. The deal will powerfully energize terrorist groups in the West Bank, who will respond with a surge of terrorist violence and disturbingly effective subversion of the new American-trained Palestinian Authority security forces. However, Israel will step in firmly to fill the gap left by the suddenly floundering locals, and will harshly suppress the violence. This show of resolve by the Israeli government will dampen the usual global hysterics--American and European official condemnations being predicated largely on Israel's past meekness in the face of international bombast--and American and European relations with Israel will actually strengthen in the aftermath.
- The Obama administration will hobble through 2010 weakened and flailing. Health care legislation, if it passes at all, will be watered down still further from the already-perfunctory Senate version, after the bill's big losers (Medicare beneficiaries, "Cadillac plan" customers, and most doctors) band together and start exerting serious political pressure. The administration will turn its attention to the economy, but sluggish growth and stubbornly high unemployment will nevertheless persist throughout the year (see above). The president's foreign policy will appear similarly feckless, with the already-unpopular Afghan campaign dragging on inconclusively, the "engage America's enemies" strategy garnering nothing but contempt from the likes of Iran, and the Middle East conflict (unsurprisingly) continuing to resist resolution despite the administration's best efforts. The administration will also make major personnel changes to his inner circle at some point during the year, replacing one or more key advisors with establishment figures intended to add gravitas and centrist appeal. Needless to say, the shuffle will accomplish little.
- Exploiting the economy's weakness and the administration's poor approval ratings, the Republicans will launch a grand policy platform akin to the "Contract with America" that led to huge GOP electoral gains in 1994. Like the previous one, the new program will consist of broad, vague, impractical proposals that poll well but stand no chance of being implemented. Armed with this putative platform and buoyed by populist conservative outrage and disappointment-bred apathy among the liberal base, the Republicans will make large gains in both houses of Congress. They will, however, fail to take control of either one.
- There will be a cultural backlash against recession-driven frugal-mindedness, and stories about straitened times for the once-profligate will give way to 30s-style otherworldly depictions of ostentatious wealth and glamor.
Does this count?
And now for this year's predictions:
- The US economy will continue to recover in 2011, and unemployment will drop, although not sharply. Inflation will remain tame, and short-term interest rates will therefore be kept very low, although long-term interest rates will rise substantially. Real estate will decline slightly again. The dollar will strengthen, oil and other commodity prices will be stable, and gold will drop.
- At least one US state or large municipality, and at least one European country, will experience a Greek/Irish-style debt crisis, which it will manage to muddle through, Greek/Irish-style, with a combination of austerity measures and external bailout funds.
- The Afghan "surge" campaign will show signs of progress, but strong domestic opposition to it in the US will force an overall de-escalation of operations and/or a shortened time limit on deployment. The gradual American withdrawal from Iraq will continue, and internal instability there will again increase, although only modestly.
- Middle East peace negotiations will remain frozen. The Palestinian Authority will enact some kind of official declaration of independence or sovereignty, which will be nominally recognized by a bunch of countries around the world, but otherwise change nothing. Similarly, the UN tribunal will indict some Hezbollah officials for the murder of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. The move will be ignored in Lebanon, where Hezbollah's iron grip will continue unaffected. Both Hamas and Hezbollah will exercise relative restraint towards Israel, however, due to strengthened Israeli deterrence and Iranian government's preoccupation with consolidating its hold on power and shoring up its imploding internal economy.
- The Obama administration and Congressional Republicans will alternate between conciliation and confrontation over the year, co-operating on certain popular measures--possibly including deficit reduction and tax reform--while feuding bitterly over partisan ones, such as health care and the environment. GOP-run House hearings and proposed (but doomed) legislation will compete with symbolic executive and regulatory actions for partisan advantage through theatrics. Obama's approval ratings will improve to the low-50-percent range. On the Republican side, the 2012 presidential nomination race will by the end of the year produce neither a clear frontrunner nor a credible threat to Obama's re-election.
- Phenomena such as the Voca People and Mike Thompkins will lead a surge of popular interest in a cappella music.
If you disagree--or think you can do better--feel free to add a comment with your own predictions, and I'll review them along with mine next January...

subset: commoncrawl


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Mario Party: Island Tour's Features are More Fun with Friends
New details about Mario Party: Island Tour give us a preview of the kinds of multiplayer fun we can expect from the portable title.
Wednesday's Nintendo Direct gave us new information about Mario Party: Island Tour, the upcoming multiplayer game for the Nintendo 3DS. Are you looking to pick it up but are unsure whether or not your friends will do the same? Don't sweat it, since you'll be able to use the Download Play option to play a bunch of mini-games with your friends using only one game card. You'll be able to play through the 80 mini-games, all of which are designed with portable play in mind. Download Play also grants access to Free Play Mode, Hot Air Hijinks and other puzzles and extras.
As for the single-player portion of the game, players can jump into Bowser's Tower and take on a slew of mini-games as they ascend 30 floors of the huge structure. You'll have to defeat a boss every 5 floors, so get ready to play to win.
With Street Pass, you can play mini-games with up to 10 tagged players. Their mini-game data will be available for you to challenge the next time you load up the game.
Mario Party: Island Tour will be available for Nintendo 3DS on Nov. 22.


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It's just this blog, okay? Some of it is story. Some of it is animals. Some of it is knitting. It's a blog.
For story #1, I do recommend starting from the beginning of this blog if you haven't read this before. Please start at the beginning.
I did mean it to be for http://www.nanowrimo.org - but I never got quite got it done under the wire.
Jeannie is the author/main character.
Frank is her husband. Poor man.
Tony is musician/singer.
Angie is a teenager, who was Jeannie's best friend. Now currently dead.
Honestly, there is no connection between Jeannie and me and Frank and my husband.
Story #2
Frank and Ether. This will be much weirder than Frank and Jeannie. I like the name Frank. No one expects a Frank to lie.
Story #3
A desert story. Anna is the main character. Currently there is only her little brother and an old servant, and a mysterious redhead.
Story #4
The necro story. A young necromancer heads off to the Hated Ones to find her trousseau.
Story X
Reserving this for one-offs, poems, etc.
|Marriage is love.


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CBD Pet Treats In Phoenix
Be sure to have a pocket full of dog treats when teaching your dog how to sit, stay, heel, or perform other similar commands. Make sure that the dog will find the CBD Dog treats in Phoenix appetizing. Dried out, crummy, and bland CBD Pet treats will not make your dog want to train or whet his appetite and enthusiasm the same way a juicy piece of meat and sweet smelling cheese will.
Dog treats have become popular grocery items found in shelves of specialty stores, pet stores, discount, and food stores. From expensive treats claiming prime beef cuts to discounted bulk products, cbd dog treats have so many varieties, similar to human treats.
CBD Pet treats in Phoenix can be hard and chewy since they are supposed to clean the dog's teeth. Some dog treats are meant to aid in digestion and improve the internal health of the dog. Veterinarians have come up with varied dog treats incorporated with various medicines for heartworm prevention, antibiotics, and pain killers.
Some dog owners make their own special dog treats. Homemade dog treats are either made from sliced pieces of steak, small bits of cooked hamburger, chunks of cheese, balls of rice, or even their own special recipes. These can either be CBD Pet Treats In Phoenix. Some recipes even include molasses, wheat germ, and couscous. Owners should always check with a veterinarian before giving their pets these homemade treats. Remember never to give dogs chocolate not let them chew a chicken bone.
CBD Pet Treats can either be vegetarian or made with meat and dairy. These can range from homemade dog biscuit recipes, cheesy dog biscuits, bacon flavored CBD Dog Chews, multi grain dog biscuits, and microwave dog biscuits. Vegetarian treat recipes include vegetarian dog biscuits, vegan dog biscuit recipes, and doggie Christmas cookies.
CBD Pet Oil In Phoenix
Finding the exact cause of itchy dog skin is going to take time as you sort out and eliminate various causes. In the meantime your furry friend wants some relief. Fortunately there is an abundance of commercial products available but even better there are a number of remedies that use products you may already have in your kitchen.
For starters you can try to cure the itching from the inside out. Adding a tablespoon of olive oil to your dog's food will provide the omega-3 fatty acid that he needs to create the natural oil in his skin. Vitamin E is also essential to that process and you can get it in both capsule and liquid form.
For treating the area directly, there is nothing more soothing than tea oil. Mix this with water and put it in a clean empty spray bottle and spray directly on the area affected. It's cooling and relieves the itching almost immediately. The downside is that it wears off after about 8 hours.
Oatmeal is another great itch stopper. You can buy oatmeal shampoos but if you want to put a little work into it you can make your own. Take a cup of instant oatmeal (plain no fruit bits or artificial flavoring) and grind it into a fine powder in a coffee grinder. Mix that powder into a cup of water and stir. Fill the tub high enough so it will cover half the dog's body when he gets in. Work the oatmeal shampoo into his coat and let it stand for 20 minutes. Thoroughly rinse the pooch and pat dry with a towel. The oatmeal will take out the itch and actually calm the dog.
Once you have your dog's itchy skin under control, keep up a regular schedule of grooming. Combing the coat encourages the production and distribution of the dog's natural oils and provides protection from future bouts of itchy skin.
The bottom line is your poor puppy doesn't have to suffer. There are inexpensive treatments that will work miracles on itchy dog skin. Your dog looks to you as his first responder when it comes to dog health problems and you owe it to him to know how to take care his ailments.


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A few years ago I wrote 2 posts about evaluating start-up ideas. They were pretty well received and recently I bumped into them again. It's always fun (unless it's frightening, which it often is) to read your old stuff but it made me think how much has changed and how that's affected how I evaluate start-ups and start-up ideas.
Apart from working on my own start-up, these days I'm an adviser to several companies and am part of a VC-firm's advisory team. The frosting is that I get to hear internet start-up pitches on a regular basis. Then I get to throw in my input as to whether the team, approach, tech, idea, and probably 100 other factors come together to make a company investment worthy.
Of course, like anything else, if you start doing something enough - you start to see patterns. What I'm writing here are some of most noteworthy things that have caught my attention.
Basically, a few questions to ask yourself about your new idea for a startup.
1) Do you see the "Snowball" ?
I pitched an idea a few months ago to the CEO of a rather-mature and happily successful start-up. He was rather intimidating in how fast he understood the big picture. I'm not sure what sort of casual conversation I could keep him interested with at a party but I'm sure that if I had had a whimsical need to immediately know, for example, the half-life of cesium-137 (and google happened to be down), I could have just asked him.
He sat and listened largely emotionless to my idea. At the end of my presentation, he looked at me and said "I don't see the Snowball". He ended the sentence with such a period I not only felt the meeting was instantaneously over, I was waiting for him to push a button and have the floor open up sending me sliding star-wars style outside into the dumpster.
The "snowball" as he put it. That is, the very obvious reason this product is going to take off, keep going, and getting bigger. The reason why customers will come - and why they'll come back. Why they'll get their friends to come who will then get them to come again. The "viral loop" is a specific facet of this for social sites - but it applies in every case one way or another.
Interestingly, he didn't ask me "Where is the Snowball?". He fully assumed that if it was there, he should have seen it already. If it hadn't shown it by now, having to ask wasn't going to save me.
This idea is documented across the web in many different names. Viral loop. Customer acquisition/retention. Or even the "Techcrunch effect" - get mentioned on Techcrunch, watch your servers scream and then... nothing. In any start-up idea, you need to be able to see the snowball. And how it overcomes impedances such as cost (if any) and competition.
Spotify - free music, posts to FB to involve friends
Facebook - free gossip, detailed voyeuring of people in your life
Google - free information
Gamification is an artificial method of creating a snowball. The seratonin shot you get from competing with friends and winning at a game that is very easy and has fair, tractable rules for success. Then give them the ability to "cheat" using money while still taking credit for the success.
2) What's the customer effort required to gain what value? Your answer better be "a little" and "a lot".
Every keystroke you require from your users to use your product is a speed-bump to adoption. Every single keystroke. And, for keystrokes that are digits, where those digits together make up a credit-card number are like 20 speed-bumps piled together.
They don't call it the "pay wall" for nothing.
I love to see products that give me value the instant I'm introduced to them. If it requires a lot of work first - I better fully understand the value I'm going to get or it's not likely I'll care to find out.
3) Are you technically defensible?
I bet you're not. And although it's very nice to be, surprisingly you can get pretty far without it.
They say that the more little things in life surprise you - the younger you stay. Well thank God for that. It seems every day I say to myself - "now it's THAT easy?". I am perpetually amazed how radical advances in computing power, storage capacity, and programming abstractions have not so much advanced us as species - but instead made everyone a coder.
Now mind you - all that computing power also made it really really easy to be a bad coder. At least in the computer science sense. But the real bottom line is that it almost never matters until you get a lot of traction. And if you're ridiculously bad performing app starts to die because of too many users - that's what we call a "rich man's problem". In other words, at that point you'll like be making money or be ripe for investment to hire programmers or sysadmins or whatever to fix the problem.
I've seen I think one pitch in the last year where I thought the technical hurdles would cause a strong deterrence to competition. That was Flashsoft. Phil Karlton famously said "There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things" and Flashsoft is doing cache invalidation.
Now mind you, technical hurdles don't mean "no competition" they just mean it takes a sophisticated (and crazy smart) team to be up to the task. But we all know - those are more common than you'd expect.
In full contrast, I saw a pitch this year where the team had a nice (web) GUI and then showed their technology. As they demo'd it became immediately clear to me how to recreate what they were doing. They were (pardon the technical jardon) making one call to Amazon's API, making one call to Facebook's API, and showing the results.
So, unless you count "call Facebook, get result and give to Amazon" as technology - they had none. There was no analysis, no intelligence - no nothing. Without the GUI (which was very very nice) - this was without exaggeration 20 lines of Ruby code.
It might be a shame to call this company a technology company, but as I said earlier, their technology might not have mattered. Execution and team still win the day. Sadly, their team would not have filled the gaps which was enough to rule out investment, but the "lack of tech" wasn't the only factor.
As a final counterpoint - GroupOn, AirBnB and Taskrabbit are 3 companies that have in my estimation completely uninteresting "technology". If you're a developer is there really anything there you couldn't see how to create with just a moment of thought?
4) What's your plan for moving off of Facebook?
Ever heard of a Remora? It's that fish that literally attaches itself to sharks as they swim around. Sharks don't mind apparently as they provide a mutually-beneficial relationship. They clean off parasites and sharks provide implicit protection and for the most part the shark doesn't even notice them.
If you watch some videos of them latching on to Sharks however, you'll notice something, it's not often you see one swimming in FRONT of the shark. It's probably some sort of well-known unwritten code among remoras - latch onto any darn thing you want - except near anything resembling teeth.
Sure, there were probably a few rebel mouth-latching remoras that flaunted convention throughout history - but they're gone now. And whatever gene they had that said "Hey.. try latching on the mouth - no competition and plenty of yummy parasites!" disappeared along with them.
I'm not saying Facebook is a shark. They're just a bigger company trying to grow their own business. In that way, they're no different than Apple (tons of iphone app developer "get squashed" stories) or Microsoft or anyone else.
Creating a mutually-beneficial relationship is what it's about. Regardless of what stage you're at - bringing and/or keeping users on Facebook makes Facebook happy. However at some point, you'll hopefully grow big enough where Facebook notices you. That's sort of like the "rich man's problem" from above except that people are trying to kill you and money doesn't change their mind.
Starting out partnering with a big company is usually good. Facebook or Apple or whoever. If your dream comes true however - you likely get two courses of action.
Get bought by them - or have a plan for surviving without them. For Facebook it's usually that you keep it as a customer acquisition mechanism, but not your only one. For Apple, you usually migrate to Android and/or Web.
No need to name names but most every big company has purposely or accidentally stepped on a few start-ups along the way.
5) Your business model is advertising? no. really. What is it.
Despite the incredibly obvious and utterly overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Facebook as an advertising platform never felt right to me.
For example, when you go to google to do a search. You are, literally - going to google.com in order to, as quickly as possible - LEAVE google.com.
Marissa Mayer's super clean homepage is great, but you're going there to find out something specific and move one. Like, what was that train movie where the guy keeps waking up in someone else's body?
If almost everyone comes to google.com to find something and then leave, then some percentage of those people will find what they're looking for via an ad. You have to leave somehow - once in awhile you'll leave via ad. At times, the ads are exactly what I was looking for.
Facebook however is different. You go to Facebook to stay. I'm not sure I've ever clicked a Facebook ad. Sure I've clicked photos of Aunt Edna's 75th birthday and videos that cousin Willy linked to. But I go to Facebook to find out family/friend gossip. Not do product research.
The days of monetizing through solely ads are sort of over. I don't mean that by saying ads are dead (phew - heck no). I mean that as there are far more options now than simply showing adsense.
a) Companies like Viglinks and Skimlinks will affiliatize every last link (that can be affiliatized) on your site. Wordpress and Ning do this to great effect.
b) Install the browser plugin Ghostery and watch how many sites get to know where you are browsing. Tracking user movements is big money and imgur likely monetizes not through ads, but by selling advertising data companies the data that you were there at all.
Simply - more than ever, if you have a few million eyeballs a month - the baseline ways to monetize are better than ever.
5) How does this get to $100MM? (helpful hint: It's nice if the market size has a good size number followed 'B')
I alluded to this earlier, but it's important to point out that even if you think a company has a wonderful chance at being successful, that doesn't necessarily make it a good investment. Many factors surrounding that success help determine that.
One pitch I saw fell for this exact reason. I liked the product a lot. It felt like one of those products that you can throw off a cliff and all by itself - it will crawl itself back to the top still generating revenue. It worked. It was going to work.
But examining the market - I couldn't see how it could get past a certain level of revenue. This included factors of market size, competition, and strategy. This is one reason market-size is always part of pitches - if its big enough - then we can skip a few details in worrying that the company can get to a needed size.
So what's a needed size? That depends on your investors and how much money you're going for. It's another good reason to start with angels. If the company grows to Zynga size - great, we've proved the model and we can add investors as we go along. But if it doesn't, we've taken a good amount of cash for what we need to do.
Walking into Sequoia asking for you iniital funding round of 10MM might be cool. And you just might be the right person to be able to do that. But your projections better better warrant the round. Yes, everyone knows those projection numbers are shot from the hip. But they still better be there - and with a story that could theoretically make sense.
Simply - different investors need to make particular sized investments with expectations of particular sized returns.
Incidentally, this works for job offers too. Some of the hottest startups in the valley make great offers but you also always need to do the math. Being part of a hugely successful start-up is great, but sharing in that success is rather nice too.
6) Revenue is King. And so is Traction.
Ok, that's not a question. But seriously, everytime someone makes a list of questions - one of them has to not be a question with a sentence following saying "Ok, that's not a question".
If the rubber is meeting the road it gets harder to argue. In fact, if you have traction (and maybe even revenue) then investors only need to consider how you might get squashed somewhere along the way (see "getting off of Facebook" above).
Waiting until you have these two things is a great way to improve the interest and terms you'll see from investors. If you don't have them - investors will be looking a lot harder at you and trying to guess if your idea could someday get these things.
7) What's your customer acquisition and business development strategy?
As a disclaimer, I'm a complete techie. I started my first start-up with 2 other complete techies and you're not going to believe what we did - We sold our products just like a few complete techies would sell products like. (no.. I re-read it, that sentence is ok)
Maybe our worst sin was thinking we were kicking ass. When we finally hired a bizdev guy and with extreme skepticism - he changed everything.
Our pricing model was wrong. Our marketing was wrong. And most notably to me - he changed our company from selling products to selling solutions.
If you don't know what that means, you too may benefit from gaining the help of someone who's acquired customers and positioned products before. Put simply - we went from selling things for little bits of money to selling bigger things for bigger bits of money. All the while bringing more value to our customers.
It's really amazing what a small pivot can do for a product to bring it to new customers and to expose a much higher value to those customers. This should probably be filed under - "do what you're good at and more importantly, admit what you're not good at". And hire people in those roles.
Pitching is an art - and so are start-up ideas. I still get a few ideas a week I quickly kill for lots of reasons. The ones that make me the saddest are those I think people would love and use - but that I can't see how to turn it into a scalable business. I'd love to do those things for fun assuming time was an infinite resource.
Making web sites has absolutely never been easier. All you really need is to know how to code in some very high-level language and leave all the computer science and engineering problems for when you have scale. Getting the right idea, the right positioning, and the right go-to-market strategy that "can" get to scale however is still the tricky part.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
3 comments:
- Dave said...
Great post. Thanks for sharing. Got a lot out of it.
Also, just to let you know, every link appears to be broken. HINT: They all start with "http://www.blogger.com/"
Great post.
It's maybe as important not to have an anti-snowball or a viral disincentive as it is to have one.
- Sofia Sana said...
I too agrtee that Despite the incredibly obvious and utterly overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Facebook as an advertising platform never felt right to me.
awesome fact there were probably a few rebel mouth-latching remoras that flaunted convention throughout history - but they're gone now.
Yes, that's the point
integrated marketing
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Wealthy wantrepreneur Sam Lessin shows face in public
Drop.io founder Sam Lessin, the son of Croesus-rich Wall Street investment banker turned venture capitalist Bob Lessin, is obsessed with privacy, the chief selling point of his file-sharing startup. Which is why a video he and 19 of his closest friends filmed themselves cavorting at his father's vacation home in Cyprus ended up splashed all over the Internet. And why, after he'd successfully rendered himself infamous, he turned out at a journalist-infested birthday party thrown for CNET News reporter Caroline McCarthy and Scott Kidder, an employee at Valleywag publisher Gawker Media. Sure, Sam — keep telling everyone how important privacy is. And don't stop walking in front of cameras. He's shown here, at left, with a companion who's much more skilled at keeping his identity secret. (Photo by Random Night Out)


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Tommy Hilfiger Opening A Boutique HotelCategories:Fashion
Back in 2014, Tommy Hilfiger dropped $70 million to purchase the Raleigh Hotel located in South Beach Miami with the intention of creating an exclusive hotel experience for paying members. The designer emphasized that this expansion is not a part of his fashion brand, but rather a personal project. Because of this, it is important to realize the signature themes and motifs of the brand won't necessarily be a part of Tommy Hilfiger's hotel at all. Hilfiger, as a designer and businessman, is expanding beyond the fashion industry but the Tommy Hilfiger label is still as strong as ever.
Before being purchased by Hilfiger, the Raleigh Hotel had 109 rooms, and the designer will be bringing that number down to create space for more member accommodations. It will be a boutique hotel with 88 rooms that are notably larger than those of the original Raleigh, as well as a health club, a spa, and a restaurant. Those who pay the annual membership fee will be given priority, allowing them a broad choice of room and personal amenities.
As far as the actual membership fee is concerned, there have been no official statements, although Hilfiger did express interest in charging more than Soho Beach House, which has a fee of $2000. Naturally you'll have to spend a pretty penny to stay in such a luxurious location, so there is really no surprise as far as price point is concerned.
Of course, it will still be quite some time before members can file into the system. Renovations to make this boutique hotel concept a reality won't be initiated until the end of 2016. Even then, those involved in the process have estimated these alterations could take upwards of 18 months. So, it's not likely this will even be a possibility until 2018. Until then, however, the Tommy Hilfiger hotel is still available to make reservations. You can book a room for prices starting at $435 a night, but as this is only the pre-renovation cost, and prices will only continue to increase as the hotel is redesigned and rejuvenated.
Even still, the now-hotelier isn't looking to stop here. There are plans in the works for expansions beyond this, in other cities around the world. "If you look at LA, Aspen, New York, London, these are also great cities for us, and if and when we get the right locations we will expand into the cities."
It is definitely something to keep your eyes peeled for; even though the first hotel won't open for business for the next two years or so, there will be enthralling updates along the way, no doubt.


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When we create from a place of integrity, the outcome is bound to be magnificent. Whether we are birthing a new baby, a dream project, or an upgraded version of ourselves, we must first learn to connect the broken pieces and surrender to our own Greatness.
Traumatic experiences during the formative period (which is from conception through early childhood) leave a negative imprint in the nervous system. When this Imprint involves harsh and painful experiences, it is responsible for maintaining fear-based emotional and behavioral patterns for the rest of the adult life.There is an overwhelming evidence that the cumulative volume of individual imprinting was responsible for the violent history of humankind for thousands of years of recorded history.
The Birth Into Being Method, crafted by Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova, is a graceful shortcut to creating new reference points in the nervous system by Re-Coding the original subconscious Imprint. Elena developed this very effective and fast method of healing the birth trauma in adults, which allows unleashing the dormant flow of the primal creative Life Force. It inspires the profound quality of presence in the body, which assures our strength, compassion and health. In freedom from fear and pain, we can birth our new Reality, based on common sense.
If you feel like you are ready to part with your negative patterns (like constantly failing with your projects or relationships, procrastinating, etc), and you have tried many other modalities that merely treated the symptoms, then maybe it is time to address the root cause. Birth Into Being Method could be what you've been searching for!
It is time to experience what it really feels like to be safe, supported, and aware, navigating life from a place of true Power, which is Love. Imagine what it would feel like to live in alignment with your Soul's intention, and contribute to the thriving culture of future generations!
To find a workshop near you (with our highly trained facilitators) click here, or to experience a workshop with Elena click here. Elena will be teaching in Germany, August 2018.
Birth Into Being focuses on the conscious creation of a new humanity. The Birth Into Being Method workshop and Birth As We Know It film are extremely effective tools to support anyone interested in shifting their behavioral patterns rooted in their birth trauma.
It is our right to create a peaceful, abundant, beautiful life on this planet. The time is now to heal ourselves and our collective past, so the future of our species is free to flourish.
Says Elena, "This is the most important work to be done at this time."
"Peace on Earth begins with birth." - Jeanine Parvati Baker
Birth Into Being Blog
Birth As We Know It Presentation by Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova- Pranafest 2014
Posted by Lily Rothrock · March 13, 2018 11:11 AM
We know birth is important. What's next?
Posted by Yuliya Smirnova · July 11, 2015 8:35 AM · 1 reaction
Quit the Bad Habit
Posted by Lily Rothrock · April 30, 2015 12:47 AM · 1 reaction


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It is a common misconception that only fresh high school graduates can avail themselves of financial aid for their college education. As a result, a lot of adults who wish to return to college may be disheartened and eventually just give up on their dream to finally graduate.
In reality, financial aid is available for those who qualify, even for adults. There are financial aid programs to help you as you return to school to finally earn your diploma. The important thing is to know exactly where to look.
Here are six ways you can get financial aid for your return to college:
Adults can also avail themselves of federal aid. They just have to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. Federal Pell Grants, for example, are not limited by age, so even adults have the opportunity to get assistance. (Note that Federal Pell Grants may be available for only those who qualify who also have not already obtained a bachelor's degree and are attending under-graduate studies, not those who are seeking post-graduate completion.)
You may also eligible to borrow from the Direct Stafford loan—a federal student loan program.
For those who are employed, ask the Human Resources department or your manager about tuition assistance programs. Many companies offer financial education assistance programs for employees who want to continue their studies.
Although companies gladly share part of the tuition with you, it's likely that they will also require you to stay with the company for a minimum number of years. An alternative to direct tuition payment is that some companies offer assistance in the form of tuition reimbursement; that means you're expected to pay your tuition first and then get the reimbursement later, often with the submission of proof of completion.
There is no age limit for the 529 savings plan, so if you have one that you have not used, it's still valid should you wish to return to school. Unlike the Coverdell Savings Account, which requires the owner to use the funds by age 30, the 529 plan is always valid and is therefore a potential financial source for adults going back to college.
Another tip: if your child opted not to pursue higher education, you can transfer the 529 savings plan for your own use. It's a good way to make sure the savings don't go to waste, and a means to fund your own higher education.
This is a tax credit available to help offset the costs of higher education by reducing the amount of your income tax liability. The amount of the Lifetime Learning credit is 20% of your tuition expenses up to no more than $2,000. However, the credit will be reduced by the amount of any tax-free education assistance you may have received, e.g., grants and scholarships. The credit can be used for anything school-related, even non-degree training courses. To get the maximum, however, your adjusted gross income should be less than $62,000 if you're single, head of household or qualifying widow(er) (and double that, $124,000 if married filing jointly).
However, you cannot use the Lifetime Learning Credit in conjunction with your 529 plan.
A lot of adults think there are no scholarships for them. Why? First, they believe that scholarships are only for young people. Second, they believe that even if scholarships were available to them, they wouldn't qualify.
The truth is that there are usually no age limits on scholarships. Plus, there are scholarships specifically designed for adults returning to school. One example is the Robert and Thelma Sargeant Past Graduate/Adult School District Resident Scholarship in Ohio.
At the very least, it's a good idea to give it a shot. Use our CU Select Tool to find a Credit Union in your area to discuss your options to finance your education.
Through our partnership with Student Choice our members can take advantage of private loan solutions designed to fill the funding gaps that may exist after all-lower-cost sources of aid (including scholarships, grants and Federal Stafford loans) have been exhausted.
Contact us to learn more about your options and how a Private Student loan may help.
A better deal from your local not-for-profit cooperative
More than 2,000 approved schools across the country
Answers to your most common questions
Financial resources to help you succeed in college and beyond


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What will the next farm bill be like? The outcome of the November presidential and congressional elections will be a major determining factor, says Christy Syfert, House Agriculture Committee staff member for commodity programs.
"Whoever is President will determine who is Secretary of Agriculture, and the elections will decide who will control the Senate and determine leadership in the House."
Beyond that, money will be a key consideration, she told members of the Cotton Foundation and the American Cotton Producers Association at their joint meeting at Albuquerque, N.M.
"We were very fortunate when developing the last farm bill to have a Treasury surplus and to have support by those in Congress who were sympathetic to agriculture after it had come through several years of economic crisis.
"This time around, people have indicated agriculture may have a big bullseye painted on it in terms of funding. Some members of Congress don't feel agriculture should be supported as it is, especially when it comes to the issue of payment limitations.
"Others look at Brazil's World Trade Organization complaint and say, 'These supports aren't fair — why are we doing this for agriculture?' So, I think we're really going to have a fight on our hands."
Syfert says, "We were fortunate in appropriations this year not to have payment limitations targeted in the House. The Senate hasn't taken it up, but everyone knows the senator from Iowa (Republican Charles Grassley) has been coming after us on the payment limitations issue."
Cotton "is not the only red-headed stepchild" in agriculture, Syfert says, with any number of opponents lined up to take potshots at farm programs.
"For example, corn and sugar are being targeted with obesity issues. Opponents claim that because farm programs have made food so cheap, they are a factor in making Americans too fat. This has been played up in the national media and there have been a number of conferences on the subject. It's just one of many pressures we'll have to deal with."
How the new farm bill will look will also depend a lot on what comes out of hearings in Washington and across the country, Syfert says.
"We spent a lot of time on the 2002 bill, with a series of hearings to get input from all parties." House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., "saw a lot of benefit in that hearings process and at some point in 2005, he wants to start it again, looking at all aspects of the farm bill and farm programs. He wants to get as much input as possible."
While there is general agreement not to change the present farm bill during its 7-year life, Syfert says "if we're told we have to change it, we'll consider our options. But we'll come to the farm community for input as to priorities."
Brazil's complaint to the WTO about the U.S. cotton program "makes me very nervous," she says.
"As a farmer's daughter, it scares me to death. Even though I've not seen the confidential report, as one who works on commodity programs, I'm very concerned.
"We wrote the current farm bill in the belief that our programs were WTO-compliant. We worked closely with the U.S. Trade Representative and the USDA. This case has many potential adverse consequences for everyone in agriculture, and many people question how much the WTO and its definitions will affect farm bill legislation."
There are "many concerns," Syfert says, about the WTO framework agreement, and its reported requirement for a 20 percent reduction in domestic farm supports. "It's a lot like the farm bill: the devil is in the details. We have a lot of questions about what the outcome of this agreement will be.
"This is a big picture framework. Future discussions will bring out the details, and we'll have to judge it on what we learn as we go along. At this point, we're glad there has been some progress."
e-mail: email@example.com


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Memo's Brown Bread
I had promised to post this recipe for ehanner so here it is. This is the "brown" bread my grandmother used to make which we all loved so much. She passed away 25 years ago and I never thought I would taste it again.
Being a new bread baker I was determined to find out what recipe she used and duplicate it. Thankfully, my dear Aunt was there to help me since it was my grandmother's own and not from a recipe ever recorded. As my Aunt told me, Memo (mee-moe), which was our name for our grandmother, baked this bread, before my Aunt, now 84, was born, in an old iron range heated by wood logs with guess and bigosh temps, as she says it.
So you can see that it was a challenge for me to duplicate this. Through emails my Aunt wrote from the very old hand-written notes of my grandmother and my Aunt's own notes, I could begin. It took me several very disappointing attempts but soon I discovered the missing link. It was the type of graham flour and this is where I stress unless you use the Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Graham flour or if you know of one that is identical to that in color, texture, and flavor this bread cannot be made properly. I tried Bob's Red Mill and it did not even come close and several regular whole wheat flours just wouldn't do it. There is something exquisitely yet mildly sweet in the Hodgson Mill graham flour that reminds one of a graham cracker flavor. And I knew the instant I looked at the HM graham flour it was right.
You can shape the loaves however you wish but I had to do it the way my grandmother did, making the two balls for each loaf. I can see her doing it in my head, and the first time this bread came out correctly I thought I would cry I was so happy. It transported me back in time. And the toast from this bread is simply the best. I hope if you try it you like it, too.
Memo's Brown Bread
1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110° - 115°F)
2 1/2 cups potato water*
1 Tablespoon salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 Cup shortening
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Hodgson Mill graham flour** (see important note below)
Sprinkle yeast on 1/4 cup warm water. Stir to dissolve and set aside.
Place sugar, salt, and shortening in mixing bowl and pour hot spud water over this and cool. The potato water should be about the temp of a baby's bottle, warm to the wrist, otherwise it can kill the yeast.
By Hand: Stir 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour into bowl containing salt, sugar & potato/potato water to make a thin batter. Add yeast and beat well. Then add 1 1/2 cups graham flour and mix well. Stir in remaining all-purpose flour - 1 to 2 cups – until it can be handled on a floured board or counter. Knead in more flour until you have a smooth ball that no longer sticks to counter.
By Stand Mixer: Stir 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour into bowl containing salt, sugar & potato/potato water to make a thin batter. Add yeast and beat well. Then add 1 1/2 cups graham flour and mix well.Stir in remaining all-purpose flour - 1 to 2 cups - to make a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead/mix until smooth and elastic, about 7 - 10 minutes.
Place in greased bowl; turn dough over to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until it doubles, about 1 1/2 hours.
Punch down. Turn onto board and divide in half; round up each half to make a ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
Shape into loaves and place in 2 greased loaf pans. Cover with cloth or sheet of plastic wrap and let rise until dough reaches top of pan on sides and the top of loaf is well rounded above pan, about 1 1/4 hours.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, rotating half-way through if necessary. Cover loosely with sheet of foil the last 20 minutes, if necessary, to prevent excessive browning. Makes 2 loaves.
Brush melted butter over top of loaves upon removing from oven. Allow to cool.
*I peel and slice, very thinly, one small potato and boil in 4 cups of water until very well done – usually takes about 15 minutes because of the size of the slices. Then mash the potato in the water and usually the remaining water with the potato leaves the exact amount of liquid you need for the recipe – the 2 1/2 cups. If you need to, add a bit more water if you don't have enough.
**You must use Hodgson Mill, whole wheat graham flour to be authentic to Memo's bread, or if there is another brand that is exactly as Hodgson Mill. Hodgson Mill is the only brand of graham flour I've found so far that is the correct coarseness, color of grain and flavor. Other flours can be used but the entire flavor and texture of the bread is completely changed from what Memo used to make. This is a taupe colored wheat bread not golden as with regular whole wheat. It is beautiful and makes the best toast!


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Preview of The Shaw Festival 2013
Roy Berko
Member, Cleveland Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association
Yes, it's snowing outside, but soon Spring and Summer will be upon us. That means The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, will beckon. The Shaw is one of the two major Canadian theatre festivals, the other being The Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Both are high quality venues.
The Shaw Festival is a tribute to George Bernard Shaw and his writing contemporaries.
Many Clevelanders take the four-hour drive up to The Shaw, as it is called by locals, to participate in theatre, tour the "most beautiful little city in Canada," shop, and eat at the many wonderful restaurants.It's a good idea to make both theatre and lodging reservations early, especially with the B&Bs on weekends. Our home away from home is the beautiful and well-placed Wellington House (email@example.com), directly across the street from The Festival Theatre. For information on other B&Bs go to www.niagaraonthelake.com/showbedandbreakfasts.
There are some wonderful restaurants including the Dining Room located at the Niagara Culinary Institute (www.niagaracollege.ca/dining). And my in-town favorite, The Grill on King Street (905-468-7222, 233 King St.)
This year's theatre offerings are:
GUYS AND DOLLS--a musical fable of Broadway based on a story and characters by Damon Runyon and includes such songs as A Bushel and a Peck, Take Back Your Mink, Luck Be a Lady, and Sue Me.
LADY WINDEMERE'S FAN--Oscar Wilde's bitingly satirical attack on Victorian morals.
ENCHANTED APRIL--Matthew Barber's tale of two women who seek an adventure by renting a small castle on the Mediterranean in Northern Italy.
PEACE IN OUR TIME--John Murrell's adaptation of Shaw's play GENEVA, which is a contemporary political farce where affairs of state meet The Three Stooges.
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA--Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel's (Richard Rodgers' grandson) musical set in Italy in the summer of 1953 and concerns an American and her daughter encountering a handsome Italian. It includes such songs as The Beauty Is, The Joy You Feel, Hysteria, and Let's Walk.
TRIFLES-two one-act marital mysteries by Susan Glaspell and Eugene O'Neill.
OUR BETTERS-W. Somerset Maugham's play, deemed by many to be the best social comedy of the century, which concerns a rich American woman in search of nobility. The play is considered a forerunner to DOWNTON ABBEY.
MAJOR BARBARA-Shaw's provocative and witty play about immorality and the testing of beliefs and ideals.
FAITH HEALER-Irish playwright Brian Friel writes three versions of the same story, and asks, "which one is true?"
ARCADIA-Tom Stoppard's intellectually dazzling mystery and love story, which is set in both 1809 and the present time.
Two plays which will be presented as staged readings:
THE MOUNTAINTOP-Broadway's smash hit of this past season regarding the night before the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot. (For a review of the play go to http://www.royberko.info and search the title. (Only September 1)
JERUSALEM-The Tony Award winning play which ran in London (2009) and on Broadway (2010), which concerns tall tales and past glories. (Only October 13)
For theatre information, a brochure or tickets, call 800-511-7429 or go on-line to www.shawfest.com. Ask about packages that include lodging, meals and tickets. Also be aware that the festival offers day-of-the-show rush tickets and senior matinee prices.Go to the Shaw Festival! Find out what lovely hosts Canadians are, and see some great theatre! Don't forget your passport as it's the only form of identification that will be accepted for re-entry into the U.S.


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Pride may be regarded as a sin, but there's nothing wrong with taking pride in your appearance, which is why I've put together a selection of products that will help you look your most smokin' hot self this Valentine's Day.
A few rouge items which will really compliment your look this V Day are the nail products below. Bella Pierre nail color in Fire Red, £10 from bellapierre.co.uk, and China Glaze nail lacquer in Igniting Love, £6.95, are great choices if it's a bright red nail polish you want. For a quick fix though, opt for imPRESS stick-on manicure nails in Tweetheart; they'll enable you to type your Valentine a loving Tweet in style! Ah, the beauty of modern-day romance.
Nicole Scherzinger, the Brand Ambassador for ImPRESS nails, reckons this shade 'would be perfect to team up with a simple LBD and a classic red lip". In addition to Scherzinger, ImPRESS nails are worn by the likes of Rihanna and Katy Perry, and I can see why; they're very easy to apply and come in a range of lovely colours and designs. Available to buy from Boots for £7.99.
Without wanting to succumb to the anti-feminist cliché of advising that you 'dress up in nice underwear', I'm going to advise that you, erm, dress up in nice underwear. Why? Because this lovely red number by Playtex has recently caught my eye.
The Red Flower Lace Bra is made of luxurious, non-scratchy material which sculpts, supports, and feels comfortable against your bust. Plus it looks gorgeous. Available to buy from Debenhams for £25.50 (matching midi briefs also available for £11).
For more sinfully satisfying products, check out the rest of Yesterface's Valentine's Day Beauty Guide, as inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins!
Tags: Bella Pierre nail color in Fire Red, bellapierre.co.uk, China Glaze nail lacquer in Igniting Love, imPRESS stick-on manicure nails, imPRESS Tweetheart. Playtex Red Flower Lace Bra, Katy Perry Nails, male grooming products for Valentine's Day, nice underwear for Valentine's Day, Rihanna Nails, what to buy your boyfriend this Valentine's Day


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Wee Rascals is a new children's brand featuring historical heroes and heroines on casual cool clothing. Highlighting true legends in history, from Joan of Arc to Johnny Appleseed, Wee Rascals is a welcome alternative to mass market superheroes and cartoon characters. Wee Rascals aims to redefine the meaning of heroes with printed tees, tanks, and bodysuits for the wee ones from 3-6 months up to size 12. Select tees are made from organic cotton, and all styles are unisex and proudly made in the USA, retailing from $25 to $28 at http://www.wee-rascals.com.
Wee Rascals is a labor of love for moms Kylie Clayborne and Elizabeth Rich, who launched Wee Rascals in March 2014 in Austin, Texas. Inspired by an image of Johnny Appleseed in her son's folktale book, Clayborne set out to share real heroes with boys and girls nationwide while consciously manufacturing in the United States. All Wee Rascals designs are printed direct to garment or screen-printed in Austin to assure high quality and ethical labor practices.
In a pop culture-saturated world, Wee Rascals favors history-making men and women of substance, including Susan B. Anthony, Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, and Davy Crockett. Baby raglan tees are coming soon, as well as brand new hero and heroine prints! To learn more, please visit www.wee-rascals.com.


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Doctor Who Special Edition Lunch Box with Coasters & Thermos
Ready for travel
- Complete lunchtime set for Whovians
- Lunch box, thermos, and set of coasters
- Pretty big on the inside
Packing lunch for work can be hard. It involves planning, which doesn't always happen in our homes. Maybe we're lucky and there's some leftovers of a yummy dinner that we can bring in. Maybe we remembered to have both lunchmeat and bread on hand for sammiches. But the likely scenario is that we're walking to the office park deli again, hitting a drive-thru, or scrounging up something from our desk drawer. Granola bars don't expire, do they?
Wouldn't it be great if you had an extradimensional lunch box that always had lunch in it every time you opened it? And a thermos that was always full of your favorite beverage at its perfect temperature? And some coasters? That would be sweet. We have good news! We're totally going to give you one of those. This lunchtime set comes with four Doctor Who coasters, a metal TARDIS lunch box, and a TARDIS thermos. We're sorry that the TARDISes are not magical in any way, but hey, coasters!
Product Specifications
- Lunch set for fans of Doctor Who
- TARDIS Lunchbox:
- Metal construction with plastic handle
- Dimensions: 8.6" x 6.75" x 4"
- TARDIS Thermos:
- Plastic exterior, stainless steel interior
- Capacity: 16 ounces
- Love your thermos: Hand wash for longest artwork life
- Doctor Who logo coasters (4):
- Black with non-slip cork backs
- Dimensions: 3.5 diameter
- Officially licensed Doctor Who collectibles


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Map of the Western & Middle Portions of North America
Description: An 1845 map of the Pacific coastline starting slightly west of present-day Alaska and extending to Mexico, including Oregon, California,and regions north to the Arctic. It shows cities and some towns, and selected rivers, mountains, and other features. This map is meant to accompany a history of Oregon, California, and other west-coast territories.
Date: 1845
Creator: Greenhow, Robert, 1800-1854. & Ringgold, George H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Map
Partner: UNT Libraries Rare Book and Texana Collections


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Travel Guide of Downtown, Austin for: Omni Austin Hotel DowntownDowntown, Austin, Texas
Downtown Summary
- Sixth Street, a popular street lined with restaurants, bars, and nightclubs
- Austin's business district
- SoCo's galleries, boutiques, and monthly festivals
- Home to the Capitol and numerous museums
- Bordered on the south by Lady Bird Lake and Hike and Bike Trail
- Lots of green space for a city
- Great barbecue
- Birthplace of Whole Foods
- Traffic-heavy area
- Public transit is limited
- Sixth Street can be rowdy, especially on the weekends (a pro for some!)
- Super-hot in the summertime
- Lots of construction
- Congress Avenue Bridge is famous for its bats (some people love it -- we're not one of them)
What It's Like
Downtown Austin is really the birthplace of Texas -- the first Texas settlements were in Austin, and downtown Austin still operates on the original grid plan of the city from the 1800s. Therefore, the area is steeped in history -- the Austin Public Library serves as the Austin History Center, and is the source of information on Austin from its founding in 1839. Downtown also boasts numerous museums, like the Austin Museum of Art and the Austin Children's Museum.
Downtown Austin is composed of the city's business district and is home to the majority of Austin's government buildings -- the Capitol and the Governor's Mansion are popular sites. But unlike the downtown areas of some cities, downtown Austin isn't dead once the businesspeople head home after work. The area only gets livelier: Sixth Street teems with a young, rowdy crowd filtering in and out of the many bars and nightclubs in the area, especially on the weekends. A tamer scene can be found at the restaurants on the street and some of the higher-end bars and lounges. During the day, crowds tend to enjoy the air-conditioning in the art galleries and shops in SoCo. Those looking for more of an outdoor adventure can head to the Lady Bird Lake and Hike and Bike Trail. The majority of the lake prohibits motored water sports, meaning that the lake is pristine, and visitors can kayak, sail, and canoe. The 10-mile Hike and Bike Trail is a shady, green area for walking, running, and hiking.
Where to Stay
Those prepared (and excited) for wild, rowdy nights may want to stay near Sixth Street, where downtown's nightlife is centered. Business travelers may consider hotels in downtown's business district, near the Capitol, while avid shoppers may want to check out the SoCo area.