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Home Thermostat Management from the Cloud
Readers of my Dr. Dobb's posts may recall my coverage of "Internet of Things" company Arrayent and its Internet-Connect development platform. Its technology was recently embedded in an Internet-enabled thermostat from Hunter Fan, creators of the original ceiling fan. This update takes a look at how successfully Hunter Fan embedded Arrayent's technology, and how Hunter's Universal Internet Thermostat performs. Its introduction comes at the right time, considering the amount of attention the tech press has given other Internet-enabled thermostat appliances… namely, the Nest Learning Thermostat due to the fact that Nest designer Tony Fadell was the designer of the Apple's iPod.
When deciding which devices to create for my home automation book Programming Your Home, I considered a thermostat project. But due to the funky analog-to-digital-to-analog hook up that would have to bridge between a circa 1960's thermostat and a circa 2012 Arduino, I vetoed such an undertaking. Tinkerer Ben Heck eventually took on the project in an episode of The Ben Heck Show, but it's definitely a hack. Elevating such an idea to a scalable, fully supported, consumer-grade product requires a lot more effort and polish. Fortunately, Arrayent had built most of the underlying embedded technology behind Hunter's Universal Internet Thermostat, as anyone who has used Arrayent's SDK can attest. The Hunter Fan Internet Thermostat user login screen on http://my.hunterfan.com is a slightly dressed up version of the Arrayent application development service.
Hunter advertises that installing its Internet Thermostat only takes 5 minutes, and while my experience took twice as long, it was still a pretty simple and straightforward process. After turning off the power to my home HVAC system, labeling the wiring connected to my existing thermostat and removing it from the wall, I connected the correct wires to the Universal Internet Thermostat's screwless wire terminals, and inserted the included 4 AA batteries into the thermostat to power its display and communicate with the gateway. I placed the gateway on the floor above where my Internet router is located. The router just happens to be conveniently located directly above the thermostat, ensuring that the signal between the thermostat and the wireless gateway radio was strong. Then it was just a matter of powering the HVAC system back up and registering the thermostat with Hunter Fan to be able to remotely control and monitor the thermostat.
When logging into the website to create a new account using the security code stamped on the sticker inside the thermostat assembly, I was reminded via the email registration process that the first three months of Internet management are free. After that, I will have to purchase a $9.99/year or a $49.99 one-time product-life-time alternative. I'm still debating which one I should choose when the free period expires. The one complaint I have against the site is that logins are not SSL encrypted. Given the fact that anyone with a little network security knowledge could easily capture this unencrypted traffic, it makes me uneasy to think that someone who wants to ruin my day could totally mess with my thermostat settings. That said, Arrayent and Hunter Fan responded to my concerns by saying they are working on implementing SSL logins and expect to have them in place soon.
Adding the thermostat to my newly created account was simply a matter of entering the unique code on a sticker inside the thermostat assembly. Upon doing so, everything "just worked". No need to manage IP addresses, NAT routes, or any other networking headaches associated with home networking and automation devices.
Arrayent's SDK does most of the heavy lifting on the backend. The hardware embedded into Hunter's thermostat negotiates the association with their systems upon registration of the hardware on the my.hunterfan.com website. From there, it's a matter of setting up thresholds for upper and lower temperature limits, configuring what email address to send alert notifications to, and scheduling the temperatures depending on the day of the week and time of day. You can do all of this from a desktop or mobile web browser, although I did have some trouble with the login UI not responding using Firefox on Android. Hunter also provides an iOS app, though this is one of those PhoneGap or Appcelerator-style apps that simply incorporate webviews into a standalone program, so there's hardly any difference between the web version and the iOS app.
Being an enthusiastic fan of hacking my own home automation solutions, I hoped I would have access to the web service SDK that Arrayent exposes so I could hook in my own Python scripts or native Android app to place the thermostat readings into a more complex toolchain. For example, knowing the weather forecast and my travel schedule, I could have my scripts dynamically set the thermostat temperature schedule based on these factors. From there, I could measure the temperature history and compare it to my gas and electric bills to see how efficient this smarter, dynamic control process made my home. Alas, until Hunter offers the option to expose Arrayent's web API, technically savvy customers will have to get by with assembling their own one-off scripts instead.
Compared to the elegant looking but far more expensive Nest thermostat, Hunter's Universal Internet Thermostat isn't as high-tech attractive, but it's half the price and delivers more overall functionality and ease of use. I do hope that Arrayent/Hunter improve their website dashboard security and eventually offer API access to developers, perhaps via a developer sign-up and issuance of an API key. It sure would beat being forced to go the screen scraper route to automate the login, GET, and POST requests. I would rather just have a clean web API so I could get around the device via a nice clean JSON receipt.
Ultimately, the question comes down to whether the cost of the thermostat ($99.99) plus the network service fees after the first thee months (let's go with the $49.99 lifetime) is worth the investment compared to a non-network enabled thermostat you can buy for a third of the price at Home Depot? If you enjoy gadgets that are trailblazers to the future, then yes, this is a sound investment. By purchasing this product today, you are paying a premium for a glimpse at something that will be a popular option with new homes and businesses several years from now.


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HOLLYWOOD, May 26 (UPI) -- "Men in Black III" is expected to dethrone superhero flick "Avengers" during the Memorial Day weekend, taking in $75 million to $80 million, projections show.
The alien movie staring Will Smith is expected to gross $17 million to $20 million from Friday night's box office sales, The Hollywood Reporter said.
"Avengers," which has held the top spot in the box office since it opened four weeks ago, is expected to earn as much as $50 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. The film has a worldwide gross of $1.23 billion, putting it in line to eclipse the final Harry Potter film to become the third-highest grossing film of all time behind "Avatar" and "Titanic," the entertainment industry newspaper reported Friday.
Horror movie "Chernobyl Diaries is expected to take the third spot over the weekend, with a projected gross of $10 to $15 million, THR reported.
Sony executives hopes "Men in Black III," also starring Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, will take in $200 million in its worldwide debut, despite warm weather in Europe keeping people away from theaters.

subset: commoncrawl


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Center for Economic and Policy Research
July 10, 2008
As Senators McCain and Obama fine-tune their plans for Social Security in preparation for the 2008 presidential election, a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that, due to the collapse of the housing bubble, the vast majority of Americans have accumulated little or no wealth. This means that they will be almost completely reliant on Social Security and Medicare to support them in their retirement years.
The study, "The Impact of the Housing Crash on Family Wealth," analyzed the wealth holdings of families in all age cohorts in 2004 and projected the wealth of these families in 2009. The findings are presented by income quintile under three scenarios- real house prices remain at current levels, real house prices fall by an additional 10 percent, or real house prices fall by an additional 20 percent. In all three scenarios, the vast majority of these families will have little or no housing wealth in 2009.
"This extraordinary destruction of wealth will have tremendous implications for millions of families," said report co-author Dean Baker. "Coupled with a very low personal savings rate, this means that many people, especially those near retirement will only have Social Security and Medicare to rely on once they leave the workforce."
The report projects that if house prices stay the same through 2009, the median household headed by a person between the ages of 45 and 54, those in their prime earning years, will have 24.7 percent less wealth than did the median household in this age group in 2004. These households will have accumulated just $113,268 in net worth in 2009, barely $15,000 more than their counterparts in 1989, whose net worth totaled $97,600.
If real house prices fall 10 percent, the median household in the 45 to 54 cohort will see a 34.6 percent loss in wealth compared with the median in 2004 while families in the 18 to 34 cohort will lose of 67.6 percent. If prices fall by 20 percent, the most pessimistic scenario, families in the 55-64 cohort will experience a loss of 49.6 percent of their wealth compared to the same cohort in 2004.
This analysis should also prompt serious re-examination of policy proposals to cut Social Security and Medicare for near retirees. Baker commented, "policies that perhaps could have been justified at the peak of the housing bubble make much less sense now that tens of millions of near-retirees have just seen most of their wealth disappear."
In analyzing wealth holdings for these families, the authors used data from the Federal Reserve Board's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finance. The authors also used the S&P 500 and the Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Index to adjust for equity values and home price changes between 2004 and 2009.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!


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Roles & Responsibilities
The Role of a Contract Manager
Published: 27 Feb 2017
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This series of three articles tracks the continuing development of the contract management role and purpose. It illustrates that, over a ten year period, there have been significant changes in the strategic importance of contract management as a competency. This is true in bot...
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Published: 13 Jul 2020
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'The success of remote working has opened up previously unavailable talent pools, with 64% of hiring managers now more willing to consider remote workers.' This finding, from a survey conducted by Cielo, represents both good and bad news for job candidates. Good, becau...
IACCM 2019 Benchmark Report
Published: 04 Sep 2019
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Type: Research Reports
More than 750 organizations participated in IACCM's latest study, which covers all the critical areas of organizational design and performance. Reporting lines, performance measures, role and responsibilities, headcount, sources of learning - these and more are covered wit...
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Published: 25 Aug 2020
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As we've entered a time of chaos and uncertainty, we've seen some of our best-laid plans unravel. The world has shifted into crisis and triage mode, and many of us have now put our energy against staying afloat in the day-to-day. For many, our to-do lists have grown ex...
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The pandemic has changed many things - and finding a job is one of them. With face-to-face meetings almost non-existent, the recruitment process will need to adapt to a world of virtual meetings and networks.
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Today, Contract and Commercial Managers stand at a cross-roads. Many of their traditional tasks will erode and disappear, outsourced or automated. However, that does not mean an inevitable route to nowhere because new technologies elevate these activities from largely operatio...
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Related Discussions
PRS for Music
2020-08-24 12:52:42
Contract Centre of Excellence (CoE)
Hi All Has any company out there transitioned into a CoE model and if so would you be willing to have a conversation with me on your approach and your learning? We ...
Hi All
Has any company out there transitioned into a CoE model and if so would you be willing to have a conversation with me on your approach and your learning?
We have reviewed articles on the IACCM, but I would be interested in talking to someone who has gone through the actual steps and could share their experience. I am keen to link up with another organisation who can confident talk about both the benefits and pain points in moving to a model like this.
Kind Regards
Jan Buckle
• World Commerce & Contracting • 2020-08-24 16:05:02
Hi Jan
I am sure we can connect you with a few organisations. It would help to know what scope you envisage - for example:
- will this be a 'commercial CoE' or a more limited 'Contract Management CoE'
- will it cover Sales contracting, Procurement contracting, or both?
- are you envisaging a Center-led model (i.e. core activities undertaken by the CoE, but remote staff still report into business units) or a 'Centralized' model, where all relevant staff have central reporting line
If your answer is that right now, you don't know and part of what you want to discuss is what options to consider, it may be worth us having an initial discussion to cover the pro's and con's of each option. On the other hand, if you know the answers already, let me know so that we connect you with the right people.
Contact me at tcummins@
and we can progress from there.
• Novartis • 2020-08-31 13:05:57
Hi Jan,
I have a direct experience in this space and we can share where you are with in the journey.
Replies: 2
2020-07-29 14:47:04
Job Description - eContract and Supplier Manager
I'm looking for input with a job description, the role is: eContract and Supplier Manager and the purpose of the role: To manage and be the global functional lead...
I'm looking for input with a job description, the role is: eContract and Supplier Manager and the purpose of the role: To manage and be the global functional lead for the eProcurement tools e.g. SAP Ariba / S4 supporting contract and vendor management processes and lifecycle.
Has anyone filled a similar position? what are the minimum skills/experience, main accountabilities? and what would you expect the pay level to be??
Toronto transit commission
2020-06-09 17:00:23
commercial and contract management involvement based on project type?
what are the criteria for involvement of a commercial and contract manager in a project and extent of it (at which stage)?
what are the criteria for involvement of a commercial and contract manager in a project and extent of it (at which stage)?
• World Commerce & Contracting • 2020-06-10 08:27:49
Hi Alma,
This is a difficult question to answer because it rather depends on organisational design and, to some extent, the nature of the project.
Commercial and contract considerations should be in place from inception of the project concept and design. There should be a commercial analysis to understand the business requirements and to determine the nature of the commercial relationships and contracting models that will be needed. If this is a relatively standard and low risk form of project, the decisions may be quick and easy to make.
Too often, projects are initiated without proper thought being given to the commercial risks and opportunities. As a result, assumptions can be made with regard to the form of relationship and the underlying terms. By the time commercial or legal resources get engaged, it is often too late to alter some of these assumptions, or doing so creates major delays.
Another issue arises in the context of post-award contract management. Frequently, the implementation and operational resources are not the same as those who were involved in the original tender and negotiation. Good practice here is to start involving post-award contract management during the negotiation so that they have a good understanding of the final agreement and can move rapidly once it is signed.
You may find several IACCM resources are helpful. I will send you a paper on the Role of a Contract Manager. You might also look at the 2019 Benchmark Report which sets out the typical work areas for CCM staff. We have also undertaken a cross-industry project to define the contracting lifecycle.
I made my initial comment about organisational design because the critical point here is about competence in performing a role, rather than a specific job title. If, for example, you have project managers who have specifically been trained in contract and commercial management, they may have the competence to make front end decisions.
Do get in touch if it would be helpful to discuss this in more detail.
• GMR Energy LImited • 2020-06-18 13:56:35
I agree with Tim that requirement of commercial & contracts manager is required at each and every stage of the transaction right from beginning i.e go or no go stage . To be a good commercial contracts manager one should be able to understand technical ,legal, finance, business risks, insurance, taxes etc. rather all aspects of a business. They need not be an expert but need to cut thru the clutters of complicated matters involving multiple dimensions and factoring them appropriately in all the documents created for signing with the counterparts,decision making etc.
Typically in any organisation depending on the confidence level of the management one enjoys and ability to contribute in bringing different dimension to the table than other participants , he /she would be kept in the loop as a commercial & contract manager.
Problem with commercial & contract managers is that every project manager for that business manager/engineer feels that they know contracts/commercial matter ( which they might be right in some cases) and go beyond their briefs while they can get away in small value low risk item contracts, it gets complicated when contracts are of high value, long term with multiple risks.
Replies: 2
BC Hydro
2020-05-28 19:38:24
Pricing Trends for major equipment and engineering services
Is there any research available here on pricing trends for major equipment, related transport and engineering? If someone could point me to a report or reliable source...
Is there any research available here on pricing trends for major equipment, related transport and engineering? If someone could point me to a report or reliable source it would be greatly appreciated
• World Commerce & Contracting • 2020-05-29 15:57:06
Hi Steve, thank you for your question. Pricing trends for major equipment are not something we specialize in unfortunately and in the current circumstances, the answer would, I believe, vary enormously depending on the nature, type, and location of the acquisition.
• GMR Energy LImited • 2020-06-18 14:24:19
Believe there is no ready made global data base as of now. Each countries Govt. publishes data on whole sale price index/producer price index/purchasers price index( nomenclature varies) on each and every category of product including machinery, equipment etc. year on year and month on month. These data is generally publicly available and can be accessed and down loaded.
For example - there is Bureau of Labour Statistics in USA which pubishes all such data for the products manufactured in USA. In India its published in a bulletin every month by the central bank i.e Reserve Bank of India
Replies: 2
KEO International Consultants
2020-05-26 13:02:59
Negotiation effectiveness
What are the fundamentals and effective tools to be taken into consideration before negotiation meetings. Please share negotiation cases initiated from both parties. I...
What are the fundamentals and effective tools to be taken into consideration before negotiation meetings. Please share negotiation cases initiated from both parties. Individual cases. - Thank you.
• World Commerce & Contracting • 2020-05-26 13:29:38
Hi Mohammed,
Great question. You have certainly come to the right place for some expert advice. I hope others jump in as well. You can find an array of resources at your fingertips (including case studies).. if you go into the resource library (Resources > Resource Library) and search by category = Negotiation. I would particularly recommend:
IACCM Dubai Member Meeting April 2019 Presentations
Ask The Expert: Negotiating and Contracting in the Middle East
The Power of Intent Workshop - IACCM APAC Conference 2019
Do Procurement practices cause dishonesty?
Negotiating in a time of coronavirus
In Negotiations, Givers Are Smarter Than Takers
In addition, you may wish to consider our new Managing Contracts Virtually training program (which is currently included as a member benefit) .. Training > Managing Contracts Virtually.
If you need help accessing any of these materials, please contact me at info@
Regards, Paul
Replies: 1
New Zealand Defence Industry Associat...
2020-04-15 23:00:12
Conflicts of Interest in Contracts which arise during the contract term
Hi all I have been looking for contract draft words and processes, registers etc to deal with conflicts between people in contract fiduciary roles rather than Governan...
Hi all
I have been looking for contract draft words and processes, registers etc to deal with conflicts between people in contract fiduciary roles rather than Governance or employment roles. Had a look at a few sets of documents and not seeing conflicts words and processes consistently carried through from procurement templates into contracts and contract management processes. Does anyone have good examples they can share?
World Commerce & Contracting
2020-03-18 18:52:06
Cultural Differences Contract Management Russia
Hello everyone, I am a Masters student at a French university and am writing a paper on cultural differences in Contract Management between Western Europe and Russia...
Hello everyone,
I am a Masters student at a French university and am writing a paper on cultural differences in Contract Management between Western Europe and Russia.
I was wondering if anyone had any experience of working as a Contract Manager in Russia and could give some examples of differences in what the job entails (for example, is it more a legal job rather than a commercial one?).
To what extent is the concept of contract management developed in Russia?
Are there any works written on the differences between being a CM in Russia and Western Europe?
Any help would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
• LUKOIL Mid-East Limited • 2020-03-19 19:03:08
Hello Harry,
I worked in several Russian companies as Contracts Manager and in related roles at both domestic and international projects. What I can tell you exactly is that there is no such thing as specific Russian Commercial Management, there are may be some cultural differences between Russian and Western Europe management style, but methodological basis is based on the same principals and sources.
If you have any specific questions, I'll try to share with you my thoughts and observations based on my past experience.
• World Commerce & Contracting • 2020-03-25 13:38:15
Hello Andrei,
Thanks for your answer, this confirms what I had originally thought!
Is there any reason why there isn't any Russian Commercial Management? Is it linked to hierarchy in the business structure?
Also, would it be worth adapting it to Russia? Or is Russian "Contract Management" more of a legal job better suited to lawyers?
Replies: 2
2020-03-04 12:23:59
Retain talent or seek talent
In my company we have carried out an analysis about the people who work in our supply chain a year ago. Getting good buyers is easier than getting good service contrac...
In my company we have carried out an analysis about the people who work in our supply chain a year ago. Getting good buyers is easier than getting good service contractors. The first is very similar to a commodity, the second is more complicated and requires formal knowledge, experience and good attitude.
We have found that operational personnel that require the services (planners and supervisors) can begin to work as contract administrators performing a good function, that is, within our company we find the resource and talent we need
World Commerce & Contracting
2019-10-16 23:31:01
Pros and Cons about where Contract Management fits in an organization (e.g., Legal? Procurement? Finance? the Business?)
Hi everyone. I am looking for some thoughts / collateral concerning where does the Contract management group best fit in a firm? I know of one company where it is in...
Hi everyone. I am looking for some thoughts / collateral concerning where does the Contract management group best fit in a firm? I know of one company where it is in Legal and they are considering moving to within Procurement (which is in Finance). any thoughts or experiences? thanks.
• Ministry of Defence • 2019-10-22 13:59:48
In my team its cross functional; procurement, finance, project management. Whoever the beneficial user is may the best person to advise if the requirement is being delivered to time, quality etc. Suggest you might want to think about creating a cross function contract management team.
Dear Ted, it pretty much depends on your organisational ambition & objectives with the Contract Management function. In my oppinion many organisations don't realize the potential (strategic advantages and benefits) of Commercial Excellence - if the organisational understanding & culture around Contracts & Commercials are at a low maturity level you can see Contract Management placed as a sub-function in eg. Legal or Finance (being a somewhat defensive approach), while the few org. (as I know it) who realize the potentials are placing it higher in the organisation, some even spilt it out to a stand-alone veritical (making sure that the context of being a "support function" is embedded, implemented & maintained) of course balanced with the organisations overall aspiration, purpose and "nature". BR Ole
• BC Hydro • 2019-10-31 00:03:28
In our organization, Contract management resides within the business; however Supply chain (Finance) own the process. Over the last 5 years we have been fully integrating Category Management and as a result putting in more strategic, long term agreements with an overview to the category rather than the need. Putting in such a strategic shift in business has saved us millions in our new contracts by looking at all the driving forces behind the need. Now that we have a robust Category Management program in place which covers 80% of our spend - we need to ensure that a enterprise wide practice is in place to make sure we are getting what we need, when we need it and are paying the right price otherwise the contract is simply a piece of paper. That is why Supply chain owns the process but the business is responsible for managing the work and providing the required resources to do so.
• PRS for Music • 2019-10-31 15:42:32
Hi Ted
In my company the contracts team sits in Operations as the contracts they manager supports our deliverable pipeline. However, we have close links with our legal team and procurement sits in Finance. Looking at some of the replies it seems there doesn't seem to be any best practice.
• Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems • 2020-03-18 03:53:08
In my organization, our pre-award and post-award contract management for new equipment sales are led by different teams (Commercial Operations and Project Execution respectively), however there are many functions that actively support and contribute to our contracting processes such as Legal, Finance, Sales, and Engineering departments. Legal's input and review into the contract is critical for protecting the organization from unacceptable risks, but we have the overall bidding and contract process managed by the Commercial team since we are focused on the company's strategic/sales goals.
• World Commerce & Contracting • 2020-03-18 14:11:30
Hi Graham. Thanks for the response to this and sorry so late getting back to you. Is there an "owner" of the CM discipline? I would always expect that there would be participants from various functions but where does this all come together? is there any consolidated reporting view?
Replies: 6
2019-09-22 10:42:18
Resource Planning Tool for Contracts Teams
Currently reviewing the different techniques of developing a contracts team resourcing plan that caters for number of contracts, the complexity of contracts, budget al...
Currently reviewing the different techniques of developing a contracts team resourcing plan that caters for number of contracts, the complexity of contracts, budget allocation per position. Looking to utilise an automated tool if possible. If anyone has any examples would appreciate heads up. Thank you.
• SirionLabs • 2019-12-06 07:22:48
Hi Charlie,
The below tool gives contract management solution with capability to assign respective stakeholders as owners.
Details below:
Organization - Sirion Labs -
Most Innovative truly digital CLM tool that provides insight driven granular Contract Authoring, Managing Commercial and legal aspects of the obligations, Provides trends powered with BI, Assists in Change variations, Helps develop a Price Book, Provides Financial Management support, Assures Efficiency and never ends
Contact Details - steeve.sebastian@
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'I want to give you this, for our 16th year friendschip.'...
- by DarkAngelFeathers
- Rating:
- Published: 26 Feb 2014
- Updated: 5 Jul 2014
- Status: In Progress
Pink is 17 years old. She has pink hair and deep pink eyes. She is bullied with it and her only friend is Anne , she has purple hair and bright blue eyes. They were born with it and people think there freaks, But there wrong! But when One Direction is moving and coming to there school the both think 'Oh, fuck. Not more!'
Are Pink and Anne right? Are they going to bully them? or not?
Are Pink and Anne right? Are they going to bully them? or not?
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The information you need to come to Governors State University as an international faculty or staff member, or a visiting researcher in the J-1 category, can be found below.
The Office of International Services oversees the process to come to GSU as a J-1 scholar or professor.
Here is the Exchange Visitor packet for all applicants that wish to come to Governors State University.
Please submit the completed application packet as well as all supporting documents to your GSU academic department.
Contact your airline prior to all travel, to inquire about transit visas or any other requirements for travel both domestically and internationally. A transit visa may be required, even for layovers in countries other than your final destination. Please review TSA requirements prior to travel.
A visa is affixed in your passport by the U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad and allows you to travel to the U.S. It only needs to be valid for your entry into the U.S., and does not have to remain valid throughout your stay in the U.S., provided that you maintain your immigration status. If you travel outside of the U.S. and need to re-enter, you must have a valid/unexpired visa to return. There are exceptions to this rule for travel to Canada, Mexico and the adjacent islands.*
*See "Automatic Visa Revalidation" below.
An I-94 card is an arrival and departure record that you may have received at the Port of Entry (such as the airport) when entering the U.S (the white card stapled into your passport). Your I-94 card must remain valid at all times, if you have one. When departing the U.S., you will turn in your I-94 card, unless you are taking advantage of AVR.* As of May 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) no longer issues a physical I-94 card. In order to retrieve your I-94 number, please visit this CBP site.
*Canadian citizens do not need a visa to enter the U.S. Mexican citizens, however, must apply for a visa.
+ The SEVIS I-901 fee is required only for the initial visa application.
**See "Travel Signatures" below.
Definition: Your expired U.S. entry visa is considered to be automatically extended to the date of re-entry provided that the visa has not been canceled, and that you have not applied for a new visa. To take advantage of AVR, your travel must be to contiguous territories and for less than 30 days. Rules governing AVR are found in the United State's Code of Federal Regulation.
For the most accurate information regarding entry procedures to the U.S., please see the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol website. There you will find information regarding customs regulations, AVR, Form I-94, the Visa Waiver Program and other useful updates to help with your travels to the U.S.
You may require a visa to enter Canada/Mexico. For more information consult the following sources:
Note: Information provided is for informational purposes only and may change without notice. Please check with OIS or www.dhs.gov and www.travel.state.gov for the most current information.


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(If you experience any issues with the download link, use the contact form at the top, I'll respond asap.)
There's more to this theme than just an awesome name and the fact it's a child theme of Twenty Eleven.
Numerous features and options have been added to save time and make things easy to get your site looking the way you want with just the click of a button.
I'm always thinking up more features to add, so if you have any suggestions feel free to post them on the forums.
- 8 premade color schemes
- 6 new layouts including 3 different 3 column layouts
- Optional Nivo Slider in header with several options to control the look
- Option to resize the header
- Support for excerpts with post thumbnails
- Second menu above the header
- Extra footer menu area
- Sidebar on post pages
- Turn comments off site wide
- Turn comment bubble, search form, main menu and author post avatars on/off
- Area to add your own custom CSS that will not be overwritten with an upgrade
- Google Font selector for most areas
- Built in related posts under each post with on/off option
- Template to display adsense in post content
- Custom Twitter, Flickr, Author Biography widgets
- WP-PageNavi template and style support, just install and activate
- Color options for all menu areas
- Copywrite date in footer years based on first and last published post
- All code is well commented
- Dark Scheme child theme support
And more…
Download The Free Version
Credits to these sites for the awesome help I received


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Do you ever ask God this question? I've been so aware of spiritual warfare recently. It has been swirling around me in a way that cannot be denied. My friends across the country and across the world are dealing with it. Threats to marriages, threat to faith, threats to life itself.
I am amazed at how few Christians deal with spiritual warfare, or even acknowledge it's existance.
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12
There it is.....we are fighting a battle against that which we cannot see. If it just ended there, that would be completely frightening. How can we fight that which we cannot see? I struggle with this a lot. I deal with depression. I can't see it, but I sure know when it is in control! I deal with negative self image. Lies from the enemy, I know, but when I am in the throes of it, it can be pretty overwhelming. Subtle things, yes. Not the same as my marriage being attacked, or my life being threatened, but threats to the kingdom all the same.
Luckily, we are given what we need to fight this battle...
13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:13-18
So keep on preparing yourself, keep on praying, be alert. Don't just assume you are having 'bad luck'. Are you in the midst of battle and you don't even know it?
Maybe that is truly the question..."Where are you?" Are you aware of what is swirling around you? On your knees ,my friend, is where we will fight this battle. In the word is where we will fight this battle.
The Battle Belongs to the Lord
Words and music by Jamie Owens-Collins
In heavenly armour we'll enter the land
The battle belongs to the Lord
No weapon that's fashioned against us shall stand
The battle belongs to the Lord
We sing glory and honor
Power and strength to the Lord
The power of darkness comes in like a flood
The battle belongs to the Lord
He's raised up a standard, the power of His blood
The battle belongs to the Lord
We sing glory and honor
Power and strength to the Lord
When your enemy presses in hard do not fear
The battle belongs to the Lord
Take courage my friend, your redemption is near
The battle belongs to the Lord
We sing glory and honor
Power and strength to the Lord
Monday, October 15, 2007
Where are you??
Do you ever ask God this question? I've been so aware of spiritual warfare recently. It has been swirling around me in a way that cannot be denied. My friends across the country and across the world are dealing with it. Threats to marriages, threat to faith, threats to life itself.
Posted by Mom to 5...Daughter of the King at 8:02 AM
2 comments:
- erin richardson said...
I know, oh, I know what you mean. If we're Christians, we believe in God (we believe God) and we believe God is good. If we believe in good, then we believe in bad. Therefore, if we believe in a good God, then we must also believe in something evil that opposes him - that would be Satan, the Enemy. And even fairy tales don't get this one wrong: good and evil are always fighting.
Just because we can't see fat, feathery little angels fighting these little red guys with pitchforks, that doesn't mean there isn't some kind of battle going on. Hence SPIRITUAL warfare, and not CARTOON warfare.
Yes, yes, yes. I wish I could tell you I was always on my knees, and always fighting the battle for God, with God, but that would probably be a lie. Sometimes I get trampled. And sometimes I start to believe the lies that Satan tells me. "I forget I'm loved," I always say, because it's true. I forget I'm loved and then I get depressed and it just goes downhill from there. That's where the enemy wages his war in my life. He convinces me I'm not worthy of anybody's love: God's or man's. Which is total bull. God says he loves me and that's that. And he has given me people that love me dearly and fight for me on their knees when I can't seem to manage it on my own. That's love. That's God.
So that's a random assortment of agreement & my thoughts on the matter.
And by the way, you're hot stuff. :-)
love & hugs ... erin.
- October 15, 2007 at 1:29 PM
- Dawn said...
As one who is stuck right smack dab in the middle of a spiritual battle myself, I thank you so much for the reminders! We cannot get through this alone and on our knees is the only way to defeat this enemy!
- October 17, 2007 at 4:31 PM


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Defense rests in WikiLeaks trial, Manning doesn't testify
The defense rested its case on Wednesday in the court martial of U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, accused of passing secrets to the pro-transparency website WikiLeaks.
Manning, 25, who is charged with leaking more than 700,000 classified files, combat videos and State Department cables to WikiLeaks, told Judge Colonel Denise Lind that he did not want to testify on his own behalf.
"The defense rests, your honor," Manning's lawyer David Coombs told the court after three days of defense testimony.
Manning, who is charged with passing secrets to WikiLeaks while serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2009 and 2010, could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious of 21 charges, aiding the enemy.
Defense lawyers had read a statement into the record and elicited testimony from nine witnesses. They had originally said they planned to call 46 witnesses.
Lind, who is both overseeing the case and will hand down a decision, has not set a date to announce a decision.
In his opening statement, Coombs sought to portray Manning as naive but well-intentioned in seeking to show Americans the reality of the wars in Afghanistan.
He also tried to downplay the importance of the material Manning is alleged to have leaked or stolen. Defense witnesses testified that much of the material was available on public records before WikiLeaks released it.
The prosecution rested last week after five weeks of testimony, some in closed session, and had about 80 live witnesses or statements read into the record.
Prosecutors alleged that the material supplied to WikiLeaks ended up in the hands of the extremist group al Qaeda.
The defense's final witness, Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler, testified that WikiLeaks and its model of decentralized leaking of secrets was a high point in journalism history.
WikiLeaks is "a clear distinct component of what in the history of journalism we see as high points, where journalists are able to come in and say, 'Here's a system operating in a way that is obscure to the public and now we're able to shine the light,'" said Benkler, the co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
WikiLeaks provided the materials in 2010 to traditional news outlets that included The New York Times, Britain's Guardian and Germany's Der Spiegel. The publications were able to vet the material and provide greater distribution for it, Benkler said.
The 21 charges against Manning include espionage, computer fraud and, most seriously, aiding the enemy by disclosing material that could be used by the al Qaeda network.
Lind set Monday for a hearing on whether a prosecution rebuttal hearing should be held. She also will rule on defense motions that four of the charges should be dismissed. Such motions are routine in court martials.
If Lind rules that the rebuttal hearing should be held, it will be heard on July 18. If not, closing arguments will be on Tuesday.
(Editing by Dina Kyriakidou and Richard Chang)


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Recipe from Linda Warner of Kentucky
4 cups thinly sliced, unpeeled zucchini
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. sweet basil leaves
1/4 tsp. oregano
2 eggs, well beaten
8 oz. (2 cups) shredded Muenster or mozzarella cheese
8 oz. refrigerated crescent rolls
2 tsp. Dijon or pure prepared mustard
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a 10" skillet cook zucchini and onion in margarine until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in parsley and seasonings. In a large bowl, blend eggs and cheese.
Stir in vegetable mixture. Separate dough into 8 triangles. Place in ungreased 11" quiche pan, 10" pie pan or 12x8" baking dish. Press over bottom and up sides to form a crust. Spread crust with mustard. Pour vegetable mixture evenly into crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. (If crust becomes too brown cover with foil during the last 10 minutes). Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges to serve, serve hot. Makes 6 servings.
*DISCLAIMER*: The information contained in or provided through this site section is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional advice. Use of this site section and any information contained on or provided through this site section is at your own risk and any information contained on or provided through this site section is provided on an "as is" basis without any representations or warranties.


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The world's first 3D-printed guitar
October 12, 2012
Scott Summit created a 3D model of his ideal guitar and sent the computer design to 3D Systems, which used its massive 3D printers to transform the graphic model into an actual acoustic instrument that Summit can play, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
As far as anyone seems to know, this is the first 3D-printed guitar on the planet, and it raises all kinds musical possibilities. "It's rich and full and has a great tonal range," says Summit.
The model used about $3,000 worth of plastic and had a headstock 3D printed with sterling silver; the plate on the neck was 3D printed out of stainless steel.
Summit is one of the world's leading 3D printing and design experts. He is currently designing custom body parts and stylish prosthetics that get built from 3D printers.
UPDATE 10/18/2012: 3D Systems announced today the exclusive availability of the first-ever line of 3D printed electric and bass guitars, designed by Olaf Diegel on Cubify. Starting today, eight unique electric and bass guitar designs including the Scarab, Atom and Spider will be available for purchase on Cubify. Professional guitarists and enthusiasts alike will be able to work directly with Diegel to customize their instrument for a personalized look and unique sound.


text: Looking to Chill out while you Sleep? Coolmax pillow covers and pillow protectors can help you keep your cooling bills lower this summer. How, they enhance breatability and keep it cool. Hot Summer Shopping Ideas Looking for hottest shades this summer. A classic aviator shape fit for the fashion forward are the rage this summer. Titanium and Carbon Fiber sunglasses feature a contrast top bar detail. Italian designers have created some timeless looking shades that will surely get noticed this summer.


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Mashup: DocuSign & zipForms
The zipLogix family of tech-savvy products is the recognized industry standard for electronic real estate forms and transaction management currently used by more real estate professionals than any other real estate software program. zipForm® is the exclusive and official forms software of the National Association of Realtors® zipLogix electronic real estate forms are pre-tagged with convenient DocuSign Sign Here and Initial Here tabs. Users access the form and simply deploy DocuSign within zipForm® 6.


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Relax while we help people find you
Who and why Birmingham SEO
Are people finding your website?
iwebsitez.com is a reputed search engine optimisation or SEO Birmingham company who can help to improve the visibility of your website online in search results. Being a business owner, you are generally looking for a trusted, local Birmingham SEO company to get your website on top in search engines.
With over a billion websites now online and more than 80% of all purchases beginning with an online search, this means the higher your website ranks in relevant searches, the more likely customers will choose your business over a lower-ranking competitor.
Being on page 2 or beyond for products or services you supply will not bring people to your website. It is common knowledge that over 80% of people do not go past page 1 when selecting services, products or places online, which is why it is essential for your business that your website is on page 1, which our Birmingham SEO service will achieve for you.
Watch this SEO video explainer
SEO company Birmingham
Our SEO experts will get your website to page 1 guaranteed
The purpose of search engine optimisation services and your business engaging an expert Birmingham SEO company like us for SEO is to improve ranking positions of certain keywords and to increase online visibility for your products or services.
We achieve page 1 rankings for keywords by our SEO Birmingham experts performing proper search engine optimisation techniques that do not go against Google's guidelines.
SEO reviews
What they say about our SEO
SEO value for money
What we do & what you get
In most cases, search engine optimisation consists of a website audit, fixing any website issues, multiple domain/hosting checks, website pages being optimised for SEO and finally links being built from other websites to your website.
Obviously, this is an overview and there are technical aspects behind each of these tasks, but generally, this is what SEO entails.
Track your keywords anytime, anywhere
Track your keyword progress with our dedicated rank tracking app and choose to have daily, weekly or monthly reports directly to your email.
Begin your SEO journey
By filling out this form you are giving us some information to get started with, we will require more once you start SEO with us. We only work with a limited amount of clients at any given time to ensure maximum attention to detail and your company's ultimate success.
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Need a new website to help with SEO?
Our Birmingham website design specialists will build a mobile-friendly, beautiful web design service that reflects your industry while following your lead and input. We build on WordPress, the most popular and flexible building platform there is. It's easy to modify or add to your website as your business grows, and we can help with that.
Check out this video
SEO frequently asked questions
With a new Birmingham business website, do you need SEO?
Great question! Just because you now have a Birmingham website, it doesn't mean people are going to visit or find it. In our opinion SEO for start-ups is crucial. The best analogy we always use is that it is like having a lovely well-stocked shop in the middle of the desert. People will come if they know it is there, but if no one knows about it, very few will find it and therefore very few will come. So to explain that someone types in what you do into Google, and your website is not on the first page, how do they know your website exists?!
Now that you have a website, will my website rank in Google on it's own?
To an extent yes. But maybe not for what keywords you may think it would rank for. Just because you have had a website built for you by us or by anyone, doesn't guarantee it will rank for the keywords you want, without proper SEO. There are many facets to SEO and this is what we specialise in.
Do we guarantee your website to appear on page 1 for your chosen keywords?
Yes, we are one of a few companies that guarantee page 1 rankings for your keyword/s. However, the timeframe is not guaranteed and will be different per client, per keyword, per SEO project.
What do we mean by guarantee to rank my website?
By stating we guarantee means that we will have a pre-agreed timescale for the keywords you require and if you are not on page #1 at the expiry of this timescale, we will continue to do SEO for free until page #1 is achieved. However some SEO projects require ongoing SEO, in this case, we will just switch focus on keywords and continue improving rankings of the new keywords. This guarantee only applies to our SEO services and local SEO, not SEO packages.
Does iwebsitez.com perform local Birmingham SEO, national SEO and International SEO?
Yes, of we do. We don't just perform local SEO for Birmingham, we have clients from all over the UK, EU countries and the US. We can rank whatever you want, wherever you are in the world.
Do we provide a way to track progess of the keyword rankings?
Yes, of course, we not only send them directly to your email address weekly, but we have an App that you install on your tablet or mobile device where you can view your keyword progress LIVE at any time from wherever you are.
How do you start the SEO Birmingham journey with iwebsitez.com?
All you need to do is fill in our SEO discovery form, information request and then you will receive instructions on what to do, and don't worry, it is very simple and straight forward.
When should you start seeing results and keyword ranking improving?
This depends on the keyword/s, the niche and competition but to generalise, we would say things will start to improve around the 6-month mark. For tougher keywords, this may take longer but we will advise on this before we start SEO.
You have been doing SEO for you for 3 months, why are you not seeing rankings improve?
Don't panic! This is very normal, we always advise to allow 6 months before seeing anything significant. Not to say it won't happen quicker but google indexes slow these days in 2020 and it takes time for links pointing to your website to pass the juice or power. Eventually, the power of the backlinks will start to trickle through and your site will start moving up, guaranteed.
Your website is now position #1 in Google for certain keywords, will it stay there?
The answer is yes it will for some time, depending on the competitiveness of the niche or keyword. If you drop down a few positions we will analyse and tell you why. If you have stopped SEO, you may need to restart, especially if your competitors are doing SEO. Dropping 2-3 positions in Google can mean losing thousands in revenue!


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There's really no trick to recipes like this: Using moist, flavorful chicken thighs and good marinated artichoke hearts will result in a simple but memorable single-pan dish.
- Active Time
- 10 min
- Total Time
- 20 min
- 8 skinless boneless chicken thighs (2 1/2 pounds)
- 12 ounces bottled marinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered if whole
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 to 3 tablespoons grated parmesan
- Preheat broiler.
- Toss chicken and artichokes with 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl, then broil on rack of a broiler pan 3 inches from heat, turning chicken once (do not turn artichokes), until lightly browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Transfer chicken and artichokes to a platter and stir remaining tablespoon oil into chicken juices in bottom of broiler pan. Pour juices over chicken and sprinkle with parsley and cheese.


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Bullard Trademarks Lawyers
Richardson, TX 75081
Baylor Law School
Some of my clients, like Semantra and Advanced Search Labs, have used patents to receive angel investments and venture funding. Other clients, such as Lisa Lloyd and Lori Cheek, have appeared on Shark Tank, Ellen, Dr. Phil (for good reasons) and the Steve Harvey Show. Others...
10th Floor
Dallas, TX 75206
Vanderbilt University Law School and University of Washington School of Law
Suite 2610
Dallas, TX 75201
Trademarks, Business, IP and Patents
Southern Methodist University
Mike Regitz focuses his practice on intellectual property and technology disputes, counseling, and licensing.
As a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), Mike also assists firm clients with cybersecurity, data privacy, and cyber insurance coverage issues and disputes.
Mike is licensed to practice law in Texas and is admitted to various federal courts across the country. He is also registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and his patent and trademark prosecution practice includes...
Dallas, TX 75202
Ste 2610
Dallas, TX 75201
SMU Dedman School of Law
Dustin has experience in enforcing and obtaining patents and has represented clients in trademark, trade secret, copyright, contract, and domain name disputes. As a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), Dustin also assists his clients with cybersecurity and data privacy issues, including assessing and responding to data breaches, preparing incident response plans, and evaluating cybersecurity and data privacy risks and policies.
Dustin's patent and trademark prosecution experience includes preparing applications, responding to office actions, drafting appeal briefs,...
Suite 1000
Dallas, TX 75219
The University of Texas School of Law
Maryssa graduated from Baylor University and received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. During law school, Maryssa was an advocate for a national championship mock trial team and received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award. While at UT, Maryssa also won Best Advocate...
Dallas, TX 75219
Texas Wesleyan University School of Law - Texas Wesleyan University
He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University in 2005. He was an engineer for a number of years at a number of large corporations before pursuing his law degree. He graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law (formerly Texas Wesleyan University School of Law) with a J.D. in 2010. By combining his education and prior work experience into the field...
Dallas, TX 75206
Texas A&M University School of Law
Dallas, TX 75201
Baylor Law School
Suite 4800 West
Dallas, TX 75201
Texas Wesleyan University
Suite 300
Dallas, TX 75204
Texas A & M University School of Law
Ms. Mills represents Defendants and Plaintiffs in a broad range of business litigation matters, including copyright and trademark infringement, unfair competition, business disparagement, misappropriation of trade secrets,...
Suite 2604
Dallas, TX 75219
Suite 1700
Dallas, TX 75201
South Texas College of Law
Suite 700
Dallas, TX 75201
Dallas, TX 75205
Dallas, TX 75202
Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Dallas, TX 75206
Southern Methodist University
Suite 700
Austin, TX 78705
Trademarks, Business, IP and Patents
Vanderbilt University
Clients say:
"Thank you all Sooo much! I can't imagine being on this journey with anyone else. I look forward to continuing to...
Galleria Tower II
Houston, TX 77056
Southern Methodist University
Austin, TX 78726
University of Texas - Austin
Dallas, TX 75240
Southwestern Univ School of Law
Floor 7
Austin, TX 78705
University of Houston - Main Campus
I am not your typical attorney. My journey to the legal field was a strange one. After studying biochemistry and gene therapy, I decided the lab environment wasn't...
Suite 550 PMB 944
Houston, TX 77077
Mr. Mousilli has served as Senior Corporate Counsel for both Apple Inc. and Dell Inc., where he counseled clients on product development and intellectual property matters, including advertising & marketing, copyright, and trademark strategies and risks. Prior to serving as corporate counsel, Mr. Mousilli practiced with DLA Piper in the intellectual...
Cypress, TX 77429
South Texas College of Law
Suite 206
Carrollton, TX 75006
Texas Tech University School of Law
Houston, TX 77057
South Texas College Of Law
Suite 600
Dallas, TX 75204
University of La Verne College of Law
Suite 230
Houston, TX 77062
Villanova University School of Law
St. Mary's University School of Law
My areas of technical expertise include semiconductor design and manufacturing; computer hardware and software; and electrical, mechanical, and environmental technologies.
Building D, Suite 300
Austin, TX 78729
The George Washington University Law School
Ste. 400
The Woodlands, TX 77380
South Texas College of Law
Mr. Thomson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal in 2017 for his service as an operational law JAG with the 36th Infantry Division in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Mr. Thomson has experience solving complex tax problems, knotty estate planning snafus, and business transactional conundrums.
Representative cases:
- Creation of private foundation for UHNW family
- IRS tax audit defense of non-exempt private...
Austin, TX 78701
South Texas College of Law
Houston, TX 77043
Lewis & Clark Coll Northwestern School of Law and Lewis & Clark Law School
Suite 200
Southlake, TX 76092
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Houston, TX 77254
Fort Worth, TX 76107
Texas Wesleyan University School of Law - Texas Wesleyan University
San Antonio, TX 78208
University of Texas - Austin
Fort Worth, TX 76102
South Texas College of Law
Building 3, Suite 324
Austin, TX 78754
Saint Louis University
Suite 200
Austin, TX 78756
University of Texas - Austin
You can often find me at startup launches and panels, just absorbing all of the out-of-the-box thinking that is necessary to a lot of today's startups. I have a startup of my own, and man is it a bumpy ride! I'm working on automating various parts of the legal profession to try and keep costs down.
Like many others in 2008, I had severe financial difficulties, and the frustrations I faced in trying to pull...
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Here are just a few situations where you might want to seek the advice of an attorney:
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Use Justia to research and compare Bullard attorneys so that you can make an informed decision when you hire your counsel.
It is important to research an attorney before hiring him or her. Be sure to evaluate an attorney's experience (types of cases handled, prior results obtained, etc.). Although prior results are not indicative of the likelihood of success in your case, they can help you make an informed decision.
Also worth serious consideration is the attorney's location, particularly if you will be traveling to visit him or her for consultations.
Finally, research an attorney to see whether he or she has ever been subject to discipline. Although disciplinary actions do not necessarily impact the attorney's competence to handle your case, they may affect your decision whether to hire.
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Smart Email Verifier 3.51
Smart Email Verifier will check every email address from a given mailing list and determine if e-mails are still valid.
It does 3 levels of checking; first it will check the e-mail syntax, next it will verify the existence of the SMTP mail server and finally e-mail box on the SMTP server.
Smart Email Verifier can save time and money for businesses who send newsletters to their clients or any person that needs to maintain a clean e-mail address list.
Supports all popular file formats; Excel, Text (.CSV), Word, and ODBC support, allowing to work with DBMS like MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, MS Access and others.
Smart Email Verifier works with Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP


text:
Masset's shoulder surgery rehab slow process
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- As Reds pitchers work in bullpen sessions, reliever Nick Masset is unable to join them. Masset, who missed all of last season, is still rehabilitating from right shoulder surgery he had in September.
Masset began a throwing program in January, and until recently was only playing catch three times a week. But it's been slow going.
"Now I'm starting to build up to throwing every day," Masset said on Thursday. "It's not exactly where I want it to be right now. But I understand that it is a process. I'm really going to have to grind through the aches and pains to build arm strength to get my arm able to throw consistently without having any setbacks."
Masset's throwing program is slated to last at least three months before he can return to game action. It's unclear when he can begin working from a mound again.
"I don't have a crystal ball right now," Masset said. "Being here every day, grinding it out and working hard with the doctors and trainers and everyone helping me out, it will be the key to getting me back on the field."


text:
Item Description
Telegraphic Dispatch, Thaddeus Hyatt to T. W. Higginson
Author: Hyatt, Thaddeus
Date: October 20, 1856
This telegraphic dispatch was sent from New York by Thaddeus Hyatt, to Thomas Higginson in Worcester, Massachusetts via the Union Telegraphic Company. Hyatt was eager to inform Higginson of an important meeting that he should consider attending if at all possible.
Location of Original: KSHS Call Number: Thomas W. Higginson Collection, #380, Box 1, Folder 2
Item Number: 101895 Number of images: 1
Keywords: Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911; Hyatt, Thaddeus; New York; Telegraph; Worcester, Massachusetts
pg. 1


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A truly inspiring class project by @JoyceValenza.
|Scooped by Robin Good
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Dorlee Michaeli's curator insight, November 24, 2015 8:07 PM
Robin Good wisely notes that the added value a curator brings to the table is his/her time, the judgment of whether the particular article(s) are of value and what items to highlight.
Jeff Domansky's comment, August 3, 2016 1:30 AM
Robin, my view is that better tools help us be better curators. Finding higher quality content faster allows more quality time for curators to add more valuable insight. I welcome better time-saving tools. Cheers!
Robin Good's comment, August 3, 2016 4:00 AM
Jeff: Like if we got a better Photoshop we could do better images. The talent is not in the tools, but in our heads. Tools can help, but they can't make you do better work than what you are capable of. Practice is what does it. My two cents.
Judi Singleton's curator insight, October 21, 2016 2:18 AM
I do content curation for what I learn reading the articles and doing the research.
cheersitskatie's curator insight, June 22, 7:10 PM
I think curating content to reflect our own personalities and interests is key in creating a loyal audience with whom we can feel more connected.
Grouptech21's curator insight, March 10, 2016 2:54 PM
Silk is a web tool to publish online spreadsheet-based data on a specific topic.
The service, which just released a new version of its offering, allows to easily convert any existing data-set into professional-looking data displays, charts, grids, and lists that can be embedded on any site and which can be viewed in multiple ways.
The value of Silk is specifically in making it easy and immediate for anyone to elegantly display and publish data sets in one of several alternative formats which include:Table ListGrid MosaicGroupsBarsMapDonutLinePieScatterStacks
How it works: Import a table from Excel, Google Sheets or any .csv file, select the fields you want to import and Silk does the rest offering you tools to filter, edit and select your preferred visualization approach.
You can also create data sets and displays from scratch inside Silk, and set each Silk either as public or private.
Why it is relevant for content curators: Silk provides a unique and powerful opportunity to leverage existing data and information assets, spreadsheets and databases and to convert them into highly legible and visually impactful data displays on a very specific topic.
My evaluation: Paired with the power of Kimonolabs or Import.io to convert any website or page content into a spreadsheet, it offers great potential in creating value by providing multiple professional formats to display, present and interact with such data.
Free forever for public Silks of up to 3000 pages.
Try it out now: https://www.silk.co/
Video tutorials: https://www.silk.co/product
Ken Dickens's curator insight, April 30, 2015 11:14 AM
Great explanation of why a Content Curation strategy is one of the best ways to build brand preference. We call this a "Give to Get" strategy. It builds relationships and trust. -Ken www.2080nonprofits.org
Dr. Helen Teague's curator insight, May 1, 2015 8:20 AM
From Robin Goode's scoop note: "
"If you can be a guide, a clearinghouse, a trusted place from where to learn, appreciate and understand more, there is no amount of outbound links that is going to counter the magnetic force you will express to those who are interested in what you are pointing to."
This is why the fear every company has about content curation - talking about *others* in the same field - has not only no reason to exist, but it is also downright counterproductive as soon as others start using it.
Content curation is a venue to make sense of existing information to facilitate access, discovery, comparison, understanding, both on the side of who curates as well as on the one of those who benefit from it.
Part of my inspiration in becoming so passionate and interested in content curation, has been ignited by a post that appeared in 2004, on Robert Scoble's popular tech blog.
Those sites will take you to the coolest stuff on the Internet. And by doing that, Engadget and Gizmodo have BECOME the coolest places on the Internet. Just like Craig's List, Google, eBay."
Takeaway: The more valuable resources, info and tools you share with your audience/community the more trustworthy and reputable you will appear in their hearts and eyes.
"Send your visitors away" is a simple but valuable content marketing advice and it is at the heart of what a good content curator does. Finding and sharing great resources that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. "
Read more:
Robert Scoble original post: http://radio-weblogs.com/0001011/2004/10/31.html#a8544
See also this slide deck I did in 2007: http://www.slideshare.net/RobinGood/be-your-own-boss
Image credit: Showing direction by Shutterstock
Stephen Dale's curator insight, April 28, 2015 3:18 AM
Via Robin Good: "PressForward is a full-fledged RSS feed reader and aggregator which can capture content coming from any site while allowing full editing and curation abilities. It is an ideal tool for news curators wanting to have a news gathering and discovery tool integrated into their standard publishing and editing environment."
Mike McCallister's curator insight, April 28, 2015 8:27 AM
Curating and sharing content is an important way of building your authority in your writing niche. If you really want to understand how to curate, follow Robin Good's "Content Curation World" on Scoop.it.
Robin shared this WordPress plugin that can help you find and post interesting content directly inside WordPress. I'll be testing this soon.
Stephen Dale's curator insight, April 7, 2015 5:12 AM
A couple of great finds from master Curator Robin Good. As he notes
"This is an interesting trend as in the past most tools to deliver educational content relied on the author creating and posting only his own materials. The fact that you can now include valuable content published by others opens up the gates both for the curation of lots of existing content into useful learning courses as well as for the issues of whether and how to compensate curated content from others"
Reading time: 5mins
Filomena Gomes's curator insight, April 18, 2015 8:57 AM
Robin Good's insight:
New interesting tools make it possible to create online courses and full online learning programs, by drastically simplifying the design process while providing simple tools to curate and bring together valuable existing content already published online.
The first I'd like to bring to your attention is Classmill, which makes it very easy to create online courses by providing a very simple and intuitive interface and allowing the author to add with ease his own texts, as well as images, links and video clips coming from elsewhere on the web. Anyone can publish an online course and make it visible to everyone. Only those who register and join in can see the full contents and can participate in the integrated discussion area for the course.
The second one is Learnyst, which goes one step beyond Classmill by facilitating the creation of a full online school with multiple courses and the ability to charge for selected ones.
Both tools are extremely easy to use, and allow the assembly of existing materials, whether owned or produced by others.
This is an interesting trend as in the past most tools to deliver educational content relied on the author creating and posting only his own materials. The fact that you now can easily include valuable content published by others opens up the gates both for the curation of lots of existing content into useful learning courses as well as for the issue of whether and how to compensate curated content from others.
This economic issue though, does not preclude tons of free high-quality content to be re-used and showcased in many new free learning courses and it provides those who want to learn with even more non-commercial alternatives to master their favorite topics.
Takeaway: You are going to see more of these tools and more subject-matter experts create valuable learning resources by bringing together key relevant content produced by others while adding tangible value, perspective and context.
Check out these two tools:
- Learnyst
- Classmill
Other curation tools for learning moving in the same direction:
- Gibbon
- Learnist
- Educrate
More content curation tools organised in categories:
Stephen Dale's curator insight, April 4, 2015 10:40 AM
A very useful resource for anyone thinking of delivering on-line courses. Simple to use, and free!
Alfredo Corell's curator insight, April 7, 2015 6:42 AM
Finally a content curation tool directly devoted to Online Courses. It's an excellent web tool for teacher, trainers or educators.
Easy of use and very intuitive:
collect your links, photos, files, videos, articles, clips, etc... and melt them onto learning modules
Try it out now: http://classmill.com
Filomena Gomes's curator insight, April 18, 2015 8:52 AM
Robin Good's insight:
Notwithstanding the viral content-marketing tam-tam keeps selling the idea of content curation as a miracle-shortcut to work less, produce more content and get all of the benefits that an online publisher would want to have, reality has quite a different shade.
Unless your readers are not very interested themselves into the topic you cover, why would they take recomendations from someone who has not even had the time to fully go through his suggested resources?
Can that be useful beyond attracting some initial extra visibility?
How can one become a trusted information source if one does not thoroughly look and understand at what he is about to recommend?
A lot more than the one needed to create normal original content.
Read, verify and vet each potential resource, by taking the time needed to do this thoroughly.
Make sense of what that resource communicates or represents / offers and be able to synthesize it for non-experts who will read about it.
Synthesize and highlight the value of the chosen resource within the context of your interest area.
Enrich the resource with relevant references, and related links for those that will want to find out more about it.
Credit and attribute sources and contributors.
Preserve, classify and archive what you want to curate.
Share, distribute, promote the curated work you have produced. Creating it is not enough.
These are many more steps and activities than the ones required to create an original piece of content.
Robert Kisalama's curator insight, April 18, 2015 10:37 AM
truly Curation should not be merely aggregating different links without taking off time to reflect indeed it is very to end up like some one buying clothes impulsively only to realise you could have done without some of them.
Gilbert C FAURE's comment, December 29, 2014 10:28 AM
in the past few days, I was wondering if such events were organized in Europe. I have the answer! Do you know if similar meetings have been taking place in universities?
Robin Good's comment, December 30, 2014 2:53 AM
Hello Gilbert, yes there have been and there will be many events focusing on this topic inside academic institutions. Here a few links that you may find useful:
Gilbert C FAURE's comment, December 30, 2014 3:49 AM
Thanks Robin! Indeed a lot of meetings on data curation by scientists and library professionals. My concern relates more to what we are doing with Scoop.it, content curation, content meaning scientific information in published papers or grey literature. HappyHolidays
Erica Simoson's curator insight, June 4, 2018 12:34 PM
Some things are worth "Scooping"! Although you read a lot of different resources, only "scoop" the ones that are truly helpful and creditable.
Laurie Bleier's curator insight, July 27, 2018 11:20 AM
Google has stated that "quality content" is a main factor in search engine positioning. Quality content is user friendly, relevant and unique. Sites that adopt these guidelines will enjoy better search engine positioning. The importance of unique content cannot be stressed enough. A common problem with low ranking websites is that they have failed to invest in website copywriters and simply copy/paste from the suppliers' sites, or plagiarize. This is understandable. If you want to rank well on Google, unique content is vital! Learn more about quality content here.
Federico Santarelli's curator insight, April 1, 2019 7:26 PM
Grazie bellissimo Robin Good per offrirmi l'opportunità di lavorare Internet anche grazie a questo tuo social network www.scoop.it, mentre ti auguro di realizzare ciò che realmente scegli di realizzare, ricordo di ringraziare i lavoratori che hanno realizzato questo social network che mi sembra proprio fatto bene, buona giornata e buon lavoro! <3 ... <3
Thorsten Strauss's curator insight, October 25, 2015 2:41 PM
Best practice: curation and business model thinking. Great presentation on monetization.
Gilbert C FAURE's curator insight, December 16, 2017 5:54 AM
principles are very good!
examples are not so well known, so not successful..
to monetize, you should find people interested in paying your time
cheersitskatie's curator insight, June 22, 8:05 PM
These slides give extremely good examples of successful and profitable content curation in a good range of situations. I think content curators can really benefit by seeing and understanding how strategies, tools, and concepts work together in practice.
Nurita Sánchez's curator insight, January 29, 2016 2:13 PM
Cómo usar las colecciones:
wanderingsalsero's curator insight, November 2, 2016 3:57 AM
This is interesting because it shows how far the concept of 'Curation' has come in the last 10 years. I don't remember much about it but I remember that in the early days of Blogger, perhaps even before Google bought it, they had a tool or bookmarklet or some little button that had certain curation abilities. My first blog was on Blogger and I remember using that tool.
Later, I maintained a Posterous blog for a couple of years...maybe more. I liked Posterous a lot and was very sad when they sold it (Posterous) to Yahoo and then about a year later those jerks at Yahoo closed it down. I thought Posterous was a very nice blog with just the right amount of features to get the job done without getting too technical.
Felix Grobe's curator insight, June 9, 2018 9:43 AM
Google has just introduced "Collections", for Google+, a new service which allows any Google+ user to group his posts by topic and to create public, shareable collections of his favorite links, articles, videos and images.
To use Google Collections, simply go to your G+ profile page and then select "Collections" on the drop down menu appearing on the top left part of the page.
"Each collection can be shared publicly, privately, or with a custom set of people. Once you create your first collection, your profile will display a new tab where other people can find and follow your collections."
You can either create new posts containing whatever type of content inside a collection, or assign an existing, published post to a collection you have just created.
You can create as many collections as you like.
Google+ Collections is available on the web and on Android (iOS coming later).
My comment: Google+ Collections adds opportunity for creating additional value to G+ users by letting interests drive community engagement. This is a feature that sooner or later any social network will offer.
Free to use.
Try it out now: https://plus.google.com/collections/welcome
More info:
Official Google announcement: https://plus.google.com/+googleplus/posts/7ZpGWeou2sV
Featured collections: https://plus.google.com/collections/featured
See also the official review from Techcrunch:
Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/gtVNkbtS9g8
Stephen Dale's curator insight, April 27, 2015 7:34 AM
A news curation tool. A possible alternative to Scoop.it. Easier to use, but not as feature rich (e.g. lacks some of Scoop.it social sharing and publishing options)
Reading time: 5 mins
Joyce Valenza's curator insight, April 27, 2015 7:39 AM
A new curation tool, similar to Scoop.it, without the discover features. Simple and promising for creating on-the-fly boards and organizing topical content. via @robingood
Filomena Gomes's curator insight, April 18, 2015 8:54 AM
Robin Good's insight:
This article points out in multiple ways and with some interesting supporting data how big is the problem for schools and educational institutions in trying to identify relevant tools to adopt in absence of expert trusted guides that they can rely on.
The Hechingerreport writes: "...school leaders on this new frontier face a daunting challenge: from the slew of highly touted new products, how do they pick the right ones?
"It's hard for our people to know what all of the choices are," said Penny Hodge, the assistant superintendent of budget and finance in Roanoke. "Maybe there were even better choices and we weren't aware."
Today's school leaders must navigate a market with little trustworthy evidence to show what works. Billions of dollars are being spent while educators try to untangle a maze of sales pitches."
The problem of identifying the most appropriate tools, services or products is not a problem limited only to the education sector. Just about anyone who is not an tech-expert in his area would have a hard time today finding the most appropriate tools in the midst of so many offerings and so little trustworthy information about them.
"Part of the reason is that credible evidence often isn't available. Only one-third of school technology directors surveyed said that education technology companies offer reliable data on their products, according to the survey."
The solution to this issue is already starting to emerge in the form of both non-profit and commercial companies who will devote their time and resources to scout, test, verify and review tools while providing the means to search, filter and compare them easily.
Graphite.org, Edshelf are just two among many emerging examples of "reputable curation websites, with professional reviews and a social media component" that provide a one-stop solution for those in need of an expert and trusted guide in the tools for education area.
Must read for anyone interested in better understanding where we are headed when it comes to choosing tools.. 9/10
Full article: http://hechingerreport.org/as-market-surges-schools-struggle-to-find-the-best-tech-products/
Check also this excellent head-to-head coparison between Graphite and EdShelf: http://www.psla.org/blog/edshelf-vs-graphite/
Stephen Dale's curator insight, March 24, 2015 3:54 AM
Put simply - Google (and for that matter any commercial search engine) may skew search results to promote their own commercial interests. The question to ask yourself is "are the (search) results good enough?" - I'd say in Google's defence "yes they are".
Reading time: 5mins
WSI Digital Wave's curator insight, April 2, 2015 6:22 AM
Pali's curator insight, March 10, 2015 7:35 AM
Newsletter marketing is a ploy that is being successfully used by many industry tools and these tools can help you setup your newsletter.
LibrarianLand's curator insight, March 11, 2015 7:48 AM
Might make a good project for students; create your own newsletter.
Marta Torán's curator insight, February 17, 2015 12:31 PM
Newsletter con tus enlaces curados favoritos.
Kathleen Gradel's curator insight, February 5, 2015 7:14 PM
Click to Robin Good's Scoop.it, for his astute comments on this article: http://curation.masternewmedia.org/
Catherine Hol's curator insight, February 7, 2015 11:03 AM
People have less trust in "owned media", and want information from a variety of sources online.


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48 Hrs.
Walter Hill's long directing resume had a number of interesting genre movies early in his career (Southern Comfort, The Warriors, The Driver, The Long Riders) but 48 Hrs. stands out not only as a gritty piece of cop pulp, but as the slam bang debut of the then edgy 21-year old Eddie Murphy, transforming the usually dour Hill formula into a funny, action comedy and one of the best films of both Hill and Murphy's career. And frankly neither has ever lived up to the promise 48 Hrs. showed for both of them. Murphy has enjoyed some massive mainstream success but for the most part, both he and Hill most have spent the last couple decades treading between mediocre, dull, and lame.
Writing the screenplay for tough guy director Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway in the early '70s got Hill going in the business. He got his start directing soon after with the Bronson/Coburn fight fest Hard Times. He would carry on the Peckinpah legacy with films about badass guys who live in a hard-boiled world under a certain violent code (with underwhelming women's roles, usually as hookers). With The Warriors Hill would score a bonafide hit, though it's dark and ugly it would turn away from the Peckinpah realism into comic book territory, a style Hill would take to the max with his 48 Hrs. follow up, the action rock 'n roll musical dud Streets Of Fire. With 48 Hrs. Hill would go back to gritty realism but find some humor, mostly because of his intensely funny actor discovery.Continue Reading
The Warriors
Through the eyes of movies in the 1970s, New York City looked like one rough place. I don't mean the Woody Allen romantic side of New York (Annie Hall, Manhattan). I'm talking about almost every other film made in the decade, the dark Taxi Driver side. From The Out Of Towners to Death Wish (and most cops and crime flicks), culminating in the apocalyptic Escape From New York, the place appeared to be a dangerous dump. Bottom line: Central Park is not somewhere you want to be caught in after dark. The Warriors is maybe the perfect vision of this comic book wasteland.
The gangs in New York outnumber the cops two to one, so says Cyrus, leader of the baddest (and apparently the biggest) gang in town, The Riffs. This gangsta' visionary gets all the gangs together in Central Park for a sort of pep rally. But like so many important revolutionaries before him, he is assassinated by a creepy guy named Luther (played by the creepy actor David Patrick Kelly). Luther is able to blame the Warriors, a small-time gang in for the convention from Coney Island, Brooklyn. The Riffs kill the Warriors' leader, Cleon, and put out an APB on the rest of the gang. Suddenly every gang in town is after the remaining eight Warriors. Narrated by a hot-lips radio DJ, the Warriors are forced to fight off gangs, the cops, and negotiate New York's unreliable transportation system.Continue Reading


text:
fascismfăsh´ĭzəm [key], totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to the state control over every aspect of national life. The name was first used by the party started by Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy from 1922 until the Italian defeat in World War II. However, it has also been applied to similar ideologies in other countries, e.g., to National Socialism in Germany and to the regime of Francisco Franco in Spain. The term is derived from the Latin fasces.
Sections in this article:
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Political Science: Terms and Concepts


text:
'Beyond: Two Souls,' you mold the narrative (review)
For David Cage, game development is like a form of therapy. The founder of Quantic Dream uses the medium to work through his personal issues. "Heavy Rain," he said, dealt with his anxiety about fatherhood, which was represented by the constant worry protagonist Ethan Mars had for his son.
Recently, Cage said that he lost someone close to him and dealing with that loss helped fuel his latest project, "Beyond: Two Souls." The game focuses on Jodie Holmes, played by Ellen Page, who has a unique bond with a supernatural entity named Aiden. As a girl, she was raised in a government lab by researcher Nathan Dawkins (Willem Dafoe) and eventually drafted into the CIA.
In short vignettes, the campaign hopscotches through 15 years of her life. It's a muddled picture that crystallizes into a person and shows Jodie as a fugitive, a homeless woman and a spy. As the narrative jumps back and forth through her memories, players sculpt how the recollections are formed. "Beyond" doesn't have branching narratives per se, but players can shape the story's finer points based on choices and their performance in quick-time events.
For example, a decision during an interrogation could force a change to an ally's physical appearance. That's a minor detail. However, there are scenes where a performance can lead to divergent scenarios -- one where Jodie is captured, and another where she fends off a small army. Both scenes end with the same words, but how players arrive at the moment is different. Fans will have a great time comparing notes on their experiences and experimenting with chapters to see "Beyond's" 23 endings.
Quantic Dream excels at this style of gaming. It builds choice into the gameplay so that nearly every action has an effect on the story. It changes how players interact with the game, encouraging them to role play. Because they can't get a game-over screen, they want to mold the narrative in their own way instead of gamifying it.
"Beyond: Two Souls" won't be for everyone. It's more of a cinematic adventure rather than a visceral shooter. It straddles the line between movie and interactive experience. It's full of quick-time events -- moments where players must press the right buttons within a time limit to succeed.
To diversify gameplay, the team added stealth elements and action sequences, but they feel more guided than anything else. The best gameplay feature is the ability to control Aiden. The entity adds a puzzle-solving dimension in some chapters. In others, it aids in stealth as players use the entity to scout. It's even helpful during battles. As players experience Jodie's life, they will unlock the mystery behind their connection.
As for the story itself, it's predictable in spots. The dialogue is hokey in places, and some chapters don't fit the tone. But compared to "Heavy Rain," "Beyond" has fewer plot holes. Unfortunately, that comes at the expense of a plot that's not as tight and meanders to extraneous and out-of-place moments. (I don't buy Page as a paranormal Rambo.) But it does have moments that games don't explore, and those are the chapters where "Beyond" is at its best.
'Beyond: Two Souls'
Platform: PlayStation 3 Rating: Mature