text:
17 comments
Terri Daniel
Thank you Nancy, for writing this brilliant response. As you may know, I am the founder of the Afterlife Awareness Conference. Our third annual event was held just last week, and Eben was one of our featured presenters (along with Raymond Moody and other notables). Your first sentence sums this up beautifully… "a starry-eyed media, mostly secular, has done with near-death and similar experience exactly what fundamentalists have done with religion: They have literalized it."
It is so frustrating to deal with these small-minded attacks on spirituality and metaphysics, two topics that have NOTHING to do with science or religion. As a hospice chaplain and death-awareness educator, I feel it is my mission to help people see the difference. Thanks so much for this piece Nancy! Perhaps you would consider sending me your email address so I can add you to our list and send you updates about next year's conference (we have invited Eben back).
Ellen Brown
Interesting to read Nancy Evans Bush stance on Dr. E. Alexander's NDR. We discussed this book in our book club and it was a hot debated subject. I defended Dr. Alexander because only a few of us in our group believe in in NDR, after-life etc., saying that not any one NDR is alike, although many do have similar experiences but all are unique in how they process the experience and what the message has to say to them in what they need to know and learn. Thanks for sharing.
Ellen Brown,
John W. Price
Some books your club should read to inspect facts instead of wallow in opinions would begin with "Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences" by Jeffrey Long, M.D.
A fascinating sidelight to it would be "Mindsight" by Kenneth Ring, M.D., who explores accounts of blind people being able to see perfectly during their NDE while floating up in the room. And my book, "Revealing Heaven: the Christian Case for Near-Death Experiences" Harper's, 2013.
Nancy E Bush
Thank you, Terri. I'd love to be on your mailing list. My website is http://dancingpastthedark.com
You'll find contact information on the Author tab. Feel free to browse around the blog, too.
John W. Price
Good review, well written.
Danakil Horst
It should be apparent to anyone that the variety of experience relating to NDEs – as well as after-death contact, reincarnation experiences, and all the other manifestations in this field – requires a complex answer. Even in everyday matters (such as witness statements), people interpret events according to pre-existing experience, and truly believe they have seen things that did not happen. How much more will this be evident in such unique events as NDE? More important still is the need to define, before we examine 'survival', what we mean by 'identity'. Some (perhaps most, or all) 'ghosts' seem to be almost automata; Poltergeist activity seems to combine behaviour and limited discernment; Some 'departed' seem to be fully human in every respect except the possession of a living body; Reincarnation seems to (at least occasionally) bring memories with it; But what, in all this variety, is the 'I'? Without an answer to that, all survival experience lacks the central constituent. As our knowledge grows, everything from the bicameral brain to Multiple Personality increasingly suggests that the idea of a single, identifiable 'I' is an illusion, and each manifestation of this 'I' is a complex of perceptions, abilities, and limitations. Expecting a simple answer to any of this is hopeless (but the journey of exploration is the most interesting in the Universe!).
I had a nde over forty years ago. I was an atheist then and remain an atheist today (following much searching) The "I" is certainly an illusion of sorts, but I tend to think of these selves as realities of selves. What I got from my death was that this is infinitely connected. It's a simple message.
Eben has made a lot of money on his story, and I think it would be wrong to turn him into the victim of an industry that wants to twist truths and sell at any cost.
Frankly, from day one, Eben's entire argument which seperated himself from other NDE's which less sales and publicity, has been his credentials and the fact that the E.Coli "shut down his brain", making any hallucinations, experiences or memories impossible.
Just from one simple statement that Eben was "delirious", invalidates his ENTIRE argument as stated above. Delirious people's brain isnt "shut down", and they can certainly hallucinate, in fact it becomes probable.
I think Eben did see things he saw, but many things he did willfully lie about, including the rainbow, weather, unconciousness/brain shut down.
And frankly, his sister on the butterfuly wing, and his younger son "reaching" to him, sound far too convienent to be true to me.
I dont label Eben the victim, he has become immensly wealthy on the back of, at least partially, willful lies.
And his entire argument that his brain was shut down and unable to experience anything or hallucinate is now proven to be false. Deliriousness people are conscious and likely hallucinating.
Joseph Dillard
Remember the famous, ancient Indian story of the Blind Men and the Elephant? It is timeless because it presents the reality of polyperspectivalism – the fact that human development is the story of unfolding perspectives, each transcending, yet including the previous ones. Those at the more limited perspectives hold authentic perspectives, only more circumscribed, than those held by broader, more inclusive ones. The conceit of humanness is that everyone thinks that their worldview is the broadest and most accurate, right up to the point where people grok polyperspectivalism and get that all perspectives are real and authentic, but that some really are superior to others. Why are some really superior to others? Because they are more inclusive. A lot of people hate this idea, because it creates a hierarchy of truth; they need to affirm egalitarianism and pluralism (which in itself is one more legitimate and vital developmental perspective). Once you learn the road map, it becomes easier to recognize and respect the developmental bias of the speaker. And make no mistake about it – everyone has one. I have one. You have one. The problem is, when we do not see, understand and own our own developmental bias, or when we confuse an understanding of polyperspectivalism for the developmental attainment of that level (the common error of fans of Ken Wilber's integral developmental model), we project all sorts of embarrassing conclusions onto other people and their experiences. This is evident in Esquire's "report" and in the controversy about it. Let's remember that whatever we conclude about all this says much more about who we are and where we are upon our own particular developmental journey than it does about this author, the general public, Eban Alexander, or NDEs.
Nancy E Bush
Yes. Thanks for this.
David Sunfellow
Good points, Joseph. And well said, too.
Barbara Whitfield
Well said, Nancy
Alex Tsakiris
"That is a personal message to him from his NDE; the Dalai Lama instantly spotted his need to deal with it."
I think you've gone way too far with this. do you really trust Luke's (Esquire article's author) wild/unsubstantiated interpretation of the Dalai Lama's general remark to the panel. You've added a stamp of approval to one of the most outrageous of Luke's claims.
Birgitta Kovalenko
I get a little tired reading words like "polyperspectivalism" etc.. It's really quite simple. For decades, I have known that one cannot have any other viewpoint than one has. So, everyone is right from his/her viewpoint. I've had many out-of-body expriences, OBEs, where I was able to verify that my awareness (I), including ALL my senses, was in a specific physical place at a particular time, apart from my physical body, which remained, still, unanimated, miles from "me" or my awareness. What pundit dares challenge this?! :)
I haven't read the Esquire article, nor do I hold much opinion in regard to this man.
It however took me several years to truly understand what happened to me that day. So, I agree that we probably do need time to intergrate.
If mine had been taken literally; such as, "Into darkness, then what followed seemed to happen all at once…no time differential.". An "expert" could determine that "the inability of the human brain to sequence the events caused subject to determine that events are in fact interconnected". (gotta laugh)
For me personally…along with getting the occasional "reminders" (I'd guess that most nders know what that means)…I find comfort in theoretical physics in which we seem to be getting closer to understanding, imo.
Alexander, having worked on the quantum computer called the human brain, should perhaps realize that it is in probability entangled to an array of information, including butterflies. :)
timPosted on July 6, 2013
If you really had an NDE you are entitled to interpret that event any way you want to. But all the prospective studies have confirmed or at least pointed strongly to the experience occuring when the brain is not functioning (cardiac arrest).
So whatever brain pathology is supposed/proposed to create these experiences is completely irrelevant.
As Sam Parnia has said "If I inject you with LSD (or any other drug) in cardiac arrest, I guarantee you won't have an NDE".
As to Dr Alexander's critic, the very uneasy looking Mr Dittrich, I read his scoop and wasn't the slightest bit bothered by it. It doesn't matter whether he cried out "Help me God" or not, or what Dr Potter gave him (a chemical induced coma I believe, wipes out consciousness so that doesn't help materialists)
No one who has taken drug trips posesses the certainty of survival (of the vast majority of NDErs, not you of course) that NDErs do.
Ron Cecchini
Well said, Danakil and Joseph!
And well said, Nancy!
Great stuff.
(Joseph, I really liked you: "Once you learn the road map, it becomes easier to recognize and respect the developmental bias of the speaker." At this point, I've read literally thousands of NDEs, ADCs and OBEs – mostly courtesy of NDERF.org/ADCRF.org/OBERF.org – and you do indeed learn a "road map", so to speak. In other words, everyone's experiences are, as I put it, "uniquely similar" (or "similarly unique"), and you can see where the person's subjective beliefs and experiences interweaves with the objective reality they're encountering. In fact, as it pertains to Dr. Alexander, I've said a couple of times in recent months that I don't necessarily resonate with all of his conclusions and then add, "but he just had his experience 4-5 years ago and he's still processing it – so I can totally cut him some slack!" Heck, it took me 10 years to process my primary experience, so I "get it".)
Ok, 'nuff rambling.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


text:
Suunto Movescount is a growing sports community where you can create your own sports diary to collect and share your activities as well as customize your watch.
If you haven't already, go to www.movescount.com and register. Once you have a user account, you can connect your watch with your account two ways:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
He introduced us to "Greenie," his vegetable pal who was born from a doodle on his sketch pad a few years back. Greenie is the two legged poster veggie for eating healthy while simultaneously helping children learn colors. He is the star of several of Ryan's books: Are You Eating Something Red? and book of colorable placemats called Are You Eating Something Green?; both published by Blue Apple Books and recommended for ages preschool to 4 years old.
Zoe and Robot, his newest cartoon friends that have come to life through his illustrations, were also on hand. "Robot" is the best buddy of a little girl named Zoe. Through their adventures Zoe tries to teach him the art of pretending which helps open a new world for him outside of his robot ways. The book is recommended for ages 4-7 and you can to find out more or purchase any of Ryan's books on Amazon.com.
Sias, who has lived in Astoria for 10 years, has made it his life's work to inspire a child's interest in art.
Whether a child draws at home or is enrolled in classes, he believes that encouraging kids to be artistic gives them the ability to focus on non-traditional learning while developing different parts of the brain.
His impressive, artistic resume includes household names such as Sesame Street and Nickelodeon, where he has created story boards and helped other companies develop their vision.
He has also created web comic strips and has been given rave reviews on several book sites.
What makes him stand out from other cartoonists? He simply stated that his characters and animation style is "fun, loose and silly."
Aside from his books, you can find his prints and tees up for sale on his website, www.riansias.com. Contact him at email@example.com to say hi or to place a custom order for your next party, gift or book idea.
And make sure you check out www.riansias.com his site for upcoming book festivals, book signings and a chance to draw with him personally at his next event.
For more fashion inspiration, style education and local designer information, please visit www.thedressrecycler.com. Your bargain fashion superhero!


text:
Safety and Acceptability of the PrePex™ Device for Male Circumcision in Zambia
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01844102
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : May 1, 2013
Last Update Posted : May 13, 2014
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Device: PrePex
|Phase 4
The World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and other global reproductive health organizations have recognized the protective effect of male circumcision in HIV acquisition. Male Circumcision(MC) is one of the few biomedical methods to demonstrate consistent effectiveness as an HIV prevention intervention in randomized controlled trials (WHO and UNAIDS, 2007): three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa reported a protective effect up to 60% of circumcision against HIV infection. Subsequent studies have confirmed the value and persistence of MC's protection against HIV infection and have demonstrated that MC also reduces the acquisition and transmission of human papillomavirus.
A wide variety of instruments, devices, and techniques are used around the world for male circumcision. In 2008, WHO, UNAIDS and JHPIEGO released a draft document entitled Manual for Male Circumcision under Local Anesthesia, which includes step-by-step instructions for performing adult male circumcision using three different surgical procedures: the forceps-guided, dorsal slit, and sleeve resection methods. Procedure times for these techniques are approximately 20-30 minutes excluding anesthesia, involve control of bleeding and considerable suturing, and can be associated with a variety of complications.
Demand for MC, even in non-circumcising communities, is substantial when offered at no cost in a safe setting (WHO and UNAIDS, 2007). In most African settings, only surgical circumcision is available for most adults.
This is a prospective observational study of the PrePex device, which will be conducted with the aim of ascertaining moderate and severe adverse events. This study will be conducted within the context of routine service delivery in Lusaka, Zambia to identify potential issues that must be addressed as MC services are scaled up. PrePex circumcision procedures will be offered as part of the minimum package of HIV prevention services recommended by the Zambian Ministry of Health (MOH), including HIV testing and counseling, provision of Sexually Transmitted infection (STI) syndromic treatment, provision and promotion of condoms, and counseling on risk-reduction and safer sex. This study will be conducted in collaboration with the Zambia MOH and will follow recommendations for introductory study of devices as laid out in the WHO's Framework for Evaluation of Circumcision Devices.
This study is a prospective study of adult male circumcision procedures conducted with the PrePex MC device at two sites in Lusaka, Zambia. The investigators will enroll a total of 500 men aged 18 to 49 who are seeking voluntary medical male circumcision. The first 50 men will undergo intensive follow-up with six scheduled visits, while the remaining 450 men will be scheduled for two follow-up visits at 7 and 42 days after PrePex placement.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|500 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Single Group Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Evaluation of the Safety and Acceptability of the PrePex™ Device for Male Circumcision in Zambia
|Study Start Date :
|October 2013
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|April 2014
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|April 2014
Experimental: PrePex
PrePex circumcision procedures will be offered as part of the minimum package of HIV prevention services recommended by the Zambian Ministry of Health (MOH)
Device: PrePex
PrePex is a sterile device for adult male circumcision, consisting of an inner ring, elastic ring, placement ring, and verification thread. Proper sizing is facilitated by a sizing accessory. The elastic ring is loaded on to the placement ring, which is then placed at the base of the penis. The inner ring is placed inside the foreskin. The elastic ring is then deployed around the foreskin, clamping the foreskin against the inner ring. PrePex is manufactured by Circ MedTech Limited, is certified CE - Class IIa in the European Union, and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Adverse Events [ Time Frame: 42 days ]The incidence of moderate and severe adverse events (AEs) associated with PrePex procedures, including both procedural and post-procedure events, and all device-related incidents such as dislodgment.
- Acceptability of PrePex procedures among male circumcision providers [ Time Frame: 42 days ]MC provider questionnaires assessing ease and duration of procedures, problems encountered during procedures and post-procedure care, and opinions of PrePex compared to the forceps-guided method or other circumcision methods with which the providers are familiar
- Proportion of men ineligible for circumcision with PrePex [ Time Frame: 42 days ]Proportion of men presenting for MC who are excluded due to tight foreskin, frank phimosis or other criteria
- Follow-up outcomes [ Time Frame: 42 days ]Proportion of men who do not return at 7 days and require active follow-up, as well as outcomes among men who do not return for scheduled removal and efforts required for active follow-up
- Costs of PrePex training and service delivery [ Time Frame: 42 days ]Costs of training and service delivery including human resources (number and cadre of operators required), and materials and supplies
- Acceptability of PrePex procedures among Zambian clients [ Time Frame: 42 days ]Quality of life and satisfaction questionnaires
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 49 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Must be aged 18 to 49 years;
- Must be uncircumcised (on examination);
- Must be in good general health;
- Must agree to voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, or have documentation of testing no more than one week before the MC visit;
- Must be HIV-uninfected;
- Must be free of genital ulcerations or other visible signs of STI (on examination);
- Must be able to understand study procedures and the requirements of study participation;
- Must agree to return to the healthcare facility for the full schedule of follow-up visits after his circumcision or be willing to receive a home visit;
- Must freely consent to participate in the study and sign a written informed consent form;
- Must have a cell phone or access to a cell phone; and,
- Must agree to provide the study staff with an address, phone number, or other locator information while participating in the research study.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Penis does not fit any of the five PrePex sizes;
- Takes a medication that would be a contraindication for elective surgery, such as an anticoagulant or steroid;
- Has known bleeding/clotting disorder (e.g. hemophilia);
- Has an active genital infection, anatomic abnormality (e.g. phimosis or hypospadias) or other disease or condition (e.g. extreme obesity, poorly controlled diabetes, sickle cell anemia, AIDS-like signs or symptoms) which in the investigator's opinion contraindicates MC or participation in the study; and,
- Is participating in another longitudinal biomedical research study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01844102
|Society for Family Health
|Lusaka, Zambia
|Principal Investigator:
|Karin Hatzold, MD, Ph.D.
|Population Services International
|Principal Investigator:
|Paul Hewett, Ph.D.
|Population Council
|Principal Investigator:
|Namwinga Chintu, MBChB
|Society for Family Health
|Principal Investigator:
|Bruce Bvulani, MBChB, MMed
|Ministry of Health, Zambia
|Responsible Party:
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|May 1, 2013 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|May 13, 2014
|Last Verified:
|May 2014
HIV Prevention, PrePex, voluntary medical circumcision, non-surgical,
medical device, wound healing, Zambia


text:
Wicker Garden & Patio Furniture Sets | eBay
Looking For: Wicker Garden & Patio Furniture Sets | eBay
icconrattan.com has great articles about it.
Rattan (from the Malay rotan) is the name for roughly 600 species of old world climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae (from the Greek 'kálamos' = reed). Rattan is also known as manila, or malacca, named after the ports of shipment Manila and Malacca City, and as manau (from the Malay rotan manau, the trade name for Calamus manan canes in Southeast Asia). The climbing habit is associated with the characteristics of its woody stem, soft and flexible comparing to true wood derived from a typical secondary growth.
Most rattans differ from other palms in having slender stems, 2–5 cm diameter, with long internodes between the leaves; also, they are not trees but are vine-like lianas, scrambling through and over other vegetation. Rattans are also superficially similar to bamboo. Unlike bamboo, rattan stems ("malacca") are solid, and most species need structural support and cannot stand on their own. Many rattans have spines which act as hooks to aid climbing over other plants, and to deter herbivores. Rattans have been known to grow up to hundreds of metres long. Most (70%) of the world's rattan population exist in Indonesia, distributed among the islands Borneo, Sulawesi, and Sumbawa. The rest of the world's supply comes from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Bangladesh.
Generally, raw rattan is processed into several products to be used as materials in furniture making. The various species of rattan range from several millimetres up to 5–7 cm in diameter. From a strand of rattan, the skin is usually peeled off, to be used as rattan weaving material. The remaining "core" of the rattan can be used for various purposes in furniture making. Rattan is a very good material mainly because it is lightweight, durable, suitable for outdoor use, and—to a certain extent—flexible.
Rattans are extensively used for making furniture and baskets. When cut into sections, rattan can be used as wood to make furniture. Rattan accepts paints and stains like many other kinds of wood, so it is available in many colours; and it can be worked into many styles. Moreover, the inner core can be separated and worked into wicker.
Indonesian concept have been in the business in designing, manufacturing and exporting wooden & rattan furniture and accessories to parts of the world. We have exported for more than 50 countries in America, Asia, Europe, and Worldwide.
We produce ethnic and modern style wooden & rattan furniture and art accessories which have indonesian distinction. At the same time we add interesting and functional features from time to time to the most happening collections.
See our collections:


text:
SAN FRANCISCO -- Having an obese mother may alter early fetal brain development, a gene expression analysis suggested.
Second trimester amniotic fluid showed significantly lower expression of genes involved in the normal process of central nervous system (CNS) apoptosis that makes room for neurons, Andrea Edlow, MD, of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues found.
Fetuses of obese women also had a nine-fold increased expression of the apolipoprotein D gene (APOD), which normally is neuroprotective but may be harmful when overexpressed, they reported here at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine meeting.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean that these children will have structurally abnormal brains or functional impacts, warned Mary D'Alton, MD, of New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, who co-chaired the session where the results were presented.
Action Points
- This study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
- Having an obese mother may alter early fetal brain development, according to a gene expression analysis.
- Note that obesity in women has been linked to poorer cognitive performance, higher incidence of autism spectrum disorders, and more attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in their children in prior observational studies.
She called the study results "interesting but I would be extremely cautious" when interpreting them, she said in an interview. "This is a very preliminary investigation, and the last thing we would want to do is scare people without any kind of detailed information."
Regardless, obese women should be getting preconception counseling, she pointed out. "We don't need to wait on that," she told MedPage Today. "There are many other reasons women should reduce their weight."
Obesity in women has been linked to poorer cognitive performance, higher incidence of autism spectrum disorders, and more attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in their children in prior observational studies, Edlow noted.
Rat studies have shown structural brain changes and differences in apoptosis gene expression and neuronal migration of progenitor cells in the fetal brain associated with maternal obesity. Knocking out a gene for CNS apoptosis in rodents led to a severe brain anomaly.
"While we commonly perceive apoptosis to be a response to harmful stimuli, apoptosis actually plays a critical role in normal neurodevelopment," she explained.
Her group examined discarded supernatant from clinically-indicated second trimester amniocentesis from eight obese women (body mass index of 30 kg/m2) and eight controls (BMI <25 kg/m2), all with singleton pregnancies free from anomalies and matched for gestational age and sex.
Cell-free fetal RNA extracted from the amniotic fluid showed consistent differences in expression for 205 genes, with roughly half upregulated and the rest downregulated.
The most downregulated gene for the obese versus lean women's offspring was the pro-apoptotic gene STK24, with 2.5-fold down regulation of the similarly pro-apoptosis CASP9.
Genes that resist apoptotic cell death were upregulated in the obesity-exposed fetuses, with 7.6-fold higher BCL2 expression and twofold higher BCL2L1 expression.
Using a functional analysis, significant upregulation was seen in five genes involved in apoptosis of cerebral cortex cells, four involved in cell death of hippocampal cells, and four of sympathetic neuron apoptosis.
Four genes involved in viability of dendritic cells were downregulated significantly among the obese women's offspring.
Edlow acknowledged the lack of data on preexisting diabetes or other conditions in the mothers.
"Given the epidemic of maternal obesity in this country, we hope that these preliminary findings in a small group of women will form the foundation for future research and, hopefully, intervention," she concluded.
It may be possible to mitigate the harmful downstream effects of genes that are dysregulated with medication, she told MedPage Today.
This study provides the scientific underpinnings to help explain epidemiologic links, commented Donna Johnson, MD, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, who served as the meeting program chair.
"This study shows that there's an alteration of the fetal gene environment," she told MedPage Today. "This is just more scientific evidence this is the way this occurs."
The study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Edlow and Johnson reported no conflicts of interest.
Primary Source
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Source Reference: Edlow A, et al "Decreased apoptosis in fetuses of obese women: implications for neurodevelopment" SMFM 2013; Abstract 37.


text:
Storksak Poppy Baby Changing Bag
The Storksak Poppy baby changing bag is a retro satchel style bag with a cool, structured shape that makes it perfect for keeping everything stored neatly and within reach at all times, with no more rummaging around in the bottom of your handbag for lost items!
This new Storksak style is exceptionally practical, with the option to easily convert it to a backpack with its dual function long strap – great for when you want to be hands free.
The Poppy comes with a matching, additional FAB bag for storing food and bottles. It is fully insulated and features an elasticated strap to hold bottles upright. Its top grab handle doubles up as a handy Velcro strollerstrap, so can be used separately when you want to fit more inside the main bag.
For parents who like everything to be organised and at their fingertips, the Poppy has got it in the bag.
Dimensions: H 32cm, L 39cm, D at base 14 cm
- Made from tough, wipe clean quilted nylon with silver hardware
- Removable, adjustable cross-body strap with built in Strollerstraps
- Shoulder straps
- Wide opening zipped top
- Four internal organiser compartments
- Large internal zipped pocket for valuables
- Mobile phone pocket and six elasticated compartments inside main bag
- Two external, adjustable side pockets ideal for holding bottles upright
- Additional large external back drop-in pocket
- Features an insulated 'buddy bag' in matching quilted fabric
- Luxury padded changing mat in matching quilted fabric
- Signature Storksak wipe clean linings throughout


text:
Mint Help
Looking for answers? Most questions can be answered instantly by searching our Community-Powered Forum.
- Basics
- Bank Accounts
- Features
- Apps
Does Mint support international banks?
Yes. Currently, Mint.com supports banks in the United States and Canada. We hope to support more countries in the future.
How do I delete my Mint account?
You can delete your Mint account by following the steps below from a web browser (you can't delete your account from the mobile apps at this time):
- Sign in to your Mint.com account.
- Click the Settings link at the top of the page, then click on Sign In & Security.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the Sign In & Security page and click the link to Delete Your Mint Account.
- Click YES, delete my Mint Account.
- Enter your Mint Password and click Finish.
- The confirmation box will appear stating that your account has been deleted and a confirmation email will be sent to you shortly. Click OK.
- All account details will be fully deleted within 2-3 days.
Note: If you don't have the option to click on Settings, you've likely not added any bank accounts, or have already deleted them. To finish deleting your Mint account, scroll to the bottom of the main page (after logging into your account), and click the 'Delete Your Mint Account' link there. (If you recently deleted your bank accounts, you need to logout, and back in once more to view the Delete link on the main page.)
If you can't log in to your account, more information about Multi-Factor Authentication and how to access your account is available.
How can I reset my Mint password?
You can reset your password by requesting that the password recovery email be sent to you by clicking here and entering the email you used to register for your Mint account.
How can I change my email address?
To change the primary email address for your account, please follow the steps below:
- Login to your Mint.com account.
- Click the Profile link at the top of the page.
- Click the Settings icon in the toolbar of the window that opens.
- From there, take the appropriate action based on your needs.
When/how does my data get updated on Mint?
We aggregate bank data for most accounts every day and update it when you login to your account.
How do I change my preference for how I receive alerts (email/SMS)?
You can edit your preferences for how often you receive emails from Mint.com, and which types of alerts you'd like to receive by following the steps below:
- Login to your Mint.com account.
- Click the Profile link.
- Click the email & alerts icon in the toolbar of the window that opens.
- From there, take the appropriate action based on your needs.
How is Mint free?
We make money when you save money with the Ways To Save feature on Mint. If you sign up for a checking, savings, credit card or brokerage account marked as sponsored, we earn a referral fee.
How do I report a phishing / suspicious email?
If you suspect you have received a fraudulent email from Mint, please visit: http://security.intuit.com/index.php and check the Security Alerts section to see if you see an alert for the email you received. If you do not, please forward a copy of the unaltered email with full headers to: email@example.com.
Mint supports my bank but I can't add it. What should I do?
First, ensure you are using the same login credentials you use when accessing your account on your bank's website. If you are, and your bank problems persist, please submit the information below via our Contact Mint form.
- The name of the bank.
- The URL you use to login to the bank--for example, www.chase.com.
- The specific error messages you receive when trying to add the account to your Mint account.
- Information about extra security requirements your bank requires to login, such as image verification, additional security questions, incorrect forms, etc.
- Can you successfully log in to your bank directly?
Note: Currently, Mint.com only supports banks in the United States and Canada.
I'm having problems with the security challenge when adding my account.
Below are a few tips that may help:
- Be sure to answer the same number of questions on Mint as you answered on your bank's website.
- For some banks, the questions and answers need to be in the exact same order as they are listed on your bank's website.
- If you've forgotten the questions you set up on the bank's website, you should try to confirm by visiting bank's website, or calling their online banking support to retrieve them.
- Answers to these questions may be case-sensitive. i.e. 'Dog' will work, while 'dog' will not.
Note: The number of questions you need to answer on Mint may be less than the number of form fields displayed on the page. If none of these tips help, please submit details to us via our Contact Mint form.
I'm being told my login credentials are not correct but I am sure they are.
If you are certain you are using the correct username and password but it doesn't seem to work on Mint, it might help to change your password on your bank's website and then re-enter it on Mint. It may help to use the minimum character limit allowed by your bank, just in case a character limit issue is coming into play. Once you've done this, come back to Mint and click Fix it then Edit details to re-enter your login credentials.
I can't find my bank, credit card or financial institution.
Below are some tips that may help:
- Try searching for the URL instead of the name. For example, you can find Compass Bank by searching for "compassweb.com".
- Instead of searching for the generic term "Visa", search for the issuer listed on the back of the card (e.g. "Chase", "MBNA", "Bank of America").
- If neither of the tips above help, we simply may not support your bank. In this case, please see the steps to take under the FAQ entitled What can I do if Mint.com does not support my bank?
I can't find my bank, credit card or financial institution.
When you can't find your bank listed in search results in the add account process, you will see a link that says tell us about it. Please complete this form, and we'll submit a request to our data provider requesting that they add support for your bank.
Please note that due to factors outside our control, including approval from the banks themselves, we cannot guarantee that your bank will be supported, but we will do our best. You can check back periodically to see if support for your bank has been added.
How can I delete a bank account that I've added to my Mint account?
If you have an account that you would like to remove from your Accounts page on Mint, you can follow the steps below:
- Login to your Mint.com account.
- Click the Your Accounts link at the top of the page.
- Locate the account you want to remove from your profile.
- Click the Delete button to permanently delete the account.
- Type delete then click on the Ok button. This will permanently delete all of your account data.
Note: Deleting an account will permanently delete all data associated with the account, including historical transactions and any account customizations.
How can I hide an account so it doesn't appear in Mint?
If you no longer want an account to show up within Budgets and Trends (or all of Mint.com), you can follow the steps below to hide an account:
- Login to your Mint.com account.
- Click the Profile link at the top of the page.
- Click the Hide icon in the right-hand corner of the pop-up.
- Select the radio button for the account you wish to hide and decide if you want to hide it from Budgets and Trends or All of Mint.
How do I close an account so Mint no longer tries to aggregate data for the account, but I can maintain the transaction history?
If you wish to close an account, but don't want to delete it and lose the historical transaction data, you can follow the steps below:
- Login to your Mint.com account.
- Click the Accounts link at the top of the page.
- Locate the account you want to close from your profile and click the arrow next to the account you want to close.
- Click the Status dropdown and then click closed.
How do I add a new account for a bank I already added to Mint?
If you've recently opened a new bank account and it's not yet appearing in Mint, it should appear soon. Mint automatically detects and adds new accounts during the automatic refresh of your account data (this is the process that refreshes your account without you signing into Mint to update). If other accounts with the same bank get updated and you still don't see the new account, please submit details to us via our Contact Mint form.
Can I use Mint without adding a bank?
No. At this time you can only use Mint if you have access to your bank accounts online.
Can I import more transactions into my account to get a more comprehensive overview of my personal finances?
Unfortunately there is no way to import transactions at this time. The amount of transaction data that is brought in when you create your account is dependent on the bank and can range from 30 to 90 days.
Can I upload my transaction history from another personal finance program, such as Quicken?
No, unfortunately this cannot be done at this time.
Why are some transactions in gray italics?
Any transactions that appear in gray italics are transactions that are showing as pending on your bank's website and should go away once they clear.
Please note that if you edit a transaction while it's pending, it can interfere with our reconciliation process and may need to be manually deleted once the cleared transaction posts.
Why does my budget for a particular category show that I am grossly over budget, but, when I click on the link for that category, it shows this month's transactions are much less?
This can happen when the budget for a particular category is set to roll over. If this is the case, then the balance that you over-spent from a previous month will get applied to the current month. You can check to see if this is the case by clicking on edit details for that category, then checking to see if the Make this budget roll over option is selected.
How do I create a Goal?
Creating Goals is easy. With our Goals feature, you can set up and track your progress towards goals like getting out of debt, saving for vacation or retirement, or buying a house. You can create a Goal by following the steps below:
- Login to your account and click on the Goals tab.
- Click the icon for the type of goal you'd like to create.
- Follow the step by step instructions.
Learn more here.
Note: The Goals feature is not yet available in Canada.
How do I delete a Goal I've created?
You can delete a Goal by following the steps below:
- Login to your account and click on the Goals tab.
- Click on the goal you've created that you wish to delete.
- Once you do that, you should see a box in the upper right-hand corner that says delete this goal.
How do I edit a Goal I've created?
You can edit a Goal by following the steps below:
- Login to your account and click on the Goals tab.
- Click on the goal you've created that you wish to edit.
- Once you do that, you should see a box in the upper right-hand corner that says edit this goal.
Can I link multiple Goals to one account?
No, not at this time. The way we track your progress toward a goal is by matching payments to a specific account.
What is a Budget?
A budget is a projected sum of spending within a certain category and time range (in Mint, the calendar month). Mint displays your spending in each category (for example, spending on Groceries) along with the projected amount you set to show you if you are on track in that category. Budgets are useful for setting monthly spending goals (like reducing spending on shopping), monitoring your progress, and maintaining a healthy cash flow picture---so you can consistently have enough money to pay your bills, save for the future, and spend on things you need.
Can I set a budget for a future month?
No, not at this time.
Can I edit a previous month's budget?
No, not at this time.
How can I view a budget from the previous year?
While you are able to view the all-time sum of all budgets by clicking the All-Time tab at the top right of the main Budgets tab, you are currently not able to view individual monthly budgets before one year ago.
What is an Everything Else budget?
The Everything Else budget will include all spending not associated with a budget category that you have set up.
What are Bill Reminders?
Mint organizes all your bills for you, so you can see them in once place. We'll even send bill reminders to your mobile phone or email to help you stay on top of payments and avoid late fees.
How do you edit a Bill Reminder?
Follow the steps below to edit a bill reminder that's already been created:
- Click the gear symbol next to Upcoming Bill and choose Change your Reminders.
- On the Your Bill Reminders pop up page, click the orange button that says Add Reminder.
- In the Add Reminder field, put the name of the bill that you would like to add then press Enter on your keyboard.
- Put the value on the amount field, next to the bill name and choose the occurrence of the bill.
- Click on Set Reminder button
- Click on Close button to save your reminder.
How many transactions will Mint pull in when I add a bank account?
Mint will pull in 30-90 days worth of transactions, dependent on the financial institution or bank.
Which mobile OS platforms does Mint support?
We currently support iPhone/iPad (iOS 5.0), Android mobile devices (2.3.0 and up) and Android tablets (3.0 and up with a screen at least 8.9 inches). You can look for the latest updates and all things Mint.com for iPhone, iPad and Android here.
How do I set up or stop mobile alerts?
- Login to Mint.com.
- At the very top of the page, click Your Profile.
- Click Email & Alerts in the top toolbar of the window that opens.
- Under Mobile Configuration, enter your mobile number, and then click Send.
- You will see the message Mint has texted you an activation code. When you receive the text, enter it and click Finish.
- You will see the message Your SMS Account Linked Successfully!
Across from Send summary texts, notice that by default, Weekly is selected. Summary texts sent weekly will include balances in your accounts. If you'd like to turn off summary texts, click the pull-down menu and select Never. Now, under Alert Configuration, designate which alerts you would like to receive via SMS by checking the corresponding boxes. When you're finished, click Close.
To opt out of SMS alerts, just text STOP to 696468 from your mobile phone, and we will unsubscribe you from our SMS text messaging service immediately. You will not receive any additional messages until you re-register on our website.
Can I create or edit budgets, or split transactions on Mint for iPad?
Yes, this functionality is available.
Can I view, add, or edit Goals on Mint for iPad?
Not at this time.
How do I delete Bill Reminders, Alerts and Advice in the feed on the iPad?
Simply swipe across the item you want to delete.
If my phone gets lost or stolen, can I remotely deactivate this app?
Yes, remote access for any mobile device can be turned off within the settings tab in your account from the website. The next time the device tries to connect and find it's been disabled, it will log out and clear the data.
- Log into Mint.com.
- Click Your Profile at the very top of the page.
- Click Settings in the top toolbar of the window that opens.
- Scroll down until you see the mobile device and click the link to deactivate.
- When you click Close, your changes will be saved.
What is Mint QuickView?
Mint QuickView is your personal finance dashboard for the Mac. It gives you an instant snapshot of where your money is being spent and what transactions have been made in your accounts. You see it all in bit-sized pieces, so it's never overwhelming -- making it easier to stay on top of your personal finances.
Read all of the Mint QuickView FAQs by visiting our Support Community here.
Community Powered Forum
Most answers can be found instantly by searching this forum. You can also propose feature ideas or send us general feedback. A response from Mint employees is not guaranteed.
Contact Mint
If you have a specific issue with bank accounts, transactions, or can't find your answer in the community-powered forum, you can contact Customer Service here. You'll typically get a response within 24 hours.


text:
Whether you're a keen sailor, or just eager to feel wind in your hair as you sail into the sunset, there's an adventure to suit in Queensland's ultimate sailing destination – The Whitsundays.
Did you know that The Whitsundays is the only place in the world where you can rent a multi-million-dollar sailing yacht without a licence? Yep, you can be your own captain and navigate the 74 islands of the Whitsundays on your very own private sailing adventure.
While bareboating is fairly straight forward and a romantic adventure your significant other can be incredible, having a larger crew will help, especially if this is your first bareboating holiday. So, assemble your crew and enjoy the fun.
Be guided around the Whitsundays with your own talented skipper. Kick back, spread out and relax on the deck as you decide where to next. Do what you want, when you want.
If you're up for some extra fun, your skipper can teach you the basics of sailing and give you a chance to get behind the wheel.
Ranging from budget backpacker party boats to family-friendly getaways, you can opt for a public tour instead of renting your private boat. These are perfect for the extrovert wanting to meet new friends. Plus, it's a little easier on the hip pocket.
For a week in August, the Whitsundays is adorned with sails for the Airlie Beach Race Week, a colourful week of sailing and partying. Picture long lunches and a chock-a-block full social calendar. Sailing enthusiasts, this is an event not to be missed.
You can also get involved in the Hamilton Island Race Week which has more of a foodie and fashion edge. Show me more events.


text:
Communication and Media Richness Assurance in High-performance Projects
In Communication, the term media richness (or information richness) refers to the amount of information a medium is capable of transmitting per given time unit.
With a plethora of available communication tools and often high degrees of freedom in their timing, choosing the right tool at the right time is non-trivial. Depending on the choice of tools and timing, results will vary from excellent through acceptable to undesired. However, as no universally successful recipe exists for ensuring positive outcomes, having a good understanding of the various communication options and their attributes will increase chances of making rational decisions accumulated and translating in turn into complex, fit-for-purpose solutions.
This article seeks to help project practitioners gain awareness of different communication tools and timing from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Disciplines covered are human nature, psychology, mathematics, linguistics and culture, with use of case studies and best practice. The diverse angles on the topic come together to bring a unified, in-depth understanding of media richness assurance aiding practitioners to achieve better results in their practical application in project implementations.
A key concept discussed in the article is Media Richness Theory (MRT), or Information Richness Theory. MRT describes how various communication media, such as face-to-face interaction and email correspondence, have different characteristics in terms of their information capacity and transfer rate as well as notable advantages and disadvantages.
Based on MRT, three case studies will be discussed to analyse chosen communication tools and methods in relation to project implementation. Conclusions from the case studies will guide the final article recommendations.
Organisations rely on communication to successfully complete tasks (typically organised in projects) and fulfil purposes. Since success is typically measured on a linear scale, any overall project success could be considered the sum of a series of intermediary successes. Project purpose fulfilment thus quite simply relies on good stakeholder communication on a continuous basis throughout the entire project lifecycle.
What separates standard projects from high-performing projects is that in the latter communication effectiveness becomes vital not only regarding accuracy but also for speed. In other words, communication needs to happen both precisely and quickly, allowing superb utilisation of project resources to create outstanding project results.
Given the critical role of communication in high-performance projects, the question is 'how does one go about designing and executing this complex project system of communication?'. As Daft and Lengel universally put it, "How do organizations perform this miracle?" [1]
Human Nature
To truly understand later developments and higher-abstraction processes and terminology, one must journey back to the basics at the source and core meanings of the topic: Human beings are born with five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. These senses are designed not only for survival (securing life necessities) but also to enable us to communicate with our surroundings to yield better results in numerous respects. In essence, our choice of senses can be considered a toolbox that we make use of in various ways in order to carry out tasks and fulfil purposes. The way in which we relate to and make use of this toolbox sees us entering the domain of psychology: from a number of available options we make a given decision that employs one or more senses and then subsequently take appropriate action. These thought processes started out in history among primates as survival-prioritised ('there is food straight ahead, so I will move in that direction in order to get and eat it'), but have through time evolved substantially to highly complex, human decision-making patterns ('there is food straight ahead, but information tells me there is better food a little further on, so I will go there instead to eat). As evident in both scenarios, human biology is coupled with psychology through decision-making. In the latter, however, richer communication is present resulting in greater overall benefit.
Organisational Psychology
Organisations formed by coalitions of human beings have existed for several thousand years, yielding tremendous benefits on a grand scale. For example, the ancient Greek and Romans erected monumental structures [2] which would have never been possible without cooperation through communication.
As with individual human psychological evolution, the psychology employed in traditional organisations evolved over time into a higher-complexity field as seen in modern organisations. Evolution in technology, human and material resources, infrastructure and health collectively caused an explosion in size and resolution of the overall decision-making landscape. There are now many times more key decision-makers in each organisation and an astronomical amount of organisation-level decisions made daily across the global business community. The refined effect of this on psychological factors is that decision-makers have access to an overwhelming amount of information and communication options yet continue to have the same mere five basic human senses. A way that modern organisations deal with this severely infavourable interface misalignment is to employ processes, policies and communication protocols to continually aid decision-making mechanisms. This places emphasis on organisation stakeholders to learn and appropriately interact with the organisational framework, but in return offers reduced levels of uncertainty achieved through somewhat guided focus. As Jacobsen and Thorsvik put it, "organisations are selective in their search for information and shield themselves against different types of information".[4]
Information Media
In today's digital world an endless array of communication media exists for people to utilise. This immediately poses a threat to both efficiency and effectiveness, since communication is a continuous process and people therefore potentially could invest huge amounts of resources in communication with only an acceptable (or even little) amount of gain. Complimentarily, if communication media are used appropriately this vast selection of tools some of which could be considered extremely powerful could mean historically unprecedented opportunities for achieving world-leading project results.
The list below comprises some key communication media, categorised broadly based on their information/data transfer capabilities (quality of the data stream, categorised by fidelity[5] and measured in bits per second; bps).
|Transfer rate (typical) - primary data
|Transfer rate (typical) - secondary data
|Primary data type
|Secondary data type(s)
|Maximum senses engaged
|Conversation party size (typical)
|Face-to-face conversation
|99,500,000,000+[7](limited to 1080p quality)
|Video conferencing
|Telephone calling
|12,200[10] (3G connection)
|Audio conferencing
|Internet messaging/chat
|1[12] (based on 4 characters typed per second)
|500,000[13] (min. recommended rate for most demanding medium: video)
|Mixed media
|Email correspondence
|1[12] (based on 4 characters typed per second)
|500,000[13] (min. recommended rate for most demanding medium: video)
|Mixed media
|Multimedia messaging (MMS)
|1[12] (based on 4 characters typed per second)
|12,200[10] (3G connection)
|Mixed media
|Text messaging (SMS)
|1[12] (based on 4 characters typed per second)
Data Flow
As seen in the table, the 8 different communication media vary greatly in their characteristics. By looking at the various data transfer rates, it appears that certain communication media provide significantly more information per time unit than others (in this article classed as media 'richness'). Adding to the mix the limits for senses engaged, which indicate the resources at the communication recipient's availability, an overall conceptual picture starts to form about data flow:
1. There are vastly differing caps for different communication media on how much information is transmittable
2. Dependent on chosen media type, there is great disparity in employable reception points (senses engaged) to which information is receivable.
Worth noting about the above quantitative data analysis is that it is solely concerned with mathematics and the numerical aspect of data streams. Left out entirely of this picture are the sociological and design/implementation aspects of communication. Other resource theories/models go in depth with these areas, such as the 34 different hypotheses found in Deutsch's research paper on cooperation and competition[14] and the cost-versus-efficiency model for determining the best group size in Casari and Tagliapietra's article Group Size in Social-ecological Systems[15].
Data Quality
Whereas data flow tells us how much information is mathematically possible to send/receive, data quality relates to the clarity of the transmitted message. This aspect is vital in truly understanding the advantages and pitfalls of various information media. A key measurable for assessing quality is Signal-to-noise ratio.
Looking into the meaning of the numeric transfer rates in the table data, each figure (denoting a pool of information) can be considered to contain two sub-components: signal and noise. The signal is what carries the key message from a communication sender to a communication recipient, whereas the noise covers any other signal that is considered irrelevant to the given conversation/communication transaction. This concept is applicable to both audio and visual media components.
Assuming that both signal and noise account for a low minimum of 10% of the data transfer rate for each medium, the larger data rates immediately transpire to have significantly more resolution in terms of both signal and noise information. Appropriate filtering in terms of blocking out noise would then allow a richer signal to be perceived. Luckily, both our highly-efficient visual and audio perception coupled with advanced brain processing allows just this. For audio, "auditory perception encompasses a sequence of feature extraction steps, with increasingly complex acoustic features extracted at each stage of neural processing"[16]
The bottom-line result of increased available information and our biologically highly effective signal/noise processing is that richer media allow for a much cleaner communication output in terms of delivery of the intended message. Controversely, the more information we have to deal with, the higher the quality of the outcome. Naturally, this is only true as long as there is a reasonable proportion of signal in the data transmission; or, on the flipside, the noise fraction should not exceed certain thresholds. As an example, for face-to-face communication Singleton observes that "for communication to be judged as satisfactory, background levels need to be below about 50 dB(A) for a listener 2 m away..."[17]. Likewise, in terms of the speed of the conversation there are upper limitations defined by our biology. As pointed out by Levitin, "the processing capacity of the conscious mind has been estimated at 120 bits per second"[18].
Historic Media Use
As seen, different communications media have different characteristics. To make best use of the strengths of each medium while steering clear of individual weaknesses, it may be beneficial to keep historic developments and root causes for the creation of different communication media in mind.
While the complete history of communication media spans more than 5000 years, and holds vast amounts of useful knowledge, focusing in on a few key developments may help provide enough resolution to the article topic. Below is a table of date-ordered technological advances and key associated benefits.
|Medium Introduced
|Intended Benefit
|Cuneiform writing
|Communicate in writing
|Written conversation over distance
|Telephone (landline)
|Spoken conversation over distance
|Video conversation
|Synchronous video conversation
|Internet Chat
|Synchronous written conversation
|E-mail (electronic mail)
|Freedom in written conversation over distance
|Telephone (mobile)
|Freedom in spoken conversation over distance
|Audio conferencing
|Audio conversation over the internet
|Video conferencing
|Video conversation over the internet
|SMS / text message (Short Messaging Service)
|Quickness of written conversation over distance
From the timing of developments in the data table, a few notable points can be deducted:
- Human being inter-communication as a concept is very matured
- Six out of the ten technological developments happened within 21 years, indicating both a strong desire and the technical capability to use multiple communication media.
- Recognisable common factors exist among the latter; intentions of developing faster, more convenient and richer media outputs
Case Studies
Having studied a selection of commonly used communication media, a look at how project communication in industry affects project success/failure may be interesting. In the following section three case studies are compared and contrasted in terms of their final delivery outcome and the impact in-project communication has had thereupon. The case studies have been selected based on shared project similarities and their varying degree of project communication success, ranging respectively from poor through adequate to good.
Dubai Aquarium
The aquarium was opened in 2008 with the official title as the World's largest indoor aquarium[30] (tank size: 51 x 20 x 11 metres). It also held the World record for the largest acrylic viewing panel[30].
In February 2010, large parts of the 12.1-million-square-foot Dubai Mall (the biggest shopping complex in the World at the time[31]), which houses the aquarium, had to be evacuated. A leak had developed in the viewing panel facade of the tank, causing water to flood across the floor of the ground level. "As the central part of the Mall was evacuated, the chairman of Emaar, the mall's developer, insisted that there was no leak and that there had been a technical misfunction with the operating device"[32]. However, public photos and video footage from the scene showed water gushing out of the tank.
Emaar later confirmed the leak in a statement, commenting "A leakage was noticed at one of the panel joints of the Dubai Aquarium at the Dubai Mall and was immediately fixed by the aquarium's maintenance team," it said. "The leakage did not impact the aquarium environment or the safety of the aquatic animals"[32].
The communication in this scenario between the project management and the public was evidently full of mixed signals. The initial denial of a leak despite clear visual evidence could be classed as an information disclosure matter arisen from conflict of interest. The subsequent statement tackled the matter at hand very differently; it acknowledged the problem, provided technical insight, gave promises of fast action and problem relief and warranted all key health and safety concerns.
The situation could be classed as a severe crisis: a 10-million litre body of water containing 33,000 aquatic animals at risk, thousands of people present in an enormous shopping centre with the only thing between them being a single acrylic panel that suddenly is at serious risk of breaking effectively threatening thousands of lives.
From the project scenario, four points could be concluded: - Situation: The project met a crisis involving some very high-risk aspects (large water body, critical location, ground-breaking acrylic technology, vast collection of animals) - Communication effected: stakeholder communications were lacking key information, sent contradicting messages and failed to alleviate public concerns when most needed - Action taken: Problem ratification was "swift and appropriate"[33]., and could appear to follow a strategically designed plan - Ultimate project success: The aquarium commissioning project could be considered a success as it continues to operate successfully, is a Dubai landmark attraction and from a business perspective was relatively unharmed by the incident
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House opened in 1973 at a central setting in Sydney Harbour. While the result of a mere 15 years' work[35], the building represented a leap in construction technology of several decades owing to both its structural design and material engineering.
Rewinding time a little, in 1966 the chief architect Jørn Utzon was forced to resign over questions to his designs aired by the minister of works Davis Hughes[36]. There was a public outcry over the situation, but Utzon was not reinstated and was succeeded by another chief architect, Peter Hall. Hughes informs the public that there is a new architect team on the case, and Utzon tells the new chief architect "I don't think you can do it, I think you're a brave man to try, but I'm not going to be involved anymore"[37].
A few years prior to this, Hughes had started to develop alternative project leadership thoughts. "By August 1965, Hughes had formulated a strategy to take control of the project, devising a plan based on his own convictions and supported by opinions from a range of individuals. Foremost among these was the bureaucratic method favoured by Bill Wood...Bill Wood's report to Hughes resurrected the text book bureaucratic solution of "cheque book control". Intentionally or not, it was designed to get rid of Utzon by stripping him of his authority as project director"[38].
Forwarding time, "in 2007 the Sydney Opera House was formally recognised as one of the most outstanding places on Earth with its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the World Heritage Convention"[36].
The communication in this case study example between the respective project heads (minister of works and two chief architects) is very multi-faceted. Listing it as a series of time-ordered events may aid clarification for summarising purposes: 1. Utzon does his job on the project without mentionable communication directed at Hughes 2. Hughes has alternative project plans, and exercises power to excute these 3. Hall contacts Utzon to obtain information prior to accepting the job as new chief architect 4. Utzon ushers Hall by use of some potentially strategically intended use of language
The situation could be considered critical: A construction project worth AUD $102 million[39] at the centre of Worldwide public attention halted jointly by a politically pivotal project leadership decision and, more crucially, a high-risk change of resource-scarce architectural mastermind supervision.
From the project scenario, four points could be concluded: - Situation: The project met a crisis involving management strategy, project planning and internal communication - Communication effected: internal stakeholder communications were partly exchanged and partly omitted, leaving involved parties at various levels of understanding - Action taken: Problem ratification was quick and effective yet messy; the project continued without mentionable losses in time and cost, but serious losses in human integrity - Ultimate project success: The opera house commissioning project could be considered a success, despite misses in targets and various losses along the way
Burj Khalifa
Burj Khalifa was opened at the heart of Dubai in 2010, stands 828 metres tall and claims the official title as the World's tallest building[40]. At a cost of USD $1.5 billion, constructed by approx. 12,000 labourers[41] and projected to have huge returns-on-investment for Dubai later cemented in popularity rankings [42], the building is the epitome of a mega project[43].
On the day of the opening, at the opening ceremony, the building changed its name. Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, renamed the former Burj Dubai in honour and recognition of the national leader, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan[44]. Beneath the public domain surface, the appearingly sudden name change was rooted in a sizeable financial bail-out of Dubai, including this project, by the UAE ruler as a result of Dubai's weakened economy owing to the global market downturn of 2008-09[45].
"The change caught everyone off guard, from news organisations, including the BBC, which hours later were still using a name that no longer existed; to the Roads and Transport Authority, which suddenly had to rename the tower's newly opened Metro station and replace dozens of road signs. But while many were stunned by the name change, one group was also facing an economic shock: the souvenir sellers...The tower's official store at the observatory on the 124th floor was still selling goods with the old name"[46].
Four years later in 2014, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan returns the gesture when naming Abu Dhabi's tallest building (the Mohammed bin Rashid Tower) after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.[47]
In 2015, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum shares his overall strategic vision for Dubai (encompassing Burj Khalifa) in a book. He tells: "providing grassroots opportunity and a better quality of life for the people of this region is guaranteed to ameliorate our shared problems of instability and conflict. We have a critical need for long-term projects and initiatives to eliminate poverty, improve education and health, build infrastructure, and create economic opportunities."[48]
The communication througout this project could be summarised by listing a few key decisions made:
- Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum accepts financial help from the national government to keep the project on track
- Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum times the building name-change for the opening ceremony
- External companies en masse, alongside some internal building stakeholders, have to make urgent rearrangements in connection with the situation
- Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan decides to commemorate his fellow Emirati through a return gesture of a building dedication
- Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum provides his overall national strategic vision in a book
The situation could be considered contained: A construction project worth USD $1.5bn at risk of failing due to lacking funding, rescued by contingency (borrowed) funding partly paid back through a (highly unexpected and somewhat costly yet ratifiable) public act of gratitude.
From the project scenario, four points can be concluded: - Situation: The project experienced financial difficulties caused by an unforeseen global and local economic crisis - Communication effected: official statements were issued through broadcast and printed media at strategically chosen project stages - Action taken: project stakeholders (particularly financial backers) were dealt with to contain the risky situation - Ultimate project success: The structure commissioning project could be considered a success. Its key deliverable represents a World-celebrated, well-designed piece of engineering which continues to serve daily practical purposes while acting as a top Dubai, UAE and Middle-East tourism landmark.
Case Study Conclusions
The three case study examples showcase different communication approaches based on project parameters and the characteristics of the situation at hand. Summarising their key similarities and differences, the categorised table view below provides a structured overview allowing for comparison and contrasting.
|Year Inaugurated
|Project Name
|Project Type
|Official claims/titles/records (key one, if several)
|Project Communication Verdict (based on case study example)
|Project Goal / Intended Purpose
|Realised Project Goal(s)/Purpose(s)
|Overall Success Rating - 1 to 10 (1=failure, 10=success)
|Sydney Opera House
|UNESCO World Heritage Site[39]
|Opera house and national landmark[49]
|Opera house, national landmark and world signature building
|Dubai Aquarium
|World's largest indoor aquarium
|Aquarium venue for public benefit[50]
|Aquarium venue for public benefit
|Burj Khalifa
|World's tallest structure
|National landmark, World's tallest building
|National landmark, World signature building, World's tallest building for a decade
Collectively, the three examples have raised an array of notable points for the topic of communication, from which a few key trends emerge:
- The higher the risk, the more important a role communication plays
- Action speaks louder than words (non-verbal communication through action appeared more important to stakeholders than verbal communication)
- Transparency, openness and honesty from the project management team's side seemed to yield better results when looking at project outcomes than hidden agendas and unaired/undebated problems
Best Practice
The Project Management Institute summarises the essence of communication management as follows: "Project Communications Management includes the processes necessary to ensure that the information needs of the project and its stakeholders are met through development of artifacts and implementation of activities designed to achieve effective information exchange"[51].
Prince2 takes a slightly different approach:
Both however seem to correspond very accurately with the communication management exercised in all three case study examples. Here, the respective project management teams carefully balanced available information, stakeholder relations and communicative efforts according to a more or less formalised communication strategy to incrementally advance towards project success while methodically capturing and safeguarding key opportunities and interests.
graph for high-low criticality vs high-low response time
choose media based on...
For high Use face-to-face whenever
as Goman puts it, "Technology is a necessary part of business today but incorporating the human touch is what will give businesses the competitive edge in the digital marketplace."[52]
Key Points
All projects are different, and have different challenges and opportunities. Hence, there is no definitively correct way of exercising project communication. That said, through study and increased knowledge of both people and projects a position of elevated understanding and ability within project communication may be achieved. On a more practical level relevant guidelines and principles can help direct decision-making in terms of use of communication tools, design of action plan and stakeholder management.
Through the article the we have learned that...
This means that we with great benefits can employ high-fidelity communication media in areas where (signal loss) is undesirable, whereas we can use low-fidelity media in low-risk tasks with few links to ultimate key project success....
The key concept derived is that we as project practitioners need to think carefully about our selected organisational communication design (media, timing, recipients) in order to improve on the standard of project results achieved. For high-performance projects in particular, (x) and (y) are vital as these (instruments) will help secure ... and thereby yield much more advantageous outcomes.
Annotated Bibliography
Richard L. Daft, Robert H. Lengel (1983). Information Richness: A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organization Design.[1] The journal focuses on how organisations design their communication in order to best utilise the strengths of the different media.
Dag Ingvar Jacobsen, Jan Thorsvik (2014). Hvordan Organisationer Fungerer. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels Forlag.[4] The book contains different perspectives on management and organisation, sub-divided into eleven chapters. The chapter 'Communication in organisations' relates particularly closely to the topic of this article.
Daniel J. Levitin (2014/2015). The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload.[18] The book is divided into three main parts. Part 1 (chapters 1-2, pages 3-76) explains the science and basic concepts of information and paints a picture of how we in modern times face too much information. Part 2 (chapters 3-7, pages 77-328) gives advice on ways in which we can get more organised. Part 3 (chapters 8-9, pages 329-384), classifies organisation concepts that have not already been covered in part 2 and is focused on giving key practical recommendations for the future.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Richard L. Daft, Robert H. Lengel (1983). Information Richness: A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organization Design. Texas: Department of Management, Texas A&M University, [Online], p.1 Available at: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a128980.pdf [First accessed 20 February 2019]
- ↑ Melvin Kranzberg, Michael T. Hannan (1999). History of the organization of work, [Online], p.3 Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-work-organization-648000/Social-classes [First accessed 22 February 2019]
- ↑ History.com Editors (2009-2018). Colosseum, [Online], Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/colosseum [First accessed 26 February 2019]
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dag Ingvar Jacobsen, Jan Thorsvik (2014). Hvordan Organisationer Fungerer. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels Forlag, p.314 [First accessed 12 February 2019]
- ↑ Fidelity definition, [Online], Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/fidelity [First accessed 22 February 2019]
- ↑ Quora (2013). Digital Audio: What file type has the highest bit rate?, [Online], Available at: https://www.quora.com/Digital-Audio-What-file-type-has-the-highest-bit-rate [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ Toolstud.io (2006-2018). Video Bitrate Calculator, [Online], Available at: https://toolstud.io/video/bitrate.php?imagewidth=1920&imageheight=1080&colordepth=16&framerate=24 [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Micropyramid (2011). Understanding Audio Quality: Bit Rate, Sample Rate, [Online], Available at: https://micropyramid.com/blog/understanding-audio-quality-bit-rate-sample-rate/ [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ Anastasia Tsifouti, Sophie Triantaphillidou, Mohamed-Chaker Larabi, Efthimia Bilissi, Aleka Psarrou (2015). A case study in identifying acceptable bitrates for human face recognition tasks. London: University of Westminster, [Online], p. 18 Available at: https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/577082039890acf41fc72e02b03ad37d03f7f0896d0cdb0e7fc13cfb55f1b747/674432/Triantaphillidou_etal_SignalProcessing_2015.pdf [First accessed 26 February 2019]
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Quora (2017). What is the data transfer rate in a phone call??, [Online], Available at: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-data-transfer-rate-in-a-phone-call [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ Quora (2018). What is on average the number of participants for a typical audio conferencing call?, [Online], Available at: https://www.quora.com/What-is-on-average-the-number-of-participants-for-a-typical-audio-conferencing-call [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Pinngle.me (2018). The Data Usage of Messengers for Voice Calls and Chat Messages, [Online], Available at: https://pinngle.me/blog/how-much-data-do-messengers-spend-for-voice-calls-and-chat-messages/ [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Doug Bonderud (2014). Internet Speed for Facebook Chat: What's Ideal?, [Online], Available at: https://www.bandwidthplace.com/internet-speed-facebook-chat-whats-ideal-article/ [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ Morton Deutsch (1949). A Theory of Co-operation and Competition. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [Online], p.138-147 Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/001872674900200204 [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ Marco Casari, Claudio Tagliapietra (2018). Group Size in Social-ecological Systems (PNAS journal, vol. 115 no. 11). Florida: PNAS, [Online], p.2729 Available at: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/11/2728.full.pdf [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ Christopher R. Holdgraf, Wendy de Heer, Brian Pasley, Jochem Rieger, Nathan Crone, Jack J. Lin, Robert T. Knight, Frederic E. Theunissen (2016). Rapid tuning shifts in human auditory cortexenhance speech intelligibility, [Online], p.2 Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13654.pdf [First accessed 22 February 2019]
- ↑ W. T. Singleton (1983). The Body at Work: Biological Ergonomics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.390 [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Daniel J. Levitin (2014/2015). The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. US and Canada: Dutton Penguin, p.8 [First accessed 27 February 2019]
- ↑ Archaeology.org (2016). The World's Oldest Writing, [Online] Available at: https://www.archaeology.org/issues/213-1605/features/4326-cuneiform-the-world-s-oldest-writing [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Rajendra Mohanty (2015). History of Letter Writing and Bias of Communication. New Delhi: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach and Studies, p.193 [Online] Available at: https://www.academia.edu/15603415/History_of_Letter_Writing_and_Bias_of_Communication [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Chris Smith (2018). The history of the telephone: Six pioneers who transformed the world of communications, [Online] Available at: http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/phones-tablets/who-invented-the-telephone-bell-meucci-gray-reis-ericsson-cooper-11364256543584 [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Sean Kane (2016). A 1964 experiment almost created the internet but the company behind it pulled the plug, [Online] Available at: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/60at60/2015/8/1971-first-ever-email-392973 [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ History-computer.com. First chat program of Murray Turoff, [Online] Available at: https://history-computer.com/Internet/Maturing/TUROFF.html [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Rachel Swatman (2015). 1971: First Ever Email, [Online] Available at: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/60at60/2015/8/1971-first-ever-email-392973 [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Danny Cohen, Stephen Casner, James W. Forgie (1981). A Network Voice Protocol NVP-II. Marina del Rey/Massachusetts: University of Southern California / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, p.2 [Online] Available at: ftp://18.104.22.168/isi-pubs/rr-81-90.pdf [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Fundinguniverse.com. PictureTel Corp. History, [Online] Available at: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/picturetel-corp-history/ [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ BBC News (2002). Hppy bthdy txt!, [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2538083.stm [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Dubai Aquarium, [Online], Available at: https://www.thedubaiaquarium.com/en/Default.aspx [First accessed 26 February 2019]
- ↑ The Dubai Mall, [Online], Available at: https://thedubaimall.com/ [First accessed 26 February 2019]
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Rezmin (2018). 10 Interesting Facts About Dubai Mall Aquarium, [Online], Available at: http://blog.raynatours.com/10-interesting-facts-dubai-mall-aquarium/ [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Joseph George (2008). Aquarium at Dubai Mall to open in August, [Online], Available at: https://www.emirates247.com/eb247/companies-markets/construction/aquarium-at-dubai-mall-to-open-in-august-2008-07-13-1.222556 [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 Richard Spencer (2010). Dubai aquarium springs the world's most dramatic water leak, [Online], Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/7316913/Dubai-aquarium-springs-the-worlds-most-dramatic-water-leak.html [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Associated Press in Dubai (2010). Shark-filled aquarium in Dubai shopping centre cracks open, [Online], Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/25/dubai-aquarium-evacuated-after-leak [First accessed 28 February 2019]
- ↑ Traveluto (2017). 8 Most Famous Landmarks in Australia, [Online], Available at: https://traveluto.com/famous-landmarks-in-australia/ [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ UNESCO (1992-2019). Sydney Opera House, [Online], Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/166 [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Sydney Opera House. The Architect: Jørn Utzon, [Online], Available at: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/our-story/the-architect-jorn-utzon.html [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Ben Cheshire, Greg Hassall (2018). The man who fixed the 'plain illegal' Sydney Opera House, [Online], Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-31/peter-hall-architect-who-fixed-opera-house-after-utzon-departed/7127160 [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Sam Doust (2012). Chapter 18: The Tenacity of Davis Hughes, [Online], Available at: http://theoperahouseproject.com/ie/transcripts/The-Tenacity-Of-Davis-Hughes.htm [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 Sydney Opera House. Interesting facts about the Sydney Opera House, [Online], Available at: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/our-story/sydney-opera-house-facts.html [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 burjkhalifa.ae. Burj Khalifa: Facts & Figures, [Online], Available at: https://www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/the-tower/facts-figures/ [First accessed 26 February 2019]
- ↑ John Irish (2010). Burj Dubai cost $1.5bn to build, [Online], Available at: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/burj-dubai-cost-1-5bn-build-27430.htm [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Karmila Thomas (2018). Dubai's Burj Khalifa ranked among world's top 10 most popular destinations, [Online], Available at: https://gulfbusiness.com/dubais-burj-khalifa-ranked-among-worlds-top-10-popular-destinations/ [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Bent Flyvbjerg (2014). What you should know about megaprojects and why - an overview, [Online], Available at: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/know-mega-projects-overview-2267 [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Hugh Tomlinson, David Robertson (2010). Dubai's humiliating name-change for world's tallest building, [Online], Available at: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/dubais-humiliating-name-change-for-worlds-tallest-building/news-story/28a71fd99417acacec0f5f47bb9cc339?sv=735ed5a745678ed310b1ac3d19263b27 [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Ben Thompson (2009). Abu Dhabi gives Dubai $10bn to help pay debts, [Online], Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8411215.stm [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Tahira Yaqoob (2010). Nice souvenir, shame about the name, [Online], Available at: https://www.thenational.ae/uae/nice-souvenir-shame-about-the-name-1.543049 [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Aarti Nagraj (2014). Abu Dhabi's Tallest Building Named After Dubai's Ruler Sheikh Mohammed, [Online], Available at: https://gulfbusiness.com/abu-dhabis-tallest-building-named-dubais-ruler-sheikh-mohammed/ [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Tahira Yaqoob (2010). Flashes of Thought, [Online], Available at: https://www.thenational.ae/uae/nice-souvenir-shame-about-the-name-1.543049 [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Kate Springer (2018). The best things to do at the amazing Sydney Opera House, [Online], Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/sydney-opera-house-guide/index.html [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Justine Maunder (2016). Shopping with Sharks: Dubai Aquarium's Paul Hamilton on Marine Conservation in a Mall, [Online], Available at: https://blooloop.com/features/sharks-dubai-aquariums-mall/ [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Project Management Institute, Inc. (2017). Project Management: A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK guide). Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute, Inc., p.359 [First accessed 1 March 2019]
- ↑ Carol Kinsey Goman (2018). Has Technology Killed Face-To-Face Communication?, [Online], Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2018/11/14/has-technology-killed-face-to-face-communication/#3d0fab94a8cc [First accessed 28 February 2019]