text: I would like everyones opinions for the following changes. (1)Firstly, check out the new rule book. Its been completely revised and edited to clarify some of the issues across the past seasons. View the rulebook for the full explanation of the followings. (2)ONE RA per roster. RA's have been a continuing issue across the whole season. It is sheer luck if a good RA makes it to your team, you shouldn't be able to win a season based off of luck. With only 1 RA per roster, if a better option comes for a team on FAF, they will have to send down their other RA and will give other teams a opportunity to claim them. Players who signed up in time for bidding and has appropriate salaries per skill level should be the players on a roster. (3)Roster Lock Deadline This has arguably been the "line deadline" the past few seasons. I wanted to make a separate roster lock deadline, that will lock your roster for the week on sunday at 9 PM EST. This will force teams to send players down before this time if over the max amount of players, and will give other teams a 20 hour window to claim players that has been sent down before the line deadline the following day at 5 pm est. Players on the roster at this time will be guaranteed to play the week. (4)Trade window and waiver wire will be separate. This i noticed this season IR could have been used as a loophole to keep a player on a team w/o having to send them down and simply wait until after the waiver wire passes. I was going to not allow IR during the window closings but that would not be fair for those with legitimate reasons. What i have decided to do will be to separate the trade window and the waiver wire and transfer window a week apart. So this will allow the final trades to go through and players to go on IR, and after that week all excess players will be forced to be sent down and open a opportunity for other teams to claim players. (5)Waiving players will have same time frame as trade processing. Waiving players shouldn't be allowed mid-week. After the weekly deadline passes and someone gets waived to be picked up by another team, how can the original team fulfill the players weekly minimum if hes not on the team? This also raises questions if a team was to claim a player, then said team is over the allotted 6 player roster mid-week, whether they can begin using that player before the week is over. Waiving players will match the trade processing time frame, after the games on Thursday and before the Roster Lock deadline. (6) Penalties So this season, if a team was to receive a penalty said team is to serve that penalty during the teams next available game. This gives a team a random advantage to a random team for the other teams mistake. So rather than a random team, if a player was to say trash talk during a game, that player will be required to serve a penalty the next available game AGAINST the team he trash talked. If it is management error like late lines, there is not a team for the penalty to be serve against, so it'll go to the teams next available game. UNLESS!!! A team was to complain about another teams late lines or late stats or illegal roster etc. via action center, then the penalty served will be served against the team that submitted a complaint. This will promote filing complaints and will give the league more eyes to following the rules. Teams will be eligible to "hunt" for penalties by submitting complaints against teams violating the rules. EXCESSIVE FAULTY complaints WILL BE frowned upon!! And possibly will give yourself a penalty. This was in effect this season, just poorly followed. The player at fault is to be the player serving the penalty, not their weakest line mate. There is also the management error, no one will be explicitly at fault so the higher ranked manager in the team hierarchy is to take the penalty if more than one manager is in a game. (7) Making transactions in "bad faith" Stated exactly in the LG rule book: 5.10 : Making Transactions In "Bad Faith" Making a transaction in "bad faith" is defined as making any form of transaction (trade, waiver, send-down, etc) with total disregard to the League standards and regulations in place. The League considers itself as a simulation League, therefore any transaction that is deemed abnormal or unrealistic to a simulation League will be revoked or reversed. Additionally, to protect the integrity and competitiveness of the League, when a Manager or Owner steps down, any transaction made within fourteen days prior to their departure will be under review by the League to ensure those transactions were not made in bad faith. Depending on the situation, certain trades like the dali trade season1 and the fish trade season2 can go into a possible reviewal for the staff team to decide if this rule should be taken into effect. "Traping" can be possibly taken into effect here considering the skill variance amongst RL players is extremely more significant than NHL players and this rule would keep teams from being completely over powered.


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Made In Lab announced the release of a Dashboard Widget for interfacing with Ask Jeeves, the search engine. The Widget includes current headlines supplied by Ask Jeeves, and the back side of the Widget allows you to choose which headlines you would like supplied.
The download is 465 KB, and can be downloaded directly from Made In Lab.
The company has also added a Widget for counting down to the release of Rent, and updated Widgets called Green Thumb and D.I.Y.
Ask Jeeves Widget

subset: commoncrawl


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Thursday, April 7, 2011
Parking ... Is that an Issue for YOU?
Hey Guys,
I've been playing around with the logistics of the facility... It seems parking may be an issue.
I have not spread out my programming all over the site and have maintained the min floor area. But it still seems I won't have adequate space for parking for both visitors, staff and performers.
Is it just me? (Please mind the messiness of my rhino file... but you get the picture)
4 comments:
How many parking spots have you planned for and have you considered the possibility of going up yet..?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 7, 2011 at 11:39 PM
Keep in mind a few things:ReplyDelete
-people coming in for tours would likely be using buses or cabs as you may recall from your own excursions to the various destinations on and off the Strip
-the only people you really have to accommodate for would be the operators of the facility
-training performers would likely need a couple dozen spots; these same spots would likely be vacant for the community programs after hours
-as Dov posted earlier, going up is a "vernacular" of sorts in Vegas
Underground parking could be an option... could it not? It seems its the "innovative" thing to do in vegas now. Cosmo is one of the first to initiate underground parking on the strip. Others to follow...ReplyDelete
- AnonymousApril 8, 2011 at 10:05 PM
...except for the fact that unlike the Cirque training facility, Cosmo happens to draw ~$120 million each quarter which would make underground "innovations" possible!ReplyDelete


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And Person of Interest does it. I don't mean the Machine, but the ongoing conspiracy involving the police-mob-government. (Spoilers of Season 1 below.)
Person of Interest makes it work. In his post about the show, Eugene remarks, "There are a couple of Moriartys, but even here Jonathan Nolan has them driven by straightforward goals and comprehensible motivations. No insane or insanely omniscient antagonists here."
|The head at the front has a face: Enrico Colantoni as Elias!
Unfortunately, failure to provide a "face" is exactly the mistake that far too many directors, script-writers (and composition students) make. They keep the identity of the big bad (thesis) hidden until it grows out of proportion, becoming so nebulous and scary that when he (it) does show up, he has to be either completely round the bend (Sherlock) or a "just kidding, actually, this guy is a front for the REAL big bad" (one of the seasons of The Mentalist; as stated in an earlier post, I tend to ignore the Red John episodes on The Mentalist completely).
In comparison, let's look at how much more effective it is to introduce a "face" immediately:
1. X-Files. As Eugene has pointed out, the big bad aren't the aliens; they are the government conspirators. Deep Throat (the lovable Jerry Hardin) and Cigarette Smoking Man (the excellent William B. Davis) were introduced early in the series and became instant fan faves.
2. Star Trek: TNG, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis: Here's the bad guy. Fight him! Win!! Now, that's good television.
3. Star Wars IV, V, VI: Darth Vader (I mention this in comparison to I, II, and III in which the bad guy is a fuzzy guy on a screen--who cares? Even a heavy-breathing bad guy in a mask is more interesting.)
4. Columbo: An unfair example since we know who the big bad is from the first minute. But it is effective!
5. Leverage ended Season 4 with a "surprise" face BUT it was a face fans had seen before and very nicely paid off an earlier season. (However, the "surprise" barely made it--again, too much build up can cause an ending to fall flat.)
There's a reason why, when Stoker turned his novel into a play, Dracula took center stage. Horror writers like King can hold off on showing readers the big bad because reader actually can imagine the unimaginable. If the villain MUST be seen, he should be seen immediately.


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Return to Transcripts main page
Special Edition: Gimme My Job Back
Aired December 27, 2009 - 04:00 ET
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST (voice over): The great recession has crushed the American worker. Ten percent unemployment, the highest level in 30 years. Construction, manufacturing, retail jobs all disappearing at an alarming rate. This hour, we ask the tough questions in the search for real solutions to a job crisis threatening the future of American families. If you have a job, if you lost your job, if you want the inside word on emerging industries, this is your hour. Real hope, real answers, real solutions. It's time for "Gimme My Job Back." (END VIDEO CLIP) ALI VELSHI, CNN HOST: Hello everyone. I'm Ali Velshi. ROMANS: And I am Christine Romans. This is a special edition of YOUR MONEY, "Gimme My Job Back." VELSHI: It's been a long time since unemployment hit these levels. We haven't seen these high levels for a long time. Here is a hint, Christine. Americans were wearing Swatch watches and lining up for "Return of the Jedi" last time unemployment was this high in the country? ROMANS: That is right. The unemployment rate was last in double digits in the early 1980s. There are now six applicants for every job opening and more and more jobs are being lost overseas. VELSHI: So you can't blame anyone right now for standing up and demanding, gimme my job back. This next hour is designed to empower you or someone you know and you probably know someone with critical information about the true state of jobs in America, where are we, where are we going, and more importantly, how do you find a job if you're out of work? ROMANS: At the end of 2007 when the recession began, the unemployment rate was below 5 percent. For those 7 million jobs we've lost since, how long will it take to get those jobs back? VELSHI: Well, with us for the hour, Chrystia Freeland, she is the managing editor of the "Financial Times" here in the U.S. and Rutgers Professor Bill Rogers, former chief economist with the Department of Labor. Welcome to both of you. Thank you for being here. Bill, you have been poring through the numbers. It's bad. We all know it's bad, double digit unemployment. I think most people need to know where is the trend, where is it going. BILL ROGERS, PROF. & CHIEF ECONOMIST, RUGERS UNIVERSITY: Sure. Most private sector forecasts are looking at over the next few years; we're still going to be at around 9 to 10 percent. There is the Congressional Budget Office led by Doug Elmendorf they do and they are willing to take that risk and they recognize there's a bigger era as you go further out, but they are looking at around us getting back to about 5 percent and around 2013, 2014. And that is consistent with what other people have shown that it is going to take us a while to get back to full employment to recover those 7 million jobs. Plus the 3 million Americans who are now becoming of age and moving into the labor force. ROMANS: We need to see the economy growing a lot more strongly than it is right now though to start actually creating jobs, don't we? We need to be adding 150,000 jobs every month just to keep up -- VELSHI: And we haven't seen that since sometime in 2007. ROMANS: Chrystia, just to keep up with people entering into the workforce. What is it going to be that is going to unlock it and allow the jobs to start being created? CHRYSTIA FREELAND, MANAGING EDITOR, "FINANCIAL TIMES:" Well you're absolutely right Christine, that the problem is not only does the economy need to keep up with as Bill was saying the new entrants into the labor force, there are all these people who have lost jobs who ideally need to be absorbed back into the labor force. I think this worrying scenario is very few people think that the economy is going to go back to 2007. A lot of people now, even CEOs of companies that are doing really well, are talking about a fundamental reset of the U.S. economy. That America was living high off the hog, American households and the whole country was living off of borrowed money, and that this reset is going to mean people save more, people consume less. The economy grows more slowly, and I think that's going to be a really wrenching social adjustment. VELSHI: All right. So you have identified one big issue in the jobs market and the problem we've got. The other one, Bill, is that so many of these jobs that have been lost have been lost in manufacturing, and regardless of where you stand on whether we should have better manufacturing policy or we should manufacture more, the reality is manufacturing jobs, particularly lower paying ones, have left this country. Some higher paying ones have left this country and it's not obvious that they're coming back at all. ROGERS: I just want to correct you a little bit. I mean yes, we had major losses in manufacturing, major losses in construction and that's why we have seen unemployment's rates rise much more than women's. However, though we are fundamentally really a service-based economy, and particularly after November, October of 2008, this recession began to look like the garden-variety recession where consumption fell off, which is two-thirds of GDP. Investment also really slid, and now we have had the government coming in to try to sort of be that employer of last resort -- ROMANS: Here is the thing, this wrenching social adjustment that we are talking about, we are all there, you know the balance sheets have to get back in line and when is the innovation going to come, the next big thing that is going to drive jobs growth, in the meantime. You know 15.9 plus million Americans who are saying, OK, now what do I do? We keep telling you there are six job applicants for every one job opening. Is the key here to tell people how you can be that one person who is going to get the job that five others aren't? What can people do at home in the midst of this big upheaval that could take a few years if not longer to work out? FREELAND: Well, I think we need to think about it on two levels, right? How can I take care of myself and what does the country need to do to adjust collectively. In terms of taking care of yourself, I would say the things you need to think about are, are you in a sector where you think there is going to be sustainable, long-term job growth and are you in a part of the country where there's going to be job growth? One of the real strengths of the U.S. economy and one of the reasons why we shouldn't give in to total despair is Americans are really good at moving around the country to where jobs are. Probably better than any other big country in the world, and that's why you see states that have higher unemployment tend to have people move to states that have lower unemployment. That happens really fast, within two or three years. So those are the two things I would bear in mind. If you're thinking about your medium-term employment prospects I would echo what Bill has to say which is service sector jobs are very hard to outsource. If it's something you do hands on here in the country, then you're not going to lose that, and health care to me would seem like a real winner, and that's one sector where we haven't seen job losses. VELSHI: Bill and Chrystia you will be with us for the hour for this jobs special, "Gimme My Job Back." ROMANS: OK. The single most important piece of information to get a job to keep your job, to get a better job, the one thing you have to do. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Whether you're trying to get a job or just keep the job you have, our next guest has one single piece of advice for all of you. Don't stop networking. ROMANS: Brad Karsh is the president and founder of Job Bound and author of "How to Say it on Your Resume." Brad welcome back to the program. BRAD KARSH, PRES. & FOUNDER, JOBBOUND: Thank you it is great to be back. ROMANS: OK. Networking, this is the single most important thing if you got the job, if you are looking for a job, if you want a better job; you need to be out there working it, so to speak. KARSH: Absolutely. For people who do have jobs, one of the big misconceptions are they think hey my boss loves me, I'm fine, I'll never get let go. But the fact of the matter is in a lot of organizations, especially larger ones; it's not your boss deciding whether or not you're going to keep that job. It might not even be your bosses' boss; it is some senior VP, some division head, who may not even know you. And if they don't know you, the likelihood of you loosing your job is much greater. I mean I sat around in the rooms when we went through layoffs and there's a list that goes around and people say does anyone know Eric? If nobody knows Eric, you're on the list and you might lose your job even if your boss thinks you are doing a great job. VELSHI: So you're saying make yourself visible maybe even beyond the obvious. Be visible, be a workhorse, and take on a valuable project. KARSH: Right, exactly. So in terms of being visible in networking, try to associate yourself with something that somebody at the senior levels is working on. So maybe you can work on a project that reports directly let's say to that division head or maybe even work to help plan the holiday party or the corporate outing that you know is being headed up by that senior vice president or even show up at work at 7:00 if you know the top level executives are coming in at 7:00 every day and casually meet them in the lobby of the company, but it's key to get out there and get noticed by people within the organization. ROMANS: It is interesting because everyone I know who is doing flex time, you know, two days a week at home in the home office, three days a week in the office, every one of them says they're now going to at least four days if not five days a week just to be visible. What if you've lost your job? Networking still incredibly important. VELSHI: Although harder to motivate yourself to do but crucial. ROMANS: But I think if you loose a job you have to pretend as though your full-time job is getting a job. You have to keep that discipline, get up at 8:00 in the morning, put on the suit and get out there. KARSH: Right. It is a lot of work to network and that's why people avoid it, but it's the single best way still and especially to get a job. With stats, as you said before Christine six applicants for every job, with stats you want to make sure you're pulled out of that stack and not being judged against hundreds of candidates, but instead you're in a separate stat of people who have networked their way into a company which allows the recruiting director some little edge that's going to allow you to get the interview perhaps. VELSHI: Hey, Brad, quick answer. Social networking, should you use that or whatever they call it, professional networking in some cases? KARSH: Absolutely. Linked and even facebook and others, a great way to get contacts to allow you to facilitate the networking process. VELSHI: All right. Good to see you. KARSH: Thank you. VELSHI: Brad Karsh is the president and founder of JobBound and J.B. Training Solutions. ROMANS: We're going to be seeing a lot of Brad Karsh in 2010 as we continue to try to get you your job back. Right. As if the jobs market weren't bad enough, women still aren't getting paid as much as men. The gender gap it seems is still alive and well in this country, but first CNN's Casey Wyan (ph), one man's path to overhauling his job in the turnaround. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CASEY WYAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When we first met Tony Briones nearly two weeks ago, he was living in his van spending mornings unsuccessfully looking for odd jobs at this Los Angeles Day Labor Center. TONY BRIONES, JOB SEEKER: I drive here every morning, I hope and pray I can get some kind of work, something going on so I can make some extra money. WYAN: The 54-year-old father of two, grandfather of five spent 30 years as a warehouse worker and in construction. BRIONES: I was on a ten-foot ladder, bringing hoses for the gas line, and the ladder went one way, I went the other way and messed up my shoulder. WYAN: Briones says he's filled out hundreds of job applications without success. He's married with a severely disabled adult child at his former home, yet he no longer feels right living there. BRIONES: It's hard for your kids and your grand kids to ask you for money and you don't got it. If your wife got it, I mean, she's trying to do what she can but -- excuse me. It's not right, you know. I was born a man, born to help support my family. I can't. You know, that sucks. Excuse me. Sorry about that. WYAN: Today, Briones has new hope thanks to Melissa Wolf, a CNN viewer who volunteers at Chrysalis a nonprofit organization helping the homeless and people recently released from prison find jobs. MELISSA WOLF, ATTORNEY & VOLUNTEER: He's a perfect example by somebody who can be assisted by Chrysalis, he's homeless, and he has motivation. He really just wants to be given a chance at employment and when I saw that piece, I really wanted to introduce him to this program. WYAN: Wolf helped Briones update his resume. Monday he arrived for his first day of job training classes. BRIONES: I feel like a baby just took his first step or a little kid just fell off the bike and you put him back up. That's how I feel. I just fell off the bike and they picked me up. WYAN: Briones says the recession has boosted the number of people using its job placement services by 40 percent since last year. MARK LORANGER, CEO, CHRYSALIS: The types of clients have changed as well. We're seeing more clients that have -- what we call underemployed, where they may be holding multiple jobs to make ends meet. Or maybe that they are not getting a full 40 hours a week so they are looking for something better. Reporter: For Briones any job would be better than what he's endured. Last year Chrysalis says more than 1,500 people or 80 percent of its clients found work at an average wage of nearly $10 an hour. One man who had nearly lost hope now believes he will be working again soon. BRIONES: Bless you guys for what you're doing to make my life more shiny again. Take the downside, downside is over. WYAN: Casey Wyan, CNN, Los Angeles. (END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: It's a twist on gender and equality. Men are losing more jobs than women during this recession, but that doesn't mean the wage gap between men and women is narrowing. In fact, the jobs men are losing are higher paid construction and manufacturing jobs. The jobs women are keeping have tended to be lower paid, even though they're in growing areas like education and health care. ROMANS: Tory Johnson is a career analyst and founder and CEO of Women for Hire which produces career fairs for women. So she knows this whole subject first had. We've heard it called the man session, or the he session, that women have found themselves in this position that they are in jobs in industries that haven't seen the mass layoffs or at least to the same degree as men. How has that changed sort of the game for women here? TORY JOHNSON, CEO, WOMEN FOR HIRE: Well, I try to look at the positive, but you can't help but also see the downside, too. So on the bright side, more women in the workplace right now are at least having equal representation among the total workforce means that we can use our voice. We can speak up about the things that matter most, and that often means policies, protocols, and cultures that are comfortable and supportive of women and families. So that can be a good thing. On the flip side, however, when you look at the family, for example, one specific family where perhaps the woman was in her home health care position and she gets to keep that job at maybe $27,000, $28,000 a year but her husband has lost his $60,000 construction job a year, that's not a victory for women, that is not a victory for families. We talk a lot and see a lot about the headlines of women getting to keep their jobs; many times it's at a significant price to those women and their families. VELSHI: Tory, something was interesting; we were just talking to Brad Karsh about the importance of networking. We know because of the responsibilities that typically fall to working women, they have greater difficulty in networking than men do. They don't do the same things. In your book you write about how women can try to bridge the gender gap. But in order to do so as a woman in your workplace, you can't just go and ask for it, no one is just going to do it for you. You have outlined some very specific things that you have to do if you think you're being paid less than your male counterparts. JOHNSON: Sure, and one of those things is absolutely negotiating. A lot of times we think that because this wage gap exists that it's simply an issue of bias. While bias is certainly a piece of it, sometimes it's not just that glass ceiling or that issue of bias, but many times it's also a sticky floor and it's our own stick y floor that prevents us from speaking up, from seeking a higher paid position, from pursuing a promotion, for asking for more money, for asking our colleagues for help. Many times we shy away from doing that. We're happy to have our desk be the dumping ground for everybody else but when it comes to speaking up for ourselves, we don't do it, and that's definitely one of the reasons why women in many cases are paid less. ROMANS: I want to talk to Bill and Chrystia and bring them into this conversation with us Tory, because I have heard this again and again. Chrystia I have heard this from so many people that women don't ask at the very front end they don't ask for more money when they're offered a job, and there's some studies that show that they've lost 15 to 20 percent of their career earnings by not negotiating every time they walk into the office at the end of the year for the review or for the raise. FREELAND: I think that's absolutely true, and I think that it has to do with how we raise girls. We still, I'm sure, teach our girls to be a little bit less outspoken, a little more polite, a little nicer than our boys, and I think anyone who employs both men and women will have had the anecdotal experience that the men who work for you are the guys who come into your office much more aggressive about saying I did a great job, give me a raise. Women are much more reluctant to do that. From a boss's standpoint, that's kind of nice, but it's not very good for the women who are taking home the paychecks. VELSHI: Bill, you have been -- obviously you're a labor economist. You have seen this through different recessions. Isn't it fascinating to you that the wage gap has not narrowed over all these years? ROGERS: Well I think the overall gap has not narrowed in this recession, but when you break it out and slice it up by race and ethnicity what we find out is that minority women have actually -- it looks as though they have actually made some gains during this recession relative to their counterpart men, but at one level it's really probably a false gain because what's happened is we've seen it's a man's session that particularly minority men have ... VELSHI: Have done much worse. ROGERS: Exactly. And they have been losing their jobs at the lower part of the income scale ... ROMANS: It's not that women are going up, it's that men are going down and that's ... VELSHI: So really it's not even that we want the wage gap narrowed. We'd like women to get paid more for what they do but not ... FREELAND: Well, what's happening right now are men are losing their jobs. That's not a great. VELSHI: That's not a great ... ROGERS: But on another level it's about all workers regardless of whether you're male, female, African-American, white, or Latino or Asian, that we're all getting back to where the typical earnings of Americans are rising, staying up with the dramatic productivity growth we have been seeing over the last few years. FREELAND: Another thing that's interesting for me is how socially constructed wages are in different professions. So one of the things that we've seen here is the areas where women are working, they're not losing their jobs, but those are generally quite low- paying, where as the areas where men have been working say construction have been higher paid, and we think of that as being a economic phenomenon, but it's a social phenomenon, too. VELSHI: Tory, you have kicked off a great discussion for us. One of the things I think it's important to take a look at in fired to hire and the writings of Tory Johnson is specific ways in which if you are a woman you can help your situation by getting yourself a raise. Tory, thanks for joining us. JOHNSON: Thanks for having me. ROMANS: All right. Bill and Chrystia are going to stick with us for the rest of the hour as well. There's a new normal in the American workforce. What does it mean for you and for your job or your job prospects? More on that next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Welcome back to a special edition of YOUR MONEY, "Gimme My Job Back." I'm Ali Velshi. ROMANS: I want your job. VELSHI: Let's swap. ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. The unemployment rate at a quarter century high right now, this show is about empowering you with the knowledge you need to keep your job if you have one, find a new job if you are out of work and get an idea about what the jobs of the future will be in this country. VELSHI: And by the way we all know someone who could use this advice, so you can pass on what you learn here to them. When we talk about job losses in this recession, few sectors have been as hard hit as the manufacturing sector. But manufacturing jobs have actually been vanishing in the United States for decades. Between 1995 and 2002 alone the number of those jobs declined by 11 percent. ROMANS: But some companies are finding ways to save manufacturing jobs and keep them here in this country even in these tough economic times. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI (voice over): For someone who runs a guitar string manufacturing business, Jim D'Addaro is also a bit of a tinker. Over the past two years, he's cut inventories, streamlined factory floor operations, updated technology, and saved jobs at his Long Island- based company. JIM D'ADDARO, CEO, D'ADDARO: We made a commitment in the '70s that we were going to make our products D'Addaro Strings in America, and we're still committed to that. We've never sold one string that we didn't make here in New York. VELSHI: He's one of a growing number of U.S. manufacturers that have adopted the Toyota waste reduction strategy popularly known as LEAN that relies heavily on automation. More than half of U.S. manufactures surveyed have implemented LEAN or plan to do so. Critics say the automation eliminates jobs; D'Addaro says the replaced workers can be cross trained to do other jobs. D'ADDARO: We do not want to lay people off because LEAN has been effective. That's not going to help people embrace LEAN and it is not going to really help our company or our community. What we're trying to do is we take those people and we train them to do something else. VELSHI: Like work in the guitar strap division, part of a company D'Addaro acquired several years ago. Those jobs were previously in China, today Long Island. Economist say other companies can also position themselves to bring jobs home. PETER MORICI, LABOR ECONOMIST, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: LEAN Manufacturing make it is possible to create products in the United States efficiently, cost-effectively, and so forth. Some manufacturing should be done in China, but too much manufacturing is being done in China that could be done more effectively in the United States. VELSHI: Jim D'Addaro agrees and hopes other manufacturers will follow his lead. D'ADDARO: I think people are afraid to make the commitment to LEAN, to automation, to reinvesting in their factories because they have this stigma in their mind, they have this belief that you can't make it effectively and profitably in America and that is not true. I think people give up on manufacturing in America prematurely. It can be done. (END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Well it's interesting because this company was able to bring jobs back to the United States and make a case for efficient manufacturing here in the United States. So much of the news we constantly hear is about losing those types of jobs to other countries. ROMANS: That really has the trend even during the boom, in fact, the Romans numeral for us to chew over this week is 2.3 million, and it's trying to quantify just how many jobs were lost or displaced due to the trade imbalance specifically between the U.S. and China, that is from 2001 to 2007, 2001 is when China entered the World Trade Organization. This is according to a study by the Progressive Think Tank Economic Policy Institute. So the number that they put on how many jobs have gone over seas because of globalization with China essentially 2.3. VELSHI: Jobs lost and what was the other thing? ROMANS: Jobs lost in 2001 to 2007 because of our trade deficit, our yawning trade gap with China. Now on the other side of the equation we'll tell you because of foreign direct investment in this country we have actually in sourced millions of jobs as well, but ... VELSHI: And then there's the aspect, the non job aspect, and that is that we buy a lot of cheap goods made in other countries and that affects our standard of living on the other side. ROMANS: True. And even Ben Bernanke has said I think it was last year when he was asked about the stimulus, what should we be doing, how should we be personally spending that first stimulus check we got, he said, you know, it would be best to spend it on something actually manufactured in this country, and that was protectionist sacrilege among some people but it does make sense. If you go out and buy a $600 Sanyo TV you are sustaining jobs in the United States in terms of the retail jobs that sell that but the manufacturing of that product comes from some place else. VELSHI: A lot of TVs manufactured in the United States? ROMANS: I don't even know, I don't even have a TV, so I'm really not the person to ask. VELSHI: The question of course for the purposes of this show "Gimme My Job Back" are these jobs coming back? Are any of these jobs going to come back or will they be replaced by new work? What will the new normal be for the American labor force? ROMANS: Chrystia Freeland is managing editor of the "Financial Times" and Bill Rogers is former chief economist, the Department of Labor and professor and chief economist at Rutgers. Bill let me ask you first about this new normal. The new normal is going to be a lot of people looking for work for the next couple of years. The new normal is construction; manufacturing jobs may or may not be coming back. What is it going to look like for us? ROGERS: Well, it's going to look like a situation where people got to spend a great deal of time pounding the pavement, in particular one of the areas that I like is I recommend people doing is making sure that you are doing your networking but new type of networking, get involved with some local nonprofits. ROMANS: Volunteering. I have actually talked to a couple people who volunteered and got a job offer from the other executive who was standing next to them painting a school wall and then when that person had to hire somebody they remembered the person they met at the school. ROGERS: United Way, an organization I am a board chair member, it's a corporate led organization. So you are volunteering next to other individuals ... ROMANS: In your field. ROGERS: In your field. So that's one aspect. Its networking, networking, networking. But also I think what Chrystia said earlier too, is again where are the jobs going to be. If you look at the structure and if you look at the type of policy that's being generated right now, it's health care, it is education, and it is energy and green types of jobs. FREELAND: I have a new area to throw into the mix which you might all sigh about, but I was talking to some senior Silicon Valley executives and they said what they most wanted their kids to grow up to be was, hold your breath, statisticians. They think that's where the jobs of the future will be because one of the things that technology has done is allowed us to collect vast amounts of data in almost every business. The people who are able to in a sophisticated and practical way analyze that data are going to have terrific jobs. ROMANS: They will be counting the numbers and counting the beans. VELSHI: I think the point here is there are areas of growth. Geographically and in terms of industry there are areas of growth and we are going to talk a little bit more about those. Sadly there are a lot of folks out there who have lost their jobs and many more who are going to find themselves unemployed in the next year. We know that that is not ending all together too soon. But you can protect yourself by knowing your right if you're laid off or if you think you're going to be laid off. Grab a pen and paper and we are going to tell you exactly how to protect yourself next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: 2009 could really be known as the year of the layoff. ROMANS: If it happens to you or someone you know, there are ways to protect yourself and hopefully look to 2010, the year of getting a job, right? VELSHI: Well here to help you know your rights is Robin Bond; she is an employment attorney and workplace expert from Philadelphia. Robin great to see you again, thank you for being with us. Here is an interesting one. If you think a layoff is coming, if you fear a layoff is coming, should you try and get in ahead of the pack and negotiate a deal with your employer or should you sit and wait to see what happens? ROBIN BOND, EMPLOYMENT ATTORNEY: Oh, no, we've been saying that for a long time, Ali. If you know this marriage is not going to be saved and the handwriting is on the wall, definitely take an affirmative offensive move to strike your best deal because if you're lumped in with a mass layoff, you're going to get treated like the masses. If you can strike a one off, as I say, your own individual deal, perhaps you can get something better. Examples, perhaps you can get longer time on payroll. You can offer to be the transition person. You can offer to try to do consulting afterwards. You can even offer to go in and say, look, if the handwriting is on the wall, I will take one for the team, maybe that will save two or three people from losing their jobs, but I would look to ask you this, would you promote me to vice president before you let me go because that will enhance my ability to get another job. VELSHI: Very interesting. I haven't thought about that. ROMANS: That is a really good idea. In what cases can it hurt you or can it even hurt you to approach your boss ahead of time and say look I'm willing to do this. BOND: Because you could get what you ask for maybe. ROMANS: If you don't ask, you're not going to get it. I mean you've told us that many times Robin. If you don't ask, you're not going to get it. BOND: That is exactly right. I always say though you don't lose deals because you ask. You lose them because of how you ask. And it's very important when you're presenting a deal that you not talk about what's in it for you, but rather about how this is a great idea for the boss and for the company and how you're going to really help them if they follow your recommendations on how to handle your departure. ROMANS: That's one of the big tricks in the workplace, right? Always make it your boss's idea, the brilliant boss's idea. Like this show for example was our boss's idea. VELSHI: Let's talk about the Warren Act, what does that mean? BOND: That is the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. It's the federal law that applies to private employers of 100 or more employees, that means it doesn't apply to government, even nonprofit. In those circumstances if they're going to have a plant closing or a mass layoff or a sale of a business, then there are requirements that they give those affected workers a minimum of 60 days advance written notice that this is going to happen so those workers have an opportunity to retrain and find another job during that time. ROMANS: Let me ask you if you're an older worker and you have very specific rights if you're an older worker. Tell us about that. BOND: Yes. That's the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act. Very important, if you are age 40 or over and your boss presents you with a severance agreement and a release whereby you have to give up your rights to sue, then you have the right to have a minimum of 21 days to review that agreement and they must tell you this in writing. They also must tell you, you have a right to consult with an attorney. They also must give you an attachment that shows the list of every position by title that's affected by the layoff and the age of the person in that position so you can determine whether there's an age bias in this layoff process. And then even if you sign the release agreement giving up your rights to sue, you have seven days afterwards to change your mind and revoke your acceptance. This all must be in writing to employees age 40 and older or the releases are not effective. VELSHI: OK, it's like a sock to the got when you get this notice, but there are things you should think about. Robin you brought some of them to our attention, there is 401(k) s, and there is Cobras. It's almost like if you know you are getting laid off, or you get laid off, you have to switch into high gear. Thank you for your advice, as always. Robin good to see you. Robin Bond, workplace legal expert. BOND: Thank you. ROMANS: All right. Next, how many times have you heard there are jobs Americans won't do? Are there really jobs Americans won't do and at what point will Americans have to do these jobs? (COMMERCIAL BREAK) VELSHI: Mention illegal immigration and jobs and you are sure to have a debate on your hands. ROMANS: That's very true. As jobless benefits run out, can we really afford to have jobs that some consider to be jobs Americans won't do. You have heard it many times, this is as much a jobs issue as it is a wage issue but some businesses over the past 10, 20 years relying on cheap labor provided by people who don't have documents who aren't supposed to be working and in many cases don't have any rights. Steven Camarota is a director of research with the Center for Immigration Studies. His firm favors less legal and illegal immigration. Thank you for joining us on the program. STEVEN CAMAROTA, DIR. IF RESEARCH, CTR. FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: Thanks for having me. ROMANS: First off, you take issue with this phrase we hear a lot, that there are jobs that Americans won't do and those jobs are being filled by people from other countries. You say there really aren't job categories that Americans won't do. Tell us. CAMAROTA: That's right. The government collects actually pretty detailed information by occupation, and it turns out most of the janitors and most of the construction laborers, most of the meat packers and really any occupation you care to name outside of agriculture, which is only a small portion of the workforce, are overwhelmingly done by native-born Americans. So there really isn't any jobs that Americans don't do, most jobs are done over whelmingly by Americans. ROMANS: Let's walk through your data that you have from the Census Bureau, maids and house keepers; you say 55 percent are people who were born in this country. Butchers and meat processors, 63 percent, janitors 75 percent, presumably the other people in those categories are people who are legally in this country or illegally in the country. The census doesn't break out the difference between legal status of people. Does there get to be a point there where maybe next year we're talking about immigration reform, which the Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano has said that they're going to push for immigration reform next year. That could mean legalizing people in this country. Are you going to be in a situation where you have 15 million people out of work and now you have new legal entrants in the workforce? CAMAROTA: That's right. I mean obviously we allow in over 1 million new people every year with work authorization, but, yes, the question is does that really make sense about the illegals? We have 7 or 8 million illegals working in the United States and less educated Americans. Those with no education beyond high school, their unemployment is 15 to 20 percent right now. They're at least 6 or 7 million people who have no education beyond high school who are not working right now, and these are the kinds of jobs they do. It would seem to make more sense to try to enforce the law and encourage illegals to go home at least free up some of these jobs for less educated Americans. VELSHI: Bill Rodgers, former chief economist at the Department of Labor, and now Rutgers University. Bill what's your thought on what we're hearing. ROGERS: I think even several months ago you all profiled it, several individuals who got into landscaping -- ROMANS: Dry walling, we did a dry walling piece too. ROGERS: Which is again a job that's viewed as a job that is an American doing that or a native doing that. When safety nets are weaker today, we know as from the past in terms of being eligible, there have been expansions of unemployment insurance, food stamps, but structurally that ability for those supports to be there are weaker, and people have had to readjust and re-evaluate where they want to go. ROMANS: You think the issue for low-skilled American workers is less about competition from immigration and more about education and about other issues in the economy is that right? ROGERS: That's correct. If you sort of had a pie chart and you sort of divide it up into the slivers of what are the most important, illegal immigration and it's probably smaller for a young African- American or young minority. It's an issue about quality of education, early job opportunities. It's an issue about being in a community that's got a full functioning job creation engine as opposed to having to really take several buses to get out to the suburbs for the jobs and ultimately it is also unfortunately, still discrimination ... CAMAROTA: Could I comment on that? ROMANS: Jump in, Steven. CAMAROTA: Well look there was a recent study done by the top economist in the field on this very question. A guy at Harvard named George Brahas (ph), his estimates show that for less educated black men since you mentioned it, immigration accounted for about 40 percent of the decline in their workforce participation. That is the share who are not looking and don't have a job. So immigration is not the whole story, but it may be up to half the story, and it's one of the things we can really do something about right now. ROMANS: And Steven the other part of that equation was globalization right and the down fall of unions? Am I right? CAMAROTA: And technological innovation tends to dampen down. So there are other factors. There are big factors impeding less educated people from working. Some of them have to do with a culture of poverty, poor education. These are important things that we should be thinking about and addressing. But they are not something that we can address tomorrow, we can start actually enforcing the law tomorrow and free up more jobs. Most of these jobs have seen a huge decline in wages. Take meat packing, very well studied, real wages are you ready for this are 45 percent lower today than they were in 1980. If it really is true that you are having trouble recruiting Americans how about looking at the wage structure. This is true of other occupational categories as well. Farming jobs pay somewhere around 15 percent less than they did a few decades ago. Bottom line less educated workers make much less than they used to. So it really makes no sense to adding to the bottom end of the U.S. labor market through tolerating lots of legal immigration and then of course, illegal immigration. ROMANS: I think there's a lot of interesting data and issues. Some of the data issues and opinions all contradicts each another. But I do think that when you have 15.9 million people out of work and you are looking at 2010 where the administration has said that we are going to tackle immigration reform again. I think all of these issues are going to be on the table and trying to figure out again how to solve a big problem in the American economy without hurting economic growth, while being human, enforcing the rule of law and recognizing some of the things that are a fact of life in this country. ROGERS: Because you started this segment off with that this is a very politically charged conversation. ROMANS: Absolutely. ROGERS: And so I just don't want - I just want to make sure that we keep our eye on the prize or your eye on the target and not particularly demonize or demagogue a particular group. Immigrants can add and add to our economy, to our society, so, again ... ROMANS: In the Fiscal Policy Institute a report saying that where you see high levels of immigration, you see high levels of economic growth during the boom, so I mean we go back and forth on all of that. Steven Camarota ... CAMAROTA: If immigrants go where jobs are. That's the thing. It's kind of a confusing cause and effect. ROMANS: Steven Camarota, Center for Immigration, destructive research there. Thanks for joining us. Also, Bill Rogers, former Department of Labor, chief economist, as always a real pleasure to have you on the program. ROGERS: Appreciate. Great to see you all. VELSHI: Well saving the planet and saving jobs at the same time, a closer look at green collar jobs, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Call it the great green hope. The green technology and green collar jobs will rescue the labor market. There are jobs, these are jobs that in some way, shape or form, they benefit the environment or their actions or their products benefit the environment. That is spurred all sorts of training programs, including one we found in New Orleans called "The Louisiana Green Corps." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi there from (Inaudible). You know that you are losing what? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Energy. ROMANS (voice over): The skills taught here are green. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is recycled newspaper. ROMANS: And so are the students. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We work with 17 to 24-year-olds who lack work history, or are often low income. Our members don't want to hang out on the street. They want to be productive. They want to work. ROMANS: That is where Louisiana Green Corp comes in, based in New Orleans and funded through a grant through the U.S. Labor Department. The program teaches young adults how to weatherize and rehabilitate homes. SUZY MASON, PROGRAM DIR., LA GREEN CORPS: We are given a general base of construction knowledge, carpentry skills. We also emphasize academic improvement, work readiness and encourage our corps members to make positive life decisions. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of work to be done in New Orleans. ROMANS: One of the people doing that work is L.A. Green Corps graduated Chris Williams. After completing the program he landed a job with local contractor Brotherhood Way weatherizing homes and building new ones. CHRIS WILLIAMS, L.A. GREEN CORPS GRADUATE: I believe that this program helps kids by letting them see there's another way. Maybe they don't have a high school diploma or maybe they aren't the ones who go to college. This program advice the men and it gives them the opportunity to learn a trade, to learn a skill. Their energy bill will be $20 a month to $30 a month. ROMANS: Despite Chris's success, jobs are still hard to come by. So far out of 177 L.A. Green Corp graduates 37 percent of the graduates found jobs and a third have gone back to school. Even those who didn't immediately find work have achieved something. For Chris and so many other young adults, when they finish the program, they are ready to be thrown into the work force. So when the job market does turn around, they are ready. (END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: OK, some quick final thoughts from you on whether or not this is the magic bullet. We hear so much about green jobs. When we say what's coming back to replace us, we hear green jobs. What do you think? FREELAND: I think green jobs could be part of the solution but they are definitely not the magic bullet. If there's a single thing that America can do for itself as a country and individual viewers can do for themselves as people, I would say improve your skills, get better education. As you go up the education ladder, unemployment gets lower and lower. ROMANS: Unemployment for someone with a bachelor's degree right now is 4.7 percent. That is eccentrically full employment. It's harder to get a job out of college, but once you get that job, the unemployment rate is very low. ROGERS: That's correct. But again at the beginning of this recession the unemployment rate for college grads was around 2.5 to 3 percent, so it's more than doubled. One good positive piece here is that our stimulus policy looks very different from coming out of 2001 recovery. I understand what you are trying to do in terms of fighting terrorism, but from the standpoint of growing jobs, those dollars spent in Iraq didn't have the effects of the stimulus package that was passed now and are doing. These are focusing on infrastructure, these are domestic investments. So instead of being a drag on economic growth, the stimulus package and the kind of investments that are also being laid out in the president's budget will be more expansionary to help the economy grow. It is a big picture, screen jobs, one component of the puzzle. VELSHI: Bill, good to talk to you. Thank you so much. Bill Rogers, is president and chief economist at Rutgers University, fmr chief economist with the U.S. Department of Labor. Chrystia Freeland is the managing editor of the "Financial Times." ROMANS: All right. Thank you for joining us for this very special edition of YOUR MONEY. If 2009 was the year of the layoff, 2010 will be the year we helped you getting your job back. You can follow Ali Velshi and me at facebook and twitter at Christine Romans and at Ali Velshi. VELSHI: Make sure you tune in every week for YOUR MONEY, Saturday's at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sundays at 3:00. You can also log in 24/7 to CNNMONEY.com. Have a good weekend.


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'Appy Feat: How Apple conquered games
The jury might still be out on whether anyone can really make a long-term business model out of App Store sales.
And, yes, 'discoverability' remains an issue for some, driving developers big and small to game the charts with free or cheap apps that dominate the best-seller lists.
But whatever criticism you might make of it, no one can deny that, in just a year, the App Store has made some fundamental changes to the traditional business model in the games industry - and has even put the emerging digital distribution channels to shame.
Thousands upon thousands of apps; millions of phones sold; billions of downloads - we thought it was only right to look back at how Apple so quickly carved a key space for itself in the minds of games developers and the mobile market…
- After much speculation that the firm would expand its music player line to include a phone (and after a poorly-received attempt to work with mobile handset firm Motorola on an iTunes-compatible phone), Apple announced the existence of the iPhone on January 9th, 2007.
- The iPhone launched in the US on June 29, 2007 ahead of its global roll-out from November 2007 - over a million were sold by September 10th that year, 74 days after its introduction.
- The iPod Touch - which boasts many similar functions to the iPhone, save for the phone - was unveiled on September 5th.
- Just days after the launch of the iPhone, the OS was hacked (or 'jailbroken') with a dedicated tool that allowed independently made applications to run on the handsets. The first such app arrived on August 6th.
- As time went on Apple was thwarting the jailbreaking with firmware updates – specifically one in September 2007 which rendered unlocked devices unusable – and hackers would release new ways to jailbreak the phones. However...
- ...Apple eventually gave in, and just a month later that it would legitimately open up the iPhone and iPod Touch to independent developers via a blog post written by CEO Steve Jobs. "Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers' hands in February," he said in the letter published on October 17, 2007.
- "We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones," Jobs had also said, but…
- …it actually took a little while longer. The SDK was first unveiled on March 6th, 2008 with the first release arriving in beta the same day.
- It costs $99 to enter the iPhone developer scheme, and the SDK includes a software emulator - but it will only run on Intel-based Macs (naturally), so the real cost including hardware can be anywhere upwards of $599/£499. Throw in an extra $229/£169 if you want an iPod Touch to test software on - or over $99/£100 for an iPhone (including contract).
- In just a week after its launch, Apple said the SDK was downloaded over 100,000 time by prospective App developers.
- Alongside the SDK unveiling, Apple revealed the App Store - the mechanism which would make Apps available, either from handsets or via iTunes on Mac and PC - and the iPhone 3G, a new version of the phone announced earlier that year which added faster communications to the device.
- The final version of the SDK was released in July 2008, alongside the iPhone 3G, its 2.0 firmware and the App Store.
- The App Store had launched on iTunes on July 10, 2008, but wasn't entirely accessible to users until the release of the 2.0 firmware update for iPhone and iPod Touch on July 11th, which made apps playable.
- In terms of games, the 500 launch apps included Super Monkey Ball, Trism, Cro-Mag Rally, Columns Deluxe, Adventure, and Zen Pinball.
- 125 of the launch apps were free, the rest had to be paid for.
- Apple assigns an age rating to every app, either 4+, 9+, 12+ and 17+.
- Developers can set any price they want, above a minimum, for their creations but generally the cost of App Store apps can range from 59p/99c to £5.99/$10.
- However, there are apps priced much higher, including a finance/productivity suite called MyAccountsToGo, priced £279.99/$449.99.
- Briefly, an application fittingly called 'I Am Rich' - which did little else except load - was made available for $999, but the prank app was pulled quickly after it launched. That didn't stop someone buying it beforehand, though.
- A month after the launch Apple said one of the first games, Other Ocean's Super Monkey Ball title for Sega, had sold 300,000 copies in 20 days.
- Priced at $9.99, Super Monkey Ball turned over $3 million in less than a month.
- At the time, Apple also said $1m was being spent every day on the App Store by iPhone and iPod Touch owners. Insiders now say the amount could be close to double that.
- Analyst firm Piper Jaffray says that the store could generate over $1bn in revenue every year for Apple, even though the firm says it doesn't see the service as a major profit driver.
- That's because 70 per cent of the revenue made from each App sold on the store is given to the seller of the App...
- ...while just 30 per cent, meanwhile, goes to Apple.
- By comparison, the Xbox Live Arcade revenue ration is believed to be the complete opposite.
- Meanwhile Nintendo WiiWare and PlayStation Network's revenue ratio is said to be 'comparable' to Apple's, but can differ between games.
- By September 9, 2008 - two months after the App Store launch - Apple said that over 3,000 apps were available.
- Apple also said that at that point downloads had reached over 100 million globally.
- By March 2009, there were over 6,000 games available for iPhone.
- In April this year, Apple revealed that a billion apps had been downloaded within nine months.
- The one billionth app, Bump created by Bump Technologies, was downloaded by Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT, Apple said.
- At that point, Apple said there were 35,000 apps on the App Store.
- Just over a year after the debut of the SDK, on March 17, Apple unveiled the 3.0 version of the iPhone OS. This upgrade added over 1,000 new APIs to the toolset including In-App Purchases, Peer-to-Peer connections, access to the iPod music library, a new Maps API and Push Notifications.
- On June 8th, at the unveiling of the iPhone 3GS - and days before the official launch of the 3.0 firmware - Apple said that there were over 50,000 apps on the store.
- At the time of writing (July 11, 2009), however, monitor site Mobclix says there are 64,338 apps on the store.
- The biggest category is games. Of all Apps 20.6 per cent (13,283) are games.
- Other genres break down as follows (starting with the smallest): Weather (319), Medical (700), Finance (982), Photography (1,032), Social Networking (1,041), Health & Fitness (1,470), Business (1,514), News (1,661), Navigation (1,767), Sports (1,852), Productivity (1,909), Music (2,039), Reference (2,287), Lifestyle (3,449), Travel (3,536), Education (3,972), Utilities (4,542), Books (7,856), and Entertainment (9,127).
- Of course, days after this is published those numbers will have varied no doubt, given the speed with which the number rises - hundreds of Apps are uploaded to the store every week.
- According to Mobclix, of the 10,000+ games on the App Store, 72.9 per cent are paid-for apps, the other 27.1 per cent are free.
- If you wanted to buy all the apps available on the Store, you'd have to pay just under $150,000.
- Over a million units of the iPhone 3GS were sold during the three days following its launch.
- Six million owners updated their phones to firmware 3.0 in the five days since its release.
- In March 2009, Apple confirmed it had sold over 30m units of iPod Touch and iPhone (the ratio is believed to be around one iPod Touch sold for every two iPhones).
- By September this year Apple expects to have shipped out over 40m 3G iPhones.


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In Verbis Virtus Free Download for PC Full Version
Use your real voice to cast spells in In Verbis Virtus, a fantasy adventure unlike any other.
Step into the shoes of a wizard in search of an ancient power. Explore a lost temple, making your way through forgotten chambers brimming with unspeakable beauty and terror. Unlock spells and use them to solve the temple's enigmas and battle the monsters that lurk in its depths.
Built on the Unreal Engine, lose yourself in the breathtaking world of In Verbis Virtus, possibly the most unique and immersive game you'll play all year.
Environment- As you get farther into the game you really start to enter environments/areas that are truly amazing. I was so impressed by some of the areas I just stood there for a couple of minutes and took in all the detail..while looking over my shoulder of course! The areas are not your usual blood and gore they are done in a very artistic yet creepy way that seems to even get better the longer you play. Again using some original design coupled with the lighting, textures, etc. this games environments are truly amazing (even if they are not outside).
Sound- Sounds are really good and there is a good balance between the music and ambient sounds. I think the sounds could even be improved upon by adding a little more ambient sounds to add to the tension as you explore. But a great start!
Key Features
1. Cast spells in Maha'ki, the language of the gods, using your own voice.
2. Discover and learn multiple spells, each with its own purpose and power.
3. Solve challenging puzzles, escape traps and battle monsters with magic.
4. Explore a lost temple, uncovering the secrets of its mysterious past, as well as your own.
5. Experience stunning graphics powered by the Unreal Engine.
Game Title ====> In Verbis Virtus
Initial release date: April 3, 2015
Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie
Developer: Indomitus Games
Publisher: Meridian4
Platform: Microsoft Windows
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In Verbis Virtus System Requirements are described in the content below. With these specifications, the game will run smoothly and graphics would be crystal clear. A machine (CPU) better than these specifications is most beneficiary.
- Processor : Core 2 Duo, INTEL CPU: Pentium IV, 1.4 GHz, AMD CPU: Guron 2.0 GHz
- Operating System : Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
- VGA (Graphic Card) : 1 GB (Nvidia GPU: GeForce FX 5200, AMD GPU: Radeon Xpress 1200 Series)
- RAM : 2 GB or Higher
- DX : DirectX 9.0c
- Sound Card Compatibility : DirectX 9.0c
- Disc Drive : DVD-ROM at 8x Speed
- Network: Broadband Internet Connection or other available connection
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If you are looking for inspiration for your next card, look no further, because N@Ali has a fabulous sketch for us this week at Case this sketch !
28 January 2016
Case this sketch #157
If you are looking for inspiration for your next card, look no further, because N@Ali has a fabulous sketch for us this week at Case this sketch !
21 comments:
- TK said...
Perfect Valentine's Day! Cute...
- January 28, 2016 at 8:17 PM
- Shelly said...
Super SWEET!
- January 28, 2016 at 8:27 PM
- Leigh Penner said...
Oh, this is so fun! I love your fabulous take on the sketch!
- January 28, 2016 at 8:48 PM
- Barb Ghig said...
Such a clever take on the sketch, Hannelie! You sure know how to have 'fun' with your elements ~ I love how you played with those sweet lips and the polka dot 'kiss' is perfect!
Thanks so much for playing along with us this week at ATSM! We always enjoy seeing your fabulous creations in the gallery :)
- January 28, 2016 at 11:21 PM
- Aileen Ryan said...
Great take on the sketch. Love those glossy lips.
- January 29, 2016 at 12:37 AM
- Geri said...
It is a fabulous sketch! What you've done with it is even more fabulous! Will definitely be CAS-ing your card for DH's V-day card! No surprise that I love the polkie dot "kiss" :)
- January 29, 2016 at 1:43 AM
- Jen Mitchell said...
I absolutely adore this! What a fun card!
- January 29, 2016 at 5:21 AM
- Dana & Glen said...
Amazing take on the sketch Hannelie! Love those lips!
- January 29, 2016 at 8:02 AM
- Anita in France said...
Brilliant and so fun, Hannelie ... those luscious lips are fabulous! Hugs, Anita :)
- January 29, 2016 at 4:34 PM
- Gerrina said...
Dit is echt een hele grappige valentijnskaart; mooi CAS en die drie lippen zijn prachtig! Groetjes, Gerrina
- January 29, 2016 at 6:05 PM
- Nora N. said...
This is so cute!! I LOVE the fun lips. Oh so fun!!
- January 30, 2016 at 3:37 AM
- Claire said...
Loving those lips Hannelie! So cute!
- January 30, 2016 at 10:49 AM
- Pat said...
What a great card.
Pat xx
- January 30, 2016 at 8:06 PM
- Shona Chambers said...
Such gorgeous, glossy lip colours!! This is such a cool design and I wouldn't mind all those lip colours myself! Always so happy to see you at ATSM!!
- January 31, 2016 at 12:13 PM
- Valentyna Komisarenko said...
Absolutely adorable! Love the glam look!
- January 31, 2016 at 5:21 PM
- Jen W. said...
Ha! Love those lips and the dotty kiss! :D
- February 1, 2016 at 2:18 AM
- creationsnz said...
A fun card and lovely lippy, great take on the sketch
- February 1, 2016 at 5:33 AM
- SugarGem said...
Really cool Card. Those lips turned out fab
- February 2, 2016 at 1:11 AM
- Bobby said...
What a darling idea, Hannelie. I had to smile at the lip gloss referral. ;) Thanks for sharing your valentine at ATSM this week.
- February 3, 2016 at 12:35 AM
- Petra Swart said...
Ek kan net dink hoeveel jong dametjies daarbuite wat sou gee om hierdie kaartjie vir 'n kerel te kan gee vir VD, ne!!!! En hoe opgewonde gaan die kerel nie wees om dit te ontvang nie, ne!!!!! Baie oulik gedoen vrou, en ek hou van jou keuse van kleure vir die lipstiffie en die gloss is net perfek!!!! Regtig cute!!!
- February 5, 2016 at 3:11 PM
- Bellule said...
Great card Hannelie !!
- February 10, 2016 at 10:20 PM


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If you are the kind of person who finds a certain (enormously popular) party game more inappropriate than hilariously un-PC, then Cards For Wonderful People is the card game for you. Instead of being "for horrible people" like a similar card game, this newly launched Kickstarter project is for wonderful people and highlights the good in the world. With an intention of sparking conversation and positive connection, this is a game-changer.
The rules of Cards For Wonderful People are very simple. A player chooses a blue card from the stack and everyone writes their response to the question on a yellow card. Cards include things like "What are you saving for a rainy day?", "Name a random act of kindness you have done." and "If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you wealthy?"
Positive Party Games
More Stats +/-
Literal Poop Packages
Web-Based Party Games
Crass Advertising Cards
Crude Fantasy Card Decks
Argumentative Card Games
Crowdfunding Campaign Cards For Wonderful People Highlights the Good
- By: Alyson WyersJun 11, 2015
References: cardsforhumanity.org & psfk
References: cardsforhumanity.org & psfk


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In China, Busen Green Embraces 'Intelligent Copying' to Stand Out
Moving away from scattershot copying, mid-market Chinese brand Busen Green has embraced a creative process based on "intelligent copying" to produce collections with a more consistent and differentiated design aesthetic for the country's increasingly demanding male consumers.
FENGQIAO, China — At Chic 2013, one of the leading "prêt-à-porter" fairs in China, this reporter first met Mr Lei He, the young design director of Busen Green, a mid-market domestic fashion brand targeting young Chinese men. He Lei and his assistant Gong Yaming stood at the entrance of the showroom in the slim jeans and tight-fitting club blazers that are the unmistakable uniform of Chinese hipsters. Both of them were smiling behind thick, retro-style Bakelite frames. Gong's frames had no lenses, reflecting a persistent fashion craze in this part of the world.
Hometown of Chinese Premium Shirts
With 40 stores in China, Busen Green is the latest venture of the Busen Group. The group's founder, Mrs Caifeng Shou, started as a tailor in Fengqiao in the Zhejiang Province in Southern China with 24 sewing machines and minimal capital. In the mid-1980s, the tailors of Fengqiao overwhelmingly focused on shirt manufacturing and 15 years later, the local industry had grown to comprise 138 shirt factories, producing 85 million shirts per year for China and beyond. Fengqiao even won the national title of "Hometown of Chinese Premium Shirts," beating out 46 other contenders.
In 1986, Shou realised that creating her own brand would be more profitable than focusing on low cost manufacturing. And soon after, the Busen Group was born. By 2012, the group had grown to employ over 3500 people and was generating a turnover of 651 million RMB (about $106 million at current exchange rates), with a net profit of 42 million RMB. From the early 1990s to the financial crisis of 2008, the company's annual growth rate fluctuated between 20 percent and 30 percent. And after the global financial crisis of 2008, when many export-driven companies struggled to survive, Busen's forward momentum slowed only slightly. Profits declined due to increasing retail rents, rising wages and larger levels of unsold inventory, yet the group maintained a growth rate that hovered between 5 percent and 10 percent and successfully IPOed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in April 2011.
"Intelligent Copying"
Compared to most Chinese garment companies, Busen believes in design innovation. Indeed, the company invests around 1.17 percent of its turnover in design, which it perceives as a long-term competitive advantage. And, in line with this corporate vision, Mr He, chief designer of Busen Green, is progressively implementing a novel creative process that combines "intelligent copying" with direct sourcing from external design studios and manufacturers. With a small team of only four designers, Busen Green designs 20 percent of its collection in-house. Fifty percent comes from external Chinese design studios, while the rest is directly purchased from garment manufacturers.
In contrast, at most Chinese brands, there is no proper in-house design at all and these companies end up copying a bit of everything from leading international designers, often creating a questionable mélange of aesthetics. For the majority of Chinese designers, the idea that a collection shall express, season after season, the identity of a brand and communicate a distinctive stylistic point if view is relatively new. Thus, when copying the collections of international designers, they find it hard to even select the themes and trends that match their own target audience with any cohesion.
A sensible imitator, Mr He carefully catalogues the brands that inspire him. For Busen Green's main casual line, Undercover, Kenzo and Junya Watanabe guide his choices. For its second line, focused on formalwear, he follows Costume National, 3.1 Philip Lim and Jil Sander. By deliberately limiting his sources of inspiration, He's collections for Busen Green maintain a certain degree of consistency.
Once the selection of inspiration is done, the company's design team chooses fabrics, creates sketches and makes prototypes. Usually, these steps are full of pitfalls, as many young Chinese designers still underestimate the caliber of materials and craftsmanship required to produce a garment that looks at all like the fashion they admire. But Mr He smooths these difficulties away by simplifying the design of products as much as possible, making his garments easier to reproduce by an average pattern maker.
Growing Menswear Competition
The Chinese menswear market has grown steadily in recent years. Statistics from leading Chinese department stores reveal that since 2009, men's fashion retail revenues have grown faster than those of womenswear. And according to a forecast by Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm, at a growth rate of 15.8 percent per year, China's menswear market will reach 540 billion RMB ($88 billion) in 2013.
Indeed, Chinese men are avid fashion consumers and many of them are willing to spend a large part of their income buying clothes and accessories. But with over 800 menswear brands now operating in China (around 600 Chinese domestic brands and 200 foreign brands) competition for share of wallet is growing fiercer and fiercer, demanding more mature, upgraded design processes from Chinese labels.
In this context, Busen Green's adoption of copying with constraints is a savvy move along a progression of brand differentiation and articulation, from basic copying to original creation, that's likely to score points.
No doubt, Busen Green will soon attract imitators of its own.
Genevieve Flaven is CEO of Style-Vision Asia, a trend agency based in Shanghai.


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With one in ten children having speech and communication difficulties, it is clear to see there a great need for more resources out there to help young people and parents alike, which is what this speech difficulty children's book looks to do. With a positive and vibrant story that has been designed to inspire hope and self-confidence, David Haynes has created Stitches and the Troublesome Stitch, which helps remove the stigma associated with a stammer, stutter or mumble.
The story centers around a scarecrow with a stitch of thread across his mouth that causes him to mumble. He embarks upon an adventure to remove the troublesome stitch.
Ultimately with the help of some marvelous characters, Stitches learns that it's the stitch and that his mumble isn't so bad. It's that which makes him so special and unique, so he regains his self-confidence and self-belief.
This is a much needed children's book that addresses an often overlooked issue. Purchase your own copy from Lulu.com.
Speech Impediment Storybooks
More Stats +/-
Textured Children Books
Plush Parenting
Millennial-Targeted Book Makeovers
Domicile-Inspired Digitoons
Speech Impediment Cartoons
This Speech Difficulty Children's Book Helps Inspire Confidence
- By: David HaynesJun 10, 2014
References: lulu & stichesbook
References: lulu & stichesbook


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This problem is more acute in the digital and mobile space, thanks to the rapid evolution of technology. Let's take a look at some of the more recent opportunities that I think have passed and use it as a platform to understand how to find the next big thing before it becomes just that -- the next big thing.
Four years ago, clients were in love with MySpace. It was the first social network to achieve traffic on par with a major portal. Brands were creating pages for themselves and they were highly integrated into a multitude of campaigns (but generally very poorly). Then before we knew it software was created that would "crawl" MySpace and add friends and leave comments in mass.
In the beginning we were able to use this technology in clever ways to create some very compelling campaigns. One of my favorites, for Motorola's (Red) Razr campaign, allowed you to add a widget to your page that scanned your profile page's comments for positive and negative keywords and then gave you a karma rating based on your friend's feedback. Of course other advertisers (and bands), small and large, figured it out as well and effectively ruined MySpace by spamming everyone to death. A huge portion of MySpace's original audience was inevitably turned off.
Then we put a lot of our focus onto Facebook, especially when the applications platform was launched. Facebook already had a substantial user base when the applications platform was launched so we knew the eyeballs were already there. Any of the applications that were released at or near the launch of the platform instantly had tens or hundreds of thousands of installs within weeks of their release as people investigated the platform. Now, according to Adonomics, "there are 47,029 apps on Facebook with over 200,000 developers currently evaluating the platform. These applications were used 34,175,797 times in the last 24 hours."
Independent developers or challenger brands with smaller budgets will find it incredibly hard to cut through the clutter now without allocating budget to a media campaign. This, in combination with some of latest changes Facebook has made, had made a Facebook a far more difficult place to launch an application successfully than it was even six months ago.
It feels as though the latest marketing media darling is the iPhone. The problem is that anyone who didn't have an application out for the launch of the platform missed out on an opportunity for substantial media exposure, potentially hundreds of thousands of downloads and an early foothold in market share.
There are more than 1,800 games available for the iPhone on iTunes already. Please note I said games, not total applications. There are about 12,000 applications in iTunes right now. Almost every client I actively work with has asked me for an application and I'm already starting to wonder when it's going to be too late to push through the madness without substantial efforts.
This repetitive cycle is the paradox of marketing. Some site or mobile platform becomes the next hot thing and, without fail, marketers descend upon it like vultures. We don't mean to destroy these new coveted opportunities but we can't seem to stop ourselves. We can't, in good conscience, ignore these opportunities for clients but simultaneously we must become aware of our own actions as an industry. Eventually we over saturate any platform or medium. Then once we've made that medium unpleasant for the users that we so unabashedly desired, they move on.
Is there a solution? I'd like to hear your thoughts. Come back tomorrow and I'll pass on my five ways that we can end the Paradox of Marketing.
~ ~ ~
Freddie Laker is the director of digital strategy at Sapient, a role he's held since his most recent entrepreneurial venture, the digital hot shop, ichameleon, became part of Sapient's Miami office. His passion for rapidly evolving digital marketing industry -- he has led the creation of well over 1,500 web projects from financial institution applications to left-field viral marketing campaigns -- has led Freddie to found the Society of Digital Agencies, a collective of notable digital agencies focused on thought leadership and positive industry change. He also blogs at www.takemetoyourleader.com.


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Warning: prepare for a long post. It is hard to believe that we have had a house for three whole weeks… yet at the same time, it is hard to believe that so many things could have possibly gone wrong in only three short weeks. I kept saying to myself and things happened, oh I want to blog about this, or can't wait to blog that… but alas in the chaos of new homeownership and the sheer ridiculousness of the last few weeks, time got away from me. So here you are: the first three weeks of our house…
Within the first week of owning our home we already had a bathroom ripped our and completely replaced. That will be a whole post in and of itself once we paint. We have ridiculously ugly before pictures, so I really want to wait until it is actually finished so show the contrast in the after pictures. In addition to wanting good before/after pictures, there was so much that went wrong with re-modeling that bathroom that it literally HAS to be its own post. (it was ridiculous… and still is)
Literally the first whole day that we had our house, our bathroom re-model began. It is good to have a contractor in the family (and yet not good at the same time…again see later post) We had to be out of our apartment the same week that we moved in.. so as things were being ripped out of the bathroom, our belongings were being moved into rooms. By the end of the first two weeks, I had just about everything unpacked. (hey it helps that one of those weeks I was on Christmas Vacation) It has been fun settling in, unpacking our things, and really making this house feel like a home. What hasn't been fun is all of the things that have been going wrong.
We literally haven't been able to do ANYTHING the easy way. (you will hear more about this in the bathroom post) The first week we owned our home, we had a sewage back up. My father-in-law called a bunch of people and he said the most expensive guy was $800…. the cheapest guy was on his way. He did the rotorooter. Apparently he also said that he needed to do this hydrocutting thing or it would get backed up in two weeks. My father-in-law said we didn't need it. Guess what backed up two weeks later :)
On the same day our sewage backed up… again… we learned that the main pipe that carried water into the house was busted. :\ You see… we didn't notice it before because we have been getting an uncharacteristic amount of rain. We also had this huge trash pile in front of our house… which actually had grown since I took this picture to include all of our torn out bathroom. So, when the rain stopped we assumed that it was just our trash pile leaking water and that is why our driveway never dried… nope.
We finally broke down the big screen T.V. and shower stall… and toilets… and all other kinds of debris and put it in the truck to take to the dump, but our mini puddle was still there, and growing. That was when we could actually see water coming up through it. Great. Lan called that Vietnamese plumber that his dad had called and asked him to come out the next day to hydrocut our sewage line, and hopefully fix the guiser that was in the middle of our drive way. He said "Your Vietnamese, I am Vietnamese, your wife is white, my wife is white, ill work you out a deal, and he did. He highered five guys for the day and in the pouring rain they cut a like through our driveway, laid a new pipe and re-did the cement. Fixed in one day :)
It may not look the most beautiful, but hey it was the cheapest and most permanent solution. He said that we had a really bad leak. All of the dirt under our driveway had been washed away so he tried to backfill it with concrete. He also said to expect our water bill to be $500 or more this month…. yeiks! glad we got that one fixed.
Here is the kicker… we had just bought a beautiful new fridge that morning.
We had a fridge when we moved in but it was an apartment frig that didn't have an ice maker. The house had a water line for one and it kept leaking because it didn't have anything to be plugged into. So we decided that with our Christmas money,we would spring for the luxury. So between the new bathroom, and all of our pipe problems (0h and the frig) we are officially out of our house fixing up budget for the time being.
Thankfully after all of that chaos, the last week of our vacation was spent cleaning, throwing a New Years Party, and finally enjoying our house. Our toilets flush wonderfully and we no longer have a puddle in our driveway. It is such a wonderful feeling to come home from work to our house which is now truly becoming our home (yes, for the first two weeks it was just our house) I am so excited for all of the DIY projects that we are planning.
We can now safely say: "We love our home"


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12 responses
Davide Simone (Deleted) gave props (1 Jun 2012):
just a word : stunning !!!!
Susan B. Griffith said (1 Jun 2012):
Love this abstract/minimal look to the image.
Donna Mullins (Deleted) gave props (1 Jun 2012):
Geometric and earthy. nice combo!
Jarno Antila gave props (1 Jun 2012):
Very interesting and strong.
Litz Go gave props (1 Jun 2012):
simple and effective!
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Elyseo gave props (2 Jun 2012):
Cid Couture-White gave props (2 Jun 2012):
Simply --- Wow! All points meeting...
Léa (Deleted) gave props (9 Jul 2012):
Mick Stafford said (29 Jul 2012):
nice composition Aaron
Alexandra Bogdan gave props (12 Apr 2014):
simple and nice
John Linton gave props (14 Apr 2014):
Rockin' the Edges of JPG's Theme Park!
Also by Aaron Schwartz
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Reader Review: Darlene Bakes from Jessica Seinfeld's New Book
Remember the big to-do over Jessica Seinfeld's new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious? She sneaks pureed carrots, spinach and broccoli into foods that kids will eat, like mac and cheese and meatballs. The approach was wildly controversial, judging from the comments on our original post.
We asked if anyone had actually tried it, and Darlene from my burning kitchen wrote us to say that she had. What did she think of Seinfeld's vegetable concoctions? Read on…
There was a lot of prep work and a lot of pureeing going on, just for one little batch of brownies. Darlene said that no one wanted to lick the bowl, and that the instructions said that the spinach smell would fade only after the brownies cooled.
Ultimately she concluded – after a great deal of pureeing… "Sometimes a brownie just has to be a brownie."
Her entire post is hilarious and well worth a read – you have to check out her boyfriend's reaction.
This recipe review only confirms our private feeling that vegetables should stay vegetables (and kids should learn to eat them) and brownies should, well, stay brownies.
What do you think? To read our first post on this cookbook, check it out here: Jessica Seinfeld's New Cookbook.
(All images by Darlene of my burning kitchen)


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LBI Limited's owners wanted a website to build confidence in their company and in them as classic car experts, but their initial ventures with other web firms did not produce the desired results. Then we got our shot and, after developing a clear understanding of their business, designed an elegant front end that streamlined navigation through the LBI online listings, complete with an accessible framework for sharing the cars' features. But truly, it's the site's back end we are most proud of. We set the LBI team up with a WordPress-based platform that lets them upload hundreds of images for each car and independently manage a system of online forms automated to generate client inquiries for bids, consignments, and sales. Since launch, traffic to the site has increased over 93 percent, prompting a rise in web- and phone-based leads.
Services Provided by Pinnacle:
"Working with Pinnacle was an extremely efficient and easy process that produced a website which went above and beyond our expectations. www.lbilimited.com simply speaks for itself. Pinnacle followed a step-by-step creation process that was intuitive and made everything from the early stages of design to final launch preparations work impeccably."
— Adolfo Mastin, Co-Owner, Luxury Brokers International


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Is there fuse that operates the cruise control in a volkswagen pass 2012
My car has 24000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Your car has an electronic throttle body which is controlled by the engine electronic control unit (ECU). As such, the cruise control is incorporated into the engine management system and will not have a separate fuse. There are a few things that will keep the cruise control from operating. The most common cause for an inoperative cruise control is a bad brake light switch. The brake light switch has two circuits, and if one of them fails, the cruise will not operate. The brake lights may still be operating so you can't check it by looking at the lights. Likewise, if there is a fault in the throttle position sensor, or the throttle body itself, the cruise will not come on for safety reasons. Any of these failures may not light up a warning light, so the only way to tell is to hook up a scan tool and check for codes. Have a mechanic inspect your cruise control system and tell you what it will take to fix it.
Our certified mechanics come to you ・Backed by 12-month, 12,000-mile guarantee・Fair and transparent pricing


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|This page falls under the scope of the Anniversary Update Project.
| The Tale of Twinblade
|Heroes' Guild
|Related Quests
|Book Collection
|Base value
The Tale of Twinblade is a book in Fable, Fable: The Lost Chapters, and Fable Anniversary. It is found on a bookshelf within the Heroes' Guild.
Contents of BookEdit
Heroes, good or evil, need self-discipline. And Twinblade, a young, powerful swordsman, was no different. After graduation, he stopped taking Quests at the Guild when he realized he could take what he wanted from anyone. His love of gold and growing resentment of other Heroes drove him to live in the woods as a thief. His strength and ruthlessness led him to face and kill other Bandit Clan Leaders and he united the Forest Clans and became King of the Bandits. But deep inside him, Twinblade never lost the code of honour and respect the Guild had instilled in him.
|Fable Books
A History of the Guild • A Love Story • Arban's Thaumaturgica • Book of Spells • Creatures of the North • Dusty Notebook • Eyes of a Killer • Jack of Blades • Making Friends • Scrawled Parchment • Sisters' Diary • The Arena • The Balverine Slayer • The Bloodline • The Dragons • The Guild of Zeroes • The Hierarchy of Weapons • The Northern Wastes • The Oakvale Raid • The Old Kingdom • The Other Land • The Pale Balverine • The Repentant Alchemist • The Rotten Apple • The Sock Method • The Story of 'X' • The Tailor's Tragedy • The Tale of Maxley • The Tale of Twinblade • The Trials of Aarkan • The Trigamist • The Ugly Guide • Theresa's Letter • Three Haikus by Miko the Bard • Windbreaker Rule Book • You Are Not a Bad Person A Hero's Journey (I, II, III) • Creatures of Albion (I, II, III)