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Sahil Malik has a response to my SharePoint 2010 Sandbox Solutions are Bad post that you can read here: Sandbox solutions are pretty damn good.
He also links to a Facebook conversation wherein Razi Bin Rai asserts "At heart of the argument of 'SB solutions are bad', there is actually more of a resistance against new way of doing things" and Sahil replies "True True Razi".
Not true at all. (I am always amazed when an Internet commenter thinks they know the mind of another from a tweet or a page of text).
There is in fact not a resistance against a new way of doing things. I came to this new technology with a great deal of excitement, but I find it distinctly lacking in its merits.
With regards to Sahil's post - I believe that proxies are a sound and vital architectural choice. But they are not part of the sandbox even though SharePoint provides the means to invoke a specific type of proxy from the sandbox. In SharePoint they are, in fact, full trust components that require administrative access to install. My guess is that those who have permission to use them will do so if they are using Silverlight or heavy javascript with the new client namespace. Furthermore, they will use some form of server side proxies regardless of whatever deployment (sandbox or farm) choices they make.
And why not? By going with a predominately client side technology you don't lose anything from the sandbox that you would have without it. Assuming you have admin access you can solve both issues #2 and #3 mentioned in my original post . But let us be completely honest about what this means; you solve them by having components outside the sandbox. Most, I think, would choose this architecture (proxies to server side services) when the UI is client side JavaScript or Silverlight with or without the sandbox. If we both agree that this is a sound architecture in and of itself, let's not confuse the subject of the merits of the sandbox as it is implemented by talking about something that is clearly separate even though complimentary.
Besides, I don't think full trust proxies will be an option on SharePoint Online or other hosted offerings anyway.
Sahil seems to be conflating my choice of the word 'Bad' with 'useless'. This is not a useless technology, but it is a bad one. As you may know, I've been slowly making Elumenotion into an ISV. I hope to have some success with SharePoint Online and its analogs and so we are working on a variety of workarounds and trying to come up with a serviceable architecture. The fact is: there are workarounds and you can build solutions.
This concession made, let me reiterate what I think was the most important part of the original post. If you are going to do development on 2010 and you have access to the server your default choice should be farm solutions unless you have a compelling requirement to do otherwise – the pronouncements at PDC and elsewhere to the contrary (sandbox should be your default choice) are nonsense. Absent a clear requirement (like the need to run as a hosted solution) going with a sandbox will result is more code with strange workarounds and potentially less secure data for more money and time. If that's not bad, then what is it?
I must admit that I was a little irked that I took the time to come up with three specific examples that Sahil ignored and substituted with a straw man when he wrote his rebuttal. I think I have addressed the full trust proxy point, but let me tackle a couple of his other points so that he need not be irked with me. ;)
First Sahil says 'Farm solutions and custom code is the number one necessary evil on SharePoint projects. It is also the number one issue that causes problems and updates. And it is also the number one issue that causes contention between IT Pros and developers.' To this I can only say '[citation needed]'. It's a huge assertion to make that does not jibe with my experiences or anecdotes from my peers or clients.
Second is that the sandbox provides a degree of monitoring that can prevent rogue apps from killing the server. I agree that this is a great thing especially if you are providing hosted services like SharePoint Online that preclude normal QA and monitoring processes for deployed code. Once again though, if you have the option of traditional development because you own the servers, traditional QA and WMI instrumentation along with ULS logging are a first line defense which should minimize the need for such a system.
Third Sahil says: 'My feeling is that there's been plenty of thought given to where and how those walls have been drawn.' My feeling is that insufficient thought and resources went into making these decisions. At some point they have to ship it and they decided where to put the resources. This stuff smacks of a version 1.0, let's get it out the door deal. I am spending a lot of time in Reflector these days looking at the SharePoint assemblies. If there is a security or performance issue that caused them to deny access to the entire SharePoint.WebControls namespace I do not see it. The code for most of these controls is simple and straightforward. However, there are hundreds of them. My purely speculative guess is that they only had so much manpower to go around and they took the easy way out by blocking them all instead of looking at them individually.
Author: Doug Ware |
Time to party!
The house of horror? Certainly not... this is the place where it all started: the Quartier Latin aka Axel in Kaldenkirchen.
And this is what Linde had to offer. Brewed by Dutch monks just over the border... a true divine intervention.
Not to forget this one. As well as three other nice beers that I forgot to take pictures of. Choices, choices.
The kids, however, didn't care about all this and enjoyed the evening with one table soccer game after the other.
And this is Jenny in action. She's playing Ruben's tried and trusted Rhodes 73 - a heavenly combination.
Elmar is signing the 5th anniversary 'guest book'. A combination of best wishes and wild jokes, as you can imagine ;-)
...which also led to a change of drinks. Here come the shots - better search cover.
Lutz aka Luke the Bear in a cheerful temper, like always. Meet the man behind the "Evil Evening" events.
And here we have Ruben's parents! Thanks a lot for five years of secret laboratory asylum in the basement.
And then came Tom VDH aka elysia France. Boy, the man can play. Usually, I mean ;-)
Like every good party this one ended with burning the place down to the ground.
Time flies when you're having fun. Fun we had in huge loads, so the flight has been supersonic so far. We're looking forward to the next five years!
Unbelievable. Yet true: On January 18th our small but famous pro audio company became already 5 years old. We started a little party on the 17th...
Our good friend and one of the hosts of the evening: Linde! Already in the right place for action...
And this one, of course. Wrong glass, but right content, as always. Never judge a beer by its cover.
Outside, however, Paul was taking care about the really nasty stuff. See the stop sign in the background?
Ruben is just announcing the star of the evening: Jenny. No anniversary without live music, and Jenny rocked!
In the meantime, Jimi was watching over us. He's been doing this for so many years, he can't be shocked anymore.
Halftime! Time to welcome Pepe as the new bartender, as Linde was tired of tapping and wanted to party, too.
And yes, this did have its consequences. Jacqueline and Frank impressively demonstrate what I'm talking about.
Here's Andre together with Ruben. They still look pretty fit, don't they? On the surface, hehe...
Jotto and Ruben couldn't let the chance pass to surprise everyone with an impromptu birthday duo. Oh my.
The winning combination: Fire, food and funny hats. And fun, fun, fun, of course.
On the next day, everybody was looking something like this. The answering machine saved the day. |
African press review 14 November 2012
Kenya's National Security Council sends in the army to help search for the killers of 42 police officers. The ICC is urging more countries to join the Rome Statute enabling them to enforce arrest warrants. The Ugandan President's wife is in court for corruption.
There's not a lot of good news on the Kenyan front pages.
The Standard gives pride of place to yesterday's decision by the National Security Council to send army units to Samburu County to help police pursue bandits who killed at least 42 officers in a weekend ambush.
In a separate story, the Nairobi-based daily says national outrage continues to rise over the casual manner in which the State has handled the killings, particularly leaving the bodies of dead officers to rot in trucks outside a primary school for four days after the massacre. President Mwai Kibaki on Tuesday commissioned a new commuter train service in Nairobi but though prayers were said for the police officers killed, he did not mention them in his speech.
Yesterday, two missing officers were rescued in the Suguta Valley. A number of policemen are still unaccounted for.
According to sister paper, the Daily Nation, the trouble began on 20 October, when Turkana warriors raided their Samburu neighbours and stole more than 500 cattle and goats. The Samburu struck in a revenge attack and drove away 297 camels.
The government responded by sending a contingent of the paramilitary General Service Unit, regular and Administration Police officers, who were ambushed, resulting in the weekend massacre.
Police have meanwhile arrested a local civic leader in connection with the attacks.
The Nachola ward councillor was taken into custody on suspicion that he and another man, also a civic official, incited the Samburu and Turkana communities to fight one another for unknown reasons.
The Standard also reports that the International Criminal Court has started pushing more countries to sign the Rome Statute and to renew cooperation that would see arrest warrants enforced.
Representatives of ICC member states are meeting in The Hague today to take part in a review conference.
Today's talks will centre on a plan of action aimed at achieving full universality of the statute, which created the court in July 2002 to try crimes of concern to the international community.
Several countries, including the United States, Russia, China and India are yet to recognise the ICC, slowing the court’s ability to exercise criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes.
Suspects indicted by the court like Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir and Joseph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, are yet to be arrested, a situation ICC officials blame on non-cooperation by some member states.
Thirty-three out of the current 121 members are African countries.
In Uganda, former State minister for Health Mike Mukula yesterday told the Anti-Corruption Court that first lady Janet Kataha Museveni asked for and her office to be given the shilling equivalent of 16,000 euros of funds meant for the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation programme.
Mukula is himself charged with stealing about 63,000 euros from the same programme.
The main story in the Johannesburg-based business paper, BusinessDay, says South Africa’s platinum production has fallen to an 11-year low, pushing the global market into a deficit as strikes, safety stoppages and mine closures cut production from the world’s largest supplier, Amplats.
Anglo American Platinum lost at least 170,000oz of platinum during a recent eight-week strike and is still struggling to convince workers to return to their posts.
The global supply of platinum, which includes output from mines in Russia, north America and Zimbabwe, is at the lowest level since the year 2000.
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LOS ANGELES (CN) - Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors wants voters to decide in November whether porn actors should be required to wear condoms to make their movies.
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 this week to put the "condoms in porn" initiative on the November ballot.
It would require pornography producers in the county to get a health permit from the county's Department of Public Health to make pornographic movies.
Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Don Knabe and Michael Antonovich voted Yes: to send the question to voters. Supervisor Gloria Molina was the only supervisor to vote No. Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas abstained.
The law is meant to protect sex performers from AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. And, presumably, set a good example for people who watch pornography.
The president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has sought mandatory condom use in pornography for years, called the commission's vote "a great day for the performers and safer sex in our society," in an interview with the Los Angeles Time.
Last December, the City of Los Angeles suedfive registered voters who proposed the initiative, including AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein, claiming the measure was pre-empted by state law.
But the Los Angeles City Council later approved a condom ordinance in January this year.
The United States' multibillion-dollar porn industry is concentrated in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Porn producers have threatened to pack up and leave the state if actors are required to wear condoms.
The industry claims that monthly check-ups for sexually transmitted diseases protect actors.
But in August 2011, the industry shut down after a performer tested positive for HIV, according to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
The foundation backed the measure, along with more than 370,000 Los Angeles County residents who signed a petition to have it put on the ballot.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation senior director of public health Whitney Engeran-Cordova told Courthouse News that the group was "very pleased" that the county had "followed the lead of 371,000" people who wanted the issue placed on the ballot.
"I believe the people of Los Angeles believe that workers should be protected from getting sick on the job," Engeran-Cordova said. She said that requiring porn actors to wear condoms was no different than asking a worker to "wear a hard hat on construction site."
"This is not a matter of consensual sex. This is a job," she said.
Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, said the supervisors had put the measure on the ballot because "they really had no other choice."
"What was made abundantly clear at the meeting, through the written statement by the L.A. County's public health director, is that the cost of implementing the program will be astronomical for the county as well as adult producers," Duke wrote in an email to Courthouse News.
"AHF representatives argued in favor of the measures based on workplace safety issues which only supports Supervisor Molina's argument - this issue does not fall under county jurisdiction but at the state level with CalOSHA [California Department of Industrial Relations]."
But apparently, voters will decide. Some county officials said that enforcing the rule might be difficult. |
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Nicki Minaj didn't join American Idol expecting to feud with one of her idols.
But, she admitted today on Good Morning America, being true to who she is has been known to "ruffle other women's feathers."
Mariah Carey's included.
Nicki flashes a nip on BET
"She's been one of my favorite artists of all time since I can remember, so it's weird that everything kind of, was blown up like that. It didn't make me happy at all," Minaj said of the verbal exchange she had with Carey over the summer that resulted in a flurry of stories about discord—and heightened security—on the Idol set.
"I can't take away what she's done in my life and just in pop culture in general and just having one of the most amazing voices in the world," Minaj continued. "Having said that, I'm an adult and we are passionate on the set and sometimes when you're a passionate woman, you know, sometimes it kind of ruffles other women's feathers, but I'm going to continue to be Nicki Minaj."
Producers had their judges' backs throughout in the meantime, and the panel has remained intact as the 12th-season premiere of American Idol approaches.
Nicki raps about "being quick to check a bitch"
"I would consider myself an honest judge," said the 29-year-old, who was decked out in head-to-toe pink two days after being named Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the American Music Awards. "That's all I'm doing. I've said before, I want them to leave with the truth. I feel like the truth has always fueled me to get better."
Talking about her duet with Justin Bieber on "Beauty and the Beat" at the AMAs, she called the experience "interesting."
"I was surprised when they asked me to perform with him...Of course, I was like, 'I can't turn that down!' The song had just come out, everybody loves the song, so I was like, 'It'll be a good thing, I guess.'"
5 biggest jaw-droppers at the American Music Awards
"I love it, I was just looking at the little body grind," Minaj laughed, mimicking the motion from the replay on the screen in front of her. "We never really rehearsed it together, everything was just so quick, and I had rehearsals the day before, so I had to go and try on outfits and stuff like that. So when I got up there with him, I kinda thought, 'OK, let's make sure everything works and I get my cue and I walk out on time."
And the body grind synced up perfectly!
Highlights from the 2012 American Music Awards |
Renée Zellweger and Kenny Chesney are once again "single persons."
Paperwork finalizing and formalizing the end of the duo's blink-and-you-missed-it marriage was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles.
"The judgment of nullity is entered," the documents read, per TV's Extra. "The parties are declared to be single persons."
Zellweger, 36, and Chesney, 37, met in January, wed in May, and split in September when the Oscar-winning actress filed for an annulment from her country superstar spouse.
If, given its brevity, it seems as if the Zellweger-Chesney union never existed, then the approval of the annulment guarantees that it never did exist. As far as the law is concerned, it was all just a bad Pam Ewing dream.
The couple's uncoupling raised eyebrows not just for its speed--it came a little more than four months after their Virgin Islands ceremony--but for its declaration of "fraud."
In seeking to null and void the marriage, Zellweger checked the box marked "fraud." The Bridget Jones' Diary star explained she did not mean to impugn Chesney's character--she was merely going with the best of a batch of bad options. Other boxes on the request form would have accused one or both of them of bigamy, or even of being of "unsound mind."
For his part, Chesney seemed to take no offense to the word "fraud." He told ABC's The View last month that he and Zellweger still "really care about each other."
The caring, though, wasn't enough to keep the newlyweds together, or even in near proximity. Chesney resumed his Somewhere in the Sun tour shortly after the wedding. From that point on, he and Zellweger were rarely seen out and about as a couple.
Zellweger and Chesney were both first-timers at marriage. They had no children.
Since going their separate ways for good, both have found the going a bit rough. Zellweger saw the rerelease of her summer flop, Cinderella Man, reflop. Chesney saw Keith Urban steal his thunder--and his Entertainer of the Year title--at the Country Music Association Awards.
Still, Chesney's new album, The Road and the Radio, released in November, has been a hot seller--it's fifth in the latest Nielsen SoundScan rankings. And Zellweger's lined up to star in the Tom Cruise-produced Japanese horror remake, The Eye. |
Kudos again to Casey over at Modern Hiker. His vivid descriptions and photos of local hiking destinations have provided the inspiration for many of the hikes I’ve taken this past year. And with a special page of “Best Hikes in Los Angeles“, how could he make it any easier?
So his rave reviews of the Mishe Mokwa Trail to Sandstone Peak earned it a place on my list of must-do hikes. Columbus Day provided a day off and therefore the perfect opportunity to check it off the list and explore some wonderful scenery at the same time. Joined by friends A & P, we set out from Hollywood shortly after 8AM and after a bit of traffic on the 101 Freeway, we exited at Westlake Blvd. Within a few short miles were in the winding-road wilderness of the Santa Monica Mountains.
It takes a while to drive to the trailhead, but we easily found the parking lot off of Little Sycamore Canyon. We were the only car in the lot as we set off on the trail. I’ll leave the description to Casey, but it’s just as he described – to a “T”. I can see why he’s a fan of this hike – it’s a well-marked trail that takes you through some varied terrain in a short distance, and offers some phenomenal views around just about every corner. One especially nice aspect of it is that you barely notice the elevation gain as you do most of the hike around to the peak. And then once you’ve ascended it, it’s all downhill back to the car.
As we exited the car, I was immediately aware of the stillness all around. At times when the birds were silent, it was hard to hear anything else – a rarity in the urban sprawl of LA. We saw several interesting sights, including Balanced Rock, and Split Rock. The lone picnic table at Split Rock is in the perfect secluded location for a longer break, but after playing on the rocks, we continued on.
The weather was gray, but it made for a comfortable temperature as we hiked. We didn’t take the spur trails to Tri-Peaks or Inspiration Point; those will have to wait for another day. But we turned off to climb to the top of Sandstone Peak (Mount Allen) and were afforded amazing 360-degree views of the ocean and Conejo Valley. It was at that time that I vowed to come back on a clear day in the upcoming winter months to do the hike prior to sunset (as suggested by another helpful trail blogger). The trail back down to the car is pretty wide and clear and shouldn’t be a problem at dusk with a good headlamp.
All in all, we did a leisurely 6 miles and a 1400 feet climb. A perfect way to enjoy a day off with friends. |
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Opinion pieces and speeches by EPI staff and associates.
THIS PIECE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE SEATTLE TIMES ON DECEMBER 2, 1999.
What WTO means for working families
by John Burbank and Robert E. Scott
This week, Seattle is ground zero in the battle for control of the global economy. Labor unions, environmentalists and citizen-action groups are in the streets to protest proposals to expand the unilateral decision-making power of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The participants in WTO’s forum must begin to address the imbalance between multinational corporate power and the economic security of families across the nation and here in Washington.
The restructuring of the world economy highlights the fact that between 1980 and 1996, the volume of world trade nearly tripled, and foreign direct investment in low- and middle-income countries increased more than fivefold, according to the World Bank. With the advent of new technologies, falling transportation and communication costs, and recent WTO rulings, international trade and investment will continue to accelerate in the future. Indeed, the WTO acts as the legal arbitrator to encourage the unimpeded flow of capital to maximize profit for global corporations.
Globalization has contributed to the creation of vast new sources of wealth in companies like Microsoft and Boeing, which have been critical to the growth of Washington’s economy. However, multinational companies have also moved thousands of factories out of our country. As a result, millions of high-wage manufacturing jobs have been lost in the U.S. in the past two decades.
The WTO encourages the movement of capital around the world, regardless of the social costs and long-term economic implications. Our own experiences in the early days of this century show that an unregulated market is a tremendous threat to economic stability and prosperity. But the WTO enables private capital to avoid and legally undermine national and state-level labor, environmental and social policy, just when these policies are needed to ensure that the developing global economy results in rising living standards for all workers and communities.
Our political leaders must balance the elimination of trade barriers with the rights of citizens to fundamental environmental and worker standards.
Here in Seattle this summer, Vice President Al Gore acknowledged that “when it comes to trade, labor rights and environmental protection are not second-class issues any longer” and that we need to include “labor and environmental protections in those agreements.”
These issues should be our top priority in all future trade negotiations, and especially in the WTO. We must hold this administration to its word here in Seattle.
But the effects of trade on our communities cannot be solved through international agreements alone. In the face of the increasing dominance and mobility of corporate capital, nations and states need to build community capital — that is, universally shared policies for which all citizens pay and from which all citizens benefit — to ensure a basic level of economic security and quality of life for our citizens.
In building community capital in the context of the global marketplace, we need the following:
- Easily accessible and affordable worker training, re-training, and education. One result of the movement of corporate capital is that individual workers are left more and more on their own. We must give workers the tools to maintain their earning ability even while moving from job to job and company to company.
- Systems to make sure workers and their families have health-care coverage, including when they are caught between jobs or in job-training programs.
- Quality child care for our children that enables their teachers to earn livable wages and commit themselves to this work, while making it possible for parents to maintain their productive roles in our economy.
- Paid family leave so that we can care for our families and excel as productive workers, that is, so we can balance work and family.
- Reinforcement of our systems for Medicare, Social Security, pensions, and other retirement necessities, and universalized systems for pension portability.
Public policy can fill in the gaps corporate capital creates when companies move overseas or simply cut benefits for their work force. Capital may be global and mobile, but, as citizens and family and community members, we aren’t. So we need to build our countervailing community capital.
The creation and enjoyment of wealth cannot be a monopoly for powerful corporations who step around the citizens of our democracy. Our job is to tune up the engine of wealth creation by developing our own social and community capital, to make sure we can maintain and enhance the economic security of
Washington state families.
[ POSTED TO VIEWPOINTS ON DECEMBER 3 ]
John Burbank is executive director of the Washington-state based Economic Opportunity Institute.
Robert E. Scott is an international trade economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. |
Last night @BayerJeff, @DawnTa…Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Last night @BayerJeff, @DawnTaylor666, @travisezell, and several others were whooped at poker, possibly by me.
Last night @BayerJeff, @DawnTaylor666, @travisezell, and several others were whooped at poker, possibly by me.
Watch @jamesrocchi interview the COP OUT stars, especially the final question and reaction. Yee-ikes.
Our two new wide releases this weekend are both surprises, one good and one bad.
“Cop Out,” the first film to be directed by Kevin Smith without also being written by him, is the bad one. It’s a surprise because the trailers were pretty funny, and Smith has made some really good comedies before. I mean, not in a while, but he has done it. Just not this time.
But “The Crazies” (review at Film.com) — a horror film that’s a remake and has no big stars in it — turns out to be surprisingly tense, scary, and fun, the way movies about viral outbreaks that destroy towns ought to be. Good for “The Crazies”!
We also have reviews of three Oscar contenders playing in limited release. “Ajami” and “A Prophet” (reviews at Cinematical), from Israel and France, respectively, are both nominated in the foreign-language category. Coincidentally, both also have to do with the drug-fueled world of organized crime, particularly its effects on young people. Also coincidentally, they’re both very good.
The other Oscar film is “The Messenger,” (review at Film.com) nominated for its screenplay and for Woody Harrelson’s supporting performance. He and Ben Foster play Army officers given the duty of going to people’s houses and telling them their son or daughter or husband has just been killed in Iraq. So yeah, it’s pretty hilarious.
To sign up for the “In the Dark” e-zine, which brings you all the new movie reviews, DVD releases, and other pertinent info in one handy weekly e-mail, visit this page.
RT @JohnnySLC @EricDSnider I wonder what all of those surprised library patrons now think of Alec Baldwin.
I’m not crazy, right? My brother Chris really does look like Alec Baldwin. Around the nose and mouth especially.
@FatboyRoberts Believe me, there is nothing funnier to him (or our dad) than a fart, even an embarrassing one. NOTHING.
You’ll want to read my brother’s simple yet elegant blog post about a fart in a library. Trust me.
“Hey, want to watch THE SPY NEXT DOOR at 2 a.m. in a hobo camp??”
Asked friend if he wanted to join me for 1) COP OUT at 2) midnight at 3) Lloyd Center; realized all 3 of those details are unappealing.
You’re in luck! I already did SUPERMAN IV:
This is to join the mailing list for Eric's weekly humor column, "Snide Remarks." For more information, go here. |
Bill Frantz writes: > At 11:43 AM 12/30/1999 -0500, Kragen Sitaker wrote: > >Does this mean I must trust every process I communicate bidirectionally > >with not to let me hang forever? > > This problem is not unique to EROS-like systems. As far as I know, an > analog exists in all programming systems. In general you can divide the > things you call into three categories: > > (1) Ones you trust not to hang you. > (2) Ones you don't trust, but must depend on anyway > (3) Ones that may hang you. > > In case 1, you don't have a problem. How you gain the necessary trust is a > difficult problem. In the KeyKOS manual, we attempted to document the > behavior of objects which could be trusted by describing them as "prompt". > Of course, programs don't always behave according to their specifications. > :-) OK, let's look at a hypothetical example --- a process of an Apache-like web server. Each Apache child does the following: 1. sits and waits for a connection to come in; 2. when a connection comes in, one of the children awakes, 3. reads data from the connection, 4. creates a response and sends it back, 5. closes the connection, and 6. goes back to waiting. Presumably in steps 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, the web server is blocked waiting for the networking code to resume it. In step 4, it might do a number of things. For example, it might spawn off a CGI script belonging to a user, or it might read from a file belonging to a user. In this case, the web server doesn't trust the CGI script (or possibly even the parts of the filesystem belonging to users); if it takes too long to return, the web server will want to send an error to the client so the client doesn't think your web server is poorly administered. Worse, all your web server processes will eventually end up hung; eventually you won't be able to start any more. Assuming that the filesystem's interface is designed under the assumption that filesystem domains will be invoked with call, not send or return, how would you handle this? Can you do a send and make it look like a call? You could spawn a little domain that would accept your call and the resume key, hand the resume key to another domain that will invoke it after a timeout, and then do the filesystem or CGI call you wanted in the first place. (Is there a better way to handle this?) > >Maybe it's premature to be worrying about stuff like this when the OS > >doesn't run Emacs yet. > > This kind of trust is so basic, I think you have to consider it from the > very beginning. I think you are right; that was why I bothered to post. (I was thinking about the lack of software interrupts, like Unix signals, which are (a) impossible to emulate efficiently by any other means and (b) relatively easy to add to the kernel later if people think they're a good idea. Obviously the KeyKOS people don't; Windows NT people didn't, either, which is why interrupting a Windows NT process stuck in a compute loop causes dialog boxes to pop up and then kills the process without notifying it. There is much to be said for the idea that signals enabled Unix programs to get away with all kinds of brain-damage, though. . .) -- <[email protected]> Kragen Sitaker <> The Internet stock bubble didn't burst on 1999-11-08. Hurrah! <URL:> |
Tankless water heaters
February 25, 2010
On the brink of their 15 year anniversary comes
Takagi’s
most revolutionary tankless water heater ever. Installers will love Takagi’s newest model, the T-H2, because it is a high efficiency condensing tankless water heater with features designed specifically to make life so much easier for them.
With the T-H2, installers can finally vent with PVC instead of stainless steel. PVC venting provides zero clearance so it is easier to install, and it is less expensive compared to stainless steel so it will help reduce some of the installation costs passed onto the customer. The T-H2 will work with four inch PVC pipes.
The T-H2 will also feature a front panel LED screen that displays temperature settings and codes. This built-in digital readout will provide for easier maintenance and troubleshooting. Installers will not have to use dipswitches because they can finally see what temperature is actually being inputted. The digital display will also come with up and down buttons so users can choose from among 16 different temperatures ranging from 100° to 185°. Takagi is the first manufacturer to have the temperature readout built into the unit’s computer board and displayed on the front panel of the heater so that it can be easily read without ever taking the cover off or using a remote.
“The versatility with this unit is unparalleled,” says Takagi’s General Manager Koji Matsumura. “Everything you can possibly need or want in a light commercial/heavy residential unit is found in the T-H2. You have efficiency, power, reliability, endless hot water, energy savings, a long life span, heavy duty components to ensure its durability and an installation that is straightforward and trouble-free. Not to mention the additional savings you gain with PVC venting alone. The T-H2 is Takagi at its best.”
Following in the footsteps of its older brother, the T-H1, the T-H2 is expected to possess an extremely high thermal efficiency of 92%, which would make it the second highest efficient unit in Takagi’s line-up. It will also have a low activating flow rate of 0.5 gpm and a maximum flow rate of 9 gpm. However, unlike its big brother, up to four T-H2’s may be easily linked together without the need for an additional control box, thus providing for even larger applications.
Keeping in line with Takagi’s exceedingly high quality standards for all its commercial units, the primary heat exchanger on Takagi’s T-H2 is made with the most advanced copper alloy on the market, HRS35, which is now a signature trademark for all of Takagi’s commercial units. Its secondary heat exchanger, which handles the condensing portion of the unit, is made with #316L stainless steel, which is one of the highest quality grades of stainless steel available.
Because the T-H2 may be used with PVC venting, Takagi also incorporated two safety measures to control exhaust overheat and prevent temperatures from melting the PVC. These measures are in addition to the standard safety features found with all Takagi tankless water heaters.
The new unit also offers three settings for higher altitude locations ranging from as low as 2,500 ft to as high as 10,000 ft above sea level. The T-H2 is ideal for light commercial and heavy residential water heating, space heating, radiant floor heating, in-direct heating, re-circulation and combination heating systems. |
Overview of the Physical and Radiative Properties of Atmospheric Particles at Cape San Juan, Puerto Rico (CPR) Station
O.L. Mayol-Bracero1, H. Rivera1, J.A. Ogren2, E. Andrews3 and P. Sheridan2
1Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico; 1-787-764-0000, E-mail: [email protected]
2NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305
3Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
Cape San Juan Observatory (CPR, 18° 23' N, 65° 37' W), located in the Caribbean region on the island of Puerto Rico, is supported by the NOAA ESRL Global Monitoring Division, is part of the NASA's AErosol RObotic NETwork (), and is one of the contributing stations to the Global Atmosphere Watch (). Physical and radiative properties of atmospheric particles have been measured since 2005 at CPR. Here we present an overview of the results for year 2007. Three types of air masses predominated in this study, (1) those of marine origin or “clean” (C), (2) those bringing African Dust (AD), and (3) those with the influence of volcanic ash (VA) from the Soufriere Hills in the island of Montserrat. Preliminary results show that the average values for the total σsp (Fig. 1) were higher for AD (83 Mm-1) and VA (34 Mm-1) compared to C (17 Mm-1). The same happened for the Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) maximum values at 500 nm with 0.92, 0.30, and 0.06 for AD, VA, and C, respectively. The observed increase in the values of the Angstrom exponent (å) (Fig. 2) is indicative of a decrease in the size of the particles associated to VA (å= 0.27) and AD (å =0.89) when compared to C (å =0.24). The volume size distributions and thus the mass were dominated by the coarse mode (> 1.0 µm) especially for the AD case. Results have shown that AD as well as VA has a significant impact on the physical and radiative properties across Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Additional discussions together with results on the AOT wavelength dependence and on the annual variability of the properties under study will be presented. |
: Biological Sciences (School of)Essex credit: 15ECTS credit: 7.5Available to year(s) of study: Available to Study Abroad / Exchange Students: No Pre-requisites: BS221 OR BS222
Bioinformatics has evolved in recent years as a distinct discipline within the Biological Sciences to address the complexity of experimental data generated in the post-genomics era. The sheer volume of high-throughput data based on DNA sequence, RNA/gene expression and protein structure has necessitated the development of computational approaches for i) accessing and navigating database repositories and ii) analysing large datasets in order to obtain biologically-meaningful information (data-mining). These activities have traditionally been the realm of computational biologists, particularly in the development of computer software. However, as Bioinformatics becomes increasingly important in most areas of modern biology, there is a pressing need for biologists who do not have a computational/mathematical background to be able to understand and use the vast range of internet and software resources that are now available.
In addressing a recognised skills gap and in order to equip students from a Biomolecular background with valuable theoretical and practical skills, the Bioinformatics (BS312) module provides a broad-based curriculum that encompasses both traditional genomics together with RNA microarray and protein analysis methodologies. The emphasis of the module is on problem-based-learning; each topic is introduced by a lecture followed by a supervised session in the PC laboratory in which students follow detailed instructions that allow them to work through example datasets in order to understand and learn how to use and interpret commonly used methods. The sessions are supported by extensive documentation with guidance on further student-directed learning. No programming skills (computer language) are required; computational operations are all essentially 'point-and-click' and will use open-source software. Students will then be able to enhance their skills in their own private study.
Learning outcomes:
To pass this module, students will need to be able to:
1. be competent in the use of general on-line utilities such as NCBI;
2. search intuitively for internet Bioinformatics resources including databases;
3. understand the principles and practical applications of commonly-used DNA sequence analysis algorithms;
4. demonstrate the ability to process and analyse gene expression microarray data downloaded from database repositories;
5. demonstrate competence in the use of different in silico methods for protein structure-function analysis;
6. demonstrate competence in pathway and network analysis methods;
7. have a good appreciation of the statistical methodologies upon which different Bioinformatics algorithms are based.
9 x 3hr sessions (27 hrs total); each session comprised of 1hr lecture, followed by 2hr supervised PC class
4 sessions covering general utilities and DNA methods in weeks 2-5
5 sessions covering microarray and protein methods in weeks 7-11
(one session per week except for 'gap week' in week 6 when students complete coursework 1)
Student managed learning: 123 hrs
Total: 150 hrs
100 per cent Coursework Mark
Coursework:Coursework 1 (covering DNA methods) weighted 40% (40 hrs in total)
Coursework 2 (covering RNA & protein methods) weighted 60% (60 hrs in total)
Other details:Both coursework elements will involve DAI including assessment of understanding of methodology; to be submitted in SPF.
Should you have any queries about the Module Directory pages, please contact the Course Record Team, Systems Administration Office, Academic Section; email: crt (non Essex users should add @essex.ac.uk) |
Donations Received: $ 0
The # 1 Interscholastic Hockey Website in the State of Pennsylvania is continuing expanding its coverage of H S Hockey across the Commonwealth and the United States. 750,000 Visitors since December 2000 !
2013 National Invitational Scholastic Showcase
December 6-8, 2013 ~ Jamestown Savings Bank Arena – Jamestown, NY
8th Annual - ‘Governor’s Cup’
Ø Your school is invited to apply for participation in a 16 team showcase of the top Varsity high school teams from across the United States. This event will host the best teams regionally and nationally to compete for the Governor’s Cup at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena in New York. This event is open to Schools with USA Hockey Rosters, National Federation Status and Hockey Canada Travel Permits. This Invitational event will be open to State Champions, Finalists, Semi-Finalists and Exempt Champions and we will attempt to limit to a total of four schools from any particular area [State or Region] to ensure that each school participating will face three out-of-state opponents in the preliminary round of competition. The tournament will be played on 2 rinks in prime time for this round robin event.
UPDATE 5-10-2013 ~ 20 Schools have preliminary committments for the 2013 NISS including Ontario (2), Eastern Pennsylvania (3), Erie (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (3), Ohio (4) Maryland (1) and Western Pennsylvania (5).
Important Dates:
Ø Verbal Commitment Date = DUE by June 30, 2013 (3)
Ø Advanced Registration Fee = $ 400.00 DUE by June 30, 2013 (4)
Ø Total Entrance Fee = $1075.00 [$ 675.00 who submitted Deposit] by 9/30/13 (5)
Ø USA Hockey and League Rosters DUE by October 15, 2013 (6)
SCHOOL NAME _____________________________________________
Contact Person: ______________________Address:____________________________
City: ________________________ State:____________________Zip: _____________
Phone: H ____________ W ____________ E-Mail __________________________
Head Coach: _________________________Address:____________________________
YOUR SCHOOL PLAYS UNDER THE FOLLOWING ASSOCIATION: USA HOCKEY ________ National High School Federation________ Prep __________ Our Club is interested in participating in the 2013 National Invitational Scholastic Showcase on December 6-8, 2013 in Jamestown, NY
Head Coach _____________________________________ Date ___________________
Club President or Representative _____________________ Date ___________________
Step 2 – Participant Application and Deposit [INVITATION (2 &3)]
Entrants should mail or E-MAIL the ‘Letter of Interest’ with a check for $400.00 ADVANCED REGISTRATION (Make the check payable to the “Pa Hockey Foundation”).
ONLINE REGISTRATION AT:
SECURED REGISTRATION LINK: Step 3 – Final Payment and Rosters (4,5&6)
ONLINE REGISTRATION AT:
SECURED REGISTRATION LINK:
PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM WITH A CHECK MADE PAYABLE TO:
Pa Hockey Foundation – P.O. Box 10598, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15235
2013 Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase
December 27-30, 2013 ~ BladeRunners - Harmarville – Pittsburgh, Pa
18th Annual - ‘Director’s Cup ‘
Ø The 18th Annual Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase at the Harmarville in Pittsburgh,, Pennsylvania being held on December 27-30, 2013, that will feature the top teams in Western Pennsylvania and additional schools regionally and nationally. Your school is invited to participate in.
UPDATE 5-10-2013 ~ 5 Schools have committed for the 2013 PAHSS including from Western Pennsylvania (5).
2014 Pa Hockey Keystone Cup Scholastic Showcase
January 24-26, 2014 ~ Site TBA – Eastern Pa
1st Annual - ‘Keystone Cup‘
Ø The Inaugural Pa Hockey Keystone Cup Scholastic Showcase Eastern Pennsylvania will feature the top teams in Eastern and Western Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and additional schools regionally and nationally. Your school is invited to participate in a 16-team showcase of the top Varsity high school teams.
Should you have any questions, please contact Jeff Mauro at 412-848-3750 [Cell Phone] E-Mail at [email protected]
Pa Hockey – Pennsylvania Hockey History Restoration Project
The Pa Hockey Foundation is beginning a lifetime project in 2013 to rebuild the History of Hockey in the State of Pennsylvania and bringing this project to the Internet including Pictures, Videos, Periodicals and Stories of Pennsylvania Hockey from 1969 to the present. The Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships have crowned 99 Pennsylvania State Champions at the Class AAA, Class AA and Class A levels since 1975 and began in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Glenwood Rink. Pa Hockey Hub will begin to compile the history of the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships to the Pa Hockey Hub and Pa Hockey History Hub Websites in unprecedented fashion with the Championship Teams, the Stories including the journey of the development, the championships runs and the moment captured with Video Footage, Press Articles, Pictures and most importantly the stories before, during and after those championships.
The beginning of this project will begin additional projects including the first games in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1969 and Western Pennsylvania in 1971, the Leagues and their Championships, the Pacesetter Players, Coaches and Programs, All-Time Records and Milestones and begin many Reunions of Championship Teams, Players, Coaches and Families.
The project has begun with a Facebook Page called Champions Gate - Pennsylvania Hockey Champions and I have begun to compile pictures of the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Champions from 1975 thru the present. Out of the 99 Pennsylvania High School Hockey Champions, I have uploaded pictures from 2000 to the present and now I am attempting to bridge the gap from 1975 to 2000, with the Archives I have collected plus elicit help from anyone who has pictures of these State Championship Teams.
Send me any pictures, articles and videos you may have collected to Pa Hockey Foundation PO Box 10598, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15235 or [email protected]. This is a great project with the outline below and I look forward to working with all of you to bring back the History of Pennsylvania Hockey for us all to enjoy !
Champions Gate – Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships
Mission: “To Capture Championships before, during and after they happen”
Pa Hockey Hub Pa Hockey History Hub CHAMPIONSHIP YEAR
Compilation and Recording of Historical Moments of High School Hockey
Ø 1 ~ The Champions ~ Championship Picture and Article
Ø 2 ~ The Team ~ Listing of Members of the Championship Team
Ø 3 ~ The Coaches ~ Listing of Coaches of the Championship Team
Ø 4 ~ Pacesetters ~ Key Players to the Championship Team
Ø 5 ~ The Story ~ Championship Story / Game Tape or Footage / Preview
Ø 6 ~ The Moment ~ Interviews/Quotes/Pictures
Ø 7 ~ The Journey ~ Periodicals and Articles of Playoff Run
Ø 8 ~ The Season ~ The Teams Record /Standings/Games of Regular Season
Ø 9 ~ The Program ~ History and Development of the Championship Team
Ø 10 ~ The Reunion ~ Championship Reunions of Team (After 5-10-15-20-25 Years)
USA HOCKEY HUB @
WALL OF HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY CHAMPIONS
The Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships in Aston, Pa will crown the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Champions for 2013 and join 43 other States Champions on the USA Hockey Hub WALL of Champions.
Below are some of the results from States who have completed their championships can be found on the Interscholastic Hockey Today USA Website at
This was sent to every President of Amateur Hockey Programs and High School Hockey Programs in Western Pennsylvania
Important Information re Youth Hockey Structure
To: Western PA Youth Hockey Leaders:
This information is being sent to club/team Presidents. Please forward on to other interested officers/individuals.
Confusion has surrounded our sport since June of this year as a result of the USA Hockey rule change regarding the age ranges allowed to play ‘high school hockey.’ We are working to continue expanding opportunities for children to play hockey and feel that it is important for us to provide our thoughts on restructuring the youth hockey system in our region – based off of the latest rules. We have met with key stakeholders from the PAHL and PIHL, their member clubs and facilities which led us to create the structure presented in the following document. Our plan seems to provide a clear career path with opportunities for players regardless of ability, interest level and financial commitment to play the game.
We believe that by making the changes mentioned in our presentation the player development model will be enhanced, the career path for players will be clearly defined and ice at the facilities will be utilized more efficiently.
We realize that these are significant modifications that will require a collaborative effort between all of the key stakeholders, and that there will be challenges along the way. The Penguins welcome these challenges, as well as additional ideas, and hope that you will too. After all, we share the common goals of increasing participation and improving the overall structure of the sport. In the end, it is about providing the best development opportunities for our athletes.
Please Click Here to view the documentation on the Youth Hockey Structure of Western Pennsyvania.
After winning their 2nd game during the 2012-2013 Season, Canevin will become the 6th Western Pennsylvania High School Hockey Program joining Upper St Clair (2007) Kittanning / Armstrong (2007), Mt Lebanon (2009), Bethel Park (2010) and Central Catholic (2010) to accomplish 500 Wins in their history. This mark includes League Regular Season and Playoff Games and Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship Playoffs.
On November 1. 2012, Canevin defeated Plum 7-0 to capture their 500th win in school history.
Next in line of schools with over 450 wins includes:
Westmont Hilltop
All of the Western Pa School Records [through 1996] are in the Championships Gate Section of Team Websites of Pa Hockey. Please visit the complete history of Leagues and Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship Playoffs on Pa Hockey History Hub at . ! |
Liberty-Eylau tops Gorman to win tourney
Liberty-Eylau doesn’t have the depth to run its full-court pressure for four quarters, so coach Robert Cochran picks his moments.
After trailing at halftime, Cochran unleashed his team on Bishop Gorman.
The result was a tide-changing quarter in which the Lady Crusaders turned the ball over on their first six possessions and the Lady Leopards capitalized en route to a 69-55 victory in the final of the Macy Chenevert Patriot Holiday Tournament on Saturday at UT Tyler’s Herrington Patriot Center.
Gorman (17-3) turned the ball over 10 times in the third quarter, more than the other three quarters combined (nine). Liberty-Eylau (14-3) scored 16 straight points to start the second half to take a 44-32 lead midway through the quarter and take control.
“We normally pressure the entire game from the word go; we’re not deep enough to do that right now,” Cochran said. “We didn’t press much in the first half at all, trying to save ourselves for the second half; that was our game plan going in.
“We played well in spurts in the first half but I thought the entire second half we probably played our best basketball game and that’s the way we’re going to have to play to get where we want to go. That’s probably our best 16 minutes of basketball that we’ve played probably in a couple years.”
The Lady Crusaders lost 72-61 to the Lady Leopards on Nov. 27 in a game L-E used its press early and held on late. After the Lady Leopards blitz at the start of the second half Saturday, Gorman never closed the gap to fewer than eight points.
“It just killed us,” TKG coach Katie Robertson said of the press. “It’s what happened to us the last time we played them but in the first quarter.”
Future Division I players Imani Wright (Baylor) and Sharde Collins (Arkansas-Little Rock) led the way for the Lady Leopards. Wright had game-highs of 28 points, six steals and two blocks in addition to six boards and two assists.
Collins finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while slowing down Goman’s Division II-bound Michelle Obach.
“Sharde’s, if not the best, one of the best defensive players I’ve coached,” Cochran said. “She takes it as a challenge and … what she did in the second half on (Obach) … really allowed our pressure to take over.”
Obach still finished with a team-high 22 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter as she tried to will the Lady Crusaders back into the game.
“We’ve played the quote-unquote six or seven Division I guards and she’s by far the best,” Cochran said. “We played in the Metroplex and we played in Shreveport. She’s the best individual guard with respects to the high school game. She’s just a great basketball player.”
Brooke Lee added 12 points, four steals and three assists for the Lady Crusaders before fouling out with 2:23 to play. Danielle Smith chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds.
Obach and Susannah Williams (nine points, seven rebounds) were named to the All-Tournament team from Gorman along with Wright, Collins and Liberty-Eylau’s Lauren Godfrey (eight rebounds).
Gorman trailed by seven entering the second quarter but scored nine straight over 1:43 late in the period to go into halftime ahead 32-28.
After the break, things unraveled quickly for the Lady Crusaders. Wright opened with a jumper, then snagged a steal that led to a layup to tie the game. A minute later Morgan Utsey converted on a TKG turnover to give Liberty-Eylau the lead for good. Wright scored 12 points before Obach drove to the basket for two for Gorman’s first points of the second half.
“Their personnel, they just have so much size over us,” Robertson said. “Mentally we got out of the game a little bit; maybe we just got a little too confident with what we did in the second quarter.”
“It humbles us and makes us realize how much harder we have to work and do things to make sure we do it right.”
———
Macy Chenevert Patriot Holiday Tournament
At UT Tyler’s Herrington Patriot Center
Championship Game
Liberty-Eylau 69, Bishop Gorman 55
Liberty-Eylau 16 12 23 18 — 69
Gorman 9 23 9 14 — 55
LIBERTY-EYLAU — Jazmyne Jackson, 2; Sharde Collins, 19; Imani Wright, 28; Morgan Utsey, 12; Alize Peague, 5; Lauren Godfrey, 3. FG: 27-62. FT: 12-17.
GORMAN — Brooke Lee, 12; Allie Buzbee, 3; Michelle Obach, 22; Susannah Williams, 9; Danielle Smith, 9. FG: 17-43. FT: 16-23.
THREE POINT GOALS — LE (3-11): Collins, Wright (2). BG (5-12): Lee (3), Buzbee, Smith.
RECORDS — Liberty-Eylau 14-3; Gorman 17-3.
NEXT UP — Liberty-Eylau at Martins Mill, noon Wednesday; Neches at Gorman, 1 p.m. Wednesday.
——— 34
Friday’s Games
Game 11: Lindale 83, Pleasant Grove 64
Game 12: John Tyler 60, Pine Tree 48
Game 13: Mineola 69, Kilgore 60
Game 14: Hallsville 50, Wills Point 46
Game 15: Lee 35, Pine Tree 23
Game 16: Longview 55, Pleasant Grove 36
Game 17: Henderson 52, Grace 49
Game 18: Gorman 66, Lindale 46
Game 19: Liberty-Eylau 60, John Tyler 53
Game 20: Wills Point 50, Kilgore 46
Saturday’s Games
Game 21, Fifth-Place Game: Canceled
Game 22, Consolation Final: Mineola67, Hallsville 54
Game 23, Third-Place Game: Canceled
Game 24, Championship: Liberty-Eylau 69, Bishop Gorman 55 |
An editorial argues that the US Magnitsky law is a pro-Russian, not anti-Russian, act. Indeed, it targets specific officials accused of stealing from the Russian budget. The article says that for the Magnitsky measures to have a maximum impact, Europe show follow suit. Most effective of all would be an EU-wide visa ban and asset freeze. This could be adopted relatively easily, given sufficient political will, in a decision by its Council of Ministers – as has been done with officials from Belarus.Source: The Financial Times
In an interview Ivan Grachev, chairman of the State Duma Energy Committee, shares his expectations for 2013. In particular, the official comments: “For the past decade our country has been leading an uneasy dialogue with Europe about the Energy Charter. The Europeans hoped that the more liberal the Russian market became, the lower the price for energy carriers would be. However, the facts speak for themselves: the market was liberalised but the price for electric energy has gone up twelve-fold. We should keep explaining to the Europeans patiently that in case of fully liberal gas markets and other energy resources, they will just get an uncontrolled price growth.”Source: Oil and Gas Information Agency
Thane Gustafson, an expert in Russia’s oil industry at Georgetown University in the US, recently pointed out that virtually all new Russian production came from fields that were discovered during the Soviet period. He also said that the first slip in Russian oil production was predicted in 2015, with declines setting in during the second half of the decade.Source: The Financial Times
Russia’s 2012 oil output hit a post-Soviet record high level while natural gas production declined amid stalling European sales. The Russian energy ministry’s reporting unit said oil and gas condensate production grew by 1.3% last year to reach a new record of 10.40 million barrels per day. The current output rate outpaces that of Saudi Arabia and clinches for Russia the title of the world’s biggest oil producer. But Russia lacks the rapid ability of Saudi Arabia to boost output in case of a global economic rebound or more serious turmoil in the Middle East. It also appears to be unable to break through any further on large foreign markets to which it has no direct pipeline and that in some cases are starting to depend on US shale oil. Russia’s natural gas production meanwhile shrank by 2.3% to 655.0 billion cubic metres as its European sales shrivelled up. The drop reflects the reality that almost all of Gazprom’s foreign sales are focused on European and post-Soviet countries now experiencing some of the slowest growth rates in the world. The European Union -importing about 30% of its gas from Russia – has made a priority of diversifying suppliers in a bid to ease its political dependence on Moscow.Source: Agence France Presse |
Born three years after the accession of Queen Elizabeth, my memory is coloured by events, punctuated by sub-clauses, and swayed by the influences of this woman's life. In this regard I am no different from any other Australian over the age of say 40. How exactly to understand these traces in memory is more difficult to discern.
Those brought up with the Book of Common Prayer each Sunday of their childhood were asked to pray in intercessions for the Queen and all the royal family.
It was never explained then that we had the prayer book because we had the Queen, that the English Civil War had left scars on the English psyche which argued for centuries of monarchy. Australian hesitancy to adopt a republic is, I believe, explained in part by this British refusal ever to go back to the disasters of Cromwell.
My parents' generation were avid followers of the young Elizabeth. Teachers and elders read me A. A. Milne's poem about Christopher Robin going 'down with Alice' to Buckingham Palace, as though it were an everyday occurrence. That they themselves had never been to London was beside the point. They were in a constant state of going to watch the changing of the guard, even if it was only in their own minds.
A similar statement about the barriers between us and them, subjects and royals, was made by that defining artistic phenomenon of Elizabeth's reign, The Beatles. John Lennon sang about the miserly Mean Mr Mustard who 'goes out to look at the Queen, only place that he's ever been, always shouts something obscene', a warning to Little Englanders to get real and expand their horizons.
One curate in our parish was the complete royal watcher. He knew every twig of the family tree, could quote quintessential quips from court history and knew more about Mrs Simpson than was proper. He claimed to dream about the royal family regularly and believed everyone had dreams about them. It was pointed out to me once that he had no family of his own and the royal family was a helpful substitute.
This easy familiarity with an idealised dream family collapsed for me at the impressionable age of 20, when I had to absorb the dismissal of the elected Australian government by her majesty's representative.
When Sir John Kerr handed Gough Whitlam the papers indicating that he was sacked, Whitlam's first question was, 'Have you notified the Palace?' Kerr's reply apparently was, 'It's too late for that now.' It is ironic that the republican movement was kickstarted not by a bushranger like Ned Kelly or a suave politico like Paul Keating, but by an industrial lawyer who late in life developed vice-regal pretensions.
To this day it is not clear what Elizabeth thought. As historian Geoffrey Blainey observed at the time, Kerr's actions revealed not how close the nation's relationships were with England, but how far apart they had become.
There is a saying that the French are republicans when there is a monarchy and monarchists when there is a republic; many Australians enjoy a similar two-mindedness. Malcolm Turnbull is persuasive when he says that in Australia there are now more Elizabethans than monarchists. For most people of my parents' generation this would have been heresy. Meanwhile the mythic reality of Elizabeth's reign is only enhanced and remade.
Like all the monarchs of England, Elizabeth is a literary creation as well as a human being. The majority of her subjects know about her through words and images. Most everything I know about Elizabeth is only through artificial means: newspapers, films, books. This hyperreality is intensified by decades of opinions and stories, ranging from the inexpressibly effusive to the effectively unprintable.
The code of not repeating what the Queen says in private is well kept, such that the myth will blow out of all proportion when she dies and the 'full story' goes public. Elizabeth is supposed to be highly informed and witty, but I cannot instantly think of one witty thing she has said in the 60 years of her reign.
The curate was probably right when he said we have all dreamt about the Queen. These traces of memory blur into our unconscious, which is why I finish this reflection with two other works of popular period art.
In 1982 an intruder to the palace was found sitting at the edge of her majesty's bed. He was harmless, the alarm was called off, and questions were raised about security.
This incident inspired the alternative Manchester band The Smiths to write their black-humoured classic 'The Queen is Dead'. There is nothing innocent about the intruder in this song, who claims to do something very nasty with a rusty spanner. He commits the crime on the grounds that he feels lonely and needs someone to talk to.
The song plays to the shadow side of our relationship with people in positions of power. Assassination, or the imaginary possibility of ridding ourselves of those with influence over us, towards whom we are jealous or angry, is a possibility there in the unconscious. How we choose to counter that temptation is another matter.
A more positive person from the world of the unconscious is The BFG. Queen Elizabeth, or a person precisely fitting her description, is one of the main characters in Roald Dahl's wonderful children's story.
Sophie gets to know the Big Friendly Giant, a benevolent character who collects good dreams and distributes them to children in the secrecy of the night. All the other giants are going out eating people and to stop this vicious destruction Sophie and the BFG go to the one person who will be able to help.
Breaking into the palace they freak out the staff, but the Queen remains completely well-mannered and attentive, calling for breakfast to be served and making the BFG feel at home.
Dahl makes Queen Elizabeth the centre of calm, the person inside us who is rational and conciliatory, the problem solver. Not only is she not afraid of the BFG, she believes what he says and acts on his information. She is the way out of our present crisis. Without her, who knows what we might have to do next?
Philip Harvey is Eureka Street's poetry editor and head of the Carmelite Library of Spirituality in Middle Park, Victoria.
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Edward F01 Jun 2012
Your curate, Philip, in his attitude to the monarchy, reminds me of the fawning approach taken by Mr Collins to his patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, in "Pride and Prejudice". These were the days when some Anglican clerics here adopted a faux "English" accent. I remember them well. Were these "elevations by (vague) association"? Quite possibly. I think there is Elizabeth Windsor, a real person and the persona she has to wear as Queen. Of course, with the rise of "celebrity" journalism, where millions of bored people follow the banal lives of film stars and sporting "heroes", she and her family are always "relevant" and their lives, in minute detail, are scrutinised in the press. Did those who - like my sister-in-law - "grieved" over Princess Diana's death really "care", or was she merely a peg to hang their dreams on? Dreams which ceased at her death? You are, I believe, raising an interesting question about people who "identify" with the monarchy.
Pam01 Jun 2012
Our 'elevation' of the Queen is a quirk of human nature. Dare I mention in the same breath Mary, mother of Jesus. Both the Queen and Mary are human but elevated by State and Church. And when ordinary women are viewed as either 'Queen' or 'Mary' the misogynistic State and Church are shown in gory detail. The Queen is Elizabeth Windsor, a person placed in a position by fate/ birth (what you will) and instead of walking away which would have been extremely difficult, she has performed her 'duties' to the best of her ability. Mary, an ordinary young woman, was chosen by God for a unique task. So Mary was unique but when women are viewed as substitute 'Queens' and 'Marys' then real 'identities' are swept aside. And the people who sweep the real identities aside, lose their own identities.
Alan Austin01 Jun 2012
Philip, you say "I cannot instantly think of one witty thing she has said in the 60 years of her reign."
Can anyone think of anything she has said at all other than platitudes written by palace speechwriters?
Apart, of course, from "I myself prefer my New Zealand eggs for breakfast."
Brian Poidevin01 Jun 2012
I suspect "annus horribilis" was not the product of of a palace speech writer. The present system works o.k. would it be improved by electing a president. I doubt if Australians if asked to vote on republic would come at our wildly respected parliament appointing a president.
L Newington01 Jun 2012
To be honest, the way things stand in the church today, if we ever did become a republic, I dread the pressures placed on any Catholic presidential candidate.
At this point in time, for me it's "Long Live the Queen".
Richard Laidlaw01 Jun 2012
A thought-provoking piece and a joy to read. It recalls the tale of the Curate's egg. On a practical level, the de facto situation is that Australia is a crowned republic; it is a system that actually works well but which time and tide will eventually wash away. I believe that time will be soon, but it should not be accompanied by vacuous rudeness on one side or sentimental tears on the other. The issue for Australians is what we choose to replace what one might call the Present Fiction. A popularly elected President is not an option. It would create rival political leaderships and require - certainly it would lead to - constitutional change that might well be invidious. So there's a lot of work to be done there. I don't believe that narrative has yet truly begun. I do think that Elizabeth is our last British monarch; so time is necessarily short.
jean Sietzema-Dickson01 Jun 2012
Thanks Philip,
I share your journey in many ways and l loved the way you put it.
Brian Larsson01 Jun 2012
Much of the comment seems to have moved little in my seven decades from the English propaganda of empire we were all raised to believe in.
One day, hopefully very soon, we might all get over the maudlin elevation surrounding this good woman.
PHILIP HARVEY02 Jun 2012
Here are some responses to comments. To Edward F.: The curate is the subject of much humour in English literature, in part because in English society (especially in the time of Austen and Trollope) to be a curate was to have settled on a role in life that was secure but not prestigious. Many curates become influential people in our own society after they have their own parish, but you don’t read about them in newspapers so they are ‘invisible’. The curate in my essay did not affect a faux English accent. His favourite novelist was Evelyn Waugh and his favourite singer was Judy Garland. As you can imagine, his sermons were an unpredictable surprise. To Pam: ‘The Catholic imaginary and the cults of Elizabeth, 1558-1582’ by Stephen Hamrick is but one book that shows how the Protestants transferred Catholic worldviews and practice onto the Queen, when they no longer had a cult of Mary.
To Brian Poidevin: the Annus Horribilis speech was certainly a drastic shift from “My husband and I …” By using Latin she was speaking to history. The speech placed herself and her role up against the collective media of the time, but also distanced herself and her established role as Queen over against the indulgent, dimwitted behaviour of some of the younger royals. You will notice “My husband and I…” was dropped about the same time as the rise of feminism in England. To
Brian Larsson: it is in the nature of things that one form of propaganda will inevitably be replaced by the next form of propaganda. Propaganda is a symptom of political power. On inspection, I would say the hoopla surrounding the diamond jubilee is infinitely more benign than some other kinds of present day propaganda we could mention.
Edward F03 Jun 2012
Thank you for your response, Philip. It sounds like your curate had literary taste and wasn't a stereotype. I found many Anglican clerics of yesteryear stereotypical. Many were, I suspect, living up to expectations. Others didn't and were magnificent.
Barry O'Keefe04 Jun 2012
A majority of voters in all States votes against a republic . The Queen ( and by parity of reasoning , the monarchical syatem of government) is probably even more favoured now than at the time of the referendum. The system works well . It coped well with the Whitlam/Kerr/Frazer matter in the 1970s >There is no impetus for change .An ideosyncratic view ( as with the writer of the article ) does not make for a general view.
Long live our Constitution and the sovereign who is part of it .
And hands off the flag- which some republicans want to change.
Peter Kennedy04 Jun 2012
Any evidence for your claim that the republican movement was "kickstarted by" John Kerr?
I don't recall any significant sudden rise in republicanism just after 1975. Republicanism had bubbled along as a rather small minority opinion in Australia from the mid-19th century until Keating gave it a kick along, it reached its peak of a near-majority in the late 1990s and has since fallen back to its historically usual position of a minority opinion sponsored by a few high-profile enthusiasts.
You claim "To this day it is not clear what Elizabeth thought" about Kerr's dismissal of the Whitlam government. The Queen's spokesman made it publicly clear at the time that the Queen intended to take no action because it was a matter for Australians to sort out amongst themselves. A consequence of the independence granted to the Australian government by the Statue of Westminster in 1932 (which Australia was so unenthusiastic about it didn't bother to ratify until 1941). If Kerr's actions only "revealed" Australia's independence to some people at the time, it just goes to show the level of public ignorance and/or apathy about our constitutional arrangements.
You call Kerr "an industrial lawyer who late in life developed vice-regal pretensions."
Kerr did not pretend to be a vice-regent. He actually WAS one. Appointed to the position by Whitlam who thought that with his solid ALP-supporting background he would be a useful puppet who would do as he was told to promote the ALP and its agenda at all costs. Then Kerr decided he was going to actually do the job, not just be Whitlam's puppet. Rather reminiscent of Henry II manoeuvring to get his best mate Thomas Becket appointed Archbishop of Canterbury to get the church's blessing for his political actions, only to find that once he had the job Becket decided to actually do the job without fear or favour.
john fox04 Jun 2012
I thought her unscripted reply to Paul McCartney, when he suggested another concert/party in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, "not in my backyard" was witty.
PHILIP HARVEY04 Jun 2012
To Peter Kennedy: well yes, of course John Kerr was Governor-General. It was after he advanced to that square on the chessboard that it all went to his head, with behaviour that could only be caused by individual pretensions. His second wife had a lot to do with it, to believe the histories. Kerr’s dismissal of the government was an act of extraordinary political pretension, meaning it was out of all proportion to the role of Governor-General as understood by practice and precedent. Kerr was deluded enough to believe he was the equal of Whitlam and that his job was as vital to Australia’s future as that of the Prime Minister. He is the only Governor-General who has ever thought that. As was revealed after Sir Zelman Cowen’s death this year, Malcolm Fraser knew he had to appoint someone as Governor-General who was universally liked, who could undo the damage to the office caused by Kerr. Unlike Thomas Becket, Kerr was not a saint. Patrick White predicted accurately that Kerr will be a footnote.
Peter Kennedy05 Jun 2012
I'm certainly not claiming Kerr was a saint! I was comparing Whitlam's actions to Henry II's.
Please explain by what process you have read the thoughts of every Governor General living or dead and are able to state definitively that Kerr is the only Governor-General who has ever thought that he had the power to dismiss a government. On the contrary I would say it is likely that most if not all other G-Gs would have done the same in the same circumstances (not necessarily in exactly the same way).
Of course Fraser had to appoint someone as Governor-General who was universally liked. That was nothing new. It just became more necessary then because of the campaign the ALP had conducted against Kerr for, as they saw it, becoming a "Labor rat" and deserting the ALP cause after the ALP had placed him in high office in return for his lifelong devotion to it.
Previous Articles by this Author.
More than once I observed him walking from the Medley Building of the University of Melbourne to Newman College reading a book, not looking up. It was the book leading the human through the everyday world...
Gallipolli was a disaster and a relatively minor conflict, but it is upon such 'minor' conflicts that Empires are built. These songs go to the heart of a contradictory dilemma: the love of country on the one hand and the ugly extremes of patriotism on the other. Published 23 February 2011
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Rewarding Lightness, From Top to Bottom
The best way to encourage lightness, empathy, and compassion in training, is to reward those that employ it in their everyday work. The tricky part lies in detecting and indeed finding the margin in a competitive dressage arena, to place these dressage riders above those that use harmful or forceful methods.
So how does a top judge detect lightness in training in elite level dressage? And how do they then reward these combinations, effectively placing them above other perhaps more powerful or flamboyant horses, to give riders and trainers the incentive to train in the right way?
"Every top athlete, be it man or horse, needs a certain amount of positive tension to compete at the highest level," says O-Judge Stephen Clarke. “However, there is a world of difference between healthy ‘positive tension’ and destructive physical stress and mental anxiety.”
Stephen Clarke mentions that the most obvious sign of stress is when the paces become jerky or artificial; often the trot appears hectic or staccato, losing its natural fluidity and cadence. Sometimes the walk can deteriorate to the point where the horse is unable to relax into a clear and regular four beat, or even may jog or show ‘piaffe like’ steps throughout. The canter again may lose its clear three time beat and either ‘scratches’ along the ground with barely a moment of suspension, or if the back is so tight, may appear to show climbing, laboured steps with very limited action of the hind legs (“The paralysing effect of resistance” Podhajsky) Also the horse may, through anxiety, be unable to maintain immobility at the halt, or even halt at all.”
Danish O-judge, Leif Törnblad, acknowledges that we cannot know what goes on behind the scenes, but a judge must learn to pick up on those subtle signs of stress in the dressage horse.
"The usual signs of stress are open mouth and resistance on the bit, grinding teeth, tongue hanging out, sweating horses, swishing tails. All that is well known to everybody, but as a judge you will have to take these signs as a signal of something else."
However, Leif says this is very complex, as for example some horses may grind their teeth, but this isn't always a direct sign of stress. "A horse might grind his teeth without being in stress, as they may be just eager and excited!"
The important thing however, as a judge, is to not only detect the sign of stress, but examine the context and attempt to establish a more concrete verdict as to what may be causing such signs to appear.
"When I see the obvious sign I try to detect other more profound and serious signals,” says Leif. “Is the horse forced into a too rigid frame between hands – seat and legs? Is the back swinging or can you see tension in the top line? Is the horse willing and moving forward easily?"
Mexican O-Judge, Maribel Alonso, finds that tension is most commonly detected "when the purity of the paces is altered. The horse should look relaxed and comfortable with his rider, moving with ease and regularity. If a horse is stressed or tense; the connection with the mouth is no longer soft and still, the contact becomes unsteady, tongue pulled up, or tongue out, the neck becomes too short, the full expression of the horse loses harmony and confidence, the horse will hollow in the back etc."
Certain that incorrect training will manifest itself in all three gaits, the judges all agree that the tension can become even more obvious in the walk. "Especially in the collected walk," says Maribel
Leif adds that "the walk will become very tense and short or even without clear rhythm, and says the canter can also become hectic and with a stiff top line. "Flying changes are thus made very short, and again hectic, if the horse is under pressure."
Stephen stresses that “the main objective of correct dressage is to establish the horse’s natural paces and enhance them through systematic and gymnastic training Poor training will manifest itself in the deterioration of all three paces”.
Leif knows, however, that it is unavoidable during some periods of training, that a horse may become a bit stressed, but a good rider will be able to quickly ease the tension, and calm the horse in the appropriate way.
"When learning new movements, for example, he may become stressed, but if the rider takes it the easy way and does not repeat difficult (for the horse) movements during the learning process, this sort of stress will be a minor problem. Unfortunately you very often see riders that repeat the movements that are difficult for the horse many times in the warming up, and even around the arena. The only outcome of that is that the horse performs worse in the arena."
There are a number of ways harmful and unjust training can present itself, but equally obvious are the many signals of light, effective, well balanced training techniques.
"A well trained talented horse moves easily forward with attentive ears and a closed mouth and can execute the different movements with ease."
According to Maribel "lightness can be detected when the horse has been correctly trained showing elasticity and flexibility throughout its performance, being smooth and fluent and achieving perfect balance. We can observe it in a well performed transition free of tension or resistance".
“The horse that presents such a high degree of lightness and self carriage showing a steady and flawless contact are unmistakably the best trained ones and therefore they are the ones awarded the highest scores. I am sure that those high scores as well as the incredible feeling such trained horse provides become the incentive to improve the way of training."
The outcome of correct training, Stephen says that lightness and self-carriage will only be achieved "when all of the criteria of the Scale of Training have been met".
"Only then, will the horse have the balance and the elasticity in his paces to show a lightness of footfall that, to the onlooker, appears to be hardly touching the ground," says Clarke. "Only when the training is fully developed and the horse is truly light on the ground and in a genuine self carriage, will he be able to demonstrate absolute harmony and expression throughout all of the exercises. We have been lucky enough to witness this at the recent London Olympic Games, which surely in itself will be an incentive for riders to train in the right way if they want the highest points."
With the power and brilliance of the horses being produced today, I wondered if the training might be being compromised as a result of all this power, and that perhaps it needed to adjust or slow, in order not to restrict what the breeding world is producing?
"I think the breeding is moving in the right direction and that the riders have become better and more clever when they select a good horse for dressage. The present Olympic gold winner, Valegro, is a good example of a fantastic athlete, even if he is not the most beautiful horse when he is standing still.” says Leif . “A well deserved victory for Britain and the horse, Valegro's training also appears to have been undertaken with a lot of feeling and in a good manner!"
"In my opinion breeding has changed and is constantly developing in a very positive way," says Clarke. "Compared to earlier times, riders of today have already so much more access to horses with beautiful conformation and inherent gymnastic ability. I believe this is one of the main reasons that we now have so many combinations vying for the top spots, which makes our sport all the more exciting. I am convinced that the breeding has changed for the better. In my opinion it has improved so much that is has become a challenge to trainers, riders and judges. Riders and trainers have to be even more aware of the importance of correct basic training in order to preserve this movement and expression. The last Olympic Games has been a clear example of how many good riders and trainers there are as we had the opportunity to witness some performances that were an inspiration for the upcoming GP elite riders of the world."
The judges make an excellent point and really it is up to the entire dressage community -- trainers, riders, and judges -- to meet the challenge, take time to establish the horses confidence, and accommodate the horses natural talent and expression into our everyday work.
While judges may never know what truly goes on behind the scenes, it is with the desire to reward true lightness and commend the happiness of the horse, that a brighter dressage future will be ensured for our equine partners . And in order to promote correct education and training we must first award those at the highest level, acknowledging them as the true ambassadors of our sport.
And it seems the world's best is on top of it!
by Sarah Warne
Related Links
Olympic Pulse: What Will London Be About?
Diversity and Lightness, Essential for the Development of the Horse
Q & A Session on the State of Dressage with I-Judge Angelika Fromming
Horse-friendly Dressage Training with Klimke and Thomsen: Desensitise and Motivate
ISES Suggest to Empower FEI Stewards to Control Tightness of Noseband |
January 2006
- 31 Jan 2006
Denmark: ECHR rules against Danish closed-shop agreements.
- 31 Jan 2006
Italy: Dispute over 1,000 white-collar redundancies at Fiat
Late 2005 and early 2006 has seen conflict and negotiations over how 1,000 surplus white-collar staff are to be made redundant at Fiat, the Italian motor manufacturing group. Fiat management and trade union have asked for the workers, mostly aged over 50, to be placed on a long mobilityscheme, providing income support until they reach retirement age, while the government has proposed a special programme of labour market reintegration.
- 31 Jan 2006
EU Countries: Les relations professionnelles dans le secteur de l’agriculture
Le secteur de l'agriculture, qui emploie environ 5 % de la main-d’œuvre de l’Union européenne (et un pourcentage nettement plus élevé dans les nouveaux États membres et les pays candidats), connaît actuellement d’importantes modifications structurelles, notamment en raison de la réforme de la politique agricole commune et du récent élargissement de l’Union vers l’est. La présente étude examine les relations professionnelles dans le secteur agricole de l’Union européenne (plus la Bulgarie, la Norvège et la Roumanie) et, plus particulièrement, en ce qui concerne l’emploi et les salaires, les lois et règlements sectoriels, les partenaires sociaux, les négociations collectives, les autres formes de dialogue social et de consultation, les conflits et les litiges. On y relève que les relations professionnelles dans ce secteur sont particulières, notamment en raison du niveau élevé d’activité indépendante et, généralement, de la faible proportion de salariés.
- 30 Jan 2006
Slovenia: Unions protest against government's reform programme
On 26 November 2005, trade unions jointly organised the largest demonstrations since Slovenia independence, in opposition to the government’s reform programme. The core and most controversial part of the programme is the introduction of a flat tax rate, which the trade unions and many other NGOs totally reject. Unions also argue that talks over a new tripartite social agreement for 2006-9 are pointless if the government persists with the introduction of the flat tax rate.
- 30 Jan 2006
Sweden: Power station collective agreement reached following strike
In December 2005, the social partners in the Swedish power station industry concluded a new collective agreement, following lengthy negotiations, mediation, and strike and sympathy actions. They key issue in dispute was the right of the Swedish Electricians’ Union (SEF) to take industrial action against new firms entering the industry.
- 30 Jan 2006
Romania: New rules adopted on unemployment benefits and employment promotion
In late 2005, the Romanian government introduced new rules aimed at granting unemployment benefits in a more equitable manner, depending on the length of the contribution period, and at enhancing employment promotion measures.
- 30 Jan 2006
Spain: Controversial workforce-reduction agreement signed at SEAT
Following lengthy negotiations and workforce mobilisations, in December 2005 Spain's SEAT motor company signed an agreement with the UGT and CC.OO trade unions that aims to tackle current problems at the firm though various measures, including the redundancy of 660 workers out of a workforce of some 13,000. The signatories see the deal as a comprise to avoid greater evils. However, the agreement has proved controversial.
- 26 Jan 2006
Spain: Industrial relations in the specialised retail sector
Specialised retail outlets represent a highly diverse and feminised sector characterised by low pay and unsocial working hours. Although the sector employs a large number of workers, they are poorly represented by collective bargaining and trade union representation is very low.
- 26 Jan 2006
Netherlands: Positive response to proposed Services Directive
The proposed Services Directive has caused a stir in several European countries. European trade unions, especially in France, have made sure that the European Parliament drastically amends the Services Directive by the end of 2005. The main argument against the Services Directive is that it will lead to social dumping. In the Netherlands, however, the response to the proposed Services Directive has been generally positive. The unions and Dutch government alike are committed to the recommendation put forward by the Social and Economic Council (Sociaal Economische Raad, SER).
- 26 Jan 2006
Slovakia: Social partners push for changes in sickness insurance
Since 2004, employers must pay wage compensation to employees for the first 10 calendar days of their temporary sickness absence. The government has proposed further changes to employees’ sickness insurance with the aim of decreasing the compulsory contributions of employers. The intended changes mean that employers will pay less social insurance but will have to pay wage compensation for up to 14 days. However, the social partners have criticised and rejected the intended changes; as a result, the government has revised the original proposal for changes.
- 26 Jan 2006
France: Assessment of health insurance system post-reform
In late November 2005, the French Parliament passed the 2006 Social Security Finance Act (Loi de financement de la Sécurité), which is a component of the August 2004 Health Insurance Reform Act. The legislation is designed to end the deficit in the social security system by 2008.
- 26 Jan 2006
France: New initiatives for company restructuring
The creation of a new inter-departmental body in October 2005 was the second of two recent initiatives aimed at providing a framework for company restructuring in France. The first initiative involved the endorsement by the Economic and Social Council of its recommendations on the outsourcing of work. The primary motivation behind these initiatives is to emphasise the need for ensuring better monitoring of restructuring, while mitigating its negative economic and social consequences.
- 26 Jan 2006
Belgium: Wages restraint and innovation key to boost economy
Two influential bodies responsible for monitoring the Belgian economy and for advising on economic policy - the Central Economic Council (de Centrale Raad voor het Bedrijfsleven) and the National Bank - have recently expressed their dissatisfaction with the competitiveness of the Belgian economy. As a result, they have called for, among other measures, a reinforced policy of wage restraint and a greater focus on innovation. In the latter policy area, from 2006 onwards, there will be a new tax benefit for companies which reward employees who come up with innovative ideas.
- 26 Jan 2006
Czech Republic: Migration of Czech workers poses risk of brain drain
In recent years, research in the Czech Republic has focused on the potential impact of the country’s entry into the EU on the migration of highly qualified Czech workers to foreign countries. While foreign migration of qualified Czech labour may, on the one hand, help increase the competitiveness of the Czech economy, there are concerns that it could destabilise certain economic sectors.
- 26 Jan 2006
Poland: State retains control over 15 privatised companies
The Polish Ministry of the State Treasury’s aspirations with respect to retaining some control over privatised enterprises are about to go through the final stage of legislation. The Ministry has published a draft regulation concerning a list of companies of key importance to the public interest or security. In essence, the regulation will identify 15 companies where the government would hold a gold veto. This is not the first time that State Treasury prerogatives in relation to companies being sold to private investors are being defined.
- 26 Jan 2006
Poland: Role of Crafts Association in shaping industrial relations
The Polish Crafts Association is a national organisation, in existence since 1933. It has a dual structure, which is based on the 1989 Crafts Act. The association amalgamates chambers of crafts and commerce, which are self-governed, and also carries out the tasks of an employer confederation, as defined by the Employers’ Organisations Act of May 1991. Moreover, it unites those entities that are not self-governing. This dual character is particularly reflected in the association’s industrial relations.
- 26 Jan 2006
Latvia: Unions call for renewed social dialogue
The practice of social dialogue has fallen off in Latvia recently, following the break-down of discussions between the government and the social partners on critical socio-economic issues. Following an initiative from the social partners, a trilateral agreement had been concluded which explicitly defined the rights of the parties and extended the field of influence for social dialogue. However, this did not improve the situation. Despite these failures, the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia continues to press the government on the issue of renewing the operations of the social dialogue institutions.
- 26 Jan 2006
Latvia: Emigration of Latvian workers continues to increase
Since Latvia’s accession to the European Union, Latvian businesses and workers have been making use of the provisions of the four freedoms, i.e. free movement of goods, services, persons and capital within the EU. This has had both positive and negative effects. While Latvian workers have proved to be competitive in the labour markets of other European countries, this has raised concerns among local trade unions. Meanwhile, Latvian employers are starting to witness labour force deficits due to the increasing levels of emigration.
- 26 Jan 2006
Bulgaria: Social dialogue develops in healthcare sector
Compared with many other sectors in Bulgaria, social dialogue and collective bargaining in healthcare is relatively well developed at all levels. There is, for example, a Sectoral Council for Tripartite Cooperation in Healthcare, which negotiates collective agreements and acts as a forum for cooperation. In early 2006, new collective agreements are being negotiated at sectoral and municipal levels, against a background of continuing healthcare reform.
- 26 Jan 2006
Latvia: Police trade union established
Following amendments to the relevant legislation, it became legal for Latvian police officers to establish and join trade unions from 1 January 2006. The Latvian United Police Trade Union (LAPA), which had been under preparation for some time, was officially founded a few days later. The impetus to create the union was provided largely by a long-running dispute over the benefits to which police officers are entitled .
- 26 Jan 2006
Poland: Good results at KGHM prompt pay demands
The recent good financial performance of KGHM, a major Polish copper producer, has prompted employees to seek a share of the increased profits. In December 2005, the Copper Industry Workers Trade Union (ZZPPM) initiated a collective dispute, calling for a 10% general pay increase and the reallocation of a third of the workforce to higher pay brackets.
- 25 Jan 2006
United Kingdom: Employers' responses to employee consultation Regulations examined
Research published in late 2005 suggests that UK employers are responding more actively to the introduction of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations than previously thought.
- 25 Jan 2006
France: Results of workplace elections in state education sector
In December 2005, teaching staff in French state primary and secondary schools elected their representatives on various national and local consultative bodies. The Unitary Union Federation (FSU) remained the best supported trade union overall, with nearly 47% of the vote. Turn-out fell to 61.4% from 65.9% in the previous elections in 2002
- 25 Jan 2006
EU Level: progressing the revision of the working time Directive, possible work on the draft temporary agency work Directive and a continuing focus on the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs.
- 25 Jan 2006
EU Level: Commission launches measures to help inclusion of people with disabilities
In early December 2005, the European Day of Disabled People was marked by an EU conference on Living together in society. The European Commission used this opportunity to put forward concrete measures designed to improve the lives of people with disabilities in the EU and to present a new Communication on the situation of disabled people in the enlarged Union.
- 25 Jan 2006
EU Level: Commission issues policy plan on legal migration
In December 2005, the European Commission issued a new policy plan on legal migration to the EU. The plan sets out the Commission’s future policy intentions on this issue in the areas of legislative proposals, non-legislative tools, the integration of immigrants and enhanced cooperation with countries of origin.
- 25 Jan 2006
EU Level: Worldwide CSR agreement signed at Arcelor
In September 2005, the Luxembourg-based steel multinational, Arcelor, concluded a worldwide agreement on corporate social responsibility (CSR) with international trade union organisations. The agreement - the first such accord in the steel sector - covers fundamental social rights, health and safety, the environment, social dialogue, communication and the management of industrial and economic change.
- 25 Jan 2006
Estonia: Social partners sign minimum wage agreement for 2006
At the end of December 2005, the Estonian social partners signed a national minimum wage agreement for 2006, which will result in an increase of 11.5%. The first attempts to start negotiations were made by trade unions in May, but employers froze the talks several times on various grounds.
- 25 Jan 2006
Finland: Finland’s largest union begins operations
A merger process involving six public sector trade unions affiliated to the SAK confederation came to a close in January 2006 when the new Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL) became fully functional. JHL is now Finland's largest union, with over 230,000 members. Its foundation was largely a reaction to the outsourcing of public sector jobs to the private sector. JHL represents workers in both these sectors and hopes that this will help it control the privatisation process.
- 25 Jan 2006
Austria: Union opposes privatisation of postal services
In January 2006, the Austrian government agreed to sell off 49% of the state’s shares in the Austrian Post Company by summer 2006. These privatisation plans have met with harsh criticism from the Union of Post and Telecommunications Employees (GPF) and the parliamentary opposition. They argue that the company is not ready for privatisation and fear further large-scale staff cuts as well as a dilution of postal services across the country. However, protest actions organised by GPF appear unlikely to delay the privatisation process.
- 25 Jan 2006
Hungary: New conflict of lawsrules introduced
Hungary officially harmonised its law with the Rome Convention with respect to individual employment contracts in 2001. However, the wording of the Hungarian rules on which law applies where both the employer and the employee are Hungarian but the habitual place of work is another country has led to some controversy and debatable rulings by the courts. New legislation that came into force on 1 January 2006 aims to remedy this problem.
- 11 Jan 2006
Poland: Entrepreneurship Council Looking to Position the Employers’ Lobby in the Post-Election Political Landscape
From its inception in 2002, Poland's Entrepreneurship Council has been seeking the formulation of a cohesive political agenda for its 11 member employers' organisations. After the autumn 2005 general election and the installation of a minority Law and Justice (PiS) cabinet, the Entrepreneurship Council's leaders are faced with the task of redefining the role of employers on Poland’s political scene.
- 11 Jan 2006
France: 46-day strike at Marseilles Transport Authority
After 46 days of industrial action, Marseilles transport authority employees voted to suspend the strike that had started on 3 October 2005, and was called to protest against the contracting out of public services to a private company. Throughout this tense struggle, the management of the Marseilles Transport Authority supported by Marseilles city council, did not want to yield any ground, and made a number of attempts to thwart the strike.
- 11 Jan 2006
Germany: Federal Labour Court strengthens employers’ commitment to collective agreements
In December 2005, the Federal Labour Court ruled that employers are obliged to pay wage increases even if they left the employers’ association before the collective agreement in question was finalised. This rule applies to all individual employment contracts that, for their working conditions and wage rates, rely on those in the most recently agreed collective standards provided that the individual employment contract was concluded after 1 January 2002.
- 11 Jan 2006
Poland: Trade Unions Contribute to Removal of LOT Chair
A conflict between trade unions and the chair of LOT Polish Airlines, which had been escalating for months, culminated in December 2005 with the dismissal of the latter.
- 11 Jan 2006
Poland: Miners' pensions controversy affects Polish Confederation of Private Employers
In December 2005, the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan (PKPP Lewiatan) asked the Constitutional Tribunal to examine whether recent legislation on pensions for miners is constitutional - a move criticised by all the mining trade unions. The National Copper Ore Mining Section of NSZZ Solidarność, representing employees of the KGHM mining company, adopted an unusual form of protest; it called on KGHM’s directors to discontinue contributions to PKPP Lewiatan.
- 11 Jan 2006
Poland: Future of Dolna Odra power complex is uncertainfor the employees .
- 11 Jan 2006
Estonia: A wage agreement signed between the government and TALO
At the very end of 2005, the government and the TALO trade union confederation finally managed to conclude a wage agreement for employees with higher education working in the public sector for 2006. It concerns rises in overall wage funds and wage conditions in domains of different ministries. The parties handle these minimum wage provisions as a collective agreement.
- 11 Jan 2006
Slovakia: Trade.
- 11 Jan 2006
Italy: Cgil, Cisl and Uil united against proposed EU BolkesteinDirective
In December 2005, representatives of Italy’s three main trade union confederations, Cgil, Cisl and Uil met to discuss how to respond to some of the proposals in the draft EU Directive on services in the internal market (the BolkesteinDirective), which they consider detrimental to workers’ rights and to the European social model. The three confederations expressed their full support for a major demonstration called for February 2006 by the European Trade Union Confederation.
- 11 Jan 2006
Italy: The social partners signed a Manifesto for the development of Italy’s Mezzogiorno
On 17 December 2005 the Italian social partners and the regional institutions met in Reggio Calabria and signed a Manifesto for the development of Italy’s Mezzogiorno to fight the decline of the country’s economy by re-launching the development of Southern regions. The document contains proposals and common commitments on several issues: companies and labour; development of the infrastructures; urban re-qualification; enhancement and strengthening of the educational structures; valorisation of tourist sites and re-launch of tourism.
- 11 Jan 2006
Austria: Supreme Court of Justice judges bank’s agreement hoppingas lawful
In a decision of December 2005, the Supreme Court of Justice (OGH) ruled that a move of Austria’s BA-CA bank corporation from the savings banks employers’ association to the commercial banks association was lawful. The main aim of this move was to change over from the savings banks collective agreement to the - from the bank’s point of view - cheaper commercial banks agreement. The union side expressed its disappointment over this decision and warns of copying such practices of agreement hoppingby other employers.
- 11 Jan 2006
Finland: Rulings issued in bargaining disputes at Are and Uponor
Two Finnish companies, Are and Uponor, attempted in early 2005 to start applying different sectoral collective agreements by changing their employers’ organisation affiliation. These initiatives were contested and referred by unions to the Labour Court, which issued its rulings in October and November 2005. Uponor was allowed by the Court to change agreements while Are was not. Both cases were finally decided by establishing which agreement first bound the employer. Neither the company's sector of production nor the level of trade union representation were seen as reasons to uphold the old agreements, as had been hoped by unions.
- 11 Jan 2006
Hungary: Wage agreements in the public sector for 2006
Following the central wage agreement for 2006 in December, a series of agreements have been concluded on public employees’ salaries.
- 11 Jan 2006
Hungary: Sectoral collective agreement signed in the construction industry
Three employers’ associations and two trade union federations in the industry signed the sectoral collective agreement on 16 November 2005. The agreement, which includes a wage tariff system as well, will come into force when the Minister of Employment and Labour promulgates his decision on extension.
- 11 Jan 2006
Sweden: Commission proposes right to full time employment
A Government Commissioner handed over a proposal for new Swedish legislation concerning the right to full-time employment, valid for the whole labour market, 30 November 2005.
- 11 Jan 2006
Norway: New agreement for an inclusive working life
In December 2005 the social partner organisations and national authorities in Norway signed a new agreement for an inclusive working life. As such the efforts to reduce sickness absence will continue. At the same time greater efforts will be made to make older people stay longer in employment, and improve the labour market situation of immigrants and other vulnerable groups.
- 11 Jan 2006
Hungary: New governmental guideline on bogus contracts
The Minister of Employment and Labour and the Minister of Finance jointly issued a new guideline on the qualification of contracts for work performance
- 11 Jan 2006
Malta: Denim announced the closure of its operations in Malta
The Denim Services Group of Companies announced it was closing its Maltese factories and laying off about 850 employees. The General Workers’ Union showed its concern that there are other manufacturing enterprises which will soon be facing similar problems.
- 11 Jan 2006
EU Level: New EU industrial relations dictionary
At the end of November 2005, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions launched a new European industrial relations dictionary, which aims to provide a clear insight into the workings of industrial relations at European level.
- 11 Jan 2006
Spain: Strike in the private health sector in Madrid due to collective bargaining disagreement
Workers of the private health sector of the Community of Madrid went on a three-day strike in mid-December to demand equal pay and working time to those of public health workers, following a disagreement in the collective bargaining between the trade unions and the employers' associations of the sector.
- 11 Jan 2006
Spain: Workforce reduction plan agreed at Seat
In December 2005, the UGT and CC.OO trade unions reached a controversial agreement with the Seat car company on a workforce adjustment plan involving 660 redundancies in Spain, in the framework of a transnational reorganisation of the Volkswagen group.
- 11 Jan 2006
Denmark: Lidl signs new collective agreement in Denmark
Lidl, the German discount supermarket chain with more than 6,000 stores in a number of European countries, concluded a collective agreement with Denmark's United Federation of Workers (3F) in January 2006. Lidl had already signed agreements with the HK/Commerce union in November 2004.
- 10 Jan 2006
Austria: Government plans to abolish permanent tenure for civil servants
In December 2005, Austria's conservative-populist government announced plans to abolish the permanent tenure of appointment that applies to public employees, and thus their absolute protection against dismissal. The proposals would establish in the civil service a single category of public employee, employed on a private-law basis with uniform service regulations. A draft bill on the issue should be presented early in 2006. Trade unions are strongly opposed, raising questions about the quality of public services and the constitutionality of uniform service regulations, as well as expressing concern about the future independence from political interference of civil servants, especially judges.
- 10 Jan 2006
Hungary: Three-year central agreement reached on minimum wage rises and pay policy guidelines
In late November 2005, the Hungarian social partners and government agreed on new minimum wage rates, the gradual introduction of a three-tier minimum wage system, and recommendations to lower-level negotiators on annual wage increases. The agreement includes not only increases and recommendations for 2006 but also a medium-term plan for minimum wage increases and pay policy guidelines over 2006-8.
- 10 Jan 2006
Norway: Nordic trade unions' international activities examined
A report published in Norway in 2005 finds significant variations in the international work carried out by Nordic trade unions. Most unions do engage in international activity - and report increased time spent on such activities - but only a minority of unions engage in large-scale efforts, measured in time dedicated or the number of issues covered. International trade union organisations at the Nordic and European levels play an important role in the international activities of Nordic trade unions.
- 10 Jan 2006
United Kingdom: Academics vote in favour of new university and college union
In December 2005 it was announced that a ballot of the members of the further and higher education unions NATFHE and AUT had resulted in the approval of the planned merger between the two organisations to create the University and College Union.
- 10 Jan 2006
EU Level: 2006 is European Year of workers’ mobility
2006 has been designated as European Year of workers’ mobility as part of a drive to encourage employment mobility within the EU. The European Commission launched, in December 2005, a website containing all relevant information on mobility and EU mobility events and actions over the coming year.
- 06 Jan 2006
Slovenia: Rail workers’ trade unions divided over restructuring
In 2005, the Slovenian government has been considering a further restructuring of the Slovenian Railways Holding Company (HSZ). At present, there are three rail companies, dealing with infrastructure, passenger transport and freight transport respectively, with the latter two undergoing partial privatisation. Railway workers' trade unions are split over the issue - apparently reflecting the diverging interests of their members - with some favouring the current situation and others calling for a return to a single unified rail company.
- 06 Jan 2006
Slovenia: Strikes held on railways
In November 2005, several short strikes were organised by the Railway Traffic Union of Slovenia (SZPS) and some smaller rail trade unions. The strikes appeared to relate both to current plans to restructure the Slovenian Railways Holding Company and to demands for better working conditions. The majority of rail unions opposed the strikes.
- 05 Jan 2006
Latvia: Trade unions seek to boost membership
Trade union density in Latvia is only around 15.5% and unions have severe problems in organising in a number of sectors. However, during 2005, unions have made renewed efforts to increase their membership, publicise their activities, put forward demands and expand to new areas, assisted in some respects by financing from EU funds.
- 05 Jan 2006
Netherlands: Calls for reinstatement of public maternity benefits for self-employed
In late 2005, the Dutch Trade Union Federation (FNV) and the Dutch Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MKB-Nederland) called for the reinstatement of a public maternity benefit scheme for self-employed people. The scheme was abolished in 2004, with the idea being that it could be replaced by private insurance arrangements. However, in practice insurers have reportedly declined many applications and self-employed people have been deterred by high premiums. At the request of parliament, the government has also consulted the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission about whether it was entitled under international and EU law to abolish the maternity benefits.
- 04 Jan 2006
Spain: Fatal accident reignites debate over safety in construction
A serious accident in November 2005, resulting in the death of six workers involved in the construction of a motorway in Andalusia, has led to a major debate on the relationship between occupational risk prevention and employment conditions in the Spanish construction sector. Trade unions called a protest work stoppage and have linked the high industrial accident rate in construction to the sector's high levels of subcontracting, temporary employment and overtime working.
- 04 Jan 2006
France: Draft agreement reached on promoting employment of older workers
Negotiations among the French social partners on promoting employment for older workers opened in February 2005 and resulted in a draft national intersectoral agreement in October. Measures agreed include a new form of fixed-term contract for workers over the age of 57. However, the trade unions have reservations, especially as linked negotiations on retirement for workers with arduous working conditions and on unemployment insurance are still under way, while the government is preparing a plan for the employment of older workers.
- 04 Jan 2006
Poland: Enterprise-level social dialogue in 2005 assessed
Based on recent research, this article examines social dialogue at the level of individual enterprises in Poland, as of 2005. It finds that issues such as trade union presence and employee representation depend strongly on company size, sector of activity and form of ownership (ie public or private). In general, trade unions face a very difficult situation in the private sector (especially in services) and among smaller enterprises.
- 04 Jan 2006
Italy: New collective agreement reached for telecommunications sector
In December 2005, trade unions and employers in the Italian telecommunications sector signed a draft collective agreement for the 2005-8 period. The industry's 120,000 workers will now be asked to approve the new agreement in workplace assemblies. The deal introduces numerous changes, notably an extension of its coverage to include call-centre companies and the introduction of new rules on subcontracting and outsourcing. Both sides have expressed their satisfaction with the draft agreement, although worries have been voiced concerning the issue of market regulation and the role of the Guarantee Authority for Telecommunications. |
The European Citizen’s initiative, in force since 1 April 2012, is an unprecedented opportunity for European people to unite in order to influence the flow of European politics. EP Vice President Georgios Papastamkos, who agreed to answer questions on the Initiative submitted by followers of the Parliament's Facebook page, believes it could be the beginning of something bigger, a true "Citizens' Europe".
How will the initiative solve any of Europe’s problems? Shouldn’t Parliament concentrate on making European elections a true contest instead? For example, by having each political group nominate its own candidate for Commission President and then leave it to the citizens to decide who gets the post? This would really bring politics to Europe.
From this time onwards Europe’s citizens can participate in the EU’s legislative process by asking the Commission to propose rules on issues that fall within its competences. In this vein, the Lisbon Treaty helps to address one of the main problems the Union faces, namely the lack of citizens’ participation in its democratic life. Your question is extremely interesting and is already the subject of much debate in the European Parliament. I have personally supported the direct election of Commissioners, alongside MEPs, already since the 1990s. However, this is an issue that is so far discussed de lege ferenda (in view of future legislation) as it is not possible to do so currently under the provisions of the existing Treaties.
What are EU officials to do if they receive widely supported initiatives asking for radical change in the European Union, in terms of either further integration or even disintegration?
I hope this innovative concept will have the response you indicate in your question. I personally believe that the degree of support that each initiative receives from citizens must be taken into account by the Commission when it decides whether to take it up or not. We hope for Initiatives that will further European integration. However, demands that are at odds with the Union’s principles cannot become the object of an Initiative. In any case, receiving, evaluating and acting upon any initiative actually presupposes a minimum European integration and of course that the Commission has a right of initiative in the respective area.
How will Parliament help ECI organisers? How will the public hearings in Parliament be carried out?
Parliament will offer those organising an Initiative all the assistance it can provide, both in terms of infrastructure and human resources, to enable them to present it in the best possible way. In addition to the organisers and the representatives of the EU Institutions, representatives of civil society and all interested parties will be invited to the public hearings. Holding these hearings in the only directly elected EU institution will send a very strong signal.
Do you fear that interesting Initiatives (such as the one potentially spawned by the “One Seat” campaign for Parliament itself) will not be admitted for lack of Commission authority to deal with it? Can this requirement be overcome?
My concern is that some will be disappointed, not because their initiative didn’t have the results they expected, but because of the extremely high expectations that some are purposefully cultivating or will seek to cultivate in the future. Both President Schulz and I have on every occasion underlined the need to better inform citizens about the rules and the requirements and what can objectively be asked of the Commission through an initiative. The example of the Parliament’s seat is an obvious case in point: it is simply beyond the Commission’s legislative remit, as the seat of the Institutions is set by common agreement of the governments of the member states. We must in all cases defend this truly innovative instrument from any attempt to discredit or manipulate it. There is a wide scope of initiatives to be taken that could help making Europe more visible, more democratic and more efficient; a real "Europe of Citizens". |
That’s it! You’ve finally decided to get your life back on track by bringing in some much needed stress management and relaxation, and you have decided that yoga is the answer. However, for any newcomer to the yoga scene, it can be quite a daunting and intimidating task finding the right yoga class. So how do you figure out which yoga class is right for you? Well, first of all, you should have a clear understanding of what yoga is, what the different types of yoga are, and what it is that you are looking for from your practice.
Yoga is an ancient science that originated in India thousands of years ago, and which is now being practiced by millions of people around the world. Yoga is the science of right living and its goal is to peel away the layers that cloud our ability to see clearly. Its aim is also to bring balance, health and well being back into an individual, so that the individual is then able to feel their deep connection to the infinite energy that we call God or Spirit. This sense of oneness can then be extended towards all beings and enables us to live in a spirit of deep peace, love and harmony.
There are many different types of yoga and it is important that you find the type that is best suited both to your personality and to your needs. The type of yoga that most people are familiar with and which is most commonly practiced today is Hatha Yoga. This is a system of yoga that uses asanas (physical postures), pranayama (breathing techniques) and meditation, to bring physical, mental and emotional balance to an individual. There are many different ways to practice Hatha Yoga, and some can be more challenging than others, so make sure to try out a variety of classes so that you find a teacher and a style that you like and connect to. It is also important to find a class that is structured specially for beginners, so that you will not feel intimidated or discouraged and also so that you do not become injured. Check too to make sure that the teacher holds a valid certification from a qualified yoga school.
There are also other types of yoga that can be practiced along with Hatha Yoga, and in fact, this is what is recommended in order to gain the most out of your practice.
Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion and is a means of channeling the pure energy of feeling and emotion for the discovery of the inner self, the pure being. It is a suitable path for those who are emotional and for those who feel an affinity to some form of God or higher being. It is also a counterbalance for those who are overly intellectual or rational, releasing blocked emotions and restrictive thought patterns. Bhakti yoga practices include chanting the names of divinity and surrender to a Higher Being.
Raja Yoga is the path of meditation. It is based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, commonly associated with “the 8 limbs” of Ashtanga Yoga: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dyhana, samadhi. Its aim is to enter into the realm of psychic consciousness in order to discover the dormant areas of the mind and the consciousness.
Karma Yoga is the meditative awareness of activities in everyday life. It is also the yoga of selfless service where one performs work without the expectation of reward.
Gyana yoga is the process of meditative awareness that brings us closer to our inner nature. It is a process of inquiry that results in illumined or intuitive knowledge of this inner nature. The knowledge that is sought in gyana yoga isn’t intellectual knowledge. It is wisdom, or intuitive knowledge of our true nature.
Mantra Yoga is the chanting or repetition of sounds, which have an effect on the mental and psychic consciousness of man.
Ideally, one combines all of these types of yoga, known as Integral Yoga, so as to bring about a perfectly balanced state of being. However, they can all be practiced separately and are all perfectly valid paths in and of themselves.
If however, you are looking to yoga for relief from back pain and injury, or if you have high blood pressure or any other medical issue, then Yoga Therapy may be what you need. This is where a qualified Yoga Therapist gives you a personalized program that specifically addresses your issues. Generalized yoga classes are not recommended if these (among other) issues are present, as many yoga postures can and will aggravate these existing problems.
It is also important to know what it is that you would like to gain from your practice. Whether it is physical, mental, emotional or spiritual health and well being, having some goals in mind will give you the motivation and discipline that you will need to stay committed to your practice. Most of all be patient. The effects of your practice accumulate over time so regularity and consistency are key. Many people report feeling better after only their first yoga class, and that feeling of wellness simply increases the more yoga that you do. Eventually, it becomes something that you cannot live without. Yoga is life and life is yoga.
The divine light in me honors the divine light in you.
Namaste.
Karen Stollmeyer, MA, Yogacharya, Yoga Therapist, Founder/Director , Bliss Yoga, Trinidad, Member of International Yoga Federation’s World Yoga Council, |
We would like you to join us. As per previous congresses, we will make sure that you receive a return on your investments: coffee breaks and lunches will be served in the middle of the booths; invitations to the Welcome Reception, the Concert & the Gala Diner will be offered for your collaborators. Maritim Congress Center walls, ceilings or columns for support. Any damage to the Maritim Congress Center, external or internal, caused by exhibitor participation and display will be charged to the exhibitor.
SAFETY RESTRICTIONS
All display materials and contents must conform in all respects to applicable safety, health and fire codes in addition to the rules of the Maritim Congress Center. Maritim Congress Center.
PRE-SHIPMENT OF MATERIALS
The Maritim Congress Center takes no responsibility for loading, unloading and deposit of materials. You will be able to store all your materials at the Maritim Congress Center.
INSTALLATION AND REMOVAL OF EXHIBITS
Installation of displays must take place from 08:00 am – 06:00 pm on Saturday, September 15, 2012.
All exhibits must remain in place until 04:30 pm on Tuesday, September 18, 2012.
All exhibits must be completely dismantled and removed no later than 08:00 pm on Tuesday, September 18, 2012.
Any materials and displays not dismantled by 08:00 pm will be removed and discarded at the company’s expense., Scientific Sessions and Social Events. There will be no refund on the exhibit fee to companies sending fewer than the number of allowed representatives. Company representative registration includes: Scientific Sessions, Meeting Program Book, Refreshment Breaks, Daily Lunches, Welcome Reception, Concert and Gala Diner.
BOOTH RENTING PRICE / SQM
- 6 Sqm Booth (2 invited corporate representatives) — 5,500 EUR
- 9 Sqm Booth (4 invited corporate representatives) — 7,500 EUR
- 12 Sqm Booth (6 invited corporate representatives) — 10,000 EUR
If you want to have additional collaborators to attend the congress, please let us know.
SPONSORSHIPS
- You have the possibility to be classified as a:
- PLATINUM Sponsor: 30,000 EUR
- GOLD Sponsor: 20,000 EUR
- SILVER Sponsor: 10,000 EUR
- Congress Bags (Each registered attendee will receive his conference material in a bag that he can carry during the entire meeting and beyond. The sponsor’s name and logo will appear on those bags.Inside each bag will be a pen and notepaper also featuring the company logo.)
- Advertisement inside the congress bags — 1,000 EUR per brochure
- Program Book Advertising (An extensive meeting program book will be produced and distributed to every delegate and is a valuable tool for them to take home after the congress, for reference or to share with colleagues. Advertising within this book will be sold on a first-come basis.)
- Full Page: 1,500 EUR
- Two-Page spread: 2,750 EUR
- Inside front cover: 2,000 EUR — Not available anymore.
- Inside back cover: 1,900 EUR — Not available anymore.
- Outside back cover: 2,500 EUR — Not available anymore.
- Symposia — 20,000 EUR
- Sunday, September 16, 2012, from 04:30 pm until 05:30 pm — Not available anymore.
- Sunday, September 16, 2012, from 05:30 pm until 06:30 pm
- Welcome Reception — 15,000 EUR (The Welcome Reception will be a premiere event on Saturday, September 15, 2012. EVRS will work with the sponsor to create a valuable welcome event for delegates. The industry sponsorship will be highlighted by including company advertisement on the tables or other kind of advertisement upon request.)
- Gala Diner — 30,000 EUR (The Gala Diner will be a premiere event on Monday, September 17, 2012. EVRS will work with the sponsor to create a valuable welcome event for delegates. The industry sponsorship will be highlighted by including company advertisement on the tables or other kind of advertisement upon request.)
- Scientific Session Sponsorship — 40,000 EUR (The name of the sponsor will be written on the main screen.)
- Film Festival Awards Ceremony — 15,000 EUR
- Extra Sponsorships
- Coffee Breaks — 4,000 EUR (Provide delegates with coffee during the morning and afternoon breaks and your company name and logo will appear on signage at the coffee stations.)
- Lunches — 8,000 EUR (Provide delegates with lunch and your company name and logo will appear on signage at the lunch stations.)
- Internet Area — 5,800 EUR . It can be put in an industry entire reserved room.) |
Google Wiki, Where Art Thou?.
"We have to anticipate that at some point Google will offer a Google wiki to leverage some of what they got out of that investment beyond two great search executives," Mayfield told eWEEK, taking a slight shot at the search giant.
Socialtext reloads. Click here to read more.
Jordan Frank, vice president of marketing for Traction Software, which makes the TeamPage wiki, said he expects the wiki software will be mashed in with the hosted Google Apps.
Such an approach would significantly boost Google Apps, adding new layers of collaboration for consumers and businesses. However, trying to get the JotSpot code to work with the various Google Apps can be a tricky architectural challenge, which is likely why the software hasnt yet surfaced.
Frank said the large volume of Google account holders, and the ease with which consumers and professionals can use Google Apps for informal file sharing and calendaring, would put wiki technology into the hands of many user groups who wouldnt have considered trying to use one for day-to-day information management.
Google is mum on the speculation but did acknowledge the association with Google Apps.
"Google shares JotSpots vision for helping people collaborate, share and work together online, and JotSpots team and technology are a strong fit with existing Google products like Google Apps," a Google spokesperson told eWEEK.
Analysts, who typically have their noses pretty close to the ground, arent having much better luck getting a bead on Googles wiki plans.
Forrester Research analyst Oliver Young told eWEEK he asked specifically about JotSpot and was told the company has big plans for the technology but is trying to make sure the integration is right before launching.
Meanwhile, a steady burble of announcements around enterprise wikis is triggering questions about Googles talked-about wiki offering.
Web content management provider acquired wiki software specialist Infostoria Oct. 29. Socialtext Nov. 5 installed a new CEO and banked $9.5 million in funding, and Traction upgraded its enterprise blog and wiki software Nov. 12.
To read more about Tractions new wiki software, click here.
Moreover, open-source wiki specialist MindTouch will soon trot out a new wiki hosting service for creating mashups and composite applications.
While he wouldnt publicly speculate on what Google is doing with the JotSpot assets, MindTouch co-founder Aaron Fulkerson did his part of an open-source torch bearer, claiming that he doesnt put much stock in proprietary wiki solutions.
Fulkerson told eWEEK the proprietary approach will ultimately prove fatal for wiki providerseven Googlebecause customers dont want to use closed systems for collaboration.
Check out eWEEK.coms for more on IM and other collaboration technologies. |
Full refund within 30 days if you're not completely satisfied.
Page text
Contents cover stories 30 Rethinking race
A special feature on the failures of multiculturalism today, with munira mirza, tony sewell, swaran singh & sonia dyer opinions 20 Why ringfence aid?
We should be proud of our commitment to aid. paul collier 22 Killing innovation he coalition is going the wrong way about rebalancing the economy. william cullerne bown 23 Wrong lesson from Iraq
Helping the Arab world’s poorest country. alice fordham science & technology 62 Making a better world
How to get Big Pharma to produce cheap drugs. philip ball
42 An academic question
Why did we stop loving our universities? jean seaton UK politics 21 A lesson from history apid cuts are a disaster. ed balls 38 Patron saint of the big society urke’s legacy. david marquand 46 Blame it on the baby boomers
David Willetts interviewed. 71 The leader we deserved ony Blair’s memoir is the best of the new Labour lot. david goodhart correspondents 29 Letter from Cyprus thnic autism. tabitha morgan
24 University challenge
A modest proposal to reform higher education. chris goodall 25 Good luck Nigeria he country is finally trying to clean up its act. richard dowden featureS 50 Lula’s legacy he next president of Brazil needs to keep up the good work. nathan shachar 56 Matters of life and death
What the trolley problem tells us about morality. david edmonds
65 It’s good to talk
A new dialogue is needed to tackle natural crises. randolph kent 66 Sling power echnology, not natural selection, made modern man. timothy taylor arts & books 75 Capitalism in question
Market myths. michael lind 76 A novel for the noughties
Jonathan Franzen’s new novel doesn’t disappoint. tom chatfield 78 England, my England!
he gaps in Michael Wood’s history of England. maurice glasman
FICTION 84 Tourists
A new story by christos tsiolkas regulars 8 Prospect recommends 12 Diary 13 Dr Pangloss brian eno 14 Everyday philosophy nigel warburton New this month 15 Number cruncher peter kellner 18 Letters plus stephen collins’s cartoon strip. 93 Enigmas & puzzles ian stewart 94 The generalist didymus 95 The Prospect list columnists 7 If I ruled the world andrew martin 10 Political notes anne mcelvoy 16 Economy class tim leunig 67 Sporting life david goldblatt 68 Matters of taste william skidelsky 96 Dear Wilhemina correspondents 26 Washington watch renegade 27 Brussels diary manneken pis 28 China café mark kitto science & technology 64 Lab report philip ball 66 The month ahead anjana ahuja arts & books 74 Cultural notebook sam leith 77 Performance notes martin kettle 80 Words that think for us edward skidelsky 80 The way we were ian irvine 81 Smallscreen peter bazalgette This month 82 FiveBooks max mosley on privacy october 2010 · prospect · 5 |
Silly season roundup
Since I posted about McLaren driver options for next season, I figure I might as well try and get all the silly-season stories out of the way in one go:
Mark Webber: He has stated time and time again that he wants to stick with Williams. I'm not really sure why he's so keen to stay at Williams. I mean it's a team with a great herritage and outside the manufacturer-backed teams it's the best place to be right now. But if you had the chance to join Renault next year, surely you'd take that wouldn't you? OK, there's some romance for Webber at Williams because Alan Jones won his World Championship there and it also has a fellow Aussie as Technical Director in Sam Michael. But compared to the team that has all the momentum right now? All the more strange is that Webber is managed by Flavio Briatore and had a testing role at Renault before his Minardi->Janguar->Williams adventure.
Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen seems almost certain to get one of the seats at Renault in 2007. He was runner up to Nico Rosberg in the 2005 GP2 season and is currently the team's 3rd driver. That leaves the other seat - Renault could extend Fisichella's contract or hire a current driver - it seems unlikely they'd run another rookie alongside Kovalainen. Possible signings include Webber (as mentioned above) and Kimi Raikkonen. A few months ago Flavio dismissed the chances of Renault signing Raikkonen in what would be a straight swap for Alonso with McLaren. Since then though senior figures at the Renault parent company have said that they are willing to pay to sign a "top driver". Well there's no chance of Michael Schumacher effectively returning to his old team, so that only really leaves Raikkonen, unless you have a relaxed definition of "top driver".
The speculation of the last week has been that Ferrari are in talks to sign David Coulthard for 2007. What was originally just paddock talk became full-on rumour-mill material when DC refused to discuss it in a press conference at the British Grand Prix. At first sight it seems pretty fanciful that the driver who looked like he might be out of the sport altogether after McLaren dropped him, would now be in line for a seat at Ferrari. But he has done a solid job for Red Bull and without Klien or Liuzzi scoring many points, they must be glad they signed him. He has experience with the Ferrari engine this year (not that I think that really counts for much) and seems to get along well with Schumacher these days (taking the heat off him with the GPDA for example). If Ferrari can't get the signature of Kimi Raikkonen for 2007 or if Schumacher retires, they could certainly do a lot worse (by retaining Felipe Massa for example).
Then there is the thorny subject of Jacques Villeneuve... In an in-depth interview with Autosport.com, Dave Richards rehashes the whole Villeneuve debacle for the umpteenth time (and yes, he's as bored of telling the story as we are of hearing it). Richards claims that with JV's contract accounting for such a large percentage of BAR's budget and the BAT directors wanting him to get the team in order ahead of a possible sale, he made JV an offer that he could refuse: Stay a BAR driver in 2004 but we won't pay you any more than what we're already paying your for the years up to 2004. He was effectively asking JV to drive for free (plus some expenses and bonuses). Unsurprisingly JV refused, thinking he'd easily get a better offer elsewhere. History records of course that not only did he not get a drive elsewhere, but he also as a result missed out of the change to take many podiums (and collect the bonuses for them) in what would be BAR/Honda's best year to date.
Peter Sauber signed JV to a two-year contract for start of 2005 and then sold his team to BMW at the end of that year. There was plenty of talk before the start of the season about whether BMW would honor the contract and keep JV this year. In the end it doesn't look like they had much choice and it's just as well - after enduring a tough 2005, JV has done an excellent job in the BMW-Sauber this year. There remains every possibility that BMW will sign JV for an additional year even though they seem keen to promote current 3rd driveer Robert Kubica to the main place alongside Nick Heidfeld (who's already under contract for 2007). If JV doesn't stay at BMW, there is a lot of speculation that he will go to Toyota to replace a retiring Jarno Trulli. Ralf Schumacher is still on a long-term contract there.
Juan-Pablo Montoya's manager has, we are told, been frantically looking for a full-time drive for him next year. McLaren are almost certain to drop him even if Kimi does leave as expected. Renault don't seem particularly interested. Ferrari likewise. BMW already have drivers vying for seats. Williams are sorted unless Webber decides to leave, but they won't take Montoya back and Montoya wouldn't crawl back to Williams as long as Sam Michael is still employed by them. Red Bull and STR have their own stable of drivers. Honda have two drivers under contract. MF1 and Super Aguri are a fate worse than death. That just leaves Toyota which would leave JV and Montoya fighting for the seat alongside Ralf Schumacher. I'm not sure which one I'd pick out of those two personally.
I'm not sure what will happen to Giancarlo Fisichella if Renault drop him as I expect. There seems to be a dichotomy in modern F1 where there are a few drivers the teams would pay millions to have and then the rest of the seats are filled by "the next big thing". There aren't many seats available for journeymen like Fisichella anymore. It's hard to feel sorry for him - he will have had a championship winning car for two seasons at the end of this year and if he's only won a few races, well, he can't blame it all on bad luck. He seems too young to retire (although now I look it up, he is a year older than me!), so maybe he'll get a 3rd driver role somewhere, but my personal feeling is that he won't be racing next season.
Speaking of Fisichella, this isn't really silly-season news, but I'll stick it here as it doesn't really deserve a post all of it's own: He has today started a legal action against Eddie Jordan over money he claims he was owed from his time there in the 2003 and 2004 seasons. It's interesting that he's sueing Jordan the man instead of Jordan the team, now Midland F1 of course. I don't think anyone needs reminding that Eddie was on the plaintiff side the last time he visited the high courts where his case against Vodafone was thrown out, but not before he received a verbal dressing down from the judge. |
Take a look at the guy in the 7 of cups card. What’s going on with him, really? This image seems a little unearthly, a little surreal. Something beyond the ordinary and mundane world is going on here. The figure in this card has his head in the clouds. He is lost in imagination. He is dreaming. Is this the best thing for him, does he need to come back down to earth?
7 of cups can indicate a healthy and alive imagination. This can be very healing. There are many answers to the universe that can be found when you step away from rational and logical thought. Sometimes this is the best thing we can do for ourselves. Stepping away from rationality can reveal secret and hidden aspects of the universe, ourselves, or a situation that we do not otherwise see.
Be a dreamer. Stick your heads in the clouds. Live in a fantasy world. Sometimes we need to have our feet on the ground, this is true. Sometimes we do need to be practical and real. Sometimes though, it’s best to forget that idea. Explore the world of “Could Be.” In the World of Could Be, we see the real true contents of our heart. Without the restrictions of “what really is” we can figure out what it is we really want. Once we figure out what we really want, we begin the task of manifestation. So go beyond any and all limiting thoughts. Go crazy with what your real true desires are. There are no boundaries and there are no limitations. Put your head in the clouds and explore your heart’s desire.
While doing this, though, it is important to keep our feet on the ground. Stay rooted. Stay grounded. It is easy to get lost in our own thoughts and imagination and feel like we’ve drifted away. There is divinity in the imagination. However, we are beings of the earth. This is why we must stay grounded. Why do you think we have gravity? Why do you think we are in human form? To utilize what we find in the imagination, we must be planted firmly on the earth. Be as a tree with deep roots that grows tall. Have a firm foundation with high and lofty ideals.
Having your head in the clouds, sometimes, can be the best place for it. Dream. Fantasize. Imagine. Visualize the most ideal situation for yourself. We all need to do this. Sometimes though, you really do need to come down to earth and pay attention to the practical matters of your life. Plant your feet on the ground and root in. Strong roots make for a strong foundation. The stronger your roots, the higher you are able to hold your head. Find balance between the world of fantasy and the practical matters of earthly life. This is to be strong. This is to appreciate what both worlds have to offer in equal measure. Gaining this balance allows for the blending and sharing of the best of both worlds.
When the 7 of cups comes up for you in a reading, use it as an invitation to take stock of your dreams. What is honestly important to you? What can you, as an earthly being, do to manifest these things? Are you “lost in the clouds??” Or are you grounded? Be mindful to maintain a sense of groundedness as you pursue your hopes and dreams. |
Support the move to replace our corporate and personal income tax code with a national consumption-based tax.
Why?
Because it will be far simpler than the current sclerotic byzantine income-based tax structure that has been in place since 1913. It will return the United States to the preferred tax revenue-generation method favored by our Founders who thought a tax on someone's income could be capricious and ruinous to a person's freedom and productivity.
They were right on the 'capricious' part.
Most of all, it would be a far better measure of someone's use of all the freedoms and accoutrements of our publicly-supported infrastructure and telecommunications networks in America. The more someone consumes, the more they need a solid defense and homeland security to protect their ability to do so, correct?
We are not that concerned about 'the rich' not paying 'their fair share' simply because the facts of the matter show quite clearly that they already are paying a huge share of federal income taxes each year. The top 1% pay 42%+ of all income taxes as it is today; the top 5% pay 59%%; the top 10% pay 71%.
That is enough for us. What should the top 1% pay, 100% of all taxes so the rest of us don't pay a dime to live in this free country?
When you think about it, the very wealthy and rich do a lot of business and transactions every single day. They buy and sell businesses before most of us wake up in the morning. They buy a new mansion every year it seems if you pay any attention to People magazine. Throw in a few hundred thousand stock trades and 10 new Mazeratis each year on top of the jewelry and bling-bling they seem to sport on themselves, well, you have got a virtual cash machine if you plop a consumption.transaction tax on each and every purchase.
'What do you mean?' you might be thinking. 'Are you saying that the federal government should get a 15% upfront tax on every home that is sold each year in America?'
Precisely. We are saying that those who purchase a lot of things, which would include the afore-mentioned 'rich', would pay a 15% transaction tax on every single thing they purchase each year. As a result, they would pay far, far more in tax than someone who doesn't make a lot of transactions.
Think about it. How many stock trades does a poor person make each year? 45% of all Americans don't own any stock at all. They will not ever pay any consumption tax on any stock trade, leveraged buyout, credit default swap, derivative or any other financial vehicle that has caused the economy such grief over the past 4 years.
How many homes do moderate-income folks buy? 1 in a lifetime if they are fortunate.
How many cars? Maybe one every 10 years and most likely a used one at that. Let the rich guy pay the 15% tax on the full price of a $40,000 car in year 1. The moderate-income person can then buy it used for $19,000 several years later and pay the tax again on his/her purchase.
'What about food and the essentials of life, fella?' some of the more socially-conscious folk might have churning in their brains right about now.
How about them? Why not exempt the mere basics of life for everyone, namely fresh food from the grocery store, prescription drugs and perhaps a few other necessities in life that everyone uses and can agree upon?
However, not the food purchased in restaurants and fast-food joints. Super-Gulps and Whoppers surely need to be taxed since they are so unhealthy for people and have contributed mightily to the Obesitification of America over the last 40 years. They are most definitely not 'necessities' of life no matter how much we might like them.
We tried to ask the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis in Washington for some information detailing the consumption patterns of Americans by income quintile. The analyst from the BEA got back to us in a matter of minutes (so there is a case of an enterprising federal public servant) and said that there was no such data available from the federal government.
Perhaps there is some private sector data that can be found to ascertain just how much economic activity is conducted by the rich people on down the economic totem pole. It stands to reason that wealthier people buy more stuff each and every year, doesn't it? If they don't want to pay the tax, then they can save their money and invest it in a new technology or enterprise that will hire the rest of us and provide more jobs with more income and benefits (if there will be any in the post-Obamacare apocalyptic world, that is)
We might be getting a real-live petri dish experiment of whether this will work or not in the good Old North State of North Carolina. About 1 week from now, newly-elected Republican Governor Pat McCrory and super-majorities for the Republicans in both sides of the state legislature in Raleigh will be sworn into office.
They will be considering replacing the state corporate and personal income tax with a stepped-up excise tax. If passed, North Carolina would become an income tax-free zone for new business and enterprise to pop up or move here from a high tax state such as California which is apparently a real basket-case on the order of Greece today.
If passed, North Carolina will join only 2 other states without corporate or personal income taxes, Wyoming and Nevada. North Carolina will even exceed the statutes of states such as Florida and Texas in terms of tax freedom, both of which have long been considered havens of tax free investment and entrepreneurial activity.
North Carolina might become the bellweather state in terms of showing how and if a new steamlined tax system can help generate vibrant new economic activity. With a 9.4 unemployment rate, 4th highest in the nation, why not try something different to get out of these economic doldrums?
Taxing transactions rather than income makes a whole lot of sense. Rich people might even pay more in taxes, not less. |
Monday January 9, 2002
Phoned Ioana in New York and asked her: “If we found the money and started a magazine in Berlin, would you be in?” Her answer was a bold: “YES. When? I’m booking my ticket right away!” M and I have plans. We’re three now. And what if it were the beginning of something…?
A few weeks ago I unearthed this entry in a diary I had no memory of keeping at the time. A discarded ‘slice’ of life, jotted on a random page of an old notebook, crammed between to-do lists and my Moscow journalism shorthand notes. Little did I know, this random scribble would actually be worth mentioning 10 years later, as a milestone, a piece of history that would affect not only my life but also that of quite a few fellow Berliners – destined to become our readers, contributors or staff.
Over the years we'd fight over whose idea Exberliner was, who was to reap the credit (when being interviewed by appreciative journalists) or to be blamed when everything went so wrong, so many times. There’s no simple answer!
‘M’ stood for Maurice. He was the forerunner, the first ‘Berliner’ of the trio. With German blood and German tongue, he had made it to the new capital before everyone, before the idealistic masses of what we were later to dub ‘yukis’, before his high school friends who were to follow suit later, even before the euro. Following half a life in the US and a journalism degree in the London of his birth, Maurice had settled in Berlin nicely and was already getting sick of working for other people (Die Welt online and Deutsche Welle TV).
Founding a magazine had always been an 'Ioana-Idea'. Born and raised in Ceauşescu’s Romania, she had fled with her family to the West and spent her student life between the 'little Romania' of her two-room Parisian flat and the Sorbonne's department of political science where she and I had met 10 years before.
After London (all three of us went through City University journalism school), she had made it to NYC, the land of her dissident father's dreams of freedom. She had cried flying over the Statue of Liberty (and would cry later looking at the Wall on Bernauer Straße). She witnessed 9/11 with her own eyes.
Yet she was growing tired of New York – the Village Voice where she worked was already not quite what it used to be – and had set her sights on launching a magazine in Paris, a bad idea if I ever heard one.
I had just passed through my Heimat and sealed my decision to not go back: too much had remained the good old boring same since I had left the benches of the Sorbonne to teach and pursue my PhD in Moscow.
Berlin was different, open, unfinished, literally a building site. So, I unpacked my suitcase here as a mournful but grateful exile – a refugee from Putin’s Russia and his FSB Black List of undesirables. After years of loving the kick of intrepid journalism – from war to investigation on chemical weapons, from Chechnya to Moscow, from field reporting to the desk of a major news agency – I had to move on.
Faced with the choice of a career move (back to old Paris) and l-o-v-e (Berlin, terra incognita), I foolishly and rather unfashionably opted for the latter – the riskiest gamble of all.
My first few months here were agony: too comfortable to enjoy, too cheap and easy to be true; my freelancing for a few culture mags felt indulgent – I had risked my life in Russia, now I was losing my sanity. So when an acquaintance suggested that, with our combined experience, we should start Berlin’s much-needed English magazine and that he would be interested in investing some money in it – it did not fall on deaf ears…
From then on, things went too fast to be remembered.
(I couldn’t find any more discarded diary entries to help – with the exception of a paragraph on my decision to cancel a much anticipated hunting trip to Kazakhstan: "My resolution to dedicate myself to our new publishing project is at stake. I've got to be able to make choices – even if it hurts…")
On March 5, Ioana landed at Tegel with a newly acquired American accent and her legendary indomitable faith and headstrong energy. (To my dismay, her only concern was finding a good gym here.) We left to meet our two business partners in the horse-breeding town of Verden in Lower Saxony on the same day.
Here, in the lobby of an unmemorable hotel, serious talks were held, contracts signed, making us the happy managers of one IoMauNa Media GmbH. We left the hotel heavily indebted but in good spirits. We owned a publishing house! Many a journalist's dream – having one's own paper – was becoming our reality.
A month, later we moved into our first office, a two-room shop front on Prenzlauer Berg's drab Jablonskistraße, which we promptly furnished with basics from Ikea and three computers (not a single Mac!).
Maurice, who was the only one who spoke German and had a vague idea of what a Gewerbeschein was, took over business operations; Ioana, who hadn’t practiced design since journalism school but was confident she could do it, art direction; I, 'naturally', reclined into my new chief editor’s chair – an editor without writers, with the notable exception of Robin Alexander, a young German journo I had met in Moscow and who instantly accepted the position of political columnist.
Our start-up team was soon to be fleshed out by Richard, a multitalented German-bred American who was to help raise the infant paper until it could walk by itself, and Rosie, a tiny energetic Brit who ruled over the listings and whose high spirits and fortitude we missed sorely when she had to return home a year later.
The ad sales squad was an all-Berliner duo – a skinny, cat-loving film intellectual called Sven and André, a fifty-something bon vivant recently laid off by the Tagesspiegel. Chance encounters provided the rest of the crew: we met our music editor at a sidewalk café up the street, and our (shy) first film critic was escorted to our Jablonskistraße office by her brother. I don't remember worrying much about writers: we were journalists, after all; never did it occur to us back then this would actually be a problem.
A magazine is a business, not a sandbox for journalists.
Market realities command that successful magazine start-ups be the brainchild of marketing minds and design geniuses – looks and sales are the one and only decisive factor in this war. We were charmingly unaware of such simple truths. When our benevolent but pragmatic investor asked for a “business plan”, we'd rushed to the nearest bookstore to get up to speed on balance sheets and the difference between cash flow and a cash cow.
All I knew about business came from my partial reading of Das Kapital; Ioana was, well, a Romanian… Maurice had escaped the bright business future his family had in store for him to study English literature. Our revenue projections were shamelessly optimistic. Cluelessness has its advantages: it doesn't burden you with paralysing thoughts. Plus we wanted to be different. And reality was to leave us with no other choice.
Over the years we’ve learnt about the publishing industry the hard way: learning by doing and suffering: fiascos and shitstorms, lawsuits and scandals. Here are a few milestones on the road towards what we are today.
How we got our weird name
On June 10, 2002, following a long and laborious birth, a 32-page free newspaper named The Berliner saw the light of day – 30,000 of them! It’s hard to remember what we felt. Tired, probably.
What we do remember though is that within two days of distributing the first issue, we received a wake-up call in the guise of a cease and desist letter from a lawyer. The name ‘Berliner’ had been registered as a trademark by another magazine. A few days later our rather dishevelled, exhausted trio was sitting in a Ku’damm attorney’s office across from a Herr Moshkovits, the publisher of a lifestyle glossy named Berliner which happened to be starting up at the same time to fold only a year or two later.
Made compliant by the threat of a €10,000 fine, we agreed to immediately change the name of the magazine. Freshly hyphenated, The Ex-Berliner was born. (It was almost a year later, when the new Berlin branch of Neville Brody’s Research Studios redesigned the mag, that the name was compressed into a unitary EXBERLINER.)
How we learnt to say no to advertorials
Sometimes it was fate rather than lawyers that taught us a lesson in survival in the harsh world of publishing. While our naïve belief that we would be profitable within two issues and advertisers would flock to our free cultural newspaper in English was charming – finding capable ad reps who could reel in financially solvent clients who actually paid their bills turned out to be much harder than we expected.
Latest Comments
Happy Birthday Exberliner
Posted by
Jane Goren
June 28, 2012 23:06:16 |
Tips on Flying with Kayaks to Chile
From Guide
Flying with a Kayak to Chile
Flying with a kayak to Chile is a "do-able" proposition even on airlines that claim they will not take kayaks. In the best case scenario kayaks can be checked in as baggage with no addition fees. Most often an excess/oversized baggage fee will be charged in both directions for flying your kayak in and out of South America. In the worst case scenario you may get denied by the airline check-in attendant if they follow the airline policy strictly.
1] It is important to find out EXACTLY what the policy is of the airline you will be flying regarding transporting kayaks. Some airlines even have different baggage policies and charges from airport to airport; you need to know these also. The official airline policy will be your WORST CASE scenario. In the event that you run into a check-in attendant who follows the rules you need to be prepared to pay the extra charge, get denied or opt to not take your kayak.
2] If you decide to take your kayak with you we have had the best luck wrapping them up or putting them in a surfboard bag. The idea is to be DISCRETE and allow the check-in attendant a wide amount of latitude about taking your kayak. Be polite as possible and ask them to HELP YOU with getting your boat to South America. Be careful about stowing excess baggage in your kayak as it can put you over some of the airline weight limits. Remember there are different baggage allowances for domestic and international flights. It is also helpful to inform the airline that you will be taking a "surf board" with you when you make your reservation. If this is on the computer when you check-in your kayak is more likely to get through. Try to avoid using the word "kayak" when you interact with airline personnel.
3] It is best to check things straight through. Each time you have to manually check your kayak in for a flight you risk running into a desk attendant who will follow the airline rules. Try to limit these interactions as much as possible. In the worst case scenario you may need to pay another fee in both directions to transport your kayak domestically in Chile or the United States. For this reason many paddlers choose to rent a vehicle in Santiago or take a public bus (which takes kayaks) to their domestic destination.
4] Get the airline policy in WRITING and CARRY IT WITH YOU. If the airline policy says that they will take a kayak, you will want a copy of that so that you do not get denied by an employee in South America or charged an additional fee. You will also want to save all of your baggage check-in tickets for the same reason.
5] Most of us leave our kayaks in South America after our trip by selling them to the locals who want the latest boats. This solves the reverse problem of getting your kayak back to your hometown. Usually the South American check-in attendants are stricter than those in North America about charging extra fees. However, in recent years Chilean buyers have gotten access to the latest kayaks directly through the manufacturers, so they are becoming more selective about what they buy. Be prepared to offer a good deal, especially if you don't have the latest design. In the worst case scenario you may not be able to sell an older model boat.
6] If you call the airline and "get the okay" for your boats DON'T BELIEVE what you hear (unless it is in writing). Things are often different at the check-in counter. They may say no on the phone but will take them when you arrive at the airport. Likewise they could say yes on the phone but get denied at check-in.
7] Have a Plan B ready if something happens, like an emergency rental or purchase option in Chile should something go wrong.
8] Sometimes taking a new boat into South America can be a "customs problem" if they think you will be leaving it there. If you are planning on taking a new boat, take off all sales tags and make it look as "used as possible". You don't want to be charged a customs fee. We don't recommend taking new boats for this reason.
9] We have had bad luck (with timing) flying kayaks into Chile using Air Cargo. Usually the air freighters don't coordinate with your arrival and departure times and arrive at different terminals. The problems involved in retrieving your kayak and getting it checked to your domestic flight usually make keeping on schedule impossible. Don't consider this option unless you have plenty of time.
10] If you are planning an excursion to Argentina the customs officials will note your kayak when you take it over the border. If you re-cross the border back into Chile you will need to have the kayak with you. Argentina has a Luxury Tax on kayaks and the officials want to make sure you don't leave it in the country. |
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17th July 2012, 07:45 PM
anneteoh
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Originally from malaysia.
Expat in uk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ecureilx
Well, if you are British, you would not say such harsh words, if you ever bothered to listen to the types of questions asked by British Immigration officers, when they interview Asians - or pretty much non-Caucasians ..
Questions have ranged from "so you are here visiting your boyfriend, which bar did you meet... " and "when did you meet" followed by a call to the BF to ask and confirm the details ..
Don't get me started on Australian Immigration .. or US immigration ..
If you are shocked at such questions, me, in my humble words, says .. well, you got off easy ..
You should have demanded she explain the need for such a question .. and see what would have transpired .. on top of it .. when you say you been to Malaysia a couple of times, in local terms, that is known as "Visa Runs" and a lot of people do it for legit and illegitimate purposes ..
As for what laws you have broken or not .. well, I can safely say, Singapore is at the Crossroads in Asia, and, for a start, human trafficking is Immigration's primary concern .. if not into Singapore, it is Via Singapore .. I am not going to get into the details .. so the immigration, as per law, has the right to ask what you are doing here .. as one girl was asked the same question, and she went "I am here to study the culture of Singapore .. " pat came the reply "you been to Singapore for more than 60 days, there is not much you can study about the culture .. your entry is refused .. " - of course, the ICA officer could ask whether is she part timing, or doing other stuff - which is what they cannot ask or accuse - and they have to make a decision ..
The law says the immigration has every right to vet you - especially in Singapore, considering that a fair amount of Foreigners do engage in activities not allowed under the law, when you are on a visit visa - including working, running businesses, consulting .. oh, I can easily say Westerners are NOT exempt from such activities ..
I know a handful of guys, who cannot be bothered to get proper work pass, to run their businesses here, and instead, base themselves in KL and fly down and exit to extend the visa - and it is not like ICA doesn't profile them ..
Sorry if I am long winded, but it amuses me, when Europeans get 'shocked' or 'amazed' and 'annoyed' or 'irritated' .. when Immigration asks questions .. try taking an Asian to Europe or US, and see .. you will be humbled ..
Oh, there is a TV program - on Australian border Police .. take a sneak peek, and see how visitors get treated ..
Border Security - Watch full episodes - PLUS7 - Yahoo!7
PS: the law says you must show proof of return - so you can decipher it as any way you want - all the way to 'staring down the young immigration girls who don't know how to respect people .. ' ..
No offense ..
I can see where you're coming from; no offence but a good reminder though I have been simply sailing through the borders in Europe ( ticketless ), Australia ( return airfare ), SG
( O/W air ticket).It was some time since I went to the US but it was cool there too. So I was shocked when the young ICA at the JB causeway asked what I was going to do on my return to SG ( same day visit too ) and I told her so. I didn't think that was funny for I was with my family and surely she didn't think I was going to rob the bank and colonise Sg!
But judging from the gist of what I've read through this thread, things have changed , perhaps drastically so.
We normally sail through between France and the Uk too, but once, in 2009, the customs guy ( the same guy who sent us off very nicely to Calais on a 5 day trip ) asked where we were coming from on our return. It occurred to me it was so obvious we'd returned from France that I decided to be cheeky and said, " from China." The old guy was so annoyed, he marched us into the checking area and we had to wait for a long time while they slowly looked into our shopping bags and the car boot.
On a more serious note regarding visitor's visa and employment- I don't think there's any prohibition on anyone seeking work while on a visitor's visa in Sg as long as their skills/qualifications are needed by an Sg firm or institution and they haven't overstayed the date stamped on the passport when they get the work pass from MOM. Once you have the post after the interview, the employer applies the WP for you and MOM issues it; all legit.
Last edited by anneteoh; 17th July 2012 at
07:47 PM
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anneteoh
Find all posts by anneteoh |
Japanese Photobooks Now in the summer of 2011—but it is the first time that they have devoted their entire space to an exhibition of books. Following this show they will be hosting the 5th International Fotobook Festival, which is traditionally held in Kassel, so it seems that photobooks are becoming one of the major areas of focus of their programme.
According to Martin Parr, Latin-American photobooks “are the best kept secret in the history of photography”… one of the many secrets that are being steadily revealed by Parr and/or Aperture through The Photobook: A History series, Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and ’70s and a forthcoming book on Chinese photobooks that Parr is doing with WassinkLundgren chez Aperture. The ‘books on books’ phenomenon is gaining so much traction that Andreas Schmidt, a pleasingly disruptive photobook maker, is already looking forward to the book on books on books which surely can’t be too far away. As for Parr’s quote, I am willing to take his word for it, knowing absolutely nothing about Latin-Amercian photobooks (with a few Mexican exceptions) and having had very few opportunities to see any.
I was particularly interested to see how Le Bal would take on this subject. Although there appears to be a growing trend for exhibiting books, the ones I have seen so far have generally been disappointing. Books are not an easy thing to exhibit, in fact they are exhibition-resistant in my view. Most people’s preferred position for reading or looking at books is sitting down and they are generally consumed by one person at a time, things that are difficult to replicate in an exhibition context. Exhibitions do not encourage visitors to touch the works on display, making it difficult to display more than one spread, something which is painfully reductive unless multiple copies of each book displayed can be tracked down. I think the key in exhibiting books is in overcoming these obstacles by recreating the immersive experience of a book in a way that goes beyond the experience of going into a very good bookstore.
In addition to the basic difficulties of exhibiting books, Le Bal’s space is far from huge whereas Latin America is on the large side and presumably has produced a decent number of interesting photobooks over the years. This poses the additional challenge of avoiding the exhibition equivalent of a ‘best of’ compilation album. To borrow the strapline from a random ‘Best of Latin America’ compilation, this could have been “a lively exhibition filled with hot and spicy Latin American photoboks!” which would probably have given me a severe case of indigestion.
Thankfully the exhibition successfully avoids most of these pitfalls. Rather than structuring the exhibition around individual countries, it is broken up into a series of sections: history and propaganda, urban photography, photographic essays, artist books, literature and photography, and contemporary books. These categories go beyond the traditional bounds of the photobook, expanding its definition to something like ‘books that contain photography,’ which makes the terrain far more diverse and interesting, bringing in books such as the revolutionary propaganda tome, Sartre Visite a Cuba (1960) or Auto-photos (1978) an artist book documenting a performance. There is enough material in each of the sections to whet the appetite, but without requiring you to spend several hours in the exhibition space just to cover all the material on display.
The scénographie of Foto/Gráfica is particularly good, the best I have seen for a photobook exhibition. Firstly, in order to tackle the issue of displaying more than one spread from each book, the organizers have decided to go down the road of sacrifice and cut the books up so that a series of spreads can be displayed (there are clearly enough copies of these books to spare, as book-surgery is not the kind of thing that could be done with an exhibition of rare Japanese photobooks for example). The books are displayed in a variety of different ways, from ‘classic’ glass display cases, to superimposed custom shelving units hanging on the walls. The exhibition also makes good use of prints, which are exhibited alongside the books and are a useful reminder of how different these media are. In the downstairs space, the central wall has been covered with scans of the spreads from a single book with a handful of prints displayed in mounts floating on the surface, a very impressive display. I’m posting a few of the official installation views with this post, as my crappy iPhone shots would not do the exhibition justice. By deconstructing the books in these different ways, it makes the viewer think about the form of the book and its specific qualities.
The success of Foto/Gráfica is that it opens itself out beyond Latin American photography to engage with Latin American artistic culture more broadly. By giving politics, literature and other art forms center stage, the exhibition not only provides some much-needed context, but opens up a number of interesting paths of inquiry. Photobook lovers won’t need my encouragement to go and see this, but this is one for those that are not book geeks as well. After Paris, the exhibition is travelling to Ivory Press in Madrid, Aperture in New York and to the Museo del Libro y de la Lengua in Buenos-Aires.
Foto/Gráfica, Une nouvelle histoire des livres de photographie latino-américains, Le Bal, 20 January – 8 April 2012.
Rating: Recommended
One Comment
Great post and thoughtful revue Marc, wish I was in Paris to have a look at the exhibition!
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[...] de l'exposition par Marc Feustel et des Livres de photographie d'Amérique latine par Muriel Berthou [...] |
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Hi Everyone,
I have been using Money Corp to change my sterling to euros for the past year,
In a thread (that I can no longer find) a couple of months ago I read about a different company that offered a better rate. I looked into it at the time and found this to be true, unfortunateley, however, I can not remember the name of this company (It's an age thing!!!!).
Can anyone help by telling me who they use and about their experiences?
Thanks
Spam post or Abuse? Please let us know
I have used Money Corp previously for stage payments on our quad on phase 2.
For short visits to Spain I have used Crown Currency Exchange and at the moment the rate is 1.1865 for home delivery 28.09.09 - 11.12.09.
We will need to make our final payment on our quad soon so will be very interested to read the answers to your question.
Currency direct ?????
We use HIFX to transfer smaller amounts to cover the mortgage etc and to draw out when we are in Spain for spending. You can set up an online account with them and then do it yourself from home and providing you transfer over £500 you get a good rate (better than going to Intercash). The money is in your Spanish bank account within 3-4 working days.
Hope this helps
Jan
hello all
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Hi,
I used Currency Direct when paying my final payment on our Penthouse. You should be able to negoiate with them. I was told by a banking friend in the city not to except a quote that was .005 less than the exchange rate ie if the rate is 1.200 then don't except less than 1.195 as they are still making a fair bit of money. This is only for large amounts though ie your final 60% payment.
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Recently I reviewed the History of TNA: Year One DVD and had a couple of issues of with it. The DVD presented a certain viewpoint of what it took to get TNA wrestling up and running. I understand seeing things through rose colored glasses, but the main feature made it seem as if TNA never had a bad idea and only encountered the most minor of bumps during their first year of business. There is also one man that was all but completely left out of the revisionist history. That man is Jerry Jarrett.
The Story of the Development of the NWA TNA is an insanely in-depth account of what it took to get TNA Wrestling off the ground as well as the highs and lows of their first several months in business. The first thing to note is that Jerry Jarrett's book is less like Mick Foley's Have a Nice Day and more like The Diary of Anne Frank, except for the whole teenage girl thing (that's more of a Jerry Lawler gimmick anyway.) It is a collection of entries from Jarrett's personal journal in 2002, which is an interesting way to do a book, and is probably more acceptable to a reader due to the phenomenon of blogging over the past couple of years. In addition to giving his thoughts, Jarrett also includes several lengthy emails that he wrote to people at the time, including several to former Pro Wrestling Torch assistant editor, Jason Powell.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
Jarrett starts right from the beginning, saying that he and his son Jeff had an idea for a new wrestling promotion and needed to go about finding a way to get financing. Jarrett gave details of his flights to L.A. to meet with InDemand executives and from Day One we found out that just about everything TNA is associated with is doomed. Jarrett had a horrible experience at the meeting, which was made even worse after finding out InDemand wanted a huge deposit from TNA to assure they would continue the project. Speaking of money, the book overwhelms the reader with the financial detail of starting up a wrestling promotion. You will not believe the amount of data throughout the book and it gets to the point where it all becomes meaningless. To tell you the truth if I see the name SunTrust bank anytime soon I'm going to scream.
The Jarrett's still felt confident that their business plan was a strong one though and didn't feel that they had any competition. Jarrett said that he watched one of those WWA pay per views that Andrew McManus used to run and called it, "The worst PPV in the history of the wrestling business." I believe this show was headlined by Jeff Jarrett.
In wrestling, word gets around fast and Jerry found out that none other than Vince McMahon himself found out about TNA's plans to start a promotion after reading an issue of the PWTorch newsletter. To stir the pot even more, when InDemand agreed to carry TNA they cancelled the WWE Fanatix PPVs to clear room for it. That sure must have gone over well up in Stamford, CT. Once TNA had a PPV channel to carry the show, Jarrett went about contacting talent to appear and found out right away how insane certain wrestlers are. In particular Jarrett went back and forth with the lawyers for Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior many times before finally giving up. Wonderful, brutally honest stuff that you just don't get from many wrestling publications.
"My opinion of Vince Russo is that he is truly delusional."
If you are not a fan of Vince Russo then this is clearly the book for you because one of the recurring themes throughout the book is that Jarrett believes Russo to be a complete idiot that is incapable of producing a wrestling show. Jarrett felt that Russo enjoyed limited success in the WWE under the extremely watchful eye of Vince McMahon, but that he has bombed everywhere else since. Jarrett also felt Russo's style would not mesh with the rules of booking wrestling that Jarrett has learned over the past 30 years. What seems clear to me reading the book is that Vince Russo -- whether Jarrett liked it or not -- was indeed part of the early part of TNA, something the company has vehemently denied, I believe even to this day. For the entire year of 2002 Jarrett banged his head against the wall to get his son Jeff to realize what a big mistake it was to give Russo any creative control, but Russo was too close a friend to Jeff for the words to make any difference.
"Jeff is learning the hard way about some or most professional wrestlers."
The ridiculous and absurd antics of wrestlers show up throughout the book. Jarrett told an amusing story of how Dusty Rhodes tried to hold up TNA for more money, while Buff Bagwell and Sean Waltman have their share of moments that will make you wonder why companies continue to book them. One of the stories about Waltman included Waltman's demand about a girl he was seeing at the time being booked on a show. The girl, Alicia Webb - who also happened to be a former girlfriend of TNA wrestler Ken Shamrock - was offered $350 for the show, but she wanted $500. Waltman told TNA to just take $150 off of his pay and give it to her. Lest we forget that now Waltman has heat with Ken Shamrock for dating one of his former girlfriends. You can picture Jarrett pulling his hair out just by reading his account of the story. Tremendous material.
"If we do 15% of the WWE buyrate nationwide, we will get between 90,000 and 100,000 buys. Our break-even point is about 55,000 buys."
Talk about your fuzzy math. I thought about this stupid sentence for a few days and still can't figure out what the hell Jarrett was smoking, unless he thinks the WWE was getting 750,000 or more buys for their PPVs. This just in: they weren't. This is also the area of the book where the Jay Hassman (who Jerry calls "Haussman") story starts to develop. At first, Jarrett said that Hassman was estimating huge success for the TNA PPVs, but over the course of the following weeks all hell broke loose. You won't believe how crazy this story got as eventually TNA was absolutely convinced that Jay Hassman was -- get this -- a saboteur for Vince McMahon. Jarrett personally couldn't imagine any other reason for Hassman's actions even though it seemed every person he told the story to informed him it was probably more about Hassman's incompetence than anything else.
Long story short, TNA immediately had to scale back production costs because their buyrates were nowhere close to what they were led to believe. We never actually find out what the buyrates were because, as Jerry said, "Our buyrate is terrible. We really don't know how bad because there are few sources available that know this business." I found this to be confusing, because every other business that uses pay-per-view, including the WWE, gets their buyrate information and yet TNA claims it can't. Because of the dire money situation, Jarrett saw what looked to be like rats jumping off a sinking ship. He mentioned several people who refused to work for TNA unless they got their paycheck right now (despite Jarrett being in dire straits) and at the same time really put over others (such as Jeremy Borash) who said they would stay with the company through thick and thin. Borash is one guy who comes through this book smelling like roses and is another guy who really didn't get any credit during TNA's own DVD.
What I thought was interesting was the way Jarrett would talk about the early shows. He does bring up that they made mistakes, but for the most part was proud by just about every show they did. Jarrett said that often he went to the Internet to check out what feedback was and almost inevitably it was positive. This is not the TNA I remember watching in 2002, although I do recall the X-Division getting a lot of love. Jarrett often brings up the disastrous Dupp Cupp, mostly because it wasn't his idea, but didn't really touch on any of the other what-the-hell-were-they-thinking stuff like a midget beating off in a trash can.
Jarrett actually included a forwarded email in the book and is something probably all of us get in our email boxes with the subject "TOUCHING STORY PASS ON!" The difference between most of us and Jerry Jarrett is that we delete that email without even reading it. Jarrett puts it into his book. Not long thereafter, Jarrett went into a story where he tried to compare the love he had for the New York Yankees and how it diminished when he read about the reality of sports, such as players leaving for more money. This story was told to basically slam the dirtsheet industry. I don't know how to take it seriously, because professional sports have a million times more scrutiny than the world of wrestling and yet it doesn't drive the fans away. A lot of people "in the business" such as Jerry Jarrett and most of the industry try to blame guys like Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alrvarez, among others, for ruining the business, but to me that is one of the lamest excuses they have next to the laughable cyclical nature of business. Even weirder was that it seemed Jerry was in constant communication with Wade Keller and Jason Powell. I guess it is kinda like Eric Bischoff slamming dirtsheets in his book, and then finding out Bischoff was talking to Meltzer a lot during his hot run.
We get to see Panda Energy go from a prospective investor in TNA to bankrolling the company, which, for all intents and purposes, kept TNA in business. Jarrett was really sweating this one because he and Jeff were personally liable for something like 1.5 million dollars, and if Panda would have backed out, they would have had to declare personal bankruptcy. This was another one of those moments that made me scratch my head because Jarrett repeatedly mentions how successful his construction business was, to the tune of millions in profits every year. Panda told Jarrett they didn't want to pursue litigation with Jay Hassman and Jarrett still wouldn't let that go as he felt that if he dropped the case he would lose locker room respect. Can you imagine? Jerry gives his account of meeting Dixie Carter (who was already working for TNA) and how that led to the entire situation with Panda. Sometimes it really is a small world.
"The mindset of the professional wrestler is unique. Failure to understand is to fail in this business."
Truer words may never have been spoken. Somehow this led to yet another attack on the dirtsheet industry in general and the Torch in particular. I wonder if Sony or NewLine send out corporate emails telling their employees that websites such as DVDActive.com or magazines like Entertainment Weekly are out to destroy them? Regardless, Jarrett brought up more great stories of just how insane some of the wrestlers who passed through TNA were. One night Jarrett was getting sick of Buff Bagwell and here's how he described Buff shooting a simple promo: "We finally began the simple interview segment with Buff and he screws up his lines five times. The director finally whispered to me that he has worked with Buff numerous times and this is as good as Buff is capable of doing the interview. I'm not sure if Buff's mind is deficient or Buff just prefers to write his own interview." Surprisingly, Jarrett had nothing but good words to say about Scott Hall, other than to keep mentioning Hall had to bail out on some shows because of all the problems he was having with his ex-wife.
The Pros: As I said earlier, Jarrett reprints several emails throughout the book and these are really enlightening. You can not imagine the length to which Jarrett goes to explain his points and it is very powerful reading. This guy knows wrestling and explains himself in thorough detail. The book could definitely have used more of these and less of the interminable interview halfway through the book (we'll get to that later.) It also would have been nice if we had been able to look at some of the emails Jarrett was responding to, but who knows what legal situations we would be talking about.
If you want to start a wrestling business, or just want to see what goes into starting a business, then YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK. There are so many of the little things that no one really talks about when starting a business that are discussed often here and it make you wonder why anyone would ever want to put themselves through all the stress. I would say half of Jarrett's entries have something to do with him going to or dealing with a bank. Believe me, the hoops they made Jarrett jump through make you understand why he needed to have a pacemaker installed shortly afterwards. I would have had a stroke months earlier than Jarrett and I'm half his age. The book also uses specifics, and not stupid vague terms, about the financial aspect of this business and while they may bore some readers I found it very interesting. I should add that after a point it became tedious because the exact same figures and banks were brought up repeatedly.
There are tons of great little details about the business that Jarrett drops throughout the book. You get to read his thoughts on the WWE's Katie Vick angle, the people who won bids on TNA's Silent Auction (remember that?) but couldn't pay, and the NFL's Monty Brown trying to squeeze more money out of TNA, among many other items.
The Cons: Jarrett explained early on that this book is his journal, reprinted "as is," and that nothing has been touched up. I can see where Jarrett was going with this, but clearly this book needed an editor for several reasons. The first is the most obvious: there are a lot of typos. I don't think that making basic spelling changes would impugn the author's work. Let's face it, we all make stupid typo mistakes, but to not correct them when given the opportunity is mind-boggling. Jarrett also misspells many names throughout the book (Kimala instead of Kamala, Jay Haussman instead of Jay Hassman) and this drove me absolutely up a wall.
Midway through the book there is a mind-numbingly long thirty page interview with Jerry Jarrett that was just inexcusable. Anywhere else this interview would have been fine (such as on the TNA website), as it's a very in-depth look at Jarrett, but putting it in the middle of this book just took away all the momentum. After the first fifteen pages I started to laugh out loud when I turned the page and saw that the interview kept going. I cannot get over what a bad taste this left in my mouth and have no idea why it was left in the book, other than fear that the book would appear too thin without it.
Jarrett repeats himself. A lot. This would be another job of the editor as there are countless examples of entries that say the exact same thing as earlier ones. A small complaint, and this had no bearing on my enjoyment of the book, is that there are no pictures. I only add this because due to the long career Jarrett has had, he undoubtedly has access to an archive of photos that would make diehard fans - the core audience for this book - drool all over themselves.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: While there were certain parts of the book that I wasn't a big fan of, most notably the never-ending interview that completely derails the book, I think there is more than enough material for me to make a strong recommendation. In fact, I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the finer points of creating a wrestling promotion because it is certainly more work than figuring out which guys you want to book. Seeing that TNA has actually made it past five years, it is very interesting to go back and see how hard it was just to get the company started. Jarrett is very passionate about TNA and it shows. The narrative jumps all over the place, but you get some laugh out loud stories along with an insanely detailed account of everything – and I mean everything – that it took to get this wrestling promotion up and running. An interesting companion piece to The History of TNA: Year One DVD as they both tell the same story from two wildly different perspectives. CLICK HERE to get your copy of The Story of the Development of the NWA TNA: A New Concept in PPV Programming by Jerry Jarrett.
Recent Reviews:
History of TNA: Year One DVD
Roddy Piper in HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN DVD
Ultimate Insiders Presents: Doin' Time with New Jack
Christian Cage: The Instant Classic
Upcoming Reviews:
DVDs: Guest Booker with JJ Dillon, Wrestling Society X: The Complete First and Last Season, XPW TV: The Complete First Season, Before They Were Stars: Samoa Joe, Shoot Interview with Scott Hall, Shoot Interview with The Sandman, Rey Mysterio: Biggest Little Man.
Books: Brody: The Triumph and Tragedy of Wrestling's Rebel, , Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling. James Hold's Remember the Aloe, Moe.
COMIC BOOKS~! Headlocked, Scarface: The Devil in Disguise.
Derek Burgan has been writing for the Wrestling Observer/Figure 4 Weekly~! family since October, 2005. He is also featured on WrestleCrap, The Wrestling Fan, and MySpace. If you have any questions, corrections, feedback, comments and ideas, he can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ! |
I was out getting some Christmas shopping done this afternoon when the news broke that the Reds had traded Yonder Alonso "plus others" for Padres starter, and potential ace, Mat Latos. As the afternoon grew old, the names of the "plus others" came out, and I was floored. Here are the details of the trade:
Reds get: Mat Latos
Padres get: Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, Yasmani Grandal, and Brad Boxberger
Here is ESPN and SiriusXM's Jim Bowden's reaction:
- JimBowdenESPNxm JIM BOWDEN
Deal would have made more sense if the Reds had included Alonso or Grandal...but NOT both! Reds win short term..Padres win deal long term.
I couldn't agree more. I have to say I was very surprised at how much the Reds gave up in this deal for Latos. Don't get me wrong, I like Latos a lot, even pitching in Great American Ballpark.
More of my reaction and fantasy impact of this deal after the jump:
My second reaction to this deal was what are the Padres going to do with 4 first baseman? Yonder Alonso joins Jesus Guzman, Anthony Rizzo, and Kyle Blanks. Well Bowden reported that Alonso will be the Padres starting first baseman, and Rizzo will go back to AAA for "more seasoning", or could be traded. Bowden speculated that Padres GM Josh Byrnes could offer Rizzo to the Cubs, who need a first baseman and are rebuilding, for Matt Garza. I imagine the Padres would have to give up more than Rizzo for Garza. The Cubs could get more from the Rangers for Garza, possibly pitching prospect Martin Perez.
In addition to Alonso, the Padres received catching prospect Yasmani Grandal, Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger. Here's a quick take on the two prospects in the deal:
Yasmani Grandal
He played at three levels in the minors in 2011, hitting a combined .305-.401-.500 with 14 HRs and 68 RBI. Here is the breakdown of how he performed at each level, courtesy of Baseball-Reference:
Generated 12/17/2011.
Poll
Whose fantasy value increases the most in this deal?
Mat Latos (31 votes)
Yonder Alonso (72 votes)
Edinson Volquez (68 votes)
Yasmani Grandal (14 votes)
Brad Boxberger (10 votes)
195 total votes
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Just as Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet had traveled in 1673 to many regions of the southern United States, they had also been through the Missouri area. By April 9, 1682, the French explorer Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle took possession of the Louisiana Territory area for France of which Missouri was included. Over the next few years several settlements are attempted, but fail due to the living condition, usually swamp lands. In 1714, Etienne de Bourgmont finally manages to build and keep a fort for a number of years on the Missouri River near the mouth of the Grand River. In 1724, Fort Orleans was next built by de Bourgmont, but only last six years. St. Genevieve was established as a trading post, the first permanent white settlement.
The City of St. Louis further up the Mississippi River was founded by Pierre Laclede Liguest and Rene August Chouteau by 1764. In 1770, Spain now has control of the area of Missouri. Into the 1790s additional new towns were started along the river, including New Madrid. Then, in 1800, Spain returned the Louisiana territory to France and France sold it to the United States in 1803.
Expansion was underway by 1808, with the Missouri Fur Company organized in St. Louis. The abundance of animal pelts in the Mississippi Valley region played a key role in the development of the Upper Louisiana territory. In 1812, the Missouri Territory was created and stream boat traffic increased along the Mississippi River.
As the area grew, more African slaves are brought into Missouri. There were approximately 10,000 by 1818. The early white settlers came from several of the southeastern states and continued their use of slave labor. In August 1821, Missouri was admitted as a slave state under the ‘Missouri Compromise.’
One of the religious groups emigrating into Missouri were the Mormons. By 1838, due to internal conflicts with the state’s citizens and the Mormons, the "Extermination Order" against Mormons living in Missouri, was issued demanding that members of the Mormon church leave the state. There had been also more free African-Americans coming to Missouri and by 1842, Missouri then banned free blacks from settling in the state.
In 1849, Missouri towns of St. Louis, Independence, Westport, and St. Joseph had become points of departure for emigrants headed for California. Missouri was the "Gateway to the West" with the discovery of gold in California. The Pony Express started its first run from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California in April 1860.
Missouri was a border state and very divided during the American Civil War. Many of the Irish and German immigrants arriving in the late 1840s and 1850s fully understood famine, oppression and revolutionary upheaval. These newcomers to Missouri quickly expressed how they were unsympathetic to slavery. In January 1865, Missouri abolished slavery by an ordinance of immediate emancipation, making Missouri the first slave state to emancipate its slaves. Woman's Suffrage got started and organized in Missouri in 1867.
With the railroad system going through the state, the economic basis expanded for Missouri. This also opened new lands for settlement by Germans who were arriving in large numbers. They helped develop small diversified industries within the cities. Later Czechs and Italians immigrated to the state.
In looking at Missouri genealogy, it is seen that by the late 1800s most of the Native Indians had been moved out of the area or died. No Indian reservations were established for the few remaining.
The City of St. Louis has remained the center of the African-American population. Most of the ethnic background for citizens of Missouri today is that of German, then Irish and English.
The population changed from 1.2 million in 1860 to 3.1 million in 1900 to 6 million citizens in 2009. Roughly 87 percent of the population today is of European descent. There are 12 percent of African-American heritage and 2.5 of Hispanic background. A small group of Missouri Creoles south of St. Louis represents about 3.5 percent of the French ancestry. |
I do not own Dear School Gang Leader
Aiko P.O.V.
"Are you sure you will be okay dear?"
I sighed as quietly as possible, turning to face my mother. Here we go again, I thought as I pasted on my fake cheerful smile. "I'll be fine, Mother. If I don't leave now, I'll be late." I said, grabbing my favorite school bag, the black one that I had fixed up myself. The other bags that I had were designer bags, and I hated them.
"Wait, aren't you taking the limo?" Mother asked, seeing me run for the door.
"No way-erm, no I'll be fine. Goodbye!" I replied as I slipped out the door. Whew, that was a close one... I thought as I ran in the direction of my new school. Oh, dang it, I'm going to be late! To save time, instead of going through the front, I ran to the back of the school and climbed to the top of the wall. As I jumped down, it occurred to me that it was probably not the best idea to do that in a dress. Oh well, I don't care. Running inside, I stared down the empty hallways. Chemistry class 1/1, where are you? I looked around for about five minutes before I finally found the door.
"Sorry I'm late." I said as I walked in, bowing quickly. "I couldn't find the door." As I looked around the room, I noticed that basically everyone in the room was a guy! The guys stared at me,before yelling "It's a girl!" A lot of them started running towards me, but the first few got a taste of my heavy bag. They fell to the ground, and started laughing, until a boy with short black hair walked up to them and started lecturing them.
"Class, this is Daisuke Aiko. Aiko, why don't you go sit by Hayaka?" The teacher said, gesturing to said girl. I looked around, and saw the empty chair beside a girl with pink hair.
"Okay." I murmured, as I went to sit down.
Hayaka P.O.V.
"GOOD MORNING SCHOOL GANG LEADER!" greeted me as I reached the school.
"Good morning?" I replied nervously, looking between all the boys.
"School Gang Leader, we will carry you to the classroom!" The boys announced happily.
"That's really not-" I started to say, but stopped when Katou grabbed me and ran for the classroom.
"Are you okay Banchou?" He asked once we were safely inside, ignoring the yells echoing down the hall.
"Yeah, thanks Katou!" I replied, smiling. He turned away with a blush, getting up to confront the guys who had just walked in. Once everyone came in and sat down the teacher made an announcement. The teacher said we would be getting a new classmate, but they hadn't arrived yet. Of course, Ichiro and Mirai wanted it to be a girl, as did most of the class.
Another girl would be nice. I thought as I grabbed my books. We were just about to start when the door opened, and in walked...a girl! She was slightly taller than me, with a thin frame, and long red hair. Her uniform(which was originally white like mine) was made up of a black jacket and red dress, unlike my white jacket and dress. She had a black school bag with chains and studs on it, and it seemed to be very heavy. Immediately, the boys ran to get her, but she smacked some of the boys with her bag. Katou immediately got mad at the boys for messing with her, then escorted them back to their seats.
"Class, this is Daisuke Aiko. Aiko, why don't you go sit by Hayaka." The teacher said. Then the girl walked over and sat down beside me, in between me and Mirai.
"Hello, how are-" I started to say, but stopped when I heard the teacher ask us to open up our school books. Interrupted again! Oh, well. I know! I'll just ask her sit with us for lunch! Smiling, I opened up my chemistry book.
Aiko P.O.V.
At lunchtime, I was stuck looking for a place to sit. There were boys everywhere!
"Aiko! Over here!" came a voice behind me. I turned to see Hayaka waving me over to a table. There were already four other people there, the black-haired boy, a boy with orange hair, a boy with blue hair, and a boy that had red hair with a dyed black fringe. I walked over to the table, and Hayaka moved over to make space for me. Once I'd sat down, she made introductions.
"This is Katou," she said pointing to the black-haired one. "This is Shun," the orange-haired one. "This is Ichiro," the blue haired one. "And this is Mirai." the red-haired one.
"You should be careful around here," Katou murmured. "We have fights almost everyday."
Everday? I could hardly believe my luck! "You don't say." I replied, giving him a curious look.
Mirai nodded excitedly. "Here," he said, taking my bag. "I'll put a metal plate in it."
Hayaka laughed. "I need to remove one of mine. I have two in here."
"Speaking of fights," Ichiro put down his lunch, taking a newspaper from his bag. "Did you hear that there was another sighting of Akio?" Hearing that name, I almost choked on my drink. Oh no, not again.
"Akio?" I asked hesitantly, hoping I didn't look too suspicious.
"Yeah," said Mirai. "Akio Hitoshi. He defeated the Takeshi gang four months ago, the most notorious gang in Dechuan. And he was only in middle school!" Before I could say anything, the bell rang again.
"Well, lunch time's over, let's get back to class." Hayaka murmured as she cleaned up her space."Let's go."
"Sure thing." I replied as I followed the group back towards the classrooms. I should be careful at this school. Who knows who's watching.
After school, Mirai walked with me to my house, since apparently he lived near me. On the way there, I decided to ask him about Akio. Anything that made him think I didn't know about the guy.
"So where was he seen this time? That Akio guy?" I asked.
"Well, he was spotted near the beach. He beat up some boys, some of which are students at our school." Mirai answered, before turning to me. "It happened last week. So, Aiko, where do you live?"
I cringed inwardly. Well, since he's walking with me, I might as well tell him. Though I really don't want to. I stopped, and pointed at a mansion a few blocks away from us. He froze, then gaped as he took it in.
"So, you're family is well off, huh?" he muttered awkwardly. I blushed, but quickly regained control of my embarrassment.
"Yeah well," I said, sighing. "Sometimes I wish I could just be normal."
We walked the rest of the way in silence until we reached my house.
"So, do you want me to come by tomorrow?" Mirai asked, stopping in front of the gate.
I stared at him, probably gaping. "Tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Do you want me to walk you to school?" He asked again.
"Sure." I replied, as a smile broke out on my face. "You don't mind?" "
No, it'll be fine." Mirai said, chuckling. "I'll be here at seven thirty, so don't forget!" He threw me a fake salute, before turning and waved to me before starting to walk towards his house.
I couldn't help but smile. He's actually a pretty nice guy. I thought as I walked inside.
"Welcome home Miss Aiko." One of the maids took my bag, smiling at me. "How was your day?" I thought about it for a minute.
"Well... it was certainly different, but is was nice." |
Preds Season Over, but Not Forgotten
The Nashville Predators truly have some of the best fans in the league, and it proved that Monday night after being eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of the Western Conference semi-finals.
The 17,113 individuals in attendance stood behind their Predators as the hand shakes were given between the players and coaches of the clubs, and sent the Preds off with an incredible ovation. The crowd stayed in the stands cheering on Nashville, who had its best season in franchise history, and didn't leave until the Preds left the ice.
It was an incredible sight to see, and despite the loss the fans were absolutely proud to call themselves Preds fans.
Nashville's may have been eliminated but that doesn't change the fact that they had one of the best playoff runs in franchise history and continually made history during the push. The success the Predators found this year garnered a lot of new fans and will undoubtedly bring in more new fans in the season to come.
I'm proud to say that I am a fan of the Nashville Predators and happy with everything the team did this season even if they were knocked out of the post season.
Hockey may be over in Smashville for the 2010-2011 season, but it will not be forgotten. Nashville finally received the attention it deserved during its historic playoff run, and will hopefully be recognized as a respectable team and a hockey town from now on.
Game 6 Recap:
Despite an early first period fluke, Nashville played one of its best games this series. It was not going to give up without a fight and that's what's so great about this hockey team. In the face of total elimination, it fights until the last second and never gives up.
Monday night's game was intense from start to finish. The Preds started the opening frame with all sorts of energy and for once in the series, had a lot of time possession time with the puck. However, the Canucks were able to get on the board early when Ryan Suter made a poor decision pass to Weber right in front of Pekka Rinne that was intercepted by none other than Ryan Kesler.
Kesler found Mason Raymond skating towards the net and passed the puck over to him where he backhanded the puck into the twine.
If things couldn't get any worse being down 1-0 to the best team in the league, they did when the zebra's called an unsportsman-like conduct penalty on Jordin Tootoo just over a minute after Raymond's goal.
The call was questionable at best. It appeared that Toots was cross checked and fell to the ice as a result of being hit by the stick by such a brute force, but as had been the case this whole series, the refs played favorites and gave Vancouver the power play.
Vancouver showcased to Nashville why they finished the regular season with one of the top power play units in the league when they scored their second goal of the night just 36 seconds into the Tootoo minor penalty.
Again, Kesler demonstrated how awesome of a player he really is when he got the puck to Daniel Sedin who scored his first goal of the series. Daniels brother, Henrick, also assisted the goal that brought the 'Nucks up 2-0.
Nashville finally answered when David Legwand took a shot to the left of Luongo that somehow found its way past the goal line and into the net. The goal had to be reviewed by the officials and for good reason.
Even on the replay, I still can't find the puck, but I'm glad for once that the zebra's and the hockey giants up in Canada sided with Nashville and called the goal good.
Joel Ward and Sergei Kostitsyn were given assists on Leggy's goal, which continued Ward's point streak to five games and saw the first point by Kostitsyn in the series.
The Predators had the chance to tie things up when Martin Erat got a break-away chance at 13:45 in the second, but he waited too long to make a move and was taken down in front of Luongo and missed his chance. Many fans felt as though Erat should have been given a penalty shot, but the hit was clean and didn't warrant any kind of punishment against the Canucks.
If Erat would have just taken a shot instead of trying to rush the net, I believe he would have tied things up. But as Nashville always does, the perfect play is for some reason more important to the team rather than just getting the puck on net.
The Canucks went on to win the game 2-1 and eliminate the Predators from the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Other Notes:
It wasn't that Vancouver played a better game, because they didn't by any means. They were outshot in the first and second period and played more time on the chase rather than carrying the puck into the zone. Nashville just made some bad plays, one of which resulted in a turnover by Suter and the first goal of the night by Raymond.
We also can't exactly blame the refs for costing us the game this time either. Nashville had five power play chances over the course of the night, but continued to struggle getting anything done with the man advantage. The team will definitely work to fix that problem next season.
The game was yet another where the team victorious won by a lone goal.
I really hope that the Sharks can get things done tonight and stop the Red Wings dead in their tracks. I don't want Vancouver to win the cup, and I especially don't want the Wings to win either. And if the Sharks win do win tonight, then the Canucks are going to have a hard time advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Both Chicago and Nashville made Vancouver work extremely hard to eliminate them from the post season, and if San Jose is their next opponent, they will have to work just as hard if not more.
Win this game San Jose and eliminate the Vancouver, and Smashville will forgive you a little bit for knocking us out of the playoffs those two consecutive years. |
June Shortstop Tier Rankings
A lot has happened since the May consensus shortstop rankings were published. Those will be updated around the All-Star break, but until then here are my tiered rankings for June.
Tier 1
Starlin Castro
Troy Tulowitzki
Rafael Furcal
Jed Lowrie
Hanley Ramirez
Castro was a pretty valuable player last year when he hit 10 home runs, stole 22 bases and hit .307. We’re through 60 games this season and he already has five homers and 16 steals and is hitting .308. Our ZiPS updated season projections have him swiping 32 bags with 11 homers. He’s being far more aggressive than last season, swinging at 41.6 percent of balls outside the zone, but it’s possible he goes 15/30/.300 with 80 RBI and 80 runs. Not many players, let alone shortstops, are going to have those totals. The biggest surprise in this group is Jed Lowrie. We’ve all been teased by his potential before. He’s getting regular playing time now, and has avoided injury thus far, and the results are speaking for themselves. His 12 homers lead the position, though he’s driven in himself nearly half the time. He’s become more selective this season, swinging less and walking more. I’ve always been a Lowrie believer and it’s paying off right now.
Tier 2
Derek Jeter
Elvis Andrus
Jose Reyes
Asdrubal Cabrera
Kyle Seager
The real surprise of this group is Seager. The 24-year-old has impressed all around and is going to finish with double digit steals and home runs while maintaining a decent average and OBP. He already has 17 doubles as well, pushing his Isolated Slugging (SLG% – BA) to .210, second behind Jed Lowrie. Reyes had a rough April in his new environment, but has been returning to normal levels since. Every one of his main slash numbers has gone up from April to May and May to June. If he keeps it up he’ll get bumped into the first tier. Andrus is hitting for a higher average, getting on base more, and slugging more than ever. He’s on pace to have the lowest stolen base total of his career, but should still get to 30 bags.
Tier 3
J.J. Hardy
Mike Aviles
Ian Desmond
Jimmy Rollins
Marco Scutaro
Zack Cozart
Jhonny Peralta
I’m not a believer in Aviles, as I’ve written lately. He had a decent start but doesn’t have the plate discipline I like to push him any higher. Hardy has great power for the position, but you have to be ok with giving up some batting average in exchange for home runs. The same goes for Desmond, though he’ll steal you ~15-20 bases. Peralta has been a disappointment after a great 2011 season. He’s started to rebound, though, posting a .756 OPS in May and a 1.054 OPS in 23 June plate appearances. If he keeps it up he will easily move up a tier in next month’s rankings.
Tier 4
Dee Gordon
Alcides Escobar
Yunel Escobar
Gordon has been a disappointment, not getting on base enough to use his amazing speed. He does have 17 steals, but how many could he have if his on base percentage wasn’t .280? Of the two Escobars, Alcides is playing the best. He’s been much better than his last two seasons, raising his average and OBP to respectable levels. That success is partly due to an increase in his BABIP of .345 when it hadn’t cracked .290 in 2010 or 2011. When you’re not fast, having a 63.2% ground ball rate is rarely a good idea. Yunel Escobar is finding that out the hard way. After a very good 2011 he’s hitting just .250/.307/.329.
The Rest
Alexei Ramirez
Willie Bloomquist
Jamey Carroll
Sean Rodriguez
Elliot Johnson
Cliff Pennington
Brandon Crawford
Erick Aybar
These players shouldn’t be owned in standard mixed leagues. They simply don’t provide enough value to sustain ownership.
STARLIN CASTRO at number one? Just leaving aside for the moment any arguments about Tulo being that he’s out with an injury (albeit one that should see him return in 3 days) you used the ZiPS projection for Castro to justify his #1 ranking. Then you put Hanley Ramirez, who’s ZiPS projection utterly annihilates Castro’s, 4 spots beneath him. Is this tailored for a league that weights singles as if they’re home runs??? I don’t get it.
Maybe I’m biased since I have Tulo in 4 of my 5 leagues (including 2 long term keepers)…but having Castro ahead Tulo is nucking futs.
Andrelton Simmons?
Great call on Seager. Unfortunately he hasn’t played any games at SS this year and in ESPN leagues he qualifies only as a 3B.
He does qualify at SS in yahoo leagues.
Stopped reading when I saw tier 1.
I’ll assume you wrote this to convince someone in your league to trade you Hanley for Jed Lowrie.
Godspeed
Agreed.
I’m extremely confused and didn’t bother proceeding after tier 1… Lowrie and Furcal in tier 1 and Castro #1 overall? I don’t get it.
(Although I did scroll down to read some comments on these bizarre ranks)
At what point do we stop assuming Asdrubal Cabrera is going to regress and think that possibly we simply have a case of a guy who has been around for a while, but is only now beginning to hit his prime? His plate discipline numbers suggest that his decrease in K’s and increase in BB’s can be sustained, and even with a HR/FB ratio about 4% lower than last year, he should still finish with 15 homeruns to go along with 30+ doubles.
Yeah, ridiculous to have Castro at 1…..
furcal ahead of cabrera? please explaine
Great List…any thoughts on where Plouffe would fit in these tiers?
Plouffe is SS eligible in most leagues…if Seager’s on this list, Plouffe HAS to be.
STARLIN CASTRO at #1?
JED LOWRIE ahead of Hanley Ramirez?
WTF?? this may be more inane than the NL SP list that Dan Wade pooped out last week.
wait a minute, I just passed out and hit my head on the floor and blacked out, I just had this horrible dream where somebody thought Jed Lowrie was a better fantasy SS going forward than Hanley Rami… OH MY GOD IT WASN’T A DREAM.
Hanley: .254, 33 R, 11 HR, 37 RBI, 10 SB
Lowrie: .289, 27 R, 12 HR, 28 RBI, 2 SB
Lowrie hasn’t even been better than Hanley for the first two months of the season. Unbelievable.
if you use those kind of stats around here to back an argument, you’re bound to get shunned.
Still, I agree. Castro at 1 is a bit much, need to see more out of furcal and lowrie, ANDRUS should be tier one, right up there with Castro as he is a starlin with a little less power and a little more speed. Having Jeter ahead of him, especially after acknowledging Andrus’ enormous strides towards stardom with the batting average, XBH, and plate discipline all skyrocketing. He was considered #5-6 coming INTO the year.
what are you talking about Daniel?
This is a fantasy article. Those are the exact stats that matter.
hey, remember when Erik Hahmann ranked Jed Lowrie ahead of Hanley Ramirez in a SS fantasy ranking?
no? …. um, then do you remember when Erik Hahmann “purposely excluded” Hanley Ramirez in the SS keeper rankings this past offseason, and then posted a lame follow-up article about why he couldn’t handle the task?
no? ….. um, then do you remember when Erik Hahmann made the same idiotic mistake in his SS rankings last year when he ranked Hanley Ramirez at the bottom of tier 3, outside the top 10, and behind such luminaries as Erick Aybar, Yunel Escobar and Sexwi-Lexei?
so why does Erik still get to do SS articles? Thank god for the consensus rankings.
obviously I’m bored at work, don’t mean to sit here harassing poor Mr. Hahmann for his incompetence as I know we aren’t ever allowed to criticize free content… but maybe it would be better if the individual rankings articles had to be passed around to other FG authors for quick approval just to make sure nothing fails the “sanity check / smell test”.
this is a serious request. I’m sure if Erik had emailed his proposed tiers out to Eno et al somebody would have been like, um, have you actually thought this through good sir?
Yea… generally they’re good but definitely some glaring mistakes here.
Bonifacio is due back in a few weeks, and still leads all SS in SB. Since his legs were not injured, and his thumb never did much heavy lifting anyway (.047 ISO) he should probably still be in Tier 3 or so.
~ if you use those kind of stats around here to back an argument, you’re bound to get shunned. ~
Normally, I would agree with that point. But in the context of fantasy rankings, those old school numbers are probably the best to use. And the newer metrics can give some insight as to whether one thinks that performance can be sustained or will regress. But I have never been part of a league that used BABIP, ISO, WAR, etc.
yes, I acknowledge that right now. My bad. Still, just using those numbers isn’t going to get you any where in determining future production.
I wasn’t sure if you were being sarcastic or not but apparently you missed my point.
First off, this is a 5×5 fantasy article and the stats I quoted are their 5×5 stats, so it’s 100% relevant.
Second, the point wasn’t about predicting future performance. Rather, the point was to highlight the absurdity of ranking Lowrie ahead of Hanley by pointing out that even THIS SEASON to date Hanley has been better.
Obviously, no analysis of career performance nor future projections would possibly rank Lowrie in the same universe as Hanley as a fantasy player. So the ONLY possible explanation is that current season performance strongly favors Lowrie. Thus the reason for pointing out that even that isn’t valid, as Hanley has been better YTD.
Just one more way to show how ridiculous the ranking was.
I really enjoy whenever there’s a new Hahmann article, if only for the comments.
I’m not going to overreact or be “rude” in reply to this article like many other commenters, but I still have a few objections. Mainly because I actually want a reply. Many, in fact, but I just want to talk about Elvis Andrus’ ranking. Keep in mind, that, coming into the season, he was generally ranked behind Tulo, Reyes, Castro, Ramirez, and by some Cabrera. This year, he is having a career year by far.
First of all, WAR has Lowrie and Andrus easily on top. Even with the injury, it makes sense that Tulo is ahead of Andrus, just because of his elite track record
I’ll just leave Hanley and Tulo alone.
Looking at Castro, Furcal, Lowrie and Jeter, here are some numbers.
BB/K
Andrus-0.94
Furcal-0.72
Lowrie-0.67
Jeter-0.63
Castro-0.14 (ew…)
That’s just basic plate discipline. Andrus has the second highest Zone% of all SS, eclipsing the 50% mark and 3% higher than the next highest of the bunch in Lowrie; with the Ranger lineup’s protection behind Andrus, he clearly isn’t being pitched around, rather being attacked with strikes. To have so much of a better BB/K than the others while getting the most strikes is definitely to his credit. His SwStr% is only higher than Furcal (by a tenth of a %). Anyway, it’s probably pretty clear that, for leagues with OBP, Andrus’ OBP is no fluke.
Andrus has no ISO; that’s not part of his game. Yet it is still trending up, as his 2B+3B is already as high as 2010, almost as high as 2009 and on pace to easily ecliple his career high of 30 in 2011. Even his drawfish ISO this year is xtill barely lower than the likes of Furcal, Jeter and Castro. His OBP easily makes up for that small difference.
All told, his season to this point is very similar to Jeter and furcal (OBP and Power). Not including Andrus’ speed, easily the best. Which one projects to continue and/or have this success over many years. Who was expected to do the best? Andrus. I really don’t see any reason for Jeter and Furcal to be above him.
Concerning Castro, Castro has a little more pop than Andrus, but his inability to walk and get on base as much as Andrus more than makes up for that small difference. He has a few more steals but hasn’t in the past and they will probably end up with a similar number. Having Castro above him is not that unreasonable, but in no way should Starlin be a tier and a half above Andrus.
Andrus’ power is not at all like Lowrie and Cabrera. Their OBPs aren’t much below andrus’s. The steals for Andrus make up for part of that. Does Lowrie have the track record to be expected to sustain his numbers?
Standard stats for 5 by 5 fantasy players? Runs+RBi is in this order: Furcal, Andrus, Castro, Lowrie, Cabrera, Jeter.
in the end, this is how I assess those above Andrus.
Tulo and Hanley-Yeah, probably.
Castro, Lowrie and Cabrera-I don’t quite think so, but a pretty good case can be made.
Furcal and Jeter-No…
Check that: I’m not sure why I suddenly added Asdrubal into the equation…must have thought he was ranked ahead of Andrus as well. Ignore what I said about Cabrera.
These rankings are downright horrible.
I find it pretty cowardly that this author’s rankings are almost universally blasted, yet he never posts in the comments to defend his position or accept that he might have made a mistake.
After so many controversial/horrible posts, why does Fangraphs continue to allow him to write these?
obviously I agree ;-)
I really do think the worst part is his unwillingness to appear in the comments and defend his rankings with analysis / rationale. It’s smacks of both cowardice and pretension.
Say what you will about the other guys, but Eno, Howard, Pods, etc. are more than willing to come talk about their articles. Even poor Howard who sticks his neck out to the snarky stathead crowd with his “Kicking Rocks” column is willing to respond to the more abusive posts :p
Agreed… I hate to criticize a man who’s working for free, but this is pretty bad. Add to it that Hahmann bascially refuses to defend himself and it seems a bit pretentious.
A lot of “the rest” have to be owned in mixers, if you use a 2B, SS and MI position.
I just gave out Carlos Quentin for Kyle Seager straight up, in hopes for Petco to devour Quentins quick start and I need help at 2b. Was it a decent trade?
that’s a bit tricky as it will be highly dependent on your team needs. Despite his nice start to the season, I still think Seager has most value as a “swiss army knife” who can rotate around your roster and plug holes making sure you don’t lose AB’s when a guy has a day off or misses a few games to a minor injury.
that said, he’s not an elite performer in any category and his value comes from positional flexibility and broadly decent performance — he won’t kill you in any category but isn’t going to put you over the top either.
Quentin probably will still hit for power at Petco (it only really murders LH powr) and also stands a decent chance of getting traded, so I’m not sure your rationale was sound. I do like trading Quentin now with his hot start, but I think you could have aimed higher than Seager. But losing Quentin isn’t going to kill your team, he’s “just” a decent power hitting OF over the long run, he’s really a 2-cat guy (HR + RBI) and is a total zero in SB and mediocre in R + AVG.
They dont have Starlin ranked #1, he is in the Top Tier…Which means he has been one of the Top Shortstops this year…those are the top 5 thus far…. |
Truth & Rumors > NBA
Carlisle scrambling to replace Stotts
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08:13 AM ET 08.17 | Rick Carlisle's options appear to be drying up. The Mavericks' search for a successor to lead assistant coach Terry Stotts will continue without two of the prime names [Carlisle] had been targeting. Former Toronto Raptors coach Jay Triano, according to NBA coaching sources, is poised to join Stotts' staff in Portland as opposed to coming to Dallas. That means Stotts. ... Two coaching sources said late Thursday that a new name to watch in the Mavs' search, who fulfills the head-coaching prerequisites, is Jim O'Brien.
Toronto was dead last in the league on the defensive end under Jay Triano
JIGSAW
Total Comments (847)
This is certainly a crime Doc..........
Where is the justice in this world ???????
Mickey Bad Arse
Total Comments (29031)
Morning MMA.....Beautiful Day today.............
Mickey Bad Arse
Total Comments (29031)
There's a lesson here...
Otis B. Driftwood
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Are You The 'Lone Star', Bro?
I Love LA
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Bronze medal..LOL..
Morning MMA!
DR_Universal
Charlotte , NC
Total Comments (1852)
Seems like a lot of assistant coaches are moving this year. Interesting that is not just players in this off-season.
Carlisle is a good coach and the Mavs are re-building themselves. Looks like a good place to be for an assistant.
Red Mamba
Total Comments (1169)
Yeah, that's an interesting line. I thought Cuban was happy with Carlisle. And no report of any "falling out."
Red Mamba
Total Comments (1169)
Otis, you're a Mavs guy. Any report of Carlisle wanting to leave or Cuban wanting him to go? See jgb's highlight on head coaching reqs.
Red Mamba
Total Comments (1169)
I actually miss it now...glad there are some games on tonight though to give me my sports 'fix'..LOL!
DR_Universal
Charlotte , NC
Total Comments (1852)
Sorry, I don't think they're getting on the podium. All of a sudden, this team is in a world of hurt.
G-Man of South…
Coconut Creek, FL
Total Comments (1448)
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed. |
EDITORIALS
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Editorial: A lot to look forward to in 2013We.
January 03, 2013
Editorial: Ice arena plan has promiseThere has been so much talk over so long a time about adding another sheet of indoor ice in Farmington that in a way it’s hard to believe something might actually be happening.
December 13, 2012
Editorial: Budget vote is wrong for FarmingtonLast.
December 06, 2012
Editorial: Contributions are worth recognizingFarmington’s present is built on the hard work done by a lot of people over the course of a lot of years. They provided activities for residents. They shaped the city’s development as it grew from a small farm town to a full-fledged suburb.
November 29, 2012
Editorial: Take the opportunity to give inputWe are big advocates at the Independent of residents getting involved in the decisions that shape their lives. The more informed Farmington residents are, and the more they make their opinions known to the city council and school board members who make those big decisions, the better off everyone will be.
November 21, 2012
Editorial: Libraries are changing with the timesIt’s easy to overlook your local library. It’s there. It has books. If you fill out a form and carry a card with you, it will let you take those books home with you for a little while. It’s, you know, nice. Easy.
November 15, 2012
Editorial: Let’s make high turnout a habitWhatever the results of Tuesday’s election in Farmington, no matter who is happy and who is sad, there is one thing that seems remarkably clear: The results, at least locally, are a good indication of what Farmington residents wanted. Everybody should be happy about that.
November 08, 2012
Editorial: Halloween walk is a great eventUnless you see the operation in action, it’s hard to appreciate the full scale of Farmington’s Halloween Walk, the annual community event that gives kids a chance to try out their costumes a few days early and collect some candy in a safe, controlled environment.
November 02, 2012
Editorial:.
October 25, 2012
Editorial: Have your say on budget cutsAs the district starts work toward eliminating a projected budget shortfall of more than $1 million for next year, finance director Carl Colmark plans to hold public input sessions to hear what residents have to say about the matter.
October 11, 2012
Editorial: Good signs for liquor operationsThere has been a lot of consternation in recent months about the state of Farmington’s municipal liquor stores. Profits at the two stores have been smaller than anyone would like.
October 04, 2012
Editorial:.
September 13, 2012
Editorial: What is a little peace and quiet worth?We’re not opposed to the idea of introducing a noise ordinance in the city of Farmington. Everybody deserves a life of relative peace and quiet if that’s what they’re after. If there is an easy way to accomplish that, then by all means go ahead.
August 23, 2012
Editorial:.
August 09, 2012
Editorial:.
July 26, 2012
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Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee: Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the U.S. Government's response to drug-related money laundering in Mexico. President Clinton and Secretary Christopher have made the fight against global money laundering and international organized crime one of our principal foreign policy concerns, integrating it with our other key national security objectives. In this regard, battling the growing strength and wealth of the Mexican drug cartels, responsible for shipping some 50% to 70% of all cocaine to the U.S. market and huge amounts of other illicit drugs, is especially important.
Success in achieving our foreign policy and law enforcement objectives in Mexico and elsewhere strongly depends on a coordinated strategy at home and abroad. As you know, both the Secretary of State and the U.S. Chief of Mission have statutory responsibilities for coordinating activities of U.S. Government personnel abroad, including the representatives of U.S. law enforcement agencies. The Department of State also supports our law enforcement mission using the tools of diplomacy to enhance international cooperation and by funding technical assistance and law enforcement training programs internationally. I would, therefore, like to discuss the State Department's role in advancing our law enforcement interests in Mexico with special reference to money laundering linked to the illegal drug trade.
As committee members know, the President gave Mexico full certification for its narcotics control record in the last cycle. There should be no mistake about the Administration's position. We share the Congress' serious concerns about the drug trade in Mexico and its impact on our own narcotics problem at home. President Zedillo also recognizes the seriousness of the drug trafficking situation and has declared it to be the principal national security threat to his country. The Mexican Government is taking demonstrable action to fight drug trafficking and related crimes, including money laundering.
The Money Laundering Threat in Mexico
Money laundering is a global phenomenon--a threat to financial institutions and stability around the world. The United States is no exception. It tends to move away from jurisdictions that impose effective controls and to those where such controls are not in place. As criminals have seen the risk and cost of money laundering rise in the U.S., they have looked to Mexico and other markets for the initial placement of their illicit proceeds. As the State Department noted in its 1996 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Mexico is a high-priority money laundering concern, primarily for this reason. Its proximity to the U.S.; serious problems of corruption; and lack--until earlier this year--of adequate legislation, regulation or enforcement made Mexico an increasingly important "money laundering haven of choice for initial placement of U.S. drug cash into the world's financial system." Once placed into Mexico's increasingly sophisticated financial system, these proceeds can be moved in a variety of forms, including wire transfers and drafts drawn on Mexican banks payable through United States' correspondent accounts. All of these mechanisms are, of course, designed to conceal the illicit source of these funds. Indeed, the successful layering of complex financial transactions allows illicit proceeds, generated in the U.S., to be repatriated to the U.S. undetected.
There are many reasons why Mexico is a major destination of choice for Western Hemisphere drug cartels seeking to evade tighter enforcement measures in the U.S. The porous 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico allows bulk cash to be smuggled out of the U.S. and into Mexico with relative ease. Because Mexico is only now developing suspicious reporting and large currency transaction reporting requirements, these illicit proceeds have been placed into Mexican banks and non-bank financial institutions with virtual anonymity. Mexican officials have also stated that corruption within the supervision and enforcement systems is another important factor facilitating money laundering in Mexico. Indeed, money laundering activities are enormously profitable for compromised financial institutions, corrupt banking officials and money brokers, and others willing to exploit the weaknesses in the Mexican financial system.
Mexican officials estimate that roughly $30 billion in drug cash was repatriated to Mexican drug cartels in 1994, and an even higher amount was moved into Mexico for repatriation to Colombia during the same period. Recent allegations of money laundering and corruption leveled at important politicians in Mexico have heightened awareness and concern about this problem in Mexico and the United States.
The U.S. Response
U.S. engagement with Mexico to enhance our anti-money laundering efforts is not itself new. As part of the Administration's narcotics control strategy and its rigorous application of the drug certification law, we have targeted money laundering controls as a key component of the program to combat drugs. If we are to attack the drug cartels successfully, we must attack their financial resources with vigorous enforcement of money laundering and asset forfeiture laws. In this regard, we have for some time worked closely with Mexican law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute money launderers and drug traffickers. The January 1996 deportation of Juan Garcia Abrego, the first foreign-based drug trafficker to be placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, is only one example of the success of these cooperative efforts. In general, the Mexican Government's performance in extraditing fugitives to the United States has improved substantially in 1996. Twice as many fugitives--10 in all--were extradited to the U.S. in the first eight months of 1996 as in all of 1995. Among the 1996 extraditees are two Mexican nationals, an unprecedented step given the Mexican constitution's strictures on extraditions of nationals. Additional extraditions of Mexican nationals are anticipated. Of course, we want to see all of our extradition requests honored in every country to bring criminals to justice. But we are seeing more criminals returned to the United States or prosecuted in Mexico, and this is progress.
The Department of State works closely with U.S. law enforcement agencies to support the full range of fugitive and other law enforcement investigations involving Mexico and, where appropriate, to secure the cooperation and participation of Mexican authorities. We also support law enforcement training efforts in Mexico designed specifically to enhance its ability to work effectively with U.S. law enforcement officials.
Our efforts have been hampered, however, by Mexico's slow progress in developing a comprehensive anti-money laundering regime of its own. Ultimately, it is the adoption and aggressive enforcement of strong laws and regulations in Mexico that will allow it to become a fully effective partner in the global fight against money laundering. We have, therefore, redoubled our efforts to work with Mexico to develop this comprehensive regimen. Our efforts have centered around two Presidential initiatives that I would like to discuss briefly.
President Clinton directed last fall that Treasury, in consultation with State and Justice, identify countries which have the most serious money laundering problems and pursue appropriate measures to address our concerns. To implement this strategy, the law enforcement, intelligence and diplomatic communities have worked together to assess global money laundering and develop country-specific programs to address it. At this juncture, we are in the initial stages of engaging diplomatic efforts with countries identified as having serious money laundering problems. In accordance with the tenets of this Presidential directive, more aggressive measures to bring about the necessary reforms are being deferred until diplomatic avenues have been pursued fully.
As we developed our money laundering strategy, it became clear that in Mexico, money laundering controls had to be part of a comprehensive drug control effort. Since President Zedillo took office in December 1994, Mexico's counternarcotics efforts have intensified significantly--in eradication, law enforcement action, interdiction, and judicial sector reform. In March 1995, President Clinton and President Zedillo established a High Level Contact Group to ensure that important areas of the bilateral relationship - including money laundering concerns - receive regular attention at the most senior levels of government, both to press for even greater cooperation and work to resolve disputes. Under the supervision of the High Level Contact Group, technical working groups have been established on such issues as counternarcotics efforts, arms trafficking, chemical precursors and money laundering.
Our efforts to engage Mexico in these related Presidential initiatives are already bearing fruit. In May 1996, after years of inaction by previous governments, the Zedillo Administration enacted a bill establishing money laundering as a criminal offense punishable by five to 15 years imprisonment. Prior to this new law, money laundering in Mexico was a tax offense which provided for a penalty of only three to nine years and could only be triggered through the course of an audit of a financial institution.
By contrast, the May 1996 legislation has important features that will clearly strengthen the Mexican Government's capability to detect, investigate and prosecute money launderers. It includes a wide range of predicate offenses--beyond drug trafficking. This is important because we know that sophisticated money launderers increasingly co-mingle the proceeds of drug and non-drug crimes. The legislation also applies equally to all those involved in laundering transactions, including the employees and officers of financial institutions. Moreover, while the law on its face requires an individual to have actual knowledge that the proceeds being laundered come from an illicit source, Mexican officials have advised us that, similar to U.S. law, the knowledge requirement also includes "willful blindness." As our law enforcement colleagues will no doubt tell you, the adoption of this standard is an important feature to compel vigilance among bank officials and others who may otherwise hide their heads in the sand to facilitate money laundering activity.
In addition to the May 1996 money laundering legislation, the Mexican Government has also submitted to the Mexican Congress a critically important legal package aimed at enhancing the government's ability to combat organized crime. This bill was approved overwhelmingly by the Mexican Senate in May and now awaits review by the Chamber of Deputies. It provides for use of modern investigative tools and techniques by Mexican law enforcement personnel, such as electronic surveillance and use of undercover operations, and also establishes a system for witness protection. These have been critical to our success against organized crime in the U.S. and we have long encouraged Mexico to consider adopting similar provisions. It is worth noting, too, that the Zedillo Government had to overcome considerable legal, even constitutional, obstacles, as well as to address public concerns about the potential for abuse of these new authorities.
We hope this important bill will pass soon so that the Government of Mexico can begin work on drafting and implementing regulations and to train its law enforcement personnel how to use the evidence obtained with these tools in criminal prosecution. Many of these regulations will involve significant departures from past practices and traditions. The government also plans to set up systems of checks and balances and other controls to prevent abuse of the new authorities by overzealous or corrupt government personnel. The U.S. has offered to provide training and technical assistance as part of a bilateral plan being developed under the auspices of the U.S.-Mexican High Level Contact Group on Narcotics Control.
The Zedillo Administration has also recognized the importance of developing an adequate reporting system for financial institutions. Pursuant to authorities provided by current money laundering legislation, the government is now drafting regulations that would require banks and other financial institutions to report suspicious transactions and large currency transactions to government authorities. The Mexican Government has established early 1997 as the target for implementing the suspicious transaction reporting (STR) requirements, to be followed by regulations for currency transaction reporting (CTR). However, the timely implementation of these regulations depends in part on Mexico's ability to procure specialized computers and software, which I will discuss in a moment.
Any discussion of Mexican law enforcement efforts must address the Zedillo Government's efforts to counter and control corruption. Both President Zedillo and Attorney General Lozano have publicly acknowledged that official corruption is a serious problem in the Mexican justice sector and have taken aggressive measures to counter it. This was a major objective of the reorganization of the Justice Ministry (PGR) in 1995. The firing of over 1,200 federal police agents for narco-corruption and other abuses is the second such mass dismissal since Zedillo took office; we view this as a promising development.
Moreover, the Mexican Government is taking greater steps to change both recruiting and personnel practices that contributed in the past to the spread of corruption; nonetheless, much more needs to be done to strengthen legal/judicial institutions. The U.S. has offered, and the Government of Mexico has accepted, training and technical assistance, and this will be expanded under the bilateral training plan. The Zedillo Government's progress in this important area to date is encouraging, but we will continue to stress the importance of meaningful and concrete action against narco and other corruption to the bilateral relationship.
Mexico's important legislative and other achievements are not themselves enough to address the threat of money laundering. The true test of the Zedillo Administration's willingness to combat money laundering is whether it will take concrete steps to implement the new laws, to adopt needed regulatory reform to supervise the financial system, to prosecute and convict money launderers in Mexico, and to seize and forfeit the assets involved. It is in these areas that the next phases of our diplomatic efforts are focused.
The Road Ahead
In the upcoming weeks and months, we will continue to move to address money laundering in Mexico. We will do so maintaining our bilateral dialogue with Mexico, supporting these efforts through technical assistance and training, and fully engaging in multilateral activities.
Bilateral Efforts: We are concentrating much of our bilateral dialogue in the High Level Contact Group process. As I noted earlier, within that framework we have formed a special sub-group to discuss specific anti-money laundering efforts and coordination issues with Mexican officials. This money laundering working group includes U.S. experts from the Departments of Treasury, State, and Justice, and Mexican experts from Treasury (Hacienda), Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE), and the Attorney General's Office (Procuraduria). The general objectives of this group are to establish a forum in which both governments can, at a working level, candidly discuss ongoing initiatives to combat money laundering, and identify technical assistance and training that Mexican officials will require to adequately implement strong anti-money laundering measures. The group has already met twice this year, and will reconvene on a regular basis to discuss further issues such as information sharing, additional legislative and regulatory reforms, training and technical assistance and money laundering methodologies.
Training and Technical Assistance: We will support our bilateral discussions with targeted training and technical assistance. The U.S. is fortunate to have the best trained and most knowledgeable law enforcement and anti-money laundering experts in the world. Our law enforcement agencies have the benefit of decades of experience investigating and prosecuting money laundering in the U.S., more than virtually all other countries in the world. However, when attacking global money launderers, we know we must cooperate and coordinate with foreign law enforcement authorities, many of whom are ill equipped to undertake large financial investigations. We must be willing to provide our expertise to other nations as a way of accomplishing our goals. Our assistance is especially important in the anti-money laundering effort since these investigations in most instances are extremely complex and time consuming.
International law enforcement training is a critical component of U.S. foreign policy objectives. In undertaking international law enforcement training and technical assistance, particularly in anti-money laundering, the State Department has two basic goals in mind. The first is to build institutional expertise and capability in foreign countries so cooperation can increase. The second is to foster close working relationships between U.S. and foreign law enforcement authorities.
We administer our international training and technical assistance programs consistent with U.S. foreign policy. Providing training and technical assistance to Mexican officials can only further our foreign policy and law enforcement interests in combating international money launderers. We do this recognizing that resources are limited and it is important to coordinate this assistance among the multiple U.S. law enforcement agencies that have expertise in this area.
Key objectives of the interagency money laundering working group ares to identifying both short and long-term training and technical assistance needs for Mexico and to insure that practical training and technical assistance is well coordinated among U.S. and Mexican agencies. Based on the first meeting in July 1996 and an initial assessment, the working group has recommended, and the State Department will provide support, to Mexico for the purchase of hardware and software in order for Hacienda to develop the necessary tools to handle Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs). We will also be supporting and coordinating with Justice and Treasury three to four training programs for PGR and Hacienda personnel among other short-term projects this year.
Although we have a wide range of initiatives ongoing to assist Mexico in combating money laundering, our investment in dollar terms is not large at this stage. As we identify other areas of technical assistance and training through the efforts of the money laundering working group, it is likely that additional funding will be required. All of our training efforts are designed to increase the capabilities of target countries to work effectively with our law enforcement officials and take the battle against organized crime groups to their home turf. As such, these programs further our law enforcement and foreign policy interests.
Multilateral Efforts: It is also important that we engage Mexico in multilateral fora. Not only can we encourage reform in Mexico through organizations such as the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and the OAS, but Mexico can also be an important ally as we work to establish international standards throughout this hemisphere and beyond.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman, money laundering activity in Mexico poses a real threat to the national security of the United States, but it is an even bigger threat to the people of Mexico and their financial system. The Zedillo Administration has recognized this threat and is taking concrete steps to address it. So long as Mexico continues to demonstrate the political will to move forward, the Department of State and the law enforcement community will continue to work with and support it. We will continue to work with Mexico to ensure adoption of a comprehensive anti-money laundering regime. Indeed, our experts are meeting here in Washington next week to discuss the implementation and enforcement of its new anti-money laundering law. We will support these efforts with training and technical assistance where necessary. And we will continue to support and enhance joint law enforcement activity to attack the financial base of the drug cartels. It is only through effective regulation, law enforcement and cooperation on both sides of the border that we will be able to fight the drug traffickers and money launderers successfully.
[end of document] |
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Columbus Fashion Careers: Employment & Salary Trends, Career Options, & Training Programs for Fashion Designers and Merchandisers
The Columbus Fashion Scene
Columbus is one of the largest cities in the U.S. and in 2006, it was ranked as the 8th best big city in the country by CNN. This art and culture mecca is home to five of the biggest retail brands in the U.S. including Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, Hollister, and Big Lots. Columbus is also packed with museums such as the Columbus Museum of Art, elaborate entertainment venues such as Nationwide Arena, and hundreds of shopping venues from the upscale shops of Polaris Fashion Place and Easton Town Center, to the thrift stores of West 5th Avenues’ Resale Row.
Columbus also has it’s very own fashion week. Columbus Fashion Week’s goal is to help local designers become players in the cosmopolitan fashion world. The event features creations by emerging local and established designers, model competitions, demonstrations, and more.
In addition to an active fashion scene and thriving retail industry, Columbus offers access to several schools that offer fashion training programs. Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD) and Ohio State University are popular options.
Columbus Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising Schools and Programs
The state of Ohio is home to 213 colleges and universities—more than double the national average of 88. The schools here are a mix of traditional universities, technical schools, and art and design schools. In Columbus, Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD) and Ohio State University offer several competitive programs for aspiring fashion designers and fashion merchandisers. CCAD offers a degree in fashion design. Many CCAD graduates become independent designers, while others work for popular companies from Abercrombie & Fitch to Pepe Jeans of London.
Columbus Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising Employers
As mentioned earlier, many Columbus fashion designers work independently, while others work for companies such as Limited Brands, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica, and Pepe Jeans of London. They work in the areas of creative design, technical design, technical production, pattern making, administration sales, and retail. Fashion merchandisers also work in retail as well as promotions and consulting. Employment opportunities can be found all over the city with downtown and the major shopping districts leading the pack.
Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising Careers at a Glance
As of July 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics had not reported employment or salary figures for Columbus fashion designers. However, the state of Ohio is home to 310 salaried fashion designers. Based on the number of retail venues, fashion events, and production facilities here, it’s safe to assume that a significant number of designers live and work in Columbus. Employment of fashion designers across the nation is expected to grow by 1 percent between 2008 and 2018. Ohio fashion designers average $67,890,000 merchandise displayers work in the state of Ohio. Close to 700 live and work in Columbus.
For more information about the fashion design and fashion merchandising industry, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics at bls.gov. |
Fast Company
Stinking It Up: Lessons From a PR Failure
We had a big party, but got no buzz. Lessons from a PR failure.
I've been thinking a lot about poop lately, and not just because I have two young kids. In particular, I've been pondering that clichéd philosophical question: If a bear poops in the woods and nobody's around, does it still stink?
Recently, DoSomething.org hosted what I'd normally consider a successful party. The event raised half a million dollars. We honored five amazing youths for doing amazing things, from building an orphanage in Nepal to registering thousands of new voters. (Read their stories at FastCompany.com.) Our red carpet at Harlem's Apollo Theater was packed with celebs, and performers including Boys Like Girls and Akon -- who crowdsurfed -- rocked the place. The 1,600 people there were floored. But did anybody else smell what we were cooking? Nope.
Our event PR, it turns out, was crappy. We generated almost no buzz. For the time, energy, and money that go into an event, it ought to reach well beyond the room. You want that poop in the woods to stink far and wide.
After the event, I sat down with my staff to analyze what went wrong and then I called some PR experts for advice. Given how many other organizations -- for-profit and not-for-profit -- do events, I thought the lessons might be worth sharing. Here's what we'll do next time.
Do some digging. We ended up with some run-of-the-mill photos, but Tess Finkle of Metro PR says our shots could have been better had we done more research: Find a juicy story. Get the photo. Were there people in the room who once dated? Which people were meeting for the first time? (The answer was yes: Boys Like Girls have a pet turtle named Dorota, named after the Gossip Girl character, and they met Zuzanna Szadkowski, who plays Dorota, at the event. Unfortunately, I have no photo.)
Be exclusive. We had celebs at the event, but we didn't exploit them well. Nobody loves exclusivity more than the media, so give a blog, a TV outlet, and a magazine one-on-ones with the night's big names. The sidebar exclusives benefit the talent, too: It's a chance to build their bleeding-heart brands.
Get help. Especially for youth-focused orgs like mine, the Web is crucial. Next time, I'll give free flights and hotel to Fred Figglehorn, the 16-year-old You-Tube star with more than 55 million views and 276,000 MySpace friends. And Lisa Witter, COO of Fenton Communications, told me to think beyond "official" bloggers: "You've got a zillion Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Don't forget to recruit them. You never know who has what friend." Had our 18 staffers and 12 interns utilized their Facebook networks, we would have reached 12,781 people.
Feed the paparazzi. I don't mean stories or photo ops. One of our interns gave cupcakes to the voracious photographers who were shooting our red carpet. Smart kid. Good move. I'm told those photogs will remember us now -- and we want as many of them as we can to come back for our next event.
Make your own paparazzi. At most events, they tell you to turn your cell phones off. Next year, I'll ask the crowd to turn them on. Then they can take photos, tweet, upload clips, and update their Facebook statuses. A key to maximizing the multimedia maelstrom, says Attention PR's Naomi Hirabayashi, is to "ask those people to use the same keywords in titles. It will make it easier for you to search for those items later."
Strategize ... after the event. Right after the event (as in that night), gather the staff to review what happened -- and I don't mean what went wrong. What nuggets of info did each of us collect? Nick Cannon presented an award while on a "bathroom break" from an event where he was accompanying his wife, Mariah Carey? Really? Is that a Perez Hilton item? Or maybe we'd rather give him the bit about the Real Housewives of New York City and send Nick to People.com. This is exactly why all the items need to be collected quickly and divvied up strategically.
Follow up. This doesn't just mean pestering people to write stories, which we did. When those stories show up online, it means Digging, retweeting, forwarding, and using every other tech tool out there to spread the word.
And having a column in Fast Company doesn't hurt either.
Nancy Lublin is CEO of Do Something. |
All of the Lone Ranger sets were on display, although the minifigures for 4 of the sets were not present at the Toy Fair ... they were all replaced with standard yellow figures. The release date were were given was 19th July, although the dealer catalogue I have suggests May. The sets overall looked really good and may we drive a resurgence is interest in cowboy themes. The guy who was showing us these sets said that the Lone Ranger figure is different in each set, although I can't vouch for that as we didn't see all the variants.
79106 Cavalry Builder Set ... a nice little "battle pack" set, with 3 cavalry figure and the Lone Ranger. Comes with a horse (the one that can rear up, that first came in the LOTR sets) and a small fort & cannon. Price point £11.99.
79107 Comanche Camp ... a set consisting of a wigwam, canoe and a scorpion pit. Comes with 3 figures, Lone Ranger, Tonto and Chief Redmeat (if I heard my audio recording correctly). Price point £19.99.
79108 Stagecoach Escape ... a pretty nice looking stagecoach (with proper suspension), featuring 5 minifigures ... Tonto, Lone Ranger, 2 bad guys and Red Harrington, plus 3 horses. Apparently, the safe that's on top of the Stagecoach was a Lego invention and they liked it so much, they put it in the film! Price point £29.99.
79109 Colby City Showdown ... a bank and a jail, both of which have plenty of play features where parts of the sets will blow up ... a safe, the front of the bank and the jail cell. Figures include 2 bad guys, Dan Reid, Tonto and the Lone Ranger. Price point £39.99.
79110 Silver Mine Shootout ... a pretty nice playset, again featuring parts of the set that will blow up. Set features Tonto, the Lone Ranger, 2 baddies and another Indian. There seemed to be some nice chrome silver parts too (Coins, bullion bars etc), which is the treasure the baddie is trying to steal, I assume. Price point £69.99.
79111 Constitution Train Chase ... a great looking train, including a complete circle of track and seven minifigures - Rebecca Reid, Tonto, Lone Ranger, Rebecca Reid's son, cavalry officer (that had a rather nice cavalry hat and hair mold) and another bad guy who also has a working gattling gun, which was a good play feature indeed. Price point £79.99.
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Permalink: |
Czech Republic 4-8 Portugal: Joel's finishing just too hot
With this emphatic win, Portugal have set up a titanic Iberian struggle to decide who goes through to the semi-finals of the FIFA Futsal World Championship Chinese Taipei 2004.
"Our strategy was to press the Czechs in the middle of the court but we failed to do that at times in the first half. But after half-time we got that sorted and I was very pleased with our finishing tonight," said a contented Portuguese coach Orlando Duarte afterwards.
Portugal came into this game a point ahead of the Czech Republic after their creditable 0-0 draw with Italy. This result looked even more impressive after the Azzurri beat the World Champions in the preceeding match.
Spain coach Javier Lozano had named Portugal as one of the five teams who could win the tournament. They started in fine style - Joel Queiros steering Goncalo's lob through Jan Klima's legs.
The Czech's appeared unconcerned that Lozano had not mentioned them in his famous five. They hit back within three minutes - Vit Blazej volleying in Michal Mares' free-kick. Portugal's lead was restored when the excellent Joel Queiros was left unmarked to slot in at the far post.
The Czech Republic hadn't read the script and Orlando Duarte's team seemed uncharacteristically slack in defence. Michal Striz's charges hit back to lead 3-2 - David Levcik worked superbly down the right to square for a tap-in for Roman Musial and Daniel Rajnoch's pass was expertly controlled his thigh and dispatched by Martin Dlouhy.
The counter attacking game of the East Europeans was causing Portugal problems, but they received a boost just on half-time as Ivan toe-poked into the top corner to send the sides in 3-3 at the break.
Duarte's half-time talk certainly had an effect - his team went 5-3 ahead just two minutes into the second half. Goncalo's fierce left wing cross found skipper Andre tearing in at the far post to volley home, then a fine move involving Joel Queiros, Andre and Goncalo saw the latter give his side a two goal advantage.
From here the game seemed relatively easy for Portugal. They were able to soak up the Czech pressure and twice more they caught them on the break with picture-book goals - Ivan nutmegging a defender with his pass for Leo to score coolly, then a great dummy by Israel left him in space to collect Leo's long pass and although Klima stopped his effort, Goncalo followed up to score. Blazej's made it 4-7 with a clever toe-poke over the dives of both Ivan and Joao Benedito, before Joel Queiros made it 8-4 and a hat-trick from the 10m mark.
"The goal just before half-time and the two immediately afterwards cost us the game. I am very proud of our team - don't forget we are all amateurs playing against three professional outfits," Czech coach Michal Striz said after the game. |
Q&A with Dr. Steve Bramer
VISIONS Conference Returns in 2011!
Fenretinide Slows Dry AMD, Reduces Incidence of Wet AMD
Potential RP Treatment Based on Ancient Chinese Medicine
Attitude is Everything
VisionWalk’s Eight-Year-Old Superstar
NY Marathon Slots Available for Race to Cure Blindness Participants
Illuminating Evening
The Mini Page
Learn more about Visions 2011!
View our interview series with Dr. Jacque Duncan.
Read Meghan O'Connell's Story.
Become a part of VisionWalk. Join or create a team now.
Q&A with Dr. Steve Bramer In the coming year, the Foundation plans to launch as many as three clinical trials in its National Eye and Evaluation Research Network. In this interview with Dr. Steve Bramer, find out what the network is, why it was established, and the many benefits the Foundation brings to the clinical trial process.
VISIONS Conference Returns in 2011! The Foundation Fighting Blindness is excited to announce the return of its national conference in 2011! VISIONS is slated for June 23-26, 2011 in Baltimore. This highly anticipated event will feature information on the newest research breakthroughs, skills for living and coping with low vision, the latest products and services for the visually impaired, and more! Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity – registration for VISIONS 2011 is open now!
Fenretinide Slows Dry AMD, Reduces Incidence of Wet AMDFenretinide, a drug that slowed the progression of dry age-related macular degeneration in a Phase II clinical trial, has also reduced the incidence of wet AMD by 50 percent in that same clinical study.
Potential RP Treatment Based on Ancient Chinese MedicineThe Foundation Fighting Blindness is working toward launching a clinical trial in 2011 of a vision-preserving agent known as TUDCA. Based on a traditional Chinese medicine, TUDCA is a synthetically manufactured bile acid that has demonstrated safety and efficacy in animal models of retinal degeneration.
Attitude is Everything
Joan Creviston suffers vision loss from retinitis pigmentosa, but she doesn't let her diagnosis defeat her. By focusing on the good things in her life and keeping her passion for her work alive, she maintains a supremely positive attitude.
VisionWalk’s Eight-Year-Old Superstar
Sue and John Koth became involved in the Foundation’s VisionWalk fundraising program to drive research that might save their eight-year-old daughter Kaitlin’s vision. While VisionWalk gives John and Sue hope and a sense empowerment, the event has also been quite a thrill for Katlin.
NY Marathon Slots Available
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a race to the finish line with just two slots left for two lucky runners to
participate in the New York Marathon and raise money for blindness research.
Illuminating EveningThe Foundation’s dinner season is just around the corner. The Dining in the Dark dinners have become a wildly successful fundraiser for the Foundation, raising more than $6 million dollars in 23 dinners. Read about a first-timer’s experience at this unique fundraiser and how it inspired her to work on future dinners.
Visit our Web site for a complete list of Foundation events nationwide.
The Mini Page The Foundation was featured in a weekly children’s newspaper called The Mini Page, which is a nationally syndicated publication that appears in more than 500 newspapers nationwide. This issue of The Mini Page included information on blindness-causing diseases, current initiatives underway to treat them, and the Foundation’s role in this effort.
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World for minecraft
jneil1992 Sunday 09 January, 2011
jneil1992 Sunday 09 January, 2011
back up from old minecraft server
WorldCujoCraft
Minecraft tekkit world map
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StarForge - First Playable Release
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Whiteknight | Monday 07 May, 2012
i45 - Monday - Minecraft
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Minecraft SpeedBuild Competition Worlds
This file contains all of the world files from our Minecraft SpeedBuild Competition.Please note! ...
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Jeff and the Light
rosedragon | Saturday 11 February, 2012
Here is Jeff the blind dragon hatchling I made for multiplay speed build competition. Please give...
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Jukebox team - Video Entry - Multiplay-Speedbuild
infecteddreamz | Saturday 11 February, 2012
Hello its me Arbr bringing you my entry for the video contest for the Speed build competition hos...
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The Build of "Al Hagharah tal Ahmar" - Team Purple Hats
PurpleHats | Friday 10 February, 2012
The video on how we build our awesome ancient city.
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Castle of Asrothr - AlphaCrafters
This is our project for the iSeries Multiplay Minecraft Speed Build Contest. We worked hard, and ...
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good but i dont know how to get it on my server |
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Since losing to Longford Town on May 11th last, Waterford have won all eight games since then – seven in the league and one in the FAI Cup. Two of their last three games have seen them beat the top two of Limerick and Longford and they go into Friday’s game just four points off the top of the table.
Harps go into the game on the back of a three game unbeaten run with their only defeats in the last six games coming at the hands of the top two.
Last weekend, Harps looked like they had pulled off the perfect comeback in coming from 2-0 down against Wexford Youths at Finn Park, only for the visitors to snatch a last gasp equaliser with the last kick of the game to share the spoils in a highly entertaining 3-3 draw.
“It felt like a defeat, given that we had done so well to get back into the game,” said Harps boss Peter Hutton of the game.
“We gave them a two goal start and we worked extremely hard to get back into the game and take a 3-2 lead. So to throw it away with literally the last kick of the game is devastating. It’s very hard on the boys. For all their effort and endeavour they only get a point rather than the three.
“It would have been a massive three points,” said Hutton. It shows the exceptional resilience and character of the boys to get themselves back into he game and into a leading position. But I suppose you have to say, fair play to Wexford too. They just kept plugging away and unfortunately we didn’t clear our lines with seconds to go. It was probably a bit of inexperience and naivety as well. We tried to stay on the ball when we shouldn’t have, we should have just put it out and over the stand. Even the equaliser, it was so fortuitous. The boy just hits a shot and it comes off James Doherty’s heel and just loops up over Ciaran (Gallagher).”
Although Harps haven’t the best of records at the RSC against Waterford, their last two visits there have seen them unbeaten. In September last year, Harps left with a share of the spoils after a scoreless draw. Earlier this season, on the last day of March, a Paul Simon Tracey strike coupled with a Waterford own goal was enough to give Harps a 2-0 victory – their first in Waterford since 2001.
“We’ll look forward to it. We won there the last time, it was the time Ciaran Gallagher got the bad injury,” Hutton said of the trip to the south-east.
“It’s a good venue and a good pitch. Waterford are on a great run at the moment. They are one of the form teams, themselves and Limerick. They are up there and for a lot of people they were possible candidates for promotion this year. You can see now why, they are getting bodies back that they didn’t have for much of the season.
“But we fear no-one. I think there is a very fine line in regards to the rest of the teams in the league. If we acquit ourselves like we did for the second half and the last 15 minutes of the first half (against Wexford), then I think we’ll give them a right good game.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEAM NEWS
Suspended: Thomas McBride (4th of 7 games)
Doubtful: Tommy Bonner.
Injured: Michael Funston (ankle), Stephen O’Donnell (cruciate), Hugh Carlin (cruciate), Blain Curtis (cruciate).
Form Guide (last six league games)
Finn Harps: W-L-L-W-D-D (8 pts)
Waterford United: W-W-W-W-W-W (18 pts)
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Last six away games against Waterford United
28/07/2009 - Waterford United 4-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
23/04/2010 - Waterford United 2-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
09/10/2010 - Waterford United 3-1 Finn Harps (First Division)
25/03/2011 - Waterford United 1-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
09/09/2011 - Waterford United 0-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
31/03/2012 - Waterford United 0-2 Finn Harps (First Division)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finn Harps Goalscorers 2012
Kevin McHugh – 7 (1 in League Cup)
Adam Clarke – 4
Thomas McBride – 3
Paul McVeigh - 2
Blain Curtis – 2
Ciaran Coll – 2
Paul Simon Tracey – 2
Thomas McMonagle – 2
Thomas Bonner – 1
Matt Harkin – 1
Aaron O’Hagan – 1
Shaun McGowan – 1
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Finn Harps Results 2012 (Harps goalscorers in brackets)
21/07/2012 – (FD) Finn Harps 3-3 Wexford Youths (McMonagle, McHugh, McGowan)
13/07/2012 – (FD) Athlone Town 1-1 Finn Harps (O’Hagan)
07/07/2012 – (FD) Finn Harps 3-2 Mervue United (McHugh, McVeigh 2)
29/06/2012 – (FD) Limerick 3-0 Finn Harps
22/06/2012 – (FD) Finn Harps 1-3 Longford Town (Harkin)
30/05/2012 – (FD) Salthill Devon 1-5 Finn Harps (Bonner, McBride 2, Coll 2)
23/05/2012 – (FC) Derry City 4-0 Finn Harps
18/05/2012 – (FD) Finn Harps 0-1 Waterford United)
FD = First Division; LC = League Cup; FC = FAI Cup
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This post is part of the “Marketing That Works” Ideas Contest, showcasing 20 of the most innovative marketing ideas from the blogosphere’s up and coming marketers. If you like the post, please show your support for the contestant by tweeting, liking, sharing, and commenting below!
We’ve all been there.
In a queue. Waiting.
You’re watching everyone else get served and asking yourself, why can’t they make this faster? Why can’t they put more staff on? Why is my time being wasted in this queue?
You might be surprised to learn that the time you spend waiting in that queue has been mathematically calculated.
That’s right.
That place where you’re waiting knows exactly how long you will spend on hold, or standing in line and they balance that time against customer satisfaction levels…
The Simple Truth About Customer Satisfaction meet their expectations. They are really satisfied when you exceed their expectations but the simple truth behind happy customers is how well you set their expectations in the first place. Let me explain this marketing plan in more detail.
A Little Bit Of Little Goes A Long, Long Way
First up, let’s get the mathematics out of the way. Queuing theory is the study of queues. It sounds exciting doesn’t it? And you thought your job was boring. But in fact, queuing theory can tell us a lot of quite interesting information like fast your customers rock up to a queue, how long they have to wait and how quickly they are being served.
You can probably see that all these things are a pretty good indicator of how well your whole service delivery process is working.
In 1961 John Little realised that to reduce the length of a queue, you need to slow arrivals and you need to speed exits up. It sounds obvious doesn’t it? Little’s Law tells you how to reduce the size of your queue and it innovated a new way of thinking about the mechanisms of service delivery.
But what if you could make customers happy about being in the queue.
The Secret To Making Your Customers Queue Happily
Clearly it’s important to look for way to improve your service delivery process. While you’re doing that you can improve customer satisfaction levels by simply changing your customers’ perception of waiting.
Let them know how long they will have to wait.
Have you ever been on hold and heard the robot lady tell you that you are 5th in the queue and your waiting time is approximately 7minutes. Or the same voice telling you that the average waiting time right now is 17minutes. This is the information you use to decide to hang on or hang up – and thus your expectations are defined. When your call gets answered in 11minutes, you’re delighted!
Or you take a ticket and you see a big counter on the wall, calling the next number in the queue. You can see the progress being made and how quickly the numbers are changing, and from this you can work out how long you have to wait. There is no queue jumping either. It’s an orderly (if boring) wait for service.
Of course letting your customers know how long they can expect to wait will only work in your favour if the wait time is within their “acceptable wait” time for the value you offer.
Give your customers something to do while they are waiting.
This one is the secret gem of great customer satisfaction because it allows customers to become engaged in the process. And that helps them become connected to the outcome. They’re part of the results and that gives them a spot at the start of the tickertape parade that is their buying experience.
Regardless of whether you have a physical store, or you are online, never under-estimate the power of being part of the process in terms of customer satisfaction levels, even if it’s at a seemingly trivial level.
What it means in real life…
If you often have customers waiting in a physical location, look for ways to take any randomness out of the waiting process. Uncertainty causes anxiety, which leads all the way to angry customers!
Structure is the key. By adding some structure and surety to your customers wait time you will definitely boost your customer satisfaction levels.
- Acknowledge customers on arrival and let them know if there is a wait time
- Use a ticketing system that lets customer move around while maintaining their “spot”
- Take waiting customers past interesting (and distracting) displays
- Invite customers to participate in questionnaires or competitions while they wait
What it means online…
Even if you don’t have customers forming a literal queue, a virtual queue can quite easily form when you’re busy. Well done you if you’re busy but when you work online, it’s easy to miss the signals that your customers are getting annoyed…. Until they’ve gone to your competitor.
Transparency is the key. When you let your customers see that something is happening, you’re giving them the free set of steak knives of customer satisfaction.
- Look for non-essential milestones you can bring forward to get the ball rolling
- Create a delivery schedule so your customers know when they’ll hear from you
- Break your service into smaller segments and get customer involvement at each stage
- Regularly get in touch and keep your customers in the loop
Improving Customer Service Is Only Half The Solution
While you might prefer to pull out your eyelashes than read about the mathematics of queuing theory, you should be looking for ways to shorten your queue and delight your customers with amazing, personal, diligent customer service.
After you’ve improved your service delivery to the best it can possibly be, you can sky rocket their customer satisfaction by accurately setting expectations and helping them define what “satisfied” means.
When you do that, your customers will be happy before you deliver a single thing.
Do you think you can rock your customers’ world?.
{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
Great Article!
Setting expectations is such an important part of good business. Too many people over promise and under deliver…
Instead just say, “You’re going to have to wait 3 minutes… Go get a cup of coffee and then we’ll get you a solution.”
Thanks,
Ryan H.
Belinda! Great stuff! When I started reading I thought this one going to be about that service-debacle copyblogger covered (omg, that was painful lol –
)
I’m pleased it was about queue theory, and it was extremely enlightening. There are many things I could apply from this.
I tend to focus on clarity, and see the deeper roots of any expression, and to me the deeper roots of this is a “focus on making the customers journey more joyful”.
If someone is focused on making the customers journey more joyful, they would basically HAVE to apply some queue theory eventually
So thank you, for helping me make my clients journey better, Belinda. You rock!
Hey Jason. Enlightening is fantastic feedback – thank you!
I love your idea about making the journey more *joyful* (doesn’t gamification follow this idea?) . Having been on many, many driving holidays as a child I always used to hear “the journey is just as important as the destination” (closely followed with “stop complaining”
Some customers will let the journey form their opinion of your service. Some will only care about the solution you leave them with. To make sure you capture the loyalty of both groups you should place your focus on both.
Keep bringing joy Jason!
My pleasure, and childhood wisdom is powerful
As for the two groups you outlined, I’d wager that if you were to take the ones who “only care about the solution” and put another solution in front of them with an understanbly more enjoyable journey… they WOULD join the first group
Just a hunch
Ryze up!
I actually think that the Copyblogger reference is related. If memory serves, that post suggests that most disputes can be easily resolved with kindness – or good manners. I resent waiting in a queue FAR less when I receive great customer service and attention (and even an apology for having to wait) once I’m at the teller. If you can mitigate the more frustrating (and often unavoidable) parts of doing business with a sunny disposition, exceptional products and services, and an acknowledgement of that frustration, I think you’re in good shape.
Agreed Ruth! Well said. Kindness helps so much
Thanks for the story (and acknowledgment)
And for the record, I wasn’t saying it wasn’t related, I just meant I’d read the copyblogger thing, and the intro paragraph felt very similar , my pre-conceived notions were doing their thing lol.
Yep I absolutely agree Ruth. Good (and timely) manners can help take you the distance and that’s the potential simplicity behind this idea. You don’t have to have expensive ticketing systems. What every service delivery process needs is to keep your customers’ needs front and centre.
Thanks for commenting!
Great post Belinda! Although I don’t have an actual queue that people have to wait it, it did get me thinking about my biz & what I can do to give my customers a better experience when it comes to waiting on services or coaching.
I always contact everyone with a personal email after they purchase something & let them know when they can expect it, but I never considered giving them something to do while they wait. So my plan is to link them to awesome info on my blog that has to do with what they’re looking for from me so they can be reading on that until we have our coaching session or they get one of my programs. Thanks so much for the idea!
That’s a fantastic application Meagan. I have a similar “virtual” queue and might just pinch your ‘read these related blogs’ idea! By personalising the information you are pointing them to, so that it’s relevant to their scenario, you are also personalising your service which is a win-win!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
You’re welcome & pinch away!
Someone should have told to John Little that to reduce queues you just have to have more employers, or faster ones.
I see your point and it’s interesting but if I don’t know if a customer needs and wants something else than a quick answer. I mean while letting him know how much time he has to wait for an answer is correct being entertained might just make him angry. That’s why those who provide an answer in minutes, at least online, are at the top of their business. Provided the answer received comes from someone who knows what he’s talking about.
WWhat do you think?
Ooh, that’s a great thought, hypnodude.
I think really knowing your customers/clients especially works hand-in-hand with this idea. One customer could have the patience of Job and be willing to have some fun throughout the process, but another customer might want it and want it *now*. You’d definitely have to pinpoint the type of customer you’re working with, and the kind of relationship you have with them, in order to really be successful with this.
Plus, I also agree that it’s important to establish where you stand right away and provide an answer from the get-go, first. Like you said Belinda, it’s about defining expectations.
Thanks Tanya. You’re right, actually on the net I don’t have customers but just readers anyway knowing your audience is surely the first thing to do and then act accordingly for a mutual satisfaction.
Belinda, what an awesome idea! Takes me back to waiting on the phone for tech support.
This is something I can really use, at the very least in my author/writer interactions. I’m always beta reading novel manuscripts for friends, but I’m also always doing a million things at once. I feel just awful during the times I keep them waiting in their “queue” for long periods of time, so I see now that it would be great for me to work on ideas to keep them engaged while I’m still working on it. Even lately I’ve done it on an unconscious level, giving a writer friend small updates on my thoughts while I work on the larger project as a whole.
I’m excited to look at this in different ways though, see how else and in what other areas business-wise I can apply this. Thanks for a super post! I really enjoyed it.
Great application Tanya.
I think that if a client has to chase me up then I’ve failed because I didn’t get them a clear roadmap or I’m not sticking to my roadmap. Just chatting to them about their project shows them that you’re doing something which is a bridge over the empty “what’s going on” void that leads to frustration.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’d love to learn any new ways you find to apply the idea!
Hey hypnodude, Knowing your customers’ pain points is really important if you are going to deliver outstanding service.
In the scenario you detailed it sounds like time is a critical factor. If your customers need a quick answer you should do everything in your power to provide it. If you can’t then you’re already fighting an uphill battle and will have to work extra hard to keep your customers onside.
Allocating more resources isn’t always the most efficient solution (or possible) so having a plan to ensure your customers are still delighted, using the resources you have, can still lead you to a great outcome.
As you said, if a customer has to wait you should tell them straight away, and how long — so they can set their expectations. If he solution they get is exactly what they want then the wait won’t seem so important. If it’s not, then it will become a big part of their recollection. This is where you might include an offer or guarantee as part of your service delivery. If you don’t get an answer in X or you’re not satisfied, we’ll give you BLAH. This will help balance any feelings of frustration because you are actively demonstrating your commitment to achieving their outcome.
But time isn’t critical to every customer. Nor budget. I’ve had customers wait months for my services which means I have to understand what their primary concern is and make sure that’s what I’m also focused on. This kind of virtual queue is much like Meagan’s scenario, which is an opportunity to engage them in other areas of your service delivery while they wait.
Wow that was a long one. Let me know what you think.
You’re right Belinda, everything is correct. However some times lowering earnings a bit and allocating more resources can with time give much better results through a great customer service. A satisfied customer is always the best possible promotion. At least in the real world, it might be different on the net though.
Thanks for your answer.
You make an excellent point hypnodude – about potentially reducing profits to ensure your service delivery is all it needs to be. A satisfied customers *are* the best promotion and word of mouth marketing be a poooowerful beast.
Hi Belinda,
I have never put much thought into queue theory before but I guess it makes a lot of sense. But wait….does this mean there is some clever reason behind so many telephone queues using that annoying version of Greensleeves? lol
Thanks – Jay
Haha! Greensleeves, no but “your call will be answered in 3 minutes”, yes.
Hmmm unless they need to you to be a little bit INSANE by the time they answer in which case Greensleeves, yes!
This is a great article Belinda. As I get older (and I’m probably showing my age) I have become a stickler for customer service and this article reminds me of my most recent experiences receiving terrible customer service. I’ve had some pretty interesting real-life examples of customer service gone wrong over the last couple of months, most notably by telecommunication companies. Perhaps that won’t come as any surprise to anyone but in both cases, they should have been unavoidable.
Just this week, I had lunch in a cafe and let’s just say this particular business owner clearly does not understand the concept of lifetime customer – and it was all over 50 cents. If I was the cafe owner I would have written off the 50 cents but in my mind this particular business owner is far more short-sighted that I am. It’s his loss because I now have a perception in my mind of how this business owner conducts and operates his business. It’s such a shame because it didn’t need to be this way.
Anyway this article is a great reminder for anyone working online or offline that service delivery is so important to ensure your customers/readers/followers etc receive te best possible customer service experience you can give them.
Thanks for sharing your experience Shae. It sounds painful!
Customer service has always been important but thanks to social media we can share poor customer service with more people than ever before. Some businesses still don’t have their head around that and they suffer for it. Online or offline, good service delivery is our basic expectation!
Great work Belinda! A few really good points, I sent it off to a client who I think will get some good tips from it.
Thanks for sharing it Chris. I hope they can pick out some nuggets to improve their service delivery.
Great post! I can see this applying to my emails. It can take a week or two to get back to people sometimes, I need an auto responder that lets them know that I am not ignoring them personally, I just have too many emails!
Thanks Serena. I’m glad you were able to pick out some useful points for your business.
I think an auto responder is a great idea! I’ve been on the receiving end of one telling me that the person I was trying to contact only checked their emails at 10am and 4pm. It made me realise that my timeline wasn’t necessarily everyone’s and made me much more patient.
Thanks for leaving a comment. Feel free to share this with your coaching network!
I don’t know if the auto responder is a good idea. I came across with one in the past and it looked a bit silly. It was a live chat auto responder, so you can imagine, how useful it was.
But for the automatic email responding is a good idea.
Yeah those live chat auto responders can be as annoying as hell!
When it comes to email responders, I love to put a bit of personality into it so the reader (who has taken the time to email me) doesn’t feel put off by the fact my computer is talking to them. I appreciate it when other people do the same, which links nicely to Cassie’s post!
Great article Belinda. I agree making people happy (whether business, marketing or relationships!) is all about setting expectations. If you can set the right expectation, and communicate effectively, you’re probably in the top 2% of customer service.
Tanya and I had a comment thread going yesterday about how to keep track of contacts. I think services like Hootsuite and Aweber help. The key is probably to automate as much as possible, but of course, we then have our “A” list contacts/clients and prospects that deserve more personalised attention.
My challenge is how to keep track of them. It’s when people fall through the cracks they end up waiting too long for a reply and then they justifiably feel your customer service and attention is bad.
At the moment I’m with Jason Fonceca in that I use Excel to track as much as possible. I’ve tried Zoho and Outlook but both seem too wieldy as CRM systems. I think Icontact is probably one of the best ways to manage your prospects but at $200pcm + it’s expensive and you’d need sufficient online income to warrant an investment of this magnitude.
Good luck in the competition!
Hey Cassie – thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I use CapsuleCRM to manage my contacts and I love it. It’s social media friendly, affordable (I think it’s even free up to 500 contacts), has a task manager and integrates with Google Apps. But I still need a structured service delivery process that guides me through the various stages and reminds me to do things like explain my creative process, notify clients of milestones and follow up with progress notifications.
As great as business support tools are, they are only as strong as your service delivery process (IMHO
.
Service delivery process priority duly noted, and couldn’t agree more!
Thanks for the CRM suggestion – I love anything that syncs with Google apps and social media so will check it out. It might be just what’s needed, and great to have it recommended by you.
Jeez I hope I didn’t sound like a school marm in my last comment. “Now remember everyone, you must have a process!”
I’d love to get your impression of Capsule once you have a look!
Tell it like it is girl!!
Thanks for the shout-out Cassie
I also liked your IContact suggestion, I’ve not tried it, but it sounds interesting
Maybe I’ll design a Ryze Contacts system at the right time, with the right collaborators
Hey Jason, Belinda recommended CapsuleCRM which is free so I’m going to check that out. It syncs with Google Apps so is probably the one for me (without so much as a first date! LOL!).
Maybe the whole community will pick it up
I just checked all the pricing and features (for CapsuleCRM) and the fancy integration comes with the Professional edition which is $12 p/month. But the free version has quite a bit of space and all the other functionality (like cases, opps, tasks, and the email dropbox).
PS I don’t earn a commission from these guys!
Thanks for this Belinda.
To me it’s pretty much always good to promote things you believe in with good intentions.
If you somehow manage to acquire income by doing so, more power to you.
Some people start judging as soon as *money* is ever involved.
Well, I prefer people to get paid for doing (and promoting) what they love. Keep doing your thing Belinda. You rock.
I’ll have to check CapsuleCRM out too, thanks Belinda for the recommendation! Even if doesn’t come with a commission for you. Ha.
Love this article. It does sound obvious and yet so many sites/shops/companies don’t do it!
Even as a writer I have to manage expectations:
- Scoping the project carefully so that I never have to up my quote
- Breaking the project into chunks so that the client never has to wait too long
- Giving the client clear instructions of what to do while they are waiting (gathering assets, reviewing content etc).
- Always slightly under promising on timings to that I can hopefully over deliver.
Great post Belinda, I agree with Jason, you rock!
I’m feeling the love guys!
Thanks for sharing your key points Kate. I think as freelancers we have to pay special attention to managing our client expectations. We don’t have a shop or fancy office (well I don’t anyway) and our credibility is built on our reputation. That reputation is created by the clients we leave behind us.
I wonder if online businesses do this better — because we rely so heavily on other ways to build a strong relationship with our clients.
Do bricks and mortar make businesses lazy? I’d love your thoughts….
That’s an interesting thought, Belinda! I really do think that online businesses and entrepreneurs have more of a mind for this because you’re right in that we rely so heavily on reputation, and new methods, to do a lot of the work for us. Not all bricks and mortar businesses are lazy of course, but I’m sure they have more of a tendency to lean in that direction. Especially in the area of new technologies that might not necessarily be their expertise, but could benefit their business – and their customers.
I agree Tanya. I would hate to make a blanket generalisation but I think there is a certain image/status/message that comes with a bricks and mortar business. Even if it’s a simple office. It lends itself to saying “I’ve done well enough to have this space so you can trust me” but it also says “Now you’re in my world you have to follow my process….”
I imagine it becomes harder to remain flexible to your market’s needs. I expect the ideas behind queuing theory would become even more important – as the service delivery process comes with more risk [higher overheads etc]. Hmmm *brain spinning off in new directions*
Belinda, you went way beyond, “Have good customer service” in this in-depth piece. You covered just enough queuing theory to be helpful without being boring.
I love it when a website gives me different ways to get help–phone, email, chat. And when I have to engage in back-and-forth email, I most like the firms that let me stick with one person. I’m really impressed with companies that follow up to make sure everything worked out; AWeber did that for me recently, and I was genuinely pleased.
We are all in the business of service, whether it’s hard goods, digital goods, or processes that we are selling.
Good luck in the contest!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Joel!
You allude to a important side effect of setting your customer expectations and that’s the feeling of safety. Fear and uncertainty are extremely powerful emotions that can quick destabilize your service delivery. On the other hand when your customers understand your process, know how long they might have wait or deal with the same person, they have a greater sense of surety and safety in your (seemingly more) capable hands. That’s definitely worth the effort. definitely appreciate it.
Hey Lacey, sorry about that – this one got stuck in spam, too, but I’ve rescued it, and I’ll watch closely to make sure your comments don’t get lost in the future.
As for first-time blogging advice, have you download my book, Engagement from Scratch!? (for free?)
I will second this. Danny’s book, Engagement From Scratch is a WEALTH of information and can SKYROCKET almost any blog endeavour.
I highly recommend the chapter on Business Models — it changed my life
And I will third that! I’m finding Engagement From Scratch SO valuable. I got so excited, I had to stop right in the middle and write down all these new ideas flooding into my head…and only just now realized I still have more to read! It’s awesome, well worth the read.
I am not surprised about this Danny Iny EFS love-fest. It is simply pure quality, accessible to anyone with a PC.
Great article Belinda, with some terrific insights. I would just say that there is another lens that can be brought to bare on this subject that might help to tie it all together. That is Queuing as a barometer of how well your organisation delivers your marketing plan.
Let’s be clear, by marketing plan I mean everything that it takes put your product or service into the hands of your target consumer. Your whole organisation from operations and finance to marketing and administration should be aligned to the promises you make in the brands you deliver through the products you put in the market. Activities that involve queuing are where the rubber hits the road where brand promise is turned into operational capability.
Consider, you sell tools. they’re great tools but they have a failure rate like everything else, yet you’ve done some amazeballs market research and found that this is the single biggest factor in decisions to buy by your target market. Accordingly you make the brand promise that no one will have more than 1 hour of down time through tool failure if they use your tools. That same market research has allowed you to put your return centres within 1 hour of the average + 2.5 st deviations from your target market. Sadly, last week you shipped a bad batch of tools to one location that sold like hot cakes but were defective leading to many returns at the same centre at the same time. So when you applied your erlang formulas to staffing the customer service centre did you take into account what promises had to be kept and how they were likely to be broken given your organisation’s structure and capability?
Queuing is an opportunity to turn belief in the brand promises into the truth of the delivery of those promises.
Again – love the article, well though out piece.
Thanks for leaving such a well thought out response Simon.
I love your line explaining that “Activities that involve queuing are where the rubber hits the road where brand promise is turned into operational capability.”
You are so right! Your business is absolutely judged on your performance at the client end of your marketing process, and those judgements impact your entire brand.
Great example too. It goes to show how much science there is behind process mechanism [in whatever form they take] and how you can use those numbers to work out things like the viability of your brand promises.
Thanks for commenting!
Something to think about! Thx!
Great article. Sometimes it’s the simple things that are often overlooked!
My personal opinion about queues is that as long as I can see some sort of progression, I can be understanding and tolerant of a long queue. It is very dependent on the service/product i’m queuing for though. Medicare for example; I don’t really want to be there, but I want some money back, so i’ll wait, staring patiently at the ticket number up on the screen and constantly rechecking my ticket. It’s not really a nice atmosphere either…..government department, sick people, noisy kids with runny noses…get me out of here!!!!
On the other hand, waiting for my morning coffee when the coffee shop is busy, is very different. I REALLY want my coffee, and most mornings I’d probably crawl over broken glass to get to that fresh espresso goodness!! You can also see that the shop is full of people, and you can see the barista busting out coffee after coffee like a well oiled machine, so you know that you’ll be served soon, and that your coffee isn’t too far away after that.
One thing I really like about where I get my coffee, is that they have an SMS ordering system. I can send my order over while I’m still at my desk at work, and then by the time I walk over the road, my coffee is waiting for me (or at least I’ve managed to jump the big queue of people lining up to place an order, which in itself is almost as satisfying as the coffee!)!
McDonalds is a good example of customer expectation and satisfaction when it comes to queues and waiting. Back in the day, there was rarely a wait on anything, as they had burgers lined up under the heat lamps ready to roll. But now everything is ‘made to order’ (at least everything is ‘assembled to order’ anyway) and there is a wait associated with it. People managed to adjust to the wait, because they were getting a better quality product (or at least the illusion of one) by waiting for it to be made (assembled).
Very busy McDonald ‘restaurants’ (such as Milton, near Suncorp Statium) have employed an ‘order while you queue’ system, where employees will approach you while you’re queuing to be served at the counter and take your order with a mobile device and give you a ticket number. Then all you need to do is get to the counter and pay for your order. Usually by this time your order is nearly ready. They’ve made queuing an efficient process!
Another example I find excellent (and it’s kind of still a queue), is after i’ve made a purchase online, you get the standard email of “thanks for your order”, but it’s really good when the online store has a logistics system that keeps you in the loop every step of the way: “your payment has been processed”, “your order is being picked”, “your order has been dispatched, here’s your tracking number”. There’s nothing worse than placing an order and sitting around for 2 weeks wondering if it’s on it’s way or if there’s been some sort of delay.
Simple things make the experience more satisfying and will ensure return business!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Ben, and your examples. They are queuing theory in action! You make a great point about how much patient you are willing to be weighing up with the value you see in the end goal. You really love your coffee!
The government agency are undoubtedly aware that their system chokes up and isn’t enormously pleasant to be in, which is why the ticketing system is crucial for them, so you can measure your progress (and be more patient).
The coffee SMS ordering is very smart. You’re effectively queuing at your desk but you certainly don’t feel like it. This also has the benefit of showing the people waiting in the traditional queue that they can access a short cut next time, which kind of says “Hey, do you wanna be in this VIP club over here? You can!” There are loads of awesome subconscious messages being sent out.
And finally, the tracking mechanisms is pure genius. I can actually watch my packages travel the world! Customer service reps are never bothered with the tedious questions of “where’s my package? When will it be delivered?” and you know what? It’s kind of exciting to watch the progression. Maybe that’s just me?
Thanks again for sharing these examples. As you highlighted, they completely transform your experience as a customer so for any business, it’s worth pondering ways you can work on making that queue time more productive and/or enjoyable.
A very well put together posting, the content had me reading about being distracted during waiting times which is in itself a boring subject, however, I had completed the article before I was aware how much I read.
It was as if the writer really was following Little’s Law in copy write terms.
hehe the secret work of subheadings! Thanks for leaving such positive feedback Clare.
A great post Belinda but it had me thinking when was the last time I actually had to queue. It was probably a mere 5mins in the PO prior to Christmas so not really even enough to get me agitated. So much of what I require is organised online these days and hubby does the grocery shop, so no queues in the supermarket for me!
Ah you are lucky to have a queue-less life!
I know you own and run an extremely successful (and therefore busy) virtual assistant agency. I’d love to know how you handle your own service queues? Do clients ever have to wait for your services or does that go against your whole business value proposition?
don’tcha just hate queues! Almost as much as my hate for banks. Although the wait at my bank is nolonger the mind numbingly brutal chore it once was. My bank now has comfortable seating, a tv on and the time seams to pass quickly. You have time to stop, rest your feet and enjoy the air conditioning, whilst checking out whats happening on facebook! Great post Belinda.
Thanks for leaving a comment Louisa with such a lovely example of queuing theory in action! You are right – who likes waiting? Smart banks are totally onto this and you touched on a really important way they changed your perception — you aren’t queueing, you’re enjoying a rest stop.
And this can be applied to other industries. Not just ones with nice aircon
Making the waiting time productive (in addition to keeping customers informed at every turn) can really help make this shift in perspective.
Thanks again!
Belinda – I like the part about delighting the customer before you’ve delivered anything. I think that’s an important point that a lot of people forget. Thanks for the great post!
Thanks Tom! I firmly believe that your customer service experience begins well before you even talk to a customer, which is why good marketing is so important to your bottom line. From the very first contact point you have to help set the right expectations so everything that follows builds on that great first impression.
Good luck in the comp!
Great article Belinda. I can use this information on my websites and, since I just got back from a homeowner’s Board-related meeting, I thought about the different customers we have here in our community and how we can institute your tips in relating to them as well. Great job. I’m sharing with my tribe(s)!
Thanks Carol. I am glad it was so timely for you. And thank you for sharing it with your tribes!
Customer service can also be measurably improved as customer service reps are trained and trusted to deal with customer concerns at all levels. In other words, when a customer makes contact with the rep, is the rep appropriately equipped to define, address, and solve the customer’s problem, or will they be limited in what there are “allowed” to say or do (at their level in the chain)? How often are we told (during our own customer service encounters), “I will have to send this up the chain to perhaps eventually remedy the situation?” Let us, as CEO’s, empower our support personnel for the sake of prompt and efficient customer satisfaction. “Good” and “fine” are not good enough; we must strive for “magical” and “delightful” customer service encounters and experiences. This approach will notably increase brand equity.
Great point Tony. Would just add that empowering your staff in this way leads to greater employee satisfaction, retention and productivity, effectively seeding a virtuous cycle that accelerates the gains in brand equity.
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Shame on you, Dharun Ravi: The boy who can’t say sorry
Dharun Ravi finally wept.
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Consumers may have to pay a high price for both the lower price and increased choice.
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So we know the true Siamese Algae Eater is the Crossocheilus siamensis which is often confused with the Flying Fox (Epalzeorhynchus kallopterus) and not so similar Chinese algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) as well as a fish known as the False Siamese Algae Eater (Garra cambodgiensis) which prefers fish food to algae.
Garra cambodgiensis
Epalzeorhynchus kallopterus
Often they are found in the fish store in a tank labeled – Algae Eaters which then house an array of fish that all look like a true Siamese Algae Eater.
Lots of shops mislabel these fish so Siamese algae eaters can also often be found under Flying Fox as well as other names.
The names in shops:
Algae Eater, Thai flying fox, Siamese flying fox, colorful flying fox, Epalzeorhynchos sp, trunk barb, Chinese catfish as well as an array of wonderful other names.
The only real gem for planted tanks is the Crossocheilus siamensis as this is the one that WILL eat brush algae (red algae) unlike most other fish…. All others also rather eat fish food and will not touch any algae.……
Intrigued as to how so many people can be confused a little research was needed…
It seems a whole group of fish who look very similar and near identical all swim in the same habitat and these are all caught up and labeled as one of the above names and sold in the shops.
So even in one tank in the shop you can have a mix of near identical fish who are actually different fish – yes it is so confusing but it gets even worse…
Here it comes… what you think may be a genuine Crossocheilus siamensis may actually be :-
Crossocheilus oblongus
Crossocheilus Langei
Crossocheilus atrilimes
Crossocheilus citripinnis
WHAT?????
Yip these guys all swim around together in a habitat and believe me they all look like the real deal…but don’t act like the real deal when it comes to Algae.
Crossocheilus oblongus
Crossocheilus Langei
Crossocheilus atrilimes
Note that in images the coloration varies depending on stress as well as lighting etc. very very rarely is imported and nearly does not exist in our tanks.
So who is the imposter you thought was your true Siamese algae eater?
If you are lucky it is the Crossocheilus Langei which I believe we all label as and know as the true Siamensis – these guys are the only real brush algae eaters. All the others prefer fish food….
If you are unlucky you have the Crossocheilus atrilimes who favors soft plants and moss which makes sense to me now…. some people report their SAE eating moss etc. whilst other say they don’t touch theirs.
If you have a Siamese Algae Eater and are curious as to which one you really have now here is an excellent link:
After a head breaking hour I have discovered that I have 2 x Crossochelius Langei & 1 x Crossochellus Oblongus & 1 x Crossochellus citripinnis
Two of mine I believed to be Siamensis - the back one is a Citripinnis and the front on is a Langei (note the coloring is the same but the snout is different)
6 comments:
I like those fish! They are just awesome.
Nice blog BTW!!!
Regards,
Patrice from
Just recently purchased 6 of these for my 6ft tank..they are fantastic little fish it's like watching 6 little Hoovers cleaning everything in their path
Enjoy reading your blogs keep up the good work
Barry
Jess, how are you supposed to tell one from the other? Some of them look so similar!
Hi Ava,
If you want the true algae eating one (C. Langei) then look out for a dark blotch under the abdomen and litle barbles on the front then you can't go wrong.
Greetz
Jess
I'd like to ask you a more specific question. Can you write to me at [email protected]? Thanks!
Ava
If it were the only problem with Siamese Algae Eater... |
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A Quiet Lovely Luxury Apartment Berlin Mitte
Details.
Amenities
Location
A Quiet Lovely Luxury Apartment Berlin Mitte
Berlin, Germany
What's Nearby:
Location Type City, Downtown, Town
Rates
Additional notes from owner
The standard price is for an occupation with 1 or 2 persons. For added persons (older than 12 years) will 10 EURO per night be charged.
There is a final cleaning of 25 EURO per stay.
This includes white ironed bedlinen, 2 towels per person.
The W-LAN using is free of charge.
By making a reservation with us, you accept and agree to the relevant cancellation and no-show policy of that apartment, and to any additional (delivery) terms and conditions of the hotel that may apply to your reservation or during your stay. If cancelled or modified up to 14 days of date of arrival, no fee will be charged. If cancelled or modified up to three days before date of arrival, 50 percent of all nights will be charged. If cancelled or modified later or in case of no-show, the total price of the reservation will be charged (This counts just in case nobody else will book the date you cancelled!)
Please request our apartment for actual rates and special dicounts.
We always find a way to make you an interesting offer!
Availability
AvailableUnavailable Last updated: April 05, 2013 ◀▶
What Past Guests Are Saying
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- Mary4403
Wellington, New Zealand
Good for the price but definately not luxurious
The apartment is on a street of apartment buildings so on arrival the street is not appealing, but the location is good as it is less than 10 minutes walk to Potsdamer Platz or the Branderburg Gate. The bed is comfortable with new linens and the kitchen is well equipped. The finish is not to a high standard - the wooden floor looks new but there are gaps between the floor and the wall and several "bumps" . The ledge under the windows is unpainted. The bathroom has not been renovated and so has a shower over the bath with a shower curtain. With no washing machine or heated towel rail, having fresh towels is a problem if you stay more than a few days. Internet is available if you have a laptop, but there is no Wifi.
Overall we were disappointed with this apartment. From the photos and the title we had expected something of a higher standard. We left a day early and when we asked for a refund for the unused night we were refused.
- ColinG77
Inverness, United Kingdom
Fabulous, affordable and central
Joerg and Ralf were really helpful and welcoming. The apartment was very clean and easy to live in. It was comfortable and close to everything touristy in Berlin. It was one of the best vacation experiences we've ever had as a couple.
The apartment was almost 100 percent wheelchair accessible also. The door to the kitchen was a little narrow but my wheelchair did fit through and there was a slight lip on the bathroom door which would not pose a significant inconvenience to most disabled people.
- FylB
London, United Kingdom
Great clean, modern studio, well located
Great studio, modern, easy to access, well equipped, happily recommend.
- Judie
Washington, DC
Excellent location
The location of this apartment and its proximity to the most visited sights, public transportation, and shopping can't be over emphasized. The apartment is 2 blocks from the metro, 3 blocks from Potsdamer Platz, about the same from the Brandenburg Gate and an easy walk to Checkpoint Charlie. I choose this apartment for location and I was not disappointed.
The apartment itself is one large room that accommodates one double and one twin bed plus a divan and a small chair. The beds were acceptable. The end wall is fully windowed, which provided lovely light. There is a small kitchen with a dorm sized fridge, no microwave, but an oven/cooktop, kettle and toaster. The bathroom was clean and had an unusual shower/sink connection that it took all three of us to figure out how to operate as the shower was turned off and we didn’t know there was a switch on the fixture. Directions would have been helpful.
A TV is provided, but since no channels were in English, it was of no value to my group. However, we were too exhausted after long days of sightseeing to care much if we had a TV to watch. There is a Hit grocery one block away that was very convenient for breakfast food.
This apartment would not meet my definition of luxury, but I would certainly recommend it based on location, value and the very easy rental arrangements and friendly reception we received.
- dcm997
London, Canada
Perfect apartment - perfect location.
I stayed here for 5 nights in October 2010.
The apartment was very clean and well equipped. The things I look for while travelling are clean premises, a safe neighbourhood, plenty of hot water, good bed and a strong Wifi signal. This apartment had all of these.
It was just meters from the Jewish Holocaust Memorial and the site of Hitler's bunker and just inside the walls of the former East Berlin. 10 minutes from Brandenburg Gate and just a block away from a major subway line. You can see the Bundestag from the window.
- PINK7Wiltshire
WILTSHIRE
Will happily recommend
Great accommodation, good location and value for money. Joerg very helpful and Marko thankyou for your service in unblocking the shower after I phoned. Myself, my husband and our two sons who were running the marathon all stayed together in this apartment. The big bonus was that Joerg was happy for us to keep our luggage there while the boys ran the marathon so we were able to go back freshen up etc before setting off to catch our flights home. Thankyou.
- Lucas
Stockholm
Thanks for just an excellent apartment!
We stayed at Joergs lovely apartment for four days and it was a great experience.
We looked for a calm place to stay with our little son. The apartment is spacious, clean, have good fittings, nice furniture and comfortable beds.
The apartment is perfectly located close to Friedrichstraße. There is a shopping center around the corner with all of the essentials.
We really enjoyed our stay in Berlin!
- Paul McGowan
Glasgow
A great place to stay!
A great place to stay especially for first timers. Apartment was spacious and clean. Marko the greeter was very informative and gave us some great and valuable hints. Location fab, just 1 block from the metro station, so ideal for arrival and departure. Just around the corner was a bakery, a lovely chinese restaurant and plenty of shops just a five minute walk. Everything you need on hand to make for a comfortable stay, central location, but away enough from the hustle and bustle to get a good nights sleep!
We will definitely go back again!
- Gabriela
Milan
A lovely place to stay in a great location!
This is an excellent find - spotlessly clean, modern furnished, in a stunning location, very convenient for public transport. Shops, restaurants, services, characterful architecture all very near - you could wander round the local streets for hours and see something interesting at every turn. A great chance to live as a local in a fascinating city. Really welcoming owner! I would very much like to return here, and recommend it wholeheartedly.
Gabriela
- Michael
Hamburg
Großartiges Apartment, großartige Stadt!
Wir haben unseren Aufenthalt in Berlin wirklich genossen! Die Begrüßung am Apartment durch Joerg war sehr herzlich, außerdem hat er uns jede Menge hilfreiche Informationen gegeben. Das Apartment ist sehr schön und super zentral gelegen. Wir habe das Apartment schon weiter empfohlen und kommen ganz bestimmt bald wieder!
Danke und bis bald!!!
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Florentine Opera Names 2012-2013 Season Studio Artists
The Florentine’s Artist-in-Residence program returns for fifth season
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin—June 11, 2012—The Florentine Opera Company names Alisa Suzanne Jordheim (soprano) of Appleton, WI; Kristin DiNinno (mezzo soprano) of Pittsburgh, PA; Kevin Newell (tenor) of Edgar, WI; and Carl Frank (baritone) of Normal, Illinois, as resident artists for the 2012-2013 Season’s Florentine Opera Studio Program. Ms. Jordheim, Mr. Frank and Mr. Newell are new to the Studio Artist Program, while Ms. DiNinno returns for a second year.
Hundreds of applicants audition for the Florentine Opera Company’s four final residency positions..
“I am delighted that this fifth group of exceptional artists will join the Florentine for the 2012-2013 season in the Studio Artist Program as we continue this important professional development initiative,” notes General Director William Florescu. “Along with returning Studio Artist mezzo soprano Kristen DiNinno, we are happy to welcome soprano Alisa Suzanne Jordheim, tenor Kevin Newell, and Baritone Carl Frank, all of whom bring their well-honed artistic abilities and experience to the Florentine. These young artists demonstrate the very best talent present among up-and-coming singers today. The Florentine’s artistic team looks forward to leading these artists to the next level in their career path during the coming season.”
The 2012-2013. In addition to educational programs for younger students, the Studio Artists will also be featured in those targeting older students. Throughout the season the studio artists will work with artists and conductors from our mainstage performances in a special "Get Opera" Program. This one-hour program is geared towards 8th grade and high school students, fostering an appreciation for the arts and providing cross-curricular opportunities for teachers in English, Language Arts, History, Music and Theatre. Participants will be introduced to the operatic art form, have their learning environment enhanced through the arts and will be eligible to receive tickets to the mainstage performances.
ABOUT THE 2012-2013 STUDIO ARTISTS:
Alisa Suzanne Jordheim ~ Soprano
A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, Alisa Suzanne Jordheim’s lyric coloratura soprano “has that measure of quick spin that keeps it rock steady in all registers” (Northeast Wisconsin Music Review). Alisa is a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and her cognate field of specialization is Scandinavian Vocal Music and Diction. At CCM, Alisa has performed the roles of Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. For Cincinnati Opera’s 2011 summer season, Alisa appeared as the Page in Verdi’s Rigoletto and 2nd Knabe in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Alisa sang with Central City Opera for their 2010 Regional Tour and, as a studio artist with Central City Opera in summers 2009 and 2010, she performed the roles of Fredrika in A Little Night Music and Sirena in Rinaldo, as well as the partial roles of Gilda in Rigoletto, Lakmé in Lakmé, and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, among others. Alisa has appeared as soloist with the Hilton Head Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the Fox Valley Symphony. Alisa was the recipient of the Audience Favorite Award at the 2009 Tri-State College Vocal Competition, and a 2009 Central City Opera Bonfils-Stanton Young Artists Award. Most recently, she was named a finalist in the Kurt Weill Foundation’s 2011 Lotte Lenya Competition in New York. Upcoming engagements include the role of 1st Fairy in a staged production of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Columbus Symphony, and Zerlina in CCM’s upcoming production of Don Giovanni.
Kristen DiNinno ~ Mezzo Soprano
Kristen DiNinno, mezzo soprano, was most recently a Gerdine Young Artist with The Opera Theater of Saint Louis where she covered the three roles of Swiss Grandmother, Austrian Woman, and British Dancing Girl in John Adam’s The Death of Klinghoffer. She was a Young Artist at The Shreveport Opera Company, where she performed in Don Giovanni as Zerlina, The Fantasticks as The Mute, Man of La Mancha as The Moorish Girl Dancer and covered The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors. Ms. DiNinno received Third Prize in the Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition in 2010. While obtaining her Masters Manhatten.” She is currently studying under the direction of Hilda Harris.
Kevin Newell ~ Tenor.
Newell attended the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, New York in the
summers of 2009-10, and in the summer of 2011 he sang as a studio artist with
the Central City Opera House Association, in Central City, CO. Opera roles
include Laurie in Adamo’s Little Women and Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff with the
University of Michigan (2011), Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Seagle
Music Colony (2010), Albert in Britten’s Albert Herring (2009), Camille de
Rosillon in Lehar’s The Merry Widow (2007), and Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido &
Aeneas (2007) with the University of Wisconsin. Additionally, Newell has been a
tenor soloist for Hayden’s Messe in tempore belli, Ariel Ramírez’s Missa
Criolla, Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, a well as a recital of
Benjamin Britten's Five Canticles. He was also a soloist on the Michael Joncas
album In the Sight of the Angels (2008). Newell currently studies with Prof.
Stephen Lusmann in Michigan. Newell most recently appeared as Tom Rakewell in
the University of Michigan’s production of The Rake’s Progress, and will appear
with the Fort Worth Opera this spring as a festival artist. Newell will then
travel to Chautauqua Opera for the summer as a studio artist, and then to the
Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, WI, as a young artist.
Carl Frank ~ Baritone
Baritone Carl Frank has proven himself a versatile
performer in both opera and oratorio.
Carl is thrilled to be joining the Florentine Opera Studio for the
2012-2013 season. Most recently
Carl has appeared as Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Arbor
Opera Theater Training Workshop.
Other roles include Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), John Brooke (Little
Women), Der Tod (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus)
and Ford (Falstaff). He has
also recently appeared as soloist for both Messiah and the Fauré Requiem. Carl holds degrees in both Political
Science and Vocal Performance from DePauw University. Carl received his Masters of Music from the University of
Michigan where he studied with Stephen Lusmann.
INFORMATION / INTERVIEWS
For additional artist information
or to schedule an interview, please contact Richard Clark, Marketing Manager,
by telephone at 414/291.5700 ext 213, or via email
at [email protected]. —> |
Back in my youthful exuberance days, I and another guy (whose name and face both now elude my memory) used to compete to see how short we could land a Cessna 150. The answer was, pretty short. We would come in hanging on the edge of a stall and stomp on the brakes the moment a wheel touched the runway. I felt as if we got stopped in a couple of hundred feet, though I never actually measured.
The 150 was a very forgiving airplane (and I suppose its successor, the 152, was too, but by the time the 152 came out training planes were behind me) and so you could fly these minimum-speed approaches, the airspeed indicator needle wobbling around in the position error zone, without much anxiety about something going wrong. Great things can be achieved in airplanes that make you feel confident. And great mistakes can be made, too.
Here is what may be a case in point. I say "may be" because it's always difficult to say with certainty what was going on in the cockpit before a fatal accident occurs, when there is no cockpit voice recorder to help us out; we have to rely on external evidence. In this case, the external evidence consists of some seemingly rough and erratic low-level flying. The airplane was airborne for less than a minute before it stalled and crashed.
The accident involved a student pilot and an instructor; it took place almost three years ago at Levelland, Texas, on a hot and blustery May evening. Although it was nearing 7 o'clock when the 150 took off, the temperature was still 91 degrees. A stiff wind, 28 knots gusting to 37 as measured by a meteorological reporting station at nearby Texas Tech University, was blowing from 140 degrees. The takeoff runway was 17; the crosswind component was therefore around half of the wind speed.
The National Transportation Safety Board's report on the accident cites the accounts of two eyewitnesses. The first was himself an instructor in the same flight school as the accident pilot. He had realized, after the 150 taxied out, that he had left his wallet and keys in the airplane on its previous flight. He drove out to an intersecting taxiway to try to flag the airplane down, but failed. He reported that the takeoff, which he observed from close at hand, was "abrupt and nose high." The airplane then leveled off, climbed to 50-100 feet, and made a steeply banked left turn. It sank on the downwind leg, settling to 50 feet again before climbing to 100-200 feet. At that point the instructor drove back to the flight school; he did not see the accident that occurred moments after he turned away.
A second witness was standing outside his shop on the airport. He paid attention to the little Cessna's takeoff, he said, because the wind was so strong. He saw the car beside the runway and the arm waving out the window and heard the airplane's engine go to full power. Like the other witness, he reported that the 150 was "sharply pulled into flight," flew level briefly to gain speed, and then climbed to, in his opinion, 300 feet. It then "banked hard left" -- 70 degrees, he thought -- and, after turning 180 degrees, "dove sharply" to a height of 30 feet. It then "sharply climbed" back to 300 feet before it "sharply turned left again at a 70-80-degree bank." It appeared to rock once, and then dove almost vertically to the ground near the approach end of Runway 17.
Note the witness's repeated use of the word "sharply." The airplane was being tossed around roughly -- whether by the pilot or by the wind, we don't know, though the impression, from the extreme bank angles, is that the pilot was more in charge than the wind was. In any case, the numbers -- 30 feet, 70 degrees, and so on -- should not be taken literally; witnesses' estimates are seldom accurate, especially when a fatal outcome has retrospectively heightened the significance of the event.
One can make some guesses about the reasons for the airplane's observed behavior. If it seemed to be pulled sharply into the air, the reason was probably that the wind -- the crosswind component, remember, was 14-19 knots -- was starting to push it sideways, and the pilot wanted to get it off the ground. Once airborne, it picked up sufficient speed to begin to climb. At some altitude -- the witnesses' reports differ, but let us assume that the one who was a flight instructor might have been the more accurate and that the altitude was none too high -- the airplane was racked around in a steeply banked, apparently continuous 180-degree turn onto the downwind leg.
Why such a drastic turn? One reason could have been instructional: to show the student that a coordinated downwind turn, even a very abrupt one, does not result in an immediate stall or even a rapid loss of airspeed. And indeed it did not. The airplane did lose some airspeed, however -- any airplane loses speed in a steeply banked turn, even in still air, and the tailwind may also have picked up a bit -- and it settled somewhat before resuming its climb as it flew along the downwind leg.
The C-150, with its 100 hp engine, is not a powerful airplane even on a standard day at sea level. On this particular evening the density altitude was almost 6,500 feet, and the engine could not have put out more than about 82 horsepower. With so little excess power, it would be slow to recover airspeed or altitude lost to a gust or a downdraft. As it climbed, it presumably did not accelerate much.
The airplane now had two or three cards stacked against it. Its indicated airspeed was probably not very high. It had little excess power. Finally, it was flying in a gusty following wind.
The effect of the wind under these circumstances is complex. On the downwind leg, the 150 was flying with a gusty wind coming from about 30 degrees to the right of its tail. Suppose, for argument's sake, that its indicated airspeed was 15 knots above the stalling speed. A 10-knot gust would still leave it a speed margin; a 15-knot gust -- the reported gusts were not that strong -- would bring it to its level-flight stalling speed, but since its angle of attack would not immediately change it would be able to accelerate with some loss of altitude but not necessarily any loss of control. It is angle of attack, remember, not speed, that makes a wing stall.
When the 150 made a steeply banked left turn, however, its situation became more precarious. Because the bank angle is steep, the airplane is now showing its top, not its tail, to the wind. If the wind is steady, this makes no difference, provided that the pilot keeps the angle of attack below the stalling one. But if a lull -- a negative gust -- occurs during the turn, its effect is not only to momentarily increase the indicated airspeed but also to increase the angle of attack. To the steeply banked airplane with its dorsal aspect to the wind, a sudden drop in wind speed is equivalent to an upward gust. If the wing is already close to its stalling angle of attack, it may stall despite the increase in indicated airspeed.
Is this what happened? Who knows? It's actually unnecessary to invoke exotic combinations of wind and attitude to explain a stall in the traffic pattern. People have stalled airplanes on calm days because they banked too steeply and pulled too hard, or because they got the controls crossed, which is much easier to do when the wind is blowing and the airplane appears to be sliding sideways over the ground.
What makes this accident especially puzzling is the exhibition of an uncommonly abrupt and extreme style of flying in weather conditions in which many people would hesitate even to go aloft in an airplane as light and anemic as a Cessna 150. The two don't seem to go together, especially when you consider that the instructor was 64, an age at which most pilots have outgrown the feeling that they have something to prove. Unfortunately, the NTSB's report includes no comment on whether displays of youthful ebullience while maneuvering in the traffic pattern were typical of this instructor. His colleague on the ground seems not to have considered the gyrations of the 150 sufficiently out of the ordinary for him to continue watching them.
We don't even know, finally, who was flying the airplane, but it would be a strange lesson plan that required abrupt and extreme maneuvering in the traffic pattern. A possible explanation of the 150 staying in the pattern without gaining much altitude is that the instructor caught sight of his colleague in the car beside the runway when the 150 was already in its takeoff roll; that he then saw the wallet and keys and realized that they needed to be returned; that he then said, "My airplane," and, taking the controls, racked the little trainer around with the confident bravado of one who knows the 150 well, and knows what a well-behaved and forgiving airplane it is.. |
Hi all,
Some of you have been helping me on my other thread but I thought I should start a new one with a more appropriate topic title. Here's my other thread in case you're interested.
We have booked rooms at The Springs in Arenal and at Tulemar in Manuel Antonio and now I'm' on to considering which tours to book and what to do about transportation.
I have seen that there are lots of threads on transportation, but I don't know if having kids (or travelling in a group of 4, perhaps) would affect someone's advice on whether to rent a car and/or whether to get a driver. For instance, maybe it's hard to get a taxi in La Fortuna that fits 4 people, or there may be other considerations that I'm not thinking about. Though I know others have done it and thought it worked well, I don't think we'll do public transportation.
Our itinerary:
Thurs - arrive 9:15 pm SJO - stay at airport hotel
Fri - drive to The Springs
Fri - Wed - Springs
Wed - travel to MA
Wed - Sun - Tulemar - depart Sunday at 11:45 am from SJO
I've seen the rental car vs. driver debate, and both ways have been recommended so I'm sure it's up to personal preference. I am not really afraid of driving, but my husband has unfortunately lost his license for a few months (don't ask) so I would be the sole driver. We'll have the drive to Arenal, the drive from Arenal to Manuel Antonio, and then return from MA to SJO on our last morning. All the long drives should be in daylight.
I see 3 options.
- Get 1 rental car for the whole time
- Get a driver for the 3 longer drives and rent while in La Fortuna and MA
- Get drivers for 3 longer drives and take taxis in La Fortuna and MA.
Does one make more sense than the others?
At Tulemar, I know they do not serve dinner on the property, but they say that there are many restaurants outside the gates. It seems like a very large property. Will we need a car/taxi to get to those restaurants?
Another option: would you drive (either in rental car or with driver) or fly from MA to SJO. I'm leaning towards the drive, so we don't have to worry as much about luggage weight and flight delays, but in some ways it can be easier to just fly.
Regarding tours, we will have 4 full days, not counting travel days at the Springs. The hotel sent us a list of their tours. I know we can book on our own, but just starting with their list, what I saw on TripAdvisor and what I read about in my Eyewitness Travel guide book, I've come up with the following.
- Arenal Hanging Bridges (half day)
- Sky Trek Zipline (half day)
- Cano Negro (full day) or Penas Blancas (1/2 day) - I've heard more raves about Cano Negro but I wonder if it's a long day for the kids?
- The hotel offers a 4 hour volcano hike. I don't know how much of that is transportation time. I think that would be interesting but I don't know if it would be too strenuous for the kids. Has anyone else done this with kids?
My husband expressed interest in a night hike. We should be able to fit that in since I plan to do the other tours first thing in the morning if possible.
What about the Sky Tram? Is that worth doing?
Mostly I'd like to spend our afternoons at the Springs in the pools or springs. We may do tubing and horseback riding in the afternoons too. And I think we'd like to visit the wildlife preserve at The Springs.
Is there something glaring that I'm missing or something I should cut out? Would it be better to leave a full day open in Arenal? My current plan would have us booked for a tour every morning, if we do a volcano hike.
We will have 3 full days in Manuel Antonio (Wed is travel day and we depart Sunday morning), and I plan to spend more time on the beach. According to the Tulemar website we can see quite a bit of wildlife right on the grounds. I remember reading that most of the things you can do near Arenal (ziplines, hanging bridges) you can also do in Manuel Antonio, but I'm sort of feeling like if our time in Arenal is so scheduled, maybe we'd like to wing it more in MA. Anything I MUST do near MA?
Thanks for your help!!
Mexico & Central America ForumsStart a new topic Change Forum
Arenal & MA with kids 8 & 10 - which tours and transportation question
Hi all,
16 Replies | Jump to last reply |
16 more wildlife at Cano Negro. It takes a couple of hours to get there for the boat to put in, so it's up to you if you think your kids would be up for that. It's awesome; we've done it a few times. There is no bathroom on the boat however. We liked Penas Blancas too, but the wildlife isn't as abundant. It's much closer however if that makes a difference. Cano Negro involves a big covered motor powered boat; Penas Blancas is a raft. I would definitely do the tubing at The Springs. We loved that; the river there is absolutely beautiful. We had two guides all to ourselves when we did it. There's a nice open air restaurant by the river where you can eat lunch if you want to. Most of the volcano tour would be hiking since the hotels are fairly close to the volcano. We saw some wildlife when we did it; the best part was going at night to view the volcano, but there's not current lava flow. The hike that we did wasn't strenuous. They give you a lot of history of the volcano and its eruptions. Personally I would rather hike at the waterfall than do the volcano hike. If you do Sky Trek ziplining, you'll automatically do the tram - that's how you go up to the top. Sky Trek is great with wonderful views of the lake and volcano. The lines are incredibly high and fast.
One more thing if you have time; your kids would probably really enjoy the Proyecto Asis animal rescue center. We were able to feed a sloth, monkeys, and macaws when we went. They have a peccary, raccoon, kinkajo, toucans, etc. New animals come in and others are rehabilitated and released, so the makeup is always changing.
There's an internal shuttle at Tulemar that can take you to the property entrance. From there, there are restaurants within short walking distance. You could also walk the whole way. It's uphill to the entrance. We saw capuchin and squirrel monkeys on the property daily and also three and two toed sloths. We never ventured into the park.
I am a confident driver not bothered by most driving including downtown city driving. I would not be comfortable driving in Costa Rica. Plus parking in Manuel Antonio can be a pain.
You do not need a car in Manuel Antonio. We were there for 6 nights without a car. Most of the excursions will pick you up at the door or the concierge will arrange a cab to pick you up at your door.
We were in 405 which is the second condo from the gate so we walked to most of the restaurants from Tulemar. Twice we took cabs to restaurants and had no problem. We took their business card so we could have the restaurant call for our return.
The zip line company, Canopy Safari, is great and wonderful with kids so you can wait until you get to MA for the zipline if you want.
Birdie, which restaurants were you able to walk to from Tulemar? We're looking at staying there for a future trip.
Hi, volcanogirl.
Kapi Kapi, which we really liked. Good food, lovely atmosphere.
Cafe Milagro, casual spot that's great for breakfast and lunch. We did not try dinner there but I did buy a few bags of coffee to bring home for gifts.
Aqua Azul, lively, crowded, very casual, good food. They don't take reservations but the concierge at Tulemar can make one for you.
The casual restaurant at Como Si No because I wanted to see the hotel. I wouldn't go back but enjoyed the huge lizard watching us eat.
We took cabs to:
Raphael's Terrazas which we all really enjoyed.
Ronnie's Place for drinks, sunset and good, not great, dinner.
La Luna at Gaia which was good but I think I prefer Kapi Kapi for a higher end meal.
We also had a private chef cook the fish the guys caught and ate several breakfasts and lunches at the Tulemar beach cafe.
There are any number of other restauarants you can walk to in addition to the little food market. Tulemar is right in the middle of town and seems to be the only high end property that is. At the same time, though, when you are on property you feel like you are out on a quiet peninsula.
Oh, thanks for all the info. We stayed at Mango Moon and were able to walk to Cafe Milagro, Cafe Agua Azul, Salsipuedes, and we took a taxi to Ronnie's Place. I guess Tulemar is sort of in the same area. It's appealing to me because it has its own beach.
cb, we use a private driver to go between cities and then use taxis once we're in town. Arenal is a lot more spread out than Manuel Antonio. We save flying for areas that are harder to get to like Tortuguero or the Osa.
We enjoyed Kapi Kapi (walking distance) too and had several good meals at La Luna (not walking distance). Both are a bit upscale. La Luna has a great view and they have a tapas menu in the bar section if you don't want a full meal.
Birdie, Thank you for your driving input. I was sort of leaning towards hiring drivers, so I can enjoy the view and not be white-knuckled, so I'm not sorry to hear your recommendation that I not drive.
Regarding the waterfall, volcanogirl, I read your report of rappeling and I think I'm too scared (and don't think it's a good idea with the kids!) to do that. I will look into a hike there instead. I think that's something we can do on our own without a guide, right?
The Proyecto Asis would be right up our alley. My youngest is obsessed with animals. Did you do the 1 1/2 hour tour, or the 3 1/2 hour tour & volunteering? I think they would really like the volunteering one and that must be the one people talk about on tripadvisor where they can hold and feed animals.
Is this anywhere near the waterfall? Could we do the 2 on the same day? I hear the hike up from the waterfall is strenuous, so I'd love to be able to do it in the morning, but my mornings are getting filled, if we do Sky Trek, Hanging Bridges, one of the boat tours and the Proyecto Asis.
Patty - thanks for the info on the shuttle at Tulemar. I booked it without doing much research because it was so highly recommended, but the downside is I don't really know basic details that I would have discovered had I done more research. That shuttle will come in handy and we are very happy to do some walking too.
Thanks all!!
c, the waterfall hike and the rappelling are two totally different things in two completely different areas. The waterfall hike is at La Fortuna Waterfall and involves taking steps down to the waterfall and you can swim in the crystal clear river if you want to. It's set with pavers; if you can walk down a bunch of steps you can do it. It took us about ten minutes to walk down. Coming back up is a little steep, and we saw people stopping to catch their breath on the way back up, but it's not difficult if you take a little break. The rappelling is done in a canyon and involves rappelling down multiple waterfalls, much more rigorous than just visiting La Fortuna Waterfall. You can do the waterfall hike on your own. There's a big parking lot and an organized entrance where you pay your entry fee; I think it was around ten bucks or so. The rappelling is done with guides.
We did Proyecto Asis as part of a cultural tour we did with Desafio. They made several stops during the day and Asis was one of them. We also went to an organic farm called Luna Nueva, and we made one other stop. We got a guided tour of the property. It's very small and has a small pond full of turtles and herons. Then there are animals around in big cages, and you can enter some of the cages like the sloth's and macaws'. You can feed the monkeys bananas through the cage. And we were able to hold some of the animals like the raccoon. It's not near the waterfall, but you could do both on the same day depending on how you timed it. They may only do feeding certain times of day though, so you'd have to check on that.
volcanogirl, Salsipuedes was the first restaurant you reached after turning right out of Tulemar's gate. Do you remember an orange 4-story hotel or apartment comlex right in the middle of town? It is next door to the Tulemar gate.
The beach at Tulemar is lovely. We were going to take a cab to another beach just for a different atmosphere but loved Tulemar's so much we decided that we didn't need to go anywhere else. There is shade if you want to stay out of the sun and plenty of chairs and umbrellas. Do check out all the pools, though. There was a quiet one that we went to for swimming and a more popular one we liked in the evening for drinks at the bar.
I don't know if you saw an earlier post from the woman that was knocked down by the wave at Tulemar. I'm bringing it up more for cboris's benefit than yours since she will have kids with her. I think the water at Tulemar is great but there is one characteristic that is good to keep in mind. It may be true at other beaches in Manuel Antonio, too. When the tide changes, the water changes very quickly. Waves that weren't there minutes ago suddenly develop and the undertow gets stronger. If you are on the beach it sounds like a boat has gone by and the waves from the wake are coming in. The waves aren't very big and the undertow isn't particularly strong, but the fact that it occurs so quickly, can surprise swimmers. There is a local magazine that has a tide chart in it. If it isn't already in your condo, you can get a copy at the concierge desk.
We did take a tour of the park, and as Patty pointed out, we saw more wildlife on property than we did in the park. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the park tour. We saw a lot of other creatures like bats and cool insects that our guide pointed out with his scope.
Thanks for all the details. I guess we stayed very close to the property and didn't know it. Where we stayed was fine, but the beach access was terrible, a big long steep muddy hike to get down.
Your family will love Tulemar! As others have noted, the park is worth a visit but we saw more wildlife on property and preferred the property beach. As for Arenal we stayed at Lost iguana and enjoyed the property (to bad the volcano is not active). Our family really liked the hanging bridges, sky trek zip lines, Eco thermals hot springs(stay for dinner) and the horseback ride to la Fortunate waterfall. Enjoy!
Having traveling with kids that age, I would skip Cano Negro. You already have a lot of driving to get from place to place, so to do a full day tour to see wildlife is just adding to the driving. You will see a lot of wildlife already, both in MA and at the Springs, so it's not necessary to me. The drive is long for the amount of time you're on the water. And yes you get to see a lot, it in the distance for the most part. The Damas Mangrove boat trip in Manual Antonio is somewhat similar and you don't have to drive hours to get to it.
As far as the transportation - I think a nice balance is to rent a car while you're in Arenal and hire a driver for the transportation between locations. We've done this and it worked well. For us it was nice to have the flexibility to have our own vehicle in Arenal to go to restaurants, drive to Sky Trek, even just drive around the lake. Just be on our own time. But then with the kids, to have a driver drive us on the long trips took away a lot of the potential stresses. It was also nice to have someone to narrate the ride for us. We've also done the drive on our own. But I find the drive from Arenal to MA to be long and prefer to have a driver. The one from San Jose to Arenal is much shorter. You could consider picking up the car at the airport and driving that leg on your own and turning in the car after Arenal. You definitely don't need a car in Manual Antonio - as others have said. We did walk to dinner each night. I don't remember taking a taxi anywhere, although maybe we did.
As Birdie mentions, do keep in mind that the undertow can be very strong. The waves don't have to be very big, but that water can be very deceiving. That being said, my daughter and I spent hours and hours on the boogie boards they had for us there. We had an absolute blast. We never ventured to the National Park. Never felt a need to - there was a lot of wildlife on the property and the beach was great.
I think one thing we found each time we've been to CR with our kids is that regardless of how much I thought I knew what we planned to do each day, between the unpredictable weather and just getting caught up in each day - we never really did what we intended to do. So have some ideas in mind, but especially with the kids, be flexible.
We loved the Springs, but we didn't enjoy the wildlife preserve there. It consists of cats in cages which to us was kind of sad, like a zoo. Otherwise the property is great. Kids may enjoy being able to get so close to big cats. It's not a very natural setting though.
We did the Damas mangrove tour in MA which only takes a few of hours. While the tour was enjoyable, we didn't like that our guide baited the monkeys. Next time this is something I'd inquire about before booking. |
We are going to Kauai in January 2005. The cost of our already booked airline tickets has gone done ~$80 per person (five people). Do you know if United charges a fee to receive a voucher for the difference?
We booked through a travel agent (who is closed today) who appears to be under the impression that you cannot receive a voucher for the difference. BeachBoi mentioned in a previous post that this can be done and to check with my agent.
I am just trying to get more information as I cannot find any on United's website. Are there any United travelers that have received a voucher difference?
United States ForumsStart a new topic Change Forum
United Airlines Question
We are going to Kauai in January 2005. The cost of our already booked airline tickets has gone done ~$80 per person (five people). Do you know if United charges a fee to receive a voucher for the difference? doubt it, knowing the financial state United is in. Frontier wouldn't do it for us recently, either. Give you agent a call anyway, and good luck.
kikahead...Hey ,sup? Yep, I just had this happen to one of my tiekcts on Thursday...If your agent is closed,call United.They have always been very helpful to me.Best of luck!
I have a UA employee sitting right next to me and said that YES, UA will reimburse the difference. Travel agent will have to file claim....
They will do it as long as, at the time of your call, their system shows 5 seats available to your destination on the exact same flights that you've booked , now showing a lower fare.
Thank you thank you!! The travel agency is open today so I will call him and have him make the switch!
kikahead, would you please post the outcome? I always thought an airline wouldn't make any adjustments until the price difference was $100 minimum, and then with a fee charged.
Maureen...Every airline is different.American just recently changed their policy.They will all try to get us, one way or the other.
Kikahead, I would call the airline and then the agent, so you will be "armed with knowledge" talking to the agent.
Maureen, each airline has different rules. I got a $40 voucher from American for free. To use it they now have a $5 charge.
Yep, those airline vouchers have so many strings attached they are just about worthless. I still have four from United for $75 each that haven't been useful yet! I usually get better fares on the internet than I can get going directly to United, even with the $75 discount.
Well I was able to get it. The travel agent sent me back to United, they are sending a voucher for the difference. Again, Beachboi thank you so much for letting me know that United does do this!!!! We will be receiving $400 which is a notable amount!!
kikahead....Glad it worked out in your favor....Glad to help and you are soooooo right that $400 is huge.
Kikahead, don't forget to use them! within a year? |
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- 3/4 cup broccoli , cut into small pieces
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You voted for it and here we have it, the New Croque-Monsieur, FoodMayhem style. In preparation for our super awesome Grilled Cheese, Lon made mustard, and I made Challah (Peter Reinhart’s recipe). The Challah should be made and sliced the day before so that it can stale. (Don’t worry, I ate plenty of it fresh that day too. )
New Croque-Monsieur
~Serves 4
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 (roughly 7″ x 3.5″ x 1″) slabs of day old Challah
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons Sweet & Spicy Mustard, divided
- 4 oz shredded Gruyere, divided
- 6.4oz ham (Niman Ranch Jambon Royale), divided
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions -
1. In a pan or dish large enough to hold all the bread in one layer, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, sugar, and salt. Lay the Challah flat in the pan. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Turn it over and let is sit for another 30 minutes.
2. Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter on medium low heat, on a cast iron skillet. Place two pies of challah on the skillet. (The side you cook first will end up being the inside of the sandwich. )
3. When the challah is golden on one side, flip one piece over. Spread 1 tablespoon of mustard on. Sprinkle 2 ounces of gruyere. Lay on ham. Sprinkle with black pepper. Place the other piece of challah on top, uncooked side facing up.
4. When the bottom is golden, flip entire sandwich over to finish the last side. When the last side is golden, remove from heat and cut in half.
5. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make another large sandwich (again cutting in half to make two)..
I wanted to add in a comment or two just about the taste of this sandwich. It was ridiculously good. Jessica and I sat around moaning about the flavor. It is a bit sweet from the french toast and the mustard, a bit salty from the gruyere and ham, a bit tangy from the mustard and the pepper, it’s rich from the ham and the egg, and each bite melts in your mouth from the challah and the cheese.
Oh man, seriously, it has everything. This has got to be the winningest Grilled Cheese sandwich for Grilled Cheese month.
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for stopping by my blog…you got it, there’s no going back after panko
Now this sandwich, mmmm mmmmm mmmmmm, looks absolutely delicious, wow.
oh wow – there’s this french bakery/cafe here who features the croque monsieur… i’m sure yours would beat theirs by a mile!
MMMMMM….wow, this new croque monsieur sure gets my vote! yummie twist!!
Fabulous! Thanks for the recipe.
so THAT’S what a perfect breakfast sandwich looks like. good to know.
This is a serious eggy bread recipe Jessica!!
I love the photo’s, thank you for sharing ;0) |
A manufacturer of confectionary ginger is developing a new processing system that eliminates the need to use sulphites as a preservative, making its ginger products allergy-free.
Buderim Ginger, which is based in Australia, has been awarded AUS $245,100 (€123,000) in government funding to investigate a processing system that uses chlorine dioxide rather than sulphites, which are a recognised allergen, particularly for people with respiratory disorders.
The development would help the company tap into the growing “free-from” market which has largely been fuelled by the rising number of people with food allergies, according to analysts.
Steve Dennis, process and engineering manager at Buderim, said the funding, awarded under Queensland’s State Government’s Business and Industry Transformation Incentives scheme, would cover research into the performance of chlorine dioxide, the development of an automation system and the undertaking of trials.
He added: “This funding will help us transform our operations and enhance the products we deliver to our customers which is the most important aspect of our business.
“By having an allergen-free product, with no sulphites, we will be able to deliver even healthier ginger products into new markets in Australia and overseas.”
Buderim, which is described as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of confectionary ginger, has the capacity to process over 5000 ton of ginger per year. It also exports to more than 17 countries including the USA, New Zealand, Europe and Asia.
Manufacturers face strict regulations regarding the labeling of allergens used as an ingredient. For example, under current EU allergen labelling rules, companies are required to lable all pre-packed foods if they contain any of 12 listed allergenic foods, which includes sulphites.
Queensland Industry Minister, Desley Boyle, who announced the funding, said that the current trend in food processing was to remove sulphites and that Buderim was investigating the new processing system “to maintain its competitive edge, and to safeguard its export market”.
Free-from market
The "free-from" food market has been enjoying sales growth, with of over 300 per cent reported in the UK alone since 2000, as a result of growing numbers of people with reported food allergies, according to market analyst Mintel.
However, half of the reported food allergies amongst adults are not food allergies at all, according to a paper published in the journal Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.
It said that between 10 and 20 per cent of people see themselves as suffering from a food allergy, but the real figure may be half this.
The Wurzburg University study reported that, of the 419 people with suspected food allergies tested, less than 50 per cent actually had a IgE-mediated food allergy.
According to Allergy UK, 45 per cent of the UK population face food sensitivities at some point in their lives, and two per cent suffer from a food allergy. |
The dust has settled and another SXSW is in the books. If you’ve been following along along, you may have known that I presented this year with Will Turnage something called, “My Robotic Kitchen Planned this Dinner Party.” The talk outlined how technology in the kitchen needs to be used to analyze the holistic cooking experience rather than just focusing in isolation on a few discrete tasks. We had a great turnout and a receptive crowd, and you can listen to a full audio recording of the talk and see the slides embedded below from Slideshare.
In the talk, we demoed a rough prototype of a dinner planning app we built as a proof of concept. The app empowers a dinner party planner to customize, scale, and shop for a menu, then organize all of the required steps into one master to-do list. The central inspiration for what Will and I created is essentially a digitized version of the professional chef’s mind, where flexibility and adaptation are the hallmarks of the cooking approach…
We think that this approach represents a different way of looking at cooking instruction from what you typically find out there today. For instance, anyone can easily discover 3 recipes on any recipe site, but each of those recipes still exist in their own silo. The roast chicken recipe has no idea its being cooked with the roasted brussels sprouts and a side and apple pie for dessert. You still need to make your own mental leap to unify the steps of these dishes into one single to-do list and have a meal that’s efficiently prepared and well timed.
Someone who’s an experienced cook or professional chef naturally knows how to get all three of these things onto the table with minimal drama, but for most people, this kind of thing presents a challenge. Herein lies the gap in showing you how to plan and execute a dinner party and we think there’s real value in figuring this and many other problems out with technology.
There’s much more to be done, and the playing field is wide open for where this can go. At the end of the day, I believe that great things happen when you cook for those you care about. Knowing that, I wish everyone could cook more for the people in their lives and have the same great experience I’ve had doing the same. To the extent that I can help lower the barriers to cooking through technology, content, and inspiration, I will, and this is just the start.
Take a look/listen to the presentation and let me know what you think. Would this approach be valuable to you? Leave us a note in the comments.
All presentation photos by Steph Goralnick |
What a superpower wants
Baidu, the ten-year-old leading Chinese search engine firm, is developing a new mobile operating system, like Android or Windows, the Chinese media reports. What does this mean for the smart phone and mobile search/apps commerce market in the People’s Republic of China?
Earlier this year, Motorola’s announcement that its Android smart phones for China Unicom will embed Baidu as its mobile search engine was lost in media reporting regarding Google’s issues in China. This decision reflected Motorola’s bet that Baidu’s familiar search bar shall sell more Motorola phones among Chinese consumers.
However, Google’s Android platform raison d’être is to highlight the Google search engine (and various apps developed for Android OS), so that the user continues on both mobile and Internet with Google search and apps, like email. This is especially critical in the mainland China market, as it is one of a handful where Google does not reign supreme in search; China also follows the emerging markets model, where PC penetration follows mass mobile phone uptake.
As Baidu’s name evokes a Song Dynasty poem, which lyrically describes the search for the ideal amidst chaos everywhere, Baidu leaders envision China inundated by low-cost high-powered smart phones, which allows mobile search to “highlight” each user’s “ideal.” It is not just about Android, as Baidu is also working with the Symbian Foundation to integrate Baidu search into Symbian-OS phones (Symbian and its new owner Nokia have no search engine of their own to promote). According to Beijing research firm Analysys International, Symbian phones (Nokia) made up 72.1% of the smart phones sold in China during the fourth quarter of 2009. During the same period Android phone shipments were a miniscule 0.4% of the 7.25 million smart phones sold in China, yet Baidu projects more lower-cost smart phones made by many Chinese firms – based on Taiwanese Mediatek chipsets with Android OS plus radio frequency software and antenna plus touch-screen hardware case for a total bill-of-materials price of less than $60 — with volume shipments occurring by the fourth quarter this year and into 2011, in time for the Chinese Lunar New Year festival month.
By putting Baidu’s search bar into these new low-cost Android phones and possibly audaciously fielding its own mobile OS, Baidu would have extensive mobile branding and penetration with Chinese smart phone users, and retain them as desktop Internet users. Also, Baidu can embed in smart phones its Facebook-like “Baidu Space,” a SNS site that allows Chinese users to create personalized homepages with blogs and photos in a Web community.
A smart phone with a new Chinese operating system may also result in consumers using bundled Chinese “domestic” apps, like email, games, search – is this why the rumored Baidu project will most likely receive Chinese official blessing?
Having long memories, China’s Ministry of Information Industry officials recall their selection of GSM, the 2G European digital standard, under the brilliant former MII Minister Wu Ji-chuan, as the Chinese mobile standard in the mid-1990s. The GSM selection ushered into China foreign network equipment and mobile phone vendors (Ericsson and Nokia, by holding important GSM patents, occupied an advantageous position for GSM network and handset development, which left Chinese firms in catch-up mode). MII grudgingly worked with foreign suppliers, which made possible the enormous increase of Chinese mobile subscribers, and also concluded that a domestic mobile industry was strategically important for the Chinese state and economy. So this nationalist outlook led to MII adopting a Chinese 3G standard — TD-SCDMA — which became a long saga for network deployment.
Crucially, all current mobile smart phone platforms – Android, Symbian, iOS 4, Windows Phone 7, WebOS, BlackBerry, and others – pose a problem to Chinese authorities: like the 1990s GSM and CDMA network standards, all are foreign-made. Foreign firms, according to MII, take revenues from Chinese enterprises (like carriers’ networks) and consumers, as well as having the potential to embed socially “harmful” software apps into handsets, including mobile search for politically sensitive topics. Ultimately, a China-domestic smart phone operating system (with Chinese-made apps) plus a domestic mobile search engine will be the best strategic 3G smart phone combination for MII. Hence, MII will certainly lobby China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom (the three Chinese mobile carriers) to push handset suppliers like Lenovo and Huawei (plus other OEMs for new tablets, auto apps, TV set-top boxes) to adopt new Chinese mobile platforms.
Baidu’s 2009 revenues reached $631 million (comparatively, Google’s global fiscal 2009 revenues totaled $24 billion). Both Baidu and Google are clashing in a market of 450 million Chinese Internet desktop search users. Moreover, by 2014, the iSuppli research firm projects 110 million 3G phone users, all busily conducting mobile search. In the second quarter of 2010, according to Analysys International, Chinese mobile users chose Baidu first for mobile queries (34.3%). Shenzhen-based firm Easou.com (with WAP-based mobile search partnering with Chinese Web portal Sohu.com) was the second most popular choice, followed by Google.
The Chinese Internet and mobile search business currently totals $1 billion. So is the $1 billion market Baidu’s sole focus, or is the goal to buy time until revenues flow in from markets outside China?
For Baidu, success in the mainland China Internet market in the long term will not result in wildly successful revenues. But China is the one market Baidu knows best and if it lost China search market to a competitor, it can’t make up revenues in another market like North America. The challenge for many Internet players (including many game firms) in the China market is that simply, the payment and revenues model does not work in the same way as in North America, Europe, and Japan – where Internet advertising, metrics, ROI, and payments are all highly developed. Likewise in the m-commerce market, the Apple App Store model is not successful in China, as payment issues continue to plague all Chinese m-commerce sites with industry insiders whispering about recent high bad debt figures generated by Chinese iPhone users utilizing fake credit cards for game downloads.
Baidu’s longer-term strategy is to launch Internet search sites in other countries with developed advertising and revenues markets. This is why Baidu launched a search site in Japan, not an easy market (Baidu currently ranks last among Japanese consumers) – yet Japan is the second-largest advertising market in the world, dominated by Yahoo! Japan, plus Google chipping away at No. 2.
Recently Baidu announced that it will hire 30 software engineers in the United States, and this group will probably be the core team for developing search engines in other languages. However, this “globalization” recruiting project highlights Baidu’s uber-Chinese identity, as among 8,000 Baidu employees, probably only a dozen have non-PRC passports.
Many Chinese firms exhort on their company Web sites that they can develop the right products for Western and Japanese consumers. In the search world, the fundamental reason why a consumer chooses one search engine over another is “intuitiveness,” or how the algorithms “learn” by conducting searches again and again to present the “desired” information in the shortest list in the shortest amount of time — not tens of millions of irrelevant links. In a universe where most Japanese now choose Yahoo! over Google, or a South Korean favors Naver, a Russian goes to Yandex, or a Chinese user picks Baidu, or an American goes for Google (with others for Microsoft’s revived Bing), Baidu’s challenge is how quickly the highly-successful Chinese search player creates a better product so that consumers select Baidu as the top search engine across multiple markets and languages.
Breaking news: On July 27 2010 Yahoo! Japan announced that it is switching to the Google search engine as the back-end search technology. Through this significant coup Google will power more than 90 per cent of all Internet search queries in the Japan market, but the consumer user interface would be different on Yahoo! Japan and Google Japan sites. During 2001 to 2004 Google’s search engine powered Yahoo Japan’s queries until the Japanese-language site completed its installation of Yahoo’s back-end technology.
Ray,
As always, a thorough and clean assessment of the situation. But you failed to note that foreign companies can co-operate with the PRC as well as Chinese companies. I think the bias is against equity control of the asset, rather than lack of compliance with political or nat sec aims.
What I mean is, the Chinese want to own the whole thing no matter how co-operative the foreign company might be. |
Daniel Nye Griffiths, Contributor
I write about the intersection of entertainment, tech & business.
Controversy today emerged over the language used by -, ‘girlfriend ‘girlfriend’ ‘girlfriend.
Non-issue, even more so than the last few times this came up and you’ve written about it, luckily this time around the majority seems to agree going by comments on say Kotaku or RPS:
The more militant certain people quibble about trivialities, the more it is likely to derail any bigger issue (if there is any) into ridicule and the less people are going to agree.
All that is going to come from this is that studios/publishers won’t let developers speak to “journalists” freely anymore out of fear of some misguided righteous backlash and instead send steeled PR people trained in the ways of the tongue to do the talking and one can expect even more politically correct but inherently meaningless interviews instead of honest pieces. But go on preaching if you want.
I think the “trivialities” are often the most stark examples of endemic thought-patterns, and the dismissive attitude with which people treat “trivialities” underscores how insidious these ways of thinking are.
This is the same fundamental problem as using “fag” to insult someone. The defense is, “I’m not literally saying they’re gay.” but that was never the issue; the issue is that a word which means “a gay person” is being used to insult someone. That implies that being gay is negative and to be avoided, whatever meaning you claim to hang on the word when you use it to deride.
Language is non-trivial when it reveals unacknowledged prejudices.
Entirely through? And while you started out alright trying to relativize it somewhat and put it into perspective you still got from the harmless act of a developer uttering the words “girlfriend skill tree” upon which a large amount of journalists started a collective hissy fit (I’m just wondering what’ll be next to cause such a “controversy”, the barrier for entry seems to get ever lower) to somehow talking about “endemic sexism” in the entire industry and frustration and disgust this might apparently cause.
And if you are hoping “to have a conversation about who developers actually are developing for, how the market works, who they expect to play their games” etc. this will likely cause the opposite and lead to an even more locked process with only marketing bits getting through and developers not being allowed to talk at all (or even less than already).
This was an interesting glimpse into the decision process of one of the largest publishers, if you want to look for a problem maybe begin there:
Kotick also put it rather bluntly in another article: “Most of the 20 years, that I have provided for growth at Activision, we were content to make products that are attractive to the 16-35 year old guy who has gotten no date for Saturday night.”
Another recent game with a “girlfriend mode” is also Divinity: Original Sin:
Going to have to side with dexter in large part here. This might be a bit of a shocker but men and women are different! :-O
Being so consistently PC and thin-skinned is likely just to lead to people not wanting to speak to journalists for fear of being called racist/homophobic/sexist/whatever.
Fact is that many video gamers are male, and many women are just not as good at games. Heck, even my father who is not exactly a tech guru, knows more about gaming and the computer then my mother. It’s not a slight to her or any other woman, we’re just different. My wife is legally blind and her artwork is about 10x better then mine. It’s not a slight to me, we’re just different. Speaking of a “girlfriend” mode or what-not is shorthand. We understand what it means and we also all understand that there are women who are good at playing games. There are male and female pro League of Legends players who I’m sure could wipe the floor with me and my Kayle. However, such short-hand is still readily intelligible to any of us. Can we just speak without having to constantly check ourselves against the PC dictionary of today’s acceptable language?
P.S. Insults are obviously in a different category.
They could have named it “Significant Other Mode”, and with the tagline: “you have to play SOM to get some”
But you see, that’s actually mildly clever and takes a modicum of effort. Much easier to say “lol girlfriends can’t play video games.”
“But the culture that created the idea, and why it is perpetuated – and why it feels so natural as a way to explain the concept of variable-difficulty co-op: that’s an interesting subject.”
***
It’s also something the gaming industry needs to seriously consider from a purely business prospective. In the USA 47% of gamers are women, so it makes zero sense to make sexist comments that could cost you almost half of your prospective customers. |
Rick Ungar, Contributor
I write from the left on politics and policy. published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
It would appear that Governor McDonnell was handed the plum assignment of firing the opening shot in the launch of Governor Romney’s TV offensive beginning today claiming that the President is doing away with the work requirements for welfare so that he can hand out taxpayer dollars to those unwilling to work and move his socialist agenda forward.
Can a Vice-Presidential offering for the Virginia governor be far behind?
The McDonnell editorial picks up on—and seeks to revive— last month’s failed GOP effort to create an overblown reaction to a tweak in the TANF laws. TANF is the Clinton welfare reform legislation—crafted through negotiation with Newt Gingrich into a bi-partisan Act of Congress—requiring that those receiving welfare assistance be actively seeking or performing work.. These states have discovered that the federal requirements are tying up too many welfare workers and resources with cumbersome paperwork, resulting in less time being spent by welfare workers on actually helping those getting assistance find the work they need to keep, and ultimately no longer need, the government aid.?
Not only are the Republicans going bananas over the President’ decision to show a little election year respect for the concept of more state control, they are doing so in typical, GOP fashion—a coordinated effort to make something big out of something remarkably small.
Say what you will about the well-executed GOP plan to oppose the President at every possible turn, but you certainly cannot criticize their ability to do so in an organized and coordinated manner. Run a Google check on the decision to permit the waivers and you’ll find page upon page of headlines utilizing the words “Obama Guts Welfare Work.” Nowhere will you find headlines or statements suggesting “Obama Modifies Welfare” or “Administration Gives More Control To States In Nod To Local Control”.
Rick, I stumbled upon your writings a month or so back, and oh what a relief it is to read the writings of someone so level-headed and calm nowadays. The misinformation one can find in the “news” as of late has made it mind-numbingly hard to find true news. Be it right or left leaning they just don’t take the time to tell all of the facts, rather cherry-pick what fits their agenda. Even sadder, they often ignore the facts and just make crap(grr, I hate changing my language for the delicate constitution types out there) up.
Anyhow, excellent reporting, and keep the truth flowing. I love the “Token Lefty” title.
I’m stunned and sickened by how the GOP has become a gang of lying thugs; maybe they always were, and I’m among the last to figure it out. I want to believe that I can learn something from everyone, and that no side is strictly “good” or “bad.” I’ve had a personal experience with the GOP’s deliberate misreporting of this issue. Here is a headline that was posted on the Eagle Forum (7/20/12, 9:17 a.m., PST), linking to Dick Morris (7/19/12): “Obama Repeals Welfare Reform.” At the time, I had Eagle Forum on my FB page (because I like to hear from both sides on issues, even some extremists). But the egregious lack of journalistic integrity took me aback, because this was merely a video of some evangelical (Dick Morris?) spewing opinionated rhetoric and avoiding specific detail. He posted no link to the Act or amendment that he spoke of! When I looked it up, myself, I could see that his assertions weren’t at all supported by the facts. “Repeals” was a blatant and malicious lie. And of course, he was peddling his book. I responded on Eagle Forum’s post, explaining that the word “repeal” was blatantly misleading, and I gave links to the black-letter law and explanations (Why did I think that they even cared about the truth?). I even used one conservative site’s link: I was respectful and tactful. That’s when Eagle Forum blocked me from commenting.
Rick, I think you actually make a very valid point here.
As you mentioned, it IS an election year. I commend Gov. Romney for running his campaign exactly like our current President runs his.
In the immortal words of Saul Alinsky: “The means justify the ends when it will work.”
I want to make sure I’ve got that right; Rick’s post is about an instance where the GOP is manipulating an Obama action that they actually WANTED just for the sake of making him look bad. And this isn’t the first time (let’s also remember that Obama’s evil ACA takes its basic design from Romney’s own health care reform in MA).
You’re going to have to tell me what the Dems are misrepresenting. I’ll agree Harry Reid may well have to “put up or shut up” over his claims that Romney hasn’t paid taxes, but it’s not impossible and we don’t know it’s not true. As for Bain… I see nothing being misrepresented at all. If Romney is running on his business experience (which is fair and worthwhile for him to do), he can’t ignore the damage that business went on to do after his “retroactive retirement”.
Oh yes, I have incredibly low expectations for almost any politician, especially in the midst of an election. Our President knows it; his challenger knows it.
Good job on this one Rick. Again, I think you described this situation clearly and fairly. I’m always on the side of the states to have the flexibility to adjust programs to meet the needs of their citizens.
Thank you for your vigilance. You have your thumb on the beat of insanity in this nation. I don’t think this issue would have popped up if it wasn’t for the apparent fact that the Republicans are growing desperate and would do anything to escape the consequences of your last article.
This man is insane. Mr. Romney’s for State’s Rights. He’s against State’s Rights. This is just an attempt to get the word “welfare” and “Obama” into the same sentence. The Republicans are banking on the belief that their supports will never understand the incongruity.
I think this column is an excellent companion piece to your previous column on Sen. Reid’s accusations on Romney’s taxes. This welfare modification and the Republican response is exactly why some of us felt schadenfreude at the mess Reid was kicking up. Yes, it was wrong and we’re above that, but it just felt SO good.
Now we are back to the current reality of Democrats doing good things to actually govern our country in a responsible and reasonable way only to have Republicans lie about what is happening to make us look bad. Seems the only choice we have is to play Charlie Brown with a football to the Republican Lucy or sink to their level. Frankly, I am tired of having the football pulled away and want to bash Lucy about the head and shoulders with it. This is wrong of me, I know, but I am at the end of my patience in dealing with the do-nothing Republican liars.
I wish the President would grab Willie Brown out of SF and fly him to Washington. Mr. Brown could show those folks in Washington really how to screw with a minority party.
OweBama (D) has NEVER done real work in his life — a yapper, not a leader.
He is a leadership FAILURE — food stamps, JOBLESSNESS and TAXPAYER DEBT are his accomplishments. He defeated a worn-out Navy pilot.
The faster OweBama (D) is separated from the public tax-teat, the better the USA will be.
If OweBama (D) is re-elected, the USA will be third-rate (D).
Great reporting, Rick. As an ex NYC street fighter, I would love to take this lying sack, Romney, into the school yard, and beat the living crap out of him. But, alas, I’m 50 years too late.
For a man like Romney, shameless as he is, and who claims to be so religious, perhaps he thinks in the end, he can buy his way into heaven.
The only reason any sane person would have voting for him? They must hate Obama so.
Ha Ha! I never said I was a GOOD street fighter. Where I grew up, you either fought your way to the end of the block, or talked your way to the end of the block. After a few busted heads, fat lips, and a broken nose, I became a pretty good talker.
Off topic, I know, but when Romney talks, ever notice that face he makes after a statement, where he purses his lips together, and nods to the audience? Classic body language indicating a lie. He does it ALL the time. Just sayin’
Rick, I commend you for including a link to the letter signed by Romney and most other governors, but apparently none of your commenters bothered to actually read it to see how you misrepresented what it said to make your biased “case”. The letter specifically asks the feds to provide ongoing vs. annual funding so the states can plan and execute TANF better. The “State Flexibility” paragraph asks for more state control over work requirements so more people can be moved “FROM WELFARE TO WORK”! They certainty did NOT ask for a waiver of work requirements as Obama has done, in the face of recent surveys that show over 65% of those surveyed favor solid work requirements for welfare recipients. And you are tying together two instances that were TEN years apart.
I encourage your readers to get the view of Heritage or some other reputable source for the basic facts on what the Republicans are arguing about before they once again drink the liberal Kool-Aid… |
!ENTITY % HTML.Version "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> Economics DepartmentUndergraduate ProgramsMinor in Economics Back to Undergraduate Programs Minor in Economics Minor in Economics at Fordham College Many students in Fordham College and in the Gabelli School of Business choose to complement their major with a minor in economics. The minor sharpens one's analytical skills and provides a clear and concise way of thinking that is helpful in addressing problems and issues throughout life. The economics minor is an excellent complement to a degree in philosophy, history or political science for students considering law school. The economics minor can provide a student with a competitive edge when applying to a graduate business school, indicating to such schools that the student is capable of rigorous analytical work in the demanding fields of micro and macro theory. Students interested in public sector or international affairs careers are well served by the economics minor, as they have been exposed to economic decision making and policy evaluation. Finally, the economics minor is favorably viewed by many corporate job recruiters as an indicator of the student's analytical abilities and commitment to a challenging academic program. Fordham College If you are in Fordham College, the minor in economics consists of six courses: Basic Macroeconomics Basic Microeconomics Statistics I or Macroeconomic Analysis or Microeconomics Theory Three upper level electives (3000 level courses) If Statistics I is selected for the core, then Macro Analysis and/or Micro Theory can be used as electives. The Basic Macro and Basic Macro courses also satisfy Fordham College's social science core curriculum requirement. Courses such as ECRG32240 World Povery, ECRG3210 Economics of Emerging Nations, ECRG3235 Economics of Latin America, ECRG 3242 Global Economic Issues ECRP 3570 Labor Market and Diversity,andECRP 3580 Economics of Diversity can be double counted to satisfy both Fordham College's global or pluralism distributive requirements and the economics minor. Students who are planning to complete an MBA in the future are advised to take Macroeconomic Analysis and Microeconomics Theory as two of their three upper level electives. A third course could be Math for Economists. Gabelli School of Business GSB students may minor in Fordham College. Because of its strong analytical content, an economics minor will complement the business concentration and enhance job search upon graduation. Because GSB students have already taken Basic Macroeconomics, Basic Microeconomics and Statistics I, they only need to complete three 3000-level economics courses for an economics minor. Note, however, that a course used towards the Business Administration concentration can not also be used to satisfy the economics minor. For example, if one wishes to use an economics course such as Money and Banking towards the Finance concentration, it can not also be double counted towards the minor in Economics. Course recommendations for different concentrations are as follows. Finance concentration Students should give serious thought to the following courses, especially if they are considering a career in Wall Street: Macroeconomic Analysis; Money & Banking; Financial Markets; International Finance; International Economics; Emerging Financial Markets; Issues in Financial markets; and Computer Applications in Economics. Accounting Complementary courses include Managerial Economics; Microeconomic Theory; Economics of Emerging Nations; Health Sector Analysis. Marketing and Management Systems Courses to consider include Managerial Economics; Microeconomic Theory; Health Sector Economics; Economics of Emerging Nations; World Poverty; International Economics Students who are planning to attend a graduate business school will find that Mathematics for Economists will provide them with the mathematical skills required by most graduate business programs. Macroeconomic Analysis and Microeconomic Theory are strongly recommended. There is no difference in course requirements between an economic's minor from Fordham College and a secondary concentration in Business Economics from GSB. One could argue that it is more interesting to potential employers that a student has received a minor from a liberal arts program, rather than a secondary concentration from the same school. Questions? Contact: Prof. Mary Burke Associate Chair Dealy 508 [email protected] |
US Work Visas / US Employment Visas
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The starting six for Morgan were Brianna Frick, Haley Harden, Kaelin Kuretich, Isabelle Garver, Nicole Kauffman and Danielle Gross.
First set:
Erie started the set with a serve and in less than two minutes into the game the score was 4-3 in favor of Fort Morgan. Garver stepped behind the line to serve and gained a point for the Mustangs before a missed dig gave Erie back the serve. After a strong series of volley's on both sides with a combination of passes and six spikes at the net, the Mustangs took the serve with just one more point on their board at 6-4. This was followed by another intense volley sending
Erie took the serve back at 9-6, but Fort Morgan quickly took the serve back at 10-8 with Gross at the line.
Kuretich dug a ball virtually out of the ground on defense to send it back over the net for an Erie flub for a point, and on the next volley Maddy Linton spiked the ball putting Fort Morgan ahead 13-9. Then Gross power spiked into the net, giving Erie the serve. Garver sent an ace out to Erie on their first serve for a point and to regain the serve where Kauffman stepped behind the line 14-10. Kuretich sent an ace over the net for another point putting Fort Morgan up by five points and Erie called a time out to regroup.
Kauffman continued her serve, and after another hard volley, Erie regained the serve at 15-11, but served into the net to give the serve right back to the Mustangs at 16-12. Frick stepped behind the line to serve and the Mustangs rallied a seven-point streak, before Erie regained the serve, but the damage was done at 23-14 with Morgan just two points away from the match point.
Erie volleyed their way to catch up by three points, but Fort Morgan regained the serve as Garver stepped behind the line at 24-17 to serving point 25, but after a volley the battle fell short for Fort Morgan, and Erie regained the serve at 24-18. The Mustangs struggle defensively giving up five points as Erie creeps up on their lead at 24-22, when Kuretich finally puts away the match point with a spike at the net ending the first set 25-22.
Second set:
Kauffman started the set behind the line serving up a point after five sets of volleys between the teams, but Erie quickly took the serve and tied it up 1-1.
A block at the net got Fort Morgan the serve back at 3-3 with Garver serving, but Erie took the serve back at 4-4. Kuretich with a spike at the net gained a point and the serve for Fort Morgan. With an awesome defense block at the net from Linton and Madalyn Brashears, Fort Morgan found themselves ahead by two points before giving up the ball and a point off their lead to Erie at 6-5.
Erie yet again caught up with Fort Morgan and the game -- for the next 19 points -- was a back and forth battle with each team gaining a lead by a point and then tying it and the switching leads by one point back and forth, until finally Gross served the 23rd point, gaining a two point lead. Frick and Garver put up a wall at the net, blocking a spike for the match point, with the final 25-21 Fort Morgan.
Third set:
Erie starts the serves but Frick powerfully sent it right back for a Fort Morgan point and serve. Brashears stepped behind the line and served up three points, making it 3-0 before Erie got the serve back at 3-1. After several volleys and points back and forth, Heather Coup shook up the Erie defense with her power and gained the serve back at 5-3, but Fort Morgan gave it right back with a mental collapse letting the ball drop between all six defensive players with no one making a move towards a pass.
After a few more volleys and points Kuretich served out of bounds, leaving Fort Morgan behind two points before another battle of point chasing for the next eight points for both teams and Erie took a time out.
After the time out Erie immediately regained the serve but Fort Morgan's defense shut down their lead streak and regained the serve coming back two points ahead with Garver behind the line serving. Abbey Tolson stepped in for Garver as a sub and continued Garver's hot serving streak with a streak of her own, putting Fort Morgan up seven points and two points away from the match point at 23-16 as Erie took the serve.
Karli Baker sent an ace over from the net to put the Mustangs at 24-17 with Kuretich serving. Fort Morgan flubbed a volley, missing the final point, but Erie served it out of bounds to give the Mustangs the match point in rally scoring with a final of 25-18.
"It was our first game and we were all a little jittery, but we've been working on our inner confidence at home, and I'm super proud they had each others' backs. The game is a roller coaster, but we can not be (a roller coaster) in attitude and intensity and focus, that's our new focal point and that helped us tonight," said head coach Tiffany Turner head coach.
Turner said she is really proud of the girls for their overall desire to defend the home gym and not sell themselves short, and to keep fighting. The Mustangs lost to Erie last year in a five-set match that kept them out of district play, so they came this year for redemption and earned it.
"Haley Harden did a great job, this was her first five to one setting gig on a varsity level, this was a long time coming for her with last year's setting now in college, she had to pay her dues. She knew this day was coming and she earned it. She's infectious and when she's confident it's a butterfly effect for the team, her intensity is great," said Turner.
Next game is at Sterling Thursday at 6:30 p.m. This is a team the Mustangs also lost to in a five-set match, and their looking for another redemption opportunity.
-- Contact Veronica Ivey at [email protected].
Article ID: |
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Being from the East Coast, I have a rather simplistic notion of the Arizona climate.
I picture heat. Dry heat. Skin-leathering heat. Throw in a coyote, a cactus and some adobe and you have my version of Arizona.
Like I said, simplistic.
What I don't picture is snow. Lots of snow. Sideways snow. Enough snow to imperil a PGA Tour event.
But that's exactly what the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship got on Wednesday when a mini-blizzard descended on the Golf Club at Dove Mountain, dropping over 1 1/2 inches of play-halting powder on the Marana, Ariz., resort.
Not a single match was completed before the opening round was suspended, and 22 golfers, including Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Louis Oosthuizen, didn't even make it to the tee.
"It's absolutely remarkable to think one minute we're playing golf, and then within a space of 25 minutes, it turns from playable to cold drizzle to sleet and to snow," said England's Ian Poulter, who at one point refused to putt on an icy green. "It's just bizarre."
Organizers are optimistic that a Sunday finish is still possible, with PGA Tour meteorologist Stewart Williams saying he "thinks the worst of the snow is probably over for us now." But Sunday finish or not, the bizarre conditions seem avoidable and unnecessary.
Let's keep in mind, this isn't the first time winter weather has hampered play at this event.
In 2011, about an inch of snow fell before the final-round showdown between Donald and Martin Kaymer. The match started on time, but play was briefly delayed when sleet descended on Jack Nicklaus-designed Dove Mountain.
"A couple of years ago, I know that it snowed the final round here," Jason Day said Wednesday. "I've never actually played golf to the point where we've actually stopped for snow, which is kind of crazy. A little crazy for it to snow in the desert, as well. But that's just how it is. Mother Nature can just do whatever she wants."
Yes, Jason, Mother Nature is uncontrollable, but that doesn't mean we can't adjust to avoid her fickle whims.
According to last May's press release, The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain and the PGA Tour only have an agreement through this year's event. In the release, the Tour's executive vice president of championship management, David Pillsbury, stated that "We're excited to continue the long-standing tradition of world- class golf in this marketplace at least through 2014," but he didn't specify Dove Mountain as the 2014 host.
Regardless, it's time to make a change in the coming years.
The PGA Tour's winter stretch is designed to maximize optimal playing conditions while a significant portion of the country is still bringing a six- pack to the nearest indoor golf simulator. Hell, the Tour doesn't even sniff my neck of the woods until at least May, and that's the way it should be.
On Wednesday, guys had fun with the situation. Rickie Fowler had a snowball fight in the parking lot, and a slew of players took to Twitter and Instagram to document the wonderland.
It's always fun to see your favorite athletes with their guard down, but it's even more fun to see them do what they do best. In this case, what they do best is play golf, so let's get this event to a place where they can do just that. |
WebMD Pet Health News
By
Daniel J. DeNoon
Reviewed by
Laura J. Martin, MD
Nov. 23, 2010 -- Why are cats so aloof? It's not because they're smart.
A study of 511 mammal species finds that more social animals evolve bigger brains. Cat brain size has grown less than that of cows, rhinos, and dogs.
Atop the list of brain-size-evolvers -- by a long shot -- are humans and apes. Other animals that have evolved larger and larger brains over time are the wet-nosed primates (such as lemurs), toothed whales (such as dolphins and sperm whales), single-toed hooved animals (such as horses and donkeys), camels and llamas, and dogs.
Animal suborders that did not evolve significantly larger brains include cats, odd-toed hooved animals such as rhinos and tapirs, and grazing animals such as cows and deer.
Cats, in fact, are at the bottom of the brain-size-evolving list.
When plotted against the ability of each group of animals to form stable social groups, a correlation emerges. The more socially successful animals tend to be those that evolved larger brains over time.
"Groups of species whose brain size has been increasing most over evolutionary time are those that are typically very social," study co-author Susanne Shultz, PhD, tells WebMD in an email. Shultz is a fellow of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, U.K.
But do their big brains really make these more socially skilled animals smarter, or are they just a bunch of big-headed louts that hang out together?
"Intelligence is one of the difficult questions," Shultz says. "There is evidence from living species that those with large brains are better at learning, developing novel behaviors, adapting to new environments, and so on."
So if brain-size evolution is linked to smarts, cats would rank below cows, which would rank below dogs.
It's doubtful, however, that Shultz's research will settle the are-dogs-smarter-than-cats question. Cat lovers can always argue that cats were created smart and simply didn't need to get any smarter. Or more social.
Shultz and co-author Robin Dunbar, PhD, report their findings in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
SOURCES:Shultz, S. and Dunbar, R. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online Nov. 23, 2010.Susanne Shultz, PhD, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkins Fellow, Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, U.K.
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SOURCE National Docketing Association
National Docketing Association to host conference with exhibitors catering specifically to legal docketing professionals and administrators.
CHICAGO, March 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Docketing Association ("NDA") today announced its First Annual Conference for its members and guests to be held at the Hotel Sax Chicago on September 13, 2013. Featuring a full day of educational sessions and other learning opportunities, presentations by industry experts, panel discussions, networking prospects, and the chance to learn about the latest in docketing and legal management products, services and technology from well-known and trusted business partners, the 2013 NDA Annual Conference is the premier event for any docketing related professional and administrator.
"The NDA Annual Conference offers attendees the opportunity to share ideas with other docketing professionals and learn new ones, influence vendors on product development, and establish connections that will provide a valuable resource to enable problem solving and insight from people who understand the exact issues they face each day," said Chris Gierymski, the National Docketing Association president. "Sponsors will get the chance to meet directly with the people who use their products and services, understand the value of docketing support, and heavily influence the decision making process at their firms and legal departments."
"The NDA Annual Conference is a unique opportunity for docketing experts to gather in one location and experience the value of a tech show atmosphere with sessions and exhibits directly related to their profession," stated Alex Manners, Director of CompuLaw for ADERANT. "There has not been anything like this in the legal markets on a national scale."
There is no charge for media covering this event, including meals. For media credentialing, conference materials, or additional information, please contact Chris Gierymski as referenced below.
A complete schedule and further information about the NDA Annual Conference can be found at.
Established in 2011, the NDA is a unique association providing support, training and other high-quality resources to professionals involved in the docketing function, including specialists, technical staff, secretaries, paralegals, administrators, support managers and attorneys in the public and private sectors.
Contact Information:Chris Gierymski, PresidentNational Docketing AssociationPhone: 312.984.6095chris.gierymski@nationaldocketing |
Machines Take Over Wall Street
“[John, holding a gun to his head]
Terminator: You cannot self-terminate.
John Connor: No, you can’t. I can do anything I want. I’m a human being, not some . . . damn robot.
Terminator: [correcting him] Cybernetic organism.
John Connor: Whatever! . . . .
Terminator: Based on your pupil dilation, skin temperature, and motor functions, I calculate an 83% probability that you will not pull the trigger.”
“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
If it weren’t so serious, it would really be pretty funny. Just imagine – computers controlling Wall Street trading go berserk – film at 11! Well, that’s pretty much what recently happened.
Within the last few years, some strange things have been happening on Wall Street. It seems that the computers which engineer trades faster than humans can follow, recently went stone cold bonkers again – the digital version. Instead of discharging their programmed duties, the trading computers on the morning of Wednesday, August 1, suddenly flooded the market with millions of trades . . .
The story has been unraveling ever since.
A maverick algorithm, those mathematical Zen koans, which guide so much of our computer technology well beyond the barriers of normal human understanding, repeatedly bought and sold millions of shares. Companies like Radio Shack, American Airlines, Best Buy and Bank of America, all saw their trading volumes explode beyond all comprehension. Human comprehension, that is. Advanced technology strikes again.
The trading algorithms are designed to make money on tiny fractional moves of a stock, focusing smaller, and moving faster, than any human can imagine.
We live in a 21stC world, where few of us understand anymore how any of our machines work, or how to fix them when they break. Even the supposed experts often just throw the machine in the garbage and substitute it with a new one, freshly burst free from its shrink wrapping. The product cycles of our electronic machines are now so short that one cannot become attached to any generation because there is always a generation coming right behind which will be promised to be better and more advanced. Who wants to be left behind? Not us.
Computers came to Wall Street long ago already. With them came the ‘Quants,’ former math and physics grad students, who tired of academia, and wanted to drive Ferrari’s and Maserati’s just like some of their far less intellectually accomplished classmates were doing, who were working on Wall Street during the gravy years. Presto, high finance meets modern computing power.
Periodically, regulators and the public have questioned the fairness of having computers, programmed to trade stocks, bonds, derivatives and all manner of financial paper, trading in competition with humans. The average Day Trader sitting at his or her computer from early morning on, cannot read and absorb enough information to be able to act as fast as a computer programmed to execute lightning fast trades – it simply cannot be done.
What we now call the “Flash Crash” of 2010 (a/k/a “The Crash of 2:45”) happened on May 6, 2010. On that Thursday, all of a sudden, the Dow Jones Index crashed some 1,000 points (9% of it’s then value), only to recover minutes later, to the astonishment of human traders standing around, who could only scratch their heads in amazement. This was the second largest intra-day point swing, a 1,010.14 point plunge, and the biggest one-day point decline, 998.5 points, in the Dow Jones’ long and storied history. Trillions of dollars were lost. The SEC (and the CFTC, overseeing commodities trading) studied the problem, and jointly wrote a big report – Congress held hearings. The cause? Still a subject for robust debate, several theories, and much speculation, I am afraid.
The recent Wild Wednesday berserk computer trades went beyond anything seen in the 2010 Flash Crash. “The machines have taken over, right?” speculated Patrick Healy, the CEO of Issuer Advisory Group, a consulting firm.
The crazy, out of control trading seemed to center around one New Jersey stockbroker, who specializes in computer trading..
In case you have forgotten about the serious threats of cyber-warfare against a civilization which became utterly and completely dependent on computers within practically a single generation, you can bet that some hacker in North Korea, or Lord knows where else, has not forgotten. ‘Pull the thread, and watch the whole sweater unravel.’ That’s the risk. |
A U.S. judge on Friday rejected a proposed $8.5 million class action settlement with Groupon Inc
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego found fault with a provision in the settlement that would have set aside $75,000 to be divided among two non-profit groups. The judge said neither of the organizations were "expressly committed to righting the specific wrongs alleged in this case."
While Sabraw denied other objections to the settlement by members of the class, he said he had to reject the entire settlement because he did not have the authority to strike just the charity provisions.
Representatives for Groupon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
John Stoia, a lawyer at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd representing plaintiffs who bought vouchers on Groupon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision marked the latest by a court to address so-called cy pres awards in class actions, in which money is dedicated to charity rather than distributed to the plaintiffs themselves. Cy pres comes from a French phrase meaning "as near as possible."
The charitable awards have become common when the amount of money recovered is small and the class itself is large, making distribution impractical.
The charities are typically intended to represent the interests of the classes of plaintiffs.
But in several instances, courts have rejected the settlements after finding the money dedicated to the cy pres award should go to the plaintiffs themselves, or are going to inappropriate charities.
Groupon agreed to the settlement in April as the Chicago-based company sought to put behind it lawsuits alleging that its vouchers violated federal and state laws applying to the expiration dates for gift certificates.
Among the laws Groupon allegedly violated was the federal Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which restricts the sale of gift certificates that expire in less than five years. Groupon denied the allegations.
Of the $8.5 million, $75,000 was set to go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology, two organizations concerned with Internet rights.
But Sabraw said neither organization was focused on the core issue of the case -- expiration dates and other restrictions on consumer vouchers or misleading advertising related to vouchers.
"That consumers purchase vouchers on the Internet is not enough," he said. "Indeed, it is incidental to the claims at issue in this case."
Sabraw said he agreed with objectors who argued that the money should instead be distributed to the class itself.
Representatives for the non-profits did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case is In re Groupon Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, No. 11-md-02238.
(Editing by Eric Effron and Richard Chang)
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Like Strauss-Kahn, Christine Lagarde Dragging Baggage Into Likely IMF Directorship
(Pictured: "Bilderbergers" building bridges.)
In the infamous column in which French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy cried his outrage at the public humiliation inflicted to Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the aftermath of his arrest, one sentence described particularly well the unspoken but unshakeable consensus governing politicians and the law in France. Levy expressed his indignation against: “The American judge who by delivering him to the crowd of photo hounds, pretended to take him for a subject of justice like any other.”
The idea that Strauss-Kahn should not be treated as “a subject of justice like any other” remained a leitmotiv through the flood of media reactions to his arrest in France. Because he had more to lose than “a vulgar delinquent” would have in a similar case, the argument went, because of his years of service to the world as head of the IMF and because of his prestige as future presidential candidate, he should be given special treatment. His disgrace should be hidden from public view; he should be spared the humiliation and disagreement of handcuffs, detention, and monitoring; and most importantly he should be given the benefit of the doubt.
This is nothing new in under the sun in French Politics. During his twelve years as President, Jacques Chirac was cited in nine different corruption cases while shielded both by presidential immunity and a merciful public opinion. One of his former Prime Ministers, Alain Juppé, was convicted of corruption in 2004, only to be recently welcomed back into Sarkozy's government in the key spot of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Other prominent members of the French government have been implicated in scandals in the past few years, from Minister of Budget Eric Woerth's shady dealings with L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to former Minister of Interior Brice Hortefeux's conviction for racial slander. While these cases certainly sparked media scandals, Sarkozy maintained his public support to the indicted ministers -- perpetuating the tradition of that political figures benefiting from impunity, proportionally to their rank. The message is clear: you might have to lay low for a couple of years after the scandal but you will be protected, and eventually come back safely to the front rows of power.
Another such disreputable figure is Bernard Tapie, a Berlusconi-esque figure who has dabbled in murky-yet-profitable business ventures, show business, politics and soccer club management. He last hogged newspaper headlines in 2008, for receiving 403 million Euros of public funds in compensation for having been cheated fifteen years earlier by the French Bank Credit Lyonnais in the sale of the firm Adidas, which he headed at the time. In a time of economic downturn, public opinion was outraged that Tapie would received such a colossal sum, coming straight from their tax-Euros. But most importantly, the procedure through which the settlement was made was shady: three arbiters were picked to review the case and come to a decision behind closed doors a process contested at the time by several legal commentators, since public funds were involved.
Most critical to the affair is who took these questionable decisions and personally picked the arbiters: France's Minister of Economy and Finances, and now leading candidate to take Strauss-Kahn's spot as head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde. Lagarde could face prosecution for “abuse of authority” in this case, as the Cour de Justice de la Republique (CJR), in charge of judging crimes and offenses perpetrated by Ministers in office, is evaluating the case and deliberating on the need for further investigation. More severe than the dubious process chosen to settle the case is the fact, revealed by french independent news website Mediapart (), that Lagarde knew of a relationship between one of the arbiters and Tapie's attorney and chose not to interrupt the process or appeal its outcome.
In the mainstream media's coverage of Lagarde's candidacy, the case is usually referred to as a detail, almost a footnote. Lagarde herself dismisses these accusations as innocuous. “I am perfectly confident and serene regarding this subject and this has absolutely no bearing on my candidacy” she declared on June 10th, after her audience was pushed back to July. Once again, just as Strauss-Kahn's widely known compulsion toward sexual harassment never impeded his political ascendency, we are faced with an example in which a political leader is not held to the rule of law because of a “special treatment” granted by her position on the national and now global political chessboard. There is serious evidence that Christine Lagarde, in the cesspool of corruption that is France's political landscape turned a blind eye on another instance of cronyism. Should it be disregarded as Strauss-Kahn's history of sexual “misconduct” was four years ago?
Jeanne Kay is an intern at Foreign Policy in Focus. |
- France - fraud - Jérôme Kerviel - justice - Société Générale - trial
Rogue trader Kerviel launches appeal
Société Générale rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel appealed his 2010 conviction in a Paris court on Monday, saying he was "not responsible" for the €5 billion in losses from risky trades that almost bankrupted one of France's biggest banks.
News Wires (text)
AFP - Rogue trader Jerome Kerviel argued Monday at the start of his appeal hearing that his ex-employer Societe Generale bank knew he was making the risky gambles that eventually cost it five billion euros.
"I am not responsible for this loss and the acts I am accused of. I always acted with the knowledge of my hierarchy," he told the judge when asked why he was appealing his 2010 conviction.
The 35-year-old Frenchman was originally sentenced to five years in jail with two years suspended for breach of trust, forgery and entering false data into computers during the 2008 covert stock market deals.
The original verdict also required him to pay back the staggering 4.9 billion euros ($6.0 billion) which his market gambles cost Societe Generale and which nearly ruined the bank.
Critics of that ruling said it made him a scapegoat for a banking system based on pure greed.
Kerviel, who wore a dark-blue suit and white shirt for his Paris court appearance on Monday, has consistently argued that his superiors knew what he was doing and turned a blind eye as long as he was making them a profit.
Rejecting charges that he acted alone, he has insisted the firm knew all about his $50 billion in trading positions, and even encouraged him to take risks.
Kerviel, who told the court he was currently unemployed and had no source of income, has admitted regularly exceeding trading limits and logging false transactions to cover his gambles, but says this was common practice.
Societe Generale management has argued it knew nothing of what Kerviel was up to.
Two months ago, Kerviel changed his lawyer, hiring David Koubbi, who has launched two countersuits against Societe Generale.
One accuses the bank of.
Societe Generale, which said in 2010 that it would spare Kerviel paying the full compensation, has hit back with two suits for malicious falsehood.
Since the Kerviel case exploded, banks have insisted that internal safeguards have been reinforced to prevent a repeat.
Societe Generale was fined four million euros at the time by the French banking commission for failing in its internal checks.
If his appeal fails, Kerviel faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros.
The appeal is set to last until June 28.
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So you've seen the photos and thought to yourself, "How the heck did they do that?!?!" well, we are here to help
answer those questions with the FrankenFAQ. We hope that these nuggets of information help shed light on some of our creations.
FAQ #1
Q: What power does
it take to drive a disk can (cage) from a 6xx or 7xx machine so I can
hook it up to my 170?
A: The cage has a 9
pin connector on the back with one pin missing so you can't connect it
backwards. The pins need the following voltages applied:
+5V +12V G G G G Pin +12V +5V
We have found that a 250W PC Power supply can handle two cages along
with a couple fans to keep the cages cool. Be Careful to allow for the
fans to come off for drive maintenance. Also watch fan speed because
those that go like crazy get kinda noisy!
FAQ #2
Q: Can't I just
apply power to that 'PC Like' 4-pin molex power connector on the back
of the can?
A: No. That
connector is output power to drive a tape or CD Drive only. Applying
power to that connector doesn't do anything.
FAQ #3
Q: Some of my disk
cans have two SCSI ports. Which do I use?
A: On the top cages
in the 6xx and 7xx machines there is an input 68 SCSI connector
(female) and an output connector (male) The Male connector MUST have
an LVD terminator connected or bad things will happen. The lower cans
have no output connector and have termination build in.
FAQ #4
Q: Can't I hook
anything to the output connector of the disk can?
A: Yes you can. If
you want to add an LVD tape drive or CD Drive, connect it there with
an LVD SCSI terminator downstream of the drive. You MUST set the SCSI
address of the drive properly. It can be address 0 but CANNOT be
address 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. These addresses are the 5 drives, the
SCSI backplane in the CAN and the SCSI controller.
FAQ #5
Q: My 720 has two
disk cans on the left which are full of drives but I am told I cannot
add a third can to the left side of my 720 model. But there is one can
on the right with no drives in it. Can I use that can?
A: Yes you can!
While iSeries Navigator will get all confused about the physical
location of the drives in that can you can run the SCSI cable from
that can through the center of the cabinet and connect it to port
three on the SCSI card (i.e. 2741, 2748). It already has power
connected to it.
FAQ #6
Q: What is this
high speed low speed slot thing? They sure look the same to me. Is
this to keep me from overloading the IOP or is IBM just limiting the
capabilities of my server?
A: The low speed
slots are missing some pin signals that certain cards really do need.
The reason for this is the SPD heritage of the machines where slots
have this designation (i.e. 6xx, 7xx, 170 and 250 machines with PCI
slots) If you put a 2838 in a low speed slot for example it will show
up and appear to be happy. However try to vary on an Ethernet line
description that uses the card and it will fail miserably even if you
configure the line for 10Mb.
FAQ #7
Q: I want to add
some extra disk units to my 170 but I already have 10 of 'em in there.
I've looked at FAQ #1 but I don't want to add another power supply.
Can't I simply draw power from one of the extra connectors inside my
170?
A: Maybe. The left
side power supply runs memory and processor and such and while it may
have extra power I would avoid overly stressing that power supply. The
one on the right side is usually a bit larger so it is a candidate.
Now if you have an Integrated Netfinity Card on the right you won't
have the extra power available to keep everything going. Without an
INS card there is enough power there to run one extra disk can and a
cooling fan. Frankie ran that way for over a year until we added
another INS card. We couldn't get the INS card to vary on in this
configuration - it would fail completely at some point during the vary
on.
FAQ #8
Q: Where does
Frankenseries.com run?
A: We at
Frankenseries.com eat our own cooking. Our web site, email, ftp etc
all run on Frankie. When we're messing with him you'll get an 'Oops'
page.
FAQ #9
Q: Does IBM support
Frankenseries.com?
A: Are you nuts?
They know we exist and think we're cool. When we call with problems
they laugh a lot. We have broken so many rules that even the local CEs
stand well clear of our stuff.
FAQ #10
Q: There is a big
UPS in the bottom of my old 720 which is being retired. Can't I use
that as a stand alone UPS?
A: While it is
possible, so far Dr. Franken has not yet ascertained the pin signals
needed to get it to fire up. Remember that an important function of
these UPS was to supply DC voltage to keep main storage powered during
a power outage. In addition to that you are messing with 240 Volts 20
Amps of AC power and 48 Volts (and 100 Amps?) of batteries either one
of which could cause big problems (serious problems like burns and
DEATH!) if improperly handled. If you aren't qualified to deal with
this stuff, keep your hands off! Also Dr. Franken has blown one of
those UPSs to smithereens, every single one of the 20 Power MosFets
inside the UPS exploded within about 3 seconds. They are about as loud
as a starter pistol and they throw flames when they go!! Fortunately
they are inside a stout metal box. (Thank you IBM.) In another
experiment my trusty assistant iGor caused the transformer in that UPS
to roll smoke.
Hmmmm. Do not try this at home, we're what you call 'experts.'
FAQ #11
Q: If I have more
drives in my system than IBM allows how can I maintain them if one of
them would fail?
A: Well you won't
maintain those through the iSeries navigator GUI! IBM has built in a
table of drive locations and tower layouts. Any disk unit above the
limit for the system clearly won't have an entry in the table.
Fortunately in Service Tools the drive will have an address and a
device name such as DD035. Service tools will happily allow you to
replace a failed drive using that name and then rebuild it if it's
RAID or MIRRORed. The only thing you cannot do is add more drives in
MT slots. This is since the MT slots aren't supposed to exist, the
drives that aren't in them don't have a name. You will need to put the
drives in and IPL the system for them to be recognized. |
Find 70s Disco, Soul, Motown & Funk bands for hire in The Borders...
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You might like to check out these sub-categories first:
Find 70s Disco, Soul, Motown & Funk bands for hire, from across Scotland, who are happy to travel to The Borders... »
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Packages range from £700 to £1500! ... » View band profile »
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_8<<
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Music Description: Motown and 70's disco tribute act
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Groove Revue are a four piece 60's/ Motown and 70's Disco Tribute Act comprising of three female vocalists and keyboards, saxophone and flute accompanied by professionally recorded backing tracks . The girls all share lead vocals which are filled out with three part harmonies not to mention the dance routines and outfits! The band is available for any specia ... » View band profile »
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Groove Sector are a wedding and function band based in Central Scotland. The band are made up of 8 professional musicians with a vast experience and play their instruments to the highest standard. They are primarily a soul band, but play a number of up to date songs in a soul style and their horn section gives them a great soul vibe. The musicians in Groove ... » View band profile » Love Pirates (based in Edinburgh)
Music Description: All-Round Party Covers Band
Packages range from £600 to £2000
The Love Pirates are a lively and dynamic band, specialising in filling dance-floors and keeping toes tapping with their carefully selected repertoire, ranging from the ‘50s right up to present day. A 5 piece group with a huge sound, TLP are equally adept at making the most of small rooms as they are getting the best from larger venues.F ... » »
Seton Shoals (based in Edinburgh)
Music Description: Soul/Disco/Funk cover band
Packages range from £500 to £1300 so ... » View band profile » »
Soul Kings (based in Edinburgh)
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Splash Showgroup (based in Glasgow)
Music Description: 5 Piece party/functions band
Packages range from £1250 to £3500 Entert ... » (84) (who travel to The Borders) |
You probably never even heard the name Costas Mandylor until the Saw films rolled around, but he's actually had a pretty storied Hollywood past and the Australian born actor has been in some major films and television shows that you've probably seen. To give a little pre-acting background, Mandylor played professional soccer for both Greece and Australia, before he suffered stress fractures to his shins. In 1987, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and it took just two years before he landed his first major role. That role was alongside Willem Dafoe and Edward James Olmos in the 1989 Holocaust biopic Triumph of the Spirit.
The fresh faced Mandylor portayed the real life character of enslaved Jew Avram Arouch, brother to lead character Salamo Arouch (Dafoe), who got shipped off to Auschwitz and seperated from his just married wife during the Holocaust of World War 2. Rather impressively for a big screen debut, Mandylor has a heck of a lot of screen time during the early parts of the film and he's a pretty pivotal and important character throughout and he turns in one hell of a performance.
In an incredibly intense scene about an hour into the film, Avram refuses to work in the ovens pulling gold teeth from those who were gassed to death and he is shot dead right on the spot. The death scene takes place entirely off screen, but its impact is felt for the remainder of the film and marks a huge turning point for Dafoe's character.
From there, Mandylor went on to have a role in 1991's The Doors as well as roles in the television shows Tales From The Crypt, The Outer Limits, Picket Fences (he starred in every episode), and most recently 7th Heaven, which i'm somewhat ashamed to admit I remember him from. Most interesting of all, Mandylor was featured as one of People Magazine's prestigious 50 Most Beautiful People In The World of 1991!
From most beautiful to the star of one of the most violent and bloody franchises in horror, Costas Mandylor's career path is certaintly an interesting one and I for one am glad to have such a talented actor in the horror world! I definetly have more of an appreciation for him now that i'm aware of his acting roots.
Check out Episodes ONE and TWO to find out where Tony "Candyman" Todd and Tobin "Jigsaw" Bell got their starts! |
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ps - we are getting an ice storm - I have to run to the bank, so I'm going to try to do it now before it gets worse out there. wish me luck, and I'll yell when I'm back. thanks sooooo much!! Cris ----- Original Message ----- From: ~OoO~ To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:41 AM Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: how? laptop settings to print Alrighty... now we're getting somewhere. So, the laptop does not seem to be accessing the network. We need to check if the wireless connection is, well, connecting. Let's answer a few questions: 1. The laptop uses 802.11g, right? 2. With the wireless connection on the laptop, there should be some sort of monitor on the bottom right for the wireless. If you hover over it or open it, somewhere on there should says CONNECTED or DISCONNECTED. Can you verify that it says CONNECTED? 3. Checking in the same spot as #3, if it says connected, it should tell you what SSID it is connected to. What is the SSID name given? 4. At this point, with the laptop, can you access the internet? 5. Using the laptop, can you access the router? How would you know. simple. open your web browser on the laptop (IE or any other) and see if you can access the router settings. If you can access the settings, then you're at least connecting to the router. If you cannot access the router settings, then you are not even connecting to the router. To access the router settings on a Linksys, you should type in the browser <> 6. Assuming you can access the router settings, look somewhere in there at one of the settings tab. I don't have a Linksys, so I am going off the top of my head here. But, it may be a tab called SETTINGS or STATUS or ADMIN. Point is, you are looking for a setting called SSID. When you find it, tell me what it is, and is it the same as the SSID the laptop is connecting to. 7. And, last important, are you using Cable or DSL? PS: As we correspond back and forth, DO NOT trim the post by deleting the old content. Leave it all here so I can keep skimming back and forth with your responses. Just hit REPLY, type and SEND. :o) Thanks. ---Troth -----Original Message----- From: pctechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pctechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Cris Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:28 AM To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: how? laptop settings to print Ok... Router is Linkseys Wireless G Cris-main-9-04 shows cris main, and allmine laptop. Laptop says - Schfam is not accessible, you might not have permission to use this network resource. countact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. the list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available. cris ----- Original Message ----- From: ~OoO~ To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:00 AM Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: how? laptop settings to print Ok. back to the drawing board. Here's what I have. You have a workgroup name of SCHFAM. Now. you've made sure that BOTH the desktop (cris-main-9-04) and the laptop (crislaptop) have the exact same workgroup name, right? Assuming that's correct, we can move to the next step. The desktop is XP Home. So, that's already set up as using 'simple file sharing', as that's the only way XP Home can be set. How about the laptop? Make sure 'simple file sharing' is enabled. Open MY COMPUTER. Go to TOOLS > FOLDER OPTIONS. Click on the VIEW tab. In the bottom pane, scroll all the way to the bottom. If XP Media Ed is the same as the Pro version, the last option at the bottom should say USE SIMPLE FILE SHARING (RECOMMENDED). Make sure that's checked. If the option is not there, let me know. Ok. Once you have that all set, shut down BOTH computers. Make sure they are both off at the same time. Turn the first computer on, the desktop, and let it boot up all the way. After its completely booted, move onto the laptop and start that one up. Same thing, wait for it to boot all the way through. Now. on each computer. open up MY COMPUTER again. On the left side, under OTHER PLACES, you should see MY NETWORK PLACES. Select that. Doesn't have to be done at the same time on each computer. You're just checking something, but you need to check on both computers. Anyway. once you're in MY NETWORK PLACES, on the left side, click on VIEW WORKGROUP COMPUTERS. When you do that, you should see both computers (the computer you're currently on, and the other computer). Check and let me know if both computers are listed. After you respond to this one, we can continue. -- <Please delete this line and everything below.> To unsub or change your email settings: To access our Archives: -- <Please delete this line and everything below.> To unsub or change your email settings: To access our Archives: -- <Please delete this line and everything below.> To unsub or change your email settings: To access our Archives: |
For a long time, hibernation has been associated with proprietary operating systems. Now, the feature has started taking the front row in GNU/Linux systems too. What’s more, it’s fast, flexible and is a real time saver!
Introduction
Software hibernation or suspend-to-disk is a very productive operating system feature. It has many advantages over a cold system start or reboot. Not only does the hibernated system load up faster, the user also gets back to his previous session without much effort. This is important because of the time the user saves by avoiding the need to set up a work session again.
So, how is hibernation different? It is different because it saves the contents of the RAM (Random Access Memory) into some non-volatile storage medium before shutting down the system. Consequently, when the system boots up again, the operating system loads the suspended image from disk to get back to the previously stored session.
Software suspend, as hibernation is popularly known in Linux systems, has evolved a lot in present day kernels. It is constantly getting more and more stable and useful. Some implementations are available in the kernel while one is available as a patch that can be applied to the 2.4 or the 2.6 series. This article is meant to introduce you to the implementations available and the features that they provide.
Not only does the hibernated system load up faster, the user also gets back to his previous session without much effort
History and available methods in Linux
The history of software suspend in Linux can be traced to Gabor Kuti and Pavel Machek who developed a patch for the 2.2 series known as
swsusp. It was probably an abbreviation for swap suspend as the snapshot image was written to the active swap partition of the system. Gabor used to maintain these patches on his personal page. The code base for this patch became the basis for three different implementations that we have today:
swsusp,
suspend2 and
uswsusp.
swsusp was first incorporated in the 2.5.18 kernel. It subsequently became a part of the 2.6 stable release. Later, a fork of
swsusp, known as
pmdisk evolved. The difference between
swsusp and
pmdisk was that the latter’s code was much cleaner and well structured. Moreover, while
swsusp used the
/proc interface,
pmdisk used the
/sys interface.
pmdisk cleanups were eventually merged into the
swsusp code base.
Among all the available methods, the one that generates the maximum excitement is
suspend2 by Nigel Cunningham. It introduces some important changes in the way the snapshot image is handled and is also noticeably faster.
suspend2 is currently available as a patch for 2.4 and 2.6 kernels and will hopefully be merged into the mainline kernels in future.
Also worth mentioning is
uswsusp, abbreviation for
userland-swsusp. It is an implementation of an interface for software suspend in the user space. All kernels starting from 2.6.17 have
uswsusp merged in them. The module gives access to software suspend functionalities by exposing common file operation methods that can be used to operate on a character device. This is only useful for developers who would like to write their
software suspend applications in user space and hence I won’t delve into this topic in detail here.
swsusp
How swsusp works
swsusp works by taking a snapshot of the contents of the RAM. This snapshot or suspend image is copied and then saved in an atomic operation fashion to the active swap partition. Upon rebooting, if a valid image signature is found on the active swap, the image is loaded and the snapshot transferred back to memory. This gets back the saved state to the user. The following illustration shows the sequence in simple terms:
- User requests for software suspend
- All the running processes are given the
suspendsignal
- The devices are frozen so that they don’t change the system state when the snapshot is taken
- The memory image is atomically copied with interrupts disabled
- Frozen devices are awakened so that the image can be written
- The image is written to swap
- Devices are suspended and the system powered off
The resume process involves just the inverse of the above steps.
Configuration and running
Configuring and running
swsusp is a breeze since it is a part of the 2.6 vanilla kernel. If
swsusp has not been compiled in your running kernel, you will have to enable it and recompile your kernel. It is always a good idea to compile a fresh stable version instead of tinkering with the running version because that way you always have a backup with you.
To enable
swsusp, bring up the kernel configuration window:
$cd /your/linuxsourcedir $make xconfig
Enable Software Suspend under Power Management Options as shown in figure 1.
You can optionally add your swap partition path in Default resume partition. This step appends a
resume parameter to the kernel section in grub.conf. You may also enable Encrypt suspend image that would encrypt the image stored in the swap partition. The key that is used for encryption is stored temporarily and deleted after resuming.
swsusp will not work with Symmetric Multi Processing (SMP) enabled in your kernel. So, you will have to disable Symmetric Multi Processing_support under _Processor types and features to enable the
swsusp module as shown in figure 2.
As
swsusp uses the AES module to encrypt the suspend image, you will have to select Cryptographic API and AES cipher algorithms as built-ins into the kernel (not as modules as they won’t be loaded). Refer to figure 3.
`swsusp` will not work with Symmetric Multi Processing (SMP) enabled in your kernel
Now compile your kernel and if the compilation succeeds, install your kernel.
$make $make modules_install $make install
You should also check whether a resume parameter has been appended to the newly installed kernel’s entry in grub.conf. If not, you can add it manually as resume=/your/swappartition. (Refer to figure 4)
The default location of grub.conf is /etc. It may be different for your system. Finally, to hibernate, type the following command :
$echo platform > /sys/power/disk; echo disk > /sys/power/state
If everything is fine, your system should enter the hibernate process and after saving the image should power off. You should again restart your system to find out if it really worked. The boot sequence should load the suspended image and get back to your previous session.
There are a few other important points worth mentioning:
- To limit the suspend image size to N bytes, type:
$echo N > /sys/power/image_size
where N is the number in bytes.
- Instead of using
echo platform, you may use
echo shutdownto hibernate your system. (Refer to the command above)
- If the system becomes too slow after a resume, you may try turning off the swap and then turning it on again:
$swapoff -a $swapon -a
- You may try a SysVInit patch that would enable you to suspend using:
$shutdown -z now
The patch is available here
- Append the
noresumeparameter to your kernel if you would like to boot normally but be warned that something might go wrong!
suspend2
How suspend2 works
The fundamentals behind the working of
swsusp and
suspend2 are almost the same. However, there are some major differences in the way
suspend2 does things and the flexibility it provides to the user.
suspend2 first saves the lru (least recently used) pages in memory to the disk backstore, then does an atomic copy of the rest of the memory and then saves that. Since it is not doing an atomic copy of the whole of the memory, the process becomes much faster than
swsusp and the image size is not limited to just half of the memory. The module sees to it that once we start saving the page lists, no pages are added or deleted, hence maintaining the integrity of the saved data. To summarize the steps:
- User requests for system hibernation
suspend2waits for the number of processes in their critical paths to reach zero
- New processes are prevented from entering states that can cause deadlocks or inconsistent states
- The page cache is saved to disk
- Drivers are suspended and the processor state is saved
- The rest of the memory is atomically copied and then saved to disk
- The system is shut down
The resume process is just the opposite of the above steps.
Configuration and running
To enable
suspend2, you will have to patch and compile your kernel. Patches for many versions are available on the
suspend2 downloads page. However the stable version is suspend-2.2.5 for 2.6.16.9 kernel. Using the stable release reduces the chances of breaking the kernel compilation. First of all, you need to apply the
suspend2 patches using the apply script supplied.
$tar -jxvf linux-2.6.16.9.tar.bz2 $tar -jxvf suspend2-2.2.5-for-kernel-2.6.16.9.tar.bz2 $cd linux-2.6.16.9 $../suspend2-2.2.5-for-kernel-2.6.16.9/apply
If you have other patches on your kernel (such as the mm patch), chances are that the apply script will fail. In that case, patching the files individually would be a good idea. The patch file that refuses has to be manually applied by looking through the diff file and replacing code at the right places. After patching, you will have to configure your kernel. As shown in figure 5, enable Suspend2 under Power Management Options. From the options that show up in the Option window, enable File Writer and Swap Writer. You may ignore the rest of the options but feel free to go through their descriptions.
By default,
suspend2 uses the LFZ modules for compression and encryption which may be built into the kernel by selecting Cryptographic API and LFZ compression algorithm under Cryptographic Options.
Once you are done selecting all other modules relevant to your system, compile your new kernel and install it.
suspend2 gives you the flexibility to choose the location to save the suspend image. You can either choose the file writer or the swap writer for this purpose. While the filewriter can save the image to a normal file, the swap writer can save the image either to a swap partition or to a swap file. Unlike
swsusp,
suspend2 can write to any swap partition! It need not be the system’s active swap partition. I’ll cover the above three steps one by one.
Unlike swsusp, suspend2 can write to any swap partition! It need not be the system’s active swap partition
- Writing to a normal file: First of all create a file that is at least equal in size to your system RAM. Here, I create a 512 MB file called suspend-image.
$dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=512 >> suspend-image
Next supply this file to the
suspend2 filewriter target.
$echo suspend-image > /proc/suspend2/filewriter_target
Finally, you will have to get the actual physical offset of this file and append it to the kernel section in grub’s configuration file (grub.conf).
$cat /proc/suspend2/resume2
The above command gave me the following output:
file:/dev/hda5:0x3c000
So I need to append resume2=file:/dev/hda5:0x3c000 in my grub.conf. (Refer figure 7). Don’t just copy-paste the above output as it will definitely be different for your system.
- Writing to a swap partition: This is the easiest of them all and is recommended for first timers. You just need to append your swap partition path to the
resume2parameter for your kernel. Find out your swap partition:
$/sbin/fdisk -l | grep "swap"
and edit grub.conf accordingly. (Refer to figure 8)
- Writing to a swap file: The steps to this are similar to writing to a normal file except that here, you create a swap file instead of a normal one. To summarize:
$ dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=512 >> swap-suspend-image $ /sbin/mkswap swap-suspend-image 512 $ sync $ swapon swap-suspend-image
The output of the following command tells you what to append to the
resume2 parameter.
$cat /proc/suspend2/headerlocations
The following output was obtained:
For swap partitions, simply use the format: resume2=swap:/dev/hda1. For swapfile `/home/bandan/PTPRO/FSM/swap-su`, use resume2=swap:/dev/hda2:0x1d92678
The second output is what you would append in
grub.conf.
After choosing from the filewriter and the swapwriter (a combination of both is also possible), you should take a look at the
hibernate script. This is a shell script that greatly simplifies the hibernation sequence. Get the latest version from the
suspend2 Downloads page.The script is available as RPM, SRPM, deb or tar.gz. Choose one of them and install it. By default, it should install in
/usr/local/sbin.
If you use initrd (common in redhat distributions), you need to tell it about suspend2. Open the mkinitrd script in a file editor and go below the line that says:
echo "echo Mounted /proc filesystem" >> $RCFILE
Add the following:
echo "echo > /proc/suspend2/do_resume" >> $RCFILE
The default location of
mkinitrd is
/sbin.
The advantage of suspend2 lies in the flexibility it offers. A set of configuration files are provided by default in
/etc/hibernate. Hopefully, suspend2 will work “out of the box” but it is always a good idea to go through these configuration files if you want to tweak suspend2 to get the best out of it.
Here is a brief summary of all the configuration files suspend2 offers. The verbose commented sections give a detailed explanation of all the available options.
blacklisted-modules: Lists all the modules that have been reported to cause problems while suspending or resuming.
hibernate.conf: The file actually read when the hibernate script is executed.
disk.conf: Used when using the hibernate script to suspend using swsusp.
common.conf: Includes list of common configurable options.
ram.conf: Used when suspending to RAM instead of disk. (useful for laptops)
suspend2.conf: Configurable options for suspending to disk with suspend2.
Now all you have left to do is reboot into your new kernel. Keep a close eye on the system output while booting up. You should see something like
Suspend2 enabled. Finally to hibernate, simply type the following as root:
$/usr/local/sbin/hibernate
The system should enter the hibernate sequence and shutdown. Reboot again to check everything is fine.
If you are having problems with the filewriter, you may switch to the swap writer instead. It is usually convenient to try suspending to the swap partition first because that’s the easiest. Then, you may try suspending to a normal file or a swap file. If the
hibernate script doesn’t work for you for any reason, you should try the following:
$/usr/local/sbin/hibernate --bug-report > suspend-debug
Go through the contents of suspend-debug and see what went wrong. The most important information will be towards the end of the file. If you find its contents meaningless, you would be better off sending it to the suspend2 mailing list. Most probably, someone will help you out.
Eye candy
Not only does
suspend2 work differently, you can also make it look different. You have the option of a text based user interface or a graphical interface to show during the
hibernate sequence. Download and install the Suspend2-User-UI package from suspend2 website. Additionally, obtain a theme from here and extract it to
/etc/splash. Create a symbolic link to it and name it as suspend2.
$ mkdir /etc/splash (in case it does not exist) $ cd /etc/splash && tar -zxf theme.tar.gz $ ln -s theme/ suspend2
Add the appropriate entry in
suspend2.conf depending on what user interface you would like to have.
For text UI
ProcSetting userui_program /usr/local/sbin/suspend2ui_text
For Graphical UI
ProcSetting userui_program /usr/local/sbin/suspend2ui_fbsplash
Now hibernate and see if everything goes as expected. If not, you can use the
--bug-report option with hibernate to diagnose the problem.
hibernate’s log file also provides a lot of information about what went wrong. Its default location is
/var/log/hibernate.log.
Some tips and tricks
- Using the power button to suspend: First of all, make sure you have compiled your kernel with acpi support. Then install acpid and add it to the default run level.
$ rc-update add acpid default
Edit
/etc/acpi/default.sh as follows:
#!/bin/sh # Default acpi script that takes an entry for all actions set $* group=${1/\/*/} action=${1/*\//} case "$group" in button) case "$action" in power) /usr/sbin/hibernate & ;; *) logger "ACPI action $action is not defined" ;; esac ;; *) logger "ACPI group $group / action $action is not defined" ;; esac
- If you would like to reboot instead of shutting down your system, simply press “R” during the suspend process.
Conclusion
suspend2 clearly seems to be the successor to
swsusp. It provides a lot more features than any other available method and is also very configurable. It allows you to store the suspended image almost anywhere. A more interesting feature which is in the TODO list is suspending to a NFS share! However, kerneltrap reports Nigel as saying that he will devote less time to
suspend2 which may prevent its merging into the vanilla kernel.
The three different methods available target three different types of users. If you just want your system to hibernate and have no desire to tinker with your kernel,
swsusp is definitely for you. On the contrary,
suspend2 gives you greater speed and flexibility. If you are one of those who fancies writing his own userspace program, go for
uswsusp. Get set and take your pick!
Distros that already come with Hibernate
I just wanted to mention that for many users, Hibernate on GNU/Linux can be even easier. (Especially of interest to those who consider switching from Windows or the Mac and might be scared off by lengthy walkthroughs like this.)
gNewSense () and Ubuntu () both come with Hibernate already configured. So, for the user it's just a matter of clicking "Shut Down" -> "Hibernate". (I'm sure there are others too, but these are the ones I know.)
Distros that already come with Hibernate
Debian Etch (Testing still) also has the hibernate built in. It worked out of the box for me on my Thinkpad (R51)
Distro's that come with Hibernate
openSUSE 10.2 has it enabled by default too (I haven't tried it yet though), what I don't understand is this:
swsusp will not work with Symmetric Multi Processing (SMP) enabled in your kernel
But openSUSE has 2.6.18 with SMP as default kernel
Mac Suspend Techniques
I hear the mack is always updating changes in ram to the hybernation partition so that when a hybernation action is called for there is less writing necessary. I'd really like to see this functionality brought to Linux.
-Joe Baker
Distros that already come with Hibernate
Tried nearly all recent versions of Ubuntu to try out the Hibernate feature..works like crap.
Went back to Windows just bcoz I wanted this feature rather than waiting for Ok, Linux booting now.
thanks
thanks
It was raining heavily with
It was raining heavily with lightning while my lengthy fortran code had been running on my dekstop pc for about a day, I simply hybernated Ubuntu and once the rain stopped I was able to continue from where it's left, This is a very useful feature which really worked and helped me,
I'm wondering what'll happen if I unplug the computer after hybernating, I'll see if writes the current state to the RAM or to the Harddisk. I'm assuming the latter is true.
Wanted to say thank you!
I know this probably wasn't the most up to date article on Linux hibernation, but it worked perfectly for me.
Followed the swsup method. I'm running SW 12.1 on a Toshiba Satellite MX40 series. Worked like a charm. |
Thank you to FreeSpirit Fabrics for asking me to be a guest blogger. I am so excited to tell you about my newest book for Creative Publishing International – Precut Patchwork Party. As the tag line says on the cover of the book, it’s full of “modern projects to sew and craft with fabric strips, squares and fat quarters”.
I have been a huge fan of FreeSpirit precut fabric bundles for a long time . I often pick them up with absolutely no idea of how I will use them. The colors and patterns just look so pretty all together in a bundle.
There are lots of patterns and ideas available for using precuts charm squares, strips and fat quarters to make quilts. But I wanted to design a collection of projects for this book that were everything but quilts. So Precut Patchwork Party will show you how to make a variety of home dec projects, as well as wearables, accessories and gift items. I’ve included lots of basic sewing information, tips of working with precut fabrics and several of my favorite sewing techniques like fabric rick-rack and rosettes that can be made from folded precut strips.Here is one of my favorite projects from the book:
Tisket Tasket Fabric Basket (Insert photo of baskets.)
Fabric strips from Kathy Davis’ Blossoming collection are used to make these woven fabric baskets. Make a few to organize your spools of thread and notions in your sewing room or use one to hold a casserole dish (and sew a coordinating lined napkin with a couple of fat quarters).
The projects in this book are perfect for a new sewist as well as someone who has been sewing for awhile. They all are constructed with very basic sewing techniques. Anyone who makes quilts and wants to do something new with their stash of precuts will find inspiration. So next time you can’t resist buying those beautiful bundles at the quilt store, know that there is a lot you can make with them, other than your beautiful quilts.
61 comments:
I am fascinated with those pretty baskets! Pre-cuts are a 'go-to' with a few staple patterns for a quickly needed quilt - time savers as well as you get to taste all the fabrics of a line.
I love precuts because the hardest part - making sure my cutting is true - is done for me :-) i hate when I've fdone my cutting and realise that I've cut things an inch to short or have done a wonky line.
E
I love sewing with precuts as I don't have to worry about coordinating the fabrics as I know everything will look good together. I also like the fact that they make the project faster to make.
I love precuts - they make making this so much faster, since you spend hardly any time cutting! I would love to make some not-quilty patchwork things for our house!
I love precuts because you get the whole fabric range in itty bitty squares, I like making wall hangings and I've just made a bag with a charm pack :)
I love sewing with precuts because cutting is my least favorite part of the process! I also love that you can get a little bit of every fabric without going broke :)
I love precuts! Obviously, I love not having to cut the fabric, but I also love that I can have the whole fabric collection in one bundle. Love them!
Sewing with precuts saves time and I am able to get a substantial variety of fabrics for my quilting projects without aggravating my LQS staff by asking them to cut small amounts of a whole line of fabrics.
I love precuts because of the accuracy of the cuts - no slipping of rulers, no being off just a hair - precision.
Pre-cuts save so much time and I agree FQ bundles are the best, enough fabric to make something wonderful and all matching fabrics. Thanks.
Precuts avoid some of the tedium of cutting and you get results fast!
I love precuts because they take the guess work out of what goes with what for me and then is already cut so I won't have slip-ps on my cutting. Thanks.
I love that those precuts can sit there quietly on my shelf, and then just come to my rescue when I need a quick project.
Cutting into fabric and getting absolutely straight and square cuts is still a bit intimidating to me, so buying precuts are a great way for me to just jump right in which makes the entire process FUN!
I love to sew with precuts because I don't have to wash them before sewing and I get a coordinated look without effort.
Precuts are great! The hard part of cutting is already done for you, and the fabrics all coordinate. Thanks for the givewaway.
Pre-cuts are so fun because I get some of each fabric in the line. They are easy to put together to make the many beautiful patterns availble using pre-cuts.
I am just beginning to work with some precuts - this book would be great - love the little baskets and napkins!
I am just beginning to work with precuts - would love the book! the basket and napkin are too cute
Having a little bit of this and that in my fabric collection, I've grown to love precuts. They give you new colors and designs to add to my less-than-up-to-date fabric. Though sometimes I love a line so much I design a project around the precut. Great way to buy just a bit of fabric!
I love precuts because at least half my cutting time has already been done for me. Plus I can get the scrappy look I love quickly & easily. Thanks.
I have not been quilting for a long time so I would love to try working with precuts! love the little baskets!
I love precuts because it makes it faster to make a quilt with the strips already cut and they are straight. I love the colors so coordinated
I LOVE precuts! All the tedious work of measuring and cutting has been done for you and you can get right to the fun part of sewing! I also love that everything is color/pattern coordinated. It really makes sewing and quilting and creating more fun!
I love the precuts because they cut the time it takes me to select fabrics as well as the cutting. They are great for quick and easy projects and they always look great because the colors are so coordinated. I love those baskets! Thanks for a chance to win a copy of the book.
Those little baskets are super cute.Precuts save time and the best is that you don´t need to coordinate,all match very well.
What a wonderful preview, baskets, and book. I would love some precuts and the book to try something new. Thanks for the opportunity.
I really haven't used precuts that much because I always cut my fabric to size. Using pre-cuts would make my life a lot easier and these projects are great.
what a delightful project! and i can imagine that the rest are just as wonderful. this would be great to have and the baskets would so much fun for my girls :)
this looks like so much fun - my girls would love these and i would love to see the rest of the book!
I love precuts since they take the prep work out of projects. I can usually open them and get started pretty quickly.
I love the simplicity of precuts. I can start with a charm pack and have a project going pretty quickly without too much prep work.
I usually can't wait to start a new project and to save time on the cutting part makes it even better. And matching colors is always right!
I love to sew with precuts because they are already cut and because you can get a great variety of prints without spending a ton of money!!
I love that precuts include every print from one collection! I also use them when I want just a little fabric, from a line I really like, to make something small and beautiful!
Love them
I would really love to try precuts. I'm very left brain and have a difficult time pulling things together. It would be a great help to have all the fabrics matched up for me ahead of time. Thanks much.
I LOVE the baskets and how easy with the precuts! Especially when you live an hour away from a fabric store!
Can't wait to tackle those super cute baskets for my sewing room!! Love! What other goodies are in your book?
Can't wait to make those super cute baskets for my sewing room! Love..love..love! What other fun projects are in the book?
Awesome giveaway! I can't wait to do my first precut jelly roll race.
Love using precuts in my projects. I am able to get the whole line for a reasonable cost and can quickly get to work because they are, well, pre-cut.
I love using precuts when I'm making quilts as gifts--it comes together so quickly! christina112358 at gmail dot com
Right now I'm dealing with both space and time constraints. Pre-cuts are the answer. I don't need a huge cutting area, so I can cut what is needed in the available space. And since I only spend a fraction of the time cutting, I can spend most of my time sewing. I really appreciate that.
I would like to see these projects especially to woven baskets that can be used for hot foods and be made to fit special dishes.
I love to sew with precuts because my cutting is not as perfect as it should be and because of that cutting is the part I enjoy less. Thanks for the chance!
ap_lemos at yahoo dot com
I like precuts, because it is one less thing for me to do wrong! The number of times I have cut something too short or too narrow because I'm not concentrating enough, well, lets just say you'd think I'd learn to pay more attention! Often I like everything in a fabric collection too, so I can have a little bit of everything with precuts :)
I love having a bit of each piece of a line. This book looks like fun.
Sewing with precuts puts you ahead. The cutting is (mostly) done for you.
This looks like a fun book! Pre-cuts just save so much time - they're brilliant!
Precuts are handy, ready to be used, save time and fabrics are coordinated beautifully.
I like to get the variety that pre-cuts offer for a project!
I love precuts! so easy to use and you get a sample of each fabric
I'm new to quilting and choosing right colours is difficult so the pre-cuts save me a lot of work and worry. And also they are always perfectly cut.
Less cutting, can use all the fabric in collection and not go broke and they are fun!!!!
Like you said in the post, cutting is my least favorite part of sewing. Plus, I'm terrible at coordinating fabric, so the bundles make that so much easier!
I love sewing with precuts because as a new quilter most of the hard work is done for me.... accurate cuts, colors coordinated, and straight seams. I also like that you get to see a whole collection of beautiful fabric. The projects in this book would be great for those single precut packs that aren't enough to make a whole quilt with. Thank you!
I love per cuts for numerous reasons. No standing in line to have fabric cut, wonderful bits of fun..... Elaine your book gives me more reasons to buy fabric precursor. Thanks
I like precuts as they all work together and you get a bit of a whole range rather than having to decide on just a few!
I love pre-cuts because they coordinate and I don't have to try and select just a few from the range!
I love pre-cuts because you they all work together and I don't have to try and select just a few from the range. |
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- just for laughs
-esse (WBEZ Chicago |
Matthew Dare, Postdoctoral Ecologist, Boise Lab
Kate Dwire, Research Riparian Ecologist, Fort Collins Lab
Kelly Elder, Team Leader; Research Hydrologist, Fort Collins Lab
Bill Elliot, Team Leader; Research Civil Engineer, Moscow Lab
Randy Foltz, Research Engineer, Moscow Lab
Jaime Goode, Postdoctoral Geomorphologist, Boise
Kerry Overton, Fisheries Technology Transfer Specialist, Boise Lab
Chuck Rhoades, Research Biogeochemist, Fort Collins Lab
Bruce Rieman, Emeritus Fisheries Scientist, Boise Lab
John Rinne, Emeritus Fisheries Scientist, Flagstaff Lab
Peter Robichaud, Research Engineer, Moscow Lab
Sandra Ryan-Burkett, Research Hydrologist/Geomorphologist, Fort Collins Lab
Russ Thurow, Team Leader; Research Fisheries Scientist, Boise Lab
Joe Wagenbrenner, Engineer, Moscow Lab
Natalie Wagenbrenner, Engineer, Moscow Lab
Michael Young, Team Leader; Research Fisheries Biologist, Missoula Lab
Entire AWAE Staff Directory | AWAE "Go To" Scientists document
AWAE Technology Transfer focuses on improving the communication between researchers and practitioners/managers to meet two primary objectives:
Provide timely awareness and delivery of relevant knowledge, technical tools and procedures to assist land managers and practitioners address current and emerging fisheries/aquatic issues.
Ensure researchers and practitioners/managers were working together to define knowledge gaps and needed research, tools and procedures.
Air
Quality in Mountain Ecosystems - Ozone
Assessing Environmental Impacts of Dam Operation
Bayesian Belief Network Decision Support Tool
Bull Trout and Climate Change
Bull Trout Monitoring
Clean Water - Insect Outbreaks and Watersheds
Climate Change & Wildfires: Effects on Stream Temperatures
Climate Change, Water, and Aquatic Ecosystems
Detecting Mobile Boreal Toads
Fire, Fuel Management, and Aquatic Ecosystems
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Technology Transfer Program
GRAIP:
Quantifying and Prioritizing Road Impacts
Hyporheic Exchange in Gravel Bed Rivers with
Pool-Riffle Morphology
In-Stream Wood Studies: Call for Common Metrics
Invasive Species Managing for Native Trout
Nonnative Fish Removal
Remotely Assessing and Monitoring Channel Physical
Habitat
Sediment Impacts from Debris Flows
Spatial and Temporal Variation in Chinook Redd Distributions
Stream Temperature Modeling
Water Resources Availability Trends & History
Western US Stream Flow Metric Dataset?
Briefing Paper | GRAIP Website.
, supporting the RMRS Rocky Mountain Center development and deployment of real-time computer applications for fire-weather intelligence and smoke dispersion forecasts over the Western USA. Developed by the Natural Resource Assessment, Ecology, and Management Science Research group at the Rocky Mountain Research Station.
, a software application for analyzing rating judgments, useful to practitioners needing to summarize or analyze rating data, and to researchers interested in comparing and evaluating alternative scaling methods. Available from the Identification and Valuation Of Wildland Resource Benefits group at the Rocky Mountain Research Station..
, a geographical information system (GIS) model that estimates the ability of an area to meet the food and cover requirements of an animal species, from the Center for Great Plains Ecosystem Research group at the Rapid City
NEW: NorWeST Stream Temperature- Regional Database and Model
Upper Verde River: Review of Stream-Riparian Monitoring Efforts Conducted by the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
Stream
Temperature Modeling and Monitoring Website
River Bathymetry Toolkit (RBT)
Technology Transfer Program
Western Watersheds and Climate Change Workshop - November 17-19, 2009
Rocky Mountain Research Station
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#1184724
Why is it that the part of this that bothers me the most is "She loses his stripes"?
As Bobby rightly pointed out, Fail.
7/24/2010 4:10:39 PM
#1184729
vaguelyhumanoid
What the hell do mythological creatures have to do with evolution?
7/24/2010 4:26:02 PM
#1184732
I read about the afterlife
"Lions are felines, true."
Yes, good. And dogs are Canine!
"Lions and cats evolved from reptiles or others, false."
The "or others" part is actually true.
"Let's take an example:
You care of a tiger in your house. and with time, she loses his stripes"
okay one: is this hypothetical tiger transgendered? Secondly, why would he/she lose his/her stripes?
"She will look all orange and white. but she is still a tiger."
Yeah, okay. I guess.
"She will give birth to tiger cubs and they will grow to be tigers."
No shit sherlock.
"If they continue like that, after a hundred years, they will always be tigers..."
Yep. Pretty much. Of course, they might be longer or shorter and have slight changes due to survival of the fittest.
"You can call them cats or big cats. But they won't grow horns or wings."
Again, no shit sherlock.
"mythological creates play a lot with evolutionists minds. The likes of Minotaur and pegasus are behind all this evolution hoax."
All I've learned from your rambling is that you're a lunatic that knows jack shit about evolution.
7/24/2010 4:43:56 PM
#1184739
TGRwulf
Evolution. You keep using that word, but I don't think you know what it means.
7/24/2010 5:08:20 PM
#1184753
Scorpius
WTF? Since when..the...*fizzle*
7/24/2010 5:42:15 PM
#1184757
Berny
You really don't have a fucking clue what evolution really is all about, do you?
Let me give you a hint, the ones who keep resorting to magic are the creationists.
Call it a hoax if you want to but so far all the evidence is in favor of it, not your stupid myth.
7/24/2010 5:55:34 PM
#1184758
Nowonmai
Clearly you have not a fucking clue how evolution works. Moving a tiger into your house will not make her 'lose her stripes'.
And hundreds of years? Oy.. your dumb is making my brain hurt.
Mythological creatures that were written about thousands of years ago, before evolution was even considered??? Please, don't breed.
7/24/2010 5:56:04 PM
#1184771
Zits
How does this person turn on his/her computer, get on the Internet, point a browser to a website, and type text? How? Windows is easy to use, but can it be THAT easy? This is some industrial strength stupid guys!
7/24/2010 6:15:57 PM
#1184776
Vince
You just listed every last evolutionary bullshit myth that just prove you fuckwits don't have the slightest clue how evolution works.
7/24/2010 6:21:22 PM
#1184779
Lucilius
Creotards are hominoids, true.
Creotards evolved into hominids, false.
There is something called adapting to one's environment. Creotards have abjectly failed to do this. Their hair dye and polyester levels may change with their denomination, but the stupidity will remain the same.
Let's take an example:
You take care of FullWhiteMoon in your house, and over time she/he learns to sit upright and not to fling feces. But FWM is still a moron and will keep mouthing idiocies. If FWM lives for a hundred years she/he will still be a stranger to reason. You can call him/her human, but FWM still won't know an ass from an elbow.
Mythology plays a lot with creotard minds. Stories of talking snakes and flying telepathic zombies are behind all this creationism hoax.
7/24/2010 6:27:21 PM
#1184830
Thinking Allowed
Ever try to breed a lion to a bobcat?
7/24/2010 7:23:51 PM
#1184950
Justanotheratheist
"Lions are felines, true." Very nice of you to admit to this tricky, little known fact.
" color/nature/habits may change....but the animal will remain the same." Um, no. It can't change and still stay the same. Only god could do that, if he existed.
Take a tiger into your house and you will lose your head (literally - they are hungry carnivores, y'know) long before she loses her stripes - which will never happen.
Very astute of you, though, to understand that a mummy tiger gives birth to baby tigers and not to baby elephants or baby penguins. You should get a job teaching biology and zoology in Texas. It would be a step up for their education system, by the sounds of it.
PS Mythical creatures never evolved coz they never axisted. That's why they are mythical. Think of god, for example, and you will understand what I mean.
7/24/2010 11:01:55 PM
#1184952
bennyboy
What in the name of FUCK are you chatting about, you single-helixed twatting spasticunt?
7/24/2010 11:03:54 PM
#1184954
Rat of Steel
(Thinking Allowed)
"Ever try to breed a lion to a bobcat?"
(Rat gasps as he has a "eureka!" moment.)
So
THAT'S
where lolcats came from!
7/24/2010 11:06:52 PM
#1184957
You realise that it's
your
staggering lack of comprehension that equates evolution with bull-headed men and not the reality of modern evolution theory?
What I'm saying is: educate yourself properly, muppet.
7/24/2010 11:19:14 PM
#1185097
moose
AHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSs.....the old fundie creation science argument about "adaptation" instead of evolution.
To wit: "there is something called to adapt with the evironment. color/nature/habits may change with the climate and other reasons. but the animal will remain the same.
Oh REALLY????? Let's see how well that works. If you make a poodle a guard dog, will it turn into a german shepard? How about racing a chihuahua, will it "adapt" into a greyhound? If you put a pigeon into the water, will it "adapt" into a duck?
And... in case you didnt realize it ....evolutionists realize that "the like of Minotaur and gegasus" or mythologies. Evidently you think that believers in evolution think they are real. Shows how much you really truly understand about evolution. Notta.....
7/25/2010 8:18:07 AM
#1185100
Tyler
.......No
7/25/2010 8:25:39 AM
#1185115
happysmiles
Oh crap, he's onto me. I indeed only agree with the theory of evolution because of coercion by a minotaur. If it weren't for the minotaur I would actually believe in god and creationism. But every time I start to believe in god the minotaur comes along and jabs me in the back with its horns, threatening to run me through with them. Damn you mINOTAUr, dAMN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7/25/2010 9:14:13 AM
#1185130
Swede
Nope, Minotaurs and Pegasuses are completely against the theory of evolution, they are part of a religion mythology.
Lions and cats evolved from lion/cat-looking animals, who evolved from somewhat less lion/cat-looking animals, who evolved from even less lion/cat-looking animals, and so on. I highly doubt they evolved from reptiles.
7/25/2010 9:35:37 AM
#1185152
Yama the Space Fish
100 years isn't a long time at all. Therapsids were around 250,000,000 years ago.
7/25/2010 10:20:58 AM
#1185164
dionysus
you take care of a tiger in your house. and with time, she loses his stripes. she will look all orange and white.
What the hell is this shit? No, that can't happen and ToE doesn't support this.
mythological creatures play a lot with evolutionists minds. the likes of Minotaur and pegasus are behind all this evolution hoax
ToE doesn't support their existence either. Basically, you're railing against something you have absolutely no understanding of. Your post is in good company here.
7/25/2010 10:43:18 AM
#1185198
Old Viking
you take care of a tiger in your house.
You first.
7/25/2010 12:56:03 PM
#1185230
Kefka
This was written by a muslim fundy who seems, from his drawings, to believe that most muslim women are white.
7/25/2010 3:01:03 PM
#1185279
The Jamo
So you're saying that even though the animal will change it will remain the same? What the fuck are you on about?
If a tiger was to 'lose' its stripes, that would mean that a genetic change/mutation had occurred and the animal has changed. Even though that particular mutation may not inhibit cross-breeding, it's still a mutation. That's called evolution, dumbass.
7/25/2010 7:09:16 PM
#1185284
TheJebusFire
7/25/2010 7:26:15 PM
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Tammy and her husband David live in Kansas City. In October 2008, Tammy went to give blood, something she had done almost every year since she turned 21. After having her hemoglobin checked, Tammy was told she was a little anemic. It was recommended that she get some more tests from her doctor, which she did. A complete blood analysis was done; all her counts were low. Following a bone marrow biopsy in November, she was diagnosed with mylodysplastic syndrome, the precursor to leukemia.
Over the next few months, her condition deteriorated rapidly. Though she had no clue she was sick when she first got the test results, she quickly started to develop symptoms. The doctors did what they could to keep it from progressing, but it was obvious that she would need a bone marrow transplant in order to survive. David's latest email summarized the ordeal: "That was the beginning of a long, arduous process requiring this family to fully rely on the Lord for the healing Tammy would need."
Friends were kept informed of Tammy's progress through periodic blogs from her husband, and we all celebrated when we heard that an anonymous donor had given Tammy the blood she needed.
A year ago David had posted, "We were talking earlier tonight that her donor is now 39 years old. Somewhere, he is probably thinking about the sacrifice he made, and we hope he is proud of his service. We still hope to meet him someday to say thank you in person."
That wish came true last week when Tammy received a phone call from a man named Jim who, as it turned out, was her match. In David's own words: "We have shed a lot of tears of joy today, as Tammy finally got to say thanks to the man who saved her life. He didn't want any credit for that. He just wanted to know how she was doing. He readily acknowledges God's role in this story. He and Tammy talked about God's will during their discussion, and Jim recognizes that God led him to drive past that fire station that day.
"It turns out that Jim is from Waverly, a small town in upstate New York, about 100 miles south of Syracuse. The fire station in his community was having a bone marrow drive one day in early spring 2009, and he felt the nudge of God to go in and sign up. When he got the call that he might be a match for a 49-year-old woman in Kansas, he agreed to be a donor. Tammy is alive today because of his willingness to obey that nudge."
David's email continued: "We had a bone marrow drive at our church in Kansas City, but around the same time, the fire station in Waverly was having its own drive. It may have been in honor of someone in that area, but God had other plans. Just like He had a friend of ours donate her bone-marrow to someone about a year and a half ago as a result of our drive, He had Jim respond to the sign at the firehouse to save Tammy's life.
"Today, Tammy is the picture of health. She amazes people with how good she looks (like she's been amazing me with her beauty for more than 45 years). No one who doesn't know her story can believe that she survived cancer so recently.
"Thanks, in large part, to our new friend Jim, who was willing to respond to the divine nudge of the mighty God we serve."
Reading Tammy's story reminds me to become keenly aware of those "divine nudges," no matter how inconvenienced I might be. I hope it does the same for you.) |
- •Advertise with the FT
© The Financial Times Ltd 2013 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
The Starboard Seak, by Amber Dermont, Corsair, RRP£14.99/ St Martin’s Press, RRP$24.99, 320 pages
Amber Dermont’s debut novel is set in the summer of 1987, and we first meet Jason Prosper on his 18th birthday. He is, according to his father, “damaged goods” and the story opens with father and son driving together; Jason daydreaming about “the car flipping forward and crushing Dad’s body.” They are en route to Bellingham Academy, a boarding school specialising in second chances for the delinquent offspring of America’s elite. At Bellingham, Jason explains, “If you could pay, you could stay.”
Jason can’t forget his best friend, sailing partner and secret lover, Cal. It was Jason who discovered Cal’s body in the bathroom at their prep school, but the truth about the events that led to Cal’s death and Jason’s subsequent expulsion are withheld until the end of the novel.
Jason tries to fit in at his new school by joining the sailing club, only to quit after the first tryout ends with his sailing partner momentarily trapped under the water. He retreats, and befriends a girl called Aidan. The pair become lovers. When she disappears, Jason takes it upon himself to work out what has happened to her. Learning of Aidan’s fate, he feels “the waves of this new truth, this new loss crash over me”.
The sea is a constant presence, both physically and in the language used: Dermont’s passion is sailing, and the novel’s title, The Starboard Sea, is a made-up sailing reference. As Cal explains to Jason: “It means the right sea, the true sea, or like finding the best path in life.”
Dermont sketches Bellingham’s self-contained world of privilege with authority and ambitiously borrows characters and themes from Shakespeare: Jason Prosper and his lovers Cal and Aidan evoke Prospero and his servants Caliban and Ariel in The Tempest.
The Starboard Sea also exposes illusions of justice and power. At Bellingham fortune is fickle and power breeds cruelty: the Black Monday crash robs one student of her place at the school. As her dishevelled father comes to collect her in an old station wagon, Dermont writes: “She put me in mind of a fabulous hotel room some rock star had trashed.”
Meanwhile, the male students torture one another in ritual initiation rites that have been passed down through generations. Having been rolled up in a carpet and left out on a football field in the cold, Jason thinks only of revenge: “I can’t wait to get even. I can’t wait to do this to someone else.”
Dermont measures out the stories behind Jason’s twin tragedies coolly, without altering the pace of her well-crafted narrative.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. |
Fulbright Partner and Former U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby Dies at Age 47
Michael T. Shelby
Partner
Houston
Mr. Shelby passed away Tuesday at age 47. He fought an extended battle with cancer. His favorite saying was “remember what’s important.”
“The partners and employees at Fulbright & Jaworski are deeply saddened by the loss of Michael Shelby,” said Steven B. Pfeiffer, chair of Fulbright’s Executive Committee. “Michael dedicated his life to public service and making sure the law was upheld. His honorable life and career is one to be emulated by others. We at Fulbright were honored to have worked alongside Michael – a man who inspired so many. Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the entire Shelby family.”
He spent most of his career with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with the last three years as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, one of the largest and most prolific federal judicial districts in the nation. Mr. Shelby wanted to make sure his two young daughters were able to attend colleges they chose. As a result, he decided to leave behind public service and enter private practice.
Leon Jaworski had long been an inspiration to Mr. Shelby, who decided Fulbright was the place where he would take his comprehensive experience in white-collar crime and government investigations.
“Michael said he wanted to be a part of the firm Leon Jaworski helped build,” Mr. Pfeiffer said. “Like Col. Jaworski, Michael had a passion for public service, was a trusted leader and took difficult stances in the courtroom.”
Mr. Shelby was born in Central Texas and raised in Houston. After attending Texas A&M University, he went onto law school at the University of Texas. He later became a commissioned officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves. He served in the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm, and his active military duty also included service in Bosnia.
Mr. Shelby’s legal career began in the Harris County District Attorney’s office, where he spent five years in the Special Prosecutions Division. He joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in 1989 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. He specialized in the investigation and prosecution of cases involving public corruption, organized crime and environmental law.
Mr. Shelby prosecuted corrupt public officials after moving to Phoenix in 1997 and then returned to Houston in 2001 to become the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
As the U.S. Attorney, Mr. Shelby served on the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force. He tried more than 250 state and federal jury trials and argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit during his legal career.
In June 2005, Mr. Shelby became a partner at Fulbright, where he headed the firm’s nationwide white-collar criminal defense practice.
“Michael brought a combination of experience, trial skills and tremendous respect when he joined Fulbright,” Mr. Pfeiffer said. “We’ll always remember the remarkable contributions he made throughout his career.”
When not serving and protecting others, Mr. Shelby basked in the time he had with his wife, two daughters, family and friends.
“When Michael wasn’t on a foreign battleground or in a courtroom, he was a family man who enjoyed life,” Mr. Pfeiffer said. “He was known for his adventuresome spirit and fondness for skydiving, cars and space. He was a man of great courage. He fought a difficult battle against cancer.” |
Many of our Funky English members use Skype to chat with people around the world. Skype is a free program that lets us have video or voice chat with other Skype members.
Are you a Skype member? Would you like to find a partner to chat and practice English with? Introduce yourself here if you are looking for a partner! Try and find someone that speaks a different language to you. This way you'll have to use English to communicate!
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Hi,
i could talk to somebody who would want to chart to person from russia but i cannot be useful for whose who learn english language as i myself need someone native what to improve my english (most of all i mean my pronunciation).
Hi Natalia. I understand your comment about needing to speak with a native English speaker but chatting to people from other non-English speaking countries is also useful in different ways. You will get to listen to different accents (in the real world there are literally 1000s of different accents) and you must make sure your English language is clear and easy for people to understand. It's just another - slightly different - way to practice English!
i agree with you Jamie, I would just like people to know I only teach English as well and do not want to disappoint them. any way, we should try any possibility to improve our english skills.
Ok
IT will be nice to practice english with you
please send me your skype name
oh sorry i had to write *that* instead of *what*
Hi, I'm Edriany from Indonesia. i would like to have friend for practice using English through skype. usually i'm free around 9-11 PM Jakarta time. but sometimes i have time in the morning and afternoon too. so i think we can try make a deal with time in person later, my English level is Beginner. and i would like to talk about language studying experience, Korean drama n movies, your activities in life, your experience, sports, and etc.
thank you ^^
Hello I'm from Austria and I would like to find some friends for practise English. I'm here in the evening GMT Time +1 in Austria. So im her at 8 pm in my time. I have to work during the day so I can talk just in the evening. I like communication and everbody is welcome. So I'm looking forward to meet you. :)
hiiiiiiiiii my name is zahid hussain i will talk to u for improving enlish.My skype id is **********
Hello... I am Ashish Gupta... I want to improve my english skill and communication
skill and i hope you all want same thing. This is the only one reason i am sending friend-request so, please add my if you all want a English-Partner.My SKYPE ( ********** ) Thanks ^_^
1. INDIA
2. ALL Day
3. Medium
Hi everyone, I'm Blue Peace
1) I'm from Vietnam
2) I'm free on weekend (all Saturday+ all Sunday, except some days - very rarely). (Vietnam's time belt: GMT+7)
3) Medium
4) Studying English, culture of other countries and football (just listen, beaucause I don't know much about football)
I signed up Skype with name **********
I hope I will have many friends
Would anyone be interested in setting up a group conversation? A few members can log in at the same time and talk about a subject - for example a news story or one of our lessons. It will be difficult because we are all in different time zones but it might be worth a try in the future.
This is something I will arrange for some time after the New Year. If you are interested let me know and we'll try and make it happen!
Hi ! I think it would be very interesring to talk in a group. I live in Austria GMT +1 so maybe it's difficult to join. Please let me know when you arrange a group and I will try to be there. |
6SigmaFM
Predictive DCIM
The modern datacenter can often house hundreds of racks or cabinets containing thousands of servers, with changes often happening daily. Once installed equipment will often be required to be available 24/7 with little or no opportunity to power it down to change the configuration. Combine this with the ever-increasing power densities of the IT equipment, and it can represent an ever-present risk of thermal failure with very limited possibilities for remedial actions.
6SigmaFM enables the datacenter operator to test proposed configurations in order to predict outcomes, so minimising the risk of failure and indeed of getting into this difficult to manage scenario. In addition, a comprehensive change history – including environmental impact and performance – is stored so past decisions can be revisited to help refine the decision process and better predict the future.
Once your Virtual Facility (VF) is up and running, you can easily: drag-&-drop new equipment into every cabinet and fill it to capacity; add or change cabinets in the model; move floor grilles around; or model almost any other everyday operation you wish do in your datacenter.
In-depth understanding
Gain a better perspective on your data center running your asset management operations within a 3D space.
Up to the minute information
Just like the asset management integration, 6SigmaFM works with Real-Time Monitoring Systems to provide the current status of your data center.
(see 3rd party integration page for more information)
Principal Uses
IT Demand Management
- Consider Installs, Moves, Uninstalls… to IT equipment considering space, power, cooling, network
and weight in choosing locations.
- Synchronize the virtual facility with other management tools by, for example, importing changes from
asset management tools, and use simulation to assess plans before deployment.
Capacity Management
- Use thermal simulations to reset cooling limits on cabinets as IT layout deviates from original
design loads.
- Export updated cooling limits back to IT asset management tools. o Modify layout of data-hall. o Add
or remove rows of racks and floor-tiles.
Design Upgrade
- Test effectiveness of proposed changes such as hot- or cold- aisle containment or cabinet-level
cooling before deployment.
- Test impact of new cable routes on airflow management before deployment.
- Consider changes to cooling strategies.
- Assess effects of different control strategies such as group control, control-on-supply or pressure
control.
- Test performance of a new ACU design such as EC fans in the floor void or variable-speed drives.
Trouble shooting
- Diagnose the cause of overheating equipment.
- Test potential fixes before deployment.
Facility Management
- Assess the impact of taking an ACU down for maintenance or simulate an ACU failure scenario.
- Identifying potential energy savings – for example, identify bypass air and ACU short-circuiting plus
test potential fixes before deployment.
- Periodically assess whether the facility is being overcooled and reconsider energy efficiency
measures that could be adopted.
- Test whether cooling set-points can be turned up to make cooling system more efficient without
compromising resilience.
Integrating Products
6SigmaFM integrates with other parts of the 6SigmaDCsuite to enable the simulation and assessment of various aspects of the facility before any changes are implemented:
6SigmaCooling – 6SigmaDC CFD solver for prediction of thermal conditions and airflow paths;
6SigmaRack – pre-test IT layout inside a cabinet;
6SigmaPower – power configuration and SPOF analysis;
6SigmaWeight – check loading on the raised floor;
6SigmaRoom – major design changes to the infrastructure of the facility;
6SigmaITM – (primarily for IT managers) view rooms being managed by 6SigmaFM to enable effective
separation of tasks and responsibilities and raise Change Requests (CRs) in order to service them.
Typical CR actions include:
- Adding and removing items from the Store Room;
- Installing, decommissioning or moving, equipment around a facility;
- Changing one item for another;
- General maintenance.
Back To Top
Interested in Learning More? Get in touch>>
Predictive DCIM Focussed Literature
Additional |
Last week gold dropped like a NASA satellite falling from space. What was the driving force of this drop?
Last week December gold opened the week at $1,820 and closed the week at $1,639.80. The weakness in the market was very clear if you were watching the COT report week to week. Before I cover the COT, look at the daily chart below to see the technicals. We see ADX now at 33 reflecting a strengthening downtrend. You can see how the very strong uptrend that started back in early July started weakening mid-August after gold touched $1,900 for the first time. MACD is showing momentum building in the move down with increasing divergence and Stochastics are deeply oversold. Not concerned about this as ADX is at 33 and rising. You also can see the large drop in Open Interest. So who is responsible for this large drop? Let’s have a look.
Proceed to Page 2 for the latest COT Data...
COT Data
Looking at the weekly chart below you can see that back on Aug. 5 Commercials on the old legacy COT report were 287,634. As of this past Friday, Sept. 23 Commercials came in at 197,628 contracts net-short. That shows liquidation at just over 90,000 contracts. As you know from reading Market Pulse, I prefer the newer Disaggregated COT report. And here is why.
On Aug. 5, Producers (true commercials) had a net-short position of -195,940 contracts. On Sept. 23, Producers were net-short -181,944 contracts. Managed money back on Aug. 5 was net-long 228,824 contracts. This past Friday managed money came in at 151,425 net-long. A much larger drop in longs than producers drop in shorts. So who exactly was liquidating on the other side of managed money? You guessed it, our friends the Swap Dealers. Back on Aug. 5 Swap Dealers were -91,693 contracts net-short. This past Friday, Sept. 23 Swaps came in at -15,684 contracts net-short. This is the lowest we have seen since late 2008.
So you want to know when gold will drop it’s free fall? Keep an eye on the Swap Dealers because when they start adding to their net-shorts again, that is when we will see price rise. And if they continue liquidating, we definitely can see gold test $1,500.00.. |
U.S. stocks advanced as equity markets in the world’s largest economy reopened after Hurricane Sandy caused the longest weather-related shutdown since 1888.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.1 percent from Friday’s close to 1,413.83 at 9:31 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge has declined 2 percent in October after four straight months of gains.
“Investors are braced for an exceptionally busy open, as three days of trading are combined into one,” Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, wrote in an e-mail. “There is the additional feature of some likely window-dressing business, given today being the last trading day of the month and the end of the year for many mutual funds. There has been some encouraging economic data in the form of house prices.”.
Backup Power
Internet and mobile-phone connections were limited on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as U.S. equity markets prepared to open after the longest weather-related shutdown in more than a century. The NYSE’s headquarters are running on backup power and will keep using it if necessary all week, Larry Leibowitz, the chief operating officer, said in a phone interview.
Data yesterday showed the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of property values in 20 cities rose 2 percent in August from a year earlier, after a 1.2 percent advance in July. The average estimate by economists in a Bloomberg survey had called for a 1.9 percent increase.
A report today may reveal business activity in the U.S. expanded in October. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc.’s business barometer rose to 51 from 49.7 last month, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 54 economists. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.
Economic Data
The Labor Department is striving to issue its monthly report on employment on Nov. 2 as scheduled, a spokesman said yesterday. Payrolls increased by 125,000 workers in October and the jobless rate rose to 7.9 percent, according to the median forecasts of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The jobs report is the last before the Nov. 6 presidential election, and may help sway voters trying to decide between giving President Barack Obama another four years in office or to change course with Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Investors are also watching corporate results. Some 24 companies in the S&P 500 are due to report earnings today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit has exceeded projections at 72 percent of companies to have released third- quarter results, while sales trailed estimates at 60 percent of firms, Bloomberg data show.
Hurricane Sandy may reduce economic output by $25 billion in the fourth quarter, according to Gregory Daco, a U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. That could lower the fourth-quarter pace of growth to between 1 percent and 1.5 percent, from an estimate of 1.6 percent, he said. |
For Educators
Beholder
This film is set in a future where technology has allowed for everyone living in a fictional gated community to pick and choose all of the genetic features of the children before they are born. Students will contemplate how far they are willing to go to defend their own beliefs.
Crossover
This film depicts the ethical dilemma of a mother whose children are trapped in a vastly unequal school system. The lesson plan asks students to reflect more deeply about the state of our public education system -- both in the near future, and today.
Gunny
The film is a powerful exploration of the lasting effects of war on soldiers returning home, told in a unique style that moves backward in time. Students will analyze the effects of the filmmaker's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time.
That Which Once Was
This film about an unlikely friendship between two "environmental refugees" and accompanying lesson plan allow students to connect with the urgent and complex problem of global warming.
Predicting the Future
Use this lesson to help students think about how and why humans like to predict the future.
The Visual Grammar of Film
Use this lesson to help students engage actively with film terminology and concepts.
Mister Green
Global Warming and Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
In this lesson, students will analyze global warming, watch the film Mr. Green, analyze the validity of the solution presented in the film, and investigate the concept of carbon dioxide sequestration.
Plastic Bag
Where Does it All End Up?
Struggling with its immortality, a discarded plastic bag ventures through the environmentally barren remains of America as it searches for its maker. Students examine the scope of plastic bag use and disposal issues.
Play
Video Games and Social Control
What happens when people lose control over their own technology? In this lesson students investigate their own use of technology and consider how to maintain control.
Seed
The Future of Genetic Engineering
The lesson plan for Seed reviews the history of agricultural biotechnology. Students will propose a new GMO product based on need, potential for profit, and minimal environmental effects.
Silver Sling
The Future of Reproduction
Students will analyze the video to determine what aspects appear to be possible now and what do not. Then they will read and respond to an article about surrogate mothers.
Tent City
Building a Story Within a Story
This lesson focuses on the narrative technique of frame story. Students analyze its structure, and in extension activities write their own frame stories and research real tent cities
Tia & Marco
Developing Empathy for Others
Students analyze the video to watch the development of empathy. They explore the impact of empathy in their own lives, and they produce a story that models empathy.
Refuge
A cyber attack on the United States Immigration database puts Sonia at risk of being deported back to Iran. But remaining in the U.S. may come at a greater price than she’s willing to pay. |
Leapfrog Tag - the latest in teaching children to read
Leapfrog make reading interactive with the use of a Tag pen to help read the book and play games. Your child can hold the pen and touch a symbol on the page to read the story to them by the characters in the book, with a signalling sound to tell them when to turn the page. Alternatively they can touch another symbol to have just that page read to them. To aid understanding and memory there are games within the story asking kids to find favourite characters or demonstrate their understanding by pointing to parts of the picture when asked a question.
The stories are cute and the characters are colourful and fun.
In the Ozzie and Mack story I tested, the tale is followed by a series of learning games. There is an alphabet page when pounces the letters and gives examples of words starting with the individual letters. In Ozzie's Rhyme Time Band the kids can point to ryhming words which are read out loud to them. The game that goes with this page asks kids to find words as they are read to them. Tree House Telephone shows children how adding the letter 'e' to words changes them - for example, not to note. River roundup explains more complicated words like a mini dictionary. On each of the game pages there are 3 levels - children work their way through each level. Because the Tag stores what your children have played so far, they can only move up a level once they have mastered the previous one.
The Tag system comes with a CD which loads a program connecting your Tag pen to programs on the Leapfrog website. Here you can dowload stories and receive rewards for using the Tag Reading system. I'm not sure what the rewards are - as clearly I didn't play long enough with my TAG to earn any!!!
I started off unsure about the Tag reading system - as I'm very much one for natural parenting and I'd prefer to play these games with the kids myself rather than relying on technology. However, as I played with the Leapfrog Tag I could see how useful it could be for busy families. These days not everyone has enough time to teach kids to read, or maybe can't think up enough entertaining games to play with the kids to help them. I also know that some kids are very reluctant to be shown what to do by an adult, but are quite happy to sit by themselves learning from this type of technology.
I wasn't enamoured by the internet part of the product and was concerned about entering personal data into yet another website - even though I was assured this was intended to help construct an age appropriate learning plan. I thought the product was good enough on its own not to need the rewards element on the website. It's just a personal opinion, but I really don't think we need to use the internet for everything - including learning how to read.
On balance, my concerns are purely personal and for what it is setting out to do, the Leap Frog does succeed. It's easy for children to understand and very easy to use. The stories are well laid out and beautifully illustrated. The games are well thought through for the intended age range of 4 - 8 years old - though you could start kids on these books earlier than that. I like the fact that there are levels of games to play and so the book continues to be useful as the child reading progresses.
The Leapfrog Tag system can be bought at Amazon for £33.99 and includes your first Tag book.
There are more Tag books available from £11.10 on Amazon and include some favourite characters such as Spongbob Square Pants, Cat in the Hat and Kung Fu Panda. A selection is here at Amazon: |
Tell me my mother: Stories of Campbelltown’s Aboriginal Women
Campbelltown Arts Centre
ISBN: 978-1-875199-55-6
“Stories of resilience and inspiration” is how I would sum up this collection of oral histories with 15 local Aboriginal women residing in the Campbelltown District. They are stories that resolve issues for each of these women, and help the younger generations understand the lives we are fortunate to have today.
Many stories revolve around the history of the local areas these women have come from across the State and even Victoria, and life under the Protection Act including mission life, as well the negative effects of alcohol and domestic violence on the family. But most stories end with life today in Campbelltown and the roles the women play in community activities such as the street patrols Gladys Lock is part of.
The stories are about reconciling the past for these women. Marnie Williamson says, “Reconciliation must begin within ourselves. As elders, we must strive to reconcile our own past, somehow make sense of it, or we’ll always live in this voice, shadows in our own land.” And in trying to reconcile such stories of hardship, the women also recall the funnier side of life and growing up, such as the first time Verna Barker saw a plane and how she screamed thinking it was aliens coming to get her.
I was astounded at the size of the families that some of these women raised and continue to raise. Jenny Brown had four kids of her own but raised another 600 foster kids, while Christina Craig has 93 grand kids.
Some stories were also interesting local histories such as Glenda Chalker’s entry about living at Pheasant’s Nest, which is named PN because it’s the first place lyrebirds were recorded at. The Lyrebird is also Glenda’s totem, so she feels especially at home at Pheasant’s Nest. I’ll remember that when next I drive to Canberra along the M5.
Most women had key messages for their children and for all young people. Sue Davis’ message was that we should respect one another, respect culture and respect ourselves. In line with that Kylie Dickson believes that “to earn respect, you’ve got to give respect”. Artist and painter Sue Grant advises that you should follow your spirit and your dreams and be proud. And Julie Hoffmanbeck’s words to her children and other parents are “The most important thing is protecting you and your kids.”
Judy McKay recommends taking one day at a time, enjoying a sunset or a sunrise, the birds chirping, and the smells around you. And to never lose the little child inside.
Some of the stories are about achievement for these women, and that is measured in different ways. For Norma Layt her greatest achievements in life were going to uni, buying her own home and bringing up seven children. I would’ve thought one of those would be enough!
The book is really about the role of the mother and other key women in our lives and Alana Moffatt talks about the guidance and knowledge she got from her Mimi (grandmother) and how that’s where her drive stems from.
Each short autobiographical narrative is complimented by a beautiful black and white portrait by Mervyn Bishop.
Finally, Ruby Langford Ginibi says she tells her stories to make things change and to make people wake up. And this collection of truly hard lives lived, by women who are not bitter or twisted, but who are full of love and compassion should really make some of our young people wake up to themselves and see that what they enjoy today is a far cry from what our old people had to endure.
This is an inspirational read about women, many whom were born in dire conditions and raised without the basic human right we enjoy today. Show them you appreciate their generosity of spirit to tell their stories by reading them, and in turn you will show and that they deserve a place, as Mona Porter says, “My philosophy is that in the world, it doesn’t matter who you are, where you are or where you are from, you deserve your place in this world.”
This small volume is a gift to the Campbelltown community by these women, through the Campbelltown Arts Centre who coordinate the Campbelltown Intergenerational Aboriginal Project, through which this book was completed.
TO ORDER CONTACT:
PO Box 57
Campbelltown NSW 2560
Phone: 02 46454111
Drop in to the Cnr of Camden and Appin Roads Campbelltown |
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Black Elderberry, Certified Organic
500 mg/ml herb equivalency
Encourages Healthy Upper Respiratory Function Supports Immune Function and Response Promotes Healthy Mucosal TissueContinue
Black Walnut Fresh Green Hulls
Juglans nigra
Supports the Natural Balance of Healthy Intestinal Flora within the GI Tract Supports Healthy Intestinal…Continue
Breathe Naturally
Assists in Maintaining Healthy Respiratory Function
Supports Healthy Immune System Functions Supports the Upper Respiratory Tract Assists in Healthy Breathing Passages…Continue
Bronchial Wellness Herbal Syrup
Soothing Support for Respiratory Health*
Soothes occasional bronchial irritation* Emollient properties support healthy mucous membranes* Enriched with honey & aromatic…Continue
Bronchial Wellness Tea
Soothing support for respiratory health*
Bronchial irritation, whether acute or chronic, can leave you feeling achy and exhausted. With herbs…Continue
Burdock Root, Certified Organic
500 mg/ml herb equivalency
Supports Healthy and Vital Skin with a Clear Complexion* Promotes Normal Liver Function by Supporting…Continue
California Poppy
500 mg/ml herb equivalencyContinue
Cat's Claw Bark
Uncaria tomentosa
Supports Healthy Functions of the Immune System Promotes a Healthy Inflammatory ResponseContinue
Chaste Tree Berry, Certified Organic
250 mg/ml herb equivalency
Provides Support for a Normal Menstrual Cycle * Support for the Transition into Menopause and…Continue
Chia Fresh Daily Fiber
Supports regularity, healthy weight and cardiovascular health*
The vitality and benefits of chia seeds are uniquely harnessed in ChiaFresh™ Daily Fiber using
Supports Digestion and the Occasional Feeling of Fullness within the Stomach* Warming Digestive Aid* Support…Continue
Cleanse & Detox Tea
Naturally supports the detoxification process*
Cleanse & Detox Herbal Tea supports healthy liver function that is essential to maintaining wellness.*…Continue
Coleus Forskohlii Root
Supports the Activation of cAMP: an Important Tool in Cellular Communication Promotes Healthy Metabolism Supports…Continue
Comfrey Compound
Natural First Aid
Herbal Skin Care to Support Natural Healing of Minor Skin Abrasions Preserves Skin IntegrityContinue
Cranberry Concentrate
Optimizes urinary tract health*
Cranberry has a long history of use —now backed by modern science — for supporting…Continue
Daily Cleanse Fiber (fomerly named Rejuve Gentle Daily Fiber)
Supports healthy & gentle elimination*
Daily Cleanse Fiber (fomerly named Rejuve Gentle Daily Fiber) is a proprietary blend of plant…Continue
Dandelion Root & Leaf, Certified Organic
500 mg/ml herb equivalency
Promotes Healthy Excretion from the Urinary Tract* Supports the Liver and the Gall Bladder to…Continue
Dandelion Root, Certified Organic
500 mg/ml herb equivalency
Supports the Liver and the Gall Bladder to Promote Digestion* Supports the Liver and the…Continue
Deep Liver Support
Supports healthy liver defense*
Deep Liver Support helps maintain liver function by promoting healthy liver enzymes and providing nourishing…Continue
Diet Slim Tea
Support for maintaining a healthy weight*
Maintaining a healthy weight can be a challenge, yet with regular exercise and a healthy…Continue
Dong Quai Root
Angelica sinensis
Help Support the Normal Process of Menstruation and Menopause Supports the Female Reproductive SystemContinue
Dong Quai Supreme
Concentrated synergistic formula
Provides a Natural Hormonal Balance During the Onset Of Menopause Rich Natural Source of Phytoestrogens…Continue
Ear Oil With Mullein & St. John's Wort
Natural herb & oil blendContinue
Echinacea Goldenseal
Supports immune & respiratory response*
A healthy respiratory response is essential for optimal overall immune health. Concentrated to be fast-acting,…Continue
Echinacea Goldenseal Propolis Throat Spray
Contains Gaia Farm Echinacea
Supports a Healthy Immune System Response Maintains a Healthy Inflammatory Response to Seasonal Stressors Promotes…Continue
Echinacea Goldenseal Supreme
Contains Gaia Farm Echinacea
Supports a Healthy Immune System Response Maintains a Healthy Inflammatory Response to Seasonal Stressors Promotes…Continue
Echinacea Goldenseal Supreme, Alcohol-free
Contains Gaia Farm Echinacea
Supports a Healthy Immune System Response Maintains a Healthy Inflammatory Response to Seasonal Stressors Promotes…Continue
Echinacea Goldenseal Supreme, Extra Strength
Contains Gaia Farm Echinacea
Supports a Healthy Immune System Response Maintains a Healthy Inflammatory Response to Seasonal Stressors Promotes…Continue
Echinacea Red Root Supreme
Contains Gaia Farm Echinacea
Supports a Healthy Immune System Response Maintains a Healthy Inflammatory Response to Seasonal Stressors Supports…Continue
Echinacea Supreme
Supports healthy immune response at onset*
Echinacea Supreme has been used successfully for hundreds of years to support immune health.* Gaia…Continue
Echinacea Supreme, Alcohol-free
Contains Gaia Farm Echinacea
Ultimate Support for the Immune System Promotes the Production of Key Immune Functions Unique Combination…Continue
Echinacea Supreme, Certified Organic
Validated Full Spectrum Extract
Supports a Healthy Immune System Response* Supports Maintenance of a Healthy Inflammatory Response to Seasonal…Continue
Echinacea Supreme, Extra Strength
Contains Gaia Farm Echinacea
Supports a Healthy Immune System Response Maintains a Healthy Inflammatory Response to Seasonal Stressors Promotes organic herbs, this formula helps to support a healthy…Continue
Acai
Euterpe oleraceaContinue
Acai fruit is obtained from the Amazon River basin and plants are manually harvested from wild Acai palms (Euterpe oleraceae), which are native…
Arjuna
Terminalia arjunaContinue
Arnica
Arnica montanaContinue…
Brown Seaweed
Padina paronicaContinue
Buckthorn
Rhamnus catharticaContinue
Bupleurum
Bupleurum chinenseContinue
Bupleurum is a member of the Apiaceae family of plants and has been a staple of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for over 2,000…
Antioxidant Support
Bladder Function
Bowel Regulatory
Brain Function
Carbohydrate Metabolism
Cardiovascular Function
Cholesterol
Circulatory Function
Connective Tissue Function
Digestive Function
Endocrine Function - Adrenal
Endocrine Function - Thyroid |
i am a bit late knowing the FF series. I think FF X and FF XII are the best series in the game. It's the only reason i still appreciate my PS2 console.
UK.
Chart uk_sales for date 2007-02-27 02:22:31
- Today's #1 GameFinal Fantasy XII
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Final Fantasy is the only reason I have a PS2, haven't got XII yet but I'm still happily playing Wario Smooth Moves and Wii Sports so the PS2 is sitting unused for now.
Another reason that there are no FPS is that as most games are sold on the PS2... FPS's on PS2 suck harder than a $10 whore, the only decent one on there was..... was..... I'm struggling.... certainly wasn't Killzone....
Every country has its differing sales charts, preferences are varied but of course the mass charts do not account for everybody's taste within that region. Lots of folk in the UK (myself included) love fps games. The uneducated views of people from elsewhere are merely false assumptions !
[quote]FPS's never do good in UK. The violence tolerant level is lower there than in north america.[/quote] What?!?!?!?! FPS games do very well in the UK and the only reason none are in the top 10 is because the FPS market has been dry for so long. Wait until Stalker comes out, that'll go straight to the top.
gd gd final fantasy beats the rest and rightly so ..fifa 07 good.. evolution soccer 6 nice to see still there... sega megadrive collection i was expecting at no.2 but fair enough ... and mario still hanging in there.. nice collection of games in the charts this week
'Violence tolerance is lower there'?. Have you ever actually been or met anyone from the UK?. I'd love to see some proof to back-up such a ridiculous claim. FPS's don't sell well in the UK because most of the time they're only released on PC's and PC gaming in the UK is fringe at the extreme (with the exception of the sims franchise). I also don't believe that Crackdown sold because of the Halo 3 beta. I believe it sold because of over-rated media hype and the fact that since the (middling-success) title of Lost Planet there really hasn't been any significant releases on the console since November (GoW).
I dont see what the big deal is with all those final fantasy games. They are all the same and I find them all very boring. On another note it is true that Crackdown will sell well just because of the Halo 3 demo. That is one smart move by Microsoft. I cant wait until Halo 3 come out!
final fantasy 12 is cool, but i cant seem to get into it as i used to with rpgs. and the only reason crackdown sold so high is cuz the halo 3 demo...cant wait till that comes out
FPS's never do good in UK. The violence tolerant level is lower there than in north america. Props to square enix, for making such a sick game.
Yes well done to all the clever Final Fantasy players. I spend most of my free time on it at the moment. Today is the only day I haven't played it, I can feel my hand moving to the controller now... I am level 25, wasted loads of LP :( My only criticism of the whole game is when epensive gambit slots appear on the licence board getting in the way of progress. I really don't need them! Lol @ the Tomato Bandit guy, when I first got to that bit I tried to kill the T-rex thing as well. I hit it and saw it take off 0 damage, I ran like hell but it killed me. Annoyingly I hadn't yet saved it so I had to start from the beginning.
I Bought this game, its awesome. I have bought nearly all of the FFX Games on the PS2 and they have all been fun to play. So far im on the part i have to go out side the city to destroy the Tomoto Bandit lol. :D
I salute each and every person responsible for getting FF12 to the top spot. *salutes* I made sure I bought it on day of release, and haven't stopped playing it since.
I don't think there was quite this much hate for Sony when the PS2 came out though, the competition was Dreamcast who'd sort of made all the mistakes that Sony are making now.... Sega were fond of quoting "up to 6 billion players" and then didn't release a decent on line game for over a year, Sony has just dumped rumble, backward compatability, Dualshock pads that everyone loved, and added a huge price tag and a blu-ray player that not everyone wants.
ragrdoll21 said . "------ yeah i agree but things were differet then, ps2 didn't have any real competition. xbox didn't come untill later and when it did it was more expensive and had far fewer games on it while the gamecube..........well it was a gamecube. now however the tables have turned and sony really need to get their act together and stop hoping that customers are still going to buy their console despite their common sense and rattional thinking telling them otherwise. sony actually have to work to be successfull this time around, both the 360 and the wii are amazing machines.
[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
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i loved Bad Boys 1
"PS3 will never replace the PS2" Remember people saying that about the PS1 when the PS2 was launched, boy were they wrong.
PS3 can never replace the PS2 because the attitude Sony has now is different and that is causing a negative effect. Haters have increased, websites are taking the mic, websites are constantly posting bad info after bad info etc. Never happened to the PS2.
kavadias1981 ''The PS3 will never replace the PS2. Just look at the charts for chrissake!'' Yep, Sony sure have the long term intention of investing more in the PS2 than the PS3 to keep it alive for longer don't they ?
Final Fantasy has made a triumphant come back after the disappointing Final Fantasy 10 and 11. It's so streamlined and accessible to play, great to look at and the voice acting is a lot stronger too. Finally, the UK chart is representing our taste in games. I would love to see the back of FIFA, Need For Speed and The Sims for good but thats not going to happen any time soon :(. It's good to see Sega Mega Drive Collection in the top ten still as well as New Super Mario Bros but the chart is missing a few titles. I would like to know the position of Okami and where it stands in sales as well as Gears Of War. :D But finally, the charts are finally looking like they should do!
By random battles I meant that you can be running along a road nicely and suddenly you find yourself in a battle against 1,2,3,etc creatures that appear as if from nowhere. I did not mean fighting against something on a different screen or whether the outcome was random. It always annoys when you can be travelling from place to place and the game decides you have to fight now, if you run away from the battle 20-30 seconds has passed, so you run away and carry on your journey for another few seconds and wallop... another battle. So despite travelling over clear plains or an empty road suddenly there are creatures around that want a scrap. I've lost count of the number of times travelling from one village or location to another takes 30 minutes because the game decides you should have a scrap.
For those who do not know in FF XII you can see the monster and you fight on the same screen so if u get into a fight u can run away with no hassle IT IS NOT RANDOM thoughg the place where the monster summon and how many are in that spot is random.
TTDog, no it does not have random battles...
Had heard that the story is FF12 falls away a little, due to the bloke in charge of the story itself leaving halfway through development to work on Blue Dragon. I'm assuming FF12 still includes the "Random Battle" element that has put me off playing them too much in the past.
I might pick final fantasy xii
I knew it would sell well, its a great game. Wonder how well it went in Australia.
Good to see that Final Fantasy XII is being recieved so well in the UK.
Only one game in that list deserved to be there, and it got the top spot too. Nice going Square Enix.
Go Final Fantasy XII!
Bad Boys 2? They just got that game now?
yes Crackdown does come with halo3 mp beta over here however i didn't think crackdown was an amazing game it had a really good idea but i just found it a bit boring with no storyline. i can totally see why FF XII outsold crackdown its a better game plus there are still probably at least 10 ps2s to every 360 so the install base is huge. i don't think it was ever going to be the other way round.
this just proves that no matter how good the graphics and no matter how many explosions in however high definition, a good story is always going to sell the games. FF XII is just a very well done overall package.
Bad Boys 2 in the top ten?????? What's really going on in the UK?
FFXII beat Crackdown and FIFA? Guess the stereotype of soccer (football)being above all else only goes for part of the year. One question that I do have though is did the Crackdown come with Halo 3 multiplayer tryout like here? Also, Bad Boys in the top 10? How does that work?
BAD BOYS 2???
No Gears? Thats surprising.
Great to see Final Fantasy atop the charts. Also, how on earth can anyone call Final Fantasy chav-like? I mean, are the fanboys THAT deluded and they would convince themselves that FF appeals to chavs and that's the only way it could top the charts? Please, you people are sad. Final Fantasy topped that chart because it is a great game.
I'm really glad FFXII is being received well, despite all the flak it's been receiving about it's licence/gambit system, and well the game itself. I know that Dirge of Cerberus tanked, but I really hope that this game joins its predecessors (all ps1 ff games from seven (i think it starts with 7) on is in the top ten for the ps1 ranks. How mad is that?) in the halls of glory. And it's nice to note that today its 19 out of all the games in the database... makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, even though I had a few reservations about it. Keep it up Square, because I'm gettin my ps3 just for XIII and versus!
bad boys!!!!!! woooooooooo!!!
I see crackdown dropping way down after this week. All of my friends bought crackdown because they were too late signing up on-line. Now the freaking game is collecting dust.
Bad Boys 2? Lol, that game is old and has been for sale brand new for $9.99 since it came out. I'm glad FFXII is number #1, I'm sick of seeing Gears at number all theII
- Publisher(s): Square Enix
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release:
- ESRB: T |
Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth Review
In recent months, it’s been more apparent than ever that popular culture is hell bent on eating itself
In recent months, it’s been more apparent than ever that popular culture is hell bent on eating itself. It’s a never-ending glut of movies based on toys, toys based on books, books based on TV shows and games based on all of the above. Movie game tie-ins are often derided as the most soulless of this sorry bunch, and while Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth doesn’t entirely fly in the face of preconceptions, it at least attempts to. That’s got to count for something when it could have just contented itself as the next in line to an endless procession of bloated and bland gaming cash cows.
Though created to tie in with the film franchise, Battle for Earth takes the majority of its cues directly from the comic books, specifically the 2008 ‘Secret Invasion’ story arc by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Yu. Using Kinect’s motion-based controls, players can control up to 20 characters from the Marvel universe as they try to halt a global invasion by shape-shifting alien race, the Skrull. Disguised Skrull sleeper agents have also infiltrated the ranks of Earth’s mightiest heroes, a premise that gives this brightly coloured brawler the perfect excuse to pit good guys against other good guys and the bad guys against, well, everyone.
Though the game clearly has respect and affection for the source material, the campaign mode isn’t afforded much in the way of a story. Despite the wealth of inspiration to draw from, only a few still comic book panels and lines of voiceover tie stages very loosely together. The main attraction is the core gesture-based combat, and luckily there are plenty of additional modes to complete, a versus and co-op feature that allows you to play with or against friends, and costumes and collector’s cards to unlock. The fighting itself is surprisingly satisfying at first. Each character has three unique moves that can be strung together to create combos, and performing these will fill a Special gauge that can then be used to initiate breakers and powerful Ultra moves.
There are some nice touches, such as shouting character-specific phrases during an Ultra sequence to receive damage boosts, but the problem that quickly becomes apparent is that the heroes are essentially tactically identical, with any complexity in their unique actions and Kinect’s ability to recognise them providing the only real variation and challenge in the entire experience. Having so few unique attacks per character simply highlights this issue, and though individual matches are well paced, the campaign soon becomes a tiresome, repetitive and gimmicky slog. There are plenty of good ideas in Battle For Earth, but it’s clear that it has been restricted in what it can offer and ultimately accomplish by its very nature as a motion-based fighter.
Though an overall shallow affair, Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth displays lot more polish, flair and finesse than your average movie tie-in title, but like those Skrull impostors, it can’t escape its true, uglier nature for too long. |
NewsNews
League of Legends changes Champion pricing and release schedule; 7800 IP Tier added
Today on the League of Legends site, Riot employee Hippalus discussed their company plans for changes to IP/RP prices and the champion release schedule. There's some big changes coming -- specifically to champion pricing, which will now have tiers where older champions will go down in price whenever a new champion is released. But lets start at the beginning...
Over the past few months, the rate of releasing champions has slowed. For 2013, Riot's goal is to release 14-17 new champions -- around one every three to four weeks. This not only gives their design team more time to polish each new champion, but it gives you more time to save IP in-between champion releases. That's good, because Riot is adding IP and RP price tiers, including a new 7800 IP tier. The tiers are:
To help you understand, there will be a price reduction schedule that Riot is implementing. All brand-new champions will cost 7800 IP/975 RP for the first week only, and will then be reduced to 6300 IP. This should help with everyone buying a new champion and dodging when they don't get to play it. Every time a new champion is released, the oldest 6300 IP/975 RP champion will be reduced to 4800 IP/880 RP -- the next lowest tier. In addition, with every third champion release, an additional champion currently priced at 4800 IP or lower will be reduced to the next lowest tier, based on age and ease of play.
Did you get all that?
To make it easier, Riot provided a Tl;dr:
In addition to all of this, the seven oldest 6300 IP champions are getting an immediate price reduction. These champions are Ezreal, Vladimir, Renekton, Nocturne, Lee Sin, Brand and Vayne. They are all reduced to 4800 IP/880 RP. If you bought these champions in the two weeks prior to today, Riot will automatically refund the difference for you.
I think the new changes are great. In fact, they're amazing, and the 7800 IP tier is genius for the first week. This is how you help deal with overpopulation of a champion at release.
You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at [email protected]
[Source: League of Legends] |
ReviewsReviews
Okamiden Review
Some games don’t get sequels, no matter how patiently we wait. We didn’t get another ICO, we didn’t get another Final Fantasy VII (though many of us are still hoping for a remake), and after playing Okamiden, the long-awaited handheld offshoot to one of Capcom’s most remarkable properties, gamers will find themselves waiting some more.
That’s not to say that Okamiden isn’t a good game. This handheld iteration is, if nothing else, amusing. But the overall package—the good, the bad, and the seriously ugly—is not as impressive as it might have been seven years ago when the Nintendo DS first came out.
For those who have barely touched their DS, this may not be much of a problem. Like the PS2 and Nintendo Wii original, Okamiden provides the player with complete access to a paintbrush tool (called the Celestial Brush) that can be used to color the world. But instead of spray-painting walls (as in Jet Set Radio), revitalizing decayed environments (as in Epic Mickey), or removing sludge/paint from the islands of Super Mario Sunshine, Okamiden allows you to attack, influence, and enhance the world with the simple stroke of a paintbrush.
Or, more specifically, the simple stroke of a finger or stylus across the bottom screen of the DS. This gameplay element makes Okamiden instantly cool, charismatic, and unmistakably irresistible. If you've never experienced anything like this before, you'll be won over for hours.
However, if you have played a game like this before (namely Okami, but either of the handheld Zelda games will do), Okamiden might come across as more of a chore than a work of art to be cherished.
In theory, the gameplay is remarkable. Players control a lone wolf, Chibiterasu, who just happens to be the descendant of Amaterasu. He’s quick, loyal, and has been placed in a world with a more immerse camera than The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The camera is low and pleasantly angled behind Okamiden. But while it's possible to swing the camera around in games like N64 and Nintendo DS versions of the fifteen-year-old Mario 64, for example, there is no such feature available in Okamiden. Thus, when it’s time to backtrack, players will have to endure a stiff camera that makes it appear as if our four-legged friend is running toward the screen. Unfortunately, backtracking is as common in this game as lawsuits are at Activision, so you’ll be running toward the screen a lot.
But wait—now I need to backtrack. I was about to tell you why the gameplay was theoretically remarkable.
As with the N64, GameCube and Nintendo Wii versions of The Legend of Zelda, Okamiden allows you to battle in a world that’s wholly immerse and entirely in 3D. Jump, dodge enemies, launch simple combo attacks—all the staples of a good action/RPG are here. It’s very impressive to see these features, no matter how trivial, in a Nintendo DS game. The cel-shaded art style, which attempts to mimic the beauty of Okami, is even more impressive. Granted, Okamiden completely fails in this regard (the jagged edges and generic cartoon effects have been seen on the DS before). But this is old hardware, and you can tell that the developers put their hearts and souls into making the game look its best. If you haven’t played some of the system’s finer titles, Okamiden should qualify as a very beautiful game.
It seems that I have gotten sidetracked once more. Now I must backtrack to the gameplay, which, according to mathematical calculations that have yet to be proven (aka a “theory”), should be downright spellbinding. So why isn’t it?
Okamiden’s developers (like most other developers) confuse backtracking and rehashing with gameplay length. Have you ever noticed that the longer an RPG is, the more you have to backtrack? Meanwhile, short action games tend to feature very few moments where you have to retread old environments. This is not a coincidence, and it's a glaring flaw that severely detracts from Okamiden’s potential and appeal.
It is not uncommon for players to go out of their way to step on a switch, only to walk back several steps (or feet) to flip another switch, and then be forced to return to the first one. We've done it before, and any interest that was once there is definitely gone by now.
Aside from the mission-specific moments, when a Crazy Taxi-style arrow is used to point us in the right direction, players are required to journey without any helpful hints. In a larger, more open-ended world, this might be acceptable. But Okamiden isn’t exactly a non-linear adventure. There are obstacles (physical and magical) that will keep players from wandering too far outside current path. The problem is, within these confines is a land full of boring characters that must be spoken to and tiring environments that must be revisited in order to trigger the next step.
Frankly, Okamiden is a game that should have done better. Yes, Okami had its share of repetitive moments, but it also featured one of the most compelling presentations of any game of its time. It was a unique alternative to Zelda. Okamiden is not.
If this review has advertised Okamiden as a bad offshoot, then it should be noted that my comments come more from disappointment than anything else. There are some players who will undoubtedly love Okamiden, either because the flaws (such as backtracking) are not as familiar or because they have the capacity to overlook its myriad mistakes. I wish I could do the same. |
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