text:
Judging from the summary, they're looking to replace support more than production. I'm pretty sure this isn't a new idea... all you need is a cassette tape playing "Have you tried turning it off and on again" on a loop.
All you need is a cassette tape playing "Have you tried turning it off and on again" on a loop.
Who holds the copyright on that phrase?
Who holds the copyright on that phrase?
I first thought of Edison, but then it occurred to me that this was actually Tesla's approach...
So Edison probably owns the copyright...
Which is why 90% of the time support for something is totally worthless.
Verizon wireless was rejecting some of the SMS we send our own employees. There is no one we could talk to who had any idea what to do. No customer facing person had any ability to tell us why they started doing this or if there was a process around it.
At least they tried to help. When one of my customers stopped getting push emails on her Blackberry, I was told by Rodgers Mobility support that push email is an unsupported feature and the policy was that she could not report delivery problems to anyone.
I once had the displeasure of telling our client that the vendor (luckily not our company but our partner, so I could say "they" not "us") did not support the use of the "back" button in their web interface. Any support case that involved using it would be closed as not supported. For bonus points they didn't provide any functionality equivalent to it either, so of course everyone used the back button anyway where it did work. To me it's a bit like selling a four door car where the back doors are only for decoration and actually opening and closing the doors are not supported but I guess if you have enough lawyers and impenetrable contracts anything is possible.
To me it's a bit like selling a four door car where the back doors are only for decoration and actually opening and closing the doors are not supported but I guess if you have enough lawyers and impenetrable contracts anything is possible.
That was the Jeep Cherokee if you ever took it off-road. People loved them.
We had a similar issue with some provider not accepting our texts. It may have been Verizon. We had to ask one of our managers who used to work at Verizon to call a buddy of his who still worked there. Turned out that they have a different message size than other providers or something, and that if we sent something to the usual 160 character limit, it would not send at all. It was an edge case, but I am surprised it never came up before.
At this point, we need support companies that we pay that actually have employees who "know someone" inside the organization, because these big companies are about as transparent as muddy crude oil.
If you think that's bad, try getting help on a server issue when you're not a Verizon customer.
Back in 2006, I was working for a DoD contractor, and discovered that our order emails to suppliers were bouncing as spam if it went to a Verizon address. We tried for a solid week to call everyone we could possibly find at Verizon that could help, but either got stonewalled, referred to some useless person, or (most often) shoved into the standard customer tech support queue. Mostly we were treated like either a social-engineering attempt, an idiot, or something similar.
Thing is, my employer ran the EMALL website, which all armed forces used to order anything which wasn't an actual weapon. Our index was bigger than Amazon's
Finally, I gave up and spoke with the managers at DLA (Defense Logistics Agency), laying out the problem to date. We then put out a system-wide notice to all DoD suppliers that if they wanted to sell something to the military, they'd damned well better use something other than a Verizon email account. Two weeks later, Verizon came out of the blue, desperately calling us asking what they could do to help us out. Turns out they weren't fully RFC-compliant at the time; they fixed it pretty quickly once they realized that a lot of their DoD-supplier customers were suddenly asking them how much the contract ETFs came to.
Sad part is, if my employer was some tiny company in BFE, there would likely still be a problem with the damned thing.
I had one Verizon Business phone support rep tell me that Verizon doesn't offer VoIP, so there was no way for her to transfer to the VoIP support group (which I had talked to many times before but had lost the number). So I asked her, "Does that mean we can stop paying you $2000/mo for a service you don't offer?". She hung up on me.
Judging from the summary, they're looking to replace support more than production. I'm pretty sure this isn't a new idea... all you need is a cassette tape playing "Have you tried turning it off and on again" on a loop.
What seems sort of curious is that 'support' is what happens when software(sometimes hardware; but hardware at least has the decency to usually fail dramatically enough to just be swapped out, and would be hard to roboticize outside of a datacenter or something in any case) fucks up hard enough, or confuses the user hard enough, that an IT minion gets called in.
Adding a layer of 'software robotics' to second-guess the existing layer of dysfunctional software just seems like a nightmare of cascading complexi
What seems sort of curious is that 'support' is what happens when software(sometimes hardware; but hardware at least has the decency to usually fail dramatically enough to just be swapped out, and would be hard to roboticize outside of a datacenter or something in any case) fucks up hard enough, or confuses the user hard enough, that an IT minion gets called in.
No, first line support is often dealing with people that have a PEBCAK problem, not a software or hardware problem. Or at least not one related to what you're actually providing support for in a supported configuration. I suspect that many companies don't actually want a support line, if you have a problem they'd rather you get pissed and go somewhere else than tie up one of their employees - even your outsourced call center guy. Unless it's a big thing affecting many users in which case you probably know i
As I recall a senior member of the BSI telling me when I was working on a research project that went towards the development of BS 5750 AKA ISO 9000. Sounds like Mr Kakal doesn't really understand either IT or Production engineering
they're replacing call center dudes. not production.
it sounds better if they call it IT business than call center business I suppose. it's meant for the bozos at hr/some fantasy land who read computer world.
It's increasingly common so it must not be too hard.
Some companies I deal with have no human "escape hatch" option available any more.
I would then stop dealing with them.
I have no tolerance for spending 20 minutes to get a 2 minute thing done. VZW's system is terrible. I want to pay the bill, it even offers to let you pay before you hear about your account if you select that it then tells you about your account before letting you pay. It was designed by a crazy person.
You know who *used* to have a bad ass system? Sony.
You would call them up it would recognize your phone number (and what you have bought if you registered). It would ask you what you are calling about and route you to the correct repair center. If you had an open call it would route you to the same guy you were working with before and he would give you a status update. It was actually very cool to call them. No re-describing issues over and over no trying the same things over and over. *Then* they cha
Not that hard? It's amazing how many of them screw up badly.
In UPS case the damn thing can't even handle my Canadian accent. Nothing so infuriating than to have to read my number, have the IVR repeat it back to me garbled and then have to tell the damn computer it got it wrong and then have to go through the process twice more before being forwarded to a support person to sort it all out. I've even tried changing my pronunciation from "Zed" to "Zee"
My only thought is that they either do
I've even tried changing my pronunciation from "Zed" to "Zee"
Perhaps the problem is that you were using "z" as a number?
Agree... they didn't use your native vocabulary.
Try saying it as "zero". "Zee Roh".
It's one of those odd differences in dialect between our versions of english.
but but, it will be cheaper!? my software robot, Pascal, written in assembly, likes to think of it self as a program... how quaint.
but but, it will be cheaper!?
It will if US companies skip the middleman (Infosys) and just use IPsoft themselves.
This story tells me nothing.
"The autonomic tools that IPsoft makes are designed to bring software robotic automation and machine learning to routine IT functions, such as help desks, operations and infrastructure management. In other words, with IPsoft's tools, work that is now done by human beings could be done by a software machine."
it's either more automatic phone reply machines or possibly more of the way of doing business where instead of calling an amazon guy to setup you a new server, you use their tools to deploy the server yourself and amazon doing a robo-call to test if you're the person you say you are and instead of calling amazons support you look up their faq on their site.
dressing it in 10 paragraphs of bullshit makes a better article - for computer world. also it makes it sound more unique, which it certainly isn't, since we've been using amazon for a while with zero human interaction with sales, support or anyone.
The company I retired from laid off about 5k people-- found it had to hire about 800 of those back (and is having a hard time getting suck.. people... to take those jobs).
It's designing it's order entry system to allow it to lay off most of its ma and customer support (another 8000 or so people). But it's SO obvious about it that its losing the good staff which is ironically slowing down the automation.
Voice based customer support sucks and some times you have to get to a real person to get stuff done.
Voice based customer support sucks and some times you have to get to a real person to get stuff done.
Indeed; apparently those who think this is some great new innovation have never had to call in to Verizon Business' IVR... or maybe they're the assholes that run it.
In short - It's fucking torture.
I think that's called software. No robotics needed.
At our office we use software hardware. It really saves on the hardware hardware costs.
I had a 56k modem like that once...
Where are my mod points...
i think this is what you are looking for...
http://www.google.com/robot [google.com]
Both Wipro and Infosys are the worst in terms of H1-B visa abuse and should not be allowed to operate in this country.
http://profit.ndtv.com/news/industries/article-us-senator-accuses-infosys-wipro-tcs-of-abusing-h-1b-visas-321282 [ndtv.com]
But, unfortunately they're connected with Washington's elite and throw money around in DC to keep things like the H1-B program alive. Remember that during the next election cycle.
Infosys does something else that american companies used to do with Aramco.
They bring a bunch of infosys people over, warehouse them near the client, and pay them indian wages. They keep them in the country for six months-- preferably from july to december so they can keep them in the country for six months until the next july.
Then they ship them back home. They were never american employees to begin with. They were indian employees. Which leaves us competing here with experienced software developers wo
Do you by T-shirts? Jeans? Cars? DVD players? Computers? They're all made overseas by companies that do it more cheaply than we do. If that didn't happen, they'd be much more expensive. So why does this become a problem all of a sudden if it's software development?
Take away all the dishonesty and watch the cost "differential" evaporate into thin air.
In addition, those guest workers are sought for having the status as indentured servants, something not associated with citizens in the properly functioning (and non-distorted by guest workers/illegals) job markets of First World countries like the US.
A few decades ago, McCarthy would have rightfully put you and these companies in their place for siding with enemies of the United States of America.
Take away all the dishonesty and watch the cost "differential" evaporate into thin air.
Foreign programmers are willing to do the same job for less money; where's the "dishonesty"?
In addition, those guest workers are sought for having the status as indentured servants, something not associated with citizens in the properly functioning (and non-distorted by guest workers/illegals) job markets of First World countries like the US.
The workers Maxo-Texas was referring to are short term visitors that find out cus
Wages are leveling out.
My main point of irritation is that I can't legally buy movies, medicine, software development packages, and many other products for the extremely low price the same corporations legally sell them to indians and chinese for.
I have to pay $19.99 for a movie selling legally in china for $2.49.
I have to pay $5.00 a day for blood pressure medication selling legally in india for 10 cents.
It's ILLEGAL for someone to buy a bunch over there and ship it back here and sell the movies for $3.49 and the pills for 20 cents (100% mark up).
A few years ago Microsoft was GIVING development suites to indians free while I had to pay $750 for the same product.
Indian wages (as of novermber 2012) were going up 20%. China is seeing 12% to 100% annual wage inflation.
It's been a long painful walk, but sometime in the next 4-8 years it won't be worth it to offshore any more. These automation programs are a leading edge. Infosys also is trying to rebrand themselves from being a company that sells legions of code monkeys and grunt programmers to a company that sells managers and ceos. That's also a sign of the increasing wage structure.
I was lucky. I lived on half of what I made since 2000 and I was able to retire early. Now I do massage therapy, draw, and paint for fun. I'm looking at doing some programming for fun but haven't done so yet. Either Libreoffice (I read they are friendly), or Android (for my dnd game), or some kind of board gaming table software.
My main point of irritation is that I can't legally buy movies, medicine, software development packages, and many other products for the extremely low price the same corporations legally sell them to indians and chinese for.
I agree that it's irritating. But I don't think it's rally all that serious. Differences are mostly for patents and copyrights, and those will go away as wage differences disappear.
It's been a long painful walk, but sometime in the next 4-8 years it won't be worth it to offshore any more
I don't think it's been painful at all. We're actually much better off than we used to, and the fact that the Chinese and Indians have developed as well as they have makes us all a lot safer.
Faust got a better deal for losing his soul.
Things are worse for gutting our own industries - in ways not seen before at this scale. Inviting hostile Second and Third World countries has made the world less safe given their predisposition to making things more dangerous and less free.
Things are worse for gutting our own industries
We haven't "gutted" our industries; US manufacturing is stronger than ever before. It's just that other parts of the economy have grown even faster.
Inviting hostile Second and Third World countries has made the world less safe given their predisposition to making things more dangerous and less free.
The world is safer than ever before: there is less violence, fewer armed conflicts, much leas threat to US interests, and less hunger.
If you start with delusional be
okay, I'll bite.
I used to buy T-Shirts made in the USA, but I can't anymore because most of the garment workers in this country were laid off because of imports that were dumped into this country. Does anybody remember the "Look for the Union Label commericals?"
There was a place called the Garment District in NYC, thousands of workers making clothes for the US consumer. That's gone.
Jeans? Humm, Levi Strauss stopped making jeans in this country back in the 80s. So, you're right I can't get Levi's but Wra
You seem to want some kind of guarantee of long term stability, but that doesn't exist in an era of rapid technological change. On the other hand, you also seem to think it's a disaster when the current jobs disappear, but it isn't. And you're blind to what's actually going on in the economy; for example, you think only in terms of manufactured consumer goods, when America's manufacturing sector is bigger than ever, but happens to be making higher value products that you don't really see. You simply can't p
It's not a question of that, it's a question of wholesale exportation of jobs overseas to get 1) cheaper labor 2) avoid government regulation 3) dodge taxes. There's lots of reasons why things cost more to produce in some countries vs. others. Because kids are small, they can get into small areas so why not use them in the manufacturing process for say ships? I can see Korean kids getting into all of those nooks and small areas. That's a niche market isn't it?
It's not like it hasn't all been done before [historyplace.com]
It's not a question of that, it's a question of wholesale exportation of jobs overseas to get 1) cheaper labor 2) avoid government regulation 3) dodge taxes
Good! If US voters can't get the US government to scale back some of its excessive taxes and regulations, maybe international competition can.
What entitles businesses to have a better status in the world than the people that work for them? Why should the United States have to bow before the world in order to prosper?
You seem to want some kind of guarantee of long term stability, but that doesn't exist in an era of rapid technological change. On the other hand, you also seem to think it's a disaster when the current jobs disappear, but it isn't.
Why should long-term stability not exist along with technological change? There are plenty of people that do better when long-term stability is guaranteed them - and through forms of labor that allow them to fully use their potential.
To simply sweep people under the rug and to believe on blind faith that *something* else "not seen"
What entitles businesses to have a better status in the world than the people that work for them?
Businesses don't have a "better status"; businesses are just collections of people and collections of investors.
Why should the United States have to bow before the world in order to prosper?
We're not "bowing" before anybody. We should uphold our Constitution. And free trade is an essentially American project; it is something we have forced the rest of the world into, for our own good and for theirs.
Surrender you
...Remember that during the next election cycle.
Are you suggesting that we vote out the incumbents?
But but... my party! I can't let those other guys into office because they'd be worse!!!
The system is broken, I know that. But I consider myself morally responsible, so I have to vote for the lessor of two evils!
I think you shouldn't vote for anyone who leases evil.
All the force on K Street won't matter if Wipro/Infosys/etc. and their lobbyists have a very bad day with the explicit disclosure of why. Just explain to the public that their fraud and all their misdeeds (public and otherwise) on national television if someone complains. It's a desperate measure, but someone brave enough to do it would gain the confidence of millions of US citizens defrauded out of jobs; it would be the "Icarus falling out of the sky" moment for the abuse of guest workers of any skill le
LOL, I miss K street. Thing is one time I was going through town late one night in a cab. We were going up North Capitol to my apartment (way north of the letter streets) and when we got to M street I remember the Crack Whore coming up and banging on the driver door. The driver just sped off. Great place DC, especially late at night.
What color is the sky on your world?
This is exactly what H1-B is used for all the time. Call up infosys and ask. They will be more than happy to replace your current helpdesk with H1-Bs.
We already have "knowledge bases", "community support", and support outsourced to Far, Far Away. Microsoft did some work with Bayesian statistics to find out which questions a support tech should ask first. Much software already "phones home" to send trouble reports and crash dumps. There's been some good work on automated crash dump classification, to group similar crash dumps together and send them all to the same maintenance programmer.
We need more automation in general.
I know this means some low level jobs evaporate. But it also means companies aren't having to pay for those jobs anymore which means their priorities will shift to getting trained labor. And that means either companies will start focusing more on actually training their own labor a bit more which they can afford if they're not paying for low end labor. Or the universities will at least get somewhat competent at preparing people for the work force.
People whine about automation but its pointless. Its the future. Deal with it.
We need more automation in general.
People whine about automation but its pointless. Its the future. Deal with it.
I don't know if I'd say it's the future, because someday the Luddites might win. It is, however, the only way that we can increase or even maintain (in the face of more expensive natural resources) our standard of living. It does cause short term pain, and you shouldn't deny that reality. However the rate of job loss is less than when they ship whole factories or industries offshore. The automation also provides a genuine permanent increase in productivity, rather than the supposed comparative advantage of
Low level jobs. You mean jobs that are low paying. They are only low paying because the companies set the price. There are far too many companies that are not willing to pay a living wage to people that work for then, while they re-up on their membership to the country club. As things are going now, companies will try to automate everything, until they find that they have fired people to the point that there is no longer anyone to buy their product. They go out of business and scramble to get a low paying j
No companies do not set the price any more then companies set the price for a pair of socks or the cost of a taco.
Its an interface between two parties.
In an employer employee arrangment, the worker is actually the seller. Just as the taco vender is the seller of the taco.
What happens if the taco vender wants to charge too much for his tacos? The consumer shops around and buys a cheaper taco. Now you could say your tacos are really good and are worth the extra money. Well, that's your opinion. Things are wor
, work that is now done by human beings, mostly Level 1 support, could be done by a software machine
MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHA. Oh, sorry, you were serious. Oh well, MUAAHAHAHAHAHHAAAHAH!!!!
On a serious note, those of us who are in the knows, who have done some type of IT work, we know that that is bullshit. Tier I support has never been done, and can never be done with a IVR system.
For example, let's consider IVR systems, which is where these supposed "software machine" silver bullets can fit in. Call your cell phone or cable provider, and you will see that at most, what you get is an IVR system that leads you to an specialist (or sometimes someone who is reading a script of instructions) after the IVR has tried to collect some basic problem description that, in theory, helps facilitate the specialist.
That is all.
Let's call the IVR system a Tier-0 support system (or more appropriately, a routing system that takes a customer to actual Tier I support.) That is all. It's only when a human being in Tier I support fails at resolving the issue, that Tier II and Tier III get summoned. One would have to create one hell of an expert systems to barely begin to mimick Tier I support for the general-case type of problems.
All you would do is piss the customer. Case in point, look at AT&T and Bank of America, and other cell providers. They are phasing out IVR systems (or severely reducing them) in favor of actual human beings (couple that with a minor shift away from offshore call centers, but that's another story.)
And that is just for mundane tasks.
'what robotics did for the auto assembly line, we are now doing for the IT engineering line.
Yeah, because IT is like pulling levers or flipping burguers (no offense, since I once pulled levers and flipped burguers.)
Serious question: Do they even know what the hell robotics mean?????
I bet they actually do but they are simply latching to the next buzzword (since manufacturing and robotics are the hot pancakes of the day), hoping for the next business-type offsourcing dumbass to actually fall for it.
Up next on Fox News, they invented software-based monkey coders (and thus circumvented Turing's Halting Problem.)
Most people who are still coming to USA fall in two categories. Some of them still love the freedom, opportunities and the general law and order and free markets etc. The other set is people who did not make the top cut in India, so trying to improve their chances by adding American experience to their resume.
Pretty soon all the goodwill earned by the top notch graduates from IITs, IISc and National Institutes of Technology, in the 1990s and early 2000s would have been totally spent. May be it has already happened. Now the fresh Indian H1-Bs are often seen as malingering, incompetent but with highly inflated ego. So even if the H1-B quota is raised to infinity, if the American corporations wise up, most of these visas will go unused. But Corporate America has to wake up first.
Hmm, so H1B's go to the best and the brightest 1st line support engineers that can be replaced by software, really?
then why do we have the problems in the first place?
Seriously, if the problems are that easy to solve, then why aren't they pre-emptively detected and repaired by some of the bloatware installed on enterprise machines these days?
I strongly suspect that this will simply be slightly more sophisticated automated call routing with voice recognition - in otherwords, just a way of delaying the costly, but still inevitable, point where one needs to talk to a human with a clue (i.e. knows where to route the ticket)
if he doesn't want to be sued for making false statements regarding his company's outlook, since Infosys is a public company and no one, including Infosys is going to do for IT what manufacturing did for the assembly line.
Programs (robots ) can't write bespoke programs or even troubleshoot existing ones better than say LINT and realistically are as far away from that goal as human-level general cognition type AI has always been, which is to say a it's still a mere pipe dream.
It's not like there aren't team
The intelligence of any discussion diminishes with the square of the number of participants. -- Adam Walinsky


text:
During the last of a series of eight encounters with the martian moon Phobos, the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft acquired a detailed view of the martian satellite.
The orbiter flew past Phobos at a distance of only 100 kilometres on 9 January 2011 and imaged the southern hemisphere of the irregularly-shaped moon. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) planned the image acquisitions, during which the orbiter was moving past Phobos at 2.3 kilometres per second, and processed the resulting data.
Since Mars express flies in an elliptical orbit around the Red Planet, it regularly moves away from Mars and approaches Phobos, which orbits the planet at an altitude of roughly 6000 kilometres, about every five months. With data obtained during this flyby, the researchers were able to image large parts of the southern hemisphere of the moon for the first time at a resolution of 3.8 metres per pixel. HRSC scanned the martian moon, which is just over 20 kilometres across, with five of its nine sensors that are located sequentially in the camera. The sensors were active for a total of about a minute per sensor; Phobos was in the field of view for only nine seconds.
Craters, grooves and a boulder as big as a house
Klaus Dieter Matz, a researcher at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research (Institut für Planetenforschung), planned the image acquisition. To obtain the sharpest possible images given the high speed of the spacecraft during the flyby, Mars Express had to slew during the rendezvous. For the computation of this complicated manoeuvre, the researchers considered the orbit of the moon and the exact path of the Mars Express orbiter, which ESA determines from a variety of parameters. Corrections during image acquisition were not possible as control signals transmitted from ground stations on Earth would have taken 19 minutes and 47.4 seconds to reach the spacecraft, but he manoeuvre was accomplished without any problems. However, "The maximum speed at which ESA could turn Mars Express during the flyby was 0.15 degrees per second. For ideal images, the spacecraft must be rotated at 0.26 degrees per second during the high-speed flyby," explained Matz. The effects caused by the limited slew rate were corrected later during processing.
In the images, it is easy to see numerous craters and 'grooves' – markings whose origin is still undetermined. A boulder as big as a house discovered on the surface of Phobos casts a distinctive shadow. "With every Phobos image from the stereo camera, we can improve the three-dimensional model of the martian moon," says Prof. Jürgen Oberst of the DLR Institute of Planetary Research. "Most importantly, the new image data helps us to continuously improve the global image mosaic of the martian moon so that an atlas of Phobos can eventually be produced." Among other applications, the evaluation of the photographs is important for the Russian mission 'Phobos Grunt', which begins in November this year ('Grunt' is the transliteration of the Russian word for 'ground'). The mission includes plans for a lander to touch down on the martian moon, collect rock and dust samples with a robotic arm, and return them in a capsule to Earth. The lander will then spend a year on the surface of Phobos, performing scientific measurements in the martian environment.
About HRSC
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) experiment on the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission is led by the Principal Investigator (PI) Prof. Dr Gerhard Neukum, who was also responsible for the technical design of the camera. The science team of the experiment consists of 45 Co-Investigators from 32 institutions and 10 nations. The camera was developed at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) under the leadership of the PI, G. Neukum, and built in cooperation with industrial partners (EADS Astrium, Lewicki Microelectronic GmbH and Jena-Optronik GmbH). The experiment on Mars Express is operated by the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, through ESA/ESOC. The systematic processing of the HRSC image data is carried out at DLR. The scenes shown here were processed by the PI-group at the Institute for Geosciences of the Freie Universität Berlin in cooperation with the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Response to the House-Church Movement: Part One
Written by Keith Throop
Does the Bible require that churches meet strictly in houses rather than in other kinds of buildings?
Many advocates of the House-Church Movement answer this question in the affirmative. For example, a paper posted at the House-Church.org website states the following after discussing a number of Biblical passages that indicate where Christians met in the first century:
There you have just about all the verses in the New Testament which relate to where churches were located when believers met together; and it's patently obvious that they met in houses. Neither is it the case that there are other verses to which I haven't referred which might indicate that churches sometimes didn't meet in homes. Any such verses, as any biblical scholar will tell you (and we will see them doing just that in the next section), are completely absent from the text of the New Testament. No-one who knows their biblical stuff would challenge the simple fact that the apostles established churches to meet in the homes of those believers who were part of them, and there is not one word or hint in the New Testament that it was in any way envisaged that it would ever be any different.
Let us test these claims by examining the passages commonly cited by the House-Church Movement (HCM). I have gathered a list of such passages from two sources: 1) an article by Beresford Job entitled "The Apostles' Traditions – The Heart of the Matter: Part 4 – What the Bible Says!" and 2) an article by Steve Atkerson entitled, "Were Persecution, Poverty, and Progression the Real Reasons for First Century House Churches?." In addition, I will introduce a few passages that indicate – contra the claims of HCM advocates – that churches at times met in public buildings rather than in homes. All the texts I have cited are from the New King James Version.
Acts 2:46-47 "46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
In commenting on this passage, Beresford Job has this to say:
Here we see that in the very beginning they gathered in each others homes and the temple courts…. From this point the temple gatherings fade from view completely as the church spread outside of Jerusalem and eventually to the Gentiles. The temple was then a complete irrelevance (being eventually destroyed, of course, in AD 70), and we are left with the simple fact that whenever churches are located in scripture they are always, without exception, in people's homes.
Job obviously agrees that in the earliest days the church did not see meeting in homes as a requirement, since he agrees that they "gathered in the temple courts" as well. He would no doubt also agree that this was the case a bit later, when we are told that "daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ" (Acts 5:42). But if this point is admitted, I fail to see how it can be argued that the Apostles saw meeting in homes as somehow essential to proper church order. After all, if it was regarded as so essential by the Apostles, wouldn't it have been essential in the beginning days of the church as well? And if not, why not?
At any rate, Job's real argument appears to be that – although not so at the beginning – the churches are thereafter "always, without exception, in people's homes." This is his whole argument in a nutshell, and I will respond to it in what follows in a couple of ways.
First, I will continue discussing the passages cited by the House Church Movement in order to show that some of them do, in fact, describe the churches as meeting in homes. But we will also find that none of these passages either expressly commands or necessarily implies that churches must meet in homes. In short, we will find that these passages are descriptive rather than prescriptive.
Second, in the process of assessing the HCM proof-texts I will challenge the notion that the rest of the New Testament demonstrates that churches "always, without exception" met in people's homes.
Acts 8:3 "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison."
I have to admit being a bit surprised at the use of this passage by HCM advocates, since it doesn't say that the churches were meeting in the homes when Paul dragged the people out. It just says that in his attack on the church he went into every house dragging off men and women and putting them into prison. But this may have been for no other reason than that these men and women lived in these houses. Of course, it is also possible that Paul found out about some churches that met in homes and that he went into these homes when they were meeting. The passage just doesn't say that, nor does it necessarily imply that the churches wherever Paul went were meeting only in homes.
Acts 16:40 "So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed."
Atkerson cites this verse as one that shows that "the original church held its meetings primarily in private homes." Of course Lydia's home also happened to be where Paul and his companions had been staying (16:15), so it isn't surprising that they would return there to rest before leaving the city. But the primary problem with Atkerson's use of this verse is that it doesn't say the church was meeting there. Supposing that this house is where Paul and Silas saw the brethren and encouraged them, it may be that they were meeting there as a church for worship, but it may also be that the brethren were stopping by and visiting them before they left town. Let us assume, however, that Atkerson is correct in seeing this text as describing a church meeting at Lydia's house. The fact still remains that there is no indication from Luke that they did so because it was a requirement of some kind.
Acts 20:17-21 "17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them: 'You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; 20 how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.'"
Atkerson cites this passage as another that shows that the early church met primarily in houses, but I can't help but notice that Paul says in verse 20 that he taught the Ephesians both publicly and from house to house. So, he indicates that his ministry was not restricted to private teaching in homes, but was also public. But what might he be referring to when he contrasts his public teaching with teaching from house to house? A look at the earlier account of Paul's ministry at Ephesus – in Acts 19:8-10 – may provide an answer:
8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning
and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were
hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he
departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of
Tyrannus. 10 And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia
heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
It is obvious that Paul's ministry was conducted in Ephesus primarily not from any house(s) but from the school of Tyrannus, even though he later reminded them that he taught them from house to house as well. The text says that Paul was reasoning (dialégomai) daily at the school of Tyrannus, using a term that is used elsewhere to describe his evangelistic ministry in the synagogues (e.g. Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8) but also to describe his teaching ministry when the church met together (Acts 20:7, 9). Given that the ministry at the school of Tyrannus was directed to "the disciples," we may conclude that it was a part of the public teaching to which Paul later referred in Acts 20:20. But this leads me to question how Atkerson can see this passage as indicating that the early church met primarily in houses without at the same time acknowledging that they sometimes met primarily in a public building such as the school of Tyrannus. After all, Paul's and Luke's description of his ministry in each case is the same. In other words, I do not see how one can argue from the example of Paul's ministry in Ephesus that churches should meet in houses while ignoring equally strong evidence that they met "daily" in a public building as well. Now, I suppose that such a person could try to argue that the term daily (hēméra) here does not include Sunday gatherings, but that would be a truly incredible argument and would amount to nothing more than begging the question.
So, thus far we have not seen much in the way of clear evidence that the early church met exclusively in houses, let alone any indication that this was seen as some kind of requirement. However, there are some clearer passages that expressly refer to churches that met in homes, and I will list them here as a group:
Romans 16:3-5 "3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ."
1 Corinthians 16:19 "The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house."
Colossians 4:15 "Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house."
Philemon 1:1-2 "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, 2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house…."
We have in these passages some clear evidence that there were churches that met in houses, specifically in the house of Philemon, in the house of Nymphas, and in the house of Aquila and Priscilla. But what we still do not have is a clear indication that they met only in houses or that they saw meeting in houses as a requirement set forth by the Apostles. Again we have descriptive but not prescriptive passages. Steve Atkerson anticipates this objection, though, and responds to it in an article entitled "Interactive Meetings":
In short, we believe that the patterns for church life evident in the New Testament are not merely descriptive, but are actually prescriptive (2Th 2:15 , 1Co 11:2). Thus, we believe in home-based and sized fellowships….
Lets take a look at the two texts Atkerson cites to support his thesis that the passages we have been examining are actually not just descriptive but are, in fact, prescriptive as well.
1 Corinthians 11:2 "Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all
things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you."
2 Thessalonians 2:15 "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the
traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle."
Apparently Atkerson sees Paul's reference to the "traditions" as including the practice of churches meeting in houses. In order to assess this argument, it behooves us first to understand what is meant by the term traditions. The Greek term in both cases is parádosis, which lexicons consistently define as does the Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament by Timothy and Barbara Friberg:
as an action handing down or over; in the NT in a passive sense, as teachings about ways of doing things that are handed down from generation to generation tradition (MT 15.2); as Christian doctrine handed down teaching, instruction, tradition (2 TH 2.15). (# 20561, BibleWorks)
Thus Paul clearly refers to the teaching of the Apostles that was to be handed down and followed. So, Atkerson must believe that the Apostles actually taught that the church should meet only in homes. The only way we could know that the Apostles taught such a thing, however, is if the Scriptures tell us that they did. But when we look at the various passages cited by HCM advocates we do not find any evidence at all that they did teach this. We only find evidence that there were some churches that met in homes, along with evidence that they initially also met in the temple courts and that later they also utilized a public building in Ephesus. So, when Atkerson cites these verses to defend the assertion that the Biblical passages that refer to churches meeting in houses are not "merely descriptive, but are actually prescriptive," he is begging the question. He is assuming the very thing that needs to be proved, namely that the Apostles did, in fact, teach that churches should meet in houses and that this teaching was thus a part of the tradition. But enough of this; the point is made. Lets take a look at another passage cited by Beresford Job:
James 2:1-4 "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly [sunagōgē] a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, 'You sit here in a good place,' and say to the poor man, 'You stand there,' or, 'Sit here at my footstool,' 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?"
Job argues that this passage refers clearly to a church that met in a house:
James is quite clearly referring here to when they met as a church, and what he says only makes sense if they were doing so in a home as opposed to a public building. What is at a premium here is space, or otherwise why would the poor brother be required either to sit on the floor or to stand? He could have just been shuffled out of the way to a seat somewhere in the back row!
Actually, the term James uses to describe the assembly is sunagōgē, a word which can refer either to a gathering of people or to the building in which this gathering takes place. Commentators are divided as to the exact meaning of the term in this context. It is possible that it refers to a church that met in a synagogue, in which case we have here more evidence of a church meeting in a public building. On the other hand, it probably simply refers to the gathering of the people themselves. But in this case is Job right when he asserts that what James says only makes sense if they were meeting in a home as opposed to a public building? I don't think so. Even if one agrees that the passage assumes that there was limited room to sit, there is no reason to conclude that they must have been meeting in a house. It could just be that they were using a smaller public building or perhaps that they were using a large building but that the church had grown so large as to make space limited. Haven't many of us seen a church service in which there was "standing room only"?
Well, that covers the passages commonly cited by various advocates of the House-Church Movement. Along the way, I have addressed the problem of citing descriptive passages as though they are prescriptive when the Scriptures do not justify this. I have also highlighted the fact that the early church must not have seen meeting in homes as an essential thing, since there is also evidence that they met in the temple courts (at least for a while) and even made use of a public building such as the school of Tyrannus. But I would like to discuss just a bit more Scriptural evidence from 1 Corinthians before ending:
1 Corinthians 11:20-22, 34 "20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. 21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. …. 34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.
1 Corinthians 14:23 "Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?"
1 Corinthians 14:35 "And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church."
Notice that the the members of the church at Corinth all came together to one place for their Sunday gathering (11:20; 14:23; see also 16:2) and that they were gathering to partake of the Lord's Supper and to worship God and edify one another, so this was clearly the regular Sunday gathering. This one place was apparently not one of their homes, however, because Paul assumes that he can address all of them as not being at home. Notice that he doesn't ask the Corinthians, "Don't you have your own houses [as opposed to the house where they were meeting] to eat and drink in?" Rather he simply asks them, "Do you not have houses [as opposed to where you are when meeting together] to eat and drink in?" Likewise he assumes that the women who need to ask their husbands questions are not at home, and he contrasts their being at home with being "in church." He assumes throughout the passage that he can address them all as though they are not in their houses. This is a very strange way to speak if they were all meeting in one of their homes. Also, since the whole church at Corinth came together to this one place, and this was a place where unbelievers might easily come in (14:24), it is more likely that it would have been a fairly large, public building.
Well, that is about all I have time for now. I will finish by saying that I am not at all bothered if there are churches that prefer to meet in houses. But neither am I bothered in the slightest if they should choose to meet in some other kind of building. I am only troubled by the tendency of some among the House-Church Movement who try to say that meeting in houses was what the Apostles taught and therefore is essential to proper church order today. In my opinion, there is no credible case to be made for such a position.
Stay tuned for the next post in this series, in which I will respond to the argument for fully participatory worship, in which no one leads but each contributes in a spontaneous manner.


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Home > Patients & Visitors > Health Library > Stopping Breastfeeding Suddenly
If you stop breastfeeding suddenly, your breasts may become full and sore and may leak milk. This is called breast engorgement. Many women have only mild symptoms that can be treated at home. But it can lead to more serious problems.
It's best to stop breastfeeding gradually, if you can. If you have to stop breastfeeding suddenly, you can use a breast pump to remove the milk and slowly reduce your milk supply. A lactation consultant or other breastfeeding expert can help you choose a breast pump and teach you how to use it.
To help prevent engorgement:
At present, there is no approved medicine that will reduce your milk supply and prevent engorgement.
Many women have only mild symptoms that can be treated at home. If your breasts become engorged, use one or more of the following methods:
Breast engorgement will go away as your breasts stop making milk. Pain and discomfort should go away in 1 to 5 days.
In some cases, breast engorgement may become severe, which can lead to a blocked milk duct or breast infection. For more information, see the topic Breast Engorgement.
ByHealthwise StaffPrimary Medical ReviewerSarah Marshall, MD - Family MedicineKathleen Romito, MD - Family MedicineAdam Husney, MD - Family MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerKirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
Current as ofMarch 16, 2017
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Fran Miller was in her 50s when she became a yoga teacher.
That was four decades ago.
Miller, who turns 91 this week, is still at it — teaching three classes a week in the San Fernando Valley for the city's Department of Recreation and Parks.
She is so lithe and energetic that her students say they hardly notice her age. "I didn't even know she was that old," said Maureen Hanrahan. For much of the 10 years she's been taking Miller's classes, Hanrahan thought the instructor was in her 70s, she said.
Miller moved from her native New York to the Los Angeles area in 1941 and eventually settled in Valley Village. Her husband passed away when she was 40, and the onetime secretary was left to raise her daughters: Robin Cosio, 64, and Wendy Nordstrom, 60.


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SlovakiaHead coach Marek Hencek"We should win the match unless my players made too many mistakes in the fifth set. If we played the whole match as we did in the second set, I think we stood a chance to win the match. However, if so, Italy might play better also in the second and fourth sets which they already won. I don't know yet how our prospects in the 9th-16th classification round would be since I have to see how about the other teams in that round. At least, we have to firstly beat Dominican Republic in our last match of the first round tomorrow."
Captain Jaroslava Smatanikova"The match against Italy is very tough, but the previous one against the Brazilians was more difficult. I'm not satisfied with the loss and my team's performance today was also a disappointment."
ItalyHead coach Maurizio"We had a difficult match against Slovakia. We played well in the first, third and fifth sets, but Slovakia also came out with the stunning form in the second and fourth sets. They already proved that they are a strong team. There is only a small gap between Italy and Slovakia. We next take on Brazil. Despite the fact that it will be our toughest match in the first round, it's not important for us as we've already advanced to the top eight round."
Captain Letizia Camera"It's a very difficult match against Slovakia. It was as if we played the Brazilians. We played well only in the first, third and fifth sets. We have more to improve. However, I'm glad that my team won again."


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Adams Homes closes on 72 homesites in Creekside Community
January 24, 2014
In December 2013, Adams Homes closed on 72 homesites in the Creekside Community in Punta Gorda. This has been a very popular community for Adams Homes over the past couple of years....
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When you go on camping, is your biggest concern how will you be able to charge your gadgets while you're out in the middle of nowhere? The BioLite biomass burning CampStove may ease that concern, as it doubles as a stove to cook your dinner as well as an electronic charger for your phone and other gadgets.
It works like this. Stick in some wood or pine cones found around the campsite into the biomass stove. The device then uses its thermo-electric generator to turn 5000 watts of thermal energy into electrical energy. Additionally, the fan requires 1 watt and the device uses the extra electric energy from the generator to power or charge USB devices like smart phones, GPS receivers, and LED lights.
The USB port is available to power devices about 10 minutes after starting the fire.
The CampStove uses the fan to keep all the combustible gasses inside the fire. Trapped gasses make the fire burn more efficiently, burning 50% less fuel. It also helps reduce emissions by 95%, according to the company.
That's why the device doesn't smoke.
The device weighs about two pounds. It is pretty compact, only about 8.25" by 5" when it is packed in your camping bag and slightly larger when setup.
The CampStove is available for pre-order and costs $129, which is near the same price point as high-end MSR camping stoves.
BioLite claims that it plans to use the money from CampStove to fund another product called HomeStove, which would provide billions of people without access to electricity the chance to use wood fires to cook their meals while reducing their exposure to smoke emissions. The emission reduction technology in the HomeStove eliminates 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide.
The company has plans to deploy the HomeStove on four continents this year.


text:
|2012-09-23, 09:06
|Link #1601
Zok, Biff, Pow, Wham.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Valencia, Venezuela
Not even the most perfected gun in the world demands for this kind of delay to draw from someone who is supposed to be a paid artist.
But then, manga is different when there isn't enough editorial control and self-inflated artistes know they can toss any flismy excuse to fans who will roll around for them anyway, especially in Japan, where fanbases have the self respect of long-cheated wives.
|2012-09-23, 10:24
|Link #1602
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
|2012-09-23, 10:47
|Link #1603
Zok, Biff, Pow, Wham.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Valencia, Venezuela
|2012-10-28, 09:46
|Link #1608
Awe of She
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Orlando
They are not going to fire either of them - HOTD is still a hot commodity, even after all of this time. As long as he keeps putting out random drawings of the characters from time to time, their publishers can't really complain too much, even if they want to hurry up and get the series over with. Besides, they both have other projects that they are working on - and they are still making their publishers money via those outlets and whatever revenue still comes in from manga purchases and royalties from MadHouse for producing the anime AND that one cheerleader zombie hunter game 'Lollipop Chainsaw'. I bet they got a nice royalty for using the outfits from Saeko and Rei.
Other artists can get steamrolled by their publishers, especially if it's the first couple of serializations that they have done but Satou's been in the industry long enough - he knows how to cover himself.
|2012-11-12, 18:21
|Link #1609
Know who you are
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Resides within the depths of Ned infested Glasgow
Ehhhh so I was on Amazon just browsing and for the sake of it I searched HOTD just to see what vol they were up to and to my surprise I find that the 2nd vol of the colour Omnibus is to be released next year in July.
Can anyone confirm that this is for real?
Cause I think I might just go ahead and pre-order it.
|2012-11-13, 01:53
|Link #1611
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Yes yen press said they would make a second color omnibus but their is a catch.
In Japan their is no color edition for volumes 5,6, & 7 and their is no volume 8 in the works since it's been on a long hiatus.
So what they are doing is coloring volumes 5, 6, and 7 themselves again like the first four volumes. It will be only 3 volumes worth not 4 so the page count will be less this time around.
I own the english and the japanese versions and the japanese version has better paper, and a superior coloring job.
As for the cover art since the first one was mirrored off the japanese one they will have to pick out a official image to substitute for the new cover. Plus we don't know if they will get extra art work from the various art books as bonus like the first one.
I'll still buy it since I have everything HOTD I can get my hands on.
|2013-01-26, 06:56
|Link #1616
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Middle of Nowhere
Age: 33
Vol.5-6 of the Full Color Edition will be released on February 9th in Japan
Sadly, the US release has been pushed back to the Fall 2013 :cry
|2013-02-07, 00:23
|Link #1618
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Canada
It's going to ramp up my excitement just in time for it to go on hiatus all over again.
|2013-02-07, 04:09
|Link #1620
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Middle of Nowhere
Age: 33
NEWS: Highschool of the Dead Manga to Resume
About time!
Samples from Full Color Edition Vol.5-6
Last edited by Revan21; 2013-02-07 at 04:52.
|action, author died, ecchi, gun pr0n, harem, horror, inazuma, shounen, torpedo tits, zombies
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MS + Yahoo! = Microhoo! - Official!
The! people! have! spoken!
Poll result It's official: the unholy spawn of the Microsoft-Yahoo! coupling shall forthwith be known as Microhoo!, following a resounding victory for the neologism in our recent reader poll.
In the end, Microhoo! secured no less than 30! per! cent! of the 4,249 votes cast, soundly thrashing YaMicrohoosoft! into second spot.
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- Microhoo! - 30 per cent (1282 votes)
- YaMicrohoosoft! - 20 per cent (840)
- Microshoo! - 17 per cent (722)
- YahSoft! - 12 per cent (530)
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Oh alright then - it was one of you lot who came up with the Microhoo! Cares! slogan. We can't remember who, but he or she is cordially invited to fire up the joss-sticks, stick on the whalesong CD and partake of a large line of Bolivian marching powder, washed down with one of those bloody Mexican beers with a slice of lime wedged into the top of the bottle.
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It was a heroic death in the truest sense: Marie Colvin, war correspondent of the London Sunday Times, defied all dangers in order to report about the scandalous deeds of the Assad regime in Syria.
She fell victim to a rocket attack on the specially designated press compound for foreign journalists. Every once in a while I had interesting talks with this experienced journalist. During our last meeting we compared the mindset of a fanatic jihadist of al-Qaeda or Hamas calibre with SS henchmen or German Army 'volunteers' in occupied Europe and found that with regard to individual cruelty and delight, even lust in torture and killing, there was no difference.
The harrowing pictures of murdered children and victims of torture in Homs and other Syrian cities label the executioners of the Assad regime as true scum of the earth.
Even so there are still voices in the 'free West' that plead for mitigation when judging these enemies and for understanding of, even politeness towards these extremists.
In the latest edition of the leading socialist intellectual British weekly paper New Statesman, Hans Blix, former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, advocates in his article a more polite tone and more accommodating approach in negotiations with Teheran.
In a week in which yet again mutilated corpses and unconscious wounded lie on Syrian soil; in which in Egypt's elections the Muslim Brotherhood gained an absolute majority and the even more radical Salafists 29% of the vote, John Pilger writes: "Israel, America's hitman, is now widely recognised as the world's most lawless state." A British court refuses the extradition to Jordan of a notorious al-Qaeda ringleader because it might be possible that he cannot expect a fair trial. The mere monitoring of this individual is costing the British taxpayer 100,000 pounds a week.
The stance of the democracies towards the Syrian crisis - and also the undoubtedly difficult dilemma of the Iran question - reminds me as a contemporary of the 1930s of the false hopes, but also the cynical manoeuvring of those who propagated a bigger understanding and far-reaching concessions in the dealings with 'Herr Hitler', in order to transform him into a reliable partner.


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Last revised on: 8th of March 2018
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- If you are a Designer, we may require that you provide your tax information (e.g., social security number).
- When you make a purchase, we (or our third party service provider) will collect all information necessary to complete the transaction, including your name, credit card information, debit card information, billing information and/or PayPal information.
- We retain information on your behalf, such as Design Briefs, Design Contests, Design Concepts, Design Templates, Invoice Service invoices, transactional history, messages and any other information that you store using your Account.
- If you provide us feedback or contact us via e-mail, we will collect your name and e-mail address, as well as any other content included in the e-mail, in order to send you a reply.
- When you participate in one of our surveys, we may collect additional profile information.
- When you post messages on our Site, the information contained in your posting will be stored on our servers and other users will be able to see it.
- We may also collect Personal Information at other points in our Site that state that Personal Information is being collected.
b. Tracking Technologies / Cookies.
- 99designs and our marketing partners, affiliates, or analytics or service providers use cookies or similar technologies in analyzing trends, administering the website, tracking users' movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis. We use cookies to gather information regarding the date and time of your visit and the information for which you searched and which you viewed. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If you reject cookies, you may still use our site, but your ability to use some features or areas of our site may be limited.
- To make our Site and Services more useful to you, our servers (which may be hosted by a third party service provider) collect information from you automatically and store it in log files. The information may include your browser type, operating system, Internet Protocol (IP) address (a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet, which may vary from session to session), domain name, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, clickstream data and/or a date/time stamp for your visit. We may link this automatically-collected data to Personal Information for the purposes of security and to detect fraudulent activity.
- We partner with a third party ad network to manage our advertising on other sites. Our ad network partner uses cookies and Web beacons to collect information about your activities on this and other web sites to provide you targeted advertising based upon your interests. If you wish to not have this information used for the purpose of serving you targeted ads, you may opt-out by clicking here or if located in the European Union click here. Please note this does not opt you out of being served advertising. You will continue to receive generic ads.
c. Google Analytics.
We currently use Google Analytics as well as Google Analytics for Display Advertising. Google Analytics collects information and reports website trends without identifying individual visitors. Google Analytics uses its own cookie to track visitor interactions. Website owners can view a variety of reports about how visitors interact with their website so they can improve their website and how people find it. Please see the following links for more information about Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics/, http://www.google.com/privacy.html and http://www.google.com/analytics/tos.html. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising by going to the Google Ads Preferences Manager.
4. Use of Your Personal Information
a. General Use.
In general, Personal Information you submit to us is used either to respond to requests that you make, or to aid us in serving you better. We use your Personal Information in the following ways: - to facilitate the creation of and secure your Account; - identify you as a user in our system; - improve our Site and Services; - for our internal research and development; - customize content to match your preferences; - prevent suspended users from re-registering; - provide the Services you request; - send you a welcome e-mail to verify ownership of the e-mail address provided when your Account was created; - send you administrative e-mail notifications, such as security or support and maintenance advisories; - respond to your inquiries and requests; - to make telephone calls to you, from time to time, as a part of secondary fraud protection or to solicit your feedback; and - to send newsletters, surveys, offers, and other promotional materials related to our Services and for other marketing purposes of 99designs.
5. Disclosure of Your Personal Information.
We disclose your Personal Information as described below and as described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy. We share your personal information with other companies such as our printing partners so that they can provide you with a free no obligation quote. If you do not want us to share your personal information with these companies, contact us at email@example.com.
a. Profile Information.
The profile you create on our Site will be publically accessible unless otherwise indicated. You may delete your profile by requesting to delete your account by contacting us via phone or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com. The information collected during the registration process by 99designs may be used by 99designs to: contact members, customize content to match your preferences, display member status, and display the date of a member's last visit. If you believe that an unauthorized profile has been created about you, please contact us email@example.com to request removal.
b. Public Member Directory
We will list you in our publicly accessible member directory. If you wish to request removal of your information from our directory, you can contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
c. Third Party Service Providers.
We may share your Personal Information with third party service providers to: provide you with the Services that we offer you through our Site; to conduct quality assurance testing; to facilitate creation of accounts; to provide technical support; and/or to provide other services to 99designs. These third party service providers are required not to use your Personal Information other than to provide the services requested by 99designs.
d. Affiliates and Acquisitions.
We may share some or all of your Personal Information with our parent company, subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under a common control ("Affiliates"), in which case we will require our Affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. As described above, 99designs, Inc. (our U.S. Affiliate) complies with the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield. If another company acquires our company, business, or our assets, that company will possess the Personal Information collected by us and will assume the rights and obligations regarding your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy. You will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our Site of any change in ownership or uses of your Personal Information, as well as any choices you may have regarding your Personal Information.
e. Frames
Some of our pages utilize framing techniques to serve content to from our partners while preserving the look and feel of our site. Please be aware that you are providing your personal information to these third parties and not to 99designs.com.
f. Other Disclosures.
Regardless of any choices you make regarding your Personal Information (as described below), 99designs may disclose Personal Information if it believes in good faith that such disclosure is necessary (a) in connection with any legal investigation; (b) to comply with relevant laws or to respond to subpoenas or warrants served on 99designs, bankruptcy proceedings, or similar legal process; (c) to protect or defend the rights or property of 99designs or users of the Services; and/or (d) to investigate or assist in preventing any violation or potential violation of the law, this Privacy Policy, or the Terms of Use.
6. Third Party Websites.
a. Third Party Sites Generally.
When you click on a link to any other website or location, you will leave our Site and go to another site and another entity may collect Personal Information. We have no control over, do not review, and cannot be responsible for, these outside websites or their content. Please be aware that the terms of this Privacy Policy do not apply to these outside websites or content, or to any collection of data after you click on links to such outside websites.
b. Other Social Media Features.
Our Site includes social media features ("Features") such as the Facebook Like button, Tweet button and other widgets or interactive mini-programs that run on our Site. These Features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our Site, and may set a cookie to enable the Feature to function properly. These Features are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site. Your interactions with these Features are governed by the terms of use and privacy policy of the company providing them (e.g., Facebook or Twitter).
7. Your Choices Regarding Your Personal Information
a. Choices.
We offer you choices regarding the collection, use, and sharing of your Personal Information.
1. When you create an Account on 99designs.com, we may periodically
send you free newsletters and e-mails that directly promote the
use of our Site or Services. When you receive newsletters or
promotional communications from us, you may indicate a
preference to stop receiving further communications from us and
you will have the opportunity to "opt-out" by following the
unsubscribe instructions provided in the e-mail you receive, by
adujsting your email preferences from within your Account
setting page or by contacting us directly (please see contact
information below).
2. Despite your indicated e-mail preferences, we may send you
service related communication (for instance, if our service is
temporarily suspended for maintenance) or notices of any updates
to our Terms of Use or Privacy Policy. You do not have an option
to opt out of these emails, which are not promotional in nature.
b. Changes to Personal Information.
Upon request 99designs will provide you with information about whether we hold any of your personal information. You may change any of your Personal Information in your Account by editing your profile within your Account or contacting us via the Site. You may request deletion of your Personal Information by contacting us via the site or at firstname.lastname@example.com, but please note that we may be required to keep this information and not delete it (or to keep this information for a certain time, in which case we will comply with your deletion request only after we have fulfilled such requirements). When we delete any information, it will be deleted from the active database, but may remain in our archives. We will respond to your request to access within 30 days.
We will retain your information for as long as your Account is active or as needed to provide you Services, for fraud prevention and similar purposes and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
8. Security of Your Personal Information.
99designs is committed to protecting the security of your Personal Information. We (and our third party service providers) use a variety of industry-standard security technologies and procedures to help protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. When you enter sensitive information (such as a credit card number or SS#) on our order forms, we (or our third party service providers) encrypt transmission of that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). We also require you to enter a password to access your Account information. Please do not disclose your Account password to unauthorized people. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while 99designs uses reasonable efforts to protect your Personal Information, 99designs cannot guarantee its absolute security. If you have any questions about security on our Site, you can contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
9. Blogs.
Our Site offers publicly accessible blogs. Our blog is managed by a third party application that may require you to register to post a comment. We do not have access or control of the information posted to the blog. You will need to contact or login into the third party application if you want the personal information that was posted to the comments section removed. To learn how the third party application uses your information, please review their privacy policy.
10. Testimonials.
We display personal testimonials of satisfied customers on our Site in addition to other endorsements. If you choose to provide a testimonial on the Site, we may post your testimonial along with your name. If you wish to update or delete your testimonial, you can contact us at email@example.com.
11. Referrals / Tell a Friend.
If you choose to use our referral service to tell a friend about our Site, we will ask you for your friend's name and email address. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email inviting him or her to visit the Site. 99designs stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email and tracking the success of our referral program. Your friend may contact us to request that we remove this information from our database.
12. Contact Information.
99designs welcomes your comments or questions regarding this Privacy Policy. Please contact us at the following:
99designs Inc
2201 Broadway, Suite 815
Oakland, CA 94612
or at email@example.com
13. Changes to This Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy is subject to occasional revision, and if we make any material changes in the way we use your Personal Information, we will notify you by sending you an e-mail to the last e-mail address you provided to us and/or by prominently posting notice of the changes on our Site. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon the earlier of thirty (30) calendar days following our dispatch of an e-mail notice to you or thirty (30) calendar days following our posting of notice of the changes on our Site. These changes will be effective immediately for new users of our Service. Please note that at all times you are responsible for updating your Personal Information to provide us with your most current e-mail address. In the event that the last e-mail address that you have provided us is not valid, or for any reason is not capable of delivering to you the notice described above, our dispatch of the e-mail containing such notice will nonetheless constitute effective notice of the changes described in the notice. In any event, changes to this Privacy Policy may affect our use of Personal Information that you provided us prior to our notification to you of the changes. If you do not wish to permit changes in our use of your Personal Information, you must notify us prior to the effective date of the changes that you wish to deactivate your Account with us. Continued use of our Site or Service, following notice of such changes shall indicate your acknowledgement of such changes and agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of such changes.


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Series of explosions in Iraq kills 19
By The Associated Press
This article was originally published February 28, 2013 at 9:45 a.m. Updated February 28, 2013 at 10:28 a.m.
- Comment (1)
- aAFont Size
BAGHDAD A series of bombings struck Baghdad and a livestock market south of the Iraqi capital Thursday, killing at least 19 and wounding dozens in areas that are home to mostly Muslim Shiites — the latest evidence of rising sectarian discord in Iraq.
The deadliest attack occurred around sunset when a pair of bombs exploded nearly simultaneously in Shula in northwestern Baghdad. One was a car bomb that was detonated outside a fast food restaurant and the other blast occurred near a soccer field. The double-bombing killed 15 people and left at least 40 wounded, officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but car bombings in Shiite areas are a favorite tactic of Sunni extremists such as al-Qaida's local affiliate. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, considers Shiites to be heretics and accuses them of being too closely aligned with neighboring Shiite powerhouse Iran.
Earlier in the day, a car bomb tore through the crowded livestock market in the town of Aziziyah, 35 miles southeast of Baghdad. That attack killed three people and wounded eight.
A few hours later, a roadside bomb missed a passing police patrol in western Baghdad but killed a bystander and wounded eight people.
Police and hospital officials provided details of the attacks and the casualty figures. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Comment on: Series of explosions in Iraq kills 19
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kafantaris says... February 28, 2013 at 4:47 p.m.
The one that has the power to stop the endless cycle of revenge is the one who has been wronged last, and whose turn it is to avenge. He could use his turn and continue the cycle or he could forego it -- both now and the next time until it stops. Such is the utility of turning the other cheek that nobody had thought of before Christ.
It is wrong for Muslims to kill Muslims, no matter what sect they belong in. It is also high time they figure out a way to stop it -- even if they have to apply the original ideas of Christ in order to do so. There is no religious monopoly on what works.
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Summer is Here! Central Library will close at 6 pm on Thursdays and will be closed Sundays until September. Enjoy!
Log in
Last week I wrote here about the evolving ebook market.
I shared that libraries were bracing for a price increase for ebooks from Random House publishers. Indeed the recent increases are double and triple the prices we had been paying. As an example, one recently released title had been $40 for the ebook version; it increased to $120 as of March 1. The print version, with the library discount, is a little over $20.
Basically, the new Random House prices for ebooks to ebook distributors, not directly to libraries are
In spite of these hefty price increases, libraries welcome that Random House continues to offer titles in ebook format to libraries.
Again, as I wrote previously, Penguin Books are not available in ebook format to public libraries. They publish many bestsellers and we, like all libraries, regret we cannot provide them to our users.
Bottom line: please know we will continue to provide ebooks as they are available and affordable for public libraries. Some titles we cannot provide at all, due to publisher restrictions, others we may not be able to provide until several months after their initial release.
The market continues to evolve.
Posted by Ann Rohrbaugh at 03/22/2012 08:19:17 AM |
Books for: Kids, Teens & Tweens


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Cheaper than organized youth sports.
Thankfully my kids are not into this stuff - but for those of who whose kids are - how the hell can you afford it?
I saw this in a circular the other day -
again -
Cheaper than organized youth sports.
$398.00 eh?
Whats that, the price for one decent seat at one Jets Home Game, including parking, a few tailgate beers and in-stadium snacks and maybe a new Zubaz Jets hat?
Guess it's all in the perspective. What we are each willing to spend on and what we're not.
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. Will the spelling eras ever stop arond hear?
It's goddamn Lego's, not Lega's. Bushy will not be pleased. Expect a thrashing.
There's going to be a Lego movie! WLF?
"An ordinary Lego mini-figure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil Lego tyrant from gluing the universe together."
Get ready for your kids to be asking you to buy them more Legos, circa Feb 7, 2014.


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I had a housewarming when I bought my house because I was proud of it and wanted to show it off. It was only when the first eight or ten people showed up, each with a gift, that I realized that housewarming attendance = housewarming gift in my area. I had issued invitations to quite a lot of people, including my next-door neighbors (who didn't show up), and I still cringe to think that my invitation may have come across as a gift grab.
Housewarming parties are not gift giving occasions. A nice bottle of wine or some bread as a PP mentioned is always a nice thought but certainly gifts shouldn't be expected.
I see a very big difference between an Amazon.com wish list and a registry. A registry is connected to a particular event: traditionally a wedding, now also new (especially first) baby, which are events for which people traditionally needed equipment for a very different stage of life -- unlike other gift-giving occasions like graduations, bar/bat mitzvah, birthdays, Christmas, etc.
I think a wishlist would be much better than a registry.
Quote from: Goosey on August 15, 2013, 09:44:17 AMI think a wishlist would be much better than a registry.What's the difference? Registry is a wish list and nothing more.
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Lime Gelatin Salad Recipe
Popular Videos
- 1 package (6 ounces) lime gelatin
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 can (15 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup lemon-lime soda
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
- Dissolve gelatin in water. In a bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Stir in gelatin mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in vanilla, oranges, pineapple, soda and pecans. Chill until the mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon. Fold in three-fourths of the whipped topping. Pour into a 13x9-in. dish. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until firm. Cut into squares; garnish with the remaining whipped topping. Yield: 16-20 servings.
Reviews forLime Gelatin Salad
My Review
Average Rating
"I've made this cool, creamy recipe many times over the years and everyone loves it! I leave out the pecans because not everyone in the family can eat them. I've made this recipe with cherry and strawberry gelatins, too. It is always a pleaser!"
"Love this recipe. Always take it for Christmas potlucks and the family loves it too."
"I made it even more low cal by using sugar free jello, light cream cheese, and light cool whip. No one knew the difference. The guests raved about it!"
"It wound up runny and did not keep very well."
"A family favorite ! A delicious refreshing combination of cool, creamy, tart and sweet. Pecans and mandarin oranges keep this dish from becoming too tart or too sweet. I make it exactly as is written and get rave reviews everytime I serve it. It's a keeper !"
"Make this gelatin as a special treat for my grandsons, ages 3 and 2. Serve it several times a year, especially the Christmas season. Highly recommend."


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It's said that good things come in small packages. But when Laurie Hekking's '59 Corvette first arrived at Jim Barr's shop, Barr's Performance in Naples, Florida, more than five years ago, it came in small packages, big packages, really big packages-the very definition of a basket case.
"There was nothing there," recalls Jim. "Most of the parts had been lost over the years."
Laurie had purchased the '59 from a friend after that friend lost interest in the project. His efforts stalled when he realized how much time (and funds) would be needed to bring this '59 to NCRS standards from, basically, nothing.
But this basket case had one big advantage over other Vettes that have been similarly blown apart. Its frame had been modified to accept C4 steering and suspension, and the chassis hardware from a '91 Corvette had already replaced the long-gone OE pieces. Jim has plenty of good words for the guy in Connecticut who did the conversion work. "He did an absolutely beautiful job grafting the C4 stuff to the original '59 frame," he says. "It was rolling. All the coilovers were in place, and all the geometry was welded in place."
As for the body, let's say it was in bad shape. "The body was half-assed on the car, and most of the parts were gone," Jim says of what he started with. "I just had a shell, essentially. We bought all the pieces and parts to finish the car and spent the next two years building it."
The '59's build had to wait, however, as Laurie had a '63 Sting Ray in the Barr Performance shop that Jim and his crew were upgrading. Once the Midyear was done, their attention turned to the '59. Attention is what it got, because it needed it. Not just to rescue the body, which Laurie said had stress cracks all through it, but inside as well.
"There was more than a little work done on the inside of that car," says Jim of the tailoring done to the '59's cabin. "When we initially mocked up the car, he couldn't even get in and out of it," he says of the six-foot-five owner. "We had to modify the car extensively to get Laurie into it. In doing that, it became extremely comfortable to drive and easy to get in and out of."
Those interior mods included a Flaming River tilt steering column that put the smaller-diameter Momo steering wheel closer to the dash, a reworked dash panel that was relocated farther forward for more room, and a pair of '62 Corvette seats. Why those, instead of the '59 buckets? "The '62's design allows the seat to go an inch farther back into the car," Jim says, adding that he modified the '59's floor to lower the seat frames below the stock locations. "We didn't change the pedal locations because they're actually quite good."
Also quite good: the upgrades to the rest of the chassis, as well as the powertrain. Collier Machine in Naples built the stroker small-block. "It's a 383 with Edelbrock Victor cylinder heads and a mild Edelbrock camshaft," says Jim. "It was an entire upper-end engine package from them. It doesn't heat up, it idles nicely, and you can get in and drive it around like anything else."
Jim also says that the engine, while not radical, is plenty to move this C1 around. "It was toned way down from the '63 that we built for him," he says. "It's designed so his wife could drive it." Street drivability for Laurie and his wife was also the reason why a Turbo 350 automatic went in instead of a six-speed manual gearbox.
In addition to the C4 steering and suspension that were already on the frame when the build started, Jim added more hardware, including springs for the coil-overs that helped this C1 ride just right. "AFCO was extremely cooperative in getting the right spring rate," he says. "We went through probably four or five different coil spring setups to get the spring rate right for the weight in the car." Jim also mounted 13-inch Wilwood disc brakes all around, with six-piston calipers in front and four-pot calipers in back.
Jim's shop got the body in fine shape before the black two-stage DuPont ChromaBase paint went on. "You couldn't tell that it was a basket case when it was done," he says. "Everything was worked out of it. You couldn't tell that anything was ever hurt on it." Except for the grille, all of the trim below the '59's beltline, including the bumpers, was de-chromed and painted to match the body.
You'll also notice that this is a hardtop-only car, with no soft top. "The hardtop was a must," says Jim of Laurie's top preference. "He loved the car with the hardtop, and he hated it without it. He didn't even have a convertible top on it." The top well behind the seats, plus the adjacent area where the OE fuel tank was, are now a carpeted storage compartment.
Now that the one-time basket case is an air-conditioned grand touring car, what's it like to drive? Says Jim, "It's fast. The car is light. It puts out about 430 to 450 horsepower, and it weighs about 2,700 or 2,800 pounds wet, so the car is fast. It stops on a dime, and it's a lot of fun."
If you're not scared of the idea of turning a garage full of parts into a Vette Rod or other fun driver, Jim has some sound advice about one thing you should have from the get-go. "Start with a good rolling chassis," he says, noting that step is much easier now than when he started on the '59's build. "When the chassis work was done on this car, there weren't all of the different companies that produce the [modified] chassis. You can buy a rolling chassis now from several different companies that are as good, or even in some cases better, than what we had. They're lighter, and they're stiffer."
Data File ::: '59 Chevrolet Corvette
Owned by: Laurie V. Hekking, Naples, Florida