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ERIC Number: ED520677
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2011-May
Pages: 1
Abstractor: ERIC
Accelerating the College and Career Readiness of South Dakota's Students
Alliance for Excellent Education
South Dakota is in the process of transitioning to new English language arts and mathematics standards that will better prepare students to be successful in college and their careers. Time, effort, and resources must be dedicated to effective implementation in order to realize the promise of these new common core state standards. This paper captures the progress made by South Dakota in adopting both the common core state standards, subsequent work in ensuring those standards are accompanied by college- and career-ready assessments, and the potential benefits of preparing all students for success in college and a career. (Contains 11 endnotes.)
Descriptors: State Standards, Academic Standards, College Preparation, Career Development, Language Arts, Mathematics Instruction, African American Students, White Students, Hispanic American Students, Asian American Students, American Indians, High School Graduates, College Graduates, Reading Achievement, Mathematics Achievement, Educational Improvement, National Standards, Unemployment, Educational Attainment, Economic Factors
Alliance for Excellent Education. 1201 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 901, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-828-0828; Fax: 202-828-0821; Web site: http://www.all4ed.org
Publication Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 8; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Alliance for Excellent Education
Identifiers - Location: South Dakota
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Assessment of Educational Progress


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Most sane people, like you and me, do all we can to avoid prison. Not these idiots in New Zealand though, they broke into prison to steal a 50-inch plasma TV. The numbnuts set some drapes in an administrative building afire and that's when police realized the New Plymouth Prison, a minimum to high security prison, had been broken into. The only thing the police found missing was the TV, guess the robbers, who took away on foot, didn't want to bother with the bolted down furniture and prison garb. [Stuff.co.nz]
Robbers Break Into Prison to Steal a TV

subset: commoncrawl


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Hugg Your Mother (Earth)
I like to think I'm environmentally conscious. For me it has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with common sense: Who doesn't want clean air to breathe and water to drink? I want to go to the beach and be able to go swimming, not stand back and watch the sludge roll in, or go hiking and actually see some wilderness. I try to keep on top of environmental news and events, so I know what I can do to help keep the air clean, the water fresh, and the birds singing until long after I'm gone. That's where Hugg comes in. Hugg is a new social news site that uses the Digg model to keep readers up to date on environmental news, green companies and products, and do-it-yourself projects to make a difference in your own backyard.
The site works just like Digg; members sign up (it's free) and submit their own news stories, to be ranked by other members of the community. Anyone can submit news to Hugg, and news on the site is broken up into several categories, including transportation, energy, gifts, science, and take action. The community is small right now, but enough stories are submitted that the news on the front page changes regularly. If the front page articles are too stale for you, Hugg has a queued story area, where you can see the dozens of stories being submitted to the site as soon as they appear, view them, and rate them yourself.
As much as I like reading what everyone else finds interesting, diving into the queued section gives me a chance to see projects that might not make it to the front page, or an early look at news that will likely make the front page within hours. Unfortunately, you also have to deal with non-topical stories when you head into the queued section, like the one I saw about how to save a marriage. Useful, I'm sure, but not really applicable to the site. As the community grows, those are the kinds of stories that will likely wind up being filtered out.
Speaking of odd stories, users get "karma," to avoid people spamming the system. As stories gather Huggs, only the good ones get to the front page. So far, some of those quality stories have been about the IPO of a Chinese wind power companies with designs on the American market, tips on how to be a green, rugged man like Indiana Jones, and my personal favorite, green beer. If I can have a frosty beverage and save the planet at the same time, I consider that a win-win.
Post by Alan Henry


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All sessions of the VWBPE 2019 Conference are held in Second Life®. All times are in SLT (PST).
You may access this time zone converter for your local time: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html.
Add these events to your personal calendar! To add all VWBPE conference events to your calendar, scroll down to the bottom of the calendar, find the "Subscribe" button and click on it. You will find options to add to your Google, Outlook or Apple calendar. To add individual events, click the event and find the "Subscribe" button on that page. You don't have to miss any events at VWBPE!
In most of the United States and most locations in Canada, Daylight Saving Time is in effect. Is your location affected? Check this page to find out when (and if) Daylight Saving Time begins for you.
Host: Brant Knutzen (SL: MrK Kas), University of Hong Kong
Description: You have been recruited to join the Agency, to stop dark forces from diverting the river of time.
Your team is forming up to teleport into the Nautilus, a submarine hidden on the edge of the Republic of Venice in the year 1600.
You must work as a group to find clues to the disappearance of Captain Nemo, and don dive suits to explore the ocean floor and reveal the mysterious beginnings of the dark force. Later, you will take command of the Black Pearl pirate ship, and stop the invasion of Venice!
Participants will be able to socially collaborate on solving problems in a virtual world.
Participants will be able to form a new identity to solve problems in a virtual world.
Access: This event takes place in Second Life. See the conference website for information about creating a Second Life account. Either SL or Firestorm viewers are recommended.
You will need to register in order to play the game however. The URL for registering an account on the Moodle server to play the game in SL is: https://participativelearning.org/enrol/index.php?id=9 (or simply bit.ly/THE_AGENCY)
To register, click on the "Continue" button, then read the instructions and click the "Create new account" button.
Accessibility: Transcriptionist will be provided


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Prognosis and survival for childhood Hodgkin lymphoma
Children with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and their parents may have questions about prognosis and survival. Prognosis and survival depend on many factors. Only a doctor familiar with a child's health history, type of cancer, stage, characteristics of the cancer, treatments chosen and response to treatment can put all of this information together with survival statistics to arrive at a prognosis.
A prognosis is the doctor's best estimate of how cancer will affect a child and how it will respond to treatment. A prognostic factor is an aspect of the cancer or a characteristic of the child that the doctor will consider when making a prognosis. A predictive factor influences how a cancer will respond to a certain treatment. Prognostic and predictive factors are often discussed together and they both play a part in deciding on a treatment plan and a prognosis.
The following are prognostic factors for childhood HL.
The earlier the stage, the more favourable the prognosis. Children with an advanced stage of disease (stage 3 or 4) have a poorer prognosis.
Tumour bulk
Tumour bulk refers to the size of the cancer. A bulky tumour is a large tumour in a lymph node, group of lymph nodes or organ. Tumour bulk is considered a negative prognostic factor. This means that the larger the tumour, the less favourable the prognosis.
Presence of B symptoms
Children who have B symptoms at the time of diagnosis generally have a poorer prognosis. B symptoms are a fever over 38°C, drenching night sweats and unexplained weight loss.
Response to treatment
Children who respond quickly to the first chemotherapy treatments tend to have a better prognosis.
How can you stop cancer before it starts?
Discover how 16 factors affect your cancer risk and how you can take action with our interactive tool – It's My Life! Presented in partnership with Desjardins.


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Josh Norman weighs in on Odell Beckham Jr.
2016 nfl season, Charles Tillman, Football, Fox, fox nfl, FOX Sports, fs1, Interview, josh norman, NFL, nfl 2016, nfl fox, Odell Beckham Jr
Tweets by ThePostGame


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|On-line marketing system and method
|System for interative, multivariate negotiations over a network
|Conklin et al.
|Dynamic market equilibrium management system, process and article of manufacture
|Halbert et al.
|Conditional purchase offer management system
|Walker et al.
|Method and apparatus for optimizing orders for goods or services to increase a discount
|Rubin et al.
|System and method for motivating submission of conditional purchase offers
|Walker et al.
|System and method for an efficient dynamic auction for multiple objects
|Computer implemented methods and apparatus for auctions
|On-line shopping system
|Dynamic data assembling on internet client side
|Computer-implemented securities trading system with a virtual specialist function
|Keiser et al.
|Bond trading system
|Methods and apparatus for disseminating product information via the internet
|Electronic catalog system and method with enhanced feature-based search
|Greef et al.
|Integrated interface for vendor/product oriented internet websites
|Computer auction system
|Godin et al.
|On-line shopping system and the method of payment settlement
|Crossing network utilizing satisfaction density profile with price discovery features
|Lupien et al.
|Consignment nodes
|Computerized quotation system and method
|Method and system for processing and transmitting electronic auction information
|Fisher et al.
|Computerized source searching system and method for use in an order entry system
|Cameron et al.
|Method and system for providing a document service over a computer network using an automated brokered auction
|Auction information transmission processing system
|Method and apparatus for purchasing and delivering digital goods over a network
|Sirbu et al.
|System for combined pool portfolio
|Hackel et al.
|Software and hardware for publishing and viewing products and services for sale
|Method, apparatus, and program for pricing, selling, and exercising options to purchase airline tickets
|Walker et al.
|Method of conducting an on-line auction with bid pooling
|Method and apparatus for a cryptographically assisted commercial network system designed to facilitate buyer-driven conditional purchase offers
|Walker et al.
|Method and system for inventory management
|Sheldon et al.
|Computerized quotation system and method
|Electronic requisition and authorization process
|Gardner et al.
|Electronic classified advertising interface method and instructions with continuous search notification
|Bixler et al.
|Methods and apparatus for facilitating execution of asset trades based on nonnegative investment risk, using overlapping time periods
|Offer matching system having timed match acknowledgment
|Ordish et al.
|Method and apparatus for providing electronic advertisements to end users in a consumer best-fit pricing manner
|System and method for estimating business demand based on business influences
|Lee et al.
|Diverse goods arbitration system and method for allocating resources in a distributed computer system
|Miller et al.
|Method of and system for generating feasible, profit maximizing requisition sets
|Automated sales and services system
|Merchandise analysis system with sales data table and various functions for predicting the sale by item
|Maeda et al.
|Virtual fare methods for a computerized airline seat inventory control system
|Airline seat inventory control method and apparatus for computerized airline reservation systems
|Hornick et al.
|Scenario optimization
|System for shared remote access of multiple application programs executing in one or more computers
|Auction information transmission processing
|Automatic information, goods and services dispensing system
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to demand aggregation for goods and services and the computerized operation of global buying groups conducted over electronic networks such as the Internet.
2. Introduction to the Invention
This invention provides a method and apparatus to globally locate, encourage and enable all buyers wishing to purchase a particular product or service within a given time frame to join forces in a buying group ("co-op") formed specifically to accomplish the desired purchase. The co-op will enable individual buyers to leverage their combined purchasing power to achieve an economic bargain far superior to that attainable by any one buyer acting alone. This superior bargain most often will be reflected in terms of a lower price.
The invention also provides a method and apparatus that allows each buyer an opportunity to increase the volume of any given co-op in order to further increase group buying power within a co-op. It also includes a mechanism through which buyers can form any number of special interest groups, provide their collective wisdom to dictate which products are featured in future co-ops, or even make a market for a given product or service.
Other key aspects of the invention include a means to allow unprecedented access to certain market and pricing information derived from co-op member input during the life of each co-op. For example, all buyers wishing to join a co-op must submit a binding offer guaranteeing their willingness to purchase the featured item at or below some maximum price determined by each individual member. This collection of purchase offers provides valuable quantitative data regarding price sensitivity for the featured item. In addition, it permits real time yield management decisions that often will benefit both buyers and suppliers. Specifically, the invention provides data from which a supplier can be informed that if the product price is reduced by a specified amount, the co-op's pool of accepted offers-i.e., final sales-will increase by a specific quantity. The guaranteed increase in volume due to a reduced price would improve its overall yield. Under this scenario, both the co-op buyers and the product supplier benefit from the indicated price reduction.
Other ways in which this invention provides unique benefits to buyers and suppliers of goods and services in electronic commerce are set forth in various parts of this document below.
3. Background (Prior art)
The vast majority of retail methods of commerce do not permit any give and take between buyer and seller regarding terms of purchase. Instead they employ a seller- controlled format whereby the seller determines which items are to be offered for sale, when each item will be offered for sale, and the non-negotiable fixed price at which each item will be sold. Traditional stores (including most on-line stores), catalog sales, telemarketing sales, and classified ads all represent examples of this prevalent seller-controlled sales environment.
While the auction sales format permits buyer interaction, it too vests most of the bargaining power in the seller by permitting him or her to select the item to be sold and the time at which it will be offered for sale. Auctions also typically permit the seller to specify a minimum price at which the item may be sold. Moreover, the auction model further deteriorates the power of each individual buyer by pitting him or her against similarly situated buyers, all competing to pay the highest price for the item.
Historically, individual buyers have sought to achieve collective buying power, among other things, by joining a traditional, true "co-op"—i.e., an organization that is actually owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services. Such organizations usually are comprised of individual members with common business, occupational. or recreational interests. Members of these tine co-ops pay annual membership fees (typically sufficient to cover the operating costs of the co-op entity) for the privileges of membership, which often include access to information, products and services related to the co-op's defined purpose.
Traditional buying co-ops (including those emerging on the Internet up to the date of this invention) have been organized around a common set of interests much broader than a particular product (e.g., a digital camera), or even a narrowly defined product category (e.g., cameras). As a result, the extent to which they can aggregate demand for any given product or service is limited by the organization's defined membership base and topical focus. Historically, this breadth of member commonality was required. Otherwise, the benefits achieved through the co-op would be vastly outweighed by the amount of time, money and energy expended to join and maintain the membership.
At the time of this invention, buying groups organized globally on a purchase by purchase basis do not exist. In addition, there is no single mechanism though which people can quickly and conveniently create or join any special interest group of their choosing for purchasing products through a global electronic network such as the Internet.
Traditionally, market data regarding the price buyers are willing to pay for a given product or service has been derived primarily from actual sales data. These estimates fail to capture data regarding instances in which sales were rejected by those deciding not to buy the given product. Obviously, the universe of buyers seriously considering purchasing a new flat screen TV includes not only those who will decide to purchase the item, but any number of people who will conclude the current unilaterally fixed price for the item is too high. Under traditional sales models, there is no practical way to capture the number of potential buyers who rejected the sale based on price. Moreover, there is no way to capture the actual price point at which the potential buyer would have purchased the item. If an invention were to permit access to this data globally for a large pool of potential buyers, the invention would be extremely valuable to suppliers of goods and services in that it would permit better pricing, yield management and marketing decisions.
Further, historically there has been no way for a supplier to predict with certainty the price at which a product must be sold in order to increase sales volume by a specified amount. Under traditional sales models, pricing decisions are made based on estimates, such as anticipated product demand and presumed price sensitivity, in the hope that supply will approximate demand at the selected price. If a supplier of a particular item could rely on guaranteed purchase offers to increase volume at varying levels of acceptable sales prices, such information would be extremely valuable to the supplier. Among other things, it would permit instantaneous, accurate yield management decisions that often would encourage win-win price reductions. The supplier wins by improving his overall yield based on volume, and the buyer wins by getting a lower per unit price.
Further, existing sales models do not offer suppliers a clearly superior means of quickly reducing large quantities of specific product inventory (such as a close out item) in a way that will permit both maximization of yield and fast movement of an extremely large quantity of product. Similarly, there exists no clearly superior sales channel through which a supplier can readily turn to swiftly create an extremely large, global market for a specific product such that the supplier's market share for that product literally could substantially increase overnight.
Finally, access to the larger interest groups enabled by this invention present a superior forum for marketing and testing products and services of interest to the membership of a given group. Such activities may be limited to those which are deemed by any given group to be of mutual beneficial to both individual group members and the suppliers of goods and services of interest to such group.
Specific examples of e-commerce systems implemented on the Internet or other networks are disclosed in the following issued patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,928, issued Dec. 6, 1988 to Fujisaki; U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207, issued Aug. 11, 1998 to Walker et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,127, issued Aug. 18, 1998 to Walker et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,896, issued Nov. 10, 1998 to Fisher et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,265, issued Dec. 1, 1998 to Woolston.
4. Benefits of the invention
The traditional shopping experience-buying goods at stores and malls (whether on line or brick and mortar)-was designed by sellers with the primary purpose of promoting commerce for themselves. Not surprisingly, this prevalent sales model gives the seller virtually all of the power and control associated with a given sales transaction. This invention creates a new shopping experience by essentially reversing certain aspects of the traditional seller-oriented sales model. The result is a far more empowering shopping experience for the buyer.
As shown in
By creating a means to globally aggregate a large number of buyers in one place at one time (a co-op), this invention enables a tremendous shift in power from the seller of goods and services to the buyer of goods and services. Rather than permitting the product seller to establish the product's sales price, it permits each buyer to establish a maximum price at which he or she will purchase the product. (Notwithstanding this specification of a maximum acceptable price, all co-op members enjoy the full measure of price reductions achieved through the co-op. Hence, each member's offer will be accepted at the co-op's lowest—i.e., the ending—price.)
Co-op members are further empowered by certain other features of the invention. Specifically, after joining a given co-op each member will be given an opportunity to drive volume to further reduce prices by e-mailing people he or she knows who might be interested in joining the co-op. In this way, every member can help the co-op attain its critical mass (which guarantees the success of the co-op) and surplus volume (which serves to drive prices below previously anticipated levels). In addition, the invention permits buyers to help choose which products and brands will be featured in future co-ops. Through this feature, buyers also can actually create a market for a particular product. For example, this input feature would permit a general query regarding whether there is sufficient buyer interest for a particular style of wristwatch (in which one or more buyers had previously inquired). If sufficient demand for the item exists, a business entity implementing the invention could then seek out a jewelry manufacturer willing to make a large volume of the watches and then offer such items to those who expressed interest and potentially others in a future co-op.
The invention's method presents a buying model far superior (from the standpoint of the buyer) to that of the auction sales model. Rather than providing a method by which numerous buyers compete against one another to be the "winner" at the highest price, this method enables buyers to join forces to achieve a lower price at which they all "win".
Further, the invention provides an effective method for focused aggregation of purchasing power (i.e., all people currently willing and able to purchase a featured product without regard to their geographic location, profession, or any conflicting or specific personal interests of the individual buyers within the group). This method of aggregation will generate far greater participation and purchasing power than any traditional co-op. To illustrate this point, consider a typical "small business" co-op. It likely would generate some demand for a particular premium brand computer printer. However, it normally would be limited in its geographic reach. And even if the co-op were operated globally via the internet, its demand would not encompass all people using the internet who might be interested in buying that particular printer. It would include only small business owners (or more likely owners of a particular type of small business). The ability to quickly, conveniently and economically form narrowly defined co-ops is a critical aspect of this invention which is made possible by the technology comprising this invention when coupled with a global electronic network such as the Internet.
The method and apparatus of this invention farther provides a means through which individual buyers can aggregate on the basis of broader interest groups for any purpose including access to the latest product and other information of interest to the group.
In order to join a co-op, each buyer must determine the maximum price at which (or below) he or she is willing to purchase the featured item. Such amount is specified in his or her binding purchase offer. That offer is guaranteed by the buyer's credit card. All offers including the various amounts at which they are submitted are collected and summarized in a database. This process enables accurate, real-time yield management decisions which can be used to advocate a lower per unit price. For example, the business entity implementing the invention would be able to represent to a supplier that if the price were lowered by $X, the sales volume will increase by an additional 1,000 units. Although the per unit price would drop, the supplier's overall profit yield may increase due to the substantial increase in volume. Hence, this invention eliminates the uncertainty that often makes suppliers reluctant to lower prices.
In addition, the pricing data described above represents an extraordinarily complete picture of the price sensitivity with respect to a given product because it captures not only actual sales data, but also price specific data on potential sales that were not completed because of price. Further, this invention enables the feasible collection of various other types of market data such as geographic distribution and other characteristics of the buyers interested in a given product. In addition, it enables a superior way to gauge interest in future products and services.
Further, this invention's method of globally creating buying groups on a purchase by purchase basis brings a vast number of potential buyers to the bargaining table. Consequently, it provides a superior method of quickly moving large quantities of specific products. This will be useful to product suppliers in many ways. For example, a supplier might utilize the invention's sales platform to sell a substantial volume of one product for the specific purpose of increasing its market share. It even would be possible under this example for the supplier to specify a minimum sales volume so that no sales are made unless its market share objectives are met. In addition, a supplier could utilize this invention as a platform for unloading a large volume of specific products nearing the end of their product life cycle. Suppliers might also utilize this invention as a means to accomplish swift inventory leveling for cash flow or financial reporting purposes. While there are existing channels through which suppliers can sell closeout products or accomplish inventory leveling, none provide the ability to quickly move a substantial volume of inventory while still maximizing profit yield in the manner described above.
Finally, membership of any given broader special interest groups that can be created through this invention (e.g., camera enthusiasts) might epitomize the target customer for a particular product or service of a supplier. Possible ready access to such group, as possibly limited by each group membership, could be extremely valuable to suppliers for general marketing, product testing, and other purposes.
Certain terms as used herein are defined as follows:
Browser: A specific type of client system, referring to an HTTP client enablling the display of various forms of information originating at the server; also capable of sending information, such as requests and personal data, to the server at the request of the end user. A browser is not the only possible or intended client system. Our method and apparatus apply only to the server, and are not dependent on what form of client is used, only that some client exists as the means of input.
Co-op: For the purposes of this application, the term 'co-op' as used throughout is not intended to refer to the traditional cooperative form of business which is owned by all of its members. A business organization implementing this invention need not be organized as a cooperative. Instead, we use the term 'co-op' to refer to the online manifestation of buying groups who have committed to purchase a certain product within a specified price (i.e., at or below a maximum price). Co-ops are also occasionally referred to herein as 'buying groups,' 'buying co-ops' and 'product co-ops.'
Critical Mass: The volume of acceptable offers necessary before any purchase offers will be accepted. The critical mass may be specified by a supplier. It may also be the sales volume at which the starting co-op price is justified.
Current Price: The price stated as current at any given time during the co-op. One significance of the current price is that availability is guaranteed for offers at or above such price after critical mass is achieved.
E-commerce Server: Is here used to refer to a specific server software system, residing on a set of CPUs, that is used to send information to the client system(s) and accepting input from said clients for the sole purpose of taking orders, whether they are for co-ops or not.
Ending Price: The price specified at the end of the co-op, which represents the price at which all offers are accepted.
Featured Product: Any product or product variant identified for sale through a co-op. For purposes of this application, the term 'featured product' includes any services which might be identified for sale through a co-op.
HTTP: The Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol.
HTTP Server: A specific server software system, residing on a set of CPUs, which is used to communicate with client systems such as HTTP browsers. The HTTP server is only one means of communication between the client and server, and its inclusion in this discussion of our invention is not meant to imply that it is the only means of implementation of the invention.
Offer or Purchase Offer: A binding, non-cancelable offer to purchase a featured product within a price range the maximum of which is specified by the buyer. Each such offer is guaranteed by the respective buyer's credit card at the time it is offered. Making an offer is a condition precedent to joining a co-op. The offer is either accepted or rejected at the close of the co-op.
Price Curve: A description of price as a function, in the mathematical sense, of the number of units. See FIG.
Product and Product Variant: A product is a set of items for sale, which all has a certain set of significant characteristics in common. For example, a particular brand and style of in-line skates, each having the same characteristics, such as design, brand, color, a left and a right skate sold together, etc. A product variant is a subset of a product. For example, size 5 and size 8 of a particular pair of in-line skates are different variants of the same product. As used herein, a product can be a tangible or intangible object or a service.
Server: The term 'server' is here used to refer to the set of hardware and software systems that are used to implement co-ops in accordance with this invention. These systems are to be distinguished from the client systems that are used by buyers to participate in co-ops. See
Server Process: A computer program that is part of the server software systems, and which executes in its own address space, communicating with other processes via means defined by the operating system(s) of the hardware platforms. Unfortunately, it is necessary to use the term 'process' to describe other things than computer programs executing in their own address space in this application, so care has been taken to always use the term 'server process' when the latter is meant.
Starting Price: The price listed as the current price at the beginning of each co-op.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a system for an on-line buying co-op includes an e-commerce server data processing system. The e-commerce server data processing system has e-commerce server software executable on the e-commerce server data processing system. The e-commerce server software is configured to define a buying co-op for a product by specifying the product for the co-op, a time interval within which members can join the co-op, the point at which critical mass is reached, any minimum or maximum quantity of the product available through the co-op, and one or more price curves for the featured product. The e-commerce server software is further configured to accept inputs from buyers to take orders for the product. A buyer client data processing system is coupled to the e-commerce server data processing system. The buyer client data processing system includes first client software executable on the buyer client data processing system. The first client software is configured to receive data from said e-commerce data processing system describing the buying co-op for the product, to display the data describing the buyer's co-op for the product on the buyer client data processing system, to receive buyer order inputs for the product and to transmit buyer order inputs for the product to the e-commerce server data processing system.
In a second aspect of the invention, an e-commerce server data processing system for implementing a buying co-op has e-commerce server software executable on the e-commerce server data processing system. The e-commerce server software is configured to define a buying co-op for a product by specifying the product for the co-op, a time interval during which the co-op is available, the point at which critical mass is reached, any minimum or maximum quantity of the product available through the co-op, and one or more price curves for the featured product. The e-commerce server software is further configured to accept inputs from buyers in the form of binding purchase offers to purchase the featured product.
In a third aspect of the invention a process for operating an on-line buying co-op includes defining a buying co-op for a product at an e-commerce server data processing system by specifying the product hr the co-op, a time interval during which the co-op is available, any minimum or maximum quantity of the product available through the co-op, and one or more price curves for the featured product. Data describing the buying co-op for the product is transmitted from the e-commerce data processing system to a buyer's data processing system. The data describing the buyer's co-op for the product is displayed on the buyer's data processing system. A buyer order input for the product is received on the buyer's data processing system. A buyer order input for the product is transmitted from the buyer's data processing system to the e-commerce server data processing system. The buyer order input is accepted in the e-commerce data processing system to record a purchase offer for the product.
In a fourth aspect of the invention, a process for defining an on-line buying co-op for a product in an e-commerce server data processing system includes specifying the product for the co-op. A time interval is specified during which the co-op is available. The point at which critical mass is reached is specified, which is usually a minimum quantity of the product specified either by a supplier or by the entity implementing the invention for a given price. Any maximum quantity of the product available through the co-op is specified. One or more price curves arc defined for the product available through the co-op.
In a fifth aspect of the invention, an article of manufacture comprises a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program for operating various product co-ops simultaneously. The computer program includes a first code segment for defining a buying co-op for a product at an e-commerce server data processing system by specifying the product for the co-op, a time interval during which the co-op is available, the point at which critical mass is reached, usually a minimum quantity of the product for a given price, established as above, any maximum quantity of the product available through the co-op, and one or more price curves for the featured product. A second code segment is for transmitting data describing the buying co-op for the product from the e-commerce data processing system to a buyer's data processing system. A third code segment is for receiving purchase offer input in the e-commerce data processing system to record an offer for the product.
In a sixth aspect of the invention, an article of manufacture comprises a computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program for defining an on-line buying co-op. The computer program includes a first code segment which, when executed in a computer, specifies the product for the co-op. A second code segment, when executed in the computer, specifies a time interval for which the co-op is available. A third code segment, when executed in the computer, specifies any minimum or maximum quantity of the product available through the co-op. A fourth code segment, when executed in the computer, defines one or more price curves for the product available through the co-op.
A co-op for a given product or product variant is defined by placing onto the e-commerce server a set of data describing the co-op in terms of its price curve(s), the featured product, the time interval during which the co-op is available, the point at which critical mass is reached, and the minimum and maximum quantities available. Some of these defining properties of a co-op may not be revealed to the buyer.
When the co-op is available, buyers enter their offers into the co-op, indicating a maximum price at which they will commit to purchase the featured item. This may be at the current price, or it may be below the current price. Once the current price is justified by the volume of co-op offers, all offers within a specified reasonable range below the current price will trigger a new, lower current price for the product.
Once the co-op is successful in achieving critical mass, offers at the current price guarantee availability of the number of items of the product or product variant specified in the offer, provided that number does not exceed the difference between the current number of similarly committed units and any maximum number of units available. Note that the starting price will be established when the co-op is announced, before any offers have been submitted based on the price curve and/or other merchandising data. Such starting price frequently will be based on a minimum number of units that must be ordered for the co-op to qualify for that price.
A further contingency maybe placed on a buyer's offer based on price. Specifically, should any given buyer indicate that he does not find the current price acceptable, but nevertheless wishes to buy it at a lower price, his offer is made contingent upon the co-op reaching the lower price. However, should his offer be deemed to fall within reasonable range of the current price, as defined separately for each co-op, it may be considered part of the market dynamics around the product offered in the co-op. As such, it may reduce the price of the co-op. As more offers are made, and the current price drops to a level at or below the contingent price specified, the contingency based on price is removed. Offers may be increased up to the current price any time during the co-op should buyers wish to improve their chance of success or ensure availability of the item. However, offers may not be cancelled nor may buyers reduce their offered price.
Regardless of the maximum price specified within each purchase offer, all members of the co-op get the benefit of the lowest final price.
In addition to seeing the current price go down, the buyers may also be given an indication of how many more participants it would take to get the price down to a specified amount, or potentially the number of acceptable offers necessary to reach critical mass. While every offer might affect the price by small decrements, the price reductions that are sufficiently compelling to encourage buyers to refer others to the co-op might be much greater and will vary from co-op to c-op. Therefore, a co-op is further defined by the 'price curve visibility window,' which is the difference in price that is deemed interesting to a buyer of a given product. The visibility window is in essence the granularity at which the actual price curve is displayed to buyers.
Merchandising and yield management personnel will define each co-op by means of data entry. Such data entry is not limited to time prior to the opening of a co-op. The definition of a co-op, including its price curve, is subject to modification during its lifetime. In fact, the ability to modify the co-op definition based on data gathered from offers to participate in a co-op is an essential aspect of the invention.
Once a buyer joins a particular co-op, he or she will be permitted to initiate e-mail messages designed to increase buyer volume, thereby further reducing the price available to all. The recipient of such e-mail will be directed back to the specific co-op by either a reply function or a link within the e-mail message. If be or she joins, he or she can then send messages to his or her friends and so on.
Once a co-op is closed, either because the prescribed time limit is met, or any maximum number of available items is sold, all offers at or above the closing price are accepted and final sales information is communicated to other server processes, which handle the orders' fulfillment via traditional means of hard and digital goods transportation. Buyers who made successful offers are notified of acceptance and product shipment, and those buyers whose offers were not successful are notified of the result.
In addition to participating in co-ops, buyers may utilize an input feature to suggest products or product categories for which they have an interest in a co-op being created. Further information is gathered regarding the buyers preferences including acceptable price, and such person is then notified at the time his or her items are sold by co-op. Other aspects of this function include a focal point or community for buyers to suggest and organize a wide variety of co-ops designed to suit their every need, including the ability to create sufficient demand to support purchases, the specific manufacture of particular products suggested by the various buyers, or the creation of broader interest groups around a category of products.
The attainment of the foregoing and related advantages and features of the invention should be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art, after review of the following more detailed description of the invention, taken together with the drawings, in which:
The drawings show preferred forms of a system, process and pricing component suitable for implementing the invention.
As shown in
The consumer
The e-commerce server
As shown in
The steps of the definition of a co-op are as follows:
1. The merchandising staff, being generally responsible for product offerings, identifies the product to be featured in co-op at
2. The co-op receives further definition by having its price curve and price curve visibility window defined at
3. As data is gathered from buyers, by means of their making offers, the co-op is modified at
The steps comprising a buyer's selection of a co-op in which to participate, are as follows:
1. The buyer accesses e-commerce server
2. The buyer is presented with the following essential co-op information: current price, closing time, next price level (as defined by the price curve visibility window and the price curve), sufficient for the buyer to determine the urgency of an offer.
Once a buyer has made up his mind to join a co-op, the decision must be made at
Given the decision to make an offer, the steps are as follows:
1. The buyer enters an offer which is the specific price at which he is willing to purchase the product, his credit card number and any other pertinent information at
2. The system acknowledges his offer at
3. The system authorizes his credit card for the maximum price specified in his offer.
4. If the offer is within the range that is deemed reasonable, the current price may be affected as defined by the price curve, and any new price is displayed.
5. If the offer is below what is deemed reasonable, the offer is still recorded, but it is disregarded from the pool of offers allowed to impact current price. The reasonable range may be derived from the price curve or external merchandising factors.
6. Should the current price drop to the level at or below which the offer was made at, such offer is included within the pool of offers to be accepted at close of the co-op at
Given the decision to make an offer at the co-op current price, the steps are as follows:
1. The buyer makes a non-cancelable offer to purchase the featured product at the current price at
2. Inventory is allocated to fulfill the order at
3. The system acknowledges the offer, and indicates to the buyer that his offer is accepted at
A co-op will only close if the required critical mass is met. Assuming critical mass is achieved, the steps taken upon closing of a co-op are as follows:
1. The final price is fixed and applied to all offers at or above the final price.
2. All offers meeting the criteria above are accepted and converted to final sales by the e-commerce server, which are then communicated to product supplier and/or a fulfillment representative, which ships the products and charges the buyer's account.
3. All buyers that made successful offers are notified of the success thereof, and notified of the final price.
4. The buyers that made unsuccessful bids are likewise notified of the situation at
Upon entering a co-op, buyers will be allowed an opportunity to e-mail friends and acquaintances to tell them about the extraordinary deal being offered in the co-op. Buyers help themselves to this feature, which is comprised of the following steps:
1. The buyer clicks on specific icon and is asked to supply certain information including the e-mail address of each addressee. The quantity of messages sent by any one buyer, and his or her ability to alter text describing the e-mail, may be limited.
2. The buyer may be able to type a personal message to be included within the fixed text of the message.
3. When the buyer indicates his desire to send each message, they are transmitted to the addresses indicated.
4. Such messages will provide direct access to the co-op page in question either through a reply function, or via a link in its text.
At any time potential buyers may utilize a process of suggesting specific products, brands or product categories to be offered in future co-ops. Such individual might also specify acceptable prices at which he or she would be willing to buy the suggested featured product, as well as a wide variety of other data. This feature is comprised of the following steps:
1. After identifying a specific product or a feature set common to several specific products, the buyer indicates to the system at
2. The buyer might further indicate what price he considers to be fair for the product, the brands he finds acceptable in order of preference.
3. The system accepts the suggestion at
4. If and when this data reveals interest sufficient to establish a co-op, the system then notifies the interested buyers via available communication means that the co-op is about to be established.
The invention provides a method and apparatus to permit the quick and convenient formation of any number of special interest groups wherein membership criteria can be defined in the manner most beneficial to the group. For example, those showing an interest in digital cameras, by joining a specific digital camera co-op or otherwise, could be asked whether they'd like to join a special interest group comprised of camera enthusiasts. The formation of such special interest groups is implemented as follows:
1. Buyer or potential buyer expresses interest in a certain type of featured product through browsing such product or joining a co-op or otherwise.
2. Buyer will be offered an opportunity to join one or more related special interest groups wherein he might be able to maximize access to related information of interest through global aggregation of similarly situated individuals.
3. Buyer elects to join one or more such groups.
4. The system might notify all members of a given group via available communication means of information of interest, including any future co-op likely to be of interest to such group.
The apparatus and software for practicing the preferred implementation of the invention is shown in
The server systems are comprised of the following hardware and software components:
A set of computers
A set of server programs, configured to execute on said set of computers. The server programs consist of:
1. A set of database servers
2. A set of e-commerce servers
3. A set of HTTP servers
The apparatus is further comprised of a set of database tables
*MC_COOP—defining the co-op in detail, including, but not limited to, these fields:
|The unique ID for thr product being offered
|The date/time that the co-op is scheduled to open
|The date/time that the co-op is scheduled to close (might close early if sell all products)
|The minimum quantity that we must sell
|The maximum quantity that we can sell
|The limit on the # of items that can be ordered by a single customer
|Price limit: below this price an offer is not considered "reasonable"
|Defines whether price curve is line segments or step-wise
|Defines whether cost curve is line segment or step-wise
|Defines whether ignore curve is line segments or step-wise
|Overall status (not yet started, etc.)
|Height of price window (used to encourage customers to notify their friends)
|The current price for the co-op item (by definition, some point on the price curve)
*MC_OFFER—defining the offers that have been made for co-op, including, but not limited to, these fields:
|A unique identifier for the offer
|The unique identifier for the co-op
|The unique identifier for the user who submitted the offer
|The date/time the offer was submitted (early offers get priority)
|The price that was offered
|The quantity that was requested
|The current co-op price at the time the offer was made (to calculate savings)
|Part of the loyalty management program
|Identifies shipping destination (needed if offer becomes a real order)
|Identifies payment method (needed if offer becomes a real order)
A set of price curve tables, all with the same fields.
|defines the co-op price curve (or steps)
|Defines the co-op ignore curve (a "throttle" on the speed of the co-op)
|Defining the points of the price curve for the co-op, including, but not limited to, these fields:
|The co-op identifier that this price curve point is relevant for.
|The quantity coordinate for the price curve point.
|The price coordinate for the price curve point.
MC_COOP_WISHLIST—defining the individual suggestions for new co-ops that have been made by various buyers.
The program logic of this invention consists of several components, shown in
1. Co-op display components
The display components that are primarily relevant to this invention are:
|MC Product List
|Display a list of products, showing co-op
|MC Product Details
|Display a single product, showing co-op
|Co-op offer & checkout
|Accept an offer from the user
|E-mail a friend
|Encourage participants to add to the co-op
|by sending e-mail to the friends
The product list and product details modules show the co-op product description, price (with an animated image in the background to show that the price may fall even further), product features, etc. The co-op offer & checkout accepts an offer from a customer regardless of whether the offer is at the current price or at some lower price. We take the customer's name, e-mail address, shipping destination, credit card information, and the amount of the offer. We also show some legal text which informs the customer that this offer is binding and may be converted to a real order if the co-op price meets their offer amount, etc.
2. Data access components
The data access components
* MCI_Co-op, responsible for providing information regarding, and manipulation of, individual co-ops. Manipulation actions include changing the current price, adding offers at or below the current price, modifying the price curve and the price curve visibility window.
*MCI_Co-op Manager, responsible for information regarding, and manipulation of, sets of co-ops. This manipulation includes finding co-ops with certain characteristics, creating new co-ops, and deleting co-ops that already exist.
All publications and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
The invention now being fully described, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims.


text:
Lil Reggie - New Nino [JTF Submitted]
" @jordantowerjtf ... Jordan Tower Films Presents Lil Reggie straight out of Montgomery Alabama. Stay tuned for his new song and video with Yo Gotti. To book Jordan Towet Films EMAIL: email@example.com!" [m]
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Looking for design inspiration? Browse our curated collections!
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by Marty Koch
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You'll never run out of power again! If the battery on your smartphone or tablet is running low... no problem. Just plug your device into the USB port on the top of this portable battery charger, and then continue to use your device while it gets recharged.
With a recharge capacity of 5200 mAh, this charger will give you 1.5 full recharges of your smartphone or recharge your tablet to 50% capacity.
When the battery charger runs out of power, just plug it into the wall using the supplied cable (included), and it will recharge itself for your next use.
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Leontin Jakupi
October 24th, 2017
Alan McIntyre
October 23rd, 2017
Steven Schreck
October 2nd, 2017
Josip Mikulic
September 6th, 2017
Worst experience ever. Ordered on 16/08/2017 and estimated ship date was 21/08/2017, it's 06/09/2017 now and there is still no info when item will be shipped. Tried to contact pixels.com twice via contact form, no answer. Charger supposed to be gift for my father's birthday on 09/09/2017 but you managed to ruin it. Since I tried to contact You via contact form, and got no result. I hope that you'll read this comment and return me my money, since you failed to deliver product which is now useless to me because you weren't able to provide any info for couple of weeks
Elizabeth Layman
May 2nd, 2017
I bought this for my sister who is graduating soon. She spends a lot of time on her cell phone, and I thought this would be a personal and usefu giftl. The image is a bit dark but over all nice quality. The charger came with some charge (blue light came on). It looks easy to use, and I'm eager to see how my sister likes it!
A small stream cascading through the Olympic Mountains in Washington state.
Marty is a retired park ranger from St. Louis, Missouri. He has traveled extensively to the wild areas of America photographing nature's beauty. He is a photography instructor and freelance writer with may published articles and photographs. He has authored two books of his photography and is working on a third. He enjoys hiking, camping, canoeing and of course, nature photography. One of his specialties is office decor. His fine art photo prints adorn the walls of hundreds of offices throughout the Midwest. Click on one of the galleries below to view the available images. Once you select an image you can order just a print or a framed and matted print ready to hang. Your choices of size, mats and frames appear on the left...
Our return policy is very simple:
If you're not happy with a purchase that you made on Pixels.com, for any reason, you can return it to us within 30 days of the order date. As soon as it arrives, we'll issue a full refund for the entire purchase price. Please note - Pixels does not reimburse the outgoing or return shipping charges unless the return is due to a defect in quality.
Pixels sells thousands of pieces of artwork each month - all with a 100% money-back guarantee. We take great pride in the fact that hundreds of thousands of artists have chosen Pixels to fulfill their orders, and we look forward to helping you select your next piece!
All portable batteries chargers ship from our production facility within 1 - 2 business days of your order.


text:
HTC's new UI patent that "organizes applications, widgets, and web pages into pages of a virtual book" may "borrow" a few ideas from Palm, but it's cool with me. I'm all for a snazzier version of Pre's card system.
It takes all open webpages, applications, and widgets and organizes them in a way that you can easily flick to leaf through the selections. Actually, the more I think about it, the more it seems almost exactly like the card system. With fancy page-flip transitions in between.
Each page of the virtual book is the UI of a service or function of the handheld electronic device. Flipping the pages of the virtual book means browsing and selecting the services and functions provided by the handheld electronic device. This book-like UI enables the user to use and manage these applications, widgets, and web pages in an easy and intuitive way like browsing a conventional printed book. The book-like UI hides the differences among applications, widgets, and web pages so that the handheld electronic device can be accessed through a uniform and convenient UI.
The patent also describes a really cool rolodex-style method of browsing, where the UI collapses apps and pages towards the top and bottom of the screen while expanding the item you're looking at in the middle. Imagine (again with the Palm comparisons) the Pre's calendar, and you'll get the idea.
The Pre might already have a lot of what's described here, but I'm totally cool with HTC ripping it off. Because if anyone can knock this interface out of the park, it's HTC. [UnwiredView via Slashgear]


text:
Re "Bring on supply-side economics," Opinion, March 23
To quote Ronald Reagan, "There you go again." Ideologues like Brad Schiller tout supply-side economics once again as a possible cure for our economic woes.
Economists teach us about "supply and demand," but it really should be called "demand and supply," because without demand, supply is irrelevant. Demand is what drives everything, including job creation. If you have a line of customers snaking out the door, you will hire employees to meet that demand, regardless of taxes or regulation.
Our economy is about 70% consumer driven, so when median household income stagnates or drops, so do consumption and hiring. It's simple logic.
Trickle-up economics creates more demand than trickle-down because lower- and middle-income families will spend additional income, whereas high-income families invest their money. That's why the stock market has been booming while the overall economy has been weak.
You don't need a Nobel Prize in economics to figure that out.
Eric Geisterfer
San Pedro
Schiller's call to action is timely enough. It is just wrongheaded.
Yes, more attention to employment, and also wages, is critically needed. But Schiller fails to acknowledge the controversial nature of supply-side economics, most starkly revealed in its desertion by the man who chaperoned its entry into the Reagan revolution. He ignores the already flush supply side, with corporations sitting on mounds of cash they won't spend to hire or expand.
Mostly, Schiller fails to realize that trickle-down Reaganomics remains the law of the land and needs no latter-day champion. The decimated marginal tax rate and the prevalence of stock-option CEO compensation remain and, along with corporation-friendly foreign trade deals, have hollowed out the middle class, creating monstrous wealth and wretched poverty characteristic of developing nations.
This piece would more appropriately have been published on April 1.
Curtis Selph
Trickle-down economics? The Laffer Curve? Supply-side economics?
No thanks. America does not need any more of these voodoo economic theories that have contributed so much to our declining economic stability and increasing economic inequality.
As for the shedding of ideological blinders, dare I suggest that Schiller be the first to begin?
Hank Klein
Letters: In defense of 'dark money'
Letters: College and profit don't mix


text:
HAYWARD — Prosecutors have declined to file charges against a 20-year-old man arrested alongside his twin brother last month in connection with a bank robbery in the city.
Wyatt Holmes, of Washington state, was arrested March 6 after police found him wandering the street near a U.S. Bank branch allegedly robbed by his brother just moments earlier.
Prosecutors charged Wyatt's twin, Riley Holmes, with second-degree robbery. Riley pleaded not guilty to the charge on March 25 and is due in court at the Hayward Hall of Justice for a pretrial hearing on Wednesday.
Police initially believed Wyatt was his brother's getaway driver, but prosecutors found insufficient evidence to charge him with a crime, according to Eamon O'Connor, a spokesman for the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
Police did a double-take when they arrested the twins after the 1:30 p.m. robbery inside the bank at 31045 Mission Blvd.
Witnesses said a male suspect — later identified as Riley Holmes — entered the bank, announced a robbery and pointed a gun at a female teller. Investigators later determined the weapon was a BB gun.
The teller complied with the demands and the suspect ran from the bank with at least $739 in cash, police said.
At the scene, witnesses gave police a description of the armed suspect and officers spotted Riley Holmes — a brown-eyed brunette with shaggy hair — near the intersection of Prestwick Avenue and St. Andrews Street.
He told officers he was looking for his brother, who was driving a silver Honda Accord.
His brother, the brown-eyed, blonde-haired Wyatt Holmes, was stopped less than a mile away from the bank at Mission Boulevard and Garin Avenue and detained for questioning.
Police said he told officers that he and his brother were on a road trip, ran out of money and ended up panhandling in San Francisco.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police uncovered a large sum of money wrapped in a plastic bag and hidden in Riley Holmes' waistband.
Riley Holmes reportedly told officers his brother didn't know about the robbery.
Court papers also show he said he was sorry and that "the gun was fake."
"I didn't want to hurt anyone," he said.
If convicted of the felony charge, he faces anywhere from a minimum of probation up to five years in prison.
Anyone with information about the armed heist can call police at 510-293-7000 or submit an anonymous tip at 510-293-7197.
Contact Natalie Neysa Alund at 510-293-2469. Follow her at Twitter.com/nataliealund.


text:
Story highlights
- The woman "pushed herself forward" from a closed-to-the-public area on the third level
- Authorities: The vet tried to shield her fall with his body
- Both were hurt
Were it not for the quick thinking of a Marine vet, a woman who apparently jumped from the third level of the Oakland Coliseum Sunday may not have survived, police say.
"He put himself in a lot of risk. And, right now, he is in the hospital paying the price for it," said Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson.
The incident took place at the end of the Oakland Raiders-Tennessee Titans game as fans were filing out.
The unidentified woman went to a seating area on the third level that was closed to the public.
As onlookers urged her, "Don't do it, don't do it," she pushed herself forward, Nelson said.
The 61-year-old Marine vet, who also was not identified, happened to be leaving the coliseum with a friend. A lifelong Raiders fan, he had just recently purchased season tickets after following the team on TV for years.
As the woman plummeted 40 to 50 feet, he shielded her fall with his body, authorities said.
The woman was hospitalized with a wound to her head. Police don't know what prompted her to jump; she was in a hospital intensive care unit early Monday morning, Nelson said.
The man, too, was hurt -- but his injuries aren't life-threatening.
"There are not a lot of people who would have done what he did," Nelson said.
In an unrelated incident, a 48-year-old man suffered severe head injuries Sunday after falling down steps at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore during the Ravens game against the New York Jets, authorities said.


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- Leyla ceramic tea coaster , Dubai souvenir.
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ceramic tea coaster , dubai souvenir
- Handmade
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- Measures: 9 cm ( 3.5" )
- Use can be as a coaster or a decorative item
- Turkish Ceramics are traditional artworks that are handmade carefully with great patience and years of experience by Anatolian Artisans.
*Due to nature of handmade, there can be slight difference from picture.
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(CBS News) Lottery players around the country are hoping to strike it rich Wednesday. The biggest Powerball drawing in history now stands at half a billion dollars, the biggest Powerball prize ever -- and the second-largest lottery jackpot in history.
And that pot could get even sweeter by the time they pick the numbers.
With no Powerball winner since October 6, lottery officials estimate that 105,000 tickets are being sold every minute nationwide. And the more tickets people buy, the more that jackpot will go up.
Powerball at $500 million: What to do if you win
The odds of winning the jackpot are just one in 175,000,000.
But that isn't stopping players from trying their luck. From New York to Arizona, people stood in line Tuesday after the jackpot soared to $500 million.
The historic prize is part of a plan lottery officials put in place earlier this year, including doubling the ticket price to $2 in order to boost jackpots faster. By the time of the drawing, lottery officials estimate that Americans will have purchased more than $1 billion in Powerball tickets. There is a 60 percent chance the winning combinations will have been sold.Asked if that means there will be a winner, Mary Newbauer, a lottery official told CBS News, "I don't know. We'll have to wait and see, but that's not really a high number when it comes to drawings like this."
Mary and Brian Lohse know what it's like to hit it big. The couple won $202 million in Powerball just two months ago.
Mary Lohse said they didn't think they could actually win. Brian Lohse added, "The fact that it was a single winner I think was -- it even makes it more astounding and mind-boggling for us."
It's mind-boggling because Mary Lohse only bought that ticket as an afterthought at a local gas station one day. Before that, she and her husband were just trying to make ends meet for their three children.
Brian Lohse said, "We've faced the foreclosure. We've gotten the letter about them picking up the car and, frankly, right before we won the lottery."
The couple immediately got a lawyer and financial advisers. Then something happened that they didn't expect -- they got dozens of letters from complete strangers asking for help. One letter they received said, "If you could make an individual donation via check for an amount of $500,000 that would be very generous."
The couple hasn't answered the letters, but they have shared their fortune with their community, planning to help the local high school build a new football stadium.
For now, the family is still just trying to get over the shock of going from middle-class to millionaires. Mary Lohse said, "I think we both, at some point in the middle of the night have woken up and going, 'Brian, did it really happen? And he says, 'Yes,' and then I go back to sleep."
And if you're wondering whether the Lohses still play the the lottery the answer also is yes. Since winning Powerball, they've purchased a ticket every week, including one for tonight.
If there is a single winner in tonight's drawing, that person could take a cash option of $327 million before taxes.
For Manuel Bojorquez's full report on Powerball and the Lohses' life after their win, watch the video above.
But if you do win the big prize, what should you do?
Watch CBS News legal analyst Jack Ford's advice on "CBS This Morning" in the video below.
You should get a team of financial advisers and lawyers to help you manage your financial future, Ford advised on "CTM." He said, "At this point, guys, can you afford to bring in some people who can provide you with some good advice. Just because somebody says, 'My next door neighbor's brother-in-law is a lawyer you should talk to him.' Make sure you find yourself a good lawyer, good financial analyst and take their advice very early on."
Also, wait to claim your money, according to Ford. "It's a good idea," he said. "You got to do a couple of things. First thing do you is sign the ticket. ... The reason is it's the ticket that's the winner. You want to make sure that there's no question. There's a lot of people that would love to get their hands on that ticket. Sign it, put it in a safe place. The safe place is not a shoe box in your closet. Get to your local bank. ...Take some time to settle in, get your team in place, make sure you know what's going on here, get the advice. You don't have to run out and tell everybody because what you'll get, everybody in the world will be after you saying, 'Hey why don't you share some of your wealth with us?' Take some time and get things sorted out with the team."


text:
Day 1 is done
Bench coach Jimy Williams' day 1 spring training workout schedule for pitchers and catchers is in the books.
The 31 pitchers were divided into four different groups.
Here's what took place today:
10:30 a.m. The four groups divided time between long toss, bunting and holding runners on base. Three different fields at Carpenter Field and the enclosed batting cages were in action.
10:45 a.m. Each group spent 10 minutes throwing off the mounds between the Robin Roberts/Mike Schmidt fields.
11:00 a.m. Groups rotated between fielding, throwing, long toss drills. Pitchers at this time also got a water break and a change from sweaty shirts to dry ones.
11:20 a.m. Four groups were on four different fields for fielding practice. Fundamentals are so vital throughout the long season.
11:50 a.m. All four groups went through conditioning drills on the Roberts field before finishing with weight training at Bright House Networks Field.
11:50 a.m. Catchers took batting practice on Ashburn/Schmidt fields and followed with their conditioning and weight training.
Meanwhile, position players who are in camp early took batting practice at Bright House Networks Field. Six different coaches/instructors took turns throwing BP.
Charlie Manuel began his day with a 7:45 a.m. live interview on FOX TV's "Good Day Philadelphia" show followed by his daily 8:00 a.m. meeting with his staff, a brief talk to the team at 9:45 a.m. and roaming the various fields to check on the drills. After workout ended, he did a couple of one-on-one TV interviews and met with the print media.


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|Blockbuster To Push Blu-ray Starting This July
|Monday, 18 June 2007
had to pick side and home video rental company Blockbuster has made a
strong statement in favor of the Blu-ray format over the competitor, HD
DVD. Starting this July, 1,700 Blockbuster retailer locations and their
online rental service will make a strong push in support of the Blu-ray
format with over 170 total titles to be implemented.
This move, while not clearly decisive, comes early in the format war
and is coupled with many potential problems for Blockbuster and their
consumers. The first problem with the move is that Blu-ray players –
even the more affordable Sony Playstation 3 game console – are
significantly more expensive than HD DVD players at this point in the
marketplace. While Sony, the driving force behind Blu-ray, is offering
their second-generation Blu-ray player, the BDP-S300 for $499, they
currently charge upward of $800 for their BDP-S1 stand-alone Blu-ray
player. Pioneer and Panasonic charge even more for their Blu-ray
players. Blu-ray capable Playstation 3 units are priced around $600,
yet Toshiba is able to offer various grades of HD DVD players,
available for between $400 and $800 (not taking into consideration
their current offers for $100 off and free HD DVDs with the purchase).
This makes them an easier "attach sale" in the booming HDTV market.
Moreover, most early adopters have bought both formats in order to get
the most video performance from their HDTV investment.
Other problems facing Blockbuster as they make this move include the fact that many of the best titles in HD are on HD DVD. It's hard to explain to a customer in a store why he has to watch The Matrix in standard definition when the title is offered on HD DVD and the client has made the investment in the player and a large HDTV.
Source: Blockbuster.com


text:
Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis
Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis
ISBN: 978-0-813-81217-5 December 2011 Wiley-Blackwell 296 Pages
Download Product Flyer
Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis is the first comprehensive book on how organic production methods influence the safety and quality of foods, based on an unbiased assessment of the latest scientific findings. The title is a 'must-have' for everyone working within the food industry.
- Comprehensive explanation of organic production methods and effects on the safety and quality of foods
- Authoritative, unbiased and up-to-date examination of relevant global scientific research
- Answers the questions of whether organic food is more nutritious and/or more healthy
Table of contents
1 The Shift to Organic Food 1
Background 1
Organic regulations 3
Consumer perceptions 7
Analysis of the topic 9
References 10
2 Consumer Concerns About Food 13
The concerns 14
Consumer concerns and attitudes 16
Food regulations 20
Justification for consumer attitudes about the safety of
organic and conventional foods 21
Range of organic foods 22
References 23
3 Vegetable Produce 25
Pest and disease control 25
Documented findings on pesticide residues 27
Other chemical contaminants 33
Other toxic and antinutritional compounds in produce 35
Hormones 35
Can organic produce cause food poisoning? 36
Nutrient concentrations 42
Organoleptic quality 51
Identification of organic produce 53
Food from afar 54
Finally: watch which salad veg you eat 55
Conclusions 55
References 56
4 Fruit 61
Pesticide residues 61
Other risks with fruit 68
Chemical residues 68
Microbial problems 70
Mycotoxins 70
Cloning and gene-modified fruit 71
Nutrient concentrations 72
Appearance and organoleptic qualities 83
Preserves 86
Conclusions 88
References 89
5 Cereal Grains 93
Pesticide residues 93
Chemical residues 96
Other issues relating to grains 97
Mycotoxins: are organic grains less safe? 98
Gene-modified crops 102
Nutritional and organoleptic qualities 103
Wheat 104
Oats 108
Barley 108
Conclusions 108
References 109
6 Meat 111
Chemical and pesticide residues 111
Organic meat 116
Hormones 121
Hormone residue levels in meats. Do government agencies
monitor for these? 123
Developing countries 124
Antibiotics 125
Bacterial contamination of meat 127
Cloning 129
Mad-cow disease 131
Contaminated beef products implicated 132
Gene modification 133
Nutritional and organoleptic qualities 135
Beef 135
Pork 141
Poultry 146
Fish 150
Conclusions 157
References 158
7 Milk and Milk Products 163
The hormone issue 163
Raw milk 165
Antibiotic residues 167
Pesticide and chemical residues 168
Nutritional and organoleptic qualities 170
Research findings 170
Consumer findings 175
Conclusions 179
References 180
8 Eggs 183
Cholesterol 184
Salmonella and food-poisoning 187
Contamination with residues 191
Antibiotics 191
Chemical residues 192
Egg quality 198
Research findings 198
Consumer findings 203
Conclusions 203
References 204
9 Is Organic Food Safer? 207
Residues 207
Vegetable produce 207
Fruit 208
Cereal grains 208
Meat 208
Milk 209
Eggs 209
Food poisoning 210
Mycotoxins 211
Other anti-nutrients 211
Nitrate 211
Significance of the findings in relation to health 213
Other research on food and health 216
Health of farmers and farm workers 219
Other approaches 221
Conclusions 222
References 223
10 Is Organic Food More Nutritious and "Tasty"? 227
Reviews 227
Analysis by food group 237
Vegetable produce 237
Fruit 238
Cereal grains 239
Contents vii
Meat 239
Milk 239
Eggs 240
Taste 240
References 240
11 Psychology of Organic Food Choice 243
The safety issue 244
Nutritional quality and taste 244
Environmental issues 248
Image 252
Conclusions 256
References 256
12 Conclusions 259
Reference 263
Appendix 265
Index 267
"This comprehensive book is welcome in that it not only covers the quality of crops in separate chapters on vegetables, fruit and cereal grains but it also deals, in equal measure, with the quality of meat, milk products and eggs." (The Biologist, March 2014)
"Everyone with a serious interest in the differences between organic and conventional food should have this book on their coffee table or bookshelf, because it is the most comprehensive and objective library of present evidence." (Int. J. Environment & Pollution, 1 May 2013)
"Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; general readers." (Choice, 1 December 2012)
"This book by Professor Blair is a very valuable analysis of how organic food production affects food quality, and the conclusions and suggestions should be of great interest to all sectors of the food industry, including researchers and producers. Hopefully the book will also benefit consumers by encouraging the media and the food industry to present a more accurate picture of the relative quality of conventional and organic foods." (Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Science, 1 May 2012)
"This is a remarkable book . . . Everyone with a serious interest in the differences between organic and conventional food should have this book on their coffee table or bookshelf because it is the most comprehensive and objective library of present evidence." (Prof. John Hodges, Food and Nutrition Sciences)
"Dr. Blair's book is a comprehensive and balanced review of the scientific literature related to the organic versus conventional debate. . . . Each chapter provides an unbiased overview of the literature related to a particular food item and lets the reader decide if their preference for or against a particular organic food is supported by research." (Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 1 December 2012)
"This unique book gives an objective and thorough view of a major issue in health, nutrition, food quality, the environment and food production systems and is of interest to consumers, farmers, nutritionists, medical specialists, environmentalists and businesses in the food chain." (Journal of Tropical Agricultural Association, Winter 2012)


text:
HR blogger Joel Cheesman has taken his share of shots at Monster.com:
"Monster still really dumb, buys Trovix"; "The rats are apparently leaving the sinking ship in droves"; and " 'Bloody Monday' at Monster" are among the things he has written about the job board giant in recent years.
With more than 21,000 monthly visitors, Cheesman's Cheezhead site is arguably the most influential blog tracking human resources. The Cleveland-based Cheesman's blog has uncovered some key stories in the industry, including the "Bloody Monday" of layoffs at Monster in July. But Cheesman does not disclose in posts about Monster that as a consultant, he works for clients that compete with the job board.
Given the combustible mix of scathing coverage, conflicts of interest and genuine scoops, Cheesman, 38, evokes strong opinions within the industry. His site is also a microcosm of the promise and problems of the HR and employment blogosphere.
This loose community of journalists, pundits and practitioners has grown in importance in the world of people management in the last five years or so. As a group, HR bloggers are breaking news, stimulating discussion and challenging the stronghold of traditional media organizations that cover human resources, including Workforce Management.
But partly because of new guidelines on advertising and blogging under review by the Federal Trade Commission, some HR blogger practices are coming under scrutiny, including questions about reporting standards and the disclosure of conflicts of interest.
Cheesman says he does his best to separate his blog activities from his consulting businesses and to get the facts right. Still, he argues, it's up to readers to realize they are looking at a new, less-tame type of media.
"The consumer should understand that this is a blog, not a news outlet," he says.
An explosion of bloggers
The HR blogosphere has its roots in the mid-1990s, when John Sumser, founder of consulting and publishing firm interbiznet, began writing daily dispatches focused on electronic recruiting. HR blogging really took off earlier this decade, when a number of people in the field started blogs with easy-to-use tools such as Google's Blogger.
Today there are scores of HR blogs with authors commenting on topics ranging from recruiting to benefits to compensation to overall people management. Some bloggers have paired traditional blog items running several hundred words with Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, the micro-blogging tool that has exploded in popularity in the past year or so. HR bloggers may use Twitter to link to more extensive blog posts or simply make their point in a series of tweets.
Although it is easy to launch a blog, it may be too late to gain a large following, says Jason Corsello, vice president at HR technology consulting firm Knowledge Infusion. Corsello has maintained a blog, The Human Capitalist, since 2005. (Corsello is one of several affiliated bloggers featured on Workforce Management's Web site, workforce.com, which also maintains four staff blogs and features two blogger networks, Fistful of Talent and Benefits Buzz.)
Also read: The Sphere of Influence Surrounding Human Resources Influencers
Quality blogging takes time, and there's already an established constellation of leading bloggers, Corsello says. In fact, he views traditional blogs as past their prime given the rise of other social media.
"Blogging probably has become less relevant than it was four years ago," Corsello says.
Still, a number of HR-related blogs, including Renegade HR, Evil HR Lady and Your HR Guy.com, are growing in online popularity.
Your HR Guy.com is written by Lance Haun, a Portland, Oregon-based HR professional who began his blog in 2006. He initially posted at least one item a day. Now, he publishes one or two posts a week that tackle topics in greater depth. Recent items have covered fun at work, social networking and why HR isn't politically vocal.
Haun's site gets about 15,000 page views per month, up 75 percent from a year ago. And some readers are heavy hitters in HR. His post on HR pros' reluctance to talk politics sparked comments from Sue Meisinger, former CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, and China Gorman, SHRM's chief global member engagement officer.
Adding social media to the mix
Gorman's decision to weigh in on Haun's blog is part of a broader push by SHRM into the world of social media. Gorman used Twitter to announce that Jack Welch would keynote the SHRM conference in June, and 2009 is the first year SHRM selectively invited bloggers to cover its annual event as credentialed media.
Also part of the blogosphere are HR vendors, including software companies Kenexa and Taleo and job board CareerBuilder.com. Vendor blogs cover talent management issues, discuss new research and tout products.
Blogs are becoming a vital way to stay abreast of the leading thinkers in the industry, says Stan Swete, chief technology officer at HR software firm Workday.
"The influential people in the space are moving to blogging as a way to get their thoughts out more immediately," Swete says.
HR-related blogs also are breaking ground in the way people management is discussed. In contrast with traditional, impersonal commentary, some blogs mash up once-private topics with public matters.
Career columnist Penelope Trunk, in her Brazen Careerist blog, has revealed details of her sex life and marriage as it relates to work. Sumser, who sold his interest in interbiznet in 2007 but continues to blog on his own site, says Trunk's authentic approach appeals to Generation Y members.
"They want meaning and they want real people," he says.
Cheesman, who has been blogging since 2005, contends he and other bloggers have widened the discussion of HR issues beyond what industry publications typically covered. Bloggers' fire in the belly has helped educate the profession, he says.
"Passion leads to curiosity, and people want to learn more," he says.
The comments sections of HR blogs often are as important as the initial blog post. For one, they can erupt into informal discussions of industry issues where anyone can contribute.
They also can lead to surprising revelations and claims. For instance, an anonymous comment on Cheezhead in 2007 alleged that Jason Goldberg, former head of HR software firm Jobster, had threatened to shoot staff members for leaking company information.
"Clearly the young man has gone off the deep-end," the commenter wrote about Goldberg.
Goldberg now works at Germany-based professional networking firm Xing. Through a Xing representative, he declined to comment for this story.
The Goldberg flap isn't the only time Cheezhead has turned heads in the industry. Cheesman also broke the news—citing an anonymous source—that Monster was laying off employees earlier this year. The Cheezhead post was off on the exact figure—the source estimated 200 jobs were affected, compared with an actual tally of about 160. But Cheesman beat other media in getting the news.
Opinion versus fact
Blogs including Cheesman's have come under fire, though, for issues including shoddy reporting and sensationalism.
"Many of these voices are pure opinion that is described as fact," says Gerry Crispin, a blogger and co-founder of recruiting advisory firm CareerXroads.
Organizations in the HR field say they've been burned by bloggers acting badly. Simply Hired, which aggregates job postings for job seekers, suffered such an incident earlier this year, says Katya White, Simply Hired's senior marketing communications manager. White declined to specify the blogger in question, but says a blog post was based on an offhand comment made by someone who worked with Simply Hired.
"The blogger didn't call us to confirm the information," she says. "We had to react and it became a fire alarm for us. We had to appease our partners" and tell them the information was inaccurate.
Shawn Boyer, CEO of job board SnagAJob.com, says he has found Cheesman's coverage of Monster to be over the top.
"It's easy to take the potshots at the big guys," Boyer says. "I don't think they're the idiots that they're made out to be sometimes."
Cheesman cops to the accusation made by a reader that his site is "the TMZ of the recruitment industry"—a reference to the celebrity gossip and news site. But he says he has never gotten into legal trouble over his blog postings.
And he says that over time he has become "more fair" to Monster. One sign of evenhandedness: In late August, Cheezhead posted a story noting that an analyst said Monster is the only major employment site showing signs of stabilization.
Monster declined to comment for this story.
Another drawback to the blogosphere is the amount of dross, observers say.
"There's some good nuggets," Boyer says. "But you've got to spend a fair amount of time digging to find them."
Boyer, whose site focuses on hourly wage positions, says he spends just 30 minutes or so a week on HR blogs.
Also a bit jaded about the HR blogosphere is Mauro Canori, an HR executive focused on talent management and organizational effectiveness at pharmaceutical firm Merck. Canori estimates he spends 30 to 60 minutes a week looking at industry blogs and says the sites have failed to live up to their promise of creating useful communities of practice.
Having to surf through a lot of pages before finding relevant information is part of the problem, Canori says. He also bemoans a lack of documentation or proper citation in blog postings. But his biggest beef is the way authors aren't always transparent about their biases.
"What's the agenda—or the hidden agenda—of these bloggers?" he asks.
Pay to play
Pressure to buy ads on sites in exchange for positive coverage has been a problem, says Bill Warren, executive director of DirectEmployers, a group of companies that runs the JobCentral job board.
"It absolutely does happen in the industry," Warren says.
Maren Hogan, a marketing consultant and blogger, argues the HR blogosphere may be particularly prone to transparency trouble.
"I see a lot of people in the social media sphere saying, 'You should go to ABC,' when they're contracting with them," says Hogan, who blogs for Fistful of Talent. "I see it happening more with HR bloggers and less with marketing folks because marketing folks tend to skew more toward journalism, PR and [corporate communications] and understand the rules that have surrounded this for a long time."
Haun says revealing conflicts of interest is "incredibly important." But his site hasn't always done so. Haun recently took a job at MeritBuilder, a firm that sells a system for thanking employees.
He wrote about the new job in a blog post in August. But Haun's "About" Web page did not mention the position for much of August—meaning readers new to the site might not have known about Haun's financial stake in the incentive and rewards industry and MeritBuilder in particular.
Alerted to this discrepancy in an interview, Haun conceded, "I should update that." He soon did so.
Jason Corsello's employer, Knowledge Infusion, does business with HR software vendors. Corsello often writes about such vendors in his Human Capitalist blog but does not include in his posts information about whether the company in question is a client or a rival to a client. Nor does the "About" page of his blog list Knowledge Infusion clients.
Corsello says he has struggled with what to disclose, but says Knowledge Infusion is in step with the overall blogosphere, where disclosures are rare.
"Ultimately it comes down to the reliability, credibility and authenticity of the source," he says. "We've written both critical and complimentary posts about vendors."
Cheesman also has business interests in the HR field. His firm, HRSEO, offers to help clients including job boards improve the way their job listings appear in the organic search results at search engines such as Google. A more recent business is Cheesman's HirePPC, where he works on behalf of clients to have their paid advertisements appear more prominently on job aggregation sites such as Indeed.com.
Cheesman also has a sponsorship deal with DirectEmployers, whose ads are prominent on the Cheezhead site. The initial contract paid Cheesman $100,000 for two years. It has been extended, but Cheesman declines to state its financial terms.
That sponsorship and other Cheesman business activities are noted on the Cheezhead site. But he does not disclose these interests—which by and large are aligned against Monster—in posts. Cheesman says his approach isn't much different from newspapers, which do not as a rule reveal all their advertisers in news stories.
Cheesman says he has never taken money in return for a post, unless it was sponsored. Sponsored posts on the site are identified in the headline.
"There is no intent to deceive," he says.
Cracking down on disclosure
Good intentions may not be good enough for the FTC. The agency has published a draft set of rules designed to clarify how federal law banning deceptive endorsements in advertising applies in today's era of social media.
For example, the guidelines state that if a video game maker sends a blogger a new game system free of charge in exchange for a review, and the blogger writes a favorable review, the blogger should disclose the gift. That's because knowledge of the arrangement would affect how much readers trust the endorsement.
Richard Cleland, FTC assistant director of advertising practices, says his agency hasn't taken a look at the HR blogosphere in particular. But he says business relations between HR industry bloggers and vendors they write about could be put to this key test: Would the relationship, if known, alter the credibility of the post in the minds of readers?
"The only way to determine this is on a case-to-case basis," Cleland says.
The lack of a black-and-white disclosure standard raises a question: Is effective enforcement possible? Al Campa, chief marketing officer at Taleo, says it would be difficult to force HR bloggers to disclose all of their business relationships, given how extensive and interwoven these can be.
"It's unrealistic to try to untangle the web, because it touches everything," he says. "Many bloggers have relationships or have done consulting or have been employees of the companies they blog on."
Another counter-argument to federal intervention is that blogs have effective self-policing mechanisms.
Most blogs allow readers to post comments—including anonymous remarks—and these let the audience challenge authors. What's more, the tight-knit nature of the field limits deception by bloggers, Hogan argues.
"I know a lot of these people," she says. "I know for a fact if they have a deal, and so do most people in our industry."
The FTC is expected to decide later this year whether to adopt the draft rules.
The taming of the blogger
Whether or not HR bloggers face greater government regulation, there's evidence the field is maturing from its Wild West days. In a number of cases, bloggers have coalesced into groups, which provide a kind of filter for readers.
Recruiting bloggers and writers such as Kevin Wheeler, Bill Humbert and Krista Bradford post at ERE.net, an organization that acts as a hub for the hiring profession. Industry publications including Talent Management magazine feature blogs written by staffers or outside authors.
Cheezhead itself has morphed into something of a traditional news service, with two writers joining Cheesman to produce posts.
Cheesman admits he was more of a sensationalist in the past.
In the beginning, "I didn't think anyone would listen, or anyone would care or notice," he says. "But they did."


text:
I don't remember ever sending a letter to Santa. I do remember looking through the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs for toys. But we really didn't expect to get any of those things we found.
Our children visited Santa a couple of times. About the time they started not believing in Santa, we had them "play" Santa to my sister and her husband. We bought small gifts, put them in a stocking, and on Christmas Eve, hung the stocking on the door of their apartment. We explained that Santa Claus was the spirit of giving. They loved this and still remember doing it.
Our children still hang stockings. Our married daughter and son-in-law have cross-stitched stockings that they fill for each other, in secret.
Our five grandchildren have handmade stitched stockings with appliqued snowmen. Some of them are still young enough to believe totally. Two of them are teenagers but they still want stocking stuff. Of course, one of them didn't go to sleep last Christmas Eve and didn't get her stocking filled.
I have a Santa Claus collection. Some were purchased in a set by mail; some were purchased in a set at a department store (Dillards). I have some little special ones that I was given. I have some large hand-carved Santas made by friends. (He carves them and she paints them.) I also still have 6 "international" Santas that I bought at Pic 'n' Sav, one of the predecessors to Big Lots. There is still the 59 cent price tag on them. I finally sold or gave away about 300
Santas because I ran out of room to display them and I wasn't as attached to them as I am to those I kept.
Santas because I ran out of room to display them and I wasn't as attached to them as I am to those I kept.