text:
Style# 1P000006
Canvas 5 Pocket Slim Pants
Final Sale - this item cannot be returned.
Features & Fit
Introducing the Casual Shop! We made this collection for the guy who gets out there, does his own thing and never strays from who he is. He's not sitting around waiting for the Good Life—he's on a journey for it every day.
Do the leg work! Our men's canvas 5-pocket slim pants balance comfort, style and durability.
· 98% cotton 2% spandex
· Cotton pant with added stretch for movement and comfort
· Logo on back waistband
· Button and zipper closure
· Cotton pocketing
· Front slash and rear well pockets
· Imported
Care Instructions:
· Machine wash cold separately
· Do not bleach
· Tumble dry low
· Cool iron if needed
· Do not dry clean
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How it Fits: Slim Pants
Our slim-fitting pant is straight through the thigh and tapered below the knee for a clean finish.
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Fit Guide: Slim Pants


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Description: "A heartfelt homage... beautiful 16-bit graphic design... Awesome Land's virtual controls are awesome, easily among the best of any game – regardless of genre – in the App Store" - AppTudes
"The controls are abso-****ing-lutely perfect. I don't remember the last [mobile] game I've played that actually feels this smooth… brilliant level design… you'd be doing yourself a huge favor by buying it" - Metalcasket
This retro platform game pays tribute to, and parodies, classics such as Super Mario Bros., CastleVania and Mega Man, in style!
Manley's motorcycle has been stolen by evil aliens! It's up to you to help him kick some alien hide and claim it back in this incredible parody of the great platform games of the past!
Venture into a twisted version of the Nevada Desert! Discover alien bases! Stamp on monsters with your massive biker boots! Weave between furious flamethrowers! Munch on meat... from the walls!
- 25 amazing, challenging levels!
- Unique HD retro "photorealistic pixels" art style
- Beastly bosses!
- Silky smooth platform engine
- Rocking soundtrack!
Do you have what it takes to save Manley's bike, or will you be hitchhiking home?
Forget the likes of Lep's World and Super World Adventure, have a true high-quality gaming experience with this fantastic tribute to classic platform games!
Android OS Requierements: 2.2+
Download Instructions - APK:

subset: commoncrawl


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Someone to Watch Over You: London's Recycling-Bin Spies
Aug 31, 2013 5:00 AM PT
In June, Renew London equipped a dozen recycling bins in England's capital city with technology to track people's smartphones as they milled about the city. The devices went largely unnoticed until the appearance of an August article entitled, "This recycling bin is following you."
The piece set off a bit of a media storm as people realized their every move was suddenly capable of being scrutinized and stored away for keeping, safe or otherwise.
Within five days, the City of London ordered the tracking devices to be disabled.
Here to discuss the situation is the man who broke the story, Siraj Datoo. In this TechNewsWorld podcast, Datoo talks about how he happened upon the recycling bins, why the reaction was so visceral, and why the City of London decided to ban them -- after bragging about them.
Listen to the podcast (18:52 minutes).
Here are some excerpts from the podcast:
TechNewsWorld: One thing that's interesting about this story is that the recycling bins that were equipped with this technology were actually introduced in June and weren't reported on, really, until your article, which was on Aug. 8. What was it that kept this story hidden? And how did you stumble across it?
Siraj Datoo: Well, in some ways it was a hidden gem because the story was sitting there for everybody to see, but it's not something that you really think about. These bins have been around in London for quite some time, and, you know, they look like innocent recycling bins, with a few digital screens on either side; they have adverts for Reuters and McDonald's. We came across one... on Twitter and thought, "Well, that's kind of interesting." I normally live in London but hadn't seen that before.
So I kind of dug into them a little bit and found out they had these chips, these "orbs," they call them, and they launched in June.... So I started looking into it -- I found it kind of interesting. What do they do with the information? So I spoke to Renew's CEO, Kaveh Memari, and we had a really interesting discussion. I found out exactly what the technology was being used for.
TechNewsWorld: Do you think the fact that it was -- if not explicitly hidden -- the fact that it wasn't well-known was part of the cause for what was a pretty uproarious reaction? I mean, like you said, there was a five-day turnaround between when you wrote your story and when the City of London said, 'You gotta disable this.' Was part of that, do you think, because it was secret to so many people?
Datoo: Yeah. So we published Renew's CEO's open letter following the event, after there was a media storm about it, after there was a privacy outcry. He wrote something like, "This is all in the interest of a headline." I think the fact that there were so many publications that wrote about really shows that it wasn't just about a headline. There was something to be said.
The fact that people were walking through Square Mile, a really historic part of London in the heart of the Financial District, and people didn't know it was happening; you couldn't tell it was happening when you walked past. If you walked along the street, you really had no idea that your phone was essentially giving this recycling bin your information, and I think that's really what was the craziest part about it. People were walking, and it'd been happening for so long, that their information was being taken away from them.
TechNewsWorld: You mentioned your conversation with the CEO of Renew, and in your original article, the quote that I thought was so interesting from him was, "from our point of view, it's open to everybody. Everybody can buy that data. London is the most heavily surveillanced city in the world. As long as we don't add a name and home address, it's legal."
That seems either disingenuous or tone deaf, especially given all that's gone on this summer when you talk about data surveillance. What did you think when you heard that, and what did you think of his hypothesis that, you know, it's not really a big deal because everybody has access to this data?
Datoo: Well, again, I agree with you entirely. It was extremely disingenuous because [of] the entire idea that you can get access to that data, when in all fairness, you didn't actually know they had your data. You didn't have any idea they were able to take that information from you, able to see, you know -- from that data they could actually see which shops you went into.
So for example, if you walked past one of their bins -- maybe you walked past three of their bins -- and then you stopped for a little while, they track that down as dwell time, which means if you stopped into Starbucks, they would be able to notice that. And then, you know, let's say you came out after five minutes and you walked back in the same direction, they could tell that's exactly what you've done.
That idea, that you can just get access to that data, and really you didn't even know what that data was, is very concerning. I mean, that kind of links to their idea that they want to make this in some senses the real-world "cookies" that we see online. Renew are peddling this line about only being the MAC address, but it's really about the MAC address and a specific location and a specific time.
That's where it's worrying, really. That information is entirely personal to you, especially when mixed together.


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sconline necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
2 ganadores han sido elegidos entre 54 diseños de 20 diseñadores freelance.
Established successful podcast delivering weekly video tutorials via iTunes. I'm happy with my current Web site but would like to get a professional logo and header graphic for my Web site. Also looking to get a matching business card design.
Get the most out of your Mac (Optional)
Desired Color Scheme:
To complement the current web design (see details)
Desired Style:
Modern, Techie , Cool, Mac like!
Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai); Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff)
Check out the current Web site at http://www.screencastsonline.com.
I need a professional logo that conveys easily that I produce Mac based tutorials. Ideally the logo should be part of a new banner that fits into the 800x200 space in the current Web site. As far as the name is concerned, if any emphasis is used it should be ScreenCasts Online, please don't emphasise or de-emphasis the "Casts" part.
Also the logo should be able to be viewed in a square format (300x300) as my podcast identifier in iTunes.
The logo will probably be incorporated into the opening sequence of the video tutorials each week.
Finally, I'd like to have a double sided business card which will be printed on a standard card with rounded corners. If you can include placeholders for standard information - Don McAllister, Host/Producer - email: firstname.lastname@example.com, web: http://www.screencastsonline.com - mobile: +44(0)-xxxx-xxxxx-xxxx
Feel free to be creative but the main aim is to convey a professional image and the overall objective of the service i.e getting the most out of your Mac.
Some background to the podcast - The tutorials are wide ranging and do not focus on any one particular area of the Mac and are suitable for all skill levels. I do both a free version of the show plus a membership based version. Any further information needed - please drop me an email or messageThis contest was originally listed in multiple categories:
- Logo Design
- Stationery Design
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Did you remember the special travel package rewarded to first pair in the pit stop of Amazing Race? They were from the Travelocity. They were particularly popular of the "dwarf" statuette.
Travelocity is a brainchild of the leading travel innovator Sabre, the world's largest travel agent reservation system. They really are big to make it to the Amazing Race show.
They claim to be an expert in travel and works with the world's most respected travel providers, ranging from airlines, hotels, car rentals, cruise lines and other destination attractions and services like food, baggage, accidents, etc. They, according to a 5-month study, beat Expedia and Orbitz pricing of 88 and 87 percent of the time, respectively. They have the lowest fare with discounted weekend getaways, travel packages through its Last Minute Packages and Total Trip. And they provide the most honest, no-hidden cost and expertly travel advices 24 hours a day.
Yes! They are indeed an amazing travel group. Thus, joining in their affiliate program through Travelocity Branded Program is a guaranteed quality and income. And it is travel industry! Everyone loves to travel. Who does not?
The Travelocity Branded Partner Program pays you flat commissions and revenue shares from the following:
1. airline tickets and cruises;
2. car rentals;
3. hotel bookings;
4. flight and hotel purchases;
5. Last Minute Packages package;
Thus, if airline tickets are costly, commissions are high.
Travelocity is however not boundless. They meticulously assess affiliate program applicants, maybe as brand quality control. In some sense, it is a good effort to veer away irresponsible referrals, which are often in travel industry. Return rates of tourists are definitely low when their first travel experience is bad. Travelocity most probably factored this premise in drafting their affiliate program agreement.
Their deep understanding of travel is already amazing for Travelocity and who does not love travel.


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Re: Official: ChessCube World Cup II (CCWC2)
Good luck to all players and reserves, fair play and not engines use
ChessCube promotional tournament schedules and results
bpeoadg wrote:I must protest about the way the tournament is organized. The user Furija who is a moderator on ChessCube left a message on the top of the room Serbia (in the TOPIC area) and the message stated that everybody who is interested to participate should contact Furija. I have sent PM to Furija and left a message in this topic, but my PM was neither read nor replied.
knighk wrote:What time will the games be played and how many rounds everyday? I wonder why the organizers always gives the detail little by little and not as a whole. It's kinda annoying.
Return to ChessCube Promotional Tournaments
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


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Tod Machover
Tod Machover is a pioneering composer whose works often incorporate emerging musical technologies * At MIT's Media Lab he has helped to develop interactive musical tools, such as Hyperinstruments that use artificial intelligence to augment musical expression and creativity * Idiom often combines propulsive rhythms with an engaging lyricism and arching melodic lines * Wide-ranging output includes orchestral, vocal, chamber, and solo pieces, as well as five operas * Music has been performed and commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Centre Pompidou, London Sinfonietta, Houston Grand Opera, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble Modern, and the Tokyo String Quartet * Machover was nominated as a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his opera Death and the Powers
Works by Tod Machover include:
Sparkler (2001) for orchestra
Toy Symphony (2001) for Hyperviolin solo, children's chorus, and orchestra
Death and the Powers (2010) one-act opera
Also visit Tod Machover's website.
Looking Ahead: Machover's latest opera Schoenberg in Hollywood receives its European premiere at Vienna Volksoper in April 2020 with director Helen Malkowsky and conductor Gerrit Prießnitz.
"There is no 'formula' for accomplishing the kind of synthesis Machover is attempting—it is bound to be highly personal, technically complex, and musically exciting." —Contemporary Music Review


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Dena Levitz
Dena Levitz is a digital strategist and freelance writer in Dublin whose work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Crime Report.
Ask someone from Indianapolis to describe where in the city they live and they'll probably respond with the name of their home's subdivision or make a vague directional reference like, "the West Side."
Most residents couldn't come up with their neighborhood in a city that, according to information technologist and urban analyst Aaron M. Renn, has had a weak sense of neighborhood since the city and county governments consolidated into one unified entity about two decades ago.
Renn, though, along with a team of like-minded volunteers who've dubbed themselves Naplab, is trying to alter this trajectory. The crew of researchers and graphic designers just spent two years combing through documents and hashing out geographical quandaries to do something never attempted in the Indiana capital: map every square inch of land and assign neighborhoods across the entire city.
"There was a tremendous amount of research on neighborhoods that we went through," Renn says. "Where there weren't well-defined neighborhoods we created them … it was a little rogue, guerilla neighborhood naming, if you will. And when we were done we wanted to produce a high-quality graphic map to show the areas."
Even though the effort was done outside of the normal channels of local government, Renn says there's been enthusiasm from city leaders in Indianapolis as well as from other cities, such as Cleveland, to replicate the project. Even more than compiling the physical map, Renn says their goal was discussion, to get Indianapolis residents debating the names of these neighborhoods, in the grand scheme of becoming more connected to their communities by, once and for all, defining them.
Why does it matter so much that residents feel a sense of neighborhood identity? A growing body of research that's been gaining momentum over the last decade suggests that strong feelings of connectedness to place on a smaller scale has a strong relationship to how secure individuals feel about their place in the world.
And it's not just where a neighborhood's located on a map. In cities near and far from Indianapolis, debate about the names of places has taken on a life of its own.
San Francisco, which has always had a penchant for microbranding its neighborhoods, made headlines back in 2008 when its realtor association came out with a revised city map that reportedly took four years to complete. In explaining the varied response to the project, SFGate.com described the combination of 144 neighborhoods decided on by the realtors this way:
Some of the monikers have bubbled up from popular culture, others have the whiff of real estate marketing euphemism, and some are a return to names that stuck despite the trendsetters' efforts to change them.
For example, the Financial District was given the never-before-used name Barbary Coast. A section of the South of Market area (which itself has been shortened to SoMa) became Yerba Buena for the first time. And NoPa (North of the Pandhandle) was listed as the official name for the neighborhood formerly called the Western Addition.
On the opposite coast, New York City has faced similarly derided efforts by the real estate industry to put its own spin on neighborhood classifications. New names for subsections have effectively created made up places like East Williamsburg, at the nexus between Williamsburg and Bushwick, to redefine a Brooklyn ZIP code. More famous examples include NoLita, the space "North of Little Italy," which has stuck since it first came into use in the 1990s; Dumbo, an acronym for "Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass"; and SoBro, which is considered to be a relatively successful rebranding of the South Bronx.
In both cities adoption of real estate-inspired nomenclature varies greatly, as residents frequently take to defending their preferred name.
"People take it incredibly personally and get very worked up (about the naming of these neighborhoods)," says Gordon Douglas, a University of Chicago sociologist studying patterns around neighborhoods, public transportation and identity. "Just on Yelp and Chowhound there will be huge debates about so-and-so pizza place and which neighborhood it's in. With technology, everyone has basic GIS knowledge and will use Google maps and other location-based programs, so it's always on our minds."
"The consequences of realtors providing misleading information are broad," he goes on. "Working families are pushed out of rebranded neighborhoods as housing prices soar. Newer residents pay more to rent or buy, largely as a result of the deceptive marketing." The practice has grown so commonplace that New York State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in mid-2011 introduced legislation that would effectively ban realtors from inventing neighborhood names, instead requiring new names be cleared by the city. Angered by the use of invented names such as "ProCro" (a combination of Prospect Heights and Crown Heights), Jeffries wrote in an editorial that "the best way to change a neighborhood's identity is not by inventing names out of thin air."
The Baltimore-based* Annie E. Casey Foundation has been examining the impact of neighborhood designations through its Making Connections initiative, aimed at fostering lasting changes in 10 U.S. cities over a 10-year-period. Claudia J. Coulton, a professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University who's been part of the project, says understanding the challenges associated with resident involvement necessitated a serious look at neighborhood identity.
Researchers, for a report Coulton co-authored, asked residents in the 10 participating cities to name their particular neighborhood and then draw a map of it. The study revealed a striking disconnect between residents' definitions of their neighborhoods versus official boundaries. Altogether close to 70 percent of those surveyed provided a name for their neighborhood, but only 25 percent of them provided the right one.
The survey respondents also consistently misidentified the size of their neighborhoods to be drastically smaller than their formal boundaries. While residents drew, on average, 0.35 square-mile maps of their neighborhoods, the typical neighborhood area was 2.2 square miles.
Of course there were differences between results across the cities. Denver ranked highest in place identity, with 58 percent of its residents calling their neighborhood the same title as the official name. Coulton said in the Baker area of the Mile High City, in particular, there's a longstanding tradition of neighborhood identification.
Similarly, Chicago, which is not part of the Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative, is the classic example cited by sociologists as the city of neighborhoods, with rock-solid resident/neighborhood connections that go back generations. In the early part of the 20th century, it goes, the city formally designated about 80 different neighborhoods. The divisions and boundaries were clear and easily understood by residents, so they've stayed, for the most part, relevant for Chicagoans.
In contrast, Los Angeles, a metro area that's made up of multiple cities and jurisdictions, has fewer easily identifiable areas the size of a typical neighborhood. Its naming issues are less about nicknames and more closely resemble what's played out in Indianapolis. There's momentum as of late, however, to refocus the sprawling city on community as well as to reinvigorate a dialogue around what to call areas, according to Douglas.
Back to the mid-1990s L.A. city leaders began to allow neighborhood associations to come together around a name. The associations could then make the neighborhood name official and hang signs to that effect. The Los Angeles Times, too, took a crack at defining neighborhood boundaries, using Census data and asking the public to weigh in on database-generated maps. What they came up with segments the city into 272 distinct neighborhoods.
At the same time, in some pockets of Los Angeles long associated with violence there's been a deliberate attempt to change the image of these subsections through a name change. For instance, the city launched an official campaign to encourage people to stop using the term South Central Los Angeles in favor of the much less stigmatized South Los Angeles.
"A lot of the press has done a good job in adopting it, but whether or not that will really be adopted by the public at large is unclear," Douglas says. "It raises this issue of who really does get to define these neighborhoods? That's what this all goes back to."
Top image courtesy imacnewyork via Flickr under a Creative Commons license.
*Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Annie E. Casey Foundation was based in Seattle. The foundation is based in Baltimore, Md.
In an era of austere federal funding for urban public transportation, light rail seemed to make sense. Did the little trains of the 1980s pull their own weight?
The pioneering festival marketplace was among the most trendsetting urban attractions of the last 40 years. Now it's looking for a new place in a changed city.
Looking at the population and job growth of large cities proper, rather than their metro areas, uncovers some surprises.
Livability indexes can obscure the experiences of non-white people. CityLab analyzed the outcomes just for black women, for a different kind of ranking.
Proposition E would put a moratorium on new commercial real estate if affordable housing goals aren't met. But critics aren't convinced it would be effective.


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Dir: Nick Murphy. UK. 2012. 95mins
An effective British police thriller, Blood benefits from some stylish location work in Northeast England's The Wirral and a typically engrossing performance from Paul Bettany. Solid rather than spectacular, it sits comfortably with recent Scandinavian detective dramas and is based on the BAFTA-nominated three-part TV drama of 2004, also written by Clocking Off's Bill Gallagher.
Performances are strong, particularly Bettany in what has become quite a rare sighting for the talented actor.
Director Nick Murphy competently tackles another genre here after last year's debut (and solid commercial performer) The Awakening. Although distinguished by its visual flourishes, Blood could struggle to grab the attention of the mature theatrical audiences it needs, but at the very least should be a good ancillary prospect for IM Global.
Genre addicts will undoubtedly be attracted by the cast, which also features Brian Cox, Stephen Graham and an enjoyably-intense Mark Strong, all playing local coppers. Confusingly, despite clear visual indications that they are very much in the North of England, their delivery is un-accented, which perhaps will suit overseas and TV markets.
Bettany leads the team as Joe Fairburn, a notably well-groomed detective in a photogenic seaside copshop who discovers the body of 12-year-old Angela in a skateboard park as the film opens. Joe is son of former chief of police Lenny (Cox) and brother of detective Chrissie (Graham). He's celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary and is particularly close to his young daughter (Naomi Battrick), who went to school with Angela. It falls to Chrissie, meanwhile, to look after their father as Alzheimer's takes its toll, but the Fairburns evidently operate as a team.
Soon, they have a suspect in the murder, long-haired weirdo Jason (Ben Crompton), who helpfully has a criminal record and is prone to taking photographs of young girls. When he refuses to confess, Joe become haunted by memories of a similar case that he failed to solve. Any crime fan knows, however, that it's too soon in the piece for our detectives to have found their man, and soon Blood begins thicken.
In adapting and contracting his own work for the big screen, Gallagher has axed the role of the lawyer sister who represents Jason, and has made Joe a more complicated character without being an out-and-out brute. This makes Blood a very male affair, although that's not entirely out-of-character for the time and place. Once Joe's moral maze has been constructed, however, there's only one place for this film to slowly go.
Although the conclusion may be inevitable, watching Blood is a smoothly enjoyable experience – these detectives live in a visually engrossing location, work in a beautiful building, eat in nice restaurants and there's even a lovely library for Joes's wife to work in. But its plot confines restrict the potential audience, despite top-notch production values, to fans of the genre – which wavers between TV drama (The Killing, The Bridge) and film (Dragon Tattoo).
Performances are strong, particularly Bettany in what has become quite a rare sighting for the talented actor.
Production companies: Neal Street Productions, Red Productions
International sales: IM Global, firstname.lastname@example.com
Producers: Pippa Harris, Nick Laws, Nicola Shindler
Screenplay: Bill Gallagher
Cinematography: George Richmond
Editor: Victoria Boydell
Production designer: Cristina Casali
Main cast: Paul Bettany, Mark Strong, Brian Cox, Stephen Graham, Zoe Tapper, Adrian Edmondson, Ben Crompston, Natasha Little, Naomi Battrick


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I have a question entirely unrelated to Latin/Greek. I'm regularly reading about astronomy, and every time I encounter certain numbers, I am wondering how to properly express them in English. Can anyone help me and spell them out for me? It's been bothering me for ages not knowing how to pronounce such numbers.
Examples for numbers (scientific notation):
- 1.5 x 10^-2 W/kg
- 2 x 10^3 W/kg
- 4 x 10^26 W
- 2 x 10^-12 kg/m³
- F = (G * m1 * m2) / r²
- a = v²/r
- v = sqrt((G * M) / r)
- M = (r * v²) / G
Carolus Raeticus
PS: I've just (the day before yesterday) received my copy of the 4th edition-"Oxford Classical Dictionary". It looks great (and due to its bulk serves as a great weapon against potential burglars).


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|A great
source of pride in West Virginia's fascinating state and local
history, the Mountain State's historical highway markers have
attracted the interest and attention of young and old for some 65
years. Since April 1937, when the first sign was placed at a former
capitol building site in the state capital, nearly 1,000 West
Virginia historical highway markers have been erected to
commemorate prehistoric, historic, scenic, and geological sites.
From the state's two panhandles to its southernmost regions,
historical highway markers grace the roadsides in each of West
Virginia's 55 counties.
Now, the information from all these markers is available in one handy volume. With locations and complete inscriptions arranged by county, over 100 photographs, and a brief history of West Virginia's marker program, Marking Our Past is the most comprehensive collection to date of these popular reminders of the state's rich history. The price for mail orders, including tax (for in-state residents), postage and handling (for delivery in the United States only), is $15 per book.
Print this form and mail to:
West Virginia Archives and
State___ Zip Code_________ Number of Copies___ Amount Enclosed________
Make checks payable to West Virginia Archives and History.
For more information, call (304) 558-0230.


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d_91804 needed a new t-shirt design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 58 designs submitted by 14 freelance designers.
We are an active wear company that specializes in high performance, trendsetting tennis and fitness apparel. We are looking for one t-shirt design at this time, with more designs to be offered if we find the concepts we are looking for.
$125 to the winner!
HIGH PERFORMANCE (alias)
Desired Color Scheme:
Desired Style:
Edgy, rock or skater look, but still feminine
Accepted File Formats:
Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff)
We are looking for a design for our T-shirts. The design will be used on one side of the shirt, with 2-3 colors. We would like a design that embodies athletic power and high performance, but still has an edgy, rock, skate type feel. Remember, this is for juniors and young women, so we would like to find a way to bring in some femininity as well.
We will be adding a catch phrase to the design after the winner is selected. Please use the phrase " High Performance Tennis Apparel†for now, the actual five word phrase will be substituted after the winner is selected.
Winner: $125
We will give feedback on each design submitted.
Please do not use any copyrighted designs or clipart.
The winning design must be provided in .psd file via e-mail.
FORMAT: .psd


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Aldo toughs out fourth defence
Whether or not Jose Aldo cemented his place alongside the likes of Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones this weekend is debatable, but he did conquer his greatest challenge to date.
Aldo successfully defended the UFC featherweight title for the fourth time Saturday, defeating former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 156 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
An accurate portrayal of the fight was perhaps the fact that Edgar was never out of it, but Aldo was always in control. Judges scored the contest 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. ESPN scored it 48-47. "It was a difficult fight," said Aldo, through a translator. "Frankie Edgar is a great fighter. I knew I had to work step-by-step, round-by-round."
Aldo (22-1) jumped to a commanding lead early. It was immediately clear the speed advantage Edgar enjoyed when competing at 155 pounds was gone. Aldo landed a quick left jab almost at will and bloodied Edgar's nose with a straight right.
The Brazilian's confidence grew in the second round, especially after stuffing an Edgar takedown. Edgar (15-4-1) did surprise him by catching a leg kick and firing a counter right, but Aldo recovered quickly and went on to win the round.
One of the hardest shots of the fight came in the third, when Aldo planted a front kick straight to Edgar's face. The blood that had trickled out in the first started to pour at that point. By the fourth round, Edgar's left eye was nearly swelled shut.
That didn't stop the New Jersey native, though. Edgar continued to move forward in the fourth and fifth rounds, mixing in uppercuts and tagging Aldo multiple times with a right hand at the tail end of combinations. He brought the crowd to its feet with a huge body slam in the fourth round, his first clean takedown of the fight.
Edgar continued to grow stronger in the final round, but Aldo found answers when he needed to. The 26-year-old champion ended the fight with a spectacular Superman punch, which he vaulted himself into by jumping off the cage.
It was yet another Edgar title fight that went the distance. Unlike a controversial loss to Ben Henderson at UFC 150, however, it did appear Edgar came up short.
"It was a close fight," Edgar said. "I keep finding myself in these situations. It is what it is. Congrats to Jose."
Rashad Evans won't fight middleweight champion Anderson Silva any time soon. Not after dropping a decision to Silva's team-mate, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Nogueira outclassed Evans in their light heavyweight bout. The Brazilian defended key takedown attempts while landing effective combinations, especially in the third round. All three judges scored the bout in his favour, 29-28.
"I think that this is one of my biggest victories because Rashad Evans is a big champion," Nogueira said. "I just trained very hard and I came with good boxing and great wrestling. I was able to make it hard for him to take me down."
Fighting for the first time since a unanimous decision loss to 205-pound champion Jon Jones at UFC 145, Evans looked tentative throughout the 15-minute fight. He managed to win the first round based on level changes and a well-timed takedown on a lead hook by Nogueira, but failed to carry any of that momentum further.
After giving up the one takedown in the opening frame, Nogueira showed tremendous takedown defence against one of the best wrestlers in the division. He continually walked Evans down with two-punch combinations. By the third round, Evans seemed bothered by considerable swelling over his left eye. Nogueira (21-5) has now won back-to-back fights after losing two in a row for the first time in his career. The losses both came via decision to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis.
Antonio Silva shocked the world with his victory over Alistair Overeem on Saturday, knocking his opponent out 25 seconds into the third round of their heavyweight bout. He stunned Overeem to end the London-born Dutchman's 12-fight unbeaten streak with a series of short punches in the clinch before uncorking a heavy flurry along the fence. "After I knocked him out, I was yelling at him, 'Let's go, I want more!'" Silva said.
Silva warned Overeem to start showing respect in the build-up to the fight. His words, clearly, went unheard, as Overeem literally danced his way to the Octagon. The former Strikeforce champion, making his first appearance since December 2011 due to a failed drug test, had been promised a title shot against Cain Velasquez with a win on Saturday.
That title shot looked safe early in the fight. Showing no respect for Silva's striking, Overeem kept his hands low in the opening round. He tagged him with a counter right hand late in the round as Silva threw a body kick. The second round continued to go Overeem's way. He threw Silva to the floor after a lengthy clinch in the centre of the cage and spent the majority of the frame throwing punches and elbows from top position, although Silva defended himself well.
Silva, apparently, saved his attack for the final round. The crowd started to roar when Overeem staggered back from the first shots and went into a full frenzy as Silva unloaded against the cage.
"It really bothered me [that] he hasn't respected me in interviews," Silva said. "He talked a lot of trash, and I told him that I'd make him respect me tonight."
Jon Fitch showcased terrific submission defence in a welterweight bout against Demian Maia - unfortunately, that's the only thing he showcased. Many wondered how Fitch's wrestling would stack up against the world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills of Maia. They certainly got their answer on Saturday, as Maia dominated Fitch for an entire 15 minutes.
From the opening bell, Maia refused to allow Fitch to breathe. In the same manner he dispatched welterweights Rick Story and Dong Hyun Kim, Maia closed the distance, shot a single leg and went about improving position.
He took Fitch's back in every round, in which he consistently locked the veteran welterweight in a body triangle he was helpless to escape. Fitch was successful in thwarting multiple attempts at a rear-naked choke, but managed no offence.
"The game plan was to control him," Maia said. "I thought when I got his back I was going to submit him but he has very good defence. I think when I went for the takedown, he was surprised. I kept him off his game, and that's what won me that fight."
Visibly frustrated in the final round, Fitch came out with a wild kick aimed at Maia's head. He managed to gain top position midway through the round, but did nothing with the opportunity. All three judges scored it a sweep for Maia, 30-27.
Maia (18-4) improves to 3-0 since dropping to 170 pounds last year. The Brazilian has now won 11 fights under the UFC banner. Fitch (24-5-1) has only one win since the start of 2011.
Joseph Benavidez might be headed toward another shot at the flyweight title, while Ian McCall still searches for his first UFC win. Benavidez outpointed McCall over the course of three rounds to take a unanimous decision win. It was his first appearance since suffering a split decision loss to Demetrious Johnson for the inaugural 125-pound title in September.
"Finishing a guy in the first doesn't necessarily teach you a lot," Benavidez said. "You learn way more going the distance with a guy like Ian McCall." Benavidez got off to a fast start, wobbling McCall multiple times in the first round, mostly with the lead hook. McCall responded in the final minute with a flurry that opened a cut on Benavidez's forehead, but it wasn't enough to steal the round.
Things changed in the second round, when McCall briefly took Benavidez's back as he attempted to stuff a takedown. Benavidez rolled out of the position, but ate a string of hard right hands as he turtled up in the centre of the cage.
With the fight up for grabs in the third, Benavidez came out aggressively, catching McCall immediately with a right hand. McCall would smile after each exchange, but his face started to show damage, mostly swelling around the left eye.
"My corners didn't sugarcoat it," Benavidez said. "They told me very clearly I had to go get the third round. It was one to one going into the final five minutes, and I had to go out and take it." All three judges scored the contest the same, 29-28 for Benavidez.
Benavidez (17-3) has won five of his past six. His only losses have come at the hands of current UFC champions: once to Johnson and twice to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. McCall (11-4-1) remains winless in the UFC through three fights.
It may have felt like fighting a brick wall at times, but Evan Dunham managed to edge Gleison Tibau in a tightly contested split decision.
Dunham rallied to a dominant final round, after struggling with Tibau's pressure. Neither fighter had consistent success establishing his range early in the fight, leading to several even exchanges in the first two rounds.
Those exchanges seemed to have a greater effect on Tibau, however, heading into the final round. While he continued moving forward, the looping haymakers he landed early started to miss their mark, as Dunham's cardio advantage showed.
Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Dunham, while the third had it 29-28 in favour of Tibau. ESPN.com scored it for Tibau, 29-28. "Whenever I don't finish a fight, the decision is up in the air," Dunham said. "Gleison was very strong. It took me a few shots before I woke up and really started getting into a rhythm out there.
"He's a very muscled guy, and it takes a lot to feed those muscles. Going into the third round, I think he tired a lot, and I was pretty sure I had him."
Tibau came close to a submission in the first, catching Dunham in a guillotine as the two scrambled for position. Dunham would escape to eventually own the third round, including a flying knee under Tibau's chin in the final 20 seconds of the fight. Dunham (14-3) gets back in the win column, following a decision loss to TJ Grant in his last performance. Tibau (26-9) loses for the seventh time in the Octagon, five of which have come via decision.
A long-time standout in the Strikeforce welterweight division, Tyron Woodley definitely turned heads in his UFC debut, knocking out Jay Hieron in less than one minute.
Known as a wrestler first, Woodley showcased his hands on Saturday. He knocked Hieron down with a big overhand right early. Hieron attempted to recover, but Woodley followed with a flurry of punches that knocked him out cold. Referee Herb Dean waved off the action just 36 seconds into the fight. It was just the second knockout win of Woodley's career and the first time Hieron's been finished since 2007.
"My trainers and I planned to go out there and be explosive," Woodley said. "People in the welterweight division need to know I'm here. My last few fights have been wars, so I was due for a knockout."
It's a major rebound for Woodley (11-1), who suffered a knockout loss to Nate Marquardt in a bid for the Stirkeforce title in July. The former collegiate wrestler holds notable decision wins over Paul Daley and Tarec Saffiedine. Hieron (23-7) has now dropped three of his past four fights. The 36-year-old is 0-2 since re-signing with the UFC last year. He lost a unanimous decision to Jake Ellenberger in October.
UFC 156 results:
Jose Aldo bt Frankie Edgar via unanimous decision (49-46 49-46 48-47)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira bt Rashad Evans via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28)
Antonio Silva bt Alistair Overeem via TKO (strikes) at 0:25 in Round 3
Demian Maia bt Jon Fitch via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 30-27)
Joseph Benavidez bt Ian McCall via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28)
Tyron Woodley bt Jay Hieron via KO (strikes) at 0:36 in Round 1
Evan Dunham bt Gleison Tibau via split decision (29-28 28-29 29-28)
Bobby Green bt Jacob Volkmann via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:35 in Round 3
Francisco Rivera bt Edwin Figueroa via TKO (strikes) at 4:20 in Round 2
This article first appeared on ESPN.com


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Sequencing Method
Sequencing of seed BACs on all chromosomes was conducted at University of Oklahoma, following which UOK, JCVI, INRA and Sanger assumed responsibility for its chromosome(s). Seed BACs were extended using BAC end information (and with reference to any available FPC map) or by BAC-filter hybridization. Candidate BACs and BAC overlaps were validated by fingerprinting and/or PCR or Southern hybridization. BACs with atleast a 2kb overlap and providing maximum extension were selected. Sequencing was conducted by standard paired-end sequencing of 3-6 kb small insert shotgun libraries.
BACs were sequenced as pools by 454 methodology using the Clone-Array Pooled Shotgun Sequencing (CAPSS) strategy (Cai et al., 2001) and it's refinement (Csuros and Milosavljevic, 2004), by pooling BACs in 10x12 array format. Each separately pooled column or row was sequenced in an individual quarter quadrant on 454/Roche GS-20 yielding 105bp average length reads.
In later stages, DNA from BACs representing the minimal tiling path for selected FPC contigs was isolated, sheared, pooled and tagged using one of the 12 initial 454 MID tags. Such libraries were pooled in groups of 12 and sequenced by 454/Roche GS-FLX yielding 210 bp average length reads. Individual FPC contigs were obtained directly by deconvolution based on the original MID tag used, followed by sequence assembly.
Majority of BACs sequenced at Genoscope were via Sanger technology while the last set was sequenced using multiplexing on 454 sequences with GS-FLX and Titanium versions. Assemblies were performed by Newbler and finishing reactions were performed for all clones, until all contigs could be ordered and oriented.
Sequencing accuracy across overlapping phase 3 BACs over all chromosomes was 99.98% and across all BAC overlaps was 99.92%.


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if you are wondering what I have all of thoes slashes, I am using it with php:HTML Code:View
The script is working fine in Mozilla 1.7.12, IE 6.0, Opera8.51, but it is not working in FireFox. What am I doing wrong? And yes, I would include a link to the problematic page, but my site has not gone live I am still working on my local computer. Thanks for any help.PHP Code:
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LIMBO! Spiegeltent Geelong, 2 June 2019
The Spiegeltent is making its debut in Geelong to host a stellar line-up of hand-picked comedy, music, cabaret, dance and more!
The iconic Aurora Spiegeltent will make itself a new home at Johnstone Park in Geelong for one hot month with shows by the hottest names in comedy, music and cabaret. The inaugural season is headlined by the award-winning sell-out sensation LIMBO.
An intoxicating mix of cabaret, circus and acrobatics, LIMBO's international cast has seduced audiences worldwide with a celebration of otherworldly proportions.
LIMBO whisks audiences into a sinister netherworld of gut-churning contortion, breath-taking acrobatics, and jaw-dropping stunts. A sold-out hit everywhere from London to Munich, Auckland to Adelaide, Bogota to Brussels, don't miss the show so hot, Madonna came twice!
"LIMBO seamlessly knits old-world glamour and urban grit inside the gorgeous Spiegeltent" ***** Sydney Morning Herald
"Grabs you by the seat of your pants… An irresistible cocktail of circus skills, live music and sexy humour." Time Out UK
"LIMBO is no less than sensational… don't miss it" ***** WhatsonstageUK


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I love border punches, but I only own one! :-) First, they are a bit pricey, and I would rather spend the money on Cartridges. Second they take up a lot of space. Third, I have about 20 that I have designed on my Gypsy so I don't actually need to buy them! In this video I show you how to design a simple border punch with your Gypsy.
Here are links to a couple of cards I have made using 'border punches' that I designed on my Gypsy:
Easter Card
Sweet Treats Cake Card
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Sweet Treats Cupcake Card and Video
This was a really quick and easy card to make! After I made the video I decided it needed something shiny :-) so I sprayed the whole card with Glimmer Mist (pearl). So, here is the video:
Episode 2: Sweet Treats Cupcake Card
Supplies: Cricut Sweet Treats cartridge, stamp from Fiskars, ribbon from my stash,
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Blue gift basket
This is the exact same basket as the pink one below, just with patterned paper instead of Coredinations:
Sweet Treats basket
On this project, I used the Sweet Treats Cricut Cartridge, Coredinations Cardstock, Glue Glider Pro, Diamond Glaze, Cuttlebug Spots and Dots embossing folder, glitter, crepe paper, decorative edge scissors, and two white brads.
I cut the party favor box (p. 50) from the Sweet Treats cartridge at 3". I also cut 2 flowers and 2 flower centers. I only ended up using one of the small circle centers.
I like to use my ruler and an embossing tool to score the lines.
I only wanted the flower on one side of my basket, so I cut the flower off on the back side.
I put this in my Cuttlebug Folder to emboss, doing one half at a time. The second half didn't fit, so I tucked the tab underneath before running it through the embossing machine.
The fun thing about the Coredinations Cardstock is sanding everything and watching the color come through. I used sandpaper, but wished very much that I had a Sanding Block!
I crumpled both flowers and sanded them as well.
I layered both flowers and both centers and then punched a circle for the very top.
Next, I used a sponge to wipe Diamond Glaze all over the flower.
Now may favorite part, the glitter! Diamond Glaze works great with glitter!
I thought it would be fun to add a frilly border to the top of my basket, so I cut about 24" of crepe paper (the kind you use to decorate for birthday parties) in half with decorative edge scissors.
I ran a line of liquid glue down the top edge of my basket and started gathering the crepe paper as I laid it down in the glue.
Then I cut a 1/2" by 12" strip of Coredinations Cardstock with decorative edge scissors and sanded it to match the basket. I glued it on top of the crepe paper, matching it up with the top edge of the basket.
I wanted to dress it up a little more (and make it secure), so I sewed a zig-zag stitch with my sewing machine all along the edge.
To assemble the basket, fold the top flap down first, then tuck the side flaps into the top.
Last, tuck in the bottom flap. If you are putting anything heavy in the basket, you can secure it with a piece of scotch tape.
This is what it should look like before you adhere the flower:
I also added an 11" by 1/2" strip of white cardstock for the handle and attached it with white brads.
It was so fun to share my pojects with everyone on the Hallmark Ladybugs blog! Thanks again Jody for giving me the opportunity to be a Guest Designer!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Ribbon organizer
My ribbon storage has just been a drawer and you can see what a mess it had become. I saw an add for a ribbon organizer and thought I could do that with my gypsy!
*I used plain cardstock for this project and they seem to be holding up just fine!
Here is the before picture:
Here is my ribbon all organized!:
These are the 'ribbon cards' I designed on my gypsy and then cut on my Cricut expression:
I used the George cartridge: I selected the square with the rounded edges on p. 111 and then stretched it on the gypsy (width 2.27 x height 2.44). I then used the same square to make the slits (width 1.57 x height 0.10) The little circle is width 0.29x height 0.27.
I found that I could fit 12 of these on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock:
This was super easy and it is so nice to have my ribbon organized!
*I used plain cardstock for this project and they seem to be holding up just fine!
Here is the before picture:
Here is my ribbon all organized!:
These are the 'ribbon cards' I designed on my gypsy and then cut on my Cricut expression:
I used the George cartridge: I selected the square with the rounded edges on p. 111 and then stretched it on the gypsy (width 2.27 x height 2.44). I then used the same square to make the slits (width 1.57 x height 0.10) The little circle is width 0.29x height 0.27.
I found that I could fit 12 of these on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock:
This was super easy and it is so nice to have my ribbon organized!
Sweet Treats Cake card
Hi everyone! For this card I used the Sweet Treats cartridge, one of my favorites! The cake (p. 39) was cut at 2.5" width x 6.5" height and the cake plate (p. 42) was cut at 3.6" width x 4.3" height on my Gypsy. I used the Gypsy so I could size the cake plate to fit the cake. I love my Gypsy!
Now I have a cake that looks like I cut it out of a lot of different papers and then pieced them together, but without all of the work!
I ran all of the cake embellishments through my Xyron sticker machine upside down, then covered each piece with glitter before adhering to the cake. I used a punch for the flowers on the cake plate.
The scalloped border was made with my Gypsy. I turned the letter "D" (Jumbo font) on the Lyrical Letters cartridge sideways and welded a bunch of them onto a long, thin rectangle (from the George cartridge) until it was the right size for my card. Have I mentioned that I love my Gypsy?!
I used a striped patterned paper for my cake. (DCWV cardstock) To get everything to line up, I first cut the cake out on white cardstock. Then I removed the cut out cake, but left the 'stencil' on my mat. Next, I slid my piece of patterned cardstock in under the 'stencil' until it was lined up just how I wanted it. I removed the white before cutting the cake out on the patterned cardstock.
Now I have a cake that looks like I cut it out of a lot of different papers and then pieced them together, but without all of the work!
For the cake plate, I wanted it to look glassy, so I used my watermark ink and clear embossing powder. If I have a small piece, like the cake plate, I like to put the whole piece on the ink pad and then use the lid to press down on it. This gives more even coverage than just holding the die-cut and trying to ink it.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
8 x 8 Heritage Album
* The gypsy cut file for the tag pages is now available on my blog under the cut files tab at the top. Enjoy!
Hi everyone! I had so much fun being a guest designer over at Hallmark Scrapbook and appreciated all of your comments!
Now that my week as guest designer is over I can post all of the projects, tutorials, and instructions here on My Craft Spot. :-)
The first project is an 8x8 album that I am making for my Mom. I hope to be getting the Heritage Cartridge soon, and will probably add some more pages. The word 'Jacqueline' was cut using the Gypsy font that comes with the Gypsy. The little girls are cut from A Child's Year at 3 1/2 inches.
Here are some general instructions for assembling the book: I used the Zutter Bind-it-all, the 8x8 covers, and 3/4" black Owires to make this album. I love my Bind-it-all! I pulled cardstock from my stash (mostly Cratepaper and Fiskars) and cut each page 7 7/8 by 7 7/8. Then I inked all of the edges with Ranger inks.
Hint: Do anything that would show through on the back of a page (sewing, brads, etc.) before gluing the pages back to back.
Next, I adhered the pages back to back with a liquid glue. After the glue dried, I punched all of the pages with my Bind-it-all. You will want to bind your book before adding thick embellishments to your pages.
This page is a pedigee chart. The family envelope opens to reveal names of great grandparents back a few generations. I used brads and photo turns to keep it closed. 'Family' was cut from the Home Accents cartridge on my Gypsy (width 5.6 and height 1.75).
I cut the fancy corners from the Sweethearts cartridge (p. 78) at 1 1/2". I used thick textured cardstock so I set my cricut to Speed 2, Pressure 5, and Blade depth 6 for this intricate cut.
On this page I cut the flourish from Home Decor at 2 1/2 inches.
The tag shaped pages were cut from the Tags Bags Boxes and More cartridge (p. 89 blackout). I used my Gypsy to stretch the tags so they would fit in my book just right. (width 4.0", height 7.0")
This is my beautiful mother! I tied the page with tulle and there is a tutorial for the flower below.
I cut 'Beautiful' from the Home Decor cartridge at 1 1/2" three times and then glued the layers together to make it look like chipboard. Then I coated the letters with Diamond Glaze so they would be shiny and dimensional.
I think this is my favorite page in the book. The flourishes were cut at 2 1/2" from Home Decor. I cut two flourishes and then cut one of them apart to add pieces here and there to the first flourish. The border on the bottom of the picture was made on the Gypsy by welding several scallops from Home Accents to a rectangle. There is a tutorial for the ribbon circle and for the flowers below!
First, the ribbon circle tutorial:
Cut a 7 inch silhouette circle from the George cartridge. Glue around the entire circle with adhesive and start sticking the ribbon down, pleating it as you go.
Continue around the entire circle until you get to the end. Match up the end pieces by trimming and then folding the last end under. (This would be a great spot for an embellishment!)
This is how it will look when finished:
The last step is to sew (straight stitch) around the entire circle to secure the ribbon. (You may need to use goo-gone on your sewing needle to remove any adhesive that sticks to it.)
Flower Tutorial:
The flowers were cut from the Sweethearts cartridge. For the large flower, cut two at 1 1/2", one at 1 1/4", and one at 3/4". For the smaller flower, cut two at 1 1/4", one at 1 inch, and one at 3/4".
I inked all of the flowers with Ranger ink and then curled each petal around a piercing tool.
This is what they will look like:
Put a dab of glue (Zig 2-way glue pen) in the center of each flower as you layer them together. I punched the center for the flower using a standard size hole punch.
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Friday January 17, 2020; 01:40 am EST
Voting is underway. Click here to fill out your own ballot.
DWAYNE CRAWFORD is:
a special person,son,husband,father,friend,business owner and family member!
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He has my vote!


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Fox News
Wichita, Kan. – An illegal immigrant accused of assuming a Texas teacher's persona has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Benita Cardona-Gonzalez pleaded guilty in January to possessing fraudulent identification documents in a deal with prosecutors. The Mexican national has been living in Topeka.
Monday's sentencing was the first time Candida Gutierrez, the Houston elementary school teacher who was the victim in the case, saw Cardona-Gonzalez. The case put a face on the growing crime of"total identity theft" in the U.S.
Gutierrez says she wanted her identity thief to see the person who paid the price for her living her dream. She says Cardona-Gonzalez's dream was her nightmare.
For 12 years, Cardona-Gonzalez used Gutierrez's identity to get a job, a driver's license, credit,a mortgage, food stamps and medical care.


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A tender and funny portrait of an unraveling family from the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of Music Through the Floor.
Warren Ziller moved his family to California in search of a charmed life and to all appearances, he found it: a gated community not far from the beach, amid the affluent splendor of Southern California in the 80s.But his American dream has been rudely interrupted. Despite their affection for each other, Warren, his wife Camille, and their three children have veered into separate lives, as distant as satellites. Worst of all, Warren has squandered the family's money on a failing real estate venture.
When tragedy strikes, the Zillers are forced to move to one of the houses in Warren's abandoned development in the middle of the desert. Marooned in a less-than-model home, each must reckon with what's led them there and who's to blame—and whether they can summon the forgiveness needed to hold them together. Subtly ambitious, brimming with the humor and unpredictability of life, Model Home delivers penetrating insights into the American family and into the imperfect ways we try to connect, from a writer "uncannily in tune with the heartbreak and absurdity of domestic life" (Los Angeles Times).
About The Author
Eric Puchner is the author of the novel, Model Home and the short story collection, Music Through the Floor , which was a finalist for the NY Public Library's Young Lions Award.
His short stories have appeared in Zoetrope: All Story, Chicago Tribune, The Sun, The Missouri Review, Best New American Voices, and many other journals and anthologies.
A recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Wallace Stegner Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, he is an assistant professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Katharine Noel, and their daughter.
"To read Eric Puchner's debut novel, Model Home, is to watch in fascinated dismay the unraveling of a family . . . Puchner has brought to bear his primary gifts as a storyteller: startling language and the accretion of memorable scenes . . . he deploys in exactly the right measure the element of dreams: those he visits upon his characters and the one he implodes before the reader's gaze." Read the full review.
–San Francisco Chronicle
"The only conclusion to come to after reading this novel is that Eric Puchner is a massive talent who has already hit his stride. . . funny and sad, each character is perfectly drawn and deeply interesting. Go read this book."
"Puchner's prose is forthright, delightfully detailed and the distance he strikes from his characters seems just right: not so close that we can't see them in social context, not so far that we don't feel for them deeply in their distress . . . I'm still trying to recover from reading about the Zillers, Dustin's family, and maybe my family and maybe yours too."
–Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered
"Puchner is a tender, humane observer of family life, and his lithe prose deepens our understanding of his characters . . . the writing is attuned and specific . . . the image of the Zillers as the sole survivors of a disaster is affecting, and subtly suggests our contemporary situation."
–New York Times Book Review
"A clever send-up of the Reagan-era's Morning in America mentality...wrenching...Puchner's well-constructed tale of a house of pain built on a foundation of secrets echoes Updike."
–People (four stars)
"This fine domestic drama...runs the gamut from hilarious to harrowing. A wild first novel that amply confirms the promise of Puchner's story collection, Music Through the Floor."
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] heartrending first novel…With careful attention to nuanced and fractured perspectives, Puchner teases a fragile beauty out of the loneliness that separates the members of this family."
–Publisher's Weekly (starred review)


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DATE NAME APPEARANCE/PUBLICATION SUBJECT Oct. 11 27 29 Nov. 3 4 9 10 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 Warren K. Wentworth, Jr, Boston Wilbur D. Harris New Haven Fred. M. Oliver Salt Lake City Kenneth C. Cole San Francisco Francis C. Oatway Washington Ralph W. Sauber San Francisco John W. Gilbert Philadelphia Malcolm M. Devore Executive Edwin R. Eliason Seattle Henry D. Forer Miami William B. Mansfield Denver Harold J. Corwin Denver John C. Crane Denver Joseph E. Elmlinger Columbus William K. Quinlan Indianapolis Charles F. Reinhardt Los Angeles Wilbert H. Schwotzer Atlanta James F. Wall Chicago William O. Hetts San Francisco Douglas L. Newell Cleveland Massachusetts CPA Review University of Bridgeport Chapter, Beta Alpha Psi Brigham Young University Chapter, Beta Alpha Psi Management Services The National Public Accountant National Association of Accountants on Direct Costing (The Ronald Press—1965) Chairman, Round Table Discussion, Lehigh University and Pennsylvania CPA Institute, Lehigh Valley Chapter Victorian Branch of Institute of Chartered Accountants, Melbourne, Australia Management Seminar, Highline College United States Savings and Loan League, Dallas Colorado Associated Nursing Homes, Inc. Rotary Club of Loveland University of Colorado Chapter, Beta Alpha Psi Ohio State University Indiana Chamber of Commerce Tax Executives Institute University of Georgia Budget Executives Institute, Fox River Valley Chapter California CPA Society, San Francisco Chapter (also Los Angeles Chapter, November 15) Ohio CPA Society, Cleveland Chapter Consents of Controlled Corporations A Professional Career With a National Public Accounting Firm Opportunities in Accounting Evaluating Proposals From Computer Manufacturers Motivation and Responsibility in Tax Practice: The Need for Definition Management Appraises Direct Costing—A Play Taxes on Individuals The CPA Plans for the Future Recent Tax Developments Affecting the Small-Businessman Current Tax Problems Concerning New Charters and Branches of Savings and Loan Associations Cost Reporting Related to Reimbursable Government Programs Need for Estate Planning The Type of Student the Accounting Profession is Seeking Statistical Sampling and Electronic Data Processing The Corporate Surtax Maze Recent Developments in State Taxes on Interstate Commerce Haskins & Sells Foundation Scholarship Award Organization Profitability and Profit Planning Multiple Corporations—Is It Worth It? Estate Planning for the Owner of a Closely Held Enterprise


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EDF Climate Corps Projects: adidas Group (China)
Since 2008, we have gathered best practices for energy management through over 600 EDF Climate Corps engagements in over 350 organizations.
Our fellows have helped our participating organizations find innovative ways to measure, analyze and reduce organizational energy use while also optimizing bottom line savings. We invite you to explore the full range of our success stories and learn from our work.
|Project Type
|adidas Group (China)
|Wanyu Sung
|Data Analysis, Financial Evaluation and Planning, Industrial Energy Efficiency


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turnipHed is the Chief Editor at TURNIPSTYLE, Presenter & Producer of THE VOICE OF TURNIPSTYLE. The lifestyle magazine and podcast for [GBTQ+] Men.
HELP SUPPORT TURNIPSTYLE BY VISITING & SHOPPING AT... LOS ANGELES (February 12, 2013) – An old marketing adage simply...", "image": [""], "datePublished": "2013-02-13EST00:01:36", "description": "HELP SUPPORT TURNIPSTYLE BY VISITING & SHOPPING AT... LOS ANGELES (February 12, 2013) – An old marketing adage simply states, "sex sells." Men's clothing company Andrew Christian ran with that idea and proved it to be true as their alluring, second-skin intimate apparel became coveted the world over thanks...", "articleBody": "LOS ANGELES (February 12, 2013) – An old marketing adage simply states, "sex sells." Men's clothing company Andrew Christian ran with that idea and proved it to be true as their alluring, second-skin intimate apparel became coveted the world over thanks to racy promotional videos featuring Adonis models wearing – or removing – their flattering products. But with the dawn of 2013, Andrew Christian decided to also prove that safer sex sells – the company teamed up with Wet, a leading distributor of personal intimate lubricant, and AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization with nearly 200,000 clients in 28 countries, to promote safer sex through condom use. This smarter, safer, and still sexy attitude towards intimacy was dubbed by AHF President Michael Weinstein as "The New Sexual Revolution." "Fifty years ago, the term Sexual Revolution meant sexual freedom, and that revolutionary acceptance of sexual liberation brought about important cultural changes that helped shape the world we live in today," Weinstein said. "We believe that in the 21st Century, the New Sexual Revolution needs to also be about respecting yourself and your partner enough to use protection and prevent the spread of HIV and other STDs. We hope this new outlook will also bring the much-needed cultural normalization of safer sex practices." WET provided condoms and lubricant to be included in all Andrew Christian underwear orders. AHF provided messaging on a small card that will also be included in the orders, encouraging people to join in the New Sexual Revolution by protecting themselves and their partners with condom use. "Wet is proud to be a part of this effort with AHF and Andrew Christian," said Michael Trigg, CEO of Wet's parent company, Trigg Laboratories, Inc. "We believe that companies are like individuals, each creating their own 'karma.' Giving back has been paramount to Wet since our inception. Education and access to safer sex materials is critical for all cultures across the globe." Andrew Christian's latest video, which is dropping on February 1 at http://www.andrewchristian.com/socialvideos, features two of the company's most popular models going through dozens of AHF-brand LOVE and ICON condoms as they celebrate the arrivals of their Andrew Christian underwear orders. These branded condoms are distributed for free by AHF through its websites, mobile testing units, at testing events, and through the innovative nationwide condom distribution initiative Condom Nation, which features an 18-wheel big rig that drives cross-country distributing condoms and sharing information about safer sex. As a highly sexualized brand, Andrew Christian considered it an important use of their marketing power to promote condom use. The company has become a trusted source of fun and sexy promotions, and is now showing the fun and sexiness in condom use. The apparel line then approached WET and AHF to ensure two additional tools that make condom use effective – water-based personal lubricant and a trove of accurate STD-prevention information – were present in the campaign. Andrew Christian distributes about 9,000 orders per month worldwide, so the company has committed to a guaranteed distribution of 27,000 condoms during the three-month safer sex campaign. Additionally, the company expects their safer sex video dropping on Friday to garner at least the average amount of traffic they have come to expect from their racy videos of about one million views in the first month. "Last year Andrew Christian's marketing campaigns went viral due to our extremely sexual videos," said head designer Andrew Christian. "Using that sexual attention to our advantage, we feel like now is the perfect time to reinforce the importance of safer sex to our fans and community." About AHF AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider in the USA. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to nearly 200,000 individuals in 28 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org About Trigg Laboratories Founded in 1989 By Michael Trigg, Trigg Laboratories manufactures premium sexual wellness and consumer healthcare products and is the parent company of Wet International, Inc., one of the world's best-selling lines of personal lubricants and intimacy products. Trigg Laboratories develops, formulates and packages Wet products at a 52,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Valencia, California. Each of Wet's 80-plus products are manufactured and tested in compliance with FDA's strict Medical Device Quality System Regulations (QSR) and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). This ensures exceptional integrity and consistency and provides maximum comfort levels. This location also serves as the home of our sales and marketing and administrative offices, as well as our warehousing and shipping center. Wet is currently available in 62 countries. For more information about Trigg Laboratories, Inc. or Wet International, Inc. visit us at www.StaysWetLonger.com. About Andrew Christian Andrew Christian is one of the world's top selling men's apparel companies specializing in technically advanced underwear. In 2012 Andrew Christian was listed the Inc. 5000 list celebrating being one of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Due to our innovative advertising and marketing campaigns Andrew Christian was picked up by top department stores & companies around the world such as Nordstroms, Selfridges (the most prestigious department store in the world), Hustler, Crunch and Gold's Gym. Andrew Christian's finesse for creating interactive marketing & advertising strategies has led to record breaking traffic, fans, and sales on our Facebook, website, and other social media platforms. We pride ourselves on being one of the only apparel manufactures to ship their entire collection worldwide. For more information please visit us at Andrew Christian." }


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WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. It allows you to search for particular items in the collections of libraries around the world. This is especially helpful to genealogists as we can learn what publications are available and where.
For example, if you are looking for a particular book on Union County, Kentucky or even want to see all books available on the county, go to WorldCat and type in the name of the book or just Union County. Available books will be listed and at which libraries. If the library is nearby, it is simple enough to visit, but if the library is at a distance, ask your local library if the book can be interlibrary loaned to your local library.
I just acquired through WorldCat and interlibrary loan a book that I was sure would never be available to me. It was loaned by the Illinois State Library and I can use it for three weeks. The only cost to me was for mailing. This convenience in borrowing these materials somehow makes the world seem just a little smaller.


text: A madcap and chaotic card game that is fun for the whole family! The Meerkat Tribe has lost its leader and now descends into anarchy as each competing faction is determined to prove they are best! This game is a real furball, as not all Meerkats fight fair, and there are a number of dirty tricks a player can employ in order to get one up on his rivals!


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The basic message of the event, repeated by speakers throughout the blue-sky, 70-degree day like a mantra: ending "extreme global poverty by 2030." Dignitaries including the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, President of the World Bank Kim Yung Kim and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as well as a bevy of celebrities (among them: Gerard Butler, Bridget Moynihan, Soledad O'Brien, Russell Simmons and Olivia Wilde) hammered away at the issues that allow poverty to continue, especially in Africa.
Most of the day's sponsors were Australia-based, including lead sponsor, the Cotton On Foundation. Hugh Evans and Simon Moss founded the Global Poverty Project, which produced the festival, in 2008.
The 2nd Annual Global Citizen Festival proved to be a huge success. Messages were heard, music was played, the crowd behaved, the weather cooperated and perhaps we edged slightly closer to the goal of eradicating poverty in our lifetimes.


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Scrapbook Video: Learn to make titles using fun techniques
Titles provide a wonderful opportunity to extend the theme of your photos onto the page. Carry the chill of winter onto your next layout by burying your title in snow. If you're documenting summer memories, grab your beach photos, and have fun covering your title with sand. And don't stop with just one technique! Combine a variety of title tricks, like shadowing or mirror images, to give your font and word art an extra oomph.
Jana Morton shares several techniques used in her layout Fresh Powder in a screencast tutorial.
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Benioff: Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images; Wintour: Charles Eshelman/Getty Images; Reed: Dave Rentauskas; Messina: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Photo; Schmidt: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Spielberg: Jordan Strauss/PGA/Getty Images; Jobs: Jon Furniss/Wireimage
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The day after Jim Messina quit his job as White House deputy chief of staff last January, he caught a plane to Los Angeles, paid a brief visit to his girlfriend, and then commenced what may be the highest-wattage crash course in executive management ever undertaken. He was about to begin a new job as Barack Obama's campaign manager, and being a diligent student with access to some very smart people, he arranged a rolling series of personal seminars with the CEOs and senior executives of companies that included Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), Zynga (ZNGA), Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM), and DreamWorks (DWA). "I went around the country for literally a month of my life interviewing these companies and just talking about organizational growth, emerging technologies, marketing," he says at Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago.
Charles Dharapak/AP Photo
In two long, private conversations, Steve Jobs tore into Messina for all the White House was doing wrong and what it ought to be doing differently, before going on to explain how the campaign could exploit technology in ways that hadn't been possible before. "Last time you were programming to only a couple of channels," Jobs told him, meaning the Web and e-mail. "This time, you have to program content to a much wider variety of channels—Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube (GOOG), Google—because people are segmented in a very different way than they were four years ago." When Obama declared for president, the iPhone hadn't been released. Now, Jobs told him, mobile technology had to be central to the campaign's effort. "He knew exactly where everything was going," Messina says. "He explained viral content and how our stuff could break out, how it had to be interesting and clean."
At DreamWorks Studios, Steven Spielberg spent three hours explaining how to capture an audience's attention and offered a number of ideas that will be rolled out before Election Day. An early example of Spielberg's influence is RomneyEconomics.com, a website designed by the Obama team to tell the story—a horror story, by their reckoning—of Mitt Romney's career at Bain Capital. Afterward, Spielberg insisted that Messina sit down with the DreamWorks marketing team. Hollywood movie studios are expert, as presidential campaigns also must be, at spending huge sums over a few weeks to reach and motivate millions of Americans.
A certain awestruck tone surfaces when Messina talks about these encounters and what they taught him. At 42, he is tall and slightly stooped, with an innocent face, a flop of blonde hair, and a sheepdog friendliness made somewhat surreal by the arsenal of profanity he deploys when not speaking for the record. Messina, who's from Denver, managed his first campaign as an undergraduate at the University of Montana and in the 20 years since has never lost a race. Before joining Obama in 2008, he alternated between running campaigns and working on Capitol Hill. He made his name as chief of staff to Senator Max Baucus of Montana, becoming known as "Baucus's muscle" for his skill as a behind-the-scenes enforcer. In 2005 he ran the Democrats' successful pushback against George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security. "He had a talent for getting K Street to see that it was to their advantage to get on board with whatever Baucus was doing," says Jim Manley, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. At the White House, Messina helped cut the deal with the pharmaceutical industry that cleared the way for the health-care reform law.
Messina is unusual in Washington, at once a hard-bitten political fixer known for handling unpleasant tasks—"In the White House he was given all the, pardon my French, the s–t work," says Baucus—and also earnestly devoted to self-improvement in a way few Washington operatives would want revealed. A sign on his old computer in Baucus's office, hung with no evident irony and left there by the staff as a token of fondness, reads, "Be Better Today Than You Were Yesterday."
Along with his conversations with CEOs, Messina's regimen for the new job included reading a hundred years' worth of campaign histories piled on a shelf above his desk. But his obsession runs to the future, not the past, and to business as much as politics. Messina is convinced that modern presidential campaigns are more like fast-growing tech companies than anything found in a history book and his own job like that of the executives who run them. "What they've done is more readily applicable to me, because they all started very small and got big very quickly," he says.
Photograph by Charlie Engman for Bloomberg Businessweek
Messina came to this insight through a relationship with someone keenly attuned to these changes and famous for having groomed two other young men to run a very large enterprise: Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman. Messina considers him a mentor. "Jim and I met in the 2008 campaign and just hit it off on a personal basis," Schmidt says. "We became very good friends." Schmidt was an early sounding board and later arranged many of the meetings with CEOs.
Obama can use the help. Reelection campaigns are unglamorous affairs. For many supporters, the thrill of electing him has faded, and the idealism that once vitalized them has given way to disillusionment.
In 2008, Obama's campaign earned acclaim for using tech to harness, in volunteers and dollars, the excitement surrounding his candidacy. He routed John McCain, outspending him nearly 3 to 1. This race will be different. Romney and his allies are certain to hold the financial upper hand, not least because the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010 allowed for a flood of corporate cash. The unspoken hope in Chicago is that superior strategy and a shrewd use of technology can make up for Obama's diminished stature and more formidable opponent. So Messina has spent 18 months studying and building.
November will be a contest between two different visions of government but also between competing ideas about how to reach voters. Romney's campaign will take a traditional approach, heavy on television advertising and backed by a massive war chest. Obama's will rely on organization, scaling up to a national level the type of grass-roots effort Messina once ran for Baucus in Montana. His big bet is that Schmidt, Spielberg, and the rest are right about how far technology has advanced—that it's come far enough to mitigate Obama's disadvantages and solve what David Plouffe, the White House adviser who ran the last campaign, calls "our Electoral College Rubik's Cube." In that sense, the campaign is about how best to run a large, complex enterprise, while under tremendous pressure and public scrutiny. Messina is wagering Obama's second term on the idea that the collected wisdom of tech's biggest titans can outsmart Romney, whose executive savvy has not just made him rich but brought him to the cusp of the presidency.
Presidential campaigns are rarely what they seem. For all that the candidates crisscross the country, offering sweeping national visions and vowing to represent everyone, they really focus on only a handful of states. A campaign manager's job is to spin the fantasy but not fall for it. The last election was unusual in that Obama really did conduct a national campaign, expand the electorate, and win a broad swath of voters. This election will mark a return to the mean, as is already evident in Obama's strategy, which aims not to expand the electorate but persuade a sliver of it. Messina is focused on seven states—Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada—that probably hold the key to the election. Neither the nature of the race nor the means of reaching voters will be quite the same.
Messina often tries to convey this to donors by telling the story of how he came to be campaign manager. It's December 2010. He's wading through chest-high surf in Hawaii with the president. Obama summons him over. "I've got a favor I want to ask," he says. "I'd like you to run the reelect." Messina replies that he's flattered, but he'll only take the job on one condition: "You have to understand, this will be nothing like the last campaign."
"I thought the last one went pretty well."
"It did. But everything is different now."
The story is a windup to a sermon Messina likes to give about the importance of technology in reaching voters—a sort of TED talk that echoes a point about which Schmidt, too, is adamant. Last January, as Messina was beginning his new job, Schmidt stepped back from Google and Larry Page took over as CEO. Since then, Schmidt has become a kind of guru to Messina, an executive coach and kindred spirit.
The two became acquainted during the last campaign, just after Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race, when Messina, then Plouffe's right hand, was preoccupied with ramping up for the general election. "I said to him, 'You've done what I'm being asked to do,' " Messina says. "He said, 'Yes, I have. Let me sit down with you, and we'll talk.' For three hours we sat in a conference room, and he just gave me advice about all the mistakes he'd made, about purchasing supply chains, about HR, about the blocking and tackling of growing fast and making sure you have organizational objectives."
"What I like about Jim," Schmidt says, "is that he starts the day thinking, 'What are the analytical measurements that I should make decisions on?' Many people in politics have no concept of what I just said. They're intuitive thinkers, and they're often right. But the difference is that to run a large operation in today's world, the best way to do it is analytically. And you have the tools now."
Despite the last campaign's success using the Internet, Schmidt says the world hadn't yet reached the point where technology could transform how people run for president. "In 2008 most people didn't operate on [Facebook and Twitter]," he says. "The difference now is, first and foremost, the growth of Facebook, which is much, much more deeply penetrated into things. The other obvious ones are the growth of YouTube and Twitter. The smart people were using them in 2008; now everyone's using them. You can imagine the implications of that. You can run political campaigns on the sum of those tools."
In his memoir of the 2008 election, Plouffe discusses technology's importance. The 13 million e-mail addresses Obama collected were not just a potent way to raise money but also a valuable means of talking to supporters. "We had essentially created our own television network, only better," he writes, "because we communicated directly with no filter to what would amount to about 20 percent of the total number of votes we would need to win—a remarkably high percentage." Both Schmidt and Messina share a fondness for the metrics that highlight these changes: Facebook users have grown tenfold since the last campaign, to more than 900 million. In 2008 most users were in their teens or twenties; the fastest-growing segment now is people over 50. On Election Day, Obama sent two tweets to his 116,000 Twitter followers; today, he has 16 million followers, and his top advisers are all prolific tweeters and minor social media celebrities.
Extrapolating a bit, it's not hard to imagine the campaign having a direct line to 50 percent or 70 percent—or maybe more—of the voters it will need to win. To reach this expanding universe of potential supporters, the Obama team spent nine months building a platform it calls Dashboard, which allows field staffers and volunteers to access and update the campaign's voter database from an app on their phones. Canvassers can visit a neighborhood and see which houses are targets and which are a waste of time. Everything is updated in real time—no need to lug around a clipboard or check in at an office. And for voters, no more annoying knocks on the door when they've just gotten a phone call or e-mail.
Dashboard is an important component of what the campaign refers to as the "snowflake" model of organizing, the idea that each paid staffer creates and oversees an expanding network of volunteers—a snowflake. Last year, Obama's fundraisers pushed big donors to contribute the annual maximum of $35,800 right away. This would cover the salary of one paid field staffer, who oversees five unpaid "neighborhood team leaders," each of whom brings in five team members, who then recruit 20 volunteers apiece. Total: 500 people. The campaign estimates each of the Obama snowflakes will produce an extra 1,000 votes. The earlier they did this, the more voters they would reach. "My advice was to think about it in terms of quarters," says Schmidt. "You really have six quarters between [last spring] and the election. So essentially all of the key personnel decisions are made in the first quarter. And then you build from there." As Plouffe put it: "Politics always has room for feel and instinct. But there is so much now that is measurable. We think from a technology and data perspective that what Jim has built will be the best that politics has ever seen."
Photograph by Charlie Engman for Bloomberg Businessweek
Silicon Valley's influence is evident even in the layout of the campaign's headquarters. Designed with input from Facebook executives, the floor plan has few private offices and lots of big, collaborative open spaces where staffers work in pods. This avoids a common Washington problem. The history of American presidential campaigns is full of infighting, hatred, and rivalries. Al Gore's and Hillary Clinton's campaigns were riven with factionalism among status-obsessed aides on different floors. Obama's staff is spread across a single floor—to all outward appearances, happily.
At Schmidt's suggestion, Messina bypassed the political pros who usually handle campaign technology and opted to build it in-house. "Eric said to me, for a lot of these positions, you don't want political people," Messina says. "You need innovators, people who can get stuff done quickly."
The campaign's chief technology officer, Harper Reed, is a friendly, bearded startup veteran with gauged earlobes and lots of tattoos, who'd never worked in politics and was brought in from the online T-shirt vendor Threadless.com. "He looks like he's the heavy-metal lead guitarist in Metallica," Messina says. "But he's a genius. He threw out all the old conventional wisdom and said, 'Show me what you want on a white board. I'll build it for you.' " Under Reed, the Obama team has built systems for registering voters, organizing volunteers, and generally vacuuming up and analyzing every available bit of personal data—not only voting patterns, political contributions, and consumer preferences but also what people read and share, and how they respond to e-mails, ads, tweets, and other solicitations.
At the suggestion of another of Messina's advisers, Obama-themed merchandise has become a lucrative revenue source. Early on, Messina met, and was dazzled by, Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue and inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada, who created a spreadsheet to convince him that fashion could generate serious money for the campaign. "What is the one thing everyone has from '08? A T-shirt," Messina says.
Wintour drew conservatives' scorn for appearing in an online video soliciting donors for a fundraising dinner for the first couple with Sarah Jessica Parker. Her influence actually runs much deeper. Last fall the campaign held a runway show in Manhattan to unveil a luxury clothing line by celebrity designers, including Vera Wang and Diane von Furstenberg. Messina, whose own fashion sense borders on the tragic, was introduced on the runway by Scarlett Johansson. Republicans gleefully mock Obama's designer collection as an exercise in narcissism. (The Romney campaign also sells merchandise, mostly the standard T-shirts, hats, and buttons.) Messina sees only the influx of millions of dollars—although he won't say how many millions. Sure, the $95 Thakoon Panichgul scarf and $75 Tory Burch tote bag are outlandish, but they net a lot more than $10 Hanes T-shirts. "Raise money, register voters, and persuade voters," Messina says. "Everything has to feed into those three things."
Photograph by Charlie Engman for Bloomberg Businessweek
From the outside, it's not clear that will be enough. On June 7, the Romney campaign said it raised $76 million in May, topping Obama's $60 million and marking the first time in five years that Obama had been outraised. Despite Spielberg's input on the Bain ad, elite opinion was that it mostly flopped, after campaign surrogates, including Bill Clinton and Cory Booker, veered off message and commended Romney's business record, to the delight of Republicans and cable news producers.
Messina is adamant that the Bain attack succeeded among the uncommitted voters he's concerned with, who ignore pundits and are only now beginning to form opinions of Romney. "When people say, 'How's the Bain thing playing?' it doesn't matter what the set of Morning Joe has to say about it," Plouffe says. "But if you're a 45-year-old swing voter in Toledo, Ohio, what are you seeing? What's in your local newspaper? What ads are running? And what's going on in the local field operation? That's what really matters." It's true these voters will probably decide the election. All the technology, money, and management theory really amount to an elaborate, determined effort to discredit Romney and win their support. By virtue of his background, Messina may be especially well suited to that job.
Messina will go a long way to win, as the two leading stories from his Montana career suggest. Both involve the 2002 Senate race he ran for Baucus, a Democrat seeking reelection in a terrible year for Democrats. To protect Baucus, Messina had him refuse to participate in any debate that didn't also include a fringe third-party candidate who'd inadvertently dyed his skin blue with homemade antibiotics—a guaranteed distraction.
The other story involved his Republican challenger, a state senator named Mike Taylor, who was the target of an ad so devastating it got national attention. The ad charged Taylor with having embezzled student loans from a cosmetology school he'd owned in the 1980s. But its force lay in the music and imagery. Set to a porn soundtrack, it featured snippets of an old television ad for Taylor's hair salon that showed the candidate clad in a medallioned, open-shirted disco outfit, massaging lotion into another man's face, and then appearing to reach toward the man's crotch, as a narrator intoned, "Not the way we do business in Montana."
"Jim is tough," Baucus says. "I'll never forget when he showed me that ad. We were in Bozeman in a motel. The curtains were drawn. He said, 'Max, what do you think?' They were afraid I wasn't going to like it. I loved it!" Humiliated, Taylor quit the race, and Baucus sailed to victory. "I found out quickly from Messina that there was no honor in politics," Taylor says in an e-mail.
Starting out in Montana provided a broad education in all aspects of a campaign. A rural state with fewer than a million residents, Montana is so cheap even a legislative candidate on a $20,000 budget can run a sophisticated campaign with radio and television ads, direct mail, and phone banks. Districts are small enough that candidates can, and are expected to, knock on every door. Messina became known as a "field guy" for his dogged emphasis on voter contact. "It taught me very early on," he says, "that you can win if you run good enough grass roots and you're very clear about the differences with your opponent."
Because Montana typically votes Republican for president, it's often regarded as a red state, but it's almost evenly divided between the parties. "Politics here is competitive," says Dave Hunter, a local consultant and early mentor to Messina. "Democrats usually perform at around 47 or 48 percent, so candidates have to run a little better campaign than Republicans to win statewide." The state also lacks a significant minority presence. "We really don't have African Americans or a Hispanic population," Hunter says. "You win in Montana by convincing white, independent voters to turn out for you. It's good experience for presidential politics because it's not about turning out your base; it's about persuasion."
Ten years later, Messina is trying to do the same thing, only at a much higher level. Montana is out of reach. But the seven states he's targeted, as well as a few more he hopes won't end up in play, all lie within striking distance of either candidate.
Photograph by Charlie Engman for Bloomberg Businessweek
If the European crisis explodes or an attack on Iran drives up oil prices, the U.S. economy may tank and render moot all of Messina's careful planning. Or the recovery could pick up steam, or the old gaffe-prone Romney could return and hand Obama an unexpectedly easy win. A likelier scenario, though, is that the race will be close. Messina seems to believe that's what will happen. "Jim has said to me, 'This is the most important thing I will do in my lifetime,' " says Penny Pritzker, the national finance chair of the last campaign.
Should it come to that, Messina will have a chance to do what every campaign manager dreams of doing, what most Washington operatives brag about doing, but what only an elect few have ever actually done—make the difference in a presidential election. Then, the CEOs will come to him for advice.