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Readers talk tech diversity in wake of Intel reportCIO
A recent diversity report by Intel shows the chip maker is making strides towards a more inclusive workplace, but there's still a lot of work to be done — and both Intel and the rest of the world know it. The real question is: what happens now?
After a Searchlight column exploring what Intel's report says about tech diversity, SearchCIO readers were quick to give their own thoughts on why diversity numbers are so low in tech companies and what can be done to change it.
They start with the sad truth.
"Except for a few specific jobs, most applicants we see are white males," Norman C. Berns, CEO and creative director at ReelGrok writes. "When beginning a project there's usually time to search for more diversity, but in the throes of production, we need to act immediately. Our choices are overwhelmingly white males because they've been given greater opportunities, have amassed more experience and odds are good their supervisor will be a white male too. Sad to say, there are very few people of color and even fewer people who are physically challenged."
Mike Corum, a test manager in the technology field, is similarly tired of the overwhelming presence of white males in IT positions and counts both time crunches and pressure from the human resource department as contributing factors.
"[Lack of women and minority candidates] has been a problem I've faced for years – nearly all of the resumes that I received would be from white males," Corum writes. "Combine that with pressure from HR to fill an opening as quickly as possible, and you don't have much opportunity to improve diversity."
Safia Boot, HR and employee relations specialist, also points to HR as a reason for the lack of diverse hires.
"The lack of diversity in HR departments makes them poor role models," Boot writes. "As a result they miss some very low-cost opportunities to make everyday changes to systems, processes and culture that would have a huge impact on the working lives of underrepresented groups to both attract and retain."
Until the HR department changes their candidate profiling and hiring practices, then the rest of the organization will continue to move slowly on the issue, Boot notes.
Identifying the problems with the current tech environment is one thing, properly addressing them is another. Corum gives three suggestions for tackling the tech diversity issue.
"I think it needs to be addressed at the educational level," he writes. "First, we need to educate non-IT people so they know that IT is more than servers and the help desk. Second, we need to start training children at an early age, and forget the 'males do this' and 'females do that' dichotomy. Third — and this one can really make a difference — recruit more women and minorities. Some of the best IT people I've worked with were women that were recruited from other areas of the company."
What steps do you think need to be taken in order to fix the issue of tech diversity? Sound off below!
Execs prepare for Apple-FBI privacy aftermath; the hype and payoff of 3D printingCIO
The Apple-FBI debate on data privacy versus national security rages on. It has spurred enterprises to look at their own consumer privacy policies. In his Searchlight column, Associate Site Editor Brian Holak talks to the experts about what CIOs should prepare for. And on Total CIO, features writer Jason Sparapani talks about the lack of a law that requires Apple to help disable encryption, ponders whether the Feds need Apple's help to circumvent device encryption; and what life would look like under a new encryption law.
There's been a lot of hype lately about the new technology of 3D printing, but it's actually not new at all, says SearchCIO columnist and former CIO Harvey Koeppel — it's in fact 30 years old. What's more, we're likely underestimating its potential impact on enterprises. In his column, Koeppel lays out various use cases for the technology and shares a 12-step program for CIOs looking to take advantage of the opportunities it offers. In Niel Nickolaisen's tip, the CTO and SearchCIO columnist explains how CIOs can use 3D printing and other emerging technology to test their organization's capacity to innovate.
Senior News Writer Nicole Laskowski elaborated more on the CIO role, outlining the ways IT executives can leverage 3D printing to become innovation partners to the business. Then, she turns to experts to get their take on whether businesses should adopt 3D printing technology or turn to third parties.
Also check out her two-part Total CIO blog post, in which Laskowski details what exactly preparing for 3D printing means according Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and director of research at Consumer Technology Association, and talks about how the technology is poised to expand beyond rapid prototyping.
Aligning IT with business objectives is no easy feat, especially when we're talking about the United Nations. Luckily, Atefeh Riazi, CITO of the UN, likes a challenge. In this Q&A with Executive Editor Linda Tucci, she discusses how she's making IT more efficient, agile and innovative.
IoT is becoming increasingly embedded in food safety programs, and as they do so, CIOs and CTOs may find themselves being more involved in these initiatives. In his blog post, Senior Site Editor John Moore talks with Bob Whitaker, chief science and technology officer at the Produce Marketing Association, to discuss what this would look like.
Taking advantage of analytics data can help companies prevent breaches and strengthen cybersecurity, but despite the wealth of this data, executives don't take enough advantage of it, said Reg Harnish, CEO at GreyCastle Security. In a SearchCompliance Q&A with Senior Site Editor Ben Cole, he talks about why business leaders can't afford to ignore analytics information.
Here's what else was on SearchCIO and SearchCompliance this week:
- Making travel plans? Consult our 2016 IT events calendar (updated constantly)
- Q&A: Dow Jones takes a two-pronged approach to business innovation
- Roundup: Free IT budget templates to help draft your own
- Three things to know about Privacy Shield, and future challenges and implications of the pact
- Millennial-led midmarket firms lead the way when it comes to SMB SaaS adoption
- SearchCompliance tip: Integrating data management rules to maintain data value in digital age
Please follow @SearchCIO, @SearchCIOSMB and @ITCompliance for our new stories throughout the week.
Millennial-led midmarket firms report greater SaaS adoptionCIO, cloud, IDC, SaaS, SaaS applications, SMB
Midmarket firms are leading the way within the small and medium-sized business space when it comes to software as a service adoption, with 28% of these firms reporting that they have deployed SaaS apps, according to market researcher IDC's latest SMB IT Decision Maker Survey, published February 2016. Furthermore, Microsoft Office 365 has been successful in the midmarket space, with 50% of these firms reporting adoption.
Midmarket businesses with Millennial-aged IT leadership were also 25% more likely to adopt SaaS than their peers, according to the survey's findings. Millennial-led midmarket firms, or those whose leadership is composed of a majority of executives aged 35 years or younger, deploy an average of 10 SaaS apps, versus the average midmarket segment's eight apps. This led IDC to conclude that the age of IT leadership is a good indicator of a midmarket firm's inclination to purchase SaaS apps. Moreover, desktop as a service, travel booking and human capital management SaaS apps are more likely to be deployed among this subset.
The likely reason for Millennial-led midmarket firms' greater propensity for SaaS adoption is that "Millennials have grown up with a higher level of trust in having a flexible mindset," said Chris Chute, research vice president of the global SMB cloud and mobility practice at IDC.
In addition to Microsoft Office 365, the top-growing SaaS apps among midmarket firms (which IDC defines as those with 100 to 999 employees) include ERP, accounting/finance, business intelligence and platform as a service. This growth in apps indicates that midmarket firms are using SaaS to move toward a cloud-first IT environment, according to Chute.
He advises SMBs that don't have a mostly Millennial-aged IT leadership but want to deploy more SaaS apps to test out a variety of cloud services.
"If one set from a particular vendor doesn't work out, don't be afraid to just move on and test-drive another one," he said, citing no-hassle trials as a way to do so. "Customers don't have to feel like they are committed to a given IT solution the way they used to," Chute added.
Small-business SaaS adoption
In the meantime, SaaS adoption among small businesses is less mature, with only 10.8% deploying SaaS. These firms are mainly using SaaS to modernize their email and back-office functions, the top ones being storage, e-commerce capabilities, accounting and payroll.
However, the survey also found that IT-enabled small firms, or those with a formalized IT staff or function, are adopting SaaS in a similar manner as their midmarket counterparts. These businesses' SaaS adoption rate is 25% — similar to the midmarket's 28% — but Office 365 is also their second-most-adopted SaaS app.
For small businesses that are not yet IT-enabled but are looking to adopt more SaaS apps, Chute suggests identifying regular business processes that weigh down employee productivity, such as counting inventory monthly or visiting remote sites to audit projects. Then, these small firms can put a particular app to the test among a few employees to see if it fits.
"Oftentimes there's an app, usually mobile, that has already been solving a regular pain point for other firms," he said. "Internet searches, forums and word of mouth from other local businesses all can assist here."
VR might be headed to the enterprise; Apple-FBI's 'backdoor' battle
Think augmented and virtual reality technologies are just for gamers and those looking to impress their dinner guests? Think again. In this week's Data Mill column, experts at Deloitte discuss how AR and VR are making a play for the enterprise and how CIOs can prepare.
The big news of the week was the FBI's court order demanding that Apple unlock a phone in the San Bernardino shooting case and Apple's refusal to do so. What are the implications? This Searchlight column details the fight and explores the contentious subject of backdoors and why CIOs should be worried.
Playing it safe is no longer the best option for businesses looking to make it in the digital business economy. In this tip, technology analyst Kurt Marko explains how taking advantage of Mode 2 of bimodal IT can help your organization think more like a startup and reap the rewards of exciting and high-risk business ventures.
How is the education field taking advantage of IoT? In this article, Site Editor John Moore talks to Gonzaga University's associate CIO to find out how the school is tapping ITSM to manage the growth of connected devices and what overall impact IoT will have on education.
Connected cars are set to be commonplace in the near future, but they're raising some serious cybersecurity concerns. In this feature, Daniel Allen, research fellow at The Center for Climate Change and Security, talks about the many questions surrounding connected car security and how some of them are being addressed.
In this SearchCompliance handbook, learn how IoT is making companies reexamine data governance, security and compliance processes, and what strategies businesses are employing to take advantage of the surge in IoT data. Also on SearchCompliance, Dan Geer, a cybersecurity pioneer and CISO of In-Q-Tel, talks to Senior Site Editor Ben Cole about how IT network growth is influencing companies' data protection and information security efforts.
Over on the blogs, Senior News Writer Nicole Laskowski reports the findings of a new study that finds that enterprise interest in location intelligence is rising despite its current nascence. Plus, Features Writer Jason Sparapani talks to IT director Todd Miller about the importance of cloud security. On the SearchCompliance side, Site Editor Fran Sales runs down the latest GRC news, including the Apple-FBI backdoor face off and the Department of Justice's recent efforts to squash foreign bribery crimes.
Please follow @SearchCIO, @SearchCIOSMB and @ITCompliance for our new stories throughout the week.
Cloud computing options minus security not an option
For Todd Miller, IT director at Millar Inc., 2015 was "the year of security." The year of spectacular hacks at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and infidelity dating website Ashley Madison was also the year Millar, a Houston-based maker of cardiac and neurological catheters, made huge investments in security products and fine-tuned policies and procedures "to help the users be more secure without really forcing things down their throats."
And so, when it comes to cloud computing options, security is a top consideration. It uses a handful of public cloud services – Salesforce's customer relationship management app for its sales team, for example, and Barracuda Networks for data backup. But before it signs up for a cloud service, its security goes under the microscope. Take Millar's assessment back in 2013 of Microsoft Office 365, the cloud-based service offering email and "productivity apps" like Excel and PowerPoint.
"One of the critical things was, 'Can we trust it to safely and securely store our documents? Can we trust it to provide our email safely and securely?'" Miller said.
The evaluation took six months, but Microsoft eventually convinced Millar to entrust its intellectual property to Office 365. "We have not been disappointed."
Microsoft 365 also fulfills another of Millar's requirements for cloud computing options: reducing administration costs. The package costs the company, which has 140 employees in Houston, the U.K. and Auckland, New Zealand, $20 a user — which is far cheaper than what it would cost to maintain operations in-house, Miller said.
But on par with cost for Miller's IT organization is usability — whether users will find an application, based on-premises or in the cloud, easy to access and easy to use. Office 365, he said, fits the bill here as well, even extending users' Outlook email application to their mobile devices, so they can check mail on the go. And Millar's sales folks love Salesforce.
"I think we'd have an internal riot if we ever asked them to move off it," he said.
The applications fulfill what is, in Miller's view, IT's ultimate purpose: keeping the wheels of technology turning so business can go on unobstructed.
"The reality is, if you have a well-run IT department, everything they do is transparent to the user, and if you're doing your job, then IT is never a discussion," Miller said. "When people are talking about IT, or they're talking about your internal help desk, it's usually because things are not running smoothly or as best as they can."
Obama's cybersecurity plan draws muted praise; CIOs step up in mobile app deliverycybersecurity, mobile apps deployment
The federal government is stepping in to take on cyberthreats. In President Obama's new $19 billion national cybersecurity proposal, he aims to significantly beef up cybersecurity, but will it be enough to close the cyberskills gap and incite enterprise-wide change? In this week's Searchlight, Site Editor Fran Sales outlines the proposed legislation and talks to IT professionals to get their take.
Mobile applications aren't just made for customers anymore — they're made for employees too. With the proliferation of these employee-geared mobile apps comes a shift in the enterprise and the role of the CIO. In this feature, SearchCIO contributor Mary K. Pratt discusses how this shift impacts CIOs and highlights the challenges of delivering enterprise mobile apps.
A good CEO-CIO relationship is more than just a best practice — it's a necessity. And if CIOs want to have a hand in business decisions they have to go beyond standard reporting lines. At the recent SIM Boston Technology Leadership Summit, two successful and dynamic CEO-CIO partnerships were on display. Find out what makes those relationships tick in this installment of Conference Notebook. Then check out this TotalCIO blog post for even more tips on a building a successful CEO-CIO relationship.
Thinking of adding a data virtualization layer to your IT systems? In this video, David Loshin, president of consultancy Knowledge Integrity Inc., details three main questions that need to be considered before you start.
Driverless cars are cool; there is no denying that. But, according to MIT professor John Leonard, driverless cars are not a "solved problem." Leonard explains why in this blog post by Features Writer Jason Sparapani.
In another blog post, Senior News Writer Nicole Laskowski outlines how one pet insurer became more customer-centric by integrating online and call center data.
Please follow @SearchCIO, @SearchCIOSMB and @ITCompliance for our new stories throughout the week.
Intel diversity report shows progress; how to bolster security in the cloud ageCIO, CIO Decisions
Intel's annual diversity report was released this week, shows that it's made some headway into increasing its workforce diversity: 43.1% of new hires last year were women or minorities, and there were 14.3% more women in leadership roles. But there's still more progress to be made, as Associate Site Editor Brian Holak discusses in Searchlight. See if the report will help nudge the industry to make more changes.
Giving advice for how to shore up IT security in the age of cloud computing isn't exactly easy said Brian Lillie, CIO at data center builder Equinix. For starters, every company is different, he told Features Writer Jason Sparapani. Head to the Total CIO blog to get Lillie's three guidelines for buttressing your cloud cyberdefense, and then read about why he believes building a security culture is vital to information security.
The new, revamped issue of CIO Decisions ezine is out! Read about when building an internal private cloud pays off – and when it's more practical to pursue other cloud computing options such as hybrid IT or public cloud. Plus check out an exclusive interview with Alec Ross, Hillary Clinton's former innovation adviser, and more.
Onto compliance matters…
The number of connected devices will reach 6.4 billion this year. This number is only going to grow exponentially – along with the number of IoT security risks. In this feature, writer Mary K. Pratt lays out the IoT security challenges company executives should keep in mind, and how data analytics can help address them.
When it comes to insider threats, people frequently think of malicious employees, but negligence and accidents also play a part. In this Q&A, Information Security Forum managing director Steve Durbin explains how these factors contribute to a growing number of security incidents and shares best practices to minimize them.
And in the latest IT Compliance Advisor news roundup, the SEC announced that global banks Barclays and Credit Suisse settled "dark pool" trading charges for a record $154.3 million; plus, other GRC news.
Please follow @SearchCIO, @SearchCIOSMB and @ITCompliance for our new stories throughout the week.
The fine line between data-driven culture and being data-obsessed
It seems as though everyone is rallying behind the notion of a data-driven culture these days, and Gartner is no exception. The consultancy has conducted surveys and released research documents that tout its importance and provide insight into how CIOs can build a data-driven culture in the enterprise.
But there are moments when too much of a data-driven culture can lead to an unhealthy data obsession. CIOs would be wise to walk the line.
Case in point: Analysts Alan Duncan and Frank Buytendijk released the research note How to Establish a Data-Driven Culture in the Digital Workplace in June 2015, which included a list of top-down recommendations such as finding the right talent and educating the troops to successfully make the transition. But Duncan and Buytendijk's research also included a word of caution: "Companies should not become data obsessed," they wrote. Doing so is a little like putting blinders on a horse.
Duncan and Buytendijk listed three instances where a data obsession can work against the enterprise.
- Unavailable data. There are instances when the data is unavailable or inaccessible or simply doesn't exist yet, such as when entering a new market, according to Duncan and Buytendijk. But a lack of data doesn't automatically preclude data-based decision-making. When CIOs run into this experience, the Gartner analysts suggest using alternative techniques such as scenario planning or "what if" modeling.
- Ethical dilemmas. Data isn't great at distinguishing between right and wrong, and so making data-driven decisions in a bubble can hurt the business. Supporting a staff or a neighborhood initiative, for example, may not make good business sense on paper, but engaging with the community can pay off in ways that cannot be measured by business metrics or key performance indicators, the authors wrote. Or, in the Big Brother world of big data, businesses have discovered that just because they can leverage their data doesn't always mean they should.
- Metrics obsession. Metrics and innovation don't always mix. In fact, according to the analysts, having a singular focus on current performance metrics can create what's known as "analysis paralysis," where so much time is spent analyzing the data that a decision never gets made and risks are never taken. Being too metrics- obsessed can also have unintended consequences, according to the analysts, creating instances where the desired employee behavior doesn't necessarily correspond with what's being measured. CIOs should step back and remember that "not all decisions can be supported with data, and there will be occasions when evidence is not taken into account," the authors wrote.
Big data success needs a data-driven culture; renowned AI visionary diesBig Data, Big Data analytics, Blockchain, CIO, Cloud Computing, Cognitive computing, Disaster recovery and business continuity, Information security, Public Cloud, Robotics
Successfully reaping the benefits of big data remains a huge challenge for many companies. Big data projects involve not just identifying the right data analyze, but also finding the right people to implement the right technology. But as big data experts and IT leaders tell Senior News Writer Nicole Laskowski, the biggest reason companies encounter big data problems is not the wrong technology or the quality of the data, but the wrong culture.
Marvin Minsky, renowned professor and early explorer of artificial intelligence, died of a cerebral hemorrhage this week at the age of 88. In this week's Searchlight, features writer Jason Sparapani explores Minsky's contributions to the AI field and what an AI future means for IT executives. Also: EMC claims Dell deal is on track despite jitters; top Twitter execs are leaving the company.
In an "innovate or die" business climate, business users having access to the power and flexibility of cloud computing is key to moving a company forward. But equally important is having security baked in a company's operations, said Brian Lillie, CIO at data center space provider Equinix. Features Writer Jason Sparapani spoke with Lillie and other cloud experts to find out how to best foster a cloud security culture and why an organization needs a CISO.
Without clear communication with collaborators and flexible planning, big data projects can quickly go off the rails. Laskowski caught up with Gideon Mann, the head of data science at Bloomberg, to outline the six "gotchas" CIOs and data science teams should watch out for when embarking on a big data project.
Speaking of big data issues, CTO Niel Nickolaisen is no stranger to the costs of advanced analytics projects. In his column, find out how Nickolaisen revamped the admissions model and helped improve student retention rates at the university where he was CIO — with a "dirt cheap" analytics project.
A decade from now, thanks to innovations in fields like robotics, cryptocurrency and genomics, companies will experience huge changes to how they operate. Editorial Director Sue Troy sat down with Alec Ross, Hillary Clinton's former innovation adviser, to delve into what these developments will mean for technology leaders. In part one of the Q&A, read about Ross' predictions on blockchain technology and how this technology underlying Bitcoin will affect impact legal processes in the next five years. In part two of the interview, Ross talks about how cognitive robots will affect the labor market and how U.S. companies compete globally.
IoT may be about to change the way we think of food safety. In the coming months, Food safety apps are set to emerge and shake up the industry. In this feature, site editor John Moore details the apps, their implications for CIOs and future obstacles. Also check out SearchCompliance contributor David Loshin's tip in which he explores major IoT data management questions for both businesses and their customers.
You might want to think twice before you talk to executive headhunter Shawn Banerji about "rock-star CIOs." "The CIO job or equivalent is bigger than any one person," Banerji, managing director of the technology officers practice at Russell Reynolds Associates, told Executive Editor Linda Tucci. Find out why Banerji believes great CIOs are those who know how to build a team and grap the corporate values of the companies they work for. Also on the TotalCIO blog, senior news writer Nicole Laskowski details the benefits of properly-managed innovation contests as a way to crowdsource ideas for new products or processes.
According to recent research by IDC, spending on public cloud is set to rapidly surpass overall IT spending in the next four years, growing from $70 billion to $141 billion by 2019 – and SMBs will be making up quite a huge chunk of that total spending: 40%. In a two-part blog post, IDC research director Christopher Chute delves into the drivers contributing to this growth, goes into detail about how the view of public cloud security is changing, and offers tips to SMBs who are tepid about diving into the cloud.
The January issue of our SearchCIO handbook is out! In this edition, columnist and CIO expert Harvey Koeppel offers a list of DR principles to help CIOs design and implement a DR/BC plan that can protect both business and personal data when the next disaster strikes. Also in this issue: Nickolaisen shares how to reap the most value out of DR testing, and writer Mary K. Pratt talks with experts on how to craft a DR/BC plan that can handle any type of disaster, including breaches.
As data threats continue to grow in number and complexity and to endanger business success, end-user security awareness has become vital to protecting corporate information. In this video from the recent ISSA International Conference, Senior Site Editor Ben Cole sat down with Marci McCarthy, CEO and president of Tech Exec Networks, who talks about why end-user security awareness should be in the front lines of organizations' corporate data protection strategies.
Please follow @SearchCIO, @SearchCIOSMB and @ITCompliance for our new stories throughout the week.
Public cloud security, other drivers of SMB cloud migrationCIO, Cloud Applications, Cloud Computing, Cloud service providers, Cloud Services, Public Cloud, SMB
In part one of this two-part blog post on public cloud adoption by small and medium-sized businesses, delve into how worldwide spending on public cloud is set to increase rapidly by 2019, with SMBs making up a significant portion of total spending (according to recent research by IDC). In part two, read about the shifting perspective on public cloud security and get expert advice for SMBs that are newly making the shift to the cloud. In the U.S., 75% of small companies (100 or fewer employees) and 95% of midmarket companies (100 to 999 employees) have already deployed cloud tools. As SMBs, especially medium-sized firms, become increasingly cloud-first, there are fewer and fewer reasons to deploy and manage apps on-premises – one of which is to meet industry compliance requirements that necessitate tight security controls, according to Christopher Chute, a research vice president at IDC. But even the perception of public cloud security is changing. The level of security that hyperscale cloud service providers like AWS can provide nowadays is also driving the acceleration of cloud adoption among SMBs, said Chute. "I think we're going to start to see more and more of cloud service providers market on security as a positive, as opposed to saying, 'Don't worry, we are secure,'" which was the reverse case even just a couple of years ago, he said. With the threat landscape becoming increasingly complex and dangerous, "even the smaller cloud service providers … are going to start to say, 'We have that threat detection expertise and mitigation in house" in a way that your 1.5 IT staff at your 100-person law firm can never manage on their own," he added. For SMBs that still haven't made the leap to cloud, Chute advises they start soon — competitors likely already have a leg up. "They probably have already adopted at least a handful of cloud services," Chute said. His advice for SMBs that are on the fence about cloud adoption is to follow the lead of half of all U.S. midmarket firms: Deploy core communication functions such as email to Office 365, a basic cloud service that Chute said offers familiarity and comfort. "The look and feel is very similar to Outlook; you have an on-premises/client component, and then you have the Web component," he said. From there, Chute believes SMBs' familiarity with the cloud should grow to the point where they will feel more comfortable upgrading other office productivity applications to the cloud; eventually, an SMB should be able to work with service providers to evaluate cloud services specific to their vertical industry.


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Team PPSC takes 3rd Place at 2016 Log Jam Contest
Posted on May 4, 2016 by Pedro Point Surf Club in Uncategorized. No Comments
Congratulations TEAM PPSC for their 3rd place finish out of 10 teams at Pleasure Point April 23 at Big Stick Surfing Association's Log Jam.
Every surfer who surfed for PPSC made the finals or at least the Simi Finals. a big shout out to all that participated: Clay Johnson, Kaira Wallace, Konrad Wallace, TK, Brook Valesquez, Ashley Lloyd Thompson, Matt Hertzburg, Pat Faughner, Dana Keenerknecht, Zack Ehrlich, Asi Ghassi, Ryan Devine, Nick Haloulos, Stephanie Phillips, Mike Wallace, Joel Baldwin, Greg Cochran
The Surfing Wallace's are the first three person family to ever ALL make the finals in their divisions two out of the last 3 years in the history of the Coalition of Surfing Club Events. Congratulations to the Wallace Family, Kaira and Konrad also were third place in the Aloha team finals. Team member Stephanie Phillips was awarded the prestigious "Jay Moriarty Award" for Surfing Aloha.
Again congratulations to Team PPSC for helping to raise thousands of dollars for surf related non-profits that were generated at this world class event.

subset: commoncrawl


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For breakfast I had 2 servings of Instant Oatmeal, and for lunch I had a really big helping of tortellini. I also had my usual pot of coffee. Dinner was 3 Turkey Hot Dogs with whole wheat buns and some fries. (baked not fried)
For exercise: I rode it the group ride called Cycle To Fitness Wednesday Maybury Miles. We ride from the Cycle To Fitness Bike shop to Maybury State Park for two laps on the Mountain Bike Trails and then back to the shop. Tonight was a good ride that started in warm (90 degrees) weather and stayed warm most of the night. The ride finished in the dark. I ate fig newtons during the ride and consumed about 100 oz. of water. I just finished 40 oz. of post ride water.
It is late and time to go to bed. Good night.


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Tuesday, 7 June 2016
12 comments:
- Anonymous7 June 2016 at 04:08
I always like it when authors are willing to take on today's issues, and still keep the focus on the plot and characters. And this is certainly a part of Southern California that the tourists don't get to see. Thanks for sharing, Col.ReplyDeleteReplies
Cheers Margot. I'm remiss in not reading more from him in the past few years, but time's always an issue and I'm spoiled for choice. It's great when a mystery can be combined with social commentary without being preachy.Delete
Col, a lot of crime and mystery fiction doesn't make it to Indian bookstores, I'm sure. I read about them on Amazon and blogs such as yours.ReplyDeleteReplies
Years ago before the Internet and digital books, I was limited to buying books only really published in the UK.Delete
I used to use a personal bookfinder service in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. I used to send the guy a list of books I wanted and some dollar bills. He used to write back when he found something - no obligation, I would write back yes/no if I was happy with the price and condition and then he would post me the books. Probably took about two months. I got a lot of books that way and used that service for a number of years.
Col – I read some Haywood back in the 90s, and have ALL THE LUCKY ONES ARE DEAD around here, somewhere, waiting to be read.Delete
Elgin, I'm glad someone else I know has enjoyed his work. He always seemed to fly a bit below the radar.Delete
That's interesting, Col. Almost like pen pals of books.Delete
Yes, he was a really nice man to deal with. His books were inexpensive, I always wondered whether he had a secondhand bookstore.Delete
I like your story about the US bookfinder - those were the days, eh?ReplyDeleteReplies
Yeah, I kind of miss them!Delete
I will have to try this author someday. I am familiar with the name but I don't see his books much.ReplyDeleteReplies
Hope you enjoy him when you get to him!Delete


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The developers have expressed concerns about the impact of the proposed taxes on the affordable housing segment and rental housing. They have also pitched that 12% tax must be levied only on the cost of construction, not on cost of land.
"The taxation under GST must be restricted only to construction, not land, since the customer is already paying taxes on land as stamp duty. Otherwise, this will lead to double taxation, increasing the burden on buyers, especially in the premium segment," said Praveen Jain, CMD, Tulip Infrastructure.
Regarding affordable housing, developers are asking the Union government to either keep the segment outside GST, or restrict the tax rate to 6%, instead of 12%. Earlier, service tax was exempted for affordable housing, but under GST, there's a 12% tax applicable.
"Keeping in sync with the central government's mission of housing for all by 2022, the government should either keep affordable projects outside GST — as it has been given infra status — or restrict the tax rate to 6%, in the interest of buyers and developers both," said Pradeep Agarwal, Signature Global.
"On the one hand, the government wants affordable housing, but on the other, it has put a 12% tax on the sector. This is contradictory. The government has definitely overlooked this bit," said Anil Suri, who runs Anil Suri Group that develops IT Parks. Developers have also pointed out that to promote rental housing, tax paid by a property owner must be considered while calculating taxes of rental properties.
Around 50% developers in the city have either already registered for GST or are in the process of getting registered. "The 50% who have registered mainly include the bigger names. The rest largely consists of smaller developers, who are still in the process of going fully digital and adopting necessary software," said Agarwal.
Overall, the industry maintains a positive sentiment regarding GST implementation. Developers feel that within the next quarter, things should fall in place and once the system is established, GST will benefit the industry. "Even though we have our doubts, we're full prepared for the transmission to GST. Over the last two months, we've been preparing for it organisationally and as an industry. It's likely going to take a couple of months to get completely in sync with the new regime," said Navin Raheja, Raheja Developers.
A recent report by JLL on the impact of GST on the residential market also states the new tax regime will positively impact the market in the long run, despite initial hiccups. "GST might not bring down prices of residential real estate in the short term. But it will benefit all stakeholders in the residential real estate sector, as the perception of the sector will improve on the back of a simplified tax structure, especially with accountability fixed at every stage," said Anuj Puri, chairman, JLL (residential services).


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Steel Catalan Dress
100% Polyester. Cool gentle machine wash. Cool iron. Do not tumble dry, soak or rub. Do not bleach or dry clean. Ironing with cover cloth is recommended to avoid damage to fabric.
Fitted cut. For a looser fit around the hips, go one size down.
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- Home
- Departments
- Recreation
- Youth Programs
- Spring Programs
- Baseball / Softball
Baseball / Softball
Field/Diamond Usage Calendars
- Major youth baseball and softball - 5th-6th grade (current grade)
- Minor youth baseball and softball - 3rd Grade - 4th Grade (current grade)
- Rookie baseball and softball (Coach Pitch) - 1st & 2nd Grade and kindergarteners who've already played 2 years of tee-ball (current grade)
Rookie (i.e. Coach Pitch) baseball and softball registration is currently open and closes on Sunday, April 28th. Sign up online at http://bit.ly/SolonRecBall19 . Paper copies can be turned into the Community Center (313 S Iowa St.).
Rookies Baseball and Softball Registration
Minor/Major youth baseball and softball registration opened February 28th and closes April 2nd. Sign up online at https://secure.rec1.com/IA/solon-ia/catalog .
3rd-6th Grade Baseball and Softball Registration
Games and Tournaments
Senior and Minor/Major baseball and softball teams play around 12 regular season games and a tournament against out of town teams. Senior baseball games can be on Monday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday nights. Minor baseball/softball games are on Monday and/or Wednesday nights. Major baseball/softball games are on Tuesday and/or Thursday nights. Minor/Major baseball and softball games start May 14th. All levels continue through June. Tournaments TBD.
Rookie baseball and softball teams play 10 games against other Solon teams. Games will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting May 24th and will go for 5 consecutive weeks.
Practice Schedules
Practice dates and times are determined by the coaches during or shortly after the coaches meeting. Major/Minor baseball/softball practices can start April 22nd. Rookie baseball and softball practices will start the week of May 6th.
See the May and June calendars on this webpage for scheduled practices
Coaches Meeting
|Solon residents (within city limits)
|Non-residents (outside city limits)
|Minor, Major, and Senior Baseball/Softball
|Rookie Baseball and Softball


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Tidewater Reports Q1 2010 Results
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) announced first quarter net earnings for the period ended June 30, 2009, of $44.5m, or $0.86 per share, on revenues of $326.6m. Included in net earnings for the June 2009 quarter is a non-cash charge totaling $48.6m ($47.7m after-tax, or $0.93 per common share) related to the company's Venezuelan operations. As a result of the seizure of 11 vessels and certain other assets during the June quarter in Venezuela pursuant to a May 2009 Venezuelan law and the continued nonpayment of outstanding receivables from Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and an affiliate of PDVSA, the company recorded a $3.8m charge equal to the net book value of the assets seized and a $44.8m provision to fully reserve accounts receivable due from PDVSA-related entities.
For the same quarter last year, net earnings were $84.8m, or $1.64 per share, on revenues of $340m. The immediately preceding quarter ended March 31, 2009, had net earnings of $109.7m, or $2.13 per common share, on revenues of $341.6m.


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A woman used to club with his boyfriend, they hangout together before they get married but after marriage she wasn't enjoying it anymore but the husband won't stop because the enjoyment for him has just began.
She resulted into being violet just to stop her husband from that way of life, but the point is, she saw him like that and married him, she saw the foundation like that but still went ahead to build her marriage and home on it.
Are you also like this girl? That built her marriage on a wrong foundation and was later complaining / sad about it.
Like a popular Yoruba adage says
"You can't jump in the river to swim and complain of being cold.â€
I shouldn't complain because nobody forced me into the river, I jumped in the river myself to swim, so why complain.
I should know the consequences before deciding to swim in the river and should bear it.
The same thing applies in marriage. When we talk about marriage foundation, it begins from the relationship but no matter what I will recommend you be like the wise man the bible talked about who built his house on a rock and the wind couldn't fall it down
Below are the marriage foundations to run from
1 drinking foundation
This type of foundation is one of the most common types of foundation; it's more common among men than in women.
Most women overlook this foundation because they believed its normal but it's after marriage that they get to know it's abnormal when they couldn't cope anymore.
Someone that drinks, especially regularly can do lots of things which always have a bad effect on the marriage, family and home
One thing they do is womanize, don't be deceived when your fiancé tells you don't worry I don't womanize; even though my friends are doing it, I will not do it trust me.
He is right, but he is not totally right in the sense that he has no intention to womanize but he can't be surrounded by group of drunkards that womanize without being influenced.
The dangerous thing about it is, his friends that have done it are expert, he is a novice which can make him get hooked at his first attempt.
What does this means? It means he won't be able to control himself which might eventually result in leaving his marriage and wife.
This can also happen to the women that drinks, I know of a woman who attend all parties, invited or not invited and will leave the husband with the kids at home without her doing the mother and wife responsibilities
Womanizing isn't the only problem here but also the spending of the house income on drinks, thereby leaving the home to suffer.
The best option is to run away from this kind of marriage foundation to save you from headache, sadness and every other attachment
See Also: Are you Fighting the Real Enemy Disturbing your Marriage?
2 womanizing marriage foundation
Are you dating a womanizer? Or maybe your spouse is not just a womanizer but a chronic one, as you are reading this, I will recommend you to drop him a quitting note immediately.
I know he has told you he will change and you also believe he will change but after telling you he will change you still caught him with another woman.
It's their nature and not just a word can make them change, if you stop noticing anything don't believe he has changed, he has just gotten smarter in the game. Let me give you a hint which is 99% correct, it always get worse after marriage
This means what you are seeing now that you are not yet married to him is just a tip of the iceberg, after marriage he won't care about how you feel anymore because you have his kids already.
Do you want the kind of marriage where you are scared that any woman can come home to introduce herself to you as the second wife, telling you she's already pregnant for your husband?
If you don't want to cry yourself to bed every night while the man sleeps peacefully, it's better you make your choice now.
It's all in your hands; you will be left alone to face the result
3 laziness marriage foundation
It's a bad thing when one of the couples is lazy, maybe a lazy wife or a lazy husband but worse when the husband is lazy.
In this kind of situation it turns the woman automatically to the bread-winner; she will be the one to shoulder all the responsibilities at home when the head and father of the house has refused to get off his ass to work.
This always started from the relationship, but our women are always blind to it, love is blind, just that the love always receive a miracle after marriage whereby the love sees. Marriage is a very good miracle worker isn't it?
A woman chatted me up, when she started her story; at some point I pitied her because she made a very big mistake.
She was the one that paid her own bride price and spent all the money for the wedding, after the marriage the husband refuses to do anything.
Why will he do anything when the woman was actually the man, she got married to the man, the man didn't get married to her.
Marriage is delicate, why people are not sensitive to it always baffles me, your marriage determines your faith, maybe you will be happy or miserable, maybe you will be in hell or heaven. You better start taking it seriously before it's too late for you
4 irresponsible marriage foundation
People believe you are responsible when married, when the married ones are out there chasing the single ones, so where exactly is the responsibility in that? Being responsible to me is when someone does the right thing and does it well whether single or married.
A responsible person is not a married person. A responsible person is a person having an obligation to do something, or having control over or care for someone, as part of one's job or role. Being the primary cause of something and so accept the blame or credited for it
You don't need to be married before you discover your spouse isn't responsible, responsibility starts from relationship.
If you are not seeing it in your relationship then you will definitely not see it in your marriage because it's still the same person
A story I heard about a man, when they were courting, the woman doesn't cook for him when he visits, she always give him fast food, like bread etc. the man thought it's because they are not married yet so he overlooked it.
As I am writing this, the man is lamenting in his marriage, complaining bitterly how his wife won't cook in the house giving both him and the children fast food and staled food to eat.
He saw the signs but he didn't do anything about it instead he overlooked it and enters the fire with his eyes wide opened.
Related: Is Your Partner the Number One Person in Your Life?
These are the key foundations you should look out for in your relationship before you think about saying yes I do, if you build your marriage/home in any of this foundation
How successful you want your home to be determines how deep and strong your marriage foundation should be. The challenges will certainly come but whether your family will overcome is determined by the type of foundation you have laid.
If you could avoid all of these foundations, then I am very sure you are heading in the right direction in marriage.
I will write about the best marriage foundation you should build your home on next, you should try to look out for it and read for full understanding plus proper guiding.
If you have already built your marriage/home on any of this foundation and the wind is disturbing your home already, then you need a therapist ASAP, for the procedure to safe your home from the wind. Yes you can still safe your home, it's not the end just that it requires some hard work from you. Are you ready?
For personal advice, contact the admin through whatsapp
+2348038779370Follow Love Venture on WordPress.com


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What's a Backlink?
What is this hoopla on traffic? Every search engine optimization discussion board and site that you drop is always denying the capacity and need of back-links that they must become described as a pretty major thing! Therefore what precisely is really a key word? In other words, a blog is a connection to the following internet site (outside ) which produces a typical page onto your own site. For example, a connection onto the site into a typical page to the other site is quite a backlink for this page.
Just how can Backlinks Aid us Rank?
Consider it similar to that: vouchers are individual citation. At a feeling we pick what weas users, would like to appear from the internet search engine Results Pages (SERPs) by connecting into this articles people we enjoy. A typical page with a lot more connections using a top grade than many others may rank larger. The component concerning caliber is very crucial. It isn't simply about that gets got the backlinks it's around where people backlinks are out Jasa Backlink Murah.
In the event that you had been attempting to drop pounds, do you're more prone to anticipate that the notion of a Joe Shmo or by a expert wellness skilled? This basic principle is closely employed to traffic and how that they affect your own ranks. Inbound links from websites which are recognized as police (just like the gym ) take far more weight than a connection from a person commenting at an exercise discussion board someplace. Google weighs these links out along with their value with their algorithm and also uses that info to determine just how to position your website/webpage. Your internet site will not need to become always a monster jurisdiction website in order to rank tremendously. Fairly, you could rank tremendously by finding premium excellent traffic from additional jurisdiction websites.
Let us pretend the expert from told me Joe Shmo basically built some fantastic things along with also his remarks are absolutely legitimate. Couldn't we begin to have confidence in Joe Shmo far more and watch more significance from their own remark? Likewise whenever an authority wellbeing website associated with Joe Shmo's modest specialized niche internet site, Google might realize maybe Joe's internet site is additional authoritative afterward they comprehended, plus they'd position it even higher. The internet isn't managed by pcs. It's conducted by persons, and also this can be reflected from how we behave and connect on line. Search-engines understand that this and reply so to attempt and offer us the exact outcomes we demand and assemble ourselves.
Just how can we buy back-links?
We understand the need for backlinks and also the reason why they have an effect on our positions how that they do, so we should work out the way exactly we could possibly find a few. The complete solution for the question could take a number of webpages, thus we are likely to have a wide perspective of several tips ways of receive yourself a fantastic concept the way to exactly to find backlinks.
Regrettably, multitasking is not as straightforward or directly ahead as our wellbeing expert case in point previously. You are perhaps not really inclined to become given a connection by a few potent jurisdiction for example CNN or even Apple merely for generating content that is great. Our processes will get for slightly bit more guerrilla-esque. This is simply not to mention the level of one's articles does not matter, but it really is just the alternative. In the heart of one's advertising and advertising strategy needs to be amazing, caliber articles. We are going to assume that you already understand just how exactly to earn great articles and also put about together with the tips.
You'll find a number of diverse methods of getting traffic and every one of those processes does take the time to master and learn. As opposed to becoming super-in-depth using almost any single back linking plan, I will supply you with a set of means to have back links. We will keep on this search engine optimization class by within the regulating principles of traffic and the way exactly to quantify their caliber – based comprehension you may employ to each and every back linking procedure productively. Here Is an All-inclusive Collection of Means to Have Back-links:
Completely free sites (programmer, wordpress, squidoo)
Profile Back-links
Website commenting
Report Promotion
Social Bookmarks
Internet Site directories
Website Carnivals
Video advertising
Forum Commenting
Doc Distributors
Podcast Directories
Pc software Distributors
Every one of these procedures might be profoundly researched to accomplish the most useful outcomes. With this particular search engine optimisation study course, we're going to pay for precisely the elements which produce a fantastic backlink.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text at a hyper link. By way of instance, when you have a look in the back links from the source box to this particular guide, a number has got the anchor text"search engine optimisation study course" whereas one other only gets my internet site's URL as the anchor text.
Anchor text is quite potent and has got a huge effect on what powerful a key word would be. Anchor text gives search engines an instant glance of the page around the opposite hand goes to become around, which means you would like to employ your key words and different key word variations normally as possible. Google and other SEs take a look in the written text nearest into a URL to pick which it truly is around, and also in nature, your own anchor text will be the nearest text into your connection (it's really is the hyperlink!) . You'll not have the choice to make use of anchor textbut do not stop trying the chance when a person presents it self.
Relevance is just another element that determines how efficient a site would be. Relevance is in fact the identify of this match the moment it regards rank in search engines like google. Google states around and repeatedly, their aim would be to give one of the most important search benefits. What this means is using relevant content material along with using important traffic pointing into a content. A appropriate backlink is apparently somewhat relatable for a own keyword. The very same elements which create some page related to some key words would be the things which could earn a backlink highly relevant for your key word phrases. As an example, a post that has a fantastic key word density to the key word as well as also your key word on your anchor text could be quite important. To improve the significance of almost any website it's possible to use appropriate anchor text, then encircle the connection using text that is applicable, and also use a more relevant name in the event at all possible.
The impact of page-rank you positions is more frequently utterly ineffectual. The fair fact is the fact that PR is not so essential in how you rank to the own keyword. It really is but just one of 200 facets which affect your own rank and its particular value can be exaggerated. It certainly is preferable to receive traffic from top PR pages as soon as you are able to, but do not put an excessive amount of importance about it.
One very obvious offender is the fact that in case your webpage of your site includes a top PR, afterward some page that you get yourself a connection out of this domain will pass plenty of Page Rank. As an instance, individuals that sell join packets occasionally reevaluate the method by which they possess top PR community forums it's possible to receive back links from. It will not earn any sense whatsoever as your connection isn't definitely going to function as in your page. It's known as page-rank, perhaps not SiteRank – it really is suitable from the title! In the event you produce a profile connection onto some forum, then it really is definitely going to become to your own profile site having a PR 0. Getting hyperlinks from Top page-rank webpages (webpages – perhaps not internet sites ) is amazing and unquestionably valuable, however it truly is perhaps not the ultimate goal to rank.


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In Housing Heaven's Fire, author John Haughey, SJ, issues a call to holiness in our lives. Haughey offers sharp insights into the nature of holiness and shares his personal efforts to respond to the challenge of holiness. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Scripture, theology, philosophy, and literature, Haughey projects a prismatic view of the many facets of holiness, and he examines holiness from the perspective of the Hebrew Sriptures, the Israelites and their call, Jesus, and St. Paul. Though a call to holiness may seem daunting—and holiness is something we should constantly be striving for—we come to realize through this book that holiness is also a gift we have already received.
For further information on Ignatian Spirituality, please visit our sister site: www.IgnatianSpirituality.com
John C. Haughey, SJ, has been a professor of Christian ethics at Loyola University Chicago's graduate program since 1991.
Drawing on Scripture, theology, philosophy, and literature, Fr. Haughey offers sharp insights into the nature of holiness.


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In Cranberry Area:
- The Lemieux Sports Complex – Indoor Ice Skating Arena (right across from the Marriott)
- Get Air Pittsburgh – Indoor Trampoline Park (about 8 miles from the hotel in Zelienople)
- Fun For All – Mini golf; amusement rides, arcades (about 4 miles from the hotel)
- The Lightening Bug – Rock Wall, Laser Tag, arcades and the like (about 4 miles from the hotel in Mars)
- North Boundary Water Park – Cranberry Township's Municipal Park and Water Park (about 5 miles from the hotel)
In the Pittsburgh Area:
- The Strip District – An outdoor Ethnic Food Market / Shopping
- Station Square – The Grand Concourse Train Station / Restaurants and Shopping
- The Inclines: The Duquesne Incline and the Monongahela Incline
(Travels up the Mount Washington side overlooking the city – breathtaking!)
- Gateway Clipper – River boat cruises Optional CCCC Dinner Cruise scheduled for Tuesday Evening- Sign up when you register
- Pirates Game at PNC Park – Playing the Milwaukee Brewers: 7:05 p.m. on Tues and Wed / 12:35 p.m. on Thurs
- The Ducky Tours – the amphibious truck tour over land and through water in Pittsburgh – great fun!
- The Point State Park – the park where the 3 Rivers of Pittsburgh come together!
- Museums:
-Andy Warhol Museum
-The Heinz History Center
-The Mattress Factory
-The Carnegie Science Museum (Teens are going her on Wednesday)
-The Children's Museum (Children are going here on Wednesday)
-Western Pa Model Railroad Museum – model train enthusiasts will love this place
-National Aviary
-Phipps Conservatory – beautiful gardens


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The Paper Journal Chronicles
THE PAPER JOURNAL CHRONICLES is a companion piece to my novel, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE PAPER JOURNAL. Each chapter is an outtake from the corresponding chapter in the novel, so please read the relevant excerpts from the novel first.
I hope you enjoy reading as much I enjoy writing! Please remember to vote and leave me a comment!
Harrison Kitteridge asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Copyright © 2016, Harrison Kitteridge.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Harrison Kitteridge
Cover design copyright Harrison Kitteridge, 2016
Sherlock Holmes was well known among the staff at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and most gave him a wide berth.
That was the word most often used to describe him. Eccentric was another. Impolite, rude, and thoughtless were others. In an edifice crammed with over-weeningly ambitious medical professionals (many of whom very nearly always put their needs, wants and opinions at the head of the queue) Sherlock Holmes had a reputation for being singularly, unforgivably arrogant. It wasn't just that he gave his opinion too freely; it was that those opinions were unwanted. There were unpleasant entries in everyone's Personal Archive Files, but one simply didn't mention them in polite company, and Sherlock Holmes seemed constitutionally incapable of sorting out this basic point of etiquette. But that wasn't the core of the discomfiture he caused, not really.
It was that mind of his, and their inability to follow it.
Sherlock Holmes's infernal cleverness was what really got their backs up. The physicians at Barts (masters of their small universe) were all used to interacting with colleagues whose specialties they were only passingly familiar with, but there was a sense that they could become experts in nearly any area of medical practice as well if they chose to apply themselves. But Holmes's deductions were different. With a glance, just a glance, he could discern nearly everything of importance about a person. When they realised he was not cribbing off some well-hidden or memorised dossier taken from their Personal Archive Files, it seemed like sorcery – a sort of prickly, minimalist clairvoyance made all the more believable by his matter-of-fact, almost throwaway, delivery of his insights. It didn't help that he did nothing to set the mood; he simply plunged them into the freezing waters of his deductions and left them to splutter. The absence of the parlour tricks of obvious charlatans (crystals, rolling eyes, smashed crockery and other dramatics) made it all the more unsettling. His mind moved so quickly that his reasoning was opaque to them, and that was his true transgression – making them wander around in that darkness feeling for the edges of the contours of his thoughts. His mortal sin was making clever people feel stupid.
Had his adeptness been limited to the criminal and forensic sciences, perhaps he would have been better tolerated. But he was also a prodigiously talented organic chemist and an incredibly knowledgeable anatomist. He was as familiar with human physiology as many physicians, and it was clear that had he focussed his particular talents on the study of medicine, he would have been among the best diagnosticians on the planet.
But he chose to become a detective.
A detective. The whole thing was outlandish and preposterous. A parlous waste.
That mind of his... How they coveted it.
These and other thoughts ran through Ian Stamford's mind as he shepherded Dr Pritzker out of the biochemistry labs before things came to blows. He had been watching Sherlock prepare an experiment as they discussed Sherlock's reluctant search for a flatmate. Ian had just posted Sherlock's information to his Personal Archive File to see if he could drum up any leads when Dr Pritzker entered. She was a highly regarded infectious disease specialist whose intelligence and drive seemed to infuse her every motion. She strode across the room to check on an experiment she had left running. She nodded brusquely at Ian and refused to meet Sherlock's eye.
"Still hands-on, I see, Kelly," Ian greeted her warmly.
"I like to keep a close eye on things," she replied. She examined her electrophoresis gels and sighed in frustration, looking ready to smash the apparatus to bits.
"Not what you expected?" Ian inquired.
"No." The single word communicated multitudes.
"It always goes wrong until it goes right," Ian commented sagely. Dr Pritzker managed a small smile at that. She pulled out her Life Management Device, and her eyes' precise movements and blinks navigated her to her Professional Skills Utilisation Sub-File, diving deeper and deeper into the sub-menus until she reached the notes for her experiment. She frowned as she read.
"Something wrong?" Ian asked.
"There are notations here from someone who's not on my team... They're all signed S.H."
Ian looked over at Sherlock, who was suddenly concentrating very hard indeed on preparing the substrate for his experiment.
"Are they helpful?" Ian asked.
"They're nonsense," Dr Pritzker spat out.
"Just because they contradict your view of matters doesn't make them nonsense," Sherlock said coolly as he continued to prepare his Petri dishes.
"It was you, Holmes, wasn't it?" Dr Pritzker looked near apoplexy. "You can't interfere with other people's work like that!"
"I never touched your experiments; I merely perused your work and gave my thoughts." Sherlock's unflappable calm further enraged Dr Pritzker.
"How do you even have access? We're working towards a patent; only members of my team and the Review Board are authorised to access the project!"
That was another sticking point among the staff – all the privileges Sherlock had amassed, his seemingly limitless authorisation to be in places and up to things that should have been closed to him. His disdain for the rules, for the way things were done, won him much ill-favour.
"Read over my notes and peruse the journal articles I cited. I know some of them are rather obscure, but I think you'll find applying some of the methodology from the paper by Carter and Yokohama will very neatly solve your plasmid problem."
Dr Pritzker looked over his dense notes again and found the Carter and Yokohama paper. Ian saw the moment she realised Sherlock was correct and the moment she decided she would be damned straight to hell before she thanked him for his efforts.
"If I need your input, I'll ask for it," Dr Pritzker blustered, embarrassed to have been caught out in front of a colleague.
"I think we can all see that is demonstrably false," Sherlock commented in that infuriating matter-of-fact way of his. He looked up from his experiment and met Dr Pritzker's eye for the first time. "Shouldn't scientists strive for the truth, no matter its source?"
"You're not a scientist!" Dr Pritzker shouted.
Sherlock stared at her. "I found your reasoning, misdirected by incomplete information though it was, rather elegant," he finally proffered. Some slight shift in his demeanour communicated that he had reconsidered his opinion on her intelligence and determined she was no longer worth engaging with. "I won't, as you say, 'interfere' again." He turned back to his experiment, signalling the end of the conversation.
"You arrogant bastard!" Dr Pritzker shouted, taking an aggressive step towards Sherlock.
"Kelly," Ian interrupted sharply. He walked over to her and took her arm, bodily removing her from the room. "I'll see you later, Sherlock," he called over his shoulder. "I hope the experiment goes well." Sherlock hadn't even flinched during the escalation of hostilities; he just kept going through the motions of preparing his materials robotically.
Out in the hallway, Dr Pritzker leaned against the wall, shaking. Her emotional outburst had been out of character, and, as Ian watched her try and fail to gather herself, he put the pieces together. "He's the one who told you about Una," he said. "Everyone knew, but Sherlock is the only one who spoke up about it."
"He destroyed my family." Dr Pritzker was on the verge of tears.
"Una destroyed your family," Ian said gently. He paused. "He thought he was being kind. He thought it was better for you to know."
Dr Pritzker took several deep breaths, slowly bringing herself under control. "How can you stand him?" she asked.
"He tells the truth," Ian said simply. "It's almost lunchtime; why don't we head over to Criterion and grab a drink."
"Day drinking?" Dr Pritzker asked with a small smile.
"It's evening somewhere," Ian said, returning her smile. "Besides, the surgery I came in for has been rescheduled, and you look like you need a pick-me-up."
Dr Pritzker took Ian Stamford up on his offer, but, as they crossed the threshold of the Criterion Bar, her Life Management Device went off.
"You have to go," Ian announced; he knew the drill as well as she did.
"Emergency consult. It's like they've got some sort of radar," she complained. "Kelly Pritzker might have a moment to herself; let's quarantine someone with a common cold and demand a consult."
"Bring you back steak and kidney pie?" Ian asked.
"Cheers," Dr Pritzker called over her shoulder, already bounding out to the street to try and hail a cab.
Ian entered the bar and looked around for a comfortable seat. Across the room, he spotted a familiar profile he couldn't quite place. The man was small – below average height – and there was a frail quality about him. Years spent in hospitals let Ian know he had recently been gravely ill. He was as brown as a nut, but underneath his tan was the sickly pallor of someone whose body had been ravaged by disease. There was also something closed off about him. His gaze was shuttered, and there wasn't the slightest glint of a spark behind his eyes. He was thoroughly cut off from the world, and Ian suddenly found himself thinking of Sherlock, wondering when he would grow tired of never quite fitting in, of rubbing everyone the wrong way, and just give in and move to a remote country cottage and keep bees. The man asked the barkeep to refresh his drink, and, with the added data of his voice, Ian was finally able to identify him.
It was John Watson.
Good Lord, what had happened to him? He thought of the handsome, jovial boy he'd been at medical school then Barts with and was struck dumb by the monumental change in him. The last Ian had heard, John had joined the R.A.M.C. and been deployed to Afghanistan. Something terrible must have happened to him over there, Ian thought, suddenly overwhelmed by a keenly felt sense of shame. He hadn't kept in touch with John; none of them had. They hadn't wanted to think about what it must have been like for him over there. The limitations placed on the Personal Archive Files of the deployed meant that effort had to be exerted to maintain a connection, effort he hadn't been willing to expend.
John shifted a bit in his seat, and for a moment Ian thought he may have seen him, and he very nearly ran out the door. He was frightened of the man wearing John Watson's face, frightened of what he'd seen, of what he'd endured. John, an only child, had lost both his parents to a freak accident during their first year of medical school, and he had borne it amazingly well. He had grieved deeply, but he hadn't allowed it to devastate him or send him off course. Ian remembered being awed by his quiet strength. What terrible events could have brought him so low?
Ashamed of his reticence and determined to make amends, Ian approached his old friend. "John Watson?" he asked.
Those dull eyes looked up at him, and Ian was relieved to see the spark of recognition. "Ian Stamford?" John asked.
The men shook hands warmly and Ian ordered himself a pint. The old friends discussed their lives, Ian avoiding his usual complaints, and John skirting around his health. He was clearly severely depressed, and the way he had to suppress the instinct to jump at any sharp noise indicated likely Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome. Poor thing, Ian thought. He's all alone in the world. No family. No friends. No profession. When John spoke of seeking a flat share, Ian nearly fell off his seat in relief. It wouldn't do for him to remain so isolated. Of course, Sherlock's similar quest crossed his mind, but it would be insanity to send this damaged man to co-habitate with that madman. Or would it?
John Watson had been the most even-tempered man Ian had ever met – calm in a crisis and, more importantly, able to cultivate that sense of serenity in those around him. It had made him an excellent surgeon. But he'd gone too far into himself, got lost in his stoicism. He needed something (or someone) to jolt him out of it. Sherlock may very well be the antidote he needs, Ian thought.
And John may be just what Sherlock needs, Ian mused.
John's kindness was intertwined with a core of steel, and he abhorred injustice in all its forms. He had a particular distaste for those who bullied others for being atypical. He had protected the weaker students – the strange, exceedingly clever ones whom everyone else had disliked. He had almost punched another student through a wall after a particularly nasty prank then taken his punishment without complaint and hadn't felt he was owed anything by the boy he had defended. It had been the right thing to do – that was the sole consideration. He was an honourable man, in a way that hearkened back to a time long past. In hindsight, Ian could see that, for all his amiability, John had long been out of step with the world. He had neither feared nor been enamoured of violence – he employed it competently, as he did the other tools at his disposal, without losing his head. He was quite a paradox: the doctor-soldier, the healer who had been trained to kill. He might just be interesting enough to be a foil for Sherlock, Ian thought. And Sherlock was just the sort of odd duck John had taken under his wing before. Although, unlike the others, Sherlock was no shrinking violet and tended towards chaos and anarchy. But John was drawn to catastrophe – it was why he had chosen trauma surgery as a specialty, why he had joined the army while there was a war on.
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson: flatmates.
The longer Ian thought about it, the more the madcap idea seemed to make sense. He explained to John that he had a lead on a potential flatmate, but warned that the man was "odd", and, true to form, John leapt to defend him. Ian hid his smile in his pint and agreed to take John to meet Sherlock. He bundled John into a cab and took him to Barts where they found Sherlock still in the labs working on his experiment. For a moment, Ian feared things would run off the rails. Sherlock just couldn't help himself, couldn't find a way to ease into stating his conclusions about people's personal lives. He just punched them right in the face. Ian observed the pulse jumping in John's throat, his clenched fists and the slight tremor in his voice when he challenged Sherlock about how he knew about his background and his injury, and Ian feared a violent reproach. Then Sherlock unleashed a torrent of information, outlining all the minute details he had observed to make his deductions. Ian waited for John's heated remonstrations and braced himself to have to intervene bodily if necessary. But John relaxed and smiled.
That was another thing about John Watson, Ian recalled. He appreciated genius the way lovers of art did the works of the great masters. Watching a brilliant mind at work appealed to his higher emotions. He was elevated, not threatened by it. Ian watched the flush of pleasure spread across Sherlock's cheeks as John expressed his admiration and knew he had made the right decision in bringing the two men together. The brief interaction had already quickened something inside John and taken the sting out of the chill Sherlock usually exuded.
They're already best mates, Ian thought, trying to hide his grin. They just haven't realised it yet.
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Mycroft Holmes had summoned Gertrude Lestrade to discuss the murder of Edwina May Lucas.
Edwina May Lucas, a receptionist at a law office, had been assassinated. Assassinated, not murdered, Lestrade was always sure to emphasise to her team. The precision of the single death blow and the lack of hesitation indicated the work of a professional – a skilled one. But Edwina Lucas had no enemies, possessed no secrets, and hadn't transgressed in any way Lestrade could divine. Yet she had somehow found herself in the crosshairs of an assassin. (Not a murderer, an assassin.)
What was the motive behind the killing?
That was usually the easy part. It almost always came down to injured pride, didn't it? Someone weak trying to prove they were strong. Someone who'd been hurt forging their pain into a weapon. Someone trying to forever silence those who could reveal their true selves to the world. Lestrade had long realised that you could never know what a person was truly capable of until you threatened their self-image – the face they showed the world. Fear of public shaming transformed sane, docile people who'd never put a toe out of line into pitiless destroyers willing to slay anything or anyone who threatened to pull the curtains on their inner lives.
The cover-up was always worse than the crime.
Whom had Edwina Lucas threatened? Whom had she hurt? Why had S.C.A.R.L.E.T. been unable to pick up even a trace of the connection on The Archive?
The case was all dead ends and cold leads. And even that was an overstatement. In truth, there had been nothing to go on from the start. There was something dark and sinister enshrouding the matter and obscuring all paths to resolution.
As Lestrade made her way to Mycroft Holmes's office, she thought back to their first meeting, when he had interviewed her for the position of Chief Interpreter. She had realised she would never make it into the upper echelons of the Met without having to decamp to some godforsaken rural enclave to run a team of half-wits. She hadn't made the right connections, had left too many dead dogs on her colleagues' doorsteps to garner the support she needed to be welcomed into the halls of power.
That was another reason people killed. Because they could. Those were always the hardest cases to crack. The old adage was true: if you want to get away with murder, kill someone to whom you have no connection. Lestrade supposed that's why death in warfare never really counted – the killers and the killed were almost always distant strangers. And that alienation was the core of what made the carnage acceptable.
Was Mycroft Holmes powerful?
Shouldn't a question like that be easy to answer?
Lestrade had first heard of Mycroft Holmes six months earlier. She had foregone the more lucrative privatised side of policing and remained in the pay of the state in the hope that she might one day sit in the Commissioner's chair. But time was a dessicant that had turned her dreams to dust. The longer she went, the slower her climb became, and soon it was too late for her to double back to correct the wrong turns she'd made along the way. She hadn't played the game correctly, and she keenly resented those who had. As she began looking for a position as a consulting detective, she came across an advertisement for The S.C.A.R.L.E.T. Initiative, run through The Archive Liaison Office and supervised by its Chief Technical Officer, the aforementioned Mycroft Holmes.
The Serious Crime Abatement Rubric for Law Enforcement Technology (S.C.A.R.L.E.T.).
The advert had billed the program as "game-changing", and The Archive Liaison Office was looking for "highly motivated C.I.D. veterans" to assist in the beta testing of the program, which claimed to be able to solve crimes. On a daily basis, Lestrade and her colleagues employed software that took much of the load off them, but the programs rarely solved any cases, not really. The determination that a case was closed was always left to the judgement of a human being. The creators of S.C.A.R.L.E.T. claimed their software was different, though. Lestrade hoped so, because, if it was, it would detonate a bomb in the detectives' wing of the police force, and there was a part of her she should have been ashamed of that craved the utter devastation of her soon-to-be-former workplace and colleagues above all else. In addition, if S.C.A.R.L.E.T. could do what was advertised on the tin, it would do for her to be first in the door.
That's not to say Lestrade didn't have her doubts.
She had always thought all computers (even the relatively simple ones) were "intelligent" – just because something wasn't thinking like a human didn't mean it wasn't thinking. But human beings' creativity springs from our irrationality. We do things that don't make sense. Things like rubbing the pigments of the earth onto the walls of caves to make pictures and slaughtering people for practising the wrong religion. And one of the ways the extremes of that irrationality expresses itself is through violent crime. Could elegantly programmed algorithms and logic trees really sort through all that mess?
It hadn't inspired much confidence in Lestrade that S.C.A.R.L.E.T. was the pet project of The Archive Liaison Office (what was it they even did?). Even so, she had applied to be the head of The S.C.A.R.L.E.T. Initiative's Human Interpreter Division in the hope that the change might give her career a lift. "Doesn't them needing human interpreters prove the program is a lemon?" she'd been asked. She had been unable to formulate a response to the perfectly reasonable assertion that if S.C.A.R.L.E.T. could do all it claimed, it should have made people like her redundant. But sheer bloody-mindedness had led Lestrade to ignore her misgivings and placed her in Mycroft Holmes's office all those months ago, sitting under the watchful gaze of his pale eyes. It took all her self-control not to fidget. She wondered if there was something unpleasant caught in her teeth or if any of her clothing was out of place even though she had taken great care with her appearance. Her suit was new and cost a bit more than was prudent, and her makeup was minimal and meticulously applied. Her silver-streaked dark hair had recently been cut, and the lines of the geometric bob were lethally sharp. She knew the style simultaneously complemented her severe features and made her look a bit villainous.
"I see you've not hedged your bets by asking for a secondment," Mycroft had observed.
"No, I haven't," Lestrade had responded.
"That's quite a lot of faith to put into a program so many of your colleagues think is destined to fail rather spectacularly."
"I don't act on faith," Lestrade said. "A.I. in policing is an inevitability. This particular iteration probably won't work, but it will get closer than all the others. Something of value will come out of this. Even if it's something small, me having been here to help shepherd it to fruition will work in my favour in the long run."
"That still doesn't explain why you haven't left one foot in the door at the Met," Mycroft commented.
"It's time for me to move on."
Mycroft examined her closely, and Lestrade got the sense she had passed some sort of test. "Well, we haven't had anyone with your qualifications willing to make a commitment, and I doubt we will, so barring anything unforeseen, the job is yours."
Lestrade had been taken aback. It wasn't just the shock of having been offered the job on the spot; it was the confidence of his decisiveness, his utter dominion. People underestimate him, Lestrade had thought as she watched him manoeuvre his bulk into a more comfortable position. She had put her guard up and kept it up when she realised that was exactly as he wished it. His tranquillity mimicked complacency almost exactly, but anyone who worked with him for any length of time was soon pulled into the ebb of his unrelenting competence. His ideas always won out – not because they were the best, mind you (which they were). Entrenched bureaucracies tend to favour those who fail upwards. Mycroft Holmes's ideas always won because he got you to believe they were your own.
Before Lestrade had even lain eyes on S.C.A.R.L.E.T., she knew it would be a resounding success because Mycroft Holmes willed it to be so. The program churned through unsolved cases and closed them out rapidly, even resolving some that had gone cold decades ago. But it wasn't infallible. And that was where Lestrade and the team of human interpreters she had helped Mycroft Holmes recruit came into play. There were rare cases that S.C.A.R.L.E.T. needed more information to solve, and the human interpreters chased down those leads. S.C.A.R.L.E.T. was their oracle, and they were its devotees.
Nevertheless, the machine sometimes failed despite the best efforts of its human interpreters. The assassination of Edwina May Lucas was one such moment. When she and her team were stumped, Mycroft Holmes's suggestions on how to proceed put them on the right track, but not this time. The matter remained impenetrable. And so he had brought in a pair of fresh eyes – a consultant named Sherlock Holmes.
Lestrade checked the man's Personal Archive File and confirmed her suspicion that he was a relative of Mycroft's – his younger brother to be exact. He was a freelance consulting detective with a patchy history of unimpressive cases. It irritated her that she would have to waste her time showing Mycroft's inept sibling the ropes, but her annoyance was tempered by how much the matter humanised her cold, composed boss. It was a relief to know he had to endure the mundane burden of dealing with shiftless relatives.
Lestrade arrived at Holmes's office and knocked sharply on the door. After a moment, Mycroft called, "Come." Lestrade smoothed her hair and opened the door, striding in confidently. At least she hoped that was the air she exuded. She was always on her back foot with Holmes. He was always well-mannered and civil, but those appraising eyes of his reminded her she was constantly being assessed. Speaking to him gave Lestrade the feeling of taking an oral exam that seemed simple enough on the surface but was riddled with booby-traps, and the consequences of tripping those snares remained frustratingly obscured.
"Lestrade," Mycroft said, beckoning her forward. "Meet my brother, Sherlock, and Dr Watson."
Lestrade greeted the men and took an instant dislike to the brother. He was handsome, if unconventionally so – with those silver eyes and that ridiculous mass of dark curls – but there was no easy charm radiating off him. There was something unforgiving in his countenance, and there was nervous energy emanating off him in waves made Lestrade taste metal on her tongue and set her on edge. He was curt to the point of dismissiveness when he returned her greeting, and Lestrade was scandalised by the lack of respect he showed.
"Don't mind him," Dr Watson said with a smile in his voice as he shook Lestrade's hand. "He's champing at the bit, and he gets a bit of tunnel vision." Mycroft's brother didn't go so far as to seem chagrined, but something in him seemed to quiet.
Lestrade hadn't even noticed the small one, Dr Watson; Sherlock's commanding presence had driven him into the background. But his deft handling of his masterful friend spoke of a quiet strength. I've got to watch that one, Lestrade thought.
Mycroft smiled at Dr Watson and said to Lestrade, "I've given my brother access to S.C.A.R.L.E.T. as a Consulting Human Interpreter. Dr Watson can be listed as a Forensic Science Associate. Show them the interface and take them through the Edwina Lucas file."
"Yes, sir," Lestrade said.
"We'll discuss the N.H.I.s when I return," Mycroft said, gathering his things in preparation to leave.
"Yes, sir," Lestrade replied. "Follow me," she said to her guests.
Lestrade led her charges to the interpreters' bullpen and commandeered an empty desk where she set about educating Sherlock Holmes on the ins and outs of S.C.A.R.L.E.T. He quickly grasped the idiosyncrasies of the interface and proceeded to make quick work of several of the cases marked "Needs Human Interpretation". People underestimate him too, Lestrade thought as she watched him work. It must be a family trait. She quickly added her name to the cases Sherlock solved and updated their files with his deductions. She caught the doctor looking at her chastisingly. She didn't shrug, but it was a near thing – it wasn't as if Sherlock Holmes had a professional ladder to climb, subordinates to cow and superiors to please. She, on the other hand, had to keep her stats up.
They turned their attention to Edwina Lucas's assassination, and Sherlock honed in on a minor detail Lestrade and her team of interpreters had ignored: the pieces of confetti in the missing copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He claimed sorting out the provenance of the confetti was the key to solving the mystery of Edwina Lucas's death. It was an outrageous assertion, and she would have laughed anyone else who had made the suggestion out of the building, but having seen him cut through the N.H.I.s like a warm knife through butter gave Lestrade confidence in his supposition. The unsolvable case didn't seem quite so daunting now that they had taken a step forward.
Lestrade regarded Sherlock covetously. He would be very useful to her, very useful indeed.
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According to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dwight Howard applied stickum spray to his hands before entering the game in the first quarter of Saturday's 109-97 loss at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.
Howard re-entered the game while Paul Millsap was at the free throw line. After Millsap made his first free throw, Howard grabbed the ball and gave it to the referee. After receiving the ball, Millsap made a gesture as if there was something on the basketball and threw it back to the official.
The referees assessed no penalty for this incident.
After the game, Howard addressed the incident (Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle):
"I don't know why people are making a big deal out of it. I do it every game. It's not a big deal. I ain't tripping."
It is unclear if the league will do anything about this situation, but I am sure Howard can talk to Jerry Rice if he needs any more pointers on cheating.
Pete Packowski
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Since 2001, Patrice Cathey (pictured below), director of Buffalo State's Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP), has helped shepherd numerous disadvantaged youth from Buffalo Public Schools into college or the workforce.
Now Cathey and her campus colleagues who oversee the state-funded program have settled into new offices in Buckham Hall's A-wing, formerly occupied by the Speech-Language Pathology Department. They share the freshly redone and larger office space with the college's other pre-collegiate programs—Upward Bound and STEP. They're holding a grand opening celebration and ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, October 4, at noon. The entire campus is invited.
"We are thrilled with the new space," said Cathey, the principal grant writer who also became director of Pre-Collegiate Programs in August. "We wanted to make a center where all the programs could be together and communicate with one another on a regular basis."
Now each LPP counselor has an office to meet with students and their parents. There is a seven-station computer lab, a conference room, and a kitchen, as well as room for one-on-one tutoring.
The move comes at an auspicious time. Cathey recently received the news that Buffalo State's LLP will receive more than $2 million in funding over the next five years or approximately $450,000 per year. The grant pays for case management, workshops, academic tutoring, and specialized programming for approximately 360 students in grades seven through 12 who attend Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy, West Hertel Academy, McKinley High School, and Lafayette International High School.
"We're more connected with the Buffalo Public Schools than ever," she said. "We're working with three community schools this year.
"At the beginning, we conduct a social and emotional assessment of each student to determine their needs and design a program to help them achieve their goals," she said. "It's nice to have a private space where we can both work directly with students and expose them to all that Buffalo State has to offer."
The New York State Education Department established the Liberty Partnership Program in 1988 to address the significant school dropout rate among New York youth. A 2013 evaluation of LPP's effectiveness found that out of 1,830 seniors enrolled in the program across the state, 90 percent ended up graduating from high school with 77 percent going to college.
The middle and high school students identified as "at-risk" by their school counselors come to Buffalo State several times per week during the academic year and also in four or six-week programs in the summer. While here, they hone their academic, confidence-building, and leadership skills. They also receive a primer on how to apply for college and secure financial aid, as well as what to expect as a college student.
"We take them on tours of the campus and invite them to Bengals football games," Cathey said. "We expose them to cultural activities such as jazz at the Burchfield Penney. The idea is to develop the whole student and let them see how they could thrive in a college environment."
This contract is administered by the Sponsored Programs Office, which has moved to Buckham Hall B206.


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Gifted: Gifts for the Adventure Lover
Do you have an adventure seeker in your life? Sometimes gifting for those who are more interested in travel and seeking can be difficult, but don't worry we've got you covered. Give your thrill seeker items that will keep their adventurous spirit alive.
1 & 2. Modern Maps: Every adventure seeker wants to remember their escapades. Gift them with maps of where they have been or where they want to go. Not only do these make for great decor, but they help keep memories and wishes alive!
3. Compass Necklace: This beauty is the perfect gift for those on the go! Not only is it the perfect gift for those who find themselves on countless camping trips, it also looks great! Bonus? You can customize your astrological sign onto the necklace. It's the perfect reminder of where you have been and where you are going.
4. COFFEE: Who doesn't love (need) coffee? Any adventurer needs a little liquid energy in the morning to jump start their day. Gift them with coffee local to your city. Corvus Coffee offers a great monthly membership with fresh ground coffee delivered straight to your door at the beginning of each month... Yes, please!
5. Osmosis Adventure: Gift your seeker with all they need to stay well and healthy on their outings. Elevate will keep them alert with B-Vitamins while AC-11 will keep their skin healthy and protect them from the environment. Replenish will rejuvenate their skin after a long hard day of exploring and keep it protected from free radicals. Energize Me is the perfect Harmonized Water to keep on their person at all times. It makes for a great pick-me-up in the middle of a slump! The last (and most important) thing they need for their thrill seeking is Protect. Shielding your skin from the sun's harmful rays is SO important no matter what time of year it is. Protect is the perfect mineral based SPF that works on even the most sensitive of skin. It also happens to moisturize and smells divine!
Learn where to shop for your adventurer here.