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03 Mar 24, 05:53 am
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The most amazing thing about the Internet is how many industries it's wrecked. File sharing and iTunes forever changed music's economics; blogging and other forms of online content have killed old media; and open source and software-as-a-service have brutalized the expensive, on-premise enterprise software products.
In all these examples companies suffered and good people have lost their jobs, including many of my friends when it comes to media. But mostly, the Internet has acted like Robin Hood—taking big fees from greedy fat cat middlemen, giving more value for a lower price for the end users, and breaking the barriers for new entrants.
Here's the second most amazing thing about the Internet: The fact that there are still industries it's barely touched. One of those is finance. Sure we had eTrade, Ameritrade and Scottrade in the early days, but opaque, confusing, regulated finance is still largely the same. And as we discovered with last year's financial meltdown, that's not a good thing.
Fortunately, though, we're starting to see change from several different –and surprising– avenues. An obvious first foray into finance 2.0 was Mint.com. Thanks to its sale to Intuit, Mint helped validated the category in a Valley that's suspicious of Wall Street. But Mint was still pretty basic in terms of a financial revolution. The UI was excellent and there were new features, but people were used to managing money online via their bank, Quicken or Microsoft's Money.
Mint's greater contribution was convincing investors and entrepreneurs that finance is still a viable category. Hot on its heels, a newer– and far more ambitious—pack of online finance companies are threatening to really upend, piss off and steal fat cat fees from existing players. Say it with me: Hallelujah.
We've written about most of these guys already, but they're worth taking a look as a group to see just how big this impending revolution could be. They're attacking different parts of the finance industry, but they have one thing in common: Finally aligning interests between the finance professionals and the users. This list isn't exhaustive but these are the names I'm most excited about:
–Wonga is remaking payday lending. It charges high fees for a lender, but incents people to repay quickly, meaning overall the fees for emergency lending are much lower. Wonga makes money only when debts are paid off—unlike most credit card and payday lenders that make more money the longer you're in debt and the bigger those debts are.
–kaChing is remaking mutual fund investing, cutting fees from an average of 3% to 1.5% and giving more transparency into what investments fund managers are making now, not just past returns on decisions they've already made. In the past, fund managers have been paid more by how many assets they can get under management than on how well they perform. That in turn makes the funds' performances worse, because they can't get in and out of stocks quickly. By giving investors more transparency into how investment decisions are made and exposing them to more boutique fund managers, kaChing hopes to flip that around.
–Square and Bling Nation are changing how we make payments, adding convenience and, in many cases, eliminating fees from ATM withdrawals and those levied by Visa and Mastercard. It's a boon for pretty much everyone else the transaction touches including end users, retailers and even banks. "I underestimated the level of hatred there is for Visa and Mastercard," says Wences Casares Bling Nation's founder and CEO.
-On the "does-the-world-really-want-this?" front is Blippy, the social payment site that could bust opaque pricing wide open, when people can compare how much they pay for, say, a hotel room, with how much their friends paid. Blippy is comparatively TBD. It'll test whether people are getting more comfortable sharing financial information the way they've gotten more comfortable sharing contact and location information in the last ten years. That answer might be no. But when it comes to fees and pricing, transparency does usually lend to lower prices.
If these companies are successful, this would be as radical a shift for the finance industry as when the music industry had to start selling by the song and not the album. Think back to how revolutionary that was at the time—and how much the labels fought it tooth and nail. Now imagine a financial transaction where you didn't assume there was a catch, extra fee or damaging fine print. Imagine a financial world where everything is upfront and institutions don't profit off your financial naiveté; a financial world where making money isn't a zero sum game that the house is all but guaranteed to win in the end. It's as common-sense-and-yet-controversial as when open source and software-as-a-service pioneered business software that actually worked and that employees actually used.
Finance has been so anti-innovation and so anti-consumer for so long, these companies don't have to be perfect to be huge. And the margins are there. For instance, Casares, who has built and sold two online financial services companies already, says the cost of digital transfers have plummeted, but the banks haven't passed those savings along. That's similar to what we saw in telecom. Remember how expensive it used to be to call someone one state away? If mobile companies hadn't collapsed prices, we'd likely still be paying those fees.
Combined investors in these companies include well-heeled names like Khosla Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Greylock Partners, Accel Partners, Marc Andreessen, Sequoia Capital, Evan Williams, Balderton Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and DAG Ventures and they have put a combined $80 million into these companies, which isn't much considering the potential. For instance, if kaChing can get to $10 billion in assets under management, it will be a $100 million revenue a year business. And $10 billion in assets wouldn't even crack the top 100 funds in the massive $11 trillion mutual fund universe. To put it in further perspective, Square's valuation is already half of what these companies have raised combined.
And here's the most important part of this trend: These new financial services companies are not being built to flip. Instead, these companies are thinking big—a rarity in the Web world right now. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Casares's view on how selling has made him a "failure" as an entrepreneur. Don't expect him to do it again unless things go horribly wrong. Errol Damelin spent years studying payday lending before starting Wonga, and having already sold a few companies, expects this to be his big one. Similarly, Square founder Jack Dorsey is already the second largest individual shareholder in Twitter. That's just paper money now, but it's safe to say his financial future is pretty assured. With Square, he's out to prove he can have more than one big idea. Likewise, veteran entrepreneur Philip Kaplan was lying in cushy wait at Charles River Ventures as an entrepreneur-in-residence before he jumped for Blippy. You don't jump for something you don't expect to be a real business.
But of all the companies mentioned in this post, kaChing may be the least likely to sell. I met with the company's CEO Andy Rachleff and founder Dan Carroll last week. Rachleff—a founder of Benchmark Capital during its eBay funding glory days—has made plenty of money and was looking forward to a life of teaching at Stanford. He quit that to be kaChing's CEO and he certainly didn't do that to sell for a few million. He doesn't even take a salary from kaChing. He called Mint—also a Benchmark investment—a "disappointment" for selling so early and said he made it very clear that if he was leaving his plush, retirement-esque life it was to build a big, public company. (See what Mint's founder Aaron Patzer says about that view in the clip below at the 6:09 minute mark. Patzer was on NBC's Press:Here last week. Go here for the whole show.)
I think finance just became my favorite category of startups. Step one of building the next billion dollar Web powerhouse is a good team. Step two is a good product. Step three is market opportunity. But an all-important step four is saying "no" to quick money offers. Every decade Silicon Valley produces a handful of huge multi-billion dollar public companies. I'm betting the '10's see at least one finance company in that category….finally.

subset: commoncrawl


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Latest Article|September 3, 2020|Free
::Making Grown Men Cry Since 1992
5 min read
A former Boeing employee in the early '60s, Thomas Pynchon smuggled his knowledge of missile systems into his novels V (1963) and The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), and lambasted the depravity of air warfare in Gravity's Rainbow (1973). Now, as the elusive writer enters his 70s, America's most insistently playful-but-serious novelist aside from Kurt Vonnegut has unveiled a supersized tale in which, for once, the air might be our very salvation. Unless, of course, it is bought and controlled by industrialists—or aliens, for that matter. Welcome back to Pynchonland, where wormholes to other dimensions are as common as potholes, and the real world overlaps with the imaginary in a colorful weave. Against the Day opens somewhere between the two in 1893 at the Chicago World's Fair, where a group of verse-happy balloonists named the Chums of Chance (tidier cousins of the Whole Sick Crew of V ) alight to discover a city bathed in light—a hallmark of the arrival of the Second Industrial Revolution, which would electrify the nation's factories. "Vagabonds of the void," their purpose in the Windy City is to keep an eye on some anarchists on the street below for a shadowy employer.Thus begins this novel's tug of war between industry and entropy, a perpetual theme in Pynchon's work but one drawn even more vividly here. In Against the Day , Pynchon is squarely on the side of the people, whom he sees as manipulated and used by corporations in their ruthless quest for power and profit.The book stretches from San Antonio to Corfu with stopovers in Iceland, using all of that landscape to plot and re-plot its characters' treachery. In one main strand, a Colorado anarchist named Webb Traverse is murdered for his activities on behalf of overworked miners, bequeathing to his children—Lake, a prostitute; Kit, a Yale physics student; Frank, an engineer; and Reef, an anarchist, like his father—a complicated legacy of regret and vengeance.There are scores of other characters, many hilariously named, some of questionable importance to the plot. There's a sinister gangster named Scarsdale Vibe who wants to control the Earth's electromagnetic field—"colonize the sky," as one character puts it. Vibe might just be the money behind hit men Sloat Fresno and Deuce Kindred, and his reach seems to stretch all the way to Germany, where Kit goes to study vector theory and falls for the comely Yashmeen Halfcourt. Keeping these characters straight can feel next to impossible at times. Would it have been too much for Pynchon to give us dramatis personae? Or even a glossary for the dozens of invented and real technological wonders, let alone mathematical formulas contained therein?Indeed, Against the Day doesn't feel written to human scale. The sentences, as always, run to dizzying lengths; the typeface is alarmingly small. One can spend 20, 30 hours of a weekend reading it and barely make a dent. It's like dropping a penny into an open manhole.Yet Pynchon does reward the effort. Who else would think to stuff a book this rambunctiously intellectual with gags like a talking lightning bolt or a dog who reads French? Where did he dig up exclamations like "ring-tailed rutabagas!" or "Gravy, a man could get killed out there!"So much attention is paid to Pynchon's vaudevillian humor it's easy to forget how breathtakingly beautiful a writer he can be. Trains go "choiring by," while land below the balloonists is "perforated with lakes." Watching a Yale track meet, Kit sees his classmates "striving toward the day's offers of simulated immortality." Like Pieter Bruegel's Fall of Icarus , this is a portrait of mankind's attempt to transcend our morality—or at least push up against its very edge. The Chums of Chance believe Iceland spar—or calcite crystals—shows them the key to other dimensions. Meanwhile, Kit's mathematics have a distinctly mystical bent. "It could have been religion," he thinks at one point. "Here was the god of Current, bearing light, promising death."Ruthless, greedy, Scarsdale Vibe is that angel of death. He squashes labor throughout the book, crushes individuals, and appropriately rides a personal train called "The Juggernaut." Like many tycoons, he controls invention by underwriting it, making creative minds beholden to him. He buys up the inventions of Nikola Tesla, who makes a cameo appearance, and then makes sure they don't work. "Don't thank me," he barks at Kit, whose education he springs for. "Become the next Edison." Electricity, as Pynchon has noted before about technology, is a conduit for power. In the wrong hands, it becomes dangerous—lethal—or simply a vehicle for making more money. Remarkably, and with a whiff of optimism that is new for Pynchon, Against the Day proceeds as if the verdict is still out on which way our ability to light up the skies and obscure the heavens might go.


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written by Rough Guides Editors
updated 15.03.2019
Why party with the masses when you can steal away with others in-the-know at an underground speakeasy, or find yourself a key to the best secret bar in the city? We know them all, but luckily for you, we're not very good at keeping secrets; here is a BarChick rundown of the best places for speakeasy-style drinking around the world:
001, Hong Kong
Near impossible to find behind the city's wet market stalls, the unmarked black door which leads you down to this cosy little den of iniquity can only be found by those in the know. Leather and wood interiors make it dark and dingy, but with a hint of luxury. Drinks are expertly made and pack a hell of a punch. If you want a covert meeting place, this is most certainly it.
NOLA, London
Make your way through a pub, around a corner (look out for a small sign on the ceiling), up some stairs and bust in on London's answer to New Orleans. Music and whisky are what that blessed city is known for, and NOLA has got both in full swing. Antique trombones hang from the walls and if you're lucky enough to slope by on a Thursday or Friday, you can kick back to some live jazz and blues.
Death and Company, NYC
Here you can sip creative twists on Prohibition cocktails – such as an old fashioned made with tequila and mescal – which are stirred fifty times while you sit at black granite tables under crystal chandeliers and gold flecked walls. Look for the unmarked brown door and the long line leading up to it. Explore New York City >
BYOC, Brighton
This underground speakeasy in Brighton does things a little differently. Book ahead and remember to bring a bottle of your favourite spirit – or whatever you could get your hands on at the off licence – then hand it over to the mixologist. Using ingredients from their antique drinks trolley, they'll mix some damn fine cocktails right at your table.
Door 74, Amsterdam
You could walk past Door 74 every day and have no idea that there is a bar in here; this place is the definition of hidden, focused on class, cocktails and character. If you're planning on finding your way in on the weekend you'll need to book ahead. Discover Amsterdam >
Bramble, Edinburgh
Hidden down a dark staircase on a quiet Edinburgh backstreet, Bramble may take a bit of loitering to find, but once you're in it's worth it. The drinks, mixed using homemade ingredients, show flashes of genius. With cool bartenders and a crowd after fun vibes, this is one boozer you won't want to leave – not just for fear of never finding it again. More of the best pubs in Edinburgh >
The Union & The Bureau, Copenhagen
Disguised as a townhouse on a residential street, this place has two great bars in one. First off you have to find classic speakeasy The Union – look for the big black door at no.16 – with its dim lighting and bare-brick walls. After you're settled in and feeling confident, try to get invited to the exclusive Bureau upstairs; it's the place to be for faultless cocktails and great company.
Little Red Door, Paris
The clue is in the title with this one. Hidden behind a little red door (oh and you'll need to figure out how to get the key to get in) is one of Paris's hottest little bars. Art instillations adorn the walls, there are beaten up armchairs to sink into and a killer booze selection to get whet your liquid-appetite. The bartenders are some of the best in the city so always go with their recommendations.
Little Branch, NYC
If it weren't for the line of people outside you'd never stumble upon this little gem. Creep in behind an unmarked door in New York's West Village and descend down rickety stairs to discover a jazz-filled den where bartenders chip away at giant blocks of ice, creating absinthe cocktails that will knock your socks off. Go on an historic bar crawl in NYC >
El Bandito, Liverpool
From the street it looks like any old staircase, but ask the bouncers at Santo Chupitos and they'll be able to nudge you in the right direction. This tiny bar is no bigger than your bedroom and is known for its killer tequila collection, along with the latest licence in the city (the drinks flow until 5am at weekends). You can be guaranteed it's where the party is at most nights of the week too. More on Liverpool >
Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco
Prohibition lives on in this speakeasy so put your phone away (it's a house rule), dress the part and order some of the best drinks in California. The fun doesn't stop once you've found your way into this mysterious place though; there are three other secret bars hidden within Bourbon & Branch waiting to be found. Let the games begin! Explore San Francisco >
Bar Mutis, Barcelona
This speakeasy feels more like a private flat party than a cocktail bar, being hidden in an apartment block and all. Make sure you ring ahead if you want to party with the cool kids, and bring your credit card – it's definitely not cheap but boy is it worth it. Discover more of Barcelona >
Candelaria, Paris
To the untrained eye it's easy to think this tiny taco joint has nothing more to offer than Mexican food and hibiscus water, but you'd be oh-so-wrong. It sure isn't a storage cupboard behind that little door: take a peek through and you'll find yourself in a sexy candlelit cave. Explore Paris >
Evans and Peel, London
Only once you've passed the detective's rigorous questioning about your "case" might you be allowed to enter through the secret bookcase that leads to this quirky watering hole. The atmosphere is buzzing and the Prohibition-style classic cocktails are mixed up by real pros. Channel your inner Sherlock, get your case together and get into the role-play at Evans and Peel.
BarChick.com is a guide to the best bars in the world. Follow them on Twitter at @HotBarChick. You can book hostels for your trip with Rough Guides, and don't forget to purchase travel insurance before you go.
Top image © Lijphoto/Shutterstock


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WORLD POVERTY DAY: Salesian Missions Reports on Programs that Fight Extreme Poverty
(MissionNewswire) To mark the 20th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Salesian Missions is proud to report on some of its programs around the globe that fight extreme poverty by providing hope and opportunity. The day is recognized globally with a focus on promoting the awareness of and the ongoing efforts to eradicate poverty everywhere—which remains at the core of the Salesians work with youth and their families in more than 131 countries.
Each year focuses on a particular theme. This year the United Nations chose Ending the Violence of Extreme Poverty: Promoting Empowerment and Building Peace, which was chosen to highlight the link between poverty and social unrest. It also focuses on the need to provide people with the necessary skills to contribute to society.
"Poverty is easy to denounce but difficult to combat," says Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a recent UN article highlighting International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. "Those suffering from hunger, want and indignity need more than sympathetic words; they need concrete support."
Ban further stressed in the article that that during times of economic austerity it is even more crucial to put policies in place that will protect the most vulnerable.
"As governments struggle to balance budgets, funding for anti-poverty measures is under threat. But this is precisely the time to provide the poor with access to social services, income security, decent work and social protection," he says in the UN article. "Only then can we build stronger and more prosperous societies—not by balancing budgets at the expense of the poor."
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been observed annually since 1993. The UN General Assembly designated this day to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in every country.
During the last decade, millions have overcome extreme poverty and have improved access to health care and education. Extreme poverty rates have decreased in every region of the world. More than 39 million children attend primary school and access to clean water has increased to 89 percent. But in spite of these important gains, several critical gaps remain.
Poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a 'Global Partnership for Development' were further noted in the UN article as the eight Millennium Development Goals selected by world leaders at the UN summit in 2000.
The Salesians working at the ground level within communities ravaged by poverty see their efforts and these improvements first hand.
"Whether giving food and shelter to street children or building schools and teaching job skills to youth in poverty, the Salesians are giving youth hope for a new future," says Fr. Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. "Our work gives youth the access to learn employable skills and provides the opportunity for them to break the cycle of poverty in their lives."
Here are some highlights of Salesian programs around the globe that fight extreme poverty by providing hope and opportunity to youth and their communities:
In Cambodia—through the Don Bosco Children's Fund—the Salesians provide assistance to children ages six to fifteen who are at risk of dropping out of school due to extreme poverty. Each year approximately 5,000 children receive assistance in the form of medicine, nutritional meals, clothing and personal items. Many children have lost one or both parents to HIV and are currently living with extended family members with elderly grandparents or neighbors. Often they receive little direct supervision, leaving them extremely vulnerable to outside influences. Without support from the Don Bosco Children's Fund, many children would be forced to beg or turn to street crime in order to support themselves.
In Colombia, 18 percent of school age children have no access to education. One town that previously lacked access is Condoto, a remote village nestled in the middle of a tropical rainforest in western Colombia. Most of the 30,000 inhabitants are descendents of Africans who escaped the slave trade. Mining is the main source of income – with low pay and harsh working conditions. There, Salesian Missions has built the first and only schools in the area which are improving the lives of the students and all members of the communities – and will continue to do so for generations to come.
In Ecuador, at Salesian "Project for Street Children" sites throughout the country, vulnerable and at-risk children gain an all-around education that allows them to take the lead in developing their own skills and potential. The project uses an active presence on the streets, technical training and schools and the support of families and communities that care for the boys and their rehabilitation. Specialized programs for youth in need include: prevention of addiction and care for addicts, rehabilitation of youth gang members and hostels that provide an alternative to living on the street. Thousands of children and adolescents are supported each year.
More than 150 street children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia have a place to call home. And 750 more at-risk children benefit from a variety of programs designed to instill confidence and self-respect. That's because exciting plans are underway for a new Salesian Center that will feature dormitories, classrooms, a recreation hall and cafeteria. When it opens, the Center will serve hundreds of needy children by providing the immediate basics of food and shelter.
In Guatemala, more than 21 percent of the population had an income of less than $1 a day in 2004 – no improvement since 1989 according to the Pan American Health Organization. Extreme poverty is often associated with rural life. Rural Q'echi (Mayans) are among the rural populations looking to improve their lives. Through Salesian Missions programs, they are focusing on increasing the capacity of their communities. With the assistance of the Q'echi promoters, community groups are educated in self management for projects benefiting family and community. Salesians also work through the Foundation for Advancement of Indigenous Women in Guatemala (Talita Kumi) to raise the status of women and empower them to become household and community decision-makers.
In Kenya, homeless youth join "Bosco Boys" programs dedicated to creating positive change. Three centers provide services for youth at different stages. Bosco Boys Kariua runs a nursery school and weekend program where street children gather for sporting events and to wash their clothes. Bosco Boys Langata is a rehabilitation center where new boys can overcome addictions and behaviors learned on the street. Bosco Boys Kuwinda provides education and training opportunities for street children, as well as poor children from the neighborhood.
In Mexico City, girls and mothers face severe dangers living on the streets. Through the "Yolia" program, girls and women become regulars at the day center. There, they have meals, receive tutoring, obtain therapy, and learn job skills such as jewelry making and hair styling. Some girls may also choose to live in the residential area, where they receive additional education and services while building a sense of dignity and self worth.
Sierra Leone is still recovering from a brutal 10-year civil war. More than 500,000 people were displaced and more than 60,000 children were orphaned and homeless. In the 2008 Human Development Index, Sierra Leone ranks last among 179 countries for the well-being of its people. The Don Bosco Fambul program aims to change the lives of children. It directly addresses issues facing street children – including emotional trauma from the war and lost family. With the goal of reuniting with their families, youth participate in a 10-month program which includes counseling and medical care – as well as education. These young people attend classes during the day, according to their level of ability and any previous schooling. In the evening, they are responsible for helping each other with homework. The youth are tested each month and receive encouragement for progress — building self esteem and motivation – and hope for the future.
For more than 20 years, Tanzanian children and youth have had access to education through Salesian Mission facilities. Programs are developed based on the most critical needs of the community. For example, AIDS orphans who have dropped out of regular school learn a trade at a vocational school, and girls attend secondary school in Didia, where previously there had been no secondary school within 40 miles. Schools and other facilities are providing new opportunities to children, youth and families in communities throughout Tanzania where nearly one million children have been orphaned due to AIDS, according to UNICEF. Many of these children are forced to leave school due to poverty or to care for their families. At Salesian technical and secondary schools and youth centers, youth develop skills to overcome obstacles. They learn a trade of their choice and to stand on their own to create a productive life. For more than 20 years, Salesian Missions has been a leader for vocational training and currently provides education and leadership opportunities to youth in communities throughout Tanzania.
Uganda ranks 157 out of 182 countries in the 2007 Human Development Index. The people of Uganda are working to rebuild after decades of war which left many displaced, as well as to combat the serious increase of HIV/AIDS, which has left millions of children orphaned. The Don Bosco Children & Life Mission offers hope to at risk boys, ages 8-17, through a variety of programs. As they grow and develop, boys move through different stages until they reach the final goal of an independent, productive life.
ANS – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: Ending the Violence of Extreme Poverty


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Say goodbye to muffin tops and love handles.
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Many patients are satisfied after one treatment. However, during your consultation, we can discuss a treatment plan that will meet your specific treatment needs.
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To initiate the treatment we will position the device on your body. The device will then draw the bulge up between two cooling panels. The sensation is a firm pull and pressure – enough of a pull to ensure the selected tissue will be cooled most efficiently. An hour or so later, depending on your needs, you're done.
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CoolSculpting is completely non-surgical, so typically you can return to normal activities immediately. Some patients experience redness, minor bruising, tingling, numbness or discomfort in the treated area, but this is temporary and will resolve completely. Often times, patients return to work after the session is over.
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"I feel confident in a two-piece bathing suit. I haven't had a two-piece on in years and I can walk around with it on. I have a form fitting dress on and when I walk down the street I feel confident. CoolSculpting is probably one of the best things I've ever done." – Paige
"I definitely did not want or need surgery. That's why I decided on CoolSculpting." – Karen
"It's not just that other people noticed the results – as in individual, it inspired me." - Jeani


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
If you have more than 10 people playing on a field then, yes, you would have to rent the field. If you have less than 10, then you may play on that field. Only open fields are available, locked fields must be rented.
Show All Answers
Dogs are only allowed at Losner Park and the dog parks (Roscoe Warren Municipal Park and James Archer Smith Park). Any other animal is not allowed in our parks. Service animals are welcome.
Yes, bounce-houses are allowed at JD Redd Park, James Archer Smith Park, Harris Field Park, Blakey Park, Roby George Park, and Mayor Roscoe Warren Municipal Park Pavilion #3 only. You are required to rent a pavilion and provide general liability insurance. However, we do not allow any other type of motorized equipment in the park including water slides. Please be sure that a generator is included with your bounce house rental.
Yes, your deposit will be automatically submitted for refund after your event. The process takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks and the check is mailed to the address provided. If you wish to personally pick up your check, you must make a request through the Parks & Recreation Office. You may pick up your check on Friday's after 3:30pm; you must show a photo I.D.
Cancelations must be submitted two weeks prior to the event date in writing to the Parks and Recreation office. Refunds generally take four to six weeks for processing. Refunds will not be issued due to inclement weather which would include rain outs, cold weather, etc.
No. BBQ pits are located at Harris Field and JD Redd Municipal Park. Small grills are available at all other park pavilions. Prepared food may be brought to your pavilion.
Blakey Park, Roby George Park, and JD Redd Park do not have any available outlets. James Archer Smith Park, Harris Field and Mayor Roscoe Warren Municipal Park do have available outlets. The available outlets are for light use (small speaker or small household appliances). You may not plug-in any bounce-houses or heavy equipment to the outlets. You must provide your own generator for heavy use items.
No alcohol is allowed in any city parks except for Harris Field Barn Pavilion, Phichol Williams Community Center and William F. "Bill" Dickinson Community Center. Please see insurance policy.
It would be subject to the approval of the Homestead Police Department depending on the nature of your event. Please see the information page for more details.


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Can Social Influence Be Distilled Into A Score? Part I, The Potential
If you're planning a campaign to stimulate word of mouth discussion of a product or a brand, one question likely keeps arising — how influential is a particular person online? Is it worth reaching out to them? If you've been pondering how to measure or benchmark social media influence, several companies, including Klout, PeerIndex and Kred, […]
If you're planning a campaign to stimulate word of mouth discussion of a product or a brand, one question likely keeps arising — how influential is a particular person online? Is it worth reaching out to them?
If you've been pondering how to measure or benchmark social media influence, several companies, including Klout, PeerIndex and Kred, are clamoring to assist you in identifying and connecting with influencers with high social capital ranking scores.
Even if connecting with influencers isn't an immediate need, the boss might be asking for explanations of your brand's Klout score, so now is a great time to get up to speed!
Wait, What Do We Mean By Online Influence?
What is online influence, also called social capital, and can these companies really reduce it to a number? Many readers will remember that it wasn't so long ago that many would cite their site's Alexa rank as a badge of honor, blissfully unaware that the score had no scientific basis nor business value.
Can marketers, HR professionals and others rely on these social capital scoring services to identify influencers or are the scores so flawed to make them meaningless?
For the purposes of social media marketing, influence might be defined as:
the capacity to have an effect on the behavior of someone in a way which results, directly or indirectly, in a business outcome
Marketers identify who is influential in their target market and cultivate these influencers to encourage brand advocacy and word of mouth recommendations, recommendations which multiple studies have identified as more credible and effective than traditional advertising messages.
Moreover, under the right conditions, word of mouth advocacy can spread virally through social networks.
Marketers active in social media for some time may well know who the key influencers are in their target market. But even then, its nice to be able to have a third party to help confirm assumptions. Companies like Klout, PeerIndex and Kred say they can do just that.
How Does Online Influence Work?
For a person's online musings to impact others, several things need to come together.
The person must have an audience, i.e. their messages have the potential to reach others. The potential reach of a message in a social network depends on several factors including how many real "followers" (friends, fans, connections) a person has and when the message is posted. PR professionals will know that sending a press release out on Friday evening is the best way to insure bad news gets buried.
Several social networks, such as Facebook and Google+, prioritize the display of posts for followers based on recent interaction between the follower and the post's author.
(I mention real followers, as many fake followers exist. Some brands and politicians, suffering from size anxiety, buy fake followers by the kilo. Another category of fake followers are spam bots which automatically follow users, often with an ultimate goal of distributing spammy links to dubious websites.)
As if that wasn't enough, the posted message must resonate with a recipient. Resonate is itself a nuanced concept.
Is the post on a topic of interest to the recipient? Is the author perceived as an authority on the topic or does she otherwise have credibility due to a personal relationship with the recipient? Are the contents of the post timely? Something the recipient was thinking too? Is the message original? Is the message appreciated for its tone or style (use of humor, sarcasm, irony)?
If the message resonates to any degree, then it will have succeeded in capturing a recipient's attention, no small feat in a world saturated with messages. What is wonderful about Internet marketing is that we know a message resonates if it provokes a recipient to interact with it. Typical online social interactions include:
- commenting on a post / update (comment, reply)
- endorsing a post / update (like, +1, favorite)
- sharing a post / update (forward, re-tweet)
- clicking on a shared link
- playing a shared video
In the case of messages which originated from a friend of a friend, a user may also choose to follow the original author (circle a person, become their friend, etc.).
Business Outcomes Count (And Can Be Counted)
For businesses and professionals using social media as a marketing tool, engagement should lead to business outcomes.
With my business model, I'm happy when someone publishes a link to an article I've written or to my website in general. I'm even happier when someone clicks on one of these links (bringing me more reputation and contacts).
To capture click data, we need to use URL shorteners, Google Analytics or similar tools: influence scoring tools aren't enough.
How Do Influence Score Systems Work?
Social scoring services may have their place in the planning and execution of a social media word of mouth campaign. But to understand both their strengths and limitations, a prerequisite for their correct use, and to explain a brand's score to the boss, it is important to know how they work. This is also true for HR professionals who want to consider influence scores in hiring decisions. Fasten your seat belts, the ride is going to be a bit rough.
1. Gather Social Data
The first step a social influence ranking service has to perform is much like that of a search engine: collect raw data from the world wide web. This task is much harder than one might think to do right.
Ideally the service would scour (crawl) all major social networking sites, blogs, forums, question and answer sites, review sites and other sites where people add user generated content (UGC). In reality most services have taken the path of least resistance: they limit their scoring for most profiles to data from a single source, Twitter, as it is already nicely structured and is available from distributors GNIP and DataSift.
Much of Facebook data is off-limits unless a user explicitly grants permission to an influence measurement service. Information from blogs hosted on known blog hosting domains, such as WordPress.com and Blogger, should be rather easy to include; self-hosted blogs, often maintained by more savvy netizens, can be found by blogroll analysis and blog directories.
As the web is dynamic, the data collection process needs to be continuous and needs to identify variations from the last data collection cycle.
2. Extract And Organize Collected Data
Profiles, followers, posts and interactions need to be extracted from collected data. An attempt has to be made to connect a specific person's profile across different social sites — not an easy task. Google closed their Google Social Graph API, which did just that, citing poor adoption.
3. Apply Scoring Algorithms To Data
Each company has its own method to decide what weight to give social media endorsements, comments, sharing and the like. Should a comment count more, the same or less than a share? Since an endorsement just requires a click, are they weighed less than comments and shares? Should a share by noted blogger Robert Scoble count more than a share by a friend?
The basic elements available to scoring services aren't complicated but how to combine them to define a user's social capital isn't so simple. Klout changed their scoring methodology in October 2011, only to change it again in August 2012.
Influence score providers are generally reluctant to share this information in detail as their scoring algorithm is one of the few differentiators they have from competitors. Too much transparency, they say, would help those actively working to increase their scores, known as gaming the system.
Klout, PeerIndex and Kred each provide methodology overviews, with Kred touting that it is more transparent than the others as Kred shows the points attributed to each element which contributes to the overall score (visible by clicking the Total influence points panel in the story layout). Klout's introduction of moments in their August 2012 update should close some of the perceived transparency gap.
In describing PeerIndex's view of transparency, CEO Azeem Azhar uses credit scoring as an analogy. He says that is important to know what the inputs are and the data gathering process yet you don't necessarily need to know the weight attributed to each input, nor understand the mathematical models used, to feel comfortable with the resultant score.
Kred Story, a visual presentation of the events contributing to a person's Kred score, is Kred's latest iteration on demonstrating transparency. Detail on each item which contributes to a score is available with a click, what Kred calls zooming in. I found the presentation to be a bit overwhelming (as did my browser which strained while the visuals loaded) compared to the older, albeit more limited, table view.
Additionally, the distinction between the various types of data display on the visual dashboard isn't immediately clear. My posts and "friends" posts are mixed together with lists of top tags, locations, communities and the like. While Kred Story may aid serendipitous information discovery, the confused visual flow doesn't lend itself to information at a glance analysis.
4. Display Scores
Each service prominently displays an individual's composite score in a badge form. In reality it appears that the badge serves primarily to promote the service.
A single context-free metric doesn't really say enough about a potential influencer to be useful. There's no information about their authority on a particular subject domain nor does a score convey information on the demographics of their community of followers.
A badge score is much like the simplistic answer too many politicians give to a complex problem: people want to believe, many do, but they probably shouldn't.
Each of the major services will also break out a user's composite score in a series of more specific subscores. Klout provides, as described on their website:
- True Reach − Your True Reach is the number of people you influence. We filter out spam and bots and focus on the people who are acting on your content. When you post a message, these people tend to respond or share it.
- Amplification − Your Amplification is how much you influence people. When you post a message, how many people respond to it or spread it further? If people often act upon your content you have a high Amplification score.
- Network Impact − Your Network indicates the influence of the people in your True Reach. How often do top Influencers share and respond to your content? When they do so, they are increasing your Network score.
PeerIndex describes its subscores as
- Authority, the measure of trust; calculating how much others rely on your recommendations and opinion in general and on particular topics.
- Audience, a normalised indication of your reach taking into account the relative size of your audience to the size of the audiences of others. In calculating your Audience Score, we do not simply use the number of people who follow you, but instead generate from the number of people who are impacted by your actions and are receptive to what you are saying.
- Activity Score is the measure of how much you do that is related to the topic communities you are part of. By being too active, your topic community members tend to get fatigued and may stop engaging with you; by taking a long hiatus on a particular topic, community members may not engage with a long absent member. Your Activity Score takes into account this behavior.
Kred is composed of two scores:
- Influence, measured by assessing how frequently you are Retweeted, Replied, Mentioned and Followed on Twitter. If you connect your Facebook account to your Kred profile, you get Influence points when people interact with your content on your wall and the walls of others who have registered their Facebook account with Kred. Facebook interactions counted towards your Kred include Posts, Mentions, Likes, Shares and Event Invitations.
- Outreach − We measure Outreach on Twitter by your Retweets, Replies and Mentions of others. When your Facebook account is connected to your Kred profile, you get Outreach points for interactions on your own wall and the walls of others who have registered their Facebook account with Kred. Interactions counted towards Kred include Posts, Mentions, Comments and Likes. your Outreach score is cumulative and always increases
Personally I wouldn't read too much into these top-level scores as in most cases, we're going to want have scores for a specific target market.
Scores Break Down Into Topics And Communities
Each service also associates people with thematic communities and calculates their score relative to the members of the community. Klout calls the themes topics, as does PeerIndex, while Kred prefers the term communities (Kred also hides them quite well, behind a blue arrow next the the Global Kred score).
This type of semantic analysis, while welcome, can be hit or miss. Klout believes yours truly is influential about Hurricanes and Poker, which is highly unlikely in both cases, although I'd like to think they're right on the other topics they've identified including SEO, Google Analytics and Social Media.
While the general public focuses on the simple catch-all badge score, it is the ability to look at an individual's rank within a topic which is going to be of interest to most marketers.
Influencer Identification, However You'd Like To Dice It
The raison d'être for the influence raters is to help marketers influence the influencers, help which also funds the services. Each service offers to help select influencers appropriate to a specific marketing campaign.
Kred mentions using keywords, hashtags, location, community or any combination of these, to identify influential individuals.
Beware: Those Who Participate May Be Scored Higher Than Those Who Don't
Klout states:
Adding more networks helps us more accurately measure your influence and can only increase your Score.
(The emphasis is theirs). Translated: individuals who add Facebook and other social networks will likely have higher scores than those who ignore Klout, Kred and PeerIndex.
You should be aware of this when you ask Klout, Kred or PeerIndex to select influencers for you. Remember many, if not most, of the profiles represent just a user's Twitter activity, ignoring the rest of their social activity on the web.
This article is part I of a two-part series. Here's the second part, that looks at methodologies, strengths and weaknesses of these social scoring methods.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
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An English language description of what arguments the operator accepts and what values it returns, including information about defaults for parameters corresponding to omittable arguments (such as optional parameters and keyword parameters). For special operators and macros, their arguments are not evaluated unless it is explicitly stated in their descriptions that they are evaluated.
Except as explicitly specified otherwise, the consequences are undefined if these type restrictions are violated.


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§22-6-23. Plugging, abandonment and reclamation of well; notice of intention; bonds; affidavit showing time and manner.
All dry or abandoned wells or wells presumed to be abandoned under the provisions of section nineteen of this article shall be plugged and reclaimed in accordance with this section and the other provisions of this article and in accordance with the rules promulgated by the secretary.
Prior to the commencement of plugging operations and the abandonment of any well, the well operator shall either: (a) Notify, by registered or certified mail, the secretary and the coal operator operating coal seams, the coal seam owner of record or lessee of record, if any, to whom notices are required to be given by section twelve of this article, and the coal operators to whom notices are required to be given by section thirteen of this article, of its intention to plug and abandon any such well (using such form of notice as the secretary may provide), giving the number of the well and its location and fixing the time at which the work of plugging and filling will be commenced, which time shall be not less than five days after the day on which such notice so mailed is received or in due course should be received by the secretary, in order that a representative or representatives of the secretary and such coal operator, owner or lessee, if any, may be present at the plugging and filling of the well: Provided, That whether such representatives appear or do not appear, the well operator may proceed at the time fixed to plug and fill the well in the manner hereinafter described; or (b) first obtain the written approval of the secretary and such coal operator, owner or lessee, if any; or (c) in the event the well to be plugged and abandoned is one on which drilling or reworking operations have been continuously progressing pursuant to authorization granted by the secretary, first obtain the verbal permission of the secretary or the secretary's designated representative to plug and abandon the well, except that the well operator shall, within a reasonable period not to exceed five days after the commencement of the plugging operations, give the written notices required by subdivision (a) above.
The well operator shall not be required to prepare or submit to the director a plat prior to the commencement of plugging operations as long as a plat pertaining to the particular well is on file with the director and accurately identifies the location of the well, or so long as there is also on file with the director the coordinates of the well established by a global positioning system. The coordinates established by a global positioning system must be filed with the secretary in either a written or electronic form prescribed by the secretary. The global positioning system used to establish the coordinates shall be accurate within the variance allowed by law for the distance between the actual location of the well and location shown on the plat that is required to be filed with a well permit application, or the secretary may establish the accuracy of the global positioning system by legislative rule promulgated pursuant to section two of this article.
No well may be plugged or abandoned unless prior to the commencement of plugging operations and the abandonment of any well the secretary is furnished a bond as provided in section twenty-six of this article. In no event prior to the commencement of plugging operations shall a lessee under a lease covering a well be required to give or sell the well to any person owning an interest in the well, including, but not limited to, the respective lessor, or agent of the lessor, nor may the lessee be required to grant a person with an interest in the well, including, but not limited to, the respective lessor, or agent of the lessor, an opportunity to qualify under section twenty-six of this article to continue operation of the well.
When the plugging, filling and reclamation of a well have been completed, an affidavit, in triplicate, shall be made (on a form to be furnished by the secretary) by two experienced persons who participated in the work, the secretary or the secretary's designated representative, in which affidavit shall be set forth the time and manner in which the well was plugged and filled and the land reclaimed. One copy of this affidavit shall be retained by the well operator, another (or true copies of same) shall be mailed to the coal operator or operators, if any, and the third to the secretary.


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About this item
NYPD Red chases a ruthless murderer with an uncontrollable lust for money--and blood. It's another glamorous night in the heart of Manhattan: at a glitzy movie premiere, a gorgeous starlet, dressed to the nines and dripping in millions of dollars' worth of jewelry on loan, makes her way past a horde of fans and paparazzi. But then there's a sudden loud noise, an even louder scream, and a vicious crime with millions of witnesses and no suspect--and now NYPD Red has a new case on its hands.NYPD Red: the elite task force assigned to protect the rich, famous, and connected in the city where crime never sleeps. Detective Zach Jordan and his partner, Kylie MacDonald--a former girlfriend from the police academy who he hasn't quite gotten over--are the best that Red has to offer, brilliant and tireless investigators who will stop at nothing to crack a case, even if it means putting their own complicated lives on the back burner.From celebrity penthouses to the depths of Manhattan's criminal underworld, Zach and Kylie are soon in hot pursuit of a cold-blooded killer with everything to lose, and millions to gain if he can just shake the detectives on his trail. With the city on edge, the mayor out of patience, and the flames of their personal relationship threatening to reignite and ruin everything, Zach and Kylie are facing down their worst fears--and their worst enemy yet.


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2013 was quite the year for Audrey Magazine. Not only did it mark our ten year anniversary, it was also the launch of our revamped website. While we're more than excited to kick off this new year, let's take a moment to look back on all the stories of style, beauty and inspiring Asian Americans of the previous year.
Ranked by which stories were the most popular of the year, we bring you Audrey's Top Ten Stories of 2013!
1) Breaking The Asian Myth | Asian Hair
"If there's one Asian stereotype we're all very familiar with, its Asian hair. No one knows when this actually happened, but at one point people began thinking that all Asian women had the same kind of hair…"
2) Not For Weak Stomachs: Removal of a 25-Year-Old Blackhead
"In September we showed you the results of sleeping with makeup on for an entire month and called it a horror story. Now we take that back. We take it all back. Apparently, that wasn't a skincare horror story at all. This is…"
3) Korean Twin Sisters Unrecognizable After Plastic Surgery
"It's no secret. In Asia, plastic surgery is becoming more and more common. In fact, double eyelid surgery is so typical that many girls have been known to receive the procedure as a graduation gift. Aside from these minor procedures, just how far has surgery entered Asian culture? According to some, surgery has become a very serious ordeal…"
4) World's 15 Most Followed Asian Female Celebrities on Twitter
"1. Indonesian entertainer Agnes Monica (@agnezmo) – 8,326,171 followers
2. Japanese-Swiss-Polish Brazilian TV personality Sabrina Sato Rahal (@sabrinasatoreal) 3. Indonesian singer Sherina Munaf (@sherinamunaf)…"
5) Korean American K-Pop Star Embroiled in Nude Photos Scandal
"Korean American singer Ailee has been receiving enormous attention from the Korean media after nude photos of the K-pop star surfaced on the Internet. Allkpop, a popular New York-based K-pop website, published censored versions of the photos last night, igniting a firestorm of controversy…"
6) The Ultimate Guide to EXO
"EXO is separated into two subgroups, EXO K and EXO M, which promotes in Korea and China respectively. But together? This boy band totals to 12 members. Overwhelming? Just a bit. As much as we wanted to get to know the line-up for KCON, was learning all 12 members worth it? YES. The answer to that question is a very enthusiastic yes…"
7) False Rumor: Philippines Disqualified From Pageants For The Next Two Years
"In the midst of all this good news for the Philippines, a strange rumor has begun to spread. According to The Adobo Chronicles, the Association of Beauty Pageant Franchise Holders (ABPFH) has disqualified the Philippines from international beauty pageants for the next two years claiming that Filipina candidates had an "enormous advantage" this year…"
8) Asians in Fashion | EXO-K for Ivy Club Autumn 2013
"With the rise of EXO's popularity, we can confidently say that Ivy Club made quite a good decision to have the boys model and endorse their Autumn 2013 look…"
9) Extremely Racist Responses to Olympus Has Fallen
"Its no secret that we still face racism today. Every time I start to believe that I live in my ideal/equal world, acts like this bring me back to the reality that we still have a long way to go…"
10) Where I Went and What I Bought: Seoul
"I took a dream vacation last month. Not to some tropical hideaway surrounded by crystal clear waters. Not to a romantic European capital overflowing with crumbling palaces and fine wine. No, I went on a shopping vacation. To Korea…"


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Model Assignment: How healthy is your neighborhood?
The following assignment serves as a model for using the environmental health assessment tools and databases in the classroom. The activity requires students to perform an environmental health risk inventory of a selected locale, similar to the example found in the tutorial. In this assignment, students will address anthropogenic and natural health risks in their hometown or neighborhood using data collected from online mapping tools and databases. Students will also complete a reflection and summary of their results.
In recent years, the public has become more and more aware of potential environmental hazards in their nations, neighborhoods and homes. The media highlights environmental health related stories, communities are more aware of the hazards presented in their area, and students are often exposed to environmental science subjects beginning in elementary school. People are concerned about exposure to contaminants in drinking water, potential hazardous material exposure, toxic pollutants in air, and pesticides and other foreign substances found in food (CPA, 2005).
The geosciences provide an ideal platform from which to teach about environmental health risk assessments. Many subjects in the geosciences are central to human and environmental health. Hydrogeology, atmospheric science, geology, and physical and human geography reflect on topics such as air and water quality, and natural and anthropogenic toxins. As GIS-based mapping tools and large health-related data sets become more prominently available on the web, instructors can provide a real-time opportunity to evaluate the environmental risks and health hazards in their own neighborhoods. The tools and databases on the web not only provide an opportunity to use data and develop quantitative skills, but also learn the skills necessary to become informed, responsible citizens.


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If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced features available, you will need to register first. Registration is absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
Awareness: (1) consciousness, mindfulness, alertness, and attentiveness, (2) knowledge, understanding, perception, discernment
Action: (1) act, achieve, accomplish, (2) encounter, engage, battle, (3) charge, to proceed
Contemplation: (1) consider, envision, intend, think about, (2) imagine, study, reflect, ponder, mull over, (3) watch, examine, observe, scrutinize
Lynn Seiser (b. 1950 Pontiac, Michigan), Ph.D. has been a perpetual student of martial arts, CQC/H2H, FMA/JKD, and other fighting systems for over 40 years. He currently holds the rank of Yondan (4th degree black belt) from Sensei Dang Thong Phong of the International Tenshinkai Aikido Federation and Sensei Andrew Sato of the Aikido World Alliance. He is the co-author of three books on Aikido (with Phong Sensei) and his martial art articles have appeared in Black Belt Magazine, Aikido Today Magazine, and Martial Arts and Combat Sports Magazine. He is the founder of Aiki-Solutions and IdentityTherapy and is an internationally respected psychotherapist in the clinical treatment of offenders, victims, and families of violence, trauma, abuse, and addiction. He is a professor of clinical and forensic psychology with an expertise in family violence and treatment. He currently lives in Marietta, GA and trains and teaches at Kyushinkan Dojo, Roswell Budokan.


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Watch Taylor Swift Gag as Justin Bieber Kisses Selena Gomez at Awards Show!
Backstage at the Billboard Music Awards, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were shown kissing. Not a major earth-shaker. But the best part is Taylor Swift was just passing by in the crowd and her reaction is PRICELESS!