text:
So, one of my favorite topics is the discovery of the Jesus tomb. This discovery has been met with heavy skeptisim and disbelief because it destroys the very fabric of the Christian religion.
Now, I am not a religious man by any means. I simply look at the facts and make my own interpretation. I would like to use the famous fictional character Sherlock holmes philosophy. If you have eliminated all other possibilities whatever remains, however improbable is mostly likey the truth, however impossible it may appear.
So in the discovery they found the following oshuwaries aka coffins if you will. This discovery is the only 1st century tomb ever found with undisputed Christianity, out over three thousand 4th century ones.
The cross IS NOT the symbol which scholars say is a undisputed Christianity symbol, its a whale eating Joahna and sometimes with a cross. Now in the First century Jesus would not of had a large number of coffins inscribed with Christianity all over since the he was the new guy in town back then.
Yes they did find Jesuss bones in the coffins, along with his sons completely intact with six coffins inscribed with who layed in the coffins. Listed below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyfKSDjWCMk ß This is a hater video on the discovery, but its good one to watch because they burned themselves by making this video. So this video trys to discredit the discovery by saying that those name inscribed were very common names in the first century.
That is actually true. Heres the wonderful piece these morons forgot to mention. The combination these names are inscribed in is not common. Ie(Jesus son of Joesph, Judah son of Jesus, etc.) That was actually pretty rare, not to mention to find a tomb which all six players from the bible in the same place and to say its probably someone else.
I dont know about most people, lets add perspective. Lotto 649 has 7 numbers there are six names up there from a first century. We will make the symbols of Christianity the 7th name for now. To get a 7 digit combination like the 649 we all know is SUPER HARD, you might get 2 or 3 maybe 4 and really lucky 5.
To get all 7 is like winning the lotto, odds are slim, especially with undisputed Christianity symbols, keep in mind theyve never found a 1st century artifact that depicted undisputed Christianity out of over 3000 currently found, which are all 4th century.
Its the mathematics thats hard to dismiss. When you have a probability of one in over 2.5 million, and there were only 80,000 males alive at that time and place, thats pretty strong evidence. Not conclusive, of course. Statistics are relevant only to populations, not to individuals, so there is always a possibility this is an incredible coincidence, HOWEVER VERY SLIM!
They found the tomb in 1980 and then boxed and thought nothing of it, because they didnt have the technology to even figure out back then. Today we are slightly more sophiscated in being able to take extremely accurate educated guess on who a person was or is.
Ironic that they can find a 1 million year old human skeleton and tell you in detail what that person looked like, what they ate, probably how they died. They failed to mention any details regarding the bones during discrediting video. That was their only lousy defense they are common names from that era, are you kidding me!?
If I was going to discredit someone, they have the bones, its a safe and easy bet to use that, however they did not. Jesus was crucified, so they nailed his wrists, that would of been the easiest way to attempt to discredit the find, however they didn't go that route, which probably means that they didnt want to risk it being definitively him, so they leave that part out, they didnt want have the Christian religion come crashing down and millions of people loose their faith over night, some might say this would cause chaos, I would agree.
Hypothetical Scenerio Out of the box thinking
Lets pretend for a minute that you were living in that time period and you said you were the son of a god. Why might someone say that? Its was a great way to get people to believe in themselves so they would rise up and an oppose their slavery, something to believe in.
Now you like any man in any civilization, as he gets older, he going to want to carry on the family name, so you'd have a son. You have lots of enemies because youre now a rebel leader. Your son would be in constant danger of his life because of you. Would you now tell anyone you had son? Only someone who had no common sense, would let that be known being such a target. Jesus didnt seem like a dumb guy to me, probably a very smart man.
Today all leaders of the world have secret service or something to that effect protecting their loved ones, why because they are targets. Now that I have that mental picture in your head.
Leonardo Davinci's Painting of the Last Supper.
Lets look at the bible hidden message specifically the last supper.
The very feminine figure of the "Beloved Disciple" has her hands folded in the classic position of the "prayer of the heart" (fingers crossed in little X's)-- the original hand position for the idiomatic expression, "I'll cross my fingers for you." This hand position is very familiar in artworks depicting Mary Magdalene, at least this is what Leonardo thought, my theory based on the evidence makes more sense.
12 disciples according to the bible, or was there was another a thirtheenth disciple refered to as the beloved disciple he is only mentioned only three times in the bible. First instance was the last supper where he sat next to Jesus. I know if I had a son and it was my last meal he would be sitting next to me, and Id make damn sure none of my enemies knew I had a son. Especially since the Romans would of killed the father and son as he would been the air to the throne.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_whom_Jesus_loved - For the non believers and uninformed J
So who ever wrote the bible as a favor to the man Jesus, left his son out of the bible in great details, however subtley mentioned, makes sense to me. So now if you look at the discovery of the people who found the Jesus tomb, and factor in Jesus could have had a son, just the bible hid is identity for the sons protection it makes the finding far more plausible now.
Another reason they left out his son, because it would help break down the foundation that Jesus was the son of a god, and it wouldnt fit the ideal they were trying to create, the belief in "god".
Please remember that during that time and era those people wouldnt be able to tell the difference between a god and a vistor from another world. If you or I should show up in the past today in an airplane, they would think we were sent from god. However, I will break the whole god thing down in another discussion, just MIND BLASTING..hahah
Not to mention this discovery reinforces the fact that the romans would of buried Jesus with a non family member to further humiliate him and discredit his followers. Joesph of arimathea would have been that person, and they found Jesus tomb just few meters away from josephs tomb.
Still have doubt, hope you do .? You should watch the actual discovery of the beloved disciple which was discovered shortly after they found Jesus. However, please dont take my word over it, the best way to understand the whole ordeal is to watch the discovery of the beloved disciple and extrapolate your own interpretation.
Incase you havent figured out what im saying is. The evidence suggests that the bible was embellished a great deal and the bible could be a sham, those are the words of someone else indicated in the videos below, not mine .
Lastly, NO ONE wants to find out that they've believed in a sham their whole life, it would be a difficult pill to swallow for anyone, especially bible thumpers. Which is why this discovery, people are going to try to discredit it, as it could potentially destroy their way of life and beliefs.
There was a recent poll was done at elementry schools to see how many kids are still practicing religion from parents passing this knowledge down to them. The statistics showed that 1 in 4 kids is religious today. That means odds are the 1 that is odd out will probably surcome to peer pressure and renounce religion because of his classmates making fun of him for being the odd one out.
This means that in the next 50 to 100 years religion will be completely eliminated. The only religion that might make that far will be muslim, because of the anti-christ movement in the middle east.
I look forward to the day religion is extinct, that will be the day man stops fighting with himself and attempts to help humanity as one whole.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOuq78pgLz4 (The Archieologist who found the tombs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW3mEiq0av4 (more info)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB-Pj...feature=relmfu (Joesph of arimathea discovery)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nhOhCTIul4&feature=fvsr (THIS IS THE BEST)


text:
I've seen many posts recently about SCM user interfaces and how one system is easier to learn, more powerful than another or better supports a particular development style. I submit that these arguments fail to capture the most salient feature of any source code management system—how the system manages the actual source code. This fundamental underpinning of the system, the repository structure, limits the kind of information the system can capture, the robustness and reliability of the data and to a great extent can limit the kinds of repository interactions possible.
A few days ago, Havoc makes a push for Subversion as a reasonable choice for projects. His complaints focus on the Git user interface, while again making this mistake that Git forces users to engage in distributed development.
I agree with Havoc that few projects are large enough in scale to require the kind of hierarchy seen in the Linux kernel. In fact, most projects have fewer than 10 developers working on them, and with close coordination, rarely see the need for any branching and merging at all.
However, as far as I know, none of the SCMs that provide distributed development insist that developers hide their work on long-lived branches and send patches up to a master maintainer. The distributed SCMs all allow either centralized or distributed development; it all depends on the conventions used within a project and individual developer style.
At X.org, we migrated from CVS to Git and yet have retained our largely centralized development model. There are few people publishing alternate trees, and we grant direct repository access to the same set of developers who used to have CVS access.
For really bizarre stuff that is experimental in nature, we occasionally publish a temporary alternate repository as a way to distance work from the mainline further than a branch within the master repository would; we allow developers to publish such trees on a public server that is visible through the same web interface as the master repositories, so there remains a single central location to discover what work is going on within a given module.
Git provides us with three principle functional advantages:
Offline repository access. Until you've used it, it's hard to understand just how often one can commit changes to a repository if the operation takes mere seconds. Havoc himself likes to save editor state every few minutes; with Git, he would be free to commit that state to the repository without significant additional delay.
The ability to make very fine grained changes to the code encourages people to separate work into small comprehensible pieces. Both proactive review and reactive debugging benefit substantially from this kind of detail, allowing people to highlight significant small changes which would otherwise be lost in large functionally-neutral restructuring.
Offline repository access is not the same as distributed development; changes are still pushed to a single shared public repository and included in a single line of development. Of course, simultaneous offline development often results in conflicts, but we've had that with CVS forever, and Git provides better merge-resolution tools than CVS ever did.
Private branches. For those of us with ultra-secret hardware plans, we develop drivers for unreleased hardware in parallel with the development of the public project. Git makes this supremely easy by allowing us to keep the ultra-secret new hardware changes in a private repository while still tracking the public repository. When we're allowed to release the source code for the new hardware, we simply merge the private branch to the upstream master and push that to the public repository. All of the development history for the new hardware then becomes a part of the public source repository.
Distributed backups. Even given freedesktop.org's reasonably reliable RAID disk array and daily tape backups, it's nice to know that around the world there are hundreds of people with complete backups of our source code repositories. If freedesktop.org is destroyed by earthquake, fire, flood or volcano, we can be confident that somewhere on the planet there will be complete and recent backups.
Alternatively, if the freedesktop.org administration becomes evil and starts to manipulate source code to subvert users machines, the distributed nature of our system means that the external developers will detect such changes and can easily repair them.
That's nice for us, but none of these may be compelling for people new to the distributed revision control world. Similarly, Git provides some nice tools to view and manage the repository (gitk, Git-bisect, etc.), again, useful but not compelling.
I would like to argue that none of the user-interface and high-level functional details are nearly as important as the fundamental repository structure. When evaluating source code management systems, I primarily researched the repository structures and essentially ignored the user interface details. We can fix the user interface over time and even add features. We cannot, however, fix a broken repository structure without all of the pain inherent in changing systems.
Given this argument, it should be clear that I think git's repository structure is better than others, at least for X.org's usage model. It seems to hold several interesting properties:
Files containing object data are never modified. Once written, every file is read-only from that point forward.
Compression is done off-line and can be delayed until after the primary objects are saved to backup media. This method provides better compression than any incremental approach, allowing data to be re-ordered on disk to match usage patterns.
Object data is inherently self-checking; you cannot modify an object in the repository and escape detection the first time the object is referenced.
Many people have complained about git's off-line compression strategy, seeing it as a weakness that the system cannot automatically deal with this. Admittedly, automatic is always nice, but in this case, the off-line process gains significant performance advantages (all objects, independent of original source file name are grouped into a single compressed file), as well as reliability benefits (original objects can be backed-up before being removed from the server). From measurements made on a wide variety of repositories, git's compression techniques are far and away the most successful in reducing the total size of the repository. The reduced size benefits both download times and overall repository performance as fewer pages must be mapped to operate on objects within a Git repository than within any other repository structure.
Subversion appears to me to have the worst repository structure of all; worse even than CVS. It supports multiple backends, with two available in open source and one (by google) in closed source. The old Berkeley DB-based backend has been deprecated as unstable and subject to corruption, so we will ignore that as obviously unsuitable. The new FSFS backend uses simple file-based storage and is more reliable, if somewhat slower in some cases.
The FSFS backend places one file per revision in a single directory; a test import of Mozilla generated hundreds of thousands of files in this directory, causing performance to plummet as more revisions were imported. I'm not sure what each file contains, but it seems like revisions are written as deltas to an existing revision, making damage to one file propagate down through generations. Lack of strong error detection means such errors will be undetected by the repository. CVS used to suffer badly from this when NFS would randomly zero out blocks of files.
The Mozilla CVS repository was 2.7GB, imported to Subversion it grew to 8.2GB. Under Git, it shrunk to 450MB. Given that a Mozilla checkout is around 350MB, it's fairly nice to have the whole project history (from 1998) in only slightly more space.
Mercurial uses a truncated forward delta scheme where file revisions are appended to the repository file, as a string of deltas with occasional complete copies of the file (to provide a time bound on operations). This suffers from two possible problems—the first is fairly obvious where corrupted writes of new revisions can affect old revisions of the file. The second is more subtle -- system failure during commit will leave the file contents half written. Mercurial has recovery techniques to detect this, but they involve truncating existing files, a piece of the Linux kernel which has constantly suffered from race conditions and other adventures.
I was looking seriously at Mercurial for X.org development, and was fortunate to spend a week last January with key developers from both Mercurial and Git. Discussions with both groups led me to understand that Git provided more of what X.org needed in terms of repository flexibility and stability than Mercurial did. The key detractors for Git was (and remains) the steep learning curve for the native Git interface; ameliorated for some users by alternate interfaces (such as Cogito), but not for core developers.
The other killer Git feature is speed. We've all gotten very spoiled by Git; many operations which take minutes under CVS now complete fast enough to leave you wondering if anything happened at all. This alone should be enough to convince anyone leaning towards Subversion or Bzr; fine-grained commits are only reasonable if the commit operation takes almost no time.
We were not particularly interested in the kind of massive distributed development model seen in the kernel, but the ability to work off-line (some of us spend an inordinate amount of time on airplanes) and still provide fine-grained detail about our work makes a purely central model less than ideal. Plus, the powerful merge operations that Git provides for the kernel developers are still useful in our environment, if not as heavily exercised.
I know Git suffers from its association with the wild and wooly kernel developers, but they've pushed this tool to the limits and it continues to shine. Right now, there's nothing even close in performance, reliability and functionality. Yes, the user interface continues to need improvements. Small incremental changes have been made which make the tools more consistent, and I hope to see those discussions continue. Mostly, the developers respond to cogent requests (with code) from the user community; if you find the UI intolerable, fix it. But, know that while the UI improves, the underlying repository remains fast, stable and reliable.
And yes, Havoc, anyone seriously entertaining moving to SVN should have their heads examined.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A day in life of an AgileUX Practitioner: Personas
Posted by jc-Qualitystreet on 2011/03/08
Activity #2 of the Agile UX practitioner…
(See the Activity#1: Vision)
The Agile UX practitioner creates Personas collaboratively…
A persona is a user-archetype, a fictional representation of target users you can use to help guide decisions about product, features, navigation, visual design…
Personas are an essential element of the product Vision envisioned at a strategy level. They represent the first sections of our Vision formula (from Geoffrey Moore): FOR (target for the product) …WHO (users' needs), a key element of the famous elevator pitch.
The persona approach provides a team with a common and shared understanding of the users of a service or product (but also what they want, their behavior, their needs and expectations) in a very engaging format, easily linked to Agile User Stories.
In short, personas are a fantastic way to integrate real User Experience all along the product development project.
And this is the role of the Agile UX practitioner to be the Personas promoter and to initiate their creation in collaboration with the Product Owner and the Team.
Create the Personas with Agile Teams
Everything starts at the beginning of the project, before sprint 1 (a sprint 0 or short exploration is an appropriate period for doing it). But, the persona approach requires mobilizing the entire team around it and should be envisioned collaboratively.
1 Prepare
- Organize one or two workshops with the Product Owner and various stakeholders in order to be aligned to the objectives and the approach, to identify data sources, to determine categories of people to interview (for example the core roles)
- Inform the entire team of the process
- Then collect data from various sources including user interviews.
2 Construct collaboratively
- Analyze data (facts) in collaborative workshops using affinity diagram and identify variables then patterns
- Create the Personas skeletons
- Give birth to the personas (including storytelling, writting and visual design) using the format you prefer (formal or not)
- Validate the results with various stakeholders
3 Communicate & Use
- Include the Personas on the Information Radiator within the team environment
- Link the Personas to User Stories
- Use them as a prioritization tool (in the Product Backlog) and a designing tool (related to specific user stories)
- If necessary, make a communication plan for marketing and sales activities: make a buzz!


text:
Extron Now Shipping Eight Input Scaling Presentation Switchers with DTP Extension
- Public relations contact:
- Joe da Silva, Vice President of Marketing
- Extron
- E-mail: email@example.com
Anaheim, California (June 17, 2013) - Extron Electronics is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the IN1608, an eight input, HDCP-compliant scaling presentation switcher with four HDMI inputs, two universal analog video inputs, and dual HDMI outputs. It also features two Extron DTP 230 twisted pair inputs and a DTP 230 output for extending HDMI, audio, and bidirectional control signals to DTP 230 transmitters and receivers, each over a single CATx cable up to 230 feet (70 meters). The IN1608 provides the convenience of supporting local and remote displays with fast and reliable input switching, and a high performance scaling engine that converts all HDMI and analog sources to the optimal resolution. Selectable output resolutions are available up to 1920x1200, including 1080p and 2K. The IN1608 also includes a host of audio switching and processing features. It is available as a standard model with two stereo audio outputs, the IN1608 SA that adds a stereo 4/8 ohm power amplifier, and the IN1608 MA with a mono 70 volt amplifier. Together with flexible control options and many additional features, the IN1608 provides complete AV system integration capabilities.
"The IN1608 provides complete AV switching, scaling, twisted pair signal extension, and audio amplification in one box," says Casey Hall, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Extron. "Integrators can take advantage of the built-in DTP extension to streamline system designs in conference rooms, lecture halls, and other environments with local and remote sources and displays."
The two DTP 230 twisted pair inputs can receive signals from remote DTP 230 transmitters in areas such as a conference table, lectern, or wall for connecting a guest laptop. The DTP 230 twisted pair output can be used to transmit from an IN1608 in a rack to a DTP 230 receiver behind a flat-panel display on a wall, above a ceiling-mounted projector, or any other remote location. To simplify installation, bidirectional RS-232 and IR signals can be inserted from a control system and transmitted over the single CATx cable together with the video and audio, enabling control of a source or display. The IN1608 can also remotely power each of the DTP 230 transmitters and receiver over the same CATx cable, streamlining system design and installation.
In addition to video switching and processing, the IN1608 can serve as the central component for audio system integration. It includes eight-input audio switching, two mic/line inputs, HDMI audio embedding and de-embedding, and several audio processing features for mixing, ducking, tone adjustments, and more. Audio configuration features and options can easily be accessed through the internal Web pages, with an intuitive GUI that provides access to all available adjustments and settings. Two IN1608 models feature integrated power amplifiers. The IN1608 SA delivers stereo power amplification with 50 watts rms per channel into 4 ohms and 25 watts rms per channel into 8 ohms, while the IN1608 MA provides mono 70 volt amplification with 100 watts rms output.
The IN1608 features an advanced scaling engine that can scale HDMI, RGB, component, and standard definition video signals to a common high resolution output. It provides high performance 1080i deinterlacing and Deep Color processing to deliver optimal image quality. To simplify integration of HDMI sources and displays, and to help ensure optimal system performance and dependability, the IN1608 features three Extron-exclusive technologies: EDID Minder®, Key Minder®, and SpeedSwitch®. EDID Minder and Key Minder automatically manage EDID communication and HDCP key negotiation between input and output devices to ensure reliable operation. With SpeedSwitch Technology, the IN1608 delivers virtually instantaneous switching speeds for HDCP-encrypted content.


text:
Advertisement |
Thandiwe Adjewa "Thandie" Newton (born 6 November 1972) is an English actress. She has appeared in a number of successful British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Run, Fat Boy, Run, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, 2012, and W.
Newton was born in London, England, and is the daughter of Nyasha, a Zimbabwean health-care worker, and Nick Newton, an English laboratory technician and artist. Her birthplace has been incorrectly reported to be Zambia in some biographies, however she has confirmed in interviews that she was born in London, during a two-week trip by her parents. The name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" in Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa or Swazi, and "Thandie" is pronounced /ˈtændi/ TAN-dee in English. According to Newton, her mother is a Zimbabwean Shona Princess. Raised in London and Penzance, Cornwall, she went on to study Archaeology and Anthropology at Downing College, Cambridge, from 1992 to 1995, where she achieved a 2:1.
Newton made her film debut in Flirting (1991). She gained international recognition in the Merchant Ivory production of Jefferson in Paris as Sally Hemings, which led to her being cast in Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998), in which she played the title character. She played the female lead Nyah Hall in the film Mission: Impossible II. When this film went over schedule, she had to pull out of the film Charlie's Angels, and her character ultimately went to Lucy Liu.


text:
'Dexter' Final Season Poster: Dark Passenger Under Wraps
We know that 'Dexter' season 8 will prove the final year for Showtime's beloved serial killer, but the real question lies in who -- if not Dexter himself -- will survive the final cut. Plenty of fans have their money on certain supporting characters getting the figurative (and possibly literal) axe, but will Dexter himself find himself under plastic? The latest poster for 'Dexter's final season certainly seems to say so!
'Dexter' won't premiere his eighth and final season until Sunday June 30, but Showtime doesn't mind driving fans into a frenzy two months in advance. The premium cable network has unwrapped the latest key art and poster from the upcoming final season of 'Dexter,' featuring our titular hero ominously trapped beneath his own iconic plastic wrap.
Naturally, the poster was designed to imply that Dexter Morgan might not survive the season, or possibly face retribution for his many murders over the years, but could it prove a misdirect? And if not Dexter, who else from the supporting cast might end up on the table?
'Dexter' season 8 will feature appearances from returning Yvonne Strahovski's Hannah McKay, '24' villain Julian Sands as a wealthy international businessman, 'One Tree Hill's' Bethany Joy Lenz as Dexter's new neighbor Cassie, 'Last Resort' star Darri Ingolfsson as her antique-dealing love interest, 'Entourage's' Rhys Coiro as a bail jumper on Deb's radar, 'The Walking Dead' star Nick Gomez as a hitman that goes up against Deb, Charlotte Rampling as criminal profiling neuro-psychiatrist Dr. Evelyn Vogel, and 'The Boondock Saints' star Sean Patrick Flanery as ex-cop-turned-private-eye Jacob Elroy.
Check out the ominous poster for 'Dexter's final season below, and give us your season 8 theories in the comments!


text:
I have a custom SharePoint timer job which needs access to a WCF service.
Access to that service is configured via WCF endpoints in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\BIN\OWSTimer.exe.config file. The configuration also has a custom section defined in the configuration\configSections section which references an external dll which tacks on extra security information to the WCF channel.
I want to move the configuration out of the timer service's config file to another location so that we are not in a situation where the WSP which installs the dependent dll is uninstalled but the config is left in the config file causing the timer job to consistently fail.
What other ways are there to store the timer job WCF endpoints and behaviors (including a custom behavior) as well a custom config section dependent on an external dll, other than in the timer job's config file?
Any help is appreciated.


text:
The Adafruit blog just posted a neat papercraft resistor calculator. If you haven't yet learned the horribly offensive mnemonic for resistor color codes, now's your chance to have a cheap and portable resistor value reference.
This papercraft resistor calculator is the latest in the family of Circuit Playground tools that include a fabulous electronic reference app we reviewed some months ago. Instead of an Android or iOS device, the papercraft resistor calculator runs on its own mechanical computer; a series of four printed disks and some paper fasteners.
If you'd like to print out your own resistor calculator, Adafruit put up the PDF on GitHub and posted the Illustrator file on Thingiverse for easy editing. It's not the old-school cool of a slide rule, but we could easily see this resistor calculator being useful if you're ever lucky enough to teach electronics to children. At least then you won't have to share that offensive mnemonic.


text:
We Ship worldwide! receive free shipping with a purchase of $99 or more Learn More
These garments are made from quality turkey feathers, hand sewn onto a Half Coat lining. They are cut true to size. There are no gaps between the feathers, so the effect is truly fur-like. They are perfect for bridal parties, proms, or just an all around elegant dinner.


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Pride: We take pride in what we do, how we do it and why we do it. We honor the nobility of our profession
Fair: and Impartial Policing: We treat all persons with respect, dignity and fairness
Neutrality: We make decisions based on fact and not personal biases
Integrity: We are ethical. We communicate openly and listen actively and serve with transparency.
Teamwork: We believe in using teams and collaboration to solve problems.
Trust: We commit ourselves to building trust and being trustworthy
Wellness: We care about each other's wellbeing, and we support each other in meaningful ways


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Hundreds of websites share usernames sans permission
Photobucket, Wall Street Journal, Home Depot take liberties with your personal info
Home Depot, The Wall Street Journal, Photobucket, and hundreds of other websites share visitor's names, usernames, or other personal information with advertisers or other third parties, often without disclosing the practice in privacy policies, academic researchers said.
Sixty-one percent of websites tested by researchers from Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society leaked the personal information, sometimes to dozens of third-party partners. Home Depot, for example, disclosed the first names and email addresses of visitors who clicked on an ad to 13 companies. The Wall Street Journal divulged to seven of its partners the email address of users who enter the wrong password. And Photobucket handed over the usernames of those who use the site to share images with their friends.
The report comes as US officials have proposed a mandatory Do Not Track option for all websites. Some operators have argued such measures are unnecessary because their systems for tracking visitors' browsing histories aren't linked to a user's specific identity.
In the report, Jonathan Mayer, a Stanford graduate student who led the study, argued against the claim that the online tracking is anonymous. A username alone, he explained, is often more than adequate to identify the owner, and when it's combined with other information, such as his geographic location or first name, even widely used usernames can be uniquely assigned to an individual.
"We believe there is now overwhelming evidence that third-party web tracking is not anonymous," he wrote. "It is a legitimate policy question whether, on balance, Do Not Track should be enforced by law. But the difficult weighing of competing privacy risks and economics can't be short-circuited by claims of anonymity."
The report studied websites included in the Quantcast top 250 that offered user signups, didn't require a purchase or other qualification to create a username, and didn't include so many features as to be impractical for study. Of the 185 sites that met the three criteria, 113 of them included usernames and other identifiers in the URLs they shared with advertisers and analytics partners. The five biggest recipients were ComScore, Google Analytics, Google's DoubleClick, Quantcast, and Facebook.
The report cited privacy policies of many of the websites that appeared to make no mention of the practice. The WSJ's, for example, says: "We will not sell, rent, or share your personal information with these third parties for such parties' own marketing purposes." In its own policy, Home Depot says it "will not trade, rent or sell your personal information, without your prior consent."
The Stanford researchers have previously documented a variety of attempts by websites and marketers to track users's browsing habits, sometimes when they've taken pains to remain anonymous.


text:
Home made Fresh Guava Juice | Fresh Juice Recipe
Hi Friends,really sorry for my disappearing was quite busy with work.Here am back with a refreshing juice. I mostly like guava when it's juiced.This is very simple juice yet healthy juice.
I used to buy this pink guava which is rich in vitamins and the juice also very sweet and yum.
The more you eat of the ripened guava or its freshly extracted juice, the more health benefits that you can gain. It is said that the reddish fleshed guava contains more nutrients than the white fleshed guava. So it would be more advisable for you if you choose to buy and extract juices from the pinkish or reddish fleshed guava.
You Need:
1 cup Fresh Pink/Red Guava,Peeled and chopped.
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 cup cold water
Ice Cubes
1/2 inch Ginger (optional)
1.Wash Guava and peel the skin.
2.Simply add little sugar,ginger(optional) and cold water and blend it in juicer or blender.
3.Don't forget to filter out the hard seeds.
4.Add ice cubes while serving.
The resulted guava juice is very tasty and refreshing especially in hot weather.


text:
Before end-of-semester madness, I was looking at how shifts in vocabulary usage occur. In many cases, I found, vocabulary change doesn't happen evenly across across all authors. Instead, it can happen generationally; older people tend to use words at the rate that was common in their youth, and younger people anticipate future word patterns. An eighty-year-old in 1880 uses a world like "outside" more like a 40-year-old in 1840 than he does like a 40-year-old in 1880. The original post has a more detailed explanation.
Will had some some good questions in the comments about how different words fit these patterns. Looking at different types of words should help find some more ways that this sort of investigation is interesting, and show how different sorts of language vary. But to look at other sorts of words, I should be a little clearer about the kind of words I chose the first time through. If I can describe the usage pattern for a "word like 'outside'," just what kind of words are like 'outside'? Can we generalize the trend that they demonstrate?


text:
Visualize your attacks workshop in Dubai 10-12th
09 Jan 2013 Sjur Usken dubai2013 honeynet workshop
We have interviewed Raffy, who is one of the teachers for the Honeynet Workshop in Dubai 10-12 of February. Raffy will give the following talk: How Big Data, Data Mining, and Visualization Enable Security Intelligence and a class on Information Visualization - Bridging the Gap Between Tufte and Firewalls"
So Marty, tell us, why did you become a security expert?
I studied computer science with an emphasis on cryptography. While I loved the mathematical puzzles that the crypto field offered, I couldn't imagine doing that for a living. However, I was intrigued by all the stories around applied crypto that our professor was telling us. For example, how they printed the source code of PGP into a book and then shipped the book to Switzerland, where it was scanned in again. All of which to circumvent the then in active export laws. These stories got me interested in computer security or hacking. A passion that I still pursue.
What will you talk about in your workshop?
I am talking about data analytics and visualization. How can you make sense of the millions of records that you are collecting in your environment. How do you process the data and how do you visualize it to make the data quickly digestible by a human analyst. Soup to nuts: data to visuals.
What do you love the most being a security expert?
The ever changing environment. What we think we have under control today changes tomorrow. We also have to know about all kinds of different aspects of system: networks, operating systems, applications, cryptography, design, engineering, etc. It's a huge and very interesting technical playground.
What do you think the future security threats will be like?
We are already seeing signs of what is to come. People use their phones to take pictures of computer screens to exfiltrate highly sensitive information. Very targeted, very subtle attacks. And then we'll see much more on cyberwarfare. A number of governments are very open about their investments in offensive cyber activities.
What is your best tip for security professionals today?
Not sure I have a 'best tip'. What has always served me well was my hunger for understanding systems and how things work. I spent (and still do) countless hours trying to understand a specific technology. We need experts that know what they are talking about.
Why should people come to or sponsor the upcoming (and awesome) HP workshop in Dubai?
The honeynet project brings together some of the most influential and smartest people in the security field. Being able to help these people hold the workshop will advance the overall state of security of the Internet. The honeynet project makes all of their research available for free, which is a huge service to the public. Being able to back and support such an effort is not just a great gesture for the greater good, but also a beneficial cause to be attributed with.


text:
September 5, 2019
The IBC2019 Best Technical Paper award will be presented to Sebastian Schwarz and Mika Pesonen of Nokia Technologies and Jani Nurminen, co-founder of Innogiant. Their paper, Real-time decoding and AR playback of the emerging MPEG video-based point cloud compression standard, is a comprehensive and concise look at the prospects for delivering immersive experiences to mobile devices, using the currently available hardware.
Reflecting the rapidly growing interest in augmented and virtual reality experiences, the authors are part of a research team working on new standards and their implementation. MPEG (ISO/IEC SC29 WG11) has developed an ambitious programme for the compression and transmission of time-varying, three dimensional objects using a technique known as point-cloud coding. Once decoded, these objects can be easily incorporated into VR or AR productions. The proposed technique is known as V-PCC, for video point cloud coding.
A clever feature of the coding is that it takes advantage of existing video coding technology, such as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC or HEVC. Decoders for these codecs are already found in today's smartphones, so this should accelerate the time to market of the new technology as well as delivering high compression efficiency and image quality.
"This paper looks at the central issue of this approach: the necessity to transform and synchronise three simultaneous streams, bearing the geometry information, the texture information, and the occupancy in 3D space," said Dr Paul Entwistle, chair of the IBC technical papers committee. "It impressed the committee with its practical analysis – discussing the possibilities and the challenges still to be faced, while recognising that the goal is something consumers are actively seeking."
Sebastian Schwarz said "As we move towards the publication of the standard in early 2020, this paper will serve as a reference for the V-PCC AR playback source code. Clearly, IBC is the best place to share and discuss this work, and we were pleased our paper was selected for the technical papers programme. To receive the award for the best technical paper is a real honour. Our thanks go to the peer reviewers who selected our work."
The paper will be presented in the conference at 15.30 on Saturday 14 September. The trophy will be presented during the IBC Awards Ceremony on Sunday 15 September, which will also see the new Social Responsibility and Young Pioneer Awards revealed for the first time, alongside the IBC Innovation Awards and the International Honour for Excellence. All IBC visitors are welcomed at the Awards Ceremony, which is free.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190905005457/en/


text:
Posted by Editoress on 09/21/04
Granny Gear Career Opportunity
Courtesy Granny Gear Productions
Granny Gear has an exciting opportunity for the right person and we are looking to talk with that individual this fall, right after our 10th Annual 24 Hours of Moab race. If you or a friend is looking for a chance to work with a tight knit, fast paced team, in the heart of great biking country - email us right away.
Position open: November 2004
Accepting resumes by mail/email only - until position is filled - No Phone Calls Please.
Position: Production Manager Position at Granny Gear Productions
This person is responsible for many of Granny's long-term projects associated with the 24 Hour Race Series. Serving in a supporting role to the President, the person should have some grant writing experience, and be experienced with advertising buys and print media. Person should be able to work in Adobe creative applications to produce collateral, retail items and eye-catching designs for Granny Gear. Must be a problem solver who can research new solutions under tight deadlines.
Position is full time and includes travel to great locations 7 times a year minimum (places like Moab, Northern California, Temecula California and beautiful Canaan Valley) This person must have a sense of humor, wear many hats and be an individual who is always organized. Position includes health care, and paid vacation benefits - salary will be commensurate to candidate's experience.
Position open November 2004, we will begin interviews immediately after the 24 Hours of Moab. Visit our web site to learn more about our company and what we do. www.grannygear.com
Location: This position requires a move to Granny Gear headquarters for employment. Granny Gear is based in Davis, WV adjacent to nationally known Canaan Valley. Tucker County has two state parks, America's 500th National Wildlife Refuge, and thousands of miles of trails and wild rivers. The area sees 180+ inches of natural snowfall annually and is minutes from ski areas. Canaan Valley is the Mountain Biking haven of the Eastern USA and is quiet and affordable rural living in a small mountain town. Our office is a quick walk to the best restaurant in town and right next to the trail.
Duties include:
Working with customers through online registration and on all communication channels - to communicate better with racers.
Working with Corporate Sponsors to leverage their sponsorship at events
Scheduling, design, and implementation of Granny Gear media buys, media liaison
Scheduling & logistics expertise for staff and equipment on site at events
Event development, safety protocols, and permitting
Sourcing of equipment, retail items and prizes from suppliers
Supervision of office staff on a project basis
Coordinator for marketing of Granny Gear, including direct mail campaigns
Responsibility for Granny Gear's participation in the West Virginia Ad Grant
And as always - other duties as assigned - this small team moves very fast to host world-class events across the country!
Recommended Experience:
The ideal candidate is a person who holds a college degree in marketing (or related field) and has three or more years experience in promotion, marketing or bike industry. Person must articulate ideas well, be a fast learner and truly enjoy people - as our team consists of 3 full time staff. Full computer literacy with both Microsoft office and Adobe software products is needed. Individual must love to travel - to great locations in North America, 7+ times each year. Granny Gear will be on the road for events 18 weeks during 2005 - bring your bike! Any experience with racing, volunteers, and biking is a plus but not required. Granny Gear is an equal opportunity employer and seeks applicants from a wide range of experience.
To Apply for this position
Please send a resume and cover letter
A writing sample
Detailed salary requirements
A list of five professional references
To Carl Bolyard email@example.com or mail them to:
Granny Gear Productions
Production Manager Search
Davis, WV. 26260
(No phone calls please)
Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top |


text:
More than at any previous time in history, global public health security depends on international cooperation and the willingness of all countries to act effectively in tackling new and emerging threats.
That is the clear message of this year's World health report entitled A safer future: global public health security in the 21st century, which concludes with six key recommendations to secure the highest level of global public health security:
full implementation of the revised International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) by all countries;
global cooperation in surveillance and outbreak alert and response;
open sharing of knowledge, technologies and materials, including viruses and other laboratory samples, necessary to optimize secure global public health;
global responsibility for capacity building within the public health infrastructure of all countries;
cross-sector collaboration within governments; and
increased global and national resources for training, surveillance, laboratory capacity, response networks, and prevention campaigns.
In our increasingly interconnected world, new diseases are emerging at an unprecedented rate, often with the ability to cross borders rapidly and spread. Since 1967, at least 39 new pathogens have been identified, including HIV, Ebola haemorrhagic fever, Marburg fever and SARS. Other centuries-old threats, such as pandemic influenza, malaria and tuberculosis, continue to pose a threat to health through a combination of mutation, rising resistance to antimicrobial medicines and weak health systems.
Universal vulnerability
"Given today's universal vulnerability to these threats, better security calls for global solidarity," said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. "International public health security is both a collective aspiration and a mutual responsibility. The new watchwords are diplomacy, cooperation, transparency and preparedness."
The need for global solidarity is especially clear in the response to outbreaks of infectious diseases. This month, WHO has been closely involved in the response to an outbreak of Marburg fever in Uganda. Together with partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) — including the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), M?decins sans Fronti?res, the Uganda Virus Research Institute, and African Field Epidemiology Network and local NGOs — WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health to strengthen active surveillance, contact tracing, infection control, logistics, and social mobilization activities in an effort to contain the outbreak.
The team is carefully studying conditions surrounding the initial transmission, in the hope of improving understanding of where the virus resides in nature and how it passes to humans, improving the ability to predict and prevent outbreaks in the future.
WHO and its partners are closely involved in the global response to H5N1 avian influenza, which has caused huge outbreaks in poultry and at least 308 human deaths since it was first isolated in humans in 1997.
Evolution of outbreak surveillance and response
This World health report traces the history of efforts to contain infectious diseases (including plague, cholera and smallpox). It describes the evolution of outbreak surveillance and response activities of international partnerships of agencies and technical institutions. These include GOARN, the chemical and environmental health incident alert and response system, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is supporting surveillance of many other vaccine-preventable diseases.
The report shows how and why diseases are increasingly threatening global public health security. High and rapid mobility of people is one factor. Airlines now carry more than 2 billion passengers a year, enabling people and the diseases that travel with them to pass from one country to another in a matter of hours. The potential health and economic impact was seen in 2003 with SARS, which cost Asian countries an estimated US$ 60 billion of gross expenditure and business losses.
The report outlines some of the human factors behind public health insecurity, including:
inadequate investment in public health resulting from a false sense of security in the absence of infectious disease outbreaks;
unexpected policy changes such as a decision temporarily to halt immunization in Nigeria, which led to the re-emergence of polio cases;
conflict situations when forced migration obliges people to live in overcrowded, unhygienic and impoverished conditions heightening the risk of epidemics;
microbial evolution and antibiotic resistance; and
and animal husbandry and food processing threats such as the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Nipah virus.
Strategy to tackle pandemic influenza
Pandemic influenza is described as the most feared threat to health security in our times. The report sets out the WHO strategic action plan to respond to a pandemic, draws attention to the need for stronger health systems and for continued vigilance in managing the risks and consequences of the international spread of polio and the newly emerging strain of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). New health threats have also emerged, linked to potential terrorist attacks, chemical incidents and radionuclear accidents.
The revised International Health Regulations (2005) are based on the premise that no country can fully protect its citizens in isolation or through traditional border controls. The IHR 2005 is a set of rules that governs how countries should assess and report to WHO public health emergencies of potential international concern. The broad definitions of "public health risk", "disease" and "event" ensure that risks caused by the accidental or intentional release of pathogens or chemical or radionuclear materials are covered by the Regulations.
Since the IHR 2005 entered into force, almost all of the 193 WHO Member States have established their national IHR focal points, with 179 designations. Since then, WHO has been receiving alerts of health events on a regular basis, conducting joint risk assessments with the notifying State(s) and sharing real-time information with other Member States.


text:
Nashua, NH, 2016-Jul-14 — /EPR INDUSTRIAL NEWS/ — Express Assembly Products has extended it cordless Li-ion battery torque line with two new Angle Torque Wrenches. Our new Angle Torque Wrenches have brushless motors for more power, high precision full auto shut-off clutches for torque accuracy and improved battery life, adjustable angle heads for ease of use, external torque adjustment for torque control, and built-in smart logic for battery conservation. Jack Hagerty, head of sales, for Express Assembly Products says "We have experienced a huge demand in the assembly industry for repeatable reliable torque with the freedom of cordless tools. These new cordless torque wrenches meet that demand and we now have many customers using these tools in their assembly applications."
EAW Cordless Angle Wrenches specifications:
Model: EAW-B1830-20 drive = 3/8", torque = 8.85 – 22.12 ft-lbs, RPM 270/420
Model: EAW-B1860-40 drive = 1/2", torque = 18.44 – 44.35 ft-lbs, RPM 130/200
Our cordless torque tools come with brushless motors, a 2-year warrantee and a certificate of torque accuracy. Its ergonomic design reduces the counterforces felt by the operator reducing overall operator fatigue. Sumake tools are manufactured for today's complexed industrial assembly applications.
Express Assembly
Express Assembly Products is one of the largest single sources of light torque assembly tools and related products on the web. The company offers a wide range of electric, pneumatic and torque screwdrivers, as well as a full range of accessories and stands for industrial assembly. Express Assembly offers a Calibration Certification program and is an authorized service center for all screwdrivers and torque meters that it sells. For more information, please visitwww.expressassembly.com
Express Assembly Products, LLC
One Chestnut Street
Suite 215
Nashua, NH 03060
Deanna Zell
Express Assembly Products
603 578-9965
Via EPR Network
More Industrial press releases


text:
For the past few weeks, Guitar Techniques have been posting sections of this bumper feature showing you how to dramatically increase your rock soloing potential, and boost your fingerboard knowledge at the same time. Here, though, are all 50 licks in the same place for the first time. Scroll down for the full tutorial, and check out the gallery for larger tab…
The main focus here in terms of vocabulary is classic rock, which we're going to define for the purposes of this study as pre-Van Halen, so you'll find no eight-finger tapping, no three-octave sweep picked arpeggios and no 32nd-note legato monster licks. What you will find, however, is a choice selection of medium-tempo classic rock phrases that are stylistically diverse, melodically flexible, and display a wide range of articulation and dynamic devices.
They are all also completely useable to guitarists of many levels and in a variety of settings. It's arguable that it's this mid-tempo range phrasing that really establishes the character of a rock guitarist. When the tempo gets cranked up there are generally less workable options.
You'll often find the same fingerings and melodic pathways being adopted by a large number of players, but it's the melodic phrasing and note selection that really allows their personality to shine through.
This study divides the fretboard into five areas, or positions. As the pentatonic scale forms the basis for a huge amount of rock soloing, each area relates directly to the scale's associated CAGED minor form (see below).
Scale diagrams
For each area of activity we have presented ten different ideas - a lick, a melodic fragment, or some form of sequential permutation of the notes. Whilst the pentatonic scale is generally at the core of each idea, we are by no means restricted to it exclusively.
Follow the associated text for each idea and all will become clear. You have two strategic choices when approaching this study. The first is to work through each idea in sequence with a single isolated fretboard position. While we're at it, ensure that you can move each idea through a selection of keys.
It's fair to say that rock styles tend to favour the keys of E, A, D and G, so start with these before eventually aiming for fluency in every key. The second option is to read through the pages, and therefore move along the fretboard horizontally. Moving each associated idea (bends, for example) in sequence through each of the CAGED minor pentatonic shapes.
The beauty of the five-position system
We've purposefully designed each example to be distinctly different from the next, to achieve a spread and balance of musical ideas that forces you to exploit the full range of the fretboard and, most importantly, exploit the individual fingering potential inherent within each form. The beauty of the five-position system is that it gives you some very bold and instantly identifiable visual, aural and physical landmarks when learning new ideas.
You get nowhere by brushing stuff under the carpet, so once you spot a weak area, or fretboard 'blind-spot' you can then take remedial action. Another way to expand your knowledge is to imagine you have to write all of the examples for this lesson, and you can't use any of the ones we've already presented. Go on, we dare you! You'll learn a huge amount in a very short and focused time, we promise you.
First up: area one licks, example tab and playing tips
Playing tips: area one
Listen: licks 1-10
Example 1.1: Phrasing
Let's begin with a Brian May-style lick. It's got an interesting melodic shape, a great rhythmic structure, a marvellous sense of flow and perfect grace and composure. What more does a great rock lick need?
Example 1.2: Bends
We could have filled this entire article with bending licks from this area! We'll just give you this Hendrix-inspired chord-tone beauty and leave you to find the other 49 for yourselves. Intonation and control are the issues here so use your ears and watch your tuning.
Example 1.3: Repetition
Before there was Paul Gilbert, there was Steve Morse. Without divulging the picking secrets of the 'Rock Guitar Magic Circle Society, examine how the hammer-ons in bar 2 facilitate greater speed and stamina.
Example 1.4: Intervallic/Slide
Nothing earth-shattering from a note perspective here; it's the articulation that counts. Consider your fingering options as this is a massive influence on your effectiveness in executing the idea cleanly and efficiently.
Example 1.5: Sequential (Descending)
Where would Thin Lizzy (or indeed Jimmy Page) be without this lick? We're looking at a descending sequence of three notes, transposed to each potential starting note from the minor pentatonic.
Next: area one (part two)
Area one (part two)
Listen: licks 1-10
Example 1.6: Sequential (Ascending)
Here's the reverse ascending version. Notice that this is not an exact mirror image of the descending version, but when you attempt to connect the two up at any point within the sequence everything should make perfect sense.
Example 1.7: Triadic/Arpeggio
We shall ease you into our triadic based section with a simple three-against-four idea. Again, intonation (tuning between the notes) is a huge issue, so make sure you're perfectly in tune.
Example 1.8: Double-Stop
Down in Louisiana, a boy named Johnny (okay, only my mother calls me Johnny and it was really Liverpool) came up with this double-stop lick. The thickening effect of playing two notes at once is remarkably effective when projection is an issue.
Example 1.9: Scalar
Before there was Yngwie we had Randy! This three-notes-per-string finger-twister neatly boxes in our first area pentatonic shape, and fills in the scale tones courtesy of the Aeolian-endorsed and metal-approved flattened 6th (F) and natural 2nd (B)!
Example 1.10: Horizontal
Unison bends sound great. Fact! None more so than when Jimi Hendrix employed them. Here we're spelling out the harmonically sophisticated Am11th arpeggio (A, C, E, G, D). Who said rockers couldn't mix it with the intellectuals?
Next: area two
Playing tips: area two
Listen: licks 11-20
Example 2.1: Phrasing
If Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy were to collaborate and create the mother of all area two licks, this is what we think they'd come up with.
Example 2.2: Bends
The essence of three guitar gods within three bars! In bar 2 we have Jimi's take on area two, in bar 3 we make the shift toward Steve Lukather, and finally in bar 4 we see how Jimmy Page, Dave Gilmour and Joe Walsh might incorporate some Albert King bending.
Example 2.3: Repetition
Gary Moore is the inspiration behind this repetitive cyclic idea, based entirely on the minor pentatonic. Notice how in the sped-up version we're replacing.
Example 2.4: Slides
The abundance of tone gaps on the high strings is exploited fully in this slippery example. Ensure that the three-fret slide in bar 2 gets to pitch accurately.
Example 2.5: Sequential (Descending)
This triplet-based example is again derived from a sequence of three, although this time it alternates between descending and ascending notes. Pull-off s and hammer-ons are used whenever possible to achieve a smooth 'legato' sound.
Next: area two (part two)
Area two (part two)
Listen: licks 11-20
Example 2.6: Sequential (Ascending)
And here is the ascending version of the same idea. You can loop this alternating sequence of ascending and descending threes at any point in the sequence.
Example 2.7: Triadic/Arpeggio
We begin with a rhythmically displaced minor triad. Later in bar 1 the 5th of the triad is flattened for a more sinister sound. Then we exploit the sophisticated minor-add2 arpeggio (R 2 b3 5), but the bends stop things from sounding clinical.
Example 2.8: Double-stops
Jimi Hendrix meets Steve Cropper with this double-stop idea, initially based around the perfect fourths that are found on the first three strings within this area. As the lick progresses we get more scalar, adding the sweet sounding 2nd/9th into the mix.
Example 2.9: Scalar/Pedal-point
When approaching the A minor scale (A B C D E F G), all of the open strings are available to us as they correspond to notes found within the scale. This Gary Moore-inspired phrase showcases this concept perfectly.
Example 2.10: Horizontal
There are two pathways through the minor pentatonic scale that traverse the fingerboard using nothing but tone gaps and slides. This is the first of these pathways, and is a highly effective device to cover ground in a logical and highly musical way.
Next: area three
Playing tips: area three
Listen: licks 21-30
Example 3.1: Phrasing
Ritchie Blackmore inspired this arpeggio/scale combination phrase, utilising the minor triad, the flattened 5th interval, and the minor pentatonic add 2 scale (A B C D E G), with elements of blues phrasing in the final bar.
Example 3.2: Bends
We're in Jimmy Page territory here, with a Herculean bend between the minor 3rd (C) and the perfect 5th (E) of our intended A minor chord. That's four frets! The reduced tension of the second string (and using support fi ngers) makes this perfectly feasible.
Example 3.3: Repetition
This nifty move between a bent note and rapid pull-off requires both precision and stamina, so be patient when building it up to both the necessary speed and duration.
Example 3.4: Slides/Double-stops
The interval of a 6th is effective within all styles of music, implying a great sense of sophistication, and rock is no exception. This idea switches between articulate intervallic skipped single-notes and harmonically dense double-stops.
Example 3.5: Sequential (Descending)
This idea is based around a descending sequence of four. While it's a great idea to move these ideas through a complete scale in its entire range, you may find it more effective to use just a short fragment of each pattern.
Next: area three (part two)
Area three (part two)
Listen: licks 21-30
Example 3.6: Sequential (Ascending)
Once again, here's the mirror-image ascending version of the previous pattern.
Example 3.7: Triadic/Arpeggio
This Iron Maiden inspired idea superimposes the triads of A minor, G and F against a static root note. It works because all of these chords can be found within the harmonised A minor scale, on degrees I (Am), flattened 7th (G), and flattened 6th (F).
Example 3.8: Double-Stop
Here's a Blackmore-inspired riff . The pentatonic scale works great when played in double-stops, as this phrase demonstrates. Needless to say, you should get to work with ideas of this nature throughout all of the remaining positions.
Example 3.9: Scalar
Here we're using the 5th degree (E) as a pivot, ascending through various degrees of A minor scale but always returning to the E 'pedal-tone' after each new note.
Example 3.10: Horizontal
Most players have 'standard' devices that they often use when creating solos. These go some way to establishing the personal identity or signature sound of the artist. This idea comes from Tony Iommi, and can be found all over the place in his soloing.
Next: area four
Playing tips: area four
Listen: licks 31-40
Example 4.1: Phrasing
This bending idea demonstrates that the rhythm of a phrase is as important as the note selection. Rock requires conviction, so be bold and play with authority.
Example 4.2: Bends
The trick to this finger twister is to bend the first string at the 15th fret and allow your finger to push the second string at the same time, without sounding it. Once the bend is up to pitch, shift the weight of this finger (try the third) over to the second string, which should be already bent up a tone. Sound this note and then return the string to its unbent pitch. Jimi Hendrix and Joe Walsh have used this idea.
Example 4.3: Repetition
We're taking the liberty of exploiting open strings with this example, so the idea is not easily transposable. Restrictions aside, it's still a useful and musically effective pull-off lick that will put your fretting-hand stamina and accuracy to the test. Aim for as much volume as possible and remember that the best way to make sustainable progress is to increase speed a little bit at a time.
Example 4.4: Slides
Again, we're making great use of all the tone gaps present within the pentatonic scale, although in the second bar we're upping the ante with a minor 3rd slide. Streams of 16th notes can be exciting to listen to, but your timing precision is crucial. Don't be afraid to start slow (and I mean SLOW) and build up speed gradually when everything is under complete control.
Example 4.5: Sequential (Descending)
This idea utilises an ascending intervallic pattern that shifts through the minor pentatonic scale from each degree in a descending direction. We're also rhythmically displacing four-against-three, and these two factors combine to produce a jaunty, jagged and rhythmically propulsive musical phrase. Take time to consolidate your picking though - no slides or legato to hide behind here!
Next: area four (part two)
Area four (part two)
Listen: licks 31-40
Example 4.6: Sequential (Ascending)
Back to our sequences of three, this time the direction has been switched around so that each three-note group descends, but then the entire 'cell' ascends through each scale degree. Feel free to try any numeric permutation you see fit.
Example 4.7: Triadic/Arpeggio
I'm coming over all nostalgic as I present to you my first sweep-picked lick. It still sounds great after all these years, although I've got a dim recollection that I used to play it at least a couple of times in every single solo, much to everyone else's disgust! This lick morphs from Blackmore to Clapton. You may find that alternate picking is the way to go for the final bar.
Example 4.8: Double-stop
We begin this lick with a crunchy oblique bend - one note remains stationary whilst another moves. In bars 2 and 3 we're mixing things up, with some diatonic thirds and chord tones, ending on yet another oblique double-stop bend in a higher register.
Example 4.9: Arpeggio/Scalar
Here we're seamlessly making the transition from a minor triad arpeggio to a connecting fragment based around the associated diatonic minor scale. See if you can come up with a selection of variations based around this idea. Once again, the rhythm and flow of each phrase is a crucial factor in determining the eff ectiveness of each new musical idea.
Example 4.10: Horizontal
Although Slash is a modern rock player, his style belongs to the 'classic' era. This Slash-style lick moves predominantly along the length of a single string and it is derived from the exotic sounding Harmonic minor scale (R 2 b3 4 5 b6 7). Be careful with the rapid position shifts and slides. Build up speed gradually with the assistance of the advancing guitarist's best friend: the metronome.
Next: area five
Playing tips: area five
Listen: licks 41-50
Example 5.1: Phrasing
The only thing that separates many classic rock phrases from their closely related blues cousins is the amount of gain and dynamic attack. This lick is one such example and would be equally at home in either setting.
Example 5.2: Bends
Each position presents new possibilities, with the new fingering placing different notes under string-bending fingers. Here the minor 3rd bend between E and G is easily attainable as it is found under the third finger. To achieve the same sonic result in Area 1 you would either have to use your first finger (not the most desirable digit!) or shift back a position, which effectively puts you in area 5 anyway.
Example 5.3: Repetition
The first bar of this example features a triplet hammer-on pattern that toggles between the use of the major 6th and the flattened 7th intervals, both present in the harmonically appropriate Dorian mode (R 2 b3 4 5 6 b7). Paul Kossoff was particularly fond of using this kind of idea. He also had one of the best vibratos in rock (ask Joe Bonamassa), so we'd urge you to check him out!
Example 5.4: Slides/pedal-tone
Here's a pedal-tone idea that is melodically simple yet retains interest via the use of some crafty slides. It's also got a rather interesting rhythmic shape. Why not keep the rhythm and change the notes to come up with an idea of your own?
Example 5.5: Sequential (Descending)
We can view this pattern as a descending four-note group that has been shifted forward by a single 16th note, or alternatively as a three-note pattern that goes 3 2 1 3, and then descends from each scale degree in turn.
Next: area five (part two)
Area five (part two)
Listen: licks 41-50
Example 5.6: Sequential (Ascending)
And here's the ascending form of the same pattern.
Example 5.7: Triadic
Randy Rhoads was responsible for this one, although Django definitely got there first, and Les Paul wasn't too far behind! We're essentially trilling from the semitone below each chord-tone to the intended target note. Aim to stay in time. You can start with 16th-notes (four notes per click) and aim to work your way up to 16th note triplets (six notes per click).
Example 5.8: Double-stops
We've taken a few liberties here, as strictly speaking numerous notes are out of position. This is to maintain fingering integrity, and it sounds cool. Most of the intervals are a perfect 4th apart, with two major 3rd exceptions in the first and third bars.
Example 5.9: Scalar
Our penultimate example comes to you courtesy of Journey's Neal Schon, and features the popular add-on to the minor pentatonic of the natural 2nd degree, creating a scale with the logical title of minor pentatonic add 2 (R 2 3 4 5 b7). In the second bar we also see a brief appearance of the flattened 5th, giving us effectively the blues scale (R b3 4 b5 5 b7), another hugely used scale in all rock styles.
Example 5.10: Horizontal
You may remember (Area 2, Ex 2.10 to be precise) that there were two main pathways to get you through the minor pentatonic scale just by using tone gaps and slides. Well, here's the second. You can view this as three versions of the same two string pattern in low, middle and high octaves. Any phrase performed in one can be instantly transposed to the next. Simple, but really useful!
Liked this? Now read: 50 guitar chord shapes you need to know
Connect with MusicRadar: via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
Get MusicRadar straight to your inbox: Sign up for the free weekly newsletter


text:
Knowing that there's more to Japanese Animation than just what has been released in recent decade, I will be hosting in the next two months an anime crossover-themed fan art challenge where you the challenge participants will be taking a trip back in time throughout the past of Japanese Animation.
There are no limits on how many fan art pieces you submit to this challenge, but for each piece you do, here are the rules:
- You are to illustrate several characters and/or mecha (examples: spaceships, robots, power suits) that appeared in Japanese Animation works of the past era in Japanese Animation history of your choice, whether it's the 1960s-1970s era, the 1980s era, the 1990s era, or the 2000s era.
- Can be a painting, a 3D work, a hand-drawn image, or a 2D computer image.
- Must be in color or black and white.
- No stealing other people's images!
- Keep content no higher than the PG-13-rated level.
To help you out with this challenge, each age in anime's past has its famous examples, and for each of the anime eras for you to choose from to do your submission, here are examples (but I'll probably not go over with the 2000s anime part because there's too many good examples of 2000s anime to list on this page and I don't want to keep this page too long).
From the 1960s-1970s
Astro Boy (later reversioned in 1980 and 2003), Gigantor, Speed Racer, 8 Man, Parman, Kimba the White Lion (later reversioned in 1989, 1997, and 2009), Cyborg 009 (later reversioned in 1979 and 2001), Sally the Witch, Candy Candy, Heidi, Girl of the Alps, Doraemon, Devilman (later reversioned in 1987), Cutey Honey (later reversioned in 1994, 1997, and 2004), Lupin III (1st and 2nd T.V. series), Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, UFO Robot Grendizer, Getter Robo (later reversioned in 2004), Neo-Human Casshan (later rebooted in 1993, and in 2008 as Casshern Sins), Gekko Kamen, Tekkaman the Space Knight, Tiger Mask, Gatchaman, Space Battleship Yamato (1st and 2nd T.V. series), Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999 (both T.V. series and theatrical film versions), Mobile Suit Gundam, Maya the Bee, The Ultraman (based on 1960's live-action T.V. series Ultraman)
From the 1980s
Space Battleship Yamato (3rd T.V. series), Urusei Yatsura, Queen Millenia, Lupin III (3rd T.V. series), Space Adventure Cobra, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Arcadia of My Youth, Beast King GoLion, Golgo 13: The Professional, The Mysterious Cities of Gold (though a Japan/France co-production), Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, Dirty Pair (later reversioned in 1994 as Dirty Pair Flash), Transformers: The Headmasters, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Fist of the North Star, Sherlock Hound, Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind, Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, City Hunter, Project A-Ko, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Bubblegum Crisis, Area 88 (later remade in 2004), Ranma 1/2, Gunbuster, Akira, Patlabor The Mobile Police (both OVA series and T.V. series), Crying Freeman, Ronin Warriors, The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor, Appleseed (later reversioned in 2004), Dominion Tank Police, M.D. Geist
From the 1990s
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Record of Lodoss War, Black Jack, All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku, Giant Robo The Animation, Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, Samurai Pizza Cats, Slayers, Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Street Fighter II The Movie, Hello Kitty and Friends, You're Under Arrest, Ninja Scroll, Rurouni Kenshin, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Trigun, Vision of Escaflowne, Pokemon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Wedding Peach, GaoGaiGar: The King of Braves, Fushigi Yûgi, Digimon Adventure
The three winners of this challenge will each receive an ecard dedicated to him/her (but I'm not saying what the ecards are 'cause it's a surprise). For now, try your best with your art works, have fun, and don't hesitate to ask any question if you have any. So lets draw some anime history!


text:
EXECUTIVE EDITOR BOB GRITZINGER: It's big, it's bad and nothing else matters. Well, actually, it does, but it's hard to argue with all of that raucous V8 power built into such a solid and serious American sedan. I feel as if I've died and gone back to the 1960s, except in this case the car also stops and corners as well as it accelerates.
I liked the first-gen 300 SRT8, but this 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT is way better in every way. The wrapper is sharper, and the interior is acres of soft-touch materials and leather ahead of the original. That's a credit to the redone 300, but in this top-level performance version, everything really stands out.
Mechanically, there's a heaping helping of output going to the SRT8's rear wheels, enough to produce wheelspin on kick down at freeway speed if there's any dampness present. Needless to say, at launch it will churn rubber into smoke in a heartbeat if you're not judicious with the right pedal. But unlike the old SRT8, this guy feels very tied down and tight, with just the right amount of nanny controls stepping in to help out and keep the ship on course. I punched up SRT performance mode at every opportunity, and that seemed just fine to me. But for most driving keeping the traction/stability control operating is a smart move.
This is a pricey piece, but it's at the top of the heap when it comes to 21st-century American muscle sedans.
COPY CHIEF CYNTHIA L. OROSCO-WRIGHT: What a great car to have for a weekend of gorgeous weather and a long drive. The only thing it needed was a sunroof.
Aside from that, there was nothing missing in this plush, menacing and powerful sedan. The sheetmetal is sleek and the creases are sharp. The comfy and well-bolstered seats keep you in place while shooting down the expressway but also coddle you on a long leisure drive. All of the controls, with a bit of old-school flair, are easy to use and right within reach. The sound system made cruising music sound even better.
Behind the wheel, the power comes on strong and stays that way until you need to bring things to a halt. The brakes do a solid job of that. There was a bit of stiffness in the drive, but nothing harsh. The thick steering wheel feels good in the hands. And the exhaust note—whether at startup or off the line—is music to the ears. The 300 stays composed over cracked roads but never feels floaty, the rubber keeping the big sedan firmly planted. All of the materials inside are top quality.
Yes, $53,000-plus is pricey, but you're getting a lot of car, a lot of technology and a lot of style here. If you have the means, the 300 SRT is definitely worth it.
EDITOR WES RAYNAL: There's not a heck of a lot I don't like about the 300 SRT. It's big, brawny and powerful, comfortable and menacing-looking, while looking enough like a stock 300 to fly below the, um, radar.
The car is comfortable on the road in terms of the seats, driving position and ride. While it's a bit stiffer than a standard 300, it's nowhere near too harsh. This is a great engine with a fantastic hot-rod exhaust note; horsepower is up to 470 hp from 425 hp in the last 300 SRT, and the power comes on right now—and there's more than enough.
There's a ton of room inside, and the controls are intuitive. It is, however, awfully dark in there, though the materials look and feel first rate.
I'd dechrome mine a little, and put a blower on it to knock the horsepower up about 100. That'd be the ticket. In the meantime, I imagine it's tough to find this combo of performance and luxury for this kind of money.
NEWS EDITOR GREG MIGLIORE: This is the ultimate sleeper sedan. And I mean this specific iteration: low-slung, black, sporty wheels and fast as hell. Frankly, this 300 SRT looks almost as much like a police car as it does a hot rod. Perfect.
Understated styling camouflaging copious amounts of power is always the way to go in my mind, and this particular example is the Batmobile of the SRT range. The honkin' V8 is a riot. It's powerful, emits a growl when needed and launches this big sedan with force and attitude. There's a satisfying amount of torque on tap as well, adding an almost German feel to this Hemi-powered drone. It effortlessly leaps to triple digits on the expressway. Even sitting in a parking lot it's a pleasure to hear this thing gurgle, burble and quake at idle.
I came away impressed with this cabin, which has excellent touch parts and presents well. The leather on the sport steering wheel, the heavily bolstered seats—this is what a finely honed muscle car should look and feel like. I also was blown away by the dials. They're intricate, sporty and they glow. The dashboard looks old-school, like something out of the 1950s or '60s. It was almost distracting when driving on a dark morning.
The steering has surprising weight and response, and the body, which is large, is reasonably well-composed. I enjoyed holding lines and pushing this car through curves.
Really, the only downside is the gas-guzzler tax. I think for the power, luxury and feel of this car, it is worth the heady sticker. And I rarely say that about anything.
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR TARA THEMM: I was ogling this car as soon as it found its way into our parking garage. The aggressive stance and impeccable sheetmetal definition captivated me at first glance. The black paint job paired with the dark grille on this 300 SRT enhanced the badass factor, and I hadn't even hopped in the driver's seat yet.
This car is an almost flawless result of the well-calculated mixture of luxury and performance. The interior is full of soft touch points, including the leather seats and leather-wrapped steering wheel. Beyond the sleek look and feel, it was also comfortable and easy to acclimate to. In fact, I felt that the entire cabin found the sweet spot between functionality and style. Every detail, every control, every light placement was well thought out and contributed to the overall mood of this 300. Nothing looked out of place.
Besides the exemplary interior and exterior polish and poise, this thing can perform on the road. I was not ready for the impressive amount of power kicked out when I got on the gas pedal. With a grin painted on my face, I tackled my commute home, dominating turns and green lights with authority and style.
The sound effects of this car made it difficult for me to turn up the radio, and the level of control I was allowed with every maneuver made me feel safe and secure behind the wheel. And not to mention that for the price, I feel that I'd be hard-pressed to find better quality in the same segment.
To put it simply, I want it. Enough said.
ROAD TEST EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: I'm really familiar with the SRT family of vehicles. A year ago I ran around California's Willow Springs International Raceway in all of them and had an absolute ball. All (including the Jeep Grand Cherokee) were at home on the road course with the big Hemi V8 thrusting them out of corners with ease, the Brembo brakes scrubbing off speed in a hurry and all of them sticking around corners nicely.
What surprises me the most about today's breed of SRT vehicles is the level of refinement they all possess. The first-generation vehicles were harder core, with suspensions that beat the living daylights out of you with the thumping 6.1-liter V8 under the hood sounding wicked and mean. The interiors have all taken a huge step forward in design and build quality, and the sheetmetal is eye-catching.
The 300 SRT8 is the softest one of the bunch. Visually, it's not as loud as its Dodge Charger SRT8 counterpart, but there's a specific front and rear fascias, a lower ride eight, 20-inch wheels and dual exhaust tips. Inside, there are the SRT-exclusive seats that are deeply bolstered, a flat-bottom steering wheel and real carbon-fiber trim.
Where the refinement is most noticeable is in the ride quality. The adjustable damping suspension does wonders to let the 300 SRT be a corner-carving animal or a comfortable enough cruiser for daily runs at the push of the button. If my memory serves me right, I think the exhaust note of this 6.4-liter Hemi isn't as thunderous as that from the 6.1-liter, but it's still loud enough to get people's attention.
In a small nod to fuel economy, the V8 is also capable of operating on four cylinders, and the transition between four- and eight-cylinder modes is seamless.
For the money, the 300 SRT offers a lot of performance and a thoughtful amount of luxury in the cabin. One thing SRT needs to work on is the five-speed automatic transmission. When you manually shift it via the steering wheel paddles, it responds to upshifts well, but downshifts are muted and jerky because there is no rev matching built in, which is a bummer.
2012 Chrysler 300 SRT
Base Price: $48,955
As-Tested Price: $53,135
Drivetrain: 6.4-liter V8; RWD, five-speed automatic
Output: 470 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 470 lb-ft @ 4,300 rpm
Curb Weight: 4,365 lb
Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 17/18.6 mpg
Options: Customer preferred package 21X including SafetyTec with multifunction power-folding mirrors, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, blind-spot and cross-path detection, rear fog lamps and exterior mirrors with supplemental signals and courtesy lamps ($1,995); premium speaker group including 18 premium speakers with subwoofer and 900-watt amplifier ($1,995); BSW three-season performance tires ($150)
For more information: Check out the 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT at shopautoweek.com.


text:
I'm a parent, husband, friend, entrepreneur, boss, vendor, and follower of Jesus.
Each of those have a metric for defining success. But in reality we need to define failure in order to truly define success. It's my belief that there is a significant space between success and failure that we spend most of our time in. This space can both help us and harm us.
Using the illustration above, we can chart our actions and inactions on a spectrum of success and failure. I'd argue that most people are wired to look at this as black and white, the arrows on each side, not the line between. Either I lost 50 pounds or I didn't. Achieving a goal is success, anything short of that is failure.
This is what I'm currently struggling with right now.
I want to be the father I never had. My goals include specifically: not abusing my kids, caring for them, encouraging them, and more. When I loose my cool and give them a harsh consequence, or yell at them I feel and tell myself I'm a failure. Because I didn't achieve the goal. However if I were to define failure first: something like abusing my kids. Then even when I don't attain the perfect father behaviors I'm still not failing.
Defining the land between Success and Failure
So what do we call this land between?
It's not success and it's not failure. Life is not black and white.
I don't know, but I can give a couple more illustrations.
My service/consulting business took a 90% hit in revenue this summer. I'd call that aspect alone a failure. But is the business a failure? Am I a failure?
I've run a great business which has employed various people for 4 years. I've helped others experiment and live dreams they never thought they could. I did too for 6 months. I've been able to work from home, coach my kids' soccer teams and experiment with new business ventures along the way. Frankly I built a cool business that afforded me the luxury of not working 80 hours every week, some weeks I barely worked 20 hours.
So that'd be a huge success in those aspects.
But I failed in bringing in enough new clients to handle the natural churn in the industry I'm in.
Failures Define Success
One cannot have success without failure. And like the yin and yang, there is a spec of failure in our successes and a spec of success in our failure. To illustrate this I'll dig into the startup scenes current philosophy of failure. Basically they're cool with experiments (businesses) failing as long as there is some learning happening. The spec of success in the failure of a business is the learning that happened. So Dodgeball sold to Google and later the founder Dennis Crowley left Google to found Foursquare. Dodgeball was a success in that it was acquired, but a failure in that Google killed it. The learning that Dennis acquired is partially not to sell your dream to Google, but more importantly he wanted to not sell at all. I'm certain there were significantly more learnings that were acquired during his time watching dodgeball fizzle at Google, but the lesson is that Dennis felt a sense of success and failure at the same time.
So in startup world failures can be successes as long as you harness the learning to propel you to a new success in the more traditional view of the word.
There's no In-Between
Is this possible? Could everything that's not achieving success be a failure to achieve that goal? The phrase that surfaces: "you're either growing or you're dying". Could it instead be like the largest organ of the body, the skin. It's both dying and growing at the same time. The skin's goal is to keep a semi-permeable separation from the inside to the outside, sometimes it lets the wrong stuff in (radiation), or the wrong stuff out (hernia). Would we consider the skin a failure for 99.999% of the time keeping stuff out?
But in other conversations, a 0.001% failure is unacceptable. (That's 5-6 minutes of downtime per year).
Life is too complex to be that black and white. the middle, the grey, the in-between is where we find ourselves most days. My faith heritage refers to this as working out your salvation, the belief is that we're saved not based on what we do, but we need to improve while still here on earth.
So are we called to live in a constant state of discontent? Of not-quite-failing, but not-quite-achieving? It's not directionless, we're always trying to hit the mark of success but will we ever hit it?
We cannot call this part of the spectrum failure can we, are their degrees of failure? If so then there are degrees of success. I've failed to maintain a location independent sales funnel, but I have succeeded in providing value for my clients while location independent.
Has Zuckerberg hit his mark of success? Sure he's a billionaire, but I doubt his goal was to become a billionaire. Very few people ever have the satisfaction of success especially in the entrepreneur camp. We seem to always be striving for something, some problem to solve. With Facebook as a public company, my friend who works for Biotech Aktien kaufen agrees with me that Mark's success could be wrapped in the current stock price, but that's a fickle measure of success. If your business made it… if you IPO'ed and made a multi billion cash out. Would you cash in, call it a success and walk away? (plenty have) Or is there something more to achieve?
Success is a moving target
I once defined career success as making $50k in a year. This was way better than what my family grew up with, I figured that'd set my family up for future success and a life of living fine. However other factors come into play, and it's not just inflation. And $50k is no longer enough to define success.
Lifestyle matters, and I'm not looking to own a boat and a fleet of cars, no I enjoy living and immersing myself in different cultures. Career success is now defined as can I live the lifestyle I want?
Yet it's constantly a moving target. If success if defined by achieving goals and each time you achieve a goal you set a new one success while attained will never be obtained.
We define success by defining goals, achievable or not. these goals become the measure of success and conversely the measure of failure. So whatever word we use to define the middle it must have a directional element to it, not just an aimless middle. A moving, a growing, a heading. We need a word that describes the motivation, the struggle, the push, the drive.
I like how Jammer Hunt breaks failure down into 6 failures:
Abject failure
This is the really dark one. It marks you and you may not ever fully recover from it. People lose their lives, jobs, respect, or livelihoods. Examples: British Petroleum's Gulf oil spill; mortgage-backed securities.
Structural failure
It cuts — deeply — but it doesn't permanently cripple your identity or enterprise. Examples: Apple iPhone 4's antenna; Windows Vista.
Glorious failure
Going out in a botched but beautiful blaze of glory — catastrophic but exhilarating. Example: Jamaican bobsled team.
Common failure
Everyday instances of screwing up that are not too difficult to recover from. The apology was invented for this category. Examples: oversleeping and missing a meeting at work; forgetting to pick up your kids from school; overcooking the tuna.
Version failure
Small failures that lead to incremental but meaningful improvements over time. Examples: Linux operating system; evolution.
Predicted failure
Failure as an essential part of a process that allows you to see what it is you really need to do more clearly because of the shortcomings. Example: the prototype — only by creating imperfect early versions of it can you learn what's necessary to refine it.
So what if we put descriptors on Success as well? Eugene Eric Kim started that here.
Minimum Success
The bare minimum indicators of a successful project.
Target Success
I also call this "stretch," because these scenarios should be hard, but attainable. These are the scenarios for which you aim. They should have about a 40-70 percent likelihood of happening if you do your work diligently. If you want your online business to succeed, I would suggest reading these eCom babes reviews.
Epic Success
Success beyond your wildest imagination. You are not expecting any of these to happen, but they are within the realm of possibility, and you are overjoyed if they do.
So is there room between Minimum Success and Common Failure?
In the illustration of my business, the Minimum Success would be to pay myself a wage that allows us to live at our minimum budget. the Common Failure would be to not have a location independent sales method in place. I could argue that it is more of a Structural Failure. But I still think the middle is where we spend most of our days, avoiding Structural Failures and fixing them when they occur. Dealing with Common Failures as par for the course and all at the same time achieving minimum success.
I nominate that we use the term insistent middle. Insistent Definition: "earnest or emphatic in dwelling upon, maintaining, or demanding something; persistent; pertinacious."
I live in the insistent middle. I demand success, movement. I am persistent. I am earnest in this.
My success is never giving into failure as the end.