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When I asked UL's engineering manager, Steve Schmit, how the ISC West show was going, he said he spent a fair bit of the show discussing the recent updates to UL827, now including requirements for cybersecurity.
"Now with [cybersecurity] in the standard, we're going to have conversations about [central station's] network security, how they keep their customers safe," Schmit told Security Systems News. Cybersecurity is something previous standards hadn't formally required, he said.
These cybersecurity measures include firewalls, intrusion detection systems, "risk assessment, developing a mitigation plan, to deal with those risks, and putting that all into practical application," Schmit said.
UL spent five years developing the latest standard, released in October, Schmit said. It currently has a future effective date of late 2016.
Cybersecurity is a topic that is coming up more in the physical security industry. SSN readers earlier this year pointed toward this trend. CSAA's annual meeting will even start with a keynote on the subject.
Is now the time cybersecurity will start concerning central stations? Has it always been a priority?
I've heard from some in the industry that this could really impact monitoring centers looking to get—or—keep UL certification. If you have any insight or opinion on the changes, reach out to me and let me know. My direct line is 207-846-0600 ext. 254, email: email@example.com.
Bold Technologies, a central station software provider based here, has hired 14 people in the last eight months, company president Chuck Speck told me, more than doubling its standard rate of five or six new employees per year.
"Most of [the employee growth] is spurred by bringing new customers on," Speck said. Bold added staff to its new fulfillment department, which works on implementation with new customers, he said.
The fulfillment department was started out of continual customer growth, Speck said. "We've put on about 60 new central stations a year … [for] around 8 years. You have to grow your infrastructure to support that kind of growth."
Bold will soon reach a total of 61 employees, Speck said, already surpassing the company's one-year goal of 60, set in January. Seven of these employees were added in the last five weeks, and only two of the newest 14 hires were replacements, Speck said.
"The industry is changing enough that there are new needs in the industry," Speck said. He cited cybersecurity and home automation as examples.
"Cybersecurity is now one of our newest forays," Speck said, mentioning Manitou's integration with WebProtectMe, announced at ISC West 2015. It allows central stations to monitor Internet activity for residential customers, alerting them if users such as children access unauthorized sites or chat rooms with known predators.
The WebProtectMe integration has been submitted for an ESX Innovation Award, Speck said.
Bold addresses home automation through partnering with White Rabbit Electronics, a home automation company founded by Speck and Rod Coles, Bold's CEO. Through integrating Manitou with White Rabbit's Smart Hub, linking the platform with the company's entire line of products. "Bold's integration with White Rabbit is one that we're very excited about," Speck said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Cloud video surveillance provider Smartvue announced this week that it secured $15 million in financing from Fortress Investment Group, a $67 billion firm.
I spoke to Martin Renkis, Smartvue founder and CEO, this morning and asked him what Fortress, which typically works with much larger companies, saw in Smartvue. Fortress likes Smartvue's vision of being "a major cloud platform in the video surveillance services business," Renkis said.
"[Fortress] saw what we saw, which is that [the Internet of Things] is going to be gigantic and someone is going to be the leader driving video surveillance services using the cloud," he said. Renkis and others believe that many of the "things" that will be connected to the Internet—cars and televisions for example—will have cameras or will "be video-enabled somehow."
Renkis describes Smartvue as a cloud surveillance and IoTV (Internet of Things Video) technology company, that will "develop the backbone for the storage, management, security and distribution of video for the Internet of Things."
Smartvue announced at ASIS 2014 that it is working with Western Digital, "which sells one million hard drives a day," to embed Smartvue software on their devices, so customers "who buy their NAS and want to save video to the cloud can do this with this software." Smartvue is also embedding its software on HikVision cameras, so no NVR is necessary.
Of course, Smartvue has been in the cloud business since Renkis founded the company in 1998, "Since day 1, before it was called the cloud," he said. Fortress also likes the fact that Smartvue has "27 patents filed over the past 10 years to cover the technology we develop," he said.
Smartvue provides its platform "to telcos, cable companies, security companies [commercial and residential] ... to help them generate recurring revenue."
The new funds will help support Smartvue's current work with Internet Service Providers, cable companies, telecoms, IoT device companies and cloud storage providers. Renkis said Smartvue has had notable success selling platforms to telecoms which they sell under their own names. He declined to name the telecoms Smartvue is working with. The funding will also be used for engineering staff with the goal of creating more intellectual property, Renkis said.
Smartvue is privately held, based here, and has just under 100 employees. It has three main pieces of software: VMS software that it builds into NVRs and sells; Low-level firmware (or a lean VMS) that it embeds in cameras, gaming consoles and other devices; and, centralized global video platforms.
Say your residential security company has made a huge dent in a particular neighborhood. You've got the area covered and all is good, for you and for homeowners.
Then some shifty guy comes around that neighborhood, knocks on your customers' doors and professes to offer a better deal for their homes' security than you can provide.
The guy is likely part of a door-to-door scam, and it's also likely more guys like him will be showing up over the summer months, according to the Better Business Bureau. I read about a spate of this going on recently in Corpus Christie, Texas, but that's not to say Corpus Christie is a unique target of such ploys.
Vivint has a way of letting its customers know to be on the lookout for such scams. It encourages aware customers to contact the company about suspected scams or deceptive sales practices in their neighborhoods. Upon that notification, Vivint will send out an alert to alarm panels owned by customers in the impacted area. The message says that security scams have been reported nearby, and also gives a 24/7 phone number to call to verify a Vivint rep who might legitimately show up at the door.
"At Vivint, we take all possible measures to keep our customers protected. This includes keeping them apprised of what's going on in and around their homes in real time," Steve Dixon, VP of customer experience and operations, told me via email.
"The security alert is one of the things Vivint uses, in addition to customer emails and calls, to advise Vivint customers about questionable or deceptive sales practices used by competitor sales representatives in the area," Dixon said.
Good for Vivint, I say, and to all the other resi providers who provide such a service.
Scam artists, beware!
Guardian Protection Services has been busy lately, rolling out a new funding process for dealers and a new mobile app for customers along with a rebranding initiative during its 65th year.
A meeting with Guardian at ISC West last week didn't come off as planned, so this week I caught up by phone with Joseph Lininger, VP of marketing, to talk about recent activity at the super-regional.
Guardian will now pay authorized dealers on a daily basis as opposed to a weekly basis for the accounts it purchases. "If the account is approved on Monday, the dealer gets paid on Tuesday," Lininger said.
The change in payment processing was made to boost dealers' cash flow to help optimize their operations. Guardian invested in proprietary software to accommodate the change.
Guardian also has released a mobile app for its customers who use the Alarm.com platform to control their homes. Developed for both iOs and Android, the app provides remote access to home security and automation systems through an Internet connection. Future upgrades will include more functions, added Guardian services and special messages.
The new dealer program and the app come on the heels of Guardian's recent rebranding. A new logo and tag line—"At the Heart of Your Connected Home"—for resi and builder business divisions are in place to give customers "the correct perception of Guardian as a customer-centric technology firm specializing in security and automation while providing the most reliable, technologically advanced services to homes and businesses," the company said in its announcement.
The rebranding project, which took a year to complete, was initiated to reflect the company's evolution and position it for the future, Lininger said.
"We always keep our brand awareness at the top of our mind, Lininger said.
Since I came into the industry, I have heard a lot about redundancy; making sure that everything runs smoothly, service is consistent, nothing is down for long. At the center of these discussions has always been the latest technology that adds new levels to that redundancy. On the show floor at ISC West, I heard David Smith, director of marketing and communication for COPS Monitoring, talk about an entirely different kind—redundancy of people. This is the task of trying to find the same types of operators that mesh well with the company's goals and requirements to ensure that service at one location doesn't differ from that of another.
"Redundancy from a technological standpoint is much more straightforward than redundant staffing. Successfully replicating a training program and maintaining consistent performance levels across multiple sites is much more difficult to master," he said.
This is an important consideration for a wide-spread company like COPS, Smith said, but having multiple locations helps. COPS has 350 dispatchers, and adding more. It would be difficult to find that many people who fit COPS' bill in the same place. "We have a very strong company culture that permeates the entire organization."
"Creating a unique, desirable workplace is part of the culture at COPS, and has proven to be of high value to our employees," Smith said.
It's a little easier to find the best candidates when looking for operators in the surrounding areas of six different locations, he said.
"Qualifying someone as the 'right person' to be a successful dispatcher is determined by more than education, experience, and attitude: we believe that COPS dispatchers must also have the proper blend of professionalism, personality attributes, ability, and sense of duty," he said.
In addition, the company is increasing dispatcher positions at its locations—30 positions in its Florida facility, with similar possible expansions at the Tennessee and Arizona centers as well.
AMAG's big announcement at ISC West was about selling Salient's video products under AMAG's Symmetry name. In an email interview, Matt Barnette characterized the deal as different from its partnerships with other manufacturers. Known for its Symmetry line, AMAG Technoloigies is a provider of access control and integrated security management systems for government and commercial customers.
"Traditionally, we do not resell another technology partner's products under the Symmetry brand, but this partnership will lead us to faster and greater innovation," Barnette said.
"We are offering Symmetry CompleteView VMS, Symmetry PowerProtect NVR platform, Symmetry TouchView Mobile Apps and the Symmetry Dual and Quad monitor Guardstation client workstations. These products augment our current Symmetry VMS, Encoders and HD camera lines," he added. Asked what drove this partnership, Barnette said that AMAG has worked closely with Salient Systems through its Symmetry Extended Business Solutions Program. "They have been a proactive partner, and were always quick to update the integration with our Symmetry product whenever new features were available. Salient valued the technology integration between our two companies and made upgrading the integration a priority. We recognized what a great partner they are, and so did our customers, so it made sense to enhance the partnership."
Barnette said that AMAG and Salient's product management and engineering groups will jointly develop "a unique set of features and future products that will only be available through the AMAG channel."
"Salient offers a VMS and NVR platform, along with a robust mobile app. Many of our customers were looking for the features in the Salient platform and chose to either integrate their Symmetry system with Salient or use it as a stand-alone product," Barnette explained.
The tighter integration will make the system easier to use and may open up "opportunities now for future customers looking for a robust and more standardized access control and video management solution."
AMAG will continue to support its existing Symmetry VMS, encoders and HD cameras, along with its other video management and camera partners. "Our own video product line and existing relationships with video partners are very important to AMAG. Ultimately, what we are accomplishing with this partnership is the creation of products with new unique value and to give our customers more choices," he said.
AMAG Technology is based in Torrance, Calif., and has offices throughout the U.S.
Day 2 of ISC West started off before the sun rose at the Security5K/2K. The weather was perfect (at least for us Mainers) and the enthusiasm was high. Lots of team spirit this year among companies large and small. Axis' Fredrik Nilsson said that 108 Axis employees are at ISC West this year and 102 are participating in the Security5k/2k. "Anyone who was not participating had to come to me with an excuse," Nilsson said, laughing. Paxton Access had a similar ratio of participation—something like 11 of 12 employees present. Most importantly the fundraising went very well, according to Mission 500's George Fletcher. Last year $20,000 was raised through direct fundraising. This year, more than $40,000 was raised! The total raised to help children in need will be more than double that. I'll update this with the final fundraising numbers once they're in.
Back on the showfloor after the 5K, I met with Jeff Pranaitis and Alper Cetingok, who run the Security Defense & Government Services business for Raymond James. Investment Banking group. The group advises on M&A, public and private capital-raising, and valuation/fairness opinion analysis for middle-market companies. Among their recent deals are: Ackerman, Iverify/TransAlarm, SimpliSafe recapitilization, and Avigilon's purchase of VideoIQ.
I had a brief interview with Yoav Stern about DVTEL's major cybersecurity initiative called IPMune. DVTEL is definitely out in front on this one.
I did an ssnTVnews interview with Sharon Shaw of systems integration firm TechSystems, and a TechSec Advisory Board member. Sharon talked about TSI's approach to lifecycle management and how cybersecurity fits into the picture.
Eric Yunag of Dakota Security stopped by the Media Studio to share some ISC West observations with Sharon and me.
I met with Lee Odess at Brivo and he showed me the new mobile app for Brivo OnAir. Slick and simple, Odess said it's aimed at the small- and medium-business market to give business owners flexibility to manage access on the go. He also told me about a new Brivo initiative —called the Dealer Success Program—to teach security installers and dealers about how to sell and succeed with services. "It's really not Brivo-specific, it's basically a how-to kit that shows why it's good for integrators to chase the services business."
At smart thermal camera company SightLogix, John Romanowich and Frank De Fina had a number of installers checking out their new offerings: SightWrap and SightSensor XA. SightWrap is a new dealer program. It's a no-money-down RMR-business aimed at car dealerships. SightSensor XA (extended area) a thermal camera that can surviel an entire football field. The previous model could cover to the 40-yard line, the XA provides "coverage all the way to the end zone," Romanowich said.
I had a chance to meet Alarm.com's Matt Zartmann and Jeff Bedell in person. We talked about says Alarm.com's commercial launch. Recent tweaks and the acquisition of secure-I have enabled the company to get its commercial platform in place for video, intrusion and energy management. Bedell said installers can offer their commercial customers one or all three components.
I stopped by Arecont Vision and talked to Scott Schaeffer about the company's Project Registration Program that he says is different because it protects dealers with project pricing that's "intentional." We also talked about updates to the set-up-utility and the fact that Arecont now has motorized lenses in all of its product lines
As it's 1:30 a.m. EST right now, this will be a very brief overview of my Day 1 at ISC West 2015. I'll be adding more later.DAY
The day started at 8 a.m. with the annual Axis Press breakfast. The always-entertaining Axis event had a baseball theme. Axis CEO Martin Gren tested an Axis camera's resiliency with a bat—which woke everyone up. Some announcements: Axis' announced its new Zipstream product. Here's a story on that.
Gren talked about two new "non-camera products" AXIS A8004-VE Network Video Door Station, which enables "two-way communication, HD video identification and remote entry control." He also introduces an "intelligent audio device," the AXIS C3003-E Network Horn Speaker.
The "home run" Axis product introduced at this show, Nilsson predicted, would be the first camera in the new AXIS Q37 Series, the AXIS Q3709-PVE. This multi-sensor camera is unique because it comes "focused from the factory with three 4K sensors that together provide a perfect 180-degree view."
ABout the acquisition of Axis by Canon, Fredrik Nilsson said to expect twice as many products next year, with the resources of Canon behind Axis.
Photo: At the baseball-themed Axis Press event: Martin Gren (left) Fredrik Nilsson (right). On the video screen, the CEO of Canon. Japan, where Canon is based, is a place where baseball is also popular, Gren and Nilsson noted.
I picked up my show badge after the Axis event and stopped by the HID Mission 500 backpack project, where volunteers were filling backpacks with supplies for kids.
Photo: HID's Denis Hebert (left) and George Fletcher of Mission 500.
Next up were a few ssnTVnews interviews. I spoke to three of the Women's Security Council "Women of the Year" honorees: Vivian Hodges, Global Procurement Manager for Northland Controls; Andrea Ferrando, Industry VP for Reed Exhibition and Irene Lam, VP of R&D for Tyco Security Products.
Scallop Imaging had some news: their assets have been acquired by Vision Technologies, which makes military-grade cameras. Scallop will keep its branding, but the new company name is Blackhawk Imaging. This is an opportunity, Scallop's Steve Gorski told me, to go after new markets.
Did you see the news that "Ipconfigure buys Cannon"? I stopped by and it is true. See photo below.
PHOTO: IPCONFIGURE buys Cannon.
Next, I attended a luncheon where four companies presented. Teleste's Mike Odea described the video and broadband company's approach this way: open platform, holistic and ultra-scalable.
Richard Beard of PSIM provider KapLogic said his company is addressing behavior analytics. It's important to know what's not normal behavior, he said.
Kathleen Chigos of PlateSmart, a software-only LPR company said PlateSmart works with any hardware. You don't need to worry about an "LPR" camera, she said.
Alfredo Perez said Vidcie brings surveillance cameras to places, like trains, where there were none. It does this via smartphone. I heard lots of interest from the luncheon crowd on this one.
I caught up with PSA Security's Bill Bozeman who said that "cybersecurity is the next big thing and the next big opportunity."
Chatted with Tyco IS's Mark van Dover about facial rec/iris biometrics. They are in demand, he said. If a "clear winner" emerged "we could sell it all day long."
Got a briefing from Dror Irani at BriefCam about the new Sindex3.1. It can filter video seven ways and do it fast. The idea is that this will get more people in an enterprise using video. Irani also showed me a demo of the BriefCam app (just for consumers now) on a Flir camera. Video synopsis goes mobile for homeowners.
On my way to the show floor for Day 1. First up is Axis Communications' press event.
Here's a photo of Women's Security Council "Women of the Year" winners from last night's event. Great crowd last night. Really well-done event, as always. Kudos to Rhianna Daniels Hile, CompassPR and the WSC. Congrats to the winners!
Preparing for tomorrow morning's 5 a.m. flight to Las Vegas, the beginning of a long day of meetings and receptions on April 14, the day before ISC West 2015 starts.
After a few meetings, I'll be at the SIA event at 5 at the "Encore Beach Club." I'm don't think the Encore has a crazy beach like the Mandalay Bay, but I did hear that this venue is outside--which is always nice. Then I'll be at the Women's Security Council Reception, which will take place from 5-7 at Delmonico's at the Venetian.
Make sure to stop by to say hi to Spencer, Amy and me at the "Meet the Editors" event (9:30 to 10 Wednesday, April 15 at the SSN/ISC West Media Studio--the big stage just outside the entrance to the show floor. You can't miss it.)
Also, remember to tweet your news and observations #ISCW15. Quality and quantity may win you a handsome "Top Twitterer of ISC West 2015." SIA won last year and has the plaque to show it. Check out the cool SSN Twitter Wall which will be close to the SSN/ISC West Media Studio.
Also, you still have time to sign up to run or walk the Security 5K/2K. Here's a link. Fresh air, networking, exercise, help Mission 500 make a difference in a child's life--this is a great event!
Check back here for ISC West News. I'll be updating this blog daily. And, my bet is something will break tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14.
Friday, Day 3
The last day, like the first, started off with a great meeting at the media stage. This time I met George De Marco, ESX chair, and talked about how the different ways booths look to bring in visitors, everything from booth design to attractions. Then I headed into the show floor for a meeting with Cliff Dice, company president and CEO, and Carol Enman, Dice SVP for strategic business. We talked a lot about the reception of Dice's cloud-hosted central monitoring software platform, now UL certified. "I actually thought there would be more resistance to it when we came out with it," Dice said, pleased with the positive reactions he's heard at the show.
Just after noon, outside the show floor, I did a video interview with Darryl Bray, sales manager for Security Central. We talked about the company's upcoming CSAA Five Diamond certification and increasing sales efforts.I then went back in to the show to visit EMERgency 24's booth to hear about the partnership with BluePoint. I met with Patrick Devereaux, SVP of EMERgency 24; John Shales, partner at BluePoint; John McNutt, partner and CEO at BluePoint; and Terri Douglas, co-founder and principal at Catapult public relations firm.My final meeting of this year's ISC West was with Larry Folsom, president of I-View Now, who told me about the company's latest integration with Honeywell's Total Connect.
I thought it was a great show. I look forward to hearing more from the people I met with, and seeing them at future shows.
Thursday, Day 2
Helping out at the Security 5k in Sunset Park was certainly not a bad way to start the day. It was sunny, with very little wind—all around a great day to get out for fresh air and a walk or run. On the ride back, I met Kevin G. Clark, global communications & PR for Genetec who was kind enough to point out some of Las Vegas' notable buildings along the strip for this new-comer.
One of the things I liked hearing from central stations at this show is what makes each of them stand out. My first show floor meeting of the day was with Acadian Monitoring Services, where I met with Jason Caldwell, national sales representative, Tim Newman, business development, and Kristin Hebert, security operations manager. "Where we really differentiate [ourselves] is our special focus on video monitoring and medical monitoring," Caldwell told me. The company also operates the second largest AES network in the country, according to Caldwell, which has seen a bit of growth lately. "We're seeing a lot of growth on that network now," with upwards of a thousand customer radios added recently, he said.
From there I went over to IDIS, one of the top 10 biggest booths at the show this year, to hear about what the company was doing with all the space. Right away, I met Benjamin Bryant, IDIS public relations consultant and Tara Farley, IDIS marketing and PR consultant. While at the booth, I was able to talk with a couple of people from 4sight imaging, one of IDIS' partners. Brook Jackson, managing director for 4Sight, and Marcus Boden, business development director, talked with me about 4Sight's license plate recognition and gave me a demo. I also met with Young-Dal Kim, company CEO.
Jens Kolind is the VP of external partnerships at Innovative Business Software. We spoke a couple of months back about SBN Cloud, the first UL-listed cloud-hosted monitoring automation platform. It was great to meet him and amazing to see what a UL central station could look like with SBN Cloud, below.
I met Kevin Helmig, president and CTO for Centra-Larm, and Scott Mailhot, VP of operations, not too long ago, but it was good to see them again and their first ISC West booth.
I circled back to the IDIS booth a little later, to talk with Keith Drummond, senior director of sales for IDIS America. He told that this event really signals the company's entrance to the American market, a key step in becoming a global company. While this regional launch was preceded by two others, UK and Middle East launches, the American extension of IDIS was planned before the first step outside of the company's native Asia region. Launching in America was a very strategic process, according to Drummond. "The one thing I'm letting people know is that we are here to stay." I got a chance to meet IDIS America president Andrew Myung on this second trip to the booth.
I briefly met Brett Springall, Security Central's CEO, at the media booth. He mentioned that the company has been increasing its sales team lately.
After that, I met with a.p.i. Monitoring's Lewis Jacobson, the company's director of dealer sales. He told me that a big thing for the company at this show is the release of their partnership with Numera's mPERS.
Monitronics' Bruce Mungiguerra, the VP of operations, told me that the company is moving to a new facility, 165,000 square feet large. This will be the consolidation of three different Monitronics buildings in the Dallas area under one roof. The new building will be three stories, which makes more sense for a central station than the current building's six floors. The new building is on a lake, with walking trails in the surrounding area, and two gym facilities. This will create "a campus environment that our employees can be proud of," he said.
One of the biggest things I heard about when talking with COPS Monitoring, is that the company is expanding in both staff and technology. In terms of staff, it is adding 30 dispatcher stations at its Florida center, with similar expansions planned for COPS' Tennessee and Arizona facilities, Jim McMullen, president and COO said. In technology, the company is upgrading its capacity to be able to handle as many as 3.4 million accounts.
"We've been talking a lot about the econtract app" at the show, Michael Zydor, Affiliated Monitoring's managing director, said. Apps were the big thing this year, with a new end-user app, which takes functions from the company's previous end-user app and puts it into a newly made format, made much "simpler," according to Zydor.
Next, I met with Steven Schmit at UL to talk about new standards under the new version of UL827, published last Fall. Central stations will now need more redundancy and capablities and cybersecurity measures. This is the first time Cybersecurity has been directly involved in requirements, Schmit said. "Now with that in the standard we're going to have conversations about [central stations'] network security, how they keep their customers' data secure." The current plan is for these standards to be required by late 2016. I also met with Neil Lakomiak, director of business development and innovation, at the UL booth. Lakomiak and I talked about some of the other technologies that could see standards with UL, such as mPERS.
My final floor meeting was guided by Tiffany Coles, marketing manager for Bold Technologies. I started by talking with her and Chuck Speck, company president about the next version of its Manitou platform, Neo. From there, Tiffany and I walked over to White Rabbit's booth, where I met Rod Coles, White Rabbit's CEO, as well as Toby Prescott, White Rabbit's product engineer, and saw a demonstration of their products which are designed to lead DIY and home automation back to the central station.
After leaving the show floor, I attended Dynamark's party, held in the renaissance suite in the venetian—quite a view from the 36th floor. There, I met Trey Alter, president and CEO, and Hank Groff, senior VP of marketing and business development.
My final event for the day was to have dinner with Galaxy Control Systems at Carnevino in the Palazzo. It was nice to meet Rick Caruthers, company VP, and Luke Krawec, account executive with LRG Markerting.
Wednesday, Day 1
As I've mentioned in previous blogs, this is my first ISC West show. Day 1 of the show went pretty well, from start to finish, I thought. I got the chance to finally meet some people in person whom I've talked to via phone about multiple times, like Christopher Denniston of Rapid Response and David Smith of COPS.
My day started with the "Meet the Editors" event at the media stage outside the show floor. Here I briefly met Jim McMullen, president and COO of COPS Monitoring. I also met two members of the CheckVideo team: Nik Gagvani, president and GM, and Ed Troha, director of marketing.
My first meeting on the show floor was with Christopher Denniston and Dan Gelinas of Rapid Response. Unlike every other person listed in this day's blog entry, Gelinas is one person I had met before, at Security Systems News' office in Yarmouth, Maine. I had a question on my mind for a couple of months; what is Rapid Response referring to in he company's ad which states that on "everything changes" on 4.15.15, today. When I met with Christopher Denniston, he told me that it referred to the company's new mobile apps for monitoring one or multiple PERS, updates on existing dealer and customer apps, as well as the increased redundancy in the company's relatively new California facility. The facility will be able to handle the company's entire account load at one time, he said.
All American's patriotic booth was the site of my second visit. The company decided to use ISC West 2015 to launch its My View brand of cameras specifically for its dealers. Bob Keefe, the company's president, told me that the company has spent a while testing the cameras. "We've been testing it with our sister company (EMG Alarm, a Florida-based installer), making sure the product was as good as we hoped it would be before we sold it to our dealers," Keefe said. I also met with Rob Keefe, company VP, and Tammy Zappa. Zappa said Bob Keefe is "constantly" looking for new items to offer dealers.
MKS's booth really represented part of its 30th anniversary changes, with the whole staff dressed in the company's new color scheme of orange and grey. I met with Bailey Bhogal, MKS' marketing specialist, Joe Ligouri, the CFO and COO, and Victoria Ferro, president. The company was recently awarded at the show. Ferro was named one of the 10 WSC Women of the Year on Tuesday.
My last show floor meeting was with Alarm Monitoring Service, where I got the chance to meet Rick Jolet and Dera De Roche, the co-owners, as well as Bob Gates the company's VP of sales. Jolet is also the CEO, and Dera is the CFO. They talked to me about a few of the things that make their monitoring center unique. One thing that Dera pointed out was that the company has an answering service for its customers.
My evening was quite busy. After leaving the show floor, I went to Affiliated's cocktail reception in the lovely Lavo, in the Palazzo. Here I got a chance to meet Daniel Oppenheim, the company's vice president, Michael Zydor, the managing director, and Stanley Oppenheim, president of DGA Security.
From there, I went to the Bellagio's Hyde lounge for National Monitoring Center's annual event. I met with Michael Schubert, the president, Woodie Andrawos, the executive vice president, and Sharon Elder, NMC's vice president of sales. During my time at the event, I was lucky enough to catch the Bellagio's fountain show.
My final event for the evening, and Day 1, was COPS Monitoring's third annual "bonanza" at Gilley's in Treasure Island. Amidst good food, live music, and a bull-riding competition, I met Donavan Maden, the company's executive vice president, and David Smith, COPS' director of marketing.
Now I'm preparing for tomorrow's Security 5k!
Tuesday, before the show
After landing, my first meeting of the week was with Mike Bodnar, president of Security Partners, at the new facility—the next installment of On Location: Central Station. The station is brand new, having officially opened on Monday. There was certainly a "new" look to it, especially with slideshows of photos taken before and after the renovations. It was really interesting to hear from Bob Schott, Security Partners' director of information technologies, about items carried over from the buildings previous use as a government data center. I also met John McCann, who talked with me about the new line of exclusive Mace-brand products that Security Partners' dealers will be offering, among which is a diesel tank monitor.
From there I attended Altronix's dinner, held at the DB Brasserie in the Venetian. Alan Forman, Altronix president, presented on the latest products from the company, including technology to monitor power supply. I also enjoyed meeting and talking to Kirby Han, Altronix Art Director and Rodney Thayer, a consultant with Smithee, Spelvin, Agnew & Splinge.
Prior to leaving
I'll be updating this page every day this week to stay current on my adventures at this year's ISC West. This is my first security trade show, and I'm looking forward to it. To hear about the future plans of central stations and monitoring companies, be sure to check back in!
Wrapping it up at ISC West 2015/Friday/Show Day 3
I put in a phone call to Jake Parker, SIA's director of government relations, about every other month. Jake gives me the rundown on activities on Capitol Hill that have direct impacts on the physical security industry. I then report on those impacts for Security Systems News. Jake is an invaluable source for SSN, but I've never had the chance to meet him face-to face until now. We finally sat down together at ISC West and had a friendly conversation along with discussing a few security topics thrown in for good measure. Thanks for making the time, Jake!
I met with three execs from BeOn, CEO Alexei Erchak, COO Arvind Baliga and VP of marketing Mark Komanecky. I was so intrigued by their new "preventative security" technology that our meeting extended beyond the designated 30 minutes. The technology targets the "impulsive burglar." BeOn's unique lightbulbs, which fit into regular, existing sockets, "learn" homeowners typical movements—on a daily basis, when do they turn on, for example, the front porch light, the master bedroom light, the living room light? After the learning process, the bulbs turn on to naturally make it look like someone's at home when the house is empty. The bulbs also have a microphone function that will respond to the home's doorbell and will progressively turn on lights as the owner would if he or she were upstairs and had to make their way downstairs to answer the door. Eventually, The microphone function can also trigger the sound of a dog barking, music playing and more. A Kickstart company, BeOn's focus is on reaching security-conscious homeowners who, nevertheless, have no desire to install a full-fledged home security system. Check back with SSN for more info on this interesting new company …
Things were still going strong when I took a final stroll around the show floor. For a Friday, the third day of the show, it was bustling. I hope you all had a good show, I know I did.
'Thursday/Show Day 2
My workday started out by volunteering at the Mission 500 5K/2K run/walk and ended at the Mission 500 awards ceremony, always so inspirational. Congratulations to the fundraisers and race winners. Security Systems News is proud to be a sponsor of this annual, important charitable event that aids children in need.
I did three video interviews today, first with experienced industry pro Joel "Disruptive" Matlin, whose new resi company, Think Protection, is right on track to be up and running in June. Next up was Don Moore of Moore Protection, or, as I like to call him, resi provider to the stars. He serves high-end clients in the Los Angeles area, from movie studio bigwigs to celebrities to other million- and billionaires.My third video interview was with Margaret Spitznas, general manager of family-owned Washington Alarm, based in Seattle. Each of my video interviewees had unique perspectives on the industry. Stay tuned to the Security Systems News website to watch the videos. You'll learn a lot.
During a visit to Alarm.com, Anne Ferguson, senior director, partner marketing, and Matthew Zartman, director of communications, told me about the company's multi-faceted Partner Resources program, available to their 5,000 dealers. They also discussed the impact of home automation on their company. In previous years, dealers who had been in the business for a long time—those with physical security at their core—were hesitant to embrace the smart home, Ferguson said. But now, much to their benefit, they get it, she said. They know that if they don't take home automation "to heart," someone else will be installing those services to their customers over the next three years. Alarm.com dealers are hungry for training, which Alarm.com is happy to provide, she said. At the same time, Alarm.com is paying close attention to expanding beyond the home. For example, through their "wellness" offerings, they can connect a customer with an elderly parent's residence. The customer would be able to see if your aging-in-place mother opened her medicine cabinet by a specified time and would get an alert if she didn't, which might signify she didn't take her medication on time as prescribed. Home automation has transformed the security industry, Ferguson and Zartman said, and the industry is in a great position to prosper.
Two years ago, Doug Farber, chief of security for the new World Trade Center complex, was one of our "20 under 30" winners. I spoke to him by phone a number of times, but due to work commitments—the construction project and its security implications were HUGE— he was unable to make it to that year's TechSec conference to receive his award. A former Secret Service agent, Farber had impressed me with his passion for his job and his patriotism. Finally, finally, I got to meet him in person today. We talked about his challenges at such an emotion-ridden site—and we talked about his 9-month-old daughter! Doug is a great guy, a true patriot and professional, and I'm so glad we finally met up. Here's to you, Doug! Keep doing what you're doing so well!
At Genetec, I met with Andrew Elvish, VP marketing and product management, and Georges Karam, the new chief commercial officer. Genetec has so much going on. The company is growing, it's introducing new products and is preparing to expand into market sectors it hasn't broached before. Its Security Center upgrades and Cloud Link are on the cutting edge.
I did a spin around the show floor a couple of times during the day and was happy to see crowded booths and enthusiastic attendees, and this was even before the happy hours broke out! I'm interested to see the attendance data for ISC West 2015. Anecdotally, it's been a very strong show.
I have a morning's worth of appointments tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Wednesday/Show Day 1
Home automation, device aesthetics, intuitiveness and ease of installation were recurring themes of the day as I made my way around the jam-packed show floor.
At Honeywell, Richard Conner, director of marketing for the SED Channel talked about the wireless trend for fire alarm systems. Requests for voice notification also have gone up, he said, along with making sure the devices look good. I also got demos of Honeywell's Lyric and MAXPRO Cloud. Honeywell had a new booth design this year, with all of its products on interactive display in one big area, kind of like an Apple store. It looked great and was effective.
At the Nortek booth, Larry North, director of marketing, talked about the integration of 2Gig, GoControl and Linear products and how Nortek's name change to Nortek Security & Control was a way to bring about cohesiveness and a closer relationship between the companies. Expect bundled, full-service sets from them in the near future along with PERS innovations down the road. Nortek's booth had a new look this year, too, with all sister companies in one place. It also featured "A Day in the Life of Home Control."
At the Z-Wave Alliance Pavilion, with nine member companies displaying their wares, alliance board member Avi Rosenthal also discussed home control. The ultimate goal is to have not just a connected home, but a true "smart home" that thinks for itself, he said. This is the year of industrial design, he said, with the focus on slick, European-style designs. "It's the 'wife-acceptance' factor. She's the one who decorates, so the devices must look cool on the wall," he said. Form and functionality matter for all products, from sensors to switches to control panels.
Jim Vogel, VP of dealer services for ADT, said he's excited by the company's growth opportunities. He's optimistic that the uptick in the housing market will mean more business for his company. (And its ad campaign featuring Ving Rhames hasn't hurt a bit, either.) Pulse has taken off, he said, with 1.1 million ADT customers out of a total of 7.2 million using it. Meanwhile, ADT is "future-proofing" the Internet of Things, he said.
At OnGuard, product manager Brian Tripp had interesting info about intelligent elevators. In a high-rise apartment building, for example, a resident would swipe his access card, which would then identify which floor he needs to go to. The display would tell him which elevator car to take to make his ride up more efficient. That's a win-win for both the user and for the building owner, who can cut costs by decreasing the time elevators are running up and down haphazardly. The user's swipe also could alert his home automation system that the lights need to be turned on, thermostat needs to go up, etc.
I'd written about Icontrol's new Icontrol One, designed for independent dealers, before, but I got to see it in action on Wednesday. Greg Roberts, VP of marketing, pointed out the usefulness of Icontrol One's web portal, which allows the user to set up and revise the system, see alerts and easily find and watch video clips. "It's a one-step stop for security for the entire home. The end user uses the web portal to do all," he said. The portal, which is automatically updated so therefore doesn't need to be refreshed, also offers the user a "home view" feature using the layout of his own home that shows the location of all the devices in the house and let's the user monitor them from there. That feature also is available in 3-D. "Visual" people like that feature, he said. The system is intuitive, easy to install and, yes, its devices are especially designed to be aesthetically pleasing.
Mike Hackett, SVP sales and marketing for Qolsys, also emphasized the intuitiveness, ease of installation and good design looks of his Internet of the Home. Users—and installers— immediately understand and appreciate the value of the plug-in devices, he said. One feature that stood out for me was the easy way to change both the setting labels and voice instructions from English to French or Spanish. With two touches on the control panel all the information is translated. Dealers no longer have to figure out how many French or Spanish models they need to buy, Hackett said. It's all in one.
Before the official kickoff of ISC West 2015, I spent Tuesday afternoon at the DMP Owners Forum and then attended the Women in Security Council reception and awards ceremony.
At the DMP forum, keynoter Patrick Thean spoke on "Rockefeller Habits: How to Differentiate, Execute and Win!" An international speaker and author, Thean is a serial entrepreneur who founded, among other companies, Metasys. He most recently co-founded and is CEO of Gazelles Systems and is the creator of Rhythm Software, designed to assist companies in setting and executing strategic plans for growth. There are three ways for companies to improve, he said: eliminate mistakes, shorten cycle times and improve business models. He also emphasized the importance of articulating core values and purpose and making sure the right people are in the right jobs. A strategy and execution plan should fit on one page, and that goes for companies that are startups all the way up to multimillion firms, he said. He provided attendees with a worksheet to help formulate those goals, create a leading indicator to drive results and a format to track progress.
Next up was Deputy Chief Paul Calvaruso of the Akron, Ohio, Police Department, who talked about his recent experience instituting verified alarm response in his city. The department was facing layoffs due to budget constraints, and he knew it had to better manage its calls for service. Alarm response was "the low-hanging fruit," he said; he was looking at a 98.5 percent false alarm rate. For advice, he visited the Las Vegas P.D., which already was making use of verified response. He was told to include local alarm companies in his "campaign." He did so, and their advice was valuable, he said. Six months after Calvaruso got the program in place, 22 percent of the burglary and robbery alarms were verified and manpower hours were saved. He stressed that his department is "very supportive" of monitoring stations, which have a key role to play. Even if homeowners can get alarm alerts and video verification via smartphones, most don't have their phones available to them 24/7. Video verification is where the industry is headed, he said, and "I'm very glad we did it. I hope to continue to have good relationships with alarm companies. It's been a heck of a ride."
I then sat down with three dealers for an informal round-table discussion on their challenges and opportunities and how they differentiate themselves from their competitors, both big and small. Michael Hackett, president and CEO of Hackett Security in St. Louis, Mo.; John Bazyk, director of sales and marketing for Command Corporation in E. Granby, Conn.; and Dustin Reeves, sales manager for Blue Ridge Security Solutions in Anderson, S.C., had many good insights, which you can read about here. Teaser: Video verification will change the industry.
Early in the evening, there was a great and enthusiastic turnout for the Women in Security event. WSC director Rhianna Daniels Hile introduced the Women of the Year Award winners and encouraged attendees to spread the word about the good work that WSC is doing. She's always looking for sponsors for WSC, she added, so get in touch with her about that.
I'll be updating this post daily from ISC West, so please check back to find out who I met with, what cool technology I saw and how much money I lost on the slots. (OK, just kidding about the last one; I learned my lesson last year!)
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Debates of Oct. 7th, 2005
House of Commons Hansard #134 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was health.
- Question Period
- Spirit Drinks Trade Act
- Food and Drugs Act
- Seniors
- Selkirk—Interlake
- Terry Fox Run
- Jean-Philippe Paiement and Anouk Charbonneau
- Relief Aid International
- Softwood Lumber
- Fire Prevention Week
- 150th Anniversary of Sainte-Sophie
- Mental Illness Awareness Week
- Great Lakes
- Heroes Remember Project
- Passports
- World Sight Day
- Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec
- Oil and Gas Rebate
- Madeline-Ann Aksich
- Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
- Seniors
- Softwood Lumber
- David Dingwall
- Budget Surplus
- Softwood Lumber
- Automobile Industry
- Home Heating Prices
- Technology Partnerships Canada
- Taxation
- Campaign Financing
- Government Aircraft
- Veterans Affairs
- Summit of the Americas
- Veterans Affairs
- Public Service of Canada
- Agriculture
- Airports
- Softwood Lumber
- Public Safety
- Correctional Service of Canada
- Gasoline Prices
- Fisheries
- Economic Development
- Social Development
- Presence in Gallery
- Committees of the House
- Oral Question Period
- Business of the House
- National Child Benefit
- Order in Council Appointments
- Unanticipated Surpluses Act
- Criminal Code
- An Act to Protect and Maintain Orders, Decorations and Medals for Future Generations
- Appointment of Clerk
- Honorary Officer of the House of Commons
- Petitions
- Questions Passed as Orders for Returns
- Question No. 138
- Points of Order
- Committees of the House
- Food and Drugs Act
- Parliament of Canada Act
Government Aircraft
Oral Questions
11:40 a.m.
Bradley Trost Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK
Mr. Speaker, in the year 2004-05, I spent $66,577 for the entirety of my air travel. This includes all my flights to Saskatoon and across the country. However, the finance minister spent $67,100 on one flight to his constituency in Regina. That is $523 more than for my entire year's travel.
Why does it cost so much more to fly to Regina than to Saskatoon?
Government Aircraft
Oral Questions
11:40 a.m.
Toronto Centre
Bill Graham Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, we have been through this In the House all week. It is very clear. Hon. members can pick out this or pick out that. The fact of the matter is the facts on which many of the cases they referred to are erroneous. I have given examples where previous ministerial travel has not been properly accounted for when it was done.
I can assure members of the House that when these flights are approved travel, they are within the guidelines. They are for the necessity of the Government of Canada. The Minister of Finance is one of the hardest working ministers in our government and has produced tremendous benefits for the people of Canada. He deserves our credit for what he is doing, not—
Government Aircraft
Oral Questions
11:40 a.m.
The Speaker
The hon. member for Oxford.
Veterans Affairs
Oral Questions
11:40 a.m.
Dave MacKenzie Oxford, ON
Mr. Speaker, despite all the information we already have on agent orange, including the Department of National Defence's own documents, the government's response to the situation has been three fact-finding task forces with no deadline and now no coordinator.
People are sick. People are dying. They do not have time to wait. Will the Minister of National Defence tell this House who will replace Mr. Vaughn Blaney?
Veterans Affairs
Oral Questions
11:40 a.m.
Toronto Centre
Bill Graham Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question gives me an opportunity to thank Mr. Blaney on behalf of members of the House for having been willing to take on this task. He did it with distinction. He is a man with a great distinctive career. For health reasons he has had to withdraw. We wish him well.
I wish I could tell the hon. member that I have found a replacement for him. I have not yet, but I can promise him that I and the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Veterans Affairs, the Minister of Health and all of us involved in this file are working to make sure we have someone who can help coordinate this work and make sure that Canadians who feel affected by this have a chance to tell—
Veterans Affairs
Oral Questions
11:40 a.m.
The Speaker
The hon. member for Honoré-Mercier.
Summit of the Americas
Oral Questions
11:40 a.m.
Pablo Rodriguez Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, the 4th Summit of the Americas will be held in Mar del Plata, Argentina on November 4 and 5. This summit brings together 34 democratically elected heads of state and government of the Americas in order to identify the main regional issues and define a joint plan to improve the quality of life of people living in the Americas.
This is an extremely important event although, currently, it receives little media coverage.
I want the Government of Canada to explain what are Canada's primary objectives for this important summit?
Summit of the Americas
Oral Questions
11:45 a.m.
Pierre Pettigrew Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the 4th Summit of the Americas is a wonderful opportunity for Canada.
We will work with our partners in the region to promote democracy, equality and prosperity in our hemisphere. We want to put emphasis on our best practices on good governance, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, democracy in Haiti, sustainable development, aboriginal issues, contributions to civil society and public-private partnerships for development.
This is an excellent opportunity for Canada to promote these important values.
Veterans Affairs
Oral Questions
11:45 a.m.
Pat Martin Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the government insists on paying Dingwall severance, yet it denies any benefits whatsoever to 14,000 veterans who were deemed never to have served just because they did not fill out their discharge papers by the deadline. These veterans answered the call just like anybody else, but by order in council their service records were erased.
This is the year of the veteran. Would the Minister of National Defence please tell us that he will have the order in council reversed and reinstate the benefit for these 14,000 surviving veterans or their spouses? They did in fact serve and we cannot erase a person's service record by order in council.
Veterans Affairs
Oral Questions
11:45 a.m.
Mississauga East—Cooksville
Albina Guarnieri Minister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, in the year of the veteran, of course we want to honour all those who served honourably in the second world war. I have asked my department officials to consult with veterans organizations. I am working closely with DND to excavate the facts and dig up the truth. If there are any individuals who have been misclassified, we will do justice.
Public Service of Canada
Oral Questions
11:45 a.m.
Ed Broadbent Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for Democratic Renewal.
The head of the Public Service Commission revealed yesterday that 35 former Liberal staffers have received preferred, non-competitive access to well paying public sector jobs.
This continuation of cronyism undermines competitiveness and objectivity in the public service. It is not allowed in Britain. It should not be allowed in Canada. What is the minister doing to put an end to this undemocratic practice?
Public Service of Canada
Oral Questions
11:45 a.m.
John McCallum Minister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, the first thing I would say is that this policy has existed since 1967 with royal assent of the Public Service Employment Act. Section 39 of the Public Service Employment Act provides certain persons working in ministers' offices with a limited entitlement to be appointed without competition to positions in the public service for which they are qualified.
This is a practice which has existed since 1967 and applies to a very limited number of people, who must be qualified.
Oral Questions
October 7th, 2005 / 11:45 a.m.
Diane Finley Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Mr. Speaker, for too long the Liberal government has been ignoring Canadian grain producers.
Bill C-40, which became law on May 19 of this year, legislated an independent and comprehensive review of the Canada Grain Act to be completed within one year of the bill's passing.
Would the Minister of Agriculture please inform the House what action, if any, he has taken to conduct this desperately needed review of the Canada Grain Act?
Oral Questions
11:45 a.m.
Wayne Easter Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (Rural Development)
Mr. Speaker, the fact is it was the governing party that suggested there be a review of the Canadian Grain Commission when we were doing Bill C-40. The ministers and others have been in discussion with the industry to see what is the best way to proceed and that will happen in due course.
We are doing our job, as we committed ourselves to do when we discussed Bill C-40.
Oral Questions
11:45 a.m.
Diane Finley Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is a long-winded way of saying the government has done nothing on the amendment I put forward.
Just to prove how much the Liberals do not care about Canada's grain industry, first Estey and Kroeger were ignored, then a 2002 industry review panel was ignored, and now the Liberal government is actually ignoring its own legislation.
The Canadian grain industry needs results, not empty rhetoric and not more reports gathering dust. With the government's dismal track record, what assurances will the minister give us that he will take concrete action to overhaul and reform the Canadian Grain Commission?

subset: commoncrawl


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High Unit Seniors
High Unit Seniors Documents
The guidelines for Presidential Directive 2009-05 regarding Graduation and Change of Major are now available on the Hub!
Check out the Requirements to Graduate and Degree Completion Contract documents for high unit seniors to the left under the picture!
This webpage is meant to inform students and advisors regarding strategies to assist our group of high unit seniors graduate in a timely manner. One of the core missions of SJSU is to provide access to higher education for all eligible students. Given the state of California's economic situation, SJSU has been forced to deny access to qualified individuals. To provide better access to qualified applicants, one of SJSU's current objectives is to assist students with excess units to graduate.
In our attempt to help seniors reach their goal of obtaining a Baccalaureate degree from SJSU, we have listed the resources below.
- Advisor Contact Information - Find contact information for your advisors on this Hub page.
- Career Center - Worried about finding a job after graduation? Visit the Career Center for help.
- Change of Major or Minor Form - Be aware of the new policies regarding changing/declaring a major or minor after earning 90 units. See the AARS New Policies webpage for more information.
- Counseling Services - Stressed about class offerings, fee increases or anything else? Visit Counseling Services.
- Degree Progress Report - Learn how to find your report to see which classes you still need to take. Use this before applying for graduation.
- Excess Unit Petition - Graduating seniors are now the only group of people eligible to submit this petition.
- Graduation Application - Apply for graduation if you have not done so already.
- Policy Changes - Keep informed of new and important policy changes on this AARS webpage.
- WST/Writing Resources - Trouble with the WST? Learn how to find assistance here.
Presidential Directive 2009-05
Due to budget reductions and to ensure the ability of the CSU to provide access to qualified applicants, changes were made to Title 5 (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 40411) which allow SJSU to establish a new graduation policy.
- Starting Spring 2010, any undergraduate or graduate student will not be able to enroll in additional state-supported courses when that student has already met all requirements for his or her declared degree.
- Students who have met all requirements for graduation prior to any semester in which they are enrolled can drop all their courses, with little or no penalty, and graduate at the next available date.
- Students who have earned more than enough units to graduate but have some remaining requirements to complete, will be advised and will not be able to register in any courses not needed for graduation.
- All students must declare a major by the time they have earned 60 units.
- Effective after the final day of the Fall 2009 semester, students who have earned 90 units or more may not change majors except by special permission.


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Here are some of the outtakes from A Rocket To The Moon's video updates during The On Your Side Tour. Visit arockettothemoon.net for more!
News - A Rocket To the Moon
|May 23, 2011
|May 19, 2011
Click HERE to check out a huge edition of Andrew Cook of A Rocket To The Moon's Snoop Bloggy Blog full of photos from the band's show in Jakarta and the start of their UK tour with Mayday Parade!
|May 16, 2011
The guys from Valencia, Runner Runner and Go Radio give sincere thanks to A Rocket To The Moon for taking them out on The On Your Side Tour. Visit arockettothemoon.net for more!
|May 14, 2011
Here's a shot from an interview we did with Nick Santino from A Rocket To The Moon for The Fueled By Ramen 15th Anniversary. Sign up at FBR15.com and we'll keep you up to date on when you'll be able to watch it!
Happy birthday to Justin Richards from A Rocket To The Moon - the second of three ARTTM birthdays this month. Send him a note on Twitter at @JustinBrighten as he heads to Indonesia for a show this weekend!
|May 10, 2011
Andrew from A Rocket To The Moon breaks out some stencils to customize some of Nick from Runner Runner's gear cases. Visit arockettothemoon.net for more videos from The On Your Side Tour!
|May 06, 2011
Everyone at Fueled By Ramen would like to wish a very happy birthday to Andrew Cook of A Rocket To The Moon! Drop him a note on Twitter at @andrewtothemoon to send him your birthday wishes, too!
|May 06, 2011
Click HERE to check out Justin from A Rocket To The Moon's photo blog from VH1's Best Cruise Ever with Train, Lifehouse, Colbie Caillat, Civil Twilight and many more!
"We went to Cozumel, Mexico, rented jeeps and went swimming in the ocean. Ate great food and drank amazing margaritas."
|May 04, 2011
from Nick Santino of A Rocket To The Moon:
So I was driving back to my house last week listening to New Found Glory. It was sunny out in Massachusetts (for once) so of course the pop punk playlist comes out to play. One of my favorite songs from this band is Dressed To Kill and have always wanted to do my own version of it... And so I got home and recorded it in my basement. Added some mandolin and lap steel for dramatic effect, and now I give you Dressed To Kill. Enjoy.
Click HERE to hear the song!
Click HERE to see a huge gallery of photos from The On Your Side Tour with A Rocket To The Moon, Anarbor, Valencia, Runner Runner and Go Radio! We just added nearly 100 new photos from the final days of the tour. Enjoy!


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After 25 years with Thompson Health and 20 as the health system's President/CEO, Linda M. Farchione announced last week that she will retire in May 2012.
"My career with Thompson has been challenging, exciting and incredibly rewarding as I have enjoyed the privilege of working with countless individuals of the highest caliber," Farchione said. "Together, we have accomplished many wonderful things and have laid the foundation for many more in the future. That is why I know that a year from now, the timing will be right for me, and for Thompson."
A Canandaigua native and registered nurse, Farchione first joined Thompson in 1986 as VP of Nursing at F.F. Thompson Hospital. She became President/CEO of the entire organization in 1991. In this role, Farchione has overseen F.F. Thompson Health System, F.F. Thompson Hospital, the 188-bed M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center, the FFT Senior Communities comprised of 84 independent apartments at Ferris Hills and 48 enriched living apartments at Clark Meadows, the Thompson Foundation, FFT Properties, Inc., the Finger Lakes Community Care Network, and Ontario County Advanced Life Support.
Through all of the above-mentioned corporations and a myriad of services, Thompson Health serves an estimated 165,000 residents of the Greater Finger Lakes region. With revenues in excess of $105 million, the organization has grown to employ more than 1,300 dedicated individuals from the Canandaigua and surrounding communities. In addition, it has over 400 community volunteers and a respected medical staff of nearly 350 physicians and mid-level providers such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
William R. Kenyon, Chairman of the Board, noted that during Farchione's time at the helm, Thompson Health has achieved many things, including receiving the Governor's Award for Excellence and Magnet designation – in recognition of nursing excellence – from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
"In my mind, however, Linda's greatest achievement is the creation and nurturing of a culture that now is Thompson Health," Kenyon said. "Her greatest achievements are neither bricks nor mortar nor plaques on the wall. It is the people of Thompson Health and the culture of caring that will be her lasting legacy."
As the Board of Directors begins its search for a successor, Kenyon said it will first take the pulse of the community – service groups, school officials, local government officials and more – to determine the community's expectations of Thompson Health in the future. Thompson Health's medical staff and Associates will also be heavily involved in the search process. The Board will engage the services of a search firm specializing in healthcare executives to aid in the search process.
"This process is going to be very inclusive, because Thompson is a cornerstone of this community," Kenyon said.
In the meantime, Farchione said she has a busy year ahead of her as she continues working with her executive team and Associates throughout the health system on a number of current initiatives, including Project Excel – the $43 million hospital expansion/renovation slated for completion in 2012 – and the systemwide transition to electronic medical records.
"There is much to accomplish in the year ahead," she said, "and I look forward to working with Thompson's next President/CEO in ensuring that this health system continues to thrive for this community, well into the future."


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Flower Shaped Mirrors
- Overview
Beautifully etched flower mirrors reflect light around the bedroom or nursery.
- Features beveled glass and details along the stem and flower.
- D-ring mount; mounting hardware included.
- Dimensions & Care
- Overall: 12.5" wide x 30.5" high x 0.5" thick
- Stem: 12.25" wide x 17.25" high x 0.5" thick
- Flower: 12.5" wide x 13.25" high x 0.5" thick
- Weight: 4 pounds
- Overall: 14.75" wide x 32.5" high x 0.5" thick
- Stem: 12.25" wide x 17.25" high x 0.5" thick
- Flower: 14.75" diameter, 0.5" thick
- Weight: 4.5 pounds
- Dust often with a soft, dry cloth.
- Shipping & Return Info
This is a general shipping item.
View Our Shipping Information
Return Policy
At Pottery Barn Kids, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction is our priority. We carefully inspect your order prior to shipment; upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage. We will arrange for a prompt replacement. If, within 7 days for Quick Ship upholstery and 30 days for all other products, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value.
If your return for Merchandise Credit Cards is greater than $10,000, we will issue $10,000 in Merchandise Credit Cards to you that day, and then mail additional Merchandise Credit Card(s) for the amount in excess of $10,000 to you.
We cannot accept returns on monogrammed, personalized, special-order items, or on items damaged through normal wear and tear. We also cannot accept returns of final-sale items, which are identified by a price that ends in $0.99.
For returns of items purchased from your Pottery Barn Kids registry, we will gladly provide a refund or exchange for the merchandise within 90 days of your event or within 90 days of purchase, whichever date is later.
For assistance, please contact Customer Service at 800.993.4923
International Returns: Online returns are available only for items that were shipped to the United States. If you would like to return items that were shipped outside the US, please see International Returns and Exceptions.


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Roasted Smoky Cauliflower with Limey Yogurt
- 2 medium cauliflower heads (use different colors if you can find them), stripped of leaves and main stalk chopped off
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a splash
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon dried mango powder (amchoor, found at Indian stores, optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 lime, zested, plus a squeeze of juice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.
Break up the cauliflower into evenly sized florets about 1-inch long. You can use a knife to divide the large florets if they don't break easily.
In a large bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup oil, coriander, mango powder, if using, cumin, salt and pepper, to taste. Add the florets and, using your hands, gently toss to coat.
Pour the prepared baking sheet and roast until tender and slightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes, tossing halfway through.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the yogurt with the lime zest, a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lime (as much as you like).
Serve the cauliflower with a dollop of yogurt on the side, and enjoy a whole new way to eat cauliflower!
Recipe courtesy of Aarti Sequeira
CATEGORIES:View All
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Kristen Stewart is not exactly known for being a compelling presence during interviews or while walking the red carpet. In fact, she often seems shy and a bit awkward in front of the press.
However, her coy demeanor doesn't prevent her fans from following her every move and emulating her fashion choices. The starlet has been doing tons of publicity for her upcoming film, The Twilight Sage: Eclipse, and Stewart is never without smoking eye makeup.
When she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, Stewart wore a dark grey shadow on both her upper and lower lids, dark grey liner and impeccable mascara.
To emulate her look, sweep a gunmetal shadow from the corners of your lids to your brows, and then apply liner on top of that.
Then, swipe on an acrylic based tubing mascara for a clean look. The product will form a seal around lashes, and it will stay put no matter where the night takes you.ADNFCR-3356-ID-19867021-ADNFCR


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Apple Should Be Ashamed of Itself
So, now that I know the WSJ had its ducks in a row, I can comment.
Please consider two paragraphs in the original WSJ article. They do a nice job summarizing two of the more salient segments of this agreement, which, by the way, is for indies only; the major labels swung their own separate deals with Apple.
Apple Screws Indies, Part One
Apple won't have to pay royalties for some performances of songs that are already in listeners' iTunes libraries, or songs that might be on an album that a listener owns just part of. Similarly, "Heat Seeker" tracks selected by iTunes for special promotions, are also exempted. Apple also doesn't have to pay for songs listeners skip before 20 seconds have elapsed. The company only gets to avoid paying royalties for two songs per hour for any given user.
Apple Screws Indies, Part Two
The iTunes Radio licensing document also includes several references to terms for the use of music in talk, weather, sports and news programming on the new service. The agreement said Apple wouldn't have to pay the independent labels royalties for snippets of music used in the background of those sorts of programs. But it's unlikely Apple will invest much in creating such programming, given that it has long shied from creating its own content.
And, somehow, Pandora
So, think about Part One.
When you play a song from your iTunes music library (or any other collection where you purchased and, in turn, "own" the music), no royalties go from the source to the creators, labels, publishers, etc. There were a host of what I'll call one-time royalty payments on the sale of the song or an entire album. You could play the song (or songs) from your collection one hundred times over and there's just the one-time set of royalty transactions.
This much is cool.
If, however, you stream the song on Pandora (or another streaming service), the Internet radio platform pays a royalty (actually royalties) each time you stream the song. Part One shows that Apple is telling independent labels (not sure about the majors) that it's circumventing paying royalties on some streams in certain situations. (Make a note to self: Indies aren't making a killing -- hardly -- on iTunes digital sales to begin with).
*Edit: I should also point out the other raw deal in Part One. Apple will not have to pay royalties, in some cases, when it streams some songs from an album an iTunes user only owns part of. Wow.
Now ... Consider Part Two.


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Jewellery & Gifts
Our stylish gifts and jewellery range has everything you need to look fabulous or surprise loved ones on that special occasion. We have the latest gifts for all the family, from stunning jewellery like silver bracelets and stylish watches to elegant fragrances from top brands such as DKNY and Calvin Klein: There's even adventurous experience days for a truly memorable gift. Have a look at our great presents for kids too, like cuddly teddies for your toddler or remote control helicopters for those a little older.


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Juno Beach has been a hub of activity in the past few weeks. The short stretch of A1A has hosted Art Fest by the Sea, TurtleFest and Surfers for Autism in what seems like back-to-back succession, but the good times haven't dried up yet. From April 27-28, OceanFest 2013 will take over A1A from Juno Beach Ocean Park to Loggerhead Park. A nod to the beach life, OceanFest is a two-day, fun-filled event packed with family-friendly activities, works by local artisans and great food—plus a competitive edge that is sure to make for one heck of a show.
A compendium of the arts, sport, family fun and ocean stewardship, OceanFest will have something for everyone. Lining A1A will be booths and tents of artisan works, including fine art, fashion, beauty products and home decor. Then there are the sand artists, who will compete to transform mounds of sand into fleeting sculptures. For the kids, a 90-foot ferris wheel will take root just south of the Juno Pier, making for one of the more picturesque fair rides to roll into town. And what would A1A be without its share of classic whips on display? More than 100 classic and muscle cars are expected to pull in for a show, and each will vie for $500 people's choice and best in show awards.
On the sporting end of the spectrum, four main events are sure to get the competitive juices flowing:
- OceanFest will kickstart the Eastern SUP Surf Circuit's Summer SUP Throwdown. The southernmost journey on its five-stop circuit of stand-up paddleboard race and surf competitions located solely in Florida, the OceanFest stop on April 28 will be the first of the 2013 season and include an array of events and competitions, from slalom races to a points-based surf competition. For top SUPers, both men and women, two elite races are in the works: one for 14-foot boards, another for those riding 12.5-foot boards and smaller, which will run a six-mile course (three total laps) from the Juno Pier to Loggerhead Beach. A recreation course for boarders riding 12.5-foot boards and smaller will be set up at the pier and will run a total of three miles (two laps). A SUP surf competition will also be in the works if the swell complies (Magic Seaweed has a waist-high prediction in the books), with competitors going head-to-head in a points-based system. Best wave, best ride and best trick all go into the equation, and don't be surprised to see some pretty inventive riding; some talented riders are expected to make the journey.
- Anyone who's ever wished to try paddle-boarding can hop on a board in a safe and controlled environment at the paddleboard pool, where instructors will give demonstrations.
- Side out! The best in beach volleyball will be on played at the Just Bring It Volleyball Challenge at Ocean Cay Park. Open to both men and women, the two-man-team beach volleyball tournament will get started early April 27 and offer $1,000 in prize money.
- On April 27 and 28, local and regional skateboarders can test their mettle on an eight-foot vert ramp and street course at the foot of the Juno Pier. The competition is expected to be fierce and a great watch.
- For visitors ages 5-12, there will be a kids fishing contest at the pier from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 27. Prizes will go to the biggest, heaviest and first catch in the respective age groups (5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12). Registration begins at 8 a.m. on April 27 and is free for children of age.
Registration for paddleboard races, volleyball and skateboarding will be held at the OceanFest opening party at Jupiter Pointe Marina Bar & Grill on April 26 at 7 p.m.
- Gates open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Admission costs $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-12.
- Plenty of food and drink will be on hand from a number of different food trucks and purveyors.
- During events, take a moment to learn about local and regional conservation efforts at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, which will be open for tours, hands-on educational activities and turtle encounters, not to mention an air-conditioned respite.
- For more information, see oceanfestjuno.com.


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| end things
This years Women in Church and Ministry Conference in March was a rich and serendipitous encounter between women from a broad spectrum of ages, interests, and denominations who share a common desire to serve God with all their diverse and abundant gifts.
At the opening night dinner in the Main Lounge, I was struck by the counterpoint of our mostly female group sharing a meal under the gaze of the mostly male faces in the portraits overhead. Silently, I toasted the two women included on canvas; they must have been extraordinary to have arrived in the pantheon without the usual passkey of a y chromosome.
The conferences fertile theme, Inheriting the Promise and Then Discovering the Voice of Sisterhood, resonated in a myriad of motifs and timbres. Our banquet was enriched by the singing of several gifted Seminary students, spiced by an occasional guitar, and the ambiance created a warm sense of sisterhood. One student sang a song of piercing loveliness, a song that she had written while hospitalized for depression. It was a grace note the courage of this young woman, the beauty flowing from deep pain that brought up the deeper registers of the voice of sisterhood.
Thus fed and attuned, we moved to Miller Chapel to hear the Women in Church and Ministry lecturer, Dr. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, professor of ethics and theology at Drew University Theological School. What a gift she was! Eschewing the elevated pulpit as too hierarchical, Isasi-Diaz chose to address us from the lectern down to earth. A native of Cuba who was forced to flee at age eighteen, Isasi-Diaz dedicated her talk to five Cuban women who traveled here, at unique expense, to participate in the conference.
With authority and humility, Isasi-Diaz spoke on Women, Justice, and the Future of the Church. The struggle for justice has been home for her, she said, and was at the heart of the mission of Jesus. She defined righteousness as an entering into relationship with all of Gods creation. She described with compelling clarity how the dominant group determines the norm and marginalizes those who are different a perversion of the divine plan.
My job is a being with others not a doing for others, she said, and salvation depends on a love of neighbor. She sees ministry as an ongoing conversion, a vocation that must not be choked by professionalism.
One facet of her confrontation with injustice derives from being a woman in the Roman Catholic Church: The doors to women clanged shut in 1979, when John Paul became pope. On the other hand, she added, The Pope is not eternal! Isasi-Diaz is a force of faith, tenacity, and spunk, with a delicious sense of humor. I felt drawn to her as to a campfire.
We talked the next morning in her guest-room in Erdman, where she immediately insisted that I call her Ada; she practices what she preaches and has no hubris-driven need for power constructs. She shared some of her experiences as a nun in Peru.
Obedience is not my cup of tea, she said. I banged my head on the establishment order . I needed care and support from those I worked with, and I was getting opposition. As one with a few dings on my own female cranium, I felt affirmed by her candor and by her intrepid spirit.
Her experience has strengthened her belief in the centrality of faith instead of doctrine. She fervently believes that the church must gather in the hopes and prayers of the people; this echoes last years WICAM lecture by Ann Belford Ulanov, who said that if the church fails to do this, it will not survive.
My experience of the conference was completed by a workshop whose focus was feeding the soul. Barbara Chaapel created a space that fostered a remarkable intimacy, a sisterhood discernibly bonded by the Holy Spirit, in which trust and connection flourished, and lo our souls were fed. While the leonine winds of early March swirled outside, we were snug by glowing candles and the symbols of poetry, silence, and music. I was awed by the closeness engendered by this brief encounter and reluctant to see it end had dinner with several of these pastors. The networking that ensued has plopped me into the lap of my Field Ed placement for next year, a powerful and personal reminder that God is directing a choir in which womens voices are vital and sing a glorious song.
© Copyright 1998 Princeton Theological Seminary
This Issue
End Things
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ECR4Kids 14" Stack Chair Select Color - 6 pack
by ECR4Kids | Item #: 650620 | Model #: ELR-0194-BL |
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About this item
Pack of (6) children's stack chairs available in: blue, green, red, yellow, and purple.
Heavy-duty plastic seat, chrome-plated steel legs, Superglide™ floor glides, and bright colors all combine to make this comfortable and sturdy children's stack chair.
- Superglide™ composite ball glides for durability and floor protection; specifically designed for use on both hard flooring and carpet
- Leg glides will not scar bare floors
- Chrome-plated steel legs can be sanitized, will not chip or flake, and are scratch resistant - unlike painted legs
- Steel tubular legs are stronger and offer greater stability than many competitors' tapered legs
- One piece molded seat with vented back and reinforced ribbing underneath provides comfort and strength
- Vented chair back allows air to circulate to the child's body
- No hardware penetrates the seat side shell, eliminating clothing snags and injury
- Full MIG welded frame for sturdiness, as opposed to the weaker spot welding
- Inter-stack with most other manufacturers' stack chairs
- Color scheme blends with classroom furniture made by many other manufacturers
- Meets or exceeds ASTM F963 safety standards
Use the chart below to determine the appropriate chairs and tables for your classroom. As a rule, there should be 6" - 10" in the space between a chair's seat and the table. For example, if you have a kindergarten class, you might order both 12" and 14" chairs to seat a wide range of students. Both would fit a 19" to 23" high table.
Ages Chair Height
Table Height
Age 2 8 - 10 15 to 20 Age 3 10 - 12 16 to 21 Age 4 12 - 14 18 to 23 Kindergarten 12 - 14 19 to 23 Grades 1 & 2 12 - 14 19 to 23 Grades 3 & up 14 - 16 21 to 27
Assembled Country
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The real luxury of wearing information is not in exposing ourselves to every passing data point but in filtering that data in ways that deliver insight and amplify our humanity. 4 comment(s)
Entertainment Weekly has a new responsive mobile website, and the design is a Global Moxie joint. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how we built it. 8 comment(s)
Smashing Magazine published The Mobile Book this week. I was honored to contribute the book's final chapter about designing for touch. 4 comment(s)
New hybrid keyboard-touch laptops and tablets have changed the game. When any desktop machine could have a touch interface, we have to proceed as if they all do. 16 comment(s)
Global Moxie designed the new responsive mobile website for People Magazine. Here's how we did it and why. 18 comment(s)
"Anything that can be connected to the Internet, will be." 3 comment(s)
Radial menus are suddenly in vogue, but it's not just passing fashion. For touch, this is good interaction design. 5 comment(s)
Back! Done! Cancel! Save! Mobile apps sport a bevy of buttons to dismiss a view, but their proper placement isn't always obvious. Here are the general rules to follow. 3 comment(s)
The history of New York City's aggressive grid of city streets offers plenty of lessons for digital designers. 4 comment(s)
With every new Retina Display, designers get to build ever more app icons. Jon Hicks has a template to help. 1 comment(s)


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Parlays Volunteers, Donations, CDBG Funding into Health Care for Low
Income Community
May 15, 2000
The Southeast section of
Canton is an area of about 17,000 residents; nearly half are minorities and
one-third are living below the poverty level. The residents of this
community generally lack the ability to pay for medical services and, until
six years ago, had been geographically isolated from primary health care
providers: The four primary care physicians in the area at that time were
not located near the Southeast residents who may have needed them.
In response to the
problem of nearly nonexistent primary health care for the poor residents of
the Southeast community, Canton Mayor Richard Watkins called for the
cooperation and support of all sectors of the City in the development of a
community clinic. This resulted in a local bank donating a building which
was located in the heart of Southeast Canton, the City providing Community
Development Block Grant funds to remodel it, and area doctors and hospitals
donating all the facility's furnishings, medical equipment and supplies.
The Canton Community
Clinic opened in September 1994, and in the year that followed, 11 volunteer
doctors served more than 2,850 patients. A dental wing opened in March 1996
to a waiting list of 400 persons, many of whom were to receive dental care
and oral hygiene treatment for the first time in their lives. That year,
about 6,000 patients had medical and dental appointments and participated in
the Clinic's new prevention, or wellness, program. The following year, with
an expanded wellness program, about 9,000 patients were served.
In 1998, when more than
14,000 were served, over 70 wellness programs and related follow-up services
were provided. In 1999, when service levels topped 15,000, there were more
than 90 health outreach programs. Also, by 1999, the number of volunteer
physicians and dentists had grown to well over 50. In fact, the Clinic
operates with only three paid positions; all of its doctors, dentists,
nurses and other workers are volunteers.
More than 85 percent of
the low income patients coming to the Clinic lack the means to pay for
primary health care and have no ties to any other resource or governmental
agency. Three of every four are unemployed; one of every four is considered
working poor. "The Canton Community Clinic is a success story that is
meeting the needs of Canton's low-income and no-income citizens," says
Mayor Watkins. "The volunteer health care professionals and the community
support are the keys to its success."
While CDBG funds cover
the Clinic's operational costs for the 80 percent of the patients who
reside in Canton, and the United Way and other foundations cover the costs
for patients from outside the City, these costs represent a fraction of the
actual value of the medical services rendered - and the fraction gets
smaller each year. In 1996, for example, with a budget of $170,000, a
half-million dollars in health care services were provided. In 1997, when
the budget increased to $212,000, $1.3 million in services were provided. In
1998, with just $9,000 added to the budget, services rendered jumped to more
than $2 million. Last year, with no increase in the budget, the value of
services rendered jumped again, to $3 million.
And other benefits to
patients have increased over the years of Clinic operation: In its first
year, only one of every 20 patients could be given medicines free of charge;
beginning in 1998, all patients received all the free medicines they needed.
This was made possible that year with more than $500,000 in donated
medicines; in 1999, the Clinic dispensed more than $750,000 in donated
The Clinic recovers
approximately $4,000 annually from Medicare, Medicaid and other insurance
programs providing coverage for patients. Cash grants from local businesses,
foundations and other sources are designated for specific services - health
care for pre-school children, diabetes treatment and mammography, for
example. Over the years, these grants have made it possible for the Clinic
to offer an increasing number of programs tailored to the needs of area
Two fund-raisers are
held each year for the benefit of the Clinic, with the proceeds invested by
a local foundation in an endowment fund. When the fund's principal reaches
$3 million, it will pay the Clinic $200,000 annually - enough to make it
self-sufficient. At this point, the City will no longer provide funding.
Clinic President Mary
Cain says there are a "thousand thousand" success stories to be told, some
major, some minor. Examples, she says, are found in the hundreds of child
health screenings done over the past two years and in "the positive
activities that health physicals promote for those needy youngsters who want
to play in a sport but can't afford $50 to $90 for a required physical."
The Canton clinic is now
one of 10 free clinics in Ohio. Second only to the Cleveland Free Clinic in
terms of patient population and scope of treatment, it is the only facility
in the State to provide free, full time primary care for low income
patients, including full medical, dental, prevention and prescriptive
services. Last year, Clinic officials worked with Ohio Representatives Kirk
Schuring and Twyla Roman in a successful effort to retain the State's
immunity laws. These laws are of critical importance as they provide unpaid
health care workers in indigent programs - including the 55 doctors and
dentists serving the Clinic - with immunity from law suits.
Additional information
on the Canton Community Clinic is available from Ms. Cain at (330) 454-2000.


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Flexible 4-Step Chicken for Family and Company - Rustic Lemon-Onion Chicken
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced in half crossways (butterflied, cut all the way through)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, plus 1 small bunch fresh thyme, leaves chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup white wine, optional
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 lemons, juiced
- 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
- Spinach "bed", recipe follows
- 1 bag pre-washed fresh spinach
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Season chicken with dried thyme and salt and pepper. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add the oil. Dredge the chicken in flour, add to the hot oil and saute until cooked through. Set chicken aside to rest on plate tented with foil.
In same saute pan, over low heat, add onions and fresh thyme and cook until aromatic.
In a measuring cup, measure out wine, if using, and broth, and add the lemon juice. Turn the heat up to high, and deglaze the pan with the broth mixture until starting to reduce.
Remove the pan from the heat and finish the sauce by whisking in butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Place a bed of cooked spinach on a serving platter, top with the chicken. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.
Spinach "bed":
Microwave spinach in a microwave-proof dish with a few tablespoons of water on high for 5 to 6 minutes, or until hot. Drain, and toss with butter, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste.
The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe and therefore, we cannot make representation as to the results.
Recipe courtesy of Melissa d'Arabian


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This post concludes my series of posts on Oracle OpenWorld 2011 conference. Here are some pictures from Wednesday and Thursday.
- IBM as the yardstick by which everyone measures against
Our friends at Violin Memory systems mentioned our joint-venture success results with IBM GPFS, scanning 10 billion files in less than an hour. (Their booth must have been slow, because members of their team spent a lot of time in our IBM booth!)
In fact, it seemed every company compared themselves to IBM in one fashion or another. Larry said that "IBM is a great company" and mentioned the IBM systems several times in comparisons to Oracle's newly announced hardware offerings.
- Larry's Sailing Vessel
When things slowed down, I took a walk to see the other parts of the exhibition area. In the Moscone West building was Larry's catamaran that won [last year's America's Cup].
I used to sail myself, and have been part of crews in sailing races in both Japan and Australia. A few years ago, I watched the America's Cup time trials in New Zealand.
- On the Streets of San Francisco
On the streets, IBM had advertised some of its products in a manner that thousands of attendees would see every day. Here we have some factoids related to IBM Netezza and DB2 database on POWER servers. We were very careful not to mention either product in the IBM Booth itself, as we all understand that IBM is a guest in Oracle's house this week. We certainly don't want to do anything to upset Larry in any way to make him treat IBM like he treated HP last year, or Salesforce.com this year.
- Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
On Wednesday evening at Oracle OpenWorld, we were tearing down the booth when we heard that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had passed away. This is truly a loss for the entire IT industry. I never met Steve in person, nor have I been to any Apple conferences like MacWorld that he spoke at.
At various keynote sessions, Larry Ellison compared his Oracle products to those of Apple, Inc., suggesting that Oracle is the "Apple for the Enterprise".
On our way back to the Hilton hotel on O'Farrell, there was a candle vigil at the Apple Store near Union Square. People left sticky notes on the glass window.
There were a lot of tributes to Steve Jobs, but I liked this 15-minute video of his 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford University titled [How to Live before you Die.
This will be one of those moments where years later, many people will remember exactly where they were, and what they were doing, when they heard the news. For many, that news came as tweets or text messages on the very iPhones and iPads he helped design.
- Rock Concert - Wednesday night
On Wednesday evening, I joined thousands of other attendees on Treasure Island to hear and watch Sting, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the English Beat in concert. It was cold and dark, but we all had a good time. Needless to say, I didn't make it to Marc Benioff's 8:00am Thursday morning session!
A word of advice: If you go to an evening rock concert at Treasure Island, dress warmly!
Despite the sad news about Steve Jobs, I had a great time at this conference. I learned a lot about what other IT vendors are doing, talked to dozens of IBM clients at the booth, and got to make some new friends that work in other parts of IBM.
(FTC Disclosure: I work for IBM. IBM and Apple are technology partners. I proudly own an Apple iPod, several Mac Mini computers and shares of stock in both IBM and Apple, Inc.)
technorati tags: IBM, Violin+Memory, GPFS, Americas+Cup, Netezza, DB2, POWER, HP, Salesforce.com, Steve Jobs, Hilton, Union Square, Standford University, , Treasure Island, Sting, Tom Petty, English Beat


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(Photos by Michael Darter, www.michaeldarter.com)
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Don't Pay at the Pump: Bus to the TrailFollow Dan Koeppel and photographer Michael Darter as they jump a magic bus in L.A. and camp in Angeles National Forest. You may never drive again.
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