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Call now (1-877-258-1445)
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This equipment trailer features a pressure treated wood deck along with stand up ramps. Contact us at 1-877-258-1445.
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We appreciate you doing business with us and you will see we care about the services we provide. We encourage you to keep in contact with us even long after the sale is completed. My staff and I will do all we can to make you feel at home and know you made the right choice! No matter who you are.
Robin Hanger's Car Shop Trailer Sales is Florida's #1 trailer dealer for car trailers, but don't forget motorcycle trailers, cargo trailers, Stacker trailers and race car trailers.
The company, product and service names used in this web site are for identification purposes only.All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Call 1-877-258-1445 for the most current inventory information, pricing and availability . We reserve the right to make changes to inventory information, pricing and availability without notice and are not responsible for errors or omissions.
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Your tax-deductible gift to the Naval Institute Press underwrites worthy books that might not otherwise be published.
The New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology series is devoted to exploring the significance of the earth's waterways while providing lively and important books that cover the spectrum of maritime history and nautical archaeology. Limited by neither geography nor time, volumes in the series contribute to the overall understanding of maritime history and can be read with profit by both general readers and specialists alike. The series is edited by James C. Bradford and Gene A. Smith.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Twenty-six years ago, I attended my first town meetings as a reporter. I was new to the state and its Town Meeting Day traditions and was awed by the purely democratic form of government many of the small towns throughout Addison County had long embraced. In those days (not all that long ago, I like to think), many towns still held the meeting on that first Tuesday in March with potluck luncheons or early dinners as part of the community heritage.


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Helen FrankenthalerBiography
Into this virtual whirlpool of men splashing around lots and lots of paint stepped a young woman fresh out of Bennington College in Vermont, still in her early 20s, married to one of the stronger movers and shakers of Abstract Expressionism, who not only rose above the work of her husband but staked claim to being the dominant female figure in the New York School at the time. Her name was Helen Frankenthaler. She was married to Robert Motherwell, a west coast immigrant to the New York scene whose bold, black and white colour field paintings (juxtaposed with subtle secondary shades) looked nothing like hers. Frankenthaler's soak and stain painting techniques on raw canvas broke new ground in bringing softer, more feminine qualities of colour and technique to Abstract Expressionism. It became her trademark as she established herself as a leader in the unique use of flowing areas of subtle colour.
Still in her 20's, Frankenthaler's work began to surpass in popularity many of her male counterparts. She continued to produce and innovate all through the sixties, seventies, and eighties, and today, at 69, she is still the predominant female Abstract Expressionist as her current work clearly demonstrates in a show which opened at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C in 1999. This show was comprised of ten large paintings done in the last twenty years and presents a somewhat darker side of her artistic personality. The hues are deeper, richer, more varied with higher, stronger contrasts than her earlier work. Even though the colours are darker, there is nothing sad or sombre in their visual effect. They are intense, dramatic, vibrant, and strong without loosing the inherently feminine quality that made her work so divergent in the fifties.
contributed by Lane, Jim


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If you received a Chicago-Kent scholarship
during the 2006-2007 academic year and you expect to receive
one again in 2007-2008, please be aware that scholarships
for continuing students will not be included in financial
aid awards until August 2007. In July the Office of Admissions
reviews grades and class ranks from Spring 2007 term and
determines which students are eligible for scholarship renewal.
You will receive a revised award letter in August if your
scholarship is renewed.
Monday-Thursday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m
If you would like your financial aid disbursed
to your tuition account by the first week of class, your
file must be complete with the Office of Financial Aid by
6/30/2007. To complete your file you must have a 2007-2008
FAFSA on file, accept your "estimated aid" by
using your web for student account, and all relevant promissory
notes (except Perkins) must be completed with the lender
of your choice.
Even if your file is not complete by June
30th you are still eligible to apply and receive financial
aid but please be aware that your funds may not disburse
by the first week of class. For this reason, we encourage
all students take action to complete his/her file by June
30, 2007. If you have questions regarding whether you have
to complete a new promissory note please contact the Office
of financial aid at email@example.com or 312-906-5160.
You have been offered a financial aid award
for the summer but you have yet to accept the offered amounts.
You must accept the offered Estimated Federal Stafford,
Federal Graduate Plus and/or Private (Alternative) loans
on your Web for Students if you wish to receive the funds
for summer.
If this is your first year borrowing funds at Illinois
Institute of Technology Downtown Campus you will have to
complete the Federal Master Promissory Note for each loan
type you choose to accept. Please visit our website at the
following link if you need to complete this requirement:
https://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/finaid. Also, please be aware
that while you may be eligible for a higher Grad Plus or
Private loan amount, you cannot increase the Federal Stafford
loan amounts.
The summer term is the first term of the 2007-2008academic
year. Summer financial aid, however, is processed separately
from the regular academic year.
Students must complete the 2007-2008 FAFSA in order to
receive federal loans for the summer term. The Office of
Financial Aid cannot process federal loans for a student
until his or her FAFSA information is received.
In order to receive federal financial aid for the summer
term, students must be enrolled at least half-time. Half-time
status is defined as the following: Chicago-Kent College
of Law (JD & LLM) students must enroll for at least
6 credits; Stuart School of Business students must enroll
for at least 7.2 credits; Master of Public Administration
students must enroll for at least 5 credits.
The Office of Financial Aid will automatically process
summer federal loans for students who are enrolled at least
half-time during the summer term. Law and MPA students will
receive 1/3 of their federal loan eligibility during the
summer term and business students will receive 1/4 of their
federal loan eligibility. Students may choose to borrow
alternative loan funds in addition to their federal loan
funds for the summer term. To do so, they must apply for
a loan directly with the lender of their choice.
Students who are not enrolled at least half-time may choose
to borrow alternative loan funds for the summer term. To
do so, they must apply for a loan directly with the lender
of their choice.
In order to qualify for federal financial
aid for 2007-2008, you must complete a Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Renewal FAFSA for 2007-2008.
In order to complete the 2007-2008 FAFSA you will need
to provide 2006 income and tax information, so we recommend
that you complete your 2006 tax returns before filing
your FAFSA.
You can complete your FAFSA or Renewal FAFSA
online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
You must include IIT's Downtown Campus school code on
your application. The code is E00773. The code will listed
as Chicago Kent.
Refund checks are generated by the Bursar's Office
and are available to be picked up at their office
(Room 290) approximately 5-7 business days after a
credit has resulted in a student's account.
The Bursar's Office will send the student an email
when a refund check is available.
Did you know that you are now able to
receive a free credit report once every 12 months?
We encourage students to review their credit reports
annually to check for inaccuracies and identify any
suspicious activity.
To receive your free credit report,
please visit the following link: www.annualcreditreport.com.
This central site allows you to request a free credit
file disclosure, commonly called a credit report,
once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer
credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and
Please be aware that other sites may
advertise free credit reports, but this is the only
site that is sponsored by the federal government and
the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. Other
sites may charge fees.
Friday ~ 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m
Phone: (312) 906-5180 -
Fax: (312) 906-5274
Main Chicago-Kent event
Academic calendar
CLE calendar
Alumnae/i event calendar
Admissions calendar


text: Attarintiki Daredi movie has been leaked on the internet. Pavan Kalyan's as a hero and samantha as heroine, Attarintiki Daredi was unfortunately leaked before its release. As per the latest information piracy CD's are available on the internet to download. Some one from the unit sitting in the edit room …Read More »


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Update: The latest version of this plugin can be found here.
Around the beginning of this month I released version 1.0.1 of the Infinite Carousel jQuery plugin. About a week later I received an email asking if I could add the ability for a visitor to jump to a specific image in the carousel. I'd seen this functionality in other carousels (none that run in infinite loops) where small images or some other user interface was displayed that allowed someone to pick an image and go directly to it. At first I thought sure, how hard could it be to enable this? If the current carousel could flow infinitely picture by picture, how difficult could it be to fast forward to a specific image in the sequence? Little did i realize what I was in for.
Creating a user interface to allow jumping around the sequence of images was the easy part. Version 1.2 of the infinite Carousel creates thumbnail gallery with several options which allows you to click on a small box and jump to an image. The hard part turned out to be how to handle the actual jumping. I initially thought that I could fast forward the existing process, basically figuring out how far the carousel needed to be moved, and then just repeatedly moving one frame at a time. This didn't even come close to making it into the final code as the effect was not even close to passable. It even felt like cheating. So I went back to the drawing board and started from scratch.
What I ended up with is a very fluid, very clean image carousel that allows you to jump to any image in the series, while maintaining all the functionality of the original Infinite Carousel. To make a long story, and many hours of coding short, the latest version of the Infinite Carousel manipulates the DOM based on how far away the desired image is. In a nutshell, list items and the images contained within (and optionally captions) are cloned, moved around, and deleted while the overall list is animated. Sounds easy. It's not.
The final product is this:
While much of the original Infinite Carousel plugin code was used in the latest version, the guts of moving images around was retooled. In addition, new options have been introduced to allow control over the thumbnails that can now be displayed below the carousel.
I will keep version 1.0.1 of the infinite carousel available at its original location in case anyone would like to continue to use it, while making version 1.2 available below.
Update (8/31/2009): I just changed the license for this plugin to the share alike license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/), updated the image paths, and fixed a problem with IE7 and errant commas. No other changes were made however the version number is now 1.2.2.
Download jquery.infinitecarousel-1_2.zip. (version 1.2.2 – 8/31/2009)
What's So Great About this Plugin?
- Unlike most carousel plugins which stop when they get to the last image,
this one allows the show to go on infinitely without any user intervention.
If you have three images you want to display, after the third image has been
displayed, the first image will be next. Through some clever JavaScript, images are shuffled around so that it appears as if the carousel is a true carousel and never ends.
- Captions are optional.
- Optional thumbnail controls which allow visitors to jump to any image in the carousel sequence.
- Thumbnails can be styled via CSS.
- It's less than 14K (a minified/compressed version will be available shortly).
- Reusable on multiple containers within the same page.
- You can use CSS to add padding to the carousel area so that the previous and next images are hinted at (see demos below).
How to Use
First, all of the images that you want to display should be the same size and wrapped in a containing element (I recommend a div) which must have an ID. Note that by using CSS, you can style the container (carousel) div to have left and/or right padding so that you can display a small amount of the previous and/or next images. The carousel must be a list where each list item is the image and optionally a paragraph containing the caption. See this example.

This carousel has no padding applied to it so you won't see hints for the previous and next images. Also, the progress bar could be disabled by setting just one option on the plugin.

This is the caption for the second image. The height of the caption box is an option.

It's not easy being green.

You can easily mix images types. Gif, png, and jpeg all work without any issues.

All images *MUST* have the width and height declared otherwise the plugin won't work in Safari, Chrome, and any other webkit-based browsers. Also, all images should be the same size. If you want to have a caption with an image, it *MUST* exist in a paragraph after the image.
To use the plugin you'll need to have a copy of jQuery, or point to jquery on Google, and the plugin. Place the files on your site and link to them:

#carousel ul { list-style: none; width:1600px; margin: 0; padding: 0; position:relative; } #carousel li { display:inline; float:left; }
Be sure to check out the demos below.
That's it! You can apply the infinite carousel to any number of elements on a page.
The following options are configurable:
- transitionSpeed – the time (in milliseconds) it will take to transition between two images (default 1500)
- displayTime – the time (in milliseconds) to display each image (default: 6000)
- textholderHeight – the height of the caption. This is a fraction of the height of the images. (default: .2)
- displayProgressBar – Boolean. Whether or not to display the progress bar (default: 1)
- displayThumbnails – Boolean. Whether or not to display the thumbnails for the carousel. (default: 1)
- displayThumbnailNumbers – Boolean. Whether or not to automatically place numbers in the thumbnail boxes. (default: 1)
- displayThumbnailBackground – Boolean. Whether or not to use the corresponding image as the background for a thumbnail box. (default: 1)
- thumbnailWidth – the width of each thumbnail box. (default: '20px')
- thumbnailHeight – the height of each thumbnail box. (default: '20px')\
- thumbnailFontSize – the font size of the number within the thumbnail box. (default: .7em)
Options are added when calling the script:
$('#carousel').infiniteCarousel({ transitionSpeed : 2000, displayTime : 10000, textholderHeight : .25, displayProgressBar : 0 });
Note that the CSS of the thumbnail div created by the plugin can be controlled by using a rule like #carousel + div {your CSS here}. The plus between the carousel id and the div specifically targets the thumbnail container.
- Example 1
- Example 2 (uses padding to hint at the previous and next images and larger thumbnails with no background images. The thumbnail container is also centered with CSS)
Note that the plugin uses several images which are kept in an images folder in the zip file (/js/infiniteCarousel/images/ by default). If you store the plugin in another folder on your server, update the path to these images.
Graceful Degradation
- Setting the width, height, and overlflow on the container creates a view port to give those w/o JavaScript an approximation of what they'd see with JavaScript.
- Setting a width of 9999px (or some large number equal to or greater than the combined width of all images) on the container, combined with setting the list to display inline and float left allows the list to display horizontally (leaving the width out would make the list scroll vertically)
- Setting a height on the container equal to the height of the images plus some extra allows the captions to display


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Today is Father's Day so my baking took on a CCD-friendly (Caked Crusader's Da) twist. The CCD likes toffee, apples and, unsurprisingly, toffee apples so this tart looked a winner for him. I adapted the recipe from one of Richard Corrigan's so knew it would be good!
None of the stages of this recipe are difficult but there are a lot of stages so make sure you have enough time to make it. The pastry is buttery and delicious. I thought it was going to be tricky to work with as it was a sticky dough but it was incredibly well-behaved; it didn't tear at all. Look at the buttery colour of it:
The bed of almond sponge puffs up around the apples when it cooks and takes on the juicy flavour of the dulce de leche. It really is a treat for the tastebuds. I think this tart was professional standard – you'd be delighted to get this in any restaurant or patisserie.
I used apples from the fruit and veg box kindly provided by Abel & Cole. As these were sweet red apples, I mixed them with some Granny Smith's to increase the tartness of the apples.
As always I like to provide serving suggestions.....
....and a 'spoon shot':
For the pastry:
250g plain flour
125g unsalted butter, straight from the fridge and cubed
50g caster sugar
2 eggs
For the almond cream:
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g ground almonds
25g plain flour
For the apple layer:
4 dessert apples, peeled and cut into slices (I cut each apple into 8 wedges)
1 tablespoon caster sugar
4 tablespoons dulce de leche
For the topping:
35g unsalted butter
15g plain flour
65g Demerara sugar
25g ground almonds
Handful of flaked almonds
To serve: custard or thick spooning cream
How to make:
- Start by making the pastry. Place the flour, butter and sugar into a food processor and blitz until you have breadcrumbs. (You can do this by hand with the old rubbing the butter into the flour method)
- Add the eggs and blitz again.
- Tip out onto a sheet of clingfilm and, with a little extra flour if necessary, bring the mixture into a dough.
- Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C/fan oven 130°C/300°F/Gas mark 2.
- Roll out the pastry between two sheets of clingfilm until it is large enough to line a 25cm loose bottomed flan tin. There is no need to grease the tin as the pastry is so buttery. I found the pastry behave really well and there was no tearing thus no patching needed. Leave any surplus pastry hanging over the edge
- Line the pastry with a sheet of baking paper and fill with baking beans and bake blind in the oven for 45 minutes. This sounds a long time but the light is very low so the pastry won't burn.
- Remove the paper and beans and, when cool enough to touch, trim away the excess pastry.
- Increase the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Now make the almond cream: cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then the ground almonds then the flour. Put to one side.
- Now cook the apples. Place the apple wedges in a pan and cook over a high heat so that they soften and release some juice.
- Add the sugar and ensure that the apples are all coated. They will start to caramelise.
- When the apples are soft and golden, but not falling apart, remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool a little.
- Now make the topping: rub the butter into the flour until you have breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the sugar and almonds.
- When the apples are cooled stir in the dulce de leche.
- Now assemble the tart for final baking. Spread the almond cream into the pastry case. It will look like there is too much but, with careful spreading it will easily fit.
- Arrange the apples on top making sure you scrape all the lovely dulce de leche out of the pan as well.
- Sprinkle the topping over the apples along with a handful of flaked almonds.
- Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, making sure the topping doesn't burn. Mine took just over 40 minutes.
- Serve either warm with custard or at room temperature with cream.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.


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Creighton men's senior Jose Gomez finished as the second runner-up for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy presented at the MAC Hermann Trophy Banquet Friday evening.
The award, annually given to the best soccer player in NCAA Division I soccer, was presented to junior forward Patrick Mullins from the University of Maryland. The first runner-up was Notre Dame forward Ryan Finley followed by Gomez.
Gomez' third-place finish follows former Creighton star Ethan Finlay's runner-up effort in 2011. Fellow Bluejay greats Keith DeFini, Brian Kamler, Richard Mulrooney, Ross Paule and Mike Tranchilla have also been finalists for the award, while current CU assistant coach Johnny Torres won the award in 1997.
Torres represented the Creighton coaching staff in support of Gomez this weekend. The former All-America selection returned to the MAC after claiming the award following his senior season in Omaha in 1997.
Earlier this month Gomez claimed Soccer America MVP First team honors as a midfielder. In December, Gomez claimed National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America First Team honors and All-Midwest Region accolades as well as a College Soccer News All-America team selection. The senior co-captain led the Bluejays to the College Cup in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.
Gomez is the reigning 2012 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Player of the Year and 2012 MVC Tournament MVP after helping the Jays claim their 13th Valley tournament championship and 20th NCAA Tournament appearance.
The MAC Hermann Trophy represents the highest individual achievement in the sport. The winners and finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy are determined by a vote of Division I coaches who are members of the NSCAA. Also, an online fan vote (the equivalent of one coach's vote) is factored into the final vote total.
The 2013 adidas MLS Player Combine now awaits Gomez Jan. 11-15 at Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He will be one of two Creighton seniors to participate this weekend, alongside classmate Andrew Ribeiro. All invited players will be eligible for selection in 2013 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas, which will take place on Jan. 17 in Indianapolis.


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Thứ Hai, 10 tháng 3, 2014
Angry Birds goes medieval?
Has the ridiculously popular game Angry Birds gone to the Middle Ages? From this teaser video it looks like we might soon see a new version of the game in which Red, Chuck, Bomb, Terrance and other feathery friends are hurled at the bad piggies who have stolen their eggs.
Since it was first released in 2009, Angry Birds and its various spinoffs, which includes versions based on Star Wars and a Go-Kart racing game, have been downloaded more than two billion times. A feature film based on the game is in production and is scheduled to be released in 2016.
It seems this game will be first released in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. We will keep you up-to-date on when it comes out.
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Editor's note: As of April 2012, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is upgradable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). For details on the advantages ANdroid 4.0 offers over Honeycomb, check the Ice Cream Sandwich section of the Asus Transformer Prime TF201 review.
Motorola made a splash in early 2011 when it released the first tablet to run Google's tablet-optimized Android 3.0 operating system (aka Honeycomb). But enthusiasm for Google's tablet OS didn't translate into Apple iPad-level success for Motorola's Xoom tablet, which was hampered by a high price and thick design. At the time, though, Motorola's exclusive agreement with Google made it the only game in town when it came to Android 3.0. Fortunately for tablet fans, those days are over.
The Acer Iconia Tab A500 doesn't stray far from the Motorola Xoom's formula. Spec-for-spec, the two tablets are nearly indistinguishable. The most important distinction is price, with the Iconia Tab coming in at an iPad-besting $449.
In spite of the $50 savings over an iPad 2, Apple doesn't have much to worry about when it comes to the Iconia Tab. Like the Motorola Xoom, the Iconia Tab is nearly twice as thick as the iPad 2, making it less comfortable to hold and less sexy in general. Acer's tablet also has the unfortunate distinction of being the heaviest Android tablet we've tested, weighing in at a beefy 1.69 pounds.
As with any decent tablet, the centerpiece of Iconia Tab's design is the screen. Measuring 10.1 inches and boasting an LED-backlit 1,280x800-pixel resolution, the tablet's screen does the Android experience justice. And because Honeycomb moves the Android navigation controls off the hardware and into the touch screen, a crisp, accurate screen is more critical than ever.
Flip it over, and you'll find a 5-megapixel camera on the back with an integrated LED flash. The back is covered with gunmetal-finished aluminum, with the exception of two strips of plastic that meet your hands at the edges. Near the bottom you'll see a pair of stereo speaker grilles cut out from the aluminum. We worried that our hands would naturally cover up the speaker--and they did--but oddly, it had no effect on the sound quality. Sound seemed to project through the screen more so than the speaker grilles, which is ultimately fine, if a little illogical.
A camera is also located on the front, near the upper left corner of the screen. Meant to be used for video chatting (using the included Google Talk app) or impromptu self-portraits, this camera uses a lower 2-megapixel sensor, but can still be used to record standard-definition video.
On the sides of the Iconia Tab you'll find a number of logically placed ports and buttons. A volume rocker and orientation lock switch are available on the top edge. On the left you'll find the power button, headphone jack, and Micro-HDMI. The right side supports the included power adapter, and offers Micro-USB sync, and a full-size USB host port for connecting keyboards or thumb drives. A dock connection on the bottom sticks out like a wart on an otherwise attractive design. Unless you feel like shelling out an extra $79 for a charging cradle that doesn't even offer an HDMI connection, the dock port is a waste of space.
Hardware features
Like we mentioned at the start of this review, the Acer Iconia Tab is nearly a spec-for-spec clone of the Motorola Xoom (Wi-Fi). Inside, both devices take advantage of a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 1GB of RAM, and each boasts 802.11 n Wi-Fi, an integrated HDMI output, support for Bluetooth 2.1, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, GPS, a digital compass, and memory expansion via MicroSD.
But, for all their similarities, there are some differences between the Xoom and Iconia Tab. One notable difference is the amount of onboard storage. The Xoom includes an integrated 32GB whereas the Iconia Tab offers only 16GB. In Acer's defense, the Iconia Tab offers a useful full-size USB host port, while the Xoom (not to mention the iPad) does not. And though it's a small thing, we're glad to see that Acer included a dedicated screen-rotation lock instead of burying the feature in the system menu tray.


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Wednesday, May 31, 2006
SAP and Salesforce.com: opposing application platforms
Recent moves by both SAP and Salesforce.com illustrate two different approaches to building a new platform to support an ecosystem of related solution providers.
First out of the chute was Salesforce.com, which back in January announced its AppExchange platform, which allows anyone to build extensions, customizations, and complete applications on top of the Salesforce.com infrastructure. This approach allows the tiniest developer--even a single individual--to build a new application, deployed as a service, and offer it for sale through Salesforce.com's AppExchange directory. Salesforce.com recently dropped the price of entry to this game, from $75 per user per month, to $25. At that price, any developer with a hot idea can work out of his or her bedroom and develop an application for sale.
The opposite approach is shown by SAP, which recently launched a venture fund to finance software development firms that want to develop applications to work on top of SAP's Netweaver platform. In contrast to Salesforce.com, however, these applications will be on-premise deployments, and it's hard to imagine them being deployed anywhere but in an organization that is running SAP. It appears that with much of the software venture money these days going to new software-as-a-service startups, SAP needed to launch its own venture fund to get money to its partners that are using a traditional on-premise model.
So, there are two key differences between these two attempts to provide a platform for building an ecosystem of application providers: (a) Salesforce.com's on-demand model vs. SAP's traditional on-premise model, and (b) Salesforce.com's providing a very low cost, low entry-point platform vs. SAP's providing venture funding for developers.
With SAP's increasing dominance of the enterprise market, and its deep pockets, there's a good chance that SAP will be successful. But its goals are to extend the reach of its SAP installed base.
Salesforce.com's approach is more innovative, in my opinion. It is attempting to provide a web-based, on-demand operating system, upon which new applications may be deployed. Of course, there is nothing to stop other providers from offering similar platforms. Furthermore, because Salesforce.com's offering is based on a service-oriented architecture and open standards, there would appear to be nothing to stop applications from interoperating with those built on top of Netweaver. Or, vice-versa.
While it appears to be harder and harder for traditional enterprise system vendors to be successful--witness the latest merger/acquisition of SSA by Infor, now with over 50 separate systems in their combined portfolio--the models offered by SAP and Salesforce.com provide a glimpse into how applications will be developed and delivered in the future.
Datamation has more on recent moves by Salesforce.com with AppExchange, and there's a good overview of AppExchange on Salesforce.com's website. ASPnews has more on SAP's venture funding of developers for its Netweaver platform.
Related posts
The death of packaged software
Rolling up the rollup: SSA Global to be acquired by Infor
Salesforce.com publishing real-time system statusby Frank Scavo, 5/31/2006 11:12:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The death of packaged software
Erik Keller has an interesting editorial over on Sandhill.com, where he argues that there is a shift going on in corporate IT in favor of building more applications in-house (or through contract developers) instead of buying software packages. Keller made some of the same arguments a couple of years ago, and I commented on them back then.
Basically, his argument is that there are three trends at work today that are making custom development a more viable option: service-oriented architectures (SOA), which make it easier to integrate custom software components into existing systems; the availability of open source, which can be used as a starting point for custom systems; and offshore development firms that are developing high quality code at low cost.
These points are generally well understood, although the implication that they represent a threat to software package vendors is not fully recognized. Keller made these same points two years ago.
But in his editorial this time, Keller points out something new: three negative factors on the side of commercial software providers that are fueling the trend toward custom development. Ironically, he says, these factors are exactly the same as those that worked in favor of packaged software in the past.
According to Keller, these factors are (quoting him directly, here):Slow time to market: Like the mainframe-oriented IT shops of 1980s, many of the largest enterprise-software vendors find it difficult and expensive to quickly incorporate the latest technology into their products in a timely and innovative fashion. They also tend to have limited experience with the latest tool sets.As I wrote two years ago, I still believe that commercial software packages are the best route for most companies, especially small and mid-size organizations that are ill-equipped to maintain, let alone develop, comprehensive enterprise applications. For example, if a manufacturing firm has difficulty implementing SAP, or Oracle, or Great Plains, just wait until it attempts to develop time-phase material requirements planning or available-to-promise logic from scratch.
Poor quality: Internal IT groups often used to fail when they attempted large, complex projects. Over the last 15 years, buyers have found that most enterprise software vendors and systems integrators are no better and actually less accountable than their internal capabilities.
High expense: With large upfront charges and on-going maintenance fees hovering around 20 percent of list price, enterprise software has taken on the same bad characteristics of inefficiently managed internal IT staffs.
That being said, however, the economics of the build-vs-buy decision are difficult to argue with. By paying approximately 20% of the license fee for maintenance each year for Oracle or SAP, you are essentially buying the software again every five years. Although companies should continue to use commercial software for basic horizontal functions, such as finance and accounting, manufacturing, and basic order processing, the build-option is becoming much more attractive for complementary and industry-specific or company-specific functionality.
The transition of the major vendors toward service-oriented architectures (SOA) is making the build-option easier, with the ability to plug in such niche-functionality more easily. As Andy Bartels at Forrester pointed out recently, by embracing SOA, vendors such as SAP and Oracle are unleashing forces they cannot control, as the same SOA that makes it easier for vendors and partners to build composite applications also make it easier for customers to build their own composite applications.
The vendors' embrace of SOA is actually sowing the seeds of their own destruction. But they have no choice. They can either get on the SOA train or get run over it.
Related posts
Build/buy pendulum swinging back toward buildby Frank Scavo, 5/30/2006 04:06:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Oracle going dark
Josh Greenbaum is complaining that Oracle seems to be less and less open these days in dealing with the press and analyst community and is adopting a "circle the wagons mentality" as it moves into year two of its Fusion strategy.
In his article in Datamation, he writes, "Oracle is harder and harder to cover, and harder and harder to understand – at a time when its message is more complex and craves more understanding than ever before."
Josh contrasts Oracle's recent "closed door policy" with that of two of its top competitors:Two recent conferences I've attended, SAP's Sapphire and Microsoft's Convergence, were noteworthy for the opportunities the companies afforded analysts and the press to talk to executives, customers, and partners. For anyone trying to answer the hard questions – like which company has a better long-term strategy – it's much easier to have an opinion when you're given something to go on. Especially if that information is constantly updated and refined by access to the actual decision-makers.He also points out that when access is limited, it's easier for analysts to write negative stories than positive.
Ironically, I've been hearing positive things recently about Oracle's work with its J.D. Edwards acquisition. One source, who had a long career with JDE and still has contacts within Oracle's JDE offices in Denver, says that Oracle is doing a far better job with JDE than PeopleSoft ever did.
Furthermore, in spite of some misteps at first, Oracle seems to have gotten its act together in how it tests and releases upgrades for JDE.
So, why the entrenchment at Oracle?by Frank Scavo, 5/24/2006 09:50:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Monday, May 15, 2006
Rolling up the rollup: SSA Global to be acquired by Infor
SSA Global, one of the primary consolidators of enterprise system vendors is now itself being acquired by Infor, another consolidator. There's a short press release on Infor's website just now, announcing the deal, which gives $19.50 a share to SSA shareholders, the majority of which are two investment firms, Cerberus Capital Management and General Atlantic Partners.
Why the deal? My guess is that SSA's investors see it as the best opportunity to get out. SSA's stock price has been on a steady decline since the beginning of the year and was trading around $16.00 the past week or so. Infor's offer of $19.50 represents a 20% premium over its current price. Sold.
Of course, this is from the investor's viewpoint. What about the customer's perspective? At first glance, I can't imagine that customers will be excited about this deal. I won't try to list all of the acquisitions that SSA Global and Infor each have made over the past several years. Use the search field in the right column to search for "SSA" or "Infor" and you'll find everything I've written about each firm's products over the past four years. Some, such as SSA's Baan (now ERP LN), were big names in the past. Some, such as SSA's Epiphany, have good up-to-date technology. Some, such as Infor's Lilly Visual applications and the former SCP Adage (Agilisys) system have deep industry functionality. But the list of products is very, very long, and it's hard to imagine how the combined entity can give adequate attention to such a diverse portfolio of products.
If you are a current customer of SSA or Infor, please let me know your experience with either vendor and your view of this deal.by Frank Scavo, 5/15/2006 07:05:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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text:
Most holds will prevent a student from registering. Student will need to get onto their account at my.byui.edu to see if there is a hold and the type of hold. The red writing will tell students the office responsible for the hold and how to remove it.
There are many different reasons why you may not have the add/drop boxes when trying to register. One of the main reasons is that you may have a hold on your account that will stop you from registering. Please make sure that you clear any holds and that you are an admitted student for the semester in which you are trying to register. If you still don't have add/drop boxes, please email firstname.lastname@example.com with your name and I-number to get this resolved.
On the log-in screen, you can click the "Forgot Username or Password" link, fill in your personal information then receive your username and password. For assistance, please contact the BYU-Idaho Support Center at: (208) 496-1411.
For any questions please email us at email@example.com
For any questions please call us at (208)-496-1025


text: We took a look at this year's hottest fitness gadgets and gizmos to see which ones are worth the workout. Here are our top 9 fitness picks that can help you shape up in record time—with just the push of a button! By Myatt Murphy, author of the Ultimate Dumbbell Guide


text:
We're sorry that you're having trouble syncing your OneDrive.
The following steps will ensure OneDrive or OneDrive for Business applications and processes are running correctly, that you are able to access your files online, and that you have enough room for the right files to sync.
First, select your operating system.
Look for a OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, at the far right or bottom of the taskbar.
You might need to click the Show hidden icons arrow next to the notification area to see the OneDrive icon, or click and start typing "select which icons" to display the notification area settings option, and then show Microsoft OneDrive. If the icon still doesn't appear in the notification area, OneDrive might not be running. Click , type OneDrive in the search box, and then click OneDrive in the search results.
If you have both a personal OneDrive and OneDrive for Business accounts, you may see two icons: one white (this is your "Personal" OneDrive) and one blue (your organisation's OneDrive for Business).
In the image below, "Contoso" is a fictional name used by Microsoft as an example company. You should see your own organisation's name.
If you see a red circle with white cross over your OneDrive icon, select the icon and select view sync problems.
A dialog box will describe the error and provide the resolution.
If there is no red circle, select the icon and label which most closely matches your own:
If you don't see any OneDrive icons, press (or click Start in older versions of Windows), type OneDrive in the search box, and then click OneDrive (or Microsoft OneDrive or OneDrive for Business in older versions).
If OneDrive still doesn't start, download the latest version of OneDrive and install it.
Notes: OneDrive for Business users:
The latest version of OneDrive also supports OneDrive for Business users with an Office 365 work or school account. You only need to download it once.
If you don't have an Office 365 work or school account, you will need a previous version of OneDrive for Business. Read how to install OneDrive for Business for SharePoint. If you're not sure which version of OneDrive for Business you need, contact your Network Administrator.
When OneDrive Setup starts, enter your OneDrive account, and then select Sign in to set up your account.
Read more
Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in OneDrive
What do the OneDrive icons mean?
What do the OneDrive error codes mean?


text:
The East Gadsden High School Lady Jaguars basketball team is destroying anyone in its path and last week it was two district opponents, Panama City Bay and Wakulla.
First up was Bay. East Gadsden jumped out 26-13 at the end of the first quarter and led 42-17 at the half.
The final score was a high scoring 75-50 contest.
Jasmine Grice led in scoring with 24 points and Chalandrea Brown added 17 points. Grice hit three 3-pointers and T'Erica Frost dished out seven assists.
East Gadsden moved to 14-3 on the season and 6-1 in district play.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Gadsden County Times, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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Bay Area Hospital strives to improve the health of our community every day.
Bay Area Hospital is a tobacco-free campus.
We provide some of the most advanced and compassionate care in the region.
Whether you are receiving care or visiting a loved one, our goal is to make your stay with us a positive one.
Bay Area Hospital offers a wide variety of support groups and programs to improve the health of our community.
We are continually looking for opportunities to improve our organization and keep our community informed.
Biophysical profile — Overview covers definition, risks, results of this prenatal test.
A fetal biophysical profile is a prenatal test used to check on a baby''s well-being. The test combines fetal heart rate monitoring (nonstress test) and fetal ultrasound. During a biophysical profile, a baby''s heart rate, breathing, movements, muscle tone and amniotic fluid level are evaluated and given a score.
Typically, a biophysical profile is recommended for women at risk of pregnancy loss. The test is usually done after week 32 of pregnancy, but can be done when your pregnancy is far enough along for delivery to be considered — usually after week 24. A low score on a biophysical profile might indicate that you and your baby need further monitoring or special care. In some cases, early or immediate delivery might be recommended.
A biophysical profile is a noninvasive test that doesn''t pose any physical risks to you or your baby. However, it''s not always clear that a biophysical profile can help promote a baby''s health. Find out what a biophysical profile involves and whether this prenatal test might benefit you or your baby.
A biophysical profile is used to evaluate and monitor a baby''s health. The goal of a biophysical profile is to prevent pregnancy loss and detect fetal hypoxia — when the baby is deprived of an adequate oxygen supply — early enough so that the baby can be delivered and not sustain permanent damage.
The test is most commonly done when there''s an increased risk of pregnancy loss. Your health care provider will determine the necessity and timing of a biophysical profile based on whether your baby could survive if delivered early, the severity of your condition and the risk of pregnancy loss.
Your health care provider might initially recommend a modified biophysical profile — a simplified version of the test that includes a nonstress test and assesses amniotic fluid through ultrasound. Your health care provider will then use the results to determine whether you need a full biophysical profile, which also measures a baby''s breathing, movements and muscle tone.
Your health care provider might recommend a biophysical profile if you have:
Your health care provider might also recommend a biophysical profile if you''re between 40 and 42 weeks pregnant. The benefits of having the test done during this period, however, aren''t clear.
Your health care provider might recommend that you have a biophysical profile once a week, twice a week or, rarely, even more frequently — depending on your health condition — until you give birth.
A biophysical profile is a noninvasive test that poses no physical risks to you or your baby.
While a biophysical profile can offer reassurance about your baby''s health, it can also cause anxiety. In addition, a biophysical profile might not detect an existing problem or might suggest that a problem exists when there is none.
Also, keep in mind that while a biophysical profile is often recommended for women who have an increased risk of pregnancy loss, it''s not always clear that the test can promote a baby''s health.
A biophysical profile typically requires no special preparation. Rarely, the ultrasound might need to be done with a full bladder.
A biophysical profile can be done in your health care provider''s office or in a hospital. The test might take anywhere from five minutes up to an hour to complete.
During the nonstress test, you''ll lie on an exam table. You''ll likely have your blood pressure taken before the test and at regular intervals during the test.
Your health care provider or a member of your health care team will then place a belt across your abdomen. The belt contains a sensor that measures the fetal heart rate. Typically, the test lasts 20 minutes. However, if your baby is asleep, you might need to wait until he or she awakens to ensure accurate results. In some cases, your health care provider might try to awaken the baby by using sound from a special device.
During the ultrasound exam, you''ll also lie on an exam table. Your health care provider or an ultrasound technician will apply a small amount of gel to your abdomen. Then he or she will roll a small device called a transducer over your skin. The transducer will emit pulses of sound waves that will be translated into a pattern of light and dark areas — creating an image of your baby on a monitor.
Your health care provider or the ultrasound technician will then evaluate your baby''s breathing movements, body movements, muscle tone and amniotic fluid level. The ultrasound might last five to 30 minutes or so, depending on whether your baby is awake, or there''s a wait time until your baby awakens.
When the biophysical profile is complete, your health care provider will likely discuss the results with you right away.
Each area that''s evaluated during a biophysical profile is given a score of 0 or 2 points, depending on whether specific criteria were met. A score can be given as soon as the biophysical activity is observed. For example:
The individual scores are then added together for a total score. Typically, a score of 8 to 10 is reassuring. If you receive a score of 6, your health care provider will likely repeat the test within 24 hours. Another score of 6 or a lower score might lead your health care provider to recommend further testing or an early or immediate delivery.
In addition, if your health care provider finds that you have a low amount of amniotic fluid, you''ll need further testing and might need to deliver your baby early — regardless of your overall score.
Keep in mind that certain factors can affect the results of a biophysical profile, including the use of corticosteroids to speed your baby''s lung maturity and the presence of an infection. Smoking or taking certain medications also can affect the baby''s heart rate.
Be sure to discuss the results of your biophysical profile with your health care provider to fully understand what they might mean for you and your baby.


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Characters from across the PlayStation universe have assembled in the name of fun to beat the stuffing out of one another in what has proven to be a great modern battler.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has a roster packed with familiar faces, ready to roll. God of War's Kratos beating the stuffing out of LittleBigPlanet's Sackboy? Check. Tekken's Heihachi smacking the shifty look off of Sly Cooper's face? Enjoy it. It's there.
Though PS All-Stars owes much to Nintendo's Smash Bros series, it would be unfair to dismiss it as a wannabe without looking beneath the surface. It's a deliciously complex fighting game, thanks to deep and diverse movesets for each character. Pulling the moves off isn't hard either, with simple button taps leaving your mind free to process all the other information coming at you.
True to the title, Battle Royale, there's a lot of action to get your head around - especially in four-player free-for-alls. Each fighting stage is inspired by two PlayStation titles and, just like your enemies, the scenery's out to get you. Try keeping on top of up to three enemies while a beast from the guts of Hell is throwing his weight around as well, and you'll appreciate how challenging the action can be. The super bar has three levels and once each tier is reached by landing hits or picking up ability point bonuses, you gain access to super-attacks which are the only way to disable your enemies and win matches.
There's one notable flaw. Yes, Kratos is really cool and we love that chalky old soul, but he is the most powerful character in the game by a considerable margin. Online battles can be spoiled by cheesy players who employ him or either version of inFAMOUS' Cole MacGrath in their quests for easy victories. Then again, since I can use Sackboy's square-button suplex to build up his super bar quite quickly from the midst of an all-in rumble, maybe I can't talk.
PS All-Stars ranks as possibly the best pick-up-and-play Vita game yet, at least as good as the excellent port of Mortal Kombat released earlier this year. The controls are neatly mapped over from the PS3 version (which gives you a free version for your Vita with purchase) with the select button and touchscreen stepping in for the PS3's L1 and R1 respectively. Aside from a bit of squinting on the handheld the experience is not all that different between units, meaning the vaunted Cross-Play capability can deliver on its promise.
It's a must-have. Get cracking.
Stars: 4/5
Platform: PS3, PS Vita
Rated: PG


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Friday, March 27, 2009
i2 layoffs underway, March 2009
I just got word from a Spectator reader, who is known to me, that layoffs are underway at i2. There's no news on the i2 website, no news on the wire, nothing on the blogs or Twitter. But the reader is in a position to know.
He reports that layoffs have hit "lots of senior talent" over the past few weeks.
i2 has been in a tough position since December, when JDA called off the merger it announced with i2 back in August 2008. At the time JDA did not disclose any information about why it canceled the deal. However, it did announce in November that it needed more time to secure financing, leading to speculation that the global credit crunch might force JDA to pull out.
I have attempted to contact i2 by phone and email to get confirmation and further insight but have not yet heard back. I will update this post if and when I do learn more.
In the meantime, if you have information please feel free to leave a comment or to contact me by email.
Update, Mar. 30. No response to an email and a voice message to i2's public relations representative.
Related posts
JDA calls off merger with i2
JDA to acquire i2, creating major SCM player
i2 forms committee for possible sellout
Pro-sellout shareholder of i2 elects second board member
Major i2 shareholder calls for sale of i2
i2 seeks patent license shake-down fees
Former i2 CEO learns crime does not pay
i2 innovates with hosted vendor-managed inventory services
SAP: If you can't beat 'em, sue 'em
i2 kills off its SRM business
i2 fires 300, struggles to refocusby Frank Scavo, 3/27/2009 02:40:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, March 26, 2009
Infor's opportunity: value in maintenance and support
Infor's Dennis Michalis stopped by my office yesterday for a chat. Dennis is Senior VP, Global Partners, in charge of all of Infor's partners worldwide. Not that my firm is interested in becoming a partner of course (we maintain strict independence from vendors). But he lives down the street here in Orange County, so it was an opportunity to speak with an Infor executive face-to-face.
During the discussion, I pointed out the opportunity that I see for Infor and other vendors to differentiate themselves in terms of value and flexibility in maintenance and support offerings.
Dennis responded that Infor, in fact, has been working to increase the value of its support offerings. He pointed to Infor's quarterly survey of customer satisfaction with its support services that has been showing consistent improvement. In December, Infor won a customer service award from MarketTools, an online market research company. I normally don't put much stock in such "awards" as I'm never sure of the basis on which they are granted. But let's stipulate for a moment that Infor has in fact been making improvements in the quality of its service and support offerings.
In a time when major players such as SAP and Oracle are charging 22% of license cost for maintenance programs of dubious value and attempting to stifle third-party maintenance, now is the time for other vendors to step up and do things differently. Here is where I see the opportunity for Infor to become the "good guys."
All of this is especially valuable to a vendor such as Infor, with a huge installed base of customers on legacy products. Infor's customers are a big target for SAP, Oracle, and other vendors that want to migrate such customers to their own offerings. But installed customers are always looking for reasons not to migrate. Doing everything possible to make it cost-effective and easy for them to stay put is the key for Infor to retain these customers and keep them on maintenance.
- Become known for quality of service and customer satisfaction. It doesn't lend itself to big-splash press releases, but it leads to installed base retention and an annuity business. It also leads to good customer references, which should allow Infor to scoop some new sales around the margins.
- Offer tiered pricing for different levels of service. Some customers want platinum level support, with rapid response help desk access and full rights to future versions. Other customers have highly-modified or very old products. They never use the help desk and don't plan to upgrade. But they would like regulatory updates and access to new products on a selective basis. They only need brass-level support. There are probably two or three other levels of support that should be offered in between. Why force everyone into one level of service as SAP is now attempting to do?
- Have a reasonable accommodation for third-party maintenance. This goes with the tiered pricing. There's no need for a vendor to take every last penny off the table. Some customers may want to buy brass-level service from Infor but contract with a local partner for help desk and contract maintenance. Allow Infor's business partners to be certified to offer such services. The partners provide a local presence, and it gives them another way to make money and keeps them in the Infor fold. It is a win/win/win all the way around.
- Provide SOA capabilities under maintenance at no extra charge. Dennis Howlett wrote about this recently. Infor is in the midst of SOA-enabling many of its products, which should allow piecemeal upgrades of older products and easy integration with Infor's complementary products as well as those of other vendors. If this capability is included for all customers under some level of maintenance it represents a huge potential increase in value for Infor's customers.
This strategy could be adopted by any enterprise vendor with a significant installed base. I hope many of them will do so.
Related posts
Infor using SOA to breath new life into old apps
Infor chases customer for fees on 20-year old software
Infor reassures customers of financial viability
Infor layoffs, Dec. 2008by Frank Scavo, 3/26/2009 11:33:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Monday, March 23, 2009
Clamping down on employee misuse of IT
Over at Computer Economics, we've published the first of two reports on insider threats, based on a special survey we ran late last year. The first report, Insider Misuse of Computing Resources, deals with the extent of the problem of employee and other insiders misusing their computer and network access.
It's not just a matter of time-wasting:The threat of insider misuse goes beyond loss of productivity. Some forms of misuse also expose the organizations to more sinister threats. For example, surfing the web can bring users to websites that contain malicious code, opening the user's desktop and network to infection. Participating in peer-to-peer file sharing networks can do the same. Storage of pirated music, video, or unlicensed software exposes the organization to copyright violation liabilities. There are many other examples of the threats to security that can directly result from failure to reign in insider misuse of computing resources. While many organizations are sensitive to the need to defend against information security threats originating from outside the organization, the threat posed by insiders misusing computing resources can be just as great or greater.Our website has an extensive free executive summary. The full report is also available for sale.by Frank Scavo, 3/23/2009 02:01:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
Oracle Fusion completion date slips
This is too good not to mention. Vinnie Mirchandani listened in on Oracle's Q3 conference call yesterday and picked up on Larry Ellison's comment about Oracle's next generation Fusion apps being scheduled for delivery in 2010.
Vinnie points out that in 2005, Oracle had slotted Fusion to be delivered in 2008. So, there has now been an unacknowledged two year slip in delivery of Fusion.
I also recall a post I wrote in January 2006, noting Oracle President Charles Phillips' claim that Oracle was already "half-way to Fusion."
So, in one year (Jan. 2005 to Jan 2006) Oracle completed 50% of the work. Assuming now that the 2010 reschedule date is good, it now means that it have taken another four years to complete the second 50%.
To me it sounds like the old project management joke about the project that is 90% complete for 90% of the time.
Update, Mar. 24: A Spectator reader who actually listened to Oracle's conference call points out that Ellison said that Oracle would begin to deliver Fusion apps "around the end of this year," 2009, not 2010. This doesn't change my main point, though, that Oracle was clearly exaggerating in January 2006 when it said that it was "half way to Fusion" after one year of work.
Related posts
Mr. Fusion leaving Oracle
Oracle's secrecy on Fusion specifics
More on Oracle's Fusion strategy
Oracle's Fusion strategy: clear as mud
Fusion to build on Oracle's E-Business Suite
Oracle going dark
Is Oracle's Fusion really half complete?
SAP slams Oracle's strategy as, Project Confusionby Frank Scavo, 3/19/2009 04:57:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Spinnaker offering third-party maintenance for JD Edwards clients
Vinnie Mirchandani has a new post today, calling attention to another third-party maintenance firm, Spinnaker, which provides an alternative to JDE support directly from Oracle.
Read Vinnie's entire post for the details. In addition, Spinnaker's FAQ page has a good FAQ, which outlines the support services it offers, along with its perspective on how its services are different from those offered directly by Oracle.
I expect to see more firms like Spinnaker rising up these days, for two reasons:
For those consulting firms that are partners with major vendors, such a move will not be viewed kindly. On the other hand, some of these vendors have not been such great partners themselves in the current economy, in many cases competing with their partners for services business. So, what will the partners really lose by competing for the maintenance business?
- Customers are growing tired of escalating costs of enterprise software maintenance and support contracts. For too long, these services have been dominated almost exclusively by the software developers themselves. This has created an unhealthy, anti-competitive, situation where the cost of maintenance often far exceeds the value delivered. A backlash has been brewing now for several years, especially among customers of Oracle and SAP, which have escalated their support costs to the neighborhood of 22% of the original software license cost. Do the math: in less than five years, you will have paid twice for your system.
- The current economic recession is causing consulting firms, VARs, and other services providers to look for ways to diversify their businesses. The project-based nature of implementation and version upgrade services is difficult to manage: in boom times, they never have enough people, and in lean years, as today, they can't keep people busy. The contract maintenance business, in contrast, is a subscription business, with regular recurring revenues--something that sounds particularly attractive in today's economy. In addition, these firms often have personnel with many years of experience in particular software packages, sometimes much more than those staffing the vendor's support desk. So, why not go into the contract maintenance business?
I want to see firms like Spinnaker thrive. In the long run, a robust third-party support industry will be good for customers and good for enterprise systems overall.
If you know of other third-party support providers, whether for Oracle, SAP, or other vendors, let me know, and I'll be glad to call attention to them.
Related posts
SAP and third-party maintenance: good for me but not for thee
SAP maintenance fees: where is the value?
SAP under the spotlight for "broken promises"
Mad as hell: backlash brewing against SAP maintenance fee hike
Oracle increases accusations in SAP lawsuit
SAP puts TomorrowNow out of its misery
Legal basis for third-party ERP support industry
Oracle wants to broaden lawsuit against SAP and TomorrowNowby Frank Scavo, 3/17/2009 10:52:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Monday, March 16, 2009
Infor using SOA to breath new life into old apps
Dennis Howlett has been spending some time in briefings with Info coming up to speed on the vendor's efforts to "SOA enable" some of its many acquired products. He writes:It turns out that Infor is roughly half way through a six year program to service enable all of its applications at a budgeted cost of some $350 million. That's over and above the 12% of revenues it allocates to R&D. Eighteen teams in nine locations are working their way through the process which will see Infor offering interoperability across old favorites like Baan, System 21, Sun Systems, XPPS, iSeries (Infinium) and MSA.My take: From time to time I get calls from Wall Street analysts looking for insights into Infor's competitive position. I generally tell them that Infor has some truly best-of-breed products in its portfolio, in particular some of the complementary product offerings such as those for warehouse management, logistics, and product data management. In addition, some of its resellers, such as the Lilly Visual guys, have seen success selling into the smaller end of the ERP market.
The idea is that customers should be able to take upgrades and enhancements at their own pace rather than go through a technical forced march. It also means that products like Baan 4.c.4, last sold in 1998 according to Infor will be just as capable of enhancement as later versions 5 and 6. This has to be good news for customers, especially as the SOA components are included as part of the company's maintenance arrangements.
Infor is one of those vendors that is easy to dismiss. As Dennis writes, "Rolling up a rag bag of distressed software vendors is not my idea of innovation but of financial engineering where you usually have to carefully watch the bang per buck coming out of the maintenance stream." Recent observations of Infor's sales performance --or, lack thereof--in new deals lends credence to this view.
Nevertheless, Infor does have considerable strengths, if it could just leverage them better.
Infor's work to SOA-enable its applications may provide that leverage.
- It has an enormous installed base that gives it a natural market to sell into.
- It has some truly best-of-breed products in its portfolio, in particular some of the complementary product offerings such as those for warehouse management, logistics, and product data management.
- It has some very good resellers, such as those selling its Lilly Visual and Syteline product lines.
Then, if it can combine all this with maintenance programs that don't cost an arm and a leg, it will have a real winner.
- Infor can position itself as adding value by extending the life of its customers installed applications.
- It can offer an easy path to adding complementary functionality if it successfully SOA-enables its best-of-breed products.
- It can provide more opportunities to its resellers if its SOA strategy allows them to offer a bigger bag of products to sell to their customers.
Infor's business model may not make headlines, but it can make money if it delivers value. For the sake of its many customers running its many products, I'm hoping it succeeds.
Related posts
Infor chases customer for fees on 20-year old software
Infor reassures customers of financial viability
Infor layoffs, Dec. 2008by Frank Scavo, 3/16/2009 08:00:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
SAP layoffs, March 2009
SAP appears to be executing its layoff plan this week, which it announced back in January. In an open letter then to employees, SAP co-CEOs Henning Kagermann and Leo Apotheker announced that the workforce reduction would impact 3000 employees, or 5.8% of SAP's workforce.
Although a small number of SAP folks were let go in January, the remaining number appear to coming in waves, one of which is occuring this week. I first noticed an increasing number of hits to the Spectator from Google, under keywords "SAP layoffs" earlier this week. The only confirmation seems to be coming from Twitter.
At a minimum, based on Twitter status updates, layoffs appear to be taking place in Palo Alto yesterday and today. There also appear to be some layoffs that took place in Israel last week, and in Australia the week before.
Again, if you have more information, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
Update, Mar. 16. Chris Kanaracus at IDG News Service made a few phone calls and has a few more details.
Related posts
SAP focusing on smaller deals, business intelligence
SAP Business Suite 7: selling value in tough times
SAP layoffs, January, 2009by Frank Scavo, 3/12/2009 03:39:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Friday, March 06, 2009
SAP focusing on smaller deals, business intelligence
SAP held a West Coast partner summit this week, and a Spectator reader in attendance gave me some feedback on the session.
According to my source, SAP is recognizing the challenge of selling under current economic conditions. Without revealing the actual numbers shared in the summit, let's just say that SAP is appropriately lowering its expectations for the coming year. It recognizes that the days of the mega-deal are over and will focus this year on selling a higher volume of smaller deals as well as sales of Business Objects and other complementary products into its installed base. It will look to target competitors' (e.g. Oracle's) customers with these products also.
My take: SAP's tactics are consistent with what many other observers have noted: large deals have for the most part dried up. Yet smaller companies are still buying new ERP systems, and larger companies still appear willing to make investments in specific areas, such as business intelligence (BI), where they can show value. Everyone—buyers, vendors, implementers, advisers—need to adjust their expectations accordingly.
Related posts
SAP Business Suite 7: selling value in tough times
SAP layoffs, January, 2009
SAP's Leo Apotheker on Charlie Roseby Frank Scavo, 3/06/2009 12:40:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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This is no prank -- "Jackass" star Steve-O has been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and has also been charged by the L.A. County District Attorney with felony possession of cocaine.
Regarding the hospitalization, we're told O was admitted to the Thalians Mental Health Center last Sunday -- the same place Owen Wilson was at.
The drug charge stems from his arrest on March 3 for allegedly vandalizing his neighbor's property, whereupon cops found him in possession of coke.
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Giugiaro Namir Hybrid Sport Car Concept
March 12th, 2009
March 12th, 2009
The fastest hybrid on earth has finally been created. This electric-gasoline beauty is designed by two concept specialists, Frazer Nash and Italdesign Giugiaro. It boasts a top speed of 187 mph, with two electric engines and a .08 liter gasoline engine it has a delicious range of 1,200 miles! It lacks [ Continue Reading ]


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Home Depot Targeting Gay Employees For Firing?
We have to hope this isn't true because we've been on the Home Depot train ever since that sweet flashmob/gay marriage proposal and we don't want to get off!
A gay former Home Depot employee has accused the company of specifically targeting gay men for firing!
A former
Home Depotemployee has slapped the hardware chain with a $100,000 discrimination lawsuit claiming the company targeted older, higher-paid managers as well as gay male employees for termination following the 2008 financial crisis.
Hardy "Lex" Housh, a gay man, was fired from a Home Depot store in Lemon Grove, Calif., in February 2012 after 25 years with the company, according to Courthouse News. He claims his termination was rooted in a scheme singling out older people and gay males because of their higher salaries and insurance costs.
"Home Depot was concerned with 'gay male' employees because of its perception that it would pay more medical benefits associated with HIV and AIDS viruses," Housh, 57, states in the 70-page complaint filed in Orange County Superior Court. "Also, Home Depot was concerned that it would have to pay costs associated with 'gay partners.' As of Jan. 1, 2012, Home Depot California made a decision to terminate all 'gay' employees because of the California Domestic Relationship Act. That legislation required employers to provide benefits to 'partners.'"
He alleges that he was targeted for termination and other harassment in October 2011 after his co-workers found out he was gay and after he registered his domestic partner to his
insurance plan.
Home Depot denies the allegations made in the lawsuit.
We'll see what comes out when this goes to court. What do you think, Instincters? Do you buy these accusations?
Home Depot, we've given you so much good press! Don't fail us now.
Image Source
I'd like to hear the particulars of the case first and not just some rant by some bitter queen before I pass judgment. Just keep in mind Home Depot scored a 75 on the 2013 HRC Coporate Equality Index while Lowes scored a 35. As far as being gay friendly Home Depot is still the better choice.


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I have been a general construction professional for more than 30 years and have been integrally involved in more than 1,000 New England projects, with a 2013 inflation-adjusted dollar value exceeding $10 billion.
During that time, I have also served as a town councilman, planning board member and committee participant in a number of local endeavors. This aggregate exposure has given me a well-developed sense of good architectural and construction practice, along with an established understanding of effective public policy-making.
The current Bayside design of 165-foot-tall skyscrapers straddling gray parking plugs will obliterate the graceful skyline of downtown Portland as viewed from the west for hundreds of years.
There is a simple solution to this design inanity, if developer Federated Cos. and the Portland Planning Board would open their ears and eyes.
Looking at the three-dimensional graphic printed in the Press Herald ("Portland board gets behind taller buildings in Bayside," March 22), based on Perkins Eastman Consulting's concept plan for the development along Somerset Street, it struck me how considerable the length is of the six-story parking garage structures running along the street side.
It should be a matter of architectural simplicity to alter the building massing by transferring the top five stories of each abutting apartment structure onto the tops of the adjacent parking garages.
The result would be a several-block-long project averaging 11 stories tall continuously that stays within the current zoning height guidelines.
By utilizing a tasteful blend of concrete, stone, steel, wood and glass of varying shapes and textures, the integrity of the skyline can be maintained, and Federated can move forward in providing the requisite community service of economic development needed in the area.
Bruce Sanford
principal, Conestco
Public carry permit backers want to confiscate firearms
I see "Our" has written another erroneous letter without signing it ("Our View: Concealed carry permits are public documents," March 14).
Concealed-carry permits should not be public documents. Maybe property settlements in divorces, STD tests at the doctor, colonoscopies and, of course, "Our" expense accounts should all be public record, because the public is qualified to know if they were done properly, just as the media can judge if a concealed-carry permit has been approved properly.
The fact that concealed-carry permits have been public record surprised many (myself included), but it wasn't brought to the forefront until a New York newspaper publicized some.
By the way, I noticed "Our" didn't comment about the fact that one of those people in New York was a battered woman with a protection order against her ex. She had bought a gun for protection (because it works better than a piece of paper), and the authorities gave her address to him by printing it.
As newspeople, you have a right and an obligation to print the news, provided it's true. When "Our" drops his liberal bias and tells it like it is (probably never, unfortunately), pigs will fly!
And no one is trying to take our guns away? Be serious!
Richard A. Aspinall Sr.
School staffer relishes kudos for participants in 'Millie'
As a staff member at South Portland High School, I am deeply indebted to Bill Nemitz for his column on the high school musical ("Give our regards to Broadway. Wait, make that South Portland," March 24). Tickets are still available for performances of the musical the weekend after Easter.
These young people, along with those on all our sports teams, the Drama Club, the robotics team and other extracurricular activities, put their lives on hold for four to five months a year — and this effort demands our respect and admiration.
In an age where public education is downgraded, people tend to forget we send students to every great university in the country, and many go on to have productive lives in this society.
As for the Ogunquit Playhouse, I intend to boycott this theater as well as all Ogunquit establishments for the rest of my life.
Tom DiPasqua
Anti-weapon ban politicians should have careers cut short
"Military-style assault gun ban is dead, says Reid" was a Page 1 headline March 20. So should be the political careers of all those on Capitol Hill who are comfortable with that.
Emily R. Chaney
Boehner, Ryan seek budget that serves needs of rich
Rep. Paul Ryan and House Speaker John Boehner do not want the rich guys to pay taxes on the same level that existed during the Reagan administration.
They want the oil company, Wall Street and banking executives who have hoarded their multimillon-dollar, post-bailout funds to continue to hoard rather than invest in our country.
My question is: If the government didn't make the investment, who would have?
As I am certain, the hoarders understand that you have to spend money to make money, and that is what the government was forced to do to stimulate the economy.
Rather than laud the accomplishment of our economic recovery or cut federal spending for loopholes, subsidies and reduced tax rates for the rich, Mr. Boehner and Mr. Ryan propose cuts in spending for the elderly, disabled and poor.
No doubt, I know it is a lot to ask Mr. Boehner and the other millionaires in Congress to increase their own tax rate. They get paid well for working only 100 days a year and passing the fewest legislative measures in history.
With all the federal health insurance, life insurance and lucrative retirement benefits they get for their part-time employment, why do they find the need to continually whine and criticize the work of those better-educated in fiscal matters and who have worked night and day to turn our economy around?
It is just depressing every time they get into the media to pass on their self-serving message. After spending billions of dollars and failing in back-to-back elections, one would think they would have gotten the message that the voting public don't buy it.
The longer the political stonewalling goes on, the longer it is going to take us to get out of the debt they put us in.
Patrick Eisenhart
Letter to the editor: Return war-making decisions to Congress
Letter to the editor: He said he'd go away, but Paul LePage is still here
Letter to the editor: Illumination fails to show Portland City Hall in its best light
Letter to the editor: Reusable containers, bags will help stem tide of plastic waste
Letter to the editor: Keep lobbyists' money out of Maine legislators' hands


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GREENWOOD, MS (AP) - Funny money is circulating in the Mississippi Delta. Kevin Hayes of the Greenwood Police Department says several local businesses, including a liquor store and at least one fast-food restaurant, have been hit with counterfeit bills lately.
He tells the Greenwood Commonwealth that this happens about once a year in the city.
Hayes says sometimes people make the fake money by using photocopiers that print on both sides of a piece of paper. Other times, they bleach out a $5 bill and then copy a $50 bill over it - a method that can be harder to detect because it feels real.
He says people can file police reports if they receive counterfeit money, but there's no guarantee they'll be reimbursed for a loss.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Simple question, I hope.
In the Settings->Advanced tab, there are the boxes to change the text for the admin, welcome, and login messages. At the bottom are a bit of helpful formatting commands that can be used in the messages. Are there more than that? Are these customer to Madsonic, or are they from another text formatting library that might have more options?
I have searched with Google and both here and on Subsonic websites but I haven't found any mention of the text formatting commands.


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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that a team led by Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, has been selected for an award of up to $120 million over five years to establish an Energy Innovation Hub that will develop solutions to the domestic shortages of rare-earth metals, which are critical in the manufacture of wind turbines and other clean energy technologies.
The new research center, which will be named the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), will bring together leading researchers from academia, four DOE national laboratories, and the private sector.
'Rare-earth metals and other critical materials are essential to manufacturing wind turbines, electric vehicles, advanced batteries and a host of other products that are essential to America's energy and national security,' explains David Danielson, assistant secretary for the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
"The Critical Materials Institute will bring together the best and brightest research minds from universities, national laboratories and the private sector to find innovative technology solutions that will help us avoid a supply shortage that would threaten our clean energy industry as well as our security interests," he adds.
In responding to the DOE's call for proposals, Ames Lab assembled a team that offers capabilities covering the full spectrum of critical-materials research and development, from mining to separations, alloy formulations, component and systems development, and materials recycling.
The new hub will focus on technologies that will enable the U.S. to make better use of the materials found domestically as well as eliminate the need for materials that are subject to supply disruptions.
The DOE's 2011 Critical Materials Strategy reported that supply challenges for five rare-earth metals (dysprosium, terbium, europium, neodymium and yttrium) may affect clean energy technology deployment in the coming years.
Recently, the DOE and others have scaled up work to address these challenges. In fact, the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy and EERE have supported more than $40 million in magnet, motor and generator research.
CMI will leverage these existing research programs into a larger, coordinated effort designed to eliminate materials' criticality as an impediment to the commercialization of clean energy technologies, the DOE explains.
The hub will address challenges across the entire life cycle of these materials, including the following: enabling new sources; improving the economics of existing sources; accelerating material development and deployment; ensuring more efficient practices in manufacturing; promoting recycling and reuse; and developing strategies to assess and address the life cycles of new materials.
Cross-cutting research, including the development of computational tools and supply-chain and economic analyses, will also be necessary in order to support the basic science needs across all challenge areas.
CMI will be headquartered at Ames Laboratory and will be directed by Alex King, who is currently director of Ames Lab. Other national labs partnering with Ames include Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. University, and research partners include Brown University, the Colorado School of Mines, Purdue University, Rutgers University, the University of California-Davis, Iowa State University, and the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute.
Industry partners that have joined to help advance CMI-developed technologies include General Electric, OLI Systems Inc., SpinTek Filtration Inc., Advanced Recovery, Cytec Inc., Molycorp Inc. and Simbol Materials.


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The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips
Reader's Digest, 2005 - Travel - 400 pages
Featuring more than two hundred all-new full-color photographs, an illustrated collection of some of the most scenic places to take a road trip in the United States is accompanied by recommended towns to visit, maps, and information on trip length, updated tourist information, advice on the best time to go, and other traveling tips. 35,000 first printing.
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Travel BookUser Review - gmcgal - Overstock.com
I checked this book out from the local library and knew I needed to own it. Beautiful photos and points of interest are well marked on detailed maps. Overstock had a great price. Read full review
The most scenic drives in America: 120 spectacular road tripsUser Review - Not Available - Book Verdict
The beauty of the open road is captured in this exquisitely illustrated guide to America's best driving routes. Newly revised and updated since its first publication in 1997, this volume is complete ... Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
acres alpine Anasazi ancient Badlands Beach bighorn sheep bluffs bridge Cascade City cliffs climbs coast colorful Creek deer desert Dixie National Forest Door County Douglas firs drive dunes east Falls Farther feet fishing Further information George Parks Highway Glacier Gorge head highway hiking hills historic Indian Island Lake land landscape lava leads Loop meadows miles Monument Valley moun Mountain mule deer Museum named National Forest National Monument National Park Navajo Nearby attractions north on Rte offers once overlook park's passes peaks pines Point ponderosa pines Popular year-round prairie Recreation Area Refuge ridges River road rock rocky route sand sandstone Scenic Byway shore side trips slopes spot spring steep stretch summer summit Today tour tower town Trail Ridge Road trees Trip Tips Length Valley views village visitor center vistas volcanic white-tailed deer wild wilderness wildflowers Wildlife winds winter woods Yosemite


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Waked The Lake
You would never know it was a tough financial year judging by the rain of product showering down on spectators this past weekend at the 2009 Wake the Lake event in Charlotte. Emcee Brad Holland tossed out product donated through Icy Waves Surf Shop of Charlotte; plus amazing prizes were donated by 1080, Helium, Indo Board, and Rip Curl for the riders.
It was a great weekend for everyone at Wake the Lake 2009.
Last Saturday proved that the wake scene is growing, not slowing. The 2000 plus spectators at Vinnie's Raw Bar watched and cheered in excitement as the 2009 Master Craft X-Star, still wrapped for Street Grind, pulled 70 riders all the way until dark.
Hands down, this year's Wake the Lake event was owned by the Intermediate Division boasting 22 riders; six of them advanced to the finals on Sunday. Rider Graham Knott, who has been outstanding all season, is looking to be the 2009 Series winner as he took first at Lake Norman with a Tantrum to Blind, Front Flip, Batwing and a Toe 5.
Jr. Women's world champ Emylee Wright not only took a first in the Women's Division, toping Nicole Steele and Niki Williams, but also advanced to the finals on Sunday as 2nd seed in the Intermediate Division. In the end though, Emylee missed out on clenching a top 3 standing by a narrow margin.
Icy Waves rider Stephen Pierce once again took first in Open, sealing his 2009 Atlas Wake Series title. "He absolutely killed it once again," says Rob Mendieta, Empire Wake President and founder of the Atlas Wake Series. "This guy just turned 18 and is going to be Pro next year. I have never seen anyone progress so fast. Stephen has been a great asset and a pleasure to have on the tour this year. "
Sitting in second for the Open division was Gordon Harrison, who landed his first ever whirly 5 in a contest; followed by Cameron Richardson in third. "Unfortunately Gordon has had to live in the shadow of Stephen all season, but trust me, you will be seeing this guy's name everywhere soon. He is improving just as quickly, and is trying to burst through the scene right now."
The Pro Division finished off the day with nothing but excitement. Jeff Langley, Adam Fields and Austin Hair battled it out for the podium spots. Austin took day one just ahead of Adam Fields. However, it once again was Adam taking it to the next level on the water that clenched him a solid win in the Championships on Sunday.
"The support coming from Charlotte is the best that Empire Wake has received across the country. MasterCraft of Charlotte has set new standards for us and for that reason we are moving the Atlas Wake Series Finals event to Charlotte in 2010." says Mendieta.
Icy Waves, East Coast Board Riders, Indo Board, 1080, Boater's Warehouse, and Wave Noize all showed up huge, to make this event bigger than past years. We can't thank our sponsors and riders enough for all of your on-going support of the sport, and the series.
Riverfest is the last stop for the AWS 2009 season. Join us October 3rd in Wilmington NC for the Finals of the Atlas Wake Series and join Empire Wake as we end the 2009 tour with a bang! For all the details and results check out www.EmpireWake.com
By Altas Wake Series
TagsPhotos empire wake MasterCraft of Charlotte Atlas Wake Series Article Adam Fields austin hair Wake The Lake Rob Mendieta Jeff Langley Graham Knott Emylee Wright Nicole Steele Niki Williams 1080 Helium Indo Board Rip Curl
For more photos see http://www.jkellerphotography.com/wakethelake/


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50 Cent & Robert Geene Talk The 50th Law (50 Cent's New Book)
50 Cent + Robert Greene Talks The 50th Law
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Pharrell Freaks Out On Stage! "I Swear To God . If You Dont Move. Get Out The F*ckin Way"
Pharrell at Emory University 2009 Spring Band
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Go Ahead, Take a Chance on Yourself
Courage and hope go together, says the Life Reimagined Ambassador Emilio Estefan
Photo © Art Streiber
En español | I've had a lot of success in the music world, but in the beginning not everyone believed in my ideas and I had to have the courage to believe in myself.
The bravest thing I ever did professionally was take a chance on "Conga," a song that Sony turned down because it had too much percussion, too much piano and was too Latino. It's hard to go against your own label, but Gloria and I love that music and we thought other people would love it too. We took it to radio stations ourselves and it became our first huge hit.
Sign up for the AARP Money Newsletter
Courage is where daring meets opportunity. I think it starts with the ambition to get up every morning and make the world a better place. You're never going to fail when you're trying to help somebody else to make a difference in the world.
Not all my heroes are famous people. There's a homeless man I saw when I was riding my bike one morning. He had a loaf of bread and he was feeding birds with half of it. I asked him, "Are you going to have enough to eat?" and he said, "It just makes me so happy to share with the birds."
I admire the pope, who's making a difference in the church by being open to gay people. For so many years nobody talked about the differences people have. President Mandela, I also admire, because he suffered so much but he refused to hate anybody.
Courage and hope go together. I had to be courageous very early in life. When I was 11, I heard my parents talking about how bad things were in Cuba and I knew we'd have to leave my country. Three years later my father and I were able to go, but my mother stayed behind; I didn't know when I'd see her again. It took three more years of work and saving money to bring her to the U.S.
See also: Jump into new possibilities with Life Reimagined
Whatever age you are you have to take chances. My daughter, Emily, is producing in the studio with me, working on an album for Carlos Santana. He asked her to play a small guitar part. She was scared to try it. She said, "Dad, that's Carlos Santana!" When life gives you a chance to do something, take it! A friend of mine who's 87 years old challenges herself by traveling at least three times a year to Spain, Prague or Israel. You have to push yourself. At the AARP convention in Las Vegas I noticed how many people want to try new things.
So many things are out of our control and trying doesn't mean you're going to succeed, but it does mean that you gave it your best effort. Gloria sang her song "Reach" at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta about how great it feels to try hard: "If I could reach, higher/ Just for one moment touch the sky/ From that one moment in my life/ I'm gonna be stronger."
Emilio Estefan is a music mogul, a restaurateur, a father, a husband and a philanthropist. As Life Reimagined ambassador for AARP, Emilio will share his expertise on a variety of subjects, including his passion for living, mentoring, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and much more.
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Mobile Homes
Our mobile home loans are designed for members financing mobile homes that are immobilized and used as their primary residence on land that they own.
At Ascension, a real person looks at each loan individually so you have the personal service you won't get at many institutions with automated underwriting. Our mobile home loans feature the following options:
To get started on your mobile home loan, contact one of our knowledgeable Financial Service Officers at 225-621-2800.
Rates are fixed based on your individual credit score and history. A 1% origination fee will apply to each loan. Contact the credit union for complete details.