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Professional Community for Car Dealers, Marketing, Advertising and Sales Leaders
If I pay a customer to say all the right things in an online review, that breaks the law, and we know it. We know you and I cannot pay, reward or incentivize a customer to write good things about us in in a Google Review, Dealer Rater rating or Yelp! blog.
So, does that mean we shouldn't incentivize every salesperson in our dealership to get every customer possible to rate the dealership online?
In a recent Cars.com DealerADvantage blog, Jack Simmons, Dealer Training Manager, Cars.com, writes:
"It's no secret that individual metrics and compensation play a big role in achieving dealership-wide goals, which is why managers have long tied pay to "hitting your numbers." Based on the audience feedback I heard during my workshop at Digital Dealer last week, owners and senior managers are increasingly putting their money on dealer reviews in this way, namely for their ability to help differentiate a dealership's brand and ultimately drive more sales and service business.
Let's take a look at some of the ways these dealerships compensate individual employees for reviews success:
1. Spiffs...
2. Optional Bonuses...
3. Mandatory Part of Compensation..."
I get it.
We can't pressure the customer, but we can pressure our own people. Just like we do for CSI, with comparable results.
The spontaneity of the review process is on the way out, as the stakes get raised. The thrill is gone.
When customers no longer believe what they read, because the review sites are clogged with the overwhelming sameness of Completely Satisfied customers, by then, we'll all have moved on to the next shiny object perceived to move the search optimizing needle, increase sales and service business, or whatever it was that online reviews were supposed to trigger in the first place.
Views: 723
Keith- Fake Reviews aren't just bad marketing, they are FRAUD that carries a $25,000 fine from the FTC.
I gave my answer Joshua, now, here is my optional commentary: J
I do like Keith's idea, let's turn back the clock and look at this from another angle.
Online Reviews are today's WOM. Unearth all of those old marketing plans from 20bti (that's "before the internet") and try to find a line in the marketing budget for WOM. How many dollars did you commit to WOM in 20bti? $0 directly, right? Was there a budget line for "follow customers around and filter their comments so they only say positive things?" No offense intended, but where is the line for "Phone Booth in showroom for customers to call all of their friends and tell them how great we are before they go into finance?" Sounds ridiculous, right?
You can't directly cleanse what people say about you to their friends and neighbors and call it WOM, you can only influence what they say about you by HOW you conduct your business. WOM has always been influenced organically by lots of community commitments, solid process and a superior trained and friendly staff. How you acted and what you did determined what people would say in 20bti.
Fast forward to 20ati (you should be able to figure this one out by yourself ;)) and what has changed? NOTHING and EVERYTHING. Nothing, WOM is still influenced solely by how you act and what you do. EVERYTHING, the Internet has allowed you to be the fly on the wall where your consumer is and see what they are actually saying to their friends and neighbors, AND be a part of the conversation. Brave New World, right? So do we attempt to put up filters and gateways to control what is said about us by massaging and manipulating a collection process with marketing in mind from square one, or do we use the true and organic feedback we receive to market great objective reviews?
Look, you shouldn't massage a process to get only desired content and then try to pass it off to the consumer as objective and truly User Generated. In-store collection to a dealer-owned site that allows the privilege to edit and in some cases choose not to display unfavorable content is collecting marketing, not reviews. To a somewhat lesser extent, a process that attempts to turn every customer into a marketing engine on a 3rd party site unnaturally is just marketing too in my opinion. 5 stars and 5 words on Google isn't a review, it's really SEO marketing!
I realize this opinion won't be popular around here since Ralph is publicly endorsing Business Rater, and the owner of that company is the Editor of Reputation Management for the forum. Two takeaways:
If you try to massage or manufacture reviews in the showroom to create marketing content you're missing the real conversations that could improve your business ex. long wait times for finance. Real reviews aren't Marketing because some of them are negative messages. If your process is preventing REAL feedback from your potential customers you are missing one of the most valuable aspects of collecting reviews. Collecting Real reviews isn't just about marketing.
Once the consumer discovers you are trying to pass marketing off as objective reviews your Reputation Management/Marketing strategy is at the helm of the Titanic. That ship WILL eventually sink. I'd challenge readers to take off the marketing hat for a second and think about your consumer's expectation of the content with which you are trying to win their business. When you say, "Here is what customers are saying about us" do you really want to NEED a disclaimer that reads "if it was positive only of course and written here at the store before they actually bought the car, and we may have edited out a few lines that we thought might be a little negative, and we did fix some spelling errors too, but other than that..." If you are editing out the negatives or having the customer write a review in the showroom before they've even bought from you with marketing in mind is that fundamentally any different than running a bait and switch print ad?
Hey Joshua, Sorry for the late response. I had 20 Boy Scouts on a camping trip this weekend in a spot where the only towers were made of Granite. If you ever get a chance to visit Elephant Rocks near Farmington, MO, take it. You won't regret it.
Here is my answer to your question:
To me it's pretty simple. Real Reviews are NOT marketing because YOU don't control the message. By extension, real Review Sites don't give you the ability to remove or edit content, Dealer Owned Marketing sites do.
You have 100% editorial control of the message in your radio spots, your print ads and your signage. The things you have a measure of control over content are marketing, and the consumer recognizes it as such. It has value, but it is ABOUT you, FROM you and that defines the value to the consumer. The consumer perception of online reviews is that you have 0% editorial control. User Generated Content like reviews are ABOUT you, FROM any objective person without your shared interest.
They're never free, and real reviews are marketing, too. Fake ones are bad marketing.
Not asking every single customer is smart, and that's a marketing effort to appear real, even though they ARE real. I think your effort as described is very smart.
Reviews are "marketing" when they're fake, "free advertising" (good and bad) when they're not.
My understanding, manipulation and solicitation of those reviews is very much a marketing strategy. For example, I know that getting too many 5-star reviews in a short period of time makes those reviews look fake, or at least less genuine, so I don't ask every single customer to post one. I also know that having a perfect 5-star overall rating looks suspicious so I make sure that if an unhappy customer hasn't posted a review in a while I find one and ask them for a public review. And, I've re-directed unhappy cusomters away from Facebook and to a review site because having a negative review that is resolved can be more influential than yet another positive review but a mad person on Facebook may never quit posting regardless of what you do to appease them.
All of that is definately marketing, but the actual reviews themselves, not so much.
Joshua, I agree with you and have called it many times "Reputation Marketing" instead of "Reputation Management". Using the reviews as marketing tools is just like amplifying any word-of-mouth, which happened first in history long about when the first advertising on a sign was done. Not everyone agrees.
Ryan, Keith, Ralph and Brian and anyone else who want to weigh in here:
Why are reviews -- or why are they not -- "marketing"?
Eh. CSI is so commonly confused with online reviews and it is not the same thing at all. An OEM survey is an internal, never-published survey of the dealership experience. It deserves to be "after the fact". However, they can be, and are, worked for the positive by dealerships across the USA through calls, etc. And have, in the past, been coerced by "bring the survey back to the dealership and let us mail it, and you get a free tank of gas!" b.s. and the like.
DealerRater, which for the record **I LIKE**, has chosen to support off-site reviews. I've pointed out several times that you can find 5-star DealerRater reviews and Yelp, Google, etc. reviews will NOT tell the same story. A dealer I called about that explained it as being a function that they don't push folks to review on those other sites. Huh?
That part is wrong-headed "eggs in one basket" strategy. And what's this about "PUSHING" a customer anywhere? What was all that about coercion or not messing with the review process??
These hairs are split and may as well be "free tank of gas" strategies, no matter who's review site you are using. As well, frankly, the OEMs are in general the LAST place I look for guidance on most anything Internet.
My $.02.
P.S. Ryan, please just write your opinion blog. Get it off your chest! :)
Jason is absolutely right... massaging review content through in-store collection models on dealer owned sites isn't sustainable. The more powerful reviews become to the consumer the more credibility they will demand from the source. Dealer owned sites aren't credible to the consumer once they find out the dealer has editorial control to remove content. They quickly identify the site as what it is, marketing. Jason's analogy of a report card with everything but the C- in Science is dead on.
I'm going to be respectfully blunt here Ralph and share what alarmed me about your response. In-store collection is not something I agree with for a host of reasons, but in-store collection BEFORE the consumer goes to finance is absolutely absurd to me. That reviewer can't possibly give a detailed and credible review of your business if they haven't experienced it entirely yet, can they? I've used the analogy before here, but THAT is exactly like a server asking for the tip after the appetizer, it lets the service provider off the hook for the rest of the meal. Don't you want the accountability to perform at a high level extended to your Finance team and through delivery reflected in your reviews? Worse than that, what immediately goes through the mind of that consumer when there is a hiccup after they wrote that review? I bet it isn't positive, and it is made worse by the fact that they already gave you good marks.
I think you've explained the "overwhelming sameness" that makes reviews less credible from the OP too. What exactly can the reviewer say? They know they've been asked to write a review BEFORE they've actually bought anything. I'd be tentative too.
Last thing and I'll jump off the soapbox.
We can debate the risk of IP filtering that removes reviews, customers feeling coerced due to a natural imbalance of power in the showroom, risk of a PR nightmare once they leave if something doesn't go smoothly after the review is written, the quality of content collected, and a host of other things, but there is ONE fundamental and foundational question that needs to be answered. Why are you collecting reviews in the first place, what is the primary reason that you are asking the customer for a review? When you answer the WHY the HOW you do it naturally solves for itself.
When you ask a consumer to submit a public review of your store's total performance in the BEFORE they've been through F&I, what is your primary goal?
It can only be MARKETING!
I am of the opinion that Reviews can be marketed, but they are NOT marketing! If your process massages the user generated content in a way that limits its affect to change culture at your store or only collects data on your store's abilities prior to finance you're literally selling yourself short... If you have a long wait to get into finance, make changes to make that better. Don't fill that time with an unnatural task for the consumer. Let's be honest, having that customer write a review because you can't get them into Finance for 30 minutes is only "convenient" and "productive" for YOU.
© 2020 Created by Ralph Paglia. Powered by


text: Brief descriptions of the applications in the various Adobe Creative Suite editions:Adobe Acrobat is a software family dedicated to Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). Adobe Acrobat Standard, Adobe Acrobat Professional, and Adobe Acrobat Professional Extended all allow for the creation of PDF files. Adobe Reader is an application that allows the reading of PDF files.Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems. It is often used in film and video post-production.Adobe Audition is a digital audio editor that provides the modern interface and workflow of Adobe Soundbooth with the capabilities of Audition.Adobe Bridge is an organizational program. Its primary purpose is to link the parts of the Creative Suite together using a format similar to the file browser found in previous versions of Adobe Photoshop.Adobe Contribute can edit the content of a website. It allows a wide variety of people within an organization to update web pages.Adobe Device Central's primary purpose is to integrate parts of the Creative Suite together to offer both professional and individual creative professionals, web designers and mobile developers an easier way to preview and test Flash Lite, bitmap, web and video content for mobile devices.Adobe Dreamweaver is a combination code / GUI web development application.Adobe Dynamic Link integrates After Effects with Premiere Pro and with Encore.Adobe Encore is a software tool for authoring DVD and Blu-ray - produced by Adobe Systems and targeted at semi-professional video producers. Files are automatically transcoded to MPEG-2 or H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video and Dolby Digital audio. DVD and Blu-ray menus can be created and edited in Adobe Photoshop using layering techniques.Adobe Fireworks is a bitmap and vector graphics editor, aimed at web designers (with features including: slices, the ability to add hotspots etc.).Adobe Flash is a software family dedicated to various Adobe multime

subset: commoncrawl


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Weeks have piled up into months since I escaped the necessary evil that is Toronto. Here in New Brunswick, looking down from the window of my second-story writing cave onto the snows and thaws of the tree-walled lawn where I learned to ride a bicycle, indeed where I first learned to mumble, chatter, yell and sing in my mother tongue, I consider that the number of hours I spend each day in writing, reading, corresponding and editing is greater than the number of people I have spoken with in person more than once since I arrived here in mid-December. I have crossed paths with more deer and rodents than bipeds.
This semi-exile is a boon to my productivity (and piano playing), but the menu of stimuli to which I am exposed—though excellent—is sparse. In the neighbourhood I left in Toronto, I could walk in less than 10 minutes to my choice of half a dozen live music venues (including, importantly, first-rate jazz on an almost daily basis); a dozen Japanese or Korean restaurants, three each of Indian, Lebanese, Thai and Vietnamese; three new and used bookstores and a library to which I can have delivered any of a million books, DVDs and CDs; as well as swim in a public pool, go to my favourite repertory cinema, visit the dentist, do all banking, grocery shopping and other errands; and, most significant for me, meet with groups of native speakers of French, Spanish, Portuguese, American Sign Language, Korean or Japanese; or step onto the subway for access to ten times as many possibilities. Taking my New Brunswick writing cave as a point of departure, a 10 hour drive would scarcely bring the majority of such options within reach.
Fortunately, this is an era which enables me to make do with online substitutions for a number of these amenities, such as certain manifestations of language practice and films. However, such substitutions are not the same thing as being there, in that place where there is every day too much to do, where to partake of one golden opportunity causes you to miss out on several others.
And yet, my writing cave lets me work with loud music on at 03h00; it lets me leap out of bed before dawn or crawl out at noon, depending on what the muse whispers to me in the morning or demanded of me the night before. The writing cave leaves me space — indoors and out (and psychologically as well as physically) — to start every day by doing my thumpy, jumpy, kicky taekwondo forms, or to contend with insomnia by pounding it out on the heavy bag in the garage below. It shows me the moon and the sun through its skylight; its windows like big-screen TVs show me snowfall, windstorms or chirping birds and meandering deer over a sun-glazed acre of land which is mine to neglect, maintain, or run and roll around on. Below my window, I can chop wood from a wind-felled tree, soak off the wholesome grime in my claw-foot bathtub, and then sit with my father by his fire discussing how the Romans could have saved their empire if only they had listened to us, or learn how to speak toddler-ese when my niece drops by, until a bottle of the world's finest wine has breathed long enough and we gather to feast on local, organic, fair trade, free-run moose.
The world-famous city I was born in vs. the agreeably overlooked town I grew up in. Like moving and resting, waking and sleeping, getting dirty and bathing, an excess of one makes you wish for the other. Plainly, (unless I find a home* some other where), I must divide my months between the polis and the outpost.
*Home is where I hang my hat. Home is where I hang around. Home is where I hang out. Home is where I let it all hang out. Home is where I hang my head. Home is where I hang myself. Home is where I feel that I am myself, and that is not a place, it is a state of mind that comes more frequently and stays longer in some places than in others. "Wherever you go, there you are."


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Young Grasshopper :3
Well, hey there! I decided that I would join this site for encouragement and direction today. I've thought about going vegan for a good deal of time now, and I'm finally ready to take the first step. Sometimes it's hard, considering that I'm a teenager who is engrossed in early college and staying busy, but I'm tired of giving in to the peer pressure and jeopardizing my mobility and health. I want to feel better about myself and feel better physically as well. I struggle with chronic pain daily due to a rare genetic disorder, and I hope that this lifestyle can help me lose some of the pain. Here's to staying motivated and keeping healthy!
Welcome, young grasshopper!! :-)
Good for you for going vegan, and I really hope it will help you with your health problems! How has it been going so far? Do you have cooking facilities at your college, or are you still living with your parents? Feel free to ask questions, and of course, browse the amazing recipe database here!


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Parishioners gather outside the Immaculate Conception Church in Smakieh, Jordan.
(photo: John E. Kozar)
Back in December, Msgr. John Kozar made his first pastoral visit to the Holy Land as CNEWA's president. While visiting with people and church leaders who are a part of the CNEWA family, he also gained a deeper understanding of the traditions and cultures that permeate this community of Christians. One stop included the village of Smakieh in Jordan, where he took part in an ordination:
A couple of impressive sights from the ceremony: Being welcomed outside the church as we arrived with the archbishop by all the men removing the agal, or cord, from their kaffiyeh, a traditional head covering. It was a sign of deepest respect given to us. The men were robust in their handshakes and in their welcoming.
After the ceremony, after all the elders and people of the parish had personally greeted the new deacon and given him a kiss on each cheek, a group of younger parishioners hoisted the deacon on their shoulders and began dancing to the beat of their chanting which created a most festive mood.
The village of Smakieh is entirely Christian, which is rare in this Muslim kingdom. There are only two families of Bedouin living in the village, the Latin Hijazine family and the Melkite Akasheh family. Between these two families they have offered 14 priests in service to the church. Added to this are the number of Catholic and Orthodox priests that have come from neighboring Bedouin towns, such as Raba and Ader, who basically supplied much of the entire presbyterate for Jordan and Israel and Palestine. God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
If you haven't done so already, check out Msgr. Kozar's blog series from his Holy Land visit,"Journey to the Holy Land."


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From CF:
I leave before rush hour and reverse commute from Judiciary Square, where I live, to Rockville, where I work. At this time, all trains go to Shady Grove, or at least they are are supposed to.
Twice last week, some trains only went as far as Grosvenor, leaving us long distance travelers stranded on the platform at 6:30 a.m. watching as every single other passenger in both directions was served over and over (three trains to Glenmont to my zero Shady Grove trains). And yet, we long distance riders pay the most!
The other morning, when I arrived and the sign said 20 minutes until the next train, I complained to the station manager. Her response was to shrug, turn around and close the door.
During my long wait, announcements were made about Blue Line delays but never once about those of who had been stranded waiting for trains beyond Grosvenor. Running trains on time and communicating with passengers isn't a budget problem. How can they get away this? When you leave your house at 6-something in the morning, 20 minutes is everything.
BTW, Metro's response to this was:
Red Line trains run to Shady Grove just as they do to Glenmont, during rush hour they are scheduled every six minutes. Every other train stops at Silver Spring and Grosvenor.From Ben Schumin:
If your reader has a concern or complaint, he should call our customer service department.
Metro's fare structure is for the most part based on a boarding charge plus distance traveled. If you are traveling to Forest Glen, Wheaton, or Glenmont, you're paying a pretty penny for service, and only getting half as much as the folks below you. From Metro Center during rush hour (before greed-of-the-greed, pardon me, "peak-of-the-peak" was implemented), it costs $3.70 to get to Forest Glen, $4.10 to get to Wheaton, and $4.55 to get to Glenmont. For that cost, every other train terminates and returns downtown well before reaching the final three stations. Let's talk about a parity issue for a moment, here. Those of us who pay the most for Red Line service get the least amount of Red Line service. That doesn't seem a fair bargain.
Add to that my belief that Metro was bluffing the whole time when it came to their threatened service cuts. They were never going to cut service, because it would have been political suicide for all the board members (even though a few of them need to commit political hara-kiri - yes, I'm looking at you, Jim Graham - and leave office). They did, however, play the public like a violin, getting people to say that they would be more than willing to pay higher fares rather than see service cut. And that gave them carte blanche to institute the second "Metro's largest-ever fare increase" in a row this week (2008's fare increase was also described as Metro's largest).
So needless to say, I'm a bit annoyed. It's time to discontinue the Silver Spring turnback in regularly scheduled service. Send all the trains to Glenmont. I pay substantially more per ride than someone going to Silver Spring ($3.25 from Metro Center to Silver Spring vs. $4.55 to Glenmont), and therefore for the amount I pay, every regularly scheduled Red Line train should go there to service these riders, who spend more to fund Metro's services than someone going to Silver Spring.
This is also why we need to go to a flat fare. Metro will run trains at a given headway to the outlying stations regardless of whether there are five people on the train or 500 people on the train. Likewise, they will staff all the stations and run all the utilities regardless of how many people are actually on the train. Thus it costs Metro basically the same to take someone from Metro Center to Gallery Place as it does from Metro Center to, say, Takoma, because the train will be run in service to the end of the line regardless of passenger load. Therefore, everyone should pay equally for the provision of the entire service. That also gets into the idea that transit is a public good, and therefore everyone should help pay for it. Because the best place that I could afford is way out in the suburbs doesn't mean I should be punished for it. Seriously.
Other items:
Metro's new door-to-door service goes horribly wrong (WUSA)
Local transit agencies feeling pinch (Examiner)


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Peter Finger is Germany's greatest guitarist, and he
tours worldwide. This Collection assembles his greatest hits from his
five solo releases which are unavailable in the U.S. The eight hundred
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~ ~Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine
Web hosting and design by Canvas Dreams LLC
Copyright 2020 AcousticMusicResource.com


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Suppose I have a set with two metrics, which induce distinct topologies, (so neither is contained in the other). There should exist a sequence which converges in both topologies, but to different points (otherwise all sequences converge to the same point in both metrics, which then implies the topologies are equal). I'm having trouble coming up with such an example.
Can anyone kindly provide a hint, or is this a bad question?


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Gwen Stefani is ditching her solo career and reuniting with her No Doubt band mates.
Stefani joined the band in 1986, when she was 17.
"That was a moment in time," the singer told Entertainment Weekly. "It went on a little longer than we all thought it would, because it was inspired and you have to go with wherever you're at in that time in your life ... everything works out how it should."
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Stefani's solo hits included "Rich Girl," "What You Waiting For, and "L.A.M.B.," which is also the name of her clothing line.
And, who could forget the infectious hook of "Hollaback Girl"?
The band said they took time off to focus on their families, but on Friday, the band will make the announcement official.
Selected Reading: EW, NYDN


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Ravello is closer to heaven than it is to the shore," claimed André Gide, the Nobel laureate in literature. The author Gore Vidal was so taken with the setting that he moved in (his hillside villa just sold for over $17 million). Ravello, the smallest, quaintest and most exclusive of the triumvirate of glorious towns that make the Amalfi Coast Italy's romantic best, has this effect on people. From postcard-perfect views of the azure waters of the Mediterranean to medieval hill towns and cliff-top villas, the region enjoys one of the most stunning and dramatic settings on earth. Steep hillsides are terraced with endless vineyards, gardens and orchards, broken by the occasional castle ruins or ancient stone walls. For Amalfi's hospitality and culinary best, look no further than Palazzo Sasso.
The small luxury hotel fits the town like a glove: Ravello blissfully lacks the souvenir shops and day tourists that inundate the region. As a result, such visiting dignitaries as Humphrey Bogart, Jacqueline Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower and Placido Domingo have made this serene town, perched 1,000 feet above the Gulf of Salerno, their escapist haven. Palazzo Sasso, just steps from Ravello's Duomo and central piazza, is the place to experience the magic. The stunning structure began life as a royal palace more than 800 years ago, and since 1997, when it was turned into a luxury hotel, Palazzo Sasso has offered accommodations fit for royalty.
The hotel has just 43 rooms, including two oversized, decadent VIP suites equipped with private whirlpool baths and terraces, but even the smallest rooms boast multifunction showers with waterfalls and massage jets and amenities that include Bulgari toiletries and a choice of silk, linen or cotton sheets. Guests can enjoy a lavish, fully equipped spa, a gorgeous blue-tile pool with one of the best views on earth, and a rooftop solarium with hot tubs and sweeping vistas of the coastline. The season runs from March to October and the rooms from $360 to $2,400 a night.
Perhaps the marquee attraction at Palazzo Sasso is Rossellini's, the most-revered restaurant on the Amalfi Coast and the only two-star Michelin eatery in this part of Italy. Diners who opt to eat on the sunny outdoor patio are rewarded with world-class food and an equally charming view that takes in the coast, hillside gardens, lemon groves and even a coastal watchtower erected by the Knights of Malta in the twelfth century. Centuries-old cobblestone walkways lead from the hotel down the mountain to the sea, and everywhere you look is a tempting attraction. But despite the many beckoning charms of the Amalfi region, once you have settled into the heaven that is Palazzo Sasso, it is hard to leave.
Call 800-225-4255 or visit www.sanctuare.com.


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Prep Cook Job
$148.20 estimated pay
Instructions and details
No instructions
About Instawork Gigs
Instawork is the best place for hospitality workers to find temporary jobs on-demand. From Michelin-star restaurants to small coffee shops, Instawork makes it easy for bartenders, cooks, servers, dishwashers and other experienced hospitality workers to find work at local businesses and earn up to $30/hr on a flexible schedule. No interviews or paper resumes. Just book the gig in the app and show up to do the work. Se habla español.
A prep cook's role refers to a back of house worker whose primary responsibility is to set up the job site for success.
Prep Cook responsibilities:
Follow chef instructions.
Prepares fruits and vegetables for serving by washing, peeling, cutting or slicing and placing all items in their respective refrigerators for future use.
Follow mark-down procedure and suggest a way to reduce food.
Assess equipment functioning.
Check quality of foods or supplies.
Maintains a clean and organized workspace.
Please our guests by correctly preparing menu items to our high standards of professional cooking.
Maintains a calm demeanor during periods of high volume or unusual events to keep store operating to standard and to set a positive example.
Meets company standards of quality, safety, cleanliness and hospitality in providing guests with the most satisfactory food possible.


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And buy it! I do. PX 70 Color Shade works very nicely in my Jordan Marsh SX70 and I have posted photographs here that I like very much. Not to oversell, I think TIP is showing some results that a person new to instant photography might achieve, as those who have taken the time to look into this new material more closely (I was at the plant less than a year ago) have really started to learn how to make PX 70 Color Shade go! Now, you go here and see for yourself!
|The R in a circle is used to denote the registration
|of a trademark. Here it is used as a design element. The further irony is the photograph of a discontinued Polaroid product bearing the Giambarba rainbow.
Product branding, trademarks, and trade dress, are an interesting field that we artists and photographers can participate in. Lawyers can get in on it too. Photographers of the 21st Century will increasingly look back on these days as a transitional time, and with fondness. Today we can be part of it.


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Redeem your?reward*?nights anytime
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- Redeem your?reward*?nights at over 500,000 properties anytime, anywhere.
- A fee of $5.00 will be applied to each reward* night you redeem and there's no fee if you redeem on our app. We can't apply reward nights to your booking over the phone, but we can help you redeem them online or via our mobile app.
- From major hotel chains and beach resorts to boutiques, villas, and apartments, all types of properties are included
Unlock Secret Prices
- Look out for Secret Prices on select properties
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For answers to questions like these and more, check out our articles. They have all the information you need.
Terms and Conditions
Hotels.com? Rewards is for guests aged 18+ who sign up with a valid email address. Book and stay 10 nights at eligible properties to get 1?reward*?night to redeem anytime, anywhere at eligible properties, based on the average value of the 10 nights collected. You just pay taxes and fees. This includes a fee when you redeem your night on our desktop/mobile website but we won't apply this fee if you redeem on our app. If you choose to redeem your?reward*?night on a higher-priced room, you'll pay the difference. You can't collect or redeem nights for package bookings, or bookings made using a discount coupon. Read the full terms and conditions.
Secret Prices are available to Hotels.com app users, Hotels.com? Rewards members, and individuals subscribed to Hotels.com by email. Secret prices will be shown where the "Your Secret Price" banner is displayed on your search results. Available on select hotels and select dates only. Subject to full terms and conditions.


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NEA Honors Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Paul Krugman with 40th Annual Friend of Education Award
Renowned economist and author Paul Krugman received the 40th annual Friend of Education Award at the 2012 Representative Assembly for his work in advancing the dialogue of education inequality and the importance of teacher quality and student success.
"As a leader in the field of modern economics, Paul Krugman understands that we need to make education a priority if we expect to maintain an American competitive edge," said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. "A product of public schools, Paul Krugman is just one of many public school success stories. We are very proud to call Mr. Krugman a Friend of Education. He has done outstanding work to help raise awareness of the significant impact of education inequality on student success."
Krugman is a professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, a centenary professor at the London School of Economics and a columnist for the New York Times. He has authored dozens of books and hundreds of articles and columns. In 2008 Krugman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.
In a January 8th New York Times column he wrote:
"The failure starts early: in America, the holes in the social safety net mean that both low-income mothers and their children are all too likely to suffer from poor nutrition and receive inadequate health care. It continues once children reach school age, where they encounter a system in which the affluent send their kids to good, well-financed public schools or, if they choose, to private schools, while less-advantaged children get a far worse education.
"Once they reach college age, those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to go to college — and vastly less likely to go to a top-tier school — than those luckier in their parentage. At the most selective, "Tier 1" schools, 74 percent of the entering class comes from the quarter of households that have the highest "socioeconomic status"; only 3 percent comes from the bottom quarter.
"And if children from our society's lower rungs do manage to make it into a good college, the lack of financial support makes them far more likely to drop out than the children of the affluent, even if they have as much or more native ability. One long-term study by the Department of Education found that students with high test scores but low-income parents were less likely to complete college than students with low scores but affluent parents — loosely speaking, that smart poor kids are less likely than dumb rich kids to get a degree."
The Friend of Education Award, presented each year during NEA's Representative Assembly, recognizes individuals or organizations whose work significantly contributes to the advancement of public education in America. Past honorees include U.S. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and William Jefferson Clinton; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley and the late Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-Mass.).
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Don't miss the opportunity to exhibit at one of America's largest gathering of educators.


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Savvy homeowners know that a penny here and a penny there adds up. That's apparently the case for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who — despite a reported net worth in excess of $14 billion — just refinanced the mortgage on his Palo Alto, Calif., home.
The rate he got, according to Bloomberg's John Gittelsohn and Dakin Campbell, was 1.05% on an adjustable 30-year loan.
(MORE: The Dumbest Way Ever to Get Your Credit Card Stolen)
The duo notes that's somewhat better than market, as average rates on 30-year mortgages that reset after one year are running at 2.69%.
But you don't get to be a preferred customer without having good financial habits. And since the new rates are a drop from his previous mortgage's 1.75%, the 28-year-old billionaire's savings on the $5.95 million loan are approximately $1,981 a month.
Not bad, even for a guy who has at least $14 billion — roughly the GDP of Iceland. Put that in $100 bills, and it would weigh 153 tons.
But hey, money-savvy people often care about the little things, right? And Zuckerberg is very down to earth. The house — which was purchased in the name of an LLC for $7 million last March — is a relatively unpretentious prairie-style five-bedroom set on a fifth of an acre with a modest saltwater pool.
The well-groomed backyard was the setting for his wedding to longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan just two months ago.
(MORE: Why Britain's Banking Culture Needs Fixing)
Priscilla, you may have married a keeper. Even if rates rise, the loan resets are capped at 9.95%, making the maximum payment for the home $51,995 a month.
Financial observers speculate that the only reason Zuckerberg took a mortgage at all is that if the hoodie-sporting mogul can borrow at a mere 1.05%, he can invest the money in assets with a higher return.
Assets, that is, that probably aren't Facebook: the stock was down 22% from its May IPO price as of midday trading today.
Well, we at Moneyland are here to help. May we suggest the best use of extra real estate cash is a minor kitchen update or a new set of energy-efficient windows?
You're welcome.


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Posts Recentes
Posts Em Destaque
Summer Nail Trends: Nudes, Neons, and Pastels
July 22, 2017
Consider nude nail polish the manicure world's greatest hit-next to sheer ballerina pinks and fire engine reds. But there's a difference between nude nails and naked nails. True nudes like Deborah Lippmann's Naked ($16; beauty.com), Sephora by OPI's Neutral Beauty ($9.50; sephora.com), and YSL's Beige Leger ($25; yslbeautyus.com) elongate your fingers and look great on manicures of all lengths, while naked nails are just that-bare. Amp up the look with Chanel's Island ($26; chanel.com), a sheer fawn with rose gold shimmer.
Nude colors aren't limited to sandy beige hues. If you have a deeper skin tone, opt for lacquers like Jenna Hipp's RGB Nail Foundation in F2 ($16; rgbcosmetics.com) or Lancome's Vernis in Love in Beige Dentelle ($15; lancome-usa.com), shades that are more cafe au lait than peach. If you're stuck, reach for one-size fits all sheers like MAC's Skin ($16; maccosmetics.com), or Sally Hansen's Smooth amp Perfect in Dune ($6; ulta.com) if you want a bit of shimmer.
Talk about looking on the bright side! Neon hues are having their biggest moment since Duran Duran topped the charts. Lacquer up in electric shades like Essie's Action ($8; essie.com), or Rescue Beauty's Cuprum ($20; rescuebeauty.com), a vivid, foil-like cobalt. Don't forget iconic highlighter shades like China Glaze's Yellow Polka Dot Bikini ($7; ulta.com), or Orly's Popsicle ($8.50; orlybeauty.com).
Neons have the tendency to blend with your natural nail color, resulting in a faded version of the high-octane shade in the bottle. Make sure your talons really stand out by painting a layer of white nail polish before the bright hue for a more saturated color. Try an ivory like Revlon's Calla Lilly ($7; ulta.com before going pretty in pink (and purple!) with NARS's Ratin Jot ($18; narscosmetics.com), or China Glaze's Hang Ten Toes ($7; sallybeauty.com). We also love American Apparel's nail polish in Neon Green ($6; americanapparel.net), and Illamasqua's punchy mint nail varnish in Nomad ($14; sephora.com).
Layer a high-gloss top coat over opaque formulas like Pop Beauty's Pink Popsicle ($10; ulta.com) and MAC's Life or Beth ($16; maccosmetics.com), a sugary-sweet orange, to keep them from looking chalky. We also love the pearly metallic finishes of Paul amp Joe's nail polish in Sprite ($14; b-glowing.com), and Zoya's Meg ($8; zoya.com).
Delicate shades like Butter London's Trout Pout ($14; sephora.com) and Laura Mercier's Lavender Cloud ($18; lauramercier.com) don't have to come off as prim and proper. Pair them with tougher elements to give your ensemble a feminine edge. Dolce amp Gabbana's Lemon ($20; saks.com) adds a punchy citrus accent to an all-black getup, while Dior's St. Tropez Vernis ($23; sephora.com) makes studded accessories look even bolder.


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1. Will you publish what associations you have with the Anthroposophical Movement?
You can read more views on Steiner and see links to many others from here: http://www.openwaldorf.com/steiner.html . Also see my previous post on the proposed school which expresses my particular concern that Steiner's ideas are highly inconsistent with modern science here.


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Sign Dimensions
79 x 62cm
31.1" x 24.4
The colour represented in this image is Arrowtown (Golden Yellow)
Each sign includes a complimentary Wall Mounting screw set, and all necessary plugs to simply plug your sign in and illuminate.
Correct plugs will be provided based on the destination country too - our signs work in any corner of the globe!
As we hand craft each order when it's made please allow 12 - 20 days for the arrival of your sign.
Feel free to give us an email if you have any questions at all, we're always here!


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Like just about every other fixed-income investor these days, PIMCO CEO and co-CIO Mohamed El-Erian is now asking a simple yet huge question: What exactly is going on in the bond market?
Yet unlike many others, El-Erian (left) has come up with some solid observations, answers and investment ideas.
"To say that bonds are under pressure would be an understatement," El-Erian writes in his September viewpoint, "What's Happening to Bonds and Why?" "Over the last few months, sentiment about fixed income has flipped dramatically: from a favored investment destination that is deemed to benefit from exceptional support from central banks, to an asset class experiencing large outflows, negative returns and reduced standing as an anchor of a well-diversified asset allocation."
So what's the takeaway for investors? After writing a long and reasoned report that explains just what is going on in the bond market, El-Erian ends up agreeing with the conclusions his co-CIO, Bill Gross, offerend in a baseball-metaphor-driven investment outlook published earlier this month.
"Specifically, fixed income investors should respect the technicals for now, emphasize the front end of curves on the basis of the policy pivot (from [quantitative easing] to forward guidance), and consider TIPS as a source of endogenous portfolio hedging," El-Erian writes. "They should look to exploit large technical dislocations that are anchored by upcoming maturities and other self-liquidating characteristics. And, given that the bad technicals will run their course eventually, they should prepare to take advantage of broader overshoots that provide both attractive valuations and solid carry."
Before the end of April, when the market started its gut-wrenching descent, "the combination of return generation and risk diversification was part of a broader virtuous circle for fixed income, which also included significant inflows to the asset class and direct support from central banks," El-Erian writes at the start of his viewpoint, noting that in addition to delivering solid returns with lower volatility relative to stocks, the inclusion of fixed income in diversified asset allocations also helped to reduce overall portfolio risk.
That virtuous circle clearly was reflected in positive investment returns. Over the last 20 years, a diversified portfolio of high-quality bonds, as defined by the widely followed Barclays U.S. Aggregate benchmark, delivered strong returns, El-Erian notes. The benchmark's annualized 20-year return delivered 6% while the 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year returns stood at 3.6%, 5.4%, 5.6% and 5.0%, respectively.
But that was then.
"All of this changed markedly starting in April 2013," says El-Erian. "Since then, the Barclays U.S. Aggregate has delivered a negative return of 4.5% (May through 6 September 2013) and bond funds have experienced sharp outflows."
PIMCO's CEO then reviews what he describes as the Federal Reserve's "highly unconventional and experimental set of policy tools" used to repress interest rates.
"Specifically, in an attempt to use the portfolio channel to trigger a beneficial combination of the wealth effect and animal spirits, central bankers supplemented their traditional policy lever (namely, a federal funds rate floored near zero) with two more unconventional policy tools: aggressive policy statements (or 'forward guidance') and large-scale market purchases of U.S Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities ('quantitative easing' or QE)," El-Erian writes.
This year, with the Fed's tightened rates, the U.S. economy was showing definite signs of improvement. But the markets were spooked nonetheless on May 22, when Fed officials began sending signals of their intention to taper their experimental support for markets and the economy.
And that, in a nutshell, sums up the problem, according to El-Erian.
"The ensuing reaction of markets has been quite extreme," he writes. "The sharp move in interest rates has been accompanied by an increase in volatility, pockets of liquidity dislocations, and unstable and changing correlations."
In addition to market perceptions of an improving economy and a policy change, these market movements have also been driven by notable shifts in financial asset preferences and related flows, along with some rather nasty market technical, El-Erian says.
Here are just a few of the "nasty" flows and factors that El-Erian mentions:
- After a first quarter of record inflows, approximately $106 billion has exited global fixed income mutual funds in 2013, with U.S. retail funds particularly hard hit.
- Risk parity investors have delevered quite forcefully due to an increase in rates and volatility, spiking correlations and aggressive drawdown control rules.
- Hedge funds have cut back on carry trades, particularly front-end exposures, despite the Fed's guidance that it will maintain near-zero interest rates for an extended period of time.
- Broker-dealers have little appetite for inventory, thereby reducing the ability of markets to facilitate normal risk transfer.
"Add to all this the selling by central banks (reserve managers) in emerging economies and a slow shift to lower duration benchmarks, and the result resembles for now a 'technically damaged,' asset class," El-Erian writes. "In addition, with the recent decline in investor concerns about Syria, Europe and China, the attraction of Treasuries as a flight to quality has receded in the most recent weeks."
To conclude his gloomy outlook, El-Erian attempts a bit of positive thinking: "History is unlikely to record a change in the important role that fixed income plays over time in prudent asset allocations and diversified investment portfolios — in generating returns, reducing volatility and lowering the risk of severe capital loss," he writes.
Prudence and diversification are excellent and true investment themes for investors who are willing to wait — but that sort of investor seems to be in increasingly short supply during this turbulent time.
Read PIMCO's Gross Dodges Total Return's Strikeout With Baseball Metaphors at ThinkAdvisor.


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Donald E. Pfuehler
- BS Chemical Engineering 1967
Mr. Donald E. Pfuehler currently President and CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation, Donald E. Pfuehler began his career at Dow Corning as a co-op student in Process Engineering. He held various positions in Process Engineering, Manufacturing, Facilities Engineering, and Economic Evaluation before being named manager of Facilities Engineering in 1983. In 1984, Don became manufacturing manager for Fluids, Resins, and Process Industries. In 1986, he was named manager of Personnel, and later became director of Human Resources.
He became director of Manufacturing Technology in 1989, and was named general manager of the Basic Technology Business in 1991. He became director of Manufacturing and Engineering for the U.S. Area Core Products Group in 1993, and Global Rubber Business Manager in 1995. He assumed his current position in 1997.
Don holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Michigan Tech and a master's degree in business administration from Central Michigan University. He and his wife Pam live in Midland, Michigan and have one child.
From 2003 Induction to the Department of Chemical Engineering Academy


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Fire-retardant law's back draft
EDITORIAL On the Dangers of Fire Retardants
Talk about unintended consequences: A 1975 law that was designed to keep Californians safe from furniture fires is exposing us to potentially dangerous levels of toxic chemicals.
One study by UC Berkeley and Duke researchers released this week adds to the growing body of evidence that toxic or untested fire retardants have become commonplace in American couches - most likely a response to a California law that requires furniture foam to endure an open flame for 12 seconds without catching fire. It's the only such law in the nation, but the size of the state's market - and the cost and complication of altering a product for a single state - effectively make it a national standard.
Another study found significant amounts of potentially hazardous chemicals in 13 of the 16 Northern California homes it tested. The substances identified in the two studies have been linked to cancer, DNA changes, lowered IQ, hormone disruption, decreased fertility and hyperactivity.
Worse yet, even the most diligent consumers might not be able to determine which chemicals are in the furniture they buy, and at what level. That information generally is kept sealed as a trade secret.
These studies should add a sense of urgency to Gov. Jerry Brown's order for a revision of the 37-year-old standard. For years, the California Legislature had wrestled with a bill to outlaw certain fire retardants of concern, but the chemical industry always prevailed, even though some firefighters were among the most vigorous advocates of change. Their concern: The benefits of flame-resistant foam were more than offset by the elevated hazards of toxic smoke from a house fire.
A revision of the 1975 regulation, expected to take effect next year, could not come soon enough. It must include not only new restrictions on toxic chemicals, but clear disclosure for consumers.


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Laws, Regulations & Annotations
Business Taxes Law Guide – Revision 2019
Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law
Article 3. Suit for Refund
Section 8149
8149. When refund claim not acted upon. If the board or the Controller fails to mail notice of action on a claim within six months after the claim is filed, the claimant may, prior to the mailing of notice, consider the claim disallowed and bring an action against the Controller or the board on the grounds set forth in the claim for the recovery of the whole or any part of the amount claimed.
History.—Stats. 1959, p. 2472, in effect September 18, 1959, completely changed the subject matter of this section.
Note.—See note following Section 8147.


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As Canucks fall, Rangers on the rise
Vancouver Canucks head coach John Tortorella talks to Nicklas Jensen after the team gave up a goal to the Anaheim Ducks during his shift, as Daniel Sedin, left, looks on in NHL action in Vancouver on Saturday, March 29.
Photograph by: Darryl Dyck , THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER - It was not wrong to fire Alain Vigneault. It was wrong for anyone to believe that firing him would solve the Vancouver Canucks' problems.
It was simplistic and wrong also to think last June that hiring John Tortorella would restore the Canucks' status as a Stanley Cup contender, that with largely the same lineup that failed Vigneault the last two years in the playoffs, Tortorella would somehow transform the Canucks into a "stiffer," tougher out.
But you'd have to be an April fool to think now that Tortorella is a kind of lone gunman who has sabotaged his own National Hockey League team.
He didn't crouch behind a sixth-floor window sill or hide behind a grassy knoll. Tortorella stood atop a stage and did exactly what he said he would, installing a go-go-go system where everybody chased up and down the ice, top forwards all killed penalties and played more than nearly anyone else in the NHL (and damn the West Coast logistics), and a primary defensive strategy would be to collapse around the net and block shots.
You can blame Tortorella for a system ill-suited to his players, which it is, but not for misleading anyone. He has been honest. To a fault, it turns out. Owner Francesco Aquilini and general manager Mike Gillis hired Tortorella with eyes wide open. How did they think he was going to coach?
Still, the coach is the one who looks like a goner. And when he goes, it will be a little like the Calgary Flames firing Mike Keenan a few years ago and complaining that the coach's team lacked structure. Just like every team Keenan coached lacked structure.
Aquilini and Gillis knew what they had in Vigneault, but punted the most successful coach in franchise history because the team had gone stale and it was easier to fire the coach than freshen and upgrade the roster. The owner and GM also knew what they were getting in Tortorella.
The opposing trajectories of the coaches' teams intersect tonight when Vigneault's New York Rangers play the Canucks.
The Rangers are 22-11-2 in the second half of the season, the Canucks 11-20-4. Only the Buffalo Sabres have done worse than Vancouver since Game 41. The Rangers are going to the playoffs, potentially opening the first round at home. The Canucks will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and post their worst season in 14 years.
With a pile of good, young Ranger players coming of age in the NHL, Vigneault may be at the helm for a new golden era of hockey in Manhattan. Tortorella is probably one and done unless Aquilini is unwilling to write a cheque for the four years and $8 million he still owes his coach – an astounding deal leveraged, ironically, off of the Rangers' recruitment of Vigneault.
Vigneault tried to veer as far as possible around the Canuck wreckage when he met reporters after the Rangers' practice Monday at Rogers Arena. But while talking about his own team, Vigneault's answers could be easily parsed as indirect criticism of what has happened in Vancouver.
"You definitely have to tailor (your coaching) to the team that you have and the personnel that you have," Vigneault said when asked if he runs the Rangers the same way he ran the Canucks. "I don't have the same personnel now. There are things that are similar, but it's a different team.
"This group is different and I'm handling it different. You have to. Every time you change a piece of a team, the dynamics change. You've got to adjust and that's what I'm trying to do there."
Ranger veterans Brad Richards and Henrik Lundqvist praised Vigneault's patience and calmness. Richards, wary of being drawn into comparing Vigneault and Tortorella, conceded the Rangers have the puck a little more this season and this suits players and their skillsets.
Of the Rangers' second-half success, Vigneault said: "As I mentioned to you guys quite a few times over the years, in a regular season, as a team, there's some teams that progress and some teams that sort of fade away. And if you want to get into the playoffs and challenge, you've got to be one of those teams that progresses."
The Canucks didn't fade away. They fell off a cliff. Among the Canucks' key forwards, former ironman Henrik Sedin was injured for the second time this season trying to throw a check nine days ago, Ryan Kesler has become ineffective and Daniel Sedin invisible, and Alex Burrows, injured four times this season, went 35 games without scoring a goal. There has been a systemic collapse in the offence, undermined by the league's 27th-ranked power play.
"It would be unfair for me to comment in any shape or form," Vigneault said of the Canucks. "I'm 3,000 miles away. I have no idea what's going on here.
"All I can say about that (is) when you talk about the core guys who have been together a long time, they are good players. And they are good players that are real professionals and they compete real hard. I don't think that that has changed. They're elite players."
But no Canuck has played that way this season.
Vigneault talked enthusiastically about the development of Ranger players like Ryan McDonagh, 24, Derek Stepan, 23, Derick Brassard, 26, Chris Kreider, 22, and Carl Hagelin, 25.
That's a generation of players the Canucks don't have. When they build one, their coach will be successful. Whoever it is.


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Your first interactions with your baby
During his first year, your baby takes in the world around him at astonishing speed. Long before he can speak, your baby communicates with you in a thousand different ways! Your communication with him is key to the harmonious development of his personality and defines your role in his life as a parent. Find out about these first interactions with us and learn how to understand your baby's behaviour so that you can better understand his needs!
> Communicating with a newborn baby
> Encouraging communication with your baby


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Those chairs nearly killed me.
The annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting wrapped up yesterday. This year we got to visit the very nice city of Raleigh, North Carolina. There were many, many interesting talks and posters which I can't possibly cover in detail here, but I will look forward to the papers that will hopefully eventually come out of this meeting. SVP is the big-time serious palaeo conference for most of us here in North America...and yet, although at times the talks are SO SERIOUS, what I really like about SVP is how much fun everyone is having. And this brings me to the chairs. The chairs at the Raleigh Convention Centre seem to have built-in whoopie cushions. If you sat down too quickly, the result was unavoidable. (Raleigh Convention Centre: please don't change this!) And so, during the transition between each talk as people moved in and out of the session, a low murmur of toots resonated throughout the room. This was pretty funny during the talks, but was almost unbearable during the final banquet and awards ceremony on Saturday night. As we recognized the contributions of various members of the SVP, we would rise to give standing ovations. And as about 1000 people sat down simultaneously, the squeaky chairs were that much more noticeable.
Now, I don't mean to go on and on about the chairs...but the thing was, as the awards ceremony went on, I'm pretty sure the majority of people in the room were making a conscious effort to make the chairs squeak more loudly. SVP, I love you even more for this.
I love that our society gets the conference started with a big party in a museum, this year the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. We got to hang out with Jane and Acrocanthosaurus!
Meatballs! In! Space!
I love that the SVP hosts a giant silent auction to raise funds for various society projects. And I love that so many people donate so generously, and that so many talented people make awesome stuff for the auction.
I love that my colleagues wear ALL THE PINS.
I love that the auction committee dresses up for the live auction. Avengersaurs, assemble!
I love that the conference ends with a giant dance party featuring "Walk the Dinosaur", "I am a Palaeontologist", and "Time Warp". I love that so many of my colleagues are awesome dancers!
There's a lot to love about SVP and palaeontology, but most importantly I love that we don't take ourselves too seriously. We're passionate about our science, we're doing awesome and interesting research, and we're having fun. See you next year in Los Angeles!
(Also required reading: What do vertebrate paleontologists talk about?)
BREAKING UPDATE 22/10/2012: The squeaks have been recorded for posterity!
BREAKING UPDATE 22/10/2012: The squeaks have been recorded for posterity!


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Three Sisters reflect on keeping the faith. The first does so by listening to God in her calling and prayers.
Guest blog by Sister Helen Oates, C.S.J.
Keeping the faith is defined (according to my computer's dictionary) as "not despairing regardless of what may happen."
When I was much younger, I would sometimes picture myself having a face-to-face with the Holy Father, explaining what I felt he really didn't understand about the church in America. And that is where my focus was: the church in America without a thought of the church in Africa, in India, in Japan or South America or any other part of the world. Eventually I realized that like the prophet Job, I didn't have a clue.
As I have become more aware of both our current and formerly suppressed history, my heart aches for those who have suffered from the effects of abuse, exclusion, injustice, or indifference from or in the very institution that Christ himself gave us. I do believe God is in charge of this world, of my life, and yes, of the church. It is sad and overwhelming to realize that there is suffering—large and small—all around us, and yet there is also joy, sacrifice, and love. In reminding myself that I need to keep faith my prayer is that light does indeed triumph over darkness.
I personally keep on "keeping on" because I have heard the words "follow me" and I believe in the One who gives the invitation. I see myself as a woman keeping faith by endeavoring to live in Christ's love in whatever the circumstances of my life, placing my hope in Jesus who is and continues to be, our redeemer and sanctifier, no matter what goes on in our world or our church. I choose to try to continue saying "yes" to life unfolding each day, doing my little bit as I am able.
I am very blessed in that my life is made rich through the support of my religious community and my family. Another blessing, an unexpected one, is my morning church community. Yes, we do each have our "own" spot to sit (as is often typical of "regulars!"). It might be a put off to some but these folks don't miss a beat when it comes to praying for our world, our local area, or personal concerns. Belief in the efficacy of prayer is almost palpable as we join with our God in the person of Christ and are nourished in spirit and body both by God's gifts to us and by the faith of those gathered to pray.
Here is my dream: that in our time, a new St. Catherine of Siena will emerge to speak her piece to the church—and the church will listen! Then I remember that we are the church.
Guest blogger Sister Helen Oates is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province. This is the first in three posts from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
As a supplement of the January 2011 special issue on women, U.S. Catholic is asking guest bloggers, "How do you keep the faith as a woman in the church?" To submit your answer (about 500 words), e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.
Guest blog posts express the views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of U.S. Catholic, its editors, or the Claretians.


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Width alley is one of Chengdu has a long history of business cards, where you can touch history here left traces, but also to appreciate the Chengdu Let's original flavor of the mayonnaise leisure lifestyle, into the alley width, into the The most Chengdu, the world's oldest and most fashionable old Chengdu. Chengdu can be retained under the alley width, it is very rare, historical and cultural section, alley width from wide alley, and alleys of the three-shaft parallel with the old-fashioned street and the courtyard between the group charged component. Planning control area of 479 hectares, of which the core 108 acres of protected areas. The region is the three major historical and cultural city one of the protected areas, in the 1980s included "the protection of historical and cultural city of Chengdu planning." It is an old Chengdu "Millennium small city," 100 years of urban pattern and the pattern of the last really building remains, but also the north alley cultural and architectural style in the South, "Guben." Xuantong Period wide alley in the Qing Dynasty, the name is Xingren alley. It is said that here is embedded in the red flag of the Qing Jun, a wide alley in the Mongolian understand the Manchu people, the alley is the Mongolian, who, on the alley of origin, a statement refers to the Mongols in the grasslands on the Zhaqi Yurts between the channel. And to the Republic of years, against imperialism and feudalism in China a revolutionary atmosphere, called the Qing Dynasty, "Xingren alley" renamed as "wide alley." Now the wide alley is a replay of the elderly living in Chengdu, you in this alley in the Tour, to experience life into the old museum in Chengdu, Chengdu, the customs and feelings almost lost some of the old folk living in Chengdu scene. The courtyard of the goods on you can Gaiwan Cha, eat authentic Sichuan. We aroused a wide alley to the warm memories of the old Chengdu.
To the north and south through the channel, we alleys to a son, in the alleys of the Qing Dynasty on the map name is peaceful alley. Qingbing positioning to the war in the hope that the people of Chengdu, the alley's name also on behalf of people living on a bright hope that the alleys-called peaceful alley, the name of "peace" is naturally hope that the absence of war, the people of Chengdu to the peace and harmony Live. Now the alleys of the Form to food, coffee, clubs, commercial culture, such as the main theme. Here is the internationalization of Form, which is a vision of the world's fashion center, here are the most of life in Chengdu, in the alley, and taste the slow time at the dock. Alleys son, Chengdu is the old "slow life."
Mine-adjacent alleys of the South, when the city-called wishful alley, because of roadway north Matilda Square, also known as Matilda alley. Roadway after the Revolution of 1911 instead of, and used so far. On the shaft of the name, there is also the origin, as the name suggests this alley in the wells because of the name, which is well in » That's when I come to tell you. Chengdu is the main shaft of the new life of the regional bar district, where the Chengdu night most popular places are Huadengchushang the Chengdu Fenghua, is the Hibiscus Xiaoyeruhua women, Roadway son of the old Chengdu is the "new life."
Chengdu is an old alley width of life, "the real life experience museum" width alley is the core concept of "width alley, the most Chengdu," it will become a "living specimen Chengdu", the traditional life of Chengdu in width are concentrated in the alley。


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Although director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) is currently prepping to shoot The World's End, he's apparently found enough time to put together a test reel for an Ant-Man feature. The Marvel superhero is a scientist by the name of Hank Pym who can change his size at will, from the miniscule to the gigantic. He also possesses a helmet that lets him communicate with ants. Wright was originally attached to the project when Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk went into production, although Ant-Man was sidelined to make way for the origin movies of the heroes that would go on to star in The Avengers. Ironically, Ant-Man was a founding member of the superheroic assembly; perhaps, if Wright's test reel goes well, we'll see an Ant-Man feature and a follow-up appearance in The Avengers 2. Hit the jump for more.
Heat Vision reports that Wright and Ant-Man co-writer Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) quietly wrapped on the Ant-Man test reel recently. Read up on Wright's comments about the project here. The test reel isn't uncommon for movies that have a risky premise or have a stylized appearance; 300 and Battle: LA are prime examples. Wright had spent a little less than a week shooting in mid-June to get the tone of the film down and see how Pym's powers played out on camera. We'll have to wait and see how the studio reacts to what they're shown. In the meantime, Wright will start shooting The World's End this September with fellow "blood and ice cream trilogy" stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.


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Giant Nintendo Costume Photo 2 of 10
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This homemade costume for groups entered our 2013 Halloween Costume Contest.
A word from Philippe, the 'Giant Nintendo' costume creator:
Like every year , we decided to challenge ourselves for Halloween creating a costumes that is interactive , visually striking and allows us to let go of our imagination! With this in mind, we decided to... Read more »


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Shares of xG Technology Inc. began trading publicly Friday as part of a $7.3 million stock offering by the wireless communications developer.
The company's initial public offering of 1,337,972 shares of common stock was priced at $5.50 per share.
The IPO also included warrants to purchase up to 668,896 shares of the common stock, at 1 cent each, with an exercise price of $6.87.
The company, with executive offices in Sarasota and a technical crew in Sunrise, said it will use the proceeds of the IPO for general corporate purposes, including working capital and product development and fulfillment.
The stock and warrants are trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbols XGTI and XGTIW.
More than 478,000 shares changed hands on xG's opening day of trading. Shares opened at $5.75 and were selling for $5.65 at the close of trading.
The company also shuffled its board of directors. Rick Mooers, who helped start the company, stepped down as executive chairman but will remain a director in a non-executive capacity. George Schmitt was named executive chairman.
Larry Townes, Ken Hoffman, Gary Cuccio and Ray Sidney were appointed new non-executive independent directors.
Mats Wennberg, Roger Branton, James Woodyatt and Palmi Sigmarsson have resigned from the board.
XG is a leading developer of innovative communications technologies for wireless networks whose patented intellectual property portfolio covers a range of applications.
It is working to commercialize some of those technologies to create xMax, which the company hopes will become the world's first carrier-class, cognitive, or "smart," radio network.
The company lost $13.7 million in 2012 and has an accumulated deficit of $124.1 million, it reported in an April registration for the IPO.
"The company began its research and development activities in 2002, and has had significant net losses and will likely continue to incur net losses until we can successfully commercialize our products and technology," according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"The company expects to continue to have development costs as it develops the next generation of products. We intend to invest significantly in our business before we expect cash flows from operations will be adequate to cover our anticipated expenses," the company added.
xG Technology goes public with stock offering
Shares of xG Technology Inc. began trading publicly Friday as part of a $7.3 million stock offering by the wireless communications developer.


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Caboose Conf
Location: Pavilion 4 Level:
CabooseConf is the free, hacker-focused part of RailsConf. Skilled Rails coders from all over the world will meet in one room to network, hack and work on their rails projects. In the grand tradition of the unconference, there are very few planned talks (we'll have an open roster where anyone can sign up for a slot) and it will be completely free. More Information


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Just before Christmas I wrote about the 21-year-old volunteer effort called The Caroling Project. For more than two decades Symphony musicians have volunteered their time and talent to play for children in hospitals and jails at Christmas time.
Here is a photo of the group of professional musicians and students who performed at the Juvenile Detention Center.
The second photo is an action shot of a smaller group playing in the ICU at the Methodist Children's Hospital.
Texas Public Radio's John Clare has taken some fascinating videos of the musicians in action. Visit http://bit.ly/6rnCcZ to see four videos.
John has also written about the latest news from the Bexar County Performing Arts Center project at http://bit.ly/7SnxoZ.
Jack Fishman
Email: email@example.com
Web: www.sasymphony.org
Twitter @SASym
Facebook: San Antonio Symphony
For more blogs by Jack Fishman visit: www.sasymphony.org/blog


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Thanks to our friends at Legacy Family Tree, last night's BLOGGING FOR BEGINNERS webinar is now available in the archives at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp.
Geoff will be sending me the balance of the questions posed by attendees so that Ol' Myrt here can incorporate those into an upcoming blog entry. As it was, the Q&A portion of the webinar extended the presentation to about 90 minutes.
Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
Your friend in genealogy.