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Friday, May 18, 2012
NetSuite Manufacturing: Right Direction, Long Road Ahead
Bottom Line: NetSuite is making the right decision and good progress to build out manufacturing functionality as part of its core system, but there is still much work to be done to achieve functional parity with other cloud and on-premises solutions in the marketplace. Nevertheless, the rapid development capabilities of NetSuite's platform offer hope that it will get there quickly.
From Partner Solutions to a Core OfferingUntil recently, NetSuite's approach to serving manufacturers was to provide what it called "light manufacturing," coupled with customer-specific customizations, supplemented by partner solutions such as Rootstock when heavier manufacturing functionality was required. But this approach could only take NetSuite only so far.
As a result of this realization, NetSuite in 2011 began work in earnest to build out its manufacturing functionality. In a briefing during NetSuite's conference I met the key players hired for this mission. They include:
- Support for manufacturers is essential in light of NetSuite's product strategy. As explained by Zach Nelson in a small group briefing, the customer order is central entity in NetSuite, and NetSuite wants to "own" anything that is input into, or output from, the customer order. In the manufacturing sector, this would include production work orders. It makes no sense, therefore, for NetSuite to hand off these business processes to partners.
- At the same time, the manufacturing sector represents a large potential market for NetSuite. There are more manufacturing companies—especially small manufacturers—in the US than in any other sector. Inadequately serving such a large potential market made no sense as NetSuite looked to accelerate its growth.
- However, some basic features for manufacturers have been missing. For example, standard costing were not addressed in the core product, and few prospects would be willing to customize their implementations for such a fundamental need.
I'm pointing out the experience of these individuals to show that NetSuite's push into manufacturing is more than a marketing campaign. It has put together a serious team of individuals to lead the product development effort for this vertical.
- Roman Bukary, Head of Manufacturing and Distribution Industries. Roman previously worked for SAP, Baan, and other software companies. Earlier in his career, he was a manufacturing engineer.
- Ranga Bodla, Director, Industry Marketing. Ranga held product management positions at SAP and Pilot Software.
- Thad Johnson, Sr. Product Manager for Wholesale Distribution and Manufacturing Verticals. Earlier in his career, Thad was a product manager at QAD and also held several materials management positions in industry.
- Frank Vettese, Practice Manager. Frank has manufacturing software experience with IFS and Effective Management Systems.
- Gavin Davidson, Vertical Market Expert, Manufacturing. Gavin's experience includes implementation work with manufacturing systems from Baan, Epicor, Microsoft Dynamics, and Visual.
An Expanding FootprintIn terms of manufacturing methods, NetSuite is primarily targeting discrete manufacturers although it intends to provide some support for process manufacturing down the road. An ideal prospect would be a discrete manufacturer that does a mix of in-house and contract production.
Let's take a look at some of the manufacturing functionality that NetSuite has recently added or will be adding. From these few points we can get a sense for where NetSuite is in its current and near-term ability to better support manufacturing customers.
I believe that NetSuite means business in pursuing the manufacturing sector. However, as can be seen, many of these capabilities (e.g. routings, cycle counting, labor reporting) are very basic manufacturing requirements, things that have been present in systems such as ManMan, AMAPS, BPCS, and others back into the 1980s. Furthermore, some of the planned capabilities will lack key things that a manufacturing prospect would expect. For example, the team characterized NetSuite's material planning system as a "lean manufacturing system," which to me is a polite way of saying, "minimal."
- Standard costing. As mentioned above, the lack of this capability in the past was a showstopper for many manufacturing prospects. But NetSuite reports that it added this capability in 2011, along with standard cost rollups.
- Bills of material. NetSuite has had BOM capabilities for some time, and it will soon support revision levels on BOMs along with effectivity dates. Users can also set a default scrap percentage on BOM components. Support for alternate BOMs is not in the roadmap.
- Routings. NetSuite added production routings to the standard system in 2011. These, of course, are used to create production work orders. Alternate routings will not be provided. .
- Cycle counting. Standard NetSuite code will now support cycle counting of inventory by ABC code.
- Material Requirements Planning (MRP). NetSuite now does a BOM explosion, but it does not generate reschedule messages for purchase orders or production work orders. Neither does it support all types of lot-sizing methods.
- Unit of measure conversions for purchasing, receiving, and inventory management have been part of the standard system for some time.
- Multi-facility planning. It appears that NetSuite will allow customers to maintain separate material plans for multiple facilities while still providing a global view of inventory. If so, this would go beyond what is typically offered in most Tier III on-premises manufacturing systems.
- Labor reporting. The team demonstrated a basic clock-in, clock out process using a tablet computer that can be used to report production completions and labor from the shop floor. This capability is currently in proof-of-concept.
- Capacity Planning will be supported, based on the NetSuite's "demand plan," but it does not appear that it will highlight capacity constraints as it will not track available work center capacity.
- Inventory Allocations and Available-to-Promise (ATP). This basic capability—to allocate available inventory and scheduled receipts against customer orders, and to provide visibility into projected inventory availability—is also scheduled as part of standard NetSuite functionality. (Kudos to NetSuite CTO Evan Goldberg for providing a layman's explanation of ATP during his keynote.)
- Lot and serial number traceability. The team claims capabilities in tracing lot numbers and serial numbers from receipt through production into finished goods. I did not have a chance to verify this functionality, but if present, it would be of interest for a number of manufacturing sub-sectors such as high tech electronics and medical devices.
Contrast this with NetSuite's current capabilities and roadmap for eCommerce (SuiteCommerce) or support for back-office processes of software vendors, which go far beyond what most other ERP providers offer.
Now, it may be that the major opportunities for NetSuite will not be in the hard-core job shops or industrial manufacturing companies. Inasmuch as many manufacturing companies in the United States and elsewhere in the world are outsourcing much of their heavy production processes, it might be that the feature set in NetSuite's roadmap will be enough to satisfy the majority of its target manufacturing market.
The Time and Place for CustomizationOne thing that I do not think will satisfy such prospects, however, is the use of customization to fill basic functionality gaps. NetSuite promotes its ability to augment its standard processing with customer-developed or partner-developed customizations, without modifying standard NetSuite code. During his keynote, Evan Goldberg gave an impressive demonstration of the latest version of NetSuite's development platform, SuiteCloud. I continue to be impressed with the ease-of-use that providers such as NetSuite and Salesforce.com are delivering with their Platform-as-a-Service offerings.
However, the ability to customize and extend the solution should not be taken as an excuse for not offering expected features/functions in the standard product. When prospects need full-blown work center capacity planning, for example, the last thing they want to hear is, "Oh, we can use SuiteCloud to build whatever you need." For customer-unique requirements, SuiteCloud is a powerful attraction. For what should be standard functionality, no.
Rapid Progress PossibleI'm encouraged by NetSuite's renewed interest in serving the needs of the manufacturing sector. However the feature set currently in the roadmap does not go as far as I would like to see in building comprehensive functionality for manufacturers. Nevertheless, I believe NetSuite will see success with its product strategy for two reasons. First, as mentioned earlier, it may be that a comprehensive footprint is really not needed to serve the majority of prospects. Second, NetSuite's cloud platform—like other PaaS systems—offers a rapid development environment. NetSuite will certainly make more rapid progress in filling out its feature set than it would if it were a traditional on-premises vendor.
Compared to the services industries, the number of cloud ERP providers for manufacturers has been limited. But with NetSuite's renewed focus, the list is now getting a little longer.
Disclosure: NetSuite paid for my travel expenses for its user conference in San Francisco
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Labels: cloud, ERP, manufacturing, NetSuite, Rootstock, Salesforce.comby Frank Scavo, 5/18/2012 03:47:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Simplicity and Agility of Zero-Upgrades in Cloud ERP
The Goal: Zero UpgradesOriginally founded in 1995, Plex went through a complete product overhaul in 2001, when it completely rewrote its ERP system as a cloud offering. At the time, NetSuite was the only other product that came close to cloud ERP and even then, NetSuite was largely a financials-only service.
Interestingly, in my interview this week with CEO Mark Symonds, becoming a "cloud ERP" provider was not their primary goal, but rather a means to an end. Passing through the client-server era, Plex grew tired of the difficulty in getting customers upgraded to new versions and rolling out patches and fixes to its installed base. The move to an online system (Plex Online)—the term "cloud computing" had not yet been coined—was the means by which Plex would to solve this problem. Customers would not have their own installations of the system. Rather they would access one central instance of Plex, which would be developed and maintained directly by Plex. Customers would never have to upgrade.
Implications of Zero UpgradesActually, I've known about the Plex approach for some time. But the implications of this strategy became more apparent as I sat through the keynote and some of the individual workshops.
Ultimately, the zero upgrades strategy enables business agility for customers. This point was stressed to me in an interview I did with Plex customer Ben Stewart of Inteva. His company has a growth-by-acquisition strategy and needs to be able to bring new plants and new locations on-board quickly. Plex's zero upgrade approach and rapid response to his change requests (e.g. enable a new EDI partner) supports this strategy of agility to accommodate rapid change. Other customers report Plex implementations of new plants in timeframes of weeks, not months.
- You Like It? You've Already Got It. A good part of the opening keynote included the announcement and live demo of a new embedded report writer, called IntelliPlex. Now I wouldn't say that the demo blew me away. It's good. It has an easy drag-and-drop method to allow users to create their own reports, generate charts and graphs, calculate new columns based on formulas, produce pivot tables and cross-tabs—all good stuff. Is it as powerful as the embedded BI capabilities that other vendors have demonstrated recently? In some cases, no.
But here's the catch. Every Plex customer watching that demo knew that they could immediately log on to their Plex system and have access to that report writer. They don't need to order it, pay separately for it, install it, or be on a certain version of Plex to use it. Perhaps that's the reason I didn't see a single person walk out early from that keynote.
- Functionality is Front and Center. I attend a lot of vendor conferences. Many of the sessions are taken up with subjects such as "Planning for Version X," "What's New in Release 7.2.345b," "Prerequisites for Migrating Product X to Version Y of Database Z." The Plex conference has none of these tactical, infrastructure-type subjects. All attention is on what the software does, not what you need to do to get it to do those things.
For example, I sat in on part of a presentation on work center production scheduling—not a subject that I would consider a major draw. In much larger vendor conferences, I might see 20 or 30 people in this sort of presentation. But, as shown in the photo nearby, there were about 150 (out of 800 total) conference attendees in this session. Because Plex users do not have upgrades to deal with and plan for, they can devote all of their time to learning how to use the functionality that they already have access to. There appeared to me to be a much greater percentage of line-of-business users than I see in many vendor events.
- User-driven Enhancements. Plex's approach frees it from having to spend time managing multiple versions of its product, creating sandboxes, and phasing in customers from one version to the next. This gives its developers more time to work on product enhancements, which are largely driven by customer-funded requests. Although one customer may fund a change, all customers have the option to "flip the switch" and use it if they so choose, without having to schedule a version upgrade. All new functionality is delivered with the switch set "off," so that individual customers can choose what and when to implement it.
Are There Downsides?I have discussed the zero upgrades approach with other cloud ERP vendors, and many of them disagree. They maintain that ERP is different from CRM or other non-critical applications, that cloud customers want control over their environments, that they want to choose when to upgrade and to be able to regression-test their business processes against new versions. In some cases, I think this is simply a legacy of the on-premises world: we've always released new functionality as version upgrades. In other cases, I believe that this position is taken for the vendor's convenience, especially when their cloud ERP systems are using the same code base as their on-premises systems. Because the on-premises customers have to have version upgrades, the cloud ERP customers of the same system must also have version upgrades. Otherwise, the two classes of customers do not have the same code base.
This does not mean I am against the hybrid model—allowing a customer to run the same system on-premises and in the cloud, or to go from one deployment model to another. I have written that there are some advantages to the hybrid model. But forcing customers to do version upgrades is not one of them.
There is one scenario, however, where version upgrades are desirable, and that is in a regulated environment, an area I have some experience in. For example, current US FDA regulations require pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to demonstrate that they have control over software configurations that are used to support regulated processes. This does not necessarily rule out use of cloud computing, but it does make it difficult to claim that the user has control over the system if the vendor is changing it on a daily basis. In such cases, it is easier to defend the use of a cloud ERP version that is frozen in its configuration, where the customer can choose when to upgrade and can run testing to confirm acceptance of the new version prior to upgrade. In non-regulated environments, however, I believe that the Plex practice of delivering new functionality "with the switch turned off" is better, as it promotes agility.
Some may argue that the Plex approach may lead to bugs being introduced into the production system on a daily basis. For example, Plex may implement a new feature in one part of the system and it may affect processing in another part of the system—even though a customer may not flip the switch for the new functionality. One long-standing Plex customer indicated that this does happen from time to time, but still he is strongly in favor of the zero-upgrades approach. I would add, I have seen many cases where traditional on-premises vendors ship code that notoriously bug-ridden, where they are shipping "patch releases" for months, even years, later. At least with the Plex approach, when bugs are discovered, they can be fixed in a few hours.
One final issue has to do with the practice of letting customers drive new enhancements. This approach may have worked well when Plex was small, but I question its wisdom as Plex scales. If uncontrolled, this can lead to many one-off enhancements being introduced into the core system, which only pertain to a single customer.
Fortunately, I heard two things during the conference that mitigate this problem. One is that Plex is establishing a formal product management function to review and clear all customer change requests and to evaluate which ones have merit for multiple customers. Second, Plex has introduced a web services platform capability called VisionPlex, which allows customers and partners to develop their own enhancements to interoperate with Plex, but outside of the core systems. This capability is just being rolled out in several pilot projects, but if successful it will go a long way toward keeping one-off enhancements out of the core system. It also has the benefit of enabling an ecosystem of Plex partners to build on Plex as a platform—something that has been lacking to date in Plex's strategy.
Plex is not a large cloud ERP vendor, having only about 750 customers. It is narrowly focused on a few manufacturing industries, such as automotive, industrial products, plastics, electronics, and a few others. However, it is showing strong and steady growth—30% revenue growth in 2011 and expecting 20% growth in 2012. Furthermore, it is an existence proof for the principle that a zero-upgrades product strategy has major benefits for both customers and the vendor.
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Labels: cloud, ERP, NetSuite, Plexby Frank Scavo, 5/16/2012 01:09:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Saturday, May 12, 2012
Making Sense of the New Epicor
Three Elements of StrategyAlthough Epicor made many announcements, in this blog post I prefer to focus on three elements of Epicor's strategy, along with my point of view.
Epicor executives were upbeat in presenting these and other elements of the new Epicor. But how differentiated is Epicor's strategy, and what does it mean for Epicor customers? Here's my take.
- Blending of Two Cultures. CEO Pervez Qureshi and other presenters made a point of emphasizing the new Epicor as a blending of the best of "heritage Epicor" and "heritage Activant." (In the enterprise IT world, the word heritage is preferred to legacy.) Qureshi characterized heritage Epicor as having been a global company, technology-oriented, entrepreneurial, and top-line focused. Heritage Activant, he said, was oriented more toward service, process excellence, and profitability. The new Epicor blends the best of these two cultures, he claimed.
- Protect, Extend, Converge. The second element is Epicor's strategy and vision to protect, extend, and converge the product portfolio. "Protect" means to continue investment in the current products in its portfolio. "Extend" means to introduce new applications and infrastructure capabilities that deliver additional value across current products. Finally, "converge" implies a gradual evolution of current products with new technologies.
- Azure as the Cloud Platform. The third element is Epicor's evolving cloud strategy. Prior to the conference, Epicor's cloud strategy was limited to a small business cloud version of its Epicor ERP product ("Epicor Express") along with some hosted solutions for functions such as HCM and retail merchandising. However, the strategic direction announced at Insights went much further. Wading through the dense language of the press release, I see the Azure announcement as having three sub-parts: (a) Epicor will allow its Epicor ERP product to be deployed on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, planned for Q3, 2013, (b) Epicor will also use Azure to provide interoperability between on-premises Epicor systems and Epicor point solutions deployed on Azure. (c) A new version of Epicor's SOA middleware ("ICE") will also be deployed on Azure to provide a PaaS offering, facilitate mobility apps, and satisfy other integration needs between Epicor and third-party products.
The Azure Strategy is a WinnerTaking these three elements in reverse sequence: although I do not see the Azure strategy as unique, I do see it as attractive. In fact, it is more attractive because it is not unique. Epicor is at least the fourth major enterprise software vendor in the past three months that has announced plans to deploy ERP in the Azure cloud. The first, of course, is Microsoft Dynamics, which in March announced its plans to deploy Dynamics GP and Dynamics NAV on Azure by the end of 2012.Then, earlier this month, Sage announced similar plans. And now, Epicor.
I have no doubt that others will follow, making Microsoft Azure a first choice for delivery of cloud-based enterprise applications. I have long felt that, just as on-premises database management systems have been standardized on just a few popular products, so also cloud platforms should be standardized. By way of analogy, very few on-premises vendors today write their own DBMSs, with Oracle being the exception that makes the rule. Why then should SaaS providers build their own cloud infrastructure? Salesforce.com did it. NetSuite did it. Workday did it. But how many more can or should roll their own IaaS and PaaS platforms? There is a tremendous amount of cost and effort involved in doing so, not to mention the economies of scale that can only be realized by having thousands of customers. Epicor, Sage, and others are making the right choice by building on an established public cloud infrastructure provider.
Why didn't this happen earlier? Essentially, because Azure (specifically, SQL Azure database capabilities) has not been robust enough to support ERP-class applications. But in speaking with Microsoft earlier this year, it appears that these limitations are now being overcome, which explains why Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, and Epicor are all moving to Azure at about the same time.
There is one more advantage to the Azure strategy. The current Epicor Express offering is limited to customers with under 20 users. I do not believe Epicor's current infrastructure architecture allows customers to scale beyond that point in a multi-tenant environment. Moving to Azure frees Epicor from that limitation, allowing it to sell cloud ERP to larger customers, though I suspect in practice it will still be most attractive to small and midsize businesses.
Finally, moving to Azure immediately allows Epicor to offer cloud ERP in a number of geographies where it does not have partner data centers. Epicor ERP has good international capabilities. Now customers in international locations will also be able to choose cloud deployment in their own geographies to meet regulatory or performance requirements.
Strategy of "Protect, Extend, Converge" Is a No-BrainerThe protect/extend/converge message has two things going for it: it's easy to remember and and it's customer-friendly. It also happens to be the only product strategy that makes any sense for a vendor such as Epicor. Epicor's growth strategy, like Infor's and Oracle's, has been to acquire or roll up a number of smaller vendors to build a large customer base with a diverse portfolio of products. The benefits of such a strategy is clear: growth. The downside of such a strategy is the diverse portfolio. But with a certain level of attention paid to customer support, the large number of existing customers will continue to pay maintenance revenues (the mother's milk of enterprise software) and will also be candidates for cross-selling other Epicor products.
It is interesting, therefore, to compare Epicor to Oracle and Infor and to see the similarities. All three have large customer bases. All three have diverse portfolios. All three have some sort of middleware offering to connect all the solutions: Oracle has Fusion middleware, Infor has ION, and Epicor has ICE. All three have customer programs to "protect" existing customer investments: Oracle has its "Applications Unlimited" program, Infor made its promise to "never sunset" a product, and Epicor has its strategy of "protect." Likewise, all have their strategies to "extend," such as Oracle with its continued point releases of J.D. Edwards, PeopleSoft, Siebel and others; and Infor, with its continued investments in its portfolio. Finally, all have some sort of convergence strategy, such as Oracle with its Fusion Applications, Infor with its development of ION, common user interface, and other common functions.
In other words, Epicor's strategy is the only rational way to deal with a large and diverse installed base built through acquisition. Qureshi's plan to continue aggressively with new acquisitions means that successfully protecting, extending, and converging its product portfolio will become even more important.
The Culture Message Has a SubtextI found Qureshi's keynote regarding the blending of the Activant and Epicor cultures to be interesting, if not unusual for a customer conference. It would be the sort of thing one would expect to be presented internally, in an "all hands" meeting, for employee consumption. Delivering this message to customers, however, also sends an implicit message: heritage Epicor needed improvement in product quality and customer service.
Perhaps this subtext is so well understood by the majority of Epicor customers that there was little risk in sending this message. Still, if Activant's strength--in contrast with Epicor's--was (among other things) process excellence and customer service, what does that say about heritage Epicor?
It didn't end with the keynote. Later in the day, there was a session on the product roadmap for Epicor ERP. The presenters were proud of reports from early adopters of the most recent point release (ERP 9.05.700). But in touting the quality of the release, they were, in effect, reminding Epicor customers of their past experiences. One customer quote was damning with faint praise, referring to the new version as:
A more solid product than we've seen before.
If my wife makes me a nice dinner, the last thing I would tell her is, "This is a more delicious dinner than you've made me in the past."
But, if Epicor customers are all-too-familiar with product quality and service delivery problems in the past, perhaps Qureshi's approach is best: to tacitly acknowledge the problem. Key executives in the new Epicor come from Activant, starting with Pervez Quereshi (CEO), Kevin Roach (EVP and GM, ERP Americas), and Paul Salsigiver (EVP and GM, Retail), sending the message that Activant's focus on software quality and service delivery processes will prevail in the new Epicor.
My question, however, is this: are customers seeing an actual improvement in Epicor's product quality and customer service? Or, is it too early to tell?
I invite Epicor customers and partners to send me an email, or leave a comment on this post. As always, confidentiality is assured.
Related PostsMicrosoft Dynamics ERP on Azure: What Are the Benefits?
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Labels: Azure, cloud, Epicor, ERP, Infor, Microsoftby Frank Scavo, 5/12/2012 08:00:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Thursday, May 03, 2012
Infor's Two-Pronged Cloud Strategy
I had the opportunity to get an update on Infor's cloud computing program last week, at Infor's annual user conference, Inforum. The bottom line: I see Infor's cloud strategy as having two prongs, and it is beginning to bear fruit.
I gave a brief overview of my thoughts on Infor's cloud strategy in my video interview with Dennis Howlett. In this blog post, I expand on those initial thoughts.
Infor Representative of Traditional Enterprise Software ProvidersInfor is generally known as a vendor that has accumulated a huge portfolio of enterprise software, by acquiring a number of players over the past decade. As a result, it claims an installed base of over 70,000 customers, making it the third largest enterprise applications provider by revenue, following SAP and Oracle. As such, it epitomizes the dilemma that such enterprise software providers face:
Infor, as typical for most established enterprise software providers, needed an answer to both of these competitive challenges. In response, Infor has a two-pronged strategy, as I see it.
- They are competing against cloud-only ERP providers, such as NetSuite, Plex, Intaact, FinancialForce, Rootstock, Kenandy, and others, who offer simple one-stop subscription-based cloud ERP. Infor is increasingly seeing these providers in net-new deals for core ERP systems, especially in the SMB market.
- They are also battling against a host of cloud-based point-solution providers, who are creeping into Infor's installed base offering everything from CRM to expense management to talent management. Infor has a number of good on-premises point solutions, but customers are increasingly finding cloud-based point solutions more attractive in terms of ease-of-implementation, flexibility, and time to value.
The largest of these cloud providers, of course, is Salesforce.com, which a number of Infor customers have already chosen for CRM. Interestingly, Infor does not have its own best of breed CRM system—even on-premises. It does have its Epiphany CRM system, but that is more of a marketing automation solution, not a sales force automation system, which is what most prospects are looking for.
First Prong: Infor Business CloudThe first prong of Infor's strategy is to offer customers its own cloud solutions, both for full ERP and for point solutions. This program, first launched as Infor24 in 2006, is now branded as the Infor Business Cloud. The products offered therein are not merely hosted offerings—some of them were originally built as cloud offerings, while others are originally on-premises offerings that have been re-architected, allowing them to be deployed as multi-tenant cloud services.
In other words, Infor is not merely hosting its on-premises offerings and relabeling them as "cloud" (so-called "cloud washing). In my interview with Jim Ploude, who is responsible for Infor's cloud business, he made it clear: the cost for Infor to deliver multi-tenant cloud services is orders of magnitude lower than it is for single tenant hosted services. There are also great advantages in terms of economies of scale, administrative overhead, risk reduction, and flexibility.
For Infor customers that insist on traditional single-tenant hosted services, Infor or one of its partners can provide that. But those services are separate from Infor's Business Cloud, which offers the full benefits of cloud computing, and are more cost-effective.
As I point out in the accompanying video, most of Infor's large customer base cannot move their entire applications portfolio to the cloud. They have already invested in on-premises systems. But they are increasingly interested in cloud solutions that interoperate with their on-premises investments. Infor, therefore, must provide hybrid offerings. Hybrid cloud offerings are not a compromise—they are necessary to meet customers where they are. This first prong of Infor's strategy, therefore, represents a pragmatic approach that can work for the majority of Infor's customers.
- In terms of ERP, the Infor Business Cloud currently offers only its Syteline product as a cloud service. But other products—which Jim was reluctant to name—are also in the pipeline for re-architecture as cloud offerings. These will give new customers additional choices for cloud ERP.
- In terms of point solutions, Infor has a broader selection of cloud services, including Infor's Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) product (originally the Datastream acquisition), expense management, property management, workforce management, and hospitality management. Jim himself came onboard with Infor as part of the Datastream acquisition and already had extensive experience in deploying that product as a cloud service.
Infor's Business Cloud is more than a statement of direction—it already boasts 1,200 customers and somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.4 million named users consuming its services. Although Jim would not give specifics, I have reason to believe that the majority of these customers are for the point solutions, with cloud ERP (Syteline) representing a small, but growing, number. This is not surprising, as ERP is really the last bastion for enterprise cloud computing.
Cloud Services to Facilitate Version UpgradesThere is one more angle to Infor's business cloud that Jim was not able to discuss at length, because Infor still has announcements pending in this area. This is in regard to the use of cloud infrastructure, such as Amazon Web Services, to facilitate customer upgrades to new versions of Infor products.
When customers are considering to upgrade an existing on-premises system, much of the preliminary planning work—such as exploring features of the new version, conference room piloting, and analyzing differences between the customer's version (which may include source code modifications or extensions)—requires a second working instance of the application. Those activities are a natural use-case for cloud infrastructure. For vendors such as Infor, who have a large installed base of customers—a significant percentage of whom are trapped in older, highly modified versions—cloud infrastructure represents an opportunity to more quickly move those customers to new versions, where they can benefit from the new products that Infor is developing.
At Inforum, Infor was not ready to announce plans for leveraging cloud infrastructure to support customer upgrades. But there is a real need in this area, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about how Infor plans to move in this direction.
Second Prong: Partnering with Salesforce.comThe second prong of Infor's cloud strategy is its partnership with Salesforce.com, branded "Inforce." As Salesforce already has made inroads into Infor's installed base, and as Infor does not have its own best-of-breed salesforce automation system, a partnership between the two players makes a lot more sense than Infor attempting to build or buy its own cloud CRM offering.
I discussed the first deliverable of this partnership, Inforce Everywhere, in my blog post, Infor and Salesforce.com: More Than a Barney Relationship, and I was happy to see one Infor executive "borrow" this phrase in an analyst briefing.
Inforce Everywhere is an application, built natively on the Force.com platform and using Infor's lightweight ION middleware, that allows a Salesforce.com users to see Infor ERP data in Salesforce.com screens. Conversely, it gives Infor ERP users access to Salesforce.com data. As a result, users can have a 360 degree view of customer information encompassing both CRM and ERP data.
For most ERP customers buying Salesforce.com, system integrators build such integration on a one-off basis. What Inforce Everywhere does is to provide such integration as a standard product. During Inforum I had an opportunity interview Julia Klein, CEO of CH Briggs, one of the first early adopters of Inforce Everywhere, and she gave a powerful testimony of how important this integration is to her company. She said that if Infor didn't build this integration, she would have to hire someone to do it for her company.
Success Hopeful but Not GuaranteedInfor's two-pronged cloud strategy is coherent, but as with any strategy there are obstacles. On the first prong, the Infor Business Cloud, I see difficulties moving a sales force accustomed to selling software licenses with large up-front payments to selling cloud subscription services. I did receive some indication that Infor is aware of this problem and is taking steps to mitigate the sales disincentive to sell cloud services.
The second prong, the relationship with Salesforce.com, also has the same challenge related to the sales model, which it hopefully will address. In addition, the pricing I have seen so far for Inforce Everywhere appears a bit rich, especially when combined with Infor's own ERP pricing and Salesforce.com subscription fees. Of course, nothing stops Infor or Salesforce.com from negotiating more aggressive discounts, but wasn't cloud computing supposed to simplify the rug-merchant nature of enterprise software sales? My concern is that if the pricing is too rich, many good prospects may find it more attractive to just do a minimal amount of one-off integration between the two products, just like they've done in the past.
In spite of these challenges, I think Infor has a good chance of success. If so, it will be a good sign for other traditional vendors working on making the transition to the cloud.
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Infor and Salesforce.com: More Than a Barney Relationship
Labels: cloud, ERP, Infor, Salesforce.com, SFDCby Frank Scavo, 5/03/2012 02:04:00 PM | permalink | e-mail this!
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Acappella Group Pentatonix Perform 'The Little Drummer Boy' [VIDEO]
First of all let me preface this with, I am a Pitch Perfect fan. It has become one of those movies that I will find myself watching all the time. Take for instance last night, I had just put E. to bed and was flipping through the channels and Pitch Perfect was on one of my premium channels and I watched it. A few minutes in I hear E. yell from his room, "momma are you watching Pitch Perfect again." That should tell me something. OK I digress my friend T. (I have a habit of calling people by letters) posted this amazing video onto her Facebook page this morning. My jaw dropped so I wanted to share it with you.
The band is called Pentatonix, they were the season 3 winner of NBC's The Sing Off. Here's their version of "The Little Drummer Boy"

subset: commoncrawl


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Now that Corsair HX620W and HX520W power supplies have been released for nearly a year, it's time to release some new models. Why bother with a 450W model when the 520W and 620W models are doing so well? Price, of course! The new Corsair VX family of power supplies incorporate a single +12V power rail that is designed to deliver continuous power under heavy loads while keeping things simple inside the unit. By reducing the specifications on the VX450W, the power supply is significantly less expensive than the HX620W power supply. Corsair informed LR that the MSRP is $85 and street price is going to be around $69~$79, which is a bargain seeing how the MSRP on the HX520W was $119 and the HX620W was $169.
The Corsair VX family of power supplies was launched with home theater PCs and ENERGY STAR PCs in mind. Corsair claims that the V450W power supply has 80% efficiency when at 20%, 50% and 100% load, but has not had the power supply 80 plus certified as of yet. The VX line maximizes energy savings and keeps the noise level down thanks to double-forward switching circuitry design. Each Corsair VX power supply is backed with an industry-leading 5-year warranty. Speaking of features, lets take a look at the full list.
The presentation of the retail package was superb and the inside was found to be just as cleanly laid out.
The Corsair VX450W comes with the the power supply, user's manual, power cord, screws, zip ties, case badge, and power supply bag. The zip ties come in handy when routing all the power cables in your case and will give you the nice clean look that you are craving if you spend the time to do it right.
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Yes. For example, sequencing of tumors and genotyping and/or sequencing of germline DNA is allowed, but genotyping and/or sequencing of the microbiome is not allowed.
Yes, RFA-HG-12-007 will support one application for the Genomic Medicine Pilot Demonstration Projects Coordinating Center (U01). The Coordinating Center will serve as a centralized resource to facilitate and support a consortium of collaborative investigators funded through RFA-HG-12-006 (Genomic Medicine Pilot Demonstration Projects).
The RFA is open to everyone. The groups that formed within the Genomic Medicine Workshop and the external working groups are also eligible to apply.
The Genomic Medicine Pilot Demonstration Projects (U01 (RFA-HG-12-006) are primarily intended to expand and link existing genomic medicine efforts in diverse settings and populations, contribute to the evidence base regarding genomic medicine outcomes, and elucidate the processes involved in genomic medicine implementation, diffusion, and sustainability in diverse settings. This program will support projects that develop institution- or system-wide methods for incorporating an individual patient's genomic information into his or her clinical care. Applications that focus on expanding the reach of existing, already-implemented genomic medicine interventions from early adopter sites to less experienced sites, especially in defining institution-or systems-wide factors necessary for successful implementation of a specific genomic intervention across multiple sites, are well suited for this RFA.
The Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Program will support multi-disciplinary research on the implementation of genome-scale sequence data to clinical care. Its emphasis is on the generation and integration of sequence data into the clinical encounter, and defining the relevant technical requirements to applying genomic sequencing in a clinical workflow. Applicants must integrate research in three areas: 1) study design and clinical rationale; 2) analysis and interpretation of sequence data and 3) research on the ethical and psychosocial implications of returning results. Applicants interested in a multi-disciplinary approach to exploring the incorporation of genomic sequence data into the clinical workflow and the important ethical and psychosocial issues associated with return of such data to patients are well suited for this RFA.
"Early adopter sites" are those with at least one ongoing program that is incorporating an individual patient's genomic information into his or her clinical care. "Less experienced groups" are those without such programs, or with programs in related areas that would benefit from collaboration. The goal is for the "early adopter sites" to share its experience and preliminary efforts with less experienced groups to speed the implementation and expand the diversity of settings, populations, and hospital systems in which genomic medicine efforts are conducted.
No, you do not have to propose to collaborate with another institution in your application but it's important to remember that inclusion of diverse settings and populations is particularly encouraged, as is expansion beyond a single hospital system. Note that diversity of settings and populations will be considered in making funding decisions. All applications funded under RFA-HG-12-006, will be expected to collaborate with each other and operate as a consortium.
If partnering with another institution, the PI from the lead institution should submit one application and the partner site(s) should be listed as a subcontract(s).
No, only one PI from each study (even with multiple sites) can serve on the Steering Committee.
Yes, each funded PI will be responsible for budgeted travel expenses for themselves and key personnel to attend the thrice yearly Steering Committee meetings.
Note that the requested budget should not exceed $750K in the first year (FY13) and $1M total costs per year in fiscal years 201-2016.
Yes, though also incorporating available genomic data, such as whole exome, whole genome or targeted sequencing, might be perceived by peer reviewers as more significant or innovative.
The U01 activity code is a research project cooperative agreement mechanism that is similar to an R01 activity code (single project), as it supports discrete, specified, circumscribed projects to be performed by investigator(s) in an area representing their specific interest and competencies. The U01 mechanism is used when substantial programmatic involvement is anticipated. The role of NIH staff will be to facilitate and not to direct the activities. A U01 can cover single investigator, multi-centered and multi-investigator consortia.
There is a 12-page limit. Please reference the SF424 Application guide for more information on page limits, Table of Page Limits.
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E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Posted: June 14, 2012


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
Approved ProjectsThese are projects that have been reviewed by the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board and approved by the City Council via Resolution and/or Ordinance.
Projects Under ReviewThese are current petitions that have been submitted to the Planning and Zoning Department and are currently being reviewed by the Development Review Committee (DRC).
Projects Under ConstructionThese projects have been approved by the City Council and are currently under construction to be built as approved.


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Ocean Beach Tourist Park
Welcome to Ocean Beach Tourist Park - peaceful and relaxing on the ocean...
Ocean Beach Tourist Park is an intimate park nestled into the cliff face of the Miami Bushland Reserve. The park is just across the road from the patrolled waters of spectacular Miami surf beach. Situated on the southern end of the Gold Coast, Miami gives a feeling of a quaint village with trendy coffee shops and restaurants.
Guests can easily access Gold Coast attractions including theme parks, shopping and the excitement of Surfers Paradise. The range of accommodation options includes 6 villas offering beautiful ocean views. At Ocean Beach Tourist Park you can make a choice between powered sites and self-contained villas.
2016 Summer Video Competition Favourites
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- Salt Lake City, UT
- Reno, NV
- Sarnia, ON
- Hamilton, ON
- Philadelphia, PA
For more than 20 years, Trinity Consultants has assisted facilities in the aerospace industry with regulatory compliance and environmental management issues.
Trinity has a long history of assisting facilities with their regulatory compliance and environmental management systems.
Trinity helps chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers to achieve regulatory and environmental compliance.
Trinity provides dispersion modeling, permitting, and compliance support for coastal operations in the Outer Continental Shelf, Deepwater Ports, and liquefied natural gas terminals.
Trinity has assisted clients with nearly 500 power-related projects, offering an array of services.
Due to their nature, "general manufacturing" facilities are often faced with reviewing a wide range of regulations to determine applicability.
Trinity provides a variety of services to government entities, including environmental permitting and compliance management.
Trinity Consultants has long been committed to assisting lime and aggregates facilities with their regulatory compliance needs.
Trinity takes pride in understanding the regulatory issues affecting our clients' facilities and their industry.
Oil and gas facilities must contend with a variety of regulatory compliance and environmental management demands.
Trinity helps petroleum refineries to achieve compliance with complex environmental regulatory requirements.
Trinity Consultants has long been committed to assisting cement facilities with their regulatory compliance and environmental management needs.
Trinity has extensive experience assisting the pulp and paper industry with its regulatory compliance and environmental management requirements.
Railroads are faced with rapidly evolving state, regional, and federal regulatory framework in the United States.
For more than 25 years, Trinity Consultants has assisted facilities in the semiconductor industry.
Trinity prepares hundreds of air quality compliance reports for landfills and industrial facilities across the United States on an annual basis.
Trinity Consultants has performed nearly 800 environmental permitting and compliance projects for clients with terminal operations, providing cost-effective, timely solutions that enhance compliance while maintaining operational flexibility.
For nearly 30 years, Trinity Consultants has assisted facilities such as those in the highly regulated wood products industry.
On February 4, 2019, EPA proposed amendments to 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart NNNNN, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) from the Hydrochloric Acid Production (referred to as HCl MACT). EPA anticipates that the proposed »
On January 20, 2019, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) published proposed revisions to the Risk Evaluation/Corrective Action Program (RECAP). After the public hearing on March 1, 2019, LDEQ announced the withdrawal of the »
In January 2019, Trinity Consultants (Trinity) acquired The Redstone Group (Redstone), a consulting services provider of international chemical control laws, and EHS auditing, compliance and permitting.Redstone has deep expertise and advises clients »
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires EPA to designate chemical substances on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory as either "active" or "inactive" in U.S. commerce.On February 20, 2019, US EPA published the final "reset" TSCA Inventory, »
Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) involves finding facility components that are leaking and fixing them. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a long history of regulating industries (such as petroleum refining and chemical »
Trinity's Environmental Quarterly (EQ) magazine covers environmental regulatory developments as well as topics related to corporate environmental performance.
all issues from 2009
View our monthly digests of environmental regulatory actions published in the U.S. Federal Register, with hyperlinks to the complete Federal Register notices.
all summaries from 2011
These papers, presentations, and articles were authored by the staff of Trinity Consultants for presentation at various conferences.
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View recorded webinars on important regulatory developments and their implications for the regulated community.
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Since its founding in 1974, Trinity has expanded its geographic footprint and breadth of services. We attribute our continued growth to a focus on cornerstone values of top-notch technical performance and excellence in client service.
Trinity Consultants offers a unique combination of a professional atmosphere that is relaxed and flexible. Our leadership team encourages open, two-way communication and employee participation. Trinity rewards creative problem solving, entrepreneurial behavior, skill mastery, and excellent client service. This culture allows individuals to begin their careers at Trinity and move quickly up the ranks.
Our employees are described as intelligent, friendly, and focused. At Trinity, you will rapidly learn the fundamental technical skills and develop the analytical abilities to provide appropriate, innovative solutions to client challenges. The combination of employee talent and corporate commitment to continuing education enables us to create a culture that is creative and innovative. At Trinity, we value our clients, our employees, and our reputation of stellar quality.


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The biggest door in your house is the garage door. When it is stuck open, that creates a security issue. Give a call now for a free estimate to repair your door the same day.
Call Today For A Quote from Garage Door Service 216-502-2747
Garage Door Repair Services
Is your garage door in need a fix? Get a FREE online estimate and get connected to a local Cleveland garage door specialist who can fix your garage door problem quickly in Ohio.If your home needs a little sprucing up, consider a new garage door or if you have a panel door...you might only need to replace a single panel to give your door that new look.
Call Today For A Quote!
Garage Door Service
How To Troubleshoot Garage Opener Issues
Having difficulty with your garage door opener? Now's the time to look after any issues. Possibilities are great that come winter season, you do not wish to get back from deal with a cold, dark night and be stuck outside. Even in a moderate environment, garage doors that cannot be closed firmly will supply potential burglars with simple access to your house. Fix the possible breakdown sources to find out whether you can deal with the opener yourself or you have to hire an expert. Even if you do require a pro, it will likely conserve money and time when you can explain the source of the problem. Right here is a troubleshooting overview of typical garage door opener issues.
PROBLEM # 1: Clicker remote is not working.
TROUBLESHOOT: If the door opens and closes fine when you utilize the wall switch, there's an issue with the push-button control. Ensure you are holding the remote within variety of the garage door opener which the motor device's antenna is suspending. Change the batteries in the gadget if required and examine that it has actually been properly configured. Still not working? You may have to acquire a brand-new remote; ensure that it works with your opener, or pick a universal design.
ISSUE # 2: The remote works, however the door still won't budge.
TROUBLESHOOT: When the garage door opener does not deal with either the remote or the wall switch, take a look at the lights. If they're not on, the device is not getting power. Confirm that the motor device is linked. See whether the outlet is working and inspect the breaker, fuse or ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) to figure out whether you have an electrical issue on your hands. After you've had a look at the electrical power, examine the emergency situation release chain. Pull the chain to disengage the carriage and permit the garage door to operate separately of the opener. Effort to open the door by hand.
PROBLEM # 3: The door stops early, or goes back up after touching the ground.
TROUBLESHOOT: Have an appearance at the close restriction switch. It could require modification. If this does not resolve the issue, attempt to hand raise and drop your garage door to see if it is binding on something.
ISSUE # 4: The door opens and closes, however the opener's motor continues to run.
TROUBLESHOOT: Once once more, this most likely suggests that the remote switch needs modification. Try moving it far from the motor system.
ISSUE # 5: The door reverses prior to it even touching the floor.
TROUBLESHOOT: Check whether there is any blockage obstructing the door's smooth closure. If not, attempt adjusting the closing end points.
ISSUE # 6: The opener drops in the middle of operation or fails to engage at all.
TROUBLESHOOT: As of 1993, garage door openers come geared up with a pair of sensing unit beams. These enhance security however might often trigger efficiency issues. Guarantee that both beam lights are on (one red and one green) which absolutely nothing is disrupting their function. This might be among a number of things: misalignment of the safety sensing units, physical things between them or gunk or wetness on their surface area might prevent them from reflecting correctly.


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Every once in a while I get a question from either clients or from folks who've attended one of my presentations about just exactly what it is that DBAs should be doing day-to-day.
As I intimated at in my previous post on the importance of clearly documenting responsibilities and expectations, the reality is that this answer is really going to depend a ton upon your organization, your title, your environment, and a host of other factors.
That said, I think the following list of 10 tasks can serve as a semi-decent overview of many of the things DBAs typically do on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.
1. Checking on Servers
Whether you're responsible for the hardware or not, there are plenty of things you'll want to do to check up on servers on a day to day basis. Checking logs and keeping tabs on the SQL Server Agent are exactly the kinds of things I'm talking about here:
- DBAs and the SQL Server Agent
- DBAs and SQL Server Logs
- DBAs and Windows Event Logs (not always accessible to you as a DBA)
In some environments as a DBA you may not have enough time to review details for every server every day. If so, set up a 'rotation' schedule where you make sure to keep looking at your most important (most mission critical) servers daily and then 'cycle' through semi-daily or weekly reviews of non-essential servers based on priority, etc.
2. Baselines
Performance tuning and throughput will typically be part and parcel to your world as a DBA. Without performance baselines and other throughput benchmarks to compare current activity against, you'll quickly find that you're running blind. Happily, baselines are pretty easy to set up. (Though you'll likely also want to look at a host of different other ways to get a sense for workloads and throughput on your servers.)
3. Testing and Validating Backups AND the Ability to Restore Them
In my estimation, absolutely everything you do (short of security) takes a distant second place behind this concern. If you're not regularly testing your backups to make sure you can restore them (under a variety of different scenarios or 'simulated emergencies') then you're not building the skills necessary to respond to a disaster and running the risk that a change somewhere within your environment has ruined your ability to either get your backups working OR allow users/applications to see backups should they end up being deployed to another host, data center, whatever. Moreover, regular testing helps you verify that you're staying within your SLAs by helping ensure that you're able to meet RPOs and RTOs.
4. Performance Analysis and Tuning
With baselines and a sense of what your current workloads are, you'll be able to spot when and where problems crop up. From there, you'll typically spend a decent amount of your time as a DBA tuning those operations (and working 'gingerly' against production data in some cases) to consume fewer resources. As a DBA performance isn't exactly your primary concern—scalability is. And scalability (or the ability to handle more load) is enabled when you don't have unruly queries and operations capitalizing hardware resources on your server. Tuning and tweaking and ensuring proper indexes and the likes is part and parcel to what you do as a DBA in almost all environments.
5. Coordinating Data Pushes and Changes
Depending upon your role, your environment, and your data you might be periodically helping to push application changes and upgrades (with corresponding tweaks to schema and code) or regularly ensuring that 'data pushes' from staging to production and the likes are operating efficiently.
6. Patch Management
This is something you'll commonly need to schedule, address, and coordinate as well.
7. Code Reviews and Interactions with Developers
Personally, this was always one of my favorite things to do as a DBA—to help developers 'improve their craft,' better understand SQL Server and internals, and reinforce the idea that we're all working on the same team (even if our goals are much different; DBAs tend/trend towards security and safety and the status quo, while devs typically are focused on whole-scale change, massive changes, and 'violent revolutions' because technical advances in their fields of endeavor frequently provide massive benefits with complete and wholesale changes—something that typically doesn't mesh to well with years' worth of 'entrenched' and mission-critical data and a HOST of dependent operations throughout your organization).
8. Meetings
To address differences of opinion and focus between devs, DBAs, and management. Sadly, many DBAs spend too much time in meetings.
9. Capital Improvements and Initiatives
Throughout the year you'll probably be involved in various initiatives or capital improvements—like making one of your key databases/servers more highly-available by throwing in Clustering, Mirroring, or AlwaysOn Availabililty Groups into the mix—or improving backups, bolstering security, and so on. These on-going projects, commonly, 'ebb and flow' but can consume a large amount of your time during the year and on a day-to-day basis—at times of the year.
10. Self-Improvement
Finally, while you will have some long days and even longer nights as a DBA, there will likely be times during the year when you could probably, realistically, get everything you truly need to do done in about 3-4 hours per day on-premises at work. Only, while management will patently expect that you're simply available and on-call late nights when problems happen or when code changes are being pushed or for longer hours when working on various 'initiatives,' I typically don't run into many organizations that let their DBAs (or other IT folks/developers) have any of that time 'back' when things start to get slow. Meaning, you'll likely have points during the year when things get slow and where you can easily get 'your job' done in just part of a day but you'll still be 'expected' to be on-hand for the remainder of the day. At this point, you could fill your time chatting around the water cooler, ruining other people's lives by spinning up useless meetings, or looking at pictures of cats on the Internet.
Personally, I always used time like this for self-improvement—for my own initiatives—whether it was learning something new (like Powershell or SSRS or C# or whatever) or 'finally' optimizing my defrag routines or coming up with a cool way to automate such and such, or whatever. Doing so definitely made the time pass faster, and provided much better benefits than trite pictures of cats or discussions about how various sports teams did ever could.


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Great White Concentrated Mycorrhizae Powder (32 oz)
This concentrated mycorrhizal powder improves the ability of a plant to absorb nutrients and water. It increases root surface area, improves yields, promotes explosive root growth and increases fruiting and flowering potential.
Great White Concentrated Mycorrhizae Powder (32 oz)
- The most advanced mycorrhizal product on the market today
- It contains:
- 15 different species of mycorrhizal fungi
- 19 different species of beneficial bacteria
- 2 species of trichoderma
- Plant vitamins
- Glycine
- Ignites plant and root growth
- Concentrated formula ensures optimal colonization of root systems by fungi
- Water soluble powder
- Promotes improved nutrient and water absorption
- Results in explosive root growth, increased yields, increased fruiting and flowering and better transplant success
- Beneficial fungi colonize the plant root effectively increasing surface area and absorption potential
- Decreases drought stress and water and fertilizer needs
This advanced mycorrhizal mixture is designed to improve a plant's ability to absorb water and nutrients. It features 19 species of beneficial bacteria, 15 species of mycorrhizal fungi, 2 species of trichoderma, plant vitamins and glycine. The fungi colonize plant roots and create a mutually beneficial relationship with the plant. Surface area of the roots is increased and the plant can access and absorb more nutrients and water than before.
The result is improved nutrient uptake, explosive root growth, increased yields, increased fruiting and flowering, improved transplant success and healthier overall growth. This concentrated formula is economical for any grower and can be used with hydroponics, soil based growing and soilless growing media applications.
Note: 32 oz option pictured.
Hydroponic Application Rates:
- 2 gallons: 1 scoop
- 4 gallons: 2 scoops
- 50 gallons: 2 oz
- 100 gallons: 4 oz
Drenching or Injecting: (Mix product at the same rate as hydroponic application)
- 4 inch container: 3 oz. Great White liquid
- 1 gallon container: 5 oz. Great White liquid
- 3 gallon container: 16 oz. Great White liquid
- 5 gallon container: 32 oz. Great White liquid
NOTE: This item cannot be shipped to Hawaii.
Unit Ship Weight: 3 lbs


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Twins Sink Mariners In Sunday Drubbing
The MInnesota Twins dispatched the Seattle Mariners 10-0 Sunday at Target Field. The Twins scored three runs on a homer and two doubles in the third and never looked back.
Ryan Doumit was 1-5 with a home run, Josh Willingham went 2-5 including his team-high 10th home run and Brian Dozier was 3-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Scott Diamond pitched well enough to earn the win for the Twins, lasting six innings and allowing only four hits and one walk.
With the win the Twins improve to 25-29 on the season. The Twins are at Kansas City for a Central Division Showdown with the Royals beginning Tuesday night.


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TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior Julian Strickland (Indianapolis/Pike) led three players in double figures with 26 points as the Fightin' Engineers topped Bluffton University 70-57 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Saturday.
Strickland finished 10-17 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line with four assists and four steals to lead the offensive attack. Senior Alec Houpt (Chesterton) added a career-high 15 points on 6-8 from the field, and sophomore Tyler Duffy (Fishers/Hamilton Southeastern) set two career-highs with 12 points and eight assists.
With the victory, Rose-Hulman improved to 3-1 in HCAC play and is part of a five-way tie for first place in the league standings.
Other key contributors to the Fightin' Engineer offense included sophomore Jimmy Miller (Indianapolis/North Central) and junior Michael Hallstein (Hopedale, Ill./Olympia) with six points each.
Will Pope led the Bluffton offense with 16 points on 8-12 from the field. Thayne Recker came off the bench for 10 points and seven rebounds, and Dustin Kinn had nine points and seven boards for the Beavers.
Rose-Hulman built a 37-27 halftime lead behind 59% shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Fightin' Engineers started quickly, jumping out to a 16-6 lead at the 14:38 mark of the first half on a layup by Strickland. Bluffton rallied to trim the lead to 16-11 at the 11:55 mark, before Rose-Hulman held the Beavers to just three points over three minutes to increase the lead to 23-14.
The lead reached double figures at 33-23 on a layup by Hallstein at the 4:30 mark, and the Engineers maintained a 10-point edge at the half.
In the second stanza, Rose-Hulman had a strong start to push the lead to 42-26 on a Duffy basket. The lead reached 17 points at 49-32 on a conventional three-point play by Duffy.
Bluffton trimmed the lead to 59-46 with 7:58 remaining, and could close no closer than 13 points the rest of the way. The Fightin' Engineers improved to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in league play with the win, while Bluffton dropped to 6-5 and 2-2 in conference games.
Rose-Hulman returns to action with the John Mutchner Cup Game against Earlham College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Hulbert Arena.


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Sal Pace: "Not as slick or programmed" … but is that bad?
U.S. Congressional candidate Sal Pace is highlighted in a Roll Call column this morning, and is described as not "slick or as programmed as many of the candidates," columnist Stuart Rothenberg has interviewed.
However, Rothenberg — who is publisher of the non-partisan The Rothenberg Political Report — says that's why he liked Pace so much, but "will see whether he is too low-key," as he embarks on a quest to join Congress.
Next year the Pueblo Democrat, who currently serves as House minority leader in the state legislature, will challenge freshman Republican Rep. Scott Tipton for his 3rd district seat that encompasses much of the Western Slope, but could change with the new redistricting maps.


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Postmedia uses DART, which includes DART Sales Manager (DSM) and DART for Publishers (DFP) - together these tools work as a comprehensive web-based ad management platform that enables Postmedia to manage online ad serving and reporting. DART streamlines your ad management functions and allows you to generate ever-greater advertising margins. With DART, you will:
In March 2008 Google aquired DoubleClick, the makers of DART. DoubleClick is a member of the Network Advertising Initiative and has been reviewed for compliance with NAI principles. The NAI (Network Advertising Initiative) is a cooperative of online marketing and analytics companies committed to building consumer awareness and establishing responsible business and data management practices and standards.


text: Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums :: View topic - Hi,i'm Mir from Malaysia.Do you like pets. Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Hi,i'm Mir from Malaysia.Do you like pets. Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Pets View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message mirJoined: 05 Sep 2005Posts: 14 Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:42 pm Post subject: Hi,i'm Mir from Malaysia.Do you like pets. Hi I'm from Malaysia.My name is Mir I have 1 pets.My pets name is Comel. Can you reply my message. Back to top princezJoined: 07 Sep 2005Posts: 89 Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:14 pm Post subject: Hi,Mir.I also like pets.I am princez from Malaysian.My pet is dog.What is your pet? Back to top lovevilleJoined: 04 Dec 2005Posts: 14Location: malaysia Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:44 pm Post subject: Well it's good to have the Malaysian here.. Hai my name is shame la.. Well i love to have pets especially cat._________________hunga Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Pets All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Student Forums----------------ComputersCurrent NewsCultureEnglish SchoolsFamilyFilm and CinemaFoodHealth and FitnessHelp CenterHobbiesHolidaysLearning EnglishLiteratureMaking FriendsMusicOpinionsPetsScienceSportsThe Strange and MysteriousTOEFL and Other English ExamsTravel You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Dave's ESL Cafe is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Banner Advertising | Bookstore / Alta Books | FAQs | Articles | Interview with Dave Copyright © 2018 Dave's ESL Cafe | All Rights Reserved | Contact Dave's ESL Cafe | Site Map Teachers College, Columbia University: Train to Teach English Here or Abroad Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group


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Prof. Paul Eidelberg
On March 19, the day after this report was nearing completion, Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post's brilliant political analyst, published an article entitled "Obama's war on Israel." My present report goes a bit further. No reflection on her perspicacity. I just want to pursue the logic of Obama to its ultimate logical conclusion, even if he is a fraud or an Alice in Wonderland, as some believe.
In deference to Glick, however, who takes Obama seriously—as one should—I will begin by quoting a salient aspect of her timely article. She writes:
On [March 12], Obama ordered his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to present Netanyahu with a four-part ultimatum. First, Israel must cancel the approval of the housing units in Ramat Shlomo. Second, Israel must prohibit all construction for Jews in Jerusalem neighborhoods built since 1967. Third, Israel must make a gesture to the Palestinians to show them we want peace. Fourth, Israel must agree to negotiate all substantive issues, including the partition of Jerusalem (including the Jewish neighborhoods constructed since 1967 that are now home to more than half a million Israelis) and the immigration of millions of hostile foreign Arabs to Israel under the rubric of the so-called "right of return" …
Only an idiot would fail to see in this ultimatum that Obama, like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wants to "wipe Israel off the map." Seeing this, the Arabs have no need to engage in negotiations, which suggests to me that Obama is tacitly inviting them to eliminate Israel by war! Ponder this: Obama ordered a consignment of Joint Direct Attack Munitions already on its way to Israel to be diverted to the US Air Force base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
Nor is this all.
At the outset of his presidential campaign, I wrote that Obama's slogan of CHANGE really meant "Regime Change." A few months after the election, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton reported that Obama is the first post-American president of the United States.
Accordingly, Obama's policy of distancing America from Israel and drawing the US closer to the Muslim world is a logical, political, and metaphysical consequence of his anti-American mentality. Even if Obama lives in fairyland, the stakes are too high to use ordinary criticism when speaking of such a president—holder of the most powerful office in the world.
Obama's anti-America and anti-Israel objectives are evident not only in his political statements and policies, but also in the attitude of some of his political appointments and advisers—court Jews as well as non-Jews. Among the latter, suffice to mention former President Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, a crypto-Marxist. To this anti-Semite add Obama's appointment of Samantha Power to the National Security Council, who proposed a US invasion of Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.
Now ponder Obama's disparagement of the American Declaration of Independence—whose "Higher Law" doctrine is rooted in the Torah. I deem this a war on America metaphysically equivalent to his war on Israel. If we juxtapose his early Muslim upbringing and current Muslim appeasement, logic indicates that Obama's war on Israel and America is nothing less than a war against Western civilization in favor of Islam's global ascendancy. Here is further evidence.
Obama's (absurd) reference to America as a Muslim state, his adulation of Islam at Cairo's Al-Azhar University (the Harvard of the Middle East), his demotion of Judaism in his Inaugural Address, his indifference to Ahmadinejad's maledictions "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," his bowing to Saudi King Abdullah—these and other signs are indicative of an insidious global agenda.
It will not do to describe Obama as a closet Communist or to reveal his Muslim sympathies. We know of his anti-American and anti-Israel gurus such as Marxist Saul Alinsky, terrorist Bill Ayers, PLO-supporter and Saudi-connected Rashid Khalidi, "Nation of Islam" Jew-hater Louis Farrakhan, or "God damn America" preacher Jeremiah Wright—to mention only a few of Obama's charming mentors.
Professor of international relations Angelo Codevilla warns that Obama is conducting a "self-discrediting [hence anti-American] diplomacy toward Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China." Add Syria, which aids insurgents in Iraq and ships Iranian missiles to Iran's client Hezbollah in Lebanon. Obama is not only appeasing enemies and punishing friends; he is disarming America morally and militarily. Let me reiterate his "war on Israel." Israel is not only America's most steadfast ally, supplier of advanced technology and incomparable intelligence. Israel is the only outpost of Western civilization in the Middle East. The loss of Jerusalem would ignite Islam's long smoldering ambition to establish a Muslim world order.
Admittedly, every American administration since Nixon and Kissinger has pressed Israel to risk its existence—it's called taking "risks for peace"—by conceding geostrategic assets to the PLO, the wiliest spearhead of Islam. The American government, conned into believing the PLO represents "moderation," secretly and openly bankrolled this Fatah-led mafia during the past two decades. Of course, this is nothing compared to the Carter-Brzezinski subversion of the Shah of Iran, which facilitated the Iranian Revolution the return of the Parisian-exiled Ayatollah Khomeini to Teheran.
America's ruling class—its policy-making, opinion-making, and military elites—is now being led by an Islamophile, an enemy of America. This ruling class, thanks to America's misnamed "higher" education, is not only ignorant of the true nature of Islam; it is also ignorant of, or has never internalized, the classics of statecraft and war. Tainted by multicultural relativism, this backward ruling class cannot even see that while there are "moderate Muslims," Islam is anything but moderate. This ruling class cannot address the fact that what it misleadingly calls Muslim "extremists" increasingly dominates Islamdom. Indeed, these Islamic-true Muslims are spreading throughout American democracy where they exploit a mindless liberalism or tolerance of "diversity."
Thus, to paraphrase Codevilla, when a Muslim shouts "Allahu Akhbar," as did U.S Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan as he shot 51 colleagues as Fort Hood, Texas, the official reaction revealed the stupefied and pusillanimous character of America's ruling class—politicians and journalists and even high-ranking military officers. After the shootings, President Obama warned against "jumping to conclusions," and Army Chief of Staff George Casey added, "it would be a greater tragedy if diversity became a casualty here." Codevilla comments: "Never mind that Hasan identified himself on his business card as "SoA" (a soldier of Allah).
Official obscurantism makes Obama's appeasement of Iran all the more fearful. Armed with nuclear tipped ballistic missiles, Iran could control the oil resources of the Middle East, emasculate Europe, totally collapse the American economy, and even resurrect the Persian Empire—the startling conclusion of Robert Baer, former CIA operative in the Middle East.
An American president who praises Islam and displays contempt for America's Founding Fathers now constitutes an existential threat to Western Civilization.
This worst case scenario will be dismissed as scare-mongering. But whoever thought PLO chief Yasser Arafat, an Arab terrorist expelled from Lebanon, holed up in Tunis, without Iranian oil or arms, without even a minute fraction of Iran's population and territory—who ever dreamed that this villain would become a mortal threat to Israel by gaining worldwide support for a PLO state in Israel's heartland—and with the endorsement of Binyamin Netanyahu?! If the despicable PLO could accomplish this objective, it would be foolhardy to dismiss my worst case scenario.
As many scholars have warned, the West is involved in a clash of civilizations with Islam. We are in a world war having metaphysical significance. This war will not be won or even waged by democracies steeped in multicultural relativism. The trial of Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders exemplifies the decadence of such democracies. Recall how they treated the gallant Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, who dared tell the truth about Islam in her book The Rage and the Pride. Recall how a Swiss judge issued an arrest warrant for her alleged violations of the Swiss criminal code and requested the Italian government to either prosecute or extradite her. Recall how an Italian judge ordered Fallaci to stand trial on charges of "defaming Islam" in her book The Force of Reason, most notably for her reference to Islam as "a pool that never purifies." But there is more.
Note Europe's permissive immigration laws, the influx of millions of prolific anti-Western and economically ruinous Muslim immigrants—a sociological disaster documented by Michael Radu, Europe's Ghost: Tolerance, Jihadism, and the Crisis of the West (2009). Fearful of the canard of "racism," and animated by a perverted humanitarianism that permits the immigration even of Muslim terrorists expelled by Arab countries, England and Europe are committing national and cultural suicide.
This madness is invading the United States and it has anti-Semitic consequences for Israel. A countermovement to preserve Western Civilization is urgently needed. I will discuss this matter in a future article. Some people may want to send this article to Caroline Glick.
*Edited transcript of the Eidelberg Report, Israel National Radio, March 22, 2010.
Paul Eidelberg
Read Caroline Glick's article A revolutionary proposal
. . . and the foregoing post: When the U.S. is once again "punishing" Israel . . .
. . . it is a time to remember
WSJ: Mueller and the Obama Accounting: Obama Owes The Country An Explanation - The Mueller report confirms that the Obama administration, without evidence, turned the surveillance powers of the federal government against the preside...
29 minutes ago


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Nicole Wicks is the president of ReferNow.com, a Web-based referral-marketing program that facilitates "smart growth" for health clubs. ReferNow links customer loyalty and new member acquisition by rewarding members who bring you new customers. Nicole can be reached at www.refernow.com.
Personal trainers manage and track a client's workout program so they can accurately measure weight loss and fitness goals. Measurement is a motivation tool. Measurement helps your members get fit by getting smart about their bodies because if you can measure it, you can manage it (shape it, tone it, improve it).
Measurement has a trickle down benefit for the gym owner because it keeps the customers more diligent in their workout routines, which then promotes more frequent usage of the fitness center and, for the gym owner, a more profitable customer. But how many of you are applying this simple logic to your own marketing and new-member acquisition programs?
If you are reading this and asking, "Who has the time to measure?" then you are not alone. Many club owners and personal trainers struggle to measure the success of their overall marketing programs. However, measurable marketing and smart growth go hand in hand. Conducted properly, it is not time consuming. Good measurement doesn't require an advanced statistics degree. Many Web-based marketing tools include built-in measurement dashboards.
In fact, authors Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris in their book Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, published by Harvard Business School Press, demonstrate how simple analytics are used effectively in marketing, loyalty programs and customer preference research. They state that every company uses some statistical analysis of its business, but that analysis does not necessarily need to be complex.
According to the book, good measurement can be accomplished by asking yourself two important questions: What do I want to happen, and what do my customers really value? I'll go into more detail about them both.
What do you want to happen? Of course, you want new members. Everyone wants more members. But it pays to be more specific—much more specific. What specific behavior do you want to elicit from possible prospects? What behavior is your marketing designed to modify?
For example, let's say you want more referrals from existing customers. Give real thought to how you will leverage your best customers to increase your customer/prospect database or how you want to re-engage your customers by offering a unique incentive to forward your offer.
For other marketing programs, make a list of your goals (and how they will be measured) and be as specific as possible. Make sure you can actually measure the progress you make toward achieving your goals. You'll find that you can better manage things you can measure. Plus, measurement will keep you more diligent in your marketing execution, which promotes better marketing and a more profitable business. When you set specific goals and define specific behaviors you want to influence, you prioritize the things you believe are most important to your business.
What do my customers really value? What is the compelling value proposition of your service and your membership offer? Is there a true win-win proposition for your customer?
When you started your club, you learned about member wants and needs by interacting closely with the early customers. If someone commented on the fluffy towels, you made sure all the towels were fluffy. This is marketing measurement in action.
But as your business grows, keeping in touch with all your customer wants and needs becomes more difficult. Take the time to listen, and learn the aspects of your club that your customers value most. Is it a specific trainer? Certain types of equipment? Access to parking? A great pro-shop? Knowledgeable staff? Follow-up service? Fluffy towels? What do they get from you that they can't, or think they can't, from one of your competitors?
Look for ways to include the unstated benefits in some of your programs. If you think people value fluffy towels, reward referrals with "free towel service" instead of cash rewards. More often than not, access to exclusive promotional offers motivates people faster than cash or merchandise rewards.
Fitness centers and gyms that focus on running measurable referral marketing programs that focus on real customer value can be rewarded with increased revenue, improved margins, faster member acceptance of new services and programs, and competitive differentiation.
If you take the time to ask yourself these two important questions up-front for any marketing program, you'll be able to develop and execute programs that work. In the process, your marketing will get stronger and you may even discover better techniques for growing your business. If you can measure it, your membership base will grow with less effort on your part.


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Student Satisfaction in Action
Point Park Alumni:
In Their Own Words
"I liked Point Park's Downtown location and the fast-track Saturday option. As a non-traditional student, I never felt out of place and that was important to me."
— Denice Withrow,
Vice President of Business Technology Integration,
Bank of America
Read her story
Knowing what our students think about us is at the heart of the University's continuous improvement efforts. Since 1999, Point Park has administered the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory to students.
This survey has been taken by more than 3 million students from more than 2,100 colleges and universities across the country. Not only does the SSI provide valuable data specific to Point Park University students, but it enables the University to make comparisons to students from peer institutions. The latest SSI findings include more than 1,600 student opinions gathered at Point Park. These include the following ranked highly by students:
- Nearly all of the faculty are knowledgeable in their field
- I'm being educated in a diverse environment
- Instruction in my major field is excellent
- Online processes are convenient and beneficial
The University's student-satisfaction results have been continually on the rise in recent years. Part of this is attributed to the University's investment of $32 million in capital improvements to enhance the quality of life for students, faculty and staff. Since 2008, student-satisfaction ratings increased on 69 of the 79 question items considered — or 87 percent.
We take great pride in these results. Interested in more information? Read the SSI report. But first, read more about the proven value of a Point Park education:
Video: Student Internships and Career Development


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Welcome to "SAI in English" fansite! Here you can download SAI Pack (unofficial, fan-made).
Also feel free to ask any questions about SAI on our forum and post you pictures (made in SAI of course) in gallery.
Read about advantages of this pack
PaintTool SAI English Pack 1.1.0 Full (fixed for Vista and Win7) (2.01 mb) recommended [Read more...]
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2006Dear Teacher,
would you agree that the underlined passages in the text below are badly written or expressed?
An invitation to meal ("meal" is not a verb) in someones house usually means a relaxed evening. More often than not men do not wear business suits, while the women wear comfortable rather than fashionable evening clothes.
Its a good idea to take some flowers or a box of chocolates for your hostess; some, additionally, (except I would omit the commas) bring a bottle of wine. It does not have to be an expensive wine. The bottle is hardly ever opened, and quite often is the bottle that tonights host takes as a gift to next weeks dinner somewhere else.
In most parts of England the hostess expects a short letter of thanks for the evening. Such letters follow a standard formula: you mention the food and the company and express the hope that you will meet again.
(Text copied from an examination paper)
English Teacher


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My sourdough starter is about 15 months old now.
When I get the chance I like to make some sourdough pancakes, or waffles.
This version was so delicious I had to share it.
It was a yeasted batter in that I included dry yeast as well as sourdough starter, along with spelt flour, salt, milk, mashed banana, egg and butter.
Its given a good mix then left to sit for 2-3 hours.
Meanwhile I mixed maple syrup and softened butter together, then put them in silicon moulds in the fridge.
The strawberry compote was made with strawberries, sugar (I used organic coconut sugar), water, pepper and delicious Kangaroobie Cherry Vinegar.
Once the batter has puffed up, spoon into a medium heat buttered pan.
Once they start to look 'dry' around the edges flip them.
I absolutely loved them.
So much flavour in the slightly sweet banana pancake, with delicious melting maple butter and the most amazing strawberry concoction on top.
Spelt Banana Sourdough Pancakes
1 cup whole spelt flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 tsp dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 mashed banana
1 egg
1tbsp melted butter
Whisk all ingredients in the mixture together.
Leave covered for 2-3 hours until its risen in size.
Spoon into medium heat pan with a little butter, it will start to look dry around the edges after a couple of minutes,
flip and cook for another minute.
Serve with maple butter (1 part maple syrup mixed with 2 parts softened butter, set in fridge) and strawberry compote.


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Theater scholars have debated for more than 50 years about the merits and meanings of Samuel Beckett's murky masterwork "Waiting for Godot." It may be, like a certain TV sitcom, a play about nothing, yet it certainly was instrumental in earning Beckett the 1969 Nobel Prize in literature.
Whether or not the play is comprehensible, it poses a herculean challenge for actors and directors — a challenge heartily met by UC Irvine's magnificent production in the newly christened Robert Cohen Theater (as of 6:30 p.m. Friday ).
Cohen himself, who arrived at UCI as the campus was being built in 1965, directs this revival, his third staging of "Godot" and fifth association with the play, with meticulous zeal. It is of little concern whether audiences comprehend Beckett's prose (most will not); what really matters is the power and dedication with which its actors attack the material.
Beckett's brooding tragicomedy focuses on a pair of tramps, Estragon and Vladimir (these names are never used; they're known simply as "Gogo" and "Didi") who wait in fear and frustration alongside a country road for the mysterious "Godot," who will provide them with shelter and comfort. They certainly could use both; their lives seemingly have been an exercise in hand-to-mouth survival for about 50 years.
At UCI, these roles are filled to the brim by Chris Klopatek (Gogo) and Ben Jacoby (Didi). Klopatek's manic-depressive Gogo is the more moody and excitable (and, by extension, watchable) of the pair, while Jacoby presents a more pragmatic and powerful figure. Both are superb.
They wait — and wait — for this unknown and unimagined savior, striving to break the monotony by any means possible (including hanging themselves from the tree, if only they had some rope). Their interaction magnifies their hopeless existence, seizing on any form of recreation to overcome the oppressive tedium.
Into their lives come two other characters, the self-aggrandizing landowner Pozzo and his hapless servant, ironically christened "Lucky." These characters are essayed with great have-and-have-not contrast by Sean Harrigan and Peter Frank Antone Leibold IV, respectively.
Harrigan, in his first scene, commands the stage with physical and vocal authority, a despotic force in the life of the luckless Lucky. Leibold glumly endures the continual hardship, mute save for one line – a continuous stream of gibberish running about five minutes which exhausts both him and his audience.
Technically, the UCI show also excels. Robin Darling's wintry setting chills the bone, and the faux proscenium arch, as ragged and battered as the characters, is an inspired touch. Gwyneth Conaway Bennison's costumes are so worn and filthy one may practically smell them in the audience.
Karyn Lawrence's occasionally erupting lighting design and Patricia Cardona's arresting sound plot, with its reverberating echoes at crucial moments, complete the impressive physical accomplishments.
"Waiting for Godot" may be puzzling, frustrating and intellectually challenging, but it's also mesmerizing and captivating at UCI's newly christened Robert Cohen Theater.
TOM TITUS covers the local theater scene for the Daily Pilot.
If You Go
What: "Waiting for Godot"
Where: UC Irvine Robert Cohen Theater
Where: Closing performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Cost: Contact the box office at (949) 824-2787


text: Let us now praise James Bond. 31 October 2012 5 May 2016Blog50 shades of grey, ben whisaw, daniel craig, how to make a great film, how to write a bestseller, Ian Fleming, james bond, Javier bardem, judy dench, sam mendes, skyfall Today, class, we will be learning about success. And no, I am not talking about 50 Shades of...Continue reading →