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Kingwood Masonry Pro provides a wide range of residential masonry solutions. Whether your home's brick or stone needs repairs or restorations, our masons can handle it. If you want to install decorative stone, brick or concrete, we have plenty of experience boosting the curb appeal of homes big and small.
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Suzuki S-Cross Hybrid review
Slightly bigger than a Nissan Juke or Renault Captur, but slightly smaller than a Nissan Qashqai or Renault Kadjar, the Suzuki S-Cross sits right between the ultra-competitive crossover and small SUV classes. Perhaps straddling the gap between two popular segments in terms of size and equipment will help the Suzuki S-Cross appeal to buyers torn between the two - but will its grown-up looks work for, or against, it?
Good handling, a compelling price and decent levels of equipment all work in the S-Cross's favour and the 1.4-litre Boosterjet turbocharged engine and 48V hybrid system delivers power smoothly and knocks 20 per cent off the car's CO2 figure.
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Hide AdThe S-Cross is the second-largest model in Suzuki's fairly compact range of lifestyle-focused models, the largest being the Suzuki Across plug-in hybrid, which is a badge-engineered Toyota Rav4.
A toothy, chrome, grille adds a bit of bling to the otherwise sober exterior which looks more like a chunky, slightly jacked-up estate car than a full-blown SUV. On the interior the S-Cross is fairly understated too. There's some silver-painted plastic around the cabin that looks cheap, but aside from those accents the cabin feels pretty well put together and of a decent, if not overly luxurious standard.
Suzuki S-Cross SZT
- Price: £23,999 (£24,499 as tested)
- Engine: 1.4-litre, four-cylinder, petrol with 48V mild hybrid
- Power: 127bhp
- Torque: 173 ft lb
- Transmission: Six-speed manual
- Top speed: 118bhp
- 0-62mph: 9.5 seconds
- Economy: 50.1mpg
- CO2 emissions: 127 g/km
The seats are comfortable and the driving position is good. The material quality of the instruments themselves is pleasingly solid, although the trip computer position (next to the dials on the instrument panel) is awkward if you want to use it on the move - although you could argue that's a safety feature, I suppose.
The graphics and interface on the touchscreen infotainment system are dated-looking but functional, although the reversing camera takes just half a second too long to appear on screen when you engage reverse gear. It's not enough to cause you much delay, but it was enough that it was slightly irritating during the course of my one-week test. Slim A-pillars mean drivers have an excellent view of the road out front and for those opting for lower-specification models without the reversing camera, the view out the rear is pretty good also, assuming you aren't transporting adult rear passengers.
If you are, they might find it a bit of a squeeze depending on their height. While the legroom is fine, rear headroom is a little cramped due to a slightly sloping roof and a high rear bench, while middle passengers have to straddle quite a pronounced hump from the transmission tunnel down the centre of the cabin.
The boot is a decent size at 430 litres, which is bigger than you'll find in a Nissan Juke, Skoda Kamiq or Renault Captur and on a par with the otherwise slightly larger Nissan Qashqai.
With 50 years experience specialising in off-road models (The S-Cross, like the Jimny, can trace its lineage back to the original Suzuki LJ which first hit the market in 1970), Suzuki is one of the few manufacturers in this segment that offers 4x4 across its range in the UK but our test car was the front-wheel drive SZT model.
The two-wheel drive configuration reduces CO2 emissions further compared with the all-wheel drive model - 127g/km from 139g/km - which means a reduction of £40 VED in your first year of driving but the same flat £135 per year thereafter. Even without the all-wheel drive system, the S-Cross feels very sure-footed through winding roads. There's bags of grip and the power steering is light and feels precise, although there isn't a great deal of feedback through the wheel itself.
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Hide AdSuzuki says the power output from the 127bhp four-pot is akin to what you'd get from a larger 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine. That may be true, but there are some fantastic small turbocharged engines out there and while the 1.4-litre unit feels enthusiastic enough at peak revs (5,500), it somehow doesn't feel as gutsy as, for instance, Ford's three-cylinder 1.0-litre EcoBoost. The flip side of that is the 1.4-litre turbocharged engine is smooth and very quiet in comparison, thanks to the extra cylinder.
There's a lot to like about the S-Cross. It's well equipped, drives well and has enough space that it's a good bet for most families. Occupying the middle ground between two classes as it does, it is quite compelling on price when you compare it with ostensibly larger competitors. It scored 93 per cent and received a five-star safety rating when it was last tested by Euro NCAP in 2013, although the goalposts have moved somewhat since then. Suzuki also has a well-earned reputation for reliability in the UK.
There's some stiff and quite glamorous competition in the crossover category with the likes of Ford's stylish Puma entering the fray and an all-new Nissan Juke hitting the market last year and that's before you look to the next segment up. A new engine, low running costs, a competitive price and space that can rival cars a class above could be enough to keep this refreshed, but ultimately seven-year-old model, relevant for a while yet.

subset: commoncrawl


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Toys "R" Us Battles Back
The giant toy retailer missed the Wal-Mart incursion and the Web discontinuity. But with its bricks-and-mortar advantages, it can still fight the e-tail war.
(originally published by Booz & Company)Consider what Toysrus.com CEO John Barbour is up against: people like 10-year-old Luke Armour. In February, the fourth-grader, who lives in Montclair, N.J., was sent via e-mail a $50 birthday gift certificate to Toysrus.com by his grandparents. Luke loves computers — he spends hours on the Internet each day — so his grandparents figured this would be an exciting shopping experience for the boy, one that would keep him engaged and provide a few lessons about how to spend money independently.
Unfortunately, that isn't quite the way it turned out. With his gift certificate number facing him on his computer screen, Luke went online and searched for toys for 10-year-olds and above. Toysrus.com offered two short screens: A few Nintendo games ("I'm not allowed to play Nintendo," Luke says), a couple of football jerseys ("I wasn't interested"), and a bike or two ("I already have one," he says). Finally, an hour after beginning the shopping spree, he quit. His grandparents took back the gift certificate and gave him money instead.
"I didn't get it; I've been to Toys 'R' Us stores and they have such a big selection, so I couldn't figure out why they had almost nothing on the Internet," Luke says. "I expected a lot more."
This is an all-too-familiar story for Mr. Barbour. After an initially promising Christmas selling season, Toyrsrus.com ended up placating unhappy customers with $100 apiece when it failed to deliver products by December 25. And after nearly a year as CEO of Toysrus.com (the independently managed Internet subsidiary of Toys "R" Us Inc.), Mr. Barbour is still wrestling to create a plan that would give the bricks-and-mortar giant prominence on the Web.
So far, Toysrus.com is clearly behind in the online race against rivals like eToys Inc., currently the No. 1 Internet toy seller. Hampered by strategic stumbles and mixed messages from the parent company, Toysrus.com has been embarrassed and stunted by management turmoil and has struggled to find its legs on the Internet. It hasn't helped that Toys "R" Us, the parent, has had a difficult decade, during which its stock price barely budged and its earnings were erratic — so much so that Toys "R" Us actually slipped into the red in fiscal 1999.
Comparing the Toysrus.com site with the eToys.com site, it's easy to see why the upstart is the more popular one. At the time of a visit to the site in late February, Toysrus.com's opening page, which trumpeted the operation as "a new site," was a hard-edged series of blocks and strident colors with confusing stacked search fields and two prominent "Coming Soon" links that went nowhere. There was a grim warning that the selection of items online varied from those featured in stores; supplies of online items were limited and inventory changed often; and rain checks were available at retail locations only. If the unfriendly atmosphere didn't scare away customers, that set of caveats likely did.
By contrast, eToys is soft and inviting — all muted blues and whites with graphics of children playing contentedly and dozens of easy-to-use links to categories and toy recommendations. Numerous details focus on customer needs — such as creative hints for getting the most out of specific toys; reviews by adults and children; handy alerts when a toy needs batteries (as a result, some days batteries are eToys' top-selling item); and a gift-wrapping service that packs items from an order separately with appropriate "To/From" tags attached.
Additionally, eToys is remarkably well stocked. For example, it has more than 200 different train sets — 10 times as many as Toysrus.com has — including 15 from high-end Brio Corp. of Germantown, Wis., which refuses to sell its painstakingly crafted products at Toys "R" Us or Toysrus.com to avoid having them shown next to less expensive and lower-quality trains.
Considering all of this, it's not surprising that eToys booked $107 million in revenue during its fiscal quarter that ended December 31, well ahead of the $39 million in sales posted by Toysrus.com during the holiday season.
No joy in Toyville, at least in Toysrus.com's corner of it? In fact, quite the opposite. The 1999 holiday numbers are probably a poor indicator of who will be on top next Christmas. Indeed, virtually everybody watching this story play out — people close to Toys "R" Us and eToys, industry analysts, and e-commerce experts — is convinced that Toysrus.com will beat out eToys, and soon. What's more, the drubbing could be ugly. The survival of eToys as an independent company or even as a thriving business is a huge uncertainty.
"Toysrus.com has finally moved beyond window dressing when it comes to facing the challenges of the Internet; they know they screwed up and are absolutely focused on fixing it," says Seema Williams, a senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. "They've got a great opportunity to take out eToys."
This position echoes what's becoming a more and more widely held view: that the top retailing space on the Internet is going to increasingly resemble a real-world shopping strip, with names like Wal-Mart, Nordstrom's, Macy's, Best Buy, and Toys "R" Us anchoring cyber-commerce, and a few Amazons and eBays thrown in. This view also takes on the myth of the first-mover advantage. As e-commerce evolves, the idea that the pioneers on the Web are the certain winners, while it may hold true in a few cases, is being shaken by the broader view that their lack of a real-world presence will increasingly put the dot-coms at a disadvantage.
The reason: Despite the fumbling early Internet efforts of many of the established retailers, they've amassed significant benefits from their decades of storefront existence that are critical to success on the Web. Among these benefits are well-tuned just-in-time distribution systems and other logistics expertise; long-held relationships with suppliers; widely known brands; huge amounts of cash for marketing, inventory, and technology development; a thorough knowledge of their business lines and what customers want; and Web and real-world cross-selling opportunities.
"These retailers own the customers already," says Steve Weinstein, a retail analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore. "People say they hate Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us, but that's to the tune of $132 billion and $11 billion of annual hatred respectively. Any online company would love to have this kind of a customer base."
What established retailers have lacked is a sense of urgency about the Web, which has allowed online startups to nab the lion's share of the initial e-business and publicity. And that's been deadly: The Internet is speeding up the need to constantly reinvent the business model and also exposing successful companies that have lost their edge because they rested on their laurels too long. "There's no bigger reason for failure than success," says Clayton M. Christensen, associate professor at the Harvard Business School and author of The Innovator's Dilemma.
In most cases, e-commerce resistance on the part of traditional retailers comes from a paralyzing but unfounded fear that a Web presence — with its impulse buying and constant price wars — would cannibalize real-world business, cutting into sales and commissions and upsetting the old-line retailing talent running its stores.
The painful outcome of that argument has become all too clear. Take the case of Barnes & Noble Inc. Ceding the Internet to Amazon.com for nearly four years hasn't hurt Barnes & Noble's store sales at all; they're still rising a healthy 9 percent a year. But it has put its latecomer Web venture, barnesandnoble.com LLC, in a position where it can't catch up to Amazon.com Inc., no matter how hard it tries. During the last quarter, barnesandnoble.com's market share of online book sales dropped about a percentage point to 16.7 percent, while Amazon.com's rose to about 62 percent, a more than 5 percent increase, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
In short, the notion of cannibalization is a flawed excuse for shying away from the unknown, and missing the chance to capitalize on a potentially lucrative business transformation. As the Barnes & Noble example shows, a Web business doesn't have to hurt real-world sales, especially if a retailer's stores offer good prices on a large selection in a pleasant atmosphere. Furthermore, it's likely that much of the business Web retailers are attracting, especially in a thriving economy, is actually made up of new customers — people who prefer the Web to a store or who unexpectedly find something to purchase while browsing the Net. In the end, they add to overall retail sales.
For many established retailers, the fear of repeating Barnes & Noble's mistake — specifically, forfeiting opportunities because they were too hesitant — is beginning to eliminate fear of the Internet. "The inevitability of the Internet as a place to be is setting in among retailers," says retail industry watcher Kurt Barnard, publisher of Barnard's Retail Trend Report. "They once thought they had a choice or could somehow escape e-commerce, but that idea is obsolete."
Toys "R" Us had to hit rock bottom before its management understood this, though. Last April, after a dismal 1998 in which it handed off its position as the No. 1 toy seller to Wal-Mart and then posted a net loss of $132 million in January 1999 (see Exhibit 1), then-Toys "R" Us-CEO Robert C. Nakasone signed an agreement with Benchmark Capital, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, to team up in creating the Toys "R" Us Web site. Benchmark, which funded eBay Inc. and more recently the Michael Jordan, John Elway, and Wayne Gretzky startup MVP.com, and which was investing $10 million in Toysrus.com, thought it was supposed to recruit a management team with e-commerce experience that would set the business up as an independent operation in Northern California.
In theory, that was Toys "R" Us's view as well, but neither Mr. Nakasone nor Chairman Michael Goldstein was willing to follow through. Typical of the stop-and-go effort was a meeting in May between the top brass at Toys "R" Us and A. Robert Moog, a Silicon Valley toy executive and a Benchmark associate who had taken the job as CEO of Toysrus.com. Mr. Moog laid out a plan to cut toy prices on the Web site below even Toys "R" Us store prices, as well as those offered by eToys and other competitors. Perhaps, Mr. Moog thought, this would put online rivals in a difficult financial position that would undermine their ability to ramp up inventory and marketing for Christmas. That, in turn, would give Toysrus.com the edge with online holiday shoppers.
But Toys "R" Us executives shut Mr. Moog down, refusing to do anything that might undercut their stores and anger retail managers. "They kept talking about what they've done in the past and how only that will make them successful in the future. And that meant, in other words, focusing only on the stores, even though they weren't doing very well anymore," says Mr. Moog, who today heads two puzzle companies he founded, University Games Inc. and areyougame.com. "They definitely were not willing to look at new paradigms for doing business."
Toys "R" Us also, as it turns out, wasn't interested in looking for new California office space for Toysrus.com, and flinched at giving Benchmark too big a stake or too much decision-making power. "If they want the magic of a Silicon Valley startup, traditional companies have to let the teenagers go to college; they have to let an independent operation be free to move away, use the name and brand, and create something out of it. But Toys 'R' Us was clearly not ready for this," says Robert C. Kagle, a general partner at Benchmark, which is no longer involved with Toysrus.com.
In fact, soon after this meeting, Mr. Moog quit; by August, the Benchmark deal unraveled. That left Mr. Nakasone, who had boasted that Toys "R" Us would become "the clear leader in the online retail market for toys and children's products by fourth quarter," with egg on his face and a lot of explaining to do to investors and the press.
Actually, the initial inability of Toys "R" Us to puzzle out the Web and to grasp how influential e-commerce would be should not have come as a surprise. After all, it was the second business transformation Toys "R" Us failed to respond to quickly enough. And the same root causes were responsible for both missteps.
At the heart of a retail dislocation when it first opened its doors in the late 1970s, Toys "R" Us was once a retailing revolutionary. But in later years, it forgot what had made it so noteworthy, as management quit taking chances and got so drunk on early success that it lost the focus to revisit and rewrite its basic business model to reflect changes in the retailing environment. In other words, Toys "R" Us stopped evolving its brand.
That's a sad reflection on a company that pioneered the category-killer concept when Charles Lazarus founded the chain in 1978. The idea at that time was to adapt the broad discounter model of Wal-Mart and the Kmart Corporation to a focused product line. These category killers, which eventually included Best Buy, Circuit City, Barnes & Noble, and Tower Records, among many others, relied on just-in-time logistics systems and vast amounts of customer data and buying power to offer a huge number of items at the lowest prices. Although margins were low, profitability was assured by turning over the inventory as many as five times a year.
Mr. Lazarus was able to keep Toys "R" Us a step ahead of imitators like Child World, but when he left the CEO slot in 1994 at the age of 69, the company began a slow downhill slide. His successor, longtime associate Mr. Goldstein, "just didn't have the instincts that Lazarus did and that every visionary does," a retailing analyst close to Toys "R" Us says. "Missing was that ability to anticipate what's changing around you and to immediately know the right reaction."
By that time, Toys "R" Us was facing two threats. One was that discounters like Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target had added toys to their product mix. Today, more than 40 percent of toys are sold through discount stores, and only 23 percent at toy chains. And while their selections aren't expansive, these discount stores generally charge less and offer a more comfortable customer experience than Toys "R" Us, whose stores have aged badly, are poorly designed, and aren't known for knowledgeable salespeople. The second threat that emerged was a new breed of toy stores stressing educational and creative products — retailers like Imaginarium, Store of Knowledge, and Zany Brainy. Their price tags are higher, but they have excellent customer service and items that Toys "R" Us usually doesn't carry.
Mr. Goldstein, and his successor, Mr. Nakasone, who became CEO in 1998, reacted to these developments in all the wrong ways. To fight off the education-minded upstarts, in 1996, Toys "R" Us launched Concept 2000, an expensive plan to revamp its stores with a more open, less maze-like design and to add some higher-end products as well as features like photography studios, hair salons, and snack centers. After overhauling about 10 percent of its more than 1,500 stores, Toys "R" Us scrapped Concept 2000; it didn't attract enough additional customers to make up for the cost.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and its ilk tapped a vein with customers, mainly because just as these stores entered the toy market, Toys "R" Us was completely losing touch with kids' changing tastes. "The problem was they took their advertising slogan, 'I want to be a Toys "R" Us kid,' too seriously; fewer and fewer kids actually felt that way," says Forrester's Ms. Williams.
While the discounters stocked up on videos, computer games, interactive toys, and anything electronic early on, Toys "R" Us mostly ignored this trend until the late 1990s. At the same time, the retailer made mistakes like ordering an additional 150,000 Holiday Barbies in mid-December 1997. When January rolled around, Toys "R" Us still had about 153,000 Barbies left.
"There was an institutional hubris, a whistling-past-the-graveyard mentality," says one Toys "R" Us insider, who recalls a meeting of top executives led by then-CEO Mr. Goldstein around the time of the Holiday Barbie fiasco. When questioned about the expensive inventory and Concept 2000 mistakes and how the company was going to get back on track, Mr. Goldstein refused to admit to the recent failures; instead, he said abruptly: "If we build it, they'll come; if we offer it, they'll buy it."
It's unlikely that Toys "R" Us could have done much about Wal-Mart's incursion into its business, retail analyst Kurt Barnard says, but the company could at least have prevented some of the erosion had it simply kept doing what it did under Mr. Lazarus: adapting and improving the brand to respond to new conditions while retaining the positive values that customers identified with the retailer. That would have meant incrementally updating the stores, improving customer service, adding to the product mix with items that could be sold at its traditional low prices, anticipating the next hot toys, and promoting those toys heavily with special offers.
The toll of lagging behind in this pre-Internet business transformation was significant. By the end of the decade, the company's market share had slipped from 25 percent in 1990 to 15.6 percent in 1999, 1.8 percentage points behind Wal-Mart, which had barely had any toys on its shelves 10 years earlier. Just as badly, Toys "R" Us's annual inventory turnover had dropped to 2.6 in 1999, compared to 3.8 for the toy and hobby retailing industry and Wal-Mart's 5.5. And to make matters worse, toy sales have been sluggish since the mid-1990s, rising an average of only about 5 percent per year. (See Exhibit 2.)With these problems already hanging over Toys "R" Us last year, the Web meltdown was the last thing the retailer needed. It was a sure sign that something was woefully wrong at the company. Nothing it was doing was working. Investors got this message all too clearly. Soon after Mr. Moog quit as head of Toysrus.com last June, the stock tumbled from about $25 per share to below $15 in August, when the Benchmark deal broke down. The board of Toys "R" Us had seen enough; Mr. Nakasone was fired as CEO. Former CEO Mr. Goldstein was reinstated, but not for long. In January 2000, FAO Schwarz CEO John Eyler got the post.
The executive revolving door shook up Toys "R" Us — and, as most retail analysts see it, created a turning point. Gone was any notion of invincibility or the arrogant view that the company's destiny was nothing but rose-colored. In short, Toys "R" Us finally came to recognize that its world had changed, and it had to change, too.
The company's suddenly altered state was what convinced John Barbour to take the job to run Toysrus.com last summer, people who know him say. "I don't think he would have gone there had they not told him they were committed to e-commerce as an independent operation and one that was crucial for Toys 'R' Us's future," says a toy industry expert who spoke with Mr. Barbour at the time of his hiring. "He's got an entrepreneurial streak that fits perfectly with the new attitude at the company."
Mr. Barbour showed that trait as the founder of OddzOn Products Inc., the maker of Koosh balls, among other novelty items. Hasbro Inc. eventually bought OddzOn, and Mr. Barbour continued to run the unit as a separate part of the overall business, even with its own Web site.
Publicly, Mr. Barbour has been vague about his plans for Toysrus.com, and he declined to be interviewed for this article. But his discussions with analysts and e-commerce experts, as well as some of the initiatives announced so far, reveal a lot about his strategy. Perhaps most importantly, they've made former critics actually bullish about Toysrus.com's prospects. "Toysrus.com has strong enough assets that now that it's finally found religion, it should be one of a small number of long-term winners in Internet toy retailing," says Benchmark's Mr. Kagle.
Two moves since last summer set the tone for how much Toys "R" Us has changed its attitude toward e-commerce. In November 1999, Toysrus.com announced a two-year agreement with America Online to become the anchor store of AOL's "Kids, Toys, and Babies" mall. As part of the agreement, which analysts estimate will cost Toysrus.com upward of $5 million, the retailer says it will offer sales promotions with prices below those of real-world stores — one of the very strategies rejected at the May 1999 meeting in Silicon Valley.
Just as big a turnabout is Toysrus.com's new relationship with the Japanese venture capitalist Softbank Corp., a large stakeholder in Yahoo and E-Trade, among others. Although Toys "R" Us resisted Benchmark's request for about 10 percent of the online unit last year because it didn't want to cede that much control, Toysrus.com signed an agreement in February that gave Softbank 20 percent of the operation for $57 million, as well as a prominent place on the board and consulting responsibilities. The premium attached to Toysrus.com's brand and experience is reflected in that deal; by contrast, in 1996, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Idealab took a 15 percent stake in eToys, and became its biggest backer for just $91,600.
Mr. Barbour has told associates that this is a prelude to taking Toysrus.com public, perhaps as soon as this summer. Based on the valuation of the Softbank investment, this offering could generate anywhere from $100 million to $200 million, possibly more, depending on how large a stake the parent company keeps. After the IPO, it's likely that Toysrus.com will move to Silicon Valley. When all of this happens, to placate the company's traditional retailers on the East Coast, options and shares in the new venture are expected to be given to executives overseeing the real-world stores.
The most visionary part of Mr. Barbour's plan — and the one that excites analysts the most — is the way he wants to use the retailer's huge bricks-and-mortar advantages to trump its online competition. Chiefly, Mr. Barbour intends to merge the enormous warehouse and logistics systems that Toys "R" Us already has with new overnight distribution sites to be built around the country. In this way, Toysrus.com, with its infinite "shelf" space, will have a much larger inventory than the physical stores, which, as even 10-year-old Luke Armour figured out, is what people expect on the Web. Additionally, this setup will ensure that Toysrus.com has vastly more items than anyone else online, and it can use its already existing volume-buying relationships with suppliers to get the best prices and on-time inventory replenishment.
On top of this, Mr. Barbour intends to use the busy in-store traffic to move more business to the Internet. Kiosks throughout the stores will let people access Toysrus.com and order items that are out of stock or unavailable in the retail locations. This is a model that has worked well for any number of retailers in other industries. There will also be Web promotions such as coupons at the cash register that offer discounts on Internet purchases.
But perhaps the biggest advantage of an established company that Mr. Barbour hopes to tap into is the parent company's deep pockets. Even with its troubles, Toys "R" Us had nearly $1 billion in cash flow in fiscal 1999. By dipping into this money, as well as using proceeds from the impending IPO, Toysrus.com could put on an advertising blitz and a marketing campaign aimed at the gargantuan Toys "R" Us mailing list that would dwarf anything the online competition could muster.
"They have brand, money, customers, and systems; it's a shame it took them this long to realize that the same business advantages that work in the real world — that they took so much pride in — are just as important, if not more important, on the Web," says Mr. Moog. (See "Playing the E Game" at the end of this article.)
Optimism about Toysrus.com is particularly strong because eToys, its chief online rival, is remarkably weak competition. Unlike the significant head start in books that Amazon.com had when Barnes & Noble belatedly launched its e-commerce venture, the two-and-a-half-year-old eToys has barely made a dent in the toy market: Its sales last year represented about 0.5 percent of the $23 billion U.S. toy market, compared to the roughly 4 percent share that Amazon.com enjoys in the $13 billion book market.
Although eToys has put a lot of money into building a big inventory, it's woefully underfunded and understaffed for a sustained battle of the shelves against Toysrus.com — a vulnerability that could hurt eToys badly, because as a retail sector, toys depend for survival on fully stocked inventories of the most popular products anticipated.
As of the beginning of this year — and after selling $150 million of convertible bonds in December — eToys had about $220 million on hand. That may not cover expenses much past the next 12 months. As it is, eToys had $144 million in operating losses in the nine months ended December 31, 1999, and in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it warned, "We anticipate our losses will increase significantly from current levels because we expect to incur additional costs and expenses." Highlighted expenses include brand development, marketing, inventory management systems, the expansion of warehouses and distribution operations, more product offerings, and the development of relationships with suppliers. Many of these, of course, are areas where Toysrus.com's parent already has a distinct lead.
Furthermore, eToys won't be able to rely on using its stock as currency for expansion or as a means of raising more money. It has had a disappointing Internet stock history. After going public last May at $20 per share, it traded as high as $86 in October before tumbling to about $15 by February, even as the Nasdaq continued to soar. The shares could drop even lower; the stock is being diluted by, among other things, an increasing number of options being granted to employees as compensation for the falling stock price. Making matters worse, insiders, obviously frightened by the falling value of their investment, have filed to pour 13 million of their shares onto the market. Among them is Idealab, which filed last November to sell more than 13 percent of its 15 million shares.
Some industry observers don't even expect eToys to remain a direct rival of Toysrus.com for much longer. The more likely scenario, they say, is for eToys to become an "e-kids" portal — a one-stop-shopping source with parenting information, toy ideas, pediatric health and pregnancy advice, and wholesome children's content. With this approach, some believe eToys could develop multiple revenue streams, including advertising and subscriptions as well as transactions.
Whether it remains a separate e-commerce site or morphs into a portal, eToys may not stay independent. With its stock price so weak, its market capitalization is only $1.8 billion, a low figure considering that it's the top toy seller on the Web. That could make it a takeover candidate for giant retailers with much bigger market caps, like Kmart, Wal-Mart, or Target, which already sell toys in their real-world stores and are expanding those operations onto the Web.
Consolidated Stores, which owns KB Toys, already hinted at this approach for established real-world retailers when it paid $80 million for Internet toy site BrainPlay.com last year and relaunched it as KBkids.com. "It's likely that the aggressive bricks-and-mortar companies will do more of this — especially picking off low-hanging fruit," says Forrester's Ms. Williams.
What can we learn from the tale of Toysrus.com? If it closes with the happy ending (happy for Toys "R" Us, anyway) that most e-commerce and industry observers expect, we learn above all how difficult it is for companies born on the Web to maintain their lead in the way Amazon.com has. In retailing, so much of the customer relationship and customer satisfaction depends on giving people a place to return items, a person to talk to about products, and individual attention. It's possible to recreate this on the Net, by making an e-commerce site into a personalized, virtual community, but as the balance sheets of Amazon.com, Yahoo, and E-Trade show, it's an expensive way to lure customers.
That, combined with the incredibly complex logistics involved in keeping inventory stocked and shipments flowing to customers quickly and efficiently, makes cutting costs associated with customer acquisition and attraction even more important. For that reason, retail experts increasingly feel that the hybrid approach — stores that promote Web sites and Web sites that drive people to stores — is the one that will be the most lucrative and the model used by the eventual Internet retailing top guns.
Toys "R" Us finally seems ready to take the Web plunge after learning that even in the world of toys, where so much is left to the imagination, the shopping experience can't be.
Playing the E Game: Six Rules Toys "R" Us Learned
1. Established retailers have significant advantages that are crucial for Web success: just-in-time distribution systems; logistics expertise; relationships with suppliers; a well-known brand; cash flow for marketing and inventory; and cross-selling opportunities.
2. Cannibalization's dangers are overstated. A thriving Web business doesn't have to hurt real-world sales and instead can attract additional revenue from existing and new customers.
3. Retailers constantly have to reinvent their business model to respond to change but retain the core values that customers identify with the brand.
4. While cross-pollination is important between the online and offline operations, "e" units of retailers should be independent, usually with their own management at separate locations, so they can be free to extend the brand and not be held back by traditional retailing ideas.
5. To encourage support from management of traditional units in Web operations, top executives from the store side of the business should be given options in the new venture.
6. It's critical not to shrink from sharing equity and control with a venture partner in exchange for the partner's expertise in e-tailing.
Reprint No. 00208
Jeffrey Rothfeder, email@example.com Jeffrey Rothfeder writes frequently for strategy+business and other leading business publications. His most recent book is Every Drop for Sale: Our Desperate Battle Over Water in a World About to Run Out (Penguin Putnam Inc., Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2001). |


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TechRadar Verdict
- +
Good stability in a lightweight 2kg package
- +
Centre column can be split as well as inverted for low-level shooting
- +
Three-position, multi-angle legs
- -
Maximum height isn't particularly generous at 166cm
- -
No comfort padding on legs
- -
No tension adjustment in clip locks or grub screws in centre-column platform
Why you can trust TechRadar
Not everybody wants fancy tripod frills such as a pivoting centre column for easy macro and ultra-wide-angle shooting. With its pared down feature set, the modest and retro-styled Velbon Sherpa 600R is a complete tripod and head kit based on sturdy aluminium legs.
More importantly, it's only about half the price of most feature-frenzied competitors, available for about £85 if you shop around to beat its £140 RRP.
The somewhat basic feature set of the Velbon Sherpa 600R is remarkably similar to the Slik Pro 500DX Complete tripod kit, also distributed in the UK by Intro 2020.
One notable difference is that the Velbon is 0.6kg lighter, weighing in at a travel-friendly 2kg. Despite this, its maximum load rating is only 0.5kg less, at 4kg, offering substantial support even for heavy DSLR and camera lens combinations.
At 63cm when folded, the Velbon is refreshingly small for carrying around yet, despite having three rather than four leg sections, it still attains a maximum height of 166cm with the centre column fully extended.
The legs appear to be a bit on the thin side but they nevertheless have fairly typical diameters of 26mm, 23mm and 20mm. The main reason they don't look chunkier is that the upper sections have no comfort padding.
The relatively light weight of the tripod means they're still comfortable to carry around most of the time, but holding onto cold metal is no fun in winter time.
There are three alternative leg angles on offer and the centre column can be split as well as inverted for low-level shooting. By splitting the tripod's column, you can shoot down to a height of 26cm, or right down to ground level if you invert the column and shoot with the camera upside down.
The three-way head is a slight twist on conventional design, having only one locking arm for both pan and tilt adjustments.


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Specific provisions apply if you use our WRPM remote tracking solution with the Health Mate app.
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Reference: services-terms-and-conditions/20230126
Updated on 26 Jan 2023.
版本: 26 Jan 2023 , 09 Mar 2020 , 12 Sep 2018 , 20 Jun 2017 .
on your first order by registering
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Candidates looking for a brighter career can find better jobs for themselves on Ncrjobs.in. Candidates with Bachelor/Masters degree and BSc degree have more job opportunities in Noida.


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Frequency Response Estimation
Frequency response describes the steady-state response of a system to sinusoidal inputs. Simulink Control Design™ lets you estimate the frequency response of a system modeled in Simulink (offline estimation). You can perform offline estimation using Model Linearizer or at the command line.
Online estimation lets you deploy an embedded estimation algorithm as a standalone application for real-time estimation of a physical plant.
The result of frequency response estimation is a frequency response model, stored
as an frd
model object. You can use this model for tasks such
as linear analysis, controller design, or identification of a parametric model. For
more information about the types of frequency response estimation and available
tools, see Frequency Response Estimation Basics.
- Offline Frequency Response Estimation
Estimate frequency response, examine frequency-domain characteristics, validate linearization of Simulink model
- Online Frequency Response Estimation
Real-time estimation of frequency response of physical plant


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TAVARUA, Fiji (Friday, June 17, 2016) – Gabriel Medina (BRA), 2014 WSL Champion, claimed an emphatic victory today at the Fiji Pro, besting current Jeep WSL Frontrunner Matt Wilkinson (AUS) in solid 10-to-12 foot (3 - 3.5 metre) surf at the world-renowned Cloudbreak. Stop No. 5 of 11 on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour, the Fiji Pro, culminated in dramatic fashion today with the remaining members of the world's best surfers battling one another in the largest surf of the year.
Following a slow start, with both Finalists finding themselves out of position in the building swell, Medina struck with two back-to-back scores for impeccably-navigated tube rides, posting a 7.33 and a 8.27 to place Wilkinson into a combination situation. The Australian was unable to find a rhythm in the challenging conditions and Medina posted his first elite tour win since last October.
"It feels amazing and I am so stoked," Medina said. "I just want to thank God and my family. That was a crazy week. We have been waiting for these waves and they finally came through. They were big and we got so many sets on the head. We got a lot of barrels and it was a sick event. I am just so happy."
Today's victory rockets the Brazilian to second on the WSL Jeep Leaderboard heading into the back half of the season.
"I am really tired right now, but I was saving my energy for the Final because I knew it would be tough," continued Medina. "Wilko (Matt Wilkinson) has been surfing amazing since the first event and I do not know who can stop this guy. This is his third final of the year and I am really happy to make this final against him."
Today's second place finish strengthens Wilkinson's lead on the WSL Jeep Rankings and the Australian will retain the Leaders' Jersey heading into the J-Bay Open with a commanding 32,500 points. The Fiji Pro marks Wilkinson's third Finals appearance in 2016, after his back-to-back wins on the Gold Coast and at Bells Beach.
"I am really stoked with second," Wilkinson said. "If I came here knowing I would get a second, I would have been absolutely frothing. That Final was just so tough. It was disappointing not to get a big barrel when there were some to be had out there, but I just had twenty sets on the head and one barrel that I got caught in. Gabriel (Medina) was unbelievable out there. It is halfway through the year and I could not have dreamed of a better start. Everyone is obviously going to be coming for me, so it is definitely not time to let off on the accelerator. I am going to go into J-Bay as focused and ready as I can."
Adrian Buchan (AUS) defeated three-time WSL Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) in the Quarterfinals before being eliminated by Wilkinson in the Semifinals. Buchan's 3rd place finish is his best result in 2016 and his first Semifinal berth since Jeffreys Bay in 2015. Buchan was previously in 15th place on the Jeep Leaderboard and will now move to 7th.
"I'm pretty gutted right now," Buchan said. "I spent the whole heat duck diving washed through sets. I fought back with that 7.8 midway through the heat and I just couldn't get deep enough on that 4.1. I spent the last six minutes dodging wash-throughs again. That was frustrating, but you can't get mad at the ocean. I've been pretty in rhythm all event and that heat I was completely out of rhythm. It was amazing to surf a heat against Matt (Wilkinson), but it just hurts when you are in rhythm and you have a heat like that."
Fanning's Quarterfinal berth earns him a fifth-place finish and sees him move to 16th place on the Jeep Leaderboard.
"It's been an incredible event," Fanning said. "Celebrating Taj's final CT appearance, having a birthday, ending in pumping surf and just having a great time has made it a really special event. I appreciate all the support I've had throughout the window and will see everyone in Jeffreys Bay."
Today's Semifinal berth for Kelly Slater (USA) marks a great result for the 11-time WSL Champion, and his first Semifinal since Jeffreys Bay in 2015, after his worst ever start on the Championship Tour. During the match-up, Slater exchanged strong opening rides with Media, but the Brazilian got the edge with an excellent 8.40 over Slater's 6.50. As sets rolled in, Medina continued to increase his lead with a 6.27. In the dying minutes of the heat, one last opportunity came through for Slater, but Medina utilized his priority to block the four-time event winner. En route to the Semifinal, Slater unleashed incredible performances including a near perfect 19.77, the highest heat total of the event. Slater will leave Fiji with a 3rd place finish and move up to 26th place on the Jeep Leaderboard.
"I am happy because I surfed well in this contest," Slater said. "I feel like I finally got the computer working in my brain again, but I caught a couple of viruses in that heat. I probably got a little ahead of myself. I might have gotten a little too excited from the last heat and a couple of heats before that. You just have to focus on the job at hand. Gabriel (Medina) picked it right and played the heat the right way. I had my chances and made three or four mistakes. I am looking forward to J-Bay."
Slater previously dispatched Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) in the Quarterfinals with an excellent 18.70 two-wave heat total.
John John Florence (HAW) battled eventual runner-up Wilkinson in Quarterfinal 4 but wasn't able to take down the Australian and takes home a 5th place finish. Florence secured a solid 6.50 on his opening ride, but Wilkinson quickly captured the lead with a 7.73 and 6.90. Florence, with a 10.93 heat score, was not able to close the 8.13 point gap against Wilkinson. Florence remains in third place on the Jeep Rankings.
"The waves are really good right now and I just did not pick the best waves," Florence said. "I had that one at the end but I was a couple feet too deep. This result is not too bad, it is still a keeper and it's only halfway through the year. I am pretty excited for J-Bay. All in all, I am pretty stoked. I had some really great waves in Fiji."
Adriano de Souza (BRA) was dispatched by Medina in the opening Quarterfinal. Medina locked in multiple maneuvers to earn a 6.33 to take control. De Souza battled with a 5.83, but could not find a strong enough back-up score to defeat Medina. Medina scored a 4.53 to gain a 2.03 point lead to eliminate the reigning World Champion from the event. De Souza will walk away with a 5th place finish and 5th on the Jeep Rankings.
"It was a tough day out there for me," De Souza said. "I got so many waves on my head and a broken board. Gabriel (Medina) has so many skills and he is so smart and picked the right waves. Right at the end one wave came through. Needing a 5, I tried to get deeper and then that cost me to not make it through the last wave. I am just happy to be in the Quarters, as it is a good result when looking at the full year. Now I am focusing on J-Bay. Before that I will stay here another week and get more barrels."
The next stop on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour will be the J-Bay Open in South Africa from July 6 - 17, 2016.
Fiji Pro Final Results:
1 - Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.60
2 - Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 6.34
Fiji Pro Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.67 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 12.03
SF 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.33 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.00
Fiji Pro Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 10.86 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 8.83
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.70 def. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 9.40
QF 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.60 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.40
QF 4: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.63 def. John John Florence (HAW) 10.93
WSL Jeep Leaderboard Top 5 (after Fiji Pro):
Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 32,500 pts
Gabriel Medina (BRA) 24,000 pts
John John Florence (HAW) 23,900 pts
Italo Ferreira (BRA) 20,500 pts
Adriano de Souza (BRA) 20,400 pts


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Join Our Team
Why Us?
For You & Us
We're consistently named a Top Lender and a Best Places to Work, not only at corporate but at the local level as well. We have had an impeccable reputation of being the Best Mortgage Banking Company in America, and our Associates, our Customers, our Market Share, and our Productivity ALL confirm that we are.
Empowering You
We empower our network of branches, from Marketing to Operations, our efforts are focused on helping our branches succeed and grow. We are more horizontally structured and focus our efforts on helping our many unique branches in their individual markets.
Local Decisions
At Supreme Lending, there are no layers between Branch Managers and Senior Leadership. This means our Branch Managers are able to run their businesses the way THEY need to in order to thrive in THEIR local markets.
Empowering You
We're consistently named a Top Lender and a Best Places to Work, not only at corporate but at the local level as well. We have had an impeccable reputation of being the Best Mortgage Banking Company in America, and our Associates, our Customers, our Market Share, and our Productivity ALL confirm that we are.
Our Awards
We recognize You
From being the recipient of multiple Best Places to Work awards in many of our markets to seeing our President's Club top-producers increase their overall volume by 31% in the past year, we wholeheartedly believe in investing in our team.
President's Club
We reward our top loan officers and operations associates for achieving high-level production each year with an all-inclusive, all-expense paid trip to a 5-star resort. Previous destinations have included: The Bahamas, Riviera Maya, San Jose del Cabo, and Cancun.
Sales Rally
We host a 3-day event annually that is open to all branch associates focused on personal and professional development. The event includes time for fun and networking as well as nationally renowned speakers and peer-to-peer forums.
Autonomy & Management Structure
We've freed our Originators
We've freed our Originators, removed the layers between them and Senior Leadership, and have given them the freedom to run their business the way it makes sense for them and their local markets.
Why do we do this? We understand that what works for one Branch, might not cut it for another. That is why at Supreme:
- Our Price Exceptions are handled at the local level rather than a regional or area level
We also have Branch Support and dedicated Loan Officer Recruiters, so even with all of the liberty to choose, our Branches are never left unsupported.
By The Numbers
Fund on Time
Days Clear to Close
Customer Satisfaction
Data is based on company-wide performance as of 11-30-2020.
Accountable & Efficient
At every step in the home loan process is viewed as an instrumental piece within a successful mortgage experience. Providing unparalleled support to associates and remaining accountable to efficient processes continually puts us at the forefront of the industry's elite companies.
Customer Satisfaction
We Survey the Customer, Buyer's Agent and Seller's Agent
Real-Time Reporting
Keeps Loan Officers in constant communication with Operations. Leadership can uncover and resolve process issues quickly.
On Time Closings
97.11% Close On Time / Fund On Time National Average
How We Operate
Our Philosophy & Benefits
We have a strong and genuine belief in the " building customers for life" principal of doing business. It is what fuels our company. Referrals from previous customers and local real estate professionals have always delivered the majority of the Supreme's production.
We are a mortgage originator. We have built a level of trust with our investors, which translates into our ability to underwrite, close, and fund loans that investors will buy. For the consumer it means low interest rates and closing costs, with fast turnaround times.
A Look Inside our company
Past, Present, and Future…
See who we are, where we came from, how we think and how we work for you and your family.
Supreme Lending, one of the most respected Mortgage Bankers, was established in 1999 by Scott Everett. Having an extensive business and mortgage background, Mr. Everett has secured the respect of mortgage professionals and is committed to attracting not only the most professional loan officers but also the most cutting edge loan products.
Supreme continues to grow by adding branches, loan officers and support staff throughout the United States. With our ever expanding branch network and expert mortgage professionals, we take pride in offering our customers a wide variety of loan products and committed to helping them achieve their dream of home ownership.
Join Our Team!
Are You Ready To Grow With US?
Reach out to us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
By submitting this form you are granting permission to Supreme Lending to contact you by mail, email, phone, or text, even if you are on a corporate, state or national Do Not Call list.
Supreme Lending is an equal opportunity employer and does not practice discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, national origin, as well as any other rights afforded to applicants under state and federal law


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The youth of today enjoy much freedom when it comes to self-expression as compared to the old days when parents decide for their children even to the point of choosing their lifetime partners. Although some families remained conservative and traditional, the rest of society adapts to a fast-paced lifestyle where convention is out of the the rule and individuality is the name of the game.
In this sexually-permissive culture, it is important to consider what lies ahead for you and for your loved ones, and how you can protect each other from getting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD).
Awareness of sexual health issues is very important. More than just the absence of the disease or its dysfunction and infirmities, it is also a state of physical, emotional, psychological and social well-being with regards to one's sexuality. Addressing sexual health issues involves a complex web of factors such as attitude, behavior, genes, environment, and economy.
Sexual health also deals with problems such as STD, HIV, pregnancy, abortion, infertility, cancer, and a wide range of sexual dysfunctions. Those who are in a relationship must not automatically consider an infected partner as being unfaithful. One must learn to practice a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships and this can be achieved if the sexual rights of every individual is respected and protected.
Do not be deceived by mere appearances. Even the healthiest-looking person can be infected by STD. It's not easy to tell if the person beside you has STD, or other illnesses for that matter, just by the way that person looks and acts. There are STDs that do not show any obvious signs. Symptoms can be very subtle that the person infected may not even know it. It is very important that aside from your regular health check-up, you should also take special attention in knowing your own body especially when you are healthy. So that if any changes take place such as skin infections or sores, as well as any unusual discharge or pain while urinating, it will be easier for you to recognize these signs and symptoms because you already know how your body is like when healthy.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases are diseases caused by by viruses, bacteria and parasites, which can easily be transmitted through body contact during sex. There are at least 25 different sexually transmitted diseases which can be spread by sexual contact, including vaginal, anal and oral sex.
Sometimes, STD takes a long time to display any kind of symptoms. The following are some of the most common STD that affect sexually active individuals: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Bacterial Vaginosis, Crabs or Pubic Lice, Epididymitis, Genital Herpes, Genital Warts, Gut Infections, Hepatitis, Molluscum, Non-Specific Urethritis, Scabies, Syphilis, Thrush, Trichomonas Vaginosis, Balanitis.
Early detection and treatment of STD is very important to avoid serious infections that may lead to long-term or permanent damage. When left untreated, STD may cause infertility and can be passed on from a pregnant mother to her unborn child. Sexually Transmitted Diseases can be easily passed onto sexual partners and can aid in the transmission of HIV.
One of the surest way to avoid STD is by sexual abstinence. But you don't have to be chaste just to be free of this dreaded STD. The practice of safe sex can greatly help in minimizing risk from STD. Consult with your professional health care provider for advice on getting tested for STD and other sexual health concerns.


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Goa, October 14: Mellow showcased its range of products in Goa for the first time. It took part in a pop-up show titled A Steven Village by Shveta Salve and Pia Trivedi recently at W Hotel Goa. Apart from Mellow, the pop featured a line-up of exclusive hand-picked designer wear, a vast range of bags, jewellery, home decor, beauty and skincare from brands that aren't readily available in the state.
After the event, Vaishali Sharda, CEO of Mellow, said, "We were honoured to showcase our products to the people of Goa. There is a huge demand and interest in Ayurvedic and natural products. At Mellow, Ayurveda is at the heart of everything we do. We successfully exhibited our collection at Steven Village and offered our range of sustainable, Ayurvedic and luxury products at an affordable price under a single roof. There was a lot of inquiry and demand of Mellow products, especially for hair and body care products. We thank the people of Goa for welcoming us with open arms."
Since it is the festive season, Mellow showcased its must-have gift hampers at the event. Here are some of the must-have gift hampers from Mellow:
- Body Care Essentials – Priced at Rs. 1499/-
Mellow brings you a beautiful curation of hydrating body care products encased in a handmade wooden box. It is a perfect gifting idea for your loved ones who are looking to begin their journey of getting closer to nature with Ayurveda. This Diwali, add more joy to the celebration of your loved ones with Mellow's green sustainable gift box!
The Hamper includes:-
– SarsonUbtan 35g
– Green Apple Body Lotion 200ml
– Apricot Body Massage Oil 100ml
– Complementary – Mellow Sanitizer + Cotton Mask
Each product is available both as a standalone product and as a part of Body Care Essentials.
- Face care essentials – Priced at Rs. 1899/-
Mellow brings you a beautiful curation of its luxurious selection of face care essentials encased in a handmade wooden box. This box has the best selection of cleansing, exfoliating, masking, and moisturizing that everyone can enjoy. It is a perfect gifting idea for your loved ones to hydrate, rejuvenate and soothe their skin. This Diwali, glow from within and make heads turn with Mellow's green sustainable gift box!
– Marigold and Mint Face wash 100ml
– Anti Grease Scrub 120ml
– Glow Pack 50ml
– Anti Wrinkle Cream 50ml
– Lip Treatment 12g
– Complementary – Mellow Neem Comb+ Mellow Sanitizer + Cotton Mask
Each product is available both as a standalone product and as a part of Face Care Essentials.
- Everyday Essentials– Priced at Rs. 1299/-
What if you could gift the best selling Ayurvedic products to your loved ones? Now you can. Mellow brings you a beautiful curation of their bestselling everyday essential products encased in a unique handmade wooden box. This Diwali, come close to nature with the Mellow Everyday Essentials.
– Sesame and Hibiscus Hair Oil 100ml
– Berry Shampoo 100ml
– Marigold and Mint Face wash 100ml
– Lip Treatment 12g
Also included in this box are – Mellow Neem Comb + Mellow Sanitizer + Cotton Mask
Each product are available both as a standalone product and as a part of Face Care Essentials
About Mellow:
Mellow blends the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda with the care of mother nature. At its core, they believe in the ancient wisdom that the body is a temple and to nurture our body with pure and natural products is an act of gentleness, love, and kindness. Mellow brings together the best of Ayurveda and modern science. The result is best-in-class, purest, and premium Ayurvedic products for all. The journey of Mellow is Sujata Sharda's love for her young daughter that led her on a journey of discovery across Vaidyas (Ayurvedic doctors), botanists, herbal experts to find solutions to her daughter's hair problem. After many souls searching, she made the first Sesame hair oil- the hair elixir, which was an instant success! In 2008, Sujata Sharda laid the foundation of their first factory, and thus Mellow was born. It has been13 years since, and still, Mellow stands for artificial and chemical-free natural products till date. Apart from selling their products through their official website- mellow.co.in, they are also present on leading e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Smitten, and Qtrove. Their product range caters to all hair and skin care problems faced by all age groups.
Mellow continues to serve its customers through its natural product line inspired by Ayurveda. Their future plan includes taking the brands beyond India. They are planning to launch on Nykaa, Sublime Life, Vanity Wagon, Amazon US, and UAE. They are committed to making Ayurveda accessible for all by bringing the best, purest, and authentic Ayurvedic products to the world.
Find Mellow at:
Mellow Official Website: www.mellow.co.in
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mellow_herbals/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mellowherbals/


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Captive Genders 2nd Edition
Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex Second Edition
CeCe McDonald was unjustly incarcerated after fatally stabbing a transphobic attacker in 2011. She was released in 2014 after serving nineteen months for second-degree manslaughter.
"Captive Genders is an exciting assemblage of writings—analyses, manifestos, stories, interviews—that traverse the complicated entanglements of surveillance, policing, imprisonment, and the production of gender normativity. Focusing discerningly on the encounter of transpersons with the apparatuses that constitute the prison industrial complex, the contributors to this volume create new frameworks and new vocabularies that surely will have a transformative impact on the theories and practices of twenty-first century abolition."
—Angela Y. Davis, professor emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz
"The contributors to Captive Genders brilliantly shatter the assumption that the antidote to danger is human sacrifice. In other words, for these thinkers: where life is precious life is precious."
—Ruth Wilson Gilmore, author of Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California
"Captive Genders is at once a scathing and necessary analysis of the prison industrial complex and a history of queer resistance to state tyranny. By analyzing the root causes of anti-queer and anti-trans violence, this book exposes the brutality of state control over queer/trans bodies inside and outside prison walls, and proposes an analytical framework for undoing not just the prison system, but its mechanisms of surveillance, dehumanization and containment.
—Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, author of Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?
Captive Genders was the first book of its kind. It remains the touchstone for studies of trans and gender-queer people in prison. It has been revamped to appeal to recent broadened interest. With a new Foreword by CeCe MacDonald and essay by Chelsea Manning.
Eric A. Stanley is a radical queer activist, outlaw academic, experimental filmmaker.
Nat Smith is a member of Trans/gender Variant in Prison Committee and an organizer with Critical Resistance.
Additional information
Weight | 0.570000 kg |


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My Great Great Grandmother Bridget Brennan was aged 72 and lived with my great grandfather Thomas on Clawinch Island.
Patrick Brennan aged 60 lived in Fortwilliam with his wife Delia and his 6 children.
Mary Brennan, a widow, lived in Drumnee with her son and daughter.
Ellen Brennan, a widowed shopkeeper in Cullentragh lived with her brother John Connaughtin and her children Michael and Mary Brennan.
James Brennen, lived in Claras and his wife Mary and their daughters.
James Brennen, his brother John, and 2 children lived in Cornadowagh
By 1911, at the time of the next Census, great great grandmother Bridget has died and Thomas is living on the island with his wife Margaret and their children.
Patrick Brennan of Fortwilliam has also died and his wife Delia lives there with 3 of her children.
In Drumnee, Mary Brennan has died and her son James is now the head of the household and lives with his sister Kate.
Ellen Brennan of Cullentragh is still living with her brother and two children though she is now listed as head of the household.
In Claras, Mary Brennan the wife of James has died and he is living with his 4 daughters.
James Brennan of Cornadough continues to live with his 2 children and his brother John.


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Here are the details from Jar's Flickr page, which has several more photos:
On Thursday, August 19, 1976, at about 7:30 p.m., a tanker truck carrying liquid propane crashed over a guardrail on the I-69 entrance to northbound I-75 just south of the Miller Road exit in Flint Township, Michigan, and exploded. Police speculated that the propane truck driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
The propane truck driver, an auto haulaway truck driver, a Flint woman, and a mother and daughter from Grand Blanc, were seriously burned in the accident. As many as 25 other cars were burned, but none of their drivers required hospitalization.
The propane tanker hit a guardrail on the I-69 entrance ramp to northbound I-75, tumbled over it, and exploded. The rear portion of the tank was blown a quarter of a mile away. The truck cab and the driver were blown back to the I-69 entrance ramp to I-75, about 50 feet above the gully where the tanker exploded.


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Last year beermen.tv did a truly wild and wacky thing: they put on a breakfast and beer event. This year, it was tied to Good Beer Week and was bigger and badder than ever.
Ten beers were served up with five delectable courses. How did they manage to pull it off? It was great value too – $35 a head was a very reasonable price for so much on offer. Upon arrival, everyone was greeted with the Feral Brewery Golden Ale. I recalled that Brendan Varis, the head brewer was keen on Sorachi Ace hops so when I picked out lemony notes in the beer, I was chuffed to see that yes, the hop in question had been employed – such palate epiphanies are awe-inspiring. My palate is not that great and though it's slowly improving, it has a loooooong way to go. Good excuse for more beer imbibing? In any case, Golden Ace was quite a refreshing start to the day.
The next beer remains a bit of a personal fave – Bridge Road's chestnut pilsner. Though some may criticise, I actually like that it's so variable. The first time I had it, I couldn't taste any chestnut, but the last time I had before this, it was nothing but roasted chestnutty goodness. Autumn in a bottle. This time around, the chestnut was subtle and sweet and it felt less like a pilsner? It could be the first beer colouring my palate, admittedly.
Then the first course came out and all thoughts of beer dissipated: a smoked trout and lemon myrtle quiche. Fantastic match with the Feral but not too shabby with the chestnut pils either. It was great that they served us our beers, gave us one course between the beers and let our taste guide us to decide which beer matched what food best.
Our next duo of beers was the Red Hill Hop Harvest ale and the 8 Wired Hop Wired.
I'm a massive fan of both, but have to say that the Hop Harvest ale matched the veal sausages with caramelised onion beautifully – the beer really accentuated the caramelisation long after the sausages had been polished off! (note: I'm hoping it's veal – a few staff members serving didn't seem to be sure about what they were bringing out. A menu along the beer menu would've been awesome for us food blog wanksters)
I think the Hop Wired would have worked on fattier sangas – but that's just a guess. Half a sausage wasn't enough: take from that what you will…(I wanted two full ones, ha)
Next up, a beer that is an old friend, Holgate's Temptress, and a brand spanking new one, Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude – the latter causing quite a bit of dissension amongst the ranks: a fair few folks (brewing industry folk and 'regular' punters alike) had a a lot of trouble finishing their Rex Attitude because it was one smoky whatsit. Maybe I'm broken or just in want of more good whisky, but I freaking loved it.
Rex Attitude was my official number one beer for the breakfast, however neither Temptress or Rex suited the dish it was served with – steak and onion on bruschetta.
At this point of the breakfast, a bottle of Holgate's Empress (a limited release beer that is a divine jazzed up version of their Temptress) was auctioned off for Beyond Blue for the princely sum of three hundred and one dollars. Yea for socially conscious beer lovers *heart swells with pride*!
Dessert time! Darren Robinson of Doctor's Orders Brewing was on hand to take us through his creation to be served with one of the desserts – his Zephyr. I'm not sure that Doc's beer matched dessert but wow, it's summer in a glass. Imagine, stinking hot day, horrible day at work, go to the fridge and quench your thirst with a glass of this…almost makes me long for summer and I loathe summer!
Thankfully, we didn't have to travel through jungles in the Congo or listen to boring-arse stories by a dude on a boat – no horror whatsoever, just reach for the bottle of Murray's Heart of Darkness stout, thanks.
It's pictured by the side of the 'space beer' by 4 Pines, the Vostok Stout.
Greedily, I scoffed down my share of rhubarb and ANZAC crumble…
…before moving onto the chocolate sauce pancakes. I confess I cannot tell you which of the stouts were best suited to the pancakes because I was too busy stuffing my face.
There were also plenty on non-beery highlights. I absolutely adore this photo of my #beergirlrage mate Jenn and her glee at winning trivia:
Soon-to-be-leaving (pout) Mountain Goat head brewer Jayne Lewis wearing merch of the 'competition', so to speak (as you can gather from the photo, it's not really like that, is it?)
Mark of beermen.tv explaining how Damo lost a bet and ended up in a rather fetching costume. Details of the bet lost were not divulged…
Two punters consenting to a blind tasting – first of some evil cola soft drinky whatsit then the liquid that united us all.
And what happened to the jolly good sport who lost the beer taste-off…
But wait, that's not all! Clear out you bastards!
And enjoy your last beer, the Stone and Wood Pacific Ale (formerly draught ale) outdoors (Tristan insisted I use this photo. Sorry).
But be buoyed by Brendan Varis and Shandy never looking so damn happy in his life.
Beer Deluxe did an amazing job with the Hair of the Dog breakfast: the staff were phenomenal, always attentive, helpful and just damn hospitality ninjas. Thanks to all involved as it made for a cracking start to the weekend.


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cannabis consumption
Learn the 5 most commonly used ways patients ingest marihuana for medicinal purpose
There are many ways to ingest cannabis, and patients may find that one method is more effective than another for their specific needs. The effects often vary with each method, sometimes affecting the length of time it takes for the herbal medicine to take effect, or the length of time that it remains effective. Each patient should find which manner is best for them.
1. Smoking Cannabis
Historically, the most traditional form of ingestion is smoking the dried flowers or leaves of the cannabis plant. Hash and kief are also ingested this way. Cannabis can be smoked through a pipe, rolled into a joint (or cigarette), or smoked using a water pipe (bong).
For most patients, the effects of smoking dried cannabis are felt almost immediately, but soon begin to diminish. Depending on the individual patient, and the cannabinoid content and potency of the cannabis strain, effects wear off almost completely within 90 minutes to 4 hours. Regularly smoking any plant material, including marihuana for health reasons, can have a negative impact.
2. Vaporizing Cannabis
A vaporizer is a device that is able to extract the therapeutic ingredients in the cannabis plant material, called cannabinoids, at a much lower temperature than required for burning. This allows patients to inhale the active ingredients as a vapor instead of smoke, and spares them the irritating and harmful effects of smoking. Those patients who are used to "smoking" marihuana may not feel like they are "getting anything" at first because it does not "burn" the throat. It is advised to use caution and wait a few minutes to feel the full effects. Many patients say that half as much herbal medicine will provide twice the effect when vaporized.
3. Edible Cannabis
Cannabis can be infused into butter or oil that is then cooked in food. Edibles, as they are typically called, usually take longer to take effect than smoking or vaporizing, often 20 minutes to an hour or more. Doses can be difficult to judge, so it is recommended to eat only small portions of edible cannabis at a time, and wait at least an hour to assess its effects so you do not over-medicate. Edible herbal medicine will kick in significantly faster if eaten on an empty stomach. In general, the therapeutic effects from eating cannabis last much longer than other consumption methods, often up to four hours or more, and then slowly begin to wear off. Many patients report that this method provides more of a relaxing body effect than the cerebral high that is often accompanied with vaporizing and smoking.
4. Topical Cannabis
Topical herbal medicines are applied directly to the skin or muscles. They include lotions, salves, balms, sprays, oils, and creams. Some people report they are tremendously effective for skin conditions like psoriasis, joint diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, restless leg syndrome, some spasms, and everyday muscle stress and soreness. However, unlike smoking, vaporizing or eating the cannabis, topicals are completely non-psychoactive—you could take a bath in them, and never get high.
5. Tinctures (Cannabis Concentrate)
A tincture is a concentrated form of cannabis in an alcohol solution. Tinctures are highly concentrated and require careful dosage levels, starting out small and waiting to feel the effects before adding more. They can be taken under the tongue or mixed into water or other beverages.
Eating Cannabis for Cancer, Aids, Chronic Pain and Other Medical Conditions
Eating cannabis can be an excellent alternative to smoking, especially for patients who would like to use the herbal medicine but do not want to ingest smoke. Here is some information that you should be aware of and may find helpful. Many use edibles as a sleep aid, consuming about an hour before bedtime for a sounder sleep.
Food-based cannabis medicines affect patients differently than inhaled methods like smoking or vaporizing.
Eating too much cannabis can cause extreme drowsiness, dizziness, inability to concentrate, diminished ability to focus, rapid heartbeat, increases or decreases in blood pressure, need for sleep, and feelings of euphoria.
How can you ingest cannabis medicines safely?
Learn to manage your dosage effectively…
1. Begin with a ¼ of a "dose" or small portion of herbal medicine.
2. Wait for at least one hour and analyze the effects.
3. If necessary, consume another ¼ dose or small portion.
4. Wait for at least one more hour.
5. If necessary, consume part or all of the remaining herbal medicine.
Do not operate heavy machinery, motor vehicles, boats, or motorcycles while taking edible medication. Do not use if you are pregnant, nursing or caring for an infant. Be aware of your surroundings and possible hazards, and prepare for your needs before taking medication.
Remember: Edibles can vary greatly in potency. Products often contain multiple doses or lesser doses of medicine. Weight, metabolism, and eating habits can alter dosage effects. Eating cannabis on an empty stomach can intensify effects. Learn dosage management that works for you when ingesting herbal medicine.
If you feel you have eaten too much of a food-based herbal medicine, do not panic, your symptoms will subside within a few hours. Remain calm. Stay hydrated and eat food to help symptoms pass.
Edible cannabis is safe and will not cause any long-term toxicity.
California was the first state to ban marijuana 100 years ago


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Maths Busking, maths through street performance since 2010
What is Maths Busking?
Set up and directed by Dr Sara Santos, Maths Busking does mathematics through street performance since 2010.
Maths Busking seeks to engage audiences that would not normally seek mathematical knowledge in situations where mathematics is unexpected. It seeks to surprise and amuse street passers by with entertaining routines deep rooted in maths.
We do the maths for your amusement. You may get tied up, handcuffed or pentagon-ed into sharing pizza in mathematically precise slices.
Maths Busking works with schools, research institutions, the entertainment industry and the business world. Maths Busking is a service, a network and a school of communication.
Maths Busking works with schools, research institutions, community
projects, the entertainment industry and the business world.
More info here.