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The Porsche 911 Speedster Concept a 500 horsepower open-air thrill ride
Porsche unveiled a thrilling concept as part of the 70th anniversary of its sports cars: the 911 Speedster Concept is a drivable vision of a particularly exciting open-top sports car. It links the very first Porsche 356 "No. 1" Roadster, which received its operating permit on June 8, 1948, with today's Porsche cars. The purist concept and historically accurate execution of the 911 Speedster Concept clearly reflect the essence of the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer. All elements of the car emphasize a pure driving experience. The powertrain under the two-tone painted body of the concept is derived from current GT models. It was developed at the Porsche Motorsport Center in Weissach, which is the birthplace of the 911 GT3, the 911 GT2 RS and, most recently, the 911 GT3 RS. The 911 Speedster Concept celebrated its world premiere as part of the official "70 years of Porsche Sports Cars" anniversary celebration in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.
The characteristics of the 911 Speedster Concept include a shorter windshield frame with a greater windscreen angle and shorter side windows. These features give the concept an even more pronounced stance with a very low fly line, which is reminiscent of its predecessors, for example the Porsche 356 Speedster. A special rear decklid made of carbon fiber connects behind the front seats, covering supplemental safety bars and featuring two "streamliners", a traditional element of this sports car design since the first 911 Speedster was introduced in 1988. Two contrasting black slats between the "streamliners" add an aerodynamic touch, and a transparent Plexiglas™ wind deflector features an etched '70 years of Porsche' logo.
Like the historic original, the 911 Speedster Concept also features a lightweight tonneau cover in place of a convertible top. This cover protects the interior from rain when parked and is attached using eight Tenax™ fasteners. The Speedster philosophy also defines the interior, where the navigation, radio and air conditioning systems have all been removed to reduce weight. The Full Bucket Seats are made of carbon fiber, and light brown natural leather in Cognac picks up on features from the car's classic predecessors.
The body of the concept car was adopted from the 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet. The fenders, front trunk lid and the rear decklid cover of the concept are made of light-weight carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite material. Traditional GT Silver Metallic and White paintwork harks back to Porsche's early race cars – as do many of the other carefully crafted details, such as the 50s-style central fuel tank cap positioned in the front trunk lid, the classic Talbot® shape of the exterior mirrors or the unique design of the headlights. Transparent and opaque surfaces on the headlight covers resemble the shape of an "X" and are a nod to a practice prevalent in Porsche's early years in motorsport. At the time, the headlights were taped up before races to protect them against stone chipping and to prevent the glass from shattering. The wide B-pillars and the rear fascia are decorated with milled, gold-plated Speedster lettering.
Underneath the skin, the 911 Speedster Concept features state-of-the-art components. The chassis is essentially derived from the 911 GT3. Imposing 21-inch Fuchs-design rims with contrasting high gloss polished petals details are unique to the 911 Speedster Concept. It is the first time that Fuchs-design wheels have been fitted with center locks. The GT development department also supplies the exhaust system with titanium tailpipes and the powertrain, which includes a six-speed manual transmission. The naturally aspirated flat-six engine in this minimalist concept study delivers over 500 horsepower and revs up to 9,000 rpm.
The history of Porsche Speedster models began in the United States
Speedster variants of sports car models, which combine open-top driving pleasure with incredibly distinctive driving dynamics, have been part of the Porsche company history since 1952. The forefather of Porsche Speedster models, the 356 1500 America Roadster, had an aluminum body manufactured entirely by hand. It weighed about 130 pounds less than the 356 Coupe and its top track speed of 108 miles per hour with its 70-hp four-cylinder flat engine was impressive at the time. Featuring slot-in curtain windows for the doors, a folding top and lightweight bucket seats, this car developed exclusively for the US market was built just 16 times and already embodied several key elements of the Speedster design.
By 2010, eight different production and special models bearing the "Speedster" name had been created. The 356 A 1500 GS Carrera GT Speedster represented a highlight in 1957, and the first 911 Speedster followed in 1988. Limited to just 356 units worldwide, the 911 Speedster of the 997 generation built in 2010 was the latest model to be fitted with the famous designation.
"70 years of Porsche Sports Cars" – special exhibition and numerous activities
In a special exhibition at the Porsche Museum, the company is now showcasing numerous stories and milestones with which Porsche has decisively influenced the development of the sports car since 1948 and continues to do so today, highlighting outstanding Porsche developments over the past seven decades.
The sports car manufacturer is also celebrating this anniversary with numerous activities around the world throughout 2018. Tomorrow, June 9, Porsche will be inviting fans to its Sportscar Together Day at all of its sites around the world. During the weekend of June 16–17, the sports car manufacturer will host employees, residents of the Zuffenhausen district and prospective customers at a celebration in and around the factory in Stuttgart.
The Festival of Speed, held from July 12–15 at Goodwood in the U.K., will also celebrate the anniversary, as will Rennsport Reunion VI at the legendary Laguna Seca racetrack in California from September 27–30. The celebrations will conclude with the "Sound Night" event, which will be held for the first time in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart on October 13.
For additional information see www.porsche.com, for all your sales and services needs contact Porsche Chandler at (480) 994-9000
Porsche Chandler
1010 South Gilbert Road, Chandler, AZ 85286
(480) 994-9000, www.porschechandler.com


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Hoyt Corkins is one of those rare kinds of Poker Players who are highly involved in the research to make the nature of poker games far more interesting and easy to win all the time. This article provides the basic highlights of Hoyt Corkins who has been one of the most celebrated Poker Players of the world today.
Hoyt Corkins is a well known poker professional. He got the bracelet in 2007 World Series of Poker. Hoyt Hoyt Corkins was born in Glenwood. Glenwood is a town in Albama of the United States. This Professional Poker Player had started playing poker games when he was a younger boy of the age 19. He is soft spoken and he is very much aggressive in his style. He has got the primary lessons from his father at that early age. Generally he is known by his nickname Cowboy. It is because of his dressing senses.
It is very easy to find him in the casino because he always wears the cowboy's hat and boots when ever he plays in the casino. He has other nicknames like Nightmare and Mr. Move all-in. Phill Hellmuth Jr. has started calling him with the nickname Mr. Move all-in. Hoyt Corkins uses to wear ear plugs while he is playing a game. It is because of he does not like to get disturbed from the nuisances that happens around the table. He thinks that it is very important to concentrate on the game if any one needs to win it over. To keep himself away from the chattering of the other players he uses the ear plugs.
In the year 1992 Hoyt Corkins won a Bracelet in World Series of Poker. He was the champion of 1992 $5,000 pot limit Omaha tournament in this year. For this game he has got $96,000 at that time. He just started his professional career in the poker games from that time but he suddenly disappeared from the casinos after the 1992 world class poker competition. He was not seen for a single time for the next 11 years in any casino. The reason was his divorce. Hoyt Corkins left the profession for after the separation.
Everybody thought that he would never come back to the poker table. But it was his fianc�e Natalie who took him to the poker table after 11 long years. In the year 2003 he got back in the casino. In that year he re established himself in the poker world. In the 2003 World Poker Finals,Hoyt Corkins – Professional Poker Player Review Series Articles he got record breaking prize money for World Poker Tour. The amount was $1,089,200 and it was the highest prize amount till 2003 for that particular game. In the year 2004 Gus Hansen won the 1st place and Hoyt Corkins got the second place after one year of his return.
He earned $290,065 for securing the second place. In the year 2004 he got another success. He is the person who made the final table in the United States poker Championship. The competition took place at the Taj Mahal in the in the Atlantic City. After that, Hoyt Corkins has established some milestones in his career of a Professional Poker Player. In hoki311 took part in the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and placed at the second position. He got $325,000 for that. In 2007 Hoyt Corkins secured the championship bracelet in World Series of Poker and won over $515,000.

subset: commoncrawl


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Event Details
Duck Club Presents
?Rock n' roll outfit Black Mountain back in the Boise area on Dec 3rd to follow up on their scorching Treefort 2019 Main Stage set. Tickets on-sale Friday 8/23 at 10am!
◥ ◣
Tuesday, December 3rd
with guests
at VISUAL ARTS COLLECTIVE
$20 adv / $23 door
7:00pm doors / 8:00pm show
21+ (valid ID required)
** some seating available – first come, first served **
Tickets on sale 8/23 at 10a!
or at The Record Exchange
More Info:
Black Mountain's Stephen McBean turned 16 after Woodstock but before Varg started burning down Norwegian churches. And yet, until just two short years ago, McBean had lived his entire adolescence and adult life without a proper driver's license, that first and most coveted ticket to personal independence. Black Mountain's new album, Destroyer, is imbued with all that wild-ass freedom and newfound agency (and anxiety and fear) that comes with one's first time behind the wheel.
Destroyer, named after the discontinued single-run 1985 Dodge Destroyer muscle car, is structured around the feeling of driving a hot rod. The album exists in the middle of the early-to-mid 80s Los Angeles war between punk and hair metal – it's exhilarating, spirited, and dangerous. Throughout, youthful themes run rampant: "Boogie Lover" cruises down the Sunset Strip, "Horns Arising" is a fill-up at a desert gas station just in time to see a UFO hovering near a mesa, and "High Rise" rounds out a sense of teenage discovery.
To create Destroyer, McBean shacked himself up in his rehearsal space and invited over friends from the endless rock'n'roll highway, bringing to life 22 songs. While some were laid back into shallow graves to dig up once again at a later date, the others were left above ground and polished and given life, some
transformed by longtime band member Jeremy Schmidt. This generation of Black Mountain also sees new members Rachel Fannan (Sleepy Sun) and Adam Bulgasem (Dommengang & Soft Kill) as well as familiar collaborators Kliph Scurlock (Flaming Lips), Kid Millions (Oneida) and John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans). Collectively, there's a renewed vitality to Black Mountain on Destroyer — a seasoned, veteran of heady hard rock that's found new, young muscles to flex and roads to explore.


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A few related items that I'm a bit confused by:
If a multiclass character has two classes that use the same ability modifier for bonus spells do they get those bonus spells for BOTH classes? (i.e. would a cleric/inquisitor with a Wis of 20 get BOTH 2 extra 1st level Cleric spells AND 2 bonus Inquisitor spells?)
Does a spellcasting multiclass character who gets Orisons from two different lists get to cast the full complement for their class level in each class? i.e. the cleric/inquisitor would get 4 cleric orisons and 4 inquisitor orisons? (I'd assume that a smart player would then "know" only inquisitor orisons not on the Cleric spell list for the most part at least)
In a few cases I've seen spells that say "caster level" while other spells specify a specific class ("inquisitor level") - what is the multiclass character's "caster level" for such a spell? Does it depend which spell list they are casting it from - I assume in most cases the caster levels do not stack? (I think there are some prestige classes that do stack with other classes in some cases...)


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Register for 3 Years Warranty
The Samyang 135mm T2.2ED UMC VDSLR Cine Lens is the cine / video version of the Samyang 135mm f2.0 ED UMC lens featuring the same excellent optics, but with integrated gearing for video rigs with follow focus systems. Full frame compatible, suitable for cameras and interchangeable lens camcorders fitted with 24x36mm (full frame) or smaller sensor.
The Samyang 135mm features a floating type design, one Extra low dispersion lens element (ED) for maximum optical performance. A circular aperture of T2.2 with 9 blades offer great bokeh for close head and shoulder portrait work, and short telephoto. To ensure high contrast and faithful colour reproduction, all lens elements have been covered with Samyang's multi-layered UMC anti-reflective coatings. The design and lens coatings offer impressively low chromatic aberrations, ghosting and flare.
Splendid image quality and small depth of field with beautiful, natural rendered bokeh by use of the 9 circular aperture blades makes it especially suited to film, where separation of the subject from the background is desired.
Samyang 135mm lens is also available in a the standard lens version: Samyang 135mm f2.0 ED UMC lens.
The VDSLR version features uncoupled aperture and focus gear ring, perfectly suited to video and cine use, and mounting on follow focus rigs. This manual focus telephoto cine lens is both suitable for full frame sensor sizes or cropped sensors. It expresses vibrant color and soft out-focusing area which makes it a great lens to shoot portrait, night scenery, wild-life and journalism photography.
The Samyang VDSLR versions are rated in T-Stops rather than F-stops which is usual for movie camera lenses. F-stop number expresses the speed of the lens on the assumption that the optics transmit 100% of the incident light. The T-number expresses the actual light transmission, which is more accurate, and is the standard in professional cine lenses.
Supplied with removable lens hood, and front and rear lens caps. Filter size: 77mm Initially expected to be released in Canon, Nikon, Sony E and MFT mounts. Full range of mounts will include Canon EF, Nikon F (AE), Sony A, Sony E mount, Pentax K, Fujifilm X, Canon M, Samsung NX, Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds (MFT)
Manufacturer Samyang Optics Model Samyang 135mm T2.2 ED UMC VDSLR Cine Lens Lens type Prime Telephoto lens - full frame compatible Focal length 135mm Maximum aperture T2.2 (f2.0) Min aperture T22 Angle of view 18.8 degrees (full frame) 11.7 degrees(APS-C) Min focusing distance 0.8m No. of diaphragm blades 9 (circular blades) Focus type MF (Manual Focus only) Lens construction 11 elements in 7 groups, 1 ED lens element. Dimensions 82mm diameter, length 122 to 148mm (approx, dependent on mount) Weight 830 g (approx, dependent on mount) Lens hood: Detachable Filter Size: 77mm Available mounts Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A, Sony E mount
Product Code: 7450
Barcode/EAN: 8809298883942
Price €609.99
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During the 1980 Republican Presidential primary, Ronald Reagan promulgated the idea that by lowering taxes on the rich, the government could actually increase the federal government's revenue. George H.W. Bush famously derided that idea as "Voodoo Economics." After all, how could lowering tax rates actually increase revenue?
The idea isn't as far-fetched as it might seem at first blush. To illustrate, think about tax rates in the extreme. If the government took 100% of your income, surely many people would simply not work. Perhaps nobody would work. And if the government lowered the 100% tax rate to, say, 80%, it seems very likely that at least some more people would work and the government would take in more revenue.
On the other hand, if the government starts with very low tax rates, lowering them further probably wouldn't increase the incentive to work much, if at all.
(MORE: The Corporate Tax Rate Is Lowest in Decades; Is Business Paying Its Fair Share?)
Given the logic of these scenarios, there must be an inflection point between these two extremes where the federal government would be shooting itself in the foot by raising rates any further. Predictably, those on the political right estimate this rate to be much lower than do those the left. And the recent proposal by the Obama administration to raise marginal rates on top earners has once again brought this discussion to the forefront: Last fall, Bill O'Reilly threated to quit his popular television show if his taxes were raised; and just last week, Staten Island Republican representative Michael Grimm questioned Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on the effects of raising taxes on capital gains, insinuating that Great Britain's raising its capital gains tax actually caused tax receipts to go down.
(MORE: Why Lower Corporate Taxes Won't Create More Jobs)
But a working paper issued in February by the National Bureau of Economic Research and co-written by the former chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, Christina Romer, and her husband David, suggests that tax rates have a much lower effect on investing and labor decisions than previously thought. In fact, the paper argues that revenue-maximizing tax rate is as high as 84%.
The paper also finds that taxes generally have less effect on behavior than previously thought. What separates this study from others of its kind is that it looks at tax rates in the period between the two world wars, as opposed to more recent times. The advantage of this approach is that there were many changes in the marginal tax rates during this time, giving researchers many opportunities to study how those changes effect citizen behavior. In addition, the income tax regime during this period was much more progressive than it is now. For instance, for most of the period studied, the top 1/200th of one percent of earners bore between 30 and 40 percent of the total federal income tax burden.
As Baseline Scenario blogger James Kwak argues, these are the folks who would most likely change their behavior based on tax rates. They have enough money to stop working if they wanted to, but the evidence suggests that this is not what people do. Kwak argues that the real danger is not that the wealthy will stop working, but that they'll pour more and more resources into shielding their income from taxes, and that a simplified tax code is should therefore be a priority.
(MORE: Obama's Job Creation Tax Credit: Cool Idea, Bad Policy)
Of course there are other considerations besides revenue maximization to take into account when deciding upon marginal tax rates. Fairness is one. Conservatives don't usually like to explicitly raise the fairness argument because once fairness is a consideration, it opens up the door for all kinds of wealth redistribution. But when it comes to taxes, fairness can be a compelling argument to make even for those who wish to lower taxes on the rich.
A recent poll conducted by The Hill illustrates this point perfectly. The poll shows that 3/4 of the American electorate believe that the top marginal tax rate should be lower than it actually is. That flies in the face of a much-cited Pew poll that showed that 66% of Americans thought that taxes should be raised on the highest earners. The difference between these two polls comes down to how the questions were worded. The Hill poll asks respondents what the 'most appropriate' rate is for those earning above $250,000 a year, while the The Pew poll simply asked whether taxes on the rich should be raised. According to The Hill:
"One possible explanation is voters may not know how much the nation's top earners are already being taxed. The poll did not ask voters to identify current tax rates before saying what rate they favored."
So it seems Americans recoil from tax rates much higher than 30%, regardless of how rich those paying the tax are. Of course, the disconnect between what Americans demand from their government and what they think is fair that the government demand of them is not new. What the Romer study does show us is that the government's taxing and spending affect our professional and investing decisions much less than we thought.


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The author (R) with lampshade. |
At one point a character said: "That is absurd."
And my reaction was: "Wow. Nice piece of lampshade-hanging."
I discussed this concept in passing once before. It refers to a method of coping with a particular authorial dilemma.
Let's say your story involves a plot twist or coincidence so outlandish you are afraid the readers will roll their eyes and throw the book across the room. That happens. If you can't change the plot, how can you change the reader's reaction to it?
Well, one method is to "hang a lampshade on it." This means that, instead of trying to draw attention away from the problem, you actually have a character point it out. This seems counter-intuitive, but it often works. Maybe you are indicating to the readers that you know how smart they are.
As the wonderful web site TV Tropes points out, the ol' Bard of Avon could hang a lampshade as neatly as any pulp magazine hack: Fabian: If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction. (Twelfth Night)
A related method is known as So Crazy It Just Might Work. Do I have to explain what that means? You've read it/seen it in a thousand action movies. It is practically Captain James Kirk's middle name.*
But I would suggest you can divide SCIJMW into two types: Physics and People. One is better than the other, I think.
Physics: "There's no way the ship's engines can pull us out of the Interplanetary Squid Forest, so let's go full speed ahead straight in! It's so crazy etc."
People: "They have hundreds of armed guards hunting for us everywhere. The one thing they'll never expect us to do is walk up to the prison and sign in as visitors. It's so crazy etc."
Both are crazy (although not as crazy as an Interplanetary Squid Forest) but the second one seems more reasonable to me because it is based on reverse psychology. And hey, that sometimes works in real life. Remember the event that was the basis for the movie Argo? Who would expect the CIA to sneak people out of the country by setting them up as a film crew?
Another way of grappling with an improbable plot point is foreshadowing. I think it was Lawrence Block who pointed out my favorite example of that technique. In The Dead Zone Stephen King has a lightning rod salesman show up at a bar and try to convince the owner to buy, pointing out the building's location makes it a perfect target for boom. The owner turns him down and the salesman drives off, his service to literature complete. When lightning strikes the bar at the very moment the plot requires it the reader, instead of saying "How unlikely!", says "Ha! The salesman was right!"
Of course, foreshadowing can be used for different purposes.
In the brilliant TV series I, Claudius there is a scene where a seer witnesses what appears to be an omen. He interprets it to mean that young Claudius will grow up to be the rescuer of Rome. Claudius's sister Livilla scornfully says that she hopes she will be dead before that happens. Their mother says "Wicked girl! Go to bed without your supper." Guess when and how Livilla dies?
So if you are a writer how do you deal with an attacks of the Unlikelies? And if you are a reader (and I know you all are) which types bother you the most?
* Yes, I know Captain Kirk's middle name is Tiberius. Now go over there and sit down.


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Secret Ingredient Behind EYC Recipes
April 15th, 2014 in Reviews by Julia VolhinaThis is not much of a review (or recipe), but more an attempt to show who and what stands behind each and every new recipe on EYC.
It is also a way for me to introduce you to my cats. I think it goes without saying – work on recipes would be much more boring without them helping me.
See for yourself: Cats in the Kitchen.


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Hairloom & Caramel is a whimsical cafe located at Shaw Towers, Beach Road. You will be overwhelmed by the old school toys and furniture when you first step in.
It is probably a small 30-ish people cafe serving food like salad, sandwich, pasta and drinks. Set lunch is also available on weekdays only. You can laze in there the whole afternoon, feeling like time has stopped and you've been to another world.
The girls and I ordered our mains: Soy Sauce Braised Chicken Breast Salad in Japanese Yuzu Dressing, Bacon & Onion Spaghetti in Aglio Olio and Salmon Spaghetti in House Special Pink Sauce. On average, each cost about $10. Portion is just nice for me, hot food, simple ingredients. We had Yuzu Frost, Citron Presse and Rootbeer Float, each around $5 to $6.
Just by the names: Vita Plum (Ice blended Vitagen & Sour Plum), Lemon Sour Plum, Homemade Honey Lemongrass, Citron Presse (Soda with Crushed Mint & Lime Juice), Kopi Milkshake and Yuzu Frost, you know these drinks are special. Do try their Iced Specialty drinks when you visit Hairloom!
If you fancy any toys, jewellery, stationery or a home deco found in Hairloom & Caramel, they are all on sale.


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What I do know is that she has spent a lot of time exploring the role of gender, and as a female to male hetero/bi crossdresser she certainly fits the profile.
The Eurythmics was big in the 1980's, which saw the birth of a large number of crossgender artists, including Boy George, Dead or Alive and -- let's admit it -- Freddie Mercury.
But must of these were gay. Lennox is more like a female counterpart to David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, which brings her closer to most crossdreamers.
Click here for alternative.
An online friend got a message from another online Indian friend, who asked whether her song "No More I Love You's" says something about the transgender condition.
It definitely demonstrates Lennox' sympathy for male to female crossdressers and drag artists.
The Sweet Dreams video is a clear example of art that breaks down the traditional divide between masculine and feminine symbols and expressions. There can be no doubt that the Lennox of this video is a beautiful and sexy woman. The fact that she dresses up as a man and uses manly mannerisms does not change this.
If you compare the video above with the one below, it is easy to see how unbalanced our cultures are when it comes to gender. The male to female crossdressers in this later video also combine male beauty with cross-sexual attire and mannerism. It is a fair guess that most people will find them absurd and far from sexy.
This reflects a culture that deep down looks upon the masculine as something positive and the feminine as something weak and unasked for.
The ballet scene is placed in a secret dungeon or club in the late 19th century, a period of amazing sexual and cultural exploration, and with increasing understanding for the diversity of human sexuality and gender expressions. It was not to last. The German Nazis and the American psychiatric establishment soon found ways of pushing the "deviants" back into their closets.
The Moon
The video is also interesting for another reason. It seems to me to depict two different types of crossdressing.
The ballet dancers gives a drag performance, and as drag queens often do they parody the female stereotypes. In other words: They are not really trying to appear as real women, but as someone who is more feminine than any woman who has ever lived.
Drag queens are most often androphilic, and will just as often identify as feminine gay men as women.
The male audience, being dressed up by seducing women, are more like gynephilic crossdreamers. Some part of them is dreaming of being a woman, which is why they are unable to resist the enforced crossdressing. On the other hand, these guys have no training in appearing feminine, which is why they look as men in drag, even when they are not.
This video does not tell us who are the true women, the drag artists or the crossdressers, or Annie Lennox for that matter.
In fact, the strange, uncanny, laughter seems to tell us that this play of gender expressions is nothing but an artificial game, and that the whole dichotomy of feminine and masculine is misleading.
Indeed, Annie Lennox herself plays Luna, the Moon, who throughout her feminine 28 day cycle reflects both the stereotypical masculine (rational enlightenment and the full moon) and the stereotypical feminine (the darkness of emotions and the unconscious feminine), as well as every position in between.
Note also how Lennox is replaced by a man at the very end.
The second version of the song, a performance from the Letterman Show, reveals how even a liberal like Letterman is unable to take this gender challenge seriously. Lennox shows her displeasure.
Lennox is certainly a pro-gay, anti-fundamentalist and liberal, and she tries to make room for a more generous view of what it means to be a man or a woman. As she says: The words cannot capture what this is about:
I used to have demons in my room at night
Desire, despair, desire
So many monsters
No more i love you's
The language is leaving me
No more i love you's
The language is leaving me in silence
No more i love you's
Changes are shifting outside the words


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All online businesses have to manage fraud. From fraudsters using stolen cards and card numbers to customers abusing refund policies and disputes, navigating illegitimate payments and the dispute process is part of accepting payments online.
This guide helps you understand the basics of online fraud and how to protect your business. You'll also learn how disputes work, your responsibility as an online business, and how Stripe can help.
Introduction to online fraud
Before diving into fraud, it's helpful to have a high-level understanding of how online payments work: how money moves from a customer to your business and how banks facilitate these payments.
There are several major players involved in each online transaction:
Cardholder: The person who uses a credit or debit card
Merchant: The business owner that accepts payments by card
Acquirer: The financial institution that processes card payments on behalf of the merchant and routes them through the card networks to the issuing bank. Sometimes acquirers also partner with a third party to help process payments.
Card networks: Visa, Mastercard, and other card networks that are the connection among all of these players. They communicate transaction information, move transaction funds, and determine the underlying costs of card transactions.
Issuing bank: The financial institution that provides banking or transaction services and issues payment cards (such as credit, debit, or prepaid cards) to consumers or businesses on behalf of the card networks.
A payment is considered fraudulent when the cardholder does not authorize the charge. For example, if a fraudster makes a purchase on your website using a stolen card number that hasn't been reported, it's possible the payment would be processed successfully. Then, when the cardholder discovers the fraudulent use of the card, he or she would question the payment with his or her bank by filing a chargeback. While you have the chance to dispute this chargeback by submitting evidence about whether the payment was valid, if it was a fraudulent transaction, the cardholder will win.
If your business loses a dispute, you would be responsible for paying more than just the original transaction amount. Fraud often leads to chargeback fees (the cost associated with the bank reversing the card payment), higher network fees from disputes, higher operational costs from reviewing charges or fighting disputes, and more customer churn.
How disputes work
When a dispute is filed, the funds are immediately returned to the cardholder—before any outcome is determined. If you don't think the dispute is legitimate, you can submit evidence to fight it, usually within 5 to 21 days. If you don't submit evidence before the deadline, the cardholder wins the dispute and keeps the funds.
During the dispute process, the burden is on your business to prove that the person who made the purchase owns the card and authorized the transaction, and that the cardholder understood and accepted your terms of service and cancellation or refund policy at the time of purchase.
The Dashboard guides you through the chargeback submission process step-by-step, automatically formatting the information you provide. You will be asked to provide different pieces of evidence, such as web logs, emails, shipment tracking numbers, delivery confirmation, or proof of prior refunds, and upload any necessary files, depending on the dispute type. All this can help increase the likelihood of a dispute being found in your favor.
If you receive a dispute, you may first want to get in touch with the customer and try to proactively resolve it. However, whether the customer agrees to withdraw or not, you should still submit evidence. If you don't submit, the customer wins by default.
Stripe doesn't decide the outcome of a dispute; the card issuers do. However, we play a role by conveying your evidence to our financial partners. Once you submit evidence, Stripe confirms whether it meets network requirements and, if so, sends it to the card issuer for evaluation. The issuer makes a final decision, which we communicate to you through the Stripe Dashboard, webhooks, and API.
For businesses outside Mexico, the dispute fee is nonrefundable. For businesses in Mexico, the dispute fee for a won or withdrawn dispute might be returned.
How to protect your business
While you can't completely eliminate the risk of fraud when accepting online payments, the best way to manage it is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Here are some best practices for protecting your business from fraud:
- Leverage machine learning fraud detection: Rules-based fraud detection, operating on an "if x happens, then do y" logic, was never designed for modern internet businesses and can lead to lost revenue. Stripe Radar is powered by adaptive machine learning, with algorithms evaluating every transaction and assigning a risk score, then blocking or allowing transactions based on the risk of fraud. Radar's algorithms adapt quickly to shifting fraud patterns and to your unique business.
- Collect more information during checkout: Requiring customers to provide more information at checkout will help you better verify their legitimacy. For example, make sure to collect the customer's name and email address. This additional information can be passed to Stripe Radar, resulting in better machine learning detection of fraud, and gives you more evidence to submit during a potential dispute.
- Manually review payments: Radar for Fraud Teams includes an additional review process that allows you to flag certain payments for review (although these payments are still processed and the credit card charged). While Radar for Fraud Teams is commonly used by larger organizations, the ability to manually review payments is helpful, regardless of your company's size. Manually reviewing suspicious payments can help you take action faster, before a potential dispute occurs. For example, if you're unsure about a payment when you're reviewing it, you can contact the customer by phone or email. Or if you suspect a payment is fraudulent, you can refund it.
- Create rules to manage payments: Using Radar for Fraud Teams, you can create custom rules to manage how your business handles incoming payments, blocking any that you would consider suspicious or placing them in review. For example, you could lower the risk score required to trigger manual reviews or review large orders from first-time customers. Radar for Fraud Teams also provides risk insights into particular payments, allowing you to understand the most important factors contributing to a high risk score. You can use this information to create additional, more targeted rules.
- Explore other payment methods: The right set of payment methods can offer flexibility to customers and reduce the risk of fraud. Digital wallets, like Apple Pay or Google Pay, require additional customer verification (such as biometrics, SMS, or a passcode) to complete a payment, resulting in lower dispute rates. Similarly, most bank debits—where you pull funds directly from a customer's bank account—require customers to agree to a mandate or to verify account ownership, adding an extra layer of security and reducing the possibility of disputes.
- Take additional precautions when shipping items: If you're shipping physical goods, consider delaying the shipment by 24 to 48 hours to give cardholders a chance to spot any fraud on their accounts. In addition, ensure that you ship physical goods to a verified shipping address that passes postal code and street address checks. If you ship to an unverified address and the payment is later disputed, you wouldn't be able to prove that the order was shipped to the legitimate cardholder.
Additional resources
Here are additional resources to help you manage fraud and protect your business:
- How disputes work
- Responding to disputes
- Dispute withdrawals
- Measuring disputes
- Best practices for preventing fraud
- About Stripe Radar
- About Radar for Fraud Teams
To learn more about how Stripe can help you prevent fraud and manage disputes, contact your customer success manager or our sales team.


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Would You Drink Beer Made From Human Pee? Because You Can.
This is un-pee-lievable.
A brewery in Denmark has come out with a beer made, in part, with human urine. It's called, appropriately enough, Pisner.
Now, hold on for a second there, sport -- it's not exactly what you think it is.
According to Reuters, Pisner "contains no human waste, but is produced from fields of malting barley fertilized with human urine rather than traditional animal manure or factory-made plant nutrients."
So, okay, maybe it is what you think it is.
We can't help notice the irony: beer makes you pee and now you're drinking the very thing it causes. No wonder some have taken to calling it "beercycling."
Only 60,000 bottles are available and, to the best of our knowledge, there are no 1,000 packs.
The beer comes from the Norrebro Bryghus brewery and the urine -- about 50,000 liters of it -- is courtesy of people who attended the country's Roskilde Music Festival, back in 2015 because if there's anything that sounds mouth-watering it's knowing you're drinking a beverage made from the discharge of people who went a music festival.and probably still haven't showered or taken that dead raccoon out of their dreadlocks.
Mmm, mmm, does that sound tasty or what?


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Jacob's Testament.* 1Jacob called his sons and said: "Gather around, that I may tell you what is to happen to you in days to come.
2"Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.
3"You, Reuben, my firstborn,
my strength and the first fruit of my vigor,
excelling in rank and excelling in power!
4Turbulent as water, you shall no longer excel,
for you climbed into your father's bed
and defiled my couch to my sorrow.a
5* "Simeon and Levi, brothers indeed,
weapons of violence are their knives.*
6Let not my person enter their council,
or my honor be joined with their company;
For in their fury they killed men,
at their whim they maimed oxen.b
7Cursed be their fury so fierce,
and their rage so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob,
disperse them throughout Israel.
8"You, Judah, shall your brothers praise
—your hand on the neck of your enemies;
the sons of your father shall bow down to you.
9Judah is a lion's cub,
you have grown up on prey, my son.
He crouches, lies down like a lion,
like a lioness—who would dare rouse him?c
10The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,*
and he receives the people's obedience.
11He tethers his donkey to the vine,
his donkey's foal to the choicest stem.
In wine he washes his garments,
his robe in the blood of grapes.*
12His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13"Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore;
he will be a haven for ships,
and his flank shall rest on Sidon.
14"Issachar is a rawboned donkey,
crouching between the saddlebags.
15When he saw how good a settled life was,
and how pleasant the land,
He bent his shoulder to the burden
and became a toiling serf.
16"Dan shall achieve justice* for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17Let Dan be a serpent by the roadside,
a horned viper by the path,
That bites the horse's heel,
so that the rider tumbles backward.
18"I long for your deliverance, O LORD!*
19"Gad shall be raided by raiders,
but he shall raid at their heels.*
20"Asher's produce is rich,
and he shall furnish delicacies for kings.
21"Naphtali is a hind let loose,
which brings forth lovely fawns.
22"Joseph is a wild colt,
a wild colt by a spring,
wild colts on a hillside.
23Harrying him and shooting,
the archers opposed him;
24But his bow remained taut,
and his arms were nimble,
By the power of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25The God of your father, who helps you,*
God Almighty, who blesses you,
With the blessings of the heavens above,
the blessings of the abyss that crouches below,
The blessings of breasts and womb,
26the blessings of fresh grain and blossoms,
the blessings of the everlasting mountains,
the delights of the eternal hills.
May they rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
27"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
mornings he devours the prey,
and evenings he distributes the spoils."
Farewell and Death. 28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said about them, as he blessed them. To each he gave a suitable blessing. 29Then he gave them this charge: "Since I am about to be gathered to my people, bury me with my ancestors in the cave that lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground.d 31There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, I buried Leah— 32the field and the cave in it that had been purchased from the Hittites."
33When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
* [49:1–27] The testament, or farewell discourse, of Jacob, which has its closest parallel in Moses' farewell in Dt 33:6–25. From his privileged position as a patriarch, he sees the future of his children (the eponymous ancestors of the tribes) and is able to describe how they will fare and so gives his blessing. The dense and archaic poetry is obscure in several places. The sayings often involve wordplays (explained in the notes). The poem begins with the six sons of Leah (vv. 2–15), then deals with the sons of the two secondary wives, and ends with Rachel's two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. Reuben, the oldest son, loses his position of leadership as a result of his intercourse with Bilhah (35:22), and the words about Simeon and Levi allude to their taking revenge for the rape of Dinah (chap. 34). The preeminence of Judah reflects his rise in the course of the narrative (mirroring the rise of Joseph). See note on 44:1–34.
* [49:5–7] This passage probably refers to their attack on the city of Shechem (Gn 34). Because there is no indication that the warlike tribe of Levi will be commissioned as a priestly tribe (Ex 32:26–29; Dt 33:11), this passage reflects an early, independent tradition.
* [49:5] Knives: if this is the meaning of the obscure Hebrew word here, the reference may be to the knives used in circumcising the men of Shechem (34:24; cf. Jos 5:2).
* [49:10] Until tribute comes to him: this translation is based on a slight change in the Hebrew text, which, as it stands, would seem to mean, "until he comes to Shiloh." A somewhat different reading of the Hebrew text would be, "until he comes to whom it belongs." This last has been traditionally understood in a messianic sense. In any case, the passage aims at the supremacy of the tribe of Judah and of the Davidic dynasty.
* [49:11] In wine…the blood of grapes: Judah's clothes are poetically pictured as soaked with grape juice from trampling in the wine press, the rich vintage of his land; cf. Is 63:2.
* [49:16] In Hebrew the verb for "achieve justice" is from the same root as the name Dan.
* [49:18] This short plea for divine mercy has been inserted into the middle of Jacob's testament.
* [49:19] In Hebrew there is assonance between the name Gad and the words for "raided," "raiders," and "raid."
* [49:25–26] A very similar description of the agricultural riches of the tribal land of Joseph is given in Dt 33:13–16.
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Danny Perschonok attended the Blizzard panel held at Wyrd Con 2013 in Costa Mesa, CA to record video for our StarCraft II fans. The panel was held by Micky Neilson (Lead Publishing) and Cameron Dayton (former Transmedia Specialist and Senior Story Developer) to discuss the conceptualization, development and logistics behind Project Blackstone.
Project Blackstone: The Great Transmedia Experiment Panel
The ambitious goal of Project Blackstone was to weave a narrative across multiple media, draw traffic to the StarCraft website, raise awareness of StarCraft short stories, and build hype for Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm video game. The experiment was a success on many fronts, and Project Blackstone: the Great Transmedia Experiment will be an opportunity for the creators of Project Blackstone to share their insights, war stories, and opinions on what transmedia really means, and where it's headed in the future.
The Panelists included the following Blizzard Entertainment story developers:
- Micky Neilson (Publishing Lead, Blizzard Entertainment)
- Matt Burns (Associate Story Developer, Blizzard Entertainment)
- Robert Brooks (Story Developer)
- Justin Parker (Historian, Blizzard Entertainment)
- Cynthia Hall (Creative Development, Blizzard Entertainment)
- Cameron Dayton (Creative Director, E-Line Media)
Note: The 1-hour panel playlist will auto-play. Let all four videos load. 1080HD available.
About Wyrd Con:
Wyrd Con is a live event in Southern California, running from September 12 through September 15, 2013. This unique gathering of storytellers presents an opportunity to participate in Live Action Role Playing, delving into the wild ride of Augmented Reality Gaming, and learning about the cross-platform realm of transmedia.
Since 2010, Wyrd Con has proven to be a fun and educational gathering. This unique convention is now at a point where the initial vision can be realized with your support. The realm of interactive storytelling is a powerful way to expand the knowledge of the day-to-day world and the understanding that our world view is only limited by our imagination.
Wyrd Con has brought together three communities that usually exist independently of each other. Not unlike the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth, Wyrd Con calls in the Three Powers of Interactive Storytelling: Live Action Role Playing (LARP); Augmented Reality Gaming (ARG) and Transmedia. With a few magic words spoken, we watch as it boils and bubbles into an experience that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Wyrd Con is four days and three nights of total immersion into the depths of your imagination. Take on your greatest fantasies, experience different social roles, learn to be a powerful leader, and realize what it means to follow your heart. How you choose to mix these together is your decision, and that is the power of Wyrd Con.


text:
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text:
10 Essential Dietary Tips & Tricks
It's a familiar story: You pledge to honor a daily elliptical routine and count every last calorie. But soon, you're eating cupcakes at the office and grabbing happy hour mojitos, thinking, Oops, diet over. There is a better way: Swap the all-or-nothing approach for one or two healthy switch-ups in your daily routine. "Doing this can lead to more weight loss than you ever imagined," says John Boycot, RD, author of The Cheater's Diet.
In fact, we talked to readers who knocked off 10, 25, even 60 pounds with some easy tweaks. Borrow their slim-down secrets to transform your body the real-world way.


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[Estimated read time: 6 minutes]
It's been almost two years (August 2014) since Google announced that HTTPS was a ranking signal. Speculation ran rampant, as usual, with some suggesting there was little or no benefit to switching (and possibly significant risk) while others rushed to sell customers on making the HTTPS switch. Two years later, I believe the data speaks for itself — Google is fighting, and winning, a long war.
What's happened since?
If you only consider the impact of Google's original HTTPS update, I understand your skepticism. Prior to the update, our 10,000-keyword tracking system (think of it as a laboratory for studying Google searches) showed that roughly 7% of page-1 Google results used the "https:" protocol. A week after the update announcement, that number had increased only slightly, to just over 8%:
The blue/purple show the before/after based on the announcement date. As you can see, the update probably rolled out over the course of a few days. Even over a 2-week period, though, the impact appears to be fairly small. This led many of us to downplay Google's statements and ignore HTTPS for a while. The next graph is our wake-up call:
As of late June, our tracking data shows that 32.5% (almost one-third) of page-1 Google results now use the "https:" protocol. The tiny bump on the far left (above "A-14" = August 2014) is the original HTTPS algorithm update. The much larger bump in the middle is when Wikipedia switched to HTTPS. This goes to show the impact that one powerhouse can have on SERPs, but that's a story for another time.
What does it mean?
Has Google rolled out multiple updates, rewarding HTTPS (or punishing the lack of it)? Probably not. If this two-year trend was purely a result of algorithm updates, we would expect to see a series of jumps and new plateaus. Other than the Wikipedia change and two smaller bumps, the graph clearly shows a gradual progression.
It's possible that people are simply switching to HTTPS for their own reasons, but I strongly believe that this data suggests Google's PR campaign is working. They've successfully led search marketers and site owners to believe that HTTPS will be rewarded, and this has drastically sped up the shift. An algorithm update is risky and can cause collateral damage. Convincing us that change is for our own good is risk-free for Google. Again, Google is fighting the long war.
Is our data accurate?
Of course, our tracking set is just one sample of search data. The trendline is interesting, but it's possible that our keywords are overstating the prevalence of HTTPS results. I presented a number of roughly 30% at SMX Advanced in mid-June. Later that same day, Google's Gary Illyes called me out and confirmed that number:
Gary did not give an exact figure, but essentially gave a nod to the number, suggesting that we're in the general ballpark. A follow-up tweet confirms this interpretation:
This is as close to confirmation as we can reasonably expect, so let's assume we showed up to the right ballgame and our tickets aren't counterfeit.
Why does 30% matter?
Ok, so about one-third of results use HTTPS. Simple arithmetic says that two-thirds don't. Projecting the trend forward, we've got about a year and a half (16–17 months) before HTTPS hits 50%. So, is it time to panic? No, probably not, but here's the piece of the puzzle you may be missing.
Google has to strike a balance. If they reward sites with HTTPS (or dock sites without it) when very few sites are using it, then they risk a lot of collateral damage to good sites that just haven't made the switch. If, on the other hand, they wait until most sites have switched, a reward is moot. If 100% of sites are on HTTPS and they reward those sites (or dock the 0% without it), nothing happens. They also have to be careful not to set the reward too high, or sites might switch simply to game the system, but not too low, or no one will care. However I feel about Google on any given day, I acknowledge that their job isn't easy.
If rewarding HTTPS too heavily when adoption is low is risky and rewarding it when adoption is too high is pointless, then, naturally, the perfect time to strike is somewhere in the middle. At 30% adoption, we're starting to edge into that middle territory. When adoption hits something like 50–60%, I suspect it will make sense for Google to turn up the algorithmic volume on HTTPS.
At the same time, Google has to make sure that most of the major, trusted sites have switched. As of this writing, 4 of the top 5 sites in our tracking data are running on HTTPS (Wikipedia, Amazon, Facebook, and YouTube) with the only straggler being #5, Yelp. The top 5 sites in our tracking account for just over 12% of page-1 results, which is a big bit of real estate for only 5 sites.
Of the top 20 sites in our tracking data, only 7 have gone full HTTPS. That's 35%, which is pretty close to our overall numbers across all sites. If Google can convince most of those sites to switch, they'll have covered quite a bit of ground. Focusing on big players and convincing them to switch puts pressure on smaller sites.
In many ways, Google has already been successful. Even without a major, algorithmic HTTPS boost, sites continue to make the switch. As the number climbs, though, the odds of a larger boost increase. I suspect the war is going to be over sooner than the trendline suggests.
What are the risks?
Am I telling you to make the switch? No. While I think there are good reasons to move to HTTPS for some sites and I think most of Google's motives are sincere on this subject, I also believe Google has been irresponsible about downplaying the risks.
Any major change to sitewide URLs is risky, especially for large sites. If you weigh the time, money, and risk of the switch against what is still a small algorithmic boost, I think it's a tough sell in many cases. These risks are not theoretical — back in May, Wired.com wrote up the many problems they've encountered during their HTTPS switch, a switch that they've since paused to reconsider.
Like any major, sitewide change, you have to consider the broader business case, costs, and benefits. I suspect that pressure from Google will increase, especially as adoption increases, and that we're within a year of a tipping point where half of page-1 results will be running on HTTPS. Be aware of how the adoption rate is moving in your own industry and be alert, because I suspect we could see another HTTPS algorithm update in the next 6–12 months.


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Advanced Search
You'll recognize the architecture of Windows 2000, which builds on the solid foundation poured for NT 4.0.
With Y2K almost behind us, we won't have to read any more articles about the end of civilization. Of course, it could be argued that civilization ended quite awhile ago, but at least we don't have to worry about our information systems collapsing. Sure, there will be anomalies popping up now and then for amusement's sake, but now we can focus on the blocking and tackling of fundamental network design and support. Happy New Year!
With distractions behind us, we can more clearly focus on digestion of Windows 2000, which is necessary, as this is one hearty meal. I highly recommend you take small bites or risk choking. As Win2K hits the streets, early adopters will slide in their CDs straightaway and run toward the upgrade and migration adventure. The cautious majority will watch with a careful eye and then follow behind, plucking the arrows out the backs of predecessors and marking their locations.
No matter what group you fit into, you'll be considering how Win2K fits into your information system future. This will include at minimum evaluating the product against your Windows NT 4.x environment. As with all operating system evaluations, the most important aspects to begin with are architecture, architecture, and architecture.
A Sound Foundation
The good news for those of us drowning in this sea of new information is that the architecture of Win2K isn't fundamentally different from NT 4.0. This is also good news because the new services that make up the bulk of what is considered Win2K are running upon the low-level services that have matured into a sound foundation.
Of course, there are changes to these low-level individual components of NT, but they're essentially extensions to the existing components, which is in line with the extensibility of the original NT design. This reliance on the existing architecture as the foundation for new services is a good thing. It allowed Microsoft to make major renovations and to add high-level services, while maintaining reliability and stability by using production-tested core components.
Win2K continues with the familiar dichotomy of user mode and kernel mode areas, with an abstracted wall of protection between them. The user mode area is the container for the subsystems and processes that directly support the user's applications. Processes running in this area can't directly access the low-level processes and hardware in the kernel mode area. This prevents any one process running in user mode from bringing down the entire operating system.
The Kernel Mode
The kernel mode, otherwise known as processor mode, remains the same in Win2K. To review, it contains three major subdivisions that support the low-level operating system services. These are the Executive, Kernel, and Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL).
The HAL is an image of CPU-specific code that allows Win2K to run across various hardware platforms. HAL allows a single version of Win2K to be optimized for different hardware. The kernel is responsible for the preemptive scheduling and management of the threads that ultimately perform the actual work of the system. The bulk of the kernel mode work is performed in the Executive, which is further subdivided into such fundamental services as the I/O Manager, Security Reference Monitor, Process Manager, and Virtual Memory Manager.
Briefly, when a process is initiated, it's allocated its own virtual memory space and assigned an identifying handle so it can be referenced in the system. Any requests the process makes for resources are passed through the Security Reference Monitor to verify that the process has permission to access that resource with the specific permission requested. As the process reads or writes data, it uses the I/O Manager to access the particular device where the information is needed or where you want to place it.
Yes, There Are Changes
Now let's talk about what changes. As I mentioned, the differences in Win2K are more about extensions and enhancements than major architectural reworks. The vast majority of the extra 10 million lines of code are in the new services. However, some of those lines deal with issues that companies have had with NT on its road to becoming accepted as an enterprise-level contender.
One of the most visible additions to the Executive is the Plug and Play Manager. This new Executive-level service manages communication between the Plug and Play bus drivers and the Plug and Play device drivers. The bus drivers allow Win2K to communicate to devices on PCI, ISA, SCSI, and USB bus types. The Plug and Play Manager has to exist in the Executive layer of Win2K because it deals directly with hardware through the drivers. This is a great example of adding functionality in Win2K through the existing architecture by adding to the Executive-level services instead of rewriting them.
This also points out that to fully exploit the new services in Win2K, you should seriously consider getting new hardware that supports the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI). This will help to ensure that Plug and Play support in Win2K doesn't devolve back to the "Plug and Pray" support found in the early testing ground that was Windows 95. Isn't that just what you wanted to hear? Open up your wallets.
The New Security Model
Other examples of the extensibility through modularity of Win2K are the new security models supported. As I've discussed in the past, NT 4.0 authentication is based on NT LAN Manager (NTLM), which works rather well, but with some limitations. First, you must have an account on the system you want to access; and second, only users are authenticated, not servers. While servers have accounts in the SAM, when a user attempts to establish a session with a server, only the user's token is compared to the ACL on the server to grant access. There's no similar check with the server's "token" for the client. Therefore, only users are verified, not servers. With Kerberos, both sides of the session conversation are equally verified.
To solve these limitations, public/private key security and shared key security—Kerberos—have both been added to the security services of W2K. All of the various new security services communicate with the Executive's Security Reference Monitor (SRM) through standard security APIs exposed by the Security Support Provider Interface (SSPI). So instead of having to write a completely new security model, the authentication token compared to a DACL model is still intact. The only difference is that now you can use different (and more sophisticated) mechanisms to authorize the LSA to create a token to represent client processes.
Thread Handling
Another subtle low-level change affects how Win2K handles multiple threads. On the NT exams, a common question refers to the smallest unit of work as a thread. While this is essentially true in terms of CPU requests, threads have governors associated with them so that the system can allocate access to the CPUs fairly in relation to the thread's priority. This mechanism is called a quantum, a measurement tied to the number of internal clock ticks of the processor. This controls the length of time a given thread can run on the CPU before the scheduler pauses that thread in deference to another thread of equal priority. You've seen this in the Control Panel | System | Performance tab, where you can select a performance boost in the foreground application.
Even though this tab is available in both NT Workstation and Server, it affects only Workstation. The control directly relates to a table that is preloaded with quantum (time slice) numbers of 6, 12, and 18 that will run the selected number of clock ticks before another thread with the same priority is given a chance at the CPU. On the server, the same table exists but the quantum numbers are the same throughout—each has a value of 36. That's because Microsoft has determined for us that a server-based process is always best served by letting each thread have a longer crack at the CPU. It's also been decided that foreground processes shouldn't have longer access than background processes, which, of course, are assumed to be serving network clients.
In Win2K, the same control exposes this quantum configuration in more detail and with more flexibility. Win2K gives you, as administrator, control over how many quantum time slices should occur before a thread is paused to give another thread of equal priority access to the CPU. In the first change, this control is extended to both Win2K Professional (the workstation version) and Win2K Server.
The second change is that you can choose a variable or fixed quantum number. This choice determines whether Boost slide control in the Application Performance area on the Performance tab has any effect. The other control gives you an option to choose a short or long quantum time via a radio button. This control can be used to give a range of 3 to 9 quantums with short and 6 to 18 with the long selection. With this granularity, you can have more control of the preemptive multitasking aspect of Win2K. You can thus match it with the structure of your applications.
Job Objects
Another change is that processes can be collected and controlled as one job object. With this type of control, higher-level tasks that are accomplished through the combination of numerous processes can be assigned common parameters. Those common parameters include base priority, shared working set parameters and CPU time limits, and the ability to run all of the associated processes with the same access token.
These and other nuances demonstrate that the overriding design of Win2K supports significant changes to the functionality of the OS without having to alter the underlying architecture. Even the new encryption file service plugs in between the Security Reference Monitor (SRM) and the Local Security Authority (LSA). As encryption algorithms change, the Encrypted File System (EFS) driver and service can be replaced with a new one without radically changing the I/O manager or the SRM and LSA.
Although there's much to learn about Win2K, much remains the same—allowing us to leverage our existing painfully acquired knowledge. This is an often unspoken strength of Win2K.
About the Author
Michael Chacon, MCSE, MCT, is a directory services architect, focusing on the business and technical issues surrounding identity management in the enterprise. He is the co-author of new book coming from Sybex Publishing that covers the MCSA's 70-218 exam.
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HOA Reserve Study 101: Reserve Studies for HOAs
Download Our Guide
Why Are Reserve Studies for HOAs So Important?
As a trustee one of your top responsibilities is to conduct an effective HOA reserve study, as well as maintain and improve the HOA reserve funds of the community (or communities) you manage. But it can be tricky to budget for new amenities like a dog park or gate houses, or shared, common-area assets that will need to be replaced or upgraded years down the line such as roofing or building facades. The good news is, by partnering with an experienced property management company like FirstService Residential that knows how to put effective reserve funding strategies in place, your board can properly plan for these eventualities and avoid, as much as possible, having to impose special assessments.
- HOA reserve funds in Massachusetts are community savings accounts that serves as a cushion — protecting your association's finances from the burden of necessary future expenditures. By design, a reserve account grows over time through regular funding that comes from a percentage of your association's dues.
- A reserve study assists with an association's long-term financial planning by taking into consideration the current status of the reserve fund and determining a regular funding contribution that will offset ongoing wear and tear and/or achieve future community enhancements. The reserve study is comprised of two parts — a comprehensive physical analysis of the current condition of your community's assets, and a detailed financial analysis.
Both the reserve fund and reserve study are critical components of the budgeting process that help ensure the long-term financial security of your community.
If you would like more information about effective budgeting strategies and best practices, download our new budget guide, 8 Secrets to a Better Association Budget Process, today.
Determine the Benefits of Association Reserve Funding
In this video, you can learn more about the importance of reserve studies. The video addresses questions like: "what is a reserve study and how often do you need on?", "what is the bidding and development process and how do you navigate it?" and more!
The key to protecting the fiscal health of your community is committing to the consistent funding of your reserve fund over time. By doing so, you will create the foundation for healthy HOA reserve studies and funds and your association will realize three distinct benefits:
Peace of mind - A reserve fund gives association members greater confidence and comfort in knowing money will be there when it is needed.
Market value preservation – When reserves exist to support shared assets in a community, the market value of properties within that community are better maintained.
- Equitable cost participation – One of the main advantages of establishing and maintaining a reserve fund is that it ensures all residents who are using and enjoying community assets are contributing to their costs. Without reserves, a special assessment may be needed whereby only those residents who are living in your community at the time an asset needs to be replaced would be impacted. By funding reserves over time, you can ensure that generations of owners share in the costs of assets.
Your governing documents will detail if a reserve fund must be established for your community. In fact, some states require fully funded reserves. Those documents will also outline what procedures must be followed for contributing to your reserves and if funding can be postponed or sidestepped all together if the majority of your residents agree to it. A good property management company will offer sound guidance on establishing and maintaining effective HOA reserve studies and funding of your reserves. At FirstService Residential, it is an essential component of the support we offer communities for successful, long-term financial planning.
Understand the importance of a reserve study as it relates to HOA reserve funds in Massachusetts
An operating fund is leveraged in order to fund the daily expenses to keep HOA operations running smoothly. This may include a variety of line items, including: insurance premiums, services to keep amenities clean and operational, maintaining common areas, property management payment, legal and office expenses and more. Conversely, HOA reserve studies in Massachusetts are used for large-scale projects that drive up the value of your community and budget for future community updates. Typically, they are used for replacing outdated structures, such as a pool or clubhouse, for example.
When it comes to reserve funds, association members may be strict about how the moneys are allocated. Any expense coming out of this budget must align to the community's governing documents, rules and regulations, as well as accountability and bylaws. Some potential examples of the uses of reserve funds may include:
The replacement of a filter at the HOA's pool
Replacement fees involving fencing projects
Large construction and renovation projects
Major landscaping updates
The painting of community structures (ie: clubhouses)
The construction of a new common area or community park
Roof replacements on some of the common area buildings
It can be challenging for a board to identify all the items in its community that will eventually need the support of reserve funds, when those items will need to be developed, upgraded or replaced and how much it will cost in the future. That's where the reserve study comes in.
By assessing the condition of common-area assets within your community (like club houses, lobbies and pool areas), identifying future replacement costs and recommending an annual contribution amount for the reserve fund, the study can better position your board for long-term financial success.
At FirstService Residential, we highly recommend that you enlist the services of a third-party professional such as a reserve specialist to conduct your reserve study. These pros will have a thorough understanding of all the assets in your community that should be considered and if/when they should be added to your reserve inventory.
They will also have intimate knowledge of your state's requirements regarding reserve funds and studies. And most importantly, they will offer your board an unbiased and sometimes much needed voice to your budgeting process. Please reach out to FirstService Residential if you need help identifying a reserve specialist in your area. Our North American footprint is such that we can make these recommendations for communities of all sizes and markets.
It is also important to treat your reserve study as a living, breathing document that should be regularly reviewed and updated. But remember, it's a guide. You don't have to hold fast to the recommended timeframes.
"For example, your reserve study may indicate that a roof should be replaced in 30 years. If you are 28 years in, it still looks great and you've done all the preventive maintenance, you can decide to get another five years out of it and adjust that component accordingly," said Bobet Bennett, senior vice president – financial services with FirstService Residential.
It's also strongly recommended to regularly update your reserve study. For newer communities, the suggested cadence is every three years. After a decade of existence, communities should consider updates every other year and detailed reviews of the study should occur annually. Again, your state may dictate the schedule you must follow for reserve studies/updates. A good property management company will be able to provide this information to you and inform you on the most efficient steps to take to enhance the value of your community.
Determine Maintenance vs. Reserve Components
Properly categorizing your community's common area components is one of the challenges that comes with managing reserves. Some items will require regular maintenance such a pressure washing sidewalks and window cleaning, others will need to be replaced like roofs and mechanical equipment, and still others will require both such as pools and carpeting.
To ensure your community components will last until they are due to be replaced, you must budget for maintenance costs every year. If you don't, you may end up having to replace them before the reserve study's replacement due date and impose a special assessment or take out a loan.
At the same time, you must make a reserve contribution each year to be properly prepared for covering replacement costs when they are scheduled to occur.
Deciding whether items are maintenance vs. replacement (or both) will ultimately determine if they will be listed in your annual operating budget or as part of your reserve inventory. Usually, less expensive items are included in the operating budget, and costlier items are assigned as reserve components so their replacement costs can be financed over a longer time period. If you need help determining whether an item should be included in your operating budget or reserve inventory, consult with your auditor or property management company.
More and more associations, especially for communities that are decades old, are starting to address infrastructure components as part of their budget planning process as well. These are components that last a very long time, are generally out-of-sight and as such, are not often thought of — like sewers. A good practice to follow is to add infrastructure items to your reserve components list when they reach the halfway mark of their expected life spans.
As your board takes on the responsibility of budgeting for your association and ensuring your HOA reserve funds are in a strong place, be sure to rely on your reserve fund and reserve study. They are both indispensable tools that can help keep your community's long-term financial plan in check.
If you would like more information about effective budgeting strategies and best practices, download our new budget guide, 8 Secrets to a Better Association Budget Process, today.


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Lee's Summit — Messengers approved proposed 2006-07 cooperative program and board budgets at the Baptist General Convention of Missouri annual meeting March 31-April 1.
Meeting at First Baptist Church, Lee's Summit, messengers adopted a $598,000 cooperative program budget, a 4.8 percent increase over the 2005-06 budget.
The new budget anticipates $524,000 in cooperative program gifts, $48,000 in designated gifts for special projects, $20,000 from the annual state missions offering, $5,000 in interest and $1,000 in miscellaneous income.
Of the total cooperative program budget, 75 percent is earmarked for BGCM causes and 25 percent for worldwide mission causes.
Fifty-nine percent of the cooperative program allocations budget is designated for BGCM ministries, including $135,400 for administration and $58,800 for operations. One percent, or an estimated $5,240, will be placed in reserve.
The remainder, about $109,720, will be used for the BGCM's initiatives and mission activities.
Some $214,840 will support Missouri institutions, agencies and ministries. Eight percent of cooperative program gifts has been designated for Word&Way, with The Baptist Home, Windermere Baptist Conference Center, Missouri Baptist University and William Jewell College to each receive 6 percent.
The Missouri Baptist Foundation will receive 3 percent, and 2 percent will be given to the Missouri Baptist Children's Home.
Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Hannibal-LaGrange College and Southwest Baptist University will each receive 1 percent.
An additional 1 percent has been designated for Woman's Missionary Union projects.
Board members set distribution percentages for four mission initiatives. BGCM mission partnerships will receive 40 percent.
The Baptist World Alliance will receive 30 percent, with its affiliate, the North American Baptist Fellowship, to receive 20 percent. Ten percent has been designated for WorldconneX.
BGCM directors set the organization's 2006 state missions offering goal at $30,000. Two-thirds of the total will benefit BGCM ministries, with $13,000 earmarked for church planting assistance and $7,000 for mission partnerships.
The remaining $10,000 includes $4,000 each for The Baptist Home and the Children's Home and $2,000 for the Freeway Foundation.
Executive director Jim Hill used leaders of each First Priority team to present his report. Messengers to last year's annual meeting adopted the First Priority strategy as the BGCM's organizational plan, with serving churches as its purpose.
The plan includes four Great Commission initiatives — leadership development, congregational health, church planting and missions mobilization. It also includes two resource initiatives — ministry resources and congregational relationships. (04-07-06)