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De Jure Law Journal
On-line version ISSN 2225-7160
Print version ISSN 1466-3597
De Jure (Pretoria) vol.46 n.3 Pretoria Mar. 2013
Acquisition of ownership inside virtual worlds*
Verkryging van Eiendomsreg in Virtuele Wêrelde
Wian Erlank
BA Hons (Classical Literature), LLB, LLM (International Trade Law), LLD (Stell) Senior Lecturer in Law, North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus)
Die artikel het ten doel om as kort inleiding te dien tot die manier waarop eiendom binne in 'n virtuele wêreld verkry kan word. Die Suid-Afrikaanse sakereg word as agtergrond gebruik om die nuwe veld van virtuele goederereg te bespreek en binne in die konteks van die reg in die regte wêreld te plaas. Ondersoek word ingestel om te bepaal of daar ooreenkomste is tussen die oordrag van eiendom in die regte en die virtuele wêrelde. In sommige gevalle blyk dit te wees dat eiendomsregte afgelei word deur middel van standaard kontraktuele bedinge wat deur die ontwikkelaar van 'n virtuele wêreld bepaal word. Soms is hierdie bloot gebruiksregte, maar in ander gevalle, en spesifiek binne-in virtuele wêrelde wat die regte wêreld simuleer, kan gebruikers eienaarskap verkry van hul virtuele goedere. Vanuit die voorbeelde is dit duidelik dat daar sterk ooreenkomste tussen eiendom in die regte en virtuele wêrelde is. Eiendom kan onder andere deur beide oorspronklike sowel as afgeleide wyses verkry kan word in die virtuele wêreld en eiendomsreg in 'n virtuele item kan onder andere gesedeer, verkoop of ge-erf word of selfs verlore gaan in 'n insolvente boedel.
1 Introduction
The field of virtual property1 is still one that not many people are aware of.2 Even if they have heard about it, their concept of it is often unformed, imprecise and mostly out-dated.3 While virtual property includes well known intangibles like domain names and email addresses,4 it also refers to property that only exists inside virtual worlds.5 This type of virtual property is a common feature of modern multiplayer internet based virtual worlds.6 The virtual property found in virtual worlds is usually created from computer code7 that is implemented to fulfil the same function in the virtual world as it would in the real world.8 For example, a virtual chair would be used to seat a virtual person.9
For the purpose of this article, the term virtual property will be used to refer to the objects of virtual property as found inside a virtual world.10 These objects are the items that players encounter and use by means of interaction between themselves, their avatars11 and the virtual world. One category of the objects of virtual property would refer to things, or rather movable (in)tangible virtual items.12 Other categories include (amongst others) virtual immovable property or things like houses, castles and land. In certain virtual worlds there are even slaves that are deemed to be the property of the player.13 Even more challenging from a real world property perspective, is the fact that a player's avatar could also be defined as an object of a property right.14
Although there are various levels in which one can perceive virtual property,15 the focus in this article will be on the intra-virtual world level. In other words, the cross-border transactions that occur between the real and virtual worlds will be ignored. This article will specifically not deal with the player's virtual world account as an object of virtual property. Acquisition of ownership inside the boundaries of the virtual world will be illustrated by a number of virtual world examples. Because of these exclusions, a number of assumptions will be necessary.16 These assumptions are that a player can have possession of a thing in a virtual world and that the concept of ownership is also taken for granted inside the virtual world.
The aim of this paper is to take an introductory look at acquisition of ownership inside a virtual world. A brief summary of the methods of acquisition of property in South African property law will provide the background against which to discuss the new field of virtual property and give it some real world context. In most instances ownership will be derived from the terms of a contract, where a developer gives a user a right to use or own an object of virtual property.17 Sometimes this is just a right of use,18 but at other times, and specifically in virtual worlds that emulate the real-world,19 users are able to acquire ownership in these items.20 There are also a number of other methods of acquisition that closely resemble those found in the real world. Ownership in a virtual item can be ceded, sold, inherited or lost in an insolvent estate.21 It can even be acquired in an original form.22
The relevance of this field of property law becomes apparent when one realises that virtual property ownership has far-reaching consequences from both an economic and social viewpoint.23 Because of this importance of virtual property from an economic perspective,24 it follows that whoever has ownership25 of these virtual assets are able to exert control over and derive financial interest from them.26 Due to this fact, knowledge of how ownership in virtual property can be acquired and what the corresponding rights should be, quickly become relevant to the practice of the law of property.
2 Acquisition of Real World Property
Before investigating the ways in which virtual property is most often acquired, it would be good to take a brief look at the ways in which one is able to obtain ownership of things in South African private law. This will provide a real world frame of reference when discussing acquisition of ownership inside a virtual world. In the real world, acquisition of ownership is usually divided into two broad categories, being either original or derivative. The main difference between the two relate to the question of whether the ownership is acquired independently or in the alternative, derived from and dependent on the ownership of a predecessor.27 Hence, original acquisition of ownership is usually said to occur when there was no predecessor,28 and derivative acquisition takes place when ownership is derived from a predecessor. Original acquisition is the result of a unilateral act and a new right is created in respect of the property being acquired.29 Derivative acquisition on the other hand, follows after a bilateral transaction requiring the cooperation of the predecessor in title.30
Some of the more prominent examples31 of original acquisition of ownership (with similar counterparts in virtual worlds) are occupation; treasure trove; accession; specification; acquisition of fruits; expropriation; forfeiture to the state and appropriation of minerals.32
Examples of derivative acquisition of ownership33 (with similar counterparts in the virtual worlds) are delivery34 (in the case of movables) and registration in the case of immovables.35
3 Acquisition of Virtual Property
3 1 Introduction
In a virtual world there is no meaningful distinction between software and law. What the software does not allow, is impossible.36 This leads to an area of law in virtual worlds where "there is no room for mediation because any 'legal' mediation embodied in the software immediately becomes part of the 'natural' world."37 This means that a player's property rights are guaranteed by the programming. As the "owner" of a virtual sword, an avatar is guaranteed that the rights that he or she has in the sword would be protected and enforced against any other player by means of the game-code.38 While the player "owns" the sword, no other player can interfere with his right, or even make use of the sword. However, as in real life, no property rights are totally absolute or totally exclusionary in a virtual world. A player's property rights will be guaranteed to be protected only insofar as the software allows for it.39 For example, in the virtual world Ultima Online, one of the features is that players are enabled by the software and game-design to "steal" from one another.40 In other words in such virtual worlds the software explicitly makes allowances for the action of lawfully "stealing" the property of another player.
3 2 The concept of virtual world ownership
The concept of "ownership" inside a virtual world is a problematic one and it is easier (and probably more correct) to describe players' property rights towards the things that they "own" in virtual worlds as being possessory.41 The reason for this is that the concept of ownership is normally inferred from the factual question of possession. Because a player is not enabled by the game's code to possess an item "belonging" to another player, the mere fact of possession equates to ownership inside the virtual world. In many virtual worlds property rights attach to a holder of an object for as long as the item is carried around by the avatar.42 As soon as the avatar drops43 the object, it constitutes abandonment and the item immediately becomes res derelictae. The next person to pick up the item will then become the new owner.44 The example mentioned here is a very simplistic use of the ownership concept in a virtual world and many worlds are far more sophisticated in their approach to the ownership concept as well as in the implementation of it via code. This is due to the pressure on developers to implement more detailed code-based property rules and not only a simple "possession-is-all-rule".45 An example of a more complex code-based property system may be found in the area of virtual homeownership.46 The default rule in virtual worlds is that all players have access to all areas at all times. The next more developed rule is to allow only the owner of a house into his virtual home, which is counterintuitive if a home-owner wishes to invite guests without giving them a full run of the house. To solve this dilemma, developers have created a nuanced system of levels of exclusionary capacity that they build into the code-based property system. Grimmelmann refers to this as a "virtual fee simple"47 with a new estate carved out called the "right to visit".48 This so-called "right of visit" is perpetual, non-transferable and subject to revocation by the owner of the house at any stage.
This right to visit has a measurable effect on the ability of both owner and visitor to interact with their own property as well as the property of others. In the example above about ownership being lost by the dropping of an item, the rules of the acquisition of the object in question was clear. However, if one was to integrate that example into the context of a virtual home in a virtual world, a number of problems arise. One such problem (and a main reason why players would wish to own a virtual home), would be to have a secure environment where they could store their collected virtual items without losing their property rights in it.49 Apart from this, homeowners would also like to have guests over for functions and other social visits. However, what would the consequences be of inviting visitors to a player's house? Would an item dropped by a guest become the property of the homeowner, or would any guest that picks up or uses an item in the house become the new owner of that item? It is clear that in this case the general rule of possession equating virtual ownership is not satisfactory. In order to solve this problem, the nuanced system of exclusion mentioned above incorporates a number of new options. A homeowner is able to choose between certain categories of access that he or she wishes to assign to a visitor. Depending on the category that a homeowner assigns to a visitor, that visitor will not only be able to access certain areas of the home, but the visitor's interaction with the items in the home will also be defined. For example, one visitor might have access to enter the house, but not to pick anything up, while another visitor might be given certain permissions to be able to carry off any items in the home.50
3 3 Original Acquisition Inside Virtual Worlds
From the discussion above it is clear that the most important form of acquisition of virtual property is derived from having possession of a virtual thing. How then does a player acquire possession and/or ownership of an object of virtual property? As mentioned above, the methods of acquisition would usually depend on the allowances made for transfer and possession by the code and by extension the laws of the virtual world itself.51 Similarly to the real world, original acquisition is usually achieved by means of occupation of property (occupatio). In the virtual world occupation of property frequently happens by means of capture of wild animals or monsters.52
In most virtual worlds the best way to increase one's virtual patrimony is by occupation, or as it is commonly referred to in virtual worlds, as "the taking of wild monsters".53 The capture and killing of wild animals or monsters inside virtual worlds often represent the best way of acquiring treasure or "loot". Although it is legally significant to be the player who slays a monster, the possession of the monster's corpse is only of legal significance for a short time because it is not the monster's corpse that is important, but rather the perceived value of the objects that these monsters drop when they are killed.54 Grimmelman notes that
[i]n the large crop of quasi-medieval games, with their strongly fantastic overtones, the capture of wild animals is nothing less than the principal source of wealth. The single most profitable 'industry' is hunting monsters and looting their corpses.55
In the case of capture and killing of the monsters, the property rules contained in the game-code are highly worked out, but do not provide for all the available circumstances that presents itself in the game. For example, a game like EverQuest automatically awards experience points56 to the player who kills a monster. If a group of players work together to slay a monster, the experience points are distributed by the game amongst the players, usually in proportion to their contribution to the killing. However, the loot that the monster drops when killed is not automatically assigned to any specific players and becomes res nullius as soon as it is dropped.57 The first player to pick up the treasure then becomes the owner of it. Although the game-code would seem to create certainty as to the ownership of the picked-up treasure, the player community has developed a set a normatively binding rules relating to who is allowed the pick up the treasure.58 Players will often deviate from the code-based rules to follow rules based on their own social understandings.59
Apart from the capture and killing of wild beasts as a method of obtaining virtual property, certain other interesting methods are available to the player. Mining and farming are given as examples of how things are taken raw out of "nature" and then transferred into useful and saleable things. Take this account of one player's labours for example:
In addition to the four hours of clicking, Stolle had had to come up with the money for the deed. To get the money, he had to sell his old house. To get that house in the first place, he had to spend hours crafting virtual swords and plate mail to sell to a steady clientele of about three dozen fellow players. To attract and keep that clientele, he had to bring Nils Hansen's blacksmithing skills up to Grandmaster. To reach that level, Stolle spent six months doing nothing but smithing: He clicked on hillsides to mine ore, headed to a forge to click the ore into ingots, clicked again to turn the ingots into weapons and armor, and then headed back to the hills to start all over again, each time raising Nils' skill level some tiny fraction of a percentage point, inching him closer to the distant goal of 100 points and the illustrious title of Grandmaster Blacksmith.60
Certain games also provide mechanisms for combining already existing things into new things (accession),61 and others have mechanisms for creating new things from a code level.62 Apart from ownership of the virtual thing, in such a case the creator is sometimes given intellectual property rights in the newly created thing. This is such a prominent aspect of the virtual world Second Life, that there is even an intellectual property office in Second Life.63
3 4 Derivative Acquisition Inside Virtual Worlds
Apart from being able to pick up or take an item that is lying around as res derelictae, there is a thriving economy that operates inside most virtual worlds.64 Players can make use of auction houses,65 bazaars and other in-game trading facilities like shops, taverns and town commons to transfer property - and consequently ownership.66 The benefit of using the in-game provided mechanisms for transferring property is that the code usually provides a secure transaction facility. The property is kept by the game-code and only transferred to the buyer as and when funds are transferred. An example of this is found in the World of Warcraft game-guide:
Select a character, and then right-click on its portrait/name. You can also do this for player portraits. This will launch the trade screen with another player. Place your items in the top portion of the screen. Once you are satisfied with the other player's trade, hit "Trade" button. To trade money, open up your backpack and hold down shift while clicking on the money amount. You can then select the amount of money and drag it over to the trade window. You can also drag an item or money from your bags and drop it on another player to initiate a trade window. Make sure the other player gives the correct type of coin in the trade. When you have a trade window open, you can right-click an item to move it to the trade window.67
Similar to the real world, immovable property such as houses and virtual land are also tradable in virtual worlds and ownership of virtual real estate frequently changes hands. Most virtual worlds that provide for individual ownership of virtual immovable property also provide some type of registration system that emulates a real world deeds registry.68 Take for example this extract from the Dark Age of Camelot Manual:
Please note that only Personal Homes can be sold, not Guild homes. Should you decide to sell your home to a fellow player, there are a few steps to follow. The first thing you need to do is to get the title to your home. You can purchase the house title to your home in the housing market area from the deed N PC. Once you have the house title, it works just like any other item transaction. Hand the house title to the player you wish to sell it to, decide on the price, and then both of you hit accept. You can only sell a house to someone who doesn't already own a home. Once you have the house title, it works just like any other item transaction. You must stand on the lot where the house is [, t]hen hand the house title to the player you wish to sell it to[.] Decide on the price[, t]hen both of you hit accept[.] Please note: you can only sell a house to someone who doesn't already own a home.69
The example above mentions that the house title is transferred from player to player. This might look like a normal "physical" transfer of a document, but it must be noted that the game-code arbitrates the transaction and immediately records the details of the transaction as well as that of the new owner in a central database.70 Therefore, it would seem as if derivative acquisition of property occurs in much the same way in the virtual world as in the real one.
4 Conclusion
In this paper I discussed a number of ways in which ownership of virtual property can be acquired inside of a virtual world and illustrated these with a number of examples from virtual worlds. In order to understand the procedure of acquisition of virtual property I briefly discussed how virtual world property based systems operate when they deal with the concept of ownership. The purpose of the paper was to take a brief exploratory look at virtual world acquisition of ownership. This was done against the background of South African property law. It is clear that there are similarities between acquisition of ownership in the real world and that of acquisition inside of a virtual world. Even from the limited examples discussed above it has transpired that one can obtain ownership of property inside of a virtual world via either original or derivative means. The most prominent method of obtaining original acquisition of virtual property is by occupation of a thing that is res nullius, while the most prominent method of obtaining derivate acquisition is through transfer of ownership by means of delivery.
* Paper presented at the International Property Law Conference 2010 hosted by the University of South Africa and held on 2010-10-27-29 in Pretoria.
1 For a concise introduction to the concept of virtual property see Erlank "Lecture: introduction to virtual property" 2009 SSrN available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1491118 (accessed 2010-10-10); Erlank "Introducing property in virtual worlds" 2012 Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN) available at http://ssrn.com/abstract = 2241030 (accessed 2012-10-31). See in general Fairfield "Virtual property" 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1102; Blazer "The five indicia of virtual property" 2006 Pierce LR 137 161; Deenihan "Leave those Orcs alone: property rights in virtual worlds" 2008 SSRN available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1113402 (accessed 2009-05-22) 1 51; [ Links ] Lastowka & Hunter "The laws of the virtual worlds" 2004 Calif LR 1 74. For a more exhaustive discussion of how property inside virtual world functions in the real world legal system, see Erlank Property in virtual worlds (LLD dissertation 2012 Stell) available at http://ssrn.com/abstract = 2216481 (accessed 2012-10-31). [ Links ]
2 This article is intended to be an exploratory and introductory article to the fields of virtual law, virtual property and virtual worlds. It is the first of a number of forthcoming articles dealing with both law and property regarding and inside of virtual worlds.
3 This is possibly due to the changing understanding of the virtual property concept and the constant development of the virtual world phenomenon.
4 See Van Erp "Servitudes: the borderline between contract and (virtual) property" in Towards a unified system of land burdens (eds Van Erp & Akkermans ) (2006) 4; Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1049 1055.
5 Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1058 1064; Lastowka & Hunter 2004 Calif LR 1 29.
6 For a discussion about the interconnected and multiplayer elements of virtual worlds see Castronova "Virtual worlds: a first-hand account of market and society on the cyberian frontier" (2001) No 618 CESifo Working Paper available at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=294828 (accessed 2009-05-20) 6; [ Links ] Blazer 2006 Pierce LR 145 146; Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1050 1054.
7 Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1049; Grimmelmann "Virtual worlds as comparative law" 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 150. For a general discussion about code-as-law see: Lessig Code and other laws of cyberspace (1999) as well as Lessig Code: and other laws of cyberspace, version 2.0 (2006).
8 Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1049. See in general Erlank (2009).
9 This example can be enhanced by visualizing a virtual folding chair that is placed next to a virtual wrestling ring. This virtual chair would then be used by one virtual wrestler, to hit his opponent over the head. Hence form follows function.
10 As mentioned above the term "virtual property" has many other meanings as well. Examples of other objects of virtual property include uniform resource locators (URL's); domain names; email addresses; bank accounts; the player's account in a virtual world (ie the player's complete virtual world patrimony in that specific world); intellectual property interests held by both players and developers in the objects that they create, import and use in virtual worlds etc. See in general the discussion about various objects of virtual property Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1049, 1052; Lastowka & Hunter 2004 California LR 1 29.
11 An avatar is the player's corporeal representation inside the virtual world, otherwise also known as the player's character. See Castronova (2001) 3.
12 These would include objects such as chairs, sneakers, clothing, cars and almost any other type of object that one would find as a virtual (in)tangible object to its real world counterpart. In order to appreciate the diversity of virtually tangible objects that are created, used, traded and sold in virtual worlds, see the online marketplace in Second Life Linden Lab "Second Life marketplace" 2011 Second Life Marketplace available at https:// marketplace.secondlife.com (accessed 2011-10-10).
13 For example Second Life contains an area called Calana Mount where players can (amongst the usual available occupations) act as slaves or slavers: Hsu "Virtual world, real college class" 2008 Las Vegas Sun at http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/07/virtual-world-real-college-class/ (accessed 2011-10-10). [ Links ] There are also players participating as willing sex-slaves for other player's in Second Life: Wagner "Sex in Second Life" 2007 InformationWeek at http://www.informationweek.com/news/199701944 (accessed 2011-10-10). [ Links ]
14 See Lastowka & Hunter 2004 California LR 1 51-71 where they deal with the issue of recognition of personal rights of avatars as cyborgs in both the virtual and real worlds.
15 Such as intra-virtual world, extra-virtual world or cross-border between the virtual and real worlds.
16 These assumptions form the base of a number of heated debates in the virtual property law society. The relevance of the assumptions can be seen from this brief example. At the moment virtual world developers are actively trying to prevent the vesting of any real world property rights in players. They do this by means of making access to the virtual worlds dependant on the acceptance of an End User Licence Agreement (EULA) stating that a player only acquires a limited licence to interact with the virtual world, and that the licence is revocable at any time, for any or no reasons at all. Additionally to this, the contractual agreement also invariable contains strong clauses that explicitly state that a player does not acquire any ownership or property rights in anything inside the virtual world. In spite of this, players are actively ignoring these stipulations and using both their accounts, as well as the objects that they possess via their avatars inside the virtual worlds as objects of property that they sell, barter and trade with in the real world. This has led to a multi-billion dollar trade in virtual property that takes place in spite of the developer's contractual stipulations to the contrary. For more on this topic see Castronova (2001). Also see Lawrence "It really is just a game: the impracticability of common law property rights in virtual property" 2008 Washburn LJ 505 549; Nelson "The virtual property problem" 2009 SSRN available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1469299 (accessed 2009-08-11) 1 33.
17 The issue of the allocation and regulation of virtual property rights falls outside the scope of this article. For a discussion about the intellectual property and real world contractual implications of property in virtual worlds see Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1049; Deenihan 9; Adrian "Intellectual property or intangible chattel?" 2006 JInt Comm Law & Tech 52 61. See in general: Chheda "Intellectual property implications in a virtual reality environment" 2005 The John Marshall R IP Law 483 508; Dibbell "Owned! Intellectual property in the age of dupers, gold farmers, eBayers, and other enemies of the virtual state" 2003 available at http:// www.nyls.edu/docs/dibbell.pdf (accessed 2008-03-12); Eriksson & Grill "Who owns my avatar? - Rights in virtual property" 2005 Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views - Worlds in Play available at http:// www.digra.org/dl/db/06276.23429.pdf (accessed 2009-10-02); [ Links ] Kunze "Regulating virtual worlds optimally: the model end user license agreement" 2008 North Western J Tech & IP 101 118; Miller "Determining ownership in virtual worlds: copyright and licence agreements" 22 Rev Litig 435 471; Reuveni "On virtual worlds: copyright and contract law at the dawn of the virtual age" 2007 Indiana LR 261 308; Westbrook "Owned: finding a place for virtual world property rights" 2006 Michigan State LR 779 812.
18 For example, World of Warcraft's (WoW) EULA states that "(t)his software is licensed, not sold. By installing, copying or otherwise using the game (defined below), you agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement." See Blizzard "World of Warcraft - End User License Agreement" 2009 World of Warcraft available at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html (accessed 2009-11-04).
19 As an example, one of the private islands in Second Life is called "Brigadoon." This is a safe, virtual environment where people with Asperger's syndrome and their care-givers can interact. See Silverstein "A world where anything is possible" 2005 abc NEWS available at http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/FutureTech/story?id=1019818 (accessed 2009-12-01); Fairfield 2005 Boston U LR 1047 1049 nn 51, 52.
20 For example in the virtual world of Second Life ownership of land is an essential part of the gameplay. For an illustration of how this works see the discussion about estates versus private regions in Second Life where Linden Labs (the developer of Second Life) describes an estate as follows: "An estate is a term for a group of one or more Private Regions that belong to one Resident. See Linden Lab "Private regions: about land" 2011 Second Life English Knowledge Base available at http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Private-Regions/ta-p/700133 (accessed 2011-1012).
21 For a discussion about the problems associated with ownership of digital information and virtual property after someone's death see: Miller "Virtual inheritance" 2008 Economics of Virtual Worlds available at http:// economicsofvirtualworlds.blogspot.com/2008/09/virtual-inheritance.html (accessed 2011-10-20); Cha "After death, a struggle for their digital memories" 2005 Washingtonpost.com available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58836-2005Feb2.html (accessed 2011-10-19); Staff Writer "Digital privacy after death - What will happen to your online profile when you're gone?" lifeinsurancefinder.com.au available at http://www.lifeinsurancefinder.com.au/infographics/what-happens-online-when-you-die/ (accessed 2011-10-19).
22 This is discussed in more detail below.
23 See in general Lastowka & Hunter 2004 California LR 1 74.
24 This issue has been discussed quite extensively in the literature about virtual property. See in general: Castronova "On virtual economies" 2003 Int J Comp Gaming Res available at http://www.gamestudies.org/0302/castronova/ (accessed 2009-05-22). See also: Castronova "Real products in imaginary worlds" 2005 Harv BusR 20 22; Castronova "The right to play" 2004 NYLaw Sch LR 185 210; Castronova "Virtual world economy: it's Namibia, basically" TerraNova 2004 available at http://www.terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2004/08/virtual_world_e.html (accessed 2008-08-24); Castronova (2001) 40; Lastowka & Hunter 2004 California LR 1 9; Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 149; Pollitzer "Serious business: when virtual items gain real world value" 2007 SSRN available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1090048 (accessed 2009-10-10) 1 51.
25 Vacca discusses two models of ownership used in virtual worlds, the first refers to the so-called traditional model of ownership where the developer of a virtual world automatically becomes or stays the owner of all property inside the virtual world. The second model he calls "user-retained ownership" which leaves ownership of user-created content in the hands of the player and not the developer. See: Vacca "Viewing virtual property ownership through the lens of innovation" 2008 Tenn LR 42 44.
26 This correlates with the phenomenon that most of the largest virtual worlds that are commercially run tend to follow the model of ownership where the developer retains all ownership inside the virtual world. See in general Vacca 2008 Tenn LR 42 44.
27 Van der Merwe & De Waal The law of things and servitudes (1993) 116; Badenhorst, Pienaar & Mostert Silberberg & Schoeman's The Law of Property (2006) 71.
28 This is not always the case. An example of an exclusion being the case of expropriation when the ownership is acquired free from the characteristics, obligations and benefits of the right of a predecessor: Van der Merwe & De Waal 116.
29 Badenhorst, Pienaar & Mostert 71.
30 Van der Merwe & De Waal 116; Badenhorst, Pienaar & Mostert 72.
31 Van der Merwe & De Waal 116.
32 For a detailed discussion of original acquisition in South African Law see Badenhorst, Pienaar & Mostert Silberberg & Schoeman's 137, 174. Of all of these examples, the most important in virtual worlds is occupation.
33 Van der Merwe & De Waal 148.
34 Van der Merwe & De Waal 156. For a detailed discussion of transfer (delivery) as a mode of derivative acquisition of property in South African Law see: Badenhorst, Pienaar & Mostert 175, 200.
35 Van der Merwe & De Waal 165. For a detailed discussion of registration of land as a mode of derivative acquisition of property in South African Law see Badenhorst, Pienaar & Mostert 201, 239.
36 This is if the virtual law is derived from the computer code. It is also possible that players create legal norms between themselves that are not designed or enforced by the code-based legal norms. See Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 150, 154; Edelmann "Framing virtual law" 2005 Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views - Worlds in Play availbale at http://www.digra.org:8080/Plone/dl/db/06278.45351.pdf (accessed 2011-08-08) 5. See in general Lessig (1999).
37 Grimmelmann 2004 NYLaw Sch LR 147 150. See also: Jankowich "Property and democracy in virtual worlds" 2005 Boston U J Sci Tech 177; Pollitzer 20; Lessig (2006); Lessig (1999).
38 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 refers to this attribute of the property rights as "absolute". I would rather describe it as being automatically exclusionary.
39 Lessig "The law of the horse: what cyberlaw might teach" 1999 Harv LR 522, 531. See in general Lessig (1999).
40 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 150 n 11; Lastowka & Hunter "Virtual crimes" 2004 NY Law Sch LR 309. Certain virtual worlds even include the class of "thief" as one of the types of avatar that a player can choose to create. For an in depth discussion of the "thief" class and attributes relating to thievery in some other classes like "rogues", "swashbucklers" and "assassins", see Forum Contributors "Thief-classes in MMOs" 2008 The Pub at MMORPG.COM available at http:// www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/1895730#1895730 (accessed 2011-08-13).
41 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 151.
42 This is often referred to as "equipping" an item. See: Sony "EverQuest II Manual" EverQuest II available at http://everquest2.com/manual/EQII _Manual.pdf (2010-11-03) 16.
43 Or "unequips" the item.
44 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 151. For example, Ultima Online's Playguide describes the procedure and consequences of dropping items as follows: "You can remove items from your inventory and drop them almost anywhere on the screen near your character. If, for some reason, the item can't be dropped in the location you've selected, either an error noise will sound or the item will return to your inventory. A dropped item will stay where it is until it deteriorates naturally or someone picks it up. Dropped items don't tend to stay around for long." Mythic "Ultima Online playguide: environment manipulation" (2010) UO Herald available at http://www.uoherald.com/node/115 (accessed 2010-11-03).
45 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 151.
46 Ibid. For an example of how a developer deals with this issue, see: Sony "EverQuest II Manual" EverQuest II available at http://everquest2.com/manual /EQII_Manual.pdf (accessed 2010-11-03) 26.
47 Making use of feudal estate terminology.
48 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 152.
49 Even if items are not taken by other players, they are subject to "decay" as is explained in the Ultima Online Playguide. "In Ultima Online, items that are placed on the ground (i.e. not locked down or secured in a house, or placed in your bank box) can decay. This means that after a period of time, the item will disappear from the game. There's no way to retrieve items that have decayed. To keep your items safe from decaying, you need to either lock them down or place them in a secure container in a house that you own, co-own, or are a friend of, or store them away in your bank box." See Ultima Online Playguide "Houses: housing security" 2010 www.uoherald.com available at http://www.uoherald.com/node/216 (accessed 2010-10-10).
50 The level of complexity with regard to rules of access can become extremely complex. For a good example of how such rules work, see Ultima Online Playguide "Houses: housing security" 2010 www.uoherald.com available at http://www.uoherald.com/node/216 (accessed 2010-10-10) and also Dark Age of Camelot Manual "Chapter 4: accessibility" 2010 www.camelot herald.com available at http://www.camelotherald.com/housing/manual/chapter4.php (accessed 2010-10-10).
51 See in general: Lessig (1999).
52 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 154.
53 Idem.
54 See the discussion about the automatic awarding of experience points below.
55 Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 155.
56 These experience points are valuable because they contribute to the development of the player's avatar, from a vulnerable inexperienced weakling in the beginning of the game, to a superior character with enhanced abilities at the higher levels of the game. One of the aims of most virtual worlds is that the player's avatar should be able to proceed to the next level (called levelling up). This is achieved by the acquisition of property and experience points.
57 DaCunha "Virtual property, real concerns" 2010 Akron IP J 40. For a discussion about how this allocation of experience points function and their part in the virtual world economy see: Malone "Dragon kill points: the economics of power gamers" 2007 Games and Culture forthcoming available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1008035 (accessed 2009-05-18).
58 If one player picks up the treasure that appears from another player's efforts, it is considered as "kill stealing". Even though the game-code would not penalise this action, the other players will take action against a perpetrator. For more info see Grimmelmann 2004 NY Law Sch LR 147 155156.
59 Ibid 156.
60 Dibbell "The unreal estate boom: the 79th richest nation on earth doesn't exist" 2003 Wired.com available at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/gaming_pr.html (accessed 2010-10-10).
61 For example, in Ultima Online players are sometimes required to combine items to produce new items. See Mythic "Ultima Online playguide: environment manipulation" (2010) UO Herald available at http:// www.uoherald.com/node/115 (accessed 2010-11-03).
62 This is a prominent feature of Second Life. See in general Ondrejka "Escaping the gilded cage: user created content and building the metaverse" 2004 NY Law Sch LR 84.
63 Duranske "SLPTO offers Second Life content creators suite of intellectual property protection tools" 2007 available at http://www.virtuallyblind.com (accessed 2008-03-12)
64 Deenihan 5; Castronova 2003 Int J Comp Gaming Res.
65 Deenihan 5.
66 See for example the trading options employed in World of Warcraft: Blizzard "World of Warcraft game guide: trading" 2010 World of Warcraft available at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics /trading.html (accessed 201010-10). Also see the trading and selling methods employed in EverQuest: Sony "EverQuest II Manual" EverQuest II available at http://everquest2.com/manual /EQII_Manual.pdf (accessed 2010-11-03) 22 24.
67 Blizzard "World of Warcraft game guide: trading with another player" 2010 World of Warcraft available at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/trading.html (accessed 2010-10-10). [ Links ] A similar function exists in EverQuest. See: Sony "EverQuest II Manual" EverQuest II at http://everquest2.com/manual /EQII_Manual.pdf (accessed 2010-11-03) 23 24.
68 See for example the mechanism facilitated by the game-code in Ultima Online: Mythic "Ultima Online Playguide: houses: selling your house to another player" (2010) UO Herald available at http://www.uoherald.com/node/213 (accessed 2010-11-03).
69 Dark Age of Camelot manual "Chapter 3: maintenance and management: selling your home" 2010 www.camelotherald.com available at http://www.camelotherald.com/housing/manual/chapter3.php#5 (accessed 201010-10).
70 See Mythic "Ultima Online Playguide: houses: selling your house to another player" (2010) UO Herald available at http://www.uoherald.com/node/213 (accessed 2010-11-03).


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Your Missoula Thanksgiving Day – Black Friday Shopping Guide [AUDIO]
Ready for the holiday shopping season? We've visited with many of Missoula's major stores for you to give you an idea of what to expect, so you can have a plan of attack.
Let's start with Walmart. Here's manager Bill Smith from the Brooks Street Walmart on the plans for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.
Rob Hooper, floor manager at Missoula's Best Buy, says they'll open their doors at midnight Friday morning.
Rob Warren, Manager of Shopko, says the store will be closed from 1 to 9 pm on Thanksgiving, then the doors will open at 9 for holiday shopping.
Southgate Mall will be closed for Thanksgiving Day, but Marketing Director Tricia Piedalue says the mall will open at midnight Friday morning, and will be serving an early morning catered breakfast to shoppers.
As an alternative to the whole Black Friday philosophy, the Missoula Downtown Association has their own holiday plans, according to Marketing and Events Director Colin Hickey, starting with small-business Saturday.
One thing all the merchants agree on is to shop local this holiday season! So plan your attack, and happy shopping from Townsquare Media!

subset: commoncrawl


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This week, Tina is checking out a place called "House of Shah."
Dishin' with Tina: House of Shah
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Vote for Your Favorites in the DWTS13 End-of-Season Awards!
It's time once again to vote for your favorites/least favorites in our semiannual end-of-season awards! While Heidi & I's cheesecake awards are more humorous (and just bestowed by she & I), this is a chance for you guys to weigh in on the bests and worsts of this past season, and for us to be a bit more serious. To see examples of past award winners, check out the results of the season 11 & 12 end-of-season awards.
Of course, there are some guidelines before you vote. Keep in mind that we tried to pick the most likely candidates for each category – ones that we felt most of you would probably pick, if asked. There is no point in listing a dance like Ron & Peta's cha-cha as a candidate for best dance of the season 😛 However, if your pick for a certain award is not listed, there is an "other" box that you can chose and write-in your own nomination. But be warned: if I cannot read what you wrote, I'm not even gonna bother counting it. Spell check, kids 🙂 And if you write in something that's already been listed as one of the choices, I'm throwing your vote out on principle alone – kind of like those tests that sees if you read all the instructions before proceeding. Things were a bit less chaotic for last season's awards than for season 11's, but I still got quite a few badly misspelled, grammatically confusing, and downright incoherent answers that I had to throw out. For the sake of my sanity, kids – at least try to make your choices clear 😉 That said, VOTE AWAY! We'll give you guys a week or two to get your votes in, and then we'll reveal the results at a later date.


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NEW YORK — Barbara Meltzer is a busy professional. Unmarried, she's never had children. And as she gets older, she fears that might put her in quite a predicament.
"I realized that I don't have anybody to help me," Meltzer says.
And as caregiver to her 90-year-old mother, Meltzer knows how important "help" can be.
"I take her out to lunch or breakfast, and I have to take her out to all the doctor appointments and haircuts," Meltzer says.
Meltzer's fear is that there will be no one there for her when her time comes.
"I look at my mom, and I see all the possibilities for my future," she says. "I am looking at one of my greatest fears."
But her situation is not as unusual as you might think.
"More and more baby boomers are childless, and so they are facing old age without really a family to care for them," says John Rother, policy director for AARP.
In 1984, the percent of childless women aged 40 to 44 was 11.1 percent. Twenty years later, it's risen to 19.3 percent, and it's still going up.
"And that's going to have a tremendous impact and going to be an entirely different situation than the situation our parents faced when they got older," Rother says.
Experts say plan ahead, stay healthy, check your finances (and start saving now) and find community resources before you need them.
Meltzer is doing all of those things but still worries about what the future will hold.
"Who's going to help me?" she asks. "Who's going to be my voice?"
© 2013 NBCNews.com Reprints


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Phone: 323-887-1448
Welcome to the City of Montebello business community. We are pleased that you have selected our City for your business enterprise. We are here to assist you through the business license process. The information provided to begin the license procedure is intended as a public service and is not all inclusive and any specific questions should be directed to the Business License Division at 323-887-1448.
The Montebello Municipal Code requires most businesses operating in Montebello to pay an annual business license tax. With a few exceptions of flat fees, most Montebello business license tax is computed based on gross receipts. For rates associated with your specific business license classification, please contact us in the Business License Division.
Business Licenses are not transferable between owners; however, they may be transferred to a new location within the city upon written notification to Business License Division and approval by the Planning Division. The majority of businesses, trades, professions, callings, or occupations operating in the City need a Business License Certificate and Occupancy Permit; these include but are not limited to:
- Any business in a commercial or industrial location.
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Please contact the Planning Division at 323-887-1477 to determine if the desired business is located in an appropriate zoning district. Our staff is here to assist you Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
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As I watch the controversy about the mosque at Ground Zero I think the bad guys are still impacting our country. The hatred and fear shown by my American brothers and sisters is sad. To deny anyone the right to pray in their temple shows how we don't know our constitution and that the extremists are gloating on how we are fighting among ourselves. Would this unrest be a national news item if it was a synagogue or Catholic church? I think 'not in my backyard' would be moot.
Still, the one issue we have to protest that affects all of us is the epidemic of the bed bugs. It is not only something we, the people, have no control of but it is affecting our economy. The mosque has taken up so much media coverage the epidemic is on the back page.
Getting rid of bed bugs is costly! I had bed bugs in my apartment as did 30 apartments in my building, a building made up of seniors living on their social security, many of them handicapped. After the prepping we have to live in plastic bags for three weeks when they return to do another application. I escaped to my summer home and hired "Rex" a dog hired out to sniff around for bed bugs. It cost $400 for less than five minutes of his time.
We are lucky we have a place to retreat to. The economy is affected since the bugs are in department stores, movie houses, etc. My family is fearful of going out to eat, for we may sit on a chair or a couch that has bugs. At this time we refuse to fly or enter any department store in fear of bringing bugs back home,
The federal government and the president hase to focus on how our lives are impacted, how the economy will be worse than it is now, and the rising epidemic. It's Sunday as I write this and I haven't seen Senator Charles Schumer attempt to make this a national issue. It is becoming national, since it has traveled quickly to other states.
Those of you who are expending your energies protesting a mosque should allow the freedom of those who also lost their loved ones on Sept.11. But why are our mayor and government officials not protesting about the lack of interest about the bug epidemic that will soon become a national problem?
Citizen groups should organize (within all the boroughs) and demand our scientists find something to stop this epidemic. I was told by two exterminators this will be a worse epidemic than the one in the 1940's when our G.I's brought them in, and it can last from five to ten years.
It is time to organize and put this issue on the front pages and TV stations nationally. You can also send a letter to President Obama reminding him how this is affecting the poor economy he is trying to save. The only companies making mega bucks are the exterminators.
Joyce Shepard,


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Black@Gold Forever32
The Pirates are the talk of MLB with a record of 48 and 37 which places them a game ahead of the Reds for first place in the NL Central.......Right now only three teams in MLB have more wins then the Pirates........Andrew McCutchen is the NL MVP for the first half of the season.........BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!


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Discovering the City of Sodom
Sintesi dell'editore
The fascinating, true account of the quest for one of the Old Testament's most infamous cities. Like many modern-day Christians, Dr. Steven Collins struggled with what seemed to be a clash between his belief in the Bible and the research regarding ancient history - a crisis of faith that inspired him to put both his education and the Bible to the test by embarking on an expedition that has led to one of the most exciting finds in recent archaeology. Recounting Dr. Collins's quest for Sodom in absorbing detail, this adventure-cum-memoir reflects the tensions that define Biblical archaeology as it narrates a tale of discovery.
The audiobook follows Dr. Collins as he tracks down Biblical, archaeological, and geological clues to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, narrowing down the list of possible sites as he weighs evidence and battles skeptics. Finally, he arrives at a single location that looms as the only option: a massive site called Tall el-Hammam in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Challenging the assumptions of academics around the world, Discovering the City of Sodom may well inspire a revision of the history books. Dr. Collins has become a new voice in the controversy over using the Bible as a credible source of understanding the past - and opened a new chapter in the struggle over the soul of Biblical archaeology.
Cosa pensano gli ascoltatori di Discovering the City of Sodom
- 22/07/2013
What a wonderful accidental discovery!
OK, my title is having fun with the book's subject matter. The discovery of Sodom was anything but accidental. The book plays out more like a detective novel than a non-fictional account of how Dr. Steven Collins found what is believed to be the site of Biblical history's most notorious city.
The "accidental discovery" is mine, in that I "discovered" the book through my network of writers on LinkedIn. Given that I have several thousand such connections I often receive messages from authors announcing their new releases. I love to congratulate fellow writers because getting published can be extremely difficult (says the guy who's still working at it), and in sending such a reply to the author -- Dr. Latayne Scott -- I asked if it was an Audible book yet, as I am almost exclusively an Audible "reader" these days. After receiving a rare "yes, it is," I read the synopsis, downloaded the book and crossed my fingers.
What a fantastic pay off! While I'm not totally unfamiliar with this non-fiction genre, it is seldom my first choice of books because they usually make very dry reading. Dr. Scott, it turns out, is a fantastic writer who brought the subject alive and basically had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I've known a good number of fictional writers who could learn a few lessons from her writing. My compliments, Dr. Scott. Well done!
There is one additional aspect about the book that deserves comment beyond the excellent writing and the fascinating story. The book makes a compelling defense of using Biblical references to enhance archeological and historical research. Until reading this book I was only vaguely aware of the prejudices against researchers like Dr. Collins who advocate such use of the Bible and the disdain scholars like him suffer from the more "scientifically myopic" researchers in the academic world. While Dr. Scott does not beat the reader over the head with this aspect, her writing subtlety makes a clear statement about the shortsightedness and wrongheadedness of such limited and prejudicial thinking. In the end, I was left with a new-found respect for the tenacity and faith researchers like Drs. Collin and Scott must draw on in the pursuit of their chosen life's work.
What a lucky find for me!
2 people found this helpful
- Amazon Customer
- 16/09/2020
I usually don't finish books this size in one straight listen, but this was so well written and narrated I simply couldn't stop. definitely sparked a new interest in biblical archeology. the world needs more books like this.


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What a life we live!
Selah loves talking to Grandma!!!
This is PRECIOUS!
Marge and I agree that we are starving for more family shots.
OMG this is too cute!!!Dianna R
This has got to be one of my favorite videos you have taken of little miss precious and Grandma Marge. I just love it. Especially the grrrrrrrr.
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The first-ever Garneau slipper: where the love for comfy feet began
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"I am paying attention to small beauties, whatever I have--as if it were our duty to find things to love, to bind ourselves to this world." -Sharon Olds
Caveats aside, here's where I am. There are still moments of raw, relentless grief. It lives in the background more often now, like radio static, with some snippet of the song amplifying in full volume from time to time. When this happens, what I do -- and I am not necessarily recommending this, as for sure some might say I'm only delaying the inevitable -- is, I stuff it back down. I change the station. Right after the loss I let it move right in, unpack, stay a while. But I just can't live with it anymore. There is no good that can come of it. I have already felt the lowest lows, tried to see it in all its forms, as if bringing the grief itself to life, yielding to its physical presence, could somehow give me something more tangible to mourn than a shadowy ultrasound photo. I've cried the tears until the well ran dry.
What I see, as close as I can come to the Oprah epiphany, is that gratitude is the yin to the yang of grief. When the loss happens, what you do is, you take stock. What do I have that will keep me breathing until it feels like there's more to wake up for than just getting through. In her truly lovely memoir Survival Lessons (which I will from this point forward gift to anyone going through any kind of hell in life), Alice Hoffman writes that when crisis strikes, you strip down to the bare essentials, you take only what you need for the journey. It rings perfectly true for me, and what I've found in doing that is, I see what I have more clearly than before. The simple joys aren't so simple; more than ways to pass time, they're exactly everything you have. And what follows, what you start to recognize bubbling up, consuming more and more of the grief, is gratitude.
Losing this baby has brought into even sharper relief the true miracle -- not a cliche, a real miracle in the intended sense of the word -- that the one successful pregnancy out of my seven actually was and is. If you've ever felt in reading a post on this blog that maybe I was missing that point, maybe I didn't get that I should be happy with what I have, please know it was never lost on me. But if the memo was signed and sealed before, it's been delivered. I can no longer sacrifice quality of life, the ability to be present, to relish the family we clawed our way to, for a possible second child. Can no longer teeter on the brink of sanity, obsessed over lining thickness, fetal heart rates, placentas, AFPs. I always wondered if I'd know when I'd finally had enough, and now there's no doubt: When you know, you know. Emotionally and scientifically -- I'd say seven tortured, abnormal pregnancies (even if one was ultimately successful) is a pretty decent sample size -- it no longer makes sense to continue this quest with my own womb. And so please join me in wishing my uterus -- my poor, tortured, tested, poked, prodded, medicated, scarred, restored, instrumented uterus -- a very happy retirement, which it will no doubt spend playing shuffleboard and starting happy hour promptly at 3 p.m. each day.
That my own uterus must be released from duty has been as clear to us as anything possibly could be, from the moment the ultrasonographer ran the probe across my very pregnant abdomen and shook her head when I asked if there was a heartbeat. But in that same moment, I flashed to our frozen embryos, and I knew right away that the thing that could break me may not be the loss itself, or the realization that I can never carry another. It may be letting go of those embryos that took so much of our time, money and emotional investment to create, without giving them the potential to become the baby we still long for. We can try to look at the black and white of our finances a hundred different ways, and in no way is there somehow $100,000+ for surrogacy in the end. Not even close.
From time to time, I've seen stories of friends and family altruistically carrying for couples who'd been through some horrible hell trying to make babies. I always felt a tug of envy, not necessarily about pursuing surrogacy, because only with this loss has the idea of someone else carrying for us become the greatest relief, the best idea I can imagine. I think the envy was more that these parents had people in their lives willing to do something so big for them. I didn't have anyone in my family that would fit the bill, and I adore my friends -- they are there for me with exactly the kind of support I need when I need it -- but I just wasn't sure I could ever ask something so significant from any one of them (nor did I feel anyone was obligated in any way to save me from my reproductive plight), or that they'd be in a position to offer. Until one of them did.
Talk about gratitude. When it comes to this offer, which feels so much bigger than us and makes it possible that this story may wrap up happily, with this huge act of generosity that sets us permanently free from the years of heartache, no words feel adequate. But hopefully -- and yes, I am filled right to the very top with renewed and relentless hope -- I will spend the next year or so trying to come up with the right ones.


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Professional Community for Car Dealers, Marketing, Advertising and Sales Leaders
Some people have a misunderstanding about what is seen and heard through social media.
It's happening on two major fronts: personal communications and business communications. Both are completely separate, but the fact that the same basic premise popped up from both angles made picking out this blog topic a no-brainer.
I was talking to a family member who made a surprising statement. "I wish [redacted] was following me on Twitter so I could tell him how I feel about [redacted]."
Now, those of us who use social media often realize the error in this statement. Twitter allows for communication with anyone. Facebook and Google+ can allow for communication with anyone who has their settings open to receive communication from strangers. Many of us have had conversations on social media with celebrities and businesses that weren't following us, but who were open to receiving and responding to these communications.
They don't have to follow you to be listening. More importantly, just because they are following you doesn't mean that they're listening. It's a minor point but we have to get that out of the way before moving on to the business reason for this post...
The second instance of misunderstanding came on the same day. I was talking to a potential client who said that they're not worried too much that their Facebook and Twitter accounts hadn't been updated in a couple of months. "We only have a few followers, anyway. It's not like anyone can see these pages."
I had her show me her website analytics. They, like many websites, had links at the bottom of their homepage to their social profiles. The number of clicks from the page to the social profiles wasn't large, but I pointed out that the people doing the clicking were potential customers. Why would they want potential customers to see a lack of efficiency and follow through? Some people hold Facebook and Twitter as important communication tools and when a business demonstrates a lack of interest in social media, it can speak poorly about the company's willingness to listen to and communicate with their customers.
She quickly understood the point and declared that she would have the links removed immediately.
...I literally "facepalmed".
We went to Google and looked up the business by name. Facebook was ranked #3. Twitter was #7. She started frowning.
If you're going to have a social media presence, you must either keep it up to date or declare very clearly that you're not active on social media and offer an alternative method of contact. I've never seen it done before (I always push for option 1, of course) but I have heard of businesses leaving their top post as "This is our Facebook page, but we prefer talking to you directly. Please contact us at..."
It's not ideal, but it's better than letting your social presence be an embarrassment.
As social media continues to expand, understanding that your lack of involvement does not mean that your customers aren't looking at you is a must. When you stick your head in the sand, what are you presenting to people looking at you? Your tail end.
Views: 415
Alexander - amazing input that adds to the conversation, as always. Great graphic and advice.
Cathy - as Ralph said, that's way too common, and now that I'm getting more into direct social media for car dealers I'm learning what Ralph already knows all too well.
Ralph - Using knowem for that purpose - absolutely! It's the first step in any business endeavor, even seasoned businesses like car dealers that are just now getting into social.
Ralph, yes, that was somewhat of a surprise to me (social media advertising), which makes me think I might be correct in terms of what I've assumed all along. Google giving credit to your site for paying for SEM. Maybe it's a very small part of the equation, but I've always had this hunch.
This site is a good example of "guest blogging", on a bunch of levels.
Cathy Nesbit - I had the distinct pleasure of leading a team of social marketers that set up daily social media marketing services for over 600 dealers during an 18 month period. One of the situations that we encountered far too often was when an employee of the dealership had set up a social media account or profile and then either left their job at the dealership, or the dealership did not have a clue as to who set up the account. We found that in the majority of cases, the dealer or GM was unaware that such accounts/profiles had been set up. Getting rid of those "Spurious Profiles" as we called them, was a pain in the butt and took way more time than initially setting up such accounts.
Of course, we all became adept at merging Facebook Pages and learning who to contact at each social network or site, but we also learned that there is a real issue around dealerships having and disseminating "Social Media Employee Policy" that sets the rules for such practices by employees. Today, I recommend that a dealer's very first action regarding social media should always be to create a policy draft at http://socialmedia.policytool.net/ then export it in a Word document, send to the dealership's corporate counsel for review and approval. Once approved, get every employee to sign a copy and place it in their HR file. This will not prevent all spurious profiles from being created, but it is a good start.
The other next step is to secure the dealership's name as a user profile login and URL generator across every social media site that matters by using http://knowem.com - This is to prevent unauthorized users from using the dealership's DBA as a user name, and secure the account for the proper authorized users at the dealership.
Alexander Lau - Thanks for the great Penguin Infographic... I especially like the acknowledgement of the value around Social Advertising when used properly to drive engagement.
Cathy, LMAO!
It's much like SEO, hey our competitors are doing it incorrectly, not paying attention to algorithmic updates, etc. Fine by me, you keep on sucking and it makes my job a lot easier...! Take into consideration 10% of SEO or Social and easy sailing. Speaking of which, forget the engagement and conversion potential, those ignoring their social signals are going to see their domain authority take a DIVE BOMB! Bye, bye birdy, well actually not a Penguin is a bird, right??? Hee, hee...
I love seeing social media profiles of my competitors that have been created and abandoned. The longer, the better. One of my competitors has a link from their website to the Wrong twitter account! What's better than that?! :)
I find it interesting when a company (dealership) creates a social media page, adds a few meaningless comments and then lets it sit and sit and sit and sit and sit. Partly, they'll feature a direct link to their social pages (with stale content or no content) from the top of their website (users find it and think, "why have it if you're not going to keep at it with orginal content") or they don't feature it at all and ignore the fact that a user can search for their brand + keywords like 'Google+', 'Twitter', 'Facebook', etc. and find the same lame social page. Since they don't plan on resourcing their social pages (most of these cases never planned on it in the first place), they end up wanting to delete them and find it difficult to delete the page. Maybe social networks make it difficult, but that's only in their best interest. It just comes down to the fact that most groups don't take social media seriously and fail to adhere to best practices.
As for social media page domain authority, the example that you've mentioned is fairly typical. Not only do most ignore their social content, but the fact that it ranks well per their brand name, as well.
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A collaboration with StoryCorps Chicago
The Chicago Artists Resource has teamed up with StoryCorps Chicago to bring you "Conversations with CAR". Through this collaboration with StoryCorps, the Chicago Artists Resource interviews Chicago-based artists about their personal experiences and their impact on their creative practice.
This week's featured artist is Katie Waddell.
Katie Waddell is an independent curator, writer, and event producer based in Chicago, IL. Katie collaborates with artists across disciplines, organizing their projects, artworks, or ideas into total environments or sequential events. Her research and projects focus on the encounter, by way of public events and programming, as the nexus from which intimacy, curiosity, and the experiential unfold. Katie holds a dual-M.A. in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism and Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Waddell is the Founder and Creative Director of 2nd Floor Rear, a future founder of 2FR Projects (forthcoming), and a general doer of things. Learn more about her work at katiewaddelldoesthings.com
Upcoming Events:
Hiromi Ueyoshi: Works on Paper at Hume Chicago at Hume
StoryCorps' mission is to preserve and share humanity's stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. For more information, please visit https://storycorps.org/.


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What you see can hurt you.
Rachel Watson, an alcoholic who divorced her husband Tom after she caught him cheating on her, takes the train to work daily. She fantasises about the relationship of her neighbours, Scott and Megan Hipwell, during her commute. That all changes when she witnesses something from the train window and Megan is missing, presumed dead.
ActorsStarring: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Edgar Ramírez, Lisa Kudrow, Darren Goldstein, Laura Prepon, Marko Caka, Lana Young, Frank Anello, Alexander Jameson, Mauricio Ovalle, Ross Gibby, Hannah Kurczeski, Gregory Morley, Guy Sparks, Sidney Beitz, Jalina Mercado, Athena Stuebe, Tod Rainey, Leilah Marie Giddens, Claire Manship, Danielle M. Williamson, Phil Oddo, Paul Galbraith, Jesse VanDerveer, Tim Wiencis, Kevin D. McGee, Kristina Nichole, Rachel Christopher, Eddie Sellner, Conor Hovis, Sergei Ashurov, Samantha Lee Johnson, Faith Logan, Doris McCarthy, Craig Moruzzi
I had listened to the audio book several months before going to see this at the cinema and was anticipating it in that way you do when you have really enjoyed a book and are wondering how many ways the film can butcher it. In this case there was also the concern that the British location of the original had been transferred to the USA.
Of course, in a film there is never the luxury of time that a book can give to a story as it meanders through the inner lives of characters, so it's unfair to judge like for like. However in this case I was happily surprised, although some parts seemed skimmed (Megan's backstory, for example) for the most part this was an excellent interpretation. Emily Blunt did a great job as the alcoholic Rachel and even though the ending wasn't a surprise this was a much more positive experience than I had anticipated.


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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Growing up in Cedar City, Joe Thurston was energetic, kind and willing to try anything, from soccer to music to skateboarding.
"He was never one to shy away from a challenge or new experience," recalled Thurston's classmate and friend, E.J. Overson, upon learning of Thurston's death Sunday as a member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots fire crew, battling the Yarnell Hill fire near Prescott, Ariz. The fire has burned more than 8,000 acres and was still mostly out of control Monday.
The 32-year-old Utah native was one of 19 firefighters to die in the fire. The Hotshots are part of the Prescott, Ariz., fire department. A city spokesman didn't have information about how long Thurston had worked with the Hotshots, but Thurston's family wrote in a press release that he had worked as a firefighter and EMT since 2008.
"He had all the qualities that a firefighter would need to possess," Overson said. "He was service-oriented, very caring and willing to do some things that many others would say, 'I don't want to get involved.'"
Longtime friend Scott Goodrich agreed.
"He was a very determined guy. He wasn't a slacker. He was very generous. All that is definitely in his character," said Goodrich, who went to Cedar High School and Southern Utah University with Thurston.
"He was one of the best guys I ever met," he said.
Goodrich and Thurston played in a band Thurston was "a natural" at the drums and rode skateboards and went cliff-jumping together.
"He was definitely one of the daredevil types," Goodrich said. "We went to Quail [Creek] Reservoir, and we'd be finding 40- to 50-foot cliffs that people would be scared to jump off. He would just show up and be front-flipping off of them," said Goodrich, now of St. George.
Among Goodrich's favorite memories of Thurston were late-night swimming parties, which Thurston facilitated by sneaking a key to the school pool.
"We got caught a couple of times, but he was good at talking his way out of that kind of stuff," Goodrich laughed.
Overson played soccer with Thurston from early elementary school through their graduation from Cedar High School in 1999. He remembered Thurston as a person of many layers.
"He was not very outspoken; he was a very nice, considerate person. When you got to know him you'd realize there was a lot more to know than you might think at first blush," Overson said.
"He wasn't good at any one thing he was great at many things. He was able to touch a lot of lives."
Thurston's family released a statement on Tuesday:
"He will be remembered for his bravery and selflessness," they wrote. "Joe was enthusiastic about his work and very service oriented. He was energetic, compassionate, determined, loving, funny, hard working and extremely kind. Joe managed to be wildly fun to be around, always rallying the group to the next adventure. He was the type of guy whose smile filled the room. Dependability and decency radiated from him even at a very young age. A devoted family man, he could always be found at the baseball field or on the floor playing with his kids. Head over heels for his high school sweetheart and wife of eleven years, Marsena, Joe used every day as a new opportunity to show his love and support. Joe will be missed and will forever be our hero."


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From the release date of the Technical Bulletin (January 2nd 2019) all DBI-SALA & Protecta Type 2 and Type 3 devices:
Service 3M Fall Protection requires a product to be serviced by an authorised service agent if:
Serviceable and Non-Serviceable Device
3M Fall Protection in the US as the manufacturer of DBI-SALA and Protecta self retracting lifelines state that's the recommended service period is 5 yearly.
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Bats are the only mammals that can technically fly, but a lot of other creatures do a pretty good impression of flight by gliding down from the tops of tall trees. But there's a problem: this behavior makes no sense.
Lots of small mammals have perfected the art of gliding, using folds of skin to maintain lift over long distances, sometimes as much as a hundred feet across the rainforest canopy. The weird thing is that, according to new research from UC Berkeley and UC Davis, it would be a much better use of energy for the creatures to simply run across the floor of the rainforest as any other creature would. Gliding may look like a leisurely way to get around, but it's actually very taxing on these critters.
The researchers attached motion sensors to the backs of four colugos, a type of lemur found in southeast Asia and the Philippines. They found that it consistently took 1.5 times the amount of energy for these colugos to glide over a given distance than it would for them to travel that far on foot.
It's not just a question of why the colugos would bother gliding when it's so energy-intensive - more to the point, why did it and other gliding species evolve that ability at all if it's such an inefficient adaptation? The researchers believe that simple survival may have trumped energy concerns for these mammals - being able to glide over dangerous terrain would have protected them from predators, and the ability to glide would give them a built-in safety net if they fell off a branch while trying to eat from leaves in the canopy.
Journal of Experimental Biology via ScienceNOW. Image via.


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King's Hawaiian Restaurants
King's Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant opened its doors on Sepulveda Boulevard in Torrance in 1988 and quickly became a landmark for Hawaiians living on the mainland. The irresistible Hawaiian food coupled with the warm "Aloha Spirit" that is the trademark of this family-owned business has made King's Hawaiian Restaurant a gathering place for families and friends throughout Southern California.
King's Hawaiian Restaurant offers a variety of Hawaiian and Classic American dishes, as well as attractive new foods that are our connection to the new Hawaii. In addition, our retail bakery is one of the highest volume bakeries in the state.
King's Hawaiian continues to serve satisfied customers in two locations: the original King's Hawaiian on Sepulveda Blvd., as well as a faster, casual Bakery & Cafe on Western Avenue called The Local Place.


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New Honda Insight for Sale in Lawrence, KS
3 Matching Vehicles Found
MPG Disclaimer:
Based on model year EPA mileage ratings. Use for comparison purpose only. Your mileage will vary depending on driving conditions, how you drive and maintain your vehicle, battery-package/condition, and other factors.
New vehicle pricing includes all offers and incentives. Tax, Title, Dealer Fee and Tags not included in vehicle prices shown and must be paid by the purchaser. While great effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, errors do occur so please verify information with a customer service rep. This is easily done by calling us at 785-843-0550 or by visiting us at the dealership.
**With approved credit. Terms may vary. Monthly payments are only estimates derived from the vehicle price with a 72 month term, 4.9% interest and 20% downpayment.
Honda Graduate Program is limited to the 48 U.S. contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii. [1] For well-qualified customers who meet Honda Graduate Program criteria, subject to approval by Honda Financial Services (HFS). Bonus offer applies toward any new 2019 or newer model year Honda when financed or leased through HFS. Only offered at participating dealerships. Only one $500 Honda College Graduate Bonus offer per vehicle. LEASE: $500 applied towards the cap cost of vehicle. Monthly payment and total due at lease signing are calculated after $500 reduction. Cannot be combined with Zero Due at Signing Lease program. PURCHASE: $500 applied towards down payment. Offer not valid on Honda Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles or used Honda vehicles. Offer valid through March 31, 2021, and may be terminated at any time. Verifiable proof of employment or firm commitment from an employer with start date no more than 120 days from date of finance contract. Must have graduated in past two years or will graduate in next six months. No adverse credit history. Master's, Bachelor's or Associate degree from U.S.-accredited college or registered nursing school. Provide Honda dealer with credit and document requirements. [3] Option to defer first payment 90 days (60 days interest-free) is only available with traditional financing (not leasing)


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Yellow Gold Scott Kay Diamond Wedding Band
18k White Gold Amavida Oval Halo Diamond Engagement Ring
18k White Gold Amavida Round Halo Diamond Engagement Ring
Bridal Rings Company550 South Hill St. Suite 620, 6th FloorLos Angeles, CA 90013


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Denon enjoys an illustrious 100 year history that has delivered unparalleled audio entertainment for people all around the world.
The company may have begun life back in 1910, but they are a truly modern, forward-thinking brand that has successfully adapted to the ever-changing DJ world. The brand is a mainstay in clubs and DJ booths the world over.
After all, it was Denon that kick-started the digital DJ revolution with the launch of the DN-2000F back in 1991.
Denon is also renowned for its innovative engineering and technological advancements, ever since the debut of its first ever dual rack-mount CD decks.
Having adapted to the changing DJ landscape, Denon remains at the top of the DJ pile, thanks to the success of digital DJ models such as the MC6000 controller and the SC3900 media player.
Explore our dedicated Denon range to discover this pioneering brand for yourself.
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Featuring a loving image of a mother and baby cheetah printed in non-toxic inks, the Cheetah Mother's Love Unisex Cotton T-Shirt in size XL is made by eco-friendly art and apparel company The Mountain.
A progressive, earth-friendly company since the 1990s, The Mountain prioritizes eco-friendly production and sustainable values, using water-based inks and organic reactive dyes in their printing and production processes. Their automatic screen-washing system recycles 50% of all water used in the production process, and their facilities have received Oekotex 100% certification, which confirms that all t-shirts and other items made by The Mountain contain no harmful chemicals. Their hyper-realistic, larger-than-life "Big Face" animal tees have been enormously popular, furthering The Mountain's success as an iconic brand for wildlife apparel and artwear.
View more TSHIRTS and HOODIES


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Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan
Literary Scrapbooks Online: An Electronic Reader-Response Project
|9 – 12
|Lesson Plan Type
|Estimated Time
|Eleven 50-minute sessions
|Lesson Author
Charleston, South Carolina
This lesson leads students to reflect on and respond to literature by creating an online scrapbook. Students view a sample electronic scrapbook and use the project rubric to evaluate it, becoming familiar with the project requirements in the process. They use an online tool to evaluate resources on a topic related to a piece of literature and post their evaluations for class reference. Students then use online resources to capture scraps of information about their assigned topic and create a scrapbook using PowerPoint or another presentation software, making sure to cite all their sources. They share their online scrapbook with the class, defending their choice of scrapbook entries: why is the entry important to the understanding of the topic?
This lesson focuses on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, but any piece of literature could be used for the basis of an online scrapbook.
Directions for Creating an Electronic Scrapbook: This resource provides printable directions for the literary scrapbook project.
Website Evaluation Form: Students can use this online tool to evaluate Websites for audience, purpose, authorship, and relevance.
As teachers, we know that incorporating technology into our classrooms is an exciting way to get students engaged, and critically thinking about the curriculum. In his article in English Journal, Alan Perry cites research to support this idea: "Theorists such as Gardner, Smagorinsky, and Wilson and Castner claim that the creation of technology projects helps students to learn through multiple intelligences. Freeman says that multimedia presentations also provide an opportunity for students to work together collaboratively and hone public speaking skills as they make their presentations before an audience." In this lesson on electronic scrapbooks, students will be working on all of these skills while investigating issues that interest them in relationship to their reading. By responding their readings in this way, students take advantage of the best of reader-response theory in a context designed to let students' multiple intelligences shine through.
Further Reading
Perry, Alan E. "PowerPoint Presentations: A Creative Addition to the Research Process." English Journal 92.6 (July 2003): 64-69.


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Sweet Talk Stables
Album: Show Photos
Photos from shows
Album: Around the barn
What's happening?
Album: Battle Of The Breeds
Battle Of The Breeds.
Album: Sweet Talk Foals
Album: Sweet Talks foals
Sounds of foals in the feild to be heard
Album: Chinook penning Feb28
A few pics from the 28th Chinook penning
Album: Hunter Show April 1st
Album: March Gymkhana
Gymkhana photos from March 28 2010
Album: Gymkhana
Gymkhana photos from Feb 21 2010


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tie-dyeing, dyeing method used by hand-loom weavers of ancient times. It became popular during the craft revival of the 1960s. The fabric to be colored is tied or knotted at intervals before being placed in the dye; the knotted areas remain untouched by the dye and create random patterns frequently resulting in a sunburst effect. Tie-dyeing is currently popular for the decoration of wall hangings and casual apparel.
See K. Kreider, Tie-Dye (1989).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Textiles and Weaving


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Kensington Place Collection
$4,090.50 $6,245.00
$5,834.70 $9,073.00
$3,221.10 $4,999.00
$1,934.10 $2,849.00
$2,366.10 $3,679.00
$1,078.20 $1,698.00
$1,312.20 $1,998.00
Traditional design is ever evolving. The infusion of today's lifestyle keeps it on-trend and relevant. Kensington Place reflects the attitude of a new generation looking to make a statement of personal style. Designs are crafted from Ribbon Stripe Mahogany in a rich Brentwood finish. Graceful saber legs, scalloped corners and antique mirrored fronts impart a fresh look to new traditional style.


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So I'll be turning up on Bill Bennett's radio show tomorrow morning around 7:35 am (eastern time) to talk energy, Iowa caucuses, the conservative movement, and whatever else we can get to in two segments. You can look up your local station, or listen live-stream through the magic of the Interwebs, at www.billbennett.com.
As a preview, I'll have a long post up tomorrow morning with my pre-Iowa caucus observations, how to think about John's endorsement of Romney, and related matters.
Meanwhile, here's the final sunset of 2011 over the Pacific Ocean, sped up to 32 seconds:


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Lk21 | Nonton Streaming Film Lk21 Captain Marvel (2019) Subtitle Indonesia | Nonton Film Streaming Online Dunia21 Download Movie Gratis Subtitle Indonesia.
The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Tagline:Higher. Further. Faster.
Budget:$ 152.000.000,00
Revenue:$ 1.128.274.794,00
Cast:Abigaille Ozrey, Akira Akbar, Algenis Perez Soto, Ana Ayora, Annette Bening, Auden L. Ophuls, Azari Akbar, Barry Curtis, Ben Mendelsohn, Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Chuku Modu, Clark Gregg, Colin Ford, Diana Toshiko, Djimon Hounsou, Don Cheadle, Duane Henry, Emily Ozrey, Gemma Chan, Harriet L. Ophuls, Jude Law, Kenneth Mitchell, Lashana Lynch, Lee Pace, London Fuller, Lyonetta Flowers, Marilyn Brett, Mark Daugherty, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Bellows, Matthew Maher, Mckenna Grace, Nelson Franklin, Patrick Brennan, Patrick Gallagher, Pete Ploszek, Richard Zeringue, Robert Kazinsky, Rufus Flowers, Rune Temte, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sharon Blynn, Stan Lee, Stephen A. Chang, Vik Sahay


text: Inclusion in the IAVM Buyer's Guide is a benefit of membership. To be included in the directory, join IAVM today. If you are a current member of IAVM and your contact information is not correct, please update your membership profile and your information should be corrected within 5 business days.


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Evolutionist and Vortex Bio-Energetic Healer, Meg Benedicte discovered early on that she had a unique gift for 'seeing' subtle energies and could identify the vigorous traumatic patterns that relate to dysfunction and ill health. Over the years, she has become a notable pioneer in Bio-Energetic Healing, first through her own transformation and eventually working with clients spanning the globe. Through her extensive research, Ms. Benedicte has created an original and powerful healing approach utilizing Quantum Vortex energy, the distinctive proprietary process known as Unified Field Therapy®. In this healing program, Ms. Benedicte helps her clients to quickly change their lives by altering out-of-date systems that limit the human experience.
Currently, Ms. Benedicte is sharing her unique wisdom and the dramatic findings of her research with ever widening audiences in teleclass/webinars, various speaking events, online radio shows, blogs and articles, CD Meditations, and in her book, Soul Realized. Humanity cannot survive as a species if we continue to perpetuate global wars, pollution, rampant consumption and destructive competition.
Meg Benedicte has developed a holistic-based business that offers services and products to guide people out of a collapsing, toxic world system of disease, divorce and depression – into a newly forming world reality of vibrant health& wellbeing, united community, and personal evolution! Visit www.NewEarthEvolution.com, www.ZepTepi-Alchemy.com


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So it looks like all the hype about the 2.1 OS where true as I woke up this morning to see that the OS Download is now available its 339MB
Gunna download it and see what's new
Post your finding if you find anything new. (My Device is the WiFi 32GB Model)
I Will Make a List of all the changes/improvements that people post in this thread.
Discovered Changes:
1. New E-Mail Sound


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The April Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop is extra special this month! We are teaming up with the girls over at The Rubber Cafe for twice the fun! Start your hop at The Rubber Cafe Blog, and then visit all the designers, ending with the RRR Blog!
There will be two prizes offered on the blog hop – one on the RRR blog and one on The Rubber Café Blog. Prizes winners will be selected randomly from comments.
You should be coming to my blog from the blog of my "real life" friend, Karen (By Design), who is also doing this hop as part of the Rubber Cafe team! Karen and I have been friends for about 6 years. We live near each other and are both part of a crafty group which gets together monthly. This is Karen's first DT and first hop...so make sure to leave her some love!
Check out the RRR April Ribbon Club! Lots of spring colors!
Here is the card I made for the hop, using the amazing Rubber Cafe stamps and luscious RRR ribbons!
I stamped the Grater Floral stamp in brown ink and colored it with Copic markers. I like this stamp because you can color the flowers in colors to make it work for three of the four seasons! I colored mine with soft, spring colors, to match the ribbon. The sentiment is also a Rubber Cafe stamp, called Fabulous Phrases.
I used ribbons from the RRR April Ribbon Club to create my rolled roses. I use Glubers and Beacon Fabri-tac glue to make my roses. With some types of ribbon, the Glubers dots are not enough adhesive to hold the roses together.
I added a pearl to the center of each rose, and then tiny pearls to my sentiment block.
Next, hop over to Michelle's Blog (Inspiration Blooms).
If you get lost, here is the Blog Hop List:
The Rubber Cafe Blog
Gloria -YOU ARE HERE!
Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog
Supply List:
Cardstock: American Crafts Charcoal; Copic Xpress It White
Designer paper: My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Dolled Up
Stamps: The Rubber Cafe Grater Floral, Fabulous Phrases
Ink: Clearsnap: Colorbox Graphic 45 Decades Photogenic; Colorbox Archival Mudslide; Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ice Blue; Copic markers
Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon April Ribbon Club
Pearls: Want2Scrap
Die cutting system: Spellbinders: Grand Calibur; Big Scalloped Circles LG, Standard Circles SM, Labels Eighteen
Adhesive: Cosmo Cricket Glubers; Beacon Fabri-tac; Scotch 3M tape, foam tape