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New Amazon-Led Healthcare Venture Taps Surgeon, Author Gawande as CEO
The new, independent, healthcare-focused company Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase plan to launch made a big splash when it was first announced in January, but few details have emerged since.
On Wednesday, the trio of American business heavyweights revealed a little more. They said Atul Gawande, a surgeon and author who is well known within the healthcare industry, will serve as CEO of the still unnamed joint venture. His first day is July 9, the businesses said. They also said the new company will be headquartered in Boston, where Gawande lives and works.
Gawande is something of a renaissance man. He's a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and a professor at Harvard Medical School. In addition, Gawande is a journalist and the author of several books, including "The Checklist Manifesto." He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998, and contributes articles to the magazine's print edition and website about controlling costs in the U.S. healthcare system and other topics. He's also the founding executive director of Ariadne Labs, a Boston-based organization that seeks to foster innovation in healthcare.
Earlier this year, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) said their goals in forming the company were to improve their U.S. employees' satisfaction with the healthcare they receive, and to reduce the cost of care for these workers. Together, the three businesses employ more than 1.1 million people.
"I have the backing of these remarkable organizations to pursue this mission with even greater impact for more than a million people, and in doing so incubate better models of care for all," Gawande said in a news release.
Amazon's healthcare ambitions have been the subject of widespread speculation. The Seattle e-commerce giant reportedly sells over-the-counter medications under a partnership with Michigan-based Perrigo (NYSE: PRGO). Some industry observers believe that Amazon, with its 100 million-plus subscribers to its Prime two-day shipping service, could be well positioned to begin also shipping prescription drugs and other types of healthcare products to consumers.
But from what little information Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan have made public about their joint venture, it appears to be focused on their employees, not their customers.


text: Joseph's did a great job installing a new heater for me. My old heater went down as a cold front was approaching, so I needed a quick fix. Joseph came out the same day and replaced it for me. The employees were quick and didn't leave a mess. The new heater works great!

subset: commoncrawl


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How To Save Money?
Saving money is something that everybody wants to do at some point in life because money is of great value in this day and age where everything is becoming pricier by the minute. Saving money is also not an easy task so regardless of whether you're a mom saving for college funds for your kids or you're a college student trying to pay your student loans and college tuition.
If you're somebody who wants to learn the art of saving money, you have certainly found yourself at the correct place because the tips that we have mentioned below have been proven to help families all around the world save money.
Whether you're saving money to buy a house without having to hire a first home buyers Miranda or even if you're saving to buy a designer bag, everybody has reasons as to why they save their money or goals and dreams to achieve with the money that they have saved.
Utility Bills
if you want to avoid a best finance broker in Hurstville and housing loans when you buy a home of your own, you need to try to save money and one of the best ways to do so is by reducing your energy consumption in the household. You can save a lot of money by spending less energy by using less electrical appliances around your house or apartment. Usually, all households spend majority of their income on settling utility bills so if you can reduce the amount you have to pay for your electricity, you will be able to save a lot of money and dedicate it towards achieving your goal of buying a house or finishing your college degree.
Use Coupons
People toss away coupons and disregard them often but using coupons when doing your routine grocery runs will help you save a lot of money off of your grocery bill so from here onwards, do not discard your coupons. Save the coupons you receive and use them the next time you visit the grocery store to half the price of your grocery bill.
Shop Second Hand
Thrift shopping or second hand shopping is not only a ecofriendly alternative but it is also a great way to save your money. You can find some of the trendiest and stylish clothing at thrift stores so instead of paying thousands of dollars on clothing items, buy second hand items for quarter of the price.This rule also applies to furniture. Thrift store furniture or second hand furniture that you find at garage sales can really make a huge difference in prices so be sure to check out your local thrift store next time you're in need of bar stools.


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Friday Must Reads: Brown Admin. Official Admits Water Tunnels Won't Save Delta; Brown Urges Feds to Fast-Track Tunnels Despite Concerns They Will Harm Fish
1. A top official in the Brown administration has admitted that the governor's controversial plan to build two giant water tunnels in the Sacramento area won't help save the collapsing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the LA Times$ reports. Congressional Democrats, who strongly question the multi-billion-dollar tunnel plan, have responded to the comments made by,,,continued


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Docker, the container management startup that's caught a whole lot of buzz in the enterprise tech industry, is finalizing a significant funding round worth between $40 million to $75 million, according to two sources familiar with the situation. The company is said to be valued at roughly $400 million, these sources said, but the deal is still a few weeks away from being completed.
With Docker's momentum seemingly increasing each day as big companies like Google (s goog), Spotify and Red Hat (s rht) tout the use of containers as an effective way to streamline their infrastructure and improve performance, it makes sense for the startup to capitalize on its hype and grab some cash as it continues to expand. One source said the funding interest in the company came entirely from outside investors looking to get in on Docker's buzz.
Docker has made it clear that it's planning to develop tools around its open source container platform that can be packaged together and sold to potential customers as a way to generate revenue, and it recently purchased the two-man development shop Orchard Laboratories to help on that front. The company also shed its dotCloud business earlier this week as it distances itself from its PaaS roots and focuses squarely on containers.
This past January, Docker landed $15 million in a Series B investment round, bringing the company's then total amount of funding to $26 million.
Post and thumbnail images courtesy of Shutterstock user Artens.


text: On my walk from the El Cerrito Hills to BART Del Norte I snapped these pictures and interspersed them in my reading. Composed in the Romantic era, "Tender Flower" (English Tr.) is a gorgeous miniature that says so much in such a short space of time. A repository of nuance and expressive lines, it rivets… Continue reading Burgmuller's beautiful "Tendre Fleur" flows in and out of flower portraits (VIDEO)


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The TNPSC system has under gone so many changes as it is being repeated again and again by the press and other media sources. This has lead to a new schedule which has been coined by the Chairman of TNPSC Mr. Natraj, who released it a few days back. This schedule has all the details regarding the new changes that have redefined the source and method of several examinations being written so far to the year 2013-2014.As such, starting with the Group I examinations which will commence on February 16th, 2013 will be heretofore called The State Civil Examinations. And this Group I examinations will also comprise of 4 papers in the preliminary exams. Besides the posts like Municipal Commissioner and Sub-registrar from Group II services have been upgraded into Group I services.The posts like revenue officer in Group II services have been filled and recruited so far based on preliminary and interview examinations. These posts will from now on be recruited by Preliminary test, main test and then the interview examinations. The preliminary and main tests are both part of written examinations where in as the preliminary examinations have multiple choice based questions, the main test will have explanation answers based pattern.The VAO (Village Administrative Officer) posts here after will have village Administration based questions pattern. No changes in Group IV services examination till now. All in all, every examination is reframed to have an aptitude section which would test the IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient) of the candidates taking up the examinations.How to prepare oneself for the new syllabus and handle the same:
All the Best!
- Try to read smart than reading all. Plan and then execute the reading part.
- Read properly the Science and Social Studies books of Tenth and Twelfth Standard syllabus.
- TNPSC has introduced a new paper called CSAT (Civil services Aptitude Test) which is a predominant paper in the UPSC examinations for posts like IAS and IPS. This handles the Aptitude part of the new schedule for all exams.
- For day-to-day happenings related to General Knowledge section, read newspapers daily to get an idea of what is what in the world around you.
- There will always be 5 sure questions on Indian Political system and the Five-year plans. Gather information on these aspects and keep a personal note on them.
- When reading scientific aspects, it is advised to make sure that all the methods and principles of the subject are being understood.
- Have a sure choice of language selection for the exam. If you are fluent in English, do the exams in English; otherwise opt for Tamil medium based exams.
- Also practice with atleast 10 model papers for each examination. Take model question papers based on CSAT also and revise them.
These points will surely help the candidate pass the exams with flying colours.
Try the above technique and be successful with the new system.
All the Best!


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"The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, actually means 'head of the year.' Just like the head controls the body, our actions on Rosh Hashanah have a tremendous impact on the rest of the year. … It is a day of prayer, a time to ask the Almighty to grant us a year of peace, prosperity and blessing. But it is also a joyous day when we proclaim G_d King of the Universe."
From the article
"What is Rosh Hashanah?"
at Chabad.org
We all have goals and dreams and some of us spend a good deal of time focusing on them. There's an adage that says, "Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it." The question I ponder when my prayers are granted is, how do I show gratitude and keep the outcome alive?
When your prayers are answered, you now have to live up to what you asked for. This could be something new, such as a move to a new home, a relationship change, a new family member, a new job, etc. It could also mean being grateful for what you have now and wanting that to continue.
If it is something you have wanted, and you have received this new wonderful thing, it's time to embrace it, give thanks and treasure it. That involves working with and through the changes involved, learning new ways of thinking and acting, and using the past as a platform from which to spring forward.
Another piece of this is being in the moment and enjoying what you have now without thinking about the past and future. Staying in the moment helps us to reduce fear, and appreciate and really experience what we have.
As the article in Chabad.org states, "Rosh Hashanah is a day of prayer, a time to ask the Almighty to grant us a year of peace, prosperity and blessing." That means being in the here and now with our gratitude and blessings.
Shanah Tovah!
PATRICIA RASKIN, president of Raskin Resources Productions Inc., is an award-winning radio producer and Rhode Island business owner. She is the host of "The Patricia Raskin" show, a radio and podcast coach and a board member of Temple Emanu-El, in Providence.


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Arriving from You're in the right place - although we no longer support your language, you can still book all our fantastic European destinations with more than 50.000 holiday homes to choose from.
If you haven't been redirected please click continue
You will find these 4 comfortably furnished apartments (ATI154-156 and ATI595) in a house located in a quiet and idyllic village in Pettneu am Arlberg. Some of the apartments feature a balcony, some a terrace. Shops and restaurants are just metres away. The apartments are homely and spacious. The area around the Arlberg is ideal for families, hikers and tourists. This small town with about 1000 inhabitants has retained the original charisma. The overall spread of the mountain backdrop tempts you to climb one of the alpine pastures that offer a hearty snack. The cyclists get their money's worth by exploring the many mountain bike trails. From Pettneu you can start many day trips in the surrounding area, for example to the duty-free zone Samnaun or to Neuschwanstein- the fairy tale castle of Ludwig II. The Wellness parks in Pettneu offer a large indoor pool (closed from 22nd September to 06th December) with a lawn outside. The St. Anton summer card offers free entry to the indoor pool.


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Vegas: Make It Big Reviewed - A Tycoon Game for PC
Las Vegas is the ultimate draw for gamblers seeking a wild night of entertainment and this tycoon style management simulation challenges the player to construct a hotel and casino complex on the strip and turn a healthy profit. This game features an overwhelming array of options and a level of depth which goes well beyond the norm for tycoon gaming.
Features (4 out of 5)
This is a single player game with building and management simulation combining to cast you in the role of a Vegas tycoon. You can choose Sandbox Mode or Scenario Mode and with nine scenarios in all and several sandbox maps there is plenty of content here to keep you busy.
In Sandbox Mode the developers have given you a host of options so you can set up the game exactly as you'd like; customising settings like your starting cash, number of people, disasters and events. Set on the Las Vegas strip there are various plots of land available and you can purchase an empty lot and get building. The bulk of the game is divided between your lot building overview map where you can place a surprising array of buildings from obvious basics such as the casino and hotel to nightclubs, ice cream parlours, shops, magic shows, lap-dancing bars, wedding chapels and a lot more. Then you can enter the casino to place individual card games, roulette wheels, craps tables, slots and amenities like garbage cans and buffets. You also have to hire staff to take care of the patrons and decorate the place with plants, statues, lights and furniture.
The scale is amazing and allows you to micromanage every aspect of your resort. If it all seems a bit overwhelming there is a tutorial mode which kicks off the Scenario Campaign and teaches you the basics. The scenarios gradually ramp up the challenge and give you various problems to deal with. The most important facet of your resort construction is placement and you have to focus on placing things in optimum spots as they will impact on each other in negative ways if you aren't careful and this will discourage the people from flocking in.
This may sound like a strange complaint but I found there was too much going on with this game and it proved to have an extremely steep learning curve. In order to turn a profit you have to get it right first time and the lack of a cancel option when I built something in a daft place left me having to sell it at a loss and made accumulating cash very difficult at first. When you begin to get the hang of the basics it does get a bit easier, but trying to ensure you are dealing with everything in your empire that requires attention feels like hard work.
Graphics (4 out of 5)
This is a gorgeous game and visually the best rendering of sin city to hit pc gaming. The buildings are nicely modelled and extremely detailed; the city itself is a bustling metropolis with thousands of people walking around and constantly flowing traffic filling the streets. The lighting and bizarre collection of architecture really gives it an authentic feel and there are ten themes available for your resorts from Egyptian to Space Age. You can zoom right in to see individual characters and detailed textures on the gaming tables and slot machines. Everything looks as it should - a garish nightmare designed to part you from your cash!
Sound (3 out of 5)
The game features an authentic array of Vegas sounds from the endless churn of the slots to the fireworks displays, the passing traffic and the excited murmur of your patrons. There is also a variety of Vegas themed music playing throughout and cutting from the busy chaotic noise of the casino interior to the street outside provides a jarring contrast which adds some realism to the title.
System Requirements (3 out of 5)
This is a game on an epic scale with top notch graphics so the specs are demanding. If you want the game to run as it should you'll need a minimum of an 800MHz processor, 32MB 3D graphics card, 256MB RAM and around 1GB of hard drive space. I experienced a few jerky moments on a system better than this and the initial release was a bit unstable although the developers have since released a patch which fixes it up nicely.
Overall (4 out of 5)
If you like your tycoon games then you can't go wrong with this although it makes me wonder about how much detail is too much. The level of depth is amazing but it undoubtedly makes you feel overburdened and even a little stressed at times. This game also has quite a steep learning curve and the challenges are not easy. It looks fantastic, it sounds right and it certainly makes you feel like a Vegas tycoon but the game-play is not entirely intuitive and this is not for the faint of heart.
There are loads of Vegas themed building and management simulations on the market and if you want a real challenge and options coming out of your ears then you won't find a better title than this. Just be warned if you want to make it big in Vegas you'll have to work hard. If you fancy something a little less challenging check out Casino Empire.


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Et tu, Robert?
Is it too soon to ask whether another trip to the bankruptcy court is now a possibility for Ligado? Pressure is growing from all sides for Ligado's proposed changes to its spectrum plans to be turned down by the FCC, culminating in yesterday's op-ed in The Hill by former FCC Commissioner McDowell.
He noted that back in 2010 "the FCC pivoted away from physics and toward politics in making an ill-conceived decision that fundamentally endangered aviation safety and the operation of vital military equipment" and suggested that "Ligado…hasn't changed its tactics, is pushing hard and is hoping today's policymakers have short memories. It won't succeed." Most importantly, he states "the essence of the science behind their arguments hasn't changed: Ligado's plan still causes harmful interference to already-licensed neighbors such as satellite services providers, NOAA's weather service and the aviation industry."
It is particularly ironic that McDowell is adopting such an strident tone, when he served as an expert witness for LightSquared's special committee and testified in the first bankruptcy confirmation hearing back in March 2014 that he believed the FCC will approve LightSquared's applications by the end of 2015. He was quoted at that time as stating:
"The issues have been before the FCC for a long time. We're almost two years away from the end of 2015, and that is more than ample time to come up with technical solutions. One component of their decision is resolution of this bankruptcy, it will be a huge issue off the checklist for the FCC. Once that's behind us, the commission will act with alacrity."
However, he's not the only heavyweight opponent that Ligado is facing, with the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union urging the (previous) Secretary of Commerce back in December "to encourage the FCC to reject Ligado's sharing proposal [for the 1675-80MHz band] outright without establishing a further FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on this matter."
Iridium has also shifted its position, from one of negotiating a compromise with Ligado over the uplink band to now telling the FCC that "Iridium's technical analysis makes clear that a Ligado terrestrial network is virtually certain to cause substantial interference to Iridium users" so "absent an agreement in which Ligado sufficiently modifies its proposed ATC operations to avoid interference with the long-established Iridium services in the adjacent band, the Commission should deny Ligado's effort to convert its operations in the 1627.5-1637.5 MHz band to a terrestrial wireless broadband service."
Finally, by all accounts, last week's Department of Transportation workshop for its Adjacent Band Compatibility (ABC) study was a train wreck for Ligado, with the DOT taking a very hard line on avoiding any possibility of interference, no matter how unlikely, and thereby insisting on extremely onerous power limits for Ligado's operations, while Ligado continued its Sisyphean task of criticizing the 1dB C/N0 interference limit, which all other parties insist on using.
Moreover, last Friday Ligado filed an ex parte with the FCC indicating that for the 1526-1537MHz band "applying the model developed in consultation with the FAA and other stakeholders to potential tower sites has produced power ranges of 9 to 13 dBW EIRP" compared to the 32dBW Ligado originally proposed in its license modifications. Thus even if Ligado could resolve its issues with the DOT (which could ultimately restrict the transmitted power to an even lower level), the FAA model will make this part of the spectrum band at best only usable for small cells, and severely limit its value to any purchaser.
In summary, all the major components of Ligado's potential spectrum portfolio now face significant challenges:
1) the FAA will severely limit the power levels in the 1527-37MHz downlink band, and the DOT may further constrain (or even effectively block) these operations;
2) the Earth science community is working to block an auction of the 1675-1680MHz NOAA spectrum, which is integral to Ligado's other downlink band (1670-1680MHz);
3) Iridium is attempting to block use of the 1627.5-1637.5MHz uplink band which would be paired with 1670-1680MHz; and
4) The remaining uplink band (1647-1657MHz) is too close to 1670-1680MHz for it to be effectively paired (so it would only be used for the 1527-1537MHz low power downlinks).
So its quite plausible that the Reuters article a few weeks ago about Ligado hiring Goldman Sachs and PJT Partners to "consider a potential sale or new investment," which were immediately followed by widespread rumors about whether DISH could buy into Ligado, was an attempt to boost Ligado's credibility before all this bad news emerged.
But where do we go from here? Ligado still has some available cash, which could last well into next year, and permit the lobbyists to continue their work. However, unlike under past administrations, it may no longer be possible to just put off a difficult decision, because Chairman Pai has recently pledged that the FCC will follow Section 7, and supply an answer on petitions or applications for a new technology or service within one year. Ligado's application and petition were put on public notice on April 22, 2016, so it is entirely possible that we could now see a yes or no ruling from the FCC within the next three weeks.


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The H&K MSG90 is essentially a lighter, more portable, and soldier friendly version of the famous PSG1 rifle. It features many of its improvements and is accurized in much the same way, but has been put on a diet to better compete with more modern rifles. While the PSG1 was issued with a tripod for shooters to use in order to stabilize shots, the MSG90 was designed to fill more of a DMR role. So what makes the MSG90 any different than a G3? Well, let's have a quick look.
Disclaimer: This is an HK rifle retrofitted with authentic MSG90 parts.
The transcript ….
– [Voiceover] Hey guys, it's Alex C. with TFBTV, and for today's video we're gonna be taking a look at a Heckler & Koch MSG90.
Now the MSG90 is an accurized G3 at its core.
Some people when they think of something like that might picture the PSG1 and this is a descendant of the PSG1, it's basically a lighter, more mobile version.
More soldier friendly, more intended as a DMR, really.
Whereas the PSG1 is hugely heavy but, you can see here I'm really not a great shot, but I was able to pull off this group of.424 MOA at 100 yards with 168 grain ammo.
So some things that make it more accurate than a regular G3 are these T-rails welded on the side.
You can see how they are attached alongside each side of the receiver, to reduce receiver flex, very well thought out feature.
The butt stocks, while heavy, are fully adjustable.
You've got a rear iron sight which is known as the Princess Leia rear iron sight.
And a standard G3 triple post kind of, we'll take a look at that in a second.
But you've actually got a detachable 10x Hensoldt scope that's adjustable from 100 to 1000 meters.
The actual reticle is pretty simple as well, pretty typical of most DMR rifles, they're not super fancy, no range finder or anything in there.
Now the barrels of course have a harmonic balancer built in.
And they have a detachable flash hider.
A silent bolt-closing device is present, which is reminiscent of a forward-assist on an M16, AR-15.
And you can see how they went about free-floating these.
They basically cut a triple post in half, and then welded the iron sight portion on top.
Something else that makes these more accurate is the extended trunnion here.
Let's compare that against a regular G3's trunnion, and you can see how extended it is, it's longer and more robust.
And the trigger group breaks at three pounds, and has a very nice wide trigger shoe on there.
And you can see that for a faster lock time, the actual hammer which would normally be located here, is in a more upright position.
Also something very cool about it is the trigger's boosted with two springs, it's got an initial spring and then a second spring, that engages halfway through and pushes it harder.
You'll see that again here.
You can see it release, and then boost, making the trigger pull very light and the lock time very fast.
Here you can see the beefed up extractor, the cuts for the silent bolt closure device, and the most interesting part is that these don't have traditional rollers, they're actually crescent-shaped titanium rollers, to make a more consistent lockup.
So the reason we're doing this quick overview in the MSG90 is to basically set the stage for something we have coming up that's very special.
Look for that in the next week or two, but we hope that this video was at least, show some light on a rifle that's not very well known, relative to its older brother the PSG1.
Anyways guys, big thanks to you and Ventura Munitions, especially for providing the ammunition for our upcoming shooting videos we have that will feature this rifle.
See you next time.
Hey guys, it's Alex C. with TFBTV again.
If you liked that video, why not do us a favor and check out our sponsor Ventura Munitions.
They really are a great company, and without them videos like this one would not be possible.
Click the link in the description, best place to buy ammo online.


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Site Info
About Us
If you have information to share, corrections to make, or simply want to give some feedback about this site, your are more than welcome to e-mail us.
This site is a joint effort of Mark Ord and Katie Jensen. Neither of us are associated with Doug, knew Doug personally, or have any association with any of the bands Doug was a part of. We're simply fans of Doug's work. All information is correct to the best of our knowledge.
In my personal opinion, it was simply needed. Doug, appearing throughout the Tempe music scene in many different incarnations, there is not one single source on the net that has the complete run down on Doug and his achievements. And with the vast number of emails I've had over the past few years concerning questions about Doug, compiling all the known information into one site seems like a great idea.
And besides, what better project to team up with my long time friend and avid Doug fan for?
That's right Mark, it was just needed. There hasn't been one site with compiled information about Doug and no site dedicated to honoring his memory, his life and music. Which is what we are here to do, as well as inform. And anything that I, and my associate, Mark can do to spread knowledge of Doug and what he did and to give a little refuge for those who have been influenced by the man, we will readily do. Overlooked no more, we offer this tribute.
This site is to capture the work of Doug Hopkins. Although it touches on the bands Doug was involved with, the focus is Doug's involvement, not on the bands as a whole. For detailed information on the actual bands, their respective web sites should be visited. Most can be found on the links page.
The idea for developing a site documenting Hopkin's musical legacy came about in 1998. The site started to become a reality in late 1999 once we started on the ground work. After many hours of research and compilation of information, the site finally went online on Saturday, February 19th, 2000.
Kudos go to the following people for their input and help with the site:
And finally, thanks to everyone who has dropped us a line with comments on the site.
|Copyright © 2000-2013 Mark Ord / Katie Jensen


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April 05, 1935 through May 20, 1935
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There are currently no digitized images of this exhibition. If images are needed, contact
March 16, 1931 An Exhibition of Persian Art and its Reaction on the Modern World will open a the Brooklyn Museum on the evening of March 16th, with a special reception remaining on public display for two months. This exhibition will present the superb craftsmanship of Persia in miniatures and calligraphy, in pottery, fine textiles, rugs, costumes, metal work, lacquer and so forth, and will also demonstrate Persian influence on Europe and America. Special exhibits of modern industrial art following the Persia mode have been formed by leaders in the textile and costume trades. Also designs made by pupils in the public schools and in private art schools will offer evidence of the importance of Persian inspiration in education.
At the reception there will be addresses by A. V. Williams Jackson, Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages at Columbia University, and Honorary President of the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology, and by Madame Zorah Heidary, a special representative of the Persian Government for Fine Arts. Two Asiatic dances will be given by Sri Mara mara and a costume parade arranged by Edward L* Mayer, showing Persian adaptations in modern dress.
The Museum collections in Persian art have been richly enhanced by loans of Persian material made by collectors in greater New York, including those of the Persian and Near Eastern Colony. A comprehensive survey of the drawings and illuminations in Persian books is made possible by selections offered by George D. Pratt, Kirkor Ninassian, H. Khan Monif, the DeMotte Galleries R.Y. Mottahedeh, and others. There will also be special exhibition of early-bookbinding and calligraphy arranged by Mr. Minassian.
The marvellous paottery of Persia is represented by the Museum's collection which is especially rich in early Rakka ware, Rokka being a site founded by Haroun al Paschid of Arabian Nights fame. This and other types of Persian pottery made from the tenth to the seventeenth century are found in the loan collections of Frank L. Babbott, Dikran Kelekian, P. Jackson Higgs, Fahim Kouchakji, Minassian, H.K. Kevorkian and others. The lustered ware and brilliant polychrome vessels of Gaghes, the turquoise glazed fabrics of Sultanabad and other brilliant potteries from early enters in Persia and Irak, will afford students an unusual opportunity to study Near Eastern design at its best stages. There will be a fine showing of tiles including some early pieces loans by the persian Industries Corporation and the Kevorkian Galleries.
The archaeological remains which mark the developments from the civilizations of Assyria and Babylonia to that of Persia proper is illustrated in ancient pottery of Mesopotamia from the collections of E. S. David, Kelekian and Dr. Washburn Freund. An interesting exhibit is a large series of royal seals of Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian kings with prints of the inscriptions, which has been arranged by Mr. Fahim Kouchakaji. Next come bronzes of Luristan which are believes to represent a culture of the Persians in the first millenium before Christ. These are specimens loaned by Maud R. Stora, R. Y. Mottahedah and N. M. Heermaneck. An important fragment of Assyrian sculpture showing the head of a winged deity in limestone is from the Kelekian Gallery.
It was through Persia that silk good first passed to the Romans and several important technical processes such as the pile-knots used in rugs and velvet reached Europe in later times from the Persians and the Central Asiatic peoples. Many beautiful brocades, embroideries and prints from Persia have been supplied by Mr. George D. Pratt, Mrs. Frederic B. Pratt, Messrs. H. and P. Jaehne, and others already mentioned and rugs of exceptional types, a few pieces of Mr. Ernest G. Metcalfe's collection, will be put on display and several fine examples by Medhin Dilmaghani. One of the most interesting series for the technical student consists of three rugs, one a rose Ispahan carpet in the purest Persian style, another a rug of similar style made by Persian workmen in India and a third of still more recent date showing the partial substitution of HIndu motives. There are rare so-called Polish carpets and a large vase carpet in fine preservation.
The Metal work exhibits include pieces from the arms collection of Mr. George C. Stone. Glass, lacquer and jewelry will be displayed and details of doorways, etc. from Persian and Near Eastern houses.
In the commercial field, H. R. Mallinson has formed an exhibit of silk with designs of Persian and Arabic inspiration. Cheney Brothers show decorative hangings and Napier has jewelry accessories. Mr. Edward L. Mayer offers a showing of costumes of Persian inspiration worn by models for the opening night of the exhibition and for the permanent display a series of special fabrics.
The Exhibition of Persian Art will remain open until the meeting of the American Federation of Arts which will take place in the Brooklyn Museum in May and an invitation will be extended to members of the College Art Association meeting in New York in April. Arrangements are being made for a prize competition in Near Eastern design which will be open to pupils of decorative art and it is hoped that there will be a general response from young artists.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1931 - 1936. 01-03_1931, 045-8.
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April 4, 1935 The Brooklyn Museum will open tomorrow, with a reception and preview in the afternoon, the new gallery of Persian Art in which an exhibition is now installed for the first time. Selected work from the Brooklyn Museum School Service, which has recently been accepted for use in the public schools of New York City, will also be shown in the new educational gallery adjacent.
The Exhibition of Persian art, which has been arranged by Mr. Laurence Roberts, Assistant Curator of Oriental Art, assisted by Miss Christine Krehbiel, and Miss Helen Frangen, includes objects from the Oriental Collection of the Brooklyn Museum and also loans from the Metropolitan Museum, Prinze Mirza Mahmoud, Kahn Saghapi, H. K. Monif, Dikran G. Kelekian, H. Kevorkian, Kirker Minassian, Parish-Watson and Company, and Edward M. M. Warburg. Loans from the Metropolitan include pottery and miniatures; from Prince Saghapi, miniatures and calligraphy; from Mr. Monif XIIth Century potter and XVth and XVIth Century miniatures; from Mr. Kelekian miniatures and Rayy pottery; from Mr. Kevorkian, vases, miniatures ranging in date from the XIIIth to the XVIth Centuries; from Parish-Watson and Company, pottery illuminations and portraits, from Mr. Warburg, a Sultanabad bowl and a Rayy cup; from the University Museum, Philadelphia, pottery excavated at Rayy last season.
The exhibit opens with a group of XIIIth Century miniatures of the Abbasid Schools or School of Bagdhad, so named after the Abbasid Caliphs who reigned in Mesopotamia at that time. Painters of this school, among whom were many Christians, were forerunners of Persian miniaturists. The influence of early Christian and Byzantine painting predominates, but Asiatic influence is evident in the treatment of animals. Related work shown includes pages from a manuscript in the Hagia Sophia Library, Constantinople, a treatise on automata by al Jarazi, also large jars, a tabouret and other pottery from Rakka, an ancient city on the Euphrates between Aleppo and Baghdad. This pottery has a green blue glaze over designs in black. A vase from the Parthian period is shown with the Rakka ware with which it was found.
No Persian manuscripts of the earlier years of the XIIIth Century has been preserved, but the manner of painting can be easily seen in a fine series of painted pottery vessel from Rayy, a city near Teheran, which was destroyed in 1221 by the Monghols, who also captured Bagdhad in 1256. Manuscripts preserved from the latter part of their rule show combined Persian and Chinese influence. The Chinese influence is also seen in the pottery designs, and the opportunity for comparison of similar designs in the two media is most instructive. This style is seen in pages from the Shah Namah, the epic poem of Persia by Firdusi, and is reflected in the XIVth Century pottery from Sultanabad.
The Persian national style of painting was founded in the XVth Century after Timur had overthrown the Mongol dynasty. It is a style with smaller figures, firm outlines, exquisitely minute details and vigorous colors unbroken by gradations in chiaroscuro. The last years of the Timurid Dynasty saw Persian painting brought to its height of decorative brilliance and charm. The miniatures now glow with bright jewel-like colors. This entire period of the development and climax of the Persian national school of painting is represented by illuminations, miniatures, and complete manuscript books with elaborate bindings and illustrations. The exhibition is brought through the XVIth and into the XVIIth Century with further manuscripts, portraits and examples of calligraphy, the writing of Arabic being in Persian estimation a fine art that rivals painting in honor and importance. The same fluent and gracefu1 line is used that is characteristic of the best miniatures.
The new Gallery of Persian Art is divided into shallow alcoves by massive pylons. The originally ornate architectural style of this section of the Museum has been simplified to accord with a modern scheme of decoration and installation. Improved cases and lighting equipment are used. The color scheme is grey relieved with dark blue and black.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1931 - 1936. 04-06_1935, 038-9.
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Summaries Sunday: Maritime Law Book
Summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw by Maritime Law Book. Every Sunday we present a precis of the latest summaries, a fuller version of which can be found on MLB-Slaw Selected Case Summaries at cases.slaw.ca.
This week's summaries concern:
Civil Rights/ Courts / Trade Regulation / Criminal Law / Evidence / Extradition
Civil Rights – Criminal Law – Trade Regulation
Summary: The accused was charged with possession of child pornography and making available child pornography. The accused brought an application, alleging several violations of his rights under the Charter. The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, in a decision reported at 361 Sask.R. 1, dismissed the application. The accused was found guilty of possession of child pornography and not guilty of making available child pornography. The accused appealed the conviction. The Crown appealed …
Courts – Civil Rights – Criminal Law – Evidence – Practice
Summary: The accused was convicted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking (Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, s. 5(2)) and two counts of failing to comply with conditions of release (Criminal Code, s. 145(3)). The accused appealed. At issue was whether the Charter applied to the search which led to the discovery of cocaine in her possession and whether the trial judge erred in the use and …
Extradition – Statutes
Summary: Diab was wanted in France for his alleged role in a 1980 bombing outside a Paris synagogue. France sought to have Diab extradited. The Ontario Superior Court (extradition judge), in a decision reported [2011] O.T.C. Uned. 337, committed Diab to await surrender. Thereafter, the Minister of Justice ordered Diab's surrender to French authorities. Diab appealed from his committal and sought judicial review of the Minister's decision to surrender. The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal …


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The Top Ten Ways Mark Rosewater Is Ruining Magic: The Gathering
So just who exactly is Mark Rosewater?
In 1993 Wizards of the Coast introduced the world to Magic: The Gathering, a collectable trading card game that has spawned numerous iterations and imitators--most famously being Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Indeed Richard Garfield, the game's creator, is the grandfather of an entire genre of card games that now boast 12 million players from just Magic alone. So who is Mark Rosewater and where does he enter into this whole picture? Rosewater, or MaRo has he has been nicknamed, joined the WotC team in 1995 and since 2003 has been the game's head designer. This, along with the fact that he has a very public persona and writes an article each week, has a very active blog on Tumblr, as well as a podcast that boasts thousands of listeners, also means that MaRo has the dubious position of being both the company's public face as well as their scapegoat.
Since it isn't entirely clear how much power MaRo has, or exactly what he can approve or reject, speculation surrounds him whenever there is a massive change to the game. With his very public face as well as the blurry line concerning his actual job, it is usually easier for the consumer to blame him as a representative of the company than to find the actual culprits. For instance, a current argument players have is with the new Commander card, True-Face Nemesis--a card that MaRo had absolutely no say in the creation of because it was done by a splinter group working alone. But as the face of the company, he is always at fault when something bad happens. I write this short introduction merely to show that, while I intend to write ten ways MaRo is ruining Magic, I am also poking a little fun at myself as I know very well Wizards of the Coast is not run by a single man. That being said, I did speak with him on his blog to ensure myself and my readers that he would not take offense to this article's title. So without further rambling, here's my list of the top ten ways MARK ROSEWATER IS RUINING MAGIC!!
#10 The Removal of Pauper from Magic Online
You may be asking yourself 'what is Pauper and why should I care'? Well, Pauper is (was?) a Magic: The Gathering format that used only commons to form decks. This made it attractive to beginners, people on a budget, and just people who wanted to play without all the overpowered format-warping cards that MaRo keeps churning out merely to sell boosters. It was very much a format 'for the rest of us'. The problem was of course that since the format cared only about commons and was non-rotating (ie. once you bought your deck there was very little reason to purchase more cards), it was very much eating into Wizard of the Coast's profits. Given the choice between Standard where cards become worthless in two years, or Modern where the top decks are in the hundreds of dollars, it's no wonder Pauper began to develop a huge following.
Which is why MaRo--and by MaRo I mean Worth Worllpert and Mike Turian, current heads of Magic Online--removed the format from tournaments and officially de-sanctioned it. This has the benefit of ensuring that people who were playing a format they could afford will now have to pay upwards to $15 just to draft a format they don't enjoy, to win cards they don't have any use for. This has been widely considered a bad move but it is doubtful it will be changed simply because for WotC the bottom line comes before consumer happiness. In reality the actual problem lies with the entire client and its current management and will continue to shed both money and customers until some real changes are made.
#9 The Removal of Mana Burn
Richard Garfield, whom we mentioned above is the creator of Magic, included mana burn in the original version of his game as an equalizer to ensure players weren't squandering resources and to add another layer of complexity to the game. After 16 years, MaRo removed it from the game entirely without even so much as a poll or a consideration from the actual players. And when I say MaRo, I actually mean Aaron Forsythe who was the lead designer on Magic's 2009 core set called er, Magic 2010. Yes, the set was introduced in 2009 despite the name, but we'll ignore that for now.
I will further get into the 'dumbing down' of Magic: The Gathering in a later bullet point, but this was definitely what many consider the beginning of a gradual, but intentional shift toward dumbing down Magic to compete with Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh and to hopefully capture the younger crowd. In a dubious argument for trying to streamline the rules and made it easier for newer players to grasp, they removed a piece of Magic that had been woven throughout the game since its inception. There was a pretense that it would be opening up massive design space too, which has in the last 4 years only been seen on a small handful of cards.
Overall, it was a bad idea to remove it; it caused a lot of disagreements; and only served to show that Magic was not against fundamentally changing core aspects of the game merely to appease their marketing department and appeal to a younger demographic. It was a change that the game continues to suffer from.
#8 Storm
Storm, as MaRo himself has attested to numerous times in his blog, is the most degenerate card mechanic ever created. It's so degenerate that an entire scale was named after it--the Storm Scale--just to show how unlikely a keyword/mechanic or aspect of Magic is to return. It is named after Storm because Storm has the dubious distinction of being the one mechanic that MaRo has ensured us will never, ever return in any form whatsoever. Storm was created by Brian Tinsman, who, other than being infamous for Storm, is largely forgotten in the annals of Magic designing history.
So what's so bad about Storm? Two cards: Tendrils of Agony and Grapeshot. These two cards single-handedly so warped their respective formats and shifted the meta around them that you either played them or tried to beat them. In Pauper, Grapeshot Storm decks were so dominant that the card finally had to be banned. In Legacy, well, if you're playing against Tendrils you just pray you drew a Force of Will in your opening hand.
This is a rare, rare time when the force of evil that is MaRo is actually being a force of good as his tenure as head designer means there will be no new Storm cards--er, until he retires. Then it's just a hope that everyone else feels the way MaRo does and leaves Storm to be for the good of the game.
#7 Infect
It was fun pretending MaRo wasn't the bad guy, wasn't it? Unfortunately, with returning to Mirrodin in Scars of Mirrodin and the advent of the lost but not forgotten Phyrexians, MaRo felt it necessary to up the ante and add a brand new win condition to a game that needed nothing of the sort. The old Mirrodin suffered from affinity and from turn 2-3 wins in the name of 'affinity for artifacts', an awful, degenerate keyword that allowed people to puke out their entire hand in two turns. So when MaRo revisted Mirrodin he wanted the same thing to happen but with even less player interaction. It was with this in mind that Infect was born.
Infect's true insular, parasitic nature however, comes from how it obsoletes many cards that had been created prior to Infect that used the 'poison' mechanic to poison your opponent. Infect, being strictly better and more cheaply costed, caused poison to go from a controlling player's win condition to a repulsing sort of hyper-aggressive win condition. Much like affinity, if your deck didn't 'go off' in the first two turns--and it usually did--you could expect to lose.
Unfortunately, Infect is very much MaRo's baby and if his blog is any indication he intends to bring back Infect as soon as he can shoehorn it into a storyline. In much the way that Dredge makes it feel like an entirely different game than Magic is being played, Infect has become the Storm of creature keywords.
#6 The Mythic Rarity
I don't play Yu-Gi-Oh but apparently according to the internet there are 27 different rarities of cards. So in that regard Magic having a mere 4--common, uncommon, rare, and mythic--would appear not too problematic. However, the new rarity introduced in 2008 was a huge change considering for the first 15 years there had never been a mythic rarity. It very much felt like the beginning of the Yu-Gi-Oh-ification of the game that we had all loved. I believe if they come out with another rarity--perhaps platinum rare--in a few years, people won't be surprised.
So what's so bad about another rarity? Increasingly, must-have cards--ie. the most sought after for tournament decks--are being printed at rare and mythic rarities. It used to be that you could expect your creature removal to be uncommon, but from the advent of mythics everything got bumped up a rarity. Now cards that used to be easy to come by are now more expensive, less common, and in even higher demand. MaRo, in an opening article concerning mythics, originally pledged that they would never be deck staples. Unfortunately, that has obviously become more and more untrue as mythics are created specifically to sell boosters--ie. Planeswalkers.
With the mythic rarity "boost", we now have Hero's Downfall which, while being a staple of black decks, is bland, is not an engine, and can easily be replaced by a simple Terror (variant). But this card, which pre-2008 would have been an uncommon has been boosted in rarity so that actual rares can be mythics and all cards are harder to obtain, thus creating higher demand for boosters.
I always write these articles assuming they'll fit into one blog post only to find that my bloviating knows no bounds. Therefore, I will be writing another article about the final top 5 ways MaRo is ruining Magic and I hope you'll read that as well. And as always, if you have any comments tell me below!
insaneSurgeon on June 08, 2016:
The joke
All of your heads.
Dane on October 09, 2015:
Mark Rosewater isn't the sole deciding factor in a majority of these reasons, and several of your points hold no standing in anything even close to relevant. Most of the reasons you listed as negative aspects are actually positive impacts that make magic what it is today.
K David Ladage from Cedar Rapids, IA on July 21, 2015:
I disagree. Mark Rosewater has made mistakes, sure... but he is one of the reasons I still love Magic.
Ken on August 25, 2014:
Why all the hate?
meh on August 04, 2014:
While your opinions are valid and aren't baseless, I can't help but think it's possible you aren't very good at making your own decks and instead would like to complain about how the game needs to fit around YOUR style of play. Roll with punches and quit crying about the past--
gary porter on July 02, 2014:
Ayou are so stupid. You obvioulsy don't play the game because everybody else loves the changes and even the broken mechanisms like combo winter. Get a clue!
Not_Dumb on June 26, 2014:
you are retarded


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FARO Invites You to Join Its First Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call
25 April 2019
LAKE MARY, Fla., April 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FARO® (NASDAQ: FARO), the world's most trusted source for 3D measurement and imaging solutions for 3D manufacturing, construction BIM, 3D design, public safety forensics, and photonics applications announced today that after the market closes on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 it will release its financial results for the first quarter of 2019. In conjunction with the release, Dr. Simon Raab, President and CEO, and Bob Seidel, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call and simultaneous live audio webcast on Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time.
Persons wishing to access the conference call may do so by dialing (877) 876-9174 (U.S.) and (785) 424-1670 (International) and using the passcode FARO or by logging on at www.faro.com/Q1-2019earnings. Alternatively, you may also access the call via FARO's website, www.faro.com, clicking on Investor Relations, Conference Calls, and the relevant date.
Replays of the conference call will be available beginning May 2, 2019 through July 2, 2019 by calling (800) 934-7612 (U.S.) or (402) 220-6980 (international). No code is required. If you are unable to participate during the live webcast, the call will be archived on www.faro.com.
About FARO
FARO is the world's most trusted source for 3D measurement, imaging and realization technology. The Company develops and markets computer-aided measurement and imaging devices and software for the following vertical markets:
- 3D Manufacturing - High-precision 3D measurement, imaging and comparison of parts and complex structures within production and quality assurance processes
- Construction BIM - 3D capture of as-built construction projects and factories to document complex structures and perform quality control, planning and preservation
- Public Safety Forensics - Capture and analysis of on-site real world data to investigate crash, crime and fire events, plan security activities and provide virtual reality training for public safety personnel
- 3D Design - Capture and edit 3D shapes of products, people and/or environments for design purposes in product development, computer graphics and dental and medical applications
- Photonics - Develop and market galvanometer-based laser measurement products and solutions
FARO's global headquarters is located in Lake Mary, Florida. The Company's European regional headquarters is located in Stuttgart, Germany and its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters is located in Singapore. FARO has other offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Turkey, the Netherlands, Switzerland, India, China, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, and Australia.
More information is available at http://www.faro.com
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding FARO Technologies, Inc.'s business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.
View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/faro-invites-you-to-join-its-first-quarter-2019-earnings-conference-call-300838768.html
SOURCE FARO Technologies, Inc.


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Attendance, handle up for 2013 Del Mar Race Meet
By Joe Tash
Attendance was up slightly, and the handle – or amount of money bet on races – increased in 2013 at Del Mar's annual horse racing meet over the previous year, the top official with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club said on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
Joe Harper, president of the Thoroughbred Club, made the comments Tuesday at the board meeting of the 22nd District Agricultural Association.
The 2013 Del Mar horse racing meet ended its 37-day run on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
This year's attendance was 653,259, up from 652,034 last year, according to the Thoroughbred Club.
The total handle of bets from all sources was $482,336,877, an increase of 5.2 percent over 2012, for this year's seven-week season.
Four horses were injured during this year's meet, said Harper.
This winter, the Thoroughbred Club will widen the racetrack's turf course, expanding the number of horses that can be accommodated for each race. Officials hope to bring the prestigious Breeder's Cup race to Del Mar following the turf track upgrade.


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Chapter XX.—The Rulers of the Church of Antioch.
1. At that time also in the church of Antioch, Theophilus 1213 was well known as the sixth from the apostles. For Cornelius, 1214 who succeeded Hero, 1215 was the fourth, and after him Eros, 1216 the fifth in order, had held the office of bishop.
On Theophilus and his writings, see chap. 24.197:1214
Of the life and character of Cornelius and Eros we know nothing. The Chron. of Eusebius puts the accession of Cornelius into the twelfth year of Trajan (128 a.d.), and the accession of his successor Eros into the fifth year of Antoninus Pius (142). These dates, however, are quite unreliable, and we have no means of correcting them (see Harnacks Zeit des Ignatius, p. 12 sqq.). Theophilus, the successor of Eros we have reason to think became bishop about the middle of Marcus Aurelius reign and hence the Chron., which puts his accession into the ninth year of that reign, (169 a.d.) cannot be far out of the way. This gives us the approximate date for the death of Eros.197:1215
On Hero, see above, Bk. III. chap. 36, note 23.197:1216


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Many of the original titles given by Browning to the poems in this collection, as with its predecessor Dramatic Lyrics, are different from the ones he later gave them in various editions of his collected works. Since this book was originally self-published in a very small edition, these poems really only came to prominence in the later collections.
142 pages, with a reading time of ~2.25 hours (35,704 words), and first published in 1845. This DRM-Free edition published by epubBooks, 2014.
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Hamelin Town's in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city;
The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side;
A pleasanter spot you never spied;
But, when begins my ditty,
Almost five hundred years ago,
To see the townsfolk suffer so
From vermin, was a pity.
They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
At last the people in a body
To the Town Hall came flocking
"'Tis clear," cried they, "our Mayor's a noddy,
And as for our Corporation--shocking
To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
For dolts that can't or won't determine
What's best to rid us of our vermin!
You hope, because you're old and obese,
To find in the furry civic robe ease?
Rouse up, sirs! Give your brains a racking
To find the remedy we're lacking,
Or, sure as fate, we'll send you packing!"
At this the Mayor and Corporation
Quaked with a mighty consternation.
An hour they sat in council,
At length the Mayor broke silence:
"For a guilder I'd my ermine gown sell,
I wish I were a mile hence!
It's easy to bid one rack one's brain--
I'm sure my poor head aches again,
I've scratched it so, and all in vain.
Oh for a trap, a trap, a trap!"
Just as he said this, what should hap
At the chamber door but a gentle tap?
"Bless us," cried the Mayor, "what's that?"
(With the Corporation as he sat,
Looking little though wondrous fat;
Nor brighter was his eye, nor moister
Than a too-long-opened oyster,
Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinous
For a plate of turtle green and glutinous)
"Only a scraping of shoes on the mat?
Anything like the sound of a rat
Makes my heart go pit-a-pat!"
"Come in!" the Mayor cried, looking bigger:
And in did come the strangest figure!
His queer long coat from heel to head
Was half of yellow and half of red,
And he himself was tall and thin,
With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,
But lips where smiles went out and in;
There was no guessing his kith and kin:
And nobody could enough admire
The tall man and his quaint attire.
Quoth one: "It's as my great-grandsire,
Starting up at the Trump of Doom's tone,
Had walked this way from his painted tombstone!"
He advanced to the council-table
And, "Please your honours," said he, "I'm able,
By means of a secret charm, to draw
All creatures living beneath the sun,
That creep or swim or fly or run,
After me so as you never saw!
And I chiefly use my charm
On creatures that do people harm,
The mole and toad and newt and viper;
And people call me the Pied Piper."
(And here they noticed round his neck
A scarf of red and yellow stripe,
To match with his coat of the self-same cheque
And at the scarf's end hung a pipe;
And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying
As if impatient to be playing
Upon this pipe, as low it dangled
Over his vesture so old-fangled.)
"Yet," said he, "poor piper as I am,
In Tartary I freed the Cham,
Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats;
I eased in Asia the Nizam
Of a monstrous brood of vampyre-bats:
And as for what your brain bewilders,
If I can rid your town of rats
Will you give me a thousand guilders?"
"One? fifty thousand!"-was the exclamation
Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.


text:
I prefer to scare myself in the ordinary ways, Daddy. Like letting my children cross the country for college. Why bungee jump when you can put a kindergartener on a school bus? Now, that's real terror. Votes: 12
Girls like you can't understand," Julia said, and it was true. Ellie had been popular. She didn't know that some hurts were like a once-broken bone. In the right weather, they could ache for a lifetime. Votes: 11
We women. as glue for the family. lead lives that are important and conflicted. What we women choose to give up for our families is important and valid. Votes: 10
Fifteen minutes later, Betsy came thundering down the stairs. I'm going to the mall with Sierra to see a movie.Michael leaned forward, switched off the television. Can you please rephrase that in the form of a question?Sure. Can I have some money? Votes: 10
That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours. Votes: 9
Books + friendship = book club Votes: 9
Stacey: "I'm surprised you haven't thrown me out." Comfort: "At your current weight, I'd need some sort of catapult. Votes: 9
At one point, she'd wanted to hurl the whole breakfast at the wall. And then she'd remember why it was that men had temper tantrums and women didn't: cleanup. Votes: 8
Finding your passion isn't just about careers and money. It's about finding your authentic self. The one you've buried beneath other people's needs. Votes: 8
A romance novel focuses exclusively on two people falling in love. It can't be about a woman caring for her aging mother or something like that. It can have that element, but it has to be primarily about the male-female relationship. Votes: 6
Time goes too quickly. This is the advice that my mother should have given me from her hospital bed. Instead of vague, unknowable quips like "Be careful what you wish for," she should have told me time slides away on a hillside of loose shale and takes everything in its path - dreams, opportunities, hopes. And youth. It takes that fastest of all. Votes: 6
And maybe that was how it was supposed to be...Joy and sadness were part of the package; the trick, perhaps,was to let yourself feel all of it, but to hold on to the joy just a little more tightly... Votes: 6
The falling apart of a man's life should make more noise. It should startle passesrby with its Sturm and Drang. It ought to sound like the Parthenon crashing down. Not this ordinary, everyday kind of quiet...He closed his eyes...And still it was quiet, this falling apart of his life, as silent as the last beat of an old man's heart. A quiet, echoing thud, and then...nothing. Votes: 5
Vietnamwarit did something to us. Or maybe not. Maybe the bad seeds were always in me, and war gave them a dark place in which to grow. Votes: 4
If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are. Votes: 4
From the first time we met, we knew everything that mattered about each other, didn't we? We just knew. I guess that's what best friends are: parts of each other. Votes: 4
What I know now about life is this: your mother is a part of everything you do and everything you are. Votes: 3
A daughter without her mother is a woman broken. It is a loss that turns to arthritis and settles deep into her bones. Votes: 3
The heat made people crazy. They woke from their damp bedsheets and went in search of a glass of water, surprised to find that when their vision cleared, they were holding instead the gun they kept hidden in the bookcase. Votes: 3
She'd been criticized for holding the reins of parenthood too tightly, of controlling her children too completely, but she didn't know how to let go. From the moment she'd first decided to become a mother, it had been an epic battle. Votes: 2
He'd learned in the past few months that telling a girl what to wear--even one the size of a golf club--was a bad idea. Histrionics often followed. Votes: 1
Tragedy was like that, a razor that sliced through time, severing the now from the before, incising the what-might-have-been from reality as cleanly as any surgeon's blade. Votes: 1
It had been years since she question his fidelity, but he'd stepped on to the old fame track again, and that was where the road had taken them before. Infidelity could be forgiven, but forgetting it was impossible. Strangely, that wasn't what bothered her the most. What bothered her was that she didn't really care. Votes: 1
....both had learned that everything could change in an instant, and that the heartfelt vows of people in love were fragile words that, once shattered, could cut so deeply you'd bleed forever." Votes: 1
And before you barrel through some idiotic Cosmo girl list of how-well-do-you-know-your-man questions, let me say that I don't know squat about him except that he kisses like a god and screws like a devil." Votes: 1
It is a kiss that, once begun, never really ends. Interrupted, yes. Paused, certainly. But from that very moment onward, Vera sees the whole of her life as only a breath away from kissing him again. On that night in the park, they begin the delicate task of binding their souls together, creating a whole comprising their separate halves. Votes: 0
Liam learned that it was possible to appear to move forward when you were really standing still. Votes: 0
When you get . . . to the end, you see that love and family are all there is. Nothing else matters. Votes: 0
In the sea of grief, there were islands of grace, moments in time when one could remember what was left rather than all that had been lost. Votes: 0
As mothers and daughters, we are connected with one another. My mother is the bones of my spine, keeping me straight and true. She is my blood, making sure it runs rich and strong. She is the beating of my heart. I cannot now imagine a life without her. Votes: 0
She still felt shell-shocked by all of it, numb. Beneath the numbness, though, was a raw and terrible anger that was unlike anything she'd felt before. She had so little experience with genuine anger that it scared her. She actually worried that if she started screaming, she'd never stop. Votes: 0
I am such a Pacific Northwest girl. Votes: 0
No mother. Two small words, and yet within them lay a bottomless well of pain and loss, a ceaseless mourning for touches that were never received and words of wisdom that were never spoken. No single word was big enough to adequately describe the loss of your mother. Votes: 0
To make real friends you have to put yourself out there. Sometimes people will let you down, but you can't let that stop you. If you get hurt, you just pick yourself up, dust off your feelings, and try again. Votes: 0
She had been ready to love this man from the moment she first saw him. In all these years, that had never changed. They'd hurt each other, let each other down, and yet, here they were after everything, together. She needed him now, needed him to remind her that she was live, that she wasn't alone, that she hadn't lost everything. Votes: 0
My husband ran off with his secretary. His male secretary. the only passion I have lately seems to center around buying a handgun. Unfortunately, I can't decide which one of us to shoot. Votes: 0
That was the one thing she knew now. Some chances came and went, and if you missed them, you could spend the rest of your life standing alone, waiting for an opportunity that had already passed you by. Votes: 0
A generous donor (who had no doubt lived a life that imperiled his mortal soul) had granted [the Sisters] more than one hundred waterfront acres. Votes: 0
She hadn't realized how much she'd needed a dream, but it had transformed her, changed her from poor motherless and abandoned Tully to a girl poised to take on the world. The goal made her life story unimportant, gave her something to reach for, to hang on to Votes: 0
Angie: "How do I pitch these ideas to her?"Mira: "From a distance, preferably wearing body armor. Votes: 0
She is like a child picking at a scab, unable to stop herself even though she knows it will hurt. Votes: 0
Then he left her there, standing alone, surrounded by word ghosts; things she could have said. Votes: 0
I might screw up, I might embarrass you, I might yell at you, but I will never, ever stop loving you. You're my first born. The first time I held you... I fell in love so hard it cracked my bones. Votes: 0
Marriages go through hard times. Sometimes you have to get in there and fight for your love. That's the only way for it to get better. Votes: 0
I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I'd like to be known. Votes: 0
....both had learned that everything could change in an instant, and that the heartfelt vows of people in love were fragile words that, once shattered, could cut so deeply you'd bleed forever. Votes: 0
...This fear was unbearable. It unwrapped who she was, as neatly as he'd unwound her bandage, leaving too much pain and ugliness exposed. Nerve endings; he'd said they were the problem [causing phantom pain in the amputated limb]." Things that cut off, that ended abruptly or died--like parents and marriages--kept hurting forever. Votes: 0
Alice started to cry. It came with no sound, no shuddering, no childlike hysterics, just a soul-deep release that turned into moisture and dripped down her puffy pink cheeks. She touched her tears, frowning. Then she looked up at Julia and whimpered two words before she fell asleep. âReal hurts.â Votes: 0
And before you barrel through some idiotic Cosmo girl list of how-well-do-you-know-your-man questions, let me say that I don't know squat about him except that he kisses like a god and screws like a devil. Votes: 0
Before this trip and all that she'd learned about the three of them, she would have gotten angry or changed the subject. Anything to obscure the pain she felt. Now she knew better. You carried your pain with you in life. There was no outrunning it. Votes: 0
but sometimes one person can hold you up in life, keep you standing, and without that hand to hold, you can find yourself free-falling no matter how strong you used to be, no matter how hard you try to remain steady. Votes: 0
Fifteen minutes later, Betsy came thundering down the stairs. "I'm going to the mall with Sierra to see a movie." Michael leaned forward, switched off the television. "Can you please rephrase that in the form of a question?" "Sure. Can I have some money? Votes: 0
Hands down, the hardest part for me is coming up with an idea. I spend about 14 months writing a book, and that's a lot of hours spent thinking about a single project. I simply have to love the idea. I'll go through dozens of workable ideas until I find the one that lights my fire. Votes: 0
He was afraid that the secrets she'd kept would always be here, inside him, an ugly malignant thing lodged near enough to his heart to upset its rhythm, and though it could be removed, cut out, there would always be scars; bits and pieces of it would remain in his blood, making it wrong somehow, so that if he accidentally sliced his skin open, his blood would--for one heartbeat--flow as black as India ink before it remembered that it should be red. Votes: 0
Honestly, when you start talking about genres, you're talking as much about the business side of writing as anything else. Certainly there are elements of reader expectation that play into various genres, and those are important, but it also becomes about packaging, placement, audience....In the end, I'm not a fan of labels. I think the best fiction blurs the boundaries between genres, stretches and breaks them. Votes: 0
I didn't know how...deep love ran, how it was in your blood, not your heart, and how that same blood pumped through your veins your whole life. Votes: 0
I guess no one stays friends for more than thirty years without broken hearts along the way. Votes: 0
Iâm an insomniac lately. Itâs one of the many prizes you find in the Cracker Jack box of a crumbling [relationship], Votes: 0
If she wasn't careful, she'd slide without a ripple into the gently flowing stream of her old life, pulled back under the current without a wimper of protest. Another housewife lost in the flow. Votes: 0
It isnât about being at the same school or the same town or even the same room. Itâs about being together. Love is a choice you make. Votes: 0
It occurred to her suddenly, sharply, that she wanted to be in love... She wanted not to feel so damned alone in the world. Votes: 0
It was the Magic Hour, the moment in time when every leaf and blade of grass seemed to separate, when sunlight, burnished by the rain and softened by the coming night, gave the world an impossibly beautiful glow. Votes: 0
It was true; always had been. Friendships were like marriages in that way. Routines and patterns were poured early and hardened like cement. Votes: 0
Itâs a promise ring,â he said solemnly. âThe lady at the store said itâs what you give the girl you love. It means I want to marry you someday. Votes: 0
It's not intentions that matter. It's actions. We are what we do and say, not what we intend to. Votes: 0
Jude remembered this pain. Every woman had felt some version of it: the end of first love. It was when you learned, for good and always, that love could be impermanent. Votes: 0
Lately he'd been seen going out less and less, becoming that strangest of animals in a small town: a loner. Votes: 0
Maybe time didn't heal wounds exactly, but it gave you a kind of armor, or a new perspective. A way to remember with a smile instead of a sob. Votes: 0
Memories are who we are. In the end, that's all the luggage you take with you. Love and Memories are what last. Votes: 0
Nina knew the power of black and white images. Sometimes a thing was its truest self when the colors were stripped away. Votes: 0
Nobody's strong enough to be a parent. We just do it, blindly, going forward on faith and love and hope. That's all it is...Being afraid...and going on. Votes: 0
Of course you can fall in love. You just have to let yourself. They don't call it falling for nothing. -Kate Votes: 0
Oh, Mia. You havenât even begun to find out who you really are, and, believe me, other boys are going to fall in love with you. If a guy canât see how special you are, he isnât good enough for you. Votes: 0
Real friends. The kind that don't purposely hurt your feelings or stop liking you for no reason. Votes: 0
She used to tell me that she couldn't feel the sunlight anymore, not even when she was standing in it, not even when it was hot on her cheeks Votes: 0
Sometimes you simply made the wrong choice and you had to live with it. You could only change the future. Votes: 0
The measure of a man comes down to moments, spread out like dots of pain on the canvas on life. Everything you were, everything you'll someday be, resides in the small, seemingly ordinary choices of everyday life.....Each decision seems as insignificant as a left turn on an unfamiliar road when you have no destination in mind. But the decisions accumulate until you realize one day that they've made you the man that you are. Votes: 0
Their friendship was more important than any relationship. Guys would come and go; girlfriends were forever. Votes: 0
There are always times in life that you don't fit in. But you have to go forward and make a place for yourself. That's what growing up is all about. Being strong and believing in yourself-even when you're most afraid. Votes: 0
They would always be a family, but if she'd learned anything in the past few weeks it was that a family wasn't a static thing. There were always changes going on. Like with continents, sometimes the changes were invisible and underground, and sometimes they were explosive and deadly. The trick was to keep your balance. You couldn't control the direction of your family any more than you could stop the continental shelf from breaking apart. All you could do was hold on for the ride. Votes: 0
Thoughts - even fears - were airy things, formless until you made them solid with your voice and once given that weight, they could crush you. Votes: 0
To lose love is a terrible thing. But to turn away from it is unbearable. Will you spend the rest of your life replaying it in your head? Wondering if you walked away too soon or too easily? Or if you'll ever love anyone that deeply again? Votes: 0
We women make choices for others, not for ourselves, and when we are mothers, we...bear what we must for our children. You will protect them. It will hurt you; it will hurt them. Your job is to hide that your heart is breaking and do what they need you to do. Votes: 0
what shall we drink to?" "How about family?" Stacy said, showing up just in time to pour a fourth shot. "To those who are here, those who are gone, and those who are lost." and she clicked glasses with mom Votes: 0
When you're a mom, you learn about fear. You're always afraid. Always. About everything from cupboard doors to kidnappers to weather. Votes: 0
Whenever I write about motherhood - and I write about it a lot - I am drawing on my experiences as a mother and also my experiences as a daughter. Votes: 0
You couldn't give up you for them. But what if you wanted them more than you wanted a singular powerful you? Votes: 0
You look great," he said. It made her smile, even if it was a lie. "I'm as big as a house." He laughed. "I like houses. In fact, I'm thinking about architecture as a career. Votes: 0


text:
RethinkDB and sustainable business modelsThree weeks ago, I spent the evening of Sept 12, 2016 with Daniel Mewes, who is the lead engineer of RethinkDB (an open source database). I was also supposed to meet with the co-founders, Slava and Michael, but they were too busy fundraising and couldn't join us. I pestered Daniel the whole evening about what RethinkDB's business model actually was. Yesterday, on October 6, 2016, RethinkDB shut down.
I met with some RethinkDB devs because an investor who runs a fund at the VC firm Andreessen-Horowitz (A16Z) had kindly invited me there to explain my commercialization plans for SageMath, Inc., and RethinkDB is one of the companies that A16Z has invested in. At first, I wasn't going to take the meeting with A16Z, since I have never met with Venture Capitalists before, and do not intend to raise VC. However, some of my advisors convinced me that VC's can be very helpful even if you never intend to take their investment, so I accepted the meeting.
In the first draft of my slides for my presentation to A16Z, I had a slide with the question: "Why do you fund open source companies like RethinkDB and CoreOS, which have no clear (to me) business model? Is it out of some sense of charity to support the open source software ecosystem?" After talking with people at Google and the RethinkDB devs, I removed that slide, since charity is clearly not the answer (I don't know if there is a better answer than "by accident").
I have used RethinkDB intensely for nearly two years, and I might be their biggest user in some sense. My product SageMathCloud, which provides web-based course management, Python, R, Latex, etc., uses RethinkDB for everything. For example, every single time you enter some text in a realtime synchronized document, a RethinkDB table gets an entry inserted in it. I have RethinkDB tables with nearly 100 million records. I gave a talk at a RethinkDB meetup, filed numerous bug reports, and have been described by them as "their most unlucky user". In short, in 2015 I bet big on RethinkDB, just like I bet big on Python back in 2004 when starting SageMath. And when visiting the RethinkDB devs in San Francisco (this year and also last year), I have said to them many times "I have a very strong vested interest in you guys not failing." My company SageMath, Inc. also pays RethinkDB for a support contract.
Sustainable business models were very much on my mind, because of my upcoming meeting at A16Z and the upcoming board meeting for my company. SageMath, Inc.'s business model involves making money from subscriptions to SageMathCloud (which is hosted on Google Cloud Platform); of course, there are tons of details about exactly how our business works, which we've been refining based on customer feedback. Though absolutely all of our software is open source, what we sell is convenience, easy of access and use, and we provide value by hosting hundreds of courses on shared infrastructure, so it is much cheaper and easier for universities to pay us rather than hosting our software themselves (which is also fairly easy). So that's our business model, and I would argue that it is working; at least our MRR is steadily increasing and is more than twice our hosting costs (we are not cash flow positive yet due to developer costs).
So far as I can determine, the business model of RethinkDB was to make money in the following ways: 1. Sell support contracts to companies (I bought one). 2. Sell a closed-source proprietary version of RethinkDB with extra features that were of interest to enterprise (they had a handful of such features, e.g., audit logs for queries). 3. Horizon would become a cloud-hosted competitor to Firebase, with unique advantages that users have the option to migrate from the cloud to their own private data center, and more customizability. This strategy depends on a trend for users to migrate away from the cloud, rather than to it, which some people at RethinkDB thought was a real trend (I disagree).
I don't know of anything else they were seriously trying right now. The closed-source proprietary version of RethinkDB also seemed like a very recent last ditch effort that had only just begun; perhaps it directly contradicted a desire to be a 100% open source company?
With enough users, it's easier to make certain business models work. I suspect RethinkDB does not have a lot of real users. Number of users tends to be roughly linearly related to mailing list traffic, and the RethinkDB mailing list has an order of magnitude less traffic compared to the SageMath mailing lists, and SageMath has around 50,000 users. RethinkDB wasn't even advertised to be production ready until just over a year ago, so even they were telling people not to use it seriously until relatively recently. The adoption cycle for database technology is slow -- people wisely wait for Aphyr's tests, benchmarks comparing with similar technology, etc. I was unusual in that I chose RethinkDB much earlier than most people would, since I love the design of RethinkDB so much. It's the first database I loved, having seen a lot over many decades.
Conclusion: RethinkDB wasn't a real business, and wouldn't become one without year(s) more runway.
I'm also very worried about the future of RethinkDB as an open source project. I don't know if the developers have experience growing an open source community of volunteers; it's incredibly hard and its unclear they are even going to be involved. At a bare minimum, I think they must switch to a very liberal license (Apache instead of AGPL), and make everything (e.g., automated testing code, documentation, etc) open source. It's insanely hard getting any support for open source infrastructure work -- support mostly comes from small government grants (for research software) or contributions from employees at companies (that use the software). Relicensing in a company friendly way is thus critical.
Company IncentivesCompanies can be incentived in various ways, including:
- to get to the next round of VC funding
- to be a sustainable profitable business by making more money from customers than they spend, or
- to grow to have a very large number of users and somehow pivot to making money later.
For me, SageMath is an open source project I started in 2004, and I'm in it for the long haul. I will make the business I'm building around SageMathCloud succeed, or I will die trying -- therefore I have very, very little tolerance for risk. Failure is not an option, and I am not looking for an exit. For me, the strategy that best matches my values is to incentive my company to build a profitable business, since that is most likely to survive, and also to give us the freedom to maintain our longterm support for open source and pure mathematics software.
Thus for my company, neither optimizing for raising the next round of VC or growing at all costs makes sense. You would be surprised how many people think I'm completely wrong for concluding this.
Andreessen-HorowitzI spent the evening with RethinkDB developers, which scared the hell out of me regarding their business prospects. They are probably the most open source friendly VC-funded company I know of, and they had given me hope that it is possible to build a successful VC-funded tech startup around open source. I prepared for my meeting at A16Z, and deleted my slide about RethinkDB.
I arrived at A16Z, and was greeted by incredibly friendly people. I was a little shocked when I saw their nuclear bomb art in the entry room, then went to a nice little office to wait. The meeting time arrived, and we went over my slides, and I explained my business model, goals, etc. They said there was no place for A16Z to invest directly in what I was planning to do, since I was very explicit that I'm not looking for an exit, and my plan about how big I wanted the company to grow in the next 5 years wasn't sufficiently ambitious. They were also worried about how small the total market cap of Mathematica and Matlab is (only a few hundred million?!). However, they generously and repeatedly offered to introduce me to more potential angel investors.
We argued about the value of outside investment to the company I am trying to build. I had hoped to get some insight or introductions related to their portfolio companies that are of interest to my company (e.g., Udacity, GitHub), but they deflected all such questions. There was also some confusion, since I showed them slides about what I'm doing, but was quite clear that I was not asking for money, which is not what they are used to. In any case, I greatly appreciated the meeting, and it really made me think. They were crystal clear that they believed I was completely wrong to not be trying to do everything possible to raise investor money.
BasecampDuring the first year of SageMath, Inc., I was planning to raise a round of VC, and was doing everything to prepare for that. I then read some of DHH's books about Basecamp, and realized many of those arguments applied to my situation, given my values, and -- after a lot of reflection -- I changed my mind. I think Basecamp itself is mostly closed source, so they may have an advantage in building a business. SageMathCloud (and SageMath) really are 100% open source, and building a completely open source business might be harder. Our open source IP is considered worthless by investors. Witness: RethinkDB just shut down and Stripe hired just the engineers -- all the IP, customers, etc., of RethinkDB was evidently considered worthless by investors.
The day after the A16Z meeting, I met with my board, which went well (we discussed a huge range of topics over several hours). Some of the board members also tried hard to convince me that I should raise a lot more investor money.
Will Poole: you're doomedTwo weeks ago I met with Will Poole, who is a friend of a friend, and we talked about my company and plans. I described what I was doing, that everything was open source, that I was incentivizing the company around building a business rather than raising investor money. He listened and asked a lot of follow up questions, making it very clear he understands building a company very, very well.
His feedback was discouraging -- I said "So, you're saying that I'm basically doomed." He responded that I wasn't doomed, but might be able to run a small "lifestyle business" at best via my approach, but there was absolutely no way that what I was doing would have any impact or pay for my kids college tuition. If this was feedback from some random person, it might not have been so disturbing, but Will Poole joined Microsoft in 1996, where he went on to run Microsoft's multibillion dollar Windows business. Will Poole is like a retired four-star general that executed a successful campaign to conquer the world; he been around the block a few times. He tried pretty hard to convince me to make as much of SageMathCloud closed source as possible, and to try to convince my users to make content they create in SMC something that I can reuse however I want. I felt pretty shaken and convinced that I needed to close parts of SMC, e.g., the new Kubernetes-based backend that we spent all summer implementing. (Will: if you read this, though our discussion was really disturbing to me, I really appreciate it and respect you.)
My friend, who introduced me to Will Poole, introduced me to some other people and described me as that really frustrating sort of entrepreneur who doesn't want investor money. He then remarked that one of the things he learned in business school, which really surprised him, was that it is good for a company to have a lot of debt. I gave him a funny look, and he added "of course, I've never run a company".
I left that meeting with Will convinced that I would close source parts of SageMathCloud, to make things much more defensible. However, after thinking things through for several days, and talking this over with other people involved in the company, I have chosen not to close anything. This just makes our job harder. Way harder. But I'm not going to make any decisions based purely on fear. I don't care what anybody says, I do not think it is impossible to build an open source business (I think Wordpress is an example), and I do not need to raise VC.
Hacker News Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12663599
Chinese version: http://www.infoq.com/cn/news/