text:
In the Italian alps near the tri-corno (the border of Italy, Austria and Slovenia) sits a series of old-fashioned mountain villages which had their origins in the 9th and 10th century. Actually Rome had recognized the area as a strategic location. In the days of Julius Ceasar three fortress cities were built nearby to guard the northeast passages into Italy from the alps. they were the port city of Aquileia, Cividale overlooking the Natisone River and Carnico (adjacent to today's Zuglio - Iulium Carnicum is now just a ruin on a bare hill) near the Tagliamento River. Hannibal later passed farther west. The people which flourished in the region were the alpini; rough, well adapted to life in the mountains and very poor, mainly living by agricultural means.
In the 13th century, the area fell under the Duchy of Aquileia and a century later under the control of the Duchy of Venice and then the Austrian Empire.
The region is geologically, very active, prone to devastating earthquakes. In fact Venzone has been completely destroyed several times by earthquakes, the recent being 1976 in which more 1000 people in the region died.
Venzone was encircled by a double wall in the 14th century in the classic venetian style. This wall collapsed in a 15th century earthquake and was rebuilt. The 1976 earthquake leveled the city which has been carefully restored as much as possible. Even today, parts of the city remain in ruins as a memorial to those who died.


text:
Release Date: 26 JUN 2007
AGEODS American Civil War - The Blue and the Gray is a historical operational strategy game with a simultaneous turn-based engine (WEGO system) that places players at the head of the USA or CSA during the American Civil War (1861-1865).
Release Date: 4 AUG 2008
Take command of several of almost 80 playable nations throughout 700 years of history starting in 350 AD, and lead each of your historical nations from birth through growth, stability and decline. It will not be easy to expand or, indeed, survive across the centuries - but master the arts of diplomacy, war, economics, and administration and there will be no limit to your ambitions!
Release Date: 21 AUG 2008
Birth of America II: Wars in America 1750-1815 is the expanded reprise of veteran developer AGEODs acclaimed first release, which allows players to command either side of the conflicts before, during and after the American War for Independence between 1636 and 1815. Apart from the engaging turn-based strategy play that has been expanded and vastly improved over the original, Birth of America II includes major new features like an improved and expanded map, new European off-map boxes and more.
Release Date: 12 MAY 2010
Take charge as a military and political leader during the most trying and critical times of the First World War with World War One: Gold Edition! As either a member of the Central Powers, the Entente or a neutral nation, you will confront the epic gauntlet of challenges that faced the likes of Kitchener, Joffre, Luddendorf, Clemenceau, Czar Nicholas II or Enver Pasha in scenarios that range from single theatres to the entire grand campaign.
Release Date: 23 NOV 2010
Revolution Under Siege is a simultaneous turn based historical wargame that puts you in charge of one of the factions that fought the Russian Civil War (1917-1923). From a ragtag group of volunteers create the powerful Red Army, using all the weaponry and equipment at your disposal: planes, tanks, armored trains, Cheka troops and the Konarmia (the famous Red Cavalry). Or, on the opposite side, gather all patriots and reform the elite divisions that shall save Holy Mother Russia.
Release Date: 15 NOV 2011
In 1942, a titanic struggle is reaching its climax in the boundless, trackless expanses of southern Russia. The stakes cannot be higher as you take command of battle-hardened Wehrmacht or massive Red Army forces to decide the fate of an entire continent.
Release Date: 27 SEP 2012
Alea Jacta Est is the first historical strategy game on the PC to cover the main Roman civil wars, created by a dedicated team of experts to bring the epic battles that pitted Romans against Romans in conflicts such as between Rome, Sertorius, and Mithridates.
Release Date: 30 JAN 2013
The new standalone expansion pack for the first historical strategy game on the PC to cover the Roman civil wars, Alea Jacta Est, is here! Birth of Rome covers the important and epic wars that led the Roman republic to unify Italy, then defeat Carthage over Sicily.
Release Date: 8 MAY 2013
Rise of Prussia Gold is the new and improved version of AGEODs Seven Years War (1757-1763) game set in Europe. This hugely detailed strategy game was initially released by AGEOD in 2010 and the Gold version adds numerous improvements and additional scenarios that take the game to the next level.
Release Date: 10 APR 2013
Pride of Nations is a turn-based historical strategy game set in the colonial era of the 19th century, where the player takes control of a country and guides it through industrialization, military conquest, and colonization. This release from AGEOD follows such successful historical strategy games as Birth of America, American Civil War, Napoleon's Campaigns, Rise of Prussia and Wars in America.
Release Date: 30 APR 2013
The great historical strategy video game about Napoleon's Campaigns is here! Napoleon's Campaigns is a realistic simulation of the different individual campaigns fought by the famous French emperor between 1805 and 1815. In addition to reliving those landmarks of operational maneuvers in the various regions of Europe, we also have a full recreation of the Peninsula War (1808-1814) and even a fantasy scenario: Napoleon invades England (1805).
Release Date: 8 MAY 2013
The Rise of Prussia Gold upgrade kit requires that you have Rise of Prussia already installed and brings the base game up to the full Gold Edition. Rise of Prussia Gold is the new and improved version of AGEODs Seven Years War (1757-1763) game set in Europe. This hugely detailed strategy game was initially released by AGEOD in 2010 and the Gold version adds numerous improvements and additional scenarios that take the game to the next level.
Release Date: 30 MAY 2013
Ten years of tough fighting and guerrilla in the difficult mountains of Northern Spain, when the Romans under Emperor Augustus try to subdue the last remaining independent Hispanian tribes in Asturia and Cantabria, from 29 BC to 19 BC.
Release Date: 30 MAY 2013
This short and epic scenario covers the 3 years of the famous gladiators and slaves revolt led by Spartacusthat brought the Roman republic to a major crisis between 73 and 70 BC. Players can either select Rome or the famous Spartacus in a fast-paced and active struggle, where each side will have to achieve hard-to-reach objectives: Rome must destroy all the rebels and kill Spartacus, while the latter must attempt to have as many of his followers as possible to leave Italy.
Release Date: 4 JUN 2013
This medium campaign scenario starts in 1880 with most major powers having a solid industrial base and solved domestic issues (Civil War in the USA, Meiji reforms in Japan) or international recognition (Germany and Italy have succeeded in their unification process).
Release Date: 4 JUN 2013
This scenario starts in 1862 with the Union and the Confederacy locked in a titanic struggle for supremacy in a divided nation.
Release Date: 4 JUN 2013
This scenario covers the longest and bloodiest war in Europe during the 19th century, which saw the end of Napoleon IIIs Imperial France and the advent of the Second Reich under the aegis of Otto von Bismarck.
Release Date: 4 JUN 2013
This short and epic scenario covers the 10 months of the Splendid Little War fought between USA and Spain from April 1898.
Release Date: 17 SEP 2013
Civil War 2 is the definitive grand strategy game of the period. It is a turn based regional game with an emphasis on playability and historical accuracy. It is built on the renowned AGE game engine, with a modern and intuitive interface that makes it easy to learn yet hard to master. This historical operational strategy game with a simultaneous turn-based engine (WEGO system) that places players at the head of the USA or CSA during the American Civil War (1861-1865).
Release Date: 2 OCT 2013
It is 18th of July 1936. The Spanish army has risen in arms against the democratically elected government. Elements of the army together with militias will defend the Republic from this military coup. Outside influences are also at play and the Axis powers will help the Nationalist Rebels, while the USSR will assist the Republicans. A civil war has begun. Two factions vie for power. Only one will survive.
Release Date: 24 OCT 2013
Parthian Wars is the first strategy game covering Romes most tenacious Eastern enemy. It is a turn based regional game with an emphasis on playability and historical accuracy. It is built on the renowned AGE game engine that makes it easy to learn yet hard to master. This is must have game for anyone interested in the period.
Release Date: 10 DEC 2013
This prequel DLC, whose events happen prior to "Stalingrad Campaign", completes the Eastern Front story as told by "Unity of Command". Take control of the Wehrmacht and its allies in Operation Barbarossa, from the dramatic early victories all the way to ignominious defeat at the gates of Moscow.
Release Date: 6 FEB 2014
Civil War II is the definitive grand strategy game of the period. The expansion pack provides players with more content on this great product. Requires CW2 game patched to 1.03 version. This is not a standalone game
Release Date: 18 JUN 2014
Hannibal: Terror of Rome covers the epic wars waged from 230 to 201 BC by the two superpowers of the Ancient World: Carthage and Rome. You will be able to relive the Second Punic War and the face-off between Hannibal with his elephants and the Roman general Scipio Africanus.
Release Date: 26 AUG 2014
AGEOD's To End All Wars is the definitive detailed grand strategy game of the period. It is a turn based regional game with an emphasis on playability and historical accuracy. It is built on the renowned AGE game engine, with a modern and intuitive interface that makes it easy to learn yet hard to master. This is must have game for anyone interested in the period.
Release Date: 24 FEB 2015
To End All Wars: Breaking the Deadlock is the first expansion to the most detailed World War One wargame ever created. Adding 5 completely new scenarios, this expansion aims to vastly increase the content in-game, giving players the option to focus on specific campaigns in Italy, the Balkans and even the Middle-East.
Release Date: 3 SEP 2015
Thirty Years War is a new game designed by HQ covering one of the darkest ages of European history. The Thirty Years War is the series of conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire and its surroundings, between 1618 and 1648. In this strategy game, players will take control of one of the opposing sides, Protestants or Catholics, and fight for the control of the Empire.
Release Date: 2 JUL 2015
From the Baltic to the shores of the Pacific and through the arid steppes of Central Asia, relive on PC the biggest civil war ever!
Release Date: 3 DEC 2015
AGEod goes back to the Napoleonic era and creates the most detailed and comprehensive strategy game ever created about a time of struggle and conquest that forged modern Europe.
Release Date: 25 JAN 2018
Ageods Wars of Succession is a new game designed to cover two major wars that consumed Europe at the eve of the 18th Century.
Release Date: 13 DEC 2006
From Colonial wars to American independence in Birth of America, you control one of the major contenders of the 2 conflicts that shape America trying to achieve military and political victory in either the French & Indian Wars or the war for Independence. Immerse yourself in Birth of America for the PC. Birth of America, gives you command of the military forces vying for power. This includes such activities as drafting forces, building forts and depots, sieges and blockades, raiding enemy set
Release Date: 11 MAY 2017
The King or the Parliament? Choose your side and take command of the Cavaliers armies or the Roundheads and the Covenanters.
Release Date: 11 JUL 2019
Field of Glory: Empires is a grand strategy game in which you will have to move in an intricate and living tapestry of nations and tribes, each one with their distinctive culture.
All Games (date)
Role Playing
Budget Games
Age of Muskets
Civil War
Feudal Japan
Inter War Period
World War I
World War II
Select any of the criteria below to search our Products catalog.
Reviewed: 24 OCT 2016
Real and Simulated Wars Preview
" I want to mention that the computer opponent (the companion of the lonely players like me) can handle nations more effectively than in other strategy level games which have so many variables to deal with"
Reviewed: 30 SEP 2016
Rock, Paper, Shotgun: The Flare Path And The Sea Lion Tamer
"Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe is conservative turn-segmented grand strategy with the emphasis on military matters rather than political, social or economic meddling
Reviewed: 6 MAY 2016
Preview from BigBossBattle
"This is probably one of the most accessible, intuitive, and visually appealing turn-based tactics game that I've played over the last few years."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
They already appeared beaten by halftime Friday night, and then Lakers scored only eight points in the third quarter.
The Clippers weren't going to let this opponent back in the game and made that emphatically clear from the outset.
The Clippers, sparked by the return of J.J. Redick and the memory of an opening-night loss, raced to a 123-87 win at Staples Center. No matter what the final score might have been, it wasn't close.
The biggest winning margin the Clippers (26-13) previously had over the Lakers was 31 points on Feb. 19, 1992.
Blake Griffin continued his run of excellence with 33 points and 12 rebounds, all in the first three quarters, and Redick came back after a 21-game absence to score 19 points, including 10 in the first quarter when he hit 5 of 6 shots.
"That was fun," Redick said. "I was obviously out a long time, so the worry was that it would take a little bit of time to get a rhythm. To get a rhythm in the first four minutes was surprising but very nice."
Frustration clearly is setting in on the undermanned Lakers (14-23), who have only one win in their last 11 games.
"Obviously we've been losing a lot, 10 out of 11," said guard Jodie Meeks, who made only 2 of 10 shots. "Nobody likes to lose, especially getting embarrassed. The way we are losing is embarrassing."
The Clippers played with a sense of urgency. Redick was back to his old tricks of running around picks until he was wide open, and Griffin was an all-around force.
"It was huge. You saw the first four minutes or whatever that was," Griffin said of Redick's return. "He was just knocking down shots, putting pressure on them and he's constantly moving. Even if he's not hitting shots, it's the movement. You always have to be aware of where he is so he opens up a lot of things for the rest of us."
Guard Darren Collison added 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds as the injured Chris Paul shouted instructions from the bench.
"Darren had great command of the game on both sides of the ball," Redick said. "The pressure he was putting on their defense, especially in the first half, make or miss, just attacking, pushing the ball up, opened up a lot of things for us."
On the visitors' bench, Kobe Bryant could be seen with his hand over his face.
What could Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni say to his team?
"Hang your head — er, I mean keep your head up," he offered.
Clippers center DeAndre Jordan never let Pau Gasol get rolling. Jordan blocked three of Gasol's shots and finished with seven blocks to go with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
"You're not going to be able to take everything away from a guy," Jordan said. "This is the NBA. Guys are talented. It's hard to stop a guy one-on-one in this league, especially a very skilled offensive player.
"But if our defense is the way it is, I've just got to do my job."
Gasol made only 5 of 15 shots, scored 10 points and had eight rebounds. Wesley Johnson had 14 points for the Lakers and guard Kendall Marshall, forced to play to the end, had 16 points and 10 assists.
The Lakers shot only 34.5 percent, turned the ball over 21 times and couldn't beat the Clippers to loose balls.
Nick Young, averaging 16.4 points entering the game, made only 3 of 14 shots and finished with 11 points. But he conceded nothing.
"They always play good at this time of year," said Young, the one-time Clipper. "Let's see how it goes in the postseason."
While they wait for Bryant's fractured leg to heal, the Lakers and their fans might be wondering what the priority is — play for the playoffs or a higher draft pick.
"The best-case scenario is if we come out competing, get some bodies back, get some better results," Gasol said. "Whatever that is at the end of the season with the record we finish with, we should be OK with it as far as us giving everything we had.
"If that means making the playoffs that would be great. But it will be tough given the position we've put ourselves into right now."
If the Clippers had anything they could quibble about, it's the starters scored 90 of their 101 points through three quarters. But that's something they'll work on with Redick back and Jamal Crawford assuming his spot as a scorer off the bench.
Crawford had 11 points, but the Clippers' bench had only 22, although that was 10 points more than the reserves scored against Boston on Wednesday.


text:
Brendan Shanahan's dart hit "1" on the dartboard.
I'm not saying Brandon Prust shouldn't have been suspended, because he did after all elbow Anton Volchenkov in the head (and I wonder if they've managed to scrape Volchenkov off the ice yet).
I am saying that what Prust did was not nearly as malicious as what Chris Neil did to Brian Boyle, or what Alex Ovechkin did to Dan Girardi, or what Shea WWEber did to Henrik Zetterburg.
And in fact, I wonder if Glen Sather has or will complain to the league that now two of his guys have been suspended in these playoffs -- both of them with no priors on their records -- while every time one of his Rangers gets clonked directly in the head, it somehow gets forgiven.
Also, I brought this up earlier, if some of the head shots had been punished with more than couch-cushion change fines during the season, and some hadn't been blatantly ignored during this postseason, maybe we wouldn't still have these issues.
I will post the official announcement as soon as it is available.
I have reason to believe that Stu Bickel will move up to forward for Game 4 tomorrow night, barring an unexpectedly quick return by Brandon Dubinsky, who skated in an optional (non-contact) practice today.
From the NHL:
NEW YORK (May 20, 2012) -- New York Rangers forward Brandon Prust has been suspended for one game for elbowing New Jersey Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov during the teams; Eastern Conference Final game in New Jersey on Saturday, May 19, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.
The incident occurred at 2:31 of the second period.
For a full explanation of the decision, complete with video,please click on the following link:
A couple of things. First we will have a Live Game 4 Chat tomorrow at noon, where we can discuss the suspension, John Tortorella's gamesmanship, Henrik Lundqvist's mastery, the Rangers' failure to have a two-game lead at any point in these playoffs, future Ranger Zach Parise, or any other topic you want to bring to the table. So be here. Or else.
Also, I'm going to be a guest on NY Sports Exchange tonight around 10 p.m., with host Derek Wasiak. You can listen via radio at AM1240-WGBB, or on your computer at sportsradiony.com (which is the better option unless you live on Long Island). Give us a listen.


text:
Finally finished up the 2 NOES Part 2 Freddy busts, sculpted by the amazing Howard Senft.
I purchased the resin blanks almost a year ago, and began the slow process of grabbing 2 of everything (sweaters, hats, gloves, etc.), and putting it all together. When everything was assembled, I went to work on these badboys, dremelling, sanding, etc., and painted them up, using many Part 2 reference pics.
I added glass eyes and eyelashes, and cast up my arm to make the gloved displays. I also printed up the poster art and put it in a frame. I then mounted everything on a wood base.
I gave my cousin Derek HIS copy last week, and I'm pretty sure he was happy with it, lol. Now I have to figure out where the hell to put mine. More shelves needed in the man-cave.


text:
PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Some dogs and their owners are learning a special set of skills this week in southern Kentucky.
Volunteers are training their dogs on how to search for missing persons or bodies. The training is going on in Pulaski County.
"As the dogs learn to indicate or show us that they found what they are seeking, they are taught to perform a specific task, like sit or scratch," says Matthew Zarella with American Patriot K-9.
Zarella is from Rhode Island. He's one of the people training volunteers in Kentucky. Many of the volunteers say they're learning skills that have been unavailable locally.
Tammie Bumgardner, with Canine Search, Inc., says police often depend on volunteer organizations when search and rescue missions turn into recovery operations.
"We are also working more frequently with law enforcement, helping them find when crimes have been committed," Bumgardner says.
Experts say the training will also provide skills that would hold up in courtroom testimony, if the cases come to that.
Zarella says the handlers will receive international certifications once the training is complete.


text:
The Atmospheres of Venus and Mars
Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1968 - Science - 288 pages
From inside the book
32 pages matching Spinrad in this book
Where's the rest of this book?
Results 1-3 of 32
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Introductory Comments on Venuss Lower Atmosphere
Multiple Light Scattering in Planetary Atmospheres
9 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
absorption albedo altitude angle approximately assumed atmos atmosphere of Mars band Brandt/McElroy calculated Chamberlain 1965 Chamberlain and McElroy circulation cloud cloud albedo coefficient computed Coriolis force curve diffusion discussed Doppler broadening Earth electron density energy loss equation errors Eshleman estimates exospheric exospheric temperature Figure Fjeldbo flux Geophys Goody heat indicated infrared ionization ionosphere isotropic Kitt Peak Kliore Kuiper loss rate lower atmosphere Mariner Martian atmosphere measurements mesopause method mosphere motions neutral number density observed obtained occultation optical depth optical thickness parameters particles peak phase effect phase function phere photoelectrons planet potential temperature problem pure C02 radiation radiative Rasool ratio recombination refractivity region Rossby rotation Sagan scale height scattering shown in Fig solar wind Space Sci specific amount spectra spectrum Spinrad studies surface pressure temperature gradient thermal thermopause thermosphere tion vertical water vapor wave wavelength


text:
Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) - Germany's Smart Hub
Düsseldorf Airport is Germany's third largest airport, located in the heart of Europe's most powerful economic region. DUS is an international hub of a size easy to grasp. Passengers appreciate its short ways and fast transfer times, its clarity and perfect accessibility.
Every year some 22 million passengers take off and land in DUS, more than 60 airlines serve 190 destinations worldwide. You can journey up to eight times daily from the USA to DUS. There are four daily flights from the UAE plus numerous non-stop flights from Asia. If Düsseldorf isn't your final destination, eleven domestic and 144 European destinations guarantee ideal connections with a minimum connecting time of only 35 minutes.
Gateway to Europe's most populated region
The city of Düsseldorf is just a 10 minutes' drive or train ride away from the airport. Two railway stations link the airport perfectly with its region, where 18 million inhabitants form the most populated and strongest economic region of the continent. The Ruhr region is just around the corner, important German cities like Cologne (57 km), Bonn (82 km) and Aachen (98 km) are very close and even European capitals like Amsterdam (220 km) and Brussels (206 km) are easy to reach from DUS.
Convenient infrastructure for your journey
At the airport you can shop to your heart's content at more than 60 exclusive shops or organize your business meeting in one of the airport hotels or conference centres. Numerous bars and restaurants, six lounges and the airports VIP-Service offer many opportunities to relax and refresh before or after your journey.


text:
By the way: 09/17/09
Vermont's and New York's annual shared celebration of Lake Champlain takes on a heightened importance in this year of the quadricentennial of the arrival of Samuel de Champlain into Lake Champlain. The Festival of Nations hosted by the Chimney Point Historic Site in Addison, Vt., and Crown Point, N.Y., Historic Site this Friday through Sunday will feature a wide variety of events, including the 14th Annual Northeastern Open Atlatl Championship at Chimney Point, named a Top Ten Vermont Fall Event for 2009 by the Vermont State Chamber of Commerce. For a complete schedule of events visit http://celebratechamplain.org.The Sheldon Museum opened its doors 125th years ago this summer and now it is celebrating opening the front door again. The front porch entrance is now in use and the Museum Shop has moved to a new space in the old house on Park Street in downtown Middlebury. On Saturday, Sept. 19, the community is invited to celebrate the Sheldon's 125th Anniversary. At 1:25 p.m., we will enjoy 125th Anniversary cake and refreshments on the front porch. The Vermont Adult Learning Student Advisory Board is planning a craft fair for Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the American Legion Hall in Middlebury. They are looking for crafters who would like to reserve an 8-foot table space for the day for $25. Proceeds benefit the board. For more information contact Robin Karov at [email protected] or 388-4392. Looking for good eats? The New Haven Congregational Church will host its annual chicken biscuit dinner this Sunday with seatings at noon and 1 p.m. The charge is $9 for adults, $4 for kids age 6-12, and free for those under 6. To reserve a spot at either seating or to reserve takeout, call 545-2422.Ten students from two local high schools will participate in the Vermont Symphony Orchestra's Green Room Program when the orchestra brings its "Made in Vermont Music Festival" Tour to the Mahaney Center for the Arts at Middlebury College on Thursday, Sept. 24. The students, from Mount Abraham and Middlebury union high schools, will receive advance materials, including CDs, about the concert, and will attend at no cost, after having dinner at the McCullough Student Center with musician mentors. The goal is to make the concert-going experience less intimidating for young people.Two local cheeses popped up in the finalists of the Best of Vermont competition at the Champlain Valley Fair in Essex this month. In the one-year cheddar category second place went to the Cabot Creamery Cooperative and Blue Ledge Farm took third in the chevre category.Congratulations to 14-year-old Declan O'Brien of Middlebury, who rode well in the Gravity East Downhill Mountain Biking course at Whiteface Mountain on Aug. 29 and placed third in his division.Kim Moulton of Middlebury and Vermont Electric Power Company is one of the 25 members of the Snelling Center for Government's 2010 Vermont Leadership Institute. VLI recruits Vermont's best and brightest from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, creating lasting networks to benefit Vermont.


text:
On the Microsoft Interoperability Blog today there's a new post looking at using PHP to help create web slices (little saved chunks of web pages) in Internet Explorer 8.
A web slice is content on a web page which a user can subscribe to. The content is then available from a button in the Internet Explorer 8 Favorite's toolbar. When the content is updated, the button glows orange to alert the user that there is new content. When the user clicks the button, they see a drop down window with the updated content of the web slice.
They show how to use PHP to create the content to fill a slice with some simple content. A slice isn't much more than a part of your web page with a div tag classed as "hslice". IE8 can then pick that part of the site up and save it to the user's browser. You can see en example here.


text:
Literary Award Sites
Bookletters Bestsellers & Awards - These bestseller and awards lists include cover art for each title and links that bring you directly into our catalog to search for availability or place a hold on the title.
Booker Prize - Established in 1968 and awarded annually, the prestigious Booker Prize aims to reward the best novel published in English by a citizen of the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland. (Who is eligible for the prize? Any full-length novel, written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and published this year, is eligible for the prize. The novel must be an original work in English (not a translation) and must not be self-published.)
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - Selected libraries in capital and major cities throughout the world nominate works of fiction for this award established in 1995.
National Book Awards - Sponsored by the National Book Foundation these awards have been given since 1950 to exceptional books in Fiction, Young People's Literature, Nonfiction and Poetry.
National Book Critics Circle Award - Every year, the National Book Critics Circle presents awards for the finest books published in English. Categories include: Fiction, General Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Poetry, and Criticism.
Nobel Prize in Literature Site - Go to this site for information about the Nobel Prize in Literature and a list of Nobel Prize Laureates that go back as far as 1901.
PEN American Center Literary Awards - This page includes links to a variety of literary prizes connected to the PEN American Center. These prizes recognize excellence among American authors of fiction, nonfiction, drama and poetry, honor the art of literary translation, and highlight the distinctive contributions of literary editors and publishers.
PEN/Faulkner Award - Writers founded The PEN/Faulkner award in 1980 to honor their peers. Judges for this award are all writers of fiction.
PEN New England - PEN New England presents two literary awards each year, the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a first book of fiction and the L.L. Winship/PEN New England award honoring a book about New England or by a New England author.
Pulitzer Prize - Nine Pulitzer prizes were originally bestowed in 1917 for excellence in journalism, letters & drama, and education. Today, the Pulitzer Prize board awards 21 prizes for excellence in journalism, photography, literature, music, and drama.
Costa Book Awards - Established in 1971 as The Whitbread Book Awards, the Costa Book Awards aim to celebrate and promote the best of contemporary writing in the UK. Award categories include poetry, biography, novel, first novel, and children's book.
Agatha Awards - Sponsored by Malice Domestic, the Agatha awards honor traditional mysteries published in the United States. Categories include best novel, best first mystery, best short story, and best non-fiction.
Edgars and Other MWA Awards - The Edgar Allen Poe awards are awarded to authors of distinguished work in various mystery categories. Links to information about the Grand Master Award, The Ellery Queen Award, The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award, and the Raven Award are also available on this page.
Shamus Awards - Created in 1981, the Shamus Award is given by the Private Eye Writers of America to honor excellent work in the Private Eye genre.
Science Fiction
Hugo Awards - The Hugo award is given annually by the World Science Fiction Society for science fiction achievement. Included on this page are links to the following science fiction awards: The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best New Writer, Special Awards, and The Gandalf Award.
Nebula Awards - Since 1965, the Nebula Awards, chosen by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, have been given each year for the best novel, novella, novelette, and short story in science fiction.
Children's Literature
Newbery, Caldecott, and other ALSC Awards (American Library Association) - The Association for Library Service to Children, a part of the American Library Association, sponsors many awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals.
Boston Globe Horn Book Awards - Since 1967 the Boston Globe and Horn Book, Inc. have co-sponsored the Horn Book Awards for excellence in literature for children and young adults.
New England
Massachusetts Book Awards - Awarded annually to Massachusetts authors for significant achievement in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children's literature during the previous year.
New England Book Awards - Established in 1990 by the New England Booksellers Association, the purpose of these awards is to promote New England authors and publishers who have produced a body of work that stands as a significant contribution to New England's culture.
New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) Awards - The New England Science Fiction Association presents two awards, the Gaughan, for emerging science fiction artists, and the Skylark, for a person who has contributed significantly to science fiction.


text:
Their home is classic architecture. Her husband asked for ONE thing. In my book, 'done'.
Every site with a Big Green Egg is a challenge.
The backside mimics the house siding & color. The cabinet/counter top are
Magic Man does it again!
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
Pics taken at jobsite last week. This space is small & wonky & viewed from interiors, deck, & lower garden. Had to be gorgeous from every angle & functional for the man who only asked for one thing!
No, Big Green Egg did not sponsor this post. And I wasn't about to do one of those rustic river stones, toss in the Big Green Egg & a rustic cabinet at this house with formal architecture. Lunacy for this site.


text:
For super fast casting
submit your casting brief here
Working with Scout Voice Management was so easy and professional. We knew we wanted to use Aaron Cartwright – his voice is like rich melted chocolate and he is so amiable and amenable. From the initial inquiry to the actual recording was only a few days. We got exactly what we wanted and have the showreel for our website that we'd hoped for. Thanks to all involved.
As a recording studio, we had to record Nathaniel Dean in London. Despite the time difference and the fact that we had to schedule back to back sessions for 3 different clients, Kathryn made the whole process easy and smooth. Quick to respond and easy to work with. Nathaniel was amazing!!
What a breeze to work with someone as professional and experienced as Robert Lee — fast and fun, too! He comes prepared so time is spent efficiently, to get just what you need. A pleasure.
We are pleased with the result and I really enjoyed being patched in to the studio for the recording. Nathan Page's voice is the perfect tone and has the gravitas we needed for the intended audience and Matt from Sonic Playground, was so helpful and thorough throughout the recording, and in all our requests for follow-up editing. They are both very talented and it was a pleasure working with them and getting an understanding of their craft.
re: Impossible Peace Documentary
My wife & I watch every historical doco out there, and thought this very good, with many new angles re the interwar period. Wasn't Rod Mullinar first class? I'd have to say that Mr Mullinar is now my international No1 narrator/voice! He should be compulsory on all Aussie docos, and forced upon the Brits too!


text:
Ivanka Trump Takes On China
Whether representing her jewelry company or the Trump Organization, Ivanka Trump has her eye on China. The elder daughter of Donald tells Deborah Kan about her passion for design and how her dad's China bashing won't inhibit her ambitions out East.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... I'm Deborah con for The Wall Street Journal digital network joining me here today is a lot to try ... it on to things that much for joining me ... thirty years old and have a major role at the Trump organization ... you have a jewelry and shoe company your reality TV star and your mom ... separately a month and today ... I well you know the mentioned I and and why ... aam can amount to know ... and ... probably in that order ... yes ALM guy you know one of the fun things and ... I ... really one of the fun things ... about my thesis that ... there is so much diversity and are so many great opportunities ... first I wanna ask you one thing when I when I told people in an interview ... they said that one of the first questions that comes out this ... Husker she's going to take over for her cat and people seem to think and do as thick six seater two-year tad ... too are you going to succeed him ... the show then that the people universally think I think that I'm ... aam visible face I think part of it is a pastime of mine and not only being ... on thirty years old and and and he now ... I'm in a position I'm and ... so I think and I probably get more media attention than my brothers and ... it will all work side by side ... and we all recognize very early on that ... as the collective we can be far more ... in terms of crime company time than any of us can get into the challenge is the strategy Medion Trump isn't acquiring more properties is it me is that brand being a mean how would you describe ... the company and where it's at ... where ... a brands ... which he developers ... are AMR plan that adds real value so we're we're spending a lot of time building acquiring ... an great now but the end of their other times one ... time where I'm looking for growth to three leveraging the brand but ... really you know regardless of which direction we're going whether were ... commenting on how to third parties or ... aam weather where we're building ... on ourselves it's it's always about harnessing the brand's maintaining ... on ... a lot of discipline in terms of how we apply and how we use that ... time and time and maintaining its integrity ... a latte at Mattel attained statehood tell attains on and developers its inner self that have been in time out for in particular for quite awhile now ... I knew coming come to tiny and are you specifically looking for ... opportunities there ... time now and he's going to be one of our primary focus is going forward ... there's a change hands on and branding him ... and he ... the colt has aspirational it entrepreneurial space and I know is how our brand is positioned ... aam but we've also exercise a lot of discipline and ensuring the long weekend and the market we enter with the right partner ... that the right project in the race between the application ... so enough for us ... there in use ... I did a great future in China so you wanna make sure that debris and ten the right one ... say what specifically are you McHenry is it mainly head tells us a ... hotels in mixed use projects no ... you know we are arguably the only luxury residential brands ... aam but to stand alone ... that's not so that's it it doesn't have to be attached to tell us so we actually brought on a team ... and that will be placed ... high in Shanghai where I'm hoping that all this that and ... you know were were really ramping up our commitment to a team meeting where it partners on an African ... the brand years ... you're all set to see it here in Asia that at what are you doing in China ... I'm heading over to Beijing and open killers took in three weeks I'm going to check ... on ... I as well as those that would sometimes wind and and and takes anything it seems I care have a lot of aspirations in China from that ... organization to to get into eight ... I'm ... I how to bring out the meaning and that hasn't been that a huge staff and and Chinese been very vocal about China and even saying you know that I mentally is the same time as the U S says enemy ... is that something that you feel like in a half to kind of smooth over or nine kids criticisms have been levied primarily at ... American politicians and their policies towards China ... aam not the Chinese ... sell you know I I think he does think that the current administration has not handled its policies ... and its trade policies which on twelve ... aam not at the expense of the Chinese but rather because and I'm you know the opportunity ... that's been created around a relative basis and ... I'm so I think he even that is that as his viewpoint ... so I mean I think he he holds the Chinese in high regard ... I went on about a month has a long because they mimic theories and on and it's been ... a year ago the little girl so what is that done and how has that changed here in terms that how you didn't view ... in this life and ... what about striking the balance the need to find that ... balance was one of these interesting things that time ... you don't think about too much and leave become apparent and then becomes incredibly ... time more important ... with that said that on to something you can't plan for ... him ... and the deal Gets Fast Track and it is what today is yet to prioritize that in any given moment ... I'm you know that my daughter or to get sick ... that's my priority ... so I mean I think rather than thing about bounce I think about my priority is to make sure on a daily basis the next weekend with my chops health and ... make sure I'm prioritizing the right flank ... when we think of yourself is it is a kind of going to string more towards the designer had or will you stay and and a little bit of everything accepting thing capitalist and a name for she TPP ... created an evening summoning to ... its ... financing a large project ... ING ... requires you to be created ... on ... the active construction in the development process in articulation of that was issued and ... the marketing plan and the interior design so all of these elements are ... what make real estate so ... an interesting and dynamic and an exciting thank you think your love of real estate is genetic ... he knew that name is is it something that you really ... was in your blood I think it runs from the pain and and also I think to see my parents took on a pre-tax ... com for more genuinely excited ... about what they were doing ... an incredibly passionate ... I imagine that have some sort of employment on ... this and cons of working feared that ... the present incredible I mean he is ... truly a genius his great nation and ... as strong and from edible brand is he's created I think is his greatest Howard Dean's ... time ... development ... he sees things and he's ... he he understands one tree in a way ... that is so instinctive ... time and that I've never seen from any one ounce so in I think ... being in a family business on ... my siblings and I and and and my father are ... highly aware of the pack that ... you know we constantly have yet to monitor ... and how we respond in China are we happier spectacle of each other ... no it isn't easy you not to give your brother respect in a meeting with the job rather ... than a minivan that he ... contests and these things I am stunned ... and not let small things ... come in and build upon ... us ... what is that what's the greatest thing he's your dad has taught you ... then the most important lesson he gave me is just a lovely TTM ... can always be somebody who smarter ... but if you work harder ... you're more likely to succeed ... sound just the passion about what is that you're working on and and ... that gives you ... greater action most people can imagine ... thanks Fran much ... thinking ...


text:
#777 – Drakeon June 3, 2009 at 12:00 am
I read a lot of X-Men comics as a kid but they never addressed the real important questions we all had. Does Iceman enjoy things like ice cream and popsicles? Did people stick take-out menus to Colossus with novelty refrigerator magnets? And really… what was the deal with Wolverine's hair?


text:
Selena Gomez and OneRepublic to Perform at Teen Choice Awards
The live lineup for this year's Teen Choice Awards is taking shape, and it's as star-studded as you'd expect.
OneRepublic and Selena Gomez & the Scene — both, not coincidentally, among 2011′s top nominees — have been confirmed to perform at the ceremony, airing August 7 on FOX.
Gomez is up for five awards: Choice Music Group with the Scene, Choice Music Single for 'Who Says,' Choice Love Song for 'Love You Like a Love Song,' Choice TV Actress and Choice Female Hottie. Meanwhile, OneRepublic is vying for Choice Rock Group and Choice Rock Track for their hit 'Good Life.'
The list of stars lined up to appear at the Awards also includes Rebecca Black, Avril Lavigne, Kat Graham, Joe Jonas, Cameron Diaz and the Kardashians — as well as Gomez's boyfriend, Justin Bieber, who isn't scheduled to perform.


text:
Trevor Bayne won the Nationwide pole Friday for the DRIVE 4COPD 300.
DAYTONA BEACH — Trevor Bayne's Thursday wrapped up about as badly as it could have.
After getting collected in a crash that started when Denny Hamlin's car got loose and pushed Carl Edwards into the wall on Lap 52 of the Sprint Cup's first Budweiser Duel qualifying race, Bayne went to the infield care center while his mangled car headed to the garage.
But Friday, the fresh-faced, 22-year-old wore a smile again as he talked to the media after his No. 6 car took the pole for the Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300, which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"I'm starting to like this stage up here pretty good," Bayne said as he settled in to speak with the press at the infield media center. "It normally means something good happens, but I'm happy about our pole."
Bayne turned the 2.5-mile tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway in 177.162 mph. He hit the track 26th out of the 45 cars in the qualifying round, and he said the earlier run worked in his favor.
"In practice we thought about that and Mike (Kelley), being the crew chief that he is, he was already looking ahead and said it looked like winds were going to pick up later in the day," Bayne said. "So when we went out and did the tandem drafting, I kept pulling out to try to slow the car down to make sure we didn't go too fast and we could go early in the qualifying, and it seemed like it worked out.
"Later on in qualifying, the winds were picking up and the flags were blowing more."
It was Bayne's sixth pole in 86 Nationwide Series races, and a good start for the No. 6 car which has won the last two Nationwide Series drivers' championships with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. behind the wheel.
"This whole team, I've been talking them up the entire offseason," Bayne said. "But that is because they deserve it. This group of guys, they have won two championships in a row and there is a reason for that.
"Ricky Stenhouse did them a ton of justice, and he's done a great job in that car, but I'm excited to be the guy driving it this year, and we've started off with a bang."
Sam Hornish Jr. posted a speed of 176.869 mph and will start on the outside of Bayne up front. Parker Kligerman (third at 176.800) and Travis Pastrana (fourth at 176.637) will make up Row 2 in the 40-car field.
"You are going to see packs of tandem racing," Hornish Jr. said of Saturday's race. "The great thing about the temperature we are going to have for (Saturday) is the tires will wear a little bit more and it will make everything a little bit slicker, and you are going to have some guys that will eventually tandem race."
Tandem-racing would figure to suit the pole-sitter just fine. Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500 that way and said that experience should transfer into Saturday's race.
"Anytime you get experience in Victory Lane at a race track, it brings your confidence up when you go back," Bayne said.
"I wish we could have run a little bit better (Thursday), but we'll have that opportunity (Saturday) in the Nationwide Series."


text:
NEW YORK (AP) — "Lee Daniels' The Butler" served up another box office-topping weekend, earning $17 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
That was enough to lead all films on a late August weekend known as a dumping ground for studios following their summer blockbusters and before the start of the fall moviegoing season. Daniel's historical drama about a long-serving White House butler starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, last weekend opened with $24.6 million for the Weinstein Co.
Two new releases failed to catch on. The teen fantasy "Mortal Instruments: City of Bones," adapted from the popular young adult book series, opened tepidly in third with $9.3 million for Sony Screen Gems.
Edgar Wright's pub-crawl-gone-wrong comedy "The World's End" opened with $8.9 million for Focus Features.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Organic Gold Rush
Organic Gold Rush
Forty years ago, when John Haberern joined the Rodale Institute, an organic farming research organization in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, professors at the local agricultural university, Penn State, dismissed him and other organic pioneers as "the counterculture kings of the compost heap." Times have changed. The same professors and deans who wouldn't return calls a decade ago are now contacting Rodale to partner on major grant proposals. And agriculture agencies from a number of countries, including Egypt and Ethiopia, are talking to Rodale about developing nationwide organic-farming programs. "It's a good time for organic agriculture," said Haberern, who is now Rodale's director, during a recent phone conversation.
Spurred by unprecedented consumer demand for healthy, environmentally friendly foods, organics have carved a noticeable stronghold in the conventional foods market, especially in Europe, where organic food now accounts for 3 to 5 percent of sales. This bull market is buoyed by the concerns of people who are fed up with the way most food is grown: British mothers worried about mad cow disease; French families concerned they may be eating foods that contain genetically modified ingredients (GMOs); California parents frustrated by what their children are being served in school lunches; chefs in the culinary vanguard looking for greater variety, freshness, and flavor in their dishes; farmers everywhere tired of applying expensive and toxic agrochemicals to the fields around their homes; conservationists trying to reconcile agricultural and environmental goals; food companies like SEKEM, Egypt's largest tea producer, demanding premium ingredients for their products in a nation that takes tea very seriously.
The growth of the organic market is now reshaping the face of modern agriculture. Millions of hectares of land that were once sprayed with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, coated with sewage sludge, or planted with genetically modified seeds, are now being farmed using ecological interactions to boost harvests. Farmers are rotating crop varieties and composting to return nutrients to the soil, for instance, or attracting beneficial insects to reduce pest outbreaks and disease. But, as production of organic food scales up to meet growing demand, a rift is developing in the organic landscape: small-scale organic farmers, processors, and retailers-the current lifeblood of alternative agriculture-are watching closely as giant farms get certified and multinational food conglomerates rush to unveil organic brands. As the organic market continues to skyrocket to a larger scale, some farmers and consumers are beginning to look a lot more closely at what "organic" really means.
A Bull Market
Driven by a $25 billion global market for organic products, the total area of farmland devoted to cultivating organic crops has grown to an estimated 11.5 million hectares-roughly the size of Cuba. Although this is still well below 1 percent of the world's cultivated area, the growth trajectory dwarfs that of conventional foods. In every nation for which data exist, farmers are bringing between 10 and 40 percent more land under organic cultivation each year, and a recent U.N. survey found commercial organic food production in every inhabited nation on the planet.
The global organic explosion revolves around Western Europe, where organic area has ballooned 35-fold since 1985-increasing roughly 30 percent each year (see figure, page 24). Organic area now accounts for nearly 3 percent of all the farmland in the European Union. In Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy, and Switzerland, it accounts for 5 to 10 percent. In Austria, the organic share has reached 10 percent, and in some Austrian provinces it has reached 50 percent. Europeans are spending nearly $10 billion on organic products each year.
Australia, with 5.3 million certified organic hectares, is the nation with the most organic area. But compared to Europe, this land is relatively low yielding-used mostly to raise pasture-fed beef for export to Japan, where the organic market is now worth $3.5 billion. In the United States and Canada, organic area in cultivation has grown between 15 and 20 percent each year during the 1990s, and now stands at roughly 550,000 and 1 million hectares, respectively. Organic crops now grow on 0.2 percent of U.S. croplands, and in 1.3 percent of the fields in Canada. Retail sales of organic produce and products in North America have registered similar 20 percent annual growth rates since 1989, and were estimated at $10 billion in 1999.
Statistics for the developing world are spotty, although anecdotal evidence points to rapid growth. In Argentina, the total area devoted to organic production jumped 7,000 percent since 1992 to an estimated 350,000 hectares today. Argentina exported more than $100 million of organic products in 2000. Over 7,000 small farmers in Uganda-up from 220 in 1995-now produce about 10 percent of the organic cotton on the world market. Under the green food development plan, Heilongjian Province in China has expanded land cultivated in organic foods to half a million hectares. Most of this production is pegged for export, though domestic markets are emerging as local awareness and demand increase.
On both sides of the Atlantic, a series of food safety, ecological, and other troubles associated with the conventional food sector has also inspired strong demand for organic food. Among the British, recent concerns over genetically engineered crops caused a flood of consumer inquiries about organic and an avalanche of farmer applications for conversion. In just the last two years, the United Kingdom's organic acreage surged eightfold, from 50,000 hectares to 400,000 hectares. The well-publicized recall of genetically engineered Starlink corn inspired a similar reaction in the United States.
While consumer demand has driven growth in organics around the world, Europe's sector is outpacing markets elsewhere because it has enjoyed broad government support. Eighty percent of the growth in EU area has occurred in the last six years, spurred by the 1993 establishment of a common EU definition for "organic" and subsequent EU-wide policies to provide financial support for farmers to convert to organics. After the first reports of "mad cows" in Germany, the new agriculture minister pledged to increase organic production from 2.6 percent of farmland today to 20 percent by 2010. Agricultural universities across Europe have opened organic farming departments, and farm ministries have built up organic extension services.
In contrast, growth in the United States-where the total market for organic produce is roughly the same as in Europe-has come despite a lack of conversion assistance and little government support in general. A study by the Santa Cruz, California-based Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) found that less than one-tenth of 1 percent of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research projects in 1995 had any relevance for organic agriculture. And an aborted 1997 effort by the U.S. government to set federal organic standards would have weakened the industry by permitting genetically modified seeds, confined livestock operations, and other practices never before considered organic. Thomas Dobbs, an agricultural economist at South Dakota State University, says, "U.S. policy is best described as one that is gradually evolving to be less unfriendly to organic production."
Beyond the problem of government neglect, the U.S. organic market has been the target of deliberate attacks by the chemical farming industry, which have intensified as consumer interest in organic has grown. The latest of such efforts was a report by the ABC news program "20/20," that relied on fabricated data and statements from an "expert" funded by the pesticide industry to claim that organic foods actually carried a greater risk of foodborne illness. (The program was forced to issue a retraction.)
Still, there are signs of a more welcome government stance in the United States. In conjunction with a newly released-and much improved-national organic standard, USDA has announced a cost-share program that will cover 70 percent of the certification costs for small producers in 15 states.
Life Outside of the Niche
"It's not completely accurate to call organics a niche market anymore," says Katherine DiMatteo, director of the Organic Trade Association in the United States. "Organic items are no longer limited to health food stores, but shelf space is expanding in major supermarket chains." More exposure means more customers all around, and DiMatteo says that food manufacturers and retailers know that this isn't a fad and are building organic sections for the long haul.
In the spring of 2000, when Iceland, one of Britain's largest supermarket chains, declared that it was converting its entire food line to organics, at no extra cost to consumers, it set off a domino effect in the British food market. Consumers flocked to Iceland products, forcing other food sellers to bulk up their own organic offerings if they hoped to retain market share. Six months later, the United Kingdom's largest supermarket chain, Tesco, entered the fray by dramatically expanding its line of organic foods, while lowering its profit margin on organics to keep them competitive. Tesco shoppers will soon have over 700 organic items to choose from, including fresh produce, meat, frozen and prepared foods, dairy items, bakery goods, alcohol, baby food, and pet food-a sweeping turnaround from 1992, when the chain carried just five organic items.
Dominant players in the global food market, including Danon, Nestle, Mars, and Unilever, are all experimenting with organic products, and they wield massive advertising and distribution arsenals to aggressively promote them. McDonald's is now serving organic dairy products in Sweden; and Swiss Air has begun serving all-organic meals on flights originating in Switzerland. Even the environmental laggard Dole Foods, the world's largest producer of fresh fruit, vegetables, and cut flowers, now offers organic bananas in North America. In May of 1999, General Mills rolled out its Sunrise line, which it called "the first-ever certified organic cereal from a major manufacturer." Later that year, the multi-national firm acquired the Cascadian Farms brand, an internationally recognized organic producer that has recorded annual sales growth of more than 40 percent over the last few years. Several large apparel companies have begun to purchase organic cotton, including The Gap, Levi's, and Patagonia. Many companies are contracting directly with farmers to provide organic produce for their stores, and some supermarkets have gone a step further, actually paying certain growers to convert to organic.
Organic food is rapidly moving beyond its counter-culture niche and into the mainstream. In fact, in a growing number of countries, most organic food is now sold in supermarkets. Although markets for organics are growing all around, growth in sales at supermarkets is outpacing that of farmers' markets or health food stores. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the share of organic food sold in supermarkets has increased from 63 percent in 1998 to 70 percent today, while the share sold by farmers' markets, independent retailers, or health food stores has declined from 37 percent to 30 percent. In the United States, the share of organic foods sold at discount outlets, like Costco and WalMart, jumped from just one percent in 1998 to 13 percent in 1999, according to the Hartman Group, a Bellevue, Washington-based market research firm. Half of the organic food sales in the United States are now made through conventional supermarkets.
Just a Greener Green Revolution?
All of this growth raises an important question about the future: can organic farming, which has traditionally operated on a small scale, expand to meet global demand without taking the same toll on the environment and rural communities that conventional agriculture does?
The newly kindled interest of mainstream consumers is obviously a central reason why more land is being converted, but it also presents some problems for organic farming. On one hand, the interest of major supermarkets and food manufacturers will continue to boost total organic area, reduce bottlenecks in the supply chain, and lower prices, which will mean new customers and a greater market share for organics. On the other hand, demand is growing so quickly that supermarkets often choose to bypass local organic farms in favor of a few large-scale growers that can deliver large quantities of a standardized product year-round.
Consider the Upper Midwest Organic Marketing Project, an attempt between 1995 and 1997 to boost the land under organic production in five American states, as well as consumption of organic products in the Minneapolis-St.Paul metropolitan area. The project was a success, particularly in increasing organic offerings in mainstream supermarkets. But, according to economist Thomas Dobbs, who studied the project, a disconnect developed between regional supply and demand, with greater reliance on large and distant organic suppliers. "Preserving an organic farming and food system that differs substantially from the industrial system may necessitate a slow and deliberate approach," he concludes.
But, organic demand is scaling up right now, at a pace that local growers may not be able to keep up with. "We try to support local, organic growers as much as possible," says Sarah Kenney, marketing director for the Midatlantic region of Whole Foods Markets, the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. Produce bins at Whole Foods always carry country or state-of-origin labels, and, particularly during the summer, Whole Foods stores host "locally grown days," which steer customers towards local produce. Still, Kenney notes that "this is a commodity market and sometimes you run into problems of consistency and reliability and price at the local level." U.S.-based Whole Foods may obtain its organic produce from as far away as Chile or New Zealand.
The economics of the mass food system represent a rude awakening for the first generation of organic farmers, many of whom seem to have been made immune to consolidation by their grounding in local food systems and close connections with consumers. In agriculture, as with other industries, size brings substantial marketing and distribution advantages. "Such advantages," according to OFRF's Mark Lipson, "mean that the organic sector is very quickly recapitulating the tragedy of conventional agriculture," the process by which bigger players squeeze out the smaller farms and erode rural communities. Profits have been down in the past few years for Lipson's own family farm-a mixed-vegetable operation which he shares with another family-due to a recent surge of entrants into organic vegetable production and a subsequent drop in organic vegetable prices. Medium-sized growers are particularly vulnerable, since smaller growers can often sustain themselves on direct marketing or local outlets.
A flood of corporate incursions-enticed more by economic opportunity than matters of principle-also means that maintaining high standards is increasingly at odds with efforts to maintain the bottom line. In the United States, agriculture-industry pressure on the first round of national organic standards opened the way for the use of GMOs, sewage sludge, food irradiation, and feedlot-style livestock production. (Public outrage later changed this). Fred Kirschenmann, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and former chair of the National Organic Standards Board Livestock Committee, recalls the time Horizon Organic tried to water down organic standards. Horizon, which sells nearly 70 percent of all organic milk sold in the United States, lobbied to allow for organic dairy farms that would have been essentially confinement operations, similar in many respects to conventional dairy operations where large numbers of animals are not allowed to graze. Gundula Meziani, policy manager at the British Soil Association, remembers recent deliberations in which the National Farmers Union in Britain suggested that organic standards be loosened to include less rigorous practices allowed in other nations, in the name of international competitiveness.
Despite these organic growing pains, it's clearly better to have large organic farms tied into the mainstream food chain than to have conventional farms spraying pesticides and force-feeding antibiotics to livestock. "Even the most industrial organic farm represents a huge improvement over the agricultural status quo," according to Meziani. She points to the fact that while conventional poultry farms in the United Kingdom may house hundreds of thousands of chickens in a single metal building, organic standards allow a maximum of 4,000 hens.
If organic agriculture is to continue its rapid pace of growth without undercutting the small-scale farmers that have nurtured the market thus far, those farmers will need continuing support from consumers who demonstrate a preference for local produce. "The organic movement must push for ecological principles throughout the food system, not just on the farm," says the Leopold Center's Kirschenmann, "or else it will become progressively harder to differentiate organic from the conventional food system."
Kirschenmann warns that if long distance markets and specialization become the norm, the basis of the organic farming system-and the related environmental advantages-will begin to unravel. The gradual depletion of soil nutrients will necessitate the use of lots of external (albeit natural) inputs, which will not only generate transportation related pollution and increase energy consumption, but will exacerbate disease and pest pressures and fail to build soil health.
Building a Better Food System
Consider two different sources of certified organic vegetables in the United States. The first is Natural Selections, which takes up more than 15,000 acres in the American West. The second is Liz Henderson's 15-acre farm (one-thousandth Natural Selection's size) in upstate New York, which includes a small herd of buffalo.
Natural Selections is not a farm, but actually a food marketing company that purchases vegetables from farms throughout California, Arizona, and Baja Mexico. Natural Selections specializes in both conventional and organic salad greens, vegetables, and fruit. Its organic products are marketed through the well-known Earthbound Farms label. Natural Selections controls its own washing, processing and packaging facilities in California and Arizona-a sort of vertical integration that has become the pattern in conventional agribusiness. Some of the farms that produce for Natural Selections are as big as 500 acres, and are highly mechanized and standardized operations; some employ migrant labor. Natural Selections also contracts with other suppliers of organic foods so that it can offer a full list of produce to international supermarket clients year round.
In contrast, Henderson and her two business partners work the Peacework Organic Farm, and employ one to two local hired hands during harvest time. All of their produce serves surrounding areas through a community supported agriculture (CSA) scheme, in which members pay for a season's worth of produce up-front or in installments. The CSA fee operates on a sliding scale, with scholarship money available for people who can't afford to pay at all, so Peacework's produce is not just "yuppie food," as Henderson puts it. All participants work in some way to help out the CSA, either on or off the farm, which Henderson calls a "large scale home garden for 240 families." Peacework uses no fertilizers (not even those inputs allowed under organic standards), while some of Natural Selection's farms often truck in large quantities of composted manure or other approved inputs.
"Most small-scale producers would say that organic by nature works better at the small scale, allowing greater attention to the subtle signs of soil health or pest imbalance," says Lori Ann Thrupp, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ecologist who has studied several small and large organic wine, vegetable, and fruit farms in the United States. "Arguably, organic standards can be met at a wide range of scales." In contrast to the micromanagement of ecological processes that small scale allows, Thrupp explains, a larger operation might divide its farm into blocks of biodiversity that are rotated from season to season, or have different farmers who are expert in a certain crop use the land from year to year.
Ultimately, two complementary markets for organic products may develop: the industrial organic stream, which services major supermarkets and food manufacturers, and the local and regional organic stream, which maintains a strong connection to consumers. In light of the different types of organic production, Bernward Geier, director of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), favors keeping organic standards growing to incorporate more issues of sustainability. Local food systems, food security, farmworker rights, resource use efficiency-these might be called the "beyond organic" issues. Henderson's farm represents a form of organic that embodies many of the ecological, social, ethical, and even spiritual characteristics not currently or explicitly regulated by organic standards. "Organic is necessary, but not sufficient, for a sustainable food system," is how Lipson of OFRF sums it up.
"You can't write standards for how you treat your neighbor down the road or for a commitment to community or concern for maintaining the health of the soil," says John Ikerd of the University of Missouri. Nonetheless, Ikerd believes that the founders of the organic farming movement clearly had these intangibles in mind. He cites Sir Albert Howard's 1943 book, An Agricultural Testament in which Howard hoped that organic farming might help us learn "to subordinate the profit motive to the sacred duty of handing over unimpaired to the next generation the heritage of a fertile soil." Such distinctions, Ikerd is confident, mean a lot to a growing group of consumers for whom "organic is as much a philosophy of life as a physical characteristic of the foods _they eat."
The Soil Association's Meziani also sees room for improvement: "Only a small portion of today's organic farms embody the ideal of ecologically functioning systems." Meziani points to highly sophisticated versions of organic farming, such as biodynamic farming, in which extensive composting, carefully tuned planting times, and modulation of soil biota often result in near disease-free crops and livestock. "Further honing of organic systems will come with practice and research," says Meziani, "and standards should reflect such learning."
The likelihood of such improvement will depend on the flexibility of organic standards, but also on who controls them. Organic standards that function as a floor-a bare-bones minimum for compliance-are important to reduce opportunities for abuse, particularly when people are buying food off a store shelf instead of direct from the farmer. But standards that also serve as a ceiling will cripple the incentive to improve, as well as the means by which small and medium sized growers can differentiate themselves from the mass organic chain. The newly released organic standards in the United States, for instance, do not allow farmers and private certifiers to certify to a higher standard, a clause that will likely spur legal battles in coming years. Moreover, it is essential that the governance of the standards remain with people who are devoted to the philosophy, and who are not just looking to cut costs.
The bull market in organic products may represent the first step in an evolution for farmers, consumers, and the food system in general. Farmers who make the decision to grow organic may begin to rethink energy use on their farm or how they can improve the efficiency of their water use. Food sellers, from farmers markets to neighborhood co-ops to supermarket chains, might display additional information about the food they carry or even develop buying standards of their own. For consumers who decide to buy organic, it may only be a small additional step to begin to shop in season or favor local farmers-steps that also guarantee the best price for organic foods.
Consumers are the central players in this agricultural evolution. The current proliferation of organic farming hints at just how much power they wield-at how ordinary people can demand a different choice in the market place and drive monumental change in the economic sphere. The proliferation of organic farming also points to the spreading desire of people to know the story behind their food. Where was it grown? Who owned the land? What crops were rotated with it? Was the land doused with chemicals? Was livestock injected with hormones? What sort of labor was used on the farm? Did the farmer get a fair price? Interest in such details is getting more intense, and is a big part of what will further drive the transformation of our food system.
Brian Halweil is a research associate at the Worldwatch Institute.


text:
Loading some great jobs for you...
Carrier One is Currently Seeking Flatbed Owner Operators in Your Area!
100% Owner Operator, 100% Flatbed. 80% paid to you!! It doesn t get much better than that.
Carrier One is looking to partner with the most professional, qualified flatbed drivers in your area for immediate driving opportunities.
With the entire Carrier One team behind you you ll have all the tools and resources you need to run your own business successfully.
How You re Paid:
Our contractors are currently averaging approximately $5,500 $6,500 a week in gross revenue, or $260,000 PLUS a year in gross revenue. Some are doing much more!
Contractors at Carrier One are compensated based on a fixed percentage (80% to start) of the revenue generated from the freight they haul. Quite simply as rates increase, so does your compensation.
In addition, with our longevity bonus program, the longer you stay, the more you get paid with annual percentage increases up to 82%.
What You ll Haul:
The Carrier One fleet transports a variety of flatbed products, including
Where and How You ll Run:
Lease Purchase Purchase Your Truck Here:
Owner Operator Details Bring Your Own Truck
How to Qualify:
Build your story at Carrier One; where honor, integrity, and trust have made a comeback.
Submit your quick 30 second short form today and a recruiter will contact you!
Launch your career - Upload your resume now!Upload your resume
Loading some great jobs for you...


text:
Jamba Juice's menu items, from its juices and smoothies to its oatmeal and wraps, are something of a healthy trifecta: They're low in calories and fat, high in nutrients like Vitamins A and C, and contain fresh ingredients like fruits and vegetables.
But in the last few years, the 23-year-old Emeryville, California–based brand has worked on adding a new dimension to its position as a healthy quick serve. The company has invested more heavily in brand partnerships and marketing promotions that communicate and encourage a healthy, active lifestyle among existing and potential customers.
"For us, this is a two-part story: It's about what you [eat] and us playing at least a small role in helping consumers think about healthier lifestyle activities, whether it's biking or running or getting up and moving around," says James White, Jamba Juice president, chairman, and CEO.
The ways in which Jamba Juice has associated itself with a healthy lifestyle message defy a dilemma that many quick-service concepts have stumbled upon in their efforts to help reverse climbing obesity rates. For years, healthy has been synonymous with tasteless, even as health and wellness have become trendy across the U.S. This has led many brands to avoid mass marketing of health-based initiatives for fear they will repel potential consumers.
Now, however, more brands are trying to embody healthiness in their branding and promotions, as part of a broader social ethos they hope will set them apart from the quick-service pack.
For its part, Jamba Juice is attempting to modernize the idea of healthy so that it doesn't just suggest nutritious menu offerings.
"If you take the purist approach, many people would say health equals science. So you think of a lab coat, and it's going to be healthy because there's a medicinal orientation to it," says Julie Washington, chief brand officer for Jamba Juice. "What we're saying is the broader landscape that consumers are now engaging in is health and wellness, which is a more holistic place for us all to engage in. So that could look like many different categories and products, and not just one thing."
Jamba Juice's healthy messaging initiatives have indeed been many and different. The company's Jamba CARES social responsibility platform has focused on promoting health in schools and communities through a number of programs and events. White says a February 2010 event that set a Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous jump-ropers (85,000 jumpers in 500 locations across California) was "at the start of this idea for us to try to do something bigger that would have a much greater impact."
The company had one of the biggest stages in the world when it partnered with the White House and National Geographic Kids magazine on a 2011 event in which the record for most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period was set (about 300,000 across the globe). But it was the July 2011 launch of Jamba Juice's "Team Up for a Healthy America" initiative that brought to head many of the brand's healthy lifestyle programs.
Through "Team Up for a Healthy America," people are invited to sign up on a specially designated website (myhealthpledge.com) and participate in weekly health pledges like "Take a 15-minute walk once a day" or "Eat a healthy breakfast." For every pledge, Jamba Juice donates $1 toward the purchase of athletic equipment for schools across the U.S.
"We know, in order to truly have the most robust health and wellness plan, it requires activity," Washington says. "That's usually at the root cause of obesity, is that people are not moving. They've become very sedentary. So that's what 'Team Up' does. … It's our way to getting everyone moving with something that's very simple, and you can get other people engaged, you can get your family engaged."
Jamba Juice has partnered with a number of sports representatives on "Team Up for a Healthy America," including the WNBA, tennis star Venus Williams, the NBA's Golden State Warriors, and USA Water Polo. Williams, who is also a D.C.-based Jamba Juice franchisee, is the spokeswoman.
"From an activation perspective, all the things that we do, whether it's with folks from the WNBA or Venus Williams, are in things that make perfect sense for them and it always relates to either young people or healthy activity or lessons that they've learned on good nutrition and physical fitness," White says.
Jamba Juice's efforts have extended beyond encouraging physical activity. In 2009, the company launched efforts to fund gardening education programs across the U.S. with the "It's All About the Fruit and Veggies" Grant Award Program. In 2012, the company awarded 20 grants in conjunction with the National Gardening Association to youth gardening programs.
"For us it's about healthy community, so it really emanates from an individual store that sits and lives in an individual community," White says. "The way we think about it is anything that we can do that helps people be more active, that helps people be more exposed to more fresh fruits and vegetables, that's a clear connection to who we are as a company."
The five times weekly e-newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest industry news and additions to this website.


text:
H7216X-312 Fundamentals of CDMA
2 Days | Classroom Training | Where & When | Advantages of Keysight Training
Audience: Any technical person who needs to have a background on CDMA technology
This course sheds light on CDMA technology. It brings out the advantages of CDMA technology over the present TDMA technology as well as its limitations.
What you will Learn
- CDMA concept as compared with TDMA and FDMA
- Diversity, rake receivers, different codes, channel coding, scrambling, and modulation in IS-95 system
- Physical layers and different logical channels used in the IS-95 system
- System Access and Call processing
- Power control, variable rate coding, soft handoff procedures
- Call processing and security procedures
- Basic understanding of wireless communication technologies, analog mobile systems, and radio systems
- Basics of CDMA Technology
- Correlative Codes
- Frequency Reuse Patterns
- CDMA Diversity
- Power Control
- System Access
- Soft Hand-off
- Paging procedures
- Call processing states
- Security procedures
- Authentication
- Ladder diagrams
Where & When
|For more information
|call for price
|Call to Schedule
|How to Enroll
Prices shown are list prices and are subject to change without notice. Terms & Conditions
Training & Event Materials
Fundamentals of CDMA
This course discusses advantages of CDMA technology over TDMA technology as well as its limitations.
Data Sheet 2004-01-16


text:
When you go to alanon, they warn you that every time your qualifier relapses, it will be worse, and if you choose to stick around you'll need to brace for that. What they forget to tell you is that every time they bottom out, it will be worse. They don't tell you that bottom is verb, not a noun, or that "rock" is subjective and prone to change without much, of any, notice.
Every time he bottoms out, I think it has to be the rock bottom bottom out because it simply can't get worse than it did *this* time. I think nothing can be worse than months of jail, nothing could affect him more than losing his family, that there is no punishment worse than losing a job of 11 years, that driving every single person out of his life must be the final straw...but what I forget is that, for him, there is nothing at all worse than not having vodka in his veins.
Sobriety is his rock bottom.
Ten weeks ago tonight, he hit rock bottom.
Ten weeks ago, he walked in the door -13 hours after he walked out of it, 11 hours after he blacked out drunk in the middle of his work day - stone-cold sober and, for the first time in the 17 years I have known him, said he had a drinking problem. He lost ten hours, his car, his job, and himself that day. I am trying to decide if he lost me, too.
He's been gone for three days of the three weeks that he'll spend at rehab, and while I haven't remembered how to make my jaw unclench itself just yet, I am reveling in the quiet solitude left in his wake. I forgot what silence sounded like. I forgot what it was like to be able to make phone calls. I forgot what it was like to be able to leave, and not worry about what was going to happen while I was gone. I forgot what is was like to let myself feel anything at all, and beyond this raging headache and the throbbing in my jaws I think there is something.


text:
LITTLE ROCK — Until a couple of co-workers started talking high school football playoffs en route to a Razorback road game, I thought dance competitions had the lock on the concept of "Trophy for Everybody."
Wrong. When the playoffs began last month, all 16 teams in 6A, the state's second highest classification, were competing. Among the participants were 0-10 Mountain Home, 0-9 Little Rock Hall and 1-9 Little Rock Fair.
In the first round, those teams lost by a combined 139-26. It was so bad that Greenwood reached the 35-point margin to trigger the "mercy rule" in the first quarter, but the continuous clock can't be invoked until the second half and merciful Greenwood coach Rick Jones took it upon himself to settle for 49-12.
The situation was not much better in 7A where 12 of the 16 teams make the playoffs, but power ratings are first and foremost in 6A, which makes for a mess. For instance, a 6A team gets two points for playing a 7A team in its conference — win or lose. I'm pretty sure judges in the dance competitions deduct points for messing up.
Making the point that 6A is all about power ratings, someone involved in high school coverage pointed out the seedings of playoff participants from 7A-6A-South. For starters, Bryant's 6-1 record was the best in the conference, but Bryant was seeded into the West because of fallout from a conference configured to keep two Fort Smith schools in the same league. So, Bryant went to the West as the No. 2 seed behind eventual champion Bentonville. That left El Dorado, Lake Hamilton and Pine Bluff tied at 5-2.
El Dorado beat the other two 5-2 teams and was the No. 1 seed from the South in 6A. Now comes the fun part. Lake Hamilton defeated Pine Bluff but the Zebras were the No. 2 seed. Huh? Turns out, Pine Bluff finished one point ahead of Lake Hamilton in the power ratings because the Zebras defeated six-win Bryant.
A partial solution in the works for the 2014-2016 cycle is being challenged and I'm not taking sides since a well-liked relative is involved in the lawsuit filed by the Bryant School District.
The suit contends that Bryant's one-way travel for conference games would increase more than 450 miles in the two-year cycle, mostly because of trips to Siloam Springs, Alma and Greenwood. Approved by the schools involved, the East is also out of whack with Jonesboro, Mountain Home, West Memphis and Marion, and four schools in Central Arkansas.
Groupings in the South and West make more geographical sense, but changing a conference alignment creates a hole in the dike elsewhere. Schools with the largest enrollments do not always win, but I understand why schools with 1,000 students or so don't want to compete against schools with an enrollment of more than 2,000. A constant work in progress because of shifts in population, the system never has been perfect and never will be.
In the day when the nine largest high schools in the state were in one conference, three gallons of gas cost $1 and there was less concern about students missing school, a co-worker from El Dorado traveled to Blytheville to play a game and overnighted in a downtown hotel after the 300-plus mile trip.
If Bryant loses its lawsuit, power ratings are gone and traditional tie-breakers are back.
Still, 12 of the 16 teams in both 6A and 7A will make the playoffs. Teams in 6A South and 7A West will play seven conference games each and teams in the other two conferences will play three league games apiece. Three teams from four-team conferences will qualify. So, instead of winless teams in the playoffs, some will be 1-2 in conference play.


text:
Cancel your subscription
You can cancel your trial or paid subscription online in the admin center at any time, if you have fewer than 25 licenses assigned to users. Any prorated credit will be returned to you within the next billing cycle.
In some cases, you might have to call support to cancel your subscription:
If you have more than 25 licenses assigned to users.
For any other subscriptions (like Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Microsoft Intune, or if the Cancel subscription option is unavailable).
Before you begin: Change custom domain settings
If you use a custom domain with your subscription, there are a few extra steps that you need to do before you can cancel your subscription. If you don't have a custom domain, you can skip ahead to Step 1: Save your data.
Change your domain's NS records (if needed)
If you set up a custom domain, you added DNS records so the domain would work with Office 365 services. Before you remove your domain, be sure to update the DNS records, such as your domain's MX record, at your DNS host.
For example, change the MX record at your DNS host so email sent to your domain stops coming to your Office 365 address and goes to your new email provider instead. (An MX record determines where email for your domain is sent.)
If your nameserver (NS) records are pointing to Office 365 nameservers, changing your MX record won't take effect until you change your NS records to point to your new DNS host (see Step 2).
Before you update the MX record, let your users know the date you'll be switching their email, and the new email provider you'll be using. Also, they'll need to take extra steps if they want to move their existing Office 365 email to the new provider.
On the day you change the MX record, follow the rest of the steps in this article.
Update your domain's MX and other DNS records (if you're using a custom domain)
If you switched your nameserver (NS) records to Office 365 when you set up your domain, you must set up or update your MX record and other DNS records at the DNS host you're going to use, and then change your NS record to that DNS host.
If you didn't switch NS records when you set up your domain, when you change the MX record, your mail will start going to the new address right away.
For more information, see How does Office 365 manage my DNS records?. To change your NS records, see Remove a domain from Office 365.
Step 1: Save your data
Your users lose access to their data when the cancellation becomes effective, so have your users save their OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online files to another location before you cancel the subscription. Any customer data that you leave behind may be deleted after 90 days, and will be deleted no later than 180 days after cancellation.
To move email, contacts, tasks, and calendar information to another account, see Export or backup email, contacts, and calendar to an Outlook .pst file.
To save a document library or list content (such as contacts) from a SharePoint Online environment (OneDrive for Business or team sites) to file shares or to a local computer, see Manual migration of SharePoint Online content.
Step 2: Cancel your subscription
If you added your own domain name to use with your subscription, you must remove the domain before you cancel your subscription. For more information, see Remove a domain from Office 365.
Use the new admin center to cancel your subscription
The new admin center is available to all Microsoft 365 admins. You can opt in by selecting the Try the new admin center toggle located at the top of the Home page. For more information, see About the new Microsoft 365 admin center.
In the admin center, go to the Billing > Products & services page.
Find the subscription that you want to cancel, and under Settings & Actions, select Cancel subscription.
Review the important dates, provide feedback about why you are cancelling, then select Cancel subscription.
Your subscription will now appear in a Disabled state, and will have reduced functionality until it is deleted. For more information about what you can expect when a paid Office 365 for business subscription is cancelled, see What happens to my data and access when my Office 365 for business subscription ends?
Use the old admin center to cancel your subscription
In the admin center, go to the Billing > Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 Germany, go to this Subscriptions page.
If you're using Office 365 operated by 21Vianet, go to this Subscriptions page.
On the Subscriptions page, select a subscription.
From the More actions menu, select Cancel subscription.
Review the important dates, provide feedback about why you are cancelling, then select Cancel subscription.
Your subscription will now appear in a Disabled state, and will have reduced functionality until it is deleted. For more information about what you can expect when a paid Office 365 for business subscription is cancelled, see What happens to my data and access when my Office 365 for business subscription ends?
Step 3: Uninstall Office (optional)
If you cancelled your subscription, and didn't move users to a different subscription that includes Office, Office 365 will run in reduced functionality mode. When this happens, users can only read and print documents, and Office 365 applications will show Unlicensed Product notifications. To avoid any confusion, have your users uninstall Office from their machines.
Related topics
Loading feedback...


text:
From human resources departments to doctors' offices, requests for a Social Security number are a frequent occurrence. Many consumers rattle off their digits without a second thought out of habit and assume a company or medical office will keep their information secure. But a recent incident in which Gap Inc. inadvertently mailed employee files containing Social Security numbers to a customer in Massachusetts proves how easy it is for your number to be mishandled.
"It's hard to tell whether a business is going to follow best practices," says Aaron Messing, an information privacy attorney at OlenderFeldman LLP in New Jersey. "The best way to protect private information including Social Security numbers is to limit who has access to it."
Data breaches, stolen laptops or identity theft rings with ties inside a company are just a few ways your Social Security number can fall into the wrong hands. Armed with your number, an identity thief could use it to file a fraudulent tax return or apply for a mortgage in your name. The risk also extends beyond your finances. If another person uses your name and Social Security number to obtain medical care, his or her records could get intermingled with yours and lead to errors based on information about your allergies, medical conditions or blood type.
[Read: How to Protect Your Elderly Parents From Being Scammed.]
To make sure this doesn't happen to you, here's a look at strategies for safeguarding your Social Security number:
Ask why it's necessary and how it will be used. "There is no reason to give out your Social Security number unless there is a legitimate business purpose, and most instances it is requested there is not a legitimate need," says Denis Kelly, president of IDCuffs.com, an identity theft prevention company. "Little Johnny's registration for a baseball league certainly does not meet this threshold." The Social Security Administration website lists 16 situations, in which your Social Security number is legally required, such as filing your taxes or applying for food stamps.
Banks, utility companies and doctors' offices ask for your number because they're extending credit to you and want to verify that you are who you say you are. But Robert Ellis Smith, publisher of the Privacy Journal, says this is partly an intimidation tactic. "They want to lead the consumer to believe that they have a method of tracking you down if you don't pay your bills," he says. If the case for your Social Security number seems suspect, ask why the person needs it and how it will be used and protected. When filling out a form that includes a field for your Social Security number, you can simply leave it blank, and only furnish it if asked and if given a logical reason.
[Read: How to Spot the Warning Signs of Identity Theft.]
Offer an alternate identifier. In some cases, alternate identifiers such as your driver's license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number may suffice. If you own a business and have an employer identification number associated with your business, you may be able to use that in lieu of your Social Security number on certain forms. If a phone representative is adamant about needing your Social Security number, you might call back later and see if you can reach someone else who's willing to use a different identifier or find another option that makes you more comfortable. "Never use your Social Security number unless you absolutely have to," Kelly says.
Be skeptical of emails and incoming phone calls. Giving out your Social Security number on the phone to a representative of a company you've contacted is one thing. But if you didn't initiate the call, it's possible that you're talking to a scammer. As Kelly explains, don't feel like you have to provide your information "if someone does call you and says, 'This is so and so from your bank, I'm just calling to verify a few things. For security reasons, can you please confirm your Social Security number?'" Instead, he recommends saying you'll call back once you've looked up the phone number. Don't respond to email requests for your Social Security number either because it could be a phishing scam, even if it appears to come from your bank or other legitimate organization.
Don't over-share online. Until 2011, the Social Security Administration assigned Social Security numbers in a predictable way. "If you share your birthday, age and place of birth, for example, on Facebook, studies have shown that Social Security numbers can be predicted based on publicly available information," Messing says. "The Social Security Administration started randomly assigning Social Security numbers in June 2011 for that reason." He recommends never publicly sharing your year of birth and choosing a different year when asked for online forms. "Add or subtract some years, as long as it's a number you'll remember," he says.
Keep your Social Security card in a safe place. Some older people are accustomed to carrying their Social Security cards in their wallets. But if the wallet is lost or stolen, that can create problems. Keep your card in a safe deposit box or another secure location instead. Medicare and Medicaid still print Social Security numbers on cards because of a legacy system, so if you have Medicare or Medicaid, Kelly suggests photocopying the card and blocking all but the last four digits. "Hopefully that's good enough so you're not really carrying it around," he says.