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South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences
On-line version ISSN 2222-3436
Print version ISSN 1015-8812
S. Afr. j. econ. manag. sci. vol.17 n.3 Pretoria Jul. 2014
Smartphone applications - idea sourcing and app development: implications for firms
John BredicanI; Debbie Vigar-EllisII
IDivision of Industrial Marketing, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
IISchool of Management, Information Technology and Governance, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal & Division of Industrial Marketing, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
The smartphone has become the uniquely personal computing device choice for consumers. Applications (apps) for smartphones are set to reach revenues of £25 billion according to Gartner. This presents great opportunities for marketing as apps can provide great benefits for consumers and firms. However it is Information Systems (IS) departments that have traditionally been tasked with the acquisition and/or development of such information technologies within organisations. With such strong implications for marketing, this exploratory research has focused on the sources of app ideas within firms, locations for app development and perceptions of app development success. Results indicate that while most ideas for apps currently come from IS and marketing departments within the organisation, and development of apps is also done mainly within the organisation, these development strategies are not necessarily the most effective. Managerial implications' regarding the role of IS, Marketing and the customer in app development, are discussed.
Key words: smartphones, apps, IS departments, app usage, app development, customer
By the end of 2011, almost half a billion 'smartphones' had been shipped in the world (MobiThinking, 2012). Added to previously purchased smartphones, this meant that there was a total of around 1.1 billion smartphones in use by the end of 2011. This phenomenon has become known as the 'mobile internet'. Now, over half of all local searches (i.e. by people in their home/city/country locations) are performed on mobile devices. By 2014, the mobile internet will overtake desktop internet usage. More than a third of the over 800 million Facebook subscribers access the social network through a smartphone, and half of all Twitter users use Twitter Mobile (Hepburn, 2011). The smartphone has become the uniquely personal computing device of choice for consumers and a device centric business model the preferred business model for firms in the mobile applications and services market (Hammershoj, Sapuppo & Tadayoni, 2010).
Smartphones have four defining characteristics: to make and receive telephone calls and text messages, to access the Internet via cellular and/or Wi-Fi networking, to run software applications of the user's choice at the user's discretion, and internal data storage. Individually, these functions can be managed by legacy mobile phones, laptop or tablet computers, but only in smartphones are all four functions integrated into a single device (Bredican, Mills & Plangger, 2013). Additional common features of Smartphones include camera functionality, multimedia playback and supplementary networking abilities such as Bluetooth, infrared or Near-Field Communication (NFC).
In their wake, smartphones have created the mobile applications market, in which applications (or 'apps') can be made available online and downloaded directly onto the device. Gartner predicts the app store revenue for 2013 to reach $25 billion dollars (Shevchik, 2013). The smartphone app market is predicted to reach $58 billion by 2014. Apps are encapsulated pieces of software that can be used in a variety of ways. Apps can provide benefits to both firms and consumers and will be discussed later.
While research has focused on apps developed for a wide range of contexts such as health (e.g. Bredican et al., 2013; Patel, Nowostawski, Thomson, Wilson & Medlin, 2013), education (e.g. Woodcock, Middleton, & Nortcliffe, 2012; Young, 2011), retailing (e.g. Ransom, 2009), tourism and hospitality (e.g. Kim, 2011; Wang, Park, & Fesenmaier, 2012) and physical location (e.g. Christensen & Prax 2012; Barba, MacIntyre, & Mynatt, 2012), very little research has focused the sources of app ideas within firms. This gap in the literature forms the basis of this paper's research questions - where do firms source ideas for apps? Should apps be developed internally or external to the firm and what effects do the sources of app ideas and the development locations have on the firm's satisfaction with the effectiveness and efficiency of apps?
In order to answer these questions, exploratory research was conducted in the form of a survey of a large sample of firms. Given the number of smartphones and mobile devices in use and the prevalence of apps, this potent combination of personal computing hardware and software provides the firm with a uniquely new powerful ubiquitous channel. It is important for marketing to have a strong understanding of how it is perceived in the process of app development in order to be able to better define where and how it can add value to the firm as the role of these new technologies take shape.
The paper proceeds as follows: Following a literature review, it presents the results of a survey conducted on how firms use smart-phones apps, how they go about developing proprietary apps for them, and their perceptions of how successful or otherwise this app development is. It concludes by discussing the managerial implications of the findings, the limitations of the study and identifying research avenues for future investigation.
2 The Rise of the smartphone
The smartphone is a unique computing device, and its characteristics should be comprehended and incorporated within a firm's information systems. As shown in Table 1, Pitt, Parent, Junglas, Chan, and Spyropoulou (2011:29) contend that smartphones are far more 'unique' devices than Internet-enabled desktop PCs or laptop computers.
The limitations of small screen size and small keyboard make smartphones less fit for tasks like statistical analysis, and are cumbersome for spreadsheet analysis, word processing and presentations. However, PCs do not have localisation or motion detection capabilities, and are awkward to use as calling devices. Some tasks can be performed equally well on both devices, albeit with a different consumer experience. The question of interest is the extent to which firms are exploiting the distinctive capabilities of the smartphone through app development.
2.1 U-Commerce and smartphone applications
'U-Commerce' (Watson, Pitt, Berthon, & Zink-han, 2002, 2004), provides a theoretical framework for understanding wireless, continuous communication and the exchange of data and the effects of network systems on society and business. 'U-Commerce' (short for Ubiquitous Commerce) can be described as the evolution of E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce); and M-Commerce (mobile commerce); where U-Commerce theory includes all forms of value exchange between firm and customer in addition to exchanging money for goods and services and thus expands the boundaries of economic exchange. E-Commerce is based on discrete transactions between (generally) two parties, but U-Commerce is based on the perpetual flow of resources and information through the networked system along all possible connections of consumers, firms and information sources. U-Commerce is defined as "the use of ubiquitous networks to support personalised and uninterrupted communications and transactions between a firm and its various stakeholders to provide a level of value over, above and beyond traditional commerce" (Watson et al., 2002:336).
U-Commerce includes four major features or defining characteristics: ubiquity, uniqueness, unison and universality (Watson et al., 2002). Ubiquity, is defined as "access to information unconstrained by time and space" (Junglas & Watson, 2006:578) thus providing users with both time and space convenience (Cliquet, Gonzalez, Hure & Picot-Coupey, 2013). It represents the ability to be perpetually connected and the integration of human-computer interaction into most devices and processes. 'Always on and always connected' access to information, wherever an individual might be, is a central component of U-Commerce. In a smartphone application, ubiquity refers to the capability of users to access information regardless of where the user happens to be or when they choose to access information.
Uniqueness is "knowing precisely the characteristics and location of a person or entity" (Junglas & Watson, 2006:579). Customised and individualised information delivered or distributed to or from the individual allows the user to access and generate much more meaningful information than a static, generic interface would allow. Whether by finding information related to a particular geographic area or receiving information based on personal preferences or habits, by virtue of accessing user-specific characteristics the user is able to receive customised, unique data. The goal of Universality is to "overcome the friction of information systems' incompatibilities" (Junglas & Watson, 2006:580). It relates to multi-functionality. In the name of efficiency and ease, users generally want fewer devices with more functionality. The Smartphone has a high level of integrated functionality such that it can serve as a phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), web browser, music player, camera, GPS, and more. For example, an iPhone customer can search and read reviews for a restaurant (Internet browser) and then click on the displayed phone number (phone) to book a table, then use the map function (GPS) to get there (U-commerce). Compared to other connectable devices that offer multitasking, since Smartphones stay connected through cellular networks and because one of their primary functions is to make and receive telephone calls, the Smartphone is considerably more 'on' than other devices such as PCs and laptops. For example, OpenScape Mobile Connect is an enterprise FMC/UC (Fixed-mobile convergence / Unified communications) integration solution that seamlessly unifies fixed enterprise VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), VoWLAN (Voice over wireless local area network) applications and cellular mobility bringing the full functionality of the worlds most advanced unified communications solution to the iPhone. Besides FMC telephony services, the OpenScape Mobile Client supports instant messaging features to stay efficiently connected with colleagues, independent of the access network (Wi-Fi or Cellular) and the device used (OpenScape MobileConnect V3, 2013).
The fourth characteristic, Unison, is concerned with "information consistency", independent of access point or time (Junglas & Watson, 2006:580). It concerns data integration across applications and devices (fully synchronised devices such as Smartphone, personal computers, tablet computer at any time) to provide users with consistent and full access to required information, independent of device and location. Compounding the first principle of Ubiquity, consumers require synchronicity between web-based access points and their devices across relevant sources of information such as calendars, documents, list of contacts or emails, rather than uncoordinated, conflicting or out-of-date information from multiple points of access. Unison refers to consistently synchronised access to the user's data in an interactive way (i.e., the ability to pull both data from the server to the device and push data to the server), where information gathering is often coupled with a sense of timeliness and conflicting information is generally seen as inefficiency. For example, OmniFocus for iPhone brings task management to the user's fingertips. The app gives users the ability to keep track of tasks by project, place, person, or date. The users essential information is always at hand, whether it's a shopping list, agenda items to discuss at work, or things to do at home. OmniFocus includes the features to organise tasks, builds task lists based on the users current location, captures voice notes and pictures, and synchronises with a PC via cloud or WebDAV servers (OmniFocus for iPhone, 2013).
2.2 Mobile applications, their value and development
Due to the U-commerce characteristics mobile applications present value to users in key areas such as mobility - the user can conduct business anytime and anywhere, and flexibility - users can engage in other activities such as travelling while conducting business or transactions (Fui-Hoon Nah, Siau & Sheng, 2005). Additional benefits include ease of use and speed with which information can be accessed as a well-made app can provide a far better user experience than even the best websites. Apps provide convenience, as the device tends to be within arms-length of the user for long periods of time. Apps provide security as they provide safe storage of personal data so that users can save time, and they allow users to purchase items of their choice, from anywhere and at any time. Apps provide entertainment or stress release via games apps, and they assist users' time-management (e.g. reminder calendar scheduling). Apps can assist with navigation and trip planning via maps and local information (Wang et al., 2012). A mobile app can also provide offline access to content or perform functions without a network/wireless connection. More than 500,000 applications are available on Apple's App Store for the more than 100 million iPhones in use at present (Apple, 2012). By 2010, Android-based phones had more than 20,000 applications at their choosing, Windows Mobile users approximately 1,000 and Blackberry users around 5,000 applications (Hoogsteder, 2010).
According to Teng and Helps (2010:471) "a recent IDC (www.idc.org) survey suggests that 70 per cent of organisations are currently deploying at least one mobile application, with more than a third of these companies deploying multiple mobile applications". Mobile apps have various benefits for firms; they can help build relationships, reinforce the brand and build loyalty. Business visibility and accessibility can be increased as well as increasing sell-through and connections with on-the-move consumers. Communication is not trapped in spam folders and apps have the potential to increase repeat business. Apps can enhance social networking strategy, provide faster access than a mobile website and can function off-line (Features Learn More, 2013). Apps can also transform the delivery of information about customers to firms (White, 2010). Business enterprises are embracing mobility as a new strategic opportunity to unleash new ways of doing business (Perelson & Botha, 2004). In some instances activities such as scheduling, billing, information-seeking, records management and communications which were once the domain of the business can be shifted to the customer or consumer, thus lowering company costs while providing greater flexibility and convenience for the customer or consumer. Furthermore, research shows that customers are actually more satisfied with such owned and self-managed experiences, as they feel more ownership of and control over their interactions with firms (e.g. Bendapudi & Leone, 2003). 'Always on and always connected' means that firms can expect partners and customers to react quickly to what may be happening at any point within any business process. Thus apps can be beneficial to both firms and individuals and for firms, can improve internal functioning as well as external activities i.e. aimed at improving customer interaction and satisfaction.
These applications can be developed by individuals, existing- and start-up software firms, and by firms that view applications as a unique way to reach out externally to business partners and customers, to reach out to consumers, and internally to target a company's workforce and internal business processes. Some applications bridge both the internal and external audiences - for example, real time mobile business intelligence extends to consumers in the act of 'consuming' services, but then feeds back that information to internal business teams for analysis and action. Kangas and Kinnunen (2005), state that opportunities for app development are increasing. The Internet abounds with advise on developing mobile apps and the tightening economic climate encourages entrepreneurs to develop mobile apps (Kirk & Rouge, 2011). Thus there are many firms offering app development services. Bernoff and Schadler (2010) encourage firms to empower employees to provide the solutions to customer problems using the technologies used by these customers. There are many sources of ideas for apps: observing the competition, suggestions by customers, and departments within the firm itself, including the IS and marketing functions. Employees in departments such as marketing who are likely to have greater interaction with customers should be in an equally favorable position to identify ideas for app development as IS departments.
3 A study of smartphone app development and perceptions of effectiveness
3.1 Methodology
Using the client database of a large international IS consulting firm, by means of an email questionnaire, 970 IS executives in various parts of the world were questioned in order to assess the extent of smartphone app use, the sources of app ideas, the location of app development and managers' perceptions of the effectiveness of these processes. By contractual obligation, all clients are required to respond to surveys conducted by the consultancy, which effectively results in a 100 per cent response rate. As a filter question, respondents were required to indicate whether their firm was utilising smartphone apps in any way or not. Firms using smartphone apps in some way amounted to 239 firms, therefore only these firms were included in the analysis discussed in this paper, resulting in an effective response rate of 24.6 per cent. These executives came from the full spectrum of company and IS department sizes, from the very large to the very small, with varying degrees of financial resources, and from countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, and South Africa. The survey questionnaire utilised various categorical responses to group respondents as well as Likert-type scales to assess various aspects of perceived app performance.
3.2 Findings
The first question required respondents to indicate whether apps that they used were primarily for internal or external use. Among the 239 firms that are using smartphone apps, as can be seen in Table 2, all firms to some extent use them both internally and externally.
There does however, seem to be some potential for expanded use in the future.
The respondents were then asked to indicate the main purpose for which the apps were developed for external use. The possibilities were centered on the simple provision of information (for example, an airline providing a flight schedule), or the facilitation of realtime service (for example, a passenger booking a ticket on an airline). The results for this question are presented in Table 3. It can be seen that the majority of apps are developed to provide customers with a mix of information and real-time service (40.5 per cent of apps), or simply to provide information (25.9 per cent of apps).
The source of the idea for the app was also of interest. As can be seen from Table 4, the ideas for apps came mainly from the IT department (in 41 per cent of cases) followed by the Marketing department (20.1 per cent). Customers also seem to be a fairly common source of ideas for apps (in around 18 per cent of cases), while in some firms ideas for apps came from other departments than IS or Marketing. Some firms were obviously monitoring the business environment closely, observing what other firms or competitors were doing, and implementing similar ideas.
Firms developing apps face the choice of either doing this for themselves, relying on outside suppliers, or some combination of these alternatives. Table 5 shows that only a few respondents relied on outside suppliers to any great extent, so that the majority of smartphone app development is done internally, or with some degree of outside help. As has previously been noted, this is an interesting shift in the nature of the IS department's work: Until 2008, (when the Apple App Store was established) this task simply didn't exist in the IS department or anywhere else (Pitt, Berthon & Plangger, 2012).
The next objective was to determine the impact of the idea source on four outcome variables: satisfaction with the app development process, perception of app effectiveness, satisfaction with cost effectiveness of the app, and the perceived innovativeness of the app itself. A series of simple one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures was run in order to explore these relationships. From Table 6 it is evident that idea source does significantly affect all outcome variables.
To further investigate these differences, the Tukey-Kramer procedure was applied to determine which means were significantly different (Levine, 2004). Means-diamond plots visually compare the mean and standard error for each sample group. The line across each diamond represents the group mean, the apex of the diamond represents the 95 percent confidence interval for each group, and the width is the group sample size (Gigawiz, 2012). The analysis is also made visually simple by assigning letters (e.g. A, B, C) to each predictor variable, so that variables with the same letter (e.g. A) are not significantly different from each other, and those with different letters (e.g. A versus B or C) are significantly different to each other (SAS, 2012).
Thus looking firstly at the IS managers' perceived satisfaction with the app development, this outcome variable was measured on a single item 5-point scale ranging from 1 = very dissatisfied through 5 = very satisfied. Figure 1 presents the results of the Tukey-Kramer post hoc test and shows that the mean satisfaction with the app development was significantly higher when the source of the app was other departments in the firm (A). There were no significant differences between the means of any of the other sources of app ideas (B).
For the second output variable: the app's perceived effectiveness, the variable was measured on a single item 5-point scale ranging from 1 = very ineffective through 5 = very effective. Figure 2 presents the effects of the idea source on perceptions of app effectiveness and indicates that the mean perception of app effectiveness was significantly higher when the source of the app was other departments in the firm (A). Perceptions of app effectiveness were significantly lower for benchmarking on other firms than for any other source (C).
The third outcome variable was perceived satisfaction with the app's cost effectiveness (the value of the benefits is more than the costs associated with the design, build, adoption and adaptation of the mobile application i.e. value for money, given the early adoption of this technology the benchmark indicator is return on investment). Satisfaction with the app's cost effectiveness was measured on a single item 5-point scale ranging from 1 = very dissatisfied with the app's cost effectiveness through 5 = very satisfied with the app's cost effectiveness. Figure 3 presents the effects of the idea source on perceptions of the app's cost effectiveness.
As may be expected, there are significantly higher levels of satisfaction with app cost effectiveness when the source of app ideas are internal sources particularly the IS, and other departments (A), rather than external sources (customers (B) and observing competitors (C)). However it is interesting that satisfaction with cost effectiveness of the app was not significantly higher when the source of the app idea was the marketing department rather than the customer, although satisfaction was higher than if the source was other companies or competitors.
The last effect of idea source that was tested was on the perceived app innovativeness. The app's perceived innovativeness was measured on a single item 5-point scale ranging from 1 = not very innovative at all through 5 = very innovative (not innovative indicates an off-the-shelf app, while a very innovative app would indicate a new ground-breaking, highly productive app). Figure 4 presents the effects of the idea source on perceptions of the app's innovativeness and indicates that there are significantly higher levels of perceived app innovativeness when the source of app ideas are other departments (A), the IS department or customers. App ideas from other companies (B) and the marketing department were perceived to be significantly less innovative.
The final set of analyses sought to determine the effect that development location had on satisfaction with the app development process, perception of app effectiveness, satisfaction with the cost effectiveness of the app, and the innovativeness of the app itself. Firms can develop apps themselves, rely on outside suppliers, or use some combination of these alternatives. The same analyses were conducted as above. From Table 7 it is evident that the location of app development does significantly affect all outcome variables.
Again to investigate these differences further, the Tukey-Kramer procedure was applied to determine which means were significantly different and means-diamonds plots provide a visual basis for comparison. Figure 5 presents the results looking at the effect that the location of the app development has, essentially externally or internally, on the satisfaction with the app development. The results indicate that apps developed completely by an outside supplier (A) have significantly higher satisfaction levels than all other development locations except the 50-50 internal-external mix. Satisfaction with the development of apps was significantly lower for apps developed entirely within the firm (C) and those developed mostly by an outside supplier (but with some inside involvement). It would therefore seem as though an 'all or nothing'- or a 50-50 cooperation approach works best: Marginal involvement from either side, or a solely internal approach are perceived as less effective.
In Figure 6 it can be seen that there are significantly higher levels of perceived app effectiveness for apps developed either by means of a 50-50 mix of the firm and outside help, within the firm but with some outside help, or completely by a supplier outside of the firm (A) than if the app is developed within the firm entirely, or within the organisation with some outside help. Perceived app effectiveness again was significantly lower for apps developed entirely with the firm and those developed mostly with outside help (B).
Figure 7 presents the results looking at the effect that the location of the app development has on the satisfaction with the app cost effectiveness. Figure 7 indicates that apps developed within the firm but with some outside supplier help (A) have significantly higher satisfaction with the app cost effectiveness levels. Apps developed completely by an outside supplier (C) were however perceived to be significantly less cost effective.
Finally, the last effect of development location that was tested was on the perceived app innovativeness. Figure 8 reveals that there are significantly higher levels of perceived app innovativeness when the apps are developed entirely by an outside supplier or within the firm but with some outside help (A).
It seems that with regard to the location of app development the IS managers in this survey perceived different locations to be useful for achieving different effects:
1) Outside suppliers are perceived to be able to offer innovative apps and provide a high level of app development satisfaction.
2) A 50-50 mix of internal and external suppliers of apps can achieve similar levels of app development satisfaction but with the added benefits of perceived app effectiveness and cost effectiveness.
3) As expected, app development within the firm would be the most cost effective.
4 Managerial implications, limitations and future research
Smartphone use has risen dramatically, and will continue to rise. This increase in smartphone use will see a similar growth in app development for firms. The results of this survey of IS managers indicates that smartphone apps are being developed for both internal and external uses. Although use might be moderate at present, it is likely that this will increase in the future as device prices decrease, network availability improves, consumer and employee mobility increases and individuals become reliant on the apps on their devices for daily functioning. Smartphones today are far more integrated into people's lives than any other technology (Gilbert & Kendall, 2003:8). Firms able to capitalise on these opportunities should enjoy significant advantages.
For firms using IS to compete effectively, the rise of the smartphone has important implications. First, these devices raise issues that hardly existed just a few years ago. Apps didn't exist but their development and use is likely to become a far greater priority for firms in the future. Second, as more and more jobs in firms evolve, at least partially, the use of devices and the role of the firm's IS department is likely to change. Today the devices used by employees are less likely to be owned by the firm and thus directly under the control of its IS department, but are more likely to be bought and owned by individual employees. Pitt et al. (2012) argue that the distinction between what a firm owns and does, and what the individual owns and does, is no longer distinct and that the smartphone device and apps are part of what DesAutels (2011:185) terms the "user-generated information system" (UGIS) - a system developed by the user without IS skills or knowledge. Such systems would not be under the direct control of the IS departments within those firms. The results of this study indicate that IS managers see other departments, the users of apps and the developers of UGISs as the most effective and satisfying source of app ideas. The days of the IS department being the 'sole providers' of IS ideas and solutions seem to be diminishing.
Third, user-generated information systems do not only influence employees, the use of smartphones and apps also influence the role of the customer. Customers will use their own devices to perform many tasks formerly carried out by the firm and its employees. As confirmed by this study, customers thus represent a good source, particularly of innovative app ideas. Actively seeking customer input and then developing apps to satisfy these needs could provide firms with the edge to attract and retain customers. As a key link between customers and firms, marketing departments may need to address the perception at least amongst IS managers, of being a relatively poor source of app ideas.
This study is subject to a number of limitations. First, while the findings of the study might be generalisable to some extent, the study does not provide any depth richness or context. Put simply, the study sheds light on what is happening, but tells us very little about why it is happening. For example, while we know from the study that other departments or functions in a firm, other than marketing or IS tend to be useful sources of app development, this study did not attempt to discover what those other functions were. This could only be achieved by an in-depth study. Unstructured interviews with IS executives could allow one to identify this. It may indeed differ from firm to firm.
Since mobile apps first appeared along with the Smartphone in 2007, mobile app purchases on Apples App Store have just exceeded 50 billion (Apple, 2013). The biggest app category on the Apple app store is games with business applications accounting for only 6.4 per cent (Research2guidance, 2013). Despite the IDC report by Teng and Helps (2010:471) stating that " 70 per cent of organisations are currently deploying apps" it is noted that of the 970 firms polled in this research, only 239 firms were using smartphone apps in any way, an effective response rate of 24.6 per cent. In the consumer world mobile apps have become ubiquitous, but it seems, at least from this study, that the majority of firms are in the early adoption phase. Understanding what the obstacles to enterprise mobile adoption, implementation and success are, is an area for future research.
The study did not utilise a random sample in the true sense. Instead, the client base of a large IT consulting firm was used as the sample frame. Future studies may compare app development across developed and developing countries.
Fourth, the study also suffers from the limitations of all email surveys in that the researcher can never be certain of who is actually completing the questionnaire. While the responses were purportedly made by IS executives, it is impossible to be certain that someone else, such as a personal assistant, completed the survey instead.
The study also highlights opportunities for research into this important domain. First, as already noted, depth interviews with senior executives, and case studies of firms implementing particularly successful or unsuccessful apps will provide the richness, context and depth that this survey was unable to offer. Second, while this study covered a number of different countries, there was no attempt to do any cross-cultural or across-country comparisons. It would be worthwhile to explore whether development practices and perceptions of effectiveness differ across countries, and also to include a broader spectrum of countries in the study. Furthermore, future research could also study differences between firms based on demographic indicators such as type of industry, size of firm, and age of firm. Finally, if this study were to be repeated over time, the researcher could gain insight into whether longitudinal trends would emerge. For example, while many firms seem to be relying on outside suppliers for app development at present, as they were able to build the required skills internally and empower employees with such skills, perceptions of both internal and external app development effectiveness might change.
5 Conclusion
Amongst this sample of IS executives app development has been moderate but with both internal and external uses. This survey indicates that the majority of external apps are developed to provide customers with a mix of information and real-time services. Sources of ideas for these apps come mainly from IS departments and to a lesser extent, marketing departments. It is interesting to note however, that when one considers measures of satisfaction with app development and app cost effectiveness, and perceptions of app effectiveness and innovativeness, other departments were perceived to be significantly better sources of ideas for apps. IS departments were perceived to be good sources of app ideas only when it came to satisfaction with cost effectiveness and app innovativeness. Marketing departments seem not to be good sources of app ideas for any of the measures chosen. Ranked third as the most commonly perceived source of app ideas are customers, and significantly they were found to be a good ideas source only when it came to providing apps perceived to be innovative.
Apps were developed predominantly in-house, or with some external supplier help. Only a small number of the firms in the sample actually used external suppliers completely or to a large extent and yet outside suppliers were perceived to provide significantly higher levels of app development satisfaction and app innovativeness. Even a 50-50 split between internal and external developers yielded significantly higher results for app development satisfaction, perceived app effectiveness and satisfaction with app cost effectiveness. Internal developers were significantly better for app cost effectiveness satisfaction, which is to be expected and internal development with some help from outside suppliers was significant for app innovativeness. Thus it seems at least in a 50-50 split that the use of outside suppliers could considerably increase effectiveness measures of satisfaction with app development and cost effectiveness, and perceived app effectiveness and innovation.
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of the reviews in improving the quality of this paper. Their suggestions were extremely helpful and gratefully appreciated.
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KANGAS, E. & KINNUNEN, T. 2005. Applying user-centered design to mobile application development. Communications of the ACM, 48(7):55-59. [ Links ]
KIM, D. 2011. Student's use of hotel mobile apps: Their effect on brand loyalty. Available at: http://scholarworks.umass.edu/gradconf_hospitality/2011/Poster/38/ [accessed 2012-11-04]. [ Links ]
KIRK, G.A. & ROUGE, B. 2011. There's an app for that, but is there a market for that app? An exploration of the app market as an avenue for entrenpreneurship. Issues in Information Systems, 12, 313-117. [ Links ]
LEVINE, D.M. 2004. Statistics for managers using Microsoft Excel (4th ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. [ Links ]
MOBITHINKING. 2012. Global mobile statistics 2012 Part A: Mobile subscribers; handset market share; mobile operators. Available at: http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a#smartphone-shipments [accessed 2012-09-17]. [ Links ]
OMNIFOCUS FOR IPHONE. 2013. Available at: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/omnifocus-for-iphone/id284885288?mt=8 [accessed 2012-04-20]. [ Links ]
OPENSCAPE MOBILECONNECT V3. 2013. Available at: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/openscape-mobileconnect-v3/id375082716?mt=8 [accessed 2012-04-13]. [ Links ]
PATEL, V., NOWOSTAWSKI, M., THOMSON, G., WILSON, N. & MEDLIN, H. 2013. Developing a smartphone 'app' for public health research: the example of measuring observed smoking in vehicles. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 67(5):446-452 [ Links ]
PERELSON, S. & BOTHA, R. 2004. An investigation into access control for mobile devices. Paper presented at the ISSA:1-10. [ Links ]
PITT, L.F., BERTHON, P.R. & PLANGGER, K. 2012. The rise and rise of the Smartphone app: How is IT doing? Cutter Benchmark Review, 11(8):5-20. [ Links ]
PITT, L.F., PARENT, M., JUNGLAS, I., CHAN, A. & SPYROPOULOU, S. 2011. Integrating the Smartphone into a sound environmental information systems strategy: principles, practices and a research agenda. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 20(1):27-37. [ Links ]
RANSOM, D. 2009. Smartphone apps fuel business. The Wall Street Journal, 20 August. [ Links ] RESEARCH2GUIDANCE. 2012. Whitepaper: the Smartphone app market 2013 [pdf]. Berlin. Available at: http://www.research2guidance.com/shop/index.php/whitepaper-smartphone-app-market-2013 [accessed 2012-04-24]. [ Links ]
SAS. 2012. JMP® Statistical discovery software: Comparing means: SAS Institute Inc. Available at: http://www.jmp.com/support/help/Compare_Means.shtml [accessed 2012-11-06]. [ Links ]
SHEVCHIK, L. 2013. Mobile app industry to reach record revenue in 2013. Available at: http://blog.newrelic.com/2013/04/01/mobile-apps-industry-to-reach-record-revenue-in-2013/ [accessed 201211-06]. [ Links ]
TENG, C.-C. & HELPS, R. 2010. Mobile application development: Essential new directions for IT. Paper presented at the Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG) 2010 Seventh International Conference, 471-475. IEEE. [ Links ]
WANG, D., PARK, S. & FESENMAIER, D.R. 2012. The role of smartphones in mediating the touristic experience. Journal of Travel Research, 51(4):371-387. [ Links ]
WATSON, R.T., PITT, L.F., BERTHON, P. & ZINKHAN, G.M. 2002. U-commerce: extending the universe of marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30(4):333-347. [ Links ]
WATSON, R.T., PITT, L.F., BERTHON, P. & ZINKHAN, G.M. 2004. Marketing in the age of the network: From marketplace to U-space. Business Horizons, 4(6):33-40. [ Links ]
WHITE, M. 2010. Information anywhere, any when: The role of the smartphone. Business Information Review, 27(4):242-247. [ Links ]
WOODCOCK, B., MIDDLETON, A. & NORTCLIFFE, A. 2012. Considering the smartphone learner: an investigation into student interest in the use of personal technology to enhance their learning. Student Engagement and Experience Journal, 1(1):1-15. [ Links ]
YOUNG, J.R. 2011. Top smartphone apps to improve teaching, research, and your life. Education Digest, 76(9):12-15. [ Links ]
Accepted: January 2014


text: Experience the thrill of catching bigger fish, more often! Utilize quality fishing gear from Bass Pro Shops and expect a great day on the water. Find Fishing Rods, Fishing Reels, and Fishing Accessories in all of the top brands. Complete your arsenal with the best Fishing Lures and Terminal Tackle in the game. For anglers that like to pursue trophies in Fly Fishing, Ice Fishing, or Saltwater Fishing, find all of your specialty gear here. Be sure to check out our Rod Storage and Tackle Storage solutions to keep your fishing gear in top condition for years to come. From getting your catch on the line, in the boat and to the frying pan or weigh-in, Bass Pro Shops has all of the fishing equipment you need.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mobile App Reseller Event by Digi
Thursday, June 30, 2016 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM (Malaysia Time Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) Time)
Event Details
Mobile App Reseller Event
by Digi Telecommunications
Limited seats available!
Learn how you can transform your business and build recurring income through the Digi's mobile app reseller program!
Digi's Mobile App Reseller Program is an exclusive event organized by Digi-X to introduce our new app reseller platform - 57square, for businesses such as yourselves, to create mobile apps for your clients and easily manage them, without the need for technical knowledge.
The platform is a blank canvas, drag-and drop platform for mobile app creation and any mobile marketing services that you would like to value-add for your clients. Our solution gives you the control and power to how you want to structure this product for your customers.
With 57square, you can name your own price when selling mobile apps to your clients. Plus, you can offer other services and support to your clients based on your own expertise, be it setting up the app, creating ad campaigns,social media marketing or user acquisition.
Ever wondered how you can build new revenue streams, with recurring income with the existing services and products that you already offer?
Look no further, this is the event that will transform your business! :)
Who should attend?
- Entrepreneurs / Small Business Owners
- Digital Marketing Agencies
- Branding & Advertising Agencies
- Web Development and Design Agencies
- Web Design / Digital Marketing Freelancers
- Sales and Marketing Professionals
What you can learn:
1. How to grow recurring revenue by offering a new line of services for your clients
2. How to target, prospect and close new deals
3. Ways to understand your clients and offer them a mobile solution that caters to their needs
New Revenue Streams:
You will have the opportunity to create new revenue on top of your existing offerings by providing:
- Mobile App Creation Services
- Digital Marketing Services (Social Media, PPC, RTB, SEM)
- Printing Services
- Customized In-app Features
- User acquisition (App Downloads)
- App Store Optimisation (ASO)
What features can you expect to sell to your customers?
- Push Notifications (unique only to mobile apps)
- Newsfeeds
- Promotions / coupons
- Facebook / Instagram Integration
- Product Catalogues / Food Menu
- Branch Locations (powered by GPS Waze and Google Maps app)
- Ecommerce / Webstore Page
- Create Photo Albums
and many more! All these can be built easily within 60 minutes! :)
See you at the event (while seats lasts).
When & Where
Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd
Lot 10 Jalan Delima 1/1
Subang Jaya,
Selangor 40000
Thursday, June 30, 2016 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM (Malaysia Time Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) Time)
Add to my calendar
Digi-X is an innovation unit within Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, a leading mobile service provider in Malaysia. Our goal is to explore and create next-generation products and technologies to empower societies.


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Digi-Capital, an investment bank for mobile apps and games, has just published its Mobile Apps Investment Review Q1 2014 (www.digi-capital.com/reports). Commenting on the Review, DigiCapital Managing Director Tim Merel said:
"Everyone knows that mobile apps are hot, and that games have taken the lion's share of revenue so far. We think the balance is going to change, with other app categories using new approaches to win. We're already seeing SaaS-like App as a Service models emerging, and we can't wait to see what happens next.
We forecast that mobile apps could reach >$70B revenue globally, with non-games apps to double revenue share from 26% to 51% by 2017 (61.3% CAGR 13-17F).
Dramatic mobile app usage growth is disrupting incumbents, with mobile usage having grown 5x in 4 years to ~20% of media consumption last year (50% CAGR 09-13).


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After enjoying the Grand Final after-party on Sugarloaf Mountain well into the night, the 20 Grand Finalists for the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2014 woke up on their final morning in Brazil to embark on one last activity; a pilgrimage - alongside the other 74,220 fans that would make up the official attendance - to the Maracana for the France-Germany Quarterfinal of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™.
One night prior, Ronaldo had visited the Grand Final, bringing the history of the real world cup to the virtual one. Today, it was new FIWC champion August Rosenmeier's turn to merge the virtual world cup with the real thing. Shortly before kick off, the giant screens within the Maracana displayed highlights from August's victory on the Sugarloaf. The Dane watched himself on the big screen from his seat in the stadium in awe. Bringing the FIWC to Rio De Janeiro during the actual 2014 FIFA World Cup™ had always ensured that virtual football would meet real like never before, but in that moment the two tournaments could not have been any closer.
Watching the game, Rosenmeier was in high spirits. The FIWC title was packed away in his suitcase, ready for the journey to its new home in Denmark and the 18-year old could sit back in his seat and watch the match as a neutral. "I expected something amazing, but I didn't expect this," August said of his first ever experience of a World Cup game. "Seeing the passion of all the German and French fans. Hearing them sing. It's so great to be part of it."
Sitting just a few seats away from August, outgoing champion Bruce Grannec was in an altogether different mood. With his French scarf around his shoulders, always calm Bruce still managed a smile after watching Les Bleus suffer defeat to Germany thanks to a 13th minute Matts Hummels header. The Brazilian ride has been a bittersweet one for Grannec. After four Grand Finals and four podium finishes, his fifth Grand Final in Brazil would be his worst ever performance at the event.
"I'm disappointed. I think France played better," said Bruce reflecting on the match. "But this," he said, turning around to look into the stands as French voices singing "Allez Les Bleus" still filled small pockets of the Maracana. "This was beautiful."
Bruce's coach Alan 'Zal' Brin' perhaps externalized the Machine's hidden feelings. Hunched over in his seat, wearing a replica French jersey from 1998 and a Brazil scarf wrapped around his head, Zal shut his eyes tightly. The tears came quickly as the row of German fans in front of him sang victory songs. The excitement and anticipation had all been too much. Two days earlier, Zal had landed in Brazil. The World Cup was still squarely in his nation's sites and his best friend was still the FIWC champion. Today, sitting in the Maracana, the dreams of virtual and real world titles for France, were all over.
In one of those small and wonderful World Cup moments, a young girl wearing a Brazil jersey approached the French stranger and hugged him, sharing some words of encouragement in his ear. An older lady wearing a Germany jersey would do the same on the way out of the stadium. It was a moment worthy of David Luiz and James's embrace after Colombia's exit at the hands of Brazil later that day. Bruce and his coach may have experienced defeat in the real and virtual world cup, but they left having experienced the range of emotions, euphoric and tragic, that the World Cup has to offer. "This is football," Bruce said to Zal on the way out, an arm wrapped around his shoulders. "Next time we win."


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gjasonsmith needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 49 designs submitted by 26 freelance designers.
Need a visually stunning logo design for a small but talented website development and information technology company. I am currently using blue color scheme on my site but I do not have to go with this color. I created the design myself but I am looking for a change. Something Web 2.0 style (for lack of better words).
I need a new logo for my company. I want a really sharp, clean, good looking design that I can build my new website around. Originally I had come up with my logo (http://www.wifi-innovations.com) but I no longer like it and I am no design pro. I don't really have any color choices so you don't have to follow the look of my current website.
I specialize in website development and website design. My company is a technology company and we do everything from software development to wireless network setup. I want a design that is good looking, new, fresh, clean, and web savvy. Something that I can put on a website, t-shirt or company car.
- new, clean, web savvy style
- Illustrator file
- Heavy dropshadows
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Now in its sixth year, the Develop in Brighton Conference will be an inspiring place to visit, with over 80 quality sessions given by international development experts and around 1300 developers getting together to share ideas and experiences, learn from each other and network in a relaxed seaside environment.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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Black Hat USA 2012 Wrap Up
thursday, august 16, 2012
Brought to you by:
CuteCats.exe and the Arab Spring Slides
Hardware Backdooring is Practical Whitepaper
Hardware Backdooring is Practical Slides
What a whirlwind of a week! Black Hat was an outstanding success! It was so great to see the community again and just as sad to see everyone go home at week's end.
Black Hat would like to extend a hearty round of thanks to the hackers, researchers, journalists, governmental officials, authors, professors, and general troublemakers that made up this year's presenters. Without their massive efforts and support of the security community, Black Hat would cease to exist.
The content this year was clearly in a league of its own. There was so much great stuff it was physically impossible to see it all. Malware certainly a much discussed topic, and luckily we were able to get a two of the presenters on a webcast and present their findings for you.
First, Black Hat will look at malware's role and effect on social movements with Morgan Marquis-Boire's CuteCats.exe and the Arab Spring. Listen to this important joint venture of the EFF and Citizen Lab.
Then we take a technical deepdive with Jonathan Brossard and learn that Hardware Backdooring is Practical with a little piece of PoC software called "Rakshasa".
Webcast Presenter:
Morgan Marquis-Boire is a Security Engineer at Google on the Incident Response Team. He acts as a Technical Adviser at the Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and was one of the original organizers of the KiwiCON conference in New Zealand. In addition to talking about himself in the 3rd person and presenting at security conferences, he has spent time moon-lighting in such diverse fields as environmentalism and academia.
Jonathan Brossard is a security research engineer. Born in France, he's been living in Brazil and India, before currently working in Australia. With about 15 years of practice of assembly, he is specialised in low level security, from raw sockets to cryptography and memory corruption bugs. He is currently working as CEO and security consultant at the Toucan System security company. His clients count some of the biggest Defense and Financial Institutions worldwide. Jonathan is also the co-organiser of the Hackito Ergo Sum conference (HES2011) in France.
Sponsor Presenter:
Daniel Ayoub is a network security engineer most recently engaged as the Manager of technical Product Marketing at Dell SonicWALL. He has been involved with implementing information security systems and methodologies to public-sector corporations and numerous small-medium sized businesses. His areas of interest include penetration testing, CSIRT, malware and network security. Daniel has a Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.


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What's Really Making You Sick?
New Blood Test Can Uncover the Real Cause of Your SymptomsSeptember 2010
By Lauren Russel, ND, and Jonathan V. Wright, MD
Do you regularly suffer from headaches, insomnia, stomach upset, constipation, or diarrhea—but can't seem to get lasting relief? Have you gone from one doctor to another for nagging or painful "mystery" symptoms—only to find that none of them has been able to tell you exactly what's wrong, much less come up with an effective treatment?
You're not alone. It is estimated that anywhere from 45-60% of the general population struggles with an extraordinary range of symptoms whose causes can't be readily identified.1, 2 You may be one of them.
Before you give up altogether, though, take heart: your health "problem" may not be the problem at all. In reality, your symptoms may be signs that something in your diet is making you feel sick.
Unfortunately, identifying which of the many foods you regularly consume may be causing your symptoms, or the specific natural or artificial compound contained in any of those foods, can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. There are as many food allergies and sensitivities as there are symptoms. And until recently, the available detection methods have been rudimentary at best.
The good news is that advances in individualized blood testing now enable you and your doctor to zero in on the compounds causing your problem. With the results in hand, you can methodically and definitively eliminate them from your diet.
In this article, you will discover the multitude of health conditions that food sensitivities can cause. You will learn about the underlying mechanisms at the core of your body's response to certain foods. You will also find out how a cutting-edge diagnostic test can help you uncover the cause (or causes) of nagging symptoms or painful conditions—and possibly make them disappear.
Food Sensitivities and Food Allergies: A Widely Overlooked Problem
Food allergies and sensitivities account for approximately 60% of all undiagnosed conditions, by some estimates.2,3 Any system of the body can be affected, resulting in one or many of the following health conditions:
And this is just a short list.
So it's worth your while to step back and take a look at the foods you're eating in order to improve your health and quality of life. As with pollen, dust, or pollutants, natural or introduced chemical compounds contained in foods can trigger an allergic response. We've all heard of someone who had to be rushed to the hospital because a restaurant used peanut oil in preparing certain dishes without informing its patrons.
These are properly defined food allergies, and they manifest immediately. They may pose a more immediate health threat, but are relatively easy to detect and treat. Food sensitivities, on the other hand, are triggered by a distinct underlying mechanism. They can take a long time to develop, making them difficult to identify as the culprits behind a given set of secondary symptoms. The problem is they can wreak just as much havoc on your body over the long-term. Think of them as a food allergy in slow motion.
Here's the difference between food allergies and sensitivities: once your immune system detects a substance it considers foreign, a chain reaction is set in motion to repel the perceived "invader." This defensive mechanism is launched by lymphocytes, white blood cells capable of producing specific antibodies to target and neutralize the threat.
They release five different types of antibodies: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM. It is the IgE and IgG antibodies that are mobilized when lymphocytes come in contact with allergenic food proteins.4,5 We don't know precisely what causes some people's immune systems to consider foods to be "foreign," while other people's immune systems consider food to be—well, just food! However, in the process of trying to rid the body of something it believes shouldn't be there, a vital and normal process goes very wrong, subjecting us to "symptom attacks" triggered by the foods we depend on every day for life.
Again, these types of intense reactions—anaphylactic reactions—occur within minutes after eating or being exposed to a food or other substance6 and are usually associated with "IgE" antibodies. IgE-mediated food allergies are most common in infants and children; we tend to lose sensitivity to many of these common food allergens as we age.7,8
"IgG"-mediated food sensitivities tend to be "masked" or hidden, since IgG antibody-related symptoms tend to occur many hours to days after exposure to offending foods.3 Considerable controversy exists about these types of food allergies and sensitivities, precisely because of the delayed onset of symptoms and the difficulty this presents in making a clinical correlation between symptoms and food triggers.
This is where accurate and reliable allergy testing has the most to contribute to diagnosis. The best support comes from research and from actual patients showing that, when foods suspected of causing adverse reactions are eliminated from the diet based upon sensitivity testing, symptoms improve. If the food is then added back into the diet, patients often report a return of symptoms, a pattern that suggests a strong correlation between the ingestion of the food and your body's reaction.9
Sickness... Or Food Sensitivity?
A surprisingly broad array of health "problems" are in reality the result of these undetected food sensitivities. Perhaps the most well-known example of this is the widespread number of health problems produced by gluten (or gliadin, one of its constituents), proteins found in products made with wheat, rye, barley, and spelt (in fact, most grains except corn and rice). Though oats are not a gluten-containing grain, they tend to be included in this group because they are often processed on the same equipment as wheat and may be contaminated by it.
The most serious form of gluten sensitivity, known as celiac disease, may affect as many as 1 out of every 133 people.10 If undetected and untreated, gluten sensitivity can cause a weakening of the villi of the small intestines. These minute, finger-like protuberances are vital to nutrient absorption; their atrophy may lead to a host of chronic ailments.11 Those who are sensitive to gluten can, at its worst, experience severe weight loss, fatigue, and malnutrition, all caused by nutritional malabsorption related to gluten. Of course, many if not most of these adverse effects can be prevented or reversed when gluten sensitivity is detected early and products containing gluten are eliminated from the diet.12-14
Though many theories have been proposed for its cause, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is another condition that may have its origins in food sensitivity.15,16 At any given time, 12-20% of adults complain of symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of IBS, making it one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders in the United States.17-19 The symptoms characteristic of IBS include gastrointestinal discomfort and pain accompanied by intermittent diarrhea and constipation. More women than men are affected. When patients are assessed for food sensitivity and those foods identified by testing are eliminated from the diet, many report significant improvement in their symptoms.16,20-25 In one study, improvement after specific food elimination was sustained a minimum of one year later for most participants.9
Migraine headache is another condition long associated with food sensitivity.26 Among the foodborne triggers most frequently associated with migraine are nitrates, a type of preservative found in certain types of processed meats; tyramines, which are found in red wine, cheese, and soy sauce; and phenylethylamine, found in chocolate.27 Caffeine, citrus, vinegar, and alcohol may also be migraine triggers. People suffering from migraines have been shown to improve significantly once they remove offending migraine "trigger foods" from their diet.3,28
IgG-mediated food sensitivities tend to be masked or hidden, since IgG antibody-related symptoms tend to occur many hours to days after exposure to offending foods.


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Montoya, Jets deny Red Wings of perfect tripby Patrick Williams
WINNIPEG – Only the struggling Winnipeg Jets stood between the Detroit Red Wings and a perfect trip through Western Canada.
But the Jets overcame Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard's 43-save evening and used two third-period goals to earn a 4-2 win Monday night at MTS Centre. The victory ended the Jets' three-game skid and Detroit's three-game winning streak.
"There were a lot of really good things in that game," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "It was fun to watch our team play that way."
Winnipeg's Matt Halischuk broke open a 2-2 game 4:27 into the third period with his first goal of the season. Halischuk took Michael Frolik's behind-the-net pass and rammed a shot from the low slot through Howard's pads. Jets captain Andrew Ladd finished off the Red Wings, interrupting a nine-game run without a goal by shoveling a shot under Howard with 9:03 remaining.
"We found a way to come back 2-2 going into the third," Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "But then we didn't take care of the puck enough, and in the end that cost us the game."
The Jets' third line featuring Halischuk and Frolik flanking rookie center Mark Scheifele threatened the Red Wings throughout the game in front of a strong night from Jets goaltender Al Montoya.
"Guys were prepared," said Scheifele (two assists), "and I think it showed from the start of the game to the end. It was definitely big to get a lot of shots. We've got to stay confident, but we know it's just one game."
Frolik and Bryan Little added the Jets' other goals, while Zetterberg and Danny DeKeyser tallied for Detroit. Little scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season for the Jets in his 16th game, passing his 48-game output that he posted last season. Zetterberg's team-best eighth goal 7:09 into the second period broke a 1-0 Winnipeg lead.
DeKeyser then collected his first NHL goal 2:56 after Zetterberg's goal with the Red Wings shorthanded, putting Detroit up 2-1, its only lead of the game. But Frolik tied the game late in the second period off a feed from Scheifele to send the teams into the second intermission at 2-2.
"Five-on-five, we did a great job against a very offensive team, a very skilled team," Montoya said. "It just goes to show that we can play against anyone on any given night.
"This is a big statement win for us. Whatever it means out there, who cares? For us in this locker room, it's huge."
The Red Wings (9-5-2) finished a four-game tour of Western Canada with their first trip to Winnipeg since they ended the city's original NHL run on April 28, 1996, in a first-round series against the original Jets. Detroit had taken one-goal decisions against the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames on this trip before blowing out the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 on Saturday.
"They played better than we did," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of his team, which was playing its third game in four nights. "I think from start to finish they were the better team. We didn't look like we had much energy. We didn't skate well. We didn't execute well."
Before meeting the Red Wings, the Jets (6-8-2) had one win over their past seven games and three wins in nine home dates this season. Winnipeg's goaltending and 26th-ranked power play (locked in a 1-for 37 slump over 11 games) have headlined the team's struggles, but injuries to much of its blue line and a lower-body injury that sidelined Evander Kane also compounded the Jets' problems.
But Winnipeg received goaltending from Montoya that countered Howard's work. Montoya made his third start of the season for the Jets and continued his strong play, stopping 26 shots. Montoya relieved Ondrej Pavelec this past Saturday in a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and played well enough in mop-up duty to earn himself another start.
"I thought he played like our team," Noel said of Montoya. "He did the right thing at the right time, made the right saves. I thought he had a good night. He has played that way this year, and did it again."
In his only other home start this season, Montoya shut out the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 13. But Noel and Montoya shied away from any talk of a goaltending controversy in Winnipeg.
"We'll look at it and assess it and consider it," Noel said of the possibility of starting Montoya when the Jets face the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Wednesday. Montoya is a Chicago native.
Howard returned to Detroit's net after Petr Mrazek gave him a night off in Edmonton. But Winnipeg shooters pushed Howard back into action quickly, and he saw 31 shots by the end of the second period.
Howard guided the Red Wings through an early barrage of Winnipeg shots. Winnipeg held an 11-2 shots advantage by the middle of the period, but Howard gloved Zach Bogosian's point blast, stopped Ladd's breakaway, and cut off Olli Jokinen's in-close chance with another glove save. Later in the period with the Red Wings on their first power play, Howard put a right pad on Halischuk's drive to the net.
"Our penalty kill (6-for-6) and our goaltending gave us a really good chance here," Babcock said. "But we did nothing with the puck. We didn't have them under pressure at any time. It was an easy night for their goaltender."
Little solved Howard with a minute remaining in the first, taking advantage of Kyle Quincey's stumble at the Winnipeg line and taking the puck in alone on Howard before squeezing it through the pads for a 1-0 lead.
Montoya continued his strong play into the second period before Zetterberg scored. Zetterberg drove down the left boards and directed a hard pass into the slot that caromed off Winnipeg defenseman Grant Clitsome's skate and into the net to tie the game 1-1.
Detroit capitalized on Winnipeg's struggling penalty kill, driving the Jets into their own zone, winning a left-circle draw and working the puck back to DeKeyser, who ripped a shot from the high point past Montoya at 10:05 for the Red Wings' first lead.
The Jets' third line clicked late in the second period when Scheifele sped down the right side before connecting with Frolik, who slipped a low shot under Howard from the bottom of the slot at 17:04.
"They just seem to have some chemistry, that's the first thing you seem to notice," Noel said of the Halischuk-Scheifele-Frolik line. "They're reliable defensively. They're just a good, dependable line that has played well."


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previews/01-590x300.png previews/02-home.png previews/03-blog.png previews/04-post.png previews/05-contact.png previews/06-about.png previews/07-burgundy.png previews/08-earth.png previews/09-grape.png previews/10-graymetal.png previews/11-mustard.png previews/12-olive.png previews/13-rust.png previews/14-skyblue.png previews/15-slateblue.png previews/16-turquoise.png
Sheets for WordPress (as HTML) is a very simple, clean theme characterized by a homepage image gallery consisting of overlapping sheets. Like pages of a magazine, visitors can flip through each slide, but with the click of a button. Adding large, compelling photos to the gallery makes changing the look of the Web site quite simple.
Ten different color schemes and an additional image slider give you even more options for changing the site's appearance.
Aside from its unique design, Sheets includes the page layouts needed to set up a well-structured Web site:
- Home
- About Us
- Blog
- Content
- Contact Us
Documentation with notes on the theme's code files is provided to help you work with the HTML files


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Economics A Level (Distance Learning) at National Extension College *Fees Payable*
Course description
Economics is an all-encompassing subject that plays a role in every aspect of modern life. Political, business and environmental decisions all hinge on economics to some extent. This distance learning A level will familiarise you with the processes that lead to these decisions being made and bring you up to speed on the latest economic theories and practices affecting how the world works. Providing an excellent foundation for anyone wishing to study a business-related topic or work in areas such as banking, insurance or trading, this home study A level will open up the thought-provoking world of economics and encourage you to form opinions on how the world works and how things could potentially be done better.
You should allow for between 250 and 300 hours' study time, plus additional time for completing assignments. You will have tutor support for a period of up to 18 months from the date of enrolment.
Course content
Unit 1: Competitive markets – how they work and why they fail
- What is the nature of economics?
- Demand for goods or services
- Supply of goods and services
- Price of goods and services
- Changes in price
- Wage rates for labour
- Causes of market failure
- Government attempts to correct market failure
- Government failure
Unit 2: Managing the economy
- Measuring economic performance
- Income and wealth
- Aggregate demand
- Aggregate supply
- Price level and equilibrium level of real output
- Causes, costs and constraints of economic growth
- Macroeconomic objectives of governments
- Macroeconomic policy instruments
- Conflicting macroeconomic policies
Unit 3: Business economics and economic efficiency
- Firms and their objectives
- Firms and growth
- Calculating revenue
- Calculating costs
- Productive and allocative efficiency
- Types of profit
- Barriers to market entry and exit
- Market concentration
- Behaviour of firms
- The threat of competition
- Government intervention to maintain market competition
Unit 4: The global economy
- Causes and effects of globalisation
- Why trade?
- Recording and financing international trade
- How does a country compete?
- Poverty and inequality in developed and developing countries
- Growth and development in developed and developing countries
- The state and promoting growth and development
- Other measures to promote growth and development
Entry requirements
GCSE economics is useful, but not required for this course.
This course follows specifications 8EC01 (AS) and 9EC01 (A2) from the awarding organisation Edexcel. Full details of the specifications can be obtained from the Edexcel website.
Four exams: 2hrs (30% of marks), 1hr30m (25% of marks), 1hr30m (25% of marks) and 1hr30m (20% of marks).
Six AS assignments, eight A2 assignments
No coursework
Please note that due to upcoming changes the final opportunity to sit exams for this course isSummer 2016.
Financial information
It's your choice: pay in full and discount your course fees, or spread the cost with our finance offer. To pay in instalments, you will need to enrol by telephone.
Representative examples:
Course fee: £545
Deposit: £54.50
Amount of credit: £490.50
Monthly payment: £81.75
Duration of agreement: 6 months
Total repayable: £545
Rate of interest: 0%(fixed)
0% APR representative.
Course fee: £325
Deposit: £32.50
Amount of credit: £292.50
Duration of agreement: 6 months
Total repayable: £325
Rate of interest: 0% (fixed)
0% APR representative.
- EU – £75 for the first course and £40 for second and subsequent courses
- Rest of the world – £130 for the first course and £70 for second and subsequent courses
Further information
Essential textbooks
- Anderton, A., A level Economics for Edexcel, 5th edition, Pearson Education, 2008
How to apply
If you want to apply for this course, you will need to contact National Extension College *Fees Payable* directly.


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What was taking our time? Art centre Z33 in Hasselt, Belgium commissioned Unfold to create an installation 'featuring a 3d printer' for the exhibition "Design by Performance". The Installation is called L'Artisan Electronique and combines traditional pottery craft with 21th century digital techniques. Its still on display till the end of May. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, we will be operating the printer the 29th of may.
From the catalogue:
The world of design has been witness to how the boundaries between art and experimental design are becoming ever more blurred. The exhibition 'Design by Performance' is a showcase for performative trends in contemporary design, which focuses not on the production of a finished product, but on the production process itself: objects whose realisation is a continuous project, affected or formed by either the environment, the specific situation in which they find themselves, or onlookersAs such, processes and performances constitute a crucial part of Design by Performance, thus lending the exhibition its unpredictable and spontaneous character, and converting what is otherwise a pure 'exhibition space' into a space for events, interventions and actions by designers, artists and the public.
Atelier NL (NL), Maarten Baas (NL), Pieke Bergmans (NL), David Bowen (USA), Oscar Diaz (UK), Edhv (NL), Front (Sw), Martino Gamper (UK), Simon Heijdens (UK/NL), Eric Klarenbeek (NL), Sofie Lachaert & Luc d'Hanis (B), Laurent Liefooghe (B), Lawrence Malstaf (B), Bruno Munari (IT), Markus Schinwald (Au), Studio Glithero (UK), Studio Libertiny (NL), Tjep. (NL), Unfold & Tim Knapen (NL/B)
For L'Artisan Electronique, Unfold created - aside from the ceramic printer you all know - a virtual pottery wheel in collaboration with Tim Knapen. This pottery wheel gives visitors a chance to 'turn' their own forms. At regular intervals, a selection of these designs is printed in clay and exhibited in the space.
In L'Artisan Electronique, pottery, one of the oldest artisanal techniques for making utilitarian objects, is combined with new digital techniques. The virtual pottery wheel was realsied by means of a 3D-scanner and digital design software. However, the installation still clearly refers to the artisanal process of working in clay. The printing process imitates the traditional technique used by ceramicists, in which the form is built up by stacking coils of clay.
The other Reprap on display is in David Bowen's Growth Modeling Device that has been featured on a few Reprap blogs in the past. Its a fantastic piece that copies a growing union plant at regular intervals. David, who together with his wife also happen to be wonderful people, build his own Darwin style printer using a Makerbot extruder and gen2 electronics. The fun thing is that the printer has no top frame and is still very stable. I think he did a better job at integrating the Reprap technology in his installation than us, we didn't try :) More info at http://www.dwbowen.com/gmd.html


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Colorado's two U.S. senators introduced measures Wednesday that will help make railroad crossings in the country a little less noisy.
Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, both Democrats, proposed amendments that would require the Federal Railroad Administration to make it easier to establish railroad crossing "quiet zones."
The changes would make some of $42 million in federal transportation funds that has gone unused for five years available for competitive grants to help cities cover the cost of expensive upgrades needed to create quite zones.
Since 2005, Colorado cities and towns trying to keep freight and passenger trains from blaring horns in residential and commercial areas at all hours have struggled since with federal rules that demand expensive changes in so-called "quite zones," the senators said in a joint news release.
"Communities in Colorado want safe railroad crossings," Bennet said. "They also, reasonably, want a little more peace and quiet."
Mayors and county commissioners say the train noise hurts economic development and the quality of life.
Castle Rock in Douglas County is considering several quiet zone measures, including a wayside horn that is located at the railroad crossing and automatically sounds as a train approaches. The city may also install secure gates at two intersections at a cost of $1million.
"Coloradans are frustrated that the Federal Railroad Administration's train-noise rules simply do not provide viable alternatives for communities that want to shield their downtown areas and residential neighborhoods from train noise," Udall said in the release.
Their amendments would require the Federal Railroad Administration to examine its existing train horn rules, consider revisions and report its findings back to the Congress within 180 days.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, firstname.lastname@example.com or twitter.com/montewhaley


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Kashmir Is Everyone's Problem: Do Human Rights Matter Anymore?
On November 13, Khurram Parvez, Kashmiri human rights defender and Chairperson of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) was awarded the 2016 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award for his continued work on enforced disappearances in the conflict zone. Khurram is currently incarcerated, booked under the Public Safety Act by the Indian state on specious grounds with no evidence.
The circumstances behind his arrest, like the occupation of Kashmir by Indian Army, is rooted in a gross and illegal violation of human rights. On 15 September 2016, Khurram was invited to speak at the 33rd UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva, on behalf of AFAD, to brief the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and member governments on the state-licensed atrocities and violence meted out by Indian Armed Forces against Kashmiri civilians. Along with being barred from leaving the country, he was booked under the Act which allows for detention of people on vague claims without evidence for up to two years, without judicial review.
A poster demanding the release of human rights activist Khurram Parvez
Human Rights Watch has previously declared the law to be "vague and overbroad" due to usage of terms such as "security of the state" and "public order" that are not clearly defined and thus "does not meet the requirement of legality under international law". Khurram was not offered any legal assistance, nor brought before a magistrate after his arrest, as is required in court procedure; in fact, there were no clear charges read against him. On October 19, a special appeal to the Indian government was sent, signed by Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and Maina Kiai, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly. The letter stated that his arrest suggested "a deliberate attempt to obstruct his legitimate human rights activism." The Indian government responded with silence.
Today marks the 70th day of Khurram's detention, and the 139th day of curfew in Kashmir- the longest running curfew in Kashmir in Indian history.
The curfew, which was imposed after the killing of rebel leader Burhan Wani, has resulted in indiscriminate arrests of over 10,000 civilians under the Public Safety Act, over 100 civilian deaths by the Indian Army – and most shockingly, the blinding of 17,000 civilians, half of whom are children. The extent of blinding by so-called "non-lethal" pellet guns have been such that the government has been considering making Braille compulsory in schools to accommodate for the generation that has been violently handicapped in the state-sponsored conflict.
However, this violence is not new to Kashmir: the Kashmir Valley holds the world record for being the most highly militarised zone in the world (more than Gaza) with around 1 million troops as recorded in 2013, and is "the longest pending dispute on the planet earth" according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
With recoveries of mass graves, civilian disappearances and mass rapes, it remains the bloodiest unresolved conflict with an indiscriminate violation of human rights: so why isn't international media talking about it?
The numbers of civilians disappeared during the conflict are enough to provoke an international debate for a resolution. Around 8000-10,000 people have been estimated to have been disappeared by the Indian Army by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), founded in 1994 by Parveena Ahangar. Ahangar's 17 year old son has been missing since 1990, after being detained in a night raid. Known as the "Iron Lady of Kashmir", she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for her fearless work and constant activism, which includes organising sit-ins every week to remind the state of disappeared civilians.
"I went to Europe and gave them the list of disappeared persons, and they attempted to pressurize India, but there was no response. Every human rights defender who works here is in trouble. Our local journalists have been beaten, arrested, humiliated. The Kashmir Reader got banned. We demand Khurram's immediate release and press attention on the violence in Kashmir. The Indian Media has blacked out everything happening here."
The curfew conditions in Kashmir have not been given the coverage in mainstream Indian media that it deserves. Parveena says that there is no clear number of exactly how many have been injured by the pellets. Even now, houses are being ransacked, there is an extreme shortage of food and medical supplies, and the subsidised price of rice made available to the locals in Kashmir is unaffordably expensive, so most in the Valley are starving. Civilians are beaten indiscriminately, even if they need to go to the hospital, where further raids take place. In this summer's curfew, police firing of pellets upon ambulances and injuring medical personnel was a common sight.
Blood on the streets after clashes between protesters and police/ Photo: The Varmul Post
"This time no one has gone missing. They are getting killed, maimed, blinded in broad daylight and nobody can stop the Indian government. They are experimenting- using new power shells for tear gas that makes us unconscious upon inhaling. Modi [the Prime Minister] is trying to commit a genocide. But I am not scared of anything. My son has been missing for 26 years. I will not give up. I fight for truth," she says, her voice choking up with anger on the phone.
A report, titled "Buried Evidence", prepared by APDP, was presented at the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights & Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir (ITPK). It not only listed the intimidation faced by investigators from Indian military personnel, who denied them access to the mass graves, but also contained interviews by Kashmiri civilians who were witnesses to bodies of disappeared civilians being dumped in the river. Most of the bodies recovered had undergone torture and could not be identified. Many of the disappeared were also transported to the Indian state of Gujarat where they were then executed and buried in unmarked graves.
In the Kunan Poshpora rape case, the Indian Army has been accused of mass-raping women in two Kashmiri villages and repeatedly obstructing the judicial process, from intimidation to tampering and disappearance of clinching evidence. In a book titled, Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora?, four Kashmiri women have attempted to document the legal obstacles faced in gaining justice for the victims, as well as record the nature and extent of the rapes, described by the Indian Army as a "hoax orchestrated by militant groups to discredit the security forces by indulging in false propaganda with a view to jeopardize the conduct of counter insurgency operations."
In an interview with Carol Anne Grayson, Essar Batool, one of the four petitioners in the Kunan-Poshpora case recounts: "That night the soldiers raped between 40 to 100 women aged 13 to 80 years and tortured men in storehouses of the village. Women were repeatedly gang raped and men severely tortured. For the next few days the villages were placed under cordon to avoid any legal process by the villagers or to allow the medical examination of the women."
Despite all the evidence, the Indian government has maintained that the placement of Indian troops in Kashmir under AFSPA are necessary for maintenance of law and order and for curbing "anti-India" militant activities.
Described by the UN as a draconian law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) gives power to any warranted or military officer to open fire upon any civilian suspected of "disturbing public law and order"- a vague phrasing that can be modified to defend extra-judicial indiscriminate killings of civilians.
Indian troops in Kashmir/ Photo: The Varmul Post
In London, a small group of activists are trying to raise awareness about Khurram's illegal incarceration and the Kashmir curfew. A protest by Kashmir Solidarity Moment Society was organised on 18th November outside the BBC World Services offices in London to garner international media attention, but was called off due to a law and order issue as they did not have police permission.
Ifat Gazia, 24, a graduate of SOAS who organised the protest, is from Srinagar (the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir) herself. "We are gathered outside the BBC World Service because there has been global media silence over the human rights crisis ongoing in the Valley for decades. We want to highlight the crisis to international media platforms and alarm them regarding the situation in Kashmir and Khurram's arrest. We want to tell them, through this symbolic protest, that they are biased. This is not a small issue -this international conflict deserves attention."
Ifat had worked with Khurram in 2011 while making a documentary on Kashmir. "I was born in conflict, raised in conflict. Between 2009-11, when I was doing my undergraduate degree for 3 years, we only had 46 days of class. We would go out in the morning and not know if we would return at night."
The international media silence on the human rights violations is troubling: the BBC has published only one article regarding the mass blinding, preferring to focus on the diplomatic conflict instead, while the Guardian has given it slightly more coverage, with 7 articles, including a long read on the pellet injuries and mass blinding. An attempted genocide by a rogue government that has lost all sense of humanity needs to be called out by the international press and human rights organisations. The latter, however, has also come under attack.
In August of this year, Amnesty International was slapped with a "sedition" charge for organising an event to raise awareness about human rights violations in the Valley through first-person accounts of survivors. The charge, filed by ABVP – the student wing of the ruling far-right party BJP- mentioned 'unlawful assembly', 'rioting' and 'promoting enmity'. In response, Aakar Patel, the Executive Director of Amnesty International India, said that "merely organising an event to defend constitutional values is now being branded 'anti-India' and criminalised."
Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy and 50 other international activists, scholars, writers and lawyers wrote an open letter earlier this year, demanding the immediate release of Khurram Parvez, and an end to the violence in Kashmir, but this too has fallen on deaf ears. Booker Prize-winning writer Arundhati Roy was slapped with a sedition charge for criticising the Indian occupation of Kashmir and raising the issue of self-determination of the Kashmiri people: these were alleged to be "anti-national" sentiments. If convicted, she could face life imprisonment.
Historically, Kashmiris have only been treated as citizens when the sovereignty of India has been called into question: to mark the territory as an integral part of India, despite the referendum promised to the citizens during the partition of India in 1947. The case for Khurram is a case for Kashmir, and the limits of freedom. In a fractured society over-run by an authoritarian, oppressive, soul-less state, Kashmir remains the land of blood and sorrow: unresolved, unescapable, forever scarred. To turn a blind eye to it would be to sanction the mass blindness of civilians by the Indian State- and confirm, that indeed, some lives matter less than others.
Special thanks to Rayees Rasool and Suvangana Agarwal for translations from Urdu to English
Featured image: Handwara, The Varmul Post


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Using detail textures for extra realism close-up
Geprüft mit Version: 4.1
Schwierigkeitsgrad: Fortgeschrittene Anfänger
A detail texture is a pattern that is faded in gradually on a mesh as the camera gets close. This can can be used to simulate dirt, weathering or other similar detail on a surface without adding to rendering overhead when the camera is too far away to see the difference. This lesson explains how to use detail textures with Unity.
Obtaining the texture
A detail texture is a greyscale image that is used to lighten or darken another texture selectively. Where a pixel has a brightness value between 0 and 127 the image will be darkened (where zero denotes maximum darkness) and when the value is between 129 and 255, the image will be lightened (where 255 denotes maximum brightness). A value of exactly 128 will leave the underlying image unchanged.
If the detail image has an average brightness greater or lower than 128, the whole image will appear to be lightened or darkened as the camera gets close, which gives the wrong effect. It is therefore important to make sure that the brightness levels in the image are roughly symmetrical around 128. You can check this is the case in most image editing software by looking at the image histogram or the Levels adjustment (which typically also shows the histogram). If the histogram shows a symmetrical "bulge" that is slightly to the left or right of the centre, you can bracket the bulge with the min/max input level arrows to get the brightness centred on 127.
To avoid visible boundaries where the detail texture wraps, you should ideally use an image that tiles perfectly. If the image is created using the image editor's noise function, the results will typically tile without artifacts. Also, filters such as Difference Clouds often have setting to make the resulting image wrap. Simple effects like this can make quite effective detail maps when simulating dirt, grainy surfaces or weathering.
Unity import settings for the detail texture
Once you have saved your image to the Unity project, you can select it to see its import settings in the Inspector.
Set the texture type to Advanced and then enable the Fadeout Mip Maps setting under Generate Mip Maps. You should see a range control for the Fade Range; the numeric values for the range aren't specified but the defaults are suitable for most purposes. For distances below the start of the range, the detail texture will be visible. The range indicates the distance values over which the detail texture will gradually fade before eventually becoming invisible.
The detail material
To use the detail texture, you should set the material to use the Diffuse Detail shader using the menu on the Material Inspector.
In addition to the base texture, you will see a second sampler box to receive the detail texture you have just imported. Typically, you will want to set its Tiling values quite high (maybe about 10).
The detail material can now be applied to any suitable object to show the detailing effect.


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Express your Unique Style with this Special PS4 Custom Controller Rainbow created with premium paints and finishes. This special controller will satisfy even the most strict gamer due to the top-quality and design.
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Inspired by "Love to Quilt" from Edyta Sitar of
Laundry Basket Quilts
Quiltmaker: Laura Boehnke
12" square houndstooth flannel (appliqué foundation)
12" square dark brown felted wool (branch and stem appliqués)
Scraps of assorted green felted wool (leaf and calyx appliqués)
Scraps of assorted red felted wool (bud and berry appliqués)
Scraps of purple felted wool (berry appliqués)
7/8 yard plaid flannel (borders, backing, binding)
Lightweight fusible web
Dark brown, assorted green, assorted red, and purple thread to match felted wool
Finished wall hanging: 16-1/2" square
Finished block: 11-1/2" square
Quantities are for 44/45"-wide, 100% cotton fabrics.
Measurements include 1/4" seam allowances. Sew with right sides together unless otherwise stated. {C}


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Asters are invaluable in the hardy border, adding superb color in the autumn. Very durable and long lived. Even heavy, wet soils will suit them. Richer soils will generally yield taller plants. Mounds of color begin in September, in a full range of colors. Asters support bees and butterflies right up until season's end.
Pinch back and divide like mums for best display. General rule of thumb is to pinch until 4th of July and not after. Pinching yields better branching and more flowers. Can be divided every 2-3 years in spring. Avoid wet overwintering conditions. Remove spent flowers to prevent reseeding.
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