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Trend Alert! Time to get creative and show your roots. It's called ombre and it's still all the rage. Ombre is a French word meaning color graduating from dark to light. This color is also known as 'surfer strands' because the hair looks naturally sun-kissed. The key to this trendy color is subtlety! Your darker root color should flow into the lighter shade at the ends naturally. This color graduation works with your hair's natural beauty not against it. This hair color technique works on long hair, short hair, straight or curly and on virtually any hair color-the color combinations or endless. Busy girls on the go, take note- the fabulous part about this hair color is that it is low maintenance. No need to run to the salon to have your roots touched up on a regular basis-you can save time and money without sacrificing your style!
How to get the Perfect Ombre Color:
When choosing the lighter shade make sure you only go three to four shades lighter than your darker root color. This will ensure a natural gradation of color. Because the technique needs to look as natural as possible, it is highly recommended that you go to a professional who is experienced in ombre color. They will be able to discuss with you the right shades for your skin tone and expertly blend the two colors.
Here's a great example of how to go from dark to light with natural looking results. Ciara's ombre color beautifully transistions from a very dark brunette base color to a warm, light honey blonde. Notice how the colors chosen were expertly blended to compliment her skin tone. Simply stunning!
But this color technique isn't just for darker hair. Here's a lovely example of how to do ombre color if you are a blonde. Elizabeth Olsen shines as beige blonde roots effortlessly fade into soft and wavy champagne ends. This creates a seamless transition of color that enhances her complexion. Her haircolor looks oh-so-natural and has a "barely there" look to it.
Here's something a little more daring. An edgy hairstyle is taken to another level with bold ombre color. The model's very dark brown base color gradually fades into dramatic orange-red loose waves at the ends. A heavy fringe and dark smoky eyes complete this striking, vintage-inspired look.
Like Elizabeth Olsen's blonde tresses, Katie Cassidy's hair is an example of ombre done very subtlely but with maximum effect. A beautful warm brown at the roots gently lightens into a lighter golden shade at the ends. Notice how the curls pick up the lighter shade, adding soft movement to this hairstyle. This is a very beachy look for women who like to have that sun-kissed glow.
And here is the woman who some say started the ombre trend, Drew Barrymore. Drew has been rocking this ombre color trend for years in many different color combinations. No matter what style or color she always nails it. Drew works the ombre trend by keeping it natural looking and using tones that compliment her skin and eye color beautifully. If you are thinking of taking the ombre plunge, check out Drew's page in our Celebrity Hairstyle section!


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Business Owners and Sales Professionals
Get More Referrals, More Prospects and More Sales!!!
...and you can do it on a budget you can afford...Plus a Money back guarantee if not completely satisfied!
That's what 100 Days to Abundance is all about. During the 10 session program here is some of what you will acheive:
Produce more results than you thought possible
Create an unlimited supply of prospects for your business
Create powerful referral partners and referral systems
Turn your current prospects into clients
Create strategic partners to help grow your business
Increase the business you do with your existing clients
The entire 10 session program is only $100.00. That's only $1.00 a day.
Each 90 minute session, is conducted in person and focused on one key concept, strategy or tactic for growing your business. That allows you to learn, ask questions, implement, adjust and produce results during the 100 day program.
Participation in each program will be limited to only 10 Business Owners/Sales Professionals.
If you are a Small Business Owner or Sales Professional:
Determined to grow your business
Wants the focus & accountability to grow your business
Willing to do what it takes to grow your business
then 100 Days to Abundance is the program for you. (By the way, over 800 small business owners & sales professional have decided it was and participated in 100 Days to Abundance.)
Sessions will be held at the Team Nimbus Center and program is led by Bill Davis.
Session will be every Tuesday for 10 weeks starting on April 25th.
All this for only $100.00 and don't forget, you get the 100 Days to Abundance Guarantee:
"If after 3 sessions, you don't think 100 Days to Abundance is worth your money, I'll give it back.
Impossible to believe...but it's not too good to be true!!!

subset: commoncrawl


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When disasters strike, they do not discriminate. Everyone, without exception in the disaster zone will be affected.
While disasters do not make decisions, people most certainly can and do. Before, during and in the aftermath of disasters, human beings perpetuate social patterns of discrimination, and these entrenched patterns cause certain groups of people to suffer more than others (Singh, 2009).
The differentiated impact of disasters on men and women is primarily caused by the existing gender inequalities manifested. As a 2007 study conducted by London School of Economic shows, taken a sample of up to 141 countries over the period 1981 to 2002, natural disasters and their subsequent impact, on average, kill more women than men or kill women at an earlier age than men related to women's lower socio-economic status (Neumayer and Plümper, 2007).
Indeed, it is recognized worldwide that people's vulnerability to risks depends to a large extent on the assets they have available. In general, women tend to have more limited access to assets — physical, financial, human, social, and natural capital such as land, credit, decision-making bodies, agricultural inputs, technology, extension and training services which would all enhance their capacity to adapt.
Special attention should therefore be paid to the need to enhance women's capacity to manage risks, with a view to reducing their vulnerability and maintaining or increasing their opportunities for development.
In reality, while women's vulnerability to disasters is often highlighted, their actual and potential roles in disaster risk reduction have often been overlooked. Few existing disaster risk reduction policies and projects recognized the skills and capacities women which could significantly contribute to disaster risk reduction policies and building resilience.
Gender-specific capacities of women deriving from their social roles proved to be beneficial for their whole communities during every stage of the disaster cycle. Women's high level of risk awareness, social networking practices, extensive knowledge of their communities, task in managing natural environmental resources and caring abilities (Aguilar, et al., 2008) makes of them important players of effective risk assessment, early warning, disaster response and recovery actions.
In Honduras, for example, the village of La Masica was the only community to register no deaths in the wake of the 1998 Hurricane Mitch. Six months earlier, a disaster agency had provided gender-sensitive community education on early warning systems and hazard management. Women took on the abandoned task of continuously monitoring the warning system. As a result, the municipality was able to evacuate the area promptly when the hurricane struck.
Despite the above-mentioned facts, for many years disaster risk reduction has been treated as gender-neutral, with disasters seen as physical events requiring only physical prevention and recovery.
As to the latest developments, the Beijing Agenda for Global Action on Gender-Sensitive Disaster Risk Reduction has been adopted at the International Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction, held from April 20 to 22 this year in Beijing. This agenda sets nine goals to be achieved before 2015.
Beijing Agenda for Global Action on Gender-Sensitive Disaster Risk Reduction
1. Increase political commitment to gender analysis and gender mainstreaming through enhanced cooperation and collaboration between Ministries responsible for disaster risk reduction, climate change, poverty reduction and gender issues, with the participation of civil society;
2. Develop and review national policies, relevant laws, strategies, plans and budgets and take immediate action to mainstream gender into national development policies, planning and programmes;
3. Foster the linkage between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation from a gender perspective through policy and administrative measures;
4. Collect gender-specific data and statistics on impact of disasters, carry out gender-sensitive vulnerability, risk and capacity assessments and develop gender sensitive-indicators to monitor and measure progress;
5. Increase awareness of the public and media on the gender-sensitive vulnerabilities and capacities in disasters and gender-specific needs and concerns in disaster risk reduction and management;
6. Support research institutions to study the cost-benefit and efficiency of gender-sensitive policies and programmes in disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and poverty reduction;
7. Secure the actual application of disaster risk assessments as part of development policy-making and programme formulation to prevent disasters from making the poor even poorer;
8. Improve and mainstream a gender perspective and equal participation between men and women in the coordination of disaster preparedness humanitarian response and recovery through capacity building and training; and
9. Build and enhance the capacities of professional organizations, communities and pertinent national and local institutions to enable gender mainstreaming into all development sectors.
No amount of human planning, preparedness, or scientific investigation can completely prevent all catastrophes. Nevertheless, preventing social catastrophes most certainly lies within our collective human capacity. By upholding women's rights we are, in fact, making one of the most crucial preparations associated to disaster risk reduction that any society can make.
By Lorena Aguilar
Singh, A. (2009). Speech at the International Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction. April 20-22, 2009. Beijing, China.
Neumayer, E., & Plümper, T. (2007). The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy, 1981–2002. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 97(3), 551–566.
Aguilar, L., et al. (2008). Training Manual on Gender and Climate Change. San José, Costa Rica: IUCN, UNDP, GGCA.


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Friday, June 19, 2009
First Ice Cream of 2009
Summer time!
Sorry for the bad 'joke'. I quote my friend for this...but it did make me laugh! But back to the point. Its summer time, its time for the beach, time for 10 hours of sleep, which also means time for ice cream!
I've had an ice cream maker at home for ages, but I never really tried making proper ice cream until last summer. I tried out many new things last summer because my holiday was super long (since I just had my GCSE exams) and had nothing much to do, so I baked a lot and tried many new things!
The first flavour of ice cream up this year is something special that I haven't tried before - Goma (Black Sesame) Ice Cream. This Japanese flavour gives off a rich nutty aroma, contrasting with the creamy texture of the ice cream. Two forms of black sesame is used to enhance the flavour - sesame paste and ground sesame seeds, which resulted into an ice cream that is way more flavourful than the store-bought ones. Even my mum who doesn't have much of a sweet tooth loved it!
Pardon me for the poor photos - it's actually really hard to take good photos of ice cream here because of the hot and humid weather (even the aircon doesn't help much). But do try this ice cream flavour - it's just so good. See, the bowl was licked clean precisely one minute after the photo shoot!
Goma (black sesame) Ice Cream
Adapted from Ice Cream Book, by Junko Fukuda (original recipe in Chinese)
60g Black sesame paste
180ml Milk
2 Egg yolks
70g + 2tbsp sugar (measure separately)
120ml Whipping cream
1tbsp Ground black sesame seeds
1. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp of sugar with the black sesame paste until smooth.
2. In a separate large bowl, whisk together 70g sugar and the egg yolks until pale yellow.
3. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until just about to boil.
4. Mix the yolks and the milk, adding the milk in small portions (so you don't end up with scrambled eggs!)
5. Pour the mixture (the custard) back into the pan. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens - it should coat the back of a wooden spoon.
6. Strain the custard. Mix the custard with the black sesame mixture, adding the custard in small portions (or the mixture will separate).
7. Place the bowl over an ice bath to cool, stirring occasionally. Chill the mixture until thoroughly cold.
8. Mix the cream and ground sesame seeds into the cold ice cream mixture.
9. Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker, for around 20 minutes (time may differ according to your machine).
10. Transfer to an air tight container and chill until ice cream sets.
Click here to see the ice cream maker I have (links to amazon). I wouldn't recommend it though, because for some reason the lid doesn't fit on properly to the bottom canister, and the whole top bit wobbles when I switch the machine on.
This was the brand of sesame paste I used. I think I'll use the remaining to make a black sesame chiffon cake.
14 Responses to "First Ice Cream of 2009"
Wow Black Sesame? Haha this sounds so Hong Kong-ish :D
I don't have an icecream maker, but last time I tried to make some matcha icecream. It was very good, but a little solid, very difficult to make scoops... I have to try it again, and maybe another time with blakc sesame, I think my family will love it! :D
Your 'joke' definitely brightened my day. I love the photos, the color composition is so lovely
WOw! That looks wonderful. I love sesame ice-cream...
Wowie...thank you for sharing the recipes and lovely presentation. I love Black Sesame ice cream and also the Yin side - White Sesame Ice Cream.
wow... please keep blogging, I love your photos!
i showed my mum all this n she loved it!
you should do a blog bout your kitchen - i`d like to see it w/ the pots & pans and everything hahah :]
Re: CLARE!
Thanks! Haha my kitchen is tiny. like teeny weeny tiny. Heck I don't even cook much in it...I prepare everything outside (to take advantage of aircon and my laptop) :D
Thank you everyone for your kind comments!
Hahahah I have that spoon at home =)
oh wow! these are so cool! I got black sesame seeds given to me and have no idea what to do with them. ice cream sure sounds great. where can i find sesame seed paste?
Re: Simple Pleasures
I bought my sesame seed paste at a local department store that sells Japanese goods. Maybe you can try your local Asian grocery store?
This recipe looks amazing! Thank you for sharing.
I've included it in my Top 25 recipe posts on Twitter because its such a winner!!
Thank you again for the beautiful post.
Bridge x
This recipe looks amazing! Thank you for sharing.
I've included it in my Top 25 recipe posts on Twitter because its such a winner!!
Thank you again for the beautiful post.
Bridge x
looks delicious! i've been planning to make some homemade ice cream.
i was just wondering if i can make the same recipe without an ice cream maker?
Re: Anonymous
Ice cream is all about getting the air in, so if you don't have an ice cream machine, I'd suggest the following method:
Follow steps 1-7. Whip the cream into soft peaks and fold it into the custard. Freeze until just frozen, then use a hand mixer to beat the mixture until it is semi-melted again. Repeat 2-3 times until the mixture is like soft icecream, then freeze the ice cream thoughroughly.
Hope that helps!!


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We've spent a lot of time on this blog looking at how to get work done with Ruby and Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Access, Outlook). Let's take a break and go play... with iTunes.
Apple's popular iTunes application for Windows includes a COM interface. This allows you to automate and manage iTunes with Ruby. You can launch the application, search for and play songs, set user interface properties, and manage your iTunes library and PlayLists using Ruby code. Let's take a look...
First, of course, we start by connecting to the iTunes application object, launching iTunes if it isn't already running:
require 'win32ole'
itunes = WIN32OLE.new('iTunes.Application')
Controlling the iTunes User Interface
To place iTunes into MiniPlayer mode (or return it to Full Mode), set the BrowserWindow.MiniPlayer property:
itunes.BrowserWindow.MiniPlayer = true
To toggle the play/pause button, simply call the PlayPause method:
To increase or decrease sound volume, adjust the SoundVolume property:
itunes.SoundVolume = itunes.SoundVolume + 50
itunes.SoundVolume = itunes.SoundVolume - 25
To go to the previous or next track, call those methods:
Managing Your iTunes Library
OK, that covers several standard user interface features. Now, let's look at how you can work with your content.
Let's create an instance of the Library, which is a child object of the Application object:
library = itunes.LibraryPlaylist
We'll be working with this LibraryPlaylist object a lot going forward. It provides several methods that will return collections of Track and PlayList objects. For example, calling the Tracks method returns a collection of all tracks in the library:
tracks = library.Tracks
You can then select a song by name from this collection of Track objects:
song = tracks.ItemByName('At Long Last Love')
...and then play the track by calling its Play method:
To search the LibraryPlaylist, call its Search method, passing it a string to search for, and an integer that determines what field to search, such as Artist, Album Title, or Track Title:
artist_tracks = library.Search('Sinatra', 2)
album_tracks = library.Search('Come Fly With Me', 3)
title_tracks = library.Search('Fly Me To The Moon', 5)
The Search and Tracks methods return a collection of Track objects, which you could iterate over. We might want to add all track objects in this collection to a ruby array called songs:
songs = []
for track in tracks
songs << track
This would then allow us to use Ruby's excellent sort_by method to sort the songs array:
songs = songs.sort_by{|song| [song.Artist, song.Year, song.Album, song.TrackNumber]}
The Track object includes dozens of attributes pertaining to this track. As indicated above, there's Artist, Album, Year, and TrackNumber. But there's also Time (in minutes and seconds), Duration (total seconds), BPM (beats-per-minutes), Composer, Genre, and many more.
You could iterate over the songs collection and write data for each track to a file:
songs.each do |song|
my_file.puts [song.Artist, song.Album, song.Name, song.Time].join("\t")
...or add the data to an Excel worksheet or SQLite database.
Working with iTunes PlayLists
To create a new PlayList, call the Application object's CreatePlaylist method, passing it the name of the new PlayList:
playlist = itunes.CreatePlaylist('My Playlist')
To add a song to a PlayList object, first get a Track object by calling the ItemByName method on a Tracks collection:
song = library.Tracks.ItemByName('At Long Last Love')
...then call the PlayList's AddTrack method, passing it the Track object:
In the iTunes object model, PlayLists are child objects of Source objects. So, to create an array of all PlayList objects, we iterate over each Source object and get each PlayList object:
playlists = []
itunes.Sources.each do |source|
source.PlayLists.each do |playlist|
playlists << playlist
This gives us a collection of PlayList objects that we can now work with:
for playlist in playlists do
puts playlist.Name
To select a single PlayList by name:
playlist = itunes.Sources.ItemByName('Library').Playlists.ItemByName('All Sinatra')
To play the first track of a PlayList:
To exit the iTunes application, call its Quit method:
Further Reading
Further details can be found in this Microsoft TechNet article.
For further examples in Ruby, you might want to check out the itunes-control (itch) library source code.
And for those running iTunes on Mac OS, you may find this blog post by Zack Hobson to be of interest.
I hope you have found this information helpful. As always, post a comment here or send me an email if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.
Thanks for stopping by!


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Youth Performance Troupe
The Youth Performance Troupe
consists of young people (ages 10-18) from all over Edmonton with a desire and commitment to learn through performance.
They have been working with Maralyn and Kate Ryan and other theatre professionals building performance skills to entertain while learning about and serving the community.
YPT began in October, 2011 where the troupe met on consecutive Mondays to rehearse for a special performance raising awareness of The Edmonton's Christmas Bureau in December, 2011. A Little Women's Christmas performed to a sell out crowd and the troupe was able to raise $500.00 for the Edmonton's Christmas Bureau.
We are very excited about the future of the troupe growing into an important part of our young peoples lives and the community!
All members of the troupe must go through an interview process with a letter from a teacher.
Please contact us for more information or if you would like to arrange an interview for your child.
Y.P.T. grew from the Northern Light Theatre's Performance Camps held in August.
Maralyn Ryan is back again for another wonderful and exciting year of Performance Camps in August for children ages 6-9 and 10-16.
Great job to all the fine young actors from this past summer! They are amazing!
The camps will be held at the Glenora Community Hall nestled in the lovely central Glenora neighborhood.
For more information on this summer's camp, please check out Northern Light Theatre


text: Experience the award-winning Bull & Bear restaurant, serving a culinary journey of epic proportions. The restaurant, named Best Fine Dining by Orlando Home & Leisure, offers a menu of trend-setting fare, including specialties 36-Ounce 28-Day Dry-Aged Tomahawk Rib Eye and Veal Oscar, an innovation of the original Bull & Bear in Manhattan. Bull & Bear exudes a club-like warmth, compliments of its handsome furnishings and impeccable service.


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be caught off (one's) guard(redirected from are caught off my guard)
Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day!
be caught off (one's) guard
To be taken by surprise; to be caught when one is vulnerable, careless, or inattentive. We'll wait until he's caught off guard, and then we'll take him and his company for all they're worth! Don't be caught off your guard. There are a lot of suspicious characters around here.


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Welcome aboard Oman Air, and discover what is "Modern Vision, Timeless Traditions..."
Oman Air, the designated carrier of the Sultanate of Oman is a business enterprise committed to the basic objective of providing safe, reliable and profitable air transport services for passengers and cargo as well as other aviation related services. Apart from being recognized as a strong business presence, Oman Air is respected for its professional attitude and recommended for its punctuality and service excellence.
Starting off as a regional player, Oman Air as Oman's national carrier, has witnessed rapid growth since the time it was established. The ownership of Oman Air rests in the hands of the government of Oman. Oman Air has its hub base at Muscat International Airport in Muscat, Oman. Oman Air Head Office is situated at Muscat, Oman. This airline has a strong work force of well-trained employees whose dedication and hard work has helped us to build a distinct identity and customer base.
Oman Air partners with many carriers around the world, while having a special code-share partnership with several select carriers. Oman Air has implemented its Frequent Flyer Programme with these code share partners. Today, it has carved a niche of its own with its renowned traditions of hospitality, and flies to several destinations, on both domestic and international sectors. Oman Air is now the airline of choice for the discerning business and leisure traveller in the regional airline scenario. Bringing together, people from different nations and diverse cultures. Welcoming each one of its guests with true hospitality and warmth that it's quintessentially Omani.
Oman Air Profile
Oman Air, the flagship company of the Oman's Civil Aviation sector, commenced operations in 1993.Know more


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A Good Domain Name
Your domain name is the center of your Internet identity. So what type of things should you take into consideration when choosing the name that will represent you on the Web?
Choosing the right domain name can be critical to the success of a website. Most Internet users remember websites by their domain names; your domain name will affect the way people link to you, and the way you rank in search engines. Take a little bit of time to consider what is important in your domain name.
Anatomy of a domain name:
Each domain name consists of two parts – the Mid Level Domain (MLD), and the Top Level Domain (TLD). The Mid Level domain is what most people remember: Google, CNN, or eBay. The Top Level Domain is the portion after the dot: COM, NET, ORG, etc. There are also specific TLDs for each country (cc, fr, uk), educational sites (edu), and government sites (gov). Many of the TLDs are only available to residents of the particular country, or to organization that meet specific requirements, like educational accreditation.
How to make the best domain name:
Keep it short, and simple. The shorter it is the easier it is to remember.
Even though you can register a name that is over 60 characters, you should register the shortest name that your customers and visitors will associate with your website. Consider the difference between avab.com and AcmeVideosAndBooks.com.
Some argue that shorter domain names are easier to remember, easier to type and far less susceptible to mistakes: for example, "remotepc.com" is easier to remember and less prone to typos than "logintomycomputerfromsomewhereelse.com". Others argue that a longer domain name is usually easier on the human memory – for example, "fcu.com" is a sequence of seemingly unrelated letters, whereas FirstCreditUnion.com clearly indicates what it is.
I would recommend a name that is more than 20 letters if you can find one that communicates your message. Unfortunately, many short domains are already taken.
Make it Easy to Type
There are many letters that sound similar (C, V, B, and T) and there are common spelling rules (like I before E) that make certain phrases difficult to communicate. Sites like ICanHasCheezburger or Flickr are popular in spite of their strange names, not because of them. Another issue to keep in mind is unintended letter combinations. Imagine you are starting a site about Apple Computers and name it MacHome.com; it also spells MachoMe.com. There are some far funnier, and more unfortunate, domain names out there; don't let your business fall prey to this.
Keyword Names Or Brand Name Domains?
A brand domain is the name of your business (e.g., Dillards.com); a keyword domain is what your business does (e.g., DepartmentStore.com). You have to choose which way you are going to go based on what your business is. On one side, your clients know you by the name of your business; on the other side, including the name of your service or product helps people find you in the search engine results. Both have advantages, just don't go overboard or your name will be difficult to share and talk about.
A domain name that matches your brand name can be very important. The name you use to advertise your product is the name that you will want for your domain, because that is the first thing people will try in their browser. Your brand is also the easiest thing for them to remember and will be searched in conjunction with your service when people use search engines.
Keyword Based Domains – domains that incorporate keywords communicate quickly what visitors should expect. Additionally, search engines use the words in your URL to determine your placement in their results. By choosing a domain that matches a keyword search, you may be able to rank higher for targeted keywords and thereby benefit from added traffic. Las-Vegas-Realty.com could be a very useful for a realtor in Las Vegas, but it also means that you are competing with a huge number of other websites also targeting those keywords.
Brandable Domains – using a domain that is your name or your company name means that you have less work to do in your advertising to get people to the right place. But it also means that fewer people will stumble across your site while looking for your product/service in general.
Many of the most successful sites do not use keyword domains. These online businesses have chosen to go with a completely original domain, and brand it. A few examples are Yahoo!, Google, Amazon, Monster, and eBay. These large corporations are not naive about search engine optimization; they are putting emphasis on creating a brand name around their business. Consider the example of real estate again. If you give out many cards and have a memorable name, having a domain name that matches the way people think of you means you will keep more of the traffic produced.
You don't have to choose one or the other, especially in local markets. Domains like Engadget.com, ProBlogger.com, or LarsenAuto.com are quite brandable yet also incorporate a keyword. If possible I suggest that you err on the side of branding.
Tips for Branding.
Setting your brand apart with a unique moniker for your business helps you create a space on the web. Your brand should be more than a grouping of words; think along the lines of MoneyTree.com rather than GetYourPaydayLoans.com.
Make the domain unique to avoid losing traffic to another popular site. Avoid words that sound like existing brands and watch out for commonly misspelled words.
When you have settled on several available name choices, ask around to see what your friends and clients have to say. A name that may make perfect sense to you may be too hard for other people to remember. Is your domain easy to say? Is it hard to spell? Do you need to explain why you chose the name?
Collect a few words that are related to your service/product and related to your company name. Try several combinations to find the configuration that brings it all together to fit your vision.
Dot What?
If you're looking to grow your web business for the long-term, you should have a preference for a .COM. Most users, except the very tech-savvy, assume .com when they are told a domain name. Claiming a .com makes it easy for your customers to navigate directly to your site. There is one major exception to this. If you are regionalized or specific to a particular country you will get significant value by owning a domain that is specific to that country; metrotransit.com vs. metrotransit.co.uk will perform very differently in London than in New York City. If the web is not your primary channel, your Top Level Domain is of less concern.
When you try to register your business's domain name, you may find the name you want is already taken. If your perfect domain name is not available in .com don't give up. If you get creative you may be able to put together an alternate that is available. Or, you can just take a .net or .org. The only real difference is that you should be sure to always stress the extension in your marketing materials. So, if your site is DogBook.net you should always list your site as DogBook.net, and not The Dog Book. Over time, your consistency will pay off.
Be Careful with Hyphens and Numbers in Domain Names.
Should you get a hyphenated name? You will probably find that hyphenated versions of phrases are easier to find and result in fewer unexpected letter combinations. But there is a good reason that hyphenated names are less popular: it's easy to forget the hyphens when typing a name. Many users are used to typing things like eastcostrecords.com but not east-coast-records.com. They'll probably leave out the hyphens and wind up at your competitor's site.
There is a second reason that hyphenated names can be problematic. Try verbally communicating a URL like dash-dot.com or the-best-thing-since-toast.org. It is a hassle and people are very likely to miscommunicate or mistype it. I know a guy named Alex who runs a picture blog called celebrities-eating.com; if you forget the dash you might visit a porn site, instead of pictures of presidents eating pancakes. When considering a hyphenated name, know the websites that your customers may end up at accidentally, and whether that is a risk you are willing to take.
Your decision will depend on how important a specific name is to your business. I recommend that you be sparing in your use of hyphens; if you need more than one hyphen you may want to do a little more brainstorming.
Numbers are another category of names that can be difficult to communicate. Even though 9west and NineWest are pretty simple to share verbally, you are still going to run the risk of people getting it wrong when they actually search for it.
Adding Articles, Verbs, or Adjectives to Domain Names.
Adding a descriptor to your name can help get around a name that is already taken. If you do choose to add descriptors or articles to your domain name, make sure that you are creating a strong distinction, and play up your additions in all marketing materials. Otherwise, you could be driving traffic to a competitor. For example, eToys.com is virtually indistinguishable from eToy.com in almost any medium. Any mention of one can easily drive traffic to the other.
Avoid Legal Issues.
Unfortunately, sometimes you come up with a great name only to find that it steps on a trademark or service mark held by another company. There are some companies that are happy to just buy the domain from you. The biggest issue here is probably the hassle that will arise if you have to change your name. Other companies may be more inclined to sue you. Spending an extra 15 minutes searching copyright.gov is much easier than re-branding your content or calling in your legal team.
Register Your Domain NOW.
If you have a good idea for a name or a future site, buy the name when you get the idea so you can have the most brandable version of the name.
One May Not Be Enough.
If you like a name but think it may be misspelled buy both versions. Don't want anyone trying to piggyback on your brand? Buy all three major Top Level Domains (com, net, & org).
Don't Overspend on Your Name.
If no one owns the domain you want, it should cost about $10, and less if you are buying in bulk or buying hosting at the same time. If someone currently owns the name or has a defunct business on it, you will need to negotiate an appropriate sale price. Appropriate really means what the name is worth to you. Never accept terms where you are leasing the name; make sure the domain registration is changed to your name, address and contact information.
There are many reputable domain sellers including GoDaddy, Yahoo!, 1&1, and DreamHost. If you choose to use commercial hosting you will likely be able to buy your domain directly from them.
My top rules for choosing a domain name are:
- Keep it relevant, unique and easy to communicate
- Get a top-three TLD (com, net, org)
- If you need more than one hyphen, you should pick a different domain name
- Buy early, and buy every iteration that you can.


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You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2013.
It's official. I'm putting this blog on indefinite hold.
Why? Because I'm back to school (yes, again), this time to complete a MSW. It combines a great deal of what I've done over many, many years (including those before I became a children's librarian). I'll still be working with children and families. And there will probably be another blog at another time.
It's been marvelous, some of the best time of my life.
I'll keep you posted. 🙂
Happy New Year (and more),
P.S. You can still find me on Twitter @BabetteR.


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"This article analyzes every precedent-bearing decision and law review article referencing PAS in the past twenty years, finding that precedent holds PAS inadmissible and the majority of legal scholarship views it negatively."
"Both Gardner (PAS's originator) and NAMBLA claim that adult-child sex is biologically natural, not inherently harmful to the child, and that any resultant harm is caused by social stigma rather than the sexual contact itself."
"While Gardner claimed that "repeat offenders must be removed from society," he advocated that they only be imprisoned after treatment has failed, advocating that they not be imprisoned with "hardened criminals," or be subjected to lengthy sentences. As a political advocate, Gardner lobbied to abolish mandated reporting of child abuse, to abolish immunity for reporters of child abuse, and for the creation of federally funded programs to assist individuals claiming to be falsely accused."
The Evidentiary Admissibility of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Science, Law, and Policy Jennifer Hoult - Children's Legal Rights Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2006 Abstract: Since 1985, in jurisdictions all over the United States, fathers have been awarded sole custody of their children based on claims that mothers alienated these children due to a pathological medical syndrome called Parental Alienation Syndrome ("PAS"). Given that some such cases have involved stark outcomes, including murder and suicide, PAS's admissibility in U.S. courts deserves scrutiny. This article presents the first comprehensive analysis of the science, law, and policy issues involved in PAS's evidentiary admissibility. As a novel scientific theory, PAS's admissibility is governed by a variety of evidentiary gatekeeping standards that seek to protect legal fora from the influence of pseudo-science. This article analyzes every precedent-bearing decision and law review article referencing PAS in the past twenty years, finding that precedent holds PAS inadmissible and the majority of legal scholarship views it negatively. The article further analyzes PAS's admissibility under the standards defined in Frye v. United States, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Kumho Tire Company v. Carmichael, and Rules 702 and 704(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, including analysis of PAS's scientific validity and reliability; concluding that PAS remains an ipse dixit and inadmissible under these standards. The article also analyzes the writings of PAS's originator, child psychiatrist Richard Gardner - including twenty-three peer-reviewed articles and fifty legal decisions he cited in support of his claim that PAS is scientifically valid and legally admissible - finding that these materials support neither PAS's existence, nor its legal admissibility. Finally, the article examines the policy issues raised by PAS's admissibility through an analysis of PAS's roots in Gardner's theory of human sexuality, a theory that views adult-child sexual contact as benign and beneficial to the reproduction of the species. http://ssrn.com/abstract=910267
paper available at : http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=642440
from the paper : 1. American Precedent Holds PAS Inadmissible - Because unreliable scientific claims pose a unique risk of undue influence and prejudice in the courtroom, the evidentiary admissibility of novel scientific material is governed by gate-keeping rules that are intended to ensure that such testimony meets adequate standards of reliability. As a novel scientific theory, PAS's admissibility is governed by these gate-keeping rules. Gardner published the claim that fifty American decisions set precedent holding PAS admissible under the relevant evidentiary rules. A closer examination reveals this claim to be unfounded; current U.S. precedent holds PAS inadmissible. By July 19, 2005, sixty-four precedent bearing cases referenced PAS. Only two of these decisions, both originating in criminal courts in New York State, set precedent on the issue of PAS's evidentiary admissibility; both held PAS inadmissible....
A. PAS Is Not a Medical Syndrome - A medical "syndrome" defines a "distinct" correlation between a set of symptoms and a particular pathology. Determining whether PAS is a valid medical syndrome requires an assessment of whether it is an existing pathology and whether its diagnostic criteria correlate accurately with that pathology....Both Gardner and NAMBLA claim that adult-child sex is biologically natural, not inherently harmful to the child, and that any resultant harm is caused by social stigma rather than the sexual contact itself. Gardner claimed the sole "determinant as to whether these experiences [i.e. a sexual encounter between an adult and a child] will be traumatic is the social attitude towards these encounters" and stated: [M]any societies have been unjustifiably punitive to those who exhibit these sexual paraphilic variations [e.g. pedophiles, rapists, etc.] and have not been giving proper respect to the genetic factors that may very well be operative. Such considerations may result in greater tolerance for those who exhibit these atypical sexual proclivities. My hope is that this theory will play a role (admittedly small) in bringing about greater sympathy and respect for individuals who exhibit these variations of sexual behavior. [Further,] they do play a role in species survival. While Gardner claimed that "repeat offenders must be removed from society," he advocated that they only be imprisoned after treatment has failed, advocating that they not be imprisoned with "hardened criminals," or be subjected to lengthy sentences. As a political advocate, Gardner lobbied to abolish mandated reporting of child abuse, to abolish immunity for reporters of child abuse, and for the creation of federally funded programs to assist individuals claiming to be falsely accused.
Parental Alienation Syndrome and Parental Alienation: Getting It Wrong in Child Custody Cases Carol S. Bruch University of California, Davis 35 Family Law Quarterly 527 (2001) Abstract: As courts and legislatures continue their enthusiastic ventures into family law reform, they make frequent use of theories and research from the social sciences. This essay focuses on developments in child custody law stemming from "Parental Alienation Syndrome" (PAS), a theory propounded in 1985 by Richard Gardner, M.D. that became widely used despite its lack of scientific foundations. The discussion highlights theoretical and practical problems with PAS, provides a similar review of more recent proposals labeled "Parental Alienation" (PA), and concludes with recommendations for lawyers and judges who must evaluate these and similar developments. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=298110&rec=1&srcabs=910267
paper available at : http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=228611
from the paper:
C. The Flaws in PAS Theory - The deficiencies in PAS theory are multiple. Some have already been identified in social science literature and child custody judicial opinions; still others are now emerging. First, Gardner confounds a child's developmentally related reaction to divorce and high parental conflict (including violence) with psychosis. In doing so, he fails to recognize parents' and children's angry, often inappropriate, and totally predictable behavior following separation. This error leads him to claim that PAS constitutes a frequent example of folie à deux or folie à trois, Shared Psychotic Disorders that the American Psychiatric Association and scholarly studies report occur only rarely. His assertion that these disorders occur primarily in young children is also contrary to the literature, probably also due to a misreading of typical developmental responses to divorce on the part of young children. Second, possibly as a consequence of these errors and his tail-of-the-elephant view, Gardner vastly overstates the frequency of cases in which children and custodial parents manufacture false allegations or collude to destroy the parent-child relationship. Taken together, these assertions have the practical effect of impugning all abuse allegations, allegations which Gardner asserts are usually false in the divorce context. Here, too, Gardner cites no evidence in support of his personal view, and the relevant literature reports the contrary—that such allegations are usually well founded. Third, in this fashion, PAS shifts attention away from the perhaps dangerous behavior of the parent seeking custody to that of the custodial parent. This person, who may be attempting to protect the child, is instead presumed to be lying and poisoning the child. Indeed, for Gardner, the concerned custodial parent's steps to obtain professional assistance in diagnosing, treating, and protecting the child constitute evidence of false allegations. Worse yet, if therapists agree that danger exists, Gardner asserts that they are almost always man-hating women who have entered into a folie à trois with the complaining child and concerned parent. Indeed, he warns judges not to take abuse allegations seriously in the divorce court setting in high conflict cases (severe PAS cases). Neither Gardner nor those who accept his views acknowledge the logical difficulties when Gardner asserts that abuse allegations which are believed by therapists constitute evidence of PA by the protective parent. Fourth, Gardner believes that, particularly in serious cases, the relationship of an alienated child with the rejected parent will be irreparably damaged, probably ending for all time, unless immediate, drastic measures (custody transfer, isolation from the loved parent, and deprogramming) are taken. Here, too, reliable sources reveal that his theory is exaggerated, with all but unusual cases (for example, those appearing in violent families) resolving themselves as the children mature. Fifth, as these sources suggest, Gardner's proposed remedy for extreme cases is unsupported and endangers children. In his admitted decision to err on the side of under-identifying abusers, Gardner appears to have overlooked the policy differences between criminal law and child custody law and also to have misunderstood the distinction between the burdens of proof in criminal and civil cases in the United States. To the extent that PAS results in placing children with a parent who is, in fact, abusive, the youngsters will be bereft of contact with the parent who might help them. Parent groups and investigative reporting describe, for example, numerous cases in which trial courts have transferred children's custody to known or likely abusers and custodial parents have been denied contact with the children they have been trying to protect. In less extreme cases, too, children are likely to suffer from such a sudden dislocation in their home life and relationship with the parent they trust. Even therapists who accept PAS theory have advised against custody transfers to no avail in some reported cases in which it seems judges have implemented Gardner's views on their own initiative....PAS as developed and purveyed by Richard Gardner has neither a logical nor a scientific basis. It is rejected by responsible social scientists and lacks solid grounding in psychological theory or research. PA, although more refined in its understanding of child-parent difficulties, entails intrusive, coercive, unsubstantiated remedies of its own. Lawyers, judges, and mental health professionals who deal with child custody issues should think carefully and respond judiciously when claims based on either theory are advanced.
Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force On Violence And The Family - ISSUES AND DILEMMAS IN FAMILY VIOLENCE Issue 5 WHEN PARENTS SEPARATE AFTER AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP, SHOULDN'T FATHERS HAVE AS MUCH RIGHT AS MOTHERS TO BE GRANTED PHYSICAL CUSTODY OF AND VISITATION RIGHTS WITH THEIR CHILDREN? Tensions exist between children's need for contact with their father and their need to be protected from the physical, sexual and psychological abuse that is common in families where there has been other forms of violence such as woman abuse. Although most people believe that fathers should have equal access to their children after the termination of a relationship between the parents, the equal-access option is based on the assumption that the fathers will act in their children's best interests. However, that is a naive assumption in situations where family violence has occurred. Fathers who batter their children's mothers can be expected to use abusive power and control techniques to control the children, too. In many of these families, prior to separation, the men were not actively involved in the raising of their children. To gain control after the marital separation, the fathers fight for the right to be involved. Often children who have been exposed to violence in the family are frightened to confront their father's negative or abusive behavior, and mothers cannot protect them. Sometimes the father tries to alienate the child from the mother by using money and other enticements, negative comments, or restricted access to the telephone during visitation with him. Other times, fathers may threaten or actually kidnap the child to punish the mother for leaving, or to try to force her to return. Most people, including the battered woman herself, believe that when a woman leaves a violent man, she will remain the primary caretaker of their children. Family courts, however, may not consider the history of woman abuse relevant in awarding custody. Recent studies suggest that an abusive man is more likely than a nonviolent father to seek sole physical custody of his children and may be just as likely (or even more likely) to be awarded custody as the mother. Often fathers win physical custody because men generally have greater financial resources and can continue the court battles with more legal assistance over a longer period of time. Family courts frequently minimize the harmful impact of children's witnessing violence between their parents and sometimes are reluctant to believe mothers. http://web.archive.org/web/20000307233013/www.apa.org/pi/pii/familyvio/issue5.html
LOYOLA OF LOS ANGELES LAW REVIEW 29:1367-1415 (1994) THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME: A DANGEROUS AURA OF RELIABILITY Cheri L. Wood - PAS testimony should not be admitted in court because of the causation and evidentiary problems with the theory. Because of the dangerous aura of reliability and trustworthiness extant in Dr. Gardner's self- published theory, admission of PAS is inevitable and particularly disconcerting. http://fact.on.ca/Info/pas/wood94.htm
Dr. Richard Gardner: A Review of His Theories and Opinions on Atypical Sexuality, Pedophilia, and Treatment Issues by Stephanie J. Dallam, RN, MSN, FNP Reference: Dallam, S. J. (1998). Treating Abuse Today, 8(1), 15-23. http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/2.html
Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is one such theory. This unsophisticated, pseudoscientific theory explains a child's estrangement from one parent or allegations of abuse at the hands of one parent by blaming the other. The theory, developed by the late Richard A. Gardner, M.D., portrays the preferred parent (usually the mother under PAS) as an evil "alienator" who is virtually solely responsible for turning a vulnerable child against their estranged parent (usually the father under PAS)….there has been no consistent empirical or clinical evidence that PAS is a valid syndrome or that the so called "alienator's" behavior is the actual cause of the alienated child's behavior towards the target parent (Walker et al, 2005). In fact, the majority of mental health and legal experts who have studied the issue consider PAS theory to be both erroneous and dangerous to the children involved. http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/faq.htm
The Parental Alienation Syndrome: Is It Scientific? by Stephanie J. Dallam, RN, MSN, FNP Dallam, S. J. (1999). In E. St. Charles & L. Crook (Eds.), Expose: The failure of family courts to protect children from abuse in custody disputes . Los Gatos , CA : Our Children Our Children Charitable Foundation. Gardner 's theories are based on his assumption that sex between a child and an adult is not inherently harmful, and his belief that there is an epidemic of false sexual abuse allegations being made by vengeful wives during custody disputes. Gardner maintains these beliefs in spite of a wealth of clinical and experimental data which prove otherwise.http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/3.html
Faller, K. C. (1998). The parental alienation syndrome: What is it and what data support it? Child Maltreatment, 3(2), 100-115 "No data are provided by Gardner to support the existence of the syndrome and its proposed dynamics. In fact, the research and clinical writing of other professionals leads to a conclusion that some of its tenets are wrong and that other tenets represent a minority view" (p. 112). http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/docs/Faller1998.pdf
Parental Alienation Syndrome: What Professionals Need to Know Part 1 of 2 Update - Volume 16, Number 6, 2003 By Erika Rivera Ragland & Hope Fields PAS is based primarily upon two notions, neither of which has a foundation in empirical research. 1. PAS Presupposes a High Rate of False Accusations in Custody Cases The theory of PAS is based in part on the notion that, within custody disputes, there is a high incidence of false abuse allegations. Dr. Gardner theorized that allegations arising within the context of a custody dispute have a "high likelihood of being false,"5 and went so far as to state that he believed "the vast majority of allegations in this category [divorce cases with custody disputes] are false." To the contrary, the available research suggests that false allegation rates are not significantly high. For example, a 1990 study by Thoennes and Tjaden evaluated 9,000 divorces in 12 states and found that sexual abuse allegations were made in less than 2 percent of the contested divorces involving child custody. Within this group, it appears false allegations occurred in approximately 5% to 8% of cases. This study is one of the most comprehensive and least subject to bias and sampling problems, since its sample is so large and representative of the population of those divorcing with custody and visitation disputes. 2. PAS Presumes a Disadvantage to Women in Child Custody Determinations….Other Weaknesses: Lack of Peer Review and Recognition by DSM-IV Dr. Gardner mostly self-published and thus did not generally subject his theory to the peer review process. Moreover, PAS is not recognized by any professional associations, including the American Psychiatric Association. PAS is also not included within the DSM-IV. It is also worth noting that Dr. Gardner often expressed disdain for child abuse professionals, labeling them "validators," theorizing that greed and desire for increased business prompted some sexual abuse allegations, and speculating that parents and professionals alike made some false allegations because "all of us have some pedophilia within us." Conclusion - At best, PAS is a nondiagnostic "syndrome" that only explains the behavior of the child and the mother when there is a known false allegation. It is a courtroom diagnosis befitting adversaries involved in legal sparring. It is not capable of lending itself to hard data or inclusion in the forthcoming DSM-V. In short, PAS is an untested theory that, unchallenged, can have far-reaching consequences for children seeking protection and legal vindication in courts of law. http://www.ndaa.org/publications/newsletters/update_volume_16_number_6_2003.html
Parental Alienation Syndrome: What Professionals Need to Know Update - Volume 16, Number 7, 2003 Part 2 of 2 By Hope Fields & Erika Rivera Ragland PAS is an unproven theory that can threaten the integrity of the criminal justice system and the safety of abused children. Prosecutors should educate themselves about PAS and be prepared to argue against its admission in court. In cases where PAS testimony is admitted, it is a prosecutor's responsibility to educate the judge and jury about the shortfalls of this theory. As more criminal courts refuse to admit PAS evidence, more protection will be afforded to victims of sexual abuse in our court system. http://www.ndaa.org/publications/newsletters/update_volume_16_number_7_2003.html
Parental Alienation Syndrome: Frye V. Gardner in the Family Courts by Poliacoff, Ph.D., P.A., Greene, Esq., and Smith, Esq http://web.archive.org/web/20051124134133/http://www.gate.net/~liz/liz/poliacoff.htm
RICHARD A. GARDNER: IN HIS OWN WORDS "At the present time, the sexually abused child is generally considered to be the victim," though the child may initiate sexual encounters by 'seducing' the adult." Gardner, Richard A., Child Custody Litigation (1986), p.93 http://web.archive.org/web/20061012010857/http://www.gate.net/~liz/liz/pedoph.htm


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The first Jeep, made in 1941 by the Willys-Overland Company in
response to the U.S. military's call for a new light reconnaissance
vehicle, was a quarter-ton, four-wheel-drive machine. It was
practical, plain and had a gearshift on the steering column and low
body cutouts.
Seventy years later, the luxurious 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Overland Summit looks nothing like its plain ancestor, but the two
vehicles do have something in common – the undying love of their
Larry H. Morton is one of them. He shares the love with Jeep
owners from around the world on his website,
"When the real Jeep bug bites and the love affair begins, it is
usually a lifetime romance full of interesting adventures and
memories," says Morton.
When Morton, a Texan, got his first Jeep – a 1953 converted
military model – he was hooked. "It nearly beat me to death on
pavement, but nothing I had ever driven before performed as well
Today, he prefers pre-2002 Jeep models, including the Wrangler
TJ and YJ, Comanche MJ pickup, Cherokee XJ and many CJ5 and CJ7
Why has he stuck with Jeeps? It's all about possibilities, he
says. "When I drive the family sedan my goal is simply to get from
point A to point B and back. However, when I take one of my Jeeps
anywhere, there is something special about just knowing that the
capability is there to go through most any kind of weather or road
surface with relative ease and certainty."
It's the idea that a car can go anywhere a driver wants it to go
that attracts buyers to Jeep, says Jim Morrison, head of Jeep Brand
product marketing in Detroit.
"We know that 100 percent of Jeep customers take their vehicles
off-road, but most do it only in their minds," Morrison says.
The perception that their vehicle can take them anywhere they
want to go is a powerful motivator to own a Jeep, Morrison says.
"Not all of our customers will take a $30,000 or $40,000 Jeep Grand
Cherokee off-road, but it's important for them to know they won't
get stuck in their driveway in the snow. Many Jeep customers have
done some wheeling in the past, and they dream about taking their
new Cherokee out, knowing it's the best SUV."
Over the past seven decades, the brand has become a classic
Morrison experienced the iconic nature of the brand he markets
during a business trip. "I was traveling, going someplace where it
was snowy, and I had arranged to rent a Jeep," he says. "I got to
the rental agency and the agent handed me keys to a Chevy. I said,
'I need a Jeep,' and she said 'It is a Jeep' and pointed to the key
tag that said four-by-four. I showed her my business card and said
I needed a real Jeep.
"It's cool for us that people associate Jeep with four-by-fours,
as we are still the leaders in that area, and have stayed pure to
what we are."
The new Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit hides its gnarly
four-by-four muscle under fixtures that would make a doughboy
scratch his head: a heated wood and leather wrapped steering wheel
and Alpine speakers with a 506-watt amplifier and subwoofer.
Morrison says that the luxury appointments can cause some to doubt
the Jeep's performance abilities.
"We took one to Moab, put journalists in the vehicle and drove
it to the mountains. It rides like a crossover and they were
grumbling that it wasn't a real Jeep. Then we drove up a 35-degree
hill with a 2,000-foot incline. The second day, it was snowing when
we did it."
Copyright © CTW Features


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Filed under: Education, History, Pop Culture, Television, United Kingdom | Tags: 24's Jack Bauer, Buzz Lightyear, Misconceptions of Schoolchildren
I think we are making a vast mistake to let the federal government get its grasping hands on our children's education. It is one thing for a country to insist that its children receive an education, and quite another to turn the whole thing over to central planning.
Once again, Britain has become a bad example. This time it's education, though usually we look to the U.K. for what not to do in the realm of health care.
A study of 2,000 British schoolchildren revealed that one in five kids believe that Buzz Lightyear was the first person to set foot on the moon. One in twenty believes that Counter Terrorist Jack Bauer was the brains behind the Gunpowder plot that blew up the houses of Parliament. And it's not just history.
A third did not know that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and one in five thought it was Charles Darwin. Eleven percent thought Isaac Newton discovered fire and Albert Einstein was Frankenstein's brother. One in twenty thought Christopher Columbus discovered liposuction, not America.
Twelve percent of kids thought the battle of Britain took place in space, and one in six think Darth Vader's Deathstar is the farthest planet from Earth.
One in six failed to identify US President Barack Obama, claiming he was Mr. T from the A-Team, but a whopping 65 percent knew Britney Spears shaved her head.
We laugh at these sad misconceptions, but if the same survey were conducted in our own country, I shudder to think of the results. It is sad that kids know more about celebrity culture than about history and world events. Popular culture is very dominant, and the TV is more ubiquitous in the home than good history books.
The British research was carried out to mark the launch of the What on Earth? Wallbook which details and illustrates historical events from the big bang to the present day. So one might take the survey with at least a tiny grain of salt, as its purpose is to sell the new "wallbook."
However, it was not too long ago that I saw a small article noting that Winston Churchill had been removed from the British curriculum. Go figure.
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For comparative international statistics on the performance of school children, see the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reports from the OECD:
I challenge you to find any (inverse) correlation between performance and the degree of central government in designing or directing the country's educational system. Of course, the devil is in the details, such as in how politicized is the control, how much discretion teachers are allowed, and the roles played by standards.
One poor performance of the U.S. education system — its appalling record of teaching proficiency in other languages — is itself a problem that closes the country's eyes to good ideas in other countries. Since few reporters (or analysts for think tanks) are fluent in other languages, they naturally turn to the English-speaking United Kingdom for (bad) examples, be they in health policy, educational policy, or some other area of policy.
So, yes, if you always look to the UK, you are going to find poor performance in a lot of areas. On the other hand, their military is pretty darned good, all things considered.
Here is a table showing scores by country
The United States does not rank any higher than 15th, and in two out of the three categories ranks lower than 20th.
Most of the top-scoring countries — Finland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan — have established national core curriculums. Of course, several of these countries are relatively small (the population of Greater Philadelphia), so the fact that they have "central planning" as you call it may not be all that different than what takes place in a large metropolitan county in the United States.
My point is, there are many ways that national governments intervene in the education system, and the fact that there may be a national curriculum, for example, does not necessarily equate with disasterous results. It all depends on the mix of policies that are the most appropriate for each country's population, traditions and geography. Simply pointing to the UK and generalizing from their experience is anectdotal, and not very enlightening.
I should add that France, with a population of slightly larger than 60 million people, has an extremely centralized education system. In both reading literacy and science comes out just barely ahead of the United States. In mathematics, on which the French system puts a great amount of stress, its students' scores rank 13th, against the 24th for their U.S. counterparts. That does not prove anything, except that "central direction" does not look to have undermined their ability to score at least as well as US students on the PISA exam. Whether French students could do even better under a different system, one less centrally directed, is of course the unanswered question.


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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Josh Smith and Jeff Teague scored 16 points apiece, Al Horford added 13 points and 13 rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks held off a late charge by the Orlando Magic for an 86-80 victory Wednesday night.
Atlanta extended its regular-season win streak against Orlando to eight with its second win over the Magic this season.
Arron Afflalo scored 16 points and J.J. Redick added 13 for the Magic, who were able to dig out of a huge first-half hole couldn't overcome 16 turnovers that led to 24 points.
Orlando also struggled from the field, connecting on only 31 of 81 shots, in dropping its fourth straight home game. The Magic get a chance to end the skid Friday against Golden State.


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TOKYO - Cheers and shouts of "Banzai!!" echoed across Tokyo just after sunrise as thousands of people started celebrating the city's successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics, beating rivals Istanbul and Madrid despite concerns about a nuclear plant leaking radioactive water.
A slight favourite ahead of the International Olympic Committee's vote in Beunos Aires, Argentina, Japan's capital defeated Istanbul 60-36 in the final round. Madrid was eliminated in the first round.
More than 1,200 dignitaries and Olympic athletes crammed into a convention hall in downtown Tokyo at 5 a.m. local time Sunday to usher in the start of the buildup for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Shouts of "Banzai" — a typical Japanese celebratory yell after big victories — filled the hall when the winning bid was confirmed.
"This is a credit to the efforts of the entire nation," said bid ambassador Saori Yoshida, a three-time gold medallist in women's wrestling. "The chance to see the highest level of sport live is a great chance for everyone and as an Olympic athlete I'm thrilled."
Tokyo, which promoted its bid as the reliable choice at a time of global political and economic uncertainty, had been on the defensive in the final days of the campaign because of mounting concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
In the final presentation before the vote, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave the IOC assurances the Fukushima leak wasn't a threat to Tokyo and took personal responsibility for keeping the games safe.
Thousands of residents celebrated at Komazawa Olympic Stadium, a soccer venue when Tokyo last hosted the Olympics in 1964. Across town in the Shibuya entertainment district, late-night revelers marked the occasion with cheers of "Nippon! Nippon!"
Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Games was hampered by lukewarm public support, but that wasn't a problem this time. Benefiting in part from Japan's strong showing at the London Olympics, Tokyo had a 70 per cent approval rating.
"As a mother, I am thrilled that this will give the youth of Japan the chance to experience the thrill and the excitement of the Olympics," said Wakako Tsuchida, who won the gold medal in the women's 5,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The news will also be welcome on the economic front. Abe's "Abenomics strategy" is aiming to fuel a lasting recovery from years of stagnation. Japan's economy grew a slower-than-expected 2.6 per cent last quarter as companies wary over the prospects for a sustained recovery kept a tight rein on investment.
The mass circulation Asahi Shimbun issued a special edition to mark Tokyo's victory.
"Having Tokyo win is a bigger thrill than winning a medal at the Beijing Olympics," said Nobuharu Asahara, a bronze medallist in the men's 4x100 relay in Beijing. "Staging the Olympics here in seven years will be a great opportunity to express to the world the wonderful aspects of Japan."


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May 1836 Frederick Miller & Barbary Ritter [daughter of Johannes Ritter, Jr. & Anna Mariah] Frederick & Barbary had five children, all born in Ohio. Barbary died 12 Feb 1895.
1 May 1851 John Shaffer Ellzey, Jr. [ son of John Ellzey & Elizabeth Coney} & Saryntha A. Smith [daughter of Wyatt Smith & Euseba Fortenberry] John & Saryntha had eight children, all born in Mississippi. John died 5 Sept 1874. Saryntha died 25 July 1905.
1 May 1919 John William Ritter [son of Isaac Ritter & Isabell Fisher] & Minnie J. Marshman. John William Ritter was married three times. He also married Ruth Anna Scott & Mary E. Cobler. He & Ruth had eight children, all born in Ohio.
6 May 1917 Frank Pascale [son of Augustino Pascale & Maria Grazia Servello] & Giovanna Pascale [daughter of Thomas Pascale & Carmella Arena]. They were married in Mt. Kisco, NY. They had six children.
6 May 1939 Sammuel Ruffus Brock & Iris Elizabeth Pierce [daughter of Arlie Pierce & Lyda Mearl Brown]. They were married in McComb, Pike, Mississippi. They had two children. Sammuel died 5 Dec 1989 in Mississippi.
7 May 1912 James Joseph Coyle [ son of Patrick Coyle & Margaret Brady] & Madeline Herbst [daughter of Conrad Herbst & Rosa Hahn] They were married in New York, NY. They had seven children. The oldest was born in Texas and the others were born in Connecticut.
12 May 1716 Johan Jacob Wolf [son of Johannes Peter Wolf & Susanna] & Anna Barbara Orth. They were married in Germany. They had eleven children. Ten children were born in Germany. The youngest was born in Pennsylvania.


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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jimmy Rollins hit a grand slam and pinch-hitter John Mayberry Jr. had a two-run double that put the Philadelphia ahead to stay in a wild opening 14-10 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday.
Marlon Byrd and Cody Asche also homered for the Phillies, who scored their most runs in an opener since beating the Boston Beaneaters 19-17 in 1900.
Cliff Lee (1-0) matched his career high by allowing eight runs and struck out only one, but the left-hander made it through five innings.
Tanner Scheppers, the first pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela for the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 to make his first big league start on opening day, gave up seven runs over four innings, including the slam by Rollins that made it 6-0 in the second. Mayberry had his tiebreaking hit in the fifth off Pedro Figueroa (0-1) for a 9-7 lead.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Nelson Cruz celebrated his Baltimore debut by hitting a tiebreaking homer in the seventh off Jon Lester (0-1), sending World Series champion Boston to an opening loss.
Signed as a free agent in February, Cruz hit 27 homers last year with Texas during a season marred by a 50-game suspension stemming from an investigation of performance-enhancing drugs.
After missing two seasons recovering from knee surgery, Boston center fielder Grady Sizemore marked his return from a 922-day absence with a second-inning single for his first hit since September 2011. The three-time All-Star for Cleveland later hit his first home run since July 15, 2011, also at Camden Yards.
Zach Britton (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings, and Tommy Hunter worked the ninth for his first save.
DETROIT (AP) — Alex Gonzalez drove in the winning run in his Detroit debut, lining a single to left off Greg Holland in the ninth.
Acquired by Detroit in late March following an injury to shortstop Jose Iglesias, Gonzalez made a costly error in Kansas City's three-run fourth but made up for that with a tying triple in the seventh. He then singled with men on first and third in the ninth, giving Brad Ausmus a win in his first game since replacing Jim Leyland as the Tigers' manager.
Joe Nathan (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth in his first appearance for the Tigers. Wade Davis (0-1) allowed a one-out walk to Alex Avila and a single to Nick Castellanos in the ninth.
Holland — who had 47 saves in 50 chances last year — couldn't escape the jam as the Royals lost their sixth straight opener.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — David Price (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits over 7 1-3 innings to beat R.A. Dickey in a matchup of 2012 Cy Young Award winners.
Matt Joyce drove in three runs for the Rays with a sacrifice fly and two-run double off Dickey (0-1), who yielded six two-out runs in five innings.
Toronto's Jose Reyes left the lineup after his first at-bat because of a tight left hamstring and was put on the disabled list.
CHICAGO (AP) — Alejandro De Aza hit two homers, and Jose Abreu had two hits in his major league debut.
Chicago's Paul Konerko got a loud ovation before what was likely his final opener, although he wasn't in the lineup. The White Sox are coming off a 63-99 season, their poorest record since 1970.
Chris Sale (1-0) allowed three runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings with eight strikeouts to beat Ricky Nolasco (0-1), who gave up five runs and 10 hits in six innings in his Twins debut.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Abraham Almonte hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning and Felix Hernandez struck out 11 in the new-look Mariners victory over the Angels.
Robinson Cano went 2 for 4 with a double and an intentional walk in the $240 million second baseman's debut for new Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon.
Justin Smoak hit a three-run homer and Dustin Ackley had a bases-clearing triple while the Mariners batted around in the ninth inning.
Mike Trout hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Albert Pujols had a run-scoring double for the Angels.
Hernandez (1-0) gave up four hits over six innings in his seventh opening day start for the Mariners. He outdueled Jered Weaver (0-1), who yielded six hits and three walks.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Nyjer Morgan hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth inning against new Athletics closer Jim Johnson and the Indians sent Oakland to its major league-record 10th straight opening loss.
Nick Swisher added an RBI single against Johnson (0-1), who was then pulled from his A's debut.
In the sixth, crew chief Mike Winters became the first umpire to initiate a review under the expanded replay system, making the call after a collision at home plate. Winters requested the review on a close play that kept Cleveland from breaking a scoreless tie. The call was confirmed in 59 seconds.
Cody Allen (1-0) go the win.


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Oakenden Pedallers (who came and battled to the final in the polo championship we hosted last year in East London) are now hosting the first leg of the European bike polo cup in Kent in June. There are three other legs to the cup held in Scotland and France.
Oakenden Pedallers Bicycle Polo Club has the pleasure in inviting your team to the 1st leg of the Bicycle Polo European Cup being held at Vigo Rugby Club near Wrotham in Kent, England on 7th and 8th June 2008.The event will be run using the International 5 player rules. The minimum number of players in a squad will be 5, the maximum 10 (only 8 may be named per game).
If you are interested in entering a team drop them a message for more info at http://www.oakendenpedallers.co.uk before the 19th of May.


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ATI Radeon HD 4350 and 4550: Great HTPC Solutionsby Derek Wilson on September 30, 2008 12:45 AM EST
- Posted in
- GPUs
Oooh, new GPUs from AMD - however these ones aren't going to be breaking any performance records, they are both priced below $60.
The Radeon HD 4350 and 4550 are slotted in between integrated graphics and the set of hardware we took a look at recently in our Radeon 4670 review. The Radeon HD 4550 will run you around $45 - $55, while the Radeon HD 4350 will be priced at $39. Generally speaking, if you're a gamer you're not spending any less than $150 for a graphics card - so these GPUs are mostly for enabling hardware Blu-ray acceleration or providing a boost in performance over games running on integrated graphics.
|ATI Radeon HD 4870
|ATI Radeon HD 4850
|ATI Radeon HD 4670
|ATI Radeon HD 4650
|ATI Radeon HD 4550
|ATI Radeon HD 4350
|ATI Radeon HD 3870
|Stream Processors
|Texture Units
|Core Clock
|Memory Clock
|900MHz (3600MHz data rate) GDDR5
|993MHz (1986MHz data rate) GDDR3
1000MHz (2000MHz data rate) GDDR3
900MHz (1800MHz data rate) DDR3
|500MHz (1000MHz data rate) DDR2
|800MHz (1600MHz data rate) DDR3
|500MHz (1000MHz data rate) DDR2
|1125MHz (2250MHz data rate) GDDR3
|Memory Bus Width
|Frame Buffer
|512MB GDDR3 or 1GB DDR3
|512MB or 256MB
|Transistor Count
|Die Size
|260 mm2
|260 mm2
|146 mm2
|146 mm2
|118 mm2
|Manufacturing Process
|TSMC 55nm
|TSMC 55nm
|TSMC 55nm
|TSMC 55nm
|TSMC 55nm
|TSMC 55nm
|TSMC 55nm
|Price Point
|$45 - $55
While the Radeon HD 4670 was quite impressive with 320 stream processors, the same number that was in last year's Radeon HD 3870, the 4350 and 4550 only have 80 SPs. That's twice the number of SPs in AMD's 780G, the current highest performing IGP solution on the market. In our Radeon HD 4670 review we found that the GPU was fast enough for pretty much all current generation games at resolutions up to 1280 x 1024, but with only 1/4 the shader power of its $75 brother we don't have high gaming expectations from these cards.
Both the 4550 and 4350 are mated with a 64-bit memory interface and either a DDR2 or DDR3 frame buffer. With very little memory bandwidth, and very little processing power you need to have good expectations for these cards.
The competition from NVIDIA is a little blurrier; while the GeForce 9400 GT is priced more in line with where we expect these cards to end up, NVIDIA does have one trick up its sleeve. The GeForce 9500 GT, paired with 256MB of DDR2 memory (the same type you'd get on your desktop) is priced at around $65 - $70 but is currently available with a $15 - $20 mail in rebate, bringing it down to the about same pricepoint as the Radeon HD 4550.
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ThePooBurner - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkIf yo are going to test something as a gaming alternative for those who want a bit of a boost in their gaming, try actually setting the games to settings people might use. Also, testing with just 2 games, both of which either were or are system breakers seems a bit... dumb.
I would prefer the cards be tested with actual settings to see what they can ACTUALLY do and give a better indication of performance. It's been my experience that turning on some of the eyecandy and turning up the resolution for a slightly reduced framerate is preferred over looking at something ugly for hours. Also, why test the 780G instead of the 790G? or why not both?
Here is are test setups i would suggest that would be more reasonable and representative of what people would actually do with these cards.
1) 1024x768 Med Quality (as in the second down from the highest setting), no AA, Triliner/8x filtering.
2) 1024x768 High Quality, no AA, Triliner/8x filtering
3&4) Same as above but with 1280x1024(or 960).
These tests are much more inline with the testing that happens on their big brothers and allows for a much more quantitive comparison of what you are getting. Automatically testing everything at junk levels is worthless to people. It gives us no basis for comparison. We need apples to apple and orange to orange testing if we want to see what exactly the fruit we are looking at is. Also as a point of comparison it should include the 4850 or the 3850. Those are both very well performing cards that will give a good idea of how much more you would get for more money. But as this review currently stands it is of little to no worth to anyone. Reply
superflex - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkUsing a $1450 processor, $240 mobo, $300 RAM and $400 PSU to test a $40 GPU is assanine. That does no service to the HTPC end user. Reply
strikeback03 - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkIt is their standard graphics test bed, you can't very well make comparisons if you are changing non-tested hardware around.
They probably shouldn't have bothered posting anything on these though until they were done with the HTPC portions, judging by all the complaints in the comments. Reply
deruberhanyok - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkYeah, it would be completely irrational to have a second standard test system for mid-range parts and a third for these lower end ones. I mean, what do you think this is, a tech website? Reply
PAPutzback - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkSomething along the lines of it being tested in hybrid mode if it is capable with an HTPC type setup. IE, low watt fanless PSU, and low watt processor.
The new game should not be benchmarks scores but more about what is the leat wattage I can make a PC and still have all the function of a Media HTPC. No gaming.
I was really disappointed seeing as Anand has a theater blog on the site and this would of been a perfect setup to test along with his theater. Reply
whosthere - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkDerek,
You guys published an article on G45 a few days back, then why didn't you show any G45 numbers in this article and still showing the antiquated G35 numbers?
fic2 - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkLooking forward to the article on how well a 4870 runs on an Atom based computer.
Got to go google for articles on how well a Landrover does on an F1 track.
What a waste of an article. Best thing that can be said is that trees died for it. Reply
archer75 - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkThe ATI cards have problems with some receivers and TV's. It has to do with the EDID and is documented over at avsforums.com
This affects some Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha receivers. Reply
madspartus - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkHonestly why did you pair a $40 graphics card with a qx processor at 3.2 ghz...it just doesnt make any sense.
Then showing power consumption differences on that system using a qx processor and 1200W power supply where the power used by the video card is little more than a unmentionable blip.
next time would you try testing it in a system we might actually use this hardware in, like HTPC which you said yourself.
maybe compare the power consumption to an IGP solution...and use a ~300W power supply etc.
All those graphs were of no value to someone who wants to evaluate this thing for HTPC. Reply
duploxxx - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - linkI agree, keep the review in reality and put this in a 780-790 mobo with x2 6000 or 6500 and an intel p45 with e5xxx - e7xxx series.
that would give a realistic platform Reply


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Topic: McFarlane Toys R.I.P. (Read 5151 times)
Jedi Knight
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McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
April 29, 2009, 03:19 AM »
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Jesse James
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #1 on:
April 29, 2009, 03:29 AM »
I've never really gotten the appeal of McFarlane's stuff... They're basically statues. I hardly even considered them as a toy company really.
More like competition for Gentle Giant than Hasbro and the like.
Bummer for the people who work there though, I do feel bad for them... For the company itself though, I just never got the appeal... I buy toys. If I'm gonna put a lot into a toy, I want it to be poseable and stuff.
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #2 on:
April 29, 2009, 08:14 AM »
McFarlane stuff has always been geared to adults so I think they were more than willing to trade articulation for really accurate look. Which when your making adult toys makes sense to me.
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Jedi Knight
Posts: 3955
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #3 on:
April 29, 2009, 10:30 AM »
McFarlane has been trying to do too many waves and now with other companies shrinking the toys down to the 4 inch size they either need to follow suit and increase articulation or get left behind.
If you look at what they have slated for this year so far it is nothing but Guitar Hero, Halo, & Sports figures. Last year they produced nearly 40 exclusive figures for various sporting events and figures exclusive to certain stores for HALO and sports figures.
Collectors don't have the time or the resources to keep doing that for that many toys. Last year Star Wars had less than 10 (Captain Rex Mail-a-way, Senate Clone Trooper, Commandar Fox, Holo Grievous, 501st Clone Trooper from Wal-Mart, & Disturbance in the Force set from SDCC, I am sure I missed a few).
McFarlane needs to trim the exclusives down, need to produce more unique figures and stop making the same sports figures over and over again since there are only so many of them people want.
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Eric Franks
Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #4 on:
April 29, 2009, 12:08 PM »
I'm not overly surprised in that, but it does suck. I think McFarlane got away from the actual toy business a while ago and were in the business of making small, low priced statues. The detail and paint apps on their stuff really blew a lot of things out of the water, especially for the price. But they weren't really making anything that I wanted to buy, at least not for the last couple of years.
I bought, I think, one Predator figure a while back and then a Master Chief from their new line. But while I liked seeing some of their stuff (Dragons, misc other non-sports stuff) in the store from time to time, I never really felt compelled to buy any of it.
McFarlane filled a spot in the toy aisle that there was a market for, but with a lot of economic things being the way they are now, that market has probably shrunk. One thing is for sure, for the last few years it never seemed like there was any shortage of any of the McFarlane lines on the shelves, except for maybe the chase figures. Plus all the exclusives, as mentioned, was kind of a kick in the ass some times.
I'd hate to see them completely go away, so if they can downsize and keep some of their more popular lines going, I think that would be a good outcome.
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #5 on:
April 29, 2009, 01:02 PM »
No big deal for me although I did get sucked into about 60 various Spawn figures throughout the years. I've only seen the movie and some of that HBO toon stuff, but I have no clue who most of these guys are - they just looked cool and I was stupid like that. I also have some Matrix and Alien stuff I have stashed away. Always seemed like a thorn in my side because I felt compelled to buy some Macfarlane stuff when there was no new SW stuff out, but it has been a long time since I bought anything new. Farewell...
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #6 on:
April 29, 2009, 09:42 PM »
I didn't get from that article that McFarlane is RIP.
I got from it that they are downsizing their USA staff and sending a whole bunch of **** to China so they can make the stuff more efficiently over there.
There doesn't seem to be any plans to cancel their upcoming MLB/NFL figures due out this year, but who knows.
I didn't like how the figures got smaller looking lately without actually changing the scale. It made the newer ones look bad next to the older ones.
At any rate, I'm kind of confused about what this means for Sportspicks, which is really the only line I care about.
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #7 on:
April 30, 2009, 11:58 AM »
Not terribly surprised as they'd been losing market even prior to the economic downturn of late. Even locally the sellability of hockey figures went down dramatically when TMP went with the new plastic, but prior to that it was too many of the same players and too many waves in a year. In the heyday, Walmart would have a skid of about 50 or so boxes (12 figures per) on the floor when a new wave of hockey came out. Much of that would sell within a week and little of it would reach clearance. Now they're lucky if they put out five cases total and most of it sits for a very, very long period of time. I imagine the football scenario was similar in the US.
Too much product with declining quality and a shift away from the need for all of it. Like others have said, it's more in line with NECA stuff as mini-statues, but until recently they did really nice stuff. I'm happy with what I have from the company and hopefully for them and their staff they can come out of the recession having learned some lessons and move forward. Always unfortunate to see folks being put out of work.
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Jesse James
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #8 on:
April 30, 2009, 10:51 PM »
I think they're downsizing how much they put out too... I could be wrong but I think it's a scale-back on all fronts, not just labor, but I could be wrong... They're definitely not dead though, and looking to save a buck with outsourcing.
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #9 on:
May 2, 2009, 05:21 PM »
I see that article being much more about downsizing than shutting down. Especially in light of McFarlane recently announcing that they're taking the Sports Picks line into the realm of College Football.
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #10 on:
June 2, 2009, 12:37 AM »
Got more info on this from a good source. I frequent a comic shop that a bunch of McFarlane sculptors/workers shop at. Apparently their workforce is being cut back by about 75%. They'll be farming out a lot of work to either freelancers or shops in Asia. But the company will continue on.
Last Edit: June 4, 2009, 10:42 PM by Nicklab
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #11 on:
June 4, 2009, 06:00 PM »
All I know is I love me some of the new Johan Santana, Alex Rodriguez, and Jimmy Rollins figures. Scored them all at TRU this week.
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Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #12 on:
October 2, 2009, 12:40 PM »
They're still cranking out Halo figures ad nauseam. I don't see them shutting down any time soon.
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Posts: 101
Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #13 on:
November 24, 2009, 03:08 PM »
I've always like getting the Spawn figs. Felt there were great for displaying on the shelf. I really liked the cover art ones they had a few years ago, they are my favorite. Hate to see the company get hit like this but they just haven't put out much I'm interested in lately.
I've also read they are going to start putting out statues instead of figures. Mainly as Spawn is concerned. I have the first statue but am still waiting for the second I preordered. They haven't even put the preorder up for the third one. I saw it at Phoenix Comic-Con and it looked awesome! I was hoping the line would do well but I guess not.
Jedi Apprentice
Posts: 2162
Re: McFarlane Toys R.I.P.
Reply #14 on:
November 24, 2009, 03:44 PM »
They are stil putting out Halo stuff, though it does seem they've even slowed on that. Before say 6 months ago, we'd know at least 2-3 waves in advance of what was coming out. The latest wave (Series 6) has come out and we still do not have an official list for any subsequent waves. (Though they have cryptically eluded to series 7). I'm kinda bumming on that too. There are still several waves worth of characters they can create.
From what I understand their sports figures division is going strong though.
I'm just a humble collector trying to make his way through the universe...of toy aisles.
"We are strong. We are resilient. We are American." - President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address 2010
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