text:
If you could do anything right now, what would it be?
…so what's stopping you? Why aren't you pursuing your dream?
Here's the thing.
No one is going to give you permission. No one is going to hand you a golden ticket to do the thing you love.
If you want something, go get it. The world is waiting for you. Go pursue your dream.
Because really, what are you waiting for?
When You Say, "I'm a Perfectionist," I Hear, "I Don't Think I'm Good Enough."
My good friend Sean Johnson recently shared a piece of advice his dad used to give him. It goes something like this:
"In life, you'll always be juggling multiple balls at once. And, at some point, it's a guarantee that one or more of those balls will drop. Having a successful life is a matter of knowing which balls are made of rubber and which are made of glass. Drop accordingly."
I can't stop thinking about this advice lately.
I've spent a lot of my life trying not to drop any balls, but continue to add more of them to my metaphorical plate. In other words, I have "I need to be perfect" syndrome.
What the hell is that about, right?
I think people wear "I'm a perfectionist" like it's a badge of honor. It has somehow become synonymous with, "I'm an A player," or, "I work really hard."
Truthfully, as a recovering perfectionist, I know it doesn't mean either of those things.
What it really means is, "I worry about not being good enough," or, "I have a ton of fear about how people will judge my work, so I find mundane excuses to not ship stuff out and into the world."
Perfectionism, for the most part, really sucks.
When we try to force our imperfect selves to lead perfect lives, what happens is we start juggling more balls than we can handle. We juggle stuff that doesn't mean much to us because we don't know how to say "no" or simply don't know what our priorities are. We forget that some balls are made of rubber and some are made of glass. And most tragically, we drop the glass balls because we don't know any better.
Rubber Ball Examples:
- Most business decisions and outcomes
- Eating one unhealthy meal
- Not having the resources (financial, time, etc.) to do get something we really want the moment we want it
- Sporadic disagreements with family, friends, lovers, and colleagues
- Not getting all the way through our to-do lists
Glass Ball Examples:
- Lacking integrity in business decisions and reactions to outcomes
- Understanding your spirituality
- Devoting time to being fully present with people you love
- Not taking care of your body for prolonged periods of time
- Spending (a lot) of money you don't have on things you don't really need for short-term satiation
- Not being open to the greatest love of your life because you're afraid of getting hurt
We'll drop the glass balls. We'll close ourselves off from love, stop getting adequate sleep, eat crappy food, not exercise, claim "agnosticism," take shortcuts in business and relationships that might hurt or short change others because it's easier, and allow ourselves to become easily distracted by shit that doesn't really matter in the long run.
And we do this all to preserve the rubber balls—working ourselves into the ground, caught in a cycle of making and spending more money on irrelevant stuff that we won't remember when we're 80-years-old, and spending so much time on "productivity" that we forget to actually accomplish worthwhile things.
Success isn't about forcing yourself to juggle more and more balls. It's not about not dropping any of them, either.
Success is simply this:
- Choosing the balls you want to juggle carefully
- Not letting the fear of dropping a ball disable you from doing noteworthy shit
- Knowing which balls are glass and which aren't—what matters, and what honestly doesn't—so that when you do have to let one go, you know which one(s) can drop and bounce back.
Now, go juggle your heart out.
Be Maniacally Focused on What You're Building
I'm hanging out at TechCrunch Disrupt today in NYC. I have to say, I'm so impressed by the quality of the event, and all of the speakers on the main stage so far today.
I listen to startup founders talk a lot these days. The more I listen, the more general themes about startup success and failure become evident.
A lot of people have a lot of different ideas about how best to build a startup. But one of the common threads I notice in every successful entrepreneur—including all of the ones I heard speak at Disrupt this morning—is this:
You have to be maniacally focused on building the best company you can possibly build.
It is very easy to get distracted as a founder and a startup team with shit that will not move the needle for your business: too much time on email, social media, "marketing" efforts, planning meetings, coffee meetings, etc.
What you suspect is true: you're wasting a ton of time. Like, more than you think. If you're the average person, your productivity level probably hovers around 40-60%. That means you have a lot more to give. Better ways to learn how to work. Better work to do.
If you want to build something great, don't worry so much about getting press, your Klout score, tech news, or "keeping up" with everyone else. It's a fruitless and, honestly, impossible effort.
I'm not saying you should be reckless about how you build your business. But, what I am suggesting is that you get maniacally focused on the most important thing, which is building a kick-ass business in the first place.
Focus on your business model. Focus on shipping and iterating on an initial product quickly. Focus on understanding what problem you want to solve, and how real potential customers are thinking through that problem.
When you focus maniacally on only the most important stuff, you'll have plenty of time to get great work done. You will feel and be more productive than 85% of starters out there.
If you want to lead the kind of business that others will want to invest in, report about, and use…then you have to build that kind of business first.
Be patient. Work your ass off. Prepare for a very hard journey ahead.
If you do things the right way the first time around, it won't be easy.
But it'll be worth it.
Never Forget Where You Came From.
There's a popular quote that goes something like this:
"It doesn't matter where you came from; it matters where you're going."
I'm calling bullshit.
This original quote was likely intended to empower people to take control of their future and not suffer from victim mentality about their past or personal circumstances. But it's not great advice because it suppresses a very important reality:
Where we came form is extremely important.
It impacts who we are, how we think, what we believe, how we interact with others, what we think is possible for ourselves, whether we view the world as good or bad, what we strive for. Our history—our upbringing—impacts everything we think and believe and do.
I'm not about getting stuck on the past. But I am about thoroughly understanding it.
I decided to take a trip home to NYC this past week. After a very long several months with lots of change and busyness in countless corners of my life, it felt like exactly what I needed. I came home partially to take several business meetings and cover a conference, but largely to reconnect with old friends and spend quality time with my mom.
The thing about the startup space—or any space, really—is that it's easy to get caught up in thinking that whatever you're working on is the most important thing in the world…that startup life matters more than relationship building or taking care of yourself—physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.
I started to feel a little caught up—something that I think happens to almost all of us when we're working on something we're really, really passionate about and committed to. But it was time to step away for a moment. It was time to take a deep breath and recalibrate my personal goals and my vision for helping to grow and support the startup community at large.
And coming home gave me the space to do that.
Here's the thing:
It's hard to know where you're going when you lose sight of where you came from. Your past gives your future wisdom-filled direction.
When you know who you are and why you do what you do, you can better understand where you want to go, why you want to go there, and how you're going to get there.
"Going home," whatever that means for you, is so important. It reminds you of who you are, what motivates you, what your purpose is. It reminds you of that little kid you were—the one who dreamed big, feared little, and enjoyed the simple things in life. It reminds you of what really matters: family, building great friendships and relationships, taking care of yourself, being present.
Often, when life starts to feel chaotic and you couldn't imagine taking a few days off, that's when you need to go home the most—to get back in touch with your roots, take a bunch of deep breaths, chill the heck out, and recalibrate your sense of what truly matters.
Entrepreneurship is a tough journey. You will have to do very hard and uncomfortable things in the process of building something spectacular.
But it is impossible to build anything spectacular when you aren't taking spectacular care of yourself. It's unsustainable, and more than that, ineffective.
Just trust me. I know because I've tried to cut every kind of corner with my own health and well-being.
And that's the craziest part about it all: when you lose sight of where you came from, you lose sight of where you're going.
So, go home. Reconnect. Remember who you are. Put it all in perspective.
Maybe, like me, that's exactly what you need.
Don't Trust the First Solution You Come Up With
I'm out in SF this week, and went to a cocktail party with David Eagleman a few nights ago. He was talking about a lot of neuroscience stuff that went way over my head.
But something he did say that really caught my attention was this (paraphrasing):
"Our brains are really lazy. They will accept the easiest possible solution. You have a giant network of associations in your head. For instance, when I say "rabbit," you automatically think things like, "carrot, easter, cute, Jessica Rabbit, etc." Your brain doesn't think about the thousands of other characteristics of a rabbit.
The same is true of our brains in business and life. When we have a problem, we come up with a set of answers based on the information and associations we already have in our head based on our personal learning and experiences. You have to dig deeper to find the unique solutions."
I thought that was profound.
If you've taken any sort of biology, psychology or neuroscience class, you're familiar with the basic premise of how our brains connect, process, and recall information.
But, when you're actually in the thick of problem solving, this knowledge totally goes out the window most of the time.
We've also been trained from a young age to "trust the first answer we come up with." How many times did you hear that from a teacher before a multiple choice test between elementary school and college? It's engrained in our minds that our first answer is the right answer.
That might be true when you've studied a ton of information and you have some vague recollection of which answer in a set of multiple choices "feels" the best. But, that's totally different than solving highly complex, unique problems that have an unlimited set of possible answers.
When it comes to creative problem solving, growth, innovation, etc. here's what we need to remember:
The first answer is almost never the best answer.
It's just the answer that's most readily available to your brain given how it's neurally connected.
If you want to come up with truly unique and innovative solutions:
- Sit with the problem longer.
- Spend 20 minutes "free journaling." Write down whatever comes to mind for you—even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else.
- Look outside of your industry or network to get advice from other people on how they'd approach solving the problem at hand.
- Study how successful people think through problems (not their results, but their thought frameworks)
- Chill out. Sometimes, giving yourself space provides all the clarity you need.
If you're beating your head up against a wall to solve a problem, it's probably because you are thinking too small about it.
If you're willing to move past the first and easiest answer, you'll probably come up with some of your best and most innovative ones.
There's No Perfect Formula for Building a Successful Startup, So Stop Looking for One.
There's a lot of talk in the startup space these days about trying to find a "formula" for successfully launching a company. It started with the Lean Startup Movement (which is a fantastic book, not hatin'), but it's turned into this crazy quest for some magic bullet.
It doesn't work that way.
I haven't launched multiple companies. I've never closed a round of funding by myself. I haven't hired anyone and been personally responsible for making sure that person eats.
But I do have the great fortune of meeting with successful, brilliant starters every single day, and soaking up their stories of success, failure, hardship, and triumph.
I'm an editor, but what I'm really good at (and passionate about) is pattern identification. One of those patterns, though, isn't a formula for building a successful company. No two entrepreneurs I've ever met have built their companies the exact same way.
That makes us all really uncomfortable. We want an easy answer. We want to know that if we just follow these 10 steps, we'll have a profitable startup.
But as with anything truly amazing and worth doing in life (falling in love, traveling the world, etc.), there isn't a formula. In fact, it often works out a lot better if you don't try so damn hard to create one and just work/enjoy your ass off, and let serendipity handle the rest.
You end up happier, and the world has the space to work its magic on you and whatever you're building.
If you're out there building anything, please know that what will make it special is not something you'll find in a manual or bestseller somewhere. It's in you already.
Yes, you should learn from others successes and failures. Yes, you should look outside of your industry for ideas you can innovate into your own space. Yes, its useful to read well-written books and articles on building companies.
But don't let all of those things stop you from the most important thing, which is that nothing beats your gut instinct about something you're super passionate about and driven to make a reality for the rest of the world.
Stop looking for a formula.
Start listening to yourself more.
Seek Out Solutions Where Others See Problems
Just about everyone can spot a problem. But here's the difference I've noticed between entrepreneurial thinkers and everybody else:
Everybody else will point at, talk about, and wallow in the problem.
Entrepreneurs will look at a problem and say, "I'm going to build something to fix that."
We're so caught up in categorizing entrepreneurs as people who close crazy rounds of funding, build huge teams, and grow a multi-million-dollar business. But those are all results. They are the results entrepreneurs achieve from thinking and behaving like dedicated problem solvers.
If you want to be an entrepreneurial thinker, it's easy. It doesn't require a ton of money or you building a formal company. All it requires is a willingness to actively seek out problems—and then come up with and build creative solutions for them.
If you want to build something truly great, you almost never need to reinvent the wheel. Startups that do are extremely rare.
The majority of great startups in our country were born out of necessity. The only think you need to do is find what's truly necessary. What do people really need? The world's next great solution lives in midst of the problems you find. Most of the time, those problems are ones that you yourself are experiencing.
So find a problem you have that you know other people have.
Then be the one who creates a solution for it.
The 8 Important Lessons I Learned About Building Relationships at SXSW
This past week, I took my first trip down to Austin for SXSW Interactive. I learned a lot of lessons while at the conference. After all, you can't help but soak in a lot of learning when you're with 30,000 of the leaders and peers in your industry.
I initially thought my SXSW event recap would be a first-timer's guide to conquering SXSW. But, honestly, what I discovered is that it's not about the panels or parties or celebrities or startups at all. It's about human relationships—how people engage with one another, and why people do what they do. SXSW is basically one giant semi-professional, semi-revert-back-to-college-behavior social experiment.
My goal was to create an incredibly useful event recap for people. After meeting well over a hundred total strangers and several tech "celebrities" this past week, I realized the most useful thing I could write about is what I learned after 96 hours' worth of careful observation about how people interact with one another. So, here they are—the eight lessons I learned about building relationships in the startup and tech community at SXSW:
1.) It takes quality time to really get to know someone
I learned this week that I don't really love big events with tens of thousands of people. At all. The whole thing feels super overwhelming and the opposite of productive. SXSW is like spring break for nerds, and that's about the extent of it. You might be able to create a totally useful experience where you soak up amazing learning, close business deals, and connect with incredible people over long meetings. But it would be pretty damn hard. That's like finding a golden ticket in a sea of 30,000+ people. It could happen, but so can winning the lottery.
Almost everyone I talked to said the same thing: "It's all about the parties." But, you know what happens when you think it's just about the parties? You get, on average, about 5-15 minutes at a loud event to get to know someone new. Sure, every now and again, you'll get into an unforgettable conversation that lasts for hours. But, from what I observed, that kind of experience is the exception and not the norm during SXSW.
The problem is, you don't really get to know much about a person in 5-15 minutes. Here's the general order of conversation: (1) Exchange pleasantries about how crazy and exhausting SXSW is; (2) Ask where person you're talking to lives; (3) Try to find something interesting and/or funny to say about the place that person lives and compare it to wherever you live; (4) Play the "what do you do?" game; (5) Size them up to see if a person is successful and/or could be a potentially valuable contact for you. If you deem the person important and/or really interesting, you give him or her a business card. If not, you politely exit the conversation as quickly as possible so you can find someone who is.
This is the worst way ever to develop authentic relationships.
I myself made the mistake of asking the "What do you do?" question too quickly in the conversation. Because that's what's expected. That's what you're supposed to ask. Looking back, I really wish I had asked a better question, like, "What makes you come alive?," or, "If you could create any company other than the one you already started or work at, what would it be?" It's a lot more random, but hell—it's a much better way to get to know people more deeply if you've only got 5-15 minutes. And I'm willing to bet you'll stumble into great conversations that last much longer than 5-15 minutes if you ask questions like these instead.
It takes more than 5-15 minutes to really get to know someone. There are far more interesting, incredible layers to who people are than where they live, what they do, and how many followers they have on Twitter. If you don't have a lot more time than 5-15 minutes, don't assume you know much about who someone is—unless, of course, they very blatantly shower you with rudeness, or arrogance, or total disinterest. If they do any of the above, it's safe to say you can learn a lot about them in 5-15 minutes.
2.) You should bother making plans.
The other thing people said over and over again was, "Don't bother making any plans." I think that's just about the worst advice ever. What I think people really mean when they say that is, "leave room for serendipity." But, I don't think those two pieces of advice are synonymous. You can have some semblance of a plan and still have hundreds of opportunities for serendipity. In fact, I'd argue that if you go in with at least a rough plan, you'll increase your opportunities for serendipity. Think about it: are you more likely to meet an incredible new contact at some random party you get swept up in with a random crowd of people? Or, at a small meetup with people who have very similar interests? Are you more likely to connect with someone at a loud rager at 3am? Or at an intimate lunch gathering curated by one of your acquaintances? Exactly.
I went in without a plan because that's what people told me to do. Halfway through the trip, I realized that was not going to work for me. So, I sat down for an hour, wrote a daily list of some of the events, panels, and meet-ups I found most interesting, and I let that loose schedule be my guide. Of course, I wasn't rigid about it. If I got caught up in a great conversation at one event, I didn't rush off to the next party. If I found a place I really liked, I group texted a bunch of my friends to come join me instead of me going to chase after them in a dozen different locations. But, in the process of figuring out what I wanted to learn, who I wanted to meet, and the things I wanted to do, I was able to win back some control in the chaos that is SXSW. And create more opportunities for serendipity in the process. Almost every interesting person I met, I met during the second half of my trip.
3.) …But don't bother with people who don't ask you questions
Unless you're a journalist and you're interviewing someone, be weary of people who don't ask you any questions. I had a few incredibly awkward conversations at SXSW that were heavily one-sided. I'd ask people questions to get to know them better, they'd respond with answers—usually brief ones, and that was about as far as the conversation ever went.
Of course, sometimes, it might just take a person a while to warm up to you and get in the groove of the conversation. Maybe he or she is shy, distracted, just woke up from a nap, whatever. Be kind and open. Give people a chance to warm up to you. Tell them about yourself first. If, after more than five minutes, they still aren't budging, it might just be a lost cause with a random stranger at a big event. That's okay. Politely dismiss yourself from the interaction, and move on to the next conversation.
The people I'm really referring to, though, are the ones who talk your ear off for 15+ minutes about themselves, like they're trying to pitch you on themselves or their company, without making any real effort to get to know you. Every good relationship is reciprocal—even your newest ones. Don't try to force conversation with people who only seem interested in running you over with their own agendas and aren't really there to foster a connection or cultivate a great, two-way conversation. It's not worth your time.
And if you're reading this and you're that person…don't be that person. It's super lame.
4.) "Successful person" does not equal "awesome person"
After listening to a ton of my friends and watching my Twitter feed for a while, I began to notice a common theme at SXSW: everyone wants to connect with super successful people. You know, the authors who write bestselling books, the startup founders who are now running multi-million-dollar companies, the c-suite executives at large corporations. Everyone chases after them. I'm really not sure why. What's the value in that for most people? Maybe you'll get a few minutes to pitch your idea or try to build a connection, but the chances of it being worth the time and effort are slim.
Just because someone is highly successful doesn't mean he or she is an awesome person. We're stuck in our thinking that these are the figures we should look up to and aspire to be like. If you, like the overwhelming majority of SXSW goers, aren't part of the tech elite, it's easy to catch the envy bug. The thing is, I'm really not convinced those are the people we should all be envious of. A level of respect for them? Absolutely. But, I observed and listened to stories about disappointing run-ins with tech celebrities who were rude, thoughtless, and even blatantly offensive. That kind of behavior is not cool—no matter how famous or accomplished you are.
Every now and again, you find a very successful person who goes out of his or her way to make a difference with others. Gary Vaynerchuk, for instance, held a 5-hour Q&A session to give random attendees personal, one-on-one advice. Ramit Sethi hosted a meetup for about 50-100 of his blog readers; I watched him make his way around the room and do the best he could to connect with as many of those people as possible. Super successful people like these guys are the ones worth looking up to. Maybe you don't like how opinionated they are or how they sell whatever it is they sell, but you can't say they don't care about connecting and making a difference with people who likely don't have a ton to offer them in return.
People who give a crap are amazing. Seek those super successful folks out.
5.) Dress in a way that accurately represents who you are
Look, the reality is, at a place like SXSW, you only have so much time to make a first impression. This is true pretty much always, but it's especially true at an enormous conference. So, maximize the time you've got, and wear your personality on your sleeve.
Wear a hat with a bit of charm. Put on a pair of yellow jeans if you've got a really optimistic, happy personality. Throw on your favorite pieces of jewelry. Wear comfortable shoes that still express who you are; exchange plain sandals for neon sneakers if you're loud and proud. Throw on a shirt with a funny expression, like this:
And still, dress appropriately. SXSW might feel like spring break for adults, but it's still at least partially work-related for most. The last thing you want to do is run into a client, old boss, or potential investor while running around in short shorts or a t-shirt with a funny-but-offensive slogan on it. Want to look relaxed, but still professional? Throw a blazer over your t-shirt. Or a leather jacket over a button down shirt. Or a pair of heels with your jeans.
If you want people to spot you in a crowd and learn something about you before you even say "hello," use what you wear as an opportunity to make a statement. Dress like the person you are. Dress like the person you want to be.
6.) Don't get caught in the VIP trap
No matter where you go, you're probably going to wait in a line at some point during the week at SXSW. When you see a handful of people walk straight up and into a door at a party, it's hard not to feel some twinge of jealousy and/or unworthiness. The minute that feeling starts to come on, talk some common sense into yourself. For some parties, I wasn't on a list and had to wait in a line. For others, I was on a VVIP list (yup, apparently those exist), and I still had to wait in a line.
Make the best use of your time. Get to know the people around you if you're waiting. Bring a bunch of friends along with you. Skip the parties with the hour-long lines and go on an adventure for another great spot instead. Plan dinners with a bunch of friends you haven't caught up with in a while; tell them to bring a guest or two. Make use of those lazy afternoon hours, and meet interesting people for coffee or ice cream.
Whatever you do, don't waste too much time vying for a VIP spot at a party. If you can connect your way into a place, fantastic. But, if you don't get in or don't want to wait in line, don't fret—there are 29,000 people who aren't going to that party, either. Personally, I'd take an intimate dinner over a really loud, crowded party any day of the week.
While everyone else is busy trying to be a "very important person," just be one. Understand that pretty much everyone deserves to be considered a VIP—everyone matters. Most of the people at SXSW are doing something pretty cool, and anyone who doesn't agree is probably not that much fun to hang out with, anyway. Be the person who curates a group of amazing people to have a fun brunch or night out on 6th street, instead.
Don't worry so much about being considered a "VIP." Be the person who makes other people feel like VIPs, instead.
7.) You'll connect with the most unexpected people, in the most unexpected ways
However you're imaging the experience you think you'll have, it will almost certainly not go down that way. If you're an artist, you might meet your future front-end developer for that new art project you're working on at a random web dev party you walked into—all because you were promised free beer and tacos. If you're sitting in a lounge catching up on emails, you might just sit next to a fascinating blogger and get into a two-hour conversation. If you get stranded in the middle of downtown Austin at 4:30 am because there are no cabs in sight, you might meet a future really close friend while waiting on an enormous taxi line.
The point is, you can't predict what you'll get into. You can't predict who you'll meet or how much you'll impact one another down the road. You can't predict which acquaintances you'll become closer to.
All you can really do is view every moment–every opportunity—as a chance to connect with someone as authentically as you possibly can. If you stick with only a group of people you know, you won't leave much room for meeting new people. If you're busy staring at your smart phone on a line, you won't appear that welcoming to the people standing around you.
Don't try to predict how you're SXSW experience will go. But if you do expect anything, expect to foster some of your best connections with the most unexpected people, in the most unexpected ways. Life usually surprises us like that.
8.) It's not your job to make people like you
When you're part of a sea of almost 30,000 people, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle of things. It's also really easy to lose yourself in the midst of all the parties, panels, and people.
Stick to your guns. Do whatever excites you. If you don't like a party, leave. If you don't want to drink, don't succumb to the weird pressure to drink just to fit in. If you want to go to bed before midnight, go to bed before midnight. If you want to go to a panel instead of a party, do it. If you find yourself in a group of people you're not having fun with, remove yourself and find a group that suits you better. If people aren't giving you the time of day, go find ones who genuinely care. If someone tells a joke that you don't think is funny, don't feel like you need to laugh.
Don't lose yourself in the chaos of the event. Remain grounded. Remain exactly who you are, and proudly share who you are with others. Because, as with any other scenario in life, it's not your job to act however you think you need to act to get people to like you. It's your job to be unabashedly and respectfully yourself.
And the people who love the person they meet when you're just being you? Those are the people you should like.
SXSW can be an overwhelming experience. But remember, at the end of the day, it's not about the amount of stuff you do, the panels you attend, or the parties you get into. It's about the people you meet in the process of doing all of that. If this past week taught me anything, it's that what matters most is maintaining your ability to be totally yourself, and asking the right questions to get to know other people for who they really are, too.
Finally, know that mastering SXSW is ultimately all about knowing how to do this one very simple thing with the awesome people you meet:
UX Design: What Features Should You Include When Building Your Product?
It's Week #5 of the UX Design class I'm taking at The Starter League. Last week, we talked about tools you can use to build your best product. This week, we're diving right into the nitty gritty of product usability analysis, site maps, and user flows. The objective is really to arm you with techniques that allow you to think through the creation of your product in a strategic, user-friendly way.
Let's start with something called Kano Analysis.
Kano Analysis
Kano analysis is one particular product development theory that is useful when you're figuring out exactly which features you want to build into your product. Under this model, you essentially categorize customer preferences into three different attribute categories: threshold, performance, and excitement.
- Threshold (basic) attributes: The features customers expect to be built into your product.
- Performance attributes: These features aren't necessary, but including them will increase the customer's use and enjoyment of your product.
- Excitement attributes: The features that customers have no idea they want yet, but would be delighted to discover as part of your product. I call this the "Steve Jobs attributes" category—no one knew better how to delight customers in ways they didn't even know they wanted to be delighted.
Some questions you need to ask users when performing Kano Analysis:
- What do you think of the product if it includes feature X?
- What do you think of the product if it does not include feature X?
There are three valid responses for either question: "I like it," "It doesn't matter to me," or "I dislike it." Be careful, though. As with any user test, users don't always know what they want and/or can't accurately identify their future behavior (or even past and current behavior). It is easier to determine threshold attributes, and perhaps even performance attributes, with this model. Coming up with excitement attributes, however, takes entrepreneurial creativity and guts. Don't be afraid to use your intuition (and also, your common sense) when sifting through user feedback.
The next thing you can do once you've done feature research is diagram out your site. There are a bunch of different types of site diagrams. Here are some visual examples so you can see the different ways it can look:
Hierarchical Site Map
The example above is very simple, but you get the gist. With a hierarchical site map, you organize the hierarchy of various different categories or relationships. It's a great wat to provide mental clarity and organization for your team as you create wireframes for your site.
Site Map List
This one should look familiar to you, Apple users. You don't necessarily have to create a hierarchical map. You could make it as simple as a list, like this one. Often times, you'll see these site maps live on a page; they serve as an ultimate "Table of Contents" for a site. If your users are ever looking for something, they should be able to find it via a site map.
Site Process Flow
This is a basic example of a site process flow. For the two examples before this one, the diagrams are built based on categorization. Site process flow diagrams, on the other hand, are built more based on—surprise—process. Instead of thinking through the "spaces" under each major category on your site, you think about the flow of user experience on your site based on behavior (like completing a sign up form). This is useful if you want to think through site usability— how users are using it, number of steps to complete a process, amount of time it takes to acquire a user via sign up form, etc.
Card Sorting
One last tip we'll talk about today: card sorting. Card sorting is a fascinating exercise we did in class this past week. The purpose of card sorting is to get feedback when you're in the process of designing a navigation structure for your site for optimal functionality and utility. Here's how it works:
- The person or team working on site navigation writes terms down on index card—one term per card.
- Then, you have a person or team that is ideally indicative of your current or future audience to put the terms inso logical groupings and finding a category name for each grouping.
- Observe and repeat testing.
- Analyze results to identify category grouping patterns.
This will give you a sense of how your users might be thinking about and searching for content on your site. A few weeks ago, I talked about a UX team project we're working on in class: building a site to give more people an opportunity to perform random acts of kindness for strangers easily. We did the card sorting exercise in class, creating categories and then asking one of our classmates to sort the cards for us. She organized them in the way she thought most logical, and created category names based on her categorization. Here's what it looked like:
The card sorting concept is visually and theoretically similar to the affinity modeling concept I wrote about several weeks ago. There are a number of different ways to do card sorting, but the main two ways are "open" and "closed."
Open card sorting is when sorting participants create their own names for the categories—similar to what was done in the class example above. The main benefit of this method? It reveals how users will mentally classify the content on your site and can generate great category ideas for your team as you develop your product. However, the downside is that you'll have a number of different categories across participants, so it may end up leaving you with scattered data points and a lack of category focus.
Closed card sorting is when you provide participants with a predetermined set of category names—each on an index card shuffled in with the sub categories. This takes away the issues you might face with open card sorting by helping you narrow the focus of your research. However, it requires that you have a keen and confident sense of what the categories should be already. If you use this method and participants are having a hard time organizing your cards with the categories you gave them, that may be an indication you need to revise your categories a bit.
No matter what method you choose, you should be able to see some common themes emerge as you engage in card sorting research.
Some basic rules of thumb to keep in mind as you're card sorting:
- 40-60 is often a good range for card sorting. You want enough cards to bear useful research results, but not so much that you overwhelm the participants with too many options.
- Avoid term jargon. Make the terms as easy as possible for the users to understand.
- Keep the cards simple—avoid adding more than one term to a card; that could change the reliability of the categorization results entirely.
I hope these examples and techniques are useful as you build out your product in the most user-friendly way possible.
I'm about halfway through my UX design class at The Starter League, and I'm blown away by how much I'm learning so far. It's also more intense than I ever imagined it would be. I'm beginning to see UX failures and successes every time I visit a new site—which is a blessing and a curse. While the tips and techniques have been useful to learn, nothing can substitute for the experience of testing the principles out with a group of students who are eager to learn about the same thing. Those team-centered conversations about UX have been perhaps the most valuable part of the experience so far.
So, if you're interested in learning more about UX design, I'd encourage you to take a class at the Starter League, or even join a meetup group if you don't have the bandwidth or resources to take a formal class.
I promise you, the way you look at website design will never be the same again.
Until next week!
Note: This post was originally published yesterday on Technori.com.
If you just started following along now, you can catch up on what I've learned so far about UX design on Technori.com:
If You're Waiting for a Sign to Pursue What You Love, This is It
After interviewing about 50 startups and tech companies at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas this week, several themes became apparent.
One. Building and maintaining a company is really hard. If you're starting something and you think you're the only entrepreneur who's struggling, you're seriously wrong. I didn't hear a single founder say, "Starting a company was easier than I thought." You should be prepared for a long and challenging journey, but know you're not alone.
Two. Pitch better. About half of the people I interviewed confused me with their product/company pitches. It's challenging to tell a good story about your brand in a way that not only helps others grasp the concept of what you're working on, but also genuinely resonates with them. Sharpen your story. Ask people for feedback. Modify until it's nearly perfect. Test it on others—pay attention to how different pitches land with different people differently. It makes all the difference down the road.
Three. Perhaps one of the best lessons I learned is that there are people in the world who are actively working on some of the craziest stuff we can imagine. If you've thought about a grand new idea, someone is probably already working on it, or is damn close to making a decision to work on it. But that's the thing: most people never do—at least not long enough to build something meaningful and long-lasting. Why? Because creating something takes a ton of energy and commitment. And that's exactly why you should do whatever it is that lives at the intersection of passion and talent for you—because that's the thing you'll have the energy and commitment for.
There are so many people out there building incredible things. As I walked around the trade room floors, I stumbled upon thousands of different iPhone cases, Hundreds of tablet devices, and a section dedicated just to fitness gadgets. Will all of these companies succeed? Almost certainly not. But I do have a sense of the factors that define which ones will and which ones won't: passion, purpose, and product.
- Passion: How much you believe in what you're doing
- Purpose: Having a clear sense of why you do what you do, and who you're doing it for, and why it matters to them.
- Product: Your product (or service) is rockstar levels of awesome. You can have all the passion and purpose in the world, but if you're not selling something fantastic, you're screwed.
So if you're thinking about starting something—whether a project, event, non-profit, or for-profit company—start now. Don't sit there and think about it. Don't bother feeling bad for yourself. Stop coming up with excuses. None of that is getting you anywhere.
Don't wait for the perfect time, because there will never be a "perfect time" to put yourself on the line and do something high risk. Don't worry if it's not perfect. Don't worry if some people don't like it.
Just figure out your passion, purpose, and product– and then go out and create.
If you've been waiting for a sign, this is it.
Start now—and don't stop until you're finished creating what you want the world to have.


text:
Haven't Been To The Ocean Sense Lyrics
Are you lying to impress her? Are you trying to take off her clothes? Are you angry, for the sake of drama? Are you serious? Heaven knows. Are you crying because you're lonely? Or are you crying because you're alone? Are you begging, embracing your tendency toward weakness? Do you think you'll get her back if you let it show? So you run far away from a memory that contains her smile, contains her smile. You run up to see the outstretch that contains the width of the sky. The width of the sky
Lyrics taken from http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/k/kind_of_like_spitting/havent_been_to_the_ocean_sense.html

subset: commoncrawl


text:
100 Auction Sites
By City
Auto Auctions
Los Angeles
New York City
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
Washington DC
By State
New York
Dallas Auto Auction Sites
Online Only
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
eBay offers online auctions for individuals in the Dallas area. Their inventory is constantly changing, and they have a large variety of makes and models to browse through.
When you go to this website, you are able to search several ways to find the vehicle that you are interested in. If you are on a time constraint, you can sort the inventory by the time that is remaining, either giving you several days to bid, or just a few minutes. You are also able to select the make, model, body type, condition, transmission type, and more. If you are particular about the color of the vehicle, you can narrow the results by the interior and/or exterior color.
Rene Bates Auctioneers, Inc.
Online Only
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
Rene Bates Auctioneers, Inc. offers online auctions in the Dallas area. Their auction type varies, but they specialize in online auctions of municipal and utility company fleet vehicles and equipment.
Their auctions are open to the general public. However, you must register with this company in order to participate. Their website has a large list of upcoming auctions. You can also view recently closed auctions to get a better idea of the type of auctions they host. Additionally, you are able to look at the catalog of their upcoming auctions, as well as specific information about start times, rules, etc.
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
950 Blue Mound Road, West Haslet, TX 76052
505 Idlewild Road, Grand Prairie, TX 75051
Copart features public and dealer auctions at two facilities near Dallas, TX. Additionally, registered members are able to take advantage of their online capabilities for bidding from a distance.
This company offers three ways to bid on the vehicle that you are looking for. Their internet preliminary bidding allows users to place bids prior to the auction from their home/office. The highest preliminary bid will be represented during the live virtual auction. They also offer kiosk preliminary bidding, where users can place bids prior to the auction at the kiosks located in the lobby of each facility. They also feature virtual bidding, where members can choose to attend their virtual sales and bid live in real time.
Insurance Auto Auctions
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
4226 East Main Street, Grand Prairie, TX 75050
204 Mars Road, Wilmer, TX 75172
Insurance Auto Auctions features two locations within 100 miles of Dallas where registered buyers can partake in vehicle auctions. Before joining an auction, you must sign up and meet their requirements to become a registered buyer. You can find more information about what qualifies individuals for this on their website.
There are three ways to participate in the bidding process through this company. First, you can bid in person at a live auction. This allows you to view the vehicles before you place your bids. They also offer live online bidding with I-bid LIVE, where registered buyers can join live auctions through any Internet connection and bid in real time. Finally, they allow buyers to pre-bid online before the live auction. The high pre-bid amount will be represented by proxy at the live local auction.
Lone Star Auctioneers, Inc.
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
Locations may vary – please see site for more details.
Lone Star Auctioneers, Inc. offers online auto auctions, as well as live auto auctions in the Dallas area. Before getting started at one of their auctions, be sure to register with their company. To bid online, you must register 24 hours before the auction closes. To bid at a live auction, registration is generally held 1 or 2 hours before the auction during the preview times. Additionally, there is no fee to attend an auction.
If you want to find out more information about the upcoming auctions, you can take a look at their website. There you can find lists of live/online auctions, as well as their inventory lists.
Texas Can! Charity Car Auctions
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
1911 E Division Street, Arlington, TX 76011
Texas Can! Charity Car Auctions holds a weekly charity auction every Saturday starting at 11am. They offer a variety of makes and models, including classic cars, buses, large utility trucks, and more.
This company offers a preview time for individuals who wish to inspect the vehicle lot before the actual auction. They allow you to stop in and look at the vehicles every Friday from 8am-5pm. Keep in mind that there is a $200 bidder cash deposit required initially. It must be paid via cash or credit card, no checks are accepted. Additionally, bidders must register before the auction, and all purchases must be paid in full on the day of the sale.
Trinity Public Auto Auction
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
241 West Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75208
Trinity Public Auto Auction features public auction every Saturday at 10am. They offer a preview and registration period starting at 9am on Saturdays before the start of the auction. They also allow potential bidders to preview the vehicles on Friday from 1pm-5pm. If you cannot make it to the preview period, the list of vehicles can be emailed to you or can be viewed on their website.
To register, you need a valid ID and a $200 cash deposit. If you do not purchase a vehicle, this deposit is refunded to you on Sunday. Otherwise, the deposit is put towards your purchase.
Leake Auction Company
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
The location of the auctions through this company may vary – please see site for a list of upcoming auction locations.
Leake Auction Company conducts several collector car auctions every year. While the location varies, they offer a Dallas Fall Auction every year on the weekend before Thanksgiving. You can find out about more of their auction dates and location on their website.
Their auctions often feature over 500 collector cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Anyone can attend their auctions. They generally draw a mixture of bidders and spectators, as their vehicle inventory is often rare and vintage. Admission to their upcoming Dallas event is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and military personnel, and $7 for children. They also feature an online broadcast of their auction for individuals who are unable to attend.
Texas Lone Star Auto Auction
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
2205 Country Club Drive, Carrollton, TX 75006
Texas Lone Star Auto Auction features dealer auctions every Tuesday and Thursday at their Carrollton facility. Each week they auction off 600+ vehicles to registered dealers. They have 2 lanes in which the auctions take place.
In addition to the auctions, they offer other services such as a catered lunch before very dale, easy registration, complete transportation services, title search/correction services, a full-time marketing department, dealer floor planning, 28-day float sales, and a 95% buy-back plan. They are also in the process of implementing an online buying function.
Aside from their conventional auctions, this company also features on-site wholesale auctions for dealerships. This allows specific dealerships to get rid of inventory via dealer-only auctions led by their team.
America's Auto Auction Inc.
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
219 North Loop 12, Irving, TX 76061
America's Auto Auction Inc hosts two weekly auto auctions for registered dealers. Their auctions take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 2pm. They generally only feature auctions for registered auto dealers. However, be sure to keep an eye on their calendar, as once in a while they may offer auctions that are open to the public.
This company also features auctions in different cities, so if you are unable to find the vehicle that you want in Dallas, you may want to travel to another city to take advantage of their inventory. Some events also feature free food and beverages, depending on the time and place.
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
5333 West Kiest Blvd, Dallas, TX 75236
12101 Trinity Blvd, Euless, TX 76040
Manheim has two locations near Dallas where registered dealers can participate in onsite and online auto auctions. To view their calendar and upcoming inventory, you must first register with their company. While they typically offer auctions for registered dealers, they have public auctions available at some of their locations. You can find out more about these auctions on their website.
With this company, you can participate in the auctions several ways. You can bid in person at their onsite locations or through their simulcast live events online. If you want to look at the inventory before the sale, you can see their pre-sale inventory list online.
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
ADESA offers local auto auctions for registered dealers in the Dallas area.
ADESA features several different types of auctions. They have a weekly consignment and fleet lease sale Thursdays starting at 9:30am. Thursdays also feature an In-Ops video sale at 8:30am. Every other Wednesday there is a GM closed sale starting at 10am, and every Wednesday there is a New Car Trade sale starting at 2:30pm. On the second Thursday of the month they offer a specialty sale starting at 12:30pm. They also feature different sales including BMW financial services sale, Lexus financial services sale, and more.
If you cannot make it to an actual auction, you can take advantage of the ADESA LiveBlock simulcast and the OpenLane online bidding capabilities.
Greater Tyler Auto Auction
Proximity - how close it is to the city:
11654 Hwy 64 West, Tyler, TX 75704
Greater Tyler Auto Auction features auctions for licensed motor vehicle dealers. To get started with their company, you must first register with Auction Access. After becoming a member, you are able to fill out an application with this company to participate in their auctions. They recommend not waiting past 3pm on the day of the sale to apply.
They offer sales every Tuesday night at 5pm. They auction off repossessed vehicles at 5pm, in-operative vehicles on video at 5:30pm, and front-line vehicles at 5pm on the second Tuesday of each month.
They are not the closest auction company to Dallas, but they may have inventory that meets your needs and specific interests.
©2004 100AuctionSites.com


text:
© Depositphotos.com/ Jean_Nelson
However, the claims in the message are untrue. Rihanna is not dead and she has not been attacked as claimed. The message is just one more in a recent series of survey scams that use the promise of video footage as bait to get users to click.
Those who succumb to the ruse and click the link will be taken to a bogus Facebook page that supposedly hosts the video about Rehanna. However, when users click the "Play" button on the video, they will receive a "video restricted" notice that claims that they must first share a link to the page via Facebook before they can see the footage. By sharing, users are effectively spamming the same scam message to all of their friends.
But, if they do share as requested, they will be taken to another page that claims that they must complete a "verification" process by participating in one or more online surveys. Thus, users will be drawn into a seemingly endless array of survey pages that all offer enticing prizes in exchange for providing their mobile phone numbers and other personal information.
By providing their numbers, users will in fact be subscribing to ridiculously expensive sms services that are charged at several dollars per minute. And, because they have provided their name and contact details, they may be inundated with unwanted advertising emails, surface mail and phone calls.
The scammers responsible for the fake messages earn commissions via dodgy affiliate marketing schemes whenever a victim participates in a survey.
Some versions of this scam may also try to trick users into installing rogue Facebook applications or malicious browser plugins.Rehanna has been featured in several death hoaxes in recent years. In January 2012, a widespread hoax message falsely claimed that Rehanna had died in a plane crash.
Last updated: January 8, 2014
What is a Facebook Survey Scam? - Survey Scams Explained
Rihanna Is NOT Dead


text:
(via camcorporate)
That's right.
(via camcorporate)
That's right.
I feel like I'm reading a sermon. One that I don't understand. My American Lit teacher asked us the other day to raise our hand if we believe that there's a reason for every thing we do, even the little things; that God has our every move planned before we've even been born. I didn't raise my hand, because I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that God would PLAN for me to stub my toe. What in the world would stubbing my toe teach me, other than to be more careful and watch where I'm going? Anyway, I'm not a religious person and I attend church maybe once a year, but I'd like to learn more/hear your opinions. A simple yes or no will do, but feel free to explain why. Do you think there's a reason for everything we do?
Here's the track listing. Clearly I was just getting into Cute Is What We Aim For…
1. Forever Changed - The Need to Feel Alive
2. Sick Puppies - All the Same
3. Paramore - Pressure
4. AFI - Miss Murder
5. The Spill Canvas - Polygraph, Right Now!
6. The Spill Canvas - Staplegunned
7. Paramore - Misery Business
8. Cute Is What We Aim For - Risque
9. Cute Is What We Aim For - Sweet Talk 101
10. Anberlin - Godspeed
11. Cute Is What We Aim For - Teasing to Please
12. Cute Is What We Aim For - The Fourth Drink Instinct
13. Cute Is What We Aim For - Curse of Curves
14. Sick Puppies - Nothing Really Matters
15. Meg & Dia - I'll Find Mine
16. Meg & Dia - Roses
17. Cartel - Hey, Don't Stop
18. Paramore - Let This Go
I'm pretty sure I made this during summer '07 before my senior year, when I found out The Young Wild Things Tour would be coming to my hometown. A lot has changed since then.
I'm thrilled to sit at home and do nothing. I should probably do homework or something productive, but I'm thinking a OTH S7 marathon sounds more appealing. Can't wait to sleep in tomorrow, since this morning didn't count, thanks to my 7 year old sister who never fails to come get in bed with me between 8 and 8:30am. Remind me to lock my door when I go to bed, thanks.
Episode 4x07 is CRACKING me UP. Celia to Isabelle - "Get me. A f**k-ing. Ta-co." HILARIOUS. Oh and Silas is ridiculously good looking in this episode.
You drive past the basketball court at your apartment complex and there is a lone guy there shooting hoops in a hoodie and suddenly Gavin Degraw's "I Don't Want To Be" comes on the radio.
I couldn't even make this up.
This would have been even more perfect if it had been in Wilmington.
I was going to be back on tour just 2 weeks after this one so I canceled my plans to move to Michigan with my best friends Josh and Dave. but we're not even doing that tour now. And all I want to do is be in Michigan right now. as silly as it sounds coming from a Texas girl, Michigan feels most like home than anywhere else right now. Friends are where the home is. Where the heart is. Michigan I am coming for you soon. Oh and can the snow hurry up? I miss fall and winter days the most.
ORRRR to start re-watching LOST!?!?


text:
Anaheim, Calif. • The nation's video game athletes have gathered in Southern California to battle aliens and bad guys for cash and glory.
More than 1,000 eSports players are taking part in the Major League Gaming Championships in Anaheim, which began Friday and run through Sunday, the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/1nUF0qa ) reported.
|Join the Discussion
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The contestants don special headphones and face off in soundproof booths in games such as "StarCraft II," "Call of Duty: Ghosts" and "Super Smash Bros. Melee." Their battle chatter is broadcast live and announcers provide the play-by-play.
They're playing for $150,000 in prize money. Some have practiced up to 12 hours a day.
Matthew Fink, 25, of Minneapolis was competing in the "StarCraft II" open bracket. Born without a spleen, he lost his legs and forearms to infection at an early age.
Because of the amputations, he is slower than some when using the computer mouse and keyboard but said the game's emphasis on strategy helps even the playing field.
"I'm a very competitive person, but I've always felt like I was at some sort of disadvantage at whatever activity I undertook," Fink told the Register. "'StarCraft' is a game about how fast you are, but only up to a certain point. Eventually it's no longer about how fast your fingers are but how fast your mind works."
About 1,500 people were expected to watch the main events at the Anaheim Convention Center, and more than 2 million from around the world were expected to watch online via Major League Gaming's free streaming site, MLG.tv.
"Our audience is 16- to 34-year-old guys tuning in from 175 countries on average, and what's fascinating is that they are watching for two to three hours at a time," league spokeswoman Katie Goldberg said.
Copyright 2014 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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text:
Today March 23rd begins Win Wednesday 6.
Every Wednesday at a random time, we'll be tweeting a geek or gamer related trivia question. The first person to respond to our tweet with the correct answer will receive a free t-shirt of their choice, shipping to their doorstep, and a brief and irrelevant ego boost. In Addition, the first 5 correct respondents to the trivia question will be entered into the Grand Prize Draw for a Nintendo 3DS Handheld.
Win Wednesday 6 will run 12 weeks with our final trivia question on Wednesday June 8th, 2011.
The Rules:
1) No one person can win more than once in a 30 day period. (Unless you are a pair of conjoined twins sharing one brain, and through some miracle of biology have two distinct personalities.) You can be entered into the grand prize draw every week however.
2) If the first to respond has won in the last 30 days, the prize will be passed to the next respondent with the correct answer. (Unless that is your conjoined twin who also won previously, in which case it will be passed over to the third respondent, and so on, and so forth…)
3) "Cheating" is not only allowed, it is encouraged. The web is a powerful tool at everyone's disposal and it has the potential to answer ALL. It also adds an element of skill to this contest (speed-clicking, bookmarking, cat-like reflexes, a well planned strat, use of the force, or sheer will and determination may be required to flourish in this contest.)
4) The first 5 correct respondents each week including the winner, will be entered into the draw for the Season 6 Grand Prize:
A Nintendo 3DS Handheld
This prize will be awarded at the completion of season 6. The more you play, the more you win. The more you win, the more you, umm… win more!
5) Have Fun!
Follow us on Twitter every Wednesday for your chance to win! Our first trivial question will appear on twitter sometime today, at its regularly scheduled completely random time.


text:
My Favourite Kitchen Appliance
Now that it looks like my husband will be around for the long haul and won't be needing to do any more business travel, I really have to up my dinner game. While he was away, I was on a steady diet of dry cereal, large salads, diet Coke or porridge. On the occasion that I ran out of clean bowls, I ate apples or frozen waffles. My nutritionist (if I had one) would cringe at my food choices, I'm sure. Although I adore baking, I don't enjoy the process of cooking. My eyes always burn and water when I chop up onions and food smells penetrate my clothes and hair, staying there until I get the chance for a good wash. As if that wasn't bad enough, dishes, bowls and utensils seem to grow exponentially in my sink. But, most of all, I really despise handling raw meat because I am a bit of a germaphobe.
So, what's a wife to do when she has to feed a husband who just happens to have an extraordinary appetite? She purchases a magical device called a slow cooker! I know I'm a tad behind on this kitchen appliance but I am urging anyone who doesn't have one to go out and buy one right away. If time, or lack of it, is your excuse for not making nutritious meals, then this is ideal. You truly just throw all the ingredients into your pot, set the time, heating level and let it cook on its own. Since I bought mine, I spend less time in the kitchen over a hot stove or doing dishes and more time taking long afternoon naps with my husband and dog.
My favourite slow cooker meal so far is for slow cooked smoky chipotle brown sugar chicken (seriously, just saying it makes my mouth water!) The chicken is perfect for taco night when served with easy lime and coriander rice. You can even cook up something impressive enough to serve for dinner guests with a slow cooker, such as brown sugar and balsamic glazed pork loin. I mean, did you know you can even bake cakes with your slow cooker and save energy from heating up a giant oven instead? I am very excited to try a crockpot apple cake.
Because the process is so simple and my ingredient list is nice and small, we no longer feel the need to order pizza or go to a restaurant. To save even more time, do some prep work as soon as you bring home your groceries by separating your meat to individual dinner portions for the freezer and cleaning and chopping up all your veggies right then and there.
Since I love my readers, this is a recipe for the staple of every British household – beef stew (courtesy of Jamie Oliver.)
- 3 fresh or dried bay leaves
- 500g diced stewing beef
- 500ml ale, Guinness or stout
- 2 sticks of celery
- 2 medium onions
- 2 carrots
- 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Roughly peel and chop veg and place in slow cooker
- Roll beef in flour then add to veg
- Stir in chopped tomatoes and Guinness, add bay leaves and season to taste with Salt and pepper
- Cook on medium temperature for 6 hours, or low for 8 hours.
- Before serving, remember to remove bay leaves.


text:
Not sure why but this is how my phone took a picture of lightning
Looks like it took half of this world, and half of a dark world.
It's so rad and creepy, gives the spook chills
Science side here: The flash coming off of the lightning is very fast. Your phonecamera's shutter actually takes the photo from side to side. The flash of lightning (or perhaps another lightning) struck while it was in the middle of photographing, leaving half of the photo being from before the flash, and the other half during it.
Science Fiction side here: What really happened was a tear in the fabric of reality. During that fraction of second you camera was able to pierce through the veil that separate this dimension from the mirror-image one, also known as mirror universe. Your alternate self probably did the same, at the same time. You alternate self also has a goatee and/or an eyepatch.
Shout out to my high school for calling me at 6 am to let me know schools closed.
I graduated three years ago but thanks
Still kinda pissed about this from 6 months ago tbh
And then my soul saw you and it kind of went
"Oh there you are. I've been looking for you."
"Oh there you are. I've been looking for you."
I Wrote This For You (pleasefindthis)
"the point of contact" (via awayed)
balloons are weird like happy birthday here's a plastic sack of my breath
I'm not sure what I do to deserve bad things happening to me all the time..
Let's talk about your abs…


text:
Definition of non-commercial in English:
non-commercialLine breaks: non-commer¦cial
Not having a commercial objective; not intended to make a profit: a non-commercial radio station
More example sentences
- A real Digital Britain strategy would seek to change the law to legalise noncommercial, transformative use.
- Microsoft also promised not to sue open source developers who distribute non-commercial implementations of Microsoft software.
- Much like the early days of browsing, most work on the web was non-commercial.
Definition of non-commercial in:
- The US English dictionary
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Word of the day noisome
Pronunciation: ˈnɔɪs(ə)m
having an extremely offensive smell


text:
NEOS Surgery S.L. is a certified company of high quality and safety.
Cranial LOOP is the first-ever cranial fixation device totally made of PEEK. Its small size is ideal to strongly fix the bone flap through the osteotomy line in small and precise craniotomies.
Cranial LOOP is implanted without any additional instruments. Its unique design makes it a self-cutting device. The surgeon totally controls the bone flap fixation, which is achieved through its fast and easy "pull-and-tighten" action. Using three Cranial LOOPs, a standard bone flap is fixed in less than a minute.
Cranial LOOP is totally made of PEEK-OPTIMA®. This makes it completely artifact-free in different medical imaging systems, such as X-rays, CT scanning and MRI.
NEOS' engineers have developed a unique design which guarantees that Cranial LOOP provides the same fixation strength as similar metallic non-instrument-free cranial fixation devices.
Cranial LOOP perfectly adapts to the shape and curvature of the skull, both at the epidural and epicranial regions.
See more details in this video.
All members of the Cranial LOOP family can be used either in combination or stand-alone. Neurosurgeons are able to combine them in the way that best fits each specific craniotomy.
|← Back to Products
|↑ Back to top
Cranial LOOP is backed by the following scientific publications:
Van Loock et al. Cranial bone flap fixation using a new device (Cranial LoopTM). Minim Invasive Neurosurg. 2011; 54 (3): 119-24
Describes the outcome of 35 consecutive patients in which Cranial LOOP was implanted.
Poster presented at the 24th Meeting of the European Society for Biomaterials (Dublin, 2011).
Describes the key characteristics that PEEK-OPTIMA® gives to the Cranial LOOP family: excellent mechanical behaviour, total lack of artifacts in medical imaging and optimal performance in radiotherapy.
♦ Click to know more about the excellent results of Cranial LOOP (user satisfaction 8/10) in an ongoing clinical trial.
|Cranial LOOP was awarded the Gold recognition at the 2011 edition of the MDEA.
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text:
Cliff Parisi
As Anthony Spall
Kit Jackson
As Peter Collinson
Mija Keadell
As Woman
Tamer Hassan
As Hasan Ergunsah
Simon Rouse
As D.C.I. / Supt. Jack Meadows
Chris Simmons (1)
As D.C. Mickey Webb
Graham Cole
As P.C. Tony Stamp
Lisa Maxwell
As D.S. / D.I. Samantha Nixon
Roberta Taylor
As Insp. Gina Gold
Trudie Goodwin
As W.P.C. / Sgt. June Ackland
Cyril Nri
As Supt. Adam Okaro
Bernie Nolan
As Sgt. / P.C. Sheelagh Murphy
Mark Wingett
As P.C. / D.C. Jim Carver
Russell Floyd
As D.C. Ken Drummond
Paul Usher
As P.C. Des Taviner
Diane Parish
As D.C. Eva Sharpe
Moya Brady
As F.D.O. Roberta Cryer
|• Creator
|Geoff McQueen
|• Executive Producer
|Paul Marquess


text:
There is something suspicious about music, gentlemen. I insist that she is, by her nature, equivocal. I shall not be going too far in saying at once that she is politically suspect.
This quote is about music.
Record how this quote makes you feel.
You can report quote corrections via the "Conversation" tab below
Search on Google Books to find citations of this quotation.
We don't have a biography.


text:
Cliff140 Wrote:
Sep 07, 2012 2:04 PM
The Liberty Party wouldn't be founded by Ron Paul and won't come into play until 2016. It's founded by the grass roots which the Republicans unabashedly proved they don't need with all their rules changes. You witnessed it I'm sure and you obviously supported it, yet you accuse ME of being off MY rocker? Funny, I thought it was "We the People" not "We the Party." You're even more off your rocker if you think the course we're on is sustainable and R&R are gonna wave magic wands to make things better but don't worry your empty little head because when the Mitt hits the fan, I'll still be defending your freedom to express it.


text:
Damn you're fine ;)
Josh Hutcherson
Zach Rance ladies and gentlemen
a presentation by futile-space and alexemrulz
Actually glasses are symmetrical and humans are drawn to symmetrical things and that's why certain shapes or types of plants, etc, are more attractive to the human eye. Glasses, especially sunglasses, even out the face and make it appear more symmetrical.
And that is science friends
Seriously though
Knowledge bomb
(Source: vi-queen, via zankie-grance)
Jamie Dornan
(Source: fiftyshadesgifs, via c-hristiangrey)
My man
you are definitely my guy
Well,I guess your my guy
(via uhghthatsawesome)


text:
Katy Perry Toyota Center, October 10 & 11 People can hate on pop concerts all they want, but they're probably viewing them all wrong. If they attend expecting a musical experience that rattles their very core, they will likely be disappointed. But approach it as a spectacle, and the experience is a ... More >>
Lee Fields & the Expressions Continental Club April 27, 2010 A very few singers who missed out on being Al Green and Otis Redding when soul music first got big in the '60s and early '70s, people like Charles Bradley and Bettye LaVette, have been lucky enough to enjoy good second-act careers later i ... More >>
Rocks Off is no He-Man Woman Hater's Club. We like women quite a bit, actually, especially those women brave enough to wade through the rivers of bullshit in the male-dominated music business. If you'll page back a few weeks, you'll remember the discussion of our favorite female artists from ... More >>
UPDATE: 6 p.m.: The contest is over. Thanks for playing! Danny ClinchGrand Funk Railroad may have got there first, but Drive-By Truckers are an American band. If not for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, for whom the Truckers opened the Midwestern leg of their summer tour, the Georgia six-piece ... More >>
Photos by Jason WolterRobert Plant & Band of Joy, Bettye LaVette Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion July 24, 2010 Robert Plant is a master of the musical bait and switch, but an exceptionally gracious one. Plant is no dummy. He has to know that the commercial radio stations in Houston (and, le ... More >>
Rocks Off - sorry, He Said; we're still getting used to this whole identity-shift thing - is sure some of our readers think we do nothing except sit around and listen to the Drive-By Truckers all day. To which we say: Have you heard Bettye LaVette's The Scene of the Crime or Booker T's Potato Ho ... More >>
As Rocks Off has noted in our periodic Mail Call entries, even though the tide of promo CDs has been greatly reduced by the digital revolution - Rocks Off can count on one finger (the middle one) the times he's actually used the streaming/download email link publicists are ever more fond of these da ... More >>
Alabama Ass Whuppin'
South by Southwest's daily music-news aggregator The Daily Chord stumbled across an interesting item today on former Houstonian Bill Bentley's new Sonic Boomers blog. Longtime music writer Geoffrey Himes, who penned the Born in the USA entry in the 33 1/3 album-guide series, writes a lengthy essay a ... More >>
The last three weeks of this month promise to be hard on your wallet, eardrums and liver
The Houston International Festival, also known as iFest, has announced the lineup for its 37th annual edition, set to take place April 19-20 and 26-27 on nine stages spread across downtown. Instead of spotlighting a specific country this year, its theme "Out of Africa: The Three Journeys," encom ... More >>
Panning for gold in an avalanche of 2007 releases
If there's one thing we learned from the Press' recent H-Town 100 list, it's that Houston has produced a lot of great songs. If there's another thing we learned, it's that lists – of anything, but since this is the music blog we'll stick with songs – can sure draw a lot of comments v ... More >>
Ten of the year's most timeless records
What's Going On?
Give it up for soul survivor Bettye LaVette


text:
Young Millionaires
News and Articles About Young Millionaires
Turning Time Into Currency at Age 23
With his startup Kiip, Brian Wong is connecting consumers with brands by rewarding engagement.
Building a Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing Network at Age 27
With her startup Getaround, Jessica Scorpio is connecting individual car owners with renters.
Rewriting the Smartphone Keyboard at Age 28
With his startup SwiftKey, Jon Reynolds is breathing new life into the act of typing on a keyboard.
Young Millionaires: How These Entrepreneurs Under 30 Are Changing the World
How they did it, and how you can, too.
Editor's Note: The Next Revolution
In this issue, we celebrate our Young Millionaires. These are the faces and the inspiration of tomorrow.
Think Your Job Sucks? New MTV Show Profiles Strange and Awesome Career Paths
MTV's new series, which profiles snake venom milkers, beer keg inventors and junk food bloggers, represents the network's first foray into business-centric content.
Young Millionaire: Inside the Mind of Yahoo's Teen Sensation Nick D'Aloisio
While he has already accomplished far more than most of us will in our entire lives, the humble London 18-year-old says he leads a 'fairly normal life.'
A Facebook Alum Builds an Intelligent Sales Platform
Darian Shirazi turned down a $35 million acquisition offer from Google, and leveraged his massive local database to provide real-time information for sales teams targeting the U.S. small-business market.
Harvard Students Reimagine the Cosmetics Business
The innovative cosmetic e-commence site, Birchbox is many things. For consumers, it's a chance to sample new products for a small fee and to replenish products they already enjoy, and for the founders, it's a platform that connects consumers and brands.
Young Entrepreneurs Create a Formula to Give Ads a Viral Boost
Virool gives businesses a self-serve, social video advertising platform to help get the kind of exposure that only a viral hit can bring.
Siblings Revitalize Dad's Hospitality Business
The Melman siblings opened several bars and restaurants to revitalize their father's 42-year-old hospitality company Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises to appeal to younger clientele.
College Students Bring Targeted Media to Doctors' Waiting Rooms
Shradha Agarwal and Rishi Shah saw an untapped opportunity to bring video segments with tips on diet and exercise to patients in doctor office waiting rooms.
Young Entrepreneur Changes the U.S. Cell Phone Market
Ahmed Khattak came to America to study but stayed to reshape the U.S. cell phone market.
Quiz: Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Millionaire?
Check all that apply, then add up the points to determine if you're millionaire material.
5 Young Millionaires Instigating Innovation
Our annual look at high-earning entrepreneurs aged 30 or younger with the creativity, smarts and guts to disrupt their industries.
Big Claims Aim to Boost Business at Mobile App Startup
With major clients like Microsoft and CBS Sports, Chaotic Moon app studio makes it big.
Young Entrepreneur Challenges the Way Americans Think About Their Cellphones
A Pakistani immigrant takes on the U.S. cell phone service model.
OrigAudio Hits It Big With Fold and Play Recycled Speakers
Two friends create quirky portable speakers inspired by a takeout box.
Two Young Entrepreneurs Get Their Hands Dirty With Urban Farming
An urban byproduct plants the seed for a big business.
Sealing the Deal
Dotloop eliminates the briefcase of paperwork in favor of a virtual workspace.
Serial Entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal on Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
In 'Trep Talk, the young multimillionaire shares how he shook off bullies, how family fueled his drive to succeed, and how startups can change a conversation to get noticed.
Serial Entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal on a Business Idea Myth
In this 'Trep Talk Extra, the multimillionaire young entrepreneur explains why you don't need a new idea to launch a successful startup.
The Making of a 20-Something Multimillionaire Serial Entrepreneur
Gurbaksh Chahal shares insight on staying competitive and why his $300 million sale to Yahoo wasn't what changed his outlook on business and life.
1SaleADay.com's Ben Federman and the Value of a Daily Steal
This 28-year-old Brooklynite built a successful business around the concept of loss leaders. Part of our annual Young Millionaires report.
Connect with Entrepreneur
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10 Single Mom Entrepreneurs Share Their Best Business Advice
To Be a Brilliant Leader, Mindset Is Everything (Infographic)
Starbucks, Chipotle and 6 More Food Chains Scare Up Business With Halloween Deals


text:
To perform a search, enter a keyword, phrase or item number in the search field and click "search."
We offer two ways to locate information:
To taste Dom Perignon is to discover the unique spirit and style of a truly great wine of Champagne. Every stage of vineyard selection, winemaking and slow cellar aging is, in itself, a quest for perfection.
Cuvee Dom Perignon is made only in exceptional vintage years from two grape varieties from the Champagne region, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The grapes are picked from the very best "crus" among the oldest and best exposed sites of the region.
On the nose, this wine opens with notes of red-fleshed peaches, rapidly evolving into cashew nuts and dried herbs. The aromatic experience finishes on a note of lightly toasted brioche. On the palate, it offers a host of well-orchestrated, precise and full-bodied tastes. The initial density becomes creamy, while the long finish ends on a note of glazed citrus fruit.
The unique Dom Perignon style: a rich creamy mousse, fine bubbles, a spirited, crisp opening leading into a broad palette of aromas and tastes, the delicacy of substance itself. Each Cuvee Dom Perignon is cellar-aged for 6 to 8 years.
Dom Perignon, a seventeeth-century cellarmaster of the Abbey of Hautvillers, is revered as the spiritual father of winemaking in the Champagne region. Keen observation, respect for nature, pragmatic creativity, technical innovation, the courage of his convictions, and patience were the instruments serving his vision. He constantly mastered and incorporated all its components and...Read More About Dom Perignon
Champagne is both a region and a method. The wines come from the northernmost vineyards in France and the name conjures an image like no other can. An 18th Century Benedictine monk named Dom Perignon is said to be the first to blend both varietals and vintages, making good wines not only great, but also special and unique to their winemaker. Today, nearly 75% of Champagne...Read More About Champagne
Vintage Champagne and Sparkling Wines
Vintage Champagne is made in particularly good years with optimum weather and the best grape selection.
Some houses, like Dom Perignon, only make vintage Champagne,
so they do not produce a wine every year and have no
non-vintage bottlings.
What makes vintage Champagne better? Well, status for one - many vintage Champagnes are...Read More About Vintage
Ship on us for a month!
After your free trial, StewardShip is just $49/year.
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text:
GT: Fruits of the can variety
I do hope you enjoy my vicious visage
Cons I will be attending:
Anime Los Angeles 2012 (hopefully)
Anime Expo 2012
Anime Vegas every blasted year
This... this is just beautiful.
It is you who are breathtaking *double pistols and a wink*
Who are you and why are you doing this, and why must you reject my hate? D:
If i must replicate my answer, i am hirret viem.
On a scale from one to ten, how fucking creepy would you rate yourself?
Along the 7-9 lines chap.
Natalia, actually. But courtney's my best friend so you weren't too far off.
Well congratulations lass.
i go on tumblr for the first time all day and my boyfriend has an appreciation blog....o...h....
Courtney perhaps?


text:
Road bike. Planet X full carbon road bike for sale
Full carbon Planet X frame - size 'small'. Full Shimano Ultegra groupset, Fulcrum racing Quattro wheels with Planet X bars, stem and seat post. This bike is 12 months old and has only covered 700 miles. The bike is too small and therefore being sold


text:
Efficacy and Tolerability of BAF312 in Patients With Polymyositis
This study is currently recruiting participants. (see Contacts and Locations)
Verified October 2014 by Novartis
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Novartis ( Novartis Pharmaceuticals )
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: February 1, 2013
Last updated: October 21, 2014
Last verified: October 2014
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
This study will assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of BAF312 administered orally in patients with clinically active polymyositis who have shown inadequate response to corticosteroids and or DMARDs (disease modifying antirheumatic drugs).
Drug: Placebo
Drug: BAF312
Phase 2
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|A Multi-centre Double-blind, Placebo Controlled, Proof of Concept Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Tolerability of BAF312 in Patients With Polymyositis
Resource links provided by NLM:
Genetics Home Reference related topics: idiopathic inflammatory myopathyU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by Novartis:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Combined efficacy endpoint: Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) and serum creatine kinase (CK) levels [ Time Frame: 12 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]Assessment of preliminary clinical efficacy of 2mg BAF312 once daily using MMT of 8 muscles (MMT-8) and serum CK levels
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- Adverse Events [ Time Frame: 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]Number of adverse events will be tabulated by body systems and treatment.
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|April 2013
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|January 2016
|Estimated Primary Completion Date:
|January 2016 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
|Drug: Placebo
Experimental: BAF312
Active drug
Drug: BAF312
Patients randomized to active treatment will undergo a titration period of 6 days with BAF312. From day 6 patients will receive BAF312 (2 mg) for the entire duration of Period 1. Both patients randomized on active and on placebo will be offered to enter in the all-active extension Period 2, after the completion of Period 1.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 75 Years
|Genders Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- "definite" or "probable" for polymyositis at least three months before Baseline
- active disease as defined by elevated CK levels and persisting muscle weakness
- must have received and inadequately responding to standard therapies (corticosteroid alone or with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs
- stable dose of corticosteroid for at least 2 weeks prior to Baseline and should not have received a medium or high dose in the last 8 weeks prior to study entry.
- patients treated with methotrexate must have been on a stable dose for at least 6 weeks prior to Baseline.
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients with overlap polymyositis, late-stage polymyositis, or other types of myositis.
- Preexisting severe cardiac or pulmonary involvement, malignancy of any organ system or significant eye diseases.
- Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus or diabetes complicated with organ involvement.
- Pregnant or nursing (lactating) women
Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria may apply.
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01801917
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01801917
|Contact: Novartis Pharmaceuticals
|Contact: Novartis Pharmaceuticals
|United States, Arizona
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85028
|Contact 480-314-1007 ext 6
|United States, California
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
|Contact 310-825-3264
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Orange, California, United States, 92868
|Contact 714-456-8520
|United States, Florida
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
|Contact 305-243-8567
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Tampa, Florida, United States, 33612
|Contact 813-974-9413
|United States, Kansas
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Kansas City, Kansas, United States, 66160
|Contact 913-588-5703
|United States, Maryland
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Not yet recruiting
|Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21224
|Contact 410-550-6972
|United States, Massachusetts
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
|Contact 617-525-6763
|United States, Ohio
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Not yet recruiting
|Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
|Contact 614-293-4973
|Canada, Ontario
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2C4
|Canada, Quebec
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1A1
|Czech Republic
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Prague 2, Czech Republic, 128 50
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Debrecen, Moricz, Hungary, 4032
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Budapest, Tomo Utca, Hungary, 1083
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Lublin, Lesser, Poland, 20-582
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Bialystok, Poland, 15-879
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Not yet recruiting
|Bydgoszcz, Poland, 85-168
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Not yet recruiting
|Warsaw, Poland, 02-637
|Novartis Investigative Site
|Not yet recruiting
|Wroclaw, Poland, 50-556
Sponsors and Collaborators
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
|Study Director:
|Novartis Pharmaceuticals
|Novartis Pharmaceuticals
More Information
No publications provided
Keywords provided by Novartis:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on October 29, 2014
No publications provided
|Responsible Party:
|Novartis ( Novartis Pharmaceuticals )
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01801917 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|February 1, 2013
|Last Updated:
|October 21, 2014
|Health Authority:
|Canada: Health Canada
United States: Food and Drug Administration
Czech Republic: State Institute for Drug Control
Hungary: National Institute of Pharmacy
Poland: Ministry of Health
Keywords provided by Novartis:
Polymyositis, Myositis
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Muscular Diseases
Musculoskeletal Diseases
Nervous System Diseases
Neuromuscular Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on October 29, 2014


text:
Apple Patents Reveal Plans for Mobile Social Networking App
The smart folks at Patently Apple have uncovered some documents published to the USPTO today detailing a social application Apple is building for the iPhone. The application, known as iGroups, is designed to let people meet up and exchange information in a way that is focused on ensuring privacy. The USPTO documents are pretty detailed in terms of how the application -- and the related patents -- work.


text:
* Please click here to read part one of this series.
When discussing glassware for adult beverages, there is no doubt that wine glassware holds an extremely important place in the discussion. There are a dozen or so classic glassware shapes for wine, both white and red, each designed specifically for a wine's bouquet, texture, flavor, and physical properties. Let us now examine some of the most common wineglass styles, and see why they are appropriate for their particular wine.
Red Wine:
1. Pinot noir glass.
As the name indicates, this glass is intended to hold Pinot noir. This wine has become extremely popular in the US over the past couple of decades, perhaps because New World Pinot noir can tend to be more fruit-forward than Old World wines. This glass has a very wide bowl to allow oxygenation (which mellows and opens up a wine), yet its mouth is tapered back dramatically in order to focus the bouquet.
2. Bordeaux glass.
A Bordeaux glass is comparatively tall, with a medium-wide bowl and a slightly narrower mouth. Bordeaux tend to be very concentrated, big, flavorful wines (although older Bordeaux are much mellower), with high alcohol fumes. The tall glass helps to dissipate these fumes, while the large bowl allows oxidation to disperse the flavor throughout the wine.
3. Burgundy (Bourgogne) glass.
Burgundy, often considered the world's finest wine by experts (and the most expensive!), also uses the Pinot noir grape. And while French Pinot noir is also relatively fruit-forward like its New World cousin, it also tends to produce more well-developed, fuller bouquets. A Burgundy glass is relatively short, with with a nice, wide bowl, and a narrower mouth. This allows the wine to oxygenate broadly, creating an intense bouquet, and then the narrow mouth concentrates that bouquet.
4. Rosé glass.
While rosé is somewhere between red and white wine, it still follows the principles of red wine. A rosé glass has a tall stem for delicate holding. The width overall is medium-wide, to allow the wine's bouquet to rise. But the mouth is flared outward. This is so that the wine will pour onto the top of the drinker's tongue, because rosé has a high acidity level, and acid is not detected toward the top of the tongue.
5. Syrah glass.
Syrah has a buttery, fruity quality (but it can also be spicy) that is prominent in New World wines. The Syrah glass, specifically created by the Riedel wineglass company, is medium-sized overall, with a relatively wide bowl and narrow mouth. According to Riedel, this is so that the wine's intensity can be tempered with oxygenation, and then the fruity qualities intensified by the narrow mouth.
White Wine:
1. Champagne flute.
A champagne flute is a tall, very narrow glass that is specifically designed to keep the bubbles from dissipating too quickly, and to concentrate and focus the aromatic nature of the wine.
2. Chablis glass.
Made from the Chardonnay grape, white wine from the Chablis region is crisp and acidic. It thus does well in a smaller, narrow glass. The acidity is an important part of the enjoyment of Chablis, so less oxygenation is desired.
3. Sauvignon blanc glass.
Sauvignon blanc is a very aromatic white wine by nature, with fruity undertones. Thus, its ideal glass is narrow and tapered, to concentrate and lift that wonderful bouquet.
4. Chardonnay glass.
A good Chardonnay has a medium-to-high acidity, even those with a buttery mouthfeel. Underneath that acidity is a bounty of complex aromas and flavors — one of the reasons that Chardonnay is prized among white wine drinkers. Thus, a good Chardonnay glass will have a very wide bowl and a wide mouth, so that oxygenation can cut some of that acidity to bring out the complex flavors.
5. Sauterne glass.
Sauternes are sweet dessert wines, but also very structured and complex, and have the potential for long aging. A Sauterne glass generally has a relatively wide bowl with a thinner, tapered mouth. Because Sauternes are so sweet, it is desirable to bring out their small acidity and alcohol fumes. This glass accomplishes that.
You may notice that all of these glassware styles are for French wine. That is not because the only good wines are French! Rather, it is because the French traditionally like to categorize and control things (compare a wild English garden to an ordered, trimmed French garden), and they take their Gastronomy very seriously. They have thus analyzed wine drinking intensely, and thereby created such a complex system of glassware. Other wine-drinking cultures, such as those of Italy, Spain, and California, also have certain glassware preferences, but they tend to be in simple, broad categories: wider glasses for more complex, full-flavored wines, and narrower glasses for more fruit-forward wines.
Tags: FanSided Food Ergo Love Matt Miller Wine Wine Glasses Wine Glassware


text:
Related Photo Galleries
A top bough starts with two straight pieces of 1/2-in. square aluminum bar stock about 6 ft. long. "We're going a little 'old school' to make these bends and just use good eyeball judgment," said Pat. Shown here, he simply uses a small worktable to hand bend the stock.


text:
Select () or exclude () categories to narrow your recipe search.
As you select categories, the number of matching recipes will update.
Find exactly what you're looking for with the web's most powerful recipe filtering tool.
1/2 Photos of Cherry Angel Food Cake - Homemade
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
20 mins
50 mins
A new twist to an old favorite! Cherries!
Units: US | Metric
Serving Size: 1 (53 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 12
The following items or measurements are not included:
maraschino cherries
Your life in the kitchen will never be the same.


text: When you look at the recorded list of programs, all you see is the date, channel number etc but not the name of the show. This a pain because you have watch part of the show just in order to identify what you have recorded. There is an option to rename the program (after you have identified it) but the new name stays there only if the STB is left on. If you turn it off, then on again, the name disappears and you left with the vague date/channel number etc.