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Strategies for creating and fulfilling ambitious business goals
The ability to effectively goal-set is vitally important in the business world. To set a goal, you need to know where you are in your business right now and what needs to be done so you can progress to the next leg of your journey.
Let's use a GPS analogy to help emphasise this point. When you want to plot out a route to help you fulfil your organisation goals, the GPS needs to triangulate where you are now. If it doesn't know where you are, it can't tell you how to get to your end point (desired goals).
By setting a goal that is arbitrary and vague e.g. "I want greater profits" or "I want more growth." This is like telling your GPS that you want to go to the other side of the world – there will be too many different routes. If you're miles away, it might guide you a little bit of the way. It is key to be specific and clear on what you want to achieve. Where exactly on the map do you want to go? Why do you want to go there?
When you have your start point and end point determined, you need to find the best route between the two – taking your workforce, time constraints and resources into account. This is rarely a definite course and there will be lots of alternative ways to achieve your goals. All with their own limitations and obstacles.
Let's examine the most effective ways to set achievable goals:
Start Point
Consider the current state of your business. Are your numbers going up? Are your people engaged? Are you ahead of the competition?
When I work with individual clients, I ask them to rate their work on three criteria. This technique can be directly applied to help you and your organisation grow through targeted goal-setting too.
Consider your three most important business factors, e.g. your product, people and finances. After you have chosen them, break down the elements that make up each of these categories:
- Product: (Is it market-leading? Is it visually appealing? Is it user-friendly?)
- People: (Are they engaged? Do they align with the company culture? Are they happy?)
- Finances: (Are the numbers going up? Have you improved since last quarter? Are you achieving your forecasted sales figures?)
Consider them all in detail and rate each one on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest.
You should now have scores for these three categories, and perhaps you may want to score the individual components too. There will likely be some obvious high and low scores.
You can approach this in one of two ways. The most obvious is to focus on the weak points, and set goals that will improve this area of business. However, perhaps this score was low because it is not a priority or driver in the business. To create goals based on something that isn't important right now isn't the best use of resources.
The not so obvious approach, therefore, is to seek greatness in an aspect of the business that is already high. Do you have high standards of job satisfaction? Seek to provide your workers with extra autonomy or benefits. Are you giving great value to your customers in your business? Then work out how to give them jaw-dropping service. Are you achieving great results with pro bono work? Then extend and expand your voluntary programmes.
Both choices are effective and will generate a return that will benefit your bottom line.
So now we've worked out our start point. The next step is to work out where we want to go:
End Point
Where are you and your business going? You need to form a clear idea of where you want to be. This is when you might hear some practitioners start shouting SMART goals at you. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound. These form important guidelines for setting goals, but it is not the most effective approach.
Why's that? First of all, because of that middle word "achievable". I think this makes people and businesses think small. If we only did things that we thought were achievable, we wouldn't get ahead in life. With the word achievable, there is no room for dreaming. Dreaming allowed us to put a man on the moon. Dreaming created the iPhone. The speech was "I have a dream", not "I have a SMART goal". Scrap that binding word "achievable", and dream big.
As well as not encouraging dreaming, the SMART goals do not prepare you for failure. The road to your goals is not a perfect one. There will likely be delay, distraction and defeat. I developed my own framework to combat these flaws and help everyone create goals more effectively. It's called the S.S. D.O.P.E. framework:
Specific: What do you want exactly? For example, if your goal is to increase profits, it might become "Increase revenue by 10% this quarter", "Open 10 new locations in the next 12 months" or "Cut expenses by 20% before the start of the next financial year."
Steps: Break down the goal into steps. These steps should be challenging and stretch you just out of your comfort zone. To continue the example, If you feel comfortable with 2.5% growth, how could you stretch that to 5%?
Dates: Set a starting date and completion date for your goal. Setting a time frame gives you a sense of urgency and commitment. I find setting 30-day challenges for myself is a useful increment to focus on.
Obstacles: What is likely to stop you from achieving your goal? What human variables (e.g. fear, willpower) and non-human variables (e.g. weather, markets) are there?
Preparations: When you've preempted the potential roadblocks, how can you plan ahead to avoid or minimise them?
Exciting: Why is your goal important to you? Where does your passion for this goal come from? What is going to make you want to stick with this goal when the going gets tough?
When you've built your goals into this framework, you then have the end point in the GPS. However, you still have the biggest step to make…the journey.
In the next section, I will outline a few tips and strategies that will help you achieve your goals quicker and more easily:
The Journey
After planning out your end point using the S.S. D.O.P.E. framework, as well as some of the potential checkpoints and roadblocks along the way, it's time to get detailed on your mechanism of travel. What strategies are you going to use to fuel your journey towards your goal? Below I've listed my two favourites:
The Three Things
The three things task involves identifying three things you can do every single day to advance you towards your goals. These three things do not have to be big, and in fact, I encourage them not to be. The smaller they are, the more likely you are to engage in them and build momentum.
If you have a sales goal, that might be to contact five new prospects every day. If you have a team-building goal, that might be to check in with five people each day. If you have a growth goal, then you might want to scout five new locations each day. These three things might be consistent every day, or they may vary slightly, but the key is to identify what these three things are at the start of each day, using a journal or an app on your phone.
You see three things each day might not feel like much, but if you do three things every day, for 365 days, after a year you will have taken over 1000 steps towards your goal (assuming you haven't completed it already). That kind of progress will start to show results, but it begins with the three things.
Accountability Partner
When it comes to goals, building in accountability is one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself. Accountability is having somebody to report to on the progress of your goals, and whether you are achieving/not achieving them. Research has found that having accountability increases the likelihood of achieving your goals by 91%. No other strategy can boast that kind of enhancement.
There are a number of ways you can set up accountability. You might have a coach who sets you weekly or monthly goals, and you report to them on a frequent basis on how you are progressing. You might have a team member who calls you daily or weekly to check up on the progress. You might want to advertise your goal to your customer, setting in a stone a promise to them.
An important factor to remember when it comes to accountability is not to be scared of telling your partner/s that you haven't done it, or you're not progressing as you'd like. An effective accountability partner will be able to work with you and find out what roadblocks or issues might have held you back, and help you work through them.
An accountability partner is not just someone who gives you a bit of urgency to get on with your goals, but can also help you when you're struggling.
In business, goals are hugely important, however, the strategy behind how to set and achieve them is often poorly defined. With the information in this post, you will be able to determine where you are in your business, where you want to be, and how to get there.


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Posted by Mariel Kennedy
According to College Board, the national average cost of textbooks at a four-year public college is $1,137.
The Student Public Interest Research Groups — self-described as "a national network of non-profit, non-partisan student advocacy groups — respond to the high and rising costs of textbooks with the creation of the Make Textbooks Affordable Junior Advocate Program. According to PIRGs' website, the program intends to "train and empower students to take action on campuses across the country."
PIRGs explains the program as "the first student-led marketing campaign of its kind and represents a major turning point in the movement for more affordable textbooks."
In addition to the amount of money the average student spends on textbooks, the site claims that prices have risen to more than quadruple the rate of inflation and that "publishers release frequent new editions to limit used books, conceal price information from faculty and bundle textbooks with 'bells and whistles' to inflate costs."
To decrease the amount spent by students, PIRGs are pushing for a new form of textbooks called "open textbooks."
PIRGs define open textbooks as "college texts offered online under a license that allows free digital access and low-cost printing." Open textbooks are unlike "conventional e-books," as they can be found online for free and hard copies can be accessed at a rate of about $20 to $40.
Open textbooks are gaining popularity across the country. PIRGs state that making the switch to open textbooks allows professors to "save their students up to $20,000 per class" and "have the potential to reduce costs by up to 80 percent."
Despite that more than a thousand classes in the U.S. have made the switch to open textbooks, PIRGs state that a majority of professors have never heard of the books. Thus, the Junior Advocate Program was created.
Junior Advocates are currently creating and presenting campaigns that market open textbooks on their campuses. Methods used are similar to those used by big-budget publishing companies and include "one-on-one conversations, group presentations, online promotion and media outreach."
Rather than focusing on the availability of used books and book rentals, the Junior Advocate Program works "to change the dynamics of the textbooks market by challenging traditional publishing models."
Joanne Schwartzberg '12 is currently studying off-campus in the Washington Semester Program through American University. Part of her program is an internship, which she is fulfilling by becoming a Junior Advocate.
"Open source textbooks are important because they are the wave of the future. Everything is going to become digitalized eventually, including textbooks, and we should jump on the bandwagon now," Schwartzberg said.
PIRGs' main goal is not just to save students money, but to also send the message to publishing companies that "professors will stop using books if they get too expensive… [leaving companies] no choice but to lower their prices and make textbooks affordable."
Schwartzberg also feels that open textbooks will ultimately benefit the country. "Textbook affordability is a large way we can make higher education in general affordable for more people … It will lead to more success and a stronger workforce for America and who can argue with that," Schwartzberg said.
After a spring break trip to New York City to talk to faculty members at New York University and Columbia University, Schwartzberg will be bringing the message of open textbooks to the Skidmore campus.
"We're already paying $50,000 a year to go here; textbooks should not be what break our banks," Schwartzberg said.
PIRGs are campaigning for sustainable campuses, affordable higher education, truth about credit and more.
They also offer many internships and volunteer opportunities to interested students.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tax, title, registration and doc & title prep are extra. Full disclaimer can be found here.
MPG ratings are based on EPA mileage estimates. Actual rating will vary with options, driving conditions and vehicle condition.
When drivers from Western Massachusetts are looking for a high-quality used vehicle that won't break the bank, they count on our used-car inventory. We carry a huge selection of used cars, trucks and SUVs from all makes, so whether you're looking for a used Ford truck, Honda sedan or Lexus crossover, we have what you're looking for. When it's time to find the model that fits your budget, our friendly sales team will answer all your questions so you never feel pressured into a purchase that isn't right. Take a few minutes to browse our complete inventory of used cars in Western Massachusetts, then call us to schedule a test drive.


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Thursday, July 1, 2010
The Truth About Susan B. Anthony
How many of you have heard of the Susan B. Anthony List? They're like the group Emily's List, but instead of helping progressive, pro-choice women get elected, they support backwards, anti-choice, so called "feminists" who would like to see an end to women's autonomy and control over her own body.
Yeah, I'm a little bit frustrated. But the reason isn't because they're anti-abortion. I know that some people are, and I try my best to respect people's personal or religious feelings. And I want to see more women in politics because that will hopefully reflect back on all women's ability to succeed in the workplace (though these candidates are likely to vote in ways that will restrict women to the confines of the home, chained to a crib for their adult lives). My major issue with this organization is the way they have appropriated the feminist icon of Susan B. Anthony, construing her as women-hating and anti-choice!
Let me throw some facts at you: Susan B. Anthony spent no political time on abortion. The one piece of public writing associated with Susan B. Anthony about abortion was written under the pseudonym A., one which she never used prior to this letter to the editor's publishing, or after. Two leading scholars on Anthony argue that it wasn't her who wrote it, she just allowed it to be published in her paper.
In her diary Anthony wrote about her dismay that her sister-in-law had an abortion, but that's because abortions at the time were extremely unsafe for women. You see, when you make abortions illegal, they become back-ally procedures done with coat hangers. Women have performed abortion procedures since the advent of medicine; there will always be some women who choose to have an abortion. If anti-abortion activists are so "pro-life", why don't they care about the lives of women?
Many of the writings that the Susan B. Anthony List's President, Marjorie Dannenfelser, sites in rebuttal actually prove the point that these early feminists cared about women first. Victoria Woodhull, the first female presidential candidate, told a newspaper of the day that "Every woman knows that if she were free, she would never bear an unwished-for child, nor think of murdering one before its birth." Woodhull is talking about a world with perfect contraceptives for women. Women are still not "free" from unwanted pregnancy, and that's why abortion must be made available to them.
In a perfect world, the anti-abortion movement would actually be compassionate towards women, and provide them with the best possible alternatives to abortion rather than simply seeking to police their bodies. Until that time, I can not, and will not, take claims of an anti-abortion feminism seriously.
Photo Cred: GOP.com
2 comments:
- Serena Freewomyn said...
Great post. I think it's important to mention, though, that Susan B. Anthony DID advocate for family planning. She often spoke in public about limiting the number of pregnancies, as well as spacing them many years apart. In fact, Susan B. Anthony often criticized Elizabeth Cady Stanton for having so many children, because it kept Stanton from playing a more public role in the suffrage movement. Anthony may have opposed abortion for the reasons you mentioned, but that does not mean that she was anti-choice.
- July 1, 2010 at 5:29 PM
The murder before it's birth comment is still problematic, even in a 100% working contraceptive world. I'm probably nitpicking, but whatever. Even if we have birth control with no failures, there will still be women who change their minds, don't want to use contraception, etc. If I heard it today I'd just hear pandering to the anti-choice crowd.
- July 2, 2010 at 3:31 AM


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On Sunday morning, I joined Michael Lam and his wife in a couple of short hikes around Point Pelee.
I'd heard of Point Pelee from a few bird photographers who had described the park as the place to be in the spring for Warblers. I didn't know, until Michael told me that its also a great place to see Monarch Butterflies in the fall.
Sadly we were about 2 weeks too late for the Monarchs but the walk was pleasant nonetheless.
I did manage to make a couple of decent images of a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. Kinglets are notorious for being difficult to photograph due to their small size and constant movement.
Technical Specs: Canon 1Ds3, 100-400 (bird was with 1.4x TC).


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CCEA Moving Image Arts Showcase & Awards
Date Posted: December 1, 2015
Over 270 young filmmakers gathered in Brunswick Moviebowl last week (Wednesday 25 November) for the annual CCEA Moving Image Arts Showcase and Awards Ceremony, in association with Foyle Film Festival.
Sponsored by City of Derry Crystal, the awards celebrate the best work produced by Moving Image Arts GCSE and A Level students across Northern Ireland in seven categories.
The winning films and animations were also given their first cinematic screening during the ceremony in Brunswick Moviebowl, attended by Bernard McCloskey, Head of Education at Northern Ireland Screen, Ingrid Arthurs, Education Manager at CCEA, Michael Bond from City of Derry Crystal as well as Bernie McLaughlin and Eavan King from Foyle Film Festival.
Adam McCallion from St. Columb's College in Derry~Londonderry received the award for GCSE Best Film Category – Unit 2 for his film Don't Answer the Phone, while Ciara Gill from Erne Integrated College took home the top prize for AS Best Film for Bean Boy.
Bernard McCloskey, Head of Education at Northern Ireland Screen, said; "I have been really impressed with the standard of work on display from this year's Moving Image Arts students. The creativity, ingenuity and wide range of films showcased evidence their real understanding of the art of filmmaking. Congratulations must go to all the students and their teachers for their hard work."
Pupils from Holy Cross College in Strabane placed highly in thee of the seven categories. Rian McDaid was presented with second place in the Best A2 Animated Film category (Unchained Animation), Shane Farrell was joint third in the GCSE Best Film category – Unit 2 (Hour of Need) while Joseph Gallagher scooped first place in the GCSE Best Animation Film category – Unit 1 & 2 (The Wreck of the Hubristic).
Bernie McLaughlin, Foyle Film Festival Director and Programmer said: "It is with a great deal of pride and pleasure that Foyle Film Festival provides a platform for the work of these budding young filmmakers, their talent and enthusiasm is endless. The festival hopes to be accepting the work of Moving Image Arts students in our Oscar® and BAFTA affiliated Light in Motion competition in the very near future. We wish all the students continued success in their studies."
Speaking at the event, Ingrid Arthurs, Education Manager at CCEA said: "We are delighted to run this event in partnership with the Foyle Film Festival every year. It is great to be able to celebrate the fantastic work produced by our students in such a unique and high profile way. Seeing their film on the big screen is a very special and memorable moment for each winner and it is a joy to give them this level of recognition and acknowledgement within the industry."
Foyle Film Festival is a flagship project of the Nerve Centre, funded by DCAL through Northern Ireland Screen and by Derry City and Strabane District Council.


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The most advanced research degree offered by the Department is the PhD in Economics and there are two programmes leading to it:
We also offer a less advanced programme i.e. the MPhil programme, whose standard length is two years.
If you are a prospective student you should: (i) check the entry requirements; (ii) write a research proposal of 1,000-2,000 words; (iii) check that your proposal fits with the research interests of our academic staff.
If you meet all entry requirements and you are able to name at least one potential supervisor who can fit with your research proposal, then you can proceed with the application on line.
A description of research interests of the academic staff can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/economics/our-people/academic-staff/
The Department's research faculty is very large in size with more than 50 academic staff involved in supervision, many of whom are leading researchers in their area. We also provide a comprehensive postgraduate taught programme at PhD and advanced MSc level.
PhD students in York benefit from close integration into research activities through the research clusters in
and close cooperation with a number of research centres
Many former graduates from York are now senior academics in various countries around the world; while many others have gone on to secure high-level positions in business, finance and government.
For each academic year we have a number of PhD studentships available for outstanding applicants.
All PhD and MPhil applications are made through the on line application system of the University of York - APPLY NOW.
Your research proposal should provide details on (i) your main research question, (ii) the relevant literature and your planned contribution to the current research in the area, (iii) the econometric and/or theoretical modelling methods that you plan to use, (iv) the data source (only if you envisage empirical work). The proposal should be of about 1,000 to 2,000 words. Before drafting the proposal you should make sure that your research interests are aligned with the Department of Economics and Related Studies. The Department has 6 main areas of research (clusters) (1) Economic Theory, (2) Macroeconomics/Finance, (3) Econometrics, (4) Applied Microeconometrics, (5) Health Economics and (6) Political Economy. Details of each of these clusters are available at:
We usually admit only students with a research proposal that fits with the research programme of the Department and the research interests of its academic staff. We advise you to check that your research proposal fits with the research interests of our academic staff and to suggest at least one potential supervisor (preferably two) in your application.
A description of research interests of the academic staff can be found at
Details on the application procedure and submission methods are provided in
Information on fees can be found at
There are different types of studentships you can apply for:
Other details on fees and studentships can be found at https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/fees-funding/research/
All PhD students can also apply to become a "Teaching Scholar" (previously called Teaching Fellow). For more details on Teaching Scholarships please click here.
For other studentships see https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/fees-funding/research/
All PhD students can apply to become a "Teaching Scholar" (previously called Teaching Fellow). Teaching Scholarships provide financial support towards the completion of the degree in exchange for undertaking a limited amount of teaching in the Department (for which Scholars will be trained). Scholars may be held by Home, EU and Overseas students. Teaching Scholars can be given up to 56 hours per year of undergraduate seminar teaching and for this they will receive a scholarship of up to £3,500 per year. Teaching scholarships are divided into three tiers
Vacancies for teaching scholars are usually advertised internally. All current and prospective PhD students whose application has already been accepted are informed about Teaching Scholarships by e-mail.
We provide a comprehensive postgraduate taught programme at PhD and MSc advanced level. PhD students must take 30 credits of assessed PhD or MSc advanced modules, 20 credits during the first year and 10 credits during the second year. At least 20 out of the cumulative total of 30 credits are to be done in the core modules (see below).
A list of MSc level modules provided by the Department is available at
Besides the 30 credits of assessed PhD or MSc advanced modules, students are also expected to attend the Research Student Workshops and other training and specialist lectures organised for PhD students, to actively participate in seminars and workshops organised by the Department of Economics and to play an active role in the Department research clusters by participating in their meetings, seminars and workshops on a regular basis.
Transferable skills
We also provide a set of transferable skills lectures for PhD students. The main lectures usually include:
Specialist lectures
Each academic year extra lectures and seminars are organised for PhD students and presented by distinguished visitors or academic members of the Department.
PhD students are usually supervised by one or two of our academic staff and receive support by a Thesis Advisory Panel which includes three academic members.
We do our best to select for each PhD student a supervisor that fits with his/her research interests. For this reason, we usually admit only students with a research proposal that fits with the research programme of the Department and the research interests of our academic staff and we recommend prospective PhD students to name a supervisor in their PhD application.
A list of potential supervisors and of their research interests can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/economics/our-people/academic-staff/
Research in the Department is organised into clusters, consisting of academic staff and research students, and focusing upon six research areas, see http://www.york.ac.uk/economics/research/
New PhD students are asked to choose at least one of the research clusters and become a student associate.
All PhD and MPhil applications are made through the on line application system of the University of York - APPLY NOW.


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Behdad Esfahbod's daily notes on GNOME, Pango, Fedora, Persian Computing, Bob Dylan, and Dan Bern!
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Tuesday, March 28, 2006
GnomeGoals Rules!
A few weeks ago I had to repeat the same maintenance work over and over in gucharmap, vte, dasher, and devhelp. Things like the right way to install an icon, or various metadata files like MAINTAINERS, etc. So I was thinking about pointing things like that, the best practices of maintaining GNOME modules, in my weblog as something like a GNOME Maintainers' Tips series. So I started listing them in a file in ~/blog till I get to them later. Well, I don't have to anymore.
GNOME Goal
series is just that, with a subtle difference: when he sets a goal, everybody hurries up to fix all modules he maintains or commits to (
or better yet, others contribute patches to fix these.) Nice indeed. So I simply dumped my list and filed my tips at
GnomeGoals wiki page
. I even wrote drafts for a couple of them. Help up and add your secret tips. Given that we only have about 20 more weeks to go before next code freeze (if not less), we may need to accelerate.
A not-so-irrelevant idea is
Gnome Recipes
project. What both projects have in common is that they generate very good material for the GNOME ISV guide, and that's a good thing.
On a completely unrelated note, I'm enjoying the new Bugzilla My Bugs page even more and actually using the "Assigned to" field of bugs, assigning bugs that I want to look into shortly to myself, and find them right there in my bugs page.
Actually, I think most of those fixes are coming not from the maintainers, but from outside contributors. Hence the fact that most of them are listed as "patch" instead of "done"... they're largely coming from people like myself without commit access.
posted by
: March 28, 2006 2:24 AM
True. Updated the post about it. And Thanks for all the patches!
posted by
: March 28, 2006 2:39 AM
Reading the list at GnomeGoals wiki page, I found one thing missing - the ability of applications to remember their position and size (as well as state of maximization) between runs. I don't know if this is a general-metacity or application-specific responsibility, but I'm sure there aren't many more annoying things than having to resize the File save dialog every time to see more of my files and folders...
(beat me with a stick if this has already been solved in 2.14, I'm still using 2.12 and waiting for 2.14 being unblocked in portage :)
posted by
: March 28, 2006 11:01 AM
Good point. Why didn't you add it to the wiki yourself?
posted by
: March 28, 2006 1:52 PM
Sorry, seeing the 'immutable page' property I thought the page is modifyable only by registered Gnome developers. Registered, modified, am happy :)
posted by
: March 28, 2006 4:13 PM
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/\\\/ \/\\\////\\\ \/\\\ \/\\\ \/\\\\\\\\\\
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\/////////// \///////// \///////// \////////// QQ Group: 467741880
zbus strives to make Message Queue and Remote Procedure Call fast, light-weighted and easy to build your own service-oriented architecture for many different platforms. Simply put, zbus = mq + rpc.
zbus carefully designed on its protocol and components to embrace KISS(Keep It Simple and Stupid) principle, but in all it delivers power and elasticity.
Golang Server and Client
Single Mac i7 box with SSD, with apache ab -k -c 32 -n 4000000 URL
Produce: ~70,000/s
Consume: ~60,000/s
RPC: ~20,000/s (java service)
Download the source, in server directory
go build
No dependency just Go!
Directly download from the prebuilt binary.
Incase you may interest in the client projects, go to zbus source root directory
git submodule update --init --recursive
On your favorite OS, run the built zbus binary, access the monitor address
You can change the default configuration, in console, type
zbus -h (change the binary name to 'zbus' if by default is 'server')
all self-explained, with configurable items listed such as port to listen, directory to store MQ and log etc.
In the monitor page, as you can see, there are two sections
Tracked Servers
List all the MqServer joined.
zbus instance by default plays the role of both Tracker and MqServer, and if tracker mode enabled, the zbus instance is able to accept other zbus instances to join as tracked server. And the tracked items such topics are aggregated for viewing.
To join zbus tracker(s), just start zbus with --tracker={address_list}
List all Topic avaiable for the tracked MqServers
Including important fields as Topic name, message depth in disk, consume-groups, consumer online, message consume filter.
For more detailed explanation of these glossaries please refer to components section.
In zbus, RPC is implemented via MQ, a MQ can be a message container for the RPC service, and internally it contains a mask to indicate the MQ's purpose of RPC.
The monitor page keeps evolving, more and more items will be added in.
The above figure shows the 3 major distributed components--broker, producer and consumer
Single mode, Broker is the zbus instance(MqServer), stores messages produced, delivers messages to consumers.
HA mode, Broker is an abstracted server(Trackers + MqServers), capable of failover and smart algorithms on selection of MqServer, but still just work like a single MqServer.
Producer publish message to Broker, capable of customerize the selection algorithm based on the application's will.
Consumer takes message from Broker, capable of relocating consuming position based on message offset.
Topic is a message queue identity, message with same topic fall into the same message store queue.
ConsumeGroup controls the consumer behavior, it stores latest consumed position of the topic, and filter out message if ConsumeGroup's filter is set. ConsumeGroup is super light-weighted in zbus, it is just like a pointer to the message queue, with carefully craft on ConsumeGroup, applications can form unicast, multicast, and broadcast messaging models.
Broker Design
DiskQueue Design
RPC Design
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Thursday, 7 March 2013
Chelsea Light Moving - s/t (Matador)
This is as good as 80s Sonic Youth.
Just thought I'd mention that first in case you were liable to skip over this review due to the phrase "Thurston Moore's new band".
I nearly gave Chelsea Light Moving a miss because of this but I'm glad I didn't. Definitely worth taking a leap of faith to get over that gut feeling it's just going to be average at best.
It's got a slightly more punk feel to it than Sonic Youth and I'm not just saying that due to it finishing with Communist Eyes. It strips out the slightly nicer pro-sound and becomes a lot more jarring and heavy without descending into just some self indulgent guitar noise noodling.
There's some really great bits where it almost reaches Caspar Brotzmann Massaker or High Rise levels of glorious, horrible atonal guitar riffing. At other points there's actual chug riffs.
And, of course, there's plenty of bits that don't sound a million miles away from 80s Sonic Youth.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Absolut demo (ex-Left For Dead/Midnight)
Holy shit this is good!!!
Noise punk with blazing wailing metal guitar solos.
It's as if Sarcofago and GISM joined forces.
Think of all that current killer hardcore coming out of Spain like Glam and Destino Final but with the metal ramped up to 11.
If those references are a bit obscure then just think of 80s Pushead.
Posted by Ewan at 22:20 No comments: Links to this post
Seein Red/Mihoen 10" (Opiate/Tadpole)
Opiate Records have just put all their releases up for free download
I'll quickly mention this one. Even if you've only a passing interest in fast hardcore then you're probably more than aware of Seein Red. Dutch thrashers that have been going for years and years. Plus they started the whole thing off when they did Larm in the early 80s.
Mihoen are top stuff too.
Basically, it's punk. Worth checking out the Wreck Of Old 98 album. Bit of Minutemen worship going on.
Friday, 1 March 2013
iTunes accounted for 60% of total music industry digital revenues in 2012
Hypebot have got an interesting article about this here - http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/02/itunes-payments-account-for-60-of-total-digital-music-revenue-analysis.html
It's only a quick read but quite informative.
Point I want to bring up is that iTunes sold $4.3 billion of music in 2012. That's $4,300,000,000. That's roughly £2.9 billion. As a comparison, £2.9 billion would be 1/25th of the UK's entire retail sector.
Whichever way you look at it, that's a fuckload of money.
It certainly demolishes the "people don't want to pay for downloads" argument that's popular amongst DIY/indie labels that still refuse to offer downloads for sale.
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Spinetingler Magazine has gone through a number of changes over the last decade. It was once an online, issue-based periodical with the financial wherewithal to pay its contributors and confidence enough to hand out annual awards (one of which The Rap Sheet won back in 2009). Then it relaunched in a continuous-publication format that seemed to offer the hope of greater reportorial and critical coverage. But over the last couple of years, it has become a blog of sorts, offering a mix of book reviews and short fiction.
So I am pleased to learn, via Spinetingler editor Sandra Ruttan's post today in Do Some Damage, that the mag is getting a second wind. "Spinetingler will have its first issue in years this fall," Ruttan writes. "We're currently accepting fiction submissions, scheduling author interviews, selling limited ad space, and pulling things together." This new edition of Spinetingler is scheduled for posting in October, and the call has already gone out for freelance submissions, with writers to be paid "$25 for short stories and $75 for short novellas."
Ruttan remarks in Do Some Damage that "Spinetingler has always been a labor of love, and primarily self-financed. As a result, our
output has varied over the years. [Fiction editor] Jack Getze and I would like to thank you for your ongoing support throughout the years." I, for one, will be pleased to welcome Spinetingler's latest incarnation.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Reinvigorating a "Labor of Love"
Posted by J. Kingston Pierce at 6:34 PM
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Quick and simple miniature baked oatmeal cups with an eggnog flavor. Made with healthier ingredients! (Gluten-free recipe)
Happy Day after Thanksgiving!! How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was filled with lots of family/friends and good food! ☺
I'm going to try and not get too, too cheesy on you all, but I would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude to YOU. Thank YOU for reading my blog, for trying my recipes (and telling me when you do!), for your comments, and virtual friendship-ness. ❤ I'm so grateful!
I'm actually writing this post up the day before Thanksgiving so I can't quite tell you how mine was (will be?), but we've got some fun plans in the works that I'll be sure to update you on next week. It does involve some travel so I'm taking breaks on packing to write about the amazing breakfast we've been eating the past few days. AKA these mini baked oatmeal cups.
You've all had baked oatmeal before right? Or some kind of soft baked oatmeal bar? These are basically baked oatmeal, but in a different form (mini muffin-sized oatmeal bites). And they are slightly flavored to taste like eggnog. They are made in mini muffin tins for a few reasons — first, I think the texture and taste is the BEST in the miniature tins. While they worked out in a regular sized muffin tin baking for about 18 minutes, they weren't as good as in the miniature tin. By baking in the miniature tin the edges get crispier making the bite of the mini oatmeal cup have far more texture and almost a different overall taste then when baked in the regular sized muffin tin.
Second, they make a great on-the-go type of breakfast or even snack. While these are absolutely best right out of the oven, they are still pretty delicious later on as a snack. Or if you need to take breakfast on the go, these work well for that! You could even crumble up the baked oatmeal into a bowl and top it with some fruit for another fun breakfast with any leftovers. And third, mini baked oatmeal is just plain-out a fun way to eat breakfast. It's different than a typical breakfast and a unique way to eat baked oatmeal.
So real quick, let's talk about the taste. Eggnog flavored! These are not overpoweringly eggnog flavored, but they do have a faint eggnog taste and all the right spice. You could also add some rum imitation extract if you are looking for more of the traditional eggnog flavor. 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon should do the trick on that! The great news about these little baked muffin cups is that the eggnog in them is a much healthier variation than regular eggnog. It's made by Silk and called Almond Nog (I got the pumpkin spice version and recommend it in these cups!). It's dairy-free, super flavorful, and far lower on calories/fat than regular eggnog. Win, win, win! If you don't use the pumpkin spice version, you may need to increase the spices in these baked oatmeal cups.
Oh, and Happy Black Friday!!
- 3/4 cup Silk Almond Nog Pumpkin Spice*
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup oat flour blend up regular oats
- Optional: maple syrup, whipped cream topping, sugared cranberries
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a miniature muffin tin with nonstick spray (liners not recommended as the oats stick and the oatmeal cups don't come out cleanly.)
In a large bowl, briskly whisk together the Silk Nog and the large egg.
Measure the coconut oil when melted and then add the melted (but slightly cooled to not cook the egg) coconut oil into the bowl.
Whisk in the coconut oil and brown sugar. (If you aren't used to healthier snacks/breakfasts increase to 1/2 cup)
Add in the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla extract.
Add in the baking powder, baking soda, and old fashioned oats (do not use quick or steel cut oats)
In a blender or food processor, blend up oats until they resemble a flour consistency. I just pulse the oats in the blender until they look like flour. Measure the blended oats AFTER blending them and not before.
Stir all the ingredients together and let the mixture set for 15 minutes to allow the oats to absorb some of the liquid.
Fill up the prepared miniature muffin tin with the mixture. Fill the muffin cavities 90% of the way full.
Bake for 9-12 minutes and then remove and allow to slightly cool (I like to eat them still hot/warm).
If desired, top with maple syrup, whipped cream topping, and sugared cranberries. To sugar cranberries, click here for directions.
*If you don't use the pumpkin spice version eggnog, you may need/want to increase the spices as that Almond Nog has a lot of spice and flavor. If you want a stronger "eggnog" flavor add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon imitation rum extract.
More delicious and healthy breakfast ideas:
Skinny and Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Muffins
A gluten-free, healthy peanut butter oatmeal breakfast cookie
Peanut Butter Cup Overnight Oats
{Nature Valley Copycat} Cinnamon Brown Sugar Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares


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As usual the Board Meeting turned out to be a crazy success. I'm always amazed by the stoke in the air during this annual city cruise by our longboarding community.
It was a beautiful day and happily there were no fatalities (though I did witness one particularly painful looking bail on University north of College). I think everyone takes something a little different from this event. For some it's a feeling of mass power. For others it's about the community. For a few it's about flouting traffic rules. For me, it was about relaxing in the sun and having a good time.
I met many old friends and made some new ones - I met someone here from Nova Scotia, and someone from Alberta. It was good to see everyone! In the above clip I can pick out so many of the OLF crew, it's funny. Kudos to the organizers, we owe you big thanks.


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While the component pieces of Shimano's Saint groupset occasionally earn supremacy over their Zee counterparts by dint of weight loss alone, the Saint M820 Trigger Shifter stands head and shoulders above the Zee model. This is, admittedly, just our opinion, but we're also confident that the Saint shifter's ball bearing operation and ability to shift up two gears at once make a huge difference while punching out of terrain features.
The Saint M820 Shifters also carry their weight against the previous iteration, with both triggers making noticeable gains in length and the thumb lever requiring a claimed 37% less force to initiate shifts. While we haven't run clinical tests to verify that claim, on-trail experience tells us that the action is lighter and more responsive.
- Item #SHI00B2
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- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
Awesome shifter to pair with your Saint derailleur. Super burly construction with long shift levers. The I-Spec version is great for reducing the clamps on your bars and getting a streamlined look.


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Find family-friendly content in Google Play
You can find family-friendly content from trusted brands in Google Play. Read the sections below to learn different ways to find family content.
Ways to find family contentBrowse the Family section
- Open the Play Store app on your device .
- Tap Games, Movies & TV, or Books.
- At the top, tap Family. In the Books section, select Children's Books instead.
- From here, you can also browse content by age, family categories, or popular characters.
Start a search inside the Family section
Your results are filtered so you only see family-friendly content. To see unfiltered results, tap Show all results.
Start a search outside the Family section
Your results won't be filtered. This means you'll see include content from across the Play store, not just family-friendly content.
Tip: To prevent anyone who uses your device from downloading or purchasing mature content, set up parental controls.
When you're on Google Play, look for the family star to help you identify Family friendly content .
You can find the star badge that shows the suggested age range on the content's details page.
What the star badge means
The way content gets a star badge varies between different types of content. Read the sections below to learn more.Apps & Games
The star badge tells you what age group the developer designed for their app or game for.
On the badge, you may see:
- Family-friendly: Mixed audience of kids and adults
- Ages: Specific age ranges between 0 and 12 years old
We recommend parental guidance on any apps not designed solely for children.
Note: Developers might make changes to their app or game, so check for the star badge and review the information above before installing an app update.
Google Play assigns a star badge based on things like the movie or TV show's rating, the genre, and maturity of the content.
On the badge, you may see:
- Ages: Specific age ranges between 0 and 12 years old
- All ages: Appropriate for all kids under 13 years old
Google Play assigns a star badge based on publisher-provided information like age data, reading level, and genre.
On the badge, you'll see the age range the book is appropriate for.
Check an app's privacy policy
All apps and games that have a star badge have to include a link to their privacy policy at the bottom of the app details page.
We recommend that you review the privacy policy before downloading the app to learn how the app collects and uses personal information.
Troubleshoot problemsReport a problem
We do our best to make sure any content with a family star meets a high standard for quality and age appropriateness.
If you find inappropriate content, let us know.
The family discovery experience isn't available in all countries for every type of content. If you don't see the family star, the features described above aren't available in your area yet.


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Colts defensive end Chris McCain charged with battery, denies allegations
Indianapolis Colts defensive end Chris McCain was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery this week following an incident on Jan. 7 in Los Angeles when he was still a member of the Los Angeles Chargers.
McCain is accused of spitting on and grabbing the neck of the female victim, according to Los Angeles City Attorney documents obtained by the Indianapolis Star. The charges were filed this week, and he is scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles on July 13.
However, McCain denied these allegations on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
"Time out. Don't not believe that mess," McCain tweeted. "I'm just as confused 'cause Idk what is going on."
Time out. Don't not believe that mess.
— Chris McCain (@LolosDad1026) June 5, 2018
I'm just confused cause idk what is going on.
— Chris McCain (@LolosDad1026) June 5, 2018
He also strongly denied the allegations to the Indianapolis Star, too, telling them that he had never heard of the alleged victim and was unaware of the charges until he saw news reports on Tuesday.
"She is lying," McCain told the Indianapolis Star.
"No one has contacted me about anything. No cops, no one. No one has talked to me."
The Colts, who signed the 26-year-old last month, released a statement on Tuesday night saying they are looking into the incident.
Statement on #Colts DE Chris McCain: pic.twitter.com/KQr0C64TgP
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) June 6, 2018
"We're aware of this evening's reports regarding Chris McCain and are gathering all available information," the Colts said in a statement. "We take these matters very seriously and we will provide updates as appropriate."
McCain is entering his fifth season in the NFL. He recorded 17 tackles and five sacks last season with the Chargers.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Warriors and Cavs united on one front: A Trump visit
• Convicted child molester presents dilemma for MLB
• Terez Paylor: As Trump wages war on NFL, players grow tired of 'lies'
• Report: Trump 'angry' that Brady skipped 2017 visit


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SCACO are the exclusive sales and service agent for Australia & New Zealand for the Cubiscan range of dimensioning products. Well known as the market and technology leader in this space we are extremely proud to continue our long term relationship with this innovator.
Via the relationship with Cubiscan, SCACO also represent AKL-tec pallet dimensioning solutions for sales and service in Australia and New Zealand.
After a long association with SICK products and many years of independent development we are now very proud to announce our official "Authorised SICK Technical Partner" status. This further underlines the very strong working relationship we have with SICK and ensures our sales and service team are well trained and have access to the latest in technical and product information.
SCACO also represent OCS Checkweighers as an exclusive sales & service co-distributors in Australia alongside SICK. OCS checkweighers are well known globally as being of the highest German made quality with an uncompromising precision weigh cell. From in field service, installation, commissioning, certification, maintenance and even supply, the fully trained and qualified team at SCACO have the experience needed to solve the most challenging of in motion weighing applications.
SCACO are the exclusive Australian distributor for SYSTEC weigh indicators and programmable controllers. Far more than just a supplier of weighing hardware and option boards, the fully trained team at SCACO have developed a full range of Systec based weighing programs to handle the most demanding applications like dynamic filling by weight, in motion truck weighing and more.
SCACO are the exclusive Australian agent for the Legal For Trade RAVAS iFORKS products. The unique RAVAS design makes Legal For Trade forklift weighing affordable, accurate and hassle free.


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Prawn Noodle Shop in Wan Chai is where my Grandpa took us for lunch when we were strolling through the Wan Chai area. They serve Malaysian and Singaporean dishes, but mostly just noodle dishes.
The interior was small and the shop got quite busy during peak hours. The restaurant is located half way between Admiralty MTR and Wan Chai MTR. You need to do a little bit of walking, but it isn't too bad. You will want to walk to get a taste of their noodles.
Iced Coffee
Mushroom and Sliced Chicken Noodle
Laksa Seafood Noodle
Prawn and Meat Noodle in Creamy Soup
Overall, all the dishes were awesome. It has the homey taste and the quality is there. I would probably eat this all the time if I could. If you are in Hong Kong, definitely check it out.
We Rate Prawn Noodle Shop:
G/F, Rialto Building, No. 2 LanDale St,
Wan Chai


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Litigation Release No. 22135 / October 20, 2011
SEC v. Cutillo et al., Civil Action No. 09-CV-9208 (S.D.N.Y.) (RJS)
Attorneys Arthur J. Cutillo and Jason C. Goldfarb Settle SEC Insider Trading Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on October 17, 2011, the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final judgments against Arthur J. Cutillo and Jason C. Goldfarb in SEC v. Cutillo et al., 09-CV-9208, an insider trading case the Commission filed on November 5, 2009. The Commission charged Cutillo and Goldfarb, practicing attorneys at the time of their illicit conduct, with violations of antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The Commission alleged that Cutillo misappropriated from his law firm, Ropes & Gray LLP, material, nonpublic information concerning upcoming corporate acquisitions, including the 2007 announced acquisitions of 3Com Corp. and Axcan Pharma Inc. The Commission further alleged that Cutillo, through his friend Goldfarb, tipped the information to Zvi Goffer, a former proprietary trader at the broker-dealer Schottenfeld Group, LLC., in exchange for kickbacks. As alleged in the complaint, Zvi Goffer traded on this inside information and had numerous downstream tippees who also traded on the information, including other Wall Street traders and hedge funds.
To settle the Commission's charges, Cutillo and Goldfarb each consented to the entry of a final judgment that: (i) permanently enjoins each from future violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; and (ii) orders each to pay disgorgement of $32,500, plus $4,204 in prejudgment interest. In related administrative proceedings, the Commission suspended Cutillo and Goldfarb from appearing or practicing before the Commission pursuant to Rule 102(e)(2) of the Commission's Rules of Practice.
Cutillo and Goldfarb each previously pled guilty to charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud in related criminal cases, United States v. Arthur Cutillo, 10-CR-0056 and United States v. Jason Goldfarb, 10-CR-0056 (S.D.N.Y.). Cutillo was sentenced to a 30 month prison term and ordered to pay a criminal forfeiture of $378,608. Goldfarb was sentenced to a three year prison term and ordered to pay a $32,500 fine and criminal forfeiture of $1,103,131.
For further information, see Litigation Releases Nos. 21283 (Nov. 5, 2009), 21332 (Dec. 10, 2009), 21470 (Mar. 31, 2010), 21587 (July 7, 2010), 21741 (Nov. 15, 2010), 21826 (Jan. 26, 2011), 21999 (June 14, 2011), 22011 (June 21, 2011), 22051 (July 20, 2011), 22056 (Aug. 2, 2011), and 22078 (Aug. 31, 2011).


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Four generations of the Giglio family have helped to take their eponymous store from haberdashery to prestigious fashion brand in just 40 years.
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My boy, Nelson
"Nature teaches beasts to know their friends."
Coriolanus Act II, Scene I
I remember when my wife Doreen first mentioned Nelson to me. "Doreen, I just can't have a dog named Nelson."
Former city of Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson was out of office less than a year when my wife decided we needed another dog, and "Nelson" was available on the Siberian Husky rescue website. Nelson was six years old.
While he didn't have the name very long (it was given to him by the rescue organization), changing it to something else just didn't seem right. So the name Nelson stayed with the dog. The name "Nelson" came from a butterfly, but our dog was neither graceful nor elegant. He was a lumbering giant shedding furball.
He was definitely a big boy for a Husky, and he was even bigger because of his weight problem. He loved to eat. Before the rescue found him, I suspect his diet consisted of a lot of hot dogs and McDonalds. He could recognize a McDonalds bag by sight. Now that's powerful marketing.
We brought his weight down gradually, although he still had a ways to go.
It was very unlikely Nelson was a purebred dog. He had a "collie face" and Malamute paws. One of his front paws was damaged and he limped. We're not sure if the weak paw was from birth or an accident later in life. We suspect the latter. While it made him leery of stairs or climbing into cars, it did not affect his enthusiasm for play.
Nelson was a happy dog who was always smiling. He loved people, adults and children alike. He was always happy to see visitors as long as they didn't interfere with nap time. Then he just didn't bother to get up. He rarely barked at people. He loved playing, and he was always happy to see the friends of my children.
Nelson was a big baby. He was my big baby. He hated getting his nails cut. He hated getting his hair brushed. He hated getting in the car. He hated going to the vet. He hated getting shots. He put up with these things because Daddy made him, and he was quick to forgive those other inconveniences if it meant more treats, more attention and more playtime.
We didn't have him with us nearly long enough. You can say that about most dogs that become part of your family, but we lost Nelson when he was only nine years old. The end was sudden and unexpected. Even now as I'm typing this, I'm expecting "the big galoot" to lay across my feet as he often did when I worked, just enjoying the company of his people.


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The Venerable Bede, as he is generally called, our first great scholar and "the father of our English learning," wrote almost exclusively in Latin, his last work, the translation of the Gospel of John into Anglo-Saxon, having been unfortunately lost. Much to our regret, therefore, his books and the story of his gentle, heroic life must be excluded from this history of our literature. His works, over forty in number, covered the whole field of human knowledge in his day, and were so admirably written that they were widely copied as text-books, or rather manuscripts, in nearly all the monastery schools of Europe.
The work most important to us is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. It is a fascinating history to read even now, with its curious combination of accurate scholarship and immense credulity. In all strictly historical matters Bede is a model. Every known authority on the subject, from Pliny to Gildas, was carefully considered; every learned pilgrim to Rome was commissioned by Bede to ransack the archives and to make copies of papal decrees and royal letters; and to these were added the testimony of abbots who could speak from personal knowledge of events or repeat the traditions of their several monasteries.
Side by side with this historical exactness are marvelous stories of saints and missionaries. It was an age of credulity, and miracles were in men's minds continually. The men of whom he wrote lived lives more wonderful than any romance, and their courage and gentleness made a tremendous impression on the rough, warlike people to whom they came with open hands and hearts. It is the natural way of all primitive peoples to magnify the works of their heroes, and so deeds of heroism and kindness, which were part of the daily life of the Irish missionaries, were soon transformed into the miracles of the saints. Bede believed these things, as all other men did, and records them with charming simplicity, just as he received them from bishop or abbot. Notwithstanding its errors, we owe to this work nearly all our knowledge of the eight centuries of our history following the landing of Caesar in Britain.
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"Hate's great! Best villain!"
The Watchdogs serve as Lord Hater's minions and troops responsible for conquering planets and capturing opponents of Hater's in the name of their aforementioned evil master.
Physical Description
The Watchdogs are short, diminutive creatures who make up for lack of height through sheer numbers. They lack mouths (even though they have been demonstrated to speak, eat, and even kiss) or any other defining feature save for a giant single Cyclops like eyeball with red irises and black pupils.
They have purple skin, nails, and some seem to have red hair (if only in their armpits and on their chest). Like their overlord, Lord Hater, the Watchdogs have a single lightning bolt coming out of the tops of their helmets, although they have just one while Hater has two.
They all dress identically in black and red uniforms.
Lord Hater
The Watchdogs are loyal to Lord Hater and will do whatever he says, especially if it means avoiding punishment.
Commander Peepers
Peepers is the second-in-command of Hater and the general of the Watchdogs.
Most Watchdogs do not like Wander and will always try to capture him. However, there are some that actually do like him (one even has a picture of him in his room in the episode The Gift 2: The Giftening).
Their relationship is sort of unknown, but it is assumed they do not like her as she often beats them in battle.
The Watchdogs didn't seem to like Westley as they thought he was annoying, and always teased him. However, when he "captured" Wander and Sylvia on his own, they treated him with more respect and they were sad over his "death".
Known Members
Season 1
- "The Picnic" (First appearance)
- "The Greatest"
- "The Fugitives"
- "The Pet"
- "The Prisoner"
- "The Little Guy"
- "The Bounty"
- "The Birthday Boy"
- "The Day"
- "The Night"
- "The Brainstorm"
- "The Epic Quest of Unfathomable Difficulty!!!" (Cameo/Minor appearance at the beginning, no lines but they did scream and grunt a lot)
- "The Gift 2: The Giftening"
- "The Date"
- "The Buddies"
- "The Big Job"
- "The Helper"
- "The Funk"
- "The Rider"
- "The Gift"
- "The Bathroom Break" (a janitor)
Season 2
- "The Greater Hater
- "The Big Day"
- "The Breakfast"
- "The Fremergency Fronfract"
- "The Axe"
- "The It"
- "The Cool Guy"
- "The Rager"
- "The Good Bad Guy"
- "The Battle Royale"
- "The Matchmaker" (cameo)
- "The New Toy"
- "The Eye on the SkullShip"
- "The Show Stopper"
- "The Cartoon"
- "The Rival"
- "My Fair Hatey"
- "The Bad Neighbors"
- "The Waste of Time"
- "The Search for Captain Tim"
- "The Robomechabotatron"
- "The End of the Galaxy"
Season 1
Solos (In A Group Number)
- (Your Happy Birthday Song) (with Wander and Sylvia) ("The Birthday Boy")
Season 2
|The image gallery for Watchdogs may be viewed here.
Background Information
- They resemble Zigotons from the game "Patapon", with the only difference of the body and helmets. Zigotons were the antagonists of the first game.
- They could be considered the opposites of the Fist Fighters.
- They also can eat as shown in "The Picnic" (one Watchdog tried one of Wander's sandwiches), "The Greatest" (two of them were eating ice cream), "The Prisoner" and "The Little Guy", but they seem to just put it up to their face so it is unknown if they are really tasting it or if they even get hungry.
- In "The Greatest" they were even shown kissing at one point.
- The only watchdogs named so far are Peepers, Westley, Moose, Bob, Pete, Teddy, Greg and Barry.
- Moose's name and physical appearance might be a reference to the character Moose Maddon, from the short-story "The Moose And The Sparrow".
- In Latin America, they are called "Furioguardias". (Furious guards)
- In Ukrainian, they are called "Гострозорики", which translates to "Sharp sight", or more literally "Those who have a sharp vision".
- They all wish that they had a second eye, as revealed in "The Birthday Boy".
- The Watchdogs and a yellow palette version of them appear in the game Disney XD Villains Unite!. They are encountered in the Wander Over Yonder level and, briefly, in the Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja level.
- In the episode "The Day", there is a scene in which they can be seen without clothes on in a changing room (save for a white towel), revealing their skin color and seemingly shared hair color, as well as the fact that they seemingly have to shave their eyeballs (Whether this is actually for hair or another reason is unknown).
- They seem to have no shame in showing their private areas (assuming they have them in the same place as humans), as they don't bother putting their towels back on after dropping them to attack Sylvia until Sylvia requests they do. (after the first time they responded by wrapping them on top of their heads, misunderstanding Sylvia's intentions). However, since they state Sylvia wanting them to wrap them around their waists "makes more sense" it is likely this was only intended as a gag.
- So far, no female Watchdogs have made any sort of appearance, but Craig did reveal on a tweet that there are indeed female Watchdogs and that they're currently residing on their home planet.
- The Watchdog's catchphrase, "Hate's great, best villain", is a parody of Miller Light's slogan, "Tastes great, less filling".
- In some episodes it shows that they are very light weight and it's easy for characters like Lord Hater and Slyiva to carry them. Even Wander can carry them with no problem.
- "Hate's great, best villain!" - Their war-cry, "The Greatest", "The Little Guy", "The Brainstorm"
- "Happy..........." - Being brainwashed with joy by the Gifts, "The Gift 2: The Giftening"


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Brock Davis makes something cool every day. We all should. Via Maxrad.
Monthly Archives: April 2009
The Face To Face Reference Check
The phone is all about expediency. Both people on the call have a job to do and each of them is looking to get through the call and move on to something else.
A cup of coffee is an opportunity to meet someone, talk about a few other things, make a friend or a business acquaintance. Done right, the face to face reference check is a lot more than a reference check. It's a way to grow your network and your business. And it's also the best way to find out exactly what you need to know about a person you want to hire, invest in, or otherwise go into business with.
iBags iPhone app.
iBags is an app by Mobile App Studio that allows you to browse over 20,000 handbags from ShopStyle.com. You can browse through thousands of random handbags and purses, search for your favorite brands, or browse by a specific shape. When you see a bag you like, click on "retailer" and it will take you to retailer's Website where you can find out details, pricing and make a purchase.
Now if there was an app. for laptop bags.
More info. at The Mobile App Studio
Is the world finally ready for the mobile minitablet?
It's become quite clear over the last several months that Apple is ready to bridge the mobile computing gap, with plans to develop a device that fits somewhere in between the iPhone and the MacBook. A recent Wall Street Journal article proclaimed that during his medical leave, CEO Steve Jobs has been working on that midsized mobile device, bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a MacBook.
And just this week, BusinessWeek reported that Apple is developing a "media pad" that would let users watch videos on a larger screen than an iPod Touch or Amazon Kindle, but on a device that's more portable than notebooks and lacks a keyboard.
Biological Basis For The Eight-hour Workday?
The circadian clock coordinates physiological and behavioral processes on a 24-hour rhythm, allowing animals to anticipate changes in their environment and prepare accordingly. Scientists already know that some genes are controlled by the clock and are turned on only one time during each 24-hour cycle.
Shuky Leather Unibody MacBook Sleeve
Australian company Shuka has taken the manilla envelope concept, introduced with the MacBook Air, to a new level with it's leather sleeve for the 15″ Unibody MacBook. Looks beautifully crafted and I love the contrast between the red latch and the leather body.
Idea Collection Strategies
Ideas are the lifeblood of improvement in any area of our life. But we can't always implement the ideas we get the minute we get them – and sometimes these strokes of genius get misplaced or lost in our minds.
Here are seven strategies to collect your ideas for use when you need them most.
Write them down! I carry note cards so I can jot down an idea anytime. I write ideas on a flip chart or a whiteboard. I know that ideas are fleeting, so I get them down.
Take action. The collection becomes valuable to the degree that you try some of your ideas out. Set a timeline, make a plan, and try something out! It is with this final step that your ideas truly become valuable to you.
Continue reading Become an idea collector
Online boundaries between work and play
Every social networking Web site works differently. On LinkedIn, where all information is business-related, users can choose which information to include in their public profiles. On Twitter, most posts, or "tweets," are public.
"Most Facebook users don't even know these features are options," says Mr. O'Neill, who also owns a digital media company in Washington. "I can't tell you how many people sign up and don't ever think about privacy again."
I don't think the problem is just defining boundaries between connecting at work and online but more about shaping peoples perceptions of what it means to interact online. For many, websites in general, and social networking sites in particular, represent a sense of discovery and play. They don't make the conceptual leap between real world rules for interaction with office mates and the type of interaction they desire online. Unlike in the office where you see those you are talking to, all those office mates you added as friends and gave permission to view your profile become forgotten months later when you post something meant only for your closest friends.
Continue reading The Online Divide Between Work and Play
Incase Skate Messenger Bag
An incredibly well thought out and constructed bag from Incase featuring a large interior storage area, outer waterproof stash pocket with earphone cord access, waterproof lining, anodized aluminum hardware, padded notebook storage compartment with plush faux-fur lining, and an across-the-body strap design. Whew, so many features. One caveat about all bags of this type is the large amount of surface area that is in contact with your body — in the heat of these parts it makes for a sticky sweaty mess.
Tom Bihn's Side Effect
Tom Bihn recently released their iteration on the venerable waist pack. It looks like a great bag to have on hand when you want to get out and do some field scouting. From Tom Bihn, "The Side Effect can be used three different ways: as a shoulder bag (included is a shoulder strap that fits neatly inside of the bag when not in use), a waist pack (the waist strap tucks away when not in use), or as an organizer bag for toiletries, computer cables, or other small items".
Vaja case for Sony Vaio P
Beautiful cases for your Sony netbook. A tad pricey at up to $200US. Their case for the Macbook Air is just about perfect.
Buy your ticket now or later?
Will airlines go through another round of price cutting as summer nears, providing great deals for those who held off buying their tickets? Or are the relatively low summer fares being offered right now the best that travelers are going to see — especially as the stronger dollar has made Europe a more attractive option for many travelers, thus increasing the potential for fuller planes?
Prices seem to have risen on the routes I have checked recently.
Read Airfare Debate – Buy Now or Wait? – NYTimes.com
Sherpani Rolling Laptop Bag
Not everyone has shoulders made of steel, nor lightweight netbooks, so well designed bags like Sherpani's Rolling Flite bag help ease the pain of those long hikes around expansive airport terminals. Very iconic design. I'm not a big fan of the green but I tend to be fairly conservative when it comes to such things. I do like the handles, wheels, and that they have made the effort to use recycled materials.
More information available at CareerBags
Meta: Design inspiration
A list of lists. How meta!
16 Best Web Design Galleries for Inspiration
In this article you'll find 16 of the best and most popular web design galleries ranked in order by the number of votes they garnered on a poll that was published earlier this month. On instances where there was a tie, the site with the higher Alexa rank received a higher ranking.
400+ Creative Business Card Designs
So you want some business card design inspiration? Well here you have 400 creative and beautiful business card designs all on one page.
Use of White in Web Design: Tips and Trends
Not the best written article but a nice filter of sites that utilize empty space to their advantage.
50 great examples of infographics
Beautiful work from print and screen.
Games are not the most popular iPhone app.
The iPhone may make for a compelling gaming platform but when it comes to the type of applications iPhone owners use most weather apps trump all others.
According to an upcoming report on smartphone usage by online market research firm Compete, 39% of iPhone users cited weather-related apps as one of the three kinds of applications they use most frequently. (The Weather Channel app specifically was cited by 13%.)
A quarter of iPhone users said Facebook's was one of three apps they accessed most often, followed by game apps, at 20%. More than 10% pointed to music-related apps. After that, the more than 100 individual apps or types of apps cited by users fell to single-digit percentages, with most less than 2%.
MediaPost Publications What iPhone Apps Are Used Most? Hint: Not Games 04/13/2009


text: The buzzword: PotassiumThe expert: Elena Kuklina, M.D., Ph.D., a nutritional epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Q: What is potassium? A: It's one of the essential nutrients, such as sodium magnesium, calcium, which are required for normal cellular function. Q: What does it do? A: It does a lot. It reduces blood pressure. It prevents kidney stones and bone loss. Q: I often hear potassium mentioned along with sodium. How are they related? A: Mostly it does the opposite thing. If sodium has the effect of contracting, potassium relaxes. If sodium holds water in the body, potassium helps to get rid of excess water. ... If you have high sodium [in your diet], it will help if you eat more potassium. Q: Do we get enough of it? A: The current recommendations for potassium are 4,700 mg per day, but on average, Americans get only 3,000 mg. Q: Can we take a supplement? A: Supplements don't work as well as getting potassium from fresh food, partially because of the different composition of potassium in supplement form. Q: What are good sources for potassium? A: If you eat five fruits and vegetables per day, you will meet [the recommended amount]. But sometimes people don't have this amount of fruits and vegetables in their diet. Potassium-rich fruits and vegetables include leafy greens, such as spinach and collards, grapes, blackberries, carrots, potatoes and citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruits. The Takeaway: Eating five fruits and vegetables every day will ensure you get enough potassium, which is especially important if your diet is high in salt. Spicy stewed potatoes and spinach with buttermilk PG tested Potatoes and spinach are both high in potassium, and while potatoes sometimes get a bad rap, they're a lot healthier when cooked in water instead of oil. These potatoes are a bit spicy, but that heat is integral to their flavor, so I'd advise against leaving out the chiles. -- China Millman --1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks --2 dried red chiles, such as Thai, cayenne or chile de arbol, stemmed --1 cup boiling water --1/2 cup firmly packed fresh cilantro --4 large garlic cloves, peeled --3/4 teaspoon salt --1 tablespoon canola oil --1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric --1/2 cup buttermilk --1 tablespoon whipping cream --8 ounces baby spinach Place potatoes in a medium bowl; cover with cold water to prevent browning. Place chiles in a small heat-proof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Set aside until they are reconstituted, about 15 minutes. Reserving the chile-soaking water, coarsely chop the chiles (do not seed). Pile cilantro, garlic, salt and the chopped chiles in a mortar. Pound the ingredients to a pulpy mass with the pestle, using a spatula to contain the mixture in the center for a concentrated pounding. (Alternatively, pulse the ingredients in a food processor until minced.) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spice paste and cook, stirring, until the garlic is honey-brown and the chiles are pungent, 1 to 2 minutes. (Make sure to use adequate ventilation.) Drain the potatoes and add to the pan along with the turmeric; cook, stirring to coat the potatoes with the yellow spice, about 30 seconds. Pour in the reserved chile-soaking water and scrape the pan to loosen any browned bits; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. If the potatoes get dry before they get tender, add a little more water to the pan. Whisk buttermilk and cream in a small bowl. When the potatoes are tender, pile the spinach leaves over them, cover and cook until the spinach is wilted, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the buttermilk mixture. Don't worry if it curdles a little. Serves 4. -- Adapted from "The Simple Art of EatingWell Cookbook" by Jessie Price & the EatingWell Test Kitchen (2010, $35) French lentils with Chard PG tested Lentils and chard are both good sources of potassium, and this dish has the added bonus of being equally good warm or cold. Using the chard stem adds a wonderful sweet note to the earthy lentils. For a vegetarian version, simply substitute vegetable stock or even water, but compensate with a little extra salt. -- China Millman --1 onion, chopped fine -12 ounces Swiss chard, stems chopped fine and leaves sliced into 1/2-inch pieces --4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil --Salt and pepper --2 garlic cloves, minced --1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried --1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth --1 cup lentilles du Puy (French green lentils), rinsed and picked over --2 teaspoons lemon juice Combine onion, chard stems, 1 teaspoon oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth and lentils and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils are mostly tender but still slightly crunchy, about 35 minutes longer. Uncover and stir in chard leaves. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils are completely tender, about 8 minutes longer. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot or cold. Makes 81/2 cups. -- Adapted from "America's Test Kitchen Light & Healthy: The Year's Best Recipes Lightened Up" (America's Test Kitchen, 2012, $35) China Millman: 412-263-1198 or email@example.com. Follow her at http://twitter.com/chinamillman. ©2012 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com


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Rock stars as writers. As though acting and politics weren't enough.
Visiting Elvis' library and tips to curating an Elvis themed library of your own.
Is manga the new hip hop? Police are harassing retailers like it was the good ol' NWA days. (via: thecomicsreporter.com)
And finally, Al Gore speaks about his book, An Assault On Reason, on BookTV.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Generically Titled Collection Of Randomly Assorted Links
Rock stars as writers. As though acting and politics weren't enough.
Posted by Inkwell Bookstore at 2:19 PM Links to this post
Labels: book news
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Author Du Jour: Annie Dillard
To honor the recent release of Annie Dillard's new novel, The Maytrees, we are dedicating today's posts to a variety of web-culled odds and ends relating to the author.
The Basics:
Enjoy Wikipedia's brief bio of Annie Dillard, or head on over to the author's own website for her version of events. (Scroll down the main page of Dillard's website for a witty description of how and why she came to start it in the first place.)
The New Book:
As a part of their summer reading series, NPR has an audio clip of Dillard reading from The Maytrees, as well as a written excerpt.
Also of interest are a few reviews. USA Today, The Seattle Times, Miami Herald, New York Observer.
Two Interviews With The Author:
Lunch with Annie Dillard (1982 Malcolm Lawrence)
A brief interview where the author advises young writers to 'imitate, citing personal examples of the French symbolist poets, Old Testament poetry (Song of Solomon, Isaiah) and Wallace Stevens as original models for her poetry.'
She also recommends journalism classes to creative writing courses, saying, "Journalism teaches you to think of the reader. The trouble with people who major in creative writing is they often think the point of writing is to impress people, instead of to appeal to people. (For creative writing majors) the ideal courses to take are journalism and literature. I don't think creative writing is such a great think to take, period, because you learn better how to take a text apart and put it back together from a literature course. And from a journalism course you learn how to appeal to the reader and organize your material. I'm hard put to say what you learn from a creative writing course. The people who major in English seem to have a really good understanding of how texts work. I wish I had more journalism majors in my classes, because I teach them just what they want to know."
Ideas Are Tough; Irony Is Easy (1996 Grace Suh)
Here Dillard lists her favorite authors, describes the havoc she wrecked on her body writing her first novel, and offers this advice to writers: "You have enough experience by the time you're five years old. What you need is the library. What you have to learn is the best of what is being thought and said. If you had a choice between spending a summer in Nepal and spending a summer in the library, go to the library."
An Essay on the Author:
The Ecolotheology of Annie Dillard: A Study in Ambivalence (1984 Pamela A. Smith)
Despite the fact that Dillard has said, "If I wanted to make a theological statement I would have hired a skywriter," the essayist holds a magnifying glass up to the writer's minutiae-filled work, attempting to 'find God in the details,' as they say.
Posted by Inkwell Bookstore at 11:04 AM Links to this post
Labels: author profiles, book news, book reviews
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tank Girl Would've Loved These
Tank Girl and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett has done the artwork for an exceptionally over-priced line of vibrators. One 'massage device' will set you back $250, while the set of six will cost you $1,650. While I find these cheeky and alluring, I can't help but wish that Hewlett would one day get back to drawing comics again. His cartooning is amazing, and deserves to be seen and not just felt.
To order, visit the Jimmyjane website.
(via: Pitchfork Media)
Posted by Inkwell Bookstore at 10:06 PM Links to this post
Labels: book news, comic book news
This Guy Gives New Meaning To The Term 'Televangelism'
In honor of the last episode of HBO's hit series, The Sopranos,
The Kindlings.com is offering myspace mobsters everywhere an encore presentation of their podcast interview with Chris Seay, author of The Gospel According To Tony Soprano. Seay, the pastor of a progressive Christian community in Houston, Texas, wrote the book to 'explore the many reasons why (The Sopranos) has connected so deeply with American culture' and to 'expose the mysteries of faith, family, life, and God that permeate the show.'
Wow. Can you imagine what this guy could do with Davey & Goliath?
Posted by Inkwell Bookstore at 1:33 PM Links to this post
Labels: book news
Inappropriate Flair
Big Bad Book Blog offers three rules to remember regarding superfluous stylistic flourishes for the aspiring author.
1. Less is more. Like loud fabrics, loud literary devices are hard to mix and match. If you're going to narrate in stream-of-consciousness, do not also use screenplay-style stage directions and scene breaks. Pick the device that means the most to you. Once you've chosen your gimmick, don't overdo it. Think of that guy you saw last weekend wearing all hot pink plaid. Did you say, "Wow, I admire his consistency to his theme"?
2. Make sure someone gets it. Kurt Vonnegut recommended writing with an audience of one in mind. Whoever you're writing for, test it out. If your audience doesn't like your device, you may want to consider toning it down. Even if you're not thinking of a specific person as you compose, a suitably sympathetic, unbiased reader ought to be able to get through the device without trouble. I'm thinking your editor here.
3. Most important, make sure it's crucial and authentic to the work, not just something you're doing to show off. Christopher Bachelder's Bear v. Shark uses stream-of-consciousness narration with two-page chapters and commercial breaks as its main style—a highly disruptive format. But the book is a satire about a near future in which television screens have taken over all four walls of the room and no longer turn off, where advertising invades our thoughts and the attention span is a thing of the past. The method is the message—so Bachelder's outré style doesn't distract from his point. (Also, the book is short—the author doesn't expect us to get through three hundred pages of this bizarre prose.) If your device isn't integral to your work, you're probably better off without it.To read the whole kit-n-kaboodle, click here.
Posted by Inkwell Bookstore at 12:25 PM Links to this post
Labels: publishing, writing
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Generically Titled Collection Of Randomly Assorted Links
It took seven books, but they've finally found a negative aspect to the Harry Potter phenomenon. Psst, I've got a second one: adults who read one children's book every two years and then consider themselves 'readers.' (via Reuters)
Stephen King cheats on Entertainment Weekly with a flashier periodical. Do we tell EW, or just keep our noses out of it? (via AP)
Baby Got Books reads Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in 241 e-mail snippets via the DayLit public domain literature service. He complains quite a bit about the experience, but is that because of the current limitations of e-books, or it the simply the cranky after-effects of reading depressing Russian literature?
Is Salma Hayek the flesh and blood incarnation of Gilbert Hernandez' Palomar characters? As a randy child, I confess to having enjoyed both equally. (via Bookslut)
Posted by Inkwell Bookstore at 12:18 AM Links to this post
Labels: book news
Monday, June 11, 2007
Boys Have a Bookmark, Girls Have A Creased Binding
The publishing industry continues its confused quest to attract tween & teen readers. This year's hot, new, x-treme marketing trend? Targeting readers according to the stereotypical and often inaccurate 'needs' of their gender. As one would imagine, the disembodied brains in the boardrooms handle this task as awkwardly as your parents did their bedside 'birds and the bees' speech.
via Gamer's Circle: Marketing comics to girls
via Los Angeles Times: Hooking the reluctant boy reader
Posted by Inkwell Bookstore at 1:41 PM Links to this post
Labels: book news


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DESCRIPTION: The rubber house is a local landmark and one of the few examples of true modern architecture within the area. This can permit you to gather lease on the home without being actively involved with discovering tenants and gathering lease. The one way I know of that the lender might come after your current home and car is to force your husband out of business. The Realtor that we now have utilized in Houston helped discover after which sell my mom's house, my brother's house and now the final one we offered and one that we now stay in. She has also grow to be a good friend.
My husband and I not too long ago separated, when I moved out it was our verbal agreement that he pays the mortgage as an alternative of child help until we can sell the house which we have only lived in for 3 years. Just wanted to insert here, every time and everyday that I called I made certain I started off with We had a house fire… or the home caught fireplace…". To this present day in keeping with their reps, they don't know that the home caught… and by no means knew it did. Picket trellises reaching from the east and west sides of the house and coated with roses and vines offered privateness and safety from the road.
We had been the 'warehouse social gathering era', a term invented a lot later by the media to describe the intoxicating and addictive thrill of being a part of a motion by which nothing mattered but the weekend. Beth, we are able to afford what we now have and should not in over our heads it's just that i really feel like I am throwing cash out the window with this home. She recognized that Gropius Home was, and continues to be, a New England house and an necessary a part of the New England architectural continuum. Apparently there are a lot of of you- the 2009 One-Pie put up is among the most popular on Nothing within the House.
After a stint with Italian garmento Romeo Gigli he attended the distinguished Central Saint Martins College of Artwork and Design where his plucky and surprising designs earned him the attention of influential fashionistas and led him to the top job on the esteemed House of Givenchy After 5 years of causing controversy at the venerable label, Mister McQueen busted out on his personal as a way to free himself of any of the constraints that come with designing for an historic and grand home.
My mum threw a bit household tea party later within the afternoon and we all gathered together for cake, including Molly, who stole a whole slice right off the dining room table. If I had been you I'd write to the Council (write, not telephone) and point out to themm that there's 3′ of water beneath the floor and that this can result in structural problems in the home. Recent funding in city regeneration has led to much improvement in poorer areas in and across the city, but the property prices remain a number of the UK's lowest. A civilized space" around the home included a garden extending roughly twenty toes around the house and a perennial garden that continued the thrust of the south-facing porch.


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Schedule your appointment today!
Make your lawn beautiful. Call 989-1736 today to schedule an appointment and find out how Tender Lawn Care can make it happen.
Looking for mulch, crushed stone, or other landscaping materials? Look no further! We carry the same high-quality supplies in our warehouse that we use on our professional jobs – along with the friendly and professional expertise to make the most of any do-it-yourself project. Great landscaping starts with great supplies, so give us a call! Please note that our selections may vary depending on season or availability.
Clean Loam – $30.00/yd (picked up*)
Natural Dark Brown Mulch – $30.00/yd (picked up*)
*Call for delivery pricing
We offer delivery service to the Greater Bangor region by appointment. Call 989-1736 to learn more.
All content on this website is copyrighted by Tender Lawn Care.


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Historic Downtown Portland ballroom with modern elegance
Guests at the historic Treasury Ballroom are transported to another era. A grand marble staircase descends into the ballroom, featuring a steel vault.
With nearly 6100 square feet of active event space, the Treasury Ballroom can accommodate up to 220 guests for a seated dinner and 300 for a standing reception.
What's Included?
Your rental of the Treasury Ballroom includes seating for up to 220 guests and use of our house furniture: 60" round tables, beautiful black chiavari chairs, rectangular service tables and bistro tables. The base rental of 12 hours includes time for set up and break-down. Additional rental time can easily be added to extend your event. Italian marble floors are perfect for dancing, dj or band.
If you are looking for an outdoor venue,
check out Lan Su Chinese Garden.
If you are looking for something bigger,
take a look at The Loft at 8th Avenue.
If you are looking for a rooftop,
take a look at the Exchange.


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Show Notes of Gardening the Hudson Valley Podcast Ep. 018 (April 29, 2015)
I have really been enjoying the brightening weather. Even the cloudy days have been good for getting some work done outdoors. It's always nice when spring takes its time warming up, since there is so much to do before the plants start gaining momentum.
But it's going to be May in a couple of days and it's a good time to pause can refuel the inspiration well. And nothing gets the design ideas flowing better than a walk through a captivating garden. Throughout the spring, summer and fall, private gardens across the country are opened to garden enthusiasts, like you and me, through the Garden Conservancy's Open Days program. Some are small, personal gems and others are sprawling life long love affairs. They all reflect the passion of their gardeners and will help reignite your mania for designing your own garden.
A word of warning: Don't be surprised if you come home ready to rip everything out and move it around or even start all over again. Seeing what another garden designer has accomplished opens your eyes to what is possible.
The Open Days program gives you access to awe-inspiring private gardens that you would otherwise probably never see. Open Days is a means of fund raising for the Garden Conservancy's efforts to ensure that exemplary private gardens will be maintained for public enjoyment and education even after the creating gardeners are no longer able to tend them. It's a win-win situation. They do good works and we get to view secret treasures and take the garden design inspiration back to our own corner of paradise.
The Garden conservancy was founded in 1989, by a venture capitalist who used to live at Stonecrop Garden (shown above, right), in Cold Spring, Frank Cabot. He had visited the garden of Ruth Bancroft, in Walnut Creek, CA. Mrs. Bancroft had been working on her remarkable "dry garden" of succulents and shrubs since the 1950s. When Cabot visited, she was in her 80s and both she and Cabot were concerned about what would happen to her garden when she was no longer able to care for it. Cabot felt someone should do something to ensure noteworthy gardens didn't just disappear and Mrs. Cabot suggested he be that someone – and the Garden Conservancy was formed. More than 90 gardens have partnered with them for many types of assistance, including Rocky Hills in Mount Kisco, NY and Edna St. Vincent Millay's home, Steepletop, in Austerlitz, NY.
As of this year, the Open Days Directory is no longer available in a printed version. But the complete list of open gardens can be found on the Garden Conservancy website at www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days. The list is updated regularly. You can also register there, to receive email updates of upcoming open gardens. According to their web site, Since 1995, some 3,000 private gardens have participated in the Open Days program and more than 1 million visitors have been thrilled to see them.
And I mentioned this is a fund raiser for the Garden Conservancy, so there is a $7 fee per person at each garden visited. You can also get discounted tickets on the web site.
Don't forget that this Saturday, May 2nd, is the Hudson Valley Garden Fair, put on by the Hudson Valley Gardening Association at Montgomery Place, in Red Hook, NY. There will be lots of plants and other garden related items for sale, gardening demonstrations and information, a lecture by Hudson Valley writer and photographer Matthew Benson, on his upcoming book Growing Beautiful Food, tours of Montgomery Place and much more fun.
That's all for today. I thank you so much for listening today and I hope you will join me here again next week and on the web site at www.gardeningthehudsonvalley.com, for more gardening tips from the most beautiful place on earth.
Gardens Mentioned on the Podcast