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[On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, where he was interviewed on stage by Bill Shope, Goldman Sachs's IT hardware analyst. Here's an edited transcript of what Cook had to say on a variety of topics, ranging from working conditions at Apple's Chinese suppliers to Apple's culture and ethos.]
On working conditions in China
The first thing that I would want everyone to know is that Apple takes working conditions very, very seriously, and we have for a very long time. Whether workers are in Europe or in Asia or in the United States, we care about every worker. I spent a lot of time in factories, personally, and not just as an executive. I worked in a paper mill in Alabama and an aluminum plant in Virginia. Many of our top managers and executives visit factories on a regular basis and we have hundreds of employees that are based there full-time. So we are very closely connected to the production process and we understand worker conditions at a very granular level.
Now, I realize that the supply chain is complex and I'm sure that you realize this. And the issues surrounding it can be complex, but our commitment is very, very simple: We believe that every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination, where they can earn competitive wages and they can voice their concerns freely. And Apple suppliers must live up to this to do business with Apple.
We also believe that education is the great equalizer, and that if people are provided the skills and knowledge, that they can improve their lives. We put a lot of effort into providing educational resources for workers throughout our supply chain. We provide free classes in many of the locations in our supply chain, and we partner with local colleges to provide courses like English, and entrepreneurship, and computer skills, and the like.
More than 60,000 employees have attended these classes, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. If you could take all of these employees and move them to one location, it would be a campus population larger than Arizona State, which is the largest public university in the United States.
Many of these workers go on to earn associate's degrees. So this is a very powerful stepping stone for people looking to advance their careers and their lives. In terms of problems that we are working to fix, you can read the details on our website. But I would tell you that no one in our industry is doing more to improve working conditions than Apple.
We are constantly auditing facilities, going deep into the supply chain, looking for problems, finding problems, and fixing problems. And we report everything because we believe that transparency is so very important in this area. I am so incredibly proud of the work our teams are doing in this area. They focus on the most difficult problems, and they stay with them until they fix them. They are truly a model for the industry.
Let me give you some examples, because I think this is so important and this is so topical. It goes from large to small.
We think the use of underage labor is abhorrent. It's extremely rare in our supply chain, but our top priority is to eliminate it totally. We've done that with our final assembly vendors and are now working down into the supply chain. If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor, it's a firing offense.
We don't let anyone cut corners on safety. If there's a production process that can be made safer, we seek out the foremost authorities in the world, the foremost experts, then cut in a new standard and then take that and apply it to the entire supply chain.
We focus on the details. If there's a fire extinguisher missing from the cafeteria kitchen, then that facility doesn't pass inspection until that fire extinguisher is in place.
We're continuing to focus on the problems that our endemic to our industry, like excessive overtime. Our code of conduct has a cap of 60 hours for a work week, but we've consistently found violations to this code over the course of our time. So at the beginning of this year, we announced that we're determined to drive widespread change.
And we've begun to manage working hours at a very micro basis. As an example, in January, we collected weekly data on over half a million workers in our supply chain. And we had 84 percent compliance. Now this is significantly improved from the past, but we can do better. And we're taking the unprecedented step of reporting this monthly on our website, so that it's transparent to everyone what we're doing.
Now as you probably know, the Fair Labor Association began a major audit of our final assembly vendors, at our request. We started working with the FLA last year on an auditing project and just in January, we were the first technology company ever admitted into their association.
The audit that they're conducting is probably the most detailed factory audit in the history of mass manufacturing. In scale, in scope, and in transparency. And I'm looking forward to seeing it resolved.
We know that people have a very high expectation of Apple. We have an even higher expectation of ourselves. Our customers expect us to lead and we wil continue to do so. We are blessed to have the smartest and most innovative people on Earth, and we put the same kind of effort and energy into supply responsibility as we do with our new products. That is what Apple is all about.
On growth opportunities for the iPhone
Yes, 37 million [iPhones sold in the last quarter] is a big number. It was a decent quarter. [laughter] It was 17 million more than we'd ever done before. And so we were pretty happy with that. But let me give you a different—at least the way I look at the numbers, which is maybe a little differently than you do.
As I see it, that 37 million for last quarter represented 24 percent of the smartphone market. So there's 3 out 4 people that bought something else. And it represented less than 9 percent of the handset market, so 9 out of 10 people are buying something else. The smartphone market last year was a half a [billion] units; in 2015, it's projected to be a billion units. The handset market is projected to go from 1.5 [billion] to 2 billion units. And so when you take it in the context of these numbers, the truth is that this is a jaw-dropping industry. It has enormous opportunity to it, and so up against those, the numbers don't seem so large anymore.
What seems large to me is the opportunity. So what we're focusing on is the same thing we've always focused on, which is making the world's best products. And we think if we stay laser-focused on that, and continue to develop to the ecosystem around the iPhone then we have a pretty good opportunity to take advantage of this enormous market.
On making iPhones more affordable, and appealing to developing markets
These markets are—first of all, they're critical. To go back to something I said before, the smartphone market is projected to be a billion units in 2015, so just three years from now, and 25 percent of that is projected to come from China and Brazil. And so just two of the markets, 25 percent. And obviously, those are two very critical markets, but there are others as well.
We've been very, very focused on China. China, we've had incredible success with iPhone. Over the past few years, we've gone from a few hundred million dollars of revenue in greater China, to last year $13 billion. So we really've been focused on trying to understand the market there and then taking those learnings to other markets. As it turns out—and not very many people agree with me on this, probably—but what I see is that there's a lot of commonality in what people around the world want.
Everyone in every country wants the best product, as it turns out. They're not looking for a cheap version of the best product, they're looking for the best product. And so that's the common thread that runs through.
Now, in the emerging markets, there are very big differences in the go-to market. For example, in most of the developed markets, the carrier owns most of the distribution themselves, but in the emerging markets, the retailer has a significant portion of the distribution. And so, the whole go-to market has to be changed significantly as you go in there.
Last year, as you know, we covered price points in the subsidized markets from zero on up. And of course, that doesn't translate to 0 to prepaid markets. But it does translate to lower in the prepaid market, and so we're covering more price points there.
But I would come back to the paramount thing is the product. It is the focus. And of course, distribution, we've recognized the differences there. We've recognized the difference in purchasing power. And, by the way, unlike probably many people, I don't subscribe to the premise that a prepaid market is a prepaid market is a prepaid market.
Because in China, one of the things we did was we convinced China Unicom to try the postpaid business as well, and it really hadn't been tried very much in China before, but it was amazing what kind of conversion that they go to the postpaid business with iPhone. And this is great for the customer, because they get the phone at a lower price; it's great for the carrier, because they lock in a customer for a longer period of time, and so everyone wins from this. I'm not saying that will work in every market; it won't. But it's a different way of looking at the issue, and it's certainly been successful in China.
On the iPad and the Mac in emerging markets
As it turns out, when Apple introduced the iPod in 2001, and then, after porting it to Windows and getting the iTunes Music Store up and porting the iTunes Music Store to Windows, the iPod created a halo for the Mac. And that kicked off a resurgence in the Mac that has now—for 23 straight quarters we've outgrown the market on the Mac; that's six years.
However, the halo that was created by iPod for the Mac, was created in developed markets. It was created in the United States, it was created in Western Europe, it was created in Japan, it was created in Australia and Canada. It didn't work nearly to the same level in Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, China, other parts of Asia, Latin America. Because people were already getting music from their phones.
However, the world changed for us, in many ways, when the iPhone was launched. Because the iPhone began to introduce Apple to literally hundreds of millions of people—some that bought it, some that didn't; others that desired it. But it introduced our brand to people who had never met Apple before.
Take China, as an example, because I've talked about that. Last year the Macintosh in China grew over 100 perent year over year. Not on a big base, but 100 percent is pretty good. The market grew 10 percent, so it outgrew the market 10 [times]. What is clearly happening now is that the iPhone is creating a halo for the Macintosh. The iPhone has also created a halo for iPad. So you can definitely see the synergistic effect of these products, now not only in the developed markets, but in those emerging markets where Apple wasn't really resident to any degree for most of its life.
Just to give you some numbers to put it in context: If I look back at 2007—I'm picking that because we didn't launch the iPhone outside the United States until 2008. In 2007, the revenue combined from greater China, several other parts of Asia, India, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa was $1.4 billion. The revenue last year for that same group of countries was $22 billion. And we're only on the surface. That's how I feel, because we've focused mainly in China and last year we began to focus increasingly more on Brazil, and on some level in Russia. But there's lots more opportunity out there, and so I think this is very, very profound and very big for us.
On the demand for iPad
This 55 [million] is something no one would have guessed. Including us. To put it in context, it took us 22 years to sell 55 million Macs. It took us about 5 years to sell 22 million iPods, and it took us about 3 years to sell that many iPhones. And so, this thing is, as you said, it's on a trajectory that's off the charts.
And so, why is this? Well, the product is absolutely incredible. And the pace of innovation on the product has been incredible. And so, we've gone from iPad 1 to iPad 2 in fairly short order. And the ecosystem that developers have helped us build out—there's a 170,00 apps that are optimized for iPad—and so this is incredible. But the reason that it's so large, in my view is, one: The iPad has stood on the shoulders of everything that came before it. The iTunes Store was already in play. The App Store was already in play. People were trained on iPhone, and so they already knew about multitouch. And so there was lots of things that became so intuitive when someone began to use a tablet, that—I mean, I gave one to my mother and she knew how to use it like this [snaps] from just watching the commercial.
It's amazing how the product has captured so many people—you're using one, my mother's using one, my seven-year-old nephew uses one. I to go the gym in the morning, the trainer's using one. At Starbucks, I look around—everybody has one, reading their newspaper or whatever. In education, it's being used; in the enterprise, it's being used in big numbers. From my point of view, it's the fastest adoption across a wide range that I've ever seen before.
On competition in, and the future of the tablet market
You know, we started obviously in Apple using the iPad well before it was launched. Of course, we had our shades pulled and everything so nobody could see us. What I started noticing about my own personal behavior, it quickly became 80 to 90 percent of my consumption and work was done on the iPad.
Honestly, from the first day it shipped, we thought—not just me, many of us thought at Apple—that the tablet market would become larger than the PC market, and it was just a matter of the time that it took for that to occur. And I feel that stronger today than I did then. Because as I look out and I see all of these incredibly usages for it, and I see the incredible race and pace of innovation, and the developers.
If we had a meeting today in this hotel and we invited everybody that's working on the coolest PC apps to come to the meeting—you might not find anybody in the meeting! But if you did that same thing for iOS or that other operating system, and said everybody that's working on this come, you couldn't get everybody in those hotel. You'd have somebody covering every square inch here. That's where the innovation here. That doesn't mean the PC is going to die; I love the Mac! And the Mac is still growing, and I think it can still grow.
But I strongly believe the tablet market will surpass the unit sales of the PC market, and it's just a matter of the rate and speed and time that that happens. It's too much of a profound change in things not to, I think. Anyway, that's my opinion—people can always disagree. I feel strongly about it, if you can't tell.
On product pricing
Price is rarely the most important thing. A cheap product might sell some units and somebody may get it home and you know, they feel great when they pay from their wallets, but then they get it home and use it, and the joy is gone. And the joy is gone every day that they use it and that's why they're not using it anymore! [laughter] You don't keep remembering "Oh, I got a good deal," because you hate it! [laughter]
So what happened last year, everybody that was in the PC industry and everybody that was in the phone industry, everybody decided they had to do a tablet. By some estimates, there were a hundred tablets put on the market last year. Everybody was kind of aiming at iPad 1, and we were trying to innovate quickly to get to iPad 2. So, by the time they had something that they thought could compete with iPad 1, we were on iPad 2. We wound up with 170,000 apps, and I'm not sure there's 100 yet on the other platform.
I think people at the end of the day, they want the great product. Amazon is a different kind of competitor. They have different strengths, and so forth. And I think they'll sell a lot of units—I think they have and they will. But the customers that we're designing our products for, are not going to be satisfied with a limited function kind of product. I think the real catalyst to the tablet market will be innovation and pushing the next frontier. Honestly, we'll compete with everybody. I love competition. As long as people invent their own stuff, I love competition. [laughter]
On the cannibalization of Mac sales by the iPad
I think that iPad has cannibalized some Mac sales. And the way that we always view cannibalization is, we prefer we do it than have somebody else do it. And so we never want to hold back one of our teams from building the absolute greatest thing, even if it takes some sales from another product area. Our high-order bid is, we want to please customers, we'd like them buying Apple stuff.
Now, I don't predict the demise of the PC industry; I don't subscribe to that. I do believe, given what we've seen, iPad is cannibalizing some Mac, it's cannibalizing more Windows PCs. There's many more of them to cannibalize than Macs, and that's a plus for us. I think tablets in general will cannibalize PCs.
But I think what it will do largely, as time goes on, is, you know, when you're competing with someone—maybe politicians do this, I don't know anything about politics—but I think it forces you to sharpen your message and tell who you are. And so, I think it'll be good for the PC industry, because they've got this strong competitor; and I think it'll be good for tablets, because they'll innovate like crazy over here; and customers will decide what to buy at the end of the day. And I do think that, out of that, there will still be a strong PC industry. I just think the tablet industry is going to be larger in units than the PC industry.
On Apple's cash holdings, spending, and returning money to shareholders
Well, let me first talk about your use of the word "sparingly" because this one I don't agree with. Or at least, I wouldn't use the word in the same context. We've actually spent billions in the supply chain. We've spent billions on acquisitions and including the acquisition of [intellectual property]. We've spent billions on retail. We've spent billions on the infrastructure, the company, data centers and so forth for the App Store and iCloud, etc., but yes we still have a lot. I guess I'm just pointing that out to say—I would say that we're judicious; we're deliberate. We spend our money like it's our last penny. I think shareholders want us to do that. They don't want us to act like we're rich, and we've never felt that way honestly. That may sound bizarre, but it's the truth.
Now, in terms of our approach on cash, I've said since becoming CEO, I'm not religious about this. I'm not religious about holding it or not holding it. And we're in very active discussions at the board level on what we should do. But I think everyone would want us to be deliberate and really think through, and that's what we're doing. We're not going to go have a toga party or do something outlandish, and so people don't have to worry it's going to burn a hole in our pocket.
[Our cash position] was always discussed. It's not new that we're discussing it. It is being discussed more, now, and in greater detail, and that's because the balance has risen to the point that you've already made. And I think it's clear to everyone, and I'd be the first to admit, we have more cash than we need to run the business on a daily basis. I'm sure everyone would agree with that in here. And so we're actively discussing it. I only ask for a bit of patience, so that we can do this in a very deliberate way and make the best decision for the shareholders.
On Apple TV, and the future of the living room market
Well, I wouldn't want to go into detail about future stuff, obviously, or make any comment that people would misconstrue along those lines. In terms of our existing products, we sold just shy of 3 million Apple TVs last year. If you don't have one, you should go out and get one; it's a very cool product, and I couldn't live without it—just as a short promotional break.
We sold 1.4 million last quarter. It's clearly ramping. But the reality, the reason we call it a hobby, is that we don't want to send a message to you or our shareholders that we think that the market for it is the size of our other businesses, the size of the phone business, the size of the Mac business, the size of the iPad business, or the iPod business. We don't want to send the signal that we think the leg of that stool is of equal length as those others. And so that's the reason we messaged it as a hobby.
Apple doesn't do hobbies, as a general rule. We believe in focus and only working on a few things. With Apple TV, however, despite the barriers in that market, for those of us who use it, we've always thought there was something there. And that if we kept following our intuition and kept pulling the string, then we might find something that was larger. For those people that have it right now, the customer sat[isfaciton] is off the charts. But we need something that could go more main market for it to be a serious category. But if you don't have one, you should get one, because it's a really cool product.
On Siri and iCloud
I think Siri and iCloud are profound. If you take iCloud; if you dial back 10 years, 12 years, Steve [Jobs] announced a strategy for Apple that positioned the Mac or PC as the hub of someone's digital life. And out of that. Apple developed a whole suite of apps called iLife, and you could connect many gadgets off of this and sync all of your music or photos, you could edit your photos, you could edit movies, and so forth. But the idea was that the PC or Mac was the repository.
iCloud turns that on its head. It recognizes that across that decade, particularly the last two or three years, you and I live off of multiple devices. It's no longer a great customer experience to have to sync your iPad to your Mac, and then your iPhone to your Mac, and then resync your iPad because there was something on your iPhone—this is a hair-pulling exercise. iCloud recognizes the Mac or PC as another device, and all of the sudden your life has just gotten so much easier. We now have 100 million users of iCloud. We just launched it in October. 100 million. This is unbelievable. And there's obviously more we can do with it.
I would view iCloud not as something with a year or two product life; it's a strategy for the next decade or more. I think it's truly profound.
On Siri. You know, for years, if you were a PC or Mac user, you used a physical keyboard, and you used a mouse for input. And you pretty much did that for a long, long time. And there wasn't a great deal of—there was evolution in that space, but not a lot of revolution, really.
And then all of a sudden Apple comes out with multitouch on the [MacBook Pros], and this was really cool, and then extended that into phones and tablets. So this has completely has changed those industries in total. But Siri is another profound change in input, and it's something that we've always dreamed of. I think all of us wanted this to work. It's sort of like having a video call with FaceTime—it was "aha, it can work!" Siri, it's hard to imagine it's jut a beta product. I've never felt I couldn't live without a beta product before, but now I feel like I can't live without one.
I think these two are both profound; they're not things where we run separate [profits and losses] on, because we don't do that—we don't believe in that. We manage the company at the top and just have one [profit and loss] and don't worry about the iCloud team making money and the Siri team making money. We want to have a great customer experience, and we think measuring all these things at that level would never achieve such a thing. But I do think that both of these go in the profound category; they're not these things that will not mean anything a year or two from now. They're things that you will look back at, that you'll talk to your grandkids about, that were profound changes.
On Apple's culture and strategy
Apple is this unique company, unique culture that you can't replicate. And I'm not going to witness or permit the slow undoing of it, because I believe in it so deeply.
Steve grilled in all of us, over many years, that the company should revolve around great products, and that we should stay extremely focused on few things. Rather than try to do so many that we did nothing well. And that we should only go into market where we can make a significant contribution to society, not just sell a lot of products in a market.
So, these things, along with keeping excellence as an expectation of everything at Apple, these are the things that I focus on, because I think those are the things that make Apple this magical place that really smart people want to work in and sort of do not just their life's work, but their life's best work.
There's no better thrill than to look out at an audience and see people using iPhones, or go to the gym and see people using iPods, or go to Starbucks and seeing people use the iPad. These are the things that bring a smile to my face, and there is no replacement, or no substitute, for that.
And so we're always focused on the future. We don't sit and think about how great things were yesterday. And I love that trait, because I think it's the things that drive us all forward. So those are the things I'm holding onto, and it's a privilege to be a part of it.


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While not legally required, a separate bank account setup for your LLC is an important part of maintaining your liability protection. When the company has a separate bank account, it is much easier to prove that you are maintaining a separate legal entity. LLC bank account requirements will vary from bank to bank, but they may need to see your Articles of Organization, business license, Operating Agreement, and Employer Identification Number (EIN). They will need all members who will have signing authority to be present when the account is opened.
LLC's will generally need to get an Employer Identification Number, which is available through the IRS free of charge. In addition, while the federal government does not tax LLC profits, certain local areas or states may do so. A tax accountant can help you make sure that you stay up to date with all LLC tax requirements.


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Guatemala and Nicaragua elected two former military commanders on November 6, whose vastly different political backgrounds belie their similarities on matters concerning organized crime.
Guatemala's (r) General Otto Perez Molina (shown in photo) spent much of his military career fighting leftist guerrillas in the highlands. He is part of what is known in Guatemala as the "30-70 generation," i.e., those that think 30 percent of the country is "beyond redemption."
How much Perez has put this philosophy into practice is subject of widespread debate (and fear) in Guatemala. Some say as an officer in the army he took part in "genocide" of indigenous villagers in the early 1980s in a campaign that wiped out dozens of communities in the most brutal phase of the country's three-decade long war.
A widely circulated video clip of Perez following a battle with rebels shows him as callous and possibly responsible for the line of dead bodies that flank him. He is also facing accusations that he participated in the 1992 disappearance and murder of a guerrilla fighter who was married to a U.S. citizen.
But Perez is much more complicated than his foes would paint him. He was largely responsible for aligning the various hard-line military factions behind the peace process with the rebels that ended the war in 1996. And he has distanced himself from ex-military officers who have been connected to organized criminal groups, popularly known as CIACS.
Still, Perez is hardly clean. His party has been accused of being connected to the Mendoza clan, a powerful criminal family in Guatemala. And he has been accused of running his own CIACS. No accusations against the former general have ever led to a prosecution, however, and Perez says they are part of a near-constant smear campaign against him.
The trajectory of Perez's counterpart in Nicaragua is equally vexing. After helping command the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to overthrow longtime Nicaraguan strongman Anastasio Somoza, Daniel Ortega (shown in the photo to the right, during his first presidency) has struggled to keep a lid on his own authoritarian tendencies, and allegations of connections to organized crime have dogged him throughout his career in politics.
During his time as president in the late 1980s, his government imprisoned hundreds of "political" dissenters, ruthlessly attacked Miskito indigenous communities suspected of assisting U.S.-backed counter-revolutionary forces, and systematically attempted to silence the media.
Ironically, Ortega now draws comparisons to Somoza, and, while that is a stretch, there are similarities. Like Somoza, he has been accused of widespread electoral fraud. Also like Somoza, Ortega seems bent on making Nicaragua his personal fiefdom, buying or obtaining stakes in numerous business ventures ranging from media to real estate.
Dissenters are not jailed as much as they are threatened with exclusion from an economic boom that is, in part, due to nearly $500 million in annual oil subsidies the Nicaraguan government receives from Venezuela's Hugo Chavez government, a staunch Ortega ally.
Like his Guatemalan counterpart, Ortega has not escaped accusations of being connected to organized crime. FSLN strongmen Tomas Borge and Lenin Cerna are alleged to have ties to Colombian drug traffickers dating back to the 1980s. Most recently, a U.S. diplomatic cable released by the whistleblower site WikiLeaks said that the Sandinistas had engineered the release of several suspected traffickers by buying off judges using proceeds from a drug seizure. Accusations of so-called "narco-liberations" continued throughout Ortega's recent term in power.
But while both leaders have sketchy pasts and questionable allies, they also seem to have decent relations with the United States when it comes to fighting organized crime. Perez's Patriotic Party worked closely with the embassy to draft and pass new anti-crime legislation in recent years, as well as to annul the appointment of the new head of the Institute for Public Criminal Defenders who was suspected of collusion with organized crime.
Ortega frequently criticizes the U.S. government in public but maintains a steady relationship with the "Northern Giant" in private. The U.S. State Department recently qualified its relations with the Nicaraguan Navy, for instance, as "excellent," and the U.S. has given Nicaragua close to $40 million in anti-narcotics aid since 2007, a year after Ortega was elected president.
Both Perez's and Ortega's governments will rely on the military to fight organized crime. Perez's "mano dura," or "iron fist," policy has a heavy military component. According to an interview he gave Plaza Publica, this includes allowing the military to purge itself of corruption, something many people believe will be a difficult, if not impossible, task. Perez argues that the military is the only institution that is equipped to do such a purge, but many worry about intelligence service's long history as a force of repression and, later, a virtual recruiting center and staging area for the CIACS.
Ortega has steadily increased his relationship with the military, culminating the naming of a former general as his vice president. He also exercises a tight control over the police, a policy which has been given a lot of the credit for keeping murder rates lower than in the rest of the region.
Enforcement, however, is only a small part of the equation. Both presidents will inherit deeply suspect and strained judicial systems. In Guatemala, for instance, extradition proceedings are currently stalled for at least six major criminal figures who are wanted for drug trafficking in the United States.
Unfortunately, both presidents have shown they may prioritize politics over justice. Perez has been critical of the country's Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz and has hinted that he may remove her before the end of her five year term.
Paz y Paz has jailed dozens of suspected high-level criminals, including over 40 members of feared Mexican gang the Zetas. In addition, she has been an outspoken proponent of the trials implicating former military officers in abuses during the civil war.
Perez has also been critical of, and appears ready to cut support for, the United Nations' judicial body, known by its acronym CICIG, which has helped investigate some of the country's most powerful criminal organizations, train prosecutors and police, and modernize the country's legal code.
For his part, Ortega's rebel past seems to be interfering with his own ability to administer justice. Several guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) gained political asylum during his first term.


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MUHS boys outlast Otter Valley
MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury Union High School boys' basketball team pulled away from visiting Otter Valley on Dec. 23 in the third quarter to win, 49-32, and even its record at 2-2.
The Otters, who two days earlier had defeated Mount Abraham for their first win of the winter, dropped to 1-3 despite mixing up their defensive looks and holding the Tigers to 16 points in the first half, which ended with MUHS up, 16-11.
But the Tigers shrugged off their first-half woes — including a four-point second quarter in which three starters sat with foul trouble — to open the third period with an 8-0 run and a 19-5 surge in the first 5:30. With a 35-16 lead, the Tigers were not threatened again on the way to the 17-point win.
Junior forward Tyler Provencher started the outburst with a three-point shot, and junior guards Connor Collins and Mitchell Clarke contributed putbacks on the offensive boards, with Collins turning his into a three-point play.
MUHS coach Chris Altemose was happy with the Tigers' effort after the tough first half.
"We got it going immediately out of the locker room," he said, adding, "To see them get after it in the third quarter was a nice response, and that was the difference."
In the first quarter the Tigers forced eight of OV's 23 turnovers and took a 12-5 lead. But the Otters kept changing their looks on defense from man to zone, and were aggressive enough offensively to create fouls on the Tigers even when they weren't scoring.
Altemose said OV forward Ryan Kelley defended well inside, and the Otters' hard work kept the Tigers away from the basket, especially during a second quarter in which OV earned a 6-4 edge on the scoreboard.
"Defensively they were able to keep us out on the perimeter a little bit," he said. "And they hustle, they scrap."
Altemose said his bench also defended well, crediting the work of juniors James Hare and James Pecsok and senior Ben Ferris.
Pike Ladago led OV with eight points, Kelley finished with six, and Kevin Lefebvre added four.
Provencher filled up the stat sheet for MUHS with 12 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Collins contributed nine points, four steals and four rebounds, and Clarke finished with eight points, four assists and six rebounds. In all, the Tigers earned a 38-35 edge on the boards and turned the ball over 13 times, 10 fewer than the Otters.
Altemose said in the second half all the Tigers started moving the ball and their feet on offense.
"The guys came out of the locker room and played like they're capable of playing," he said.
Critically, they also started to score. Altemose said the Tigers have done many things right so far this winter, including play consistent defense and improve their team rebounding, a critical point given that they are not blessed with size.
The offense will follow, he said.
"I believe it will continue to improve as … the guys get comfortable and make more shots," he said. "As that happens, we'll be hard to guard … We're just starting to get stretches where we're seeing what we're capable of."
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at [email protected].
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Join us every Monday for Awww…Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww…and that's it.
Make sure you leave a link to your post here and I'll visit your Awww…Mondays post.
What better why to start the week than with a smile.
Image Credit: Click on Image
Annie of McGuffy's Reader is hosting Sparks, an inspirational and positive thought for the week link-up, every Monday.
"The negative energy in the world has become thick and oppressive. Social media has become a part of this dark, negative storm. There is an obvious universal need for more positive energy. And, we can all be part of this affirmative change." ~ McGuffy Ann Morris
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present. Jim Rohn
|1. Awww Mondays
2. Kathe W.
3. Daniela
4. messymimi
5. Margs Animals
6. A ShutterBug Explores
7. 15andmeowing
|8. Linda Arthur Tejera
9. Driller's Place
10. Mike Golch
11. Willy & Fluffy
12. Anne
13. Woodsterman
14. Hairballs and Hissyfits
|15. McGuffy's Reader
16. BeadedTail
17. Linda
18. Puppy Dog Eyes
19. Shelter-Cats
20. Allison's Book Bag


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Children with persistent and drug-resistant seizures treated with the high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet may get an added therapeutic benefit from periodic fasting, according to a small Johns Hopkins Children's Center study.
The results, published online Dec. 3 in the journal Epilepsy Research, suggest the ketogenic diet and fasting can work in tandem to reduce seizures but appear do so through different mechanisms -- a finding that challenges the longstanding assumption that the two share a common mechanism.
"Our findings suggest that fasting does not merely intensify the therapeutic effects of the ketogenic diet but may actually represent an entirely new way to change the metabolism of children with epilepsy," says lead investigator Adam Hartman, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
In the study, six children, ages 2 to 7, and all on the ketogenic diet, were asked to fast on alternate days. All six children had seizure disorders incompletely resolved by the diet alone.
Four of the six children experienced between 50 percent and 99 percent fewer seizures after the fasts were added to the dietary regimen. Three of the six were able to continue the fasting regimen for two months or longer.
The Johns Hopkins investigators say while the results are preliminary, they do provide compelling evidence of the potential benefits of fasting. Periodic fasts, they add, may eventually prove to be an alternative standalone therapy in children with drug-resistant epilepsy.
The researchers caution that larger studies are needed to further elucidate the effects of fasting. They also warn that fasting should be done under the strict supervision of a pediatric neurologist.
Made up of high-fat foods and few carbohydrates, the ketogenic diet is believed to work by triggering biochemical changes that eliminate seizure-causing short circuits in the brain's signaling system. The diet, popularized in the early 1900s, was designed to mimic the physiologic effects of fasting -- a seizure-control method favored by ancient Greeks. Since then, physicians have believed that the two therapies share a common mechanism.
The new Johns Hopkins findings, however, suggest otherwise.
"We suspect that fasting affects nerve cells in a completely different manner from the ketogenic diet," Hartman says.
This hypothesis stemmed from a 2010 study of mice conducted by the Johns Hopkins team.
Two groups of epileptic mice -- one treated with the ketogenic diet and one treated with fasting -- had strikingly different responses to different seizure triggers. Animals treated with the ketogenic diet experienced fewer seizures than fasting mice when exposed to low amounts of electricity, but fared worse when they were injected with kainic acid, a potent nervous system stimulant and a known seizure trigger. Fasting mice, on the other hand, did worse when exposed to electricity but tolerated kainic acid injections far better than their ketogenic diet counterparts.
In other words, the researchers say, each therapy protected against one seizure trigger, while increasing sensitivity to the other.
"We don't fully understand the reasons for these marked differences, but unraveling the mechanisms behind them will help pave the way toward new therapies for epilepsy, and is the focus of our ongoing work," says Eric Kossoff, M.D., pediatric neurologist and director of the ketogenic diet clinic at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
James Rubenstein, M.D., of Johns Hopkins was co-author on the research.
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Last night, the now-notorious Reddit troll Violentacrez, whom Gawker recently exposed as a 49-year-old Texas-based programmer named Michael Brutsch, appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 for God knows what reason. In the painfully awkward two-part interview, during which Mr. Cooper thankfully gave us a commercial break to collect ourselves and tweet our thoughts, Mr. Brutsch invoked every possible excuse to justify his poor behavior, which includes creating controversial subreddits like PicsofDeadKids and Jailbait.
Throughout the interview, Mr. Brutsch referred to his Reddit username Violentacrez in the third person, echoing other statements he's made about Violentacrez being a character he played and attempting to distance himself from taking personal responsibility for his actions. He also admitted that his sole purpose for creating racist and misogynistic subreddits was to get a rise out of people (he bragged he has a "gift" for it) in order to accumulate "meaningless internet points."
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Darwin Day marks the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin on 12 February 1809. One could come up with several creative ways to celebrate the life of such an influential and revered scientist—baking a cake with 73 candles in honor of Darwin's 73 years of life, or taking a walk through a local park or nature reserve in an attempt to make observations about wild animals, to name a few. But why not spend this Darwin Day learning a fun fact or two that you didn't already know? We compiled a list of Oxford's books on the life and philosophies of Darwin, and discovered that when it comes to Darwin, there is much to be learned.
Darwin: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Howard
Are you looking for a basic overview of Darwin's work? Look no further than this Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Howard. Howard discusses Darwin's belief that humans have evolved over time from apes—a fundamental principle from On the Origin of Species. This Very Short Introduction illuminates the importance of Darwin's evolutionary philosophies in shaping modern biological principles.
Evolution: A Very Short Introduction by Brian Charlesworth
The writings of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, which are celebrated within this Very Short Introduction, were published over 150 years ago. Brian Charlesworth highlights the evolutionary philosophies of both scientists as they are presented in these works.
Darwin and His Children: His Other Legacy by Tim M. Berra
Darwin not only studied how different species have evolved in order to produce viable offspring, he also produced ten offspring of his own. Dedicating one chapter to each of Darwin's children, Tim Berra sheds light on the lives of these children—some of whom went on to study science just like their father.
On the Origin of Species, Revised Edition by Charles Darwin; edited by Gillian Beer
Most people are familiar with Darwin's On the Origin of Species. However, this revised edition offers explanatory notes—including a Register that details all of the writers to which Darwin refers within the text—that will provide readers with an even firmer grasp on Darwin's evolutionary theories.
Evolutionary Writings: Including the Autobiographies by Charles Darwin, edited by James A. Secord
Darwin wrote many texts that highlight his evolutionary philosophies and feature the experiments that solidified these principles. Darwin even wrote an autobiography, titled Recollections. Evolutionary Writings, an Oxford World Classic, features key chapters from several of Darwin's most influential writings: the Journal of Researches on the Beagle voyage, On the Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, and Recollections.
In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History by Michael Shermer
Far less familiar than the name of Charles Darwin is that of Alfred Russel Wallace. However, Wallace came to many of the same conclusions as Darwin regarding evolutionary theory. Reading this book will bring the life and studies of Wallace out of Darwin's shadow—further solidifying the discoveries that both of these scientists made.
Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters from the Malay Archipelago by John van Wyhe and Kees Rookmaaker
Like Darwin, Wallace traveled overseas in order to come to the conclusion that evolution occurs via natural selection. John van Wyhe and Kees Rookmaaker highlight Wallace's letters from this voyage, revealing many fascinating details about this less-recognized naturalist.
Darwin the Writer by George Levine
Most people know Darwin for his contributions to science. But had Darwin been unable to convey all of his discoveries in an eloquent manner, these findings may have never been shared. By highlighting the importance of Darwin's writing style and argument construction, George Levine provides readers with a new perspective on the significance of Darwin's work.
Darwin's Camera: Art and Photography in the Theory of Evolution by Phillip Prodger
Did you know that Darwin was the first person to compile a scientific narrative told through the use of pictures, in his masterpiece Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals? Darwin never studied photography or art, but he was very interested in these subjects—forging friendships with many revered animal artists, painters, and sculptors, some of whom traveled with Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle. Through this narrative, Phillip Prodger sheds light on the way in which Darwin influenced how photographs are viewed.
Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith by Philip Kitcher
The presentation of Darwin's theories on evolution was far from controversial. In Living with Darwin, Philip Kitcher highlights evidence for evolution, Creation Science, and Intelligent Design—illuminating some of the sources of resistance to Darwin's philosophies.
Erasmus Darwin: Sex, Science, and Serendipity by Patricia Fara
Few people know that Charles Darwin's theories on evolution were greatly influenced by the similar philosophies of his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. Erasmus was well-known during the Enlightenment for his beliefs regarding sex and science—many of which were embedded into his poetry. Patricia Fara depicts these evolutionary philosophies and more in Erasmus Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Serendipity.
Darwin in the Archives: Papers on Erasmus Darwin and Charles Darwin from the Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History and Archives of Natural History by E. Charles Nelson and Duncan Porter
The Society of the History of Natural History celebrated the work of Darwin and its influence on contemporary science on the bicentenary of Darwin's birth by publishing Darwin in the Archives. This book features reproductions of papers on Charles Darwin and Erasmus Darwin from the Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History and Archives of Natural History.
Happy reading! But most importantly—happy birthday, Darwin!
Charles Darwin was a British naturalist, who studied medicine in Edinburgh followed by theology at Cambridge University, intending a career in the Church. However, his interest in natural history led him to accept an invitation in 1831 to join HMS Beagle as naturalist on a round-the-world voyage. After his return five years later he published works on the geology he had observed. He was also formulating his theory of evolution by means of natural selection, but it was to be 20 years before he published The Origin of Species(1859), prompted by similar views expressed by Alfred Russel Wallace. Among his later works was The Descent of Man (1871).
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The involvement of the social partners at the European level is organised around three different types of activities:
The tripartite consultation comprises the exchanges between the social partners and the European public authorities.
The consultation of the social partners covers the activities of the consultative committees and official consultations in the spirit of Article 153 TFEU (Treaty on the functioning of the European Union) - For a complete overview of all consultations so far launched by the European Commission click here.
The European social dialogue as such is the name given to the bipartite work of the social partners, whether or not it stems from the official consultations of the Commission based on Articles 154 and 155 TFEU.


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Supercut Alert — A Short History of Product Placement [VIDEO]
Product placement has been a part of TV and movies since their beginnings, and finally someone's put together a video montage of laughably obvious placement moments — for historical purposes, of course. Fred and Wilma Flintstone split a pack of Winstons while Bugs Bunny unironically urges the children of America to drink the Kool-Aid. They're not all really product placements — some are just


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Art Journal Every Day: June/July Cusp Dailies
August 17, 2012
If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks!
Do you recall the journal that I made for Book Club in June? I've been loving exploring the non-blank pages. It's a bit of a mental shift in art journaling for me, but I'm having a lot of fun! Take a peek at a few pages now that they're filled:
And I even sketched in a little face on the back cover of the journal:
I've got lots more pages bursting with color, which I'll share another day. And...I might have even made a few more journals like this just because they're too much fun!
Thanks for stopping by!
Here's the linky list for the week:


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Naser Tamimi is Data Scientist and Python Programmer at Shell.
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quattro87 wrote:Hey Hank....why don't we O7k your Urq? It seems like it would run way sweeter than the lump that I saw in there yesterday. You know the one with the top down along with wide open windows on both sides.
glibobbo21 wrote:i just dumped in my thread
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South Africa makes marine conservation history by declaring Prince Edward Islands a marine protected area
Posted on 09 April 2013
WWF-South Africa (WWF-SA) is elated over Minister Edna Molewa's recent formal announcement of the declaration of the Prince Edward Islands as a marine protected area (MPA) – Africa`s first offshore MPA.Cape Town, South Africa: WWF-South Africa (WWF-SA) is elated over Minister Edna Molewa's recent formal announcement of the declaration of the Prince Edward Islands as a marine protected area (MPA) – Africa`s first offshore MPA.
Dr Morné du Plessis, WWF-SA's Chief Executive says, "This is a historic day for marine conservation in South Africa. This declaration demonstrates South Africa's new commitment to protecting the Prince Edward Islands, an important national heritage and a crown jewel of our oceans. We praise the minister for her visionary leadership and commitment to securing our marine biodiversity for future generations."
The marine biodiversity of the Prince Edward Islands is of global importance. The islands are home to a suite of spectacular marine wildlife, including albatrosses, penguins, killer whales and Patagonian toothfish stocks. Unfortunately this wildlife has been threatened by illegal and unsustainable fishing practices in the past, resulting in significant economic and ecological losses to South Africa.
WWF International's Director General, Jim Leape, says, "It is inspiring to see such environmental leadership in South Africa, and I applaud Minister Molewa for her vision. Still too little of the world's precious oceans are protected from exploitation, and this is a landmark victory for marine conservation – and hopefully a sign of more to come."
"Protection of the Prince Edward Islands is a significant contribution to the conservation of global biodiversity and the fragile Southern Ocean, in particular. The WWF network remains committed to supporting the South African government in ensuring the adequate protection of this area for now and for future generations," concludes du Plessis.
The islands, which consist of Prince Edward and Marion Islands, are located almost 2,000 kilometres south of South Africa in the Southern Ocean, and form an important global biodiversity hotspot, which was subject to rampant poaching during the late 1990s. Patagonian Toothfish otherwise known as Chilean Seabass (in northern markets) was poached around the islands and this was part of a wider phenomenon across the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters.
At 180,000km2, approximately the combined size of the Free State Province, Lesotho and Swaziland, the MPA is one of the world's largest.
Today's declaration follows a long and very successful collaboration between WWF-SA and the Department of Environmental Affairs. It comes almost seven years after South Africa's then Minister of Environmental Affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, initially announced his intention to declare the MPA.
WWF has worked closely with the Department of Environmental Affairs to complete a thorough planning and stakeholder consultation process. Plans developed included a legal analysis, spatial conservation plan and a draft management plan. Financing for much of this planning process was obtained from the private sector – through a sponsorship by Sanlam and the Charl van der Merwe Trust.


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|Bollywood Pays Condolences To Filmmaker Ravi Chopra
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|Saif & Ileana Promoting 'Happy Ending'
|Bollywood Stars Miss Sadashiv Amrapurkar's Prayer Meet
|Mileya Mileya Official Full Song Video - Happy Ending - Saif Ali Khan, Ileana D'cruz
|OFFICIAL: 'Dance Like a Chammiya' Full VIDEO Song - Happy New Year - Shah Rukh Khan
|Exclusive: 'Love is a Waste of Time' VIDEO SONG - PK - Aamir Khan - Anushka Sharma - T-series
|OFFICIAL: 'Tharki Chokro' FULL AUDIO Song - PK - Aamir Khan, Sanjay Dutt - T-Series
|LYRICAL: I'm Your DJ Tonight Full Song with LYRICS - Yo Yo Honey Singh - Desi Kalakaar
|Official SATAKLI Video Song - Happy New Year - Shah Rukh Khan - Sukhwinder Singh
|Ungli Gang ki #UNGLIBAAZI - Ungli - Emraan Hashmi
|Emraan Hashmi ki Bad Boy #UNGLIBAAZI - Ungli - Emraan Hashmi, Sanjay Dutt
|Killer Dialogue 4 - PUSHPAA - Kill Dil
|Keeda - Full Audio Song - Action Jakson
|Jigariyaa - Dialogue Promo - 1 - Harshvardhan Deo, Cherry Mardia
|Jigariyaa - Dialogue Promo - 2 - Harshvardhan Deo, Cherry Mardia
|Roar - Tigers of the Sundarbans - Public Review - Ali Mirza, Abhinav Shukla, Achint Kaur
|Bang Bang Movie - Public Review
|Haider Movie - Public Review
|Bang Bang Movie: Public Review
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|Desi Kattey' Movie REVIEW By Bharathi Pradhan
|Kill Dil Leaks - The Big Chill - Ranveer & Ali
|PK - PK-The Character - Behind-The-Scenes - Releasing Dec 19, 2014
|Kill Dil Leaks - Making of Bol Beliya Song
|Kill Dil Leaks - Making of Sweeta Song - Ranveer Singh - Parineeti Chopra
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|Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hai : Ganesh utsav celebrations
|Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi : Ishaani's engagement called off
|Veera : Singer Shibani Kashyap's entry in Veera
|Big B dances with Deepika, Arjun to 'Bootiya'
|Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya : Avni fights with her to be mother-in-law
|Shastri Sisters : Who is Devyani's love ?
|Udaan : Little Chakor becomes bonded labour
|Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi : Ranveer charged with raping Disha
|Udaan : Chakor and Vivaan's friendship ends ?
|Sonam, Fawad Khan on the sets of 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'
|Kumkum Bhagya : Pragya's mother in hospital
|Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya : Avni's mother falls ill
|Madhuri shakes Bootiya with Arjun & Deepika on Jhalak
|Maharana Pratap : Uma's evil plan exposed
|Mika, Shaan in the TV show FIR - Special Episode
|Pyaar Ka Dard Hai : Dead Pankhuri is back
|Maharana Pratap: Ajabde marries Pratap


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Education at Salem College is grounded in our long history and dedicated to our absolute convictions that all students are learners.
At Salem College, teacher education programs nurture candidates like you as you develop the foundational knowledge and dispositions indicative of excellent teachers. Your professional practice will be informed by an understanding of subject matter, the nature of learning, issues of diversity, and constructivist pedagogy. When you complete your teacher education program at Salem College, you will be prepared to serve diverse students in diverse settings and be ready to take a place in the 21st century global educational community!
Affordability, faculty who are experts in their fields, an intimate historical setting, flexibility, convenient course meeting times, and a sense of being known as an individual are just a few of the factors that set teacher education at Salem College apart. We look forward to welcoming you soon!


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Great Outdoors Bandana
Great Outdoors Bandana
Our 100% cotton bandanas slide over your pups collar, allowing it to stay secure without the fear of it falling off!
The pattern shown may vary on each bandana.
Sizing (all sizes fit 1"-2" collars):
XS: 5-15lbs
S: 16-25lbs
M: 26-45lbs
L: 46-65lbs
XL: 65lbs+
Care instructions: Machine wash in cold water and lay flat to dry. Can be ironed.
Please read our policies on exchange/returns and shipping
Let customers speak for us
I Scream Bandana
Bought two, love them, great size, allows for different levels of licking 'skill' and takes time for my dog to complete
Our older pup is experiencing dementia and constant barking during those episodes. The lick matt has proved to be a great distraction for her and helps calm her down. Of course this results in peace and quiet for the family ❤ thank you for offering such great products!
My dog loves the lick mat. I filled it with yogurt and blueberries and it kept her occupied for 10 minutes or so. I also loved how well packaged her mat came. It came with a cute little postcard thank you and a free key chain. Great experience overall!
The bow was a Happy Gotcha Day for my friends Doodle puppy! He looks so adorable wearing the bow!
Love it!!
CamiJay products have always been amazing quality and the packaging is just the cutest! Thank you CamiJay!


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BSN: What do you think about Obama's win?
DC: I think it's an amazing an historic victory, and an incredible opportunity to move the country and the world in another direction which has been sorely needed for the past eight years.
[Actor: Interview]
Donald Frank Cheadle, Jr. was born on November 29, 1964 to Don Cheadle, Sr., a clinical psychologist, and Betty, a teacher.
The chameleon-like character actor with a knack for disappearing into any role has long been recognized by his peers as among the best in the business. But despite a string of critically-acclaimed performances in everything from "Devil in a Blue Dress" to "Rosewood" to "Crash" to "Traffic" to "Talk to Me to Traitor," the closest he has come to landing an Oscar was in 2005 when he was finally nominated for Hotel Rwanda.
Like the African-American answer to perennial soap opera also-ran Susan Lucci, Don has been up for an NAACP Image Award 11 times, but he's never won inexplicably. Here, he talks about his production company, his humanitarian work in Darfur and the election of Barack Obama, as well as his latest film, Hotel for Dogs, a family comedy co-starring Lisa Kudrow, Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin and Kyla Pratt.
BSN: So, what interested you in doing a kiddie comedy?
DC: The truck filled with money that they pulled up to my house. No, it's one of the first movies that I've ever done that my kids could see. I thought this was a good one and I actually liked the script and the relationship that my character has with the kids. Usually, it's a kids' world where no adult has a brain, and the kids are so much smarter and so mentally outclass the grownups.
BSN: So, how did your children like the movie?
DC: They haven't seen it yet.
BSN: And how was it working with Lisa Kudrow and the rest of the cast?
DC: Most of my scenes were with the kids. They were great. They were little professionals and serious about the work. They had acting coaches and everything.
BSN: I always think of you and Christian Bale as the best actors who have never won Academy Awards. How does it feel to be snubbed every year at Oscar time?
DC: I don't care about the Oscars. Quite honestly, when you know what goes into that whole process, it's very much like a political election. You have to lobby and go to parties. It has nothing to do with your performance. It's a very political thing that I, personally, don't enjoy doing. That's not really on the list of things that I want to achieve in this career.
BSN: I can tell as a critic which pictures and performances the studios are getting behind.
DC: It's all about money nowadays. There was a time when, if you had an Oscar, there was a direct correlation to the push that it made for you at the box office. That's not so much the case anymore, if you look at the last few years of Oscar-winners and what it did for them box-office wise. The time between the announcement of the nominations and the actual awarding of Oscars, that's when you make your money. Because that's when people look at the paper and ask, "Well, what are the critics saying are the good movies out there?" After that, it really doesn't matter anymore.
BSN: What is on that list on the list you mentioned of things that you want to achieve in your career?
DC: I want to have longevity. I want my production company to be able to stand on its own two feet. I want to produce movies that I don't have to be in. I just really want to have a foothold in this business and do the kind of work that I can stand by that has value. Hopefully, I'll be getting this Miles Davis project up and running soon.
BSN: I know you play sax. So, will you be playing Miles, even though he was a trumpeter?
DC: Yeah, that's the plan.
BSN: Who are some of your favorite jazz musicians?
DC: I like many guys from that era: Coltrane and Monk and Mingus and a lot of the cats Miles played with like Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.
BSN: What made you want to do a bio-pic about Miles?
DC: I don't really want to do a bio-pic. I don't think that would be that interesting. I want to do something that uses his creativity and the energy of who Miles was more than a cradle to grave story about him. A straight biography could be better done by PBS.
BSN: Speaking of PBS, I remember seeing you on the PBS series African American Lives with Skip Gates. How did you like learning about your roots?
DC: It was cool to find out about my lineage. I'd always wanted to trace that back. So, that was fun and very illuminating.
BSN: I see that you'll be replacing Terrence Howard as Rhodey in Iron Man 2. Are you planning to overhaul the role?
DC: That's up to the script and what the director wants. I'm not going to try to do anything that they're not asking me to do. I don't get down like that.
BSN: I don't think Rhodey did all that much in the original anyway.
DC: Yeah, the part does expand in the sequel which is much more of a buddy pic than the first one.
BSN: I've noticed that you sometimes appear uncredited in movies, like in Ocean's 11 and Rush Hour 2. Why is that?
DC: For different reasons. I did Rush Hour 2 just as kind of a laugh, so I didn't really need a credit. To me, it was fine if people recognized me. And if they didn't, that was fine, too. With Ocean's, there was some stuff that happened behind the scenes that I didn't like how it went down, so I just said, "Take my name off it."
BSN: What do you think about Obama's win?
DC: I think it's an amazing an historic victory, and an incredible opportunity to move the country and the world in another direction which has been sorely needed for the past eight years.
BSN: Attorney Bernadette Beekman was wondering what you're doing as far as your African initiatives to end genocide, given Obama's presidency? Have you asked for help from the new administration in terms of funding that project?
DC: They've already spoken about their commitment to Darfur and to the region. So hopefully, we'll have a little more traction than we had with the Bush administration which just gave a lot of lip service, although Bush actually can toot his own horn about AIDS and Africa.
To see a trailer for Hotel for Dogs, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIU8woGoP1s


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DIY Diffuser
for Hot-Shoe Flash
There are many possible positions for the dominant or "key" light relative the face but the two most flattering combinations are:
Digital cameras will loose shadow detail when exposure is set to retail detail in the highlights. Photographers have learned to work around this limitation by setting exposure based on what is most important in the photo - usually the faces - and allowing some highlight and shadow detail to be lost. The loss of detail is acceptable perceptually up to the point where important content starts to disappear from view. In some cases the losses can be mitigated with cropping, but in situations where it is important to retain detail in white and black clothing at the same time the physical limitations of the camera become a roadblock.
The use of flash to alter the range of the foreground of the scene to fit the sensor is a solution to the dilemma. By independently controlling the shadows via a fill flash and the highlights via a second overlapping "key" flash a photographer can fit the range of the scene to the sensor. Another strategy is to lower the contrast of the scene in the same way an overcast day lowers the contrast of outdoor lighting.
Finding Solutions Which Meet Both Goals
There are many ways to diffuse a hot shoe flash. Some meet the technical goal of matching scene to sensor and putting flattering light on faces better than others. There is no "one-device fits all problems" solution so a photographer needs to learn how the use all possible modification solutions. The simplest is to simply tilt the flash head up and bounce the light off a low white ceiling. This tends to light up the entire room like an overcast day and if used too close to a person downward direction of the light can result in the brow shading the eye sockets. An evenly illuminated room filled with people who have dark eye sockets is a clue ceiling bounce was been used.
Plastic cap devices solve the problem of dark eye sockets by bouncing about 80 percent of the light off the ceiling but allowing about 20 percent to be projected forward. The portion bounced off the ceiling lights up a large area with soft light just as direct flash bounced off the ceiling would.
The shortcomings of ceiling based diffusion are that much of the flash power is wasted illuminating areas which are not in the photo. Also they offer the photographer very little creative control over the direction of the light or the lighting ratio on the subject's face. They are also not effective outdoors where there is no ceiling to diffuse the light.
More consistent results can be obtained by bouncing the flash into a surface which stays attached to the flash. One of the earliest efforts to modify hot shoe flash was to attach a white card to the flash head to bounce some of the light forward, but that method also relied on bounce off the ceiling.
Most of the commercial reflector diffusers on the market at the time were designed to use the ceiling as the bounce surface. Because using two flashes is my normal baseline when I started experimenting with diffusers I didn't need or want bounce off the ceiling. I wanted all the light directed forward without blocking the sensor on the slave flash and developed this diffuser created with mat board to slip over the top of the flashes.
By folding the card into a bowl shape it is possible to capture all the light from the flash and bounce it forward, which wastes less light on non-image areas and is thus more efficient. The photo above shows the pair of reflection-diffusers I created with a couple pieces of white/black mat board, black masking tape and a few staples. Here's how the diffuser looked mounted on my off-camera flash:
How to Build One
You will find links to templates below. I've found the 9"x12" sheets of "Fun Foam" at Walmart and craft stores. You will need one white sheet and one black sheet. Sometimes the colors are sold separately, but some locations only sell multi-color packs. The color of the back side isn't critical. I use black because in a dark room its less noticeable. Materials aren't really critical. Anything with similar properties will work. In pinch I'm stapled together a few sheets of photo paper.
The plastic mesh I used in the middle was found in the sewing section: it is used as the base for cross-stitch projects. It gets cut about 1/2" smaller than the foam and just floats freely in the middle to help keep the diffuser as wide and rounded as possible. Ideally the diffuser should look like a 8" diameter round bowl sitting on top of the flash.
I used 2" wide velcro for the base and the attachment strap and 1/2" round velcro tabs to hold the top flap in place. I bought a whole roll of the 2" velcro because I figured I'd be making few diffusers (no I don't want to sell you one) and find it handy for many other tasks. The round velcro tabs just happened to be on the same rack. Strips or even snaps to hold the flap in place would work.
Construction is very simple. Snip out two triangles above the base so it will wrap around the flash head and two slits for the top flap. If you have a round hole punch, punching a hole at the corners of the triangles will help reduce the tendency for the foam to tear there ( a tip submitted by someone who made one ). I've also a small pieces of the loop side of the velcro as reinforcement there.
Cut the mesh about 1/2" smaller as shown in blue on the template. I've tried various methods of assembly such as stitching (what I did for those in the photos) and glue but found using a stapler to be much easier. Glue breaks loose with repeated folding.
Sandwich the mesh between the white and black foam sheets with the black sheet on top and staple it every 3-4" around the edges. Paint the heads of the staples with a black marker to hide them.
The top flap is held in place by velcro. I used 1/2" round velcro dots for a neater appearance but a small strip would be equally effective. Note on the templates there is a single velcro tab on the white foam sheet inside of the top flap and two on the black sheet outside. The two tabs on the outside allow the top flap to be pulled down flat to bounce all the light forward when using two flashes in a key / fill arrangement or outdoors where there is no ceiling to bounce the light. Indoors where there is a low ceiling I will usually angle the flap up at 45° for some bounced fill when using single flash. The flap can also be left open for even more bounce fill off the ceiling.
To create a strap for attaching the diffuser to the flash just take a strip of the 2" self-adhesive velcro and put a piece of the foam over the front. You'll need a third piece of foam for that. I've found that using red foam from a multi-color pack from the strap allows me to tell subjects "Look at the red bar" which helps to get them looking up in to the light, getting it into the eyes.
How I Use Them
First I strongly recommend the diffuser be used with a flash bracket to raise the flash so the light comes from a more flattering downward direction. If used with just one flash on a bracket the raised centered pattern will create a very flattering "butterfly" style pattern in a full face pose.
Even when the person turns sideways the flash, if used on a bracket, will hide the nose shadow behind the nose and the lighting will remain flattering.
When using a single flash I will often open the top flap completely to bounce light off the ceiling or stand on a chair with the diffuser very close to the ceiling as I did for this shot to get more bounce fill
With a Canon 580ex flash as Master on the bracket it is very easy to switch from single flash to dual flash.
When using two flashes it is possible to precisely place the light on the faces in some candid situations but not in others. If I find a situation where I can predict where the subject will be looking I will wheel my off camera flash which I mount on a modified IV stand around to the far side standing behind the light so I can see where the light will hit until I can see an oblique view of the person's face. I then walk-around to the front of the other oblique side to capture a flattering short-lit view of the person.
A medium shot to show the overall lighting pattern:
A H&S shot. I switched lenses to the 85mm and moved the light closer and slightly more behind her for this one.
What makes flash lighting unflattering is harsh, poorly placed shadows on the faces and eyes hidden in shadows. So when I can't control or predict which direction a person will be looking in a candid situation I don't put the key light off to the side in front, I wheel it around behind the subjects and use it as rim light. The rim lighting creates an illusion of 3D depth and shape than single flash shots lack. In this type of situation having the flash on a bracket is critical because its the downward direction and lack of distracting shadows which makes the frontal lighting flattering, as in the single flash examples above.
The backlighting strategy is also quite effective for capturing full-length action:
Here's a self-portrait taken with a pair of flashes with diffusers.
I've taken hundreds of informal portraits with hot shoe flash and diffusers but I don't recommend them as a substitute for studio lighting for serious portrait work. Its a matter of picking the best tool for the job and the tool I feel hot shoe flash is best suited for is location shooting where portability and simplicity of logistics are the primary considerations. I'm fortunate to have both sets of tools. One day when friends stopped by I had my camera on the bracket with the Canon flash and shot the boy below with it, then switched to the studio lights with larger softboxes for the shot of the girl.
While not on par with the larger studio softboxes the added dimensionality of short lighting and a softening of the light versus the results with a direct flash in the hot shoe is nothing short of remarkable IMHO. It should be noted that the lighting is flattering due more to the control of the direction and placement and the use of dual flash to create the soft overlapping pattern.
For this photo I found that the spectators crowding around blocked the path of the off camera flash so I removed its diffuser, put it behind them and bounced the light off the ceiling over their heads
Personally I prefer the look produced by a small well placed key source and neutral fill, but on occasions where I want more diffusion on my key light I simply replace the diffuser with an umbrella: the bracket I use to hold the flash on the stand is an umbrella bracket.
Try one. You'll like the results it produces. But please remember it is the direction of the light, not how it is diffused is what makes it flattering. Using a diffuser in an attempt to make poorly placed shadows less distracting is like putting a bandage over a bullet wound. The better solution is not to shoot yourself in the foot. If you use this diffuser design I recommend you also use a flash bracket.
Templates showing dimensions
Holistic Concepts for Lighting


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The Whitaker Foundation was established in 1975 by Mrs. Mae Meissner Whitaker in memory of her husband Lyndon.
The Whitaker Foundation is a private, independent foundation that supports charitable and public purpose projects in the limited geographic area of St. Louis, Missouri.
The Whitaker Foundation makes grants in two focus areas:
Enriching Lives Through the Arts
The Arts provide a breadth and depth of experience that touch our lives and enrich our region.
By investing in creative experiences of St. Louisians we help toward the discovery of ourselves,
each other and our community. By supporting excellence in the arts, we promote art forms and
institutions that challenge, entertain, and contribute to our overall quality of life.
Encouraging the Preservation and Use of Parks
Parks are an invaluable humanizing asset in an urban environment, providing space for people of
different ages and from all walks of life to experience relaxation and tranquility, or to share
the company of others in communal activities. By funding projects in parks, we help to create
moments of joy, beauty, and neighborhood celebrations that bind us together as a community. Successful
grantees share a high quality of program execution, a supportive and active board and an
exemplary artistic program. They represent an important niche in the community, have a cogent plan
for evaluation, diversity in income, and an enthusiasm for the area in which they work.
The Foundation provides both start-up and short-term funding, capital needs and on occasion
funds for operating support.
The Whitaker Foundation values projects that are creative in their execution, move toward self sustainability when
possible, and are strategic in nature.
Grants made by the Foundation support projects and agencies within a fifty mile radius of the Arch.
The following pages provide information about the Whitakers, recent grants made by the Foundation,
and information on how to apply. Agencies contemplating an application should speak to Foundation
staff early in their planning.
Thank you for your interest in the Whitaker Foundation and in helping honor Mrs. Whitakers gift.
We continue to be inspired by her far-sighted view of St. Louis and its potential, her generosity,
and her courage in leaving her legacy in the hands of future generations.
The Trustees of the Whitaker Foundation
Debra Hollingsworth
Philip Hu
Ashley Kemper
Penny Pennington
Cheryl Walker


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The blacked-out Milwaukee-Eight® 114 engine set in the belly of the Road Glide® Special takes the custom touring look to a darker place. Its new Prodigy™ wheels are outfitted with optional Reflex™ Defensive Rider Systems that connect electronically with your bike to ebb and flow through any type of weather. Premium features like the roomy, stretched saddlebags and a BOOM!™ Box GTS infotainment system with H-D™ Connect give you long-touring, head-clearing comfort without sacrificing attitude.
*H-D™ Connect availability is standard for LiveWire™, as well as MY20 Touring, Trike and CVO models (except Road King® Special, Electra Glide® Standard and Freewheeler®), in regions where available.
H-D™ Connect service will be provided for one year with the purchase of any new H-D Connect™ applicable motorcycle and available with a subscription charge following that first year. The H-D™ Connect service is not available in all markets. See dealer for details.