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Great companies are almost always run by great management teams. And great management teams know that the only way to improve a process is to start by measuring it. Good metrics should also be actionable, and drive successful behavior. In this post I hope to help show how to figure out which metrics matter the most, and how to design them in such a way as to drive behavior that will lead to the results that you want.
This post is applicable to any kind of business. In a follow up post, I will use this technique to walk through the design of a set of metrics for a SaaS company. Since SaaS businesses (or any other subscription-based business) are different from standard software businesses, there are some interesting elements that we will uncover.
Think of your company as a machine
One way to look at how companies work is to imagine them as a machine that has Outputs, and Levers that you, the management team, can pull to affect it's behavior.
Weak management teams have only a limited understanding of how their machines work, and what levers are available to affect performance. The better the management team, the better they will understand how that machine works, and how they can optimize its performance (what levers they can pull).
When we look to design metrics, we are looking to deepen our understanding of the machinery, and how it works. Well designed metrics will automatically drive behavior to optimize output from the machine.
Example of a bad Board Meeting
Here is an example of a bad board meeting, which happens far more frequently than you might imagine. The company has just missed its quarterly revenue forecast. Good board members want to know two things:
- Why that happened?
- What can be done to avoid the problem going forward?
As they ask management what happened, a common answer will be that the market was really tough, and deals just didn't close the way that they hoped. They also don't have a great plan for what they are going to do differently next quarter, other than hope that the market improves, and that more deals will close. There is a great saying for situations like this: Hope is not a strategy.
Example of a good Board Meeting
The better management teams answer those questions differently. They will gradually peel back the covers of the machine, like peeling the layers of an onion, and expose the true nature of the problem, which of course will also highlight what levers need to be pulled to fix the problem. Lets take an example, and look at how they might do this:
- They will be able to tell you that revenue is composed of deals. To compute revenue, you multiply average deal size by number of deals. They may tell you that they were targeting to grow their average deal size to $x, and were successful in hitting this target. But the number of deals that they closed was below target.
- They will then peel back the onion one more layer, and tell you that the reason that the number of deals was below target was because 1/3rd of the salesforce missed their targets.
- They will then peel back another layer, and tell you that the reason those salespeople missed their targets was because they were not handed the required number of trials from marketing. However, for the trials that they did receive they were successful at converting them to closed deals at the expected conversion rate. So we know from this that the problem is not the quality of those sales people.
- Peeling back another layer, they will tell you that the number of trials is equal to the visitors to the site x the conversion rate of those visitors to trials. They may tell you that the number of visitors was on target, but the conversion rate fell below the previous levels.
- Peeling back one more level, they may tell you that they ran three major campaigns to drive visitors to the site, as well as relying on the normal levels of word of mouth traffic. They may then reveal the true source of the problem: the ads that they had started running on Facebook were delivering a far lower conversion rate to trials than in prior months.
The contrast between the two approaches is stark. In the second case, it is clear that management will know how to fix the problem (by adding new traffic generation programs). They also know precisely how much additional traffic will need to be generated to reach the growth targets, and how many sales people are needed at a given productivity level, etc. etc.
What is surprising is just how few management teams really have their act in order in this area. For Web and SaaS businesses with smaller transactions at higher volumes, this kind of modeling and tracking is much easier, as web-based lead generation and marketing have easy to implement measurements, and the greater the volume of transactions, the more clearly patterns emerge. This is a little harder to do for channel sales, but still extremely valuable. And a little harder than that for direct sales situations with large deal sizes.
The Secret to Success
The secret to successful design of metrics is to start with the end goal and work backwards. In most companies, the end goals that matter the most are:
- Profit/(Loss)
- Growth
- Good cash flow
(You may wonder why we don't have Revenue in this list, but read further, and and it will soon become clear.)
Let's take the first of these, Profitability, and work backwards. Working backwards means looking at the components that make up Profitability:
Profits (EBITDA) = Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold – Expenses
So to focus the management team on driving profitability, we should also track and measure Revenue, CoGS, and Expenses. Obvious, isn't it? Well the good news is that this same principle can be applied over and over again focusing on the components of Revenue, CoGS, and Expenses where needed.
So the next step is to take Revenue, CoGS, and Expenses, and break them down to the key components. Bookings is the pre-cursor to Revenue. So let's look at Bookings as an example:
Bookings =No of deals closed * Average Deal Size
For Reseller Channels, we might be looking at something different like this:
Revenue = No of productive resellers * average productivity per reseller
(Note: in many businesses there are several categories of deals. e.g. there could be large deals, and smaller deals. Or their could be deals from two or more different categories of customers. So the formula may have more elements to it than shown above.)
Peeling back another level, we might find the following:
No of deals closed = No of productive sales people * Average Productivity per Sales person
There will also likely be another formula to compute this, which will look like the following:
No of deals closed = No of Trials * Average Conversion Rate
These two formulae clearly indicate some of the levers that we have available to increase Bookings. We can grow the number of trials, or grow the number productive sales people, or we could try to increase the average productivity of our sales people. However we need to make sure that we grow them both together, otherwise we could end up out of balance, and have too many sales people and not enough trials to feed them, or too many trials and not enough productive sales people to close them.
The next step would be to peel back the onion a few more layers:
No of trials = No of visitors to the web site * Average Conversion Rate to Trials
No of Visitors to the web site = Normal traffic + for each traffic generation campaign: target audience of each campaign * Conversion Rate to visitors
Each time we peel back a layer to expose the components, we gain a better understanding of our machine and the levers that we can pull to make it work better. For example in the above two formulae, we can see that a big driver of the model is visitors to the web site. But this can be expensive to increase. So the other variable that we can try to increase is the conversion rate for each campaign, and the conversion rate to trials. We can try to do this by altering campaign messaging and landing pages and using A/B testing to find the optimum creative content.
We might also decide to focus our efforts on increasing the average deal size. We could do this in several ways:
- Cross sell to add additional products
- Up sell to add seats, or premium features
- Develop a scalable pricing matrix that does a better job of charging higher end customers that are willing to pay more. This might involve several new axes that increase pricing, such as charging per seat, or charging per 1,000 data elements tracked, or charging for 24×7 support, etc.
As with many good ideas in business, all of the ideas above are obvious, and follow common sense. However, you would be shocked to discover how rare it is to actually see businesses that have fully peeled back the onion to expose all the major variables and levers, and then implemented appropriate metrics to track these over time.
Trend based analysis
For every major variable that matters in our model, we will want to track how this varies over time. This will show us if we are succeeding in our efforts to improve things, and also give us early warning signs of any negative trends.
For most stages in a sales and marketing pipeline, we will want to track two metrics: how many prospects we put through that stage, and how effective were we at converting them to the next stage. For example:
|Stage in Sales Funnel
|No of Prospects
|Conversion Rate
|Campaigns to drive traffic
|Eyeballs seeing the campaign
|Conversion % to Visitors
|Site Visitors
|Conversion % to Trials
|No of Trials
|Conversion % to Closed Deals
|Overall Sales Process
(start to finish)
|No of Visitors
|Conversion % to Closed Deals
Peeling back the Onion on Inside Sales performance
Another area where metrics can be extremely useful is in managing an inside sales (telesales) organization. Starting with the overall sales number achieved by the whole group, let's peel this back layer by layer, to see what we can learn:
- Overall group performance = Sum (individual contributor performance).
Not surprisingly we need to look at how each individual has done relative to the average levels to understand the strong performers, and the weak performers.
- Individual performance = No of deals closed * Average Deal Size
For the weak performers, it is likely that the number of deals closed will be lower than we want. The question is why? So what are the components that make up the number of deals that an individual closes? Assuming a sales process where each inside sales person is handed a queue of marketing qualified leads, and then calls these to try to schedule a demo, and the post the demo tries to close a sale, the components will be:
- Calls made per sales person (if this is low, they will quickly react to peer pressure when they see other sales people's call rates)
- Conversion rate to returned calls. (If this is low, it means the sales person is not leaving compelling voicemails, and should be given training by someone that has a high conversion rate.)
- Conversion rate from phone calls to Demos. (If this is low, it means the sales person's ability to convey the value proposition is weak, and they should be given training by someone with high conversion rates.)
- Conversion rate from Demos to Closed Deals. (If this is low, it means the sales person needs better demo training.)
- Average Deal Size. (If this is low, it could mean the sales person needs better training on cross selling, or up selling.)
The above may not mirror your inside sales process, but hopefully the method of working backwards from the end goal, and peeling back the layers to expose the components will enable you to map out the metrics that matter to you.
Sales and marketing funnel – summary metrics
We will also want to look at some metrics that cover the entire sales and marketing funnel from top to bottom. Here are some example metrics that are important at this overall level:
- CAC – total cost to acquire a customer (see previous blog post Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition to understand why this is so important.)
Lead source effectiveness:
- CAC by lead source
- ROI by lead source (takes into consideration cost, conversion rates to closed deals, and lifetime value of customers that came through that particular lead source)
What not to track
Some categories like Expenses are made up of many line items, and we very likely don't want to bother with metrics for every line item, we need to answer the question: How deep should we go with our analysis? The answer to this is pretty much common sense:
- Prioritize the components that have the biggest effect
- Don't put much effort into tracking things that you can't affect
- Don't bother tracking items that are small, or that don't vary much. Leave these to accounting.
There is nothing in this article that should be surprising or earth shattering. It is all obvious. However, as is often the case in business, it is really easy to have the vision of what to do, but far harder to execute on that vision. In my experience the mark of a really well run business is that they actually have the systems in place to automatically produce these metrics. And they use those metrics as part of the management process to run the business.
The Benefits: Good Metrics drive Actions and Behavior
One of the greatest things about putting in place the right metrics is that showing them to people will automatically change their behavior to try to improve the metrics. Furthermore, the metrics make it clear what levers they can use to change performance.
Well designed metrics make it clear what actions are needed to hit plan
Working backwards from a specific Revenue target, management will be able to understand all the other elements that have to be put in place to reach that target. For example, if you want to hit $xm in bookings for the quarter, you can work out:
- How many sales people are required
- How many leads are required to feed those sales people
- What marketing campaign spend is needed to generate those leads
If you are in a channel model, you can work out how many productive resellers are required, and given a known conversion rate from newly signed resellers going through an on-boarding process, you will be able to work out how many new resellers are required, and how many on-boarding sales training sessions need to be run. Etc.
I have had the very good fortune to work with some excellent management teams that have helped teach me these lessons. In particular, I would like to thank the teams at HubSpot and JBoss who were very advanced in their use of metrics.
Follow up blog post
Watch out for my follow up blog post on SaaS Metrics and Levers to see what happens when I drill down on the key metrics for a SaaS business. (This is applicable to other subscription businesses such as Open Source.)


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CrossFit Adventure 2012 Reindeer Games
CrossFit Athletes, Congratulations on a successful 2012 Reindeer Games at Concord CrossFit Adventure! I was very impressed with your individual and team efforts. On the following pages you will find the vast majority of photos I took. I took some liberty in converting many to black and white. The files are in different sizes. If you scroll your mouse over the photograph a window will appear with several size options. Simply click on the size you want to see and a new window will appear. If you wish to download, right click on the image and "save as". Please feel free to download as many images as you like and share them with loved ones. Happy Holidays to you and yours and I wish you all a prosperous New Year. ~Ken WestermannRead More

subset: commoncrawl


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Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) again lost a big chunk of market share last month as Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome continued to chip away at the world's dominant browser, a Web metrics company said today.
IE plummeted by 1.3 percentage points in September, falling to 65.7%, it's lowest level ever recorded and the largest one-month drop in almost a year, said Net Applications.
In the last 12 months, IE has lost 8.5 percentage points and has dropped 2.6 points in the last three months alone. Unless Microsoft is able to stem the slide, its browser will slip under the 50% mark in the next two years.
As has been the trend of late, IE's pain has been Firefox's and Chrome's gain.
Mozilla's browser surged by 0.8 of a percentage point, the biggest single-month gain since November 2008, to account for 23.8% of the browser market. Firefox has still not recovered, however, from a share downturn during May and June 2009, and has yet to equal the record set in April of 23.84%. It should pass that mark next month if it continues on the pace it's set in the last 12 months.
Chrome, meanwhile, posted another record gain during September, increasing its share by 0.3 of a percentage point to end the month at 3.2%. In the last three months, Chrome's share has increased by nearly 0.8 of a percentage point, more than half the gains by Mozilla during the same period.
Safari, however, seems stalled, boosting its market share slightly to 4.2%. Apple's browser has gained just 0.45 of a percentage point in the last three months, about one-third as much as Firefox has grown in the same span and a little more than half that of Chrome's increase.
With the vast bulk of Safari's users on Macs -- Safari for Windows accounted for less than a third of a percentage point last month -- Apple's browser gains are directly linked to Mac sales.
Opera Software's Opera accounted for 2.2%, growing by 0.15 of a percentage point, the Norwegian browser's largest single-month gain since January 2008.
Both Google and Opera shipped new versions of their browsers last month. Google rolled out Chrome 3.0 on Sept. 15, bragging up a 25% speed increase over the previous edition, while Opera 10 debuted Sept. 1.
Microsoft and Mozilla, meanwhile, managed to move even more of their users to their newest browsers.
The eight-year-old IE6 lost 0.8 of a percentage point, dropping to 24.4%, while 2007's IE7 lost 1.7 points, falling to 19.4%. IE8 gained 1.7 percentage points to post a September average of 16.8%, another record for it. As recently as April, IE8 accounted for only 3.6% of all browsers.
Microsoft's campaign to get users off its eldest browser, IE6, however, seems to be mired. While the aged application lost nearly 4 percentage points in July and August, its September slide was under a point.
IE6, said Microsoft's manager of Internet Explorer in August, should beabandoned by users able to pick their browser. IE6, however, still accounted for 38% of IE's worldwide total last month, and remains the most popular Microsoft browser by a substantial margin.
But IE8 has been making progress, particularly against its immediate predecessor. The former's 16.8% share is within striking distance of IE7's 19.4%; if current trends persist, IE8 could pass IE7 in share as early as this month.
Mozilla has also made impressive strides in migrating its users to Firefox 3.5, the upgrade launched last June. In September, Firefox increased its share by 3.8 percentage points to 12.7%, while Firefox 3.0 slipped 2.9 points to end at 9.6%. September was the first month that Firefox 3.5 accounted for a greater percentage of all Firefox users than the older Firefox 3.0. The first automatic update offer from Firefox 3.0 to 3.5 in mid-August may have sparked the surge in the latter's share.
Factors that may affect future share rankings include Google's recent release of Chrome Frame, a plug-in for IE that lets Web sites trigger the use of Chrome's WebKit rendering engine and its V8 JavaScript engine. When IE uses Chrome Frame, sites identify it as IE, but add a Chrome Frame tag that could let analytics firms like Net Applications spot the use of the Chrome rendering engine.
It's unknown whether Net Applications will actually do that, however; the company did not respond to a request for comment.
Net Applications measures browser usage by tracking the machines that surf to the 40,000 sites it monitors for clients, which results in a data pool of about 160 million unique visitors per month.
September's browser data can be found on Net Applications' site.


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Former New York City Mayor Edward Irving Koch, a man as colorful as the city he helped save from financial ruin, died Friday of congestive heart failure. He was 88.
His brashness and thumbs-up confidence – and "How'm I doin?" greeting – became symbols of Gotham chutzpah over his three terms at the city's helm. And while New Yorkers did not always answer Hizzoner's trademark question in the affirmative, Koch couldn't have cared less as he tried to govern a city that many thought was ungovernable. He finally left City Hall in 1989.
"I'm the sort of person who will never get ulcers," he told reporters in 1978. "Why? Because I say exactly what I think. I'm the sort of person who might give other people ulcers."
Reverend Al Sharpton, who locked horns with Koch through his time as mayor, praised the man he criticized as forthright in a statement on his passing.
"He would not patronize or deceive you," said Sharpton, an MSNBC host, remembering that his first arrest for civil disobedience was at a 1978 sit-in protesting a Koch policy. "He said what he meant. He meant what he said. He fought for what he believed in."
Born in the Bronx in 1924, Koch and his family soon decamped to Newark, New Jersey, where he spent his childhood. After graduating from high school at the age of 16, Koch returned to the city he loved and enrolled at the City College of New York, but his undergraduate studies were interrupted by World War II when he was drafted in 1943.
After serving as an infantryman in Europe, Koch enrolled at New York University Law School. He built up a law practice before he entered politics to support Adlai Stevenson's presidential campaign in 1952.
Koch's own political career began in earnest in the early 1960s, organizing for the Democratic party in Greenwich Village on Manhattan's west side. In 1963, he ousted Tammany Hall chief Carmine DeSapio, winning a post as a district leader.
From 1969 to 1977, Koch served as a congressman representing New York's 17th Congressional District. He mounted an unlikely run for mayor in 1977, ultimately defeating better-known candidates including incumbent Abraham Beame and congresswoman Bella Abzug.
Throughout his career, Koch was known for his Bronx-flavored bon mots. "If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me," Koch once said. "If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist."
And he brought his forceful personality and attention to detail to the job of mayor, said New York City historian Fred Siegel.
"His campaign slogan was 'Why not try competence?' and he demonstrates it. He really knows the budget, he's on top of things," Siegel said of Koch's first years in office. Later, however, Koch "lost interest in the details of running the city," Siegel said.
Koch's aspirations went beyond the five boroughs, but more illustrious offices eluded him. A bid for governor in 1982 was felled by Mario M. Cuomo.
Yet the same personality that helped bring Koch national fame also divided some New Yorkers against him over time.
In 2012, Koch recalled walking to the Brooklyn Bridge during a 1980 transit strike to exhort commuters. "I began to yell, 'Walk over the bridge! Walk over the bridge! We're not going to let these bastards bring us to our knees!'" Koch recalled.
"His mouth got in the way of his policies," said investigative journalist Wayne Barrett, who chronicled the Koch years.
The mayor, however, remained forever close-lipped about the most private areas of his personal life, even as some speculated about his sexuality.
While opponents occasionally tried to make political hay of the whispers, Koch responded with silence: "Whether I am straight or gay or bisexual is nobody's business but mine," he wrote in his 1992 autobiography.
Koch's final term was tarnished by corruption, as a scandal involving Queens Borough President Donald Manes threatened to ensnare the mayor, but never did. He lost a shot at a fourth term to the more reserved David Dinkins.
"The people have spoken," Koch said on the occasion of his losing, "and they must be punished."
But Koch, who became the first city mayor to host Saturday Night Live in 1983, did not allow his national profile to dim after losing the luster of the mayoralty. He also published a collection of newspaper columns critical of Rudy Giuliani in 1999 titled "Giuliani: Nasty Man." And for two years in the late Nineties, he wore a black robe on the television show "People's Court."
On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo – the son of former governor Mario -- paid tribute to the man who won't be leaving New York, even in death. (Koch bought one of Manhattan's last burial plots for $20,000 in 2008.)
"No New Yorker has – or likely ever will – voice their love for New York City in such a passionate and outspoken manner than Ed Koch," Cuomo said. "Mr. Mayor was never one to shy away from taking a stand that he believed was right, no matter what the polls said or what was politically correct."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement that the city had lost "an irrepressible icon, our most charismatic cheerleader and champion."
Senator Charles Schumer lauded Koch as a man of whom New Yorker's could be proud: "Every atom in his body lived, breathed, spoke, and exuded the city. He helped save the city and, perhaps most important of all, gave it confidence when it was beginning to doubt itself, which helped pave the way for the growth and prosperity we're still experiencing today."
Koch died around 2 a.m. Friday after battling a variety of illnesses. He had been hospitalized in September with anemia and in December with a respiratory infection, before his final hospitalization this week.
A funeral service will be held on Monday.


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Ranch Style Homes in Texas
Ranch homes were popular in central Texas in the post-war era of the 1950s and 1960s. Thousands were built in Austin, Texas and the surrounding communities.
Many of them are in neighborhoods where the ownership doesn't change hands very frequently, and many are a re-modelers dream when they come on the market.
These neighborhoods usually have something that is in high demand – big trees. In particular, as you look though the images in the galleries in this article, look at the glorious tree cover.
Characteristics of Ranch Style Homes in Texas
Some ranch style homes in central Texas have siding, but many have Texas limestone or brick (red, white, fewer grey) on the exterior. Most have composition roofs (like the one in the photo to the right), but some have seamed-metal roofs (usually silver, but the occasional green one pops up). Some, but not many, have concrete barrel-tile roofs.
Many still have the original aluminum-framed windows which are poor insulators against the blazing Texas sun.
Most are single-story ranch homes – the quintessential ranch – but the 1970s brought some two-level ranches in the split-level style to the area. These are uncommon, but more likely to be found in hilly neighborhoods (Northwest Hills, Westover Hills, University Hills for example). Two-level ranches are often built on sloped lots and it isn't always obvious from the street that a house has more than one level.
Many ranch style homes in Austin have vaulted ceilings with exposed beams. Many also have Texas limestone fireplaces.
One interesting trend we've noticed over the last few years is that when homes in Austin are remodeled, they often get a brightly-colored front door (which will soon be another article!), and new numbers. The numbers are of a few particular styles – see if you can pick them out in some of the images of ranch-style homes on this page.
Remodeled Texas Ranch Style Homes
When these old ranch homes are remodeled, anything goes. The typical finishes are often particular to a neighborhood. Many homes are updated with decidedly modern finishes and/or with soothing tones and textures – think spa – and natural materials like slate, travertine and wood.
Occasionally, a ranch style home that has been remodeled perhaps in the 1970s or 1980s might look a bit like this one in Allandale. I pulled over, got out and waited for the traffic to clear just to take this one photo. It takes a lot to make me get out of the car when photographing houses, but the deep turquoise/teal of this one is uncommon for the area – and interesting. The vintage car sealed the deal.
Examples of Ranch Style Homes in Austin
I spend a lot of time telling people how much I like their home's ranch style when I stop to take a photo. Most people are a little confused when they see the big camera pointed at their home, but most break out in a grin when I tell them it's because their house is "really cool". Because, these are. Seriously. Every single one.
Where to Find Ranch Style Homes in Austin
Allandale is a perennial favorite for folks who like to live in NW Austin and favor older homes. For the 12 months ending August 19th, 2014, homes in Allandale sold for a median of $455,000. And that price doesn't necessarily get you a remodeled ranch style home.
Another area with many 1960's era ranch-style homes is over off of 51st and Springdale, particularly in the southeast corner of that neighborhood (centered on Gladstone Dr.):
While much of the area north of 51st, and south of 290 has ranch style homes, one particular pocket (centered on Sunny Brook Dr, north of Bartholomew District Park) has quite a few larger ones (larger for this area):
More Photos of Ranch Style Homes in Austin
I dug through over 23,000 photos from my archives to pull out a few more examples of ranch-style homes. I get a kick out of remembering where a photo was taken as many were collected before GPS tagging (geotagging) was as common as is it today.
Oh, and a longhorn. This is Texas, after all.


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Poduct name:
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product detail
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Materials High quality canvas and environmental oil paint or acrylic paint Details 100% hand painted oil painting on canvas Framed no frame Stretched 5 cm stretched Customersorder
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I stumbled across Steve Bissette's home page awhile back. It is full of art, news, and lots of art. If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend his story of the creation of the Saga of the Swamp Thing #20, which begins here.
The artist is selling signed copies of his and author Joseph Citro's book The Vermont Monster Guide. The book features one paragraph to a couple pages on different monsters purported to dwell in Vermont. Every state has stories like this, but Vermont seems to have a lot of weirdness for such a small state. In here you can learn about The Bennington Monster, The Hopping Horror, and the thing that seems to freak me out the most: "Giant Red-Eyed Rabbits." These rabbits dwell on an island in Lake Bomoseen. Since the island is thirty feet from the shore, only the biggest rabbits could make the leap, so they've been breeding on this island. The book says they haven't harmed anyone but the idea of them bothers me(and Bissette's illustration, only he could make a B&W sketch of a bunny rabbit look creepy).
Bissette's drawings are what really make this book, people familiar with his work know he can add an extra edge of creepiness to everything. Some of the beasts, like The Hopping Horror, are only depicted in silhouette, making them even more weird. Highly recommended.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Steve Bissette's "Vermont Monster Guide"
Posted by tom at 11:00 PM No comments:
Labels: book review, monsters, Steve Bissette
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Lord of the Rings: Pics or It Didn't Happen
Here is a screen shot of probably my favorite frame from The Lord of the Rings movies. I didn't happen like this in the book, but I don't care.
Posted by tom at 6:36 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Lord of the Rings
Monday, February 22, 2010
Bernie Wrightson: Another Fine Jam...
When in doubt, post something by Bernie Wrightson. Here is a scan of the original art for the opening page of a never completed 1970 story: "Here's Another Fine Jam You've Gotten Me Into." You just know that one of those characters was gonna end up chopped up and put in jars at the end of the story.
Posted by tom at 10:12 PM No comments:
Labels: Bernie Wrightson
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Girls With Cats
Oh well, I'd rather look at this paintings of women.
Posted by tom at 7:33 PM 2 comments:
Labels: Arthur Sarnoff
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
National Lampoon: Wrightson & Frazetta
National Lampoon Encyclopedia of Humor, 1973. Cover art by Bernie Wrightson.
National Lampoon, April 1971. Cover art by Frank Frazetta.
National Lampoon, June 1972. Cover art by Frank Frazetta.
National Lampoon, August 1973. Cover art by Frank Frazetta.
Posted by tom at 6:43 PM 2 comments:
Labels: Bernie Wrightson, Frank Frazetta, National Lampoon
Friday, February 12, 2010
A Couple by Barry Windsor-Smith
Posted by tom at 7:17 PM No comments:
Labels: Barry Windsor Smith
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Dave Stevens Pinups
Posted by tom at 5:03 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Bettie Page, Betty Page, cheesecake, Dave Stevens, pinup, Vampirella
Friday, February 5, 2010
Some Cool Paperback Covers
I Married a Dead Man by William Irish. Unknown cover artist.
Cats Prowl at Night by A.A. Fair. Cover art by Gerald Gregg.
The Flying Eyes by J.Hunter Holly. Cover art by John Schoenherr.
The Gods Hate Kansas by Joseph Millard. Cover art by Jack Thurston.
Posted by tom at 9:03 PM No comments:
Labels: paperbacks, science fiction
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Nonsense Lit (and Art!)
Nonsenselit.org is a cool website dedicated to nonsense literature. There is some good art on there too. My current favorite is Peter Newell, particularly The Hole Book. There is a gallery and a page dedicated to nonsense in early comic strips.
Below is one of my favorite illustrations form Newell's The Hole Book:
Posted by tom at 6:14 PM 1 comment:
Labels: humor, Peter Newell
Monday, February 1, 2010
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text:
Use this guide to replace the metallic outer power button on your iPhone.
What you need
Power off your iPhone before beginning disassembly.
Your phone's rear cover may have two #000 Phillips screws or Apple's 5-Point "Pentalobe" screws. Check which screws you have, and ensure you also have the correct screwdriver in order to remove them.
Remove the two 3.6 mm Pentalobe or Phillips #000 screws next to the dock connector.
Pra descarregar a bateria, antes de fazer o serviço, isso serve pra qualquer celular?
Push the rear panel toward the top edge of the iPhone.
Remove the single 1.5 mm Phillips screw securing the battery connector to the logic board (if present).
you do not need to take the battery out as chuck said so you dont run the risk of braking the battery connector socket from the logic board
Won't you need the battery removed to access the large-headed screws on the side which hold the front display?
Unfortunately the battery screw was already stripped probably from original assembly. We used a pair of nail clippers as pliers to grab a hold of the screw by the edges to turn it. If it hadn't have been for the stripped screw it would have taken us about 10 minutes, as it was it took us 30-40 minutes if you count searching for solutions for removing the stripped screw.
Use the edge of a plastic opening tool to gently pry the battery connector up from its socket on the logic board.
Remove the metal clip covering the antenna connector.
Pull up on the exposed clear plastic tab to peel the battery off the adhesive securing it to the iPhone.
If there's any alcohol solution remaining in the phone, carefully wipe it off or allow it to air dry before installing your new battery.
Remove the battery.
Before reassembly, clean metal-to-metal contact points with a de-greaser such as windex. The oils from your fingers have the potential to cause wireless interference issues.
Perform a hard reset after reassembly. This can prevent several issues and simplify troubleshooting.
Note that the pull tab is not actually attached to the battery. It is attached to the iPhone chassis, and is only used to separate the battery from the adhesive. (Don't expect it to come out with the battery!)
Also, the adhesive is VERY strong. I had to use my plastic opening tool to assist in prying the battery loose. This is probably the most nerve-wracking part of the job.
It is much easier to slightly WARM the battery with a HAIRDRYER not a HEAT GUN to soften the adhesive. DO NOT GET BATTERY HOT AND DO NOT USE HEAT GUN
Joe -
I just did this today. Everything was as scripted. Mine had lots of adhesive and had to use plastic spudger to go around battery to loosen up. Do not use plastic tab until you can see under battery a little bit. Great instructions. Took less than 10 minutes.
The adhesive is very strong and I was initially worried about damaging the phone by prying so much. There are a couple of places below the volume switch where you can pry between the metal of the case and the battery. If you lift the battery just a little, wiggle the pry bar further in and then start moving down the case. Don't worry about bending the battery, its dead anyway.
Do not pry on the left side (circuit board side) and do not use the pull tab until the adhesive is broken loose.
I tried this at first with a plastic pry tool, and the adhesive was so strong that I broke the tool. I then used a large screwdriver and applied pressure very slowly along various places on the outer side of the battery. That eventually did the trick.
Remove the two 1.8 mm Phillips screws securing the dock connector cable to the logic board.
Remove the thin metal dock connector cable cover.
Remove the following five screws:
Three 1.3 mm Phillips screws
One 1.5 mm Phillips screw
One 2.4 mm Phillips screw
Careful here...On my phone, the little mounting screw boss (the part the screw threads into) of the top red-circled screw came unglued/welded from the underlying board, meaning the screw will no longer be able to be screwed back in.
The three 1.3 mm screws are very difficult to distinguish from the 1.5 mm screw. I spent a long time with a magnifying glass trying to tell them apart. For the other steps of the repair, I kept the screws in a tray compartment along with the piece that they connected, but for this step I recommend keeping each of the different types of screws separate.
Use the edge of a plastic opening tool to pry the rear camera connector up from its socket on the logic board.
Remove the rear camera from the iPhone.
Better to delay removing the camera and its cable until the Display and Digitizer cables are removed as there is an arm on the right side of the camera that slips under the other cables.
I agree with ed -- move the camera removal step until after Step 16, after the digitizer and display cables have been removed, as there is a tab/arm on the camera's cable that should go under these two cables during reassembly.
Disconnect the five cables near the top of the logic board in the following order:
Headphone jack/volume button cable
Power button cable
Front facing camera cable
Digitizer cable
Display data cable
To disconnect the cables, use the edge of a plastic opening tool to gently lift their connectors up and out of the sockets on the logic board.
The Digitizer Cable on the new display seems to be too short. Trying to make it reach. It doesn't reach its place on the logic board. Going to disassemble and start over. (Step 15)
Any pointers?
What happened was there is a tab on the cable, and that didn't go all the way through the casing. I made this mistake about 3 times. It's not too short, just move the screen a little away from the casing, and pull the cable all the way through without ripping it.
⚠ On reassembly, before plugging in the screen/digitizer cables, put the rear facing camera back in. There's a prong on the camera that lays underneath them.
Remove the 1.5 mm Phillips #000 screw near the headphone jack.
take out screw on top of stand of first, then take of grounding plat, and then stand off.
This is correct.
Echoing the notes from 'boo' and Corey -- that's exactly what I saw too. Perhaps the guide should be updated?
This has been changed several times on the iphone 4 logic board manual, and the changes are always being reverted. There _IS_ a screw in step 16, but someone seems intent on not having it mentioned in the manual. Dunno why...
Because it's mentioned in Step 20.
It may have been mentioned in step 20 at some point, but it isn't anymore. The phillips head screw that's mentioned in step 20 is the one holding the grounding finger to the rear-facing camera corner of the motherboard.
That said, my concerns about step 16 have since been rectified, so I suppose step 20 could've been fixed at the same time.
There's a little rubber piece that you can see in the Step 17 & Step 21 pictures just above the yellow sticker. It fits over the edge of the board where the two ribbon cables from the display/digitizer come up through the board (Step 36). It's there to make sure the ribbon cables don't rub against the sharp edge of the board. This piece loves to fall out when pulling the logic board off. Make sure to put it back in when routing the cables in Step 36, thin edge on the bottom, thicker edge on the top.
Lift the small grounding clip up off the logic board and remove it from the iPhone.
Use the edge of a plastic opening tool to disconnect the Wi-Fi antenna cable connector from the logic board.
For me, aligning the connector when putting things back together was the most difficult part of this repair. Unlike reattachment of the radio antenna in step 11, it is very difficult to see whether the male/female are aligned properly before applying pressure. Unfortunately, I have no secret as to how to accomplish this, other than to say that my WiFi is working after the repair.
Remove the 2.5 mm Phillips #000 screw securing the logic board near the power button.
Remove the 4.8 mm standoff screw near the headphone jack.
Remove the 3.4 mm Phillips screw near the vibrator motor.
Remove the two 3.6 mm standoff screws along the side of the logic board nearest the battery opening.
When replacing the standoff screw closest to the dock connector, make sure it is tightened all the way down. The battery terminal screw fits in the standoff later, and if the standoff isn't tight (NOT TOO TIGHT!) then the battery will not be completely connected and your phone will power off unless tethered. This mimics a bad logic board symptom! Inspect this before replacing your logic board!
Carefully lift the logic board from the end closest to the speaker enclosure and slide it away from the top edge of the iPhone.
Remove the logic board.
When I was attempting to reinstall the logic board (step 21 in reverse), a small rubber bumper came loose from 'somewhere' on the board (I think). It isn't visible in any of the photos, so I really have no idea where it came from!
I don't see it in the pictures either, but I'm pretty sure there is a black bumper that rides on the 'top' of the logic board. I believe it reduces friction between the display/digitizer cables and the top of the logic board.
You can see this "bumper" in steps 16 and 20 (right above the yellow sticker in the pics), and it provides relief for the digitizer and display cables as they both come up and around the edge of the logic board. I put my bumper with its thicker side down towards the inside of the phone and it worked fine.
The rubber bumper has a groove in it, which rides a notch along the top edge of the logic board. Its purpose is to ease pressure between the top of the phone and the board. If you look at the top of the frame, there is a little horizontal ridge about 0.8cm (3/8") long which is just the right width of the rubber bumper.
For reference:
Your images show incorrect placement of the rubber spacer. Step 20 shows correct placement. It is just above the scan code sticker on the motherboard. That is where the ribbon cables roll over, so it makes sense.
I assume the thick side would be facing the rear of the phone, but can not be sure.?
I wouldn't use Windex. It's mostly water. Why would anyone put water on a connection? Use isopropyl alcohol and be certain that it's at least 95% alcohol.
Better yet use contact cleaner or the original Brakleen (in the RED can). You can find the Brakleen at any automotive store.
I experienced that when the rubber spacer had the thick side up towards the rear of the phone, the display data cable would plug in but had enough pressure from the rubber bumper pushing up that it would eventually become partially unplugged. This may not be immediately apparent while putting the phone back together because of still being partially plugged in. This was not an issue when the thin side was installed facing up towards the back of the phone.
Hope someone can ease my uncertainty: does the grounding finger for the
rear-facing camera go on TOP of the motherboard OR between the motherboard and
the standoff???
Under. There is nothing to ground if it went over the pcb. Look on the backside.
Remove the two 2.0 mm Phillips screws securing the power button bracket to the outer case.
Slightly pull the power button bracket away from the outer case.
Use a pair of tweezers to remove the power button from the iPhone.
On the iPhone I was repairing, the electrical power button works, and the physical button was undamaged, but I believe there is a piece missing between them, because the physical button is loose when the screws are in place and won't press the electrical button. Please advise.
It turns out you don't need a new button.
What you need is the little orange circle with a black dot. When I pulled out my button, I discovered the little black dot was missing from the orange circle. You can take apart your headset and find 3 of them. Or you can try and add a small piece of material into the current broken button actuator.
It would be better if Ifixit it sold a sheet of these little actuators, instead of selling everyone an extra iphone power button, that nobody needs.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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If you look at the Logic Board, the top kind of looks like steps. Find the tallest point, the go left and down one step. The piece goes at the top of this. The thinner part should face towards the back of the phone. It is to protect the LCD cable.
Hello! New to this comment section and love it compared to the YouTube videos that always seem to have the wrong phone... I have a Verizon CDMA iPhone 4 (not 4s). I'm having a problem with the power button. I have changed the ribbon and the button still won't click. I have checked the ribbon button with a pointed screwdriver and it clicks like it should. For example, if I did not put the metal/physical button back into the phone, it would see that I could just poke something inside to turn on and off. Is there a "spring" to the physical button? Do I have something missing? The button seems as it is in the diagrams and I wonder if the wire on the bottom of the button is supposed to provide a springing of some sort...to allow for it to "stay tall" and away from the bubble button on the ribbon. Then when the physical button is pushed it will go down and activate or push the ribbon button, and then click or spring back up. Am I missing something here? Tks email@example.com
If someone tells you or you figure it out,can you tell me at email@example.com,or just reply on this.
dima -
"the outward edges should be on top"... what? I have the iphone 4 Verizon and I've followed the instructions to the letter. I have installed the power button with the metal wire thing down towards the screen...the button slides in nicely and I have replaced the new ribbon cable with the copper button on it new and when I test the copper button on the cable itself it does click...but when installed I can't get the button to spring in and out and click like it is supposed to. What am I doing wrong...? Tks to firstname.lastname@example.com. Augusta, GA
I made it through this repair. I didn't need to actually replace either the power button or the switch. Once I had access to the switch, all I had to do was install a small circular piece of plastic (see that black dot under the orange tape in the last picture) under the orange tape to make the power button functional again. My iPhone is working like new!


text:
Image via WikipediaToday is the Feast of St Michael and All Angels and two churches of the diocese in Europe, both in France, celebrate their patronal festival.
St Michael's Paris is a large and busy multinational congregation (5 services on Sunday, including one in Tamil and one in French) in the heart of the capital, just a few hundred metres from the Elysée Palace. It was founded in 1834, originally as the British Embassy Church, but is now a home to people from over 30 nations. It is a community active in mission and outreach and also has a vibrant ministry to young adults and students. The Revd Philip Mounstephen is the chaplain. He is assisted by the Revd John Moore, the assistant curate, and two lay ministry assistants, Liz Houghton and Paul McIntosh. Check out the website of St Michael's Paris, here.
St Michael's Beaulieu-sur-Mer is at the other end of the country on the Riviera between Nice and Monaco. It also serves a community composed of a wide range of nationalities from British to Icelandic. Services began in 1891 and the present building was completed in 1894. St Michael's is a centre of cultural and musical life in Beaulieu and the home also to a congregation of the Church of Denmark which worships there once a month. Excellent relations have been nurtured over the years with local Roman Catholic authorities; the Priest-in-charge, the Revd Canon Dr Roger Greenacre, a scholar of Anglican-Roman Catholic relations was honoured by the French Government in 1998 which appointed him Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite for his contribution to ecumenism. The website of St Michael's Beaulieu-sur-Mer is here.


text:
Editor's Note: Read this story in Arabic.
Story highlights
The U.S., European Union and Japan have filed a trade case over China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals
Rare earths are minerals with magnetic and conductive properties that are used in most of today's electronic devices
China's dominance in the industry has led to suggestions it can be used as part of a trade war with the U.S. and Europe
The United States, the European Union and Japan have filed a trade case over China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals that are crucial for the production of many high-tech devices.
What are rare earth minerals?
Rare earths are 17 minerals with magnetic and conductive properties that are used in most of today's electronic devices, including flat-screen televisions, smart phones, hybrid cars and weapons.
The minerals include cerium, neodymium, dysprosium, tungsten and molybdenum. Tungsten, for example, is used in electronics, automotive, aerospace and medical technologies. China produces 91% of the world's tungsten. Molybdenum is a metallic element used for filaments in light bulbs. China produces 36% of the world's molybdenum.
They are not actually "rare," and can be found in other countries – including the U.S. – but they are difficult to mine safely. About a third of the world's rare earth deposits are in China but the country controls around 97% of production, in part due to its lower labor costs and less stringent environmental regulations.
Rare earth minerals' importance and limited supplies have created friction between China and the U.S., among other countries, for years.
What is the issue?
China's dominance in the industry has led to suggestions it can be used as part of a trade war with the U.S. and Europe. In 2010, a report commissioned by the U.S. Congress found China's dominant position in production could have major implications for the U.S. Department of Defense.
In June that year, China tightened export restrictions on the materials by raising export taxes and reducing the amount it can send overseas. It reduced the quota for Chinese-owned companies by 32% but by 54% for companies with foreign investment. In December, it further reduced quotas. It also temporarily halted shipments of rare earths to Japan, prompting a sharp spike in prices of the minerals.
What has happened now?
The trade case by the U.S, European Union and Japan accuses China of increasing prices outside China while lowering them within the country, creating unfair advantages. The U.S. also accuses China of hoarding the minerals for its own use. The U.S. aims to pressure China to lift export limits.
China has defended its actions by saying they are in line with World Trade Organization regulations, and that the restrictions are due to environmental concerns.
Why does it matter?
Rare earths minerals are hugely important to the technology industry, and the U.S. and the European Union are fierce in their language against China.
According to a European Commission statement, restrictions "violate international trade rules" and hurt producers of car components and computers, among other industries.
The EU said it has raised the issue with China repeatedly over the past years without success.
U.S. president Barack Obama said: "We have got to take control of our energy future and we can't let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules."
What will happen next?
The European Union, U.S. and Japan are all making requests for consultations with the Chinese, as part of the WTO dispute process. If agreement is not reached within 60 days, the issue can get kicked up to a WTO settlement panel. Whatever the outcome, it could take some time: A similar dispute over restrictions on raw materials was settled this year – in favor of the EU, U.S. and Mexico – three years after it was launched.


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My Creative Time has generously donated a 100% Sweetness stamp set - which includes a stitched heart die! - to be given to one participant drawn at random.
Daily Inspiration
Monday, January 30, 2012
Challenge Me Monday #96
My Creative Time has generously donated a 100% Sweetness stamp set - which includes a stitched heart die! - to be given to one participant drawn at random.
23 comments:
OMG! all these cards are adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ReplyDelete
Beautiful tiney Valentines design team! Amanda, love your gorgeous cards! Great job being guest designer this week!ReplyDelete
Many thanks to My Creative Time for sponsoring this week and allowing me to play with the great stamps!
Thanks for the fun challenge, Great projects by the whole team.ReplyDelete
There all super cute! I am so going to try to join:)ReplyDelete
Peace, Love, & Criut Hug's!
Monica L.
Wow!!!! I'm going to take this challenge...but a 3 x 3 card...HARD!!!ReplyDelete
Great DT! Thanks for the fun challenge!ReplyDelete
The DT did an awesome job! This is my first challenge with you guys!ReplyDelete
Miranda :)
This was such a fun challenge and all the DT projects are awesome.ReplyDelete
Love all the tiny cards from the DT! This was a fun one for me!!ReplyDelete
These itty bitty cards are SO much fun! I hadn't made small ones like his until you challenged me this week to do so. Thanks!ReplyDelete
What a fun challenge, and its awesome to see all these great creations. Amazing what you can fit into such a small footprint. Lovely cards by the DT!ReplyDelete
You have got an AWESOME DT! Love the inspiration!ReplyDelete
Thanks for the fun!
What adorable cards the DT have made. Thanks for a fun Challenge.ReplyDelete
Had some trouble putting my post up. Thanks for the fun challenge and all the great creationsReplyDelete
Fabulous DT work! Thank you for a great challenge!ReplyDelete
Fantastic DT creations! Each one is amazing! So much creativity jam-packed into a tiny package. Thank you for the inspiration and the fun challenge! :o)ReplyDelete
Hugs and blessings!
Thanks for a great challenge!:)ReplyDelete
Great challenge, thank you!ReplyDelete
LOVE all these little cards!! Thanks for this challenge...I learned that there are some Cricut cuts that shouldn't be cut too small! :-) TFS!ReplyDelete
~Sharon C.
Always fun to do a challenge.ReplyDelete
Such adorable tiny valentines! Love the projects.ReplyDelete
What beautiful cards from everyone.ReplyDelete
Adorable cards from everyone! Thanks for the fun challenge, I had fun making mine!ReplyDelete
kimbean20 at gmail dot com
Thank you for taking the time to share your comments. We hope you were inspired today. Please note: all posts are monitored and show up after approved.


text:
Volvo announces pricing for many of its 2014 models
Volvo has just revealed its official pricing details for the S60 and S80 sedans, as well as the XC60, XC70, and XC90 crossovers.
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For the 2014 model year, a base S60 T5 starts at $32,400, while the larger and more luxurious S80 with the 3.2L inline-six and front-wheel drive starts $39,900.
In the crossover department, the XC60 mid-sized crossover begins at $34,850, while the V70-based XC70 retails for $34,500, and the gracefully aging XC90 is priced at $39,700.
The Swedish automaker also announced some minor changes to some of the models, which have been updated with interior functions such as Volvo's latest gauge and instrument cluster that offer more functionality and information to the driver.
For full details, check out the press release after the jump.
Volvo Cars of North America Announces Pricing of its 2014 Model Lineup
With biggest renewal of existing models in company history, new U.S. Volvo lineup features design enhancements, adaptive digital TFT display, new safety features, including cyclist detection
ROCKLEIGH, N.J. – (Aug. 1, 2013) – Propelled by a major investment and product strategy to boost the Swedish automaker's position in the global marketplace, Volvo Cars of North America released pricing for its 2014 model year lineup today. The announcement comes as Volvo is about to deliver a lineup that reflects the biggest renewal of existing models in company history and highlights Volvo's commitment to offer customers outstanding value across its full range of products.
2014 models arrive with new designs, upgraded features and new support systems. Volvo's engine roster includes the 250 horsepower T5; 3.2-liter, naturally aspirated six-cylinder, making 240 horsepower; and the turbocharged T6 at 300 horsepower. The most powerful six-cylinder currently offered by Volvo, the R-Design's 3.0-liter turbocharged engine puts out 325 horsepower and a stout 354 lb.-ft. of torque.
Bolder Design Features Across Lineup
The front of the S60 has been redesigned sporting all-new exterior panels from the A-pillars forward including a new hood, front fenders and fascia. A wider grille with a larger Ironmark is flanked by new headlights while a larger, wider lower front intake gains bright accents and horizontally mounted LED daytime running lights. At the rear, new LED light guides on the taillights and new integrated exhaust pipes contribute to the more powerful road presence and self-confident stance.
The 2014 S60 lineup starts at $32,400 for the front-drive T5, while the T6 AWD lists for $39,250. AWD with Instant Traction is again available on the value-leading S60 T5 and can be added as a stand-alone option, with a price unchanged from 2013 at $2,000. A new sport package comprising sport seats, paddle shifters, 18-inch titania alloy wheels and dynamic chassis is standard on the T6 AWD and optional on the T5. The S60 T6 R-Design starts at $42,700.
For the XC60, changes begin on the outside, where the popular crossover sports a new hood, front fenders and fascia that emphasize a wider and more confident appearance. Redesigned headlights flank a bold new grille sporting a larger Volvo Ironmark. These significant exterior design changes emphasize the dynamic, capable nature of the XC60. With careful attention to detail, the designers have increased the XC60's road presence. The popular XC60 crossover starts at $34,850 in 3.2 FWD and the T6 AWD starts at $39,250. The XC60 R-Design starts at $45,800.
Volvo brings the XC70 into sharper focus with redesigned front and rear styling, including a new grille with a bolder, wider proportion, a larger Iron mark and LED daytime running lights, updated front and rear matte silver décor trim, rear skid plate décor and new taillight design. This bolder XC70 starts out at $34,500 in 3.2 FWD and $40,950 in T6 AWD. Among the more interesting safety features on the XC70 are the dual, fully integrated booster seats in the rear seating area. They are height adjustable, so they adapt as a child grows. What's more, they look like normal seats.
Changes to the S80 begin on the outside, with a new front fascia incorporating a new grille design with larger Volvo Ironmark and grille pattern. Below the new bumper, a redesigned lower front intake stretches the visual width of the car to create a bolder, wider horizontal stance. New LED daytime running lights are positioned at the outer edges of the intake while the headlights also receive a new look. Following up at the rear is a redesigned bumper and new taillight design sporting LED graphics. S80 starts at $39,900 in 3.2 FWD and $43,950 in T6 AWD. Dressed in optional Inscription package, featuring Sovereign Hide soft leather, ventilated front seats and branded interior touches, the T6 AWD with Inscription represents Volvo's most luxurious offering.
With standard seating for seven, versatile cargo solutions, extensive safety features and a choice of front and optional all-wheel drive with Instant Traction, the XC90 remains an outstanding value. All XC90s are equipped with Roll Stability Control (RSC); Dynamic Stability and Traction Control (DSTC); Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) with side airbags and Inflatable Curtains for all three rows. XC90 starts at $39,700 in 3.2 FWD.
New Instrument Cluster Offers Driver Choice
Select models get a new Adaptive Digital TFT Display instrument cluster that allows drivers to choose between three themes with different configurations and functionality:
- Elegance has a traditional appearance with a large, circular speedometer bordered by secondary displays.
- Eco features green background illumination with an Eco meter displayed on the left.
- Performance has red background illumination for a more dynamic look. A tachometer replaces the speedometer while vehicle speed is shown digitally. The right display includes a power meter gauge that informs the driver how much power is available and how much is being used at any given moment.
In the R-Design versions, the Elegance theme boasts unique blue instrument dials.
Paddle Shifters, Quicker acceleration with Advanced Quick Shift
New paddle shifters will be offered – standard on most T6 AWD and R-Design models and available on T5 – letting the driver shift manually with both hands on the steering wheel. Coupled with Advanced Quick Shift (AQS), transmission optimization software that improves the speed of each gear change, acceleration also improves, increasing the vehicle's performance potential.
AQS is now available on all T6 engines and activated when the transmission is set to sport mode or when using paddle shifters. Gear changes are faster for models equipped with AQS – as much as 50 percent between first and second, and as much as 30 percent on gear changes two through six.
This bolsters the sporty impression of the T6 and also produces fantastic acceleration results. Zero to 60 improves 0.2 seconds on the S60 T6 R-Design – from 5.5 to 5.3 onmodel year 2014 with AQS – while the XC60 T6 R-Design sprints 0.4 seconds faster – 6.6 to 6.2 seconds on model year 2014 with AQS – compared to model year 2013.
Trim Levels Offer Customer Flexibility, New Features Reflect Safety Leadership
As in the past, each trim level contains previously available optional equipment that has been grouped together based on historical customer preference for pairing of specific features. Three trim levels, Premier, Premier Plus and Platinum builds upon the previous. Each model remains available without the new trim levels. Customers retain the flexibility to select stand-alone option packages as well as single options.
Key safety features debut on the MY14 lineup, including Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection with full auto brake and Cross Traffic Alert.* In certain circumstances, Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection with full auto brake helps the driver avoid collisions with pedestrians or cyclists. It is part of the Technology Package, priced $600 less than last year at $1,500.
A new radar-based Blind Spot Information System (BLIS)* also debuts for MY14. It uses sophisticated upgrades to monitor and alert the driver to rapidly approaching vehicles behind the car, while still informing the driver about vehicles in the blind spots on both sides of the car. Cross Traffic Alert is a new feature for MY14 that uses the radar sensors at the rear end of the car to alert the driver to crossing traffic from the sides when reversing out of a parking space. This is especially helpful in tight and crowded areas where the side view may be restricted.
New Volvos get warranty coverage for 4 years/50,000 miles, as well as free, factory-scheduled maintenance at 10,000 miles, 20,000 miles and 30,000 miles.
* On S60 and XC60 only.
S60T5 Premier
S60T5 Premier Plus
S60T5 Platinum
S60 T6 Premier Plus
S60 T6 Platinum
S60 T6 R-Design AWD
S60 T6 RD Platinum
S80 3.2 Premier Plus
S80 3.2 Platinum
S80 T6 Premier Plus
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– By: Chris Chin


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Catalina Leather Flexsteel Sectional
Catalina's contoured seating provides body-hugging, ultra comfort lasting day after day and year after year. A fully padded footrest and divided back cushions add to Catalina's luxury and appeal, and its sloped arms and deep-set back wings accentuate its sleek and modern design. Mixed seating options provide plenty of room for relaxing with company and power reclining mechanisms let you change angles effortlessly from an upright to a fully reclined position, and a dual power button allows you to independently adjust the headrest for custom relaxation.


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Yesterday, I had visitors, the three lovely ladies from three popular food blogs. They were Ummi Kuantan, Jun Yummilicious and Maz. Ummi and Jun arrived at Maz's house around 11 am and I only joined them there about noon, when I'm done with the house chores. After a few good hours of chatting, we headed to my little humble hut and the chatting continues till about 5 pm. Our mouths had a good excercise from all the chattings and munchings. I had served them fried macaroni (I didn't snap any photo of these), Tuna Mayo Puffs, Assorted Buns with chocolate and red bean paste filling and some Blueberry Cheese Tarts for tea.
Thank you ladies for coming. I hope you had enjoyed your time at my place as much as I had enjoyed having all of you here.
I had always envy people who managed to bake lovely looking Blueberry Cheesetarts. Those that I had baked before, didn't come out nice in terms of look but taste wise, I am happy with what I've done. So, giving the chance to prepare some desserts for my visitors, I had braved myself to once again attempt baking these Blueberry Cheesetarts and I think, I can be proud of myself as my tarts look quite alright to me. This time, I had used Am-Flora's filling recipe. Am, allow me to copy and paste your whole recipe for the Blueberry Cheese Tarts to be shared with my fellow visitors. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe with all of us. Now I think, I have to work on the artistic finishing on top of the filling as mine looks quite ugly!!! Huwaaaaa.....
Source : Azila via Am (Flora Heights)
For the pastry
1 egg
100g butter
75g icing sugar
200g flour
1. Cream butter and sugar. Add in egg. Mix well.
2. Add in flour and mix till a soft dough is formed.
3. Take a bit of dough and place it into the tart mould and press the dough to follow the shape of the mould. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 C for 20 minutes. Temperature and baking time may differ.
For the Filling
250g Philadelpia Cream Cheese
60g butter
60g icing sugar
1 egg
Cream all the ingredients for the filling till smooth.
To assemble :
1. Spoon a bit of Blueberry Filling into the prepared shells.
2. Top it with enough filling.
3. Sketch a little design on top of the filling. (For the sketches, mix a bit of cream cheese with a bit of blueberry coloring). But I used chocolate emulco.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 C for just 5 minutes,
5. Remove from heat and ready to serve.
Have a nice day! Take care!


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Engagements are special times, and most couples remember this period in their lives as an especially happy one. Nevertheless, issues arise that sometimes make it difficult to enjoy the "moment." Couples should keep in mind that there really is nothing new under the sun; everything they're experiencing has been seen before, every question has an answer, and most problems can, indeed, be resolved. The important thing to remember is the essence of the process — which is to celebrate the love between two people and the melding of families.
Eileen asks: "My parents are throwing us an engagement party. Is it okay to invite guests to that party, yet not invite them to our wedding?"
Dear Eileen: This one's easy: The answer is absolutely "No!" It would be really tacky — and look like a request for a gift — to do so. Engagement party guests should and can assume that they will also be invited to your wedding.
Joan asks: "What is the appropriate time to have an engagement party and who is 'supposed' to throw it? My fiancé and I got engaged recently, but our wedding won't be until almost a year from now."
Dear Joan: An engagement party can be held as soon after the couple becomes engaged as is practical. Your engagement party is the perfect opportunity for the two (or more) sets of parents to announce the good news, and a great time for close relatives and friends to meet one another and to personally congratulate you.
According to tradition, the bride's parents host the engagement party. Years ago, this celebration was actually the occasion at which the parents of the future bride announced the engagement. (In those days, the announcement was usually a surprise.) It's not so today, so the party can be held whenever your parents prefer.
Would you like to share your own engagement stories? Write them in the box below, or submit your own question to "The Wedding Guru" by e-mailing email@example.com.


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BACKGROUND Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy arising in salivary glands and other sites, characterized by high rates of relapse and distant spread. Recurrent/metastatic (R/M) ACCs are generally incurable, due to a lack of active systemic therapies. To improve outcomes, deeper understanding of genetic alterations and vulnerabilities in R/M tumors is needed.METHODS An integrated genomic analysis of 1,045 ACCs (177 primary, 868 R/M) was performed to identify alterations associated with advanced and metastatic tumors. Intratumoral genetic heterogeneity, germline mutations, and therapeutic actionability were assessed.RESULTS Compared with primary tumors, R/M tumors were enriched for alterations in key Notch (NOTCH1, 26.3% vs. 8.5%; NOTCH2, 4.6% vs. 2.3%; NOTCH3, 5.7% vs. 2.3%; NOTCH4, 3.6% vs. 0.6%) and chromatin-remodeling (KDM6A, 15.2% vs. 3.4%; KMT2C/MLL3, 14.3% vs. 4.0%; ARID1B, 14.1% vs. 4.0%) genes. TERT promoter mutations (13.1% of R/M cases) were mutually exclusive with both NOTCH1 mutations (q = 3.3 × 10–4) and MYB/MYBL1 fusions (q = 5.6 × 10–3), suggesting discrete, alternative mechanisms of tumorigenesis. This network of alterations defined 4 distinct ACC subgroups: MYB+NOTCH1+, MYB+/other, MYBWTNOTCH1+, and MYBWTTERT+. Despite low mutational load, we identified numerous samples with marked intratumoral genetic heterogeneity, including branching evolution across multiregion sequencing.CONCLUSION These observations collectively redefine the molecular underpinnings of ACC progression and identify further targets for precision therapies.FUNDING Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation, Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research grant, the PaineWebber Chair, Stand Up 2 Cancer, NIH R01 CA205426, the STARR Cancer Consortium, NCI R35 CA232097, the Frederick Adler Chair, Cycle for Survival, the Jayme Flowers Fund, The Sebastian Nativo Fund, NIH K08 DE024774 and R01 DE027738, and MSKCC through NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748).
Allen S. Ho, Angelica Ochoa, Gowtham Jayakumaran, Ahmet Zehir, Cristina Valero Mayor, Justin Tepe, Vladimir Makarov, Martin G. Dalin, Jie He, Mark Bailey, Meagan Montesion, Jeffrey S. Ross, Vincent A. Miller, Lindsay Chan, Ian Ganly, Snjezana Dogan, Nora Katabi, Petros Tsipouras, Patrick Ha, Nishant Agrawal, David B. Solit, P. Andrew Futreal, Adel K. El Naggar, Jorge S. Reis-Filho, Britta Weigelt, Alan L. Ho, Nikolaus Schultz, Timothy A. Chan, Luc G.T. Morris
Comparison of primary vs.


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During the Maleficent press tour, when asked about her new collaboration with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie told Extra that:
"It's not a big movie, it's not an action movie. It's the kind of movie we love, but aren't often cast in. It's a very experimental, independent-type film where we get to be actors together and be really raw, open, try things."
Last week, in this post about Brad Pitt, in reference to that project, I wondered, "Can anything these two are involved in be considered "indie" anymore?"
I mean, it's Brange.
Well, on Friday afternoon, it was announced that Universal has acquired the rights to the film. Angelina wrote it. She will direct it. And they will star in it together. It's called By The Sea, to be filmed in Malta starting at the end of the summer. Though no release date has been announced, if By The Sea comes out in 2015, that'll be exactly 10 years since Mr & Mrs Smith, the movie that put them together, and changed the face of gossip forever. Happy Anniversary!


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Black and Whiteblack-and-white Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its "classic" photographic look. It is important to note that some monochromatic pictures are not always pure blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process. The Cyanotype process produces an image of blue and white for example. The albumen process which was used more than 150 years ago had brown tones.
Many photographers continue to produce some monochrome images. Some full color digital images are processed using a variety of techniques to create black and whites, and some cameras have even been produced to exclusively shoot monochrome.
Please select a product of interest:


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By Raghuraman Krishnamurthy, Cognizant Technology Solutions
My last post generated an interesting comment from Tom, who found resonance in one of the thoughts ("EA should be a wider discipline") that I had mentioned: the need to look at the world and learn from the leaner supply chain efficiencies realized by the manufacturing segment. In an interesting post on securing global technology supply chains, Andras Szakal of IBM talks about taking cues from industry associations. An effort like this that attempts to learn from the established efficiencies of other supply chains will be a great step forward.
In the flat world, innovations can occur anywhere and enterprises must look at how to take best advantage of that. The emergence of the Internet and richer channels of communication have created new fundamental forces that any enterprise needs to contend with:
- Getting closer to your customer
- Innovations in service/product offerings
- Achieve high operational efficiency
- Building of brand perception: Regulatory/social/environmental consciousness
Taking the case of the pharmaceutical industry, one can see how all the above forces have resulted in dramatic transformations. For pharmaceuticals, where the earlier customer segments were the prescribing physician and the payers, a new brand segment has emerged: the patients. Technology advances have enabled formation of virtual communities where the efficacies of drugs are debated by patients, and this has created powerful brand perception that pharmaceuticals cannot afford to ignore. Pharmaceuticals and providers are coming together to create innovative service offerings and are beginning to experiment with outcome-based payment plans. Regulators and the public demand more transparency in the clinical trial processes and sharing of safety data. The need for higher operational efficiency has resulted in more and more outsourcing of business processes. This has created a fluxed enterprise boundary as many competencies are outside the traditional realm of the enterprise.
Successful EA needs to demonstrate a deep understanding of these fundamental forces. Whatever modeling or tools or methodologies one may adapt for EA, there should be a connect to these fundamental forces that shape the thinking of the enterprise. I think it is very important that we be aware of the forces of influence of our enterprises and position EA to help manage these forces. Of course, it is a long call to have practical demonstrations of this, but an effort in this direction demonstrates staying relevant and contributing in a powerful way. EA is truly at the cusp of transformation.
Enterprise Architecture will be a topic of discussion at The Open Group India Conference next week in Chennai (March 7), Hyderabad (March 9) and Pune (March 11). Join us for best practices and case studies in the areas of Enterprise Architecture, Security, Cloud and Certification, presented by preeminent thought leaders in the industry.
Raghuraman Krishnamurthy works as a Principal Architect at Cognizant Technology Solutions and is based in India. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Wed, Dec 11|
Union of Body, Mind & Soul
Wisdom Wednesday Mindful Meditation
Quiet your mind, setting the intention to allow the gentle spirit to guide you toward whatever it is that you are seeking such as inner peace, abundance and happiness.
Time & Location
Dec 11, 2019, 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Union of Body, Mind & Soul, 306 Union St, Milton, DE 19968, USA
About The Event
Class is FREE although any donations are appreciated as an exchange for those who are interested in giving.
What to know:
We invite you to come in light a candle to set your intention.
Find a comfortable seat.
Begin your practice by settling into your breath connecting with your intention for the day.
Every class includes guided meditations for relaxation and for learning new skills, affirmation message & time for "life talk" based on feeding the soul on all levels body, mind & spirit.
Bring a mat, pillow / cushion & journal.
No previous experience is required.
Please silence or turn off cell phones.
Contact email@example.com


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Papers and books related to Range Voting
(Return to main page)
(Also includes "Approval Voting," the special case of range voting when only max/min votes are allowed; and voting fraud and democracy failure generally)
Amy, D.:
Real Choices/New Voices: The Case for Proportional Representation Elections in the United States
, Columbia Univ. Press, New York, 1993.
Bailey, Martin J. (with editing by Nicolaus Tideman): Constitution for a future country, Palgrave 2001.
M.L. Balinski & H. Peyton Young:
Fair Representation: Meeting the Ideal of One Person, One Vote (2nd edition)
, Brookings Institution Press 2001. Young also wrote a more accessible
summarizing his thoughts for the layman.
Robert J. Barro:
Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study
, MIT Press, Cambridge MA 1997, ISBN=0-262-02421-7.
Bordley, Robert F.: A pragmatic method for evaluating election schemes through simulation, Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 77 (1983) 123-141.
Brams, Steven J. & Fishburn, Peter C.: Approval Voting, Birkhauser, Boston 1983.
Brams, Steven J. & Fishburn, Peter C.:
Going from Theory to Practice:The Mixed Success of Approval Voting
Brams, Steven J. & Fishburn, Peter C.:
Approval Voting in Scientific and Engineering Societies
, Group Decision and Negotiation 1 (April 1992) 44-55.
Brams, Steven J. & Hansen, M.W., and Orrison, M.E.:
Dead Heat: The 2006 Public Choice Society Election, to appear in
Public Choice
Campbell, Donald E. & Kelly, Jerry S.:
A strategy-proofness characterization of majority rule
, Economic Theory 22 (2003) 557-568.
Campbell, Tracy: Deliver the Vote
A history of election fraud, an American Political tradition – 1742-2004
Carroll & Graf NY 2005. ISBN=0-7867-1591-X.
Caro, Robert A.:
Means of Ascent
(The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2), Alfred A. Knopf; Vintage (reprint edition 1991).
deHaven-Smith, Lance:
The Battle for Florida: An Annotated Compendium Of Materials From The 2000 Presidential Election
, University Press of Florida (June 2005), ISBN=0813028191.
Klaus Deininger & Lyn Squire: New ways of looking at old issues: inequality and growth, J. Development Economics 57,2 (1998) 259-287. There is also a "
layman's summary
Feinberg, Barbara Silberdick: American Political Scandals, Franklin Watts 1992.
Peter C Fishburn & William V Gehrlein: An analysis of simple two-stage voting systems, Behavioral Science 21,1 (January 1976) 1-12.
Gumbel, Andrew:
Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America
, Nation Books 2005, ISBN=1560256761. (If your computer has speakers, you can listen to this RadioNation podcast of Gumbel discussing the contents of his book:
Hain, Peter: Proportional MISrepresentation, The case against PR in Britain, Wildwood House 1986.
Phillips, Richard Hayes: Witness to a Crime: A Citizen's Audit of an American Election, Kent State University Press will release it in spring 2007.
Hillinger, Claude, 2005. "
The Case for Utilitarian Voting
Discussion Papers in Economics
653, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
Hillinger, Claude, 2004. "
On The Possibility Of Democracy And Rational Collective Choice
Discussion Papers in Economics
429, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
Hillinger, Claude, 2004. "
Voting and the Cardinal Aggregation of Judgments
Discussion Papers in Economics
353, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
Hillinger, Claude, 2004. "
Utilitarian Collective Choice and Voting
Discussion Papers in Economics
473, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
Hillinger, C, 1969. "
The Measurement of Utility
Review of Economic Studies
, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(105), pages 111-16.
E.V.Huntington: The Apportionment of Representatives in Congress,
Transactions Amer. Math'l. Soc. 30,1 (Jan 1928) 85-110.
Johnson, Paul E.:
Voting Systems (pdf)
Katz, Richard S.: A theory of parties and electoral systems, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 1980.
Kennedy, Robert F. Jr.:
Was the 2004 Election Stolen?
, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1 June 2006.
Prof. Dan Tokaji's detailed response to the Kennedy piece
Kolesar, Robert J.:
Communism, Race, and the Defeat of Proportional Representation in Cold War America
, New England Historical Association Conference (Amherst College, Massachusetts, 20 April, 1996).
Lakeman, Enid, & Lambert, James D:
Voting in Democracies
, Faber & Faber, London 1955 and 1959.
Laslier, Jean-Francois & Karine Vander Straeten:
Approval Voting: An Experiment during the French 2002 Presidential Election
. That as an English-language abbreviated version. The full French-language version is #2003-007
Levin, J. & Nalebuff, B.: An introduction to vote-counting schemes, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9, 1 (1995) 3-26.
Lines, Marji:
Approval voting and strategic analysis, a Venetian example
, Theory & Decision 20,2 (1986) 155-172.
Merrill, Samuel: Making multicandidate elections more democratic, Princeton Univ. Press 1988.
Miller, Mark Crispin: None Dare Call It Stolen – Ohio, the election, and America's servile press, Harpers Magazine (August 2005). This article is available
Nurmi, Hannu J.: Comparing Voting Systems, Kluwer 1987.
Nurmi, Hannu J.: Voting paradoxes and how to deal with them, Springer 1999.
Overton, Spencer:
Stealing Democracy, the new politics of voter suppression
, W.W. Norton 2006.
Palast, Greg:
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: The Truth About Corporate Cons, Globalization and High-Finance Fraudsters
Penguin 2003. (Paperback best seller by superb investigative reporter. Highly educational and myth-busting.) ISBN=1841197149.
Perkins, John:
Confessions of an economic hit man
, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, ISBN=1576753018
Poundstone, William:
Gaming the Vote
, Hill & Wang 2008. "
Not a review
Prados, John: Presidents' secret wars, William Morrow NY 1988.
Reilly, Benjamin:
Social Choice in the South Seas: Electoral Innovation and the Borda Count in the Pacific Island Countries
, International Political Science Review 23,4 (Oct. 2002) 355-372.
Simmons, Matthew R.: Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, J.Wiley 2005.
Smith, Warren D.: Range Voting, #56
. (There are plans to revise this paper...)
Smith, Warren D.: Voting schemes based on candidate-orderings or discrete choices regarded as harmful, #59
Smith, Warren D.: Candidate incentives under different voting systems, and the self-reinforcing deterioration of US democracy, #76
Smith, Warren D.: Reweighted range voting -- new multiwinner voting method, #78
Smith, Warren D.: The voting impossibilities of Arrow and of Gibbard & Satterthwaite, #79
Smith, Warren D., Quintal, Jacqueline N., Greene, Douglas S.: What if the 2004 US presidential election had been held using Range or Approval voting?, #82
Straffin, Philip D.: Topics in the Theory of Voting, Boston Birkhauser 1980.
Tavits, Margit: The size of government in majoritarian and consensus democracies, Comparative Political Studies 37,3 (April 2004) 340-359.
Tideman, Nicolaus: Collective Decisions and Voting: The Potential for Public Choice, Ashgate 2006, ISBN=0 7546 4717 X.
Advertising flyer (pdf)
Table of contents (pdf)
Preface (pdf)
Index (pdf)
BOOK REVIEW by us
Tatu Vanhanen (with contributions by other authors): Prospects of democracy, a study of 172 countries, Routledge, London & NY 1997.
Tatu Vanhanen: Democratization: a comparative analysis of 170 countries Routledge (Research in comparative politics #7) London & NY 2003.
Tatu Vanhanen: The Emergence of Democracy: A comparative study of 119 states, 1850-1979 (Helsinki, 1984).
Weber, Robert J.:
Approval voting
, Journal of Economic Perspectives 9, 1 (1995) 39-49.
Winger, Richard: How many parties ought to be on ballot? Election Law Journal 5,2 (2006) 170-200.
Woodall, Douglas R:
Monotonocity of single-seat preferential election rules
, Discrete Applied Maths 77 (1997) 81-98.
Yergin, Daniel: The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, Simon & Schuster, NY 1991.
Other bibliographies
Joseph Malkevitch's Voting Bibliography (11/22/2001)
An American Math Society Voting & Elections reference list
Douglas J. Amy's proportional representation bibliography
Return to main page


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In the late '80s and early '90s, HIV was a major killer of homeless adults in Boston, accounting for about 18 percent of deaths among more than 17,000 people treated by Boston Health Care for the Homeless over five years. With greater awareness about HIV infection and outreach programs to those at risk, the death rate from the disease has declined.
In a new study of 28,033 adults treated by the organization between 2003 and 2008, there were 1,302 deaths and HIV accounted for less than 6 percent, according to a study. That's the good news.
The bad: A new threat has risen to take its place. Nearly 17 percent of deaths were caused by drug overdose, with opioids such as heroin and narcotic painkillers implicated in four out of five of those, the study published this week in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found.
Opioid use has become a problem statewide. But among the young and homeless the rate of drug overdose is particularly alarming, said Dr. Travis Baggett, lead author and a staff physician at Boston Health Care for the Homeless.
People ages 25 to 44 had a mortality rate about nine times higher than for the broader state population in that age group. Deaths from overdose among homeless men and women of those ages occurred 16 and 24 times more often than in the comparable demographic statewide.
"There's no single right answer to solving this problem," Baggett said.
But Boston Health Care for the Homeless is trying. It plans to train staff at clinics and shelters on how to use a drug that can reverse an overdose and to distribute it to people at risk for one. It also is expanding use of buprenorphine to treat opioid dependence, Baggett said, and looking for ways to effectively treat chronic pain with less reliance on prescription painkillers, such as offering more physical therapy.
The bigger challenge is improving behavioral health, including support for those with addiction, throughout society, he said.
At the center of all of those efforts is the basic tenet that addiction is a disease.
"Culturally, we have a tendency to view substance use as a character flaw, as a personal problem, that somehow drug overdose is representative of bad people behaving badly," Baggett said. "We wholeheartedly reject that viewpoint."
Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless based in Lynn, said she had not seen the study but she was not surprised by the main findings that mortality for this population had remained about level and that opiate overdose had become a significant threat.
"It's just a spillover of what's happening in our bedroom communities," she said, referring to increased drug use.
Frost said the last few years have been hard on people living in poverty, driving many to homelessness and depression, and making them more susceptible to substance use.
"The level of despair in this state has hit unbelievable, palpable – it's nothing that we've seen" before, she said.
Cancer and heart disease were the second and third leading causes of death among the Boston Health Care for the Homeless patients. And while HIV accounted for fewer deaths overall, it continued to be a far bigger threat to homeless adults than it is for the broader state population. Among men ages 25 to 44, the mortality rate from HIV for those who were homeless was 17 times what it is for the state overall.
Chelsea Conaboy can be reached at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @cconaboy.


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Energy and Thermal Physics
Work done by a force
Work is done whenever a force moves something over a distance. You can calculate the energy transferred, or work done, by...
Teaching Guidance 14-16
The IOP wants to support young people to fulfil their potential by doing physics. Please sign the manifesto today so that we can show our politicians there is widespread support for improving equity and inclusion across the education sector.Sign today


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text:
Quarterly corporate earnings have put investors in a positive mood.
While it's still early to draw any final conclusions, second-quarter results have come in better than most analysts had expected.
U.S. stock futures were higher Tuesday.
"The overall tone in the market is still very positive," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Markets in London. "Any weakness does not last very long."
U.S. stocks finished mostly flat Monday, though the S&P 500 gained 0.2%, squeaking past its record high by one point.
All three major U.S. indexes are up roughly 19% so far this year.
Earnings parade: UPS (UPS) reported earnings in line with its preliminary expectations. The packing and shipping company said volume in the U.S. and internationally grew, even as revenue came in slightly below forecasts.
Travelers (TRV) reported a boost in quarterly profit , citing "lower catastrophe losses."
DuPont (DD) reported earnings that beat forecasts but revenue fell short, which the company blamed on slipping chemical sales and economic headwinds in Europe and Asia.
Nearly 160 companies in the S&P 500 are slated to report quarterly results this week overall.
Related: Fear & Greed Index, still greedy
Netflix (NFLX) shares sank after the streaming-video service added fewer subscribers than expected in the second quarter.
Texas Instruments (TXN) shares rose after the semiconductor maker reported quarterly earnings that came in ahead of expectations.
Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T) are up after the close.
European markets edged up in midday trading, while Asian markets ended with gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 2.6%, the Shanghai Composite index 2%, and Tokyo's Nikkei 0.8%.