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To many, the discovery of Belgian beers is a moment of great enlightenment, and to those of us who came to know them long ago, they are still amazing. The integration of technology, moxie and charm forms a righteous trinity, one that is orchestrated in the brewhouse. In Belgium, those brewers might be monks or engineers, oftentimes intertwined to brew the revered and unrivaled Belgian ales. Style and method are similarly shared by monastic and secular artisans to bring us some of the most artful and flavorful beers of the world in dubbel, tripel and quadruple. Modern tripel is the youngest of the trilogy, and the very apex of brewing art, deceptively potent, with a deep golden color and soft, enticing drinkability. It is also among the most-brewed types of Belgian ale in North America. The tripels were first composed less than 80 years ago, masterfully devised by an esteemed secular brewer and popularized by the monastic vision, ingenuity and finesse that so often has made them the patrons and guiding spirits of the industry.
European monastic brewers are in many ways considered the forefathers of modern brewing, having refined the art within cloistered abbeys and with minimal outside influence. Supreme dedication and adherence to a philosophy of self-sustenance and craftsmanship, an intellectual approach and trust in divine guidance made them brewers without peer through most of the Middle Ages. Over the past 200 years in particular, the Trappist Order has been the most influential in establishing several Belgian beer styles now emulated at home and abroad. Their greater story of brotherhood and perseverance over the past millennium is dynamic and inspirational, an allegory of the current state of brewing.
The origins of the Trappist Order were set in Monte Cassino, Italy, in 529 A.D., when the paternal rule of Saint Benedict was written and the first Benedictine monastery was founded. The first challenge to the tenets came in 1098, when The Cistercian Order was established by St. Robert, abbot of Molesme, France. He sought a return to the original paradigm, thinking the Benedictines had strayed from that. He believed an agrarian existence was the most pious. In 1659, The Cistercians splintered further, settling in La Trappe, France, as the even stricter Trappist Order. They were subsequently driven out of France during the French Revolution, fleeing to points east, and returning to Belgium at Westmalle in 1802 (brewing began there in 1836). When Belgium gained its independence in 1830 and a long-overdue measure of stability, the Trappists started settling in dormant and active abbeys alike, establishing brewing endeavors over time at Orval, Westvleteren, Chimay, Achel, Rochefort and La Trappe (The Netherlands) as well as the founding Westmalle.
As was the custom in Belgium during this period, many breweries labeled their products based on strength with simple designations such as single, dubbel and tripel, approximately corresponding to 3, 6, and 9 percent ABV, respectively. They might also have been marked as X, XX, and XXX. By all accounts, these were all darker brews that varied only in strength, and often made in the parti-gyle method. Tripel would only become a pale, strong beer later, designed by a brewer who was advising the brewers of Westmalle.
Hendrik Verlinden of the Drie Linden brewery, brewing scientist and yeast specialist, had been formulating a golden ale to combat the celebrity of pale beers in Europe in the early 1930s (he helped Westmalle in the 1920s as a consultant of sorts). In 1932, he released Witkap Pater (now Witkap Tripel). His beers were marketed as Trappist, which wasn't altogether apropos with those monasteries, but because of his earlier role in assisting their brewing, he was the sole non-Trappist brewer allowed to market his Witkap Pater as a Trappist-style beer. His role in helping Westmalle develop its tripel is nebulous, but it is known that the monks were also tinkering with this new style by 1931. Westmalle introduced its tripel, and newly built brewhouse, in 1934. It is still considered the standard by many. Ever the perfectionists, Westmalle's esteemed Brother Thomas tweaked the recipe to include more hops. It has remained unchanged since 1956.
Tripel has become a stalwart among the Belgian exports. Four of the seven Trappists make one, as do dozens of abbey and independent brewers. The rejuvenation of brewing in Belgium, with established breweries expanding their portfolio and the founding of new ones, has resulted in a few more in the past 30 years. Tripels are highly popular among beer lovers worldwide, and in North America, even as the import business is as robust as ever, microbrewers are increasingly dabbling in Belgians.
Why is tripel so adored? Much of the mystique comes from the innocent deep golden color, soft maltiness and customary, intriguing yeast stamp. That is followed by a sucker punch in the range of 8 to 9.5 percent ABV, a combination that offers culinary-quality complexity rivaling any darker brew. The burnished golden color, sometimes glinting of orange, comes from a hefty grist of predominantly mellow, clean Continental pilsner malt. Small amounts of character malts, rarely exceeding a few percentage points of the grain bill, may include light crystal or aromatic, or even other flaked or malted grains like oats or wheat (Tripel Karmeliet has barley, oats and wheat). Many are made with pilsner malt only. The character is further lightened with the light candi, or white, sugar that Belgian brewers are so fond of, and may comprise up to 20 percent of the fermentables. Though tripel is a fairly lithe beer, there should be some malt presence, a light, but firm mouthfeel and nary a trace of alcohol content. Bottle conditioning is essential, furnishing some texture, exuberant effervescence, cellar metamorphosis, nuance and depth. North American tripel is sometimes kegged as well as bottled; in the latter case, the beers are treated just as their Belgian counterparts, naturally conditioned in the bottle.
Hops can have a prominent presence, with bittering rates as high as 40 IBU. Most are less than that, but in a beer unobstructed by dark malt, the hops are usually conspicuous in aroma, with just enough bitterness to play off the light malty finish. Like most Belgian beers, hop varieties could be indigenous, or are more likely imported from England, Germany, The Czech Republic, Slovenia (Styrian Goldings), and even France (Strisselspalt), and used in various combinations, displaying that classic floral, herbal quality that we associate with other beers of note from Europe.
The typical spicy yeast that has come to define many Belgian beers is in full glory with tripels. Though the house yeasts will vary somewhat from brewery to brewery, they share many of the same fermentative byproducts, and undoubtedly some ancestry. It is imperative that they have a noteworthy to aggressive and unmistakable effect on the finished product. Spice notes include cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and clove. Banana is also a common descriptor, and entirely a product of the yeast, as are whispers of orange or lemon citrus. The combination of the pale malt, sugar, and yeast might even offer hints of apple, pear, peach, or apricot. Clearly, these yeasts are not chosen to simply complete the yeoman task of gobbling up sugar, but also are valuable for their distinctive imprint. These are industrious little workhorses indeed. The clove and banana notes can also be found in the top-fermenting wheat beer yeasts of Belgium and Germany, suggesting some common lineage among these venerable styles. Small amounts of actual spices may be included in the kettle, though this is unusual.
Few beers demand the uncompromising respect that a great tripel does, suitable for celebration or contemplation. Poured into a chalice, the beers have a sparkling, illuminating color and ornate ivory crown that puts them among the most majestic and divine of all beers.
Westmalle TripelABV: 9.5
Tasting Notes: The Abdij der Trappisten van Westmalle is located in Antwerp, Belgium, and home to the touchstone of the tripel style. It is bright gold and shows off a huge rocky white head. Pear, pepper, lemon and clove are in the nose with a fairly intense aroma. A wisp of sweetness up front gives way to flavors of lemon, Chardonnay and clove. The light, effervescent mouthfeel gives Westmalle Tripel a brisk, peppery finish. Hops are herbal up front and average in bitterness in the end. Big, but slender and crisp, this is tripel at its best.
Chimay Cinq CentsABV: 8
Tasting Notes: Chimay may be the most famous of the Trappist breweries, located at the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont in Baileux, and Cinq Cents its finest effort. The billowing head sits atop a faintly hazy lemon-gold brew, the aroma has cinnamon, summer fruits of pear and peach, grassy hops, and requisite notes of clove. There is a soft honeyish sweetness in the flavor, with a full dose of clovey yeast character, orange zest and peach and a hint of green grape. The finish is dry, with minimal hop bitterness. At 8% ABV, it is one of the most delicate tripels.
Unibroue La Fin Du MondeABV: 9
Tasting Notes: Few brewers in North America have the cache of Unibroue, which has a well-earned place among the elite. Its expertise with Belgian-inspired brews is truly remarkable. La Fin Du Monde is yellow-gold, with a mist of yeasty haze and a massive pure white crown. It is very fresh in the aroma, with orange zest, lemon pepper, peach and herbal hops. The body is somewhat full and creamy for a beer so pale. The flavor is spicy, with coriander, clove and pepper, followed by some sweet, grainy malt and fluffy carbonation. The dry finish has a touch of sweetness and just enough bitterness. A well-disguised 9% ABV makes this all the more impressive. Unibroue delivers elegance yet again from their Chambly, Quebec, brewery.
Gouden Carolus TripelABV: 9
Tasting Notes: This tripel is brewed in Mechelen, Belgium, by the Brouwerij Het Anker, and is more robust in profile than most of the others. The color is deep gold, bordering on light copper, and the plain white head is big and bushy, and loath to drop, and leaves a great lace. The aroma is quite fragrant, somewhat floral, with banana, clove and lemon. Medium-bodied, creamy on the palate, with a bit of maltiness, hard lemon candy, wheat cracker and grain, and hot spice of pepper and clove. Gouden Carolus is frisky, but and ends with a silky malt fullness and enough hops to give it a peppery and bitter finish. Not as common as other tripels, but worth seeking.


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Brawl On Everest: Ueli Steck's Story
"I went out and this whole crowd was there, maybe 100 people. When I saw they had their faces covered, I knew this was going to be really bad."
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
This past week, news circled the globe of a brawl on Everest, and the initial details were suitably dramatic. On April 27, roughly 100 Sherpas and a three-person European alpine team, including heavy hitters Ueli Steck, Simone Moro, and Jonathan Griffith, were involved in a violent confrontation at Camp 2, during which both punches and rocks where thrown.
The aftermath has been a bit murky. Climber Melissa Arnot acknowledged that she stepped between the western climbers and a large group of Sherpas, but declined to go into details. Guide Garrett Madison came forward and wrote that, before the altercation, expedition leaders had a meeting and agreed that no climbers would distract or disrupt the Sherpas as they fixed rope above camp 2, which sits at 23,000 feet. The Sherpas said Moro's team took them by surprise by climbing above them that day, and claimed that members of the team insulted and threatened them. On Monday, a Nepal army major stood witness as both sides signed a peace agreement and agreed to move on.
After that, Steck left the mountain for the season and returned to Kathmandu, where he met on Wednesday with Everest record-keeper Elizabeth Hawley. TIM NEVILLE, who profiled Steck for Outside in 2012, reached him by phone to get his version of events. What Steck described makes it clear that the dispute was very serious. Steck believes he was lucky to come out of it alive and that another meltdown is bound to happen unless something is done to fix underlying tensions on the mountain.
OUTSIDE: We know many of the major points of this story, but we don't know all the details about what really happened. Can you take us back to the day you climbed from Camp 2 to 3?
STECK: We were going up to sleep at Camp 3, where we already had a tent. There were lots of people going up to the face to walk a little bit. We met one guide—I forget his name—and he said the Sherpas were fixing ropes up there. I told him that we wanted to go up and sleep and we wouldn't touch their lines. He said, OK, just make sure you don't get in the way of them. I understand that, because it can be very dangerous if someone hangs on a rope while you're fixing it. This has happened many times before. But we wouldn't be touching their ropes or interfering in any way. That's why we decided to go.
So someone at the base of the face said it was OK to go?
Maybe he wasn't in a position to say OK, but this doesn't matter at all. What matters is what happened afterward at Camp 2. There is no reason to try to kill people. What happened there is a much bigger problem. I think the leader felt like he was losing face. They had been fixing ropes for four or five hours, and then we climb up on the side of them without using their ropes in one-and-a-half hours.
How much responsibility do you think you and your team should accept for what happened? Looking back, what did you do wrong?
We were not wrong or right, and the Sherpas were not wrong or right. I mean, we pay a lot of money to be there, so why should I not be allowed to climb? And vice versa. The Sherpas are also allowed to climb. Can you say that people should wait until the Sherpas fix the ropes? Of course, and that could be a rule. People speak of an unwritten rule that you have to wait for the Sherpas who are up there, but if you don't use their ropes, what's the point? If there's good weather?
I spoke today about it with Elizabeth Hawley. She said, you know, guys, you shamed that lead Sherpa, and in Asian culture this is the worst thing that can happen.
You were climbing to the left of them, and then you went to traverse over to your camp, which was a little lower. That's when things got heated, right? What happened?
There were maybe three Sherpas at the last belay and the leader was another 15 to 20 meters up, fixing rope. The rest of the Sherpas were down below and coming up. We traversed more or less at the belay, because it was in the snow and we would not be knocking any ice down. It was a delicate situation, because of course they would get angry if you knocked ice down.
You were aware of what you might knock loose.
Of course. If you pass someone and start knocking ice down on them, then it's fair to get angry because they were there first. So we were really careful. And I can promise you there was not a single piece of ice falling down and hitting a Sherpa. They just created that story. There was one Sherpa who was bleeding from his face, but he had slipped on his jumars and hit his face. He has now officially said in public that he was not hit by any ice. Besides, they were knocking ice down on each other the whole day. Even the leader was sending down ice. It's unbelievable.
Now we're at the belay with the leader above and a few Sherpas still coming up. What happened next?
Jonathan crossed over the rope first, and I was really watching him to make sure that he didn't knock down any ice. He traversed about 15 meters beyond the belay and then I came up. In the time it took for me to get there, the leader fixed his rope, got on rappel, and just came down yelling at me. I hadn't even stepped over the rope yet.
At that point, as I understand it, you reached up to keep him from lowering into you?
I was standing at the belay. Simone wasn't there yet. The Sherpa comes down really fast above me, and I put my hand to stop him. If he hits me, I fall off the face. He's screaming the whole way down and then starts yelling about why am I touching him. I was talking in a normal voice, asking what was the problem, but it was impossible to talk. I said we weren't touching your ropes at all and there's enough space for everybody to climb this mountain. But he just kept yelling.
It was cold and they had to be tired. They had spent the whole day the day before fixing ropes up the face via the route used last year. But at the top they hit a big crevasse, which meant they had to pull the whole line and set a new route all over again. I said, "It's OK, it's one o'clock in the afternoon and we still have a lot of time. I can help you fix the ropes." But this made it even worse. I think he thought we were trying to shame him, and that was a big problem.
So the Sherpas just decided to pack up and leave?
No, no. They did not leave right away. I was talking with them for a while when Simone came across. He was close to the belay and hadn't said anything yet when the Sherpa leader starts shouting and waving his ice axe at him, trying to hit him. Simone said to him in Nepali, "What are you doing motherfucker?!" Maybe that wasn't the best word to use, but I can understand in this moment that Simone would be pissed off. If you are on a 50-degree face and someone is swinging an axe at you, you might get at a little, you know, loud.
It went back and forth and I was out of this discussion. Then the leader said they were done fixing ropes. I tried to convince them to stay and finish the job, but they packed up and left. We were like, shit, what do we do now? The commercial expeditions wanted to go up the next day. So we waited until they left and then we started fixing the rope to Camp 3 for them.
What did you guys talk about when you went back to your tent after fixing the ropes? Did Simone really get on the radio and talk about a fight?
He never said I'm going to come down there and fight. That's bullshit. People are starting to lie now. I don't remember how long we were at Camp 3, but we decided that maybe we should go down to Camp 2 to discuss what happened. We couldn't leave it like that. It's not good. You should talk about that. So we rappelled down.
Could you immediately tell things were amiss when you arrived there?
On the way down, Simone was radioing to Greg [Vernovage, leader of IMG's Everest expedition] that, yes, we are coming down, and we want to discuss this. Greg knew it was not a good situation. He said it's really bad. So when we got there, we sat down in our tent to discuss it with him. He said the Sherpas were really pissed about Simone swearing. Then Melissa Arnot [an American climber with four Everest summits] comes to our tent and says the Sherpas will be here in 30 seconds. I said, OK, I'll go out and talk to them. We all three went out and this whole crowd was there, maybe 100 people. When I saw they had their faces covered, I knew this was going to be really bad.
They'd covered their faces?
Yes, and when a mob does that you know what's going to happen.
What did happen?
They had big rocks and I think the leader was in front. I went to say something but couldn't because I got punched in the face and hit in the head with a rock. By this time, Simone and Jonathan were already running away. After I got hit by the rock, Melissa stepped in between me and them—which was good for me, because otherwise they would have killed me for sure.
What did she say to them?
There was no discussion. It was just, No! No! No!
What was your reaction?
When I got punched, I was like, fuck, do I fight back? But with 100 people, if you fight back it will make it worse. I just hoped they wouldn't punch too hard. But when you get hit with a rock, you know they're just trying to kill you.
How did this go from 17 Sherpas to 100? Were they all at Camp 2?
Yes, and this is exactly the point that is really scary. There was absolutely no control. Imagine 17 people, talking some bullshit, I don't know what they told them, but in two hours there are 100 people trying to kill three people. This is insane and totally unacceptable.
What happened next?
It went back and forth, and then someone was pushing me into the tent and saying for me to hide. From inside, I could just see Melissa and Greg standing in front of the tent with all these people who were saying to get me out and that they were going to kill me first. In the meantime, they were throwing huge rocks into the tent, the kind that, if they hit you in the head, you'd be dead immediately.
Where are the others by now?
Somebody went to go get Simone and brought him back to the tent, because the Sherpas wanted him to apologize. Jonathan was hiding behind a rock. When Simone got there, they immediately punched him, and then someone pushed him back into the tent. They then wanted him to come out on his knees, which he did, saying, "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Then they started kicking his face and someone tried to stab him with a pen knife. They used rocks to hit us, crampons even. I tell you, they tried to kill us.
Simone got back into the tent again and you could hear them saying that we weren't supposed to be up there, that we didn't have a permit for Lhotse. But we did. They tried to find a lot of small things to cause us trouble. They said we had one hour to pack up and leave, and that we should not come back to the West Face, West Ridge, or Lhotse. They said that if we weren't gone in an hour, they were going to kill all three of us. That was the worst thing.
Did you know some of the attackers?
There were people in the mob who climbed summits with me last year. You can imagine how I feel now.
Have you spoken with them?
I have spoken with some leaders and that is it.
So you pack up and head down a different way, right? What went through your mind as you're going down?
We had this chance to retreat, and we were thinking, how do we get out of here as fast as possible? We tried to find a way down where no one could see us. We were on a mission, going into deep valleys and crevasses and checking over our shoulders to see if they were coming after us. We crawled on our knees so they couldn't see us. Then we snuck down the route as far as possible to a big ladder, because if they chased us, I knew we could cross that ladder and then cut it loose so they couldn't follow. That was the plan.
What do you think should come out of this whole experience?
If this had happened on the north side in China, those people would be in jail, no question. But here in Nepal? We made an agreement, and the companies with the Sherpas said they would take action. You just have to trust that they will, but it's not my problem. I don't need to come back to Everest.
Are you done with Nepal?
No, I'm not done with Nepal. It's the wrong moment to ask me that. I lost something I really love in my life. It's done. I'm not saying I'm never coming back, but give me time. I need to figure it out. There are many other mountains I can climb. Everest is Everest, and Everest lost a lot, but it's still the highest mountain in the world.
It sounds like this tension between Sherpas and westerners has been building for a while. Does this peace agreement settle anything?
This is not over. It will be a big problem for commercial expeditions in the future, and maybe next time someone will get killed. You can feel the tension. Climbing Everest is so big now, with so much money involved, and the Sherpas are not stupid. They see this, and they want to take over the business and kick out the westerners. This is a big fight.
In other words, you don't think it could happen again, but rather that it will happen again?
If they don't take action now, it will happen again and again. People will be coming to Everest no matter what. This time it was close, but I'm pretty sure next time people will get killed if they don't change the system.
How do you do that?
These guys make a lot of money. Of course it's hard and dangerous work, but Sherpas are the rich people in Nepal. If you make so much money you can somehow lose reality. But it's not just about money, and I can't give you the answer. You have to look at how the whole system works. It's money and fame, and there is so much bullshit that creates so many problems.
There is no control, either. Greg from IMG had no power. He couldn't say anything. And why is a sirdar not able to stop a mob like that? There's one Sherpa we know who was already a troublemaker and got fired last year. But then he just goes to the next company and gets hired again. You will always have problems, but as long as you don't have power to calm them down, this will happen again.
What's your plan now? Are you heading back to Switzerland?
As fast as possible. I'm really feeling a lot of emotions right now. I need some time to sort things out, understand how this happened, why it happened. You know, not all Sherpas are bad. There are a few who are crazy, but the rest are good people. I just lost a lot of trust.

subset: commoncrawl


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A Brief History of Mazda
It is not uncommon to see Mazda vehicles on the roads of the Comox Valley. Mazda started as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co. Ltd., founded in Hiroshima, Japan on January 30, 1920. During World War II, Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for Japan. Following the war, in the 1960s, Mazda put a major engineering effort into their Wankel rotary engine to differentiate itself from other Japanese auto companies. By 1967, Mazda was the only company making Wankel rotary engines. In 1968, Mazda started operations in Canada and formally entered the American market in 1970. Mazda was very successful in the United States, and the Mazda Rotary Pickup was created just for the North American market. To this day, Mazda remains the only automaker to have produced a Wankel-powered pickup truck.
During the 1973 oil crisis, however, Americans turned to more fuel-efficient cars, and Mazda suffered a huge loss. Mazda had not entirely given up on producing piston engines, so it produced two vehicle lines with these engines, which helped the company. The smaller Familia line, in particular, became very important to Mazda's worldwide sales after 1973, as did the somewhat larger Capella series. Mazda refocused its efforts once more and made the rotary engine a choice for a sporting motorist. From 1974 to 2015, Mazda had a partnership with Ford Motor Company (which acquired a 24.5% stake in 1979) upped to a 33.4% ownership in May 1995. The partnership with Ford began because of Mazda's financial hardships in the 1960s. During the 1980s, Ford-badged Mazda products replaced much of their own European-sourced lineup, especially in the Asia-Pacific markets, with the Laser replacing the Escort and the Telstar replacing the Cortina.
Your Quality Auto Repair Shop for Mazda Repair
Eventually, all vehicles need to be brought in for repairs. Whatever your needs are, you can take your Mazda to KEAN Auto Services. We have been proudly serving residents of Courtenay and the surrounding areas since 1974, and our owner Phil Peterson makes sure their Expert technicians go through extensive automotive repair training. At KEAN Auto Services, our number one goal is complete customer satisfaction, and we will make sure your vehicle is taken care of with top-notch service efficiently and cost-effectively.
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- Transparency
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If you are in or near Courtenay, feel free to give us a call at 250-897-3643 or click the button above to schedule an appointment at KEAN Auto Services today! KEAN Auto Services - Quality Auto Repair for the Comox Valley since 1974


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Facing a rapidly evolving technology market, Bell Labs is paying more attention to projects that can bring it short-term gains, in areas such as software.
"The biggest challenge we face is speed," said Bell Labs' president Gee Rittenhouse in an interview last week. "The challenge for Bell Laboratories is to be the best in the world, and solve the absolute hardest problems. But also doing it in a way that has relevance in this very fast pace, innovation market."
Bell Labs is the research division of networking equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent. Last month, the company appointed Rittenhouse as the new leader of the nearly 90-year-old famed research group, known for inventing the first transistor, along with a whole host of other technological innovations and discoveries. During his tenure, Rittenhouse plans to steer Bell Labs more toward software products related to networking and cloud computing.
Product priorities
"We want to still be the innovation arm of Alcatel-Lucent that continues to amaze and surprise people. But I think in order to do that we do have to change somewhat," he said. "As the industry moves toward dynamic networks, distributed systems, Bell Labs also has to move toward those directions."
Gone are the days when Bell Labs scientists could independently make breakthroughs without consulting others, he added. Increasingly, the research division is collaborating with outside partners to solve major technological problems facing the IT industry. One such effort is the GreenTouch Consortium, which is focused on dramatically reducing the power needs of today's telecommunication networks. Bell Labs and Alctatel-Lucent's rivals like Huawei and ZTE, among others, are members of the group.
To bring more products to the market, Rittenhouse said Bell Labs will choose long-term projects that can result in near-term gains for the market. Although he declined to reveal specific projects at Bell Labs, he pointed to "immersive communication" as one area the research division has heavily invested time in. This involves examining what makes face-to-face conversations genuine, and how that experience can be replicated over long-distance communication.
"So research in applications, multimedia is just as important as research in physics," he said. "Because if you are only in math, physics, optical, you are missing this big sea change."
4G focus in China
Last week, Rittenhouse visited Bell Lab's research center in China, a crucial market for Alcatel-Lucent. The company is poised to tap into the country's upcoming 4G commercial deployment, which is projected to happen later this year. China alone has more than a billion mobile phone subscriptions, yet most users still rely on 2G networks to make phone calls.
On the research side, Rittenhouse said China is producing innovative green technologies and efficient networks. Bell Labs' own research in China is focused on preparing low-cost networking products that can be deployed on a large-scale.
"I definitely feel the pressure of continuing the legacy (of Bell Labs) because it's extremely difficult," he said. "It's a recognized institution and there will be a lot of people disappointment if Bell Labs becomes like any other organization."
"But we can't go backwards, right?" he added. "So we have to create the leadership team here to create the next generation of Bell Laboratories."


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Early Verdict
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Familiar build
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Long battery life
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Bluetooth connection suffers no lag
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Light weight
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Doesn't work with all Android titles
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A bit big to be "mobile"
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Might look awkward public
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Still no iOS support
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Update: Power A has announced new platforms for both the Moga Pro and the original Moga Pocket. Developers can now add controller support for titles on Windows Phone 8 and the Kindle Fire. Consumers should start seeing titles in the coming months.
Power A is at PAX East this year showing off its latest gaming concoction: the Moga Pro. If you feel like you've heard that name before, it's because you have. The original Moga controller, now known as the Moga Pocket, was a Bluetooth controller with a bracket for holding an Android phone as big as a Galaxy Note 2. Its successor has the same MO, but sports a build like an Xbox 360 controller.
Why a second stab at the same sort of device? If the number of mobile titles at the PAX Indie Showcase is any indication, there's something of a Renaissance going on in the Google Play and App Store. We'd even say that some of the games on phones and tablets are good enough to steal your attention away from console and PC titles, for a while, at least.
"More platforms" coming soon
Of course, not every game that works on your Galaxy S3 will cooperate with the Moga, but Power A has gotten a solid roster of titles to go Moga compatible. You can peep a full list here. It's grown quite a bit since the first Moga, and includes some of our favorites such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Asphalt 7: Dead Heat, and Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour. We have to say that the lack of iPhone and iPad support is a bummer, but Moga reps promised that "more platforms" are coming soon. When we pressed, they wouldn't confirm whether this meant iOS, Windows Phone 8 or even Blackberry 10.
On the PAX East show floor, we put the Moga Pro to the test with the zombie splatter title Dead Trigger. As we mentioned, you could easily mistake the new Moga for an off-brand Xbox controller, and that's a good thing. Its dual thumbsticks and triggers setup will be immediately familiar to any gamer.
Good enough to kill zombies with
Right off the starting line we were blasting the undeath out of reanimated corpses, zeroing in for headshots with the left trigger and letting the lead fly with the right. Console instincts served us well, and couldn't detect any latency between the Moga and the Android devices we tested it on. Thank goodness for that, since any lag would have killed the experience faster than a pair of rabid zombie jaws.
Mogas also play with Android tablets in way that nicely emulates the console experience. Something as big as a Nexus 7 won't clip onto the controller. Instead the wireless Bluetooth connection makes your slate feel a portable television.
Improves on the original in almost every way
While we much prefer the gaming experience on the Moga Pro to that of the old Moga Pocket, the loss of portability is something to consider. As the name suggests, the Pocket is easy to carry. It can slip into any jean pocket, skinny hipster cut or not. It's low clearance thumbpads made it safe to toss into a bag without fear of it snagging, and made it look like the lower half of a Nintendo 3DS.
The Moga Pro is bigger, but not anything you couldn't bring in your bag. It's light, definitely lighter than an actual Xbox 360 controller with a pair of double A's in it. Hauling it would be no problem, but we're not sure how we'd feel about using it in public.
Early Verdict
Loss of portability aside, the Moga Pro bests its predecessor in every way. It's familiar, comfortable and really improves the mobile gaming experience where touchscreen controls tend to be a glass ceiling.
You might feel a little silly whipping this thing out on the bus, but with a battery rated at 14 hours, it'll last the whole trip. And as far we could tell, when the public transportation gets bumpy, that tight gripping bracket will keep your phone from taking a tumble.
What is a hands on review?
Hands on reviews' are a journalist's first impressions of a piece of kit based on spending some time with it. It may be just a few moments, or a few hours. The important thing is we have been able to play with it ourselves and can give you some sense of what it's like to use, even if it's only an embryonic view. For more information, see TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee.


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In writing about things to do with airplanes, I find myself using the word "progress" advisedly, especially when discussing anything to do with regulation. Unfortunately, that includes about everything. One area where progress has been glacially slow is convincing the FAA to give up on the idea of requiring steam gauges to backup glass panel suites in certified airplanes. Most piston airplanes flying with glass-new or used-have as many as three steam gauges still in the panel-an airspeed indicator, an altimeter and an attitude indicator.This really did make sense when glass first appeared in volume five years ago. Although the manufacturers had some fancy predictive algorithms on reliability of glass systems, they were just that, predictions. Five years hence, we're now in sight of ridding the panel entirely of vacuum or even electrically driven gyros. I flew in one such airplane on Thursday, a Mooney 231 that I used to own but sold to Peter Lyons in 2007. Lyons is one of the founders of Aspen Avionics so no surprise that the Mooney now has a lavish three-display Aspen system-two EFD1000 PFDs and an EFD500 for chart, map, weather and other functions.The last time I saw this airplane three years ago, it had a not-that-shabby Century HSI, a Garmin 530 and an MX20 multi-function display. When I slid behind the new glass Thursday morning, the overwhelming sensation was a little disorienting. Actually, it was closer to vertigo. To fit everything into the panel, most of the basic elements were moved around, except for the center radio stack. To stuff all those boxes into the old panel, we had to stick the JPI engine monitor down on the lower pedestal, an unhappy compromise. Now the monitor is where it ought to be: left of the main displays and right in the pilot's direct view. And here's the interesting part: The new panel has vastly more capability in a much smaller space, with a largish unoccupied space on the co-pilot side. The weight and payload of all of this was a wash. The workmanship and detail–done by Santa Fe Aero Services–superb.In current installations, with dual ADAHRS, which this is, the only required backup is an AI, which the Mooney has. Going forward, perhaps by next year, Aspen sees a path to eliminate even that backup, ushering in the era of full glass for legacy airplanes. The technical hurdle to be overcome is the single-point failure of compromised pitot-static data. Lyons told me Aspen has a solution for this, but it isn't ready to talk about the details.Electrically, the Aspens come standard with an onboard lithium backup battery sufficient for 30 to 40 minutes of operation. As an option, you can add an additional lithium backup which will run a PFD for two hours-more than enough to resolve the typical electrical failure scenario. Although the Aspens rely on external navigators for detailed nav data, they also have their own internal GPS sensors which are suitable for limp-home navigation.Looking forward, if I were redoing that panel again, I would take the full-glass option, lose the backup AI and the vacuum pump. I might consider a second alternator in its place, if feasible, but maybe not even that. Not so long ago in that Mooney, I flew a lot of low IFR, some of it at night. I'm less interested in that now. Age does that to you. It's not a Part 25 transport category airplane, has definite limitations and I'd be willing to live with them, so why spend the money on impractical redundancy that you're unlikely to need. After all, there's still only one engine.Later in the day Thursday, I toured Aspen's factory in Albuquerque and learned how the company tests each of these unit before they're shipped. It's interesting stuff. I'll post a video on that and my flight with Peter in a few days.
Home AVWeb Insider Aspen: Driving a Stake Through Iron Gyros


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CRS: Alternative Mortgages: Causes and Policy Implications of Troubled Mortgage Resets in the Subprime and Alt-A Markets, October 8, 2008
From WikiLeaks
About this CRS report
This document was obtained by Wikileaks from the United States Congressional Research Service.
The CRS is a Congressional "think tank" with a staff of around 700. Reports are commissioned by members of Congress on topics relevant to current political events. Despite CRS costs to the tax payer of over $100M a year, its electronic archives are, as a matter of policy, not made available to the public.
Individual members of Congress will release specific CRS reports if they believe it to assist them politically, but CRS archives as a whole are firewalled from public access.
This report was obtained by Wikileaks staff from CRS computers accessible only from Congressional offices.
For other CRS information see: Congressional Research Service.
For press enquiries, consult our media kit.
If you have other confidential material let us know!.
For previous editions of this report, try OpenCRS.
Wikileaks release: February 2, 2009
Publisher: United States Congressional Research Service
Title: Alternative Mortgages: Causes and Policy Implications of Troubled Mortgage Resets in the Subprime and Alt-A Markets
CRS report number: RL33775
Author(s): Edward Vincent Murphy, Government and Finance Division
Date: October 8, 2008
- Abstract
- This report describes alternative mortgages, summarizes recent regulatory actions, and provides an estimate of the geographic concentration of interest rate risk and negative appreciation risk.
- Download


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Offering Professional Carpet Cleaning Services in Coventry
Your No1 Carpet Cleaner Coventry
When choosing a carpet cleaner there's a number of questions most people have about the contractor they will eventually use. The want a professional team of carpet cleaners that have experience in the trade and can be trusted. They usually look for reviews about the business to find out the history and what type of work they do.
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- Should I hire a carpet cleaner UK or use professional services.
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Check out our latest pics and reviews on our google profile here.
Providing quality carpet cleaning services every time
One of the main services we provide is carpet cleaning. We offer carpet cleaning services for both residential and commercial clients and are very skilled at the process. We work with many different types of carpets ranging from low profile carpets to deep pile carpets.
- Professional carpet cleaning service providers
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Meditation Cushion
2 Items
2 Items
Preventing distraction and physical unease is fundamental to meditating effectively. Finding a meditation cushion that offers you the support and comfort required to sit in one position is essential. A mass-produced, low quality meditation cushion doesn't only look bad, it will not tackle discomfort; our stylish, handmade, hand filled, organically produced meditation cushion range will. Scientific research indicates the benefits of meditation includes lowered stress, enhanced immune system and increased energy levels. Many people are not reaping these rewards due to purchasing a poor quality meditation cushion. If you are taking time out of your busy day to meditate, you deserve optimal results. This meditation cushion range is handmade by the master craftsmen of Northern Thailand (Who happen to know a thing or two about meditation). They are all individually hand stitched, ensuring a sound structure, supportive base and sturdy seams. The hand filled organic Kapok stuffing – is the most resilient, hygienic and hypoallergenic pillow stuffer on the market and is environmentally friendly to boot. Our Meditation Cushion range is tailored to offer the support you require to make the most of your meditation session. The 20.5" base gives a supportive foundation without being clumpy and intrusive. The meditation cushion design, fill, cut and size were evaluated in their production to give optimal results. A Great looking Meditation Cushion will not improve your posture but it will reduce the need for tidying. With this in mind we designed our stylish meditation cushion range to come in 4 varieties to suit the ambience of your living space. If you want to use a meditation cushion as a living room accent we have traditional – Royal Silklook and Thai Classic patterns and more contemporary Silklook, Cotton Linen and Batik patterns. Our Meditation Cushion range encompasses every style from Village Teak house to Bangkok Penthouse. This comfortable, durable Meditation Cushion range will allow you to relax your body, mind and spirit. The stylish, intricately stitched and hand-filled meditation cushion range are sourced in Thailand but promptly shipped from our Santa Fe warehouse.


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There's been a welcome resurgence of interest in web typography over the past year or so, with many articles and conference talks offering techniques and theory. Frequently asserted is the notion that good typography requires accurate control of font size and line-height. But this is the web: it's a special medium where the reader can have as much control as the designer—the implication being that text on the web, while bending to the designer's will, must also be reliably resizable across browsers and platforms.
In this article, we will reconcile the designer's requirement for accuracy with the user's need to resize text on demand, arriving at a best practice that satisfies designers and users and works across browsers and platforms.
We'll reach our destination by the traditional method of trial and error. With more than a nod to Owen Briggs's pioneering work of 2002, I have created a base case with six iterations and 161 screenshots. Follow along, won't you?
The test suite#section2
The content used for testing purposes was a two-column layout with body copy on the left and a sidebar on the right. Text was set in Arial to aid consistency across operating systems and platforms.
The browsers used for testing were Safari 2, Firefox 2 and Opera 9.5α running on Mac OS X Tiger, along with Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) and Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) running on Windows XP with ClearType turned on. Clearly this is not an exhaustive list of browsers, operating systems, or rendering engines, but it covers the majority of users out there today.
Each operating system and browser was run using its default settings.
Every iteration was tested to see how each browser rendered text at smaller, medium, larger, and largest sizes, along with 90%, 100%, 110%, and 120% page zoom levels, where applicable.
Base case#section3
First it was necessary to verify that browsers provided a consistent baseline from which to start. The base case shows that in each browser, the default text size is consistently 16px when no styles are applied (other than the browser defaults), and the text scales fairly consistently across the board.
Text size in pixels – iteration 1#section4
The default text size of the base case is a good starting point, but for most people (designers, clients, and their customers) 16px is too large for body text. In our example, the body text was reduced to 14px, with the sidebar set at 12px. This first iteration does just that, setting the fonts in pixels:
.bodytext p { font-size:14px; }.sidenote { font-size:12px; }
The result is that Safari and Firefox still resize the text, whereas IE6 and IE7 do not. The text can be resized in Opera and IE7 by using the page zoom tool, which magnifies the page layout, text and images within.
Text size in ems – iteration 2#section5
Although browser market share differs from site to site, and browser share statistics are drawn in sand, it's safe to say that IE6 is still used by many people. So setting text in pixels would leave many people no means of resizing it. There's also an argument that says IE7 users should be able to resize text without being forced to use the zoom control.
The next unit to try for text sizing is ems. The em is a true typographic unit, recommended by the W3C, and affords a precision keywords lack. Working from a default of 16px, the following styles should give the desired text sizes:
.bodytext p { font-size:0.875em; /* 16x.875=14 */ }.sidenote { font-size:0.75em; /* 16x0.75=12 */ }
The results show that, across all browsers, text at the medium browser setting is rendered identically to text set in pixels. It also demonstrates that text sized in ems can be resized across all browsers. However IE6 and IE7 unacceptably exaggerate the smallness and largeness of the resized text.
Body sized as percentage – iteration 3#section6
A fix to the exaggerated text resizing of IE6 and IE7 is to size the body using a percentage. So retaining the ems on our content, the following styles were tested:
body { font-size:100%; }.bodytext p { font-size:0.875em; }.sidenote { font-size:0.75em; }
The results show that the difference between larger and smaller browser settings in IE6 and IE7 is now less pronounced, meaning we now have all browsers rendering text at an identical size on their medium setting, and resizing text consistently.
Setting line height in pixels – iteration 4#section7
Recent web typography articles such as "Setting Type on the Web to a Baseline Grid" (A List Apart, April 2007) stress that good typography requires a vertical grid, that is to say a solid vertical rhythm achieved with a consistent, measured line-height. The key implication is that line-height should be the same regardless of the size of the text (so that line-height, or the vertical grid, remains consistent, regardless of font size).
For our example, a suitable line-height is 18px, so that is added to the body as follows:
body { font-size:100%; line-height:18px; }.bodytext p { font-size:0.875em; }.sidenote { font-size:0.75em; }
The results show that the 18px line-height is inherited by all text on the page—note how the sidebar text has the same regular rhythm as the body copy. Specifying a unit (in this case, px) when setting the line-height enables the value to be inherited throughout the page. If a unitless line-height had been specified, the multiplier would have been inherited, resulting in line-heights being rendered proportionally to the text size, thus breaking the vertical rhythm.
Unfortunately the results show that the 18px line-height is not scaled by IE6 and IE7 when text is resized, meaning the largest setting appears to squash the text.
Setting line height in ems – iteration 5#section8
When pixels failed before, we turned to ems. Repeating the logic gives us the following styles:
body { font-size:100%; line-height:1.125em; /* 16×1.125=18 */ }.bodytext p { font-size:0.875em; }.sidenote { font-size:0.75em; }
The results show accurate, consistently resized text and line-height across all browsers. Perfect. Or nearly so.
The Safari monospace problem – iteration 6#section9
The observant among you may have noticed a wee glitch in the Safari screenshots: the monospaced font included in the body text is rendered inconsistently. For text set in pixels, Safari renders the monospaced font at the same size as the proportional-width text surrounding it. When text is set in ems, however, Safari renders monospace text much smaller than the surrounding text. The inconsistency appears to stem from Safari's default text sizes, which are 16px for "standard fonts" and 13px for "fixed-width fonts." Safari 3α on OS X does not appear to suffer from this problem.
You could decide that undersized monospace text in Safari is something you and your readers can live with, and as Safari 3 is included in OS X Leopard and the latest update to Tiger, it will not be long until the problem pretty much disappears. For the nervous control freak who can't wait, an alternative fix is to send text sized in pixels to Safari.
The following code appends a downlevel-revealed conditional comment to our styles, so that pixels are sent to all browsers except IE6 and IE7 (note the
[if !IE] syntax, instructing IE/Win to ignore the markup that follows).
<style type="text/css"> body { font-size:100%; line-height:1.125em; }.bodytext p { font-size:0.875em; }.sidenote { font-size:0.75em; } </style><!--[if !IE]>--><style type="text/css"> body { font-size:16px; } </style><!--<[endif]-->
The results show consistently resized text and line-height across all browsers, including the monospaced text in Safari 2.
Conditional comments are controversial, with many detractors and proponents, but I believe the approach is appropriate in this case, as we are using a browser feature (conditional comments) to work around a browser behaviour (non-resizing of pixels). It should also be noted that, for the sake of clarity, the code listed above presents CSS rules within
style elements; best practice would dictate the use of linked style sheets instead.
Our task was to find a way to size text that allows designers to retain accurate control of typography, without sacrificing the user's ability to adjust his or her reading environment. We tested various units across common browsers. Sizing text and line-height in ems, with a percentage specified on the body (and an optional caveat for Safari 2), was shown to provide accurate, resizable text across all browsers in common use today. This is a technique you can put in your kit bag and use as a best practice for sizing text in CSS that satisfies both designers and readers.
Ems can be tricky to work with, especially when nesting elements deeply, as it can be hard to keep track of the maths. However, commenting your style sheets well and styling elements from the body inwards can keep things easier to follow. This more complex example and its accompanying style sheet demonstrate how to size nested elements using the body as the starting point.


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Once again, it's that time of year when we all retweet and re-post Coachella fliers on Facebook and Twitter. The line up was announced on January 9, featuring big artists such as Dr. Dre & Snoop Dog, Radiohead, the Black Keys, Justice, and many more! The concert will be held 2 consecutive weekends, from April 13-15, & 20-22. Check out the flier below!
Stay tuned for updates on Coachella parties! Ace hotel will be hosting another bangin' party, so stick around! Check out last year's Coachella party post HERE!


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Interpret the links between pollination and food production.
- Copies of Activity Page 2. (see Required Materials)
- Pens or pencils.
1. Explain to your class that most of the foods we eat (one out of every three bites) are the result of a pollination partnership. Add that different species of bees pollinate many of the plants that make up our food supply. Ask your students whether they like bees.
Naysayers will undoubtedly mention that bees sting or that they are allergic to bees. Tell your students that they are going to explore a world without bees and, in particular, what the food supply would be like if bees no longer existed.
2. Direct your students to Activity Page 2. Ask students to imagine a world without bee-pollinated plants: the "Bee-Free Zone." Explain that they are going to attend a barbecue in the Bee-Free Zone and that hamburgers are on the menu. Have the students read the list of bee-pollinated plants that appears at the top of the page.
3. Tell your students that they have chosen a hamburger or hot dog from the grill. Explain that they can now choose what they will have with their hamburger or hot dog. Remind them that this is the bee-free barbecue and that the foods listed under "Plants Pollinated by Bees" won't be available. These include tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, lettuce, oil for frying potatoes, oranges, lemons, limes, mustard seed, cacao bean used in making chocolate, vanilla, almonds, watermelon, and apples.
4. Have your students select the items on the checklist that they could not have at the bee- free barbecue. After they've eliminated the bee-pollinated items from the list, have them describe the meal that would remain.
5. Conclude the lesson by asking your class to decide whether the availability of bee-pollinated food items is worth the risk of getting stung by a bee in their lifetimes.
Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies. Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination. 2010.
Return to: Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination
Natalie Hummel, LSU AgCenter
Krisanna Machtmes, LSU AgCenter


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Online Exclusive. Inspired by the timeless 90s fashion scene, Fresh Ego Kid Bel-Air trucker is featuring the new Fresh Prince of Bel-Air logo at the front.
Delivery times are provided as guidelines only, and do not take into account possible delays caused by payment authorisation and/or stock availability.
All UK orders placed before 12pm Monday to Friday will be processed same day for a standard UK delivery.
FREE Royal Mail Tracked Delivery (3-5 days, Mon-Fri) on orders over £85
Royal Mail Tracked Delivery £4.00
You have the right to exchange or return all products for a full refund within 60 days. As soon as we receive your returns shipment, we will process your requests and send you an email confirmation email.
Shipping charges for the return of goods will be paid for by you and we will incur the cost of redelivering the exchanged goods.


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I was thirteen years old when I first saw it on TV.
An army of blue-gray drones march in lockstep through a long tunnel into an auditorium filled with more drones dressed in futuristic, grey drab. All eyes are transfixed on a big-blue image of a man speaking from a theatre-sized screen, extolling the virtues of its 'Information Purification Directives.' Suddenly, a woman in orange shorts and a tank top runs into view carrying a large sledgehammer. She spins to gain momentum and hurls it at the image, causing a large explosion.
Confused, I turned to my dad and asked what this was all about. He said something like: "Well, IBM is being portrayed as a Socialist company that controls minds and stifles creativity, and we're supposed to reject that."
The TV scene was from Apple's 1984 Superbowl ad, and it was a clear shot at Big-Brother, IBM. Apple portrayed itself as the small, underdog hero and IBM the Orwellian, thought police.
But this does not represent today's IBM – or Apple for that matter.
Today's Big Blue is the antithesis of Big Brother. It's 'Big Open'. A transparent, nimble, collaborative organization known more for listening and engaging customers than for dictating to them. While ironically, some say Apple now resembles Big Brother given their propensity for tight controls.
And that's why IBM — not Apple — represents the future workplace.
While Apple has been wildly successful, IBM's Social Business is much more attainable and sustainable than what Fortune's Adam Lashinsky describes as Apple's genius led, culture of fear. For the genius is always, as Benjamin Disraeli and later Peter Drucker predicted, succeeded by a "lieutenant of Marines" who understands the business but nothing else. So the company is only left with an innovation vacuum.
In IBM's social business culture, the genius lies in the 400,000 employees who are free to create circumstances that enable their associates to build on each other's ideas. Its genius lies in fostering innovation through co-creation with its employees, suppliers, partners and customers. Remove one genius, and there are thousands more in the network to fill the vacuum.
Bottom line: IBM's Social Business is creating real shareholder value. Allow me to make the case.
<Click here to see large Graph>
Two years ago, had you invested $10,000 in IBM, your investment would be worth over $14,000 today. That means in just 2 years, IBM has created over $60 billion in shareholder value. To put that in perspective, that's more than the total market value of Hewlett Packard.
The company has been so successful it attracted the world's most successful investor, Warren Buffett who has long avoided investing in technology stocks. Buffett felt IBM's management had done "an incredible job" and subsequently accumulated more than 64 million IBM shares, which represents a stake of 5.5 percent.
Another sign of success is how IBM's competitors are reacting to it. After Oracle missed its latest revenue expectations, Business Insider's Matt Rosoff wrote about Larry Ellison trash talking IBM. That's usually a sure sign of fear.
IBM has been so successful in its last few years, that it's outperformed the S&P 500, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Google and Oracle. Among the world's largest technology companies, only Apple under Job's stewardship has outperformed IBM. But without Jobs at Apples helm, where would you invest your money?
Is IBM's Social Business the Reason for IBM's Success?
To hear IBM's Vice President, Sandy Carter's perspective, IBM's social culture is partially if not directly responsible for IBM's success: "Our employees use social computing tools to foster collaboration, disseminate and consume news, develop networks, forge closer relationships, and build credibility. As a result, they're better informed and prepared to take action on behalf of IBM."
Carter also likes to cite an IBM Business Value Study where companies that use social business tools outperform the non-social group (in terms of EBITDA) by 57 percent. She takes it a step further to say that, "If you're not transforming your company into a social business, plan to be out of business."
I believe IBM's Luis Suarez agrees with Carter, citing how the 8 million strong IBM-run developerWorks customer community is helping IBM technicians improve IBM's products: "It's a rich innovation ecosystem with a direct channel of communication between customers and developers on how to fix IBM products and make them better."
Leading By Example
Work creates a unique social bond – it is the interface between people, technology and culture. Work's social bond must also evolve. It must responds to market conditions and customer demands. There isn't a large company that does this better than IBM.
It may be too early for some organizations to come to grips with social business as a strategy. They are stuck in a corporate dystopia, ruled by the equivalent of an Orwellian inner party which condemns individuality and transparency as thought crimes.
But I'm having a great deal of fun with the knowledge that we're watching a near-extinct species: the command and control organization. I understand how a business historian must feel when she observes a corporate anachronism; much like the giant music publishers, unaware of the digital disruptors that built new business models and ultimately forced the publishers to play by the new rules.
This in fact is my key takeaway from 2011. That old business must evolve into Social Business. That companies need to be social internally and externally. That business leaders need to create and foster a culture of collaboration and transparency, without retribution. That social organizations outperform their non-social competitors. That rapid innovation is the key to future business success.
That is IBM.


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St. Anthony the Great, an Egyptian, was born in a.d. 250. He was the first person in the Christian Church to live the distinctly monastic life, and became a hermit. He heeded the call from Christ when he was young, hearing the story of the rich young man called to sell what he had, give to the poor, and follow Him. St. Anthony lived in a tomb, and later up on a mountain in the Western Desert of Egypt, where there is still a monastery dedicated to his memory today. In this icon he is seen in a striking detail of his head, surrounded by the monastic cowl.
Because of his excellent life and spiritual stature many who met him joined this most excellent monastic life with zeal, either near him, or in other monasteries inspired by such ideals. St. Athanasios the Great met St. Anthony and treasured him. When St. Anthony died in great old age in a.d. 356, St. Athanasios wrote his life, which created a great flood of young men and women following this shining example of dedication and love, giving themselves up to enter the narrow but holy gates of monasticism. St. Anthony is called the "Father of Monks" to this day.


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What Should the Next Communications Act Look Like?
Event to Begin Dialogue about Update of Telecom Laws
This panel discussion will consider the implications of the recent Comcast v. FCC court decision, the FCC's pending "Net Neutrality" Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, as well as other developments which have led many experts, officials, policymakers and a diverse array of companies to call on Congress to update the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Leading industry veterans will make their case for change, and explain how their proposals can be implemented.
Streaming Video:
(Video courtesy of NextGenWeb)
Downloadable media:
See below for photos from the event.
Event questions and media inquiries should be directed to Mike Wendy at email@example.com.
The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.


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Sussex Business Awards 2016
By Midnight Communications
"Open to businesses of all sizes across all sectors, the prestigious Sussex Business Awards are the longest established of their kind in Sussex and widely considered to be 'the ones to win'. Representatives from 27 towns across the county make the shortlist and 2016 is set to be a hot contest to receive one or more of the prestigious seventeen trophies."
Please Share
Please share this page around so everybody gets to see photographs
Julia Claxton
Y'all had TWO photographers for the 2016 SBA. Please check out Julia's website for her VIP & table photographs :-)
Can I use these photographs!?
Yes! You'll need to credit me by putting a link on your website or blog that clicks through to this website. E.g. 'Photo by Simon Callaghan Photography' is perfect! But just 'Photo by Simon Callaghan Photography' (without a clickable link) is not so great :-( If you'd like to use the photographs, drop me an email and I'll send you a link to the photographs.


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PixelJunk has been a busy topic lately, what with the announcement of PixelJunk Shooter for the Playstation Network, and now the PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe game will be coming to the PSP while sporting useful online co-op. Not quite a port, but not quite an original title, PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe on the PSP will give players 4 player online co-op through a lobby system new to the PSP. Many may remember how the original only had local co-op, so this is already a nice change.
The developers made sure to point out that this is not a direct port by any means, but rather the same game with additional content and features unique to the PSP. First, how does the online work? The PSP will connect through wi-fi to a series of "lobby" rooms, and you can monitor what other players are doing in their game with play-by-play text to join their game without being lost, or create your own lobby just for friends. It's unsure if there will be an actual chat feature in these rooms, but that seems to be the direction they're headed to make the online experience work best. In these lobby rooms, you can set bookmarks should you come across players you meld particularly well with, making new friends is what community is all about after all.
You may be wondering how PSP utilizes communication with online gameplay in PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, and here's how it works according to Playstation Blog.
"Within the game itself, you can talk to your partner-in-crime by using a new ring menu that gives you a set of simple icons you can string together that are surprisingly effective at conveying what you want your friend to do. It's a lot of fun running around and directing the other player while you dance on towers."
We look forward to seeing how all of the features on the PSPGo go work with these new online games, and Pixel Junk is a pretty safe bet as a testing platform.
Source: Blog.us.playstation.com


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Now that many of us have seen the meta horror wonder that is Cabin In the Woods, we wanted to break down all the little Easter eggs and monstrous glimpses you might have missed.
What should you be on the look out for, on a second viewing? Also what does Cabin's violence say about society's pattern of marginalizing young people? We asked director Drew Goddard, and got all the answers you need right here in this incredibly spoilery interview.
Did The Secret Corporation Have A Name, And How Do You Get A Job There?
Drew Goddard: No, no. We wanted to keep that ambiguous for sure. We definitely did [build] a pretty extensive backstory — not for the film, just because that's just the kind of thing Joss and I like to do. Joss and I like to talk about evil monster corporations and what they look like, and how you get hired. So we definitely worked out a pretty extensive backstory, not specifically for the film. [As for how you get hired], It's an elaborate process. I think it's almost exactly matches how you get hired for the CIA — they're very similar, these corporations.
Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford's characters often refer to calls from upstairs or calls from downstairs. What's the difference between a call from upstairs and a call from downstairs in this movie? What's the office structure like? Who is on the red phone?
DG: There's many different layers, much like a company there's different floors. You have to assume what we're seeing where Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford are, they're probably in the middle of corporate management. So sometimes they'll field calls from upstairs and downstairs, it just depends on which one they're taking. When they get a call on the red phone, that's from downstairs. Unlike other corporations this one goes down rather than up in terms of series of importance.
Why was it important to torture the kids, and not just kill them and let that be that?
DG: I sort of leave that to the audience to decide. I will say that the questions that Cabin raises all involve the treatment of youth in our culture. Not just our culture, but, as a species. We've always idealized youth, and then destroyed youth. That has happened since the beginning of time, and I'm fascinated by why we do that.
Those questions struck to the heart of Cabin — why do we do what we do? It goes back to, "Let's build the virgin up and then throw her into the volcano. Let's put these kids on a mountain top and then stab them with stone knives." That's been happening forever. And now you could argue that, that is happening in let's build them up into superstars, only to destroy them in public. It just keeps happening. There's this need to marginalize them, and put them into different categories so that their voice is not important. It's something we always do, I find myself doing it as I get older. I find myself dismissing youth. You have to realize that the youth cannot be dismissed. At the end of the day, they're not going to care what we do to them, and yet here we are trying. That struggle is at the heart of Cabin.
What Other Monsters and Monster Triggers Are Available?
DG:When the teens tumble down into the secret cellar, they encounter a collection of treasures. Each item calls to the cast: a necklace, a music box, and (of course) a diary. It becomes a massive betting game for the white-shirted staff to see which teen will uncover which monster. So what else was in the basement that could trigger a nightmare?
Obviously the conch shell triggers the Merman! And jewelry box with the dancing ballerina triggers the little girl in the tutu with the giant grinder face, but what else did you spy? In an interview with The Daily Beast Goddard freely admitted that Chris Hemsworth was mere moments away from unlocking the puzzle box and bringing "forth our Lord of Bondage and Pain."
Which Nightmare Creature Was The Director's Favorite?
DG: We have these two guys called the Dismemberment Goblins. And they're just two happy friends who like to dismember people. They're in the background a lot, just ripping people to pieces. They just delighted me to no end, those little guys running around with these big smiles on their faces, ripping people apart.
Did you try and make the bong into the new version of Chekhov's "gun on the mantelpiece" rule?
DG: Yes, let's hope there's a new rule of cinema: Don't show a bong unless you're prepared to use it.
And good news — we were sent a real life version of the collapsable bong, which you can see above!
Here's a picture of that infamous whiteboard (click to enlarge), which was posted on David Thiel's blog Thiel-a-Vision AV Club's Spoiler Space for Cabin. It apparently comes from the Cabin In The Woods Companion Book. We asked Drew about this whiteboard, and here's what he said.
At some point in the film you present the audience with a whiteboard, a list. Did you realize that once you've presented this list you'd have to insert all of these monsters in the movie?
DG: We knew the whole time, because we set up a lot of the end of the film in the beginning. And it's not just the list, it's what happens in the basement. You can see clues as to where we were heading with this third act. And that required a tremendous amount of preparation with our crew to get everyone on the same page and say, we're really going to build this world. And this world is going to be fed throughout this movie . . .
I spent a lot of my early career under fluorescent lights. That very much informed what we were doing here in Cabin… I didn't want to have disdain for anyone in this movie. I understand why offices need to have office parties. I understand why offices need to have betting pools. No matter what the job, you need things to foster camaraderie and let off steam. Even though the jobs that these people are doing were hyperreal, I wanted them to feel very real. So that people could relate to what's happening. And I feel like the parties and the pools reflect that.


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