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Other News
Teacher Accused of Writing Racist Blog
Fifteen-year-old Sojourner James, a smart and bubbly sophomore At The High School of Graphic Communication Arts (HSGCA) has many friends. But she refuses to go to her science class after reading a nasty blog in March mentioning her on the adult lurkingglass.com.
High school is a place where students should feel safe, welcomed and most of all respected. Some students at HSGCA said they don't feel respected because a teacher at the school allegedly wrote racist remarks about her students.
"Don't forget- THE Sojourner <B>SO BLACK<P> attends my school!" the blog said. "And the crazy bitch is in my class."
Fatoumata Toure, 15 wasn't expecting to read a blog with her name in it referring to her as "a ghetto bitch." It wasn't until she was told by a friend, Tanazurae Rivera, 14, who discovered the blog by searching her own name on Google.
The blog listed a bunch of students' names identifying their race and making critical analysis about them. According to the students' names in the blog, it became obvious to them that the blogger had to be their science teacher Kristine Sakariasen.
"It's not a coincidence [that all these students' names are in the blog]. All of these kids are on her roster," James said.
In fact, Rivera said she saw photos of Sakariasen on the blog's profile.
"There were pictures of her and her friends, a picture of her pushing a rock," Rivera said. "She even had the same Northface [jacket] on that she wears to school."
After the blog was discovered, a group of students confronted Sakariasen asking her about the blog. A student who was part of that group said she denied all allegations and even called the principal to make complaints about the students because she felt threatened As a result, a meeting was conducted with the principal, the assistant principals, Sakariasen and a few students.
The meeting was dismissed and the principal told students the matter would be investigated. When Principal Jerod Resnick was asked about the investigation, he refused to comment.
The Department of Education verified that the situation is under investigation. "
"We take this matter very seriously." Margie Seinberg of the Communications Department said. "The allegation was brought to the principal's attention; he referred the matter to the special commissioners' office."
Investigators questioned some of the students and the teacher. But, Sakariasen wouldn't use the word investigation but that it's merely being "looked at."
Some of the students said there's been no talk about the investigation, which gives them the impression that situation is being "swept under the rug," said LaiElle Whitaker, 15.
A teacher in the school said the language in the blog suggests that the writer is an adult. The blogger mentioned a student named Adonis saying, "Adonis NOT BLACK AND NOT AN ADONIS." The average New York City high school student might not know that Adonis is a Greek God who is known for his good looks. That's why they think that only a well-rounded, college educated individual would be more likely to know about Greek mythology.
Juanita Gatling, 18, along with a math teacher don't believe that Sakariasen wrote the comments. They said they don't think that she would put her job at risk by writing a public blog displaying racism.
"We shouldn't have to go on a scavenger hunt looking for [the blogger]," said Liza Marie Polanco, 14. "They should just come forward."
Sakariasen didn't admit that she wrote the blog, but she didn't deny it either.
"The idea of me being a racist made me sick," Sakariasen said.
By Nyiesha Showers


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John Sampen
Position: Associate Teaching Professor (saxophone); Distinguished Artist Professor; Coordinator of Woodwind Area
- Phone: 419-372-2498
- Email: email@example.com
- Address: 1056 Moore Musical Arts Center
For more information, visit johnwsampen.com
As one of America's leading concert saxophonists, John Sampen is particularly recognized as a distinguished artist in contemporary literature. He has commissioned over eighty new works, including compositions by Babbitt, Bolcom, Cage, Rands, and Rzewski and has premiered saxophone versions of music by Lutoslawski, Stockhausen, and Tower.
In 1970, Sampen was recitalist and certificate winner at the prestigious International Geneva Concours in Switzerland. He has soloed with ensembles from all over the world, including the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Internazionale d'Italy, New Mexico Symphony and Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
As recipient of NEA and Meet the Composer grants, John Sampen has been involved with commissions and premieres of new music by Albright, Babbitt, Martino and Subotnick. His London premiere of Subotnick's "In Two Worlds" with the Electric Symphony featured him as the first classical performer to solo on Yamaha's WX7 Wind Controller. The performance inspired an English critic to write of "the excellence, the musicianship and the total involvement of John Sampen... tremendous passion and eloquence."
Sampen has recorded with Belgian and Swiss National Radio and is represented on the Orion, CRI, Albany, Naxos, Bridge and Capstone record labels. A clinician for the Selmer company, he has presented master classes at important universities and conservatories throughout Europe, Asia and North America. In addition to contemporary literature, Sampen regularly performs traditional saxophone repertoire in recital with pianist/composer Marilyn Shrude. He holds degrees from Northwestern University and has studied with Frederick Hemke, Donald Sinta and Larry Teal. Dr. Sampen is a Distinguished Artist Professor at Bowling Green State University and is Past-President of the North American Saxophone Alliance.
Updated: 09/23/2021 03:38PM

subset: commoncrawl


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Friday, August 31, 2018
Short Takes: Predictions of Doom, Zero Fees, and more
I managed only one post in the past two weeks:
Seniors Staying in their Homes
I was pickier than usual recently. Here are a couple of articles worth reading this weekend:
Shawn Langlois has a funny chart overlaying predictions of economic doom on top of a steadily rising S&P 500 chart.
Dan Bortolotti points out that while zero-fee investing will save you a few bucks, it won't make you a better investor.
14 comments:
- AnonymousAugust 31, 2018 at 9:11 AM
Well, thanks for your blogging. You're one of only three that are worth reading, along with Dan Bortolotti and Justin Bender. Site works fine on my mobile, though I usually just read the convenient email that comes in when you post. So I'd put you at much better than 112 if they asked me, for what it's worth.ReplyDelete
I'm surprised there are even 112 personal finance blogs in Canada! I'd definitely rate yours higher than that. I always come back :)ReplyDelete
@Anonymous and @Sebastien: Thanks for the kind words. I was surprised at the number of blogs as well. There can't be that many different takes on whether the first debt you pay off should be the highest interest or smallest.ReplyDelete
you're in the top 5! no doubt about it ;)ReplyDeleteReplies
@Chris: Thanks. That's quite an upgrade from 112.Delete
- AnonymousAugust 31, 2018 at 6:32 PM
You're in my top 2, and frankly, I'm always looking at add blogs to my reading list, so staying top 2 means something. Maybe being from a science/engineering background as well helps since your take is often similar to mine.ReplyDeleteReplies
@Anonymous: Sadly, I seem to be dropping blogs faster than I'm adding new ones. I get tired of reading a bad post and then seeing the disclosure about it being a paid post at the end.Delete
I don't know jack about broken links and SEO either. I would also NOT pay anyone for a fix. The Canadian PF landscape is littered with so many individuals trying to make money blogging because they borrowed money so are now a 'get out of debt' expert.ReplyDelete
They buy stocks so now they're a dividend growth stock expert.
Millenial stay at home Moms who are now spewing financial advice who haven't got a clue how the world even works.
I write for me and my random thoughts about what I'm thinking about investing and trading. I don't do people well anyway. You're one of the smarter guys out there and I appreciate the blog. I don't read many, just not worth it. You already know that.Replies
@Stockmarket Speculator: I think you hit on the two biggest problems -- bloggers not knowing much and having the sole goal of making money.Delete
For some very odd reason I am ranked 56th ? How very odd... I want to put more numbers and charts in....ReplyDelete
I also appreciate your charts, numbers and higher level writing, and I look forward to reading each new post on your blog.ReplyDeleteReplies
@John: That's good to hear, because my writing style isn't likely to change much :-)Delete
I really enjoy reading your blog and the higher level writing as well... I've been reading since about 2008 I thinkReplyDeleteReplies
@John: Thanks for the support.Delete


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To help your family count down the weeks to Easter Sunday, consider using a Lenten candle wreath during family devotions each week. On Ash Wednesday, light all the candles. On each of the following Sundays, snuff out one candle, making sure they're all extinguished by Good Friday, leaving darkness to commemorate Jesus' death on the cross. Then on Easter morning, light all the candles on the wreath to symbolize Jesus' victory over death through His resurrection.
These wreaths can be as simple or ornate as you'd like, and you can craft one with your family or purchase and assemble one at the links below.
Lenten Wreath tutorial
Step 1: Assemble your supplies.
- Grapevine wreath (found at most craft stores)
- Glass votive candles
- Purple table runner or placemat
- Wooden skewers
- Brown paint
- Black shoe polish (optional, to match color of wreath or to add texture)
Step 2: Paint 20 wooden skewers. (You might need two coats. Let dry in between.)
Step 3: Break off top third of skewers (you could pliers for a clean cut, but I didn't bother. Make sure to include the pointy tips; these will be your "thorns")
Step 4: Insert "thorns" into wreath (I tried to have some pointing in every direction)
Step 5: Place wreath on purple table runner (I opted for a placemat to avoid little hands pulling it off the table inadvertently)
Step 6: Place 7 glass votive candles all around the inside of the wreath (you could also arrange them in the shape of a cross, but I like how they look in a circular arrangement because I can place a flower pot inside when the candles are not lit)
Other Craft tutorials:
- Make a simple crown of thorns wreath (tutorial here) using a grapevine wreath
- Arrange votive candles in the shape of a cross on a sand platter (like this)
- Craft a Lenten wreath from branches in your backyard (like this one)
- Assemble a bowl of sand and stones with a pillar candle (example here)
Purchase options:
- Order this cross-shaped twig wreath (link here) and fill with glass votive candles (like these).
Buy this crown of thorns (link here) and place over a purple table runner (like this one), and carefully place 7 glass votive candles (like these) all around. On Easter Sunday, replace the crown of thorns with a flower wreath (like this one) and the purple table runner with a white one (like this one) to symbolize that the crown of death has now become a crown of life, as Jesus rose from the grave to victorious life.


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MADDEN NFL 22 - 500 Madden Points
Electronic Arts • Sports
This content requires a game (sold separately).
Acquire 500 Madden Points that you can use to customize your avatar with new uniform designs, upgrade your Ultimate Team, and more. Showcase your creativity on and off the field. REQUIRES MADDEN NFL 22 (SOLD SEPARATELY), ALL GAME UPDATES, INTERNET CONNECTION, & AN EA ACCOUNT.
Published by
Electronic Arts
Developed by
EA Tiburon
Release date
Playable on
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X|S


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NahamCon CTF Write-Up Part 2: Rotten
In the second installment of our NahamCon CTF series, we're going to look at a slightly trickier 100-point CTF challenge involving some dynamic decoding. If you'd like to read part 1 first, please click here.
This challenge is titled "Rotten" and has the following description:
Ick, this salad doesn't taste too good!
Connect with: nc jh2i.com 50034
Given a hostname and port, we can connect to it with Netcat:
The server sends us a message and instructs us to send it back as-is. After a simple copy/paste of the output, the server accepts it and responds with a new and strange message:
The characters don't make sense, but word gaps are identical between the first and second messages. At first glance, you might suspect that this is a Caesar shift cipher. We can confirm this with a tool like CyberChef to advance each letter of the message forward or backward through the alphabet by a fixed amount.
In CyberChef, the ROT13 recipe can perform this operation. Doing so reveals that the new message is a Caesar-shifted version of the first (in this case, forward by 6 letters). If we send the decoded message back to the server, we get another encoded message in a slightly different format:
The last part of the message has changed, and apparently so has the cipher shift distance. This suggests that the shift distance might be different with each new message. How can we predict the distance without guessing, though? Since some of the word gaps are still consistent with previous messages, it might be safe to assume that all messages begin with the same phrase: "send back this line exactly". Let's confirm this.
Comparing the first letters of the old and new messages ("q" and "s"), the alphabetic distance between them is -2. The negative sign indicates a backwards direction. We'll discover that the new message has been shifted by exactly this amount! It reads:
Nice! The server revealed a character of the flag and its numeric position within it. If we repeat this decoding process, we'll discover more characters at different positions in the flag (and some filler messages containing no information).
It looks like we'll have to repeat these steps until all of the flag characters are found. This might take a while, so let's script it. Here's an outline of the algorithm we used above:
- Read the encoded message
- Identify its Caesar shift distance
- Decode the message using this distance
- If the message contains part of the flag, store the revealed character and position
- Send the decoded message back to the server
- Go to step 1 if any character positions are still unknown
- Once all characters have been found, print them in order to get the flag
Here's my implementation of this algorithm in Python:
Let's step through this script. There are some initial statements to connect to the server and define some variables for later.
We then enter a loop which reads the encoded message using the pwntools library. Since we know that every decoded message starts with "s" (from "send back this line exactly"), we can find the distance between it and the first encoded letter by comparing their ASCII values:
ord('s') - ord(encoded[0]). We can then construct a translation table for these messages by shifting the regular alphabet by this distance (see this article and maketrans Python docs). The entire message is then decoded using this table:
Next, we use regex to check if the decoded message reveals a part of the flag (a single character and position) or whether it contains a filler message.
If it contains the data we're looking for, we extract the relevant fields from the regex capture groups (
(.*) and
(.?)) and store them in a dictionary. This dictionary associates the character positions to their character values. It's a handy data structure here because it allows us to easily check how many unique characters of the flag have already been found and for later displaying these characters in the correct order.
We repeat this process until the dictionary contains every position and character of the flag–but how do we know when we're done?
We don't initially know how many total letters we're looking for. However, from the CTF instructions, we know that flags are always in the form
flag{...}. The
} character always signifies the end of the flag, so we can just wait for this character to appear and then use its revealed position to determine the total flag length. Until this character is found (while
flag_len is
None), we continue looping, gathering, and adding new characters to the dictionary.
Once the dictionary has enough elements in it to match the flag, it's time to reconstruct the characters in order. Sorting the characters (values) based on their revealed positions (keys) will display the characters in the proper order:
Running the script, it will process a few hundred messages and eventually reveal the flag:
Stay tuned for part 3!
Nice! 100 points in the bag. This was a fun little coding exercise, and this solution is just one way of approaching it. I'm sure there are many others. Find out what works best for you!
To read the third and final post in this series, please click here. In the next installment, we will use our coding skills to save some villagers from evil gnomes. Stay tuned!
About Hurricane Labs
Hurricane Labs is a dynamic Managed Services Provider that unlocks the potential of Splunk and security for diverse enterprises across the United States. With a dedicated, Splunk-focused team and an emphasis on humanity and collaboration, we provide the skills, resources, and results to help make our customers' lives easier.
For more information, visit www.hurricanelabs.com and follow us on Twitter @hurricanelabs.


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Jeff King first to Tuluksak
King passed through the Tuluksak checkpoint without stopping at 10:55 PM with 12 dogs in harness. It appears he is followed closely by a tight pack of racers. Unfortunately, King's tracker is still not working - we hope to get it swapped out at the Kalskag checkpoint.


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Indian boxing star Vijender Singh will face Alexander Horvath of Hungary in his next professional bout at the Liverpool Echo Arena here on March 12.
The Haryana pugilist, who took bronze in the middleweight (75kg) category at the 2008 Olympics, has won all the three bouts he has fought so far by knockout. Vijender, who made his pro debut last October, has won all the three fights within two rounds.
The 30 - year - old will eye another victory over Horvath as he prepares for a homecoming to India in June when he will fight his maiden title bout - - the World Boxing Organisation's (WBO) Asia belt.
Vijender will have no time to rest after the Horvath bout as he has another big fight lined up just three weeks later at the Harrow Sports Centre in London as he builds towards his ground - breaking title opportunity in India.
"It's my absolute dream to fight back home in India in front of my countrymen and women so I won't let Horvath get in my way of that at all, " Vijender was quoted as saying in a statement on Thursday.
"I need to continue my unbeaten record and it's important that I put on a commanding performance against Horvath and then next at Harrow to keep on course for my title shot and my homecoming.
"Hovath is a good solid opponent for, maybe he will give me a few new tests, he has done more rounds than me and has a bit more experience, but will that compete with the power that I have and when I start landing my shots I don't believe that he'll be standing around for too long, " he added.
"I'm really excited as this is my first fight of the year and there are big plans ahead so I aim to make a very big statement of intent in Liverpool against Horvath that will show that I'm ready to fight for a title later this year. "
Horvath comes into the fight against Vijender with a record of five wins from seven fights. The 20 - year - old has the edge in experience with 31 rounds under his belt and has no fear in fighting abroad, having taken bouts in Slovakia and France.
"Three before me have tried and failed to beat Singh so now I will finally end this pretender's hope of winning a title, " Horvath said.
"Everyone who has gone into the ring with him seem like they are a rabbit in headlights. I have seen nothing from Singh that worries me or causes any sleepless nights so I'm fully confident going into the fight and ready to knock him out, " he added.
"I hope that his chin is ready for the punches that I will be landing on them because for once he will be put under a real test by me. "


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Michael Sprague | The Legacy staff
Posted February 25 2014; 8:00 a.m.
Feature photo courtesy of Mary Ambler Archives, Lindenwood University.
This story is part of the "Names that built LU" weekly series issued by The Legacy that has been profiling 28 campus buildings named after Lindenwood personnel.
The dedication of Flowers Hall was among the new-age building dedications at LU. The building was dedicated to the Flowers family shortly after being built in 2003. Duane Flowers did not attend Lindenwood, neither joined the Lindenwood scene until the mid-90's.
Flowers was named to the Lindenwood Board of Directors in May of 1995 along with Joseph Mathews and David Cosby. Entering the LU picture at the start of The Heritage Campaign, these men were a part of Lindenwood's biggest expansion project that added The Spellmann Center, Blanton Hall and Guffey Hall.
Flowers earned his degree in business administration from Greenville College in Greenvillce, Ill., in 1965. He was the president of Bass-Mollett Inc., a printing company dedicated to funeral products.
The company operates out of Greenville, Ill., and the presidency of the company was recently turned over to the son of Duane, John Flowers. He and his wife Linda have a scholarship fund set up at LU. The couple are also members of the university's Butler Society and the Heritage Society.
When a new round of dorms were built in the early 2000s, it was fitting that Mathews and Flowers both had their names donned on the buildings.


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Very good way for a 1st time visitor
This is a very good way for a first-time visitor to see the major sights of Plovdiv, the 2nd largest city in Bulgaria. You will receive good information about the history of the city, and also of the history of Bulgaria, if you aren't already aware of this country's history.
The downtown pedestrian center is very modern and expansive. But beware, the trip up the hill to the ancient city is VERY rocky. Wear comfortable shoes. Don't take a baby carriage.
The tour starts at the entrance of the post office on the pedestrian mall. This is a huge white building and the entrance may be confusing; I'm including a photo of the entrance.
They do accept donations to help sustain the organization, but otherwise it is free.
TLHTooter, United States


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Once upon a time, Marvel-based movies were mighty hard to come by; they were something dreamed about on message boards and wished for in fan magazines. Now, they're a fact of yearly movie-going existence and, considering how we're looking forward to no less than three of them this summer (a once-inconceivable number!) I figured it was a good time to reflect on my three favorites so far...
The bone I often have to pick with most action-adventure movies these days is the credibility of the hero and the villain. I can easily suspend my disbelief over any amount of fantasy, but I simply can't buy a lead who doesn't have the build or the steely intensity to make me believe, with no uncertainty, that he wouldn't hesitate to kick my ass. Following that, the heavy needs to be genuinely threatening or, at least, evil enough for me to absolutely relish the scene where he finally gets his comeuppance. BLADE's the movie that started this renaissance and for good reason. It stands strong today as one of the most bad ass action movies ever because Snipes is just on the whole time. When he takes down the vampire goons, it's brutal, nasty and efficient. On the other end, Stephen Dorff's re-envisioned vampire yuppie Deacon Frost lays on the scummy-ness so wonderfully thick that you can't help but pump your fist when Blade lectures him about ice-skating at the end before finishing him off.
I also dig that this unapologetically embraces how hollow Blade would actually be in the circumstances. Trained from his wretched misbegotten birth to hate vampires almost pathologically (and to hate himself by extension,) there's literally nothing except cold, persistent vengeance in his life. Some people look at the romantic sub-plot in this as being underdeveloped, but I think it's an unusually honest treatment of that traditional "falling for the tall dark stranger" trope. Outside of the sexually-charged blood drinking scene at the climax, there's not much affection between Blade and Dr. Karen Wright because there's really no capacity for that stuff in him. == TEASER ==
Doc Ock's a little silly and the digital stunt doubles looked weird even in '04, but this flick's the best case of a Marvel movie that's more like a drama incidentally about superheroes. Secret identities have been interpreted through countless metaphors, but few have hit home as applicably as this has for me. You can't help but feel for a kid whose struggling to reconcile the disparate spheres of his life; whose sense of personal responsibility spreads him so thin that's he's denying himself basic human needs. I remember how frustrated viewers were about the first movie's ending where Peter resists every natural urge in himself and walks away from MJ for fear of putting her in danger again. This flick picks up that arc up and offers a fitting answer to an age-old superhoic dilemma in superheroes as Pete and MJ realize that repressing their feelings is just as terrible a fate as getting dropped off a bridge.
Obviously, this is on the exact opposite spectrum of BLADE. The most powerful scene doesn't involve Spidey swinging over New York or brawling with Doc Ock: it's the emotionally-honest dinner table conversation where he confesses his responsibility in Uncle Ben's death to Aunt May. Watch Tobey Maguire's eyes there and you can just see the years of unsaid guilt that've been eating him up inside. Superheroes are so often understood to be role models, but few of the stories about them can extoll messages that relate as directly to your real life as this does. Being honest about your feelings or about something wrong you've done can take just as much courage as knocking out some super-villain's solar doom machine can - - that's a fabler theme that a rare number of movies, superhero or otherwise, have pulled off as touchingly.
I dig the first three movies (yes, even THE LAST STAND. Lighten up.) but this still impresses me for how tight it is. The pacing's lean, there aren't any loose plot threads left dangling at the conclusion and no unnecessary appendages have been kept on for misguided purist reasons. Considering how notoriously-convoluted the X-Mythos can get, it's damn near amazing how Singer's crew was able to make this accessible while still capturing 40 odds years of history and revisions. By centering a very Western style plot on Wolverine and Rogue's begrudging kinship as nomads, new viewers got handy guides into this world that didn't make everybody want to roll their eyes the way that most "entry-level characters" do and veteran fans got to see familiar territory with a fresh set of eyes. Indeed, I consider this to be the true ULTIMATE X-MEN and it's still a really liberating novelty to see Wolverine act as rude as always made out to be in the comics, but never really allowed to be.
As always, this whole article is but an invitation for all you maniacs to post your own favorites.


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Myths About Intermittent Fasting
Today we're myth-busting intermittent fasting because this is one of those hot eating trends. After the initial adjustment period it's pretty straight forward sometimes you eat sometimes you don't eat the most common way of doing this is called a 16-8 fast where you fast for 16 hours.
How To Use MCT Oil While Intermittent Fasting ▼
Like celery juice, that I feel like has a lot of hype behind it but also a lot of confusion. I quickly learned I put this question box up on my Instagram story. I've been fasting for a few years now and I feel like usually during which part of which time you are sleeping. Dieting plans for weight loss, and then you have an 8 hour evening window 8 hours of the day you are allowed to eat so if you're excited for this video to learn the truth about the hype behind the trend it should be thumbs up hit that subscribe button and let's get into it myth number one breakfast is the most important meal of the day it depends if you drink first thing in the morning and you feel that you perform better with food in your system then probably if you are a natural hard gainer somebody was a very tough time gaining weight or putting on muscle then it would probably be helpful to get a head start on your calorie and protein intake for the day however if we were looking at this through the perspective of overall or just like general health then the answer isn't as clear there are some studies that suggest an association between intermittent fasting for women over 40 and eating breakfast and having held your habits overall as well as a reduced risk of obesity and chronic disease however a correlation does not equal causation that means that just because you observe that people who eat breakfast happen to have healthier habits overall it doesn't necessarily mean that the fact that they eat breakfast is the cause for them having those healthier habits both eating breakfast and having healthier habits could both be effects of some other lifestyle factor that we're not even looking at another question that came up a lot was what actually breaks your fast can you have coffee in the morning can you have coffee with cream and sugar can you have coffee with cream and no sugar there is a room oh can you have coffee with no cream and zero calories sugar basically a lot of questions about coffee which I totally get but also questions about some smaller things like chewing gum, and brushing your teeth. How can I control my weight without dieting? Taking your daily supplements what will actually you're fast so the fasted state describes when you have not recently eaten and so rather than relying on recently adjusted food for energy your body is forced to tap into its own energy stores so these include carbohydrates stored in the form of glycogen and your liver and muscles fat stored in the form of body fat in your body as well as if there's any left over simple sugars floating around your bloodstream from your last meal your body will pull from these things to create energy the key regulator here is a hormone called insulin when you eat insulin Rises and when insulin is high your body stores energy and stops fat burn versus when you stop eating insulin drops your body begins burning energy some of which may come from fat or glycogen stores or those sugars that are left floating around your bloodstream different foods affect insulin differently in general carbon protein rich foods- natural metabolism boosters – trigger insulin release with simple and refined carbs causing the fastest spike in insulin and fats having little to no effect on insulin and insulin release is roughly proportional to the amount of these foods you eat so naturally if you eat more of the foods that trigger in some release you will release more insulin I think that makes sense so based on this you could probably get away with having a full fat cream or coconut oil in your coffee which side now I don't know if it's coconut oil or MCT oil or butter or some other type of oil I'm not really sure a bulletproof coffee is I think that's where you put oil in your coffee but I'm not a hundred percent sure so maybe let me know in the comments section down below as for zero calorie sweeteners which are often found in gum supplements or you may add them to your coffee I know I do these are a little bit more controversial a common argument is that the sweet taste receptors on your tongue stimulate gut hormones downstream which in turn spikes insulin levels now I get where this arguments coming from because when your body taste something sweet it's not like oh wait the sugar but you're on a diet so that's probably a zero calorie sweetener it anticipates that you will be getting some form of simple sugar down the road and so maybe your body would try to get ahead of the game by releasing insulin so that can feel what that sugar when it gets there however based on a more recent research review they concluded that most of the existing literature has conflicting results and so we can't definitely say that artificial sweeteners stop food cravings will have a significant impact on long story short as long as you're not dumping an entire bag of a zero calorie sweetener in your coffee and you're not doing anything wildly extreme with it you should probably be okay to have these during your fast my favorite zero calorie sweetener is the Sola sweetener blend which I like because it uses mainly natural sweeteners and was actually designed by a chef so it'll cook Brown and dissolve like regular sugar what I also like about Sola is that even though it was developed by a chef they had it tested in a lab against other sweeteners to compare the effects on insulin and compared to secrets which is standard table sugar the insulin response to this blend was significantly lower at the 15 30 and 45 minute marks with insulin actually decreasing below baseline at around a 30-minute mark returning forces at least with this sweetener blend that it has a minimal impact on insulin and as a result the fasted state if you want to try sole up for yourself I will put a link in the description box down below as well as a discount code for you I highly highly recommend their baking blend which I showed you in this video but also they have a granola which it doesn't even matter what flavor you buy it's looking good but fair warning. What are the benefits of intermittent fasting for women? The first time I tried it they sent me like five base of it I ate two bags in the first day and my stomach really hurt but it was hearty okay but when you don't eat for a few hours you brought it goes into starvation mode and it starts eating like your muscle your limbs or something that when you do finally eat food it all goes to fat and you like explode I've done it Simon's starvation mode is commonly described as when you don't eat enough your metabolism slows down and then the calories that you do eat are more likely to be stored as fat in this context this is based on the belief that you need to eat every two to three hours in order to keep your metabolism firing which isn't entirely true that belief is based on something called the thermic effect of food which describes the amount of energy it takes to break down and digest your food and so the argument goes that the more frequently you eat the more often you're going to have to break down and digest food the more often your body will be burning calories burning energy to do so and as a result over the course of the day you will burn more calories which kind of makes sense but the argument doesn't hold up when you realize that the thermic effect of food is proportional the amount of food on a carbs diet you eat so larger meals will take more energy to break down and digest whereas smaller meals will less energy to break down and digest as long as you're eating about the same amount of food over the course of the day it really doesn't matter whether it's across one meal to meal three meals four meals I don't know how many meals you want to eat but like the thermic effect of food the calories you burn from eating that food it's gonna be about the same furthering that when you actually incorporate intermittent fasting, look at the energy balance equation which describes the total number of calories going into your body and be burned by your body every day the calories burned representing what your metabolism is doing calories in is unlikely to change as a result of intermittent fasting matter of fact many studies suggest that you subconsciously eat less when practicing fasting your basal metabolic rate or BMR isn't going to change as this is determined by your overall size as a human being and that simply won't change in any significant way over the course of a day the thermic effect of food also isn't going to change as we just discuss the thermic effect of activity which is the number of calories you burn through physical activity may change but in my experience this depends on when you're training and your personal preference if you're someone who performs better with food in your system either have a big meal the night before and train for something the morning train later in the day during your eating window or don't do intermittent fasting and just eat as you normally would know an exercise activity thermogenesis or meet again this may change but in my experience levels out once you've adapted to fasting starvation mode in the context of interim fasting is something that supplement companies and bodybuilders used to fear monger overall not something I'd worry about can it be triggering if you have a history of an eating disorders I'm suffering from an eating disorder is this okay for me my friends told me it's basically binge eating disorder I'm gonna speak from personal experience on this one but just understand that every eating disorder is unique the cause the triggers the behaviors the severity of it every giving disorder is unique and so regardless of whether I worry professional or not which I'm not I would not be able to give advice that is a hundred percent right a hundred percent of the time with that said I started fasting when I was having a hard time with food I was in my final year of university I had stopped finishing and purging and I thought I had mostly resolved my issues with food but what I realized in hindsight is that I basically just scaled back on my benching behaviors no one would notice so rather than eating a pizza a pint of ice cream and a bunch of chocolate bars instead I would pick it things I forget how I found it but around that time I listened to a podcast with a woman who used to compete on bodybuilding but had developed issues with binge eating she talked about how when she was fasting she didn't have to think about food she didn't get anxiety over food her digestion improved even when she did get to eat she didn't have anxiety about hitting a certain calorie count because she knew she had so many calories for quiz so she'd have big portions and foods that she loved and it sounded ideal to me right at that point in my life this sounded like a godsend so of course I went for I'm like I'm ready and I can honestly say after the first week or two of adjusting I did feel a lot of those benefits but I also get help me amplified disordered eating habits I'm not of the mindset that immune all diets are bad if you have an eating disorder or if you're recovering from one I think the word diet is really misunderstood but I do think that some people benefit from a little more structure to what they eat but I think the biggest key here is being honest and realistic with yourself and how different changes and behaviors are affecting you if you can't be honest with yourself then seek professional help I saw a professional help when I was at the lowest of lows with my struggles with eating and I it really did help me so if you're watching this you have an eating disorder or you might have an eating disorder you're like feel a little bit funky about eating don't shy away from it like really it's not a big deal to ask for help will it mess up hormones having babies getting your period every month that's fantastic for the most part no but this is tricky because most studies on Amrit. What are the benefits of intermittent fasting? are the questions that have been asked on rats men or obese and inactive subjects there are not a lot of high quality studies that have been done on young active women the most helpful study I could find was one that was done on rats and what they found was that with a 20% calorie restricted intermittent fasting diet this significantly increased the number of subjects that experienced irregular menstrual cycles and they went on to describe that female reproductive processes down regulate in response to a calorie restricted intermittent fasting approach whereas male reproductive process upregulate with the same approach they interpreted this the fact that different genders play different roles in the continuation of a species females have to carry offspring whereas males just have to fertilize them they can piece out and die or do whatever they want to do first arise so despite the limited research on this subject I think they can make a few general conclusions first calorie restriction is an added stress to your body pair calorie restriction with intermittent fasting and that's even more stress on your body which stress isn't inherently bad as Lemmy's you're managing it and as long as any side effects that you experience from it don't outweigh the goal or the benefits that you're getting from your hard work you get me but I also think something that's important to understand is that most of the studies that have found adverse effects of fasting on female subjects have paired intermittent fasting with an aggressive calorie deficit a 20% calorie deficit for non obese people is a lot of calories to be restricting and that isn't something that I recommend maintaining long term interest in intermittent fasting even if you weren't doing fasting my advice is that if you're a woman wanna try fasting either stay right around your maintenance calories at least at first until you with just or make sure that your deficit is no greater than a 20% deficit if you're somebody who doesn't track calories I mean you don't have to just make sure that fasting is making you feel more energetic more satisfied with your meals and your health is either maintaining or improving if that's the case like rock on right but if you feel that your energy levels or did being that your digestion is suffering that your health is in some way to administer as a result of fasting it might not be for you and that's also okay does it burn fat faster faster faster technically speaking no if you were to eat the exact same breakdown of macronutrients and calories and 6 meals versus let's say 1 meals you have one huge meal every day you wouldn't get drastically different results in the largest systematic review to date systematic review me researchers took a set of criteria to seek out previous studies compare those studies and make conclusions based on the common findings from those studies they found that while intermittent fasting was better at suppressing hunger than just calorie restriction on the stand diet this didn't translate significantly better results for body composition or weight loss practically speaking I'd say one of the biggest benefits of intermittent fasting that it may have is that it may help you better adhere to your diet we all know if you stay consistent with your words in the gym and with your diet over time you'll get results but what happens you get excited about your diet for like week one or two and thinner like for me personally one of the biggest benefits of fasting is that it really forced me to understand the difference between true hunger versus just going into the pantry to look for interesting things hunger which wasn't really hunger I was just bored I'm gonna help me cut back on a lot of mindless snacking which I did not realize what a big impact that was having on my goal of achieving that lean bod so that helps you great if it doesn't you know don't do it it's probably not gonna make or break your efforts here so that's it you made it to the end of whoo-hoo you made it to the end of this video I hope this video helps you clear up some confusion on why you should try intermittent fasting because honestly it's not that while it's not like some max level diet there aren't 500 rules I saw an article recently or like maybe a youtube video on something called the snake diet which i think is a variation of internment fasting which please don't do that but I'm serious after watching this video do you fast have you ever tried fasting or if you've never if you don't fast I mean you've never tried asking like let me know in the comment section down below if you would consider trying fasting I hope it helps you out otherwise I got a few more videos planned for this week it's like a heavy week for videos so make sure you hit that subscribe criminal notification bail and you know I'll be chatting with you soon.
How Long Till You See Results From Intermittent Fasting?
How Can *You* Incorporate Intermittent Fasting? (Video + Read)
What Are The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting for Women?
Intermittent Fasting- The 2020 Complete Guide
Thinking About Starting An Intermittent Fasting Diet?
Watch These Incredible Results from Intermittent Fasting


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Blazing Griffin has moved its project The Ship 2: Full Steam Ahead fully over to Steam Greenlight Concepts after its Kickstarter campaign failed to meet its funding goal, which the developer says was due to UK conversion rates and an "unclear" initial pitch.
Full Steam Ahead is a sequel to 2006 PC murder-mystery title The Ship, developed by Scotland-based studio Outerlight. Blazing Griffin states that the campaign failed partly due to the initial pitch being unclear as to what the game was for those who hadn't played The Ship. Of its initial funding goal of £128,000, Full Steam Ahead managed to earn only £18,247 during its two month campaign.
"We'd pitched our original video and text at a unique angle, thinking this would tempt people in, but quickly realized that many people who hadn't played the original game were unsure what we were selling and it was important to react to that,' reads the post on the developer's blog. "The second video and script had a far better reception, but by that point we had missed the initial catchment period so vital to a Kickstarter's success."
Blazing Griffin also cited issues with conversion rates between Kickstarter's UK branch, where Full Steam Ahead's campaign was set, and North American backers. The developer stated that they initially thought all viewers outside the UK would see backing amounts in U.S. dollars. This made some non-UK backers think only UK residents could contribute. Additionally, the current conversion rate between British pounds and American dollars is 1 to 1.63, making it seem like U.S. backers were "giving more for less."
Full Steam Ahead was moved to Steam Greenlight Concepts in mid-November in order to "harness the public excitement and imagination we know exists" in the Steam community. Blazing Griffin is currently also working on other projects in order to bolster its reputation as an "established" studio and will only push ahead with The Ship 2 if funding is acquired.


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3 Things To Ask About When Interviewing In-Home Care Providers For Your Elderly Parent
Are you helping your elderly parent hire an in-home care provider to help them get through each day? Here are three important things to ask about when interviewing prospective service providers: Food Management It's a good idea to find out whether food preparation for your parent is included in the services potential care providers offer. This will help you determine what kind of arrangements you would need to make for your parent throughout the week, and whether the work you will be expected to put in is something you can commit to.…Read More »


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I have listed a new property at 316 3629 DEERCREST DR in North Vancouver.
Ravenwoods hot new listing! All the features you have been waiting for- 956 sq. ft. 2 large bdrms with 2 full baths and a bonus glass-walled den. Open concept kitchen/dining/livingroom, separated bdrms, mbdrm with ensuite, large closet and access to a covered north-facing balcony ideal for BBQ's and entertaining. This suite is newly painted and boasts granite countertops, gas fireplace, laminate flooring, insuite laundry, 2 car tandem parking, storage, pets and rentals welcome. Outstanding amenities including a clubhouse and gym. Surrounded by nature, hiking trails, Burrard Inlet... close to Cates Park, Deep Cove, 2nd Narrows and the best features of all - the friendly, safe, peaceful community and a great investment opportunity!


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Tad Stones, who is supervising director and supervising producer for the two upcoming straight-to-DVD Hellboy animated movies, continues to update the Blog for the projects and has revealed a first look at the animated Abe Sapien.
Click here to view the images and read more about the movies.
Source: Tyler Slayton


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KFHS Radio is the student-led and operated radio station. KFHS Broadcast streams online 24/7 on tigermedianet.com or on the TuneIn Radio App (Search KFHS).
KFHS Radio is a platform for students, faculty, and community members to create their own radio show and become a college radio DJ. Shows vary from Sports, Politics, entertainment, Music, Game shows, etc. DJ's. also are able to play there own favorite music genres. Like Polka, create and host the "So You Think You Can Polka Show. Love anime and wanting to shoot a podcast, utilize our airwaves and make it happen! KFHS is for Tigers by Tigers.
Interested in your own Radio Show? Want to make a Podcast? Want to show the world your music?
Send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com
Include your name, year of school, and major
DJ/On-air name(can be your real name)
Name of show(if you have one)
Genre of music you will play(Punk, Rock, Classical, Polka)
Date/Time you would like to have your show (2-3 hours each week is where we will start you out at.)
Follow KFHS Radio's Social Media
Facebook: Kfhsradio
Twitter: @kfhsradio


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As the semester settles for most NKU students, things are still gearing up at The Northerner.
We receive a lot of questions and comments about what we choose to cover and why, our general thought processes and our ethical decisions.
After a unanimous vote during our annual Fall Orientation, we decided that we would address those questions and more. The result of this is our new blog, aptly titled "Georgia 10."
We tossed around a few different blog names, all various plays on terminology we use, such as "We have issues," and "Past the print," both former behind the scenes-type blogs by staffers.
Luckily, after many phone calls, feverish text messages and Google searches, we settled on "Georgia 10." The reasoning, you may ask?
"Georgia 10" is the font and size of the body text in our print issues. We wanted to convey that there is much more than the ink you see on paper every week – a lot of thought goes into every issue and choice.
We've been asked why we made certain stories cover pieces, why we didn't cover an event or trend and why we didn't tailor each issue to individual needs.
There are answers for all of those questions. We do our best to follow the Associated Collegiate Press and Society of Professional Journalists codes of ethics, as well as our own moral compasses.
Despite following multiple guidelines for behavior and writing, we do – and will – make mistakes. That is the nature of a student newspaper – to learn by doing.
But don't worry. The blog will be there to discuss each victory and blunder.
So get ready, because it's definitely going to be an interesting journey. Seeing as that we double as an independent student-run online publication and newspaper, things will constantly be hectic.
We'll do our best to answer any concerns through "Georgia 10" and give the reader a view into our collective conscience. Feel free to continue reading each week, because we're far from finished.


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JavaScript And DOM Performance
Although the placing of the other four browsers looks consistent, it appears that the WebKit developers didn't modify SunSpider v1.0 to account for Internet Explorer's incredulously low scores. Unfortunately, this means SunSpider returns to the bleachers, and these results won't be included in today's scoring.
Chrome takes the lead, followed by Opera Next in second place and the current version of Opera in third. At 66 seconds, Firefox places fourth, with long-term rival Internet Explorer bringing up the rear.
RIABench places Chrome in a commanding lead and IE10 in a distant last place, with Opera Next, Opera, and Firefox in-between the two. This test basically has Opera doing a trade-off, with Opera Next showing lower timed results, but the current version having higher FPS scores.
Futuremark also has Chrome in first place, with Opera Next taking the second-place position and the current version in third. Firefox and IE10 bring up the rear. In this test, Opera Next appears to be a marked improvement over the current version of Opera.
While Chrome comes away with another win in Browsermark, Opera Next is a much closer second-place finisher this time. Firefox places third, with Opera in fourth, about 2500 points behind Opera Next. IE10 places last yet again.
Firefox manages a victory when we test the Document Object Model, with JavaScript-winner Chrome taking a respectable second place, nearly tying with Opera Next. Opera's current incarnation earns a very distant fourth-place finish. IE10 again falls to dead last, with just half of Opera 12's already-miserable score.
JS/DOM Composite Score
Chrome is the obvious winner, with Opera Next coming in second, Firefox placing third, Opera 12 in fourth, and IE10 clearly last. Opera Next appears to offer a healthy boost in JS/DOM performance over the current version.


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Nigeria's female national team, Super Falcons' coach, Thomas Dennerby is staying cautious over reactions to the Africa Women Cup of Nations draw that pits his team with South Africa, Kenya and Zambia.
Dennerby said: "(It is) a good group and really have a good chance to win it even though we expect a tough game against South Africa.
Equities pricing: Activity to stay positive on Q3 earning releases
"We have a good idea of South Africa, but not much about Zambia and Kenya. We will try to analyse these teams and won't underrate them."


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Many people helped to produce the original brochure from which this updated reprint was taken: Louise Arnold of the Military History Institute, Helen Wadsworth of Book Binders, Sharon Dougherty (who did the typing), and Leo Bernstein of the Wayside Museum. The reprinted brochure was taken through production by Arthur S. Hardyman and Rae T. Panella. Linda M. Cajka designed the reprint. My thanks to one and all.
Joseph W. A. Whitehorne is a retired U.S. Army officer currently teaching at Lord Fairfax Community College. The first book of his multi-volume history of the I.G. Corps was published in August 1987. The author of numerous military history articles, he has lectured at the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Maryland, and Montana State University. His most recent military duties involved the Civil War history of the Shenandoah Valley-
Illustrations in this brochure are courtesy of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War; Harper's Weekly (Frank and Marie-T. Wood print collection); Alfred A. Waud (Library of Congress); James E. Taylor (Western Reserve Historical Society); New York Historical Society; U.S. Army Military History Institute; History of the Eighth Regiment, Vermont Volunteers; Kate Schultz (Belle Grove Plantation); and Ken Ritter (The Valley Pike 1985). The cover detail is from a painting by Julian Scott, Vermont State Archives. This brochure is reprinted from a brochure, copyrighted by J. W. A. Whitehorne.


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(Sports Network) – Champagne was flowing inside the clubhouse of the Philadelphia Phillies last night after they secured a fifth straight NL East championship. The team gets back to work tonight with a goal of securing home- field advantage throughout the playoffs as they continue a four-game series with the Cardinals.
St. Louis has more pressing issues, as the Cardinals are trying to reach the playoffs likely as the wild card team, as Milwaukee has just about wrapped up the NL Central.
Back to the Phillies. They are now just three victories shy of the franchise record of 101 set in 1976 and 1977. Also, manager Charlie Manuel has 642 victories in a Phillies uniform, three shy of Gene Mauch's record, set 1960-68.
A combination of two Phillies victories or Milwaukee losses will clinch home- field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Shane Victorino finished 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI, and Raul Ibanez hit a grand slam to cap a six-run eighth inning in a 9-2 division- clinching 9-2 victory last night for the Phillies.
Roy Oswalt (8-9) notched his first scoreless outing since August 19 at Washington, scattering five hits and striking out seven over seven innings.
"Anybody could come out here tonight and have a good chance to win. With the starting staff we got, I just happened to have had the ball tonight," said Oswalt about his role in the clincher. "I was able to throw a good game. They gave me a couple runs to work with."
He departed with a seemingly safe 3-0 advantage.
In the eighth, Michael Stutes served up four straight two-out hits — the last two to Lance Berkman and David Freese which brought the Cards within 3-2. Brad Lidge came on to retire Allen Craig on a grounder to second.
In the home half, Victorino provided the Phils an insurance run with a one-out RBI single. Chase Utley was plunked to load the bases, and after Ryan Howard struck out, Hunter Pence beat out a grounder to shortstop to make it 5-2.
"We've had to battle through a lot of stuff to get here. Bringing Hunter over here, that extra energy to our ballclub, it's a great feeling to once again be at this point," said Howard of his new right-fielder, who arrived from Houston.
Jake Westbrook (12-9) lasted only 3 1/3 innings, charged in the loss with five hits and two runs — one earned — while walking five for the Cardinals.
St. Louis, which had its three-game win streak stopped, fell 6 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. The Brewers routed the Reds in Cincinnati later Saturday. The Cardinals also slipped 4 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL wild-card race, with the Braves taking a 1-0 decision over the Mets.
"It's kind of the way we've been playing lately," acknowledged Westbrook. "We've been playing pretty good baseball and been giving ourselves chances to win. We had our chance tonight, but it didn't work out late."
Chris Carpenter, who has just one loss (3-1) in his last eight outings, gets the ball tonight for the Cardinals. He's 6-2 in 10 lifetime starts against the Phillies and has won each of his last four starts against them. He also has a 3-0 record with a 3.75 ERA in three career starts at Citizens Bank Park.
Cole Hamels has given up plenty of long balls of late, five of them over his last three starts, and the lefty is 1-2 over his previous five appearances. Hamels is 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA in eight games vs. St. Louis.
The Cardinals are 4-3 versus the Phillies this year.


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Fair winds are blowing; the stars are aligned; good omens prevail; and I am finally ready, at long last, to complete Part 2 of the Celtic Number and Alphabet post begun with Carving Plaster back in October 2013! Congratulations are due, or perhaps admonishments, since I completed the tile sets a year or more ago. Be that as it may, I am sure the world is just dying for instructions on my knot letters. So, without further ado, on to the how-tos!
In my first post of the Celtic Number and Alphabet series, I discussed carving directly into a plaster blank to create master molds for the number tiles. For the alphabet tiles, I used a different technique: I first created a tile from a slab of clay, and then cast it in plaster to create a master mold.
For my knot letters I printed the template out on a sheet of paper, and used that directly on the clay to trace the design onto the surface. However, as the moisture from the clay transfers to the paper, the paper starts to wrinkle, stick to the clay and rip when traced. Annoying. Eh, just deal with it, I thought, and I did for a while.
I then had the brilliant idea to cover the back of my paper template in clear contact paper, hopefully protecting it from the moisture in the clay and keeping it dry, flat and more manageable. It worked! But, the contact paper also made the template much thicker and more difficult to trace. I found that I had to press significantly harder in order to leave an impression in the clay, and the tracings were still faint and difficult to discern, especially for the fine and intricate details of my knot designs. Passable, but not perfect.
Finally, there is always the option of tracing the design onto a piece of thin plastic first (as mentioned in a previous post, I have used plastic from a disposable drop-cloth for templates). The plastic works well with the clay since it does not lose consistency with moisture, and is thin enough that the impressions from the tracing tool are legible. However, this method does require a bit more time expenditure, as the design must be traced twice: once onto the plastic and once onto the clay.
The choice of template material is up to you!
I am sure at this point you are thinking, "Wow, that's a pretty thin tile!" And, it would be, if that were going to be the final thickness. But, please, let me explain myself!
My knot numbers turned out fairly well, but I still though the final product could be improved a bit. So, I decided that I wanted the knots on my letter tiles to be higher in relief. I could have accomplished this by rolling out a slab the thickness of my final tile, and carving the design into the clay. I admit, this would have worked.
But, my meticulous side commandeered my brain, and I felt compelled to ensure that the heights of all the knots in each alphabet tile were consistent. I know my eyes can sometimes deceive me when judging exactness, especially from tile to tile, so I devised a better solution than the straightforward carving.
Spoiler alert (for those too impatient to read the next couple steps): I carved the design through the 1/16" thick slab, and then placed the 1/16" slab onto a thicker slab to form the full tile. A little unsure of what I mean? Watch and learn!
♦ Place the template onto the slab, and trace the design using a ball tool or other similar implement.
Basically straightforward. Sometimes, once the design has been traced, I realize that a line here or there is a bit faint, or I somehow missed tracing a section. I compare the design on the clay to the template, and go back with a ball tool to "darken" any ambiguous spots.
Tip: Placing a piece of newsprint between the slab and your work surface before beginning to trace and cut will prevent the piece from sticking to the work surface, and it will be much easier to move in the steps to come.
And, color me silly for choosing an intricate design with tons of tiny pieces! Cut all the way through the slab to remove the background pieces of the design. The fine tip of the X-acto knife can more easily excise the tight corners of my design than a larger clay knife, and leaves less material for clean-up later.
Once the design is cut out, the piece is going to be very flimsy. Therefore, I leave a lot of excess clay around the border instead of cutting it away right at the beginning.
Tip: Keep a spray bottle of water handy. Since the clay is so thin, it loses moisture quickly, especially with a complicated design like a Celtic knot that takes a while to complete. If the clay becomes too dry to work, just give it a little spray and wait a minute for the water to permeate through the clay.
My least favorite part of the process by far – ah, the drudgery of cleaning a piece sponge-full of minute crevices! But, enough of my complaining.
My go-to tools for carving, as well as cleaning small spaces, are my trusty metal dental tools. The one I specifically prefer has a small spade-shaped head with a rounded tip and a convex back – the tip smooths corners, and the back tackles the hard-to-reach edges of the design. I then use my fingers and a damp sponge to clean up the surface of the design.
My knot design does not need too many extra details. With a ball tool I carve the overlapping demarcations between the knot lines, but that's about it. If your design requires more accents, by all means, accent away!
The dimensions of your finished tile will determine the thickness of this second slab. I want my finished tile to be ½" thick. Since the top of my tile (the design I previously cut out of the first slab) is 1/16", I roll out a slab for the base of the tile that is about 7/16". I also make sure I have some wiggle room in the length and width of the slab. My final alphabet tile will be approximately 3.75" wide by 5" high (my template is a bit larger to account for shrinkage during drying and firing). I roll the base slab larger than my template, with an inch or more of margin on all sides. I have found that the extra clay makes assembly easier.
For my knot letter tiles, I leave the texture from the canvas of the slab roller on the surface of my base slab to add a bit of interest to the tile. As a result the background of the final tile has a light texture behind the knot design. Smooth the surface of the clay to remove the texture if preferred.
Hey, Mr. Hare, slow down there! But, seriously, have a care when moving the top piece, as it is quite fragile at this point due to its lace-like construction. After spending a few hours perfecting my design, I have come to this step only to have the insidiously thin piece of clay warp or even break as I attempted to move it.
I have found that the clay holds its shape a bit better if it has dried just a tad. But, a word of caution, don't allow the clay to dry too much! The clay will become difficult to cut in the final steps, and it will also become smaller than your original design dimensions since clay shrinks as it dries. Find a happy moisture medium!
Make any final touch-ups to the top piece, since moving the tile sometimes creates blemishes in the design.
Using a straight edge and a clay knife (re-purposed paring knife), I cut the excess clay from each edge. If your border lines have become a bit faint, or if you believe the drying of the top design piece has altered the dimensions of your tile, place the original template back over the design and retrace the border lines.
♦ Smooth the edges of the tile with a damp sponge to round the corners and remove any marks left by the knife.
♦ Cast the tile in plaster to form a Master Mold.
I cover the basics of plaster casting in another post (Meet My Friend, Plaster: Making a Plaster Press Mold), so I will not go into depth about the process here. However, the master mold can be used to create a pressing mold: press a tile from the master mold, and cast that tile in plaster. You will use the pressing mold, and not the master mold, to make subsequent tiles. This way, if your pressing mold breaks, you can cast another pressing mold from the master mold.


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Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Babs Book Bistro January 1st - 7th 2013
A wish and a prayer
Another Year Has Passed,
Another Year Has Come.
In All Things,
God's Will Be Done.
With Every New Year,
Comes Greater Challenges And Obstacles In Life.
I Wish You Courage And Determination,
I Pray You Hope And Faith
To Overcome All The Hurdles You Face.
May God Pour Love And Care,
Patience And Wisdom On You.
May You Have A Great Year
And A Wonderful Time Ahead.
God Bless You.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Regional Conflict and the Superpowers
THE dramatic events unfolding in Eastern Europe have overshadowed the continued fighting taking place in several Marxist third-world regimes. Gorbachev appears willing to tolerate the emergence of pluralism in Eastern Europe - so long as it remains part of the Warsaw Pact. In the more distant third world where pluralism would mean the loss of Soviet influence, Gorbachev appears far less willing to allow real political change. This is true despite Moscow's apparent retrenchment from the third world. Soviet expansionism in the third world was one of the primary causes of the downfall of d'etente at the end of the 1970s. Gorbachev's willingness to resolve regional conflicts now gives rise to hopes that the third world need not be a divisive issue between Moscow and Washington. The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Vietnamese departure from Cambodia, and Cuba's commitment to leave Angola by 1991 - all appear to be signs that Gorbachev is not pursuing an expansionist agenda.
There are, however, highly important differences between the two superpowers regarding third-world conflict resolution. These differences could both halt further progress in resolving conflicts as well as negatively affect the recently revived Soviet-American d'etente.
What are these differences? The primary one is that Washington and Moscow have very different expectations concerning conflict resolution results. In the US, policymakers in the Reagan and Bush administrations, and in Congress, expected third-world Marxist regimes to collapse or undergo drastic alteration following the departure of Soviet, Cuban, or Vietnamese troops. This, after all, was what happened to the South Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao governments after the US withdrew from Indochina.
Moscow has different expectations. Instead of Marxist regimes collapsing, the Soviets and their allies expect opposition rebel groups to collapse following the departure of Soviet forces. This should occur, they feel, not only because of an anticipated cutoff of Western aid to the rebels, but because the rebels should begin to squabble among themselves.
Is this Soviet expectation unrealistic? Not necessarily. Moscow experienced a similar situation once before in North Yemen. For five years in the 1960s, Soviet combat pilots and advisers helped 60,000 Egyptian troops try to defend a ``republican'' regime against royalist rebels. The war proceeded miserably and Egypt finally decided to give up in 1967. The republican regime seemed on the verge of defeat and was barely kept alive by a list-ditch Soviet airlift when the royalist opposition literally fell apart. Soviet scholars often cite this example today.
In addition to these different expectations, Washington and Moscow have different views concerning the legitimacy of each other's actions toward the conflicts that are supposedly being resolved. As has been reported, the Soviets have continued or increased their hefty arms shipments to Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia. Despite Gorbachev's claims that the USSR has stopped sending arms to Nicaragua, Soviet weapons continue to flow there via Cuba.
Moscow, on the other hand, has indicated its displeasure with continued American aid to rebel groups, especially in Afghanistan and Angola. The Soviets seem to have expected that Washington would cease aid to rebel forces when communist troops are withdrawn. Moscow views American demands that the USSR stop aiding its beleaguered third-world allies as unreasonable.
These conflicting expectations and policies will sooner or later lead to one or both superpowers feeling tricked and betrayed by the other. American conservatives have already begun to suggest that all Gorbachev really wants from the conflict-resolution process is a cessation of American aid to rebel forces so that he may retain his Marxist third-world allies without the costly use of Soviet, Cuban, or Vietnamese troops.
The Soviets, on the other hand, may be concerned that America is taking advantage of the USSR's current weakness to aggressively expand its own influence in the third world.
Renewed skepticism in Washington and Moscow about each other's intentions will not enhance the prospects for conflict resolution. Indeed, if both sides continue to provide large-scale military assistance to their respective allies, the conflicts will continue and will again become a major source of contention.
As in the '70s, disagreements and disillusionment concerning the third world could once again halt progress on arms control, end d'etente, and lead to a renewed period of hostile East-West relations. Among other negative consequences, a revival of the cold war will not bode well for the budding democratization occurring in Eastern Europe.


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Purpose: Although numerous articles have demonstrated that recommended empiric antimicrobial regimens are associated with decreased mortality at 30 days, there is controversy over whether appropriate antibiotic selection has a beneficial impact on mortality within the first 48 to 96 hours after admission. Our aim was to determine whether the use of guideline-concordant antibiotic therapy is associated with decreased mortality within the first 48 hours after admission for patients with pneumonia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at two tertiary teaching hospitals in San Antonio, Texas. A propensity score was used to balance the covariates associated with the use of guideline-concordant antimicrobial therapy. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to assess the association between mortality within 48 hours and the use of guideline-concordant antibiotic therapy, after adjusting for potential confounders including the propensity score. Results: Information was obtained on 787 patients with community-acquired pneumonia. The median age was 60 years, 79% were male, and 20% were initially admitted to the intensive care unit. At presentation 52% of subjects were low risk, 34% were moderate risk, and 14% were high risk. Within the first 48 hours, 20 patients died. After adjustment for potential confounders, the use of guideline-concordant antimicrobial therapy (odds ratio 0.37, 95% confidence interval, 0.14-0.95) was significantly associated with decreased mortality at 48 hours after admission. Conclusion: Using initial empiric guideline-concordant antimicrobial therapy is associated with decreased mortality at 48 hours. Further research needs to investigate methods to ensure that patients with community-acquired pneumonia are treated with appropriate antimicrobial therapies.
|Original language
|English (US)
|Pages (from-to)
|Number of pages
|American Journal of Medicine
|Issue number
|Published - Oct 2006
- Antibacterial agents
- Community-acquired infections
- Pneumonia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)


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By Laura Marshall Last summer Helen attended the Clarion West writer's workshop. For her, this meant six glorious weeks of writing and critiquing; for me, this meant six glorious weeks free of writer-drama. So, to...Read More
Posts By: Movable Type
Helen's Foul-Mouthed Rules for Surviving Clarion West
By Helen Marshall Today is the first official day of summer, and right now a bunch of young writers are hauling their asses out to Seattle to begin a great adventure. I know. I did...Read More
British Fantasy Awards 2013 Nominees Annouced
The nominees for the British Fantasy Awards 2013 have been announced. We're pleased to see some Canadian nominees including Brett Savory and Sandra Kasturi for Best Small Press for ChiZine Publications, Michael Kelly's Shadows and Tall Trees for Best Magazine/Periodical, and...Read More
7 Tips for Marketing Success
By Laura Marshall and Helen Marshall In The Principals of a Book Marketing Plan we took you through the three principals behind developing a marketing plan – time vs. quality vs. money, SMART goals, and...Read More
By Laura Marshall and Helen Marshall You've gotten a publishing deal, finished writing your book, got an awesome cover and the first copies are coming in. I bet you're thinking the hard works all done, right? Well, as you might have guessed, the work's only just begun. Whether you're with a small or large press,...[ Click to Continue ]
By Laura Marshall and Helen Marshall New Year's Eve has come and gone, but that doesn't mean you can't still make your New Year's resolution. Frequently, this is a time when our Facebook newsfeeds get cluttered up with new writing goals ranging from finishing off that novel you've done that first eight chapters on to...[ Click to Continue ]
By Helen Marshall 2012 has come and gone bringing with it many exciting developments. When I look back on the past year, it feels as if it could have been an entire decade! A new book published, my first professional sale, Clarion West, an unspeakably high number of conventions (at least one of which...[ Click to Continue ]
By Laura Marshall and Helen Marshall As we come to the end of another year it's traditional to look back and reflect on the major events that happened in the past year. Well, in case you've been hiding under a rock[1] or hiding out in an exotic country[2] for the last year—you know, because of...[ Click to Continue ]
By Laura Marshall and Helen Marshall Last week on Movable Type we started to develop a classification system for book trailers. One of our main points is that book trailers are still a form in development – people are making this stuff up as the go along. And so are we. Last week we promised...[ Click to Continue ]


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The Surgery Center contains two very impressive, sterile, spacious state-of-the-art operating rooms with hepa filtered, laminar flow air circulation. Catering to patient needs, the Surgery Center offers twilight sedation/general anesthesia if needed or desired for the comfort of our patients.
The well-appointed patient lounge offers patient's friends and family telephones, television, vending machines, computer hook up, radio, VCR, DVD players and a microwave.
The SBMC offers caring, dedicated professionals committed to making the patient as relaxed and comfortable as possible.


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Thursday, April 19, 2012
How to display a multi value parameter in a text box in SSRS.
In my previous blog I described how you can pass a multi-value parameter to another SSRS report via drill through. After doing this, sometimes you want to show the used multi-value parameters in a text box. The solution for this is very simple. This can be achieved by using the JOIN function. I will explain with an example @Hostname as multi-value parameter.
Open the text box and define next expression:
="My own text: " + Join(Parameters!Hostname.Label,", ")
Other blog post about multi-value parameters: How to pass NULL value to a multi-value parameter in SSRS?
Picture: Milford Sound, New Zealand Dec 2011.
Posted by André van de Graaf at 10:51 AM
Labels: multi-value, parameter, SQL 2008 R2, sql 2012, SSRS
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Personally I think mixing in a BoHo vibe with shabby chic is refreshing and adds vibrancy for the Winter months. Looks beautiful girlfriend!
It looks cozy and a warm sort of an Anthropologie winter look. Personally, I like how Boho mixes well with the shabby or cottage. I also love the apron lampshade too. Happy December. xoxo SuReplyDelete
It looks cozy and a warm sort of an Anthropologie winter look. Personally, I like how Boho mixes well with the shabby or cottage. I also love the apron lampshade too. Happy December. xoxo SuReplyDelete
Oh Debbie, it looks amazing! RA has always stated that Shabby Chic has Bohemian roots so I think it goes perfectly with your decor:) I had no idea Jessica Simpson had a bedding line, I'm definitely going to look it up!
Did you make the tattered fabric pieces hanging in the window? They're so beautiful!!! I sent your Christmas card today, hope it makes it there:)
Hi Debbie, YES YOU MAY use my stocking sack idea for your bed, that is the very true reason I blog, and that is to inspire one little thing that may nudge someone to try it for themselves, so they too can have one of those I love it moments.
As for the Jessica Simpson I love her home design all white clean lines and such a starting point to all our shabby likes. As for her designs and street ware, my daughter has worn her ballet flats shoes because of the bling to them.
This bedding feel s right for this room, and although a boho feel it also feels very boho Christmas in the Reds, Greens, and Goldens... A mini tree on the night stand with little tied rag bows in the same tones would be so cute. I love the boho vibe, I was very boho back in the late 80's I guess I was still living out my Hippi Vibe :)
There is a elegance in a relaxed feel to the bedding and works amazingly well with the lines of the iron bed....yes I could see a stocking bag tie to this foot board :)
Well I am off, and darn you bloggers who bring in colour and boho, it really draws me into a feeling of wanting to add colour.......Debbie! have you ever looked a Tracy Porter Books, she has a great boho feel with a wonderful mix of old to it. You can even watch her ( You Tubes )
See you soon,
A very Merry Boho holiday to you and your fun spirit.
Debbie, It's a warmer look...perfect for winter in Michigan. I think is very nice. I wish I were more like all of you..I sometimes get stuck in a rut. I will leave things for years the same way. Once I washed a set of sheets to death..by washing them and putting them right back on the bed after they were dry...every week till they wore out. LOL. Blessings for a great evening and wonderful Sunday. Love you dear friend, xoxo,SusieReplyDelete
What a great idea to bring is some color for those long cold winter nights. Not sure I knew Jessica Simpson had a bedding line?ReplyDelete
It looks nice for a pop of color. You have a restless spirit my friend. :-) Enjoy your weekend. xoReplyDelete
Hi Debbie,
Before I got to the part about the Bohemian look of the bedding, I was thinking that it looked great mixed in with the shabby chic. It has a comforting look to it and a very vintage feel. I love it!
I think you should put on one of your Jeanne d'Arc frocks and plop down on that pretty bedding and send me a picture! I'd love to see you wearing them.
Have a lovely weekend sweet friend.
Hi Debbie
I just love the new look. So pretty and perfect for the holiday and winter months. I love the boho look. I think it looks perfect in your room *
have a great weekend debbie
This looks so beautiful. I did not know Jessica Simpson has a bedding line too. I will be checking that out. Your room looks so cozy for the winter months ahead. Have a great week end.
Hi Debbie, just beautiful and a little winter brightness to enjoy the long winter months. Your room is simply gorgeous. Thanks for sharing about the bedding from JS. Have a blessed weekend. xoReplyDelete
Hi Debbie, just beautiful and a little winter brightness to enjoy the long winter months. Your room is simply gorgeous. Thanks for sharing about the bedding from JS. Have a blessed weekend. xoReplyDelete
Keeping warm and cozy during the winter does call for some changes and you did a wonderful job of changing it up there at your house. I love fleece and flannel when it gets cold out and that is what I change over to.ReplyDelete
It's fun to change things up, isn't it? Love the bright and cheery colors and patterns. Looks like such a cozy nest you have created, Debbie:) It is so cold and damp here, and has been super foggy for days. Good snuggle up with a cup of hot chocolate weather:)ReplyDelete
There are times when we just need a change of scenery, and if that change is linens, so be it, I'd go for it too!! Enjoy your seasonal boho look! Blessings, CindyReplyDelete
yes bohemian is exactly how I would describe the lovely bedding Debbie....so nice and cosy perfect for this time of year...it's great to ring the changes with wonderful textiles....Gail xReplyDelete
Love the new look of your bedding for the winter...so pretty. We are having a very mild winter down this way and I've heard that is going to be this way all winter. Most likely no snow for us this winter.
Your bedroom looks so warm and cozy. I really love the new winter look of your bedroom. It gives a romantic atmosphere.
Good Morning Debbie
I love the boho look and your new comforter is just gorgeous. Looks amazing with your look you already have there. It also would be great for the holidays. So pretty and perfect for your sweet space


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Every so often, I get to review something so over-the-top, it transcends common understanding. This is one such product. The ARES II is ASUS' "go big or go home" approach, putting in two AMD GPUs, as well as putting the combination in a custom-built closed-loop liquid cooling solution for good measure. I'm not sure what the folks at ASUS were consuming when conceptualizing this product, but I have to to say, I'm impressed.
Looking at the outside, the ARES II bears the familiar markings of the manufacturer's gamer-specific ROG branding, with a black-red colour scheme strewn throughout. To keep the whole setup cool, as well as providing some overclocking opportunities, the ARES II comes with a closed-loop liquid solution, akin to Corsair's Hydro series. The radiator supports a pair of 120mm fans, and ASUS has bundled that exact number to go along with this monstrosity of a graphics card. When I say "monstrosity", I mean exactly that – the card towers over the rest of the components on our testbed (even the tower cooler). It occupies a little over two slots, so owners of small chassis need not apply.
Inside, the ARES II consists of a pair of Radeon 7970s, and packs an impressive 6GB of GDDR5 memory. If you think that's impressive, then consider this: there's a CrossFire connector located on top. Yes, you can hook it up to an additional graphics card for performance that I would term as "overkill". Get another ARES II and you need not upgrade for years. You might want to get one fast, as the ARES II is in very limited supply, with only 999 of them in the wild. For your information, this review unit is number 512.
Unfortunately, AMD GPUs still have hefty power requirements, and the ARES II, with its dual-GPU solution, is no exception. The card requires three 8-pin power connectors, so I recommend a power supply that is at the very least 800W, and is 80 Plus certified. And that's for one card, mind you. Also, the radiator-fan combo needs a vacant 120mm spot, which should not be an issue, with most mainstream cases having abundant space for fans.
Looking at the bracket, the ARES II rocks six display connectors: DVI Dual-Link and four DisplayPort. Of course, it is EyeFinity-capable, so you can get six decently-sized displays to form one jumbo-sized screen for you to play with. That said, you will need to bring some settings down if you want to get a smooth gameplay experience.
And with the introductions done, head on to the next page to find out how the ARES II fares.
For the benchmarks, the ARES II was put into the following setup:
- Intel Core i7-4770K
- Intel DZ87KLT-75K
- 2 x 8GB Kingston HyperX Beast, 1333MHz
Scores from previous reviews will be entered for the sake of comparison. Do note that FSAA is an NVIDIA-exclusive technology, and AMD cards can only go up to 8xAA, so do take these results with a grain of salt.
Right off the bat, you can see the twin-HD 7970 configuration proving itself. In 3DMark, the ARES II overtook the competition by a significant margin. Compared to a single GTX 780, the ARES II led by 27%.
In Unigine Heaven, the ARES II eked out an extra 24fps in average framerate compared to the single-GPU GTX 780. Maximum framerate on the other hand was a 63fps gap, and all of that courtesy of the second HD 7970 GPU tucked within.
Crysis Warhead, despite its age, can still manage to bring modern cards to their knees. At 8xAA, the ARES II managed an impressive 91.39 frames per second on average. The NVIDIA cards were benchmarked at 16xCSAA, hence the lower scores.
The card seemed to come to a standstill in Batman: Arkham City, churning out almost the same framerate as the GTX 780. In fact, the card only mustered a 10% advantage in average framerate.
The ARES II resumed curb stomp with Resident Evil 5 and 6. In RE5, the card led the pack by a 30% margin over the current NVIDIA flagship, the GTX 780.
In RE6, the dual-GPU solution again led with a 27% performance gap over the GeForce GTX 780.
Finally, in the recent Tomb Raider reboot, the ARES II did just fine with VSync enabled. Disabled, the card can run the game at an average of 100fps, so you might want to consider investing in a 120Hz display.
And that concludes our benchmarking section of the article. Head on to the last page for my concluding thoughts.
The ARES II is in one word, impressive. It showcases what a dual-GPU solution is capable of, and the physical design of the card is ASUS just adding icing on a rather delicious cake. However, the price is a main issue, but considering it's a limited edition item, I can let that pass. If you're looking for a monstrosity of a graphics card in both size and performance, the ARES II might just be the one for you. Just be prepared to fork out some precious moolah.


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Authorship in exchange for payment: new study into predatory journals and publishers
Predatory journals and publishers are characterised by questionable, often unethical, publication practices. This was confirmed by results of a new survey-based study, which were presented at the 8th international congress on peer review and scientific publication last month, and reported in Times Higher Education.
The study author, Pravin Bolshete, emailed 327 publishers and standalone journals that had been included on the now-defunct Beall's list of potential, possible or probable predatory behaviour. He asked if they would consider adding his name as a coauthor to any medicine-related article, explaining he did not have the time to write any articles himself but needed such publications for promotion.
Of the 152 responses he received, over half (n=80) were considered unethical and not generally what one would expect from a legitimate journal. This included 22 publishers and journals who agreed to add Bolshete as a coauthor to an article without any specific contribution, and 14 who said they would write and publish an article on Bolshete's behalf, in some instances in exchange for payment of publication charges or other fees. Bolshete's study adds to the growing evidence base on the issues and challenges associated with predatory publishing, which continue to blight the field of medical publications.
Summary by Alice Wareham, PhD from Aspire Scientific


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Questions are the center of great websites
When you're optimizing a campaign or website, it's easy to become fixated on having all the answers. But columnist Brian Massey explains how generating questions can lead you to success.
Questions get a bad rap. Everyone is so obsessed with answers. We fawn over people who are smart, who have all the answers.
You know who has all the answers? Robots have all the answers. Like Skynet. In the "Terminator" movies, the robots' answer was to get rid of humans.
Answers have had their day.
We seem satisfied with almost any answer, often because we're so relieved that someone was brave enough to offer one. This is what we have called leadership up to now. Making a decision is more important than making a good decision. Experts don't need to research questions. They're experts.
We are so obsessed with answers that we forget to examine the questions we ask.
"Can I have a fish?" vs. "Can you teach me to fish?"
The only questions we prize seem to have no answer, like, "WTH?"
When data was cheap, it was OK for our executives to simply deliver an answer, even though this degraded it to opinion. If you're paid enough money, your opinion qualifies as an answer. Data has gotten cheap. It's easy to collect data to help us make decisions.
This leaves executives in a very awkward position. They were the ones with the answers. But in a world as complex as marketing and advertising, there are no answers. There are only pointers and clues — guideposts through the unpredictable workings of the human mind.
When we ignore our ability to collect data, we are ignoring these guideposts.
It's time to fall in love with questions.
Questions come with their own coat hanger. Or is it half of a light bulb?
When you're optimizing a campaign or website, you'll find that you can achieve the most successful outcome through generating questions.
Collecting questions
There are two primary ways of generating questions: exploratory and exploitative. In the course of optimizing a campaign or website, you will move between these two states frequently.
But move carefully. Each has its place.
I wonder…
When you start by saying, "I wonder," you elicit exploratory questions. These questions that flow from "I wonder" are often qualitative in nature, rich in subjectivity.
Isn't that exciting?
I wonder if the copy or the offer could be improved.
At some point, we will end our exploration and begin the next phase of questioning.
I think…
"I think" questions are exploitative. These questions usually come after researching explorative questions.
"I think" questions lend themselves to data collection, as they can be disproved. This makes them more quantitative in nature.
"I think the world is flat."
Avoid starting with 'I think…'
As a marketer, you may find yourself jumping past your exploratory "I wonder" stage and right to "I think." It is the plight of the oppressed and overworked marketer that the organization starts with "I think" questions.
Buy yourself some time. Do 15 minutes of meditation or a half-hour of yoga, and then ponder your "I wonder" questions before jumping to "I think."
For example, the conversion optimization industry is maturing, and at one point, we thought it might be time for a more corporate (i.e., boring) approach for our website.
We started with an "I wonder" question, asking:
"I wonder if our quirky website should be more corporate?"
This exploratory question could easily have morphed into an exploitative, "I think we need to make the site look more corporate." Many a redesign has been launched on so little thought.
This led to several exploratory questions:
"Do prospects prefer our competitors' approach?"
"Could we ask our visitors if the site conveys professionalism and authority?"
"Does having a spokesperson (me) make us seem too small?"
Each of these questions can be researched quickly and cheaply.
We decided to collect some data on this. We ran a preference test of our home page and the home pages of our largest competitors using UsabilityHub. We asked 50 visitors, "Which of these companies would you feel most comfortable hiring to help improve the sales performance of your website, and why would you choose it?" This is qualitative research primarily, but it's inexpensive and can be collected quickly.
We found out that our site was preferred by only 2 percent of the participants as compared to our four biggest competitors. Ouch.
We then created a more corporate-looking mockup of what our site might look like. We did the test again.
This time, our site was preferred 16 percent of the time. That's progress.
When we looked at the participants' comments, we found that many thought the company logos found on competing sites lent them some credibility. This created an exploitative statement:
"I think that we should add colorful client logos to our home page."
This led to the question:
"Will client logos on our home page make people more willing to spend money with us?"
We knew how to collect some data on this. So we did a mockup of our corporate-looking home page with logos right at the top and ran another preference test.
This version was preferred by 10 percent of the new participants, a statistical tie with the previous 16 percent because of the small sample sizes (n=50). No magic bullet here.
We then thought, "I think we should try a very different headline."
This didn't significantly move the needle in a new preference test. We'll try a few more headlines. And eventually, we'll shift to a more statistically significant data collection method: A/B testing.
Stay with the questions
What this comes down to is that when we stay with our questions, we get better at identifying sources of data to support or discard those questions. And rather than look for answers, we begin to embrace the additional questions that inevitably come up.
"I wonder" how many readers will find new freedom in holding onto their questions?
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
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